FAMOUS LAST WORDS: SALVATION
This morning we again approach the cross and stand on holy ground as continue with our sermon series, “Famous Last Words.”
The world likes to immortalize the final words of the rich and famous. The world likes to lift up their final comments as being lofty and noble. But there are no words that have ever been spoken on earth that can match the eternal wisdom and power that comes from the final words of Jesus Christ at the cross.
For six hours Jesus hung on the cross and in those six hours He made seven final statements that are filled with immense eternal power. Seven times He spoke from the cross. Seven times he pushed up on his feet to gasp for breath and strength. Seven times He spoke words that are to this day still filled with life changing power.
Every breathe was a struggle and of all the things that He could have said from the cross, these are the final words He chose for us to hear. And hear them we must.
But to hear the final words of Jesus, we must go to the cross. To experience the power of Christ’s words on your life, you must go to the cross. It is only at the cross that you can hear the final and famous last words of Jesus. It is impossible to bypass the cross of Jesus Christ and not hear His heart piercing words.
And today, in the great and mighty name of Jesus Christ, I challenge you to hear His last words regarding salvation and eternal life, and to let His words, His eternal words, fill your soul with the wisdom and might and power of the Holy Spirit.
John 19:17And He, bearing His cross, went out to a place called the Place of a Skull, which is called in Hebrew, Golgotha, 18 where they crucified Him, and two others with Him, one on either side, and Jesus in the center. NKJV
Luke 23:35 And the people stood looking on. But even the rulers with them sneered, saying, "He saved others; let Him save Himself if He is the Christ, the chosen of God." 36 The soldiers also mocked Him, coming and offering Him sour wine, 37 and saying, "If You are the King of the Jews, save Yourself." 38 And an inscription also was written over Him in letters of Greek, Latin, and Hebrew: THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS. 39 Then one of the criminals who were hanged blasphemed Him, saying, "If You are the Christ, save Yourself and us." 40 But the other, answering, rebuked him, saying, "Do you not even fear God, seeing you are under the same condemnation? 41 And we indeed justly, for we receive the due reward of our deeds; but this Man has done nothing wrong." 42 Then he said to Jesus, "Lord, remember me when You come into Your kingdom." 43 And Jesus said to him, "Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise." NKJV
THE PICTURE OF THE CROSS
Let’s begin this morning with this picture from the cross.
In the theater of your mind, picture three crosses. See Jesus as Roman soldiers lift Him
up toward the heavens as earth rejects Him. On either side of Him, two other crosses are also lifted up as Jesus is crucified between two criminals.
See Him as He hangs on the middle cross between two thieves. See Him with the crown of thorns. See the inscription that stands out above Him proclaiming for all to see that this man is the King of the Jews.
See the crowd that has gathered before His cross and hear their mockery and ridicule as they scorn the man on the middle cross. They said;
“He saved others but He can’t save Himself.” Let the Christ, the King of Israel, descend now from the cross, that we may see and believe." (Mark 15:31-32)
Hear His answer to their mockery and scorn as He cries out over and over, “Father, forgive them…”
THE MAN ON THE MIDDLE CROSS
See this man on the middle cross. Do you see Him? It is imperative that you see this man.
And as we behold this man on the middle cross, there are two vital matters that immediately capture our attention.
First, who is this man on the middle cross? You cannot bypass this question. You have to determine for yourself who you believe this man to be.
He claimed to be the Israel’s Messiah
He claimed to be the Son of God
He claimed to be the King of an eternal kingdom
Who is this man on the middle cross? It is a question that demands your answer.
What you believe about this man on the middle cross will ultimately determine the outcome of your eternal destiny.
Without any doubt, history has proven that the man on the middle cross was Jesus Christ. The Bible and Historians tell us that not only did Jesus Christ die on a cross, but that He died on a middle cross between two thieves.
John 19:18 tells us that Jesus was crucified between 2 thieves.
Matthew 27:38 tells us the same thing.
Matthew 27:38 Then two robbers were crucified with Him, one on the right and another on the left. NKJV
Why is that important? It is important because when someone like Jesus who commanded such great attention by the crowd, they were almost always crucified alone as a public demonstration. But not Jesus.
Since there were thousands there to see Him crucified, this would have certainly been the time to have crucified Jesus alone for public display, but they didn’t.
Again, why is this important?
Why should we care if Jesus was crucified alone or between 2 thieves?
Because the answer to that question is very important to everything we believe about the truth and accuracy of God’s word. Look with me at Isaiah 53:12.
Isaiah 53:12 …He was numbered with the transgressors, And He bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors. NKJV
Isaiah 53 is one of the most descriptive chapters in the Bible that describes the death of the Messiah by crucifixion and it was written 700 years before the time of Jesus. And what makes this particular prophecy so interesting is that this prophecy clearly says the Messiah would be crucified with criminals and that He would make intercession for them. That is exactly what happened.
The first part of this prophecy was fulfilled the moment they lifted up the two thieves on either side of Jesus. Jesus fulfilled the next part of the prophecy when He interceded for them by praying, “Father, forgive them…”
The Bible clearly predicted the life and death of Jesus Christ hundreds of years before it happened with precise and incredible details that cannot be denied or overlooked.
When you see Jesus on the middle cross, hanging between two criminals, you are looking at the fulfillment of prophecy.
When Jesus cried, “Father, forgive them” He was fulfilling prophecy.
When Jesus told the dying thief, “Today you will be with me in Paradise,” He was fulfilling prophecy.
That means the Bible is absolutely accurate and true down to the smallest detail.
If the Bible is true even in the smallest prophetic details regarding Jesus death, then that means the Bible is also true regarding salvation and eternal life and the coming of Christ.
TWO THIEVES
Now that brings us to the cross and the two men who were crucified with Jesus.
Who are these two men? We do not know their names; we only know that both of these men were criminals, and the Bible gives us the impression that they were hardened criminals who could have easily been on Jerusalem’s most wanted list.
Although they were both criminals, there is a big difference between these two men and it is in that difference that the message of the cross speaks to us.
First, look at the picture we get from Matthew concerning the disbelieving and hateful attitude of these two men toward Jesus.
Matthew 27:41 Likewise the chief priests also, mocking with the scribes and elders, said, 42 "He saved others; Himself He cannot save. If He is the King of Israel, let Him now come down from the cross, and we will believe Him. 43 He trusted in God; let Him deliver Him now if He will have Him; for He said, 'I am the Son of God.' " 44 Even the robbers (both men) who were crucified with Him reviled Him with the same thing. NKJV
Now compare that to Luke 23:39.
Luke 23:39 Then one of the criminals who were hanged blasphemed Him, saying, "If You are the Christ, save Yourself and us."
Our first glimpse of these two men shows them both mocking and ridiculing Jesus with an attitude of scorn and disbelief.
There is a powerful message here that we must not miss.
The Bible doesn’t tell us what these men knew about Jesus, and most likely this was their first encounter. Most likely they knew nothing about this man on the middle cross except what they heard from crowd.
They had no idea of the true identity of this man on the middle cross.
They had no idea that this man on the middle cross was dying for their sins.
They had no idea that this man whom they mocked and scorned was the eternal Son of God.
They had no idea who He was and like the crowd, they mocked Him and scorned Him with insults and ridicule.
The point is this; don’t listen to the crowd. The world is clueless about the things of God.
And this is exactly why you must not allow the world to influence what you believe about Jesus Christ. Find out for yourself who Jesus Christ is.
These two criminals continue heap insults on Jesus and then suddenly something amazing happened; something that would forever change their lives.
As the crowd continued to heap their insults on Jesus; Jesus suddenly pushed up with His feet and with all of His strength, He cried out…
Luke 23:34 "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do." NKJV
Did you catch what happened?
These two men are mocking Jesus with words of ridicule and scorn and in reply to their mockery and disbelief, Jesus said, Father, forgive them… Father, forgive them…
The moment Jesus spoke these eternal words of forgiveness; a miracle began to happen in the heart of one of those criminals and it transformed His life forever.
Think about this; there are two men here facing the same circumstances.
Both are guilty.
Both are condemned to die and are within hours of dying.
Both of them are speaking against Jesus and then suddenly one of them has a complete change of heart.
Listen to his words that describe what is happening in his heart;
Luke 23:39 Then one of the criminals who were hanged blasphemed Him, saying, "If You are the Christ, save Yourself and us." 40 But the other, answering, rebuked him, saying, "Do you not even fear God, seeing you are under the same condemnation?
41 And we indeed justly, for we receive the due reward of our deeds; but this Man has done nothing wrong."
What happened? What changed His mind about Jesus?
This is what I think was taking place.
First, he saw the sign above Jesus that said, “The King of the Jews.”
Second, I believe He heard the comments of the crowd that stated Jesus power to save and that He was the Son of God.
Third, I believe He heard and saw these things and they got him to thinking, but I believe what really changed His heart was the Jesus prayer, Father, forgive them…
I sincerely believe Jesus words of forgiveness exploded in this man’s heart.
Of all the things Jesus could have said to His enemies, He called upon God to forgive them. The moment that dying thief heard those words, he knew this man on the middle cross was no ordinary man. He knew this man was different.
In those dying moments, he desperately wanted forgiveness, and his heart yearned for it.
And I believe it was Jesus words of forgiveness that changed His heart.
The thief on the cross is proof of Christ’s power to forgive sin and to change lives.
This next point is so vitally important.
He did not have the time and opportunity to think about this.
He did not have the time to wait and see what happened
He did not have the time to research about Jesus.
He only had this moment, and it was a moment given to Him by the Holy Spirit.
There may come a time or a moment when the Holy Spirit speaks into your heart and it is absolutely imperative that when that moment comes, that you do not let it pass you by.
THE FINAL WORDS OF A DYING THIEF
This series is about famous last words and the Bible gives us the final words of both of these two condemned criminal.
In Luke 23:42, the dying thief who chose to believe said to Jesus;
Luke 23:42 "Lord, remember me when You come into Your kingdom." NKJV
Those are the final words of the thief on the cross.
There are four things here that I find absolutely amazing.
First, in some of the early manuscripts, we find that the thief doesn’t just say Lord, but Lord Jesus. He called Him Jesus which is highly unusual.
Why is that important to us?
What does the name of Jesus mean in Hebrew? Jesus name in Hebrew is Yeshua which means Savior. He is recognizing the name of Jesus as both Savior and Lord.
Second, when he called upon Jesus, the dying thief asked Jesus to remember him.
He did not ask for position or honor, but to be remember. What an honor it is to be
remembered by God.
Third, (This one blows me away) he said, when You come into Your kingdom…
He believed Jesus was a King of a coming great kingdom.
Think about the evidence that is before him when he looks at Jesus.
Jesus is covered in blood
He is crowned with a crown of thorns, not a crown of gold.
He sees the nails in His hands and feet and that Jesus is near death
And yet when he looked at Jesus, he looked beyond the physical and he had the courage and the faith to believe that Jesus was a King of an eternal kingdom.
He chose to believe before the darkness covered the sun
He chose to believe before the earthquake ripped through the land
He chose to believe before the veil of the temple was torn in two
He chose to believe before the resurrection
He chose to believe before the ascension
He chose to believe without ever seeing Jesus walk on water or feed the multitude or perform a miracle of healing
Against everything his eyes saw, he chose to believe what the Holy Spirit revealed in his heart. In this one moment of opportunity given to him by the Holy Spirit, he chose to believe by faith that this man hanging on the cross was a King and not just any King, but an eternal King, with an eternal Kingdom. Glory to God!
He had the courage and faith to believe regardless of what everyone else said. That’s the kind of faith and courage I want in my life.
Fourth and this is most important. Listen to this thief’s testimony about Jesus.
In speaking to the other thief he said,
Luke 23:40 …Do you not even fear God, seeing you are under the same condemnation? 41 And we indeed justly, for we receive the due reward of our deeds; but this Man has done nothing wrong."
There are those who may say you don’t have to do anything to become a Christian and to experience salvation. But that is not true. There are at least 3 things that are entirely depended upon you for eternal salvation that will write your name in the Lamb’s Book of Life.
Those three things that are required for salvation are;
First, and this absolutely important; you must act with faith the moment the Holy Spirit opens for you a door of opportunity. Do not put off whatever it is the Holy Spirit is calling you to do. I cannot overemphasis that point.
If you feel a tug and calling in your heart to believe in Jesus Christ for salvation and forgiveness and eternal life, then step out today in faith and take hold of this God given moment of opportunity because you may never get another one. This thief on the cross had this one moment of opportunity and he took it.
This dying thief on the cross did not have the opportunity of another day
He did not have the opportunity to clean up his life and produce good works before God
He did not have the opportunity to be baptized
He did not ask Mary for permission to speak to Jesus
He did not have anyone praying for him or give him an essay of why he should believe
All he had was that one single moment of faith and he took it
Second, you have to believe
There has to an element of belief for salvation to happen. You cannot enter into the glorious Kingdom of God without fully believing in Jesus Christ as the only way of salvation and as the eternal Son of God who holds everlasting life in His hands.
John 3:36 He who believes in the Son has everlasting life; and he who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him." NKJV
Those words describe the difference between those who are lost and those who are saved.
Those words describe the difference between the lives of the two thieves on the cross.
Both heard the words of Jesus, “Father, forgive them…”
Both saw the sign above Jesus head that proclaimed Him as a King
Both had the same opportunity but one chose to believe and the other did not.
Right now one is experiencing the glory and wonder of Paradise in the eternal presence of Christ, while the other is experiencing the horrors of eternal darkness.
One is experiencing eternal life, while the other is experiencing eternal death
What separated them was not that one was more wicked than the other or their distance from Christ. What separated them is that in this one moment of opportunity, one chose to believe and call upon Jesus for salvation, while the other rejected Him.
Some people say this was a deathbed experience and last opportunity. But this was actually his first and only opportunity to call upon Christ for salvation and he took it.
What will you do with your God given moment of opportunity?
Third, you have to confess and admit your need to be saved
Romans 10:9 if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. NKJV
I want to be real clear here. There are many who claim to know Jesus Christ, but they do not believe in Him for salvation. There are many who believe in the person of Jesus Christ and that He lived in history, but they are unwilling to believe by submitting their lives to Him as Savior and Lord. You prove what you believe about Jesus Christ by how you live your life for Christ and to glorify Him.
The two thieves both saw Jesus.
Both heard Jesus words, Father, forgive them…
Both had the same opportunity to believe.
One chose to believe while the other did not.
Picture in your mind this unbelieving and unrepentant thief. See him as hangs on the cross in unimaginable agony. He knows he is about to die. The other thief has already pointed out to him his need for God and salvation. He hears the other thief call out to Jesus with the request for Jesus to remember him.
He hears Jesus incredible promise, “today you will be with Me in Paradise.”
And yet in the agony of death, instead of calling out for mercy and forgiveness, his final words to Jesus were words of ridicule; "If You are the Christ, save Yourself and us."
If you wish to experience eternal life; if you wish to know the life changing power of God, then you must go to the cross and you must choose to believe in the message of the cross, that Jesus Christ is the only way of Salvation.
IN CLOSING; JESUS FAMOUS WORDS
In His famous last words to the dying thief on the cross, Jesus said;
Luke 23:43 "Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise." NKJV
In these words, are found one of the greatest promises anywhere in scripture.
Jesus is saying to these two men and to all who hear His voice;
“Assuredly or truly, I, the Son of God, the eternal Savior of the world, promise that if you will believe in Me and trust in My power to save, I will give you eternal life in a paradise so great and so glorious that the mind is unable to believe it and words fail to describe it.”
Compare that with I Corinthians 2:9.
1 Corinthians 2:9 "Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man The things which God has prepared for those who love Him." NKJV
Let the power of those words sink into your soul. This is the paradise Jesus was referring to when He spoke to the thief on the cross. And this paradise that is beyond knowledge or description is reserved only for those who love Jesus Christ and believe in Him as Savior.
In the eyes of Jesus Christ there are two groups of people; there are those who are willing to repent of their sins and believe in Jesus Christ for salvation and then there are those who reject Jesus Christ and choose to believe they can get to heaven another way.
Everything about eternity and what happens to you in eternity is totally dependent upon what you do with Jesus Christ.
The great hope we have is this; if Jesus Christ will forgive this criminal of his sins and give him the promise of eternal life, He will do the same for any of us if we will call
upon Him with faith and believe in Him as the Lord and Master of our souls.
Listen very carefully to this; the issue is not the depth and greatness of your sins. Jesus died for all sin and for all sinners regardless of the greatness of their sin.
The real issue is your willingness to believe that salvation and eternal life is found only in Jesus Christ and Jesus Christ alone.
If you are in need of assurance of salvation in Jesus Christ, Jesus gives to you His famous last words of salvation; "Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise."
This is your moment of opportunity.
Take it and let today be the beginning of your journey into the Paradise of Christ’s eternal glory and kingdom.
