IN THE PRESENCE OF HOPE
Luke 23:39-43; Isaiah 55:6,7
Luke 23:39-43 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 king-dom." 43. And Jesus said to him, "Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise."
Isaiah 55:6,7 Seek the LORD while He may be found, Call upon Him while He is near. Let the wicked forsake his way, And the unrighteous man his thoughts; Let him return to the LORD, And He will have mercy on him; And to our God, For He will abundantly pardon.
PROPOSITION: To present a simple salvation message.
INTRODUCTION:
Luke 23:39-43 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, see-ing 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 noth-ing 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."
In The Presence Of Hope We Come To Realize That …
I. GOD HAS COME TO MEET US WHERE WE ARE
Application: Have you ever wondered … of all the crosses, on all the hills, on all the days in any month of any year, why that cross, on that hill, in that month, on that day, and at that time?
It wasn’t by accident that those men were in that place in the presence of Jesus. It wasn’t by accident that Jesus was crucified in the middle of these two men - it was the divine plan of God. God orchestrated the meeting of Jesus with these two men:
Mark 15:25-28 Now it was the third hour, and they crucified Him. 26 And the inscription of His accusation was written above: THE KING OF THE JEWS. 27 With Him they also crucified two robbers, one on His right and the other on His left. 28 So the Scripture was fulfilled which says, "And He was numbered with the transgressors."
Isaiah 53:12 Therefore I will divide Him a portion with the great, And He shall divide the spoil with the strong, Because He poured out His soul unto death, And He was numbered with the transgressors, And He bore the sin of many, And made intercession for the transgressors.
Perhaps this was the first time these men had an opportunity to experi-ence the presence of God. But when they needed Him most, there He was. Right in the midst of them. Reaching out to them. One thief dying on the cross took advantage of God’s closeness ... “Then he said to Jesus, "Lord, remember me when You come into Your kingdom."
Acts 17:26-28 "And He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined their pre-appointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings, 27. so that they should seek the Lord, in the hope that they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us; 28. for in Him we live and move and have our being, as also some of your own poets have said, ’For we are also His offspring.”
Isaiah 46:13a “I bring My righteousness near it shall not be far off, My salvation shall not linger.”
Isaiah 51:5a “My righteousness is near, My salvation has gone forth, ...”
Application: In the routine of your life and in the crisis of your life, God is near to you. He is your hope in the midst of all that happens in your life. God places Himself there so that you my experience His salvation, His comfort, His love and His passion for you.
In The Presence Of Hope We Find That …
II. GOD ACCEPTS US JUST AS WE ARE
Application: The thief hanging on the cross was still a thief when he said to Jesus, “Lord, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” -- but he was no longer a thief when Jesus said to him, “Today you will be with Me in paradise.”
Isaiah 55:6,7a Seek the LORD while He may be found, Call upon Him while He is near. Let the wicked forsake his way, And the unrighteous man his thoughts;
Application: There is a transformation that takes place in the presence of God. What has been isn’t what always has to be. The despair and helpless-ness melts away in the presence of hope. The problems that confront our lives become possibilities. The fear that sometimes grips us melts into forti-tude in the presence of God. And the filth of sin is washed away in the Hope found in the presence of Jesus:
1 Corinthians 6:9-10 Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offend-ers, nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swin-dlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.
2 Corinthians 5:17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.
In The Presence Of Hope We Come To Understand That …
III. GOD WILL SAVE ANYONE WHO WILL CALL UPON HIM
Application: Two thieves hung upon the cross beside Jesus. One thief asked Jesus to remember him and he was saved.
Isaiah 55:6,7 Seek the LORD while He may be found, Call upon Him while He is near. Let the wicked forsake his way, And the unrighteous man his thoughts; Let him return to the LORD, And He will have mercy on him; And to our God, For He will abundantly pardon.
The other thief, although he knew who Jesus was, never asked Him for salvation and because of his decision he is right now, today, crying out for mercy in hell’s fiery torment.
But what about the routine of our lives – how many of us live in daily torment, living as though we have no hope, when all we have to do is to call upon Jesus and thus be delivered?
You see, salvation isn’t something the believer will get, salvation is something the believer possesses. Even in the midst of life, God’s desire is to save you – to give you reason for hope, to help you to know that He isn’t only your hope for tomorrow, He is also your hope for right now.
Hebrews 4:15,16 For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympa-thize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. 16 Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
Hebrews 7:25 Therefore He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make interces-sion for them.
CONCLUSION: Lent, Easter, the cross, the tomb, the resurrection, are all about salvation. Easter is about God so loving you that He did everything within His power to reach out to you with the wonderful message of salvation
