"Lord remember me when you come into your kingdom"

Sermon notes from Tuesday 24 September 2019

Luke 23 verses 32 – 46

The passage we read is part of the account of the crucifixion.  We read 2 or 3 times where Jesus spoke on the cross.  Do you remember the last words of a relative?  You remember them well, you think of those last words they said.  I can remember last words people said to me on their deathbed.  They are not all that important.  The last words Jesus said are extremely significant.  He spoke 7 times on the cross.  Let’s remind ourselves of those 7 expressions.

First – “Father forgive them for they know not what they do”.  Man had done his worse, put Christ on a cruel wooden cross, driven nails into his hands and feet, spat on his face, pulled his beard, mocked the King of Kings and Lord of Lords and yet he simply prayed “Father forgive them.”  That prayer was striking at the very heart of your greatest need tonight.  Forgiveness.  Not just someone that we need to say sorry to or someone who needs to forgive us.  Sin is against God.  We need God’s forgiveness.

Second time he spoke – “behold your son” and “behold your mother”.  They are moving words.  The earthly mother of Jesus, Mary was by the cross watching her son.  She had given birth and was watching him now being put to death.  Jesus looks down from the cross and spots her.  He said to Mary “behold your son” and to John “behold your mother.”  Jesus with tender hearted compassion seeing his earthly mother wanted her to be taken care of.  I meet people who say “no-one cares, I am just a number on a system, a speck on a computer.”  You may be in a terrible situation and feel no-one cares about you.  Jesus cares and he loves you.  No-where is that more demonstrated than when he spoke to his mother from the cross.  Forgiveness.  Compassion.

The third time he spoke was “I thirst”.  Can you grasp this tonight – this is the one who created the oceans, Nicaragua and Victoria Falls, all the babbling brooks, streams, rivers, the cloud that would bring rain showers on the earth.  He is now hanging on the cross with parched lips simply saying “I thirst”.  The expression of the suffering of Jesus.  Jesus hung on the cross and he was exceedingly thirsty.  We cannot even imagine that thirst.  He was there bearing our sin so that if you and I will ask him he will give us a drink after which we will never thirst again.  In John 4 Jesus met a woman at a well.  He told her drinking the water he would give her she would never thirst again.

The fourth time he spoke was “my God, my God why have you forsaken me.”   Jesus Christ the lovely son of God who had come into the world entered the stream of man, took our sin on his body on the cross.  His father turned his eyes away – why – because he is of purer eyes to behold iniquity.  He who knew no sin became our sin.  The intensity and pressure and isolation as he hung on that cross.  He was forsaken that you and I might never be forsaken.  If we are outside of Christ sin separates us from God.  We will be separated for ever one day in that awful place called hell.  For every believer Jesus says “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”    He wants you to call upon him and trust him so that you might never be forsaken.

The fifth expression is the one I want to preach on so will come back to that.

The sixth time Jesus spoke was with words of triumph – “it is finished”.  A word of victory.  Jesus was proclaiming to the world everything that needs to be done for soul’s salvation.  Jesus accomplished it on Calvary.  Isn’t it a tragedy when people, so many good living, churchy, religious, moral, kind people don’t see this.  The way to heaven is through Christ and him alone.  He did it all on Calvary.

The seventh expression was “into your hands I commend my spirit.”

The fifth words Jesus spoke was to the dying thief – “today you will with me in paradise.”  Notice the prayer of the thief and the promise of the Saviour.

Firstly – Jesus Christ nailed on cross between 2 convicted criminals, one on the right and one on the left.  They deserved to be crucified.  One was repentant and one rejected Christ.   There was one who called on the Lord – “Lord remember me when you come into your kingdom.”  Sometimes we can, when preaching, tell people they need to be saved, to have their sins forgiven, to be able to go to heaven but someone in the congregation is asking “how do I get saved?”  What do I need to do?  I want to spell it out from the bible how you can get saved.  Here was a man lost and he got saved.  The first thing he did was – he acknowledged his lost condition.  He previously mocked Jesus.  We are all sinners, we have broken God’s law, fallen short of God’s standard.  Secondly he admitted that he was a sinner.  The first step to being with God is to admit our lostness.  “The heart is deceitful and desperately wicked.”  The carnal mind is at enmity with God.  This thief realised his lostness.  There wouldn’t be any point in telling him to turn over a new leaf, to cancel out his bad deeds.  He was lost, utter helpless to do anything about his lostness.  Not talking about some physical incapacity, without strength.  You and I have no capacity to save ourselves.  We are without strength.  Paul said “not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us.” (Titus 3 verse 5)  Mercy is not getting what we deserve, justice is getting what we deserve and grace is getting what we don’t deserve.  This thief could not walk the paths of righteousness.  He could not perform good works, turn over a new leaf.  Thirdly the thief not only acknowledged and admitted his sin but he apprehends something.  This thief who was under sentence of God has just listened to the dialogue.  It was common for the air to have been blue with cursing, swearing.  The dialogue on this occasion was different.  One of these thieves says to the other “do you not fear God?”  That was a revelation.  This man is repenting, calling on the Lord.  He has a grasp on it.  He knows he will meet his judge, will face his punishment for ever, expressing his repentance.  Repent means something far deeper than saying sorry.  It is doing an about turn, going in the opposite direction.  A W Pink “repentance is not intellectual action.”  Fourthly he attempts no defence at his judgment.  We receive the reward of our deeds.  He acknowledged his guilt, recognised he was a transgressor, knew he was a sinner.  Until we take our place as sinners we cannot be saved.  That is what that man came to acknowledge – his lostness, admitted his helplessness, understands that God is judge and attempts no defence of his judgment.  It is before God we stand.  Fifthly he approaches the Lord with his prayer “Lord remember me when you come into your kingdom.”  There has to be a king if going to be a kingdom.  Whose the king – the one on the middle cross is king.  Jesus.  This is the Son of God.  He recognised who he is talking to, grasped the kingdom of Christ.  Saving faith is intellectual perception in a spiritual reception.  Head and heart coming together.  Assent of the mind, consent of the heart.  This man has his heart resting savingly on Jesus Christ. “Lord remember me.”  Not everyone prays this prayer.  Another prayed “Lord be merciful to me a sinner.” We do not have to be in a cathedral, with anyone special, we can call upon the Lord wherever we are.  God sees the attitude of the heart.  The prayer of the thief. 

The promise of the Saviour “today you will be with me in paradise.”  Jesus was saying to the thief “I am taking you to heaven, you will be with me in paradise.”  Can we be sure of heaven?  Read this story, ask yourself did that sinner know where he was going or did he not?  Of course he did.  How did he know?  Jesus told him “you will be with me.”  That little statement of Jesus to the dying thief drives a horse and cart through what good religious people believe.  They believe that if they try as hard as they can, hope for the best, that it will work out.  We can be saved and we can know it.  If you want to be saved I invite you to do what the thief did.  Come to the Lord tonight, in his mercy and grace call upon him.  Just as Jesus spoke salvation to the thief he will speak salvation to you.  “Whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”  Is it really that simple?  Yes.  With a genuine faith come repenting of your sin.  He speaks the word and salvation comes into your heart.