Today, You will be with me in Paradise – Kenton David

Good Friday Sermon presented by Kenton David on 03/21/2008 at Miller Evangelical Christian Union Church

It is a blessing to know that our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ died on the cross for you and I. I want to speak to you today on the Topic “You Will Be with Me in Paradise”. Please turn with me to Luke 23:35-43. Now we know that our Lord and Savior while dying on the cross was ridiculed, mocked, and talked about. Verse 35 says: The crowd watched and the leaders scoffed. “He saved others,” they said, “let him save himself if he is really God’s Messiah, the Chosen One.” Not only did the leaders mock and ridicule him but the soldiers joined them in verse 37 and they told him: “If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself!” Even one of the thieves hanging next to Jesus mocked and ridiculed him by telling him: “so you’re the Messiah, aren’t you the Christ, if you are the Christ prove it by saving yourself and us. Now I noticed there was something common between the leaders, the Roman soldiers and that one specific criminal. They all used that two letter word If. Now I don’t know how many of you notice but this is the exact same thing Satan told Jesus in the Wilderness. “If you are the Son of God, change this stone into a loaf of bread. If you are the Son of God bow down and worship me. If you are the Son of God, jump off! For the Scriptures say, ‘He will order his angels to protect and guard you. And they will hold you up with their hands so you won’t even hurt your foot on a stone.” So we see that even when Jesus was on the cross he was being tempted by the devil.

The devil will use those who are in leadership positions, those who are there to protect and even those who are in their own misery around us. But thanks be to God Jesus did not decide to save himself but decided to stay on the cross and die for sinners like you and like me. Now, lets look at the other criminal.

As I read this passage of scripture I found it sad to see that this criminal had to go through some unnecessary pain just to see who Jesus was, all because of his choice to be a thief. However, in his final hours of life this second thief made a life changing decision that helped him get into paradise. I tell you today saints even at the last minute you can be saved. Now there are a few reasons why this thief made it into paradise. The first reason is that he feared God. In verse 39 he looks at the other thief and he tells him: “Don’t you fear God even when you have been sentenced to die?” what is wrong with you? How many of us fear God church. If you fear God there are some things you just won’t do. When you fear God, You won’t lie. When you fear God you won’t steal. When you fear God you won’t kill people, when you fear God you will respect God’s men and women. The thief did not mock Jesus because he feared God. Sadly, this had to happen for this thief to fear God. Sometimes God has to allow us to hit that wall, to fall flat on our face so we can learn to fear him. The second thing that helped him get into paradise is that he saw himself different from Jesus. He recognized the authority and SINLESSNESS of Jesus He saw himself as a sinner and he saw Jesus as a righteous man. If you look at verse 41 he continues to tell the other thief: We deserve to die for our crimes. In other words he is saying for the wages of sin is death. “We deserve to die, (said the thief) but this man hasn’t done anything wrong”. He’s spotless.

The Bible tells us that all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. But, Jesus never sinned. The reason why he never sinned was because he was God in human flesh. That means he’s flawless, he’s holy, he’s perfect and he can never make a mistake. The question is why was he on the cross. Well its because he loved us. Jesus said in John 10 “I will sacrifice my life for my sheep. So not only did the thief fear god, not only did he see Jesus as a righteous man but the final reason that helped him get into paradise is that he saw Jesus as Lord. That was the difference between this thief and the first thief, the Roman soldiers and the leaders. Each one of them said if you be the Christ, If you are the Son of God. But this thief said Lord. Notice he did not say if you be Lord, notice he did not say if you get into your kingdom but he said Lord when you get into your kingdom remember me. I believe that the dying criminal had more faith than the rest of Jesus’ followers put together. I say this because although the disciples continued to love Jesus, their hopes for the Kingdom were shattered. Most of them had gone into hiding. As one of his followers sadly said two days later,

“We had thought he was the Messiah who had come to rescue Israel” (24:21)

By contrast, the criminal looked at the man who was dying next to him and said, “Lord, remember me when you come into your Kingdom.” Faith can move mountains church. This man’s faith made him see beyond the present shame and he saw the coming glory. Now what blew me away was the way Jesus answered.

Notice Jesus did not tell him to enter my kingdom you have to be baptized. Notice he did not say that you have to have a position in the church. Jesus did not say anything like that but he said today. Not tomorrow, not next week or next month but TODAY you will be with me in paradise. That’s what you call assurance of salvation. All because he saw Jesus as Lord. That’s important because Romans 10:9 says that “If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by confessing with your mouth that you are saved.” I believe church that many of us are just like the thief who ridiculed Jesus. We always question God& we always say well if you are God you wont let this happen to me & God being who he is because of his grace and mercy still loves us even when we question him. We consistently sin and every time we sin we nail Jesus right back on the cross & God sits there and watches us sacrifice his son over and over and over again. So I ask you do you not fear God even when you are spiritually hungry and dying. The thief who made it into heaven is a great example letting us know that even at the last minute you can be saved you can make it to paradise but we must be sincere. But don’t make it a practice to wait for the last minute because you can save yourself from a lot of pain and misery. So I leave you with this question when are you going to stop mocking and ridiculing Jesus and recognize him for who he is? Are you aiming to be told “today, you will be with me in paradise?

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