You Will Be With Me In Paradise

We've been going through a series about the cross. We've been reflecting on the cross, the Holy Cross, and what it really means for us, and just taking time to look at the final words of Jesus. Reflecting on the final words of Jesus. And today we're going to look at You Will Be With Me In Paradise. You Will Be With Me, one of the final words of Jesus, probably the second final word of Jesus, right before He went to the Father.

So let me ask you this. On a scale of one to ten, let's have a little fun right now, okay? It's okay to have fun in church, right? Okay, yeah, yeah. On a scale of one to ten, how good are you?

How good are you? So, say if you're 90 or above, you're probably more like Billy Graham or Mother Teresa. We do have a few of those in here. Or if you're a one or two, maybe that's an axe murderer. Or Hitler or something like that.

So real quickly, I want you to just turn to your neighbor real quick and tell them, you know, from a scale of one to one hundred, one to one hundred, how good are you? All right, y'all know. That's great. Okay, okay. All right, y'all are having a really good time.

All right. Some of you have given the number and the other one's like, no, you ain't. You ain't that high on the scale. So, how many of you say you're one through thirty today? How many of you, honest, you don't have to raise your hand.

Oh, we do have a hand raised here. We have a few hands raised here. Ushers, would you escort them out because they are just so, just kidding. If you're thirty to fifty, how many of the people we have in here? Okay, okay.

So, you admit that you're not that great, but you're kind of trying to figure it out, right? You're being, thank you for your honesty. Fifty to eighty. We have any fifty to eighties in here? Well, I'm a good person.

I definitely am a good person. All right. Yeah, yeah. You're like, oh, I'm pretty confident I'm a good person. How about those eighties and up?

Do we have any, like, perfect people in this place that's like, I am an eighty. I am an eighty and up. All right. Y'all make us sick, okay? Walking around like your mother Teresa or something.

Come on. So, let me give you some simple and obvious thoughts about how you are to feel about this, okay? When you compare yourself to others, when you compare yourself to others, there's two things you do. You either feel, when you compare yourself to other people, you feel better about yourself. Because you look at that person and you're like, hey, I'm better than that person.

I mean, I don't, I don't use that kind of language, so I'm just a little bit better than them at least. Or we tend to try to help. I help people once in a while, you know, I try to do that. I give them occasion, or I attend church on occasion, or after all, I don't murder anybody. I'm not a murderer, so you tend to look at other people and feel better about yourself.

I mean, I don't cheat on my taxes. Well, maybe, I don't know. I'm generally a good person, so when we compare ourselves to others, we feel better about ourselves, or we feel worse about ourselves. When we look at other people, sometimes we feel inadequate, don't we? Like, maybe you're a mom, and you see this super mom that lives across the street from you.

You cannot figure it out. They just have it all together. They have the best career ever, you know. Their kids are always dressed. Their kids are always clean.

She's always clean, has the perfect makeup. And you're like, why? Look at me. I'm just dealing with it, right? I can't even get my hair brushed because my kids are just driving me crazy.

I'm barely making it. Some of you could probably relate to that, or that guy that is just so gifted financially. It seems like everything that they touch just turns to money, turns to gold, and you're just struggling to get by from day to day. And you compare yourself to that person. Or that super-Christian.

How many of us know super-Christians in our lives, right? You've got some super-Christians. There are those people that, like, they know every memory. They've memorized the whole Bible, basically. I mean, even as a pastor, sometimes you come across those people, and they're like, you know, Philippians, so-and-so, so-and-so says, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.

And they have an answer for everything. They're just like, and perhaps that, you know, when they walk in, you can kind of hear angel songs. Oh, hallelujah, hallelujah. Those people, right? Or they're powerful prayer warriors.

You just hear them, and they're just praying down heaven. They're just connecting with heaven. And you just look at yourself, and you're like, I can't pray like that. I can't quote the Bible that way. So, when we compare ourselves to other people, we either feel better about ourselves, or we feel inadequate.

Today, we are going to look at two people that were not so good. Two people that were on crosses beside Jesus that were not good people. If you'll follow along with me and Luke, the account of Luke of the cross, Luke 23, 32, 33. And we do have an app on our, we use the Bible.com app, Bible app.

If you want to go on there and find Salt Church, you can follow along there on the app, or you can pull open those notes and follow along there and take some notes if you want to and talk about it during the week. So, it says this, two other men, both criminals, were also led out with Christ to be executed. And when they came to the place called the skull, there they crucified Jesus along with the criminals, one on his right and the other on his left. So we have two criminals here, not so good people. Why were they not so good?

Well, crucifixion was one of many ways in that day as many of you probably know because you're smart people and you study history. But crucifixion was one of many, many ways that they would execute someone. It was specifically meant to do two things. It was to humiliate someone, to just humiliate them publicly in front of someone. Or to cause excruciating pain.

In fact, that's where we get the word excruciating. It means out of the cross. So it was meant for those two things. And this meant prolonged death for days and days. It was prolonged death and it was extremely expensive to do this.

You had to hire four soldiers plus a centurion to be there for that one criminal that they were executing. And they were trained in the art of torture. It was just humiliating and excruciating. It was so gruesome that Roman citizens were not allowed to be crucified. Crucifixion was a horrific, horrible death.

And the purpose of it was intentionally to degrade the person on the cross. In fact, what the Roman government was essentially saying, Jesus, you are the king of the Jews, but you are nothing in our eyes. You are nothing but a slave. You call yourself a king. You call yourself a king, but here's wrong.

And here's what it is. And they would, they would, they would, in fact, Jesus himself died quicker than most crucifixions, believe it or not. Because they would, because they were skilled in the art of prolonging death. And he was considered a piece of meat. It's wrong.

In Therese 39 it says, one of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at Jesus. Aren't you the cry, save yourself and us. I mean, so essentially he's like, you think you're God? Go ahead and save us. You think you're God?

I want to believe in you, but I, you know, I'm not going to believe in you until you save me. You've got to show me something. You've got to show me that you're God. Well, if you're Jesus Christ, if you're the God that everybody said was to come, the Messiah that was to come in flesh, why don't you bring us off this cross? Show me that you are God.

But the other criminal rebuked him. Don't you fear God, he said, since you are under the same sentence? We are punished justly for we are getting what we deserve, what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong. In verse 34 it says, then he said, Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.

And Jesus answered him, I tell you the truth that today, these powerful words, you will be with me today, not maybe, not. If you're good enough, but you will be with me in paradise. This communicates an important truth, a very important truth. The greatest common misunderstanding today is that good people go to heaven. Good people go to heaven.

If you're good enough, we're not sure the line of good enough, we don't know how good enough you have to be, but there's this idea that good people, if you're good enough, wherever that line is, wherever it takes us to get on the Jesus side of the house, on the grace side of the house, we have to be good enough to get there. I'm not, and we think, oh, I'm not as bad as a Hitler. I'm not as, you know, I'm not as bad as some people I see when we compare ourselves to others. But if I try hard enough, if I'm just good enough, maybe, maybe, maybe I can get to heaven. I think of that song, she's gone to heaven, so I got to be good, so I can see my baby when I leave this world, right?

That was a real popular song today. Pearl Jam covered the old song just in recent years. And that's the philosophy of today. If I could just be good enough, maybe I'll get to heaven. But the truth is, good people don't go to heaven.

Good people don't go to heaven. Forgiven people go to heaven. Forgiven people go to heaven. Good people don't go to heaven because none of us are good. Romans 3 says that we've all fallen short of the glory of God.

All of us have sinned. But the good news is that good people don't go to heaven. Forgiven people go to heaven. That's great news. So let's take a look at the two criminals as we put some application to this about those who are forgiven.

When we look at the criminal that asked for forgiveness, the forgiving criminal, the first thing we see is that he admits wrong. Those who are forgiven admit wrong. They admit wrong. Luke's account of the criminal says it like this. We are punished justly for we are getting what our deeds deserve.

But this man has done nothing. He says, I'm punished because I've done wrong. He admits he's wrong. What's interesting is that most do not admit that they're wrong or maybe they don't know that they're wrong. I mean, most of us would say, if we're honest with ourselves, I'm not perfect, but I'm better than that person.

I'm trying to work it out. I'm not perfect, but but I'm getting there. I'm almost there. And we compare ourselves on that scale of what good is based on what we see other people meeting on that scale. And and we don't really recognize many don't recognize their their need for a savior.

But the forgiven instead, this is the difference between the forgiven and and those who are trying to be good. The forgiven instead compare their selves to Jesus Christ is a 100 is a 100 on the scale. And when this happens, we. We. We know we aren't 100.

When we look at Jesus, the perfect Lamb of God who did not sin, we know that we are not 100. Let me convince you for a second that you're not 100. Can I do that? All of you people that were 80s and 100s, can I try to convince that? Okay, we all know that we're all liars.

I don't think that's hard. All of you have lied at some point. I've lied. You've lied. Maybe it was when you were really young or maybe it was yesterday when you were talking to your wife or husband or somebody you didn't want to hang out with.

Oh, I've got something else to do. So that's not hard. But have you ever stolen anything? I'm not even talking about recently. Some of you are like, oh gosh, I did it yesterday.

So that's an easy one. But many of you are like, no, I've never stolen anything. A piece of bubble gum from the supermarket at one time or whatever. You know, I stole something. When I was four years old, I stole something.

I was playing with my friend at four years old. How do you become a thief at four years old? Aren't four-year-olds innocent? Some of you are like, no. If you had kids, you know.

And I remember playing in the room and I pulled open the top drawer of the Chester drawers and I saw this beautiful black imprinted wallet. It had a horse on it. It was beautiful. Four-year-old boy, that was like a piece of gold. You're like, man, I want that wallet.

I want that wallet. So what did I do? I grabbed that wallet and put it in my pocket. When I got home that day, my mom saw me with that wallet. I wasn't a very smart thief.

I mean, come on. I was four years old. And she asked me where I got that wallet. And I lied. I said, Brad gave it to me.

Brad was the friend. And she said, oh, okay. A few hours later, my mom comes in and says, you lied to me. You took that wallet, didn't you? And it was on that night, right?

It was bad. It was a bad night for a four-year-old. So I'm a lie. I'm a thief. I'm a liar and a thief in one go.

Have you ever looked at somebody or thought lustfully in your heart? Well, the Bible says, Jesus says, you're an adulterer in your heart. Have you ever put something before God in your life? Anything. What does the Bible say of that?

You're an idolater. So if you committed any of these things or all these things, you're a lying, adulterous, idol-worshiping thief. Welcome to Psalms. We make you feel good about yourself. We do a good job here of making you feel cushy, right?

But what we see here is that none of us, none of us can say that we are a 100. James 10 and 2 says it like this, and I love how James puts it. He just knocks you right straight in the face for the person who keeps all of the law. except one is as guilty as the person who has broken all God's laws. What does that mean?

It means that if you've broken just one law, it's as good as breaking every commandment in the book. So the person who's broken so many laws you can't even count, and you've broken that one law, you're just as guilty as the other one. So it doesn't matter if you're a 23, it doesn't matter if you're a 42, it doesn't matter if you're a 71, it doesn't matter if you're a 99.9999, you are not good enough. compared to Christ, because we all have fallen short of the glory of God, and we need forgiveness.

And the forgiven criminal admits his wrong, and he gives, and he places his trust in the Christ. The forgiven know that they are wrong and admit it. We've got to realize that we are not perfect. But thank God for Jesus, because number two, we see that the forgiven ...the forgiven thief asks for eternal help.

Those who are forgiven ask for eternal help. See, what the other thief did, he asked for help now. He said, if you are God, show me. If you are God, take this cross that I'm bearing off of you. If you are God, why don't you just deliver me right now?

And for many, that's how they treat God. If you are really God, you will answer my prayer. If you are really God, you will heal my grandmother. If you are really God, you will take this pain away from me. If you are really God, you will give me that promotion.

If you are really God, you will find that wife, or that spouse, or that husband, or that ...if you are really God, you will make my life better. And I will believe you. So if you are really God, show me. But the difference is the forgiven criminal asks for eternal help.

Look what it says in verse 42. It says, And then He said, Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom. And Jesus answered, I tell you the truth. Today, you will be with me in paradise. Today, you will be with me.

Now, let me say it this way. Both criminals were guilty. Both were suffering severely. Both were dying and needing forgiveness. Both were equally near Christ.

Both saw and heard everything that was happening that day. Both saw and heard everything that was happening that day. In those six hours, they watched what Jesus went through. They saw what He was walking through. They heard His final words as He was on the cross.

All of them, all of them, both of them, both of them heard and knew. But one of them asked for forgiveness. One of them recognized their need for forgiveness. One of them recognized their need for forgiveness. So my question is, do you recognize your need for forgiveness?

Do you recognize your need for forgiveness? The reality is that every one of us are one of those two thieves. Every one of us are one of those two thieves. There are people today in this church that are sitting side by side, and you're hearing the same message, you're hearing the same good news about forgiveness. You're near to Christ just as much as the other person, and one will hear the words of God, and their hearts will open up to a Jesus on the cross that says, I forgive you, and they will open their lives up to Jesus, they will accept Jesus as their Savior, they will be changed, they will be transformed, and they will be made a new creation in Jesus' name today.

But yet, there will be those who will be right side by side. Hear the message. Check the box. Easter, done. What's for dinner?

Same message. Same opportunity to have the living God change them. We all are one of two thieves. We are all guilty. And no matter what your number is, maybe you're a twenty, maybe you're an eighty, but no matter what your number is, Christ completes it.

If you're a twenty, He's the eighty. If you're an eighty, He's the twenty. The fact is that all of us are zeros when we look at Christ. The fact is, none of us are good. And what Jesus does, when He comes into the picture, He makes us all one hundreds.

When He comes into our lives, He makes up the difference. And when you call on Him, you will become a one hundred in His name and through His blood. And those that are in Jesus are one hundreds. And He has that available to you today. He declares you righteous as the Bible clearly states.

Therefore, no one will be declared righteous in God's sight by observing the law. Rather, through the law, we become conscious of sin. So what's the law for? The law isn't to try to get to heaven. Because we'll never equal that.

We'll never be able to do that. You know, the Pharisees, they had hundreds and hundreds of laws on top of laws, trying to work it out perfectly and nobody could meet those standards. It was impossible. The purpose of the law is to reveal to us our sin. When we look at the law, we realize that we're just not good enough.

But it says this, but now a righteousness from God apart from law, a righteousness from God has been made known. This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. To anyone who believe, not by works, but by faith. Not by religious activities, not by going to church, not by giving more, not by getting the best number you can possibly get in this life. It's through Jesus Christ.

He's the one that completes us. The thief couldn't walk straight now. He was on the cross. He was bound by his feet. The thief couldn't perform good works.

He was tied. His hands were tied. The thief couldn't turn over a new leaf in life. He was getting ready to pass from this life. He couldn't go out and give more.

He was on a cross. He couldn't go join a church. He didn't have anywhere he could go. But because the reality that good people don't go to heaven, it wasn't about being good enough. Some of you need to hear that today.

It's not about being good enough. All of your life, you've probably thought it's about how good I am to get into heaven. For forgiven people to go to heaven. Not good people, but forgiven people. And because of what Jesus did on the cross, Jesus would say, into my hands, into your hands, Father, I commit my spirit.

He would die. And three days later, he would rise from the dead. And the church would gather today all around the world to celebrate the risen Savior that he is absolutely alive today. The cross is useless. Forgiveness is useless unless we have a risen Savior.

The cross and the risen Savior work together. And you can have Christ as your personal Savior because not only did he die for your sin, he is risen. He is risen indeed. That's why 1 Peter 1.3 says, Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

In his great mercy, he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ. So the bottom line, you are one of two groups. Though the repentant feet hung on the cross by nails and hands and feet. Though he was fighting for every breath. Though he was feeling his life slipping away.

But he saw something in Jesus. He looked over to Jesus. He saw Jesus on the cross. And I don't know what that was exactly. We aren't given details of what that was.

But he looked into the eyes of Jesus. Maybe it was the way that Jesus looked at him. Maybe it was the way the crowd was taunting him. And he spoke those words, forgive them. But they don't know what they're doing.

Maybe it was it was the darkness that fell over the area during that period of time. Maybe it was the miracles that he heard about. Maybe it was the fact that that he heard that Jesus is. He ran of sinners, but whatever it was, it didn't matter because he called on Jesus. Whatever happened, he simply called on Jesus.

And when he could do nothing to save himself, he couldn't turn over a new leaf, he couldn't give more money, he couldn't be good enough. At that point, he gave himself to Jesus. All he could do was trust in Jesus. God is calling you just to trust in Jesus. Whatever you're going through, whatever you're feeling today, trust in Jesus.

Remember me, he said. And what did Jesus do? He said, today you will be with me in paradise. Today you will be with me in paradise. Paradise is there.

Paradise is waiting. And it doesn't take works. It's simply trusting in Jesus Christ as your Savior. Lord, would you bow your heads? God, I pray that the eyes of people's hearts are open today to the truth of your sacrifice, the truth of your death and your resurrection, Lord, because you are indeed the Son of God.

And perhaps there are people today, and let me just speak to those who are believing, maybe you're carrying the weight of sin. God, maybe you feel condemned. Maybe you're feeling inadequate because you compare yourself to people. And you feel like, maybe I don't. Let me just say there is no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus.

So I'm praying over you. Father, I pray that you would free them, Lord, that you would release them from anything that is keeping them back from being all that you have called them to be, for being all that you have projected them to do, Lord. I pray that you would lift that burden off of them and lift that weight off of them, that inadequacy, that guilt and that condemnation. Lord, I pray that in the name of Jesus, if you would just release that today. If you would release that today, if that's you, we're praying over them, Lord, Lord, Lord.

And maybe there's those of you that maybe always thought that it was about being. Or maybe you never really understood. I remember that period in my life where I surrendered my life to Jesus, where I discovered, you know what, it isn't about religion. It isn't about going to church. It isn't about doing.

It's simply that Jesus loved me so much that he gave his life on the cross so that I could, without heads bowed, and all eyes closed. Let me remind you, we are all one of two things. We are the thief that just wants, or you're the thief that just wants. The thief that places your life in eternity says, God, I trust you, Jesus, I trust you. If that's you today, would you just gently lift your hand, just lift your hand and say, pray for me, amen, amen, I want to surrender today and give my life to Jesus today.

Write those hands down. If everyone would pray this with me, pray this prayer with me, just surrender it to Jesus, just simply trusting him. Remember the thief on the cross, he didn't know anything about Jesus, but he trusted him. You don't have to know everything about Jesus, but just trust him with your life today. Pray this with me, Father, I believe that you are the Son of God, and that you died on the cross for my sin.

Come into my heart, come into my life. I submit my life to you. Turn back anymore, away from what I thought was good enough and into eternity completely.