Purpose Of The Message

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You're listening to Heath Word with our pastor and teacher Ken Davis. Pastor Ken is the senior pastor of Calvary Chapel Southwest Metro in Burleson, Texas. Please join us as we study the Gospel of Luke verse by verse.

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You know, I'm not here this morning to talk to you about how you can feel good about yourself and increase your self-esteem. I'm not here this morning to tell you how to be financially successful. I'm not here this morning to tell you about how you can cast your bread upon the waters that it might return unto you a hundredfold. I'm not here to talk to you this morning about the power of positive thinking or about a positive confession. I'm here to tell you that apart from Jesus Christ, you are a sinner who is destined for eternal destruction in hell. That's what I'm here to tell you this morning.

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The Gospel of Luke is the third account in the Gospels of the life and teachings of our Savior, Jesus Christ. As believers, there are a few studies that will benefit us more spiritually than studying the life and teachings of the Master. There's a lot of nonsense being passed off as truth in the body of Christ in regards to esteeming self and pampering damaged egos. As we just heard from Pastor Ken, this is not a biblical perspective. God's Word teaches us that we should esteem ourselves as He sees us. Sinners in desperate need of a Savior. Don't forget to stay with us after today's message to hear more information about Heed the Word, specifically how you can get a free copy of this teaching. But for now, please open your Bibles to the Book of Acts, chapter 23, verse 26.

Setting The Scene At The Cross

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Join Pastor Ken.

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You may be justified in your anger. God would have been justified in his. And yet he chose to forgive. So should we. So must we, if we are to be called by his name. Now, in the midst of all of this, Jesus is being rebuked and reviled. Mark 15, 27 through 32 tells us this with him they also crucified two robbers, one on his right and the other on his left. So the scripture was fulfilled, which says, and he was numbered with the transgressors, and those who passed by blasphemed him, wagging their heads and saying, Aha, you who destroy the temple and build it in three days, save yourself and come down from the cross. Likewise the chief priests also, mocking among themselves with the scribes, said, He saved others, himself he cannot save. Let the Christ, the King of Israel, descend now from the cross that we may see and believe. Even those who were crucified with him reviled him. Even those who were being crucified upon his left and upon his right, even they mocked him, being in the same situation themselves. Now we're going to talk probably next week about the multitude of prophecies that were fulfilled in the crucifixion of Christ. We're not going to focus on those today, but rather upon the event itself.

Why Christ Wouldn’t Save Himself

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But here we have the people passing by just shaking their heads and saying, Man, he said he would destroy the temple in three days and build it up again. Look at him now. And the priests and the scribes saying, He saved others, but himself, he can't save.

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You know what? They were right.

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They said, Hey, if you're the Christ, if you're the King of Israel, come down from the cross and we'll believe you. But you know what? If he had come down from the cross, then he could not have been the Christ. He saved others. Himself he could not save. That's a true statement, because had he saved himself, he could not have saved others. Had Christ saved himself, then we would be without a savior. It was an either-or situation. His life was the opportunity cost for our salvation. He had to die that we might live. And so for him to be the Christ, he could not save himself. Oh, he could have saved himself and left us hopeless, but he loved you too much for that. And so, in compassion and love, he refused to save himself.

The Thief’s Heart Begins To Change

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And as the two thieves are reviling him, something begins to happen in the heart of one of these men. I don't know what it was that caused the change in this man's heart. Maybe it was the sign that he saw above Jesus' head that was written in Greek and in Latin and in Hebrew, saying the king of the Jews. Maybe when he saw that sign, he recognized that perhaps this was indeed the very king of the Jews, or maybe it was the incredible compassion that Jesus showed when he heard him pray, Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do. Maybe it was the miraculous sign of the sun being blotted out for the space of several hours. Maybe it was that. I don't know what it was that the Holy Spirit used to move the heart of this thief. And yet his heart is moved. Turning back to Luke 23, verse 39. Then one of the criminals who were hanged blasphemed him, saying, Notice now it says one of the criminals. The other has gone silent. He blasphemed him, saying, If you are the Christ, save yourself and us. But the other answering rebuked him, saying, Do you not even fear God, seeing you were under the same condemnation? And we indeed justly, for we received the due reward

Four Truths The Thief Realized

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of our deeds, but this man has done nothing wrong. Then he said to Jesus, Lord, remember me when you come into your kingdom. And Jesus said to him, Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise. Schofield gives an excellent outline of these verses, and I want to share it with you. In these four short verses, four or five short verses here, we have an incredible testimony. This sinner, this thief comes to recognize several things that we ourselves would do well to recognize. First, he recognizes the justice of his own punishment as he speaks to the other thief and then to Jesus. Verses 40 and 41, he said, You remember, do you not even fear God seeing you are under the same condemnation? And we indeed justly, for we receive the due reward of our deeds. Romans 6.23 tells us that the wages of sin is death. This thief, in those moments upon the cross, recognizes the justice of his execution. He recognizes the fact that he is getting exactly what he deserves. He deserves to die. We also need to recognize the fact that as those who have sinned, as rebels against God, as murderers ourselves, we deserve to die. The Bible says that the heart of man is desperately wicked. Who can know it? You know, I'm not here this morning to talk to you about how you can feel good about yourself and increase your self-esteem. I'm not here this morning to tell you how to be financially successful. I'm not here this morning to tell you about how you can cast your bread upon the waters that it might return unto you a hundredfold. I'm not here to talk to you this morning about the power of positive thinking or about a positive confession. I'm here to tell you that apart from Jesus Christ, you are a sinner who is destined for eternal destruction in hell. That's what I'm here to tell you this morning. You deserve to die. And if God this morning were to rip off the ceiling of this building and crush every one of us, he would be completely justified in doing so. It's true. But Ken, that doesn't feel good. I don't like to hear that. I don't want you to talk about sin and judgment and death. Well, guys, that's reality. That's the truth. If I don't tell you that I am not your friend, I don't want my blessings to be simply those that I experience here. I want the blessing of eternal life. And that is what Jesus offers us: eternal life, abundant life. And yes, that begins the moment we receive him. And yes, God is going to bless us. And yes, God will provide for our needs, but we have to understand that those are byproducts of a relationship that we have with the God of the universe, the one

We Deserve Judgment, Christ Took It

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who loves us so much that so that he wouldn't have to destroy us, he sent his son to die in our place. You see, you are not saved simply by the fact that Jesus died on the cross. You are saved by the fact that while Jesus was dying upon the cross, God took all of your sin and all of the sin of this world and placed it there upon Jesus. That he who knew no sin became sin for us. And that God poured out his wrath and his judgment upon Christ, upon his son. It's because of that that you can be saved. And you see, this thief is recognizing that incredible fact there on the cross that he is suffering justly, that his punishment is deserved. The second thing that he recognizes is the sinless character of Christ. Luke 23, verse 41 says, But this man has done nothing wrong. Jesus did nothing wrong. Hebrews chapter 4, verses 15 and 16 tells us that we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses. But was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. Guys, yes, you deserve to die. Of course you do. That's why Jesus had to die for you. But guess what? He understands. He is compassionate. He recognizes the frailty of your flesh. And when you sin, God is not surprised. It isn't as though you come to Christ and you're born again and you're saved. And then as you're going through your life, you stumble and you fall into sin. And God sits up in heaven saying, Boy, you know, if I had known Ken was going to do that, I'd have never called him into the ministry. You know, I can't surprise God. God knew before I was ever born everything that I would do. He knew before he called me and made me his own that there would be times in my life when I would sin. He knows that there are times in your life when you're going to sin. The Bible says that he who says he is without sin is a liar. And so we know that we sin. But thank God he is faithful and true, and that when we confess

The Sinlessness And Compassion Of Jesus

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our sins to him, he forgives us.

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Because of what Jesus did. And so the thief there recognizes that very fact.

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As Paul would write in 2 Corinthians verses 20 and 21 of chapter 5. Now then we are ambassadors for Christ. As though God did beseech you by us, and in other words, through us, we pray you in Christ's stead, meaning we're speaking on behalf of Jesus Himself, be reconciled to God. For he hath made him to be sin for us who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. What does that mean? That means this: that when you identify yourself with Jesus Christ upon the cross, not only does your sinfulness transfer to Christ, but God's righteousness is thereby transferred to you. He takes our sin and he gives us his righteousness. So when you sin, understand that there is grace and that there is forgiveness, and that not only are you forgiven, but that you stand righteous before God because your righteousness is the righteousness of Jesus Christ. Amen. There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus. He recognized his own sinfulness. He recognized the sinlessness of Christ. And then he also recognizes the deity of Christ and that he calls him Lord. That is kurios, which means master and owner. He recognizes the fact that Christ would live beyond the grave because it tells him that he wants him to remember him. And he recognizes that there was a kingdom coming beyond the cross. All of those realizations we see in verse 42, and the thief says to Jesus, Lord, remember me when you come into your kingdom. Remember me when you come into your kingdom. That means I recognize the fact that there's going to be a kingdom. I recognize the fact that you are going to live through this experience, even though you die, because how else would you be able to remember me? All this, this man recognizes as he hangs dying upon a cross. What incredible hope that gives us that it is never too late. While there is life, there is hope.

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But lest we tempt God, let us remember that the other thief perished.

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There is grace, but we must receive it. We must avail ourselves of it. Don't think that you'll wait until you hang upon your own cross to receive Jesus. Very likely this was the first

Righteousness Exchanged At The Cross

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opportunity this thief had had to receive Jesus, and he takes that opportunity. Now Jesus says something here that creates some serious problems for many denominations who place anything other than faith alone as a basis for salvation. Because here this thief hangs upon the cross, asks Jesus to remember him, and Jesus says, Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise. Jesus doesn't say, Well, thief, really wish you'd talked to me about this before because you really need to be baptized. And since you since you can't be baptized, I guess you're not going to heaven because you know baptism is necessary for salvation. Nor does Jesus say, Well, you know, um, you'd better really quickly here ask to be baptized with the Holy Spirit and speak in tongues, because you know, if you don't speak in tongues, you're not really saved, right? You know, Jesus doesn't say any of those things.

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He says, I say unto you, today you will be with me in paradise. What does that tell us?

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That tells us that the only thing necessary for salvation is faith in Jesus Christ. We are saved by grace alone, through faith alone. What a blessing that is. You know, there's no soul sleep here. Jesus doesn't say to him, Assuredly, I say to you this day, you will be with me in paradise eventually after you wake up from a very, very long nap. No. Jesus says, Assuredly, I say unto you, today you will be with me in paradise. Paradise is that upper region of the heaven. And according to the early church fathers, paradise is quite literally the garden of Eden. That place where our first parents lived. Do we know for a fact that that's what it means? No. I'd like to think that's the case. That we'll walk once again in the garden of God where our first father walked before us. But you know what? Whether it's the Garden of Eden or Paradise or whatever you want to call it, I'm just glad to be there with Jesus. Amen. Because where he is, that's where we want to be. Now it was about the sixth hour, and there was darkness over all the earth until the ninth hour. Then the sun was darkened, and the veil of the temple was torn into.

Faith Alone And Paradise Today

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That veil which separated man from that holy of holies, it was torn in two, signifying the fact that in his death Jesus eliminated the separation that we have from God. And when Jesus had cried out with a loud voice, he said, Father, into your hands I commit my spirit. Having said this, he breathed his last. So when the centurion saw what had happened, he glorified God, saying, Certainly this was a righteous man. One of the other gospels also shares with us that he said, Surely this was the Son of God. And the whole crowd who came together to that site, seeing what had been done, beat their breasts and returned. But all his acquaintances and the women who followed him from Galilee stood at a distance watching these things. Now, behold, there was a man named Joseph, a council member, a good and just man. He had not consented to their decision, indeed. He was from Arimathea, a city of the Jews, who himself was also waiting for the kingdom of God. This man went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Then he took it down, we know from the other gospel accounts that Nicodemus was with him. He took it down, wrapped it in linen, and laid it in a tomb that was hewn out of the rock, where no one had ever lain before. That day was the preparation, and the Sabbath drew near, and the women who came who had come with him from Galilee followed after, and they observed the tomb and how his body was laid. Then they returned and prepared spices and fragrant oils, and they rested on the Sabbath according to the commandment. I want to go back and look at this last statement. From the cross. Prior to this, we know from the other gospels that Christ had said several other things. The one preceding this very likely was Tatalestoi, which means it is finished or paid in full, the price for our sins having been paid. But here in verse 46, we read, Father, into your hands I commit my spirit. The word commit in the Greek is parathammi, and it means to place beside or near or to set before or to place down from one's self or for oneself, to deposit, to entrust, or to commit to one's charge. So what do we see by this? When Jesus says, Father, into thy hands, I commit my spirit, what he is saying is, Father, I entrust my spirit to you. I lay my life down. No one took his life from him. He laid it down of his own free will, as he had said that he would.

Darkness, Torn Veil, Final Words

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In John chapter 10, verses 7 through 18, we find these words, and I will finish with these verses. Then Jesus said to them again, Most assuredly I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. All who ever came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them. I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture. The thief does not come except to steal and to kill and to destroy.

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I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly. I am the good shepherd.

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The good shepherd gives his life for the sheep. But a hireling, he who is not the shepherd, one who does not own the sheep, he sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf catches the sheep and scatters them. The hireling flees because he is a hireling and does not care about the sheep. I am the good shepherd, and I know my sheep, and my sheep, and I know my sheep, and am known by my own. Verse 15 As the Father knows me, even so I know the Father, and I lay down my life for the sheep, and other sheep I have which are not of this fold, them also I must bring. He's speaking of us, the Gentiles, and they will hear my voice, and there will be one flock and one shepherd. Therefore, my father loves me, because I lay down my life that I might that I may take it again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This command I have received from my father. As we read today, Jesus laid down his life for you. And as we'll study next week, he will take it up again also for you. Because he said that the thief came to steal and to kill and to destroy, but that he came to give us eternal life and that more abundantly. Yes, Jesus died, but he would rise again. And he died for you,

Joseph Of Arimathea And Burial

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that you could be forgiven for your sins. Won't you receive that forgiveness this morning?

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Unfortunately, that's all the time we have for today. You've been listening to Heed the Word, the teaching ministry of Pastor Ken Davis, Calvary Chapel in Burleson, Texas. We are currently making our way through the Gospel of Luke here on Heed the Word. The Gospel of Luke is packed full of insights about Jesus, our Savior. So we encourage you to join us again, same time, same place, for the next study through Luke with Pastor Ken. As we mentioned at the beginning of today's broadcast, this teaching, as well as many others, are available from the Heed the Word Media Player. You can listen to today's teaching, download today's teaching, subscribe to the Heed the Word podcast, or even get a copy on your mobile phone. Everything's right there. There's even a Bible available for you to follow along in the scriptures as Pastor Ken teaches. So log on to HeedTheWord.org and continue studying with us today. If today's teaching has blessed you, perhaps you'd like to visit us for worship. Calvary Chapel Southwest Metro meets each Sunday morning at 10.30 a.m. and Wednesday evening at 7 p.m. We'd love to have you stop by and join us. For more information and driving directions, log on to www.heedtheword.org. This has been another edition of Heed the Word, the verse by verse, chapter by chapter, and book by book teaching ministry of Ken Davis, Senior Pastor of Calvary Chapel, Southwest Metro. Place a marker in your Bibles and join us next time for our continuing study through the Gospel of Luke right here on Heed the Word.