Well, grace and mercy to you from God, our Father and our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Tonight, we continue our Lenten journey by examining the next set of what would be seven words from Jesus on the cross. These final words offer encouragement and hope. And I hope that when we’re done today that you’ll see the entirety of the gospel message in this one sentence. It comes from a short and powerful conversation. between two criminals, sentenced to death, and yet the truth is revealed in it. The reality of our sin, God’s character, His plan for salvation, and the nature of true faith. Join me in your Bibles or on the screens as we look at Luke chapter 23. We’ll begin with verse 32, then skip down to verses 39 through 43. Two other men, both criminals. We’re also let out with him to be executed. One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him. Aren’t you the Messiah? Save yourself and us. But the 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 our deeds deserve, but this man has done nothing wrong. Then he said, Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom. Jesus answered him, truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise. This is the gospel of our Lord. Let us pray. Good and gracious Heavenly Father, we come before you tonight with humble hearts, seeking your presence as we Prepare to receive and hear your word. Father, I pray that the spirit would be amongst us, that you would open our minds and soften our hearts so that we can receive the truth that is your word. Father, thank you for the grace and mercy that you sow freely offer to us through Jesus Christ. Guide our time together so that we might grow closer to you through the power of the Holy Spirit. In Jesus’ name. Amen. Well, every time I read a passage of scripture like this, specifically this. This particular passage of scripture, I’m reminded of Pastor Henry Garrick, who if you were with me on, I believe it was probably the last Wednesday night before Christmas during Advent, I shared a story of his.

Henry Garrick was a military chaplain who was assigned to the 21 Nazi generals of Adolf Hitler as they were being sentenced. And his story, well I won’t get into it tonight with you, but his story reveals God’s grace at work behind men that are just absolutely the most reprehensible part of history that we have ever seen in mankind. And yet, some of those men came to know Jesus Christ as their Savior. But I’m also reminded of this time that I spent in the hospital visiting at the bedside of a man who had learned he only had days to live. You see, in seminary, that time the pastors go where we’re supposed to learn everything we know, there’s a time when we actually work as a chaplain in a hospital. And my time was filled with wonderful interactions, but none spoke to me more than this time with this gentleman who was in hospice care. You see, he had no one to visit him. He had no family. He had no friends. And he refused to let the chaplains come visit him. Shortly thereafter, learning about his impending death sentence from cancer, The nurse refused to give up on him and invited one of the chaplains to come by and visit with him. I honestly entered his room that day, not sure what I would find, expecting not much of a conversation. As I took my place next to the bed and I tried to speak to this gentleman, he wanted none of it. Dejected, I got up to leave, as if his salvation depended entirely upon me. And as I approached the door, I heard this man say, Why? Okay, now we’re getting somewhere. So I go back over and I sit down and I talk to him and it turns out that this gentleman had lived a very hard life. He had done things that I would not repeat here in this time together tonight. But let’s just say that he deserved his death sentence. And he knew it. But yet I shared with him the gospel of Jesus Christ, and not because I did anything other than pronounce the words of forgiveness to this man, tears streamed down his face as he came to the conclusion, much like our thief on the cross, that Jesus is the way, he is the truth, he is the life. But these stories also remind us of the price of our sin. And we’re encouraged when we get these moments when we hear where God’s grace meets our guilt. And it illuminates, uh, what I’m going to say are three profound truths that I want to share with you tonight. As they transform how we see our salvation, our faith, and our time in eternity.

The first truth I want to share with you tonight is the reality of the cost of sin. Now this is often the most difficult thing we can ever come to bear with. Both of these men, besides Jesus, were terrible criminals, and I want to spend a moment sharing this with you because so often I think we skip over and we think of these men as just simple thieves, like they had shoplifted some crayons from Walmart. But the Greek word here is a little more specific. It actually means evildoers. In fact, it’s the same word that Jesus used to describe the men who attacked the man on the road in the parable of the Good Samaritan. These criminals were under condemnation of death because they had hurt someone or killed someone while they were actually stealing from them. And these men weren’t falsely accused. They were guilty by their own omission. You see, in verse 41, one of the criminals says, We are punished justly for forgetting what our deeds deserve. This moment, this criminal recognized something completely true and fundamental about the human condition. And this is something we all must face at some point in time. But our actions have consequences. And because of this, we are sinners deserving of judgment. And this isn’t my opinion here. Scripture backs this up quite a few times. I’ll share a couple of them with you tonight. In Romans 3. 23, Paul writes that we have all sinned and fall short of the glory of God. The prophet Isaiah in chapter 53 says, We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us turning to our own way. And even in our confession and forgiveness that we pronounce each week in our Lutheran, um, traditional liturgy, pulls these words from 1 John 1. 8, and that is that if we claim to be without sin, we have deceived ourselves and the truth is not in us. But of these three men, only one is truly innocent. Just as that thief testified that day, when he looked at Jesus and he said, this man has done nothing wrong, Paul writes to his letter to the Corinthians the same thing. He says that Jesus This was the man who had no sin, but was made sin for us. And here he hung next to two men who represented everything about mankind in society from the time of beginning of time to today.

So I encourage you tonight, if our Lenten journey is to be fruitful, then we must come to terms and recognize that we are responsible for our own sin. That there is a true condition involved in ourselves. And we don’t talk about this a lot in church because sin is, it’s ugly, right? It’s painful. Nobody wants to admit that we’ve done something wrong. But here these two criminals represent both sides of how the world sees Jesus. One of the criminals mocks Jesus. How many of you have ever heard somebody mock Jesus or your faith? We’ve probably all witnessed that at some point in time. Then the other criminal, he admits his own shortcomings. He says, I deserve what I’m getting. So if we do an honest assessment, if we do anything during Lent, I encourage you to do this. To do an honest assessment, just for a moment and say, which criminal do you identify with? Are you able to acknowledge your sinfulness before God? Are you still kind of like that other criminal and still waiting on God to prove Himself to you before you recognize your need for Christ? And even in those moments, we recognize that our pride blinds us for our need for salvation. Our pride causes us to minimize our sins, or worse, compare ourselves more favorably than other people. But true spiritual awakening comes when we confess that I’m not getting what I deserve. But only Christ has done that. And guys, I’m not sharing this with you tonight to shame you. This isn’t here as something heavy that I want to put on your shoulders. I want to encourage you to consider this because When we open our hearts to this reality, we receive something far better than shame, and that is the grace of Jesus Christ. If we go back to that 1 John 1 verse 8 that I recited a moment ago, the very next verse after it is this. For if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just. and forgives us our sins. Purifies us from all unrighteousness. Guys, this isn’t something we just recite on Sunday. This is something we believe in our heart. It’s something that sets us free. But yet, there is no purification for those who don’t believe they need Jesus. Christ himself attested to this in Luke 5, 31 and 32. He says, It’s not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. Christ says himself, I’ve come to call Not the sick, not the healthy. Our second truth tonight that I want to touch on is the fact that we live by faith alone.

You see here, in this darkest hour of the world, a man who is exhibiting a faithful death on a cross comes to faith. Think about this for a moment. This criminal who admitted that he wanted Jesus to remember him in his kingdom, think about what he didn’t have. He did not have discipleship or theological training. He had no opportunity to be baptized. He had no time to perform good works, or prove his sincerity of his confession. This guy didn’t even witness the, the resurrection. Yet in his dying moments, this is what the Holy Spirit revealed to this man. He confessed to fear of God. He was convicted of and acknowledged his guilt. He recognized that Jesus was innocent. He understood that Jesus is king, and that Jesus kingdom extends well beyond death. When everybody else saw a dying man, this thief recognized the coming king. Even when the disciples faith faltered, an unlikely believer held firm to the faith. As the disciples scattered about, this man professed his faith. This is what the writer of Hebrews 11. 1 says when he, when he quotes this. He says, Now faith is confidence in what we hope for, and assurance about what we do not see. Against all visible evidence, this man believed Jesus would save him for eternity. Reminds me of a story, probably from someone you’re familiar with, and that’s Corey Tenenbaum. You see, Corey’s family hid Jews during the terrible Holocaust. They hid in their home in the Netherlands, and eventually they were discovered and sent to concentration camps. And there, they were surrounded with unimaginable suffering. But yet Corrie would later write that Betsy, her sister, maintained an unwavering faith. She said there’s no pit so deep that God’s love is not deeper. Even as her body failed, Betsy confessed her faith, believing that there was something greater ahead than what she was experiencing in this world. So like the thief on the cross, Betsy displayed faith that transcended even her worst circumstances.

This reminds us that true faith is not measured by duration, but by direction. The thief, how brief his faith was, still pointed exactly towards Christ. This brings us an encouragement and hope because the thief’s example reminds us and encourages us that it’s only a moment of faith needed. We all have people that we love that, that maybe aren’t in a place with Christ that we want them to be in, but there’s hope still ahead while there’s still a breath in their body. Christ can still save them. Don’t give up hope. If this thief, in the last moments of his life, can confess Christ, there’s hope for anyone. The third truth I want to share with you tonight is that in Christ, we have received an immediate and certain salvation. And as difficult as it is not to get excited about things during Lent, this one excites me the most because Jesus response is one sentence. One sentence. But he says this, Truly, I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise. Today, not after a period of purification, not after working off his debt of sin, not after anything that we could make up in this world, but today, this criminal would be in paradise. Second, Christ says you will. Not you might, not you could. There’s no question in his mind, when Jesus says you will, he offers absolute assurance. There’s no doubt, no qualifications made, no uncertainties, only the promise of Jesus Christ. This is the part that excites me more than anything, probably. He says, with me. You see, sometimes we think about being in heaven as this, this great place to be, and oh, it is. I mean, scripture paints a beautiful picture of this. But what’s even better than being in heaven is the fact that we’re going to be with Jesus. He says, with me in paradise, not I’m going to send you somewhere and I’ll be along later. He says, I’m going to be with you. Oh, there’s a song. Kristen’s going to hate me for this one. Oh, happy day. You know that one? Yeah.

Lastly, he uses this word paradise and, and paradise is hard to describe in the English language. So I share with you where it comes from in the Greek. And this is. A word that was used to mean a garden, but not just any garden, but a garden where we would experience pure bliss with God in full communion with Him. I’ve been seeing a lot of beautiful places in my time in the United States and a little bit in Europe, but nothing compares to what Jesus describes here as paradise. This one simple sentence issues the completeness of salvation through Christ alone. In 1952, Jim Elliot wrote in his journal, he is no fool. You see, Jim Elliott was a missionary and five years after he wrote that sentence, he and four other missionaries were killed while they were attempting to make contact with a lost people group in Ecuador. Now so often we look at life and we see this situation and we say, what a tragic waste. But Jim’s widow didn’t see it that way. In fact, Elizabeth was her name. She went down. years later and visited the people that Jim had been visiting with and found that many people there had come to Christ through this man’s life. The very people who had killed her husband had received grace and mercy in Jesus Christ. Jim Elliott, the thief on the cross, they understood something that I pray we all can learn during Lent, and that is while life is temporary, the promise of Jesus Christ is eternal and certain. Both men, while in completely different ways, discovered that by letting go of this world leads to something far greater, and that is ultimately being with Christ in Paradise. Even as we encounter trials today, you know, I know all of us sitting here have encountered some sort of trials. We’re probably going through some right now. But even in those trials, we have this promise from Christ that is exact and means exactly what He says. This is temporary. Paradise is not. This also gives us hope and comfort. For those of us who have lost loved ones who have been in Christ before their death, We can take comfort in knowing exactly where they are right now. And while it’s a pain for me, personally, I lost my dad years ago, ten years ago actually. While it’s a pain for me to be apart from him, I know exactly where he is and I know exactly where I will see him again. I know he’s not suffering and I know it’s not temporary. 2 Paul writes this, We are confident, I say. And would prefer to be away from the body, because we will be at home with the Lord. This is what Jesus is talking about. You will be with me in paradise, he says. Of course, this also alleviates us from any kind of critique we might put on ourself on how we’re doing in this life while we’re waiting for our time in paradise. Because from this statement, Jesus reminds us that good works, while they are good for our neighbor and essential to our faith walk, do not count for salvation. Think about it. This man had no opportunity to give his coat to a neighbor in need. To walk alongside someone who was dealing with grief. To attend church on Sunday.

You see, it is that faith alone that saves us. But it saves us to something that is eternal. Because death isn’t the ending. Death is, is not a loss, or an ending, but a transition into the presence of Christ. It’s the beginning of that eternal paradise with Jesus. So my prayer tonight for you as we continue this journey through Lent is to see the words from Jesus on that cross and how horrific that image is as we see our Savior hanging bloodied on a wooden beam. But we listen to his words, his words that make the promises that matter. And that is that at this point, when you have faith in Jesus, you receive this same promise. Today, immediately, when you’re out of this world, you will be in paradise with Jesus. Let us pray. Lord Jesus, like the thief on the cross, we come to you as sinners in need of your grace. We acknowledge our guilt and recognize that you alone are righteous and we thank you for your willingness to die in our place, to bear our sins, to offer us paradise through faith in you. Father, help us to trust you completely. Even in life circumstances, when things seem dark and tragic, grant us that assurance that comes from your unchanging promise, that all who trust in you will be with you in paradise. In Jesus holy name, we pray. Amen.