Okay, turn in your bibles to Luke 23, Luke 23, excited to get into the word this afternoon. Over the next four weeks, we are going to be preparing our hearts for Holy Week. That's coming very soon. Can you imagine?
I mean, we are just, time is flying and Holy Week is here March, is it March 1st? My goodness. But over the next four weeks, we're going to be diving into the Passion together, the Passion story where Jesus is crucified, where he lays down his life, where he sacrifices life so that we can become children of God. And what we're going to do is actually dive into the perspective or the lens of people around the cross.
People that are actually there that were witnesses of the Passion. So think like John the Beloved and Mary the Mother of Jesus or the soldiers. And today what we're going to do is we're going to meditate on the two criminals that were hanging on either side of Jesus. We want to see what did we want to look through their lens as they hung there next to the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords and have the Lord woo us towards himself and give us fresh fascination for who he is and what he's done.
So Luke 23, are you guys there? Say amen if you're there. Luke 23. I'm going to read it and, man, Lord, we just want to know you.
We want to have your word. We don't want to just like know information. We want to know you. And so Holy Spirit, would you help us to see the Son in Jesus name?
Amen. Okay. Verse 32 is where we're going to jump in. You guys ready?
Two others who were criminals were led away to be put to death with him and him is Jesus. And when they came to the place that is called the skull, there they crucified him. And the criminals won on his right and won on his left. And Jesus said, Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.
They cast lots to divide his garments. And the people stood by watching, but the rulers scoffed at him saying, he saved others. Let him save himself. And if he's the Christ of God, if this is the chosen one, he should save himself.
And the soldiers also mocked him coming up and offering him sour wine and saying, if you're the king of the Jews, save yourself. There was also an inscription over him. This is the king of the Jews. One of the criminals who were hanged railed at him saying, are you not the Messiah?
That's what Christ means, Messiah. Are you not the Messiah? Save yourself and us. But the other criminal rebuked him saying, do you not fear God since you are under the same sentence of condemnation?
We indeed, justly, for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds. But this man has done nothing wrong. And he said, Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom. He said to him, truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise.
It was now about the sixth hour, and there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour. The sixth hour is noon until the ninth hour is three o'clock. It was now about the sixth hour, and there was darkness over the whole land until three o'clock while the sun's light failed. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two, and then Jesus, calling out with a loud voice, said, Father, into your hands, I commit my spirit.
And having said this, he breathed his last. So when the centurion or lead soldier saw what had taken place, he praised God, saying, certainly this man was innocent, and all the crowds that had assembled from further spectacle. When they saw what had taken place, they returned home beating their chests. These two criminals, they went through a similar experience to Jesus, but it was completely different because Jesus was taking on the sins of all of human history.
The physical experience might have been similar, but the spiritual experience that Jesus had was completely different. Those two criminals, they went through a flogging. That's what would usually happen in the crucifixion process for the Romans. What they would do is they would flog or whip a criminal or somebody that was commanded to be executed.
They would flog that individual, and then they would have that individual walk from the Roman guard area all the way to the west side of Jerusalem, just outside the city gate, and that's where they would be crucified. And so we have Jesus, him and these two criminals have been flogged, and they're walking on the road called the Via Dela Rosa. How many of you have ever heard of the Via Dela Rosa? It's this road that goes in the old city of Jerusalem from the east side of Jerusalem to the west side.
It's about half a mile. So they have this half a mile walk, and on the way, Jesus is so beaten and bruised and depleted that he's unable to carry his crossbeam. And we see a man from Libya named Simeon that actually takes on the crossbeam. So now we've got four men walking to Golgotha.
We've got these four men, two are criminals, one is the king of kings and the Lord of lords, and then one is a traveler, a pilgrim from Libya that's celebrating Passover. It's Passover time, which means that there's a million plus people that are getting added to Jerusalem at that time to celebrate the Passover. And so there's people going through the streets, which is packed, and they make their way up the hill called the Skoll or Golgotha. And this location where they're actually having this crucifixion is very strategic for the Romans, because the Romans, they use crucifixion as a form of torture and execution, but it wasn't just about torture and execution, it was about intimidation and control.
As they were occupying Israel, if there was any dissenters or anybody that tried to come against the Roman occupation, they would be arrested and they would be made a spectacle. And so they would take these crosses and just outside the city gates, they would set up these crosses where crucifixions would happen, especially during festivals. So that means as millions of people, I mean we're talking kids, families are walking into these city gates. These kids and these families are seeing naked men hanging on crosses, being brutalized, being civilized, trying to survive, trying to breathe, and bloodied.
And it's to intimidate a whole people group to make sure everybody stays in line, especially at Passover, as the Jews are celebrating deliverance from former oppressors. Right? And so they see the two criminals are joining Jesus. And I just picture, I just picture one of the criminals is named Dissness.
And so that's why the message is named Dissness the criminal. He's the one that in this passage says, remember me. When you enter into your kingdom. And I just picture Dissness witnessing looking over at Jesus, walking on the Via Del Rosa.
And there they get to the top of Golgotha. And I picture him and the other criminal going first. They're fighting the Roman soldiers. They're struggling.
They're cursing the Roman soldiers. They're yelling at them. And they finally get nailed to the tree. They get raised up.
And now they're about 10 feet up and they see Jerusalem in front of them as people are pouring into the city as parents are covering their kids' faces. And they look down and there they see Jesus and what he does looks different than what they just did. They're struggling and he crawls onto the cross. They're cursing the Roman soldiers.
He silently puts his hands spreading his chest cavity open. And they nail him to the tree. And after they nail him to the tree to the cross, he says, as he looks into heaven, I just picture Jesus. It almost reminds me of Adam where it's like this picture of Adam in the very beginning.
He's looking up and he sees God face to face as God breathes into Adam and Adam becomes a living being. I just picture Jesus laying on his back looking into the sky. Just like his baptism, he looks into the sky and God rips open the heavens and says, my beloved son. But this time it's a different story for Jesus because the wrath of God is getting poured out on him because he's taking the sins of the entire earth upon himself.
But he says in that moment, he looks up into heaven and he says, Father, forgive them. They know not what they do. Can you imagine being dismissed in this other criminal and going, what? What is he doing?
There's something wrong with this man. And it says in Matthew, I want you to turn to Matthew 27. Matthew 27, I want you to look at verse 44. Actually, we'll just start in verse 42.
Chief priests, scribes and elders, they're mocking Jesus and he saved others. He cannot save himself. He's the king of Israel. Let him come down from the cross and then we'll believe him.
He trusts in God. Let God deliver him now if he desires him. He said, I am the son of God. They're mocking him saying Jesus said he's the son of God.
Well, if he's the son of God, then he better prove it. And then verse 44, it says the robbers who were crucified with him also reviled him in the same way. So we see that it's not just one of the criminals that reviles him, but it's both of the criminals that are reviling him. So at some point, dismiss and the other criminal are reviling and mocking and slandering Jesus as he's being crucified.
But then we see in Luke 23 that there's some type of shift and all of a sudden, dismiss changes his mind. He sees something. There's an adjustment. What did he see?
We see that the rulers, the scribes, the soldiers and the criminals, they all have the same narrative. Did you see that? If you're the son of God, if you're the son of man, if you're the king of the Jews, if you are who you say you are, save yourself. Is that right?
It's like it's religion. It's the soldiers who are representing the state. So it's religion. It's the state and it's the people of Israel and it's the criminals and it's the crowds.
And they're all saying the same thing. Prove it. Save yourself. Isn't that classic humanity?
Prove it and save yourself. You can do it on your own. You can earn it. Prove it.
And you know what it reminds me of is at the start of Jesus ministry. Do you remember that? Jesus comes out of the water. This is my beloved son who I'm well pleased with, right?
Then what does he do? He goes into the wilderness. Who does he meet up with after 40 days of fasting prayer? Satan.
Satan tips him and says, if you are the son of man, if you are the son of God, prove it. Throw yourself down and I'll give you the kingdoms of the entire earth, right? And so Jesus, even though he said he's bleeding, he's sweating blood before he goes to the cross. He's in the Garden of Gethsemane.
He's sweating blood and he says, not my will, but yours be done. Do you remember that? Not my will, but yours be done. He made his decision.
He put his stake in the ground. I'm not doing what I want to do. I'm not taking the shortcut because that's what's normal for humanity is when they're suffering ahead, we take the other way around. Are you like me?
Suffering pain. I'm like, oh, we're going to go this way, right? That's what's natural. And so Jesus is presented this option.
Do I want to do it God's way, God's will, or do I want to go my way? And God chooses not my will, but God's will, God's way. But that, there's still, if you've ever surrendered to Jesus, I don't know how many people are and many of you have surrendered something to the Lord. I'm sure there's many of you, right?
Guess what happens? Temptation, it always comes knocking, right? It's like, didn't they realize that he swept blood and surrendered and said, not my will, but yours be done. And then all of a sudden he still has another way out.
Save yourself, prove that you are who you say you are, right? There's a temptation. And if I was Jesus, do you know what I would have done? Not what he did.
I'll take that right now. There's a long list of things that he could have done, right? What could he have done? He could have, he could have called, you know, I think he mentioned this earlier.
He could have called it like in the garden. He could have called a legion of angels. He could have just whispered and gathered all of the angels and said, okay, I want you to obliterate everybody. And then I want you to go into King Herod's throne room and go over to Pilates, just take them out.
Then I want you to go all the way to Rome. Deal with it. He could have just taken his finger going like that, you know? Done.
He could have done what Elisha did. You guys see, you know what I'm talking about. He could have called not just one bear. He could have called a lot of bears.
He could have called all the bears in Israel. I don't know if they live there. Black bears, brown bears. He could have got them all rounded them up.
Just say a word and it could have taken, I mean, that would have been a scene, right? Or he could have been more subtle. You know, he could have done judgmental prophecy where he could have just said, the ones who pierced me, you guys are going to mourn. You know, he could have repeated the Matthew 24, 25 prophecies, just laying them know like, you think, you know, but there's a day coming.
But he didn't do any of that. I mean, he could, oh, man, this is my favorite. But if just for a minute, he allowed the glory of who he was, just kind of like open it up a little bit, just like open up the door, just crack it open a little bit of his glory that he had with him and the father for eternity past. And all of a sudden his face starts shining like the sun.
And he just blinds everybody like the Apostle Paul. They got, there's just hundreds of people walking with scales on their eyes. He could have done it. And that actually, that would have been, I don't know why he didn't do that because he could have done that and still died for our sins.
It's like blind them all, put them in their place and I'm still going to sacrifice myself, right? But instead, he demonstrates his love, his great love through meekness. The criminals are reviling him because they're thinking, who is this weakling that's not fighting? That doesn't have grit.
But there's one criminal that starts catching on. I wonder if it's not weakness and it's strength, restraint. I wonder if it's, I wonder if it's the meekness of the Lord on display in all of its greatness and its glory. Turn with me to Psalm 22.
Jesus decides I'm not going to circumvent God's will, but I'm actually going to go the way of suffering. In the Old Testament, there's this thing called the Mercy Seat. If you've heard about the Mercy Seat, it's where atonement, like blood was placed on the Mercy Seat and it was atonement for the sins of the whole nation of Israel. And with this Mercy Seat, there's actually cherubim that are on the left and the right of where there's the overlap of heaven and earth.
Have you guys ever seen that gold box? You know, and then there's the angels that are like this and it's the Mercy Seat. It's where the holy of, it's where the very presence of God dwells in the Old Testament. And I just think it just creates wonder in my heart that we've literally got the overlap of heaven and earth, fully God, fully man.
He's applying his atoning blood and he's framed, not with cherubim, but he's framed with criminals. And I just blows my mind when I look at the picture of the cross and go, who is this God? He could have just been crucified by himself on the, on the Golgotha. But instead it says, King of the Jews, and this is a way that Rome was trying to shame the whole Jewish people.
They put King of the Jews over Jesus and then they say, this is who is going to be seated next to the King of the Jews on his left and his right. Do you see that? Two criminals. This is how he's going to reign.
He's going to reign with criminals. We know he's innocent, but look, this is the Jewish people in a picture. That's what Rome is trying to insult. I, I even think it's very interesting.
Do you know, Salome, anybody know, have ever heard of the women's Salome? The sons of Zebedee, you know, James and John, the sons that are trying to vie for position in the kingdom of heaven, they're kind of like, they've got competition. How many of you guys have got competition in your personality? You're like, it's game night and if it goes south, it's a bad night, right?
Kind of mad, you leave game night mad. That's how James and John are, but also their mom. They got it from their mom, Salome, because she's trying to advocate for her sons and she's like, hey, I want my, my boys to be seated at your left and at your right and your kingdom. And you know what Jesus says to her?
He says, I don't know if they can drink the cup, the cup of wrath that I'm going to drink. And now Salome is at the foot of the cross, it says, with all of the women. And I just picture her looking at Jesus drinking the cup of wrath. And on this, for this king, on his left and his right, they're hanging on crosses.
She was thinking that she was going to have her sons be enthroned on the left and the right of this king of kings, but instead the left and right are on crosses. Psalm 22. I just kind of wonder, okay, where, let's go back. Where this miss he is, he's witnessing Jesus doing things at the start.
He's mocking Jesus, but then there's a shift and I'm trying to pinpoint when does the shift happen? How does all of a sudden the criminal go? Yeah, save yourself. And then he moved into where he landed.
And I was reminded of Psalm 22. This was a Jewish criminal. So he grew up with the scriptures of the Old Testament. I want you to look at Psalm 22, because as this miss is hanging there, I'm wondering if he's starting to see things play out and he's going, oh my goodness, who is hanging next to me?
Look at verse one, these are some phrases and things that happen to Jesus as he was hanging on the cross. Jesus says, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me from the words of my groaning? Look at verse six.
I'm a worm, not a man scorned by mankind, despised by the people. Dismiss is witnessing this. All who see me mock me. They make mouths at me and they wag their heads.
This is like all throughout the gospel passages. It says they wag their heads at Jesus as he was on the cross. He trusts in the Lord, let him deliver him. Let him rescue him.
For he delights in him in a mocking tone. Look at verse 14. I'm poured out like water and all my bones are out of joint. It's like in crucifixion.
My heart is like wax. It is melted within my breast. My strength is dried up like a pot shirt and my tongue sticks to my jaws. Do you remember?
And this is also quoted in Psalm 69 where it says that he thirst and sour wine was given to him in Psalm 69. And then it paints this picture of God redeeming the prisoners. For dogs encompass me. A company of evil doers encircles me and they have pierced my hands and my feet.
They have divided, I count all my bones. They stare and gloat over me. They divide my garments among them and for my clothing they cast lots. Look at verse 28.
Kingship belongs to the Lord and he rules over the nations. And it just keeps on going and going. It finishes in verse 31. And I just love paraphrasing that last phrase.
It says that he has done it and I love just writing next to it. It is finished. He has done it. It's complete.
It's finished. Now up to this point in Luke 23, some of those things haven't happened yet on the cross. Some of them have. And I just picture this kind of connecting the dots.
And all of a sudden he's now he's thinking about Isaiah 53. And he's going, he's led like a lamb to the slaughter silent. And I picture, oh man, I want to turn to Isaiah 53 now. You can turn there if you want to.
Isaiah 53, we're going to move there quick. Thank you Lord. I love verse 12 and Isaiah 53. Therefore I will divide him a portion with the many.
We shall divide the spoil with the strong because he poured out his soul to death. And he was numbered with the transgressors. And he bore the sin of many and makes intercession for the transgressors. This is after all of the stuff that's written in verse 2.
No form or majesty that we should look at him. No beauty that we should desire him. He's rejected. He's despised.
We esteem him not. He carried our sorrows in verse 4. We esteem him stricken by God afflicted. He's wounded and pierced for our transgressions.
Crushed for our iniquities. Stripes heal us. He's led like a lamb to the slaughter. I just as as dismissed.
He's probably he's probably a bad little kid, you know, but he's still got some of the book in him. He's still got some of the prophets in him. And I just picture him having these vague memories of the word and it hitting him and going. It's him.
It's him. And he has this revelation that he is guilty as he's gasping for air his mind. There's a whole world that's happening in between his ears as he's physically trying to survive. There's a whole world on the interior of his spirit and his soul and he's connecting the dots and he's going, I'm guilty, but he's not.
I'm guilty, but he's innocent. And if he's actually the king, then there's more than death. There's more than just going to the grave. There's something beyond this.
And he starts going, there is a kingdom that is coming. And if this is the king and he starts connecting the dots and then he sees Jesus instead of reviling and screaming and cursing, he's going, John, this is your mother. He's not even thinking about himself. He's releasing forgiveness on the cross.
He's really, he's caring about everybody else as the criminals are thinking about themselves. He's thinking about us. He's thinking about his mother. He's forgiving the abusers.
And as he hangs in meekness, there's another accusation. The criminal takes one more stab at it and says, yeah, save yourself. And what is, what does this criminal respond with? The other rebukes him.
So dismiss rebukes him. So in other words, he goes up on the ledge on the cross to get some breath and starts rebuking the guy next to him or across the way. So he's looking over. It's like if the cross that Jesus hanging on is right here, he's hearing the accusation from over here, right?
And he's, he looks over and he pushes himself up and he begins to rebuke the other criminal. I just want to, I know that we know that, but I want us to picture it. And he says, do you not fear God? We are guilty.
He is innocent. And then in chapters for the very first time, someone actually speaks to Jesus and says, Yeshua. He looks over and he looks right at Jesus. And he says, Yeshua.
And I just feel like there's this personal moment. Jesus hears his name and it doesn't sound like accusation. And he says, Yeshua, remember me when you come into your kingdom. And then I love Jesus response.
You're going to join. I'm going to see you in paradise. Do you know the word paradise? In Jewish culture, what that means is restored garden.
Like the garden of Eden restored. So you're going, we're going back to the garden, Dismas. You better get ready, Dismas. We're going back to the garden.
And this is a heavenly garden. And eventually it's going to come on the earth and heaven is going to be out. He didn't say any of that. But after Jesus says this, look at what happens in verse 44.
The lights go out. You're going to be with me in paradise. It's going to be the restored garden. Sun goes dark at noon for three hours.
The sun doesn't shine. Have you ever noticed that? Jesus is hanging on the cross in pitch black darkness except for torches that are lit by the Roman soldiers. There he is and they're hanging.
And it represents judgment, the judgment of God getting poured out on sin as Jesus is embodying past, present and future sins of humanity. And he's being crushed with the wrath of God. And Dismas is witnessing all of it. He's witnessing the breathing.
He's witnessing the pain of it. Jesus shouts, giving up his soul. Right? And as he shouts, when somebody dies on the cross, they just say, Yeshua.
They just run out of breath. They don't shout. But Jesus releases a shout, gives up his spirit. And then Dismas witnesses.
What happens after Jesus dies? There's an earthquake. Roman soldiers, like Roman leaders are starting to go, Uh-oh. I think he was the guy.
Right? The Jews that are around the cross start beating their chests in grief. They start going, What have we done? Literally the guy dies and there's an earthquake shaking, Dismas shaking on the cross.
The earth pain, shooting through his limbs as the earth shakes. The soldiers in order for Passover and for them to keep the Passover in Shabbat, they break Dismas' legs. So Dismas witnesses Jesus dying. Says in the scriptures that Jesus dies first, but the two criminals do not die.
And so he goes first, then the criminals are still surviving. And so the Roman soldiers have to break these criminals' legs in order for them to die of, um, no breath. Right? And I just picture Dismas closing his eyes and then he opens them.
He opens them and he looks. What are those figures? And on the other side, those figures are angels and the angels are going, Who's that? Is that the Lord?
They see him in the distance. Is that the Lord? Is it the Lord? I don't think it's the Lord.
But man, he's shining. Right? And the angels are just kind of going, Who is that? He looks like a man, but he's shining in brilliance.
Dismas start kind of. He's like looking at his right. He's like, What? Oh, hey, oh, he's starting to kind of skip, kind of run.
The angels are like, Man, he's coming fast. Hey, do we have our defenses ready? You know, they're like, Who is that? He approaches the angels.
The angels go, You? Wait, how did you get here? Dismas, right? How did you get here, Dismas?
He goes, I don't know. Yeshua, the one on the middle cross. He said he would see me here. That messes me up.
He's the first name written in the book of life. Psalm 69 says, Jesus is the ruler over the book of life. And that he's the one that redeems and doesn't deny the prisoners of Israel. And we have Dismas show up.
And it's the first name on the page. I want you to know wherever you've been, whatever you've been struggling with, however hopeless you are, all the bad stuff that you've done. Do you think that you're worse than Dismas? He's the one that paved the way for us.
He's the pioneer. He literally Dismas Lewis and Clark did. He pioneered the thing. He foreran and he was a criminal.
And you're thinking, man, I don't know if I get in. I don't know what God thinks about me. I want you to know that it starts where Dismas realizes, hey, I'm guilty. That's a lie that's happening in our culture right now.
We think, oh, I don't know. I'm actually good apart from God. It's the lies from Satan. I want you to know that it starts where you realize you're not like Jesus.
You realize that you have guilt and you're not innocent like Jesus and you need Jesus to stand on your behalf, to save you. You need a king that will actually redeem you out of the stuff that you're in. And you can't earn it. How many of you know Dismas didn't do any good works, not one?
What did Dismas have to offer? Nothing. It wasn't by his good works. What do you think?
Well, but he probably didn't sing worship song. Well, he probably went to church. Nope, didn't go to church service. He probably fasted it.
Nope, didn't fast. Well, how the heck did he make it in? The grace of God. No works that anyone would boast.
Dismas didn't make it because he earned it. Dismas made it because he made Jesus Lord. Dismas made it because he saw Jesus and said, my only hope is you. There's no other hope.
I'm guilty. I need to save your innocent. You saved me. And I, would you remember me?
I want you to know wherever you're at with Jesus, there's a way. Jesus made a way for you. And it's not going to be by earning it. It's by surrendering to him.
You surrender doing it your way, just the way that Jesus said, I'm not going to save myself the way that man wants me to. I'm actually going to choose the way of God. How many of you know that shortcuts are easy in life? So I want to talk about, for some of us, I'm not talking to the person that you're like, I don't know where I stand with God, but I want to surrender.
I want to talk to you a little bit more in a second. I want to talk to the people that are following Jesus right now. I want us to look at Jesus and how he exemplified what it looks like to walk out obedience to the Father. He had every opportunity to take shortcuts, to avoid suffering, discomfort, and pain.
And our tendency is to be tempted to do that, to actually avoid suffering, discomfort, and pain so that we can have what we want faster. Let me tell you the examples of this. It's like in a relationship. The temptation is sleep with your boyfriend or girlfriend.
So you can get what you want, you can take the shortcut and you don't do it God's way. But Jesus is calling us to actually walk in purity, do it his way, and then we'll actually experience blessing, not only on the journey, but after the journey, after you've said I do at the altar. And there's rewards in it, relationally. There's good use of those seeds of surrender to Jesus and you're going to reap goodness on the other side.
It's shortcuts at work. I'm going to backbite a little bit, smear somebody's reputation, and try to get one up on my coworker. And the Lord's going, hey, what are you doing? Why are you taking shortcuts?
I want you to actually be in submission to me. I'm going to lift you up. I'm going to give you favor when you're ready. You're like, I'm ready.
He's like, let's not shortcut this thing. I want, I'm going to help you, and your character is going to empower you to actually carry the influence and the favor that you are to be entrusted with. I want to call us out of shortcut living and into living under the will in the king's rulership. I want us to submit the way that Jesus did.
And we all know there's going to be temptation. Because you can say, yep, I'm doing it the right way. I'm not going to medicate with substances. I'm not going to shortcut pain.
I'm not going to use alcohol to help me medicate. I'm not going to use marijuana. I'm not going to use drugs to actually medicate the pain that I don't want to face. But I want you to know Jesus wants to meet you in the pain.
You're feeling rejection. Going to go to a drug. And I'm telling you don't have to go to the drug. You can go through the pain and through the suffering.
But you're not alone in it. And he wants to meet you in the pain through the suffering so that you can experience healing with the root system of your soul. See, we're missing out on the glories of knowing him through all of these things because we're trying to avoid pain, avoid suffering. And the Lord's going, let's go the way of surrender.
Yeah? Would you stand with me? I want to give an opportunity for anybody that wants to surrender to Jesus and give their life to the Lord, just like this, this did. After the service, there's going to be people up front that would love to pray with you.
Actually, I'll tell you guys can come up. There's people that would love to pray with you if you want to surrender your life to Jesus. And you want to cry out to Jesus and go, I'm just like this, this. I'm guilty and I need a Savior.
And you realize, actually, I am not innocent. He's the perfect Lamb of God. And I need a Savior to come and actually give me new birth. So I can become a new creation.
And I want to actually start a relationship that's not about going to heaven, even though that's part of it. It's actually about developing a relationship with God for the rest of your life. It says in John 17, this is eternal life to know him. So you start eternal life right now when you surrender to Jesus and you begin to start knowing him.
Oh, it's your destiny and know God. God's giving you that opportunity today. Today gets to be your day of salvation. So after the service, I want you to take no wasted time.
I want you to come right up to the altar after I close, OK? But I also want to speak to those people that feel like there's temptations for shortcuts right now. Jesus had the temptation at the very beginning with Satan and the wilderness. He could have shortcut in his way to be the king of the nations.
But he didn't take it. He could have shortcut in his way out of suffering on the cross and be the king of the nations without all the suffering and without persevering. And I think there's an opportunity for some of us where there's a shortcut dangling in front of you. Or maybe you've taken the shortcut and the Lord's going, let's lay that down and surrender that back.
But I want to call, I want to call us to surrender the shortcuts that actually are creating that are actually disobedience to the Lord. He's going, this is what I want for you. I'm thinking this way. And you're going, ah, but I prefer this way.
The Lord's going, well, which one do you want? Do you want your preferences? Or do you want mine? I love you more than you love you.
Let's do it my way. That's what it means to follow Jesus as you do it God's way. You surrender all. You surrender your sexuality.
You surrender your finances. You surrender your future. You surrender everything in your life to him. His way goes.
It's all I want to call us out of shortcut living, out of the carrot dangling and into radical obedience. So would you just put out your hands if you're willing? Lord, would you call us? Would you call us out of the shortcut?
Even right now, Holy Spirit, would you highlight any area that is not an alignment that we can joyfully repent of? Lord, we choose to not do things in our own strength. It's not our will, but yours. Be done.
Lord, we turn away from gossip. We turn away from slander. We turn away from immorality. We turn away from doing things in our own strength, defending ourselves, manipulating.
We turn away from substances that are medicating pain that's underneath the surface. And we say we want to go the way that you win. We want to follow you. Would you just say to the Lord in your own words, Lord, I give you this shortcut.
I give you this thing that's been out of alignment, just in your own words. Surrender it to you. I want to do it your way, not my way. Gonna send you off, Jesus.
I thank you for these sons and daughters. You love them. And Lord, I ask that you'd give them great boldness this week in making your story and your heart known in our city. You said in Matthew 9 that there's a problem that there's not enough laborers in the harvest fields.
So Lord, I send out all of these laborers with good news, the good news of Jesus, that Jesus loves everyone and no one is disqualified to have their name written in the book of life. And so Lord, we thank you for fresh faith, for our coworkers, fresh faith for our friends, the people that seem way too far gone, just like this, Lord, we thank you, that there's fresh faith for salvation for them. In Jesus name, amen.