and we'd be listening to what you have to say to each of us. And I ask this new name, and you're awesome. Amen. Amen.
All right, you guys can have a seat. All right, Luke chapter 23, Luke chapter 23. So we are in a series called Passion, going through just the week of Jesus, the last week of Jesus' life, starting with him washing the disciples' feet. And then we kind of walk through just the next kind of 48 hours of Jesus' life from that point.
Jesus washed the feet of the disciples. He broke bread with them. That was the first kind of message in the series. And then we saw Jesus being betrayed in the garden.
We saw Peter denying him at the court. And then we looked at the woman court, Jesus and Barabbas. For those of you who weren't here last week, we talked about Barabbas. His first name was probably Yeshua, just like Jesus was Yeshua.
And so the depiction there is there's one cross, and it's meant for a Yeshua, which one's it going to be? Is it going to be Jesus, the murderer, or Jesus, the Savior? And the crowd cries out, give us the murderer and go kill the Savior. So that's the kind of the movement that's happening in the story.
And today we're going to be looking specifically at the crucifixion. Now we're going to be looking at a more of a question about the crucifixion. And next week for Easter, we're going to be looking at the crucifixion and the resurrection and more of apologetic. That's a word for kind of a defense.
So we're going to be looking at common things that people say about the crucifixion and about the resurrection saying that it couldn't have happened. And what I want to kind of show next week is a hope that we can have in the resurrection, but how also it is probably the most plausible explanation for Jesus to have risen from the den of the others. And so we're asking me next week. But here's a question I want to answer and look at today from this crucifixion story and it says, what must someone do or believe in or confess to be saved?
Christian culture has a lot of buzzwords that we like to use. Buzzwords that really don't make sense anywhere else but Christian circles. And so I've listed a couple here that I was thinking about through this week. Just think about this one for a second.
Asking Jesus into your heart. If we use that, that's around a lot of churches asking Jesus into your heart. If you've never stepped inside a church before and you hear that type of language, what would you think? It's weird that a guy would go in somebody's heart.
It just doesn't make a whole lot of sense. Another one I was looking at and Tim Hawkins says, really good. He's a Christian community and he does a really great bit about a hedge of protection. Why do we pray for a hedge of protection?
Greenery is going to stop Satan from like, that's his kryptonite, right? His leafs. That doesn't make any sense. This was interesting.
In the first century, they actually bought Christians were cannibals. Did you know that? Because of the Lord's Supper. Because of the Lord's Supper, Jesus says, this is my body that's broken for you and this is my blood that's going to be shed for you.
And while we know that it's more symbolic, that it's embossing. People actually got all those Christians eating Jesus's body and drinking his blood. And so we actually thought Christians were cannibals in the first century. There's some people rose to that accusation.
So there's things like that in Christian culture that the outside world is like, man, these people are crazy. Even think about the famous hymn when it says that what can wash away my sin? Nothing but the blood of Jesus, right? You normally don't think about blood washing stuff out, right?
You think of bleach, right? You don't think of blood. And so it's just kind of weird. But we also use phrases and terminology that just happen to lose their meaning over time.
And so some of that is like the word justification or propitiation. And so we have these big theological words that when someone says that we just kind of nod like we know what they're talking about. We've all been there. We just, oh yeah, that word.
But we have no idea and no clue what it means. And so we have those types of words. I was even thinking the other day, a new buzzword is gospel centered. I use it all the time.
I say, yeah, we're a gospel center. We're centered around the gospel. But what does that actually mean? Like I can mean a whole variety of things that need to be flushed out.
And another word that falls into this is the word salvation. I think for a lot of people, we know the word saved in Christian circles. Oh, I would say that youth camp. I would say it here.
Oh yeah, I've received salvation from God. And a lot of us have no clue exactly what that means. We don't know what we've been saved from or forward. We just kind of get mexed up in like the whole message of what is salvation.
And so here's what I'm trying to show us. I'm trying to show us what must someone confess to actually be saved? Do they need to believe that Jesus is the only way to heaven? Do they need to confess that to be saved?
Do they need to confess that Jesus is the Son of God in order to be saved? And so what I'm hoping to do is give you the most simple look at what someone must confess to be saved in some other aspects of salvation. Now this is a message that I have done a bunch of times throughout the past few years. And without a doubt, it is the one that I normally get the most comments on as far as people actually saying, I had no idea.
I had no idea what salvation meant. And it's really something that while it's the bedrock of the Christian faith, we really talk about it. And so I'm hoping that this is going to be helpful for you as it's been helpful for me and some others in the past. So what are, what does somebody have, what's the minimal confession that someone needs to make in order to be saved?
I've used this passage in Luke 23 specifically because we have a scene where Jesus is hung on across with two criminals on either side of him. One of the criminals kind of makes fun of Jesus and the other one we see is given salvation from Jesus on the cross. And the reason why I use this text is because this guy had no chance of it as seminary, he had no chance to take any classes, he had no chances to go do community service or anything like that. And yet he was given salvation by Jesus.
And so I think the reason why this story is inscripturious to show us what someone must confess on the bare minimum in order to follow Jesus. So let's look at Luke 23, we're going to start in verse 32 just reading it, but we're going to be looking at 39 through 43. It says, as two others who were criminals were led away to be put to death with him. And when they came to the place that is called the skull, they crucified him and the criminals one on his right and one on his left.
And Jesus said, Father forgive them for they know not what they do and they cast lots to divide his garments. Let's keep looking in verse 35. And the people stood by watching, but the rulers spotted him saying he saved others, let him save himself. If he is the Christ and that member that means Messiah of God, his chosen one.
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 that said, this is the king of the Jews. And one of the criminals who hanged, who hailed at him saying, are you not the Christ? 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? And we indeed justly, for we are receiving the dewy word of our deeds, that this man has done nothing wrong. And he said, Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom. And Jesus said to him, truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise.
So let's look at the first thing here. What must somebody know to be saved? This is the kind of first segment of questions we're going to be answering. What does somebody have to know?
What do you think the first is this? You don't face God when you die. We see that in verse 40 here. We see it.
He says, do you not fear God? The criminal is talking to the other one saying, do you not have any semblance that there is something greater and more powerful beyond the rest of this life? You're actually accountable to God. You're not so much accountable to the Roman court.
You're being killed right now on this cross because you have sin against humanity, but do you not recognize that you've also sinned against God? That's the very first thing that we see here. Some people, though, however, live as God doesn't exist. live as if there is nothing after this life.
There is no accountability for how we live and the decisions that we make. And yet scripture tells us that we are all appointed to die once and then be judged. Now this is going to make some of you feel really old here. You guys remember Yolo back in the day, you only live once.
You know I was seven years ago, seven. Now we can talk about feeling old. Seven years ago that's when Drake made that famous. Seven years ago.
Listen, in the Kingdom of God there is no Yolo. And here is why. If you live not thinking about eternity, you are wasting your time here on Earth. I brought this kind of string with me to kind of show you an example.
I took this from Francis Chan. He did this at a thing one time. So he pulls out a string like this and he says, you know, imagine that this is eternity, right? Imagine a string goes all the way that way, continues going that way.
This is eternity, this is a span of all time. And this, I don't know if you can see that little duct tape thing, it's about an inch long. That's your life. Maybe 80 years on average.
That's your life here on this span of eternity. Yeah, most of us live our life and make decisions based on this. This short little amount that we get to live here and yet we live in complete disregard for the rest of eternity. So you can't be ready to live in this life until you're really ready to die.
If you are just making decisions and living life as if there's no consequences, there's no accountability after this life, then really there's nothing stopping you from doing whatever you want to do. Well, you may have governmental consequences if you break the law. Let's just think about what the worst thing could happen is. Maybe you commit such a violent crime that you end up sending to the death sentence and they kill you.
That's the worst thing that could happen to you if you don't believe that there's an afterlife. You just cease to exist. And yet, scripture tells us that there is a forever and that we are accountable. And so that gives an extra kind of emphasis on what we do here matters, especially what we focus on here matters.
Are we focusing on the things of this world that are just going to age or are we focusing on the things that are going to have eternal consequences? But one of the primary things that we have to look at is this, you have to face God when you die. Everyone is accountable to what they believe about Jesus. Now, I know people who say, well, I don't follow Jesus because of the church, because of people, because of hypocrisy.
And there's all sorts of things and what I found in my life is that people do not have a problem with following Jesus. They have a problem with following his followers. And I get that. But the way followers act should not discourage anyone from following Jesus.
And so everyone has to make that decision. Everyone's accountable to asking the question, what do I believe about Jesus? And that is the question that is going to determine eternity. Let's keep going.
The next thing that we see in the text is that they have sinned against God. Look at verse 41. It says, and we indeed justly for we are receiving the dewy word of our deeds. This criminal is saying, do you not understand that you have sinned against God and we deserve it?
We are rightly up here on this cross. We deserve what is coming to us. So not only have we sinned against God, but now we have also have recognized that we have faced God, but we also have sinned against God. I was thinking about this throughout the week where other people talk about when it comes to sin.
Some people say that sin is no big deal. They kind of live life thinking if I do something that breaks God's moral code, it's okay. Some people think that happiness justifies sinning in certain areas. Some people say, well, if I always struggle with it, why fight it?
Some people say the devil may need to do it. Some say, well, I'm not as bad as that guy over there. So I must be okay when it comes to me and God or whatever is after this. The problem is the Bible never says for us to define sin on our own.
The Bible always teaches us that we need to think about sin the way God thinks about sin. Isaiah 59 2 tells us that sin separates us from God. And so this criminal on a cross says, don't you realize you're going to face God when you die and you've got to think about that? But don't you also understand that we justly deserve what's coming to us because we've sinned against God?
Second or the thing that he does here on the cross is that he acknowledges that he needs a Savior. He acknowledges that he needs help. Actually, both criminals do from outside of themselves. First criminal says, Jesus, why don't you save us and everybody out there?
Why don't you save yourself and us? He understands he can't do it on his own. And the other criminal as well, but what he wants, he tells us that he also can't do it. He cannot save himself.
That's why he's going to Jesus for his salvation. And yet many people act and believe that you can somehow reach a relationship with God, have a relationship with God outside of Jesus. Some say it's just based off your work. How good you do here?
And that's what you have to depend on. Some say that it's a little bit of Jesus, but it's a lot of you. So for example, Mormons believe that after all that you have done in your life, Jesus just fills in the rest. So imagine you have a cylinder that's filled with water.
You pour into that water all the good stuff you've ever done. And maybe you're an inch left on the cup that you just can't fill with your good deeds. They say, well, Jesus just comes in and fills the rest. The problem is the Bible says there's nothing that we can do to ever work our way to heaven.
And it's not that us do some things and that Jesus adds at the end. It says, Jesus is everything. We can't even add to the colander. We can't even add to that cup.
It is just Jesus who fully places all of his righteousness into that cup and switches it for our sinfulness. He takes our sinfulness away and gives us the right standing. That's what righteousness means. It means right standing before God.
It's not Jesus plus something else. It is Jesus only. And we see that in this man here. We also see in verse 41 that he recognizes that Jesus is innocent.
Look at this in verse 41 what he says about Jesus. But this man has done nothing wrong. He recognizes that Jesus has done nothing wrong. That he does not deserve this.
As day 53 shows us a picture and I'm not going to go through this a bunch of verses. But it shows us a picture of Jesus and it labels him a lamb, a perfect lamb, an unblemished lamb led to a slaughter. The idea here is that there's an innocent party that is taking the place of someone else. We talked about that last week with Barabbas.
Now this shows us Jesus is our substitute. And again what's trying to be shown here is that Jesus is innocent. He does not deserve the death that is coming to him. But just as he was in the garden, he says if I must go through this, it be your will not mine because he knows that the dividend is going to be for us.
Last week we talked about how the Christian faith is unfair. But it's not unfair to us. We get the better end of the deal. Our sin becomes Jesus' righteousness.
What's unfair is that God would have to send his unJesus down across for us. That's what's unfair. And so we see this man proclaim this. He also proclaims that Jesus is the only hope that he is the only one that can fulfill this.
Look at verse 42. Look at how he responds to Jesus. He says, remember me. I want you to notice this for a second.
Imagine you were that criminal on the cross. What would you have said to Jesus? What would you have done? I think it's weird that he says remember me.
Here's the list of things that I came up with that I probably would have said before remember me. First I probably would have bargained. Jesus, if you save me, I will live the rest of my life for you. I've ever done that bargain with God before.
If you just do this, if you just give me this and I promise I will do this. That's an easy inclination for us as the bargain. But he doesn't do that. Sometimes we like to point out why God should save us.
All I get for him, all this guy didn't have any unwanted badges or anything like that to show Jesus. He doesn't do that. He doesn't do that. He's a criminal.
He deserves what he gets. He knows that he has nothing to show on his own work and his own merit for Jesus to save him. I want to say that he doesn't point out the fact that he's prayed a bunch or baptized. He doesn't point out the fact that he's better than the other thief.
He can say, Jesus, I'm better than that guy, that criminal. I didn't do what he did. Or maybe he's saying to what I believe in you and he doesn't. He doesn't even point that out.
He simply says, remember me. He doesn't ask to get off the cross. He doesn't ask for comfort in his last breaths knowing he's going to die. He doesn't even ask for Jesus to take away the pain.
He probably wanted all those things. But he asked Jesus simply, remember me. He recognizes that Jesus is innocent. But he also recognizes that if there's any hope that's outside of himself, if Jesus and he simply asks him to remember him.
His greatest need of that moment was not pain medication. His greatest need of that moment was to be made right with God. And so he says, remember me. Let me see one last thing from this text.
It says Jesus would save him if he asks. Believe that if you ask Jesus will save you. Look at verse 42, confidence. Remember me when.
That's an important phrase right there. Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom. It's not if you come into your kingdom. You get that?
It's not Jesus. If you might happen to be the Savior of the world, the people that say you are the Savior, if you happen to be this, then do it. No, he is confident. When you have come into your kingdom, Jesus, remember me.
He knows that his only confidence is in Jesus. Some place are confidence and hope that God doesn't exist. Some place are hope that God is this eternal vending machine. He's given stuff out while we're here.
He's not personal in any way. He's just kind of up there. Some people believe that place are confidence that all roads lead to the same place. Some people with their confidence that God graves on a learning curve, right?
Remember that in school, you're great on a curve and you hope that you're better than the average. The problem is we all assume that the grading curve is starts with Hitler or someone like that. That's when I was in math class in college. I was in a statistics class.
I had the class with all pharmacy graduates like crazy. You know our average grade wasn't a class? A 92. That means a C in the class was a 92.
See, that's a problem with the curve. We all assume it's going to be the worst person that's going to be based off of. But what if you got a really good class? Doesn't work in your favor.
Here's the deal. Anybody is fine to believe in any of those things. You are allowed to believe and put your confidence in those things. But I want to show you that it doesn't work.
It's hopeless. You can put your confidence in that. But how do you know what the curve is going to be? The problem is you know the curve the Bible tells us is it's Jesus.
You have to be perfectly like Jesus. It's not even a 92 in math class. It is 100%. If you get 100%, you cannot pass or 99, you cannot pass.
That's what we need. Jesus. So let me just put those points up there real quick. Just go back and slide so we can get all of them in there.
Sorry, yeah, right there. Your face guy when you die, sin against God. A knowledge that you need a savior that Jesus is innocent. Jesus is our only hope and believe that if you ask, Jesus will save you.
That is the minimal of what this man has done on the cross. That is what someone needs to profess to follow Jesus. And so what is not on here is I need to believe in a certain theology about Jesus coming back, whether before tribulation or act or tribulation. Wherever it doesn't matter.
Oftentimes Christians have made a major, they have made minor points, a major thing that they kind of add on to what you need to believe to be saved. And yet here in the scripture, we see a man who only has done these six things. This is what he's confessed. And so I hope that provides a little bit of clarity on what someone needs to profess to follow Jesus.
Now, Jesus says some things about salvation that we want to look at. Look at these four things real quick. First, he says it's immediate and then he says it's certain. He says it's a relationship and then he says it's forever.
Look at Jesus' response in verse 43. He says, truly I say to you today, it's immediate. Jesus doesn't say tomorrow or in 10 years or in a million years. He says, today you will be with me in paradise.
If someone wants to come to Jesus and put their faith in his sacrifice on the cross, which we've been talking about throughout the series, it is immediate. You do not have to wait nor is it a purgatory nor do you have to work off, right? You don't have to work off the bad things in your life in some other place after you die. It's immediate.
Second, it's certain. Look at this. You will be. You will be.
Jesus says you are going to be. It's a certain. It's a certainty there. Just as the man had said, when you get into your kingdom, Jesus is just as certain as that says, well, then you will be.
It's certain. So if you have put your faith in Jesus and have proclaimed what this criminal has said, you do not have to worry about losing a salvation as some have taught. Now that I read flags in your life that might show you the genuineness of your profession, whether you are authentic when you put your faith in Jesus, but if God has saved you, then he has saved you and it is certain that you will be with him in paradise. Next, you see the rest of that sentence says you will be with who?
With me. This is what says Christianity against any other religion and it says it is a relationship. Every other religion says when you do all this stuff, you get enlightenment. You get nirvana.
You get to become your own God. You get a ton of virgins in heaven. Whatever it is, you get this thing. And yet it is so simple, but I feel silly for having to say this, but the primary reason to follow God is God.
The primary reason to follow Jesus is to have a relationship with him. That's what separates Christianity from anything else. It's about a relationship not about a list of do's and don'ts. It's a relationship.
It's about being perfectly loved by God and worshipping worshiping him for it. Last thing you see here is it's forever. Paradise, when he talks about paradise was this Jewish ideal of what I meant just to be forever. The strain that I pulled up here.
There's more to think about than this life now. And people might think to themselves man forever. Being with God, that sounds terrible. Well, if you think that might be an indication that you don't believe in Jesus.
But the reality is when we go to heaven, all of our joy is going to be complete. Every want is going to be fulfilled. Every desire is going to be fully satisfied. Can you imagine living knowing that you have full confidence in your identity?
Full confidence in your purpose? Full confidence in being satisfied with your needs and your desires? That's what it's going to be like to be in heaven. It's amazing.
It is beautiful. And there are four things that Jesus says about salvation. Now, here's John's Bellinos kind of addition to this. I think when we talk about salvation, we misunderstand what we're saved from and for.
A lot of people just read the Bible and think, well, you're saved from sin. And that's true. That is a primary working of salvation. You are saved from your sin and have a relationship with God now.
But you're also saved for some things. Let me get you're saved from sin. Next one, I am saved for a relationship with God. God did not save you just so that you can be free of your salvation.
You can go on living the whatever you want to do. He has saved you to give you a new purpose. He has saved you to fulfill new desires in your life. He has saved you to have a relationship with him.
He wants, think about it. God wants to know you. Now, he already knows you perfectly, but he wants the relationship part of it. That's what that's what I think a lot of people just misunderstand.
They use Christianity as a get out of health when the primary reason again to follow God is God himself. It's not to avoid hell. It's not to avoid punishment. It is to love God.
We're also saved for the church. We're saved for his people. We're saved to work with one another, to bring about beauty to this world, beauty through ending injustices into our society. We are called as his people, to spread the message of Jesus and the hope of Jesus to the people around us.
God has called us to serve one another and be accountable to one another. God has called us to live amongst one another so that we can build his kingdom. That's what God has called us to do. Then lastly, we are saved for the world.
We're saved for the people outside of our church. My biggest pet peeves churches who just think about themselves. We are saved for so much more than that. Well, yeah, we're saved to take care of one another.
We are saved to reach a dying world with a message of Jesus and the love of Jesus. That's why we try to be really active here at Mercy Hill. That's why we give a large portion of our budget out to other missions, organizations and justice organizations because we believe that God's plan for saving the world is not missionaries. It's the church, but the church has to be willing to bring in resources and send them out.
We also have to be willing to go out by ourselves and also be missionaries. We are plan A. The church is plan A to getting the message Jesus to the world and we want to help in any way we can't to do that. So here we have one thief on a cross who's insulting Jesus.
We have another thief who is asking Jesus to remember him. The two give us two really decisions that most people make in their life. One, they ridicule God. They ridicule Jesus and say, you know what?
That's just something ridiculous. They come up with all these excuses not to put their faith in Jesus. You know what's sad is that one day they're going to find themselves in a similar situation. They may not be hanging on a cross, but death is going to be before their eyes.
Some, for some people, they get to see it ahead of time in a hospital bed and know that the end is coming near. For some, it's sudden in a car crash or something like that. It's been tragically sudden. But the reality is this.
Some people will spend their lives insulting Jesus and salting God and living the way they want to live. However, there's some who have recognized who have said, you know what? Jesus? I know I've sinned against God.
I know I'm going to face God one day. And even though I may not like certain Christian groups or certain people have handled things or even abuses that have happened in religion over the past thousands of years, I'm not following those things. I'm following you. So like that, man, we see people have put their faith in the one and only hope Jesus, the Son of God.
And that's what we must know in order for someone to follow Jesus and to be saved. So we're going to have a time of reflection. This is a time where we just bow our heads and kind of close our eyes. And I just ask some questions.
And so as we play a little bit of music, I just want you to get along with God for a few moments.