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Amen, Luke chapter 23, we're going to be going to a couple other chapters in the Gospels as well. So of course we're looking at the crucifixion of Jesus Christ our Savior this evening. The crucifixion is one of those stories that you see a lot of different detail in the Gospels. It's unique in the fact that all four Gospels detail the crucifixion. Many times certain stories in the Bible will be in one Gospel or maybe two Gospels so we get a different perspective there. But the crucifixion itself and the trial of Jesus is actually in all four Gospels so it's almost like God is trying to tell us something here. This is kind of an important story. It is the important story. Here we see in Luke chapter 23 we see that Jesus is sent after he goes to the priests, he goes to, he's sent by Pontius Pilate to Herod and then Herod sends him back to Pontius Pilate. Herod or Pontius Pilate really could care less about the issues with the Jews. They're more just like politically pressured into this situation so they end up doing this deed that the Jews want done, especially Pilate towards the end. But let's turn to Mark chapter 15. I want to look at a specific part of this story this evening and see what we can learn and apply from it. You say, how do you preach the same thing? You think to yourself, well, it's every single sermon before Easter you're going to preach on the crucifixion of Jesus Christ for the rest of your life. Or every single Easter morning you're going to preach on the resurrection of Jesus Christ for the rest of your life. You say, how could you possibly do that without just like grabbing last year's sermon and just re-preaching the sermon? But there's actually, you know, the Bible is so infinite in its detail and all the different things that you can take from the Bible and all these different things that God has given us. I want to show you a very specific study tonight about the thieves on the cross, about the two thieves that were crucified with Jesus and see and show you how that story that you read in the Bible, maybe many times we read over those few verses, but they actually have a lot of application to our lives and to everyone's lives, just these two thieves that were crucified next to Jesus. Let's look at another account in the gospels. Turn to Mark chapter 15 and let's look at the story of the two thieves in the Bible tonight. Look at Mark chapter 15 verse number 27. Mark chapter 15 verse number 27, the Bible reads, and with them they crucified two thieves, the one on his right hand and the other on his left. And the scripture was fulfilled, which saith, and he was numbered with the transgressors. So this wasn't, turn to Isaiah chapter 53 and we'll look at that. This wasn't just something that was just random that happened. This was actually prophesied in the Old Testament that Jesus would be numbered. He would be one of several people that were executed together. Look at verse number 12 of Isaiah chapter 53. So this was, these two thieves next to Jesus was actually one of the, you know, dozens and dozens of fulfillments of scripture that Jesus went through when he was killed. Look at verse number 12. The Bible says this in Isaiah 53 verse number 12, it says, Therefore will I divide him apportioned with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong, because he hath poured out his soul unto death, and he was numbered with the transgressors, and he bare the sin of many and made intercession for the transgressors. So we see there's transgressors there twice. Once it's talking about us, the transgressors, but the first one in Isaiah chapter 53 verse 12 is talking about him being numbered with transgressors, meaning, you know, he's going to be actually up there. He was one of three that was crucified. He was numbered with transgressors. When people walked by, they told their kids and they told everybody they even see in the Gospels, look at these criminals, look at these people. He was numbered with criminals, or as the Bible says, male factors, all right? Look at verse number, go to Matthew chapter 27. Matthew chapter 27, we'll get another perspective on the two thieves in the Bible. Matthew chapter 27, look at verse number 38. Matthew chapter 27 verse number 38, we're going to see how one Gospel kind of points to a situation and then we can go to a different Gospel account and it gives us like a magnified view of that same situation. This is really cool. In Matthew chapter 27, look at verse 38. The Bible says this, it says, then there were two thieves crucified with him, one on the right hand and another on the left. And they that passed by reviled him, wagging their heads and saying, thou that destroyeth the temple and buildest it in three days, save thyself. Of course, they didn't understand that he was talking about, you know, his own, his body that he was going to rebuild in three days, which by the way, he wasn't crucified on Friday. We'll talk about that on Monday. I mean, how people couldn't figure that out, I don't know. Like that's like one day in the grave. So anyway, we'll talk about that Sunday morning. But anyway, they passed by and they wagged their heads. People are walking by the two thieves and Jesus and they're wagging their heads saying, you know, if thou be the son of God, come down from the cross. They're mocking him. Likewise, also the chief priests mocking him with the scribes and elders said he saved others himself he cannot save. It's interesting that they know he saved others right there. They know, you know, these people and we'll talk about this at the very end of the sermon, but these people, they saw the miracles. They saw everything that he did and they tried to cover those miracles up. They saw that he raised Lazarus from the dead and they tried to cover it up. They tried to kill him. They even wanted to kill Lazarus. So this miracle would be not known about by anybody. So they know. It says he saved others himself he cannot save. If he be the king of Israel, let him now come down from the cross and we will believe him. He trusted in God, let him deliver him now if we will have him for he said I am the son of God. The thieves also which were crucified with him cast the same in his teeth. So first of all before we get into more detail on that, Jesus didn't just go through pain and suffering. Many times we focus on, you know, the physical, you know, torture. The Bible says he was basically beaten to the point you couldn't even tell he was a man anymore. We focus on, you know, Herod, you know, we focus on Pontius Pilate, I'm sorry, you know, beating him, whipping him, chastising him as he said. We focus on, you know, the suffering of the actual crucifixion and how brutal that is. All this is true. All this is true. But there's another thing that Jesus, you see here, he went through and that is just this great humiliation. He went through this great humiliation. You'll notice all along the way from Herod to the soldiers to the chief priests here and the public walking by him, they're just mocking him. They're just mocking him. He's just being humiliated to the maximum degree possible. We think about the things that humiliate us. You know, you think about the things that humiliate, you know, you, like, you know, you're talking to somebody and you realize you have something on your face an hour later or something and you're like, oh, that's humiliating or whatever. I mean, these are just, these are silly things compared to the humiliation that Jesus Christ went through. All right. Now turn to Luke chapter 23. So the humiliation was, you know, just terrible to even think about, you know, as, you know, he's beaten, he's dying, he's been tortured and now he's just being just endlessly mocked and humiliated by everyone. Look at Luke chapter 23. Look at verse number 39. In your Bible, I have it, Matthew 27 verse 44, I have kind of a little note in my Bible that says Luke 23 verse 39 because basically what's gonna happen is Luke 23 verse 39 is gonna give more detail now of how this conversation goes with these thieves. This says in verse 44 of Matthew 27, it says, the thieves also which were crucified with him cast the same in his teeth, meaning the thieves were talking to. The thieves were talking to and at least at one point they were both mocking him. All right. Look at verse 39 of Luke chapter 23. It says, and one of the male factors, criminals, that just means criminals, you know, transgressors, which were hanged, railed on him saying, if thou be Christ, save thyself and us. But now we get more detail in Luke chapter 23 about the difference between these two men that were crucified with Jesus. But the other answered, rebuking him saying, does not thou fear God, seeing thou art in the same condemnation? And I want to really like focus on that in a few minutes towards the end of the sermon. He's basically, you know, chastising or rebuking the other thief, saying, have you no fear of God, is what he's saying. He says, and we indeed justly, he's like, look, we deserve this, he's like, we deserve this, for we receive the due reward of our deeds, but this man had done nothing amiss. He's basically saying, we're thieves, we're thieves, we deserve to be here, and this guy's done nothing. He's like, have you no fear of God? And then look what he says in verse 42. Now we see something extraordinary. He said unto Jesus, he said, Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom. So here's this man basically putting his trust on Jesus right at this moment, and Jesus replies to him and says, verily I say unto thee, today, thou shalt be with me in paradise. Jesus basically tells this guy, he's like, you're about to be with me in heaven, is what he tells this guy that just put his trust on Jesus, all right? Now you say, how did, you know, now we're going to do a little Bible study, and I'm going to tell you how I feel, or how I believe this all played out after Jesus died on the cross, but basically, and then we're going to go back to the two thieves. He basically tells this thief that you will be with me in heaven today. What paradise, Abraham's bosom, is all references to heaven, okay? If you ever hear this doctrine that paradise is some half hell, or Abraham's bosom is some different place that's like a stepping stone to heaven, or something like that, it's confusion, it's just false doctrine, there's nothing in the Bible that backs that up. The Bible talks about heaven, and the Bible talks about hell. There's no purgatory, there's no half hell, there's none of this stuff. The new Bible versions, by the way, mess all this up. You have to have a King James Bible in order to understand this properly, all right? So he says to this man that just gets saved, just puts his trust on this man, he says you'll be with me in heaven today. But didn't Jesus' soul go to hell? The Bible is very clear in Acts chapter two and verse 38 that Jesus' soul went to hell after he died on the cross. You say, so how is it, people, and look, you say, well, I just don't think about this type of detail. Well, and here's another thing, there's people that are friends of mine that have maybe a slightly different opinion on this, this is not a cornerstone of the faith, okay? So if you have a different opinion on this, or you've heard a different opinion about this, I'm just telling you what I believe. I believe that everything that Jesus did from his death to his resurrection is modeled perfectly in Leviticus chapter 16. Why don't you go ahead and turn there, go to Leviticus chapter 16. Leviticus chapter 16 is detailing out the Day of Atonement, the sacrifice of the Day of Atonement. It's detailing out what Aaron, the high priest at the time, was supposed to do during the Day of Atonement. And every single thing that Aaron did during the Day of Atonement pictured the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. Look at Leviticus chapter 16 and verse number 15. Now Aaron, there's, let's see, how many, there's five different animals in Leviticus chapter 16. There's a bull for Aaron the high priest, that's the sin offering for the high priest himself. There's a ram for Aaron the high priest, which is the burnt offering for Aaron. And then there's two goats for the people, okay. One of the goats is the scapegoat. One of the goats is the sin offering for the people. And then there's the ram for the people, that is the burnt offering for the people. Okay, now you say the scapegoat basically was a picture of the sins of the people being put on this goat. They drew lots, one of the goats would die, one of the goats would bear the sins of the people and then be let off into the wilderness picturing the people's sins being taken away from them. Being, you know, taken far from them. What does Jesus do? He takes our sins away from us. You know, he makes it so, you know, God sees us as sinless through the blood of Jesus Christ. Okay, so the scapegoat pictures what? It's not like, oh, which goat was Jesus? Jesus was all of it. He was everything in Leviticus chapter 16. Then the sin offering, you say, well, if the scapegoat, if the scapegoat was to take the sins and picture the sins of the people being taken away from them, notice it's to picture these things. It's not to actually do it. It doesn't actually take away their sins. It's just a picture of things to what? Things to come. It's a picture of what God's going to actually do. You say then why does one of the goats have to die? Why does there have to be a sin offering and we have to kill the poor goat? Because there must be blood, that's why. Because without blood, there is no remission of sins. How do I know that? Because the Bible tells us. We'll look at it. But look at verse number 15 in Leviticus chapter 16. The Bible says this. It says, then shall he kill the goat of the sin offering that is for the people and bring his blood within the veil and do with that blood as he did with the blood of the bullock. So he's already taken the blood of the bullock and done this and sprinkle it upon the mercy seat and before the mercy seat. So the first thing, before the burnt offering, he takes the blood of the sin offerings and he puts them on the mercy seat, which is the covering of the ark of the covenant. This is the ritual that he has to perform in order to get this right according to what God says. Now, turn to Hebrews chapter 9. Turn to Hebrews chapter 9. So the first thing he does before, well, not the first thing he does, but before the burnt offering, he puts the blood on the mercy seat of the ark of the covenant. Look, where is this? It's in the holy of holies. It's in the inner chamber in the tabernacle, in the tent that God had designed. Look, it's a physical tent with a physical inner room with the physical ark of the covenant that was on earth with the children of Israel. This is what they did every year. Now turn to Hebrews chapter 9 and look at verse number 12. Hebrews chapter 9, look at verse number 12. It says, neither by the blood of goats and calves. Talking about goats and calves, talking about what? Goats and a bulls is what we're talking about here. You're saying like by the blood of goats and calves what? This is not what Jesus used. He says by his own blood, he entered in once into the holy place. So now Hebrews is pointing out the difference between Jesus' sacrifice and the sacrifice that the children of Israel did, what? Every year. He said, no, Jesus had to come and do this one time, one time, having obtained eternal redemption for us. Look, it's a proof of eternal security too. Because Jesus, you know, he didn't come here and die on the cross to give you, you know, life that lasts for two years. It says he gave us eternal redemption. Now look at verse 13. For if the blood of bulls and goats and the ashes of a heifer sprinkling the unclean sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh, how much more shall the blood of Christ who through the eternal spirit offered himself without spot to God, it's important that he was without sin as Hebrews 4 states, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God. Now go back down to verse 23 of Hebrews chapter 9. So Jesus, it says, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place. You're like, where? Did Jesus go into the temple in Jerusalem? Because there was a temple at this point. Did he go into the temple in Jerusalem? Look at verse 23. It says it was therefore necessary that the patterns of things in the heavens should be purified with these, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. What this is saying is that everything in the Old Testament is a pattern of what's going to happen in heaven, except what's in heaven is better. Everything that's going to happen with Jesus is better. That's why he always needs to do it once. Why? Because it's better. That's why. It's the best. It's the best sacrifice. There's only need to do it once. That's why he doesn't have to go and Jesus doesn't have to die on the cross for you again and again and again. That's why in Hebrews chapter 10 when we looked at verse 26 and verse 27, we looked at Sunday morning, if you just disobey God as a saved believer, Jesus isn't going to die for you again. He's not going to go back to the cross to cover your sins again. You're just going to have chastisement from God. You've already been eternally redeemed. His wrath is going to come upon you and you're going to be punished on this earth. That's what the Bible is saying. Look at verse 25, nor yet that he should offer himself often, saying he's not going to do this again. It's just once. As the what? As the high priest enter it into the holy place every year with the blood of others, for then he must have often have suffered since the foundation of the world. He's like, if Jesus, if his sacrifice wasn't good enough one time, he would have had to have been doing this since the beginning of the world, just sacrificing himself over and over and over again. It says, but now once in the end of the world, talking about, you know, that's how we know that like Jesus was in, he came in the last half. You know, he talks about these are the last days. These are the last days. When Jesus came, we're in the last half, folks. This thing isn't going to go on for another 4,000 years because otherwise it wouldn't be in the end of the world that he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. So the point I'm trying to get you to understand is Jesus went once into the holy place. Where was that holy place? Verse number 24 says where? It says, but into heaven itself. So Jesus went. When Jesus died on the cross to match the perfect pattern of Leviticus chapter 16, he went immediately and he sprinkled his blood on the mercy seat in heaven before he went to hell. And that makes it perfect sense that, you know, Jesus and this thief are in heaven at the same time. Now you think, well, do we really even have to think it through that? Maybe you don't. I don't know. But, you know, people have asked the question, that's how I believe it went. And maybe, you know, we can ask God when we get to heaven hall that actually went, right? But the point is that matches Leviticus chapter 16 because the last thing in Leviticus chapter 16 is the burnt offering. And that pictures Jesus' soul going to hell, right? It's all a picture of everything Jesus went through in Leviticus chapter 16. And that makes everything fit together perfectly, all right? Now otherwise, you know, other explanations I've heard is that, well, he was just referring, he'll be with me in heaven. He was just referring to himself being God. You know, that, you know, that works too. Either way, it's correct. I mean, it just doesn't, we don't get a lot of detail about it. But the model of Leviticus chapter 16 is what Jesus, was picturing what Jesus was going to do. Remember, the gospel isn't just, you know, Jesus getting arrested. It isn't just Jesus dying on the cross. It isn't just the blood being sprinkled on the mercy seat. It's the whole thing. It's the resurrection. You know, people that have a hard time with, like, you know, Jesus' soul going to hell, they'll say, well, are you saying that the blood wasn't good enough? I mean, it's a ridiculous statement. It's a ridiculous statement. The blood was necessary. The Bible says that without blood, there is no remission of sins. But here's the thing. We just had a baptism the other day, and the Bible says that, you know, baptism, when you're baptized, you are buried with him. You know, you're buried with Christ. It's a picture of you being buried with Jesus. And then we're raised to walk in newness of life. So if Jesus didn't rise from the, I mean, it's not like when Jesus said it is finished. People are like, when Jesus said it is finished, like, everything was finished at that point. Well, he hadn't risen from the dead yet. How could he even say it was finished? The gospel was not finished at that point. I mean, yes, everything was going as it was supposed to go. But when he says it is finished, he didn't, I mean, if Jesus didn't rise from the dead, I'd have to drown you when I was baptizing you. I'd just have to hold you under the whole time. Because you, you know, being raised out of the water is picturing the resurrection of Jesus Christ. It's picturing us identifying with the resurrection of our Savior and then our willingness to walk in newness of life. It's a, it's a, it's a sign of obedience. It's not saving us. It's not giving us any extra powers. It's a sign of us showing that, hey, I acknowledge, Lord, I acknowledge I'm being obedient to you and I want to walk in this life now. I want to walk how you want me to walk. It's a picture of that. God likes pictures. God likes patterns. All right, so let's go back to the thieves. First of all, the story of the thieves, the story of this thief getting saved and going to heaven, it just, by itself, it destroys so much false doctrine. Because anybody that says you need any works to be saved, how could you possibly explain that? How could, I mean, what works could he do? He's literally pinned to a cross. He literally can do nothing with his hands, with his feet, anything. You know, how about this one, like, you must be baptized to be saved. Well, what in the world? I mean, how could you even, well, then, well, it must have been an exception. There's, everyone's saved the same. There's no exceptions that you'll find in the Bible. Those people in the Old Testament are saved just like we are, by believing on the Messiah, the coming Messiah, versus looking back at Jesus. It's all the same thing. We talked about that. Passover. What? Who is the Passover? Jesus is the Passover. To be a stranger in the land, coming into Israel, what did you have to do? You had to keep the Passover. What does that mean? You had to recognize and acknowledge the coming of a Savior. Because the Passover is Jesus Christ. He is the Passover. So look, the thief getting saved by just believing on Jesus in literally one verse is a perfect destruction of any works for salvation, first of all. All right, but look, I've got more. Here's an application for you for the thieves. I've got a couple points on this. How can we apply the thieves, the thief that got saved and the thief that didn't get saved to us and those around us? Look, we are the thieves. We are the thieves. You say, what are you talking about? First of all, you say, well, I'm not the thief. Somebody that's not saved could read this story and say, I'm not the thief. I'm not at a point of imminent death. I have more time in my life. I have way more time. Isn't that how young people feel? Isn't that why you go up to somebody with the gospel and you say, hey, you want to know how to get to heaven? Forget heaven. I'm young. I'm not going to die anytime soon. But it's interesting because every single time God uses time or talks about time in the Bible, turn to James chapter 4. So you say, I am different from the thieves because I have more time in my life. Turn to James chapter 4. When God points out time in our lives, when he points out this idea of our lives and how much time we do or do not have left, God is always trying to use time to motivate us. Look at James chapter 4 and verse number 14. Time should motivate people, not relax them. If you use it the way God uses it in the Bible. Look at James chapter 4 verse 14, whereas you know not what shall be on the morrow, no matter how old you are, you don't know what's coming tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away. Turn to Ecclesiastes chapter 11. Second Samuel chapter 14 says this, for we must needs die. You're going to Ecclesiastes chapter 11. For we must needs die and are as water spilt on the ground, which cannot be gathered up again. Neither the God respect any person. He's talking about, here's your life. Your life is like just vapor, like out of a coffee cup. That's your life. Just like that. He says, here's your life, it's just like water that's just poured on the ground. You can't get it back. Look, we'll never, time travel's fake, variable time is fake. All this Einstein stuff is all fake. It's not real. I've preached entire sermons on that. We've gone to the whiteboard for hours in this church on that. We will never control time ever. Time is something that God controls and he tells us in the Bible, he's like, you better be careful because you don't even know how much you have. It makes no difference if you're young or if you're old because not a single person in here can tell me how much time they have left. Nobody. Not only do we not control it, we don't have any knowledge about it. We don't have any idea on how much we have left. Look at Ecclesiastes chapter 11. Here's for the young guy who, you know, you open your Bible and you say, hey, you know, the Bible says you can know for sure if you're going to heaven and the young guy or the young gal is like, oh, forget that, I'm looking at my phone now or forget that, I got, you know, all this stuff going on in my life and I'm young and I'll deal with this stuff when I get older. Here's what Ecclesiastes chapter 11 says, look at verse number nine. It says, rejoice, oh young man, in thy youth. Let thy heart cheer thee in the days of thy youth and walk in the ways of thine heart. He's like, do whatever you want. This is what he's saying. In the sight of thine eyes, he's like, do whatever you want and go after whatever looks good to you. But he's speaking, you know, he's speaking tongue in cheek here. But look at this. He says, but know thou that for all these things God will bring thee into judgment. Therefore, remove sorrow from thy heart and put away evil from thy flesh, for childhood and youth are vanity. You know what that means? It means this idea that I'm young and that I'm a, you know, I've got all kinds of time. You know what he's saying? He's like, that's worthless. He's like, that's worthless to you to think that way. All that is going to do is bring you to judgment. So that's how people should take this, I have so much more time than these thieves on the cross. You say, how else are we like the thieves? Turn to John chapter, actually, you go to 1 John chapter 2. Here's another similarity between us and the thieves. You look at these thieves and you look at these guys that are just literally being crucified. They literally have minutes to live on this earth. There's nothing they can do about their situation. But here's what I know about every single person on planet earth right now. Just like the thieves, there is no other way out. You say, what do you mean? Look at 1 John chapter 2 and verse number 2. It says, and he is the propitiation for our sins. And not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world. Talking about Jesus, it says he is the propitiation, meaning he is the atoning sacrifice is what that means. He is the atoning sacrifice. There is no other atoning sacrifice for anyone's sins. In John 14, 6, the Bible says, I am the way, the truth. Jesus says, I am the way, the truth, and the life. Everybody loves that part. That's the part that's on the refrigerator. That's the part that's on the bumper sticker. But many times they leave this part out, it says, no man cometh unto the father, but by me. There's no other way to heaven than Jesus. It's not about believing in God. It's not about believing in a higher power. It's not about how the Hollywood actor, you know, gives a big interview on how his faith is so important. What are you even talking about? It is about Jesus. That is the only way. That's exactly the similarity between every single person on the planet and these two thieves. You can even say that they were in a better position since the only way out was literally feet from them. It was literally right next to them. Look at John chapter 10, verse number 7. Jesus said unto them again, verily, verily, I say unto you, I am the door of the sheep. He calls himself the door. Turn to John chapter 6. Jesus is the door. In John chapter 6, he calls himself the bread, the bread of life. He's not talking about like this is one way to do it. He's saying I am the bread of life. Look at John chapter 6, verse 48. I am that bread of life. Your fathers did eat manna in the wilderness and are dead. This is the bread which cometh down from heaven that a man may eat thereof and not die. He's saying that bread, you know, they ate that bread and they're all dead now, but this is the bread that you eat. See he's talking spiritually, but they completely miss it. They're like, what? We're supposed to eat his blood and, you know, eat his flesh and drink his blood? This is like why the Catholics think that the Lord's Supper, they were literally drinking Jesus' blood and eating his flesh. It's wicked and ridiculous all the same. Imagine on the idea of the sacraments, by the way. Imagine as we do the Lord's Supper after the sermon tonight that Jesus clearly says, why do we do the Lord's Supper? He says, do this in remembrance of me. He says it twice. He doesn't say do it so you get taller. Do it so your hair stops being gray. He says do this to remember me. People have literally turned that into something that they do for themselves. Isn't that crazy? Isn't that crazy how false teaching can literally take something that God wants done to glorify him and this amazing sacrifice that none of us deserved and we can turn it around as something we do for ourselves? I do this to get myself to heaven. That's what a sacrament is. I do this to save myself. That is spitting on what Jesus Christ did. That is blaspheming what Jesus did. He's like, no, do it to remember what I did for you. He says, I am that bread of life. Look at verse 35. Jesus said unto them, I am that bread of life. He that cometh to me shall never hunger and he that believeth on me shall never thirst. They're like physically applying this. I mean, does that mean when you get saved, you'll never be hungry again or when you get saved, you'll never get thirsty again? He's talking, look at verse 63, he says, it is the spirit that quickeneth. The flesh profiteth nothing. The words that I speak unto you, they are spirit and they are life. He's saying, I'm speaking to you in a spiritual sense. He literally tells them this. But the point, back to the point, he's the bread of life. He's the only way, believing on Jesus, trusting on Jesus is the only way to everlasting life. Just like he was the only way for the thieves. He's the only way for anybody. There's no way out for these guys, but we are the same. Here's a final thought. This is a thought experiment for you this evening. A final thought on the thieves on the cross. The thieves, both thieves actually were in an extraordinary position when you think about it this way. Well, just put yourself in this sense. First of all, let's look at the unbeliever. You look at the unbeliever, the man that is just railing on Jesus minutes before his physical death. And it's easy because God, he puts that example right in front of us and it's such a contrast. We're sitting there and you read that and you're like, man, he's an unbeliever and he's about to literally die. He's about to die. But look, how is that any different from the unbeliever today? Look, you look at this unbelieving thief next to Jesus and you sit there and you think, if you're like me, you think there's no logic to it. There's no logic to what he's doing. It doesn't make any sense. I mean, think about this. Why not believe? To that thief that was sitting there railing on Jesus, why not believe? I mean, to the base level, here's your thought experiment. For the atheist, on just a base overview level, just think logically. Is atheism really a smart position to take? If the atheist is right, what? Where is he? He's in the dirt. If the atheist is wrong, where is he? He's in hell. What if I'm wrong? If I'm wrong, okay, I'm in the dirt with the atheist. I know I'm not wrong. But if I'm right, not in hell. Atheism is like not, I mean, look, from just a logical perspective, I hope you get where I'm going with this, but like from just a logical perspective, for somebody who says I'm an atheist, it would be much more logical just to pick one. Throw a dart. You're like, bam, Buddha, all right, that's what I am. It's more logical than just being like there is no God. I mean, just from a logical perspective, but I mean, let's just take it to the next level now, because we know that there's really not thousands of religions. We know that there's only two religions. We know that there's Satan's religion that is just covered by all these other religions out there, which is just this idea that you can do things to get yourself to heaven. That's everything. That's Catholicism, Mormonism, Buddhism, Hinduism. It's every single religion out there. It's just different things that you have to do to get yourself to heaven. That's it, because that's what Satan wants you to believe, that you can do it yourself, because why? Because he wants to be like the Most High. He wants you to think that you can be like the Most High, that you can do what? That you can save yourself, and then you won't do what? You won't trust in Jesus. There's only two religions. So here's another. Let's drill down to the next level. Why not believe in Jesus? We know it's completely illogical to be like, I just don't believe in any God. It doesn't make any sense. It's the highest risk factor of everything. Why not believe in Jesus? Here's the thing. Everyone knows they have sins. You soul winners know this. I can probably count on one hand the time soul winning where I have met somebody where they say, I don't sin. I can remember, I can almost remember every single person. I've been soul winning for years and years and years. On one hand, I can count the people that say, I don't have sin, because that is so ingrained in people's conscience, they know that they're sinners. You find that atheist, and you say, you think you're perfect? They're going to tell you, no, I'm not perfect. Even the atheist out there, I mean, reprobates and all those people are a different story. But the point is, the vast majority of people know that they are a sinner. So you say, the most logical thing is to believe in Jesus, why? Because no one else has ever claimed to die for your sins. No one else has claimed to be the propitiation, that atoning sacrifice for your sins. But no one else could even have done it, because Jesus was without sin. I'm not saying people haven't claimed to be Jesus, but the point is that Jesus is the only one that died, the only religion that died. That's why people want to claim to be him, because he's got credibility. But he's, I mean, he's the only way out for somebody that knows that they're a sinner. Logically. Logically. So, I mean, you're looking at this unbelieving thief, and you're just like, what are you thinking? What are you thinking? Throw a dart. Why not believe? He's right there. Why not trust him? Why not? How about this one? Here's the final level for your thought experiment. People that believe Jesus plus works. Turn to Romans chapter 11. Turn to Romans chapter 11. The only problem with that is the Bible. It also doesn't make any sense. Look at Romans chapter 11, look at verse number 6. The Bible literally says that it is all one way or all the other. It cannot be a mixture of the two. Not only does the Bible say very clearly these very complicated words in Ephesians chapter 2, not of works, but you say, well, maybe it's a little bit of a mixture of works. Look at Hebrews, Romans chapter 11, verse number 6. The Bible says, and if by grace, for by grace are ye saved through faith, the Bible says. And then it says here, if it's by grace, which we know that it is, by the way, because the Bible says it's by grace. For if by grace, then it is no more of works. You say, well, what if I just mix a little bit of works in? It says otherwise grace is no more grace. So if you think that it's by grace, but you have to have some works too, the Bible says no grace for you. That's what the Bible is saying here. Faith plus works, no grace. You know what no grace means? Not saved. Look at the rest of the verse. It says, but if it be by works, then it is no more grace. Otherwise work is no more work. The Bible here is saying it's either by works or it's by grace. What did we learn last week? God is a one or a zero. God is all one way or all the other way. There is no gray area with God, especially when it comes to the Gospel. God is binary. One or zero. He's like, you're either trusting in me completely or not. It's like, I'm 99% Jesus, 1% works. Not saved. That's what the Bible is saying here. Very clear. Look, works plus Jesus is not a logical position either. Because even if I thought, if I just ignored clear verses in the Bible, there's no part of the Bible that tells me how many works, how often I have to do those works, how many times I can sin and how works cancel out sin. It's not there. I mean, I need charts, I need graphs, I need spreadsheets, I need trends, I need all this information if works are part of it. But look, we know that there's clear verses that just say it's not of works. And if it's of works, there's no more grace. Meaning, if you believe it's of works, there's no grace. You say, so why would this guy, why would this guy take this position and just be angry and just swearing at the Lord and all these things when he's literally got no way out. He's got nowhere to go. He's got no other logical thing that could help him even one bit. This is literally, I mean, it's such a contrast of this condition. It's such a dark contrast of this condition. He can do nothing else. There's no other choices, only Jesus and he doesn't choose it. And this shows you that salvation, this shows you, you say it's not, because salvation isn't a logical thing. Salvation is a heart issue. Salvation is a spiritual issue. That's why you can find somebody who's maybe super smart, super logical in their job, super good at everything that they do. You open the Bible to them, not interested. Say why, why wouldn't they take that logical choice as I just walked you down this road? It's clearly the most logical choice. The Bible, the gospel, the true gospel, because it's a heart issue. It's a spiritual issue. It's not a mind issue. It's in the heart. This guy, you know, he just couldn't. He couldn't. His heart wasn't right. That's why you could go to the door, ask somebody, could be the nicest guy. Ask somebody if they want to hear the gospel and they just don't. And there's nothing you are going to say to them that's going to make them change their mind. Why? Because it's a heart problem. There's nothing you're going to rationalize with them to make them change their mind because it's a spiritual issue. Something is wrong here with them, just like this thief on the cross. He had nowhere to go. Every possible person even would say, just try. I only have one option. What should I do? Nothing is what he did because it's a heart issue. That's why it doesn't make sense a lot of times. That's why it doesn't make sense with this guy because it's not something you can think through. His heart wasn't right. His spirit wasn't right. His conscience wasn't undamaged, basically, and he didn't want to hear it. How about this one? How about the guy that was saved? How about the guy that was saved? Talk about a fortunate situation for this guy, this guy that got saved. I mean, here he is, like I said, minutes away from the end of his life. There's literally nothing he can do. He's pinned to a cross. He can't go anywhere new. He can't learn anything new. He can't do anything new. And the Savior of the world is right next to him. But look, that's a picture of us. That's a picture of us. You say, why? Because there's nothing we can do. There's nothing we can do to get ourselves to heaven. There's nothing we can do to get ourselves to be saved. Nothing. Yet, you say, oh yeah, well, Jesus isn't right next to me. You know what? Turn to Matthew chapter 7. Jesus is actually available to anyone. Jesus is just as available to anyone on this earth as he was to that thief on the cross. And God promises that he is. This is your answer for, this is the rainforest in Africa answer right here. What about the, you know, rainforest person in South America or whatever? This is the answer. The Bible says this in Matthew chapter 7 in verse number 7, ask and it shall be given to you, seek and ye shall find, knock and it shall be opened unto you. Jesus is just as available to anyone in this world, but that's the key that is seeking him. And that thief on the cross that got saved sought Jesus. He sought him. The other thief, Jesus was right there too. He just didn't seek, he didn't have any interest in seeking him. He didn't have any interest in asking anything. He didn't have any interest in any of it. The second thief wasn't seeking anything, nothing. Just like most people, they're not seeking. But when people do seek, you say, well, what happens when people seek? That's when God sends you to them. That's when God sends a soul winner to them. That's when God sends, I mean, you start soul winning and you will see this happen so many times. I just, I mean, I just heard it Sunday. I just don't think it was an accident that you were here. It wasn't. I just don't think it was an accident that you showed up in my driveway. Of course it wasn't. You're seeking and you just found. Because God uses us to answer his promise to the second or to the thief that is seeking. But most people just aren't seeking. That's the problem. Why? Why wasn't, you know, most people just have their hearts set on other things. These two men are a picture of this world that we're living in. These two men that were next to Jesus. One man sought Jesus and he's now in heaven with Jesus and the other man had no interest in seeking anything except his own personal heart, whatever it was. Even when he just happened today. Even when he had nothing to do except die. But it's no different. Today we see a guy sitting on the back of his pickup literally staring at his fence. Just staring there. Would you like to hear the gospel? No, I'm really busy right now. Literally just sitting there staring at his fence. But just wasn't seeking anything. But that's most people, folks. That's just the way it is. It's a heart issue. It's a spiritual issue. Jesus is just available to any of us just like he was to us and why we're saved. He's just as available to anybody as he was to these two thieves on the cross. Let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer.