Delivered by Bishop Joseph W. Walker, III

Synopsis of Sermon 03/24/24

Luke 23:39-43 NKJV
39 Then one of the criminals who were hanged blasphemed Him, saying, “If You are the Christ, save Yourself and us.” 
40 But the other, answering, rebuked him, saying, “Do you not even fear God, seeing you are under the same condemnation? 41 And we indeed justly, for we receive the due reward of our deeds; but this Man has done nothing wrong.” 42 Then he said to Jesus, “Lord, remember me when You come into Your kingdom.” 
43And Jesus said to him, “Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise.”

I.          INTRODUCTION

• When you think about the death of God, it is beyond explanation. It gives us the best revelation on how love should be given. God was willing to break the rules to bring us into relationship with Him. He looked at our hearts and defined us by our hearts instead of by our
• Jesus would bless the young, heal the sick, bless those that were without, and many other things. We are in awe with how God would love someone like us.
• If you have a desire to be in relationship with God, He is willing and able to give it to you.
• In the scripture today, we have a guy on the cross who cries out, asking that God would remember him when He entered His Kingdom. Even me, we have a chance at redemption and the Promise of God, no matter what we have done in our past.
• This is Palm Sunday commemorating Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem. This sparks the beginning of Holy Week. Luke gives us perspective on the crucifixion. He emphasizes Jesus’ forgiveness during the crucifixion.
• Pilot questions Jesus and finds no fault in him. Herod questions him too, hoping Jesus would perform a miracle, like the people had been talking about. Since He didn’t, Herod sent them back to Pilot. Pilot ends up eventually handing Jesus over to the crowd to be crucified.
• Jesus is crucified beside two criminals. Nothing happens by accident. Some people say there was good thief and a bad thief meaning the bad thief was the one that had no remorse. Luke calls them both Robbers.
• One of the Robbers pleaded with the Lord to be remembered when he entered His kingdom. The other one asked to Lord to get them down from the cross, if He was truly who He said He was.

II.          PROBLEM OF A SELFISH PETITION 

• The thief that mocks Jesus, misses his chance at His conversation is based on self-centeredness. He asks Jesus to do something about getting them off the cross.

A.  Pride Blinds You of God’s Plan

1. Pride can lead to arrogance, self-centeredness, and boastfulness. Pride goes before destruction. Pride is what got Lucifer kicked out of Heaven.
2. This guy on the cross could not let go of his pride, even while on the cross waiting to be crucified.
3. There are a lot of people that have missed opportunities, because they let pride get in the way.
4. Issues with the thief and his pride:
   1. He is unrepentant. He wasn’t even remorseful for what he had done.
   2. He is uninformed. He doesn’t understand the purpose of Jesus and he really doesn’t know who He is.
   3. He is ungrateful. How can you be that close to Jesus and don’t even thank him for who he is. You’ve got to be grateful!

B.  God Does Not Respond When We Don’t Take Responsibility

1. Jesus never responds to the prideful thief. The Bible says, in the beginning was the word and the word was with God and the word was God. The Word (Jesus) doesn’t respond to him, because he doesn’t use the word in his request.
   1. When you talk to God, respond with his word. Call His word back to himself. His word does not come back to Him void.
      1. Example: “Father, you said you would provide all my needs” or “You said, no weapon formed against me shall prosper” or “You said, They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength” or “You said, you will make a table for me in the presence of my enemy”. When you call God’s word back to him, that’s when miracles happen!
   2. God might not be talking to you, because you’re not talking to him right!

III.          POWER OF SPIRITUAL PERSPECTIVE

• You have to understand the first thief didn’t fear God. The second thief asked the first thief if he knew who Jesus was?

A.  Before You Ask, Acknowledge Who He Is

1. It is insulting when people ask you for something, without acknowledging you first.
2. The 2^nd thief is showing us something. He acknowledged that they deserved the punishment they were receiving. If you want God to do something, you have to acknowledge that you are guilty.
   1. Because I recognize I’m guilty, I recognize that God is great! Acknowledge who God is. Acknowledge his glory! Whether he does what we want or not, he is still great.
3. When we pray, we need his grace. God is our Master, our savior, our healer, our way out of no way, and our deliverer. When I acknowledge who he is, I realize what he is able to do

B.  He Is in It with You

1. Nothing happens by accident. Everything that happens is on purpose!
2. Guess who is in the middle? It is Jesus. Just like the two thieves on the cross, no matter what we go through, Jesus is in the middle of it with us. He walks with me and talks with me and tells me that I am his own!

IV.          PERSONAL AND SINCERE PRAYER

• The 2^nd thief realizes who Jesus is. He demonstrates humility. He owns to Jesus, about what he has done.
• The 2^nd thief recognizes that he deserves what he is getting (being crucified). If you don’t own it, you can’t be delivered from it.
• Because the second thief realizes who Jesus’ really is, he asks Jesus to remember him, when He went into his kingdom.
• You have to declare that you want more!

A.  The Prayer of Faith Declares I Have a Future

1. Every king has a Kingdom. Jesus turns a situation that looks like a period, into a comma. If I am being crucified with Jesus, it is a comma, not a period, meaning that there is more to come.
2. When we say remember me when you come into the kingdom, then we realize that there is something greater on the other side. Know that you will always outlive what is trying to outlive you.

B.  Doesn’t Matter Who Forgets Me, As Long as He Remembers Me

1. We are through whining over who left us. Our savior remembers us!

V.          PRAISE THE SAVIOR’S PROMISE

• When you get a promise from God, you have to give him glory. When God makes a promise, you can take it to the bank.

A.  Relationship Is Greater Than the Rules of Religion 

1. The second thief asks Jesus to remember him. This man now has a relationship with Jesus. He hasn’t been baptized and he haan’t gone to any bible studies or anything. However, he has a relationship with Jesus Christ.
   1. Don’t allow your rules to prevent people from being in relationship with God.
   2. If you remember back in the old days, they would ask if they could get a motion to accept you into the church as a member. Then that motion had to be seconded and then a vote would be done. When you are born, you were born regardless. Nobody had to make a motion or vote whether you could be born or not. When you are in a relationship with God, you have it whether there is a motion or not.

B.  God Will Give You A “Today” Testimony

1. Everything that happens in life is by divine providence. The thieves on both sides of Jesus shows that God is in the middle, standing with us in everything we go through.
2. One thief represents pride and the other represents acknowledgement.

C. This day will be different.

1. God has you here this day on purpose. God wouldn’t give you this word if things weren’t going to be different. God is changing things to bring his will into your life.
2. You got something this day to give God glory for!

D. He will disrupt how you were defined.

1. The Bible identifies the two individuals as thieves. The culture associates them as thieves, because of what they have done in the past. Some people look at what you have done in the past and as a result, they treat you in a certain way. People have a different perception of you, because of your name or what you have been called.
   1. Jesus says you are not what they’ve called you. You are what Jesus called you. This is why Jesus said to the thief, “This day you will be with me in paradise”.
2. Be intentional about speaking to people that other people have shun. That same Jesus that loves you, loves them too!

E.  He determines my destiny.

1. They are in a punitive situation. Religion has put Jesus on the cross. High priest had crucified him in the name of religion.
   1. People love to see you fall. People will email you a crucifixion.
   2. Actually, crucifixion was a rare thing in Rome, but the Religious leaders wanted Jesus to be killed.
2. Jesus granted entry to paradise, to a man that everyone thought was going to hell.
3. The thief died. Jesus then says, “it is finished” and the bible says afterwards, He gave up the ghost. This means Jesus gave his life up, they didn’t take it. Jesus could have stopped the crucifixion at any time if he wanted to, but he chose to finish His assignment.
4. When the thief died, he was no longer present with people. He was in the company of the Lord. When you die from people, know that you will present to the Lord!