[0:00] I was going to say good morning, it's good afternoon. And a warm welcome to our service this morning. It's nice to meet and it's nice to see in the climate that we've got at the moment to have an open door and an open church.
[0:12] So may God be with us as we meditate on his word this morning. We'll sing, we'll have two minutes of silence. I think it's this morning to remember.
[0:25] Today is Remembrance Sunday and our minds go back to those that have lost their lives in not only two major conflicts, but conflicts since then.
[0:40] Because we cannot forget around Foshoesend, all that they go through. So we'll have two minutes of silence and remember the deliverance that was provided for us by the Lord.
[0:53] At the end of the day, it is because we're here today enjoying our freedom. It's because of God's deliverance. And we remember his work in particular, as well as remembering those who lost their lives and his families and many from the island.
[1:11] And I remember reading this this week about some of our soldiers going away on the boat. And silence was broken by a presenter singing, Psalm 46.
[1:25] God is our refuge and our stead. And what a night that was for them going away. Some never to return. And we remember the sacrifice, the ultimate sacrifice that was made.
[1:37] So we'll just bow our heads in a two minute silence. To be 1920 and visit.
[2:09] toil.gen Smry.
[2:21] Snorri. Awesome. SIRitenhehehe. Snorri. Snorri.檢. Is it??? See anyone whispering? Do you guess none? exposure. Thank you.
[3:00] Thank you.
[3:30] Thank you.
[4:00] Thank you.
[4:30] Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
[5:36] Thank you. Thank you.
[6:36] Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
[7:12] Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
[7:24] Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
[7:36] Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
[7:48] Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. and we don't do what we should do.
[8:02] But blessed be thy name, Lord, it is still in light. There is an invitation to sinners to come to a God such as you are today.
[8:17] Though we are sinners, yet we come to thee through him who was made sin for us and who worked out that salvation for us, who delivered us by giving himself over to the accursed death of the cross.
[8:35] And help us, O Lord, this day to remember him. We remember, O Lord, our deliverances in past conflicts. This day is set apart for doing that.
[8:49] And in doing so, we would thank God for his deliverance because it is because of what you worked out for us and keeping us and the liberties that we have and the freedom that we enjoy.
[9:06] How much we should acknowledge today that it is not of us but of all I do when we consider all the conflicts that went on, yet the victories in the midst of despair sometimes.
[9:21] Yet, you worked out a victory for us as a nation. Lord, we give thanks for those who gave their lives as the ultimate sacrifices. Those who were young and years who had a future before them and that was taken away suddenly.
[9:38] There was a boring community in our islands never before experienced but yet, O Lord, you are with us today and we give thanks for these liberties.
[9:53] We give thanks above everything else for the liberty of the gospel that the good news of Jesus Christ is with us still and we give thanks, O Lord, for thy goodness to us and preserve it and we ask that we would make use of it.
[10:09] O Eternal One, we have to confess so often that we make so ill use of what the privileges that we have. We have to confess so often, O Lord, O God, that we don't do what we should.
[10:21] We are found so often away from your word, away from your truth. Even at these times where we have this virus upon us as a nation and in the nations of the world, Lord, help us to come to the great position that we would see days of mourning and fasting.
[10:44] We read the days of Nineveh when Jonah preached there. The king of Nineveh set a time for fasting and for prayer and for supplication.
[10:56] We find that revival came to that place. Who can tell O Lord, we ask that thou wouldst give us that spirit of prayer and spirit of repentance to come, acknowledging that we, as a result of our sins, have brought this upon us and it is so easy for us to blame the Almighty God and to O Lord deliver us from doing that.
[11:27] Bless us then, bless this congregation and the congregation of your people. Remember, those who are leading it at this time, we give thanks, O Lord, for the vision that they have and for their leadership in this church.
[11:38] And we ask, O Lord, that you would bless them. Bless them in their attempts to get a minister. We ask, O Lord, that you would be with the one who has been called here and tops him, that you would give him whatever is before him, that you would lead him and guide him above everything else.
[11:59] Bless your cause here, O Lord, O God, O gracious God, come with reviving times to us. Revive thy church and be with them. Bless them.
[12:11] Bless us all as families. Bless us together, eternal God. Help us to remember those of our young who are not with us and those of our young who are putting their backs to the gospel.
[12:24] O Lord, O God, help us to continue in prayer for them and deliver them, O Lord, from such evil as in our day. Good is called evil and evil is called good.
[12:36] We ask you, O Lord, to help us. Be with us then and bless us at these times. Keep our feet from falling. We ask you, we have many sins. We ask you, for Jesus' sake.
[12:47] Amen. We'll read today in the gospel according to Luke at chapter 23. At chapter 23.
[13:01] And we'll start at verse 26 and we're going down to verse 49. We're going to look at the three crosses here at Calvary. And we meditate a while on each of the crosses.
[13:16] And as they led him away, verse 26 of chapter 23. And as they led him away, that's Jesus, they seized one, Simon of Cyrene, who was coming in from the country and laid on him the cross to carry it behind Jesus.
[13:31] And I followed him a great multitude of the people and of women who were mourning and lamenting for him. But turning to them, Jesus said, Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me, but weep for yourselves and for your children.
[13:45] For behold, the days are coming when they will say, Blessed are the barren and the wombs that never bore and the breasts that never nursed.
[13:56] Then they will begin to say to the mountains, follow us and to the hills, cover us. For as they do these things, when the wood is green, what will happen when it is dry?
[14:07] 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, there they crucified him. The criminals, one on his right and one on his left.
[14:18] And Jesus said, Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do. And they cast lots to divide his garments and the people stood by watching. But the ruler scoffed at him, saying, he saved us.
[14:30] Let him save himself. If he is the Christ of God, his chosen one. The soldiers also mocked him, coming up and offering him sour wine and saying, If you are the king of the Jews, save yourself.
[14:41] There was also an inscription over, And this is the king of the Jews. One of the criminals who were hanged railed at him, saying, Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us.
[14:53] But the other 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 due reward of our deeds. But this man has done nothing wrong.
[15:05] And he said, Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom. And he said to him, truly I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise.
[15:17] It was now about the sixth hour and there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour. While the sun's light filled and the curtain of the temple was torn in two, then Jesus calling out with a loud voice said, Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.
[15:33] And having said this, he breathed his last. And when the centurion saw what had taken place, he praised God, saying, certainly this man was innocent. And all the crowds that had assembled for this spectacle when they saw what had taken place returned home, beating their breasts.
[15:51] And all his acquaintances and the women who had followed him from Galilee stood at a distance watching these things. Amen. May the Lord bless a portion of his truth to us.
[16:04] We'll again engage in prayer and ask God for light. We need light. Oh, eternal God, help us to meditate on thy word this day.
[16:17] How much we need the Holy Spirit to come in with us and lead us into the truths that we read in thy word. Lord, it is often with us that we read thy word and we don't really comprehend.
[16:32] Sometimes we read thy word and we don't know what we've read. but oh Lord, for the little while we are here, help us to meditate upon it and see wondrous things are good because thy word has wondrous things in it because it talks about a wonderful, it tells us about a wonderful Savior.
[16:51] Help us then to learn from it, lead us into thy truth, keep our feet from falling, keep us from anything that is sinful, wash away our many sins.
[17:02] We ask it for Jesus' sake. Amen. Well, again, we're going to turn to this part of the well-known story here.
[17:16] If I would take a text from it, maybe we could look at verse 33 in Luke's Gospel in 23. It tells us there, and when they came to the place that is called Skull or Calvary, there they crucified him and the criminals, one on his right and one on his left.
[17:40] When I was young, my mother used to, on a Sunday evening, we used to learn some hymns.
[17:51] I know we were in a church that sang nothing but psalms, but she taught us a number of well-known hymns. We used to, and it's a great exercise, folks, because there are some hymns that are wonderful and they give a wonderful expression of theology as well.
[18:11] And one of these was Cecil Francis Alexander. she wrote a hymn called, There is a green hill far away. You remember, some of you, I'm sure you remember, and down at verse 2 she goes on, There is a green hill far away without a city wall.
[18:28] And then in verse 2 she goes, she tells, He died that we might be forgiven. He died to make us good that we might from our sins be freed, saved by his precious blood.
[18:42] And then, she goes on, There was no other good enough to pay the price of sin. He only could unlock the gate of heaven and let us in.
[18:58] And our emphasis was on that verse. She always emphasized that verse to us. There was no other good enough. And as little children we understood that.
[19:11] And you know, as I grow older, I find that I understand that better today. There was no other good enough to pay the price of sin.
[19:23] He, he only could unlock the gate of heaven and let us in. A lovely hymn. And here we are reading this today and that's really what we're about.
[19:35] Here is this payment, this unlocking. John C. Ryle in his commentary on this chapter here, he says, these verses deserve to be printed in letters of gold.
[19:50] They have probably been the salvation of myriads of souls. Multitudes will thank God to all eternity that the Bible contains the story of the penitent thief.
[20:02] Today I would like to look at three parts. As I said, it's three things, three hearts. First of all, we look at a condemned heart. Then we look at a confessing heart.
[20:16] And thirdly, we look at a compassionate heart. These were the three hearts, three people on the three crosses at Calvary that day.
[20:26] Verse 32, if you look at verse 32, it says there, two others who were criminals were led away to be put to death with him.
[20:38] And that seems to be a continuation of verse 26. Verse 26 says, as they led him away. In other words, in the procession, going up to Calvary, there was this procession, there was the two criminals and there was Jesus.
[20:56] Each of them would have taken their cross. We see that Simon of Cyrene, they laid hold upon him. And it wasn't, really, it wasn't because they were sorry.
[21:07] It wasn't because they saw that Jesus was in such a state that he was finding it difficult to have his cross, that they asked Simon of Cyrene.
[21:19] It was because they wanted to add more shame, more shame to the saviour. And that's why they put the two criminals with him, the two robbers. It wasn't anything to do.
[21:30] They probably pulled these two individuals out of jail just to make more mockery of the saviour. And they put him out because it had to be. And they were carrying out scriptures.
[21:41] He was numbered with the transgressors. And here he was taken up with them and here we have these two robbers, two criminals with him.
[21:52] Now there were similarities in these two criminals. First of all, they were criminals. They were convicted, they were obviously criminals, they were put in jail. They were both nameless.
[22:05] No nameless given to either of them. They both saw Jesus there as he walked with his cross. They were seeing him as he was walking up to Calvary. They both heard what he had to say, for instance, they heard what he had to say to the women.
[22:20] He stopped and he spoke to the women. They saw that. They both read the sign that was above his head. They saw this is the king of the Jews. They saw that.
[22:31] they saw they both heard him pray. Remember when he prayed, when he was put on the cross, we have it there in verse 34. Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.
[22:44] They both joined in mocking him. They were both on the cross with him and they started mocking him on the cross. And this is the thing about it. They wanted to be saved from death.
[22:57] Both of them. one way or the other. They wanted to be saved. But what effect did all this that they had seen, what effect did it have on this one?
[23:09] One first of all. Well, he became more defiant. He became more angry. He became more hateful. We read that in the verses there we have here.
[23:23] One of the verse 39, one of the criminals who were hanged railed at him. That word railed is significant because it means that he was harsh.
[23:37] He was abusive. That is what railed actually means. It wasn't that he shouted. He did more than like shout but in his shouting there was abuse in it.
[23:49] Look at what he said there. What he says there. Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us. And in my translation here there's an exclamation after us which means to express that that is expression.
[24:06] There is an expression here. It's not that he did it quietly. He actually shouted it out. If you are the Christ, are you the Christ? Then save us.
[24:17] Save yourself and us. It was an abusive way that he did it. After all that he had seen, after all that he had heard, he's abusive to the Savior.
[24:31] Imagine it friends. Imagine that. There he was. He had been seized going on his way to get from the judgment hall.
[24:43] There he goes on his way up to Jerusalem, up to Calvary. What is that? Not a single word from the mouth of the Savior to indicate any harshness.
[24:57] Oh, friends, and yet we have this man. There he was with the nails being hammered into. What does he say? No more than likely these two criminals were swearing and cursing.
[25:08] What does he say? Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do. and at the cross here, this man close to eternity, on the brinks of a lost eternity.
[25:24] And what does he do? He reigns that he is abusive to Christ. Oh, friends, what a solemnity that we can be on the very fringes of a lost eternity and yet be abusive to Jesus.
[25:44] Isn't it a thought? Isn't it a thought that some in our day are abusive to Christ Jesus? Hate the very name of Jesus.
[25:56] With this man here, he was in a hopeless situation. Here he was and what does he do? He is harsh, he is abusive to him. Oh, friends, really, we're looking at this man and we would say, hope, pathetic this man is.
[26:16] But, friends, without Christ, if we're here today and we're out without Christ, the Bible tells us that there is but a step between us and death.
[26:28] That's what the Bible says. None of us know what is going to happen today, far less tomorrow. What do we think of Jesus? What do we think?
[26:40] Oh, I know perfectly well, and I know some of you in here, I know perfectly well that you wouldn't be abusive to Jesus. I know perfectly well, but there are plenty who are, but there are others who just don't think about Jesus.
[26:55] And in a way, that is, I'm not saying it's abusive, but in a way you're not treating Christ with the way we should. When we're not thinking about Jesus, when we're not looking to him, he says, I remember just, probably just over a year ago, I met a friend with my and we spent school together, probably shared nearly the same guests, and he was taken over by drink.
[27:29] He had a problem, poor man, poor man, I felt sorry for, I met him in one of the supermarkets, and he said to me, he says, I'm just out of hospital, and he says, the doctor told me if I touched any more drink, it would kill me.
[27:46] And I said to him, and I saw another friend of mine coming along, who had stopped drinking years ago, and I says, look at him, look at him, he says, you should stop it, you should really stop it and turn your ways.
[28:04] Three months ago, I got news I was away, he was taken away, drink, but destroy him, he had gone back. I don't know, friends, what happened to him and his soul.
[28:19] I hope, I hope, I hope that something came into his life, didn't show it then, but he, to go from there, he wouldn't take, he wouldn't take any advice, he wouldn't take a warning.
[28:36] Oh, friends, today, you've got a warning, you're not promised tomorrow, not promised even today, and you're told to draw in with Christ because eternity, eternity is before us.
[28:50] Now, it's the day of salvation, now, if you hear his voice, harden, harden not your hearts, this man died, close to Christ.
[29:03] Doesn't see much hope in him, there's nothing told about him, but he died right beside him, and in a real way, we're beside Jesus, because we have his word, and that's because he's passing by in the gospel.
[29:17] Well, what did Jesus say to this man? Look at it, solemn, solemn, he answered him not a word, there's silence, he didn't rebuke him, he didn't say a word, just silence, the silence of Jesus, oh, friends, what a thought, if we'd ever come to that, sometimes we feel it ourselves, we feel so often that we pray, and we have silent Jesus, but no, you keep on praying, he's not silent, he's far from it, well, that's what it was, there was silence, he's railing against Jesus, and there is silence, but we turn to the other one, the confessing part, out of the midst of the silence, there is something, Jesus didn't answer it, but this man did, this other man did, how different, he challenges him, first of all, he challenges him, look what he says, he put a question to him, he says there in verse 40, do you not fear
[30:26] God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation, this man, this man, you know, this, this is wonderful, friends, this man, just moments before that, he was, he was, he himself, was revived with Jesus, he himself was saved, he was going along, he saved others, let him save himself, he had just, but yet, out of, out of the darkness there, here he is, something has changed him, and he turns, now we're not told what changes him, we could say that he looked at the man and he said to the man, well, what on earth are you doing and shouting to this man, but he turns to him and he says, do you not fear God, a man that moments before himself hadn't feared God, he is in a moment there, he says there, and he qualifies with that, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation, you're going, your life, your deeds, you've got to answer for them, you're going to answer them, we've done this, you're going to answer for what you've done, and then he turns and that's what a question that is, do you not fear God, do you not fear God, on the break of eternity, our friends today, that question comes to us today, maybe we're saying, well we're not in the break of eternity, but friends we are, we are in the break, you know, let's, when we think about it, when we go back over, sad to say, we go back over 40, 50, 60 years, some of us, how does it feel like, like that, like a moment, like a moment,
[32:24] I was just thinking about that poor man that I was talking about, 50, 60 years ago, I remember being with him, in school, it's like, it's like that, our days, a bit, like a wake, but here we are, and he says to him, do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation, you're going to be condemned, you're condemned, you're going to a lost eternity, are you not fearing him?
[32:57] Robert Murray McChain, I was reading about him this week, past week, Robert Murray McChain was a preacher in Dundee, in the early 19th century, as a matter of fact, if you go to St.
[33:12] Peter's today, then you have been at St. Peter's, I think his pulpit is still there, I think I was there five, six years ago, and McChain's pulpit was at the back of St. out in Perth, the one that it used to be called when I was in Dundee, and McChain's, that was McChain's church in St.
[33:29] Peter's in Dundee. Anyway, McChain was not converted in his youth, but he had a brother, David, he was about eight years old and he didn't keep good health, David, but he was a godly man, and one day, McChain came in after partying, he came into the house and he heard his brother, David, pray, and he waited till he was finished, and he went in to him and he opened the door and he went in and he says, oh, David, he says, am I as bad as that?
[34:06] And David told him then about Christ, but that didn't convert him, but Murray McChain then later on in he wrote a wonderful hymn called Jehovah Said Kenya, I'm sure many of you have heard that or heard it's been sung or read it, and this is what he says in it, I once was a stranger to grace and to God, I knew not my danger and felt not my load, though friends spoke in the rapture of Christ on the tree, Jehovah said Kenya, was nothing to me, then he goes on, and I did down the poem, when free grace awoke me by light from on high, then legal fear shook me, I trembled to die, no refuge, no safety, in self could I see, Jehovah said Kenya, my saviour must be, my terrors all vanished before the sweet name, my guilty fears banished with boldness I came, to drink at the fountain life giving and free,
[35:12] Jehovah said Kenya, is all things to me, Jehovah said Kenya, the Lord my righteousness is all things to me, it meant nothing to him in these days, but he came to see his need of and he to behold upon Jesus Christ, this is what the second thief came to see, he came to see that there was no hope, there was no refuge, there was no safety in himself, none whatsoever in himself.
[35:45] Strangely, I, I, I, this, this morning, I, I do Spurgeon's readings, and Spurgeon's readings, he has it, I wrote it on the Bible here, I thought maybe I'd mention it today, he speaks from Colossians 2 verse 6, 6, and he says, as ye have received Christ Jesus the Lord, the life of faith is represented as receiving, an act which implies the very opposite of anything like merit.
[36:17] Think of that, think of that, it is simply the acceptance of a gift. Oh dear friend, maybe you're here today, and you're troubled, and you're seeking Christ, and you're looking for Christ, and you're thinking that you have to do something great, or read, or go through some theological culture of whatever, friends, the simplicity Spurgeon has it there, it's accepting the gift, it is without merit, you and I can't do a thing, not an iota can you and I do to merit, salvation, this thief on the cross is realising that, my, he's within hours of death, his hands are stuck to the cross with nails, he's on his way to death, and he cannot go back over his life and say,
[37:23] I did this, or I did that, or I did the next thing, he did nothing, it's a free gift, and that's the wonder of it all, the gift of salvation, friends, do you see the fact that you can't love him, the fact that you cannot merit salvation, my, as I go on, as my years go on, I'm seeing that I often wonder, I wonder and am amazed that Christ Jesus is still with me, is still giving me the opportunity to read his word, I remember going into a, many years ago, going into a house with an old woman, she was in bed, she was reading her bible, she turned to me and she said, God, I feel so filthy, I feel so filthy, that's a woman who spent her days and her nights in prayer to God, and she felt firstly, do you feel that friends, do you not feel so awful, that you wonder at all if you could any number, a single iota of grace in me, like me, it's without merit, we come to the fountain, we come to this today, like this thief, like, he came like the prodigal, he's coming, he confesses his sin, he says there, we indeed chastened, look at it, for we receive the due rewards of our deeds, there he is, there's his confession,
[38:59] I have sinned against heaven, remember, the prodigal, and in thy sight, that's what he's saying here, we indeed just, I have sinned, that's what, that's, he knew what he was, what he deserved, it was a just reward for his sin, judgment was coming, and he was heading for hell, that's where he was going, heading for hell, but look at you know, maybe I'm reading into things here, maybe I shouldn't be, but I think he turned, I think he turned his face, he was speaking to the other, his companion, he was on the left, it was Jesus in the middle, and his companion was on the other side, maybe it was on the other way, maybe he was on the right, but he's speaking to his companion, then he moves, and he looks to Jesus, he's turning, he's turning, he's turning, he's looking, where is he looking, he's looking in the right direction, friends, he didn't muffle it, and he didn't pretend that he wasn't looking at him, but I believe that he looked in the face of
[40:11] Jesus, and he said, this man has done nothing, I miss, what a confession, what did he see, what did he see, what did he see in that look, oh, isn't it wonderful, can I say it, he looked, and he saw a broken man, that's what he saw, he saw a face that was more marred, that's what the Bible says, than any other, more disfigured, why, because of the treatment that he received, and he looked and he said, this man, we're deserving, we're guilty, we deserve everything we've got, but this man doesn't deserve what's happening to him, he looked to Jesus, oh, friends, isn't that a comfort for you and for me today, to look to him, don't look away, don't look to anything else to do
[41:16] Jesus, another hymn, I'm sorry, I'm into hymns today, but this has taken, I started looking at one hymn, and then you look at another, but there's Matilda Hull, it's got a lovely, lovely, there is life for a Luke, at the crucified one, this is what she says, there is life for a Luke at the crucified one, there is life at this moment for me, then Luke, sinner, Luke, and to him and be saved, and to him who was nailed to the tree, Luke, Luke, Luke, and live, there is life for a Luke, at the crucified one, there is life at this moment for me, and then she goes on, it is not thy tears of repentance or prayers, you hear it?
[42:10] This thief had confession, didn't see it much more, but the blood that redeemeth the soul, on him then who shed it, thou mayest at once thy weight of iniquity soul.
[42:26] He looked, he looked to Jesus, what did he see? He saw nothing but, he says it himself, there it is in Psalm 22, but as for me, a warm I am, and as no man am prized reproach of men I am, and by the people I am despised.
[42:48] That's what he saw, and yet he believed, he believed. Oh, friends, I cannot express the amazement of this, the absolute amazement, it's amazing anyway that any of us are converted.
[43:04] Do you ever think it's amazing that your self was converted? Do you ever think that? I do. I don't know about you so often these days, I get, the devil is coming to me with sins, I convert, I, I, I, I converted in my unconverted days.
[43:24] Sick of myself so often when he comes with him and I have to acknowledge that he's right. You wonder, I wonder, I wonder why Christ go to Christ ever, ever, look at me.
[43:36] And yet he did, he looked at this thief, there he was, this thief, he believed this man on the center cross was who he said he was, the king of the Jews.
[43:48] He believed that he was the one that he could cry to. Look what he did, he used the word Jesus. What does Jesus mean?
[44:00] Jesus means he shall save his people from their sins. That's what he says, he says, Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom in front of an onlooking world who confesses that this is the only hope, the only hope he has is this Jesus.
[44:22] Who could believe it? He believed it. And finally we move on to the compassionate heart. You know, when last Friday night I was trying to study this, I don't know how many times I threw my notes in the bin.
[44:46] I couldn't get into this compassionate heart. You know why? I went away and I thought, because I don't really understand it.
[44:58] I don't. I cannot. I cannot understand the compassion. Great is the mystery of godliness that God was manifest in the flesh.
[45:13] Great is the mystery of godliness that he would have compassion on a sinner like myself. I had to walk away. I had to come back again.
[45:24] and again. Jesus, this is it. This is it. I thought then. Jesus answered.
[45:36] Oh, friends. Jesus answered. He answered this man. He said to him there, there it is in verse 43, truly I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise.
[45:52] deserted by his companions, treated the way he was, suffering the way he was, nigh unto death he was, Christ above everything else.
[46:08] Now this is the key. He was abandoned by his father. never, never, ever, ever before had he experienced this. From the time he went to get sin, here you have the father withdrawing himself away from him.
[46:27] And he has no comfort from heaven. He is in the state of complete and utter abandon. he is suffering hell for me and for you.
[46:39] And yet, and yet, in the midst of that, he says, truly I say to you, today you shall be with me in paradise.
[46:52] Notice, notice, notice what the robber said to him. Remember me, remember me. Look the way Jesus turns it.
[47:04] what does he say? Without shadow of doubt. That's the word for you. I like the word very in the A.B. It's an emphasizing very, very nice to you.
[47:21] I say it without doubt. Look at what he says. Today you will be with me. Wow.
[47:33] he wanted him to remember him, but he was carrying it and he says, you're going to be with me. You're going to be with me. There's a turning round of the me.
[47:44] You're going to be with me in paradise. What then? You see, why? He had come to seek and to save the lost, those that were lost.
[47:55] That's why he came. Friends, that's why Jesus came, to seek and to save people that were lost and I lost it you and came and me. And he wants you. Oh, friends, that is his desire.
[48:08] His desire would be that this man would be with him in paradise. That's the compassion. That's the compassion. That's the pity. That's the grace. That's the mercy. That's in Christ.
[48:19] And this man cried, remember me when you come into your kingdom. Remember years ago, there was a deathbed of a manor.
[48:33] But things come back again. And he was saying to me that he was dying. Oh, friends, it's hard to go to deathbeds.
[48:47] But it's harder still to go to deathbeds where this person has got no hope. Oh, friends, friends, don't leave.
[48:57] Don't leave. Don't, whatever you do, don't leave. You're seeking Christ until you're on a deathbed. You've got enough to do. I said to him, I said, I can't pray.
[49:10] Oh, when I says there's a lovely prayer there, God, be merciful to me, the sinner. He turned to me and he says, I can't. I find that easy enough for you to say that I can't.
[49:24] And then I thought to him, well, he's one and the bread of eternity. The thief on the cross was, and all he said was, remember me when you come into your kingdom.
[49:36] I left awake. I don't know. Today, oh, I hope, I hope, I hope, I hope, more than I ever hoped before. He was converted.
[49:47] I don't know. I don't know. But here we are here, and this man cried, remember me, before he entered eternity. And he says there, and he was answered.
[50:00] He's the same as those who cried to him, he will answer. The prayer of the destitute, the psalm says, he surely will regard. He'll remember those who cried to him, he'll remember those who cried to him, Lord, help me, Lord, save me.
[50:20] That's what, and yet he heard that. He heard the woman of Samaria, didn't pass by the woman of Samaria. Others, others did. Others had nothing to do with, that's why she was at the well on her own.
[50:33] He sat by her, he sat over her, he sat with her, blind Bartimaeus, remember blind Bartimaeus, what were the people telling him to do? Be quiet.
[50:44] That's what they were telling him to do, but he called him. He did the same to Sachaeus, make haste and come down, friend, this is the Jesus, this is the Jesus that we have.
[50:56] He answers the cry, and he'll answer you cry, as you're here today and you need Christ, and I tell you cry to him. in 1904, 1905, there was a great revival in Wales, wonderful revival, if you read some about it, it's fantastic, and William Rees was a minister there, and he had compiled a hymn called, Here is Love, here is love, here is love, vast as the ocean, loving kindness as the flood, when the prince of life, our ransom, shed for us his precious blood, who his love will not remember, who can cease to sing his praise, he can never be forgotten, throughout heaven's eternal days, and this is the one that caught me on Friday night, on the mount of crucifixion, fountains opened deep and wide, through the floodgates of God's mercy, flowed a vast ungracious tide, grace and love like mighty rivers poured incessant from above, and heaven's peace and perfect justice kissed a guilty world in love, oh wasn't it, that hymn was blessed to many, as a matter of fact, it was called, it was called the hymn of the revival, it was done in, it was,
[52:24] William Rees did it in Welsh, it was sung in Welsh, I was listening to it last night in Welsh, it was even lonely in Welsh, and I can't understand a word of it, but it was translated into English, it's wonderful, there it is, grace and love like mighty rivers poured incessant from above, and heaven's peace and perfect justice, kissed a guilty, world in love, our friends, that came down at Calvary, and this man received it, and he received, it's burgeoning says of the man, wonderful quote, the robber breakfasted with the devil, but he dined with Christ on earth, and he had supper with him in paradise, and I thought, isn't it, oh, what a wonder, what a wonder, little wonder, there is a fountain filled with blood, drawn from Emmanuel's veins, and sinners plunged beneath that flood, who saw their dirty stain, the dying thief rejoiced to see that fountain in his day, and there have I, as vile as he, washed all my sins away, have you washed them?
[53:35] Oh, come, friend, if you've never come before, wash them in this precious blood, that was shed at Calvary, for myself and yourself, it is not too late, come, come to Jesus, may he bless his word to us, we'll have a word of prayer, Lord, our God, we ask you to bless my word to us today, forgive us, for bringing in things that are our own, our own recollections, help us to view Christ, as the thief on the cross viewed him, as his saviour, Jesus, remember me, in your kingdom, oh Lord, that would be our prayer, each one of us today, and that we too would rejoice with that for we believe that he rejoiced, he rejoiced that he saw Jesus, bless us all together and forgive our sins, for Jesus sake, Amen.
[54:32] We'll conclude by saying Psalm 34, in the sing Psalms version. At all times I will bless the Lord, I praise him with my voice, because I glory in the Lord, let troubled souls rejoice.
[54:51] of my eyes, because As thy glory in the Lord, let troubled souls rejoice.
[55:25] To never let us praise the Lord, let those in shame with thee.
[55:43] I saw the Lord, in answer I came, from fears he's heavy feet.
[56:00] They put in and shine with joy, they are not burdened to shame.
[56:17] This suffering man cried to the Lord, from him he gave us fear.
[56:35] The angels of the Lord surround, and guard continually.
[56:51] All those who fear, and all on thy will, he sets his people free.
[57:09] Come, taste and see the Lord his name, who trots him in his place.
[57:27] O fear the Lord, who stays with thee, you will not be oppressed.
[57:44] Amen. We remember our children, and our families.
[58:18] Remember those that are dear to us, all eternal helpers. To be continual in prayer, for them, that thou wouldst come. With divine power, draw us to thyself.
[58:31] We need the drawing of the Holy Spirit to draw us. Because of ourselves we can do nothing. Watch us again in the precious blood, we all ask for Jesus' name. Amen.