Jesus and The Two Criminals | Chris Osburn

If you have your Bibles, please open up to Luke chapter 23, Luke

Luke 23 · chapter mention Luke 23 · chapter mention

chapter 23. We're going to be studying a few

verses there. And as you turn there, we're so

thankful for all who have made it here this morning and

thankful for your presence and an opportunity to come together

as the body of Christ to worship our God.

And we pray that we have done that so far this morning.

And we pray that we continue to do that as we progress through

our service. We're so thankful for those of

you who may consider yourselves as visitors.

We were teasing Janet before service that she's back.

We're so glad to see Janet back or treating her as a visitor if

you want to say. But we're so thankful that she's

back here. And if you're a visitor, please

consider yourself our honored guest.

We're going to be reading Luke chapter 23, verses 32 through

Luke 23:32–43

43. So if you'd like to follow along

in your Bible, I'm going to have it up here on the screen as

well. It says they're beginning in

verse 32. There were also two brothers, or

excuse me, let me start again. There were also two others

criminals LED with him to be put to death.

And when they had come to the place called Calvary, there they

crucified him and the criminals, one on the right hand and the

other on the left. Then Jesus said, Father forgive

them, for they do not know what they do.

And they divided his garments and cast lots.

And the people stood looking on, but even the rulers with them

sneered, saying, He saved others, let him save himself, if

he is the Christ, the chosen of God.

The soldiers also mocked him, coming and offering him sour

wine and saying, If you are the king of the Jews, save yourself.

And an inscription also was written over him in letters of

Greek, Latin and Hebrew. This is the King of the Jews.

Then one of the criminals who were hanging blasphemed him,

saying, If you are the Christ, save yourself and us.

But the other answer rebuked him, saying, Do you not even

fear God, seeing you are under the same condemnation?

And we indeed justly, for we receive the due reward of our

deeds. But this man has done nothing

wrong. Then he said to Jesus, Lord,

Remember Me when you come into your Kingdom.

And Jesus said to him, assuredly I say to you, you will be with

me in paradise. So our focus this morning is on

2 words that Luke records for us here spoken by Jesus from the

cross. We have a prayer from Jesus in

verse 34 and we also have a promise from Jesus in verse 43.

So first of all, in verse 34 says Jesus said, Father, forgive

them for they do not know what they are, what they do.

You know, of all the cries and all the from all the victims of

the execution of the cross. You know, it's pretty amazing

what was said here. You know, these soldiers,

soldiers who probably felt that they had experienced everything

a man could experience in carrying out their duties as

soldiers. They were grown, maybe

accustomed to those they were crucifying, maybe cursing them

or, or resisting these soldiers or doing whatever they could to

to push back from being crucified from these soldiers

who were just carrying out their duty.

And, you know, you could imagine one of these soldiers saying,

did you hear what this guy just said?

Did he really just say what I think he said from the cross?

The other one said, yeah, I do believe that he did say that.

Now, of course, Jesus had instructed his disciples earlier

in his ministry about forgiveness in Luke 627 through

28. He said, love your enemies and

pray for those who abuse you. So in actual fact, we discover

that Jesus is simply just practicing what he preached,

right? Jesus is practicing what he

preached. And indeed, this prayer,

forgiveness is in keeping with the emphasis that we see all

through Luke. Luke, there's a few references.

I'm going to go, I'm going to turn to each of them or, or

reference them here on the screen.

You don't necessarily need to do so, but in Luke 176 through 77,

we see that the same genre of forgiveness is at the very heart

of Luke's writing in the song of Zechariah.

Zechariah, Speaking of John, says in you my child will be

called the prophet of the highest, for you will go on

before the face of the Lord to prepare his ways to give

knowledge of salvation to his people by the remission or

forgiveness of their sins. So right at the very beginning,

before we even have Jesus come onto the scene or preaching his

ministry, if you want to say the theme is sound and proclaiming

salvation and the forgiveness of sins.

And when Jesus begins his ministry, he encounters all

kinds of people in different situations.

In Luke Chapter 7, verse 36 through 49 at the home of a

Luke 7:36–49

Pharisee, we see that he's been invited over for dinner and a

dreadful thing takes place, at least in this Pharisees eyes.

The host, namely a sinful woman comes into the presence of

what's going on here and she's apparently, you know, a a fairly

notorious Sinner, simple woman, if you want to say, and she

crashes this party. So not only is she in the room,

but then she approaches Jesus and engages him in in such a way

that the, the host of that party is really kind of surprised that

Jesus is letting this happen. You know, he's, he, he says

himself and, and maybe to the others around him, you know, if

this guy, if this Jesus is really who he says he is, if he

really is a prophet and, and, and this woman is approaching

him, you know, he, if he knew what she was doing, he would not

let her approach her the way that she is.

And the inference, of course, is because that he can't possibly

by this individual could not come close to someone who was so

divine, if that's what he's saying here.

But in actual fact, Jesus says, he says to her, your sins are

forgiven in Luke 748. And then he says in verse 49.

And those who sat at the table with him began to say to

themselves, who is this? Who even forgives sins?

You know, they, they realize, they said, well, Jesus, you

know, this Jesus, this guy is, he's apparently somebody who can

forgive sins. And then when we go into Acts of

the Apostles, which is Luke's second book, Luke wrote the the

book of Acts, we discovered that the, the genre of the motif is

still there. So by the time when we get to

Acts 531, we have Peter proclaiming him, God is exalted

to his right hand to be Prince and savior.

Why? To give repentance to Israel and

forgiveness of sins. Acts 531 and then in Acts 1042

and 43, the very same emphasis we see Peter says again, and He

commanded us to preach to the people and testify that He is

who was ordained by God to be judge of the living dead.

And then we have it in verse 43. To Him, all the prophets bear

witness that everyone who believes in His name shall

receive forgiveness of sins through His name, remission of

sins, forgiveness of sins. So in other words, we have this,

this, this, this genre or this motif that comes at the very

start of Luke's writing and carries all the way through his

writings and acts. So it's no surprise to us that

when Jesus from the cross should say this prayer in a way or in a

particular fashion. And they're honestly, it's

honestly probably one of the most famous prayers in the

world. You know, even people who don't

know very much about prayers may actually know that some place

and sometimes Jesus of Nazareth said, Father, forgive them for

they do not what they Father forgive them.

That's about the extent of all they know.

Father forgive them. So what is Jesus saying when he

says Father forgive them? Is he saying, you know, Father,

don't don't worry about this. Let's just let these guys off

they they let's it's some is this some blanket expression of

forgiveness on the part of Jesus that is unrelated to the

response of the hearts and men of of men and women.

Well, clearly the answer is no and we're able to affirm that by

the reading in context in which these words are said.

Jesus is about to give his life expressly to pay the price for

sin to open up the gateway to heaven.

If you want to say, and that picture is going to come vividly

in a few verses later when we see the torn curtain in torn in

two in the temple declaring entry into the most holy place.

But given that he is about to do this, he's praying to his Father

that those who are involved as such proponents in this act,

those who are carrying it out, and frankly, those who are maybe

just standing by letting this happen and watch it.

He's asking his Father that it may be by the grace that they

are, that they will be brought to see that he is actually the

Savior. That they will be brought to see

that they are actually in need of a Savior.

And they will turn from their sin and, and, and discover that

their transgressions may be blotted out completely and may

be pardoned by what's going on. Thus fulfilling what it says in

Isaiah 5312 where it says of the one who is to come and he is

made, and he made forgiveness or intercession for the

transgressors. Second Corinthians chapter 5,

2 Corinthians 5:19

verse 19, as Paul gives to the explanation to the Corinthian

readers about the nature of the alienation between a holy God

and sinful man and what Jesus has done in reconciliation.

This is how Paul puts it. He says there in verse 19 of

chapter 5 and 2nd Corinthians, God was reconciling the world to

Himself, not counting their trespasses against them.

Now those two final words are huge.

Those are major, major words in that phrase there.

They're crucial. Paul doesn't stop and say God

was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting

men's sins, and he stops there. He doesn't do that.

He doesn't stop there. He says no, not counting men's

sins against them. Why?

Because he was counting their sins against him against Jesus.

So then we can go on. He goes on to say in chapter in

in verse 21 God made himself. God made him who had no sin to

be sin for us so that in him we might become the righteousness

of God. Now when this actually dawns on

somebody's mind or grabs a hold of their heart stirs a heart.

If you want to say when that when that individual shifts from

just a simple belief to or some general generic awareness of the

potential forgiveness of sins to something more personal.

If you want to say or grabs heart of a of a of a person that

they really understand the fact that the death of Jesus here is

the only way for good forgiveness of my sin.

You know, we need we need to make sure we're making this

personal what we're understanding here and starts to

sink in. It's a very personal awareness.

So it's very important that we understand.

Father, forgive him. And then he answers a special

plea here. For they do not know what they

do, for they do not know what they do.

Now, I find that hard to believe.

Did they knew what they were doing?

Absolutely. They knew what they were doing.

They knew exactly what was going on.

They knew that they had they had trumped up the charges.

They had gone through the whole mock trial.

They knew exactly this is the place that they are wanted Jesus

to be was hanging on that cross. They knew that.

So what does Jesus mean when he says they do not know what they

are doing? Well, presumably was he, what he

what he's saying is this, that they're aware of their actions,

but they're not aware of the extent and significant of their

actions. There's something far deeper

going on. The soldiers were aware of the

fact that that here is another victim of execution, but they

don't realize that they're actually crucifying the actual

son of the living God and Jesus as he prays in this way is

praying to that these individuals will go about their

business in this way that that that that they need brought to

an understanding or perspective of of understanding.

They're wrong in a state that they're in and I think as lies

at the heart of the dramatic response to Peter's preaching at

the day of Pentecost. You know, when we read the

Peter's, Peter's sermon in Acts, it's a really good sermon.

He really gives it to him. He was really good.

He told me, he said you killed him.

You handed him over. You disowned him.

You killed the author of life. So is he simply telling them

what they already knew? No, He was telling them

something that they didn't know. They didn't realize the extent

or the significance of what had been done.

And when it dawned on them, when they said having been cut to the

heart, well then what should we do?

And he said, well, you should repent and turn of your sins and

you should be baptized. Acts 23738.

You see, when John writes about this later, he says he says if.

And that's a conditional clause. If we confess our sin, He is

faithful and just to forgive us our sin and to cleanse us from

all unrighteousness. So that prayer that Jesus had on

the cross was quite remarkable. Father, forgive them, for they

do not know what they are doing. Now presumably that had dawned

upon somehow or another on one of these two criminals hanging

on the cross, the one in whom verse 43, the promise is given.

That promise is given in a response to his request in verse

42. We'll get there, but let's focus

on this this guy for a moment, if we have a if we could.

So this guy, this one criminal had seen and heard enough about

Jesus in the past few hours, apparently to conclude that that

that he was innocent of any crime, hence his rebuke.

He rebuked the other criminal, whether it be in front of it,

you know, leaning around the front of Jesus or behind Jesus's

head, rebuking this other criminal.

You know, in verse 40, do you not fear God?

And he said to him shouting as it were through Jesus or over

Jesus behind Jesus. But the other rebuked him,

saying, do you not fear God since you were under the same

sentence of condemnation? And indeed justly, for we are

receiving the due reward of our deeds.

But this man has done nothing wrong.

So we wonder how that came about.

What was it in the presence of the holiness of Jesus and all of

his purity and all of his grace that this man all of a sudden

realized how dirty he was as an individual?

What was it that induced this, this tenderness of heart of

somebody who was clearly a fairly hard bitten criminal, if

you want to say, and you could say, well, maybe he heard the

prayer of Jesus and Jesus had just prayed, you know, Father,

forgive them. Maybe it struck him in a way

where he had a change of heart, if you want to say, but is he

the only one who heard that prayer?

No, both of them heard both of those criminals heard that

prayer. So they both hear the same words

of Christ and the two individuals respond in two

different ways. You have husband and wife

attending worship, maybe here at Plans Road or other places

routinely, both hearing the same sermons, hearing the same word.

Yeah. When they get in the car on the

way home, one says, what do you think about that?

What do you think about what that preacher said?

Well, I didn't agree with that. And then the other one says,

well, I completely agree. Well, how is it that two people

hear the same word but have a totally different conclusion in

response to it? I don't know how it happens.

The wind blows where it wills. You can hear the sound of it.

You can't tell where it's coming from.

You don't really know where it's going.

So said Jesus is everyone who is born of the Spirit of God.

There's a mystery in this. It's not a mechanism.

It's not an evangelistical process.

If you want to say this man, conversion doesn't fit the

standard package, right? The things we're told to do, the

things that we're supposed to do.

You know, you, you go to church, you read your Bible, you pray,

you do this, you do that, you check all the boxes.

That's not what we're taught. It's a, it's a change of heart

that we see. This first criminal regarded as

regarding the cross as a contradiction.

He was with the crowd. He said if this Messiah was

genuine, he wouldn't be on a cross.

The second criminal saw the cross as a confirmation because

he's on the cross, he must be our savior.

The attitude of the first criminal is similar actually to

many people's response today that we see.

You know, if you Get Me Out of this problem, if you Get Me Out

of this dilemma, I'll believe in you.

God, if you take care of this thing that I've got, I'm dealing

with, then I'll believe in you. I'll become a follower.

If you get me off this cross. I have a problem, I have a

dilemma, I have a need. Deal with my need and I will

follow you. Save yourself and save us.

We see that response in the world today.

There are individuals who believe like that.

It's pretty normal. What's God?

God ever done for me? If he does something for me,

I'll do something for him. It's perfectly understandable

question, but it's a very, very sorry conclusion.

The second man we see, he now realizes that his predicament is

different from what the two of them formerly thought it was.

The two of them are hanging on a cross.

Cross. They now say, do we have a

problem? Yeah, both of us have a problem.

We're hanging on the cross. We're criminals.

We're convicted. Yeah, what do we?

But. But listen to this, he says.

We are. We are punished justly, for we

are getting what our deeds deserve, he says to his friend.

But this man has done nothing wrong.

It's remarkable to me that somebody's logic is logic is so

clear towards the end of their life, the final stages of their

life, they're processing this information so well.

So we wonder, what did he mean by this?

You know, what's it supposed to? This is what's supposed to

happen to you if you're a rebel of the state, if you're the

rebel of Rome. This is supposed to have this

happen when you when you don't follow the laws of Rome.

Is that what he's saying? You know, this man, He's saying

this man hasn't done anything. The charges against him were,

like we said, trumped up that the charges again against us are

legitimate. Therefore it's legitimate for us

to die. It's illegitimate that he should

die. But I think it's probably deeper

than that. I think if push came to shove,

this individual who was an opponent of the state would

still do it all over again. His sense of zealousness and

rebellion against the Romes. Roman authorities was so strong

and I think we can't verify, of course, but you know, maybe when

we get to that point we can ask this guy, what did you mean when

you said that we are getting what we deserve?

Were you referring to the punishment of our civil wrong or

were you referring to the punishment that our sins

deserve? And I think that's where he gets

to this man has done nothing wrong.

We deserve to die. The see, that's sometimes where

people stop the conversation. If you talk to him, you know,

they say that's what I dislike about religion.

That's what I don't like that sort of admitting that we're

we're guilty and we deserve punishment.

We don't like that. I don't like to think that God

like that. That's why I don't like

religion. That's why I'm spiritual but not

religious, is what they say. But that's not actually the

response of religion. The response of religion is

represented in a story that Jesus had told earlier back in

chapter 18. Luke sets it up this way.

He says he, being Jesus, also told this parable to some who

trusted in themselves that they were righteous and treated

others with contempt. You see, religion can sometimes

make people overly confident in themselves.

Religion made people stand up on chairs and look down on

everybody else. And religion is epitomized by

the response of these religious Pharisees in Luke 736 through

50. A Pharisee who welcomes Jesus

into his home and can't understand why Jesus would deal

with a sinful woman who anointed Jesus's feet with her hair.

They didn't understand that. Why?

Because that religion thinks that God responds positively to

people when they do good deeds. And this lady had done a lot of

bad stuff. And if this man was really the

Messiah on the side of organized religion, he would have

understood and given no time to this lady.

He should know that. Well, the Pharisee should have

known it as well. So the religious approach is

essentially, I'd like to, you know, we see sometimes, you

know, I'd like to tell you what I've done.

I remember I'm a member of this club.

I'd give so much to this, to the Red Cross.

My kids are all good. I've got them in school, they're

going to college. They're they're giving them a

good education. We don't have any debt.

We've done a wonderful job. And we, they think, you know,

God. God surely must be pleased with

me because of their status. That's the religion that Jesus

was combating in those times. It's also epitomizing another

story in Luke 1511 through 23 of the prodigal son.

Remember the two brothers who went away into a far country,

made a real royal mess of things.

If you want to say, came back up the road just a a mess, met just

by his father and got a whole new outfit and a shower, got a

party, killed a fatted calf, Great, we're all having a good

time. Party was set.

The older brother out here in the music calls a servant, says

what is all this brouhaha about? What is going on?

Oh, the servant says. I'm glad to be the one to report

to you. Great news.

Your brother is back. He was lost.

He's found. He's dead and he's alive.

But do we remember what it says there?

And the elder brother refused to go in here.

I've been slaving all these years and this guy, my brother,

goes away, spends all of his inheritance, blows it in a

completely far foreign country, comes back, and we're having a

party for this guy. Are you kidding me?

I've been here the whole time and I never got a party.

Where's my party at? I've been doing what's right.

No, I don't have the time for a God or a father like that.

No, I want a God who reward rewards the religious.

I don't want a God who forgives the Sinner.

It's basically what that parable is about, sense.

See, a man or a woman cannot and will not come to Christ until

they reckon with this personal The first criminal essentially

makes a demand upon Jesus for what he thinks he deserves.

The second criminal makes a request to Jesus for what he

knows he doesn't deserve. I'm going to say that again

because it's very, very important.

The first individual makes a demand upon Jesus for what he

believes he deserves, and the second individual makes a

request of Jesus for what he knows he doesn't deserve.

Augustus Todd Play puts it in masterfully.

Nothing in my hand I bring, and simply to your cross I cling.

And they could come to you for dress, and helpless come to you

for rest. And I the foul one to your

fountain fly. I want you to wash me, Jesus, or

I'll die. Now I said this man's

transformation comes in a very special way.

We look at his request in in Luke 32 or 23 verse 42 that

Jesus Remember Me when you come into your Kingdom, Kingdom calls

him by name Jesus, and you will give him the name Jesus for he

will save people from their sins.

Jesus Remember Me now, what's that man saying?

Well, presumably he's processing the information.

You know, if this man is the Messiah, then he is the king and

if he is the king, he's going to have a Kingdom and finally when

he gets his Kingdom together and perhaps he will Remember Me at

that time. And Jesus reply is great.

It's wonderful. He says in verse 43, truly, I

say to you today you will be with me in paradise.

So that word paradise, very quickly, this word paradise

refers is referring to the 3rd heaven.

You know, we have 3 heavens, we have the sky, the air we

breathe, then we have the cosmos.

That's the second heaven. And the 3rd heaven is where God

dwells. So paradise, when we think of

what Jesus is trying to do here, Jesus is trying to paint a

picture to this criminal. And paradise is often described

as a garden. It's sometimes compared to the

Garden of Eden. And when Persian kings bestowed,

honored, they made an individual or a companion of the garden.

If you want to say so that, for example, you know, we have here

on the right the hanging gardens of Babylon would which would be

off limits to the general public, but it would become

accessible to those who are made companions of the garden.

And not only would they visit the garden, but they would also

visit the garden and the company of the king as well.

They would be a companion of this individual within the

garden. And when we go back to Genesis

3, Adam and Eve, where they were safely in the garden, they were

in a company of God. The creator sentence enters the

world and they were banished from the garden.

And the cherubim of flaming swords guards the way to the

tree of life. Of course, now there's no longer

access to God and, and, and the whole Bible then points us

forward to the future of how God reopens that access to himself.

We can continue reading that, like we said earlier at the torn

curtain, which is a symbol of that opening back into communion

with God. And Jesus says to the criminal,

I know that what you are thinking is about some

unspecified time in the future, but I'm telling you about this

immediate reality. You see, the emphasis here is,

is on the place. But I don't think that's that's

also, I don't think that's a complete answer.

You know, yeah, he'll be with him in paradise, but when?

When is he going to be here? The emphasis is also on the

timing. Jesus says, today you will be

with me in paradise. Jesus isn't simply affirming the

fact that this man and all the others who are faithful will go

to heaven when they die. He's also affirming when we

remember the death of Lazarus, when Jesus was making his way,

you know, Lazarus is now dead. He he's in the tomb and his

sister comes to Jesus. And and she said, you know, if

you would have been here, we wouldn't have to be going

through what we're going through right now.

Jesus, where were you at? And Jesus says her, you

shouldn't worry about this because Lazarus will rise from

the dead. And you remember what she said.

She's well, I know Lazarus will rise in that day, but that's no

help to me right now. I want my brother now is what

she was saying. What about today and see Jesus

is good on today. When you go back to Luke chapter

Luke 4 · chapter mention

4, Jesus reads from the prophecy of Isaiah.

He sent me he sent me to bring good news to the poor, the

healing of sight to the blind and so on.

And and then he gives a scroll back to the attendant and he sat

down. That was momentum.

That was a huge point in Jesus. That was the start of Jesus

ministry, ministry. If you want to say remember what

he said, He says in the eyes of the synagogue fastened on him.

What was the first word that came out of his mouth?

He said today the scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing,

not sometime in the remote future.

Remember, Zacchaeus upon the tree, meets Jesus, comes down,

goes home, has a conversation with Jesus.

Jesus comes out on the porch, and what's the first thing out

of his mouth today? Salvation has come to this

house. Today you will be with me in

paradise, not in some remote future.

Today. You see, this implies that the

immediate consciousness of the dead following their past of

life is going to be there. We're going to have that

consciousness. We're going to know it's not my

intent to teach on this this morning, but we noticed where it

kind of sends us. If the dead are unconscious,

then the assurance that Jesus gives to this criminal that

he'll be with Christ after he dies is actually an empty

consolation dissolved. That's not true.

What Jesus is telling this guy means nothing.

I mean, there's no comfort given if he's not going to be with him

today. Jesus teaches today and when you

think that is sometimes we think you know why is there such an

emphasis on the word today in the Bible?

Why do we think that the scripture says today is the day

of salvation? 2nd Corinthians 6 Two, because

God deals in the immediate he did.

He deals with the now and in this day, in this very day.

This is the day of salvation for those who believe and we see in

John 1724 Jesus prayers, praise Father, I desire that that also

you whom gave me where I am, that they may behold my glory

which you have given me. Ephesians 26 says and raised up

together and made us sit together in heavenly places in

Christ Jesus. And so Jesus says to this man,

to this criminal, you know, I can do far better than get you

taken care of in the remote future.

He says today you can be in my company, today you can be with

me. Forgiveness is possible because

Jesus came and took our place. We sung about that this morning.

He was on the cross and the place of sinners.

In order that we might take his place, that he might that we

might be in his place, He took what we deserve.

In order that we might get what he deserves He hang naked in

order that we might wear royal robes we don't deserve and the

righteousness of God through faith in Christ Jesus for all

who believe Romans 322 and that word there in Romans 322 that

word believe that is a verb, not a noun that's a verb and some of

us have learned or know the what what a verb is.

A verb is a function word. It demands something to happen

because of the type of word that it is.

Believe. You know, using the word believe

as simply an acknowledgement of something to be true falls far

short of what this word means here.

The demons believe who Jesus is. Yeah, they believe.

They know who Jesus is, but they're not saved just because

they believe. No, they don't act upon or they

don't respond to that word. Functionally believe.

So may I ask you, as we close here, do you believe?

Do you believe? And this is righteousness from

God in Christ comes to all who believe the faith not of a

religious hopeful, but the faith of a trusting Sinner.

Well, we may say to ourselves, you know, I've had these

feelings long ago. My heart was stirred long ago.

I was, I was, you know, in spirit for the Lord.

I was doing all I can and now I think maybe it's a little too

late for me, Not as late as this fellow.

There's time. The other gospel writers tell us

that this guy was actually in cahoots with the other criminal,

with the first guy in just within the past hour.

The two of them were working together, if you want to say,

and it was as Jesus kind of it was.

They were given to him on both sides in stereo.

If you want to say if you're the Messiah, get off the cross, who

do you think you are? Why don't you save yourself and

save us? 3 minutes before this guy was

speaking like that. Now he says, Jesus, Remember Me?

The poet put it into words in the mouth of the central

character of this poem. He says a character who dies

falling from headlong from a horse.

And the poet gives him these words betwixt the stirrup in the

ground. Mercy, I asked, and mercy I

found. There is nothing like this in

all religious religion. It is foolish to the religious

hopeful. It is to rubbish to the signal

by the one who believes it is the power of God, CS Lewis said.

I believe in Christianity in the same way that I believe in the

rising of the sun. Not simply because it's going

to, I can see it, but because I buy it.

I can see everything else properly.

That's the kind of transformation.

What a promise, what an opportunity we want to offer the

invitation. Do you believe believe is a

loaded word like we just talked about.

It demands a response. It demands an action demands us

changing the way of our life to repent from our our way of life

that we're living out as a sinful and we wanted to turn to

Jesus. We want to start living for him

and doing what he asks of us. Change of heart, repent of our

sins, confess our sins, confess the name of Christ and then be

baptized for the remission of our sins.

There's one who needs to do that.

We're going to offer that invitation.

If there's one here who needs to just have the prayers of the

congregation or needs to make a public confession anyway, Please

come while we stand and while we sing.