Easter Certainties

Luke chapter 23, Jerry Seagull and Joe Shoster met in high school.

Luke 23 · chapter mention

! They began creating a science fiction character and drawing him into comic strips and hoping to get them in papers.

! And then in 1938, after five years of working on the idea, with little success in publishing it,

they sold all the rights to their work for $130.

Now that's almost $2,900 in today's dollars.

Their character was Superman.

A forerunner of DC Comics bought it and the rest is history.

The Superman franchise has made $27 billion worldwide.

And the first comic book that was sold last year, the first Superman comic book was sold last year for $6 million.

After being sold three years earlier for $2.5 million.

If you are a Seagull or a Shoster in this place, I am sorry to tell you about the fortune that you missed out on.

The men missed an underestimated their potential and missed a golden opportunity.

And I don't want you to miss your chance.

I want to show you this morning about one man who just had a few minutes more to take advantage of the greatest opportunity that he possibly could.

And he didn't miss it.

And it made an eternal difference.

Luke chapter 23 tells us that Pilate delivered Jesus over to the will of the people.

Luke 23 · chapter mention

The mob mentality led to kill him.

And they led him away to be crucified.

And then Luke chapter 23 verse 32 says this.

Luke 23:32

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.

And the criminals on his right and on his left.

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 rulers scoffed at him saying, he saved others, 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.

There was also an inscription over him, this is the king of the Jews.

One of the criminals who were hanging rail at him and saying, are you not the Christ?

Save yourself and us.

But the other one 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.

For this man has done nothing wrong.

And he said, Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.

And he said, Jesus said to him, truly I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise.

In the very next verses, it speaks of Jesus' death.

The Gospel of John tells us that the other men died shortly thereafter.

They wanted to make sure that all three men were dead before the sun went down because that would start the Sabbath.

And no one was to be hanging there when the Sabbath started.

And so the soldiers would break legs to get them dead by dark before the Sabbath started.

When they got to Jesus, he was already dead.

And then they thrust a spear through his chest cavity and into his heart to make sure he was dead.

And just like that, they were dead.

Jesus did not deserve to go to the cross.

In one way, it was not his cross to die on.

It was intended for Barabbas, a notorious criminal who had stirred up an insurrection,

who had robbed folks, possibly even killed folks.

It is often thought that he was a gang leader, a gang leader with two sidekicks.

The two sidekicks would be on the crosses beside Jesus,

with the intent being that Barabbas' cross would be the center cross.

Christ literally died on the cross intended for Barabbas after Pilate traded off Barabbas for Jesus.

However, in an even greater way, it was the cross of Christ.

Before the time existed, the cross of Christ was coming.

It would have to, due to the sin of humans and the redeeming grace of God.

He died so that we don't have to.

He died in our place.

He is the only one that could.

He was virgin born of the Spirit of God,

not born of the same sin state that we are in.

He stayed sinless throughout his life.

He is the only one that could perfectly fulfill the law.

The only way that a sinful humanity had hoped to coming back to God

was through a sacrificial atonement.

Somebody had to bridge the gap, and only Christ could do it,

and thank God that he did.

While he died, most jeered.

Some sneered.

But at least one's life was changed.

There's evidence that possibly more than that.

But it was the dying thief hanging on the cross next to Christ that was changed.

When one spoke harshly to him, another asked him for help.

And when he did, help came.

Jesus said, he said,

Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.

And God answered his prayer.

Jesus answered it immediately.

The thief on the cross died that day with the promise of two certainties.

And I want you to know something this morning.

Those two certainties are open to all of us as well.

There are two realities that can be absolute certainties for us.

The first one is the certainty of salvation.

There's no need for you today to be uncertain about salvation in Christ.

I want you to be clear.

Our lives can be changed.

How does that happen?

Well, it's a three-step process.

One, it's by our confession, the confession of our need.

This repentant thief knew his sin was leading to death.

He told the other criminal while he was on the cross,

we deserve what we're getting, but not him.

In a day when people want to excuse away their sin,

when people want to ignore their sin,

when people want to justify their sin,

we need to understand that your sin,

that my sin, that our wrongdoing will forever condemn us

and separate us from God.

We don't have to stay that way.

If we refuse to admit that we have a problem,

when God has shown us that we are separated from him

and what has separated us from him,

we will never receive help for our eternal problem.

It begins with a confession.

You got to confess that you've got a need.

It continues by our change in our heart and life.

One must turn from his or her sin to be saved.

And whereas one criminal ridiculed Christ,

the other repentant one said to Christ, please.

And salvation came when he acknowledged Christ for who he is.

The third process of that is by calling upon him for salvation.

And he saw the innocence of Christ.

He saw the lordship of Christ.

Christ, I want you to hear me this morning.

If that old boy would have known in his heart

but never acknowledged with his life,

he would have spent eternity in hell.

Knowing's not enough.

But thank God he didn't do that.

He acknowledged the state of his circumstances

and he called upon the Lord.

If you have a familiarity with Christ today,

but you've never truly submitted your life to Christ,

Christ, I want you to know that familiarity is not enough.

An old preacher was talking to a lady one time

that knew little about salvation.

And he asked her,

do you know that God has set a definite date for your salvation?

And she looked surprised at him and said,

no, I didn't know that.

Well, he has.

And he asked her, he said,

if I show you that he has,

will you keep that engagement with him?

She looked at him seriously and said,

yes, I would.

He said, all right, then here it is.

Behold, now is the favorable time.

Behold, now is the day of salvation.

My friend, the promise of salvation is that

when you turn to him,

you will be with him both here and forever.

And the difference in the saved and the unsaved

and the difference in the forgiven and the unforgiven

is that the unbeliever

and the believer and the unbeliever

is that the believer

has received the forgiveness

and the grace and the mercy of God

by their personal surrender.

And my friend,

that's the only hope that we have.

Once we have that through Christ,

we ought to be different.

We ought to be changed.

And there's times when we don't look that much different.

The apostle Paul said,

the things I want to do

is the things sometimes I don't do.

And the things that I wish I didn't do

are the very things that I do.

Sometimes there's a struggle in that.

But the reality is the power of the Holy Spirit

of God within us

teaches us to lean upon God daily

as he leads us.

And we get better at that with time.

We ought to if it's real.

Each day that we live,

we ought to get better at it.

So come to Christ.

Drop what you're doing and come.

Confess your sin.

Turn to him.

Call upon him.

That is exactly how

the thief in his final moments

was saved.

And that's how any of us are saved.

That is our hope.

It is the certainty of salvation.

But there's another certainty here

and that's the certainty of heaven.

Jesus said,

today you will be with me in paradise.

In other words,

life continues.

My friend,

this is not all there is.

1 Corinthians 15, 9 says,

if in Christ we have hope in this life only,

we are of all pity,

of all people,

most to be pitied.

This is not all there is.

Leave this life without Christ

and you'll have hell to pay.

You leave it knowing Christ

and you'll be changed forever.

All of that,

we don't quite understand.

It's a little bit beyond us.

However,

we can know the assurance of the change.

1 Corinthians 15 puts it this way

in verse 50.

He said,

I tell you brothers,

flesh and blood cannot inherit

the kingdom of God,

nor does the perishable

inherit the imperishable.

For this perishable body

must put on the imperishable

and this mortal body

must put on immortality.

When the perishable

puts on the imperishable

and the mortal puts on immortality,

then death is swallowed up in victory.

In other words,

in Christ,

death has lost its sting.

Life in Christ

is real.

Life after death

is as real

as the empty tomb

in Jerusalem

where they laid the body of Jesus

but it lays no longer.

Thank God,

it's empty.

I've been there.

He's gone

and he lives.

And that's why we celebrate today.

We celebrate because he lives

and because he lives,

we too may live.

The certainty of salvation

means that life continues.

It also means

that we can be with him forever.

Scripture promises us

the unchallenged presence of God.

The greatest news of this passage is

today you shall be with me

in paradise.

People have wondered,

theologians have struggled

over what paradise means there.

Where's paradise?

Well,

the word comes from a Greek

transliteration of a Persian word

that speaks of the king's garden.

And the king's garden

in that atmosphere

is somewhere

where nobody could go

unless they were invited

into this gated garden.

That reminds me

of the Garden of Eden

before there was sin

and they walked with God

in the cool of the day.

So where is this paradise

and what is it?

Well, let me tell you

what really matters.

Scripture says,

today you will be with me

in paradise.

You see, I believe paradise

is heaven under construction.

And what I mean by that

is not that they're up there

building golden mansions.

I'm not talking about

building construction.

No, heaven will not be complete

until all God's family

is there.

Once you've lost loved ones here,

there'll never be a time

on this earth

when all your family

will be back together again

unless they know Jesus

and then you can be with them

in glory

if you

are in Christ.

Then we'll be together

in the presence of God

with no enemy chasing us down

and no temptation

whispering in our ear

and no human frailty

hampering our fellowship.

We'll be there

together

in the unchallenged presence

of God.

What's heaven like?

Scripture tells us

a bunch about it

but how do you

explain

an eternal place

in temporal words?

How do you describe

the divine

to the human?

How do you describe

the infinite

to the finite?

I'm convinced

it's all watered down words

to try to satisfy

some of our questions.

But in reality

it's so beyond

our concepts.

I like what the old doctor

said to his patient.

It was in a day

when doctors

made house calls

and he had made

a house call

and there was a man there

who was very sick

and he said

Doc

what's heaven

going to be like?

And the doctor's dog

had followed him

to the man's house.

The dog was out

on the porch

and he was scratching

on the door

whimpering and whining

to get in

and the doctor said

do you hear that?

He said yeah.

He said that's my dog.

He's never been

inside your house.

He don't know

what's inside your house.

All he knows

is that the master

is there

and if the master's there

he wants to be there too.

It must be

okay.

Paradise

is where the Lord is.

What else really matters?

Knowing heaven

is real

means real life

continues.

We are with him

and also

and I want you

to get this

heaven

is immediate.

Jesus said

today

you shall be

with me

in paradise.

When we've surrendered

our lives

to Christ

and one day

we close our eyes

in death here

we open them

with Christ.

It's

instantaneous.

1 Corinthians 15

1 Corinthians 15:52

verse 52

says in a moment

in the twinkling

of an eye

we shall

be

changed.

The apostle Paul

tells us

to be absent

from the body

is to be present

with the Lord.

No delay

it's immediate.

The thief died

that day

so did the Lord

the thief

was instantly

in his presence

just like he promised

and that day

is coming

for all of us.

So I ask you

this morning

on Easter Sunday

morning

in your Easter best

let me ask you

are you ready?

Are you ready?

He died for us.

He met us

where we are.

He makes us

aware of our need

for him.

Listen

if there's

anything

in you

that pulls

toward wanting

to know more

of God

of wanting

to be in

relationship

with God

I want you

to know

you didn't

come up

with that

on your own.

You didn't

conjure that

up on your own.

I didn't

convince you

of that

on my own.

No my friend

the Holy Spirit

of God

is drawing

you to himself.

All you have

to do

is obediently

follow his

lead

and the reality

is our hope

is as real

as the empty

tomb that we

celebrate today

and thank God

for you

it's not

too late

if you're

sitting here

breathing this

morning

and if you're

not let your

neighbor know

but if you're

sitting here

breathing this

morning I want

you to know

it's not

too late.

I think about

what the old

boy said that

fell off the

horse.

He said

betwixt the

stirrup and

the ground

mercy I ask

mercy I found.

My friend

I don't know

what you've

fallen into

today

but I want

you to know

something

you can come

to Jesus.

He'll meet

you

where you

are.

He knows

your circumstances

better than

you do.

He knows

the things

you've done

that nobody

else knows

about but

you and

maybe you

even forgot.

He knows

it all

and yet he

loves you so

much that he

came and lived a

sinless life and

died a sinner's

death for your

sake and for

mine.

Thank God

three days later

he rose again to

remind us of the

eternal life that we

have because of what

he did on the

cross.

if you're here

this morning I

want you to know

it's by a divine

appointment.

If you've never

acknowledged the

Lord Jesus as your

personal Lord and

Savior I promise you

today he'll meet you

where you are.

He'll take you to

where he'd have you

to be.

All you have to do

is surrender your

life to him today.

Lord take me as I

am.

Forgive me of my

sins.

Come into my life

and change me from

this day forward

to live for you.

I'd love to guide

you in that.

In a moment after I

pray we're going to

stand and we're going

to sing but more

important than singing

I encourage you to be

obedient to God.

I'm available for you

to come.

Just tell me what God's

laid upon your heart.

Maybe you're here this

morning and you have

acknowledged the Lord

Jesus Christ but you've

never done that publicly.

It's a private matter

for you.

Jesus by his example

and by his commission

tells us that we need

to follow that with

believers baptism.

We're going to do

that in a couple of

weeks and I'd love to

guide you in that

process and so if you've

never done that I

encourage you to come.

Let's start that

conversation.

Or maybe you're here

and God's guiding you

to Pickens First

Baptist Church.

Man I thank God for

what God's doing in our

midst.

He's doing a wonderful

work.

He might be drawing you

to be a part of that

and if he is then I

encourage you to come.

I'd love to guide you

in what that means.

Guide you in that

process.

Or maybe you're here

and you got all that

down.

But there's just

stuff.

Stuff in your life that

you don't like to

acknowledge but today

the Holy Spirit of God

has spoke to you about

your circumstances and

you realize that today's

the day of decision.

This Easter day is a day

of new beginnings.

things.

It's time to renew.

It's time to be fresh

again with the Lord.

And I'm thankful that

you can do that in the

pew where you'll stand

in just a moment.

You can do it at this

altar or you can do it

with a pastor praying

for you.

I just encourage you

don't leave here until

you've done everything

that God would have you

to do.

Nothing more.

Nothing less.

He'll take care of

everything else.

Just be obedient.

Heavenly Father I love

you and I thank you

for your love for us.

Lead us right now

dear God to follow you

with boldness, with

obedience dear God and

with courage oh God I

pray in Jesus precious

name.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.