Three Crosses, Two Choices, Two Destinies

A blessed sabbath to every one of us here. Thank

you for being here at Reaching Hearts International. I'd like

to take this time to thank Master Mike. He should

have been here, but he has given me the pulpit today,

and I thank you.

Let's pray, Father, your word is alive and powerful.

May we experience the transforming part of your word today

during this hour. In Jesus name, I pray amen. Crucifixion

was the most brutal and humiliating method of public execution

in ancient times. The Romans used it as a slaw

and torturous form of capital punishment, intended to inflict maximum

shame and torture on the victim. It was meant to

be a warning to the onlookers against defying Roman authority,

and crucifixion was reserved for the vilest, the worst, the

refuse of society.

Picture with me.

The Day of Crucifixion, nearly two thousand years ago. On

that day, three individuals were to be crucified on a

hill called the Skull or Golgotha in Urmaic and Calvary

in Latin. And surprise of all surprises, one of the

condemned was Jesus Christ, the sinless Lamb of God. And

on that dark Friday, God made him who knew no sin,

to be sin on our behalf, so that we might

become the righteousness of God in him. Following the Night

of Trials, there were six trials, three religious trials before

Anna's Chiaphas and the sin had trinned, three civil trials

before Pilot King Herod, and again Pilot Jesus was given

to be flogged, and flogging was a prelude to crucifixion.

The victim was tied to opposed, his clothes stripped, and

a whip made of leather strands of leather thongs embedded

with sharp bones and iron pieces was used. It was

designed to cause maximum pain and blood loss, and as

the whip came on the back, it tore off the flesh,

exposing bones and raw flesh. You can imagine the victim

of Jesus Christ in unimaginable, excruciating pain, even to the

point of death. And if this was not enough, the

Bible tells us that the Roman soldiers put a scarlet

robe on jesus bleeding body and then twisted together a

crown of long, jagged thorns and set it on his head,

pressing it down as hard as they could, and they

gave him a staff, and mockingly they bowed before Jesus, saying,

hel King of the Jews. They spat on him, struck

him again and again, and blood flowed from this precious head.

The Bible says his appearance was marred beyond human semblance,

and his form beyond that of the children of mankind.

All on my behalf and your behalf. After the flogging

and mocking by the soldiers was over, Jesus was made

to carry a horizontal crossbeam. A horizontal crossbeam was placed

on his dorn back, dorn and bleeding back, and he

was made to carry it through the crowded streets of Jerusalem.

Amidst the taunting and a mocking.

Jesus collapsed under the weight of the sins of the

world from exhaustion, and Simon of Syreen was compelled to

help to carry the cross to the place of crucifixion.

When they arrived at Golgotha. At Calvary, Jesus was strip naked.

He was made to stretch out his arms on the

wooden cross beams. Crossbeam and large eye nails were driven

through his wrist to secure them to the horizontal crossbeam,

and then the crossbeam was then lifted up off the

ground and attached to the vertical pole that was already

in place. His feet were then nailed to the vertical pole.

His whole body weight hanging from his wrist, it was

hard to breathe to take a breath, he had to

push up on his nailed feet, pull his arms, rubbing

his back against the rough wood with every movement.

Every breath was excruciating. And the Bible tells us that

while he was hanging on.

The cross, the chief priests describes the soldiers and those

who pass by blesphemed and mocked him.

They had been.

One waiting for this day to crucify him on the cross.

This was a day of celebration, a day of victory

for them. And as Jesus hang on the cross, they

blasphemed him, they mocked him. He saved others himself, he

cannot save. Let Christ, the King of Israel, descend now

from the cross that.

We may see and believe.

They cried, the Spirit of Prophecy tells us Christ could

have come down from the cross, but it is because

he would not save himself, that sinner like you and me,

has hope of pardon and favor with God. How thankful

I am that Jesus chose to remain on the cross.

Isaiah chapter fifty three tells us.

He was despised and rejected, a.

Man of sorrows, acquainted with deepest grief. We turned our

bags on him and looked the other way. He was

despised and with neat care. Yet it was our weaknesses

he carried. It was our sorrows that weigh him down.

And we thought his troubles were a punishment from God,

a punishment for his own sins. But he was pierced

for our rebellion, crushed for our sins. He was beaten

so we could be made whole. He was whipped so

we could be healed. How thankful I am today as

I reflect on Christ's sacrifice and suffering on my behalf.

How thankful and grateful I am to him today. And

in the Gospel, according to Luke, Luke says two other men,

both criminals, were also let out with him to be executed,

and when they came to the place called the Skull,

they crucified him there along with the criminals, one on

the right, one on his right and the other on

his left. These two criminals were not petty thieves, because

petty thieves.

Were not crucified.

But these criminals were rebels whose crimes called for the

harshest penalty.

According to the.

Gospel of Mark states that there was a man named

Barabbas who was chained with his fellow rebels. They had

committed murder in the rebellion, and the spirit of Prophecy

tells us that these two criminals were companions of Barabbas.

They were criminals, they were murderers, and Christ was positioned

in the middle, one thief to the right and one

thief to the left. And what was its significance. Christ's

position between the thieves was to indicate that he was

the greatest criminal of the three. That was the intention

of the religious leaders. The senn Hadriant. Jesus was placed

in the middle of the two thieves to indicate to

the world that he was the greatest criminals of the three.

Thus was fulfilled the scripture. He was numbered with the transgressors.

He was identified with transgressors.

Up to this point in time.

Both criminals, the one on the left and the one

on the right.

Shared the same predicament. They were guilty of capital.

Crimes under Roman law, and therefore they were sentenced to death.

Both criminals shared the same agony, the iron nails, the

restricted breath, and the public humiliation. Up to this point,

they shared similar experiences with Christ, dragging their horizontal crosses

alongside with Jesus to Calvary, being crucified with Jesus Christ,

and witnessing his love and forgiveness to were those who

condemned him and.

Up to this point.

Up to this point, both thieves of both criminals were unrepentant.

According to the Gospels of Matthew and Mark, these two criminals,

these two criminals, were blesspheming and mocking Jesus. Up to

this point, their eternal destiny was God's wrath and eternal death.

As hopeless and dark their situation seemed to be. The

good news was that both had the same opportunity of salvation.

Both were within arm's reach of Jesus Christ, the savior

of the world, the one who was dying for their

sins to give them eternal life, the one who was able,

who is able to save to the uttermost. As we

see in Hebrews Chapter seven, As these two criminals hung

on the crosses beside Jesus Christ, each man, each criminal

faced a defining choice. How would he respond to the

man in the middle called Jesus Christ.

How would he respond to Jesus Christ.

The same question had been asked by Pilot in the

judgment hall. He said, what do you want me to

do with this man Jesus? And now the same question has.

Come to them. What would they do with this man Jesus.

Will they reject.

Him like the others or will they accept him? The

choice was this, and as the narrative continues to progress,

we see the choice made by the impenitent thief.

Or the impenitent criminal. What did he do?

The first criminal continued to heap abused abuse on Jesus,

choosing to remain unrepentant and rebelous.

He demanded relief from.

His circumstances, exclaiming save yourself and.

Us to Jesus Christ.

His desire was physical escape, not spiritual healing. He wanted

rescue from physical torture, and the saddest part, he didn't

want a savior. He wanted his life back, but he

didn't want his life to be transformed to him Jesus

was just another victim of crucifixion another way, another failed revolutionary.

He was nothing else, And.

Even in the face of death, he knew death was coming.

He was staring at death in the face. Even in

the face of death, he shored nor remorse, nor repentance,

neither fear, neither fear of God or his judgment. He

remained unrepentant, indifferent toward God. The other thiefs question, do

you not even fear God? Seeing you are under the

same condemnation reveals the heartened heart of this impenitent thief

or criminal. Salvation was readily available to him.

It was just next door.

So to speak, but he chose to reject it. And

what was his destiny?

He could have.

Died to his sin, but he died in sin eternally lost.

On the other hand, let's look at the choice the

penitent thief or criminal made. Unlike the impenitent thief, the

penitent thief did.

Not ask for a miracle.

He did not ask for release from the cross. Instead,

with his dying breath, he sought salvation for his soul

and plays his faith, his weak, staggering faith in the dying.

Christ, the savior of the world. Something happened at that moment.

He experienced what is called the new birth, so beautifully

described in John chapter three. His experience is akin to

that of Paul the Apostle on the road to Damascus.

There was conversion on the cross. In the person of

the penitent thief. Let's have a closer look at his

experience of salvation recognition of his personal sinfulness and guilt.

What did he experience? He experience a recognition of his

personal sinfulness and guilt. He admitted, we are punished justly,

for we are receiving what our deeds deserve. He saw

his sinfulness, he saw his guilt. He saw himself as

a criminal, justly condemned for his crimes. He believed he

deserved death, not only under human law, but eternal death

under God's judgment. He made no excuses, He did not

play the blame game.

He accepted his guilt.

He recognized his sinfulness.

The truth is true. Salvation always always.

Begins with a humble acknowledgement of our own sinfulness and guilt.

I want to repeat that again. True salvation begins with

a humble acknowledgement of our own sinfulness and guilt. Unless

we experience and recognize our own personal sinfulness and guilt.

We will never come to the cross and accept Jesus'

offer of forgiveness and salvation.

In the Bible we see in the New Testament.

Jesus was often called a friend of sinners because he

was often seen with those often labeled as sinners, the

tax collectors, the prostitutes, the thieves, the criminals, and society's outcasts.

And these individuals so called sinners, who had looked down upon,

were receptive to his call to repentance to enter the

Kingdom of Heaven.

But sadly, in contrast, the religious.

Leaders, who appeared moral and outwardly upright, proved the most

unreceptive to his call of repentance. Therefore, Jesus said to

the chief priests and elders, truly, I tell you, the

tax collectors and the prostitutes are entering the Kingdom of

God ahead of you. John MacArthur wrote, he said Jesus

had an almost impossible time reaching the religious, self righteous,

moral people who were under the illusion and self deception

that because of their goodness, everything was okay between them

and God. They recognize no sin, so they needed no savior.

That is always the danger of morality. Morality creates an

illusion of safety, when in fact the person who is

moral may be in the greatest danger of all.

I hope there is no one like that.

You see a prime example of someone whose life was

so moral, but who was so far away from salvation

in the story of the Pharisee in Luke chapter eighteen,

when he came to the temple to pray, Jesus says,

the Pharisee stood by himself and prayed God. I thank

you that I'm not like other people robbers, evildoers and adulterers,

or even like this tax collector. I fasted twice a

week and give a tenth of all I get. He

didn't see his sinfulness, he didn't see his need of

a savior, because he felt he was righteous enough. He

never stole, he never committed adultery, he never did any

of those things, and he felt he was good and

in truth, he was so far away from the Kingdom

of God. How many of us are like this Pharisee.

In the Seventh day Adventist Church, we keep the Sabbath,

we diive, we do all the things that our Christian

culture tells us to do, and we look down on others,

the drug addicts, the prostitutes, the so called sinners, feeling

that we are superior to them.

I think this is especially.

The case for many of us who grew up in

adventage homes and who follow the Adventist culture. We think

we are okay with God, but we have never really

encountered Jesus Christ and accepted his salvation. The Bible tells

us there is none righteous, no not one. And that

includes you and me, that includes all the seventhe adventis,

that includes all the Christians, that includes every one of us.

And it also says for all have sinned and comes

short of the glory of God. These verses emphasize that

there is no difference in the foundational need for salvation

between criminals, good people, or religious individuals. All have violated

God's laws, all our sinners. All are guilty in need

of God's grace. The desire, the desire of ages tells

us upon all rests the guilt of crucifying the son

of God. Another recognition that happened to the penitent thief.

Recognition of Christ's sinlessness and recognizing him as the Lamb.

Of the world, the savior of the world.

The penitent thief declared, this man has done nothing wrong.

And then he turned to Jesus Christ and requested, Lord,

remember me when you come into your kingdom. This benitent

thief had heard in the judgment hall. He heard Pilots saying,

to the chief priests and the people, I find no

fault in him in Jesus Christ. He heard Jesus Christ

praying for his enemies on the cross, Father, forgive them,

for they know not what they do. And he saw

the inscription above Jesus's head, King of the Jews, and

he recognized a fundamental truth. He understood that he was

alongside the only innocent man recorded in history.

Amid the Blesphemy.

He recognized that Jesus was innocent, and that he was

the spotless lamb of God, which his own disciples, the

religious leader of his time, fail to see. On that day,

the spirit of Prophecy, says, the Holy Spirit illuminates his mind,

and little by little the chain of evidence is joined together.

In Jesus' bruised, mocked.

And hanging upon the cross, he sees the lamb of

God that taketh away the sin of the world. And lastly,

his recognition of his helpless condition and his reaching out

to Jesus Christ in faith. In the Beatitudes on the Sermon.

In the Sermon on the Month, Jesus says, Blessed are

the poor in spirit, and it continues to say, for

DearS is the Kingdom of heaven. For whom is the

Kingdom of heaven? The poor in spirit, the poor in spirit.

In the New Testament, there are two words use for poor.

One is spinas, referring to the poor laborers who needed

to work to earn their livelihood. The other word used

is tacos, which describes someone in extreme poverty, who has nothing,

who is a beggar and totally dependent on others.

For his or her survival.

And when Jesus says blessed are the poor in spirit,

he uses the word tacos.

Blessed are the.

Beggars in space, those who realize that they have nothing

to offer to God for their salvation, but who com

pleading to God for his grace.

In the In.

The song in the hymn Rock of Ages, it says,

nothing in my hand, I bring simply to the cross,

I cling naked. Come to THEE for dress, helpless, look

to THEE for grace, foul I to the fountain, fly

wash my wash, me Savior, or I die. A person

who is totally aware that he's a beggar spiritually, who

has nothing to offer to God, to Jesus Christ for

his salvation.

The penitent thief saw himself.

Totally health bless to save himself from sin and eternal death,

and he cried out to Jesus Christ in faith. He said, Lord,

remember me when you come in to your kingdom. To

look at a dying man and see a king is

the ultimate act of faith. He saw Jesus more clearly

than any of his disciples.

He saw him.

As the King of kings who would one day set

up his kingdom on earth. So when the dying thief

called out to Jesus Christ, Lord, remember me when you

come into your kingdom, it was a cry for God's mercy.

It was a cry for God's salvation. And this is

seen in the cry of the tax collector, who had

also come to the temple to pray. Jesus says the

tax collector, standing up, would not so much has raised

his eyes to Heaven, but beat his breath, saying, God

be merciful to me. A sinner And what does Jesus say,

I tell you this. I tell you this man went

down to his house justified rather than the other. For

everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who

humbles himself will be exalted. And what was Jesus' reply

to this criy for mercy and salvation? He said, truly,

I say to you today it will be with.

Me in paradise.

Christ did not promise that the thief should be with

him paradise that day, because he himself did not go

that day to Paradise. He slept in the tomb, and

on the morning of the resurrection he said, I have

not yet ascended to my father. But on the day

of the crucifixion, the day of apparent defeat and darkness,

the promise was given. Today, while dying upon the cross,

as a male factor, Christ assures the poor sinner, you

will be with me in paradise. The world viewed him

as a condemned criminal, a man cursed by society and

deserving of the most brutal and humiliating death. However, in

God's eyes, this beneitent thief was adjoint heir with Jesus Christ,

not merely forgiven, but justified, as if he were completely

sinless like Jesus Christ. And according to Romans chapter eight

we read there is now no condemnation for those who

are in Christ. He died as a free man in

Jesus Christ, with eternal life waiting for him. Jesus says,

just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert,

so the son of Man must be lifted up, so

that every one who believes in him may have eternal life.

For God so loved the world that he gave his

one and only sons, so that whosoever believes in him

shall not perish, but have everlasting life. For God did

not send his son into the world to condemn him

the world, but just save the world through him.

Amen.

Mm hm hm