If I Could turn back the Hands of Time



Receive the Forgiveness

Luke 23: 33 – 46(NIV): When they came to the place called the Skull, there they crucified him, along with the criminals—one on his right, the other on his left. 34 Jesus said, "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing." And they divided up his clothes by casting lots. 35 The people stood watching, and the rulers even sneered at him. They said, "He saved others; let him save himself if he is the Christ of God, the Chosen One." 36 The soldiers also came up and mocked him. They offered him wine vinegar 37and said, "If you are the king of the Jews, save yourself." 38 There was a written notice above him, which read: THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS. 39 One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him: "Aren't you the Christ? Save yourself and us!" 40 But the other criminal rebuked him. "Don't you fear God," he said, "since you are under the same sentence? 41We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong." 42 Then he said, "Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom." 43 Jesus answered him, "I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise." 44 It was now about the sixth hour, and darkness came over the whole land until the ninth hour, 45 for the sun stopped shining. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two. 46 Jesus called out with a loud voice, "Father, into your hands I commit my spirit." When he had said this, he breathed his last.

Looking back over my life causes me to wish I had done some things better and if I could go back in time, if I could turn back the hands of time, I would erase all of my bad choices; if I could take back things said and things done; if there were a way to turn back the hands of times to erase the wrong I’ve done, if there were a way to undo the hurt and the pain; if I could turn back the hands of time then I would set things right. I know that many of you feel the same way too; we wish that we could start life all over again, but unfortunately we not only can’t go back, but we can’t even seem to get it right today; it’s like being in quicksand, the harder you struggle the deeper you sink. If I could turn back the hands of time, but the hands of time only go forward. I can’t turn them back - all I can do is look back. I have found that life is filled with mistakes; I venture to say that if you and I could go around to one another’s closets, we would find that all of our closets are full of skeletons, all of our closets are full of the bones that reflect great errors in judgment, full of broken relationships, full of great errors in finances, full of evil that we have perpetrated; and full of unclean thoughts and unclean things done. How oh how can a man or woman undo what has already been done? Well, I come with good news tonight, I found out that there is way and so I have come here tonight to share the good news with you. I have come to tell you about “The Way.” I have come to talk to you about the way that you can clean it all up; the way that you can have all your regrets erased; the way to start anew. You know that’s what this coming weekend (Easter) is all about – It’s about a fresh new start; it’s about a new way to walk and a new way to talk; it’s about clearing out those old closets and burying those old bones; it’s about wiping the slate clean; it’s about rebirth; it’s about redemption; it’s about restoration it’s about regeneration; its about the Cross and Christ. God through Jesus Christ has given to us a way to have all of our bad choices, all of our wrong thoughts, and all of our devilish deeds removed. He has ushered in a fresh new start; He has presented to us a new deal and I think that you are going to be pleased with this new deal, this new covenant that God wants to make with us. I’m not here to talk to people who don’t have any skeletons; this message is not for those who have never fell short; this message won’t apply to those who have done everything right all their lives, but I am speaking to those who wish that they could turn back the hands of time, those who wish that the wrong that they have done could somehow be removed and a new day and a new way dawn. The death, burial and resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ is not about good folks; the death burial and resurrection isn’t about perfect people; it isn’t for the people who have no regrets; it isn’t for people who have not looked over their shoulder and shed tears over the error of their way. Our focus scriptures in Luke 23: 33 – 46 is about the crucifixion and these scriptures also tell us about two men who were crucified with Christ. These Scriptures explain what Easter is all about because you see these scripture explain the forgiveness that we have received. Now this evening we could talk about justification, we could talk about propitiation and redemption, or even sanctification; we could talk about all these things and go to great lengths to provide for you an in-depth analysis and exposition about the death burial and resurrection of Christ, but we won’t do that tonight – we will just sum all of it in one word – and that one word goes to the heart of what the Cross of Christ was all about. That one word is “Forgiveness.” So if you are a person who has lived a sinful life and have regrets about it – then Easter is for you; if you are a person, who has made mistakes in your life, then Easter is for you because this coming Easter weekend is a weekend of “forgiveness”; it is the weekend that we celebrate our release from all our sins. Now as colossal as this weekend is, the great tragedy is that people all over the world will go to church on this coming Sunday and then leave the Church just like they came. They will have gone for the big Easter Egg Hunt; they will have gone to show off that fabulous new hat; they will have gone to show off that thousand dollar suit; they will have gone to see what everybody else was wearing; they will have come to see the new Choir Robes being worn that day; they will have come to see who didn’t come on Easter Sunday, but the tragedy is that at the end of the day they will leave Church not having understood “forgiveness.” Easter Sunday should be real good news for real bad people because the essence of what this weekend should be about is making very sure that people know that they can be forgiven. No matter how ragged you are today; no matter how sick and perverse your yesterdays were, Easter Sunday represent a chance for a new beginning because at the heart of Calvary is forgiveness. In Luke 23: 34, Jesus says: "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing." In His prayer from the Cross, Jesus asked that God grant heaven’s provision of forgiveness to us. It was granted, but a long time has passed since Christ was crucified on the Cross and still there remain many who do not fully understand why forgiveness was necessary. To understand why forgiveness was then and is now necessary, you first must understand who God is. God is a perfect Being in every detail and as such He cannot tolerate even a tidbit of sin on any level. Sin the size of a pinhead might as well be a mountain of sin because God being a Perfect Being cannot tolerate any amount of sin. But among men there are mega sinners, people who live for sin; they eat sin, they drink sin, they sleep sin, all they ever think about is sin and how to sin some more. If they are not sinning, they don’t know what else to do. Then among men we also have some moderate sinners, moderate sinners are not that bad; moderate sinners don’t sin all the time, just every once in a while they sin; so they aren’t that bad, but they aren’t that good either; and then we have among men the righteous folks; the righteous folks are too good to sin, too cute to sin; they are spectacular in character; they are the world’s beautiful people; they have everything in order, but when they get home and get behind closed doors, they know within themselves that there is a cesspool on the inside of them. Now I tell you that each one of us falls into one of these categories, but it doesn’t matter which of the categories you fall in because whether you are a mega sinner or that beautiful got it altogether seldom ever sins sinner- we all look alike to God because of sin. The mega sinner and the beautiful – got it all together hardly ever sins sinner look like Siamese Twins to God because God lives in total perfection and is total perfection. So then God does not make a distinction between mega sinners, moderate sinners, and sinners who have it all together. We all get casts onto one big garbage dump when God says: all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God (Romans 3: 23). Sin violates everything that God stands for; it is against His Character and foreign to his Nature; God hates sin. So when God comes across sin in His Creation or in His Creatures, He demands justice, and when justice is rendered the penalty for sin is death. God will judge His Creation and His Creatures and whatever is found to be contaminated with sin then that thing will be judged and then cut off. Because of sin, God’s Wrath is revealed and who will be able to stand on that day when the fierceness of Almighty God’s Wrath is released upon the world? On that day, His Wrath will sweep across this entire world destroying any and everything found with sin on it or in it. God declares in Ezekiel 18: 4 (KJV): Behold, all souls are mine; as the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son is mine: the soul that sinneth, it shall die. The one surefire way that you know whether or not you have sinned is to answer the question: am I going to die? If the answer is yes, then you have sinned. The Bible says that all have sinned. So even if you are a religious person, one who is in the clergy, you are going to die, you may be a young person - you may even be a child, but one day you are going to die. You may be a beautiful person, one who has seldom ever sinned, but you are going to die because the Bible says that we all have sinned and come short of who God is. Now you may have been a nicer sinner than me; you may have been a prettier sinner than I, but in the eyes of a Holy God you and I were sinners and the wages of sin is death. I tell you this is a problem that we all inherited. You know some of us have things that we have inherited from our parents such as our looks, our personality, or some of our tendencies; well in the same way, we inherited something from our Father Adam called a sin nature. The sin nature is the capacity to want to live independently of God. Some may think it to be unfair that all men should inherit Adam and Eve’s nature – the nature that brings death, you might say but I didn’t choose this; I didn’t choose Adam to be my father, so why must I pay for his error? Well you didn’t get to choose your mother who brought you into this current world either, but nevertheless she is your mother. There are some things in life that we don’t get a choice over; it’s like the football player who jumps offside; the whole team gets penalized for what he alone did; the whole team is penalized for being offside even though only one player went offside - well so it was with Adam; when Adam jumped offside, the whole team which is to say the whole human race was penalized because we were in the Adam seed. Let me explain it another way; if we made it a mutual goal that we were going to jump and touch the ceiling of this house, some of you would jump higher than me and I will jump higher than some others, but all of us will fall short of the goal of touching the ceiling; what I am saying is that to compare yourself to your neighbor is a waste of time with God because He is up at the top saying that “the ceiling is my standard” so unless you can touch the ceiling, comparing yourself to Joe next door won’t do you any good because God measures us against Himself and God is Holy and totally without sin and since He is this way, He demands that justice be administered to the soul that sins. Hebrews 9: 22(KJV) says: the law requires that nearly everything be cleansed with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness. God demands restitution for sin and the only restitution there is – is the shedding of Blood and that’s why we needed a Savior – that’s why we needed Jesus to go to Calvary and there to shed His Blood for the remission of our sins. Jesus was a worthy Sacrifice because He Himself was without sin. In a search of the whole earth, no man was found worthy to make restitution unto God for our sins so God made restitution Himself. Philippians 2: 6 –8(KJV) says that Jesus: Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: 7 But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: 8 And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Jesus shed His Blood on the Cross to satisfy God’s Holy Requirement that Blood Restitution be made for sin and so the wage due sin was paid in full when Christ died on Calvary’s Cross. With Jesus hanging there on the Cross we read in Luke 23: 44 – 45 that: It was now about the sixth hour, and darkness came over the whole land until the ninth hour, 45 for the sun stopped shining. As Jesus hung there on the Cross and the sixth hour came, suddenly the sun stopped shining; it became pitch black and the Bible says that this darkness covered the whole earth between the sixth and the ninth hour while Christ hung there on the Cross; the darkness signified what was happening between God and His Son; Jesus was bearing the judgment for sin and that judgment caused God to forsake Jesus between the sixth and the ninth hour; I tell you it was a serious day; 2nd Corinthians 5: 21(NIV) says: God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. I told you earlier that God hated sin and now between the sixth and ninth hour Jesus became what God hated – He became sin. Earlier in the day while hanging there on the Cross, Jesus had been able to pray and ask God to forgive the people, but between the sixth and the ninth hour God turned His Back on Jesus; He forsook Him and it caused Jesus to cry out in desperate anguish: “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me”? My Lord had been forsaken by My God because He had become sin. The whole world got dark because “The Light of the World” was no longer shining; the moment that Jesus Christ became sin - the Light went out and the world without Him became a dark place. The Bible says that darkness covered the land. At the ninth hour, it was finally over, Luke 23: 46 recorded it this way, it says that: Jesus called out with a loud voice, "Father, into your hands I commit my spirit." When he had said this, he breathed his last. All this was done for us - so that we might become the righteousness of God in Christ and to think that today so many people are fighting to be forgiven; they are shredding their souls wanting somebody to forgive them for their past, not understanding that 2006 years ago God made provision for them to be forgiven by making His only Begotten Son to be sin for us. God sent Jesus Christ to shed His Blood on Calvary’s Cross and thereby make restitution for our sins. On the Cross, Christ took the penalty for sin on Himself in order to satisfy the Just Wrath of God so that God would then be free to express His Love towards us without having to compromise His Holy Justice. Let me say it again; on the Cross, the Perfect Son of God received the penalty for my sin and for yours and in so doing He satisfied the demand for Wrath against the sinfulness of the sinner. When the work of the Cross was completed, when the penalty had been paid, then God was free to express His Love without at the same time having to compromising His justice. The Cross happened because God loved us and did not want to have to judge us as sinners because all sinners will be put to eternal death which is total separation from God. So now we conclude that the essence of the Cross is that it is “the payment for sin.” Everything else is ancillary to that reality. On the Cross the Lord Jesus did for you and for me what we could not do for ourselves; He satisfied God’s Demand for perfection. So right now, this very minute we can stand before Almighty God having no spot and no blemish and it is because the demand for justice because of our sins is satisfied – I tell you that this is at the heart of what the Cross is all about and to miss this message or to not understand it is to totally miss the Cross. Let me say it this way, “you” when you have done all that you could do, when you have done your very best you still come out a loser if you try to satisfy the requirements of a Holy God without Christ and the Cross. 2006 years ago payment was made – quit trying to pay again because your payment will always be insufficient. The Lord Jesus Christ did what you and I could never do; He paid the ransom for our souls so that we would come out winners instead of sinners. That is what the Cross is all about; it is about addressing sin so that God can forgive the sinner. In Matthew 26: 26 – 28(KJV): to signify what was to be done on the Cross, Jesus took bread, and blessed it, and brake it, and gave it to the disciples, and said, Take, eat; this is my body. 27 And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink ye all of it; 28 For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.

Two criminals were crucified with Christ that day on Calvary’s Hill; one criminal hung on a cross to the right of Christ and the other was hanging on a cross to His left. Luke 23: 39 says that: One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him: "Aren't you the Christ? Save yourself and us!" This is the portrait of a fool; this criminal is hanging on a cross next to Christ and He is insulting the Lord. Jesus is hanging there for Him if He will accept what is being done, but he chooses instead to insult the Lord of Salvation. He mocks Jesus saying; hey Jesus if you are the Christ, then what are you doing up here with us? If you are the Christ, then why don’t you save yourself and oh, by the way, if you can come down from here, then take us with you. This criminal joined the crowd on the ground in mocking Jesus for these were the same things that the crowd was saying also. Luke 23: 35 – 39(NIV) records what happened this way: The people stood watching, and the rulers even sneered at him. They said, "He saved others; let him save himself if he is the Christ of God, the Chosen One." 36 The soldiers also came up and mocked him. They offered him wine vinegar 37and said, "If you are the king of the Jews, save yourself." 38 There was a written notice above him, which read:|sc THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS. 39 One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him: "Aren't you the Christ? Save yourself and us!" The crowd was mocking Jesus and for what ever reason criminal number one chooses to join the crowd in mocking Him. Now I must admit that I just do not understand criminal number one; this guy is dying; he is in no position to do what he is doing, but he does it anyway. The reality that by the end of this day he will be dead seems to have little or no impact on him. We can see that this fellow only wants one thing from Jesus and nothing else; he only wants Jesus to change his earthly circumstances and a lot of us are crying to Jesus exclusively about selfish earthly desires; Jesus make me rich; Jesus give me a new car; Jesus send me a nice mate; Jesus do this; Jesus do that. Jesus said that He came to be the Servant of all, but not the kind of servant we want to make Him out to be; Jesus did not come to wait on us hand and foot; that’s not what the Cross is about. The Cross is about our guilt and the way that Jesus serves us is that He removes that guilt that we cannot remove ourselves. Jesus didn’t die on the Cross to make the world a better place for you and me; no, that was not the primary issue of the Cross; the primary issue of the Cross was that you and I stood guilty before a Holy God who does not negotiate His Holiness. Blood had to be shed for the remission of sin but, our Blood was tainted with sin and since it was tainted it would never suffice. A Pure, sin free, spotless Lamb had to be found and when God had looked the whole world over He found none, so He came down and offered Himself to be the atonement for our sin.

The first criminal chose to mock God; He chose to try and con God, to con God into coming down from the Cross so that he himself could be spared. This criminal missed the point completely. But there was a second criminal. First understand that both men were thieves and the reason that they were being crucified was probably not for robbery alone; they had probably killed someone during the commission of their robberies; in today’s talk, they were there for armed robbery that led to a homicide. But let us notice the second criminal; Luke 23: 39 -41 says: One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him: "Aren't you the Christ? Save yourself and us!" 40 But the other criminal rebuked him. "Don't you fear God," he said, "since you are under the same sentence? 41We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong." The second criminal says to the fist criminal: "Don't you fear God," so the second criminal recognizes that something bigger was going on here than them hanging on their crosses which they deserved to be on. He says: "Don't you fear God,"? Aren’t you afraid that in a few minutes you are going to close your eyes in death and then wake up standing before a Holy God? Don’t you think you need to consider your conservation since you are under the sentence of death? The second criminal goes on to say in verse 41that: We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong." This second criminal recognizes his own sinfulness; he says we are here and rightfully so because our deeds have gotten us what we deserve. We deserve death and death it is. You know, God only saves sinners; if you are not a sinner you are not a candidate for forgiveness. In Matthew 9: 12(NIV) Jesus says: "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. Sinners need a Doctor. So this second criminal not only recognizes his own sinfulness, but we see in verse 41 that he also recognizes Christ’s Righteousness. He says that this man is here with us, but He has done nothing wrong. This second criminal says - We are sinners, but this Man hanging here with us is Righteous. So then this criminal not only recognizes his own sinfulness; he not only recognizes Christ’s Righteousness, but He calls out for personal mercy. He says in verse 42: "Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom." “Remember me” he says. Notice what he doesn’t say; he doesn’t say remember us; he doesn’t say remember the two of us hanging here with you – he simply says “Jesus remember me;” the only person who can get saved for you is you. Your having a mother over in Glory does not give you a free pass to heaven – you need Jesus to remember you. This criminal realized this and so he says "Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom. In other words this second criminal is saying: Jesus, I’ve been hearing some preaching around town and they were talking about this Messiah who had come to set up a kingdom and how this Messiah was going to die and in three days rise from the dead and I’m sitting up here on the Cross with you Jesus and I believe that you are the One that they were talking about. Jesus, I believe that you will be alive to remember me; I not only believe that you are the Messiah Jesus, but I am asking you to remember me after You are resurrected; remember me when you come into your Glory, remember me when you sit on your throne in Paradise. You see this second criminal expresses his faith in Christ and in the Resurrection of Christ and in the coming Kingdom of Christ when he says: "Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom. This required a lot of faith – this man had to believe that everybody else was wrong and he was right; he had to believe that even though all of Christ’s followers had abandoned Him, Christ was still the One; he believed that Christ was still the answer for his situation. This second criminal had to believe that as helpless as Christ looked on that Cross, even so Christ still had the power to save those who believe on Him. Understand that each of us needs Jesus to address our personal sins; therefore it is necessary that each and every individual confess his own sin after having believed in his own heart that Jesus died for the remission of his personal sins. I must come to the knowledge that Christ’s Death was acceptable to God as the sacrifice for my personal sins and you must do the same. God placed our sins on Christ – He likewise placed Christ’s Righteousness on us. God has accredited to each individual Christian Believer the Righteousness of Christ. And furthermore we know that Jesus Christ didn’t stay on that Cross; we know that Jesus Christ didn’t stay in that tomb because neither the Cross nor the Tomb could hold our Lord forever. So then the belief that abides in the hearts of all Christians is that God has raised Jesus from the dead and one day soon, this living Jesus will soon come again to judge the quick and the dead. Salvation is a personal issue; no one else can obtain salvation for you. To believe that Jesus died on the Cross for the whole world is good, it is right, and it is true, but it is not enough to keep you out of hell; you must come to Christ yourself. People say that they believe this and they believe that; some say that they believe in a Supreme Being others believe in Mohammed and still others say Jesus was no more than a Good Prophet, but I tell you that hell will be full of this kind of nebulous belief. God is going to condemn sin in every sinner who has not had his sins purged by the Blood of Jesus. Unless you have Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior no other payment for sin will be accepted. In John 14: 6: Jesus says ”I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. And in John 11: 25 – 26 Jesus puts forth a question that each of us must answer yes to, if we are to be saved: I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: 26 And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this? As we have seen the second criminal believed in the Resurrection. Belief in the Resurrection is the cornerstone of Christianity for without it there is no salvation because what good is it if you have faith in a dead Savior; of what value is that? The thing that makes Jesus Christ different from Buddha; the thing that makes Jesus Christ different than Mohammed; the thing that makes Jesus Christ different from all other claimed Messiahs is that nobody ever saw those other Messiahs again after they died. This then puts Jesus Christ in a class all by Himself because His Tomb is empty. Matthew 1 –7(NIV) says: After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb. 2 There was a violent earthquake, for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and, going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it. 3 His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow. 4 The guards were so afraid of him that they shook and became like dead men. 5 The angel said to the women, "Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. 6 He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay. 7 Then go quickly and tell his disciples: 'He has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him. The Disciples saw the risen Savior and so did Mary Magdalene. Acts 1: 3(NIV) says that: After his suffering, he showed himself to these men and gave many convincing proofs that he was alive. He appeared to them over a period of forty days and spoke about the kingdom of God. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15: 3- 11(NIV): For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, 5and that he appeared to Peter, and then to the Twelve. 6 After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. 7 Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, 8and last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born. 9 For I am the least of the apostles and do not even deserve to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. 10 But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them—yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me. 11 Whether, then, it was I or they, this is what we preach, and this is what you believed. Jesus is alive! Has anybody seen Mohammed since he died? Has anybody seen any of the other so called Messiahs since their death and I’m not talking here about seeing some ghostly vision of them for our Christ appeared in bodily form; He let the folks feel the nail prints in His Hands and He let them run their hand into His pierced side and our Lord did sit and eat with His Disciples after the Crucifixion. So you tell me what kind of ghost it is that eats broiled fish? No, Jesus was no ghost as some allege; He was no ghostly vision or spirit; He was seen alive and in bodily form after His Death on the Cross and that my friend is why His Tomb was empty. And because He lives, no tomb will keep me either.

Jesus responds to that criminal who asked to be remembered in a time beyond this day of their death. In verse 43 Jesus looks over at this criminal and says to Him: "I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise. Jesus had nothing to say to the other criminal; He had nothing to say to those on the ground hurling insults, He had nothing to say to those who nailed Him to the Cross – the only one He spoke to was this criminal who came to Him in faith and believed on Him and asked to be with Him in paradise. Jesus only speaks to the ones who come to Him. He only speaks to those who call on Him by faith; If you don’t come to Him then you will never hear from Him – if you don’t seek Him you will never find Him. He died for you; He died in your place, but He will only respond if you want a response. Simply said Salvation is offered, but you must accept it. Jesus will only come in if you open the door of your heart and invite Him in; if you do open your heart; if you do invite Him in then He brings with Him forgiveness; He brings righteousness and He brings salvation. Notice that Jesus tells the criminal that “today” you shall be with me in paradise. For the Christian it is comforting to know that the moment you close your eyes for the last time you are ushered into the Presence of the Lord. Jesus didn’t tell this criminal that they would be together someday; He didn’t say to him that come Sunday morning when I get up, I’ll come get you up; no, Jesus said “today” the day you die you shall be with me in paradise. Once you understand this you won’t have to stand over your loved ones grave shedding tears because you can’t bear to think of them laying there in that grave. Go spend your time someplace else because that tomb is empty; there are only bones there – your loved one has gone to be with the Lord and they went the moment they closed their eyes. They didn’t even get to go to their wake; they didn’t get to attend their own funeral. So put flowers on their graves if you must, but know what Jesus has said and He said that: today you will be with me in paradise. Paul said to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord so there is no need to fear death – death cannot come between us and our Lord. Now look at this: Do you mean to tell me that this criminal didn’t have to come down off the Cross and get baptized first before He could enter Paradise? Do you mean to tell me that this criminal didn’t have to come down and pay his tithes? Do you mean to tell me that this criminal didn’t have to come down off the cross to go to new membership class for 30 days? Do You mean to tell me that this criminal didn’t have to go to church first? None of these things were required of him because salvation has nothing to do with what you do for God, but it is all about what He has done for you; He came down and He paid the price for all your sins and so you are forgiven; if you try to add anything to what Jesus Christ has done, you nullify Christ because it’s not Christ and baptism; it’s not Christ and going to church every Sunday; it’s not Christ and membership; it’s not Christ and keeping the ten commandments; it’s not Christ and living a good life; it’s faith in Christ alone. People are confused; they say I’m trying to make heaven my home; if it were in your power to make heaven your home then Jesus wouldn’t have had to come down here to die on a Cross. He would have stayed in heaven and waited for you to get home. Understand that absolutely no human effort can make you right with God. The only way to heaven is with Jesus Christ; He tells that criminal that “today you will be with me in paradise.” To get to paradise, you have to go with Christ there. There is no other way given unto men. Christ is the only Way. Jesus says that whenever a man comes to Christ He is in Me and where ever I am there shall that man be also; so then if Christ is seated in heavenly places, then I am seated in heavenly place; if Christ is seated at the right hand of the Father then I am seated at the right hand of the Father; if Christ is in Paradise then I reckon that I will be found in paradise too. It all has to do with who you know, and we know the King; we know the One who died for us; so then our place is not defined by what church we attend or whether we met all the requirements of this denomination or that denomination; it is not tied to whether we worship on Saturday or on Sunday, but it is determined by whether or not we know the Lord Jesus Christ personally as Savior.

In conclusion Matthew 27: 50 –53(NIV) says that: And when Jesus had cried out again in a loud voice, he gave up his spirit.  51At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook and the rocks split. 52 The tombs broke open and the bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life. 53 They came out of the tombs, and after Jesus' resurrection they went into the holy city and appeared to many people. After Jesus drew His last breath and died, the Bible says that the tombs of those Old Testament Saints broke open and long dead saints walked out of those tombs. You see at the precise moment of Christ’s Death, restitution for sin was made. The moment Christ died those Old Testament Saint’s sin debt was paid in full and so neither death nor their tombs had any more claim on those saints and that is why verse 52 says: The tombs broke open and the bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life. Verse 53 says that: They came out of the tombs, and after Jesus' resurrection they went into the holy city and appeared to many people. Now you know what happens when you have something on layaway; when you make that final payment, they have to give you what you have paid for so that you can take it back home with you; well after Jesus paid it all off, the Bible says that the graves gave up those old testament saints because Christ had paid it all. No more payments were due; no more payments are due, Jesus paid it all. It is finished He said, so the remission has been accomplished. All that you need to do is come to Him – no matter how much dirt is on you – no matter what you have done in the past, The Blood of the Lamb is able to make a man clean. Restitution for sin has been made. The Tomb will still be empty this coming Sunday Morning and so many will come to Christ and trust Him alone for their salvation and if you haven’t done so,let me encourage you to come along with the rest; be in that number when the Saints go marching into the Church this Sunday to Praise the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. Amen

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