The Hope of the Cross

Is there such a person as a Good Thief?  Our Lord Jesus was crucified between two thieves (rebels, criminals) who initially attacked him verbally. One thief, however, repented and asked Jesus to remember him in His Kingdom.  This man is known in church tradition as the Good Thief.

 

This thief is known by various names in church tradition...Titus, Demas, Dismas. All we know for certain about him is his salvation experience. He was on a cross next to The Cross. His interaction with Jesus as they both hung on crosses is revealing in at least 3 ways.

1.      Those who would be considered "very" sinful can be saved! Whatever his crime(s) - murder, insurrection or robbery - Jesus still saved him. Paul considered himself the chief of sinners - 1 Timothy 1:15. Manasseh, Judah's most wicked king, found mercy when he repented - 2 Chronicles 33:9-16. We have all sung (perhaps with a glimmer of our own sinfulness) "Amazing grace, how sweet the sound that saved a WRETCH like me."

2.      There is hope for salvation. This thief had reached the end of the road. Hanging on a cross, guilty as sin, staring death in the face, he was still granted God's wonderful gift of salvation! We may be too old, weak, broke or damaged to do certain things but we can still be saved. What we have here in Luke 23 is a true "deathbed" conversion. Sometimes people ask if they can be saved after living a lifetime of ignoring God, church, the Bible...the answer is yes! But the caution is not to make that a plan of action i.e., I will live as I want till I am at death's door then I will receive Christ. One young man who was under spiritual conviction told the preacher, Dr. Harry Ironside, that he would be like the thief on the cross. Dr. Ironside replied "Which thief?"  One thief apparently never did get saved.  We do not know when our death may come and so the Bible challenges us to trust Jesus today!  2 Corinthians 6:2; Hebrews 4:7

3.      What comfort there is in salvation! Even when facing death and eternity this thief received wonderful promises from Jesus. The day of this man's death would become his same day to enter into the blessings of eternal life beyond. No indication of soul sleep or probational period in purgatory, but TODAY he would be with Jesus in Paradise. Jesus promised that the thief would be with HIM. That was the same promise to the disciples at the Last Supper. Jesus promised to come back and receive them to Himself - that where He is they would be also. John 14:3  How MUCH better than the heart rending and frightening words of Matthew 25:41 "Depart from Me."

 

See you Sunday.

1.      There were 3 crosses that day.  Where was Jesus' cross located? Matthew 27:38  Do you think there is any significance to that?

2.     The Good Thief talks about fearing God. What do you think he meant in that context and do you think we should fear God? Luke 23:40; Proverbs 1:7: 1 Peter 2:17. How would you define what it is to fear God?

3.     What does Luke 23:41a tell us about how this thief viewed himself? Compare Romans 3:23; 6:23a

4.      Study Luke 23:41b,42. How did this thief view Jesus? 1 Peter 2:22: 2 Peter 1:15.

5.     Who else talks about Paradise in the Bible? Are Paradise and Heaven the same or different? Luke 23:43; 2 Corinthians 12:4; Revelation 2:7

6.      List all the reasons someone should wait to trust Chris Jesus as Lord and Saviour.

 

The Forgiveness of the Cross

The Easter season is a time when there is a focus on the 7 Sayings of our Lord Jesus from the cross.  The first saying "Father forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing" is found only in the gospel of Luke.  This is our focus even after Good Friday and Easter as we continue to look at the cross.  I like this statement from Dr. Mark Roberts: "It makes sense that the first word of Jesus from the cross is a word of forgiveness.  That's the point of the cross, after all." 

Here are some questions we can ponder together...1) Who was Jesus asking for forgiveness for?  The soldiers who were crucifying him or the crowd around the cross as well? 2)  What did He mean saying they didn't know what they were doing?  The soldiers obviously knew how to crucify someone - historically, it was common in that era.  Could it be that He was saying that they didn't know WHO they were crucifying?  Like the old spiritual "Sweet little Jesus boy...we didn't know it was you".  3) Why did Jesus ask the Father to forgive them when He could forgive sins Himself?  Bible commentators have considered these issues and come to various conclusions.  The blessing to me is that He prayed such a prayer! 

Considering forgiveness in light of the cross is quite instructive and challenging.  The cross is about forgiveness so if we experience forgiveness at the cross, we are also to be forgiving.  We are to be forgiving even toward those who hurt us terribly.  Finally, we are to be forgiving and prayerful even when experiencing the most severe situations.  No wonder  Bible teacher William Barclay wrote about this saying of the Savior "There is nothing so lovely and nothing so rare as Christian forgiveness."

See you Sunday!

1. What prophecy is fulfilled in this prayer of Jesus?  Isaiah 53:12
2. Is Jesus still praying for sinners?  Hebrews 7:25
3. Who does the Scripture include among the ignorant when Jesus was crucified?  Acts 3:12-19; 13:27; 2 Corinthians 2:8
4. While some sins are done in ignorance and we are often ignorant of the full wickedness and damaging effect of our sin...is there forgiveness for even intentional and rebellious sin?  1John 1:9
5. How does this prayer of Jesus fulfill the point of the cross?  Isaiah 53:5; Matthew 1:21, 1 Corinthians 15:3
6. How does Jesus practice what He preached?  Matthew 5:44
7. Who is the great N.T. example of following the Savior in forgiveness?  Acts 7:59-60 What about us?  Ephesians 4:32; Colossians 3:13

The Wisdom of the Cross

“When I survey the wondrous cross

On which the Prince of Glory died,

My richest gain I count but loss,

And pour contempt on all my pride.” 

Of all the statements Paul ever makes, Galatians 6:14 is arguably the most profound:  “God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified to me, and I to the world.”

We have yet more to say about this great and wonderful statement.  Here Paul is nailing his colors to the mast.  He is advancing the essence of his being.  He is contrasting himself with those who are motivated by personal ambition and ego, like he once was.  He glories in nothing, he boasts in nothing, except the cross of Jesus Christ.

We have already seen in our series that the cross is the very heart and center of the Christian message.  Indeed, our eternal destiny depends on the view we take of the death of Jesus of Nazareth upon the cross.  So we have been considering why the Christian says that the cross of Christ, the death of this Son of God on the cross, is to him the most momentous, the most vital of all facts, that there is nothing that compares with it, and that to him it is the most significant thing in the universe. 

I make that point deliberately.  The Christian is the person who says I don’t care what has happened.  I don’t care what may happen.  I don’t care what it is – Russian incursion into Ukraine, a series of Blood Moons, a potential crashing economy, a rampage at Ft. Hood, a Kansas synagogue, or a Murrysville school – nothing can ever approach in significance to what happened on the cross when Jesus died, was buried in a grave, rose again, and went back to His throne.  

Why does the Christian say this?  Why does he glory in it?  We have begun to answer that question by looking at the greatness and the glory of the cross.  We have seen that the cross, with all its mighty paradoxes, is a spectacle which makes anything that you can think of in history, or anything that you can imagine, simply pale into insignificance.

When a man like the Apostle Paul, under the leadership of the Holy Spirit, says he glories in the cross, you can be sure that it is the deepest, most profound thing in the universe.  A casual glance at the cross is not enough.  The saints of the centuries have been surveying it, they have been looking upon it, gazing upon it, and meditating on it.  In fact, the more they’ve looked, and the more you look, the more is seen!  The great Puritan, Thomas Carlisle, once described the cross as “infinities and immensities.”  Therefore, only a fool would think of the cross as an interesting fact or a point in a series.  It’s not.  It’s the destination of every maturing Christian.  It’s the stake in the ground.  It’s the pivotal point of human history.  It’s the fulcrum upon which eternity is suspended.

So I repeat the question.  Why?  Why did the cross happen? Why did the Son of God, the Prince of glory hang there?  What is the divine purpose?  We have it all in Scripture.  We don’t have to draw upon our imagination.  We don’t have to invent answers.  It’s all set forth for us in Scripture should we care to dig.

That’s what we will do again this Sunday – Easter.  We will dig into two particular texts:  I Corinthians 1:26-31 and II Corinthians 5:16-21 to find the reason for the cross in the mind of God.  The message this Easter is “The Wisdom of the Cross.”  It’s a perfect topic for it offers us a full-orbed view of the parallel between the cross and tomb.

In preparation for Sunday’s message you may wish to consider the following:

1. How is Isaiah 53 a perfect prophecy of the death of Jesus on the cross?
2. How are Jesus’ words to Nicodemus in John 3 an indication of the wisdom of the coming cross?
3. How does Peter’s sermon on the day of Pentecost in Acts 2 give us insight into the wisdom of God at the cross?
4. How can theologians of every era say that at the cross every essential attribute of God’s nature can be seen?  Can you identify any?
5. How can the immutability of God be seen at the cross?
6. How is the cross a cosmic triumph of the power of God over rulers and authorities and the prince of this world?  (See Colossians 3:6-15.)
7. Why do Jesus and His post-resurrection apostles refer to the cross as a place of glory?
8. How does God use the cross to confound the wise?
9. What does Peter mean in I Peter 1:10-12 when he says that there are things into which angels “long to look”?
10. How is the cross a direct attack on the wisdom of Satan?  (See Ezekiel 28:11-17 and Isaiah 14:12-14.)

See you on Easter!

The Glory of the Cross

It’s noon on Wednesday and there’s already been a stabbing at Franklin Regional High School,  word that my friend, Mike, is in a Cleveland ICU now with cancer all through his body, three friends with serious business crises all involving family, a burial of a dear confidante, and news of several more challenges.  All this in half of one day!  How is it possible that the cross speaks to any and all of this?  What possible point of commonality exists here?

In last week’s message I repeatedly mentioned that the cross is the place where God deals with us.  It’s the place where you and I find the answer to all of life’s problems.  And I’m sure that it prompted the question, “How can that be?  How does the cross help me with ___?”

This week I hope to elaborate a bit as we turn from the greatness of the cross to the glory of the cross.  In Acts 27 Paul makes an amazing statement that sheds light on the answer.  He’s on his way to Rome to stand before Caesar and make an appeal for himself and the Gospel.  Luke tells us that, as he sails with a number of other prisoners a northeaster strikes and his ship is in grave danger.  And, if you read the full account, you find that it’s not just a momentary danger, but a danger that lasts for days.

In the midst of it Paul stands on deck and shouts to the crewmen and his fellow prisoners, “Last night an angel of the God whose I am and whom I serve stood beside me and said, ‘Don’t be afraid…you must stand trial before Caesar; and God has graciously given you the lives of all who sail with you!’”

Now it’s not the outcome of the angel’s message that interests me; it’s the description Paul uses for him.  Paul says, “Last night an angel of the God whose I am…stood beside me.  It’s those six words:  “of the God whose I am” that have a direct bearing on the contention that every problem you have is only properly addressed at the cross.  You see, Paul knows that regardless of the circumstances in which he finds himself, his identity is fixed in Christ.  He says, “I belong to God.”

Remember the words of the first question of the Heidelberg Catechism?  The Question is this:  “What is your only comfort, in life and in death?  Answer:  “That I belong – body and soul, in life and in death – not to myself but to my faithful Savior, Jesus Christ.”  Where did the framers of the Heidelberg Catechism get that?  They got it from the Apostle Paul.  Where did he get that?  He got it at the cross, and I can prove it from the rest of the answer: “Who at the cost of his own blood has fully paid for all my sins and has completely freed me from the dominion of the devil; that he protects me so well that without the will of my Father in heaven not a hair can fall from my head; indeed, that everything must fit his purpose for my salvation.  Therefore, by his Holy Spirit, he also assures me of eternal life, and makes me wholeheartedly willing and ready from now on to live for him.”

You see what Paul is saying on the deck of that ship is this:  “My identity is fixed; I belong to Him, and therefore, this problem is His problem.”  Where does he get such certainty?  How does he know his identity is fixed?  The same place he gets it “re-fixed” – at the cross.

As we said last week, the cross is not a one-stop shop for the believer.  It is the place where we must have our true identity affirmed time and time again; and our identity is at the root of every solution to every problem we face.  It was for Paul.  It is for us.  And the reason that our true identity is at the root of every solution to any problem is because of the true identity of Jesus on the cross.  That’s what we’ll examine this week because the cross is where is His true identity best seen, and most deeply understood.  In fact, it’s His identity that makes the cross not only great, but glorious!

In preparation for Sunday’s message, “The Glory of the Cross” you may wish to consider the following:

1. Read Galatians 6:14-16; Romans 5:6-10; and Luke 19:36-40.
2. What does Paul mean when he says, “by the cross the world has been crucified to me”?
3. What does “glory” mean?
4. What does it mean to “glory” in the cross?
5. How does the cry of the crowd in Luke 19:38 speak to the glory of the cross?
6. How is the cross the Acid Test of the human heart?
7. Do you agree that one’s preaching of the cross should offend the natural human heart?
8. How does the cross save us from God?
9. How does the cross continue to save us from ourselves?
10. How is the cross a cosmic event?

See you on Palm Sunday!

The Greatness of the Cross

Anthony De Mello, in his work, The Way to Love, writes:

 

Look at your life and see how you have filled its emptiness with people.  As a result, they have a stranglehold on you.  See how they control your behavior by their approval and disapproval.  They hold the power to ease your loneliness with their company, to send your spirits soaring with their praise, to bring you down to the depths with their criticism and rejection.  Take a look at yourself spending almost every waking moment of your day placating and pleasing people, whether they are living or dead.  You live by their norms, conform to their standards, seek their company, desire their love, dread their ridicule, long for their applause, meekly submit to the guilt they lay upon you; you are terrified to go against the fashion in the way you dress or speak or act or even think.  And observe how even when you control them you depend on them and are enslaved by them.  People have become so much a part of your being that you cannot even imagine living a life that is unaffected or controlled by them. 

And no one is immune.  In the Gospel of John, the Jews are said to be incapable of believing on Jesus because they “look to one another for approval.”  (John 5:44)  In Matthew 26:56 all of His disciples desert Jesus and run away.  The gospels are full of accounts of the power of people in our lives whether it be our family, our friends, our enemies; you name it.  Indeed, no personality type is able to avoid the De Mello critique.  And that’s why Paul’s closing words in his letter to the Galatians is so startling.

Brennan Manning once wrote, “When we freely assent to the mystery of our belovedness and accept our core identity as Abba’s child, we slowly gain autonomy from controlling relationships.  We become inner-directed rather than outer-determined.  The fleeting floods of pleasure or pain caused by the affirmation or deprivation of others will never entirely disappear, but their power to induce self-betrayal will be diminished.”  And that’s exactly what we see in the Apostle Paul when he gets personal at the end of his letter to the Galatians.

Look what he says in verse 14, “Far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me and I to the world.”  What an amazing statement penned by Paul’s own hand!

If there is anyone in Scripture that had reason to boast in anything but the cross, it’s Paul.  Just check out his resume in Philippians 3 and II Corinthians 11.  But something happens to Paul.  Something radically transforms his orientation from outer-determined to inner (Spirit) directed  that is not wholly accounted for by the Damascus Road experience.  What transforms him is his growing awareness of the greatness of the cross of Christ and the passion His Father has for Him.

This week, as a follow-up to our 13-week series on forgiveness, we begin looking at the cross in greater detail.  It’s to the cross that the godly have returned time and time again throughout the last 2000+ years to find their true identity and feel the permanence of God’s affirmation.  That’s what we hear the hymn writers expressing in great hymns of the faith like, “When I Survey the Wondrous Cross”, “In the Cross of Christ I Glory,” and “Beneath the Cross of Jesus” to name a few.  That’s what we hear Paul proclaiming in Galatians 6:11-18.  That’s what we will seek to do over the next few months.  The truth is, we could spend the rest of our lives studying the cross and never come close to mining its depth.  What a joy it will be to do some mining with you.

In preparation for Sunday’s message, “The Greatness of the Cross”, you may wish to consider the following:

1. Read our companion text Hebrews 2:5-9 and discover the glory of Jesus.
2. Why does Paul tell us in Galatians 6:11 that he’s writing with his own hand?
3. Is there anywhere else in his twelve letters that he does so?
4. Who are the Judaizers and what are they doing that’s referenced in verse 13?
5. How is it that some boast in the circumcision of others?
6. What does Paul mean when he says he boasts in the cross only?  How does one boast in the cross?
7. How does the cross of Christ crucify the world to someone?
8. What new creation does the cross create?
9. What does it mean to say that if you don’t believe the Gospel of grace you’ve never done anything for the love of others for the sheer beauty of it?
10. What’s the significance of Paul calling all he addresses as “brothers”?

See you Sunday when we’ll celebrate the greatness of the Lord of the cross expressed in two baptisms and the reception of new members.

Freeing the Faithful

When I was at Princeton, we’d often read well-known passages in speech class.  And each time we’d read them, the professor would stop us and point to certain words or phrases, or phrasing that needed particular attention.

For instance, in Luke 19 Jesus gives two of His disciples specific instructions for securing the young colt on which He will sit to ride into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday.  He says it this way, “Go into the village in front of you, where on entering you will find a colt tied, on which no one has ever sat.  Untie it and bring it to me.”  Now the instructions on reading these sentences couldn’t have been more clear.  “When you come to the words, ‘colt tied’, make sure you place a pause between “colt” and “tied”, for there is no such thing as a “colttied.”

There were scores of such hints, but none greater than in the second half of Jesus’ parable in Luke 15:25-32.  Here, in discussing this older son, the professor asked us to pick out the most meaningful word in the text.  Some replied, “Reckless living.”  Others said, “Quick, bring the best robe, etc.”  Quickly the professor repeated his question, “What’s the most meaningful WORD in this text?  And when no one stepped in with a suggestion he read verse 32 aloud.  “It was fitting to celebrate and be glad, for this your BROTHER was dead, and is alive; he was lost, and is found.”  What the older son can’t see in this sinful blindness, the father not only sees, but he points out with emphasis.  The reason for the music and dancing is that your BROTHER is home, restored, and free.

This week marks the final Sunday in our series on forgiveness – The Heart of the Matter.  Over these thirteen weeks we have repeatedly seen that forgiveness is at the heart of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  We have repeatedly heard from many of you, how profoundly relevant this teaching has been to you, especially at this time in your life.  So let’s review some of the clear takeaways.

• Sin has a cost that must be paid.  Forgiveness means that the offended party pays it.
• While sin binds the heart, the mind, and the soul, forgiveness frees it.
• The reason Jesus extends forgiveness to the woman caught in the act of adultery, Zacchaeus, Peter, etc., is because He takes all their sin on Himself and sees them through His finished work on the cross.
• Real “to the bone” forgiveness only flows from a heart that knows the extent of its own forgiveness. 
• Unforgiveness at its core is the product of unbelief.
• The greatest gift Christ has given His church is the power to forgive (Matthew 16:13-19).
• Forgiveness frees not only the offender, but the offended.  (Remember Brennan Manning’s story of Max?)
• The god of religion says, “Stop your sinning and I will not condemn you.”  The God of the Gospel says, “I don’t contemn you, now go live free to sin no more.”
• There’s always the sin under the sin and until we get to identifying and dealing with that sin, we’ll never be free.
• Only forgiveness causes us to drop the masks and come out of hiding.
• Jesus sees us as Zacchaeus – pure and righteous through His finished work.
• Only free people can free people.
• Only Jesus can find us, forgive us, and free us and He does it all the time through His Word and His people.
• Paul instructs us to confess our sin one to another because he knows that’s the only path to freedom. 
• Forgiveness is always a matter of recovering one’s true identity.
• Forgiveness is the best gift Christians can give to others because it always points to Jesus and His great work.

This week we look at the final part of His three-part parable in response to the scribes and Pharisees’ complaint that He welcomes sinners and eats with them.

Some have called the story “The Prodigal and the Presbyterian” because the Greek word for elder is presbuteros.  This week we focus on the presbuteros, the elder brother, for he is as lost as his younger sibling.

The father deals with the second son the same way he deals with the first one.  He pays the cost of the sin, he points him to his true identity, and he gives them the choice of living free or not.  It’s a great conclusion to our series.

In preparation for Sunday’s message on Luke 15:25-32 you may wish to consider the following:

1. What does empathy mean?
2. How does the father show it to the older son?
3. What does it mean for the father to leave the party and come out to the older son?
4. What does it mean that the father “pleads” or “entreats” him in verse 28?
5. How different is the father’s treatment of his son than the son’s treatment of the servant boy in verse 26?
6. How is the elder son’s address of his father in verse 29 an insult?
7. What do you make of the son’s tirade in verse 29-30?
8. What is the significance of the father’s description of his son in verse 31(a)?
9. What is the Johari window?  How is it relevant?
10. How is one’s identity wrapped up in one’s forgiveness? 

See you for Confirmation Sunday!

Freeing the Faithless

Throughout our series on forgiveness we have seen again and again that Jesus’ definition of sin is at variance with so many of the definitions we hear today.  Nearly everyone defines sin as the breaking of rules or standards.  But Jesus demonstrates, in His dealings with the Pharisees, that men who violate virtually no legal standards can be just as sinful, just as spiritually lost as the most immoral person among us.  Why?  Because, as the Gospel shows, sin is not just breaking the rules, it’s putting yourself in the place of God as Savior, Lord, and Judge.  And that’s exactly what we see in the final of three stories in Luke 15.

In answer to the grumblings of the scribes and Pharisees – “Jesus welcomes sinners and eats with them” (same charge leveled in last week’s Luke 19 text) Jesus tells of a lost sheep, a lost coin, and two lost sons.  This week we look at the first of the two, the youngest son.  He’s often called “The Prodigal Son”, but as Tim Keller wisely points out in his book, The Prodigal God, the definition of “prodigal” is (1) recklessly extravagant and (2) having spent everything.  Therefore, the most prodigal one in this story is God, the Father.  The problem with the younger son is the same problem the older one has, he’s placed himself in God’s seat – the very definition of sin according to Jesus.

Years ago, one of my mentors was fond of talking about “the law of reciprocity.”  He called it a spiritual law –a law established by God in creation.  The law as he described it went something like this:  When you are faithful and give to the Lord and His kingdom, He will reciprocate by honoring your gift with more abundance.  A text commonly used to support this law is the parable of the talents.

However, there’s another way to look at the law of reciprocity that’s more commonly taught and practiced by Jesus.  We see it in the parable of the man who owes the king a great debt (Mt. 18:23f).  We see it all through this final story of lostness in Luke 15.  For Jesus, the answer to the question, “How can you expect me to forgive?” is simple.  Those who know that they have been forgiven much will forgive much.

Again Tim Keller is helpful.  On pages 120 and 121 of The Prodigal God he tells of a woman who came to Redeemer Church in Manhattan, New York City.  She said that she had gone to a church as a youth that taught that God accepts us only if we are sufficiently good and moral.  But now she was hearing a different message.  The message was the Gospel.  She was hearing that we are, and can only be, accepted by God by sheer grace through the work of Christ regardless of what we have done or will do.  But then she added, “That’s a scary idea!”

Keller was intrigued, so he asked her to explain, and explain she did.  She replied, “If I was saved (forgiven) by my good works, then there would be a limit to what God could ask of me or put me through.  I would be like a taxpayer with rights…But if it is really true that I am a sinner saved by sheer grace – at God’s infinite cost – then there’s nothing He can’t ask of me or put me through.”  BINGO!

As we’ve mentioned several times throughout our series, every sin comes at a cost.  The only question is, “Who will pay it?”  Forgiveness means the offended party pays.  Justice means the offender pays.  The foundational truth of the Gospel is this:  Jesus paid it all for you.  The payment is complete and finished.  Therefore, in light of that, any attempt to pay what’s already been paid is a fool’s errand.  Conversely, to demand of another what’s already been paid is an arrogant blasphemy.  Both errors are highlighted in this great story.  That’s why we’ve chosen to end our series with it, over these last two weeks we will spend our time where most of us are stuck.

In preparation for Sunday’s message you may wish to consider the following:

1. Who, in Mark Twain’s opinion, is the greatest storyteller ever? 
2. How can Muslims use the younger son’s story as a defense of their faith?
3. What is the connection between the lost sheep, the lost coin, and this first lost son?
4. What is the problem with the younger son’s request in verse 12?
5. What does “dividing his property between them” mean?
6. What is the nature of the son’s sin in verse 13?
7. What does verse 17 mean when it says, “he came to himself”?
8. Where have we heard the words of verse 18 before?
9. Why does the father run to him when he’s a long way off?
10. What does it mean for the father to give the robe, the ring, the sandals, and the fattened calf in verses 22 and 23?
11. How does this story form the basis for our forgiveness of others?

See you Sunday!