FINAL WORDS
INTRO> Something happened a few years ago that had never happened before. For the first time ever, a game show became the #1-rated television show. Regis Philbin served as the original host of “Do You Want To Be A Millionaire?,” where a single contestant sits in chair while lights and music surround him/her as he/she attempts to answer a series of questions. The first questions are ridiculously easy, but the questions get tougher as the contestant progresses toward the ultimate goal of winning $1 million. I’ve noticed, though, that a contestant to ruminate out loud, talk through his/her logic in why he/she will answer a question a particular way, can even turn to using “lifelines,” polling the audience, asking for a 50-50 reduction of possible answers, and even phone a friend. However, no progress will be made until the contestant answers a second question each stage of the way. There is a question that shows up on the screen, but then he/she is asked a second question by Regis or Meredith (depending on whether you’re watching an old show or new show). The other question? The host will ask the contestant, “Is that your FINAL answer?”
<>You see, FINAL WORDS are important...not just in game shows, but in real life:
-->In the courtroom no testimony is given more weight or considered more trustworthy than a dying person’s confession, or last words.
-->When the NTSB is investigating the cause of an airline crash, they desperately seek through all the rubble of the crash, seeking for the infamous “black box,” hoping to listen to recordings of the FINAL WORDS in the cockpit, hoping to learn from those conversations what the cause of the crash was.
---------(By the way, I’ve always wondered...it seems the “black box” always survives the crash. Why don’t they just make the whole plain out of the stuff they made the black box out of?!)
-->If you die before the rapture, there will come a day when a lawyer or the executor of your estate will gather your family and loved ones together to listen to a reading of your LAST will and testament, your FINAL wishes, declaring how you want your vast resources (perhaps including the million dollars you won on the game show!) distributed.
<>Because, you see, a person’s FINAL WORDS reveal a lot about what’s important to him/her:
---ILL>P. T. Barnum, famous father of the modern circus, and notorious money-grubber, he who once declared proudly “there’s a sucker born every minute,” while on his death bed revealed his life-long pursuit of money when his last words ever spoken were: “How were today’s receipts at the show?”
---ILL>Flamboyant writer, Oscar Wilde, relentlessly pursuing frivolous things while displaying a keen wit, while lying on his death bed, uttered these, his very last words: “Either that wallpaper goes, or I do.”
<>But of all the final words ever spoken, without any question the most important were the final words of Jesus, spoken as He was hanging on the cross.
I invite you to open a Bible to Luke, chapter 23.
-->While you’re turning, we’re probably all familiar with the famous cantata written by Stephen DuBois, The Seven Last Words Of Christ, which focused on the seven statements of Jesus while He was hanging and dying on the cross.
-------->Those seven statements demonstrate Jesus’ compassion: “Father, forgive them, they don’t know what they’re doing;” “Mother, behold your son, son, behold your mother.”
-------->And they demonstrate His sacrifice, His pain and suffering on our behalf: “I thirst,” “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?”, “It is finished,” “Father, into Your hands I commit My Spirit.”
<>But I want us to focus our attention today on what is believed to have been the second statement in that sequence of seven.
<>Imagine the scene: there are three crosses standing on the hill called “The Skull.”
-----On each of the two outer crosses hung a criminal...someone who was more than merely a thief, someone who had been sentenced to a death sentence by the Roman Empire.
-----So, either they were guilty of treason (which is, by the way, the legal reason Rome used for crucifying Christ...hanging a sign reading, “King of the Jews” above His cross, declaring that Jesus had treasonously declared Himself to be a king when the only king Rome allowed to be recognized was Caesar or whom Caesar had dutifully assigned that role)...OR they were guilty of murder.
-----We don’t know if they were also guilty of treason, but apparently in the process of carrying out a theft they also killed someone.
<>In other words, the two men on the outside crosses were not nice guys, and not just guys who had “made a boo-boo.” These were hardened criminals, who had deliberately broken the law, and had been found guilty of such heinous crimes that only a death sentence, and the hideous death by crucifixion was seemed appropriate justice.
<>And yet, in the middle was Jesus...He who had done nothing wrong, but who had been mercilessly beaten, whipped, stripped, mocked, ridiculed, spit upon, and was forced to wear a crown of thorns as a mocking “tribute” to His “crime” of being declared a King.
<>Let’s read Luke 23, beginning in verse 39 and going through verse 43.
---------------------------------
There are a number of important truths to be gleaned from Jesus’ comments, but I want us to look today at four.
----First, two doctrinal truths that Jesus related.
----And then, two personal truths that can be celebrated.
TWO DOCTRINAL TRUTHS JESUS RELATED...
1) THERE IS NO SUCH PLACE AS PURGATORY.
----Lk.23:43--“And (Jesus) said to (the criminal), “Truly I say to you, today you shall be with Me in Paradise.”
--->Around 600 a.d, during the reign of Pope Gregory, the Roman Catholic church INVENTED a make believe place called Purgatory.
-------They declared it to be a “holding place” where souls go while their sins are being “purged,” while they’re being made ready for heaven.
--->They actually named it “Limbo of the Fathers,” and teach that the length of time your soul will spend there will depend on the extent of your sinfulness, and by the number of people still alive who will pray for you in their “prayers for the dead” while lighting candles.
--------(Limbo of the fathers? I’ve got to tell you, I can’t even imagine my father doing the limbo! That would be sight to behold!)
<>Well, it might be entertaining to watch movies like “Ghost” or “Heaven Can Wait” or “Defending Your Life” where the plot centers on a person finding himself/herself in some nether region between heaven and hell and having their lives on earth evaluated as to whether you did enough “good stuff” to merit heaven, or might be required to go back and “make up” for your inadequacies, maybe by taking charge of someone else’s body, etc.
<>However, Jesus’ statement to the thief, one of Jesus’ final words, declares Purgatory to be a false doctrine.
-->Remember, this thief’s crimes were so severe he was serving a death penalty.
-->If Purgatory was REAL, and if the “rules and regs” the Catholic Church teaches were applied to this man, he would have had to spend up to 400 years in Purgatory....and that would only be if he had people praying for him after he died...and there might be a pretty slim chance of anyone praying for him.
-->So, if Purgatory was REAL, Jesus’ final words to the criminal would have been different than what He actually spoke.
-->If Purgatory was REAL, Jesus’ statement to the thief would have been, “If enough people pray for you, hopefully in 400 years I MIGHT see you in Paradise!”
<>But that’s NOT what Jesus said.
<>Instead, Jesus declared to the criminal, that based upon his (the criminal’s) declared faith in Jesus as Lord, he would enter Paradise that SAME DAY!
-----Not years from now...not after thousands of candles were lit....not after his sins had been “purged” by the prayers of others on his behalf.
<>I must tell you, I find the thief’s declaration of faith to be one of the two most remarkable declarations ever recorded in Scripture.
------>The other was Abram’s demonstration of such great faith in being to offer his son, Isaac, as a sacrifice.
-->You see, while the rest of the crowd around Jesus’ cross were mocking Him, railing at Him (like the other criminal on the other outer cross), laughing at Him, and smugly delighting at Jesus’ “helplessness” being nailed to a cross and stripped naked before the crowd, the believing criminal viewed Jesus as a KING!
-->He saw Jesus, who was dying in front of him, through spiritual eyes, and declared his own sin and turned his allegiance and dependency upon Jesus as the sinless Son of God.
<>Note: some theologians (which is simply somebody with an opinion who has written a book about it) want you to believe that the verse should be interpreted differently as result of changing the punctuation:
------They want to move the comma from after the word you, to after the word “today,” making it read this way:
-----------“Surely I say to you today (COMMA), you shall be with Me in Paradise.”
------They want you to believe that the word “today” refers to Jesus’ making the statement that day rather than declaring the criminal’s eternal destination being decided and his residency being in Paradise beginning that day.
<>HOWEVER, when you take the full counsel of Scripture, that’s NOT how the verse should be interpreted.
-->Instead, it should be interpreted as it is in every trustworthy version of Scripture, that Jesus was declaring to the criminal that TODAY the criminal would be in Paradise, immediately upon his death moments later.
<>The Bible emphatically teaches us (here and in additional places) that at death believers immediately come into the presence of the Lord.
-->2Cor.5:6-8 -- “...knowing that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord...we are of good courage....and prefer rather to be absent from the body and to be at home with the Lord.”
----No soul-sleeping...we are immediately in the Lord’s presence.
----No holding place, awaiting to see if we “passed the good works test.”
-->You see, your loved ones can light candles for you till they burn their fingers off, but it won’t make any difference at all concerning your eternal destiny.
-------Your eternal destiny is decided by you in whether you accept or reject Jesus as Lord of your life.
<>So, when Jesus said “TODAY” He meant today!
--->That was great news for the thief...and great news for each of us too!
2) GOOD WORKS AND BAPTISM ARE NOT REQUIRED FOR SALVATION.
----Lk.23:43 -- “...YOU shall be with Me...”
<>Good works?
----If you were to take a poll of folks in America and ask them how a person gets to heaven, the majority would reveal by their answers that they’ve “bought in” to the false notion that we get to heaven by “living a good life” or doing good works.
----ILL>Several years ago I had the privilege of serving as pastor during a “Sonrise Weekend” event in Glorieta, New Mexico at our Baptist Conference Center there. It is held each year on the Thursday, Friday and Saturday just before Easter, which means “Good Friday” falls during that time. On Friday of that weekend, the director of the Conference Center took me into Santa Fe, only ten miles down the road, to personally view the spectacle that takes place there every year on Good Friday. I saw hundreds, even thousands of people making their way from Santa Fe to a site twelve miles up the road, where supposedly the Virgin Mary had “appeared” to some folks back in the 1800’s. (Don’t even get me started about that nonsense.) Most were walking, some of them carrying crosses. Some were propelling themselves by hand in wheelchairs. Others were being carried on the backs of some of the walkers. Many had cut themselves so they were bleeding as they walked. Some were wearing crowns of thorns on their heads. I asked the director, “Why are they doing this?” His response brought me to tears. He explained, “Mike, they’re doing it so that it will be credited to them as a good deed, to help in purchasing their pardon, lessening the length of time they might spend in Purgatory, and hoping to persuade God to forgive them of previous sins based upon their sacrifice and show of allegiance to Jesus.
-->The reason I cried? -- Because their pardon has already been provided through the suffering Jesus did for THEM.
<>In Ephesians 2:8-9, the Bible clearly tells us that we are saved by grace, through faith, and that (neither of the two) is not of ourselves, it is the gift of God, and NOT OF WORKS lest anyone would boast.”
<>And, Jesus’ statement to the criminal on the cross tells that it is NOT by good works that someone “earns” heaven.
<>Observe: This “thief” had obviously NOT lived a moral life...he was NOT a “good person.”
------>And, there was now no opportunity for the thief to DO any good works from this point on...he was nailed to a cross!
------>And yet, Jesus declared the thief to be a citizen in His kingdom and on his way to Paradise later that day.
<>It is important to realize it is not OUR works or others’ good works on our behalf that cleanses us, allows us to go to heaven.
-->Instead, it is Jesus’ blood and ONLY His blood shed for us that can purge us on the penalty of our sin.
-->The Bible tells us in Eph.1:7 -- “In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace.”
---LYR>We sing it often: “What can wash away my sins? Nothing but the blood of Jesus! What can make me whole again? Nothing but the blood of Jesus!”
<>Here’s a question: If our getting into heaven is all about us living a good life, of us doing “good things,” then WHY DID JESUS DIE?
---->What was the purpose in His dying? He who never did anything wrong?
<>The Bible also declares MORE GOOD NEWS: Jesus’ blood COMPLETELY cleanses us, NOTHING ELSE IS NEEDED!
-->No impurities are left!
------Rom.8:1 -- “There is now therefore no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus...”
------1Jn.1:7 -- “but if we walk in the Light...we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from ALL sin.”
------1Pet.1:18-19 -- “...you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold...but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ.”
----LYR> Again, we sing it often: “Whiter than snow, yes whiter than snow; wash me and I will be whiter than snow.”
<>You see, one of Jesus’ OTHER “final words” from the cross spells it out for us: “IT IS FINISHED!” -- No cleansing is left to be done!
----LYR> “Love’s redeeming work is done, hallelujah! He fought the fight, the battle won, hallelujah!”
<>Baptism required?
-->There is one mainline Protestant denominations that teaches you aren’t really saved unless you’ve been baptized.
------And some within their denomination even take it further, teaching that unless you are baptized within THEIR church/denomination you still aren’t really saved.
-->How absurd can you get? What happened to the disciples, the 1st century believers, and all other believers before that particular denomination was founded in the 19th century? --Sorry, bubba. Sorry, Simon Peter...guess we won’t see you in heaven, because you died too early! It’s a shame you couldn’t have waited, oh, I don’t know, maybe...1800 years!
-->Of course, this group of otherwise fine “brothers and sisters” is grossly mistaken in their interpretation, and have come to a faulty understanding based on two glaring mistakes they’ve made in interpreting and applying Scripture:
------a) They’ve wrongly interpreted Acts 2:38, their focal verse in teaching the necessity of baptism for salvation: “Peter said to them, ‘Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ FOR the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”
---------->The key word is “FOR”...
---------------They interpret “FOR” as meaning “TO BRING ABOUT”...meaning that you should be baptized FOR (TO BRING ABOUT) the forgiveness of sins.
----------------However, when you take the full counsel of Scripture together and the clear teaching in many places that leaves out any insistence upon baptism being required for salvation, “FOR” should be interpreted here the same way as it is when it is used as the first word in John 3:16 -- “FOR God so loved the world, He gave His only begotten Son...”
----------------In its proper interpretation, “FOR” should be interpreted “BECAUSE OF” or “AS A RESULT OF”
---------------------->So, “FOR (BECAUSE OF THE FACT, AS A RESULT OF THE FACT THAT) God so loved the world, He gave His only Son...”
----------------Therefore, when you apply the right interpretation to Acts 2:38, here’s what you get: “...each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ FOR (BECAUSE OF or AS A RESULT OF) the forgiveness of your sins...”
-------b) They have ignored Jesus’ statement to the criminal in our passage today.
-------------->Think about it: there was NO WAY this criminal could be baptized before he died that day.
-------------->And yet, Jesus declared that the criminal WOULD BE in Paradise with Jesus that same day.
-->You see, if baptism IS required, Jesus’ statement to the criminal would have been different than it was.
-------He would have said something to the effect of, “Man, if only you could have been baptized, you could be with Me in Paradise, but since you’re not able to get off that cross....Sorry, Bubba!”
<>Make a note: If the thief didn’t have to be baptized, neither do you.
<>Now, with that said, let me say I do believe baptism is important...after all I am a Baptist!
------But the importance of baptism has to do with enjoying the abundant life down here, spurred by our obedience to Christ.
------It has nothing to do with our eternal life, which we receive “IN CHRIST” (He who has the Son has the life, He who does not have the Son of God does not have the life), not “in baptism.”
-->In fact, if you are a believer but have not yet been publicly baptized, I want to urge you to follow through with this important act of obedience to Jesus’ instruction, and then echoed by Peter in Acts 2:38.
--You see, God knew when He created us that the vast majority of people in the world would deem one of their greatest fears that of standing in front of people and speaking. SO...He devised this ingenious way of “telling” the whole world that you have given your allegiance to Christ without ever having to open your mouth while doing so!
-------(And, as a pastor who has baptized hundreds of people, let me encourage you to NOT open your mouth while you’re being baptized!...It can really choke you up!)
<>So...there’s no such place as Purgatory...and good works and baptism are NOT the way of salvation.
<>But perhaps the most treasured truths of all in what Jesus spoke to the criminal that day are these....
TWO PERSONAL TRUTHS THAT CAN BE CELEBRATED...
1) THERE IS NO SINNER WHO CAN’T BE FORGIVEN / SAVED.
--Lk.23:43 -- “...Today YOU shall be with Me in Paradise.”
-->My favorite story in Scripture is the Prodigal Son. He deserved punishment, but received forgiveness and grace.
-->Likewise, the crime committed by the thief in today’s passage was so heinous he had been given the death penalty.
-----He wasn’t guilty of just a misdemeanor...His “thievery” wasn’t just taking some lady’s purse.
-----He had to have been a habitual criminal...and his crime probably involved taking someone’s life while he was doing it.
-----In other words, he wasn’t a “nice guy.” He was hard core.
-->And yet, when he confessed his sinfulness and turned by faith to Jesus, Jesus immediately forgave him and reserved him a place in Paradise.
-->That’s good news.
-----That’s the very picture of God’s amazing grace...grace greater than all our sin.
2) PARADISE IS THE GUARANTEED DESTINATION OF EVERY BELIEVER.
--Lk.23:43 -- “...TODAY you SHALL BE with Me in Paradise.”
-->It was certainly the most wonderful FINAL WORDS the thief ever heard...Imagine, Paradise was awaiting him now!
-->On another occasion Jesus told His disciples He was going to prepare a place for them, so they could be with Him forever.
-->We have reason to celebrate: As believers, when OUR words are over, when our lives are through...we too will be with Jesus in Paradise.
--LYR> Richard Baxter wrote it well in a hymn: “My knowledge of that life is small, the eye of faith is dim, but it’s enough that Christ knows all, and I shall be with Him.”
BRINGING IT HOME...
<>The thief KNEW when his “last day” on earth would be...but what if this is YOUR last day?
-->Are you ready? ... Are you sure of where you’d go if your were to die today?
-->Christian, are you serving Him? Redeeming the time God has afforded you this day?
<>We know Jesus’ last words...they were for our benefit...but what would you want YOUR last words to be?
-->Today I urge you to go to that person you need to make things right with, that person to whom the last thing you said was something you wish you hadn’t said, and make it right.
-->Go and say what you need to say while you still have the opportunity.
<>If you are a believer, but haven’t yet been baptized...you don’t have the “excuse” the thief had.
-->I urge you to come today and let it be known that you want to be baptized in the near future.
<>Finally, whatever you have done...no matter how “bad” you’ve been, crude, blasphemous, vicious, selfish...
-->No matter the crimes you’ve committed, no matter the mistakes you’ve made...
-->No matter how you’ve treated Jesus in the past...or treated Christians in the past...
-->You need to know that Jesus is willing today to forgive you, and to reserve for you a place in Paradise.
<>Will you do it?
-->Don’t with for a “death bed conversion.”
-----Yes, the thief was saved at the very last minute, but I would remind you, there were TWO thieves that died that day.
-----The other thief also knew he was dying, knew it was his last “chance” to make things right with God, but chose instead to rail at the crowd, and not receive Jesus.
-----How do you know that after a lifetime of not receiving Jesus, you would be the “good” thief...and respond to Jesus?
-->You see, the only time you can be certain of is right now...right now while the Spirit is urging you to respond.
<>So, whatever decision(s) you need to make, I urge you...make that decision TODAY...let your FINAL WORD be the right one.
