Here we read about these two malefactors, is what my Bible reads, which means someone who committed a crime. Earlier, it mentions these two men, and calls them thieves. So, on either side of Jesus, there is a thief. One is calling him names, and joining in the crowd in mocking Jesus. But the other? After joining in with the mocking and jeering, he stops, and begins to think, and then he can't just listen any longer. He says to the other thief, “What do you think your doing? This is the Son of God, who has done nothing wrong! You deserve to be on that cross. This Man doesn't.” You know, something that seemed interesting to me, was that this story is only mentioned in Luke. Out of the four gospels, Luke is the only one who wrote down what the thief said. It makes this guy seem kinda insignificant doesn't it? But really, we have a lot to learn from him. I'm going to read to you what Ellen White had to say about him in Desire of Ages.
To Jesus in His agony on the cross
there came one gleam of comfort. It was the prayer of the penitent thief. Both the men who were crucified with Jesus
had at first railed upon Him; and one under his suffering only
became more desperate and defiant. But not so with his companion.
This man was not a
hardened criminal; he had
been led astray by evil associations, but he was less guilty then
many of those who stood beside the cross reviling the Saviour. (deep down in his heart, he knew what was right, he just wasn't able to find the strength to do it.) He had
seen and heard Jesus, and had been convicted by His teaching, but
he had been turned away from Him by the priests and rulers.
Seeking to stifle conviction, he had plunged deeper and deeper
into sin, until he was arrested, tried as a criminal, and
condemned to die on the cross. (This is huge. Here were the rulers and the leaders of the nation, and they were leading the people astray. This man may have looked up to the priest and rulers, then in their contempt or Jesus, persuaded him that Jesus was a fake. Friends, each of us have an influence. You as a student, have people that look up to you. Someone that you may not even be aware of, looks up to you. Are you going to lead them astray by your words and actions? Or are you going to lead them to Christ? In the end of time, at the judgment, will there be someone who might have been in heaven if you had led them to Christ instead of away from Him? We must be so careful that our example is one that is worth people looking up to. Not because they are seeing us, abut because they are seeing Christ.) In the judgment hall and on the way to Calvary he had been in company
with Jesus. He had heard Pilate declare, “I find no fault in
Him." (It is interesting, because we don't often think that this thief saw so much of Christ's life. He was there in the judgment hall, he heard Pilate's words.) He had marked His godlike bearing, and His pitying forgiveness of
His tormentors. On the cross he sees the many great religionists
shoot out the tongue with scorn, and ridicule the Lord Jesus. He sees the wagging heads. He hears the upbraiding speeches taken
up by his companion in guilt: “If Thou be Christ, save Thyself
and us." (Little did they know, that Jesus was indeed saving them, and Himself by not coming down off the cross.)” Among the passers-by he hears many defending Jesus. He hears them
repeat His words, and tell of His works. The conviction comes back
to him that this is the Christ. (The Holy Spirit was at work in this mans heart big time. The Holy spirit had been trying to work on his heart all his life, but it wasn't until this moment, when he was in such pain, that he followed the conviction, and choose to believe in this Man who was dieing beside him.) Turning to his
fellow criminal he says, “Dost not thou fear God, seeing thou
art in the same condemnation?" (This thief was calling Jesus, God. "Look, don't you fear this Man? This isn't your everyday Man, there is something special about Him, can't you see it?" Here this man was in so much pain, yet he was still thinking clearly.) The dying
thieves have no longer anything to fear from man. (He was saying, "This Guy couldn't hurt you any more then you already have been, if He were a mere Man. But He's not.) But
upon one of them presses the conviction that there is a God to
fear, a future to cause him to tremble. And now, all
sin-polluted as it is, his life history is about to close. “And
we indeed justly,” he moans; “for we receive the due reward of
our deeds: but this Man hath done nothing amiss.” There is no
question now. There are no doubts, no reproaches. When condemned
for his crime, the thief had become hopeless and despairing; but
strange, tender thoughts now spring up.
He calls to mind all he has heard of Jesus, how He has
healed the sick and pardoned sin. He has heard the words of those
who believed in Jesus and followed Him weeping. He has seen and
read the title above the Savior’s head. He has heard the
passers-by repeat if, some with grieved, quivering lips, other
with jesting and mockery. 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. Hope is mingled with anguish in his
voice as the helpless, dying soul casts himself upon a dying
Saviour. “Lord, remember me,” he cries, “when thou comest
into Thy kingdom.” Quickly the answer came. Soft and melodious
the tone, full of love, compassion, and power the words: Verily I
say unto thee today, Thou shalt be with Me in paradise. (In that short sentance, the thief on the cross who deserved to be there, was given pardon, and everlasting life.)
A thought that I find very encouraging,
is this: turn with me to Gal 4:19, “My little children, of whom I
travail in birth again until Christ be formed in you.” Christ is to
be formed in us right? ok...turn with me to 2 Corinthians 3:18, “But
we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord,
are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the
Spirit of the Lord.” So every morning, when you look at yourself in
the mirror you need to see Christ. Not yourself. This is kind of
along the lines of what Scott Morr was sharing with us Monday night at FVA.
But when we look into the mirror, and we behold the glory of the
Lord, what does that mean? It means, that we have every virtue and
quality of Christ in us. All we need to do is focus on developing
those qualities. Yet even that isn't a job that we an accomplish on
our own. We are changed into the same image from glory to glory even
as by the Spirit of the Lord. The Holy Spirit changes us. He develops
those positive character traits in us. But we still have a part to
share in that changing process. We need to wake up and look in the
mirror, and be like...ok...this is something that I appreciate about
Jesus, and He is in me, that must mean, that I can be like that too.
So today, I'm going to work on being more patient.....or something
like that. Not...ugh...this is what I hate about myself and I need to
change it. Big difference. When we focus on the sin, we are acctually
making it a much bigger deal then it needs to be. But when we focus
on the positive traits that we want to develop, we become a better
person, and often those bad traits dissapear. We need to daily follow
the convictions of the Holy Spirit, and change. This is something
that doesn't happen over night. We have to invest time and energy
into this process. And this is something the devil knows. So he fills
our lives with so much business that we don't have the time to focus
on changing and becoming more like Christ. So when you guys are home
this summer. You are going to have lots of time. Don't waste it. And
when you go back to school next year. Make the time to focus on the
person that you want to be, and then make it reality. Don't just live
your life and take the bumps and twists that come in the road. Take
action. Friends, there is one thing that make us different from the thief
on the cross. He had to just accept Christ's victory for him. Which
is something we must do as well, but this thief was dieing. He didn't
have a chance to live it out in his life. We still have our lives to
live. We must accept Christ’s victory, and then we can change, and
live the life which God desires us to live. We have that chance.
Praise the Lord! Don't let it slip by because you didn't take the
time.
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