Don't Miss Jesus

Good morning. Like Mike said my name is Daniel. It is a real privilege to be here preaching God's word to you all, partially because I remember when y'all started like Mike set up in here for really long time up on stuff almost 11 years, which in seven years is like being here 50 years that I remember when y'all were 200 people yard me.

They carry high I remember when you had your meeting the investor of RJ were talking the first time and you had your first person get baptized, and here we are thinking through the years. You got that hundreds of people get baptized here. Hundreds of people say look on been living my life. One direction.

But God is intervened and got a saved me and I want to go public so that the world knows that I'm a believer in is because the ministry does happen through through this campus through you guys really is a privilege to be here so tell you one of the biggest things that ever happened in my life.

In 2000 I was going. I don't get a Christian about six months and I was going like this, prayer gathering, this can like small meeting of the campus ministry that just started at the college that attended in Charleston, South Carolina in the and and I walked through the front door of my friends apartment and their seated on a couch right in front of the front door were three very pretty girls and I don't know why as I remember distinctly. All three of them being pretty but the one in the middle took my breath away like I was able to talk to the girl on the left in a normal way I was able to talk to the girl on the right normal way, but I was not able to talk to the one in the middle in a normal way. I don't know if you guys remember some you do the show Seinfeld.

There's an episode where George Costanza sees this pretty woman that he was asked on a day and every time he tries to talk to her, all he can say is that in the whole episode every time he runs into her entrance to talk to her. He's like that's literally what happened for six months and this young lady name Wendy Miller that I was trying to talk to now.

Eventually I got over that and we got married this us right here. Yeah I know I know what in the world happened there are a couple people that actually asked me about what happened.

Like, what would you do to her in on my own.

I was persistence and smiling those two things. One, her over, but I have another picture of someone they got married there.

They are that's Josh clear Hill. They were 14. If you ever get in a prayer time with Josh Hill. If it's long enough, eventually he'll think Dr. lacks marriage laws in North Carolina, you know, but in both of those instances, you know, it's a great day for us. We were so excited we were in love, we we both hear it. We're both just smitten for a long time. And, wondered what in the world is girl ever can like CC and me and they said yes but when they said yes is a really important question that happened six months or nine months for both of us for that day in question, demanded an answer and a question is, will you marry me, and you can answer that question in one of three ways you can answer it with a yes which is what happened about the Marquesas. Praise God, you can answer with a no or you could, in some cases answer it with. Let me think on it and in you. Not that question is so important that that might be that might be actually a pretty reasonable response when I think about the show, the bachelor I don't know how that is not the answer every single time at the end of the show. Don't don't look at me like some of you don't watch the bachelor. I know that you do.

Mike Lucero look in your way. Not only did such an active lady that try not to watch the bachelor but upon downstairs for my wife watches like the first two episodes and I get hooked right that happened this past season likes get hooked but sometimes the point that is sometimes sometimes a question is so important that it demands an answer and if you push it. If you push it, answering it off for too long. Your answer is actually no like there could come a time where IQ could reasonably answer the will you marry me with that. Let me think about it, but if that goes on at that thinking goes on for too long. Really what you've said is no question ultimately demands a yes or no and that's what working to look at today I'm in a follow-up pastor's JD sermon from last week he preached the roof loop part of Luke 23 on follow that up. HTTP preached about five different people and their responses to Jesus and he challenged us to look at our lives and see which one of them did we count of relate you got a little bit easier task. I'm only gonna look at two guys on there to give you a true dichotomy of a choice and he gave us a picture of of of a continent. The communal divide that runs through the Appalachian Mountains and he gave us his picture of their actually be two drops of rain.

They can come from the same cloud and they could literally fall through the air for about a mile. Inches apart from each other but if they get in just the right spot from each other on the Continental divide. If one lands on the east it's going to go to the Atlantic Ocean of one lands on the West is going to go to the Gulf of Mexico and so there is conceivably two drops of rain that when they land when they start start in the same exact spot laid only inches away. But in the end wind up thousands of miles apart. In Luke 23 is a chapter that demands an answer.

Luke 23 is a dividing line in Scripture that says human beings are to start off in the same place, but at some point you gotta make a choice and that choice is going to result in you being on one side of the divide or the other and you might start off in the same place with you with another human being, but you could you could wind up paternity apart in these two men are an incredible picture of that is when they start off this last day of their life there both criminals.

They're both going to be executed and gotten another story in Matthew as it talks about this. It says that both of them mock Jesus. Both of them are are are are are are are slandering him but somewhere along the way.

One of these guys is a radical encounter with Jesus. One of these guys is radically changed by Jesus and these two men who start the day and almost an identical spot are now into different fraternities in their lives, cry out to us today. What are you going to do with Jesus on the cross.

What side of eternity will you fall on this story tells us that it is not enough to believe that Jesus died on the cross for your sins and some general sense, you need to know why he died, he needs to get deep into your heart and you need to make a decision of how you're going to respond to him when he prayed as we get started, father this morning. I pray that the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart will be pleasing in your sight oh Lord my rock and my foundation. I pray that you would speak to us today.

I pray that through your mercy and your grace you'd open up the eyes and ears of all of our hearts, and that we would hear from you today through your word with me to the side and you shine through.

Got I even want to hear from you as I'm preaching. I want to hear from you. I want to be changed and operated every single person in here would also have that desire. Nothing else in your name.

Amen.

Well you got your Bibles, you become just real long with me on the start in verse 32 to others who are criminals were led away to be put to death with them and when they came to the place it is called the skull the skull is not a good place if you get in the car with someone and they say Helen to get a place called the skull get out. That is not to be a happy place.

I've got two daughters if they ever come home and they say dad a guy asked me on a date's name is skull like you may going on that date. Okay, nobody named skull to place called the skull is good and it is definitely not a place called the soul, there they crucified him, and the criminals, one on his right and one on his left and Jesus said, father forgive them for they know not what they do and they cast lots to divide his garments and the people stood by watching, but the ruler stopped him, saying he saved others, let him save himself if he is the Christ is chosen one. The soldiers also mocked him, coming up and offering him sour wine and saying if you are the king of the Jews, save yourself. There was also an inscription over him. This is the king of the Jews in one of the criminals who were hanged railed at him, saying, are you not the Christ, save yourself and us.

It is easy to look at this dying man and just move past them, quickly thinking in your mind or your vicious criminal in a more but I want to be honest with you while he is a serious criminal. The Romans were pretty brutal, but they didn't just crucify you forget a speeding ticket. I actually think I actually think that he misses Jesus, for reasons that we miss Jesus. I think there's two things that he can't see past that are actually pretty relatable for everybody for all of us in this room. The first one is, he can't see past the crowd like he gets carried away by the crowd that is around them and the second thing that he can't see past and he gets carried away with our circumstances to liquid. Let's take a look with a look at the crowd and what's coming going on here because he can't see past them. It's like one of those pictures. This kind of artistic where you can see the things most really really clearly been the background is is really worried. So first of all light like we need to know that that what's happening here is a rejection of God's Savior and King. He's making that very clear to us, the Jewish leaders are mocking Jesus saying how in the world can you be the Savior and the Messiah that God has promised you can't even save yourself.

You went into this a little bit last week that the religious leaders were incredibly angry. Jesus and and and and one of the reasons that they were so angry is that they thought that they had lived really good, righteous, holy lives in that when the Messiah comes that if they were to see him in his lifetime that he would be like when you got awesome like you are the guys that are going to help me lead this movement to set God's kingdom� Here on earth can overthrow Rome and y'all are going to be seated next to me what you doesn't do that at all and that Jesus comes in is that your huge part of the problem, you think your good works, you think your good works make you righteous you think your good works make you holy but you've missed the deeper thing you've missed that God was never primarily after your works, you after your heart. You can sit on the outside is on the inside just as easily as you can send on the outside and these guys hated Jesus for in here. We can also get a sense that there's just no place in their mind, the Messiah would ever die a death like this that in their minds they did not have room for a suffering Savior.

And if it's on a weird mix of as I was as I was getting ready for this sermon I looked through all the Old Testament prophecies and it's pretty clear. If you read the Old Testament prophecies that the Messiah is going to suffer and so as I can about what is it, what would they not understand and like it has to be the utter and total humiliation of the cross. It has to be the beat. The that the stripping of all of his dignity, but we have stories where heroes die, but in all of the stories while they are getting what Braveheart right.

She dies with dignity. She dies with his fist shaking at the enemy in his example rouses up his allies and they overthrow the bad guys, but in this case, the Pharisees had been humiliated because he tells them your life actually doesn't make you worthy before God and are also looking at him being utterly humiliated and there's no place in their mind for a suffering humiliated complete loss of dignity, Savior, but you also have the Romans the Romans are fairly secular and the Romans are all about the Romans are all about power and him get there like there's no way you're getting what kind of think it's crucified looking at the land thing is a throne putting how the people he has an army with him a king or you you not one now to this guy get swept up with what the crowd is thinking. What got us dealing with what the crowd is saying.

It also probably change the word crowd, the culture, the culture is influencing this man away from Christ. He can't see the reality of who is standing next to him because the culture is screaming in his face, nothing that we can think we can all can relate to that of which we've all probably been in the crowd and come to get swept up in what they're doing. Sometimes we sometimes we know it we coming along the ground in like manner, I should do that but we do anyway and sometimes it's more like it's more like we get swept away and were not even really didn't know were being swept away. It's like being in the ocean where there's a current plan around and before you know it your your hundred yards down the beach from where you started. I see that a lot actually in politics. If you go conservative you liberal use. Can we get swept up and you just go this YouTube videos out there where were these people try to trick people that say they're either Republican or Democrat rose there's a there's a Republican or Democrat that I had as Republican policy. There's a democratic policy that says this in a believe it actually those are public policy right now do the same thing as a means Republican is a Republican policy and about 11 like is actually a Democrat policy actually matter what the policy is just matter who agrees with it is also this movement that's sprung up with incredible force in our culture, which is a complete redefinition of sexuality and gender, marriage, family, and it's it's pretty foreign to me at 42 years old, but I never face this these things. My children are facing them kind of incredible ways of your college student out there. My guess is you're facing it on a daily basis and it's easy.

Were seeing our culture move in this direction because you just there's so many voices speaking about that. It is the movement of our culture and if you don't know where you stand. You can get swept away with it. But also see it in church.

I see cultures in church that actually move people away from Jesus.

It's what I would call like the quasi-religious crowd.

It's the people to come to come to church once a month maybe twice a month is the people that you give a couple times a year but you're not like really radically generous. It doesn't really affect your budget much younger you you common your servant but you never serve you been coming for a couple years which are not a member yet any think this this this man. I got baptized here that that's going to his story when he was growing up.

You know Jesus was a part of his life but he wasn't bored of his life and the reason that there are so many people like that, across the South in particulars because there's a whole crowd the whole culture where that's true, and people just get in that culture and it shapes how they think change how they feel it shapes how they see Jesus, but the second thing that this man cannot see past the circumstances, I think this is probably one of the most significant reasons that people reject Jesus. This man says, get me off the cross is not actually an unreasonable request. He suffering she's being mocked as well.

The crucifixion is a terrible death.

It's a slow death.

It's a painful death and it's a humiliating death, but a lot of times when people find themselves in suffering. When they find themselves in trial. They're not merely asking God to pull them out of those things there demanding God diplomat out of those things there setting up a test of whether or not there to trust God for setting up a test to trust Jesus. Jesus, I will trust you if you pull me out of this situation and because God is merciful to be times that he does. When that happens you really happy you feel good you come into worship and you raise your hands. But there's also times that God is not to pull you out of those things.

And when that happens you pull back relationally. Yet, I don't trust God. I hear things like this for people. How could God put me through this.

How could God let this happen to get the test and what you're really saying to God and yourself when you say that I is that I actually know what's best for my life.

My plan is the best I may not have the power to make all of those things happen, but I deftly know the direction it should go got the brain. God has the muscle God, you need to do what I say they think they know what's best for the last literature? Is it really true you really smart enough to know everything that you need for your life like you know all things at all times and you can say with certainty that you know what would be best for you and those around you and every single situation and if you cannot do relate to that mantra? When did that change because surely you didn't think that about yourself when you were five. I got eight-year-old and 11-year-old and a 13-year-old. I know it's not true about them. There might be some teenagers in here to hear me say this with all love. I don't know if I made one solid good decision between the ages of 15 and 19. I when I was sick I give you one example of this when I was 16 or 17 mean a group of four or my friends decided to repaint the entire parking lot of our high school. Our goal was to reverse the flow of traffic.

So we went out there one night at 1:30 AM in the morning and we repainted everything we took every single traffic sign and we reverse them. We got cones and tell you where we got cones, but we gotta and we set them up.

So to that on Monday morning. It would be absolutely pandemonium as you pulled in the number of high school because it wasn't a spur of the minute decision. We planned it. We played it for about a month. We thought that this was brilliant. That was the type of decision-making that I made when I was a teenager I thought that was the best thing for my life.

Dr. South Dr. Barlow. If you're out there. It was me and if you contact me, I'll be happy to write up the four other guys, here's the truth. We don't actually know what's best for our lots that I bet that if I were to tell you hey I want you to write down the things you want to be true about you when you're 80. Most of those things would actually probably not be just physical things.

A lot of those things would probably be about character and integrity and about the way that you really impacted people. But when you think about what how do I grow in character. How do I go and integrity. You actually you actually have to go through trials in order to become a man or woman of integrity jockstrap to go through hard things in order to be the kind of person you want to become when we face those things in the moment.

We usually I don't get thrown it's very difficult to see Dr. even CS Lewis, the brilliant CS Lewis and knew that he was not smart enough to be in control of his own life. In a letter that he wrote a friend of his named Malcolm he said had God granted all the silly prayers of made in my life where shopping mall is what I would say probably within a Christian, and neither what I need. Would you because I'm not smart enough and you're not smart enough to know everything you need for your life and neither neither was this man on the cross so let's look at the other dying man. The other dying criminal. He was able to see past the crowd, he was able to see past his culture and his circumstances.

He saw something in that moment that nobody else in the crowd that day saw. So what was it was let's look at the text something it actually tells us, but the other rebuked him, saying, so he is what this woman who is railing against Jesus and the other one speaks up and he defends Jesus and he says do you not hear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation, and we indeed justly, for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds. But this man has done nothing wrong and that he speaks to Jesus and he says Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom. The first thing he sees that no one else sees is that he sees his greatest need, unlike everyone else who would see the Savior and see the king and his criminal sees Jesus as a means to an end.

This man sees Jesus as the end Jesus isn't the means to a treasure Jesus is the treasure. I remember when God opened my eyes to this truth, that young pretty thing that I was so in love with when I first saw her. We dated, we dated for about nine months and in that nine months I realized that she began to compete with Jesus like what what I loved most in this world, and especially towards the end I was like man I don't know what's wrong but I can't even imagine breaking up with her Optima heart will be broken and eventually we did.

We broke up and I even felt a sense of freedom. As I walked away that I was never thinking got you need to do some big work in my life because she was too important in God our member that summer that we were broken up. God took me to a verse in Hebrews 11, six, and it says this without faith it is impossible to please him forever comes to him must believe that he is and he is a rewarder of those who seek him and asked study.verse for three or four days and I got tripped up on that that word rewarder can ask myself what's the reward and I started listing out stuff I listed out Wendy and I was like what's not when I'm broken up, there's no guarantee working to get married she might marry somebody else. So his guideline can't be doesn't line it's not it's not money because there's plenty of people that are poor and are thriving in their relationship with God and description of the promise that is not health is not success. It's not ministry success, look at Jesus on the cross where all the people that loved you out where all the people that he did miracles with some of them are in the crowd mocking in his followers's best friends are gone. The reward of Jesus can't be ministry success KB financial success, it can't be a KB popularity to give you the approval of people he doesn't promise any of those things. And somewhere in my study I stumbled across Genesis 15 one.

God is talking to Abram and he says do not fear Abram. I am your shield, your very great reward and it struck me like lightning. The reward of the Christian life is God himself. I can lose everything else and if I have Jesus I have everything I need for life and godliness can be single to be married to Wendy or I could be married to somebody else as long as I have Christ have everything I need to be poor and have everything I need, I can be sick and everything I need to be on my deathbed just before I'm about to cross over into death and I can have everything I need for life and godliness of Christ on the cross, suffering, being humiliated with no dignity and that everything you need for life and godliness through this man's life tells us the second thing he saw that no one else saw. He understood his guilt before God. We do what he said. He says we're receiving the due reward of our deeds and what is he talking about. He is not talking about his sentence from Rome. This man was just like Barabbas he was an insurrectionist and he probably murder people in his attempt to overthrow Rome, but insurrectionist is the word that like Rome would use for him. She would've seen himself as a patriot and he would see himself as a freedom fighter. He would've thought that being crucified was an act of injustice from Rome. So why does he say this because somewhere as he's being crucified and Jesus is being crucified, he stops comparing himself to the people around him and he begins to compare himself to Jesus. Remember what Jesus says father forgive them for they know not what they do. Most scholars believe that Jesus was crying that out as the nails were being put through his wrist and his feet. Now if you're in a situation where you feel like you're unjustly accused and being unjustly punished and you look over and you see a man crying out for mercy for the people that are ridiculing him, mocking him, and he's asking God to forgive them what you can and think about him versus you this guy realizes there is a world of difference between him and Jesus and he realizes that his guilt is ultimately before God and the third thing. The third thing we see about this guy he he recognizes he recognizes the great reward of this life. He recognizes his guilt but he does some he does. The third thing that is kind of unbelievable.

He makes not just request of God.

He says he says to Jesus, Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom. What nerve is a Hebrew word for this is chutzpah. How in the world are you seeing your guilt before before God and then you have the nerve to make a request that he would remember you, but he does and it somehow.

He realizes like you to come back and Juergen set up a kingdom in the future. He says hey when that happens you remember what you remember this guy, this criminal is recognizing you in this moment right before I die, we just give me a little piece of that. The only thing the only thing more audacious than his request and I'm quoting Pastor JD on this. The only thing crazier than the request of this criminal is that Jesus answers. In fact, Jesus answers it. More than this man can ask or imagine. Jesus says look brother. It's not can it be sometime in the future.

It's going to be today and bro. I'm not just going to give you a little piece.

I'm not just gonna remember you. You are going to be with me being you are going to have a deep intimate relationship in the center you're knocking to be a thousand miles away from me to be right there with me. What an incredible radical change. This man stands out in this crowd of what God wants for this to happen.

It's not a change that you can produce in yourself. You don't have the strength you have the fortitude or the grid to make this kind of change in your life after Don from outside of you it's it's not a change of circumstances.

This got dies on the cross that day. In fact even gets worse. It says they come in they break their legs about terrain like no one's regular legs cumulative quicker is don't change still dies that day. It is in a behavior change.

God never read his Bible. He never has one but we will call in church quite. He doesn't get one since to a church never goes on a mission trip know this. This change is a lot more profound than circumstances or behavior. It is a change of identity in his change of position. If you are taking notes today.

That's the only thing actually care that you write down if you have a conversation after this with somebody with your family or anybody that you brought talk about this Christianity is not about a change of behavior is not about a change of circumstances is not adopting your best life now is a change of position before God, and it is a change of you are as a person at the deepest levels you see when you confess your sins to God.

When you repent and say I don't want to be like that. Jesus takes here soon all of all the things you've committed in the past. All the ones you committed today and every single one that you will commit in the future, and he says to take those on me there.

Now my that's why he's on the cross.

That's what he's doing is paying for those flights been stripped of dignity that my speech humiliated that payment for our sin, but it doesn't stop there because he then takes his identity before God gives it to you all the love in all the delight in all the excitement that God has for his son becomes yours the holiness of Jesus the right Jesus you gives it to you so that so that so that God sees you in the exact same way that he sees his son Jesus. So profound. This is how Paul writes about it in Ephesians 26 and God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus. Notice that word seated is passed tense. Know that means that means if you're Christian you know God deeply. No, there is a part of you that it's already with an there is a part of you that it's already seated there in Christ. That's why I can say with that.

It is a change of position in a change of identity. He has already given it to you if you're a believer. How do you know if this happened, that's a really good question and I know one actually think that there's, there's a confidence there is a confidence that God has done this in your life because you know what it is to be loved by God, there's an assurance that comes your way is nothing you never doubt that I am say that in general, there's the strong assurance that you understand that knowing God is not about what you do. It is, it is about understanding the gospel is about understanding that he did everything necessary as we just in the day that he has done everything necessary to save you brought nothing to the table. He brought everything in your you're also going to notice that there's this there's this love for God's people that's interchanging you with your new identity is unit, love for the church within the church is not perfect were actually far from perfect. But there are some things about the church that are beautiful and wonderful and you know Jesus loves the church.

Despite all of you to grow in the direction along the surf at the change of identity, servant follow Christ, and that because it says Jesus the son of man interested Son of Man came not to be served.

Most teens want to be served this king since I came not to be served but to serve, and give my life as a ransom for many. Juergen Senior life in a whole new light. Here I'm here to serve God build me up everything I need for life and godliness in Christ. Therefore, I find it anywhere else. I'm here to pour out here to serve other people so that they can see Jesus forgive and be radically generous to look at the cross to be so thankful that he remembered you be so thankful he didn't just remember you said you can to be with me overflow out of your life. And lastly love leaders. Jesus is God that people who are far from God will be brought in. The people who are enemies would come in the outsiders side of the religious crowd. Those people be brought in that there would be brought close that they would not fall on the outside of dividing that they would be brought near to God, they would be on the side of the dividing line is unity with God for all how you can respond Jesus today say yes all you say yes you could say no reason you could say I'm still trying to think about this but cannot just urge you. You are like searching just got on a search in your way. You need to investigate this conflict. If your real you to show it to me, put the ball in his court.

God wants nothing more than usual this was the service today is on all of you to ask yourself� Question, what to do with Jesus on the cross story tells us that we need to frequently every day, maybe even more than to go ahead and close your eyes and bow your head or worship team is interceding over us just a little weird doing that day is the day that God wants you to say yes