Welcome to the Daily Blade . The Word of God is described as the sword of the Spirit , the primary spiritual weapon in the Christian's armor against the forces of evil . Your hosts are Joby Martin and Kyle Thompson , and they stand ready to equip men for the fight . Let's sharpen up .
Welcome back to day two . We are looking at the seven sayings of Jesus Christ on the cross . Welcome back to day two . We are looking at the seven sayings of Jesus Christ on the cross . We will pick it up back in Luke , chapter 23 , beginning in verse 39 . The Bible says this and one of the criminals who were hanged railed at Jesus , saying are you not the Christ ? Save yourself and us . But the other rebuked him , saying do you not fear 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 he said Jesus , remember me when you come into your kingdom Verse 43
. And Jesus said to him this is the second thing that Jesus is going to say on the cross . Truly , I say to you today , you will be with me in paradise . Let me give you a truth of the word of God . The book of Ephesians says that you and I are saved by grace , through faith , not by works of ourselves , so that none of us can boast . If anybody would ever believe that you have to do good things to be made right with God , then this is exhibit A , that you and I are saved by grace through faith .
Speaker 2There are two thieves on the cross next to Jesus , and the reality is , is every single
one of us come to Jesus with one of these two attitudes ? Some people walk into church every Sunday with the attitude of one of the criminals that says here's what I need you to do for me , if you are who you say you are . Well , the criminal on the other side understands that this is silly . He says to the thief on the other side who in the world do you think you are ? We are on these crosses because we are criminals and we deserve to be punished . But somehow this criminal on the cross realizes that Jesus is who he says he is . And so he realizes that he is innocent and he says that this man in the middle cross has been unjustly punished .
Speaker 2And then what the thief on the cross does is he asked Jesus for a favor . He makes a prayer request . He simply says Jesus , would you please remember me when you come into your kingdom ? He doesn't try to make a deal with him . He doesn't say Jesus , if you'll save me and get me off this cross , I promise from now on I'll do better , I'll try harder . I mean ? What can this man do ? He can't go to church . He can't go to Sunday school , he can't tithe . He doesn't say God , if I behave , will you make a deal with me and let me into your heaven ? No , he is asking for a pure , unadulterated , grace-filled favor . Jesus , will you do something for me that I don't deserve ? And here is the good news of this request Anybody that makes this request , this request for salvation , jesus will answer this prayer request 100%
of the time . The Bible says that all who call on the name of the Lord will be saved .
Speaker 2If you've ever heard me preach , you've heard me talk about this . One of my favorite preachers is Alistair Begg . Alistair Begg has the best sermon on the thief on the cross and he talks about that moment when the thief stands before judgment in heaven . He gets to the gate . This isn't exactly how it happens that Alistair Begg is taking some hermeneutical license here to make a point and he gets there and imagine the man .
Speaker 2The angel that is trying to let this man in or out says to him what on earth are you doing here ? By what means are you here ? Can you explain to me substitutionary atonement ? Can you explain to me the doctrine of election or justification . Can you explain to me the inerrancy and the infallibility of the word of God ?
Speaker 2And this man who , just a breath before , was hanging on a cross asking Jesus for a Savior ? As a Savior , he would say I can't explain any of those things . And that angel would say to this man well then , what on earth are you doing here ? And this man's only reply would be the man on the middle cross said that I could come . It is not by works that we are saved . We are saved by the grace of Jesus Christ poured out on the middle cross . Said that I could come . It is not by works that we are saved . We are saved by the grace of Jesus Christ poured out on the cross , and we are saved by his invitation alone .
Speaker 2A friend of mine at our church , his name's Jack Johnson , and he said that the only paperwork that matters at the entrance of heaven is not your resume but is the invitation of Jesus for you to be there . So Christ has invited you to put your faith in him , and that's it by faith , not in your good works , but in the finished work of Christ . And have you come to that place where you have asked Jesus ? Will you remember me when you come into your kingdom ? Have you surrendered your life to the Lordship of Jesus Christ , not because of the good things that you have done , but because of Christ's finished work on the cross ? If not , you should do that right now .
Amen . Thank you for listening to today's episode Before you go . If you want to help equip other men for the fight , share this podcast around and leave us a five-star rating and review . Stay sharp .