The Blood, The Cross, and the Sinless Sacrifice
🗣️ Speaker: Evangelist Chris Mikkelson
In this week's message, Evangelist Chris Mikkelson inspired us with his passionate recounting of Christ's sacrifice and love for us. He shared the vital message that through Jesus' death on the cross, salvation is offered to all of us. Mikkelson used humor and personal stories to emphasize that even in our sinfulness, Jesus' love is constant and unwavering. He reminded us that it's our responsibility to accept his grace, submit to Him as our Lord, and live lives that reflect His love to others. The takeaway? Jesus' sacrifice offers us forgiveness and the chance for a new life in His love.
Additional Info
The info below was generated by an AI from the audio recording of the sermon.
Introduction to Salvation and Purpose
Salvation and the understanding of God's purpose for our lives are central themes within Christian faith. This message aims to inspire individuals to realize that God has a wonderful plan for each of us, regardless of our past or present circumstances. It's an invitation to reflect on spiritual truths that lead to transformation and renewal.
The Power of Jesus' Name
It's an important reminder to gather in worship and gratitude, recognizing Jesus as the King of Kings. The spirit of joy and faith that comes from worship empowers believers and underscores our collective journey toward understanding our faith better.
The Call to Evangelism
Evangelist Chris Mikkelson emphasizes the urgency of evangelism in today's world. He shares about his extensive travels, particularly focusing on his evangelistic missions in Pakistan, where the gospel is being spread to nearly inaccessible populations. He highlights the harvest being ripe for souls to be saved and the pivotal role believers have to play in this mission.
The Importance of Resources for Evangelism
Resources such as books, merchandise, and support for evangelistic efforts are crucial. They not only provide tools for personal growth but also contribute directly to reaching more souls. The proceeds from merchandise sold are reinvested into the ministry, reinforcing the cycle of giving and reaching others.
Salvation: The Symbolism of Blood and Sacrifice
The sermon delves into significant theological insights about the blood of Jesus, the cross, and the concept of atonement. The importance of the blood is discussed through biblical references, illustrating that without it, there can be no remission of sins.
Old Testament vs. New Testament Atonement
A compelling contrast is made between the atonement practices of the Old Testament and the New Testament. While the old practices involved the sacrificial system that merely covered sins, Jesus’ sacrifice was one that completely eradicated the need for ongoing sacrifices, allowing for a personal and direct relationship with God.
Personal Testimony of Transformation
Chris shares his journey from a life of sin to a redeemed life through Jesus. This personal testimony serves as a powerful reminder that no one is beyond the reach of God's grace and love. The transformative power of accepting Jesus is highlighted, showing that anyone can be brought from darkness into light.
The Human Condition and the Need for Salvation
A relatable analogy is presented to illustrate humanity's state without Christ. Just as a person can feel lost at sea, we, too, can feel overwhelmed by sin. The message emphasizes reaching out to Jesus, who is always ready to offer salvation.
The Role of the Cross
The cross is central to the Christian faith as a symbol of sacrificial love. The interaction between Jesus and the two thieves crucified with Him provides a clear depiction of choice; one chose to accept salvation while the other did not.
The Call to Respond
An invitation is extended to all present to accept Jesus into their lives. The importance of confession and faith is reiterated, emphasizing that everyone has the opportunity to turn to God for forgiveness and new life.
Conclusion and Invitation for New Life
The closing of the message is a call for action, encouraging individuals to seek salvation and foster a relationship with God through prayer and faith. The essence of the closing prayer is to reveal the path of eternal life available through accepting Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.
Through such a transformative experience, believers are equipped to share the message of hope with others, embodying the mission of evangelism and living out their faith in everyday life.
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Use the questions listed below as a launching point to discuss the sermon points together as a family. These are great for dinner table discussions and small groups.
Reflection on Sacrifice: How did Chris’ explanation of Jesus' sacrifice on the cross resonate with you personally? Have you ever struggled with understanding the importance of the cross?
Gospel Simplicity: Chris emphasized the simplicity of the gospel message. How can we effectively communicate this simplicity to others in our daily lives?
Personal Transformation: Reflect on a time when you felt Jesus' love transforming your heart. How did that change impact your actions and beliefs?
Living by Faith: Chris spoke about the urgency of sharing our faith. What are some practical ways we can make evangelism a part of our everyday life?
Community Support: How can our small group better support each other in living out the gospel message?
Use these questions to facilitate open and honest conversations, and encourage each other in your spiritual journeys.
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Historical Context of Luke 23:39-43
The passage from Luke 23:39-43 describes the crucifixion of Jesus and His interaction with two criminals. This event occurred during the early Roman Empire era under Pontius Pilate's governance. Crucifixion was a common Roman method of execution meant to serve as a public deterrent for serious crimes.
Religiously, this event fulfilled numerous Jewish prophecies concerning the Messiah, such as those found in Isaiah 53. It demonstrated the theological shift from the Old Covenant, which involved animal sacrifices for atonement, to the New Covenant, inaugurated by Christ's ultimate sacrifice.
Culturally, being crucified was considered a shameful death. The presence of two criminals was typical of Roman executions, showing Jesus' association with sinners, yet countering that by His sinless nature. The thieves' interactions reflect different beliefs – one mocks while the other seeks redemption, showcasing contrasting human responses to the divine presence of Jesus, an essential theme in the gospel narratives.
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Come on. Put your hands together for Jesus this morning. Oh, you can do better than that. He's only the king of kings and he's the Lord of lords. Jesus, we worship you.
We love you, God. We give you glory and praise for what you're doing around the world and for what you're going to do right here this morning at Oxford assembly. In Jesus name, if you love the Lord and if you believe that, shout amen. Hallelujah. Are you happy this morning?
Amen. You all are happy. Second service is happy. Amen. I'm happy, too.
Praise God. Well, as pastor said, I am evangelist Chris Michaelson. You call me Mickelson Michaelson. It don't matter as long as you call me. Amen.
Amen, pastor. I don't mind, but praise God. Praise God. It's wonderful to be here. I traveled all the way from winter Garden this morning.
Amen. Praise the Lord. Hey, you got to be a man of faith to drive up the turnpike. Amen. Amen.
You need the holy ghost to drive up the turnpike. Amen. Amen. Hallelujah. I always say, when you go to Pakistan, I always tell pastors, if you got somebody who hasn't gotten their prayer language yet, you know, if they haven't gotten it and they can't get it, send them with me to Pakistan.
We'll put them in the front seat of the car and they'll start praying in the Holy Ghost before you know it. I mean, you gotta be. You gotta be a real person of faith to riding a vehicle in Pakistan. Amen. Amen.
They don't really obey the laws in Pakistan on the roadway, but praise God. Praise God. They don't obey the laws in Florida either. Amen. Amen.
Well, praise the Lord. Amen. This isn't a. A service about traffic. Amen.
But praise God. Here we are. Amen. It's wonderful to be here. Pastor Darrell, I want to say thank you so much for having me.
It's an honor and a joy to be here with you and Pastor Marsha. If you guys love your pastors, can we give them a big God bless you. Hallelujah. What an incredible, incredible work they have done. Here in this region, and we honor you, and it's an honor to be here.
Pastor, thank you so much for having me this morning. We do have, as pastor mentioned, we do have a product table on your way out. There's some resources there, some books, there's some t shirts. We've got a whole bunch of Jesus shirts. My wife actually started a women's clothing business.
There's some of her camisoles that are there for sale. 100%. Somebody say 100. 100% of the proceeds from that table go into our evangelistic ministry. I don't get a royalty or a cut from anything.
It all goes to help us win people to Jesus. What you saw in the video was some footage from some of our crusades in the nation of Pakistan. There was also some footage from a crusade we did recently in Orlando. But the majority of those crowd shots were from our crusades in Pakistan. I just got back.
We just conducted our 40th crusade in the history of our ministry, and it was my 26th trip to Pakistan. So we are going sometimes four times a year to the nation of Pakistan, bringing the gospel consecutively, time and time and time again to that nation. It is a nation, a muslim nation. It's over 96% muslim. It's less than 2% Christian officially.
But we are seeing a massive wave of salvation happening right now in the nation of Pakistan and around the world. How many of you know the harvest is ripe? Amen. Amen. Jesus said it 2000 years ago, and it's still ripe today.
In fact, if it was ripe back then, how much more ripe is it today? Amen. Amen. And so, you know, I grew up on a dairy farm in central Minnesota. Don't hold it against me.
Amen, being from Minnesota. But. But I'll tell you, when the harvest is ripe, you need all hands on deck. Amen. And you gotta go, go, go.
Especially in Minnesota, we have this horrible stuff that we get every year called snow. It comes and it destroys the crops. And the growing season is so short in Minnesota that you have to like you. You get into the ground right after the. Right after the ground thaws, and then you have just barely enough time to get your crops raised and growing and then harvested right before the snow comes and destroys everything.
And so, you know, you've gotta. When it's harvest time, you gotta go as fast and as much as you can. And the same is true in the kingdom of God. I feel like Jesus is about to return. Who believes that Jesus is about to come back?
Amen. Amen. It's harvest time. And we gotta work before Jesus comes back. Somebody say amen.
Amen. You know, the Lord told me many years ago when he was going to come back, actually, did you know, don't kick me out just yet, pastor. Amen. But the Lord told me years ago exactly when he was going to return. Amen.
The Bible says, in fact, God said right in his word, that when this gospel of the kingdom is preached in all the world as a witness unto all the nations, then somebody say, then, then the end will come. No, I don't know the exact time or date, and I'm not even gonna go try to go there. But Jesus said, when this gospel is preached in all the world, now, I don't know when that is going to be, but I really believe we are on the cusp of seeing that prophecy fulfilled. And I believe Jesus is about to come back. One of my partners said, chris, what would happen?
What would it look like if you were preaching in one of your crusades in Pakistan and the last person Jesus wanted to hear, have hear the gospel was in that crowd, and as soon as you made the call for salvation, we all just got raptured? I said, come on, that would be amazing. And actually, theologically, that could actually happen. Amen. You just never know.
But I do believe Jesus is coming back and time is short and every soul counts. So I just encourage you, make sure you go to that product table and buy some product back there. Every dollar helps us reach a soul. In fact, our crusades are very expensive. They cost upwards of $125 to $130,000 to do one.
And yeah, they're very expensive, but on average, over the last ten years, it costs us about $1 to get one soul saved. In Pakistan, that would have been a good place to say, praise the Lord. Hallelujah. Thank you, Jesus. You can't buy a McDonald's cheeseburger anymore for a dollar, but we can get a person saved in Pakistan for a dollar.
That means every dollar you spend at the table can help us win souls for Jesus. Somebody say amen. Amen. So we got a couple of things back there real quick. My brand new book, activating miracles enter into supernatural faith without limits.
How many of you know our God is still a miracle working God? Amen. He still does miracles. Miracles still happen today. And he wants you and I to walk in the miraculous.
Jesus walked in the miraculous. He taught his disciples to walk in the miraculous, their disciples walked in the miraculous. And you and I can as well. And so we give you some tools and some keys in here. To start seeing people get healed.
To start seeing people get saved. How many of you know salvation is miraculous? Amen. It is the greatest miracle of all. Amen.
When somebody goes from darkness to light, from sin to salvation, when their name gets written in the lamb's book of life. And so we give you a bunch of keys to walk in the supernatural. And so we have that over there for sale. And I'm going to be at the table after service doing a book signing. If you pick up a book today, you can come over to the table and I'll sign it afterward.
Who would like a book this morning? Wow, a lot of hands. Amen. You can buy them at the product table after service. They're $16.99.
That was a joke. Amen. That was a good joke, though, wasn't it? Praise the Lord. Who would like one for free this morning?
Actually. All right, come on up here, sister. I heard her yelling at me, give her a God bless you this morning. Amen. That's what you get for sitting on the front row.
Amen. That's right. And then we've got a whole bunch of Jesus shirts back there as well. This one just says, jesus saves on the front. The back says, good news, jesus saves.
And it's got John 316 and 17 right on the back. So wherever you're going, maybe you don't feel comfortable preaching the gospel. Just buy a shirt and wear it. You'll be preaching the gospel everywhere you go. Amen.
Amen. Somebody in line at Panera bread will be reading the gospel on the back of your shirt. Amen. So we've got those out there. A whole bunch of other Jesus shirts.
Who would like a shirt this morning? How about right here? Come on up here. I don't know if I can make it, if I throw it. Give her a God bless you this morning.
There you go. You're welcome. Praise the Lord. Amen. Let's get into the word this morning.
Somebody say amen? Oh, you know, before that, I did. I did tell you I'm from Minnesota, and. But I've been in the south now for quite a while. I've been in Florida for 13 years.
I think I'm pretty much southern. Okay. And I heard one, heard one about a southern guy recently. I thought I'd share this with you. There was a southern man named Bubba, and he went and got saved.
Amen. Old Bubba got saved. He got born again. He started going to church. And one day old Bubba came to church, and he didn't look so good.
He looked a little sad, a little frown on his face. Pastor came up to him and said, bubba, what's wrong? You don't look so good. Bubba said, pastor, I need you to pray for my hearing. Pastor put his hands on Bubba's ears and prayed.
Hearing be healed in Jesus name. Pastor said, amen. Bubba, how's your hearing? Bubba said, I don't know, pastor. It's not till Tuesday.
Some of you will get that later. Amen. Oh, Bubba had a hearing coming up. Amen. Amen.
Hey, we're going to pray for the sick today, and I do believe Jesus is going to heal somebody's hearing. Amen. He's going to heal you of all kinds of stuff. Amen. I.
We still believe in a miracle work in God. I just have one more. Can you avail me for one more second? I just. I think laughter is good medicine.
Amen. Amen. Sometimes you got to give the medicine. Sometimes you got to give a little laughter. You know, it helps the medicine go down, too.
Amen. Laughter does. Amen. I'm going to bring the medicine here in a minute. But this one is about an atheist.
An atheist was walking through the woods one day and he said to himself, what majestic trees, what powerful rivers, what beautiful animals. He said to himself. As he continued walking alongside the river, he heard a rustling in the bushes. Turning to look, he saw a seven foot grizzly bear right behind him charging toward him. He ran away as fast as he could up the path.
Looking over his shoulder, he saw that the bear was closing in on him. His heart was pumping frantically as he tried to run even faster. All of a sudden, he tripped and fell to the ground. He rolled over, picking himself up, but saw that the bear was raising his paw to take a swipe at him. In that instant, the atheist cried out, oh, my God.
Time stopped. In that moment, the bear froze in his tracks. The forest became silent. It was then that a bright light shone upon the man and a voice from heaven cried out, saying, you deny my existence for all these years. You teach others that I don't exist and even credit creation to a cosmic accident.
Do you expect me to help you now out of this predicament? Am I to count you as a believer? The atheist looked directly into the light and he said, it would be hypocritical of me to suddenly ask you to treat me as a Christian now, but perhaps you could make the bear a Christian. The atheist said, very well, the bright light said. The light went out.
The sounds of the forest resumed, and all of a sudden the bear lowered his paw bowed his head and spoke. Lord, bless his food for which I'm about to receive, in which I'm truly thankful for. Hallelujah. Come on. Thank you, Jesus.
How many of you are glad Jesus isn't going to make your enemy a bear? Amen. He's not going to make your enemies a bear. I mean, God is a good God. Say amen.
Amen. It doesn't matter what you've done, doesn't matter how far away from God you might be today. Jesus loves you. He cares about you, and he ain't going to send no bear to eat you. Somebody say amen.
Amen this morning. I am going to preach the gospel. I am going to preach the simplicity of the gospel. I am going to leave the 99 and go after the one. Amen.
And I am an evangelist, and I do not, I do not, you know, I dont care about it. Amen. Im just going to preach the gospel. Im not ashamed of preaching the gospel, and I'm not ashamed of being an evangelist this morning, and so I'm going to preach the simplicity of the gospel. I remember my ministry started ten years ago, but prior to that, I had the opportunity of working for the ministry of evangelist Reinhard Bonnke.
If you've ever heard of him, he was an incredible man of God, a german evangelist, and he traveled all over Africa on his 79th year of life. The year that he passed away that year, his ministry had just crossed over 79 million decisions for Christ in his ministry. Mostly all of those came in the continent of Africa. And I had the opportunity of traveling with him and his successor, evangelist Daniel Kalenda, and learning from them and growing. And I could tell you that I heard evangelist Bonnke preach the gospel time and time and time again.
But it didn't matter how many times I heard him preach it. Every time I heard it, it was like I was hearing it for the very first time all over again. Just the simplicity of the power of the gospel. And when you hear it like that, it begins to get in your soul. You may say, chris, I'm already saved.
I'm a Christian. I've been serving God for a long time. But when you hear the gospel, it gets into your soul, and all of a sudden, it's like it just gets on you, and you just want to tell everybody about Jesus. Somebody say amen. Amen.
How many of you know, it's our responsibility, all of our responsibility to tell somebody about Jesus. So whether you're a Christian or not, this morning, I want to encourage you, enter into the word and allow the gospel to transform your heart and use you and allow God to use you to preach the gospel everywhere you go. Somebody say amen. Amen. Turn with me.
If you have your bibles, we're going to go to the book of Luke, chapter number 23. The book of Luke 23. There's incredible passage here of scripture where we see this very unique story. And I believe that the Lord wanted us to see the gospel through this story. In Luke, chapter 23, the end here of the chapter, starting in verse 39, we have the account of Jesus and his crucifixion.
And here he is hanging on the cross for the sins of the world, dying for the sins of the world. And there's this incredible interaction between Jesus and two thieves that were being crucified with him. And I believe that there are some keys to the gospel that we can see here out of this passage. Luke 23. I'm going to begin reading in verse number 39.
The Bible says, then one of the criminals who were hanged blasphemed Jesus, saying, if you are the Christ, save yourself and us. But the other answering rebuked him, saying, do you not even fear God, seeing that you're under the same condemnation? And we indeed, justly, for we receive the due reward of our deeds, but this man has done nothing wrong. Somebody say, nothing wrong. Verse 42.
Then Jesus, then he said to Jesus, Lord, remember me. Somebody say, remember me, Lord, remember me when you come into your kingdom. And Jesus said to him, assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise. Let's pray. Father, we thank you for your word.
Lord, I pray that your word would go forth with clarity and with power this morning, that you would touch every heart that needs to be touched by the power of the word and the power of the gospel. And may you use us for your kingdom and glory, and we promise to give you all the glory in Jesus name. And everybody said, amen. Amen. So the title of my message this morning is the blood, the cross, and the sinless sacrifice.
The blood, the cross, and the sinless sacrifice. Why blood? Have you ever wondered why do we as christians talk so much about blood? I mean, in fact, in our society, that's very taboo. You know, it's very taboo in our society to talk about blood.
In fact, when somebody usually dies, if you saw a scene, maybe an accident on the highway, and somebody passes away, what are the, what do they always do? They always put a sheet over the person. People don't want to see blood. They don't want to think about death. They don't want to think about what it really is, is they don't want to think about eternity.
And the Bible is very specific about blood, because blood is very important to eternity. It's important to our very existence. The Bible says in Hebrews 922 that without the shedding of blood, there is no remission of sins. It goes on in Leviticus, 1711, it says, for the life of the flesh is in the blood. First John one seven eight says, but if we walk in the light as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another.
And the blood of Jesus Christ, God's son, cleanses us from all sin. Somebody say, all sin. His blood cleanses us from all sin. First Peter 118 and 19 says, knowing that you're not redeemed by corruptible things like silver and gold from your aimless conduct, received by tradition of your fathers, but you're redeemed by the precious blood of Christ as of a lamb without blemish or without spot. You see, my friends, the blood of Jesus had to be shed in order for your sins and my sins to be forgiven.
Somebody say, amen. His blood had to be shed for us. We call that, in theological terms, atonement. And as you study the Bible, you'll see that there are two types of atonement. There is an Old Testament type of atonement, and then there is the New Testament type of atonement that Jesus offers us.
And they are quite different in contrast to one another. In the Old Testament, Old Testament atonement, it worked like this. The priests would come and you would bring an animal like a lamb, a spotless lamb, and it had to be a perfect lamb. It couldn't have had some kind of a scar on its leg. It couldn't have had once a broken bone that healed.
It had to be a perfect lamb, because it was a representation of the perfect lamb that was to come. Jesus Christ, God's son, who would take away all sin. Somebody say, amen. But in the Old Testament, they would bring these lambs. They would bring these animals, and they would kill them.
They would sacrifice them. Their blood had to be shed, and the blood would be shed as a way of atoning for the sins of the people. But the Old Testament atonement only covered over sin. It didn't have the power to remove it completely, didn't have the power to get rid of it. It only covered over sin.
Let me explain it to you this way. Evangelist Bonke used to tell this story about a woman who desperately wanted a new kitchen table. Now, this is how Old Testament atonement works. There was once an old woman, and she had always had this horrible, ugly old table. And she so wanted to have one of these beautiful wooden tables, one of these really nice, ornate wooden tables.
And so she wanted to have one. And finally, the day came where she had raised, saved up enough money where she could go and buy a nice, beautiful wooden table. And she bought the table and brought it to her house. And she was so excited to have this new table that that day, she called up all her girlfriends and she said, you must come and see my new table. Please come this afternoon at 03:00 for coffee around my brand new table.
It's so beautiful. Well, that day, her girlfriends, they all said, oh, we can't wait. We're gonna go see this beautiful table. And as she was getting ready for coffee, that coffee appointment that afternoon, her husband was out in the garage working on his old pickup truck. That old pickup truck wasn't running.
He had some problems. The main problem was the old battery. It was just an old battery. He needed a new one. So he took the old battery out, and he was about to go to town to swap it out for a new battery.
And he realized his hands were dirty. He should probably wash his hands before going to town. So he walked into the house. He dropped that old battery down on the brand new table. He went into the bathroom, washed his hands, walked out of the house, grabbed that old battery and went to town.
And now you can already imagine what must have happened while he was in the bathroom. That battery acid from that old battery seeped down into the wood of that brand new wooden table and absolutely destroyed that table. And while he was out at the store, his wife came in from the bathroom, and when she saw the table, she said, my table is ruined. What am I going to do? My girlfriends are going to be here any minute.
I've been bragging about how beautiful this table is, and now it's absolutely ruined. What should I do? And in that moment, she realized, I know exactly what to do. I'll go get a runner from the closet, and I'll put a runner down the middle, and it'll cover over that spot. No one will ever see it.
So she did just that, and her girlfriends came over, and they all sat around the table. And the girlfriend said, wow, what a beautiful table you have. It is so beautiful. And that old woman, she just lied right through her teeth. She said, yes, it's perfect.
It's so beautiful. But what they didn't realize was underneath that runner was a catastrophe. You see, my friends, that's how the old Testament atonement worked. It didn't remove the stain. It didn't remove the blot.
It didn't remove the issue of sin. It only had the power to cover over our sins. And a lot of people today, they do the same thing in their own right. They try to cover their sin. They think if I'm just a good enough person, that will cover my sin.
If I'm just a good enough person person, my good deeds will outweigh my bad deeds and God will allow me into heaven. But the reality is this, my friends, we cannot save ourselves. There is only one person who died to save us from our sins, and his name is Jesus Christ. Somebody say amen. There's only one who died for the sin of the world, and his name is Jesus.
And he didn't die so that we could continue to live in our sin. He died to set us free. He died to remove the sin. He died to give us a new life in Christ.
That old Testament atonement had the power to cover over, but it couldn't remove it. Today, we are constantly. People are constantly trying to remove or cover their sin because they can't remove it. Some people will think, well, maybe if I give enough money to the church, then I'll be able to go to heaven. Maybe if I pray enough prayers, then I'll go to heaven.
And maybe if I attend church enough, then I'll go to heaven. My friend, the church going to church, as wonderful it is as it is, going to church cannot make you a christian any more than going to McDonald's can make you a hamburger.
I love going to church. We need the church. But the church can't save you because the church didn't die for you. There's only one who died for the sin of the world, and his name is Jesus. Somebody say that name.
Jesus. It's Jesus. We have to turn to Jesus. He is the only one who shed his blood and made atonement to remove all of our sins. So why the cross?
Why do we care so much about the cross? Why did jesus have to go to that cross? And why did he have to do what he did? We see here. It's interesting.
In verse number 39, the first thief says to Jesus, Jesus, if you are the Christ, save yourself and us. The other thief rebukes him. Now, here's the scene, okay, you gotta get this. Jesus has just been whipped and beaten within inches of his life. Okay, before even going to the cross, the theologians believe that the whipping Jesus received would have killed most common people.
That's how, you know, Jesus wasn't some wimpy, feministic man. He was a man's man. Somebody say amen. I I mean, he was a real man. I mean, he was strong.
Amen. You know, even fact, if you look at the word carpenter and Jesus being a carpenter, you looked at in the greek, the context, actually, is that he probably was more likely not just a carpenter, like, in our minds, we think of carpenter, house builder, somebody that works with wood. In that day and age, in that context, houses were not built by wood. They were made out of stone. So it's more likely Jesus was actually some sort of stone mason or house builder or somebody that made houses.
How many of you know, you got to be a man's man to work with stone, to be a stone mason? Amen. I believe Jesus, he must have been very strong in order to endure the type of beating that those roman soldiers put on him. He endured that beating, but he was literally beaten within inches of his life. Here he is.
He didn't even have the ability to carry the cross all the way up to Golgotha. He needed help, and now here he is. He's hanging on this cross. He's just been nailed to it. His feet are nailed to the cross.
His hands are nailed to the cross. In fact, most theologians believe that the platform the feet would have been put on was not perpendicular to the ground, but it was at a 45 degree angle, so that gravity was constantly pulling those that were crossing crucified down to the ground, causing excruciating pain in the feet as they rode against that nail. And actually, most theologians believe that the crucifixion, you didn't die from being nailed to the cross. You actually died from suffocation, because as you hung there, you were slouched down, and gravity kept pulling you down and down and down. And the only way that you could get a breath was to push against the nail in your feet and pull up on the nail in your hand just to get a breath of air, and then you slunk back down here.
This is. Jesus is doing this right in this moment. I mean, why is he doing this? He's doing it for you. He's doing it for me.
He's doing it because he loves us. He didn't have to go to the cross. He didn't have to do that, but he did it anyway because he loves us so much. Here he is. He's hanging there, suffocating to death for you, for me.
One thief starts blaspheming Jesus. The first thief says, if you are the Christ, why don't you save yourself and save the rest of us? Why don't you float up off of this cross and spin around in the air and save yourself and the rest of us? The other thief rebukes him. I mean, this is just crazy.
You can't make this stuff up. I mean, they're arguing about Jesus while they're dying, okay? Like, this is crazy. The other thief rebukes him and says, hey, why are you doing that to Jesus? You and I deserve to be on these crosses.
But this man has done nothing wrong. He's never sinned. He's never done anything wrong. He doesn't deserve to be on that cross. You and I deserve to be here, but this man has done nothing wrong.
And then he turns to Jesus and says, lord, remember me when you come into your kingdom. And jesus says to him, today. Today you'll be with me in paradise. But that first question is a very interesting question. If you are the Christ, save yourself.
Have you ever thought about, why didn't Jesus save himself? I mean, I don't think it's a bad question. Why didn't Jesus just float up into the middle of the air and show everybody, hey, look at me, I'm Jesus. Why didn't he save himself? Because if he would have saved himself that day, my friend, he would have aborted the very mission for why he came.
He came for one reason and one reason only, to seek and save that which was lost and to die for the sins of the world. If you're thankful for Jesus, if you're thankful for his salvation, give jesus some praise this morning. Come on, say thank you. Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Lord, for your sacrifice.
Thank you for dying for me. Hallelujah. That's why he came. He came for one reason, to die for the sin of the world. The Bible says that we've all sinned.
We've all fallen short of the glory of God and that the penalty for our sin is death. It's eternal separation from goddess. You see, it's not God's anger. It's not that he's mad at you for sinning, that he sends people to hell. That's not it at all.
It's our sin that separates us from a holy God. He's perfect. He's pure. In fact, I've got a bottle of water here. If I was to pour half of this bottle of water out and pour the other half with oil.
There would be two different entities in this bottle. I could shake the two up as much as I wanted, but the two will always separate. Why? Because they're of a different nature. You see, God is of a holy nature.
He's perfect. He's sinless. There's no sin in God. You and I are not of a sinful, of a holy nature. We are of a sinful nature and our sin separates us from God.
But how many of you are thankful that God so loved the world? He said, I'm not going to keep you separated from me. The Bible says that God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever would believe upon him would not perish but have everlasting life. My friend, it was God's love for, for you that said, that caused him to say, I'll sacrifice my own son. He'll live a holy life, a perfect life, a sinless, spotless life.
And yet he will die a sinner's death. He'll die for you, he'll die for me. He'll die for all of us. That's why Jesus went to the cross, my friends. He went to die for our sins.
Somebody said, well, Chris, I'm not really that big of a sinner. You know, I haven't really sinned that much.
You know, it's not even so much about how much you've sinned. The Bible actually teaches us that we've all been born into sin. We call that original sin. That's the sin from Adam and Eve. It's been passed down from generation to generation to generation, from our, through our bloodlines.
Our blood is tainted with sin. That's why Jesus blood was so important, because his bloodline doesn't come from Adam and Eve. His father is not Adam. His father is God the father. It's a pure bloodline.
It's a holy bloodline. He shed perfect blood. Amen. He did it for you and he did it for me. Hallelujah.
But our blood is tainted with this original sin. Let me explain it to you like this. I once was a little boy, if you can imagine that I once was a very little boy and I was pretty much perfect. Amen. I'm lying right through my teeth.
Amen. But I was just about perfect. I mean, you know, when you see a little boy or a little girl, it's like, oh, they're so cute. They're so innocent.
I was once a very innocent little boy. I think I was about three years old. And I remember one day I had a bit of a problem, I will admit. I loved cookies. I love cookies.
And growing up on a dairy farm in central Minnesota, my mom used to make these amazing homemade cookies. And when she got done, she would put them in a glass jar on the counter, and I. And she always would say, christopher, you only get one cookie per day. Well, on this particular day, I had already exceeded my one cookie quota, and I really wanted another one. And so when my mother wasn't looking and she was in the other room, I snuck into the kitchen.
I climbed up onto the counter, got my hand up into that cookie jar, and I just got my fingers on a cookie. When I heard my mother's footsteps coming. I pulled my hand out of that cookie jar, jumped off the counter, and ran into the other room. When I pulled my hand out of that cookie jar, that cookie jar happened to come with my hand, and it came tumbling off of the counter and crashing all over the floor. And my mother yelled, Christopher, were you trying to eat a second cookie?
Do you know what I said? How did you guys know? Were you there?
I said, no, mother. I lied right through my teeth. Where did that come from? My parents didn't teach me to lie. My dad didn't say, Christopher, if you want to get a second cookie, just lie to your mother.
You know? No, no, no. Like, that never would have happened in my home. Now, maybe it would happen in somebody's home, but it surely wouldn't happen in my home. My parents never taught me to lie.
I don't know anyone who ever taught me to lie. Yet I lied even as a little innocent, Boyden. Why? Because I had sin running through my veins. And Jesus said, I don't want that sin to keep you from me for all of eternity.
So I will go and I will shed my blood, and I will pour out my perfect, holy blood to set you free. That's why Jesus came, my friend. He came to shed his blood for you. He was the sinless sacrifice for each and every one of us, my friends. That's why that second thief, he knew that about Jesus.
He had a revelation there on the cross that day. He said, jesus has done nothing wrong. He's sinless. He's spotless. He doesn't deserve to be dying a sinner's death.
We deserve to be on that cross. That's what that thief was saying. But the reality is, my friends, you and I all deserve to be on those crosses. We all deserve to die that death. And Jesus said, no, I will go.
I will do it for you. I will be the sacrificial lamb for each and every one of you. And the Bible tells us that that day, when that sitter, when that second thief turned to Jesus, he said, lord, remember me. When you come into your kingdom, lord, remember me. There's two things that are very important about that statement.
Lord, remember me. Number one, the word Lord. He recognized the lordship of Jesus. He recognized that if Jesus is Lord, then I'm not lord. Jesus is God.
And if Jesus is God, then I am not God. If he is the king of kings and the Lord of lords, then I am not. And that means I need to submit myself to him and to his lordship. That second thief realized, I am a sinner. I need salvation.
This guy has done nothing wrong, and he is Lord, and I will submit myself to him by calling him Lord, by confessing, Lord, you are the savior. You are the one who can save me. Remember me. He said, when you come into your kingdom, that term, remember me. It could also have been translated this way, save me.
What that thief was saying was. He was saying, lord, save me. I'm also a sinner. Save me. I also need salvation.
Lord, save me. I need that salvation that only you can offer. And Jesus said the most amazing sentence his ears had ever heard in his entire life. Jesus said to him, today you'll be with me in paradise. In other words, Jesus was saying, your sins are forgiven.
You're saved. You say, Chris, how can you say that? Because the apostle Paul tells us that if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that he has risen from the dead, you will be saved. That second thief knew Jesus was going to rise from the dead. He knew that he was the son of Goddesse.
He knew that he was Lord. And that's why he said, lord, remember me when you come into your kingdom. You see, my friends, we all have to come to that moment in life where we say, lord, remember me. Lord, I'm a sinner. I also need salvation.
Lord, save me. Forgive me. 2006 my life was a mess. I was full of sin. I was a drug dealer.
I was high every moment of every day. I was drunk most nights of the week. My life was a total mess. But there came a moment where I said, lord, save me. Lord, save me.
Forgive me of my sin, Lord, I'm tired of this sinful lifestyle that I've been living. God, I'm done with that life. I repent of that. I'm done with that. Lord, save me.
And in that moment, in 2006, God radically saved me, radically changed my life. And I've been running after Jesus, telling everyone I can about his saving power, his saving grace, and his saving goodness. Somebody give Jesus some praise this morning, but we all have to come. If we could have the band come back, I'm just about done. We've come to the very holy moment of the meeting, so I please ask.
No moving around or talking until we finish. We're almost done.
We all have to come to that moment where we either say, lord, save me, or we reject his salvation. Maybe you're here today. You say, Chris, that's me. I need that. I need salvation.
My friend, today, before you leave, you can be saved, you can be forgiven. You can know that you're on your way to heaven and that you're right with God. But we all have to come to that moment. I'm going to share one more story with you. It's a very powerful story, story of an old preacher.
This old preacher got up one Sunday to preach, and he shared a story. And all he shared was this story. And he was so moved by the story that after he got done sharing the story, he couldn't go on preaching. He was beginning to cry. He was broken.
And he went and he sat down, and service ended abruptly. And then something very powerful happened after the service, and I'm going to share with you the story that he told and what transcribed. After the service, the old preacher got up and he shared this story. He said, one day there was a father and a son who loved to go sailing in the ocean. They loved to go out in the sailboat every weekend.
On Saturdays, they would go sail the blue seas of the Atlantic. One day, the father's son said to the father, he said, daddy, do you think it's possible we could take my best friend Johnny out with us in the sailboat this weekend? He's never gone sailing before, and I would so love him to experience the sailboat out on the ocean. Do you think we can invite him? The father said, well, sure, son.
We can call his parents and we'll get permission. And that's exactly what happened. They got permission, they went out that Saturday. They jumped in the sailboat, and they started sailing out away from land in the Atlantic. They got so far away from land that they couldn't see the land anymore.
They had dolphins swimming next to them. They had the most beautiful time on the sailboat. Just like in Florida, the weather can change in a split second, and a massive storm came barreling down the sea that day. Father took and turned the sailboat back toward land to try to outrun the storm. But he couldn't outrun the storm.
Wave after wave started making the boat, tossing the boat back and forth. And finally, a massive wave came and tripped the boat upside down. The father, his son, and little Johnny all flew out into the ocean, and the father was strong enough to be able to swim back to the boat. He got up on the boat, and he grabbed the only life preserver that he had, and he went to throw it to the boys. And all of a sudden, to his horror, he realized his one and only son was way over there, and little Johnny was now way over there.
In that moment, he had to make a critical decision. Several thoughts went through his mind very quickly. First he thought, who do I throw the lifeline to first, surely whoever I throw the lifeline to, I can save, but I may not be able to save the second person. Who do I throw the lifeline to first? My only son or little Johnny?
And then he realized, my son is a committed Christian. He loves Jesus. But little Johnny is not saved. Little Johnny's never given his life to Jesus. He's not right with God.
If I save my only son, little Johnny will surely drown and die and go to hell right now, today. But if I save my. If I save little Johnny, I'll probably lose my only son right here today. Who should I throw the lifeline to? And in that moment, he made the most difficult decision of his life.
In that moment, he yelled to his son, he said, son, I love you.
He threw the lifeline to Johnny. He pulled Johnny to the boat. He got Johnny up onto that boat. He took the lifeline. He went to throw it back to his son, but his son was gone, never to be seen again.
He drowned that day. The pastor got to this moment in his message. He was so broken, he started crying. He couldn't go on with the service. He just went back and he sat down.
Service ended abruptly and awkwardly. A couple of teenage kids came up to the pastor afterward. They said, pastor, that was a very moving story, but it wasn't very realistic. I mean, what father would sacrifice his own son in the hopes that some other kid that he doesn't even know might get saved? The pastor said, yes, kids, I know that doesn't seem very realistic, but it sure does remind me of how God, the father, sacrificed his only son in the hopes that you and I might get saved.
The boys said, yeah, that makes sense, pastor, but it still doesn't seem very realistic that something like that would ever happen. The pastor said, I know, it doesn't seem very real to you, but it's very real to me. You see, my name is Pastor John. I was little Johnny that day in the ocean. That father threw me the lifeline.
He sacrificed his son that he could save me. And that day, I made my decision. I'm going to start following Jesus. I committed my life to Jesus, and I've been serving Jesus ever since. And now I'm the pastor of this church.
You see, my friends, we are all like little Johnny. Apart from Christ, we're just like little Johnny. We're drowning in an ocean of sin. Sin is pulling us away from God. It's pulling us down to the ground.
It's pulling us literally to the very depths of. Of death and hell itself.
But there is one today who has made the ultimate sacrifice. He died for you. And today you can wave your hand, you can reach out to Jesus and you could say, lord, save me. Save me. I'm also a sinner.
I also need salvation. And if you'll do that today, his word promises, you will be saved. You will be saved. You will be saved. It's a promise from God.
But today, you got to call upon the name of Jesus, ask him to save you and forgive you of your sins. You see, something tragic happened that day on the cross. There were two thieves on the cross.
One received eternal salvation. But the first thief never confessed. Jesus, as Lord, he never got right with God. He died that day so close to salvation, so close to the savior of the world, so close to Jesus. But yet he missed the greatest opportunity of his life.
He hardened his heart and didn't receive that salvation. My friends, you can be so close to Jesus, so close to salvation. But if you don't bend the knee, if you don't soften your heart and say, jesus, I'm also a sinner, save me. You'll miss the greatest opportunity of your life. You can be so close to salvation.
You could be in the house of God this morning. You could be in the very presence of God himself this morning and miss the opportunity? Don't miss it this morning. The Bible tells us that no one is promised tomorrow. In fact, no one's promised your next breath.
We don't know when we will pass from this life to the next. Don't miss this moment. It's not a coincidence. You're here right now. God had you here.
This is your moment. Maybe you're here today, and you don't know Jesus as your lord and savior. In just a moment, I'm going to give you an opportunity to say, lord, save me, forgive me of my sin. And if you'll do that today, the, the word of God promises you will be saved. Maybe there's a second person here today.
You say, chris, I prayed that prayer a long time ago. I asked Jesus to save me a long time ago. But I'm away from God. My life is a mess. I'm in sin.
I'm not right with God, but I want to be right with God. I want to get right with God. Well, today, in just a moment, you can get right with God as well. You can recommit your life to Jesus. Maybe there's a third person here today and you just say, chris, I just don't know if I died today, if I'd go to heaven.
I'm just not sure. But I want to be sure. In just a moment, I'm going to give every single person an opportunity to say yes to Jesus who needs to get right with God. In just a moment, I'm going to count to three, give you that moment, that opportunity to say, hey, that's me. So with every head bowed and every eye closed, it's a very holy moment.
Please, no moving around or talking.
But if you come today and you fall into any one of those three categories in just a moment, I'm going to count to three. And if that's you and you fall into any one of those three categories, I want you to lift your hand so that I can pray for you. If you come today and you say, Chris, I've never received Jesus as my lord and savior, but I want to, I want to commit my life to him today. I want to make that decision to commit my life to him for the first time. In just a moment, when I count to three with every head bowed and every eye closed, if that's you, I want you to lift your hand to heaven.
If you fall into that second category this morning. You prayed that prayer a long time ago, but you're not right with God. You're away from the Lord, you're in sin, you're away from the Lord, and you know, you need to recommit. You know, God is tugging on your heart right now, and you're like, I need to recommit my life to Jesus. Then in just a moment, when I count to three, I want you also to raise your hand to heaven so that I can pray for you to get right with God today.
Maybe you're in that third category today, you say, I just don't know if I died, if I'd go to heaven, but I want you. Well, when I count to three, if that's you, I want you to also raise your hand to heaven so that I can pray for you, so you can leave this place knowing you're saved, your sins are forgiven, and you're on your way to heaven with every head bowed and every eye closed. If you fall into any one of those three categories, on the count of three, I want you to lift your hand to heaven so that I can pray for you to receive that forgiveness and commit your life to Jesus. On the count of three, if you fall into any one of those three categories, lift your hand to heaven right now. One, two, three.
If that's you, yeah. Hands going up. All over. All over. Hallelujah.
Thank you, Jesus. Anyone else? Yep, that's me. That's me, Chris. I need to get right with God.
I want Jesus to forgive me. I want him to forgive me of my sins. Lift your hand to heaven. Do it now if you haven't done so yet. Hallelujah.
There's hands that have gone up everywhere, all over every section. Father, we thank you for these hands. God, I thank you for each and every person with their hand raised right now. Now, this is the holiest moment. I want everyone to please stand, but no moving around or talking.
Just quietly stand to your feet real quick. Real quick. We're almost done. I want to pray for every hand that went up. I want to lead you to Jesus.
I want to make sure. I want to pray with you right here, right now to make sure that you're right with God. And so in just a second, I'm going to count three once more. And if you raise your hand to heaven or you didn't, but you knew you should have. When I count to three, if you raise your hand, I want you to come down here to the front so that I can pray for you.
One, two, three. If you raise your hand, get out of your seat, come down right now. Come on. Come on. Let's put our hands together for those that are coming.
Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Yeah, keep coming. Keep coming.
Keep clapping. They're coming all, all the way from the back. We'll wait for everybody. We'll wait for all of you. Come on, keep coming, keep coming.
Come all the way down, right here to the middle, like. Come on. Come on over. Come on over. Right here to the middle.
Yeah. Praise God, praise God, praise God. Come on, right down here to the front. Hallelujah. That's awesome.
It's awesome. Bless you. Guys. Bless you guys. Bless you.
Bless you guys. Come on. Keep coming. There's more that are raising their hands. There's more still coming.
Come on. Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Jesus. Now, listen, I know that there were some of you that raised your hands, but you're still not up here. You say, Chris, how do you know?
Are you a prophet? No. It's because I saw your hand raised and you're still in your seat. Amen. But I know that sometimes people just need a little encouragement.
And so I'm going to turn all of you into evangelists. Not yet, but when I tell you, I want you to turn to your neighbor on your left and right and say, hey, do you need to be down there? And if they do, I want you to grab them by the hand and bring them down here. Turn to your neighbor on your left and right. I don't care who it is.
It could be a pastor, it could be a sister, a brother, a wife, a husband. Come on. If they need it, bring them down here. Get them down here to the front in Jesus name. Come on.
Let's put our hands together for those that are coming. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Praise the Lord. Here's what we're going to do.
We're going to pray. We're going to pray and we're going to ask Jesus to save us. The Bible says that if we'll confess with our mouth Jesus is Lord and believe in our heart that he's risen from the dead, we will be saved. So I'm going to lead you in a prayer of confession. The power is not in the prayer, it's in you praying it and believing it with your heart.
We're just going to pray and say, lord, save me, forgive me. I'm going to lead you in this prayer. But the power of the prayer is you pray it. This is your moment. This is your moment of saying, lord, I need forgiveness, save me, forgive me.
And according to the Bible, not Chris, not Pastor Darrell, according to the word of God, if you'll do this, your sins are forgiven. Hallelujah. So we're going to pray this prayer and I want you to pray it out loud, okay? I don't want you to. Father in heaven.
No, no, no. We're going to pray out loud. Why? Because I want the devil to hear you pray this prayer because you're telling the devil, devil, I'm done with you. I've come to Jesus.
Amen. And you want all of heaven to hear you pray this prayer as well. So I want you to pray it with all your might this morning. Okay? Let heaven hear you pray this prayer.
And I want you to just close your eyes, lift your hands to heaven like you. You're gonna receive a gift, because you are. And I want everyone in behind them to stretch your hands toward them. And I want everyone here to pray this prayer in support of everyone who has come forward. Let's all pray this prayer together.
Out loud. Repeat after me. Say, Father, today I come to you in the name of Jesus. Forgive me of my sins. Wash them all away.
I believe in Jesus. I believe he died for my sin, and I believe he rose from the dead. Now fill me with your holy spirit. Make me a child of God, and help me to follow you for the rest of my life. In Jesus name I pray.
Amen. Amen. Hallelujah. Hallelujah.
