PARADISE: WHO WANT IT?

2/24/85

PARADISE: WHO WANTS IT?
LUKE 23: 42 - 43

JESUS CHRIST came to seek and to save that which is lost. The
cross was the stage where the final act of the drama of
redemption was played out. What He did there encompassed the
"whosoever" of John 3:16. Even in the agony of the moment He
did not overlook the personal needs of those dying with Him. To
one He said, "Today you will be with me in Paradise."
Come with me to Calvary where His royal red blood flowed across
the grey stones of Golgotha for man the creatures sin. Where
the just one died for the unjust ones. The Holy One of God died
for the unholy sons and daughters of man. Where the Lamb of God
was slain. Where the angles wept and the demons laughed.
His first word from the cross was a priestly one of forgiveness.
His second word is a Kingly one of permanent pardon.
Napoleon was said to have once been studying his maps along with
his generals as they plotted strategy. He forcefully pointed to
Great Britain and said, "If it were not for that spot I would
conquer the whole world."
Were it not for a spot called Calvary, Satan would have
conquered the whole world.
Christ's first statement from the cross involved one
person--Himself. There are three in the second interchange.
I.PROMISE
"Today" = emphatic, this very day. This was spoken in the early
afternoon and fulfilled before sunset.
There is a couplet describing a horseman who has been thrownand
his prayer. It depicts the immediacy of grace:
"Between the stirrup and the ground
Mercy I sought and mercy found."
This refutes the false doctrines of:
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