No Heart too Hard

     If you have a Bible, I would definitely recommend grabbing it for this post. I will be running through a lot of Scripture passages, so having a Bible close by will make some of this a little easier to follow and provide good context.
     We'll start off in Isaiah 53. For those who haven't done much reading in Isaiah, this chapter deals heavily with prophecies concerning the death of Christ. Let me draw your attention to verse 9. The first phrase, speaking of Jesus Christ, is "And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in His death..." Later, in verse 11, it foretells that Christ would be "numbered with the transgressors..." There are two prophecies about the Messiah in these verses; today we will look at the first. Its fulfillment is mentioned in all four Gospel books. Matthew 27:38 reads, "then were there two thieves crucified with [Jesus], one on the right hand, and another on the left." (Mark 15:27, Luke 23:32-33, John 19:18) These passages are prophecy fulfilled. Christ died in the presence of two thieves; He died with the wicked, just as Isaiah foretold.
     Now at this point it is tempting to just move on to the next point. "Okay, He was crucified with two thieves; prophecy fulfilled. Check. Moving on." But this is where we will park for the time being. At first glance, these two criminals are of no incredible consequence; they are just the consummation of another foretelling. Placed there to pay for their crimes and stand as yet another proof that the Scriptures can be trusted, and that Christ really was the Messiah. But God had other ideas.
     These thieves were not just fulfillments of another prophecy. They were human. They had wearily trudged up the same road as Christ, had borne an identical cross, and were bleeding from similar wounds. The only difference between their situation and Christ's is their guilt and His innocence.
     Whenever these two are mentioned, they are labeled as thieves or malefactors. These guys are the ones your parents told you to watch out for. They hung around the bad side of town, robbed innocent people, and were probably involved in a murder or two. But their crimes had caught up with them, the judge's gavel fell, and they were paying for their actions, crucified on the same hill as Christ.
     Despite their own pain and humiliation, their evil nature was alive and well. Mark 15 records the derision of the bystanders, priests, and Pharisees (vv. 29-32). This passage ends with the phrase "And they that were crucified with him reviled him." Matthew says, "The thieves also, which were crucified with him, cast the same in his teeth." (27:44) They took their pain and anger out on Christ. Unable to strike at their tormentors they heaped verbal abuse and sarcastic derision on Jesus. At this point, the two thieves fade out of the accounts given by Matthew, Mark, and John.
     But the book of Luke, written by a meticulous physician by that name, reveals a later episode with the criminals. They have faded out of the other accounts, but these men have one more role to play in the drama of the day (Luke 23:39-43). One of the thieves lets loose another shot at Christ, daring Him to save Himself if He were who He claimed to be. Then, from out of nowhere, the other criminal rebukes the other! We cannot know what caused the change. It may have been Christ's cry of  "Father forgive them!" He may have remembered the miracles Jesus had performed. Maybe he had heard the teachings. Whatever his reasons, this condemned thug suddenly came face to face with the reality of his own guilt. The next few verses show a man who had seen himself for who he was and Christ for who He was.
     Speaking to the other malefactor, he says "Dost thou not fear God, seeing thou art in the same condemnation? And we indeed justly; for we receive the due reward of our deeds:..." He recognizes that he has earned every stitch of his punishment. He has done everything to deserve it. He realizes that, before God and before men, he has nothing to hide behind. His sin and his shame had been laid bare.
     Look at his next words beginning in the latter part of verse 41; "'...but this man hath done nothing amiss.' And he said to Jesus, 'Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom.'" This man not only realized his own sinfulness; he also recognized Christ's innocence and perfection.
     He also recognized exactly who Christ was. Look at how he addresses Jesus. He says "Lord". This word in the original Greek is not just a recognition of superiority; it is a word used in reference to God Himself. This man, humbled by his own guilt, recognized what the scribes and Pharisees in their religious pride had missed. This thief knew full well that the One hanging on the cross beside him was the perfect, sinless Son of God.
     This man has come to grips with his guilt. His pain-wracked body constantly reminds him that death is only hours away. He will soon stand before God and give an account. He knows he has no reason to deserve, expect, or even hope for grace, but he still makes the earnest plea, "Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom." He had reached rock bottom...the only place he could look was up.
     Maybe that's you. I have no idea who will find their way to this post. I have no way of knowing where you are in life. Maybe you are at the point where you have come to grips with your sin. You have heard the truth; Christ died to forgive you of your sins and impute His righteousness to your account. Yet you believe God can't forgive you and, what's more, even if He could, why would He want to? I was there once. Face to face with the fact that my "Christianity" was only an act, I truly believed that I had forfeited my right to salvation.
     If that's you, listen to the answer Christ gives in verse 43. "Verily I say unto thee, To day shalt thou be with me in paradise." Instant forgiveness. Eternal security. Grace. This thief was hours from death; he would not go to Bible college and become a pastor. He would not travel the world sharing the gospel. He had nothing to offer Christ in return for grace. He likely died within the day. All he had was an earnest plea.
     It was at this point in my struggle with my own sin, that I read the verse Romans 5:8, which states that "God commended his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." (emphasis mine) Christ did not die for us because we deserved it or had somehow earned a favor from Him. He died for us because of our inability to save ourselves. I accepted this verse as truth and accepted Christ as Savior on September 12, 2010. What God did in the day of the crucified thief, He still does today. What God did for me, He can and will do for you.
     The application of this account does not only reach to those in need of Christ; it also holds a powerful lesson for the believer. There is no man on earth too far gone or too sinful for God to save. God's grace can crack the hardest heart and build bridges over the deepest chasms of guilt and shame. However, from our limited, finite point of view, it is tempting to pass over certain people in our witnessing for exactly those reasons: they are too sinful to be saved, why would God want anything to do with that person, or those people are just not worth the time and effort. The question I want to pose to you is: where would we be if Christ had said the same about us?
      
    

Lives For Whom He Died

     It has been some time since I have had a chance to post; I have been on vacation with limited Internet access for the last month or so.
     We were in the middle of discussing some of the main reasons we as Christians should feel an obligation to witness. Recapping, the first two facts that should compel our evangelism were as follows: 1) God Himself has commanded us to do so, and 2) we will give an account for our fervency in this area. Today, I want to share the third point in this series. It differs slightly from the previous two in that, while the former posts dealt mainly with our obedience and accountability before God, this post deals with our relationship and obligation towards the lost. Today we will deal with a sobering reality; people are dying and going to Hell.
     Allow me to share some statistics with you. In the time it took you to read the introductory paragraphs of this post, approximately 60 people died and went to Hell. Each time you breathe, on average, ten people die and go to Hell. In the time it takes for you to watch your favorite TV show, 3600 people die and go to Hell. Every night as you sleep, 72,000. Each year, 76,500,000.
     These numbers are estimates made to represent a point, not necessarily exact amounts. These approximate figures are based on conservative estimates of the world's population, average life span, and an approximation of how many people truly know Christ as their Savior. If you do the math, it works out to be about 2 people every second that die and are forever condemned to a Godless eternity. Using this number to calculate a final staggering statistic, if you live to be seventy years of age, over the course of your life, 4,415,040,000 people will have died and gone to Hell. That is slightly under two-thirds of the world's population.
     There is no way to know exactly how many people are unsaved at death. Not only would the exact number of deaths be a nearly impossible statistic to pinpoint, but, also, only God knows the hearts of men. However, my point is simply this: people, regardless of how many, are dying and going to Hell. Eternal souls for whom Christ bled and died are blindly running full bore into the lake of fire.
     Hell itself is a difficult subject for us to dwell on. The Bible paints very dark pictures when referring to this place of judgment. It is described as a place of torment (Luke 16), containing unquenchable fire (Mark 9), where the worm dieth not (Mark 9). It is called a lake of fire and brimstone (Revelation 20); and it is a place of eternal, perpetual suffering (Rev. 20).
     Such horrors we would not wish on even our worst enemies. This is a place in which God reserves the devil and his angels for judgment (2 Peter 2:4, Jude 6). He is unwilling that any should perish (2 Peter 3:9), however, He makes clear that those who reject Him will suffer the consequences of their decision (Luke 16). This is why Christ came; to, by His death, void the consequences of our rebellion against God by taking the punishment and outpouring of God's wrath against sin on Himself. This is the message with which we have been entrusted. If people do not turn to Christ, Hell is the eternity that awaits them. And we are the only means by which people will hear. Romans 10:13-14 says:
     13 For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
     14 How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher? (emphasis mine and pronouns referring to Christ capitalized)
     This passage and others make it clear that people can only be saved by grace through faith in Christ alone, and the only way they will hear the truth is by the faithful witness of those who have accepted the truth. God could very well have sent angels to proclaim the gospel, but He didn't. He could have again sent His Son to proclaim the truth, but He didn't. For some reason that we may never truly understand, He has chosen us. The washed, justified, and sanctified sinners (1 Cor. 6: 9-10). The redeemed (Psalm 107:2). God has chosen to make Christians the instruments by which He makes Himself known to a lost and dying world.
     The vast majority of the people around us do not know Christ. We do not have the luxury of watching from the sidelines. God Himself has given you the message, as well as His authority to deliver it (Matthew 28: 18-20). The question is...will you?