Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:02):
Can a person be saved in the last dying moments.
It's possible. Many people have gone to bed at night
got in their sleep. Many people working around the house
on their job or playing some sport drop dead with
absolutely no warning whatsoever. You know, the Bible says, the
fool is said in his heart there is no God.
I want to tell you about another fool. Another fool
(00:23):
is a person who says, I'm gonna wait till I
come to the end of my life. What a foolish decision, because,
my friend, more thanlikely you don't know when that's gonna be.
Speaker 2 (00:36):
Death is a subject few of us want to talk about,
even though it's an unavoidable reality. Today, on in Touch,
the teaching Ministry of doctor Charles Stanley, we begin a
series of messages reminding us that every believer's responsibility is
to be an agent of God's love and a messenger
of his good news. Let's listen in.
Speaker 1 (00:59):
If you only have we had a few hours to live,
and you knew you were facing death, You're not a Christian,
didn't know.
Speaker 3 (01:08):
How to be saved? What would you do?
Speaker 1 (01:11):
Would you find the Bible somewhere and begin to read?
What would you read? Well, there are multitudes of people
every day all over this world who face death unprepared.
Will God save someone in the last hours of their
life when their life has been absolutely totally wasted and
they have nothing to offer God, Well, that's what I
(01:34):
want to talk about in this message entitled facing Death Unprepared.
And you know what, it just may be that you
may be closer to meeting God than you realize. Not
a single one of us has any assurance of another
second in our life. And so I want you to
listen very carefull of this message because it could be
(01:55):
the difference between where you spend eternity, either with God
forever or separated from Him in torment forever and ever.
So I want you to turn, if you will.
Speaker 3 (02:06):
To Luke.
Speaker 1 (02:06):
Chapter twenty three, verse thirty nine begins and one of
the criminals who were hanged there was hurling abuse at him, saying,
are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us? But
the other answered and rebuking him, said do you not
even fear God? Since you're under the same sentence of condemnation?
(02:29):
And we indeed justly, for we are receiving what we
deserve for our deeds. But this man has done nothing wrong.
And he was saying, Jesus, remember me when you come
into your kingdom. And he said to him, truly, I
say to you today, you shall be with me in Paradise. Now,
(02:49):
crucifixion was Rome's favorite type of execution for the worst
kind of criminals. They would never execute someone who was not.
Speaker 3 (02:59):
Either a slave.
Speaker 1 (03:00):
Give us some degraded kind of criminal, someone who is
in opposition to Rome, some rebel. Now, with all the
blood that they had shed and all the pain and
the awesomeness of what was going through their minds at
that time, and the awesome pain that racked their entire body,
there's something going on here that's interesting, because the scripture said,
(03:20):
is he hanged there between them somewhere between nine o'clock
in the morning and three o'clock in the afternoon, that
both of these men, both in Matthew and Mark, say
that both of these criminals were lashing out of Jesus
and reviling him and blaspheming him. And so what I
want you to see is when this begins, both of
these men are guilty of the same. And oftentimes we
(03:43):
look at the passage and we say, well, one of
them was saying something about Jesus, and the.
Speaker 3 (03:48):
Other one was not.
Speaker 1 (03:49):
The twenty seventh chapter of Matthew, verse four to four says,
and the robbers, both of them also, who had been
crucified with him, were casting the same insults at him.
So they both begin their crucifixion with casting insults at
the Lord Jesus.
Speaker 3 (04:06):
But I want you to see something interesting here, and
that is this.
Speaker 1 (04:08):
Something happened to one of these criminals, not both of them,
but one of them. Somehow, as he listens and begins
to observe what's going on, something happens on the inside
of him, and ultimately this man, in his dying hours,
becomes a follower of Jesus Christ. He becomes a believer
(04:29):
in our Lord. I want you to notice what happens
here because I believe one of the evidences of his
salvation is so clear. In the very beginning. Here's a
man who only has a very very few hours to live.
What we find happening here. Look, if you will, one
(04:49):
of these criminals says to Jesus. He says, are you
not the Christ? Save yourself and save us? And what
he's saying is get us down from here. If you
be the Messiah. But the other answered and rebuking him, said,
do you not even fear God? Since you are under
the same sentence of condemnation?
Speaker 3 (05:09):
What is he doing?
Speaker 1 (05:09):
All of a sudden, this man who's been railing upon
Jesus now begins to rebuke his fellow criminal, and he says,
don't you have any fear of God?
Speaker 3 (05:20):
Why are you rebuking this mind?
Speaker 1 (05:21):
Why do you keep blaspheming this man when this man
has done nothing.
Speaker 3 (05:25):
So notice first thing that's happening.
Speaker 1 (05:28):
He is rebuking a man who is blaspheming the Lord Jesus.
The second thing he's doing is admitting his own guilt.
I think there's the third reason that we can believe
he was save, and that is this that he expressed
the most awesome kind.
Speaker 3 (05:43):
Of faith in Jesus. Now think about this for a moment.
Speaker 1 (05:47):
Here he is watching Jesus die, and he knows what
he's suffering and what he's feeling, and that he knows
his life is very short. And now he's looking at
the Lord Jesus Christ on one side of him or
the other, and he knows that he's suffering the same death,
that he's feeling the same kind of pain. And this
man also is going to die. And what is he saying.
(06:09):
He's saying, remember me, when you come into your kingdom. Well,
he's dying. What kind of faith is this that he
could say to a man who is dying, remember me,
when you come into your kingdom. You know what, when
I look at this man's faith, I'm not sure I
have as much faith as he had. You and I
have faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, because.
Speaker 3 (06:30):
We have the written word of God.
Speaker 1 (06:32):
We have seen the lives of other people change, but
we've never seen God. We've never seen Jesus in the flesh.
You and I have taken the revelation of God given
to us to the scriptures, and we have expressed faith
in the truthfulness of His word, and the Holy Spirit
is born witness to us that it is truth. We
placed that faith in Jesus Christ, and we were saved.
Here's a man who is looking at another dying man
(06:54):
who never saw a Bible, who never had the scriptures
as you and I have them, who lived the life
of sin and this obedience and rebellion against God and
against Rome and against his own people. And what is
he doing looking at another dying man and expressing faith
that somehow there's something about this man that can save
him when he breathes his last breath. That is an
(07:16):
awesome expression of faith. Remember me, when you come into
your kingdom. It also says that he believed this man
had some kind of supernatural power, that not only was
he being crucified, but somehow, when he got through this crucifixion,
he was going to be able to rescue him. How
is he going to be able to rescue him? And
(07:36):
both of them to stretched out on the cross. There
was no human visible evidence that this man, who was
also dying, could do anything for him, except that something began.
Speaker 3 (07:47):
To happen in his heart.
Speaker 1 (07:48):
From his blasphemous language, now it is the language of
a man confessing his sinfulness, confessing his unworthiness, confessing that
he was justified in being crucified, and calling out to
a man whom he does not know in this dying hours,
asking this man to save him, save him.
Speaker 3 (08:08):
Listen.
Speaker 1 (08:09):
He didn't ask get me down from the cross. He
didn't say rescue me from being crucified. He said, when
you come into your kingdom, remember me. What an awesome
sense of faith he had any question in my mind
about him being saved, absolutely not. And if there were
any question up to this point, this would have settled
it all because Jesus said in return to him, he says,
(08:31):
today today thou shall be with me in paradise. But
listen how he said it. The Bible says he says, truly,
I said to you. That word means assuredly. Listen, Whenever
Jesus says I assure you of something, you can bet
that all of Heaven stood behind that. What a statement
Jesus made to him. If there's any question in your
(08:54):
mind as to whether this man is saved or not, listen,
would you question your salvation? If you stood faced face
to Jesus and he said and called your name and
said today you're going to be with men paradise, you
would never even begin to think about questioning your salvation experience.
Here is the promise of redemption. On those three crosses.
(09:14):
We see redemption taking place right before our eyes. Amidst
all the blood and the agony and the pain and
the suffering and the hurt. There's something absolutely fantastic and
glorious and heavenly and redemptive going on.
Speaker 3 (09:27):
What is it a man who is a sinner who.
Speaker 1 (09:30):
Is absolutely totally helpless, who can do nothing for himself whatsoever,
is being saved right in front of a mocking crowd.
His name is being written in the Lamb's book of Life.
I'll tell you everything in Heaven must have been rejoicing
that day. Here's one man dying in his sin, here's
another man dying for sin, and here's one being saved
(09:50):
out of his sin, his promise of everlasting, an eternal
life in the presence of God. Remember what the apostle
Paul said in Second Grandon, chapter five, when he was
talking about death. He said, absent from the body, what
present with the Lord, that when our old heart takes
the last time, we breathe our last breath, and God
(10:11):
calls us home, he says, absent from the body, present
with the Lord, we're not going at you on to
somewhere and they're going to put us in some grave
or some mausoleum, and we're going to stay the body,
soul and spirit for a thousand years or one hundred years,
one hundred days, one hundred minutes, one hundred second, or
one single solitary second, because you cannot bury.
Speaker 3 (10:29):
A child of God.
Speaker 1 (10:31):
That man listen, went from a prison to a cross
to glory in just a matter of a few hours.
Did God save him? Absolutely? Why did he save him?
Had absolutely nothing to do with anything within him. So
the evidence of his salvation is crystal clear. Now the
big question you and I have to ask is wewell,
how was he saved? He didn't say, Lord, Jesus, will
(10:54):
you forgive me of my sin? He'd already said, we
justly deserve what was coming to us, and so he
was confessing his sinfulness. He didn't sour realize that you're
the lamb of God that has come to take away
the sin of the world. But he did recognize that
he was the son of God. He accepted that even
in the accusations of these people.
Speaker 3 (11:13):
He said, Jesus save you.
Speaker 1 (11:15):
Remember me when you come into your kingdom. How did
this man get saved? Here he is in the last
moments of life, his life, and you know what, he
got saved the same way you and I did, by
the grace of Almighty God.
Speaker 3 (11:31):
Listen to what Paul said.
Speaker 1 (11:32):
He said, for by grace that you saved through faith,
and that not of yourselves.
Speaker 3 (11:37):
It is the gift of God, not of works.
Speaker 1 (11:39):
Less than you men should boast if there is a
single past description in all the Bible that proves what
Grace has read all about here it is he says,
for by grace, God's goodness and love and mercy and
kindness told us, without regard to our worth are our deeds,
and in spite of what we deserve, he said, or
(12:00):
by grace, you've been saved through faith, that not of yourselves,
not of works. That's the intervention both. How was this
man saved? It was the grace of God. Because you see,
he couldn't earn it.
Speaker 3 (12:10):
He was dying.
Speaker 1 (12:10):
He didn't have time, He couldn't behave in a certain way.
He didn't have time. He couldn't perform anythe each because
he didn't have time. He couldn't be baptized because there
was not going to be the baptismal experience that day.
There's not a single solitary thing this man could do.
The only thing he could do is receive the grace
(12:31):
of God by faith in Jesus Christ. He said, Jesus,
remember me when you come into your kingdom, indicating he
believed that he was a king, he believed that he
was the savior. He believed in life after death. He
believed in his God. He believed that on the other
side he was going to be with him. He manifest
his faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. And the only
(12:52):
thing that saved that man was simply this that he
was willing to accept by faith, the grace of God
and resis the Lord Jesus Christ as his personal savior
plus nothing.
Speaker 3 (13:04):
And you know what that does away with?
Speaker 1 (13:07):
My friend, Listen, all these folk who are going to
stand before God one of these days and say, well,
I believe He's going to weigh my good against my bad,
and my good's going to outweigh my bad. Therefore I'm
going to be saved. Nothing, absolutely nothing but the grace
of God. What can wash away our sins? Nothing but
the blood of Jesus. And that day that man was saved,
(13:27):
what he was saved of the blood of Jesus. Because listen,
that was God's instrument, the blood of Jesus.
Speaker 3 (13:35):
What did he do? He received the message of salvation.
Speaker 1 (13:39):
He received this man not understanding that he was the
lamb of God taking giving his life for the sins
of the whole world.
Speaker 3 (13:46):
He was saved with the grace of God.
Speaker 1 (13:48):
The day that Jesus Christ was crucified when his blood
was shed. That blood atoned for the sin of everybody
from Adam all the way to the last person who
is born on the face of this earth before the
Lord Jesus Christ comes.
Speaker 4 (14:01):
That's how powerful that crucifixion was. How was he saved
by faith through the Lord Jesus Christ. So we asked
the question, cant a person be saved late in life? Yes,
cant a person be saved in the last dying moments?
It's possible.
Speaker 1 (14:18):
Somebody that says, well something, I'm glad to hear that,
because that's how long I'm gonna wait. Let me ask
you a question. Who says you're gonna wait? Who says
you have any time you're gonna wait?
Speaker 3 (14:31):
How long?
Speaker 1 (14:33):
You see, there's not a single one of us who
knows which tick of the heart is going to be
the last one? You know, the Bible says the fool
is said in his heart there is no God. I'm
gonna tell you about another fool. Another fool is the
person who says, I'm gonna wait till I come to
the end of my life. What a foolish decision, Because
(14:54):
my friend, more than likely you don't know when that's
gonna be. I'll tell you something else that's danger about that,
and that's this, just because you have time doesn't mean
that you'll receive Jesus.
Speaker 3 (15:07):
Because there are people.
Speaker 1 (15:07):
Who come to this point in their life where they
know they're going to die, and you talk to them
about the Lord, and here's what they say.
Speaker 3 (15:13):
They say, Well, now you mean to tell me that
I have.
Speaker 1 (15:16):
Lived all of my life and I've rejected Jesus, and
I rebelled against the Church, not interested in the Bible
and not interested in spiritual things.
Speaker 3 (15:22):
You mean to tell me that God will accept me. Now,
I don't believe that. I don't believe that God will
accept me. Now.
Speaker 1 (15:28):
I know that I may die and go to Hell,
but I just don't believe that God will accept me.
Speaker 5 (15:31):
Now.
Speaker 1 (15:32):
I've wasted my whole life, and you mean to tell me,
these last hours of my life and I have nothing
to offer and I can do nothing for him, that
he's going to save me. Yes, it's possible, but the
tragedy is this that many people can not believe even
on their deathbed. Another danger is this that a person
(15:55):
may have time, but they have absolutely no desire to
be saved. I want to tell you about a real danger,
my friend, which the Bible warns is against.
Speaker 3 (16:07):
And that's this harden not your heart.
Speaker 1 (16:11):
When you reject the Lord Jesus Christ, you reject the Gospel,
you reject the Church, you reject God, you reject the Bible,
you reject sermons, you reject your friends who witness to you.
I want to remind you of something. Just because you
may come to the end of life and you think, well,
I've got a little time and i'll settle it. Then
I want to remind you of something the Bible warns
(16:32):
us against, the hardened heart.
Speaker 3 (16:33):
Here's what a hardened heart says.
Speaker 1 (16:35):
Not interested. I'm not interested in that. I don't believe
in all that stuff. I don't care about it. If
I die, just die and that's the end of me.
Speaker 3 (16:41):
That's it. Their heart is so hardened. Listen, they can't believe.
Speaker 1 (16:47):
You say, well, want the Lord Jesus Christ save anybody
who cries out to him. Jesus Christ will save anyone
who cries out to him in genuine confession of faith
in him. Yes, in the last hours of a person's life,
when they've wasted it all, can they be saved? Yes,
then why not wait because you don't know when it's
(17:09):
going to be. You may not have the opportunity, you
may not have the desire. Your heart may be so hard,
and you cannot because you have said no for so long.
The question is will God save a man late in life? Absolutely? Yes,
you mean when he's wasted his whole life and has
nothing else to give God?
Speaker 3 (17:28):
Yes? How long has the Holy Spirit been wooing him
all of his life? But is it wise, my friend,
to wait? Never?
Speaker 1 (17:37):
This is why the Bible doesn't say the whole tomorrow
is the day of salvation, but rather today, and while
you have time, I want to encourage you to consider
several things. Number One, one of these days you're going
to fall into the hands of the Living God. That
is an absolute truth that cannot be altered under any condition.
(17:58):
It doesn't make this what you believe, what you think,
what you feel about the Bible has nothing to do
with it. You and I will stand in the presence
of the Living God. Those who receive Jesus Christ as
their personal savior will be welcome into glory. Those who
stand before him with all their excuses. I want to
tell you something, my friend. When you and I stand
(18:19):
in the presence of an almighty God. If you stand
in his presence as a person who's rejected him, you
will be standing in the presence of.
Speaker 3 (18:26):
The Lord Jesus Christ.
Speaker 1 (18:27):
It will be the most horrible, indescribable, terrifying experience. There
will be no excuses, there will be no defense, only
condemnation and judgment. And my friends, your unbelief in your
doubt is not going to keep you from the judgment.
I want to tell you how you can settle once
and for all your eternity. You don't have to wait
(18:47):
till your last dying moments. You can settle it right now.
So I want to tell you how to do that, soul,
no matter what happens and where you are in life,
I would certainly hope you'd be wise enough to do
it now. So here's what I'm going to do. Going
to pray a simple prayer. And if you pray this
prayer to the Father with me, you can be saved
right now, where you sit, where you stand, where you drive,
(19:11):
where you may be listening, you can be saved.
Speaker 3 (19:14):
Settle this once and for all right now, this is
the prayer. Will you pray this to the.
Speaker 1 (19:21):
Father Heavenly Father, I confess to you that I'm a sinner.
I do believe that Jesus died for my sins. I
am receiving Jesus Christ as my personal savior here and now.
(19:44):
Thank you for making me one of.
Speaker 3 (19:45):
Your children by the power of the Holy Spirit. I
want to live for you all the days of my
life in Jesus' name. Amen.
Speaker 2 (20:07):
You're listening to in Touch, the teaching ministry of doctor
Charles Stanley. If you now understand the sacrifice Jesus made
for you, and if you trusted him to remove the
penalty of your sin, we want to help you get
started in the most important relationship of your life. Visit
us at in touch dot org to learn more about
(20:27):
what it means to be a Christian and to find
a variety of resources on living the Christian life. Or
review what you just heard by following the link to
Today on Radio and you can get a copy of
Today's complete message over at the bookstore. The title is
Facing Death Unprepared. Or order our teaching set The Reach
(20:47):
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If you prefer, you can write to us at in
Touch Post Office Box seventy nine hundred, Atlanta, Georgia, three
zero three five seven. Who do you call on first
(21:09):
when you face a challenge? Think about that and stay
with us for today's moment with Charles Stanley.
Speaker 3 (21:16):
It's just ahead.
Speaker 1 (21:17):
You've got to be willing to set a sad time.
Speaker 3 (21:19):
That's real victory.
Speaker 6 (21:20):
Just imagine what it would have been like to look
over doctor Stanley's shoulder as he was spending time with
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With photos of his Bibles, resources, and handwritten notes, this
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(21:42):
now go to InTouch dot org slash store.
Speaker 5 (21:47):
Trusting God each day can be a challenge, but working
to grow that trust brings greater joy and peace than
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with today the three hundred and sixty five Day of
Emotion from the teachings of doctor Charles Stanley, we are
encouraged to believe in God's love and rest in his
purpose for us order today at in touch dot org
(22:11):
slash store.
Speaker 2 (22:16):
You're listening to in touch Confusion, Fear, discouragement. They are
no match for the Holy Spirit. With a reminder for believers,
here's a moment with Charles Stanley.
Speaker 3 (22:29):
Isn't amazing how we as believe?
Speaker 1 (22:31):
As oftentimes we say, oh, I believe the Bible from
cover to cover. We read the verses and we see
what they say, but when it comes to applying it
to our life, we don't do it.
Speaker 3 (22:41):
Think about this.
Speaker 1 (22:42):
You have this adequate available Holy Spirit, who is omnipotent,
has all power, can handle every situation. And you go
call on your mother, are calling someone else, are asking
somebody else.
Speaker 3 (22:54):
Why don't you call on him?
Speaker 5 (22:56):
You know what?
Speaker 1 (22:57):
Most people call on God? Tell me when they've called
on everybody else and they can't help him. Listen, He's
living on the inside of you. This is practical, This
is real, and one of the reasons you don't have
the joy that God wants you to have and the
peace he wants you to have. He does want his
children full of anxiety and fretting and fuming about the
future and security and all these other things. He's already
(23:20):
taken care of every bit of that, and you say, well,
what about these troubles he allows me to go through
just to demonstrate this awesome love for you.
Speaker 3 (23:27):
That's one of the reasons. And what does it do.
It drives us to God. And listen to this. Whatever
drives you and me to God's good for us.
Speaker 1 (23:35):
Whatever drives us to God is good for us, because
He'll work it out in such a way He'll turn
it for our good.
Speaker 3 (23:40):
Every single time.
Speaker 2 (23:44):
You can learn more about how to live for God
when you visit us in touch dot org. How are
you challenged to live for God by what you heard today?
We'd love to hear about that tomorrow on in Touch.
Jesus knows how much you hurt. He knows what you've
been through. Learn about the comfort and compassion of the
Lord in part two of the Reach of God's Love.
(24:08):
I hope you'll join us Tuesday four in Touch the
teaching ministry of doctor Charles Stanley. This program is a
presentation of in Touch Ministries Atlanta, Georgia and remains on
this station through the grace of God and your faithful
prayers and gifts.
Can a person be saved in the last dying moments.
It's possible. Many people have gone to bed at night
got in their sleep. Many people working around the house
on their job or playing some sport drop dead with
absolutely no warning whatsoever. You know, the Bible says, the
fool is said in his heart there is no God.
I want to tell you about another fool. Another fool
(00:23):
is a person who says, I'm gonna wait till I
come to the end of my life. What a foolish decision, because,
my friend, more thanlikely you don't know when that's gonna be.
Speaker 2 (00:36):
Death is a subject few of us want to talk about,
even though it's an unavoidable reality. Today, on in Touch,
the teaching Ministry of doctor Charles Stanley, we begin a
series of messages reminding us that every believer's responsibility is
to be an agent of God's love and a messenger
of his good news. Let's listen in.
Speaker 1 (00:59):
If you only have we had a few hours to live,
and you knew you were facing death, You're not a Christian,
didn't know.
Speaker 3 (01:08):
How to be saved? What would you do?
Speaker 1 (01:11):
Would you find the Bible somewhere and begin to read?
What would you read? Well, there are multitudes of people
every day all over this world who face death unprepared.
Will God save someone in the last hours of their
life when their life has been absolutely totally wasted and
they have nothing to offer God, Well, that's what I
(01:34):
want to talk about in this message entitled facing Death Unprepared.
And you know what, it just may be that you
may be closer to meeting God than you realize. Not
a single one of us has any assurance of another
second in our life. And so I want you to
listen very carefull of this message because it could be
(01:55):
the difference between where you spend eternity, either with God
forever or separated from Him in torment forever and ever.
So I want you to turn, if you will.
Speaker 3 (02:06):
To Luke.
Speaker 1 (02:06):
Chapter twenty three, verse thirty nine begins and one of
the criminals who were hanged there was hurling abuse at him, saying,
are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us? But
the other answered and rebuking him, said do you not
even fear God? Since you're under the same sentence of condemnation?
(02:29):
And we indeed justly, for we are receiving what we
deserve for our deeds. But this man has done nothing wrong.
And he was saying, Jesus, remember me when you come
into your kingdom. And he said to him, truly, I
say to you today, you shall be with me in Paradise. Now,
(02:49):
crucifixion was Rome's favorite type of execution for the worst
kind of criminals. They would never execute someone who was not.
Speaker 3 (02:59):
Either a slave.
Speaker 1 (03:00):
Give us some degraded kind of criminal, someone who is
in opposition to Rome, some rebel. Now, with all the
blood that they had shed and all the pain and
the awesomeness of what was going through their minds at
that time, and the awesome pain that racked their entire body,
there's something going on here that's interesting, because the scripture said,
(03:20):
is he hanged there between them somewhere between nine o'clock
in the morning and three o'clock in the afternoon, that
both of these men, both in Matthew and Mark, say
that both of these criminals were lashing out of Jesus
and reviling him and blaspheming him. And so what I
want you to see is when this begins, both of
these men are guilty of the same. And oftentimes we
(03:43):
look at the passage and we say, well, one of
them was saying something about Jesus, and the.
Speaker 3 (03:48):
Other one was not.
Speaker 1 (03:49):
The twenty seventh chapter of Matthew, verse four to four says,
and the robbers, both of them also, who had been
crucified with him, were casting the same insults at him.
So they both begin their crucifixion with casting insults at
the Lord Jesus.
Speaker 3 (04:06):
But I want you to see something interesting here, and
that is this.
Speaker 1 (04:08):
Something happened to one of these criminals, not both of them,
but one of them. Somehow, as he listens and begins
to observe what's going on, something happens on the inside
of him, and ultimately this man, in his dying hours,
becomes a follower of Jesus Christ. He becomes a believer
(04:29):
in our Lord. I want you to notice what happens
here because I believe one of the evidences of his
salvation is so clear. In the very beginning. Here's a
man who only has a very very few hours to live.
What we find happening here. Look, if you will, one
(04:49):
of these criminals says to Jesus. He says, are you
not the Christ? Save yourself and save us? And what
he's saying is get us down from here. If you
be the Messiah. But the other answered and rebuking him, said,
do you not even fear God? Since you are under
the same sentence of condemnation?
Speaker 3 (05:09):
What is he doing?
Speaker 1 (05:09):
All of a sudden, this man who's been railing upon
Jesus now begins to rebuke his fellow criminal, and he says,
don't you have any fear of God?
Speaker 3 (05:20):
Why are you rebuking this mind?
Speaker 1 (05:21):
Why do you keep blaspheming this man when this man
has done nothing.
Speaker 3 (05:25):
So notice first thing that's happening.
Speaker 1 (05:28):
He is rebuking a man who is blaspheming the Lord Jesus.
The second thing he's doing is admitting his own guilt.
I think there's the third reason that we can believe
he was save, and that is this that he expressed
the most awesome kind.
Speaker 3 (05:43):
Of faith in Jesus. Now think about this for a moment.
Speaker 1 (05:47):
Here he is watching Jesus die, and he knows what
he's suffering and what he's feeling, and that he knows
his life is very short. And now he's looking at
the Lord Jesus Christ on one side of him or
the other, and he knows that he's suffering the same death,
that he's feeling the same kind of pain. And this
man also is going to die. And what is he saying.
(06:09):
He's saying, remember me, when you come into your kingdom. Well,
he's dying. What kind of faith is this that he
could say to a man who is dying, remember me,
when you come into your kingdom. You know what, when
I look at this man's faith, I'm not sure I
have as much faith as he had. You and I
have faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, because.
Speaker 3 (06:30):
We have the written word of God.
Speaker 1 (06:32):
We have seen the lives of other people change, but
we've never seen God. We've never seen Jesus in the flesh.
You and I have taken the revelation of God given
to us to the scriptures, and we have expressed faith
in the truthfulness of His word, and the Holy Spirit
is born witness to us that it is truth. We
placed that faith in Jesus Christ, and we were saved.
Here's a man who is looking at another dying man
(06:54):
who never saw a Bible, who never had the scriptures
as you and I have them, who lived the life
of sin and this obedience and rebellion against God and
against Rome and against his own people. And what is
he doing looking at another dying man and expressing faith
that somehow there's something about this man that can save
him when he breathes his last breath. That is an
(07:16):
awesome expression of faith. Remember me, when you come into
your kingdom. It also says that he believed this man
had some kind of supernatural power, that not only was
he being crucified, but somehow, when he got through this crucifixion,
he was going to be able to rescue him. How
is he going to be able to rescue him? And
(07:36):
both of them to stretched out on the cross. There
was no human visible evidence that this man, who was
also dying, could do anything for him, except that something began.
Speaker 3 (07:47):
To happen in his heart.
Speaker 1 (07:48):
From his blasphemous language, now it is the language of
a man confessing his sinfulness, confessing his unworthiness, confessing that
he was justified in being crucified, and calling out to
a man whom he does not know in this dying hours,
asking this man to save him, save him.
Speaker 3 (08:08):
Listen.
Speaker 1 (08:09):
He didn't ask get me down from the cross. He
didn't say rescue me from being crucified. He said, when
you come into your kingdom, remember me. What an awesome
sense of faith he had any question in my mind
about him being saved, absolutely not. And if there were
any question up to this point, this would have settled
it all because Jesus said in return to him, he says,
(08:31):
today today thou shall be with me in paradise. But
listen how he said it. The Bible says he says, truly,
I said to you. That word means assuredly. Listen, Whenever
Jesus says I assure you of something, you can bet
that all of Heaven stood behind that. What a statement
Jesus made to him. If there's any question in your
(08:54):
mind as to whether this man is saved or not, listen,
would you question your salvation? If you stood faced face
to Jesus and he said and called your name and
said today you're going to be with men paradise, you
would never even begin to think about questioning your salvation experience.
Here is the promise of redemption. On those three crosses.
(09:14):
We see redemption taking place right before our eyes. Amidst
all the blood and the agony and the pain and
the suffering and the hurt. There's something absolutely fantastic and
glorious and heavenly and redemptive going on.
Speaker 3 (09:27):
What is it a man who is a sinner who.
Speaker 1 (09:30):
Is absolutely totally helpless, who can do nothing for himself whatsoever,
is being saved right in front of a mocking crowd.
His name is being written in the Lamb's book of Life.
I'll tell you everything in Heaven must have been rejoicing
that day. Here's one man dying in his sin, here's
another man dying for sin, and here's one being saved
(09:50):
out of his sin, his promise of everlasting, an eternal
life in the presence of God. Remember what the apostle
Paul said in Second Grandon, chapter five, when he was
talking about death. He said, absent from the body, what
present with the Lord, that when our old heart takes
the last time, we breathe our last breath, and God
(10:11):
calls us home, he says, absent from the body, present
with the Lord, we're not going at you on to
somewhere and they're going to put us in some grave
or some mausoleum, and we're going to stay the body,
soul and spirit for a thousand years or one hundred years,
one hundred days, one hundred minutes, one hundred second, or
one single solitary second, because you cannot bury.
Speaker 3 (10:29):
A child of God.
Speaker 1 (10:31):
That man listen, went from a prison to a cross
to glory in just a matter of a few hours.
Did God save him? Absolutely? Why did he save him?
Had absolutely nothing to do with anything within him. So
the evidence of his salvation is crystal clear. Now the
big question you and I have to ask is wewell,
how was he saved? He didn't say, Lord, Jesus, will
(10:54):
you forgive me of my sin? He'd already said, we
justly deserve what was coming to us, and so he
was confessing his sinfulness. He didn't sour realize that you're
the lamb of God that has come to take away
the sin of the world. But he did recognize that
he was the son of God. He accepted that even
in the accusations of these people.
Speaker 3 (11:13):
He said, Jesus save you.
Speaker 1 (11:15):
Remember me when you come into your kingdom. How did
this man get saved? Here he is in the last
moments of life, his life, and you know what, he
got saved the same way you and I did, by
the grace of Almighty God.
Speaker 3 (11:31):
Listen to what Paul said.
Speaker 1 (11:32):
He said, for by grace that you saved through faith,
and that not of yourselves.
Speaker 3 (11:37):
It is the gift of God, not of works.
Speaker 1 (11:39):
Less than you men should boast if there is a
single past description in all the Bible that proves what
Grace has read all about here it is he says,
for by grace, God's goodness and love and mercy and
kindness told us, without regard to our worth are our deeds,
and in spite of what we deserve, he said, or
(12:00):
by grace, you've been saved through faith, that not of yourselves,
not of works. That's the intervention both. How was this
man saved? It was the grace of God. Because you see,
he couldn't earn it.
Speaker 3 (12:10):
He was dying.
Speaker 1 (12:10):
He didn't have time, He couldn't behave in a certain way.
He didn't have time. He couldn't perform anythe each because
he didn't have time. He couldn't be baptized because there
was not going to be the baptismal experience that day.
There's not a single solitary thing this man could do.
The only thing he could do is receive the grace
(12:31):
of God by faith in Jesus Christ. He said, Jesus,
remember me when you come into your kingdom, indicating he
believed that he was a king, he believed that he
was the savior. He believed in life after death. He
believed in his God. He believed that on the other
side he was going to be with him. He manifest
his faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. And the only
(12:52):
thing that saved that man was simply this that he
was willing to accept by faith, the grace of God
and resis the Lord Jesus Christ as his personal savior
plus nothing.
Speaker 3 (13:04):
And you know what that does away with?
Speaker 1 (13:07):
My friend, Listen, all these folk who are going to
stand before God one of these days and say, well,
I believe He's going to weigh my good against my bad,
and my good's going to outweigh my bad. Therefore I'm
going to be saved. Nothing, absolutely nothing but the grace
of God. What can wash away our sins? Nothing but
the blood of Jesus. And that day that man was saved,
(13:27):
what he was saved of the blood of Jesus. Because listen,
that was God's instrument, the blood of Jesus.
Speaker 3 (13:35):
What did he do? He received the message of salvation.
Speaker 1 (13:39):
He received this man not understanding that he was the
lamb of God taking giving his life for the sins
of the whole world.
Speaker 3 (13:46):
He was saved with the grace of God.
Speaker 1 (13:48):
The day that Jesus Christ was crucified when his blood
was shed. That blood atoned for the sin of everybody
from Adam all the way to the last person who
is born on the face of this earth before the
Lord Jesus Christ comes.
Speaker 4 (14:01):
That's how powerful that crucifixion was. How was he saved
by faith through the Lord Jesus Christ. So we asked
the question, cant a person be saved late in life? Yes,
cant a person be saved in the last dying moments?
It's possible.
Speaker 1 (14:18):
Somebody that says, well something, I'm glad to hear that,
because that's how long I'm gonna wait. Let me ask
you a question. Who says you're gonna wait? Who says
you have any time you're gonna wait?
Speaker 3 (14:31):
How long?
Speaker 1 (14:33):
You see, there's not a single one of us who
knows which tick of the heart is going to be
the last one? You know, the Bible says the fool
is said in his heart there is no God. I'm
gonna tell you about another fool. Another fool is the
person who says, I'm gonna wait till I come to
the end of my life. What a foolish decision, Because
(14:54):
my friend, more than likely you don't know when that's
gonna be. I'll tell you something else that's danger about that,
and that's this, just because you have time doesn't mean
that you'll receive Jesus.
Speaker 3 (15:07):
Because there are people.
Speaker 1 (15:07):
Who come to this point in their life where they
know they're going to die, and you talk to them
about the Lord, and here's what they say.
Speaker 3 (15:13):
They say, Well, now you mean to tell me that
I have.
Speaker 1 (15:16):
Lived all of my life and I've rejected Jesus, and
I rebelled against the Church, not interested in the Bible
and not interested in spiritual things.
Speaker 3 (15:22):
You mean to tell me that God will accept me. Now,
I don't believe that. I don't believe that God will
accept me. Now.
Speaker 1 (15:28):
I know that I may die and go to Hell,
but I just don't believe that God will accept me.
Speaker 5 (15:31):
Now.
Speaker 1 (15:32):
I've wasted my whole life, and you mean to tell me,
these last hours of my life and I have nothing
to offer and I can do nothing for him, that
he's going to save me. Yes, it's possible, but the
tragedy is this that many people can not believe even
on their deathbed. Another danger is this that a person
(15:55):
may have time, but they have absolutely no desire to
be saved. I want to tell you about a real danger,
my friend, which the Bible warns is against.
Speaker 3 (16:07):
And that's this harden not your heart.
Speaker 1 (16:11):
When you reject the Lord Jesus Christ, you reject the Gospel,
you reject the Church, you reject God, you reject the Bible,
you reject sermons, you reject your friends who witness to you.
I want to remind you of something. Just because you
may come to the end of life and you think, well,
I've got a little time and i'll settle it. Then
I want to remind you of something the Bible warns
(16:32):
us against, the hardened heart.
Speaker 3 (16:33):
Here's what a hardened heart says.
Speaker 1 (16:35):
Not interested. I'm not interested in that. I don't believe
in all that stuff. I don't care about it. If
I die, just die and that's the end of me.
Speaker 3 (16:41):
That's it. Their heart is so hardened. Listen, they can't believe.
Speaker 1 (16:47):
You say, well, want the Lord Jesus Christ save anybody
who cries out to him. Jesus Christ will save anyone
who cries out to him in genuine confession of faith
in him. Yes, in the last hours of a person's life,
when they've wasted it all, can they be saved? Yes,
then why not wait because you don't know when it's
(17:09):
going to be. You may not have the opportunity, you
may not have the desire. Your heart may be so hard,
and you cannot because you have said no for so long.
The question is will God save a man late in life? Absolutely? Yes,
you mean when he's wasted his whole life and has
nothing else to give God?
Speaker 3 (17:28):
Yes? How long has the Holy Spirit been wooing him
all of his life? But is it wise, my friend,
to wait? Never?
Speaker 1 (17:37):
This is why the Bible doesn't say the whole tomorrow
is the day of salvation, but rather today, and while
you have time, I want to encourage you to consider
several things. Number One, one of these days you're going
to fall into the hands of the Living God. That
is an absolute truth that cannot be altered under any condition.
(17:58):
It doesn't make this what you believe, what you think,
what you feel about the Bible has nothing to do
with it. You and I will stand in the presence
of the Living God. Those who receive Jesus Christ as
their personal savior will be welcome into glory. Those who
stand before him with all their excuses. I want to
tell you something, my friend. When you and I stand
(18:19):
in the presence of an almighty God. If you stand
in his presence as a person who's rejected him, you
will be standing in the presence of.
Speaker 3 (18:26):
The Lord Jesus Christ.
Speaker 1 (18:27):
It will be the most horrible, indescribable, terrifying experience. There
will be no excuses, there will be no defense, only
condemnation and judgment. And my friends, your unbelief in your
doubt is not going to keep you from the judgment.
I want to tell you how you can settle once
and for all your eternity. You don't have to wait
(18:47):
till your last dying moments. You can settle it right now.
So I want to tell you how to do that, soul,
no matter what happens and where you are in life,
I would certainly hope you'd be wise enough to do
it now. So here's what I'm going to do. Going
to pray a simple prayer. And if you pray this
prayer to the Father with me, you can be saved
right now, where you sit, where you stand, where you drive,
(19:11):
where you may be listening, you can be saved.
Speaker 3 (19:14):
Settle this once and for all right now, this is
the prayer. Will you pray this to the.
Speaker 1 (19:21):
Father Heavenly Father, I confess to you that I'm a sinner.
I do believe that Jesus died for my sins. I
am receiving Jesus Christ as my personal savior here and now.
(19:44):
Thank you for making me one of.
Speaker 3 (19:45):
Your children by the power of the Holy Spirit. I
want to live for you all the days of my
life in Jesus' name. Amen.
Speaker 2 (20:07):
You're listening to in Touch, the teaching ministry of doctor
Charles Stanley. If you now understand the sacrifice Jesus made
for you, and if you trusted him to remove the
penalty of your sin, we want to help you get
started in the most important relationship of your life. Visit
us at in touch dot org to learn more about
(20:27):
what it means to be a Christian and to find
a variety of resources on living the Christian life. Or
review what you just heard by following the link to
Today on Radio and you can get a copy of
Today's complete message over at the bookstore. The title is
Facing Death Unprepared. Or order our teaching set The Reach
(20:47):
of God's Love. Our web address again is in touch
dot org. Call or text to one eight hundred in Touch.
If you prefer, you can write to us at in
Touch Post Office Box seventy nine hundred, Atlanta, Georgia, three
zero three five seven. Who do you call on first
(21:09):
when you face a challenge? Think about that and stay
with us for today's moment with Charles Stanley.
Speaker 3 (21:16):
It's just ahead.
Speaker 1 (21:17):
You've got to be willing to set a sad time.
Speaker 3 (21:19):
That's real victory.
Speaker 6 (21:20):
Just imagine what it would have been like to look
over doctor Stanley's shoulder as he was spending time with
the scriptures. Doctor Stanley spent hours in preparation for his sermons.
With photos of his Bibles, resources, and handwritten notes, this
new book will give you an intimate look into doctor
Stanley's daily walk with the Father God turned the light
on Charles F. Stanley's personal Bibles, books and notes Available
(21:42):
now go to InTouch dot org slash store.
Speaker 5 (21:47):
Trusting God each day can be a challenge, but working
to grow that trust brings greater joy and peace than
we could ever find on our own. In trusting God,
with today the three hundred and sixty five Day of
Emotion from the teachings of doctor Charles Stanley, we are
encouraged to believe in God's love and rest in his
purpose for us order today at in touch dot org
(22:11):
slash store.
Speaker 2 (22:16):
You're listening to in touch Confusion, Fear, discouragement. They are
no match for the Holy Spirit. With a reminder for believers,
here's a moment with Charles Stanley.
Speaker 3 (22:29):
Isn't amazing how we as believe?
Speaker 1 (22:31):
As oftentimes we say, oh, I believe the Bible from
cover to cover. We read the verses and we see
what they say, but when it comes to applying it
to our life, we don't do it.
Speaker 3 (22:41):
Think about this.
Speaker 1 (22:42):
You have this adequate available Holy Spirit, who is omnipotent,
has all power, can handle every situation. And you go
call on your mother, are calling someone else, are asking
somebody else.
Speaker 3 (22:54):
Why don't you call on him?
Speaker 5 (22:56):
You know what?
Speaker 1 (22:57):
Most people call on God? Tell me when they've called
on everybody else and they can't help him. Listen, He's
living on the inside of you. This is practical, This
is real, and one of the reasons you don't have
the joy that God wants you to have and the
peace he wants you to have. He does want his
children full of anxiety and fretting and fuming about the
future and security and all these other things. He's already
(23:20):
taken care of every bit of that, and you say, well,
what about these troubles he allows me to go through
just to demonstrate this awesome love for you.
Speaker 3 (23:27):
That's one of the reasons. And what does it do.
It drives us to God. And listen to this. Whatever
drives you and me to God's good for us.
Speaker 1 (23:35):
Whatever drives us to God is good for us, because
He'll work it out in such a way He'll turn
it for our good.
Speaker 3 (23:40):
Every single time.
Speaker 2 (23:44):
You can learn more about how to live for God
when you visit us in touch dot org. How are
you challenged to live for God by what you heard today?
We'd love to hear about that tomorrow on in Touch.
Jesus knows how much you hurt. He knows what you've
been through. Learn about the comfort and compassion of the
Lord in part two of the Reach of God's Love.
(24:08):
I hope you'll join us Tuesday four in Touch the
teaching ministry of doctor Charles Stanley. This program is a
presentation of in Touch Ministries Atlanta, Georgia and remains on
this station through the grace of God and your faithful
prayers and gifts.
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