What Is God’s Response When We Ask for the Bare Minimum?

Purpose(s): The purpose for this sermon is to communicate to the audience that when it comes to Jesus Christ, they always have one of two actions. The first action to allow people to call on Jesus to save them from their physical circumstances and situations. Two: the second individual recognizes Jesus for who He truly is. We must be willing to recognize not only what

He can do for us, but also recognize that He is truly the Son of the living God.

Luke 23:38-44

38 Now there was also an inscription above Him, “THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS.”

39 One of the criminals who were hanged there was hurling abuse at Him, saying, “Are You not the Christ? Save Yourself and us!”

40 But the other answered, and rebuking him said, “Do you not even fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation?

41 “And we indeed are suffering justly, for we are receiving what we deserve for our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong.”

42 And he was saying, “Jesus, remember me when You come in Your kingdom!”

43 And He said to him, “Truly I say to you, today you shall be with Me in Paradise.”

44 It was now about the sixth hour, and darkness fell over the whole land until the ninth hour,

Open illustration: Plot

This is a fictitious story to open the sermon: Suppose your Mom and Dad came to you a couple of days before Christmas and asked you, son, daughter, what would you like for Christmas. You just ask for the bare minimum. An action figure if you are a boy; a doll if you are a girl. On Christmas morning you humbly go downstairs not expecting anything. To you your surprise, you find all these presents with your name on them. You ask your parents about all the gifts and they respond: Even though you ask for the bare minimum, we wanted to give you more than the bare minimum because we love you so much.

The question in today’s sermon is what is God’s response when we ask Him for the bare minimum. To find out, let’s open our Bible’s to Luke 23:38-44.

Biblical context:

This picture of Jesus hanging between two thieves gives the perfect picture to understanding the gospel. This passage that we are looking at today should give people the proper view of the perception of Jesus Christ. What can we learn about the 2 thieves on the cross? According to GotQuestions.Org

When seeking what we can learn from the thief on the cross, it should be remembered that at the time of Jesus’ crucifixion, two thieves were crucified beside Him (Luke 23:33–43), and both began their time on the cross by mocking and blaspheming Him, as did many of the spectators. One of the thieves responded in faith to the message of salvation and was taken to paradise that very day. He is the one usually referred to as the thief on the cross, while the other man did not respond in faith and is now suffering from a deadly and eternal mistake.

It is remarkable that, while in the excruciating and mind-numbing torment of the cross, the Son of Man had the heart, mind, and will to pray for others. Yet it is a miracle that one thief, while in agony himself, heard the Spirit of God call him to repentance and acceptance of the forgiveness God was just about to provide through the death of Christ. While the disciples were abandoning the Lord, this man answered the call, and his sins were forgiven, including his blasphemy against the Son of God (Luke 5:31-32, 12:8–10).

That the other thief rejected Jesus is remarkable in its own right. While being tortured on the cross he literally joined his torturers in insulting the Savior of the world, and he most likely did so because he wanted his torturers to think he was just like them, joined to the world and with no love for God (Matthew 27:44). Not only was this man next to the Savior, he heard Him pray, he witnessed the salvation of the other thief, he saw the world go dark, and he heard the testimony of the Son. But his pride kept him from submitting to the only One who could save him, and when he one day bows to the Name he mocked, he will be doing so reluctantly and while in torment (Philippians 2:10).

What we learn from the saved thief on the cross is that we are all sinners in need of a Savior, and no matter the number of our sins and no matter if we, or the world, think our sins are minor or extreme, it is never too late to repent and accept the free gift of salvation (Ephesians 2:8–9; Revelation 22:17). Moreover, as long as someone still has a mind and the will to choose life over death (Hebrews 9:27), it is not too late to proclaim the gospel, which hopefully will open a heart to a miracle by the Holy Spirit.

A. The repentant thief goes through all the steps of repentance.

1. How do you know a person is truly repentant? An individual must recognize Jesus as being God.

Luke 23:40-42 (NASB)

Application: All Christians should understand to enjoy true salvation we must be willing to recognize our own sin.

In GotQuestions.org, Charles Spurgeon said, “As the salt flavors every drop in the Atlantic, so does sin affect every atom of our nature. It is so sadly there, so abundantly there, that if you cannot detect it, you are deceived.”

Romans 8:3

Colossians 3:5

Romans 6:6

B. He asked the unrepentant thief: do you not fear God? This man has done nothing wrong.

1. A person must be willing to recognize that Jesus is not only the son of God but He is a Man without sin. Luke 23:40 (NASB)

2. The two similarities between the 2 thieves, they both mocked Him but one had a repentant heart. Luke 23:41 (NASB)

Application: All Christians should understand … (1) Jesus cannot be God if He has sin.

(2) All true Christians should understand that we are guilty before God. Without Jesus Christ we will remain in our sinful state.

(Rom. 3:10)… Yet, when the Son of God took to Himself human nature, a sinless man entered into time and space.

1 Peter 2:22 …who committed no sin, nor was any deceit found in His mouth;

2 Corinthians 5:21 …He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.

Hebrews 4:15…For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin.

C. He recognized Jesus as king.

He says in the passage this man has done nothing wrong. We are receiving just punishment for our sins. He not only recognized Jesus as God and without sin, but the man that got saved repented because he recognized that what he did was wrong.

Luke 23:41-42 (NASB)

Application: All Christians should understand … In order to inherit the kingdom of heaven we must be willing to recognize Jesus Christ as King.

(Matthew 2:2)

(Mark 15:2).

(Matthew 27:37; Mark 15:9; Luke 23:38; John 19:3)

(Matthew 27:11; Mark 15:2; Luke 23:3; John 18:33).

John 1:11.

D. In order to enter the kingdom of heaven, you must recognize Jesus as king.

The man that repented recognized Jesus as king because he says remember me when you come into your kingdom. You cannot be a king and not have a kingdom.

Luke 23:42-43 (NASB)

Application: All Christians should understand … to enjoy the true gift of God’s salvation we must be willing to understand that God will always keep His promises.

Numbers 23:19: God is not man, that He should lie, neither the son of man that he needs to repent.

E. The Failure of the unrepentant thief to Recognize the Significance of the Savior

1. How did he fail to recognize the Savior… he wanted to be saved, not for salvation, but from his situation and his circumstances.

2. He told Jesus to save himself and him. He was repeating the very words of satan.

3. Jesus didn’t respond to the first thief, but He did to the second one because that one recognized Jesus for who He was.

Luke 23:39 (NASB)

Application: All Christians should understand …

F. You must recognize that Jesus is without sin. The repentant thief recognized this.

If a person is unwilling and unable to recognize Jesus Christ, the sinless Son of God, it is impossible for that person to be saved.

Luke 23:41 (NASB)

Application: All Christians should understand …

G. Jesus’ response . When He said if you are the Son of God… Jesus did not dignify that with a response. Jesus knows the first thief wants to be saved from his situation and not salvation. Many people put Superman theology onto Jesus Christ: Save me from difficulty of life, circumstances… Many will follow as long as they are saved from the ordeal instead of recognizing Jesus for who He is. We must remember that Jesus is not required to respond to unrepentant sinners.

Luke 23:39 (NASB)

Application: All Christians should understand… to enjoy true salvation we must be willing to recognize that salvation is a gift from the almighty God. If we truly trust in the salvation of Jesus Christ… in the Old Testament it says and the Lord was with Daniel, etc. If we trust, we don’t need to worry about our future. One day we will be with Him in Paradise!

John 1:1, 14

(2 Corinthians 5:21; Hebrews 4:15; 1 John 3:5)

(1 Corinthians 15:3; Colossians 1:22; Hebrews 10:10)

(1 John 2:2)

Personal Illustration: a few years ago at my former church I did one on one evangelism. A lady came and said tell me something that will encourage me or I am going to go home and kill myself. I asked the Lord what to say. I told her God loves her and she is too valuable to kill herself and Jesus already died for her. I shared the gospel with her. The joy was that her whole countenance changed when she realized that she needed Jesus and accepted Him in her life and realized that Jesus truly loved her. She was joyous. and I was joyous for her. She came in with darkness and accepted His light. When we come to a true understanding of who Jesus is, we can recognize who we are without him and recognize the gift of salvation. The 2 thieves - one recognized Jesus and the other one did not. One was repentant and one was not. Which one do you identify with?

In today’s sermon, we have taken a look at the 2 thieves on the cross. They are two different perspectives about the significance of Jesus Christ. We must remember 2 different perspectives lead to 2 different eternal destinies. The thieves on the cross, one had the wrong perspective and one had the right perspective. I ask you again, which one do you identify with? As I close this sermon I leave you with the following quotes from Dr. John MacArthur.

“The true gospel is a call to self-denial. It is not a call to self-fulfillment.”

― John MacArthur

“We should not be entertained by the sins for which Christ died.”

― John MacArthur