We start to our worship of the Lord as we sing together our opening praise, which is paraphrase 25, how few receive with cordial faith the tidings which we bring. Blessed Savior, come to our aid. ever comforted sinners and false, so spitefully I will ever whisper them his Savior's vows. Rejected and despised, his own. He with the grave shall share his own, and the world all his own. Elucidate. Psalm 2 is our psalm for today. As we come to pray together, let's read this beautiful psalm. Why do the heathen rage and the people imagine a vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together against the Lord, against His anointed, saying, let us break their bands asunder and cast away their cords from us. He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh, the Lord shall have them in derision. Then shall he speak unto them in his wrath and vex them in his sore displeasure. yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion. I will declare the decree the Lord has said unto me, thou art my son, this day have I begotten thee. Ask of me and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance and the utmost parts of the earth for thy possession. Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron. Thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel. Be wise now, therefore, O ye kings, and be instructed, ye judges of the earth, serve the Lord with fear. and rejoice with trembling, kiss the son lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way when his wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all they that put their trust in him." Let's pray together. Our gracious and heavenly Father, who has brought us to this place of public worship, This is an appointment with God every Sabbath day. It's a meeting time with the Almighty. We seek to draw near into thy holy presence, into this house of God where the Lord is through the merit of Christ, to worship God in the beauty of holiness, and to extol the name of his dear Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. We thank you that he is the one that we've been reading about in this psalm. Lord, we've been reminded about the Son, the Lord Jesus who would come, the anointed of God, the one who was invited here to ask of the Father, and he would give the heathen for an inheritance, even the uttermost part of the earth. And we know that Christ is the great interceder, and we know that in the days of his flesh he interceded, he prayed, and we think of the great high priestly prayer, And we know now ascended on high at the right hand of the Father, He carries on that ministry of His priesthood as He ever lives to make intercession. We know that He prays to the Father for those who would come to Him and receive Him as Savior, to the heathen, to the nations of the earth. We thank you that there is an in-gathering of the church worldwide, and the Lord has his men, he has his women, ministers, pastors, evangelists, missionaries, preachers, Sunday school teachers. church workers that have gone throughout the world declaring Christ and Him crucified, upholding the message of the cross, preaching the gospel faithfully to the souls of men, and through the nations of the earth, here and there, God is gathering in a people unto Christ. And we rejoice in this, and we thank you for every opportunity that we have as a church as individuals to spread the gospel. We thank you for the opportunity to support the preaching of the gospel, both at home and abroad. And Lord, we know that this church is a missionary-minded church, and we seek to uphold the Great Commission, the going into the world to preach the gospel. And we thank you for our missionaries that were sent out to do just that. Bless them, Lord, today. Remember Sister Noring in these days of deputation as she travels from place to place and shares the burden of the work in Uganda. Remember the others that are still there in Uganda. We pray for the Macaulay family. We think of the Kerskadans. We think of the church. We think of the work of the school, the ministry there among the boys and girls. We think of evangelism out into the community, door-to-door work. We think of Sunday schools that are there, extension Sunday schools. We thank you for what the Lord is doing, raising up men and women to share the gospel and preach Christ. And Lord, as we think of Uganda, we think of so many other places where missionaries have gone. And we think of the young men who have left this church to go into training, and many of them now serving the Lord as pastors of congregations. And Lord, we pray that thou will remember them. And may we not forget them, but pray often for them and for the ministries that thou hast given to them. And Lord, today as we come here, we think of every family represented. We think of every individual that is here. each one with their personal needs, each one with their burdens, and those burdens differ from pew to pew. But, Lord, Thou dost see us as we are. Thou dost know us through and through, every circumstance, every situation of our lives, every trial that we're going through, every burden that we carry, as well as the joyous times, the glorious times of blessing that the Lord lavishes upon us. You know us, Lord. And we pray that you will bless the church and bless each one that is here to worship Almighty God. Make this a day to remember. Let the Lord come down. Let His Spirit move in our hearts, changing us, doing in us that which is pleasing in His sight. Lord, where changes need to be made, help us by the grace of God to make those changes. Lord, we pray for a work of the Spirit in our hearts this day. For the dear unsaved among us, Lord, speak to them. Awaken them in grace. Show them their need of a Savior. May this be the day of their conversion. Don't let them leave it another day. Don't let them leave it another hour. Lord, even now we would pray that they'll not leave it another minute, but seek the Lord just where they're sitting and call upon His name before it is too late. Remember the suffering of the congregation, the sick ones, those that are in hospital especially. We pray for Emma today. We remember James. We think of Louise. We just pray for them. We think of Stephanie's mother. We commit them into your hands and we pray that thou will bless them physically and be pleased to raise them to health and strength again. Continue to bless our sister Pat and encourage her in the Lord. And we think of those that mourn. Remember Netta and her family. We just hand them over to the Lord again for the peace of God to reign in their heart and the comfort of God to be their portion. And Lord, remember Chloe and Tristan as they get married on Tuesday, we do commit this young couple to Thee. We pray from day one, God will be in the center of their marriage. We pray that they will do what we often encourage young couples to do, to obey Matthew 6 and 33 and seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness. And we know that all the other things will be added onto us. And we remember Philip and Liv that got married yesterday. Bless them, and Lord, you know their needs in every way, and we just commend them to the grace of God. And so bless us now as we wait in your presence. Continue with us in Jesus' name. Amen. I'm going to further sing the hymn 281. There is a fountain filled with blood, drawn from Emmanuel's veins, and sinners plunged beneath that flood lose all their guilty stains. I do believe, I believe, that Jesus died for me. The dying thief rejoiced to see, and found him in his grave. And thereupon an old violent thief washed all my sins away. I do believe, I do believe that Jesus died for me. His blood, from sin to set me free. Near God, in the might, precious blood, shall never lose its power. Till all the ransomed, church of God, have Jesus died for me. That on the cross he shed his blood, from sin to set me free. There since my faith, my soul, is free, love has been my thing, and shall be till I die. I believe, I will believe that Jesus died for me, that on the cross he shed his blood, not sin to set me free. I'll sing my part to say, When this world is resounding tough, I'll be silent in the grave. That was good singing. I bid you welcome to this time of worship here at Hebron. May God bless you as you come to join with us, and those that are listening in online, always glad to have you. Some announcements to make. The Gospel meeting is tonight at 7, preceded by the time of prayer. Refreshments will be served afterwards. In the morning, the Hebron Tots will meet at 10 o'clock. And then on Tuesday, it's a very special day because Chloe is getting married to Tristan, and that will be here at 12 o'clock. And the church, of course, at Hebron wishes them God's richest blessing. I've just seen that they had something special in Bible class this morning for Chloe. and a wee time of fellowship together. We trust that the Lord will bless her and Tristan especially on Tuesday, on their big day, and then thereafter. Tuesday night is the Youth Challenge at 7. Remember that, please. Thursday night is a deputation service. It's our missionary night. And Christina Logan, who is one of our children's evangelists under the mission board, is coming to speak and to show slides. There'll be special prayer for missionary work and revival. I was going to say unfortunately, but we're doing a good job going to Randallstown for the Christian Workers' Training Academy. Don't like missing on a Thursday night, but that's where we'll be. Friday, the schools ministry will take us to Kilcrow, and Noring will be speaking there to the children, and then over to the Eden, where I will be speaking, God willing. Friday night, the Youth Fellowship is at o'clock, and the guest speaker, Chris Killam. Chris is our missionary evangelist, full-time worker under the mission board to those who have addictions. This is a very important meeting for our young people. We want all of them to make an effort to be there we're able to gather over in the Hebron Hub, even though it's not officially opened and it's not completely finished yet. That should be in two to three weeks at the most, but we will be there, God willing, and Chris will be along to speak. And young people, bring others with you. and may they enjoy just being there listening to Chris and the facilities that are now in operation. Next Lord's Day begins with the prayer meeting, 8 o'clock, Sunday School, 10.30, Bible class quarter to 11. What the world must see in me. and the theme will be compassion. That's the subject for the Bible class next Lord's Day. Worship service, 12 noon, gospel meeting at seven. We'll be here, God willing, to preach at both services and the prayer meeting before the evening service. Refreshments will be served, as they will be tonight. Remember, a special meeting that will be on Thursday week. the 4th of December. And we're having a special guest from the United States of America, and he's representing Answers in Genesis. And the theme is millions of years. Young people are being bombarded at school about these millions of years that don't exist. And he's going to deal with that subject, The Ideas on Scientific Origin and Catastrophic Consequences. That will be the subtitle of the overall title, Millions of Years. And when science teachers tell the young people in school that this world has been around for millions of years, they can say it's not true science. True science is something that is observed. It's calculated. It's written down. It has been seen. And they might just, in a very polite way, like to ask the teacher, why were you there when this all happened? And well, we know the answer to that. We believe in creation. We believe in a God who brought this world into existence exactly how Genesis tells us it to be. So we want to make a special effort for that. And young people, especially in secondary school, university, you can do a wee bit of work with your peers and invite them in. It's a vital message for them to hear. There'll be a book stall afterwards as well. We're remembering the Youth Council and the outreach that they're doing to the Christmas market. There's just one more. As you know, that's on the 6th of December at 3 o'clock in the afternoon. young people, if you're free to join that outreach work, please go to the market in Belfast. I want to encourage you to get your name on to the list. If you're a wee bit like me and my family, you haven't got your name on to the list yet, but can we commend that to you to do today, if at all possible. We need to see how many to provide for and let the hotel know in good time. The carol service for the children of our schools is the 12th of December, which is not very far away now. That's Friday. That'll be in the morning time. They'll get their lunch with us, as has been the practice. And those who can help with selection boxes, I want to thank those who have given gifts already. Thank you in the Savior's name. Or for any contribution towards this in anticipation of your giving, we thank you in the Lord's name. This was the picture we show this on Thursday night of the selection boxes, most of them being picked up at the supermarket and not enough room even though the seats were down Erwin's car, not enough room and just piling them in around me. Erwin didn't didn't take piles around him when he was driving, you would understand why, but there we were and they're safely stored now for Sunday school, youth challenge and then of course the school's carol service. Remember also the Let the Bible Speak calendars for next year and wall planners. They're available. The price is five pounds for the calendars and the same for the wall planners. And if you're interested, they're there. And all the proceeds go to Let the Bible Speak. There has been a recent appointment of child protection officers, and it is now required under our presbytery legislation that there is a designated person and also a deputy. We want to thank Wesley for doing it for many, many years. And now Victor Galt will be the designated person. Irwin Holmes coming in there as deputy to look after any issues that might arise. We are very glad about the young people's work here in the church. This was the junior meeting on Tuesday night, and we showed this to you. We want to ask you to pray very much for what's going on over there at the Hub and all the facilities. And on Friday night, the adult group were able to meet in the Hub in very nice surroundings, listen to the Word of God, have a time of fellowship together. The hub will be officially open on the 10th of January. That is during our missionary weekend. And that morning of the 10th, we will have the big breakfast as well. And all the proceeds will go towards the hub. The good news for the ladies, in case you're panicking, because we know that you are busy that weekend preparing for suppers for the missionary weekend, the men have volunteered to do the cooking. Isn't that great? And they did a great job the last time they did it. So we look forward to that. And we look forward to receiving you on that day. We do need about 30 to 40 supervisors so that the work can be shared out through the year for the Hebron Hub. And can you indicate that you're interested? We suggested on Thursday night that you see Samuel about that. You need to be 25 and over. and we will have a night in the new year just to explain what a supervisor is but we need legally and for insurance purposes supervisors when the hub is opened and if you're interested in SC Samuel and then we'll have a night to explain exactly what that means And then you can say yea or nay. So there's no obligation. All you need to do is to express an interest at this stage. From the young of 25 to those that are older, all ages are welcome, men and women likewise. I want to thank also those who helped with the Christmas appeal for Romania. And we showed the slides on Thursday night regarding those families that were helped. We also told you about a new request that was made from our brother, Pastor Florin. if I can just quickly go through this, because it does conclude with an amazing story. A friend of mine who was a pastor in Singashora, something like that, or Shwara, told me about his ministry with the Gypsy families in his area. There are seven villages of Gypsies where there are some churches. There are many other Gypsy villages with no church. It is the most condensed population of Gypsies in Romania at this time. The pastor is also working with some poor Ukrainian refugees. One family has 13 children. From time to time, we have helped them with food and other resources, but now it is a difficult time and we cannot do this. Next Monday or Tuesday, Collie, that's the gentleman that looks after these particular needs, Collie and I will visit them. We have clothes and shoes from our church, but it would be good to buy some food So, really, they sent for a request. We had just gone on holiday. It was the Monday. And they also add for future, we will develop a program to train gypsy leaders from that area as ministers, missionaries, and pastors, because many have no theological education, and there's a great need in this area. So the Hebron committee were able to release funds designated for this purpose to help with this request. And there is a fund there. There's a lot of people contribute to it from time to time, many of them. Most of them, in fact, would be from outside the congregation here. But we are thankful to those here and outside, if you're listening in, for all that you do. And so food provisions were purchased, and they were then brought and distributed. So I received a very encouraging report on Tuesday evening as they went out to do the delivery. Today we visited a community of Gypsy people in one of the most condensed areas with Gypsy people. It's hard to believe how some people live in 2025. Mud, cold, 10 to 15 people in one small house and one room for many of them. We provided food, clothes and shoes for more than 50 families and we hope we will be able to do more in the future. We also visited a family of Ukrainian refugees, the parents and 13 children. Thank you so much for partnering with us in this Blessings and greetings to those who made possible to extend our help to many more families. And just a few of the pictures that were sent to me of them giving the food and provisions to the needy families. One of the most touching moments was when a gypsy old widow decided to follow Christ and be baptized as soon as possible. On Thursday night I told you about the lines of a hymn that I didn't know where it came from, and some people heard about it and they wrote to me. So, Obviously, when you see somebody repenting and coming to Christ, it's the most encouraging, thrilling moment. And the lines of the hymn are, much of what the world can boast, I have lived to count bedross, and the sight that charms me most is a sinner at the cross. So there is an actual hymn with other verses that contains these lines. And it was also, I got it in good authority, a quotation from C.H. Spurgeon many, many years ago. The sight that charms me most is a sinner at the cross. And he could very well have been quoting from the hymn. So a wonderful outcome. That was the Ukrainian family of 13 children. So I want to pray for this ministry. It's a new ministry, certainly, to Florine. I want to extend our sincere sympathy to Sam and Nedda Wilson and their family circle on the death of Nedda's brother, Jim, assuring them of our prayers at this time, trusting that the Lord will comfort them in their sorrow. I also feel it's appropriate to congratulate Professor Victor Galt who has been appointed as Pro Vice-Chancellor and Executive Dean of the Faculty of Life and Health Sciences. Talking to Victor this morning we were just rejoicing with him in the prayer meeting. And he said after extensive prayer, he believed it was God's will for him to go forward. And we want you to pray for those that get into positions of responsibility like this, that the Lord would guide them and help them greatly in all that they do. We've been asked to mention a youth rally where John Weir will be preaching. It's in Lisburn Free Church on the 29th of November, and that's at 7.30. Please remember those that are on our prayer list. These are requests that we make for those that need the touch of God in their lives, and especially those that we prayed for earlier who are in hospital. Continue to pray for the warring nations of the earth. Our tithes and offerings will now be received for the work of God and His missionary council envelopes. And as we receive our gifts to the Lord's work, we will sing the hymn 107. Alas, and did my Savior bleed and did my Sovereign die, would He devote that sacred head for such a worm as I. Just remaining in our seats as the offering is received. I was asked to give my sacred gift, and gave it my sovereign God. Goodly, he called that sacred gift. Oh, servants of Herod's eye, help me this day. As it were, man's life and love emerged upon a tree, and his dignity, grace of love, and love beyond degree have been strengthened. I am rejoicing, I am rejoicing. of my heart in thankfulness, and when my eyes do tear, tell me, Savior, The cross of grief can ne'er repay the debt of love I owe. Here, Lord, I give myself away, for it is all that I can do. Help me, it's too early to know, and never it will be. Open your Bibles, please, to Mark, chapter 15. Mark, chapter 15, as we continue our study in the second gospel. And we're reading from verse 22 to verse 32. The gospel of Mark, chapter 15, and verse 22. And they bring him onto the place Golgotha, which is being interpreted the place of a skull. And they gave him to drink wine mingled with myrrh, but he received it not. And when they had crucified him, they parted his garments, casting lots upon them, what every man should take. And it was a third hour, and they crucified him. And the superscription of his accusation was written over, the king of the Jews. And with him they crucified two thieves, the one on his right hand and the other on his left. And the Scripture was fulfilled with Seth, and he was numbered with the transgressors." And they that pass by reeled on him, wagging their heads and saying, Are thou that destroyest the temple and buildest it in three days? Save thyself and come down from the cross. Likewise also the chief priests mocking said among themselves with the scribes, He saved others, himself he cannot save. Let Christ, the King of Israel, descend now from the cross. that we may see and believe. And they that were crucified with Him reviled Him." And we'll end the reading there at verse 32. Let's pray together. Heavenly Father, we come to the sacred Word of God, this Bible that is before us given by the inspiration of God, every word breathed by God Himself, given to holy men of old who wrote down the Scriptures, We thank You that we have an accurate translation into the English language from the original languages, that we might have it to read and to understand. And we pray that the One who is the principal teacher will come now and teach us the Holy Spirit Himself. We pray that You will break the bread of life to every waiting soul, and those that know not Christ Lord have a very special, powerful word for them. Give help now to the preacher. Weak, I come to thee for strength. Fill me with God the Holy Spirit, in Jesus' name. Amen. We're taking verse 27 as our text, and with him they crucified two thieves. And we're going to especially emphasize the second part of the text, the one on his right hand and the other on his left. The left hand and the right hand are places of significance and importance, and they are very instructive. The right hand is associated with blessing, power, privilege, honor, and authority, whereas the left hand is often associated with inferiority, judgment, punishment, and the curse. This thought is carried through the Scriptures, and so we can see many applications spiritually and theologically. God's right hand is the symbol of power and deliverance. He turned back just for a moment to Exodus chapter 15, to the song of Moses, the great deliverance that was wrought for the children of Israel, coming out of the land of Egypt, coming to the Red Sea, God dividing the waters, bringing them across to the other side, and then this wonderful song that is sung, the song of Moses. But look at verse 6. Thy right hand, O Lord, is become glorious in power. Thy right hand, O Lord, hath dashed in pieces the enemy." So all that was accomplished in this marvelous, miraculous deliverance as God brought Israel out of Egypt through the Red Sea to the other side safely and destroyed their enemies at the same time, was done by God's power and God's authority. And here it is expressed in the right hand, thy right hand, O Lord. The right hand depicts honor and favor. If you turn back a little to Genesis chapter 48, notice with me, please, verse 13, and we'll read verse 14 also. Joseph took them both, his two sons, Ephraim in his right hand toward Israel's left hand, and Manasseh in his left hand toward Israel's right hand, and brought them near unto him. And Israel, or Jacob, stretched out his right hand and laid it upon Ephraim's head, who was the younger, and his left hand upon Manasseh's head, guiding his hands willingly. For Manasseh was the firstborn, and yet he places his right hand upon the younger, Jacob intentionally does this on Ephraim, the younger of Joseph's sons, to bestow a greater blessing, despite Joseph's attempt to guide his father's hand to Manasseh, who was the firstborn. And if you go down to verse 20, he blessed him that day, and the greater blessing was to the young man. of the right hand. In the New Testament, the right hand continues to symbolize authority and exaltation, and it was so with Jesus Christ in His ascension to glory. If you go right to the end of Mark's gospel, the second last verse, verse 19, Then after the Lord had spoken unto them, he was received up into heaven and sat on the right hand of God." So, the Lord Jesus is described as being seated at the right hand of God, a position of supreme honor and authority. Theologically, the distinction between the right and left hands serves to illustrate the nature of God's relationship with man. The right hand is associated with blessing and authority and highlights God's desire to bestow grace and favor upon His people, while the left hand is connected to judgment and underscores the consequences of disobedience, for it leads to separation from God ultimately. On the great day of judgment, there will be right hand and left hand positions. Just turn to one other reference in the Gospel of Matthew, the great sermon that Jesus Christ preached at the end of His ministry upon His glorious second coming on the judgment day. And notice in chapter 25, And verse 31 onwards, these words, "'When the Son of Man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory, and before him shall be gathered all nations. And he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats. And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left. Go down to verse 41. Verse 46. but the righteous into life eternal. I want you to carry this thought through to the passage of Scripture that we have read together. In the story of the dying thieves, we have spiritual and eternal matters foreshadowed. Two thieves in two positions. One on the left hand, the other on the right. One who repented and believed and upon death went immediately to paradise. One who cursed Christ to his dying breath, failed to recognize his sin, failed to repent, failed to seek the Savior, and consequently, he could not go to the place where Jesus was. Their story is representative of all men in the world from the beginning of time to the end. Take all periods of history from Adam's time onwards. Think of all the nations of the world, all the classes and creeds of people, and there are only two kinds of people in the world. saved and unsaved, those that are on the right hand and those that are on the left hand of Christ, those who are destined to blessing and everlasting joy in heaven when the Lord receives them, and those that are destined to the eternal curse and wrath of God as His judgment and fury against sin is poured out forevermore. Nobody else exists on planet earth, just those on the right hand and those on the left. Now society has everyone divided into various categories. They have us divided by social class. They have us divided by age. They have us divided by religion, by wealth and poverty. They have us divided by education, by employment, by color, by nationalities, and by gender. And even though, obviously, scripturally, biblically, and sensibly, there's only two genders. You have all these other ones that have been dreamed up that don't exist at all. But you see, society out there divides everybody up into different categories. But God knows only two, saved and unsaved. Those of the right hand and those of the left. And it is the cross that makes the division. On what side are you? It's the cross of Jesus, and here we see it so clearly at Calvary. Right here in the story of the dying thieves, this unchangeable truth is exemplified. So, come with me carefully and prayerfully and seriously to the cross. See Jesus die. Watch Him suffer for our sin. Observe Him pouring out His life's blood, the once and for all sacrificial offering for sin. Understand the substitutionary death of the Savior. Don't miss it. That's the most important thing that's happening at Calvary. Jesus taking our place. Jesus dying in our stead. Jesus paying the price for sin. Don't miss it. However, in all your observations of a dear, suffering, precious Savior, Don't miss the man on either side. The Holy Spirit has put this story into the divine record for our learning. It's not only a fulfillment of prophecy, how Jesus made his grave with the wicked and was numbered with the transgressors, as we know from Isaiah 53. It is a gospel lesson. of eternal significance, the great division of the left and the right hand. And you know the challenge here in church today as you sit in the pew is very simply, where do you fit in? That's the challenge. Only two kinds of people in God's sight, the right hand and the left hand. Where are you? Where are you sitting? The cross dividing us. And if you're listening in today, it's the same for you. So I want to look at the story. I want to think about the two positions of great significance as we think through what is happening here. First of all, we see their sinful conditions. These men were both sinners, as we all are. They were guilty of crimes. They had committed crimes against the state. We don't know the nature of their crimes, if it was against the Romans or against their own people or some other section of society, but their crimes had caught up with them. Their crimes were found out by the authorities, and they were of a very serious nature, so serious that it demanded a penalty, the penalty of death to be passed upon them. Now, Mark draws attention to the fact that they were thieves. They had a sinful past. They had broken the commandments of God, namely the one that is identified in the word thieves, thou shalt not steal. Now, we don't know who they stole from, but we can be sure it wasn't their only sin. The sin of robbery wasn't the only sin that they were guilty of, and that's true of all men. We're guilty of many sins. Theft is the sin that we're introduced to, for that's why they have been crucified by the Romans. Another wicked sin that they were guilty of was being committed right now in their dying hours. their shameful attitude and rebellion against Christ, at least at the beginning of the story, because we know that something changes in the heart of one man that brings about a new beginning for him, and he is enlightened and he's brought to see the Savior. But certainly at the beginning, we see their terrible attitude and rebellion against Christ. We are told about the wicked activity and behavior of the Jews. In verse 29 and 30, we read this, they that pass by railed on him, wagging their heads and saying, Ah, thou that destroyest the temple and buildest it in three days, save thyself and come down from the cross. And we're also told about the similar behavior of their leaders. Look at the next verse, likewise also the chief priests mocking said among themselves with the scribes, he saved others, himself he cannot save. Let Christ the King of Israel descend now from the cross and that we may see and believe. But notice the last little part of this verse 32, and they that were crucified with him reviled Him, both of the men crucified on either side of the Lord Jesus. They reviled in Him. These thieves were no better than the other sinful people that walked by the cross and mocked the Lord Jesus Christ, which in reality is unbelievable. These men were dying. These were their dying hours. They were going out into eternity in a very short time. They were going out to stand before God, and yet they behaved in such a vile and despicable manner. You would think they would have reacted differently. going to die." They knew that. There was nothing more certain. These men were crucified, and according to the death of crucifixion, that would take place in a matter of hours. Out into eternity they would go, and how are they spending their last hours? Reviling Christ. And just in passing, isn't there a lesson to learn here? That there are those who live and die this way, Even though they come to a deathbed, even though they have hours to live, they don't think of God, they don't think of their soul, they don't think of heaven, they don't think about repenting and getting right with God. No, to their dying breath, they die as sinners, obnoxious in the sight of God and reviling the Lord. How unbelievable that is. Now, we see their sinful conditions. This they had in common. Both of them, sin, crime, condemnation, blasphemy, a poor attitude against Christ, a careless view of death, and yet how much of this represents the sinner. We all have a past, a sinful past. We have all broken the commandments of God. We have all sin in our lives. And some of those sins are more evident and obvious. If it wasn't robbery, and this is the one that these men are identified with, dying now for their crimes, it was something else, maybe idolatry. Thou shalt have no other gods before me. or blasphemy, thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain, or immorality, thou shalt not commit adultery, or lying, thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor, or covetousness, thou shalt not covet. Whatever it is, we have sinned our lives, we have broken the commandments of God, and we have a multiplicity of sins. Sins of the eye, sins of the ear, sins of the tongue, sins of the hand, sins of the feet, sins of the body, sins of the heart. The fact is all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. There's none righteous, no, not one. James reminds us that even if we offend just one point of the law, we're guilty of it all. But we know in our hearts we have offended more than one point. But even if it was just one point, The Bible says we're guilty of offending and all. We have a guilty, sinful heart. We are sinners by nature, and we're sinners by practice. They're sinful conditions. But notice, secondly, there are similar circumstances. There are striking comparisons, things that they had in common. They were sinners. We've seen that. They were condemned. They were sentenced. They were crucified. They were dying. They were going out into eternity. Death was near. They certainly had all that in common. But more importantly, for this affects the soul, and this affects the future, what else do they have in common? They met Christ. That's a privilege for any man, to meet Christ. These men were in close proximity to the Son of God, the Savior of man. Now, it may have not been in the best circumstances. They're dying, they're crucified. It wasn't in the temple. It wasn't in the synagogues. It wasn't on the mountainside where Jesus carried out a great part of His ministry and the preaching of the Word, or on the shores of Galilee where He likewise taught the people. It wasn't in the streets of some village that He visited. These might be called the normal places to meet Christ and to hear from Him. They met Him at Calvary. Jesus is crucified. They likewise are crucified, but they have a meeting with Him nonetheless, an encounter with the Son of God, and they have the immeasurable privilege of coming into close proximity with Him. Do not count it a small privilege meeting Christ, coming near to Him, having an opportunity to hear from Him. And you get this in the normal places. You get it in church every Sunday. You get it in gospel missions when you're able to attend. You're meeting Christ there in the Word that is proclaimed. You get it at the open air. If you pass by the open air that we have on a Saturday, you're hearing the gospel, you're meeting with Christ. You get this meeting with the Savior in conversations that you have with other Christians who are witnessing to you, because you're introduced to the Lord, the Savior of man. Or even if it is a tract that is handed into your hand, you're meeting with Christ in the printed Word. However, there are encounters with Christ in unusual circumstances, even in this kind of circumstance that these men find themselves in, a deathbed situation or a near-death experience, a car accident. Very often that's the place where men meet with Christ, and they're seriously injured, and they're trapped in the car or they're lying at the side of the road, And they don't know how it's going to go with them, and if they have any gospel knowledge at all, they begin to think about the gospel, they begin to think about Christ, and they're having a meeting with Him, maybe for some of them in their dying hours. Or it may be in a hospital bed. And there's a lot of sick people, and they're on their deathbed lying in hospital, or they're critically ill, or they're seriously ill. They may not die, they may recover, but the thoughts of God are there, and the meeting that they have with Christ is there. Or it may be in a doctor's surgery, and the doctor has some kind of bad news to break You've got cancer, you've got some kind of heart disease or another disease that's going to take your life. Sometimes that's a moment of meeting with Christ because you're challenged about your eternity and about your whereabouts when you leave this life. Some place where you take a heart attack or a stroke and you just drop there. You're having a meeting with Christ in the light of eternal things. Whatever the case, it's a high honor to meet with the Savior, to hear about Him, to converse with Him, to have the opportunity of salvation. So, these men had that in common. They met Christ. They were equally near to Him. I don't know what the distance was between the crosses of Jesus and the two thieves on either side, but it was pretty close. were equally near to him, I assume just a matter of feet away. " What a precious thought to get near to Christ. Have you ever felt this way? Have you ever been there? Have you ever known in your life a close encounter with a Savior? Maybe in church on a Sunday, maybe at a gospel mission, maybe at some other time in your home, and the things of God have come to your heart with power, the reality of eternity, the reality of spiritual things have really come to your mind, and you're meeting with the Lord Jesus Christ, who is the Savior of men, and you're near to Him. Have you had that experience? These men did. And then we have to say as well as things in common that they had, they see and they hear everything that takes place in those few short hours when Jesus was crucified. They saw the Lord Jesus Christ being nailed to the cross, They saw all the work that the soldiers did. Don't need to go into the detail. They heard the Jews and their leaders walking by, mocking Christ, railing on Him. They saw a bleeding Savior, the blood of Christ being poured forth. They hear the words, Father forgive them, for they know not what they do. The very first words of Christ on the cross. Words of mercy, this prayer that He makes for the very men that crucified Him, it must have made an impression upon their hard hearts. It must have. They certainly didn't pray that kind of prayer. They didn't say, Father, forgive these soldiers for crucifying us, but Jesus did. And these men saw and heard everything. Then also in common is this, they had the same opportunity. I want you to see this. Because both of them met the Lord in their dying hours, because both of them were equally near to Him, because they saw and they heard everything, they enjoyed exactly the same opportunity to repent and believe, to call out for salvation, and to be saved on their deathbed. I want you to learn this. The same opportunity is given to sinners. who attend our meetings, two men or two women, sitting side by side in church, they hear the same hymns that are sung, they listen to the same Bible reading and sermon, they receive the same warnings and pleadings, perhaps they even feel the same persuasions in their heart. As the Spirit of God speaks, they certainly get the same opportunity. sitting side by side. And I think it's true to say another thing that they had in common was it was now or never. They would never get another opportunity. These men were dying They had only a few short hours to live. They would be in eternity in the very near future. So, it was a moment of eternal importance and significance. What did they do, or what would they do with this opportunity? The final opportunity that would seal their destiny forever. This has often been the case ever since. Men and women that get so near, They are brought face to face with Christ. They're maybe even moved in their heart. It's the opportunity of opportunities. Maybe it's a deathbed. Maybe it's the final conscious moment of a clear mind before their mind goes into delirium or they lose their mind altogether. Maybe it's the final voice of the Holy Spirit of God. And in a very real sense, it's now or never. So these are the similar circumstances of these men. But there was a gigantic contrast, for though we can list their comparisons, when it came to the conclusion, decision time, the moment of making a choice, there emerged a massive contrast. And that brings me to their striking choices. One decided for Christ. the other against him. One was touched in the hardness of his sinful heart, the other remained hardened through and through. One cried out for mercy, the other went to his death cursing and blaspheming. The gospel writer Mark does not tell us about this change, this conversion in the life and heart of one of the thieves. Indeed, if we were Just to have the account given by Mark, we would conclude the thieves were damned forever, because the last thing that we read about them is what we read at the end of verse 32, they that were crucified with him reviled him. If that was all that we knew, we would say these men died, both of them unconverted without the Lord. Matthew writes a similar story. The last thing that he records about these dying men is the thieves also, which were crucified with him, cast the same in his teeth. So it was the same kind of mockery and insults that the Jews were casting in the teeth of Christ. And John, he says very little about the incident. Indeed, the only thing that he tells us is that when Jesus was crucified, there were two other with him on either side, one and Jesus in the midst. We are thus informed only by Luke concerning the dramatic change and conversion of one of these men. Let me read the account. If you want to turn to it, you can. Luke 23 and look at verse 33. When they were come to the place which is called Calvary, there they crucified him and the malefactors, one on the right hand and the other on the left. Run your eye down to verse 39. One of the malefactors which were hanged reeled on him, saying, If thou be the Christ, save thyself and us. But the other answering rebuked him, saying, Dost not thou fear God, seeing thou art in the same condemnation? And we indeed justly, for we receive the due reward of our deeds, but this man hath done nothing amiss. And he said unto Jesus, Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom. Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, Today shalt thou be with me in paradise. The dying thief, the one who sought mercy, was brought to see himself as a sinner, a sinner condemned. His attitude was turned from reviling to repenting. He began to fear God. realizing the condemnation that he was in. He knew that he deserved punishment for his sin. He recognized the sinful perfection, sinless perfection of Christ. This man hath done nothing amiss, and he therefore cried out for mercy. Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom. And in this simple fervent cry, he realized that Jesus was Lord, that he had a kingdom, and that he had power to remember him when he came into that kingdom. The response of Christ in the midst of his own personal agony was most marvelous. Today shalt thou be with me in paradise. The dying thief had immediate assurance of salvation. The other dying thief began his mockery of Christ and continued his mockery until his dying breath. He had all the privileges, he had the opportunities, he had all the grace and the mercy at his disposal, but he chose in his dying hours to continue as a lost sinner. The interesting thing recorded in all four Gospels is that these men were crucified on either side of Christ. One on the right hand, the other on the left. And I'm asking you, on which of the divide do you fall? What decision have you made concerning Christ? What has your choice been? To repent and believe? to acknowledge your sin and seek the remedy, to cry to Him for mercy, or to continue as you are. It's a serious choice, my friend, because it deals with eternity. It deals with your future, where you'll be when you leave this life. The message is over. If I had more time, we could have dealt with a couple of other things. We could have talked about their solemn conclusions. That solemn conclusion was also something they had in common. That was death. Both of these men died eventually. They died. You're going to die someday. When that will be, I do not know. Whether it's soon or far, I cannot say. Whether you'll die young or old, It's out of my knowledge to know these things, but God knows. You're going to die someday. They're solemn conclusions. But you know, we could have also thought about their sure continuance. Because though they died, as all men will, they continued. Death was not the end. One went to paradise to be with Christ that day. The other went to hell forevermore. And that's how it is when you die. Are you on the right hand or are you on the left? If you're on the right hand, you're safe. If you're on the left hand, you're in danger. If you're on the right hand, you'll go to paradise, you'll go to heaven to be with Christ. If you're on the left hand, you will go to hell. And on the great day of judgment, when all come to assemble before the Lord for the final judgment, souls will be delivered up. Those that have gone to heaven will come to stand before the Lord. Those that have gone to hell will come to stand before the Lord. And the final verdict will be given. It'll either be to those in the right hand, come ye father, come ye blessed of my father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world, or it will be if you're on the left hand, depart from me ye cursed into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels. Where do you stand now? What choice have you made? Where will you be in the great eternity? all depends upon the right hand and the left hand. Let's pray. Lord, we give thanks for your Word, for this history, for what happened at the cross, the many lessons that we can learn. And Lord, we certainly learn from these men in their dying hours and the choices that they made, We thank you that there was one man that turned and believed, and cried out for mercy, and was saved that day, and had the assurance that he would be with the Lord. And the other man died in his sin, was lost forever. And Lord, in this meeting today, there's only two kinds of people we know, those that are saved and those that are not, those that are on the right hand, those that are on the left. Lord, may we feel the challenge of Your Word. If there are those and they're still in the left hand, Lord, get them out of that dangerous position. Get them onto the right hand. Save them by the grace of God. Bring them to call upon the name of the Lord. If they've been living their lives up until now like the other man, just blaspheming God and blaspheming every opportunity given to them to get right with God, to repent of their sin, Lord, we pray that You'll speak to them now. and don't let them leave without Christ. Bring them to the Savior in Jesus' name. Amen. 228 is the closing hymn. Just singing the first verse in the chorus, I'm coming to the cross. And we pray that you will, that you'll come to the cross. I am poor and weak and blind, all of us are. I'm counting all but dross, I shall fill the salvation find." That's what you find at the cross when you come to the cross this way. Come believing, come trusting in Christ. I'm trusting Lord in thee. Let's think of the words as we sing. ♪ And Lord, may there be those who will come to the cross and will cry from their heart, save me, Jesus, save me now. And we know that he will. For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. Let your word live on, let it challenge, let us take it home in our hearts. May it do us good through the afternoon and bring us again tonight for the gospel service. Bless your word as it goes forth in Jesus name. Amen. ♪ ♪ you