They Couldn't Have Been More Wrong | Family Baptist Church | BAP | Pastor Ricky Georges

The Lord Jesus Christ said, “... rejoice not, that the spirits are subject unto you; but rather rejoice, because your names are written in heaven.” If we struggle to find a reason to rejoice, remember that the most significant reason for rejoicing is that God loves us! Why else would He allow and even orchestrate the suffering and death of His only begotten Son for us? In this sermon, we will explore the love of God for us, which was demonstrated by the suffering of Jesus Christ. We will also discover who was it that was so mistaken and so wrong in their thinking when Jesus was crucified. My goal in preaching this sermon is to remind us all why we ought to rejoice.

Scripture Reference:

Psalm 22:3 KJV

Philippians 4:4 KJV

Luke 23:32-43 KJV

1 Peter 3:9 KJV

Romans 12:14,17,19-21

Romans 10:13 KJV

Luke 10:20 KJV

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We help people find strength and freedom through the power of Biblical teachings. Pastor Ricky Georges leads this vision based in Brooklyn, New York.

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Transcript

[00:00:00] Let me have you take your Bibles this morning and turn to the Gospel of Luke. Amen? Uh, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John is the third of the four Gospels in the New Testament. And we're reading from Luke chapter 23. Luke chapter 23. We will read verses 35 through 43. If you are Aware of the layout of, uh, the gospels.

This is obviously part of the section where we see the sufferings of the Lord Jesus. Luke, chapter 23, verse 35 through 43, and we'll do our responsive scripture reading. So I'll read verse 35. You'll join me out loud on 36, 38 40, 42 44. Amen. [00:01:00] All right. Oh, not 44, excuse me. We're stopping at 43. Let's all stand for the reading of God's word this morning.

Amen. The Bible says, And the people stood beholding, and the rulers also with them derided him, saying, He saved others, let him save himself. If he be Christ, the chosen of God, together, and the soldiers also mocked him coming to him and offering him vinegar and saying, if thou be the king of the Jews, save thyself together, and a superscription also was written over him in letters of Greek and Latin and Hebrew.

This is the king of the Jews. And one of the malefactors, which were hanged, railed on him, saying, If thou be Christ, save thyself [00:02:00] and us. But the other, answering, rebuked him, saying, Dost thou, 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. And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, today thou shalt be with me in paradise. Let's pray and ask God's blessing on the message today. Dear Father, thank you, Lord, for your goodness and oh God, and for making the ultimate sacrifice, sending your son into this broken, and sinful world to allow him to be brutalized and killed [00:03:00] all of this because he loved us and because you want us to be saved.

Dear Father, help me to, uh, explain this message properly so that the people could Have something in their hearts that they could take home with them, something that could strengthen them for God throughout the week and, and dear father, we thank you again for your great love toward us. We pray this in Jesus' name.

Amen. When I am with you in church, I always, or most of the time try to be an example for you. In my behavior in church, I try to be an example. Amen. And what I'm driving at is. That I want this church to be a friendly church.

Would you be friendly? Okay. Praise the Lord. [00:04:00] And I want you to know I, I'm a naturally shy person. All right. But I have a button that I press like a switch that when I walk through those doors, I, I change from shy to friendly in an instant. I've been doing this a long time. I know where the button's at.

Okay, and um, I want our people to be patient with each other. So, if that's what I want, I better be patient, alright? Because I'm the pastor of the church. If I start running around and I'm not patient, people will take the cue from me and you'll be like, oh, it's okay not to be patient in this church. The pastor's not patient, amen?

So I try to be that example. Furthermore I want this to be a rejoicing church. Amen? Rejoicing. The Bible says that. Uh, and so, I, come with a rejoicing spirit in church, [00:05:00] and I want you to, in a way, kind of feed off my energy. Amen? And, listen, it's not even optional. The Bible commands it. It's a command to all of us.

Philippians chapter 4, verse number 4. Rejoice in the Lord always. And again, like with emphasis, and again I say rejoice. So, it's strongly emphasized. Furthermore, in Psalm 22, verse number 3, it says, O thou, being God, O you God, O thou that inhabitest. The praise of Israel so understand that if you want God to be close to you and you want to have a strong robust and dynamic relationship with God Here's the discipline or skill you must learn you must learn to make it a habit to praise God.

Amen. Give him the praise and that will be inviting [00:06:00] to God. You, you are attractive to God and you'll find that God comes a little closer to you. Amen. Rejoice, praise him, give him thanks. Amen. And so, uh, and I want to lead in that way.

One, it's a command. Two, it invites God's presence. And three, It's good for your mental health. Amen. All right. It helps you to be less negative, less critical, less grumpy. Amen. I tell the choir when they're standing here, smile, smile, smile. Amen. Smile. God loves you. He really does. And that's a great reason to smile today.

I'm preaching about the biggest reason for rejoicing. I tell you, rejoice the Lord always. And again, I say rejoice. What's my reason for rejoicing? [00:07:00] Hello, the Lord. Do you know who he is? I wouldn't have to tell you, if you knew how great he was, and how kind he is, and how benevolent, and how open hearted he is, and how much, despite what you might think, he desires to bless you.

It's bursting out of his heart to reach out to you, to reveal to you his own self, and to bless you, to pour it on with abundance. He wants to do that. Yes Yes, he does and yes he did pastor Respectfully I Don't feel that And I say to you You don't have to feel it But it is the fact and the truth of God's Word That that is precisely [00:08:00] and exactly what God did in John chapter three, verse number 16.

God didn't give you. His second best. He did. He did it. God didn't reach out into his wallet and give you a dollar bill. What God did was he pulled out his laptop and he did a full wire transfer of all of his holdings for us. Amen. And what God did was he emptied his bank account and send his son into the world to give his life for you and for me for God so loved.

The world and he gave his only begotten son Cave just gate. He just just gave him Surrendered him He said brother Wyatt, I'm gonna give you my son take good care of it That's not what happened hey man, I'm World I'm gonna send my son to you. Make sure you take good [00:09:00] care of him. Oh, no, they killed him They traded him despitefully, hatefully.

They rejected him. He came unto his own, and his own received him not, but as many as received him. To them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name. We rejoice in the beauty of God's creation. We rejoice in just being alive. Amen. Did you wake up this morning and realize, Wow, I'm alive.

I thought I was going to die in the night, but I'm alive. Man, I had this nightmare. Listen, I don't get nightmares hardly anymore. When I was a little boy, I used to get nightmares all the time. I'd be running from monsters and stuff. I remember one night when I was five years old, I was watching a movie I shouldn't have been watching.

I saw Jaws at five years old. That night, [00:10:00] okay, I was, I had the craziest dream. I was with my dad and my brothers, and we were looking for the ladies of our family. I was looking for my mom and my sisters, and we couldn't find, we were walking the streets, I'm five years old, this is a nightmare, and then there was a giant shark that came between the buildings, and it was crazy, and I woke up.

Whoa. Nightmares.

You didn't die in the night. I, He watches Israel. He does not sleep or slumber. Can you imagine this idea that while you're sleeping and at rest God's angel is protecting you. While evil forces desire to snatch away your soul and your life, God defends you when you're at your most vulnerable. I'm alive another day, a reason to be.

For rejoicing. [00:11:00] And yet, the greatest reason for our rejoicing is the greatness of our Savior, the Lord Jesus, and the great price that He paid for us. Amen? That's the greatest. Reason for rejoicing because in this we have eternal life and the blessed hope and the blessed assurance for all those who are saved, the blessed assurance and knowledge to know that heaven is your destination and you have need no fear.

You need not fear judgment, condemnation or hell.

All this Jesus did for us.

Jesus was falsely accused for me. They called him a blasphemer for me. He was buffeted. [00:12:00] We don't use that word, but that means they balled up their fist like so and they struck him. And we know as according to the gospel account that they struck him over and over again, blindfolded. And then they found a way.

To manage to mock him while doing it. They blindfold him and one soldier went after another after another said, oh, you're a prophet and they buffet him. They strike him. Tell us which of among all of us had hit you and struck you and they all did. And then the chief priest also did the same

And he did this for me He did this for me

He was spat upon For me They mocked and cursed him for me. You know how people curse in the streets? You know, the vulgarity and the sexual imagery they use [00:13:00] when they do it to denigrate you and to belittle you and defile your, your, your even testimony in your spirit. You know how they do that? That's what they did to Jesus.

He was brutally And gruesomely scourged for us, for me. Not for himself, but for me. Not for himself, he's innocent, without sin, he's the sinless lamb of God. He is not deserving of all of this torture. He took it for me. They sadistically put him to death. Um,

they put upon him a, [00:14:00] a ring of branches filled with thorns and they crammed it, they jammed it upon his brow, upon his head tightly and to make it, and to make it worse, they took, the Bible says a reed, a stick, and they hit him in the head to, to drive the thorns. into his scalp and through his skin. And then they, they called it a crown of thorns.

And said, Oh, we heard you're a king. Well, here's your crown, crown of thorns. I mentioned they scourged him to use that word. If you don't know what that word means, then you don't know how much he suffered. It's the cat of nine tails. It's the nine leather straps. strap with sharp bone and metal on the end of each strap.

[00:15:00] And they used that, uh to whip him in his back and the wounds that that would create on his flesh were gaping bleeding, and breaking skin and flesh, likely all the way down to the bone. This is what they did to the saviour. blood everywhere. Huge gaping wounds. The trauma that the Lord Jesus suffered for us.

That could have killed him by itself. And he survived up to this point. He was stripped naked, publicly ridiculed, despised, hated, and rejected. All of this was done to him. Before they crucified Him. [00:16:00] He hasn't been crucified yet. This is before He goes to the cross.

Oh, how deep the love of Jesus. Jesus with all of His open and bleeding wounds, severe blood loss, and, and severe trauma. He was forced to carry the cross Up the hill of Calvary. I don't know how long that road up Calvary's hill was, but that had to be the longest walk. Bleeding everywhere. The Bible teaches us that he, him having suffered so much already, did not have the strength to make it all the way up.

They had to get some man, some Bystander the Bible says they [00:17:00] compelled him Simon of Cyrene to help him carry that cross

Look in your Bibles to Luke 23 verse 32

Luke 23 verse 32 and 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. And then said Jesus, Father forgive them for they know not what they do. And they parted his raiment and cast lots. And the people stood beholding and the rulers also with them derided him.

I'll stop right there. [00:18:00] Let me give you the title of today's sermon. I'll The title of today's sermon is They Couldn't Have Been More Wrong They Couldn't Have Been More Wrong As Jesus climbs that lonely hill of Calvary There's crowds around Him People jeering Him and cursing Him And those that loved and adored Christ There's They are in mourning and weeping and they're broken hearted and in fear.

But they could not leave that scene. And that had to be the loneliest and the longest walk ever. What are, what is on Jesus mind as he carries that cross up the hill? What is on Jesus mind as he's hearing these voices [00:19:00] coming at him from his right and from his left? People crying out at him and cursing him, calling him a blasphemer and a son of Belial and all evil things that they said to him.

What was going through his mind? And we read in the scripture that he prayed this prayer. Not a prayer of vengeance, not a prayer for his own self, but for those who tortured him. Father, forgive them for they know not what they do. This concern he had for those who tortured him is beyond. human comprehension that this kind of thing is divine.

This is only Jesus can do such a thing. [00:20:00] Only one so full of God's Holy Spirit can do such a thing to pray for those who curse him and torture him and treat him so hatefully. So, I wonder if the idea of Could have come through Jesus mind to, to give up. You think about that next time you just, you, you ponder giving up on the Lord.

Jesus didn't give up on you. Don't you give up on him? Because he did this for you. He did it for the world, but he did it for you. He did it for you. It's the longest walk. This is where, if I were in his shoes, and I would not have been, because I'm not sinless, but if somehow I found myself [00:21:00] in the same position having to carry a cross with such incredible, uh, physical trauma and bleeding and gaping wounds, I would have surely given up.

Not Jesus. Not Jesus. This is where I would have been bitter and angry with those who rejected me and cursed me and torture me. I'd have been angry, but Jesus in the spirit of sweet surrender to the father's will didn't respond to the hateful cursing and torture. Instead, he prayed for them. Let's look at what the Bible says in first Peter chapter three, verse number nine, first Peter chapter three, verse number nine.

I want you to also understand that what Jesus did here is also an example to us. Not so much that we are going to be crucified, [00:22:00] but when people treat us hatefully and persecute us, this is how we ought to respond. The Bible says in 1 Peter chapter 3 verse number 9, not rendering evil for evil, or railing for railing, but contrary wise.

In other words, give them the opposite. They throw hate at you, you give them the opposite, contrary wise. Amen? Blessing. Knowing that ye are thereunto called, that ye should inherit a blessing. Because that is after the manner of your Savior. If you find yourself in such a position, you have been elevated to a place of glory because you partake in the glory of Christ.

And the Bible says In Philippians chapter 3, verse number 10, that I may know Him, who's Him, the Lord Jesus, that I may know Him, and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His [00:23:00] suffering. Let me tell you something, Christian, if you learn how to not render evil for evil, But contrary wise, knowing how to bless people?

Let me tell you something, God has exalted you and elevated you because you can only do such a thing with the power of God on your life. And as Jesus was risen from the dead after three days, so will God exalt you and bless you and you will stand out. You won't be just among the crowd. You'll stand out outside of the crowd.

I'm just saying. Look at Romans chapter 12. Romans chapter 12, verse number 14. Couple verses here, along the same vein. Bless them. Which persecute you, bless and curse not. Look at verse 17, recompense to no man, evil for evil. Provide things honest in the sight of all men. Verse 19, dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, [00:24:00] but rather give place unto wrath.

For it is written, vengeance is mine, I will repay, saith the Lord. And there's more, look at verse number 20. Therefore, if thine enemy hunger, feed him. And stop. Did you hear that? I don't want to do that. I don't feel like doing that. They hurt me. But listen, do it by faith because your father in heaven has a scorecard.

And when you triumph in obedience to the scriptures, God will bless you, will exalt you, and you, no more will you just be one among many. You'll be lifted up by your God. That I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His suffering. The rest of [00:25:00] the verse says, If he thirsts, give him drink.

For in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head. Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good. Glory to God. That's powerful, right? I think so. This is what Jesus did. He overcome evil with good. They threw every kind of evil that they could possibly throw at him and he overcame it by simply surrendering to it.

But there was a purpose, was there not? He came to save the world. He came to pay the price for our sins. So it was God's plan that He should die on that cross. But understand, in Him dying, we are all here today glorifying His name! And He is the King that will reign forever and ever! He is the King of kings and the Lord of lords!

And He will never be deposed! He will never be removed! Amen? He will rule with a rod of iron! Glory [00:26:00] to God! Nobody like Jesus. That's why I rejoice. He said, Pastor, why are you so happy? Do you know who Jesus is? You know what he did? You wouldn't ask me that question if you knew.

Look at verse 35. Luke 23, verse 35. I'm going to show you three groupings of people that were so wrong. They couldn't have been more wrong. That's the title. Look at verse 35.

And the people stood beholding and the rulers also with them. It's the rulers, the people that wanted Jesus dead, derided him. The word derided, I looked it up. It means to mock [00:27:00] someone, but do it with venom and hate. They derided him. They wanted to add to his pain. We see you suffering physical pain. That's not enough for us.

We want, we want to injure you psychologically. We want to destroy every bit of your personhood and soul. We want to break your soul before we take your life. They derided him. The rulers did that. And so it says further saying, He saved others. Let him save himself. If he be the Christ, the chosen of God.

They look at him hanging on the cross. They remember Jesus teaching. They're like, we got you now. We got you. [00:28:00] Oh, all those people you healed, all that you taught, it is for naught now, isn't it? It means nothing now because here you are dying. You saved all these people. You can't even save yourself, but they couldn't have been more wrong.

He wasn't finished saving. He wasn't finished saving grouping. Number two, back to the scripture, the Roman soldiers, they're just here for the ride. They're just doing their job. They're, they're company men. They, they punched the clock. They're dispassionate about Jesus. They kill people every day. There's just another Jew and they hate the Jews.

So the Romans are like, we get to kill a Jew today. Woo. Today's our day. That's the Roman soldiers there. So here's what it says. [00:29:00] These soldiers, they're mad because they can't be home with their wives. So. And they're discontent with their wages. So here's what they say in verse 36. And the soldiers also mocked him, coming to him and offering him vinegar and saying, if thou be the king of the Jews, save thyself.

You're the king? Bleeding and broken? Where's your glory? Where's your kingdom? Where are your subjects? If you're the king, why don't you save yourself? We heard all this stuff about you.

But they couldn't have been more wrong. But they could not have been more wrong. That's number two.[00:30:00]

And then number three, look at,

before we get to number three, look at verse 38. And a superscription also was written over him in letters of Greek and Latin and Hebrew. And in my Schofield King James Bible, the letters are capitalized, all capitalized. This is the King of the Jews. You can thank Pontius Pilate for that. I think he believed The, uh, and another account in the gospels, when the chief rulers saw the, the, the writing that was on the cross, this is the king of the Jews.

They're like, no, no, no, no. Take that off. We don't want that. Just write, uh, he said that he was king of the Jews and Pilates. Say, get outta here what I've written. I've written. That's it. It is done. [00:31:00] I think he believed. Look at verse 39. And one of the malefactors, the thief on the cross, which were hanged, railed on him.

Railed on him. Don't miss that. The words that he's about to say are filled with hate. And he's dying. That's something about the wicked that you need to understand. There are people that even on their deathbed they'll be defiant. And rebellious to God, not asking God for mercy, not asking, uh, for salvation, but to their dying breath, they're rebelling against God.

This man is dying on a cross and he rails on Jesus. That's a bad move. And look what he says. Verse 39. One of the malefactors which [00:32:00] were hanged, railed on him, saying, If thou be Christ, save thyself and us. He is Christ. And he is saving the world. Maybe not you. Because you're rejecting him. And then look. It says in verse 40, 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. There's two malefactors. There's two thieves. Jesus is hanging on the cross, and there's one on his right hand and another on his left. Each of them are on crosses. There are three men condemned to die.

There are three [00:33:00] men who won't be alive not too much longer. But there is one man that goes to hell and two that go to heaven. Amen. There are three men that are there. Two are sinners, but one is the Holy Son of God. The one man says, railing on Jesus, hatefully. He's just one of the crowd. He hears all these other people cursing him, I'll curse him too.

He's bitter, he's mad at life. He's a hardened criminal. He deserves what he's getting. And he says, if you are really the Christ, if you are really who they say you are, why don't you save us and yourself? But the other one rebuked him. The other one said, listen, Us being here, this is what we deserve. But that man who's, who hangs amongst us, he's an innocent man.

He's done nothing amiss. And that's what John the Baptist said [00:34:00] when he encountered Jesus. He said, Behold the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world. He is the sinless Lamb of God. He is without sin. He is without error. He is without transgression. Amen. Jesus is the Holy Son of God, and Him dying on that cross wasn't Him paying for His sins, for He has none.

It is Jesus paying for the sins of the world. For you and for me. Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Jesus. And so, the second one says, Be quiet. Jesus is innocent. And then he personally addresses Jesus. He has words for Jesus. Let's look at his words. Many of you know what is said. [00:35:00] It says here in verse 42, And he said unto Jesus, Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom.

This man is a believer. Because he is acknowledging this world is not his kingdom. There's another kingdom. And he says when you go there, please put it on good word for me. Remember me be merciful to me. Listen to that's all of us. Amen, Lord. Remember me in my hour of need Lord. Remember me as the tears come streaming down your face.

We are that guy. That's us. We want God to remember us. To look upon us with compassion and pity. And to help us. Amen. Praise the Lord. And Jesus [00:36:00] responds to him. The man spoke to Jesus in a spirit of humility and faith. Humility, because he was asking. Faith, because he believed he could do it, because he believed that there was truly a kingdom that Jesus was about to ascend to, and Jesus responded to his faith.

And this is my way of taking this opportunity now to reveal to you that being saved, going to God's kingdom of heaven, is not by religious performance. Amen. It is not by doing good deeds, or joining a church, or excelling in good works. The way to heaven is through a door, and that door's name is Jesus.

Jesus said this, He said, I am the way, the truth, and [00:37:00] the life. No man cometh unto the Father, but by me. Romans 6. 23, for the wages of sin is death. But the gift of God, the gift of God, is eternal life through me. Jesus Christ, our Lord. It's not a religion. It's not a priesthood of man's doing. It's not anything that is of man.

It's all of God. I say to you, it's not by taking communion. It's not even by baptism. Baptism is only a revelation of what Jesus did. When a man stands in the water to be baptized, he is picturing the death of Jesus Christ. When he is pulled under that water, the word baptism means to bury in the Greek.

Baptizo means to bury. When someone's buried in the ground, it's the, we're going to baptizo [00:38:00] him in the ground, put him six feet under. When I go into that water, I'm being buried under that water, and I am declaring to the world and to all who see me getting baptized, that I believe. That the Savior died for the sins of the world.

I believe He was buried. I believe He went into the heart of the earth. And when you come out of that water, the Bible says that you're declaring that Jesus is risen, that He's the risen Lord. And the Bible says in Romans chapter 6, and you walk in newness of life. And as Jesus is risen and is exalted at the right hand of the Father, so do you.

You are risen. To live a new life. Amen. And Jesus responds to the man. And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, Today, Today, Thou shalt be with me in Paradise. Shalt thou be with me in Paradise. Notice, He died right there. [00:39:00] He didn't get to join a church to get to heaven. He didn't have an opportunity to get baptized even.

Understand this. This is a Baptist Church. We believe in baptism, but we do not believe in baptism for salvation. There's only one thing one person who does the saving and it's Jesus his blood washing away our sins water doesn't wash away our sins the blood of Christ does. The blood of Christ does. The performance of baptism is a picture of what Jesus did on the cross for you and for me.

Notice the goodness of God and our reason for rejoicing. It's so easy to get saved. How could anyone not be saved? Pride, rebellion. [00:40:00] And yet, there's lots of people who reject Christ. There are lots of people that turn their back to Him and not their face. If people would just come to Him as a child, He would save them.

Cause that is the heart of God. I'm almost done today. Really, right up against it at the end. This man, who's dying right next to Jesus, unlike the other three, The, the groupings, the chief rulers, he saved others, himself he can't save, the, the other, the soldiers, huh, why don't you come down and save yourself if you're the king?

Even the other thief dying right beside them, railed on Jesus, if you're really the king of the Jews, why don't you save yourself and us? The one man, he was not wrong like them. Even he had faith. He says, Lord, when thou enterest into [00:41:00] thy kingdom, your kingdom, I know you're going to a kingdom and you're the boss there.

I know who you are. Please remember me. Jesus said, today thou shalt be with me in paradise. The Bible says in Romans 10, 13, for whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall Save. Rejoice in the Lord always. And again I say rejoice, because I'm saved. Because I know Jesus is the one that saved me.

Amen. Rejoice.