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Series C – Twenty-Seventh Sunday After Pentecost – Sunday, November 20, 2016 | Pr. Chris Rosebrough

Welcome to the Teaching Ministry of Kongsvinger Lutheran Church. Kongsvinger is a beacon for the Gospel of Jesus Christ and is located on the plains of Northwestern Minnesota. We proclaim Christ and Him crucified for our sins and salvation by grace through faith alone, and now, here’s a message from Pastor Chris Rosebrough:

Time Stamp	Transcript
0:29	the holy Gospel According to Saint Luke chapter 23 verses 27 through 43. and
0:35	there followed Jesus a great multitude of the people and of women who were mourning and
0:40	lamenting for him but turning to them Jesus said Daughters of Jerusalem do not weep from me but weep for yourselves and
0:48	for your children for behold the days are coming when they will say blessed are the barren and the wounds that never
0:54	bore and the breasts that never nurse then they will begin to say to the mountains fall on us into the hills
0:59	cover us for if they do these things when the wood is green what will happen when it is dry
1:05	to others who were criminals were LED away to be put to death with him and when they came to the place that is
1:11	called the skull there they crucified Jesus and the criminals one on his right and one on his left and Jesus said
1:18	father forgive them for they know not what they do and they cast lots to divide his garments and the people stood
1:24	by watching but the rulers scoffed at him saying he saved others let him save himself if he is the Christ of God his
1:31	Chosen One the soldiers also mocked him coming up and offering him sour wine and
1:36	saying if you are the king of the Jews save yourself there was also an inscription over him
1:43	this is the king of the Jews one of the criminals who were hanged railed at him saying are you not the Christ save
1:50	yourself and us but the others rebuked him saying do you not fear God since you
1:56	are under the same sentence of condemnation and we indeed justly for we are receiving the due reward of our
2:01	Deeds but this man has done nothing wrong and he said Jesus Remember me when
2:07	you come into your kingdom and he said to him truly I say to you today you will be with me in Paradise in the name of
2:15	Jesus that’s better today is the last Sunday of the church year this is the Sunday
2:22	when we focus our attention on Judgment Day now the last couple of weeks we’ve been
2:28	focusing on everything leading up to that as we get into the end days now we focus on the day itself yet Our Gospel
2:36	text seems to be out of sync this is a good Friday text that I just read why is this passage making an
2:43	appearance on this day in other years the lectionary has us and the church
2:48	here with either like the parable of the ten virgins or the parable of the Judgment of the sheep and the goats will
2:55	that make sense if you want your focus to be on the day of judgment but if you take a little bit of time
3:02	walk with me through this text today and you Ponder what is revealed there what you’re going to find is that Jesus’s
3:08	death on the accursed wood of the cross is actually connected
3:14	directly to Judgment Day and Jesus’s crucifixion comes into focus when you
3:21	start to walk through this you can see that the day of Jesus’s death well
3:28	that’s Judgment Day but I have to make myself clear here
3:34	that’s Judgment Day for believers have you ever been to the doctor and the
3:41	doctor says we need to do a procedure I’ve been there done that right and when
3:47	the doctor says we’re that we’re going to do this procedure come in on Wednesday at 10 A.M so what happens all
3:52	night Tuesday you can’t sleep because all you’re thinking about is the procedure and so when you have the
3:59	procedure done the doctor says all right this is the part that’s going to hurt and what do you do you look away you
4:05	don’t want to see it you don’t want to feel it and then you don’t really feel anything you go that’s it
4:10	yeah that’s it you see that’s what Judgment Day is like for Christians
4:18	it’s like that accursed hated procedure that you’re really worried about and at
4:24	the end of the day sit there and go well that was like nothing and the reason for this is simple
4:30	is because Judgment Day for us occurred two thousand years ago while Christ was on the cross
4:37	that’s not true for those who persist in sin and unbelief and we’ll explain that as we go and the reason for this is
4:44	quite simple Jesus was judged for your sins
4:49	and he was found guilty for your sins and mine Jesus was made
4:56	the singular sinner of all of humanity and God poured out his wrath down to the
5:02	dregs for you so the crucifixion of Christ
5:07	is Judgment Day for believers and so with that we return to Our Gospel text which begins with
5:14	these words there follow Jesus a great multitude of the people and of women who were mourning and lamenting for him but
5:20	turning to them Jesus said Daughters of Jerusalem do not weep for me but wait for yourselves and for your
5:26	children for behold the days are coming when they will say blessed are the barren and the wounds that never bore
5:31	and the breasts that never nursed they will begin to say to the mountains falling us into the hills cover us
5:38	now notice here Jesus and saying to these women who are Weeping and mourning about Jesus being led a way to be
5:45	crucified Jesus said don’t weep for me in fact you should be happy for me
5:50	because I’m dying for your sins it is my joy to save you
5:55	but then he points them not to the immediate future but to the distant
6:01	future the end of days the days when the Book of Revelation tells us that people
6:07	will desire so badly to die but will not be able to they will call on the
6:13	mountains to fall on them and they won’t death will will not well visit them on
6:20	those days and so Jesus focuses on the ascaton basically is saying listen weep
6:27	for yourselves the days are going to get worse and worse and worse and worse and it’s going to be a really bumpy ride
6:35	all the way until the end so when the world gets worse and worse and worse and worse and it gets to be a bumpy ride
6:41	we should say this is exactly how Jesus said it would be even here on the day when he’s being led off to the cross
6:49	chapter verse 32 then says two others who were criminals were LED
6:54	away to be put to death with Jesus and when they came to the place that is called the skull There They Crucified
7:00	him and the criminals one on his right and one on his left
7:05	hmm I seem to recall a passage of scripture in Matthew 25 that talks about Jesus
7:12	returning and while people being separated like sheeps and goats goats on
7:18	the left the Sheep on the right you start to see the theme here in fact One Church Father notes that this is exactly
7:25	what he it sounds like and he says this the very appearance of The Gallows showed the Criterion that he would apply
7:31	when he comes to judge everyone the believing thief’s faith prefigured those
7:37	who would be saved while the blasphemer’s wickedness foreshadowed those who would be condemned Christ’s
7:44	passion therefore contains the mystery of Salvation And although I completely
7:50	agree with this church father I would say that this isn’t a prefiguring if you would this is the first court cases
7:57	of the Judgment Day that’s really what’s going on so Jesus in the midst of all of the
8:05	circus going on around him the Weeping women the shouting in the jeers
8:11	he’s just been nailed to the cross hands feet and all his bleeding badly from the
8:18	Well from the back where he had been scourged and rather than saying that’s it
8:25	father give them what they deserve he instead says this father forgive them
8:32	they know not what they do so they cast lots to divide his garments
8:38	which is a polite way of saying that Jesus was crucified naked the people stood by watching the rulers
8:45	scoffed at him there’s your politicians saying well he saved others let him save himself if he’s the Christ of God his
8:52	Chosen One the soldiers also mocked him coming up and offering him sour wine and
8:57	saying if you are the king of the Jews save yourself
9:02	what’s all this if you are save yourself show us a sign perform a miracle do a
9:07	magic trick Jesus and then we’ll really believe in you there was an also an inscription over Jesus that said this is
9:14	the king of the Jews and by the way this inscription had it absolutely right
9:20	now as we here in the United States prepare for our new president president Trump
9:25	takes power in January I assure you that they are already planning his
9:31	inauguration ceremony they’re working out a list a short list of people who
9:36	would like give an invocation maybe say a prayer give an opening thought they probably already starting to work on the
9:42	draft of President Trump’s inauguration speech and of course the invitations will be going out shortly for the
9:49	inaugural ball right they’ve got you’ve got lots of lots and lots of planning to do well keep in mind
9:56	the cross is Jesus’s inauguration rather than wear a crown of gold he’s
10:03	wearing a crown of thorns and this was by his own choice this is what King Jesus chose he even
10:11	carefully invited two fellows to have the greatest seats of Honor one on his
10:16	right and one on his left it’s important to note that James and John wanted these
10:22	important seats of Honor but they were denied to them instead these seats of
10:27	Honor were held in reserve for these two thieves one of the criminals
10:33	who were hanged with Jesus railed at him saying are you the Christ save yourself
10:39	and us so no this criminal joins his voice with those who mocked Jesus and
10:45	railed against Jesus it’s as if he’s saying um well
10:53	if you’re really important Jesus if you really are who you are please please let’s engage in some kind of great big
11:01	prison escape right now escape from prison well literally on The
11:07	Gallows that’s what he’s talking about here so if you are the king of the Jews save
11:14	us are you the Christ save us all of these voices that we’ve heard
11:20	thus far are the voices of unbelief these are the voices of rebellion Jesus is literally suffering bleeding
11:27	and dying for their sins right there including the sins that they are committing at that very moment so that
11:33	they could be forgiven and live but they are having none of it filled with the Venom of Satan’s hatred they hurl
11:40	insults at Christ while he prays for them and for us father forgive them they know not what they do
11:47	and like I had already pointed out what is Jesus doing he is bleeding and dying for the sins of
11:53	the world Paul says in second Corinthians 5 21 for our sake God made Jesus to be sin who knew no sin so that
12:01	we might become the righteousness of God Paul in Galatians 3 13 says Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by
12:08	becoming a curse for us for it is written cursed as everyone who is hanged on a tree and the prophet Isaiah
12:14	hundreds of years before Christ was crucified prophesying as to his suffering and his death says this in 53
12:21	starting at verse 8 by oppression and judgment he was taken away and as for
12:26	his generation who considered that he was cut off from the land of the living stricken for the transgression of my
12:32	people they made his grave with the Wicked with a rich man and his death although he had
12:38	done no violence there was no deceit in his mouth yet it was the will of the Lord to crush him
12:44	he has put him to grief when a soul makes an offering for Guilt he shall see his offspring he shall prolong his days
12:52	the will of the Lord shall prosper in his hand and out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied by
13:00	his knowledge shall the righteous one my servant make many to be accounted righteous that’s right the prophet
13:07	Isaiah prophesying how Christ’s death on the cross for us then gives us by God’s
13:14	well Divine imputation the ability to be counted as righteous even though we are
13:20	not because he has been crushed for our iniquities and it says he shall bear their iniquities therefore I will divide
13:26	him a portion with the many he shall divide the spoil with the strong because he poured out his soul to death and he
13:33	was numbered with the transgressors yet he bore the sin of many and makes intercession for the transgressors in
13:42	fact Jesus right there on the cross is making intercession for them praying father forgive them
13:48	we know not what they do and so think carefully about what Jesus is suffering for although he
13:57	had never committed any sin he is numbered with the transgressors and the sins that he is suffering and bleeding
14:04	and dying for well these are quite evident Galatians 5 19-21 comes to mind
14:12	he’s dying for the sins of sexual immorality impurity sensuality idolatry
14:18	sorcery enmity Strife jealousy fits of
14:24	anger rivalries dissensions divisions Envy drunkenness orgies gossip coveting
14:32	and things like these
14:37	and then you say the pastor I heard some things in that list that I am guilty of
14:45	exactly there’s nobody in this building or in the world who hasn’t committed
14:52	one or all of these sins and this is what Jesus is bleeding and
14:58	dying for while Jesus is suffering in that moment like I’ve said God has made him the
15:05	singular sinner placing on him the iniquity of us all Jesus there on the
15:11	cross is taken into himself think about it all of the knots the atrocities and war crimes the guilt of every couple who
15:19	have aborted their child the guilt of every terrorist Thief crooked politician
15:25	child molester bank robber tax cheat adulterer fornicator gossip slanderer
15:32	that’s everybody and all of those sins and iniquities God
15:38	has imputed to Jesus and when they are imputed to Jesus Isaiah says it was the will of the
15:44	father to crush him it’s Judgment Day see Jesus was found
15:52	guilty so that you can be declared innocent
15:58	and in the midst of this circus one sees things
16:03	the way they really are and I’m talking about one of the thieves one of the thieves sees what’s really going on
16:10	one of these thieves recognizes that he is actually getting what he deserves
16:15	and Jesus is not one man has a crystal clear moment of Sanity in the midst of the insanity of
16:23	sin run amok run amok so much that we’re crucifying the Son of God and rather
16:28	than join his voice with those who are mocking Jesus this thief’s voice cries out loud and
16:36	clear above the taunts and the text says the other Thief rebuked him saying do
16:43	you not fear God since you are under the same sentence of condemnation and we
16:49	indeed justly for we are receiving the due reward of our Deeds but this man has
16:56	done nothing wrong that’s quite the confession
17:02	that’s a confession of sin and a confession of Faith a confession of his
17:07	own guilt and a confession that Jesus truly is innocent a confession that he
17:13	is he is getting exactly what he deserves but Jesus is getting none of what he deserves he doesn’t deserve this
17:20	but remember Jesus has willingly gone to the cross for you
17:25	and so rather than say if you are the Christ save us in yourself
17:32	this guy can’t even ask Jesus to be saved instead he says Jesus Remember me when you come into
17:40	your kingdom so he doesn’t ask to be saved he knows that he deserves death
17:47	he knows that he’s suffering rightly for his own sins and he’s asked Jesus just
17:53	to remember him keep this in mind every time we partake in the Lord’s
17:59	Supper We join our prayers to this thief’s prayers
18:04	what does the text say take eat this is the body of Christ broken you for you for the Forgiveness
18:10	of your sins do this in remembrance of me do you think you’re the only one doing the remembering
18:18	do you not think that God is remembering his promises to forgive and be merciful to you
18:24	so every time we take the Lord’s Supper We join our prayers with this thiefs to
18:30	be remembered by God is for God to recall and to know your
18:36	name your names written in the Lamb’s Book of Life to be remembered by God is to have
18:42	God forget your sins to persist in sin and unbelief is for God to remember your
18:47	sins and forget your name that’s how that works so Jesus hears the
18:53	Cry of this thief one of his lost sheep
18:59	hears his cry and Jesus comes swiftly to comfort him even while he is suffering
19:06	and Jesus said to him truly I say today to you today you will be with me
19:13	in Paradise clearly this man wasn’t saved by his
19:20	good works he had none to count
19:26	he was saved purely by grace through faith
19:31	in the crucified Lord who was dying right next to him now note this
19:38	Jesus didn’t offer these comforting words to the crowd who were mocking him
19:44	Jesus did not offer these comforting words to the criminal being crucified on his left the one who was mocking him
19:52	to them there was only silence and an awkward one at that
19:58	now the scary thing is that if we’re honest with ourselves we can see a lot of
20:06	ourselves in the mocking Criminal I want you to think about this
20:12	none of us wants to suffer we don’t want to die we want Jesus to Spring us out of
20:19	the situation we’re in but in a particular way we’re looking to figure out how to perform the ultimate Houdini
20:26	trick by cheating death finding a way to not be paid the wages of our sins
20:34	if any of you have ever been served court papers somebody’s filed suit against you they have those guys who go
20:40	around and they serve you papers of course if they can’t find you they can’t serve you and so some people have
20:45	actually made a game of like never being served the papers by the person they know is trying to sue them so this is
20:51	what we’re trying to do we’re trying to figure out how to not be served the wages of our sin and we want a savior
20:58	who would do that for us but that’s no savior at all so we say things like well if you’re the
21:04	Son of God prove it by paying off my credit card debt if you’re the Son of God could you give me some help on my
21:11	student loans if you’re the Son of God prove it by giving me a promotion and a raise at work make me powerful
21:19	influential give me six pack abs that’s a prayer I pray every day and thousands
21:25	like yeah yeah and a thousand give me a thousand likes
21:31	on my Facebook posts every time I post something make me beautiful healthy Rich give me a way to cheat death so that I
21:38	can go on living for myself that’s what we want isn’t it
21:45	you see dissatisfied with merely eating from the Tree of the knowledge of Good and Evil we want to eat from the Tree of
21:51	Life also and be affirmed in our sin for eternity as little gods and we think
21:57	that if we mock God threaten to murder the Son of God make him have to prove
22:02	himself while he’s suffering and dying that by doing so that will somehow get what we want it’s the ultimate sinful
22:09	temper tantrum it’s like we’ve kidnapped the Son of God and have sent a ransom note to God the Father saying give us
22:15	what we want and we’ll be happy to let Jesus go
22:22	that’s kind of the picture right and see everything is going according to plan
22:27	in Our Gospel text everything is going according to plan for evil until verse 44. just a little
22:35	bit more it was about the sixth hour that’s noon
22:40	and there was Darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour while the Sun’s light
22:47	failed the Sun’s light failing
22:53	is a picture is one of the signs of the day of judgment let me quote from the
22:59	prophet Isaiah chapter 13 starting at verse 8. behold the day of the Lord it comes
23:05	cruel with wrath and fierce anger to make the land a desolation and to
23:10	destroy its sinners from it for the stars of the heavens and their constellations will not give their light
23:16	the sun will be as be dark at its rising and the moon will not shed its light I
23:23	will punish the world for its evil and the wicked for their iniquity I will put an end to the pomp of the arrogant and
23:29	lay low the pompous Pride of the ruthless and see there it is Jesus bleeding dying
23:35	naked on the cross the wrath of God being poured out him in
23:40	full strength and fury and he’s drinking it all the way down and the sun stops
23:46	giving its light this is the day of judgment
23:51	this is your Judgment Day
23:57	so the prayer of faith says to God
24:03	I am getting what I deserve Jesus has done nothing wrong the prayer
24:10	of faith confesses sin before God and confesses that Jesus is in the right
24:16	and that he is innocent and then prays out Lord be merciful merciful to me a sinner
24:23	but remember me when you come into your kingdom so put away your taunts put away your
24:28	mockery put away your foolish unbelief and cynicism
24:34	Christ has not come to help you cheat death or to make you the apple of the world’s
24:40	eye by the way the devil won’t share that with you anyway
24:45	if you persist in your sin and your unbelief then there is a day coming a
24:50	dreadful day when Jesus will return in glory to judge the living and the dead and you will be numbered with the Damned
24:56	and there will be no one who could save you then
25:01	if you recognize that death suffering misery are the right wages
25:08	that you’ve earned for your selfish satanic Rebellion against the one true God
25:13	and you confess your guilt calling out to Christ to remember you to have mercy on you
25:19	then like that thief on the cross the believing one you too will be with Jesus
25:26	in Paradise forever Good Friday for all who are in Christ is
25:34	the day of judgment the righteous one has been found guilty for all the wicked
25:40	and the unrighteous in other words the righteous one has been found guilty for me
25:46	and for you he’s been pierced for our sins bruised for our iniquities
25:51	God has forgiven us all of our trespasses by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its
25:58	legal demands he did this by setting it aside nailing it to the Cross after Christ had finished his mission
26:06	So Good Friday for all who are in Christ is the well is not only the day of
26:12	judgment you should also note this it’s also the day of paradise beginning to be restored
26:20	it is the day where the old creation begins to disappear and the new creation begins to make its
26:27	arrival on the scene Paradise has already returned
26:33	it’s here now and not yet can you see it
26:39	no look harder look again look through the holes in Jesus’s hands do you see the
26:46	sunlight of the new creation shining through his torn flesh and flowing blood you should
26:52	it’s the day of judgment Matthew says when the son of man comes in his glory
26:58	and all the angels with him then he will sit on his glorious Throne before him will be gathered all the nations and he
27:05	will separate people one from another as a Shepherd separates the sheep from the
27:10	goats search your hearts you already know this day is coming
27:16	you’ve known this day is coming from the time you were a little tyke
27:21	this is the day that you fear this is the day that you dread this is the day that when thinking about it in the
27:28	middle of the night it causes you to wake up with a start it’s worse than those falling dreams
27:35	because you know you’re going to have to stand before Jesus and you know you’re guilty
27:41	but you have already gone through the Judgment Day if you are in Christ
27:49	so he had placed the sheep on his right the goats on his left and if you are in
27:55	Christ forgiven then you are a sheep
28:00	if you persist in sin and unbelief continue to scoff and mock the son of
28:06	God then you are a goat plain and simple salvation is a gift not
28:12	something you earn then the king will say to those on his right come you who are blessed by my
28:18	father inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world
28:25	then he will say to those on his left depart from me you cursed into the Eternal fire prepared for the devil and
28:30	all of his angels note Jesus is silent to the unbelieving thief
28:36	while he’s being crucified but when he returns in glory to judge the living and the dead he breaks the silence
28:43	and basically says to hell with you and these
28:49	these goats will go away into Eternal punishment but the righteous into eternal life
28:56	you who are baptized into Christ you who trust in Jesus Christ for the
29:01	Forgiveness of your sins you who bear fruit in keeping with repentance because you have been made
29:06	new in Christ and continue to mortify your flesh you have already made it through the day of judgment
29:13	it’s the procedure we all dreaded and it turned out to be nothing you’ve made it through
29:19	Christ remembers you you will be with him in Paradise along
29:25	with that Thief and when we arrive the first order of business is the wedding
29:31	Feast of the lamb and you ain’t ever seen a party until you see that thing
29:37	Maranatha come Lord Jesus in the name of Jesus Amen

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