Following are my teaching notes from a biblical teaching that I did on a LIVE broadcast.
What’s your name?
Your name is important.
Luke 23:43 (KJV)
“And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, Today shalt thou be with me in paradise.”
This is the main verse I would like to concentrate on. However, there are many directions we can go from here. I hope you don’t mind, but we’re going to dissect this and cut this meat up into little chewable chunks, okay?
Back to the verse — “And Jesus said unto him…” Who is “him?” Well, let’s back up and take a look.
Luke 23:39-44
(39) “And one of the malefactors which were hanged railed on him, saying, If thou be Christ, save thyself and us. (40) But the other answering rebuked him, saying, Dost not thou fear God, seeing thou art in the same condemnation? (41) And we indeed justly; for we receive the due reward of our deeds: but this man hath done nothing amiss. (42) And he said unto Jesus, Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom. (43) And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, To day shalt thou be with me in paradise. (44) And it was about the sixth hour, and there was a darkness over all the earth until the ninth hour.”
A malefactor is someone who commits a crime. Today, we commonly say that the thief was on the cross next to Jesus. Why are we still calling him a thief on the cross? He’s redeemed, is he not? But we’re still calling him a thief.
The words we speak over our children are very powerful. Be careful about what you say about your children. Don’t say they are stupid. You might argue, “Well, it’s true; look at them. They are ditching school, and they act up.” Listen, anyone can speak negative words to your children as soon as they walk out the front door of your home. What you need to do is to speak life into them! Your home needs to be a sanctuary, not only for your spouse but for your children as well. They need edification too! Children will believe what you tell them. It goes down into their soul, so don’t speak curses over them.
Here’s a little secret. As a spouse, try to boost up and edify your man or your woman. If you think about it, it’s like an investment. I’m not talking about lying to them, but find something that they do and say, “You know, I like it when you take care of this or that.” When your spouse is lifted, guess what happens? They go to work lifted; they get promoted, and they start to excel. That lifts up the whole family!
God changed Abram’s name to Abraham. That’s how important names are. Abram means “God is Exalted,” and Abraham means “Father of many nations.” We all know that after his name change, Abraham indeed fulfilled the meaning of his name.
We see the repentance of the heart here.
One of the criminals in verse 39 was basically saying, “Okay, you’re supposed to be the hot shot here, so why don’t you save yourself and us?” That doesn’t sound like repentance to me.
Now, let’s listen in on the other criminal. It’s like we are a fly on the cross; we have front-row seats, and were listening in on this private conversation between Jesus and the two criminals in verses 40-42.
(40) “But the other answering rebuked him, saying, Dost not thou fear God, seeing thou art in the same condemnation? (41) And we indeed justly; for we receive the due reward of our deeds: but this man hath done nothing amiss. (42) And he said unto Jesus, Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom.”
So what happened there?
- Number one, one of the criminals rebuked the other one. (Verse 40)
- Number two, he publicly confessed the Lord Jesus Christ. (Verses 41-42)
Matthew 10:32-33
(32) “Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven. (33) But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven.”
It says here in verse 33 that you cannot publicly deny Jesus Christ; that’s unforgivable. You might ask who would do that? Believe me, people are out there doing it — publicly denying Jesus Christ. Don’t ever ever do that. You can have a bad day and a bad week, but don’t ever publicly deny Jesus Christ. Okay?
What was Jesus’ response?
(43) “And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, Today shalt thou be with me in paradise.”
Boom! He just got the best gift of all! Saints, keep praying for your loved ones; keep praying for strangers because you never know when that hour will come and they receive Jesus Christ in their hearts! Now you may not see it, but that’s okay. I had a younger brother who was homeless by choice. I didn’t realize it at the time, but he was watching my every move for years! He saw me go from a cussing alcoholic and recreational drug user to who I am now by the grace of Almighty God! He was watching me, and I didn’t know it. Saints, you just might be the only Bible someone reads!!!!!
My brother, like I said, was homeless by choice. He had options. One day, he got sick. He had been sick for a while, and it was cold outside. To compound the problem, he was drinking, and we know drinking gives you a false sense of warmth. Drinking also dehydrates you. He passed away. I never said the sinner’s prayer with him, so yes, of course, I was wondering, “Okay, where is he now?”
The funeral was a blessing. The homeless came, and they had respect for him. I got to hear their stories about my little brother. I even got to hear from the members of the church that I didn’t know he attended from time to time. They told me that he had accepted Jesus Christ! The Pastor didn’t even know it, but the prayer team did! GLORY TO GOD! I GET TO SEE MY BROTHER IN HEAVEN ONE DAY!!!!!
Now, back to the verse. Jesus said, “You will be with me in paradise.” What is this paradise? Paradise is a place where the righteous went when they died prior to the crucifixion.
Okay, walk this out with me. Is there sin in Heaven? No. Okay, why not? Because if sin was in Heaven then Heaven and earth would be the same thing. There’s no point. So there’s no sin in Heaven, which means that after the fall of Adam and Eve, Heaven had to be sealed up to keep sin out. So where did people go prior to Jesus saving them? Good question. They went to a place called Abraham’s bosom. It is also called paradise sometimes.
Luke 16:19-26
(19) “There was a certain rich man, which was clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day: (20) And there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, which was laid at his gate, full of sores, (21) And desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man’s table: moreover the dogs came and licked his sores. (22) And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham’s bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried; (23) And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. (24) And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame. (25) But Abraham said, Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things: but now he is comforted, and thou art tormented. (26) And beside all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed: so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot; neither can they pass to us, that would come from thence.”
Notes: Verse 22 – Mentions Abraham’s bosom.
Verse 23 – He saw Abraham and Lazarus. There’s a part of Paradise that you can look down into hell.
Verse 24 – In hell, your senses are attacked and tormented with the most vile smells, and your ears are filled with the screams of those being tortured around the clock without end. You’re so hot that you’re dehydrated. In fact, all resemblance of water evaporates from you. This is why the rich ruler just wanted a drop of water to satisfy the complete dryness inside and out that he was experiencing.
Saints, I’m not trying to scare you, but you do need to know the truth. Satan acts like your buddy, but he’s on a mission. He knows he’s going to the lake of fire, and he’s trying to take down as many of God’s children as he can. Satan can’t keep his promises. You can be rich with the devil’s treasure and in hell tomorrow. The devils pleasures ALWAYS HAVE STRINGS ATTACHED. GODS PROMISES BRING PEACE. Let’s take fornication, for instance. That sin is so tempting. Its so sweet, but let’s look at the strings attached. Besides risking hell, if you sleep with someone, you get what you wanted, but now look at this, you have to worry about disease, and you have to worry about what if they get pregnant, which could lead to another sin — abortion. See how this works? God’s way gives you peace. You don’t have to worry about those things. I’m telling you, a clear conscience is a beautiful thing!!! You don’t have to keep track of your lies. You’re delivered!
I saw a quote before that went something like this, “A man is not someone that can sleep with a thousand women but who can sleep with a woman a thousand times!”
The devil doesn’t have all the good pleasures; that’s a lie! God has all the best pleasures!
Psalms 16:11 (KJV)
“Thou wilt shew me the path of life: in thy presence is fulness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore.”
Evermore means “always” or “ forever.” Pleasure for all time! Don’t cheat yourselves from this promise!
The last verse I want to discuss is about the hours. Look what happened while Jesus was on the Cross.
Luke 23:44
“And it was about the sixth hour, and there was a darkness over all the earth until the ninth hour.”
When it says the sixth hour, it’s talking about after dawn. The sixth hour after dawn would be around 12 noon, which is the brightest part of the day! Yet as Jesus was on the cross, there was darkness. There was darkness until the ninth hour which would be 3pm.
In Conclusion
There’s so much meat on this bone here. For instance, we can keep going and talk about how the redeemed criminal was not baptized but yet repented and made it to paradise with Jesus.
We can continue and talk about what Jesus did while He was in paradise.
God is so Good.
We can even talk about how God wanted me to change my name.
But in conclusion, watch what you say over your children and grandchildren. If you’re a grandparent YOU DO PLAY AN IMPORTANT ROLE IN YOUR GRANDCHILDREN’S LIVES!!!
WIVES AND HUSBANDS, SPEAK LIFE OVER YOUR SPOUSE! YOU GUYS ARE LIKE A CORPORATION!
YOU WILL NEVER HEAR JEFF BEZOS SAY AMAZON SUCKS OR BILL GATES SAY MICROSOFT SUCKS. WHY? BECAUSE THE STOCKS WILL TANK. IT WILL GO DOWN!
YET, THIS IS WHAT WE ARE DOING WHEN WE PUT DOWN OUR SPOUSE!!!
I love you all!
Take care and stay blessed,
Pastor/Coach Jeno
