"THE KIND OF CHRISTIANITY NOBODY WANTS" by Rex Harrison

     I admit to you, I'm just a little bit tired. I've been
really looking forward to this week. I knew I wouldn't get any
rest, but at least I'd be home for a week. And I've really been
looking forward to that. And I'm really not going to take too
long here. You don't believe that, but it's the truth. And we're
just going to pray that the Lord will keep our thoughts together,
because nothing else is.

     I told Brother Greg last time I was here, I have showed up
more at this church before I joined it than after I joined it. I
have hardly seen him at all. I see him every once in a while, and
my wife and I say hello, but God's been good. I'm glad to be up
here. And I've enjoyed teaching. And I'm glad to get home once a
week anyway. So that's a real blessing.

     Luke chapter 23, and we'll begin with verse 32. I want to
speak tonight on "The Kind of Christianity Nobody Wants." "The
Kind of Christianity Nobody Wants." Now, you and I live in the
Laodicean age; we know that. People are all the time going around
saying, "Well, folks are cold on God." And I don't believe that.
I don't believe that at all. In all my travels, I've never seen
too much of it. I've seen a little bit of it.

     But, you know, folks that are cold, when they're cold,
they're just like my wife. When it gets below 75, she shivers.
And Tammy and I are rejoicing because it started snowing this
afternoon, and Diane said it's a blizzard. But, you know,
brethren, in Alabama, it is a blizzard. That kind of stuff. But I
like it, you know. I like this stuff. When people are cold, they
shiver, and their teeth clatter, and they know they're cold.
People who are hot, they sweat and stink and smell and everything
else--and everybody around them knows they're hot. You don't have
any hard time convincing people that are cold they're cold, and
people that are hot they're hot. But I'll tell you, it's that
lukewarm crowd, you can't convince them they're lukewarm. That's
what people are in this day and age.

     Verse 32: "And there were also two other, malefactors, led
with him to be put to death.  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.  
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], saying, He saved others; let him save himself, if he be
Christ, the chosen of God.  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.  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 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.  And Jesus
said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, To day shalt thou be with
me in paradise."

     Father, I thank you tonight for the opportunity and the
privilege of being here. You know, Lord, this body is weak, wore
out and tired, and Father, I'm thankful for that. Lord, it's a
good opportunity for you to get glory and for you to get the
honor. And Father, I pray you'd help me to preach in thy might
and thy wisdom and thy power. May the words that go forth from
this pulpit go forth in the might and the power of the Holy
Ghost, and of much assurance. Lord, these folks who came out,
they didn't come out to hear me. Lord, they came out to get
something from you. Lord, if they came out to hear some man and
get something from some man, then I pray, Heavenly Father, that
you'll just work them over and convict them until they get right
with you, Lord. God, we're tired of hearing from men, what men
have to say. Men don't have much to say, really, Father. But
"Thus saith the Lord" is what we need in this day and in this age
and in this hour. So, Father, I pray that you'd help my thoughts
to be collected. I commit this work unto you. You said if a work
be committed unto you, that our thoughts would be established.
Lord, I believe that, and I thank you for it, in Jesus' name.
Amen.

     Now, I want to talk about "The Kind of Christianity Nobody
Wants." But those guys back there want a label on this tape, and
the title of this, "What Happens When a Man Is On a Cross." "What
Happens When a Man Is on a Cross."

     You live in a day and age--and it's even in fundamentalist,
whatever that is, and independent Baptists, whoever they are--you
live in a day and age when all this kind of stuff, people really
don't want this kind of religion I'm going to talk about. Now,
I'm not going to talk a whole lot about Jesus Christ directly,
but I think you'll see Him in the message. I want to talk about
this thief on the cross there in verse 39, and what happens when
a man is on a cross.

     I want you to know, first of all, that in Job chapter 5 and
verse 7, the Bible says, "Man is born unto trouble, as the sparks
fly upward." And in that sense, every man, woman, boy and girl
that's born into this world is going to have a cross to bear
someway, somehow. Everybody's going to have trouble. I don't know
what all the big deal is, with everybody trying to get out of
trouble, because you're not going to get out of it. I mean, lost
or saved here tonight, it doesn't make any difference. When
people run around telling everybody, "You get saved, and
everything will be all right," why, I know when you got saved,
some of you, when you got saved, you got more problems than you
bargained for when you got saved. When you got saved, you had
more trouble since you've been saved than you had before you were
saved.

     And I wouldn't lie to anybody. I wouldn't tell you tonight
if you get saved all your problems are over with. I wouldn't walk
out here with a robe and a glass cathedral behind me and a
hospital and tell you, "Something Good Is Going to Happen to You
Today." Because this day's almost over with, and most of you went
through a lot of trouble and trials and heartaches and sorrows in
this day and age.

     People are going to have trouble. They're going to have
affliction and sorrow, and you're not going to get out of it. And
the quicker you learn that, the better off you'll be. The quicker
you learn that, the sooner you'll quit spinning wheels and
wasting time trying to get away from trouble. I tell you what
trouble is; trouble is the hammer of God just to make us into
precious jewels, that's what it is. Trouble is God taking that
old hammer of His word and experience of life and just putting us
through the mill and through the fire. Why? So we'll come out
like we're supposed to come out.

     But we live in a Laodicean age where people serve God and do
for God, if it feels good, that's what it is. "I'm going to serve
God as long as it's in the capacity I want to, as long as it's
what I want to do. And if it feels good to me and doesn't cost me
too much, then I want to serve God." But that's not the kind of
Christianity I know about. I sing some of the new songs, and I
like some of the new songs, and there are a lot of them I don't
like. But I want you to know that there is something about those
old-time songs. One of the biggest differences between the old-
time hymns and these new songs is the fact that these new songs
are always dwelling on what God has done, what God can do, and
what He will do, and if we can put this on, and put that on Him--
and those old songs said, "Hey! God saved you, and God loved you.
You owe Him something! You owe Him something!"

     Must Jesus bear the cross alone

     And all the world go free.

     And we've got people who don't want to bear a cross for the
Lord.

     Now, I have the right slant. I'm taking a while on
introduction, because when I get to the points, I'm going to give
you pretty much a skeleton, and let you and the Holy Spirit work
it out. But I have the right slant on it. I'm moderate with it,
if I can be. In moderation on this thing. I'm not telling you
that what you ought to do is build you a little cross and stake
it out in your front yard and put twigs around it and tie
yourself to it and hand the world a Zippo lighter and say, you
know, "Burn me at the stake." You shouldn't do it. But we live in
a day and age when people are trying to run from it.

     You know, my eyes were opened. I'm going to say something
here. My eyes were opened a while back. I was in a meeting, and a
kid got up and gave his testimony. He had a good heart, loved the
Lord, and thought what was being said was right. But he gave his
testimony and said, you know, "I thank God for my Christian
school. I thank God I go to a Christian school because I hear
about all of these kids going to public school and how people
mock them and people laugh at them." And he said, "I thank God I
don't have to go through that."

     Now that person who said that had a good heart in what he
said. But, boy, as soon as that happened, the Holy Ghost said to
me, "Blessed are they which are persecuted." The Holy Ghost said,
"Happy are ye if ye suffer for righteousness' sake."

     And I'll tell you what, maybe you couldn't hardly put them
back into public schools this day and age. Maybe it's gotten so
rough, but did you ever stop to think about something? Maybe we
pulled out when we shouldn't have. Did you ever think about that
side of the coin? Now, I'll grant you, that's not very popular,
but if you sit around and think about and say, "Well, all this
and that going on--" hey, I came up in them. I came up in them,
and they were teaching the same thing they're teaching now. And
it got a little worse. But, you know something? We pulled the
salt out. And when you pull the salt out, brother, you're asking
for a mess.

     Now, I'm not saying you should go back in them. I don't
think there's hardly too many of them we could go back in. But I
think we're going to answer for it.

     We live in a day and age when, if we can get out of
persecution and get out of suffering for the Lord, we're happy
and we're glad for it and we're thankful for it. And, brother,
the Bible says they were glad they were counted worthy to suffer
for His name.

     There's something wrong with this kind of Christianity we've
got.

     Now, what happens when a man is on a cross? First of all, I
want you to know, that when a man is on a cross he's taking his
place with the Lord. When a man is on a cross, he's taking his
place with the Lord.

     Now the Bible says, Paul writing, he says in Galatians 2:20,
"I am crucified with Christ. Nevertheless I live. Yet not I, but
Christ liveth in me, and the life I now live in the flesh, I live
by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for
me." Paul again wrote in Galatians 5 and he said, "They that are
Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts."
When a man is on the cross, he's taking his place with the Lord.
That's what this fellow is doing.

     Like I said before, I don't care whether you're saved or
lost in this crowd tonight, you're going to have problems and
trials and affliction, and you're just going to be like it was on
Mount Calvary that day; there were three fellows up there; one of
them was the Lord God Almighty manifest in the flesh dying for
the sins of the whole world. And then there were two malefactors,
one on the right hand and one on the left.

     And the Bible says, in the other passages, Matthew 27 and in
Mark, the Bible says that both of these fellows were railing on
the Lord. Both of these fellows were griping at the Lord. Both of
them were casting the same in His teeth, and both of these
fellows said, "Hey, if you're the Christ, come down from the
cross and save thyself and us." But one of them repented. You
can't get saved without repentance. Now, I don't go 'way off on
the other end of that thing and make repentance like penance.
That's not true, either. But, I'll tell you, I'm not going 'way
over here either and saying you can't have it. You've got to have
repentance.

     Why, when Paul finishes out the Book of Acts, he says, "God
told me to go to the Gentiles, and He said to preach repentance
toward God and faith toward the Lord Jesus Christ." If a man's
going to be saved, he's got to turn to God and put His faith in
God's Son, Jesus Christ, and if you haven't done that, you're not
saved. That's just all there is to it. Repentance toward God, and
faith toward the Lord.

     And this fellow repented and now he changed his mind and
changed his speech and changes everything. But he's taken his
place with the Lord on the cross. You know, when you identify
with Jesus Christ, you're not going to come up with the kind of
Christianity most people have. My daughter and I were talking
about that tonight. And I'm going to tell you something, the
Bible says that the servant is not greater than his master. If
you're going through life, and everything's going fine--I'm not
talking about suffering for sin. I'm not talking about suffering
for going against the word of God. I'm talking about just
suffering for doing right, doing right. And at some place in your
life, you're not suffering for doing right, you're not on the
cross with Jesus Christ. You might be on a cross, but you're not
on the cross with Jesus Christ.

     Then, I want you to notice the second thing about a fellow
who is on a cross. He has a proper view of himself. He has the
proper view of himself. Notice he said there in verse 40 that he
rebuked the other fellow. And he said, "Dost not thou fear God,
seeing thou art in the same condemnation?" I don't know who told
this guy all that everything he knew, but he knew that was God
dying on the cross. He knew that. Must have been the Holy Spirit.
He knew that. He said, "Dost not thou fear God, seeing thou art
in the same condemnation, and we indeed justly, for we received
the due reward of our deed."

     I'll tell you what I get at me about more than anything
else. The thing I get mad at myself more than anything is griping
and complaining. I get mad at myself for griping and complaining.

     I was just preaching up Wednesday night somewhere. I was in
Rochester, New York. And Brother George Gray is the pastor there,
and he told me a long time ago when he was in the Vietnam War
even before he was saved, and he was down in the foxhole, and
they were getting bombed and everything, he told the Lord and
said, "Lord, if you get me out of here"--he was a lost man. He
said, "Lord, if you get me out of here, I'll make a vow to you,
I'll never gripe and complain about anything again."

     Man, he got saved later. I said, "How ya been doin' on
that?"

     He said, "Well, pretty good. Pretty good."

     You know, why gripe and complain? Americans are the most
ungrateful, unthankful people you've ever seen in your life. I
mean, they're not content with what they have. You say, "I am,
too." Then, if you're content with what you have, why you keep
talking about what you need to get? You say, "I'm not--" Yes, you
are! You say, "I want this." "I need that." "I've got to have
that." If you're content with what you have, what do you need? If
you have what you need, and if you're complete in Jesus Christ,
and you've got a bed to lay your head on--

     By the way, the Lord didn't have one. Coulda had. It's not a
sin to have a bed and a pillow. The Lord just didn't have one.
People say, "Well, I need this, and I need that." You're not
living for God with what you've got. What do you need something
else to sin with for?" Amen!

     I'll tell you something. A man who's on the cross has got a
proper view of himself. And this kind of Christianity we've got
that puffs one another up and builds one another up and so forth
and so on, I'll tell you what you are. You're fourteen elements
taken out of the ground, with 98 per cent water. You're formed
out of the dust of the ground. You put water and dust together,
and you get one big, fat mudball. That's what you get. And if you
woke up in the morning, if I woke up in the morning, and they
said, "You've got terminal cancer, Harrison," and you're laying
in the bed in the hospital bed, I might gripe and complain, but I
wouldn't have one right to gripe and complain. I deserve hellfire
and damnation. Everybody in this room deserves it. Yet you run
around and gripe and complain and talk about what great
Christianity we have in America, and you get up in the morning
complain about this, complain about that, and gripe about this
and gripe about that--what's so great about that kind of
Christianity? You can do that with Buddhism.

     Amen, Brother Harrison! This is going to be a wonderful
message.

     Remember that old preacher, I can't think of his name now.
And he was dying. And he was lying there dying, and he was
quoting that verse in Acts 10 about all that unclean stuff being
let down in a sheet. Somebody gave me pork chops the other day. I
told him, I said, "Look, if you let that down from the ceiling,
in a while sheet, I can eat it." But they didn't have any white
sheet, all they had was a square white plate, and I said, "That's
four corners, that's good enough." That was good eatin', boy,
that was good eatin'.

     That old preacher was dying there and he was trying to
remember that verse, and he was talking about this and that and
everything, and couldn't remember it and he couldn't quote it and
couldn't quote it. His son leaned over to him and said, "Dad, and
all creeping things." "All creeping things." That old preacher
said, "That's it. That's how I got in. Creeping things."

     You know what you were? Yeah, creeping things. You're full
of worms. Amen? You're full of worms. I know, you ladies primp it
up and pretty it up and paint it up and everything, but it's just
worms underneath there. Put me in the grave, and you all can go
fishing in three days. Did it up, man, and you'll have bait.
That's right, man, just dig it up. Don't pay any money, just grab
all the worms and go fishing.

     A man who's on the cross has a proper view of himself. And
this old business, "Yes, I'm a child of the King. Yes, I'm a
joint-heir with Jesus Christ." I understand all about that, my
position in Jesus Christ, but, brother, don't you ever forget
where you came from. Don't you ever forget you were nuthin' when
God saved you, and if it wasn't for God, you wouldn't be anything
now.

     People get all puffed up and proud and they get saved awhile
and they think they're something. And they get in the Bible and
they learn some things and know some stuff. And, I'll tell you
what, according to that Bible in 1 Corinthians, whatever you know
is what you ought to know anyway! Amen, amen, amen! And what you
don't need is more knowledge; what you need is to start living
what you know.

     You say, "Oh, I've got to dig this out and dig this out, and
learn this." You're not even living what you know. Boy, you're
going to answer for that.

     People say, "I need to know this." I'll tell you what I need
to do. I need to start living what I know; that's what I need. I
know too cotton pickin' much. That's my problem. And that's your
problem, too. I don't know very much, but I know too much. Amen!
Who's content with what they have? See there? You know too much!
Hmmmmmmm ummmmm.

     A proper view of himself. He said, "Look, you're in the same
condemnation with God. He didn't do anything wrong." But he said,
"We're receiving what we ought to get."

     What's it say in Lamentations 3? It says, "Should a man
complain, a living man, for the punishment of his sins?" I know
I'm forgiven, I know the blood of Jesus Christ covers it all, I'm
so glad for that, I'm glad that the blood took it all away, I'm
thankful for that. But, brother, anything that happens to me down
here is going to be short of hell. Amen! Anything that happens to
you down here will be short of hell if you're saved. If you're
saved here tonight, what right have you got to gripe and
complain?

     Now, when I preach a message like this, I know what's
coming. Something's going to happen. But you just got to preach
it anyway.

     Then I want you to know that a man who's on the cross is
facing one direction. He's facing only one direction. You know,
if you're on a cross, you can look back--but, boy, it's sure
going to cause a lot of pain! And you better get a handle on
that.

     The Bible says in Hebrews 11, if they had been mindful of
the country from whence they had come, they might have had
opportunity to return. Somebody says, "Well, I don't know what
happened to John. He just quit on God." I can tell you what
happened. He'd been thinking about it for a year. "I don't know
what happened to her. I don't know what happened to him. Boy,
they just kind of dropped out and fell and went here. I don't
know what happened!" I'll tell you what happened. They've been
mindful of where God took them from. They'd been thinking about
it, thinking about it, and talking about it, and thinking about
it.

     It amazes me how you can get with Christians and you can sit
down with Christians for two to three hours in a house and never
talk about God and Jesus Christ. I go in homes across the
country--I do it on purpose--I just sit there and don't mention,
just to see how long it's going to take. I've walked out of homes
where God wasn't even mentioned, and Jesus Christ wasn't
mentioned, and everybody professed to be saved. We talked about
everything but the Lord. Everything but the Lord.

     I'll tell you, a man who's on a cross is facing one
direction. His eyes are on the Lord. And he's facing one
direction. Now, I don't know how they were set up. I'm sure that
the Lord's cross was probably set up higher and maybe a little to
the front, because He has the preeminence in all things, even in
His death. And I know the fellow that got right was on His right
hand. If you'll study right and left hand in your Bible, you'll
know that. I know the fellow who got right with the Lord was on
His right hand. And I don't know anything else about that, but I
know this man on the cross is facing one direction. He's not
facing two directions, he's facing one direction.

     You've got a bunch of Christians in this day and age trying
to face more than one direction. Trying to look over here, and
look over there. You know, I was passing down the road the other
day. And, you know, I can actually drive down through this
country and not ever look at a billboard. I can do it. I proved I
can do it, and that got me in a lot of trouble, because now I
look at them sometimes and then the Lord says, "Hey, you drive
down without looking at them." But I was driving down there and I
saw one, and the board said, "GOTCHA! READ ANOTHER BILLBOARD!"
Boy, that's spooky, ain't it?

     Why, you wouldn't have half the stuff in your mind if you'd
just keep your eyes straight, keep looking in one direction. What
do they say in that computerized technology? "Garbage in, garbage
out." Isn't that what they say? Some of you guys who mess with
the devil in those computers, and all that stuff back there in
the room there? "Garbage in, garbage out." I mean, you put it in,
it's going to come out somewhere.

     But that man who's on the cross--he's not facing back. He's
not facing back at all. When they went to Rebekah and said, "Will
you go with this man?" she said, "I will go." Never did go back.
She went there, she married him, and she never went back. That's
a type of you and me, brethren.

     You say, "Well, we have to go back." I can't find that
anywhere in the Bible. I can't find that at all. I can't find
where you're even to look back. The Lord said, "He that putteth
his hand to the plow and look back is not fit for the kingdom." I
sure am glad He didn't say, "Couldn't get in." And you better be,
too. But He said, "He wasn't fit." He said, "He wasn't fit."

     Now, you can look back if you want to, but it's going to
cause you a lot of grief and pain. It's going to cause you a lot
of pain. (Like I said, we're just giving you the skeleton, and
I'm going to get out of here and let the preacher preach.)

     Then I want you to notice about the man on the cross, he's
not only facing one direction, but he is not going back to where
he was. He isn't. You see people going back; you know what they
did? They got off the cross. They laid it down and they got off
of it. They said, "I'm not going to be on this cross any more.
I'm quitting, and I'm going back" to some point of time or some
place or here, or there. "I'm going back to some attitude. I'm
going back to some thing. I'm just going all the way back into
Egypt. But I'm going back." And a man who goes back is not on the
cross. Not on the cross.

     (I'm just going to pass that one up, because I want to get
done.)

     A man who's on the cross has no future plans of his own. No
future plans of his own. You know what's missing out of your
terminology? You know what you do day in and day out? You make
plans what you're going to do. And I'll bet half of you--I mean,
good, godly, dedicated, separated, worldly bunch of Christians--
I'll tell you what's wrong with you, you're making all of your
plans without God. "We're going to do this no matter what!" "Now
I made my plans and I'm doing this, and I'm going here, and this
is the job I want, and that's the place I want to go"--and it's
not, "Lord willing." But, boy, James said you ought to say, "Lord
willing, we'll do this or that." Paul said, "I'll come back to
you if the Lord will. If the Lord will."

     Boy, the old timers, I remember hearing that growing up in
church all the time. They'd say it all the time, "Lord willing,
I'll be there." I'll tell a preacher that now, we set a date, and
he'll say, "You'll be there?" And I'll say, "Lord willing, I'll
be there"--it scares them half to death! They're not familiar
with the terminology. I have plans to be there, I'm going to be
there, I'm going to honor that date, but I'll tell you what; my
job is to be faithful to God, even above being faithful to man,
and if God does something to keep me from getting where I've got
to go, I can't do anything about it.

     You say, "Well, He wouldn't." Well, He just might! He has a
few plans of His own every once in a while, you know.

     I'm not agnostic. The Lord didn't just make this stuff and
then leave you alone to run it. Although it looks like it
sometimes! You've made a mess out of it!

     You kids in high school and junior high school, making your
plans what you're going to do. Have you checked with God about
it? You check with God? Does God want you to do what you're
planning on doing? You say, "How would I know?" Do you ever read
your Bible? You spend all your time in your novels and books, you
don't read your Bible? You can know the will of God. It's in the
Bible; it's in here, it's in here. I just started to list down
some verses. I mean, people would say, "Well, I don't know if God
wants me to go over here or go over there." You're not even doing
what the Bible plainly says is the will of God; what would make
you think God would let you know anything else? Amen! Hey, if you
can't add two plus two, what are you going to do when you get
around to trigonometry? You're going to do what I do--burn the
book!

     A man who's on the cross is not thinking about his future
plans. He said, "Remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom.
It's YOUR show, Lord. Whatever--WHEN--I know you're going to.
Whenever it is, you remember me; whatever you want, I want to go
with you. I want you leading me. I DON'T WANT any plans of my
own!"

     People say, "Oh, you can't have security being like that."
I'll tell you what, you sure picked up a mess of the world's
philosophy about security. Why, the most secure man in the Bible
was Abraham. Amen! He didn't own one home. Abraham was running to
and fro all over the place. He was secure; he was the friend of
God. And if the world's so secure in making all the future plans
of their own, then why does about 80% of the world run to a
shrink every once in a while? Wrong kind of security; I don't
want it.

     A man who's on the cross isn't talking about what he's going
to do. A man who's on the cross is not making bull-headed plans,
saying, "This is it! And I'm going to do this! And no matter
what," and you'll fight, and you'll fight, and sometimes you'll
be fighting against God just to perform your will. But a man who
is on a cross isn't like that. A man who is on the cross says,
"Father, not my will, but thine be done. If it's possible, Lord,
this is what I'd like. If it's possible, let this cup pass. But
nevertheless, not my will, but thine be done."

     Boy, aren't we guilty of making a lot of plans on our own?
Yes, we sure are. We sure are. You know, my best meetings--I look
back over it, and my best meetings, the best meeting I ever had
was scheduled about three weeks in advance. And the next best
meeting I had was scheduled a couple weeks in advance. The best
meetings I ever had had been on the spur of the moment. I'm not
saying it's wrong to schedule meetings. I'm not saying that at
all; I'm just telling you, it's awful good to leave a little
leeway there, and let the Holy Spirit see what He wants to do. We
may be going to the right place at the wrong time--or the wrong
place at the right time. A man who's on a cross doesn't have
future plans of his own.

     Then I want you to notice something else about this--just
two more things. A man who's on the cross, his death is in faith.
Not "by" faith--in faith. You say, "What the difference?" Big
difference. Notice in verse 39 the difference between these two
fellows. In verse 39, the one said, "If thou be Christ." No faith
involved with "if." My God's not a God of "ifs." There's no faith
involved with "if." But look what he said in 42, the other thief,
"Lord, remember me WHEN....WHEN...." You know what that shows me?
It shows me two things, maybe you'll be more spiritual and get
more than that out of it, but it shows me two things. It shows
me, number one, this fellow had faith, because he knew the Lord
was coming into His kingdom. He didn't know "when," but he said,
"When you come in." He knew it was coming. And it showed me
something else; he had patience. Patience. "WHEN."

     You say, "I want it NOW!" You're not going to get it now.
That's what's wrong with you, isn't it? That's what's wrong with
this Christianity. We want all the blessings now. Well, if you
get all the blessings now, you're not going to have much up
there. That's just the way it goes.

     Faith. They talk about tithing. "You put in ten, and God
will give you back a hundred." He might. He might send you a
$150.00 bill, too. I mean bill--a bill that you've got to pay
out. I got me a friend out in California if he's still alive; I
don't know if he is or not. He started tithing. He asked about
it, and I showed him in the Bible, and he said, "O.K." So he
started tithing--lost his job the next week, contracted five
major diseases, all of which are killing him, and none of which
can be treated, because the treatment for one makes the other one
worse, and the treatment for the other one makes another one
worse--and there's nothing they can do about it.

     You say, "What did he do?" Kept on tithing. You say, "Was
that a blessing?" I guess, when we get to Heaven, we're going to
find out it was a blessing somehow. The Lord knows what He's
doing. I may not know what He's doing. I got up there in
Rochester in August or something, and Dr. Ruckman got up and he
said, "I've learned one thing. I've learned just about one thing.
I learned that God knows what He's doing, and nobody else does."
That's the truth! I don't know what He's doing. My job's not to
find out what He's doing. My job is just to obey Him. That's my
job. And when the Lord says, "Jump!" my job is to say, "How far,
and where?" Amen! That's my job!

     You know why we're in a mess? Because we don't do our job.
His death is in faith. Did you ever stop to think about this?
Enoch, and Abel, and Noah, and Sarah, and Abraham wouldn't make
very good Charismatics. You say, "Why?" Because the Bible says
about those folks in Hebrews chapter 11, and I believe verse 13,
"These all died in faith--NOT having received the promises." They
didn't get one thing that they were promised. You say, "Well,
then, how'd they die in faith?" Till their dying breath, they
believed God. Till the day they died, they died IN FAITH, and
said, "Lord, you said it, and I believe it. I know it's so!" You
say, "Well, what's the matter?" They're going to get it! They're
going to get it. They're just going to have to come up out of the
grave to get it, but they're going to get it.

     And, if you never get anything that this Bible said you're
going to get outside of salvation, you can die in faith knowing
that God is true, and every man is a liar, and if God said I've
got something coming, I'LL GET IT. And if I don't get it in this
life, I'll get it in the next one. I'm not worried about it.
God's true. God's the truest Person I ever ran into. Men are
liars! All the women agree to that, but, ladies, you aren't doing
too good yourself.

     His death was in faith. I look at that and I read that, how
he died, and he had faith and said, "Lord, when you come into
your kingdom, remember me." He knew the Lord was going to come
into His kingdom. He knew the Lord was coming back.

     You know there's a verse in 2 Thessalonians that Paul wrote
to us? Paul wrote to this day and age, and He said, "Brethren, be
not soon shaken!" Because Paul knew something. Paul knew people
would be shaken when they started seeing some things that would
mess up their little fundamental theology. I got news for you,
there are some things that are going to come down, some things
that are going to be coming down here before too long, that there
are going to be an awful lot of fundamental independent Baptists
going through a mid-tribulation rapture, because they just don't
know their Bibles. We're not going through any Tribulation. But
we're going to go through some stuff, brethren. And about the
time we do, instead of getting right with God and changing their
theology, they're just going to do something else, because
they're going to be soon shaken in their mind, and they're going
to be soon shaken in their spirit.

     But these all died in faith. And, if God said that I'm going
to be saved from the wrath to come, then no matter how bad it
gets while I'm still here, I know He's going to pull me out of it
before it all blows. I don't care what anybody says.

     It's in faith. So, when I read Romans chapter 6, and chapter
7, and chapter 8, and the Lord says, "You've been buried with
Christ by baptism unto death," and He said, "Now, you are dead,
you HAVE BEEN CRUCIFIED with Christ," and I said, "It doesn't
look like it," and He says, "But you HAVE." And I said, "Well, I
can't see the holes." And the Lord says, "You're DEAD! You're
DEAD! You're DEAD with Jesus Christ. You're BURIED with Jesus
Christ. And you ROSE with Jesus Christ." The day I got saved, I
got put into the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

     And I didn't feel a thing. Now, I like feelings. I really
do. I'm one of those kind of Baptists. I like feelings. I like to
kick pulpits, and I can't run aisles. Where was I? I was here,
wasn't I? I was here one time. I was singing and playing, and
Brother Estep got somebody in here to pick me up and run the
aisle for me, because I couldn't run the aisle. He couldn't go
very far; I put on a little weight. But it's in faith, brethren.
The Lord says, "Reckon ye yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin,
but alive unto God."

     You know, if I'm dead, I can't do wrong. What dead man's
doing wrong? You know, there's something about a dead man. Every
dead person--I want you to get this--every dead man is in the
perfect will of God. If they're in hell burning, they rejected
Jesus Christ, and that's the perfect will of God. If they're safe
in the arms of Jesus, they're in the perfect will of God. And you
can't be in the perfect will of God until you get dead. You're
going to have to die. YOU. You're going to have to die.

     Let me read this, and then I'll give you the last point, and
we'll be done. I told you it wasn't going to be long. "There was
a day when I died, utterly died. Died to George Mueller"--that's
who's talking--"his opinions, preferences, taste, and will. Died
to the world, its approval or censure. Died to the approval or
blame even of my brethren and friends. And since then I've
studied only to show myself approved unto God." You're never
going to get anywhere with God until you die. And your death has
to be in faith. And when the word of God says something, you say,
"O.K., I'll obey it, and I'll do it. I don't understand it. I'm
going to do it anyway. Because I'm a dead man. And Christ lives
in me."

     And Jesus Christ always did the will of the Father. So, if
I'm dead, and Christ is living in me, one of us is going to have
to take over. And if I'm dead, then the Lord will have to take
over. And then, when He takes over, I'll be in the perfect will
of God. Because you've never known Jesus Christ to be out of the
perfect will of God. You've never known that one time in your
life. And if He's in the perfect will of God, then I can bow down
in prayer and say, "Father, I know thou always hearest me." WHEW!

     But, when you're running the show, you can't say that. You
can't get on your knees and say, "I know thou always hearest me."
But I'll tell you who does always hear. Jesus Christ. A dead man
tells no tales. His death is in faith. You're just going to have
to believe it.

     And He said, "Make not provision for the flesh." I've been
working on that one. That's the trouble; I've been working on it.
I just need to die in faith about it--and quit going to
Friendly's.

     Then the last point I want to give you is, a man on a cross
has the assurance of faith by the word of God. A man on the cross
has the assurance of faith by the word of God. None of that is
homiletical or illiterate, or whatever they call that. But if
you'll write them down, you'll remember it. You say, "What are
you talking about?" In verse 43, "Jesus said unto him." You know
who Jesus is? He's the Word of God. The Bible says about the
Bible, "These words are true and faithful." And they said about
Him in Revelation 19, they said, "His name is, Faithful and
True." He's the Word of God.

     You know where to get a picture of Jesus Christ? It's
certainly not that queer they hang on the wall. Certainly not
him. I'll tell you where to get it; He said, "Search the
Scriptures, for in them ye think ye have eternal life, and they
are they which testify of me." You know how you can get to know
the Lord? It's here; it's right in this Book. And if you want to
know the Lord better, you'll have to spend more time in this
Book. Not someplace else. This Book. You're not going to know the
Lord better if you spend your time in all that other trash. You
better spend it in this Book. This Book. You've got the Holy
Spirit in you; He's well able to teach you this Book.

     He has the assurance of faith by the word of God. Jesus
said, "Verily I say unto thee, today thou shalt be with me in
paradise."

     You know, when people start losing their assurance of
salvation--I believe you can be saved and not have the assurance
of salvation. You know what the biggest thing about that is?
They're messing around with everything but the Book. He said,
"These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of
the Son of God, that ye may know that ye have eternal life."
Well, if He wrote something for you to know, and you're not
reading what He wrote, how in the world are you going to know? I
mean, I don't know much, but I can figure that out! You get
around to reading all this other stuff and not spending any time
in your Bible, and you won't have any assurance of anything.
Pretty soon, you won't even have any assurance He's coming back
to get you. Then you won't have any assurance of what Heaven's
going to be like. And then you'll get carnal and worldly, and
want and need and want and need, and start building you a little
kingdom down here, and get in all kinds of junk, and all of that
stuff in the world. Why? Because you haven't got any assurance of
anything.

     A man who's DEAD and on the cross with Jesus Christ has the
assurance that the next life is the one we're supposed to get,
brethren. I got eternal life living in me, and that's better than
"never end." People ask me about it and say, "Everlasting life--
eternal life. That means it never ends." I say, "It's a whole lot
more than that! It also never had a beginning." Now, I don't
understand that, but inside of me dwells something that never had
a beginning, and never has an end, and doesn't deteriorate as
long as I got Him. Some of you, you look like you're going to
live forever, but you sure are deteriorating. But eternal life
isn't like that. And I've got the assurance of faith--how? By the
word of God. It ONLY comes by the word of God. "Faith comes by
hearing, and hearing by the word of God." And I'll tell you
what's wrong with most Christians today; they spend their time
with all kinds of stuff except their Bible. They might believe
it. There's a difference between believing you HAVE the word of
God, and BELIEVING the word of God. You say, "I believe I've got
the Bible. I believe this King James Bible IS THE WORD OF GOD."
Isn't going to do you any good unless you believe it. You might
believe you have it and believe God preserved it, and believe
you've got it and it's infallible and perfect and without proven
error--but it doesn't do one bit of good if you don't live by it.
It isn't going to do you ANY good.

     I'll tell you, there's not a situation in your life that
this Book will not cover. NOT ONE! I'll tell you what needs to
happen--people getting back to the Bible and starting to live it.
They say, "Well, explain that to me. Well, what does that mean?"
I'll tell you why people want to know what the Book means. They
want to know what it means so they can get out of doing what it
says. That's why they want to know what it means. Amen! You get
somebody to tell you what it means, and you can get out of doing
what it said to do.

     But a man who's on the cross, a man who's on the cross--he's
got that assurance. People look at him and say, "Why are you
going through that? Look what you're going through. Look at you
dying. Look at you bleeding. Look, your state is bad!"

     And an old fellow said, "Well, my state may not be no good,
but my standing sure is all right!"

     You go through this life a child of God bearing a cross for
Jesus Christ, and you might be a bloody mess before it's all over
with. But your standing never changes. Never changes one bit.
People go by and mock at you and they'll tell you just what they
told the Lord; they'll try to get you to GET OFF your cross!
They'll say, "GET OFF that cross! SAVE YOURSELF and us! GET OFF
that cross!" Only one thing about it; you can't save one soul and
bring one soul to God if you get off your cross.

     Jesus Christ couldn't save Himself and save others at the
same time. He had to make the choice. And you will too.

     The kind of Christianity we don't want is just exactly what
I'm talking about. We want the kind of Christianity we can plan
and scheme and do what we want to do and live like we want to
live and go where we want to go, and have what we want to have.
That's the kind of Christianity we want. But that isn't the Bible
kind, brethren. That isn't the Bible kind.

     Must Jesus bear the cross alone,

     And all the world go free?

     I'll tell you what, you can get saved by grace through
faith, and you don't have to do anything to be saved but turn to
God and put your faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. But, if that's
all you did and all you got was a fire escape, you sure are a
lousy thief. You sure are guilty of taking the blood of Jesus
Christ and trampling it under foot--if you are saved. Even if you
are saved.

     You say, "Well, I'm not like that. I can't--"

     You most certainly CAN get victory over it.

     I'll quit with this. I'm almost starting to preach, and I'm
done. I grew up a little difference. I grew up with a good daddy.
I grew up with a daddy, and I'd say, "Daddy, I'm trying. I'm
trying!" My dad would say, "Quit trying, and do it!" Amen! That's
what's wrong with us. Everybody's saying, "I'm trying! I'm
trying!" No, you're not. You're not trying. If you were trying,
you'd do it.

     A lot of people don't even understand that kind of
terminology, that kind of philosophy--they don't understand that.
That's from generations long ago. My dad couldn't stand the word
"can't." "I can't." "I can't." He says, "You do what you want to
do."

     Amen? Sure you can! You want to get up and go kill Bambi at
4:30 in the morning? You'll be up at 4 o'clock and dressed to go
with the gun loaded and out there on the field by 4:30. Oh, yes
you will. You want to go trout fishing in the morning? I didn't
want to use that illustration! You'd be up at 4 o'clock and have
the pole ready and out there. I've been out there in the frozen
waters at 4:30 in the morning--just cold and slipping on the
deck.

     You want to get up and meet God at 4:30 in the morning?
You'll get up at 7:15. You'll do what you want to do.

     Well, that's the kind of Christianity nobody wants.

     Father, I sure thank you for the opportunity. Lord, I've
tried to preach with a heart of compassion. Sometimes it gets a
little hard. But, Father, it just me mad at myself, mad at the
devil, mad at sin. Lord, I pray that you'll help somebody now
with this message, that you'd plant it upon the hearts and apply
it to the hearts and lives. Lord, this kind of Christianity we
have just wants everything fine and dandy, and everything to work
just right. They'll live for you and love you and shout the
victory, as long as everything's going their way. Oh, Lord,
they'll shout when they're in church, and when they get home,
they gripe and complain. Lord, we need some people who will pick
up a cross and bear it for thee. Help us, Father, in Jesus' name,
Amen.