“Jesus, Remember Me!” (Exodus 20:15; Luke 23:39-43) - The 10 Commandments for Today VIII –

“Jesus, Remember Me!” (Exodus 20:15; Luke 23:39-43)

- The 10 Commandments for Today VIII –

Norman Rockwell’s Picture

In his book on the Ten Commandments, Cecil Myers describes a picture by Norman Rockwell. It shows a woman buying a turkey for Thanksgiving dinner. The turkey is being weighed on the scale. Both the butcher and woman look pleased. The painting shows that they are pleased because of what they are secretly doing. The butcher is pressing the scale down with his big fat thumb, to raise the price. At the same time, the woman is trying to get a better deal by pushing the scale up with her forefinger. The reason both of them look pleased is that neither is aware of what the other is doing. Myers comments in this way: “Both the butcher and the lovely lady would resent being called thieves. The lovely lady would never rob a bank or steal a car. The butcher would be indignant if anyone accused him of stealing… Neither saw anything wrong with a little deception that would make a few cents for one or save a few cents for the other.” In a word, they were stealing.

“I Am Not a Thief, Am I?”

To steal is to take something that doesn’t belong to us. Most people do not think that they violate the eighth commandment. George Barna, the founder of the market research group, tells us, “86 percent of all adults claim that they are completely satisfying God’s command regarding abstinence from stealing.” Only nine percent of the evangelicals polled said they had fallen short of God’s glory on this one. Everyone knows that stealing is wrong. But, most people fail to understand its full meaning. There are countless ways to steal. All it takes for us to be guilty of theft is one misspent hour at work; one item we “forgot” to return from the office; one personal long-distance phone call we made at company’s expense; one overpriced item in our store; one underpayment of our taxes; one false claim for Social Security; one failure in paying our tithe to the Lord. The list goes on.

The Purpose of God’s Law

Certainly the Ten Commandments and all of God’s laws regulated the lives of the Israelites, but it did not and could not provide spiritual life to the people. The law was not given to provide life. Instead, the law was given to reveal sin. It shows us our guilt. It does not make us sinners. It reveals to us that we already are sinners (Rom 3:20). The law is like a mirror. It helps us see our “dirty faces” (James 1:22–25). But we do not wash our face with the mirror! When we try to be a better person, when we try to achieve salvation by keeping the Ten Commandments – living a moral life and doing good works, it is like washing our face with the mirror. The law was not given to provide our spiritual life. It was given to reveal our sins and cause us to see our desperate need of a Savior. Galatians 3:24 says, “So the law was put in charge to lead us to Christ that we might be justified by faith” (Gal 3:24, NIV).

When we read the Scriptures, if we feel nothing, or if we think, ‘I am doing ok. I’m better than others,’ we are missing the point. When we read the Scriptures, what is needed is to hear what the Holy Spirit says to our conscience, “That is right, and you are wrong. You are the idolater. You are the foul-mouthed sinner. You are the Sabbath-breaker and the rebel. You are the murderer, the adulterer, and the thief.” We cannot boast about keeping the part of the law while at the same time breaking another part. James 2:10-11 says, “For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it. For he who said, "Do not commit adultery," also said, "Do not murder." If you do not commit adultery but do commit murder, you have become a lawbreaker.” Imagine a motorist driving down a city street and deliberately driving through a red light. He is pulled over by a policeman who asks to see his driver’s license. Immediately the driver begins to defend himself. “Officer, I know I ran that red light—but I have never robbed anybody. I’ve never killed anybody. I’ve never cheated on my income tax.” What do you think the policeman would say? The policeman would smile and say, “No amount of obedience can make up for one act of disobedience.” The Bible says, “There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God. All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one” (Rom 3:10-12). That is God’s verdict upon humanity. The Law concludes “all under sin” (Gal 3:22).

Godly Sorrow, Repentance, and Salvation

The Law convicts us and then leads us to Christ. One day a man came and said to Jesus, “Good teacher, what good thing must I do have eternal life?” (Matt 19:16ff.) He had tried to keep commandments all his life. He did good to his neighbor and led a very moral life, but still he felt something was missing. This is the purpose of the law – to create in lost sinners a “sense of guilt and need” and to bring him or her to Christ! But sad thing is that the young man ignored what Jesus said to his conscience, “You shall not covet! Sell your possessions and give to the poor.” When the man heard this, he went away sad. This young man was convicted and had sorrow, but he chose not to repent. He chose not to change his mind and his lifestyle.

2 Corinthians 7:10 says, “Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death” (NIV). The Law creates in us godly sorrow that leads us to salvation and life in Christ. A good example of this is found in the life of Blaise Pascal. He was a prominent mathematician, physicist, and inventor. At the age of 19 he invented the world’s first mechanical calculator. He achieved both wealth and honor at a young age. Pascal grew up accepting the Bible as God's word, but in a rather abstract way. He had tried to be a better person by keeping the commandments just as the rich young man did. Pascal was a good person. But he always felt something was missing. He felt miserable and empty. He lived with a sense of spiritual desperation. Disgusted with himself he once wrote as follows: "If one does not know himself to be full of pride, ambition, concupiscence, weakness, pettiness, injustice, one is very blind. And if, knowing this, a man does not desire to be delivered, what can one say to him?" He was desperate and wandering. On this day, November 23, 1654 he got a horse carriage accident. He was thrown into the roadway, but miraculously he was saved. He saw this as a warning directly from God. That night Pascal encountered Jesus in his room. He humbly repented and put his trust in Christ. He kept a record of this experience, and for the rest of his life Pascal carried around it sewn into his coat. It says, "God of Abraham, God of Isaac, God of Jacob, not of the philosophers and scholars...Joy, joy, joy, tears of joy...'This is life eternal that they might know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.' Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ...May I not fall from him forever...I will not forget your word." Godly sorrow, repentance, and salvation by faith in Christ Jesus.

Two Kinds of Men

Blaise Pascal said, “There are only two kinds of men: the righteous who think they are sinners and the sinners who think they are righteous.” Jesus died on the cross in the place of sinners, specifically in the place of thieves. The Bible says that when Jesus was crucified, “two thieves” were crucified with him, one on the right and one on the left” (Matt 27:38, KJV). Christ was crucified between two thieves. One of the thieves didn’t think that he had committed a grave sin. He appealed against the ruling. He didn’t need a Savior because he thought that he was innocent and righteous. He even cursed Jesus, “Aren’t you the Christ? Save yourself and us!” But the other thief repented and said, “We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve.” In a word, he was saying, “Lord, I am a sinner.” Then, he put his trust in Christ, saying, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” When we read this story, we complain about the thief on the right. We say, “It’s not fair that this man is saved at the very last minute after living a bad life.” But actually, on the Day of Judgment, we will be and have to be one of them: either we face God with our own righteousness or we face him in repentance and faith in Christ. The story of the two thieves is a great comfort to everyone who has ever broken the eighth commandment. When Christ died on the cross, he died for thieves, so that every thief who trusts in him will be saved. Let us hear what the Spirit says to each of us and to our church today. Let us repent and trust in Christ alone, and we will hear the same words and assurances that the thief on the right heard: “You will be with me in paradise.” Amen.