Ron Hutchcraft Ministries - Why God Will Let You In - #4154

Thursday, December 12, 2002

If you're a frequent flyer on an airline as I am, they give you frequent flyer miles that eventually add up to a free ticket. And they give their really frequent flyers a few fringe benefits - like early boarding, for example. When our Field Director, Rick, and I are flying a lot, it really helps if we can board early and, you know, kind of get set up to get a lot of work done on the flight. Rick doesn't have all the miles I do, but the boarding agents have been pretty nice to him - because he boards with me. My ticket has a special stamp that indicates my high-mileage status. And just last week, they offered early boarding to us guys that they see all the time. They took my ticket and then Rick was following right behind me. He said, "I'm with him. Is that okay?" Yep. We went together.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft, and I want to have A Word With You today about "Why God Will Let You In."

Sometimes the one way you can get in is on the strength of who you know. "I'm with him." Well, for sure, it's the only way any of us will ever get into heaven the day we die.

That important fact is dramatically demonstrated in our word for today from the Word of God from Luke 23 , beginning at verse 42. The scene is that skull-shaped hill where Jesus is dying on the cross, with a criminal on a cross on either side of him.

Now the Bible says of one of those men, "Then he said, 'Jesus, remember me when You come into Your kingdom.' Jesus answered him, 'I tell you the truth, today you will be with Me in paradise.'" When this man died and kept his appointment with God, I can just see him grabbing Jesus and saying to God, "I'm with Him." Now we know from Jesus Himself that that man is in heaven. Not because he was baptized. He wasn't. Not because he was confirmed. There was no time for that. Not because he was religious or righteous. He wasn't. He would go to heaven when he died for one reason. He had put his total trust in Jesus to forgive his sins and take him to heaven. It's the only way that thief could go to heaven. It's the only way you can or I can.

God puts it this way. "There is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself as a ransom for all men." (1 Timothy 2:5 ) Now, a ransom is the price you pay to get someone back. When Jesus died on that cross, He was absorbing all the guilt and all the punishment - all the hell - of every sin you have ever committed. He was paying the price to get you back. And no one else did that - no one else could. That's why your eternity depends on whether or not you grab Jesus to rescue you like a drowning person would grab a lifeguard.

You might wonder if God can forgive some of the things you've done. Well, that dying thief, with his life of crime, might well have wondered the same thing until he heard Jesus say of the men who had executed Him, "Father, forgive them." If Jesus forgave the men who nailed Him to that cross, is there anything He won't forgive? He'll forgive you!

Don't wait another day to make sure you're going to heaven when you die. You just don't know when your date with God is. Say to Jesus, "Lord, remember me. Forgive me. Be the Savior for all my sin." Your sins will be forgiven, and your name will be entered in His book of those who have eternal life.

If you want to begin this love-relationship with Jesus Christ, I want to send you the booklet I wrote about it called "Yours For Life." Just let me know you want it.

Let today be the day you settle your eternity. So that when you meet God, you can say, "I'm with Him." And you'll hear Jesus say, "Today you will be with Me in paradise - and forever."