You don't have to open your Bibles,
I just want to read a few verses from a passage that we looked
at Wednesday night. Just listen. I'm always, over the years, there's been
people who have come and they spend all their time making notes
while I'm preaching. And I'm always encouraged when
they put their pen down Just start listening. Hear my cry, O God. Attend unto
my prayer. For from the end of the earth
will I cry unto Thee. When my heart is overwhelmed,
God makes you to be a sinner, your heart's overwhelmed. Lord,
I've got a problem I can't fix. All the temporal things that
overwhelm us will one day go away, but this is an eternal
problem of the soul that will overwhelm you. That's that darkness
that comes before the light. When my heart is overwhelmed,
lead me to the rock that is higher than I. For thou hast been a
shelter for me and a strong tower from the enemy. I will abide
in thy tabernacle forever. I will trust in the covert of
thy wings." May God give us the grace to trust in Christ for
all our salvation and to be hid in Him. Let's stand together. Tom's going to come lead us in
the hymn on the back of your bulletin. In thy great name, O Lord, we
come to worship at thy feet. O may thy Holy Spirit rest on
all that now shall meet. We come to hear Jehovah speak,
to hear the Savior's voice. Thy face and favor, Lord, we
seek. Now make our hearts rejoice. Teach us to pray, and praise,
and hear, and understand thy word, to feel thy blissful presence
near, and trust our living Lord. Here let thy power and grace
be felt, thy love and mercy known. Our icy hearts, dear Jesus, melt
and break this flinty stone. Let sinners, Lord, Thy goodness
prove, and saints rejoice in Thee. Let rebels be subdued by
love, and to the Savior flee. ? This house with grace and glory
filled ? This congregation blessed ? Thy great salvation now revealed
? Thy glorious righteousness Please be seated. Good morning. Our scripture reading
this morning is going to be in Romans 8. We're going to read
a familiar passage, but there's a reason why it's familiar to
us. It gives us encouragement. It's Romans 8, starting in verse
28 through the end of the chapter. Romans 8, 28. And we know that all things work
together for good. for them that love God, to them
who are called according to His purpose. This wonderful promise
is made to the believers, of course. The world uses this.
Sometimes they quote it, but they do not understand it. From
whom He did foreknow, He did also predestine to be conformed
to the image of His Son. And that's one of the great needs
that we have, to be conformed to the image of His Son. If you
were to have relationship with God the Father, you have to be,
have the righteousness of his son, be conformed to his image. That we might be, that he might
be the firstborn among many burden. This is firstborn beginning,
meaning to his resurrection. Moreover, whom he did predestine,
them he also called. And whom he called, Them also
he justified. This is everything that we need
is here in these verses. God provides everything we need.
We need to be called because we won't come. We need to be
justified because we cannot justify ourselves. When he justified,
he also glorified. This is also done all by God's
mercy and grace. Why shall we say then to these
things? If God be for us, who can be
against us? Now, of course, we know that
Satan is against us, but he's not successful at anything. He's
not able to do anything against us because God is for us. The sovereign God of this universe
is for the believer. He does spare not his own son. This is God the Father's most
precious love for his son. He did not spare his own son,
but he delivered him up for us all. How shall he not with him
freely give us all things? She gave the most precious thing
that He has for us. How are we not going to be blessed
and be added? The Lord Jesus Christ is all
we really need. Whom shall lay any charge of
God's elect? Who's going to accuse us effectively
of God's elect? It is God Himself. It is God
that justified. Whom is He that condemneth? It is Christ that died, rather,
that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who
also make us intercession for us. This is the Lord Jesus Christ
intercession work for us. He's always working for us to
our benefit. Who shall separate us from the
love of Christ? Who? Can it be possible? Shall
tribulation? Shall distress? Persecution,
famine, nakedness, or peril, or sword. It's pretty much just
covering anything that could happen. Anything. As it is written,
for thy sake we are all killed all day long. We are counted
as sheep for the slaughter, neighing all these things. We are more
than conquerors. through him that loved us. This is not we are conquerors
because we have strong faith, because we believe so strong.
No, it's through him that loved us. That's the reason why we
are conquerors. For I'm persuaded that neither
death, life, angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present,
nor things to come. This pretty much covers anything
created or not created. No height, nor depth, nor any
other creature shall be able to separate us from the love
of God. This is the love of God towards
us. And where is this place? How
is this secure? Which is in Christ Jesus our
Lord. Father God, we come before you
in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ to give you thanks. Thanks
for your mercy. Thanks for your grace. Thanks
for everything you've done for us in Christ. We now come before
you and we need your Holy Spirit, Father. We're in great need of
him too. Help us listen, to help us understand,
to help us see more of Christ's glory, Father God. Bless the
preaching of Pastor Greg, Father, may he be full of the Holy Spirit.
As well as next week, may those messages be prepared for what
we need to hear, Father. Once again, we thank you, Father,
that we have such a great blessing of listening about Christ, because
he is the one we need. In Jesus' name we pray, amen. Let's all stand together once
again. We'll sing hymn number eight in your gospel hymns spiral
hymn book, number eight. Yeah. ? O Lord, our hearts and souls
aspire ? To lift up from this earthly mire ? O may we think
of heavenly things ? And know the joy thy presence brings Lord,
let us see the Savior's face, and let us taste of Thy sweet
grace. May open ears Thy glories hear,
and may we smell Thy fragrance ? Be pleased to open heaven's door
? And on our heads thy blessings pour ? All wretched, poor and
needy wee ? Where can we go if not to thee ? Oh may this day
be blessed the most ? That Jesus Christ becomes the host ? To
feed our souls with living bread ? And with our souls in joy to
wed Please be seated. Well, we're still at the cross. In Mark chapter 15, if you'll
open your Bibles there with me. I've titled this message, Two
Representative Men. Two Representative Men. We know that these were Barabbas's
cohorts. They would have Barabbas would
have been there on that third cross. The scripture refers to
these two men as malfactors, which translated means evildoers. It doesn't say one was a malfactor
and the other was a believer. It says they were both malfactors. The scripture refers to them
as thieves. Thieves. Malachi asked the question, will
a man rob God? Yeah. Yeah, a man will rob God. He'll rob God of his glory in
order to protect his own righteousness, in order to protect his own dignity. And these two representative
men, the Lord purposed to be on his
right hand and on his left. And there's no doubt to me which
one was at the right and which one was at the left. Both of them, the scripture says,
they both hurled cursings at the Lord Jesus Christ. But one
of them, while he's hanging there on a cross, has a change of heart. He has a change of heart. You have your Bibles open to
Mark chapter 15 verse 27, and with him they crucify
two thieves, the one on the right hand and
the other on the left. And the reason I say I know which
one was on the right and which was on the left because the Lord
makes it clear that when he separates the sheep from the goat in the
day of judgment that the sheep are going to be on his right
and he's going to say to them, enter into thy kingdom, be prepared
for you. And he's going to look to the
goats on the left and say, depart from me, you workers of iniquity,
for I never knew you. And verse 28, I'm sorry. And the scripture was fulfilled,
which saith, and he was numbered with the transgressors. So they're called malfactors,
they're called thieves, and they're called transgressors. Both of
them. Both of them. A transgressor is one who deliberately
disobeys the law of God. I wonder if there's any transgressors
here today. A thief is one who robs God of
his glory. to protect his own righteousness.
I wonder, can you identify with these men? A malfactor is an
evildoer. When Job heard the gospel, Job's
conclusion was, behold, I am vile. There's nothing in me that's
like him. Everything about me is evil. The Lord Jesus Christ himself
said, if you, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your
children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the
Holy Spirit to them that ask him? The Lord declared that we're
evil. He reveals to us our evil when
he shows us the glory and the righteousness of the Lord Jesus
Christ. And we say with our brother Isaiah,
woe is me, I'm undone, I'm a man of unclean lips. depart from
me," Peter said to the Lord, for I am a sinful man. These two representatives, these
two men on the right hand and on the left of the Lord Jesus
Christ at Calvary's cross represent all of mankind. There's no in-between. There's
no purgatory. There's no being partially a
believer and partially an unbeliever. You either identify with one
or the other. And the scriptures are full of
this, aren't they? We begin with Cain and Abel. We go to Jacob and Esau. We go to Isaac and Ishmael. The believer and the unbeliever,
there is no in between. The scripture refers to all men
as either being lost or being saved. All men are either alive
or they are dead. They are either in darkness or
they are walking in the light. They are either sheep or they
are goats. They are either fools or they
are wise. They are either righteous or
they are unrighteous. They are either the children
of God or they are the children of the devil. These two thieves,
these two malefactors, these two transgressors of the law
represent every single person born into this world after the
fashion of Adam. The only one they don't represent
is the one that was in between. And he, my friend, is the one
who makes the difference. Who maketh thee to differ? What do you have that you've
not received? You say, well, one of these,
one of these was just, he figured out he was going to die and he's
crying out for mercy. Lord, remember me when thou comest
into thy kingdom. Who put that in his heart? And
why didn't the other one pray such a prayer? Why didn't the
other one seek mercy? The scripture says that God put
a difference between the Egyptians and the Israelites so that the
death angel killed the firstborn of all the Egyptians but did
not touch any of the Israelites. Why? Because God made a difference.
God made a difference. They both reviled him. One had a change of heart. They both, the one who had a
change of heart said, we're getting what we deserve. But this man,
this man, he's innocent. He hath done nothing amiss. You see, the truth is that the
one who had a change of heart was given the gift of repentance,
which is what repentance is. Repentance People want to say,
well, repentance is stopping sin. Lord, I don't want to sin. I pray the Lord will restrain
us. I pray that he'll give us more
and more of a love for Christ and more and more of a hatred
for our sin. And we ought to all feel like, you know, Lord,
I don't ever want to do that again. But let me ask you honestly,
honestly in your heart, what sin have you ever stopped? If
repentance If repentance means I don't do that anymore, then I'm afraid that we'd have
a hard time being honest with each other and with God about
having repented. Repentance is having a changed
mind about who we are, about who God is, and about how it
is that God saves sinners. And this man who was reviling
the Lord Jesus Christ along with his cohort has a change of heart. He has a change of mind. He sees
something that he never saw before. The scripture says God has to
do this. God has to do it. That's what
the Lord meant when he said, if you be an evil, know how to
give good gifts unto your children, how much more your heavenly Father
give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him. Lord, I've got
to have your spirit in order to have a spirit of repentance.
I've got to have your spirit in order to have faith. You're
going to have to enlighten the eyes of my understanding. You're
going to have to take out the heart of stone and put in a heart
of flesh if you leave me to myself. He came unto his own as though
his own received him not, but as many as received him. To them
gave he the power to become the sons of God, even to them that
believe on his name, who were born not of blood, nor of the
will of man, nor of the will of the flesh, but were born of
God." Born of God. You don't just decide one day,
I'm going to have a changed mind. I'm going to think differently
about everything. No. The Lord's got to do it. He's got to send his spirit in
power. And the child of God never ceases
to ask God for his spirit. Lord, don't close my eyes. Lord, you've opened them. Keep
them open. Keep them open. Keep giving me your spirit. As many as were ordained to eternal
life, Believed. Believed. Lord, ordain me. Call me. Cause me to come unto
thee. I don't have the power within
myself to come. My heart is overwhelmed within
me. Lead me to the rock that is higher than I. Lord, if you
don't lead me to that rock, I won't go to the rock. I won't go to
the rock. I'll build my house on shifting
sand and when the storms of God's wrath come, that house is going
to be blown away. Now there's one other significant
thing to notice about these two men. Not only were they transgressors
and malfactors and thieves, not only do they represent all of
mankind in that regard, but listen very carefully. And I know if
you know Christ, you know this. Both these men were dying. They were both dying. And I know our young people can't
grasp, well, by their own power, maybe the Spirit of God will
give them the ability to see the truth of this. But the older
we get, the more we realize, don't we, Death is just around
the corner. We're not going to be here much
longer. People make plans. Oh, they plan
for retirement. They plan for their vacations.
They plan for next year. They plan as if they're going
to live forever. And I've watched 90-year-old people on their deathbed
making plans for getting better. We just don't want to deal with
it. We don't want to, not the flesh doesn't. The flesh doesn't
want to deal with its own death. Oh, but if the Spirit of God
gives you grace to see your flesh for what it is, you'll be making
plans for that day when your flesh is put back where it came
from. I'm a dying man, and I know this,
I'm speaking to dying people. And we don't have much time.
You say, well, these men only had hours to live. In the grand
scheme of things, there's nothing, there's no difference between
hours and years. There's no difference. It's just,
it's, well, God says it's a vapor. It's a vapor. It's like a flower
that blooms and it's beautiful to look at for just a little
while, and then it dries up and dies. You see, if God puts it on my
heart and your heart to believe that we're dying and to believe
that what's at stake is eternal damnation or eternal salvation,
God will put a concern for our souls in our hearts and cause
us to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. As long as people think,
you know, I'll take care of that tomorrow, worry about that later. Today is the day of salvation.
Right now. The truth is you've never done
anything tomorrow. Ever in your life have you ever
done anything tomorrow? It's impossible. It's impossible. That's why God says now, right
now. Verse 28, verse 29, I'm sorry. And they that pass by railed
on him, wagging their heads and saying, all thou that destroyest
the temple and buildest it in three days, save thyself and
come down from the cross. Prove to us that you are who
you say you are. He had already proven that. He'd
already proven that in the feeding of the five. These were the same
people that he fed miraculously that walked away from him when
he said to them, the only reason you're following me is so that
you can have your bellies full. And that's true today. Men follow
God or they follow their imagination of a Jesus in order to get something
supplied to them in this world, some better life. Some victory,
some, that with no concern for the eternal, no concern for their
souls. And the Lord said, you've got
to be willing to take up your cross and deny yourself and follow
after me. And they all left. And the disciples
must have been thinking, Lord, I thought we were trying to build
a kingdom here. You just ran off 5,000 potential subjects
to this kingdom. Lord said, let them go. And if
you want to go with them, go ahead. Go ahead, what Peter say,
Lord, where are we gonna go? We've got no place else to go.
You've shut us up to yourself. You alone have the words of eternal
life. We know and we are sure that thou art the Christ, the
Son of the living God. And that same crowd, a few days later
were saying, crucify him, crucify him. And now they're wagging
their heads and they're walking around the cross and they're
saying, if thou be the Christ." You're the one that said you'd
build the temple in three days. He was talking about the temple
of his body. You see, you destroyed this temple and I'll raise it
up. And that's exactly what he did. He raised up the tabernacle
of his flesh. This is the hope of our salvation.
That's it, you know, what you said is true. He's the firstborn
among many brethren. Now they're wanting some evidence.
I shared this illustration Wednesday night. I'll share it again this
morning I hear people in religion say, well, you know, you've got
to be like Gideon and put out your fleece. You know where to
get a sign from God so that you know what to do. Well, let's
think about that fleece that Gideon put out. First of all,
it was a lambskin, the same lambskin that God slew in the garden in
order to cover the nakedness of Adam. So that lambskin is
a picture of the Lord Jesus Christ. And Gideon put it outside his
front door, and Gideon's prayer was, Lord, if this is what you
want me to do, then let the lambskin be wet, but dew in the morning,
and let the ground around it be dry. And Gideon went out,
and sure enough, the lambskin was soaking wet with water. It
was saturated with water. He wrung out bowls of water out
of it, and the ground all around the lambskin was dry. And that's
a picture of the anointing of the Christ, the Lord Jesus Christ,
who the power of God was on. when he died on Calvary's cross
and was wrung out, wrung out completely. And Gideon wasn't
satisfied. And Gideon said, Lord, forgive
me, but I need another sign. And he put the lambskin back
out the next night and he said, Lord, let all the ground around
the lambskin be wet and let the lambskin be dry. And sure enough,
he went out the next morning and all the ground around the
lambskin was wet and the lambskin itself was dry. What a picture
of what the Lord Jesus Christ did in order to take the spirit
of God that was upon him and bring it to his people. You see,
that Gideon's fleece just pointed to Christ and what he accomplished
on Calvary's cross. And there's no other sign that's
given to us other than the sign that God has given us in the
resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. The one who was anointed with
the Spirit of God had the fullness of the power of God, the Christ,
the Messiah, was wrung out on Calvary's cross. And the only
hope that you and I have for the Spirit of God to come upon
us is accomplished by what he did on Calvary's cross. That's
the sign. These people were asking for
a sign. And it's like I said in the previous hour, if a person
came back from hell, they wouldn't believe the gospel. Believing
the gospel is not because of a sign, it's because of the power
of the Spirit of God in our hearts causing us to believe. But these men, they say, save
thyself and come down. Likewise, look at verse 31, likewise
also the chief priest mocking said among themselves with the
scribes, he saved others he cannot, himself he cannot save. No truer
words have ever been spoken. They were mocking him, but in
their mocking, God put those words in their mouth, because
the truth is the only way he could save us was by not saving
himself. He could have saved himself,
but he came in order to save his people from their sins. The angels were waiting to deliver
him. He didn't call upon them. No, himself he could not save.
Not if he was going to save you. Not if he was going to save me.
He had to remain on the cross. He had to fulfill all that God
had sent him to do. In suffering the full wrath of
God's justice, he had to give up the ghost. He had to die in
order to be the sinner's substitute. He bore the sins of his people
in his body upon the tree and God made him who knew no sin
to be made sin for us. So this dying thief, notice in
verse 32, let Christ the King of Israel descend now from the
cross that we may see and believe. And they that were crucified
with him reviled him. Now one of them has a change
of heart. Mark doesn't tell us or give
us a lot of details about him, but the other gospel accounts
do. Matthew in particular tells us that he cried out and asked
the Lord to save him. Lord have mercy upon me. Remember
me when thou comest into thy kingdom, and the Lord said to
him, this verily I say unto you, verily I say unto you, this day
thou shalt be with me in paradise. Now that's what I want to hear
God say to me. That's what I want him to hear. That's what I want
you to hear him say. Verily, truly, I say unto thee. Now in
order for us to have that assurance, we have to identify with the
one that the Lord saved. We know who made the difference.
What was the difference? What was the difference? And
is there anything about this man's life that I can identify
with? Well, let me say this first of
all, there's three individuals dying this day on Calvary's cross. One is dying in his sin. One
is dying to sin. and the other is dying for sin. If you believe not that I am
He, you shall die in your sins. Now that's the malfactor, that's
the thief, that's the man that was dying on our Lord's left.
He did not believe that Jesus was the Christ. And he died in
his sins. And if you and I die in our sins,
it'll be an eternal death, separation from God. That's what's at stake
here. The other one was dying to sin. Sin is what keeps us from believing
on the Lord Jesus Christ. And unless the one who died for
sin takes away our sin, we'll not be able to believe on the
Lord Jesus Christ. That's why Paul said in Romans,
reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin. To sin. How shall we that are dead to
sin? live any longer know you not
that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized
in to his death so the one man was dying in his sin the other
one was being put to death to his sin and the third turn with
me to Hebrews chapter 10 Hebrews chapter 10. Two representative men. The one having a change of heart
says to the other, do you not fear God? We're getting our just
reward. We're guilty. We deserve what's
happening to us. But this man, this man, hath
done nothing amiss. And then he said, Lord, have
mercy upon me. Lord, remember me when you comest
into thy kingdom. And of all the characters of
scripture, I don't suppose we could find a more certain declaration
of their salvation than what the Lord said to this thief on
the cross. This day, barely, truly, for
sure, certain, the word there is amen. You can count on it. This day, you're going to be
with me in paradise. Or to be absent from the body
is to be present with the Lord. What hope? That's the hope I
want to have. That's the hope I want you to
have. Look at Hebrews chapter 10 beginning at verse 4. For it is not possible that the
blood of bulls and goats should take away sins. This is the one
who's dying now for sin. One died in sin. One died to
sin because there's one who died for sin. It's not possible that
the blood of bulls and goats should take away sin. Wherefore,
when he cometh, verse five, into the world, he sayeth, sacrifice
and offerings thou wouldest not, but a body thou has prepared
me. He was born of a woman born under
the law to redeem them who are cursed by the law. And here's
the prophecy of body thou has prepared for me. And one of the
things that we know that this malfactor believed, the one on
the right, the one that was saved, he believed in the humanity of
the Lord Jesus Christ. He said, this man, this man has
done nothing amiss. In burnt offerings and sacrifice
for sin, thou hast no pleasure. Then said I, Lo, I come in the
volume of the book it is written of me to do thy will, O God. Above, when he said sacrifice
and offerings and burnt offerings for sin, thou wouldest not, neither
hast thou pleasure therein, which are offered by the law. Then
said he, Lo, I come to do thy will, O God. He take the way
of the first that he may establish the second. By the witch will,
we are sanctified through the body of Jesus Christ once for
all. Once for all. The one who died
for sin made one sacrifice of himself and hath perfected forever
all those that he died for. all the malfactors, all the dying
thieves that were on his right, the Lord Jesus Christ died for
them. God made him who knew no sin
to be made sin that we might be made the righteousness of
God in him. So we have three individuals,
one dying in sin, one dying to sin, and one dying for sin. People say, well, you know that
thief, he just didn't know much. He didn't, you know, he certainly
didn't know anything about the sovereignty of God. He didn't
know anything about election. He didn't know anything about
predestination. He didn't know, oh, he knew a lot more than you
think he knew. Now, here's the important thing. He believed
everything he heard. What did he hear? He heard the Lord Jesus
Christ on Calvary's cross cry out to the Father, Father forgive
them for they know not what they do. He knew that forgiveness
was possible through the prayers of that man that was hanging
next to him. He heard him cry, my God, my
God, why hast thou forsaken me? If he knew anything about the
scriptures, he knew that that Psalm 22 was a prophecy of the
Christ that God was going to forsake as the sin bearer. He heard those words. He died
before the Lord Jesus Christ died. I'm sorry, afterwards. Christ died before him. When
the centurion came back, he had to break the legs of the two
thieves, but the Lord had already given up the ghost at the ninth
hour. So he heard the Lord Jesus Christ
say, it is finished. It is finished. Everything that
God requires of you, of a sinner to be made righteous was accomplished
by the Lord. Your father into thy hands. I
commend my spirit. He heard all that. He heard the Lord Jesus Christ
say, verily I say unto you this day, thou shalt be with me in
paradise. And he believed it. He believed that the Lord Jesus
Christ was God. For when he addresses the Lord,
he says, Lord, Lord. remember me when thou comest
into thy kingdom." He believed that the salvation of his soul
was completely in the hands of that man that hung between him
and the other thief. Do you believe that? Do you believe
that the salvation of your soul is completely in the hands of
the Lord Jesus Christ? Even when all physical evidence
seem to be contrary to the fact that this could be God or that
this is God. I am very offended by the depictions
that religion makes of the Lord Jesus Christ hanging on a cross. First of all, I'm not offended
near as much as God is, but it is offensive. It's offensive,
first of all, because they are violating the clear teaching
of scripture, making an image of God. Second of all, it's offensive
because they always make him to look effeminate and approachable. The truth is that if they put
on the cross, on the wall behind their pulpits, an image of what
the Lord Jesus Christ really looked like, no one would walk
in that building. It would be a nauseating picture
to see. The bloody mess. Here's what
the scripture says. His visage was so marred more
than any man. No one has ever been, has ever
been disfigured more than the Lord
Jesus Christ was. And this thief is looking at
this man next to him. He's closer to him than anyone
else. And in spite of the physical
evidence that there's a man here who had no form nor comeliness
and when we shall see him there is no beauty in him that we should
desire him, we hid as it were our faces from him. now we're
not we would not do it we would not do it but if if if if uh... if a accurate picture of the
lord jesus christ was made of him on calvary's cross you couldn't
look at it you wouldn't be able to look at it i don't care how
many horror films you've seen or how many how many bloody things
you wouldn't be able to look at it that's what god said we
hid as it were our faces from him and now this thief is looking
to one who seems to be contrary to all the evidence and he believes
that he's God. You see, in your life and in
my life, faith doesn't come because of physical evidence. There are
circumstances that God ordains for our lives that seem contrary
to the fact that He loves us and cares for us and is doing
everything for us. David knew that. Lord, how long? How long will you depart from
me? How long will you leave me? Lord, has your mercy clear gone? All the evidence that is around
me seems contrary to what you say And yet faith believes what God
says, not what it sees. Don't rest your faith on what
you see. Rest your faith on what God says. I am the Christ. I'm God. And this thief, looking at the
Lord Jesus Christ, grotesque as he was, bloody and raw as
he was, believed that he was God. Can you identify with him? The
other one didn't believe. The other one reviled him. The
other one said with everybody else, if thou be the Christ,
come down, save yourself and save us. You don't look much
like God to me. He believed in the humanity of
the Lord Jesus Christ for he said, this man hath done nothing
amiss. He believed that God had become
a man, and that God had prepared for him a body, and that he bore
in his body the sins of his people. He believed him to be the God-man. He believed himself to be without
excuse. He said, we indeed have justly received our due
reward. Now here's what every person
who can identify with this thief believes. It's what every person
on the right hand of the Lord Jesus Christ believes. They believe
themselves to be without excuse. They believe themselves to be
sinners. and if God gave them justly their due reward, they
would spend eternity separated from God in hell. The unbeliever
doesn't believe that. The unbeliever doesn't believe
himself to be hell-deserving. Well, hell's for the really bad
people. Hell's not for somebody like me. You know, I'm doing
my best. I'm above average at least. You know, hell's for those for
those murderers and you know that term in the Romans chapter 4
Romans chapter 4 bear with me for just a few more moments I'm
I'm hopeful the Lord will cause us to identify with this thief
and hear those words spoken by the Lord barely I say unto thee
I know you're made of flesh. I know you're dying. I know you're
a transgressor. I know you're a thief. But verily
I say unto thee, this day thou shalt be with me in paradise.
Romans chapter 4, look at verse 4. Now to him that worketh is
the reward not reckoned of grace but of death. If you can do something
to obligate God to save you, then your salvation is what God
owed you, not by grace, but you made God to be the debtor. But to him that worketh not,
but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly. In Romans chapter 5, I brought
this out last Sunday, in that while we were yet sinners or
without Christ, God died for the ungodly? Christ died for
the ungodly? Same word. You look it up. It's the word worship with the
alpha in front of it. translated the word ungodly doesn't
mean a person who's out there murdering and stealing and doing
all sorts of immoral things. The ungodly is the person who's
just simply not able to worship God. Why? Because they're still
in their sins. And so to him that worketh not, but
believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted
for righteousness." The Lord Jesus Christ died for
sin to justify those who were in sin that they might die to
sin and be able to bow in worship and say, Lord, remember me. He believed himself to be without
excuse. He believed himself to be hell
deserving. He believed himself to be guilty.
What about you? He believed his only hope was
God having mercy upon him. The scripture says, let us therefore
come boldly to the throne of grace that we may obtain mercy
and find grace to help in our time of need. Mercy is God withholding
from us what we deserve. Grace is God giving us what we
don't deserve. And our God delights in showing
mercy. to mercy beggars. This malefactor, this thief,
this dying man was a mercy beggar. Not only did he believe that
Jesus was God, not only did he believe that Jesus was fully
man, not only did he believe himself to be without excuse,
and not only did he believe himself to be in need of mercy, he believed
the Lord Jesus Christ to be Innocent. Innocent. He believed that this
man, have you no fear of God? That's
what he said to the other thief. For we're getting our just due
reward, but this man hath done nothing amiss. He's holy. He's harmless. He's undefiled. He's separate from sinners. and
he's higher than the heavens, and he never sinned, and the
punishment that he experienced on Calvary's cross was because
he was bearing the sins of his people. They shall look upon him. And that thief on the cross,
on our Lord's right, looked upon him. bloody mess as he was, they
shall look upon him whom they have pierced and they shall mourn
after him. That's what he was doing. Lord,
remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom as one mourneth
after his only begotten son. Can you identify? Do you believe that the Lord Jesus
Christ in and of himself was innocent and that the punishment that
he suffered from his father was because of the guilt and shame
of your sin. Sixthly, this thief believed
a lot. Sixthly, he believed that the
Lord Jesus Christ, that man whose visage was so marred more than
any other man, that man whom we would turn our eyes from,
who we could not look upon. He believed him to be a successful
reigning king. He believed what he saw on the
top of the cross, Jesus of Nazareth, king of the Jews, for he said
clearly to the Lord, Lord, I know we're all dying here. But
when you come into your kingdom, in spite of the fact that you're
dying, I know that you have a kingdom and that you are going to successfully
enter in as the reigning monarch of that kingdom. And I just want
to be a subject in your kingdom. Lord, would you remember me?
You see, the religious world doesn't believe that the Lord
Jesus Christ was successful. And they say, well, we believe
he died, we believe he rose again. And you listen to what they,
he wasn't a successful monarch, he wasn't a successful king.
He died for everybody. He made an offer of salvation
to man and he's in the heavens wringing his hands, frustrated
that he can't get men to let him have his way. That's not
what this thief believed. Lord, when thou enterest into
thy kingdom, Have mercy on me. Seventhly, I have two more points. Seventhly, and you think, well, of course
he would be. He was willing to separate himself
from the opinions of other men to stand with Christ. The other one wasn't. Did not the Lord say, if you
confess? He said, He said, do you not
fear God? Don't you know that we're getting
our due reward, but this man hath done nothing amiss? Lord,
remember me when thou comest in." All the men on the ground
were wagging their heads saying, if you be the Christ, come down.
The other one was saying, and this one, by the grace of God,
was willing to separate himself from the opinions of others to
identify with the Lord Jesus Christ. If you deny me before
men, I'll deny you before my Father, which is in heaven. If
you confess me before men. You see, coming to Christ, that's
what baptism is. baptism is a public identification
with the Lord Jesus Christ. Now that doesn't mean that every
time we have an opportunity to speak for Christ that we take
advantage of it. We're so ashamed about how often
times we fail. But we do identify with Him. We do identify with Him. You say, well, what other choice
did He have? have held the hands of men and women at their deathbed
and pleaded with them to believe on Christ, only to have them
refuse, lest they die in shame, having to admit on their deathbed
that they've been wrong all their life. and they will die holding
on to their pride and holding on to their religious trinkets
rather than to separate themselves from all that they've believed
all their lives. And lastly, lastly, he asked
the Lord to save him. He asked the Lord to save him. It's amazing to me. People think,
well, you know, I'm going to be saved. God's going to have
to save me. Ask Him. Turn with me to Romans chapter 10 and we'll
conclude with this. Romans chapter 10. Verse 6. But the righteousness which is
of faith speaketh on this wise. Say not in thine heart, in other
words, perish the thought, don't even entertain the idea. Don't
even entertain the idea. Who shall ascend into heaven?
That is to bring Christ down from above. What can I do to
make what Christ did work for me? Perish the thought. Don't think that there's anything
you can do to bring Christ down to save you. or who shall descend down in
the deep, that is to bring Christ up again from the dead. What
can I do to make the death of Christ work for me? Are there
sacrifices I can make? Are there religious heights that
I can achieve? Are there knowledge? Are there
experiences? that I can get to that will make
him save me? Or are there sacrifices that
I can make to go down into the deep in order to persuade him
to save me? You see, the Lord is saying,
where is righteousness? It doesn't come that way. It
doesn't come that way. But what sayeth it? What sayeth
the scriptures? The word is nigh thee even in
thy mouth and in thine heart, that is the word of faith which
we preach. That if thou shalt confess with
thy mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in thine heart that God
hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. Ask him,
ask him to save you. Lord, save me. I'm a malefactor. I'm a thief. I'm dying. I deserve
what I'm getting. You're Lord. You're the successful
reigning monarch. You're the one who's establishing
your kingdom. Lord, if you don't save me, I'm
not going to be saved. And God says, the word is nigh, even
in thy mouth and in thy lips. For with the heart man believeth
unto righteousness." With the heart man believeth. God gives
you a new heart, gives you repentance, changes your mind. Now you're
not reviling him like the other one. Now you've had a new, a
changed mind, a changed heart. And you're looking to Christ
for all your righteousness. And with the mouth confession
is made unto salvation. For the scripture saith, Whosoever
believeth on him shall not be ashamed. He wasn't ashamed to
identify with Christ, even though everybody else around him was
reviling him. For there is no difference between the Jew and
the Greek. The same Lord is rich over all them that call upon
him. For whosoever shall call upon
the name of the Lord shall be saved. Don't, don't interpret the sovereignty
of God to mean that You can just not call upon Him. Now, if you do call upon Him,
you'll know that it was He that caused you to call. But call. When that Philippian jailer asked
Peter, what must I do to be saved, Peter didn't say go home and
wait to get zapped from heaven with some sort of feeling. He
said, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved
in thine household. call upon him. God says call. This malfactor, this transgressor,
this dying thief, ask the Lord to save him. And we never quit
asking, do we? Our Heavenly Father, we're so
very thankful for your word and For this dying thief that you
were pleased to save, we ask that you would do the same for
us. We pray it in Christ's name, amen. 222, let's stand together, 222. There is a fountain filled with
blood Drawn from Emmanuel's veins And sinners plunged beneath that
flood Lose all their guilty stains Lose all their guilty stains
? Lose all their guilty stains ? And sinners plunged beneath
that flood ? Lose all their guilty stains ? The dying thief rejoiced
to see ? That fountain in his day And there may I, though vile
as he, wash all my sins away. Wash all my sins away. Wash all my sins away. And there may I, though vile
as he, wash all my sins away. Dear dying Lamb, thy precious
blood shall never lose its power. Till all the ransomed Church
of God be saved to sin no more. Be safe to sin no more Be safe
to sin no more Till all the ransomed Church of God Be safe to sin
no more E'er since, by faith, I saw the stream Thy flowing
wounds supply. Redeeming love has been my theme,
And shall be till I die And shall be till I die And shall be till
I die Redeeming love has been my theme And shall be till I
die When this poor lisping, stammering tongue Lies silent in the grave,
Then in a nobler, sweeter song I'll sing thy power to save I'll
sing thy power to save I'll sing thy power to save Then in a nobler,
sweeter tone I'll sing thy power to save Okay.