This is a glorious picture before
us, isn't it? And what a remarkable statement. What a remarkable prayer issues
from the lips of this dying thief, this dying evildoer. He said
unto Jesus, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom. And Jesus said unto him, verily
I say unto you, thou shalt be with me today in paradise. There are three men dying on
these crosses outside Jerusalem. They picture all of humanity,
don't they? There's one man dying in sin.
Not a single word is spoken to him by the Lord Jesus Christ.
And yet, equally distant from him is this man who's dying remarkably
to enter paradise. He's dying without any sin whatsoever. He's dying to sin. And of course,
in the midst is the one who makes the difference. There's a division
among the people because of the Lord Jesus Christ. There was,
before this world began, there has been, ever since this world
has been, there has always been a division between the children
of God and the children of man. But here we have a glorious picture
of salvation and a glorious picture of salvation by sovereign grace.
And I love what someone said, that there is just one case recorded
of a man being saved at death. There's one case recorded that
none need despair, we pray and wait for the Lord to do a work,
a sovereign work that he might do. There's one case recorded
that none need despair, but only one that men might not presume. There is a glorious presence. Present tense. Salvation is always
a present tense, isn't it? It's today. It's always today. Like this man, all of the children
of God can have nothing back in their lives to look on with
which they can say, well, this is the basis of my confidence.
If you have, I trust the Lord might take it away from you.
And there's nothing into the future where we can say, well,
these things I might do to get myself right before God. There was a statement I read
some little time ago in one of the bulletins from overseas that
is a remarkable statement to ponder. It says, is there anything
going on in the church for which the only explanation is the supernatural
work of the Triune God. See, nothing less, and I want
to make this point over and over again today because I think this
is exactly what this picture is about. It's a picture of salvation,
but it's a picture of a salvation by a new creation. We have this
man born from above. We have this man born again.
It's a new creation. And the new life comes as did
the old. The new life comes as God's creative
act. The new life comes out of nothing. He creates out of nothing. The
new life comes because of creation by a word. God said, let there
be light. The creation came into existence
unaided by human merit. The creation comes into existence
unhindered. So what amazing miracle we see
in this thief. Matthew's account makes it abundantly
clear that this man joined with his fellow evil worker in blaspheming
the Lord. That's what the word says. He
railed upon him, our text says, but he blasphemed him is what
was being said. He went from blasphemy to what
is possibly the greatest example of faith in all of the He goes from the words of his
own cursing to the glorious words of the Lord's blessing and promise
to him. He goes from eternal damnation
to eternal life. He goes from the world in its
natural hatred of God He goes, from someone like these
religious people that walked by a stacked cross while he was
there and they mocked and mocked and mocked the Lord Jesus Christ
to being someone that acknowledged the reality of who he said he
was. He calls him God. He calls him
Lord. He calls him King. He says that
he has a kingdom that's coming. He went from the pride in the
natural heart of every man to pleading. He went from jeering
to prayer. Who maketh thee to differ? Are you gonna read 1 Corinthians?
We do read it often and you know it well, but let's look at it
again together. And I'll read it the way the
religious world says it. For what maketh thee to differ from
another? You know I didn't read that right,
did I? What does the text say? What does God say? For who maketh
thee to differ one from another? And what hast thou that thou
didst not receive? This is nothing earned, it's
free sovereign grace. And if thou didst receive it,
why dost thou glory as if thou hast not received it? Here we
have the gift of God. The gift of God is eternal life. The wages of sin is death, but
the gift of God is eternal life. In Christ Jesus our Lord. What a day this man had on his
way to the cross. Just think of him. This was the
day when in prison someone was going to be set free. And if you were in prison and someone
was going to be set free, you would automatically and naturally
think, this is going to be me. This is my day. This is my day
when I might be set free. And yet, in the freeing of Barabbas,
substitution, don't we? This man went to the cross that
day, the day before the great feast of the Passover, for one
reason and one reason alone. The Jews didn't want any bodies
hanging on crosses outside Jerusalem to defile this holiest day of
their religious year, the Jews' Passover. He was there for one reason and
one reason alone, because of the hatred of the Jews to the
Lord Jesus Christ. He was taken up to that cross
to make sure that the Lord Jesus Christ was crucified in the greatest
ignominy that could be put before him. And yet, in the darkness and
the wickedness of those human hearts, they had absolutely no
idea that they were fulfilling scripture. He was numbered with
the transgressors. Don't you like that? If you're
a transgressor, you love the fact that the Lord Jesus Christ
was numbered with the transgressors. This man pictures salvation in
so many remarkable ways. He heard, he heard the Lord Jesus
Christ speak just one word before his conversion. He saw a sign above him, Jesus,
King of the Jews. And he heard a word, didn't he?
The first word of the Lord Jesus Christ is a word of forgiveness
from the cross. He says, Father, forgive them, for they know not
what they do. Then there is the word of salvation
from the cross. Today, you will be with me in
paradise. There is the word of the Lord
Jesus, a word of affection from the cross. He says, woman, behold
thy son. He gave his mother into the care
of John the Apostle. There is the word of anguish
from the cross. My God, my God, why hast thou
forsaken me? It's the beginning verse of Psalm
22, and the answer in Psalm 22 is a really simple answer, isn't
it? There is one reason for the Lord Jesus Christ being forsaken
of his Father. Psalm 22, verse 3, There's the word of anguish,
a word of forgiveness, a word of salvation, a word of affection,
a word of anguish, a word of suffering. I thirst that the
scriptures might be fulfilled. There is that glorious word of
victory. This was no victim. upon Calvary's
tree. He set his face like a flint.
He said to the joy that sat before him, he enjoyed the cross, scorning
the shame of it. It is finished. What a glorious
word. What a glorious word. There's
one word in Greek and it was ripped across the bottom of bills. paid in full. Nothing owed. The debt cancelled. And then there is the word of
rest and contentment. He says, into thy hands I commend
thy spirit. And we must remember that the
Lord Jesus Christ gave up his ghost. He gave up the spirit. He died As he lived and as he
was born, his birth was a supernatural birth. His life was a completely
supernatural life. His public ministry was a supernatural
ministry. His death was a supernatural
death. In every possible way, it is
a picture of our great God and the name that people call on
to be saved. And I want you to note that at
the end of this time, During all of his time on the
cross, people have pictures of him hanging there with his head
on his chest as if he's some pathetic person. He was in full control of all
of his faculties and he was in full control of his life. He
bowed his head at the end of his time of living in this world. said the Lord of Glory, had ordained
of old at this momentous event of all history that he would
be crucified between two thieves. of those pictures that is printed
for us indelibly in our history that there is, in the Lord Jesus
Christ, there is a division between humanity and there always has
been. Throughout the scriptures there is a division between the
children of God and the children of this world. Cain and Abel,
Isaac and Ishmael, Jacob and Esau, Moses and Pharaoh. There is a picture. This, according
to our God, is because of the determinate counsel and foreknowledge
of God. He came into this world in a
manger. with the beasts of the field
around him. And he died with the refuse of
humanity beside him at his death. And he was despised as well as
rejected. But all this is to show the wonders
of the grace of God that reaches to the lowest of the low and
saves to the uttermost. See, we have here a picture of
the sovereignty of God in salvation. These two men are equally unqualified
for salvation, aren't they? And one was saved and one was
left. There was not a word from our
God to that thief on his left-hand side, and there wasn't a word
of rebuke from our Savior to all of that religious crowd in
front of him, not a word said. There is a hiding of God from
people, and there is a revealing of God to people. For so it seemed
good in thy sight. There is a picture here, as I
want to reiterate again and again, of the new creation. And there's
a glorious picture. and sovereign grace is saving
grace. God in his grace planned these
events. All grace is sovereign grace. Grace provided salvation, all
grace is saving grace. The grace of God is not inactive,
it operates. It is sovereign over all. He will have his people. What grace begins, grace continues,
and what grace continues, grace completes. The grace of God is
irresistible. The grace of God is revealed
in the outpourings of the new creation. And in the words of
this thief, this dying thief, we have the words of the new
creation. The new creation repents and
believes and confesses and loves both the Lord and sinners. The
new creation looks beyond the sight of these eyes. What did
he look at? What could he look at beside
him? There was the Lord Jesus Christ mocked and spat upon,
a crown of thorns upon his head, nails driven through his hands
and his feet. depths of his pain, in the forsakenness
of God, take the very words of Scripture and use them to mock
him. They mock his faith. They mock his claims of who he
is. See, what did he have to look
at? There was nothing with human sight that could cause this man
to think that here is a reigning sovereign saviour. See, the light that shines in
the darkness reaches to the depths of depravity, doesn't it? It
reaches to the self-righteous soul as it does to the depraved
thief. Your state in this world is no
barrier to the sovereign grace of God. Grace requires no prior
fitness, and grace requires no future merit. The grace of God
is demerited favour in every way. I love what Ralph Barnard said of sovereign
saving grace. is in spite of. It's God loving you in spite
of what you are. It's God saving you in spite
of what you are. Saving grace uses human instruments,
but grace reigns with supernatural sovereignty. These two men heard
exactly the same things. They'd been in exactly the same
state, weren't they? You can read it again and again
in Luke, doesn't it? He says, this man says, we are
receiving the just reward, the due reward, due reward of our
deeds. He speaks. because of what he saw and the
new creation that God had created in him. Never did the Lord Jesus Christ
look anything less like a King, and less like a Saviour, and
less like the Christ that the Jews spoke of at any time. He
was not triumphing, but he was being triumphed over. He was
abandoned by friends, crucified by Roman soldiers, mocked by
the religious, not hear behold the Lamb of God, not hear the
declarations that even the wind and the waves obey him, not hear
the commendation that no one ever spoke as this man did. His
face, Isaiah 53 says, was marred beyond any human visage. They
plucked out his beard, which meant, I would think, that his
face was almost unrecognisable. And the thief, I want us to see,
was converted very early in that time upon the cross. He was converted
before the He was a new creation before
he heard the triumphant cry, it is finished. Before the curtain
in the temple was read by God from above to show that the access
into the Holy of Holies by the death of the Lord Jesus Christ
was open now. He was converted before the earthquake. before the centurion's confession
truly this was the Son of God? Why, it is just a picture that salvation
is is of the Lord. It's a supernatural opening of
eyes. It's a supernatural giving of
life where there was death. It's a supernatural deliverance. I love what Colossians says.
You read these verses with me in Colossians chapter 1. Our
time in church began many years ago now, looking at these words. And the more I ponder them afresh,
the more amazed I am. I want us to see that it's a
new creation that repents, it's a new creation that says, don't
you fear God, it's a new creation that calls to the Lord. Verse
12 of Colossians, it says, we're giving thanks unto the Father,
which hath made us meet, to be partakers of the inheritance
of the saints in light. That's the light that shines
in the darkness. and shaped by God. Verse 13 says,
who has delivered us from the power of darkness. What extraordinary
darkness this man was in on that cross. On the very brink of hell
there he was cursing the Saviour. On the very point of being about
to meet God he was cursing God. You will see what the darkness
is and you will see that the new creation will see the old
creation in a way that is never seen before. What people think
when they go around preaching peace to each other. And in darkness you can be led
anywhere by someone who can hold your hand. And in darkness you've
got no idea where you're going and you have no idea what's around
you. And you have no idea what lies before you. And that is
the darkness of humanity. That's the darkness that's made
even more dark by the religion of man. The religion of man doesn't
shed light on God. The religion of man is hiding
and darkening the light of God. Verse 14 says, in whom we have
redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins.
Verse 20 says, having made peace. See, he did it all. He does it
all, salvations of the Lord. That's why that glorious cry,
it is finished. All of these things are finished
for all of the children of God. And you might live like this
thief did, in wickedness and depravity, but there must come
a time for all of these people to come to this place, having
peace with God. He's made peace with God. This
man had nothing, had absolutely no reason to think that he had
any thought of peace with God. By the blood of his cross. By Him
to reconcile all things unto Himself, He sovereignly rules
over all things. By Him, I say, whether they be
things on earth or things in heaven, everything is reconciled
to the Lord Jesus Christ. If you're in Him, things are
reconciled to you. We mightn't see it, and we mightn't
understand it, but God says it, and that fixes it. And you that
were sometime alienated in enemies in your mind You, alienated and enemies, the natural
mind is enmity against God. Its expression of enmity can
be varied, but it is naturally in enmity against God. Yet have he now reconciled in
the body of his flesh. See, this was happening on Calvary's
tree. This was happening right beside
that thief. This was happening in the presence
of all this religious world, in the body of his flesh, to
present you. See, when he says, today you'll be
with me in paradise, how do you get to be in paradise? How good
do you have to be to be in the presence of God? that defiles in any way at all
in the body of his flesh. See, it's his work, he's the
great shepherd, to present you holy and unblameable and unreprovable
in his sight. The dying thief was there as
an emblem In these last days, Hebrews 1
says, doesn't it? In these last days, God has spoken
by son. God has spoken. And this is the
word that he speaks. And it's a word that the world
in its darkness will never understand, and it's a word that the children
of God, the new creation, will delight in it. And don't forget
the thief was converted prior to the supernatural events, and
the thief was converted in the midst of the agony of the body
and the anguish of his mind. I don't know about you, but sometimes
the older I get, the less I like pain. And the more pain and agony
blurs your mind to think sweet and rational thoughts. He was
given this new creation and he was given the mind of Christ
in the midst of the most extraordinary circumstances, at the very depths
of his depravity, at the very point at which all he saw before
him was death. He saw the Lord Jesus Christ
not with human eyes. Not with human eyes. He saw the
Lord Jesus Christ through the eyes of faith, through the eyes
of a new creation. He is taken as a picture to show
us the depths of sinfulness, the depths of human depravity,
that he might be a picture for us, We have these two men, and that
crowd before the Lord Jesus Christ, we have depravity pictured. We have depravity speaking, and
we have depravity's companion. They join with the religious
people as they mocked him. So it's man falling to a point too
low for human aids, to a place where the prowess
of the ransom is far too high for him. The debt so great, the
means to pay non-existent. Sin is falling short of the glory
of God. How far had this man fallen short
of the glory of God? There was a picture that used
to be quite common in evangelistic tracts, isn't it? They had a
cliff and a chasm and then another cliff on the other side. Do you
remember these things? And in the chasm and across the chasm is
the cross. And if you could take the first step across the chasm,
then the Lord would actually sort of somehow help you get
across the chasm. What a ridiculous bit of nonsense
that is. What a ridiculous picture. It's
not a chasm where we're on in some equal balance. We have no
idea how deep the hole is. We have no idea how dark it is. It is so deep and so dark that
only the omnipotent hand of a sovereign God can reach down and save sinners. See, he was there with his hands
nailed to do no good, his feet nailed to walk in because of the Jewish festival,
he would die. Often people survived for days
on the cross, he was to die that day. You see, man's fall is so
great that only sovereign, creating grace can save. See, not a changed
heart, not an opened mind, not a changed mind. See, it's a new
creation, it's a new heart. Not a changed life, but a new
life is needed. As I've said in Colossians, you
know, we're made, delivered, translated. As the scriptures say, if any man
be in Christ, he is a new creature. Old things have passed away.
Behold, all things are new. I love what Paul says in the
Holy Spirit says to us in Galatians chapter 6. For all those that
think some religious activity is going to be helpful, he says, For in Christ Jesus, this man
was in Christ Jesus. That's what Paul says of him,
isn't it? I was crucified with Christ. For in Christ Jesus,
neither circumcision availeth anything, nor uncircumcision,
Galatians 6.15. They don't avail. All your activities
in circumcision, all your activities in religious legalistic activity,
they avail nothing. And uncircumcision, all those activities
of the gentiles they avail nothing they have no power is what that
word means but what it's a new creation a new creation as the
lord jesus said to nicodemus be born again. You must be born
from above. There must be a new creation. It is the depths of total depravity
that reveal the height of unconditional election. It is the depths of
total depravity that reveal the needed difference before God between
the most wicked sinner and the most righteous moral person in
religion that's ever been known in the world? Is there any worthiness
in man? Is there any merit that's been
earned? Are there any deserving of salvation? Are people worthy of reward? Is there some commendation for
service that causes God to save you? See, real sinners look to the
Lord Jesus Christ and they boast only in Him. And that's what
this man said. He says, His first words of this new creation
in verse 40 of our text, he rebuked his neighbor, said
the first, and he says, don't you fear God? Dost thou not fear
God? There's an immediate awareness
of who God is. There's immediate awareness. when he looked across. He, of all men on earth at that
time, saw that this was God. This was God's Christ. That's
what it is for him to be the Christ. He'd heard and read the sign. This is Jesus, King of the Jews. He'd heard them say, world. Here is this man's new
creation reveals saving grace and saving faith's testimony. See there is a real conviction
of sin. Don't you fear God? Don't you
fear God? Beyond this earth is judgment. It's heaven's judgment. This
new creation acknowledges the justice of God. Thou art in the
same condemnation and we indeed justly. We are receiving the
due reward of our deeds. Only a new creation would say
that. A new creation confesses Christ's
holiness and his sinfulness This man has done nothing wrong. He
was the only person in all of that crowd that had a word of
commendation for the Lord Jesus Christ. The best that the religion
of the Jews could do would walk past that cross and they mocked
him and mocked him. And they used scripture to mock
him and they used his own words to mock him. The new creation confesses Christ
as Lord and King. And he said under Jesus, verse
42, Lord, I'm acknowledging that you are the sovereign God of
this universe. in human flesh. You are the Christ
of God. You reign and rule over all things. What a remarkable statement to
make. There was nothing in human thought or imagination that could
cause this man to think that. This is a sovereign act of God.
To call him Lord in those circumstances is no different from us calling
him Lord in the circumstances here and now today. that we see
through the eyes of faith. He confesses Christ as the Lord
who has a kingdom. He says, remember me when thou
comest in to thy kingdom. He acknowledged on the cross
without any religious education. You can imagine this fellow a
thief. The last people he'd want to be in the company of are the
Lord Jesus Christ and his disciples in those three years. And he says, you're coming again. This activity on the cross is
not the end of your life and it's not the end of your reign. You're coming back as a reigning
king The mockers said to him, if thou
be the son of God, then come down now from the cross and we'll
believe you. This man believed him in the depths of what looked
to mankind as depravity. And this new creation looks to
the Lord Jesus Christ alone for mercy and salvation. What a great prayer. Lord, remember
me when you come into your kingdom. He saw the sufferings of Christ
and the glory that followed. He had, in a few words, encapsulated
all of the Old Testament scriptures. It's about the sufferings of
Christ and the glory that should follow, 1 Peter 1.11. I shall
be taught of God and great shall be the peace of thy children.
And all that are taught, they come to him. What a saviour,
what a glorious saviour. What an amazing word from our
God. Verily, verse 43, and Jesus said
unto him, see he spoke to his father from the cross, he spoke
to his mother, he spoke to John, and he spoke to this man and
not to anyone else. And Jesus said unto him, verily
I say unto thee. See, salvation is the Lord Jesus
Christ speaking to us, speaking words of promise to us, not our
commitment to him. It's his commitment to us. It's
he who has made the everlasting covenant. Verily I say unto thee,
today shalt thou be with me in paradise. What a glorious, glorious promise
from our God. And I want us to consider it
in light of how it's structured in the Greek, in the original. And it's beautiful, because he
said, he said unto Jesus, Jesus said unto him, he said, Lord,
and the Lord verily I say unto you, and he says, remember me.
He says, remember me, and the Lord's response is, thou shalt
be with me. For him to remember you is for
him to be with you. And then he says, when thou comest, You see, he thought that he was
going to be with him in a coming kingdom, and he wanted to be
remembered in a coming kingdom, and the Lord Jesus Christ says,
you're going to be with me right now. Right now, this day, we'll
be in paradise together. You'll be in paradise before
you come into the coming kingdom. You see, the Lord Jesus Christ,
to all that come to him, to him is able to do. I love what Ephesians 3.20 says. This man just asked to be in
the coming kingdom and be remembered and he says today you're going
to be with me in paradise. Now unto him that is able to
do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think according
to the power that worketh in us. See, the power is the power
that creates the new creation. The power is the power that creates
the fruit of lips that thing prays to his name. Lord, remember
me. It's very similar, isn't it,
to the prayers, the simple prayers of the saints of God. Lord, save
me. Lord, if you're willing, you
can make me whole. Do you pray that often? I don't
know that a day goes by when I have to say, Lord save me.
Lord save me again. Lord save me. We have In this glorious picture
of this man, the sovereign God who rules everywhere, all the
time, is a king with a kingdom, who rules absolutely. We have in the salvation of sinners,
we have the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord Jesus
Christ was died The Lord Jesus Christ was dying
a death, an eternal, infinite death. The Lord Jesus Christ
was bearing the infinite wrath of God. The Lord Jesus Christ
who had satisfied the law of God was now suffering for every
single broken law that that man had ever done and for all of
the elect of God. What he did for this man is what
he's done and is doing for all of salvation. Salvation is sovereign. It's sovereign by a sacrifice.
It's a picture of substitution. The Lord Jesus Christ died for
this man that he might be in paradise. It's a picture of our
Saviour in glorious sovereign grace. Substitution and satisfaction
and success are written over the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ.
The salvation is found in the same place that God finds satisfaction. He shall see the travail of his
soul and he'll be satisfied. Peace with God is looking where
God looks, to his Son. Lord, remember me. Let's pray. Now, Heavenly Father,
we thank you again that salvation is of the Lord. And we thank
you again, Heavenly Father, that salvation is a revelation of
the glorious character of our Lord Jesus Christ. And salvation,
Heavenly Father, issues in us making the simple cries that
this thief made from the cross and the simple declarations that
you are Lord, you are King. We are sinners, but we are sinners
who have a Saviour who speaks words of peace to us and we praise
you, our Father, that your words speak reality into existence. May the blood of our Saviour
be precious to us, Heavenly Father. May we be astounded and surprised
by sovereign, electing, redeeming grace. May your Son be precious
May this week be another week, Heavenly Father, when he says
to us today, you'll be with me. For he's promised never to leave
us nor forsake us. Bless your words to the hearts
of your people, Heavenly Father. Give us the lips that are thankful
to him and to him alone.