You know, we come into this world
thinking that everything is about us. And we're so brainwashed
by this world that we think everything's about us. And what you learn
in the gospel is nothing is about you. And when God gets finished, we're
going to sit down at His table in His kingdom and He's going
to serve us. Does that sound right to you?
It's because all we think about is being the greatest. We don't
even know what it is to be righteous. To be so selfless that our God
and our Savior could sit us down at His table and serve us and
there not be any thought of anybody being greater than the other.
That's selflessness. That's righteousness. Let's look
at Luke 23. We'll see some of that. Luke
23. Our text begins in verse 32,
and we read here, There were also two other male factors 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 male factors, One on the right hand and the other on the
left. Now this is the hour for which
the world was made. This is the hour by which we
date our calendar. This is the hour for which God
is upholding all things, upheld all things and the reason for
which He still upholds all things. Here we have the Lord Jesus Christ. We have two thieves. And these
thieves are being led with Christ to be put to death. And they
get to Calvary. And they nailed Christ to a cross. And they nailed the next thief
to a cross. And they nailed the next thief
to a cross. And they hung them all up on
a cross to sit and watch them die. Oh, what a vivid example of total
depravity. These two thieves were guilty.
These two thieves were condemned. These two thieves were hanging
on a cross. Execution. This is the electric
chair. One on one side, one on the other
side of the Prince of Life, of God Himself. That cross was the means of execution
that the Romans used for thieves and robbers and slaves, for the
basest of the base, for the worst kinds of men. And it was true of these two
thieves. That's exactly the kind of men they were. It wasn't true
of Christ, but it was true of these two thieves. And while
Christ hangs there, He's not hanging there this little Pale
faced, pretty little fellow you see in pictures. His visage was
so marred more than any man and his form more than the sons of
men. And this vicious, bloodthirsty
Bob is gathered all around. This is entertainment. There are scribes there. These
are Princeton graduates. These are Harvard graduates.
These are Yale graduates. There are priests there. This
is all the anybody who's anybody in religion. They got a front
row seat. They got box seats at this thing.
There's governors. There's officers. There's pimps
and pushers and prostitutes. There's Jews and there's Gentiles,
there's male and there's female, all gathered around, taking a
great delight in this bloody spectacle. And the hearts of
these two thieves, one hanging on one side and one hanging on
the other side, while they are being executed, while they are
hanging on the cross, while they are waiting to die and meet God. As that angry mob yelled out
and spewed out their hatred towards God, hanging there on that cross,
and said, He trusted in God, let Him deliver Him, if He'll
have Him. He said, I'm the Son of God. And the thieves also, the thieves
also, which were crucified with him, cast the same in his teeth. What a stinking, rotting, rich, All these people were. Now, take
a good hard look at yourself. Because that's you. And that's
me. That's exactly what's in your
heart and what's in my heart. That's what Christ was saying
when He said, from within, out of the heart of men. proceed
evil thoughts, and adultery, and fornications, and murders,
and thefts, and covetousness, and wickedness, and deceit, and
lasciviousness, and evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness,
all these evil things come from within, and they defile a man. And you want to see all those
things? Look at that mob enjoying that
spectacle. Looking at Christ hanging on
the cross. Looking at God hanging on the
cross. Got our hands around God's throat and we're trying to strangle
God. That's how every one of these
things are committed. And when any of these things
are committed, that's exactly what it is. I read a story, I watched this
on a show, and this couple was in the 50s, they decided they
didn't like how things were going in the world, and it was so corrupt,
so polluted, and they decided they were going to leave. They
found them an island, and they went down, and this man and his
wife, they went down, and they just took everything they wanted
to carry with them, they went down to this island, and they
decided they were going to start them a new Eden. And each of
them said as soon as they got to the island, the man started
to hate the wife and the wife started to hate the man. And
it wasn't very long, another couple came to the island. And
then the first couple hated the second couple. And the second
couple grew to hate the first couple. And then a third couple
came to the island. And before it was over with,
they killed one of them. They got so fed up, they killed
one of the people. And they interviewed this man's
brother. And they said, what did you think
about that? And he said, wherever you go,
there you are. And I thought, what a wise man.
What a wise man. Christ said, you don't change
the environment. Wherever you go, there's the
problem. Wherever I go, there's the problem. It's in us. It's the heart. There's
the problem. Oh, we see the faithfulness and
the mercy of the Lord Jesus Christ. Look here in Luke 23, 34. Then
said Jesus, in the middle of all of this now, then said Jesus,
Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do. And they
parted his raiment and cast lots. In the midst of that mob of hell,
there was a people that God loved from everlasting. Right there
in the midst of those people, they were chosen of God in Christ
before the foundation of the world. They were those for whom
Christ became a surety whenever God gave them to Him in the covenant
of grace before God ever made anything in this world. How do
I know that? because Christ prayed for them.
That's how I know. In the Lord's prayer, in John
17, the Lord Jesus Christ said, I pray for them. I pray not for
the world. I pray for them that thou hast
given me, for they are thine. He prayed not for those who had
heard and knew him to be the Messiah. Now you listen carefully
to this. He didn't pray for those who
had heard his gospel preached and had heard it set forth clearly
and they understood that this one is the Messiah. And yet they
hardened their heart and they maliciously said, I'm not listening
to him. And so they crucified Christ.
He wasn't praying for them. No, He tells us who He was praying
for. He says, those who know not what
they do. They did it with wicked hands.
They were guilty. They were guilty. They were willing
to do what they were doing, but they had not heard and they were
truly ignorant of who Christ was in unbelief. They were like
Saul of Tarsus when he was crucifying the Lord's people or putting
to death the Lord's people and he held the coats while they
stoned Stephen. Paul said, I was before a blasphemer
and a persecutor and an injurious man but I obtained mercy because
I did it ignorantly in unbelief. That's something that nobody
sitting here now is going to be able to say when you walk
out of this room. You're not going to be able to
say I did it ignorantly and unbelief. Because you're going to hear
who he is today and what he's done and why he's done it and
what he's accomplished. It'd be far worse for a man who
goes and meets God and goes to hell having never heard the Gospel
than it will be for those who've heard the Gospel and rejected
Him. But look how merciful and how
faithful our High Priest is. Look how merciful and how faithful
He is. What mercy? Now listen, what
mercy to intercede for those who are treating Him with this
base enmity? Do you see the mercy and the
faithfulness of our High Priest? Oh, what faithfulness! What mercy
and what faithfulness! Having loved His own, He loved
them to the end. He is the merciful and faithful
high priest. He was laying down His life in
the room instead of people that God gave Him, that God chose,
that He was surety for from everlasting. He was laying down His life for
people who were sitting there mocking Him and joining with
this crowd of people and enjoying it. This was like Super Bowl
Sunday to these people. And there was even one, there
was even one that was hanging there on that cross beside him. Some of these people on the day
of Pentecost, some of these very people that were sitting there,
He called them out on the day of Pentecost. He sent Peter to
them and He said, He said, God, according to His determinate
counsel and full knowledge, He delivered Him into your hands
and you with your wicked hands have crucified the Prince of
life. And He pricked them in their
heart and He called them out of darkness and He saved them.
And there was one hanging here on the cross right beside him
who was just such a chosen beloved son of God that he was dying
for right then. We see God's ability. What ability? What great ability? We see God's
ability here to make the wrath of man to praise Him. to make the wrath of man to praise
Him, using His enemies, using His enemies who unintentionally
are declaring the truth. Oh, they wouldn't have done it.
If they'd have known what God was doing, they wouldn't have
done it for anything. Here they are. Look over at Matthew
27. I want you to be able to see everything that this thief
on the cross saw and everything that this thief on the cross
heard. Matthew 27 in verse 37. They meant it as a sneer. They
meant it as mockery. They meant it as an accusation.
But in big clear letters over his head, they wrote the truth. Verse 37, they set up over his
head his accusation written, This is Jesus, the King of the
Jews. That's who he is. His name is
Jesus. Do you know why his name is Jesus?
The word means Savior. And Mary was told while He was
in her womb, His name shall be Jesus because He shall save His
people from their sins. And He is the King. He is the
King. John beheld, and he beheld some
that were making war with the Lamb, and it was told him, The
Lamb shall overcome them, for he is Lord of lords and King
of kings, and they that are with him are called and chosen and
faithful. And then he is not only the Savior
and the King, He is the Savior and the King of the Jews, of
the Jews. Look over at Romans 2. You're
familiar with this, but I don't want to take it for granted.
Look at Romans 2. Those folks sitting there that
were screaming and crying out and spewing out this hatred that
were scribes and they were Pharisees and they had grown up in that
nation called Israel and they had lived there all their lives
and circumcised the eighth day and called themselves the children
of Abraham. They didn't have any idea who
the Jews were. They didn't have any clue. Look
here, Romans 2.28. He's not a Jew, which is one
outwardly. Neither is that circumcision
which is outward in the flesh, but he is a Jew which is one
inwardly. And circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit,
and not in the letter, whose praise is not of men, but of
God. He is Jesus, Savior and King
of the Jews, that is, all his people from every kindred, tribe
and tongue on this earth. And then they repeated with their
voices. They're speaking with their voices, mocking him, just
mocking him, but they repeat with their voices the words that
Christ preached when he was standing in their midst, in verse 38.
Then there were two thieves crucified with him, one on the right, one
on the left. They're both sitting there hearing
all this. And they that passed by reviled him, wagging their
heads at him. And they said, Thou that... Now here's what they said. They
got this from Christ. They got this from hearing Him
preach. They said, Thou that destroyest the temple and buildest
it in three days, save Thyself. They didn't have any idea. He
wasn't talking about that stone idol that they worship, that
building they worship. The temple he was talking about
when he said that was that body they were looking at while they
sat there and mocked him and said those very words. That body
that he was given to be broken and destroyed for his people
in the place of his people. That's the body he was talking
about. And in three days from now, he's going to raise it again.
And he did. He did. And then they said this,
If thou be the Son of God, come down from the cross. Where'd
they get that? They heard Him preach that, that He's the Son
of God. And they said, if you're the
Son of God, come down. And indeed, He's the Son of God. That was God hanging on the cross. These men didn't know it. They
would have never done it. These men have already unintentionally
declared He is Jesus God, the God-Man. That's what they've
declared. And then little did the chief
priests know that they step up now and they're going to show
how they can jest. We saw jesting this morning.
This is jesting. They're going to show how they
can jest. They're going to show how sarcastic they can be. Verse 41, Likewise also the chief
priests mocking him with the scribes and elders said, He saved
others, himself he cannot save. That's the truth. That is the
truth. That is the gospel, brethren.
That's the gospel. Matthew 27, 41. They stood up there and they
said... I'm sorry, Matthew 27, 42. He saved others. Himself,
he cannot save. That's the truth. You know why?
Because... He hath made Him sin for us who
knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God
in Him. And because He was hanging there on that cross in the room
instead of every elect child of God, Because he was hanging
there to declare God just and the justifier, and because he
would not come down off that cross until he had finished the
work God the Father sent him to do, until he cried, it is
finished. Because he was saving others,
he could not save himself. That is absolutely true. That's
the doctrine of substitution. That's the doctrine of substitution.
That's exactly what that is. They didn't mean it to be that.
But that's the doctrine of substitution. And then again, they spoke the
truth in verse Matthew 27, 42. And they said, if he be the king
of Israel, he's the king of Israel. That's exactly who he is. He's
the king of Israel. And he won't lose one child of
Israel. That's right. That's right. Some of them are from Mexico.
Some of them are from Germany. Some of them are from one continent. Some are on another continent.
But He won't lose any of His Israel because He's the King
of His Israel. They said, let Him now come down
from the cross and we'll believe Him. And they even declared the
faithfulness of Christ toward God His Father. Look at Matthew
27, 43. They said, He trusted in God. That's absolutely true. He did.
Look at Isaiah 50. That's absolutely true. He did.
Isaiah 50. And look at verse 6. I gave my back to the smiters,
and my cheeks to them that plucked off the hair. I hid not my face
from shame and spitting. For. That means because. Because the Lord God will help
me, therefore shall I not be confounded, therefore have I
set my face like a flint, and I know that I shall not be ashamed. He is near that justifies me,
who will contend with me. He trusted God his Father. You
see, when Christ went to the cross, brethren, He's not only
our substitute, He's representing every believer as the faithful
believer, trusting the Father. Because if God looked to our
faith, as being perfect faith and trying to warrant anything
with Him, we would never be saved. But the perfection of our faith
is this one who went to the cross, not using any of His power as
the Son of God, not using any of His ability as the Son of
God, but completely, totally submitting Himself to God His
Father as the Son of Man, representing every sinner that God gave Him. He was the faithful man, trusting
the Father, that once He surrendered Himself to be made sin for His
people and bear this in His body on the tree, that God would do
as He promised in the covenant of grace and raise Him from the
dead. This He did. That's true. And again, they repeated what
they heard Christ declare that He's the Son of God. They said,
Matthew 27, 43, they said, He trusted in God, let Him deliver
him now if He'll have him, for He said, I am the Son of God. They've said this now. He's the
Son of God. He said, I'm the Son of God.
He said, I'm the Son of God. He said, He's the King. He said,
He's the Savior. He said, He's the Substitute. He's saving others. He can't
save Himself. All right, now, back in Luke
23, 35, They called him this, Luke 23,
35. 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, If He'd be Christ, the Chosen of God, they didn't just come
up with that from nowhere. They knew who the Christ was
going to be. They knew He would be the Chosen of God. Because
they had Isaiah 42.1, where God said, Behold My servant, whom
I uphold, Mine elect, in whom My soul delighteth. I put My
Spirit upon him, and he shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles. And he shall not fail, and he
shall not be discouraged until he set judgment in the earth.
That's what he's doing right there, right then. And they sat
there and cried out with their voice. He said he's the Christ,
the chosen of God. That's true. Now brethren, I
want you to understand something right here. God never saves a
sinner using lies. God never saves a sinner using
lies. He is the God of truth. He's
saved by the Spirit of truth. And Christ is the truth. And
He brings His people to the truth. And He separates His people from
lies. He never uses lies to save a
sinner. Ever. But He's able to use a
liar to save a sinner. He's able to use a liar who is
speaking the truth because God put truth in his mouth. He's
able to do that. He's able to do that. The Holy
Spirit can take the Word and He can make that Word effectual
in the heart of His child. That's what He can do. Because
you see, it's not the vessel that God uses that saves. The vessel has nothing to do
with it whatsoever. You go home today, and you have
your water in a nice pitcher, and you pour that water out of
the pitcher, and then you try to eat the pitcher. You say,
that's stupid. I want the water. I don't want
the pitcher. Well, the water's the word, and the pitcher has
nothing to do with it. The pitcher's just a vessel used
to carry the water to the intended recipient. And these liars here
that were yelling and mocking and what they were saying, they
were just vessels. But the things they were saying
were true. The things they were saying were true. And God, He
can make His child not even hear all the other chaff and all the
other junk and just make that truth go right into his heart
and penetrate his heart. Faith comes by hearing and hearing
by the Word of God. Sinners are born again, Peter
said, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible by the word
of God, which liveth and abideth forever, and this is the word
which by the gospel is preached unto you. Well, these men, but
they weren't gospel preachers. And these men hated the gospel.
These men hated Christ. These men didn't want to glorify
God, not Christ as God. They didn't want to have anything
to do with Him. Look at Philippians 1. Look at Philippians 1. Look at verse 15. Apostle Paul
was in prison. And men have been doing to the
Apostle Paul exactly what they had done to the Lord Jesus. They've
been going around repeating what Paul was preaching to people. Going around repeating what Paul
preached. And they were doing it for the
same exact reason that the men were doing what they were doing,
what they were saying to the Lord Jesus. They were doing it
to add affliction to Paul, just like these men were doing it
to add affliction to Christ. Now watch this, what Paul says.
Philippians 1.15, Some indeed preach Christ even of envy and
strife, and some also of goodwill. The one preach Christ of contention,
not sincerely, supposing to add affliction to my bonds, but the
other of love, knowing that I am set for the defense of the gospel.
What then? Notwithstanding, every way, whether
in pretense or in truth, Christ is preached. He's saying whether
their heart is pretentious or whether their heart's true, whether
they're repeating it to mock me and to add bonds to me or
whether they're doing it in love. He said, I don't care about the
vessel. Christ is being preached. They're
repeating the truth. And God can do something with
the truth. He will. That's the only thing He'll do
anything with. Therein I rejoice. Yea, and I will rejoice. So these
men that hung there on that cross, they're hearing the truth. They're
hearing the truth. Although these men that were
saying it didn't mean for it to be. And not only that, they're
beholding right there with their own eyes the truth himself. They behold
the word of God. They behold the Lamb of God right
there in their midst. Now that physical sight won't
do them any good. There were some who were physically
speaking, they were in the same family with the Lord. But it
didn't do them any good. They didn't believe Him. They
didn't trust Him. The physical sight of Him, there
were a lot of people who saw the Lord Jesus, it did them no
good whatsoever. But both those thieves on that
cross, they heard the gospel clearly that day. And they even
both mockingly, this is what's amazing, they both in mockery
spoke it themselves. When it said that they cast the
same in his teeth, they were saying the same things that those
other men were saying. That's hard, isn't it? Isn't
that a hard heart? That is a hard, rebellious heart. Can you imagine, can you just
imagine being, you're laid down on the table and they're just
about to push the poison into your vein. And all you can do
is curse men and just rail. That's hard, isn't it? That's
who these men were, hanging on each side of it. Now we see the
sovereign, distinguishing, invincible grace of God. Luke 23, 39. And one of the male factors which
were hanged, railed on him, saying, If thou be the Christ, save thyself
and us. But the other, 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. Here's sovereign, distinguishing
grace. There was no difference between
these two thieves and themselves whatsoever. Neither respected
the law of God, neither respected the law of man, neither respected
Christ, neither were religious, neither were seeking God. Both
were equal distance from the Savior, one on the right, the
other on the left. Both were dying and both needed
forgiveness. And yet one was left to his will
and to his way. While God granted the other one
life and faith and repentance. The repentant thief had no merit
of any kind whatsoever. Oh, God looked down through time
and saw some good in him. Show it to me. He seconds from dying. He's hanging
on a cross. He's a criminal. He hadn't read any books on how
to be born again. He hadn't been baptized. He was
just a depraved, infamous criminal in the process of being executed
by the law of the land. Paul said, So then it's not of
him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that
shows mercy. That gives God the glory. What
I'm telling you gives God the glory. The difference was God
chose one of these men before the world was made and Christ
was dying for him. Christ was laying down his life
for him. God had made him to stand in
his place And the other one had not. Say, I don't believe in
particular redemption. Here's your option then. Let
me give you your option. You can say Christ died for that
other criminal that went to hell and you can call Christ a failure
if you want to. You can spit in God's face and
join that angry mob and call him an imposter if you want to. I'm going to say Christ was dying
on purpose for somebody on purpose and that he accomplished what
he came to accomplish because that's what God said he'd do.
And that glorifies him. You see, the man who doesn't
understand that this thing of Christ laying down his life was
for a particular people misses the fact that Christ is
successful. and that salvation is not dependent
on the sinner. Because what can a dead man do? What can a convicted criminal
hanging on a cross do? Who's spiritually dead. He was
dead spiritually when they hung him on that cross and he's about
to be dead physically. What can the man do? Can the
leopard change his spots? Can the Ethiopian change his
skin? Then may thou do us good who are accustomed to doing evil,
God said. There's no way. There's no way. Look over to Ephesians 2. I'll
show you what happened to this man. This is that one reason
that this man had a difference made in him and the other man
didn't was the distinguishing grace of God. It was the difference
God's grace made. Now here's why this work was
done in him. It was the invincible, irresistible
grace of God. Ephesians 2.1 You hath he quickened. Are you alive spiritually? You
believe God spiritually? If we're alive spiritually and
we believe God spiritually, this is why. The last verse of the
chapter before this ended with saying, Christ has been raised
and he's head over all things to the church and Christ fills
all in all and you hath he quickened. And you hath he quickened who
were dead in trespasses and in sin. wherein in time past you
walked according to the course of this world, according to the
prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now works in
the children of disobedience, among whom also we all had our
conversation in time past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling
the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and we were by nature
the children of wrath, even as others. But God, there's the
difference, but God, who is rich in mercy for his great love wherewith
he loved us. If you go back and look at the
beginning of the letter, do you pick up a letter, if you get
a letter in the mail and it's to your neighbor that lives down
the street and you open up that letter and you read at the top
and it says it's to your neighbor down here at such and such address
or whatever. Do you read that letter and think
that everything in that letter applies to you? Of course not. It applies to your neighbor.
It's addressed to him. You go to the beginning of this
book and Paul said this book is written to the saints, which
are at Ephesus, to the faithful in Christ Jesus. And he said
in verse 3, because they've been blessed by God the Father, who
blessed us with all spiritual blessings and heavenly praises
in Christ, according as he chose us in him before the foundation
of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before
him in love, and that he predestinated us to the adoption of children
by Jesus Christ himself, according to the good pleasure of his will,
to the praise of the glory of His grace wherein He made us
accepted in the Beloved. And so, that's who Christ came
for and redeemed, in whom we have redemption. That's who Christ
came and redeemed. Those same people. And then,
not only that, He says, after He raised Him from the dead,
you hath He quickened. To the praise of the glory of
His grace. You know what that means? to Christ, not to us. That means clap for Christ. Give
Him the praise and the glory and don't give us any. That's
what that means. He gets all of it because He
did it. He stood on this earth and He
said, and the Father gets the glory. He said, no man can come
to Me except My Father which hath sent Me draw him. And that
word draw right there It's the same word that was used when
Peter drew his sword out of the scalper to cut off that soldier's
ear. It's the same word. You picture
Peter drawing that sword out. That's how God the Father drew
this thief on the cross to Christ right there. And He did it through
this gospel. A man will say, well I think
I made the difference. Well listen to this. It's what
Paul said. Who maketh thee to differ from
another? And what do you have that you
did not receive? Now, if you didn't receive it,
why do you glory as if you did not receive it? And to say, I
don't believe that, I believe the difference is my will. You'll stop believing that when
God calls you. You'll stop believing that when
God draws you. Let's see. Let's learn some things
about true God-given faith and repentance. One, it begins with
a fear of God. Verse 39, Luke 23, 39. One of
the malefactors which were hanged railed on him, saying, If thou
be Christ, save thyself and save us. He don't have any fear for
God. He's got no fear for Christ.
All he's got a fear of is dying. That's it. But the other answering
rebuked him, saying, Do you not fear God? Something has happened
in this man, has it not? Do you not fear God? The fear
of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom and the knowledge of
the Holy's understanding. This is whenever Ephesians 2
says there, by grace are you saved through faith and that
not of yourself. It's the gift of God. It's not
of works lest you start boasting about it. When he said that,
that means when he gives you that faith and he gives you that
repentance and he gives you that life, he gives you fear in your
heart for God. And in number 2, there'll be
a confession then of our guilt and that God's sentence is just
because I'm a sinful rebel against God. Look at verse 40. Seeing
thou art in the same condemnation, and we indeed justly, for we
receive the due reward of our deeds. There he's boasting about
his deeds. And he said, and all I deserve
for my deeds is to be hung on this tree. I'm in condemnation
and this is just," he said. This man went from condemning
Christ to condemning himself. That's right. He makes the difference. When God makes the difference,
we don't praise ourselves, we don't glory in ourselves, we
glory in God and we condemn ourselves. And then look, this one The one
we're going to glory in is Christ. That's what God-given faith and
repentance does. And we confess that Christ is
the one holy, not us. Look at verse 41. But this man
has done nothing amiss. This man's done nothing wrong,
he said. A minute ago, he said all this, and now he's saying,
this man's a holy man. He's a holy man. And then number
four, there's going to be a confession of faith and submission both
in and to Christ. He says, verse 42, and he said
unto Jesus, Lord, Lord, Lord. You don't come to a sovereign
Lord boasting of what you did for Him. You don't come to a
sovereign bowing and submitting and confessing allegiance if
he'll have you. Look at verse 42. There'll be
mercy sought. Lord, remember me when thou comest
into thy kingdom. This is not a demand. He's asking
mercy. What does God require? Malachi
said, but to love mercy with thy God. He's loving mercy with
his God. Lord, will you remember me when
you come into your kingdom? He heard those men speak the
truth, didn't he? They said, this is the king. And he said,
Lord, when you come into your kingdom, will you remember me?
If God saves his elect apart from faith, why did he give this
man faith when he was so close to dying? It doesn't, does it? Here's a
man just about to die. If God saved him apart from faith,
if He just elected His people and just saved them regardless
if they ever believed or not, why did He give this man faith?
Because the Scripture says, God hath from the beginning chosen
you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the
truth. That's why He did it. And here's one more sure thing
that accompanies faith and repentance. It always does. It always accompanies
faith and repentance. And you can't have this thing
if you don't have all those other things. Here it is, verse 43. And Jesus said unto him, Verily
I say unto you, Today thou shalt be with me in paradise. Salvation
always accompanies faith and repentance. Paradise here is
not purgatory. Paradise is heaven where Christ
is. This thief hung there on that
cross and he closed his eyes in shame and disgrace being executed
by the law of the land. He closed his eyes though believing
the Lord and he opened his eyes perfectly conformed to the image
of Christ in heaven's glory with him. to be absent from the bodies,
to be present with the Lord. Now, sinner, let me ask you something.
I'm done. But let me ask you this. You
think Christ will reject you if you come to Him asking for
mercy? There was never a man in any
worse condition than that man right there we just looked at.
This man was hanging on a cross, railing against God. He was hanging
on a cross, cursing God. And Christ called him and saved
him. And when he made him to call
out for mercy, he had mercy on him. He had mercy on him. He's
not going to save you apart from you calling for mercy. He's going
to bring you to call out for mercy. He's going to make you
willing to do it. He's going to take all your choices
away from you to where there's no other choice and you don't
want another choice. You see who mercy is and you
call for mercy. What happened to that other thief?
What happened to that other thief? He saw himself too righteous. Even hanging there on that cross
in the shape he was in, he saw himself too well to need the
physician. And so he didn't call for him.
He didn't call for him. And this is what Christ says
of a man who leaves this world cursing God right up to his last
breath. That don't mean he just died
and went to the ground. That means He won't see eternal life. He
won't see everlasting life with Christ and His people. It means
He'll go to hell where there's a great gulf fixed between Him
and God and there He'll suffer for all the rest of His days. You believe there's a moon? You believe there's a Mars? You
believe there's a Pluto? You believe there's these galaxies
and these universes and all these different things scientists see?
Scripture says there are. It agrees with science. Science agrees with Scripture.
Paul said he was taken up to the third heaven. If all those
things are real, the Scripture says Stephen said he looked up
and Christ opened up the heavens and he saw into the third heaven.
It's beyond those things. It's another dimension beyond
the third heaven. And he saw into the third heaven
and he saw Christ standing ready to receive him. That's what this
thief saw. He saw Christ going there with
him, I guess. They went there together, I suppose.
Closed their eyes and they were there. If these other things
are real, why isn't that real? It's real. And everything I'm
telling you is real. There's no other way to God but
Christ. There's no other way. He delights
to show mercy and He'll show mercy. But there's no other way.
Take sides with Him against yourself. And if He's brought you to start
feeling what this man felt and to call on Him, call on Him and
He'll have mercy. But don't bring anything. Come
with your hands and your feet nailed to a tree. Come with your heart. I pray
he'll make you do that. Amen. Alright, we're going to observe
the Lord's table.