Let us turn again to God's Word
in that portion that we were reading here in Luke 23. Part of Luke's account of the
crucifixion of the Lord Jesus Christ and God in his goodness
has granted to us his fourfold records in Matthew, in Mark,
in Luke and in John of all that the Lord Jesus suffered at the
hands of sinners when he made that great atoning sacrifice. Turning then to these words and
what Luke has to say concerning those who were crucified with
the Lord Jesus In Luke 23 then, verse 32, we're told there were
also two other malefactors, led with him to be put to death.
And when they would come to the place which is called Calvary,
there they crucified him. And the malefactors, one on the
right hand and the other on the left. And then at verse 39, how
one of the malefactors which were hanged, railed on him, saying,
If thou be Christ, save thyself and us. 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. And Jesus said
unto him verily, I say unto thee, today shalt thou be with me in
paradise. Here we see quite clearly that
there was a fulfillment of those things that were written in the
Old Testament Scriptures. As the Lord says to the Jews
concerning the Old Testament, search the Scriptures, in them
ye think that ye have eternal life, and these are they that
testify of me. And so not surprisingly when
we turn to the prophecies do we not see so much foretold concerning
Christ You think of that 53rd chapter in Isaiah's prophecy,
the Lord's suffering servant, and what are we told? He was
numbered with the transgressors. He made his grave with the wicked. Isn't this what we witness in
these verses that we've just read? When he comes to die, he
doesn't die alone but there are on each side of him these men
who were wicked men, malefactors we're told, but the scripture
must be fulfilled. Christ identifies with wicked
men numbered with the transgressors making his grave with the wicked
just as it had been spoken all those many centuries before by
the prophets. And yet we know that this was
an innocent man. Indeed one of these malefactors
acknowledges that fact here in verse 41. He says to his fellow who is
ready to revile Christ. He says there
at verse 41, We indeed, justly, for we receive the due reward
of our deeds. But this man, or this Jesus of
Nazareth, hath done nothing amiss. He's numbered with the transgressors,
making his grave with the wicked, and yet how unjust it is! Now, he's an innocent man and
now we see that established in that mockery of a trial that
he has to endure as he's brought before the Roman governor. What
does Pilate say, verse 4? Then said Pilate to the chief
priest and to the people, I find no fault in this man. He's faultless. He's faultless again at verse
14. He says to them, Ye have brought this man unto Me as one
that perverted the people, and behold, I, having examined him
before you, have found no fault in this man, touching those things
whereof ye accuse him, no, nor yet heret, for I sent you to
him, and lo, nothing worthy of death is done unto him. Why, he is an innocent man. And
so the third time in verse 22, He asked, what evil has he done? I have found no cause of death
in him. I will therefore chastise him
and let him go. All know their instance in their
demands. Crucify him. Crucify him is their
cry. But even afterwards, doesn't
one of the Roman soldiers have to acknowledge the innocence
of this man. Verse 47, When the centurion
saw what was done, he glorified God, saying, Certainly this was
a righteous man. Innocent, righteous, and yet
numbered with sinners. How he is identified with sinners. We read of God sending his own
Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin. And this is
what is recorded, of course, in all these Gospels, and we
have great detail wherever we turn in the Gospels when it comes
to the end, the crucifying of the Lord Jesus, all that he had
to suffer, all that he had to endure. What is it that we have
here? It's Christ in the sinner's place. It's the great truth of substitutionary
atonement. Christ has once suffered for
sin, says Peter, the just for the unjust to bring us to God. But it's the same with all these
apostles. This is the message that they preach. The great doctrine
of substitutionary atonement. Paul's words there in 2nd Corinthians
chapter 5, "...he hath made him to be sin for us who knew no
sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him." Well let us turn for a while
to consider more particularly the prayer of the dying thief
as we have it here in verses 42 and 43. The one malefactor rails on the Lord,
but the other prays to the Lord. Here in verses 42 and 43, he
said unto Jesus, Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy
kingdom. And Jesus said unto him, Verily
I say unto thee, Today shalt thou be with me in paradise.
First of all to consider the request that this man, this malefactor
is making and then in the second place to consider the response
of the Lord Jesus. Just following then that simple
two-fold division as we come to consider this portion. of
Holy Scripture. First of all, the request. And
to rightly understand the request that this man is making, we must
firstly consider something of his previous character, the sort
of man that he was. Well, he had been a reviler of
the Lord Jesus. He was really very much the same
as his fellow. Oh yes, here we see him dissociating
himself from the other thief. This one manufacturer hanging
there is railing on the Lord saying, if thou be Christ, save
thyself and us. But then the other speaks up, as it were, for the
Lord Jesus, the other answering, rebukes his fellow, 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. Now as I say, initially it would appear that this man
was saying much the same as the other. when we compare the different
accounts. And that's what we need to do,
isn't it? God has given us this fourfold gospel, as we said.
He's favoured us. We have the accounts of different
witnesses. Now, each of these men, Matthew
and Mark and Luke and John, of course, they're writing these
words under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, just as the
prophets of old, holy men, speaking, writing as they are moved as
they are borne along by the Spirit of God. But they are writing
out of their own experiences and of things that they saw and
they were so conscious of and so each in a sense has a different
testimony. Now when we turn to Mark's account
in Mark 15.32 We're told now that they that
were crucified with him, with the Lord, reviled him. They reviled him, each of these
men. Initially they're both manifesting
the same sort of attitude, they're reviling the Lord. But then there is a remarkable
change with this man because he turns from reviling the Lord to praying to the Lord. He seems
to be brought to the place of the recognition of what he is
as a sinner. What does he say in verse 41?
We indeed justly What he is suffering is just
and right and proper. It's the reward of his iniquitous
life, the wicked deeds that he had performed. Is he not confessing? Is there not in some sense a
measure of repentance? There's a change of mind, you
see. If previously he was reviling
the Lord with his fellow, he's no longer doing that. And what
is repentance? Well, as we've said many a time,
the word that we have in the New Testament literally means
a change of mind. That word that's really a combination
of two words. The verb to change and the noun
mind. Married together as it were,
a change of mind. That's what repentance is. Fundamental. But it's a very Great change. It's a dramatic change. The man's life, as it were, turned
around and turned upside down and turned inside out. And this
is how great the change is here, when we consider this man. He's
acknowledging his sin. We, indeed, justly. I acknowledge my transgressions.
and my sin is ever before me says David in his penitential
psalm and again in Psalm 32 what does he say I acknowledge my
transgressions he acknowledges all that he is
as a sinner all his many failings and thou
forgave us mine iniquity, he says. I said I will confess my
transgressions unto the Lord and thou forgave us the iniquity
of my sin. Oh, David is a man who is often
making his confession, acknowledging his sins. That's a man after
God's own heart, owning what he is, what he has done as a
sinner. And now we see it again in the
case of Daniel in that remarkable prayer. Remember Daniel 9. Here is Daniel, he's reading
in the prophecy of Jeremiah and he understands that God was going
to accomplish some 70 years in the desolations of Jerusalem
and the period is now coming to its end. he's understood the
word of God and he's moved, he's moved by the word of God and
he's moved to pray to God and how does he pray? We have sinned,
he says. We, he's identifying himself
with his sinful nation, the nation that he's so much a part of.
Why were they in exile? Why have God punished them in
this fashion? Because of their sins, because of their idolatries.
We have sinned, and have committed iniquity, and have done wickedly,
and have rebelled, even departing from thy precepts and from thy
judgments. Neither have we hearkened unto
thy servants the prophets which bake in thy name to our kings,
our princes, and our fathers, and to all the people of the
land. O Lord, righteousness belongeth unto thee, but unto us confusion
of faces. he's part and parcel of the very
nation and he feels these things and he acknowledges it if we
say that we have no sin we deceive ourselves and the truth is not
in us if we confess our sins he is faithful and just to forgive
us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness if we
say that we have not sinned we make him a liar and His Word
is not in us. Well, God's Word in some measure
has come to this man. There's a change. He had reviled Christ. But now,
how different? What does he do? He asks Christ
to remember him. He asks the Lord to remember
him. How simple is his prayer? Lord,
remember me. Lord, remember me when thou comest
into thy kingdom. You know, there's another prayer,
isn't there? That we have back in Psalm 25
and verse 7. where the Swami says remember
not the sins of my youth well this man might well be praying
the same prayer really the Swami says remember not remember not
the sins of my youth that's in negative terms of course don't
remember my sins but this man is expressing the same desire
in a positive sense he says remember me Oh, remember me for good when
thou comest into thy kingdom. It's such a simple, such a humble
prayer that we have here. He simply says, Lord, remember
me. And of course, we have other
short prayers, don't we, in the Gospels. We've mentioned this
on previous occasions. I recall some years ago at one
of the Southampton prayer meetings when the late pastor there at
Bethesda, Leonard Broome, would conduct quarterly prayer meetings. I remember him saying on more
than one occasion, how short prayers are the best prayers.
There may be several men there, you see, who could engage in
prayer and he wanted to call on all the men that were present
who would speak in prayer and he was urging them really to
be short and to the point. short prayer are the best prayers
and we have short prayers all remember the prayer of Peter
when he uttered just three words and he said, Lord save me there they were, they were on
the boat, there was a great storm and the Lord is not with them,
he's on the shore and then suddenly they see the Lord coming to them
walking on the waters and there's bold, impetuous Peter and no
sooner does he see the Lord than he's climbing out of the boat
and he's walking on the waters to meet the Lord and then suddenly
he's aware of all that's going on about him the great tempest
the winds and the waves and he begins to sing and what does
he say? Lord save me and immediately he's safe in the boat with the
Lord oh what a prayer is that Lord save me or that Syro-Phoenician
woman who comes with her the daughter, the healing, and she
will not be denied, and the disciples grow weary with her, and they
tell the Lord to dismiss her, to send her away. Christ is ignoring
her. Why is He sent to the lost sheep
of the house of Israel? She is a Syro-Phoenician woman.
She's a Canaanite, and the Canaanites can have no habitation in the
house of the Lord. The Canaanites were to be cut
off forever, it says. But this woman will not broke
any denial. She worshipped Him. Or else she
worshipped the Lord Jesus. She worshipped Him saying, Lord
help me. And her prayer prevails. The
Lord heard, the Lord answered. All these short prayers, Lord
save me, Lord help me, Lord Remember me. And what faith is seen in
these prayers, these short prayers? Mark the words of this prayer,
the beginning of the prayer. How does she begin? Well, she
says, Lord. She addresses him as the Lord. She recognizes the deity. Rather,
he recognizes the deity of the Lord Jesus. Just as that Syro-Phoenician
woman, she worshipped Him. Well, she belongs to God. And
this man also addresses Him as the Lord. Now, was he aware of the charge that
had been laid against Jesus of Nazareth? What was it that the
Jews charged him with? Well, they said to Pontius Pilate,
we have a law and by our law he ought to die because he made
himself the son of God. Blasphemy! Blasphemy, that was what they
were accusing him of. Remember in John 5 when the Lord
heals the lame, telling him to take up his bed and walk and
it's a Sabbath day. and they are incensed and they
say of Christ he's not only guilty of breaking the Sabbath day but
he's guilty of blasphemy by calling himself the son of God this man was aware of who Jesus
of Nazareth was and what was being said concerning him And so he addresses him as Lord.
You can think of the rich young ruler when he comes to the Lord.
And the Lord doesn't answer him, though he comes so respectfully.
He simply says, good master. That's a respectful form of address,
good master. What shall I do to inherit eternal
life? But the Lord deals with him in
terms of law. What's that law? But how different the Lord's
response is to this man. He doesn't come and just respectfully
address him and say, good master, he calls him Lord. He calls him
Lord. That's how he addresses him.
He recognizes his deity. And that was the truth also,
of course, with that centurion. Here in Luke, It says he glorified
God saying certainly this was a righteous man. In Mark's account,
Mark 15 39, he says something more. He says truly this was
the Son of God. This was the Son of God. Oh this
is what this this thief, this penitential thief is doing, is
recognizing who Christ is, the beginning of his prayer, then
the end of his prayer. What is the end of his prayer?
Remember me, he says, when thou comest into thy kingdom. What is that kingdom? Here is
the Lord Jesus hanging upon a cross, dying. What is a kingdom? It's a spiritual kingdom. The
man must have had some understanding of the spiritual nature of the
kingdom. And the Lord said to Pilate, my kingdom is not of
this world. If my kingdom were of this world,
then would my servants fight. Oh, this man's prayer, you see.
It's a remarkable prayer. There's something of sovereign
grace in the way in which this man is addressing the Lord Jesus. And so we need to observe the
reason why this change has come upon this man. He was just as
his fellow in one moment, but now so different. Why did he
turn from his railing and make this simple request of the Lord
Jesus? Why does he stop reviling Christ
and now simply ask the Lord to remember him. Well, we have to
take account, of course, of his situation, his circumstances. He's a dying man. He's being
crucified. The most cruel and bloody form
of execution. Men don't survive that sort of
punishment. He's a dying man, he's on the
point of death. And we read, don't we, of some
who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to
bondage. Oh, this man must be afraid.
He's about to die. It is appointed unto men once
to die, we're taught. And then the judgment. Oh, what
is it to die? It's a separation, isn't it? Sin separates between us and
God. In that sense, sin is death.
Adam is told quite clearly there in Genesis 3, if he disobeys
the commandment of God concerning the tree of the knowledge of
good and evil and partakes of that fruit, thou shalt surely
die. Dying thou shalt die, it literally
says. And he dies immediately. He dies
spiritually, because he's separated from God. that spiritual death
being separated from God. He was made in God's image, created
after God's likeness and now in a state of alienation and thrust out of the Garden
of Eden. Dying thou shalt die and in due time Adam dies physically. And what is that physical death?
That's another separation. It's the separation of the body
and the soul. It is appointed unto men once
to die, and then the judgments. The body returns to the earth
as it was, the spirit goes to God who gave it. There's a judgment
made, even there and then. And so we can understand why
this man is concerned now, anxious. but mark the fact that both he
and his fellow are in exactly the same predicament they were
both railing on the Lord Jesus and one is continuing in that
one of the manufacturers which were hanged railed on him saying
if thou be Christ save thyself and us and yet so different with the
other one there's a change as we said Why is there a difference here?
Well, it's nothing, nothing at all of self. The wise man tells
us in the book of Proverbs, though thou shouldst bray a fool in
a mortar among wheat with a pestle, yet will not his foolishness
depart from him. Now what is the significance
of that wise saying? You take the fool, you put him in a mortar among wheat, and
with a pestle you grind and grind and grind away. But his foolishness will remain
in him. They're going to change him. The only thing that can change
a man is the sovereign grace of God. And that's the difference
here. Here is a man who is a remarkable
example of the grace of God. What an example he is, it's the
11th hour. We might say it's 11.59, it's
a minute before midnight. It's the very end of his days,
he's lived a wicked life. And he acknowledges, he's now
receiving the just desserts of that wicked life. We receive
the due reward of our deeds, he says. And yet he's brought
to pray. to pray for the Lord Jesus in
this remarkable prayer. Lord, remember me when thou comest
into thy kingdom. For we know there's a kingdom
after death. There's the kingdom of God. That
kingdom of Christ is the king of forever and ever. He must
have understood something of that. But let's turn Let's turn
from the man and look at the Lord Jesus and the Lord's response.
What a response it is that we have here. In verse 43, Jesus
said unto him verily, I say unto thee today, shalt thou be with
me in paradise. Oh, he doesn't pray in vain.
The hymn writer says, I never miscarry that on him rely, though
filthy as Mary. Manasseh, or I, it's the language
of Joseph Hart, he includes himself there, he's like Manasseh. Oh, Manasseh, wasn't he the son
of a good king? Hezekiah, what a wicked man he
was, sacrificing children to the god Monech, and yet Manasseh
strangely was saved in the goodness and the mercy of God. Mary Magdalene,
out of whom the Lord cast seven demons, we're told. Or none ever
miscarry that on Him rely, though filthy as Mary, Manasseh, or
I, or this man, this malefactor. Or what does the Lord say? See
how the Lord begins His answer. Now every word of Scripture is
a weighty word, isn't it? all that the Lord says. He never
speaks idle words, the Lord Jesus. He tells us plainly that we'll
give account for all our idle words and how many idle words
we speak, how we multiply, vain, futile words. Never the Lord
Jesus. And here we have a verily. We
find them many times in the Gospel. He prefixes his words sometimes
with a single, other times with a double verily. And you know
the significance of the words. It's literally the word Amen.
So be it. Truly. That's what it means. All this is a truth. It cannot
be going said. Verily, I say unto thee today,
shalt thou be with me in paradise. Now there's There's a threefold
promise here in what the Lord is saying, but it all centers
really in the assurance of the pardon of his sins. He might
be receiving the just reward of his wicked deeds on earth,
but there's forgiveness with God in heaven for this man. There's
a pardon of sins, but there are three aspects to the promise.
And let's just, before we close, observe what they are. First
of all, here we have a promise for the present what does the
Lord say today today shalt thou be with me in
paradise now the man had said when remember me when thou comest
into thy kingdom oh well When is that? Today! Oh, it's an immediate answer that
the Lord is giving, you see. This is the way God deals with
us. He is a very present help in every time of trouble, says
the psalmist. He's not just a help in the time
of trouble, nor is he a present help in the time of trouble. He's much more than that. He's
a very present help. in every time of trouble. Now his response to his people
is an immediate response. Before they call I will answer,
he says. While they are yet speaking I
will hear. He knows our prayers before ever
we utter our prayers. Now that doesn't mean we're not
to pray, of course we pray. and the Lord will deal with us
so we feel that we must call upon Him. We have to pray to
Him. This man had to pray to Him. He doesn't just rebuke his
fellow but he turns to the Lord, doesn't he? And prays to Him.
But before they call I will answer. That's how immediate the answer
is. Before the prayer is finished And what is the Gospel? Well,
the language of the Gospel is there, isn't it, in 2 Corinthians
6, 2? I have heard thee in a time accepted,
and in the day of salvation have I suffered thee. Behold, now
is the accepted time. Behold, now is the day of salvation. It's now. It's today. This day. If ye hear his voice,
harden not your hearts, as in the temptation there in the wilderness.
Oh, let us not harden our hearts against the Word of God and the
Gospel of the grace of God. It's a promise for the present.
But you know, it's more than that. It's more than that. It's a promise of the presence
of Christ. Not just a promise for the present,
for today, it's a promise of Christ's very presence. The man
says in his request, remember me. But what does the Lord say? He says today, shalt thou be
with me. With me. That's what the Lord says, with
me. always able to do exceeding abundantly
above all that we ask or think that's how we answer our prayers
we say remember me and he said you'll be with me in my presence
you see for the believer it's absent from the body present
with the Lord present with the Lord no wonder Paul says he has
a desire to depart and to be with Christ, which is far better. How do we believe that? Far, far better. To be where
the Lord is. Think of Lazarus and the beggar. And both die. And the beggar is taken immediately to the bosom
of Abraham. and Lazarus, the rich man, goes
to his allotted place and he is suffering or can not Lazarus
come and dip his finger in water this dreadful thirst you see
those who are in that dreadful place are separated from God
forever that's eternal death, isn't it? an eternal separation
made in God's image, created of God's likeness, made to enjoy
God, and yet forever cut off from God, and thirsting after
God, never satisfied, because they are rejecters of God. And
as the great God fixed, we are told there, in the 16th chapter
of this Gospel, you know the account of the Lazarus, the beggar and the rich man how sad it is but how glorious
it is how glorious to be with Him forever that's heaven and
so what do we have here? we have a threefold promise I
said it's a promise for the present, it's for today, it's for now
It's a promise of the presence of Christ. It's a promise of
paradise. And that's what the man is asking,
isn't it? Remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom. What
is that kingdom? It's paradise, today. Shalt thou
be with me in paradise, says the Lord. How can we describe
what paradise is? Heaven, how can we describe heaven?
There's a sermon, isn't there, of Jonathan Edwards, that great
minister in New England, the time of the Great Awakening in
the 18th century, in a series of sermons on 1 Corinthians 13. One of them is entitled, Heaven,
a World of Love. Heaven, a World of Love. That's
how Edwards expounds what heaven is, it's
a world of love and of course we read much of it when we come
to the end of scripture in the closing chapters of the book
of the Revelation in chapters 21 and 22 there at verse 3 and 21 I heard a great
voice out of heaven saying behold the tabernacle of God is with
men and he will dwell with them and they shall be his people
and God himself shall be with them and be their God and God
shall wipe away all tears from their eyes and there shall be
no more death neither sorrow nor crying neither shall there
be any more pain for the former things are passed away and then
in the last chapter And there at verse 3, there shall be no
more curse, but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be
in it. And His servants shall serve Him, and they shall see
His face, and His name shall be in their foreheads. And there
shall be no night there, and they need no candle, nor the
light of the sun, for the Lord God giveth them light. And they
shall reign forever and ever. kings and priests unto God forever
and ever. Oh, it's a place, you see, where
pardon is altogether enjoyed. There shall in no way enter into
it anything to defile it, neither whatsoever worketh abomination
or maketh a lie, but they which are written in the Lamb's Book
of Life. or those written in the Lamb's
book of life. The Lamb. And we read here, of
course, in this chapter of the Lamb. We've read this account,
or part of this account. The Lamb of God says, John the
Baptist, to take us away, the sin of the world. And what of
heaven? Or remember what Rutherford says
in that lovely hymn, The Sounds of Time are Seeking. concerning
Emmanuel's land. That's heaven. The land is all
the glory in Emmanuel's land. Heaven is that holy, happy place
where sin no more defiles, where Christ unveils His lovely face
and looks and loves and smiles. And that's the promise that Christ
gives this man. repenting, as it were, at the
eleventh hour. He says unto Jesus, Lord, remember
me when thou comest into thy kingdom. And Jesus said unto
him, Verily, or truly, I say unto thee, it's that personal,
you see. It's a singular pronoun, it's
thee. It's an individual. Verily I
say unto thee today, Thou shalt be with me in Paradise. Amen.