The Bible Baptist Church located
at 2015 Beulah Road in Madisonville, Kentucky would like to invite
you to listen to a message of the sovereign grace of God in
the Lord Jesus Christ by their pastor David Edmondson. I'll be reading this morning
from the Gospel of Luke, chapter 23, verse 42. 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. Now we know that this passage
of scripture refers to the thief on the cross. The one of the
two thieves on the cross whom the Lord graciously did a work
of mercy and grace in his heart. And it was no accident that our
Lord was crucified between two thieves. You see, there are no
accidents in a world governed by God. None. God presides over
every minute detail in this life. Nothing has been left to chance. All that God has purposed and
decreed will come to pass. And I find such comfort in that
knowing that God directs and orders everything. Nothing's
left a chance. The scriptures declare that all
the kings and rulers of the earth were gathered together against
the Lord and his Christ. They thought they were in charge,
but in Acts chapter four, verse 38, we're told behind the scenes
story said they were gathered together for to do whatsoever
God's hand and God's counsel determined before to be done. unknown to Pilate. When he gave
the orders for the Lord Jesus to be crucified between two male
factors, he was only fulfilling what the Lord by prophecy had
revealed 700 years before. God had already declared through
Isaiah that the Holy One would be numbered with the transgressors. And here it comes to pass. It
was the decree and purpose of God to put His beloved Son between
the lawless. And it was the powerful providence
of God that executed the spotless Lamb of God between two criminals.
Why did God order that his beloved son should be crucified this
way? You can be certain that he had good reason. You see,
God never acts or does anything that is without purpose, for
all his works are ordered by infinite wisdom. You see, our
Lord first was crucified between these two wretched men to demonstrate
the unfathomable depths of shame into which He had descended.
He hung in the middle of those two murderers as if He was the
worst of the worst. And the cross of guilt and shame,
it shows us the position that our Lord occupied is our substitute. He took that place of guilt and
shame for us who were guilty and shameful. He hung there for
me as the center of all centers. You see, that's what I am. That's
what I see myself to be. He allowed himself to be humiliated
deliberately in the place of his people who should have been
despised and rejected. Yet he's the one who was. And
our Lord hung there dying in shame to show us that even then
he was about his father's business. From that first time as a young
boy, he was found in the temple teaching the The scholars of
that day and his mother said, didn't you know that we were
looking for? How is it that you sought me? He said, didn't you
know that I would be about my father's business? And even now,
as he hangs on the cross, he's about his father's business,
reconciling one of his own that the father gave him. before the
foundation of the world. The crucifixion of Christ between
the two thieves and the fact that one was saved and the other
wasn't shows us the sovereignty of God in the salvation of sinners.
Well, both of them were equally near to God the Son as they hung
on the cross. Both of them saw and heard everything
that had transpired in those six fateful hours. Both of them
were notoriously wicked. Both were suffering severely.
Both were dying. Both urgently needed forgiveness.
Yet one of them died in his sins, died as he had lived, hardened
and impenitent, while the other repented of his wickedness, believed
in Christ and called on him for mercy, and went to paradise. How can this be accounted for
except by the sovereignty of God in the matter of salvation? It's no different today. One
sinner hears the gospel and is melted, and another hears it
and remains unmoved. Under the preaching of the same
gospel message, one listens and hears with indifference, and
the other has their eyes opened to see their need of Christ.
To one, the gospel is revealed. To the other, it's hidden. Who
reveals and who hides it? all we can say is even so father
it seemed good in thy sight if i'm saved if god reveals the
gospel to me if god gives me a heart to believe and understand
the gospel of the lord jesus christ for no reason other than
it just simply pleased him to do so. Even so, father, it seemed
good in thy sight. Oh my, what grace, what mercy. But man's still responsible.
God's not gonna save any sinner who will not forsake their sin,
repent, and turn to Him. And at the same time, none of
us would be willing to do so unless He make us willing in
the day of His power. God tells His prophet in Ezekiel
chapter 33, He said, saying to them, as I live, saith the Lord
God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked. but that
the wicked turn from his way and live. Turn ye, turn ye from
your evil ways, for why will you die, O house of Israel?"
God's sovereignty is never meant to destroy man's responsibility.
We are to be diligent to use every means that God has appointed
for the salvation of souls. We're bidden to preach the gospel
to every creature. Grace is free. The command to
come is broad enough to take in whosoever believeth. Christ
doesn't turn anyone away who comes to him for mercy and grace.
Yet, after we've done all we can, after we've planted and
we've watered, it's God who giveth the increase. And this he does
as it best pleases his sovereign will. Now, I just want to give
you a few observations that we find in this amazing story of
the saved male factor that hung upon the cross. First, we see
in him as a representative of what a real sinner he is, the
helplessness of our helplessness, the helplessness of our condition,
our state before God, to see ourselves As only law centers
is not sufficient to learn that we're corrupt and depraved by
nature and sinful transgressors by practice is a very important
lesson. We are undone. We can do nothing
to help ourselves. We are beyond human repair. This is the first step towards
salvation. A sinner will never, ever appreciate
the presence of God until he or she sees that they're unfit
to be found in the presence of the Holy God. It's not until
we see that we're without strength, that we're spiritually impotent,
that it's not by works of righteousness, which we do, but by His mercy,
God saves us, that we will see our need of a perfect Redeemer.
The great scripture type for sin is leprosy. For leprosy,
man can devise no cure. Only God can deal with that dreadful
disease, and so it is with sin. We're so slow to learn this.
It's only by grace that we do. Like the prodigal son, we've
squandered all our substance in that far country. in riotous
living, and we begin to be in want. And instead of immediately
returning to our father, we join ourselves with a citizen of the
country in famine, and we go into the fields to feed swine.
In other words, we went to work. Have you ever noticed in the
scripture when men are faced with their helpless condition
and state and sin that the first thing out of their mouth usually
is what must I do to be saved? We all want to do a work that
would earn merit and cause us to deserve God's mercy and grace,
but we can do no work. The sinner who's been at all
aroused to his need, instead of going at once to Christ, he
tries to work himself into God's favor. But in our work, we fare
no better than the prodigal, for the husk of swine will be
our only portion, like the woman who was bowed over, bowed down
with her infirmity for many, many years. She tried many physicians. Scripture says she spent all
that she had before she sought the great physician. Oh, we seek
help and relief in one place and then another, in one thing
and then in another. And in all our religious performances,
that's all they are, we end up being nothing better, but rather
grow worse like that poor woman did. It's not till we spend all
that we have that we'll see Christ. Before any sinner can be saved,
they must come to the place of realized weakness. This is what
the dying thief shows us. What could he do? He couldn't
walk in the path of righteousness. His feet were nailed to the cross.
He couldn't perform any works for there was nails in both of
his hands. He couldn't turn over a new leaf. He's nailed to the cross. He's about to die. What a picture
this is of our hands, which are so ready to do self-righteous
acting, and our feet, which are so swift to run in the way of
legal obedience. They must be nailed to the cross. We must be cut off from our will,
our work, our way, and be made willing to be saved by Christ
and Him alone. Salvation has something, everything,
to do with repentance and faith. Repentance has everything to
do with change, not change in the sense of bad becoming good. I thought that for years. I believe
that salvation had to do with me straightening up and flying
right, getting things in order. Repentance has never been accomplished
by men and women changing outward things. Outward things will be
affected when repentance and faith is given. but it's not
the cause of our redemption. Repentance has to do with a change
of mind about sin. A change of heart, a sorrowing
for sin, a desire to forsake sin, a hatred for sin. I don't know how many times in
my life I've heard folks say, I want to be a Christian. I want
to serve God, but I, I need to work on some areas in my life
and get some things straight before I do. I'm telling you,
it'll never happen for those who think that way. Repentance
is a discovery of our ruin. It's a realization of our lost
condition. It's the judging of ourselves. It's owing up to what we are.
It's taking sides with God against ourself. Repentance is a consciousness
of who and what you are and who and what God is. And in the story
of these two thieves, just a short time before, The saved criminal
had reviled and mocked the Savior the same as his counterpart.
But the Holy Spirit done a work of grace upon this man, and now
he's conscious of the presence of God. And his question now
to his friend is not, does thou fear punishment? But does thou
fear God? He sees that God is his judge.
Verse 39, it says, And one of the malefactors which were hanged
railed on him, saying, If thou be the 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 received the due reward of our deeds.
But this man had done nothing amiss. Here we see him acknowledging
his guilt, and we see him acknowledging the justice of his condemnation. He doesn't make any excuses.
He does not attempt to justify his sinful actions in life. That's
what men and women do by nature. That's what Adam did. He said,
the woman thou gavest me, she did give me to eat. That's what
Eve did. She said, the serpent beguiled
me and I did eat. In other words, God, it's all
your fault. You gave me the woman, you put
the serpent here, but not this man and not any true saved sinner. This man admits his sin and his
transgressions. He confessed that he fully deserved
the punishment of his sins. Ever save sinner will. The chosen
child of God will acknowledge that they deserve death, that
death is their due. The soul that sinneth, it shall
surely die. That's what we deserve. The wages
of sin is death. And this thief's repentance toward
God was accompanied with faith toward the Lord Jesus Christ.
He said, we justly deserve this condemnation. But this man hath
done nothing amiss. Pilate had written over the cross
of Christ, This is Jesus, the King of the Jews. But God had
written on this man's heart that Jesus was the King of kings and
the Lord of lords. His faith grasped the kingship
of Christ. Therefore he said, Lord, remember
me when thou comest into thy kingdom God had given this man
hard faith, hard faith which rested solely and savingly on
Christ. And we often talk about head
faith and hard faith. I don't understand that. I find
it very difficult to separate the two, but what people mean
when they say that is this, a man can have a knowledge of Christ
in his head, And a man may believe some facts about Christ and historical
truths about him and be not better off for it. I, I know some historical
facts about George Washington and Abraham Lincoln, but I didn't
know them personally. And you and I can believe all
about Christ, his perfect life, his sacrificial death, his victorious
resurrection, his glorious ascension, his promised return, but that's
not enough. We must know him personally.
We must believe that he personally died for our sin. You see saving
faith is much more than just a correct reasoning. Saving faith
is knowing, being confident that Jesus Christ is that one mediator
between God and man. Oh, if there's going to be any
reconciling between God and man is going to be through this man,
Christ Jesus saving faith is knowing that he hung in judgment. not for what he did, but for
what we did, for our sin that was against God and God only.
Oh, for with the heart man believeth unto righteousness, and with
the mouth confession is made unto salvation. This wretched
man's confession was, Lord, Remember me it wasn't Lord honor me or
Lord exalt me But Lord if you will but think of me if you'll
only look on me and remember me He might have said pardon
me save me bless me, but remember me that included all of them
all those things, and how appropriate is the word remember, especially
when you consider the life of this man. Now, what do I mean
by that? Well, he was an outcast from
society. Who would remember him? His friends
were ashamed and embarrassed over the things that he did.
Who would want to remember him? He had disgraced his own family.
They would prefer to forget him. But there is one to whom he ventures
to request this petition. And he said, Lord, remember me. And here we see an amazing display
of spiritual illumination. Let's count the proofs of this
divine revelation that only God gives. He had a sight of his
own sinfulness. He said to his friend, we indeed
justly deserve these things. This is the due reward of our
deeds. He understood that he was a sinner.
He understood what he deserved. He saw that his condemnation
was just. That justice was being fulfilled
in his own death. That was due. And it takes divine
revelation. Now I'm telling you, it takes
spiritual illumination and light to show this to a sinner. Secondly,
he bore testimony to Christ's sinlessness. He said, this man
has done nothing to miss. You know, Judas was moved to
say, I have betrayed innocent blood, yet he perished in his
sin. And Pilate testified, I find
no fault in him, but he did not trust the man, Christ Jesus.
Pilate's wife even said to her husband, had nothing to do with
this just man. He was still just a man to her. But now when Christ hangs on
the cross, God opens the eyes of this pitiful sinner. Oh, do
you not see yourself in him? He opens the eyes of this poor
man to see the faultlessness of the beloved son, and his only
desire is, Lord, remember me. He confesses Christ's Godhead
and lordship. He said, Lord, remember me. What
a marvelous revelation. He had heard the scornful say,
if thou be the Son of God, come down from the cross. And no response
was given by the Lord. Yet by divine revelation, this
sinner sees that he is the Lord. He said, Lord, remember me. He believed that Christ was Savior.
He'd heard the Lord Jesus say, Father, forgive them. And his
own cry was, Lord, remember me, which was to say, Lord, save
me. Is that not faith in Christ?
He must have believed that Christ was a savior for the chief of
sinners, or he would not have believed that Christ would remember
such a one as he. He evidenced his faith in Christ's
kingship, he said, when thou comest into thy kingdom. And
lastly, he looked forward to Christ's second coming, for he
said, when thou comest. He looked away from the present
to the future. Now, how can we account for these
things in this dying thief? Only by divine revelation that
God gives. Only by sovereign intervention. God intervening in his life only
by God giving grace and salvation. Salvation is of the Lord. Oh, I hope you see that. Salvation has nothing to do with
your will, your work, your way, and everything to do with God.
It pleased the Lord to make you his people. Oh, it's for his
own great name's sake. We're talking about salvation
this morning. The salvation of this wretched
man proves to us that the Lord is willing and able to save all
who come to him desiring salvation. If Christ received this penitent
believing thief, then none need concern themselves
with a welcome if they but come to Christ. Oh, the scripture says, whosoever
will. I have no problem with that.
Whosoever wills, whosoever God wills. God is not willing that
any of his people should perish, but that all should come to repentance
and all God's people will. If a man or woman doesn't come
to repentance and faith in Christ, they never were one of his chosen
elect. Oh, friends, if this dying robber
is not beyond the reach of divine mercy, then none need to despair
of the far reaching salvation of his mercy and grace. God's
provided a savior for the very chief of sinners. You know how
I know that? Because that's me. And I love
the response that our Lord gives this man. He says today, right
now, today, thou shalt be with me in paradise. Today, shalt
thou be with me in paradise today. Does not not prove how divine
grace exceeds our expectations. We, the thief had prayed that
the Lord would remember him in his coming kingdom, but Christ
assures him that before this very day had passed that he would
be with him. Oh my, today, shout. Our salvation is certain, isn't
it? shall you shall be with me today not you might be not if
you straighten up and fly right in these last few minutes you
have on earth no today thou shalt be with me in paradise the certainty
of salvation christ didn't die to make salvation possible the
lord jesus christ died to make salvation certain for his people
All that the Father giveth me shall come to me, and he that
cometh to me I shall in no wise cast out." Oh my, this thief
simply asked to be remembered. But the Savior declared that
he would be with him. Today shalt thou be with me in
paradise. Isn't that what heaven is? Oh,
people talk about the pearly gates, the streets of gold, the
mansions of glory. That's not what makes heaven
heaven. Christ is what makes heaven heaven. The fact that
he'll be there and that I'll be there with him. Oh my. That's what makes heaven heaven. Today you shall be with me in
paradise. Oh, doesn't God always do abundantly
above all that we could think or ask? Oh, I can think pretty
big. I can ask some pretty tough things,
but if we ask things according to the will and purpose of God
for the glory of God, honor of his son i'm telling you he is
able to do exceeding abundantly that's two positive words exceeding
abundantly he exceeds abundance in his gifts to his people he
always does abundantly above all we can think right he does
always i think often about the words of the apostle paul He
said, I know whom I have believed. You see, salvation is knowing
a person. That person is the Lord Jesus
Christ. Paul said, I know whom I have
believed. Salvation's in a person. Salvation
is in the Lord Jesus Christ. I know whom I have believed,
and I am persuaded. Who persuaded him? God did. divine intervention god intervened
in his life knocked him off his high horse on the way to damascus
revealed himself in all his glory paul never saw the same again
paul says i know whom i have believed and i'm persuaded persuaded
what paul persuaded that he's able to do what paul what is
he able to do exceeding abundantly above all we could think or ask
he's able to do anything he's able to do everything oh my we
can trust in him now would you trust in Christ may God enable
you to do so You have been listening to a message by David Edmondson,
the pastor of Bible Baptist Church in Madisonville, Kentucky. If
you would like a copy of this message or to hear other messages
of God's free, sovereign grace in Christ, you can write to our
mailing address at P.O. Box 652 Madisonville, Kentucky
42431 or log on to our website at FreeGraceRadio.com. If you would like to come and
worship with us, we meet at 2015 Beulah Road, Madisonville, Kentucky. And our service times are Sunday
morning Bible study at 10 o'clock a.m. Worship services begin at
11 o'clock a.m. Wednesday evening services at
7 o'clock p.m. Please tune in again next Sunday
morning at 10 o'clock a.m. for another message of God's
free and sovereign grace in the Lord Jesus Christ.