All right, take your Bibles and
turn with me to Luke. Luke chapter 23. Luke chapter 23. Our text will
be found in verse 29 through verse 43. We'll read this together and
then I'm gonna go back over this account. I've entitled this message,
The Confession of a Thief. the confession of a thief. Scripture 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 thou not 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 thou shalt be with me in
paradise. this account of these two thieves
that were crucified with the Lord Jesus Christ, I want you
to know that this is in every gospel account. That's one thing
when something's mentioned once. It's the Word of God if it's
mentioned once. But consider that this thing
was mentioned three, four different times. I'll give it to you, I'm
not going to go there, but Matthew 27, 38. Mark 15, 27 and 28, this
chapter, and then in John chapter 19 and verse 18. All these accounts
testify that there were two thieves crucified with the Lord Jesus
Christ, one on His right hand and one on His left hand. And Mark gives us the reason
for it. If you see the one in Mark, it
says this, listen, And with him they crucified two thieves, the
one on the right and the other on the left, and the scripture
was fulfilled, which saith he was numbered with the transgressors. Isaiah chapter 53 and verse 12. The scripture was fulfilled in
this, that there was thieves on his right and on his left
and he was in the midst of them. He was numbered with the transgressors. Now this is a very significant
event. Our Lord was crucified between
these two thieves and these transgressors. I want you to know that nothing
is done by accident. I know that every miracle I've
ever preached to you, I've preached the gospel out of every miracle.
Everything Christ did was to picture the gospel, was to represent
the gospel of Jesus Christ, and this was one of those events. This is why it's put into scripture.
It's a wonderful picture. These two men picture something. They picture all mankind. This morning, you are represented
by one of these two thieves. All men are born criminals, malfactors,
thieves. All men are born thieves. Spurgeon
said this, the closer you look at the cross, the more vivid
the picture of God's grace is. From the newest of infants to
the most age of all persons, all sinners are thieves. Now,
this is very offensive. What I just said will turn the...
I mean, if you got small children, that gets mothers on edge when
I say something like that. You mean my baby? You calling
my baby a thief? Yeah, I am. Yes. But they're innocent. They haven't
had an opportunity to be... Babies are innocent, and when
they get older, they become sinners. Nope. It's not what God says.
It's not what God says. God says in Romans 3 that all
have sinned and come short of the glory of God. Surely you
don't mean that little baby. Yes, I do. He further explains
that in Romans chapter 5 and verse 12. Listen, wherefore as
by one man sin entered into the world. What was the result? Death
by sin. So then, this is the conclusion,
death hath passed upon all men. Now why is that? Why were you
born dead? All have sinned. If that baby was innocent, he
wouldn't have been born dead. He sinned. Where did he sin?
He sinned in his father. When Adam sinned, we sinned. He was a representative man of
all the human race. So all men are like these two
thieves. We were born in original sin. You see, God made man perfect
and upright. God gave him rule. Now consider
the goodness that God put on Adam. He gave him rule over everything. And he said, of all the trees
of the garden, you may eat except this one. You know, men rail
against God for putting that one tree in there. They don't
consider the thousands upon thousands upon thousands of trees he had
to choose to eat from. God said that one tree, now listen
to this, it belongs to me. In the day thou eatest thereof,
thou shalt surely die. This was God's law given to Adam. And it was not long before our
mother Eve was seduced. She was deceived. She was deceived. And His means has not changed.
You know, Eve, When she tried to defend God, Eve tried to defend
God, she overstated the word of God. She tried to defend God. She said, we're not supposed
to eat it, not even touch it. God didn't say nothing about
that. Every time we try to do that, believe me, Satan will
enter in and he'll say, yea, hath God said really? Is that
true? Well, no, it wasn't true. We must never try to use our
wisdom to defend God. I'm not trying to defend God.
I'm just telling you what God says. God does a good job defending
himself. I don't need to defend God. So we don't use wisdom. So then
Satan had opportunity to deny the word of God. But when Adam
was presented with this, when Eve had sinned, she had disobeyed
the law of God that he gave. But when Adam was presented with
this, he was not deceived. He was not deceived. And when he took, it was an act
of utter rebellion against God. It was an act of rebellion. Did you notice that nothing happened
when Eve ate that fruit, whatever it was? You know nothing happened? Why is that? Eve represented
no one. Adam was a representative man.
And when he ate, then both their eyes were opened to see their
nakedness. You see, judgment failed when
our father Adam stole from God. He sought to rob God of His glory. He rebelled against God and He
took that which did not belong to Him. He was the first thief. And ever since then, every one
of us by nature have sought to rob God of His glory. We have
sought to dethrone God and set ourself above God. This is clearly
seen in the self-righteous religious people. And I'm talking about
we're all self-righteous. Whether you're an atheist or
whether you're the pope or whether you're a preacher, we're all
self-righteous by nature. And you put whatever you want
to on the door, If man has some part of salvation, some part
in his salvation, he is robbing God of his glory. If salvation
is based upon anything you do, then what in the world does,
what does the love of God have to do with salvation then? If
God loved Jacob and Esau, which we know he didn't, but if he
did, then what did the love of God have to do with salvation?
If he loved Peter and Judas the same, what does the love of God
have to do with salvation? Nothing. If Christ died for both
of them, Peter and Judas, what does the blood of Christ have
to do with salvation? Nothing. If you're just a thinking
person, that's just so. Salvation is then would be dependent
upon the action of the individual and not the crucifixion of Christ,
not the will of God, not the power of God, but the will of
man. And to say that you're robbing God, you're a thief. If our salvation comes by obedience
to the law, obedience to the church ordinances, or even the
exercise of a man's will to make salvation effectual, that man
is robbing God. Why? Salvation belongeth unto
the Lord. You see, it belongs to him. It belongs to him. It belongs
only to him. So just as both of these men
were guilty of being thieves, even so are all men by nature,
trying to steal God's glory of salvation. Now then, I want you
to see that all men like these thieves rail against Christ. This is important. And we're
going to see the conversion of one in a little bit. But before
that, both of them were railing against Christ. Both of them
were railing against Christ. Both these men condemned to die
at the hand of the Romans by crucifixion. Now, I want you
to understand, crucifixion was meant only for the worst. It
was the cruelest torture that the Romans could possibly come
up with. They perfected this form of death. It was the most painful, the
most humiliating death. and was reserved only for the
worst of criminals. It took a lot of work to crucify
somebody. It took a lot of work. So it was reserved only for the
murderers and insurrectionists. We read of a man like that, his
name Barabbas. That's another picture of the
gospel. That man Barabbas was an insurrectionist and murderer.
He was scheduled to go on out there, but you know what? Who
took his place? Christ. That's another picture
of the gospel, isn't it? And yet even though these men
were facing certain death, yet they still railed on him. Look
at Mark. Mark chapter 15, look at verse 32.
He says, Let Christ, the King of Israel,
descend now from the cross. See how they're mocking Him?
They're mocking Him. Oh, He said He's the Christ.
He said He's the Son of the living God. Let Him show us by coming
down off the cross that we may see and believe. Listen. They which were crucified with
Him reviled Him. Can you consider that? These
men were the lowest scum of the earth and yet they reviled Him. They joined in the crowd. They were fixing to die and all
they could think about was hating Him. Matthew chapter 27 gives us this
same account. 27 and verse 44 Look at this verse 43 said he
trusted in God. Let him deliver him now if he
will if he'll have him For he said I am the Son of God
the thieves also which were crucified they cast their teeth at him
and They spit at him, they mocked
him, they reviled him as well. Is this not a full display of
man's evil nature? Man's hatred toward God. They revile the Lord of glory
even when themselves are facing the wrath of God. Even when their sin and guilt
are exposed, and their doom is sure, they
still will not bow to Jesus Christ. This is how depraved man is. And unless God the Holy Spirit
does something for that man, unless God the Holy Spirit does
something for us, this is our nature. This is what we did. We reviled him. You see, all
men have set themselves against God and against Christ and by
nature despise and hate the sovereign grace of God in Jesus Christ.
And as long as men refuse to cast away their self-righteousness
and confess their dead spiritual condition and reject all works
religion and be found in him, that man, my friend, I don't
care what he says, he's a hater of God. He's a thief. Let me show you this. Go to 1 Corinthians chapter 2.
Look at our nature. 1 Corinthians chapter 2. Look at verse 14. But the natural
man receiveth not the things that are of the Spirit of God.
Why? Their foolishness to him. When Christ said He was the Son
of God, when Christ said He was the Christ, what did men think? That's foolishness. They would
not receive the things of the Spirit of God. They're foolishness
unto Him. Neither can He know them because
He is spiritually judged, spiritually condemned. You cannot know the
things of God. They could not see He was the
Christ. Go to Ephesians chapter 2. Ephesians chapter 2. I should have these marked. Ephesians
2, look at verse 1. And you hath he quickened who
were what? Dead and trespassed in sins, wherein in the 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
worketh in the children of disobedience, among whom we all had our conversation
in times past in the lust of our flesh, fulfilling the desires
of the flesh and the mind, listen, and were by nature the children
of wrath. That's not God's wrath, that's
yours. He said, you by nature were haters
of God, even as others. This is us by nature. By nature, we will not have this
man to rule over us. I'll be saved the way I want
to be saved, and you've got to accept it. You're a thief and
a robber and a liar. That's just who we are. I'm talking about you. I'm talking
about me by nature. This is what we are by nature.
This is who we are. We are thieves. Now I want you to see then a
distinction made among these thieves. A distinction. Go back
to your text. Luke is the one that accounts
for this. A distinction made. A difference is going to be seen. in these two men. Both men were
guilty and both men facing certain death. Both men despised Christ,
even as all of Adam's race. So we are all guilty and under
the sentence of eternal death by the law of God. And the time
of their end is sure. This is true of all of us. These
men died. And so will we all. That's a
good picture of us. Who's going to escape it? Who's
going to escape it? That Luke gives us a glimpse
of hope, a glimpse of mercy and grace, because in this account
of Luke, he gives us a clear distinction made between these
two themes. Here we're going to see this.
God makes a difference. God makes a difference. One of
these thieves will turn to Christ by faith. One of these thieves
will receive Him and confess Him and the other will not, will
die in his sins. And I want you to know that this
transformation was only by the power and will of God. You see, according to the Word
of God, God from eternity hath chosen a people from among the
thieves of Adam's race. God has chosen a people. God
has set His love upon some sinners, while others God has hated and
chose to leave them in their sin. I know we see this often. I quote this scripture because
it is the plainest. I have multiple scriptures to
go to, but Ephesians 1 is clearly plain that God had from the beginning
chosen us to salvation. According as he had chosen us
in Christ before the foundation of the world that we should be
holy and without blame before him. That's His will. That's
His purpose. That all He chose before the
foundation of the world should be holy and without blame before
Him. His motivation in love having
predestinated us under the adoption of children. How? By Jesus Christ. He chose the people in love and
ordained that they should be holy and He chose the means by
which they should be made holy. By Jesus Christ. According to
this. the good pleasure of his will
according to the praise of the glory of his grace wherein he
hath made us accepted in the beloved. In 2 Thessalonians, 2 Thessalonians
2.13, but we are bound to give thanks
always to God for you, brethren, beloved of the Lord, because
God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation. I remember talking to this one
guy, he said, you find me a scripture that says elections unto salvation,
I'll believe it. I quoted the scripture and he
hung up the phone. He wasn't going to believe it. Don't care. chosen you to salvation, and
here's the means, through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the
truth. Never apart from these means,
that's the means God has chosen. That's the means He will use,
and that's the means by His power He will effect. And we know this
also in Romans chapter 9, it's very clear that God has set His
love upon some and not all men. For the children not yet being
born, Romans 9, 11, children not yet being born, neither having
done any good or evil, that the purpose of God, according to
election, might stand, not of works, but of him that calleth.
It said to her, The elder shall serve the younger, as it is written,
Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated. You see, why did
the one thief turn and the other didn't? Because God loved one
and hated the other. Now then, the answer to the question
that's always asked, is God unjust? Paul asked that, he said, you're
going to say to me this, this is what you're going to tell
me, what you're going to ask me, is there unrighteousness with God?
God forbid. Why? He told you what he's going
to do. He said to Moses, I'll have mercy on whom I'll have
mercy, and I'll have compassion on whom I will have compassion.
So then, here's the conclusion, it is not of him that willeth,
nor him that runneth, but God that showeth mercy. So God is not, Now, if all men
were righteous and God chose some and rejected others, then
sure, he'd be unjust. But all men are not righteous. All men are sinners. All men are sinners and deserve
the punishment of God. And so what is he doing to the
person? What unjust act is he doing to
the person that he leaves to themselves? He's doing nothing wrong to them. Tell you the truth, he's giving
them exactly what they want. Is that unjust? No. You see, but this is the hope,
is that God's people are sinners. Jesus said, I came not to call
the righteous, but who? Sinners to repentance. Jesus
came for this purpose. This is why he was dying. This
is why he could not and would not save himself. Because it
was the only means by which he should save his sinful people. That he should redeem them from
their sins. He should die. See, the only
way that thief that believed could ever have any hope is that
Christ must have died for him. What are the chances that that
thief was crucified on that day? You think it was 100%? I think
it was 100% chance. 150, 120, whatever. It was never gonna miss that day. Think about a thief's life, all
his life in rebellion, all his life serving himself. Got to
the cross, was getting ready to die, casting his teeth at
Christ. And yet God, in mercy, chose
that one. Purpose to save that one. God separated him. He made a division among these
two men. He separated the precious from
the vile. And just as someday God will
separate all men, the sheep from the goats, remember that? He
says when He comes, He shall divide all men. He shall separate
the sheep from the goats, His people from the lost. But before
that day, there's going to be made a separation here on earth.
There's going to be a distinction made here. Now go back to your
text. I want you to see the distinction. Verse 39, And one of the malefactors
which were hanged railed on him, saying, If thou be the Christ,
save thyself. But the other answering rebuked
him. Wait a second. They were both
kicking at him earlier. But now something has happened.
Something's different. This man rebukes the other guy
for railing against him. He said, Dost thou not fear God,
seeing thou art in the same condition? This man had no idea. This first
man, the one on his left hand, had no idea what salvation was
or what it took. This man just wanted to be delivered
from the consequences of his sin. He said, Look, I want to
be saved. So if you're the Christ, get
us down. I'll tell you, there's a lot
of people want Jesus to save them because of some physical
thing. They're sick, they're dying, and so they want to be
saved, but they just want Him to do
something physically for them. He didn't want to be free from
the guilt of his sin, just the consequence of it. So he says the same thing as
Peter said. Consider this, it was the same
thing that this man said what Peter said. Remember when the
Lord said, I'm going to go into Jerusalem and they're going to
mock and crucify me and kill me. And what did Peter say? Lord, be it far from you. If
you be the Christ, don't go. And what did the Lord say to
him? Get thou behind me, Satan, or
thou saverest not the things that be of God. This one thief,
he wanted salvation, but not the way that God saves sinners.
The only way God was gonna save a sinner was the death of Christ. And this guy said, no, don't
kill yourself, save us all. Save me. What do they want? They
want a bloodless offering. That's what natural men want.
They want a religion without blood. If any religion is without blood,
it's not of God. If salvation is not solely based
on the blood and the righteousness of Jesus Christ, it is a lie,
friends. It is a bloodless offering. But this thief on his right hand,
he wanted a different kind of salvation. He started out despising Christ,
but now, Three things had changed. His mind was changed. What does
that mean? Repentance. That's what repentance
is, a change of mind. This man had a change of mind.
This man had a change of affection. Lord, remember me when thou comest
in. He loved this one that was next
to him. And third, he had a change of
will, whereas once he did not believe, Now he does. Now he
does. The question then is who made
the difference? Was the thief's repentance of
himself or was it of God? Was the thief's change of heart
of himself or was it of God? Was the thief's change of will
of himself or of God? If any one of those three is
of himself, you're in the wrong religion. You're robbing God
of something. You're robbing Him of His glory. It's God that made the difference
in this man's heart, in this man's mind, and this man's will. The apostle asked that question
in 1 Corinthians 4, Who maketh thee to differ from another?
Or what hast thou thus not received? Tell me, you who believe, what
have you that you did not receive as a gift of God's grace? You are different. Who made the
difference? You see, if we claim anything
that in us that made the difference, we are robbing God of His glory. We are saying that I get some
credit Friends, salvation is by the
sovereign will and power of God. It is the giving of life to the
dead. That's what it is. If you want
to know what salvation is, that's it. It's quickening from the
dead. And so then, what did this man
confess now concerning Christ? Seeing God has made a difference.
God has made a difference. First of all, let us see that
this salvation is not by some angelic revelation or flash of
brilliance. This salvation came by hearing
the gospel. This man, all the while he was
railing, all the while he was being crucified, the gospel was
being preached to this man, unknowingly, unwittingly by the crowd, but
it was. This man learned a lot about Christ just listening to
the people rail against him. Calvin said this, this is the
greatest instance of faith in all scripture. The one this man was trusting
in was crucified right next to him. The one he depended on all his
salvation was a man that was dying just like him. This dying man looked over at
this other dying man and believed him to be the Savior. And he
did this by hearing the gospel. Look in Luke 23 again. Look at
verse 34. Listen what the Lord said. Listen
to this gospel that was preached. In verse 34, Jesus said, Father,
forgive them. They know not what they do. This
was not a question. He was not asking. Father, forgive them. They know not what they do. This
man heard the testimony of this, that this was God. Who can forgive
sins but God? Remember that man sick of the
palsy? They lowered him in down by the roof and the Lord looked
at him, this man believing him to be God, believing he was able
to forgive his sins. Jesus said, Thy sins be forgiven
thee. Everybody got upset, didn't they?
Why? Only God can forgive sins. This man heard that he was the
Christ demanding forgiveness. Secondly, he heard the testimony
of others. Look at verse 35, And the people
stood beholding the rulers with them, derided him, saying, He
saved others. Let him save himself, if he be
Christ, the chosen of God. This man heard, well, this guy's
claiming to be the Christ. He's claiming to be the Son of
God. The soldiers mocked him. coming
to him, offering him vinegar, saying, if thou be the king of
the Jews, this guy's claiming to be king. And if it weren't
enough, he had a big, big sign over the top of his cross. It
was written, this is the king of the Jews. Now the Pharisees,
they got mad at Pilate, said, no, no, we wanted it to say,
he said he was king of the, he said, I've written what I've
written, leave it alone. Why, because God wanted everybody
to know who this was. So when that thief looked over
and saw that sign, he saw this, he is the king of the Jews. The
gospel being preached to him. God was witnessing to this man.
He heard these things. He heard by the witness of Jesus
Christ and the witness of others that this was the Christ. He
saw the sign over the head of Christ, king of the Jews, and
what happened? This man believed. He believed
what he heard. This was the Christ. This was
the Christ. Now then, the confession of the
thief. You that are saved, I want you to see that I identify with
this man. I identify with him as a thief.
I was a thief and a robber. I was a thief and a robber. But
like this man, I confess that Jesus Christ is all my hope of
standing before God. So let's see this. First of all,
this thief confessed that he was God. Look at verse 40. He
said, but the other answering rebuked him, saying, Dost thou
not fear God? Don't you see who he is? Don't
you fear God? You're railing against him. Seeing
thou art in the same, he confessed that this man crucified next
to him was God. That's what I confess. Don't
you confess? Great is the mystery of godliness.
God was manifest in the flesh. God was manifest in the flesh.
This then is the confession of every believer. We believe that
Jesus Christ is the Son of God. Go to 1 John chapter 2, 1 John.
1 John 2, verse 22. He says, Who
is a liar, but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? He
is anti-Christ. He that denieth the Father and
the Son. Whosoever denieth the Son, the
same hath not the Father, but he that acknowledgeth the Son
hath the Father also. Beloved, believe not every spirit,
but try the spirits where they be of God, because many false
prophets are gone out into the world. whereby you know, whereby
know ye the spirit of God. Every spirit that confesseth
that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God. And every spirit that confesseth
not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God. This
is the spirit of antichrist, wherever you heard he should
come, is not already in the world. Listen, if men do not confess
that he has come, listen, you have to be somewhere to come
from somewhere. See, the Son of God was always
with the Father, was one with the Father, and yet He came into
this world to be the Christ. You know what that means? That's
important to understand that word, Christ. Every Jew understood
it as Messiah. It's the same thing. The one
God had purposed to come and save, He is the one. that God is purposed to save,
that He should come and deliver Israel, that His dying on the
cross, we believe that His dying on the cross was the purpose
of God in saving His people. If you don't believe that, then
you're anti-Christ. If you believe not, that God
is manifest in the flesh. Remember what Jesus said, He
said, if you believe not that I am, if you believe not that
I am. What do you mean by that? Every Jew knew what he said because
they want to kill him when he said these things. He was talking
about that instance where Moses was the burning bush where God
appeared to Moses and he said, I am that I am. What is Christ
confessing? I'm God. If you believe not that
I am God, you shall die in your sins. This thief believed he
was God. The other one did not believe
he was God. This thief understood something. Secondly, he confessed the guilt
of his sin. He understood the guilt of his
sin. He said, Dost thou not fear God,
seeing thou art in the same condition? We indeed justly, for we receive
the due reward of our deeds. But this man hath done nothing
amiss. This thief understood his guilt.
He was a dying man on his way out, and he knew he was guilty.
He knew he was guilty. He said to that other thief,
Don't you know we deserve this? If God ever puts a man in conviction,
he'll experience that. If God is the author of salvation,
and I know he is, if he leads me to myself, he's just right. If he doesn't save me, he's right. I confess that. I confess that
God is just, and I am guilty. If God sends me to hell, it's
just what I deserve. He confessed his sin was worthy
of a just reward, and so do we. If God should mark iniquity,
who should stand? Is there anyone who wants to
be able to stand before God? If God marked your iniquity, who shall
stand? But he also confessed something
else, that that man next to him had no sin. He said, but this
man hath done nothing wrong. This man, even the enemies of
God confessed that. Pilate said, I find no fault
in this man. I find no fault. Why do you want
to kill him? I just told you, I just judged
him and I found no fault. I sent him over to that snake
Herod and he found no fault in him. They found no fault in him. Why? He was the sinless son of
God, the spotless lamb of God. We do believe then that he was
the only sinner's substitute. The only hope for me is that
He was paying for my sin. That my sin, He bore in His own
body on the tree. You know, after this, the scripture
says the sun was darkened. There was no light. It was darkness. It wasn't an eclipse as they
would always, you could schedule an eclipse. Even these people
had a calendar where they could tell by when an eclipse was coming.
Something happened here. It was a miracle. God caused darkness to cover
the face of the earth for a reason. There was a transaction taking
place that we can't understand. God made him to be sin for us
who knew no sin. That we, like that thief, should
be made the righteousness of God in him. It was there God
charged him with our sin and he bared them on his own body
and it was God executing judgment on his son. And yet at the same time, this
man had done nothing amiss. Fourthly, he confessed him to
be king. Look at verse 42. And he said unto Jesus, what? Lord. Again, this is the greatest example
of faith that I've ever seen in all humanity. This guy was
looking at a figure that you couldn't even recognize. He was
so marred. He was so beat that you could
not even tell it was a man. And yet he looked over there
and he said, Lord, remember me when you come into
your kingdom. See, only kings have kingdoms.
This God believed that this was the king. This was the king. Remember me. There is no true
faith in Christ unless he is both Lord and Savior. You can't
have a Savior without him being Lord. You can't confess him to
be Lord unless he is your Savior. We who believe therefore bow
down as Christ as king. He is the king over us and his
word is final in our salvation. We come to him like that leper.
Lord, if you will, you can make me
clean. The thief was saying, Lord, if
you will be merciful when you come into your kingdom, be merciful. He was prostrating, couldn't
move. Couldn't move his body, couldn't do anything. What could
that thief do to earn his favor? Tell me what he could do. Nothing. Lord, remember me. And so we who bow to him, we
know this, 1 Corinthians 6, 19, what? No, you not, your body
is a temple of the Holy Spirit, which is in you, which you have
of God. How'd that spirit get in there? How'd that faith get in there?
How'd that love get in there? How'd all this fruit and spirit
get in there? Of God? And you are not your own. That
thief understood something. He belonged to that man next
to him. I belong to you. Remember me. You are bought with the price,
therefore glorify God in your body and your spirit, which are
God's. And we know this, that he is
the king of the kingdom of God. When thou comest into thy kingdom,
this thief knew that there was a kingdom to come. You suppose this thief had any
hope of the future? That other guy, he had hope of
the future. He was hoping that Jesus would
get him down so he could go on about his life. That's what he
wanted. He wanted this life. This thief had no interest in
this life. This life was over. And his only
interest was the future kingdom of God. And therefore he looked
to the city whose builder and maker is God, and he saw Christ
as the king. Lord, remember me. And so, we who believe, we know
this is our confession. He's God, manifest in the flesh. We know this, he is righteous,
and only by his death can I have any hope. And I know this, he's
the king. And he has a kingdom, and it
is my prayer to him, Lord, remember me. Be merciful to me, a sinner. Now then the Lord's response
to such a thief, look at verse 43, Jesus said, truly, now listen,
truly, this is an absolute truth, I say unto thee, the king says,
your king says this, today thou shalt be with me in paradise
today. This is the promise of Christ
to this believing thief today, not tomorrow, not when I come
back. But this very day, you shall
be with me in paradise. You remember when the Lord died,
he died for all the written for either one of the other ones.
He gave up the ghost. He said, Lord, it's finished. It's done. What a good what a
good word that thief heard. When he died, it's finished.
And he gave up the Lord into thy hands. I commit my spirit.
Oh, he was gone. Christ with the father. That
thief had to stay there for a few more hours. Looking at his dead
savior. You're not supposed his faith
was tried. His faith was tested. In those few short hours. But
it wasn't long, God in mercy sent some Roman soldiers to break
his legs. They broke his legs. And in that
very moment, he was in paradise with Christ. He has been there
for over 2,000 years. What a hope for us who believe.
that when this body lies cold in the grave, the moment our
breath leaves this body, we are in paradise with Christ. You know why heaven's paradise?
Because Christ is there. That's why it's paradise, because
Christ is there. And where does his people wanna
be? I wanna be with him. I want to be with Him. Believer in Jesus Christ, we
have this hope, too, of eternal life, that whosoever confesses
that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, is born of God. We confess He was God manifest
in the flesh. If we confess that we are guilty,
and have need of a redemption we cannot provide for ourselves.
If we confess that Jesus Christ is the Lamb of God that beareth
away the sin of the world, if we confess that Jesus is the
King and bow to Him in faith, we have this promise, truly,
the moment we die, we shall be in paradise. But I know this,
that thief, his life was not very long in the faith. Many
of us have been in the faith for many years. But the same spirit that kept
the thief for those few hours is the same spirit that keeps
every believing thief. Every one of us are kept by the
power of God. So who made the difference? God
made the difference. This man was a raver. This man was a thief.
This man was a robber. This man was a murderer. He he
was being crucified. He railed against Christ. Then
all of a sudden, out of nowhere, he changed. That's what happened to me. I
was robbing God of his glory. I thought my knowledge of Calvinism
was going to get me into heaven. What was I doing? I was robbing
God of his glory. I was a thief. When God showed me I was a thief,
he also showed me that Christ was the only hope for me. And
in the power of God, I believed. Who gets the glory? God does. Why? It's God that saves sinners. It's God that keeps us. I'm so
thankful that he saved this thief. Just like he saved that thief.
On purpose. No accidental salvations. No accidental salvations. All
on purpose. Pray that this is your confession.
If it is, you have hope. Good hope.