Well, it's a pleasure to be with
you all this morning. Tracy and I look forward to our
trips we're going to make here. We've got a lot of really good
friends and we appreciate the hospitality and love you guys
always show to us. If you would open your Bibles to the book
of Luke. Luke chapter 23. Luke 23. In Luke 23, in this chapter,
the Lord Jesus Christ is hanging on the cross and He's dying for
the sins of His people. In the last few moments before
He gives up the ghost, there's a few words spoken by two thieves,
one of them hanging on his right and one hanging on his left.
And this evening, I want to take a few minutes to talk about the
words that these two men spoke to each other and to the Lord.
Now, let's look in verse 39 of Luke 23. And one of the malefactors, which
were hanged, railed on him, saying, If thou be Christ, save thyself
and us. But the other answering reviewed
him, saying, Does 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 has done
nothing amiss. And he said unto Jesus, Lord,
remember me when thou comest into the kingdom. Now, the one
thief When he addresses the Lord, he starts out with, if, if thou
be the Christ. If is a word of doubt. This man
is saying, he's admitting that he doesn't think this man next
to him is the Christ. Now, if we look in Matthew 27,
look over in Matthew 27, Matthew 27, 39. Verse 39, I'm sorry, 27, 39. And they that
pass by reviled him, wagging their heads and saying, Thou
that destroyest the temple and buildest it in three days, save
thyself. If thou be the son of God, come
down from the cross. Verse 41, we get more ifs. Likewise, also the chief priests
mocking him with the scribes and elders said he saved others
himself. He cannot save if he be the king
of Israel. Let him now come down from the
cross and we will believe him. He trusted in God. Let him deliver
him now. If he will have Him, for He said,
I am the Son of God." Another thing the word if can
be used for is to try to force someone to prove something. If thou be the Son of God, come
down from the cross. If He be the King of Israel,
let Him come down. If God will have Him, let Him
save Him. Just because someone doesn't
do something, it doesn't mean that they can't. Now, look at
Luke chapter 4 here. And I'm going to repeat what
I just said. Just because someone doesn't do something, it doesn't
mean they can't. And kids, that's a good lesson
to learn. Just because someone challenges you to see if you
can do something doesn't mean you necessarily should do it.
In Luke 4, verse 3, this is after 40 days being tempted of the
devil with no food. Luke 4, 3, And the devil said
unto him, If thou be the Son of God, command this stone that
it be made bread. And Jesus answered him, saying,
It is written that man shall not live by bread alone, but
by every word of God. Now, verse 9, the same chapter,
and he brought him to Jerusalem and set him on a pinnacle of
the temple and said unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast
thyself down from hence. For it is written, He shall give
his angels charge over thee to keep thee. And in their hands
they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot
against a stone. And Jesus answered, said unto
him, It is said thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God. And when
the devil had ended all the temptation, he departed from Him for a season."
The Lord didn't give end to temptation here for the same reason that
He didn't take Himself off the cross. Because His time on this
earth was to simply be about His Father's business and to
save His people. And we would be very wise to
avoid any conversation or any thoughts where we ask for any
proof from God. We are given infinite proof in
this book, in the Bible, of who the Lord is, that Jesus Christ
is the Son of God, and He is just and holy in all that He
does. Now, back to our text, let's
look at the other thief for a second. The other thief didn't have the
same doubts this one thief started. He begins his in verse 42, and
he said unto Jesus, Lord. He knew who this man next to
him was. And then he even chided the other thief for not knowing. This thief didn't need proof,
he simply believed. Now, you can also tell a lot
about someone by the way they say something. I remember as
a child doing chores for my mother. And of course, I didn't want
to do them, whether it was vacuuming or dusting or whatever it was.
And the moment I finished the last one and she said I could
go or I was free or I could go play, I was gone. I knew that
I had to run away. But every once in a while I would
hear, Luke, And I would go, what? And then I'd get in trouble and
I'd argue, all I said was what? And then my mom would look and
say, it's not what you said, it's how you said it. Now, this
thief gives everything away in verse 39 when he says, and one
of the malefactors which were hanged railed on him. Now, you
can't rail on someone and have any respect for them. That's
just not the way you do it. And it doesn't matter what he
said following it because of the way he said it. He showed
that he did not have any respect for the Lord. Now, the other
thief rebukes him right away in verse 40. Does not thou fear
God? And later when he spoke, it was
with reverence when he said, Lord. Now, throughout Scripture,
many people approach the Lord. Some in person, some in prayer,
but unanimously, all the results come from the way that they approach. Now, I want to look at a couple
examples of this in the Scripture. Now, the reason that the results
come from the way we approach is because the Lord looks on
the heart. We spend so much time on this earth trying to fool
people, and we're actually really good at it. But when we approach
the Almighty God, there is no fooling and there is no faking.
Now, look over in just a couple of pages, Luke 18, a very familiar
passage of Scripture with the Pharisee and the publican. Luke
18, verse 10. Two men went up into the temple
to pray, the one a Pharisee and the other a publican. And notice
the Pharisee, he's capitalized. Republicans, he's got a lowercase
name. I fast for the Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself. God, I thank thee that I am not
as other men are extortioners, unjust adulterers, or even as
this publican. I fast twice in the week. I give
tithes of all that I possess. And the publican standing afar
off. would not lift up so much as
his eyes unto heaven, but smoke upon his breast, saying, God,
be merciful to me, a sinner. I tell you, this man went down
to his house justified rather than the other for everyone that
exalted himself shall be abased and he that humbled himself shall
be exalted. Now, again, Luke eight, we'll
look at a second example of this Luke eight. Verse 43, another
really familiar story, one of my favorites. Luke 8, 43, And a woman having
an issue of blood twelve years, which had spent all her living
upon physicians, neither could be healed of any, came behind
him and touched the border of his garment, and immediately
her issue of blood stanched. And Jesus said, Who touched me? When all denied, Peter and they
that were with him said, Master, the multitude thronged thee,
impressed thee, and sayest thou, Who touched me? Basically saying
everyone's touching you here. And Jesus said, Somebody has
touched me, for I perceive that virtue is gone out of me. And
when the woman saw that she was not hid, she came trembling and
falling down before him. She declared unto him before
all the people for what cause she had touched him and how she
was healed immediately. Many people were touching him,
yet only one was healed. Mark's account tells us when
she had heard of Jesus came in the press behind and touched
his garment, for she said to herself, if I may touch his clothes,
I shall be whole. Now, you might say, well, she
used the word if. She uses the word if here in
regard to her ability. She's questioning whether she
can even touch him. She's not doubting his saving
power, she's doubting herself. And then in verse 48 here, it
says, And he said unto her, Daughter, be of good comfort, thy faith
hath made thee whole, go in peace. The publican and this woman both
came in faith. They thought nothing of themselves
and they both got the due reward. Now, we need to remember this,
that when anything, anything is dealing with the Lord Jesus
Christ, it must be done with reverence and meekness. Whether
it's preaching, teaching, singing, praying, talking to our children,
a conversation at work, or when we come in this place to worship,
the most important thing to remember is who God is and who we are. And to realize that it's God's
grace that keeps us from hating Him and hating this gospel. Now,
back in our text, another difference between these two men is what
they asked for. The one thief asks to survive. He says, save thyself and us,
while the other thief asks to be remembered. Lord, remember
me. This man doesn't want to die
on the post. This man, he doesn't want to
die in his sin. This thief desires earthly life. This thief desires eternal life. This man is in pain and is asking
to be set free, while this man is in a different kind of pain,
pain in his sin, and wants to be saved from it. Now, these
reactions and desires of these two men come from one thing.
This thief over here, he fears death, while this thief fears
God. Now, the only reason to fear
death is because you don't know God. The one thief asked the
other, does not thou fear God? Well, the simple answer is no,
he doesn't. And that's because in 39 he admits
he doesn't know God. He says, if. He says, if thou
be God, if thou be the Christ. Now, let's look at Proverbs 14. One of my favorite verses. on
the fear of the Lord. Proverbs 14, verse 26 and 27. In the fear of the Lord is strong
confidence and His children shall have a place of refuge. The fear
of the Lord is a fountain of life. to depart from the snares
of death. The fear of the Lord gives confidence
and a refuge. The children of God who fear
Him, they have a hiding place in the Lord. This thief has completely
missed it. Without the fear of the Lord,
there is no escape from death. He didn't fear God because he
did not know Him. Kids, when I was younger, I really
struggled with the fear of God. Fearing anything didn't sound
like a good thing to me. And let me give an illustration
to try to explain it. A few years ago, I was at a school
function with a lot of parents and kids running around everywhere,
and I was just sitting on a bench, kind of on the periphery, watching.
And a woman walked over where I was sitting, looking really
frustrated and in a bad mood, and she sat down beside me. And
I asked, you know, is there anything I can do? And she said, no, I've
just been talking to my son and he's failing his high school
English class. And I just don't know what I'm
going to do. His teacher just must be an idiot because my son
should not be failing English. And, you know, I guess I'm just
going to have to go talk to him. I'm going to tell him. I'm going
to tell him he's not going to fail my son. And she then paused for
a second and she looked at me and she goes, well, what are
you doing here? You look awful young, you know, to have a kid
in high school. And I said, well, I'm just chaperoning
the event. And she says, oh, what do you do? And I said, well,
I'm the only male English teacher in the high school. And her eyes got really big and
her face turned bright red and she just froze. She had just
found out who I was. Now let me connect this back.
We all go about our business on the earth oblivious to God. Then one day our eyes are opened
and we see who God is and what we are. And what we are compared
to His power, His justice, His holiness, His glory. And we rightfully
develop a fear of God. And we see that despite all our
talk, all our best efforts, all the good things we do, we're
nothing. And the Holy Spirit shows us
that we're empty. Then we find out we need just
one thing. We just need the Lord. And we're
fearful because we can't understand why He would want us or why He
would choose us. And there is no reason He would
choose us other than His grace. There's no reason for why He
should choose us and we should be found in Him. And our fear
will last until one day we find out that we are in Him. And if
you don't fear Him, it's because you don't know Him. And if you
do fear Him, it's because He's been revealed to you. Now back to our text. And in verse 41, we see that one thief knows himself
really well. And although the other thief
may not agree, he includes him in these statements. Thou art
in the same condemnation, and we indeed justly, for we receive
the due reward of our deeds." He knows he's a sinner. Now,
you might say, of course he knows he's a sinner. He's being put
to death for a sin. Well, I ask you, if you went
somewhere and found a bunch of people who'd been convicted of
crimes, and you ask them how many of them think they're sinners,
I'm pretty sure you'd find an awful lot of them who said they
weren't. That's not the reason this thief knows that he's a
sinner. It's not because he's hanging on that cross. The only
way this man knew he was a sinner was because it had been revealed
to him by the Holy Spirit. And I love what my pastor says,
and I'm sure you've heard this. It's one thing to believe in
total depravity, but it's a total different thing to believe you
are totally depraved. Now, we must be shown our sin
and made to own it before we would ever believe how truly
bad we are. And this man in verse 41 says,
but this man has done nothing amiss. So he says, we've done
all these things and we deserve to be here. But this man, the
Lord, he hasn't done anything amiss. He believes that the Lord
was not guilty. But he believed more than that.
Pilate even said, having examined him before you, I found no fault
in this man. There were plenty of people who
thought he was not guilty. But this thief believed he was
perfect. He believed in the sinlessness
of Christ. And let me see if I can show
you this by the definition of the word amiss. He said, this
man has done nothing amiss. That word means out of place
or out of the proper order. So if we read it again, this
thief is saying, the Lord hath done nothing out of place, or
the Lord hath put things in the proper order. All this is by
His purpose. Everything that happens in the
world is by the hand of God. And what comfort comes from knowing
that and trusting in that? trusting in the providence of
God. And this thief believes that whatever the Lord does in
this moment that he's hanging on the cross is right. Now, I've
talked about numerous differences between these two men, but there's
a lot of similarities. Both men are in the same predicament. Both men are thieves. Both men
have sinned. They both have been caught. They
both have been convicted. They were both getting ready
to die. Their time on this earth was no longer measured in days
and years, but in minutes and in seconds. Neither of them could save themselves. They both needed a savior. Now, can anybody else identify
with this thief? He's a guilty sinner, deserving of what he's
getting. Lost for all his life and has
nothing but filthy rags to show, he's about to die. Do you know
which thief I'm talking about? He's worthless. He has no merit.
He's void of good works, having probably never been baptized,
maybe never before seeing or hearing the Lord. Which thief
am I talking about? I'm talking about both. I can
identify with both of these men. Because these two men are exactly
the same, except the Lord had given one of them a new heart.
Despite all these characteristics, his eyes were open, he was given
a new nature, and his heart was made anew. And the only way that
I'm different from anybody in another building that I passed
on my way this morning, And the only difference that any of you
are different from any other vile sinner who hates this gospel
is because of what he has done in us. That's why he asked in verse
42, Lord, remember me when thou comest
into thy kingdom. His only desire is that the Lord
remembers him. I pray that that is my request
and that's your request because we don't need anything other
than to be found in Him. And this thief does show great
faith here. He shows great faith in the Lord and especially at
this time. The Lord is being crucified. He's being derided
by all these men, including Pharisees and scribes and these very high
influential people. The Lord looks, He's not, but
He looks weak and helpless. The apostles are gone. He's suffering
this shameful punishment and He's about to die. Yet, by the
Spirit of God, this thief had faith, faith to believe in Christ. And we should have the same confidence
as the thief had. Not confidence in ourself, not
confidence in anything we've done, But confidence and surety
in the Lord Jesus Christ. That when, as this thief says,
when thou comest into the kingdom, not like the other thief, not
if, but when thou comest into thy kingdom, remember me. Now,
I've spent a lot of time talking about these two thieves and the
words that were said on the cross. A conversation that happened
in just a few moments right before the death of the Lord. And we've
analyzed what both men have said, all to arrive at this one critical
point. This one thief got a response
while the other thief was left to himself. The Lord Jesus Christ, God Almighty,
responded to this thief. We just talked about what kind
of man he was. He's a lost sinner and all the onlookers, he didn't
have one redeeming quality. He didn't look any different
than the other thief. But he was a sheep. And the Lord said
in Matthew 15, I am not sent, but unto the lost sheep of the
house of Israel. Our Lord was dying on the cross.
A man who knew no sin, he was putting away the sins of his
people, suffering in agony as he was made sin. And during all
this, he brought this child of God to him and gave him a response. Aren't we thankful that the Lord
brings his children to him? I heard a man say one time, if
you were to go camping with your family, and one of your children
wanders off and gets lost. How long are you going to look
for that child? I imagine there's only one reason
that you'd stop looking. And that's when you found them. How much more then will the Holy
Son of God seek His children, find His children, and bring
them home to Him? Turn to Luke 19. Luke 19, verse 10. Luke 19, 10, for the Son of Man
is come to seek and to save that which is lost. We're all lost. Most of us just don't realize
it. Or we just don't know it yet. And you know what the hardest
thing about being lost is? We don't know if anyone is looking
for us. And you may feel like, oh, I
know they're looking for me, but you don't know. And you know,
when you know that someone's looking for you, when they find
you, this thief had at last been found, even though the Lord always
knew where he was. But. With that being said, also
realize that the other thief He was never acknowledged. And
that's because he wasn't a sheep. Now, the Lord responding to the
one man also shows us that if we call on his name, we will
be heard. Turn to Romans 10. Romans chapter 10. We'll read
verse 13. For whosoever shall call upon
the name of the Lord shall be saved." For whosoever, I heard
my pastor make the comment, I am so glad that that doesn't say
Luke Coffey. Because I just found out a few
weeks ago, there's a guy who lived down the street from me
in Lexington named Luke Coffey. So if it said Luke Coffey, I
wouldn't know if he was talking about me or not. But that's a
whosoever, I'm one of those. We're all whosoevers. And whosoever
shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. Call out,
Lord, help me. Lord, forgive me. Give me faith to believe. Lord,
save me. Throughout the Scriptures, we're
told to call upon the Lord, and I pray that we do so, that we
ask, Lord, remember me. Now, let's finish up back in
our text, looking at the particular response the Lord gave. Verse 43, And Jesus said unto
him, Verily I say unto thee, Today shalt thou be with me in
paradise. Verily can be translated as surely
or so be it. So this thief says, Lord, remember
me. And the Lord replies, so be it or surely. Because if you're
a sheep, it is surely it's done. And then he says today, shalt
thou be with me in paradise. There's no way for this man.
He's going to die right then. But today you'll be there with
me. The Lord says you'll be there with me. And that's the only
way to get to paradise. We must be found in him, our
sacrifice, our substitute, our savior. We must be found in him. He's the only way to enter paradise. And what is paradise? It can
be translated heaven, but paradise isn't explained best as a what
or a where. Paradise is a who. Paradise is
being with the Lord Jesus Christ. And looking at these different
things, this child of God did and said, he approached with
reverence. He believed he knew that he was
a sinner. He knew he deserved justice.
He feared God. He knew that the Lord could save
him and he called upon the Lord. All of these things, I do ask.
I ask the Lord that we would do these things, that we would
be made to know what sinners we are, that we would be made
to approach and that we would do so with reverence. That we
would believe. That we would know that we don't
deserve anything. That we would be given a fear
of God. And we would also know that the
Lord could save us and that we would definitely call upon His
name. But through all these things
that this man did, don't take away on how great all these things
are that he did, but instead rejoice in how great our God
is. And then he did all of this for
one of his sheep. And pray that he would do all
of this for me and for you. And that in our day, we would
be like this thief, remembered by the Lord Jesus Christ, and
we'd be found in Him. May the Lord bless His Word.