Thank you for that very much. Let's go to the book of Luke,
and I want you to turn to the 23rd chapter of Luke. This portion of Scripture that
I'm going to read to you and attempt to preach from, you've
read it lots of times. And most of you, maybe all of
you, have heard many, many messages on this portion of Scripture
of the thief and the Savior. And I want to read this to you
and then speak to you on the thief's prayer and our Lord's
answer. Okay, are you there? Luke 23, 39. And one of the malefactors, which
were hanged, wrailed on him, saying, If thou
be Christ, save Thyself and us. The word reil means blaspheming
his name. Ridiculed. The one dying on the
middle of the cross. But the other. The other answering rebuked him,
saying, Does not thou fear God? seeing thou art in the same nation. And we indeed justly, for we
receive the due reward of our deeds. But this man, this man
hath done nothing amiss. 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. One of the songs that we enjoy
singing, there is a fountain filled with blood by William
Cooper. One of the stanzas goes this
way, the dying thief rejoiced to see that fountain in his day. And there may I. And I wonder if we really believe
what we're singing this next line. And there may I, though
vile as he. You really believe that about
yourself? Though vile as he, wash all my sin away. Was there ever a scripture which
more evidenced the fact that our Lord came into the world
to save sinners Was there a passage more revealing of that than this
one? I'm so thankful he came to save
sinners. I'm one. And I hope God has brought you
to see that you are. It was for such that our Lord
Jesus died. He said the whole need not a
physician, but they that are sick. Now, you go learn what
that means. You know, the earthly ministry
of our Savior was filled with wonders. In every aspect of His
public ministry, we see a mixture of His humanity and His deity. He showed human meekness, And
he showed absolute divine authority. He showed human humility. But he also showed divine power. We constantly see in him a glorious
mixture, a glorious combination of his humanity and his deity. When he was born into this world,
he was but a little infant, and yet he is the infinite of
days, all the while in his infancy. The Savior came to be a servant,
and yet the wise men from the East, they came seeking that
one who is the King of the Jews. It's just a marvelous combination
of a real man and the real God. And that's what we discover here
in this portion of Scripture. Here's a real man, suffering,
agonizing, bleeding beyond our, comprehension
of the bloodbath that was all over him. Here we find him thirsty as a
man. I thirst, he said. And yet here
we find him as God. And his act here in dying in
dying as a man, one of his last acts is he actually reaches out
and he saves a sinner. That's an act of God. Nobody
can do that but God. It would do you no good for me
to say to you, well, when I die, if you're a believer, you'll
join me in heaven. Well, it might encourage you
a little bit, That really doesn't help you any. But if that one
who is God over all, blessed forever, if he whispers into
your heart at the time of your death, today, you'll be with
me in paradise. Oh, what peace would absolutely
sweep over your soul. I was thinking this morning as
I was looking over my message again, how often I have asked
the Lord, essentially, Lord, remember me. Remember my worthless
name. I've lived a life of Oh yes,
outward morality, but I'm a sinful man, and I know that. I'm through
and through a sinful man, and you are too, but how often I
have asked the Lord, remember me. If He'll just remember me. If He'll just think of me. I know He has a multitude of
things, all things upon His infinite mind, and He's capable of giving
full attention to every detail of everything in the vastness
of His universe. I know that. I can't comprehend
that, but I know that and I believe that. And I still pray, Lord,
remember me. Just remember me. And before
I go deeper into the message, let me honestly say this to all
of you. If from your innermost being, you really mean it when you say
that Jesus is the Lord. And if you really mean it, when
you utter this cry from your soul, Lord, remember me! Remember me! If you really mean
it, I promise you this, He will. He will. Here is a beggar at
the footstool of mercy, and the merciful one is hanging right
beside him. He speaks to the only one who
can help him. This thief doesn't have anything
to say to the chief priests and the elders who were gathered
around the crosses. Those who were gazing up at Jesus
of Nazareth, mocking Him and blaspheming Him. This believing
thief has nothing to say to them. They can't help him. They don't
even understand they need help. He speaks to the only one who
can help you. And I'm telling you, now you
hear me, this Lord Jesus Christ is the only one who can help
you. There's no help to be found anywhere else. Here's the Savior dying. Isaiah
says He was numbered with the transgressors. In His great humiliation, He's
associated with two violent malefactors or criminals. But you know, He was never ashamed
to be associated with sinners. The Pharisees mocked him on more
than one occasion, and certainly they kept saying, he's the friend
of sinners. He's a friend of publicans and
sinners. Those crooked tax collectors,
he's friends with them. When he went to the home of Zacchaeus,
who was himself the chief of the tax collectors, They said,
behold, He's gone home with a sinner. Bless the name of our Savior.
He goes home with sinners. He's gone home with me. What
about you? He goes home with me. And by the grace of God, He's
welcomed in my home. What about yours? And here He is, hanging on the
cross. Real man. and real God. Let me just give
you four things this morning in this message, and I hope it'll
be fresh to you and new to you, even though you've read and heard
many, many messages on this passage of Scripture as we think about
the thief's prayer and the Lord's answer. Number one here is deserved
justice. deserved justice. These two thieves
were getting what they deserved. These men, most likely along
with their other cohort in crime, Barabbas, were all enemies of
the Roman government. They had committed insurrection
and murder. That's what the scripture says.
These two men, most likely being the companions of Barabbas, were
murderers. They were thieves, they were
common criminals. Back then they called them the
highway men. who would ambush people traveling
along the roads and rob them, and they would think nothing
of doing injury to those people they robbed or even killing them.
That's who these two thieves are. They're wretched men. And both of them at one time
were blaspheming. Both were reviling the name of
Jesus of Nazareth. Blasphemy! I hate to hear blasphemy,
don't you? We were listening to a speech
from our president, Nancy and I were, a couple of weeks ago. In the space of about two minutes,
he took God's name in vain six times. So I'm not listening more. I don't care what he's got. I
don't care whether you're a Democrat or Republican. I don't care whether
you're conservative or a liberal. Don't take God's name in vain.
This man blasphemed the name of the Son of God. Both of them
did. And you know what? According to the book of Revelation,
one of them is still blaspheming the name of God into hell. He's
still blaspheming the name of God for the pain and the agony
he's suffering, and he still will not repent. That's what's
in store for blasphemous, unless God does something for you. You
just remember the name of the Lord. His name is Holy and Reverend. That's His name. You watch how
you use his name. I don't care how you use my name.
You can drag my name through the mud. That's all right. That's
all right. But you don't take his name in
vain. Don't you ever speak lightly
of God. God doesn't take that lightly. Both of them were reviling the
name of the Savior. And both of these malefactors,
they were very much alike in their sinfulness, their depravity,
their lack of a knowledge of Christ Jesus as Savior. They
were alike in their practice, in the way they lived their lives,
and now alike in the punishment they were receiving from the
legal authorities. They were getting what they deserved. And that's the way it is with
us sinners. If we leave this old world in
our sinful condition, we will get just exactly what we deserve. Oh, God have mercy on you. God
have mercy on you. God have mercy on me. May he
bring us to the footstool of his sovereign mercy and bring
us down before him. He's the Lord. Will you not bow
to him? Will you not receive him as the
only savior of sinners? Will you not acknowledge your
neediness and his great ability to help you? Will you not come
to the Savior? Oh, that he would draw you unto
himself. So here's deserved justice. Number
two, here's sovereign grace. Behold the sovereignty of grace. Here were two men reviling, blaspheming,
cursing the name of God. No outward difference between
these men. Both were guilty, both were deserving
of that which they were receiving. Isaiah chapter five, and I think
this certainly comes into play here, says, hell hath opened
her mouth without measure, ready to receive two more. These are two men deserving of
everlasting punishment. And hell, as it were, was opening
her jaws. I'll take two more. There wasn't anything in either
man to draw forth the salvation or the grace or the mercy of
the Lord. Both were going out into eternity,
and both of them, when they led them to Calvary's mountain to
be crucified, both of them knew that before the sun went down,
they'd both be out in eternity. I don't know how much they knew
about judgment, but it appears that both of them
were quite content to go out and face death and face God being
blasphemous. And yet, yet, one man was touched in his
heart. What happened? What happened? He was cursing. He was blaspheming. And then all of a sudden, as
he hears his cohort in crime, as he hears him continuing to
blaspheme, all of a sudden this one thief says, don't you fear
God? He's got a fear of God now. Don't
you fear God? Don't you reverence God? Don't
you know we're going out into eternity to meet God? Don't you worship God? I tell you, quickening grace
got a hold of him. You see, the Savior said, except
a man be born again, he can't enter into the kingdom of God.
He's born again. The Lord did an invisible work
within his soul and he changes his tune real quick. He goes from being a blasphemer
to a beggar for mercy. He goes from being an unbeliever
to a believer in an instant. An invisible authority
was working in his heart. That's what we need. That's what
we need. An invisible authority. We need
God the Spirit to do work within us. You say, Jim, I don't understand
how people can live and die, live and face death without a
Savior, without righteousness, without forgiveness. I just,
I can't comprehend that. While I can, they're dead in
trespasses and sins. And until someone quickens them
by His mighty grace, they'll continue down that road. Or it
may be not the road of outward wickedness or vileness. It may
be a road of false religion. and here gathered around the
cross of our Savior and these other two men who were dying,
there was a vast network of religious folk authorities, people who
knew the Bible, people who believed in election. Oh yeah, the chief
priests did. They believed they were the elect.
So I believe in the sovereignty of God. That's not salvation,
now hang on. I believe sovereignty too. I
believe in election too, but election is unto salvation, the
scripture says. That's Bible. I know who died for sinners,
the Savior did. The Lord Jesus did. Here's a man, to all outward appearances, he's
ready to go to hell. I mean, that's where he's going.
If his mom was a believer and his dad was a believer and they
were there and said, oh no, oh no. My son tried to teach Him
the truth, tried to teach Him about the Messiah, tried to teach
Him about the necessity of substitution and satisfaction, but He never
would listen. Oh, the tears that we've shed,
the prayers that we've prayed. Well, you keep on shedding the
tears and you keep on praying. But remember this, the only one
who can really help them is an almighty Savior. Yeah, I was thinking, and I've
made mention of this, it's a good thing to be under the sound of
the gospel from just when you were just a small tyke. But I'm very much, I worry about
people who've always been under the sound of the gospel. They
think, well, I'm okay. I never went to, let's say, under
a false religion. I'm fine. You must be a believer
in the Lord Jesus Christ. It influences good. Correct teaching
is beneficial. No question about that. There's
only one who can save. Don't ever forget that. This
is an instance of free grace. Nothing was asked of this man,
nothing was required of this man. The Lord set no rules before
him to obey, no laws to keep, no ordinance to be obedient to. I'm sure that had he lived, one
of the Lord's disciples would have baptized him. But the Savior
didn't say, well, you need to go through a probationary period
of conviction. Come back and talk to me when
you've suffered agony, agonizing over your sins over six months
or so, and I'll talk to you then. Nothing like that. There's no
time for that. You see, the Scripture says,
today's the day of salvation. Not, okay, go home and think
about it. Come back and see me in six months. I heard George
Whitfield preach years ago, and so the story goes in his biography,
that this person said, I'm such a terrible sinner, what should
I do? Whitfield is said to have spoken to that man and said,
just go home and ask God to show you what a wretch you really
are. No, you don't want to go home
and ask God to show you what a wretch you really are. You
need to close with Christ Jesus right now. Right now. There's no time for this man
for a protracted period of conviction. It's now. Now. Man didn't have much time left. Well, is the Lord gonna leave
it in his hands? No. No. Here's sovereign grace. Say, well, I don't think it's
fair for the Lord to save one thief and not the other thief. Neither one of them deserve saving. So you would argue with God because
he purposed to show mercy to one and not to both? Is it not his right to give the
gift of salvation, the gift of his darling son to one? and then just leave the
other one as he found him. This is an instance of sovereign
grace. Don't give the thief credit. That which he cried out, he cried
because an invisible authority put that cry in his heart. Lord,
remember me. Remember me. And I'll tell you, he has a changed
attitude, number three. Here's a changed attitude. Here's
a remarkable instance of repentance. He's a self-confessed sinful
man. No excuse. No alibis. No promises of reformation. No
vows to God, I'll try to do better. And he doesn't even ask the Savior
to let him come down from the cross and not die. He didn't
say, please don't let me die. Spare me this death. No, that wasn't his crime. A
lot of people want physical sufferings to be over through healing. That wasn't his crime. This is
a man with a changed attitude. It's a remarkable instance of
repentance. And he says to his buddy, he
says, we're getting what we deserve. This is what I deserve. Do you
understand if you die and perish in your sins, that's what you
deserve? Justice is what you deserve? Our God is never unjust. Men get exactly what they deserve,
either because Christ died for them and suffered the penalty
for sin for them, or because they die without a Savior. And
here's a remarkable instance of faith. I know you've read Hebrews 11
many times, the faith chapter. The Bible speaks about the faith
of many men and women as well, like the faith of Abraham. But
I would suggest to you, just suggest, There is in the Word
of God no greater act of faith to be found anywhere than the
faith of this man who believed on the Son of God while the Savior
was a gory, bloody mess. And there was nothing physically
about Jesus of Nazareth to even suggest at this point that He
was able to save anyone. And yet the thief believed him. What happened to this thief? Scripture says faith is a gift
of God. The Lord gave him faith to believe
on the Savior. And the evidence of faith is
that he called upon the Son of God for mercy. I say it's a great instance of
faith. After all, where are our Lord's
disciples? Where are they to be found? I
don't hear them calling Him Lord. Not right there at the cross. I don't hear them talking about
the kingdom in front of all of these, the Sanhedrin and all
these religious leaders. I don't hear any of them bragging
on the man hanging on the middle cross. Where are they? They're
scattered. This man dares, he dares to go
against the flowing current of opinion of the crowds as to the
identity of Jesus of Nazareth. Almost everybody else there,
with the exception of the women, a few women who believed the
Savior and John the Apostle, everybody else turned thumbs
down on Jesus. Everybody else is against Him. And here's one man who dares
to speak up. He's not ashamed of it. Lord, remember me, he says, when
you come in your kingdom. He called Jesus Lord. What about
that? Oh, He is the Lord. He's always
been Lord. And now as a man, he's suffering
and he's bleeding, he's dying, that God might be just and justify
the ungodly. God sent him with a work to do,
a work of redemption, a work of reconciliation, a work of
salvation. And our Savior is enduring all
the wrath of men, and as soon as he deals in mercy with this
thief, God's going to cut the lights out. And then he's going
to deal with his son. Three hours of agony. all of the justice of God that
all of His people would have suffered forever. It's going
to fall on the Savior. But before He endures that, and
before God makes everything dark, there's one work He needs to
do. There's a matter of this man's
salvation. He's never too weak to save a
sinner. You want to know how powerful,
how omnipotent Jesus of Nazareth was? Even while dying on the
cross, He's able to save a sinner. Able to save. This is a remarkable
declaration on the part of this man. Lord, remember me. And I'll tell you, after our
Lord's death, burial, and resurrection, Peter preached and you read it.
He preached God made him Lord. He is the Lord. And here's a
remarkable prayer. Lord, remember me when thou comest
into thy kingdom. He acknowledged the Godhead of
Jesus of Nazareth and that must have just stung the hearts of
the enemies of the Savior. After all, this has been the
very issue that they took with him. You're just a man, you say
you're the son of God? And here this thief says, Lord,
remember me. What did he say? Did he call
Jesus of Nazareth Lord? Yes, he did. I'm glad that guy's
dying too. Let them both die together. if
he's so foolish as to believe on Jesus of Nazareth and call
him the Lord. That's what they despised about
the Savior, his lordship, his authority, his Godhead. I'll tell you what, he is the
authority, he is God, he's the sovereign one, whether you like
it or not. And everybody's gonna bow to
him. What a remarkable prayer. Lord,
remember me. Remember me. I'm a condemned
criminal, and I'm breathing my last breaths in a little bit
over three hours. Of course, he didn't know it'd
be a little over three hours, but we do, because we've read
the passage in just a short time. Lord, I'm going to be in eternity.
Remember me. That's all I ask, remember me. And he believed Christ would
have a kingdom. What happens in a kingdom? Everybody honors
the king. He's honoring the king now. Well,
he don't look much like a king. There he is hanging naked. dying between two transgressors. And in the opinion of the Jews,
all three of them were transgressors. All three of them were blasphemers.
Because that was the accusation they brought against the Savior. That's his prayer. And here's
the last thing, the answer. Today, thou shalt be with me
in paradise. Our Lord is at the lowest state
of his humiliation. Justice is being poured out on
him and the fullness of it will be poured out very shortly. But the man says, remember me. Nobody had to coach him as to
what to say. Nobody had to say to that thief,
repeat after me. All you got to do is say the
sinner's prayer and be a poly parent. No, this is just his
cry from his heart. Lord, remember me. Reckon you can pray that prayer
and mean it? Reckon I can pray that prayer
and mean it? I do pray it and I do mean it. Lord, remember
me. That's all I ask. That's all
I ask. And I know you've given me grace
to call you Lord. I believe you're the Lord. You
don't have to remember me. You don't have to think upon
me. You don't have to show me any mercy. You don't owe me anything. But if you would, remember me. And he tells the man that he
was about to receive, watch this, all he asked for was remembrance.
And now the Savior is about to tell him that he's going to receive
exceeding abundantly above all that he could ask or think. Verily, oh, our Savior used that
word when he was gonna announce something astounding. Verily,
I say unto you today, today. You'll be with me in paradise."
Well, that forever removes this idea of purgatory. The Savior
went to paradise, which Paul says is the third heaven. That's
where the glory of God's revealed. That's where the angels of heaven
are headquartered. That's where the Son of God now
sits upon His throne. You'll be with me in paradise.
A lovely walled garden! You'll be with me." And that's all he said to her. And the scripture says, then
it started getting dark real quick. Real quick. Well, This man's a trophy of God's
grace. That's what he is. That's what
we are. I hear people talking about,
I'm working for trophies in heaven. I kind of worry about people
like that. I hate to hear people throw works
into that. Don't you, Ron? I hate that.
Throwing works into your position in heaven. That kind of smells
up everything. We're not going to get trophies.
We are the trophies. We're the trophies of His grace.
And the thief In the book of Revelation, all the saints of
God are seated on all these thrones, none exalted above another, and
we're all encircling one upon the elevated throne, the King
of kings and the Lord of lords. Lord, remember me. Lord, remember
me. today. And I was thinking when
I was looking over my notes this morning again, I said, when time
comes for me to die, if I still have a little bit of my right
mind, if I'm in it, and somebody comes to visit me, to encourage me, So I get ready
to cross the River Jordan. I hope somebody will say to me,
Jim, remember the Savior's words. They're going to come true for
you here real quick. Tell me again what did He say?
He said, today thou shalt be with me. with me in paradise. Thank you for telling me that
again. Don't tell me, you know, you've
been a preacher and you've been studying the scriptures. Don't,
don't talk about what I, talk about him. Give glory to his
name. That's the song we're gonna sing
right now. 489. Number 489, glory to his name.