Before we read the Word of the
Lord, let me lead us in prayer. Our Father, Almighty to save,
the great and eternal God who holds all things in Your hand
and power, we come before You this evening about to read this
glorious place in the Scripture of this man and of our dying
Savior. And we pray that You might cause
this to be a blessing to our heart this evening, to consider
our Lord in the weakness and the suffering hour, even prior
to His death, that He might look with grace and peace upon a condemned
sinner, a criminal, a vile man, and promise him a good afterlife. We ask that you may make these
things a blessing to us, help us to understand, Help us to
see the grace of God shining greatly and brightly, even, Lord,
as He hanged upon that cross, bloody and beating. For we ask
it in the Lord's name. Amen. Alright, in Luke 23, verses
32 and 33, first of all for our reading. And there were also
two other malfactors led with Him to be put to death. And when
they were come to the place which is called Calvary, there they
crucified Him, and the malefactors, one on the right hand and the
other on the left." Down to verse 39, 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,
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 hath done
nothing amiss. And he said unto Jesus, Lord,
remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom. Jesus said
unto him, Verily I say unto thee, Today shalt thou be with me in
paradise. Now the title of our study for
the evening is not original with me. It is suggested rather by
a passage found in Zechariah chapter 3 and verse 2 when Joshua
was ministering before the angel of Jehovah. And there was standing
also Satan beside Joshua in order that he might accuse him unto
our God. And Joshua rebuked Satan, saying
that he had chosen Jerusalem in spite of their sin, and that
they were like a bran plucked out of the burning. And their
recent affliction had caused the Lord God to say that concerning
them. Is this not a brand plucked out
of the burning? The image is found another time
in the little prophet Amos, and I believe it's chapter 4 and
verse 11. And then in Jude the 23rd verse,
remember what we read, others saved with fear, pulling them
out of the fire. Now, the idea behind all of this
seems to be the rescuing of one at the very last minute. The rescuing of one that it appears
is about to be destroyed. The pulling of one from the fire
ere they are consumed and destroyed by that fire. snatched out as
it were at the last minute when it seemed that destruction was
certain and sure. Now surely this man that we have
in our text this evening was both a brand, that is, one raked
from the coals before he is destroyed, plucked from the mouth of destruction,
for he seemed to be on the very verge of it, And he becomes in
that a trophy of the grace of God in our Lord Jesus Christ. Showing the free grace of God
and the depths of that grace and the largeness of that grace. That nothing but the grace of
God is able to save a soul. Nothing but divine sovereignty
can snatch one out from what seems to be pure destruction. This is a great marvel, this
man, that we have in our text for the evening. Before we consider
this man's miraculous transformation, let's look at this incident that
we read about and back up just a little bit, if we might look
back upon the thing, to Pilate as he stood in judgment. Pilate found himself in a great
quandary. in a strait between two, as the
Jews pressed for the crucifixion of the Lord, and he desiring
to let Him go because he had declared Him to be innocent."
Now Pilate sought in several different ways that he might
convince the Jews to allow Christ to go free because Pilate found
no fault in him. He had tried to dissuade them
from their determination to crucify one that Pilate believed to be
an innocent man. If you search the Scripture,
it's very interesting the various ways that Pilate tried to deliver
the Lord from the crucifixion of the cross. Let's look at some
of them before we go on our way. One time, or perhaps first of
all, Pilate declared that he found no cause of death in the
Lord Jesus Christ. He knew it had something to do
with their religion. He knew that it was a religious
dispute that he was caught up in, and so he found no cause
of death in the Lord Jesus. You'll find that in Luke 23 and
verse 4. And when he said that to them,
the Jews answered back unto him. He stirs up, he excites the people. And what they meant was against
Caesar and against the government. So that didn't work. Secondly,
in Luke 23 and 16, he saw that he could not prevail with the
lesser argument, so he said unto them, tell you what I'll do,
I will chastise him real good. And that was A very painful experience
to be chastised by the Roman soldier. He said, I will chastise
him and let him go. Well, that didn't satisfy them
either. Crucify him, crucify him, they
cried out. Thirdly, he offered to release
Jesus and to crucify Barabbas. Now Barabbas was one of the most
sorry rascals you'd ever see, and he thought sure that they'd
choose that vile, ungodly Barabbas to put up on the cross. But that
didn't work either. They wanted the Lord put up on
the cross. So Jesus was condemned under
the death of the cross. And away they go, taking Him
and two others with them on the way to Calvary. And in Luke chapter
23 and verse 32, we notice there were two others also that were
put to death with our Lord upon the cross. In verse 33, when
they came, when they arrived, when they had come to that place
where crucifixions were carried out, called Calvary, the Scripture
said there they crucified Him, our Lord, in a middle cross. and two malefactors, one on either
side of our Lord. Now you notice in Luke that they
are called malefactors by Luke only. That is a wrongdoer, a
criminal, an evil person, an evil man. Mark 15, 27 calls them
two thieves. So does Matthew 27 and verse
38. Now these two men were condemned
criminals. Not by the Jewish Sanhedrin,
but by the government of Rome. And in this, their being crucified,
is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah, and he was numbered with
the transgressors. Isaiah 53 and verse 12. Also note Mark 15 and verse 28
makes mention of that. So we are using Luke's account
of this crucifixion as he is the only one of the four that
records for us the contrition of one of the thieves crucified
with our Lord. And it's Luke and Luke only that
gives us the account and the record of this exchange between
our Lord and the thief on the cross that was crucified nearby
Him. And it is Luke only that tells
us of the exchange that occurred between the two thieves themselves
as they talked one with another. Only Luke distinguishes the two
men in their actions upon the cross. He has already told us
that there were two of them in the 32nd verse, and that they
were thieves, they were criminals, they were malfactors, justly
condemned unto death. Verse 39, one of the malfactors
railed on him, that is, on the Lord Jesus Christ. Verse 40,
the other rebuked him for that. To rail is an archaic old word
that has pretty much fallen out of use. in this sense, in our
language. But it means to jeer at, or it
means to upbraid, it means to denounce one, it means to slander
one, to scorn or to revile someone is the word rail in the Scripture. It means to deride them. It means
to vilify them, make them appear to be evil. Defame their name
and defame their character. Some render it actually blaspheme. They blasphemed or railed against
our Lord. Now this gives us an opportunity
to take notice of the verbal abuse that was heaped upon our
God-man Savior as He was tried, convicted, and put upon the cross. First of all, we are told in
Mark 15 and verse 29 that passers-by railed on him, wagging their
heads, mocking the Lord as they passed by. Secondly, we are told
that the religious leaders also, and that includes the priests
and the scribes in Mark 15 and verse 31, said in effect, he
claims to be a savior of others, let him save himself if he can. Thirdly, we note it, The soldiers
also partook in this verbal abuse of our Lord. In Luke 23 and verse
36, they also mocked Him. And what did they say? If thou
be a king, save yourself, because it was them that had plaited
the crown of thorns and put it upon the head of our Lord. And
then fourthly, as if that were not enough, the thieves themselves
had mocked and derided our Savior upon the cross." Though Luke
confines it to the one. Matthew 27, however, in verse
44 said, the thieves, plural, which were crucified with Him
also cast the same in His teeth. That is, they also said the same
thing. They joined in the mockery of
those that passed by, of the Jews, and of the soldier. They also reproached him. They spoke the same thing as
the others were speaking concerning the Lord. And in Mark chapter
15 and verse 32, and they that were crucified with him reviled
him. Both of them at first, later
the other one recanted. Now, either it was only one that
reviled the Lord, or both of them at first did so until one
was made of another mind and another heart all together. Now
looking at this man, this person, and his relation to our Lord,
we find two marvels, I believe, in these things that occurred
there and the things that we have read of our Lord upon the
cross and those that were with Him. Number one marvel, that
one claiming to be and indeed was, for we believe He was, the
very One of God, had come down from God, the Savior of men. A king over a kingdom is whom
our Lord had claimed to be, the very Son of God, one equal in
every way with the Father, having all power in heaven and earth.
One who claimed that He had power to forgive the sins of others. that such a one as this should
be dying such a shameful and degrading death is a marvel that
one dying the death reserved for the worst criminals upon
the face of the earth. Can this be the holy one of God? This is the one Isaiah told us
about. Can this be that Holy One that
is being put to death upon the cross in such a great and shameful
manner? This was the thing that the people
and the priests, neither the soldiers nor the unrepentant
thief could reconcile in their mind. That if this One is the
Son of God, what's He doing here? That if this One is able to save
others, why can He not also save Himself? Now, they made it the
central point of their mockery and of their derision, as if
to turn their words and others against this man upon the cross. In Mark 15, 29, the last part,
and verse 30, Thou that destroyed the temple and will build it
again in three days, save Thyself, come down off of the cross, they
mocked our Lord. The religious leaders said in
Mark 15 and verse 31, Others He saved, Himself He cannot save. Oh, I'm sure they spoke it derisively. You claim to save men to give
eternal life, bring souls unto heaven, and yet you cannot even
save yourself. Let Him save Himself. If He be
the Christ, the Chosen of God, they cried out at Him. The soldiers
in Matthew 27-29 plaited a crown of thorns, gave Him a cane or
a reed of some kind for His hand, as if to use that for a scepter. Mockingly did they bow the knee
and jest before Him, the King of kings, as He was upon the
cross, enclosing Him in a purple robe and mocking Him. for his
claims to being a king. But Charles Spurgeon wrote, to
mock his kingship, for as the royal robe they put a soldier's
old coat upon him. A king must have a crown, and
his was thorns. A king must have a scepter, but
Spurgeon said they gave him a reed. A king must be due homage and
honor, and so they bow in mockery before our Savior upon that awful
tree. But second, a marvel again we
want to consider, and that is that a very sinful man, a man
not worthy of life in his dying hour, that man would look to
a bleeding, wounded, dying, rejected man and cast his soul to the
care of that dying man. We learn from Luke that the contrite
thief spoke to both his fellow thieves and also spoke words
unto Christ. First, he rebukes his fellow
criminal. He says to him whose entreaty
was to Christ, Are you not the Christ that one of them said?
Then save yourself and us. This had been the taunt of the
Jew. Let him save himself and we will
believe that it is he. Now whether the man speaks it
as truth, or whether the man speaks it only in jest, is hard
for any or for me to say. But one thing is sure, not even
the imminent approach of death will convert a sinner apart from
the grace of Christ. Let him lie in his bed under
the torment and the weight of his sin, and the burning fire
of his conscience, yet he cannot and will not convert apart from
the grace of our Savior, even though it is a fearful thing
to fall into the hands of the living God. Now, let's switch
our focus to this penitent thief, this dying thief by our Lord. He answers the other with a rebuke. He answers his fellow thief with
this rebuke. Do you not even now, seeing the condition
that we are in, seeing the judgment that we are under, do you not
even now fear God, seeing the condemnation that is coming upon
all of us? He makes a dual confession, but
a great set of confessions seldom heard together. Number one, we
are in the same condition, He said. We are condemned to death. We are dying the death that He
is dying here upon the cross with this difference. Ours is
just, He said. We deserve this death. We, on
our part, are getting exactly what we deserve. The penitent
thief said, our death is just. We are receiving the just rewards
of our life and of our deeds. Now the words express the idea.
We on our part are simply justly receiving the thing worthy of
what we have done. There is no injustice, he said,
in what we are receiving. Our punishment is just and right. He freely, this thief does, vindicates
the God of heaven and the civil magistrate in his condemnation
and accepts that no injustice is done to either of the criminal. They have no ground of complaint
or appeal. We receive what we deserve. But secondly, his second confession
rises higher than the first. And in the 41st verse, in the
last part of it, He said, but this man, not able to point because
fixed to a cross, but this man, meaning Jesus, meaning the one
on the middle cross, has done nothing amiss. Now notice these
two confessions. We are guilty. We are justly. and righteously condemn this
man has done nothing amiss." Now that must be our view of
the Savior. He must be viewed by us as impeccable. In Him there is no sin, nor could
there ever be. He has done nothing amiss. He makes a definite confession
of the purity of Christ. He is on the cross like we are. He is suffering like we are.
He is dying like us, whose judgment is just, but He has done nothing
amiss. If we look at that word, amiss,
we find that we see it three times in the New Testament. It
is here in Luke 23 and 44. It is rendered amiss. It is also
in Acts 28 and verse 6 rendered harm. And then again, in 2 Thessalonians
3 and verse 2, the same word is translated unreasonable. He has done nothing amiss. He has done no harm. He has done
nothing unreasonable. And the word could be explained,
He has done nothing out of place. And we say it like that, nothing
whatsoever out of place. has this man done at all. This man confesses that the dying
Jesus has done nothing improper, injurious, or wicked and worthy
of His death. Nothing whatsoever. So let's
take note of the odd assortment of characters who vouchsafe for
the innocency of our Savior Jesus Christ. Who are they in the Scripture? There's Pilate. Pilate who condemned
him, but he declared unto the Jews, John 18 and verse 38, I
find no fault in him at all. Luke writes it like this, 23
and 4, I find no fault in this man. The one who condemned him,
the one who tried him and condemned him, I find no fault. And then
secondly, we notice one of the soldiers who hath crucified the
Lord, there upon Mount Calvary in Luke 23 and 47. This is a
righteous man. Mark 15-39 quotes the centurion
as saying this, truly this man was the Son of God. That soldier saw all those things
that occurred, the ground rumbling, earthquakes trembling, rocks
renting and that kind of thing, cried out in fear, this was the
Son of God. What interest had he until he
saw the way that Jesus died? And until he saw the thing that
accompanied the death of our Lord, then he confessed indeed
what our Lord had claimed. See, and of course, the penitent
thief, this man, has done nothing amiss. To which we might add,
he had a much higher view of the impeccability of Christ our
Savior than most professing Christians today, and almost every Arminian,
by the way, who believe that Jesus Christ could have done
something amiss during the course of His life. Oh, how many today
will believe if you ask them, yes, Jesus might have sinned. And there goes our Savior and
our salvation. Jesus is impeccable. He is without sin. He knew no
sin during the days upon the earth. Then in verse 42, the
one thief speaks to Christ, makes supplication to our Lord who
is there hanging in His agony upon the tree. And we know both
spoke to the Lord, but they were different in their requests that
they made unto the Savior. And should we not ask how to
so much alike should be put in the same manner upon the cross,
should become so different in those hours upon the cross before
they died. What is it that put such a difference
between one thief and the other? One died railing our Lord, the
other cast the salvation of his soul upon that dying man at Calvary. Unlike the other thief who wanted
his life spared, this thief's heart was set upon the spiritual
afterlife that was to come. He was resigned evidently to
the physical death of the cross, desired that the Lord might give
him a happy life in the life that was beyond the grave and
death. Now, the response of the Lord
is to be considered. What will the Lord answer such
a man as this. Will such a request from such
a wretch fetch nothing more than a hard rebuke from our Savior
who is dying in shame and agony? Can such a one who has spent
his life in sin, a man who obviously has neglected religion all the
days of his life, who has even at first joined in with mocking
and jeering at our Lord. Can such a man find grace and
find mercy in the final hours of his life? Is there mercy? Is there grace for such a man
at this point in his life? In verse 43, Jesus said unto
him, Of a truth I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise. Now not to get bogged down on
this word paradise here in this particular place, which is three
times in the New Testament. It's here, it's in Luke 23, 43
and 2 Corinthians 12 and verse 4 where Paul speaks of being
caught up into paradise and there seeing things unlawful to tell.
Then Revelation 2 and verse 7 which speaks of overcomers entering
into the tree of life in the midst of the paradise of God. Those three places. Now the word
is paradisos and has reference to a garden. A tranquil park
is the picture that the word would paint in our mind. 2 Corinthians
12, 1-4. But Paul seems to use the third
heaven and paradise interchangeably as he speaks about both of them. Be that as it may, the Lord promised
the penitent thief a place in paradise where Jesus himself
would be. Note the promise in paradise. It's not purgatory. He promises
him a paradise, not purgatory. This text slays the Romish doctrine
of purgatory, which they teach is a place where final sins shall
be purged away, and final punishment shall be meted out, which Augustine
said to be described in this way, quote, the fire of purgatory
is more terrible than all the men can suffer in this life,
unquote. Now, if there was such a place
as purgatory, where the punishment of sin is completed, then there
can be no better candidate for it ever found than this man dying
with our Lord. On the other hand, J.C. Ryle
wrote, quote, If the thief needed no purgatory, then the whole
doctrine of purgatory falls to the ground, unquote. It's gone. For if ever one deserved a purgatory
before entering heaven, it would be such a man as this. But purgatory must be dismissed
as a man-made heresy that it is. Let's make a point, which
we should not take long to do, that people, the elect of God,
have believed in Christ in all stages of time. In all periods
of time, the elect have believed and been called. Abraham, who
believed on him before he came. The apostles, who believed on
him before he died. Multitudes have believed on him
since he died and ascended back into heaven after he conquered
death and won our redemption. But the grace of faith in this
thief is so amazing because he believed in Jesus while they
were both dying. He called upon the Lord while
he saw the Lord in his weakest hour. The weakest hour of our
Lord, I don't guess A reverend, to say that, as he was nearing
the death on the cross, on the evening that he died, the day
that our Lord would die, he calls upon a man that is about to die
to save him. He acknowledges that suffering
one is able to save him. Or as one put it, quote, he rose
his whole soul for eternal salvation upon a dying Savior, unquote. And indeed he did. There is nothing
outwardly to commend him to Christ. This man has done nothing good
that Christ might favor him. He is upon a stake. He is condemned
by his government, his country, and his authority. He is a blasphemer. Almost the whole nation rejected
him. His death is that of a criminal.
Yea, he died among criminals and was hanged among them on
the cross. According to Isaiah 52 and 14,
Many were astonished at Thee. Thy visage was more marred than
any of the sons of men." Calvin translates the verse in his commentary
on Isaiah. As many as were shocked at Thee,
so much was Thy face disfigured by men, and His form by the sons
of men." That's our Savior. One thing stumbled the Jews,
stumbled them badly, and that was the lowly appearance of the
God-man. Isaiah 53, 2 and 3 reminds us
of that, that they saw him as little, a sprout out of a tender
ground, just a little shoot coming up out of what appeared to be
a dead root. The house of David almost dead
and extinct in a little sprout. And here's the Lord, and He grows
up before the God of heaven. Add to that offense the appearance
of the Lord upon the cross, bruised and beaten and bloody. And yet
here's a dying thief who calls upon Him for the salvation of
his soul. On the other hand, What is there
in the dying and condemned thief to commend him as an object of
the grace of God? And yet our Lord bestowed it
upon him here as an experience in free and sovereign grace as
you'll ever find anywhere in the Scripture. This man has no
morality to commend himself to God. He has no claims to keeping
the law. He has no claims to being a good
and an upright citizen. He has no good works in which
to boast or to trust. He will die unbaptized and not
a member of a local church. There is no mention of him having
heard John or Christ preach the gospel or being a secret disciple
of our Lord. None of those things are evident
in this case, but he prayed No sinner's prayer. Yet He that
began His hours upon the cross, railing against the Lord in Matthew
27, verse 44, is promised paradise that very day. And let us be
sure to note it, that as the Lord prescribed nothing for Nicodemus
to do to set in motion the new birth in his life. Absolutely
nothing. So He requires of the thief nothing
beyond faith, nothing beyond His confession of Christ as Lord
and God and Savior. He's given a new heart somewhere
on that cross, and inward work is wrought in Him. He has changed. He has changed inwardly, or rather
been changed inwardly, even as both He and Christ are suffering
the death of the cross. This man's given grace to believe
in the Savior who is dying a few feet from him. He started his
day a great, great sinner, died in the grace of the Lord and
Savior Jesus Christ. The inclusion of this man's experience
in the Scripture, aren't we glad that it's there? It's a one-of-a-kind
experience. Greatly pinches those who teach
a freewill salvation by works brings out the absurd opinions
of some, particularly in Romanism, which shows to what unreasonable
lengths there are that some will go or take themselves to support
their baseless theories and their godless dogmas, such as the suggestion
of Augustine. This is pretty ridiculous of
Augustine. He says that the thief was baptized
or splattered by the blood and the water when the soldier pierced
the side of the Savior. They pierced that side, it burst
open, water and blood, and the man thus is baptized. Another
suggested that the shadow of Christ was cast across the man. Another, that the Virgin Mary
stood between Christ and the thief and obtained grace for
him. Others, that he was made under
the old economy, and that he died not under the new, but the
old economy, not the dispensation of grace. Now, Armenians have
been heard to argue thusly. I believe if he could have come
down off of that cross, that he would have been baptized,
that he would have joined the church, would have fellowshiped
himself with the saints of God, would have had a heart for the
gospel. The point is not what he would have done. It wasn't
granted unto him. had he lived, the point is that
the Lord Jesus Christ promised him paradise that day without
any of these things that are often prescribed as necessary
to salvation. Therefore, they are not necessary
before an order of one being saved. They are not necessary,
for here is a man saved without any of those things. Now as to
the cause of His sudden conversion, it was produced by the free and
sovereign grace of Christ, and it stands for us and to us as
an evidence of the power of Christ in two respects. One, of Christ's
power to save even in the state of His great physical weakness
and suffering. And two, of the sufficiency of
Christ's grace. to save the worst sinner, or
the recipient of saving grace, was a great sinner. And that
day the grace of Christ was bestowed upon that man, a brand plucked
out of the burning." Now, this man is a thorn in the flesh to
a lot of people today who prescribe certain things that are necessary
to be done before one can enter into the grace of God and be
saved. had nothing to bring or to offer. He was absolutely empty-handed
as he cried out unto Christ. And Christ responded. All right,
let's bow our heads please for a word of prayer.