The second saying, start here
in verse 39, read down to verse 43. And one of the malefactors, which
were hanged, railed on him, saying, If thou be 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. Last week the first saying was,
Father forgive them, they know not what they do. And when our Lord prays for his
Father to forgive, people he prays for are forgiven. Our Lord's
prayers are effectual, they're powerful. they have acceptance
with God. He's the only one who makes our
prayers acceptable to God. But here's the second saying
of our Lord on the cross, where He said, I say unto thee, in
verse 43, I say unto thee, today shalt thou be with me in paradise.
That's His second saying. First one was forgiveness, second
one is salvation. Forgiveness and salvation go
together. And this is a salvation of A
man that most unlikely person to ever be converted. But let
me ask you a couple of questions. Why was our Lord crucified between
these two malfactors? Why did Pilate order that Christ
be crucified with these two criminals? Why would he, you know, why didn't
they just crucify him by himself? Why did they have a criminal
on his left side and a criminal on his right side? Why did they
have these two? Why did he do that? Well, he
did it because he was carrying out God's eternal decree. That's
all you can say about it. God, before the world ever began,
had Christ as a lamb slain before the foundation of the world.
But you know, he was fulfilling God's eternal decree and fulfilling
what I read this morning when the prophet, 700 years before
this happened, 700 years before this happened, before Pilate
ever gave the order for Christ to be crucified, God said he'd
be numbered with the transgressors. And here he was, numbered with
these two awful transgressors. And I tell you what, you know
what this tells us? That forever, oh Lord, thy word
is settled in heaven. What God says, that's it. He said, well, I agree with it.
God don't care if we agree with it or not. You know it? What he says is right. People
say, well, I agree with it. Well, If you've got any sense,
you'll bow to it. But here's another thing, let
me tell you this. And another reason, why between
these two criminals? Why between two criminals? To
show us the depth of the shame and humiliation that our Lord
Jesus Christ descended to. You know, to me, I think the
most humiliating thing that he did was to come and assume human
nature, to become a man, to be identified. Do you know why? Here's the holy one who inhabited
eternity. He came down here and inhabited
the womb of a virgin. And he came into this world the
ancient of days that Daniel saw, became an infant in his mother's
womb, and was born. Now you imagine he who was in
eternity come down here and assumed our nature. nature, without sin,
but he took a body and then he had to live among people like
us. Walk among people like us, talk
with people like us, teach people like us, preach to people like
us. So you think that he come into
this world and he was around people that were contaminated
with sin from the top of their head to the sole of their feet,
from inside and outside, and yet he was uncontaminated. But
how humiliating for him to come down here and take up himself
a body. Now then you think this here,
then he come on down and descended even farther. And what shame
that he come down to and descended to, to be taken into the hands
of sinful men. And mistreated to the utmost
degree. You know there was one of the
One of them big soldiers put a blindfold on the Lord and slapped
him. He said, prophesy who slapped
you. They think putting a blindfold
on the Lord Jesus Christ, putting a blindfold on God, he wouldn't
know what was going on. God knew, Christ knew what was
going on before it ever happened. Now you blindfold me and I can't
see nothing. Take off my glasses and everything's
a blur. But I'll tell you this, they,
you know, blindfolded God, you think he can't see? You think
our Lord didn't know who slapped him? Who busted his face with
his hand? He knew exactly who it was. He
knew who it was gonna be before it ever happened. He came here
to do that, to go through that. And oh my, oh the shame that
he descended to here on this cross. Why was he with two criminals?
What a shame it was. It was bad enough for him to
be by himself, but a criminal, and a criminal, and a thief,
and a thief. And oh, I'll tell you why he
done it. Also because he took the place that was due you and
me. Due you and me. He was crucified. between these two thieves, and
here's the difference. One of them believed, and one
of them rejected him. One of them bowed to him, and
one of them despised him. And this shows us God's absolute
sovereignty. They both were near to the Lord
Jesus Christ. They walked with Him from the
place where they was, they walked from the judgment hall and taken
out of prison and they was taken and they walked with Christ and
heard what was going on with Christ and heard all the things
that was said to Him. And then when they were crucified,
they was crucified with him. They heard everything that was
said around that cross concerning the Lord Jesus Christ. And nobody
ridiculed them. Nobody despised them. Nobody
derided them. Nobody mocked them. They saw and they saw how Christ
was treated. They heard the same things. I'll
tell you what, if one died in his sins, were these men died
in his sins? One was shown mercy and went
to paradise. How in the world can this be
that one would be shown mercy and the other would die in his
sins? Who made the difference between these two men? They didn't
make the difference in themselves, they both were just identical.
They both were guilty. Who made the difference between
these two men? Who made the difference between us? Who made us to differ? Oh, there's only one explanation
for it, and that's God's absolute sovereignty. Oh my. God said, that one, I tell you,
I'm going to save that one. I'm going to let that one live.
I'm going to leave him to himself. In the salvation of this dying
thief, we seek grace. Grace, how it actually reigns,
how it works, how effectual it is. Salvation by grace. Sovereign, immutable grace. Free
grace. His salvation appeared in a time
when you look to the Lord Jesus Christ, what in the world did
it appear like He could do anything for this man? He has crucified
Himself. He was nailed to that tree Himself.
How many wrote what they said up here? In verse 35. And the people stood beholding,
and the rulers also with them derided him, saying, he saved
others. Let him save himself, if he be
Christ the chosen of God. In verse 37, and saying, if thou
be the king of the Jews, save thyself. In the first 39, and
more of the malefactors which were hanged railed on him, saying,
If thou be Christ, save thyself and us. Oh, my. And he said,
it looked like he couldn't even save himself. And yet that thief
said in verse 42, Lord, remember me when you come into your kingdom. And our Lord said, I'm going
to tell you something. I'm going to tell you the best
news you'll ever hear in your life. I say unto thee, oh when Christ
speaks, I say unto thee today, shalt
thou be with me in paradise. Well let me give you my first
point. Here we see sin, oh we see sin. No difference between
these two men. No, no. No difference between
them. You keep Luke 23 and look with me over here in Matthew
27. There's no difference in these men. Look what they said
over here in Matthew 27. In verse 41. Here we see sin. Awful, awful,
God-hating, Christ-rejecting sin. See, such sin, sin's an
awful thing. Matthew 27, 41, likewise also
the chief priest mocking him with the scribes and elders said,
he said others himself he cannot save. If he be the king of Israel,
let him now come down from the cross and we will believe. You reckon they'd have believed
if he had climbed off that cross? He trusted in God. Let God come
down and save him. If he'll have him, if God will
have him, let God come down and save him. For he said, I'm the
son of God. Now listen to this. The thieves
also, which were crucified with him, cast the same in his teeth. Both of them said the same thing. Now here these men are on the
brink of eternity. I mean on the brink of eternity. They're on their deathbeds. They're on their time to die. And then what would they do?
They revile the Lord Jesus Christ. Huh? They make fun of the Lord
Jesus Christ. These two men joined in with
the enemies of our Lord. Huh? And I tell you, they joined
in with the enemies, and the same things that they were saying,
they said. And oh, how God views things
and the way we do are radically, radically different. Until a
soul becomes like this dying thief, say, Lord, have mercy
on me. Lord, remember me. Lord, if you
even think on me, just remember me. He didn't ask him to save
him, he said, just remember me. That's all I want you to do,
just remember me. Remember me, huh? Oh, I'll tell you, he's this
simple man. He said, Lord, remember me. Remember
me. And I'll tell you this much. I look more to him remembering
me and knowing me more than I know about him. I may get to the condition
that I don't even know my own name. Maybe in an Alzheimer's
ward somewhere where they have to watch me. But one thing about
it, if the Lord ever knew me, He'll always remember me. Huh? Ain't that something? Oh my goodness, He'll remember
me. He remembers us. Oh my. And this man, this dying
feast, last words, in the last moments of his life on earth,
You're talking about giving a good, good proof of God saving him
and his conversion. You see, with the heart, man
believes. This man believed from his heart. And he left behind,
oh, he left behind such a wonderful testimony of sovereign grace. And I tell you, let me show you
something about this thing. I want you to notice this about
him. You back over in Luke 32, 29, 23. I want you to notice this thing
about him. He was so concerned, he became
concerned about his way his other thief treated the Lord Jesus
Christ. How he was wicked he was in reviling
the Lord. And one malefactor then, verse
39 again, one of the malefactors which were hanged, wailed on
him, saying that thou be the Christ, save thyself and us. But the other answering rebuked
him. Now he's rebuking him. Rebuked
him. What did he say to him? Don't
you fear God? Ain't you got any fear of God
before you at all? Huh? Don't you have any fear of God?
You know one of the signs of men is that they have no fear
of God before their eyes. No fear of God. Oh, no fear of
God at all. David said it like this, Lord,
if thou shouldest mark iniquities, who'd be able to stand? But there
is forgiveness with thee, that thou mayest be feared. Oh my, I want to show you something
in Ecclesiastes. Now you keep looking, go over
to Ecclesiastes. Ecclesiastes is is right before Isaiah, right
before Isaiah you've got Sona Solomon and then before Sona
Solomon you've got Ecclesiastes. Look in Ecclesiastes 3. You know,
talking about doest thou not? He rebuked this man. He rebuked him for reviling the
Lord Jesus Christ. I remember a fellow one time
He was doing some work for me and he was, I mean, he was cussing
like a sailor. And I asked him, I said, oh,
I said, would you please stop that? Would you please, you know?
And man, that made him mad and he just got worse. He said, I
don't give a, you know, about you and what you think or what
you feel or anything else. And he really let it rip then. No fear of God. 9. And look what it said here in
Ecclesiastes 3.14. I know that whatsoever God doeth,
it shall be forever. That's a long time. Whatever
God does, it's forever. Nothing can be put to it, nor
anything taken from it, and God does it, that men should do what? Fear before Him. Fear before
Him. You know the fear of God is the
beginning of wisdom? And I tell you, you know, if you don't fear God, You won't
never fear authority, I'm afraid. And let me tell you something
else this man done over here. For God made the difference between
these two men. Look at the next thing about
him. And he told that man, you and
me are in the same condemnation. You are in the same condemnation.
And look what he did. He acknowledged his own sin.
And he said, we're here in verse 41. We're indeed here because
we justly deserve to be here. We're here justly. I deserve
to be where I'm at. I'm guilty of what I've done.
That's what he's saying. He said, we're guilty, I'm guilty. He said, I'm here justly. I'm
not being falsely accused. I'm not being mistreated. Now
I tell you, I'm facing my sin, I'm facing my death, and I'm
here because I did something that I shouldn't have done. I'm
here justly. Now I tell you what, he confessing
his sin right here, and that's one thing about it. It's the rarest thing in the
world to find a sinner. A sinner is a sacred thing, the
Holy Ghost has made him so. And I'll tell you what, he said,
we are here indeed justly. And the law came that every mouth
may be stopped. Stopped. Stopped before who? God. Why? Because quit justifying ourselves. Quit thinking that we got something
good about ourselves. Quit thinking that we deserve
something. We got the right to something.
God needs to treat us better than we're being treated. It's
not right for God to do this. He said, oh, well, then people
say, what about things happen to good people? Well, listen,
if there's any good people, I'd like to meet them. God said,
there's none good, no, not one. None righteous, no, not one.
There's none that seeketh after God, no, not one. There's none
that understandeth, that's four nones. Now when God says none,
that's what He means, none. And I tell you what, He said
here, we're here because we're receiving, what did He say? We're
receiving the due reward of our deeds. reward of our deeds and just
mark this down. Every man's going to get just
exactly what's coming to him. Everybody's going to receive
the due reward of their deeds. You're either going to receive
them in the Lord Jesus Christ or you're going to receive them
in yourself. No middle ground. Huh? And I tell you, I want you
to, I want you to look in Isaiah 64, 6. You know, keep up, keep
the loop now. Look in Isaiah 64, verse 6. You know, He acknowledged His
own sin. He acknowledged His own sin. He wasn't taking the blame for that other
fellow. He got to take the blame for himself. But he took the
blame for himself. Well, I'm here because I justly
deserve to be here. I'm getting what I got coming
to me. But look what he said here in Isaiah 64, 6. This is
what the Lord says now. But we all are all as an unclean
thing, and all of our righteousnesses are as filthy rags. And we all
do fade as a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us
away. Who's he talking about? Everybody. Everybody. You know, when Isaiah
saw the Lord high and lifted up, and His glory filled, His
train filled that temple, And them seraphims cried, holy,
holy, holy. You know what the first thing
Isaiah said? Woe is me. Woe is me. Not woe is the fellow
next to me. Not woe is the king. Not woe
is my mama. Not woe is my daddy. Not woe
is my wife. Not woe is my children. Woe is
me. Woe is me. And I tell you that's
where, you know, I tell you what, we're going to face God. Listen
to me, we're going to face God for our own sin, not Adam's sin. No, no. We're not going to face
God for our father's sins. We're not going to face God for
our wives' sins, our children's sins. We're going to face Him
for ourselves. Huh? For our own sin. Daniel
said, when I saw the Lord, my comeliness turned into corruption. Huh? Luke tells us about Peter
who was out fishing all night one night. And the Lord got on
his boat the next morning. Said, Peter, cast your boat out
there. Go out here in the deep. Now
let your net down. Peter said, Lord, I know fishing. I know fishing. I've fished all
night long, and I tell you, this is my living. This is what I
do for a living. This is what I do, and I tell
you what, I know where the fish are, and I know where they're
not. They're not here. He said, but nevertheless, at thy word,
since you said it, nevertheless at thy word, I'm going to let
down my net. And the next thing you know, they had so many fish,
they couldn't pull them in. You know what the first thing
he said was? In fact, did he even talk to the Lord that way?
He said, Oh Lord, depart from me. Depart from me that I'd ever
question you. Tell about what I could do and
what I knew. How well I was good at what I'd
done. Lord, depart from me. I'm such
a sinful man. You ever said that? Ever felt
that? Oh my, I tell you, and then let
me tell you something else about back over here in Luke 23. Look
at something else here with me. This man, this thief made an
open confession of the innocence of the Lord Jesus Christ. He
said in verse 41, we're here indeed justly, me and you are.
We receive in the due reward of our deeds, but this man, this
man, between me and you, hath done nothing amiss." He ain't done anything amiss.
Oh, Pilate said he didn't do anything. He said, I find no
fault in him. Judas said he was an innocent man. said he was
an innocent man. And yet you know where all them
are now? Look over here, look back up here in verse 8 with
me. In chapter 23. And when Herod saw Jesus, they
took him to Herod, you know, to him to judge him. He was exceeding
glad For he was desirous to see him of a long season, because
he had heard many things of him. And listen to this, he hoped
to have seen some miracle done by him. I want you to do a miracle
for me. Perform some magic for me, that's
what he said. Do something magical here. And oh my, and Herod with his
men of war said he would not. And Herod questioned him and
couldn't, he couldn't, he said he hadn't done anything. And
then look down at verse 14. And Pilate, when he had called
together the chief priests, rulers, and the people, said unto them,
You have brought this man unto me, as one that forbeareth the
people. And behold, I haven't examined
him before you have found no fault in this man touching those
things whereof you accuse him, no, nor yet Herod. For I sent
you to him, and lo, nothing worthy of death is done unto him." But
you know what? Where's all those men at now?
Where's Pilate at? Where's Judas at? Judas said,
he said, I betrayed innocent blood and went and hung himself. That's the difference, sweet.
This man here confessed his sin, told the Lord Jesus Christ was
a just man. But Judas went over here and
he confessed his sin. And he went out and hung himself.
Who made the difference there? They both said the same thing. But Judas said, I betrayed innocent
blood. But this man here said he didn't
bother, went and washed his hands. He stood before the crowd, Matthew
27, washed his hands. He said, I will not wash my hands
of this man. You reckon he got them clean?
You reckon he really washed his hands of the Lord Jesus Christ?
You reckon anybody's ever washed their hands of the Lord Jesus
Christ? But I tell you, people say that. I said, I don't want
nothing to do with that religion. I don't want nothing to do with
God and His sovereignty. I don't want nothing to do with
electing grace. I don't want nothing to do with
God being just and holy and righteous. I don't want nothing to do with
any of that. Go ahead and wash your hands. See how good it does
you. Huh? Oh my. And this thief, look what
he said here in verse 41 again, this man had done nothing
amiss, nothing amiss. And oh my, you know, the difference
in the view of sin, oh sin is something. I want you to see
something with me. I'll look over in Psalm 50 with me, Psalm 50. I want you
to see this. I want you to see something over
here in Psalm 50. In verse 16. You know, everybody's got a different view
of sin. But I tell you, when God gives
you a view of sin, It'll be different than any way you ever viewed
it in your life. You won't be looking at anybody
else and what they're doing. All you can say is, me, me, I'm
the one. I'm the one. But look what it
said here in Psalm 15, verse 16. But unto the wicked God saith,
what hast thou to do? Now he's talking to wicked people
here now. What hast thou to do to declare my statutes? or that
thou shouldest take as my covenant in thy mouth. Why are you wicked
do that? Seeing that you really hate instruction,
and you cast my words behind you. When you saw a thief, somebody
stealing something, you consented with him. And not only that,
but you've been partaker with adulterers. And you give your
mouth, you talk evil comes out of your mouth, and your tongue
affirms deceit. You sit and you speak against
your brother. You gossip against your brother.
You say evil things against your brother. And then you slander
your own mother's son. Slander your own brother, your
mother's son. These things hast thou done, and I kept silent.
I kept silent. Cause thou thoughtest that I
was altogether such a one as you are. But I will reprove thee
and set them in order before thine eyes. You're going to find
out that that was all wrong. Oh my. All of them are suffering
now. The just condemnation of their
rewards. But this thief says, this man,
this man right here, he's not here because he did anything.
He did nothing amiss. And let me tell you something
else back over here again about him. He said, Lord, verse 42, remember
me when thou comest into thy kingdom. Now what does that tell
us? That tells us that he had faith
in the Lord Jesus Christ. He had faith in the Lord Jesus
Christ's power, had faith in his will, had faith in his ability
to save him. And he believed he was a king,
that he had a kingdom. Now I want you to consider this.
When he, this man's hanging on this cross and he's asking this
man next to him. Our Lord Jesus Christ is hanging
there, he's got blood all over him. He is bloody. Blood's coming
out of his head where they put the crown of thorns on him. Blood's
coming out of his hands and out of his feet where they nailed
him. Blood's on his back where they
beat him. He says, my bones stare. I mean,
he is bloody all over his body. They beat him and they plucked
out his beard. His face is bloody. He's nailed
hand and foot. So this thief is looking at that
man, this bleeding man, this broken man, this man crucified
bloody, bloody, bloody. This is more than any man the
scripture said. And this thief looked at him
and said, oh Lord. First thing he said is Lord.
You're the Lord! You're the sovereign! Remember me! When you come, you're the king
and you've got a kingdom. And when you come into your kingdom,
and you go on your throne, and you sit on your throne, That's what Joseph said when
he was in prison. He told that butler when he got
out, he says, when you go back before Pharaoh, please remember
me to Pharaoh. And tell him what? Two years
later, he remembered. But ah, this man said, Lord,
remember me. He declared his belief that he
believed in a kingdom, that our Lord had a kingdom. Old Pilate
stood before him and he said, oh listen, you say you're a king. He said, I have a kingdom and
my kingdom's not of this world. If my kingdom was of this world,
my people would fight, but my kingdom's a spiritual kingdom.
I reign over a spiritual people. I reign over the world, but I'm
a king over a particular people. Oh my. And I declared his belief
that in the Lord Jesus Christ, he turned to a crucified, weak,
bleeding man and said, Lord, remember me. Now you explain
to me how he knew he was the Lord. How'd that happen? How did he go from reviling him
to saying, Lord? Tell me, explain to me how he
found out and knew that he was the Lord. How'd that happen? How did he know that he had a
kingdom? Who told him this? How did he
find it out? How did he come to it? Same way it comes to me and you.
Revelation. Revelation gotta be revealed.
Huh? Oh, it's gotta be revealed. You
know, look with me in Matthew 11. You know, our Lord, Tom and Peter was, our Lord asked them, and you've
heard this so many times, Matthew 11, where our Lord asked them,
he said, who do men say that I the Son of Man am? And he says,
without the Christ, you're the son of the living God. And he
said, flesh and blood didn't make you to know that. Now I'm
flesh and blood. I can tell you about Christ, and
I can preach to your ear, but I can't make you see Christ.
I can tell you about sin, but I can't make you become a sinner. I can tell you about salvation,
but I can't save you. But the Lord can. And He's got
to be the one to make you see Himself. But look what He said
here, Matthew 11, 25. At that time, Jesus answered
and said, Father, I thank Thee. Jesus answered and said, I thank
Thee, O Father. Oh, You're the Lord of heaven
and earth, sovereign, because Thou hast hid these things from
the wise and prudent, people who think they got, oh, I know
the answers. I've been a Christian all my life. That's too long. I got saved when I was seven.
Got saved when I was 11. I got on an island, I walked
down the island, got on an old-fashioned altar, and I made my profession,
and I know it's real. Why? Because the preacher told
me. Well, if a preacher wasn't even saved, That's plenty of them that ain't,
but listen to what he goes on to say here now. He revealed
them unto babies. You know what babes are. Babes can't do anything. Babies
have to be taken care of, have to be washed, have to be changed,
have to be fed. And babies smell so good. And
when God smells us in Christ, we smell good. He said, we are
sweet savory in Christ. Ain't that right? And I'll tell you all a baby
can do is make a mess and somebody has to clean them up. And that's
the way, that's why we're children. We're utterly and absolutely
dependent on Him. Kids, when they're born and they're
raised, their parents have to feed them, their parents have
to clothe them, their parents have to house them, their parents
have to teach them everything that they have, their parents
does it for them. And until they get of age, and I'll tell you
what, when we get of age, we'll all be in glory. That's when
we get of age. But everything, God gives us
a house to live in, spiritual house. He clothes us with the
righteousness of Christ. He feeds us with heavenly manna.
He's took care of us from the day we was born to the day He
takes us to glory. And has He ever failed us the
first time yet? Then he goes on to say, Oh, I'm
glad that you hid these from the wide and prudent, and were
built unto babes. Even so, Father, for it seemed
good in your sight. That's a good thing. All things
are delivered unto me of my Father. And no man knows the Son, but
the Father. Neither knoweth any man the Father,
only the Son. And he to whomever the Son will
avail him. So, oh my, how did he know this? And let me ask you this, how
in the world, how in the world do you explain this man seeing
Christ as Lord and having a kingdom apart from the free, sovereign
grace of God? How do you explain it apart from
that? You can't, can you? It's inexplicable, it's inexplicable. I gotta show you something else.
You know, all I got's time. Y'all got somewhere to go? Look here at Luke chapter two
with me. Here's a perfect illustration
of what I'm talking about. Luke chapter two. Verse 25. You know, apart from the sovereign
grace of God, the free grace of God, this man could have not
known anything. The other fellow was in the same
boat, but God left him alone. Look what he said in verse 25,
Luke 2. And behold, there was a man in
Jerusalem whose name was Simon, and the same man was just and
devout. waiting for the consolation,
and Christ is the consolation of Israel. And the Holy Ghost
was upon him. Now watch this, and it was revealed
unto him by the Holy Ghost that he should not see death before
he has seen the Lord's Christ. You're going to see the Savior
before you die. And everyone that Christ died
for is going to see the Savior before they die. Ain't that right? We, you know, I didn't get that
promise. God didn't come to me and say, you're not gonna, until
you see Christ, until you see the Savior, the Lord's Christ,
you're not gonna die. He didn't tell me that, but I
found out later, by the gospel, that I ain't gonna die, and couldn't
have died, until I saw the Lord's Christ. And look what he says now. And
he came by the Spirit, the Holy Spirit led him into the temple.
And when the parish brought in the Lord Jesus Christ to do for
him after the custom of the law, then look what happens. He took
him out of his mama's arms, took him up in his arms and blessed
God and said, Lord, now let us thy servant depart in peace according
to thy word. For mine eyes, mine eyes, my
eyes have seen your salvation. Huh? That's what Job said. My eyes have seen my Redeemer. I've seen for myself and not
with nobody else's eyes. So it's a revelation revealed
unto him by the Holy Ghost. Let me show you the next thing.
I got to hurry. I'll tell you this. Talking about salvation.
Lord remember me. The next thing this thief, back
over in 23, the next thing this thief did was this. He prayed. He said, Lord, remember me. Lord, remember me. He prayed. Lord, remember me. That's a prayer. Let me give you, tell you some
things about this prayer. His prayer was short. Nine words. You don't have to pray great
big long prayers. Nine words is all he did. Bartimaeus,
he only said seven words. And the Lord saved him with seven
words. Oh, his prayer was humble. Oh, Lord, remember me. And it concerned himself. I'm
the one. And he prayed for spiritual blessings
only. He didn't pray to get off that
cross. He didn't pray to be saved off that cross. And oh my. And it was a powerful prayer
because the Lord heard it and the Lord answered it. Huh? Oh
my. Powerful prayer. So he prayed
five things about his prayer. And the last thing he did on
earth He begged the Lord to be remembered by our Lord. Are there
any better words from the lips of a sinner? It's like that publican,
he said, on his bridge, said, Lord, be merciful to me, sinner. He said, Lord, remember me. And
all this shows us is salvations by grace apart from words. What
could this thief do? What could this thief do? What
could he do? He's nailed hand and foot to
a tree. He couldn't do nothing for himself
whatsoever. Could do nothing for himself.
It shows us that baptism doesn't save a person. This shows us that the Lord's
Supper doesn't save a person. This man was never baptized.
And as people tell you, if you're not baptized, he never joined a visible church
on this earth. Never took the Lord's Saber.
He certainly didn't walk an aisle. He never got on an altar. Never gave a tithe. There wasn't
no soul in there saying, now won't you please accept Jesus?
It's up to you now. You know, He's done all He can
do. It's up to you now. It's up to you now. There wasn't
no band there singing, let's sing one more verse of Just As
I Am. Huh? Wasn't somebody there saying,
listen, pray after me, pray the sinner's prayer. Oh no, none
of that stuff went on. This man was shut up. To the
only place a sinner can be saved and will be saved is the Lord
Jesus Christ by his cross. By his death, by his blood shedding. Oh my. He said, Lord, you're king. You're the Lord. When you get in your kingdom,
would you remember me? Would you do that? Well, let
me wind it up. Let me wind it up. The way of salvation is always
the same by grace, apart from words. Jesus Christ is the same
today, yesterday, and forever. God said, I'm the Lord, not changed,
not. Here's another thing. The one that saved this dying
thief, he's alive and he lives right now, sitting at the right
hand of God. And you get to Christ by not
moving a muscle. You come to Christ from here,
He's there. You can't get to Christ down
here, you got to go where He is. Another way you can get there
is from here to there, from your heart to there. And I tell you, this is hope
for the worst of sinners. And no one, absolutely no one
has ever, ever received greater assurance that his sins were
forgiven than this dying thief. What did our Lord say to him?
In verse 43, I'm gonna tell you. He said, I'm telling you this.
He looked at that man, he said, I'm gonna tell you something. Today, not tomorrow, not next
year, today thou shalt be, and listen to this, with me. You
know where heaven is? Wherever Christ sat. To be where He is, is to be in
heaven. And that's what Christ is gonna
be the one that makes heaven heaven. I'm not gonna make heaven
heaven. He's the one that's gonna make
it heaven. He makes it heavenly in our soul sometimes. Huh? Oh, listen. Today. Today. Oh. And this also tells us that a
moment a believer dies, his soul goes to be with the Lord Jesus
Christ. Goes to be with Him. There is
no waiting period. No mysterious delay. No purgatory. None of that. And we're going to hear that
one of these days. Today's the day. Today's the day. Today's the day. Wouldn't that
be something? And I know this is to be with
Him. He said, you're going to be with
me. You're going to be with me. I'm not leaving you in here in
this mess. I'm not leaving you here. I took care of your sins. And let me tell you this and
I'll close. Two things. One on either side of the Lord
Jesus Christ. One was saved that no one should
despair. But only one that no one should
presume. You know what I do every day? Every day I trust the Lord for
my salvation. Every day. Why do I do that?
Because I know me. The Lord saved me, is saving
me, and shall save me. You know why? Because I need
saving. I need saving. Our Father, thank you for the
gospel. Thank you for the word. Thank
you for what our Savior said on the cross today, the day of
salvation. He told Zacchaeus, this day salvation
must come to your house. And Lord, there's a day when
salvation will come to someone's house. And so, Lord, the word's
in your hands. You'll always do what you will
with it. It's your gospel. It's your word.
It's your power that works in people's hearts. So cause this
gospel to find a lodging place, seed, May a seed be planted in
a heart. May a mind be opened, their understanding
opened. We thank you for your great mercy
given us in Christ. God bless these dear saints.
Bless my dear brethren. Save your people in this place
for Christ's sake. Amen. There is a name I love
to hear. I love to sing its worth. It sounds like music in my ear. The sweetest name on earth. Oh, how I love Jesus. Oh, how I love Jesus. Oh, how I love Jesus. Because He first loved me. See you tonight, 6 o'clock, God
willing. Oh.