Well, it's good to be home. Good
to be home. It was nice to go and visit,
but it's good to be home. Really good to be home. I bring
greetings from 13th Street, the folks down there. And I also
bring greetings from Brother Bruce Crabtree. Went down and
had an absolutely marvelous visit with both churches, both folks,
and it was wonderful. I send greetings from 13th Street
and greetings from Bruce and the congregation down there too. Turn if you would to Luke chapter
23. The name of the message today is
The Dying Thief. The Dying Thief. We'll be looking
at a rather large portion of Scripture. We're stopping at a few of them here and there.
But the main point of the message is the dying thief and what happened
to him. Luke 23, what happened to him
and what our Lord did for him. Luke 23, starting in verse 1.
And a whole multitude of them arose and led him unto Pilate. And they began to accuse him,
saying, We have found this fellow perverting the nation and forbidden
to give tribute to Caesar, saying that he himself is Christ the
King. And Pilate asked him, saying,
Art thou the King of the Jews? And he answered him and said,
Thou sayest it. Then said Pilate to the chief
priests and to the people, I find no fault in this man. No fault, beloved. He's perfect. He's sinless. He's spotless. He's God incarnate in the flesh. And we looked at this this morning
in Sunday school. He never ceased being God. Even when he was man, he's God. He's perfect. Perfect. I find no fault, and they couldn't
find any fault. He's the perfect, spotless Lamb
of God. Behold the Lamb of God. Behold God's sacrifice. God's sacrificial Lamb. No sin. Perfect. Spotless. A Lamb without
blemish. A Lamb without blemish. And it
goes on, "...and they were the more fierce, saying, He stirreth
up the people." They got mad. He stirreth up the people. "...teaching
throughout all Judea, beginning from Galilee to this place. When
Pilate heard of Galilee, he asked whether the men were of Galilee. And as soon as he knew that he
belonged to Herod's judaistic, he sent him to Herod. who also
was at Jerusalem at the time. So as soon as he found out that
he was under someone else's power, he sent him away right away.
He couldn't find any fault in him. He sent him away. So our Master has taken the Herod,
and something we do not think about, something we do not think
about, beloved, is prisoners in our time are taken in vehicles,
right? He is dragged through the streets.
He is dragged through the streets to these different places. Dragged through the streets as
he's taken to the high priest. Dragged through the streets as
he's taken to Pilate. Dragged through the streets as
he's taken to Herod. Dragged. And remember, When he was on
the way to Calvary, he'd been beaten. There'd be blood and
sweat. And they didn't have roads like
we have, right? They had dirt roads and that dust would be
sticking to him. All the pain and the agony that
he went through. And beloved, he did all this
for his people. He did all this for his people.
And when Herod saw Jesus, he was exceedingly glad, for he
was desirous to see him of a long season, because he had heard
many things of him, and he hoped to have seen some miracle done
by him. He's heard all about him. He's
just curious. He wants him just to do a miracle
in front of him. Now the Lord never worked miracles
to gratify idle curiosity. And Herod was curious. But our
great king, who would have worked a miracle to heal the poorest
beggar, would have worked a miracle to heal the poorest beggar in
the street, would not work a wonder to please this king. Scripture says in verse 9, then
he questioned him in many words, and he answered him nothing.
The Lord was silent. Even here, he's our substitute. Even here. Christopher Ness,
an old time preacher said, John the Baptist was Christ's voice
and inheritance stopped him. There Christ would not speak
as if he were to say, no, no. Thou didst cut off John the Baptist's
head who was my messenger. And since thou hast ill-treated
my Amir, I, the King of kings, will have nothing to say to thee. So we see here before us that
the Lord Jesus Christ does not speak a word. He's led as a lamb
to the slaughter, isn't he? Isaiah says, he was oppressed
and he was afflicted, and yet he opened not his mouth. He's
the great sinner's substitute. As he's bought as a lamb to the
slaughter and as a sheep before shears is done, so he openeth
not his mouth. And look at verse 10. And the
chief priests and the scribes stood and vehemently accused
him. Oh, the religious who's who of the world. At that time,
the religious Jews, they're vehement. They hate him. They hate him. Little do they know the one that
they supposedly think that they worship is right there in the flesh before
them. But they hate Him. And their depravity here is on
full display. Their hatred of the Lord Jesus
Christ is totally unveiled. God incarnate in the flesh, the
great substitute for sinners. And they accused the sinless
one. But he answers, not a word. Not a word. Look at verse 11. And Herod,
with his men of war, sat at Nod, and mocked him, and arrayed him
in a gorgeous robe, and sent him again to Pilate. He didn't
get nothing out of him, he's just going to send him back. Oh, how sinful men. Look at that.
"...inherit with his men of war, set him at naught, and mocked
him." Oh, how sinful men. They join
in on the railing of Christ. They join in in the railing,
in the beating of the sinless one. God incarnate. He could have
destroyed them with a word. He could have destroyed them
with a word. God incarnate in the flesh. But all here before
us is our suffering Savior. He knows He must endure this.
He must. Why? To redeem us. We who believe. To redeem His people from their
sins. He must die upon the cross. He
must endure this. He must. So let us ponder the
awfulness of sin before God, that the sinless, spotless Lamb
of God died in the place of His people to pay for our sins. Have you ever seen greater love
than this? Never. What love God has for
His people. What love He has for them. Look
at verse 12. In the same day Pilate and Herod
were made friends together. For before they were enemies.
They hated each other before. Well, strange bedfellows, eh?
Folks that will join together. Join together. In the hatred of the Gospel. In
the hatred of Christ. And we see this often. Folks,
you may see it where you work. Folks who may be at enmity with
each other will join forces to persecute a believer. Enemies are reconciled when they
come against Christ. And these two hated each other,
but they found a common enemy in Christ and in the gospel. One commentator
said this, two dogs could do well, two dogs could well agree
to hunt the same prey, and sinners who quarrel on other things will
quite often, will often be quite agreed to persecute the gospel. That happens a lot. And the depravity of sinful men.
Turn if you would to Titus chapter 3. The depravity of sinful men. What an awful state. And we,
who have been redeemed, were in that state before the Lord
saved us. We were just like these men.
Just like them. And if God had left us where
we were, we'd still be there. But praise God, He had mercy.
Look at Titus 3, verses 3-7. Titus 3, verses 3-7. Look at this. For we ourselves
also were sometimes foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving
divers' lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful
and hating one another. That was our state. Titus 3.3,
that was our state, beloved, before the Lord saved us. And
see, what Paul does oftentimes, he'll constantly remind us of
where we were. Remember Ephesians 2? And you
who are dead in trespasses and sins. He constantly reminds us
of where we were, where we came from. Never forget, like Brother
Henry Mann said, never forget the rock you were hewn from.
Never forget that, beloved. Never forget where you were when
God saved you and how you were. Never. It'll magnify what Christ
has done for you even more. But look at this in verse 4.
But after that, the kindness and love of God our Savior toward
man appeared. not by works of righteousness
which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us. If
we're saved, we're saved by the mercy of God, by the washing
of regeneration, born again by the Holy Spirit of God, in renewing
of the Holy Ghost, which He shed on us abundantly through Jesus
Christ our Savior. Abundantly! That being justified by His grace,
Oh, we're justified by the grace of God in Christ. We should be
made heirs. Made heirs. We don't make ourselves
heirs. Made heirs according to the hope
of eternal life. So left to ourselves, we would
have joined right in with these folks that we see in Luke. We
would have joined right in. But the believer has obtained
mercy. It's a gift of God. It's a gift of God. It's a gift
from God, and we've only obtained that mercy. It's not by anything
we do. We have only obtained that mercy in Christ, in what
He's done. And we'll look at that further
on. What He's done is amazing. He redeemed His people, not just
from some of our sins, but from all of our sins. And I ask you,
is that not mercy? See, we usually forgive somebody
for something they did. Well, we kind of forgive them,
don't we? Aren't you glad that God doesn't forgive us like we
forgive other people sometimes? I'm so thankful. I remember Donny
Bell telling me, he said, I can sit in my chair, I can sit in
my chair at home, and I can think the most awful thoughts about
someone. And it's so, isn't it? Oh, I'm so thankful God doesn't
forgive me like I forgive other people. Because, my gosh, His
forgiveness is total. Because for all our sins, beloved,
it's amazing grace. And we're justified by His grace.
Look at verse 13 in Luke 23. In Pilate, when he had called
together the chief priests and the rulers and the people, Said
unto them, verse 14, Ye have brought this man unto me, as
one that perverteth the people. And behold, I, having examined
him before you, have found no fault in this man. He can't find
any fault at all, because he's perfect, because he's a just
man. He's God incarnate in the flesh.
Touching those things, where have ye accused him? He's faultless.
Behold the Lamb of God. Behold the Lamb right before
us in our text, the perfect, sinless, spotless Lamb of God.
And look at verse 15. No, no one yet heard, for I sent
you to him, and lo, nothing worthy of death is done unto him. Those who He's bought before
could find absolutely no fault in Him. He is the perfect One. And we know He's a perfect Redeemer,
isn't He? He's a perfect Redeemer. Look at verses 16 to 19. I will
therefore chastise Him and release Him. For of necessity he must
release one unto them at the feast. And they cried out all
at once, saying, Away with this man, and release unto us Barabbas, who for a certain sedition made
in the city, and for a murder was cast into prison." Now, Barabbas
was tried and found guilty, wasn't he? Tried and found guilty. We are tried by God's law and
found guilty. But someone else is going to
die in Barabbas' place. Barabbas is going to go free.
And the law will have no claims on him. Because someone else
is going to die in his place. And they desired Barabbas to
be released rather than Christ. And remember this, beloved, all
that we're seeing here before us was all decreed by God. He said His face, remember Christ
said His face like a flint, that just means steadfast, immovable. He knew what He must do. He knew
what He must do. all decreed by God that Christ
must die at the hands of wicked men. And think of this, the mysteries
of God's working to redeem his people from their sins. Him being
delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of
God, ye have taken and by wicked hands have crucified and slain. Look at verse 20. Pilate therefore
went on to release Jesus, spake again to them, but they cried,
Crucify Him! Crucify Him! They cried out. They hated the Lord Jesus Christ. And their hate is here before
us manifested. It's manifested. Look at verse
22 and 23. And he said unto them the third
time, Why, what evil hath he done? I have found no cause of
death in him. I will therefore chastise him
and let him go. And they were instant with loud
voices, no hesitation, requiring that he might be crucified. And
the voices of them and of the chief priests prevailed. And
Beloved left in our sins, we would have been right there with
him. It's a humble thought. Look at 24 and 25, and Pilate
gave a sentence that it should be as they required. Pilate gave,
you don't want an uprising. You don't want an uprising. Typical
politician, eh? Keep everybody happy. And he released unto them him
that for sedition and murder was cast into prison, whom they
had desired, but he delivered Jesus to their will. Here before us, beloved, is substitution. The one who is guilty is released. The one who is guilty is released. The one condemned by the law
is set free. And the sinless one will be crucified. Verse 26-28, And as they led
him away, they laid hold upon Simon the Syrian coming out of
the country. And on him they laid the cross,
that he might bear it after Jesus. And there followed him a great
company of people and of women, which also bewailed and lamented
him. But look at this, beloved. But
Jesus, turning unto them, said, daughters of Jerusalem, weep
not for me, but weep for yourselves and for
your children. Here is Christ going to the cross. He knows he must. He knows he must die. And he
says, weep not for me. Weep not for me. What a remarkable verse. God
incarnate in the flesh. The Lord Jesus Christ knows that
he must die as the sinner's substitute for his elect, for his people.
And he turns to these weeping women and he says, weep not for
me. He is on a mission, beloved.
He is on a mission. There's our great king right
there. He must die upon the cross. He
must be the sacrifice for the sins of His people, or we'd never be redeemed. He must. What love, what mercy,
what love manifested right here before us. What mercy! Weep not for me,
but weep for yourselves and for your children. Verse 29, For behold, the days
are coming, in which they shall say, Blessed are the barren,
and the wombs that never bare, and the paps which never gave
suck. Then shall they begin to say to the mountains, Fall on
us, and to the hills, cover us. For if they view these things
in the green tree, what shall be done in the dry? And then
look at verse 32, and there were also two other malefactors, men
who are guilty by the law, right? Remember, they couldn't find
any fault in Christ. But these men are guilty by the
law. These men are getting what they deserve, right? And there were also Two other
malefactors led with him to be put to death. Here we see man's
hatred of God on full display as they nail the sinless one,
as they nail the spotless Lamb of God, the one who they could
find no guilt in. They nail him to a cross. They could find no spot of blemish
at all in him, and they nail him to a cross. And it's all but the determinate
counsel and foreknowledge of God. Look at verse 33. And when they
were come to the place which is called Calvary, there they
crucified Him in the malefactors, one on the right hand and the
other on the left. Now here before us, we see the
Lord Jesus Christ crucified amongst two thieves. The perfect, sinless,
spotless Lamb of God crucified among two men who had been brought
before the law and found guilty. And as I said, they're paying
the price for what they've done. But in their midst, in between
them is the one who is dying for sins not his own. So we have three crosses before
us. One is a cross of rebellion. One man is dying in his sin. We'll go on to a Christless eternity. We have a cross of repentance,
which we'll look at. One man is dying to his sin,
which is a dying thief. And then we have the cross of
redemption. One man is dying for sin. Die in full sin. One man has given his life, the
Lord Jesus Christ. One man is losing his life, the
unrepentant thief. And one man is receiving life.
Look at down in verse 43, which we'll look at more in depth.
Verily I say unto thee, today thou shalt be with me in paradise. Let's go back to verse 34. Then
said Jesus, look at this, they've crucified Him. They've crucified
Him. He's hanging upon the cross.
God incarnate in the flesh. Then said Jesus, Father, forgive
them for they know not what they do. And they parted His remnant and
cast lots. He's naked upon the cross. And
they're casting lots for His remnant. And He cries, Father,
forgive them, for they know not what they do. And He cries out these words
as they crucify Him. Look at verse 35. And the people
stood beholding, and the rulers also, the who's who of the religious
world with them, deraided Him. They hate Him. Look at this. This verse is remarkable,
right? saying, He saved others, let
Him save Himself if He be the Christ, the Chosen of God. And
the soldiers also mocked Him, coming to Him and offering Him
vinegar and saying, I'll be the King of the Jews, save Thyself.
And the superscription also was written over him in letters of
Greek and Latin and Hebrew, this is the king of the Jews. And
one of the malefactors which was hanged, railed on him saying,
if thou be the Christ, save thyself. Look in verse 35, right, it says,
let him save himself, right? Then we see the soldiers. Mocking
Him too? If thou be King of the Jews,
save thyself. Then we see the unrepentant thief saying, save
thyself. Little did they know, little
did these men know, that there is Christ hanging upon the cross,
dying in the room instead of His people, saving a multitude
that no man can number. Oh, what a great King. What a great
King. Wonders of wonders. The Lord
Jesus Christ dying as the sinner's substitute. And we know from
other scriptures that both thieves were railing on Him. Both thieves
were railing on Him at first. And this unrepentant thief continues
to rail on Christ, mocking Him as death... Think of this. Mocking
Him as His death fast approaches. He's on the verge of eternity,
and he's still mocking God. Oh, praise God He didn't leave
me where He was. And if you're saved, praise God
that He didn't leave you where you were. We've obtained mercy in Christ. Mercy. Mercy. Turn, if you would, to Matthew
27.44. And then we'll go right back to Luke 23
though. Look at this in Matthew 27, 44. Now, both these thieves were
railing on Christ. Both of them. Both of them. Look
at Matthew 27, 44. The thieves also which were crucified
with him cast the same in his teeth. So, at first, they're
both railing on Christ. Both of these men. Both of them. Let's go back to Luke 23. So
the soldiers are mocking Him. The rulers are mocking Him. Both
theists are mocking Him. And He's hanging there upon the
cross, redeeming His people from their sins. Look at verses 40 and 41. Now
here. Here we see the distinguishing
grace of God right before our eyes. Right before our eyes. What's the difference between
these two things? Only God. Only God, the Holy
Spirit, regenerating. This thief, and he's repentant
because the Holy Spirit has wrought a great work in him. And this
is our prayer that God would take the words of servants and
use them for His glory and draw His sheep to Him. But the other, so let's go back
up to 39. And one of the malefactors which
was hanged railed on him, saying, if thou be the Christ, save thyself.
Now we know from Matthew that they were both railing at one
time. But look at this. There's a great change. There's
a great change with this dying thief. Look at verses 40 and
41. But the other answering rebuked
him, saying, doest not thou fear God? This is the same thief that
was railing with the other. Doest thou not fear God, seeing
thou art in the same condemnation? They're all going to die. And we indeed justly, okay, he
has had manifest to himself that he's hanging upon that tree justly. Old Scott Richardson used to
say, when the Lord saves us, we take sides with ourselves. We take sides with God against
ourselves. We take sides with God. That's
what happened. We're here justly. We're here
justly. We're getting what we deserve.
For we receive the due rewards of our deeds, of our labors,
of our works. But this man had done nothing
amiss. Oh, the Holy Spirit has revealed
to him the sinless one. that Christ is the Savior, perfect,
spotless Lamb of God. And like I said, He was real
in earlier. Only the work of God the Holy
Spirit could do this. He's regenerated. And now, He
sees that they are there justly, but Christ is sinless. Look at verse 44 there. And we indeed justly, for we
receive the due reward of our deeds, but this man hath done
nothing amiss." So again, right before us, we see the distinguishing
grace of God, right? We see the distinguishing grace
of God. The Holy Spirit has moved upon one thief who was before
railing, and he's granted that thief faith, and the other thief,
he just passed right by, just leave him where he is. What does God have to do to save
a man? Everything. What does God have
to do for a man to go to hell? Just leave him alone. Just leave
him alone. And think of this, too. He's been granted faith and repentance.
He's repentant. He's born again by the Holy Spirit
of God. And he can't do any works, can
he? He's dying. All he can do is
look. No works. Can't do anything. And he rebuked
the other thief. Doest thou not fear God, seeing
thou art in the same condemnation, and we indeed justly? For we
receive the due rewards of our deeds, but this man hath done
nothing amiss. He's perfect, he's flawless.
Oh, the Holy Spirit's revealed to him Christ. This man has done nothing amiss.
Born again by the Holy Spirit of God, his eyes have been opened
to his dreadful state before a holy and righteous God. And
what does he do? He cries out to Christ. He cries
out to Christ for mercy. And repentance is a change of
mind about sin. It's a change of mind about God.
And it's also a change of mind about salvation. Because you
realize you can't work your way to heaven. And a great change has been wrought
in this man. Turn, if you would, to Psalm
130. Psalm 130. A great change has been wrought
in this man. When God grants us repentance and faith, we see
our sinfulness. And we see what we are before
a holy and righteous God. Psalm 130, verse 3, If thou,
Lord, shouldest mark iniquity, O Lord, who shall stand? If the Lord were to mark iniquity
for any one of us here in this room, anyone who will hear this
message, who shall stand? If we stand before God in our
own righteousness, Who shall stand? Who shall stand? So when God grants us faith and
repentance, we see that we cannot save ourselves. But we see that
if we are to be saved, it must be in and through the Lord Jesus
Christ and Him alone. But look at verse 4 of 130. But
there is forgiveness with thee, with Christ. There is forgiveness
with thee, that thou mayest be feared. And let us remember that
God can do for us what we can never do for ourselves. He can
do for us what we can never do for ourselves. We can't save
ourselves, but he's able. We cannot, I ask you, could you
pay the price for one of your sins? Just one? I can't. Not one. But Christ paid the
price for all the believer's sins. All of them. He paid a debt he did not owe.
I owed a debt I could not pay. He paid a debt he did not owe. I owed a debt I could not pay.
I needed someone to wash my sins away. Now I sing a brand new
song, Amazing Grace. Christ Jesus paid a debt that
I could never pay. My goodness. And notice in our
text, back in our text, the thief has had revealed to him that
he's a sinner. It says, for we receive the due reward of our
deeds. You've often heard me say, we
don't get what we deserve. We get mercy. We who believe
get mercy. So the thief acknowledged his
sin. He acknowledged that he was getting the rewards of his
sin. Oh, when the Lord shows us who we
are, we say, woe is me, for I am undone. I am a man of unclean
lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips,
for mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of Hosts. And Job said,
This I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear, but now
mine eyes seeth thee. This thief now sees him. He now
sees who Christ is. Wherefore, I abhor myself and
repent in dust and ashes. Job 42, verse 5 and 6. So the
thief's eyes have been opened to who Christ is. Oh, that God
would open the eyes of the sinner here. Oh, that He'd open their
eyes. And scriptures tells us to look
to Christ and live, right? Tell ye and bring them near,
yea, let them take counsel together, who hath declared this from ancient
times, hath told it from that time. Have not I the Lord, and
there is no God else beside me, a just God and a Savior, there
is none else beside, there is none beside me? Look unto me.
What did that thief do? He looked to Christ. What does
a believer do? He looked to Christ. Look unto
me and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth, for I am God and
there is none else. Jesus Christ hanging upon that
cross, God incarnate in the flesh. God incarnate in the flesh. The
express image of God. If you've seen Him, you've seen
the Father. And here is the God-man mediator, dying on the cross,
the great sinner's substitute. We are to look away from our
religious labors and works. Our righteous works, our supposed
righteous works are nothing but filthy rags in the eyes of the
Lord. But there's life at a look at the crucified one. There's
life at this moment for thee. Then look, sinner, look unto
him and be saved, unto him who was nailed to the tree. The thief looked and he lived. Oh, that God would make you willing
to look to Christ. Oh, that He'd make you willing.
Look at verse 42 now. Now here's this repentant thief,
the very one who'd been railing on Christ. Look at this. And
he said unto Jesus, Lord, remember me when Thou comest into Thy
kingdom. All he says is remember me. Just remember me. Just remember me. What comfort the next verse brings
to God's people is our wonderful, merciful Savior's reply to one
of His lost sheep that He's dying for and hanging upon that cross. And Jesus said unto him, Verily
I say unto thee, Today, Thou shalt be with me in paradise."
That's the king in his weakness. Today, thou
shalt be with me in paradise. And remember, he's beaten to
a pulp, beloved. They beat him. Today, thou shalt be Today, beloved,
when a saint goes home to glory, he is instantaneously in the
presence of the Lord. Today, today thou shalt be with
me. He woke that day a sinner, condemned
to death that thief. In your wake up is Satan in heaven. Today, thou shalt be with me.
Today, with power, beloved, What power! He can save a sinner.
He saved this condemned thief. Oh, what power! And it's all
because of what Christ has done. There He is dying upon the cross. What security the believer has.
What security! The believer's salvation, just
like this thief, is all in Christ. All in Christ. So I ask you,
what are you trusting in to get you to heaven? What are you trusting
in? Are you trusting in your works?
Are you thinking, well, I'm not that person. Then you're trusting in yourself. And that'll lead to your eternal
doom. Do you trust in the profession
that you made long... Well, you know, I fixed it up
a long time ago. If you're trusting in your profession,
then you're trusting in yourself. Well, some folks say, you know,
well, I go to church every week. And I've been baptized, and surely
God'll accept me for that. I remember talking with a Church
of Christ guy a long time ago. I was at work, and this guy was
a Church of Christ guy. And they believe in what's called
baptismal regeneration, which is, regeneration is just a big
word that's used. It just means born again. It
just means born again. But they believe that you have
to be baptized, then you're born again. Well, I asked him one
day, I said, well, we turned to this very pastor, I said,
well, what about this theist? He never baptized. He couldn't
do no works. And his reply was, well, that
was a special occasion. You see, when men can't justify
by scripture what they believe, they just throw these things
out there. Do you know that thief is saved? If you're sitting here
and you're a saved believer, if you're one of God's elect
and he saved you, do you know you're saved by the same grace
of God in Christ that that thief was saved by? You're regenerated
by the same Holy Spirit that that thief was saved. You're
trusted in the same Jesus. You're looking to the same Christ
as he was saved. You're not on a special occasion.
Baptism doesn't save. Only Christ. Baptism is just
an outward confession of an inward conversion. It never saves anyone, but Christ
can save anyone. He can save anyone who comes
to Him. He saves His people, right? And He draws His people.
Draws His people to Him. So we're saved by the same Lord,
The same Christ, the same King, regenerated by the same Spirit,
is this dying thief, we who believe. And man will twist things when
confronted with the truth of the Gospel. They're so tied up
in their refuge of lies and their errors, and they won't let go.
Well, unless God gets a hold of them. And I could say that because
I came out of all that stuff. I wasn't Church of Christ, but
Catholicism and all that, just as bad. works-based religion. The only one who can save a sinner
is the Lord Jesus Christ. And we come before him empty-handed,
bankrupt sinners, absolutely bankrupt, penniless. Penniless. That's the only way
to come to Christ. It's the only way to come to
Him. We don't come to him with any
of our works because our salvation is wholly based upon what Christ
has done, what we're looking at today, what he did. No amount of works, no amount
of works will save us, only the work which Jesus Christ can save
us. No amount of our works can save
us, not one, but all what Christ has done. Oh, what Christ. That which is impossible with
man is possible with God. Oh, what a wonderful Savior we
have before us. And think of this, He's God incarnate
in the flesh, and He's dying upon this cross. And if you're
a believer, for you. And Jesus said unto him, Verily,
verily, I say unto thee, Today thou shalt be with me in paradise. Christ has put away all the sins
of his people by the sacrifice of himself, by the shedding of
his precious blood. It is finished. It's finished. We were listening
to that CD. God is satisfied. Christ is satisfied. The Holy Spirit's satisfied.
Why does man think they have to add something to that? It's
perfect. There's nothing to be added.
Nothing. And then our text continues in
verses 45 and 46. And it was about the sixth hour,
and there was darkness over all the earth until the ninth hour.
And the sun was darkened, and the veil of the temple was rent
in the midst. And when Jesus had cried with
a loud voice, he said, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit. And heaven said this, he gave
up the ghost. Redemption is complete. Salvation for his people is finished. God's law and justice has been
satisfied by the sinless one. Remember, they could find nothing
in him. He's pure, perfect, spotless. He who knew no sin was made sin
for us that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.
The great transfer. Our sins are placed upon Him,
and He bears them, and His righteousness is imputed to us. Our sins are
imputed to Him, and His righteousness is imputed to us. And we glory
in this light. We glory in it. Turn, if you
would, to Romans chapter 4, and we're closed with this. God's law and justice has been
satisfied by the sinless, spotless, substitute the Lord Jesus Christ
in His death upon the cross, in His shedding of His precious
blood, God incarnated in the flesh, dying in the place of
His people, and He came to save His people from our sins, and
He did it! He did it! He's successful! God is satisfied with the sacrifice
of Christ. Look at Romans 4, verses 21-25. And being fully persuaded that
what He had promised, He was able also to perform. and therefore
it was imputed to him for righteousness. Now it was written for his sake
alone that it was imputed to him, but for us also, to whom
it shall be imputed if we believe on him that raised up Jesus our
Lord from the dead, who was delivered for what? Our offenses. For sins not his own, he did
atone. For our offenses. And raised
again for what? Our justification. God is satisfied. Raised again for our justification. Oh, may sinners be drawn to this
wonderful substitute, the Lord Jesus Christ. May they be drawn
by the Holy Spirit to see Him, to look upon Him like this dying
thief. That's all we've done, eh? We who believe, we just look
to Him. We look to Him. Look and live. Look and live.