Dying Thief #2

Q: What does the Bible say about salvation for those who have sinned?

The Bible illustrates that salvation is available to all, as seen in the story of the dying thief, who was promised paradise by Christ despite his past. The account of the dying thief highlights the profound truth of salvation by grace through faith. Despite his life of sin, when confronted with his own guilt and the righteous judgment of God, he expressed faith in Jesus. His plea, 'Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom,' demonstrates the essence of true repentance and faith. Christ's response, 'Today you will be with me in paradise,' underscores that salvation is not earned by works but is a gift from God to those who believe (Ephesians 2:8-9). This narrative teaches that no matter how far one has strayed, God's grace is sufficient to save even the most wretched of sinners.

Q: How do we know the transformation of the dying thief is authentic?

The transformation of the dying thief is evidenced by his immediate repentance, confession of sin, and proclamation of faith in Christ. The authenticity of the dying thief's transformation can be seen in several evidences. Firstly, he rebukes his fellow criminal and confesses, 'We indeed justly, for we receive the due reward of our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong.' This acknowledgment of guilt reflects a profound change of heart. Secondly, he shows boldness in confessing his faith in Jesus, recognizing Him as the King and asking for remembrance in His kingdom. The nature of this confession, especially in a moment of impending death and surrounded by jeers, demonstrates the depth of his conviction and the genuineness of his faith. Ultimately, such a transformation, wrought by God's grace, aligns with the biblical promise that anyone in Christ is a new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17).

Q: Why is confession of faith important for Christians?

Confession of faith is a vital evidence of true belief, as it demonstrates obedience to Christ and signifies a transformed heart. Confession of faith is crucial for several reasons. Firstly, it aligns with Jesus’ own teaching that those who confess Him before men will be acknowledged before the Father (Matthew 10:32-33). Secondly, confession serves as an outward expression of an inward change confirmed by the Holy Spirit. It signifies that a heart transformed by grace not only believes internally but openly acknowledges Christ as Lord. As seen in the dying thief, true faith cannot remain silent; it compels the believer to declare their allegiance to Jesus despite potential ridicule or consequences. The connection between faith and confession is emphasized in Romans 10:9-10, underscoring the necessity of verbal profession for salvation. This principle is vital for witnessing and participating in the life of the Church.

Q: What can we learn from the dying thief's example?

The dying thief's example teaches us about the power of grace, the importance of repentance, and the assurance of salvation through faith in Christ. The example of the dying thief is rich with lessons for every believer. Firstly, it underscores the power of God's grace to save the utmost sinner, providing hope to those who feel undeserving. His swift transition from a life of rebellion to being promised eternal life illustrates the depth and immediacy of God's mercy. Secondly, it reveals the necessity of repentance; the thief openly confessed his sins and recognized God's righteousness. This act of turning away from sin and turning toward Christ is central to true salvation. Lastly, his experience speaks to the assurance of salvation for believers; despite a lifetime of sin, a moment of faith brought him certainty of eternal life with Christ. This teaches us to trust in Christ alone for our salvation, no matter our past.

Will you follow again this evening,
please, as I read from the 23rd chapter of the Gospel according
to Luke, Luke chapter 23. I shall begin reading at the
point in Luke's narrative where the Lord has been led from Pilate's
judgment hall to the place of execution and that horrible death
of the cross is about to be enacted in his own life. I begin reading
at verse 32. And there were also two others,
malefactors, led with him to be put to death. And when they
came unto the place which is called the skull, there they
crucified him, and the malefactors, one on the right hand and the
other on the left. And Jesus said, Father, forgive
them, for they know not what they do. And parting his garments
among them, they cast moths. And the people stood beholding.
And the rulers also scoffed at him, saying, He saved others. Let him save himself, if this
is the Christ of God, his chosen. And the soldiers also mocked
him, coming to him, offering him vinegar, and saying, If thou
art the King of the Jews, save thyself." And there was also
a superscription over him, This is the King of the Jews. And
one of the malefactors that were hanged railed on him, saying,
Art not thou the Christ? Save thyself and us. But the
other, answered and rebuking him, said, Dost not thou even
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, Jesus, remember
me when thou comest in thy kingdom. And he said unto him, Verily
I say unto thee, Today thou shalt be with me. in paradise. Since the great majority of you
were present this morning, I shall not weary you or insult your
adult intelligence by an extended review, but I will pause just
long enough to get your minds, I trust, flowing in the direction
of the thoughts that we began to develop from this passage
this morning. I have suggested that for at
least a few weeks, our attention will be directed to portions
of the Word of God in which the grand truths, which have been
expounded for months from Ephesians 2, are wonderfully illustrated,
where God gives us, as it were, some case histories of His own
mighty work in quickening dead sinners and in making them new
creatures in union with His Son Jesus Christ our Lord. And having
examined the record of the Philippian jailer, I proposed this morning
that we would spend a few times examining the record of the conversion
of the dying malefactor, the dying thief. And I suggested
this morning that to collate the biblical materials, we would
consider first of all the native spiritual condition of the dying
thief, Secondly, the gracious spiritual transformation of the
dying thief. And thirdly, the powerful lessons
contained in the narrative of the transformation of this man. This morning we had time only
to establish the native spiritual condition of the dying thief
and to begin establishing the gracious spiritual transformation
of the dying thief. And with the passage before us
we saw that the character of this man, his native spiritual
condition, was one characterized by defiant rebellion against
the law of God, secondly by a state of hardened impenitence before
the face of God, and his condition was that of a condemned criminal
before the bar of God's justice. And in that condition, he is
but a specimen man. Each of us is also indicted in
those three areas of spiritual concern by nature-defiant rebels,
Romans 8, 7, hardened, impenitent sinners, John 3, 18, and condemned
criminals before the bar of God, Romans 3, verses 19 and 20. But
then this passage focuses not so much upon that doleful condition
that the man was in prior to the transformation of God's grace,
but rather upon the mighty work that God did in making him fit
for heaven. And that, of course, is the clue
to our whole interpretation of the passage, that our Lord clearly
and unmistakably asserts that the man was prepared to die,
he would be with Christ in paradise that very day. Well, how then
did this gracious transformation come to pass? And I suggested
this morning that in looking through the materials, we ought
to consider how it came to pass, what evidences are there that
it was a real transformation, and what means were used. Well,
I suggested that in answer to the first question, What or how
did it come to pass? It came to pass because of a
spiritual revelation to the heart of this man in two areas, a revelation
of his true condition before God, and secondly, a revelation
of and confidence in the Son of the Living God. So much for
the brief review. Now we address ourselves to the
final two questions under that main second heading. Having looked
at his native spiritual condition, we're examining the gracious
transformation of the dying thief. Point A, how did it come to pass? Two sub-points. By the revelation
given of the Spirit of His true condition. Point number two,
under sub-heading A, it is that revelation of and confidence
in the Lord Jesus as the Son of God. Now, tonight, BMC, under
major heading number two, The Gracious Transformation of the
Dying Feet. What evidences do we have that
it was a real transformation? Even though this man does not
live long enough to manifest the principles of his new life
in any great degree, Yet the vigor of these principles under
the most difficult circumstances is witness to the reality of
the change that occurred. In other words, it's far more
proof of a man's ability to swim well, far greater manifestation
of native spiritual strength if he can stay afloat for ten
minutes on the sea in a raging storm, than if another man can
keep himself afloat for ten hours in the calm of his backyard pool. There's far more proof of innate,
inherent physical vigor and strength when a man keeps himself alive
and afloat for ten minutes in a raging storm upon a heaving
sea than the man who simply treads water for ten hours in his backyard
pool. Well, there's a sense in which
this passage demonstrates tremendous vigor of the principles of spiritual
life, and though the man had only opportunity to exercise
them and demonstrate them for a few short hours, We know on
the basis of what our Lord says, because those principles were
real and were wrought by the saving grace of God, had this
man lived, they would have been manifested to a greater degree
over a lengthy period of time. And I'm amazed, the more I meditate
in this passage, to see the many solid, positive evidences that
the transformation was both deep and real. He was created anew
in Christ Jesus under good works which God had before ordained
that he should walk in them. And though he only walked in
them for a few hours while hanging upon a cross, they are works
that are a manifest and undeniable witness to the fact that he was
made a new creature. Well, what are they? Well, let's
look at them. The first is, he made an open
confession of his new perspectives on the issues of eternity. as
surely as he was open in his declaration of his carnal, selfish,
time-bound perspectives when he joined his fellow thief in
taunting the Lord Jesus at the beginning of his crucifixion,
for we saw this morning that the thieves, plural, also mocked
him and taunted him, just as surely as he was open and unashamed
to demonstrate before the Lord Jesus, his fellow criminal, the
soldiers, the scribes, and anyone near the cross, he was unashamed
to let it be known that he did not see beyond the end of his
own nose as far as spiritual things were concerned. The moment
the Spirit of God takes him into that realm of spiritual and eternal
reality, he is just as open in confessing the effect of that
new perspective upon his spirit. So we find him in verse 40, the
other takes the initiative to rebuke him. And he says, Does
not thou even fear God, seeing thou art in the same condemnation,
and we indeed justly? And when he comes to that place
where he sees his need as a sinner standing on the brink of eternity,
no longer concerned as his original taunts reflected, no longer concerned
just with preserving his skin, save thyself in us, but now concerned
with the salvation of his soul, these things were done audibly
in the presence of witnesses. indicating that one of the first
marks of his new life in Christ was this open confession of his
new perspectives on the issues of eternity. He says in essence
to his fellow thief dying there on the same hill with him, I
have come now to see that my life has been devoid of the fear
of God. This is why I have been guilty
of crimes that have justly condemned me to death, but I now fear Him. Dost not thou even fear God?"
Here is a man who, a few moments after his newfound life in Christ,
becomes an aggressive, bold, and zealous witness of the reality
of the new perspectives with relationship to his soul and
to eternity. As with the dying thief, so with
everyone who is the object of the Lord's saving mercy. No matter
how quiet a man or woman may be in temperament, every man,
every woman, every boy, every girl who lives for nothing but
time makes it evident by his speech and by his lifestyle that
time is the beginning and middle and end of his perspective. I
don't care how reserved he is. I don't care how temperamentally
withdrawn he is. You live with him any degree
of time, and it becomes evident that time is his world. Likewise,
when the Spirit of God transforms a man in grace, consistent with
his own native temperament, consistent with all of those other things,
he will make it known by open concession that he's been brought
into a totally new perspective with reference to the issues
of eternity. And there will be confession
of those new perspectives. It may come in the form of rebuke,
as Peter says in 1 Peter 4, and that's a classic commentary on
this. Peter says, they think it's strange that you run not
with them to the same excessive riot. Those who joined you in
your time-bound perspective say, let's do this and let's go here
and let's discuss this. And you say, I can no longer
go there. I can no longer discuss this.
I can no longer act this way. There's a whole new perspective
on the issues of life. And there will be confession
of this. And it's this thing that brings the reaction of a
hostile world. Then in the second place, the
second clear evidence of the reality and the depth of the
transformation was his unashamed confession of his Spirit-given
understanding of and confidence in Jesus Christ. He's not only
unashamed to confess, I've entered a new world of spiritual perspective,
the fear of God. No longer save my hide, I'm concerned
about the salvation of my soul. But there is this second area
of open confession, unashamed confession, of His Spirit-given
understanding of who Christ is. Notice in His rebuke, Thus not
thou fear God, seeing thou art in the same condemnation. We
indeed justly, we receive the due reward of our deeds. Then
He says in the hearing of scribes, He says in the hearing of Roman
soldiers, he says in the hearing of anyone who happens to be paying
attention, he hath done nothing out of place. The moment the
Spirit of God convinced him of the perfect innocence of the
Son of God, the moment the Spirit of God convinced him that this
was no mere man, he's openly confessing. Remember, under the
most adverse circumstances, he wasn't joining a swell of popularity
poured out at the feet of Jesus. There was nobody standing around
saying, he's son of God, he's done nothing amiss, isn't he
wonderful? And he was simply going along with the crowd. Here
he is, I remind you, as we underscored this morning, in the agony, in
the physical torture of crucifixion. with his ears still ringing with
the echo of his own voice having previously taunted the Son of
God, the taunting of the scribes, the taunting of the soldiers,
and it's as though he says, I don't care what I've seen, I must speak. Think me a fool, but I behold
in this one on the middle cross the sinless One, the One who
is worthy of my confidence in the grim reality, in the face
of the grim reality of death and eternity and the coming of
Messiah, I openly confess with my mouth what I have seen with
my spiritual eyes. Having beheld Him as Son of God,
King and Savior, He fears not to open His mouth and confess
His allegiance to Him. He ran the risk of being taunted
also. For if this crowd heard him,
and the scripture of course does not record everything that is
said, but I can well imagine it would be most natural in the
spirit, the ugly spirit manifested by these bystanders to say, he's
done nothing amiss, then explain his being on a cross. Do I hear
you right? Calling on Him to remember you
in a kingdom? Does He look like a king? He
doesn't care. He's willing to run the risk
of being thought a fool, to recognize in the bleeding, dying form of
the Son of God, God's own Son, God's Messiah, and the only Savior
of the world. Call me a fool, if you will.
He says, in essence, the Spirit of God has revealed to me who
He is, and I shall confess it, no matter what you think. or
no matter what you say. Is not this the teaching of the
Word of God? That whenever and wherever a gracious change is
wrought in the heart of a sinner, there will be an unashamed confession
of that Spirit-given revelation of and confidence in Jesus Christ. Did not our Lord Himself say,
Whosoever confesseth Me before men, Him will I confess before
my Father which is in heaven." Here's a classic example of it.
In just a few short hours, he would take him with him into
the presence of the Father and confess this dying thief to be
one of his own. And the evidence that he was
truly his own was this confession, here in the face Of the possible
opposition and further taunts and jeers, he identifies himself
in this confession with the Son of God. And whosoever shall deny
me before men, him will I also deny before my Father. which is in heaven. Granted,
again, this will be, in some degree, conditioned by our opportunities,
our circumstances, our temperament, many other things. But a confessionless
Christian is not recognized in the Word of God. There is no
such thing as a true Christian who does not confess his Lord. The Bible so intimately ties
together true faith in the heart and confession of the lips that
you can't wrench them apart. Romans chapter 10 forever settles
the question. If thou shalt confess with thine
mouth Jesus is Lord, and believe in thine heart that God hath
raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the
heart man believeth unto salvation, and with the mouth believeth
unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made
unto salvation. Not confession in order to be
saved, but confession unto the salvation which is come by faith,
that salvation which is brought imputed righteousness. But God
ties the two together. Are they tied together in you?
Or do you just love to come to Trinity and hear good preaching?
That's not confessing Christ. What do you say in that office
where nobody believes Jesus Christ is anything other than a religious
figure? Can you stand to hear him spoken of as such and have
your lips forever sealed? What does it mean to confess
Christ? It means that in that place where
men taunt and men mock, in that university classroom, and in
that high school classroom, and in that grade school classroom,
and on that ball field, and in that being judicious, being wise,
not being boorish, not being stupid. I'm fully aware of all
the qualifications, but put them all there. And the fact still
remains, if there's faith in your heart, there's confession
upon your lips. And if there's no confession
upon your lips, you have no biblical grounds to say there's faith
in your heart. For whosoever shall confess me
before men, him will I confess before my Father. Whosoever shall
deny me shall be denied before my Father. And perpetual silence
in every circumstance is tantamount to denial. I chose my words carefully. Perpetual
silence in every circumstance is tantamount to denial. So you see the vigor of the new
life in all the agony of hanging upon a cross. If anyone could
be justified, if anyone could be exempt from open confession
of Christ, certainly a man whose mind is being drawn aside from
weighty issues by the sheer call of his nerve endings that are
all with pain. And yet the new life within breaks
through all of those natural barriers, and he's found making
an open confession, not only of his new perspectives on life
and eternity, but on the new understanding he's received by
the Spirit concerning Jesus Christ. Thirdly, the reality and vigor
of the transformation is seen in the immediate impartation
of a disposition to pray. a disposition to pray. For what
is verse 42 if it is not a prayer? And he said that is the dying
thief, Jesus. And the better manuscript evidence
is in favor, or the manuscript evidence is in favor, of the
word being Jesus. And there's no substantial difference
except a lot of sermons have to go down the drain that are
based on an overemphasis on the significance of him calling him
Lord. But be that as it may, It is much more certain that
what he said was not, Lord, remember me, but Jesus, remember me when
thou comest in thy kingdom. What a simple prayer, but what
a profound prayer. No sooner is new life imparted
in the spirit of adoption given, but what he is crying out in
prayer. Notice the elements of the prayer.
It had a right object. Jesus. name above every name, Jesus,
who has come to save his people from their sins. He prays to
no saints if there were such. He prays to no priests if there
were such, and there were apparently some standing around the cross.
He prays to no temple. He certainly does not Norman
Vincent Peale-style pray to himself. and say to himself, now you're
in bad shape, but begin to think positive thoughts. Ouch, ooh,
ooh, ah, ooh, positive thoughts. Things are getting better every
day. That's not biblical religion. It's nothing but a mind cult.
And the man's a false prophet. Pure and simple. He has a right
object. He doesn't talk to himself. He
doesn't talk to others. Jesus. Jesus. Nobody there giving him ten lessons
on how to pray as a new Christian. The Holy Ghost is the great teacher.
And when new life is imparted, that new life instinctively ascends
to the direction from whence it came, and that direction is
God. And that too of Saul of Tarsus,
when the Lord wants to convince Ananias that he's really done
something real, what does he pick out about all other things?
He says, Behold, he prayeth. And then I says, all right, Lord,
that's enough for me. If he's really praying, that means he's
come to know the true object of prayer. He's come to know
the only way to approach the true object through Jesus Christ.
Lord, tell me nothing else. I'm on my way. He prayeth. That's
the work of grace. That's the work of grace. He
had the right object. And secondly, his prayer reflects right concerns. Lord, or Jesus, Look upon me
and pity me in my present pains. No, as we underscored this morning
in another relationship, there's not a word about his present
pains. Lord, look upon me in my terrible straits. I've left
a wife and kids and have pity on them and somehow get me out
of this mess. No, no. Lord, I had an unfortunate
upbringing and you know that though I'm guilty and I deserve
to be here, I really could... No, no, none of that. Lord, remember
me when thou comest in thy kingdom." The concerns of his prayer are
spiritual, eternal, essential concerns. And this disposition
to pray was commensurate with the beginnings of new life. And,
my friend, as with the dying thief, so with you. If he begins
truly to pray while hanging on a cross in the agony of that
cruel, terrible, agonizing death, Then you too will pray if new
life has been imparted. You'll pray. The disposition
of the new life will instinctively move in the direction from which
the life has come. Godward. You'll pray to the right
object. The God revealed in Jesus Christ. Your prayers will be concerned
primarily with right concerns. Is that true of you? Do you pray?
I'm not asking you to pray as much as you know you ought to.
Do you pray every time you know you should? A few verses in the
Bible convict me more than David's statement, When thou saidst,
Seek ye my face, My heart said unto thee, thy face, Lord, will
I seek. How many times have I had to say, Lord, forgive me for
quenching the spirit of adoption, which was moving me as the spirit
of intercession, and the thought flashed my mind, you ought to
pray. Whether I was driving, you ought to pray about this
or that. Or whether there was opportunity for concerted, secret
prayer, and there was the impulse to pray, and I put it aside.
My heart convinced me every time I think of that. I'm not talking
about that which is the shameful confession of every true Christian.
But if you're a true Christian, you can say, Lord, thou knowest. Though I do not pray as oft as
I ought, and as much as I should, and as fervently as I should,
Lord, I thank you that I know what it is to draw near with
the spirit of adoption, saying, Abba, Father, and to pray. My friend, do you pray? Do you
pray? Do you come to the true and living
God revealed in Holy Scripture? And in honesty before Him, in
the presence of the One whose eyes are as a flame of fire,
do you spread your need? Do you, in the words of the psalmist,
pour out your heart before Him? The mark of a gracious change
in the human heart is not only the confession of these new perspectives
made before others, the confession of Christ before others, but
the disposition to pray. Then the fourth indication of
the reality and depth of His change is this. He showed an
immediate concern and zeal for righteousness. Look at verses
40 and 41. Having desisted from His own
mockery as the change begins in His own heart, Hearing the
reviling, literally the blaspheme, the word railed on him in verse
39 is the word often translated in the New Testament, blasphemy,
from which we get our English word, blasphemy. And hearing
this, the other answering rebuked him and said, Do you not even
fear God, seeing you're in the same condemnation? And we indeed
justly, for we receive the due reward of our deeds, this man
hath done nothing amiss." What does this rebuke reveal? Well,
it reveals many things, but one of the primary things is this.
It shows an immediate concern and zeal for righteousness. This man has defied God and His
law. His life has been marked by lawlessness. He has had no passion to see
God's name or God's law honored. But the moment this great change
occurs, he manifests a reflexive zeal for righteousness. He said,
wait a minute, it's not right to taunt this man. This man is
innocent. It is unrighteous to condemn
an innocent man and to taunt and to mock him. His zeal for
righteousness, as it were, leaps from his renewed heart, transformed
by the power of the Holy Spirit. And the fact that he shows this
concern in the way of rebuke shows the measure of his zeal.
He didn't forever hang there waiting for a tactful opportunity. He said, Shut your mouth, buster!
Don't you fear God? He rebuked him. Zeal for the
cause of righteousness. He says, in essence, look, you
and I are dying. Up till now, we've complained
about society. We've talked about our background
being unfair and all these other excuses. But man, listen to me! Listen to me! We are here on
the basis of pure, inflexible justice. God must be honored
in His name, vindicated in our death. What a zeal for righteousness
when that zeal, as it were, relinquishes all claim to continue to live
and consents gladly to death. Remember the Apostle Paul said,
if I've done things worthy of death, he said, I have no reluctance
to die. That's the man consumed with
zeal for righteousness. And is not that the mark of a
heart that has experienced what Ezekiel talks about? I will take
out the heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh and write
my laws upon their heart. a zeal for righteousness. And
my friend, that's the mark, one of the indispensable marks of
a saving transformation wrought by the grace of God. This concern
and zeal for righteousness is an inevitable attendant of new
life in Christ. 1 John 3 verses 7-10 are the
classic statement in the New Testament on this very principle.
1 John 3 verses 7-10, My little children, let no man lead you
astray. He that doeth righteousness is
righteous, even as he is righteous. He that doeth sin is of the devil,
for the devil sinned from the beginning. Now notice, as you
apply this to the dying thief, to this end was the Son of God
manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil. Whosoever
is begotten of God does not make a practice of sin, because his
seed abideth in him. And he cannot make a practice
of sin, because he is begotten of God in this. And think of
it now, our Lord, in the middle, one thief on the one hand, one
on the other. In this, the children of God are manifest, the children
of the devil. Whoever doeth not righteousness
is not of God. And here he manifests that he
is born of God by this immediate evidence of a zeal for righteousness. What about you, my friend? Do
you have a concern and zeal for the establishment of righteousness,
first of all in your own heart, then in your own home, then in
your place of business and opportunities and all of your interpersonal
relationships? Do you have a concern, a zeal
for righteousness, that God should be glorified by men honoring
his holy law? Does it grieve you when men flaunt
the standards of Holy Scripture? Does it cause you at times, without
hardly even thinking, finding a rebuke leaping from your lips? If you have no zeal for righteousness,
first in your own heart, and then in your own home, and then
in your own circle of influence, my friend, you have no biblical
grounds to claim you're a child of God. But the Scripture says,
Be not deceived. Be not deceived, he that doeth
righteousness is righteous. 1 Corinthians 6.9 says, don't
be deceived, know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit
the kingdom of God. No one holds more strongly, I
trust, than we do in this place to the truths preached this morning
and again that God willing we'll reiterate next Lord's Day morning
when we take the principles, the abiding principles that form
the powerful lessons of this passage. I trust we take second
place to no one in asserting that the grounds of our acceptance
lie wholly outside of us in Christ and Christ alone. But if we're
to be biblical, we must assert with equal clarity that everyone
who comes into vital relationship with Jesus Christ and his objective,
imputed righteousness is himself subjectively, in some degree,
desirous of seeing righteousness wrought in his own life and in
his own circle of influence. That's why the Lord could say,
You're the salt of the earth. In an unrighteous society, you're
committed to righteousness. You're the light of the world.
In an unrighteous world, you're consumed with desire and passion
for righteousness. What about you? Are you in the
strictest, proper sense, most proper sense? Are you a do-gooder?
Every Christian's a do-gooder. Yes, he is. That's why Paul,
in the very book that demonstrates more clearly than any other book,
with the possible exception of Galatians, I'm talking about
the book of Romans, the book that demonstrates more clearly
than any other the truth that we're justified on the grounds
of the work of Christ and not our own work, it doesn't bother
him at all to describe the righteous in chapter 2 in these very terms,
to them who by patience in well-doing Seek for glory and honor and
incorruption to them, eternal life. But to them that are factious
and obey not the truth, but obey unrighteousness, shall be wrath
and indignation, tribulation and anguish upon every soul of
man that worketh evil. I care not how much doctrine
you have in your noggin. Good reform doctrine, albeit The Spirit of God has not touched
your heart and given you a passion for righteousness that starts
in the chambers of your own thoughts, in the archives of your own motives,
in the secret places of your own thoughts. And don't you talk
about resting on the righteousness of Christ for acceptance before
God. Don't you talk about an imputed
righteousness. Spirit who reveals Christ as
He revealed Him to the thief. A Christ who is able to take
this man with his lifetime of sin and in a moment prepare him
for paradise. The same Spirit who reveals Christ
is worthy of that kind of trust. It is the Spirit who will transform
the heart and implant a love for righteousness. And even though
you only have a couple of hours hanging on a cross to demonstrate
it, it will break through. created in Christ Jesus unto
good works. My friend, you better face the
question honestly. Do you have a zeal for righteousness? You say, but you haven't defined
righteousness. All right, I'll take just a moment to do it.
It is conformity to the revealed will of God. That's it. That's
righteousness. What is right? And what is right
is what is revealed as the will of God. in the home, in the shop, in
the school. There's the evidence. Well, we
must quickly move on. We find a fifth evidence of the
reality, the depth of the transformation of grace, and it's this. He shows
a concern for fellow sinners. For in this rebuke recorded in
verse 40, there is not only an expression of his zeal for righteousness,
there is also an effort to awaken the conscience of his fellow
sinner, that he too might face the grim realities of death and
hell and judgment in the world to come. Notice how he expresses
himself. He rebuked him, saying, Dost
not thou even fear God, seeing thou art in the same condemnation? He says, Man, when you are there
talking like these other people, taunting the Son of God, echoing
their language. Look, they do it. Standing down
there is free men, and though they don't know what a day may
bring forth, they're not on a cross just hours from death. He says,
man, don't you fear God? You can't afford the luxury of
being a smart aleck. Some of these scribes think perhaps
they can afford that luxury. They may rightly assume they
still have some time to live and to reflect and to amend their
ways, but man, you're in the same condemnation! You're on
a cross! You're just a whisper from the
grave and the judgment and eternity and hell! Man, wake up! Now, that may not have fit the
classical lessons on how to witness with tact. But I tell you, when
you're dying on a cross and you know the man next to you has
got just a few more breaths, you haven't got much time to
worry about being too tactful. You just let love gush out and
cut its own channels. And sometimes they'll be a little
jagged. But as long as love, compassion cuts them, God will
honor them. He showed a concern for his fellow
sinner. As with him, so with you. No
sooner is any sinner rescued by the grace of God than that
heart transformed by the power of grace will begin to have a
yearning for fellow sinners. Now, how the yearning will express
itself again, I say, lest any be unduly or overly troubled. Listen, it will be consistent
with many variables. But a heart renewed by grace,
yet devoid of concern for fellow sinners that will find channels
to express its concern, there is no such thing on the face
of the earth. A heart touched by grace is a
heart touched with concern for fellow sinners. To claim that you have known
what it is to be truly lost and now truly found is to claim something that just
doesn't exist. And I fear, I fear, one of our
great dangers in this assembly is that we begin to contend ourselves
that we really appreciate good straight preaching. We appreciate
preaching that goes after the conscience of the sinner. But
my friend, what about you? Is your heart going out for sinners?
Is your heart yearning for sinners? Are you seeking opportunities
to reach them? If not, you better ask yourself
if you've ever known the grace that was revealed to the dying
faith. And then the final positive evidence
of the reality of the transformation. And it sort of brings us around
full circle to where we began. And I don't know if this is the
best way to word it, but it's the best I've come up with up
till now. He manifested a preoccupation with the world of the spiritual
and the eternal. As we've hinted before, if any
man could ever be justified in having his mind taken off from
the world of the spiritual and the eternal, it's a man in the
agonies of crucifixion in which the temporal and the physical
bring such pressure to bear upon the conscience and upon the mind
and upon the whole man. And we are so constituted that
we just can't take our spirits out of our bodies and plunk them
up there on the shelf somewhere and say, now spirit, think about
heaven and eternity. And body, you go out here and
do dishes and change diapers and dig in the lawn and cut the
grass. We're one entity. And whatever
has tremendous pressure upon the body has a way of capturing
the mind and the spirit. I say, if any man would be justified
in having the world of the material and the temporal so pressing
upon him that the world of the spiritual and the eternal seems
terribly distant and unreal. It's this man. Some of you have
really been sick, and you know what I'm talking about. So sick
that all of the impulses to the mind are coming from the earthly
and the physical, from the pain, from the discomfort. And it was
a struggle to think one lofty, one spiritual, one non-material
thought. You know what I'm talking about.
Well, you just turn that up in intensity ten times, a hundred
times, and you've got a man on a cross with his lifeblood being
drained from him. And yet, what is his concern? Don't you fear God's righteousness,
a spiritual an eternal commodity. We indeed justly, in honor of
God, the vindication of His law. Jesus, remember me in my coming
kingdom. His views are not yet clear enough
as to the immediate condition of the soul upon death that trusts
in Christ, but his mind is stretching not only beyond his present pain
to what will lie the moment he dies, but all the way out to
the return of Messiah. And he says, when do you come
in your kingdom at the end of the age? Remember me. I say,
here's a man who is preoccupied with the world of the spiritual
and the eternal. And is not this one of the first
evidences of new life in Christ? Let me illustrate it this way.
Here's a man who's just recently died. And someone takes him into
the midst of an almost Garden of Eden-like park. Exotic smells,
beautiful flowers. All of this verdure beneath his
feet, or beneath his back, he's stretched out. Beautiful birds
flying overhead, making all kinds of wonderful sounds. The smells
permeate the air. The sights dazzle the eyes. Couldn't
prove it by him. His nose smells no exotic smell. His eyes see no beautiful sights. His ears hear no beautiful sounds. Why? He's dead. And though that
real, beautiful, physical world, bristling with stimuli to the
eyes and the ears and the nose, He's dead, he's out of touch
with the whole thing. But if by some power we could go and
touch that corpse and bring it to life, the moment it came to
life, what would happen? That world in which he'd been
laid out, but to which he was utterly oblivious, would suddenly,
what happened? No change to it, but he would
come alive to it. He smells. Listen to the sound
of those birds, look at those flowers, look at those trees,
what's The moment he comes to life, he's preoccupied with that
world into which he has been begotten by this power of resurrection. Now that's true, spiritually.
There's the world where the glory of Christ is the most beautiful
sight. The honor of God is the native
air, where the sounds are communion with God and with his dear Son
and the witness of the Holy Spirit. and all of those lush, beautiful
commodities of the spiritual realm. But what's true of all
of us by nature? We're dead. We're out of touch
with it. We don't know it exists. The
moment God brings us to life, what happens? We get the smells. We hear the sounds. We see the
sights. There's preoccupation with that world, even if we're
hanging on a cross. That's what happened to him,
hanging on a cross. There's preoccupation with that
new world. Now granted, if he'd lived long enough to come down
from the cross and go on back, he'd have to be a practical man,
cut his lawn, dig around his shrubs, spank his kids, love
his kids, provide for his family. Oh yes, he'd have to go back
and fulfill those biblical norms. That's righteousness, you see.
So there's never any wrong kind of tension. between the true
otherworldliness of the child of God and his real gut-level
earthiness. Why? Because he's regulated by
the precepts which never make him indifferent to responsibilities
here. But he's also regulated by that
new world into which he's come so that the light of heaven is
always upon the most mundane of the earthly responsibilities.
Paul said it this way, while we look not on the things that
are seen, but on the things that are not seen. For the things
that are seen are temporal, but the things that are not seen
are eternal. Now, he lived in the temple, but he says that
is not where our gaze is. Our preoccupation is there. Paul says it in Colossians 3,
set your mind on the things that are above, for ye died and your
new life is hid with Christ in God. That is your new native
habitat, God, the Spirit. The blood of the everlasting
covenant, communion with Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. My friends,
that's the mark of His new life, and as with the thief, so with
you. And if you've never been brought to the place of a fundamental
preoccupation with the world of the spiritual and the eternal,
what grounds do you have to claim you've been an object of God's
renewing grace? You're just an earthly with a
little more knowledge or reshuffled theology or something else. But
all whom God is preparing for heaven, He begins by putting
heaven in their hearts now. For these, I suggest, are the
undeniable, but positive evidences of the reality and the depth
of the change that grace wrought in this man. The open confession
of his new perspectives, the unashamed confession of his new
understanding of Christ, this disposition to pray, this concern
and zeal for righteousness, this concern for fellow sinners, this
preoccupation with the world of the spiritual and the eternal. I'd hoped we could get to what
means did God use to effect the change, but I see now that that's
another whole sermon, and this is what happens when you preach
a series for the first time. You never know quite how it's
going to come out, so we'll have to leave that for the next time,
God willing. And I think we've had enough
tonight to cause us to reflect and to ask ourselves the question,
do I have grounds to lay claim to the saving change that God
was pleased to bring to pass in the life of the dying thief? For remember, if any man be in
Christ, he's a new creation. The old has passed, the new has
come. Some of you have been excusing
yourself, saying, well, I have a difficult background, you see,
and I've got difficult circumstances. Yeah, yeah, but how difficult
are they? Match it up with a man hanging on a cross, friend. Come
on, match it up. But you see, I have all kinds
of physical problems and domestic. Yes, I know, I know, but match
it up. Match it up with a man on a cross.
Your problems are nothing. Maybe the real problem is you're
a stranger to the grace that he A total stranger to the power
of renewing grace. You need to do exactly what he
did. Own your guilt. Own that even
perhaps your present set of circumstances are the just dessert of your
own defection and rebellion against Almighty God. And say, we indeed
justly, stop blaming God. And say, Lord, I deserve far
more than this. But, oh God, if you could show
mercy to a man hanging on a cross, as we shall see next week, God
willing, who could bring absolutely nothing to the Savior to commend
himself for salvation, and had absolutely no time to do anything
afterwards. I tell you, that's salvation
all of grace. That's why I love this passage. Because the two
great problems with sinners are, they think they've got to do
something first in order to pave a way to Christ. Well, this man
hadn't done anything but live such a wicked life that they
put him on a cross for. He couldn't say, hey, Lord, look
at my virtues. I've done this, I've done that, and they put
me... Nothing. He would have found it, I think,
relatively easy to say, nothing in my hands, I pray. Simply to
thy cross I cling. But then the second great enemy
is to feel, all right, I'm not going to put anything between
me and Christ to pave my way. But just in case there's a little
bit of defect in what Christ might be doing, I sure want to
do a few things, a few threads anyway, to weave into the garment,
just in case. You know, there may be a hole
or two in the garment of Christ's righteousness, so I've just got
to do a few things and be a good boy and a good girl for at least
a little while. You have no time for that? He was perfectly prepared for
entrance into the presence of God by the perfect righteousness
of a perfect Savior. Fully and beautifully, the moment
he believed. And oh, I plead with you tonight,
if you see yourself as devoid of those things that we've described
from his experience, my friend, these are fruit, not root. And
you need to take the posture that he did. owning your position,
I am here justly. I am liable to, exposed to the
wrath and frown of Almighty God. I have nothing to commend to
the Savior, but I can plead Jesus in mercy, in grace, in saving
power, remember me, remember me. And the Scripture says, Whosoever
shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. That's the gospel. And I say,
if that doesn't make you want to go out and grab the nearest
tree and preach at it, then I wonder if you know the gospel. Oh, blessed
be God for such a Savior and such a gospel. Let us pray.

Dying Thief #2

Key Quotes

What does the Bible say about salvation for those who have sinned?

How do we know the transformation of the dying thief is authentic?

Why is confession of faith important for Christians?

What can we learn from the dying thief's example?

Sermon Transcript

About Albert N. Martin

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Dying Thief #2

Key Quotes

What does the Bible say about salvation for those who have sinned?

How do we know the transformation of the dying thief is authentic?

Why is confession of faith important for Christians?

What can we learn from the dying thief's example?

Sermon Transcript

About Albert N. Martin

Comments

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