Here we see the Saviorhood of
Christ too, here at Calvary. What a place to see that. Christ
might have said, you deserve your fate. You're wicked. You're
a robber. You merit death. You've waited
too long. You should have sought Me sooner,
before I got to the cross. But Jesus said, and promised,
Him that cometh to Me, I will in no wise cast out. I can say
to you street walkers who may be here, who have sold your bodies
on the streets of this city. I can say to you guys who took
advantage of those girls. To you guys who have been drunk
and used and shooting up, I can say this to you without any doubt
in my mind. Him that cometh to me, what him? Any him, rich him, poor him,
dope him, crack him or her, any him that cometh to me, I will
not cast them out. Isn't that awesome? Free offer
of the gospel. Spreading the bride, say, come,
let him, let his thirst come. And whosoever will, say, oh,
I wish I could be saved. Oh, you already have been, you
just don't know it yet. By the time you say that, you
already have life. I just have to do my best to
be used of the Spirit of God to get you to confess it. I'm
His and He's mine. He promised that if I came to
Him, He wouldn't cast me away. So tonight, Not very biblical
what I'm about to say. I just double dog dare you to
come to Christ. I just double dog dare you to
come to Christ. You see, Jesus took no notice
of the insults or reproaches cast on him by the priests and
the crowds that day. You think about all the religious
people were there. You know, it was religious people
that killed Jesus. It wasn't the harlots and whoremongers. It was these Pharisees and Sadducees
and religious folks. He paid no attention to them.
But there was one who was chosen from all eternity to be on that
cross. This thief. You think about that.
Predestinated to be on that cross that day. And Jesus knows them
that are His and knew them that were His. How excited Jesus must
have been. to see this thief that God had
chosen and given him before the foundation of the world. And
the gospel was not left without a testimony. You know, in the
most dire circumstances, when all of hell is popping, get ready
and look for someone to say, He's my Lord and my Savior. It happens over and over again. The Bible talks about the suffering
of Christ, the physical suffering of Christ, and it was awful.
In fact, Isaiah talks about His visage being mired beyond that
of any man. You wouldn't recognize Him. I
often think about guys that have been blown up in war, and you
wouldn't recognize them because their bodies have been torn apart. But the scripture says his face,
his visage was beyond that of any man, the suffering of Christ. And then you've got to remember
too that on that cross, sin was being imputed to him. You know
what it is to have pressure? No, that's very true. to have the weight of something
on you that's seemingly unbearable. The weight is just unbearable. Can you imagine what on the tree
of the cross He was experiencing when this holy righteous man
who knew no sin, did no sin, had no sin, and God imputed to
Him all of your sin and my sin, and it was laid on Him. Oh, I'm
way over my head now, and over your head too. You can't imagine
the shame and the guilt. In the Garden of Gethsemane,
He sweat great drops of blood as that computer was running.
I believe that imputation of sin was taking place there. And
sin was being imputed to him, and he cried out, if it's possible,
let this cup pass from me. He wasn't praying to bypass Calvary,
he was praying he wouldn't die there in the Garden of Gethsemane,
because the weight was so heavy. Only those of us who know a little
bit about carrying a weight know what suffering that is. It is
suffering, but nowhere compared to him. But he had time for this thief.
You know, I just bet he has time for you too. Those of you who
are here tonight and you're saying things like, you know, Pastor,
that's such a wonderful story. And I appreciate that, but I
just can't imagine God saving somebody like me. I'd love to
hear that. I'd love to hear you say that.
Because I know he's already done something for you. Because you
wouldn't even know that. You'd never admit that. People
just don't go around, I'm the chief of sinners, I'm the worst
person on earth, I'm far worse than you. No, we usually try
to hide and cover that up. Jesus had time for this thief.
You know, I wonder, I often thought too, how much time there was
between the thief asking and the Lord's reply. Lord, remember
me when you come into your kingdom. And then silence. And if the Lord doesn't say something,
there's no hope for this guy. And then, the Lord Jesus said,
Today! I wonder if he could look at
him. I wonder how he did. Today! Not
tomorrow. Today, thou shalt be with me
in paradise. That had to be an awesome thing.
Jesus is the friend of sinners. Do you know that? He's the friend
of sinners. That's why I often say, if you're
here and a sinner, and know it, I can say to you, He's a perfect
Savior for you. But, you know, I've often told
you this, it's hard to find a sinner. If I can just find a genuine,
bona fide, pedigreed, papered sinner, I can say to him or her,
Christ died for you. I can say that. But they're hard to find. They're just hard to find. This
thief found the very jewel of life on the dunghill of Golgotha. Who would have ever thought The
disciples ran away, his mother ran away, all of them ran away
and left him there hanging on the tree by himself. And it looked
like for a while that there was not going to be a witness. And
then right there next to Christ, a dying, no good for nothing,
sorry rascal came to know Christ as Savior. There's hope for you,
my friend. It's in Jesus Christ. The dying
thief rejoiced to see that fountain in his day. And there may I,
though vile as he, wash all my sins away. There is a fountain
filled with blood drawn from Emmanuel's veins, and sinners
plunge beneath that flood, lose all their guilty stains. William
Kalper.