Turn with me, if you would, to
Psalm chapter 56. Our pastor is still recovering
from this flu. So keep him and Janet in your
prayers as they continue to mend. Hope to see him back with us
on Sunday. What Tara was playing, In one of the songs she was playing,
what can wash away my sin? Nothing but the blood of Jesus.
I remember sitting in a church pew when the Lord was revealing
something to me, and I remember sitting there. I couldn't sing
that song. All I could sing was what can
wash away my sin? Nothing. Right? And now I'm here to tell
you, now I can sing what can wash away my sin? Nothing but
the blood of Jesus. Cody Groover one time saying
that you know the Lord's still working. You know Christ is still
saving sinners. You know he is, because the moment he's not,
he's going to wrap all this up. And we're going to look at the
two thieves that were crucified next to Christ this evening.
He's still working. He's still saving sinners, even
today, so that we can sit here tonight and sing, what can wash
away my sin? Nothing but the blood of Jesus. I'm thankful.
I'm encouraged by that. He's still working. Psalm chapter
56 says, Be merciful unto me, O God, for man would swallow
me up. He fighting daily oppressive
me. Mine enemies, that's mine enemies without, and this enemy
within. Mine enemies would daily swallow
me up. For they be many that fight against me. O thou most
high. What time I am afraid, I will
trust in thee. In God, I will praise his word. In God, I have
put my trust. I will not fear what flesh can
do unto me. Every day, they rest my words. All their thoughts are against
me for evil. They gather themselves together.
They hide themselves. They mark my steps. They wait
for my soul. Shall they escape by iniquity?
In thine anger cast down the people, O God. Thou tellest my
wanderings. Put thou my tears. into thy bottle. Are they not in thy book? When
I cry unto thee, then shall mine enemies turn back. This I know,
for God is for me. In God will I praise his word.
In the Lord will I praise his word. In God have I put my trust. I will not be afraid what man
can do unto me. Thy vows are upon me, O God. I will render praises unto thee,
for thou hast delivered my soul from death. Wilt not thou deliver
my feet from falling, that I may walk before God in the light
of the living? We'll end our reading there. Okay, Sean. If you would turn to song number
228, My Faith Has Found a Resting Place. My faith has found a resting
place, not in device or creed. I trust the Ever-Living One. His wounds for me shall plead. I need no other argument. I need no It is enough that Jesus died
and that He died for me, enough for me that Jesus saves this
ends my fear and doubt. A sinful soul, I come to Him. He'll never cast me out. I need no other argument. I need no other plea. It is enough that Jesus died,
and that He died for me. My heart is leaning on the Word,
the written Word of God. Salvation by my Savior's name,
salvation through His blood. I need no other argument, I need
no other plea. It is enough that Jesus died
and that He died for me. My great physician heals the
sick, the lost he came to save. For me his precious blood he
shed, for me his life he gave. I need no other argument, I need
no other plea. It is enough that Jesus died,
and that He died for me. If you would now turn to song
number 129, At the Cross. Alas, and did my Savior bleed,
and did my Sovereign bleed? Would He devote that sacred head
for such a worm as I? At the cross, at the cross, where
I first saw the light, and the burden of my heart rolled away,
It was there by faith I received my sight, and now I am happy
all the day. Was it for crimes that I have
done? He groaned upon the tree. Amazing pity! Grace unknown and love beyond
degree. At the cross, at the cross, where
I first saw the light, and the burden of my heart rolled away. It was there by faith I received
my sight, And now I am happy all the day. Well might the sun
in darkness hide, And shut his glories in. When Christ the mighty maker
died, For man the creature's sin. At the cross, at the cross,
where I first saw the light, And the burden of my heart rolled
away, It was there by faith I received my sight, And now I am happy
all the day. But drops of grief can ne'er
repay The debt of love I owe. Here, Lord, I give myself away,
tis all that I need. At the cross, at the cross, where
I first saw the light, and the burden of my heart rolled away. It was there my faith, I received
my sight, and now I am happy all the day. Turn with me, if you would, to
two scriptures. We'll go back and forth between
the two. The first is Matthew chapter 27. Matthew 27 and also
Luke 23. Excuse me. Here we have views of Christ
on the cross from the two thieves. And as we read through these
passages, pay particular attention to those thieves who were crucified
at the same time that Christ was. And these thieves outline
our focus today. All four gospels, Matthew, Mark,
Luke, and John, all four gospels account, and they mention these
thieves, and again, they were crucified, as you know, they
were crucified at the same time that our Lord was, and they interacted
with him. They spoke to him, and the good
news of the gospel is that he spoke back. And what did they
see? What did they say? And most importantly,
what did Christ say to them? Look for that as we read through
Matthew chapter 27, starting here in verse 29. And when they had plaited a crown
of thorns, they put it upon his head, and a reed in his right
hand, and they bowed the knee before him, and mocked him, saying,
Hail, King of the Jews. And they spit upon him, and took
the reed and smote him on the head. And after that, they had
mocked him. They took the robe off from him
and put his own raiment on him and led him away to crucify him.
And as they came out, they found a man of Cyrene, Simon by name,
him they compelled to bear his cross. And when they were coming
to a place called Golgotha, that is to say, a place of a skull,
they gave him vinegar to drink mingled with gall. And when he
had tasted thereof, he would not drink, and they crucified
him. and parted his garments, casting lots, that it might be
fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet. They parted my garments
among them, and upon my vesture did they cast lots. And sitting
down, they watched him there, and set up over his head his
accusation written, This is Jesus, the king of the Jews. Then were
there two thieves crucified with him, one on the right hand and
another on the left. And they that passed by reviled
him, wagging their heads and saying, Thou that destroyest
the temple and buildest it in three days, save thyself. If
thou be the Son of God, come down from the cross. Likewise,
also the chief priests, mocking him with the scribes and elders,
said, he saved others, himself he cannot save. If he be the
King of Israel, let him now come down from the cross, and we will
believe him. He trusted in God. Let him deliver him now, if he
will have him. For he said, I am the Son of
God. The thieves also, which were crucified with him, cast
the same in his teeth. Both thieves crucified with him,
cast the same. Now look over to Luke 23, starting in verse 32. And there were also two other
malefactors led with him to be put to death. Those are the thieves.
And when they were come to the place, which is called Calvary,
there they crucified him and the malefactors, one on the right
hand, the other on the left, then said Jesus, Father, forgive
them, for they know not what they do. They parted his raiment
and cast lots, 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. The soldiers
also mocked him, coming to him and offering him vinegar and
saying, if thou be the king of the Jews, save thyself. And a
superscription also was written over him in letters of Greek
and Latin and Hebrew, this is the king of the Jews. 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, does not thou fear God, seeing thou art in the same
condemnation? And we indeed justly, for we receive the due reward
of our deeds. But this man hath done nothing
amiss. And he said unto Jesus, Lord, remember me when thou comest
into thy kingdom. And Jesus said unto him, verily
I say unto thee, today shalt thou be with me in paradise. Again, hold both places if you
would, as we'll reference both back and forth. You know, a dying
person's words can be very powerful, right? When facing death, most
times, I hear, all the unimportant things get stripped away, right?
They're stripped away and we're left with as close to the pure
truth as we ever experienced probably in this world. What
really matters and what's really true tends to come out, which
is why deathbed confessions are admissible in court, right? Or
you've heard the saying, there's no atheists in foxholes. What's
really true comes out on a person's deathbed. And that truth comes
out that we humans were just were desperately concerned about
our souls. The Lord puts that conscience in it. That conscience
of that desperate concern for our souls. That's in us. Now
we bury it. We bury it with the busyness
of life or we bury it with outward rebellion or some other confidence. It's seared by our own rejection. I know you all feel, and our
pastor mentions it frequently, the importance of the Wednesday
service, the attitude adjustment that he mentions. Because we
do, our conscience just gets buried through the week. Just
buried. But that truth on the deathbed
of these thieves, that truth is often revealed most closely
on a person's deathbed. So I'm always interested in deathbed
words. And these thieves, they're dying. And they're seeing Christ. And all that important stuff
is stripped away. All the unimportant of life,
everything is stripped away. They're dying. And they're seeing
Christ. And that's our prayer for this
evening, of course, right? To strip away. We so often pray
You take away the cares of this world. Strip away all the unimportant. And for a moment again, let's
see Christ, right? Just for a moment. From Sunday
to now, it feels like everything is just stuff that we have to
do. Do, do, do, do. And just for
a moment to be reminded, it's done, right? Everything that's
important is already finished. Christ has completed it. And
we start there. You get a little wind in your
sails again. And then you remember the verse that, you know, he
who spared not his own son, but delivered him up for us. How shall he not with him also
freely give us all, give us all. I know the scripture says all
things, but how shall he not with him also freely give us
all. And then that's, that's what
we see. These thieves are on their deathbed. What do they
say on their deathbed? Christ is going to die. He speaks
to one of those thieves. What does our Lord say to him?
On his deathbed, what were the words from their deathbeds? Let's
begin with what both thieves were saying. I'm particularly
interested in these thieves because they're a good representation
of me. They're a good representation
of all of Adam's race. What are these thieves both saying? Back in Matthew 27 in verse 44,
the thieves also which were crucified with him cast the same in his
teeth. They were saying the exact same thing. Both of them were.
Both are a picture of man in Adam. These two thieves together
represent every single human that ever lived or ever will
live. Both of them all are guilty, right? All are guilty. All have
sinned. All have come short of the glory of God. Both thieves
were saying what everyone else was saying in their deathbed
confession of truth. their real selves were coming
out. All the unimportant stuff was stripped away, and what was
coming out, what was left within them when it was all boiled down,
what was left within them both was their hatred for Christ.
That's what was left, because that's who we are at our base.
That's who we're born being, was their hate for God, their
openly challenging God's authority. Look here and still in Matthew
27, look in verse 40. Saying thou that destroyest the
temple and buildest it in three days, save thyself. How many
times did we read, if thou be the son of God, come down from
the cross. They were openly challenging God's authority. The scripture
says the thieves were casting the same in his teeth. They were
casting the same accusation. If you be the Christ, but they
were challenging his authority. That's who we are at our base
when it's all boiled down. That's who we are in our nature,
left to ourselves. Openly, even stating their own
superiority over Christ. Same chapter in verse 41, likewise
also the chief priests mocking him, the scribes and elders said
he saved others, himself he cannot save. If he be the king of Israel,
let him now come down from the cross and we'll believe him.
He trusted in God, let him deliver him now, if he will have him.
For he said, I am the son of God. They're saying, you're no
better than me. What does the scripture say?
That we say in our hearts, left to ourselves and our nature,
This man reign over us. I mean, through the history of
time. There is no action. That natural man will not take
to come to God. Child sacrifice, self mutilation,
awful pain. There's there's there's no action
that we in our hearts that we won't take. To come to God. Except bowing. to his authority,
to his sovereignty, bowing to who he is, that he rules both
heaven and earth, myself included. Our nature will not allow that,
will not allow us to bow. We'll say, I don't need a sacrifice. Who I am and what I'm doing,
that's sufficient to commend me to God. I remember Henry talking
about where Satan is found and certainly in the places that
we all think of, the evil places of this world, but also in the quote unquote
good things. Our nature is so dead that we'll
take a good thing and dedicate ourselves to the exclusion of
Christ to it, right? We'll work. Work is a good thing. We should work. We'll work to
the point that to the exclusion of Christ. Raising our kids is
a good thing. We'll do that to the exclusion
of Christ. Satan's found everywhere, right
in here. What we'll do to be no different
than these thieves and these people sitting down watching
him crucified, so subtle, say, I don't need a sacrifice. Our
evil is expressed in indifference. We all know each other. We don't
see outright rebellion in our lives a whole lot. I'd like to
think that we're relatively decent people in society. I hope we
are. I hope we're all seen as that.
Maybe it's not. Maybe that evil doesn't express
in me as outright rebellion, perhaps. Maybe it expresses itself
as indifference, which is just as bad. It's a sign of what's
there. Right? It's evidence of the deadness
that's within my heart. We'll deny, just as these thieves
did, we'll deny his inherent authority as who he is. Right? They're denying that Christ is
God. We'll rebel against Christ's authority over us, they're saying. Not only his authority as God,
but specifically his authority over me. And we, just as the
thieves, will reject our own guilt before Christ. And we did
that in our father Adam, and just as he did, we've been doing
it ever since. Why is this attitude so evil? Why is it evil to think
that what I do is enough for God to accept me? My sophomore
roommate, I remember him telling me one time I was concerned,
and I remember him saying to me, you do a lot for God. Those are his words to me. You
do a lot for God, which is I cringed even then. I cringe more now
hearing that. That's such a common thought
left to ourselves. That's the best we're going to come up with.
You do a lot for God. These are real honest beliefs
that people have. Real honest beliefs that we would
have left to ourselves. It's the same belief both these
thieves had. Why is that evil? When we by nature believe that
God is indebted to accept us, on
anything, any other basis, any basis other than Christ's perfect
life, perfect birth, perfect sacrifice, perfect death, anything
outside of Christ's sinless sacrifice. That's proof of just how depraved
we are that I would, in my sinful nature, I would believe that
I deserve to be recognized as equal with God. And isn't that
exactly what Adam was trying to do? Adam was trying to be
equal with God, right? No different than exactly what
Lucifer was doing. I will, I will, I will be like God. That we by
nature, just as these thieves have no other, have the exact
same nature that we believe we're equal with God, which is offensive
and it's evidence of that nature. Who has the right to walk into
the king's presence other than someone equal with God? Right?
Even Esther, when she walked into the king's presence, had
to wait for him to lower that scepter. Right? Who can walk
into your house other than family? Right? Who has the ability to
walk into the king's presence? We know that. We can't walk into
the governor's presence. You know, we can't do that. In most of the places where we
work, you can't even walk into the boss's office. without having
an appointment scheduled ahead of time. I mean, it's ridiculous
to think that you can just walk in and be accepted. But we do
think that with God because we believe ourselves to be equal.
In our nature, it's evidence of just how depraved our nature
is. We believe that we deserve that
acceptance. Again, just revealing that rebellious nature, same
as Adams, same as Keynes, same as Lucifer's, same dead nature
that says, I'll be like God. That attitude of entitlement,
I mean, isn't that just an awful word, entitlement? That attitude
of entitlement to God's acceptance, again, that's just, that's evidence
of how spiritually dead and blind we are. We're only entitled to something
either that we have earned or that we're equals, right? Stacey's
entitled to, I'm entitled to everything she has, she's entitled
to everything that I have because we're equals, we're one. but
nobody else is. My children are entitled to go
to school because we pay taxes in that school district. They're
entitled to. They've earned it because we live there. But we're born thinking so highly
of ourselves and so lowly of God, again, just how dead we
are, that we think we're equals with him. And therefore, we're
entitled to his goodness. And I'd take it a step further,
left to ourselves We think that us coming to God is doing him
a favor of some sort, which is what these thieves say on their
dead deathbed that reveals who we are. They cast the same in
his teeth reveals who we are born as either through that outright
rebellion or through indifference. It reveals ourselves as fools.
And what does the scripture say? The fool hath said in his heart,
there is no God. The fool hath said in his heart,
there's no God for me. I don't need God. No God. That's what the fool says. We're
born fools. Turn with me if you would to
Romans chapter 10. And we spend a little time on that
just to, just to hear, we're no different. These thieves represent
us, and we need to hear that. With a little understanding,
perhaps we realize that we're not equals with God, and this
stirs up this religious fervor of knowing that I'm guilty before
a holy God. Boy, the head knowledge of that is
a dangerous thing. If that's just the head knowledge
of knowing, I'm guilty before a holy God that is never revealed
as a heart knowledge that says, come to Christ. How dangerous
that is. We've done, I mentioned earlier,
just remarkable acts in an effort to please God. Every act you
can imagine besides bow. Judas, Judas hung himself, right? That was his sacrifice. And remember
Elijah and the prophets of Baal? jumping on the altar. They actually
had a blood sacrifice. They cut themselves. Blood poured
on the altar. It was their own. They had a
blood sacrifice. These thieves have a sacrifice.
They're being crucified no differently than our Lord was, right? Here
in Romans chapter 10, look here in verse 2. For I bear them record
that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge.
For they being ignorant of God's righteousness and going about
to establish their own righteousness have not submitted themselves
under the righteousness of God. That's what we cannot do. We
cannot submit ourselves to the righteousness of God. Our old
man will not do it. It's dead. It will not do it. I bear them record. They have
a zeal of God, but they have not submitted themselves into
the righteousness of God, that righteousness of God. Lord, give
us life and eyes to see the righteousness of God. then we'd stop, stop
our works of unrighteousness. And just as the children of Israel,
Moses told them, be still, be still and know that I am God,
be still. We'd stop our works of unrighteousness and we'd shut
up before God and bow. Listen to these, a few accounts
of people's reaction when they see God for who he is. Starting
with Adam, Adam saw the Lord and when he saw the Lord, he
was afraid, he hid himself. He heard the Lord, he was afraid,
he hid himself in the garden, right? Job saw the Lord and he
said, I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear, but now my
eye sees you. And what, therefore, I abhor
myself and I repent in dust and ashes. Jacob saw the Lord and
he was afraid. Moses saw the Lord and said,
he made haste and bowed his head toward the earth and worshiped.
Ah, that we would see the Lord. that we would see Christ and
the righteousness of a God in him, that we would see Christ. Isaiah saw the Lord. He said,
woe is me for I'm undone. Ezekiel saw the Lord and said,
when I saw it, I fell upon my face. That's a very good place
to be. Peter, James, and John saw the
Lord on the Mount of Transfiguration. And the scripture says they fell
on their face and they were so afraid. And every one of these
people is a whole lot better example than I am. All of them,
are stronger than I am, and all of them did exactly what they
should do. They fell on their face, which is what we should
do. Fell on their face and worshipped. There's no entitlement for sinners
before God Almighty. No entitlement. The God that I would worship
in my heart, that's being worshipped this evening, who has to respond
to sinners, a God that can be manipulated by sinners, that's
an idol. That's not God. A God that has
to respond to me isn't God. That's the worship of man-made
idols. That's created by blind eyes. We don't worship a God
that has to respond to us. Aren't you thankful? Aren't you
thankful that we worship a God that doesn't have to respond
to us? Because he's greater. His ways are greater than our
ways. Aren't we thankful? He doesn't
have to. He doesn't have to respond to
us. But at every instance in the scripture that he does respond
to a sinner, every time he responds in love, every time. He doesn't
owe us anything to respond to us. But when he does respond to a
sinner, it's always in love, just as it was to this thief,
right? The thief wasn't owed a response from the God of creation. But he did respond, and he responded
in love. So again, why is this attitude
of assumed acceptance before God, why is that so evil? This
attitude of the thieves that rebels against Christ's absolute
authority, who he is, and it denies our own guilt, who we
are. It denies who he is, and it denies who we are. It's idol
worship. This judicial blindness and spiritual
death, that was promised to Adam, right, when Adam first rebelled.
And it's evidence now in us. God promised Adam, dying thou
shalt die. And the result of that death
is us thinking we can walk into God's presence. If we were not
blind, we would see God for who he is. If we were not dead, we
would never imagine that anything that comes from this heart could
possibly be acceptable to God. If we weren't so naturally hateful.
Evidence of death. I remember going to summer classes
at ACC and driving down 52 back toward Wheelersburg and a dog
had been hit over the side of the road and nobody cleaned it
up. And for three weeks I drove by and watched what happened
to that dog. There is certainly evidences
of death, right? Death does what death does. It
decays and it stinks to the point where you don't even want to
drive by it. It's just evidence, evidence, evidence of death.
is thinking that we can come to Christ based on our own goodness. It's evidence of death. Or that
we don't need to. We'd be no different than how
many of our friends that just are indifferent. And we'd be
no different. We would be no different. We'd
have that same evidence. We'd have that same stink of
death on us. If not for the fact that that
God is still in the business of calling sinners to repentance. Look here, still in Matthew 27.
We say what the thieves say because
we are what the thieves are. Look here, still in Matthew 27,
in verse 25. Then he answered all the people
and said, his blood be on us and on our children. And it is. Then released he Barabbas unto
them. And when he had scourged Jesus, he delivered him to be
crucified. Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into
the common hall and gathered unto him the whole band of soldiers.
And they stripped him, put on a scarlet robe. And when they
had plaited a crown of thorns, they put it on his head and a
reed in his right hand. And they bowed the knee before him and
mocked him, saying, Hail, King of the Jews. And they spit on
him and took the reed and smote him on the head. And after that
they had mocked him, they took the robe off from him, put on
his own raiment on him, and led him away to crucify him. And
now to verse, down to, jump down to verse 39. And they that passed by reviled
him, wagging their heads and saying, thou that destroyest
the temple and buildest it in three days, save thyself. If
thou be the son of God, come down from the cross. Likewise
also, the chief priests mocking him, The scribes and elders said,
he saved others. If he be king of Israel, let
him now come down from the cross and we'll believe him. He trusted
in God, let him deliver him now, if he will have him. For he said,
I am the son of God. The thieves also, which were
crucified with him, cast the same in his teeth. We're the
same as these thieves. On their deathbed confession,
these thieves proved themselves to be exactly what we are. It's
the evidence of death. sin, dead, rebels, and I find
it interesting that these two are specifically called out as
thieves. That's a good description of who I am, left myself, who
I am before God. What's a thief's character? A
thief's character is to lay claim to something that the thief has
no right to. That's what a thief is. A thief
lays claim to something he has no right to. And that's us. Without Christ, we believe God
owes us acceptance. It's ours. We lay claim to something
we have no right to lay claim to. We're a thief. This is us.
Salvation, the scripture says, salvation is of the Lord. A thief
believes he's entitled to what they take. Through some justification
or excuse, they believe they're entitled to what they're taking. They corrupt their mind to where
they They believe they've earned it. It's their right to take
it, so it's theirs. Thief believes they lay claim to something that's
not theirs, and they believe they're entitled to take it.
But the word of God says, for by grace are you saved through
faith. That not of yourselves, it's the gift. It's the gift
of God, not of works, lest any man should boast. It's not earned.
Salvation is not ours to take, nor can we. Without Christ, we
try to earn salvation through our doing or through our not
doing. And I speak to myself, thief,
you can't. And again, a little bit of head
knowledge. We learn that faith is the key to salvation, so we
try to believe. I've had quite a few people in
my lifetime tell me, I mean, obviously, they're trusting in
their faith. They even say, my faith will save me. I have strong
faith. We can't believe. It's a gift
of God. Faith is the evidence, right? Faith is the evidence of what
Christ has done. Even faith is the gift. We drum up all the
excitement and all the feeling we can cling to, all we want,
but man-made faith is no different than Israel's zeal that we mentioned
earlier. That's one of the reasons we
have such quiet services here. It's important because our flesh
will grab a hold of that. Right? Our flesh will, mine will,
grab ahold of that excitement and confuse it for something
that it's not. Something that's peace where
there is no peace. That's what that is. That's man-made
faith. No different than Israel's zeal.
It's a zeal for righteousness, but not after knowledge. Scripture
says, for by grace are you saved. Through faith. And that is not
of yourself. It's the gift of God. Faith is
the gift of God. Man-made faith is no different
than laying claim to something that we don't have a right to
lay claim on. That's a thief. Worst kind of thief is one that steals
from a good master. And I don't mean Robin Hood stealing
from the rich and giving to the poor. The worst kind of thieves
is one that would steal from people that are good to them,
the kind that The kind of master that helped them and treat them
as their own, provide for them warmly, provide for them genuinely.
And then the thief, who's already been given everything, takes
more. That's the worst kind of thief,
one that would steal from a good master. And isn't that exactly
what Adam did? Isn't that exactly what we do
in Adam? Adam, God provided Adam everything. God provided him
life. God created him. God provided
him life. God provided him a help me. God provided him a place
to live and everything to eat. God provided him wisdom and comfort
and life and communion with him. God provided him everything. And Adam stole from him. Adam's
a thief. And we have the exact same nature.
Isn't that us? And we show that when we rob God of who he is,
his glory and his salvation. A thief has nothing to offer.
A thief's in debt. A thief can't repay. Incapable of repayment. And even if a thief could, a
thief is shown by his nature that he won't. What the thief has taken can't
be replaced. The thief has betrayed that good
master's confidence. And in Adam, we betrayed God.
We betrayed his kindness. Betrayed his goodness. Betrayed
who he is. And sure enough, left to ourselves,
With his dear son, Christ Jesus, we showed we haven't changed
at all. When Christ Jesus, when the word was made flesh and dwelt
among us, the evidence of our death was we nailed him to a
cross. We haven't changed a bit. Looking at the face of God in
Christ, we proved our rebellion once again and crucified him
and said his blood be on us and on our children. And it is. Here still in Matthew 27, Again,
verse 44, the thieves also which were crucified with him, they
cast the same in his teeth. And this could have been the
last mention we heard of the thieves. Right? Would God be unjust if
we read the thieves also which were crucified him, cast the
same in his teeth, and then the thieves were crucified and went
off into eternity? Would that be unjust? That could
have been the very last we heard of these thieves. God wouldn't
have been unjust If all of the human race ended with Adam, God
wouldn't have been unjust to cast Adam off into eternity.
But he didn't. Even though these thieves were
being crucified, their hatred was so strong, even in the midst
of their crucifixion, they still took time and energy to try to
add to Christ's misery. The thieves also, which were
crucified with him, they cast the same in his teeth. This is
us. But God, right? It didn't end there. This isn't
the last we heard of the thieves, and this is the good news, right?
This isn't the last that we heard of the thieves, them being cast
off, us, we thieves, being cast off. God would be perfectly just,
leaving us to ourselves and letting us go, but God. Now, look over
to Luke, Chapter 23. Thinking back to that characteristic
as a thief, I'm the kind of thief that has no claim. to God's salvation. I'm the kind
of thief that needs mercy, that must have mercy, because there's
no other way that I could possibly obtain salvation or faith. I
don't even have a right to have Christ hear me. That's where we are. No merit
whatsoever, nothing about me, nothing about us that would commend
us to God to say that this is a reason why you would hear my
cry. There's nothing in and of me I'm the same thief that was casting
the same in his teeth. Was the one thief, was he special? He wasn't doing anything different
at all, but they don't even give us the thieves' names. They're
unnamed. They're both the same. Neither one was special, but
this one found grace. The kind of thief that did steal
from the good master, left to myself, I'd resent his authority,
I'd do it again. I say with David in Psalm 84,
I said, I'd rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than to
dwell in the tents of wickedness. But that's only true by grace.
Is this thief different than another thief? Absolutely not. Was Noah any different? Was Job
any different? Was David any different? No,
no. They found grace in God's sight.
The same way we do, the same way this thief did. Look here
in Luke 23. starting in verse 39. And one of the malefactors which
were hanged railed on him saying, if thou be the Christ, save thyself
and us. Now, somewhere here, somewhere
between they were both casting the same in his teeth and verse
40, the Lord spoke to that sinner, not audibly, somewhere The Lord
spoke to this sinner's heart. And in verse 40, he says, but
the other answering rebuked him. Or just a second ago, he was
casting the same hatred in his teeth. Now he rebuked him saying,
does not thou fear God, seeing thou art in the same condemnation?
This is hope. And we indeed justly, for we
receive the due reward of our deeds. But this man had done
nothing amiss. He said unto Jesus, Lord, remember me when thou art
come into thy kingdom. And Jesus said unto him, now
audibly, verily I say unto thee, today shalt thou be with me in
paradise. Thou spoke specifically to him. Shalt thou be with me. This thief
had been given life and he was given eyes to see. Somewhere
in that minute, maybe that second, Lord spoke to his heart and gave
him life. And that thief heard. And this is his testimony. That's the word we're
looking for. This is the thief's testimony. Verse 40, he says,
he confesses, I've sinned against God. He said the other rebuked
him saying, does that not thou fear God, seeing thou art in
the same condemnation, right? He admits, this is his testimony,
I've sinned against God. Verse 41, he says, I deserve
death. He said, and we indeed justly,
for we receive the due reward of our deeds. See, he has no
claim on God's mercy, God's salvation now. Now he's saying, he's saying
our testimony, right? Evidence of life. Just as casting
the same in his teeth was evidence of death, now faith, the sweet
smelling, this faith is now evidence of life. He says, I've sinned
against God. I deserve death. The end of verse 41, he says,
Christ is sinless. He said, this man hath done nothing
amiss. He recognizes Christ for who he is, the sinless sacrifice. Verse 42, he confesses that Christ
doesn't owe me anything, but I'm making this request based
solely on the fact of who Christ is. Solely on the fact that God
is good, Christ is merciful, nothing's owed, nothing's obligated,
nothing is earned, strictly based on his good character alone.
He says in verse 42, he said unto Jesus, Lord, remember me
when thou comest into thy kingdom. He recognizes Christ for who
he is and begs for mercy based on what? Because I know, no,
because of who you are. Lord, remember me when thou comest
into thy kingdom. And I have, I have no right to
even ask for that in and of myself. Coming to mercy, coming to the
throne of Christ himself for mercy, begging mercy, not striking a
deal, begging. evidence of life. And Jesus said
unto him, Verily I say unto thee, Today shalt thou be with me in
paradise. The Lord's under no obligation
whatsoever to answer, but when he does, when he does, it's always
in love to a sinner. Recognizing who Christ is never
saved anyone. Satan recognizes Christ as Lord.
The legion of demons recognize that Christ is Lord. Even this day, We read twice,
I believe. What did Pilate put above the
cross? This is Jesus, King of the Jews. Pilate. Pilate recognized
Christ. What a miserable man. To recognize Christ for who he
is and not bow. He said, and this was his, this
was his sacrifice. This was his hope. I'm innocent
of the blood of this just person. He knew who Christ was, but this
thief, He was given eyes to see King Jesus and he was given that
living heart that begged for mercy. And he said, Lord, remember
me when thou comest into thy kingdom. This thief, he was given
wisdom to ask Christ and to know him. Very dear friend of mine was
in that. He knew exactly who God was and
knew exactly who Christ was and was miserable. for a long time. And finally someone said to him,
have you asked him for mercy? And that was that was the time.
That was when he heard the Lord. Have you asked him for mercy?
And that that was the that's where the Lord revealed himself
to his heart. And he did. And what does a sinner find at
the throne of mercy when a sinner comes asking for mercy from the
Christ who is altogether loved to grant the mercy and from the
Christ who is altogether just and worthy, who has earned the
right to give the mercy. I can promise you things all
day long. I don't have the right or the ability to fulfill it.
That's peace where there is no peace. This is peace where there
is peace in Christ. Christ who earned the right to
give that mercy and say to the thief, as he says to every sinner
who comes to his feet in the dust, He says to every sinner
that comes to his feet in the dust, the same as he said to
this thief today, shalt thou be with me in paradise accepted.
Not only can he say that he has the right to say that he earned
the right to say that on the, on the cross is the sinful, sinless
sacrifice. The thief was, was given wisdom
to know that Christ is able. He is able. He's, he was given
wisdom to know that Christ has the right to make that promise.
as the Son of God, as the perfect sacrifice. He fulfilled every
Old Testament scripture. How in the world did the thief
know all this? It was revealed to him. In that
moment, it was revealed to him exactly who Christ was, that
He was the perfect sacrifice, that He was willing and able
and pure and accepted. We have the testimony where we
see that He He was the accepted sacrifice. He was raised the
third day. Now we read that and we know that, but to lay hold
of it. Not, not, I hate the word only. I about
said not only to believe it. I don't mean that as a degree
minimum. Not to believe that alone. Not
alone to believe that. Does that make sense? But to
cling, to cling to the fact that Christ is the accepted sacrifice,
We see that in the scripture, that he was the accepted sacrifice
raised the third day. The thief didn't see that, but
the thief saw that in his heart, that he's the accepted sacrifice.
It was revealed to him. What did Christ Jesus say in
verse 43 here, still in Luke 23? Verse 43, Jesus said unto
him, verily I say to thee, today shalt thou be with me in paradise. Christ is willing, as we talked
about, Sunday, that's an active work, willing. He's actively
willing and drew this thief to himself. In Philippians, we read,
being confident of this very thing, that he who hath begun
a good work will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ. Not
only does he begin the work, he sees it all the way through
and finishes the work. He's the alpha and the omega,
right? He's the author and the finisher.
Being confident of this very thing, that he who hath begun
a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.
He's able and based on his mercy, he's willing. And we come to
that same Christ just as the thief did, recognizing him for
who he is, not bargaining, begging, begging. And sinners hear, we
hear the same thing. Today, shalt thou be with me
in paradise. God's not passively willing and waiting. He's actively
willing. God, the Father, willed to elect
his people. God, the Son, willed to be the
perfect sacrifice for his people. God, the Holy Spirit, willed
to call those same people and give them life and point them
to Christ, which by his grace, that's what we're doing right
now. We pray that the Spirit is with us, pointing us to Christ,
just again, one more One more night again, just to see him
again. John six says, and for the sake
of time, I'll read it. Jesus said unto them, I'm the
bread of life. He that cometh to me shall never hunger. Listen
to all the wills through here. He that believeth on me shall
never thirst. But I said unto you, you've seen me and you believe
not. All that the father giveth me
shall come to me. In him that cometh to me, I will, and no
wise cast out. That's his will. He'll not cast
out sinners that come to his feet for mercy in Christ. For
I came down to heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will
of him that sent me. This is the Father's will that sent me,
that all of them which he hath given me, I should lose nothing,
not one, not this thief. Should raise it up again the
last day. And this is the will of him that sent me, that everyone
which seeth the Son and believeth on him may have everlasting life,
and I will raise him up the last day. I will raise him up the
last day. And that's comfort to this sinner,
just as he raised this thief. Maybe he'll raise this thief. I come to Christ by his grace
in that same vein. as the thief did. Christ hasn't
changed. He's still actively willing sinners to come for him
for salvation. So we come. To whom coming, right? Maybe did years ago and again
tonight. To whom coming again to the throne
of mercy in Christ, in Christ. And finally, on his deathbed,
Christ spoke of his love for his people and also personally
for this thief, right? God elected a people and chose
those people to salvation. Every one of those people, every
one in mass, a number that can't be counted,
will be called by the Holy Spirit and pointed to Christ for salvation.
And Christ paid the debt of all, right? All of the sin of all
of his people. Isn't that what verse 34, Jesus
said, Father, forgive them. They know not what they do. Right? Christ is praying for his people,
even on his deathbed from the cross. And Christ saves that
elect sheep. But we're never to think of it
as a cold, impersonal, collective group. Christ saves each person. Right? Scripture says he knows
and calls them by name. Knows the hairs on our head.
Personally calls them by name. Christ died for his people. Christ
also died for each person. Cause what does he say there?
And then we'll close still, still here in Luke 23 and in verse
43, Jesus said unto him, barely see Christ is speaking directly
to this one thief, right? Not all you're in the sheepfold
of the elect. He said unto him directly, barely
I say unto thee today, shalt thou be with me in paradise. He spoke directly to him. And
I'm comforted by that, that not only does, Does our sacrifice, does our surety,
not only does Christ have the right, right? Because he's fulfilled all the
Old Testament scriptures. He's the perfect sacrifice. He
was with God in the beginning, before the foundation of the
world. Not only does he have the right and he's willing, he
has the right as the perfect sacrifice, but he also does so
in love. He calls his sheep by name just as he did to this thief
and say, today shall thou be with me in paradise. Isn't that
a comfort that he knows us? He knows his children by name. And that he doesn't change. We're
not forgotten. We're not cast off. He who spared not his own son
but delivered him up for us, how shall he not with him freely
also give us all things, right? We have every reason to be joyous
through the week. When all of the other stuff,
and it's important, it's the stuff that we should take care
of. But when it's all stripped away, and we're right there with
the thief, that's where we are when it's all stripped away.
Every man, every person is one of those when it's all stripped
away. And we're either casting the
same in his teeth, or by his grace, we're hearing today, thou
shalt be with me in paradise. Let's pray together. Our father, we would that your
name be glorified here in this place this evening, that you
comfort where comfort is needed, and that you teach and draw us. Leave us not alone. be with us
through this coming week and keep us father for you know our
frame you know that we we'd stray if you don't keep us we pray
that you keep your your hand securely on us as you promised
we pray for those that are undergoing trial even this evening and we
think of our pastor and janet that you be with them heal according
to your will bring us back together when it's time we pray this thankfully
in christ's name and for his sake amen Okay, if you would, turn in your
hymnal to song number 229. Stand and sing, Tell Me the Old,
Old Story. Tell me the old, old story of
unseen things above, of Jesus and his glory. of Jesus and His love. Tell me the story simply as to
a little child, for I am weak and weary, and helpless and defiled. Tell me the old, old story. Tell me the old, old story. Tell me the old, old story of
Jesus and His love. Tell me the story slowly that
I may take it in. That wonderful redemption, God's
remedy for sin. Tell me the story often, for
I forget so soon. The early dew of morning has
passed away at noon. Tell me the old, old story. Tell me the old, old story. Tell me the old, old story of
Jesus and His love. Tell me the story softly with
earnest tones and grace. Remember I'm the sinner who Jesus
came to save. Tell me the story always, if
you would really be in any time of trouble. a comforter to me. Tell me the old, old story. Tell me the old, old story Tell
me the old, old story Of Jesus and His love Tell me the same
old story When you have cause to fear That this world's empty
glory is costing me too dear. Yes, and when that world's glory
is dawning on my soul, tell me the old, old story. Christ Jesus makes me whole. Tell me the old, old story. Tell me the old, old story. Tell me the old, old story of
Jesus and His love.