The 23rd chapter of Luke's Gospel. We read that account of how Pilate,
having examined Jesus as had Herod, found him innocent of
the charges which the chief priests laid against him. And he was
willing to release Jesus. But the people cried out, no,
crucify him. Release unto us Barabbas, that
murderer in his place, but away with this man. Crucify him, crucify
him. And Pilate in the end, finding
that he could not prevail but that the voices of the people
and of the chief priests prevailed against him, gave sentence that
it should be as they required. And he released unto them him
that for sedition and murder was cast into prison, whom they
had desired. But he delivered Jesus to their
will. So they led Christ away and led
him to the cross. And we read from verse 32 that
there were also two other malefactors led with him to be put to death.
And when they would come to the place which is called Calvary,
There they crucified him and the malefactors, one on the right
hand and the other on the left. Then said Jesus, Father forgive
them for they know not what they do. And they parted his raiment
and cast lots. And the people stood beholden.
And the rulers also with them derided him saying, he saved
others. let him save himself if he be
Christ, the chosen of God. And 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 the superscription
also was written over him in letters of Greek and Latin and
Hebrew. This is the king of the Jews. And one of the malefactors which
were hanged railed on him, saying, If thou be Christ, save thyself
and us. But the other answering rebuked
him, saying, Dost thou not fear God, seeing thou art in the same
condemnation? And we indeed justly, for we
receive the due reward of our deeds, but this man hath done
nothing amiss. And he said unto Jesus, Lord,
remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom. And Jesus said
unto him, Verily I say unto thee, Today thou shalt be with me in
paradise. And it was about the sixth hour.
And there was darkness over all the earth until the ninth hour.
And the sun was darkened, and the veil of the temple was rent
in the midst. And when Jesus had cried with
a loud voice, he said, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit. And having said thus, he gave
up the ghost. Now when the centurion saw what
was done, he glorified God, saying, Certainly this was a righteous
man. And all the people that came
together to that site, beholding the things which were done, smote
their breasts and returned. and all his acquaintance, and
the women that followed him from Galilee stood afar off, beholding
these things. The malefactor said unto Jesus,
Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom. And Jesus said
unto him, Verily I say unto thee, today thou shalt be with me in
paradise. Paradise. Here we read the solemn account
of the crucifixion of Christ. And as we know, and as is stated
here, he was crucified between two malefactors, two thieves,
two criminals, who were justly sentenced to
death, like Barabbas who was released Their sentence was just. We don't know entirely what they
did. They may well, like Barabbas, have been murderers as well as
thieves. But whatever their crime, they
were justly condemned and rightly sentenced to death. But in the
midst of them, Christ took the place of Barabbas. Christ who was innocent of every
charge. was cast out by the people, rejected
by the chief priests, who would rather have released unto them
Barabbas and have him crucified. Yet he did no wrong. But either
side of him were these two thieves. And in this picture of Christ
the Saviour crucified, upon the cross at Calvary, with one malefactor
on the one side and the other on the other side, both sinners,
both guilty, both justly condemned to death. We see the whole world
with Christ at the cross. We see the entirety of mankind
in these two men dying with Christ at the cross, justly condemned
for their sins. But one condemns Christ, rails
upon Him, mocks Him, and the other cries out unto the Lord,
Lord, remember me when Thou comest into Thy kingdom. And Jesus said
unto him, Verily I say unto thee, today thou shalt be with me in
paradise. Now they were two men crucified
with the Saviour but they represent the whole of humanity and the
attitudes and reactions of the whole of humanity. What you think
of Christ, what you say to Christ is either from the lips of the
one, or from the lips and the heart of the second. And what Christ says unto you will either be a pronouncement
of condemnation, for you are justly condemned, or he will
say as he said to that one thief, today thou shalt be with me. in paradise. There were two malefactors. Both guilty. Both sinners. Both condemned. Both at death's
door. Both at the brink of time and
eternity. both here with Christ in the
hour of judgment in that time and that place where they would
go from this world into the next either to everlasting condemnation
or to be with Christ in his kingdom in paradise. And you, whoever
you are, wherever you are, whenever you are, at some point will be
brought to this place, alongside Christ, at the cross, as you
pass through time into eternity, and you're either the one thief
or the other thief. You'll either say unto Christ
in your heart, if thou be Christ, save thyself and me. If. Or you will say, Lord, I'm justly
condemned, but remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom.
And he will say unto you today, thou shalt be with me in paradise. Or what is it? What is your view
of Christ? What does your heart say of Him? Do you say with the people, crucify
Him, crucify Him away with this man? Has Christ been delivered
to your will? To slay Him? To trample Him underfoot? To spit in His face? To mock
at Him? Are you like those who stood
by and saw? 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. And 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 this one thief with
them all joined in and said, If thou be Christ, save thyself
and us. Do you say that? Or has God put
fear into your heart and shown you that you are justly condemned
and caused you to cry out for mercy? There are two malefactors. both here passing from time into
eternity in their final moments and both saying from their heart
what they believed. The first with those that derided
Christ said, if thou be Christ, save thyself and us. If thou
be Christ, save thyself and us. And in this he casts doubt on
who Christ is. If thou be Christ. And he demands
that if he is Christ that he should save him and everyone
else. Save thyself and us. And this
is the state and the attitude of man by nature. It's what you
and I say by nature in our sinful fallen hearts We say, if there's
a God, if there's a Christ, if Jesus was real, then he should
save me. Without regard for what we are.
Without regard for what is just. without regard for what we deserve
without regard for how we've treated him we deride him, we
mock him, we joined in the chorus away with this man, crucify him
and then we turn around and say if you're who you are, save me
this is what the majority believe this is what you and I by nature
believe first we doubt who Christ truly is. If thou be Christ. We do not believe he's God. We do not believe he's the Son
of God. We see a man, a historical figure. We may even question whether
he really was an historical figure as these fools do today. We question
everything. Everything's made up. Everything's
to be torn down. So we doubt. We doubt he is who
he said he was. We doubt there's a God because
we can't see. We mock, we scoff, we deride,
if thou be Christ. And yet we've heard, there's
been shown enough to us There's enough evidence in our own conscience. There's enough evidence in creation.
There's enough evidence in the message of the Gospel. We've
heard. And yet we shut our ears and
we doubt. This man, this malefactor, knew
enough to say, if thou be Christ. He'd heard who Christ was. He
knew who he was, that he was being crucified beside. He knew
what was going on. He wasn't entirely blind to these
things. He knew who this Jesus of Nazareth
was. And if he didn't know before
this day, he'd have heard plenty of voices saying plenty of things.
He knew. He knew enough. Yet he didn't believe. And you,
whoever you are, you know enough. You know enough to go and find
out. You know enough to listen. But you choose not to. You shut
your ears. You're not interested. You don't
care. If thou be Christ. And your attitude is that if
He is Christ, if there is a God, He should just save you. Whatever. You hate Him. You trample him
underfoot, you deride him, you scry out, crucify him, but he
should show you love. First, you doubt who he is. And
secondly, without any confession of sin, without any recognition
of your own guilt, or your own just condemnation for sin, you
say with him, If there is a God, if there is a Christ, then he
must save me, he must save us all. Yes, this is the heart of
man, this is how he speaks. He says, without any confession
or understanding of his own sin, without any confession that he's
guilty, any understanding of his own state, He demands that
if there is a God, God should love him and save him. God should
bless him regardless. There's no understanding. There's no confession of what
we are. We just don't know. We just don't
accept it. We refuse to believe it. How
can we believe in God when we don't even know what we are?
We don't even know what man is. Yeah, that's how we are. If thou be the Christ, then save
thyself and us. And that's what your heart says.
If there's a God, let him save us all. Man will believe in nothing
else. He'll happily follow a God that
does his bidding. A God who is his servant. A God who does what he demands. Save me. Do this. Do that. without any confession
of guilt, without any acknowledgement before God that we're unworthy
of His mercy, unworthy of His blessing, unworthy of His salvation. We want a God that does our bidding. And not only is that the attitude
of the world in general, of mankind in general, it's the attitude
and the essential belief of all false religions. It will worship
a God that does its bidding. False religion follows a God
that when we do this God must bless us. When we demand this
God must give. When we make a decision to follow
this God, this God must save us. Jesus must save me because
I decided I would have his salvation. He's all at our command. Their Jesus is one that does
their bidding. They don't believe in this Christ. This Christ they dismissed and
said, away with this man. Of this Christ they say, if thou
be Christ, save us. Save us all. Do what we demand. without any recognition that
they are justly condemned. But the second thief, the second
malefactor here speaks in a very different way. He was just as
sinful as the former. He was just the same. He was
justly condemned with the former. But he speaks with different words from a different
heart. The other answering him rebuked
him, saying, Dost thou not fear God, seeing thou art in the same
condemnation? And we indeed justly, for we
receive the due reward of our deeds. But this man hath done
nothing amiss. And he said unto Jesus, Lord,
remember me. when thou comest into thy kingdom.
How different is this man? How much we see in his words? How much we see? What do you see in this man? Can you speak with this man?
Can you agree with what he says? Firstly, he fears God. Does thou
not fear God? He says to the other one, seeing
thou art in the same condemnation, he fears God. God has put a reverence
and a fear of God in his heart. He doesn't mock, he doesn't deride. He doesn't speak lightly of God.
He knows that his sentence lies in God's hands. Whether he lives
or whether he dies is in the hands and the power of God. He
fears God. And when he addresses Jesus he
calls him Lord. There's no if here. There's no
if thou be here. There's no doubt here. There's
no unbelief. He's had his eyes opened. God
has come unto this one and opened his eyes. He's changed him. He's come from the state of the
other thief into another state. No more does he say, if thou
be. But here he fears God. He says,
Lord. Secondly, he recognizes his own
guilt and condemnation. What a difference. What a difference
between this man and the other man and this man and the vast
majority of people in this world. He recognises his own sin and
condemnation. He says, I'm guilty. We're in
the same condemnation, but we indeed justly. For we receive
the due reward of our deeds. But this man, Christ, has done
nothing amiss. He knows he's justly condemned.
He knows God would be right to send him to hell and leave him
there. And he'd have no complaint. He
knows he could not argue against it. He knows that he could not
say God is unfair. This isn't fair. He knows he's
justly condemned, righteously condemned. He's sinned and God's
justice reigns down upon him. Can you say that? Because that's
the huge difference between those whose eyes have been opened by
God, those who believe the truth, those who will be with Christ
this day in paradise. That's the huge difference. They
know they're sinners. They know they're justly condemned. They know they're guilty. Do
you? Or do you always have an excuse? Do you always have someone else
to blame? Do you always have some justification
for everything you do and say? It's not my fault, you say. I'm no worse than anyone else,
you say. Always excusing the vileness
of your own heart. Not this man. He said, we're
justly condemned. Yet Christ he saw as innocent. We're justly condemned. So thirdly,
he considers, knowing his own guilt and condemnation, he considers
God just to condemn him. He doesn't contend against God's
condemnation. He knows God is righteous in
his condemnation of him. And he knows, as I said, that
the man crucified beside him, Jesus in the midst, had done
nothing amiss. He looks upon Christ and sees
him as innocent. He knows he's innocent. He knows
that he himself deserves to die unjustly, but Christ didn't. So he sees himself there with
Christ on the cross at the same hour and there is Christ dying
with him and Christ doesn't deserve to but he does. How much he sees
of the gospel in this. How much he sees of a substitute,
a saviour, an innocent saviour beside him, dying because of
his sin. Not Christ's sins, but his sins. He deserved to die for them,
but here's Christ dying. He sees one innocent and one
guilty. And he knows in this that if
he's to be saved, if he's to enter into Christ's kingdom,
then his sin must be paid for. And he sees in Christ's death
one Suffering, though he was innocent. Suffering for the sins
of others. Suffering as a substitute. He saw Barabbas let off that
guilty man and Christ taking his place. He saw the substitution. He saw how Barabbas went free
and Christ was slain. He sees a substitute, suffering
beside him. Fifthly, he sees Christ as God,
as divine. He recognises that he is the
Christ, the Anointed One, the Saviour, Christ Jesus. He sees him as God. Lord, remember
me. when thou comest into thy kingdom.
He sees this man crucified beside him, but he sees a man who is
also God, Lord. And he knows that salvation can
only come from God. Sixthly, he believes in the kingdom. He's heard of the gospel. He's heard the gospel of the
kingdom. He's heard that Christ has spoken
of a kingdom to come. And he believes it. Lord, remember
me when thou comest into thy kingdom. And seventhly, in crying
out unto Christ, we see his cry of faith to be remembered. He calls unto Jesus. He addresses
Jesus, Lord. He says, remember me, have mercy
upon me when thou comest into thy kingdom. This is a cry of
faith. This is a man, a sinner like
the other one, born without faith. But having heard this gospel,
having heard the words of Jesus Christ. Now he believes. He knows he's a sinner. He knows
he's justly condemned, but he knows that beside him, here is
the Son of God, the innocent, spotless Lamb of God being crucified
for sinners. The God, the Son of God who would
lead his people into a kingdom to live forever and ever. And
he says, when thou enterest into that kingdom, remember me. Save
me. Have mercy upon me. This is a
cry of faith. And it's a cry which was answered. A cry which was answered. Jesus
said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, today shalt thou be with
me in paradise. Today shalt thou be with me in
paradise. What a response. What a thing
to be told. What a thing to be told when
you're in your final moments. when you're about to take your
final breaths here he is condemned this malefactor dying no hope
no possibility of escape no friends to rescue him here he is he's
dying it's all over there's no way back he fell into sin he
was caught in sin he was condemned and here he is being crucified
It's too late! And yet here he is, crucified
beside the Son of God, who says unto him, today shalt thou be
with me in paradise. It was too late, and yet it wasn't
too late. He had no hope, and yet he had
every hope He was lost! And yet in these words he is
saved. He's dying. Yet Christ says, you shall live.
And you shall live with me forever in paradise. What words to hear
when you're at the end of everything. When you've come to the end of
everything. Oh sinner, where are you today? Has God shown
you your sin? Has God shown you your guilt? Has God shown you your state
before Him? Have you come to an end of everything?
Have you tried to turn unto God, to mend your ways, to follow
in His law, to live aright? And yet it's all come to nothing.
The more you strive to live right, the worse you get, the more you
discover of that filthy, iniquitous heart that's within. You've tried
everything and you've come to an end and you're guilty. You're
sinking. There's no hope. There's nothing
left. And yet you cry out to God for
mercy and you think he won't hear you. How could he hear you?
How could he possibly save you? You're too guilty. You're justly
condemned. And then at death's door, when
it's all too late, when you cry out feebly Lord remember me Jesus
says and turns unto you and says today shalt thou be with me in
paradise what a thing to be told what do we see in these pictures
what do we see in these two malefactors crucified with Christ their words
Jesus responds, we see that all men alike have sinned, all are
condemned, all are malefactors, all are guilty, all deserve the
judgment and the wrath of God forevermore. You and I, We see
that there is an hour of judgment which will come upon all mankind
where we will pass from this world into eternity and where
if we are full of sin and if we cast doubt upon the name of
Jesus Christ we will enter into darkness. We see that all have
sinned But we see that mankind is divided into two. It's divided
into two. There's one on the one side and
one on the other side. There are those who stand with the one thief
and there are those who stand with the other thief. We see
that there are sheep and there are goats. There are the saved
and there are the lost. There are those who cry out,
if thou be the Christ. And there are those that cry
out, Lord, remember me. Mankind's divided into two. There
are those that God has chosen unto salvation. Those who are
elect. The election of God. The election
of grace. Those whom he has chosen to save. Those Just like all others, guilty
sinners, but whose eyes are opened, whose understanding is opened,
whose hearts are opened to understand what they are before God, to
own that they are sinners, but to place themselves upon the
mercy and the free grace of God. Lord, remember me. It is grace
alone which separates one from the other. The deeds of each
of these men was the same. They were both sinners. They
were both justly condemned. At the point at which they were
brought to this place, they were both under the condemnation of
the law against them. Neither one was better than the
other. Neither one had done this or
that that deserved salvation. They were both condemned. But
the one was left in his sin and the other had his heart opened.
God opened the eyes of the one to believe. It is grace alone
that separates one from the other. Fourthly in this passage we see
the certainty of salvation. When he cries out unto Christ
and Christ answers him, Christ answers with certainty. Verily,
truly I say unto thee, today thou shalt be with me in paradise. It's certain, it's done. There's no doubt. Christ doesn't
say if you continue like this, if you do this. He simply pronounces
what will be. You're mine. You're at the end
of everything. You can do nothing. But today
shalt thou be with me in paradise. Fifthly, we see the hope of the
believer. Paradise. right then, that day
paradise paradise granted unto this sinner not as a reward for
his works not as a reward for his decision but because the
Lord looked upon him in grace what could that man do? he was
hanging upon a cross he was dying, there's nothing he could do and
yet paradise was his reward. Sixthly, these men represent
all men, all mankind, all men, women and children that's ever
lived. You're either one or the other. The speech of our hearts, our
hearts says one thing or the other. It either says, if thou
be Christ, if there is a God, or it says, Lord remember me.
It's as simple as that. Every person you come across
who goes to the grave in their sins has at heart in their conscience
that what they say is, if there be a God. If. There's unbelief. And their attitude is that if
there is a God, God should just deliver them. God should just
love everyone and save everyone. They have no recognition, no
conviction that they are guilty before God and deserve His condemnation. They will not own their sin.
You will not. I will not. We rail against Him. We condemn Him. We deride God. We deride His Son. We will not
accept that we're sinners. and justly condemned. Our speech
is of the one man or the other. But if God has set his grace
upon us, no more will we say, if thou be. But we will say,
Lord, remember me. Our speech is as the one man
or the others and our destination is with the one or the other
we either go with the one man into darkness and hell forevermore
into death never to return or we go with the second with
Jesus into that place called Paradise. Seventhly, what Christ said to
the one is said to all of his own. When he said to this malefactor,
today shalt thou be with me in Paradise, he says the same to
every child of God for whom he died at that hour, for whom his
blood was shed, upon whom He has said His love and His mercy.
If you are Christ, if you have been turned under Him, if you
know you're a sinner and guilty before Him, if you've been brought
to cry out unto Him, Lord have mercy upon me, Lord remember
me, then His answer to you is the same today as it was to this
man that day. He says unto you, today shalt
thou be with me in Paradise. That's His speech. It's now. He doesn't say one day. He doesn't
say perhaps. His speech to those that believe
in Him is today. Thou shalt be with me in paradise.
Has He said this to you? Do you realise the certainty
of it? Has He brought you to the point
where this sinner was? Has he brought you to condemnation?
Do you feel justly condemned? Justly. Has he brought you to
the place where this man was? Justly condemned, but dying,
looking unto Jesus upon the cross. Are you dying? Do you know you're
dying? But are you looking by faith
upon Christ, suffering upon the cross? Is that where you're looking?
You want to be saved, you want to be spared, you know you're
dying, you know you're condemned, you know you're guilty, but where
are you looking to escape? Are you looking to yourself?
Are you looking to the law? Are you looking to your works?
Are you looking to your religion? Your decision? Are you looking
to the church? Are you looking to others? Or
are you looking to the Saviour crucified upon a cross? Where are you looking? You're
dying, you're lost, but where are you looking? Where are you?
This man was brought here. He died at the moment Christ
died. He died at the hour Christ died. And he said unto Christ, Lord
remember me. You're dying, you're lost. Has
God put faith in your heart to look unto a Saviour crucified? Are you looking upon Christ at
the cross? Is the cross in your gaze? Have you been brought there?
If you've been brought there, if you're crying out to Christ
there, hear me, remember me. Then you will hear Christ's words. Today, shalt thou be with me
in paradise. These words apply equally today
as they did that day 2,000 years ago. They're said with equal
impact and power to every child of God brought to this place
today as they were then. Christ says under his dying children,
today thou shalt be with me in paradise. You may be a sinner,
you may be justly condemned, but I've saved you. I'm taking
away your sins. I'm blotting them out. I'm washing
you clean. And today you'll go through death
and rise again with me the other side. You'll be with me in paradise. Today. What follows in the account
immediately afterwards is how Christ saved him. Today shalt
thou be with me in paradise. And it was about the sixth hour.
And there was a darkness over all the earth until the ninth
hour. And the sun was darkened and
the veil of the temple was rent in the midst. What followed immediately
on that day, that day when the thief would enter paradise was
the darkness. And it's how Christ went through
the darkness that guaranteed his salvation. It's the hours
in darkness that saved that man and saved all that believe on
Christ. He went into the darkness. He
bore that man's sins. He bore the sins of all his people. He suffered in the darkness. He drank the cup of God's wrath. And he took the sins and the
judgement away. He took them away. He delivered
him. He died that that man should
live. And when Jesus had cried with
a loud voice, he said, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit. And having said thus, he gave
up the ghost. He gave up the ghost. That's what followed, the darkness.
And sixthly, the other side of the darkness. Christ and his
people entered into rest. The people looked on. Now when
the centurion saw what was done, he glorified God saying, certainly
this was a righteous man. And all the people that came
together to that site, beholding the things which were done, smote
their breasts and returned. And all his acquaintance and
the women that followed him from Galilee, stood afar off beholding
these things. They looked on, they beheld,
they saw these things come about. And then a just man, Joseph,
went unto Pilate and begged the body of Jesus and took it down
and wrapped it in linen and laid it in a sepulcher that was hewn
in stone wherein never man was laid. And that day was the preparation
and the Sabbath drew on. And the women also which came
with him from Galilee followed after and beheld the sepulcher
and how his body was laid. And they returned and prepared
spice anointments and rested the Sabbath day according to
the commandment. They rested. Those who believe took Christ's
body and they laid him in the grave in the Sabbath And he and
they rested. They begged for his body. His body was laid in the grave
to rest. The body of Christ. The darkness
having passed. Justification having been wrought. Righteousness having been brought
in. Salvation having been wrought.
The body of Christ is laid in the grave and rests. Salvation's
wrought and they with Him rested in the Sabbath. That was a Sabbath
day, but it represents an eternal Sabbath. The body of Christ together
rested, not just Christ the head, but the members of his body,
the whole body, the whole church, the whole election of grace rested
in an eternal everlasting Sabbath into which they went with their
Saviour they rested, they begged the body and the body was prepared
and the body rested all one together all entering
into Paradise. Paradise. This word paradise
is used in but two other places in the scriptures. In 2 Corinthians
chapter 12 Paul speaks of being caught up into paradise and hearing
unspeakable words which is not lawful for a man to utter. Whether
in the body or out of the body, He could not say, but He was
in paradise. He was with Christ. And in Revelation, the last book
in the Bible, we read, He that hath an ear, let him hear what
the Spirit saith unto the churches. To him that overcometh will I
give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the
paradise of God. where is paradise? what is paradise? it's that place where the tree
of life is the tree of life Christ himself that tree that was cut
down in death but which rose up again and which is the healing
of the nations that tree from whence all life flows that tree
into which all the people of God are fused as branches in
the vine that tree which brings forth fruit that tree which brings
forth salvation what is it to be in paradise? it is to be with
Christ the tree of life are you condemned? are you a sinner? are you crucified? are you dying? Do you say with the one, if thou
be Christ, save thyself and us? Do you cast doubt and unbelief
into the teeth of Jesus Christ? Or has God opened your heart,
opened your understanding, shown you your sin, to say that we
are justly condemned, to call out unto Jesus, Lord, remember
me when thou comest into thy kingdom. and has Christ turned
and said to you when you're at the end as he said unto you today
shalt thou be with me in paradise. Amen.