Back in Luke's Gospel, chapter
23, I want us to consider primarily just one verse, and that is verse
43, our Lord's response to the request of the thief. Our Lord said in verse 43, Verily
I say unto thee, Today thou shalt be with me in paradise. The title of my message is The
Promise of Our Substitute. because these words can be applied
to every believer. Every child of God can take these
words as a promise from his Redeemer to himself. We have, first of
all, a great Savior. Three things we want to consider,
and first begin here, a great Savior. We must begin here. The other two things we want
to consider would never be realized. would never be ours without Him,
first of all. Everything depends upon Him.
His success upon the cross, what He accomplished, what He intended,
what He did, everything depends upon that. The second thought
will be this, great grace. Is this not a picture of His
amazing grace? his reigning grace, his sovereign
grace, and then last of all, a demonstration of his great
salvation. First, a great savior. You remember
at the announcement of his birth, before Gabriel went to Joseph,
he appeared to Mary and said, Mary, you shall bring forth a
son, call his name Jesus, he shall be great. He shall be great. And he did not disappoint Diddy
Louie. He indeed was great. He was great in the sight of
his father. He didn't disappoint his father
that sent him. On more than one occasion, God
spoke from heaven concerning that one, that only one, on the
banks of Jordan. At the first, he said, this is
my beloved son in whom I am well pleased. The God of glory is
not easily pleased. Oh, no. Not like people think
today. His holy character does not,
cannot accept just anything. Oh, no. What do we read of in
the Old Testament concerning the sacrifice? It must be perfect. Before God will accept it, before
God will even consider it, it must be perfect. And looking
at His Son, He saw absolute perfection. This is my Son in whom I delight,
in whom I am well pleased. And concerning those He came
for, that is the Son of God, concerning those He came to redeem,
all those the Father gave Him. You see, the captain of our salvation
came on a mission. He said, I've come down from
heaven not to do mine own will, but the will of Him that sent
me. And this is the will of Him that
sent me. Could words be plainer? John
chapter 6, that of all which He had given me, I should lose
none. What a boast! What a mission! What a work! What an accomplishment! He could say, Father, of all
that you have given me, I've lost none. He doesn't disappoint
those he came to save. In Titus chapter 2, Paul wrote,
and concerning our Lord Jesus Christ, he described Him with
these words, our great God and Savior. our great God and Savior,
did ever a real sinner, a real sinner, folks said, well, that's
everybody. Everybody's a real sinner, John.
Ask them. Ask them. When's the last time
you talked to one? When was the last time you talked
to one, a real sinner? A sinner like the woman in Luke
7 who had nothing to pay. A sinner without reservation. A guilty sinner. Like this one
thief on the cross who said, we're getting what we deserve.
We've got this coming. We've merited this. We've earned
this. Oh, a real sinner. Did ever a
real sinner ever come to Christ seeking mercy and not find it? Ever been such a one? Ever been
a case of any sinner that ever comes to the Lord of glory, that
ever approached the throne of grace and bowed before Him saying,
Lord, if you will, If you will, it's all up to you. My salvation,
my eternal destiny, it's all up to you. If you will, you can
make me clean. Did ever such a one approach
the throne of grace that was turned away? Ever been such a
case? And, of course, the answer is
no. Thank God the answer is no. Our Lord said, Him that cometh
unto me. I will in no wise, under no circumstance,
ever cast out. The thief on the cross is an
example of this. This thief is an example of our
Lord's power to save. How often he demonstrated his
greatness as the great shepherd of the sheep. Will you turn with
me for a moment back to Micah? Micah chapter 7. Read these words of the prophet.
He asked the question, who is a God like unto our God? Who is like Him? And of course,
the answer is none. None. But what he was considering,
what he was contemplating was the grace and mercy of God. When
he asked the question, who is a God likened to our God in Micah
7, verse 18, he's not considering the creation as great as that
is. Oh no, he's considering that
other great work, that greater work, the work of God's grace
in the heart of a sinner. Verse 18 of Micah 7, who is a
God likened to thee? who is like our God, that partneth
iniquity, and passeth by the transgression of the remnant
of his heritage, he retaineth not his anger for ever, because
he delighteth in mercy, He delights in mercy. He said, as I live,
saith the Lord, I have no pleasure, I take no delight, I find no
joy in the death of the wicked. I would rather they turn unto
me and live. Oh, but on the other hand, He
does delight in mercy. And look at verse 19. He will
turn again. He will. He will have compassion
upon us. He will subdue our iniquities. And thou wilt cast all their
sins into the depths of the sea. Thou wilt perform this. God does
it all. You see salvation in its entirety. In its entirety, salvation is
all the work of the triune God, and it's all the work of His
mighty grace. Thou wilt perform the truth to
Jacob and the mercy to Abraham, which Thou hast sworn unto our
fathers from the days of old. He will accomplish all these
things on the behalf of all His people. Indeed, who is a God
like unto our God? When I think, the hymn writer
wrote, and when I think, and God help me to think of that
too. Help me to often think of that
too. Where would I be without his
mercy? Where would I be apart from his
sovereign reigning grace? And when I think that God, his
son, not sparing. Think about that. He gave His
only begotten Son, and the Son responded, Father, I come to
do Thy will, O God. I come to accomplish the salvation
of My people. I come to redeem them from their
sins. I don't come to make it possible. I come to do it. I come to accomplish
it. There's a vast difference, is
there not, Carlos? and our comfort lies just here.
Not that He made something possible, but He made it certain that He
accomplished our redemption. That He obtained eternal redemption
for us. That He entered one time into
the holy place and there He obtained, bless His name, eternal redemption
for all His own. That's why He could cry from
the cross just before He bowed His head. He exclaimed as the
victor that He is. The captain of our salvation
exclaimed, once for all, forever, it is finished. Bless God. Oh, and when I think that God,
His Son not sparing, sent Him to die, I scarce can take it
in. It's more than me. It's beyond
the grasp of this peewee of a brain that I have. Oh, that on the
cross, my sins he gladly bearing, he bled and died to take away
my sin. Think about that. God, think
about that. And if He is pleased to give
you a fresh appreciation of it, the cry of your heart will be
this, Then sings my soul, my Savior God to thee, how great
thou art! O how great thou art! Who is a God like unto our God? Is the salvation of this dying
thief not an example? Not an example of his ability
as our great God and Savior? In Hebrews chapter 7 verse 25
we read, Therefore he is able, always, Always. We sang it a moment ago. Dear
dying Lamb of Precious Blood shall never, never lose its power. He is able to save to the uttermost
all that come. All that come unto God by Him. He said, I'm the way, and I'm
the truth, and I'm the life. No man comes to the Father except
by Me. There's only one mediator, and
the name is not Mary, or Pope Paul, or Peter, or any other. Oh no, the name is Jesus Christ. That name above all others. That name of whom God declares
every knee shall bow to Him. Every tongue shall confess that
He's the Lord to the glory of God the Father. He alone is able
to save to the uttermost. Would you be saved? Would you
be saved? Do you want mercy? Do you seek
grace? Then look to Him. Look to the
Lamb of God. Look to Him who is able. None
else is to save to the very uttermost. The prophet said, who is this?
Who is this that looks like one that has tread in the wine fat?
Who has tread in the press? Who is this that coming up from
Eden with his garments died? Red, crimson, who could this
be? Oh, and the great shepherd of
the sheep responds. It is I. It is I. I that speak in righteousness.
I who am mighty to save. Mighty to save. Oh, mercy there. Does every redeemed sinner not
sing? Mercy there was great and grace
was free. Part in there was multiplied
to me. There, my burdened soul, like
Bunyan's pilgrim, with that burden on his back, continually on his
back, until he came up that mount and cast his eyes upon the cross,
and upon that one upon the cross, and the burden of his sin rolled
away. And he said, it tumbled and just
kept tumbling until I saw it again no more forever. Pardon
there was great and grace was free. Mercy there was multiplied
to me. There my burdened soul found
liberty. Where? At Calvary. Oh, amazing grace. Does all that not make us ask
or think? Our Lord's words rather to the
dying thief, does it not exemplify what Paul said in Ephesians 3
that he's able to do above and beyond all that we ask or think? The thief simply asked, remember
me. Remember me. Oh, Lord, will you
remember me? And our Lord said much more than
that. You'll be with me. Oh, more than remembering, you'll
be with me today in paradise. And then notice the triumph of
our great Redeemer. At the place of the skull, no
less, Golgotha, Calvary, a place of death. What a display of man's
depravity. What a display of man's sinfulness. But there also you have a display
of God's reigning grace. The reigning grace of the substitute
that reigns over all the sins of all of his people. Even here,
even here, on Golgotha, grace abounds. Even now, even now,
in the at least outward display, looking only at the outward,
We see Him in weakness, but even then, He's mighty to save. Even here, He finds one of His
sheep. Isn't that amazing? Isn't that
amazing? What a demonstration of His great
power and grace. He said, I've come to seek. and
to save. It wouldn't do much good Lester
to seek if he didn't save. What would be the point? If he
doesn't have power to save, what would be the point of coming?
What would be the point of seeking if he didn't have power once
he finds his sheep to save him? He said, I come to seek. And
not only to seek, I come to save that which was lost. Turn back,
if you will, or rather turn to John chapter 10. At this familiar
passage of scripture, John chapter 10, look at the words of our
great shepherd. Verse 25. The Jews had asked
him, how long do you make us doubt? If you're really the Christ,
if you're the Messiah, if you're who you claim to be, tell us
plainly. Which he had many times. In verse
25, Jesus answered them, I told you and you believed not. Does
that make the purpose of God of none effect? They're unbelief. The works that I do in my father's
name, they bear witness of me. But ye believe not. Why? Because you're not my sheep,
as I said unto you. Oh, but, look at verse 27, my
sheep hear my voice. My sheep know me, and I know
them, and they follow me. And verse 28, and I give unto
them eternal life. I give them eternal life, and
they shall never perish. Never, never. That soul that
to Jesus has fled for repose, he will not, he will not desert
to expose. That soul, though all hell, should
endeavor to shake, he'll never, no never, no never, forsake,
they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out
of my hand." Oh, what a Savior. He snatches this dying thief
from the very jaws of death as another jewel in his crown as
our great God and Savior. Paul in Romans chapter 8 issued
this challenge. He asked this question, who is
able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ
Jesus? What can do it? Who can do it? Let's turn there and look at
that passage of Scripture in Romans chapter 8. Paul asked
the question in verse 35, who shall separate us from the love
of God And then he asked, shall tribulation, or distress, or
persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written, for thy sake
we are killed all the day long. We are accounted as sheep for
the slaughter. Nay, in all these things we are
more than conquerors through him that loved us. For I am persuaded
that neither death, not even death, love is stronger than
death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers,
nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth,
nor any other creature shall be able to separate us from the
love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Oh, behold, what
a great Savior. Now behold his great grace. Look back in Luke chapter 23
at verse 39. One of the malefactors, one of
the thieves, which were hanged, railed on him saying, if thou
be the Christ, save thyself and us. And he was more concerned
with the us himself primarily than he was Christ. just as hard
as ever. No repentance, no godly sorrow. Our Lord said, one shall be taken
and one left behind. But now look at verse 40. You
have this little word, but. But. But the other. But the other. I don't know how
many commentators I referred to as I looked over this verse
of Scripture, and what little help I received, they speculated
on what it was that changed this man's heart. What means did God
use? What did He know before this
time? Did He hear the Lord preach?
Was it what He heard them saying concerning Him? Was it His charge
nailed to the cross, this is the King of the Jews? What changed
this man? And of course, there's only one
answer. What made the difference? What made the difference? The
same thing that makes the difference in any repenting sinner. in any
believing center, it's the grace of God. But the other is an explanation. It's a demonstration of God's
mighty grace. That's the only reason. That's
the only explanation, the only way. that any sinner approaches
the God of glory is through the Mediator, Jesus Christ, who Himself
sets upon the throne of grace, declaring Himself to be the God
of all grace. He giveth, and He giveth, and
He giveth more grace. And you know what the word means.
Grace is unmerited favor. That means it's not something
I've earned. It's not something God's obligated
to do for me or in me. It's not something I have coming
to me. I know that's contrary to what
you hear most preachers say today. But grace that's earned is not
grace. Grace that's merited ceases to
be grace. If there is anything, anything,
in the believer that attracts God's mercy and grace, then it
ceases to be mercy or grace. Oh no! What changed the heart
of this dying thief was the mighty, unmerited, pure, undeserved grace
of God Almighty. This thief had no good works,
did he? We hear preachers exhort the
good works as a basis of acceptance before God. Well, this thief
would be in... Bad shape, because he didn't
have any. And he wasn't baptized. His only hope was this. His only
plea. His only grounds of acceptance
before the Holy God. That God who, in just a matter
of a few more hours, He would be ushered into the presence
of. His only hope. His only plea. His only help
was that man he was looking at on the middle cross. He, like
Simeon, could say in his dying hour, I can depart in peace. How? Why? How can any sinner
leave this world in peace when he knows he's going into the
presence of God Almighty? How can he have peace? Oh, by
the Prince of Peace, Jesus Christ himself, that thief. was looking
at that one on the middle cross who said, I am the door. I'm
the door. No man cometh unto the father
but by me. And he said to our Lord, remember
me. Remember me. And you know, to
that thief, Christ was all. Wasn't he? You would get no argument
from him or no debate from him or he would say, If you were
to ask him, what's your hope? What's your plea? What's your
hope before God in your dying hour? And he would say, that
man right there. That one, the Christ, the Son
of God. He alone is my hope. He only. Christ, Lord, remember
me. Christ is all. All in all. Christ is all I have, he would
say, and Christ is all I need. That's the same reason why any
sinner is saved. Paul in Ephesians 2, we all know
the verse. We can quote it. For by grace
ye are saved through faith, and that not of yourselves is the
gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast. It's all
grace, and thank God that he is. If not, no sinner would ever
be saved. Apart from God's mighty grace,
none would be saved. Turn, if you will, to Titus,
Titus chapter 3. Paul here tells us the reason
of any sinner's salvation. In Titus chapter 3 verse 4 he
writes, but after that the kindness, Titus 3 and 4, but after that
the kindness and love of God our Savior toward man appeared
as it appeared to you. Have you witnessed experienced
the grace of God that's in Christ Jesus. Verse 5, not by works
of righteousness which we have done, that bears repeating, doesn't
it? Not by works of righteousness
which we have done, but according to his mercy. His mercy, He saved
us by the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Ghost,
which He shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior. Oh, He's the fountain. He's the
fountain filled with blood. It's drawn from Emmanuel's veins. Verse 7, that being justified
by His grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of
eternal life. The last thought, behold his
great salvation. He said to the thief in response
to remember me when you come into your kingdom, our Lord said,
verily I say unto thee today, thou shalt be with me in paradise. In the morning this man, this
thief was in the state of nature, that is in a state of sin. that
which he was born in, sin. Oh, but by noon, by noon, he's
in a state of grace. He's accepted in the beloved. He's redeemed. He's regenerated. He's been called. He's been justified
in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God.
And by evening, by evening, just a few hours from this, he's in
a state of glory. He's in paradise with his Lord. Oh, the dying thief. Rejoice
to see that fountain in his day. And there may I, though vile
as he, wash all my sins away. Today, thou shalt be with me
in paradise. In just a few short hours. How near we are to eternity. Believer, how near we are to
glory. How near we are to being with
him forever. He said, ye shall be with me. Not in some state of soul sleep. The soul in the grave with the
body, oh no. And certainly not in that make-believe
place called purgatory. That halfway house. That place
where I'm kind of there in limbo. I'm not ready for heaven. Not
good enough for heaven. I'm not bad enough for hell,
so I'm in purgatory. The rest of my sins must be purged
there. No such place. Either Christ
on the cross took away all my sins or He didn't. Either He
accomplished what He intended to or He didn't. Either he brought
in an everlasting righteousness or he didn't. It can't be one
or the other. It can only be either he did
or he didn't. Either he succeeded or he failed,
Carlos. There's no in-between. And bless
God everywhere you open this book. And the theme of it is
Jesus Christ and Him crucified from Genesis to Revelation. Any place you open it, it doesn't
speak about a God that tried or a Christ that attempted to
do something. It speaks about a salvation,
bless His name, that was accomplished. Joseph, call His name Jesus. Why? Why? Is He going to live
up to that name? Because it means the salvation
of the Lord. Is he going to live up to that
name? Does he deserve that name? Oh yes, Joseph. Give him that
name Jesus for, for, because we're calling him this because
he shall He shall save His people, all of His people, a multitude
that none can number. He shall save every one of them
from all their sins. He's going to bring every one
of them into the presence of God Almighty, all that the Father
gave Him entrusted into His hands. He'll bring back the glory into
the very presence of His Father and say, Father, I, but not just
me, with me, all the children that You gave me. I'm the bridegroom,
but I bring before You the bride without blemish, without spot,
without any such thing of all that You gave me, Father. All
that You entrusted it to me. All that I was a surety for.
Here they are, and I lost. None. I didn't lose one. Glory to His name. Oh, with Him in glory. Each word. that our Lord responded
to the thief with is full of grace and truth, is it not? Notice he says, verily, verily. That means truly. You can count
on it. You can rest on it. You can throw
the weight of your immortal soul on this and rest assured that
upon this rock the church of Christ is built and the gates
of hell should never, never prevail against it. Verily, I am the
truth, and he speaks with absolute certainty. And how refreshing
to his poor, weak sheep, is it not to hear these words? This
is no fairy tale. This is no fable. These are the
words of our great Shepherd. And he says, I say unto thee,
I, who alone have the keys to heaven, I alone who am the door
into glory, I say unto thee, thou shalt be with me. Isn't
it amazing the ideas that people have about heaven? The silly
stuff I've been asked about heaven. Will this be there or that be
there? I don't think I'll be happy unless
I'm able to do thus and thus. Just silly stuff. Oh, the heaven
of heaven, John. The glory of glory is this. I'm going to be with Him. Now can anything top that, Louis?
Can anything be more than that? Can this unworthy sinner desire
or need anything more than that? I'm going to see Him. I'm going
to see the face of the One who loved me and gave Himself for
me. Having loved His own, which were
in the world, He loved them unto the end, everlastingly. And He loved them unchangingly.
You know He loved Peter. No less. When he stood in Pilate's
hall, and Peter at the same time stood below, denying and cursing
that he even knew him, the Lord loved Peter no less in that moment
than he ever did. His love's unchanging. Unchanging. It's not dependent upon anything
I do or don't do. I've loved thee with an everlasting
love. What grace. These words bear
testimony to the satisfaction of our substitute's sacrifice. Do they not? You remember in
John 18, when the mob came, led by the traitor, to take our Lord? He, we're told, knowing all things
that should come upon him, went forth. He didn't run away. He walked to them and said, Whom
seek ye? They said, Jesus of Nazareth.
And he said, That's me. It's me. It's me you seek. But let these go their way. And that is what our substitute
says in God's holy law. that demanded payment for sin,
that demanded satisfaction. The soul that sinneth, it must
die. And our Lord says to the holy
law of God, you found me. You found me. Smite the shepherd. Awake, O sword, against the man
who is my fellow. And he did. He drank damnation
dry. And he says to divine justice,
you found me. I'm yours. But you can't have
me and my sheep too. These have to go their way. Justice is satisfied. God is
now just when he justifies. Our Lord was really made sin
with this outcome, with this consequence, that we might be
made the very righteousness of God in Him. Turn to John's Gospel
again for a moment, John chapter 12. compared his death to a corn
of wheat falling into the ground. In John 12, verse 24, he says,
"'Barely, barely, I say unto you, except a corn of wheat fall
into the ground and die, it abideth alone. But if it die, if it die,
it bringeth forth much fruit.'" Much fruit. If I don't die, I'll
be alone in glory. There will be no multitude that
none can number. There will be none redeemed if
the price is not paid. Without the shedding of blood,
there is no remission. No atonement, no redemption. No dying substitute, no salvation. Oh, but, but if I die, there
will be consequences. It bringeth forth much fruit. He's the firstborn among many
brethren. It'll be the song of glory that
the praise of His grace unto Him that loved us and washed
us from our sins in His own blood to Him be glory and power and
dominion forever and ever. His last company, the last company
that He was in on earth was this dying thief. And you know what? The first that is with him when
he enters glory is this thief. This thief dies and enters glory
with Christ, riding in the chariot of grace with the captain of
his salvation, hearing the cry, Thou art worthy. Worthy is the
lamb that was slain. Lord, remember Lord, remember
me. Remember me. Turn if you will
to Isaiah chapter forty-four and then we'll we'll close. Isaiah
chapter forty-four. Lord, remember me. Here's our
lord's answer. Isaiah chapter forty-four verse
twenty-one. God says, remember these O Jacob
in Israel. For thou art my servant. I have
formed thee. Thou art my servant. It'll never happen. I have blotted
out as a thick cloud thy transgressions, and as a cloud thy sins. Return
to me, for I have redeemed thee. Sing, O ye heavens, for the Lord
hath done it. Shout, ye lower parts of the
earth. Break forth into singing, ye mountains, O forest, and every
tree therein. For the Lord hath redeemed Jacob
and glorified himself in Israel. When we come to observe the Lord's
table, He says, do this, as often as you do it, do it in remembrance
of Me. When we eat the bread, representing
his body, and drink the wine, representing his precious blood
that was shed for us, he said, do it in remembrance of me. If now with eyes defiled and
dim, we see the signs but see not him, oh, may his love the
scales displace and bid us view him face to face. God bless you.