The story that we just read in
Matthew chapter 27 is a true story. It's history. And at the same time, it's his
story. He who created the heavens and
the earth has now subjected himself to be judged in Pilate's hall. Yes, he that sat upon the throne
of the Almighty now stands in judgment. He who became a man
and was the only man, the only man that was ever 100% righteous
and good, now stands as a guilty and notorious criminal. He who
once sat in the heavens and laughed at the folly and rage of the
heathen, now is laughed and ridiculed by the heathen. Why, he's the
one that gives men and women their next breath. The next breath
that you inhale is given to you by God. And He gave men and women
their next breath. And with that breath, they cursed
Him and screamed for His execution. Men and women brag concerning
their free will, but now we see their true free will and desire
to release a convicted murderer named Barabbas and crucify the
Lord of glory. He who knew no sin, the scripture
says, now stands before this sinful crowd falsely accused
as the greatest sinner the world had ever known. He stood where
you and I should have been. Did you hear me? That's where
you and I should have been. This should have been happening
to us. We deserve everything that they did to him. They spit
in his face, they stripped him of his clothing, and they cruelly
arrayed him with a purple robe as they sarcastically said, Hail,
King of the Jews. He who wore the crown of majesty
and glory as God who ruled and reigned in sovereign power now
wears a crown of thorns. He who once carried the golden
scepter of the King of all kings. He's the King of kings and the
Lord of lords and he's now given a reed which is no more than
just a cane. They took turns bowing their
knees to him in a ridiculing way as to say, some kind of a
king you are. They hit him over the head with
the cane, driving the crown of thorns deeper into his forehead,
and his blood and their spit mingled together, and his visage
appearance was more marred than any man's, says the book of Isaiah. why He didn't even resemble a
man when they were done with Him. And it's Him, friends. It's
God, the God-Man, the Lord Jesus Christ, the world's Redeemer,
the long-expected Messiah, led out as a condemned criminal,
condemned as a traitor, given up for blasphemy, that He may
die the death of the cruel cross. Now let me ask you, do you see
Him? Oh, if my words could but paint
the picture. Can you see Him? Well, they didn't
stop there. They blindfolded him and they
hit him in the face, one on one cheek and one on the other, slapping
him with the palms of their hand. And they plucked out his hair
saying, you're a prophet? Tell us who hit you. Tell us
which one pulled out your hair. And the whole time they're laughing
and patting one another on the back. I can just see them like
you do in sports today, giving each other high fives, laughing
and rejoicing in this mockery. Can you picture it? They're doing
this to God. This is God. Why, He who created
the trees, is now to be nailed to one of them. And yet that
very tree on which He hung was planted by Him in eternity. That
He might now hang there in the place of chosen sinners. Now with these things in mind,
I want you to consider for just a few minutes two things. Just
two things. First, I want you to consider
the depravity, the evil, the wickedness, the cruelty of all
men and women by nature. Oh, when I see Adam in the midst
of the garden of Eden, that midst of comfort in the garden, putting
forth his hand to take that one fruit which his master had reserved
for himself. I do indeed see sin and arrogance
and daring disobedience and a heinous crime. The one thing God told
him not to do, he did. And he did it with his eyes wide
open and saying to himself, when I do this, I will be as God,
knowing good and evil. He was tired of the way things
were. Why he hadn't made. Everything provided for him and
yet dissatisfied. He wanted to be his own God. And those spiritually speaking
friends, Adam did the same thing that these folks did because
he spit in God's face when he took that fruit and ate of it.
And he crucified God in his own heart saying, it's time to do
things my way. And men by nature have hated
God ever since. In the crucifixion of Christ,
the Lord of Glory, we see this enmity shown outwardly. And it
gives us a true picture of what we are actually capable of. As I look through the history
of God's providence in this marvelous book of Scripture, I see horrific
rebellion against the sovereign God. It's everywhere you look. And thank God that He didn't
hide it. We see the murder of a brother
who was jealous because God preferred his sacrifice, his brother's
sacrifice over him. We see fornication. We see incest. We see lusts that are worse than
savage. We see adultery. The Lord doesn't
hide it from us. David saw Bathsheba on the rooftop
and he said, she's going to be mine. and then had her husband
killed on the front lines so that he might have... Oh, listen,
God don't hide the depravity of man in His Word. Through the history of God's
providence, we see, account after account, God help us. I think to myself, is there anything
that man is not capable of? Men's worst sadistic dreams are
often carried out in reality. The worst you can think often
comes to reality in our day. And I got to confess to you,
friends, it sickens me to the core to know the depths of depravity
that I am capable of. I hope no one thinks that preachers
are extinct from these things while we're just sinners saved
by grace like you. Don't ever put a man on a pedestal.
you'll be disappointed. What holds back the wrath of
God, I ask you, even now on us? Why wouldn't God just sweep us
away, even now in destruction, when we consider the spite, the
pride, the arrogance, our desperately wicked hearts, which are deceitful
above all things? Why, it's a wonder and astonishment
to me that He don't. Would you consider spitting in
the face of God and driving the nails through His hands and feet? And you see, dear sinner, by
nature we hate God. One might say, well, I never
hated God. And you have yet to see, you've yet to see and be
shown your true wickedness, enmity and depravity. Carnal mind is
enmity against God. A man's heart is desperately
wicked, deceitful above all things. Did you hear that? All things.
There's nothing more deceitful than the heart of a natural man. And I understand, I really do,
why this message that we preach is not a popular message. Can't
you see why it's not a popular message? It insults the dignity
that fallen men and women think that they possess. We like to
be dignified, don't we? Oh, if God would show you your
heart right now, you'd climb under that pew or run out that
back door as fast as you could. Especially if He showed it to
others. But when God truly shows you
what you are, what you're capable of, then there's hope. What? Yeah, when God shows you what
you are, then there's hope that you then will see your need. And if God shows you your need,
He shows you the remedy. which is the Lord Jesus Christ.
Salvation is in a person. We say that all the time. Paul
said, I know whom I believe. He didn't say, I know what. I
know whom. And that whom is Christ. I tell
you, a child of God absolutely blushes and is utterly, utterly
ashamed of what God has shown him to be capable of. And I'm
convinced that God has still not shown me the complete depravity
of my heart. There's still things that I'm
capable of doing that God probably hasn't shown me. And that's an
act of grace and mercy in itself, isn't it? I've spit in the face
of my Savior. I admit it. I yelled with all
the others at the top of my lungs, crucifying! I might as well have
been one of those soldiers that nailed his hands and his feet
into that rugged tree. In my heart now, I might as well
have been there and done it. But what did I receive for all
these horrific things, I ask you? I deserved death and condemnation,
but what did I receive? Mercy. grace, forgiveness, life
eternal, unconditional love from the very one I despised. I've heard my Savior say with
tenderness and love, go thy way. Thy sins, which are many, are
all forgiven. I've bought it out. your iniquities. I've forgiven you your transgressions. The friends only, the guilty,
those who are sick and know it, ever truly experience God's sovereign
love. As long as a man or woman sees
themselves to be well, they will never have a need of a physician. Never. We don't go to the doctor
if we're not sick, do we? When we're sick, though, we go,
don't we? That's right. We don't have to be coerced.
We go. I'm afraid that men and women by nature are well described
in this story that we're looking at today. They will not have
Christ to reign over them. But He rules and reigns whether
they know it or not. And I've told you this before
and I'll tell you again. I heard a man once proudly say,
if I had been there that day of crucifixion, I would have
stopped them from crucifying the Lord of glory. No, no he
wouldn't. He would have been just like
the rest of us and he would have yelled as loud as all the others,
release unto us Barabbas and crucify Jesus. That's right. You see, friends, our Lord's
death wasn't an accident. It was the will and purpose of
God that put the Lord Jesus Christ on that tree. Acts 2.23 tells
us Him, Christ, being delivered by the determinate counsel and
foreknowledge of God. God put Him there. The man's
responsibility, ye've taken, and by wicked hands have crucified
and slain. But it was God's will. And these
men were responsible. Now I pray that the Lord will
reveal today your hatred and enmity for God which you inherited
in your father Adam's fall. Now there are many who will deny
that they're all that bad. You won't when God shows you.
you want when God shows you your hearts. So my first thing was
that you might see your desperate need, that you might see your
sin, your depravity, your hatred towards God. What a beautiful
picture we have of that here. Men by wicked hands have taken,
slain, crucified, and killed God Almighty. And I'll even go
on to say that in our hearts, when we murmur and we complain,
we do nothing more than shake our fist at God and say, if I
could get my hands around your neck, I'd kill you. Now, let's
just be honest. That's what our hearts are like.
But my second point is a point of hope. And it's really the
title of my message. There's still hope for you. There's
still hope for you. There's still hope for the worst
of sinners. Now, are you still in Matthew
27? Look down at verse 44. As you know, there were two thieves
crucified on each side of the Lord Jesus Christ. And actually,
you can look up at verse 42. Here's all the things they were
saying. Well, 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. 43 He trusted in God, let Him
deliver Him now. If He will have Him, for He said,
I am the Son of God, and the thieves also. Do you notice that? Both of them. also which were
crucified with him cast the same in his teeth." Now I want you
to turn with me quickly over to Luke chapter 23. Luke chapter
23, verse 39. There's still hope for you. There's still hope for you. Verse 39 of Luke 23. And one
of the malefactors, which were hanged, railed on him, saying,
If thou be the Christ, save thyself and us. Notice verse 40. But the other, but the other. Oh, there's still hope for you.
But the other answering rebuked him, saying, Dost thou, does
not thou fear God, seeing that 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, notice
that next word, Lord, who made the difference? who made the
difference God did. Lord, remember me when thou comest
into thy kingdom. And Jesus said unto him, Verily
I say unto you, Prince, there is still hope for you. Today
shalt thou be with me in paradise. Friends, I can't explain what
happened to this dying thing, but I know this much for a fact.
The Lord of heaven and earth divinely intervened, and He revealed
to whom And it revealed to him who hung on the cross next to
him. And as long as you have breath,
there's still hope for you. As long as your heart still beats,
friends, there's still time to bow to Christ. What could this
thief had seen that changed his mind so abruptly? Maybe it was
when he saw the executioners coming with the hammers and the
nails, and they laid him on his back. And as they drove the nails
into his hands and his feet, maybe this notorious criminal,
who's had a change of heart, heard with ears of faith the
Lord say, Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.
He probably himself had met his executions with a curse. Get
away from me, you rotten, no good, I don't deserve death.
Don't you do this to me. I'm sure that's what the other
thief was doing to you, don't you? But not this man. Not this
man crying. He said, Lord, Father, forgive
them. Forgive them. Oh, I can't help
but to think that that had an impact and an influence on him.
Oh, I'm telling you, I'm sure it had a profound effect on him
to hear Christ pray for his murderers. And I can just imagine that he
thought from whose lips could these forging words come but
from the lips of a divine being. Why, who on earth would ask for
forgiveness for the ones who persecuted them and murdered
them? Such a loving, forgiving, God-like
prayer proved Him to be the Messiah. Who else had ever prayed like
this? It was new. It was a strange sound to Him.
Someone forgiving and seeming to love their very enemy? He
experienced a goodness that he had never experienced. Now, I
can only speculate, but when the cross was lifted up, you
know, first it was laid down, they nailed him to it, and then
they lifted it up. That thief hanging on his cross,
I'm sure looked around. You see, now he's He's up, he's
in a vertical position and he can see a lot more than he could
when he laid on the ground. And I just imagine that he could
look over and see that inscription on the cross of Christ which
read, Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews. And many of
the old writers say that more than likely this malefactor was
a Jew. He knew something about the Old
Testament. It was pretty common in that
day for young folks to study and to go to synagogue and know.
And he interpreted it by what he knew of the Old Testament.
And putting this together and that together in his mind, this
strange person, His incarnate love, all His enduring patience. Could it be? Could it be Him
of whom I heard was coming? Here in that forgiving prayer
and now this singular inscription with divine revelation, I can
only imagine that he would say to himself, this is him. I know
it's him. How do you know? I just know
that I know. Is this truly the King of the Jews? Is this the
one that worked miracles, raised the dead, and said that he was
the Son of God? Can this be he who cried in the
Psalms, they've pierced my hands and my feet? As he looked at
him again, he felt in his soul, it must be him. It must be him. Could there be another soul like
him? He felt conviction creeping into his heart. Then he looked
again and saw that all the men below, while they rejected, despised,
and laughed at him, and they cursed him. And all this would
make the case even clearer for that dying thief. Because Psalm
22 said this, All they that see me laugh me to scorn. They shoot
out the lip, they shake the head saying, he trusted on the Lord
that he would deliver him. Let him deliver him, seeing he
delighted in him. Almost the exact words that the
men said, prophesied years and years ago. The dying thief heard the gospel
from the lips of Christ's enemies. Can you imagine? Isn't that amazing? They said he saved others. Did
He save others? Why should He not save me? Friends,
that's what I want you to consider. There's still hope for you. He
saved others. He saved me. Why wouldn't He
save you? I guarantee you, you're no worse
than I am. Why should he not save me? Oh, what gospel words
that was to this dying thief. He saved others. This made me. He saved me. Therefore, the very
things that the enemy said in disrespect concerning Christ
would now be the gospel to this wretched and dying man. But I
honestly believe what won him most must have been another look
at Christ as he hung upon that cruel tree. See, there was nothing
about the physical appearance of Christ that would be attractive
to him. Scripture is very clear about
that. Isaiah 53, there was no form or comeliness when any man
signed. There was no beauty that they
should desire him. But in that blessed face of the
crucified Lord, he saw a beautiful revelation. He, by the Spirit
of God, saw the image of perfection. Majesty and misery, suffering
and sacredness, and Christ were all combined. He was evidently
the Lamb of God and the Son of Man. And as the robber looked,
he believed. Do you see Him, dear friend?
Do you see Him as who He is? He's the Lamb slain before the
foundation of the world, and there He hangs on that cross
in your place. Your place. That's where you
and I deserve to be. Oh, you that tarry, you that
linger far from His love, I ask you, would you now look to Christ? Before your eyes, he said forth,
today if you will hear his voice, harden not your hearts, for there's
still hope. There's still hope for you. Look
to him and be saved. Even at this hour, can we see
this man's faith by God's grace? By just a few moments before,
he was railing and accusing and cursing. The one who now He calls
Lord. That's grace. And that's exactly
what we did. One day my conversation was like
all the other children were having. But God, who is rich in mercy,
showed me the Lord Jesus Christ by grace. Showed me who and what
I was. Showed me what I was capable
of. And then gave me the remedy. who is Christ. This man literally
believed in Christ when he saw Him dying the death of a felon.
And friends, if you're to see Him, you're to see Him dying
that way in your place. You say in your heart, that's
me. That's me. He who knew no sin
was made to be sin for us. 2 Corinthians 5 21, two little
words that are italicized. Christ was made sin. He died
the death that you and I should have died because we're sinners.
And that's substitution. And that's God taking our place.
That's not a hard word. We watch basketball, we see substitutes
come in. A player takes another's place. But in this, God Himself took
our place and He died the death that I deserved. This man saw
it with his own eyes. And for him to cry, Lord, what
a work of grace. You see, God showed him that
he justly received the due reward of his deeds. And by the grace
of God, he saw that this man, Christ Jesus, had done nothing
wrong. Look at verse 41 again. He's
talking to that other one. He said, We indeed justly, we
deserve what we're getting, for we receive the due reward of
our deeds. But this man hath done nothing
wrong, nothing amiss. This man says, Lord. Do you see
him as Lord? This man did. And you know what?
He asked Christ the Lord of Lords. when you come into your kingdom. You see, he saw Christ bleeding
his life away. And he was being scorned and
hounded to death by all those that were below him. But this
dying man believed on Him. So much so that He committed
His everlasting destiny into the hands of the One who was
to all appearances unable even to save His own life. Ah, what
an amazing, marvelous work of grace. And remember too that
at that moment when the thief believed in Christ, all the disciples
had forsaken him and fled. Now John may be lingering at
a great distance and a few women that loved him may have stood
even farther back, but no one was present to comfort the dying
Christ. But Judas had sold him. Peter
had denied him, and the rest had forsaken him. Yet it was
when that dying thief called him, Lord, and said, Remember
me when you come into your kingdom. That's sovereign grace, friends.
That's sovereign grace. You see, he believed that Christ
had a kingdom. Isn't that what he said? Remember
me when you come into your kingdom. All these others are mocking
and laughing, but I know you're a king. I know you're a king. You're the king of kings. You're
the Lord of lords. And remember me when you come
into your kingdom. He didn't say, Lord, let me sit
at your right hand. Let me share the glories of your
kingdom. No. He said, remember me. Just remember me. Isn't that
your desire as a believer? Lord, remember me. Remember me
now. And remember me when I cross
Jordan. Remember me. Think of me. Cast an eye my way. Think of
me. A wretched, depraved, dying criminal
on the cross that you're right in. Lord, remember me. Remember me. What deep humility
there is in that prayer. And I see a sweet, joyous, confident
exultation of Christ as His new found Lord and Savior. Now let
me show you the result of faith and I'll be done. The next thing
he did was to rebuke the fellow sinner. He spoke to him in response
to the disrespectful words to the Lord. The other feet that
hung on the other side railed on Christ, as did the people
below, saying, if thou be the Christ, save yourself. There
ain't nothing to him. He saved others, but he can't
save himself. But this converted sinner very
honestly said to him, does thou not fear God, seeing thou art
in the same condemnation? I ask you who are yet without
Christ this morning, do you not fear God, seeing you're in the
same condemnation? Can you, by grace, take sides
with God against yourself? That's what this man did. We
deserve what we're getting. and the child of God will. That's
the attitude of all believers. We justly deserve condemnation,
death, and eternal wrath. He did for us what we could not
do for ourselves because He was perfectly righteous. And if a
man agrees that he deserves death and that he deserves condemnation,
then God Almighty, I can tell you, has already done a work
of grace in his heart. Because no man by nature can
say that he deserves it. He'll say, I'm not the perfect,
but I ain't all that bad. But not a child of God. When
a sinner can say, woe is me. I'm undone. I'm a man with unclean
lips. I'm telling you it's so. A believer
take his place as a beggar in a dunghill. Gladly take it. You know why? Christ lifts him
and sets him among princes. The words that our great Lord
and Savior says that this notorious sinner should be forever etched
and burned into our hearts. He says the same words to all
his people. We're all notorious criminals,
aren't we? We're all wretched sinners. Yet
the moment we trust Christ, the moment we fall prostate at his
feet, he says these words. today thou shalt be with me in paradise.