If you would turn with me to
the Gospel of Luke chapter 23, I want to read you a few verses
and then tell you a marvelous story. The story is in the Scripture
for us all to see, and it's a beautiful, beautiful illustration of God's
wonderful, amazing, sovereign grace in the Lord Jesus Christ. Luke 23, beginning in verse 32. And there were also two other
malfactors, this is speaking of the crucifixion of Christ,
being led to Calvary's mountain. And they were led with him to
be put to death. And when they were 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. And 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 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, 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
in Hebrew. This is the King of the Jews. And one of the malefactors which
were hanged, railed on him, saying, if thou be the Christ, save thyself
and us. But the other, Notice this, 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, this man has done
nothing amiss. Nothing to miss. And this malfactor
in verse 42 said unto Jesus, Lord, remember me when thou comest
into thy kingdom. And Jesus said unto him, Verily
I say unto thee, Today, today, shalt thou be with me in paradise. When people talk about deathbed
conversions, those who've lived devilishly all their life and
then right on their deathbed they make an exception or make
a decision to follow Christ, as often this dying thief is
used as an example because it was in the eleventh hour of his
life. And I'm not saying that there's
not such a thing, because here's an example of a man who lived
his whole life for himself. He was a thief, he was a criminal,
and yet in the last hour the Lord saved him. I'm not mocking
that or belittling that. God can do what He wills, when
He wills, and how He wills. But this is also a subject that
is often talked about when people discuss whether or not a person
has to be baptized to be saved. Because they'll say, well, I've
used that illustration myself. Well, you know, you don't have
to be baptized to be saved because of the thief on the cross. And
that's true. You don't have to be baptized. Baptized is a public
profession of your faith in Christ. It's identifying yourself with
Him in the burial, death, burial, and resurrection of our Lord.
But baptism in itself never saved anyone. I bring those two things
to your attention because that's usually the light in which we
speak of this dying thief. But I tell you, there is much
more to this remarkable story concerning the sovereign grace
of God in Christ. Now it's also proof that as long
as a dying man can repent, he can obtain repentance. As long
as we have breath, we can ask God for forgiveness. It's proof that a man does not
have to be baptized in order to be with Christ in paradise.
It is that. But there's much, much more to
this. Much more to consider concerning
this dying thief. This should cause any man or
woman to never put off repentance until
they lay dying. And this should never cause a
man or woman not to publicly confess Christ and baptism just
because this thief was not baptized. This story was not given to excuse
us from these things. Well, I'll wait until I'm dying
and then I'll confess Christ. More than likely you won't. More
than likely you won't. Today, Scripture says, if you
hear His voice, Harden not your hearts today. Today. And it doesn't matter
if you're in the earliest stage of life or you're within just
a few hours of eternity. It doesn't matter. If you fly
to refuge to the Lord Jesus Christ, who is the one hope that's set
before you, you'll be saved. You come to Christ, whether you're
99 or whether you're 20, you come to Him in the truth of Scripture.
You'll be saved. The only hope we have is Christ
and Him crucified. If you trust Him, bow to Him,
love the Lord Jesus Christ, your age or nothing else matters.
And may God enable you today that are still without Christ
to come to Him. It's going to take a miracle
from God, I'll tell you that. That's why I hate when people
say, I made a decision. No, you did not. God made a decision
and you bowed and came. He made you willing in the day
of His power. And I never grow tired of saying
that because that's the truth of the scriptures. If we can
take credit in any shape or form in our salvation, we're going
to brag on it. We're saved by grace through faith, and it's
a gift of God. Not of works. Not of works. You know why? Because every man
will boast. I believe this is a message God
gave me to deliver to you today. I pray that he make it effectual
to your heart. That to you who are believers,
it will comfort you and strengthen you. And to those of you that
are yet without Christ, I pray that today you'll hear his voice
and that you'll harden not your heart. The first thing I want you to
notice is the means and the cause in which this dying sinner was
saved. He was saved because Christ said
today, you shall be with me in paradise. It seems to me that
this man was unconverted. First of all, we're told that
he's a thief, a criminal, a notorious sinner. And they nailed him to
the cross. His crimes were so bad that they
crucified him. They hung him on a tree to die.
The same as the electric chair used to be and is now lethal
injection is, but this was a horrible, terrifying, awful way to die. In the record of Matthew's gospel
narrative, it says of this same story, I just want to read you
three verses. It says, those who stood at the
cross and watched 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. They wouldn't have. They say,
He trusted in God, let Him deliver Him now. And if He will have
Him, for He said, I am the Son of God. And then it says in these
words, the thieves also. plural, thieves. Not just one,
both of them. The thieves which were crucified
with him cast the same in his teeth. They said the same thing,
both of them. Both of them reviled him. Both
of them mocked him. Both of them said cruel things
to him. Both of them did. It says the thieves also. And
yet though they mocked and reviled him somehow, Somehow, this thief
was converted on that cross. Nobody preached a sermon to him.
Nobody dropped an evangelical address at the foot of the cross
and said, hey, read this. Here's a real good tract. You
read this tract, brother. No. No meeting was held for a special
prayer on his account, was there? He had no invitation. Yet this
man became a sincere and an accepted believer in the Lord Jesus Christ. We just read it. What was the
means? What was the cause? Or maybe
I should ask, who was the cause? Oh, you that have heard the gospel
for so long and still remain indifferent. The thief does not
comfort you. He accuses you. Why are you abiding so long in
unbelief? Will you ever believe the testimony
of divine love, God's divine love in Christ? What do you think must have converted
this poor thief? It strikes me that it may have
been, it just may have been the sight of our great Lord and Savior. Christ's salvation is in seeing
Him, isn't it? Seeing Him in the truth of God's
Word. Well, there was to begin with
our Savior's wonderful behavior on the road to Galgotha's hill. I'm sure this robber had probably
in his lifetime been mixed up with all sorts of people in society. Probably been around all types,
rich and poor, and all Jews and Gentiles. I'm sure he was. He's
a thief. He was out among things. He was a worldly man. But I'm
going to tell you something. He had never, ever seen a man
like Christ. Never had a cross been carried
by a cross-bearer of this man's look and fashion. Why, he had
been beaten beyond recognition as a man. I'm sure the robber wondered
to himself, who is this meek and majestic person? And as they
walked along carrying their own cross, he heard the women weep. And I'm sure he wondered in himself
whether anybody would ever weep over him. He thought that this
must be some very special person that the people would stand about
him with tears in their eyes. And then he heard this mysterious
sufferer, this unknown man to him who had been beaten, a crown
of thorns put on his head, been whipped with a whip that, and
this time of day they took bones and tied them on the end of the
whip and it ripped the flesh away. This man, scripture says,
didn't resemble a man. And yet he hears this mysterious
sufferer say so solemnly, daughters of Jerusalem, weep not for me. Don't weep for me, but for your children. Weep for
your children. Can you imagine what this thief
thought? He must have been struck with
wonder. Christ was the one being crucified,
but his concern was for others. Was it not? Daughters, weep not
for me. It's as though this thief's eyes
had been opened to a new world. Here was a man like no other
he ever knew. Most men cared only about themselves. How does this affect me? What
can I gain from this?" But not this man. He and his companion were rough
and uncompassionate men. They had lived a life of crime
with no regard for others. And whether they admitted it
or not, they were getting what they deserved. But this man was different. This
man, in some sense of the word, was superior. This man seemed
determined to die this horrible death. As he walked up Galgotha's
hill, he said, don't weep for me. Don't weep for me. why he
was about his father's business. He had a people written on his
heart that he had come to redeem, to save. And nothing was going
to stop him and keep him from walking Golgotha's road. Nothing. I'm sure this thief thought,
who could he be? Who could he be? Though he could
see that Christ suffered and fainted as he went along because
of how sincerely beaten and abused that he was, he saw that there
was no word of complaining, no act of cursing in return for
the horrible words that were spoken to him. He just cared for others. Weep
not for me, but for your children. Christ's eyes looked with love
on those who glared on Him with hatred in their hearts. Can you
see Him? Mocking Him. He saved others. His fame went all above the land.
Look at Him now. Look at Him now. And yet Christ
looked on them with eyes of love. And I feel that surely this march
to Calvary was the first part of the sermon that God preached
to this man. He saw something special, something
different. And it was preached to many others
that day who didn't regard its teaching. God made it effectual
to a notorious sinner. This man, by God's special grace,
somehow it had a softening effect on him. When he came to think
it over and consider it, was it not a convincing means of
grace to his lost soul? One writer said, when he saw
the Savior surrounded by the Roman soldiers, when he saw the
executioners bring forth the hammers and the nails and lame
on his back onto the wood and drove the nails in his hands
and his feet. This notorious criminal was both
startled and astonished as he heard Christ say, Father, forgive
them. Father, forgive them. They don't
know what they do. He himself had probably met with
his executioners with a curse. I've seen, not personally, but
in movies, oftentimes as they take a guy off, some go quietly,
some raise cane. But this criminal heard this
man breathe a prayer to Almighty God, asking for their forgiveness. Isn't that amazing? I'm sure it astounded him to
hear Jesus pray for his murderers. I can just imagine that he thought,
from whose lips could these words come? But from the lips of a
divine being. Such a loving, forgiving, God-like
prayer proved him to be the Messiah. Who else could have ever prayed
this way? as they drove the nails in his
hands and his feet. Father, forgive them." Well,
certainly not David and the kings of Israel. You can read very
much so in the Old Testament. In all honesty and heartiness,
they prayed the wrath of God upon their enemies. Lord, destroy
them. Deliver me from my evils. I don't
believe Elijah would have prayed this way. I believe he'd have
called down fire from heaven. That's what he did, wasn't it? So this is a new strange sound
to this man. I don't imagine he or anyone
else could have appreciated it to the fullest. But I believe
that it deeply impressed him and it made him feel that this
fellow sufferer was one who had exceeding goodness. We curse our executioners. He's
forgetting them. Others are weeping over him and
he says, weep not for me. And when that cross was lifted
up, put in the ground that thief hanging upon his cross. I could just imagine he looked
around and I'm just sure that he saw that inscription on the
cross of Christ which read, Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the
Jews. And you know what? If so, that
writing was his little Bible. That writing was his New Testament. It was Jesus, King of the Jews.
Many of the old writers say that more than likely this man was
a Jew. I believe that he knew something
of the teaching of the Old Testament. Most Jews were schooled to some
degree, whether they kept the law or were moral right upstanding
men, they knew something of the Scriptures. It was part of their
upbringing, part of their learning. And he interpreted these things
by what he knew of the Old Testament. And I can just see him. He's
putting all this and that together. He's this strange person. Who
is this man? His incarnate love, all his enduring
patience. Could it be? I heard it a long
time ago when I was a small boy. Could it be of Him that I heard
was coming? Could it be? Hearing that forgiving
prayer and now this singular inscription that says, Hail Jesus,
King of the Jews, I have no doubt that He would say to Himself,
Is this Him? Is this Him of whom the Scriptures
of the Old Testament pointed to? If this is truly the King
of the Jews, is this the One that worked miracles? Is this
the One who raised the dead? Is this the One that I've heard
so much about in the weeks past? The One that said He was the
Son of God? Is it all true? I'm sure He's
thinking in His heart. Is He really our Messiah? Can this be he who cried in the
Psalms, they pierced my hands and my feet? Is it him? Is it him? I believe he looked
at him again and he felt in his soul, it must be. It must be
the one. Could there be another so like
him? He felt conviction, I'm sure, creeping over his spirit.
Then he looked again and he marked how all the men down below, they
rejected him, they despised him, they hissed at him. They cast lots for his garment
as he hanged naked upon the cross. They saying, he trusted on the
Lord that he would deliver him. Let him deliver him. Seeing that
he delighted in him. That's what Psalm 22 says. This is an amazing thing. The dying thief heard the Gospel
from the lips of Christ's enemy. What they meant for bad, God
made it good. That's the way God does things. They said He saved others. And
this dying man on the cross said, if He saved others, He might
save me. He thought, did he save others?
Why should he not save me? What a grand bit of gospel that
was for the dying thief. He saved others. That gave him
hope. That gave him confidence. He
saved others because if he saved others, then surely he can save
me. Therefore, the very things that
the enemies and disrespect threw at Christ would now be gospel
to this poor man. But you know what I believe won
him most? I believe what won him most must
have been another look at Christ as he hung upon that cruel tree. There was nothing about his physical
appearance that would make this man attractive to him. As I've
told you before, Isaiah 52.14 says, For his visage, his face,
was more marred than that of any man, and his form more than
the sons of men. But in that blessed face, though
it was beaten and distorted and bloody, this man saw a beautiful
revelation. That's my Lord. He saw the very image of perfection. He saw majesty along with misery. He saw suffering and yet sacredness. He was evidently the Lamb of
God and the Son of Man. As the robber looked, he believed. There's life at a look at Satan. The dying thief rejoiced to see
that fountain in his day. And there may I, though vile
as he, wash all my sins away. Oh, there's a fountain filled
with blood, dear friends. Now to you that tarry, would you now look to Christ
and live? Before your eyes He's set forth. Look to Him and be saved even
at this hour. Can we see that this man's faith
was by God's sovereign grace? God's sovereign grace. He literally
believed on Christ when he saw Christ dying. Christ was under
circumstances of the greatest personal shame, and yet this
man saw it with his own eyes, and for him to call Him, Lord. That's what he said. Lord. Would you remember me? Would
you remember me? Remember me when you come into
your kingdom. Though he saw that Jesus was
bleeding his life away and he was being scorned and hounded
to death by those that stood before him, this dying man believed
on him. He said, Lord, Lord. Oh, for him to commit his everlasting
destiny into the hands of one who was to all in appearances
unable to even save his own life. was a marvelous, marvelous work
of amazing grace. Remember too that at this moment
when the thief believed in Christ, all the disciples had forsaken
him, and they'd fled. John may have been lingering
at a distance. The holy women that loved the
Lord may have stood afar off, but no one was present Bravely
to comfort the dying Christ, Judas had sold him out, Peter
had denied him, and the rest had fled from him. And yet, that
is when this dying thief called him Lord. And he said, remember me when
thou comest into thy kingdom. Do you know what I call that?
I call that sovereign grace. I call it sovereign grace. He expected to be in another
world and to be in existence when the dying Lord should come
into His kingdom. He believed it more than people
do nowadays. He also believed that Jesus would
have a kingdom. A kingdom after He died as a
man. A kingdom though He had been
crucified. He didn't say, Lord, let me sit
on Your right hand. He didn't say, Lord, let me share
in the glories of your kingdom. But he said only, remember me. Remember me. Think of me. Cast an eye on me. Oh, what deep humility in the
prayer of this thief as he hung on the cross. Now let me show
you the result of his faith. I'm almost done. The next thing
that he did, he rebuked this fellow sinner. He spoke to him
in response to the disrespectful words that he had spoken to the
Lord. The other thief that hung on
the other side railed on Christ. And as the people below saying,
if thou be Christ, save thyself and us. The converted sinner
spoke to him very honestly, didn't he? He said, does that not fear
God? Something had changed. Seeing
that you're in the same condemnation, And then verse 41, the redeemed
sinner continued by saying, We indeed justly, we deserve this. This is the cause of our actions. We receive the due reward of
our deeds. But this man has done nothing
amiss. This is the attitude of all believers.
We justly deserve condemnation. We justly deserve death. We justly
deserve eternal wrath. But not our Lord. That's why
I love that word, substitution. He did for me and you what we
could not do for ourselves. The innocent was condemned. The
guilty was set free. If a man says he deserves condemnation,
then let me tell you something, God Almighty has already done
a work of grace in him. Man by nature can't say that.
Man by nature wants to brag on himself, but not a believer.
Salvation is evident when a man takes sides with God against
himself. Okay, and lastly, notice the
words of our great Lord and Savior to this notorious sinner. And
he says the same words to all his people. For we're all notorious
criminals, thieves, and wretched sinners, aren't we not? The moment that we trust Christ,
the moment we fall prostrate at His feet, He says these words. Rejoice in Him today. Shalt thou be with Me in Paradise. Today. Now this man had only
asked the Lord to remember him. But he obtained this amazing
answer. Today you're going to be with
me. Where I am, you're going to be also in paradise. Dear
believer, the moment you leave this life, you give your last
breath, that day you're going to be with Him. What a debt of obligation we
owe as believers to our Lord Jesus Christ. Now this is the
last thing I'll say to you. I'm done. But to those of you
who know Christ, the Scriptures say,
He that hath the Son hath life. But to those of you who still
linger in unbelief, to those of you that still say in your
heart, I just won't have Him to rule over me, the Scriptures plainly say, He
that hath not the Son. Hath not life. Will you die in
your sin? If you're still breathing, it's
not too late. I encourage you to believe on
Christ today. Today is the day of salvation.
Come to Christ. And don't move a muscle. Don't
move a muscle. Just come to Him. You don't have
to raise your hand. You don't have to walk down an
aisle. I don't have to sit here and plead with you to come. It's God's work. Just bow. Believe the Word of
God. If you're thirsty, come and drink.
If you're hungry, Christ is the bread of life. If you're burdened
and heavy laden, Christ is rest. You'll never find what you seek
most, which is life, peace, joy, all the fruit of the Spirit.
You'll never find it outside of Christ. Never. We're all spiritual
thieves and criminals. But let me ask, which one are
you going to be? Are you going to be the one on the
left or the one on the right? And yet, if you're the one who
says, Lord, remember me, it's all God's doing. It's all God's
doing. And you'll praise Him and glorify
Him the rest of your life. Come to Christ. Come to Christ.