Let's turn together to Luke 23.
Just hold your place there for a minute
and listen carefully. He didn't learn it until he was
in hell, but in hell the rich man learned that between him
and Lazarus There was a great gulf fixed so that they who would
pass from one side to the other cannot. So it was, so it is,
so it shall forever be. The human race is divided into
two groups, just two. just two. Sheep and goats. Elect and reprobate. Jacob's loved of God. Esau's hated of God. Vessels of mercy and vessels
of wrath. And between the two There is
a great gulf fixed, fixed by the decree, purpose, and will
of Almighty God from eternity. And one shall never pass from
one side to the other. Goats will never become sheep,
and sheep will never become goats. Reprobate people will never become
elect, and God's elect will never be reprobate. Vessels of mercy
will never become vessels of wrath, and vessels of wrath will
never become vessels of mercy. Jacob will never become Esau,
thank God, and Esau will never become Jacob. It's not going
to happen. This gulf was fixed in eternity. And it will be made clear in
that day when our Lord Jesus comes again, clear to all men
as he divides the nations, the one on his right hand, the other
on his left, and pronounces judgment. Judgment exactly according as
he purposed from eternity. When our Savior comes again,
we are told that two men shall be in one bed. The one shall
be taken, the other left. Two women shall be grinding together. The one shall be taken, and the
other left. Two men shall be in the field.
The one shall be taken, and the other left. In that day, one
shall be taken, and the other left. And as it shall be in that
day, so it is today. When the appointed time of love
has come for the saving of chosen sinners, the Lord God comes in
His grace, and one's taken, the other's left. One's taken, the other's left. And we see this vividly set before
us in the picture given in Luke 23, beginning at verse 39. in the story of the conversion
of the dying thief. One of the malefactors which
were hanged railed on him. Now both Matthew and Mark tell
us that both of these men had railed upon the Savior beforehand.
Luke alone is inspired to tell us about what happened with this
one man. One of the malefactors railed
on him saying, if thou be Christ, the anointed, the one promised
of God, the one who is Jehovah come to save, save thyself and
us. But the other answering rebuked
him saying, does not thou fear God? seeing thou art in the same
condemnation, and we indeed justly, for we receive the due reward
of our deeds. But this man hath done nothing
amiss. And he said unto Jesus, Lord,
remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom. And Jesus said
unto him, verily, I say unto you, I say unto thee today, shalt
thou be with me in paradise. As I said, only Luke was inspired
of God to tell us this story of our Savior's abundant mercy
and distinguishing saving grace bestowed upon this dying thief.
It is a story that deserves to be written in gold, told often,
and remembered by all. Let me show you several things
that stand out clearly in this story. First, this story shows us plainly the
fact that salvation is altogether the work of God's free grace.
Read this passage several weeks ago, Brother Mark Henson walked
out the door. He said, if there's any place in scripture that illustrates
the fact of salvation by grace, it's that dying thief. He's exactly
right. This man, this dying thief, had
no merit of any kind. He had no inner predisposition
of heart toward the son of God. He joined his fellow thief. being crucified on the other
side of the Savior, cursing and reviling and blaspheming and
jeering and railing upon the Son of God. This man rendered
no service to the Lord. He observed no ordinance. He
was never baptized. He was never united with or even
visited a local church. He never observed the Lord's
Supper. Everything we know about the man tells us that he was
a depraved sinner, a vile moral degenerate, and now his infamous
life is coming to the end which it richly deserved. He is being
executed by a penal death because of his crimes. And yet, this
poor wretched man is with Christ in glory. saved by free grace. This man
is born of God. How do you explain that? It can
only be explained one way, but God. And that's true of you and of
me. I said, almost jokingly, a little
bit ago, you asked back there in the offices, we started Lieber
and Bob, how can folks not see this? And I answered, I'll tell
you how you do see it. Because God gave you eyes to
see. That's all. Who maketh thee to differ from
another? You were dead in trespasses and
in sins, but God. But God, oh, thank God for sovereign
intervention in the saving of our souls. How I thank Him. He would not
leave me alone. He would not let me have my way. I was determined I was determined
to have my way. Never was a man more determined
to do so. I was running fast as I could
to hell and my coattails on fire of hell, but God stepped in. He stepped in and said, this
is it boy, you're mine. I am your God and you shall be
my child. Let me show you. Turn over to
Titus chapter 3. But God, who is rich in mercy,
for his great love wherewith he loved us, even when we were
dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ. By grace
ye are saved. Salvation is of the Lord. By
grace you're saved through faith, that not of yourselves, it's
the gift of God. Now look here in Titus 3, verse
3. For we ourselves also were sometimes
foolish, just like this thief, disobedient, deceived, serving
divers' lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful
and hating one another. That's a pretty good description
of you. Pretty good description of your
sons and daughters. Pretty good description of your husband or
your wife. Pretty good description of your mother and father. Pretty
good description of your grandma and grandpa. That's what we were. It's a good description of me.
But, but, what a wonderful word. After that the kindness and love
of God our Savior toward man appeared. not by works of righteousness,
which we have done, but according to 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, that
being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according
to the hope of eternal life. And here's the second thing.
That grace by which we are saved, God's grace, is sovereign, selective,
distinguishing grace. Grace that is presented by men
that is not sovereign, that is not selective, that does not
make any distinction among men is worthless grace and no grace
at all. Certainly, this is obvious in
the story of these two thieves. Both of the other malefactors
crucified with the Lord Jesus were guilty thieves, justly condemned. Both joined the rabble of the
soldiers and the Pharisees and the scribes and the chief priests,
mocking the Lord of glory and railing upon him. Then there's
a sudden change. One of the thieves ceased to
curse the Savior and began to pray to him, suing for mercy. Lord, remember me when thou comest
into thy kingdom. Both were equally near the Savior,
one on his left hand, one on his right. Both saw and heard
exactly the same things in those six hours They hung by the Savior's
side upon the tree. Both observed the same things
going on. Both heard the same words from
the lips of the crucified Son of God. Both observed the various
things that had transpired leading up to this. Both were dying men. Both were suffering torturous
pain in their bodies, in their minds, in their physical frames. Both alike were wicked sinners. Both desperately needed forgiveness. Both were running fast to hell. Yet, one died as he lived, hardened,
proud, unbelieving, hating God. The other repented. believed
God, cried for mercy, and went to glory a saint. How do you explain that? How
do you explain that? What makes the difference? Grace
alone. This thief who went to hell,
shows us something that this religious world and you and I
need to learn and be reminded of continually. Judgment never
changes the heart. Never. Well, I know folks who
were in this accident or that accident. Boy, it sure changed
them. No, it didn't. No, it didn't. Preachers are
worse than ambulance-chasing lawyers chasing folks to the
hospital to get them to make a confession of faith, join the
church, get a little dose of religion. And you can be successful. This horrible plane crash over
in Lexington this morning. Churches next week are going
to have lots of folks join up and get baptized because they've
seen some judgment. And it'll last a week or two
or three or four, maybe a few years, but no change is made. This man dying on the left of
our Savior was under judgment, suffering indescribable agony,
with plenty of time to anticipate eternal damnation. And all that
happened to him, Darthen, was he got harder in his sin. No melting of his heart. No reverence
for God, no sudden turn of life. He died exactly as he lived because
he's the other who's left. God just left him alone. And it was not the judgment endured
by the thief on our Savior's right hand that changed his heart. I have no question, yes, by all
means, God used the judgment, but it takes more than judgment.
It takes the sovereign intervention of God's distinguishing grace.
This man was snatched from the very brink of hell. The Lord
Jesus took him with him to heaven as the trophy of his rich, free
grace. His conversion cannot be explained
any other way. We can only say, even so, Father,
for so it seemed good in thy sight. How can two people hear the same
sermon from the same preacher in the same condition, and one's
converted while the other remains dead in sin? How can one hear
and be totally indifferent and the other hear and be bowed with
brokenness before God. How can one be caused to pray
for mercy and the other blaspheme the God of mercy? How is it that
one sees and the other remains blind? Only one answer can be
given. The Lord doth put a difference
between the Egyptians and Israel. God Almighty, put a difference
between you and your brother, your sister, your husband, your
wife, your son, your daughter, your mother, your father, and
all others. That's all. And the difference
was not just a matter of time. He put the difference between
men in eternal election. having loved us with an everlasting
love. He put the difference between
Egypt and Israel when the Lord Jesus redeemed us with his precious
blood. He puts a difference between
us in the effectual call of his spirit. He puts his difference
between us continually, preserving us by his grace. Now, look at
this third thing. And this is something commonly
missed, but clearly set before us in scripture. Grace is always
on time. Grace is always on time. There are many who look at this
dying thief and say he was saved just in the nick of time. Hardly. No, no, no, no. He was saved
at precisely the time ordained of God for him to be saved before
the world began in precisely the circumstances ordained of
God. Now learn this, he could not
have been saved at any other time. And he could not have been
saved at a better time. Did you hear me? He could not
have been saved at any other time. And he could not have been
saved at a better time. Let me show you why. He could
not have been saved at any other time simply because this was
for him the time of love when he must be called. Turn over
to Galatians chapter four. Let me show you something. Galatians
the fourth chapter. Verse four. When the fullness of time was
come, God sent forth his son, made of a woman, made under the
law. Now skip down to verse 6. And the fullness of time applies
here as well. Because you're sons. Because
God chose you from eternity. Because God adopted you as his
sons in electing love. When the fullness of time was
come, God has sent forth his spirit, the spirit of his son,
into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father. Some are saved in youth,
some in midlife, some in old age, but all who are saved are
saved at the only time they can be saved because each of us,
each of us, must experience the totality of our ruin before we
ever know anything of God's saving grace. It doesn't take this thing
or that in your life to save your soul. No, no, no. It takes
the whole of your experience from the time you come forth
from your mother's womb speaking lies until you're born from the
womb of heaven by the power of God's grace. Everything experienced
in your life was as necessary for your salvation as anything
experienced was. the whole of God's providence
for you must be experienced. Gomer could never learn to love Hosea
until the harlot is brought to nothing and still loved of Hosea. The prodigal son could never
learn the value of his father and his father's house until
he finds himself in the hog pit eating the husk the swine would
eat if anybody give him anything. He would never come to himself
until first he's in that hog pit. Onesimus. Heard Paul preach? No question
he heard him preach many times. His master Philemon had a church
met in his house. Paul preached to him. Philemon
was a good friend to the Apostle Paul. Every time Paul got a chance,
he'd go out there and preach in Philemon's house. And Onesimus,
a servant in the house, heard this man preach the gospel. But
he heard the gospel in such circumstances that he would not believe. And then one day, he takes his
master's goods and runs off down to Rome. Seeking to hide from
his master. Seeking to hide from his guilt. Seeking to enjoy the loot of
his ungodliness. And he winds up sitting in jail
with a fellow named Paul. And Paul says, let me tell you
one more time what I preached to you all those years. And Onesimus
is born of God. Will you hear me? never makes
a mistake and never allows one to be made. He never allows one to be made. All that we experience in life
is necessary for the saving of God's elect. And this man could
not have been saved at a better time. You might think, wouldn't
it have been better for him to have lived longer? Oh, what a
testimony he'd have. Religious folks love to stand
up and give testimony. Well, let me tell you, I was
a thief and a vagabond. Oh, I was a terrible sinner.
What foolishness. What foolishness. I've seen folks
converted in old age. Years ago, Brother Jim Byrd still
passing down Rocky Mount, Virginia, and there was an old woman in
the congregation. She had been in church since
she was born. They enrolled her in the cradle
row. I mean, been in church all her life, all her life. She used to bounce Jim on her
knee when he was a baby, changed his diaper when she was in her
late 80s. God was pleased to reveal Christ
in her. And it was good. Good for the
whole congregation. This man could not have been
saved at a better time. Let me ask you a few questions.
Here's this man. Saved, as it were, in the eleventh
hour. Called of God. just a little
while, called to Christ just before he's called up to glory. But what human being was ever
more useful to other men? What man has ever been more influential
for good than this penitent thief who never did a good thing? What
man, what person has been such a blessing to so many? Who has
ever been more instrumental for the glory of his maligned, blasphemed,
and ridiculed Redeemer than this man? I read a biographical sketch
late last night, early this morning. about William Cowper and his
brother John. William Cowper, as you know, wrote so many of
our hymns. Their mother died when they were young. As a matter
of fact, she died giving birth to Cowper, and these two boys
were the only ones who survived to adulthood. Cowper was trained
in legal field. They were both born to nobility,
of course, and Cowper was given a great education. His brother
John was trained to be a preacher. And Calper went through his struggles.
Oh, what struggles. And his brother would come talk
to him, come to help him. When Calper was in the insane
asylum being treated for depression, just fearful of going to hell,
tried to commit suicide, convinced God was just preserving him as
a vessel of wrath, everlasting damnation, struggling in his
soul for years and years and years. And his brother would
come visit him, try to console him. Couldn't understand any
of Cowper's fears. Couldn't understand anything
going on inside his brother. It's all due to the depression,
all the medical thing. And then Cowper got a call, not
a telephone call, got a call by a courier. His brother, 32
years old, is dying. And he went to visit him. And
there lay his brother, a preacher who didn't know God from a gourd,
reading novels, newspapers, everything under the sun except the scriptures
or something that would remind him that he's dying, trying to
put it all out of his mind. And just before he died, just
before he died, he said to his brother, William, all is well. Now I see and I trust Jesus Christ. all exactly at the best time,
at the best time for the glory of Christ and the good of his
people always. This man, I say, was more instrumental
by his faith in Christ for the glory of Christ than any man
in history. more than any man in history.
Now that's a big statement. I thought about it a long time
before I made a statement. His faith is far more extraordinary
than the faith of Moses when he stretched out his rod and
parted the Red Sea. Far more so. Moses had seen such
power before. His faith far greater than when
Joshua led Israel across the Jordan and they encompassed the
city of Jericho and marched around the city and blew the trumpet
and watched the walls fall down. His faith, far more extraordinary
than that of Rahab the harlot. Far more extraordinary than that
of Daniel and of Samson. Far more extraordinary. Well,
how can you say that, Brother Dodd? Listen to me. This man
looked to the eternal God as he was dying in human flesh and
said, I believe him to be God who cannot die. This man looked
to Christ as his Lord and King, the Messiah when he hangs there
crowned with thorns. This man believed the Son of
God when all others had forsaken him and could not believe him. Never was such faith as this
man's faith. We'll see in a minute, it's very
much common faith, but very distinctly extraordinary faith. All right,
here's the fourth thing. The means of grace. That is,
the means God employs to save his elect is not always obvious
to us. We know that faith cometh by
hearing, and hearing by the word of God. We know that we are born
again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the
word of God that lives and abides forever. And this is the word
which by the gospel is preached unto you. But many point to this
thief and they say, now there, there, there's an example of
a man who was saved without the use of means. He didn't hear
the gospel. Didn't he? Let me remind you what he heard
and saw. He heard and saw distinctly everything you do concerning
redemption and grace. He heard our Lord Jesus hailed
as the King of Israel. He heard that the Son of Man,
hanging beside Him while He walked on this earth, claimed to be
the Son of God. They said repeatedly, He said,
I am the Son of God. He heard the chief priest and
the scribe say, He saved others. Himself He cannot save. How many
times have you, in your experience, heard folks so so vehemently,
so angrily denounced something that knowing their character,
you began to suspect that just might be so. When I first started
in Bible college, the professors, theology professors, all hated
God and hated the gospel of God's grace. Every one of them. Every
one of them. Every chance they got, they ridiculed
everything precious to my soul. And it got to a place that Any
time our theology professor would go out of his way, I'm talking
about, I mean, he'd spent days and days and days on some trivial,
insignificant thing, trying to prove something wasn't so, my
immediate thought was, there just might be something to this.
There might be something to this. I can picture this thief. He's
hanging there. He claimed to be the son of God.
He said, that if men destroyed his temple, he'd raise up in
three days. He saved others. That's the reason he can't save
himself. That just might be so. That just might be true. This
dying thief then heard the Lord of glory. I'm just guessing, but it's a
good guess. As Matthew and Mark record, they're
morally cursing, blaspheming the Son of God, these two thieves. No doubt hoping to win a little
bit of mercy, a little sympathy from these others who obviously
were focused on tormenting the Son of God as they curse Him
and blaspheme Him and mock Him and deride Him. Suddenly, the
Son of God speaks, and he's overheard over all the railing and the
cursing and the mocking and the blasphemy. Father, forgive them,
for they know not what they do. And he hears the advocate for
sinners interceding. How many times he heard the people
That day crying, save, save, save thyself. He and the other
thief, save thyself and us. And then I can picture him looking
over and he sees an inscription written
over top of his cross. I can imagine the Jews who went
to Pilate and said, don't put that up there. They come back
and say, Pilate's not going to change it. And this is what it said. This
is Jesus. This is Jehovah who saves of Nazareth. the Nazarite unto God, Jehovah
who saves a man totally consecrated to God, the King of the Jews. Not only that, he observed where
this man's hanging. Perhaps this superscription was
written above the middle cross to cover up something else. Barabbas. He saw the Son of God die in
the place of a guilty man and saw the guilty man released from
death and all penalty because this man died as his substitute. One more thing. This penitent
thief hearing these things, believed. Now, look at the character of
faith displayed by this man. Here are several things, always
characteristic of true faith. True faith is the result of conviction. It arises from Holy Spirit conviction. Suddenly, by all that he saw
and heard, this dying thief is convinced of his own guilt as
he hangs upon the tree. Not just his guilt as a man before
men, but his guilt before God. He speaks to the other thief
and said, don't you fear God? He doesn't say, don't you fear
the Romans. Don't you fear God? He said, We're in the same condemnation,
justly. Second, true faith always, always
acknowledges justice, divine justice. Bows to it. We're condemned justly. and acknowledging
the justice of God, true faith confesses sin. And if we confess our sin, he's
faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us
from all unrighteousness. And this confession of sin, this
confession of sin arises from the conviction, the convincing
of Christ's personal holiness. He said, this man hath done nothing
amiss. Now reckon how he could know
that. Reckon how he knew that. Here he hangs as a guilty felon,
crucified as a common malefactor, accused of men. But there's this
inscription, this is Jehovah who saves the Nazarite devoted
to God, the King of the Jews. and he's convinced by the testimony
God set in front of him, this man, if he is Jehovah who saves,
is holy, harmless, undefiled, and separate from sinners. True
faith always confesses Christ as Lord and King. You see, the issue between God
and men It's not whether or not you pretty please want Jesus
to be your savior. That's not the issue. That's
not the issue. The issue is not whether or not
you want to go to hell or go to heaven. That's not the issue.
Any fool would choose heaven over hell if he could. Any fool
would. That's not the issue. The issue
is will you or will you not bow to Jesus Christ, the crucified
redeemer? as your Lord, your King. Faith does. And true faith looks
to Christ alone for everything. I love the way the thief prayed.
These days, preachers who try to get folks to think they're
saved when they're not, they have to get you to act like you're
saved and they have to put words in your mouth so they say, now,
if you want to be saved, repeat after me. And they'll tell you,
they'll repeat these words and sign this card and send me $100
and everything's all right. The Lord hears this man pray.
Merle, listen to what he said. Listen to what he said. Are you
listening? Lord, remember me. Remember me. Lord. I look to you for everything,
for everything. And if you remember me, all is
well. And I'll tell you something else
about true faith. True faith obtains everything. True faith
obtains God's salvation. The Lord Jesus looked to that
man and he said, today, shalt thou be with me in paradise.
Now, learn this. Jesus Christ is a willing Savior. A willing Savior. He is willing to save any who come to Him. and all
who come to Him. No matter who you are, no matter
where you are, no matter what you are, no matter what you've
done, no matter what your circumstances, Christ is willing to save. Here's a man who takes the Son of God in his
shame and humiliation and agony, and suffering, and laughs at
him, and mocks him, and derides him, and blasphemes him. And suddenly, this blasphemer
falls before him and prays. He didn't fall physically, he
couldn't. But he falls before him in his heart and cries, Lord,
remember me. And the master said, I do. Today, shalt thou be with me
in paradise. Not only is he willing to save,
he is able to save, to save to the utmost all who come to God
by him. And that's not all yet. He always
does. He saves every sinner who comes
to God by him. You mean preacher? You mean if
I come to God, trust in Christ, he'll save me? Don't pay any
attention to me. Listen to what he said. Him that
cometh unto me, I will in no wise cast out, but will raise
him up at the last day. That's what he said. That's what
he said. Let me show you one more thing. This dying thief stands as a
testimony. of how near we are to heavenly
glory, but a breath away, just a breath away. How comforting, how delightful.
I read a few weeks ago about a lady hymn writer I've forgotten
which one it was now. Fairly young lady. She was an
invalid all her life. Actually, Shelby was reading it to me on
down the road. She got sick and folks came in,
real concerned. So she realized the doctors had
called the family in. And she said, could it be now? Is this the day? And it was today. absent from the body, present
with the Lord forever. Amen. Number 36 in the Song's Grace
Book.