Todd's Road Grace Church would
like to invite you to listen to a sermon by our pastor, Todd
Nybert. We are located at 4137 Todd's
Road, two miles outside of Manowar Boulevard. Sunday services are
at 10.30 a.m. and 6 p.m. Bible study is at
9.45 a.m. Wednesday services are at 7 p.m. Nursery is provided for all services.
For more information, visit our website at toddsroadgracechurch.com. Now here's our pastor, Todd Nybert. I've entitled the message for
this morning, The Faith of the Dying Thief. Now, most of you
have probably heard of the dying thief, the man who went up onto
the cross unsaved, and the Lord saved him at this dying hour. The faith of the dying thief. You know, you and I are dying.
We might not be thinking about that, but this might be the last
day we have. We may have another 20 years.
That's not that long. You and I are dying. The thief's
death was very imminent and he knew that, but I'm speaking as
a dying man to dying men. The faith of the dying thief. Now we read in verse 39 of Luke
chapter 23, and one of the malefactors which were hanged railed on him. spoke blasphemously concerning
him. And before I go on reading, the
other two accounts in both Matthew and Mark said both of the thieves
were doing this. Not just the one, but both of
the thieves were railing on him. And one of the malefactors which
were hanged railed on him saying, if thou be Christ, Save thyself
and us. But the other answering rebuked
him, saying, 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. Now he looked
at that man, seemingly so helpless, nailed to a cross, knowing he
was going to die. And he said, you're not going
to stay dead. You're going to come back as a mighty reigning
king over your kingdom. Remember me when thou comest
into thy kingdom. And Jesus said unto him, verily,
I say unto thee, Today shalt thou be with me in paradise. You know, the Lord never said
that to Moses. He never said that to Abraham or Paul or John
or Peter. But he says to this man this
very day. you shall be with me in paradise."
The faith of the dying thief. Let me give you three things
regarding saving faith. Saving faith knows who Christ
is. Paul said, I know whom I have
believed. He didn't say, I know what I
believed. He said, I know whom I have believed. You see, what you believe is
predicated on who you believe. Secondly, saving faith relies
on him only. Paul said, I know whom I believed. And I am persuaded that He is
able to keep that which I've committed to Him, the entire
salvation of my soul. I'm looking to Him only. All
my eggs are in this basket. I have no plan B. If He didn't
do it all, there's no hope for me. I am persuaded that He is
able to keep that which I've committed to Him against that
day." Now, saving faith knows who Christ is. Saving faith relies
on Him only. And saving faith comes by hearing. It comes through the irrigate
what we are doing right now. Paul said in Romans 10, 17, faith
cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of God. Now this thief knew who Christ
was. That's what is preeminent with
regard to this man's faith. And we're going to see this.
He knew who Christ was. And secondly, he relied only
on him. He said, Lord, remember me when
you come in your kingdom. My entire salvation is completely
dependent upon you remembering me. If you remember me, I'll
be saved. If you pass me by, I won't, and
I'll get exactly what I deserve, but if you remember me, I will
be saved. And this man's faith, with regard
to who the Lord is, did not come from what he saw. He saw no miracles. A lot of other people did, but
he saw no miracles. Here's what he did see. He sees
a man nailed to a cross. just like he was, seemingly helpless
and defeated, forsaken by God and forsaken by man. Now his
faith didn't come from what he saw, but what he heard. Now let me tell you what he did
here. He heard this, Matthew chapter 27 in Matthew's account,
beginning in verse 38. Then were there two thieves crucified
with him, one on the right hand and the other on the left. And
they that passed by reviled him, wagging their heads. Now these
men hanging on the cross heard this, the other thief heard it,
and this thief heard it. Here's what they heard. Thou
that destroyest the temple, and buildest it in three days, save
thyself. If thou be the Son of God, come
down from the cross. Likewise also the chief priests,
mocking him with the scribes and elders, said, he saved others. Himself, He cannot save. If He be the King of Israel,
let Him come down from the cross and we'll believe on Him. You
hear the things they're saying? He claims to be the Son of God.
He claims to be the King of Israel. He claims to be the Savior. Verse 43, He trusted in God.
Let Him deliver Him now, if He will have Him. For He said, I
am the Son of God. These two men heard this. Verse 44, the thieves also, which
were crucified with him, cast the same in his teeth. Both of
these men began reviling the Lord Jesus Christ. Now this man
heard all seven of the sayings of the Savior from the cross.
Christ died before he did. He actually saw the Lord died,
but he heard these words, Forgive them, they know not what they
do. Woman, behold thy son, behold
thy mother. He heard when the Lord said,
I thirst. He heard the cry from the darkness,
my God, my God, why has thou forsaken me? The Lord said to him, today thou
shalt be with me in paradise. He heard the mighty cry, it is
finished. And he heard the Lord say, Father,
into thy hands I commend my spirit. Now the timing of this is the
event for which the universe was created, the cross. That's why the world was created.
That's why Adam fell, for the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ. His hour, his reason for coming
had come. He's called the Lamb slain from
the foundation of the world. And he said, with regard to this
hour, what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour.
For this cause came I into this hour. Father, glorify thy name. Now this man was a thief, probably
an escaped slave who had become a thief. Perhaps he was on the
same plane as Barabbas. Barabbas was a robber, he was
a thief, but he was also an insurrectionist, someone that brought on rebellion
from the Roman government or toward the Roman government.
and a murderer. Perhaps this man was the same
thing. And he was on a cross that was
the death of a Roman. It's the way Rome judged its
enemies. Everybody was made to know, if
you defy Rome, this is your end. You'll be nailed to a cross. Now, this man was a dangerous,
wicked man. hanging on a cross, railing on
Christ just the way the other one had done. And this man had
never given a dime to the cause of Christ. He was never a member
of a local church. He was never baptized. He never
took the Lord's table. He had nothing that could commend
him to God, and there he hangs, spewing out his hatred and venom
toward the Lord Jesus Christ, if you're the Christ. If you're
the Christ. Save yourself and us. Come down from the cross. Now, while they're both reviling,
this man suddenly grows strangely silent. Verse 39, and one of
the malefactors, which were hanged, railed on him, saying, if thou
be Christ, save thyself and us, but the other answering. Now he had been reviling Christ
as well, but now he's not. Why? Because he now knows who
Jesus Christ is. He didn't know when he was first
nailed to that cross, but now through hearing what he has heard,
he believes that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living
God. And he says, don't you fear God? That other things railing grated
on him. He couldn't stand hearing it
anymore. And he said, don't you fear God? Now the fear of God is the beginning
of wisdom. That man, when he was nailed
to the cross, didn't have any fear of God. No natural man has
any fear of God, any respect, reverence at all toward the living
God. And this man sees his buddy cursing Christ, he says, don't
you fear God, seeing you're in the same condemnation. Now, I
have no doubt that that man knew that Jesus Christ was God. Don't you fear God? How do you
know that? because anyone who knows him
knows that he is God, God the Son. He heard those claims, he
claimed to be the Son of God. Listen to this scripture in John
5, verse 13, the Jews sought to kill him because he said God
was his father, making himself equal with God. The only one
who's equal with God is God. This is God the Son, and the
thief knew him as such. He believed the same thing that
the Ethiopian eunuch believed. I believe that Jesus Christ is
the Son of God, and if you know him, If you know who he is, of
this I'm sure, you know he's God. You know he's the creator
of the universe. You know he's the God of glory. And if somebody doesn't know
him as that, they just don't know him, period. Now, I don't know
if he knew what he was saying, but he says to this other thief,
you're in the same condemnation he is. Don't you fear God, seeing
you're in the same condemnation? Both of them were on a cross.
But this man has done nothing amiss. This one who has been
crucified has done nothing amiss. He's in the same condemnation
we are, yet he has done nothing amiss. Why? Is it because he
was unjustly accused and because he had bad luck? No, it's because
of substitutionary atonement. That's why the one who has done
nothing amiss is nailed to a cross. Now, if he didn't see that clearly
at that time, he would soon, because he was just getting ready
to be in that great choir saying, worthy is the lamb who was slain,
who has redeemed us to God by his blood out of every kindred,
tongue, people, and nation, and has made us kings and priests
unto God. Now, if someone is nailed to
a cross who's done nothing amiss, we know why. He was wounded for
our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement of our peace
was upon him and by his stripes we are healed. Now look what
he says next. He says in verse 41, and we indeed
justly We're getting exactly what we have coming. We're receiving the due reward
of our deeds. Now let me say this, if you see
who Jesus Christ is, you will see who you are, and not before
then. If you see who Jesus Christ is,
you see that you are no victim. All your sin is all your fault. And if God sends you to hell,
you will be getting exactly what you deserve. You deserve to be
cast off, cut off by God, and sent to hell. Anybody who sees
who Jesus Christ is will see that with regard to themselves.
I deserve to be cut off. If God does not save me, if he
passes me by and lets me drop into hell, I'm getting exactly,
precisely what justice demands that I have. I am a sinner. But look what else he said in
verse 41. But this man, hath done nothing amiss." He
knew that Jesus Christ had never sinned. Now somebody says, he'd
only known him a few hours. If that long, how could he have
known, looking at over his past 33 years, how could he know that
this man had never sinned? I know the answer to that question,
because he knew who he was. If you know who Jesus Christ
is, you know that he is incapable of sin. He's the Holy One of
Israel. This man had done nothing amiss. He believed in the sinless Son
of God. The only way there would be saving
efficacy in what he did is because he was sinless. Now, look what
he says in verse 42. And he said unto Jesus, Lord, Lord, He knew he was the Lord. Now, I'm sure that some of the
people standing around the cross, when they heard him say that,
started snickering. Him, Lord? I don't think so. Look at him. He's nailed to a
cross. He's dying. How could you call
this man Lord? Maybe the other thief snickered
and used curse words with regard to what he said when he called
the Lord Jesus Lord. He knew who he was. And he knew
he was Lord. No man can say Jesus is Lord,
but by the Holy Ghost. Now you can audibly say Jesus
is Lord without the Holy Ghost. A parrot can. You can train a
parrot to say that. I'm sure there are parrots who
have said Jesus is Lord. That's talking about believing,
not only saying, but believing He is Lord. He's the Lord of creation. He
spake the universe into existence. He's the Lord of providence.
That means He controls everything. You know, when they were nailing
Him to that tree, He was willing it to take place. He was in control
of every event and He's in control of every event everywhere in
the universe at all times because He is Lord. He's Lord of Providence. By Him, all things consist. Whatever happens is His will
being done. And He is Lord of salvation. What that means, my dear friend,
is as to whether or not me or you are saved, it's up to Him. If He wills your salvation, you'll
be saved. If he doesn't will your salvation,
you will not be saved. He is Lord of salvation. He's risen from the dead and
he is Lord. That man knew he was Lord. Now, you see, everything you
believe is predicated on knowing who he is. For instance, if you
would have said, have you ever heard of election? He would have
said, no. If you would have told him what
it meant that God chose who'd be saved, he'd say, amen. That's
the only way I can be saved. If you told him of particular
redemption, he'd say, well, I don't know what that means. If you
let him know that whatever Christ does must be successful, he'd
say, yeah, I believe that. That's the only way I'd be saved.
Lord. Remember me when you come into
your kingdom. You're not gonna stay dead because
of who you are. You're not gonna fail because
of who you are. You're gonna come back as a mighty
reigning king. Whatever you intended to do while
you were here has been done. You have saved your people from
their sins. You're the Lord. Now, when you
come back as a mighty reigning king, Remember me. That's all that's needed for
my salvation, is for you to remember me. You see, he knew who the
Lord was. Remember me when you come back
into your kingdom. And the Lord gave this man assurance
that he never gave anyone else. He said, today. Thou shalt be with me in paradise. Now saving faith is knowing who
he is. He's the Lord and relying on
who he is. If you just remember me because
of who you are, all you got to do is remember me and I'll be
saved. And oh, how I love the Lord's
reply today. Thou shalt be with me in paradise. Now, this man had the same thief
that that Roman centurion had, who said, Lord, my servant lieth
at home, sick of the palsy, grievously tormented, and the Lord said,
I'll come and heal him. And the man said, I'm not worthy that
you come under my roof, but speak the word only, and my servant
shall be healed. You see, I understand authority.
I have one under me, and I say go, and he goes, and another
that comes to me, and he says come, and I say come, and he
comes. I understand authority, and I
know that you have absolute authority because of who you are, and all
you have to do is will it, and my servant shall be healed. And the Lord called that the
greatest faith in Israel. Well, this thief had the same faith. Lord, if you remember me, I will
be saved." And oh, the assurance the Lord gave him, today thou
shalt be with me in paradise. Now, let me make these closing
statements. Do we not have the right to say
that we know this man was saved? The Lord said, today you'll be
with me in paradise. I mean, there's no question about
it. You know, there's other people you thought, are they saved?
I'm not sure. You might have thought about
yourself. I don't know whether I'm saved. I hope I am. I'm not sure. But
we know about this man that he was saved. No question about
it. The Lord said, today you'll be with me in paradise. Secondly,
do we not have the right to say that this man was saved altogether
by grace? That's the only way this man
could be saved. He had nothing to bring to the table. All he
was was a wicked thief. There's no way he could be saved
if he wasn't all together by grace. Do we not have the right
to say that? This man was saved all together
by grace. And this lets us know we have
the right to say that the youngest believer with the most minimal
amount of faith, whatever that means, his faith is knowing who
Jesus Christ is. That's everything we can say
about this thief. He knew who he was. He knew he was God. He
knew he never sinned. He knew he was Lord. He knew
he was coming back as a mighty reigning king because he knew
who he was. Everything he believed came out
of him knowing who he was. And do we not have the right
to say that Christ is able to save the very chief of sinners?
We sure do. Wherefore he is able to save
them to the uttermost that come unto God by him. seeing he ever
liveth to make intercession for them. Christ Jesus came into
the world to save sinners. The thief is the example of this.
And do we not have the right to say that a believer enters
heaven to be with Christ immediately upon death? Today, thou shalt
be with me in paradise. And do we not have the right
to say that if we are saved, were saved the same way the thief
was. I love that hymn, the dying thief
rejoiced to see the fountain in his day. And there may I,
though vile as he, wash all my sins away. The dying thief knew
who Christ was, he heard what Christ said, and he relied only
on Christ for his salvation. We have this message on CD, DVD. If you call the church, write,
e-mail, we'll send you a copy. This is Todd Nyberg. To receive
a copy of the sermon you have just heard, send your request
to todd.nyberg at gmail.com. Or you may write or call the
church at the information provided on the screen. Hmm.