over in Luke's Gospel, chapter
23. Luke's Gospel, chapter 23, and
let's look at verse 32. Luke's Gospel, chapter 23, and
verse 32, and let's just take it one verse at a time as we
go through this. And there were also two others,
malefactors, criminals, thieves, led with him to be put to death. Led with him to be put to death. This is one thing I like about
the King James Version of the Bible. You can go other places and find
these words. Listen to some of the words the
other Gospels mentioned about being led. He was led. John said they led him away to
Annas, for he was father-in-law to Caiaphas, which was the high
priest the same year. That's when they took him from
the garden. And the Holy Spirit said they led him. And then they that held him laid
hold on Jesus and led him away to Caiaphas the high priest where
the scribes and the elders were assembled. They led him from
Annas' house. They led him to Caiaphas' house,
the council. And then Luke in verse 22 and
verse 66 says, And as soon as it was day, the elders of the
people and the chief priest and the scribes came together, And
they led him unto their counsel. They led him. Then John chapter
18 says, Then led they Jesus from Caiaphas unto the judgment
hall. And it was early. And they themselves
went not in, lest they be defiled. And Matthew 27 says, When they
had bound him, they led him away, and delivered him unto Pilate
the governor. And then Matthew says again,
And after they had mocked him, they took the robe from him,
and put on his own raiment, and led him away to crucify him. And again Luke says, And as they
led him away, they laid hold upon one Simon, the Cyrenian,
coming out of the country, and him they compelled to bear his
cross. So it's amazing that from the
garden, to Gaiatha's house, to the judgment hall, to Calvary. The Bible says they led Him. They led Him. And the Bible also
says this, He is led as a lamb to the slaughter, as a sheep
done before her shearers, so He opened not His mouth. And our text says here there
were two criminals, there were two thieves, malefactors, led
with Him to be put to death. And Mark tells us that this was
done that the Scriptures might be fulfilled. He was numbered
with the transgressors. Brother Larry was talking about
this this morning. Isn't it amazing that hundreds
of years and even thousands of years, these minute details,
these little details that people could so easily have overlooked
They were done that it might be fulfilled what the Scriptures
predicted. The Scripture predicted every
detail of our Master's sufferings and his death. They parted my
raiment and cast lots upon my vesta that it might be fulfilled,
which was written in the Scripture. They gave him vinegar to drink
that it might be fulfilled, which is written in the Scripture. All of these little details predicted
hundreds and thousands of years. You know what, brothers and sisters?
A man is a willful fool that doesn't believe the Bible. With
all the evidence, it's not being intellectually honest to say
this Bible is a bunch of hogwash, that men wrote this Bible. When
they wrote it so many different authors, so many hundreds and
thousands of years apart, they didn't know each other. It has
one author, doesn't it? One author who gave the Word,
and great was the company of those that published it. He was
crucified with criminals that the Scripture might be fulfilled.
He was numbered with the transgressors. Now look in verse 33, 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. They came to the place. They didn't come to a place.
They came to the place. You know this place had been
marked out before time. When God created this universe
and created this world, that mountain of Calvary was marked
out. You go back to the time of David
and remember the man by the name of Onan. He was up on top of
this mountain threshing wheat. He got up there where there was
a breeze blowing so that he could shake his wheat up in the air
and sift it out and cause the wind to blow all the chaff away?
And he was there doing that when the angel of the Lord had smoked
70,000 Jews because of David's sin. And David bought this threshing
floor off of Ornan and offered the sacrifice unto the Lord,
and the wrath of God was stayed, and David bought this little
parcel of land, and this is the place where the temple was built.
Ain't that amazing? This temple, and just outside
the temple walls was a place called Calvary. But you know,
we can go back farther than that. This place was marked out of
God long before the day of David. Remember when the Lord appeared
to Abraham and said, Abraham, take your only son up on the
mountain that I'll show you up, and offer him there for a burnt
offering? And Abraham took two of his young servants with him.
They went out, and for three days they walked, going towards
this place. And suddenly Abraham looked up,
and the Lord said, There it is, Abraham. And Abraham said, You
stay here, You wait and me and the lad, we're going up on that
mountain and we're going to worship and we're going to come again.
And they were walking up that mountain, up that mountain, this
mountain, this mountain. And Isaac said, Dad, we've got
the knife, we've got the wood, we've got the fire, where's the
sacrifice? Remember what Abraham said to
him? My son, God shall provide himself
a lamb. God shall provide for Himself
a lamb, and God shall provide Himself for a lamb. And Abraham laid Isaac down upon
that altar, and took the knife to slay him. And God said, Abraham,
stop your hand, son. Stop your hand. I know now that
you fear Me. And Abraham turned and looked,
and there was a ram stuck in the thicket. What a rough place
this mountain must have been. There was nothing there but thickets.
And there was a ram stuck in the thicket. And He took that
ram and offered him for a sacrifice instead of His son Isaac. That's
Calvary. That's this place. This place. Abraham didn't offer his son,
but God offered His only begotten Son. God didn't stay His hand
of judgment as Abraham did. God put the fire to the altar.
God sacrificed His only begotten Son here at this place. I heard a dear brother of ours,
Brother Moose Parks, preach a message on these words. And there they
crucified Him. There. There. On this Mount Calvary. The place of a skull. outside
the walls of Jerusalem. There, that place that was predestinated,
Calvary. They, Jews, Pilate and Herod
and the Gentiles, crucified Him, Him, the Son of God, Jesus Christ,
the only begotten of the Father. Oh, this place, this place. We love it because of what took
place there, don't we? Christ died for our sins. Isn't
our faith in a crucified Christ? Our hope is in a crucified Christ.
He died for our sins, but He didn't stay buried. He rose again
and ascended to heaven. And if you believe that Jesus
died and rose again, they which sleep in Jesus, God will bring
with Him. That's our hope, isn't it? That's
our hope. And He said here in verse 34,
Jesus said, Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do. Well, that's what Paul tells
us. If they had known, they'd have never crucified the Lord
of Glory. If they had known. But you know
their ignorance was no excuse for what they did? They was charged
with it, weren't they? I tell you, ignorance is a dangerous
thing, isn't it? Ignorance has destroyed multitudes
of people, and these were willingly ignorant. All the evidence of
whom Christ was was manifest to them before their eyes. They were ignorant, but they
were willingly ignorant. Here is what the Lord said to
these Jews of old. This is a people of no understanding. Therefore he that made them will
not have mercy on them, and he that farmed them will show them
no favor." Ignorance. Ignorance. Well, I tell you, I'd hate to
stand before God, and it's only by His grace we won't and be
ignorant when we have had so much gospel preached to us. And
when we have a Bible in every home, almost every hospital,
every jail, and to stand and say, they know not what they
do. I didn't know. I didn't know.
Father, forgive them. You know, we've got a record
of thousands and thousands that the Father did forgive. We've
got 2,000 on the day of Pentecost. Peter said, You've taken them
by wicked hands. You've crucified the Lord of
Glory. What shall we do? Repent every
one of you. They were forgiven, weren't they?
Five thousand just a few weeks later. Multitude just a few days
later. Multitude. And here's my own
opinion. This may not be right, but it's
according to my own understanding. You know what I believe about
this passage. I believe that everybody that Christ prayed
for that day was forgiven. Now you may say, Bruce, I don't
believe that, and we can disagree. That's just my opinion. But here's
why I say that. When He said, Father, forgive
them, the Bible says that God will not withhold the desires
of His heart, and He'll give to him the request of His lips. So I'm just wondering when He
says, Father, forgive them, I'm just wondering if the Father
didn't answer and said, My son, I'm going to. Not all of them,
but the ones that you pray for, I forgive them. I pray not for
the world, but for them that you've given me. That's just
a thought. I don't know if I'm right about
that or not. Verse 35, And the people stood beholden, and the
rulers also with them, derided him, saying, He saved others. Let him save himself, if he be
Christ, the Chosen of God. I want you to notice these verses.
Look here in verse 36, "...the soldiers mocked him, coming to
him and offering him vinegar, and saying, If thou be the king
of the Jews, save thyself." And the superscription also was written
over him in letters of Greek and Latin and Hebrew. This is
the king of the Jews. And one of the male factors which
were hanged railed on him saying, If thou be the Christ, save thyself. Did you notice all of these people
here were deriding him? Mocking him? They railed on him? Isn't it strange that we have
no record they said anything about the true criminals? These
were thieves breaking into people's houses. Instead of saying, well,
you rascals, you're getting just what you deserve. Everybody's
words were pointing towards the Savior. Him, relling on Him,
deriding Him, mocking Him. A poor fallen world can't help
itself, can it? That's just the way a heart of
enmity is. They rail upon Him that was innocent. When it hates God by nature,
it can't do anything else but rail. Listen to what the Master
said to His apostles. And see if this ain't just the
way it has to be. It's got to be. If the world
hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the
world would love its own, but because I have called you out
of the world, chosen you out of the world, therefore the world
hates you. The servant is not greater than
his Lord. If they have persecuted Me, they
will also persecute you." Christ is our example for suffering,
isn't He? And when we identify with Him,
right here is what you can expect. The world, the wicked world,
will fall in together and become friends to persecute you as they
did the Lord Jesus Christ. It's often been mentioned that
Herod and Pilate were enemies until they joined together against
the Son of God. And that's the way the world
is. They hate each other, but they'll join together to kill
you if you identify with Jesus Christ the Son of God. Paul says,
if I yet preach circumcision, then is the offense of the cross
ceased. Let us go forth unto Him without
the count, bearing His reproach. It's easy to identify with a
victorious Christ, isn't it? That's easy. It's more difficult
to identify with a rejected Christ. with a suffering Christ. It's
easier to identify with a gospel the world loves and accepts and
believes. It's more difficult to identify
with one that's offensive to the world. It's easy to identify
with a Christ the world loves and understands, but it's more
difficult not to be afraid and to be ashamed of the Christ the
world hates. and whose rule they reject. How should the world treat the
church? Just like they treated the Master. That's the way. And one dear man said, if we're
not suffering for Christ's sake, we probably owe our security,
at least to a degree, to our unfaithfulness. I think, don't
you, if we were more like Christ, if we followed Him closer, we'd
find out what enmity is in the hearts of this world. And verse 38, what's this about? This was Pilate that wrote this
over his head. Letters in Greek and Latin and
Hebrew, this is the King of the Jews. Pilate wrote that over
their heads. And you know why he did that?
To get back at the Jews. He was mad at them. They basically
forced him and pressured him into crucifying Christ. Paul
said Pilate was willing to let him go. But they said, no, if
you let him go, you're not Caesar's friend. And Pilate said, I'm
going to get back at them. He's a politician. This was a
political ploy, a move to get back at them. You know what politicians
will do? They'll use any means they can
to further their political career and cause it. That's them, isn't
it? They'll lie, they'll cheat, they'll
sneak, they'll defraud, anything they can do. One of the best presidents in
my lifetime, and I like the dear man, Ronald Reagan, but he was
a politician. He was just a politician. And
the poor man's probably suffering in hell while you and I are here
today. He did just like most politicians.
He used Christ when it was political expedient. And this man here
was a politician. And he got back at his political
opponents. But that's all it was. You think
he believed that Jesus Christ was the Son of God. You think
he believed that he was the king of the Jews? I doubt it, seriously. He didn't much care, did he?
He didn't care enough to release him, so he must have not have
believed it. But he said, boy, I want to make
this maneuver before I go off the stage. I want to show them.
I want to put this up to further my career. Brothers and sisters,
beware of politicians. Beware of politicians. Listen
to what Daniel said about them. You can mark this down. If you've
got something, mark this and read this sometime. Daniel chapter
4 and verse 17. Listen to what Daniel said. The
Most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and He giveth it to whomsoever
He will. and setteth up over it the basest
of men." I don't mean any disrespect for politicians, but the Lord
said they're the basest of men. And isn't that proved over and
over and over again? They're the basest, the lowest
of men. General MacArthur said, Politicians
were the lowest of human beings and Democrats were the lowest
of politicians. Now, if you are not a Republican,
you may resent that a little bit. But that is what General
MacArthur said. All of them are base, aren't
they? All of them are base. I don't care what party you belong
to. They are all base. And verse 49, And one of the
male factors which were hanged railed on him, saying, If thou
be the Christ, save thyself and us. Boy, this is the way most
sick people die, ain't it? Blaming God for one thing or
another. Ain't it amazing? You take a man that lives in
sin, he hates God, has no need of the gospel, he won't go hear
it. Every Lord's Day he's got planned to mow his yard, wash
his car, do something else, but he won't go hear the gospel. And then he gets sick, and he
goes to the doctor, and the doctor said, Man, you're going to die.
And he goes home and starts crying, and this is what he said, If
there is a God, why is He allowing this to happen to me? Let this other thief answer that
question. Have you ever had anybody ask
you that question? If there is a God, why are we suffering so
much? If there is a God, why is this
happening to me and my family and my wife and my husband? Let's
let this second thief answer that question. Look in verse
40 and in verse 41. Here is an excellent answer to
that question. But the other answering rebuked
him saying, Doest not thou fear God? Seeing thou art in the same
condemnation, and we indeed justly? For we receive the dear reward
of our deeds, but this man hath done nothing amiss." Man, that
was a bold statement, wasn't it? It seemed so harsh to make
it. But you know something? It's
the truth. If there is a God, why am I suffering? Could it be because you're guilty? Could it be because sin entered
into the world, and it entered into your heart, and it defiled
you, and you're God's enemy, and now you're getting just what
you deserve? Boy, that seems harsh, doesn't
it? But that's the truth. I never heard it from anybody
that would seem more harsh than it did here. This man was dying! And the other thief looked over
at him and said, ìYouíre getting just what you earned.î Boy, that
seems harsh, doesnít it? You know something, brothers
and sisters? If weíre going to be identified with Jesus Christ,
weíre going to have to be identified with the truth. And sometimes it seems harsh.
And those who aren't willing to be identified with the truth
can't be identified with Jesus Christ. The first evidence that
this man had a change of heart, he acknowledged the truth about
himself and about this other thief. We're criminals. We get just what we deserve.
And when God puts us in hell, He's just paying us the wages
we earn. But this man, He's innocent. This man is holy. This man is
just. This is the just dying for the
unjust. That's the truth, isn't it? And
it just amazes me when these preachers get up and they admit
that they don't have the nerve to answer this question. They
get up and they say something like, well, somebody said, I'm
sick and why am I suffering? And I just had to tell them,
I really don't know. Why did my husband get killed?
I just don't know. Why did we get cancer? I don't
know. Well, this other thief knew, didn't he? He knew. We're sinners. We're sinners. And if we get
what we deserve, we're condemned. And we're going to die. And we're
going to perish. That's what he said. But God
is just. This man has done nothing amiss.
Why are you blaming this man? Why are you blaming God for your
trouble? You got yourself in trouble. You didn't need Him,
and now you just want Him to temporarily relieve you. Ain't
it amazing how men will live in sin and then blame God for
every little thing? And if He's pleased to raise
them up and heal them or deliver them from their temporal trouble,
they go right back to their sin again. Boy, this man confessed the truth.
This second thief confessed the truth right in the face of all
of this opposition. He had to change, didn't he?
He had to change. Listen to what the Scripture
says. God shall hear. He hears what men are saying.
God shall afflict them. Even he that abideth of old shall
afflict them, because they have no changes, therefore they fear
not God." Psalms chapter 55 verse 19. They have no changes. What
was the matter with this first thief? Why did he cuss the Lord
until he died? He had no change of heart. Why
did this second thief repent? Why did He say, Lord, remember
me? He had this change, didn't He? This essential change concerning
Himself. You know, the Bible says, Matthew
says, both of them derided Christ. They were both mad at Him. Both
of them were saying, why don't you deliver yourself and us?
But this man had a change, and one of the changes was about
himself. I'm earning just what I'm getting. I'm condemned. I'm guilty. But
the Lord is just. He's never done anything amiss. He's never done anything wrong.
He's never mistreated me. His dealings with me have been
merciful and kind. And I threw it all in His face.
His attitude had changed. His heart had changed. I think probably one of the most
evidence of repentance a man can have is when he takes his
place as a sinner. and say, I ought to go to hell.
I ought to go to hell. That's where I deserve to be,
in hell. I deserve the wrath of God. Boy, that's a change
of heart, isn't it? And that's what this man said,
I indeed justly. I indeed justly. And boy, here
in verse 42, he had a change concerning salvation and the
way of deliverance from sin. He says here in verse 42, Lord,
remember me when you come into your kingdom. He was saying just
before this, if you be the Christ, save yourself and us. Now he
addresses Jesus Christ as one who is able to save him. Boy, you talk about a heart being
opened. Lord, I believe you are able
to save me. Remember Me. Lord, I believe You are the King.
You have a Kingdom and You are coming into it. Lord, remember
Me. And the Lord Jesus said in verse
43, This day shall thou be with Me in Paradise. The power of
Jesus Christ to save a sinner. This is the weakest hour in all
of His life. He was as weak here if not weaker
than when He was an infant hanging on His mother's breast. Paul
said he was crucified through weakness. And yet he had so much
power that he saved this criminal in his nine hours. That's amazing,
ain't it? I ain't going to ever doubt again
whether Jesus Christ can save anybody. If he can save this
man hanging on a cross, both of them dying, Then He can save
anybody, can He not? If He can do this dying, how
much more living in heaven? If He can do this on a cross,
how much more on His throne? There's nobody He can't save.
Nobody. Today shall thou be with me in
paradise. Now let's be honest. Most people
die just like this first thief. That's the way most people are
dying. Broad is the way that leads to destruction. And many
there be which go in their head. Most people die. They get sick
and they die with enmity against God in their heart. They die
with enmity. But this second thief gives us hope. for lost
people in their dying hours. Somebody said this and it bears
to be repeated in every way we can think to repeat it. This
first thief perished in his sins that no man would presume upon
the mercies of God. You better not wait. You better
seek the Lord today because the day of salvation is today. God knows us nothing, does He?
He owes us nothing. This first thief died in his
sins, and God suffered it to be so, that no man presumed upon
the mercy of God. And the second thief was saved,
so that no man who feels his need of mercy would despair,
no matter how late the hour. That needs to be repeated, doesn't
it? This day shall thou be with me
in paradise. Oh, every word rings out here,
doesn't it? Every word just rings out. This day. This man would never
see another sunrise in this world. This day you're going to die. And this day thou shalt. You. Poor thief that you are! Just a few moments ago you had
no hope at all. The earth had condemned you and
justly so. But you, you, shall be with Me. That's what will make heaven,
heaven, ain't it? To be with Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
You're going to be with Me in paradise. Oh, every word just
soaks into your spirit. in my Father's house. You're
going up to heaven with me and when we get up there the doors
are going to open and we're going to walk into the Father's house
and you're going to sit down and see Abraham and Isaac and
Jacob and the spirits of just men made perfect and you're going
to keep company with the elect angels. You shall be with me
in paradise. Old Spurgeon was preaching a
message on this, and he said, you know, when I think about
standing at the gate of heaven, and I see all of those old saints
in the Old Testament, some of those who had lived in caves
and dens of the earth, and they had worn sheepskins and goatskins,
and they had to go looking for their food. And when I see those
blessed old saints that obtained a good report entering the gates
of heaven, I say, I ain't worthy to go in with them. So I'll just
stand there. And he said, I see all the old
prophets coming in. Samuel and David and Solomon
and Isaiah and weeping Jeremiah. And he said, I can't go in with
them. I see all the apostles in the New Testament. I see Paul
and Peter and James and John and Peter coming in. I can't
go in with them. But he says, here comes the Lord
Jesus with a thief, with a thief bringing him to heaven. And Spurgeon
said, I think I can go in with them. I think I can go in with
them. I feel that way, don't you? Oh,
if you'll take a man like this to the Father's house, Would
you bring a man like this to your father's house? I had to
be careful who I brought to my father's house. He may run me
and the man off too if he's a bad fellow. When the Lord Jesus brings
a man to the Father, the Father accepts him. A story told about
Abraham Lincoln and one fellow had some important business this
back during the day where sometimes you seen the President walking
on the street. This guy had some important business, but he couldn't
get to Mr. Lincoln, the president. He was
trying to get to the windows, to peck on the windows, knock
on the door, and they wouldn't let him in. He went around behind
the house, and there was this little boy playing out in the
backyard. He introduced himself, and he
was Mr. Lincoln's son. And he said, I'm trying to get
to see your dad. And he said, come on. I'll take you to him. And he took him right into the
presence of President Lincoln, because he was his son. Access
is open to the Son, isn't it? And access is open to whoever
the Son brings in. If the Son presents you to the
Father, you'll be pleasing to the Father because you'll have
the robe that the Son put on you. And you'll be washed in
the blood of the Son. And the Father will look upon
you and He'll say, Oh, you're welcome in My house. Do you believe the Lord is able
to give us the same assurance that He gave this man? Do you
believe He is able to do that? You know, really, He already
has. What assurance did this man have? The Lord Jesus expired
on that tree, and this man was still living in his pain, dying. It was a few hours later before
he ever died. The Lord Jesus was gone. They
took him off the cross. They took this man, broke his
legs, and let him lay there and die. What assurance did he have
when Christ's voice was gone? He had His Word. Oh, I can see the devil come
to him and say, You thief! You low-down thief! You're going
to hell! What assurance do you have in your dying hours that
you're going up to heaven, to paradise? He had only one source. I heard Him say, ìToday you shall
be with Me in Paradise.î And brothers and sisters, this is
my assurance. The Lord Himself says, ìHe that believeth on Me
shall never perish, but have life everlasting.î I believe
Him. And thatís my source of assurance
when I go to His Word. If He was here today, Heíd say
no more than Heís already said. And all that He said can be taken
into our hearts and we can have the assurance of it this day. And if you are a believer and
you die today, this is your assurance. This day you will be with Him
in paradise. You believe in the Father, believe
also in me. In my house are many mansions,
in my Father's house. And if it wasn't so, I would
have told you. He ain't going to lie to us,
is He? I go to prepare a place for you, and if I do, I'll come
again and receive you unto Myself. How do we know He's coming again?
I've never heard His voice come out of the sky. I've never seen
Him. How do we know? He's told us. He's told us. That's all He has to do, isn't
it? Take a husband off at war somewhere.
And the battle's over. He sends his wife a letter and
says, Sweetheart, I'm coming home. What does she start doing?
Waiting on him. He started waiting on him. How
do you know he's coming home? He said it! He said it. And that was this man's assurance.
And that's all the assurance he had. This day shall you be
with me in Paradise. It's finished. And he died. And the thief waited. And he
waited. And he suffered. And it got tougher. Other thief probably still railing
on him. Yeah, you see what he get you.
What he get you. Look how you're suffering. And
he waited. And he waited. And he got worse. He got where he couldn't breathe
and his fever got worse, his tongue swoll from dehydration
and he got worse! And finally he breathed out his
last breath before that day was over. And where did he go? Where
did he go? Where is he now? He's in paradise. He's in paradise. Who's he with? He's with Jesus. He can go to
His breast any time and lay on it. He can go kiss His feet when
He's pleased. He goes and worships Him and
praises Him and loves Him. And you know to this very evening,
He's never got over those words, this day shall you be with Me
in paradise. He's where I hope to be. Can't
you say that? He's where I hope to be, and
He's with the very person I hope to be with when I breathe out
my last, with Jesus, the Son of God.