Now back to Luke chapter 23,
we'll try to bring the message from verse 39 down to verse 43. The Lord Jesus Christ declared
to this repentant thief, he says, today you're going to be with
me forever in glory. Now I'm entitling the message,
The Salvation of a Sinner. And that's what we see here,
the salvation of a sinner. That's clearly being taught here. For our sins, according to the
Scripture, He bare our sin in His own body on the tree. He
reaches out in His sovereign will, and by His sovereign mercy
and His powerful grace, demonstrates to us His power to save. Even though the Lord was completely
fastened to that piece of wood, He couldn't reach out and touch
that man physically, but he did reach out and touch him in saving
mercy. He demonstrates for us that he
is king in his kingdom. He demonstrates as it is written
there in the text, verse 38, this is the king. He is king
of kings and lord of lords. He's king in providence, he's
king in creation, and most certainly he's king in salvation. The Father
had given him power over all flesh that he should give eternal
life to as many as the Father had given to him. As king, as
God our Savior, he is the only one who has power to save, to
raise up dead sinners. He said, I will have mercy on
whom I will have mercy. Upon whom I will, I will harden."
The Lord plainly demonstrates for us in the salvation of this
dying thief that salvation is of the Lord. Of the Lord. No greater example
is seen in Holy Scripture than that blessed truth that salvation
is of the Lord. One thief is left to die in his
sins, and justly so. Where the other thief is granted
faith and repentance and taken to glory, taken to paradise by
the Lord Jesus Christ and to be with him forever, even right
now. Think about it, right now this
dying thief sits in glory with the Lord Jesus Christ rejoicing
in his salvation through the blood atonement of the Lord Jesus
Christ. One day all believers will gather
together around his throne and sing unto him who loved us and
washed us from our sin in his own blood. Now, all this arrangement
and all this was appointed by God Almighty from the foundation
of the world. The time of this man's birth,
when he was born of a woman, this dying thief, and the time
of his salvation, And the appointed time, all the circumstances around
that time, is all decreed, appointed of God. And in time, He brought
it to pass. This man, this dying thief, was
given eyes of faith. to see the Lord Jesus Christ
as all of his salvation. This dying thief was chosen by
electing grace before the foundation of the world, and in time the
Lord Jesus Christ is dying for his sin, shedding his blood at
that time to put away not only this man's sin, but the sin of
all of God's people in Christ and him crucified. This dying thief was granted
faith and repentance in the Lord Jesus Christ. Just before he
died, he was given faith. What a miracle of grace. Sovereign
grace. And this is true of every sinner
whom the Lord wisely saved by His purpose and by His grace,
given in the Lord Jesus Christ before the foundation of the
world. As Paul reminds us, it's God who saved us, it's God who
called us with a holy calling, not according to our work, but
according to God's own purpose and grace, given to us in Christ
before the foundation of the world. Now, throughout the Word
of God, we see the Lord Jesus Christ displaying his sovereign
pleasure to save sinners by his will, by his purpose, and by
his sovereign grace alone. The Lord demonstrates that over
and over and over again. He has power to save. But let me remind you of some
other examples. Not only do we see the Lord having mercy upon
whom He will here in this story, but throughout the Word of God.
Let me give you some examples. The Lord had mercy on Noah and
his family while multitudes of sinners perished in their sin
when the flood came. It says in Genesis 6, Noah found
grace in the eyes of the Lord. Was Noah any better than any
of those who perished? Absolutely not. Noah found grace
in the eyes of the Lord. Noah was granted faith. By faith,
Noah being warned of God of things not seen, had it never rained,
and God told Noah to build a boat. By faith, Noah being warned of
God of things not seen, moved with fear, prepared an ark to
the saving of his house. God had mercy on Noah. God in
his purpose saved Noah and his family. Give me another example
of sovereign mercy. Not only in Noah and Noah's family
but in the call of Abraham. In the call of Abraham. God called
Abraham out of idolatry and bondage while his father died in his
sins. Abraham believed God and it was
counted to him for righteousness. God didn't call out Abraham's
father. He left his father to justly
perish in his idolatry, but God sovereignly chose Abraham and
called him out. Another example we just read
in Romans 9, the Lord loved and saved Jacob and hated him past
by Esau, that the purpose of God according to election might
stand. You see sovereign mercy, sovereign
grace all the way through the Word of God. Another example
of sovereign mercy, sovereign grace we've seen in our study
in the book of Luke. The Lord saved Peter and preserved
Peter even though Peter denied the Lord three times. Remember
what we read back over here in Luke 22 where the Lord said,
To Simon, Simon verse 31 of Luke 22, Satan hath desired to have
you, that he may sift you as wheat, but I prayed for you that
your faith fail not. When thou art converted, strengthen
the brethren. You see, the Lord as a mediator
for Peter, as a surety for Peter, stood for Peter and interceded
for him. Even though Peter has denied
the Lord three times, Peter later writes, we are kept by the power
of God through faith in Christ Jesus. And then we see while
Peter was preserved, Judas betrayed the Lord and was left to justly
perish in his sins. For the wages of sin is death,
but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our
Lord. Judas was a vessel of wrath fitted
to destruction, while Peter was a vessel of mercy ordained unto
eternal life. Judas was the son of perdition
from the beginning. Peter was a chosen vessel of
mercy unto the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, what shall
we say to these things? I know what religious people
say. Religious people say, well, that's not right. Religious people
say, well, that's not fair. What shall we say to these things?
Is there unrighteousness with God? God forbid, God forbid. He has power over all flesh to
give eternal life to as many as thou hast given to him. Now, if you consider all these
different men that we just mentioned, Abraham, Noah, Peter, even the
apostle Paul, Saul of Tarsus. If you believe the difference
in these men, If you believe the difference was because of
what these men did or did not do, what they merited or did
not, then you believe that salvation is by works rather than grace
alone. Now Saul of Tarsus, when God
saved him, what was he doing? He wasn't seeking the Lord. He
was on a mission of search and destroy. But God was seeking
him. We say that salvation is by grace
alone. Who makes you to differ from
another? What do you have that you didn't receive? It's all
of the grace of God. Isn't that your testimony? The
distinguishing difference whether man is saved or lost, justified
or damned, forgiven of his sin or he dies in his sin is the
sovereign will of God. The sovereign mercy of God alone
revealed an experience in the Lord Jesus Christ. Our Lord prayed
this, I've hid these things from the wise and prudent and revealed
them unto babes even so father for so it seems right in your
sight. He will have mercy upon whom
he will have mercy. Now some wise preacher of the
past My pastor often repeated this, I don't think this originated
with him, but some wise preacher of the past said that this scene
upon Calvary Street, in these three crosses, these three men
dying there on Calvary Street, we see they died there as representative
men. One, the unrepentant thief, died
in his sin and was justly condemned. Well, the Scriptures teach, if
you believe not that I am He, the Lord said, you'll die in
your sin. And this man mocked the Lord
and railed on Him. In the center cross, we see the
Lord Jesus Christ was dying for sin. As he was wounded for our
transgression and bruised for our iniquity, the Lord Jesus
Christ would dine for the sin of his elect laid upon him. So one man died in his sin, one
man the Lord Jesus Christ as a representative man would dine
for his people to put their sin away, and the other thief represents
those granted faith and repented in the Lord Jesus Christ, and
this man died to the condemnation and power of sin in Christ Jesus. There is therefore now no condemnation
to those who are in the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, let's see
what we can learn here. Let's put on our thinking hat
today and ask God to be our teacher, and ask the Holy Spirit to reveal
the things of God unto us again. Both of these dying thieves were
justly condemned for their crimes against the people. I mean, they
were caught red-handed. They were thieves. No doubt they
lived a life stealing and robbing from other people. And they were
getting exactly what they deserved for their sins against the people
and against God. They were guilty before the Roman
Empire, before the Jewish people, but more than that, they were
guilty before God. That's true of us as well. We're guilty before God. We do
not deserve anything from God. But what we've earned, the wages
of our sin, is death. Death. We've all sinned. And
we've all come short of the glory of God. Do you see that? Do you
think that of yourself? That you are worthy of God's
just condemnation? That you have sinned against
God? Both of these men at one time
railed upon the Lord Jesus Christ and mocked Him. Look at verse
39. One of the malefactors which
hanged railed on Him saying, if... if you're the Christ. He
didn't say, since you're the Christ and the one Son of God,
you save us, have mercy upon us. No, He railed on Him and
mocked Him and said, if you be the Christ, save thyself. and you save us." Now, at one
time both of these men said that. If you read over in Matthew 27,
let me just turn and read that to you. Matthew 27, when they
mocked him and said, he trusted God, let him deliver him now
if he will have him. For he said, I am the son of
God. As those around mocked the Lord Jesus Christ. It says in
verse 44, Matthew 27, The thieves also which were crucified with
him cast the same in their teeth. At one time both these thieves
railed on Christ and mocked Him. Both of them did. And here's
the difference. Both of these men were desperate. Both were in urgent need of mercy. Both needed forgiveness of their
sin. One continued to rail on him
while the other had faith and repentance granted unto him.
Look at verse 40. Luke 23, verse 40. But the other
answering rebuked his friend. No doubt these two had been companion
in thieves. They'd been out on many a dark
night stealing and robbing from other people and doing it together.
But the other answering rebuked him. Now at one time he was just
agreeing with him. Now how do you account for such
a radical change? He was granted repentance. The
other answering rebuked him saying, don't you fear God? Now all of
a sudden by a change, this man had a change of heart and a change
of mind. Instead of rebuking the Lord
and mocking him, He started rebuking his friend and said, you ought
to fear God. This man now has a holy reverence
for the Lord Jesus Christ, saying that thou art in the same condemnation,
and we indeed justly, for we receive the due reward of our
deeds. But this man, speaking of the Lord Jesus Christ, had
done nothing, nothing amiss. One man continued to rail, the
other man begged for mercy. Don't you fear God, he says to
his friend. You know, men by nature have
no reverence or fear of God. They have no love for God, but
hatred. Men love darkness rather than
the light. There is no fear of God before
their eyes, it says in Romans chapter 3. Men by nature do not
fear God. If a man has a holy reverence
for God, it's only because God has changed his mind. And that's
what happened to this man. This dying thief was granted
faith and given repentance to reverence God. Don't you see
verse 41? Don't you fear God? That other
thief didn't. Don't you fear God? To reverence
God? This man was given faith and
granted repentance to fear God, to reverence God, and then to
condemn himself. Dost thou not fear God, seeing
that we're We are in the same condemnation. We're getting exactly
what we deserve. He's confessing His reverence
for God, and He's confessing that we are sinners. We deserve
to be rightly judged. This man was given faith to believe
the Lord Jesus Christ as the spotless Lamb of God. As it says
in verse 41, we indeed justly were getting what we deserve
for our sin, Will we receive the due reward of our deeds?
But this man, because he granted faith and granted repentance,
he says of the Lord Jesus Christ, this man, this Holy One that's
the King of the Jews, that's the Savior of sinners, this man
has done nothing amiss. So what is he confessing? What
does repentance confess? What does faith confess? The
sinlessness of the Lord Jesus Christ. That He is the spotless
Lamb of God. He was given faith to believe
the Lord Jesus Christ as the spotless, holy Lamb of God. In
Him is no sin. He had no sin and He did no sin. Such a high priest became us
who were holy, harmless, undefiled, and separate from sin. He believed
that the Lord Jesus Christ was the Christ of God. He believed
that He was the Savior and the King, manifested to take away
our sin. This is exactly what saving faith
confesses. It confesses a holy reverence
for God. It confesses that we're the guilty
one. And it confesses that the Lord
Jesus Christ is the only one, the sinless one, who can deal
with my sin. He appeared once in the end of
the age to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself. Saving
faith confesses the Lord Jesus Christ is everything in our salvation. You see, this man's faith was
not born of ignorance, was it? God had granted this man faith,
and he confesses. He confesses it. You think about
this. The Lord Jesus Christ, as these
three men are dying, the Lord Jesus Christ, He was the first
one of these three to die. Both of these dying thieves heard
everything the Lord Jesus Christ uttered from the cross. This
one repentant dying thief heard the word of the Lord. Faith comes
by hearing, and hearing by the word of the Lord, and was granted
faith. The other man heard the same
things. Father, forgive them. They do not know what they're
doing. Both those men heard that message. Only one was granted
faith to believe Christ as God and Savior. Whosoever shall call
upon the name of the Lord shall be saved." And that's exactly
what that man did. Look at verse 42. And he said
unto Jesus, he said unto the Savior, Lord, Lord. Do you see that? Lord. What does
saving faith confess? The Lordship of Christ. What
does repentance confess? The Lordship of Christ. He said
unto the Savior, Lord. He is God, our Savior, Lord. Remember me. Remember me when
you come into your kingdom. What a request. He didn't ask
For great blessings, he just asked the Lord to remember him. Remember him in mercy. Remember
him in grace. Lord, when you come into your
kingdom, your king and your kingdom, Lord, remember me. He cried as
a mercy beggar, did he not? Lord, have mercy upon me, thee
sinner. You see, saving faith has one object. This man didn't
look to the Pharisees. This man didn't look to the temple.
This man didn't look to the law. He said, Lord, remember me. Saving faith has one object,
the Lord Jesus Christ. Looking unto Jesus, who is the
author and finisher of our faith. Our Lord said, look unto me,
all the ends of the earth. I'm the only just God and Savior. Look unto me. He sees saving
faith as one object. This man didn't look anywhere
else but to the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. Lord, remember
me. You're a king in your kingdom.
Now, admittedly, he didn't look like a king, did he? I mean,
he was beaten, bloody, nailed to a tree. He didn't look like
a king. Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence
of things not seen. He looked at the Lord Jesus Christ
with eyes of faith, God-given faith, and sees in him a kingdom
of salvation in Christ. He puts his total confidence
upon the Lord Jesus Christ to trust him to the salvation of his soul and
the forgiveness of his sin, and the only one who could pardon
His sin, Lord, remember me." And the Lord did. Remember, He
prayed, Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.
The Lord prayed for this man to have his sin forgiven, and
the Lord right now is forgiving his sin. This dying thief heard
those gracious words of the Lord Jesus Christ and looked to the
Lord for the pardon of his sin. He trusted the Lord Jesus Christ
as the King of salvation and he said, Lord, remember me. And he did. He confessed his
Lordship, did he not? He confessed a holy reverence
for God. He confessed he was a sinner.
He confessed the Lord Jesus Christ is the sinless Lamb of God, sent
to take away our sin. He confessed and owned his Lordship. Lord, you can save me if you
will. And the Lord said, I will. I
will. Look at verse 43. You see, saving
faith vows and confesses his Lordship. And the Lord Saving
faith takes its place before the throne of God as a mercy
beggar. Verse 43, and the Lord Jesus
said to him, verily, truly, I say unto you, unto thee, today thou
shalt be with me in paradise. Now this thief, right now, is
glorified with the Lord Jesus Christ in paradise. Verily, today you be with me
in that eternal glory. It's a paradise. Now, it's interesting,
after they, in John chapter 19, When the Lord Jesus Christ cried
the last words, Father, into Thy hand, I commend my spirit. Having said thus, He gave up
the ghost." The Lord Jesus Christ was the first man of these three
who died. You remember it said in John
19, to hasten their death. So they came with clubs and they
broke their legs so they could not hold themselves up and they
would quickly suffocate. as they were hanging there, that
the Lord Jesus Christ had already given His life for their sin. You see, and here's the point
I'm trying to make about this, a lot of people who emphasize,
now you're going to have to follow me carefully here, a lot of people
who emphasize when we say that salvation is received by faith,
received by faith, that were saved by grace. A lot of people
who would say and preach and promote that baptism is a way
of salvation. That we're baptized to be regenerated,
that we're baptized to have our sin forgiven. They say we're
baptized. And then we would bring up this
example, well, the dying feet wasn't baptized. And he went
to glory, and the argument of the other side would say this,
well, the blood of the covenant was not yet in effect because
the Lord Jesus Christ hadn't died. Wait a minute now. If you want to follow their argument,
he had already died. He died first. See what I'm saying? Follow me if you can. He died
first, so the blood of the covenant, of course, it's always been in
effect, but according to their argument, it falls because the
Lord was already dead when this thief died, and the other one
as well. So that blood of the covenant
was in effect. You see what I'm saying? That
takes the wind out of their argument. That takes the power out of their
argument. This dying thief was saved by
grace alone, not water baptism. Well, the blood of the covenant
wasn't in effect. Yes, it was. It's always been
in effect, according to their argument, because the Lord died
first. Now, next time you run into that
argument, maybe you can remember that. It helped me tremendously
to understand and to have a comeback for those who insist upon baptism
in salvation. Basically, that's what they preach.
Baptism in salvation. This dying thief wasn't baptized. The Lord took him to glory by
His grace. And the blood of Christ put away
his sin. Now, let's focus on something
right here for a moment. I'll let you go. The Lord says,
to this dying man, today I'm going to take you to glory."
Now we know what they did with his body. They took his lifeless
body of this thief down from the tree, and they probably threw
it in a ditch somewhere. They didn't honor his body. He
probably didn't even have any kind of a funeral. They just
took his body down and threw it in a ditch somewhere, or discarded
it down the hill with the rest of those bones down at the bottom
of the Mount Calvary. It's called the Place of the
Skull. They just cast his body down there on the ground with
the rest of those bones, waiting for the birds to come and pick
his flesh away. But that's not where he went.
He went to glory. Now his body went back to the
dust, but this man went to glory with the Lord Jesus Christ. You
see, for the believer, death is not punishment, it's promotion. This man got a promotion. For
the believer, death is not penalty, it's paradise. For me to live
is Christ, to die is gain. The abdomen from the body is
to be present with the Lord. Paul said, the time of my departure
is at hand. Paul, where are you going? The
time of my departure is at hand. And he says this just before
they take him out of his prison cell there in Rome and march
him down to the execution block to have his head taken off. He
said, my departure is at hand. Paul, where are you going? Well,
my body is going back to the grave, but I'm going to be with
the Lord. To be absent from the body is
to be present with the Lord. The Lord Jesus Christ died for
this sinner. The Lord Jesus Christ died for
this man. The Lord Jesus Christ put away
his sin. This man was blessed to hear
every word the Lord had uttered, and was granted heart, faith,
to trust the Lord Jesus Christ for all of his salvation. Now
that's the salvation. We know this man beyond all doubt
because we believe the record of God. We believe this man was
justified by grace and taken to glory by the Lord Jesus Christ. May the Lord be pleased to do
that for us, to cause us to hear His Word and to grant us faith
to trust and believe Him and to take our place before Him
as a mercy beggar. That dying thief rejoiced to
see that fountain in his day, and there may I, though vile
as he, may wash, may his blood wash all our sin away. May God
give us faith in him to confess our sins before God. May God
give us faith and repentance to confess His sinlessness as
the Lamb of God, to confess His Lordship, to call upon the name
of the Lord. May God give us faith and repentance
to confess the successful work of the Lord. You're a king, you
have a kingdom, purchased of God. May God give us faith to
confess and own the Lord Jesus Christ as all of our salvation. Lord, You're coming into your
kingdom. You're a king in your kingdom.
Remember me. Verily, verily, I say unto thee
today, shalt thou be with me in paradise.