Return in your Bibles to Luke chapter 23. Luke chapter 23, we are going to return to Galatians probably in the month of October to take up Galatians chapter 6. I did want to look at this particular instance this evening, a passage that we have considered in the past, one I hope that we will consider often, the thief on the cross and his conversion to Christ. I just want to read, beginning at verse twenty-six of Luke, chapter twenty-three.
Now, as they led him away, they laid hold of a certain man, Simon, a Cyrenian, who was coming from the country, and on him they laid the cross, that he might bear it after Jesus. And a great multitude of the people followed him, and women who also mourned and lamented But Jesus, turning to them, said, Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me, but weep for yourselves and for your children. For indeed, the days are coming in which they will say, Blessed are the barren, wombs that never bore, and breasts which never nurse. Then they will begin to say to the mountains, Fall on us, and to the hills, cover us.
For if they do these things in the green wood, what will be done in the dry? There were also two others. criminals, led with him to be put to death. And when they had come to the place called Calvary, there they crucified him and the criminals, one on the right hand and the other on the left. Then Jesus said, Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do.
And they divided his garments and cast lots, and the people stood looking on. But even the rulers with them sneered, saying, He saved others. Let him save himself, if he is the Christ, the chosen of God. The soldiers also mocked him, coming and offering him sour wine and saying, If you are the king of the Jews, save yourself.
And an inscription also was written over him in letters of Greek, Latin and Hebrew. This is the king of the Jews. Then one of the criminals who were hanged blasphemed him, saying, If you are the Christ, save yourself and us. But the other, answering, rebuked him, saying, Do you not even fear God, seeing you are under the same condemnation?
And we indeed justly, for we receive the due reward of our deeds. But this man has done nothing wrong. Then he said to Jesus, Lord, remember me when you come into your kingdom. And Jesus said to him, assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise.
Amen.
Opening Prayer
Well, let us pray. Father, we thank you for this account and we pray that you would encourage our hearts that we would see Jesus Christ and all of his saving power and in all of his glory and all of his ability. And our Father, may we indeed love him and worship him and adore him with all that is in us. How we praise you, God, for this Lord of glory.
How we praise you for this Savior and how we pray that his gospel would be preached from sea to sea and that he would indeed have dominion, that he would indeed build his church and the gates of hell not prevail against it. How we praise you, God, for your mercy and your grace. We ask now that you would fill us with your spirit and we pray in Jesus' holy name. Amen.
Introduction
Well, as I said, this is a wonderful account I hope that we're all familiar with, one that we refresh our souls with constantly and regularly. We always need to keep Christ fresh in our minds and in our hearts, and it's wonderful that we have the gospel accounts. to set him before us in his saving ability, in his saving power.
The Conversion of the Thief
There's two broad observations that I want to make on this section tonight. First, the conversion of the thief, and secondly, the response of the Savior. The conversion of the thief, and then secondly, the response of the Savior. If we look at the conversion of the thief, we'll note that it's this man's 11th hour.
We often use that sort of a language to speak of that time right before death. He is in the 11th hour. He is getting ready to die. Matthew 27 and verse 44 and Mark 15 32 reveals to us that both criminals were continuously reviling the Lord Jesus.
But this particular one, sometime while he was on the cross, sometime while he was being crucified, this glorious change came over him. God the Spirit came upon him and changed his heart to embrace the Lord of Glory. But barring that, consider for a moment, he woke up that morning knowing that he was going to be punished capitally for crimes. engaged in criminal activity in the Roman Empire, and they were delivering them up to be executed. I mean, that was the day that was before him.
This is truly an eleventh hour. The man woke in the morning to justly suffer for his crimes, and he was as close to hell as humanly possible. Had he passed from this life into the next, apart from Jesus Christ, he would have went into eternal fire. Albert Barnes says this of this particular instance.
This was a case of repentance in the last hour, the trying hour of death. And it has been remarked that one was brought to repentance there to show that no one should despair on a dying bed. In other words, this is a good example that we can bring to other sinners in the eleventh hour. We can show them that God, in his mercy and in his grace, snatched this man alive, or snatched this man unto himself, prior to his entrance into hell.
But Barnes continues and says, and but one, that none should be presumptuous and delay repentance to that awful moment. So, yes, while God may indeed save in the eleventh hour, it is presumptuous to live that way. It is sinful, it is arrogant, it is rebellious, and it is not counting the fact that you are just a vapor. You're here for a time. and then you vanish away.
So that's the larger context. Now, as we consider the conversion of the thief, let's note five particular things that happened to this man while he is being crucified.
Concern for Others
The first is that he manifests concern for others. He manifests concern for others. At one time, both men are reviling our Lord. But this change comes upon this particular thing.
He is converted. He is brought to a saving knowledge of the Lord Jesus. And in verse thirty nine, it says, Then one of the criminals who were hanged blasphemed him, saying, If you are the Christ, save yourself and us. But the other answering rebuked him, saying, At this particular time, he not only manifest concern for this particular man, but he's ultimately concerned for the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
He does not want to hear the blasphemy, and he directs his brother to consider the Lord, to consider the events, to consider what's going on. And I think those of us who, by God's grace, have gone out of darkness into marvelous light, hopefully that's something of our burden as well. Manifesting concern for others, seeking to reprove blasphemy, seeking to point people to the Lord of glory, seeking to direct them to consider their place before a holy God and what they justly deserve.
Fear of God's Judgment
Notice, secondly, he fears God's judgment. Again, this is a good sign. What we find in Romans chapter three, that is indicative or characteristic of the unregenerate, is that there is no fear of God before their eyes. Not so with this particular thief.
Do you not even fear God? What's the implication this thief now does? This thief has been taught to his grace that taught my heart to fear. John Newton wrote, certainly from Jeremiah 32, God says, I will put the fear of me in their hearts and they will never depart from me.
Do you not even fear God seeing you under the same condemnation?
Owning Guilt for Sin
Notice, thirdly, he owns his guilt for sin. This is the sign of God's grace. Notice what he doesn't say, hey, I need a crack attorney, I'm up here. for the wrong reasons. I've been framed.
This is bad. This isn't right. It wasn't me. No, he says.
Do you not even fear God seeing you under the same condemnation? And we indeed justly, for we receive the due reward of our sins. He embraces capital punishment for his crime. He acknowledges the justice and the justness of this act of punishment.
He is called a robber in Matthew 27, verses 38 and 44. He's called a robber in Mark 15 and verse 27. In Mark 15 at verse 7, when it's speaking about Barabbas, here is what we read. And there was one named Barabbas who was chained with his fellow rebels.
They had committed, notice, murder in the rebellion. See, Barabbas was to be crucified with these two thieves. These three men worked in cahoots together. These three men were compadres.
They were partners in crime. Barabbas, as you remember, was released by Pilate. When he says, what do you want me to do with Barabbas? What do you want me to do with this man?
They said, away with him, away with him, crucify him, but rather give us Barabbas. So, you see, there were going to be three crucifixions on that particular day. But Barabbas is taken out and Jesus is put in. And these two thieves on either side were robbers, but also participated in murder.
They were wretched, ungodly, horrible men. The notorious prisoner Barabbas and his two companions. They were justly sentenced to death by the Roman state. And this man now sees the justness of it.
That is a blessed reality that happens as a result of God's grace. We no longer argue with Him. We no longer try to barter with Him. We no longer try to say, you know, it's not as bad, God, as you say it is.
You know, certain times you'll hear preaching and the Spirit might begin to convict you and you might begin to start making excuses. Well, no, it's not quite as bad as that man says. It's not quite as bad as what the Scripture says. Well, genuine conversion or a work of God's grace finds the sinner owning his wretchedness, finds the sinner like that publican beating his breast, not even being able to look up into heaven and saying, God be merciful to me.
Literally, the sinner. Paul, the apostle on the road to Damascus, learned this particular truth. Every man that has come to grips with Jesus Christ and his saving grace realizes what he is apart from God and his mercy. He doesn't argue about it.
He doesn't fight against it. He doesn't try to minimize it. This is the marker. This is one of the reasons or one of the areas where we ought to be concerned.
We're always trying to define ourselves as better than we are. We're always trying to describe ourselves as more lawful and more righteous and more upright. You know, healing ultimately begins with recognizing the great malady that affects our souls. Healing always begins by realizing that we are as bad as the Bible says.
And if we know our hearts rightly, we're even worse than the Bible says. When Paul calls himself the chief of sinners in 1 Timothy 1.15, Those who have come to God, those who understand something of sovereign grace, those who know conviction will want to almost wrestle with him for that particular title. Certainly, Paul, you can't be the chief of sinners. I believe that's something that should be said of me.
Is that where you've been? Or do you always try to redefine it? You always try to find the loophole. You always try to promote your own self-righteousness.
Always try to promote the fact that you're not as bad as robbers. You're not as bad as murderers. You're not as bad as child molesters. You're not as bad as kidnappers.
You're not as bad as those men who run the civil office. Not this man. He owns his guilt for sin. We indeed, justly, for we receive the due reward of our deeds.
This has a long history in the salvation of sinners. When Isaiah the prophet is brought face to face with the Lord of hosts, He cries out, Will is me, for I am undone. I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips. When Ezekiel is confronted with the glory of God, what does he do?
Does he say, I'm okay, you're okay? Does he say, you know, I'm a pretty upright man, Lord? It says he fell at his feet as dead. Same thing with John the Apostle on the island of Patmos, when he sees the risen and the glorified Jesus Christ.
What does John do? Does he say, let's have a cup of tea together, Lord? No, it says he fell as a dead man. That's what conviction of sin looks like.
Now, I know some sensitive soul will say, I never actually fell on my feet as a dead, or fell on my face as a dead man. I'm not saying every time and every instance always looks the same, but conviction of sin must have been there. We'll never see our need for the Savior until God shows us our sinfulness. And that's what's going on in this particular instance.
He manifests concern for others. He fears God's judgment. Thirdly, he owns his guilt for sin.
Confession of Christ's Holiness
And fourth, notice he confesses the holiness of Christ. It's a beautiful thing. What God is doing on the cross here with this particular thief, this robber, this participant in the crime of murder is nothing more or nothing less than amazing and astounding. I mean, you might have been on the ground that day.
If you knew this was actually happening, you might have reviled God. Why would you save him, Lord? You ever heard of a notorious criminal coming to know Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior? But you respond.
Praise God, from whom all blessings flow. Is that it? Really? Or do you say, I bet it's not really true?
Maybe it isn't. Maybe you guys are fake. But what is your attitude like? It's almost this one-upmanship.
Now, God should save me, because I'm a garden variety sinner. I mean, I'm a sinner. I'll own that. But I've always kept my lawn cut, I've always paid my taxes, I've done my civic duty, I've done jury duty, I've done all the things that I'm supposed to do.
But these robbers, these murderers, these men that are wretched and vile to the core, how dare God save them? You're going to stumble with a man named Saul of Tarsus. You're going to have a real problem with the chief apostle, with that man whom God saved and dispatched to be the apostle to the Gentiles. What did he do while Stephen was being stoned to death?
He stood by. He held the floats. He held the robes. Why did the men take their robes off when they stoned Stephen?
Probably because it was hot. Right? You wouldn't wear your jacket in here tonight. You ever drive down the road on a day like this and see someone in their jacket and you wonder, what is the deal?
How could you possibly wear a jacket? Well, I suspect that was what was going on at the stoning death of Stephen. They were hot, but also it inhibited their mobility. You can't throw a stone really hard, really accurately if you're bound up in rows.
So they take off their robes and they lay them at the feet of a young man named Saul of Tarsus. It says that Saul of Tarsus was agreeing, he was consenting, he was in hearty approval of this act of murder upon Stephen, God's martyr. It's interesting, Paul uses the same word in Romans chapter 1, verse 32, who not only practiced these things, but give hearty approval to others, who consent to the wickedness of others. Brethren, God's grace is amazing.
We sing that. We rejoice in that. We exalt in that. When we see it displayed, we ought not to revile God.
It ought not to rise up in us. Well, why would God save that man? He's particularly beastly. What about King David of Israel?
He did some pretty beastly things himself. And yet God's grace overcame even that man's sin. Reverend, this is glorious. He confesses the holiness of Jesus Christ.
Notice in verse forty one, we indeed justly for we receive the due reward of our deeds. But this man has done nothing wrong. Now, that could be taken one of two ways. He has done nothing wrong to merit the cross.
He has done nothing wrong in the sight of the Roman state such that he should be executed for a capital crime. But I think by this time, this thief knew better than he even spoke. This change came over him based on what we read, what we'll continue to see. And he understood something about the sinlessness and the perfection and the glory of Jesus Christ, the Lord.
He joins the ranks of the seraphim who cry, holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts. Interesting, in the latter chapters of Luke, another heathen, another pagan, confesses the holiness of Christ. Three times does Pilate say, I find no guilt in this man. They sound theologically correct, don't they?
This is what the writer of the Hebrews says. He's holy, harmless, and undefiled. Separate from sinners. You see, when you come to have dealings with God, not only is your sin obvious, but his purity is obvious.
Not only is your sin highlighted, God's glory, God's perfection, God's purity is highlighted as well. That's what's happening on the cross.
Calling Upon the Lord Jesus
And then fifthly, with reference to the conversion of the thief, notice he calls upon the Lord Jesus. Then he said to Jesus, Lord, remember me when you come into your kingdom. Now, this statement alone deserves attention. How does he address it?
He says, Lord, right. How does Jesus look at this particular time? Does he look like a Lord? I understand several weeks ago when I was away, Pastor Porter preached Pastor Porter preached from Revelation 19, that glorious picture of the warring Christ on his white horse, riding prosperously in truth, humility and righteousness, wielding that sword that proceeds from his mouth, which is the very word of God.
That is a glorious and wondrous depiction of Christ making war against his enemies. Is that what this thief saw? No. This thief saw a bloodied, battered, Broken, burly man hung upon a cross.
This man saw with the physical eye something that others were sneering at. The rulers sneered, saying, he saved others. Let him save himself if he is the Christ, the chosen of God. Little did they know that in that sneer, they were declaring the very truth that was going on right before their eyes.
In the midst of agony, in the midst of woe, in the midst of his own eleventh hour, Christ is exercising that powerful salvation. But look at what this thief saw. He saw Jesus broken. The disciples previous had witnessed Jesus mighty miracles.
They had watched Jesus walk on the water. They had seen Jesus say to the grave, Lazarus, come forth and then watch Lazarus come out. They had seen Jesus take a few fish and a few and a few waves and multiply it and feed great multitudes. They saw mighty miracles and wondrous deeds.
They saw things that were absolutely incredible and amazing. Not so this. He saw a bloody, broken, bruised Savior hanging on the tree. Ryle says this.
Ryle's sermon on this is called Christ's Greatest Trophy. This book called Holiness is a specific sermon or essay on this account, and it's called Christ's Greatest Trophy. Lyle says he only saw our Lord in agony and in weakness, in suffering and in pain. He saw him undergoing dishonorable punishment, deserted, mocked, despised, blasphemed.
He saw no scepter, no royal crown, no outward dominion, no glory, no power, no signs of might. And yet the dying thief believed and looked forward to Christ's kingdom. He calls him Lord in this instance. And then notice, with reference to his statement here, he said to Jesus, Lord, remember me when you come into your kingdom.
This is Pat. He understood things. He understood there is a life after the physical life, isn't there? Lord, remember me when you come into your kingdom.
He knew something a lot of people today don't give any thought to. They think that all we're in this life for is to make all we can, to do all we can, to enjoy all we can. They make bumper stickers that say things like, he who dies with the most toys wins. Oh, really?
What is it that he wins? Jesus' bumper sticker, to speak foolishly, says that he What shall a man profit if he gains the whole world and loses his soul? This man looked beyond the physical. He thought in terms of eternity.
He understood at least that much from the Old Testament. He believed the soul continues after physical death. Secondly, he recognized that Jesus was a Lord and that Jesus possessed a kingdom. Again, without all of the witness, without all of the palm, without the Revelation 19 declaration, without the walking on the water, the raising of the dead, the healing of the sick, the giving sight to the blind.
Without all that, he knew that Jesus was a Lord who possessed a kingdom. He asks to be remembered. What's this mean? Casting himself upon divine mercy.
He doesn't say, Lord, remember that my good outweighed my bad. Lord, remember that I did do a few nice things in my earthly sojourn. Sure, I was a robber. Sure, I participated in murderous insurrection.
Sure, I was a real crime and a criminal. But, you know, Lord, I did do some certain things that I want you to remember. No, that's not it. He's casting himself fully upon the mercy of God most high.
He is casting himself upon the mercy and the grace of Jesus Christ here. Calvin Calvin says, Lord, remember me. He says, I know not that since the creation of the world, there was a more remarkable and striking example of faith. I know not that since the creation of the world there was a more striking and remarkable example of faith.
Lord, remember me when you come into your kingdom. He casts himself wholly upon Jesus. You see, that's what you need to do if you haven't done it. On the Day of Judgment, it's not going to do for you to say, well, you know, I gave some money over here.
I did some nice deeds over here. I've got to try and I've got to try to make the scales tip in my favor. That's the religion of man. That's the logic of the devil.
That is the philosophy of every religion apart from Jesus Christ. We've got to do enough good to counteract our bad. That's not Christianity. We're all bad.
We sin. We're vile. It was a preacher in the 60s by the name of Brother Ralph Barnard, preached in the Southern Baptist churches. It's a powerful preacher, powerful Calvinistic preacher.
And he spoke of the Southern drawl and he would preach in Southern churches and he would say the doctrine of total depravity means that you are plumb bad. That's it. Plumb bad through and through. If it isn't mercy, if it isn't grace, it's hell.
And this dying thief cast himself upon the mercy of the Lord Jesus Christ.
The Response of the Savior
Well, let's look at the response of the Savior. The thief says to Jesus, Lord, remember me when you come into your kingdom. What is Christ's response? This is instructive.
This is helpful. This is hopeful. This is a display of the ability and power of our Lord Jesus. One man says Jesus himself is revealed as savior even while dying for the outcast and criminal who turns to him in faith.
It's Christ's eleventh hour. It's Christ's time of woe. It's Christ's time of drinking the cup of God's wrath. Is he consumed in that?
Is he caught up in that? Is he like us when we're affected or when we're hurting or when we're plagued or when we're tried or when we have trouble or when we have difficulty? We tend to focus simply and solely upon ourselves. Not so with Christ.
Remember, they sneered, saying he saved others. That's what he's doing. That's what he's doing right before our very eyes. Notice the response of the Savior.
A Willing Savior
First, he is a willing Savior. Jesus said to him. Does it reprove him? Does it rebuke him?
Does it pretend that he doesn't hear him? We don't find Jesus ignore him. We don't find Jesus pretend like the man isn't there. That he hasn't addressed the question.
Your kids ever asked you something and you didn't know the answer and you just ignored them? like they didn't even open their mouths? That's not what Christ does. Christ directs his attention to this particular man, the suffering Savior, the mocked-at Lord, the agonizing Son of Man. Even during the agony of the cross, just prior to the sixth hour, when darkness would come upon the land, Jesus is willing to save to the uttermost all that draw nigh unto God through him.
He is a willing Savior.
An Able Savior
Secondly, he is an able Savior. Notice in verse 43. Assuredly, that word we met with this morning in Matthew 5. Amen.
Verily, truly, assuredly, I say to you, Jesus underscores it. Jesus punctuates it. Jesus highlights it. Jesus boldfaces it.
Jesus wants this man to know of a truth that these good things are going to be his particular lot. Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise." Notice how the thief posed the question. Lord, remember me when you come into your kingdom. That's the casting of oneself upon mercy.
Lord, remember me when it's convenient for you, Lord. I don't want to try to jock you to the front of your priority list, Lord. I just want, in the annals of time, some point down the road, I want you to remember me, and if you are willing, accept me into your presence. Not so, Jesus.
Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise. This is how we know that the Lord did not physically descend into hell for three days. Jesus cast his soul, or cast his spirit, into the hands of his Father. He's able to tell this converted thief that today you will be with me in paradise.
In verse 35, it says that people and rulers sneered. And in verse 43, Christ is acting upon this particular statement.
A Glorious Savior
And then thirdly, he is a glorious savior. He is a glorious savior. Who's his last companion before his death? Doesn't this bear forth all that was said of him in his earthly ministry?
Remember in Luke 15, This man receives sinners and eats with them. Absolutely. He did it in his life. He did it in his ministry.
He does it in his death. He is glorious. He is saving to the uttermost, even in the most difficult time in his earthly existence. He is drinking the very cup of God's wrath.
He is suffering hell on the cross, and he is saving to the uttermost. Paradise is ultimately paradise because of what he says here. Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with me. You know what makes paradise paradise?
It's not those pearly gates. It's not those streets paved with gold. It's not those beautiful gates. It's not all the beautiful people that are in that land.
It's not the myriad of angels. Paradise is paradise because Christ is there. Christ is the glory of Emmanuel's land. Assuredly, I say to you today, you will be with me in paradise.
Application
Well, in conclusion, we learn a lesson about the Savior, don't we? I hope it's a lesson that you'll remember. I know it's hot. I realize that.
I'm not immune to the heat myself. Sometimes when it's hot, our eyes get a little heavy. You might hear the buzz of the fans and it just seems to work on the psyche in such a way that it causes your eyelids to get heavy. But you need to see Christ in this passage.
He is a willing Savior. He is an able Savior. He is a glorious Savior. Do not leave.
Do not pillow your head tonight. Do not enter into another work week without first casting yourself upon the mercy of Jesus Christ. Paul says in Romans chapter 10, whoever believes on him will not be disappointed. You will never cast your soul upon saving grace, upon the mercy of God in Jesus Christ.
And 10 years, 15 years, 20 years, 30 years say, wow, I wish I never would have done that. That is absolutely inconsistent with the Christian life. The only thing I've ever heard is, I should have came to Christ a lot sooner. I should have looked to sovereign grace a lot sooner.
If you have not come, if you have not tasted, if you have not seen that Christ is good, realize that if he's saving a robber, murderer on the cross, he is able, willing, and glorious to save you. There is a lesson in Luke 23 concerning the Savior. Secondly, there is a lesson about sovereign grace. A lesson about sovereign grace.
Remember I said that morning this particular thief woke up. This particular thief knew that he had to die for his crimes against the Roman state. So did Barabbas. Barabbas woke up on that particular day, sentenced to the same death, ready to be executed.
That green mile, if you will. These men were on the green mile waiting to be executed. Barabbas probably counted it as a wonderful stroke of luck to be freed from this particular deed, right? I mean, face it, you're in the eleventh hour, you're going to be executed, and then the crowd says, give us Barabbas, and away with him.
You're probably secretly, inwardly, and publicly rejoicing. I was going to be crucified today, but now I get to go home, or I get to go rob and murder and carry on and do whatever it is I want to do. But you notice something about sovereign grace here. Notice how God is in control of all these things.
Notice how God wants these things in such a way as to put this center right in the place where Christ is. What about the other thing? Didn't he make these remarkable discoveries about the person and work of Jesus Christ as well? It's grace.
Sovereign mercy, so we say the number 96, it's not that I did choose the Lord for that could never be. If you hadn't chosen me, we wouldn't be in this place of great blessing. This narrative not only demonstrates the saving power of Jesus Christ, but the fact that that power is not ultimately applied to everyone. Matthew Henry says this gives no encouragement to any to put off their repentance to their deathbed or to hope that they shall find mercy.
For though it is certain that true repentance is never too late, it is as certain that late repentance is seldom true. Back to that whole idea of the 11th hour and the way that we started. It's in there to show so you don't despair. There's only one instance so that you don't presume.
You're ultimately dependent upon grace, mercy. Salvation isn't like a light switch. We just flip it on when we're ready for it. Salvation isn't simply like our water fountain that we just flip on when we're ready for it.
It is God's doing, it is God's mercy, it is God's grace. And then thirdly, there is a lesson here about salvation. Salvation is never by works, is it? This man had no works.
This man had no contribution, he had no covenant faithfulness, he had no ability to seal the deal that was initiated by Jesus Christ. It was solely grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ Jesus alone. The thief was never baptized. Now, this shouldn't be an argument against baptism.
You know, you meet that sometimes. People are sort of unsure. Pato Spranklinger, believers' baptism. Well, the thief was never baptized.
That's not normative. That's not descriptive. That is not to be our pattern for the Christian life. We are to believe and be baptized and to join Christ's church.
But this particular point needs to be made. The thief was never baptized. He never joined the church. He never went to the Lord's table.
He never engaged in acts of charity or service to the Lord. But he is with Christ in paradise. Salvation is by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ the Savior alone. You cannot mistake that.
You cannot miss that. You cannot evade that. William Cooper was bang on when he wrote, The dying thief rejoiced to see that fountain in his day. And here have I, as vile as he, washed all my sins away.
Praise God for our Lord Jesus. Believe on Him, and see Him as that one alone who is able to save you from your sins. Well, let us pray.
Closing Prayer
Father, thank You for the Word of God, and thank You for this account and the salvation of this thief. And we pray that we would be encouraged, that we would see and marvel at the glory of Jesus Christ saving on the cross. And our Father, I pray for any and all here that have not looked and lived, I pray that You would work in their hearts, God, that it would be grace that teaches them to fear, that it would be grace that would promote conviction for sin and that realization that Christ alone can save. Father, do that work, Father, and do that for your glory and for your honor.
And we pray that you would go with us now into this week, grant us grace to shine as lights in a crooked and perverse generation and to hold forth the word of truth. And we pray in Jesus' name, amen.