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You're turning your Bibles to 
Luke chapter 23. Luke chapter 23. Thought it would 
be good for us to continue with that theme of the Savior's sayings 
from the cross. Tonight, we'll look at the second 
saying from the cross. When our Lord Jesus says to the 
thief, Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with me in 
paradise. Well, I'll just pick up reading 
in Luke chapter 23, beginning in verse 26. 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 
him. 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 
nursed. 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 greenwood, 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 was also 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. Well, let us pray. Father, 
thank you for this written word. We thank you that you have given 
us the Bible, that you have given us this record of your redemptive 
work. We thank you for our Lord Jesus 
Christ. And even in his own eleventh 
hour, we see his mercy and his grace in the salvation of a sinner. We just ask that you would encourage 
our hearts now, that you would cause our minds to go to the 
cross, cause our minds to reflect upon this great, great event 
in your world. And we pray that we would just 
derive much comfort and much benefit of considering again 
the gospel of Jesus Christ our Lord. And it's in his blessed 
name that we pray. Amen. Well, as I said, this is 
the second saying from the cross in Luke's gospel here, specifically 
verse 43. Assuredly, I say to you, Today 
you will be with me in paradise. It's a wonderful account of the 
mercy of God, the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. As I mentioned, 
it is the 11th hour for him. When we use that terminology, 
the 11th hour, that time right before we're about to die. Even 
to the end, the Lord Jesus manifests His graciousness in the salvation 
of this particular man. Now, I want to consider two things 
this evening. First, the conversion of the 
thief, and secondly, the response of the Savior. The conversion 
of the thief and the response of the Savior. As I said, it's 
the eleventh hour for the Lord Jesus, but it's also the eleventh 
hour for this thief. on the cross. Notice in verse 
32, there were also two others, criminals, led with him to be 
put to death. In Matthew and in Mark, those 
gospel writers tell us that both of these men continued to revile 
the Lord Jesus Christ. The tense of the verb indicates 
it wasn't just a one-time thing. While he is being mocked by the 
chief priests, while he is being mocked by the persons on the 
ground looking up at the crosses, he is being simultaneously mocked 
by either thief on both sides, blaspheming him, saying vicious 
and unkind things. So this man hanging on the cross 
began the day with a death sentence. He's put up on this cross and 
initially he is blaspheming the Lord. But there is a decisive 
change that takes place in this man as a result. of having met 
the Lord Jesus Christ. Albert Barnes makes this statement 
concerning this time frame or this eleventh hour. He says, 
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, we ought never 
to despair. While there is breath in someone's 
lungs, they are, by God's grace, able to believe on the Lord Jesus 
Christ. But Barnes does add this. He 
says, and but one that none should be presumptuous and delay repentance 
to that awful moment. So there is one so that we don't 
despair. But there is but one so that 
we don't grow presumptuous and say, well, I'll just put that 
off until my dying day. I'll just put that off until 
my deathbed. Or you might be a child or a 
young person and you say, you know, Christianity makes sense. 
And this whole idea of religion does make sense. But, you know, 
in my childhood or in my young or in my teenage years, I kind 
of want to just get to do what I want to do. So I'm going to 
put off this whole idea of repentance until a more convenient time. 
Again, listen to Barnes, and but one that none should be presumptuous 
and delay repentance to that awful moment. Do not delay. When you hear the gospel, when 
you hear of Jesus Christ, the response ought to be to believe 
what God has said concerning His Son. This is the emphasis 
everywhere in the Bible. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ 
and you shall be saved. It is not a good place to live 
outside of Christ. The Bible says that when you 
are outside of Christ, you are under the wrath of God. Currently, 
abidingly, always, constantly. You can't escape it, except for 
fleeing to Christ by grace alone. through faith alone in him alone. So that's sort of the larger 
context. We find the thieves on either 
side of the Lord Jesus. And then, as I said, something 
happens to this one thief. Notice the glorious change. Going to just take these observations 
as the text presents them. Notice first that he manifests 
concern for others. He manifests concern for others. In this case, he manifests concern 
for his brother, Thief. He manifests, as well, concern 
for the glory and dignity of the Lord Jesus Christ. Notice, 
in verse 39, that one of the criminals who were hanged blasphemed 
him, saying, If you are the Christ, save yourself and us. Similar 
to what was going on among the people at the foot of the cross. 
If he is the Christ, let him save himself. Sort of making 
fun of him, making sport, mocking the Savior while he hung upon 
that cross. Isn't it interesting? Isn't it 
intriguing that the very thing they're chiding him about, he's 
actually in the process of doing? He saved others, he needs to 
save himself. Well, he is currently on the 
cross saving this thief, but as well he's saving all that 
the Father has given him. Notice in verse 40, the other 
answering rebuked him saying, do you not even fear God seeing 
you're under the same condemnation? He begins to rebuke him. He doesn't 
want him to blaspheme the glory of the Lord Jesus. He doesn't 
want him to say ill things. And then that leads us, secondly, 
to see what happened in this thief's heart. He fears God's 
judgment. This question that he asks this 
other thief, do you not even fear God? The magistrate was 
going to execute them. The magistrate had dropped the 
gavel. It was time to pay up in terms 
of justice. And this man knew the fear of 
the Lord. He understood all too well in 
this eleventh hour that he was going to leave this earth and 
be in the presence of God. It seemed a no-brainer to him. 
Do you not even fear God? Has that not even propped up 
on you yet? Have you ever met people like 
that, that are so engaged in wickedness, so engaged in lawlessness 
and ungodliness and unrighteousness? We could ask them, do you not 
even fear God? You have no fear of physical 
consequences? You have no fear of the police? 
You have no fear of destroying a family? And you have no fear 
of God whatsoever? You see, something happened to 
this thief where he's starting to think properly now. Madness 
no longer controls him. Madness no longer dominates his 
mind. That's what we have to conclude 
when we see people in certain positions living as if there 
is no God, living in abject rebellion against God, and never manifesting 
this fear of God. And then notice, thirdly, he 
owns his own guilt for his sin. He says, do you not even fear 
God, seeing you are under the same condemnation? And we indeed 
justly That's always a good sign in a sinner. That's always the 
mark that God is at work in a sinner. Remember that man or two men 
went to the temple to pray. The publican basically prayed 
to himself and applauded himself that he was not like other men. 
He applauded himself that he tied, that he fasted twice a 
week, that he was a great and upright man. He applauded himself 
that he was not like unjust men. He was not like adulterers. He 
was not like this tax collector standing next to him. And the 
tax collector rather manifests something of this understanding 
of owning his own guilt. He says, God be merciful to me, 
the sinner. In terms of his admission, in 
terms of his realization, he sees himself before a thrice 
holy God, and he doesn't say, look at what good things I've 
done, look at my fasting, look at my non-adultery, look at my 
this, and please accept this if you will. When a man or a 
woman or a boy or girl comes face to face with the living 
and the true God, the proper response, the biblical response, 
is not to offer up one's works and say, Lord, please approve 
of these things. The proper response is, God, 
be merciful to me, the sinner. This man was too pathetic to 
even look up into heaven. He could only beat his breasts. 
And we see the same thing manifested here in this particular scene. It's interesting. He says, and 
we indeed justly, for we receive the due reward of our deeds. He is called a robber in Matthew's 
gospel and in Mark's gospel. Here he's identified, of course, 
as a criminal. But as well, in Mark 15 at verse 
7, it says, And there was one named Barabbas who was chained 
with his fellow rebels. They had committed murder in 
the rebellion. He's also referred to as a notorious 
prisoner. Now, I hope you see the connection 
here. Barabbas and his two compadres 
were going to be crucified on this particular day. These men 
on either side of the Lord Jesus Christ were partners of Barabbas. They were notorious men. They 
were robbers. They were guilty of the crime 
of murder. Now, remember, the crowd said, 
away with Jesus, away with Jesus. And when Pilate says, what do 
you want? What do you want with Barabbas? Oh, give us Barabbas, 
but send Jesus to the cross. There were going to be three 
crucifixions that day. But what happened is Barabbas 
is absented from this. Jesus takes his place. These 
two men on either side of him are wretched rebels against God 
and against the Roman state. You need to remember that crucifixion 
was not the common form of execution. It was saved or spared for the 
most notorious criminals in the empire. And so these men were 
vicious, vile offenders. And the fact that he owns this 
and he acknowledges his guilt is a blessed mark of God's work 
in his heart. You know how you know when you're 
serious about Jesus when you don't keep blaming everybody 
else for your sin. Well, it wasn't me. Or it was 
me because of this. We're all attorneys, aren't we? 
We all have the facility of a lawyer when it comes to these matters. 
Instead of owning our guilt, instead of owning our sin, instead 
of bowing our head and pounding our breasts and saying, God, 
be merciful to me, the sinner. We work very hard. We try desperately 
to bury, to cover, to conceal our sin. We are just like Adam 
and Eve. who try to hide in the midst 
of the trees of the garden as if the sovereign God who put 
them there can't see them, and then they make fig leaves to 
cover themselves as if somehow God's all-searching eye will 
not see them. We all try desperately to sew 
fig leaves together to try to shield ourselves, to try to hide 
ourselves, when the biblical response is, God be merciful 
to me, the sinner. This man owns his guilt for sin. If you have never done that, 
if you have never embraced the reality that you were a sinner, 
if you have never come to grips with that biblical reality and 
that truth, you need to do so. You need to quit arguing in your 
heart of hearts. You need to quit complaining 
and say, every time I go there, he tells me what a sinner I am. 
We need to understand what the malady is. We need to understand 
what the illness or the sickness or the issue is before we can 
ever fix it. And the good news of the gospel 
is that Jesus Christ came sinners to save. So when we understand 
this sin, when we understand this guilt, when we understand 
our abominable activity, we flee to Christ for remission and for 
that righteousness we spoke of this morning. This man understands 
something of his own guilt for sin. We need to learn from this, 
even as Christians. We always want to pass the buck. 
I mean, when you look at the Bible, it's the history of God's 
redemptive work, right? And as God is in the business 
of redeeming, what is man in the business of doing? Sinning. Providing the necessity for redemption. Going back to the garden, what 
does Adam do when God calls him on his sin? I know you all know 
this. First of all, he blames God for 
the predicament. I mean, that's just terrible, 
isn't it? You say, oh, Adam, how could you do that? We do 
that, don't we? The woman whom you gave me. What's the implication staring 
us in the face? God, if you hadn't put that woman 
here, I'd be upright and holy. We still do that. If you hadn't 
given me this husband, or you hadn't given me this wife, or 
you hadn't given me this kid, or you hadn't given me this parent, 
or you hadn't put me in this situation, or you hadn't made 
me poor, or you hadn't made me rich, I would be a holy, upright 
specimen of a human being. I would have sunshine always 
hanging around my head and everybody would see just how beautiful 
I am. We pass the buck. We don't own 
our sin. We don't hold on or confess it 
rather and forsake it and find mercy from God. The woman whom 
you gave me. But in that admission, he's also 
throwing a woman under the bus. It's her fault. She shouldn't 
have done that. She shouldn't have given me that 
fruit. Here's the man that's supposed to protect his wife, 
and he's saying, look, it's her fault that we're in this predicament. 
So the next player on the scene, you think, oh, she's going to 
be more honest. I mean, women just have a natural disposition 
toward honesty. Oh, really? What did she do? It was the serpent. You see, 
they keep passing the buck. This is why ultimately Jesus 
came to die, because we don't own our sin, we don't do what 
we're supposed to do, and we need the Savior to come and redeem 
us from our ungodliness. This man manifests this, owns 
his guilt for sin. Notice, fourthly, he confesses 
the holiness of Christ. He confesses the holiness of 
Christ. And we indeed justly, verse 41, 
for we receive the due reward of our deeds, But this man has 
done nothing wrong. Sounds like Pilate. I find no 
guilt in him. He's done nothing wrong. Why would you blaspheme this 
man? We are being condemned justly. 
We're notorious prisoners. We're robbers. We're murderers. 
We deserve all that the Roman state and the wrath of God has 
for us. But not this man. This man's 
upright. This man's pure. This man's holy. This man's good. This man's godly. He confesses here the holiness 
of Jesus Christ. He had witnessed the Savior not 
only not revile, But he actually prays, Father, forgive them, 
for they know not what they're doing. I mean, here on the cross, 
the Lord Jesus is manifesting everything you and I wouldn't. 
Here on the cross, the Lord Jesus is manifesting that excellence 
and that grace and that mercy that we know him for. And then 
notice, fifthly, he calls upon the Lord Jesus. Verse 42, then 
he said to Jesus, Lord, Remember me when you come into your kingdom. I just want to paint this context 
a little bit so we can appreciate what Calvin says. Calvin says, 
Lord, remember me. I know not that since the creation 
of the world there ever was a more remarkable and striking example 
of faith. Why would Calvin say that? Who's 
hanging on the cross next to this thief? A bloodied, battered, 
suffering, crucified man. Right? You don't normally look 
for help in one who's in a similar circumstance or probably even 
a worse circumstance based on the scourgings that our Lord 
Jesus Christ received. He is broken, bruised. He is 
beaten. He is bloody. He has all these 
things. He has witnessed the crowd say, 
crucify Him, crucify Him. J.C. Ryle says this in his sermon, 
Christ's Greatest Trophy. He says, He only saw our Lord 
in agony and in weakness, in suffering and in pain. This wasn't 
one of the disciples who saw Jesus multiply the fish and the 
loaves. This wasn't one of the disciples 
who watched Jesus walk on the water. This wasn't one of the 
disciples who saw Jesus at the graveside of Lazarus say, Lazarus 
come forth and Lazarus actually does. I mean, in a sense, brethren, 
it's easier to believe in such a man that is doing these miraculous 
things, right? Isn't it? When you see somebody 
tell a corpse to get out of their grave and to walk forth, that 
must elicit something in you of this man's reliable. He has 
power. This man wasn't like the disciples 
who saw Jesus hush the winds and hush the waves into a calm. This man looked at a bloodied, 
beaten, crucified man. Go back to Ryle. He only saw 
our Lord in agony and in weakness, in suffering and in pain. He 
saw him undergoing dishonorable punishment, deserted, mocked, 
despised, a blaspheme. 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. That's amazing, isn't 
it? What a beautiful statement. Lord, 
remember me when you come into your kingdom. He's bloodied and 
beaten. He's bruised. Again, he's seen 
the crowd and the way that they're reviling, the way they're treating 
him. He's heard Jerusalem sinners say, away with him, away with 
him, crucify him. And yet he's able to look past 
all of that. I had this conversation with 
somebody recently about buying a house. We bought a house in 
California once. It was a foreclosure. I really hesitate to say it was 
a Freddie Mac. I apologize for that. Steve's 
back there saying, we're getting rid of this guy. This was before 
I was in the know, and not that I'm that much in the know now. 
But it was this repossessed, a foreclosed on house. So the 
realtor called and said, you need to come and look at this 
house. Did your price range, everything great? So we looked 
at it, and it was a dump. Generally speaking, when people 
are getting foreclosed on, they don't maintain their lawns. They 
don't keep fresh paint on the walls. They don't do nice things 
to keep the house in order. They know they have to leave, 
so they usually ruin the place. The realtor said, look past that. Look past that disrepair. Look past the obvious scuffs 
and the problems, because the federal government's going to 
renovate this for you and make it livable and all that sort 
of thing. This man looked past the blood. He looked past the 
shame. He looked past all those things. Something I meant to highlight 
this morning in our reading in John chapter 19. Something Spurgeon 
alerted me to. Something that I should have 
known. But remember what they did with 
Jesus' garments? They divided them. They cast 
lots for them. Spurgeon says our painters usually 
put a cloth around the Lord Jesus when they depict him. He was 
naked on that cross. He was hung naked on that cross. This thief is looking at this 
man and he calls him Lord. I think you can appreciate now 
when John Calvin says, I know not that since the creation of 
the world, there was ever a more remarkable and striking example 
of faith. He believed the soul continues 
after physical death. Lord, remember me when you come 
in your kingdom. He knew he was going to die physically, 
but he knew there was an afterlife. He knew there was an eternity. And he wants Jesus to fetch him. 
He wants Jesus to bring him into that place. He sees Jesus as 
a Lord who possesses a kingdom. Again, if he had a crown on, 
if he was holding a scepter, if he was commanding troops, 
if he wasn't bloodied, if he wasn't beaten, if he wasn't suffering 
under the wrath of God, if he wasn't being scoffed at and mocked 
at by ungodly men, it might be a little bit easier to depict 
him in this role. But this man with the eye of 
faith looks past the suffering Savior to see the reigning Lord 
and King. That's what's going on here. 
He asks to be remembered. What does this mean? He sees 
there's mercy to be had in this one. He sees there's grace to 
be had. You see, at this point, this 
thief can't say, you know, I've been a pretty good guy. He can't 
marshal forward any sort of semblance of good works at this point. 
No, he casts himself fully and solely upon sovereign grace and 
the mercy of Christ. Lord, remember me simply means 
have mercy on me. Do not allow me to suffer perdition 
in hell. He sees with the physical eye 
a suffering Savior. He sees with the eye of faith 
a sovereign Lord. Commentator Marshall says, Jesus 
himself is revealed as Savior even while dying for the outcast 
and criminal who turns to him in faith. That's the conversion 
of the thief. Notice, secondly, the response 
of the Savior. He is first willing, isn't he? We have a willing Savior, a willing 
Savior. And Jesus said to him, he doesn't 
say, leave me alone, I got my own problems here in my eleventh 
hour. I'm bearing the burden of sin. I'm suffering under the 
wrath of God. No, Jesus directs attention to 
this particular man. Jesus says to him, 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 say 
to the uttermost, all those that come to God through him. He doesn't rebuff him. He doesn't 
refuse him. He doesn't reject him. But rather, 
Jesus is a willing Savior. Venture on him. Venture wholly, 
the hymn writer says. Secondly, he is an able Savior. So it wouldn't do any good if 
Jesus could say, yeah, I'd like to help you out here. I'd really 
like to rescue you if I could, but I just don't have that power. 
I don't have that authority. I'm honored that you're able 
to look past the blood, and look past the shame and the suffering, 
and you actually think that I'm able to remember you, but I just 
don't possess such power. No, Jesus shows that not only 
is He a willing Savior, but He is an able Savior. Verse 43 highlights 
this. Assuredly, I say to you. That's 
the Amen of God. That is the truly, the verily, 
verily I say to you. Today you will be with me in 
paradise. You see, Jesus didn't spend three 
physical days in hell. Jesus says, today you will be 
with me in paradise. Jesus suffered hell on the cross. That's where God abandoned him. That's where he felt the wrath 
and fury of God. And it's in that context and 
in that matrix, Jesus says, I thirst. Hell was tasted. Hell was swallowed 
up by the Savior on the cross. When he dies, he commits his 
spirit into the hand of his father. He is able to ensure to this 
man that this very day, you will be with me in paradise. It's 
beautiful. It's glorious. In verse 35, it 
says that the people and the rulers sneered about Jesus' role 
as Savior. And right before their unbelieving 
eyes, he's saving. It's great, isn't it? They're 
all saying, he, he, he, he, whining at the foot of the cross. And 
Jesus is in the act of salvation right before their eyes. Absolutely 
incredible and beautiful. So he is a willing and able and 
a glorious savior. His last companion before his 
death was a notorious prisoner, a robber and a murderer. There's 
hope in the gospel for sinners, isn't there? That's why we say 
he's a real savior for real sinners. You may be the worst guy you've 
ever met. Christ is more powerful. You 
may have rejected God. You may have despised his law. You may have engaged in patterns 
of sin and in wickedness. Come to the Savior. He's glorious. He's wondrous. He's awesome. He's all powerful. Later on in 
the book of Acts, we see his archenemy, Saul of Tarsus, converted. Beautiful thing. Stephen prays 
just like Jesus prayed, didn't he? Jesus says, Father, forgive 
them, for they do not know what they do. What does Stephen pray? Lord, do not charge them with 
this sin. God heard that prayer, and a 
chapter later, well, however much time that chapter covered, 
God saves, or Christ comes to Solitarsis on the road, and he 
saves him. He's a notorious sinner as well. 
You know, when we read of Paul the Apostle and we just marvel, 
he's our hero, he's our wonderful, he's the patron saint of the 
Reformed faith, right? I'm just speaking as a fool here. 
Do you remember what Paul was before that? Paul tried to destroy 
the church. Paul had a zeal and a rage bent 
on exterminating the people of God, destroying the very church 
itself. What happens? This willing, able, 
glorious Savior conquers him. You see, when you're out in the 
world and you're sharing the gospel and you're talking to 
people, you need to have that confidence. You need to have 
that assurance. You need to have that realization 
and that knowledge that Christ saves some pretty bad folk. Especially 
when you consider yourself, right? And then notice this statement 
here. Verse 43, Jesus said to him, 
Assuredly, I say to you today, you will be with me in paradise. Paradise is paradise because 
Jesus is there. You will be with me. That's what 
paradise is all about. It's not the streets paved with 
gold. It's not the pearly gates. It's not, you know, all those, 
you know, splendorous things that we'll see there. Paradise, 
the new Jerusalem, the new heavens and the new earth, they luster, 
they shine because Emmanuel is there. That's what makes heaven 
heaven. It's Jesus Christ, the Lord. 
Well, in conclusion, we learn a lesson about the Savior. He 
is willing, able and glorious in the salvation of sinners. Remember that he's Lord in the 
womb. When Mary and Elizabeth come 
together, Elizabeth says, how is it that the mother of my Lord 
should come and see me? Jesus is Lord in the womb, Jesus 
is Lord in his life, and Jesus is Lord on the cross. There was 
never a time when Jesus emptied himself of his saving power. He never emptied himself. of 
his deity. He never emptied himself of who 
he was. The Lord Jesus Christ on the 
cross exercises salvation to the uttermost. The rulers sneered, 
saying, he saved others, let him save himself if he is the 
Christ, the chosen of God. There is here a lesson about 
sovereign grace also. A lesson about sovereign grace. Notice it wasn't both criminals. Why is it that one criminal goes 
through this change? We have nothing, no reason whatsoever 
to believe he was the smarter one. We have no reason to believe 
that he was the better one. He's described in the same terms, 
notorious prisoner, robber, murderer. What happened to him happened 
from without. God broke in. God convicted him 
of his sin. God showed him the glory of Jesus. 
God saved him to the uttermost. Sovereign grace. What about Barabbas? Off Barabbas goes, never to be 
heard from again, at least that we know of. I mean, just imagine 
God's sovereignty here. This guy's a robber and a murderer. He's sentenced to die. He's sentenced 
to be crucified. He gets to the 11th hour. He's 
on the cross. He's about to die, and God saves him. Isn't that 
a glorious God we serve? Never give up preaching the gospel, 
never give up witnessing, never give up testifying. Maybe his 
mother wanted him to be saved when he was a little guy, and 
she always pointed him to Yahweh of Israel, and she catechized 
him, and she prayed for him, and she labored over him, and 
he rejected it, and he spurned it, and he went off into his 
pathway of being a robber and being a murderer. Everybody had 
given up hope. This guy's finally getting what 
he deserves, right? He's finally meeting his match. 
He's finally coming to his end. And the Lord Jesus saves him. 
It's amazing. This gives no encouragement to 
any to put off their repentance. This is Matthew Henry. To their 
deathbed, or to hope that then 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. In other words, we don't 
take this account and say, again, well, I'm going to wait until 
my 11th hour, and there I think God's just going to zap me. You 
hear the preaching of the gospel, believe on the Lord Jesus. And 
then finally, there is a lesson here about salvation. It is never 
by words. It is always by grace. This man had nothing to contribute. This man didn't even get baptized, 
and yet he would be with the Lord Jesus on that day in paradise. The hymn we sing, we'll sing 
tonight. The dying thief rejoiced to see 
that fountain in his day. And there have I, as vile as 
he, washed all my sins away. It's a beautiful hymn, 188. As 
I said, we'll sing that in just a few moments, but hopefully 
we are encouraged. Hopefully we are buoyed up in 
our understanding of Jesus Christ on the cross and his work on 
behalf of sinners. That is why we come specifically 
with reference to the bread and the wine this one time during 
the month to remember in a special way what Jesus did on that cross, 
how he gave himself up for our sins, how he gave himself up 
so that we could someday be with him in paradise. Well, let us 
pray. Father, thank you for your word 
and thank you for the grace of Christ and for the power of Christ 
and the fact that he saves this man even in his dying hour. We just thank you for the salvation 
that you have poured out upon us. God, as Calper says, the 
dying thief rejoiced to see that fountain in his day. And we are 
vile and we need that fountain. And we praise you that you have 
plunged us, that you have blessed us, that you have washed us from 
all of our guilty stains. Help us now, God, as we consider 
the Lord's Supper, as we consider these elements. We know they 
remain bread, they remain wine, they remain those things that 
that they are, they don't become something other, they don't become 
the actual body of our Lord Jesus, but they do serve to point us 
again to the cross, to point us again to the dying work of 
our glorious Savior. We thank you for this time together 
and we pray in Jesus' name. Amen.