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Luke chapter 23. We'll be back in John 7 this 
Sunday. I don't think I was lying there. Just a few things have come up. 
So we'll put off our study in John until the 28th. So Cam Porter 
is preaching for Mike Kirkpatrick today, and I will be preaching 
for Mike next Sunday. So God willing, we'll return 
to John 7. on August 28th. For this morning, we're going 
to consider a passage that we have considered many times in 
the past, the thief on the cross, specifically Luke 23, verses 
39 to 43, but I want to begin reading in verse 26 and go to 
verse 49 to set it in its larger context. 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 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. Now it was about the sixth hour, and there was darkness 
all over all the earth until the ninth hour. Then the sun 
was darkened, and the veil of the temple was torn in two. And 
when Jesus had cried out with a loud voice, he said, Father, 
into your hands I commit my spirit. Having said this, he breathed 
his last. So when the centurion saw what had happened, he glorified 
God saying, certainly this was a righteous man. And the whole 
crowd who came together to that site, seeing what had been done, 
beat their breasts and returned. But all his acquaintances and 
the women who followed him from Galilee stood at a distance watching 
these things. Amen. Well, let us pray. Our 
gracious God and Holy Father, we thank you for this beautiful 
day. Certainly, the heavens declare your majesty, your glory, your 
righteousness. Certainly, we see your sovereign 
power and wisdom and providence. And on the Lord's Day, we thank 
specifically the gospel of our salvation, and we witness afresh 
your grace and your mercy and your loving kindness, and we 
rejoice in that given to us freely. We ask that you would bless our 
time now as we consider Holy Scripture. We pray that your 
Holy Spirit would be at work in our hearts and minds. We pray, 
God, that You would strengthen and edify Your people, cause 
us to stand in awe of the glorious gospel of free and sovereign 
grace. And for those, God, who have yet to come to the Savior, 
those who have not believed on Him, we pray that today would 
be the day of salvation, that they, by grace, would pass from 
death into life, from darkness into light, that they would leave 
here confessing the glory of Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. 
Forgive us for all of our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 
And we pray in Jesus' name, amen. Well, one of the things that 
we notice as we work our way through the gospel narratives 
is that Jesus came to save sinners. And when we ask the question, 
what kind of sinners? The answer is very simple. All 
kinds of sinners. Those kinds of sinners that are 
engaged in sort of regular, ordinary, garden variety sins, of which 
we're all guilty, and we deserve God's wrath and curse, both in 
this life and that which is to come. But we also see notorious 
sinners. people that society would include 
as being those outside, perhaps, of the grace of God. Well, this 
thief on the cross is one such sinner. As we move our way through 
this particular narrative, I just want to remind you, he's a bad 
dude. And when we see the translation 
criminal, it certainly does refer to somebody who is a robber, 
somebody who does pose a threat to others in terms of stripping 
them of their property. But the word also suggests that 
he was a revolutionary. He was an insurrectionist. He 
was a terrorist. In other words, he was a threat 
to the civil order. He was a threat, ultimately, 
to the cosmic order. And we notice that he is being 
executed by the civil state. They typically didn't execute 
somebody who wandered into Walmart and stole a candy bar. they would 
execute somebody that posed a threat to the civil state. So as we 
keep that in mind, let's look first at the conversion of the 
thief in verses 39 to 42. And then secondly, the graciousness 
of the Savior in verse 43. Now notice with reference to 
the situation confronting the thief. Verse 32 tells us, there 
were also two others, criminals led with him to be put to death. So again, this was a capital 
offender. This was a man who had been found 
guilty of crimes against the state, and he has now been handed 
over to die. He's been handed over to that 
grossest form of execution, which was crucifixion. In the Roman 
Empire, it was such a horrific way to die that it was not something 
that would be applied to Roman citizens. You'd have to have 
an actual authorization from the emperor to be able to sanction 
the use of crucifixion against a citizen of Rome. So with reference to this, he 
is a notorious offender. He is, in fact, a bad guy. Now, 
in terms of the time of his execution, we notice, if you look specifically 
at verse 44, now it was about the sixth hour, and there was 
darkness over all the earth until the ninth hour. So that's the 
time on the clock, but in terms of the time on this man's clock, 
it's the eleventh hour. He's about to die. He knows that 
he's about to die. He, at least at this point, has 
not made his peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. And this 
eleventh hour is coming upon us all. We'll all stand one day 
to die, or we'll all come one day to die, and then we stand 
in the presence of God for judgment. That 11th hour is a reference 
to that final hour of a man, a woman, a boy, or a girl's life. 
You see the Apostle Paul refer to that in 2 Timothy chapter 
4. He knows that the time of his departure is at hand. And 
I think that adds gravity to that last command that he gives 
to Timothy in terms of the church's function with reference to this 
lower world. Preach the word. Be ready in 
season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort with 
all longsuffering and teaching. So the last recorded commandment 
of the Apostle Paul relative to the church's practice is about 
preaching the word. So that 11th hour shows the seriousness 
of the nature of the situation, and that's what's happening here 
with this particular man. Now notice the change that occurs 
in the thief. The other thief, notice in verse 
39, we're told there are two criminals, verse 32, and then 
in verse 39 we read, then one of the criminals who were hanged 
blasphemed him saying, if you are the Christ, save yourself 
and us. Intriguingly, the parallel passages 
indicate that both thieves, at one point, were blaspheming the 
Lord Jesus Christ. Matthew 26, verse 38, Matthew 
26, verse 44, and Mark 15, verse 32, indicate that both thieves, 
at one point, were blaspheming the Lord Jesus Christ. The narrative 
here shows that the one thief, the thief in question, the man 
who passes from death to life, stopped blaspheming. In other 
words, a change had obtained. Something had overcome him. We 
know it's the grace of God. We know it's the power of the 
Holy Spirit. We know it's the efficacy of the very death of 
our Lord Jesus Christ on behalf of all those whom the Father 
had given him. And notice as well, with reference to the continually 
blaspheming thief, the irony of his statement. Verse 39, Then 
one of the criminals who were hanged blasphemed him, saying, 
If you are the Christ, save yourself and us. Now in Matthew 27, 39 
to 43, we read that this is echoed by the passers-by, the chief 
priests, the scribes, and the elders. They mocked Jesus. You 
say you're the Messiah, you say you're the Christ, you say you're 
the anointed of God, you say that you have this power and 
authority. Well, come down from the cross and save us. Do you 
appreciate the irony here? Christ is in the act of saving 
this other thief at this particular time. So the one thief uses it 
as a means for blasphemy. The other thief has passed from 
death into life based on what Christ is doing in terms of his 
life, death, and resurrection. Now notice the response of our 
thief. I'll call him our thief. He's 
the good guy in terms of the two that are on the cross. He's 
only good by God's grace, I should remind us, but if you notice 
the response of the thief in verses 40 to 42. He first speaks 
to his fellow thief in verses 40 and 41, and then he speaks 
to the Savior in verse 42. So let's look at what he says 
to his fellow thief in verses 40 to 41. Notice in the first 
place he's concerned for others. Verse 40 says, But the other 
answering rebuked him, saying, Do you not even fear God, seeing 
you are under the same condemnation? We'll take up the latter part 
in just a moment, but notice what it starts with. He rebuked 
him, saying, That's very intriguing. So at one point, this thief joined 
the other one in the blasphemy against the Son of Man. But now, 
because he has experienced and tasted the grace of God, he's 
no longer minded only about himself, but he's got this others-mindedness. Why does he rebuke this thief? 
Because the target of his blasphemy is the Lord Jesus Christ. He's 
now concerned about Christ and about His honor and about His 
glory and not about this reality that we're filthy, vile, wicked 
men that are going to blaspheme this one who says that He is 
the Messiah of Israel. There's an others-mindedness 
that takes hold of a soul when, by God's grace, He takes hold 
of their soul. If you look specifically at 2 
Corinthians chapter 5 for just a moment, this is a trait or 
an indicator of the power of the Christian gospel. If you 
look at 2 Corinthians 5, verse 12, for we do not commend ourselves 
again to you, but give you opportunity to boast on our behalf, that 
you may have an answer for those who boast in appearance and not 
in heart. For if we are beside ourselves, 
it is for God, or if we are of sound mind, it is for you. For 
the love of Christ compels us because we judge thus, that if 
one died for all, then all die. and he died for all. Now notice 
the purpose clause in view here in verse 15. Our brother reminded 
us that there are fruits, there are evidences, there are consequences 
of justification by faith alone. So when God grants grace, when 
God gives us faith and repentance so that by grace we believe the 
gospel, we're forgiven of our sins, and we receive the righteousness 
of Christ. That grace is alone, but it doesn't 
remain alone. It's always accompanied by all 
other saving graces, sanctification, good works, fruits, and evidences 
that we have been conquered by sovereign grace. Notice the purpose 
clause in 2 Corinthians 5.15, that he died for all that those 
who live should live no longer for themselves, but for him who 
died for them and rose again. So when we are narcissists, when 
we are obsessed with ourselves, when we are consumed with that 
unholy trinity of me, myself, and I, that is a bad evidence 
that we have never come to the blessed Savior. So this thief 
to his fellow thief rebukes him because this thief was blaspheming 
the holy name of our Savior. Notice as well, this thief, our 
thief, has a fear of God. Verse 40, the other answering 
rebuked him saying, do you not even fear God? Brethren, that 
is not native to the soul of man. That is not something intrinsic 
to the sons of Adam. Here you can turn to the book 
of Romans, Romans chapter three. The apostle Paul in Romans chapter 
three is summarizing all he has been teaching since Romans chapter 
one at verse 18. He introduces the theme of the 
epistle in verses 16 and 17. I'm not ashamed of the gospel 
for it is the power of God unto salvation for everyone who believes 
to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in that gospel, 
the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith, that as 
it is written, the just shall live by faith. And then he begins 
that presentation of the gospel with the bad news of man's depravity, 
man's sinfulness, man's lawlessness, man's rebellion against a holy 
God, the very necessity for which the Son of Man came into the 
world to live, to die, and to rise again. So he does that from 
1.18 all the way to chapter 3 in verse 20. But if you look specifically 
at verses 10 to 18, he gives this litany of verses from the 
Old Testament that confirm or affirm or corroborate his point. He says in verse 10, as it is 
written, there is none righteous, no not one. There is none who 
understands. There is none who seeks after 
God. They have all turned aside. They have together become unprofitable. 
There is none who does good, no, not one. Their throat is 
an empty tomb. With their tongues they have 
practiced deceit. The poison of asps is under their lips, 
whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness. Their feet are 
swift to shed blood. Destruction and misery are in 
their ways, and the way of peace they have not known. Now notice 
the final nail in this coffin. There is no fear of God before 
their eyes. What's the implication? There 
should be fear of God before the eyes of every creature. The 
prophet Jeremiah and the apostle John both asked the same question. Who would not fear thee, O king 
of the nations, for indeed it is thy due? In other words, creatures 
coming from the hand of a gracious creator ought to fear him, ought 
to revere him, ought to honor him, ought to praise him. But 
you know, because of our sin, our connection covenantally to 
Adam, we don't fear him, we don't revere him, we don't honor him, 
and we don't praise him. So now when we witness this thief 
showing that fear of God, we go back to the prophet Jeremiah 
and the promise of the new covenant when God says, I will put my 
fear in their hearts. In other words, I will teach 
them to fear me. We sing that blessed hymn from 
John Newton, "'Twas grace that taught my heart to fear." This 
isn't something you just acquire in a Sunday school lesson or 
from the pulpit. It is by the presence and the 
power of the Holy Spirit, taking that biblical information and 
applying it savingly to the heart. So this thief, as he passes from 
death to life, shows concern for others, he shows that he 
has indeed a fear of God, and then notice thirdly, in terms 
of the evidence or the fruit that he has in fact passed from 
death to life, he owns his guilt for his sin. Look at chapter 
23 again, specifically at verse 40. Do you not even fear God, 
seeing you are under the same condemnation? And then he says 
in verse 41, And we indeed justly, for we receive the due reward 
of our deeds, but this man has done nothing wrong. See brethren, 
it's one thing to sort of see sin out there. It's one thing 
to see the sin of the abortionist, to see the sin of the euthanasist, 
to see the sin of the godless atheistic dictator. It's easy 
to see their sin. Not always as easy to see our 
sin. Very often we're like that publican 
who stood and prayed thus with himself. Thank you, God, that 
I'm such a wonderful fellow. Thank you, God, that I pray all 
the time, that I fast, that I give tithes, that I divest myself 
of everything I possess, because I'm such an awesome and wonderful 
specimen of a human being. And thank you especially, God, 
that I'm not like other men. I'm not unjust. I'm not an adulterer. I'm not an extortioner. And wow, 
I'm certainly not like this tax collector, this publican, this 
piece of filth or trash. It's one thing to see sin in 
the general sense. It's another to be that publican 
who couldn't even lift his eyes up into heaven, but he beats 
his breast and he says, God be merciful to me, the sinner. And so this thief has passed 
from death unto life. This thief now sees what he has 
done is an offense against a thrice holy God. Notice the terminology, 
verse 32. There were also two others, criminals, 
led with him to be put to death. But then notice over in Matthew 
chapter 27, and you can turn there. I wanna make a case that 
you see something that I think is very important to understanding 
the passage. The particular word in verse 32 of Luke 23 is criminal, 
evildoer, one who commits gross misdeeds and serious crimes. The other gospel writers use 
a word that's similar, but a little bit different with a bit of a 
different semantic range that includes something a bit more 
serious. Notice in chapter 27 of Matthew 
at verse 38, then two robbers were crucified with him, one 
on the right and another on the left. Verse 44, even the robbers 
who were crucified with him reviled him with the same thing. The 
same word is used in Mark 15 at verse 27. Now, this particular 
word means, in its first instance, robber, highwayman, or bandit. It's probably the way we typically 
refer to this fellow. He's the thief on the cross, 
after all. What does thief suggest? He wanders 
into Walmart under the cover of deception, he steals something, 
he manages to make his way out, and he takes that loot home, 
and he eats it, or he enjoys it, or he sells it, or whatever. 
That's usually how we understand the thief on the cross. But the 
second definition, I think, is what's at play here. Revolutionary 
insurrectionist guerrilla. So it's somebody who poses a 
serious threat to the civil order. Jesus uses the same word in a 
similar way in Matthew 26 at verse 55. In that hour, Jesus 
said to the multitudes, have you come out as against a robber? Again, they wouldn't have come 
out as against a man who wandered into Walmart, who stole a candy 
bar. They would come against a man 
who posed a threat to the civil order, who was an insurrectionist, 
who was a revolutionary, who was a terrorist. Jesus says, 
have you come out as against a robber with swords and clubs 
to take me? I sat daily with you teaching 
in the temple and you did not seize me. The Lord Jesus, as 
I said, uses this with the latter meaning. Now I want to suggest 
something, that this man and the other criminal, verse 32, 
remember there are two of them, worked with Barabbas. So you 
remember when the crowd said, give us Barabbas, and yet with 
Christ they said, away with him, away with him, crucify him. Remember 
that event where Pontius Pilate, there was a custom at the time 
of the Passover, where you could take a criminal and give him 
back to society. He thought, probably Pilate did, 
because he knew that Jesus hadn't done anything wrong in terms 
of the Jewish religion, in terms of the civil state. He thought, 
for sure this will be a slam dunk. I'll offer them Barabbas, 
the terrorist who wants to overthrow the city, or I'll offer them 
Jesus. Certainly they'll want me to give them Jesus, but they 
don't. They want Barabbas and they want 
Jesus to go away and be crucified. Brethren, there were going to 
be three crucifixions that day. Barabbas is the ringleader and 
these other two are his cronies. And you see that connection made 
in the gospel narratives. Look at John 18, 40. John 18, 
specifically at verse 40. It says, then they all cried 
again saying, not this man, but Barabbas. Now Barabbas was a 
robber. Again, the latter definition 
in that word robber, the insurrectionist, the terrorist, the one who posed 
a threat to civil society. Look back at Matthew 27, Matthew 
chapter 27. I'm spending the time here so 
that you'll know and see that Jesus Christ is a real savior 
for real sinners. This man was bad. This man was 
justly being condemned for his crimes. This man understood his 
transgression, not just against Caesar, but against God most 
high. And he's agonizing over that, 
understanding it and reflecting it now while he's on the cross. 
Look at Matthew 27 at verse 16. It says, and at that time they 
had a notorious prisoner called Barabbas. Not just a garden variety 
fellow, not just your regular kind of a bandit that wanders 
into the store and steals stuff, but he was a notorious prisoner. 
He posed a threat. Now notice that Barabbas, according 
to Luke chapter 23, go back there, specifically at verses 18 and 
19, we'll notice that Barabbas was in prison for rebellion and 
murder. So in 23 at verse 18, it says, 
and they all cried out at once saying, away with this man and 
release to us Barabbas, who had been thrown into prison for a 
certain rebellion made in the city and for murder. And then one final passage, you 
can go back to Mark 15. Mark chapter 15, just to make 
the connection between Barabbas and these two cronies that are 
on the cross on the other side of our blessed Savior. Notice 
in Mark 15, verse 6, now at the feast, he was accustomed to releasing 
one prisoner to them, whomever they requested. And there was 
one named Barabbas who was chained with his, notice, fellow rebels. They had committed murder in 
the rebellion. I started the sermon by suggesting 
that when we read the gospel narratives, it is all too clear 
to us that Jesus came sinners to save. But what kind of sinners? The Polish sinners? The self-righteous 
sinners? The church sinners? The sinners 
that never really did anything that bad? No, He came to save 
sinners. Guilty, vile, helpless we, spotless 
Lamb of God was He. Full atonement, can it be? Hallelujah, 
what a Savior! This is what caused the Pharisees, 
the religious leaders of his time, such offense. Luke 15, 
1 and 2, then all the tax collectors and the sinners drew near to 
him to hear him. And the Pharisees, looking down 
their noses of self-righteous judgment, said, this man receives 
sinners and eats with them. They spoke much better than they 
knew. They spoke much better than they 
understood. That's the very core of the gospel. that He comes sinners to eat 
with, sinners to save, sinners to rescue. It's just like last 
week in Isaiah the prophet, chapter 55, one and following. Oh, everyone 
who thirsts, let him come to the waters. Let him get the nourishment 
of that milk. Let him get the exhilaration 
of that wine. Let him delight himself in abundance. Why? Because with our God, there's 
abundant pardon. See, we'd only need pardon if 
we were just normal. We need abundant pardon because 
we're abundantly sinful, and that's what this man experiences 
on the cross. It is most blessed, it is most 
glorious, it is most awesome. There were going to be three 
executions that day, Barabbas and his two cronies. The thief 
was a serious criminal and sinner, and he owned his guilt for his 
sins. He was convicted. He now understood. He started 
the day by blaspheming the Savior, so obviously he didn't recognize 
it. Obviously he hadn't internalized 
it. He hadn't gone through the soliloquy of saying, you know 
what, I'm actually justly liable to this sentence of death for 
my crimes against a holy God and the civil government. So 
back to 2341. He says, and we indeed justly, 
for we receive the due reward of our deeds. See, the sinner 
that is convicted understands that it is, in fact, righteous 
with God to cast him off. We understand that it is grace. We understand that it is mercy. We don't pat ourselves on the 
back having been saved and saying, well, you know, I did contribute 
vis-a-vis Romanism, vis-a-vis Evangelicalism, vis-a-vis any 
man-centered contribution to the scheme of salvation. Brethren, 
if it's not all of grace, it's none of grace. If it's not all 
of Christ, it's none of Christ. And we can praise God for what 
the prophet Jonah confessed when he says salvation is of the Lord. We can praise God with those 
saints on high when they stand before the throne and they praise 
God most high. And the lamb who sits on the 
throne, with that constant refrain, salvation belongs to our God. If it depends on us, if it depended 
upon this thief, if it depended upon our doing or our deeds, 
then all of us are hellbound. All of us are going to that place 
of eternal fire, to that place of weeping and washing, gnashing 
and wailing, that place of outer darkness. We see here that this 
man received by grace the grace of God Most High. Matthew Henry 
says, true penitents acknowledge the justice of God in all the 
punishments of their sin. And I said, well, you know, that's 
a bit harsh. It's a bit overboard. That's a bit strict. You know, 
can't you just grade me on the curve? No, he can't. He is a 
holy God. He is a righteous God. His eye 
is too pure to look approvingly upon any evil. He is a God that 
is about justice, and He must execute that justice, and He 
does so either in the person of His Son, or He does so in 
the person of the sinner. And so He doesn't just sort of 
wink it away. He doesn't just sort of pass it off. He's not 
like some of the families that We probably say all of our families, 
you know, if dad's a bit harsh, we'll go to mom. If mom's having 
a particularly bad day, we'll go to dad. And when it comes 
time to pay the penalty for our just desserts, we'll try to get 
them to renege on that. Well, that's not possible when 
you're dealing with a thrice holy God, a God of absolute justice. Ask Nadab and Abihu how that 
worked out. Ask Uzzah how that worked out. 
Ask the countless multitudes that have plopped into hell how 
that worked out. This thought that God's just 
gonna suspend his judgment when it comes to a little old me, 
that's not biblical, brethren. That is absolutely contrary to 
the Bible. It is appointed for men to die 
once, and then what? Then comes the judgment. We either 
stand before Him in our own righteousness, or we stand before Him clothed 
in the righteousness of Christ. And if we're there in our own 
righteousness, that is very problematic. Again, as we were reminded, God, 
through the prophet Isaiah, this wasn't Isaiah, you know, figuring 
out the theology of depravity. Isaiah said that all our righteousnesses 
are like filthy rags in the sight of a holy God. And so with reference 
to this thief, he understands, he now realizes, and then notice, 
fourthly, to his fellow thief, what he recognizes concerning 
Jesus. The end of verse 41, but this 
man has done nothing wrong. Now, the thief doubtless means 
that this man has done nothing wrong which requires crucifixion 
at the hands of the civil state. He doesn't know all the particulars, 
as Paul will outline in Hebrews 7.26, that our blessed Christ 
is holy, harmless, and undefiled. But he, like those Pharisees, 
when they whined, this man receives sinners and eats with them, he 
spoke better than he knew. This man is innocent. This man 
is guiltless. This man has done nothing wrong. 
That is vital for us men and for our salvation. We need the 
blood of Jesus Christ, his son, to cleanse us from all sin. But 
we need the righteousness of Jesus Christ to cover us, to 
clothe us, to fit us, to prepare us so that we can stand in the 
presence of this holy God. You see an image of this or an 
illustration of this in the prophet Zechariah chapter 3. You have 
this Joshua the high priest, a representative of the entirety 
of the nation of Israel. And he stands before Yahweh and 
the accuser Satan is there. And when he stands before Yahweh, 
he's filthy. And I think that we look at that 
and we say, well, he had a blemish of cream cheese on his shirt. 
No, the word filthy there is used in other passages to speak 
of feces, to speak of vomit. We're getting this picture of 
the covenant people of Israel standing before Yahweh of hosts 
and they are covered in filth. They are covered in wickedness. 
They are covered in wretchedness. Before the devil can even open 
his mouth to accuse Joshua, the Lord rebukes him. And then the 
Lord reminds them of His choice of Israel. God, in His sovereign 
election, chose Israel as the people for His blessing. But 
then He goes on to order the attendants to take off the filthy 
garments of Joshua the high priest. Get rid of the sin. Get that 
blood of Jesus Christ in there and wash him from all that putridity. Get the vomit, get the feces. 
Brethren, vomit and feces sounds pretty harsh and offensive. Sin 
is far harsher and far more offensive. Sin is far more vile and reprehensible 
than is vomit and feces. So if you're offended and you 
say, well, I don't like hearing about vomit and feces, you know, 
at 12 o'clock on a Sunday. I sympathize on the one hand, 
but on the other hand, we talk about sin, we talk about transgression 
of a holy God, we talk about idolatry and blasphemy and Sabbath-breaking 
and insubordination and murder and adultery and theft and lies 
and covetousness. That makes vomit and feces look 
like a walk in the park. So anyways, the Lord God Most 
High orders the taking off of those old clothes, but it doesn't 
stop there. Now he's not just standing there 
naked, but he orders the putting on of new clothes. This is justification, 
which is an act of God's free grace, wherein he pardons all 
our sins and accepts us as righteous in his sight, only for the righteousness 
of Christ imputed to us and received by faith alone. This thief spoke 
better than he knew. This thief probably couldn't 
have engaged in a discussion concerning the impeccability 
of Jesus. He couldn't have gotten into 
a long, lengthy discussion in the seminary class about the 
sinlessness and spotlessness of the Lamb of God. But this 
much he knew. This man has done nothing wrong. This man has done nothing wrong. Again, guilty, vile, helpless 
we, spotless lamb of God was he, full atonement, can it be? Hallelujah, what a Savior. And 
consider what else this thief had witnessed. Now we're going 
to see in just a moment when he speaks to the Savior how great 
his faith really is. I mean, imagine coming to the 
Savior as Matthew does in Matthew 9. Jesus is walking by and Jesus 
says to Matthew, come, follow me. Now, Matthew didn't have 
the most developed view of the Christ at that point. He didn't 
see him with a halo on his head, didn't see him with a scepter 
in his hand, but he saw him without blood covering his body. He saw 
him without a crown of thorns pushed into his head. He saw 
him in a position that was not comparable to what this thief 
does. The thief looks past the blood. He looks past the gore. He looks past all of this ignominy, 
the older writers call it. the shame of the cross, and nevertheless, 
he confesses this blessed Christ in his most awesome and glorious. 
This man has done nothing wrong. But if you go back in the passage, 
verse 32, 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, certainly 
they would have heard his voice. Certainly they did hear his voice 
because Christ is gonna speak to this man in verse 43. But 
listen to the voice they heard in verse 34. Then Jesus said, 
father, forgive them for they do not know what they do. He 
understood that with this Christ, there is this mercy. With this 
Christ, there is this grace. With this Christ, there is something 
about the forgiveness of sins. And that leads us now to his 
words to the Savior, specifically in verse 42. Look at what it 
says. Excuse me, just one moment here. Verse 42. Then he said to Jesus, 
Lord, remember me when you come into your kingdom. Now, the first 
thing to observe is that the thief recognizes there is life 
after death, right? We live in a materialistic age. 
We live in a day and age that is governed by atoms and by loins 
and by things that you can see, touch, and feel. That is very 
much the case with us today. But there is a life beyond this 
life. There is either eternal life 
in the presence of God Most High, or there is eternal death, separation 
from God into that hell prepared for the devil and his angels. 
The thief understood that. The thief knew there was something 
beyond this cross. He knew there was something beyond 
his grave. He knew that there was something that lay in the 
future unseen. Again, I think that we live in 
a materialistic age, and by that I mean people don't think about 
spiritual matters. In other words, talk to somebody 
about their soul. Talk to them about God. Talk 
to them about life after death. Typically, you'll get raised 
eyebrows, and you'll get these odd looks, and people will wonder, 
what kind of things have you been smoking? What kind of things 
have you been doing? That's the lawlessness of the 
age we're in. It's all about the here. It's 
all about the now. It's all about me. It's all about 
myself. It's all about everything that 
affects me. We are a people that is filled 
with narcissism, and we have no thought concerning the future. 
I mean, we might think about college. We might think about 
You know, a job prospect, we might think about the honey or 
the dude that we're going to marry. We might have those thoughts, 
but again, they're temporally oriented. How many of us actually 
give thought to the reality that one day we're going to die? One 
day. It happens to all of us. I can 
tell you that much. It happens to every single one. You're not Elijah, and you are 
not Enoch. So therefore, you are going to 
die. I don't want to scare anybody. 
Boy, we heard about feces. We heard about vomit. We heard 
about death. Sorry, brethren, that's what 
the Bible has for us in some of its places. We need to ponder 
life beyond the grave. We need to ponder the question, 
am I ready? Am I fit? Am I prepared? Have I been forgiven? Am I clothed 
with the righteousness of another? Have I closed with Christ? This 
isn't just an older person problem. I mean, typically the way things 
are in the natural order, old people die before young people, 
but young people do die. There are car accidents. There's 
a whole host of ways for people to go out of this world. So it's 
not something that you can say, well, I'm only 10 or I'm only 
20. I'm not going to think about that until I'm really old, like 
60. 60 doesn't seem really old to me anymore as it once did. 
But with reference to that, there is a day coming. And this man 
thought beyond the grave. Notice as well, the thief sees 
Jesus as Lord who possesses a kingdom. Look at that, verse 42. Then 
he said to Jesus, Lord, it's easy to see Lord, or it will 
be easy to see Lord when we see him come again in glory to judge 
the living and the dead. When he's attended by all the 
angels and the glory of his father, when he comes to take vengeance 
on them who knew not God and those who did not obey the gospel, 
it'll be easy to see him as Lord then. But again, look at what 
the thief is seeing. He's seeing a man. that has been 
given over by his countrymen, he sees a man that has been delivered 
up to crucifixion, he sees a man that's got blood pouring down 
his face, who's actually nailed to the cross, he sees a man that's 
in a great position, or a position rather, of great disadvantage, 
and yet he looks beyond that, he looks through that, he sees 
with the eye of faith the actual identity of the Savior, and he 
addresses him as Lord, We actually have professing Christians that 
struggle with the Lordship of Jesus. This fellow didn't struggle 
one bit. This fellow, when grace overtook 
his heart, saw this Savior as Lord. And he also saw this Savior 
as a Lord who possessed a kingdom. A kingdom beyond the grave. A 
kingdom not like Caesar's. A kingdom not like the kingdoms 
of man. This man looked through the gore, 
looked through the shame, and saw a Lord who possessed a kingdom. J.C. Ryle makes the observation 
in his essay, Christ's Greatest Trophy. He 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. You see that, brethren? That's walking by faith and not 
by sight. It's a great lesson for all of 
us. We don't see the power of Christ's kingdom. We don't see 
this top-down imposition upon the kingdoms of man. We haven't 
seen the overthrow of the Canadian government by our blessed Messiah. And we're not going to see it 
unless that's his purpose and plan. We're going to see parallel 
growth. The wheat will outgrow the tares, 
but there will nevertheless be tares. We will see the constant 
challenge of the gates of Hades to sidetrack the work of the 
Messiah. We will witness that. We will 
see that. But as the apostle says in 2 
Corinthians, we walk by faith and not by sight. And this thief 
teaches us that. He looks beyond or through the 
shame, the gory character of the Savior, and he confesses 
Him as Lord who has a kingdom. And then notice, the thief casts 
himself on the mercy of the Savior. We saw that a few, probably a 
couple of months ago now, with reference to Rahab the harlot. 
She had not only heard of the power, the majesty, and the glory 
of Yahweh, but she casts herself upon his mercy. Remember me when 
you come into the city of Jericho and do not destroy me or my family." 
It's one thing to sort of hear that you're a bad person, to 
hear that there is a real savior, but as the hymn writer says, 
venture on him. Venture holy, come to the blessed 
Savior, come to the one in whom there is forgiveness, there is 
mercy, there is salvation. So this dying thief casts himself 
by grace upon the mercy of the blessed Savior. Then he said 
to Jesus, Lord, remember me when you come into your kingdom. John 
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. In the midst of the gore, he 
sees the king. In the midst of shame, he sees 
the Savior. In the midst of that most heinous 
situation and circumstance, he looks beyond that and he casts 
himself upon the mercy of Christ. Now, I could stop here, because 
we all know how the story ends, right? But we need to see how 
the story ends. And again, if you've not come 
to this Christ, this might be the time to start to talk to 
yourself and say, you know, he saved that guy. He saved the 
guy that's preaching to me. He saved my folks. He saved my 
spouse. He saved the apostle Paul, who 
said he was the chief of sinners. There might be some mercy for 
me. I can promise you, there is mercy for all who come to 
him. All that the Father gives me 
will come to me. And the one who comes to me, 
I will certainly not cast out, he says in John 6, 37. It will 
never be the case that a sinner ends up saying, you know, I came 
to Jesus. I believed in Jesus. I, by grace, 
cast myself upon his mercy, but he cast me out. He wanted nothing 
to do with me. He rejected me, He despised me, 
He forsook me. That will never be the testimony 
of any sinner ever, because all that the Father gives will come, 
and the one who comes, I will certainly not cast out. The New 
King James translates it that way. I will certainly not cast 
out. See, in English, we don't do 
double negatives, because a double negative makes a positive. In 
Greek, you could do double negatives. You could do triple negatives. 
It just meant more negative. It's kind of like newspeak, plus 
good, plus good, and good. There is a way to make it more 
powerful. And so we have Jesus say, I will 
certainly not cast out the one who comes to me. So let's see 
how he deals. Got this hymn written on my paper 
here. I should be saying it last Sunday morning. Come ye sinners 
poor and wretched, weak and wounded, sick and sore. Jesus ready stands 
to save you, full of pity joined with power. He is able, he is 
able, he is able, he is willing. Doubt no more. He is willing, 
doubt no more. See, the problem with a powerful 
savior that's not willing, Doesn't really do us any good, does it? 
He's powerful. He can do it. But he's not willing 
to do it. But imagine the willing Savior 
who doesn't have the power. Equally useless. I'd really love 
to save you, but I don't have the power. It's kind of like 
somebody who's sinking, and they're going to drown to death, and 
you say, boy, my heart goes out to you. I'd love to help you, 
but I just don't have the power. See, the hymn writer Joseph Hart 
understands. Come ye sinners, poor and wretched, 
weak and wounded, sick and sore. Jesus ready stands to save you, 
full of pity, joined with power. He is able. He is able. He is 
able. He is willing. Doubt no more. 
He is willing. Doubt no more. Well, that's the 
first point we see relative to the Savior and His response to 
this man. He is willing. The very nature 
of His response tells us or underscores the willingness of Him. But as well, the very nature 
of His response underscores the power that is in Him. Notice 
as well that in this time of great suffering, let's not forget 
where Jesus is. He's on the cross bearing Roman 
crucifixion, which, as I said earlier, that was not even something 
that they would do to a Roman citizen. It was so bad. I mean, 
we have the gospel narratives. There's no developed sort of 
passion play. There's no sort of celebration of the physical 
suffering of the Savior. But there are a few snippets. 
And when you read those few snippets, you understand what great lengths 
the Savior went to on behalf of his people. He was whipped 
not once, but he was whipped twice. There was a whipping that 
was engaged in by Pontius Pilate to try to appease the mob. Let's 
just satiate their bloodthirstiness by having this man beaten with 
whips. You've probably all heard the 
stories that the whips were laced with, or they were leather thongs, 
and then they had like shards of glass or stone in there. So 
that when they laid the whip on the back of the offender, 
it would open up the back. This is why the prophet Isaiah, 
prophesying several hundred years before, says, by his stripes, 
we are healed. What stripes is he talking about? 
His open flesh. Now, when the decision was made 
by Pilate to execute the criminal offender, there was a scourging 
that always took place consistent with that. So in other words, 
the first was simply to appease the bloodthirsty mob, hopefully 
they'll get satiated and they won't press any further. But 
when the kill order is given, there's always a scourging that 
takes place before the actual crucifixion. He is true humanity, 
brethren, true divinity, to be sure, hypostatic union, the two 
natures in the one person. But what's true of true humanity? Suffering, pain, blood, tiredness, 
Remember, he didn't sleep. He was in Gethsemane with the 
disciples. The officers and temple cops come and they collect him 
and they take him right to the Sanhedrin. Before Jesus ever 
comes to Pilate early Friday morning, he's been up all night 
with these morons in the Sanhedrin. He has been up all night. He 
has, again, true humanity, so he's affected by all of that 
stuff, just like we are, and yet without sin. And yet in the 
midst of this, in the crux of this, he's gonna take the time 
out of his already busy schedule to save this wretch who deserves 
God's wrath and curse, both in this life and that which is to 
come. If you are not a believer here this morning, there is everything 
in this passage to call upon you to come to him, to call upon 
you to taste and see that the Lord is good, to see that there 
is mercy, there is grace, there is forgiveness. There is a righteousness. He is willing. Notice as well 
with reference to His ability. Assuredly, the Savior underscores 
His answer with assuredly. This is no cheap wish. This is 
no sort of, you know, I'd like to help, but I can't. He's able 
to say to the uttermost, Hebrews 7.25, that all those who draw 
nigh unto God through Him. So His assuredly, His here, His 
amen, amen, is most glorious. And then notice, with reference 
to his response, assuredly I say to you, today you will be with 
me in paradise. The answer to the dying thief's 
prayer. Lord, remember me when you come 
into your kingdom. Today you will be with me in 
paradise. That's an immediate response. 
Sometimes we don't always get those immediate responses, but 
when we do, they are glorious. The subscription or superscription 
to one of the Psalms, I think it's 102 or 110 somewhere, not 
110, but in that series that follows. The superscription is, 
I love the Lord because He has heard the voice of my supplications. Do you ever just thank God that 
He hears you? Thank God that He listens? Thank 
God that He answers? Thank God that He delivers? Thank 
God that He doesn't deliver? Sometimes the things we ask for 
would prove to be a lot more detrimental to our spiritual 
health than we know. And God in His loving kindness 
will slap a big answer of no upon us, and that is for our 
good and for our well-being. But he answers this man in this 
particular condition, and he says that you will be with me 
in paradise. The immediacy involved. You probably all heard the Jehovah's 
Witnesses. They try to, you know, sort of satisfy their odd doctrine 
here by saying, oh no, he said, today I say to you that you will 
be in paradise. I'm saying this now to you today 
while I'm on the cross, but it doesn't have anything to do with, 
you know, until we get to the future. No, today you will be 
with me in paradise. You got up out of your miserable 
bed this morning, having sinned against a thrice holy God, having 
been found out by the civil state, being called now to die by crucifixion 
for your crimes. And when you close your eyes 
and you breathe your last, you're gonna wake up in the presence 
of Jesus Christ, the Lord. Today, you will be with me in 
paradise. And herein, Christ underscores 
what makes the kingdom glorious. What makes Christianity beautiful? It is the presence of Christ 
with his people. This is the refrain in the study 
of covenants throughout. I will be your God and you shall 
be my people. The with me is the thing to take 
home from this passage. Assuredly, I say to you today, 
you will be with me in paradise. We always think about paradise. 
Those streets paved with gold, those pearly gates, those nations 
where there's trees and leaves for the healing of the nation. 
It's about Jesus. We just sang it. The bride eyes 
not her garment, but her dear bridegroom's face. I will not 
gaze at glory, but on my king of grace. Not at the crown he 
gifteth, but on his pierced hand. The lamb is all the glory of 
Emmanuel's land. It's not the streets paved with 
gold. It's not the gates covered with 
pearl. It's not the gates that exclude 
the riffraff. It's Christ. He's the altogether 
lovely, as the bride describes him. He is the chief among 10,000. 
He is what makes heaven heaven. He is the one that promises to 
this thief on the cross that when you breathe your last, you're 
gonna end up in the presence of Christ most high in paradise 
itself. It is a most blessed event that 
we find in this man's 11th hour. In conclusion, we see first of 
all, the kinds of sinners that Christ came to save. We're great 
at the abstract, right? 1 Timothy 1.15. This is a faithful 
saying. It's worthy of all acceptation 
that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. Again, 
what kind of sinners? I think there's a class of sinners 
out there that might think themselves too sinful to be saved, right? Have you ever met that person? 
I'm just such a wretch. I'm just so bad. I'm just so 
evil. I'm just so unholy. You kind of say, yep, yep, yep, 
yep, and yep, yep, you are. But they make this conclusion 
that there's no hope for me. Isn't it wonderful to be able 
to say you're the exact kind of person that can hope? Because 
Christ Jesus came into this world, sinners to save. That is most 
glorious and most wondrous. When all the tax collectors and 
all the sinners drew near to hear Him, Those are transgressors 
of God's holy law, the same sorts of sins that you and I engage 
in. And if we happen to be polished sinners from a polished background, 
there's even more notorious people, even more wretched people, even 
more godless people that by grace become godly people. So again, the point is, and as 
you go home today, eat your soup and you ponder God, you ponder 
this sermon, ponder this reality. I am not beyond the scope of 
the salvation that Christ has accomplished. I am not beyond 
hope of the mercy of God in Christ Jesus, our Lord. I am not at 
that point of no recovery. If you have been playing games, 
if you have been resisting, if you've been rejecting, if you're 
saying, well, I just wanna deal with this later on, Listen to 
the Savior. Come to me, all you who are weary 
and heavy laden, and I will give you rest. We'll see in a couple 
of weeks' time, that last day, that great day of the feast. 
If any man thirsts, let him come to me and drink. You've got enough 
problems. Don't continue to perpetuate 
it by talking yourself out of the kingdom of God. Secondly, 
we see on the cross the glory of the Savior. The glory of the 
Savior. Consider the humanity of Jesus. That's a reality. He's actually 
on the cross. He's suffering. He's bleeding. 
Not now, presently, but at this time of the particular narrative. 
But He's never devoid of divinity. He's the John 1-1 and John 1-14. John 1-1, in the beginning was 
the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. John 
1-14, the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld 
His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, 
full of grace and truth. so that God Most High, that the 
second person of the Trinity, would come down from heaven for 
us men and for our salvation, it really destroys the notion 
of that theology called Hyper-Calvinism. Hyper-Calvinism likes to try 
to talk everybody out of coming to the Savior. What a miserable 
way to present the gospel. I'm going to tell you the glory 
of Christ. I'm going to tell you about his life, his death, and 
resurrection. But I'm going to be right there like a Pharisee 
to tell you, don't even think about coming. The God who orchestrated 
this salvation. The Father sends the Son. The Son assumes our humanity. The Son lives. The Son dies. 
The Son is raised again. That destroys the notion of a 
don't-come theology. Everything about it screams to 
you right now, come. He is able. He is willing. Doubt no more. And then we see 
in this passage the sovereignty of God. The sovereignty of God 
in the salvation of the one and the damnation of the other. Make 
no mistake about it. The one thief passed from death 
unto life. The other didn't. The three woke up that morning, 
Barabbas and crony number one and crony number two. We don't 
know what ended up happening with Barabbas. He's emblematic 
of substitutionary atonement. That doesn't necessarily mean 
he's saved. But that whole transaction, I think we're supposed to see 
in that the just for the unjust, the doctrine of substitutionary 
penal atonement. So they say, give us Barabbas, 
but deliver up Jesus. The innocent one goes to die 
for the guilty. So I'm not suggesting that Barabbas 
is in heaven, but I'm not suggesting he's not. We don't know what 
happened to Barabbas, but we do know what happened to this 
other unrepentant thief that continued to blaspheme. He went 
to hell. This demonstrates the sovereignty 
of God, even in the 11th hour of men. Barabbas was released 
and Jesus took his spot. The other two were guilty of 
the same crimes, same sins, and yet one is saved and the other 
is lost. Matthew Henry says this magnifies 
divine grace as acting in a distinguishing way. These two had been comrades 
in sin and suffering, and yet one is saved and the other perishes. 
Two that had gone together all along hitherto, and yet now one 
was taken and the other left. And then the final observation, 
the power of the gospel. Why do you think this thief went 
to heaven? You say, because he came to his senses. No, because 
Jesus Christ lived, died, and was raised again the third day. 
Because the Holy Spirit came upon this thief. When this thief 
stands before God in judgment, it's not with his works, because 
he didn't have any. It's not with his accomplishments, 
because he didn't have any. It's not with his righteousness, 
because he didn't have any. But it was because the man on 
the cross told him that he could come. The man on the cross told 
him that he could come. William Cooper writes the hymn 
we sing often with our Lord's Supper service. The dying thief 
rejoiced to see that fountain in his day. And there have I, 
as vile as he, washed all my sins away. And then avoid the 
folly, or rather understand the folly of procrastination. Yeah, I've heard this before. 
I've got a general sense that it's true. I kind of feel bad 
about my sin. I kind of have an understanding 
about who the Savior is, but I've got life to live. I've got 
oats to sow. I've got, you know, girls to 
see. I've got guys to see. I've got, you know, drugs to 
take. I've got all this stuff. The folly of procrastination. 
Matthew Henry, again, makes this statement. He says, this gives 
no encouragement to any to put off their repentance 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. And then J.C. Ryle, one thief was saved that 
no sinner might despair, but only one was saved that no sinner 
might presume. Don't presume, don't procrastinate, 
don't put it off to another day or another time. Because there's 
nothing as important as this reality. There's a lot going 
on in the world right now. There's a lot that jockeys for 
our attention. There's a lot of things vying 
for our interests. But there is nothing so significant 
as the question, where will I go when I die? The answer that should fill your 
mind is that I should go to Christ now so that when I do come to 
die, I get to be with Him forever. Let us pray. Our Father in heaven, 
we thank you for your word. We thank you for the clarity 
of the gospel, and I pray, God, that you would bring it home 
with power by the Spirit to our hearts. As believers, may we 
again rejoice in your loving kindness and in the mercy of 
our blessed Christ, and in the reality that one day we will 
be with him in paradise. And God, for unbelievers, I pray 
that you'd open their eyes and hearts to receive the truth, 
that they, by grace, would believe on the Savior, that they, too, 
would say, Lord, have mercy on me when you come into your kingdom. 
And may they find that reception, and may they find that blessedness. 
We ask that you would help us to sanctify the day, help us 
to call it a delight, and help us to bring glory and honor and 
praise unto you in this local church. And we pray through Jesus 
Christ our Lord. Amen. We can turn in your hymn 
books to number 568. 568 as we sing the doxology of 
praise unto our God. You may stand. Oh, O Israel, hope in the Lord, for 
with the Lord there is mercy, and with him is abundant redemption, 
and he shall redeem Israel from all his iniquities. God, what 
a blessed promise this is in the Psalms. What a blessed Savior 
we see in Luke's gospel throughout the scripture. He is, in fact, 
altogether lovely and chief among 10,000. Send forth your gospel 
today, conquering and to conquer. May it run swiftly and be glorified, 
and may it accomplish the purpose for which you sent it. And we 
ask these things in Jesus' name. Amen. Well, please be seated 
for a brief time of meditation.