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.

The Thief's Words to the Savior

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.

Introduction

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,

Conversion of the Thief

let's look first at the conversion of the thief in verses 39 to 42. And then secondly,

Graciousness of the Savior

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.

Concern for Others

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,

Fear of God

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,

Owning Guilt for Sin

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

Recognizing Christ's Innocence

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,

Faith in Christ's Kingdom

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,

Casting Himself on Mercy

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.

The Willingness of Christ

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.

The Power of Christ's Answer

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.

Application

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.

Closing Prayer

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.

Scripture References

• Isaiah 55:1
• Zechariah 3
• Luke 15:1-2; 23:18-19; 23:26-49; 23:32; 23:34; 23:39-43; 23:40-41; 23:42; 23:44
• Matthew 26:38; 26:44; 26:55; 27:16; 27:38; 27:39-43; 27:44
• Mark 15:6; 15:27; 15:32
• John 1:1; 1:14; 6:37; 18:40
• Romans 1:16-17; 1:18; 3:10-18; 3:20
• 2 Corinthians 5:12; 5:15
• Hebrews 7:25; 7:26
• 1 Timothy 1:15
• 2 Timothy 4