Okay, turn to Luke 23, beginning at verse 32. I'm gonna read 32, 33, and then 39 to 43. I'm also gonna read from Mark and Matthew, but don't try to turn there. We'll be flipping all around. Just hang on, I'll read those. And then during the sermon, you might hear a lot of scripture references. Just jot them down and look them up later or listen to the tape later or something. This is called the thief on the cross. And we'll be looking at three gospels. Please stand. And with him, they crucify two thieves, one on his right hand and the other on his left. Verse 32. That Christ, the king of Israel, descend now from the cross that we may see and believe. And they, plural, that were crucified with him reviled him. Matthew 27, 38, and then I'll read 43 to 44. And there were two thieves crucified with him, one on the right hand and another on the left. And 43, he trusted in God. Let him deliver him now if he will have him. For he said, I am the son of God. The thieves, plural, Also, which were crucified with him, cast the same in his teeth. Okay, now you're ready with Luke 23, 32, 33, and then 39 to 43. And there were also two other malfactors, led with them to be put to death. And when they had come to the place which is called Calvary, there they crucified him and the malfactors, one on the right hand and the other on the left. And one of the malefactors, which were hanged, railed on him, saying, if thou be the Christ, save thyself and us. But the other answering rebuked him, saying, does not thou fear God, seeing thou art in the same condemnation, and we indeed justly? For we receive the due reward of our deeds, but this man hath done nothing amiss. And he said unto Jesus, Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom. And Jesus said unto him, verily, I say unto thee, today thou shalt be with me in paradise. Please be seated. That is not a contradiction. Luke is written after Mark and Matthew, and he's giving us additional information. He doesn't include the part about both thieves reviling him. So it's not a contradiction. It's additional information. The story of the salvation of the crucified robber is one of the most amazing records of a conversion in the whole Bible. This is the last recorded conversion before the death of Christ. It's the last confession of faith of Christ before the death of Christ. This section is comforting and encouraging to lost sinners. It really shows us the amazing compassion, love, and power of Christ to save. It greatly strengthens our faith because it explicitly teaches God's sovereign power to save and Jesus' willingness and ability to save. Even when he was in agony, dying on the cross, when Christ saved the wicked robber, he was a spectacle of shame on the brink of death. Even while our Lord was near the lowest point of his humiliation, he achieved this amazing act of grace in a simple trust, if a simple trust in the Savior when he was emptied of all his glory and marred beyond recognition can save a wicked, murdering robber, then certainly our faith in the resurrected, glorified King who sits at the right hand of power is sufficient to save. Now we're going to look at four things as we study this section of Scripture, four areas. And I'm just going to go, I had to edit down material, so I'm going to go for about 55 minutes or so and then I'll wrap it up. Number one, the character and condition of the robber before his conversion. Number two, how this criminal was converted to Christ. Number three, the evidences of this man's faith and repentance. And number four, what we can learn from our Lord's promise to the penitent thief. May God enable us to profit from this amazing section of scripture. It's truly amazing. It should be in all capitals of letters of gold that's so precious. Now, as we study the conversion of the robber on the cross, it is important to note that in God's providence, this man was no average everyday sinner. He was the vilest of the vile, the lowest of the low, the bottom of the barrel of sinful humanity. Indeed, he was a scum of the earth who deserved to be put to death. And this point is easily established if we look at the terms used to describe them in the Gospels. Number one, the Gospels of Matthew and Mark describe the two men crucified as thieves, King James version, or robbers, New King James. The robbers is a better translation. That's the New King James, the NASV, the RSV, and the NIV. Although the KGV translates the Greek word, used, lestes, as thief, the word robber is a better translation. We know this because the word for thief is kleptes, where we get the word kleptomaniac, and the word for robber is a more serious offense than being a thief. A robber, brigand, or bandit is someone who is more than a petty thief. He has someone who operates as a group of wicked associates who used organized planning and violence to achieve their ends. They used weapons, clubs, knives, swords at that time. Now they use guns, obviously. And if you didn't hand it over, They'd beat you to a pulp, and they might kill you. And if you did hand it over, they might beat you to a pulp and kill you anyway, just like robbers in our day, where they rob a 7-Eleven or whatever, and they shoot the guy in the head, even though they don't need to. That's the kind of person we're talking about. And Roman law even distinguished between theft, firtum, and robbery, rapina, which means theft combined with violence. Now, according to Roman scholars, theft and robbery were not capital crimes in the days of our Lord when he walked the earth. Now, obviously, if murder was committed during the crime, that'd be a different story. Therefore, the fact that the robbers received the death penalty can only be explained in one of two ways. Either these men were guilty of murder when they committed robbery and were convicted of murder along with robbery, or it could be interpreted in the sense of an insurrectionist or revolutionary. And the Greek word is used in both senses. Josephus used this word for the Jews who were revolutionaries against the Roman government. The consensus of modern commentators is that it was very likely that these two robbers were, in fact, violent revolutionaries who were seized in connection with the insurrection led by Barabbas. C. Mark 15.7, Barabbas was the leader of an insurrectionist group, revolutionaries. And that third cross in the middle of these two was meant, in my view, for Barabbas. He had committed murder. He was the leader of the group. And Pilate, thinking Christ was innocent, knowing he was innocent, and thinking that the charges against him brought by the Jews was a bunch of rubbish, tried to get out of it thinking, well, if I exchange this for that, he thought they would let Jesus go. So the cross meant for Barabbas becomes the cross for Christ. These men were Barabbas' accomplices and were awaiting execution with him. When Barabbas was released by the Jews, the Messiah took his place in between these two wicked insurrectionists. Now whether or not the criminal on the cross was a violent revolutionary or a murderous brigand, we know that this man was a very wicked man. He had no regard for human life whatsoever. The revolutionaries, the zealots, when they had taken over the temple before the destruction of Jerusalem, they killed all the righteous priests. They committed sacrilege in the temple. These were very wicked men. Both groups used violence to secure other people's money and property. And both used murder to accomplish their evil deeds. Robbers would lay in wait for travelers. And then you know the story of the Good Samaritan. The person was beat up so bad he couldn't move. He was there about to die, and the Samaritan saves him. That's what they would do. Left him for dead. He would leave the dead on the road to be eaten by the birds. The wounded would be left to bleed to death and agonize under the hot sun. He was a man totally without morals and without mercy. And he is accurately described in Proverbs 1, 11 to 13. Come with us. Let us lie in wait to shed blood. Let us lurk secretly for the innocent without cause. Let us swallow them alive like shoal and whole like those who go down to the pit. We shall find all kinds of possessions. We shall fill our houses with spoil. So that's the kind of person we're talking about. The scum of the earth. Deserve to die. Number two. Now Luke uses a different word to describe these robbers. He's writing to a Gentile audience primarily. Refers to them as malfactors. And the word malfactor is from the Latin. Or in the New King James, criminals. The Greek word kakourgos is a compound word consisting of two words. Kakos, evil. Ergon, work. Literally, he's an evil worker. He lives to commit evil. His worldview is evil. He wants to do evil. That's his worldview. And in the context of modern rendering, a good rendering would be criminal. Luke writing to a predominantly gentile audience wants us to know that the men crucified for Christ were evil thugs. They were criminals who spent their life planning and committing evil deeds. God's law, God's moral law, and the law of the Roman state meant nothing to these men. They could care less. He existed to please himself. He lived for the moment. There was no fear of God before his eyes. Everything existed to satisfy his lusts. His heart was a heart of stone. The loss of property, injury too, and even the death of an innocent person did not prick his evil heart. He was a hardened, bloodthirsty, despicable criminal, number three. But even worse than everything so far, he was also a blasphemer. Both Mark and Matthew tell us that this man was mocking Jesus before his conversion. When the unbelieving crowds were mocking our Lord's helplessness by challenging him to come down from the cross, both criminals joined in and they mocked Jesus. They cursed him, they laughed at him. You saved others, you can't save yourself. Who do you think you are? You call yourself a king. Their own hopes and aspirations had been foiled, so they reproached Jesus for having made even grander plans that had gone unfulfilled in their eyes. Remember, the Jews thought the Messiah was going to be this mighty warrior who was going to conquer Rome and Persia. And Matthew, the robber, is even mocking the Savior's claim to be the Son of God, 2744. Before his conversion, the robber had a contempt and hatred for Christ. He was an avowed enemy of the Savior and all that he stood for, just like the mocking crowd, just like the Roman soldiers, just like the Jewish priests and the Jews. The contempt shown for Jesus to those gathered about the cross may have encouraged the two others who were crucified to vent their rage upon him. In their eyes, Jesus was a contemptible caricature of a king, of sovereignty. And they reproached him. They mocked him. They made fun of him at his darkest hour, in his time of extreme humiliation. Now, at this point in the story, it appears that the just punishments these robbers received only hardened them in their rebellion. Instead of repenting of their evil, they were adding new sins to the old. And that's the way unregenerate people are. It looked as though both men would be fierce, impenitent, and defiant to the bitter end. God and Jesus Christ, however, had a different plan. And this is what's so amazing about our passage. It shows the sovereign power of Christ to save. Number four. Note also that the robber was suffering the just consequences of his crimes. He was on the cross under the just sentence of death. And that's another reason I think he was probably a zealot or an insurrectionist, a revolutionary. Because Rome didn't care that much about crime. You know, murder, they didn't like that. But their main thing, if you committed insurrection, there were cases where they would have the road lined for miles of people on crosses, revolutionaries. Suffering on the cross was no doubt a terrifying, excruciating way to die, but we must keep in mind that the penalty of hell is far more serious and terrifying than even the agony of crucifixion. Jesus warned us of this in Matthew 10, 28. Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul, but rather fear him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. Our Lord is saying that those who do not know him, for those who do not know him, There is an everlasting future of suffering for both body and soul. There's no such thing as annihilationism or the cessation of existence. But rather, those who reject the Savior will spend eternity in the place called the pit of the abyss. Isaiah 14, 15, Revelation 9, 2, the lake of fire, Revelation 20, 15, the second death Revelation 20, 14, 21, 8. Hell, 2 Peter 2, 4. The outer darkness, Matthew 25, 30, Jude 1, 13. Those who do not believe in Jesus will suffer everlasting punishment, Matthew 25, 46. Everlasting fire, Matthew 18, 8. Everlasting destruction, 2 Thessalonians 1, 9. Eternal fire, Matthew 13, 40 to 42. Revelation 14, 10, Jude 7. Torment, basinos, the Greek word for torture. Luke 16, 23 to 24, Matthew 24, 50 to 51. Where there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth, Matthew 24, 51. I think you noticed that almost every single one of those passages came from the lips of Jesus. If this Robert did not repent and look to the divine human mediator, he would have gone immediately to hell upon death and suffered the resurrection of condemnation. John 5, 29. Now, we have a resurrection unto eternal life. We get glorified bodies. We get to be with Jesus in paradise. Well, if you're not a Christian, yeah, you have a resurrection, and then you're cast into the lake of fire. This condemned robber hanging on the cross of execution is a graphic picture of everyone who has not embraced the Lord Jesus Christ by faith. This statement is true because every individual apart from the Redeemer is under the internal sentence of death from Almighty God. Jesus said that he who does not believe is condemned already. John 3, 18. God says, he who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him. John 3, 36. The psalmist says, you are not a God who takes pleasure in wickedness, nor shall evil dwell with you. The boastful shall not stand in your sight. You hate all workers of iniquity. You shall destroy those who speak falsehood. The Lord abhors the bloodthirsty and deceitful man. 5, 4 to 5. And of course, Hebrews 10, 31, it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of a living God. This dying thief, before his amazing conversion, was on the precipice of a Christless eternity, without God, without hope. He was unregenerate, weighed with a lifetime of sin and guilt, and was in complete bondage to sin and the devil. If you're not a Christian, You need to realize you're not very different than this robber on the cross. Yes, it may be true that you're not an insurrectionist. Maybe you haven't committed cold-blooded murder. Yet you are guilty of sin. You have lived your life without trusting in Christ or serving Christ. And if you died this very moment, you would be cast into hell and forever be separated from our Lord's love and presence. This very moment, you're under the sentence of death. and you'd be cast into hell. But there is hope for you. For if Jesus could transform the stony heart of that robber on the cross and completely save him at his weakest hour, then he most certainly can deliver you. And pray that God would open your eyes and ears to behold the amazing saving power of God's beloved son. He's tortured almost to death. He couldn't even carry the cross. He had to have help. He's a bloody mess. His face has been punched in the face. And there he is with almighty power to save. That's part one. Here's number two. Second, the criminal's conversion. Now in his gospel, Luke records that a radical change of mind occurred and one of the robbers crucified with Christ. At first, both robbers were railing against the Savior, mocking him, making fun of him, and casting the same in his teeth. Matthew 27, 44, Mark 15, 32. But a time comes when the grace of God shines upon his heart, the heart of one of the criminals, and that man displays an astonishing faith in God's Son. This dramatic and obvious conversion raises an important question. How was this wicked criminal converted while he hung on the cross? Obviously, there was no sermon or evangelistic message spoken to him while he was dying. There's no evidence that prayer was given on his behalf or that he received prior instruction by one of our Lord's disciples. Yet this man repented of his sin, believed in Jesus, and went as admitted to paradise that very day. How can we account for this remarkable change of heart? Well, to understand what occurred to the penitent thief on the cross, there are a number of things to consider. Number one, and this is quite obvious, it is important to note that this man was converted by the sovereign grace of God. Only God has the power to turn blasphemers, murderers into worshipers. Only the Holy Spirit could take those hearts of stone that are spiritually dead and turn them into hearts of flesh. Behold the power of Christ to save. Salvation is of the Lord. Jonah 2.9. The only biblical way that we can explain such a radical and sincere change in this robber is the fact that God did something to his heart that no one could see. And the Bible refers to the sovereign act of God as being born of the Spirit. John 3, 5 to 6, regeneration. Titus 3, 5, the Greek word, paligensia, a new creation. Genesis 6, 15, having been born again. 1 Peter 1, 23 and John 3, 3, a making alive with Christ. Ephesians 2, 5, Colossians 2, 13, or being begotten by God. John 1, 13, 1 John 2, 29, 3, 9, 4, 7, 5, 1, 4, and 18. This change in man's heart is so radical that scripture derives it as a heart of stone becoming a heart of flesh, Ezekiel 32.2, or an uncircumcised heart becoming a circumcised heart. Both of these criminals were equally wicked. Both were equally guilty. Both were equally damned. Both had the same unbelieving, unbiblical, blasphemous view of Jesus in the early hours of the crucifixion. That's what the text says. Both were spiritually dead and blind as they mocked the Savior. Both also saw hurt everything related to Christ during the nearly six hours he hung on the cross. Yet one died in his sins just as he lived, hardened, impotent, unbelieving, evil. He died just as blind, guilty, and spiritually dead as he was when the crucifixion began. But the other robber, was regenerated by the Holy Spirit, enlightened, and drawn to our Lord. Therefore, he repented, believed, confessed, prayed for mercy, and was saved. What an amazing passage. Now, one purpose of this passage is to teach us that conversion is the fruit, not the cause of regeneration. When there are two men of virtually identical character and condition, who both are in the exact same circumstances, who have the very same information regarding the Savior, and one becomes convicted and repents while the other could care less, could not care less? The only biblical and rational explanation is that God changed one's heart and passed the other by. And we see it. We see it all the time. You've witnessed a people. Or you've been with people and invited them to church. One guy's weeping and begging Christ for forgiveness, and the other guy's laughing, like, whoa, you're such a fool. This means that the regenerating power of the Holy Spirit raises dead hearts, Ephesians 2.5, and enables sinners to see and hear the truth, causing them to repent and turn to Christ. This, beloved, is the explicit teaching of Scripture. And if you're not preaching this or teaching this, you're not preaching the gospel. Billy Graham, his book on being born again. And this is what Armenians teach. Being born again is a response. God responds to your autonomous act of the will, where you express your faith in Christ. So God is rewarding you for your act of the will, your autonomous act of the will. That's totally unbiblical. 1 Corinthians 2.12, now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the spirit who is from God. In order that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God. Without the spiritual realm, which is purely a gift of God, dependent upon nothing that we do, no one would turn to Christ. 2 Corinthians 4.6, for it is God who commanded that light to shine out of the darkness, who has shown in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. Lydia, the seller of purple from Thyatira, like the criminal on the cross, believed God first opened her heart. Paul, this is what it says here. Paul sat down and spoke to the woman who met there. Now a certain woman named Lydia heard us. She was a seller of purple from the city of Thyatira who worshiped God. The Lord opened her heart to heed the things spoken by Paul, Acts 16, 13 to 14. Our Lord said to Nicodemus, that which is born of the spirit, John 3, 6. The Holy Spirit came upon one of the criminals and made him a spiritual person, drew him to Christ, so he could love the Savior. He could see who Christ really was, even all beat up and bloody. You're the Son of God. Therefore, he saw the blessed Savior with new spiritual eyes, and thus this cursing, blaspheming, and railing rebel became, in an instant of time, a devout worshiper of Christ. It's amazing, isn't it? It's amazing. The profound truth is that the only way to explain this pervasive radical change in the impenitent thief's heart, it's the only way to explain it. This truth teaches us two related things. First, when a sinner is saved, God alone deserves all the credit and receives all the glory. The Bible teaches that faith and repentance are gifts of God. John 3, 3 to 8, 645, 44, 45, 65, Ephesians 2, 8. Philippians 1.29, 2 Peter 1.2, Acts 11.18. And here's John 6.44 and 65. No one comes to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. No one can come to me unless it has been granted to him by my Father. Now the idea that regeneration is God's response to man's exercise of faith, decisional regeneration, robs God of his glory. It is a heresy, a damnable heresy to take the glory away from our loving Savior. Second, the fact that unsaved men can only be changed spiritually and drawn to the Savior by the power of God should teach us humility. We were spiritually dead, Ephesians 2, 1 to 5, with a heart of stone, Ezekiel 11, 19, living in spiritual darkness, unable to repent, totally helpless, spiritually blind, with a sinful hatred of Christ, and enslaved to the prince of darkness with a guilty record and a wicked heart. But God, while we were his enemies, reached out and touched our hearts, giving us new spiritual life and causing us to love his precious son. We don't get any glory. We don't get any credit. What a glorious salvation. We love him only because he first loved us, 1 John 4, 19. Obviously, we have not one thing we can boast about, not one thing. Armenians can be, oh, I was more spiritual than Joe over here. I was wiser. He didn't see the gospel like I did. He didn't exercise his free will like I did. No, there's none of that, none of that heretical nonsense. If it were not for God's grace, we would be just like that robber who died cursing Jesus. Without the work of the Holy Spirit upon our hearts, we would be just as wicked, obstinate, unrepentant, and full of hatred towards Christ as that impenitent criminal. And for this reason, and it talks about this in Revelation 4.10, we're going to cast our crowns at his pierced feet when we behold him in heaven after our resurrection. Two, we need to examine the means used by the Holy Spirit to bring this penitent criminal to Christ. Now, this is a more difficult topic than regeneration, for in regeneration, God acts immediately upon the heart without means. Now, there's a broader definition of regeneration that talks about when the heart comes in contact with the word, the new heart with the word. However, when it comes to the production of saving faith in the heart and laying hold of Jesus, the Bible teaches that something else is necessary, as Paul says. Romans 10, 18, faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God. James says, 118, of his own will, he brought us forth by the word of truth that we make kind of the first fruits of his creation. Under normal circumstances, people are converted by the preaching of the gospel. Sometimes God uses a Bible reading. Sometimes it's a gospel track or a Christian book. In other words, the scriptures teach that the Holy Spirit applies the Word of God to the regenerated heart in the process of conversion. Therefore, a genuine conversion presupposes a certain amount of biblical knowledge regarding the person and work of Christ. That's why we catechize our children. That's why we witness to others about the wonderful work of Christ. Now, this teaching raises an important question, which is very fascinating. What did the Spirit of God use to convert this robber? There's no evidence that he had listened to our Lord preach or heard any sermons by the traveling disciples. However, it is a distinct possibility. You never know. It could be true. But even if this robber had never heard Jesus or his disciples preach, given his Jewish upbringing and knowledge of the Old Testament scriptures, he saw a number of things that could have been used by the Holy Spirit to lead him to Christ. If the robber could hear the trial of our Lord, and he was probably there in the dock waiting or already condemned, Barabbas had not been condemned yet, so the three were probably aside. He would have learned not only the major titles for the Messiah, but also his innocence and righteousness. The Jewish leaders publicly accused Jesus of making himself a king, Matthew 23.2. And our Lord acknowledged that he indeed was a king, Luke 23.3 and C. John 18.37. Pilate repeatedly referred to the Savior as the king of the Jews. Mark 59, John 1839, 1915, and even had the inscription, this is Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews. Now, he's probably mocking the Jewish leadership, because he didn't want to crucify Christ. He thought he was innocent. But still, it's there, placed above the suffering servant's head on the cross. And that is recorded in all four Gospels. Perhaps he thought about the trial and inscription. Could this really be the Messiah? Could this really be the King of the Jews? This is he who wrought miracles and raised the dead and said he was the son of God. Is it all true? Is he really our Messiah? Then he would remember the words of the prophet Isaiah. He was despised and rejected of men, a man of sorrows, acquainted with grief. Surely he hath borne our griefs and carried our sorrows. Why he would say to himself, oh, I never understood this passage. But it must point to Christ, to Jesus. The chastisement of our peace is upon him. Can this be the one who cried in the Psalms, they pierced my hands and my feet? As he looked at him again, he felt conviction creeping over his spirit. Then he looked again and he marked how all men bow down below, rejected and despised and hissed at him and hooted him, mocked him. And all this would make the case the more clear. And they shall see me. All they that see me laugh me to scorn. They shoot out the lip. They shake their head, saying, He trusted on the Lord that he would deliver him. Let him deliver him, seeing he delighted in him." You see how the prophecies in the Psalms and Isaiah come to pass perfectly in Christ? If he had been taught that as a child, the Holy Spirit could use that information. That's why it's critical you catechize your children, because you want that in their minds. Pilate identified Jesus as the Christ. Matthew 27 and 17, and the Jews said that our Lord claimed to be the Son of God in John 19 7. Further, Pilate, who had no axe to grind, he was trying to release Jesus, but he's a politician, he's not a believer, he doesn't care whether an innocent man dies, but he doesn't want to kill him, especially after his wife had that dream. said the Savior had not done nothing worthy of death. Luke 23, 22 and 23, 15. Had committed no crime. John 18, 38, 19, four and six. And could not be proven to have done any evil at all. Matthew 27, 23 and Luke 23, 22. Both Pilate and his wife emphatically declared that the Nazarene was a righteous man. Matthew 27, 19 and 24. If the witness was, the thief was a witness to these events, the Holy Spirit could have easily applied this to the heart. On the way to the cross, now remember, they're right there with Jesus being led to the cross. These criminals would have witnessed our Lord's amazing words to the daughters of Jerusalem. The robber would have thought about these words. Jesus warns these women about the coming destruction in a unique manner. He does not speak as the prophets who would say, thus says the Lord, or the Lord says. This weakened, bleeding man speaks as though he himself both knows and controls the future. He speaks as the divine judge who rules the universe. The robber was right behind our Lord as he spoke these sobering words. He saw the master warn these unbelieving women with love in his eyes. And the frightening truth on his lips, hey, don't weep for me. Wait till you see what I'm going to do to Jerusalem. And the criminal saw something that the Holy Spirit would use to pierce his soul. He beheld the Savior interceding for his own people. There were elect people in the crowd who weren't Christians yet, who were mocking and making fun of Christ. Father, forgive them. They do not know what they do. Luke 23, 34. One could reasonably expect to see a man falsely condemned, scourged, beaten, mocked, and railed upon with insults and sarcasm to be cursing such a crowd. But Jesus, with his infinite love, is even here on the cross interceding for the elect, who out of ignorance are participants in his humiliation and murder. The robber learned that Christ is compassionate and merciful, and he takes a very active role in the saving of sinners. Amazing. Such a man not only dies for the sins of his people, but he also works to apply that wonderful redemption unto them, even when they are ethical scum and worthy of the curse of the law and death. There's no love like Jesus had. Jesus had the greatest love ever. And later, when the Holy Spirit changed the thief's heart, our Lord's prayer would be precious to this robber. Perhaps he would think, this man of sorrows was compassionate, loving, and kind to his own, who were involved in this wicked affair. He even interceded for them to God as father. Therefore, I can place my faith in the king, who is merciful to sinners, and I can ask him to remember me when he enters his glorious kingdom. Now, obviously, his knowledge of the gospel was rudimentary. and his appreciation of all that was taking place before him imperfect. Nevertheless, the Holy Spirit used it all to such a great effect that this robber would become a teacher of faith and repentance to the whole world. This is a precious passage to wicked sinners throughout the last 2,000 years. And there was even paradoxically a gospel message set forth in the mocking of the chief prescribes and elders. They cried out, Matthew 27 to 42 and Mark 15, 31, He saved others. Himself, he cannot save. The point of the Jewish leaders, we're trying to set forth before the crowd, was that if Jesus cannot save himself from suffering and death, then we should not recognize his claim to be the Messiah, the Son of God. Because what do they believe in? They didn't believe in a suffering Messiah. They believed in an all-conquering, powerful king on a white horse who's going to slay the Romans and the Persians and the Egyptians. conquer the world. That's what they believed in. Even the robbers joined in this blasphemous mockery. But once the Holy Spirit planted a new spiritual life in the heart of that dying criminal and began to draw him to the Redeemer, those words of mockery took on a whole new meaning. He saved others. Perhaps he can save me. The first rays of hope. If he has the power to save others, then certainly he can save me. Hope, faith. Now, one thing is clear when we examine this thief's confession. His mockery that spoke of a salvation in terms of merely a physical deliverance from suffering and death was changed by the Holy Spirit to a concern for a deliverance from spiritual death, the deliverance from the guilt and penalty of sin. He knew he was going to die. The robber's outlook was changed by the Holy Spirit from a concern and focus upon this world to the world to come. The words that the crowd cast in the Savior's teeth as mockery became precious gospel truths to the dying sinner. You may pick a precious diamond from a dunghill. You wash it off and its radiance is just as nice as a precious diamond ever was. and you may gather the gospel from a blasphemous mouth, and it shall more or less the gospel of salvation." Even though it is, well, remember the high priest, he has to die for the nation. It's better that he dies for the nation. They speak what they do not understand, yet it's the truth. As the dying criminal, was on the cross, the Holy Spirit convicted him of the profound truth that in order to save his people, Jesus could not save himself. And what is that, beloved? That is substitutionary atonement. He died. He suffered. Your sin, guilt, and liability of punishment was imputed to him on the cross, reckoned to him on the cross, judicially, by God the Father. And that is why you won't go to hell. He went to hell for you. If Christ was to fulfill his mission, then he had to die on the cross as a propitiating sacrifice unto God. And as we shall see in the examination of the robber's confession, he believed that our Lord's death was not in vain, not useless, or a defeat. Rather, he looked to it as a victory that ushered in the Messianic kingdom. Beloved, we must never underestimate or doubt our Savior's ability to save even the most wicked and despicable of criminals. Remember Paul? Who was Paul? He was the ringleader of a people who went around murdering and arresting Christians and throwing them in dungeons. He was guilty of murder. And what did Christ do to Paul? He's the greatest evangelist and the greatest of apostles who ever lived. The Spirit of God took the information that this robber had regarding the master and so convicted and converted his heart that he went from being a blasphemer to a worshiper in only a short period of time. He displayed astonishing faith by committing himself in his salvation to the protection of Christ while he saw him ravaged, shredded, bloody, near death. That is faith. Now let's look. Can somebody just raise your hand when I get to you? to 55, evidences of the criminal's faith and repentance. When a person is truly converted to Christ, there will be fruit, doctrinally and morally, or evidences that demonstrate repentance and saving faith. As James says, faith without works is dead, 220. Now, what is particularly interesting about Luke's record of the stying robber's interaction with Jesus is the clear and abundant evidence of his conversion. And this is especially amazing when we keep in mind that he was literally nailed to a cross. Very unpleasant. When you're hanging on a cross, you have to struggle to breathe. It's really hard to breathe. And they would pull themselves up and catch a breath. That's why when they were getting impatient and the sun was going to go down, they would break their legs. It made it harder because you could push yourself up. Now it made it harder. He was never baptized. He never attended church. He was never able to use his hands or feet to do any good works. And we learn solely of this man's faith from his lips. For out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks, Matthew 12, 34. And there are a number of distinct evidences of the robber's conversion to examine first. He came to our Lord's defense and rebuking his partner in crime, Luke 23, 40. Then one of the criminals who were hanged, blasting him saying, if thou are the Christ, save yourself and us. But the other answering, rebuking, saying, do you not even fear God? Seeing you under the same condemnation, Now, this is an amazing statement for somebody who not long before was ridiculing Christ. He was joining in the railing. And now, note how the statement is rich in theological meaning. The robber emphatically rebukes his fellow sinner for not fearing God by his behavior. This implies that there was now a fear of God which restrained him from following the multitude to do evil. He didn't care what the crowd thought anymore. He didn't care what his comrade thought. How dare you insult Christ? How dare you make fun of my savior? In fact, he now feared God so much that he would not even allow any person to mock God in his presence. The dying criminal had been changed by the Holy Spirit. And now he no longer cared about what the world thought or what the crowd said. But his chief concern was what God thought. With his new heart of flesh came a love for God and Christ, and he could not bear to hear his old comrade making fun of his precious savior. This penitent criminal had a radical change of mind, a complete about face regarding his view of God and the Redeemer, and he publicly and dramatically retracts all his earlier unbelieving statements and takes his place besides Jesus. Now Luke probably got all this information. The women were there. John was there. John was kind of back farther. All the disciples had fled, but Mary, the mother of Jesus, and the women who followed Jesus were there, and they witnessed all this. The penitent robber's rebuke presupposes that all such blasphemous comments toward the Redeemer will have their due recompense of reward after death, and that every sinful remark will be answerable to God. And the gist of his rebuke is, Look, don't you have any fear of God at all? You are under the sentence of death and are about to be ushered into the very presence of Almighty God. Is it not time to stop following the wicked crowd when you know that the Nazarene is righteous and innocent? In the moment when all voices are raised against Christ from both the political and religious leaders of the Jews and the Romans, The scholars, the Roman executioners, the large body of onlookers. This criminal displayed an astonishing loyalty to the Savior. This malfactor is the last man who, before the death of Jesus, disposes a testimony, a public testimony, in honor of Jesus. Public testimony. Don't you say something against my Savior. I love him. I believe him. How dare you insult the Savior? Who do you think you are? This public expression of faith and loyalty is a blessed example to every Christian. Do we remain silent when relatives, fellow students, or co-workers mock our Lord and his holy word? In our decaying, wicked, degenerate culture, is it not crucial for believers to call sin a sin and rebuke it? If Christians who claim to believe in the inerrancy and perfection of scripture are unwilling to rebuke sin, then who's going to do it? Nancy Pelosi's not going to do it. The Democrats aren't going to do it. Republicans, most of them don't care. The secular humanists, sodomite perverts, baby murdering feminists certainly won't. Yet a great and many professing Christians in our day not only refuse to do their duty to be a salt and light to culture, but also are quick to condemn those who are attempting to take a public stand for Christ and his law word. And that's why this church is so special. Yeah, it's not a big megachurch. It's not flashy. But thank God you preach Christ over the nations. Thank God you don't bow the knee to corruption in worship. Do you not know that a person who is silent when a wrong thing is said or done may become a participant in that sin? If you do not rebuke sin, I mean, of course, on all fit occasions and in the proper spirit, your silence will give consent to sin. And you will be an aider and a better of sin Second, the robber acknowledges sin and guilt. Do you not even fear God, seeing you are under the same condemnation? And we, we, indeed justly, for we receive the due reward of our deeds. And one crucial element of repentance is that we have a change of mind regarding our sin, and we acknowledge that our sins are sinful. They're wrong. We're guilty. They're against God's throne. They're against God's holiness. There must be an honest acknowledgement of our sin and guilt before God. And this is precisely what occurred with the criminal on the cross. As the robber and insurrectionist, he justified his sinful behavior by various excuses. Like Hamas, when they murdered innocent Jews and burned babies in ovens and murdered women and raped them. He did the same thing. Oh, they're oppressing us. It gives us the right to kill people. No, it doesn't. God's law is absolute. Perhaps he believed that his unlawful actions would lead to a greater good, the liberation of Palestine. He may have reasoned that as an insurrectionist, he was involved in a just war. Therefore, he admitted murder and robbery. His comrades justified them by their unique circumstances. In any case, before he had lived out a worldview that justified killing the innocent and taking their goods. But now the Holy Spirit changed his heart. All that self-justification and excuse-masing disappears. He begins to see his sin as God sees it. No more excuses. And he now loathes his sins. He despises his past lifestyle, his warfare, not against Rome, but against a thrice holy God. He acknowledges that he deserves to die for what he done. And he freely admits that God's wrath against his sin is just. True repentance acknowledges the justice of God in all the punishments of sin. He had abandoned a spirit of human autonomy and ethics and has accepted the biblical teaching that the law of God is wholly just and good, Romans 7, 12. He laid down the weapons of his warfare with God and said, Lord, I acknowledge my transgressions, and my sin is always before me. Against you, you only have I sinned and done evil in your sight, Psalm 51, 3 to 4. There is no more certain sign of an effectual work of the Holy Spirit of God than a readiness on the sinner's part to accept and acquiesce in whatever God's punishment may be. He puts his mouth in the dust and says, Thou art righteous, O God, that doest this. Wherefore doth a living man complain, a man of the punishment for sin? Lamentations 339. How profound the conviction, how unreserved upon his part the confession of sin. Yeah, there's a lot of evidence of true conversion here. This Robert's repentance reminds us that genuine faith is always accompanied by repentance. We cannot expect to be saved from our sins if we do not acknowledge the awful evil of our transgressions. Admitting our guilt. and endeavoring not to continue in sin that God hates. We pick up our cross daily. We deny ourselves. We say no to the world. We say no to the flesh. We say no to the devil. No more. If a person has a very light view of sin and intends to continue it, then he has no reason to believe that he is a child of God. Let us beware of repentance without evidences. Remember John the baptizer? The Pharisees come to him. I'm not going to baptize you guys. He knew they were wicked. He knew they were thieves, stealing. Bring forth fruits, meat for repentance. There are multitudes of professing Christians today who have accepted the unbiblical, the diabolical doctrine that repentance is not necessary for salvation. I was taught that at one time. While it is true that we are saved solely by Christ, apart from the works of the law, nevertheless, true faith is always accompanied by repentance. You're justified solely by God. It's an act of God, a judicial declaration in the heavenly court based on the righteousness of Christ. But once you're justified, now you're sanctified, Romans chapter six. Third, the criminal openly confessed the innocence of the Savior. Do you not even fear God, seeing you are under the same condemnation? And we indeed justly, for we see the due reward of our deeds. But this man has done nothing wrong. The word amiss, King James, or wrong, New King James, atapos, is compounded of alpha, negative, and tapos, place. Therefore, it literally means out of place. The criminal is not simply asserting that our Lord is not guilty of any crime. He's asserting he's not guilty of any sin. This is the sinless Messiah, the sinless Lamb of God, the Lamb without spot and without blemish. the perfect substitute for sin. Consequently, the robber with his half-dead mangled body, racked with pain, relied on the grace of Christ and confessed his faith in the righteousness of the Redeemer. The Holy Spirit enlightened his mind to know the beauty and perfection of the Lamb of God, who is without spot and without blemish. Here, the robber publicly rebukes the whole nation of Israel and testifies that Jesus died as an innocent man. When all other voices were silent, one suffering penitent spoke out and said, this man has done nothing amiss. He is the sinless son of God. And Luke repeatedly emphasizes Christ's innocence in chapter 23. He's declared to be innocent four times because our Lord had to be sinless for a sacrifice to be efficacious as an expiation for the sins of the world. Note. The excellent example of the penitent's confession and faith. First, he acknowledges that he is sinful and guilty and has nothing to offer God. His whole life in the sight of God is nothing but a stinking pile of rubbish. He has nothing in his hand to bring, nothing to offer God, nothing, not one thing. Then he looks away from himself to the righteousness of Christ. And every person must be saved in the exact same manner as that penitent robber. First, we must acknowledge that we are sinful and guilty before God and that we have nothing in ourselves to offer that merits salvation or that can approach to God or is acceptable to God. The natural man is enmity against God and cannot do anything that pleases God. Jesus said in Luke 1710, when you think you've done something good, I'm paraphrasing obviously, Say, no, we are unworthy servants. We have guilty records and corrupt hearts, and we need to be saved from what we have done and what we are. Second, we need to look to Christ for salvation. We must believe that our sins were placed upon the Savior on the cross. Like the penitent criminal, we must have a childlike faith in what the Nazarene accomplished. And then fourth, the criminal makes a request or prays to Christ. Then he said to Jesus, Lord, remember me when you come into your kingdom. Verse 42. This short prayer is remarkable for its depth of theological truth, and it contains a number of memorable elements. Number one. You notice he addresses Jesus as Lord, and that's just not a polite form of address here. He acknowledges that Jesus is the messianic king and the son of God. This prayer presupposes the deity of Christ. The petition is worded as if he felt, only let Christ think of me. And it is enough. Let him remember me. And the thought of this mind will be effectual for everything that I shall need in the world to come. This is to impute Godhead to Christ. If Jesus were just a prophet, you couldn't make a request like that. It'd be totally worthless. With the eyes of faith, this robber saw the master as one who would soon be seated at the right hand of God. Here's what Calvin says. I know not since the creation of the world that there ever was a more remarkable and striking example of faith. And so much the greater admiration is due to the grace of the Holy Spirit of which it affords so magnificent a display. A robber. who not only had not been educated in the school of Christ, but by giving himself up to excruciating murders, had endeavored to extinguish all sense of what was right, suddenly rises higher than all the apostles and the other disciples whom the Lord himself had taken so much pains to instruct. And not only so, he adores Christ as king while on the gallows, celebrates his kingdom in the midst of shocking and worse than revolting abasement, and declares him when dying to be the author of life." End of quote. It really is amazing. The Bible is obviously the word of God. And number two. The penitent criminal asks Jesus to remember him when he enters his kingdom. This short request reveals a strong and sturdy faith in a number of important biblical truths. It obviously assumes that there's life after death. Remember him when he enters his kingdom. This short request reveals a strong, sturdy faith. The life of the soul continues after death. Physical death does not mean the end of our existence. Further, the robber has an understanding that in the world to come, there is punishment for the wicked and a reward for those who believe in Christ. Lord, I believe in you. I trust in your power to save. Remember me as you sit on your throne of glory. The robber understands that in the world to come, it is the crucified Savior who determines our place. He knows that Christ is the judge of all mankind. This criminal looks to the Lord as the gate of heaven, and he places himself upon the bosom of Jesus, knowing that the Redeemer is his only hope of life in life and death. And he believes that to be remembered by the master means that he has a favorable relationship with him. This remembering is not simply an intellectual affair, but it means that he has a favorable relationship. It involves thinking upon with love. The penitent robber is looking to his relationship with Christ as his only hope in entering the kingdom of heaven. And this amazing request shows us the power of the Holy Spirit to illuminate the mind and turn ignorant criminals into brilliant theologians in the space of a few hours. It's mind-boggling. The penitent robber's request reveals a biblical understanding of the mediator's kingdom. What did the Jews think at that time? Why did they reject Christ so much? They were looking for somebody to come on a white horse and be a conquering hero. Like, you know, David was a warrior. They looked at all the passages about conquest. They didn't look at the suffering servant passages. And there's a lot of them. They just ignored them. This dying criminal places his trust in a dying Messiah, a king under the dark cloud of humiliation. Thus, we see in this man a spirit-given perception that the kingdom of God came by the bloody cross of Christ and not the bloodstained sword of revolution. This robber now embraced the doctrine of the kingdom that was the very opposite of his old opinion. The Holy Spirit turned a violent, cruel insurrectionist into a humble servant of the crucified king. And is this not proof that with God, all things are possible? You're thinking, well, there's no hope for me. Look what I've done. Well, if God can save him, he can certainly save you. Note also that the great humility. Five more minutes in this prayer, the penitent criminal does not ask for any great privilege in the kingdom. He doesn't have to be seated at the right hand of Jesus. He knows that he does not deserve any place of honor. He simply wants to be remembered. He is not concerned with golden streets, pearly gates, and bejeweled crowns. He wants the heart and love of the mediator. Oh, Lord, just think of me with your loving heart. Remember that I believe in you. I trust in your precious blood. The only thing I want, Lord, is to be with you. And beloved, that's the best part of heaven. And that's the worst part of hell. The greatest essence, the greatest definition of hell is separation from God. The greatest blessing of heaven is to be in the presence of God. There's nothing that can compare with that, nothing. Lord, remember us and we shall be safe. Think of us and we shall be secure. Intercede for us poor sinners who are burdened with a sense of sin and we shall dwell with you forever. Master, you have promised us saying, the one who comes to me, I will by no means cast out. We have come and placed our trust in you and your precious blood and sinless life. And we will rejoice that you have given us sonship and eternal life. And I think I'll stop there. I have a very lengthy section. Our Lord's promise to the penitent criminal. And we see that the moment you die, if you're a Christian, you're in paradise. The very moment you die. Now your body's in the grave. It awaits the resurrection. But the moment you die, your soul's with Christ. You're in paradise the very moment you die. But we'll stop there. So I hope you see Scripture is amazing, isn't it? It's just mind-boggling. The power of Christ to save this scum of the earth. And He can save anyone He wants to. And He does. Let us pray. Father, we thank You so much for our precious Savior and what He's done. We thank You so much that You have given us passages like this to strengthen our faith in Your power, Your love, Your compassion toward us. Forgive us, Lord, for doubting you. Forgive us, Lord, for doubting our salvation. And strengthen our hearts to be more obedient, covenantally faithful to your holy word in appreciation for what you have done. We thank you, Lord. In Jesus' name, amen.