OPEN: A minister was talking to a professing Christian and asked him if he was active in his local Church. The man responded, "No, but the dying thief wasn’t active in a local Church and he was still accepted".
The minister then asked if the man had been baptized. He said, "No, but the dying thief wasn’t baptized, and still went to Heaven".
The minister then asked if the man had partaken of the Lord’s Table. The man said, "No, but the dying thief never took of the Lord’s Table, and still went to Heaven".
The minister said, "The difference between the dying thief and you is that the thief was dying in his belief, and you are dead in yours".
APPLY: The story of the thief on the cross is one of the most powerful stories in all of the Gospels. Here we have Jesus crucified between two thieves. Two sinners. Two men who, by their own admission, deserved to die on that day.
This is a powerful story, because it was a fulfillment of an Old Testament prophecy from Isaiah 53. Speaking of the coming messiah, God declared:
“…he poured out his life unto death, and was numbered with the transgressors. For he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.” Isaiah 53:12b
It was no coincidence that WHEN Jesus died, He died between two convicted sinners. And it was no coincidence that He was willing and able to grant forgiveness to the one criminal that repented.
There are forceful images here:
One criminal dies with curses on His lips
Another one dies with the promise of hope in his heart
One author described the setting this way: Three Crosses stood on Golgotha’s brow that April. On one, a thief died IN sin and was lost. On another cross, a thief died TO sin and was saved. On the third cross, a Lamb died FOR sin, and was the Son of God.
This whole scene speaks of the love and power of Jesus that He forgave even the worst of sinners and did that at the last moment of life - a death bed conversion if you will.
But as powerful as this scene is, there are wrong messages people get from what took place:
I. One wrong impression is this – you can count on “death bed” conversions.
I’ve heard of men who laughingly declared they were going to live their lives the way they wanted to all the way up to the day when they died… then they’d repent. They jokingly hold to a faith in “death bed” salvation. In their hearts they believe they can count on being saved at the last moment.
Of course, the problem is – you can’t count on that.
ILLUS: The story is told of a famous rabbi who was walking with some of his disciples when one of them asked, "Rabbi, when should a man repent?"
The rabbi thought about that and said, “You should be sure you repent on the last day of your life."
"But," several of his disciples protested, “we can never be sure which day will be the last day of our lives.”
The rabbi smiled and said, “Then answer to that problem is very simple. Repent now.”
You cannot count on when you’ll die, and only a fool would do put their salvation off until the last moment. But, of course, the world has never lacked for fools.
II. Now, in spite of that false belief – that you can wait until your death bed to repent…
…this WAS an example of a “death bed” conversion. The thief was literally hours away from meeting his maker. And his prospects weren’t good. He’d already been condemned here on earth, and there was no way – even if God would accept it – for him to even begin to try to make up for all the sin and pain his life had caused.
His destiny was hell. He knew it. The crowd knew it. And of course, Jesus knew it.
The thief admitted: “We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong.” Luke 23:41
He was a condemned man. But Jesus saved him anyway. A true death bed conversion.
ILLUS: One man has observed this about the story of the thief on the cross: “God has given us ONE EXAMPLE of a death bed conversion to prove it could be done. But there is ONLY ONE, to prove that we should not presume that it will happen for us”
So the moral here is this: there are death bed conversions… just don’t count on that working for you.
III. There is a 2nd false doctrine that props up when this passage is mentioned.
That false doctrine is that the thief is an example of New Testament salvation. People will say: the thief wasn’t baptized so that proves we don’t have to be either.
Now, that sounds good, but there is one fatal flaw to that argument: the thief died an Old Testament Jew… NOT a New Testament Christian. Now, how do I know that?
WELL THERE ARE TWO REASONS:
1st - The writer of Hebrews tells us when the New Covenant at the death of Christ: “In the case of a will, it is necessary to prove the death of the one who made it because a will is in force only when somebody has died; it never takes effect while the one who made it is living.” Hebrews 9:16-17
The promise to the thief was made before Jesus died, before His last will and covenant (that we call the NT) took effect. So, I repeat: the thief died an Old Testament Jew – NOT a New Testament Christian.
2nd - The Holy Spirit hadn’t been given yet. John 7:37-39 “On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, ‘If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’’ Now this he said about the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were to receive, for as yet THE SPIRIT HAD NOT YET BEEN GIVEN, because JESUS WAS NOT YET GLORIFIED." When was Jesus glorified? When He ascended into heaven after His resurrection.
In addition, we're taught that the Spirit was the mark of our salvation. Ephesians 1:13-14 teaches us that “In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory."
And you can’t be a New Testament without that Spirit. Romans 8:9 says "You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ DOES NOT BELONG TO HIM."
In other words, there were no Christians until Jesus was "glorified" because the Spirit had not yet been given (which marks us as Christians). Thus, the Thief could not be an example of New Testament conversion.
The promise to the thief was made before Jesus died, before His last will and covenant (that we call the New Testament) took effect. So, I repeat: the thief died an Old Testament Jew – NOT a New Testament Christian.
IV. But the fact of the matter is: of all the Jews who had ever lived, this thief was the most honored of all Jews. For you see:
Only this thief received the promise of being with Jesus in Paradise
Only this thief received the last granting of forgiveness from the very lips of Jesus
Only this thief was granted forgiveness during the final hours of his life
And he didn’t deserve it. – he was guilty. He was a sinner. He deserved to die and go to hell… but Jesus forgave Him of all the sins of his past and gave him a hope for his future.
And of course, that’s the point of all this. This man deserved to die, and Jesus forgave him anyway. That’s the real power in this story
Paul was struck by it’s implications in his own life. Paul wrote:
"Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners— of whom I am the worst. But for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his unlimited patience as an example for those who would believe on him and receive eternal life." 1 Timothy 1:15-16
V. Did you realize, that’s the only way you can be saved???
You can only be saved if you are willing to recognize that you have sinned and deserve to go to hell.
1 John 1:10 tells us “If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives.”
What? What John is saying is this: If you say you’ve never sinned badly enough to need Jesus to die for you then you’re calling Jesus a liar, because He said He had come to die for all sinners. If you’re not a sinner, then He didn’t die for you.
You can’t be saved if you’re not ready and willing to acknowledge that you’re sins SHOULD HAVE put you on a cross right there beside Jesus. That was why Jesus was willing to forgive the thief on the cross - because the thief knew he was guilty. And that’s why Jesus will forgive you and me, because we know we’re guilty and we’re not too proud to admit it.
VI. Lastly, the thief on the cross was the only O.T. Jew to ever experience what we experience in Christian baptism.
On the day he was crucified with Jesus Christ…
The thief died
And he was buried
And (because of his faith and repentance) he had the promise of being with Jesus forever.
Jesus said: "Today you will be with me in paradise"
Romans 6:3-5 tell us “don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. If we have been united with him like this in his death, we will certainly also be united with him in his resurrection.
What the passage in Romans 6 is saying is this:
…When you became a Christian
1. you died (just like the thief on the cross)
2. And AT that moment you were buried with Christ
3. You rose up to receive the promise of being with Jesus forever.
CLOSE: Whatever else you come away from this sermon with – remember this: it is only by owning up to your own sinfulness, accepting your own responsibility for your sin, that you can obtain forgiveness - That is one of the powerful messages of the Thief on the Cross.
The late Paul Leonard told a story about his life that appeared in the Lookout in 1990. He said:
Paying my way through Ohio State University was demanding, but the benefit was worth the struggle. My father had died during my senior year in high school, and my mother had become blind. With her encouragement, however, I enrolled in the University on the eve of the Great Depression. By night I was a taxi driver, and during the lunch and dinner hours I waited tables in a campus dining hall.
I made enough money to pay my expenses, but I had to always pinch pennies. At lunch one day I was serving a table where faculty members were seated. As I returned to the table with my tray held high, the unthinkable happened! I slipped on a spot of gravy on the floor and watched helplessly as the plates slid off the tray, spilling onto an especially well-dressed man, one of my professors.
My heart sank. What could I do to atone? I grabbed a towel to clean up the food, but I only spread the mess over more of my professor’s suit.
"Don’t worry about it young man. These things happen." Said the professor. That is what I wanted to hear. Instead he locked his eyes on me and asked, "Mr. Leonard, what are you going to do about this?"
"I’m so sorry sir. I’ll pay to have your suit cleaned," I responded.
"I don’t believe this suit can be dry cleaned, do you?" my professor countered. It was badly stained. I could tell that. And who was I to question his judgment? He had every right to be irritated. "Whatever it takes, sir." I answered.
Later that afternoon…I sat before the same professor in his engineering class as he did his best to present his normal lecture in something less then what he was used to wearing for his lectures. When the bell rang I heard the dreaded words: "Paul Leonard, I’d like to speak to you for a moment." After everyone else had left, he said simply, "Mr. Leonard, I believe it is only fair that you buy me a new suit." "Yes, sir," I managed to say.
With a knot in my stomach, I agreed to meet him at a downtown Columbus men’s store the following day. I recognized the name of the store, and exclusive men’s clothier specializing in custom-tailored suits. I also knew that I could cover the expenses only if I were able to make payments over several months of work and scrimping. As I walked in the front door of the finely furnished store, I grew even more apprehensive.
"Oh there you are," the ever-proper professor remarked. He had arrived early. He already chosen the fabric and the tailor had already taken measurements. My professor, a regular customer, had apparently vouched for my trustworthiness because the clerk nonchalantly accepted the professor’s remark, "Mr. Leonard will be responsible for the bill, as I have indicated."
More than a little disorientated, I turned to follow my professor out of the door. Then he stopped. "Are you sure you want to do this?" he asked. "Yes sir," I responded. "It will take time, of course, but I…" He interrupted me with words directed to the clerk. "Let’s see that Mr. Leonard is fitted for a suit just like mine. And put them both on my bill."
I learned about responsibility in that men’s clothing shop in Ohio. Not only was my debt canceled, but I received what I did not deserve. And my benefactor provided me with more than a suit and an indelible memory. He gave me an encounter with grace.
SERMONS IN THIS SERIES
Don’t Take With Broccoli – John 11:33
The Question That Condemned Jesus – Matthew 26:57
The Moment Of Truth – John 18:28
His Blood Be Upon Us – Matthew 27:16
Hail, King of The Jews – Mark 15:15
Guilty Of Innocent Blood – Matthew 27:1
Remember Me – Luke 23:38
Let Him Save Himself – Matthew 27:39
Surely This Was The Son Of God – Mark 15:33
