The Dying Thief Wo Found Salvation

Sermon 10

THE THIEF ON THE CROSS (Luke 23:39-43)

This is the story of a man we know was saved. We know it on the authority of Jesus. By “saved” the Bible means that he was cleansed of His sins which were many were all washed away. In the moment he trusted Christ he was forgiven.

By saved the Bible means he was changed. He was born again. In the moment he trusted Christ he was changed on the inside, and had he lived, people would have seen the change on the outside.

By saved the Bible means he was given the right to go to heaven. There is a hell to miss and a heaven to make and this man made heaven. If ever anyone deserved hell it was this thief who died with Jesus. When our Lord was hung upon the cross He was not even allowed to die in peace. The howling, hissing mob like snakes hurled their venom in His face. They mocked His prayers (Mt. 27:49). They turned up their noses at Him (Mt. 27:39). They taunted Him to save Himself if He was the Messiah (Mt. 27:42). It seems that the two thieves who died with Him would have taken His side. But no! Matthew tells us, “The thieves (plural, both of them) hurled the same thing in His teeth” (Mt. 27:44). These who suffered with Him added to his sufferings. I repeat. If any group deserved hell it was this mob at the foot of the cross and in this mob the worst of them were these two thieves who showed no compassion for a fellow sufferer.

This man, who deserved hell, received heaven. That morning, when the sun rose, he was a child of Satan. That night he was a child of God. That morning he hurled insults in the Son of God’s face. That night he sang praises to His name. The hymn says it well:

There is a fountain filled with blood / Drawn from Emanuel’s veins / And sinners plunged beneath that flood / Lose all their guilty stains / The dying thief rejoiced to see / That fountain in his day / And there may I though vile as he / Wash all my sins away.

This dying thief, better than anyone else in the Word of God, shows us how to be saved. God has His unique avenue of approach to every human heart and the circumstances of our conversions will differ. But there are some common elements in every conversion. There are some essentials in salvation and this thief shows them to us. From the king on the throne to the pauper in the street we must find God the way this man found Him.

I. WHAT HE KNEW

Look first at what he knew. It is the truth that sets us free and truth, to change our lives, enters through the mind.

1. He Knew He Was a Sinner. When his friend taunted Jesus he said, “We are punished justly. We are getting what our deeds deserve” (23:41). He did not blame society or his parents or God. He blamed himself. He acknowledged that he was a sinner.You say, “Everyone knows that and will admit it!” I answer that few people really know it and even fewer admit it from the heart. When you talk with people about their relationship with God, they will say something like this - “Yeah, preacher, I know I’m not what I ought to be. No one is.” This is true but this mild admission does not come within a million miles of evangelical repentance and conviction born of the Holy Spirit where we see ourselves as guilty in the eyes of a holy God. Isaiah saw God high and lifted up and said, “Woe is me, for I am undone, I am a man of unclean lips” (Isa. 6). Peter saw the Divine Jesus catch fish with a word of command and said, “Depart from me for I am a sinful man, O Lord” (Lk. 5:8). I agree with the old time preacher who said the hardest thing about getting people saved is getting them lost. Spurgeon said getting people saved is getting them lost. Spurgeon said we must come to God begging for mercy with the noose around our necks. He knew he was a sinner. He knew second

: 2. He Knew He was Going to Die. was going to die. When the Romans sentenced you to death, you died. No savior on a white horse rode over the hill to your rescue. Nailed to a cross by the power of Rome this man knew he was going to step into eternity. Illustration: A little boy’s grandfather died and in the hall outside the hospital room his pastor tried to comfort him. He said, “Tommy, your grandfather has gone to heaven.” The little boy, brushing back the tears, said, “How far is heaven?” The pastor told the boy to put his hand on his heart and then asked him what he felt. When the little boy said, “I feel my heart beating,” the pastor said, “That’s how far heaven is. It’s one heartbeat away.” Do you know that you are guilty in the eyes of a holy God? Do you know that right now you are one heartbeat from heaven or hell. If you do then you can be saved, if you believe something else this thief believed.