Salvation Made Plain – LESSON 3
How Was This Thief Saved?
I want to point out the steps that are
involved in his Salvation. We will read the whole passage in Luke, and then we
are going to analyze it, phrase by phrase.
Luke 23: 39-43
(39) And one of the malefactors which were hanged railed on him,
saying, If thou be
Christ, save thyself and us.
(40) But the other (the saved thief on our chart) answering
rebuked him saying, Dost not thou fear God, seeing
thou art in the same condemnation?
(41) And we indeed justly: for we
receive the due reward of our
deeds: but this man hath done nothing amiss.
(42) And he said unto Jesus, Lord, remember me when
thou comest into thy kingdom.
(43) And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, Today shalt
thou be with me in paradise.
Now I want you to go to Matthew
Matthew 27: 43-44
(43) He trusted in God; let him deliver
him now, if he will have him: for he said, I am the Son of God.
(44) The thieves also (plural) – it doesn’t say the thief
(44) The thieves also which were crucified with him, cast the same in his teeth.
Now go to Mark
Mark
(32) Let Christ the King of
Notice – even on the cross – both of these thieves reviled Christ. Luke is
the only one who tells us about the penitent thief. This is the story of
the 11th hour Salvation. This is the story of a man who lived a sinful life and
was dying a sinner’s death. But in the last moment of his life something
happened – something changes him. At the last moment he is transformed – never to be the same
again.
The first thing I say about that is – “Oh
the grace of God that is manifest in the Salvation of this thief!” If any man
deserved to die without Salvation it was him. But never forget – you don’t deserve Salvation any more
than he. You could have died in your
sins.
Sometimes God will save one like me when I am young. He
will save others when they are teenagers. But many times, I have witnessed
people who have been saved on their deathbed – just like the dying thief.
I’m not telling people to wait until then – but Praise God – there is such
a thing as the 11th hour conversion. I learned that
from this story.
So, how did this thief get saved?
STEP #1 – The Fear Of God
What happened? Both of these thieves are reviling Christ
– then suddenly something happened.
Back to Luke
Luke 23: 40
(40) But the other answering rebuked him, saying, Dost not
thou fear God.
I like that! That is step #1. Now compare this with
Romans. Paul is giving to us an outline of the way Gentiles live. Why do people do what they
do? How can they do what they do? How can they get away with
it? Well, here is the reason:
Romans 3:18
(18) There is no fear of God
before their eyes.
These thieves were thieves and murderers
because they had no fear of
God. And they were hanging on the cross because they
had no fear of God. If you have the fear of God – you start praising God for his Grace to you. I don’t know
about you – but for me – my wife and I can’t even have a cookie with tea in the afternoon
without first giving thanks for it. We sit down at the table and we give thanks
for everything we eat – every time we eat. It’s just an indication
of our fear of God. But there are all kinds of people, in a little thing like that,
who eat four and five times a day and never thank God.
Illustration
A little boy who was raised in a
Christian home went to have a meal with a neighbor. They were not Christians, and the moment they
sat down at the table they passed the food around and started to eat. The
little boy looked up and said: “Don’t you folks give thanks before you eat? –
you are just like my dog – you just dig in!”
I want to tell you – that boy really got
it across. There are people who live like animals. They have no fear of God. There is no
difference in a dog eating his breakfast and them eating their breakfast – because
there is no fear of God before their eyes.
With this man on the cross, something suddenly happened – he
expressed his fear of God. Maybe some of you can
equate yourself with this. God, in His marvelous Grace, brought some of you to
some critical point in life where suddenly – for the first time – you
faced the fact of God.
If you want some good instruction, get
it out of the Proverbs
Proverbs 1:7
(7) The fear of the Lord is the
beginning of knowledge, but
fools despise wisdom and instruction.
Proverbs 9: 10
(10) The fear of
the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.
Here is a man who has lived his lifetime and he has never feared God and never had time
for God. God has not been in his thoughts and he proved it by what he did. Now suddenly there is a turn-about. Suddenly
something has happened and the man starts to fear God.
Praise the Lord for step #1.
STEP #2 – Confessed That He Was a Sinner --
“We Die Justly.”
Luke 23: 40-41
(40) Dost not thou fear God, seeing
thou art in the same condemnation?
(41) And we indeed
justly.
What is
involved when this man said “we die justly?” For the first time in his life he
is confessing and acknowledging the fact that he is a sinner. It is sinners
that Jesus saves. Only sinners get saved. And until a person gets to a place where he
acknowledges his sinfulness,
he is not a candidate for Salvation. It is the fear of God that makes one start to realize that he is a sinner.
Illustration
I don’t know
what year it was when I was in the city of Winnipeg. It must have been back in
the 60’s in the old
I went back and
sat down beside this lady and started approaching the subject from one angle, and then from another
angle, and I wasn’t getting anywhere! Have you ever
had the experience of talking to someone about Salvation and you don’t seem to
be getting anywhere?
Then suddenly,
I remembered something that someone had said to me – “If you can’t pin-point the
subject with a person – ask them if they are a sinner.”
I tried it on this woman. I cut off all the conversation and I asked “Are
you a sinner?” You should have seen her face. It was longer after that question
than ever before. She looked shocked, and she stood up and said “No sir, I’m not – good night!”
She went out
the door, and I haven’t seen her since. That was the end of that conversation. I realized afterwards that I
made a mistake – because, do you know what that woman from
Romans 3:23
(23) For all have
sinned, and come short of the glory of God;
What does that
mean? What is the Glory of God?
2 Corinthians 4: 6
(6) For God, who commanded the light to shine out of
darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God
in the face of Jesus Christ.
Remember –
God’s Glory is Jesus.
God’s standard is Jesus.
So when you ask someone “are you as good as Jesus Christ?” – I haven’t met
anyone yet who would respond to that question and say “yes.” And the moment
they say “no” – well then sir/or madam, on the basis of God’s Word, you have
come short of God’s standard.
God’s standard is Jesus Christ. And if you are not up to that standard, – in the sight of God, you are a sinner.
A sinner is not necessarily someone who has committed
murder. A sinner is not necessarily a person who has become a prostitute. A
sinner (in the sight of God) is anyone who has come short
of God’s standard. And God’s standard is Jesus Christ. We
have all sinned because we have come short of the Glory of God. I praise the Lord that sinners are who Jesus will receive.
The song goes:
Sing it
o’er and o’er again – Christ receiveth sinful men
Illustration
Some years ago
I was in Vancouver on holiday, and a brother asked me if I knew Ordeen Sovdi.
He and two other brothers were having meetings in the Okhalla jail. It was at
the time when they were having trouble with the Doukhobors out at Nelson and
Castlegar. There were about 200 Doukhobor men there at the jail, as well as the
others.
I went with
brother Ordeen and two other brothers, to speak to the first-offender boys. We
sat on the grass out in the yard by the fence, and talked to about 20 of these
fellows about the Lord.
While we were talking,
the Doukhobor men had opportunity to mill around. Although they were confined,
they weren’t too confined. The leader came over and said “Would you
men come and have a meeting with us?” We
couldn’t do it without permission, so we went to see the Warden. We got
permission to come back the next week to have a meeting with the Doukhobors.
It was in a quancet
building. You can imagine how large it was to have about 400 men housed in it. They
had bunks along both walls and down the center were tables. We were standing in
the midst of 400 men, and to our amazement, they sang for about
15 minutes. About that time we thought they tricked
us into something – “they are going to preach to us, not us to them.” After
they finished singing, we stood up. Irvin,
Ordeen and I sang a trio. We hadn’t sung a trio before,
nor have we since. It
is a good place to practice when you are in jail.
My wife was
coming out here some years ago with our little daughter. They were on the train,
and the train goes right past the penitentiary. My little girl – in a very loud
voice – said: “Is that the jail daddy was in?”
Well, I was in jail – not to be in jail
– but to preach.
We stood up in
front of all those men and we sang the old hymn
Come, ye
sinners, poor and helpless.
Jesus’
blood can make you free.
For
He saved the worst among you
When
He saved a wretch like me.
I don’t know a better hymn to introduce yourself to people in jail than that – do you? We
are only here to talk to you because we
are sinners saved by the Grace of God.
And Hallelujah it is sinners who get saved. Until you get to the place
where you know you are a sinner,
you won’t be saved.
STEP #3 – Acknowledged Jesus
Was Different. –
“This Man Has Done Nothing Amiss”
The dying thief
is confessing that Jesus is different.
“We are dying because we
deserve it, but this Man has done nothing
to deserve this.”
What made him
change his mind? Here is repentance! A few moments
ago he is reviling Christ, but now he is saying “This Man
isn’t like me.”
The answer is hidden in what we can read in Luke. Don’t forget that this
dying thief is hearing all of what is being said.
Luke 23: 33-34
(33) And when they were come to the place, which is called
(34) Then said Jesus, Father, forgive
them; for they know not what they do.
Don’t forget – the
thief heard that. This man is dying, and Jesus is dying. And near to His last breath, He prays that those who have crucified Him
will be forgiven. And that man honestly said “There is
something different about this Man. I can’t do that – I
want to curse – but He is praying forgiveness.”
I think there
is something even greater in John.
It is a very tender picture that only John tells
us about.
John 19: 24-27
(24) They said therefore among themselves
(talking about Jesus’ garment) Let us not rend it but cast lots for it,
whose it shall be: that the scripture might be fulfilled, which saith, They
parted my raiment among them, and for my vesture they did cast lots. These
things therefore the soldiers did.
(25) Now there stood by the cross of Jesus his mother, and
his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Cleophas and Mary Magdalene (of
whom Jesus cast out seven devils)
(26) When Jesus therefore saw his mother, and the disciple
standing by, whom he loved, he saith unto his mother, “Woman, behold
thy son!”
(27) Then saith he to the disciple, “Behold thy
mother!” And from
that hour that disciple took her unto his own home.
I think those
are wonderfully tender words. What is
Jesus doing? – He is dying. What is the condition of His body? – it
has been mutilated and marred more than any other man. He is suffering from the
crown of thorns on His head, the lashes on His back, and from the nails in His
feet and hands. He is suffering from all these human feelings in His body – and
standing by the cross is Mary.
I have to go to
another passage in Luke. This is one of those sweet passages in the Bible, but it
never grows dim when I read it.
Luke 2: 25
(25) And, behold, there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name
was Simeon; and the same man was just and devout, waiting for the consolation
of Israel: and the Holy Ghost was upon him.
Simeon is an old man. I want
you to see the wonder that is here. What does it mean that he
was waiting for the consolation of
2000 years
later – Praise God, there are people today like Simeon. They are not looking for the first
Coming of Messiah – they are looking for the second
Coming. I’ll let you in on a little secret – if you want the Holy Ghost upon you – every day start
looking for the Coming of the Lord.
John says:
Every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself.
He doesn’t
purify himself to get the hope – but because he has the hope.
I’m like
Simeon. I’ve got grey hair and I thank
the Lord that the Light is not getting less
and less – but the Light is getting brighter
and brighter. The Coming of the Lord draweth nigh and oh joy, oh delight –
should I go without dying. If you want the Holy Spirit upon you, start looking
for the Coming of the Lord.
Luke 2: 26
(26) And it was revealed
unto him by the Holy Ghost, that he should not see
death, before he had seen the Lord’s
Christ.
Here the Lord
had Revealed unto the man that he is not going to die
until he sees Christ Come. Well, I haven’t got that kind of faith. I don’t
know whether I am going to die before the Lord comes or not. But I have been
with people who have the same
kind of faith as Simeon.
I got into a
business deal back in
Simeon had it revealed unto him – he wouldn’t die until the Lord came. Wouldn’t
that be exciting if you had it revealed, that you
were going to be one of those who would see the
Coming of the Lord.
Luke 2: 27
(27) And he came
by the Spirit into the temple: and when the
parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him after the custom of the law
Verse 25 – The Holy Spirit
was upon him.
Verse 26 – It was Revealed unto him by the Holy Spirit.
Verse 27 – And he came by the Spirit.
Do you know
what you have in this passage? – The wonderful experience of being lead by the Spirit – moment by moment being lead by the Spirit. As one
who has been on the way a little longer than most of you – there is no more of
an exciting life than living a life being lead by
the Spirit of God. There is never a dull day when you are lead by the Spirit
of God – because you are brought to the right
place at the right time at the right moment. It happens so many times!
Simeon is lead by the Spirit into the temple, and he got there at
the right time – when Joseph and Mary brought in the
baby Jesus. You people from People’s church know how I love dedicating babies. I kind of see myself in old Simeon,
every once-in-a-while, when I read it.
Jesus is eight
days old.
Luke 2: 28-30
(28) Then he took him (baby
Jesus) up in his
arms, and blessed God, and said.
Visualize this
old man with the Holy Spirit upon him, and he’s got the baby Jesus in his
arms and he blessed God, and said,
(29) Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace,
according to thy word:
(30) For mine eyes have seen thy
salvation.
Listen how wonderful it was for that old man to take that Baby in his arms.
When his eyes saw the Lord he said “I’m ready
to die now. I’ve lived to see this – and now that I’ve seen it, I’m ready to die.”
Let me give a word of consolation to you. It was wonderful for Simeon to have the Lord in his arms – but it is more wonderful for you to have the Lord in your heart. That is a greater thing. And if you are a believer, the Lord says he has come in to live. He comes in to abide with
you.
Galatians 2: 20
(20) I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet
not I, but Christ liveth in me:
How wonderful! If
Christ is there – you can join with Simeon and say “I’m ready to die.” I’m
not looking for death – but if death comes – Praise
God, it’s alright – I’m ready to go.”
Illustration
Going back to
my pastoral days – there are some wonderful things to remember. Dear old brother Davis was an English brother
who came out and took up a homestead south of
When I went to
see him, he was all taped up with intravenous in his arms, and oxygen down his
nose, and every kind of attachment they could put on him. He was flat on his
back – but he had a big smile on his face.
He was rather
weak, but he pulled me down to his bed and said “The family thinks I’m going to
die – but I’m not.” He raised his hand and pointed upward and
said “He hasn’t told me yet.” He told the truth. I went to his funeral ten years after that.
He came out of
the hospital and lived for 10 years, and he had faith to believe that the Lord
was going to deal with him, like Simeon. The Lord was going to tell him when it was time for him to go. Well, I don’t
know if that is necessary or not – but I kind of love those kind of things. I
believe the Lord is just as real
today as He was in the
temple with Simeon.
Well lets go on
Luke 2: 30-33
(30) For mine eyes have seen thy
salvation,
(31) Which thou hast prepared before the face of all people;
(32) A light to lighten the Gentiles, and
the glory of thy people
(33) And Joseph and his mother marveled at those
things which were spoken of him.
Why did they marvel? Did you
notice something in verse 32? Simeon was
a Jew and Joseph and Mary belonged to the house
of
Do you know
anything about the plan of God? God has
set Israel aside today, that Gentiles might come in. For
2000 years God has been blessing Gentiles.
Simeon is not
through yet:
Luke 2: 34
(34) And Simeon blessed them, and said unto Mary his mother,
Behold, this child is set for the fall and rising again of many in Israel;
and for a sign which shall be spoken against;
And then he
says something that bears on our subject and brings us back to John.
Luke 2: 35
(35) (Yea Mary a sword shall
pierce through thy own soul also)
What was he
talking about? – The day of crucifixion. On the day when Jesus (Mary’s son in the
flesh) was crucified, Mary was standing by the cross weeping her heart out
because that was her boy. Don’t ever forget it! The Bible is so wonderful because it is so human. Because you are a Christian – it doesn’t mean you
don’t have feelings.
You can have faith – but faith does not mean that you do not
have feelings.
Abraham was one
of the greatest men of faith in the Old Testament. Genesis tells us that one
day his wife Sarah died – and the next statement is that Abraham came to weep and to mourn
for her. You may say: “I thought Abraham was a man of faith – don’t you know that men with faith don’t weep?” He was a man of faith, but he was also a man of feelings. And if you
haven’t got any feelings, I’d like to meet you. All human beings have feelings.
Can you put
yourself in the shoes of Mary, the mother of Jesus? She is standing at the cross and there is her
Boy – and the sword pierces
her soul! She is broken-hearted. She is a mother!
Illustration
While I was in
Eston there was a town called Glidden, about twenty-one miles west. In that
town, until recent years, there was a little original German Baptist church. In
October of 1959 their pastor left. I was teaching at the Bible school in Eston
at that time. The elder came over to our home and said “Would you come and fill in for us until Christmas
– just until we get a pastor?” The truth of that story is that, I filled in
from October 1959 until June 1966 when I left the district – so it was a long fill-in!
I preached for
them on Sunday mornings, I took the Sunday school class, I buried their dead, and
married their young people. Some of our closest friends are the members of that congregation. I can tell you
many a story that has come out of that time of ministry.
The first time
I ever ministered in this little church was when the pastor was sick. They phoned over for a preacher for that
Sunday morning, and I was the one who went.
While we were in church that Sunday, a dear couple were there enjoying
the service. At the end of the service the wife stayed to talk to the rest of us. Their little house was
right across the street. While we were still talking, her husband came back in, and grabbed his wife. He literally pulled her out of there. I knew something was
desperately wrong, so I followed them across the street to their home.
Here is what
happened: The night before, their 29 year-old son had come home drunk. They had
left him in bed while they came to church. His mother had set the table and
prepared breakfast for him – for when he woke up. While they were at church,
the boy took down the .22 rifle off the wall and put a bullet through his head.
There he was sprawled across the kitchen door floor. The father saw him first.
The mother saw him next, and I was next.
I don’t know
why it took so long for the police to come. It was about one o’clock in the
afternoon, and the police didn’t get there until four o’clock. So for three hours, I’m there with that dear woman. As God is my witness
– the sword was in her heart.
She went into
his bedroom and she took out every drawer and threw everything on the floor. She
went into the clothes closet, pulled out every pair of pants, and went through
every pocket and she said “Did he not leave a note some place?” And while she would be doing this, she would
be weeping with that weeping I cannot describe, asking, “What did I do wrong
that my boy would do this?” I’m not telling you that story merely to be emotional.
That day I saw
a little bit of what Mary went through at the cross. I saw a woman
with her heart broken and bleeding because of her boy. And I want to tell you,
there are many a mother since, that have suffered and
cried themselves to sleep because of wayward sons. She wasn’t the last one!
Here is Mary,
standing by the cross. The sword is in her soul and Jesus, as a Man, is suffering. Don’t forget it – He suffered for our sins
– spiritually and physically
– in every way. And what is the last
thing He does? – He tenderly looks down on his mother.
From the cross – with the sword
in Mary’s heart – Jesus
speaks to John, who now has come to the cross. Jesus says “Disciple behold your mother.”
By this time,
Joseph is dead, and Mary is a broken-hearted widow.
What does Jesus do in the dying moments, just before He said “It is finished,”
and just before He bowed His head and died? – He said “John you take care of my
mother.” Is there anything more tender
than that? He provided for his mother.
I do not
understand some of the things I read in the newspapers today. I read about that mother down in
Those two
thieves most likely treated their
mother like that. And
when they saw Jesus tenderly saying “Look after my mother,” the thief said “He’s not like me – this Man is different.”
STEP #4 – Faith -- “Lord, Remember
Me”
Luke 23: 42
(42) And he said unto Jesus Lord,
remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom.
Step #1 – the fear of God
Step #2 – the
confession that he is a sinner
Step #3 – the recognition that Jesus is different
And now the
next step – faith
Lord, remember me when
thou comest into thy kingdom.
Can you see faith
in there? He said to Jesus “This is not
the end of you. You
are coming into something – and Lord, remember me.” I think that
is beautiful, because now I have a text to finish this
off.
Romans 10:17
(17) So then faith cometh
by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
Did the thief hear words from Jesus? – Yes. How does faith come? – By hearing. But that is not the end
of it. In Romans there is a beautiful verse.
Romans 10:13
(13) For whosoever shall call upon the
name of the Lord shall be saved.
What happened
to the dying thief? – That is what he did. He said “Lord, remember me”
– and the Lord remembered him!
Illustration
I was preaching
in Kelowna. We were having three sessions a day. After the second late session,
two boys tarried. The one boy was a Christian and, at that moment, I did not
know that the other was not a Christian. The Christian boy said “My
friend came to church tonight and he wants to talk to you about dinosaurs.” Well, I wasn’t
preaching about dinosaurs. I describe
this boy as the boy with the dirty hands. His clothes were dirty and his hands
were all greasy, and that’s how I talked about him for about six years – “the boy with the dirty hands.”
I was at Eston
teaching three years ago at the Bible School, and to my embarrassment, who
should be sitting in this classroom but this boy, and here I am, describing the boy with the dirty hands. He came up afterwards to explain. He said
“I worked right up until meeting time, and I didn’t even have time to go and
wash my hands. If I was going to get to the meeting, I had to come the way I was. That is why my hands were dirty and that is why I was there.” I didn’t find that out until six
years later! I apologized to him.
Going back –
this boy is sitting on the step, and I’m sitting there beside him, and he
finally got around to what he really wanted to talk about. He said “What is
this business about being a Christian anyway?”
He didn’t want to talk about dinosaurs
– he had a deeper need than that.
After talking
to him a bit, I found out he was about sixteen years old and had been raised a
Roman Catholic. So now I had something to work on – because I know a little
bit of what they are taught. I said to
this boy “Do you believe that Jesus came into this world?” He said “Yes.” I
said “Do you believe that Jesus died
for your sins?” He said “I’ve been
taught that for as long as I can remember.” “Do you believe he rose again?” “Oh
yes, I believe that.”
I went back
over it again. Then I said, “Son, if
Jesus rose from the dead, then He is alive right now – right?” He conceded “Yes.” “If He is alive, and if He is Who He says He is, do you think He can hear you if you talk now to Him?” He said “Yes I do.” I read him a Scripture
and asked him “Have you ever prayed?” - “Not
as long as I can ever remember.” “Well,
I want to read a Scripture to you, and I want you to direct your prayer to Jesus.
I read:
Romans 10:13
(13) Whosoever shall call upon the
name of the Lord shall be saved.
I’ll never
forget it as long as I live. That boy, who said he didn’t know how to pray,
closed his eyes and here was his prayer:
“Dear
Jesus would you come into my life and make me a better guy.”
That was his prayer. By the time he got to the words “better
guy,” the tears
were flowing down. And there, sitting on the step of the platform of the old
church in Kelowna, was a saved boy, and I saw him in Bible School. You
say the Lord doesn’t honor his Word – yes, He
honors His Word.
The dying thief
said “Lord, remember me” and the Lord did.
|
Recap:
How Did The Thief Get Saved? |
|
He Started
out reviling Christ --- then --- |
|
Step #1 --- He began to fear God. |
|
Step #2 --- He confessed that he was a sinner.
It is only sinners who are candidates for Salvation. God’s Glory is Jesus. God’s standard
is Jesus. We have all fallen short of God’s standard which is Jesus,
therefore we are all sinners. |
|
Step #3 --- He acknowledged that Jesus
was not a sinner. |
|
Step #4 --- He called on
Jesus to save him. The fourth step is faith – “Lord, remember me.” |