The Thief on the Cross in a New Light (based on a message by C.H. Spurgeon)

The Dying Thief in a New Light By Charles Haddon Spurgeon, August 23, 1885. 40 But the other rebuked him, saying, "Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? 41 And we indeed justly, for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong." 42 And he said, "Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom." -Luke 23:40-42 2 I dare say that most of you are aware that there were two thieves crucified at the same time as the Lord Jesus. All four gospel writers indicate this. All four tell us that one criminal was on Jesus left, and the other on His right. In Luke's account, which we read earlier, we learn that one of these criminals was converted while dying on his cross. Now, it may be that when you recall the case of this converted thief, you consider the lateness of his conversion as the primary distinctive of his conversion. He has often been cited as a case of "salvation at the eleventh hour"; and indeed, he is. He proves to us that if a man has the ability and inclination to repent, he can obtain forgiveness, even if he lies at death's door. I want to say at the outset, that this account ought never to be taken as an encouragement to deathbed repentance. Never should any person take this as an excuse to postpone repentance to their dying day. For one thing, none of us knows the time of our death, but also, we don't know whether we will have the mental faculties to consider our spiritual state when the time of our death comes. That said, if you or I stood at the bedside of a dying man tonight, and found him anxious about his soul, but fearful that Christ could not save him because he had put off repentance, would we not certainly relate to him the account of the dying thief? Yes, we would tell him without hesitation that, though he was as near to dying as the thief upon the cross was, yet, if he repented of his sin, and turned his face to Christ believingly, he would find eternal life. But here's the thing: The lateness of this thief's repentance is not the only distinctive about the thief that we should consider. I want to show you, very briefly, 3 first, the distinct means by which the thief was converted; 4 second, the distinct faith demonstrated by the thief; 5 third, the distinct result of the thief's faith; and, 6 finally, the distinct promise the Lord made to the thief. We will come back to each of these points in turn. 7 First, then, let us carefully examine ... I. The distinct means by which the thief was converted First of all, we assume that this man was unconverted and impenitent when they nailed him to the cross. The gospels reveal that various people cruelly mocked our Lord as He hung on the cross. Matthew describes how the chief priests, scribes and elders mocked: 42 "He saved others; he cannot save himself. He is the King of Israel; let him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in him. 8 43 He trusts in God; let God deliver him now, if he desires him. For he said, 'I am the Son of God.' " 9 Then, Matthew makes this observation: 44 And the robbers who were crucified with him also reviled him in the same way. Matthew 27:41-44 (ESV) Here's what I want you to notice: the passage uses the plural, robbers, not robber. Like the unbelieving, mocking religious leaders, both of the robbers mocked the Lord Jesus. Therefore, it is safe to assume that this thief, like the other, was not converted at the time he was placed upon the cross, but was converted at a later time, while still on the cross and before he died. But how did this take place? Assuredly, no one preached a sermon to him, no evangelistic address was delivered at the foot of his cross, and no meeting was held for special prayer on his account. He had no instruction, no invitation, nor any saving exhortation addressed to him; and yet he became a sincere and accepted believer in the Lord Jesus Christ. Think about that for a minute and note its practical bearing upon the cases of many even today. For there are those who have been instructed from their childhood, who have been admonished, and warned, and entreated, and invited, and yet they have not come to Christ; while this man, without any of these advantages, nevertheless believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, and found eternal life. O you who have lived under the sound of the gospel from your childhood, and yet have ignored its call, the dying thief does not comfort you, but he accuses you! Why do you remain in unbelief? Will you never believe the testimony of divine love? How do you think it happened? What drew this thief to the Savior? It strikes me that it may have been 10 (1) the sight of our great Lord and Savior. To begin with, there was our Savior's remarkable behavior as He was led to the site of his crucifixion. Look again, please at our scripture passage in Luke 23. It's likely that this robber had mixed with many different sorts of people; but he had never seen a man like this Man. Never had a cross been carried by a Cross-Bearer of this man's form and fashion. The robber probably pondered who this meek and majestic person could be. Notice verse 27: The robber heard the women mourning and lamenting, and, verse 28, he heard, Jesus, that mysterious Sufferer say so solemnly 11 "Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me, but weep for yourselves and for your children. ..." Luke 23:28 At this, we can imagine that the thief must have been struck with wonder. He must have thought, "Who could He be? What must He be?" Though the thief could see that Jesus suffered and fainted as He went along, he also observed that, in return for the revilings cast upon Him there was no word of complaining, no note of insult, no hint of malediction. His eyes looked with love even on those who glared upon Him with hate. 12 Verse 33 tells us that Jesus and the two thieves were crucified. Again, we can imagine the great wonder that filled this man's heart. He was there. He experienced the pain and torture of being nailed to a wooden cross. How then, could he not be startled and astonished as he heard the Savior say, (v 34) "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do." Luke 23:34 That was a petition the like of which he had never heard, nor even dreamed of. From whose lips could it come but from the lips of a divine Being? Such a loving, forgiving, God-like prayer, certainly proved Him to be the Messiah. Never had David nor any of the kings of Israel prayed such a prayer. On the contrary, they are recorded as having called down the wrath of God upon their enemies. Elijah never prayed that sentiment, nor did his fellow prophets. It was a new, strange sound to the malefactor. 13 Now, possibly, (2) the dying thief learned the gospel from the lips of Christ's enemies. Yes, from the unlikely source of the very ones who sought his execution. 14 You see, verse 35 of Luke's account records their words: "He saved others; let him save himself, if he is the Christ ..." Luke 23:35 I can imagine that the thief heard those words with a start. "Ah!" thought he, "did He save others? Perhaps he would save me?" What a very simple and yet grand bit of gospel that was for the dying thief- "He saved others!" Friends, we could swim to heaven on that plank- "He saved others;" because, if He saved others, surely, He can save me. And, perhaps, this is what encouraged our dying thief. 15 But, moving on, it may be that that which won him over was (3) his second look at Jesus, as He was hanging upon the cross. As you can imagine, there was nothing attractive about the physical appearance of Christ as He hung on that cross 16 for, the scripture says in Isaiah 52: "... his appearance was so marred, beyond human semblance, and his form beyond that of the children of mankind..." Isaiah 52:14 If you saw the movie, "The Passion of the Christ," you were given, perhaps, an idea of what this means. Yet there must have been in that blessed face a singular charm. Was it not the very image of perfection? It was all goodness, and kindness, and unselfishness; and yet it was a royal face. It was a face of superlative justice and unrivalled tenderness. Righteousness sat upon His brow; but also infinite pity and good-will. It was all sorrow, yet all love; all meekness, yet all resolution; all wisdom, yet all simplicity; the face of a child, or an angel, and yet peculiarly the face of a man. Majesty and misery, suffering and sacredness, were therein strangely combined; He was evidently the Lamb of God, and the Son of man. And as the robber looked, he believed. Is it not extraordinary that the sight of the Savior won him? The sight of the Lord in agony, and shame, and death! I hope that I have helped you see that the means by which this thief came to trust Christ were distinctive. But now I want you to think with me a little about ... 17 II. The distinct faith demonstrated by the thief I suggest that It was a noteworthy faith that this thief exerted towards our Lord Jesus Christ. Observe, that this man believed in Christ when (1) he literally saw Him dying the death of a criminal, under circumstances of the greatest personal shame. For this thief to call Him "Lord" who was hanging on a cross, was no small triumph of faith. For him to ask Jesus to remember him when He came into His kingdom, though he saw Jesus' life bleeding away, was a notable act of reliance. For him to commit his everlasting destiny into the hands of One who was, to all appearances, unable even to preserve His own life, was a noble achievement of faith. I say that this dying thief leads the way in the matter of faith, for what he saw of the circumstances of the Savior would contradict rather than help his confidence. Do you follow? Recollect, too, that at that time, when Jesus was hanging on the cross; when the thief believed in Christ, 18 (2) His disciples had forsaken Him, and fled. Yes, John was there, lingering at a little distance, and a few women stood by; but no one was bravely present to champion the dying Christ. No one spoke on His behalf. Judas had sold him, Peter had denied Him, and the rest had forsaken Him. It was then that the dying thief called Him "Lord", and said, "Remember me when You come into Your kingdom." I call that glorious faith. Now, it is possible that some of you do not believe, though you are surrounded by Christian friends and though you are urged on by the testimony of those who love you! This man, all alone, comes out, and calls Jesus his Lord! No one else was confessing Christ at that moment: no revival was taking place amid enthusiastic crowds: he was all by himself as a confessor of his Lord. Even his fellow-thief was mocking the crucified Christ. Oh, friends, would you dare stand alone? Would you dare to stand out amid a rude mob, and say, "Jesus is my King!" Would you be likely to avow such a faith when priests and scribes, princes, soldiers and strangers, were all mocking at the Christ, and deriding Him? Brothers and sisters, the dying robber exhibited marvelous faith, and I beg you to think of this the next time you speak of him. And it seems to me that another point adds splendor to that faith, namely, that 19 (3) he himself was in extreme torture. Remember, he, too, was crucified. A crucified man trusting in a crucified Christ. Consider what it must have been like to forget his present torture and foresee the future. This is a grand achievement of faith, to turn his eye to Another dying at his side, and entrust his soul to Him. Notice also that 20 (4) he saw so much, though his eyes had only been opened for a time! He saw the future world. He evidently expected another world, another existence after death. Many in our day do not have this confidence. He believed that Jesus would have a kingdom, even after dying. It was intelligent faith to believe that Jesus was winning for Himself a kingdom by those nailed hands and pierced feet. And with that kingdom in view, he said only, 21 "... Remember me ..." Luke 23:42 I see deep humility in that prayer, and yet a sweet, joyous, confident exaltation of the Christ at the time when the Christ was in His deepest humiliation. I think that I have shown you something special in the means of the thief's conversion, and in his faith, but now with God's help, I want to show you another distinction, namely ... 22 III. The distinct result of the thief's faith It is true that, although the dying thief was converted, he was not baptized. He never went to communion, and never joined the church. Of course, he could not do any of this. This suggests to us that that which God Himself renders impossible to us, He does not demand of us. This man did a great deal more than effect the outward signs of faith. He exhibited the faith itself in an open and honest way as best he could under the circumstances. 23 (1) The dying thief first of all confessed the Lord Jesus Christ, which is the very essence of baptism, by the way. The reason Christians follow Christ in baptism is so that they have a means by which they can confess their allegiance to Christ. Our thief confessed Christ to his fellow-thief. It was as open a confession as he could make. And did he not acknowledge Christ before all that were gathered around the cross, within hearing of his voice? The fact is, our Lord requires an open confession as well as a secret faith; and if you will not render it, there is no promise of salvation for you. For the scripture reveals in Romans 24 "... If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved" Romans 10:9 Observe the open confession and the secret faith in this passage: confess with your mouth, believe in your heart. It is stated in another place this way 25 "... He that believes and is baptized shall be saved ..." Mark 16:16 Baptism is the open, outward confession, belief is the secret faith. Secret only because it is from the heart and soul where it cannot be seen. In fact, this is why the open confession is necessary. If there be a true faith, there must be a declaration of it. This thief declared his faith as effectively as he could, under the circumstances. The very least thing that the Lord Jesus Christ can expect of us is, that we confess Him to the best of our ability. If you are nailed to a cross to die, I will not invite you to be baptized. But you are required to do what you can do, namely, to make as distinct and open an avowal of the Lord Jesus Christ as may be suitable to your present condition. Our thief's faith also resulted in a godly boldness that further empowered him. Notice that 26 (2) He rebuked his fellow-sinner. He spoke to him in answer to the coarse remarks with which he had assailed our Lord. Scripture does not reveal to us the entirety of the revilings thrown at our Lord from his assailants that day. And, I suspect that the two robbers did a fair amount of blasphemous reviling. But, following his conversion, our thief spoke these words to his comrade: 27 "Do you not fear God, seeing you are in the same condemnation? And we indeed justly; for we receive the due reward of our deeds: but This Man has done nothing wrong" Luke 23:40 It is more than ever needful in these days that believers in Christ should not allow sin to go unrebuked; and yet a great many of us do so. Do you not know that a person who is silent, when a wrong thing is said or done, is complicit with the wrongdoer? It has been said, "Silence gives Consent." Let us, then, in all fit occasions, and in a proper spirit, rebuke sin. 28 (3) The dying thief made a full confession of his guilt. He said to him who was hanged with him, 29 ... we indeed justly; for we receive the due reward of our deeds ..." Luke 23:40 Not many words, but what a world of meaning was in them. Indeed, we must all confess to God, that we are justly under condemnation for our sin. Then, see, 30 (4) this dying thief defended his Lord with noble insight. He said, 31 "...This Man has done nothing wrong ..." Luke 23:40 This is a glorious testimony of a dying man to One who was numbered with the transgressors, and was being put to death because His enemies falsely accused Him. Dear friends, I only pray that you and I may bear as good witness to our Lord as this thief did. He outruns us all. We need not think much of his conversion coming so late in life; we may far rather consider how blessed was the testimony which he bore for his Lord when it was most needful. When all other voices were silent, one suffering penitent spoke out, and said, "This Man has done nothing wrong." 32 (5) He prayed a simple prayer, 33 "Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom" Luke 23:42 He did not ask for wealth or fame, or even for a lessening of his suffering. He simply asked to be remembered. In so doing, he expressed great respect and adoration for this One Who was so much better than He. Indeed, this was a simple statement of worship. Today, we have considered distinctions in the means by which this thief came to conversion, in his faith itself, and in the result of that faith. Now, my last remark is this: There was something very special about the dying thief when you consider ... 34 IV. The distinct promise the Lord made to the thief Jesus Said to him, "Today you will be with Me in Paradise." Luke 23:43 The thief only asked the Lord to remember him, but he obtained this surprising answer: "Today you shall be with Me in Paradise" (Luke 23:43). In some respects, I envy this dying thief, for this reason, that, when the Lord pardoned me, and when He pardoned us, He did not give us a place in Paradise that same day. We are not yet come to the rest which is promised to every believer. No, we are waiting here, and some of us have been waiting a very long time. What a host of troubles our dear thief escaped! What a world of temptation he missed! What an evil world he departed! I dare say it may have happened that souls have been converted and have gone home at once; but I never heard of anybody who had, at the time of conversion, such an assurance from Christ as this man had, "Truly I say to you, today you shall be with Me in Paradise." Dying thief, you were favored above many, "to be with Christ, which is far better," and to be with Him so soon! It is certain that the Lord Jesus does not invite us all to Paradise immediately upon our conversions. It is because there is something for us to do on earth. My brothers and sisters, are we doing it? Are we doing it? You owe as much to the Lord Jesus as the dying thief! I know I owe a great deal more. What a mercy it is to have been converted while you were yet a boy, to be brought to the Savior while you were yet a girl! What a debt of obligation young Christians owe to the Lord! And if this poor thief crammed a lifetime of testimony into a few minutes, ought not you and I, who have been spared for years after our conversions, to perform good service for our Lord? Come, let us wake up if we have been asleep! Let us begin to live if we have been half dead. May the Spirit of God make something of us yet; so that we may go as industrious servants from the labors of the vineyard to the pleasures of Paradise! To our once-crucified but now glorified Lord be praise for ever and ever! Amen. Dear friends, if any of you have thought of this dying thief only as one who put off repentance, I want you now to think of him as one who did greatly and grandly believe in Christ; and that you would do the same! Oh, that you would put great confidence in my great Lord! Never did a poor sinner trust Christ too much. There was never a case of a guilty one, who believed that Jesus could forgive him, and afterwards found that He could not-who believed that Jesus could save him on the spot, and then woke up to find that it was a delusion. No; plunge into this river of confidence in Christ. Here you will find waters to swim in, never to drown in. Never did a soul perish that glorified Christ by a living, loving faith in Him. Come, then, with all your sin, whatever it may be, with all your deep depression of spirit, with all your agony of conscience, and trust in Christ, today. MESSAGES TO THE MULTITUDE: BEING TEN REPRESENTATIVE SERMONS SELECTED AT MENTONE, AND TWO UNPUBLISHED ADDRESSES DELIVERED ON MEMORABLE OCCASIONS. "9 ... if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. (Romans 10:9-10) * Like the thief, acknowledge your guilt: "Lord I am a sinner" * Like the thief, seek help from the Only One Who can help you: "Lord Jesus, forgive me" * Like the thief, openly confess your trust in the Lord Jesus: If you are trusting Christ today, please open your eyes and look at me. 1 of 12