Seven Words From The Cross - Today Thou Shalt Be With Me

I'm reading Luke 23, and I'm beginning at verse 35. And the people stood beholding. And the rulers also derided him saying, "He saved others. Let him save himself if he be the Christ, the chosen of God." And the soldiers also mocked him, coming to him and offering him vinegar and saying, "If thou be the king of the Jews, save thyself." And a superscription also was written over him in letters of Greek and Latin and Hebrew, "This is the king of the Jews." And one of the malefactors who were hanged railed at him, saying, "If thou be the Christ, save thyself and us." But the other answering rebuked him, saying, "Dost 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 shalt thou be with me in paradise." This is our Lord's second statement from the cross. The first, you will recall, was "Father forgive them, for they know not what they do." Our Lord first prayed for his enemies. In his second statement, he turned to a repentant sinner and gave him the assurance that he was going to heaven. Let's look at the amazing aspects of this man's conversion.

First of all, I cannot help but notice the amazing situation there at Calvary. When they crucified our Lord Jesus, they put him between the two thieves. They could have put the two thieves together. In fact, that would have been the natural thing to do. We get the impression that these two thieves were partners in crime, and certainly it would have been a good thing for the soldiers to put these two friends together as they were dying for their crime. But instead, they put one on one side and the other on the other side of our Lord Jesus.

This was an amazing situation. To begin with, it was the fulfillment of prophecy. We have noticed in Isaiah 53:12, that he was numbered with the transgressors. In the Gospel of Mark, the writer picks this up in Mark 15:27. "And with him they crucified two thieves, the one on his right hand, and the other on his left. And the scripture was fulfilled which saith, 'And he was numbered with the transgressors.'" You must remember that at Calvary, it was not only the hand of man that was at work, but the hand of God. Man was fulfilling the plan of God, doing it freely, responsibly, but fulfilling Old Testament prophecy.

You see, the Lord Jesus was numbered with the transgressors. He was born for the transgressors. "Thou shalt call his name Jesus, for he shall save his people from their sins." And he lived for the transgressors. "The Son of Man came not to be ministered unto but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many." He dies with them and he dies for them. And so that amazing situation begins with the fulfillment of prophecy.

But there's something else about that amazing situation, our Lord Jesus being in the midst. It was the working of the gracious providence of God. The word providence means to see beforehand. And God does see beforehand. There are no accidents in the life of the Lord Jesus, only appointments. It was not accidental that the Lord Jesus was between these two thieves. This was the working of the gracious providence of God. You see, both of these thieves could hear him pray. He prayed, "Father forgive them, for they know not what they do." And the Holy Spirit of God could take that prayer and speak to their hearts. Here is one who forgives and who prays that others might be forgiven.

Because these thieves were on either side of the Lord Jesus, they could see the title that was on the cross. Now, when you study the harmony of the Gospels, you find that this title reads, "This is Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews." It was written in three languages, and they probably would have known two of those languages, possibly all three of them. "This is Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews." That title was written by Pilate. It was perhaps the first gospel tract ever written. There that title is hanging over the head of the Lord Jesus. And so, in reading this title, they would get some message of the gospel. Here is the Savior. He is the Savior of lost sinners. He is the Savior who has identified himself with lost sinners. He has a kingdom, and he is the King of the Jews.

Thirdly, they could hear the crowd as the crowd railed upon him. The soldiers mocked him, "If thou be the King of the Jews, save thyself." And the people and the rulers, meaning the religious rulers, mocked him. And listen to what they said, "He saved others." Now, that must have been good news. "He saved others." And I can imagine this one thief at least saying to himself, "If he saved others, then he can save me." You see, Pilate put that superscription on the cross to quiet his own conscience. But that superscription was used of God to win a lost soul. The working of the gracious providence of God.

Now, something else is true. Each of these thieves had access to the Lord Jesus. It wasn't as though they had to go far away. He was between them. And as they looked upon him, they saw something different about him. They had access to him. You know, my friend, God still works in his providence to set up the situation for people to be saved. No one is ever saved by accident. God sets up the situation to give you an opportunity to trust Jesus Christ and to believe and be saved. God is not willing that any should perish. God who will have all men to be saved. And one of the great tragedies today is the tragedy of people missing their opportunities to trust the Savior. The amazing situation, Jesus in the midst.

Would you look secondly at the amazing supplication? The prayer that this man prayed is truly one of the amazing prayers in the Bible. Look at what he had to admit when he prayed this prayer. He admitted that he feared God. He was not an agnostic, he was not an atheist, he was not irreligious. He feared God. He admitted his guilt. "We are here justly." He admitted that he deserved this punishment. He admitted that Jesus Christ was innocent, and he admitted that there was a life after death.

That's an amazing confession from this thief on the cross. Do you believe there's a life after death? Are you prepared for it? If you were to die now, where would you go? Do you believe that Jesus Christ is the Lord of Paradise? Do you believe that you deserve judgment, that you are guilty? Do you believe there is a God, and therefore you're going to have to answer to him? That's quite a confession.

I'm also amazed at the courage this man showed when he spoke to the Lord Jesus. You see, nobody else was asking Jesus for salvation. The priests and the rulers were mocking Christ. And yet this thief dared to believe on Jesus. The crowd was opposing him. The soldiers were laughing at him. This thief's own friend, and I'm assuming these two were partners in crime, his own friend was mocking the Lord Jesus. Some people don't want to trust the Lord Jesus because they're afraid. Here was a man who had courage. He dared to defy the rulers and the priests and the soldiers and his own associate when he trusted the Lord Jesus.

And just stop to think of how little this man really understood. How much did he know about Jesus? Well, he came from Nazareth. Jesus means Savior. He had a kingdom. He was innocent. How much did he know about the gospel, about faith? Someone says, "Well, I'd like to be saved, but I want to understand more about it." Oh, my friend, this man didn't understand a great deal, but what he did understand led him to the Savior. I really believe that this man's faith ranks very, very high in the Word of God. This man's salvation certainly speaks to our own hearts today. The amazing situation, the amazing supplication.

This man's prayer, "Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom," took a great deal of courage to speak. A great deal of conviction was behind it. He certainly had to have faith because the Christ he was trusting was a dying Christ, not a resurrected, glorified Christ. I say it again, the faith of this thief was truly amazing.

There's a third aspect of his conversion that is amazing. Not only the amazing situation and the amazing supplication, but the amazing salvation. You see, the Lord Jesus Christ came to seek and to save that which was lost. Now, you can't save people who don't know that they are lost. One of the problems today is that people simply don't know that they are lost. They are lost sons, lost daughters who have turned their back on their Father and gone out into the far country. Well, here was a lost man who knew he was lost. Here was a condemned man who knew he was condemned. And because of this, he turned to the Lord Jesus and said, "Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom." And Jesus gave to him an amazing salvation. "Verily I say unto thee, today shalt thou be with me in Paradise."

Now, what are the characteristics of this salvation that make it so amazing? To begin with, this salvation was wholly by grace. This man did not deserve to be saved. Now, he admitted this. He said, "We are in the same condemnation, and we indeed justly. For we receive the due reward of our deeds." He didn't deserve to be saved. He was a thief.

Now, the first man that God ever made was a thief. He took from the tree, and he wasn't supposed to do that. The first Adam became a thief and was cast out of Paradise. The last Adam, Jesus Christ, turned to a thief and said, "Today you'll be with me in Paradise." That, my friend, is grace. God in his mercy does not give us what we do deserve, hell. And God in his grace gives us what we don't deserve, heaven.

Now, this man could not earn his salvation. I have had people tell me that in order to go to heaven, you have to keep the Ten Commandments. Well, this man didn't have time to keep the Ten Commandments. This man's conversion was wholly by the grace of God. The man did not deserve it. The man did not earn it. The man simply received it by faith. Now, wherever you have faith, you have to have grace. Wherever you have law, you have to have works. This man could not work for his salvation. All he could do was receive it as a gracious gift from God.

Have you received salvation as the gracious gift of God? Are you bragging about your religion? I say so many prayers, I attend so many meetings, I do so many good works. If that's your situation, my friend, you aren't saved. Because when we're saved by grace, we don't brag about it. For by grace are you saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast. I notice something else about this amazing salvation. It was secure. Not a hope-so salvation, not a guessing salvation. "Amen I say unto thee." That's what Jesus said to the man. "Verily," or "Amen, I say unto thee." How did this man know his salvation was secure? Because Jesus told him so. The same word that we have in the scriptures is secure and certain. Heaven and earth shall pass away, but his word is not going to pass away. "Forever, oh Lord, thy word is settled in heaven." And so Jesus himself said to this man, "Today shalt thou be with me in Paradise." It was certain and it was secure.

I've had people say to me, "Well, you won't know if you're saved until you die." That's taking a chance. I want to know before I die that I'm going to heaven. This man did. This undeserving sinner, this thief knew he was going to heaven. How did he know it? Jesus told him so. We sing that little children's song, "Jesus loves me this I know, for the Bible tells me so." Well, Jesus saves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so.

There's a third characteristic to this salvation. It was wholly of grace. It was certain and secure, and it was personal. Jesus spoke to this man personally, "Verily I say unto thee." You see, God loves us personally. Now, I know John 3:16 says, "God so loved the world." Paul wrote and said he loved me and gave himself for me. You see, the Lord Jesus Christ died for us personally. God's love is shown to us personally, and God saves us personally. God doesn't deal with us as part of a crowd. God doesn't save people in great quantities of of congregations. God saves people individually, one by one. And this was a personal salvation just for this thief.

I notice something else about this amazing salvation. It was a present experience. "Today shalt thou be with me in Paradise." Notice that word "today." The man had said, "Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom." Now, some translations read, "Jesus, Lord, remember me when thou comest in thy kingdom." It amounts to about the same thing. He said, "Sometime in the future, you're going to have a kingdom. Now, you remember me when that happens." And Jesus said, "Why wait till the future? I'll give you salvation right now. Today. Today shalt thou be with me in Paradise." You see, salvation is not a process. You don't get a little bit saved today, a little more saved next week, a little more saved next year. Salvation is an instantaneous spiritual experience by the power of God when you put your faith in Jesus Christ. "Today shalt thou be with me in Paradise." A personal, present salvation.

I notice also that this salvation was centered in the Lord Jesus Christ. "Today shalt thou be with me in Paradise." You see, salvation means being related to Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ was identified with this man in condemnation, and this man was identified with Jesus Christ in salvation. That's what the cross is all about. Salvation is not centered in Moses, keeping the law. It's not centered in John the Baptist. It's not centered in some preacher or some church or some great holy person from the past. Salvation is centered in Jesus Christ. Now, this thief could not turn to the other thief and say, "Remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom," because he didn't have a kingdom. This thief could not turn to one of the soldiers and say, "Remember me when you come into your kingdom," or he couldn't turn to one of these religious rulers or the priests. They couldn't do anything for him. He had to turn to Jesus Christ.

Have you ever turned to Jesus Christ and asked him to save you? This was a salvation wholly by grace, certain and secure, personal, present, and centered in Jesus Christ. Would you also notice that this salvation was glorious? "Today shalt thou be with me in Paradise." Now, all he had asked for was a kingdom. All he had hoped for was was coming into some kind of a kingdom about which he knew very little. Jesus said, "I'm going to give you far more than ever you asked, ever you hoped for, you're going to be with me in Paradise." The Apostle Paul in 2 Corinthians 12 tells us that Paradise is that third heaven where God is. And so Jesus is saying, "You're going to be with me in that place of glory and praise where there's no pain and no sorrow, no tears, no condemnation."

Someone says, "Well, I'm going to be like that thief. I'm going to wait till the very last minute, and then I'm going to trust Jesus as my Savior." Well, if you say that, you have two big problems. Number one, you don't know when that last minute is going to be. Would you sign a paper right now saying, "I will postpone the salvation of my soul until just a few minutes before I die"? You don't know when that's going to be. But the big problem is this. This thief was not saved the last opportunity he had. He was saved the first opportunity he had. We have no reason to believe that this man had heard Jesus preach over and over and over again. When he had his first opportunity to trust the Savior, that is when he was saved. And my friend, the only difference between you and me and this thief is he got caught. You haven't gotten caught yet, but one day you will. Oh, will you trust the Savior today? The dying thief rejoiced to see that fountain in his day. "There may I, though vile as he, wash all my sin away." Turn to Jesus, and he'll save you if you trust him. Tomorrow, on Back to the Bible. The cross is a place of responsibility. And if you and I have come to the cross, we have a big responsibility, the responsibility of loving the Lord Jesus, and then living for the Lord Jesus, and loving others.