#192 Lu. 23:39-43  THE TWO THIEVES WHO WERE CRUCIFIED

Introduction:

	In our previous text Jesus was nailed to the cross.  Two
thieves were crucified with Him.  One was crucified on one side
of Jesus and one on the other side.  Our text today focuses our
attention on those two thieves.

I.  A change of mind by one of the thieves

    V. 39-41, "And one of the malefactors which were hanged
railed on him, saying, If thou be 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."  Luke mentions only one of the thieves
railing on Jesus.  Matthew said that both of them railed on Him.
Both of them did, as Matthew said, but one of them changed his
mind and placed His faith in Jesus as Savior.
	At the first, both the thieves were caught up in the mockery
of Jesus.  Both spoke out against Him.  They were both greatly
disturbed at what was happening to them and they were both
lashing out at anybody they could.  It just so happened that
Jesus was the most convenient man for them to lash out against.
But one of them changed his mind about Jesus.  We will talk more
about the reason he changed his mind later in the message.

II.  The one who did not change his mind

	One of the thieves continued to lash out at Jesus.  Luke said
that he railed against Jesus.  That is, he spoke out bitterly
against Him.  He spoke harsh accusing words.  He must have
thought that there was a possibility that Jesus might be the
Christ.  But if He was the Christ, this man could not understand
why Jesus did not use His mighty powers to save all three of them
from being crucified.
	It should be noted that he was not in the least asking for
mercy and help in his spiritual needs.  He was not repentant of
his sins.  He was not concerned about his soul.  He was not
concerned about his eternal destiny.  He was concerned about the
cross and the nails in his hands and feet.  All that he was
asking Jesus to do was to save him from the cross.
	He did not even do that in the spirit of meekness.  His was
not a plea for mercy.  Rather he was speaking out in a spirit of
anger and animosity.  He was angered by the possibility that
Jesus might be able to help him, but had made no effort to do so.
He had made no effort to get him down from the cross.  He did not
ask in an attitude of respect and reverence.  Rather he asked in
a spirit of bitterness and resentment.

III.  Some things that may have led one of the thieves to change
      his mind

One of the thieves, however, had definitely experienced a change
of mind.  He could see that he was about to die.  The nails had
already been driven into his hands and feet.   He had come to do
some serious thinking.  He could not get the words of that sign
out of his mind.  The sign above the head of Jesus said, "This is
the King of the Jews."  He knew about the Old Testament promises
of the coming Christ.  He knew that the Christ would come and
re-establish the throne of David in Jerusalem.  He knew that the
Christ would rule the nation of Israel as the prophets of old had
said.  He knew also that Jesus, the man on the middle cross, was
no ordinary man.  He had heard about the miracles that Jesus had
performed.  It is probable that he had heard especially about
Jesus raising Lazarus from the grave.  This had taken place just
a few days ago out at the village of Bethany.
	He must have felt regret that he had earlier joined the other
thief in speaking out against Jesus.  He was coming to think that
there was more than just a possibility that Jesus is the Christ.
He was coming to believe that Jesus most certainly is the Christ.
The more he thought about it, the more certain he became.
Finally, he was fully convinced.  He really believed that Jesus
is the Christ.

IV.  The signs of his faith in the Lord

	When he became fully l convinced that Jesus is the Christ, he
 spoke up and rebuked the other thief.  He asked, "Do you not
fear God?"  The idea is, if you fear God you most certainly ought
not to be ridiculing the Christ of God.  God will not take it
kindly for you to ridicule the Christ.
	Then he acknowledged his own guilt and the guilt of the other
thief.  He said in effect, "We deserve what we are getting, but
this man has done nothing amiss."
	But his greatest expression of faith would come next.  V.
42, "And he said unto Jesus, Lord, remember me when thou comest
into thy kingdom."  In spite of the fact that the other thief
still doubted that Jesus is the Christ, this man had come to
believe that He is.  In spite of the fact that the high priest of
Israel along with the chief priests and elders did not believe
that Jesus is the Christ, this man had come to believe that He
is.  In spite of the fact that the great majority in this crowd
laughed at the idea that Jesus is the Christ, this man had come
to believe that He is.  In spite of the fact that Jesus was still
nailed to the cross and was apparently going to die on the cross,
the man had come to believe that HE is the Christ.  In spite of
the fact that Jesus made no effort to save Himself, yet he
believed that Jesus is the Christ.
	He believed that Jesus is the Christ and he said so.  He
asked Jesus to remember Him when He came to the throne.  The idea
is, "Remember me with kindness.  Remember me and help me.
Remember me and have mercy upon me when you come to the throne."
	Now notice this, He believed that Jesus would sit upon the
throne and that Jesus would rule the nation of Israel.  He
believed this even though Jesus was apparently going to die there
on the cross.  He believed that Jesus, as King of God's kingdom,
would be able to remember him and help him because He would rule
the kingdom.  In spite of the fact that Jesus would die and in
spite of the fact that he, himself, was going to die, he believed
that Jesus would remember him and have mercy upon him and help
him.  You see, he was not trusting Jesus to save him from the
cross.  He was trusting Jesus to save him in spite of the cross.
He was trusting Jesus to save him even though they would both die
on crosses.
	He was trusting Jesus to save him in spite of his sins.  He
acknowledged that he deserved death on the cross.  He surely must
have also been was aware that he deserved to be sentenced to the
Lake of Fire and Brimstone.  But he believed that Jesus would
have mercy upon him and take care of his need in the next life in
spite of his sinfulness.  He was counting on the Lord have mercy
on him and to forgive his sins and keep him out of the Lake of
Fire.

V.  The promise which Jesus made

	Let me tell you that this kind of faith would not go
unnoticed by our Lord.  V. 43, "And Jesus said unto him, Verily I
say unto thee, To day shalt thou be with me in paradise."  Jesus
used the word, paradise.  He used a word that speaks of a place
of beauty and peace.  He speaks of a place of bliss and
happiness.  That kind of promise ought to sound good to any man.
We live in a world of trouble and strife.  It surely ought to
sound good to any man to be told that he will go into a place of
beauty, peace, bliss and happiness.  But it seems to me that it
would sound especially good to a man who was nailed to a cross to
be told that before the day is over, he would be in Paradise.
    Before this day is over all his pain and suffering would be
over.  Before this day is over, all of the sorrows of his life
would be over.  There would never be any more pain or suffering
for him any more.

VI.  Many people who need to be saved today

	Now today I do not know of any who are on a cross needing to
be saved.  I suspect that there are a lot of people who are on
death row in the prisons who would like to be saved from death
row.  But I know for sure that there is a world full of sinners
who need to be saved.
    I know just exactly what it is to be lost and on the road to
hell.  I've been there.  I would still be there if it were not
for Jesus.  One day night back in Pensacola, Florida I sat in a
church service in a little Missionary Baptist church.  I listened
to Bro. C. D. Barton preach the gospel.  Like that thief on the
cross, I asked Jesus to save me and He did.  Today I have the
same kind of assurance that the thief on the cross had.  There is
one difference.  He knew that he was going to die that day.  I do
not know when I will die.  But I know that whenever I die I will
be in Paradise with the Lord.  I do not have to fear the fires of
hell any more.  I do not have to fear Judgment Day any more.  I
do not have to worry about what is going to happen to me when I
die.  I know that I will go to a place of magnificent beauty.  I
know that I will have absolute peace.  I know that I will
experience great joys such as I have never experienced in my
whole life.
	Now I am aware that if I die before the Lord comes again that
my body will go to the grave.  But that does not worry me.  The
body of that thief on the cross also went to the grave, but his
soul went to Paradise and that is where I am going when I die.
	There just might be somebody here today who is still lost in
sin.  I am going to ask you to come today and place your faith in
Jesus to save your soul.

Conclusion:

	There also might be somebody here who is lost who like that
thief on the cross says, "I am going to wait until just before I
die and then I'll get things settled with God and get saved."
Well, let me tell you that I do believe that some few people do
get saved just before they die.  That thief on the cross was one
of them.  But I also know that the great majority who put off
salvation do like the other thief did.  They die unsaved and go
out into the fires of hell.  It is dangerous business put
salvation off until some other time.  I have known of people
attending church on a regular basis and sitting under the gospel
on a regular basis and they just kept putting salvation off until
it was too late.  That is very very very dangerous business.  If
you know you are lost and need to be saved, you need to take
advantage of the time that you have.  If that thief had waited
just one more day, it would have been forever too late.
	Let me also ask that those of you who are saved, to surrender
your life to the Lord and to live for Him.  I am convinced that
if that thief on the cross were here in our services today, he
would be the first person down the aisle when I give this
invitation.  He would want to follow Jesus in baptism.  He would
want to unite with this church.  He would want to serve the Lord
faithfully.  I am convinced that he would not do any more
stealing.  You would see a change in the way he lives.   I am
persuaded that he would have become one of the most dedicated
people in the whole land.  That is what I am asking you to do
today.  I am asking that you really get in business for the Lord.