Sermon preached by Pastor Ted Gehrke, March 31, 1985 at Butternut Bible Church.
"There is a Fountain, filled with blood,
Drawn from Emanuel's veins.
And sinners plunged beneath that flood,
Lose all their guilty stains.
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."
"Carefully notice if you will, that our Lord's last companion here on earth was a crucified thief.
One of the most amazing and comforting things I notice about Jesus while He was here on earth, was the sorry company he chose to be with as He moved about.
He did not consort with the religious Pharisee nor did He move about with the philosophical Sadducee, but He was known as "a friend of Publicans and Sinners". Now, you should find a great deal of comfort when you realize that and ponder it.
When the Lord Jesus made a friend of us, He certainly did not make a choice that brought Him credit! It makes me question this "Sports Hero and Movie Star" evangelism. It seems to say, "Jesus must be alright, old so and so even became a friend of Christ!"
Or are they saying, "You can believe the Bible and love the Lord because anybody good enough for O.J. Simpson is good enough for you!" (Remember, this was written and preached in 1985, almost 10 years before O.J. "did his thing"!)
Do you think that Jesus ever gained anything when He made a friend of us? No, if He had not stooped very low, how would He had ever reached any of us. Aren't you glad that He came to call, not the righteous, but sinners to repentance?
As the "great Physician" our Lord went among the sick to perform His Healing Art. The whole have not a bit of need for a Physician they cannot appreciate His skill and ability, therefore, He did not go to their homes.
"But Pastor," I can hear some of you say..."you don't understand. I have been so stubborn for so long.. there is so much in my past. I am not worthy of the least of His favor. He will never look upon me. I am a terrible sinner!"
Well, I want you to notice that this sinner upon the cross next to Him was no ordinary sinner!
He had broken the laws of man and of God and was one of those ruthless men whose life was one that existed at the brutal expense of others.
He had been captured and brought before the Roman Tribunal,
He had been found guilty and condemned...and to his guilt he would later testify,
He had spent his time on death row, now he was reaping what he had sown, and
this convicted felon was the last person our Lord consorted with here on earth!
To this most unworthy of men, The Lord of Glory, spoke with matchless Grace!
He said to him, the most wonderful words, that could ever be said or ever found in all the pages of God's Word... "Today, Thou Shalt Be With Me In Paradise!"
Now I don't suppose there is one here who has committed crimes as great as has this dying thief, but if there is one, now you see that you too can come!
And greater than our crimes against man, is all of our crimes against a Holy God that each of us have committed!
And again I can hear some of you say, "But Pastor, I am not such a sinner. I have not committed so terrible a crime as the crimes of this thief. If this is what you think...then He didn't come to save you!
Our sin is not to be compared to other's, but to the holiness of God!
And if you say in your heart, I have read of how holy and pure our God is and I know that I am no less a sinner than this dying thief...then you believe rightly, for so we all are and Jesus came to seek and to save YOU!
Notice too, that this thief was one who was instantaneously and newly awakened.
Matthew says, "The chief priests said, He trusted in God, let Him deliver him now, if he will have him, for he (Jesus) said, "I am the Son of God". The thieves also, which were crucified with Him, cast the same in his teeth." (or ridiculed and mocked him in the same way.) Matt. 27:42-44
This thief started out, it appears, to have joined with his fellow thief in scoffing
and consenting to the crucifixion of the Lord. Then suddenly he wakes up to the conviction that this is more than a man! He reads the title, "This is Jesus, King of the Jews!" hanging above His head and in an instant, believes it to be so.
And thus believing, He makes His appeal to the MESSIAH, whom he had newly recognized and he commits himself into His hands!
He had started a scoffer and ended a believer!
And once more I hear some of you ask, "Oh, Pastor, you mean to tell me that a man can sin for 50 years and then in a moment be made clean through the blood of Christ?"
"Yes, I believe that in one moment, the blackest of souls can be made clean through the precious blood of the Lamb of God... Jesus!"
And "Yes, I do believe that the sins of a lifetime can be forgiven, and that a sin nature that has gone from bad to worse, can receive it's death-wound in a moment of time, while the eternal soul of a man or woman is implanted at once!"
It was so with this man. He had come to the end of his rope. He woke up to the assured conviction that this Jesus was the Messiah and he believed Him and took Him as his Savior and lived!
This man was a sinner condemned, a sinner in misery and the last companion of our Lord! His sins had found him out and he was now enduring the reward of his deeds!
You have met folks like that. Their life is a prelude to the eternal hell they're headed for because of their sin. And the tragedy is, it need not be so, neither here nor hereafter.
This man too, was in a horrible condition. He could not live much longer. Soon they would come and break his legs and shorten his time even more, in this space between noon and sundown.
But that was long enough for a Savior who is mighty to save!
How much longer do YOU have to live?
Now, I cannot help what the wicked care to do with the truth. I cannot be held responsible for what the lost do with the gospel. But I am commissioned to state it none the less.
If you are within and hour of your death this morning, if you die on the way to your home from the church, if you believe at this very instant that the Lord Jesus Christ is your Messiah and take Him as your own...you will be saved. If you in one breath say to Him, Jesus, I take you as my Lord, with all that that means! You shall be saved! ...and then as you exhale, find you do not have the strength to breath in again, you shall be in Paradise with Him before you realize your dilemma!
...and by the same token, if you have anther 50 years to live and it goes by slowly, and you reject Him and His claims, and die without Him, you will not have the opportunity again. Before you realize it, you will be standing before Him in all His holiness only to hear that you are forever condemned!
Notice too...
This man who Christ saved, was a man who could do no good works.
If salvation were by good works, he could not have been saved. He was tied to a cross. It was impossible for him to do anything! He could not endure a long and painful repentance. He didn't have time. He could not endure long years of conviction of sin... he would be done before the sun went down.
This sinner we see, painted in colors of blackest sin, had time to do two things, cry out to Jesus and confess his faith!
Is confession important? Confession is a demonstration and reasonable result of saving faith! It is not saving faith, but where you have saving faith, you will find confession of faith.
When he began his confession, Jesus didn't say "Awww, forget it!"
The thief's confession of faith was "Lord, remember me when you come into your kingdom!
Joseph, of old, asked the Butler to remember him (when he got out of prison) and he forgot him! But our "Joseph" never forgets a sinner who calls out to Him from the lowest dungeon!
Next, let's notice that this man who was our Lord's companion at the very gate of Paradise.
Now I'm not going to get into where did the Lord go when He died. It would seem from the scriptures, that He descended into the lower parts to declare His victory that He might fulfill all things. That was for a brief time, but remember, He died a couple hours before the thief and then entered His Kingdom at the same time as His new convert. (If you're measuring it in time.)
Now, in our mind's eye, who would we have chosen to enter Paradise with Jesus...David, Abraham, Elijah? Yet it was none of these.
He that entered the Gates of Glory was none other than a thief...saved at the time of His death and now entering where "the last shall be first!"
There was a story of a man who dreamed that he stood outside the gate of heaven and while there, he heard sweet music from a band on their way to glory. Enquiring, he asked, "Who are these?" He was told that they were the Godly fellowship of the prophets. He sighed and said, "Alas, I am not one of those!" He waited a while and another band of shining ones drew near and entered with Hallelujahs, so he inquired again, "Who are these and whence came they?" The answer came, "These are the Glorious Company of the Apostles". Again he sighed, "I cannot enter with them." Then there drew close yet another and larger band and they had palms in their hands and they marched amid great acclamation. And when he heard that they were the noble army of the martyrs, again he wept and said, "I cannot go in with these." In the end he heard the voices of many people and he saw a greater multitude advancing toward the Gates of Pearl. And he saw among them, Rehab and Mary Magdalene and David and Peter and Manasseh and Saul of Tarsus and then he saw the thief, the one who hanged by Jesus side. Then the answer came, "This is the host of sinners saved by grace." And he was glad and began shouting, "I can go in with these!" Yet, he thought there would be no shouting nor song as they came to the throne. But as they drew near, there arose a glad cry at the gate of Heaven, shouting at the approach of this company. For there is "Joy in the presence of the angels of God" over sinners that repent. And above the shouts and the song, there arose the voice of the Savior, "Rejoice for I have found my own!"
What Jesus said to that thief was:
"Today there shall be no more pain,
Today there will be no more tears,
Today you will be with me in Paradise!"
Oh how I long for that day!
and consenting to the crucifixion of the Lord. Then suddenly he wakes up to the conviction that this is more than a man! He reads the title, "This is Jesus, King of the Jews!" hanging above His head and in an instant, believes it to be so.
And thus believing, He makes His appeal to the MESSIAH, whom he had newly recognized and he commits himself into His hands!
He had started a scoffer and ended a believer!
And once more I hear some of you ask, "Oh, Pastor, you mean to tell me that a man can sin for 50 years and then in a moment be made clean through the blood of Christ?"
"Yes, I believe that in one moment, the blackest of souls can be made clean through the precious blood of the Lamb of God... Jesus!"
And "Yes, I do believe that the sins of a lifetime can be forgiven, and that a sin nature that has gone from bad to worse, can receive it's death-wound in a moment of time, while the eternal soul of a man or woman is implanted at once!"
It was so with this man. He had come to the end of his rope. He woke up to the assured conviction that this Jesus was the Messiah and he believed Him and took Him as his Savior and lived!
This man was a sinner condemned, a sinner in misery and the last companion of our Lord! His sins had found him out and he was now enduring the reward of his deeds!
You have met folks like that. Their life is a prelude to the eternal hell they're headed for because of their sin. And the tragedy is, it need not be so, neither here nor hereafter.
This man too, was in a horrible condition. He could not live much longer. Soon they would come and break his legs and shorten his time even more, in this space between noon and sundown.
But that was long enough for a Savior who is mighty to save!
How much longer do YOU have to live?
Now, I cannot help what the wicked care to do with the truth. I cannot be held responsible for what the lost do with the gospel. But I am commissioned to state it none the less.
If you are within and hour of your death this morning, if you die on the way to your home from the church, if you believe at this very instant that the Lord Jesus Christ is your Messiah and take Him as your own...you will be saved. If you in one breath say to Him, Jesus, I take you as my Lord, with all that that means! You shall be saved! ...and then as you exhale, find you do not have the strength to breath in again, you shall be in Paradise with Him before you realize your dilemma!
...and by the same token, if you have anther 50 years to live and it goes by slowly, and you reject Him and His claims, and die without Him, you will not have the opportunity again. Before you realize it, you will be standing before Him in all His holiness only to hear that you are forever condemned!
Notice too...
This man who Christ saved, was a man who could do no good works.
If salvation were by good works, he could not have been saved. He was tied to a cross. It was impossible for him to do anything! He could not endure a long and painful repentance. He didn't have time. He could not endure long years of conviction of sin... he would be done before the sun went down.
This sinner we see, painted in colors of blackest sin, had time to do two things, cry out to Jesus and confess his faith!
Is confession important? Confession is a demonstration and reasonable result of saving faith! It is not saving faith, but where you have saving faith, you will find confession of faith.
When he began his confession, Jesus didn't say "Awww, forget it!"
The thief's confession of faith was "Lord, remember me when you come into your kingdom!
Joseph, of old, asked the Butler to remember him (when he got out of prison) and he forgot him! But our "Joseph" never forgets a sinner who calls out to Him from the lowest dungeon!
Next, let's notice that this man who was our Lord's companion at the very gate of Paradise.
Now I'm not going to get into where did the Lord go when He died. It would seem from the scriptures, that He descended into the lower parts to declare His victory that He might fulfill all things. That was for a brief time, but remember, He died a couple hours before the thief and then entered His Kingdom at the same time as His new convert. (If you're measuring it in time.)
Now, in our mind's eye, who would we have chosen to enter Paradise with Jesus...David, Abraham, Elijah? Yet it was none of these.
He that entered the Gates of Glory was none other than a thief...saved at the time of His death and now entering where "the last shall be first!"
There was a story of a man who dreamed that he stood outside the gate of heaven and while there, he heard sweet music from a band on their way to glory. Enquiring, he asked, "Who are these?" He was told that they were the Godly fellowship of the prophets. He sighed and said, "Alas, I am not one of those!" He waited a while and another band of shining ones drew near and entered with Hallelujahs, so he inquired again, "Who are these and whence came they?" The answer came, "These are the Glorious Company of the Apostles". Again he sighed, "I cannot enter with them." Then there drew close yet another and larger band and they had palms in their hands and they marched amid great acclamation. And when he heard that they were the noble army of the martyrs, again he wept and said, "I cannot go in with these." In the end he heard the voices of many people and he saw a greater multitude advancing toward the Gates of Pearl. And he saw among them, Rehab and Mary Magdalene and David and Peter and Manasseh and Saul of Tarsus and then he saw the thief, the one who hanged by Jesus side. Then the answer came, "This is the host of sinners saved by grace." And he was glad and began shouting, "I can go in with these!" Yet, he thought there would be no shouting nor song as they came to the throne. But as they drew near, there arose a glad cry at the gate of Heaven, shouting at the approach of this company. For there is "Joy in the presence of the angels of God" over sinners that repent. And above the shouts and the song, there arose the voice of the Savior, "Rejoice for I have found my own!"
What Jesus said to that thief was:
"Today there shall be no more pain,
Today there will be no more tears,
Today you will be with me in Paradise!"
Oh how I long for that day!
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