The Word of Salvation; or, The Thief on the Cross Saved

by Pastor Peter C. Picos

Editor’s Note: This sermon was delivered by Pastor Peter C. Picos on Good Friday evening, April 2, 1999, from the pulpit of Northfield Baptist Church. Salvation is to be found only in the shed blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, and we must receive it by faith alone in Him alone. It is a personal salvation in which we must ask Him, “Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom” (Luke 23:42). And if you will but trust Him, turning to Him in repentance, then He will not turn you away even if you are the vilest sinner, as is shown by how He answered the thief on the cross: “Verily I say unto thee, To day shalt thou be with me in paradise” (Luke 23:43). May God be pleased to use it to bless all Bible-believers and save even a single precious soul of His elect who does not at this moment know Christ, His gospel, and His everlasting love. The offer of free grace and free salvation given to any sinner who by faith alone trusts Jesus Christ and His blood alone still goes out—it is still the day of salvation, and Jesus is still mighty to save. After this sermon, may you be able to say, “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me” (Galatians 2:20). All Scripture references are according to the King James Bible.
Audio cassettes of this gospel sermon are available for $2.00. Write to us at: Northfield Baptist Church, 17 E. Northfield Road, Livingston, NJ 07039. Or call us at (973) 992-0070.

Luke 23:32-43, KJV, “And there were also two other, malefactors, led with him to be put to death. ~ And when they were come to the place, which is called Calvary, there they crucified him, and the malefactors, one on the right hand, and the other on the left. ~ Then said Jesus, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do. And they parted his raiment, and cast lots. ~ And the people stood beholding. And the rulers also with them derided him, saying, He saved others; let him save himself, if he be 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 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. ~ And he said unto Jesus, Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom. ~ And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, To day shalt thou be with me in paradise.”

A few words—more than a few words—out of the Gospel of Luke. We must establish in our thoughts tonight (as we need to establish our thoughts every Good Friday that we come to celebrate) that the Lord Jesus Christ being crucified between two thieves was not there by accident. That this didn’t happen by chance. Out of Luke, chapter 22, and verse 22, let me just read it to you, and we’ve through this in our message, one of our messages:

“And truly the Son of man goeth as it was determined, but woe unto that man by whom he is betrayed.”

This was God’s foreordained plan. And also, out of Isaiah—that Isaiah the prophet speaks that “he was numbered with the transgressors.” Listen to Luke chapter 22, and verse 37: “For I say unto you, that this which is written must yet be accomplished in me, And he was reckoned among the transgressors: for the things concerning me have an end.” And even the angel at the tomb when He was resurrected—where the angel spoke of saying, “The Son of man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again” (Luke 24:7). So it is no accident that the Lord Jesus Christ died upon the cross. And as you read through the Gospel of John, you’ll see that He is the Sent One. He was sent by the Father to die upon the cross—“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:16). And so when we come to this place in our calendar year to remember the death of the Lord Jesus Christ, we must remember that it wasn’t any accident. He was there—He was there on purpose! Christ died on purpose! Here, our Lord Jesus Christ being crucified between two thieves demonstrates to us the depths of shame [to] which [He] had descended. And we think of His birth; we think of the Lord Jesus Christ, when He was born in the stable, in the manger with the animals around Him. And His mother wrapped Him in swaddling clothes, and laid Him there in a manger. And there we see the depths of shame as He began to live His life.
          And in the end, to die upon the cross of Calvary—here was also the drama of salvation and man’s response. And I want us to look at just the Lord Jesus Christ tonight, and the thief upon the cross that responded to Him. The thief: “Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom!” The word of salvation—“Lord, remember me!” And what do we have here? We find a wonderful case of a spiritual illumination! The other one rejected Him, [while] the other one accepted Him. And what do we have? He was a spiritual man; he was illuminated by the Spirit of God, and he came to see who Christ is and was upon the cross! I want us to look at this thief for a moment—the man who said, “Lord, remember me when You come into Your kingdom.”
          He believed in a future life. He believed in a future life where retribution would be given out by the righteousness of God. What did he say? “Dost thou not fear God, seeing thou art in the same condemnation?”
          And not only that, but he saw his own sinfulness. What did he say? “And we indeed justly, for we receive the due reward of our deeds.” He saw sin merited punishment, and that the condemnation was just. That’s what he answered to the thief—the other thief. “And we indeed justly, for we receive the due reward of our deeds: but this man hath done nothing amiss.”
          Because when he said that—“this man hath done nothing amiss”—he bore testimony to the sinlessness of Christ! Judas could testify, when he hands back the thirty pieces of silver, and he said, “I have betrayed innocent blood.” Pilate could say to the crowd, “I find no fault in this man.” Pilate’s wife could say to her husband, “Have nothing to do with this just man.”
          And so what do we have here? We have a man; a dying man hanging upon the cross; a criminal being put to death by the Romans for his crimes, because he testified, “We’re receiving justly for what we have done. But this man has done nothing amiss!” And folks, this is where we stand tonight.
          Are you like this thief? Because he confessed—“Lord, remember me when thou comest into the kingdom, into THY kingdom. Remember me!” He believed in the Saviourhood of Christ. Why? He might have heard about the Lord Jesus along the way, but he also heard Jesus say in verse 34—“Then said Jesus, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.” Here they saw a man being crucified, and He could say to the people who have crucified Him and who are yelling at Him, “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do!” Why? Because (I Corinthians 2:8) they were crucifying the Lord of glory!
          And so here was a man that saw his own sinfulness. Here was a man acknowledging the sinlessness of the Lord Jesus Christ.
          We have a situation in the world. We have an evil man right now in the world; he’s just gone a little further than some of us. And you say, “What makes a man do such a thing like that? What makes a man defiant like that?” My answer to that is TOTAL DEPRAVITY: man’s sinfulness makes Milosevic the man he is. And what this man did upon the cross—he realized his own sinfulness, and he heard the Lord Jesus saying, “Father, forgive them; for they don’t know what they’re doing”; and he said, “Lord, remember me when You come into Your kingdom!” That’s the word of salvation, because Jesus said, “To day shalt thou be with me in paradise!” He evidenced his faith in the kingship of Christ: “When thou comest into thy kingdom.” Imagine this man dying upon the cross, and the theology that you might say speaks out from his heart as he hangs there on one side of Christ! The theology—“Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom!”
          And this is what we need to do. We need to say, “Lord, remember me, when You come into Your kingdom!”
          You see, this man could do nothing for himself. This man couldn’t get down off the cross and be baptized; this man couldn’t come down off the cross and take communion. This man couldn’t come down and say, “Lord, I want to do some works for You, because I really want to get into Your kingdom!” No, there isn’t any of that! He couldn’t do anything—period!
          Ah, but what do I see in the Lord Jesus Christ? I see in the Saviourhood of Christ upon the cross—I see the grace of God, as Joseph spoke of it! This grace! He saves a man who is absolutely sinful, who’s hanging there for his own crimes, and in the end he cries out, “LORD, BE MERCIFUL TO ME A SINNER, AND SAVE ME!” And the cause of the thief’s conversion arises from the free and sovereign grace of God!
          It was also a proof of Christ’s power to save, even in a time of great weakness! He’s dying too, but He has power to save! He is able to save those that come unto Him. It is a pattern of Christ’s willingness to save the chief of sinners. Do we see all of this in this passage, even as we read it—not only today, but maybe next year, the year after that? Because it isn’t any accident that Christ died. He dies out of grace! Christ is ready to save; Christ’s power to save, because He could say to the thief, “To day shalt thou be with me in paradise!” That’s the power to save!
          And even though the Lord Jesus in His weakest hour saves a man, yet He is no feeble Saviour. “The gospel of Christ…is the power of God to every one that believeth” (Romans 1:16)! The salvation of the dying thief demonstrates that the Lord Jesus is willing and able to save all who come to Him. He will not cast anyone out. And the Lord Jesus Christ will take us all, who will come and bow our hearts before Him and acknowledge our sinfulness, and acknowledge that we need a Saviour, and that we can’t save ourselves.
          This is the gospel message; this is the reason why Christ died! And those people that cried out (and you’ve heard me say it), “He saved others, but He can’t save Himself”—because that’s exactly what He came to do! He came to save others, not Himself! He came to give Himself voluntarily on the cross of Calvary.
          So as we think of Good Friday, and we think of the man, and “the word of salvation,” and the place where salvation was experienced—even in Christ’s death upon the cross—this man accepted Christ as his Lord and Saviour. And, “Lord,” He says—“Lord, remember me when You come into Your kingdom. Remember me! Remember me!” The acknowledgment! The acceptance! The assurance!
          Because you see, the cross of the Lord Jesus has two effects. It has two effects. One is rejection, as we see in one thief. The other: acceptance. Because you see, there are only two roads: there’s a narrow road, and there’s a broad road; there’s life, and there’s death. That’s what we see upon the cross. We see a man perishing, and we see a man entering into eternal life.
          Where do you stand? Where do YOU stand tonight? Is the Lord Jesus your Saviour? Is He your King? Have you bowed before Him, like this thief upon the cross, and said, “Lord, remember me when You come into Your kingdom”? Because “the gospel…is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth.” And this is the message we proclaim, because what happens on Easter Sunday morning? The Lord Jesus is resurrected. And what do the apostles do? The apostles go out, and they preach and they proclaim a living Christ! We have a living Christ! What do we proclaim? A living Saviour, that is able to save you, able to save me—“able to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him…” (Hebrews 7:25).
          This is the word of salvation, upon the cross, as the Lord Jesus was dying for others, and not for Himself. Because you see, He died for that thief. He died for that thief. He died for somebody else, that somebody else might go into the kingdom, might go into paradise. And what did the Lord Jesus say to His disciples in the upper room? “That where I am, there ye may be also.” And this is where we are to go after death: to be with Christ.
          The word of salvation from the cross, as this man cried out, “Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom.” And the Lord Jesus could say, “To day shalt thou be with me in paradise.” That’s the word of salvation from the cross. May God speak to our hearts, that in this season, we will know the living Christ. For there is NO OTHER WAY, but the way of the cross.

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