Today I would like to look at some of the Scriptures that deal with the thief on the cross. I had planned to look at this passage the last week before Judgment Day May 21, 2011, because this is a passage that deals with a shortness of time. There is no one who had as little time left in this life and knew it like the thief on the cross. He only had a few hours before he was going to die and pass away, so I would like to look at this today.
To begin with, I would like to read all of the Gospel accounts of this occurrence. But before we do so, I would just like to offer some caution concerning the whole subject of being saved at practically the last minute of one’s life.
We will begin in Matthew 27. I will read a few passages from the Bible that are fairly long. It always guarantees that a message will be a blessing when we read a lot of Scripture. You do not have to do much else to be blessed.
We read in Matthew 27:34-44:
They gave him vinegar to drink mingled with gall: and when he had tasted thereof, he would not drink. And they crucified him, and parted his garments, casting lots: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, They parted my garments among them, and upon my vesture did they cast lots. And sitting down they watched him there; And set up over his head his accusation written, THIS IS JESUS THE KING OF THE JEWS. Then were there two thieves crucified with him, one on the right hand, and another on the left. And they that passed by reviled him, wagging their heads, And saying, Thou that destroyest the temple, and buildest it in three days, save thyself. If thou be the Son of God, come down from the cross. Likewise also the chief priests mocking him, with the scribes and elders, said, He saved others; himself he cannot save. If he be the King of Israel, let him now come down from the cross, and we will believe him. He trusted in God; let him deliver him now, if he will have him: for he said, I am the Son of God. The thieves also, which were crucified with him, cast the same in his teeth.
There were two thieves. God said “thieves,” plural, and that they were saying the same thing as the chief priests and as everyone else.
This was the hour of darkness. The whole world it seemed had turned against the Lord Jesus Christ. Everyone present was involved in reviling Him, which was all part of God’s plan because Christ was making a demonstration on the cross. He was not dying for sin because He had already died for sin from before the foundation of the world.
The Bible tells us that He was “the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.” He also resurrected before the world began because Romans 1 tells us that He was “declared to be the Son of God…by [or via] the resurrection from the dead.” As the Son, He created this world and the universe and all of the creatures and man and everything that we see; however, He was already declared to be the Son through the resurrection of the dead.
What was the point then of Him entering into the world and going through this experience? He was making what He had already done manifest, the works that “were finished from the foundation of the world,” according to Hebrews 4. And the Bible says “for whatsoever doth make manifest is light.” This is what the Bible says, and Jesus came to be “the light of the world.” He came to shine the light in the darkness and to make manifest what man would never figure out on his own and could never understand.
God had already completed His salvation plan, which means that Jesus, who is God, selected and predestinated each and every one of His elect from the foundation of the world. He took upon Himself the sins of each and every one of them. They were laid upon Him, which is what it means when the Bible refers to bearing iniquities. Wherever we read in the Bible about Christ bearing iniquities, it is always referring to the point before this world began. This is because at the cross, He was not bearing iniquity.
Since Jesus had already accomplished this, there was no sin left to bear. It is not like He had to bear sin a second time on the cross and make payment a second time. We know that God’s Word does not require this. The Law of God does not demand this. He was just simply living out a tableau or making these things manifest. He was revealing them and shining the light on what He had already done. This is what we have to understand whenever we are reading the Gospel accounts.
If we go to Mark 15:22-33, we read a parallel account to Matthew. It says:
And they bring him unto the place Golgotha, which is, being interpreted, The place of a skull. And they gave him to drink wine mingled with myrrh: but he received it not. And when they had crucified him, they parted his garments, casting lots upon them, what every man should take. And it was the third hour, and they crucified him. And the superscription of his accusation was written over, THE KING OF THE JEWS. And with him they crucify 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. And they that passed by railed on him, wagging their heads, and saying, Ah, thou that destroyest the temple, and buildest it in three days, Save thyself, and come down from the cross. Likewise also the chief priests mocking said among themselves with the scribes, He saved others; himself he cannot save. Let Christ the King of Israel descend now from the cross, that we may see and believe. And they that were crucified with him reviled him. And when the sixth hour was come, there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour.
I wanted to include that last verse to give us a little time reference.
So for a period of time, both thieves—one on his right, one on his left, with Jesus in the center—were saying, “Yes, save yourself and us with you!” But they were saying this in such a way that they were demonstrating that they intended to give no honor or respect or glory to Christ as the Saviour.
This was definitely not something that was appropriate, as God outlines the Gospel, because there is a certain way in which we are to go to God to beseech Him for salvation. They were basically saying, “Deliver us!” But they were saying this in a demanding way, in an arrogant way, in a prideful way, almost as if, “You saved others! You must save us!”
People hear that Christ is a wonderful Saviour, a merciful God, and He does save others. This is true. There is forgiveness with God. He will save a great multitude, but He is not obligated to save any individual. He does not have to save you or me. He does not have to save anyone. If He wanted to, He could let us all be destroyed, and that would be proper and right.
He is merciful, however, and so He does this glorious work of saving many, which is really only a remnant out of the total of mankind. But still, tens of millions of people is a large number of people and God could potentially save any one of us; however, it is very important how we approach Him.
If you remember, we read of an historical account of Elijah as he was on the mountain when the king of Israel had sent a captain and his fifty to bring Elijah the prophet back to the king. We read of this in 2 Kings 1. It starts off in 2 Kings 1:2-4:
And Ahaziah fell down through a lattice in his upper chamber that was in Samaria, and was sick: and he sent messengers, and said unto them, Go, inquire of Baalzebub the god of Ekron whether I shall recover of this disease. But the angel of JEHOVAH said to Elijah the Tishbite, Arise, go up to meet the messengers of the king of Samaria, and say unto them, Is it not because there is not a God in Israel, that ye go to inquire of Baalzebub the god of Ekron? Now therefore thus saith JEHOVAH, Thou shalt not come down from that bed on which thou art gone up, but shalt surely die. And Elijah departed.
These were some very strong statements that God had spoken through His prophet Elijah; but after his sin of seeking after another god, the king knew that his life depended on this. He had an army at his disposal. He had officers, and so he probably commanded one of his best captains, “Take your company of fifty and go to this man of God, Elijah, and bring him to me,” as we read in 2 Kings 1:9:
Then the king sent unto him a captain of fifty with his fifty.
This would be fifty-one men. It continues:
And he went up to him: and, behold, he sat on the top of an hill. And he spake unto him, Thou man of God, the king hath said, Come down.
Is this the way in which we are to speak to God? No. Is this the way in which we are to speak to one of God’s representatives, a prophet of the Lord, the one whom God spoke through and gave His Word through, Elijah? No.
We read next of what can happen when we speak to God in this way. Remember that Elijah is basically there in God’s stead. We read in 2 Kings 1:10:
And Elijah answered and said to the captain of fifty, If I be a man of God, then let fire come down from heaven, and consume thee and thy fifty. And there came down fire from heaven, and consumed him and his fifty.
These men were destroyed instantly. They were annihilated. These men were more than likely unsaved, and so their lives were over at this point and they ceased to exist.
This is God’s judgment plan, and yet He is merciful even in this. “The wages of sin is death”; a man dies, he perishes, and the Bible tells us “in that very day his thoughts perish.” Unsaved man is not going to be resurrected with his thoughts put back into him so that he becomes a conscious living being again. The Bible does not teach this. Instead, unsaved man is just done.
As we continue on in 2 Kings, remember that the king is going to die. This is what he heard from this prophet, and he does not care that fifty-one people were just burned up. His only interest is in his own life and in his own recovery, and so he sends another group, as we read in 2 Kings 1:11:
Again also he sent unto him another captain of fifty with his fifty.
So this is another fifty-one men. It continues:
And he answered and said unto him, O man of God, thus hath the king said, Come down quickly.
Again we can see the arrogance, as though man can dictate to God! But we are not God. We are not the Creator. We are a creature. We are a little, tiny, finite creature, and God is the infinite and glorious Creator, the Almighty, the Everlasting God, the “One that inhabiteth eternity.” He created us, but what we have done is rebelled against Him. We have gone our own way and transgressed His Law. We have basically spit in His face. We live our life any way that we please. We sin day after day. The thoughts of our heart are “only evil continually.” Our hearts are “deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked”; and yet at a certain point, we go to God, we approach Him, and we have the audacity to make demands of Him!
This is not how the Bible lays this out. This is not how God lays out His salvation plan. He is merciful, yes; but we had better not think that because He is merciful, He must have mercy upon us. This is not so. This is not the case. He says in Romans 9, “Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy.” This is His decision, not ours.
Returning to 2 Kings 1, so far we have 102 men: two captains with two companies of fifty men each. These two groups have gone to the prophet and have both been burned up, but the king is desperate. He has many more captains at his disposal, and so he sends a third captain with his fifty, as we read in 2 Kings 1:13:
And he sent again a captain of the third fifty with his fifty. And the third captain of fifty went up, and came and fell on his knees before Elijah, and besought him, and said unto him, O man of God, I pray thee, let my life, and the life of these fifty thy servants, be precious in thy sight.
Do you notice a difference? This captain is approaching God fearfully. This man has a fear of God. He also probably learned something from the first two captains and their fifty. He might have even known these men who had been burned up. He must have realized that they were gone. As this third captain and his fifty approached Elijah, they maybe even saw their ashes. There was a great deal of evidence for this man to understand who he was dealing with, that God is a God of great power and authority and glory. He may have thought, “Yes, I am coming at the king’s command because this is my job. I am a soldier and I have to obey the king, but I know who the King of kings is. I know that we could gather a million kings like the king I serve on earth and they would be as nothing in comparison to this King. All of the armies of the world do not have this type of power to where they can burn up men by calling down fire from Heaven.”
So this captain approached gingerly, humbly. He came praying and beseeching Elijah. He came very humbly and this is how God lays this out, as far as His graciousness in allowing us, who are rebels, to come to Him for pardon. He is very gracious to even allow this and permit this. He does allow the condemned sinner to go to Him like a criminal, like a murderer on death row.
Even today, this is allowed. A murderer can contact the governor of the state and can ask, “Please, will you pardon me?” Many probably say that they should be pardoned because they are innocent, and I can imagine that the governor just throws that kind of letter away. Someone else can go to the governor and say, “Look, I am guilty. I am guilty and I deserve what I am going to get, but I know that you are a kind governor.” As he is making his request to the governor and beseeching him for pardon, he emphasizes, “There is nothing in me that you should stay my execution or even pardon me from dying, but do so only because of your goodness and who you are as governor.” Then, at least, the governor would read the letter. The governor would read the letter if it was laid out this way.
But then maybe there is someone who had killed three people who plans on writing the governor—and we should not think that we are any better than someone who has killed others, because sin is sin and we are all guilty of sin before God—but this man is just a hardened man. His problem all of his life has been his proud nature and his arrogance. He writes the governor and says, “Pardon me! You must pardon me!” He makes this demand, but there is no way that the governor is going to pardon him. The execution will be carried out according to schedule and he will die in whatever way has been declared that he will die.
And we are all also going to die unless God has mercy. This is the only way out. The only escape is if God has mercy and grants a pardon, because each one of us is guilty. The Bible says, “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.” “The wages of sin is death,” and this is what we are going to experience if we are not pardoned from our sin by May 21 in 2011.
Notice that there were three captains and companies of fifty, which equals 153. We will not get into how this could relate to the 153 fish in John 21, but we can see the one-third/two-third relationship that we find in the book of Zechariah where the Lord speaks of one-third representing His people and two-thirds representing those who are not His people. This is what is laid out here in 2 Kings 1.
Returning to the Gospels and looking at information concerning the two thieves, let us go to John 19:30-33. It says:
When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, It is finished: and he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost. The Jews therefore, because it was the preparation, that the bodies should not remain upon the cross on the sabbath day, (for that sabbath day was an high day,) besought Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away. Then came the soldiers, and brake the legs of the first, and of the other which was crucified with him. But when they came to Jesus, and saw that he was dead already, they brake not his legs:
So this is the end of the two thieves. They died on the cross. Their legs were broken to make sure that they were dead. However, they did not break the legs of Jesus. God had prophesied of this, “A bone of him shall not be broken,” and God always fulfills His Word and keeps all of His promises.
If we only had this information that we have read from Matthew, Mark, and John, we would have to say that they got exactly what was coming to them, obviously. They were two thieves who had lived their whole lives in rebellion, not only against God but against the law of the land.
Somehow, in the eyes of man, rebelling against the law of the land makes people worse than just being a common rebel against God, which we all are. You can be a good person in the world’s eyes if you are just a common rebel against God; but if you are rebel against the law of the land where it is more outward and people can see it because it is visible and evident and you cause harm to other people, then you are no good.
The Bible, however, does not make this kind of distinction. The Bible says, “all have sinned” and “there is none righteous, no, not one,” that there is “none good.” In the entire world, we are all equally no good. Murderers, liars, thieves, homosexuals, you name it, whatever the sin is, we are all equally transgressors of the Law.
We may not have one of these particular sin weaknesses in our life, but we have sin and sin will begin to show itself in our life. If we know the Word of God, we will begin to realize this about ourselves. We will realize that, yes, according to the Law of this great King, we deserve to die. The law of the king of England might put to death someone who usurps the authority of the crown; much more so, we deserve to die for usurping the authority of the crown of Almighty God.
We have to realize that when God is speaking of these thieves, He is speaking of us. Any one of us could also be there. Spiritually, He has man in view. He had one man on the right and one man on the left, and the sheep and the goats were separated to the right and to the left. Normally, those on the right typify those whom God has saved, while those on the left typify those whom God has not saved, and so we could speculate as to which one was on the right and which one was on the left.
But according to the accounts that we read, everything worked out as it really should have, as it naturally would have, except there is one more Gospel. If we go to Luke 23:35-43, we read:
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…
“Malefactor” means “evildoer.” It continues:
And one of the malefactors which were hanged railed on him, saying, If thou be Christ, save thyself and us.
Notice that this says that just one of the evildoers is railing on Him. It is not both anymore; it is just the one thief. It continues:
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.
Is this not something? This just gives us great hope and encouragement.
Here is a man who wasted his life. Basically, when you come down to it, he wasted his life. Even if he was a successful thief, he wasted his life. He finally got caught and put in prison. The Romans were definitely a people of law. They had very strict but very just laws. They sentenced him to death, and so his life came to an end. Yet before he died—and we do not know exactly how long, maybe a couple of hours, maybe we could measure it in minutes; we know that the time did not reach a day or even a half day—but right before he died, God transformed him and changed him into a new man, a new creature. He saved him based on nothing that this thief had done because, remember, he “cast the same in his teeth.”
What good work was involved with this? Where was he trying to keep the Law of God at all as he was saying the same thing that everyone else was saying and reviling Christ who was right next to him?
So there was nothing in him that Christ suddenly saw that caused Him to save him due to him stirring up within himself some level of moral goodness. No, he was a thief. He was a condemned criminal who was about to die. He was acting on the cross just like he probably acted throughout his entire life. He was arrogant and casting the same in God’s face as he was right there next to Him.
Just think that for three and a half years, Christ had been ministering the Gospel in that area of Palestine. In that area, He had been healing the sick, giving sight to the blind and ears to the deaf. For this period of time, He had been raising the dead, cleansing the lepers.
And where were these two men during those three and a half years? They were probably living in that area. Would they have heard about the things that Christ had done? Yes, more than likely, because this news was spreading everywhere.
Did they care? They did not care. Did this impact the way in which they were living their lives in any way? Everyone had to have been saying that the great Saviour, the Messiah, was come. They had to have been at least saying that a great prophet had risen up amongst the people. Did this impact the way in which these two men were living in any sense?
No, evidently not, because here they were in prison. It is unlikely that the Romans had the system that we have where condemned men stay in prison for years and years and years before their execution. They would have had a much more speedy judgment and execution process. We see that Christ was judged by Pilate and then led to the cross very quickly.
So these men had probably recently been apprehended, thrown into prison, and then they had their opportunity to stand before the Roman judges before they were sentenced to die. This was now being carried out; and yet all along, Jesus had been right before them and in their midst while ministering to the people of the world. But this did not impact them and they did not care. They could have been there when the crowd was thronging him and the woman with the issue of blood was healed. Maybe they were just walking by or maybe they curiously stood around as He was doing these things.
The point is that even though they had absolutely no interest themselves in Christ and in the Gospel and in God or in His salvation, God had interest in one of them. It is salvation when God takes interest in you, not when someone tries to go to God and bring salvation to themselves. Salvation is when God has selected you and, therefore, He has 100% guaranteed that you will be saved at some point in your life before you die.
So He shows with the account of this thief that a man can live a wretched life all of his days, come to the very end of his life, and because He is one of God’s elect, God saves him. And God did save this man.
Here is where the caution needs to come in that I mentioned earlier. I give just a few words of caution because what does this remind us of if not a deathbed conversion? Right? He is not lounging on a bed, he is on the cross, but he has come to the end of his life.
The idea that many have and that the churches put forth is that, yes, there is always hope, right up until the end. This is true, but they misuse this idea. They say that there is always hope right up until the very end because at any point in time someone can decide to accept Christ. They think that if someone is on their deathbed and about to die, before the spirit leaves that person’s body, they can turn to their priest or they can turn to their minister and they can say, “Oh, Father, I have sinned. Forgive me,” and God will grant them forgiveness. Any priest will say this. The ministers of the Gospel are typically not that bold, even though they might imply this.
So the idea that is basically out there is that people keep a monitor of their health. They check their physical condition. The reason for so many check-ups is probably because people want to make sure that they do not have cancer or any physical disease that might threaten their life. If they are not physically ill, then they can go and live like they please and the way that they want to. If they do have a serious illness, then maybe they will start to get serious about God, especially if they get so ill that the doctor says that they have little time to live.
But what is the problem with this idea? If we go to John 1:12, it says:
But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:
This is a verse that many churches like to cite, but they stop here and do not read on. They want to encourage people to just believe and then they will be saved. However, they need to continue on to the next verse.
John 1:13 says:
Which were born…
This is a reference to being born again. Jesus said, “Ye must be born again,” and He was not talking about the first birth. He was talking about the spiritual birth that comes with salvation.
It continues:
Which were born, not of blood…
It does not matter if you are a Jew. It does not matter if your father is a pastor. It does not matter who you are or whom you are related to. Being born again has nothing to do with family.
It continues:
…nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man…
In other words, a man cannot be born again by his own flesh or by his own will. It means nothing to exercise your will.
Is there free will? Not unto the point of salvation. No one can become saved by exercising their free will. God says right here that we are not born again by our own will. This is a clear repudiation of the freewill doctrine. There is no way that anyone becomes born again by this manner.
So how can anyone become born again? It says:
…nor of the will of man, but of God.
It is by the will of God. It is according to His will. The Bible tells us, “Salvation is of the LORD.”
There are so many verses that we could go to that would point this out, and we are going to go to a few. Let us go to Ephesians 2. These are familiar verses, but they speak the truth that man cannot get himself saved. In Ephesians 2:8-9, we read:
For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.
This tells us that faith is “not of works,” but the Bible says that faith is a work.
We read in John 6:29:
Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.
It is not our work; it is God’s work. It is the work of God.
Another way of putting it is that it is “the faith of Christ.” The Bible says that “a man is not justified by the works of the law.” But when the Bible says, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved,” and a man says, “I believe Lord,” he just committed a work of the Law.
However, we cannot be justified by the works of the Law and faith is a work. This is because any command in the Bible is a Law of God, and any attempt to obey any command in the Bible is a work that man is doing; but no work of any kind can get a person saved.
So it therefore says in Ephesians 2:8-9:
For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.
Look at Matthew 19:23-24. We read there:
Then said Jesus unto his disciples, Verily I say unto you, That a rich man shall hardly enter into the kingdom of heaven. And again I say unto you, It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.
Has anyone ever seen a camel going through a needle’s eye? And, please, no one should mention camel soup. People try to get around the Word of God, and so they think, “Well, how could this be possible?” This is not possible! A camel cannot go through a needle’s eye and neither can a rich man enter into the Kingdom of Heaven and be born again.
We will not get into this, but God is not saying that, therefore, poor men are guaranteed to enter in. This was not what He was saying, but the disciples were shocked because they thought that if a rich man could not, then no one could. This is because they thought that a rich man had, at least, some blessing of God on his life.
But nobody can get themselves into the Kingdom of Heaven. If it were possible to take one of those big camels that you see on Discovery Channel and get a little sewing needle and jam that camel through the eye of a needle, then you could probably get into Heaven by your own works. But is this possible? No, this is impossible.
What does Jesus say next? We read in Matthew 19:25-26:
When his disciples heard it, they were exceedingly amazed, saying, Who then can be saved? But Jesus beheld them, and said unto them, With men this…
What is He referring to? He is referring to being saved and He says:
…this is impossible; but with God all things are possible.
It is impossible. It is great theater and very dramatic when the preacher is up on his podium at the crusade and he is stirring up the people, “Oh, will you not be saved?” Then they come down the aisle and they get baptized, and it does not mean anything. It is vanity and it is emptiness, and no one became saved.
I think that God would purposefully resist those who do this. Of course, His Word saved during the church age. Nonetheless, He has a very set way of salvation and when man goes contrary to God’s way and thinks that they can get someone saved, I think that God would be actively resisting the pridefulness of this act, the haughtiness of thinking that you could lift yourself up into Heaven and “sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus” by walking an aisle, by saying the sinner’s prayer, by accepting Christ, by being sprinkled or immersed in water, by partaking of the Lord’s table, by showing up regularly every week, by giving your money, by singing the hymns, etc. None of this contributes at all towards salvation, absolutely none of it. No one ever became saved in this manner.
So how does anyone become saved? By God. This is all that we need to know. How do I become saved? God. God! The merciful God! The gracious God!
Look at Christ as He went around in His day in that area of Palestine. People flocked to Him to be healed of their physical illnesses. Again and again and again, His response was, “I will. Be thou healed.” He gave sight. He gave hearing. He even picked up an ear off of the ground that Peter had cut off and put it back on the person. He is most kind and good and gentle and loving, and we have to realize that this is the nature of God. But we also have to realize how high and mighty He is and that He sits upon a glorious throne. He is high and lifted up.
So we go humbly to the throne of grace. We go respectfully, like that one captain and his fifty, “I pray Thee that I might not perish like these others.” And we go only for Christ’s sake. It is never because of something that we have done or ever could do.
Let us go to Romans 9:15-16. It says:
For he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. So then it is not of him that willeth…
Again, forget your will. Forget exercising your will by “choosing” Christ and thinking that this is within your power and within your control. God says:
So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth…
Remember that it says in the Psalms, “I will run the way of thy commandments,” and so it is not keeping God’s commandments. It is not running after the commandments and then thinking that you are going to become saved because you are obeying the Law. It is not that:
…but of God that showeth mercy.
Every time, this is the one consistent thing: God. God. He is the One. He is the One who has the power. Forgiveness is with Him, real forgiveness, real mercy. He really does exercise the ability and the authority and the power to bestow grace, just like King Ahasuerus when he extended his golden scepter and permitted Esther to come forth to touch the end of it so that she would not die. God has this power within Him.
Before we close, I just want to give a second word of caution about the thief on the cross and the hope that this glorious and wonderful passage gives us, which is that today is the day of salvation. It is still the day of salvation. Today is the day of salvation, tomorrow is the day of salvation, and it will be the day of salvation up until May 21. Up until May 21 of 2011, it is the day of salvation. The door is open. Anyone, potentially and possibly and from our perspective, could become saved.
God permits sinners to approach Him. If they approach Him in the right way, He will at least hear. We can pray and we can pray continually. Again and again, we can pray this day and we can say, “Lord, have mercy, have mercy; please save me.” And maybe nothing happens; but instead of being discouraged about it, we should thank God that there is still tomorrow.
There were a couple of people who wrote to our website. They saw the “May 21, 2011 Judgment Day!” tract and they saw the date. They obviously have the wrong understanding of the Gospel, of the Bible, because the person wrote, “Look at what you are doing to the Gospel! Someone could live as he pleases, any old way, right up until May 20th. Then he could repent and God would save him. You see, there would be no holiness in his life whatsoever!”
This is the exact same false idea as the deathbed conversion to think that someone could wait up until the last moment, because someone is really thinking then that salvation is within their power and under their control. They think that people can wait until they get closer. Maybe they would not want to go right up to the edge, right up to May 20th, but they think that they can wait maybe until May 21 of this year. Or maybe they think that they can wait until Thanksgiving or Christmas or the New Year. At that time, it will be 2011.
People think that they can wait, that they can put it off until this day gets closer, because they know that there is repentance involved in the Christian life, which they are not too thrilled about because it means depriving themselves of certain things that they really enjoy and like. They know that if they are going to get serious about repentance, then they are not going to be able to do these things. By doing this, they are actually making provision, not for God, but for the flesh if they are thinking that they are going to put it off until a future point.
Maybe someone is even at that point where they realize that this is at least a very dangerous issue and that they would like to be a little more secure concerning this, so maybe they think that they will have some kind of conversion, but they want it to be in the future because there are certain things that they still want and desire. But God says, “Put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh.” This is for each one of us. We are not to make provision for the flesh.
I want to give another word of caution as we look at this thief. Yes, God will save people right up until probably the very last minute of salvation while the door is open in this world, but let us think as if this is the last day and that we only have one day left. This day will come. The forty days like Jonah gave the Ninevites will come. In April of 2011, we will be able to literally say, “Yet forty days, and the world will be overthrown.” This day is not that far off. We only have about eleven times forty from this point.
So let us say that we are down to that very last day and then you go to God because you waited. You waited. We are not to say that He would have saved you earlier; but still, you did not go to Him earnestly or you did not go to Him beseechingly and crying for mercy. No, you waited until the last day and then you pray, “O God, have mercy on me!”
But guess what? Nothing happens. You do not feel any differently. You do not see any change. Of course, we cannot see salvation, but let us just say that God did not answer your prayer. Well, now you only have something like twelve hours left in that day.
You see, what is wonderful about today is that we can go to God and beseech Him, “O Lord, have mercy!” If He turns a silent ear, if we do not have a response from God and if He does not save us, it is a wonderful blessing that we still have tomorrow when we can make an appeal once again.
Anyone who is waiting until right up against the end of time will have no recourse for appeal. You are not going to have another day when the Lord might hear you. That will be it. It will all be over. It will be done.
So to encourage anyone who has been going to God, keep going. Keep going. It is a wonderful grace that God has given us that we still have tomorrow when we can go to Him again.
We are not appealing unto Caesar, like Paul. We are appealing unto the Lord, “O Lord, I prayed yesterday and it seems that You did not hear me. I understand why, because You are not obligated or bound to hear me. You do not have to save me. There is no reason in me or anything that I have done that should make You save me. If You do destroy me, I can only say that I deserve this. But Lord, You are merciful. You alone have salvation and You are God. It is impossible with me, but may You have mercy upon me today while it is still the day of salvation, because the day is fast coming when it no longer will be.”
Do you see what a great blessing this is? Even today if you pray and nothing happens and you do not become saved today, then think, “Thank God that there is still tomorrow.”
Let us stop here.