An Insult-Hurling Criminal on a Cross
Luke 23:32-47 (ESV)
October 16, 2022
Dr. Ritch Boerckel

32 Two others, who were criminals, were led away to be put to death with him. 33 And when they came to the place that is called The Skull, there they crucified him, and the criminals, one on his right and one on his left. 34 And Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” And they cast lots to divide his garments. 35 And the people stood by, watching, but the rulers scoffed at him, saying, “He saved others; let him save himself, if he is the Christ of God, his Chosen One!” 36 The soldiers also mocked him, coming up and offering him sour wine 37 and saying, “If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself!” 38 There was also an inscription over him, “This is the King of the Jews.”

39 One of the criminals who were hanged railed at him, saying, “Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us!” 40 But the other rebuked him, saying, “Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? 41 And we indeed justly, for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong.” 42 And he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” 43 And he said to him, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise.”

44 It was now about the sixth hour, and there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour, 45 while the sun’s light failed. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two. 46 Then Jesus, calling out with a loud voice, said, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit!” And having said this he breathed his last. 47 Now when the centurion saw what had taken place, he praised God, saying, “Certainly this man was innocent!”

A man woke up one morning furious with God. He had done much wrong throughout the course of his young life and now his misdeeds are collapsing upon him. His life is dreadful. It’s despairing. His friends have abandoned him. His society denounces him. His sinful pleasures have robbed him. His anger just seethes within him. He now is hated, but he also just hates everyone. His soul is dark, dark, dark. There is no light, no hope, no love shining to him or through him. On that very morning, through some strange and severe circumstances, God reveals to this man that He loves him. He communicates to him a personal message of hope, an offer of life.

Yet, how does this man initially respond when God comes to him with such a message? Well, he responds with more rage and more anger towards God. He even verbally curses Jesus Christ. All of his pent up hostility finds a target in the very one who is offering him life. What a wretched state! Yet, throughout that morning, God’s grace perseveres even as this man spits out expletives against Jesus. Somewhere over the next few hours, this man’s heart softens. He first stops his cursing of Jesus. Then he considers Jesus’ kindness. Finally, he relents and bows humbly before Jesus as his King, as his Lord, as his Savior.
What an astounding turn! No one listening to his curses just a few hours earlier could possibly explain how he would go from cursing to confessing Christ as Lord in such a short frame of time. How do we explain this miracle? There is only one way, and that’s God. God did an amazing miracle in his life. The Lord turned this man’s stony heart into a soft heart of flesh that worshiped the living God. You might say, “Pastor, I’m curious to know more of the details of this man’s story. It sounds remarkable!” I’m glad you’re curious because we’re going to spend the next few minutes discussing this man’s testimony here in Luke chapter 23. We study the testimony of a thief on the cross for our own encouragement and instruction. What a story it is!

We pick up the story of this man, this converted thief on the cross, after Jesus has been betrayed by Judas in the Garden of Gethsemane. It’s after Jesus has been denied by Peter, His disciple. This is after Jesus has been illegally tried by the religious leaders. Jesus was tried then by Governor Pilate. He was declared innocent on five different occasions on that morning. Jesus was mocked and beaten by soldiers. He had a crown of thorns pressed hard against His brow. This was after the crowd had shouted for Barabbas’ release and the crowd had shouted even louder for Rome to crucify Him. This was after Jesus has been lacerated with a cat-of-nine-tails. After Jesus walks falteringly up toward Mount Calvary, He was stripped of His clothes and then was nailed to a cross and hung there as a curse for sin. The crowd then is heaping even more abuse upon Him, saying, “Ha! You who would destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save yourself! Come down now from the cross.” All this has happened from around 3:00 A.M. to around 11:00 A.M. on what we call Good Friday. We pick up our story now in Luke 23.

32 Two others, who were criminals, were led away to be put to death with him. 33 And when they came to the place that is called The Skull, there they crucified him, and the criminals, one on his right and one on his left. 34 And Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” And they cast lots to divide his garments. 35 And the people stood by, watching, but the rulers scoffed at him, saying, “He saved others; let him save himself, if he is the Christ of God, his Chosen One!” 36 The soldiers also mocked him, coming up and offering him sour wine 37 and saying, “If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself!” 38 There was also an inscription over him, “This is the King of the Jews.”

The Gospels do not tell us much about these two criminals that are executed by Rome alongside Jesus. Matthew and Mark use the word “robbers” to describe them. This is the same word that Jesus uses to describe Barabbas. So it may well be that these guys are part of Barabbas’ murderous gang. It may be that these guys were in cahoots together, they were tried together and then sentenced together to be crucified together. We’re not sure. But certainly, these guys are guilty of far greater crimes than petty theft. The story in front of us is a really personal one. Imagine with me how this thief experienced these morning hours.

All night, you await the dawn of light with fear and trembling. Your guts ache from considering what it’s going to be like to be nailed to a cross. That morning the soldiers come for you. They roughly grab you out of your dark cell. You are brought out into the open air and you see one of your fellow terrorists. You also expected to be met by Barabbas, but you see another man in his place. You wonder, “Where is Barabbas? Who is this guy? What has he done?” The soldiers roughly place a wooden beam upon your shoulders to carry through the streets up to Golgotha. You feel its roughness and its burden as you walk forward. You’re cursing the guards. You curse the crowds. You curse God.

You see a similar beam placed upon the stranger’s back. You’re aghast at what they’ve done to him! He is so battered and so beaten and so bleeding that he doesn’t even look human. He has a crown of thorns placed upon his head. You hear the jeers against him and this actually gives you some relief. It gives you some pleasure as this one is being considered more shameful than you. You feel a bit relieved that some of that scorn that you expected to be heaped upon you is instead heaped upon him.

The stranger is a strong man, yet you see him stumble under the weight of the cross. You’re nearly not surprised as you see his blood flowing out of his wounds and onto the stones on the street. You wonder how much blood has he already lost? How can he take another step? Another man is grabbed from the crowd and made to take the beam from the stranger and carry it the rest of the way up the hill. Many are jeering this stranger, yet a multitude of people are also following him with tears and with loud lament. Many of them are women. They love him. He looks upon these women and says

Luke 23:28-31 …“Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me, but weep for yourselves and for your children. For behold, the days are coming when they will say, ‘Blessed are the barren and the wombs that never bore and the breasts that never nursed!’ Then they will begin to say to the mountains, ‘Fall on us,’ and to the hills, ‘Cover us.’ For if they do these things when the wood is green, what will happen when it is dry?”

You are struck by his words. Who says something like that on the way to their own crucifixion?

You see the soldiers first lay this Stranger on the ground and watch as the soldiers strip Him of all His clothes. They then nail His feet and His hands to the cross. He suffers in agony, yet His spirit is calm and He is silent throughout. You see them fasten a great placard above Him. You know that this is Rome’s way of declaring why this person is being executed. You strain to see what is written on it. You have no idea why He is there. When you see the post, you are even more baffled. The sign simply reads, “Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews.” What does that even mean? Growing up in your Jewish home, your mom taught you about a coming Messiah. Surely this is not Him!

The Stranger and His cross are lifted up and with a loud thud, dropped into the hole and secured to that place. You too are slammed to the ground. You fight, but to no effect. You curse the soldiers with gusto. Your hands and your feet feel the searing, shocking pain of nails being driven through them and you too are lifted up. You again feel some joy as the Stranger takes so much of the scorn from the crowd. It is scorn that you thought would have been reserved for you. You and your fellow criminal then join in the mockery. You yearn for something to make you feel less worthless, and joining in the ridicule of this Stranger feels a little bit liberating.

An hour of suffering ticks by and you see the Roman soldiers are dividing His clothes among them and gambling for them. Then you hear Jesus speak for the very first time. His very first words from the cross are,

34 And Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.”

It is as though a bright light flashes upon your soul. You realize and you see who this truly is. You see God’s glory in the face of this man, Jesus. You realize that He indeed is the king of Israel. He is the promised Messiah. He is the one whom all the prophets spoke of. He is the one who is able to forgive sins. He is the Passover Lamb who has come to take away the sins of the world. Even as you are pinned to your cross, hope fills your soul. For the first time in your life, you feel hope.

You continue to hear the mockery given to Jesus. The religious leaders walk up to Jesus and taunt Him just a few feet from His face.

35 And the people stood by, watching, but the rulers scoffed at him, saying, “He saved others; let him save himself, if he is the Christ of God, his Chosen One!”

Then you watch the Roman soldiers, who say as they offer Him sour wine,

37 and saying, “If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself!”

Then you hear your criminal friend on the other side joining in the taunts.

39 One of the criminals who were hanged railed at him, saying, “Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us!”

You had been joining in this revelry of mockery, but you see it for the great sin it is. Fear of God captures your heart as you realize that soon you’re going to stand before God to give an account of these words that you have just spoken. Now you tremble at the thought of facing the Lord. You know that you need mercy from God or you will suffer for all eternity for what you have done. You will suffer for not only your crimes, but most of all, for what you have spoken against the Son of God. You have pity upon your fellow criminal. It is out of concern that you witness to him with your pleading voice.

40 But the other rebuked him, saying, “Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? 41 And we indeed justly, for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong.”

You now look over to Jesus, the Suffering Savior. You know He owes you nothing. You know that you have only added to His pain in the midst of His suffering through your earlier taunts. You know that your sins merit eternal punishment from God. You know that this one is truly the King, the majestic one that is sent from God. You know that His cross will not be the end for Him. You know that He is going away to return to His kingdom. You know that He is sinless. You know that He has authority to open up the doors of heaven or to shut them. You also know that He is merciful and that He offers forgiveness. In brokenness, you lower your eyes as you call out to Him and you say,

42 And he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.”

Jesus turns and looks at you. No one has ever looked at you with such love, such mercy, such forgiveness, such acceptance. Jesus says

43 And he said to him, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise.”

Your greatest hope had been that Jesus would remember you as a penitent sinner in hopes of avoiding eternal judgment. But Jesus tells you that you will be with Him in paradise. You will be an honored guest in the Father’s house at the Father’s banquet! What a story of conversion! This story teaches us that no one is too sinful to be beyond the power of Christ to save. No one! We are told of a condemned criminal who is converted by the grace of God. Our sermon series is entitled Conversion: Anyone, Anywhere, Anytime. This thief’s life puts an exclamation point on the message of conversion. Anyone, even this criminal; anytime, even at the moment of one’s judgment; anywhere, even from a cross.

Some of you may be asking, “As you talk about conversion, what exactly is it?” As we look at this thief’s conversion story, we’re right to consider conversion’s meaning. Here’s the definition I would offer you. Conversion literally means “to turn around.” Conversion is God’s work of turning our life from self-rule to Christ-rule. It’s turning our life from going our own way to going Jesus’ way. So conversion is an internal spiritual turning of our heart where we repent or turn away from our sins and we trust. We turn toward Jesus as our Savior, as our Lord, as our King.

Some may ask, “How do I know if I am converted?” This thief makes four confessions from the cross which give evidence to his conversion. These confessions that the thief makes helps us to evaluate our own conversion, as these four confessions always accompany true conversion. So let’s consider what confessions this thief makes as he is converted.

Confession #1: Our own severe guilt.

The first thing the thief does upon his conversion is to acknowledge the severity of his guilt and of the truthfulness and the righteousness of the judgment placed upon him. The thief confesses to the other criminal,

41 And we indeed justly, for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds;

He knows that his sin merits complete condemnation. His sin merits not only condemnation from Rome and the law of Rome, but condemnation from God Himself. Every true conversion is marked by a somber confession of one’s own sin. No one is made new without being broken by the evil of the old. We all started with an old way of life. We started with a life that is filled and consumed by sin and willfulness and self-centeredness. In order for the new to come, the life of God to come within our soul, we must be broken by the evil of our own heart. It’s an evil that is not only outside of us. It’s not enough to say that people are bad in general. But we have to acknowledge this evil is inside of us and is actually part of us.

I would ask you as you consider your own testimony of conversion, does your testimony include a confession that your righteousness, the very best that you have to offer is not righteous at all and that your sin is severe before the Lord? It’s interesting that the other thief never comes to this radical realization because this other thief is never converted.

39 One of the criminals who were hanged railed at him, saying, “Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us!”

The unconverted criminal is an illustration of a man who has knowledge without conviction. In other words, he has knowledge that this person, Jesus, claimed to be the Messiah. Undoubtedly, he has learned much in those hours on the cross as he listened to Jesus speak and as he looked at how Jesus behaved all throughout. He listened even to the testimony of others. He learned much knowledge about Jesus, but there was no conviction. Knowing facts about Jesus without putting faith in Him doesn’t bring conversion.

Why didn’t this criminal also place his faith in Jesus? I believe the answer at its root is that he is never convicted of his need for a Savior. He is never convicted of the wretchedness of his own sin. What a horrible blindness it is to be a sinner and yet not aware of it! What a horrible blindness even to be moments away from the presence of God, who is the holy judge, the judge of all the earth. He is moments away from giving an account of his entire life before the holy judge, and he feels no fear. None whatsoever! There is no concern for one’s own soul. Until a person feels his or her own sinfulness, no eternal good can be done for them. The first working of the Holy Spirit in a person’s life is to convict of sin and of God’s righteous judgment.

Friends, do you know why you often hear from this pulpit about the topic of the severity of God’s judgment? Do you know why we speak of things like sin and hell and condemnation so frequently? Is it because I just enjoy these topics, like they’re my favorite topics to talk about? Do you think it’s because I really love to offend the sensibility of hearers? No! We proclaim the truth of God’s law, God’s holiness, so that God would crush us by it. There is no conversion apart from a crushing, apart from a brokenness. It is in our crushing that we become desperate. This converted thief has come to a crushing while he is on the cross and he now is desperate.

40 But the other rebuked him, saying, “Do you not fear God,
Earlier, he hadn’t feared God because he was part of the mocking of Jesus. But now he is crushed by his own sin and he realizes he is going to stand before God, the holy judge.

“Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? 41 And we indeed justly,

In other words, it’s righteous for us to be condemned because we’ve done such evil deeds in our lives.

for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong.”

Far more than he agreed to Rome’s justice, he was agreeing with God. He asked, “Don’t you fear God?” This world is passing quickly from us, but we’re going to stand before God. Don’t you fear God? He knew that he could not escape from God’s holy presence. He could not escape from God’s holy justice. He knew that his sins, the sins he had committed throughout his life were worthy of eternal punishment. They were worthy of banishment from the presence of God and from the goodness of God forever and ever. So I believe he is witnessing to his fellow criminal. I don’t think he is mad at his fellow criminal, because he realized that’s where I once was. But he is pleading with him. Don’t you fear God? One of the things conversion does is it calls us and wells up within us a desire to tell other people who are still in the place where we once were. So he is pleading with him. Don’t you fear God? He is arguing with him to humble himself before Jesus.

Satan’s first lie is this: You do not need a Savior. That’s his first lie. He says you haven’t done anything that requires the death of Christ. He says you have done nothing where you need to fear standing before God with your misdeeds and your good works in hand. That’s Satan’s first lie. The Gospel continues to pound away at our souls to rid us of that deception. The placard above this thief detailed the crimes he had committed. What this thief had once done in secret is now being shouted from the mountaintops for everybody publicly to see. Yet even at this hour, he doesn’t fear the God whose law he has trampled.

One of my favorite pastors lived about 100 years ago. His name is J.C. Ryle. Let me just read this rather lengthy quote. What he says here is so striking to me about this thief. He says, “Some people have no thought or feeling about their sins. The subject is one which hardly crosses their minds. They rise in the morning and go to bed at night. They eat, and drink, and sleep, and work, and get money, and spend money, as if they had no souls at all. They live on as if this world was the only thing worth thinking of. They leave religion to pastors and old men and women. Their consciences seem asleep, if not dead.

Reader, shall I tell you the clearest proof that man is a fallen and corrupt creature? It is not open vice or unblushing profligacy. It is not the crowded public house, or the murderer’s cell in a jail. It is not avowed infidelity, or gross and foul idolatry. All these are proofs, and convincing proofs indeed, that man is fallen. But there is to my mind a stronger proof still. That proof is the wide-spread spirit of slumber in which the most of men lie chained and bound about their souls. I see that multitudes of sensible men, and intelligent men, and decent-living men, can travel quietly towards the grave, and feel no concern about their sins.”

That’s the heart of this converted thief toward the unconverted thief. Do you not fear God? God tells us that we are very much like these two thieves in many ways. While there are a lot of differences perhaps between your life and these two men, the similarities are vital to acknowledge. First, God tells us that we all have committed serious sin against God. It’s the kind of sin that merits condemnation forever and ever. Secondly, like these thieves, our sins will one day clearly be revealed to everybody. In other words, no sin is going to remain hidden. Thirdly, like these thieves, we rightly deserve the severest of judgment for our sins. Fourth, like these thieves, we are physically dying right now and we will soon stand before God to give an account of our lives. Finally, like these thieves, we are helpless to save ourselves from our own sins. All of this is sobering. It is the Gospel that brings us good news. It is the Gospel that brings us hope.

So what are some applications? First, run daily to Jesus for mercy. Confess often your need of the Savior. While it is true that Jesus has met my need for a Savior, it is also true that I continue to need one because my sins continue. I need Jesus to continually bring about His work. While His work is once for all, His work also is something that I’m dependent upon daily. I need Him and I rejoice in Him as my Savior. So let us run daily to Jesus for His mercy. If you’ve never been converted, this is the place to start. It’s with Jesus. There is nothing more and nothing less. It’s simply that I need to run to Jesus.

Secondly, let us live humbly in relationship with others. Let us deal gently and patiently with our fellow sinners. While other’s sins indeed do offend God, let us remember that ours do, too. We never look at others from the podium of personal righteousness. We look at others from the bench of the justly condemned. May this truth bring healing to our hearts when we become hardened toward others as a result of their sin. Let us remember that.

Finally, those of you who are parents and grandparents, teach your children the law of God. Teach them that their sins are not concerning just because of the horizontal effect. “You’re going to hurt your classmate or hurt your brother or sister.” Let us teach our children that our sins are first against God and that there is a day of reckoning that comes.

Confession #2: Jesus’ seamless righteousness

41 And we indeed justly, for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong.”

Conversion always brings about a joyful confession of Jesus’ complete righteousness. No one can be made new without the righteousness of Jesus. His righteousness becomes our hope for justification, for our right standing before the Lord. This thief is marking Jesus as someone who is different from any person who has ever lived. There is no one else about whom this thief would say that he has done nothing wrong. Yet he says it about the sinless Son of God.
We ask the question, how can I be right with God? Many in our world would answer that you do some good deeds. You perhaps have some religious exercises. Perhaps you live with integrity. You love your neighbors and try to be a loving person. The Gospel of Jesus Christ, God’s Word says, no! None of these will ready us for that future day when we stand before God. Not at all! The only way we can stand before God is by being clothed in the perfect righteousness of Jesus. I love what the Apostle Paul says in Philippians on this matter.

Philippians 3:8-9 Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law,

The Apostle Paul lived as closely to obedience to God’s law as any human being could possibly live. But he says that’s not where my righteousness comes from. In fact, I recognize that it must not come from my own obedience to the law and my own efforts to simply obey God and to produce righteousness. He says, my hope is found in that righteousness

Philippians 3:9 …which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith—

As long as we place our confidence in our own righteousness, we will never find Christ. We will never find our need of Him. Christ is found only by those who lose all confidence in themselves and their own righteousness. In losing all confidence in our own righteousness, we place all of our confidence in the righteousness of Jesus. Paul here speaks of a human righteousness. It’s the kind of imperfect righteousness that we see among our friends and family in our own life. This kind of righteousness is produced by great moral effort or religious discipline. It’s a righteousness that comes from the law. We look at the law and say, “I’m going to try to live my life as best I can in conformity to that law.” Yet, this kind of righteousness has no value in the court of heaven because it’s corrupted. It’s not accepted.

Then the Apostle speaks of a righteousness which is from God and granted to us by God. It’s a perfect kind of righteousness. It’s the righteousness that Jesus Himself produced when He lived His life in complete obedience to the Father. This man has done nothing wrong. He has done everything right. It’s by connecting our life through faith to Jesus that Jesus says, “I’m offering you my righteousness as your clothing. When you stand before God, you stand before Him not dressed in your own worthless righteousness. You stand before Him dressed in my righteousness. The Father will look at you on the judgment day and will not judge you according to your own deeds, but He will judge you according to mine.” That’s the Gospel. It’s amazing that we can be clothed in the righteousness of Christ! Jude writes

Jude 24 Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy,
Can you imagine? Jesus one day will present us who are in Christ as faultless before the presence of the Father. I can look at any hour of my life and it’s not faultless. How can He present my whole life as being faultless? It’s all because of the grace of God in which our sins have been transferred to Christ and Christ has borne the punishment of our sins away from us. His righteousness then is transferred to us. When we stand before Him, God looks at us as though we are as righteous as Jesus. It’s a perfect righteousness.

A couple years ago, I went to a restaurant and we had a nice meal. It came time to pay. I took out my Discover card. I put it down and they said, “Oh, we don’t take Discover card here.” I was a little bit offended. Why not? What’s the matter with my Discover card? My Discover card is able to pay the bill. They said, “We don’t take the Discover card here.” It didn’t matter whether I was offended or not. Any bit of effort to say it’s a good card, and any kind of convincing them was met with a no. Because Discover didn’t have a relationship with this restaurant, they were not going to pay the bill. They were not going to pay the debt. It was not sufficient.

When we get up to the court of heaven and we have these debts that we have incurred as a result of our sin, we take out our Discover card, our human righteousness. “But look at what I did, God.” God will say, “I don’t take Discover, here. It’s not any good. It doesn’t just fail to pay a little bit. It doesn’t pay any of your debt.” Then we’re in trouble if we don’t have something else to pay with. There’s only one thing we can pay with and that’s the righteousness that Jesus produces.

2 Corinthians 5:21 For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

Isn’t that amazing?!

Confession #3: Jesus’ saving ability

42 And he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.”

Somewhere in those hours of his execution, this thief became convinced that Jesus is the Messiah, the Savior who is able to forgive sins. In faith, he humbly and simply pleads, “Remember me.” His plea rests upon his conviction that Jesus is willing to save him and that Jesus is able to save him. If he didn’t believe that Jesus is willing, he would say, “I know He is able to save most people, but He is not willing to save me. I cursed Him earlier and undoubtedly, I brought even greater pain to His life. He’s not going to listen to me.” No, in faith, he believes Jesus is willing because Jesus was willing to pray for the Father to forgive the soldiers because they didn’t know what they were doing. He is able because He is the sinless Son of God who is suffering in fulfillment of all the prophecies about a Messiah who is going to come and bear the sins of the people. He is able to rescue me. It’s upon that conviction that the thief cries out

42 And he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.”

Every true conversion is marked by a confident confession that Jesus is willing and able to save us. Jesus’ heart is open to us. Jesus’ hands are able to accomplish this miracle for us. What a Savior is Jesus, my Jesus!

Ephesians 2:8-9 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.

The application is simply believe for yourself that Jesus is able and willing to rescue you. Call out to Him today, “Remember me!” Have you personally called upon Jesus to rescue you from your sins? If you have not, then you do not have biblical faith and you remain in your sins. You have no future in heaven. Call upon Him today while He is near. Acknowledge Him to be the righteous Savior that He is. Cast your entire soul into His loving arms for your care.

Confession #4: Jesus’ sovereign authority

42 And he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.”

He is confessing, “Jesus, I know who you are. Your placard says ‘Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews.’ I believe that. You’re King.” Now, consider Jesus’ horrific, tattered state. Jesus does not look like a majestic and all powerful king. Yet this man’s conversion brought this thief an ability to see beyond Jesus’ swollen face and to see beyond the blood streaming from His head and body. He had an ability to see beyond the spit that still clings to Jesus’ flesh. He could see beyond the open jeers of religious leaders. He had an ability to see Christ for who He is and to see Jesus in all of His majesty and His nobility and His splendor and His power.

He says, “Jesus, you’re king. You’re noble. You’re majestic. Whatever you say will be done. You alone have the keys of the kingdom of heaven. You have the authority to open the door to heaven or to close the door to heaven. I’m going to you because I see you as king.” Every true conversion is marked by a joyful confession that Jesus is King. Jesus is sovereign. He is Lord of all! It is to this king that we submit our lives. It is this king to whom we bow down in worship. What a King is Jesus, my Jesus! Jesus responds.

43 And he said to him, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise.”

Jesus acknowledges Himself as king. He says, “You’re right to see me as having the authority to open up heaven or to close it. Today you will be with me in paradise.” Jesus doesn’t just throw this thief a few crumbs from the Father’s table. He doesn’t say, “Okay, I’ll let you in, but you’re going to have this room over here because in one of your last moments, you mocked me. So you’ll get in, but…” He doesn’t say that. He says, “You thief who have done nothing but defy my law, God’s law, all your life, and toward the end of your life, you openly mock me. Thief, this day, you will be with me. You’re not just going to be in paradise. You’re going to be with me. In other words, I’m inviting you to have a room in the Father’s house and to sit at the table at my Father’s banquet and to sit right with me.” What a King! He has such love for His own. He says, “Today.” What a wonderful word is today! Jesus’ blood is instantly sufficient to wash him and make his soul pure and fit for heaven.

You see, this is the hope of every convert to Jesus. Death is a solemn thing for us, but it’s not a despairing one. When the thief said, “Remember me when you come into your kingdom,” he believed that Jesus would die and rise from the dead and reign in His kingdom forever and ever.

The dying thief rejoiced to see
That fountain in his day,
And there may I, though vile as he,
Wash all my sins away.

Here are the four confessions of conversion.

Confession #1: Our own severe guilt
Confession #2: Jesus’ seamless righteousness
Confession #3: Jesus’ saving ability
Confession #4: Jesus’ sovereign authority

You might ask, “What if I have not made these confessions? What if I have made two of them, but not four? Or maybe I’ve made three of them, but not four. What if I have not made these four confessions?” I would say on the authority of God’s Word that you have not been converted. Each of these confessions are core essential outcomes of true conversion. We are right to be concerned about conversions that make no confessions. The Bible constantly warns us against this.

I fear that many will leave this world with a lie in their hearts. In other words, they believe themselves to be safe. They believe themselves to be ready to stand before God because of maybe a prayer that they prayed or because of some religious decision that they made or because of some doctrine they’ve affirmed. Friends, do not be content with anything less than true conversion. It’s a miracle of God in your heart.

What is the cause of such conversion? It’s God doing a work of grace. It’s God doing a work of salvation. Salvation is from the Lord. We cannot produce conversion on our own. You might say, “But wait a minute! If it’s all of God, is there anything I can do to bring about the miracle of conversion in my soul?” To that, I cheerfully say, yes! That’s the Gospel. There is no reason why you should remain unconverted. The Bible calls you very clearly to simply humble yourselves before the Lord. If you humble yourself before the Lord, He will give you grace. That’s His promise. Call upon Him while He is near and He will answer you. I want to close with the call of the Gospel from Isaiah 55.

Isaiah 55:1 “Come, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and he who has no money, come, buy and eat!

Is there anything you can do to receive the miracle of conversion? Yes. Come to God.
Isaiah 55:2-3 …Listen diligently to me,

In other words, I have spoken the Gospel. I have spoken my very Word. It’s a Word that has the power to bring life, to bring a miracle of conversion. Listen diligently!

Isaiah 55:3 Incline your ear, and come to me; hear, that your soul may live;

Faith comes from hearing and hearing from the Word of God. So He says to listen.

Isaiah 55:6 “Seek the LORD while he may be found;

In other words, if this is a season where you’re sensing that God is working in your life, softening you and moving you, seek Him now while He may be found. Don’t wait until next week.

Isaiah 55:6 …call upon him while he is near;

If you sense the nearness of God whispering to your heart and gently nudging you toward Himself, call upon Him while He is near.

Isaiah 55:7 let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts;

Turn from sin! Repent of the sin of a self-centered life.

Isaiah 55:7 …let him return to the LORD, that he may have compassion on him, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.

That is the wonder of conversion!