Pastor Smith preached on Luke 23:49ff, the thief on the cross. His sermon gave ‘seven glimpses’ of the love of the Lord Jesus Christ.

This 2-part sermon gives very clear teaching about how one is saved by the Lord Jesus Christ. Those Christians who fear they will never be sufficiently good to enter into heaven will be greatly uplifted by the contents of this sermon, particularly, Roman Catholics. But I know many Christians, including myself, who think that our own performance has something to do with entering into heaven.

Pastor Smith’s sermon will give you clarity about this very important matter.

Both parts of his mp3 sermon are below; sermon highlights are only provided for part one. I was certainly moved to find the sermon on the web after I heard the end of it on Family Radio’s Sunday Morning Echoes this morning.

Pastor Smith’s website is linked at the end of this post. The following is from his website description of this sermon:

Two men had pursued a life of crime; they were angry with God, and now they stood on the brink of eternity. Pastor Colin talks about how something changed in one man’s soul, and he cried out to Jesus, “Remember me when you come into your kingdom.” Discover the stunning words Jesus said to this man.

SERMON HIGHLIGHTS [bracketed statements, emboldening and underscoring are mine]:

• This message gets to the heart of HOW a person is saved
• The thief who eventually turned to Jesus was a spiritually lost, helpless, hopeless man who was angry at God and hurling insults at the Savior
• He was being punished by the laws of man and very close to entering into eternity wherein he would receive God’s eternal judgment
• Pastor Smith briefly speculated about what might have moved the man to cast himself upon Christ in the face of eternal punishment
• His words, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom” [the message these words conveyed will be explicitly stated later in the sermon]
• Jesus’ following words will be our focus today: Luke 23:43  And he said to him, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise.”
• This man was destined for hell, and in a moment, given by the Lord Jesus Christ, full access to the joys of eternal life
• This series is intended to show more of the extent of Christ’s love
• John Owen stated that many Christians are sad when they could be rejoicing, because so many neglect loving fellowship with the Father…
• God’s love for mankind can most clearly be seen in the cross
• TODAY: 7 GLIMPSES OF THE LOVE OF JESUS CHRIST
• Christ chooses the company of undeserving sinners…
• His enemies called Him, “friend of sinners”
• C H Spurgeon described the thief on the cross as Jesus’ last companion on earth and His first companion in heaven…
• Spurgeon pictured Jesus entering into heaven and the angels asking who Jesus’ favored companion was: friend, apostle, martyr…
• None of these…
• This man is a sample of what Jesus had come to earth to do, to save people who had no hope of saving themselves and to get glory to Himself thereby
• Herein we will see that this event most clearly portrays salvation as an act wherein one wholly rests upon Christ – “remember me when you come into your kingdom”
• There is hope herein: if this man can be saved, so can I
• This event is a clear picture of simple faith
• It is the clearest presentation of what it means to have FAITH in Christ
• The following verse indicates that this man began to fear God: Luke 23:40  But the other rebuked him, saying, “Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? 
• Then he recognized his own sinful condition: Luke 23:41  And we indeed justly, for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong.”
• Then he believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, as seen in the following words: Luke 23:42  And he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.”
• The above is simple faith that a child could understand
• Then the Lord Jesus saved the man: Luke 23:43  And he said to him, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise.” 
• YOU may have 1000s of questions you can’t resolve about salvation, but if you come to the following, the Lord Jesus can save you on the spot too: 1, There is an almighty God and if I fight Him I will lose; 2, the truth about me is that I am a sinner; and 3, that the Lord Jesus Christ is One in whom I can believe; and if I ask Him to save me, He will
• We live in a skeptical age wherein the culture perceives people to be sophisticated when they are always asking questions
• And anyone who has clarity in this culture is perceived as naïve [simple, stupid, uninformed…]
• In this environment, FAITH is perceived to be a long journey; a life-long search…
• Pastor Smith gave an example of Jesus speaking against such beliefs in words like the following: Matthew 11:25  At that time Jesus declared, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children; 26  yes, Father, for such was your gracious will.
• A person can pursue spirituality all his or her life and never be sure to know God WITHOUT Jesus Christ
• That is why the Lord Jesus says, “Come to Me,” not go on a long spiritual search
• Those who come with child-like faith enter
• He has not made it difficult for us to come to Him
• [To fill in a blank that some may have at this point, the thief knew that Jesus had a kingdom and was the Savior; how are you to know such things? There is one sure way, read the New Testament, He is the word of God and the entire Bible is about Him. So you will have an encounter with Him therein. Many today call themselves ‘Christian’ and have not looked for Him therein. I personally searched for God for around 15 years in all the wrong places and never found Him; I encountered Him when I read through the Bible and was born again.]
• This story reveals clearly that Jesus Christ saves BY GRACE; through FAITH; and without WORKS
• There will always be evil people who will say, ‘we’ll continue in sin so that grace may abound;’ but a redeemed heart loves Christ; a forgiven person wants to live for the glory of Christ
• If the thief had somehow been saved from dying on the cross, his conversion would have been apparent in works of righteousness [flawed ones, like all Christians]
• The uniqueness and power of this story is in that this man did not have an opportunity to live for Christ
• This pictures clearly where our salvation lies!
• LISTEN CAREFULLY!
• Your salvation in Jesus Christ involves 3 marvelous gifts:
• One: Justification, by which your sins are forgiven [my next post will cover this clearly, via Paul explaining Abraham’s justification, from Romans 4 and Genesis 15:6]
• Two: Sanctification: by which, progressively, over time, a Christian becomes more Christ-like
• Three: Glorification: by which you will enter into the everlasting glory of heaven
• The thief was justified and glorified in the same day
• He missed out on sanctification, the entire Christian life
• Everything we experience as a Christian, he never knew
• No struggles with sin and temptation; no baptism; no partaking of the Lord ’s Supper…
• THEREFORE – GLORIFICATION, entering into heaven, COMES THROUGH JUSTIFICATION, not sanctification
• THAT IS, we do not enter into heaven by any work we have done
• We enter heaven by the work that Christ has done for us!
• Your performance is NOT part of the equation!
• [The remaining 4 GLIMPSES of the love of the Lord Jesus Christ are articulated in Part 2 of this sermon]

 

 

Part 2:

 

 

The following link is to part one above; at his site, you can search through sermons using the top menu and explore his preaching series if you desire.

https://openthebible.org/broadcast/breakfast-with-the-devil-supper-with-the-savior-part-one/