The Believing Thief

Eee And he satd unto Fesus, Lord, remember Cie me when thou comest into thy kingdom. And Fesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, to-day shalt

thou be with me in paradise.” Luke 23:42, 43. ser

Q 1s CASE TYPICAL. — SAVED WHEN JESUS WAS AT HIS LOWEST. — HIS POWER GREATER NOW. — THE THIEF’S REMARKABLE. oo FAITH. — I. THE LAST COMPANION OF OUR LORD ON EARTH. — x tae A MAN CONVICTED OF CRIME. — A MAN NEWLY AWAKENED. — ve =. 3 IN THE LAST EXTREMITY. — COULD DO NO GOOD WORKS. —; 2 =: SIMPLY TRUSTED, AND WAS SAVED. — II. THE COMPANION OF es OUR LORD AT THE GATES OF PARADISE. — BRINGING A SPECI- ste ’ MEN SINNER. — A DREAM OF THE GATES OF HEAVEN. — THE. ie s. CONVERSION OF VICTORINUS. — III. THE LORD’S SERMON. — 2a TWO THIEVES THERE, BUT’ ONLY ONE SAVED. — THE NEAR. i. NESS OF ETERNAL THINGS. — NOT AN EXCEPTIONAL CASE,, Zt

Tue story of the salvation of the dying thief isa oe ‘6 standing instance of the power of Christ to save, and of His abundant willingness to receive all that come. to Him, in whatever plight they may be. The case 4 of the dying thief is much more similar to our conversion than it is dissimilar; in point of fact, his case:

may be regarded as typical rather than as an extra ordinary incident. So I shall use it at this time.

May the Holy Spirit speak through it to the encourpen of 7 THOSE WHO ARE READY TO DESPAIR!; Remember, beloved friends, that our Lord Jesus,

ve at the time He saved this malefactor, was at His: lowest. His glory had been ebbing out in Gethut I 3;: Pda Bi His Bacrieaes and lea! to the cross, ou ur Lord was mocked by a ribald crowd, and was dyin n agony; then was He “numbered with the trans-If a dying Saviour sews de ou

ae deed of grace. a,

- thief, my argument is that He can do even more now that He liveth and reigneth. All power is given unto — Him in heaven and in earth; can anything at this — present time surpass the power of His grace? It is not only the weakness of our Lord which nates ts the salvation of the penitent thief memorable; it is the. fact that the dying malefactor saw it before his very eyes. Can you put yourself into his place, and suppose yourself to be looking upon one who hangs in agony upon a cross? Could you readily believe Him to be the Lord of glory, who would soon come to His 2 kingdom? That was no mean faith which, atsuchaanoment, could believe in Jesus as Lord. ae: Recollect, also, that he was surrounded by scoffers. -

Brae: it is easy to swim with the current, and hard to go a against the stream. This man heard the priests, in Bien er pride, ridicule the Lord, and the great multitude ‘of the common people, with one consent, joined in the

scorning; his comrade caught the spirit of the hour,

and mocked also, and perhaps he did the same for a

while, but through the grace of God he was changed, and believed in an bord Jesus in the teeth of all the Shag scorn.

: OUR LORD’ s ‘LAST COMPANION a

eo He was nee He did not consort with ee

ners.” How rejoice at this! It gives me assurance

Great Physician, our Lord was much with the sick;.

His healing art. The whole have no need of a physician; they cannot appreciate him, nor afford scope for his skill; and therefore He did not frequent their

choice when He saved you and me; for in us He has. found abundant room for His mercy and grace.

will never deign to look on me,” I want you to notice: that the last companion of Christ on earth was a sinner, and NO ORDINARY SINNER.

‘He had broken even the laws of man, for he was a convict, who had lain in the condemned cell, and was then: undergoing execution for his crimes. A convicted. felon was the person with whom our Lord last consorted upon earth. What a lover of the souls of guilty men is He! What a stoop He makes to the very lowest of mankind! To this most unworthy of men the Lord of glory, ere He quitted life, spoke with matchless grace. He spoke to him such wondrous. words as never can be excelled if you search theer any What sorry company our Lord selected

e = known as “‘the friend of publicans and sin-: oe that He will not refuse to associate with me. As the :. He went where there was room for Him to exercise —

abodes. Yes, after all, our Lord did make a good

Lest any here should be Resp ane, and say, “He

Reith: a crime Seine common honesty; but if thee should be such a person among my hearers, I would invite him to find pardon and change of heart through - 4 our Lord Jesus Christ. You may come to Him who- - <a ever you may be; for this man did. Pst This man was not only a sinner; he was as A SINNER NEWLY AWAKENED. a y do not suppose that he had seriously thought of the - Lord Jesus before. According to the See evangelists, he appears to have joined with, his fellow thief in scoffing at Jesus: if he did not actually himself use -opprobrious words, he was so far consenting thereunto, that the evangelist did him no injustice when he said, “The thieves also, which were crucified with Him, cast the same in His teeth.”. Yet, now, on a sudden, he wakes up to the conviction that the man who is dying at his side is something more than a oa man. He reads the title over His head and believes — =a it to be true — This is Jesus the King of the Jews.” Thus believing, he makes his appeal to the Messiah, a ‘whom he had so newly found, and commits himself to His hands. My hearer, do you see this truth, that; the moment a man knows Jesus to be the Christ of God, he may at once put his trust in Him, and be saved? wie i Once more: this man whom Christ saved at last was Pee a man who DO NO GOOD ) WORKS,

ay tree of oe “It was all over with fr as to Be t or deed of righteousness. ae could say a geod:

acts; and if ae salvation dad ineiee on an ‘active ‘a: life of usefulness, certainly he never could have been

a pee enduring repentance Bs sin, for he had so short; a time to live. He could not have experienced bitter convictions, lasting over months and years, for his time was measured by moments, and he was on the borders of the grave. His end was very near, and

yet the Saviour could save him, and did save him so perfectly. ag This sinner, whom I have painted to you in ‘colors 2 aae none too black was one who believed in Jesus, and confessed his faith. He did trust the Lord. Jesus ‘was a man, and he called Him so; but he knew that

He was also Lord, and he called Him so and said, “Lord, remember me.” He had such confidence in Jesus that, if He would but only think of him, if He would only remember him when He came into His kingdom, that would be all that he would ask of Him. 7 Alas! my dear hearers, the trouble about some of you

is that you know all about my toe and yet you do

not trust Him.

Thus I have tried to describe the man; and, after having done my best, I shall fail of my object unless I make you see that whatever this thief was, he is Bie hs

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‘elias thief ate aan may beltewe ie dbeient is

He will save you as surely as “He saved che cor demned brigand. Jesus graciously says, Ga th. cometh to Me I will in no wise cast out.” This means that if you come and trust Him, whoever, E you may be, He will for no reason, and on no ground, and under no circumstances, ever cast you: out. Do you catch that thought? Do you feel that — ait belongs to you, and that if you come to Him, yOu shall find eternal life? I rejoice if you so far perceive’ 7 the truth. y: cae 4 <q IJ. In the second place, note that this man was our fk ii Be Lord’ s companion. AT THE GATE OF PARADISE. ic) -. Tam not going into any speculations as to where our ‘ Lord went when He quitted the body that hung on ne ‘the cross. It would seem from some Scriptures, that 4 He descended into the lower parts of the earth, that P” He might fill all things. But He very rapidly traversed the regions of the dead. Remember that He died a: perhaps an hour or two before the thief, and during that time the eternal glory flamed through the under va world, and was flashing through the gates of paradise just when the pardoned thief was entering the eternal world. Who is this that entereth the pearl-gate at the same moment as the King of glory? Who is this Rel, ed martyr? Is it a faithful apostle? Isita

the King of glory, is a thief, who was saved in the

‘received into bliss in no secondary style. Verily, ‘there are last which shall be first!

glory, for whom the cherub turns aside his sword of

And why? I think the Saviour took him with Him

as a specimen of what Fle meant to do. He seemed to

say to all the heavenly powers, “a bring a sinner with

Bee! Me; he is a sample of the rest.” Have you heard of aie HIM WHO DREAMED

that he stood within the gate of heaven, and while

there he heard sweet music from a band of venerable

persons who were on their way to glory? They

entered the celestial portals, and there were great

rejoicing and shouts. Inquiring, “What are these?”

he was told that they were the goodly fellowship of

the prophets. He sighed, and said, “Alas! Iam not

one of those.” He waited a while, and another band

of shining ones drew nigh, who also entered heaven

with hallelujahs, and when he inquired, “Who are

these, and whence came they?” the answer was,

“These are the glorious company of the apostles.”

Again he sighed and said, ‘I cannot enter with them.”

. De ewe ae AL NO ee
companion of the Redeemer? Is it some

triarch, like Abraham; or a prince, like David? It is none of these. Behold, and be amazed at sovereign grace. He that goeth i in at the gate of paradise, with article oh death. He is saved in no inferior way, and Here I would have you notice the condescension

of our Lord’s choice. The comrade of the Lord of

fire, is no great one, but a newly converted malefactor. — i bene ea in helt hinds who i gees grez

acclamation into the golden city. These he learned:

were the noble army of martyrs; and again he wept.

and said, “‘I cannot enter with these.” In the end he — a

heard the voices of people, and saw
A GREATER MULTITUDE

advancing, among whom he perceived Rahab and

- Mary Magdalene, David and Peter, Manasseh and

Saul of Tarsus, and he espied especially the thief, who died at the right hand of Jesus. These all entered in

—a strange company. ‘Then he eagerly inquired, “Who are these?” and they answered, “This is the host of sinners saved by grace.” Then was he exceed.

ing glad, and said, “I-can go with these.” Yet, he thought there would be no shouting at the approach

of this company, and that they would enter heaven without song; instead of which, there seemed to rise aseven-fold hallelujah of praise unto the Lord of love; for there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over sinners that repent.

- While we are handling this text, note well the dlessedness of the place to which the Lord called this penitent. Jesus said, “To-day shalt thou be with Me in paradise.” Paradise means a garden, a garden filled with delights. The garden of Eden is the type of heaven. We know that paradise means heaven, for the apostle speaks of such a man caught up into

paradise, and anon he calls it the third heaven. The

next word is better still. Note the glory of the society to which this sinner is introduced: “To-day

- tt thou be with Mei in Padi If the Lord said, <y To- day shalt thou be wth Me,” we should not need sine to add another word; for where He is, is heaven tous. He added the word “paradise,” because else none could have guessed where He was going.

The stress of the text lies in the speediness of all this. “Verily I say unto thee, 7o-day shalt thou be - with Me in paradise.” “To-day.” Thou shalt not lie in purgatory for ages, nor sleep in limbo for so many years: but thou shalt be ready for bliss at once, and “sat once thou shalt enjoy it. The sinner was hard by the gates of hell, but almighty mercy lifted him up, .and the Lord said, ‘70-day shalt thou be with Me in

paradise.”

e WHAT A CHANGE FROM THE CROSS to the crown, from the anguish of Calvary to the glory of the New Jerusalem! Please notice, also, the majesty of the Lord’s grace in this text. The Saviour said to him, “Verily Z say unto thee, To-day shalt thou be with Me in paradise.” Our Lord gives His own will as the reason for saving this man. “I say.”

He says it who claims the right thus to speak.

I have thus shown you that our Lord passed within

the pearly gate in company with one to whom He had pledged Himself. Why should not you and I pass through that pearl-gate in due time, clothed in His — merit, washed in His blood, resting on His power?

In the early Christian church, Marcus Caius Victorinus - -was converted; but he had reached so great an age, .and had been so gross a sinner that the pastor and - church doubted him. He gave, however, clear proof fe

“es of Kaviie aaterenert the Gene change

% of you big sinners might be saved! How glad would we rejoice!

that one thief was saved — but the other thief was lost;

-there were great acclamations, and many shouts ve Victorinus has become a Christian!” Oh, that som

III. Now 1 come to my third point: note: “= ae * THE LORD’S SERMON a to us from all this. The devil wants to preach this: morning a bit. Yes, Satan asks to come to the front: and preach to you; but he cannot be allowed. Avaunt, a thou deceiver! Yet I should not wonder if he gets at certain of you when the sermon is over, and whispers, “3 «You see you can be saved at the very last. Put off repentance and faith; you may be forgiven on your death-bed.” Sirs, you know who it is that would — ruin you by this suggestion. Abhor his deceitfuk teaching. Do not be ungrateful because God is kind. Do not provoke the Lord because He is patient. Such conduct would be unworthy and ungrateful. Do not run an awful risk because one escaped the tre — mendous peril. The Lord will accept all who repent; — but how do you know that you will repent? It is true

one is saved; and we may not despair. The other is: lost, and WE MAY NOT PRESUME. Vien This man believed that Jesus was the Christ. The — next thing he did was to appropriate that Christ He. — said, “Lord, remember me.” Jesus might have said, ‘What have I to do with you, and what have you to do. i with Me? What has a thief to do with the pete 4 5 i

ey of i eto) el ee with them, for it might discredit us. Infamous bosh! ‘Can anything discredit sinners such as we are by mature and by practice? If we know ourselves before? God we are degraded enough i in and of ourselves. Is

we are when we see ourselves in the faithful glass of the f Word? As soon as ever a man believes that Jesus is

upon Him as your Saviour.

Next, notice the doctrine of faith in its immediate E power. ‘To-day shalt thou be with Me in paradise.” He has no sooner believed, than Christ gives him the geal of his believing in the full assurance that he shall be with Him forever in His glory. O, dear hearts, if you believe this morning, you shall be saved this - morning! God grant ae you, by His rich grace, may be brought into salvation here, on the spot, and at once! The next thing is

. THE NEARNESS OF ETERNAL THINGS.

Think of that a minute. Heaven and hell are not

Be laces far away. Oh that we, instead of trifling about such things, because they seem so far away, would: solemnly realize them, since they are so very near! ‘This very day, before the sun goes down, some hearer, ‘mow sitting in this place, may see, in his own spirit,

; ‘there anybody after all, in the world who is worse than

: ny of you, good te ee to Gel as fie 2 as you can from the erring and fallen. They ht infect your innocence! Society claims that we sshould not be familiar with people who have offended — against its laws. We nfust not be seen associating

Be irtent tae believe Jesus to be the PLA ENS seize - igh ara, Tee OF eae th eee LT LPS eee tel,’ “Aye! et a6 ‘CTS PR Peat y

wo A, ve es ae op! ur suf eitrad #y” TAD ap me caus: a miele Su alge

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Na the realities of heaven or hell. It has frequently hap — cae. pened, in this large congregation, that some one of ie pur audience has died ere the next Sabbath has come a

fee ,. «round; it may happén this week. Think*of thaf-andey — Jet eternal things impress you all the more because = they lie so near. a oneal Furthermore, know that if you have believed in Jesus you are prepared for heaven. It may be that you will have to live on the earth twenty, or thirty, or forty years to glorify Christ; and, if so, be thankfub for the privilege; but if you do not live another hour, your instantaneous death would not alter the fact that he that believeth in the Son of God is meet for heaven. Surely, if anything beyond faith is needed to make us fit to enter paradise, the thief would have been kept a little longer here; but no, he ae is, in the morning, in the state of nature, at noon he: enters the state of grace, and by sunset he is in the state of glory. The question never is whether a death-bed repentance is accepted if it is sincere; the question is — is it sincere? I conclude by again saying that this is NOT AN EXCEPTIONAL CASE, I began with that, and I want to finish with it, because: so many demi-semi-gospellers are so terribly afraid of preaching free grace too fully. I read somewhere, and I think it is true, that some ministers preach the Gospel in the same way as donkeys eat thistles, namely, very, very cautiously. On the contrary, I will preach it boldly. I have not the slightest alarm about the matter. If any of you misuse free-grace — .

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eaching, I cannot help it. He that will be damned. can as well ruin himself by perverting the Gospel as

by anything else. I cannot help what base hearts.:

BS.

may invent; but mine is to set forth the Gospel in all

idts-fulness of grace, and I will do it. If the thief. was an exceptional case — and our Lord does not usually act in such a way — there would have been a

hint given of so important a fact. A hedge would

have been set about this exception to all rules. Would

not the Saviour have whispered quietly to the dying man, “You are the only one I am going to treat in this way”? Whenever I have to do an exceptional favor to a person, I have to say, “Do not mention

this, or I shall have so many besieging me.” Moreover,

the inspired penman has recorded it. If it had been an exceptional case, it would not have been written in the Word of God. Men will not publish their actions in the newspapers if they feel that the record might lead others to expect from them what they cannot give. The Saviour had this wonder of grace reported in the daily news of the Gospel, because He means to repeat the marvel every day. The bulk shall be equal to the sample, and therefore He sets the sample before you all. He is able to save to the uttermost, ’ for He saved the dying thief. The case would not have been put there to encourage hopes which He

cannot fulfil. Whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, and not for our disappointing. I pray you, therefore, if any of you

have not yet trusted in my Lord Jesus, come and

trust in Him now. Trust Him wholly; trust Him only; trust Him at once. Then will you sing with b 60 Sima “The dying thief rejoiced to see That fountain in his day, And there have I, though vile as he, Washed all my sins away.”