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pardonable than transgressing in ignorance. Saviour was gracious to the penitent thief, agreeably with the divine attributes, and his recorded word: "Now, saith the Lord, turn ye even to me with all your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning, and rend your heart and not your garments, and turn unto the Lord your God, for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness."

The answer of the Saviour was immediate. Answer to prayer is often delayed from various reasons; the petition may not be a right one, the matter of request may not be suitable to the condition of the petitioner, or the frame of mind in which it is offered may not be according to the requirements of the gospel. Prayer is not only often delayed, but it is often not answered at all; or answered when the petitioner cannot know and rejoice in the bestowment of the request. But the prayer of the penitent thief required an immediate answer; had it been delayed, he could not have enjoyed the support and consolation that it afforded in the hour of death; had it been refused, the compassionate Saviour would not have been consistent with his word and promise.

It was not only an immediate answer, but it included a promise of immediate fulfilment: "To-day shalt thou be with me." Notice here the divine goodness in giving strength equal to the time of need. The thief was enduring the torments of crucifixion, but soon as he became a sheep of God's fold, the good Shepherd was ready to relieve the oppressed. Doubtless, he did alleviate his bodily sufferings by the bestowment of spiritual consolations, and, though nailed to a cross, was leading him beside the still waters, and feeding his soul in green pastures. In the immediate answer to

his prayer, the thief found occasion to rejoice in the ready assistance, the opening prospect, and the large reward; and Jesus is always more ready to hear and answer prayer than we are to offer it; he is ever waiting to be gracious.

The answer was particular: “ To-day shalt thou be with me in paradise." It was necessary that the promise should be particular, to meet the circumstances and situation of the petitioner: he was crucified, and dying in torments; his hands and feet were pierced with rugged nails; streams of vital blood were running from the wounds; life was rapidly on the ebb; but to-day shall all thy pains be over; to-day shalt thou be removed from an ensnaring world; to-day shalt thou be placed far from the power and dominion of sin; for, "to-day shalt thou be with me in paradise." It was necessary that the promise should be particular, for his information. He had never been a student in the schools of divinity, or cultivated spiritual knowledge by consulting the writings of the prophets, but, on the contrary, was, counted, as he really was, the offscouring of all things, and was taken from among the very refuse and dregs of the people; and therefore the promise was wisely adapted for his information: "To-day shalt THOU be with ME." Had this promise been made before his heart was changed, it could not have afforded him any satisfaction, for what pleasure could a thief take in the presence of a holy God? What fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? What communion hath light with darkness, and what concord hath Christ with Belial? But as it was, the information was his only source of consolation and joy; it was the antidote to death; it was his light in heathen darkness; it was his triumph that the king of terrors would not separate between

him and his Lord; but that it would be the kind medium of uniting them for eternity. "Thou shalt be with me," conveyed to him, further, the idea that with death he would not be annihilated-it was a proof of the immortality of the soul; but had the promise gone no further he would have been left to conjecture where, or might have supposed that Christ spoke of their lying down together in the grave, and this would not have been calculated to have afforded much comfort, nor any, than that their sufferings would be over. But, "To-day shalt thou be with me in paradise,” was quite sufficient to prevent any doubt, to satisfy every wish, and to ease every pain. What more could have been said? The promise was not only particular, but full and complete: it embraced deliverance from the power and dominion of sin, and from the wrath of God on account of sin; it included eternal life; the possession of a kingdom that cannot be moved, and the presence of God in paradise for ever.

But what idea did the term "paradise" convey to the mind of this poor ignorant malefactor? As the term itself signifies a place of felicity, it is not to be supposed that it would convey any other idea to his mind, when it is considered it was used in connexion with and formed part of a promise, because it is not customary to promise anything but that which is good and desirable. For if it is evil that is spoken of, it comes under the denomination of a threat; therefore, judging by his natural light, the term used would convey some kind of good; but when it is remembered that he was now spiritually taught, and that although he might have no defined or clear notions of the enjoyments of paradise, yet the promise informed him that he who made it would be with him; so that there was no occasion for information respecting the situ

ation of paradise, or its employments; it was sufficient that he was to partake of the holy delights that would be afforded by the presence of his Saviour.

Now let those who are believers, and who have tasted that the Lord is gracious, contemplate the enviable feelings of this heir of glory. What a rush of joy and heavenly rapture must have taken possession of his mind upon receiving such an answer to his prayer; an auswer so comprehensive, and given so seasonably! Can it be thought he heeded the sufferings he was then enduring, or those which were afterwards occasioned by breaking the bones of his legs and arms? Doubtless not. Those pains were not, or were scarcely felt; they are a mere matter of history. Death, and all the pains of dying, were swallowed up in victory.

The sovereignty of the Saviour. "And there were two malefactors led with him to be put to death." They were crucified one on the right hand and the other on the left. It seems they were crucified in the same position as that in which they will appear at the day of judgment. They will be seen one on the right hand of the Judge, and one on the left hand. To the beclouded understanding of the natural man, it may seem to be an act of injustice on the part of God to save one of the malefactors, and to condemn and consign over to eternal punishment the other. Both were in the same condemnation; both were executed; and in the eyes of men they were equally guilty ; "but is there injustice with God?" Were not all men originally obnoxious to the same curse? Have not all broken his commandments, and have sinned, and fell with Adam? Then, all being liable to punishment, and all deserving of it, towards whom does the eternal Sovereign of the universe do an act of injustice if in his clemency he wills to save some? Is he not a

sovereign? Possesses he not infinite power ? Should he then be limited in a case in which a sinner would not be limited himself? "Has not the potter power over the clay to make one vessel to honour and another unto dishonour?" Who then is he that condemneth? Who shall lay anything to the charge of God? It is God that justifieth.

We have a proof of his saving power. While the chief priests and rulers were mocking him, and the scribes and elders, saying, "He saved others, himself he cannot save: if he be the King of Israel, let him come down from the cross, and we will believe him." While they were thus laughing him to scorn, and reviling him, he was exercising an almighty power of which they knew nothing. While they were charging him with weakness, he was overcoming the obduracy of a human heart, and snatching a sinner from the jaws of hell. He was putting the finishing stroke to his conquest over Satan, leading captivity captive, spoiling principalities and powers, making a show of them openly, triumphing over them on his cross. And if while he endured the agonies of death he exercised the power to save, how much more now he is seated upon his throne!

We have also an instance of his distinguishing love. He chose one of the very refuse of mankind whom he intended to exalt to the celestial glory; and from Satan's power he rescued one of whom the enemy of souls thought himself quite sure; thereby he braved the foe in his very teeth. He selected a malefactor, a thief, as a kind of first fruits of his conquest, with whom he ascended into heaven, and who shared in his triumphal entry, when the cherubic guards shouted, "Lift up your heads, O ye gates; and be ye lift ye everlasting doors: and the King of glory shall

come in."

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