Imatges de pàgina
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SERMON XI.

THE FORGIVENESS OF THE PENITENT THIEF, AN ASSERTION OF HIS DIVINITY BY OUR LORD, IN THE LOWEST STATE OF HIS HUMILIATION.

LUKE Xxiii. 42, 43.

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.

WE learn from the Scriptures of the New Testament, that there were certain persons in the times of the apostles, who turned the grace of God into licentiousness; and of others, that they continued in sin that grace might abound. The same conduct, it is to be feared, is no less' common in the present day. Because it is impossible, with the great majority of people to deny the truth of the Christian religion; and because, while they are compelled, by the weight of its resistless evidence, to believe it, they will not live according to their knowledge they endeavour to reconcile an unholy

life with their conviction of its truth, and with the demands of Christianity: and they do this by a wilful and daring perversion of the Scriptures of truth. When they read, for instance, of the mercy of God, that the Lord is gracious, long suffering, and of great goodness', they imagine that they may delay their repentance, and continue in sin. When they read of the threatenings, and judgments of God, they forcibly dismiss the subject from their minds; they endeavour to persuade themselves that the Scripture in question is not applicable to them, or they determine to defer their consideration of the matter to some more convenient season. In this manner some men reason away the most solemn and impressive passages in the Scriptures. They harden their hearts against all remonstrances. They live, and they too often die, in a state which they dare not think upon, and which they cannot justify; and which ever fills them with horror, when some unforeseen calamity compels them to reflect.

One of those passages of Scripture which are thus converted into an apology for irreligion, is the history of the forgiveness of the penitent thief. The words of our Lord, which I have selected for our present consideration, are misinterpreted more frequently, perhaps, than any other, to the worst purposes. Because our blessed Saviour, in his dying moments, pardoned one of the

1 Exod. xxxiv. 6.

criminals who were crucified with him, many thousands have imagined that they may safely delay all attention to religion, until the last hour of their lives. They will rely on what is absurdly, or falsely, called a death-bed repentance. While their years pass rapidly away, and change the buoyancy of youth into the maturity of manhood, or furrow the brow and make hoary the head, they resolve to take no note of time, for they are satisfied with their intentions of future amendment. As the penitent thief was pardoned when he was about to die, so also they imagine, that they shall themselves be forgiven at the close of life. Without, therefore, absolutely denying the truth, and justice of God, they will live a few years longer in their contempt of His laws, and neglect of His Gospel; and, after this long indulgence of impenitence or crime, a few prayers, or a few tears, will be sufficient at the last, and their future lot shall be with Jesus in Paradise.

To remove this fatal error, and to vindicate the doctrine which is taught by the whole volume of revelation, I now invite you to consider with me the circumstances of the beautiful and affecting narrative before us.

Every page of Scripture teaches us this one important truth-that he who would die the death of the righteous, must first live the life of the righteous and no one passage of holy writ ought to be so interpreted, that it shall contradict, or oppose this fundamental truth. Neither can any

interpretation of Scripture be admitted, which evidently opposes every principle of religion and morality.

I shall FIRST point out to you, from a consideration of the peculiar circumstances in which our Lord was now placed, that, from his promise to the penitent criminal, we cannot be justified in deferring our repentance to the hour of death. My SECOND Object will be, to prove to you, that we cannot defend the same error, from the example of the Penitent himself.

And, in the first place, the words of our Lord cannot be so interpreted, as to justify our delaying our repentance till the hour of death.

When Christ uttered the expression, To-day shalt thou be with Me in Paradise, He was in the lowest stage of His sufferings and humiliation. Three years had He travelled over the country of Judea, proving, by His wonderful miracles, and spiritual teaching, that He was the long-expected Messiah. The Jewish nation had now become so corrupt, that they had lost sight of the spiritual character of the Messiah, as it had been delineated by their prophets. They were looking only for a powerful temporal prince, who should overthrow their oppressors. They saw the miracles of our Lord, and they supposed that He would declare Himself their earthly, and irresistible Sovereign, to lead them to victory, and to subdue the Romans, their temporal enemies. But when they heard, on the contrary, that Christ's kingdom was not of

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this world-when they heard Him command them to conquer their hearts within them, instead of their enemies without-when, instead of placing Himself at their head against the Romans, He told them, to render to Cæsar the things that be Cæsar's, and to God the things that be God's the changeable multitude, who had received Him but a few days before with loud hosannas of joy, united with the Scribes and Pharisees, and repeatedly clamored for His crucifixion :-and now the time had come when their clamor was regarded. The voices of them, and of the chief priests prevailed. In vain did the Roman governor wash his hands before the multitude, and declare, I am innocent of the blood of this just person 5. Christ was condemned, and He was crucified, and all ranks, and characters, and descriptions of persons had now followed Him from Jerusalem to Calvary; some few to pity Him, but the greater number to insult Him, in the depth of His agonies. As an impostor, they had accused Him-an an impostor, they had condemned Him-as an impostor, He was now extended on the Cross. Now, therefore, they all gather round Him, to ask our blessed Lord if He still persisted in calling Himself the Messiah. They all still affected to consider Him as a deceiver, and they all were unanimous in demanding one proof that He was not so-the people and the priests, the rulers and the elders,

2 John xviii. 36.
Luke xxiii. 23.

3 Matt. xxii. 21.

5 Matt. xxvii. 24.

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