April-May, 1933
T H E K I N G ' S B U S I N E S S
127
“’Twas I that shed the sacred blood, I nailed Him to the tree, I crucified the Christ of God, I joined the mockery; Yet not the less that blood avails to cleanse away my sin, And not the less that cross prevails to give me peace within.” T he P enitent T hief There were three crosses on Golgotha that day. What of the other two? We find here pictured the two great classes into which the human race is divided for time and eternity. We have here those who receive and those who reject the Son of God, those who believe and those who believe not, those who accept and those who refuse the grace of God. But what of this man? He was a guilty sinner before God and man. He was under condemnation. It should be noted that there was
There was nothing the thief could do to merit salvation. This is clearly evident. He could not be saved by-living the golden rule or doing his best. He had done no good deeds. He had not even been baptized or joined the church. His case was hopeless so far as he tyas concerned. His hands and feet were nailed fast. He could do nothing to merit life. Note in the third place that the thief was willing to acknowledge his guilt. In answering the railing of the other, he says, “Dost thou not fear God, seeing thou art in the same condemna tion? And we indeed justly; for we.receive the due re ward of our deeds.” This is the first step in true repent ance: “We indeed justly are condemned.” There can be
no salvation until there is first a sense and acknowledgment of guilt before God. We are not saved by repenting, but we must repent if we are to be saved. The Bible order is “repent and be converted.” But this man did not stop with mere repentance. He acknowledged Christ as Lord and King, bore testimony to His spot less character, and placed himself in His hands. His hands and feet were nailed to the cross, but his tongue and heart were free. Listen to his confes sion : “This man hath done nothing amiss. And he said unto Jesus, Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom.” Truly we see here the influence of the majestic Son of God. That He should be acknowledged as King and Lord when dying the crim inal’s death is a remarkable fact. “Lord, remember me,” cries the thief ■—and thus comes salvation. “Whoso ever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” “For with the heart man believeth unto righteous ness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation” (Rom. 10:10). Christ’s reply gives assurance and hope to all who repent and cry to Him: “Today shalt thou be with me in paradise.” T he U nrepentant T hief
no essential difference between the two men crucified on either side of our Lord—nothing which points to difference in nature, in action, or in the circumstances which would ex plain their different attitudes. In fact, in Matthew 27 :44, we read, “The thieves also, which were crucified with him, cast the same in his teeth.” Also in Mark 15 :32 we are told that “they that were crucified with him reviled him.” A significant fact! They were both sinners and guilty before God and man. Indeed, Paul says, “There is no difference: For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.” And while there are many who
Praise for the Cross “God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Gal. 6:14).
How sad and lonely was the road That Jesus, our Redeemer, trod! He laid His glory down to be Our Substitute on Calvary, How can we dwell upon the stene? Lord, may Thy passion to us mean That melted we will count all loss, And glory only in the cross. Oh, costly love—the price He paid; Sin and the curse were on Him laid; And as a criminal there He died; God’s holy Son was crucified. Oh, make the vision clearer still; We would see Jesus on the hill O f Calvary, and Him adore, Who ever lives to die no more.
are outwardly more moral than these condemned malefactors, yet inwardly human nature is the same. As Dr. Macintosh says, “The human heart is the seed plot in which may be found the seed of every crime that has ever stained the page of human history. If the seed has not germinated and fructified, it is not owing to a differ ence in the soul, but a difference in surrounding circumstances and influ ences.” And it might be added that the fact that many who read this arti cle have not gone the limit in moral and spiritual degeneracy and brought forth a corrupt fruit as the thief, the murderer, and the adulterer is due to the surroundings and circumstances rather than to their nature. Self-righteousness is leveled by the sweeping state ment, “There is no difference. . . all have sinned.” One has said, “Grace levels all distinctions now; and judgment will level them by and by. If we are saved, it is in company with Magdalenes and Samaritans; and if we are lost, it will be in company with such likewise.” There is a point which should be made clear in these days when morality, evolution, education, legislation, and similar means are suggested as ways of saving the race. The Bible is emphatic that there is no good thing in the natural man, and the honest man will admit that it is true. “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desper ately wicked.” “For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornication; thefts, false witness, blasphemies.” They are there, and every sincére man must face the fact. Our reputations may be blameless before men, but what of our true character before God? We cry with the apostle, “O wretched man that I am !” Our case is hopeless; the more clearly we recognize this fact, the better we can accept God’s wondrous love gift of salvation.
We p raise Thee for redemption’s plan, Thought out by Thee for ruined man, And to the blessed One-in-Three Our praise shall rise continually.
—N ellie A. M oves .
There was a third cross! And where the way of the man on the second cross shows that salvation is open to all who repent and believe, the way of the man on the third cross is the way of condemnation and eternal death. There are only two attitudes which can be taken toward Christ. We must either accept or reject Him. From the record, the man on the third cross was no worse than the one on the second. Both had sinned, both were paying for their sin; both had reviled Jesus; But one re pented and confessed Christ as Lord. The other said, “If thou be Christ, save thyself and us.” The little word, “If,” has been the stumblingblock of the skeptic and rationalist in all ages. It spells the difference between heaven and hell, between an eternity with God and eternity with the damned. Oh, the horror of the thought—to go to everlasting doom within an arm’s length of the Saviour of the world! Yet thousands today, with churches in their city and Bibles in their homes, are going to everlasting death because they will not believe. Golgotha’s three crosses: On one the Son of God, the Saviour of the world; on one a repentant and a Christ- saved sinner; on one a skeptical, blaspheming, and self- damned unbeliever. And you?
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