THE CHRISTIAN TREASURY. 121 THE THIEF ON THE CROSS. BY J. H. MERLE D'AUBIGNÉ, PROFESSOR OF THEOLOGY, GENEVA. (Translated from the German for the CHRISTIAN TREASURY.) "And there were also two other malefactors, led with him to be put to death. And when they were come to the place, which is called Calvary, there they crucified him, and the malefactors, one on the right hand, and the other on the left. And one of the malefactors which were hanged railed on him, saying, If thou be Christ, save thyself and us. But the other answering rebuked him, saying, Dost not thou fear God, seeing thou art in the same condemnation ?" &c. - LUKE Xxiii. 32, 33, 39-43. every renewed Christian feel the necessity of making pass in review before him those circumstances by which the thief was led to his conversion? Ought not the justified soul ever to humble itself anew, as often as it views the greatness of its sins in the light of the Gospel? Ought it not to shout for thankfulness and joy as often as it contemplates the transcendent love of Christ? And ought it not ever to glow with new ardour when it thinks of the greatness of the obligations under which it has been laid? Spirit of the Father and of the Son! lead us into these great truths in this hour which we would spend at the cross! BRETHREN! the words which you have now heard introduce us into a temple, yea, the holiest sanctuary that ever stood on earth. Mount Moriah is its site; its covering is the vault of heaven; the pulpit is the cross; Christ himself is the preacher; and the two criminals condemned with him to death form the con- I. The greatness of sin, and of the corruption gregation. Never did or could any temple wit- of human nature, has been made known by the ness what this one on Golgotha witnessed-Gospel. The more a Church acknowledges this chosen and built, as it was, from eternity," to finish transgression, to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the Most Holy."-Dan. ix. 24. There has been fulfilled goodness and truth meeting each other righteousness and peace kissing each other. The great transaction itself can never be repeated through all eternity; for "once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself."-Heb. ix. 26. And yet, what took place in this temple is something which is substantially repeated in all Christian temples upon earth. Before the Lord appeared on Golgotha as priest and offering, he was there as the preacher of mercy. There he spoke as he who should open the gates of that heavenly paradise which no one shutteth. One of the two of his audience was converted and saved; the other remained in impenitence and condemnation. This was the result of that sermon from the cross; and as often as, for eighteen hundred years, the Word has been proclaimed, has the same result followed. It is only to the case of one of these criminals that we propose directing our attention the case of the thief who repented on the cross. Holy and solemn is everything in this history of the crucifixion. Never did the redemption of Christ appear in more glorious reality! Everything here on Golgotha acquires a transcendent importance. There are, however, three great circumstances which the subject especially brings to notice: First, The greatness of our sins; secondly, The greatness of the love of Christ; and thirdly, The greatness of our obligations. Shall we not all find here something to learn? Will not No. 11. greatness of sin, the more does it rest upon the foundation of pure truth. Our Church views the sinfulness of man not as a mere defect-as the mere absence of the image of God, which was lost in the fall, according to the Romish creed-it declares that a real principle of exil exists in man-a new, sinful tendency of the heart, which has, since the fall, pervaded his whole nature, and, at the sametime, corrupted it. It does not hold that this corruption is one under which man may, notwithstanding, by free self-determination, incline himself to good, or make himself prepared for it. On the contrary, it declares that the first desire after redemption-the first step in the way to Christ--the first longing after participation in eternal life, is as much a work of divine grace as the complete enjoyment of the blessings of salvation. And yet it is not enough that a Church declare the truth in its full purity, if, at the sametime, every member of it has not experienced this truth in himself. Have you, then, dear brethren, already felt the greatness of sin in your lives-in your wills-in your hearts? Is it not often the case that enlightened Christians themselves too easily forget the rock out of which they have been hewn, and seek to cover, as with a veil, the natural corruption of their hearts? Would that God oftener sounded in our ears that cry of anxiety which one of the truest servants of God gave vent to in his cell, with sighs and tears: "Oh, my sins! my sins! my sins!"* Willingly do we admit that all men are not equally punishable with the thief-that before the eyes of the world perhaps no one of us is so great a transgressor as he; but we maintain, The reference here is to Luther in Erfurt. May 9, 1845. notwithstanding, that sin in all of us is fearfully great-ay, great enough to exclude us for ever from all communion with God in heaven. There were three separate ways in which the thief acknowledged the greatness of his sin; threefold is also the manner in which we ought to acknowledge the greatness of ours. 1. The thief finds it first in his conscience. Conscience is awakened-it speaks-it tells him of his sins, and cries: "We receive the due reward of our deeds." Learn, from this, to acknowledge your sins. Give, I pray you, an attentive ear to both voices which your conscience lets you hear-the one which tells you what you should have done, and the other which reminds you of what you have done: the one which speaks to you of righteousness, of truth, of love to God, of compassion, of meekness, of humility, of self-denial, of purity, of charity; and the other, which tells you of all that you have done. You have, in no particular, fulfilled God's holy commandment. Forgetfulness of God, unrighteousness, lying, hardness of heart, pride, impurity, anger, faithlessness in all your duties, deification of yourself-here see the inmost recesses of your nature, and the true image of your life. Oh! descend, were it only once, with the thief into the depths of your conscience, and that sin which seemed to you so small in the outward and superficial survey of your life, will then appear to you in its true greatness, filling you with shame, and with the consciousness that you are indeed worthy of condemnation. with assurance affirm that no evil would accrue to the whole creation, in the event of the Lord of the universe letting his holy commands be broken with impunity? Have you sought for this wisdom?—then judge, if you will, the divine justice-place your judgment against the judgment of the Almighty; then summon your Judge from this his judgment-seat, and place yourself in his room. "Who is this that darkeneth counsel by words without knowledge?" says the eternal God. "Ah, Lord! I know that I have spoken foolishly, what is too high for me, and what I do not understand." 3. But did it really need this looking into the heights of heaven above, or into the depths of the earth beneath? At his side the thief hears another voice sounding, which convinces him more clearly than all his sins. It does not appear that this thief ever felt any true repentance until he had been nailed to the cross. But since he has been hanging there, by the side of the crucified Saviour, and been made to witness his meekness and patience in the midst of all his sufferings, and heard his all-compassionate prayer to his Father for his murderers and we indeed justly-for we receive the due reward of our deeds." since all this, what a new light has dawned upon his soul! He who is here elevated upon the cross at his side, and whom he heard testify of things unheard of before, can he really be the person to whom the prophets referredof whom Isaiah said, that he should “be numbered with the transgressors?" Can he really be the Holy One of Israel? This thought made him tremble; for the innocence of Christ 2. All this the thief had read in his con- is an accusation against himself. Placed at science; and then he lifted up his eyes to the side of a Being so pure and holy, he feels heaven, and felt fall upon himself from thence himself all the more guilty and sinful; the the judgment of God. "Dost thou not fear consciousness of all his sins starts up in his soul God?" were his words. Yes; it is upon the afresh, and this humbles and condemns him. condemning sentence which God in his Word"This man," says he, " has done nothing amiss: has pronounced against sin that we must look, to discover its greatness; for what is it that God testifies of the sin which is in us? He says: "Death is the wages of sin." "The soul that sinneth, it shall die." What, then, must sin appear in God's sight, if he finds it necessary, for the satisfaction of his righteousness, to punish it with eternal death? But you say, By such a standard I cannot be tried; as I am unable to conceive that sin begun in this short life shall really be punished through all eternity. This you cannot comprehend. And yet, brethren, if that which you conceive exaggerated and magnified be the clear verdict of the Word of God, will you dare to exalt yourself against God's justice, and against the sentence of his law, before you have explored all the mysterious depths of the divine nature, and all the secrets of his glorious kingdom? for how can one judge of things which, to us, are beyond our comprehension? Have you first sought for that wisdom which may enable you to understand the ways of Him whose ways are not as our ways-to know all the evil which lies concealed in sin, so that you can O you for whom God gave up his Son to die, and whom he has not yet fully brought to this knowledge! see that it is Christ's death, above all things, that teaches you to acknowledge the greatness of your sins. Measure the greatness of your guilt by the greatness of the sacrifice by which it is atoned. Must not that corruption into which our sin has sunk us be deep indeed, seeing that the Lord, the almighty God, has revealed such a wondrous plan to save us from it? Must not our sin and its punishment be alike infinite, inasmuch as an infinite Being took it upon himself to take it away? Come, then, you unconverted sinners, come to the cross on Golgotha! What has caused it to be erected on this accursed spot? Your sins! What has caused the divine countenance to be darkened? Your sins! What is it that carries the holy spirit of the Saviour into the bitter struggle of death? Even your sins! And this sin, which in this hour of darkness was so indiscribably great, can it ever again appear small in your eyes? or THE THIEF ON THE CROSS. rather, must you not ever anew be brought to confess the greatness of your sinfulness in the light of this cross? II. But if a true conception of the greatness of our sins is so unutterably important for us, so also is a true knowledge of the greatness of the love of Christ not more indispensable. That doctrine which lessens sin, lessens also the mercy of Jesus Christ. If the evil be unimportant, so also is the salvation; but the greater the evil, the greater the work of him who saves us from it. Those who hold that the natural powers of man have not been completely incapacitated by the fall from doing good, conceive that those powers can, and ought, to contribute something to the restoration of man to the favour of God. In that case, however, Jesus is no longer the Saviour-he is merely a helper; for a helper's duty is to support him who possesses power of his own, but a Saviour comes "to seek and to save that which was lost." Our Church recognises the fulness of the work, and the love of Christ. It expressly declares, that it is God alone from whom our justification comes; and it places the foundation of this solely on the merits of Christ, exclusive of any conjunction of merit on the part of man; so that, if God gives eternal life, he thereby presents to the sinner a free gift of his grace, instead of visiting him, as he deserves, with condemnation and death. This, brethren, the case of the saved thief should make manifest to you-revealing the entire greatness and power of the love of Christ, with which he blesses the souls which have been lost by reason of sin. The thief knows that there is nothing good in him; but he believes that Jesus, who here hangs and dies on the cross, goes to enter upon that kingdom which was promised to the Messiah. He does not beseech him to save him for this world, by restoring to him this transitory life with its deceitful joys; but he has complete confidence in him, that he will save him "from the wrath to come." He turns his head towards him-he directs the look of astonishment and faith at his cross, and cries: "Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom!" and the answer is contained in that memorable saying of our Lord: "Verily I say unto thee, To-day shalt thou be with me in paradise." Perhaps, brethren, you have often said, If my sins were so great, who could save me from them? The more their greatness has been made known to me, the more is my misery increased. It haunts me on all sides-it casts me down; and where is the power that can save me amid such distress? Brethren, the salvation which satisfied the thief is enough to fill your hearts with confidence in the power and grace of the Saviour. For, see how Christ saves the thief! It is he alone who saves him. There is none other standing by to help him. The two are elevated above the earth; they are alone-separated from men-forsaken and cast 123 out by all. There is no priest bringing an offering for the thief-no confessional-no sacrament, to declare him purified; no sympathizing friends standing by, from whose support he might administer to himself the consolation of having his soul bought by alms; no other priest than Christ; no other sacrament than his body broken for us; no other mourning friend than the sin-laded sinner himself, desiring the mercy of the Lord. It is Christ alone who views his soul, and redeems it. Is this not a proof of the great power of him who accomplishes this? Can you still have any misgivings in casting yourself into the arms of him who displays such power to save? And not only is he able to save; for more than this, he saves only where he is alone. If man wishes to assist him, and to contribute anything to his salvation, Christ withdraws his presence. This, his peculiar work, he will allow none to share. If, then, you will go to him, you must renounce every other salvation. Do you hope to effect your justification by placing your repentance, your good resolutions, your upright desires, in union with the merits of Christ? It is true, one cannot be saved without repentance, without good resolutions; but you know not yet what repentance is, if you would make it a thing of merit! And, as relates to your good resolutions, Paul declares that we have no power of ourselves even to think a good thought. The Lord alone redeems. "I am the Lord, and besides me there is no Saviour." "I have trodden the wine-press alone, and of the people there was none with me.” This, then, is the manner in which Jesus saves. But, when does Christ sare? In what a short moment does he redeem the soul of this criminal from condemnation and death! The Lord was sunk to the lowest degree of weakness; his agonies had attained the greatest height; the cup of his sufferings was full to overflowing. His enemies scornfully declared: "Himself he cannot save." Angels turned aside their faces, that they might not be made witnesses of the awful mystery of the scene! The words of the ancient prophecy were fulfilled: "I am a worm, and no man." And yet, behold, in this deepest depth of suffering the Lord reveals the fulness of his power. He saves a soul from eternal death, in the very moment in which he himself was sinking into death. He makes known his might and glory at the time when shame and ignominy have exhausted themselves against him. Already his lips quiver in death; and yet his words convert one human heart. arms have been pierced through; and yet his power suffices to raise one soul from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of light. From the accursed tree he proclaims the forgiveness of sins; in the very agonies of death he communicates life; from the place of condemnation he promises a kingdom. And why all this? As the Scripture says, for an example unto those who should believe on him unto His eternal life-to proclaim to all repentant sinners in all ages the conquering power of his compassion, the efficacy of his blood, the omnipotence of his strong arm. See, then, here, the power to which we, too, must apply, in order to be saved. If Christ, then, has accomplished such great things in the days of his humiliation, what will he not accomplish in the days of his exaltation? Has he gained such triumphs in the day of his shame what will he not be able for in the day of his glory? For, him who now hangs before our eyes on the cross has "God exalted at his right hand, to be a Prince and a Saviour, to give repentance unto Israel, and the remission of sins." And whom does he sare in this hour of his humiliation and shame! In order that he might all the more gloriously reveal his power and mercy, he saves a thief-one who was not only a sinner before God, like all men, but also a breaker of the laws of man-a sinner whom other sinners condemn and cast out from them-a robber, perhaps, or a murderer. Jesus stretches to him the sceptre of his grace, and redeems him. Now, brethren, if Christ has the power to save such men, will he not also exert it on behalf of others? There is no sinner under heaven so hardened whom he must give up as beyond the reach of mercy-no firebrand so thoroughly wasted by the flame which he cannot draw out of the fire-no soul so darkened which he cannot, if it please him, light up in an instantno heart so hard which he cannot soften down -no spirit so proud which he cannot humble -no imagination so polluted which he cannot at once purify. From what abyss of corruption, then, can the Saviour not save? The history of the scenes of the crucifixion is the security and proof to the sinner of all this. Who, then, would willingly remain far away from him, despairing of the greatness of his power, or the mercy of his compassion? O love of Jesus Christ, which passeth knowledge! O eternal salvation, that depends not on man's will and ways, but on God's tender mercy! The thief on the cross is the great proof of free grace. This should suffice to convince the hardened unbeliever that "God saves us not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began."-2 Tim. i. 9. This teaches that Jesus is the Alpha and Omega of the salvation of his people. "He is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us."-Eph. iii. 20. Christ is come into the world to save sinners, even the very chief of sinners.-1 Tim. i. 15. III. Now, the greater this salvation is, the greater are the obligations which lie upon us in connection with it. That doctrine which ascribes salvation partly to man and partly to Christ, does not completely cast a man away from himself to unite him entirely and exclusively to Christ. Man remains still his own idol. According to these idle opinions, his obligations to God are but small. It is for his own sake that he is to perform good works-namely, in order to save himself, and not out of thankfulness to him who has redeemed him. But, according to the doctrine of the Gospel, sin is great, and salva tion great-and, therefore, our obligations are great also. Nevertheless, one may affirm, that in this last respect, at least, the case of the thief is inapplicable. He can fulfil no obligations—accomplish nothing more, for he has but a moment more to live-in this respect he is an exception; he may be an example of grace, but he can be no example of holiness. It is true, brethren, he has but a moment to live. He could not descend from his cross to prove his faith by good works in a new life upon earth. Only one short moment remains to him; but you who suppose that we have nothing more to learn from his case, consider what he really was in that last moment-what you perhaps have not been in the moments, hours, weeks, months, and years, which you have lived since your conversion. Come, you who appear so holy in your own eyes, and learn from the case of the thief, not merely what grace, but also what holiness, is. See, then, what fear of God is shown by this criminal! He acknowledges his sins, he gives God the glory, he can no longer endure any single word which insults the majesty of the Most High, and is completely filled with the thought of so soon appearing before him. He cries out to his companion in crime: "Dost not thou fear God!" Now, where do you find in your hearts such a fear of God-such a holy alarm at offending him, or seeing him offended by others, by word or deed? Have you, like this criminal, a shrinking from the smallest sins? See what patience in his sufferings! All the pains of crucifixion encompass him, but he lets no complaint escape his lips! He rather acknowledges that he has richly deserved all his sufferings. "I receive," said he, "the due reward of my deeds." Have you, Christians, with equal patience endured your sufferings, your trials, your painful sacrifices? Has not often a small suffering and a light affliction been severe enough for you; so that impatience has deprived you of the mastery over yourselves, and given you up to bitterness and complaint? Have you always kissed the hand that smote you! Have you not rather by your sorrows and sighs bitterly complained? Could you, like the criminal, amid the storm of sufferings, exclaim: "It is the Lord!" Learn, then, from the thief, the greatness of your obligations, and go and do likewise. See what a love to the Saviour, and what zeal for his honour, he shows! When all are pouring contempt upon him, the thief alone undertakes his defence; when one of his disciples had BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH-REV. DANIEL ROWLANDS. betrayed him, another had denied him, and all had forsaken him-while John himself, at the foot of the cross, could only weep when the priests had condemned him to death, the heathen had elevated him upon the accursed tree, and Israel covered him with shame-this thief alone, in the whole world, acknowledges him to be the Son of God, the Prince of Lifethe King of the Kingdom of Heaven. In him alone, at this moment, is centred the whole Church. He alone acknowledges him as God manifest in the flesh. Have you, brethren, ever heard of such a zeal for Christ's honour? Nothing could shut the mouth of this criminal; and yet to shut yours, a matter of little moment would suffice. Do you confess Christ, like him, before the world? Would you do so at a time when all forsook him and fled ? See what brotherly love! Filled with anxious concern for the soul of the other malefactor, he speaks sympathizingly to him, requests him to desist from his blasphemies, and tells him meekly of the fear of God. He had been the companion of his guilt-how ardently does he now desire that he should become the partaker of his holiness! Disciples of Christ! have you ever so loved a soul? Have you thought much of delivering from sin those who once were the associates of your worldly desires? Do you love those with Christ's love whom you had previously loved only after the flesh? Are you not commonly indifferent towards those who are hurrying on to destruction? In this respect do you not forget the members of your family and household? Have you, in reality, shown the heartfelt compassion of this malefactor? 125 powerful arms over this assembly, and save some soul from death, and cover, by thy precious blood, the multitude of its sins! Amen! Biographical Sketch. REV. DANIEL ROWLANDS OF LLANGEITHO, PART II. Ir was a cutting sarcasm which George II. uttered, when asked by some one to put down George Whitefield, by issuing a royal order to prevent his preaching. “I believe,” said the monarch, "the best way to silence him would be just to make him a bishop. There would be no fear of his preaching then." The keenness of the sarcasm lay in its truth; for there can be no doubt that these bishops, while they did nothing themselves for the cause of Christ, were the most bitter, and often the most unscrupulous, opponents of those who did those who were instrumental in bringing about the remarkable religious revivals with which, during last century, England and Wales were blessed. The bishops were too easy to preach often, and too dignified to preach with earnestness; and if any of their clergymen distinguished themselves by preaching with faithfulness and zeal, the power of the bench was immediately directed to crush them. The palace of the Archbishop of Canterbury resounded nightly with the noise of revelry at balls and routs they saw nothing wrong in that; but if a poor country vicar like John Berridge ventured to preach Christ beyond his own parish, and succeeded in rousing men to cry out "What shall we do to be saved?" there was something fearfully wrong in that-so wrong that, if repeated, nothing could sufficiently punish it but deposition or imprisonment. The Bishop of Exeter seldom preached at all; and when he preached, few came to hear him, and those who came seemed none the better; but if George Whitefield ventured within his diocese, and dared to proclaim the glad tidings of salvation to tens of thousands of thirsty souls, and if a blessing visibly followed his labours in the conPerhaps you reply, This will be my concern cern with which almost all were seized, and the at the close of life, on my death-bed, when the saving change which multitudes experienced, sun really is shining for the last time. Then, the "spiritual thunders" were immediately disdo you really know whether to-morrow will not charged against him-pastoral letters were isbe the last day of your life? whether the couch sued, warning the people against being righon which you now stretch your body may not teous overmuch," and the clergymen of the be your death-bed? and whether the sun which diocese were forbidden to receive him into their now shines may not really be shining for the pulpits. The consequence, so far as these latter last time? Then, let all be done to-day; for were concerned, was, that many of the most to-morrow may be, perhaps, no time for you. faithful ministers in the Establishment, prefer"To-day, if you will hear his voice, harden noting Christ to the Church, and the souls of the your hearts." Ere yet the sun had sunk, the soul of this converted sinner had been separated from the body, and had entered with Christ into paradise. When, brethren, shall the sun which has lighted your earthly career for the last time go down? The best answer which you can give is, that neither you nor I can tell; but on that very account I ask you earnestly, whether you have found the salvation of this thief? whether you feel assured that Jesus will think of you in his kingdom? or whether you have the hope that he will one day say to you," Thou wilt be with me in paradise?" Lord Jesus! who didst, as a token of thy victorious grace, take with thee into heaven the soul of a malefactor among the number of whom thou wert thyself reckoned, spread thy people to the favour of their diocesan, threw up their livings; and, freed from all legal or conventional restraints, went everywhere preaching the Word." 66 And as it was in England, so was it also in |