HH, Sir Godfrey Gregg D.Div
“ And he said unto Jesus, Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom. 43 And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, Today shalt thou be with me in paradise.” Luke 23:42-43
“Twas a thief,” Robert Browning writes, “who said the last kind word to Christ.”
In the morning the thief was OUT of Christ:
far from God and far from righteousness,
the helpless captive of sin,
the child of despair and death.
At noon the thief was IN Christ:
remembered graciously by the Saviour of the lost,
redeemed with an everlasting redemption,
endowed with the new heart,
and freely and perfectly justified.
In the evening the thief was WITH Christ:
gazing on the glories of paradise,
safe at home with his good Shepherd and adorable Redeemer.
What a crowded and memorable day this was in his history! So much was pressed into these few hours. Such a glorious and unprecedented transition they brought, from the cruel cross — to Heaven’s glory!
OUT of Christ,
In Christ,
WITH Christ!
Nature,
grace,
glory!
Lost in the far country,
then under the Saviour’s wings,
then beside the Lord on His throne!
Are these the three stages in my spiritual biography?
I know the first only too well.
Am I growing more and more familiar with the second?
Is it my joy to look forward to the third?
“I ask not the favour given to Paul,” Copernicus said, “I seek not the grace bestowed upon Peter — but I beg the mercy granted to the thief on the cross!”
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