[161]. A MESSAGE FROM A POEM – JESUS, REMEMBER ME WHEN YOU COME IN YOUR KINGDOM
This poem is about the repentant thief on the cross who turned to the Lord for salvation. One criminal did and one did not. Here is the gospel account – {{Luke 23:40-43 but the other answered, and rebuking him said, “Do you not even fear God since you are under the same sentence of condemnation, and we indeed justly, for we are receiving what we deserve for our deeds but this man has done nothing wrong,” and he was saying, “JESUS, REMEMBER ME WHEN YOU COME IN YOUR KINGDOM,” and He said to him, “Truly I say to you, TODAY YOU SHALL BE WITH ME IN PARADISE.”}}
It is a beautiful account of the love of God in action. Jesus promised the man an eternal position through faith, that he would personally be with Him in Paradise. Can you picture that. Jesus prepared a place for that thief through His death on the cross – {{John 14:2 “In My Father’s house are many dwelling places. If it were not so, I would have told you for I go to prepare a place for you.”}}. The place having been prepared, Jesus went beforehand to welcome the thief, a few hours later.
Can you imagine that. The thief was the first one to enter the Lord’s presence after the redemption for sin had been completed on the cross. What a welcome that would have been! How joyous was all that! The other thief went to hell, but what can we say? People who are unsaved must turn to the Lord now and ask the Saviour of the world to remember them in repentance, or they will follow that second thief. {{Luke 13:3 “I tell you, no, but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish”}}
Taken from the poem – “All three went to hell but Jesus was first to arrive - Into Paradise He went to Abraham’s side.” Hell was the grave – sheol = death, grave, hell. Hell was in two parts, Paradise where the righteous were contained and hell itself for the unrighteous. The story of Lazarus and the rich man explains that.
The poem looks at the repentant thief, then the other thief and lastly at the two destinies. This poem could be used at Easter. I hope you enjoy this poem.
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JESUS, REMEMBER ME WHEN YOU COME IN YOUR KINGDOM
Remember me, Lord, when into Your kingdom You come.
We deserve what we are getting, but not this Man.
Surely you see He is righteous, but we are the scum.
I can see that to die with Him must be God’s plan.
You mock this One, the righteous Man. Lord, remember me,
For I am a sinner, but I know You can save.
There were three that day each hanged on an accurséd tree;
All three - the Saviour, the two thieves, went to the grave.
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All three went to hell but Jesus was first to arrive -
Into Paradise He went to Abraham’s side.
He waited for the forgiven thief, fully alive
Now in Christ, immediately after he died.
What a welcome that would have been for the contrite thief;
The first to enter the Lord’s presence with new life.
They suffered together; they are alive from past grief;
Thief to Christian, from his days of mayhem and strife.
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For the other thief, all so different was the scene.
In hell he was, but in the place with the rich man:
He who denied Lazarus any of his cuisine.
That thief was in great sorrow since his time began,
But it was too late now, for God’s word he rejected,
And a person’s destiny depends on his own choice.
So many are in hell – the gospel they neglected.
One can not shut out the Saviour’s voice and rejoice.
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The serious facts of this life, please consider well,
For there are only two ways – that of life and death.
There are only two destinies – in heaven or hell.
That choice is yours to decide before your last breath.
Because of sin, the human race deserved exclusion.
We were incapable of finding salvation,
But the Lord Jesus took the step for man’s inclusion,
And rescued the thief, and us, from sin’s damnation.
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R E Ferguson 21 January 2022 Metre = 13-12 throughout