“Two others, who were criminals, were led away to be put to death with him. And when they came to the place that is called The Skull, there they crucified him, and the criminals, one on his right and one on his left. And Jesus said, ‘Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.’ And they cast lots to divide his garments. And the people stood by, watching, but the rulers scoffed at him, saying, ‘He saved others; let him save himself, if he is the Christ of God, his Chosen One!’ The soldiers also mocked him, coming up and offering him sour wine and saying, ‘If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself!’ There was also an inscription over him, ‘This is the King of the Jews.’
“One of the criminals who were hanged railed at him, saying, ‘Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us!’ But the other rebuked him, saying, ‘Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? And we indeed justly, for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong.’ And he said, ‘Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.’ And he said to him, ‘Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise.’” [1]
Mobs gathered to watch the crucifixion of the condemned were usually raucous, but this mob was even more rowdy, noisier, more agitated than usual. The soldiers standing guard were alert to any attempt to rescue those condemned to die. However, through this mob was larger, those madly shouting were not condemning the soldiers or cursing Rome as usually happened, they appeared to be agreeing with this execution! They were actually yelling out their approval of what was happening and mocking one prisoner in particular.
To be certain, a small knot of the prisoner’s followers was standing near the cross. Someone had identified one of the women as the condemned man’s mother. Her sister and a couple of the women who had followed him were there with them and a cousin, a teenager who had apparently been quite close to him were present. But none of them gave any indication that they were prepared to stir up trouble. Even when the religious leaders shouted out vile mockery, his followers didn’t respond. They appeared numbed by the insults that were hurled at him.
After a while, the soldiers appeared to relax; it was obvious that there would be no trouble from this mob. In fact, they became sufficiently relaxed that they joined in the mocking. In reality, their participation at that point was a continuation of what had begun when this man was first arrested. The man had been beaten, flogged and mocked until He was near death; but even that level of violence didn’t appease the mob—they were intent on his death.
The governor had repeatedly attempted to free the man, but the mob would have none of that. When Pilate had beaten him and then led him out in front of the mob, he thought that such humiliation would suffice to quiet the Jewish leaders. He brought the man out, obviously beaten and in great agony, but even that would not quell the angry shouts. Three times Pilate attempted to release the prisoner, and three times the mob resisted his attempts. The final time Pilate tried to set the man free, the Jewish leaders grew almost rabid. Enraged, they shouted, “If you release this man, you are not Caesar’s friend.” These religious leaders then led the mob in a chant that terrified the governor, “Crucify! Crucify! Crucify!” they raged.
At one point, Pilate thought he had hit upon a perfect stratagem for setting the man free. He had offered to release a prisoner in honour of the approaching Passover. He would offer to the mob a notorious insurrectionist that had caused great pain among the populace. If they had to choose between these two men, surely they would opt to release the one who had caused no injury to the nation. Imagine the governor’s surprise when the religious leaders led the mob to demand the freedom of the notorious insurrectionist! “Give us Barabbas,” they shouted. Pilate felt cornered, but he was unwilling to take any action that could serve as an excuse for a riot.
Still, he asked, “What shall I do with Jesus who is called the Christ?” The mob shouted again, “Let him be crucified!” They had no legitimate reason to demand his death, but mobs seldom act rationally. Their emotions running hot, they shouted all the louder, “Let him be crucified!” At this, Pilate took water, washed his hands in front of the raging mob while declaring, “I am innocent of this man’s blood.” These words seemed to stir the maddened people to new heights of frenzy as they shouted, “His blood be on us and one our children!” Imagine! Jews, shouting that they would gladly accept responsibility for what was about to be done.
Pilate, quite obviously astonished at their rage, had asked, “Shall I crucify your King?” This plea for sanity served only to elicit an unexpected angry snarl from the chief priest, “We have no king but Caesar!” Pilate, cornered and with no viable alternative, surrendered to the raging demands of the mob and sentenced the man to be crucified.
Now, that man hung on a rude cross, his arms affixed by rough nails to the cross member and his feet pinioned to the post. Above his head, Pilate had order that a sign be affixed, reading, “Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews.” The Jewish religious leaders were deeply offended by the sign, and they demanded that the sign to altered in yet another attempt to humiliate the condemned man, but Pilate was nearing the end of his patience with these hateful people. He responded to their request by saying, “What I have written, I have written.” And so the man was nailed to a cross, and all who drew near saw the sign that this was “The King of the Jews.”
On either side of this “King of the Jews” hung a thief—men who had been condemned to death because of their criminal activities. At first, these dying men had railed against him, much as a wild animal that has been injured will snarl and snap at anyone who comes near during the death throes of the animal. However, as these men hung there, between struggles to breath or to find relief from the burning pain caused by the cramping of the legs, one of the criminals began to pay attention to the man in the middle. The man in the middle wasn’t raging as most would have reacted to such indignities, to such pain. This man was obviously in severe pain, but he was not calling down vile imprecations on those who tormented him. He was solicitous for his mother and for the young man who stood with her. He didn’t curse his situation or those who caused his pain, rather, he prayed for His tormentors.
The account is well-known, and yet it is unknown in the sense that we give little thought to what happened. The story has been recited from multiple pulpits, but it seems doubtful that many people have given much thought to what the condemned man believed. His theology is on display; and that theology speaks of the theology each of us must hold if we will receive the blessings that were conferred on this man. Join me in exploring the theology of a thief.
THE THIEF CONFESSED THAT HE FEARED GOD — “Do you not fear God?” People should have a healthy fear of God. I don’t mean that we should be craven, cringing in abject terror before the Lord God. However, there is a noticeable lack of awe at the thought of God in this day. People will be terrified when God’s power is revealed, it is true, but terror does not equate to worship. There are points of intersection between terror and awe, but we must not confuse these.
I have argued for a long time that we have lost a vital part of what we call “worship.” Worship that is real will always be characterised with a healthy fear of God. True worshippers will hold the Lord in awe. This dying criminal realised that soon he would be dead, and when he passed from this life, he would face God. Likely, he had given no thought to God throughout the previous years, but now he knew that he must soon give an account to the LORD for his life. Looking to what was surely coming, he confessed his fear of God. “Do you not fear God?”
Preparing this message, I recalled a passage from the Prophecy of Isaiah.
“Oh that you would rend the heavens and come down,
that the mountains might quake at your presence—
as when fire kindles brushwood
and the fire causes water to boil—
to make your name known to your adversaries,
and that the nations might tremble at your presence!”
[ISAIAH 64:1-2]
Isaiah is pleading for revival, and the reason he is pleading for this heavenly refreshment is because he has been in the presence of the LORD God. He begins his plea with an exclamation: “Oh!” Tragically, we have lost the “Oh” in modern worship; this is what I might refer to as the “Wow” factor. Seriously, when did you last come into the House of God and find yourself exclaiming, “Wow?” When did you last sense His presence and respond in fear to His presence, as did Jacob when he exclaimed, “How awesome is this place!” [GENESIS 28:17a]? Jacob declared that the place where he had laid his head was awesome because God was there. Similarly, we will discover that wherever God reveals Himself, that place is awesome. The presence makes for the awe that characterises true worship. It is that sense of awe that characterises godly fear.
I want us to focus for a brief while on holy fear. Because the concept is foreign to much of contemporary worship, it will seem strange to some. Others will know something of holy fear, though too often our encounter with God is somewhere in the distant past. To fear God is to recognise Him as God, to be convinced that He is able to destroy the individual—body, soul and spirit, and yet, to know that this awesome Being accepts the individual into His presence.
As a young minister, I would often visit door-to-door throughout the Oak Cliff section of Dallas with a fellow servant of Christ named Don Beasley. As young men, Don and I had surrendered to serve Christ as servants of the churches. After an evening of visitation, Don and I would usually stop outside of the church building for a time of prayer. We invested time in fervently praying for those individuals whom we had visited that evening. Our prayers were quite specific as we pleaded with God to demonstrate mercy and grace by saving those folks.
My memory of those seasons of prayer are almost sacred, for as we bowed our heads while seated in my sixty-seven Chevy, how real was the sense of the presence of Christ the Lord! So very often I was tempted to open my eyes, to look up, expecting that I would see the Master seated right there with us. I was fearful of reaching out my hand, not knowing whether I would actually touch the Risen Saviour or not. The sense of His presence was real, so real that I trembled. And what was true for me was also true for Don.
We were not frightened by His presence, we were emboldened. We did not cringe at the knowledge of His presence, we were encouraged. However, there was no sense that we had accomplished anything; rather, we were very much aware that we had been blessed and used by the Risen Saviour. It was a sense of holy fear that gripped us then.
I know there will inevitably be some who muse, “I never had an experience like that!” Don’t you wish you had? Don’t you wish that you knew what it was to be in the presence of the Risen Son of God? Don’t you wish you could speak of those sacred times when you knew you had been in His presence? I can testify that I’ve never been content with simply going through the motions of a dull liturgy since those times praying on the front seat of that old sixty-seven Chevy Impala. Christ is real and His presence can only be described as awesome! Even after almost fifty years, the memory is vivid, causing an involuntary shudder as I recall those nights. And His presence is just as real today when we meet together and the Spirit of Christ is present.
Certainly, I long to experience the presence of the Risen Saviour each time I come into the House of God. I want to know that Christ is present when I offer up worship. I want worship to be real, to be experiential rather than being merely theoretical. I want worship to stimulate the heart as much as it does the mind. Worship must excite the soul if it will draw in those who are unengaged, those who are indifferent, those who are present but not really here. We anticipate that worship in Heaven will be infinitely stimulating, otherwise, why bother looking forward to eternal worship. Because we will be worshipping God who is infinite, our worship can never be exhausted; and we will truly know what it is to fear God.
One reason that the charismatic movement became as popular as it has become in this day lies in the fact that what is presented as worship among many of the churches of this day is mere ritual divorced of any reality, and people rebel against such dead acts. We recite prayers and move through liturgies as though we were part of the walking dead, but there is no life in what we are doing! No wonder people were looking for something real, for something that touches the heart as well as the intellect! People want to experience the fear of God!
I do not for a moment want anyone to imagine that I exalt feelings over facts—I do not! What I do say is that in Christ we meet a God who touches every facet of our being. We know Him precisely because He has revealed Himself through His Word and through His presence of the Son of God. Now, receiving this Risen Saviour as Master over life, the entirety of our existence is affected. I know intellectually that God sent His Son to be the Saviour of the world because He has told me this is the case in His Word. I know that my life is being transformed.
In the realm of the physical, drug addicts are freed from their dependence upon a chemical high to cope with the world. Drunks are sobered and delivered from thirst for the poison that they drink by the glass. Whoremongers and harlots are made pure and given resolve to live holy, godly lives in the power of the Spirit of Christ. Thieves are convicted of their theft and seek to make restitution for the harm they have imposed on others. Liars are compelled to speak the truth in love. God moves in and evil moves out. Those who argue that temptation to continue in wickedness never really goes away are forced to admit that the power of choice is provided to those who seek to honour the Risen Saviour.
In the realm of the soul, the realm of the emotional, because we are meeting the Living Saviour, we will discover that our senses are stirred as never before; we cannot help but be moved emotionally. How can one who knows her sin is forgiven not feel stirred to the deepest reaches of her soul? How can the man who is brought into the Family of God not experience a sense of relief that guilt has been removed?
Do you recall the incident when a woman had an ulcerated sore on her body that made her unclean? Her condition excluded her from worship in the temple because she had an open wound that was always bleeding. She said to herself, “If I touch even his garments, I will be made well” [MARK 5:28]. She made her way through the throng of people, touched the hem of Jesus’ garment, and she was healed—immediately!
When Jesus, knowing that power had gone out from Him, asked who touched Him, the disciples remonstrated with Him, “You see the crowd pressing around you, and yet you say, ‘Who touched me’” [MARK 5:31]?
What I want you to note is the response of the woman when Jesus began to look around. “The woman, knowing what had happened to her, came in fear and trembling and fell down before him and told him the whole truth” [MARK 5:33]. Mark is careful to tell us of her emotions when she realised that what she had sought had been accomplished! She was moved with fear! When Jesus healed me of my sin, I was overjoyed! And yet, I confess that I felt a holy fear. Like the Apostles when they witnessed Jesus’ power over the elements, I marvelled, saying, “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him” [MARK 4:41]?
I encourage all who know the Saviour, each one who knows he or she has received the forgiveness of sin—make it your practise to meet the Saviour each time you come into the House of the Lord. This will require you to prepare for worship, taking time to seek the Lord before you come to the House of God. When you meet Him, you will know that you have met Him by the sense of holy fear that seizes your life. What a glorious situation will prevail when the most of us come into this place, knowing that we are meeting the Risen Saviour. When we at last meet in the knowledge of Christ’s presence, unbelievers and outsiders coming into our midst will fall down, worshipping God and declaring that God is really among us [see 1 CORINTHIANS 14:25].
In the classic book, “The Wind in the Willows,” Ratty and Mole are searching for Portly, the baby otter, who had gone missing. As they searched the river, their surroundings began to take on a character that was unlike anything they had experienced to that point. They moored the boat, got out and moved away from the river. Unexpectedly, the Water Rat spoke, admitting that he recognised the place where they stood as “the place of [his] song-dream, the place the music played to [him].”
This is the description Grahame provided readers. “Suddenly the Mole felt a great Awe fall upon him, an awe that turned his muscles to water, bowed his head, and rooted his feet to the ground. It was no panic terror--indeed he felt wonderfully at peace and happy—but it was an awe that smote and held him and, without seeing, he knew it could only mean that some august Presence was very, very near. With difficulty he turned to look for his friend. and saw him at his side cowed, stricken, and trembling violently. And still there was utter silence in the populous bird-haunted branches around them; and still the light grew and grew.
“Perhaps he would never have dared to raise his eyes, but that, though the piping was now hushed, the call and the summons seemed still dominant and imperious. He might not refuse, were Death himself waiting to strike him instantly, once he had looked with mortal eye on things rightly kept hidden. Trembling he obeyed, and raised his humble head; and then, in that utter clearness of the imminent dawn, while Nature, flushed with fulness of incredible colour, seemed to hold her breath for the event, he looked in the very eyes of the Friend and Helper; saw the backward sweep of the curved horns, gleaming in the growing daylight; saw the stern, hooked nose between the kindly eyes that were looking down on them humorously, while the bearded mouth broke into a half-smile at the corners; saw the rippling muscles on the arm that lay across the broad chest, the long supple hand still holding the pan-pipes only just fallen away from the parted lips; saw the splendid curves of the shaggy limbs disposed in majestic ease on the sward; saw, last of all, nestling between his very hooves, sleeping soundly in entire peace and contentment, the little, round, podgy, childish form of the baby otter. All this he saw, for one moment breathless and intense, vivid on the morning sky; and still, as he looked, he lived; and still, as he lived, he wondered.
“‘Rat!’ he found breath to whisper, shaking. ‘Are you afraid?’
“‘Afraid?’ murmured the Rat, his eyes shining with unutterable love. ‘Afraid! Of him? O, never, never! And yet—and yet—O, Mole, I am afraid!’
“Then the two animals, crouching to the earth, bowed their heads and did worship.” [2]
I understand this is fiction; yet, Grahame has precisely captured worship that is experienced whenever we come into the presence of the Son of God. “Do you not fear God?” Those who have never been in the presence of God would not be expected to fear Him. However, we who have known Him, recognise that sense of awe so expertly described in that story. At once, we love Him; and we fear Him. “Do you not fear God?”
THE THIEF RECOGNISED THAT JESUS DID NOT DESERVE TO BE CRUCIFIED — “[We] are under the same sentence of condemnation? And we indeed justly, for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong” [LUKE 23:40]. What a powerful rebuke of the thief that railed against the Master! What a pointed confrontation of thoughtless contumely heaped upon the Saviour! What is surprising about this is that both of these men reviled Jesus at the first. Matthew writes, “The robbers who were crucified with him also reviled him” [MATTHEW 27:44].
It has been observed that on that day in the City of David, three men were dying. One man died in sin. He would expire and his soul would go into the torments of Hades. One man died for sin. He would yield up His life because of the brokenness of mankind. His sacrifice would purchase life for those who dared believe Him, for those who would follow Him after He had conquered death. The third man died to sin. Though he had not lived a life that deserved mercy, he would look to the man dying for sin; he would ask, and receive, mercy. He didn’t deserve such mercy, but it would be extended, nevertheless. That is grace; that is the grace of God—the same grace that is extended to all who seek Him even to this day.
As the hours dragged by and life drained from the bodies of the three men hanging on their crosses, a transformation was taking place in one of the robbers. This man went from reviling Jesus to watching Him—actually observing Him. Seeing the manner in which Jesus prayed for those who tormented Him, this robber was convicted of his own wickedness. Evil men don’t pray for those who torment them. Wicked men who are receiving what they deserve don’t seek forgiveness for those who hurt them; but Jesus prayed for those who were tormenting Him. Both thieves heard Him pray, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do” [LUKE 23:34a]. They heard Him pray for the soldiers who had driven the cruel spikes into His arms and His feet. They heard Him pray for the Jewish leaders who were mocking Him throughout the time He had hung on the tree. They heard Him pray for the mob that brayed out the ungodly demand for this ignominious death. They heard Him pray for them, even as they ridiculed Him and derided Him. These were not the actions of a man focused on Himself; these were the actions of God, God of whom it is written, “God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life” [JOHN 3:16].
One of the most difficult truths with which any of us are forced to grapple is that our Saviour took our sin upon Himself. Coming to grips with this truth is difficult for us to admit because we are not certain that we are actually all that evil.
Let’s set aside for the moment whether we are wicked (we are) and focus on whether the Master is righteous. The standard for pleasing God is perfect holiness. Perhaps you will recall this query from the Psalmist. You have heard it many times, no doubt.
“Who shall ascend the hill of the LORD?
And who shall stand in his holy place?
He who has clean hands and a pure heart,
who does not lift up his soul to what is false
and does not swear deceitfully.”
[PSALM 24:3-4]
Perfection is the standard for coming into the presence of the Living God. We will stand before Him to receive judgement, in which case our lack of perfection will become evident; or we will stand before Him perfected in Christ Jesus the Lord. Regardless, perfection is the standard.
The Revelator presents a terrifying image when he writes, “I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. From his presence earth and sky fled away, and no place was found for them. And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Then another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to what they had done. And the sea gave up the dead who were in it, Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them, and they were judged, each one of them, according to what they had done. Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire” [REVELATION 20:11-15].
How awesome to realise that people we know will be compelled to stand before that Great White Throne where they will be judged for what they have done. At that time, it will become painfully obvious that they have never been perfected; and they will give an accounting to God Who gives all people their being. Recall the cautionary word of the Apostle, “We must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil” [2 CORINTHIANS 5:10].
Those universal terms are sobering in the extreme. “All” shall appear before the Judgement Seat of Christ. “Each one” will receive what is due for what has been done in the body. We cannot relegate this warning to followers of the Christ alone, as though the lost are not responsible to give an account of their lives. Clearly, the warning penned by John makes it apparent that the lost shall be called to account for their lives, for they are judged “according to what they had done.” Again, the standard by which we are judged is “perfection.”
Our salvation hinges on the fact that Jesus was the sinless Son of God. Scripture is adamant in declaring that He was without sin. For instance, in the Letter to Hebrew Christians we are told, “Just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment, so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him” [HEBREWS 9:27-28].
In this same missive to Hebrew Christians of the Diaspora, the writer has written of Jesus, “It was indeed fitting that we should have such a high priest, holy, innocent, unstained, separated from sinners, and exalted above the heavens” [HEBREWS 7:26].
Should someone argue that the passage is somehow lacking in clarity, consider what Peter wrote when he penned, “[Jesus] committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth” [1 PETER 2:22]. Surely, that is straight forward enough to clarify that the Bible does present the Master as without sin!
John has written, “You know that [the Son of God] appeared in order to take away sins, and in him there is no sin” [1 JOHN 3:5].
The Lord Jesus Himself challenged Jewish leaders who had accused Him of blasphemy, of sin against the Father, “Which one of you convicts me of sin” [JOHN 8:46a]? Of course, none of those accusing the Master could substantiate the charge. Much like modern social justice warriors, these paragons of felt religion were not concerned with facts, with truth—what they “felt” was all-important! As an aside of grave significance—what you “feel” in your efforts at worship are of no importance. Who you meet is absolutely critical. If you never meet the Living Son of God, you have not worshipped.
Why should it matter whether Jesus is without sin? The answer is given in these verses: “Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need” [HEBREWS 4:14-16]. Jesus shared out condition, but because He was without sin, He was able to bear away our sin.
THE THIEF COMMITTED HIMSELF TO THE MERCIES OF THE CHRIST — “[The dying thief] said, ‘Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.’” The thief ceased thinking of the immediate and began to focus on what lay beyond this life. He knew he could do nothing to compel the Saviour to show mercy. He had nothing to offer the Lord that would be valued. He could not boast of a life that was valued in society, much less valued in the sight of God. He had nothing to offer that would make God take notice of Him. He could only confess, as did another sinful individual, “God, be merciful to me, a sinner” [see LUKE 18:9-14]!
The hymn writers have it correct when they write hymns such as Toplady’s great hymn:
Nothing in my hand I bring,
Simply to Thy cross I cling;
Naked, come to Thee for dress,
Helpless, look to Thee for grace;
Foul, I to the fountain fly;
Wash me, Saviour, or I die! [3]
Or consider another great old hymn of the Faith which reminds us,
The dying thief rejoiced to see that fountain in his day,
And there may I, though vile as he, wash all my sins away. [4]
We possess nothing that could make God love us—His love is offered to us without condition. We need but accept what He offers in the Person of His beloved Son, Jesus, who is the Christ. Whatever change in the way we live that may be required will be accomplished by God’s Spirit. One essential truth that we must trumpet to all who wish to be saved—we do not change in order to be accepted, but when we have been accepted in the Beloved Son, we will be changed. We do not transform our lives in order to make God receive us, but when we are received into His Family, we will be transformed. The transformation is both immediate and progressive—we are immediately saved, and conformation to the image of Christ begins.
Upon placing our faith in the Son of God, we are saved! There is no gradual salvation; God’s free gift is immediate! The message spoken to the jailer in Philippi promises the believer, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved” [ACTS 16:31a].
The promise of God is, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved” [ROMANS 10:13]. You, if you call on the Name of the Lord Jesus, if you believe that He died for you and raised so that you can be declared right in your relationship with the Living God, you can be made alive in the Lord Jesus. If you will be saved, you may be assured of acceptance before the Lord God; you, too, will be accepted in Christ the Lord.
One day I will be compelled to set aside this flesh. Life, as we commonly speak of life, will have ceased for me at that time. When that day comes—and it shall assuredly come if Christ should tarry, do not weep for me. I will have been transformed into the glorious creature God always meant me to be. Some time ago, I read a portion of a funeral sermon penned by the Presbyterian divine, Matthew Henry. Let me share with you the fruit of my reading. I am confident that what was written so many years ago will hold true for me when I must make that final crossing. I trust that the words will be a source of comfort to my loved ones and to my friends whom I will be forced to leave behind.
“When the health went out of the body that indwelling sin went out of the soul. There was an end of the leprosy that was in the walls. What all the praying and hearing, the sabbaths and sacraments, the care and watchfulness, of forty years would not do, death has done at one blow. Weep not for me, then.
“I had daily grief in my heart for my own sins, for the sins of others, and for the afflictions of my friends, and for the troubles of the Church of God; but now all tears, even those of godly sorrow, are wiped away from mine eyes. Therefore let none be in yours upon my account.
“And, lastly, the bitterness of death is past with me. I have shot the gulf; that last enemy, that son of Anak, is vanquished, and I am triumphing. ‘O Death, where is thy sting?’ And, therefore, weep not for me.
“But this is not all. If you consider the happiness I am entered into, that fair palace in which death was but a dark entry, you would not weep for me, but rejoice rather.
“Would you know where I am? I am at home in my Father’s house, in the mansion prepared for me there. I am where I would be, where I have long and often desired to be; no longer on a stormy sea, but in a safe and quiet harbour.
“Would you know how it is with me? I am made perfect in holiness.
“Would you know what I am doing? I see God. I see him as he is; not as through a glass darkly, but face to face. I am in the sweet enjoyment of my blessed Redeemer … whom my soul loved and for whose sake I was willing to part with all…
“Would you know what company I keep? Blessed company, better than the best on earth. Here are holy angels and the spirits of the just made perfect. I am set down ‘with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of God,’ with blessed Paul, and Peter, and James, and John, and all the saints. And here I meet with many of my old acquaintance that I fasted and prayed with, who got before me hither.
“And, lastly, will you consider that this is to continue? It is a garland that never withers, a crown that fadeth not away.” [5]
That is powerful! That is glorious! It gives the one who follows Christ the Master hope. The words of that old saint builds hope in the heart of the child of God because his words point to what is coming and to the certainty that is ours in Christ Jesus the Lord.
Long years ago, I first heard an old hymn that encourages the child of God to look to Heaven and to home. Perhaps you will remember the words to this glorious old hymn.
My latest sun is sinking fast,
My race is nearly run;
My strongest trials now are past,
My triumph is begun.
I know I’m near the holy ranks
Of friends and kindred dear—
I hear the waves on Jordan’s banks,
The crossing must be near.
I’ve almost reached my heav’nly home,
My spirit loudly sings;
Thy holy ones, behold, they come!
I hear the noise of wings.
Oh, bear my longing heart to Him,
Who bled and died for me;
Whose blood now cleanses from all sin,
And gives me victory.
Oh, come, angel band,
Come and around me stand;
Oh, bear me away on your snowy wings
To my eternal home;
Oh, bear me away on your snowy wings
To my eternal home. [6]
This is our hope because of Christ’s finished work. Do you have this hope? Have you looked to the Son of God for the life that He promises those who believe? Do you recognise that the Son of God offered His life for you? Do you understand that He did not deserve to die, yet that He was willing to die for you? Have you sought and received the mercies God has promised? The Lord has promised, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved” [ROMANS 10:13]. Believe this message of grace and be saved, even now. Amen.
[1] Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. Wheaton: Standard Bible Society, 2016. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
[2] Kenneth Grahame, “The Piper at the Gates of Dawn,” in “Wind in the Willows,”
[3] Augustus Montague Toplady, “Rock of Ages,” 1776
[4] William Cowper, “There Is a Fountain,” 1772
[5] Matthew Henry, “Life of Mr. Samuel Lawrence,” cited by H. D. M. Spence-Jones, (ed.), Jeremiah, vol. 1, The Pulpit Commentary (Funk & Wagnalls Company, London; New York 1909) 501
[6] “Angel Band,” originally published as, “My Latest Sun Is Sinking Fast,” by Jefferson Hascall. Found in J. W. Dadmun’s tunebook, The Melodeon, 1860
