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all declared that if our Lord would give them that proof that He was the King of Israel, they would still acknowledge Him. The proof they demanded was this-that He should come down from the Cross. It certainly appeared to be a reasonable challenge. It seemed but natural, that, if Christ had the power, He must have had the will also, to relieve His suffering body from the dreadful Cross, from the piercing nails, and all the intolerable anguish of that painful death. The cry, therefore, was universal. The rulers, says St. Luke, derided Him-the soldiers also mocked Him-they who passed by reviled Him, and railed on HimThou that destroyest the temple, and buildest it in three days, save thyself, and come down from the Cross". The Chief Priests, and the Scribes, and the Elders said, If He be the King of Israel, let Him now come down from the Cross, and we will believe Him. If thou be the Son of God, said the multitude, come down. And, last of all, one of the thieves which were crucified with Him united in the general cry, and insulted Him, If thou be the King of the Jews, save Thyself and us'.

Such was the condition of our Lord, when He was addressed as the Spiritual Messiah of the prophets, in the language of devotion and faith, by His penitent fellow-sufferer on the cross. We shall now see the full meaning of His answer.

6 Luke xxiii. 40.

7 Matt. xxvii. 42.

Mark xv. 30.

9 Luke xxiii. 37.

If Christ had come down from the cross as the people had demanded, the great sacrifice for the sins of mankind could not have been completed. Christ had descended from heaven, to give His own life a ransom for man; and the sublime system of redemption was not to be set aside by the reproaches, and the clamors, of the Jews. The compliance with the request of the people would have been a miracle, it is true; but other, and as wonderful miracles had been wrought in their presence. They had already seen the creation of food in the hands of thousands in the wilderness-they had seen Lazarus, at the command of Christ, raised from the dead. In addition to all such proofs of His own Messiahship, our Lord well knew, that He was about to accomplish a much greater miracle even than descending from the cross,--the raising of His own body from the dead. All these reasons concurred to prevent our Lord from complying with the request of the people, that He should come down from the cross. Still, however, as the cry was so universal, so unanimous, so repeated-it might have been expected that some notice should be taken of it; and that some proof, or token, should be given by Christ, whether He still persisted in declaring Himself to be the Messiah. It might have been expected, that, even if He did not descend from the cross, He would have granted to His weeping friends, and to a sinful world, some merciful demonstration that though He was despised

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and rejected of men 10; He was still the mighty God, and the prince of peace", upon whom there alike rested, as the prophet had foretold, the salvation of man, and the government of the world. All this was done in the answer to the penitent thief: Verily I say unto thee, to day shalt thou be with me in paradise. That is, "Though "I am now dying in the form of a man, I am the Spiritual Messiah, the promised Saviour, the pre"dicted King of Israel. I am the Lord of the "invisible world, into which the departed spirits " of men shall go, while their mortal body is left "to moulder into dust: and I, the crucified Savi"our of Israel, I, pardon your sins, and promise you admission into paradise." Such is the full and proper meaning of our Lord's address to the penitent thief. He spake the words to prove that the claims which He had ever made, were continued to the last; and they were uttered to assert His divinity, when it appeared to be most obscured. It is probable that the people heard our Lord's reply, and understood it, and were silent. They had formerly exclaimed, when Christ had forgiven sins, Who can forgive sins, but God, only 12? And they were right in their opinion. The Incarnate God of their fathers, of the patriarchs, and of the prophets, was though they confessed Him not. state of His agony, He asserted

before them,

In the lowest Himself to the

10 Isaiah liii. 3.

11 Ibid. ix. 6.

12 Mark ii. 7.

Jews who insulted Him, to the penitent, to us, and to all mankind for ever, the only Forgiver of sins. He was now overcoming the sharpness of death, and opening the kingdom of heaven to all believers.

Having thus considered the circumstances under which our blessed Lord forgave the penitent upon the cross, I would now inquire if any man can be justified in supposing from these words, that he may be pardoned in the same manner as the dying thief. It would be as rational to expect another crucifixion, another resurrection, or other wonders from heaven. Our Lord and Saviour cannot again be crucified. He will never be again depressed by sufferings and agonies. He will never be again called upon by the clamorous insults of His ungrateful, and rebellious people, to prove His divinity, or to establish the truth of His words. When Christ shall again become manifest to the world, (and every eye shall see Him, and every knee bow down before Him), He shall descend from heaven, surrounded by His holy angels, and in all the glory of His Father. Can you imagine, that, when He thus comes down to execute justice upon all who have preferred a life of evil to a life of obedience, you will be selected from among the number of those who will be condemned for the same wilful sins of which you have been guilty; and that you will be commanded to dwell with Him in paradise, because, when you were about to die, the terrors of the approaching dissolution forced from

you a short and doubtful repentance? Can you believe that Christ' will then prove His divinity, by judging the world by the law of Scripture, and making you the exception at the great day of doom; because the penitent thief was pardoned on the cross, under circumstances which can never again recur? Your sound judgment-your better feelings-your knowledge of the Gospel-convince you of the absurdity of the supposition. You must live obediently, if you would die happily; and when you would endeavour to believe otherwise, as an apology for evil, your conscience tells you that you are attempting what is impossible.

The second part of our subject leads us to inquire whether a death-bed repentance can be defended from the example of the dying criminal.

It will appear evident from a brief review of this opinion, that all arguments from this source are likewise unreasonable.

True faith in Christ must be founded upon conviction, and it must lead to repentance, and to holiness. The penitent on the cross saw, and believed in, those proofs which were granted at the time of the crucifixion, to demonstrate that Christ was the Messiah. He beheld the darkness that overspread the land-he remarked the patience, and the meekness, of the suffering Jesus. He had observed, perhaps, the silent mildness, and dignity, which our Lord had displayed in the judgmenthall of Pilate. He may have heard, too, the address of our Lord to the women of Jerusalem on

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