Evening Republican, Volume 59, Number 96, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 14 May 1917 — The Dying Thief [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

The Dying Thief

By REV. L. W. GOSNELL

Assistant Dean. Moody Bible Institute. Chkego

TEX'?—And he said, Jesus, remember me when thou comest in thy kingdom. And he said unto him. Verily I say unto thee, today shalt thou be with me tn Paradise.—Luke 23:42-43 R. V.

The highway robbers .of Christ’s day were often popular heroes, Jewish Rob Roys, full of zeal

to deliver their people from the Roman yoke. The two crucified with Christ may have been companions of Barabbas. One of them cries, “Il thou be the Christ—the Messiah —save thyself and us;” he was doubtless thinking of the Jewish hopes for deliverance. But thf other, who seeml himself to have

reviled Christ just a little before, turns to rebuke his companion and shows that a change has been wrought in him which continues to be an astonishment to all who read of it. The malefactor was an unlikely person to be ‘converted. The disciples had forsaken Christ and fled but this sinful man joins himself to him. He was the first of a long line of trophies from among the foes of Christ. The chief persecutor of the early church t became its chief apostle, and the power of the cross over Christ’s enemies abides. Elijah P. Brown, for many years editor of a well-known religious weekly, was once a leader of infidel dubs, yet God brought him to Christ under a simple plea from D. L. Moody. We should count no man hopeless but should covet Christ’s enemies for his cause. Unlikely Place for Conversion. A cross was an unlikely place for conversion. The cross has been glorified in our eyes, but we are not to forget that it looked nd more attractive to those who first saw it than a gallows looks to us. John Wesley declares that at one period he would have thought it a stn to seek to save souls outside a church building, but he was driven to the fields tg preach and learned that any place can become holy ground. Samuel Hadley started heavenward from the back room of a low saloon. The dying hour was an unlikely period for conversion. This story forever rebukes the idea that acceptance with God depends UpM a round of sacraments or good works, for he had time for neither. This lesson still needs to be learned. Wesley was for many years a professing Christian, and even an ordained minister, before he learned it. He tells how he was thrilled in first preaching salvation, by faith alone, to a condemned prisoner and his joy when he heard the man say: “I am now ready to die. I know he has taken away my sins and there is no more condemnation for me.” Interesting Points. There are several interesting points connected with the thief’s conversion. It began with the fear of God. He asks his companion, “Dost not thou fear God seeing thou art in the same condemnation?” His heart had been solemnized by the darkness which spread over the land and by all the scenes of the crucifixion. “Nobody fears God any more”—so we are told today. And indeed this’frivolous, selfsatisfied age is not marked by the fear of the Lord. It may require the horrors of an awful war to bring us to seriousness and a sense of the majesty of God. Alas, for the fact that sometime even God’s judgments fail in this matter, just as one of the robbers was unmoved by all he had witnessed! It was accompanied by frank confession of his sin. “We receive the due reward of our deeds.” How refreshing when visiting in prisons, to find one who acknowledges his guilt and expresses contrition; there is hope for such a man. - Remarkable Faith. But we would speak especially ot the remarkable faith of this man. He prays, “Jesus, remember me when thou comest in thy kingdom." To the multitude, and even to the disciples, the inscription declaring Jesus to be king of the Jews must have seemed q. mockery indeed. The life of Jesus appeared a complete failure and his claims exploded. Yet, in that hour, there was begotten in the heart of thia rough fellow a faith that saw thaJjlngdorn even beyond the cross. Ir* was a faith akin to that by which Abraham was justified, of whom it is said he believed God “who quickened the dead and calleth those things which be not as though they -were.” Somehow, men are prone to abuse God’s gifts. We presume upon such mercy as it is set forth in this story and turn the grace of God into lasciviousness. ?len argue that because the dying thief was saved, they too may be saved when dying, and so they put off repentance for their deathbeds. But how knowest thou, 0 man, that such an opportunity will be thine? Even if time be given at the last, the heart may be adamant and repentance an Impossibility. “True repentance la never too late; late repentance is seldom true." •

CHAPTER XVl—Continued.' —ll— professional experience have you had?” he asked. “I haven’t had any.” He almost smiled when she stopped there. “Any amateur experience?” he inquired. “Quite a lot,” said Rose; “pageants and things, and two or three little plays.” “Can you dance?" “Yes,” said Rose. He said he supposed ballroom dan(T ing was what she meant, whereupon she told him she was a pretty good ballroom danoer, but that it was gymnastic dancing she had in mind. “All right,” he said. “See if you can do this. Watch me, and then Imitate me exactly.” In the intensity of her absorption in his questions and her own answers to them, she had never given a thought to the bystanders. But now as they fell back to give him room, she swept a glance across their faces. They all wore smiles of sorts. There was something amusing about this —something out of the regular routine. A little knot of chorus girls halted In the act of going out the wide doors, and stood watching. Was it just a hoax? The suppressed, unnatural silence sounded like It. But at what John Galbraith did, one of the bystanders guffawed outfight. It wasn’t pretty, the dance step he executed —a sort bf stiff-legged skip accompanied by a vulgar hip wriggle and concluding with a‘ straight-out sidewise kick. . A sick disgust clutched at Rose as she Watched—an utter revulsion from s the whole loathly business. “Well?” he asked, turning to her as he finished. He wasn’t smiling at all. “I’m not dressed to do that,” she said. “I know you’re not,” he admitted coolly; “but it can- be done. Pick up your skirts and do It as you are—ls you really want a job.” There was just a faint edge of contempt In that last phrase and, mercifully, it roused her anger. A blaze kindled in her blue eyes, and two spots of vivid color defined themselves In her cheeks. She caught up her skirts as he had told her to do, executed without compromise the stiff-legged skip and the wriggle, and finished with a horizon* tai, sidewise kick that matched his

own. Then, panting, trembling a little, she stood looking straight into ■his face. . ' Galbraith was staring at her with a look which expressed, at 'first, clear astonishment, but gradually complicated Itself with other emotiond—confusion, a glint of whimsical amusement. That gleam, a perfectly honest, ’kindly one, decided-Rose to lake him ion trust. He wasn’t a brute, however it might suit his purpose to act ‘ like one.

And Finished With a Horizontal, Sidewise Kick.