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A WARNING:
J.C. RYLE
"And one of the malefactors which were hanged railed on him, saying, if thou be Christ, save thyself and us. But the other answering rebuked him, saying, Dost not thou fear God, seeing thou art in the same condemnation? And we indeed justly; for we receive the due reward of our deeds: but this man hath done nothing amiss. And he said unto Jesus, Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom. And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, To day shalt thou be with me in paradise."-Luk_23:39 - Luk_23:43
There is warning, as well as comfort in these verses, and that is a very solemn warning, too. They tell me loudly, that two men may have the same opportunities of getting good for their souls, may be placed in the same position, see the same things and hear the same things, and yet only one of the two shall take advantage of them, repent, believe and be saved.
They tell me, above all, that repentance and faith are the gifts of God and are not in a man's own power; and that if any one flatters himself he can repent at his own time, choose his own season, seek the Lord when he pleases and, like the penitent thief, be saved at the very last, he may find at length he is greatly deceived.
And it is good and profitable to bear this in mind. There is an immense amount of delusion in the world on this very subject. I see many allowing life to slip away, quite unprepared to die. I see many allowing that they ought to repent, but always pulling off their own repentance. And I believe one grand reason is, that most men suppose they can turn to God just when they like! They wrest the parable of the labourer in the vineyard, which speaks of the eleventh hour, and use it as it never was meant to be used. They dwell on the pleasant part of the verses I am now considering, and forget the rest. They talk of the thief that went to paradise and was saved, and they forget the one who died as he lived and was lost.
I entreat every man of common sense who reads this paper to take heed that he does not fall into this mistake.
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