Milford chronicle., 1909-07-30
PULPIT.
Thieves In
Paradise.
"Verily | say unto thee to-
day, thou shalt be with me in
paradise" Quke xxiii, 43).

Let US begin the investigation by
noting iChat the dying thief requested
He had heard his companion berating
our Lord. saying, If thou be Messiah
save thyself and US. He had sufficient
character to realize the dishonesty of
classifying our Lord with evil doers.
He spoke up, reproving his compan-
ion; and then turned to Jesus. and, as
q reward, asked, Lord, remember me
when thou cOmest into thy Kingdom"
He did not ask to be remembered in
heaven, nor that day, but when our
Lord. who was then being crucified,
should attain to his Kingdom.
AS the thief's request was a reason
able one, our Lords answer was no
less reasonable He said. iRthe words
Of our text. Verify truly | say unto
thee to-day this day Of my agony and
= rejection by Israel, and cruciixiOu by
/ the Roman soldiers; this day, when ]
! seem to be an imposter and not at all
/ the Messiah; nevertheless, truly l tell
/ you to-dayl thou shalt be with me in
/ Paradise. / do not tell you when you
shall be with me, nor have you even
asked me to tell you. You have asked
to be remembered when / come into
my Kingdom, when / shall have fully
taken control of the Kingdom under
the whole heavens, when the speedy
result will be that the entire world
will become a Paradise, and you have
asked my assurance that you will be
there, and will remember you as re-
quested.
Punctuation Not Inspired.
It will be noticed that this different
Interpretation makes necessary the
changing of the comma from before
to-day" to after it. We remark that
the punctuation of our text was surely
not inspired. for punctuation was not
invented until centuries after our Bi-
Bile was written. Our Interpretation, |
with the comma after to-day" makes |
this entire passage reasonable and har-
monious-consistent with all the re-
mainder Of the Bible. and logical.
Further. be it remembered. that
Jesus was not IN Paradise on the day |
he died; nor has Paradise lost, yet
been restored Jesus was dead. and I
ST. Peter declares he arose from the
dead on the third day" He then de-
clared to Mary. Il have not yet ascend
ed to my Father and to your Father,
to my God and to your God" John
Xxx. II.
As a matter of fact. the other thief
also will be in Paradise All mankind.
redeemed by our Lords sacrifice. will
have the privilege Of the Millennial
blessings. As we read. "All that are
in their graves shall hear the voice
Of the Son Of Man and come forth"
The Church will come forth to the
heavenly glory and condition. for
which they have been prepared by the
trials the disciplines. the lessons. the
chiselings, the polishings. of this pres
ent life Theirs will be the instantane-
Gus change. or resurrection. from
earthly to heavenly conditions. Those
of the spirit-begotten ones. all who
wilfully walk after the flesh and not
after the Spirit. having had their trial
in the present life. will be accounted
worthy Of the Second Death All the
remainder of mankind not having
come to a knowledge of the Truth not
having incurred therefore, the respon-
sibility of this age, will come forth
during the Millennium when Messiah's
shall be established and
his rule Of righteousness shall have
brought the earth to the condition of ,
Paradise Both Of these thieves. and
all other thieves and all other evil ,
doers. all of the heather. all who have ,
not in the present life come to a clear
knowledge of the truth. and sinned ,
against light against the holy Spirit.
will be there-there to be blessed. to !
be enlightened. to be brought to a ,
Of the Truth. and if they I
will. to be helped out of ignorance. )
sin. weaknesses-mental. :
moral and physical t
Not Luck, but Character. q
The attaining Of eternal life will not d
)e matter Of luck. but matter Of '
haracter. 1t is true at the present a
ime that chance. or luck, would seem e
o be associated with many Of our af- d
airs. except as we are able TO view S
hem in the light Of Divine revelation.
iome Of US were fortunate to be bet d
er born than others-born of religious t
arents. Some are fortunate in being o
Orn in religious communities, and in v
land Of liberty and enlightenment u
Ome are unfortunate in being born in C
eathen lands. Of heathen parentage, v
tc. But the Scripture shows that dur "
lg this present time God is exercising D
is sovereign power in electing a spe- Il
Ial class Of special characters, and
ssures us that a majority Of these are "
eing called from amongst the mixed d.
copies Of Europe and America, and ci
nat proportionately few are being nj
altered from other nationalities. m
II all Of the non-elect were consigned al
, eternal torment. or even to Purga- d,
Try, grave injustice would be IL
largeable against the Almighty Elect in
!. But this is not the case. The bC
ord is no respecter of persons, but M
taking out from the world Of man "
Ind. from every nation. those with Ie
litable characters. those upon whom su