River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1914-04-09


with the ear of faith. the eye of faith.
let us rejoice in the blessed opportuni-
| ty. Let US seek indeed to make our
calling and election sure to this Heav-
enly estate of glory, honor, immortali-
| ty and joint-heirship with our Lord
the King of kings and Lord of lords!
Christ's Atonement.
Both the thieves crucified with our
| Lord lost their right to the original
Eden. or Paradise, of God through Fa
ther Adams disobedience, as did we
all. Both those thieves were born In
sin. shapen in iniquity and in sin did
their mothers conceive them. as with
us all. Both thieves were redeemed by
the precious blood of Christ, as were
| we all; for Jesus by the grace of
God tasted death for every man.: HE
is the Precipitation for our sins 1.-THE
Church's sins]: and not for ours only,
but also for the sins of the whole
world. Hebrews 20; / John %
Thus, as we have seen. the Redeemer
has made provision for both of those
thieves. as well as for all of us-all Of
Adams race-to be recovered from the
sin and death conditions of the fall.
and restored to Paradise The Church
called during this Gospel Age. may
reach the spiritual Paradise. or high
est condition of holiness and happiness
The two thieves and the remainder of
mankind will have their opportunity
during the Millennium Their opportu
nifty will be for a return to earthly life.
perfection and happiness, and to an
earthly Eden-world- How much
grander work will thus result from
our Lords death than we had previous
ly supposed!
Let none suppose, however, that
those two thieves will enter Paradise
on the same footing. While both were
guilty of robbery. they were evidently
dissimilar in the condition of their
hearts. The one was hardened, as evi
denced by the fact that he could speak
so rudely to the Redeemer. whose face
bespoke gentleness. purity and limo
cence of crime. IF Thou be the
Christ. save Thyself and us!' luke
3:39l Such cruelty implied a deep
degradation of mind-implied that he
was sin-hardened.
And yet we must remember that 9th
ers of the multitude standing by used
similarly cruel language We must
remember, too. that there are many
thieves who are not caught; and that
there are many, perhaps as morally
wrong, as evilly intentioned who, for
fear of the consequences, never com
L. W
pose that some of the Scribes and
Pharisees and Doctors of Divinity of
those days were in Gods sight much
worse than the impenitent thief-mur-
derers at heart and in deed. Yet of
the latter st. Peter declared, 81 wOt.
brethren, that through ignorance ye
did it, as did also your rulers when
you crucified the Lord of Glory. IRE
pent We therefore and be converts."-
Acts 3:15:19.
An Earthly Paradise.
Ignorance superstition and inherited
depravity all bore down upon the i'm
penitent thief to a degree which we
are not capable of properly estimating.
The Lord will judge him-both thieves
unquestionably have twofold bless
ing: first, he will be blessed for his
penitent attitude of mind; second. he
will be blessed for his faithfulness in
expressing that penitence and in show
ing mercy to our Lord in His distress.
Our Lord declared that even a cup of
cold water given to the least of His
disciples shall have its reward. Sure
ly it will be in harmony. then, that the
penitent thief will have reward for
his defense of the Master.
That reward will consist. first of all,
in the blessing of his own heart
through the action therein of the mer-
ciful sentiment. A reward will come
to him in proportion to the exigencies
of the occasion and the greatness Of
the One whom he loved. If the one
who favors righteous man will re
ceive a righteous mans reward, and
the one who favors a prophet will re-
ceive a prophets reward, surely the
one who favored the Redeemer will
receive special reward. such as the
Redeemer might be expected to grant.
The penitent thief manifested not
only sympathy, but honesty. He said
to the other, who rallied at the LORD,
"Dost thou not fear God, seeing thou
art in the same condemnation? And
we indeed justly; for we receive the
due reward for our deeds; but this man
hath done nothing amiss." duke
% 40, Al 1t is entirely in keeping
with the general teachings of the
Lords Word that the honest-hearted
and the merciful shall have special
blessings. Those blessings cannot
reach them in the grave. and it is not
always that just returns reach the de-
serving in the present life. Virtue is
not always it's own reward.
Our Lord declares the truth on the
subject, assuring us that such shall be