ul brought from the world He was dying to
redeem. The Lord loved him because he confessed Him in that dark
hour. It was a dark hour for many who reviled the Savior. You have
heard of the child who did not want to die and go to heaven because
he didn't know anybody there. But the thief would have one
acquaintance. I can imagine how his soul leaped within him when he
saw the spear thrust into our Savior's side, and heard the cry:

"It is finished!"

He wanted to follow Christ. He was in a hurry to be gone, when they
came to break his legs. I can hear the Lord calling:

"Gabriel, prepare a chariot. Make haste. There is a friend of mine
hanging on that cross. They are breaking his legs. He will soon be
ready to come. Make haste, and bring him to me?"

The angel in the chariot swept down from heaven, took the soul of
that penitent thief, and hastened back to glory. The gates of the
city swung wide open, and the angels shouted welcome to this poor
sinner who had been washed white in the blood of the Lamb.

And that, my friends, is just what Christ wants to do for you. That
is the business on which He came down from heaven. That is why He
died. And if He gave such a swift salvation to this poor thief on
the cross, surely He will give you the same if, like the penitent
thief, you repent, and confess, and trust in the Savior.

Somebody says that this man "was saved at the eleventh hour." I
don't know about that. It might have been the first hour with him.
Perhaps he never knew of Christ until he was led out to die beside
Him. This may have been the very first time he ever had a chance to
know the Son of God.

How many of you gave your hearts to Christ the very first time He
asked them of you? Are you not farther along in the day than even
that poor thief?

Some years ago, in one of the mining districts of England, a young
man attended one of our meetings and refused to go from the place
till he had found peace in the Savior. The next day he went down
into the pit, and the coal fell in upon him. When they took him out
he was broken and mangled, and had only two or three minutes of life
left in him. His friends gathered about him, saw his lips moving,
and, bending down to catch his words, heard him say:

"It was a good thing I settled it last night."

Settle it now, my friends, once for all. Begin now to confess your
sins, and pray the Lord to remember you. He will make you an heir of
His kingdom, if you will accept t