42. — [Lord remember me, dc,] The remarks of Ness on this won- deiiul prayer are worth reading. ** This short prayer contained a very large and long creed, the articles whereof are these. 1. He believed that the soul died not with the body of man ; — 2. that there is a world to come for rewarding the pious and penitent, and for punishing the impious and impenitent ; — 3. that Christ though now under crucifying and killing tortures, yet bad right to a kingdom ; — 4. that this kingdom was in a better world than the present evil world ; — 5. that Christ would not keep this king- dom all to himself; — 6. that He would bestow a part and portion hereof on those that be truly penitent ; — 7. that the key of this kingdom did hau;^ at Christ's girdle, though He now hung dying on the cross ; — 8. that he does roll his whole soul for eternal salvation upon a dying Saviour."
Ness remarks, also, that the two malefactors, one penitent and the other impenitent, one on tlie right baud and the other on the left, are " a clear emblem of the sheep and goats** in the day of judgment.
[Into thy kingdom.] Scholefield remarks, that these words would have been better translated, " in thy kingdom."
It is observed justly, by Lightfoot, Bengel and other writers, that not one of the twelve apostles had such a clear and correct view of the real nature of Christ's " kingdom " as this penitent thief had.
43. — [ Verily I say unto thee.] The use of the word " amen," or "verily" here, shows 'the authority and power with which our Lord even on the cross could save souls, and the certainty with which the grant of paradise was made to the thief. His great faith received a great reward. No child of Adam ever received such an assurance as this.
[To-day shalt thou be with me.] This senteuce deserves close attention.
It is a distinct answer to the Romish doctrine of purgatory. It shows clearly that no purification of any kind after death is needed for the person that dies a penitent believer. If the thief needed no purgatory, the whole doctrine of purgatory falls to the ground.
It is an instructive intimation as to the state of believers after death. The moment they die they are "with Christ." I'heir condition of course is one we cannot pretend to explain. We cannot comprehend the state of a soul separate from the body. Enough for us to know that a dead believer is imme- diately ^ith Christ.
It is a clear proof of the separate existence of the soul when the body is dead. We shall live and have a being, even when our earthly tabernacle is mouldering in the grave. The thief's