SOME people fall sick, lie upon their beds, and die there. Some people meet with an accident, and are suddenly killed-they are burned, they are drowned, they are crushed under a wheel, or kicked by a horse, or dashed to pieces by a fall. Some people are put to death; they are accused of having murdered one of their fellow-creatures, and are hanged up by the neck till they die. Which of all these ways of dying is the most dreadful? Is it not the last? It is dreadful to be put to death on account of crimes we have done.

In our country, none but murderers are executed; but in other countries, thieves are often put to death. Here the punishment is hanging, but in other countries, there are other ways of killing wicked men; in one place the head is cut off, in another the body is pierced with spears.

Sometimes good people are put to death. Wicked people accuse them, and the judge believes the accusers, and orders them to be executed. The best man who ever lived was put to death.

The Son of God once became a man; he was called Jesus. Wicked men hated him, accused him, and killed him. How did they kill him? In a most cruel way. They took a large piece of wood, and placed another piece across it. Then they laid Jesus down upon the wood, and nailed his feet to the end of it, and they stretched out his arms, and nailed each hand to the end of the other piece of wood; then they lifted up the wood, and made it stand upright in the earth. The body of Jesus hung upon the cross, and the nails tore the tender flesh off his hands. Thus the Lord was crucified. There were two other men nailed upon crosses in the same place as Jesus. They were wicked men; they were thieves. They were crucified on each side of Jesus, one on the right hand and the other on the left; they were very near him, and they could speak to him, and hear what he said. They saw the men passing by the cross of Jesus, and looking up and laughing; they heard them reading what was written over the cross, "This is the King of the Jews;" and they heard them say, "If he be the Son of God, let him come down from the cross;" and they could hear Jesus sweetly say, "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.'

And what did the thieves do when they saw and heard these things? One of the thieves began to mock and abuse Jesus, and he said, "If thon be the Christ, save thyself and us."

That was not a good prayer. The thief asked Jesus to save him, but he did not believe he could save him; he wanted to be saved from dying on the cross, but he did not care about being saved from the everlasting pains of hell

The other thief was quite different. He was displeased to hear his fellow talk in this wicked way just as he was dying, and he spoke to him; for, though the cross of Jesus was between them, he could speak loud enough to make him hear. He asked him if he did not fear God, now that he was condemned to die; and told him that they deserved to die, but Jesus had done nothing wrong. You see that this thief was sorry for his sins; you see, also, that he believed that Jesus was quite good. I do not know what the other thief said, or whether he gave any answer.

The

thief who was sorry for his sins then spoke to Jesus. This was his prayer, "Lord, remem ber me when thou comest into thy kingdom." The dying thief believed that Jesus was a King, and that he would one day sit upon a throne. Did Jesus grant the poor thief's prayer? He gave him such an answer as will surprise you, if you have never heard it before. He said, "To-day shalt thou be with me in paradise." What is paradise? It is heaven. That very day the poor thief was to be with Jesus in heaven. What a change for him! Instead of hanging on a cross, he would sit in the glorious palace of the King of kings:

instead of hearing wicked men speak against Jesus, he would hear the bright angels sing his praises; instead of seeing the Son of God bleed and groan, he would see him shine like the light in the kingdom of his Father.

What a happy thing it was for that poor thief that his cross was placed so near the cross of Jesus! It was better to be nailed there than to be lying on the softest bed anywhere else. Had not the thief been nailed to that cross, he might never have seen Jesus, he might never have believed in him, he might never have prayed to him, he might never have gone to live with him.

Was it long before that poor thief died? Not long; but Jesus died first. His last words were, "It is finished!" and then he died, at three o'clock, in the afternoon. It was at nine in the morning that he had been nailed to his cross.

The thieves were still hanging alive on their crosses, when some soldiers came to see whether they were dead. When the soldiers saw that the thieves were alive, they broke their legs, and the pain killed them immediately. Then the thief who loved Jesus went to be with him. How glad the angels were to see this sinner saved from hell! It was Jesus who had saved him. If Jesus had not died upon the cross, that thief must have gone to hell. It was the blood of Jesus that washed him from his sins; it was the spirit of

Jesus that made his heart sorry, and taught his tongue to pray. How glad the thief must have been to see again that dear Friend who had died by his side.

But was it for that thief only that Jesus died? Oh, no; he died for all the thieves who ever have believed in him, and who ever shall believe in him. It is a wretched thing to be a thief; God has said, "Thou shalt not steal," and all who go on stealing shall be sent to hell. But if, when thieves, whether old or young, hear of Jesus, they are sorry for their wickedness, and ask him to forgive them, they shall be saved. If any sinner, when he hears this history, thinks in his heart, "I will go on stealing till I am just going to die, and then I will be sorry and ask God to pardon me," that sinner is in great danger of being sent to hell. God is very angry with him for intending to go on in his wickedness. I do not know what God will do to him, but he has cut off many sinners quite suddenly; he has taken them away in his anger, and given them no time to repent.

The history of the dying thief is to be found in Luke 23: 32, 33, 39-43. John 19: 30-32.

The Saviour heard the poor thief's prayer
And promised he would take him where

Our God and angels dwell.
Alas! his life was spent in sin:
What joy a heaven at last to win,
And to escape from hell!