Faith he pours out this Prayer with his last Breath Lord Remember me when thou comest into thy Kingdom Let us think a little what could this poor Penitent behold in our Dying Saviour that should make him believe that his Remembrance of him could avail him in another World What was there in Appearance for which he should take him to be the Son of God or so much as an Innocent Man Was there any thing to an Eye of Sence that did bear Testimony to the Dignity and Excellency of his Person Could the Majesty of his Countenance demand Reverence and Respect was not his Face disfigured What Royal Purple was there but that of his own Blood which trickled down from his Wounds What Symptoms of his being Lord and King that he should think him to be such in Reality while the Jews and Romans call'd him so in Scorn What Crown had he on his Head but one of Thorns which was put on him as a mark of Infamy and not as a Badge of Honour not as a Royal Ornament but as a Token of Reproach In the Judgment of Sence what Treasures had he in his Hands to dispose of when both his Hands were pierc'd and fastened to the Gibbit with Nails If he be a King in the other World where are the Cherubims and Seraphims the Angels and the Heavenly Host to make up his Retinue If he be a King where is his Crown and Scepter his Guards and Train of Attendants when his own Disciples left him and his Cross was encompass'd with rude Soldiers to prevent his being deliver'd if any should attempt it And to render his Sufferings the more publick and shameful and yet by the Power of a Divine Faith he cries out Lord remember me c. Secondly Tho' he saw nothing that was Royal and Magnificent like a King to encourage his Faith and Prayer yet 't is probable he might hear something of that Nature But if we reflect upon the History of his Passion we find no such thing What Words did he hear him speak upon the Cross that might discover him to be the Messiah or but an extraordinary Person He heard him say I thirst but was such Weakness and Infirmity agreeable to one that was the Son of God Could he be thought able to dispose of the Kingdom of Heaven that needed a little Water to quench his Thirst He heard him say My God my God why hast thou forsaken me But could he judge him to be the beloved Son of God and yet hear him thus complain of his being forsaken He heard him say Behold my Mother But how could he think that the King of Heaven and Lord of Glory was born of a Woman his own Creature What in short did he hear or see that might encourage him to believe that he was able to dispose of the Heavenly Kingdom And yet he desires to be remembred by him as the Sovereign of it What then can we think or say as to his Case but that he was taught of God by the Holy Spirit enlightened into the Mystery of the Cross as the way to the Crown and perswaded that this was the true Messiah who was to be numbred with Transgressors and wounded for Transgressions and to make our Peace by his own Blood His Senses you see could not help his Faith in this Case Thirdly Let us further consider the Excellency of his short Prayer and how different from the common Lord have mercy of dying People after a wicked Life Lord remember me when thou comest into thy Kingdom The Matter Manner and all the Circumstances of his Request are very Extraordinary He does not beg to be deliver'd from his present Pain He prays not to be sav'd from that shamefull Death He requests not to be taken down from the Cross That the Nails might be pluckt out of his Hands and Feet Or that his sense of Pain might be mortify'd or his Sufferings shortned That he might not feel his Torments at all or but for a little while No he seems to have no Concern about the Sentence executed on him in this World but begs that Christ would be kind to him in the next Lord remember me c. Is this the Voice of a Malefactor or the Faith of a Disciple A strange Request from such a Person at such a Time to our condemned crucified dying Lord That a Criminal under the Sentence of Death should make such an Address to one that suffer'd as a Malefactor too and venture his Eternal State on his Power to save him By begging to be remembred of Christ in his Kingdom he owns his Ability to save him and that notwithstanding the shamefull Circumstances of his Humiliation he was a Glorious King Hereby he testifies his Hope and Expectation of a future Blessedness after Death and in this Prayer professeth his Belief of it in the midst of Tortures in the midst of Calumnies in the prospect of Death before a vast Assembly of Scorners He is not discourag'd but speaks it aloud before them all not caring who heard him Lord remember me when thou comest into thy Kingdom He was not scandaliz'd at his reproachfull Death As if his Eye had been fixt on his Resurrection Ascension and Glory And therefore talks of being remembred by him as one who had Power to save him and who was to be the Judge of quick and dead Lord remember me c. Which way soever we view this Prayer it is admirable and astonishing How weighty is the Matter How copious full and significant the Sense of every Word And yet how humble and modest the Expression I say how modest the Expression Lord remember me i. e. Lord I can presume to crave nothing higher nothing greater nothing more of thee than a bare Remembrance O Lord I beseech thee remember me and I leave it to thy Pleasure to determin how in what Manner and to what Purpose thou wilt remember me He acknowledgeth the Wisdom of Christ as fittest to chuse what Favour to grant him with a Sense at the same time of his own Unworthiness of any and owns the Mercy of Christ as able to overlook that Unworthiness and that he had Power to grant and confer the Blessedness which he prays for Lord remember me when thou comest into thy Kingdom i. e. Lord Remember to receive my departing Soul Remember to shew Pity to a dying Creature that now more than ever needs it O Lord I am passing into another World my Joynts are stretched my Heart pants my Breath grows faint I am even ready to dye But my great Request my earnest my only Petition now is that thou wouldest Remember me when thou comest into thy Kingdom Lord Jesus this is what I most humbly beg that whither thou goest I may go That where thou shalt be I may be That I may have a Place with thee in Paradise That I may be with thee in the other World in thy Kingdom That then and there thou wouldest remember
his abused Mercies for all the Contempt of his Authority when he will shew forth his Wrath. Oh! fear him who after he hath killed the Body hath power to cast Soul and Body into Hell We have heard as * J. Cooper Prospect of the Heavenly Glory Ch. xi 8vo lately printed one expresses it of some who have endured breaking on the Wheel ripping up of their Bowels fleaing alive racking of Joynts burning of Flesh pounding in a Mortar tearing in pieces with Flesh-hooks boyling in Oyl roasting on hot fiery Gridirons c. And yet all these tho' you should superadâ— thereto all Diseases such as the Plague Stone Gout Strangury or whatever else you can name most torturing to the Body together with the most Inhumane Cruelties prodigious Butcheries executed by the most bloody Persetors upon the Martyrs of Christ in any Age they would all come infinitely short tho' they were all collected into one extreamest Torment of that Wrath that Horror that unconceivable Anguish which the Damned must inevitably suffer every Moment without any Intermission of their Pains in Hellish Flames What a terrible change must Death then make in one that fared deliciously every Day and was cloathed in Purple and fine Linnen his Winter and Summer Garment to be stript of all his pleasant things To be reduc'd to the greatest Extremity as in one Moment to sink from an Earthly Paradise into a Lake of Fire After so much Plenty and Abundance Luxury and Superfluity to awake in Flames to want a drop of Water to cool his Tongue The Poor Man supplicated in vain for Relief from him a little while ago but now he begs some Relief of the Poor Man Father Abraham have Mercy upon me and send Lazarus that he may dip the tip of his Finger in Water and cool my Tongue Son remember saith he that thou in thy Life-time hadst thy good things but Lazarus evil things but now he is comforted and thou art tormented What 's become of his delicate Wines and various Dishes his rich Ornaments numerous Attendants and all the Particulars that went to accommodate his Pomp and Pleasure and maintain his Luxurious Living Now he is dead he lifts up his Eyes in Torment What a terrible change will it be for one that in this World was Loved Caress'd Respected liv'd in Plenty and Abundance and wanted nothing to eat drink and be merry What a Change for such a one to die and his Soul awake in Torments At the very moment that she leaves the Body to find she 's extreamly miserable and lost for ever separated from all the Good she loved and delighted in and plung'd into an Abyss of unspeakable Misery The Remembrance of good things past will make the Sufferings of Evil to be much more intolerable There is much of Torment in the remembrance of their past Enjoyments and Actions what they have had and what they have done and what they have lost To remember how fair they once stood for Heaven but forfeited neglected and despised it The Remembrance of their past Opportunities which are gone will be their Torment If they could never think of the past Mercies of God or of the Grace and Love of Christ that called them to Repentance and offered them Salvation it would ease and mitigate a great part of their Torment Whereas they shall know and remember and think of it how they were called advised and warned But there was some Trifle which they preferr'd before Heaven They shall be convinc'd fully convinc'd that they deserve all the Miseries they suffer and have none to blame but themselves That 't is just with God to banish them from Heaven out of the Region of Light and Joy And this they shall reflect upon to their unspeakable Anguish for the knowledge of the Soul will be more clear and lively and extended when separated from the Body And accordingly the Passions of the Soul will be more violent and impetuous Their Eyes shall be opened and the Vail upon their Hearts removed Their Sins shall be set in order before them and they shall know how much God hates Sin and what is the Obliquity Deformity and Injustice of it What Opposition to the Holiness of God and what Ingratitude for all his Mercies is included in it with all the other Aggravations of their Guilt as against Knowledge Convictions Promises c. And they shall not be able to forget any thing of this or to free themselves one moment from such thoughts They shall see nothing and think of nothing but what shall afflict them They shall remember for what momentary Pleasures they lost the Joys of Heaven and are driven from the presence of the Lord. What plain warnings they once had but they would not hearken nor consider As is accordingly threatned Isa LXV 12 13 14. Because when I called ye did not answer but did evil before mine eyes Therefore thus saith the Lord God Behold my Servants shall eat and drink but ye shall be hungry and thirsty Behold my Servants shall rejoyce but ye shall be ashamed Behold my Servants shall sing for joy of Heart but ye shall cry for sorrow of Heart and shall howl for vexation of Spirit And in the Extremity of their Sufferings we read that they shall gnaw their Tongue for pain and blaspheme the God of Heaven because of their pains Rev. xvi 10 11. You may judge a little of the Extremity of their Sufferings by what we have heard or seen of the Anguish of a Distressed Conscience when but a Spark of the Divine Displeasure falls on the Soul how Confounded and Amazed how Restless and Terrify'd are Men in such a Case when they shall cry out Psalm lxxviii 6.7 15 16 17. Job xvi 12 13 14. Thy Wrath lies hard upon me thy fierce Wrath goeth over me While I suffer thy Terrors I am distracted and ready to die It is not possible fully to understand what Fears and Agonies what Trembling what Horror what Despair that Man must feel within himself who apprehends his Soul is lost or like to be lost For the real Belief of the Immortality of the Soul with some awakened Apprehensions of God's deserved threatned Vengeance when brought home to a Man 's own particular case must needs distress him and fill him with Amazement What can you speak to him or what can be done for him to give him Ease any further than you can give him Hope 'T is an Evidence that this is little believed and considered because there are no more who cry out in such Terror and Distress of Soul But several under the sense of one Sin have been perplexed in Conscience so as to be in Danger of Destroying themselves and of being swallowed up in Despair God can set it on with such a sense of Guilt that shall rend the Heart in pieces with the most desperate Rage and none of the Pleasures of Sense no Musick no merry Company no nor the Spirits of Wine shall be
me and be gracious to me and mercifully receive my Spirit Accept me now in the Agonies of Death and remember to acquit and own me after Death and let me dwell in thy blessed Presence and Kingdom for ever Something of all this seems imply'd and comprehended in his short Prayer Lord remember me c. Upon the Consideration of the whole can any Encouragement be justly taken from this Example for Men to delay their Repentance and Conversion to God till Old Age or a Sick-Bed and the Approaches of Death As we have seen how extraordinary this Prayer was we read how effectual it was also How speedily did he obtain a gracious Answer for our Lord tells him This Day shalt thou be with me in Paradise Nothing can match or parallel the wonderful Grace of this Prayer but the Kindness and Bounty of our Lord's Answer This Day shalt thou be with me in Paradise He craves a Remembrance of him but our Lord promises him present possession He begs a Favour as of one that was Absent Lord remember me c. but Christ assures him that he shall that very Day be present with him in the Happy Receptacle of Holy Souls departed This Day shalt c. There is no ground then from the Case of the Penitent Thief for any man to count much upon future dying Repentance because His was Effectual and Accepted at the last Hour I grant the Promises of Forgiveness are made to Repentance to Confession of Sin and Resolutions of forsaking it But I fear it is not enough consider'd That what we read of this in the New Testament doth especially concern * Traité des Sources de la Corruption qui regne aujour d'huy parmi les Chrestiens 8vo Amst 1700. partie 1. §. 6. Le Renvoy de la Conversion New Converts to Christianity who were brought to confess the Christian Faith and offer'd themselves to be Baptized Professed Repentance was requir'd of the Gentiles on their first Entrance into the Christian State and therefore Repentance is mentioned amongst the Fundamentals which the Catechumens were to be instructed in before and in order to Baptism Heb. vi 1 2. With this they were to begin the Christian Life But for Baptized Christians they are obliged to all holy Conversation and Godliness And is there no hazard for Christians to think to Finish where the Pagans were to begin to think to enter into Heaven by the same Door by which the Heathen entred into the visible Church I deny not the Possibility of a true and saving Repentance at last for who can limit or set bounds to the Free Grace of God but certainly a Death-bed Repentance is a very Deceitfull thing Who can be assured that it is safe in it self or know that God doth accept Mens Repentance and Sorrow for Sin after a Sinfull Life when they can Sin no more That instead of a whole Life of Obedience to God he will at last accept a few forced Tears and Prayers with some fair Promises and Resolutions to live well when the Men are Sick and must Die and can live no longer to sin as formerly if they had never so much a mind to it 'T is almost as reasonable to * Dr. Bates of Spiritual Perfection Chap. XI expect that the Sun should cross the order of Nature and rise in the West as that the Son of Righteousness should arise with Healing in his Wings upon an habitual obstinate Sinner at the last Hour There needs an Extraordinary Grace if their Repentance be true to render it Comfortable to the Dying Penitent For tho' we must follow a Judgment of Charity yet God onely knows whether the Heart be changed and whether the Life would be if the Person Recovered We have seen many seem Penitent and Devout upon a Sick Bed who after they have been unexpectedly restored to Health have plainly proved their Repentance was not unto Life I may express this in the Words of a * Archbishop Tillotson on Eccles viii 11. Of Godâ—s Long Suffering Serm. VIII Vol. VII Great Man Though Sincere Repentance at last be possible it is almost impossible for the Party himself much more for others upon any good ground to judge when it is Sincere God who knows the Hearts of all Men only knows the Sincerity of it I have therefore no great Opinion of that extraordinary Comfort which some have upon a sudden Repentance for great Crimes because I cannot discern any sufficient Ground for it I think great Humility and Dejection of Mind and a doubtful Apprehension of their Condition would much better become them because their Case is really so very doubtful in it self Let them exercise as deep Repentance as possible and bring forth all the Fruits meet for it as are possible in so short a time And for the rest humbly commit themselves to the Mercy of God in Jesus Christ Let them imitate as near as they can the Behaviour of the Penitent Thief the only Example the Scriptures have left us of a late Repentance that proved Effectual He gave the greatest Testimony of his Repentance but we don't find in him any signs of extraordinary Comfort much less of Confidence But he humbly commended himself to the Mercy and Goodness of his Saviour saying Lord remember me when thou comest into thy Kingdom This may primarily refer to the Case of Criminals condemn'd to Death by the Civil Magistrate but is applicable to any Man 's sudden Repentance upon a Sick-Bed after a Wicked Life It must needs be uncomfortable because 't is so exceeding hazardous and doubtful Exhortation under two Heads First Labour to be establish'd in the Belief of these Truths and to be suitably affected with them viz. These Important Truths of the two Eternal States That we may soundly Believe and seriously consider them The Influence upon our Affections and Practice will be according to our Faith Doubtless if we had such a certain view such a clear Apprehension of the great things of the other World as the Christian Faith may give us it would break the Snare of most Temptations from Earthly things If we did indeed believe the unspeakable Glory of Heaven and the Intolerable Misery of the Wicked in Hell and the Eternity of both as we believe and are perswaded of the Truth of what we see and feel and know by our our Senses Let us then consider whether these things are true or no and apply them to our selves Let us not apprehend the Distance to be very great between the present Pleasures of Sin and the threatned Sufferings of another World for how short and uncertain a thing is the Life of Man Let us not think it will be only the miserable Portion of a few when we have so much reason to think that but very Few will be Eternally saved in Comparison of the many that will perish Let us not think in General that this Misery is only for such who are greater Sinners than