Folly of Trusting to a Death-Bed Repentance
Maclaren. Luke 23:42 And he said to Jesus, Lord, remember me when you come into your kingdom. Do not trust a death-bed repentance, my brother. I have stood by many a death-bed, and few indeed have there been where I could have believed that the man was in a condition physically (to say nothing of anything else) clearly to see and grasp the message of the gospel. I know that God's mercy is boundless. I know that a man, going — swept down that great Niagara — if, before his little skiff tilts over into the awful rapids, he can make one great bound with all his strength, and reach the solid ground — I know he may be saved. It is an awful risk to run. A moment's miscalculation, and skiff and voyager alike are whelming in the green chaos below, and come up mangled into nothing, far away down yonder upon the white turbulent foam. "One was saved upon the cross," as the old divines used to tell us, "that none might despair; and only one that none might presume." (Maclaren.) Parallel Verses KJV: And he said unto Jesus, Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom. WEB: He said to Jesus, "Lord, remember me when you come into your Kingdom."