Then the next thing is, he confessed Christ at that dark period. It
was the darkest hour of Christ's pilgrimage down here. We will never
see another dark hour like that. The sin of the world was on Him;
heaven was closed against Him--locked, bolted, and barred. He was now
hanging on the tree bearing our sins; and it is written, "Cursed is
every one that hangeth on a tree." And even God had to hide His face
from Him, for He could not look on sin, and Christ was then bearing
the sin of all the world. I believe that's what Christ meant in the
garden of Gethsemane, when He prayed that the cup might pass from Him.
Up to that time He saw His Father's face, and He knew He was blessed
of Him, and from time to time a voice came from heaven, "This is my
beloved Son." But now He was taking our place before God as a sinner,
and God had to hide His face from Him. Yes, it was breaking the
Saviour's heart; and now, when darkness is coming over creation, and
the moon is to be turned into blood, and the sun is about to veil its
face because it cannot look upon the terrible scene, and Peter, one of
His most conspicuous disciples, had denied Him with a curse, and swore
that he never knew Him, and Judas, one of His own disciples, had gone
out and sold Him for thirty pieces of silver, and the chief men of the
nation were mocking Him, saying, "He saved others, let Him save
Himself, if He be the Christ"--amidst all this darkness and gloom, out
comes this signal faith of the thief, "Lord, remember me," He called
Him Lord there and then; and he said to the other thief, "This man
hath done nothing amiss." Thank God for that confession. There's faith
and confession for you. If you want to be saved, you must have faith
in Christ, and be ready to confess Him before all men.
"LORD, REMEMBER ME."
Look at the prayer of the thief. People say, "Oh, pray for salvation,
and you will get it!" Yes, but bear in mind you must have faith in
Christ before you can pray. He had got faith in Christ, and now he
calls Him "Lord." It was the sound of a young convert's voice, "Lord,
remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom." It was not a very long
prayer, but it was a prayer red-hot, one right out of his heart. Some
people tell you they cannot pray without a prayer-book. But the poor
thief had no prayer-book; and if there had been any prayer-books then,
there was nobody to give him one. He wanted salvation, he simply
wanted to be saved, and he cried from his heart, "Lord, remember me!"
and a more eloquent prayer never was heard or printed on earth. But
not only that, he got more than he asked, for he only asked to be
remembered. We always get more than we ask when we come to the Lord.