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 TESTIMONY OF GREAT SCIENTISTS:

 THE FAMILY ALTAR FOR 30 MARCH 2026 ((F.W. Herzberger-1922)

March 30.

"And he said unto Jesus, Lord, remember me when Thou comest

into Thy kingdom. And Jesus said unto him, Verily, I say unto

thee, To-day shalt Thou be with Me in paradise." Luke 23:42-43

"He shall see of the travail of His soul, and shall be satisfied ;

by His knowledge shall My righteous Servant justify many; for

He shall bear their iniquities. Therefore will I divide Him a

portion with the great, and He shall divide the spoil with the

strong; because He hath poured out His soul unto death; and

He was numbered with the transgressors; and He bare the sin

of many, and made intercession for the transgressors." Most

gloriously do we see this prophecy of Isaiah 53 fulfilled in the

conversion and salvation of the dying thief. He is brought to

repentance through what he hears and sees of his crucified Lord

and Savior. His repentance is genuine. He rebukes the blas-

pheming thief on the left, and confesses : "We receive the due

reward of our deeds." He testifies to the holiness and blameless-

ness of his Savior by declaring: "This Man hath done nothing

amiss." His faith triumphs over sin, death, and hell by humbly

and trustingly praying: "Lord, remember me when Thou comest

into Thy kingdom." And in His free grace and mercy the Lord

accepts this criminal, who has no merit, no goodness to boast of,

and tells him: "To-day shalt thou be with Me in paradise!"

If ever, we see the solemn truth established here that we are saved

by the all-sufficient merit and freely forgiving mercy of our Savior

alone, and by nothing else in the world. Have we made His

saving merit ours by true repentance and faith, as did the dying

thief? So many put off their repentance to their dying day and

appeal to the example of the dying thief on the right of our Lord.

But they forget the warning example of the thief on the left, who

did not repent and was not saved. To-day while you hear the

pleading voice of your Savior: "Look unto Me, and be ye saved,

all the ends of the earth !" — to-day harden not your hearts, but

come to Jesus! To-morrow it may be too late!