Holiness - Ryle - XII - Chapter 11

Required reading
Holiness by J C Ryle (available from Amazon or free on the internet, here for example) - Read Chapter 11, 'Christ's greatest trophy'.

My summary
Ryle continues using Biblical examples to make his points and this week we look at the thief on the cross.

Firstly we learn of Christ's power and willingness to save sinners.

Secondly we see that if some are saved in the very hour of death, others are not.

Thirdly it is noted that the Spirit always leads saved souls in one way, regardless of how late in their life they are converted.  In the thief we see:
(i) how strong his faith was (he believed Jesus was Lord, had a kingdom, could give eternal life, was innocent);
(ii) a right sense of his own sin;
(iii) a brotherly love for the other thief.

Fourthly from the thief we learn that believers in Christ when they die are with the Lord.

Finally, we see that the eternal portion of every man's soul is close to him - 'today shalt thou be with me in paradise'.

What grabbed me
I found helpful Ryle's rebuke against making much of death-bed fruit: 'It is mournful to hear what people sometimes say about what they call deathbed evidences. It is perfectly fearful to observe how little satisfies some people, and how easily they can persuade themselves that their friends have gone to heaven. They will tell you when their relative is dead and gone, that ‘he made such a beautiful prayer one day’, or that ‘he talked so well’, or that ‘he was so sorry for his old ways, and intended to live so differently if he got better’, or that ‘he craved nothing in this world’, or that ‘he liked people to read to him, and pray with him’. And because they have this to go upon, they seem to have a comfortable hope that he is saved! Christ may never have been named, the way of salvation may never have been in the least mentioned. But it matters not; there was a little talk of religion, and so they are content!...Once for all, let me say, that as a general rule, nothing is so unsatisfactory as deathbed evidences. The things that men say, and the feelings they express when sick and frightened, are little to be depended on. Often, too often, they are the result of fear, and do not spring from the ground of the heart. Often, too often, they are things said by rote, caught from the lips of ministers and anxious friends, but evidently not felt. And nothing can prove all this more clearly than the well–known fact, that the great majority of people who make promises of amendment on a sick bed, and then for the first time talk about religion, if they recover, go back to sin and the world.'

Ryle is right.  If we want to see true evidences of death-bed conversion, look at the thief.  His was not some weak faith or vain regret, but a strong and lively faith.

Next week's reading
Chapter 12, 'Ruler of the waves'.

Now it's your turn
Please post your own notes and thoughts in the comments section below.