The worldling blesses God while He gives him plenty, but the Christian blesses Him when He smites him: he believes Him to be too wise to err and too good to be unkind; he trusts Him where he cannot trace Him, looks up to Him in the darkest hour, and believes that all is well.
Christiana's last spoken words as she crosses the river (death) to the Celestial City in Part 2 of The Pilgrim's Progress:
"I come, Lord, to be with Thee, and bless Thee."
Psalm 50:14, 15 Sacrifice a thank offering to God, and pay your vows to the Most High. Call on Me in a day of trouble; I will rescue you, and you will honor Me.
C. H. Spurgeon:
If sinners be damned, at least let them leap to Hell over our dead bodies. And if they perish, let them perish with our arms wrapped about their knees, imploring them to stay.
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Matthew 10:19-20
[19] When they deliver you over, do not be anxious how you are to speak or what you are to say, for what you are to say will be given to you in that hour. [20] For it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.
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This highlights that while the saved thief offers hope for any desperate sinner, the fact that only one was saved serves as a warning against complacency, showing that salvation isn't guaranteed and emphasizing the contrast between faith and hardened unbelief.
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Concerning the two thieves who died with Jesus:
"One thief was saved that no sinner might despair, but only one, that no sinner might presume". —- attributed to J. C. Ryle
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"If the doctor wants to know the state of your health, he says, 'Let me see your tongue!' There is no better test of the health of the soul, than to see what is on the tongue!" C. H. Spurgeon
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Adoniram Judson: "If I had not felt certain that every additional trial was ordered by infinite love and mercy, I could not have survived my accumulated suffering.”