Scripture Verse

He said unto Jesus, Lord, remember me when Thou comest into Thy kingdom. And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, today shalt thou be with Me in paradise. Luke 23:42–43

Introduction

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John Newton (1725–1807)

Words: John New­ton, Ol­ney Hymns (Lon­don: W. Ol­iv­er, 1779), Book 1, num­ber 110. The two mal­e­fac­tors.

Music: Mer­cy Lou­is M. Gott­schalk, 1867 (🔊 pdf nwc).

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Louis M. Gottschalk (1829–1869)

Lyrics

Sovereign grace has power alone
To sub­due a heart of stone;
And the mo­ment grace is felt,
Then the hard­est heart will melt.

When the Lord was cru­ci­fied,
Two trans­gress­ors with Him died;
One with vile blas­phem­ing tongue,
Scoffed at Je­sus as he hung.

Thus he spent his wick­ed breath,
In the ve­ry jaws of death
Perished, as too many do,
With the Sav­ior in his view.

But the oth­er, touched with grace,
Saw the dan­ger of his case;
Faith re­ceived to own the Lord,
Whom the scribes and priests ab­horred.

Lord, he prayed, re­mem­ber me
When in glo­ry Thou shalt be
;
Soon with Me, the Lord re­plies,
Thou shalt rest in pa­ra­dise.

This was won­drous grace indeed,
Grace vouch­safed in time of need!
Sinners, trust in Je­sus’ name;
You shall find Him still the same.

But be­ware of un­be­lief,
Think up­on the hard­ened thief;
If the Gos­pel you dis­dain,
Christ, to you, will die in vain.