FREE! FREE!
In the days of Wilberforce, when slavery was abolished, and it was said that no slave could live under the Union Jack, because a bill had been passed declaring every man free, the news had got abroad, and when the captain of a ship was going to a distant island in the slave dominions, the negroes were on the watch to get the news and make sure if it were true. They were anxious to know if the bill had passed that they were really free. And when the captain came in sight of the little island, there they were waiting to get the tidings, and the captain put his trumpet up to his mouth, and shouted across the island, “Free! Free!” And the cry was taken up and echoed through the island, “Free! Free!” And they shouted for joy, because they were slaves no longer. I bring you good news. The Son of God will speak the word, “Free.” He spoke the words on the cross, and the poor thief was a free man, and Satan could not hold him.
Then think of the contrast! In the morning led out a poor condemned man, cursing and reviling the Son of God Himself; in the evening singing the new song of redemption. That evening I see him hard by the throne, singing the sweet song of Moses and the Lamb. In the morning cursing, in the evening singing, “Glory to God in the highest.” Was it not a change? What a contrast! Think of it, O sinner. Condemned in the morning by man, cast out as too vile for earth; in the evening good enough for heaven; in the evening washed in the blood of the Lamb, and Christ ready to receive him into the kingdom of heaven. Christ was not ashamed to walk down the crystal pavement of heaven with him. He heard the shout on the cross when Christ called out, “It is finished!” How his soul must have thrilled with joy at that shout! He said, “My salvation is completed now.” He saw the spear thrust into that side and the blood flow out, and I can see the sparkle on his face lit up with glory. “Without the shedding of blood there is no remission.” It was a sad sight, but glorious.