Hi Mike,

I am praying to see how the thief is being dealt with by Christ. I have yet to see it. I know Joseph and his brothers were a type of lake of fire judgment in that they were tormented till they repented and asked Joseph to have mercy on them. I know they could not believe Joseph had forgiven them until the old man had died. I am assuming after they had indeed repented, they were no longer tormented, and in fact became rulers of the 12 tribes. Doesn’t the thief asking for Jesus to remember him when He comes into his kingdom typify the thief’s repentance and old man dying? And if so, would not the thief’s torment end.  

Mike you stated: When you see all of this, then you will understand why Christ did not tell the dying thief, ‘Well Mr. thief, you sure blew it this time. You will now be in the lake of fire with that other thief, and you have now missed out on ruling during the thousand years, and ruling over all the masses of humanity in the lake of fire after the thousand years.”

No the thief was repentant and will receive fewer stripes that the thief who was railing on Christ to deliver him in his unrepentant condition. It was completely appropriate that Christ speak comforting words to the repentant thief, but words that were so general that they would not contain any promise that is not common to mankind.

If I understand your above comment correctly, then the thief will be cast into the lake of fire when he is resurrected. Will Jesus say to him, “Depart from me, I never knew you .” If so, what was the benefit of Jesus dying for the thief? How can Jesus say that he never knew him if he previously said he would be with him in paradise? Does the parable of the servant owing his master a huge debt and it being paid for by his master apply to the thief? If the master forgave the servant his debt, then why would the servant have to spend time in the lake of fire to pay the last farthing if there was no debt? I know this would apply to the thief if he failed to forgive those who owed him, or if he failed to endure to the end, beat his fellow servants, and every other parable which deals with enduring and abiding in Christ. Did the thief have enough life left from the time he repented until he died on the cross with Jesus to let his oil in his lamp run out, to allow his robe to become dirty, etc? Would not the parable of the worker who came in at the last hour and received his days wage of a penny not apply to the thief? Don’t the scriptures teach that we overcome or become overcomers by the blood of the lamb and the word of our testimony. Doesn’t the blood of the lamb being shed for the thief and the word of the thief’s testimony (remember me when you come into your kingdom) suffice to make the thief an overcomer?
Mike, I hope you do not think I am trying to argue with you or teach you anything. I am only trying to see the truth. In the past I have swept things that I did not understand under the rug and just believed that somehow if a person was to burn in Hell fire this was somehow out of God’s love. This is what I was taught by the orthodox church. I am determined now to, lord willing, see the truth (reference the thief) or just rest in the fact that I don’t know this truth yet.

Thanks for your help and patience,

Your brother, S____

Hi S____,
All the reasons you give in this e- mail for seeing the repentant thief as a converted, purified and perfected candidate for that blessed and holy first resurrection, are the exact same reasons I had for writing that first paper on the fate of the repentant thief.

I have seen for some time that being “chief of sinners” does not mean that one has to have actually committed the most crimes or the most heinous crimes. All that is needed is the acknowledgment that “all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life” are all in my Adamic flesh. When that is realized and acknowledged, then I can honestly agree with these two sections of scripture:

Luk 11:49  Therefore also said the wisdom of God, I will send them prophets and apostles, and [ some] of them they shall slay and persecute:
Luk 11:50  That the blood of all the prophets, which was shed from the foundation of the world, may be required of this generation;
Luk 11:51  From the blood of Abel unto the blood of Zacharias, which perished between the altar and the temple: verily I say unto you, It shall be required of this generation.

“This generation” is the generation reading these words. It is you, and it is me. But we are not just to be partakers only of all things which have passed. We are also, in Christ, partakers of all things that are to come:

1Co 3:21  Therefore let no man glory in men. For all things are yours;
1Co 3:22  Whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come; all are yours;
1Co 3:23  And ye are Christ’s; and Christ is God’s.

Talk about a “two edged sword” that makes the revelation of Jesus Christ much clearer when we understand that it includes “all things,” and that “all things” are a necessary part of that revelation.
What does all of this have to do with the repentant thief’s destiny? Well, you pose these very good questions:

“Will Jesus say to him, “Depart from me, I never knew you .” If so, what was the benefit of Jesus dying for the thief? How can Jesus say that he never knew him if he previously said he would be with him in paradise? Does the parable of the servant owing his master a huge debt and it being paid for by his master apply to the thief? If the master forgave the servant his debt, then why would the servant have to spend time in the lake of fire to pay the last farthing if there was no debt? I know this would apply to the thief if he failed to forgive those who owed him, or if he failed to endure to the end, beat his fellow servants, and every other parable which deals with enduring and abiding in Christ. Did the thief have enough life left from the time he repented until he died on the cross with Jesus to let his oil in his lamp run out, to allow his robe to become dirty, etc? Would not the parable of the worker who came in at the last hour and received his days wage of a penny not apply to the thief? Don’t the scriptures teach that we overcome or become overcomers by the blood of the lamb and the word of our testimony? Doesn’t the blood of the lamb being shed for the thief and the word of the thief’s testimony (remember me when you come into your kingdom) suffice to make the thief an overcomer?”

To which I can only answer with the scriptures:

1Co 3:21(b) … all things are yours;
1Co 3:22  Whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come; all are yours; [ including the blood of all the prophets]
1Co 3:23  And ye are Christ’s; and Christ is God’s.

The thief “is Christ’s and Christ is God’s,” and in that sense he will be with Christ in paradise, along with all the rest of mankind. It is a very general promise which was of much comfort to a man who was being put to death for thievery, but it was not a promise to be in that blessed and holy first resurrection for one very important reason. Here is what the thief, along with King David and all the repentant saints, patriarchs, kings, priests and prophets, were lacking, which will keep them out of qualifying to be in that most honored first resurrection:

Joh 16:7  Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you.

The use of the Greek word translated ‘expedient’ shows that this word means that it was absolutely necessary that Christ had to die before the holy spirit could come into the lives of God’s elect, through whom He would bring all men to Himself. Here are a couple of examples of how this word is used elsewhere in the New Testament:

Joh 18:14  Now Caiaphas was he, which gave counsel to the Jews, that it was expedient that one man should die for the people.
1Co 6:12  All things are lawful unto me, but all things are not expedient: all things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of any.

“All things are lawful” for God’s elect, but all things are not absolutely necessary. But it is absolutely necessary to have God’s spirit in order to be in that blessed and holy first resurrection:

Rom 8:9  But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.

The fact that the apostles themselves were not converted until the holy spirit came on the day of Pentecost concludes this question about the conversion of the repentant thief.

Luk 22:32  But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren.
Luk 22:33  And he said unto him, Lord, I am ready to go with thee, both into prison, and to death.
Luk 22:34  And he said, I tell thee, Peter, the cock shall not crow this day, before that thou shalt thrice deny that thou knowest me.

The very night that Peter denied with an oath that he even knew Christ, was the night that Christ clued Peter in that Peter wasn’t even converted, and Rom 8:9 Paul tells us that we do not even begin to be converted until we have been given God’s spirit. That spirit was given to no one until the day of Pentecost. It certainly was not given to the repentant thief, ahead of all of the great men of God of the Old Testament and ahead of the very apostles of Christ.
Like you, I am not trying to argue with you or make you see thing ‘my way.’ I hope and pray that I have no interest at all in ‘my way,’ and want only to know what the scriptures teach. So it is with that understanding that I also need to comment on your perception of what is the spiritual significance of being deprived of being in the first resurrection. You apparently understand that Joseph’s brothers typify those who are cast into the lake of fire, but you do not yet understand the greatness of the significance of that event, because you surmise:

“I am assuming after they had indeed repented, they were no longer tormented, and in fact became rulers of the 12 tribes.”

No, Joseph’s ten brothers did not receive rulership with Joseph. It was they over whom Joseph reigned. Joseph typifies those who were rejected of their brothers in Abraham [ Christ]. Joseph typifies who endured “much tribulation” at the hand of their own brothers, and in Potiphar’s house, and in the prisons of Egypt, but who endured to the end and “overcame the wicked one.”

1Jn 2:13  I write unto you, fathers, because ye have known him [ that is] from the beginning. I write unto you, young men, because ye have overcome the wicked one. I write unto you, little children, because ye have known the Father.
1Jn 2:14  I have written unto you, fathers, because ye have known him [ that is] from the beginning. I have written unto you, young men, because ye are strong, and the word of God abideth in you, and ye have overcome the wicked one.

“The wicked one” is Satan:

Mat 13:19  When any one heareth the word of the kingdom, and understandeth [ it] not, then cometh the wicked one, and catcheth away that which was sown in his heart. This is he which received seed by the way side.
Mat 13:38  The field is the world; the good seed are the children of the kingdom; but the tares are the children of the wicked one;
Joh 8:44  Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.

Satan the Devil is in the lake of fire with his children, and is being purified with his children. His children are “by nature… children of disobedience.”

Eph 2:2  Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience:
Eph 2:3  Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.

There it is. “All things are ours… things present and things to come,” and according to Christ, the blood of all the prophets since Abel. “We all” are, in our appointed time, “children of disobedience… the children of wrath, even as others.”

You ask:

“If I understand your above comment correctly, then the thief will be cast into the lake of fire when he is resurrected. Will Jesus say to him, “Depart from me, I never knew you .” If so, what was the benefit of Jesus dying for the thief? How can Jesus say that he never knew him if he previously said he would be with him in paradise?”

We all “live by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God” (Mat 4:4). We all hear Christ say to us “Depart from me I never knew you” and we all cry out “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” simply because “flesh and blood [ even Christ’s flesh and blood] cannot inherit the kingdom of God.”
Yes, the thief and all of the great men of God of the Old Testament will hear Christ say, “I never knew you” to their carnal minds which will be purged of all their false doctrines in a lake full of God’s Words of fire in the mouths of His elect:

Jer 5:14  Wherefore thus saith the LORD God of hosts, Because ye speak this word, behold, I will make my words in thy mouth fire, and this people wood, and it shall devour them.
Rev 11:5  And if any man will hurt them, fire proceedeth out of their mouth, and devoureth their enemies: and if any man will hurt them, he must in this manner be killed.

Cain’s hatred toward his brother for obeying God will be burned up. King Saul’s hatred toward David for obeying God will be burned up. King David’s lust for Bathsheba will be burned up, and the hatred he expressed for his enemies with his dying breath will be burned out of him.
But more importantly all the false and immature shadows of that dispensation, which were taken for  the revelation of Jesus Christ, will also be burned out of all of the men of the Old Testament.
The Corinthians were “sanctified in Christ Jesus and called to be saints” and were “yet carnal.” How can this not also be the case for the repentant thief, just as it was for Peter and all of the apostles?

1Co 1:1  Paul, called [ to be] an apostle of Jesus Christ through the will of God, and Sosthenes [ our] brother,
1Co 1:2  Unto the church of God which is at Corinth, to them that are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, with all that in every place call upon the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both theirs and ours
1Co 3:1  And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ.
1Co 3:2  I have fed you with milk, and not with meat: for hitherto ye were not able [ to bear it], neither yet now are ye able.
1Co 3:3  For ye are yet carnal: for whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk as men?
1Co 3:4  For while one saith, I am of Paul; and another, I am of Apollos; are ye not carnal?

You ask:

” What was the benefit of Jesus dying for the thief?”

That benefit is life instead of death. “The wages of sin is death.” Christ’s death makes possible the life of all those who will hear the words, “Depart from me, I never knew you.” Salvation is now given to all in Adam, just as death and “I never knew you” was first given to all in Adam.

1Co 15:22  For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.
1Co 15:23  But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ’s [ have the spirit of Christ, Rom 8:9] at his coming.
1Co 15:24  Then cometh the end [ harvest], when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power.
1Co 15:25  For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet.
1Co 15:26  The last enemy [ that] shall be destroyed [ is] death.
1Co 15:27  For he hath put all things under his feet. But when he saith all things are put under [ him, it is] manifest that he is excepted, which did put all things under him.
1Co 15:28  And when all things shall be subdued unto him, then shall the Son also himself be subject unto him that put all things under him, that God may be all in all.

That “all in all” is accomplished by “he that overcometh,” not by those who are in the lake of fire, being purified along with” the wicked one” who must be overcome before one can become an overcomer.
Joseph’s brother’s on the other hand,  foreshadow Babylon and those who are cast into the lake of fire with “the wicked one.

Rev 20:1  And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand.
Rev 20:2  And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years,
Rev 20:3  And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season.
Rev 20:4  And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received [ his] mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.
Rev 2:26  And he that overcometh, and keepeth my works unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations:
Rev 2:27  And he shall rule them with a rod of iron; as the vessels of a potter shall they be broken to shivers: even as I received of my Father.

Joseph’s brother’s sheaves bowed down and did obeisance to Joseph’s sheaf, and their stars did obeisance to Joseph’s star.
What this tells us is that God loves His elect more than their brothers, and that the elect will rule over their brothers. Rulership in God’s kingdom, is exclusive to “he that overcometh.” Those who are cast into the lake of fire are deprived of rulership in God’s kingdom.

Rev 20:6  Blessed and holy [ is] he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.
Rev 3:9  Behold, I will make them of the synagogue of Satan, which say they are Jews, and are not, but do lie; behold, I will make them to come and worship before thy feet, and to know that I have loved thee.
Gen 42:18  And Joseph said unto them the third day, This do, and live; [ for] I fear God:
Gen 42:19  If ye [ be] true [ men], let one of your brethren be bound in the house of your prison: go ye, carry corn for the famine of your houses:
Gen 42:20  But bring your youngest brother unto me; so shall your words be verified, and ye shall not die. And they did so.
Gen 42:21  And they said one to another, We [ are] verily guilty concerning our brother, in that we saw the anguish of his soul, when he besought us, and we would not hear; therefore is this distress come upon us.
Gen 42:22  And Reuben answered them, saying, Spake I not unto you, saying, Do not sin against the child; and ye would not hear? therefore, behold, also his blood is required.
Gen 42:23  And they knew not that Joseph understood [ them]; for he spake unto them by an interpreter.
Gen 42:24  And he turned himself about from them, and wept; and returned to them again, and communed with them, and took from them Simeon, and bound him before their eyes.

This is the torment of the lake of fire, facing our sins yet being unwilling to confess to our father. It is a humbling experience that is given to but few to accept in this life of corruptible dust and clay.
Here is the story of Joseph’s brothers facing their place in the plan of God. It was about as popular with them then as it is with their Babylonian brothers today.

Gen 37:4  And when his brethren saw that their father loved him more than all his brethren, they hated him, and could not speak peaceably unto him.
Gen 37:5  And Joseph dreamed a dream, and he told [ it] his brethren: and they hated him yet the more.
Gen 37:6  And he said unto them, Hear, I pray you, this dream which I have dreamed:
Gen 37:7  For, behold, we [ were] binding sheaves in the field, and, lo, my sheaf arose, and also stood upright; and, behold, your sheaves stood round about, and made obeisance to my sheaf.
Gen 37:8  And his brethren said to him, Shalt thou indeed reign over us? or shalt thou indeed have dominion over us? And they hated him yet the more for his dreams, and for his words.
Gen 37:9  And he dreamed yet another dream, and told it his brethren, and said, Behold, I have dreamed a dream more; and, behold, the sun and the moon and the eleven stars made obeisance to me.
Gen 37:10  And he told [ it] to his father, and to his brethren: and his father rebuked him, and said unto him, What [ is] this dream that thou hast dreamed? Shall I and thy mother and thy brethren indeed come to bow down ourselves to thee to the earth?

Joseph alone typifies the “one seed” which is Christ, and those who are in Him.

Gal 3:16  Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ.

But what is Christ, what is that “one seed?” It is “one body with many members.” It is not just a ‘head’ without a ‘body.’

Gal 3:29  And if ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s [ one] seed, and heirs according to the promise.

Now Abraham typifies Christianity, both physically and spiritually,  just as he typified both Judaism and those who “did not the works of Abraham” in Christ’s day. And just as Christ could say “I know you are Abraham’s seed, but you seek to kill me…” we can say the same about the orthodox Christian mind today.
But in the very next breath Christ also says, “ If you were Abraham’s seed, you would do the works of Abraham.”

Joh 8:30  As he spake these words, many believed on him.
Joh 8:31  Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed;
Joh 8:32  And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.
Joh 8:33  They answered him, We be Abraham’s seed, and were never in bondage to any man: how sayest thou, Ye shall be made free?

This is the equivalent of saying “I’m not in Babylon: how can say you ‘Come out of her my people’. I have never been in Babylon. I have never blasphemed the name of God.” To which Christ answers:

Joh 8:37  I know that ye are Abraham’s seed; but ye seek to kill me, because my word hath no place in you.
Joh 8:38  I speak that which I have seen with my Father: and ye do that which ye have seen with your father.
Joh 8:39  They answered and said unto him, Abraham is our father. Jesus saith unto them, If ye were Abraham’s children, ye would do the works of Abraham.

“I know that you are Abraham’s seed… If you were Abraham’s children, you would do the works of Abraham.” So it is with Joseph’s brothers. They were the descendants of Jacob, and yet their destiny was to be cut off from the rulership which that physical pedigree foreshadows in the spiritual realm.
Physical shadows are not the true:

Rom 2:28  For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh:
Rom 2:29  But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision [ is that] of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise [ is] not of men, but of God.

So Joseph’s brothers are not Abraham’s seed even though they are his descendants, and Goshen is no more than the earth which is pushed up out of the sea only to bring forth a beast with two horns like a lamb, but speaking as a dragon.

Rev 13:11  And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon.

Like the thief on the cross, Joseph’s brothers were sorry for what they had done to him, but it takes time to purge all of the false doctrines of Babylon out of our minds and hearts. It simply is not ordained to take place instantaneously. “We must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God.” It was 17 years later that Joseph’s ten brothers were finally relieved of their false doctrine of imminent death as opposed to merciful life. But they had “suffered loss” in missing out on rulership in the millennium and in the lake of fire.

1Co 3:15  If any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.

You and I come in at the eleventh hour and are rewarded by God with the same wages as those who have borne the heat of the day. We, along with the thief and all who had not been able to receive God’s spirit, will all receive life instead of death. But like those who are called to work at the eleventh hour, we will receive life first and will reign with Christ in the millennium and in the lake of fire, and we will say to the thief, “welcome to Christ, welcome to paradise and the tree of life in the midst of paradise”.
I hope you have been following the Revelation series. We have just covered what it means to eat of the tree of life in the midst of the paradise of God. That paradise is the New Jerusalem, and that New Jerusalem is God’s elect:

Rev 21:1  And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea.
Rev 21:2  And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
Rev 21:3  And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God.

Rev 22:1  And he shewed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb.
Rev 22:2  In the midst of the street of it [ the New Jerusalem], and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.

What is this city with the throne of God, the river of life and the tree of life in it? Here is what that city is:

Rev 3:12  Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out: and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, which is new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God: and [ I will write upon him] my new name.

“He that overcometh… is new Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from God…” That is why Paul tells us:

Rom 8:22  For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now.
Rom 8:23  And not only [ they], but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, [ to wit], the redemption of our body.

What is that “redemption of our body?”

Eph 1:13  In whom ye also [ trusted], after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise,
Eph 1:14  Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.

So what is it we have to which we are looking forward?

Eph 1:17  That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him:
Eph 1:18  The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints,
Eph 1:19  And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us- ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power,
Eph 1:20  Which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set [ him] at his own right hand in the heavenly [ places],
Eph 1:21  Far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come:
Eph 1:22  And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church,
Eph 1:23  Which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all.

It is “the church which is His body,” which fills Christ, and it is us in Christ, and it is through us that all men are brought to God, destroying death, and bring God to be all in all.

Eph 3:9  And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ:
Eph 3:10  To the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly [ places] might be known by the church the manifold wisdom of God,
Eph 3:11  According to the eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord:

I hope this helps you to see that Christ’s death brought life to all men but did not negate the necessity that we all be judged by the fire of the word of God. Salvation does not do away with judgment. Rather it necessitates judgment. Christ died to His flesh so we, too, could die to ours.
That dying process is the judgment that must be lived out in every man. We will all be judged by “what is written in the books,” which represent our works in our sinful lives. And we will be judged against the “book of life” which  is “the book of the life of the Lamb.”

Rev 20:10  And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.
Rev 20:11  And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them.
Rev 20:12  And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is [ the book] of life: according to their works and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, .
Rev 20:13  And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works.
Rev 20:14  And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.
Rev 20:15  And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.

When we put line upon line and precept upon precept, we see that the only people in the book of life before the white throne judgment are those who were in that blessed and holy first resurrection.

Rev 20:6  Blessed and holy [ is] he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.

The thief and many of the Old Testament men of God will no doubt be “beaten with few stripes.” The Old Testament saints will have better and worse resurrections just as Paul indicates differences in glories in the resurrection. This principle holds true in both the first and the second resurrections:

Heb 11:35  Women received their dead raised to life again: and others were tortured, not accepting deliverance; that they might obtain a better resurrection:
1Co 15:35  But some [ man] will say, How are the dead raised up? and with what body do they come?
1Co 15:36  [ Thou] fool, that which thou sowest is not quickened, except it die:
1Co 15:37  And that which thou sowest, thou sowest not that body that shall be, but bare grain, it may chance of wheat, or of some other [ grain]:
1Co 15:38  But God giveth it a body as it hath pleased him, and to every seed his own body.
1Co 15:39  All flesh [ is] not the same flesh: but [ there is] one [ kind of] flesh of men, another flesh of beasts, another of fishes, [ and] another of birds.
1Co 15:40  There are also celestial bodies, and bodies terrestrial: but the glory of the celestial [ is] one, and the [ glory] of the terrestrial [ is] another.
1Co 15:41  There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars: for one star differeth from another star in glory.
1Co 15:42  So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption:

But the repentant thief and all of the Old Testament saints, will have to have their entire theology reformed in order to see the revelation of Jesus Christ in its fulness. That revelation requires that we have the spirit of God within us.

Rom 8:9  But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.

Ours is the greatest honor ever given to mankind if we are granted to “endure to the end.” Oh, that we will be found worthy to be in that “better resurrection,” that “blessed and holy first resurrection!”

Your brother in Christ,
Mike