Has anyone tried booking a holiday with lastminute.com ever?
! Anybody do that? And did it work? Did you get a holiday? Did you get there?
! It's possible to leave things to the last minute, isn't it, including holidays.
And, as we'll see, more important things as well.
As Paul said, Sue and I went down to Devon and looked after a church there for about five years.
And the first person who was saved, the first person who became a Christian there,
because our church secretary befriended him and explained the gospel about Jesus to him,
was a man called Norman.
Six weeks later, Norman died in St. Vincent's Nursing Home in Plymouth.
And this guy, Norman, had had a reputation for being rather a nasty, selfish piece of work.
And he died after six weeks, having become a Christian.
And I was asked to take his funeral, and as is normal, when you take a funeral,
you go around and you talk to the family beforehand.
And I was quite surprised, or I shouldn't have been, and I was amazed to hear about how his family said
this man, Norman, had changed utterly in the last six weeks of his life, and changed for the better.
Lastminute.com, or what?
In particular, his attitude, and that's a key word for this morning,
his attitude to the death of the Lord Jesus Christ had changed.
His attitude to Jesus totally had changed.
But particularly to Jesus' death on the cross.
Why else would a previously irreligious and ungodly man choose a hymn for his own funeral
with the words,
I love that old cross,
where the dearest and best
for a world of lost sinners
was slain.
And I believe that it was because Norman
had met
the Lord Jesus Christ
right at the very end of his life,
and that's rather like what happened
to one of the thieves, the criminals,
who died with the Lord Jesus
on the cross
in Luke chapter 23,
on page 884
of your pew Bibles,
your chair Bibles,
your church Bibles.
Do keep that passage open,
we're going to look at
what happened.
I mentioned earlier about how
Norman's attitude to Jesus
had changed.
And as Jesus was dying on the cross,
having been crucified there,
in verse 32 and verse 33
of our passage,
Luke chapter 23,
there were lots of different attitudes
to Jesus.
And some of those attitudes
were dire,
they were really awful
attitudes to Jesus.
So let's look at what was going on,
and compare their attitudes to him,
with his own attitude
to them,
as well,
indeed to us.
Let's look at some careless
attitudes
to the Lord Jesus
in verses 32 to 39.
So there were all these attitudes around.
In verse 32,
we discover that there were
two other men,
both of them criminals,
who were also
led out
with Jesus
to be
crucified.
And they came to this place
called
the skull,
and they crucified
all three of them there.
So it's Jesus
with the criminals,
traditionally known as
the two thieves,
of course.
There was Jesus crucified
on a cross in the middle,
and on his left
and on his right
were two
actual
criminals,
traditionally known
as thieves.
And whereas Jesus
in verse 34
says,
Father,
forgive them,
for they do not know
what they're doing,
he's actually praying
God's blessing
on those Roman soldiers
who were actually
at that point in time
crucifying
Jesus Christ,
the Son of God.
That was Jesus'
attitude to them.
What was their
attitude to Jesus?
Well,
if you carry on
reading in verse 34,
you discover that
they divided up
his clothes
by casting
lots.
In other words,
they cared more
about Jesus'
clothes
than they did
about Jesus.
Now,
that has got to be
a fairly
disgusting attitude
to the Lord Jesus,
hasn't it?
By any standards.
Contrast that
with Jesus'
attitude to them,
to the Roman soldiers.
Mercy,
kindness,
and forgiveness
as he prays,
Father,
forgive them.
That's amazing,
isn't it?
Then,
in verse 35,
we see that there
were people
standing there
watching Jesus
dying on the cross.
And the Jewish
rulers were there
and they sneered
at Jesus
and they said,
he saved others.
Ha, ha, ha.
They were mocking,
you see.
Let him save
himself.
If he could save
others,
let him save himself.
They thought that had
quite a pleasant
symmetry to it.
They thought they were
being a little bit
clever there,
you know.
They were mocking him.
If he saved others,
let him save himself.
If he is God's Messiah,
the chosen one.
And those Jewish
scribes and
Pharisees were sure
that if Jesus
was now dying,
he could not
possibly be
God's Messiah.
What kind of
Messiah would end
his life in such
ugly failure
according to them.
And it's interesting
that the Greek word
for saved,
as in he saved
others,
is the same
as the one
that's used for
healed as well.
So presumably
they knew about
Jesus' healing
miracles.
So when they say
he saved others,
they probably mean
he healed others.
Let him save
himself,
you see.
So they thought
they were being
clever.
They even knew
Greek.
They did,
of course.
And then there
were the soldiers
in verse 36.
They came up
to Jesus
and mocked him.
Everybody seems
to want to mock
Jesus as he
dies on the cross.
They offer him
some wine vinegar,
which was probably
bitter or sour
or gone off
as part of the
mockery.
And they said
the same sort of
thing.
If you are the
king of the Jews,
like the sign
over your head
says,
the king of the
Jews,
if you are the
king of the Jews,
save yourself.
The same sort
of mockery.
And you know,
Jesus could have
saved himself.
Have a look on
your handout
at the quotation
there from
Matthew 26,
verse 53.
Matthew records
that Jesus says,
do you think
I cannot call
on my father
and he will
at once put
at my disposal
more than
twelve legion
of angels?
Jesus could
have saved
himself.
He could have
asked angels
to do it for him,
couldn't he,
in fact.
But Jesus
goes on
and he says,
but how then
would the
scriptures
be fulfilled?
It had to
happen
in this
way.
In other
words,
Jesus
had
to die
for God's
plan of
salvation
to work.
And then we
get to the
criminals that I
mentioned,
the traditional
thieves who
were there on
Jesus'
left and
right.
One of them,
let's say it's
the one on
the left,
in verse 39.
One of those
criminals who
hung their
whole insults
at him,
railed at him,
it says in
your church
Bibles.
Aren't you the
Messiah?
And then he
comes up with
the same thing
as the others
who have
insulted Jesus.
Save yourself
and us.
Now that's
slightly different,
isn't it?
Save yourself,
Jesus,
and us.
And the
and is
important there,
you know,
because that
was the one
thing that
Jesus could
not do.
He could
not both
save himself
and other
people.
And this
is very
important.
You see,
he could
turn water
into wine.
He could
calm storms.
He could
feed 5,000
people just
like that.
He could
raise Lazarus
from the
dead.
He could
heal thousands
of people,
but he
could not
save himself
and other
people.
You see,
Jesus had
to stay
on that
cross and
die so
that you
and me
and many
others can
escape hell
so that we
can be saved.
Jesus had
to be
unsaved,
didn't he?
saved.
And we
must not
be like
the soldiers
or the
Jewish leaders
or any
of the
other
mockers.
You must
not be
like that
because you
understand
now,
if you
didn't
understand
before,
why Jesus
had to
die and
why he
could not
have been
saved.
He could
not save
himself
so that
you
can be
saved.
you
perhaps
heard that
people say
that the
single event
that defined
the 20th
century was
the
Holocaust
when
something like
7 million
people died
seemingly
pointlessly.
Well,
you know,
the event
that defined
not just
the 20th
century,
the event
that defined
the whole
of time
and indeed
all of
eternity,
that event
is Jesus
dying on
the cross
to save
others.
And we
must make
sure that
we do
not have
a mocking
wrong
or even
just a
careless
attitude
to Jesus
dying on
the cross.
So we've
looked at
some careless
attitudes
to Jesus
and careless
attitudes
to him
dying on
the cross,
haven't we?
Obviously we
now need to
look and see
if we can
find in this
passage a
right attitude
to Jesus
and his
deaths,
don't we?
Let's look
at verses
40 to
42.
What then
is the
right attitude
for us
to have
to Jesus
dying on
the cross?
Well in
verse 40
we discover
that the
other criminal,
so we've
had the
first one
on my
left,
the other
one,
the second
one,
say,
on Jesus'
right,
rebukes
the first
criminal,
says,
don't you
mock him,
don't you
fear God,
since you
and I
are both
under the
same
sentence
of death.
And although
one dying
thief had
had a
very bad
attitude to
Jesus,
even insulting
him in
verse 39,
and the
other one
did at
first as
well,
we understand
from the
other
gospels,
yet this
other one
says in
verse 41,
we are
being punished
justly,
for we are
getting what
our deeds
deserve,
that this
man has
done,
this man
Jesus,
has done
nothing wrong.
Now what
kind of
attitude is
this second
thief showing
us to
the Lord
Jesus?
What kind
of attitude
is that?
It's an
attitude of
humility,
is it not?
It's an
attitude of
awareness of
his sin.
It's an
attitude of
awareness of
justice,
God's justice,
I think,
too,
isn't it?
And we
know that
because in
verse 42,
then he
says,
Jesus,
he somehow
turns himself
and addresses
Jesus.
Jesus,
remember me
when you
come into
your kingdom.
So,
in addition to
his attitude
of humility,
awareness of
sin,
and awareness
of God's
justice,
this second
criminal,
second thief,
also has an
awareness that
Jesus is the
saviour,
that Jesus is
the king.
The sign
above Jesus'
head said
so.
In verse 38,
the king
of the
Jews.
And somehow
he knows
that the
only one
who can
save him
now from
God's
justice,
from all
his sin
and
criminality,
the only
one who
can save
him now
is Jesus.
And you
know perhaps
that Jesus'
name itself
means God
saves.
So he
turns to
him and
says,
Jesus,
God saves,
remember me
when you
come into
your kingdom.
them.
And so he
urgently wants
to be saved
and he
urgently wants
to make
the knowledge
that he
has been
saved,
that he
will be
forgiven,
that he
is forgiven,
personal.
And so he
doesn't just
say,
Jesus,
remember,
he says,
Jesus,
remember me,
doesn't he?
You notice that
little word,
Jesus,
remember me.
And somehow,
I suppose,
by the working
of the Holy
Spirit in his
heart and what
he's previously
heard and
understood,
he now
understands
that Jesus
was dying
so that his
sins,
this career
thief's sins
could be
forgiven.
And that is
the right
attitude for
him to
model and
for us to
have as well,
isn't it?
We must have
that same
humble,
urgent,
personal,
trusting
attitude to
Jesus and
especially to
Jesus dying
on the
cross.
Have you
got that
kind of
attitude to
Jesus and
his death
on the
cross?
We've
looked at
bad attitudes
to Jesus,
haven't we?
We've
looked at
the right
attitude that
this second
thief,
criminal,
exhibited
towards Jesus.
Thirdly,
then,
look specifically
at verse
43 and
we'll see
Jesus'
promise to
this dying
criminal,
Jesus'
promise to
all of us
in this
room,
in fact.
So,
verse 43,
then.
How do we
know that
the second
thief,
criminal,
on the
cross,
who had
lived his
whole life
in sin,
at that
very last
moment,
lastminute.com
you might
say,
was saved
by Jesus.
How do we
know he
was saved
by Jesus?
Well,
we know it
because of
verse 43.
Jesus somehow
turns to him
and he answers
him and he
says,
truly,
amen,
I tell you,
today,
you will
be with
me in
paradise,
not just
on holiday,
but in
paradise,
in heaven,
you see.
And so right
at the end
of his life,
this second
criminal turns
to Jesus
and says,
save me in
effect,
doesn't he?
And Jesus
somehow turns
to him and
he saves him,
doesn't he?
He makes this
amazing promise.
Truly,
I tell you,
today,
you will
be with
me in
paradise,
the very
opposite of
dying on
a cross.
And that
happened right
at the end
of this man's
life,
didn't it?
Right at the
end,
lastminute.com.
Now the
Bible also
warns us,
do you remember
what it says
in Ecclesiastes
chapter 12
verse 1?
Very wise
advice is
given to us,
and indeed
not just
advice,
but a
command,
remember
your
creator
in the
days of
your youth,
before the
days of
trouble
come.
I bet that
thief wished
he'd taken
notice of
that advice,
that wisdom
earlier.
But,
we have
Luke chapter
23,
don't we?
And God
has given
us this
thief on
the cross,
this criminal,
to teach
us that we
can be
saved,
we can
be forgiven,
whatever
our past
lives have
been like,
and even if
we don't
have any
future
life to
speak of
less as
well.
And it's
an amazing
thing,
isn't it,
that every
now and
then,
God shows
his mercy
to someone
foolishly
late in
life.
Now,
I'm not
recommending it,
God has
to have
a lot of
things.
But,
it does happen
sometimes.
And I hope
that was what
happened to
Norman in
Devon that I
told you about
at the beginning
of this message.
God had
mercy on him
very late
in his life.
I also had
two granddads,
one was called
Darby Grandad,
one was called
London Grandad,
I'll leave you to
work out why.
And it seems
that London Grandad,
my London Grandad,
also turned to
the Lord Jesus
Christ in
repentance,
more or less,
on his very
deathbed.
So,
that seems
to be what's
happened to
Norman in
Devon,
the thief on
the cross,
and even my
London Grandad.
And you say,
well,
what exactly
happened at
these last
moments in
people's lives?
Well,
let's look at
what happened
to this second
thief,
as in
verse 43
and verse
42 of our
passage.
And I need
a big book,
a big black
book,
to do with a
much heavier,
more sinister
coloured book
really than
this one,
I think.
Two things
happened in
verse 43.
One is this,
God took
that criminal,
that second
thief's
worthless,
sinful life.
All his bad
record of
everything he'd
done.
and he gave
it to
Jesus.
That's the
first thing.
All his sin
was transferred
to Jesus,
who at that
very moment
was dying,
paying for it
on the cross.
And there
was a second
thing I said.
Yes,
the other
thing,
the second
thing that
God did at
that moment
in his
justice was
he took
Jesus'
perfect life,
he took
all Jesus'
innocence
and his
perfect record,
and he gave
that to
this second
thief on
the cross.
Those two
things happened.
And Jesus
has promised
to you,
right now in
fact,
is that if you
humbly cry
out to him,
remember me,
even from in
heaven,
where Jesus is
now,
he will take
you to be
with him
in paradise
if you die
before Sunday
lunch today,
or if you
die in 80
years'
time.
It doesn't
really matter,
does it?
But Jesus
can and will
do the same
for you if
you turn to
Jesus like
that thief
did.
Jesus,
remember me.
You put
your trust
in him.
So,
in conclusion
then,
that really
raises three
things.
Here's the
first one.
Excuse me.
Maybe you
have had a
rather mocking,
dare I say,
or at least
a careless
attitude to
Jesus and
his blood-bought
salvation.
Maybe that's
you this
morning.
Maybe you
sniggered when
you saw a
car bumper
sticker that
said something
like,
Jesus saves,
but Harry
Kane scores
on the
rebound.
I think
that's roughly
up to date,
isn't it?
Maybe you
laughed at
that.
Well,
that means
that you
have a
careless,
perhaps even
a mocking
attitude to
Jesus and
his salvation.
But,
you know,
your attitude
to Jesus,
especially to
his saving
death,
is the
most important
thing.
Nothing
matters more.
that's the
first thing.
Secondly,
maybe you've
not quite
had the
confidence to
trust Jesus
personally,
so you're
certainly not
mocking Jesus,
you're not
taking his
death on the
cross lightly,
but you have
somehow not
yet relied on
him, you
have somehow
not yet cried
out to him,
Jesus,
remember me
and save me.
Maybe you're a
little bit like
the audience
of one
Charles Blondin
who was
actually French,
I think his
name is
Charles Blondin,
he had an
audience in
1859,
see the
picture,
see what he's
doing there?
The picture's on
your handouts
as well.
He's crossing
the Niagara Falls
because he is a
tightrope
walker,
and he's doing
it with a
wheelbarrow in
front of him
as well,
and the
crowd is
oohing and
aahing as
he stops in
the middle and
pretends
nearly to
fall off
and that
kind of
thing.
And he
gets to the
other side
where the
audience are.
There's
Charles Blondin,
and he says,
do you believe
I can carry a
person across
the Niagara Falls
in this
wheelbarrow?
Now no doubt
some people
kept very
quiet at that
point,
because they
could see
where this
was going.
But there
were others
who were just
there for the
entertainment,
and they said,
yes,
you were the
greatest
tightrope
walker there
ever was.
Okay,
says Mr.
Blondin,
or his
manager did,
get into
the wheelbarrow.
And nobody
did,
at least on
that occasion
anyway,
because they
lacked the
confidence to
trust Monsieur
Blondin.
Personally,
you see,
they somehow
weren't quite
prepared to
put their
bodies where
their mouths
were,
sort of
thing.
Now,
the thief
on the
cross was
not like
that at
all.
And the
thief on
the cross
is in
the Bible
to give
you and
me complete
confidence
that even
if we cry
out at the
very last
moment with
a life of
sin behind
us and
nothing else,
Jesus,
remember me,
that not only
can he save
you,
but he will.
He promises
to save you,
you see.
Even today,
if you
died,
you would
be with
him in
paradise.
If you
died before
lunch,
you would
go straight
to be with
Jesus.
And the
question has
to be,
are you
ready to
get into
Jesus'
wheelbarrow,
so to
speak?
And thirdly,
then,
maybe you
understand what
Jesus did
when he
deliberately
sacrificed
himself on
the cross.
maybe you
are actually
ready to
make Jesus'
salvation
personal for
yourself.
In which
case,
with that
dying thief,
I urge you
to say,
I urge you
to pray,
Jesus,
remember me,
Jesus,
forgive me,
save me,
I'm sorry I
left it till
now,
but I
remember there's
another verse
in the Bible
that says that
now is the
day of salvation,
so please,
save me,
now,
and then I
will live
the rest
of my
life for
you.
It might
be short,
or I
might die
in 80
years.
That's
what we
need to
pray,
isn't it?
Should we
do that
right now?