How to die well 1: Lessons from a thief
Text Luke 23:39-43 Time 31 08 08 Place Childs Hill Baptist Church
John Wesley once famously commented on his early Methodist brothers "Our people die well". A doctor once remarked to Charles Wesley “Most people die for fear of dying: but I never met with such people as yours. They are none of them afraid of death; but calm and patient and resigned to the last.”
We all need to know how to die well but where can we get help in this. There are plenty of how to books around these days – how to be healthy, wealthy and wise, etc, but you probably have to go back to 1651 for a substantial book on how to die well when Jeremy Taylor followed up his Rule and exercise of holy living with a companion volume Rule and exercise of holy dying. There he says rightly “it is a great art to die well, and to be learnt by men in health, by them that can discourse and consider, by those whose understanding and acts of reason are not abated with fear or pains”. Now is the time to learn to die – while we are alive and well.
C H Spurgeon once said that he who does not prepare for death is madman. However, we often feel it is something we don't need to look into just yet – we're not planning to die any time soon. But that is part of the problem. Just as there is nothing more certain than my death so there is nothing more uncertain than the time of my death. The only answer therefore is to be prepared at all times. Matthew Henry says “it ought to be the business of every day to prepare for our last day.”
I thought it would be good then for us to look at the subject this morning – how to die well. There are plenty of reasons for doing so.
1. We are all going to die some time. The sooner we face up to that fact the better. It is never too soon to start making friends with death.
2. Some of you are elderly. The closer we come to 70 and especially once we are beyond it then death cannot be very far away.
3. Children and young people sometimes die too. When I Googled the phrase “Death of 5 year old” I got 936 hits. I got 9,460 for "Death of a 10 year old" (and so on: 15 yo – 56,700; 20 yo – 32,200; 25 yo – 10,700; 30 yo – 565; 49 yo – 1,920, etc). In Janeway's 17th Century Token for children he speaks of a four year old being asked "Are you ready to die" and their answering "'God has pardoned my sins through the blood of Christ". oh that all little children could answer like that.
4. There are some here perhaps who are nowhere near ready to die. You are not ready to meet with God. You need to be made ready.
5. The last battle that we all have to face is death. We need to be ready for it.
6. Thinking about death is not morbid or unhelpful. It helps us set our minds on eternity and on heaven where Christ is at God's right hand.
7. A book from the medieval period called ars moriendi (the art of dying) says rightly “Learn to die and you shall live, for there shall be none who learn to truly live who have not learned to die.” J A Alexander wrote “If men are prepared to die they are ready for anything.”
The ars moriendi was written specifically to help people in the task of dying. The best place we can go on this matter, however, is to the Bible. And so with this in mind I want us to consider the dying thief as presented to us in the Gospel of Luke. J C Ryle says of the words here in Luke 23:39-43 that they “deserve to be printed in letters of gold”. This is the only “death bed conversion” in the Bible – not one of many so that we do not become presumptuous but only one so that we do not think this is common. To emphasise his unworthiness Jesus's enemies deliberately had him crucified between two criminals. It seems that at first they both joined in the mocking of Jesus but later. Luke tells us, one changed his mind, rebuking the other criminal and then speaking to Jesus as he does here. Let's consider this man then and first let's
We all need to know how to die well but where can we get help in this. There are plenty of how to books around these days – how to be healthy, wealthy and wise, etc, but you probably have to go back to 1651 for a substantial book on how to die well when Jeremy Taylor followed up his Rule and exercise of holy living with a companion volume Rule and exercise of holy dying. There he says rightly “it is a great art to die well, and to be learnt by men in health, by them that can discourse and consider, by those whose understanding and acts of reason are not abated with fear or pains”. Now is the time to learn to die – while we are alive and well.
C H Spurgeon once said that he who does not prepare for death is madman. However, we often feel it is something we don't need to look into just yet – we're not planning to die any time soon. But that is part of the problem. Just as there is nothing more certain than my death so there is nothing more uncertain than the time of my death. The only answer therefore is to be prepared at all times. Matthew Henry says “it ought to be the business of every day to prepare for our last day.”
I thought it would be good then for us to look at the subject this morning – how to die well. There are plenty of reasons for doing so.
1. We are all going to die some time. The sooner we face up to that fact the better. It is never too soon to start making friends with death.
2. Some of you are elderly. The closer we come to 70 and especially once we are beyond it then death cannot be very far away.
3. Children and young people sometimes die too. When I Googled the phrase “Death of 5 year old” I got 936 hits. I got 9,460 for "Death of a 10 year old" (and so on: 15 yo – 56,700; 20 yo – 32,200; 25 yo – 10,700; 30 yo – 565; 49 yo – 1,920, etc). In Janeway's 17th Century Token for children he speaks of a four year old being asked "Are you ready to die" and their answering "'God has pardoned my sins through the blood of Christ". oh that all little children could answer like that.
4. There are some here perhaps who are nowhere near ready to die. You are not ready to meet with God. You need to be made ready.
5. The last battle that we all have to face is death. We need to be ready for it.
6. Thinking about death is not morbid or unhelpful. It helps us set our minds on eternity and on heaven where Christ is at God's right hand.
7. A book from the medieval period called ars moriendi (the art of dying) says rightly “Learn to die and you shall live, for there shall be none who learn to truly live who have not learned to die.” J A Alexander wrote “If men are prepared to die they are ready for anything.”
The ars moriendi was written specifically to help people in the task of dying. The best place we can go on this matter, however, is to the Bible. And so with this in mind I want us to consider the dying thief as presented to us in the Gospel of Luke. J C Ryle says of the words here in Luke 23:39-43 that they “deserve to be printed in letters of gold”. This is the only “death bed conversion” in the Bible – not one of many so that we do not become presumptuous but only one so that we do not think this is common. To emphasise his unworthiness Jesus's enemies deliberately had him crucified between two criminals. It seems that at first they both joined in the mocking of Jesus but later. Luke tells us, one changed his mind, rebuking the other criminal and then speaking to Jesus as he does here. Let's consider this man then and first let's
1. Learn lessons from what this man correctly assumed
1. Your soul will never die
This man was about to die. It is clear that he did not take the view that once he died that would be the end of the story. Men are not like cats and dogs. When they die that is the end of them. But when a human being dies his soul lives on. Indeed death is only the separation of body and soul. The body remains here until the resurrection and the soul goes to God to be kept in heaven or in hell until Christ comes again and our bodies and souls are reunited forever.
It is obvious from the way that Jesus speaks to the man here I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise Jesus accepted that idea. It comes out too in his story of the rich man and Lazarus. Both men die but they continue – one in heaven, one in hell. The fact that Jesus spoke with Moses and Elijah on the Mount of Transfiguration points in the same direction as does that telling phrase the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob as Jesus points out God is the God of the living not the dead!
When we think of death then we ought to think of it not as an end but a beginning. It is a separation – separation of body and soul, a parting from all we have known, from those we love. We said goodbye to our friend Sibyl before she left for Vietnam the other week. Such partings are inevitably sad but when we part with the prospect of meeting again the parting is not nearly so bad.
2. There are rewards and punishments in the world to come
It is obvious from the way that Jesus speaks to the man here I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise Jesus accepted that idea. It comes out too in his story of the rich man and Lazarus. Both men die but they continue – one in heaven, one in hell. The fact that Jesus spoke with Moses and Elijah on the Mount of Transfiguration points in the same direction as does that telling phrase the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob as Jesus points out God is the God of the living not the dead!
When we think of death then we ought to think of it not as an end but a beginning. It is a separation – separation of body and soul, a parting from all we have known, from those we love. We said goodbye to our friend Sibyl before she left for Vietnam the other week. Such partings are inevitably sad but when we part with the prospect of meeting again the parting is not nearly so bad.
2. There are rewards and punishments in the world to come
It is clear that this was in the man's mind too. This is clearly what the Bible teaches. Every one of is goes at death either to heaven or to hell. This is part of what makes death so momentous. When we die we go to our eternal reward or punishment. That is why it is so important to be ready. If you were facing an examination you would want to be ready. How much more so for death itself!
3. Christ is our only hope in death
3. Christ is our only hope in death
The Lord Jesus Christ is at his weakest point and yet still he is the only hope for this man. And this dying thief saw that this was the case. He realised that his one and only hope in death was Jesus Christ. We must see that too.
2. Learn lessons from what this man correctly understood
Besides these assumptions there were certain clear understandings too. Again they are instructive when it comes to facing death.
1. You must fear God
Don't you fear God, this man says to the other thief who continued to hurl insults at Christ. Here was a man who suddenly realised that he was about to meet with God and so whoever the man to his side was, hurling insults at him was not the thing to be doing. Rather, he needed to be getting ready for what was to come. In Hebrews 10 we are reminded that it is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. Have you ever seen those old cartoons of men with sandwich boards announcing the end of the world? Usually they have the text Prepare to meet your God on them, which is from Amos. People like to make jokes about such things but when you die that is exactly what happens, you come face to face with God. You have man appointment with God that you cannot miss. You need to be ready. The way to be ready is to fear God – to have reverence and awe before him.
2. You must recognise your guilt
2. You must recognise your guilt
The man goes on Don't you fear God ... since you are under the same sentence? We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. We don't know exactly what this man had done but he knew and he knew that he was guilty before God. You may say, "well of course he felt guilty he was a criminal, a thief" – but he hadn't felt any guilt, it seems, up until then. It is amazing how sometimes people can do terrible things and still not feel guilty. There is a lot of guilt out there, however. Someone pointed out to me the Apology Line that now exists. Their advert says “Feeling guilty? Something weighing on your mind? Need to just get something out? Call - 0800 970 93 94. This is a freephone number. You will not be charged. This is a chance for you to anonymously offload any guilt that has been burdening you. No comeback. No confrontation. No judgements. Just call and apologise and maybe feel a little bit better.”
Many of the worst deaths, the most horrible, have been those who have died riddled with guilt. Sometimes words of despair are foisted on unbelievers so we have to be careful but certainly Cardinal Wolsey said “Had I but served God as diligently as I have served the King, He would not have given me over, in my grey hairs” and just before his death Gandhi wrote “My days are numbered. I am not likely to live very long-perhaps a year or a little more. For the first time in 50 years I find myself in the slough of despond. All about me is darkness; I am praying for light.”
What about you? Do you feel guilty about certain things? You've broken God's Law. You deserve his wrath. It is impossible to die well if you don't first acknowledge your guilt to him. You don't need to ring Apology Line, simply go to God and confess all your sins.
3. You must trust in Christ
Many of the worst deaths, the most horrible, have been those who have died riddled with guilt. Sometimes words of despair are foisted on unbelievers so we have to be careful but certainly Cardinal Wolsey said “Had I but served God as diligently as I have served the King, He would not have given me over, in my grey hairs” and just before his death Gandhi wrote “My days are numbered. I am not likely to live very long-perhaps a year or a little more. For the first time in 50 years I find myself in the slough of despond. All about me is darkness; I am praying for light.”
What about you? Do you feel guilty about certain things? You've broken God's Law. You deserve his wrath. It is impossible to die well if you don't first acknowledge your guilt to him. You don't need to ring Apology Line, simply go to God and confess all your sins.
3. You must trust in Christ
Here is the chief thing and the thing I want to focus on today. Without trust in Christ none of us will die well or live well for that matter. There are four things here
1 Recognise the innocence of Christ who died
1 Recognise the innocence of Christ who died
The man says We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong. Just from looking at him he could see that. Indeed, Scripture testifies to us that Jesus is holy, blameless, pure, set apart from sinners. The Catechism for Boys and Girls asks "Did our Lord Jesus Christ ever sin?" The answer is: "No. He was holy, blameless and undefiled." That is why he was able to die as a substitute in the place of sinners and why looking to him makes all the difference in the world at death.
2 Recognise the power of Christ to deliver you
2 Recognise the power of Christ to deliver you
In 42 the thief prays Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom. We could debate exactly what he meant by that but clearly he sees that Jesus has a kingdom and that he rules over it. Of course, that kingdom is the greatest of all kingdoms as it is an eternal kingdom. Look to the King of Kings then we say – now and at death – and all will be well. He has the power to deliver.
3 Recognise that it is vital to be humble
3 Recognise that it is vital to be humble
Remember me he says - that is favourably. If someone says they will remember me in their will I assume they will not just write 'I remember Gary Brady" but they will give me something - and that is his meaning here. He asked for no more than that. What right had he to expect anything? We need to humble ourselves before God recognising we deserve nothing but humbly asking that he will remember us in the glory.
4 Recognise the need to pray
4 Recognise the need to pray
Perhaps this is so obvious we miss it. There were all sorts of reasons why the man perhaps felt he couldn't pray but he did nevertheless and we must too however many reasons we have for not doing so. We must pray when we die but we must pray now too – ask God to save you through Jesus Christ. There are people who nearly never pray. Don't be like them. Go to God in Jesus's name and pray to him for mercy.
4. You can be sure
4. You can be sure
In 43 we read Jesus answered him, I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise. What wonderful words! How wonderful they must have sounded to the thief and what wonderful words they are for all who have trusted in him. It is interesting to note that the thief seems to have been thinking of some far future blessing but Jesus says today you will be with me in paradise. Ryle says “That word today contains a body of divinity” (a whole systematic theology!). By faith the believer can look forward to an immediate entrance into paradise the moment he dies. What an amazing fact. What a comfort it is.
None of us knows how near death is. But we must be ready. If you haven't already begun to prepare, begin now. Fear God. Confess your sins. Trust in Jesus Christ as Saviour and Lord. Humble yourself in prayer before him. Be confident of paradise through him.
None of us knows how near death is. But we must be ready. If you haven't already begun to prepare, begin now. Fear God. Confess your sins. Trust in Jesus Christ as Saviour and Lord. Humble yourself in prayer before him. Be confident of paradise through him.
