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Easter Family Service · Stornoway Free Church of Scotland - Sermons

0:00
Well, as I say, it's a family service today and we're thinking about the theme of Easter.
0:06
And Easter, when we think about it, maybe brings many different things to our minds.
0:11
We often think of it as a time of holiday. It's good to get a break.
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It's a time when maybe you've been looking around outside.
0:20
Maybe you started to see lambs appearing in the crofts around you.
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I saw my first lamb this week in the field beside us up at the manse.
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And it's lovely to see that.
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And our dog Benji is now keeping a watchful eye over them all to see them as they arrive.
0:37
He loves watching over the wall as well.
0:39
And the amazing thing is how often they come up to the wall.
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They don't seem scared of him, which is lovely to see as well.
0:45
So there's a lot of different things that we associate with this time of year, Easter time.
0:50
But the main thing is the Easter story.
0:54
And on Thursday night, if you were at Explorers, we were talking there a little about the Easter story.
1:02
And I said on Thursday night, and I think, was it a mistake?
1:07
I'm not sure.
1:07
But I said if you came to church on Sunday, and if you went through to the hall next door, I would share my Easter egg with you.
1:16
So here's my Easter egg.
1:19
And maybe if you were there on Thursday, you're thinking, that's not the one you had.
1:26
You had a different one.
1:27
What happened to that one?
1:29
You said it was your favorite chocolate.
1:32
It was a Galaxy one.
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And this is not a Galaxy.
1:35
This is Malteser.
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So you're thinking to yourself, maybe I ate it.
1:40
Well, no, I didn't.
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I said I would share it with you, and I will.
1:45
It's hopefully next door.
1:48
Unless Lizzie ate it since Thursday night.
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But it should be next door.
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So if you come through next door, you'll get a share of that one and this one as well, just to make sure there's enough to go around.
1:58
Because we're talking then about sharing and how important, how good it is to share.
2:05
And what we're going to do today is not just share an Easter egg together, but we're going to share, as I was saying on Thursday, God's Word together as well.
2:13
Because it's important that we think about Easter and the message of Easter.
2:19
So we're going to look at the Easter story today, and especially people who were involved at that time.
2:25
And three people in particular we're going to look at today are three people who had been arrested.
2:32
They'd been arrested.
2:34
Have you ever been arrested?
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I'm not going to ask for a show of hands, but it's a scary thing to think about being arrested.
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When the police maybe catch up with you, there was somebody in America this week, a famous golfer, Tiger Woods.
2:48
And he was arrested because he did something silly.
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And it's there in the news.
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Everybody hears about it.
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When you think of someone being arrested, you always think, well, they must have done something wrong.
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I wonder what they did.
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And when we look at the Easter story in particular, we're looking today at three people who were put on a cross at this time.
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Two criminals and one who was Jesus.
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We're thinking of these three people who were on the cross that day.
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And we're going to look at them and see, well, did they all deserve to be there?
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Had they all done something wrong?
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Well, two had, because we're told that they were criminals, that they were thieves, that they were robbers.
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So they had done things wrong and they deserved to be punished.
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But Jesus was there.
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And if we ask ourselves, well, what had Jesus done wrong?
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That's the question that the people had at this time.
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You've got Pilate, you've got Herod.
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They were two people who were in charge at this time.
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And they're asking, what has he done?
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I can find no fault.
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He's done nothing wrong.
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He doesn't deserve this.
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But the people said, no, he does.
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He deserves this.
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But why was Jesus on the cross?
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Well, it wasn't that he had done something wrong.
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It was because we had done something wrong.
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And that we keep doing the wrong things.
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We keep making mistakes.
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We keep doing the wrong thing.
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We keep sinning, as we call it.
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And that's why Jesus was on the cross.
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And that's the Easter story that we're going to think about today.
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To share this word with each other.
4:41
To think about Jesus and how he was there with two criminals who had done wrong.
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And how he reached out to one of them in particular.
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As a reminder to us that he did that for you and for me as well.
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That if we believe in him, we can be saved by his love and by his grace.
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So we're going to consider these three crosses together today.
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We're going to think of one cross that had a blind thief.
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The second cross that had a bold sinner.
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And the third cross that had a blessed Savior.
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So we're going to think about these things.
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But before we do, we're going to sing again.
5:23
We're going to sing in Psalm 30.
5:26
And if the younger ones want to go out, they can do so at this point.
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Through to the holiday tweenies.
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Just going through the door to my left here.
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We're going to sing in Psalm 30.
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The Scottish Psalter version.
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Page 239.
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We're going to sing from verse 1 to verse 4.
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Lord, I will thee extol.
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For thou hast lifted me on high.
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And over me thou to rejoice.
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Mades not my enemy.
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O thou who art the Lord my God.
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I in distress to thee with loud cries.
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Lifted up my voice.
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And thou hast healed me.
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We'll sing from verse 1 to 4.
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To God's praise.
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And we stand to sing.
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Amen.
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Lord, I will thee extol.
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For thou hast lifted me on high.
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And over me thou to rejoice.
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Mades not my enemy.
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O thou who art the Lord my God.
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I am distressed to thee.
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With love cries lifted up my voice.
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And thou hast healed me.
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O Lord my soul.
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Thou hast brought up.
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And rescued from the grave.
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That I to pay.
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Should not go down.
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A life thou did me say.
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O ye that are his holy ones.
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Sing praise unto the Lord.
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And give unto him thanks.
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When ye his holiness record.
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Amen.
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We're going to turn to read.
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In the Bible now.
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From God's word.
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We're going to read in Luke.
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Luke chapter 23.
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You'll find it around page 1064.
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Of the church Bibles.
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Luke chapter 23.
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We're going to read from verse 26.
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Down to verse 43.
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Luke chapter 23 at verse 26.
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And this is the time when Jesus was taken out.
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On the cross.
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And as they led him away.
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They seized one Simon of Cyrene.
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Who was coming in from the country.
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And laid on him the cross.
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To carry it behind Jesus.
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And there followed him a great multitude of people.
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And of women who were mourning.
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And lamenting for him.
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But turning to them Jesus said.
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Daughters of Jerusalem.
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Do not weep for me.
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But weep for yourselves.
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And for your children.
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For behold the days are coming.
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When they will say.
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Blessed are the barren.
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And the wombs that never bore.
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And the breasts that never nursed.
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Then they will begin to say to the mountains.
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Fall on us.
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And to the hills.
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Cover us.
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For if they do these things.
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When the wood is green.
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What will happen when it is dry?
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To others who were criminals.
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Were led away.
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To be put to death with him.
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When they came to the place.
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That is called the skull.
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There they crucified him.
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And the criminals.
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One on his right.
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And one on his left.
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And Jesus said.
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Father forgive them.
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For they know not what they do.
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And they cast lots.
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To divide his garments.
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And the people stood by watching.
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But the rulers scoffed at him.
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Saying.
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He saved others.
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Let him save himself.
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If he is the Christ of God.
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His chosen one.
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The soldiers also mocked him.
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Coming up and offering him sour wine.
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And saying.
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If you are the king of the Jews.
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Save yourself.
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There was also an inscription over him.
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This is the king of the Jews.
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One of the criminals.
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Who were hanged.
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Railed at him.
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Saying.
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Are you not the Christ?
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Save yourself.
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And us.
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But the other rebuked him.
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Saying.
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Do you not fear God?
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Since you are under the same sentence.
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Of condemnation.
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And we indeed justly.
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For we are receiving the due reward.
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Of our deeds.
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But this man has done nothing wrong.
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And he said.
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Jesus.
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Remember me.
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When you come into your kingdom.
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And he said to him.
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Truly I say to you.
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Today.
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You will be with me in paradise.
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And so on.
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And may God bless that.
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Reading.
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From his word.
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Well.
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We are going to look at the three crosses.
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Like I say.
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And the first one we are looking at.
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Is the cross where we see.
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One of the criminals.
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Who I am going to call.
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A blind thief.
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And if you just look again.
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At verse 39.
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It says.
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One of the criminals.
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Who were hanged.
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Railed at him.
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Saying.
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Are you not the Christ?
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Save yourself.
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And us.
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We are told that this man.
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Was a criminal.
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He's been caught.
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He had done something wrong.
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We know that he was a thief.
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A robber.
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He'd been caught.
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And he'd been convicted.
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That means he'd been charged.
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With his crime.
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And as a result of that.
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There was a consequence.
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And that was.
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That he was going to be put on a cross.
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He would die there.
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And yet.
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At this moment.
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When all hope seems lost.
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For him.
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In so many ways.
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He was blind.
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To the opportunity.
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That was before him.
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In the man that was.
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Beside him.
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And we could ask ourselves.
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Well.
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How.
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Was this man.
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Blind.
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It.
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Seems that he could see.
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Everything that was going on.
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Around him.
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He could see the people.
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That were beside him.
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And yet.
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He was still.
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Blind.
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How.
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Was he blind.
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And what kind of.
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Blindness.
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Was this.
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Well.
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It's the same kind of blindness.
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That you can have.
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And I can have.
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As well.
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It's to be blind.
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In a certain situation.
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Which means.
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We're just not aware.
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Of what's happening.
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Around us.
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And the danger.
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That we are in.
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When I was younger.
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And living over in Shabbos.
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I used to enjoy.
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Going fishing.
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On the rocks.
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Sea fishing.
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On the rocks.
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And there was one place.
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Just beside the beach.
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And Shabbos.
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When the tide was out.
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That you could walk.
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Across the rocks.
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And get to a.
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Higher point.
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And go across that.
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And then fish.
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On the other side.
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Of it.
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And so this one day.
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I had gone out.
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Obviously catching lots of fish.
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Because I'm a good fisherman.
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And I lost track.
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Of everything that was going on.
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Around me.
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I lost track.
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Of the fact that.
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The tide.
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Was coming in.
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I lost track.
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Of the fact.
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That the tide.
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Was coming round.
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The back of the rock.
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That I was fishing on.
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And that I was being.
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Cut off.
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That if.
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I didn't notice.
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Quickly.
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That I was going to be stuck.
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On the rock I was on.
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Until the tide.
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Would go back out.
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And so.
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Eventually when I looked round.
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And I thought the tide's coming in.
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I realized.
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That if I wasn't quick.
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That I would be stuck.
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Where I was.
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And stuck probably.
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For a couple of hours.
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Thankfully.
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I managed to get back.
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To the shore.
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Just before the tide.
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Had fully come in.
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But I think.
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My wellies.
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Did get a little bit wet.
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But it was that kind of.
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Dangerous situation.
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Where you're just.
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Carrying on as if.
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Everything's fine.
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Everything's normal.
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And you're not aware.
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Of the danger.
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That you're in.
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And it can happen.
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In so many different ways.
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It can happen.
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Day after day.
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With some of us.
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And we just forget.
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Or don't realize.
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Where we are.
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And what's going on.
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Around us.
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So to be blind.
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In these situations.
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Is to be blind.
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To the trouble.
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That we are in.
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And here we see.
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This man.
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Who's described.
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As a criminal.
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And we are told.
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That he was.
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There beside Jesus.
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That he was going.
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To die there.
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And yet.
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Even in his pain.
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He's blind.
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To the person.
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Who's beside him.
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Because what you see.
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With this man.
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Is he is mocking.
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Jesus.
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He is making fun.
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Of Jesus.
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You see that.
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In verse 39.
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Where it says.
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Are you not.
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The Christ.
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Save yourself.
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And us.
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He is questioning.
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Who Jesus is.
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He doesn't realize.
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The power.
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That he has.
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Can you imagine.
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In school.
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Seeing a door.
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In the school.
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That says.
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Headmaster on it.
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Or headmistress on it.
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And you go into that.
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That room.
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That office.
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And you would say.
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To the teacher.
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Are you really the teacher.
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I don't believe.
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That you are.
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And I want you.
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To do something for me.
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I want you to let me.
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Just go on holiday.
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Early.
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And come back.
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A lot later.
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You don't realize.
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Who it is.
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You're not believing.
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Who it is.
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Can you imagine.
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Doing that in school.
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Or even at work.
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Going to your boss.
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And saying.
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Are you really the boss.
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Of this place.
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I think I'm the boss.
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So I'm going to decide.
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When I take my holidays.
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Or what time I come in.
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Or what I do.
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Well.
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You wouldn't be there.
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Very long.
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But that's the kind of attitude.
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That this man.
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This criminal.
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Has towards Jesus.
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In the way that he's speaking to him.
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Are you not the Christ.
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Save yourself.
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And us.
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He wants Jesus.
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To do things.
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His way.
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And in his time.
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Not.
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Recognizing.
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Who it is.
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That's beside him.
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Now.
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Imagine if that was you there.
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And Jesus was beside you.
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What would you have said to him?
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What would you have asked of him?
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What would you have shouted.
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Towards him?
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We see two very different responses.
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Between this man.
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And the second criminal.
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Which we'll see in a few moments.
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But this first one.
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Is really just making a joke.
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Of Jesus.
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Because he's blind.
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To who he really is.
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And the way this man.
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Speaks.
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And the way he's behaving.
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Here as he knows where he is.
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He knows the danger.
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Of the situation he's in.
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And yet he's.
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He doesn't see that Jesus.
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Is able to help.
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Well it reminds us.
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Of how often.
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We are like that ourselves.
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And especially.
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Maybe when we think of times.
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Like Easter.
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And Christmas.
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And these kinds.
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Of occasions.
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Where we.
18:03
We focus on the wrong things.
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I mean.
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As soon as I.
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Lift up this.
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Your eyes.
18:13
Are drawn towards it.
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Aren't they?
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You start thinking about this.
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But that's.
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Not the most important thing.
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As far from the most important thing.
18:25
Holidays.
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Are not the most important thing.
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About Easter.
18:29
Food.
18:30
Is not the most important thing.
18:32
About Easter.
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Lambs.
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Are not the most important thing.
18:35
About Easter.
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Remembering that the clocks changed last night.
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Is not the most important thing.
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About coming to hear.
18:43
This message.
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The most important thing.
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Is the story that we share.
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About the person.
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Who was there beside this criminal.
18:53
So this criminal.
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He was blind.
18:56
And he was mocking.
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Jesus.
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And that's the danger.
19:01
That we have ourselves.
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Do you.
19:02
Do you make a joke of Jesus.
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At times.
19:05
Do you make fun.
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Of Jesus.
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Or do you hear it around us.
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We hear it more and more.
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These days.
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Where Jesus.
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Is just.
19:13
A joke.
19:14
That he wasn't.
19:16
Real.
19:16
That this wasn't.
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The reality.
19:18
Of life.
19:20
People deny him.
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There's others.
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Who use his name.
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In a bad way.
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And it's so easy.
19:29
To get caught up.
19:30
In these ways.
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And that's what this criminal.
19:32
Was like as well.
19:33
He just got caught up.
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In the ways of everybody else.
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Around him.
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And he never realized.
19:39
Who Jesus was.
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He didn't realize.
19:44
The danger.
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He was in.
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And that's what we all.
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Need to realize today.
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That we are in danger.
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We are in danger.
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Just like I was.
19:54
On that rock fishing.
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Of being cut off.
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From everything else.
19:58
That we are in danger.
19:59
Of being cut off.
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From God.
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If we carry on.
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Making just a joke.
20:05
Of Jesus.
20:05
Or not trusting.
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In Jesus.
20:07
This criminal.
20:10
Was blind.
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To the opportunity.
20:13
That was before him.
20:15
But we are being told.
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Today.
20:17
Every one of us.
20:19
Not to be like this.
20:21
Not to just make fun.
20:22
Of Jesus.
20:23
Or make a joke of Jesus.
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Or not remember Jesus.
20:26
At this time.
20:27
But to remember him.
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So much.
20:29
For what he came.
20:30
To do.
20:31
For us.
20:32
So the first criminal.
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This first person.
20:36
This first cross.
20:38
We see a blind thief.
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We don't want.
20:42
To be like him.
20:45
So we are going to read on.
20:46
In a moment.
20:47
We are going to see.
20:48
The second cross.
20:50
And the man who was on that cross.
20:52
And think about him.
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As a bold sinner.
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But before we do that.
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We are going to sing.
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Again.
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To God's praise.
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We are going to sing.
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In Psalm 26.
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Psalm 26.
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The sing.
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Psalm's.
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Version.
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This is on page.
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31.
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We are going to sing.
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From verse.
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7.
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Down to verse.
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12.
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Psalm 26.
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At verse 7.
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Page.
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31.
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And like.
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It says here.
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We are sharing.
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The story.
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Of all that.
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The Lord.
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Has done.
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For us.
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I'll tell.
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Of all your awesome deeds.
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Proclaiming loud.
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Your praise.
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Your glory fills.
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Your dwelling place.
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I love.
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Your house.
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Always.
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We'll sing.
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From verse 7.
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Down to the end.
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Of the psalm.
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To God's praise.
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Amen.
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Amen.
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Amen.
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Amen.
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Amen.
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Amen.
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Amen.
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Amen.
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Proclaiming loud your praise, your glory felt your dwelling place.
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I love you as always.
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Sweep not away, my soul, O Lord, with those who hate your way.
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Nor take away my life with those who love to own and stay.
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For their right hands are full of crimes.
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They plot iniquity, but I will lead a painless life.
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In mercy set me free.
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My feet will stand with confidence upon a level place.
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And in the people's gathering, I'll praise the Lord of grace.
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So we come now to see the second cross.
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And here we see the second criminal.
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We're going to read there at verse 40 to verse 42.
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So this is the other criminal.
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But the other rebuked him, saying,
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Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation?
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And we indeed justly, for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds.
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But this man has done nothing wrong.
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And he said, Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.
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Well, this second criminal, first of all, we see that he was the same as the first.
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Because he had done something wrong.
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He had done something wrong.
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But how do we see that he was different?
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How do we see that he was different to that first criminal?
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Well, it's because he was seeing things differently.
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And there's three ways that we see that he was seeing things differently.
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And these are what made all the difference in the end.
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First of all, he sees that he had done wrong.
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He sees that he had done wrong.
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He sees his life.
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He sees the wrongs that he has done.
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You see that in verse 41.
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It says,
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We indeed justly, for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds.
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So he's saying, yes, we deserve this because we have done wrong.
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Have you ever done something wrong?
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Have you ever done something that you weren't supposed to?
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You were told not to do it.
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I'm sure we've all done that.
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We all do it every day of life in some way or other.
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And that's the reality of where we are as well.
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Just like this criminal, we can all say we justly have done things wrong.
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We are justly receiving that we are due because we have done the wrong thing.
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And there's no point in any of us trying to come to Jesus and hide these things that we've done wrong.
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That's what we do so often in our lives.
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When we've done something wrong, we try and hide it.
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We try and maybe keep it from people knowing about it.
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And we try and hide it or fix it ourselves.
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But that's not going to work because Jesus already knows that we have done the wrong thing.
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Jesus already knows everything that we have done wrong.
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And so this criminal is saying that.
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He is saying, we have done wrong.
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I have done wrong.
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But then he also recognizes the situation that he's in.
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He realizes he's done wrong.
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But he also realizes that he is guilty before others.
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Before the rulers of the day, the polices we would call them today.
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He knows that he's done wrong before them.
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But more importantly, he realizes that he's done wrong before God.
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He's done wrong before God.
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Look at what he says in verse 40.
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Do you not fear God since you are under the same sentence of condemnation?
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It's a big word, condemnation.
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But it really means that he is lost.
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He realizes that he is lost before God.
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That there is nothing that he could do.
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You don't see him here saying, I'm going to quickly change myself.
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I'm going to quickly make myself right.
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He knows he cannot do it.
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But there's times, and I'm sure you have felt like this.
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Maybe you have feeling like this.
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Well, I'm going to sort my own life out.
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I'm going to fix all these things that I've done wrong in my life.
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But you can't.
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And this man recognized that he couldn't either.
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And so we think of a word that's called repentance.
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And again, it's a word that we have to realize that it's about when we do something wrong,
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and what you see this criminal has done wrong, it kind of stops him in the direction he's going.
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It stops him.
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But repentance is more than just stopping what you're doing wrong.
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Repentance means turning around and going in a different direction.
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And that's the third thing that we see about this criminal.
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He recognized he'd done wrong.
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He recognized that he was lost.
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But the difference between him and the first criminal is he recognizes who it is that is beside him.
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That Jesus is beside him, and that Jesus is able to help him.
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And that's the difference.
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He turned towards Jesus.
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And very often that's what's lacking in our experience as well, in our lives as well.
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We know that we've done wrong.
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But we try to just bring Jesus into the mix in our own way and say,
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well, I'll sort it out and then I'll be right with Jesus.
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But that's not what it's about.
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It's about recognizing that only Jesus can make things right for us.
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And so we are to turn towards him.
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And you see that in the way that he cries out in verse 42.
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And he said, Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.
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And the psalm that we just sang, Psalm 26, it really is a psalm that reminds us of how the Lord sets us free.
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It says in verse 10,
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For their right hands are full of bribes, they plot iniquity, those who are doing wrong.
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But then it says, but I will lead a blameless life.
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In mercy set me free, the psalmist says.
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And that's the cry of this criminal.
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In mercy set me free.
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It doesn't say in mercy I'll free myself.
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But in mercy set me free.
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And that's what this criminal is looking for.
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The mercy, the grace of the Lord Jesus that will set him free.
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And that is what his cry is all about here.
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Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.
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You wonder what both these criminals had heard about Jesus.
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Because they had heard about him.
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The first one said, are you not the Christ?
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He was making a joke about it.
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But the second one is saying, Jesus, remember me.
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So they knew about Jesus.
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They would have heard, whether it was among other prisoners or around the crowds that were gathered at the time.
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They had heard about Jesus.
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But they didn't recognize him in the same way.
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One made a laugh and a joke.
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But the other one, as we see here, is more bold.
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He's a bold sinner.
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He knows where to go.
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And he shouts on Jesus, Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.
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And it's a great place to arrive at that.
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To recognize that we cannot help ourselves.
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But that all that we can do is cry out, Jesus, remember me.
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Jesus, remember me.
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He believed in Jesus at this point.
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He looked to Jesus.
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And today, every one of us can do that as well.
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You can look to Jesus and there you see the one who is able to remember you.
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And to help you.
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We have all done the wrong things in life.
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We have all not listened to God's word.
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We have all turned away from the Bible, from Jesus, from God.
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Done our own things.
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But when we recognize that we have done wrong, that is where we come to that point of repentance.
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And that means turning.
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Not just stopping what we're doing, but turning.
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And turning towards Jesus.
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That's what this criminal did.
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He turned and cried out to Jesus.
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Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.
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So there we see the second criminal.
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The second cross.
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A bold sinner.
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One who cries out to Jesus.
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And that is what we are to do.
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And to find our hope there as well.
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And that then leads us to the third cross.
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And on the third cross, we see the blessed Savior.
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We see this.
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I want to read just two verses to highlight this for us.
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First, verse 34.
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As they were put on the cross.
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In verse 34, Jesus said here, speaking to those soldiers who were around him.
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Father, forgive them.
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For they know not what they do.
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And then in verse 43.
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His reply to that criminal who had cried out.
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Jesus, remember me.
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He said to him, truly I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise.
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So there were these two crosses with the criminals.
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They had done wrong.
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But in the middle was a third cross.
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And here was one who was completely innocent.
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He had done nothing wrong.
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And yet willingly gave his life.
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Alistair Begg has a clip about, a short clip from a sermon he preached about the man in the middle.
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He's talking about the three crosses.
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And relating it especially to the second criminal that we looked at who says,
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Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.
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And it was how that middle man said he could come.
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It's worth watching if you haven't seen it before.
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The middle man said, I could come.
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And that's what we see here as we look to the third cross.
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Here was Jesus, the one in the middle of the two criminals.
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And it is he who makes all the difference.
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The second criminal saw what he deserved.
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That he had done wrong.
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And he looked at Jesus.
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And he saw him as one who didn't deserve it.
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And yet he saw why he was doing it.
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He was doing it by mercy and by grace.
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That he and others who believe in him might be saved.
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That's why he says, remember me when you come into your kingdom.
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And look at the reply of Jesus.
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Truly I say to you today, you will be with me in paradise.
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The love of Jesus there.
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Reminding us of his love for us today.
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What he was doing for us.
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That him, man of sorrows, speaks of it.
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Bearing shame and scoffing rude.
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In my place condemned he stood.
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Sealed my pardon with his blood.
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Hallelujah, what a savior.
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Guilty, helpless, lost were we.
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Blameless lamb of God was he.
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He sacrificed to set us free.
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Hallelujah, what a savior.
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And that's who we see on the third cross.
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On the middle cross.
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It is the savior.
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And hallelujah, what a savior we have in him.
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The first thief mocked him.
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And Jesus didn't reply to him.
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But the other thief, as he cried out,
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Jesus, remember me.
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Well, Jesus replied to him.
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And it's a beautiful reply.
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And as we think of our lives today, as you think of your life today,
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how are you looking at Jesus?
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How are you turning to Jesus?
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Are you like the first one?
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He was just mocking him.
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Or are you crying like the second one?
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Jesus, remember me.
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Because Jesus only replies to that second cry.
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He only replies to that criminal who cries out looking for mercy.
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And if you cry out looking for mercy, he will turn to you as well.
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We can find that hope in him.
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This situation, it seemed hopeless in many ways.
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Even as they looked at Jesus, maybe they wondered, what can he do for us now?
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And we know that many people turned away.
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His own disciples turned away at this time.
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But we have to come and see what he has done.
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And so this criminal who cried out, remember me.
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He found that hope in Jesus.
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And that's the hope that we can find today.
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Many will be busy with lambing over these coming weeks.
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I want to share with you a little story about a shepherd who was going through that time of lambing.
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And he was a very attentive shepherd.
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He knew his sheep well.
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And as he was going out this day to check on his sheep, he saw one of his sheep that had lambed.
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But there was no sign of the lambs.
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The lambs weren't there with its mother.
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And he knew that this sheep was due to have twins.
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And so he went around and started looking for the lambs that she had had.
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And eventually he came across the two lambs.
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But he found them in a ditch full of water.
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And the poor lambs, all that was above the water was their heads.
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The rest of their body was underwater.
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And he thought, immediately he thought the lambs had died.
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But then he saw one of them move.
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And so he reached down and took the two of them out of the water and realized they were both still alive.
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And he took them home, dried them off, warmed them up and fed them.
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And they survived.
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They survived.
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They survived because the shepherd knew his sheep.
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And he went looking for the lambs that were lost.
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And it's just a great reminder to us of what Jesus has come to do for us.
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The reason why he was there on the middle cross.
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He was there as a saviour.
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And he could look on us and think, they're gone.
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They're past it.
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They cannot be saved.
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But he doesn't.
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Instead he looks on us in love.
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And he looks on us, inviting us to himself.
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To his kingdom.
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To all that he offers us.
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And so here we are reminded of the Easter story.
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We are reminded of how important it is to listen to what Jesus has done.
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That we might find life in him.
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One writer looked on this passage and the three crosses and said,
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One man died in sin.
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That was the first thief who didn't acknowledge Jesus.
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He died in sin.
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He said then the second one, one man died to sin.
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Which means that he turned to Jesus.
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Turned away from sin and turned to Jesus.
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He died to sin.
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And then he said the third one, the third cross, one died for sin.
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And that's what Jesus did.
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He died for sin.
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So on these crosses, one man died in sin.
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One man died to sin.
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And one man died for sin.
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And we are to look to the one who died for sin.
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For your sin and for my sin.
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And that is the good news of Easter.
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That Jesus came to die for our sins.
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But he also rose from the grave.
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And we know that through that he is victorious.
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And that we can have that victory in him.
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So we look to the middle cross.
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To a saviour.
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And put our trust in him.
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Let us pray.
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Lord our gracious God.
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We do thank you for all your goodness to us.
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For the way you remember us.
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And help us so we might remember you.
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Remember you as in all that you have done.
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And that we might look to you and cry.
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Jesus remember me.
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In my need.
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In my sin.
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That we would find life in you.
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So hear us.
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Go before us.
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Pardon us.
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In Jesus name.
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Amen.
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We're going to conclude by singing to God's praise in Psalm 36.
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We'll sing from verse 7 to verse 10.
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Page 44 of the Psalm books.
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Psalm 36 at verse 7 to verse 10.
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How precious is your steadfast love.
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What confidence it brings.
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Both high and low.
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Find shelter in the shadow of your wings.
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So we can find that shelter.
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That refuge.
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As we look to the Lord Jesus.
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Verse 7 to 10.
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To God's praise.
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How precious is your steadfast love.
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What confidence it brings.
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To God's praise.
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Both high and low find shelter in the shadow of your wings.
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They feast within your house and wing, from sweet all your delight.
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For with you is the soul of life, in your light we delight.
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To those who know you as their God, your steadfast love impart.
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Maintain your righteousness to those of you and of right are.
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After the benediction, I'll go to the door to my left.
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We'll close with a benediction.
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Now may grace, mercy and peace from God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit rest upon and abide with you all now and forevermore.
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Amen.
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Amen.