Sermon Nuggets Mon July 26
Topic- Death
Verses-Heb 9:27-28 Just as man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment, so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him.
Death and Dying: An Introduction
The series I have chosen to consider for the next month or so relates to a topic that will affect us all- Death. I have recently had many questions recurring as to what happens when we die. I thought I would take the sermon series originally presented nine years ago and adapt it for sermon nuggets. Unlike the ones posted so far this is a topical series.
George Bernard Shaw wryly wrote, "The statistics on death are quite impressive. One out of one people die.”
While on vacation a number of years ago I happened to pick up one of Moody Bible Institute radio programs. Dr. Irwin Lutzer, pastor of the Moody church in Chicago, was preaching on life after death. He made that sermon series into a book entitled, “One Minute After you Die.” The Lord seemed to be speaking to me about doing a series like that. Some of the ideas and illustrations come from that book.
Increasingly in the United States there are various religious groups who have explanations regarding what happens after you die. Reincarnation is a Hindu explanation of life after death. The caste system is set up in a prejudicial way that allows higher class people to be perfectly justified in mistreatment of lower class people because they deserved the life they got based on how good there were in a previous life. When you die you are reincarnated into a different life form based on works.
Nirvana is the place of wine women and song after death to those of the Moslem faith if you’ve lived a good enough life, or that place of nothingness of completed contentment and peace if you are a Buddhist.
The prominent teaching of the atheist and agnostic is when you’re dead there is no life or consciousness, no afterlife, no heaven, no hell. Those concepts are just made up from mankind to make us feel good and manipulate us into living a certain way on earth as advanced evolved animals.
Many are very reluctant to address the topic as if it is too morbid to discuss. I wonder if that is a way to deny the inevitable when someone has no satisfying answer.
I was given the testimony of Wendy Anderson, niece to Jim Anderson, which was written in the Washington Post. She wrote, “My Conversion began in February 1995 when I met a Christian who had the courage to share his faith with me. He and I had a long discussion over dinner one night about death. I’ve had conversations like this many times before, but this one turned out much differently. I expressed my concern that I had no idea what lies beyond the grave and talked about my paralyzing fear of death. This ration, intelligent, thoughtful person told met that his personal relationship with God made him as sure of what awaited him after physical death as he was of anything. I was surprised and curious. Every other time I had this conversation with people, they had agreed with me that there was no answer to which we could be certain this side of the grave. We could only hope for the best. After that conversation and many others that followed, it dawned on me that I may have been wrong my entire life. There might indeed be a God. The consequences of being wrong were dire, and I knew I needed to learn more. “
Wendy talked about reading the Bible praying and meeting with other Christians and started to attend a church. After reading about proofs of the resurrection of Jesus Christ she surrendered her heart to Christ and hasn’t been the same since.
The subject of death can cause many to do real soul searching for answers. What does the Bible have to say about death? It seems appropriate to discuss this subject and discover the truths on the topic in the days ahead.
The most important question of all as individuals is, “Are you prepared to die? Do you have absolute confidence you will be with the Lord?”
Pastor Dale
Sermon Nuggets Tues July 27, 2010
Verses- Gen 2:16-17 And the LORD God commanded the man, "You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die"
Genesis 3:19 “By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return."
Eph. 2:1-2 “As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient.”
Some Definitions of Death
The first time the topic is mentioned is from the book of Genesis of course. It served as a warning to Adam and Eve. I was thinking when Adam first heard that warning he had no idea what death was for nothing had died since sin did not come into the world. It was only a theoretic concept, without meaning.
I suppose he could understand death, when applied to plants. Something grew and then it was cut or eaten and was no longer there. Here today and gone tomorrow. There is no indication that animals died in the paradise environment created by God for mankind to live in. But later when the animal’s life was taken they were no more.
First death is physical. God warned that one came from dust and would return to dust, or ground.
If we are to understand death from a Biblical perspective we begin with the understanding of separation. James 2:26 says, “The body without the spirit is dead.”
When man was created in the image of God Genesis tells us that he breathed into man the breath of life. Did you know the word breathed, wind and spirit are all related terms? And man became a living soul. It is the way man was intended to be in the garden with full relationship. That spirit was put to death or separated us from God. Therefore each person is spiritually dead because of sin. You are two thirds of a person; until the Holy Spirit of God comes into you are not as God intended you to be. So we become new people reborn spiritually alive connected to God. God makes that possible by his supernatural work of salvation. For us it is faith. It is believing and following Jesus Christ to be our savior and Lord.
I think there are other Scriptures that help us understand this: 1Thes 5:23 “May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
When there is a separation from God there is a loss of man’s moral likeness to God. We don’t think like God, we have creative nature and thinking process but also a sinful nature that seeks to serve self and not God.
Because "all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" Rom. 3:23, all men are spiritually dead-- separated from God who is the source of spiritual life. Sin makes a person hate the light and despise the truth; it causes one to break God's laws and to become insensitive to holy things. Everyone who has not been redeemed by Christ is spiritually dead
The prodigal son was lost and found, dead and now alive when he returned in repentance to the father. In other words death is described from the spiritual point when God’s spirit is not in your life and you have the spirit of the world or the spirit of the evil one, but not the spirit of God. You are dead separated from God.
“Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell.” Matt 10:28
The emphasis of death is on the separation from God and His glory. In Luke’s account of the rich man and Lazarus they both physically died, but were conscience in an afterlife. The soul of Lazarus was alive in Abraham’s bosom and conscious. The rich man was conscious but separated from God and in hell.
There is physical death. There is a spiritual death when we are separated from God but still alive physically. And there is an eternal death when we are both dead physically and in an afterlife forever separated from God.
Man is finding so many ways to prolong his days that mortality rate gets lower every year. The aim of medical profession is to prolong life as long as possible. Methods and machines to save life by other standards are miraculous. There are respirators for months, heart massage to continue blood circulation, electrical shocks to heart, pacemaker. There have been many ways that have defined death and life from a medical point of view. But physical death for mankind is the separation of the soul from the body.
We also are spiritually dead to God. The good news is that God has done something about making us spiritually alive. There is the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. There is a resurrection from the dead. There is eternal life. To be alive to God means the Holy Spirit comes into us. We have that seal from God to be forever with Him.
Pastor Dale
Sermon Nuggets Weds July 28, 2010
Verses- 1 Cor 15:26 The last enemy to be destroyed is death.
John 16:19-20 Jesus saw that they wanted to ask him about this, so he said to them, "Are you asking one another what I meant when I said, 'In a little while you will see me no more, and then after a little while you will see me'?
I tell you the truth, you will weep and mourn while the world rejoices. You will grieve, but your grief will turn to joy.
Phil 1:21 For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.
Ps 116:15 Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints.
2 Cor 5:8 We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord.
Descriptions of Death
Many euphemisms are used to describe death: Man's last great vacation; Crossing the river; putting out to sea; crossing the bar; being laid to rest; passing away; going to his Maker.
The Bible also uses other terms to describe death: Those who asleep, or to be gathered unto my people, The Bible speaks of death also as giving up the ghost, being cut down, departing, fleeing as a shadow. But one expression used by Paul is describing death as an enemy.
God is the God of life. We are created to live not die. The Garden of Eden experience was to go on and on in a perfect relationship. Sin changed that perfect plan. We have an independent spirit that wants to do what we want and not what God wants. So death is part of the curse. I have done 35 funerals in the last 2 years. Many homes and loved ones understand that enemy death is.
Grief is described even as Mary and Martha wept over their brother. Jesus wept as he stood by the tomb. Grief is the expression of loss. Death causes us to hurt, to fear, and to sorrow. It is an enemy.
Death is an enemy as it disrupts earthly relationships. It is the breaking of family ties. It is a change in our lives when loved ones are taken from us.
It is common to fear death. Many times in the Bible the Lord tells us not to fear it. Often that fear hinders people and manipulates people. A robber comes with a gun to take your money or your life. Someone keeps another a hostage and the fear of death makes them comply with the wishes of the other. The wars and threats of wars is what keep people in peace or in bondage of a dictator. Someone thinks they have solved any opposition by killing their foes. So there is a natural fear of death because God has given us bodies that want to live.
But the Bible also speaks of death almost as a friend for those who have the security of knowing God in a personal way. Paul says, “For me to live is Christ but to die is gain.” Death took on a different significance when Stephen was martyred. He was greeted by the face of the Lord. Although it was a violent death it was a victory.
Precious is the death of a saint. Ps 116:15. Although we will also talk about suicide in another sermon, yet for some who are undergoing suffering, or who are older and lost a loved one, death is a friend for reuniting or to relieve the problems of this age. As the song writer says, “This world is not my home, I’m just a passing through.” For many who have lived a long and rich life the yearning for death is stronger because there is hope beyond the grave. They are tired of his life and its sufferings.
We have seen some wonderful death bed experiences as one passes from this life into the next with the peace that comes from God. For many it is welcomed when their labors on this earth are over.
Even when the Bible speaks of the great tribulation Rev. 9:6 And in those days shall men seek death, and shall not find it; and shall desire to die, and death shall flee from them:
Various attitudes toward death are expressed in the Bible, from dread to anticipation.
Christ has changed the description of death for those who have placed their trust in Him.
Pastor Dale
Sermon Nuggets Thurs July 29, 2010
Verses- 1 Cor 15:26 The last enemy to be destroyed is death.
Heb 2:14-15 Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death-- that is, the devil--and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death.
1 Cor 15:54-57 When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: "Death has been swallowed up in victory." "Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?" The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Destruction of Death.
With reference to human beings, however, death is not the end of life. For man, physical death does not mean the end of existence but the end of life as we know it and the transition to another dimension in which our conscious existence continues. We will look in a couple of weeks from now the Intermediate state and how death is looked at from an Old Testament perspective.
So many people look at death as finality when the Bible does not speak about that at all. But even death as a separation will no longer be tolerated. When we read that the last enemy to be destroyed is death then we see it too has a time of destruction. Death itself will be no more.
So many people are working hard to find cures to various illnesses with only the hope of prolonging our life on earth. Some seek to be frozen and revived, some leave some posterity of money or literature, or something to be remembered, but all will be forgotten sooner or later. Jesus provided a cure that destroys death itself.
In His resurrection, Jesus conquered death-- physical, spiritual, and eternal. Jesus came to destroy the power of death. That means he came to destroy a bodily separation, a spiritual separation and a soul separation. Ironically he did this by dying himself.
When Jesus says “Whoever believes in me shall never die” that is quite a statement. I know people who believe in Jesus and I have conducted their funerals. We grieve over them and a doctor or medical examiner has officially declared them dead. The penalty for sin is the curse of death, but the definition is separation. Jesus said in Him there is no separation from God. One moment you are in the presence of your loved ones and the next in the presence of Jesus. The body is gone but that too is temporary. It is a living experience not a dying one from God’s perspective, which is what He wants us all to know.
Jesus defeated Satan at the cross and the power of sin and the power of death over us. He beat Satan at his own game. God paid the price of sin by dying himself through his son and our sins are forgiven so the penalty is taking away and instead of separation there is reconciliation. And in the book of Revelation there is also a prophecy about death itself. It is taken and thrown into the lake of fire. Rev. 20
Rev 21:4 He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away."
So Christ has abolished death and taking away its terror and will some day utterly destroy it. He has so changed death so I wonder if we should give it a new name? A train to glory? A boat to the beyond? A heavenly journey?
Have you trusted Christ to be your savior and Lord? Like Jesus we leave our grave clothes behind and exchange our mortal for immortal.
Pastor Dale
Sermon Nuggets Fri July 30, 2010
John 8:21
21 Once more Jesus said to them, "I am going away, and you will look for me, and you will die in your sin. Where I go, you cannot come."
Destination.
In John 8:21 the Lord Jesus said, "You...will die." "Death," said Billy Graham, "hangs over our heads from the cradle to the grave. It stalks the little child, it plagues the youth, it hovers over us in middle age, it haunts us in old age, and it catches up with us in the end."
Graham reminded us Houdini with his magic couldn't escape it. Edison with his mind couldn't evade it. Rockefeller with his millions couldn't elude it. Alexander the Great with his militancy couldn't eliminate it. Paul the apostle with his morality couldn't expel it. In Lansing, Michigan, businessman Harry Cove won the title of "the world's most revived man." He had 172 heart attacks, and the Lansing fire department raced to his home 172 times and revived him. He boasted that he cheated death 172 times. But one day he died, and some day you'll die!
"Words can't express the horror of such a plight," (for the unbeliever) said Dr. Robert G. Lee. "It means that the unbelieving man is lost, not for one day, but forever. Terrible the plight of the blind - in a world of light and colors; of the deaf in a world with voices and musical instruments; of the dumb who would speak but can't; of the crippled and maimed who can't walk; of lost health, lost honor, lost character! Terrible the plight of those who starve in lands of famine; of prisoners who live behind prison bars; of those born without minds, or who have lost their minds. But no plight of body or mind is as awful as your plight if you refuse Christ."
Prov 11:7 When a wicked man dies, his hope perishes; all he expected from his power comes to nothing.
Yet, Jesus said to his followers, "In my Father's house are many mansions...I go to prepare a place for you. And since I go to prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto Myself; that where I am, there ye may be also."
An atheist said to Dr. Walter Wilson, "I believe that death ends all."
"So do I," he answered. "Death ends all your joy; death ends all the gospel you'll ever hear; and you go out into outer darkness."
But the Christian doctor added, "Death ends all my tears, all my perplexities, all my disappointments, all my aches and pains, and I go to be with the Lord."
How does one prepare for heaven? By believing. The Bible says, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved."
Pastor Dale
