2023.10.15 Staving Off Death
Notes
Transcript
Staving Off Death
Staving Off Death
John 11:20–26 • Psalm 24
A Psalm of David.
1 The earth is the Lord’s, and all it contains, The world, and those who live in it.
2 For He has founded it upon the seas And established it upon the rivers.
3 Who may ascend onto the hill of the Lord? And who may stand in His holy place?
4 One who has clean hands and a pure heart, Who has not lifted up his soul to deceit And has not sworn deceitfully.
5 He will receive a blessing from the Lord And righteousness from the God of his salvation.
6 This is the generation of those who seek Him, Who seek Your face—even Jacob. Selah
7 Lift up your heads, you gates, And be lifted up, you ancient doors, That the King of glory may come in!
8 Who is the King of glory? The Lord strong and mighty, The Lord mighty in battle.
9 Lift up your heads, you gates, And lift them up, you ancient doors, That the King of glory may come in!
10 Who is this King of glory? The Lord of armies, He is the King of glory. Selah
You know you’re getting old when:
you look forward to a dull evening at home
everything hurts, and what doesn’t hurt doesn’t work
you sink your teeth into a big, juicy steak—and they stay there
you dim the lights for economic reasons, not romantic ones
you’ve owned clothes for so long they’ve come back into style twice
you sing along to elevator music
— Greg Laurie, “God’s Cure for Heart Trouble,” Preaching Today Audio, no. 282
Our culture seems to be obsessed with holding onto our youth.
Arlene Weintraub – Business Week (March 20, 2006) "Selling the Promise of Youth"
77 million baby boomers
Given birth to a new industry...Antiaging industry
Human growth hormones - ↑ muscle mass/improve memory
Estrogen and progesterone - guard against Alzheimer’s and osteoporosis
Testosterone - aid memory and bone mass
More than 1,500 doctors have been certified as antiaging practitioners.
The Anti-Aging market $67.2 BILLION in 2022 [IMarc Research Group]
While our culture SEEMS obsessed with holding onto our youth … I believe our culture is obsessed with death!
TV - glorify and study how people die - using make-believe crime scenes
Shows and movies - ghosts and other afterlife phenomena
This obsession with death makes sense in a way … we don’t understand death. Most of the world sees this life as all there is. When death comes … they think that’s it. Most of the world is either confused, or completely ignorant about what happens when we die.
So, Death easily becomes the ultimate fear for an awful lot of us.
As the calendar rushes through and another year slips away, does death seem more real to you? Perhaps it should for all of us. Even for infants, every day brings death a day closer.
But what do we really know about death?
Better yet … What should we know about death?
Psalm 24:1
Psalm 24:1 (NASB 2020)
1 The earth is Yahweh’s, and all it contains, The world, and those who live in it.
YOU belong to God!
In the end, you will face Him and give an answer for your life here, and how you spent it.
Jesus controls life and death!
Look at John 11
So when Mary came to the place where Jesus was, she saw Him and fell at His feet, saying to Him, “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died.” Therefore when Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her also weeping, He was deeply moved in spirit and was troubled, and He said, “Where have you laid him?” They said to Him, “Lord, come and see.” Jesus wept. So the Jews were saying, “See how He loved him!” But some of them said, “Could this man, who opened the eyes of the man who was blind, not have also kept this man from dying?”
So Jesus, again being deeply moved within, came to the tomb. Now it was a cave, and a stone was lying against it. Jesus said, “Remove the stone.” Martha, the sister of the deceased, said to Him, “Lord, by this time there will be a stench, for he has been dead four days.”Jesus said to her, “Did I not say to you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?” So they removed the stone. And Jesus raised His eyes, and said, “Father, I thank You that You have heard Me. But I knew that You always hear Me; nevertheless, because of the people standing around I said it, so that they may believe that You sent Me.” And when He had said these things, He cried out with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” Out came the man who had died, bound hand and foot with wrappings, and his face was wrapped around with a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Unbind him, and let him go.”
Jesus is the only human to ever really cheat death.
Lazarus' death was cut short by Jesus
Jesus' death came to an abrupt ending and later He ascended into Heaven … Unlike Lazarus, He didn't re-die, so Jesus Christ is still alive today!
"Unbind him and let him go." – turning point in Jesus' opposition to death!
Death will be no more!
Rev. 21:1-6a
1 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the old heaven and the old earth had disappeared. And the sea was also gone.
2 And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven like a bride beautifully dressed for her husband.
3 I heard a loud shout from the throne, saying, “Look, God’s home is now among his people! He will live with them, and they will be his people. God himself will be with them.
4 He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. All these things are gone forever.”
5 And the one sitting on the throne said, “Look, I am making everything new!” And then he said to me, “Write this down, for what I tell you is trustworthy and true.”
6 And he also said, “It is finished! I am the Alpha and the Omega—the Beginning and the End. To all who are thirsty I will give freely from the springs of the water of life.
He is making all things new!
Death is no more!
The home of God is among us!
When someone asks “How are you?” we have thousands of responses available.
Jackie - "Every day above ground is good!"
Chris – "For those of us who believe, the ones below ground are even better!"
Are you afraid of death?
The $67B anti-aging industry wants you to spend your life trying to stave off death?
Death is coming for each and every one of us.
Billy Graham – "I do not fear death. I may fear a little bit about the process, but not death itself."
Can you say, "I don't fear death?"
John 11:25-26
25 Jesus told her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Anyone who believes in me will live, even after dying.
26 Everyone who lives in me and believes in me will never ever die. Do you believe this, Martha?”
Staving Off Death
Staving Off Death
1 Thes 4:13-18 [not on screen]
13 And now, dear brothers and sisters, we want you to know what will happen to the believers who have died so you will not grieve like people who have no hope.
14 For since we believe that Jesus died and was raised to life again, we also believe that when Jesus returns, God will bring back with him the believers who have died.
15 We tell you this directly from the Lord: We who are still living when the Lord returns will not meet him ahead of those who have died.
16 For the Lord himself will come down from heaven with a commanding shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet call of God. First, the believers who have died will rise from their graves.
17 Then, together with them, we who are still alive and remain on the earth will be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. Then we will be with the Lord forever.
18 So encourage each other with these words.
So, let me encourage you with these words.
Those who believe in Jesus Christ will not see a real death. They will be carried from this life to the next, and they will be granted eternal joy in the presence of God’s throne! Because of Jesus’ resurrection, and because "The earth is Yahweh’s, and everything in it.” Because, “The world and all its people belong to him.”
Because of these things, WE HAVE HOPE. We have nothing to fear from death. Physical death is God’s final healing for us. As we are carried away from our broken down physical bodies, our souls will bring new bodies to life into eternity.
This world can have my youth. I will have eternal youth when I receive my reward on the other side.
If you’re fearful of death, let me encourage you to dig deep into your faith in Jesus. Let me encourage you to listen to God’s teaching about resurrection, and recognize that the key to open that gate is faith in Christ.
Paul writes that if you make Jesus lord of your life, and believe God raised him from the dead you will be saved.
When Jesus told Martha that those who believe will never die, he asked her a question. I feel compelled to ask each of you the same question:
Do you believe this?
May your life reflect the hope that comes from believing this.