It's Enevitable
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“Nothing is certain but death and taxes.”
“Nothing is certain but death and taxes.”
I’m sure you’ve all heard this Benjamin Franklin quote. While we cannot successfully escape paying taxes or dying, I believe there are other things that we can be guaranteed in this life.
Let’s pray.
Ok, so death and taxes. Let’s tackle this quote first by backing it up with scripture. That’s how we have to measure everything to test its validity. So what does the Bible say about death?
27 Just as people are destined to die once, and after that to face judgment,
1. I was eleven years old and we were living in Amherst, Nova Scotia. It was a Friday evening and we had just finished eating supper when the phone rang. It was a policeman wanting to speak to my dad. When Dad finished the call, a flurry of emotions and frenzy followed. Dad’s mother had passed away, so Mom was quickly booking him a flight to Brampton, Ontario while Dad rushed upstairs to pack. Then Dad had to call our Youth Pastor to come to take him to the Moncton airport and make arrangements for someone to fill in for him on Sunday. We later learned that as Dad and Rick were on their way to the airport, they were stopped by a cop for speeding. When Dad explained why they were in such a hurry, the policeman gave them an escort to Moncton so Dad was able to catch his flight on time.
This June 25th will mark 9 years since my Mom passed away. Just six weeks after her cancer diagnosis, she was gone. It still feels surreal some days.
Jesus knows the sorrow of losing a loved one. He experienced the death of a close friend, Lazarus. In John 11:35 we read the shortest verses in the Bible, yet one of the most powerful.
35 Jesus wept.
This is a powerful verse because it really shows Jesus as one of us - fully human, experiencing a very real human emotion. He was mourning the loss of his good friend. He was also moved with compassion for Lazarus’ sisters, Mary and Martha. Then, being fully God, Jesus sets aside His sorrow and calls Lazarus out of the grave and back to life!
Death is inevitable. We know that. It is one appointment we can not re-schedule or cancel. God has the exact date and time set, right down to the second. How about the second part -taxes?
2.Here is Canada it seemed we get taxed for every real or imagined crisis. As much as we disagree with the tax, we pay it to avoid jail time.
Back in Jesus’ day, the Pharisees were on a mission to trick Jesus and give them a reason to arrest Him.
15 Then the Pharisees went out and laid plans to trap him in his words.
16 They sent their disciples to him along with the Herodians. “Teacher,” they said, “we know that you are a man of integrity and that you teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. You aren’t swayed by others, because you pay no attention to who they are.
17 Tell us then, what is your opinion? Is it right to pay the imperial tax to Caesar or not?”
18 But Jesus, knowing their evil intent, said, “You hypocrites, why are you trying to trap me?
19 Show me the coin used for paying the tax.” They brought him a denarius,
20 and he asked them, “Whose image is this? And whose inscription?”
21 “Caesar’s,” they replied. Then he said to them, “So give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s.”
22 When they heard this, they were amazed. So they left him and went away.
Pay taxes. Avoid jail. End of story.
So that takes care of the quote: “Nothing is certain but death and taxes.” This is where I debunk the quote by suggesting some other things that I believe are inevitable.
3. Disappointment. Because of the Fall of Man in the Garden of Eden, disappointment is inevitable. People will let us down, circumstances won’t always work out in our favour, and our prayers won’t alway be answered when or how we’d like them to.
Jesus understands disappointment. He poured Himself into the live of twelve men for three years - His closest friends - His disciples, and they all betrayed, denied, or deserted Him when He needed them most.
Jesus had been trying to tell the disciples that the purpose for His being on earth was about to be fulfilled. He was trying to explain what was about to happen to Him and why it was a good thing, although very difficult. I don’t think they really understood what was about to happen. At the Last Supper, Jesus says, “One of you will betray me.”
22 They were very sad and began to say to him one after the other, “Surely you don’t mean me, Lord?”
One by one they asked Jesus if they were the one. Even Judas, in verse 25 asks, “Rabbi, am I the one?” And Jesus told him, “You have said it.”
25 Then Judas, the one who would betray him, said, “Surely you don’t mean me, Rabbi?” Jesus answered, “You have said so.”
Now, about eleven verses back we read that Judas had already made a deal with the leading priests. He was going to betray Jesus for 30 pieces of silver. So, perhaps Judas was asking Jesus if He already knew what Judas was about to do.
Then, just after Jesus presents a visual of what’s about to happen to Him by using wine and bread, He reveals something else - to Peter this time.
34 “Truly I tell you,” Jesus answered, “this very night, before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times.”
“This very night, before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times.” Imagine having someone so close to you that they know what you’re going to do before YOU do!
Then we keep reading through Matthew 26 we read that Jesus and His disciples go to Gethsemane. He asks then to wait while he goes to pray. He takes Peter, James, and John with Him.
38 Then he said to them, “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me.”
He went on a little further to be alone and to pray. He knew what lay ahead for Him and He needed God to strengthen Him. When He had finished praying, he went back to the disciples and found them sleeping! Three times He went to pray and three times He returned to find is friends asleep. “Couldn’t you even watch with me for one hour?”
40 Then he returned to his disciples and found them sleeping. “Couldn’t you men keep watch with me for one hour?” he asked Peter.
Then Judas arrives with a mob of me, ready to arrest Jesus. With a kiss, Judas betrays Jesus and the purpose for which Jesus came to earth begins to unfold.
56 But this has all taken place that the writings of the prophets might be fulfilled.” Then all the disciples deserted him and fled.
“But this is all happening to fulfill the words of the prophets as recorded in Scripture. At this point, all the disciples deserted him and fled.” (NLT)
Jesus understands heartbreak, betrayal, and disappointment. ALL of His closest friends left Him at His greatest point of need. At the time His mission was about to reach the climax - His very purpose for coming to the world - when He needed them the most - His friends - His disciples - the ones He poured Himself into - they left Him to face the darkest moments of His earthly existence alone.
The whole reason that Jesus endured disappointment, betrayal, and heartbreak, is because of the next point :
4. His LOVE is inevitable. Regardless of what happens in your life, you can be certain of God’s love for you. His love is guaranteed.
16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
5 Your love, Lord, reaches to the heavens, your faithfulness to the skies.
6 Your righteousness is like the highest mountains, your justice like the great deep. You, Lord, preserve both people and animals.
7 How priceless is your unfailing love, O God! People take refuge in the shadow of your wings.
35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?
36 As it is written: “For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.”
37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.
38 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers,
39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
God’s love is certain, unending, and unchangeable! You can’t escape it. You can count on it and it will never run out!
5. God’s grace in inevitable. Just as God’s love is without limits, so is His grace.
8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—
9 not by works, so that no one can boast.
14 For sin shall no longer be your master, because you are not under the law, but under grace.
In 2 Corinthians 12, Paul is talking about the thorn in his flesh when he says, in verse 8
8 Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me.
9 But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.
16 Out of his fullness we have all received grace in place of grace already given.
Amazing Grace!
6. The sixth thing that I believe we can add to the list of inevitable things is God’s forgiveness.
12 as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.
18 “Come now, let us settle the matter,” says the Lord. “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool.
25 “I, even I, am he who blots out your transgressions, for my own sake, and remembers your sins no more.
As I was preparing this message, reading these verses on forgiveness and allowing their meaning to really sink in, I was overwhelmed. How great is the depth of Christ’s love and forgiveness toward us!
Even while Jesus was hanging on the cross, body beaten beyond recognition, and His heart broken to pieces, He speaks words of forgiveness:
54 It was Preparation Day, and the Sabbath was about to begin.
“Father, forgive them...” In our humanity, when we are in pain, physical or emotional, we tend to only this of ourselves and the pain we’re in, BUT JESUS was thinking of the people who had just tortured Him, the ones who betrayed and deserted Him, the ones who misunderstood Him and His purpose, the ones who hated Him. Jesus was looking to the future, to all those who were yet to be born, He was looking at you and me as He said, “Father, forgive them.” To the repentant heart, God’s forgiveness is inevitable. Thank you, Jesus!
1. Death
2. Taxes
3. Disappointment
4. God’s Love
5. God’s Grace
6. God’ Forgiveness
7.God’s Faithfulness
7.God’s Faithfulness
7. Because 7 is the number of perfection, the final thing we can be certain of, is God’s faithfulness. It’s inevitable. You can count on God to be there for you in the loss, in the heartache, in the pain, in the betrayal, and in the disappointment. GOD IS FAITHFUL!!!
18 The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.
23 Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful.
28 Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom.
29 He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak.
30 Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall;
31 but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.
Philippians 4:6,7
7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Conclusion:
While it is true that death and taxes are certain, inevitable, so are God’s love, His Grace, His forgiveness, and His faithfulness.
33 “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”
Take heart. Don’t fret. Be encouraged. He has already overcome!
Let’s pray (or call Pastor up)