Reminders from Death

Intro

Over this past week or so I have been confronted with three different situations where death has been the topic in which I have had to reflect upon.

The first, was in my wife’s hometown, one of her friends who was her age, died tragically in a car accident.

The Second, one of my best friends from college took too much medicine before he went to bed and when he woke up a few hours later, he found his wife murdered by his own hands.

The Third, is one that we have all have seen and that is the death and destruction that has come with hurricane Harvey.

Christ dealt with this topic of death, and He gives reminders that we need to apply today.

If you have your Bibles and I hope you do, turn with me to

Luke 13:1–5 ESV

There were some present at that very time who told him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. And he answered them, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans, because they suffered in this way? No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them: do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others who lived in Jerusalem? No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.”

Two incidents are referred to in this text. In one event, some Galileans were offering sacrifices at the temple in Jerusalem, and they were killed by Roman troops in an ambush of sorts. The second event refers to a tower in Siloam, which apparently fell unexpectedly and killed eighteen people. As such, this text gives us a picture of both moral and natural evil, moral and natural disasters. When asked to comment on these events, Jesus gave these four sobering reminders.

Death is unpredictable.

We see here that death is unpredictable, it can happen at any moment. The people in both of these moments that Jesus is sharing died suddenly and unexpectedly, they both died in places where they should feel the safest, first in the temple, and second in the tower that is supposed to be for defense.

These people that died, did not wake up that morning expecting to. Just like the people in Texas, nor the wife of the man that I know, nor the girl that was my wife’s friend, as she was driving to church the other night. We need to remember that we are not guaranteed tomorrow, or even the rest of today, life is brief, and it can be over in the blink of an eye.

This is why it is by God’s grace that you get to hear this right now, because death is unpredictable. You are not guaranteed next Sunday, nor this afternoon. By God’s grace you are allowed an opportunity to completely surrender to Him, you have an opportunity that you may not have tomorrow.

Penalty of Death, and it plagues us all.

Jesus is reminding these people that He is speaking with that unless they ALL repent they too will perish. Jesus was not talking about them dying in a tower collapse, nor being ambushed by Roman soldiers, but that we are all sinners , and that these incidents were not because they were “greater sinners” than those whom Jesus was speaking with here.

Not one of us are immune from the consequences of death, death, an eternal separation from God, not one of us will be able to stand before God one day outside of Christ and live, no others can justify yourself before the Lord other than Christ Himself.

The penalty of sin is death, and all of those who have not surrendered to Christ will taste death. Those who have surrendered to Christ, have life, and victory over death, its a peace in knowing in Christ you have eternal life. But his happens through Christ and Christ alone.

This also shows us what’s at stake here in our ministry, this is eternal death that we are talking about here, there is no waking up tomorrow and trying again with that person, once they are gone, they are gone, this should spur us on to reach everyone with the Gospel.

Death reminds us to repent and turn back to God.

This is the main point of . Amidst the crowd’s question regarding natural disaster, Jesus does not immediately vault into a discussion of the mysterious ways of God. This certainly seemed like a golden opportunity to do so, but He didn’t. Instead, Jesus looked at them in their eyes and urged them to repent. In light of the fact that death plagues all of us and is unpredictable in each of our lives, repent. Repent and be reconciled to God.

There is no more of an important question that you can answer today than “Are you right with God?” If not, repent! Are you toying with sin in your life? Repent! Is your heart cold toward God? Repent! Are you living in willful, deliberate sin? Repent! Have you grown apathetic in your relationship with God? Repent! God is merciful and gracious, and He forgives, saves, cleanses, and restores the repentant heart. Death remind us to repent and be reconciled to God.

Death also reminds us of the urgency of our mission.

Luke 12:40 ESV

You also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.”

Luke 12:45 ESV

But if that servant says to himself, ‘My master is delayed in coming,’ and begins to beat the male and female servants, and to eat and drink and get drunk,

Jesus reminds us here of the brevity of life, not only for ourselves, but also of others. Jesus is telling us that life is fleeting and people are perishing. So what are we going to do Epiphany? 3 people in the state of Tennessee are dying every hour without Christ, so what are we going to do about it? Do we live our lives as if these people do not matter? Or do we live our lives for Christ, sharing the Gospel and pressing on in our mission for Christ? Eternity is coming, and those who die without Christ will die for eternity, we must try everything we can to reach everyone we can.

Jesus reminds us here of the brevity of life, not only for ourselves, but also of others. Jesus is telling us that life is fleeting and people are perishing. So what are we going to do Epiphany? 3 people in the state of Tennessee are dying every hour without Christ, so what are we going to do about it? Do we live our lives as if these people do not matter? Or do we live our lives for Christ, sharing the Gospel and pressing on in our mission for Christ? Eternity is coming, and those who die without Christ will die for eternity, we must try everything we can to reach everyone we can.

Jesus has called all of us to partner in this kingdom work that reaches this world for Him. Not everyone is called to be the same thing as others, but if you know Christ then you are a partner in His grand design to take the Gospel to the entire globe. By your prayers, your giving, your faithful witness, and your service, you can have an impact for the Gospel far beyond anything you could imagine.

This morning we are going to respond. We as a church are going to respond in prayer this morning for the people of Texas, and those who see death happen. We have three areas to pray in today.

1.) Pray this morning for the Believers in these situations.

We must pray that they would be still and know that He is God. We must pray that they would cling to the One who said that hard‐ship, persecution, famine, nakedness, danger, and sword cannot separate them from the love of Christ. We must pray that God would meet all their needs according to His glorious riches in Christ so that they might reach out and serve those who are needy around them. We must pray that God would display His goodness and His greatness through them in these days so that many would know the mercy and grace of Christ.

2.) Pray for The lost who see death.

Pray for the host of unbelievers in the middle of this tragedy as well as the millions of unbelievers thousands of miles away from this tragedy. Pray that they will discover the grace and goodness of God in all of this. Pray that they will hear the best news in all the world – that there is a Savior who is familiar with all their suffering who has conquered sin and death and brings them the hope of eternal life where there will be no more sorrow, sickness, pain, earthquakes, or any other natural disaster.

3.) Pray for ourselves this morning.

To anyone who does not know Christ, repent and be reconciled to God. Not one of us is guaranteed tomorrow. Today is the day of salvation! And to those who do know Christ, pray for God to give your life urgency to the mission of God, and all the needs of those around you.

Pray about how you and your family can respond in Texas and other areas affected by Hurricane Harvey, how you can give financially through organizations to bring aide to these people for the Glory of God.