Truths That Silence Death
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Introduction
Introduction
It’s been quite the weekend around here this week. Last night we got word that my brother-in-law’s father passed away. Thank you for praying for him by the way. The family appreciates it very much. This morning we awoke to find that our bird Skye had died over night. A friend of the family also lost her husband, and while we were discussing all these things one of my aunts informed us that she got home from work to find that her neighbor was being taken away and her husband sobbing because she had just died in her sleep! To say that we have had our fill of death this weekend in an understatement. The thing is though, death is unavoidable. No one likes to think about death. It is an enemy that stalks everyone,
The last enemy that will be destroyed is death.
Which means it is an enemy that has not yet been destroyed.
And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment,
So basically we all have an appointment with death, some in old age, some in infancy and others at all ages in between. Some die by disease, car crashes, wars and murder. Some hasten the arrival of death by cooperating with the enemy through engaging in bad habits and harmful lifestyles.
Death is unnatural.
Man was made “a living soul”
And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.
But death entered the world because of sin,
but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”
Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned—
For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Only two, Enoch and Elijah, have escaped death, so far!
Death is painful
Death is painful
Even Jesus wept
Jesus wept.
But saints, the good news today is that as hateful and as hurtful as death can be, it does not have the last word! There are some truths found in the Bible that muzzle the wild beast called death. I want to give them to you today and preach for a few minutes about some Truths That Silence Death.
I want to take as our key passage of scripture a quote from the Apostle Paul
“O Death, where is your sting? O Hades, where is your victory?” The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
The Plan of Salvation Silences Death
The Plan of Salvation Silences Death
Jesus came to restore everything that death took away,
for the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.”
Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?”
These passages of scripture make it very clear that the very reason Jesus came was to bring life back to dead sinners. The Jews were waiting and looking for a political or military savior. They were looking for what they wanted - deliverance from the Romans. Instead, what they got was what they needed - deliverance from the real enemy.
Jesus conquered two forms of death.
Jesus conquered two forms of death.
Spiritual Death
Spiritual Death
And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others. But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.
In spiritual death we are condemned to walk “according to the course of this world.” We are slaves of the “prince of the power of the air.” The sad thing is that people that are dead like this think they are walking according to self determination. The truth is that they are UNABLE to walk any other way. They may think that it’s a conscious decision they are making, but they are believing a lie. The there are those two words in scripture that change everything. But God! This salvation from spiritual death is the gift of God. How does He do that? Well Paul goes on to explain it.
And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others. But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. Therefore remember that you, once Gentiles in the flesh—who are called Uncircumcision by what is called the Circumcision made in the flesh by hands—that at that time you were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For He Himself is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation, having abolished in His flesh the enmity, that is, the law of commandments contained in ordinances, so as to create in Himself one new man from the two, thus making peace, and that He might reconcile them both to God in one body through the cross, thereby putting to death the enmity. And He came and preached peace to you who were afar off and to those who were near. For through Him we both have access by one Spirit to the Father. Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone, in whom the whole building, being fitted together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.
The key is right there in verses 14-16
For He Himself is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation, having abolished in His flesh the enmity, that is, the law of commandments contained in ordinances, so as to create in Himself one new man from the two, thus making peace, and that He might reconcile them both to God in one body through the cross, thereby putting to death the enmity.
He took sin and its consequences upon himself, and when He went to die on the cross he removed the curse of sin once and for all. So while we still sin, we are not bound to sin nor its consequences. A perfect sacrifice created perfect absolution from our sin and with it, perfect freedom from the bondage that sin imposes on humanity. But lest you think it’s merely a symbolic salvation from death, He also liberated us from...
Physical Death
Physical Death
And this brings us back to our key passage of Scripture:
“O Death, where is your sting? O Hades, where is your victory?” The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
While we may not avoid physical death here on earth, the sting of death is removed because Jesus purchased for us something much more valuable.
Faith in Jesus brings instant everlasting life
Faith in Jesus brings instant everlasting life
For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.
“Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life.
Everlasting life is the present possession of every child of God. It is not something that you have to hope for “in the sweet by and by” it’s something you have now and something that should give you confidence as you live out the life you have.
He who believes in the Son has everlasting life; and he who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.”
And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand.
He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life.
Saints this is something that you and I have now, and this is the thing that gives us reassurance to live life boldly, knowing that the worse thing that could happen to us is that we are present with Christ much sooner than we had anticipated. This is the very thing that gives the believer an unspeakable peace in the face of death.
A Place Called Heaven Silences Death
A Place Called Heaven Silences Death
Salvation destroys death’s power over the soul. Salvation also changes the soul’s eternal destiny. The lost soul is headed to Hell,
The wicked shall be turned into hell, And all the nations that forget God.
The redeemed soul is going to Heaven,
For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain. But if I live on in the flesh, this will mean fruit from my labor; yet what I shall choose I cannot tell. For I am hard-pressed between the two, having a desire to depart and be with Christ, which is far better.
For we know that if our earthly house, this tent, is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed with our habitation which is from heaven, if indeed, having been clothed, we shall not be found naked. For we who are in this tent groan, being burdened, not because we want to be unclothed, but further clothed, that mortality may be swallowed up by life. Now He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who also has given us the Spirit as a guarantee. So we are always confident, knowing that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord. For we walk by faith, not by sight. We are confident, yes, well pleased rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord.
This assurance of heaven makes us laugh in the face of death. It makes us accept it calmly and with a great deal of peace, knowing that God has taken us by the hand and that He will walk us into a heavenly home until the day we return with Christ, to rule and reign with Him forever.
Heaven is “far better” than this world
Heaven is “far better” than this world
“Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.
Why should our heart not be troubled? Well for one Jesus was telling them not to grieve for Him, because where he was headed was not a bad place, secondly he was telling them that such a place was available to them as well, and that in due time, they would meet there again. So it is with us when we lose a loved one. A time is coming where we will be reunited with them once again.
And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.”
There are no tears there; no sorrow, no death, no crying. The Lord, our departed loved ones, the saints of all, all await us in glory!
There is something beyond the door of death!
There is something beyond the door of death!
There is something beyond the door of death and it is not the end! In fact it is a beautiful new beginning, a transition into what life is to become. A transition into a new heaven and a new earth!
The Power of Resurrection Silences Death
The Power of Resurrection Silences Death
It Guarantees Our Savior
It Guarantees Our Savior
The power of resurrection not only gives us hope for eternal life, it;s the very thing that validates who Jesus was, it guarantees that Jesus was who He said He was.
and declared to be the Son of God with power according to the Spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead.
And if Jesus was who He said He was, then it guarantees that He came to do what He said He would do, which means that ...
It Guarantees Our Salvation
It Guarantees Our Salvation
And if Christ is not risen, then our preaching is empty and your faith is also empty. Yes, and we are found false witnesses of God, because we have testified of God that He raised up Christ, whom He did not raise up—if in fact the dead do not rise. For if the dead do not rise, then Christ is not risen. And if Christ is not risen, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins! Then also those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men the most pitiable. But now Christ is risen from the dead, and has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.
Finally, if it guarantees our savior and His message of Salvation it also guarantees His Promises to us.
It Guarantees A Similar Resurrection For Us
It Guarantees A Similar Resurrection For Us
But now Christ is risen from the dead, and has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.
Church, do you see what this means? It means Jesus will raise our bodies!
But I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep, lest you sorrow as others who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus. For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep. For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord.
Not with the same corruptible bodies, Jesus will change our bodies!
And as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly Man. Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does corruption inherit incorruption. Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed—in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible has put on incorruption, and this mortal has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written: “Death is swallowed up in victory.”
That means that We will be like Him!
Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God! Therefore the world does not know us, because it did not know Him. Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.
Saints, the great news today is that a better day awaits us in Heaven!
For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.
Conclusion
Conclusion
Let us read our key passage again. Only this time I want you to read them with all of what we’ve discussed today.
“O Death, where is your sting? O Hades, where is your victory?” The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
I want you to see that these are not rhetorical questions or even serious questions. They’re taunting questions, or what the kids today call “trolling” questions in verse 55. Something akin to the hero asking the bully. Why don’t you pick on me? What about someone your own size? Who’s the big guy now?
And if that’s the question in verse 55. The statement of victory is in verse 57 "Yeah! That’s right, it’s what I thought!”