A MATTER OF LIFE AND DEATH

Introduction

-I was reading some articles online regarding the ethical medical issues about whether or not to tell patients what is going on with them.

~Most of it was within the context of patients having a disease that progressed to a point where the likely prognosis was death and there were no treatments to stop it, but maybe for whatever reason the family of the patient doesn’t want the doctor to tell the patient they’re going to die.

-I can see where a doctor might be stuck in an ethical conundrum in that situation—would it make the last days of the patient easier or not to know…and some of you maybe have gone through that.

-But now, let’s do a hypothetical situation:

Suppose that a patient had a terminal disease that would kill them, but there was a treatment and cure that would give them their life back. Is it ethical or not to withhold the bad news?

-I think we’d all agree that if a person is dying, but there was a cure, you have an ethical obligation to tell the patient what is going on—you have to tell them that they are dying so that they can make an informed decision about taking the treatment that will cure them.

-What I find so fascinating, though, is that the same advice is not followed when it comes to our spiritual life. Sure, we say, if someone’s physical life is in danger, we need to tell them the bad news so that they have a chance to make the decision of treatment that will allow them to live.

~But then you have some supposed theologians who say that we aren’t to tell people about the bad news—don’t tell people they are sinners; don’t tell them about hell; don’t focus on the negative

-The problem with their thinking is that people won’t know about the good news if they don’t first hear the bad news—you don’t take a treatment for a cure if you don’t know about the seriousness of the disease

-And what grates me is that these same people try to justify their cowardice in telling people the truth by saying YOU JUST NEED TO BE MORE LIKE JESUS. LOVE ON PEOPLE AND MAKE THEM FEEL LOVED.

~And they’re hinting that Jesus never told people bad things or bad news—that, like some sort of pop psychologist, Jesus went around telling people how special they were and that He came to earth to bolster their self esteem

-But believing those things exposes their ignorance of the Bible because Jesus was very blunt in telling people the truth—He did it out of love, but He didn’t sugar coat anything

-And we see this in today’s passage. Jesus just flat out tells people YOU ARE GOING TO DIE IN YOUR SIN—no four spiritual laws; no “God has a great plan for you life”—YOU ARE GOING TO DIE IN YOUR SIN

-Jesus tells them the truth. Jesus tells them their problem. But Jesus also tells of the solution. And He did this because what He shared was a matter of life and death

-So today we see the reality of spiritual death, which ought to cause one to earnestly seek life from the only source of life, the Maker and Sustainer of life, Jesus Christ

John 8:21–30 ESV

21 So he said to them again, “I am going away, and you will seek me, and you will die in your sin. Where I am going, you cannot come.” 22 So the Jews said, “Will he kill himself, since he says, ‘Where I am going, you cannot come’?” 23 He said to them, “You are from below; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world. 24 I told you that you would die in your sins, for unless you believe that I am he you will die in your sins.” 25 So they said to him, “Who are you?” Jesus said to them, “Just what I have been telling you from the beginning. 26 I have much to say about you and much to judge, but he who sent me is true, and I declare to the world what I have heard from him.” 27 They did not understand that he had been speaking to them about the Father. 28 So Jesus said to them, “When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am he, and that I do nothing on my own authority, but speak just as the Father taught me. 29 And he who sent me is with me. He has not left me alone, for I always do the things that are pleasing to him.” 30 As he was saying these things, many believed in him.

-As I read the passage I hope you noticed who Jesus was talking to—He wasn’t talking to some immoral pagans, but to the Jews—Jesus was talking to religious people—Jesus was warning good, moral, church attenders that they would die in their sins

-That might not make you comfortable as you are a good, moral, church attender since you are here—but the question is are you a dead good, moral, church attender or an alive good, moral, church attender

~What makes the difference?

-Let’s look at 3 quick lessons:

I) We die in our sins with inadequate beliefs about Jesus

-Jesus tells the Jews that where He is going they cannot come—they took that to mean suicide, but Jesus was speaking of returning to the heaven from where He came, and they would not be able to follow.

-Why wouldn’t they be able to follow? Because they had inadequate views of who Jesus was

~Oh sure, Jesus recognizes that they might search for Him, but they will not find Him because they will seek Him in the wrong ways with all the wrong motives.

-They will seek for Jesus in vain because they might think that He is their political savior who will get rid of the Romans; they might seek for Jesus as one seeks for some trivial novelty because they think He is interesting; they might seek Him to gain what they think is special knowledge

~But they are not seeking Him in truth—they are not seeking Him for Him

-For them, He was a teacher, He may have been a prophet, and He had the potential for helping them out of their worldly problems—but even after personally hearing Him give testimony about Himself they still didn’t believe rightly

-They had inadequate views about who Jesus was and they looked for Him for all the wrong reasons—and as such they would die in their sins

-Unfortunately, the churches are filled with people that have inadequate views about Jesus

-There are some sitting in pews in churches today who think Jesus’ biggest use is to make life easy and comfortable—they believe Him enough to give them help when they are sick or having financial difficulties, but once they are well or the bills are paid, they set Jesus to the side.

-Or people might seek for Jesus to add Him to their own religious morality (that He is something to add to their self-righteousness)—like Jesus is some kind of stamp of approval on how holy they think they are.

-But, as one old preacher said it:

A man may have many religious feelings about Christ, without any saving religion. Sickness, sudden affliction, the fear of death, the failure of usual sources of comfort—all these causes may draw out of a man a good deal of “righteousness.” Under the immediate pressure of these he may say his prayers fervently, exhibit a strong spiritual feeling, and profess for a season to “seek Christ,” and be a different man. And yet all this time his heart may never be touched at all! Take away the peculiar circumstances that affected him, and he may possibly return at once to his old ways. He sought Christ “”in vain,” because he sought Him from false motives and not with his whole heart.

-You may say you seek for Jesus, but what Jesus are you seeking? The Jesus of pop culture? The Jesus of prosperity? The Jesus of comfort and ease? Or the Jesus of the Bible?

-Jesus gives a warning: If you seek the wrong Jesus, or you seek Jesus without a full-fledged, whole-hearted faith in Him as He really is, you will die in your sins

II) We die in our sins when we prioritize the world

-In v. 23 Jesus clearly made a distinction about Himself and these Jews—He told them that He was from above and they were from below; they were of the world and He was not

-Last week I spoke about this world being a dark place under the control of the prince of darkness—and in this world is a world system that is opposed to the things of God

-So Jesus is saying that those who love the world and the world system are hostile toward the things of God—so if your mindset is only worldly all the time, you do not have the light of life within you, and you will die in your sins

-The love of the world demonstrates a heart that has not been changed by the Spirit to consider heavenly truths—when decisions are made, when paths are taken, a worldly person does not consider what God would want, or what the Bible says, or where the Spirit would lead

-The worldly person only cares about the here and now and what they can get out of life in this world with no eternal considerations whatsoever

-Those who are above, like Christ, share in His heart and His concerns and join Him in His endeavors

~The concerns of those who are in the world are constantly about being rich, being full, being happy, and being well-liked

~Jesus warned that those are not what people in His kingdom seek; in fact in Luke He said:

24 "But woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation.

25 "Woe to you who are full now, for you shall be hungry. "Woe to you who laugh now, for you shall mourn and weep.

26 "Woe to you, when all people speak well of you, for so their fathers did to the false prophets. (Lk. 6:24-26 ESV)

-One preacher put it this way; he said:

The thoughts of the ungodly are about things beneath; the true Christian’s affections are set on things above. The ungodly man is full of this world; its cares, and pleasures, and profits absorb his whole attention. The true Christian, though in the world, is not of it; his citizenship is in heaven, and his best things are yet to come.

-A life of continuous worldliness indicates not having an encounter with Jesus Christ

-Another author described worldliness this way:

Worldliness is the lust of the flesh (a passion for sensual satisfaction), the lust of the eyes (an inordinate desire for the finer things of life), and the pride of life (self-satisfaction in who we are, what we have, and what we have done).

Worldliness, then, is a preoccupation with ease and affluence. It elevates creature comfort to the point of idolatry; large salaries and comfortable life-styles become necessities of life. Worldliness is reading magazines about people who live hedonistic lives and spend too much money on themselves and wanting to be like them. But more importantly, worldliness is simply pride and selfishness in disguises. It's being resentful when someone snubs us or patronizes us or shows off. It means smarting under every slight, challenging every word spoken against us, cringing when another is preferred before us. Worldliness is harboring grudges, nursing grievance, and wallowing in self-pity.

-Not that Christians can’t fall into these things, because we most certainly can. But if this is your mindset day in and day out, it is time for a heart check, because for those who are of the world, they will die in their sins.

-But it’s not all bad news:

III) We live in eternity when we receive the revealed Christ

-Life comes from receiving Jesus Christ as He has revealed Himself—not by any preconceived notions that we might have about Him

-The gospel of John records numerous times Jesus testified to His identity, and others testified to His identity, but the Jews did not want to hear it

-Jesus said He was the Bread from Heaven, He said He was the Light of the World, John the Baptist testified that in Him was life and that life was the light of man—and still the Jews would not believe Him as He was revealed

-So here Jesus lays it out—at the end of v. 24 Jesus says: UNLESS YOU BELIEVE THAT I AM HE YOU WILL DIE IN YOUR SINS

-Now, that’s the ESV translation, but the word “HE” is not actually in the original Greek—so what Jesus said is that unless you believe I AM you will die in your sins

~Hearkening back to the divine name revealed to Moses, I AM WHO I AM, Jesus is claiming to be the great I AM

-Later in v. 28 Jesus says WHEN YOU HAVE LIFTED UP THE SON OF MAN, THEN YOU WILL KNOW THAT I AM

~and there’s a wordplay there, because the word LIFTED UP means to be exalted, but also means to literally be lifted up

~So Jesus is telling them that when they lift Him up on the cross, they better remember what He said, because it proves that He is the I AM; and then when He is exalted as King of kings and Lord of lords, then you will know that He is the I AM

-Believing that Jesus is anything less than the I AM is inadequate—and unless you place all your trust in Him so that you may have life, you will die in your sins

Conclusion

-And so I say to you what Moses said to the Israelites:

I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Therefore choose life, that you . . . may live, (Deut. 30:19 ESV)

-You may not like what Jesus had to say; you might balk at the negativity of saying that you will die in your sins—but Jesus Himself said that unless you believe in Him as He revealed Himself, and repent (turn) from living for yourself and the world, you will die in your sins

-So during the invitation come forward and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and receive the gift of eternal life

-There may be some Christians here who have allowed their lives to reflect the world more than the Savior, come to the altar…

-There may be some here looking for a church that preaches the full gospel message, the good, the bad, and the ugly—we commit ourselves to telling the whole truth, so come forward and join our church family today