When Death Knocks
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When Death Knocks
Text:
Intro. The late William Randolph Hearst forbid anyone to use the word death in his presence. What a contrast to Philip II, King of Macedon and father of Alexander the Great, who commissioned a servant to come into his presence daily and solemnly announce, “Remember, Philip, thou must die.”
Only a fool would ignore or deny that death will one day knock at his or her door. On the other hand, one who is wise will live with an awareness of one’s mortality, while choosing to not be overly obsessed about it.
God wants us to be wise. He reminds us throughout the Bible that death is a reality that must be faced and should be prepared for.
No one will deny the reality of death, yet few discuss it, consequently, many are left with little knowledge of death. Sadly, the knowledge we have, is often wrong, because what we know about it comes from Hollywood, or the internet.
The only dependable source of information on death comes from the Bible, God’s Word. In it we told about the pain of death, the process of death, the purpose of death, and the promises surrounding death.
Out of the many passages that deals with death, I’ve chosen :35-57 as our text.
READ .
In the latter part of our text, in verses 55 and 56, the sting of death is mentioned. We can all related to the pain caused by a wasp or bee sting. This sting not only effects those who die, it also impacts in a mighty way the friends and loved ones who are left behind. We begin our look into the passage with the pain of death.
I. The Pain of Death
In the first verse of our text, verse 35, we see the pain felt by those left behind. They are seeking to ease it by focusing on the resurrection of their departed friend or family member. But their lack of knowledge prompts them to ask questions about what the resurrection will be like. Will they be able to recognize their loved one?
In Paul’s explanation, he points out the necessity of death in order to experience the resurrection and the new body that comes with it.
One of the greatest pains associated with death is that of hopelessness. Paul addresses this issue in . In response to questions from the Thessalonica Christians he writes, “But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. 14 For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep.
Unlike non-believers, we understand that death is not the end of us or our loved ones. Paul explains that those who have put their trust in Christ and His finished work on the cross, can look forward to their own resurrection. Our hope in Christ is not just for this life, but for eternity.
One of the greatest pains of all is that of hopelessness. In our age of scientific advancement, it is said that we are evolving to the point that we no longer need to believe in the existence of God or a Savior.
One of the most verified event in the Bible is the resurrection of Christ. God arranged it to be that way because belief in Christ’s physical resurrection is essential to the Christian faith, and consequently it would be the most attacked by Satan and the unbelievers of the world.
The Christian faith is now being confronted with unparalleled attacks by many in the intellectual community. Although God has given us all we need in both the Scriptures and in His design of the universe to rage a winning battle with the non-believers, sadly, most believers have not equipped themselves for the battle we are now engaged in. Consequently, many are walking away from the faith, even giving up their belief in God. But what they are not told by the promoters of atheism is the excruciating pain of hopelessness when death comes for us.
Many of the beliefs and philosophies that are used to attack the Christian faith finds their foundation in French playwright, satirist, and philosopher Voltaire who lived from 1694-1778).
When death came for him, it was not a pretty sight. The French nurse who was present at the deathbed of Voltaire, was latter asked to care for an Englishman who was critically ill. When asked she replied: “Is the man a Christian?” “Yes,” came the reply, “He is a man who lives in the fear of God, but why do you ask?”
“Sir,” she answered, “I was the nurse who cared for Voltaire in his last illness, and for all the wealth of Europe, I would never see another infidel die!”
Those who reject God, also reject the one who gives us hope when death comes.
We will look at this hope later in the message. But for now let’s look at the process of death.
II. The Process of Death
It doesn’t seem like it, but we begin dying the day we are born. Our cells are constantly dying and being replaced. Early in life, our body produces more cells than those dying. But as we get older the dying ones increase and the new ones decrease.
The process of dying is two-fold. There is the physical process that begins when we are born and speeds up as we age. Our eyesight fades, our hearing dulls, our teeth fall out, and arthritis sets up, all of which are warning signs to remind us that we are mortal. The Bible puts it this way in reference to our bodies. For in this tent we groan, longing to put on our heavenly dwelling,… 4 For while we are still in this tent, we groan, being burdened—not that we would be unclothed, but that we would be further clothed, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. 5 He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who has given us the Spirit as a guarantee” (, ).
The older we get, the more we groan. But we have a hope of putting off this body and putting on a new one in the next life, just as Christ did after His resurrection.
However, before we receive our new bodies, something else happens as the old physical body dies. During the process of death, the spirit of a person, which is eternal, must leave the physical body.
The Bible doesn’t give us much information on this, but it does give us enough. In , the apostle Paul writes, “Yes, we are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord.”
For a follower of Christ, to be away from the body is to be in the presence of the Lord. When our spirit leaves the body, it goes to heaven—it’s in the presence of Christ. However, for the non-follower of Christ, for the lost person, their spirit will go to a place called Hades, not the same as hell, but similar.
It is the intermediary place where all the lost will reside until the Judgment Day, at which time they will be judged, and sentenced to hell, where the beast, the false prophet, and satan will already be at by this time. We see this in .
Please read along with me in you Bibles in . It is also found on page 1326 in the pew Bibles.
Before I go on to the purpose of death, I want to say a few words from my heart to yours. Watching our loved ones slowly die, is a painful process, even for those of us who have a hope of seeing them again.
Letting them go can be just as painful. This is why we need to be sure of their relationship with Christ. We need to be as confident as we can be that they know Christ as their Lord and Savior, and that their relationship is based solely on the Bible.
Having this assurance, we need to trust God’s decision. When God calls us, or our loved ones home to Heaven, we must be willing to let go or let them go. Now I’m not talking about giving up because we received a dire prognosis from the doctor. I’m talking about when we or our loved one is struggling to stay alive with tubes and machines that have robbed us of all quality of life.
I believe that God gives us dying grace when it comes our appointed time to die. But often times we have a hard time letting them go, when they would much rather be set free from their tubes, machines.
I remember one case where a man was in the last few hours of his life. He was unconscious, or at least seemed to be and struggling with to get enough oxygen. He was taking deep long breaths. After hours of this, his daughters and wife said, it's okay dad, you can go on, we will be okay and mom will be okay. Within minutes his breathing slowed and he passed. He fighting the impossible because that's what he thought his family wanted.
III. The Purpose of Death
When it gets to that point, we have to trust God's decision to bring us to the doors of death and just let them go.
Now the purpose of death.
III. The Purpose of Death
IV. The Promises Surrounding Death
The Bible reveals two purposes behind our physical death. The one we are most familiar with is that of punishment for sin. In the beginning Adam and Eve were warned.
English Standard Version Chapter 3
And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, 3 but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.’ ”
English Standard Version Chapter 3
And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, 3 but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.’ ”
English Standard Version Chapter 3
2 And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, 3 but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.’ ”
And the woman said to the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, 3 but God said, “You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die” ().
The apostle Paul writes in , “Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned—.”
Death entered this world through the disobedience of Adam and Eve. Sin is behind every death that occurs.
But what many don’t realize is that our physical death is also designed to be a blessing to us. It’s a blessing in two different ways. If we were able to live eternally in our physical state, what motivation would we have to look for a Savior. In our sinful state, we would never be open to giving up control of our lives in order to restore our relations with God, for how could we know what we’ve lost until we have one.
It’s kind of like how can a person born blind have a desire to see, since He doesn’t know what it’s like to see. So how can a person who has never had a relationship with God, have a desire to establish a relationship with God through Jesus Christ? The Bible says, “None is righteous, no, not one; 11 no one understands; no one seeks for God” (Romans 3:10-11).
“None is righteous, no, not one;
11 no one understands;
But life is a different story. We know the joys of life. And we also know the pains of death. We can relate to the idea of a eternal life, since we’ve experienced physical life.
no one seeks for God.
we all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. It also says we were born in sin.
But life is a different story. We know the joys of life. And we also know the pains of death. We can relate to the idea of a eternal life, since we’ve experienced physical life.
But life is a different story. We know the joys of life. And we also know the pains of death. We can relate to the idea of a eternal life, since we’ve experienced physical life.
Thus, God put death in our pathway to get us to be open to the idea of a Savior. It’s why he gave us which states, “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Sin is the root cause of death, but Jesus is the key to eternal life. If is wasn’t for death, we would not be open to a Savior. If it wasn’t for Jesus, our Savior, we would never know what it’s like to have a loving God as your heavenly Father. We would never have known what it’s like to have our sins forgiven. We would never have known what it’s like to experience the love of God, the grace of God, the mercy of God, and most of all the abiding presence of a God in our lives.
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So one of the blessings of death is that it motivates us to be open to accepting Christ as our Savior, but the other blessing is that it allows us to spend eternity with God in heaven.
Look at our text in . Look at verse 36 & 37. He tells us here that the body we now have is like a kernel or seed that must die so that the resurrection body, can be brought to life.
He further elaborates in verses 42-44. He says the body we have is perishable, but the body we will obtain by the death of this body will be imperishable. Our natural bodies are nothing more than seeds for our spiritual bodies.
Why is this important? He tells us in verses 50-54. Our natural bodies are flesh and blood which cannot exist in heaven. Consequently, they have to be changed.
Let’s read verses 50-54.
When Christ returns, as He has promised to do, He will call all our bodies to reform for us to reside in once again, but this time it will be a glorified body, one that will not grow old, get sick, or be bound to the laws of this universe. When this happens, death is swallowed up. Death itself is destroyed.
This of course leads us to the promises surrounding death.
IV. The Promises Surrounding Death
Although there are promises to those who are not Christians, our text is focused on the promises provided to the followers of Christ.
We have the promise of eternal life. This world we live in is just a prelude to the life beyond. Christ has secured it for us through His death and resurrection. Listen to His conversation with Martha concerning her brother Lazarus, who had been dead for 4 days. It’s found in , “Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.” 24 Martha said to him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.” 25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, 26 and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?” 27 She said to him, “Yes, Lord; I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who is coming into the world.”
In His final discourse with His disciples He gives us another promise. It’s found in , “Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. 2 In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.”
, “Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. 2 In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.”
We are promised eternal life in an eternal home made possible by the one true eternal God. These promises provide hope and peace when death comes knocking at our doors.
I believe these promises. I want you to believe them too. I want you to believe them with your mind. I want you to believe them with your heart. And I want you to believe them so strongly that nothing and no one can shake your confidence in them. But the key to such confidence I believe comes from an unshakable confidence in the life, death, and resurrection of Christ.
If you can believe in the resurrection of Christ, you can believe in His life and death. I said earlier that Satan and the world work hard at convincing us that the resurrection never happened.
But let me share with you what one man, who also didn’t believe in God, much less the resurrection of Christ, had to say about it, after being challenged to look at the evidence of the resurrection of Christ.
His name was Sir Lionel Luckhoo, who is in the Guinness Book of World Records for his unprecedented 245 consecutive defense murder trial acquittals. He once wrote, “I have spent more than 42 years as a defense trial lawyer appearing in many parts of the world and am still in active practice. I have been fortunate to secure a number of successes in jury trials and I say unequivocally the evidence for the Resurrection of Jesus Christi is so overwhelming that it compels acceptance by proof which leaves absolutely no room for doubt.”
Sir Lionel examined the evidence and then gave his life to Christ. The evidence is overwhelming for those who will examine it.
Conclusion: As I conclude, let me ask you a question. When death comes knocking will you be able to face it with confidence, peace, and certainty of living eternally in Heaven? If not, you can. All it takes is believing in and putting your trust in Christ as your Lord and Savior. But this trust must be total, and from the heart. If God has given you the faith to believe, receive Christ as your Lord and Savior. If you will do this, you can face death in a similar way that the Reverend James Gordon Gilkey did. He lived some years ago in Portland Oregon. One day he was told by his physician that he had an incurable disease. Death could not be averted, nor long delayed. What did he do? Here is his own story:
I walked out to my home five miles from the center of the city. There I looked at the river and the mountain which I love, and then—as the twilight deepened—at the stars glimmering in the sky. Then I said to them, “I may not see you many times more. But River, I shall be alive when you have ceased running to the sea. Mountain, I shall be alive when you have sunk down into the plain. Stars, I shall be alive when you have fallen in the ultimate disintegration of the universe.”
1000 Illustrations for Preaching & Teaching Facing Death
Reverend James Gordon Gilkey. While living in Portland, Oregon, he was told by his physician that he had an incurable disease. Death could not be averted, nor long delayed. What did he do? Here is his own story:
I walked out to my home five miles from the center of the city. There I looked at the river and the mountain which I love, and then—as the twilight deepened—at the stars glimmering in the sky. Then I said to them, “I may not see you many times more. But River, I shall be alive when you have ceased running to the sea. Mountain, I shall be alive when you have sunk down into the plain. Stars, I shall be alive when you have fallen in the ultimate disintegration of the universe.”
Why was Reverend Gilkey able to face death with such poise and hopefulness? He understood that Jesus Christ had removed the sting from death. Death is transformed by Jesus into a door to a better land. He has rendered the fear of death powerless. You might say He has arrested death and sentenced it to death.
English Standard Version Chapter 3
2 And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, 3 but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.’ ”
“Sir,” she answered, “I was the nurse who attended Voltaire in his last illness, and for all the wealth of Europe, I would never see another infidel die!”