I've had two hips replaced, and I've been pain-free for the first time in about 14 years, which is great. But unfortunately, my gait is still a little bit off. I'm a little bit off, so it's appropriate that my gait is a little bit off. But anyway, thank you for bearing with me. We love coming here. We love your pastors. We always learn from them. I like to be around men who impact my life and challenge me and men who are different from me. And so it's a privilege to be with Chuck and Jonathan and Sal and to be with you all. People who are serious about their Christian life and want to grow in grace are good for me to be around. So thank you for inviting me again. This message is entitled, God's Strange Ministers, the Ministry of Death. And you go, you know, that just, it's so much like a Christian service, these fun people, Christians are talking about fun things like death and stuff like that. And you think, don't they have anything better to do than talk about death? Well, in a culture that does everything it can to deny death and put it away and maybe leave it in the hospital, just get it out of our sight. We don't want anything to do with death. But this is, I think, an encouragement to us, as we'll see today, because in the series, which I have done several before here, God's Strange Ministers, for those of you who are new or weren't here during that series, or perhaps sleeping during that series, God's Strange Ministers was first brought to my attention by a pastor named Ron Dunn, who was originally from Arkansas, pastored in Dallas for many years, and was an itinerant preacher. And he came up with the idea of God's Strange Ministers because he says God has people that he sends to us, things that he sends to us, that are definitely his ministers, But we don't recognize them as God's ministers because they're not dressed up like a minister should be. And the illustration that he used was that he kept a honeydew list for a whole month, which is way too long for a honeydew list, and decided like a man, well, I'll just cram it into one Saturday and make it a project. And so from early in the morning till 9 o'clock at night with his tennis shoes with grass stains, his Levi's with holes in them, his cutoff sweatshirt with holes in it, baseball cap with sweat stains, and a 5 o'clock shadow, he labored all day long and collapsed at 9 o'clock having accomplished the entire honey-do list. And he felt great until his wife said, honey, we're having the Johnsons over tomorrow after church and you need to go to the store and pick up a couple of things. who goes grocery shopping at nine o'clock on a Saturday night please but he had to go and he discovered there was a whole subculture of people who go grocery shopping at Saturday night at nine o'clock and he said he couldn't believe all the different people that he met there but he was still kind of embarrassed because he was looking kind of I don't know what the contemporary word might be. One time it might have been he looked kind of gnarly or looked kind of unkempt, gross. So he's kind of slumping, skulking, sculpting. I'll just make up a word. He was sculpting along. And he gets in the checkout line and he's just hoping that he doesn't see anybody he knows because he just looks nasty. And sure enough, there's a little old lady in front of him. He goes, oh no. And he starts praying that she won't turn around. And he said, the devil made her turn around. And she gave him one of these once overs like. Brother Dunn, is that you? And he said he instantly calculated she'd been in this church eight years, Sunday morning, Sunday night, Wednesday night. He figured out the hundreds of times that she'd seen him, and he said she would probably recognize my blue suit if she's driving along the freeway in Dallas. She goes, oh, there's Brother Dunn's suit over there in the bushes. She would have recognized my suit, but she didn't recognize me for a moment because I was a minister out of uniform. And he said he had that confirmed later when he was in Heathrow Airport in London coming back from a trip. And as you sit in some of these pod areas while you're waiting for your flight to leave, there's another pod area over here. A man's watching him for an hour. And he got to feeling really uncomfortable. And then the man got up and walked over to him, and he was really nervous. What's this all about? The man says, hello, do you live in Irving, Texas? Yes. He goes, I'm your mailman. What? You're my mailman. I didn't, I never, who's my mailman? And he said, Monday, I waited at the mailbox until the mailman got there. And sure enough, it was my mailman. But he had always been a man in uniform, and I didn't recognize him being out of uniform. He said that when God sends us his ministers, we need to be careful that we don't look at the uniform, but we look at the fact that the Lord sent him. Why the subject of death? Well, we'll get into that. It's God's strange minister. It is a ministry of blessing to believers, and we're going to get into that. Almost all unbelievers view death as a subject not only do they not want to experience, but they don't want to talk about it. I mean, can you imagine going to a bridge club or a garden party or a backyard barbecue and, hey, let's talk about death, and you would never be invited back to that group again. Many professing Christians don't like to talk about death and don't see death as any kind of a blessing. They pretty much think like non-Christians do about dying. And most professing Christians see no way in which death can be God's minister to bless them. And I propose that that's wrongheaded and hope to show you why. The ministry of death, God's strange minister. First of all, we're gonna look at what death means to unbelievers. What about the death of believers, second. And third, how death is now God's strange minister to carry the believer to glory. What does the Bible say about the death of unbelievers? What does the Bible say about the death of believers? And how is death God's strange minister to take you to glory? Okay, I think we should pray, because that's pretty grim stuff, and yet you'll see, if rightly understood, it can be a tremendous blessing in your life. Let's pray that the Lord would help us. Father in heaven, thank you for my brothers and sisters who are here, and for some, I'm not sure if they're brothers and sisters, and they may not be sure either, but I pray that for each of us, you would minister to us at our point of need, that you would help us to understand what your holy word says, that we would receive it as from you, even if it shocks us, even if it goes against how we tend to naturally think. But so much of how we naturally think is not true, is not biblical, is not helpful. I pray that you would make our lives different because we received your word. Thank you, we pray in Jesus' name, amen. What does the Bible teach about the death of unbelievers? have five points if you'd like to take notes, and then if I miss a point, you go, I got four, but I didn't get the fifth one. What was the fifth one? Okay, so first of all, death came into the world through Adam because of his sin. Now, if you know anything about Christianity, that's a basic biblical doctrine. Death entered the world through the sin of our first parents, Adam and Eve, You live on what's called a fallen planet. What do I mean by a fallen planet? It's not what it used to be. It's not what it was intended to be. It was to be a place to be people by people who knew the Lord, loved the Lord, served and obeyed the Lord, and gave Him glory in their lives. But because of the sin of our first parents, You've never seen a normal person. You've never seen a normal day. You've never seen a normal planet. Our planet has been hugely impacted by sin. Every person's been bent and twisted. The animal kingdom's not what it should be. The world is just messed up. God told Adam and Eve in Genesis 2.17, this is the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. When you eat of it, you shall die. You shall surely die. Now, why did God say surely? for certain, you can bank on this, you can bet on this. If you eat of this, if you disobey me, you shall definitely, certainly, undeniably die. Romans 5.12, sin entered the world through one man and death through him. Why is there death on planet earth? Because God said that if we would eat of the knowledge of the tree of good and evil, we would die. And Adam and Eve took him up on that and they discovered he was right. The devil said, you will not die, that's not true. And they discovered that the devil was a liar. Paul told the Romans, the wages of sin is death. So when you get your paycheck next week and it says, you're going to die, that's kind of a grim paycheck. But that's what the Bible says, the wages of sin is death. Number two, death has come and will come to the whole human race because of sin. I graduated from college in the last century, and one of my fraternity brothers, the first one to die, you know, used to get, if you go to school or maybe you have high school reunion things, and you find out about, well, so-and-so died and so-and-so died. Well, my first fraternity brother died at the age of 44. He was a medical doctor in Montana, had a massive heart attack, and was dead on the floor. All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. Death has come and will come to the whole human race. As I'm looking at all of you here, some very young, some mere children, babes in arms practically, and others of us older. We're all going to die. In one way, that's kind of an evident truism, but in another way, it's kind of a grim reality. We are all going to die. Death is coming to the whole human race, unless you're one of those rare people who are perhaps here when the Lord returns, but I have no knowledge when that might be. It might be tomorrow. It might be a thousand years from now. Number three, death is the gateway to judgment for the unbeliever. Death is the gateway to judgment for the unbeliever. Hebrews 9.27, it is appointed once for a man to die, then comes judgment. Why is the non-Christian naturally nervous and apprehensive in thinking about God? Because there's a vague sense of he's my judge, I've been sentenced, I'm under his judgment, and if he calls me to account today, I'm doomed. The Bible knows nothing of a second chance. Second chance is, some people have taught, well, after you die, you'll get a second chance, kind of a do-over to see if you get it right. That's baloney. Baloney is a technical term in Hebrew, by the way. Also, there's no such thing as reincarnation. That's where you come back as a different being or thing. There's an ant. That was Uncle Harry. He had bad karma. He's now an ant. The Bible doesn't teach that, and it's speculation of lost people. But something that's become more popular, not hugely popular, but more popular among professing Christians is annihilationism. Well, when you die, you're just poof. You're gone. You don't exist anymore. You're annihilated. And the idea of unending personal punishment, personal judgment in hell is taken away. That's not what the Bible teaches. It doesn't teach annihilationism. Unbelievers have an instinctive aversion to death because they know they've got to stand before Almighty God as a criminal stands before the judge, and it doesn't look good. Number four, death and judgment for the unbeliever means consignment to the second death, the lake of fire. Not only am I found guilty, but there's punishment attached to the guilt. 1 Corinthians 15, 56. The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. I have sinned, you have sinned, we know we've sinned, and we know that we are accountable for that sin. The sting of death is sin. We have to give an account for that sin. Revelation 20, verse 14. The second death is the lake of fire. If anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire. Now, the lake of fire is meant to be a metaphor, but a metaphor stands for something. A stop sign means if you run through the stop sign, you're liable to the law. The sheriff can come arrest you. If you do damage, you're liable for that. Someone said, it's just a sign. Well, whatever the lake of fire is, it's worse than a mere metaphor. It's something of eternal punishment where the worm does not die. Flames are not quenched. It's an awful place. I'm not trying to be a fear monger, but you and I ought to be afraid of death and judgment. It's the reason why we don't take our kids and go out and play foursquare out in the highway, or we don't do foolish things that put us in danger of death, because death is a fearsome thing for the unbeliever. Death is, and the judgment to come, is a scary thing. If your name was not found written in the Lamb's Book of Life on Judgment Day, you will be thrown into the lake of fire. I say this because I love you, and you go, it doesn't sound very loving, Well, you know, I thought about this. When you're playing sports and you get injured, you go to the doctor, and the doctor wants to pinpoint where the injury is. And so, does your leg hurt here? No. Does it hurt here? No. Oh, yes, good. They go, well, this guy's a sadist. Why did he say it's good that he pinched me right where it hurt? Because you want the doctor to put his finger exactly on what the problem is so he can deal with it. You don't go to a doctor and says, I notice your arm's cut off. Here's some dandruff cream. Note to self, I will never go to this doctor again. If I survive my arm spurting blood, I'm never going to this doctor again. You want a diagnosis that's helpful. If I tell you false things, peace, peace, you're fine. God's not mad at you. Be cool. And you die and go to hell, and you could rightly point to me and say, that man spoke to me at that church, and he never told me the truth. I'm telling you the truth today. Not because I'm mean. I could be, but by God's grace, I'm not. Not because I don't like you. But in the Bible sense of the word love, I want your best. I do love you. I want your best. I want everyone in this room to be joyful in the Lord, glorifying him, and not going to hell. Death is coming for every one of us. Now, number five, death is a present state of existence, as well as something that begins at the end of your physical life. We have a physical life, and we tend to think, well, then I die. You can be already dead, but the sentence hasn't been fully carried out. What do I mean? Let's listen to what Paul says in Ephesians chapter two, verses one through four. He talks about, you were dead in your trespasses and sins in which you used to walk according to the ways of this world and of your depraved nature and et cetera. You were dead, he tells the Ephesians. Well, wait. Was the Ephesians church started in a cemetery? Did Paul go preach at a cemetery and people popped up after he preached? No. They were living physical souls, but they were spiritually dead awaiting the condemnation of their bodies. In Romans 8, Paul says, for those who live according to the flesh or the sinful nature set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the spirit set their minds on the things of the spirit. For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the spirit is life and peace. If you never think about spiritual things, if you can care less, if you don't get up in the morning and want to live your life for the Lord, and you live that way continually, it's a sign that you have no spiritual life in you, and your mind is always set on the things of this world. In my BC days, before I was a Christian, when I woke up in the morning, I didn't think, now, how can I glorify the Lord today? How can I live for Him? How can I be a submissive son? I never thought about it. I just never thought about it. I wasn't afraid of God. I just never thought about Him. And most non-Christians don't think about God. Why would you want to do that? That would make you nervous. So you just don't think about it. Your mind is set on earthly things. What do you want to do today? This is my plum for the taking. This is my pearl that I'm going to snatch. This day is for me. It's all about me. And then one day, if God's gracious, He says, there is a God, and it's not you. Whoa, that's a sober day. There is a God and it's not you. And so if God is gracious and changes your heart, then you want to live for him and you want to put to death your old ways of living. John, in his first letter, says this. We know that we have passed out of death into life. Why? Because we love the brethren. Whoever does not love the brethren abides in death. John wrote his gospel, he says at the end, he says, I write these things to you that you might believe that Jesus is the Christ, and that by believing in him, you'd have life in his name. Okay, that's why he wrote the gospel, John. Here's all the stuff that's true about Jesus. But then he wrote the epistles at the end, and why did he write those little short letters at the end of the New Testament? Well, he says in 1 John chapter 5, I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God in order that you might know that you have eternal life. Not guess, hope, pray, cross your fingers, I sure hope I have eternal life. But he says, I write these things to you as kind of a check, as vital signs. You know, when you go into the hospital and they say, Pull the sheet up over the guy's face. He doesn't have any vital signs. He's dead. You profess to be a Christian. You said you read the Gospel of John and you saw who Jesus is and you believed on him and you became a Christian, okay? If you have this spiritual life, then John says in his letter, here are the signs, the vital signs of spiritual life. Just like a doctor would say, do they have a pulse? Do they have respiration? Look at their eyelids. or look at their eyes rather. John chapter 5 Jesus is speaking his truly truly I say to you whoever hears my word and believes in him who sent me has eternal life he does not come into judgment but has passed from death to life He has passed from death to life. If Jesus works in your heart and gives you the new birth, you're no longer spiritually dead, looking forward to being physically dead. You're now spiritually alive, and you're looking forward to a death that will transform you into your eternal state, and we'll come back to that. Death is the supreme enemy of the unbeliever. In a sense, death will dog your steps. It will haunt your life. It will cast a shadow over your family and friends. It whispers in your ear, don't get sick. Watch out for that germ. Don't take any chances. Watch out for yourself. Work at all costs in keeping your life. And some people live their life with a morbid fear of death. If I'm an unbeliever, what I just said would be very sobering and chilling, but I'm hoping the spirit would use it as a wake-up call that if this is what God's word says, and I could multiply all these verses a zillion times, but I just chose some brief to the point ones, is that the Bible speaks clearly about a condition we all have to face, and it gives hope. There are some things that even the best of medical care can't take care of. The worst disease ever to hit the planet was sin. Your test results came back. It wasn't just positive. It wasn't just positive, plus, plus. It was positive, plus, plus, plus, plus. You've all been characterized by sin. You've all been discovered to be full of sin. I'm full of sin. I'm on my way to death. I talked to one professor after he spoke at a conference one time. He said, when he was speaking, he said, you know, I'm not thinking about my next book. I'm not thinking about my next conference engagement. He said, I'm 73. My next appointment may well be with the Lord, and I want to make sure that my life is altogether right with the Lord. Well, I'm 75. I'm older than that guy. And I'm not thinking about my next conference, or I don't write books, but I'm not thinking about things I'm going to accomplish for the Lord. I want to make sure that I'm right with the Lord, and that Judgment Day is not a day of fear and trembling, but a day of joy and confidence. So what does the Bible teach about the death of believers? Seven points here. Number one, Christians as human beings are still Adam's descendants and still subject to death. God has never revoked the sentence of death upon sinners. Romans 6.23, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. The wages of sin is still death. We still die. But believers die differently, and I'll jump into that. But we all still die. That's why the planet is always cycling through new bodies, because everybody dies. Everybody dies. I can remember when I was in high school, there was an NFL Rookie of the Year halfback for the Kansas City Chiefs, and he had to have knee surgery. I knew a lot of guys who were athletes who had knee surgeries. But he had complications and died on the operating table at 22. How do you die at 22 from knee surgery? But everybody dies. Number two, on the cross, Christ defeated the devil who has the power of death. Hebrews 2.14, since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things. Jesus became a flesh and blood man, 100% God and 100% man. You go, I don't get that math. I don't either. Your pastors don't get it either. But the miracle of the incarnation, God became a man. Now, yesterday I was at a food truck thing, and they had an ice cream place, and they had chocolate, vanilla, and swirl. Jesus is not a swirl. You know, swirl is where they have the chocolate and the vanilla comes out together, and you kind of, whatever. Well, Jesus is 100% vanilla and 100% chocolate. You go, that's impossible. No, it isn't. God did it in Christ. He's 100% God, undiminished, and he's 100% a human being, undiminished. He partook of the same things that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, the devil. And I think C.S. Lewis had an apt insight here. He says the devil is God's bailiff. A bailiff is the guy in the courtroom who, when the judge pronounces the verdict, the bailiff takes you away. And if you've ever been in a courtroom and seen someone shackled and taken away, they're gone. The devil is God's bailiff and wants to take justice back into his own hands and personally condemn each and every person found guilty of sin and puts them to death. The devil would kill everybody on the planet if he could. but God has him on a leash, and he's only allowed to do what God's bidding is, and you live as long as God chooses for you to live. Colossians 2, verses 13 through 15. Paul says, God made you alive together with Christ, having forgiven us all our trespasses by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with all its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross, He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame by triumphing over them in Christ. There is no legal claims on a believer's life. There is no sin clamoring for my condemnation because Christ has atoned for all of my sins. If you're a believer, he's atoned for all of your sins. As I said at the beginning of Sunday school, his righteousness is imputed or given to you to wear for the rest of eternity. When we've been there 10,000 years bright shining as the sun, we will have the same righteousness we had as the first day of heaven, the righteousness of Christ, and we will wear it for eternity. When God looks at us a billion years from now as men count time, we'll still be clothed with the righteousness of Christ. But Christ defeated the devil who had the power of death. Third, because Christ endured judgment for them, Christians are not condemned at judgment. I'm not looking forward to my death and subsequent being cast into purgatory, which doesn't exist, or hell. In 2 Corinthians 5, verse 10, and I neglected to read that, and I'm sorry, at the beginning of my message, my text was 2 Corinthians 5, so if you want to turn there, I can have a do-over, maybe, and read this portion of God's word out loud. We know Paul wrote 1 Corinthians, the church with all these problems. If you have a large family, most of us with large families will have a high-maintenance child. Paul had a bunch of churches. Corinthians was his high-maintenance child, and he talks about it. In fact, there's a commentary on Corinthians entitled, 20 Problems That Almost Killed a Church, 20 Problems. Second Corinthians is Paul's second letter to them and says, okay, you guys did some things right, but you overcorrected, you had a guy living in gross sin, you dealt with it, but then you much as nuked him and left him hanging out there and you didn't receive him back when he repented, and there are some other things that you're still doing, and so he writes Second Corinthians. But he gives the assurance of the resurrection in chapter five, verses one through 10. 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. We have this physical body that's temporary, like a tent is his analogy, and says, you know, who wants to be a disembodied soul? We don't want to be Casper the Friendly Ghost just kind of floating around, so to speak. He says, if this earthly tent is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house that he made, a body made for eternity, not made with hands, eternal in the heavens, for in this body we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed with our habitation, our future dwelling, which is from heaven. If indeed having been clothed, we shall not be found naked. For we who are in this tent groan, and everybody over 50 says amen. For in this tent we groan, being burdened, Not because we want to be unclothed, we don't want to be disembodied spirits, but further clothed that mortality might 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. How do you know that God will finish the salvation he's begun in your life? Well, Paul, in other places, I've given you the earnest money. I gave you the Holy Spirit. It's my down payment. It's the earnest money. I will finish what I start. I will finish the entire salvation of your being. So we are always confident, knowing that while we are at home in the body, meaning this 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. If I die, this body will no longer be my eternal habitation, and I'll be with the Lord in his presence. Therefore, we make it our aim, whether present or absent, to be well-pleasing to him. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body according to what he has done, whether good or bad. Knowing, therefore, the terror of the Lord, it says in Hebrews, it's a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God if you're outside of Christ. We persuade men, but we are well known to God, and I also trust are well known in your consciences. The condemnation that you and I should receive at judgment has been taken care of Christ. He interposed his life for us. There is therefore now, Romans 8.1, there is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. Believers will be declared innocent in Christ. Christ died for them, was raised for them, and in doing so, the claims of the law are fully met. There is not one law clamoring for your condemnation. There's not something you did when sixth grade that you forgot about. Oh, that's going to come back to haunt you. No, it's not. Christ atoned for all of our deaths, for all of our sins, rather. I mentioned in Sunday school, but it's a great verse to be reminded of. Second Corinthians 521, for God made him who knew no sin to become sin. When? On the cross. Christ became sin incarnate, if you would. For God made him who knew no sin to become sin. that we believing sinners, me, Paul, you Corinthians, you people in the Quad Cities, that we might become the righteousness of God in him. Jerry Bridges wrote a book on it, channeling George Smeaton, the 19th century Scott theologian, and the book's entitled The Great Exchange, My Sin for His Righteousness. That's the gospel, that's justification by faith. My sin for his righteousness. What did Christ get in this exchange? My sin. What did I get in this exchange? His righteousness. You go, who would make that swap? None but God. Believers will kneel in awe on judgment day and see the full work of the Savior displayed before them, while unrepentant sinners who never came to Christ will be led away. If you want to read a sobering imagination of what that will be like, read The End of Pilgrim's Progress, Part One. And you have Christian and hopeful crossing the river of death, and some guy comes up on a canoe being rowed by, what, ignorance and presumption? And he gets across the river of death, and he's greeted by angels, but his death, his greeting is different. The angels grab him by his hands and feet, and inside of a hill, they open a door, and smoke comes out, and they throw him in, and they close the door, and the narrator says, I realize that the very gates of heaven, there's a way to go to hell. We will kneel in awe as we see people who may have even been nicer than us in some ways, or in some ways we think better than us, but they never had a savior. They only had their unrighteousness before God, and Judgment Day was the worst day of their life. Number four, resurrection to the fullness of eternal life is to be the experience of believers after death. Resurrection to the fullness of life Because of the believer's union with Christ, his life, his death, his burial, his resurrection, his ascension, we are assured of heaven and the fullness of eternal life. The Bible doesn't give a lot of details, concrete details about the afterlife because Frankly, I don't think we could handle it. In fact, Paul as much says that. He says, I was caught up to the third heaven, and half of what I saw, I do not have the capacity to explain to you. And the other half that I do have the capacity, I don't have the permission to share with you. Try to imagine a sinless world that's never been marred by sin. Everything's perfect. You're in the presence of God and the holy angels, and of just men made perfect by the work of Christ. And to see the eternal state, It's mind-boggling. The New Testament teaches that just as Adam represented the human race in the Garden of Eden, Christ represented all of his people on the cross. In Romans chapter 6, Paul's reminding the believers, well, you know, don't you remember? You were buried with Christ, you died with Christ, you were buried with Christ, you were raised with Christ, you've been seated with Christ now in the heavenlies. Because of our union with Christ, he talks about, which is a A difficult thing, I've tried to study it now for some time, and it's one of the topics that I think even your pastors would say, why don't you, I'll let you teach on union with Christ, because it's so easy, I'll let you teach it. It's a hard thing because it's not like anything else, it's very, phrases often use mystical, but we are united to Christ, and we're in Christ, and all that's true of Christ is true of us by grace. Christ gave himself over to death and judgment, that he might defeat death's hold on us, In fact, Paul even coined a word, a new word, a euphemism to describe what happens to believers when they die. It's called, they fell asleep. Yeah, did you hear about Mr., whatchamacallit? He died, he fell asleep. That's what it is for a believer who dies. He fell asleep in Christ. In fact, one 19th century pastor, I think, phrased it so well. If you have small children, you've seen this. You're in bed and somewhere early in the evening, you're in bed and one of your kids crawls in bed with you. And they fall asleep, but they wake up next morning in their bed. How did they get there? You fall asleep in Christ, you wake up in glory. How did I get here? It's your grace of God. Number five, death is the believer's gateway to glory. If you turn to 1 Corinthians chapter 15, the longest chapter, the longest treatment of death in the afterlife in the Bible, in chapter 15, verses 50 through 57, Paul talks about our final victory for the believer. Now this, I say brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God. This physical mortal body cannot inherit the kingdom of God. Nor does corruption inherit incorruption. Behold, that's a Bible word. Say look, just check this out, behold. I tell you a mystery. It's not an Agatha Christie mystery. It's not a TV mystery. It means something that's been previously not explained, now it's explained. I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed. I know that's a cute sign that people put on nurseries. for the little kids, but it is true, apart from whatever that wag first thought of that, we are not all going to fall asleep, 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. My wife has a great penchant for reminding me when we go by cemeteries, can you imagine what it would look like on that great day when these people rise from the cemeteries? Thousands of graves of people whose bodies will be raised. 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. Oh, death, where is your sting? Oh, 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. He fulfilled all the demands of the law, even the curse of the law upon sinners for us. Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord. You can't get to heaven without dying unless you're in the generation that when Christ returns. You can't get to heaven, brothers and sisters, without dying. Number six, believers can eagerly await their falling asleep in Christ. Their soul goes immediately to be with the Lord and their body lies in the ground waiting for the day of resurrection when the death in Christ shall rise first. Our souls have been in the immediate presence of Christ, but our bodies may have been in the grave. And we don't want to be disembodied souls. Like I said, you don't want to be Casper the Friendly Ghost floating around in eternity. We'll receive a resurrection body, like unto our lords. That will be so amazing. And finally, eternal life for the believer is a state of existence that begins when you're first converted, not just when you die. I'm not waiting for eternal life. I've already entered into eternal life when I became a Christian. When you became a Christian, you entered into eternal life. Jesus said in John 10.10, back in the 60s when I used to witness to people, they'd say, I don't believe this verse is in the Bible. Then you show it to them. I have come that you might have life and you might have it more abundantly. Do you know what abundantly means? If you have a glass and it's three quarters full, I go, that's about right. That's not abundant. It's abundant if the glass is overflowing. I've come to give you an overflowing life. I know people who said, show me that in the Bible. Wow, I can't believe that being a Christian would be such a full life. And I barely could contain it when I came to begin to understand it many years ago, and I'm still exploring and finding out the amazing wonders of being a Christian. Jesus says in John 5, truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life. In chapter 17, Jesus says, and this is eternal life, that they may know you, the one true and living God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. Eternal life is a present enjoyment that we will only enter in a fuller way when we die. John 3.36. Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life. Whoever does not obey the Son, in repenting and believing and coming to Him, shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him. Remains, what does that mean? Well, I was talking to a student one time and he had heard me speak in a situation and filled out a card that he wanted to talk more about it. So I went to McDonald's and we're sitting there and he decided that he didn't really want to do this whole thing and he was embarrassed that he had set up the appointment with me. And he kind of giggled and acted immature the whole time drinking our Cokes. So I said, I wonder how I could wipe the smile off his face and make him be serious. I know. I said, you know, you've been kind of acting like this is a big joke, and I get where you're coming from. But what if it's not a big joke? What if it's real? You can't dither if you're in a burning house. If you wait long enough in a burning house, it will burn down around you. He goes, uh-uh, I'm not in a burning house. Well, here's what Jesus says. God's already pronounced judgment on you. You're under the wrath of God. It's not something that's gonna happen on Judgment Day. That's the day it'll be carried out. The judgment itself has already been set. You're under the judgment of God. Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life. Whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life. But the wrath of God remains on him. It's already there, and it stays there because you never turn to Christ. He did stop smiling at that point and goofing off and take me a little more seriously. But for a believer, what a tremendous thing that is. If you're a believer, you're already into eternal life. You just haven't seen the fullness that come. It's gonna like this. All the things that are waiting for you. Finally, because Christ's victory over death, death is now God's strange minister to carry the believer to glory. Three points and we'll close. The pastor said I could go to 1.30, but they said most of you would be leaving to eat, so I probably need to hurry. First of all, death is not the believer's enemy. It is an unbeliever's enemy. Death is not the believer's enemy, but God's servant to bring the children of God home. You can't get to heaven without dying, unless Christ returns. Saints dying in the Lord rest from their labors, and their works follow them. Death for the believer is like falling asleep, and should not be feared and fought, but embraced. Death will be like falling asleep in your bed in this world and waking up in heaven. Martin Lloyd-Jones was dying of cancer, and his clothes were getting way too big for him as he shrunk up. And his daughter came to see him. And he couldn't talk anymore because of the cancer, but he scribbled on a piece of paper, don't take any elaborate life-saving precautions. Don't hold me back from the glory. Because he knew what was coming. Contrast that with a woman I ministered to. My first time I visited a person in the hospital. Her name was Big Mama. I don't know why people give older relatives that name. Any women in this church want to be known as Big Mama? I don't know. Anyway, how about Middle-sized Mama or Petite Mama, but not Big Mama? Anyway. So this guy, he was 65 and his mom was 85. He said, she's dying, will you go visit her? And I was brand new pastor, first hospital visit. Go to the hospital, find out what room she's in. What a deplorable state she was in. The sides were up on her bed, the metal railing, and she was grasping them with white knuckles. She hadn't slept in two days. Why hadn't she slept in two days? Because she wasn't sure she was a Christian, and she was afraid if she fell asleep, she'd wake up in hell. And bad doctrine has bad consequences, and she belonged to a denomination that taught that unless you keep up your own salvation and keep up your good works, when you die, that's all over. So she was scared to death. And it's not like in hospitals, you look your best anyway, and then not sleeping for two days, and it was pretty miserable. So I came in and identified myself and said, I'm your son's pastor, and he asked me to come visit you. And I started talking with her, and she was so far gone, she could barely even say three, four words and run out of breath. And I talked to her for maybe eight, ten minutes, and she started having convulsions. And I ran out in the hallway, nurse, nurse, come quick, she's dying. The nurse goes, we don't talk that way around here. I go, well, I don't wanna care what you call it, but get in there now. She's dying. So the crash cart comes in and they work in there. I'm out in the hallway beating my head against the concrete wall. I've sent this woman over the edge by my bedside manner. I felt terrible. So, after about 20 minutes, they come out and they say, she's okay, you can go back in and see her. So I go back in, and I was afraid that as soon as she saw my face, she'd go into convulsions again. You're the guy who sent me into convulsions. So she was willing to talk some more, and I said, ma'am, do you think Christ is a trickster? What? Do you think Christ is a trickster? No. I mean, do you think he'd say something, a fool to you, fool, I tricked you? No. He said, if you believed in him and trusted in him, that you would have eternal life. Do you think he would lie about that or trick you? No. I said, do you believe Jesus is God come to earth to save sinners? Yes. Do you think he died on the cross as a substitute for sinners? Yes. Do you believe that if you trusted in him that it would work for you? She wasn't sure about that. I said, well, let me ask you to put it another way. Have you ever thanked him for what he did? Because Thanksgiving is a higher form of faith. I can believe something. But if I thank you, that shows you that I really believe you. I'm taking you at your word. My son was a basketball fanatic in high school. And if he wanted a new ball for Christmas and asked me in September, can I have a new basketball for Christmas? And I said, yes. What would he say if he believed me? Thank you, Dad. What if he asked me every day until Christmas for a new basketball? I'd say, do you not trust me? Do you think I'm conning you? What's going on here? She goes, well, she got what I said. And I said, have you ever thanked Jesus for dying on the cross for sinners, for your sins? I never have. So with little breath she could muster, she thanked Jesus for being a savior for sinners, for dying on the cross for her sins. And just then her grandson came in the room. I said, Les, come here. Tell your grandmother here your testimony of how Jesus saved you not long ago. And he did. And then after a while, she fell asleep. She must have been so exhausted. So I couldn't come the next day. But two days later, I came back to see her. I looked in her room, and she wasn't there. Oh, man. So I asked the nurse, is Mrs. So-and-so here? Yeah, she's in her room. Well, ma'am, I just looked, and she's not in there. Well, unless she jumped up and ran out, she should be still in her bed. And I went back and looked. You know what a difference it makes when you're not afraid to die, when you have some assurance of your salvation? She had gone down to the beauty parlor and had them do her hair and had had a shower and everything, and she was a different person. And I didn't recognize her lying in bed because she looked so different. And we talked about the Lord, and she lived two more months before she finally succumbed and was able to talk to her relatives about what a sweet thing it is to trust in Christ. Martin Lloyd-Jones, don't hold me back from the glory, versus Big Mama who believed bad doctrine and it really came back to haunt her on her deathbed. With the fear of death and judgment and condemnation removed, believers are to be hardworking, faithful, energetic servants of their Savior. I just read 1 Corinthians 15, 58. Beloved brothers, be steadfast. That means don't quit, stick to it. Immovable. I'm not moving off this point. Always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain. You know, my wife and I, we pray all the time, Lord, help us not to rest out, but to work out, just to finish well, to keep working until you can't work anymore. J.I. Packer wrote a book called Finishing Our Course with Joy. He says, what should you do at the end of your life? Do what you've always done until you just can't do it anymore. You know, I'm not a 28-year-old bodybuilder named Thor. I'm a 75-year-old man who's on closer to glory than I am to my youth. And so I have to be faithful to keep on in the Lord because I'm going to be with Christ. Not because I'm anybody special, but Christ is infinitely special and has saved me. Just think of all the enemies which our sovereign God has used for his holy, loving, and wise purposes to bless his children, but which could not keep you from being saved to go to glory. Think of Joseph, he had relatives, brothers, who were arrayed against him and sold him into slavery. His story goes on for 17 years, from the age of 14 to the age of 31. 17 years of hellish misery. God used it, God took him to glory. Think of Job, how the devil attacked him. Couldn't keep him from going to glory. Think of how the devil attacked Paul, his thorn in the flesh. God says, I'm gonna use this to make Paul a better man, and he's still going to glory. Even the darkest times of our lives are still God's servants. Psalm 88, the so-called dark psalm. But here's a man who doesn't sense any presence of God, but is still praying to the covenant God to be merciful and gracious to him. All things serve God's holy, loving, wise, and sovereign purposes of making us like Christ and getting us to glory. Christ has conquered death so thoroughly that death is now God's strange minister to bring each believer home to glory. You're going to make it. I'm going to make it. Am I trusting in myself? Am I a fool? I might be a fool, but I'm not trusting in myself. I'm going to make it to heaven because Christ is my savior. He's done everything to make sure that I get there. I've been counting recently all the places I've lived in my life. My parents were from Chicago. I was born in a small town near the Wisconsin border a couple years into their marriage. And then my father took company transfers. And then I went, in college I lived in four different buildings and four different years, and I moved to California and lived different places out there and moved back to Indiana, lived different places there, moved to Georgia, moved to Chicago to go to seminary, moved back to Georgia, moved to Texas, moved back to Indiana. I've counted, I'm up to 33 different homes or buildings I've lived in. In one sense, meeting new people isn't a new thing for me. It's kind of like life. But the thing that's been amazing to me is how God has taken care of me my whole life. When I moved to Atlanta from Chicago in 1955, it's old, but it's in history books. I moved to Atlanta, and I was in the second grade, and I was waiting for the big yellow school bus to come down the road to pick us up. And I was the only kid at my stop, and this grade school went through eighth grade. I mean, some of these guys were shaving, and I'm only in second grade, and they'd look so old and mature. They had to be. They were eighth graders. Anyway, and I can remember I would have a gagging reflex most mornings to begin because I was so nervous and scared. All these big kids, and I'm just a little wimpy kid, and who am I? But you know, the Lord took away that fear gradually. And then I really liked the teacher in second grade. She was one of my favorite teachers. And the Lord had the yellow school bus take me to school with this really great teacher, who I really learned a lot. And I still remember her name and profited from her greatly. And the kids on the school bus weren't mean, and they didn't pick on me. My life wasn't in danger or anything. I gradually came to see that the school bus coming in the morning to take me to school was a good deal. I look forward to it. You may have had a fear of dying, a fear of death. Now, I don't think anybody's into pain. Are there any masochists here? I'd like to kind of be burned to death. Well, you know, you can choose maybe how you're going to die, but most of us can't. Maybe be a car wreck. Maybe it'll be at war. Maybe it'll be cancer. Maybe it'll be just you fall asleep and you have a coronary in the middle of the night and you die that way. I don't know how each of us will die. But we will die, but we need not be afraid of it or fear it or spend our time. What's it going to be like? It's going to take me to glory. It's God's chariot to take me to glory. And by God's grace, each of you who are believers will make it. And one final plea for those of you who aren't believers. Don't blow off what I've said. I've been speaking Bible truth to you. You're under the judgment of God if you're not a Christian, and you'll only continue under the judgment of God with the final sentencing at your death. Come to Christ and find out that what I've said is not the one zillionth of the reality of being a Christian. Let's pray. Father, take my poor, stammering words and use them in the hearts of your people. Encourage the saints what a privilege they have to be in Christ, that you're fitting all of their life together so that you can take them to glory, and that even their death is an instrument used by you to take them to glory. May we not hasten our death by foolish actions, but may we not fear death, and may we look forward to it only as someone who's looking forward to being with their Lord and Savior forever. And, Lord, I plead for those who are outside of Christ still. Make them restless. Make them miserable until they find their rest in Christ. And may they say, when we see them in glory, that man didn't tell us the 10th of the blessings that came from being a Christian. Do this for the honor and glory of your Son, we pray. Amen.