Good morning. Let's pray together. Lord, you've told us to look that we might live. And we've just offered to you a hymn of praise desiring to have that. ability to look. Lord, we know that what you command you must provide. We ask now that you would open the eyes of our understanding that you would enable us to look to the lamb of God and to find in him the forgiveness of our sin and all the hope of our salvation find him to be our all in all one who is able to provide all that we need in this life and in the life to come. We ask it in Christ's name. Amen.

You would turn with me in your bibles to john chapter 8, John chapter 8, our Lord makes a glorious statement, a declaration that gives much hope to my heart and I hope that it will to yours as well. It's been said that Preaching is one dying man telling other dying men where to escape death. And I feel that this morning. I was telling someone recently, we're doing a little improvement around our house. And I was on the phone with a brother yesterday in another state who was doing the same thing to his house and is about my same age. And I said, yeah, I feel like a man polishing brass on a sinking ship. And he laughed and said, yeah, that's somebody else will enjoy the fruit of our labors. We won't be here much longer. How true that is. And for those who feel the weight of that, Here's a word of hope.

In John chapter 8, in verse 51, our Lord's speaking. And he says, verily, verily, truly, truly, let this word be the hope of your heart, O you dying men. I. saying to you, if a man keep my sayings, he shall never see death. He shall never see death. Obviously, the Lord is not speaking of the passing of our physical bodies. That death, the Lord tarries, doesn't return and take us, translate us from this world as he promised he would do for those who remain alive in his coming. We will experience physical death. That's not the death. that our Lord's speaking of here. And that's not the death that we need to be primarily concerned about.

There are reasons, and it is natural for us to be apprehensive and uneasy about that death, not knowing when it will come, not knowing how it will come, not knowing where it will come. But he has the answers to all those questions, and he has appointed the day of our death, and we trust him. We trust him.

we can see from scripture that actually the physical death of our body is a blessing that the Lord has given to his children. Turn with me, if you will, to Genesis chapter three. Genesis chapter three. after Adam sinned in the garden. In Genesis 3, verse 22, we read, And the Lord God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us to know good and evil. He's eaten of the tree of the law, believing that when he ate it, he would be able to keep the law. but the law slew him. Jim, you read in our men's study this morning from Romans chapter 7, Paul said, I was alive once without the law, but when the commandment came, sin revived and I died. When I saw the law for what it was, it exposed me as a sinner and I died. That's what happened in the garden. When Adam took up the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, he believed the lie of Satan and thought that he would be like God, able to keep the law, that he would be able to make right decisions every time confronted with right and wrong. He would have the power of free choice and being like God, he would always choose that which was right. That's what the fall is all about. And that lie hasn't changed, that is the lie. That man has a free will, that he can choose when he'll be saved, and he has the power to decide for himself what's right, or decide, not for himself, but make a decision to do right.

Truth is, we've never been able to keep God's law, not for a moment, and so when God says he's become like us, he knows good and evil now. He's not able to do good. He's not able to produce any righteousness, but his eyes have been opened.

And look at the rest of verse 22. And now, lest he put forth his hand and take also of the tree of life and eat and live forever. If we leave him in the garden, he's a sinner now. He's fallen. He's alienated from God as a result of his sin. And if he remains in the garden, he'll be able to take up the tree of life and he'll live forever in his fallen state.

Therefore, the Lord God sent him forth from the garden of Eden which is a picture of heaven, to till the ground from whence he was taken. So he drove out the man and he placed at the east of the Garden of Eden cherubims and a flaming sword, which turned every way to keep the way of the tree of life.

Now I understand this in two senses. We are spiritually dead because of our sin, And the cherubims are angels. They are messengers of God. And the flaming sword is the word of God. And their duty, their responsibility was to protect the way of the tree of life. And that's what we're doing right now. We're wielding the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God, to protect the way. of the tree of life.

That tree of life is Christ. And only through and by what God has revealed in his word can we have access to Christ. We must come God's way. We must come the way in which he's revealed in his word.

But I also see this as what we've already said, God's mercy. in physical death, that Adam had to be put out of the garden and he had to experience the death of his body in order that he might be restored in full fellowship. Oh, so much better than what he had before. He walked with God in the cool of the day, but he knew nothing of God's He knew really nothing of God's mercy, nothing of God's grace, nothing. He knew very little of God's love. He knew very little of his power.

You see, the revelation of the attributes of God and the glory of God only comes as a result of our being made sin and being saved from our sin. So this thing of the Lord has put us out of the garden, and we will all experience physical death. But as I said, that's not the death that we need to be concerned about.

Apprehensive? Yes. Uneasy about it? Yes. Do we grieve when a loved one departs from this world and leaves us here? Yes. Yes, we do. The scripture speaks of a second death. A second death. In Revelation chapter 2 verse 11, here's what the Lord says to the church at Smyrna.

Now only two of the seven churches the Lord did not rebuke. And that's the church of Smyrna and the church of Philadelphia. We would never name one of our cities Laodicea or Thyatira, but we do name our cities Smyrna and we name them Philadelphia. Why? Because these were the faithful churches of the seven churches.

And here's what the Lord says to the church at Smyrna in Revelation chapter two, verse 11. He that hath an ear to hear, let him hear what the Spirit says unto the churches. For he that overcometh, he that keep my sayings, that's what our Lord says in our verse, in verse 51 of John chapter eight, he that overcometh or he that keep my sayings unto the end shall not be hurt by the second death, by the second death.

And then in Revelation chapter 20, The Lord says this, they that have part in the first resurrection, on such the second death hath no power. On such the second death hath no power.

Who has part in the first resurrection? Well, When the Lord Jesus went to the cross, Paul said, I was crucified with Christ. When the Lord Jesus Christ rose from the dead, Paul said this, oh, that I might know him and the power of his resurrection. That's the first resurrection. When Christ was raised from the dead as our substitute and as our victor over death, all for whom he died were raised with him. And now the Lord is saying, they that had part in the first resurrection, the second death hath no power.

And then in Revelation chapter 21, he tells us what that second death is. It is the lake of fire. It is the lake of fire is the second death. That's the death that we need to fear. That's the death that we need to be concerned about.

And here, our Lord gives us a word of hope. Let's look at our verse again. Verily, verily, I say unto you, if a man keep my sayings, he shall never see death.

And from what I can tell, my limited experience in this world and with people, there are four ways that people deal with the reality of death.

The first and probably the most common way that men deal with the reality of death, it's going to happen. The first death's going to happen, the second death's going to happen. By the way, here's what the gospel says. A man that is born once dies twice. A man who is born twice dies once. That's the gospel. Except you be born of the Spirit, you should not see the kingdom of God. Nicodemus, you must be born again. Oh, the second birth delivers us from the second death.

Most people don't think much about dying. And if it enters into their mind, they quickly put it out, occupy themselves with other things. It's too fearful. It's too uncertain. Certainly no one who wants to ignore the reality of death is going to come and sit and listen gladly to a message about death or about the deliverance from death.

The second way that people deal with the reality of death is that they are paralyzed by it. They live their whole lives in constant fear. They can find no safe place. There's no rest. There's no peace. The anxiety is overwhelming. And with those who experience that sort of anxiety in life, it is often motivated by the reality of what they know is to come.

The third way that men deal with death is described in Isaiah chapter 28. If you'll open your Bibles with me to Isaiah chapter 28. Look at verse 15. Because you have said, we, have made a covenant with death, and with hell are we at agreement. When the overflowing scourge shall pass through, it shall not come unto us, for we have made lies our refuge, and under falsehoods we have hid ourselves." Now that's man-made works, freewill religion. We've made a covenant with death. We've made our promises to God. We've accepted Jesus. We've done whatever is required of God in order to avert eternal judgment, the second death. We're not held deserving, but Lord, we've done many wonderful works in thy name. That's a large group of people. They've made their own covenant. And what is the lie that they've made as their refuge? God has sent them a strong delusion, 2 Thessalonians 2, that they should believe the lie. Well, it's the lie that we've already talked about. It's the lie that I can eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, I can go to the law, and I can, by the power of my own free will, make decisions that will satisfy the demands of God's law. I can establish my own righteousness. I've made lies my refuge.

Verse 16. Therefore, thus saith the Lord God, behold, I lay in Zion a foundation, a stone, a tried stone, a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation, and he that believeth shall not make haste. He shall not run around trying to save himself. He's not going to run to and fro here and there. He's going to sit down and rest. He's going to Look to the Lord Jesus Christ, and this is the fourth person. I hope this is me, I hope it's you. To vanquish all our fears of death and to establish, to have a righteousness established before God in the person of our sin bearer, the person of our righteousness, our substitute.

Looking unto Jesus, the author and the finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross and despised its shame and has now sat down at the right hand of the majesty on high and ever lives to make intercession for us. Here's our hope. Here's our hope, brethren, in death. We don't have to fear it. Here's what our Lord's saying in our text. Go back with me. Verily, verily, I say unto you, if a man keep my sayings, he shall never see death. Never see it. Never have to fear it.

It's what the Lord was saying to Martha in John chapter 11 when he came back to Bethany and found, knew that Lazarus had been in the tomb for four days. And Martha says to the Lord, Lord, well, the Lord says to Martha, first of all, he says, your brother will rise again. And Martha says, I know Lord that my brother will rise again in the last day. In the last day, in the resurrection. And the Lord Jesus says to her, Martha, I am the resurrection and the life. He that believeth in me, though he be dead, yet shall he live. And he that liveth and believeth in me shall never die, shall never die. And then he looked at Martha and said, believest thou this? Martha, do you believe that, what I just said? And Martha said, yea, Lord, I believe that thou art the Christ that should come into the world. I believe that you've been sent of God in the full power of the Spirit of God in order to conquer the grave, in order to establish eternal life for your people. I believe that. All of my fears of death are vanquished when I'm able to look to thee. Lord, all of my hopes of life eternal are brightened when I'm able to rest in you and look to you.

Turn with me to Hebrews chapter two. Verse 13, and again, I will put my trust in him. That's faith. Put my trust in him. Resting all the hope of my salvation in the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ. It's not Christ plus my ability to make a good choice or pray a right prayer or perform a good deed. No, it's Christ alone. He is all of my salvation and he is all of my desire. If he didn't do it all and he didn't do it all by himself, I have no hope of being saved. I can't make any contribution to my salvation. I put my trust in him. And again, behold, I and the children which God hath given me. Now, the Lord Jesus Christ is the one who trusted his heavenly father. And though this is a declaration of faith that every believer would say, our Lord is declaring how perfectly faithful he was to trust his heavenly father. So that when he bowed his head on Calvary's cross and said, it is finished, he concluded, by father into thy hands, I commend my spirit. Trusting his father to the very last breath, perfect faith. And he was saved because of his faith. And we're saved because of his faithfulness.

I and the children which thou hast given me. When he died in perfect faith, he died as our substitute. He died in our stead. For as much then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, that's us, He also himself likewise took part of the same, that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is the devil.

He's the one who brought this lie into the world? He's the one who wields death? And all those that are held captive by his lie? and deliver them. Deliver them. God's elect. The Lord does something in their hearts. Even before he reveals himself to them. They can never find any rest in all the attempts that they make to conquer this This nagging fear of death, this thing that never leaves them and all the things they tried, nothing's enough. Nothing's enough.

For many, as we read in Isaiah 28, making a covenant with death will be sufficient. Now you read on in Isaiah chapter 28, the Lord says, I'm going to disannul your covenant and when the overflowing scourge comes, you're gonna be swept away. You're gonna die by the second death. But they can rest in those false refuges and in those lies. And though God's elect try, though they try, they can never. Oh, but when the Lord brings them to their wits end, when he brings them to that place where they can find no hope in anywhere, shuts them up to Christ, Then and only then they're able to rest and they don't go anywhere else. They just keep coming back to the same well.

And deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage. Now they've been set free. Now they can believe. Now they can rest. Now they can rejoice. Now they can look. can look to Christ and they see that he that he conquered death for verily he took on him the nature of angels but he took on him not the nature of angels but he took on him the seed of Abraham wherefore in all things it behooved him to be made like unto his brethren that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God to make reconciliation for the sins of the people.

For in that he himself hath suffered being tempted, he is able to succor them who are tempted."

Oh, he knew the pains of death. He knew the lake of fire. That was the fiery wrath of God's justice that fell on him. And he quenched that fire. He put that fire out for his people so that we no longer have to fear. No, they that are part of the first resurrection, the second death, hath no power over them. Hath no power. We have not a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all ways tempted as we are, yet without sin.

We're facing the reality of death. We're dealing with the loss of a loved one, a physical death. We look to the Lord Jesus. as we do in all of our troubles and trials. He's able to sympathize. He understands. He suffered it far infinitely beyond what we could ever experience. He knows. He knows. So we we flee to the one who said, Verily, verily, I say unto you, if a man keep my sayings, he shall never see death. Wednesday night, we were talking about the red letter edition of the Bible. We were having a conversation after the service, and someone needed a Bible. And I said, yeah, it's kind of hard to find one that's not a red letter edition. And someone asked, well, what's wrong with that? Well, maybe you have a red letter edition. The problem with it to me is that it gives the impression that the words in red letter are more weighty and more truthful than all the rest of the word. It's all the word of God. from the very beginning. You're not gonna find Genesis chapter one in any red letters anywhere in the Old Testament. Yeah, how many times we hear the Lord Jesus speaking in the Old Testament? It's God's word. It's God's word. Remember that. If you have a little red letter edition, just remember that.

That having been said, when our Lord wanted to make an emphasis or a summary of all of what he's been saying, He would often use this phrase, barely, barely. Truly, truly. Listen up now. Listen up now. I'm gonna say something. I'm gonna condense much of God's word in a very few words. Barely, barely. The Lord is telling us how important this statement is. How important is it the way we live? It's very important. It's very important how we live. We ought to live as unto the Lord. Paul said, for me to live is Christ and to die is gain. And we ought to resist the devil. And we ought to seek to honor God with our lives. And how we live and how we treat one another and how we raise our children is very important, very important. with all the mistakes that we make along the way.

But how does that compare to how we die? I was listening to somebody the other day on TV, and they were talking about their legacy. They were talking about the president's legacy. And they kept using the word legacy, legacy, legacy. What importance is your legacy and my legacy going to make to us when we draw our last breath and depart from this world? What are we going to care what anybody else thinks about us or about what we accomplished or what we didn't accomplish or what we accumulated or what we didn't accumulate? What's it going to matter? Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that keepeth my word shall never see death. Never see it.

You know, you listen to most preaching today and it's, well, most of everything, it's all about, you know, how you live. And I'm not denying the importance of that. And God's word tells us in many places what we ought to do and what we ought not to do. And we highly regard God's word, and we seek to honor it and ask him for the grace to keep it, to follow it. Barely, barely. None of that's going to amount to much. we end up in the lake of fire.

I say. We hear our Lord, the Lord's the only one that can say, I say. I can't stand up here to you and say, I say unto you. No, the prophet has to say, thus saith the Lord. That's the only way the prophet can speak with authority. It's not my word, it's what he says. And even when the Lord Jesus would speak, he would say, you have heard that it was said of your fathers, but I say unto you, never a man speak like this man. The words that I say unto you, they are spirit and they are life.

We're getting a little understanding right now of what it means to keep his word. keep my sayings is to believe that this is God speaking. How do we know what we know? How do we come to the, you know, wait a minute. Some of the conclusions we come to that we think might be true are by perception. Some of them are by investigation. Some of them are by past experience. Some of them are by the reliable testimony of another person. And we evaluate all these things, and we weigh and balance things to where we say, OK, I know that's true because I've used all of these different means that I might have, my past experience, my past knowledge. Throw all that out the window when it comes to, investigating the validity of anything. And these things are valid. These things are necessary. If we're to come to right conclusions about things in this world, all of these things are important.

But you throw all that out the window when God speaks. When God speaks, my experience doesn't mean anything. My knowledge doesn't mean anything. the testimony of another person, my perception, my intuition, my feelings, how it strikes. No, God speaks. Amen. What does amen mean? So be it.

You see, in all of these other areas of life, we walk by sight. And all of those things that I mentioned in terms of, discerning what's true and what's not true in this world are things that we apply our sight to. But we're not walking by sight. We walk by faith. We walk by faith. What is faith? It's just to believe God. It's just to say, God said it. Lord, you said, I am the resurrection and the life. He that believeth in me shall never die. Lord, you said right here, you said in my red letter edition of the Bible, you said, I say unto you, I say unto you, I don't say unto them, I say unto you how important it is. Lord, you've got to speak this to my heart. You've got to make this true to me. Lord, I can't hear this just as a word that might apply to someone else. I say unto you, he that keeps my sayings shall never see death. Lord, I'm gonna hang all the hopes of my eternal soul on your word. That's all I know. I don't understand it.

Some people present the Bible as if, well, we need to understand what the Bible's saying before we can believe what the Bible's saying. No, you don't. Now you'd be, we don't understand anything as we ought. But all true understanding comes through faith. It comes through faith. You're not going to, God's not gonna let us engage our fleshly means of understanding terms of our reason and our logic and our experience and our feelings and our intuitions and all those things that meant that we use and then okay well now I know it's true because I've I've waited in the balance and I've come no you believe what God says that's what that's what The miracle of faith does, doesn't it? We just bow, Lord, amen. And then as faith grows and the knowledge of Christ, we grow in grace and in the knowledge of Christ. Knowledge comes by grace. Knowledge comes through faith. And we see more clearly what these things really mean, never really comprehending them as they are.

The Lord said to these Pharisees in John chapter eight, why do you not understand my speech? Because you cannot hear my word. Faith comes by hearing. And hearing comes by the word of God. As we declare what God says, faith just says, amen, Lord. Amen. That's my hope.

Why do you not understand my speech? The Lord said to these Pharisees, because you do not understand, because you do not hear my word. You can't hear it. You can't hear it without faith. These self-righteous, arrogant Pharisees that our Lord is speaking to here in our text represent the unbelief of all of those who will suffer the second death. John chapter eight begins with the Lord Jesus sitting down in the temple and teaching the people. And these self-righteous Pharisees bring that poor woman that had been caught in adultery before our Lord and think that they can present to him a scenario that will stump him Oh, what arrogance on the part of sinful men to think that they can confuse God when they're the ones that are confused.

He reveals himself as the light of the world in John chapter eight, and these blind men insist that they can see better than he can. Now, what I'm describing from John chapter eight is the opposite of what it means in our text, verse 51, keeping my sayings. So we can evaluate our own hearts. Am I like these Pharisees? Interrogating God? Calling God to task? Saying, well, You can't explain this? I've got better understanding and better knowledge than God has? Or do I believe that he's the light of the world? That I have no right to throw the cast of the first stone for I'm the greatest sinner of all.

The Lord Jesus in John chapter eight says, God is my father. What do they say? Abraham is our father. The Lord said, if Abraham was your father, you would believe on me for Abraham saw my day and he rejoiced in it. We'd be children of Abraham. What were they looking to? They were looking to the will of flesh who were born. They were born Jews and they thought that that somehow obligated God to save them.

The Lord Jesus said that he could make them free And they said, we've never been in bondage to anyone. We've had a free will all our lives. We'll do what we want, when we want, and we'll decide when we'll let you have your way in our lives. These are the ones that the Lord said, if a man keep my sayings, he shall never see death. You're not keeping my sayings.

The Lord Jesus said to them, Your father is the devil." And they looked at him and said, no, you're of the devil, and you're a Samaritan. In the end of John chapter 8, the Lord Jesus is going to say to these arrogant, self-righteous Pharisees, before Abraham was, I am. and they took up stones to stone him. Not gonna have that man reign over me.

What is it to keep his sayings? It's to bow to his word. It's just say amen. Lord, I believe what you say, I believe it. I receive your word as it is, the word of God. You remember when that man brought his son who was demon possessed and cast himself into a fire before the disciples, and the disciples couldn't do anything to help him. And out of frustration, he comes before the Lord and he says, Lord, if thou canst do anything, help us. Help us. And the Lord looked at that that poor man with that suffering child and said to him, if thou canst believe, all things are possible unto him that believeth. You just believe me. That's what it is to keep his sayings. If any man keep his sayings, he shall never see death.

You see, these Pharisees didn't believe a thing the Lord Jesus said. Listen, read the whole chapter. The dialogue that takes place between the Pharisees and the Lord. And everything he says, they have a rebuttal to it. And now the Lord's gonna conclude this whole conversation with this. Verily, verily, I say unto you, If any man keep my sayings, he shall never see death."

I mentioned earlier that the two churches in Revelation that were not rebuked were Smyrna and Philadelphia. And what the Lord said to Philadelphia was this. He commends them. He says, you have kept my word and you have not denied my name. What is it to keep his word? It's to not deny his name. What is his name? I am. You shall call his name Jesus for he shall save his people from their sins. His name reveals who he is and what he's done. His name reveals him as God. And faith bows to him and believes whatever he says and everything he's done.

We can't leave this passage without looking at 1 Corinthians chapter 15. Would you turn there with me? 1 Corinthians 15. Verse 50. Now this I say, brethren, flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God. Adam, you've got to be put out of the garden. You're flesh and blood now. You're a sinner. You can't eat of the tree of life. You'll live forever. You're going to have to die. But your death is going to be your way back into paradise. Flesh and blood cannot enter the kingdom of heaven. Our physical death, our only death. Neither doth corruption, inherit incorruption. In that place, there's nothing but righteousness. It's a sinless perfection in glory.

Behold, I show you a mystery. This is a hidden truth that only can be believed by faith. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed in the moment in the twinkling of an eye at the last trump For the trumpet of God shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. And this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible shall I put on incorruption, and this mortal shall put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law. but thanks be to God which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord for as much as you know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord. Christ conquered death. He put away sin. He fulfilled the demands of the law. Death has no more power. not over our eternal souls. They that have part in the first resurrection, the second death hath no power, hath no power.

Listen to what David said in Psalm 15, verse five.

As for me, as for me, I will behold thy face in righteousness. And I shall be satisfied when I awaken in thy likeness.

Not gonna be satisfied till, oh, we're satisfied with Christ as our only salvation, as our only righteousness, as our only hope. But oh, how dissatisfied we are with what we see of him and how we are One day, we can say with David, I will see his face in righteousness, and I shall be satisfied when I'm made like him, when I'm made like him. Perfect.

All right, let's take a break.