All right, brethren. It's a solemn thing when we experience
death and the passing of a loved one, of someone that's very dear
to us. And it can be difficult, but
it does afford us a time of reflection. It gives us a time to reflect
upon our own mortality, our own weakness. Solomon tells us in
Ecclesiastes 7, verse 2, that it's better to go to the house
of mourning than to go to the house of feasting, for that is
the end of all men, and the living will lay it to his heart. You know, men don't require faith
to know that all men die. We all experience it. We see
it. We hear of it. As we grow older,
we see friends and family, people we care about passing away, people
we barely know we hear of passing away. And so we know it's true.
And it's actually a fulfillment of God's word. God's word speaks
of the passing of all men. All men die. All men will experience
this death. And the living, it says, will
lay it to his heart. Both those that are alive, as
we typically understand it, but especially you that live by the
grace and the power and the glory of God, you are made to lay it
to your heart, to consider it. Because death is something that
affects us all. And while the parting of friends
can certainly make us sad, there's actually a sense of joy and relief
for the believer, for the believer who hopes in the Lord Jesus Christ. When you know that they love
the Lord, there's a sense of joy and rejoicing for them, knowing
that when they close their eyes in death, their eyes open to
behold the beauty the majesty, the glory of their Savior, their
God and Savior. What a beautiful sight. I mean, we don't want to see
them go because we love our brethren and we care for them and they
mean much to us. But it is a great joy to know
that the one whom they're seeing right now is their God and Savior
who loved them, who created them, and has called them to be with
himself. Therefore, in speaking of our
passing, I want to focus this message on the hope of the believer. The hope of the believer. If we're made to reflect on someone's
passing, or as we are brought low and ourselves are going through
some difficulty, let us reflect on the hope of the believer. There is a hope. of which the
scriptures speak, which should concern every man, woman, and
child because of the eternity which follows this life, this
existence in this tent of flesh. You see, the scripture hath made
a conclusion. The scripture has come to a conclusion
for us. When we read the scriptures,
this is what I mean, when we read the scriptures in the Old
Testament, in the New Testament, and we read about the men and
the women in these scriptures, we see their weakness. We see their faults. We see their
shame laid out in very plain language for us all. We see their
sin, their unbelief, their struggles, their adversity, their difficulties,
as well as their victories in the Lord, But we see in them,
they are just like us. They're sinners. They're sinners. And that's what the scripture
hath concluded, that all are under sin. Every one of us is
a sinner. We're all under sin. And you
see it when you read this word. It's not the strength of these
people, but their strength is the Lord. It's not their works.
It's not what they've done that gains them the victory. It's
the Lord who gains his people the victory. He's the victor.
He's the one that we rejoice in. And while that testimony
is that we're all under sin, there's a good purpose. God has a purpose in making us
to see that all are sinners. It's not just to be hard. It's
not even to be hard or cruel to us in any way. It's a good
purpose that God makes known to us that all are under sin. It's that the promise, the promise
by faith of Jesus Christ, the promise which exists and stands
in the faithful obedience of the Lord Jesus Christ, that the
promise of the faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them
that believe. That we should seek this, our
God who promises the forgiveness of our sins, to receive us in
perfect righteousness in and by the Lord Jesus Christ. We
are to seek God, to ask him, to look for him, to look to the
one who provides salvation freely and fully in Christ. This is
the promise made to the sinner who believes God's word. who
stands in Christ, believes in Christ, stands in Christ in the
hope of the believer, stands in him believing the promises
of God made to all those who come to him and worship him in
spirit and truth, meaning they come in Christ, having no righteousness
of their own, nothing to boast of their own, but boast in and
hope only in the Lord Jesus Christ. God promises they have eternal
life. and that they shall stand before
God's throne without fault, trusting Him without any guile in their
mouth. Because it's not their works
that they're boasting in, they're boasting in Christ, the Son,
whom the Father sent to accomplish our very redemption, our very
life and salvation in Him. And that's quite a promise, given
what you and I know to be true about ourselves, that we are
sinners. We're sinners. who have no goodness
of our own, but God has freely given righteousness, salvation
in the Son. So the scriptures tell us that
it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this, the judgment. And when we seriously contemplate
that fact for ourselves, we ought to ask, will God find me perfectly
righteous? Will he justify me? Will God justify me? I'll say
this, if God justifies you, it's not going to be because of your
good works. It will not be because what you've
done or have not done. If God justifies a sinner, it's
entirely resting upon the blood and righteous redemption of the
Lord Jesus Christ. It's what he has done for that
sinner. It's what Christ has done for
them, what he's accomplished for his child when he went to
the cross as the Lamb of God, as the atonement for the sins
of his people. And he put them away perfectly,
fully, satisfying God perfectly for every child, every one of
his people whom Christ came to save. So Jesus Christ is the
one by whom God will judge all men. God raised him from the
dead. He's the first man ever to be
raised from the dead, never to die again. And it declares the
satisfaction of God in what he came and accomplished. If he
didn't satisfy God perfectly, bearing our sins, he would not
have been raised from the dead. But God declares his satisfaction
in what Christ accomplished, that he has obtained eternal
redemption for all who hope in him, who believe in him, who
stand before God, not in their own works, but in what Christ
has accomplished for them. Christ was perfect in His obedience,
perfect to the Father's will in coming and accomplishing that
will, the will of God to save His people, to redeem them, to
deliver them from death and give them life. Ephesians 1.7 says,
In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of
sins according to the riches of his grace. This is a mystery
of God which is revealed in the face, in the person of the Lord
Jesus Christ. God makes this known. Turn over
to 1 Corinthians 2. God reveals this mystery to the
people of God. It's hidden. It's hidden from
us by nature, but God makes it known to us by His Spirit, as
He says in 1 Corinthians 2, beginning in verse 7, and we'll read down
to verse 10. Paul says, we speak the wisdom
of God in a mystery. even the hidden wisdom which
God ordained before the world unto our glory. There's so much
in that verse there. It's a mystery hidden to the
natural man. The natural man thinks he is
the one that saves himself by his service and dedication and
fortitude and sacrifices and what he does. That's where the
natural man thinks that he obtains the favor of God, that he merits
it by his works, but God, purpose to save his people before the
foundation of the world so that when we see that light of God
shine upon the earth it was declaring, revealing that God had a gracious
purpose for his people. We speak this wisdom of God in
a mystery, which none of the princes of this world knew, for
had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of
glory. They would not have had any desire whatsoever to accomplish
the will and purpose of God. They would have done everything
they could to avoid it, so God kept it hidden. hidden from the
eye, from the thoughts, from the heart of the natural man.
But as it is written, eye hath not seen nor ear heard, neither
have entered into the heart of man the things which God hath
prepared for them that love him. But God hath revealed them unto
us by his spirit. Because the Spirit searcheth
all things, yea, the deep things of God. The Spirit of God knows
the things of God and He makes known to the child this mystery,
hidden from the natural man, but makes it known that He's
provided everything in Christ. He accepts Christ and he delights
in his son and all who come to him in his son, believing him,
trusting his word. And so sovereign God gathers
together a people who are scattered, busying themselves with all their
distractions and things that they have to do or not do, but
God will gather his people and He has a way of setting them
down at a time of sorrow, at the passing of a loved one, and
there declare the Gospel, the full, free, sovereign salvation
of God provided freely in His Son. Those people would never
have come and heard that word, but now God gathers them together
and shuts their mouths, sitting us down under the foolishness
of preaching to go forth and proclaim what He has done for
His child through the Lord Jesus Christ, what He's accomplished
for them, who died for them that love Him. That love that they
have for them is the manifestation that God loves them, because
that's why they love Him. That's where the faith is. It's
the gift of God. It's given to them in Christ,
as God hath chosen us in Christ before the foundation of the
world. And so God, who is sovereign
over all things and able to do all things, works all things
together for good. He works all things together
for good that love him, to them who are called according to his
purpose, his purpose. And he's working his purpose
whenever it pleases him. Nothing is beyond God, nothing's
by chance, nothing's by luck or fortune. It's all according
to the perfect, sovereign, almighty will of God. And so he brings
to pass even times which can be sorrowful to many, but he
does it in order to proclaim his gospel. And if he has a child
there, they'll hear it. They'll hear it, and those sheep
will be called out of darkness into the light of God. So I've
titled this message, and I won't be much longer, but I've titled
it A Sober Message of Hope. It's a sober message, but it's
a message of hope, the hope of the believer. You see, there
is a resurrection of the dead. The dead shall be raised to stand
before God. I love how Job sees it. In Job
19, verse 25 through 27, He said, for I know. I know. I'll let you get there. Job 19.
19 verse 25 through 27. He says, I know that my Redeemer
liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth.
And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my
flesh shall I see God, whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes
shall behold, and not another, though my reins, my vital organs,
be consumed within me. We shall be raised a new body,
and we shall behold the glorious Savior, the victorious Savior,
with all his enemies underfoot. And we shall see him stand at
the latter day upon the earth triumphantly. And you that believe
shall see him with rejoicing and joy and gladness in your
heart. Christ told Martha, saying in
John 11, 25 through 26, he said, Martha, I am the resurrection
and the life. He that believeth in me, though
he were dead, yet shall he live. And whosoever liveth and believeth
in me shall never die. Believest thou this? The joy
and the hope that we have in Christ and being raised in Him
is not based on what we have or have not done. The joy, the
hope, the confidence that we have is the one whom we know,
whom we've been made to know, the Lord Jesus Christ. That's
our hope. That's all our confidence. And
in fact, the scriptures make this clear. Turn over to Revelation
20. Let's see Revelation 20, and we'll look at verses 11 through
15. Revelation 20, we'll go to verse
11. Here the apostle John records
for us a sight of that judgment day, which all men will see. He says, I saw a great white
throne and hen that sat on it from whose face the earth and
the heaven fled away. And there was found no place
for them. And I saw the dead, small and
great. That means every single person,
whether you're poor and lowly here in this earth and don't
have much and no one thinks of you. Or you're considered great,
an influencer, a mighty person, royalty, or a president, or a
wealthy person, someone of high degree in the esteem of men.
Doesn't matter. All are going to die, and all
are going to stand before the throne of God. And it says the
books were opened. These books record every deed
of man, every work he does, good or bad. The books were opened
and another book was opened. which is the book of life. And
if you take from Revelation 13, 8, it's the book of life of the
lamb slain from the foundation of the world. That's the book
of life. That's the other book here. Now,
the dead were judged out of those things which were written in
the books according to their works. That first set of books
that were open, good or bad, they were judged according to
those things. And the sea gave up the dead
which were in it, and death and hell delivered up the dead which
were in them, and they were judged every man according to their
works. And death and hell were cast
into the lake of fire. This is the second death." The
thing to notice there is everyone who was judged out of those books
according to their good deeds and bad deeds. All their good
deeds and all their bad deeds were put on one side of the scale. The same thing, and it all earned
them eternity in hell. They all died eternally, thrown
into the lake of fire, that second death. But there's the other
book here. In the other book, the book of
life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world, it says
in verse 15, and whosoever was not found written in the book
of life was cast into the lake of fire. So in other words, those
whose name was written in the Lamb's book of life, they were
not cast into the lake of fire. They have no fear of the second
death because they have been raised again, born again, by
the Lord Jesus Christ they've experienced that second birth
so that they have no fear of the second death and their names
are written in the book of life not because of their works but
because of Christ and that's the hope of the believer it's
not in their books works good or bad whatever is written in
those books I don't want to be found before God trusting in
those things, standing before God in those works that I've
done. The only book that matters is,
is my name written in the Lamb's book of life. Has Christ written
my name with his own blood in that book of life? Even the Apostle
Paul was thinking of this when he said to the Philippians, in
Philippians 3, 9, he said, I want to be found in Him, in Christ,
not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law. Lord, don't
see me and what I have done by the law, all the works and labors
I did, Lord, don't even see me in the sacrifices I've made in
laying down my life as a Christian. writing much of the New Testament
going to jail for Jesus I don't want to even be found in that
I want to be found in him standing in the Lord Jesus Christ he says
but that which is through the faith of Christ the righteousness
of God which is by faith that righteousness that mystery of
righteousness which is in Christ in God hid throughout all ages
from natural man but revealed in the face of Christ and given
to the believer. Who knows, my works aren't going
to cut it. I'm not going to stand before
God accepted of Him in my works. Out of those things written in
those books over there, I want to be found in the blood of Christ. Only. Only. And that's the hope
that the Lord gives to the believer. You who know that your works
are insufficient, that your works are wicked and unrighteous and
imperfect in every way, that's not your hope. Your hope is Christ.
Your hope is Christ. And sometimes we get all caught
up and worked up, am I his? Because you know you haven't
done enough. None of us have done enough.
But you wonder, am I his? Well, if he's giving you that
hope to know that Christ and Christ alone is righteous, that's
of the spirit, because that's not of the flesh. The flesh doesn't
look to Christ. The flesh is always looking for
its own things to find some refuge, some hope. But the spirit reveals,
no. It's Christ. You keep looking
to the servant of God, Him who fulfilled the will of God perfectly,
perfectly. You trust in Him and the promise
of God is you shall never be ashamed. You shall never come
short of that which you seek. God sent His Son in the likeness
of the sinful flesh, it says, but without sin. and he came
as the Lamb of God he came for this very purpose to lay down
his life for his people to put away their sin and to obtain
not only forgiveness but the destruction of the enmity that
was in us in Adam to put it away so that now our hope looks to
him and him alone trusting believing Lord I'm gonna stand before you
justified it's gonna be by the blood of your son Lord receive
me in him don't don't look at my works look to him Lord look
to him because you've made me to look to him just like you
look to him and that's of your work that's of your to your praise
to your glory that's my hope Lord and that's what he gives
to every child of God so when Adam and Eve when we read of
Adam and Eve We're told that when Adam bit that fruit of the
tree of the knowledge of good and evil, which God forbade him
to eat. And he bit that fruit, and it
says, the eyes of them both were open, and they knew that they
were naked. It's picturing what we are in
our sin. We were shamed. And they saw
their nakedness. It pictures their shame, our
shame. And they saw it. They were shamed. And so what
they did is they ran off to the edge of the woods, and they started
picking. Fig leaves, big, nice big leaves, and they sewed them
together with their own handiwork there to cover their shame, to
cover their nakedness. And it's a picture of what we
do in our flesh trying to work good works to cover our shame,
the shame of our sin, so that we're not standing there naked
before holy God. And that's what it's picturing
there. It's fig leaf religion. but it wasn't satisfying. They
still had a guilty conscience. They still were felt their shame
and enmity was formed. You could see when God said in
that day that you eat of it, you shall surely die. They died
spiritually immediately because they knew that they were naked.
They felt that knew their shame. They tried to cover with their
own works. And then when they heard the voice of God walking
in the cool of the garden, They ran from him. They sought a refuge
from him in the midst of the trees of the garden. But God
came, and he spoke to them, and he gave them promise that by
the seed of woman, the head of the serpent that they listened
to would be crushed. That enmity in his people would
be destroyed in and by the Lord Jesus Christ. And he went and
slew two animals, each one shedding their blood one for Adam, one
for Eve, and he gave them coats of skin, a permanent covering
that the The leaves couldn't do, because what happens when
you pick a leaf? It's separated from the sap of the tree. There's
no life in it. And it begins to wither, and the moisture is
sucked out of it, and it dries up, becomes brittle, and crumbles
and blows away in the wind. That's our works. That's a picture
of our works. But that lasting covering doesn't
fall apart and crumble and fall away. And it pictures not the
blood of animal sacrifices, but it pictures Christ, the Lamb
of God, who would shed his blood for the sins of his people, and
provide us with an everlasting covenant that shall never fade
for all eternity, forever and ever, by the Lord Jesus Christ. And so the Lord is saying to
everyone, before you go and run and find your distractions and
your various refuges in this world, stop. He's gathered you
here to hear his gospel of what he has accomplished. in the Lord
Jesus Christ to comfort the hearts of all who look to Him, who trust
Him, who stand in Christ, believing the promises of God, believing
in Christ, trusting God in Christ, trusting His righteousness, trusting
what He has provided is sufficient to the uttermost to save them.
And God says, you that trust Him, you shall have a glorious
resurrection. You shall have a wonderful day
on that day because you shall see your Savior with your own
eyes being raised from the dead. I'll quote one more in Isaiah
26. This is another beautiful scripture
which for the child of God is glorious. It's wonderful. Isaiah
26 verse 19 through 21 affirms this very thing. Isaiah says, thy men, or thy
dead men, shall live. Together with my dead body shall
they arise. Awake and sing, ye that dwell
in dust, for thy dew is as the dew of herbs, and the earth shall
cast out the dead. Come, my people, enter thou into
thy chambers, and shut thy doors about thee. Hide thyself, as
it were, for a little moment, until the indignation be overpassed. For behold, the Lord cometh out
of his place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity.
The earth also shall disclose her blood and shall no more cover
her slain. But see, the Lord has provided
a hiding place, a refuge, that you shall never be alarmed again. When that day comes, you don't
need to be afraid or alarmed or troubled at all. because God
has given you the refuge of the sinner, saved by His grace and
mercy. It's the Lord Jesus Christ. Rest
in Him. That's where God rests. That's
where God is at peace with His people, in and by the Lord Jesus
Christ. Amen. Let's close in prayer. Our gracious Lord, we thank you,
Father, for your grace. We thank you for the comfort,
for the good news and the comfort which you provide in your Son,
for that safe haven of rest in Christ our Savior. Lord, we have
nothing to boast in of ourselves, no works that we dare come before
you with, but the obedience of the Lord Jesus Christ alone,
His obedience, what He has done. Lord, you've revealed Him to
us. showing us that he is sufficient
to the uttermost to save his people, that you are well pleased
with him, even delighting in him and all who come to you in
him. Lord, you are well pleased and
you receive them and they are justified in your sight, thanks
to the blood, to the sacrifice, to the life, to the work of our
Savior, Jesus Christ. Lord, keep us looking to him,
trusting in him, having no other salvation, no other hope but
him. Lord, we pray that you would bless your people, comfort them,
calm them and comfort them and give them that sweet, calm, rest,
peaceful resolve in the Lord Jesus Christ. It's in his name
we pray and give thanks. Amen.