Now let's turn please to Hebrews
chapter 2. Hebrews chapter 2 and I shall
read in your hearing verses 14 and 15. Hebrews 2 at verse 14. Since then the children are sharers
in flesh and blood. He that is Jesus also himself
in like manner partook of the same. in order that through death
he might bring to naught him that had the power of death,
that is, the devil, and might deliver all them who through
fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage. I want to lead into our study
in the Word of God by asking each one of you a very simple
pointed but sobering question. I want the youngest of you children
to think as I ask the question. I want you teenagers to think.
I know that's a terrible thing to ask you to think, especially
when you're not in school. But I want you to think. Earnestly,
I want you to think. You post-teen, young adults,
married or unmarried, you young parents, You middle-aged men
and women, those of you that would be considered of riper
years, you have your Medicare card and you're retired. I want each of you to think on
this very simple, pointed, yet sobering question, and here's
my question. Are you afraid to die? Are you afraid to die? I see one young lady already
nodding her head this way, first time I ask the question. Thank
God for her honesty. Is your head nodding inwardly?
Or are you going this way? Dear
folks, this is not a technique of a sermonizer. I'm dead serious. I want you to reflect on that
simple question, are you afraid to die? Are you, right now, afraid to
die? I'm not asking you, do you fear
the experience of death? Most people do. fear the experience
of death or the experience of dying. But I'm asking you, do
you fear death? Are you afraid to die in terms
of being fearful, what will happen to me when I die? Where will
I go when I die? Or maybe, if you're answering
inwardly, yes, if I'm honest with you, Pastor, I am afraid
to die. not because I don't know where
I'd go, but because I know where I'd go. I'd breathe my last and wake
up in outer darkness. Are you afraid to die? Well, as we consider that pressing,
serious, sober question, I want us to see from the passage read
in our hearing some of the things that God says addressing that
very concern. And the first thing I want you
to notice from the passage read in your hearing is that the fear
of death is a natural and a legitimate fear. When the writer to the
Hebrews is describing the condition of those to whom he is writing,
and sinners in general who can be delivered by the gracious
saving work of Jesus, he describes such people in this way, who
through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage,
who through fear of death. And the way in which he uses
that phrase, it is assumed that this was both a common and a
legitimate fear. And so my first heading is that
the fear of death is a natural and a legitimate fear. Now, some
fears are irrational and without any foundation in substance.
You've heard of people afraid to walk under a ladder that is
leaning against a house. They're fearful to do it. They
wouldn't do it if you paid them $100. Why? They're afraid. And
what's the basis of their fear? An irrational, unsubstantiated
superstition. The fear is real, but it has
no basis in reality. Other people are walking down
the street. A black cat goes across in front of them. They
cross the street, walk over on the other side. Why? They're
really scared that a black cat passing in front of them will
bring bad luck. The fear is real, but it's irrational. It has no substantial basis. Spring training is open. You
baseball fans know it. That's the sign of spring. And
there are grown men. who know how to negotiate for
millions of dollars to play a kid's game, who would never think of
stepping on the foul line between the pitcher's mound and the dugout.
You watch them when they come off the field. Grown men stare, rude fear, but
irrational, groundless, baseless fear. And some would say, well,
the fear of death is like the fear of the ball player stepping
over the foul line. the fear of the person who walks
the other side of the street when a black cat has walked in
front of them. But know, my friends, according
to this passage and the overall teaching of the Word of God,
the fear of death described here is a natural and a legitimate
fear for men, women, boys and girls in this present condition. And why? Why is the fear of death
a natural and a legitimate fear for every one of us who does
not stuff down the consciousness of that fear? More of that later.
Let me give you three very simple reasons why the fear of death
is a natural and a legitimate fear. Why the writer to the Hebrews
could assume when he wrote that when he put these words down
on parchment, who through fear of death, he wouldn't have a
bunch of people scratching their heads saying, what in the world
are you talking about fear of death? I don't know anything about fear of death.
They would know immediately what he was referring to. Why? Reason
number one, because death is a tragically unnatural experience. Death is a tragically unnatural
experience. When you open up your Bible to
Genesis 1 and have the account of creation, and then in chapter
2 you have the zoom lens expanded account of the creation of man's
immediate environment, of the man himself and then the woman,
and then God's clear command that man may eat of all the trees
in the garden but of the tree of knowledge of good and evil
in the midst of the garden, he should not eat of it lest he
die. Death was no part of the original
created design of God. Chapter 3 in Genesis tells us,
that the woman gave to the man, and he ate, and they died spiritually
immediately. And then in chapter 5, we have
the tragic account, and he died, and he died, and he died, and
he died, and he died, and he died. And the experience of death,
that radical violent, unnatural wrenching loose of the two component
parts of what we are as men and women made in God's image, soul
and body, a spiritual and a material dimension to what we are. God
never intended that those should be separated. After God breathed
into Adam the breath of life and man became living soul, God's
intention was that as a body-soul entity, the man and the woman
would glorify Him, serve Him, fulfill all their stewardships,
but that soul and body would never be violently wrenched apart. And that experience of death
is fearful because it is a tragically unnatural experience. That's why it is called in 1
Corinthians 15, 26, the last enemy. The last enemy. Death is an enemy, a vicious,
relentless, cruel, grotesque enemy. And that's why we fear
it. But we fear death secondly, because
death launches us irreversibly into a hitherto unexperienced
world of reality. Death launches us into a hitherto
unexperienced world of reality. We speak of the fear of the unknown,
and rightly so. Well, there are a lot of things
that we may fear because they are unpleasant. But if we've
been there before, that fear does not paralyze us and terrorize
us. For example, you've been to the
dentist, and if you had your wisdom teeth pulled on one side,
and you know you've got to have them pulled on the other, You
know what's going to happen. He's going to sit you in the
chair, he's going to stick that needle in there, and you're going to
feel a little twinge, and then you're going to go all numb and
funny, and then he's going to yank that thing out, and then
you're going to have a sore jaw for a few days. It's unpleasant.
And I never saw anyone, I never met a person, I said, what's
your week hold for you? Oh, great, I'm going to the dentist on Tuesday
to get my next set of whips. No, nobody, something's wrong
with you, look forward to it, it's unpleasant. And what is
unpleasant is dreadful to us. But you see, that's whirls apart
from the fear associated with death. For that fear is rooted
in the awareness that death launches us into an irreversible and hitherto
unknown world of reality. According to the Bible, and listen
carefully, according to the Bible, There were a few people in the
Old Testament miraculously raised from the dead by the power of
God, and a few people in the New Testament. But apart from
those people, and the utterly unique resurrection of our Lord
Jesus Christ from the dead, people don't come back from the dead,
and furthermore, they don't go to the realm of the dead to experiment
and see what it's like and come back in order to make sure they
do it right the second time. Death is fearful because it launches
us irreversibly into a hitherto unknown world of reality. And no matter what evolutionary
thinking says, and no matter what mechanistic, atheistic scientists
try to say, that we are nothing but the combination of our chemical
components You know, and the Bible affirms what you know,
that you have a part of you that is never dying, and that when
you breathe your last, that part of you is going to be somewhere.
And the Bible leaves no question as to where you will go. Jesus in Luke chapter 16 said,
The rich man died, and in hell he lifted up his eyes. Lazarus
died and was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom. Your dog has personality, children. You can read in your dog's eyes
excitement, fear, And I think they even have something, whether
it's the fear that looks like guilt, but I'm convinced the
last dog we had knew what it was to feel guilty. They could
have that, but you say the dog has something, I don't know what
to call it, but it's something like personality. You have dogs
that are more somber and sedate and almost majestic, and other
dogs that are like silly little giggly girls. And you got some
that are like fumbling, bumbling teenage boys. Dogs have something more than
corpuscles and blood and fingernails, but they have nothing that exists
beyond the breathing of their last. When the dog dies, that's
the end of the whole of the dog. And when your little pet parakeet
dies, that's the end of everything that your little pet parakeet
is. But not so with you and me. When we die, that immaterial
part of us, the spirit, the soul, is launched into a realm of reality
hitherto unexperienced. No wonder we naturally fear death. It is a tragically unnatural
experience. Secondly, because death launches
us irreversibly into a hitherto unexperienced world of reality. But thirdly, we fear death because
death is the one-way door to judgment. Death is the one-way
door to judgment. Its hinges swing only one way. Hebrews 9.27, And as it is appointed
unto men once to die, and after this comes judgment, so Christ
was once offered to bear the sins of many, and shall appear
the second time without sin to salvation. You see the analogy? As surely as Christ died but
once, and will certainly appear a second time, not to deal with
sin as a suffering Savior, but to utterly crush it and usher
in the new heavens and the earth. So when once we die, just as
surely after that comes judgment, death's door has one way hinges. And as death leaves you, The
judgment will find you, and as the judgment finds you, God help
us as I say the words, eternity will hold you. Think of it. As death leaves you, no change
after death, the judgment will find you. And as the judgment
finds you, Eternity forever and ever and ever and ever and ever
and ever and ever will hold you. Who through fear of death were
all their lifetime subject to bondage. The fear of death is
unnatural and a legitimate fear. Before we move on to our second
head, I want to make a couple of very vital applications of
that principle. The first is this. Don't believe
the current propaganda that death is a natural part of life. There
is abroad, in American society now, in serious literature, in
popular magazines such as Family Circle, Woman's Day and a host
of others, a glut of wretched, soul-damning propaganda that
says it's time we grew up and stopped being hush-hush about
death and dying. Death is a part of life. Just like nursing and snuggling
up to a bottle is a part of infancy, and cutting teeth is a part of
infant development, and learning how to toddle and walk, and have
your first case of zits, and have your first baby, and have
your first person look at you and say, do you belong to ARP?
Welcome to the real world when someone asks you that. Well,
as those are the stages of life, so death. is just a part of life. Now let's grow up and be mature
about it. Let's not dread death. It's inevitable. It's a part of life. It is not
an ugly, horrible, unwelcome intruder. My friend, that is
a denial of the teaching of the Bible from Genesis to Revelation. Don't believe it. Those who have
bought into that nonsense and soul-destructive propaganda and
have pretty well convinced themselves and others that they have no
fear of death and are looked upon as noble souls are to be
pitied beyond any others on the face of the earth. Don't you
join them. Don't join them. Secondly, by
way of application, don't believe the current propaganda that you
need not fear death because of the testimony of those who've
had a near-death experience. That's propaganda glutting everywhere. Books are written, magazine articles,
and they all talk about this tunnel opening up and this warm,
inviting light that drew them and enveloped them, and oh, my,
my, to a drug-oriented generation. This is a combination of coke
and heroin and everything in between, and it didn't cost a
nickel. It's the ultimate high. And they've come back to tell
us, and they say, now, not only do I not fear death, I have to
faint longing to die. I want that experience of being
enveloped in warmth and light and love. I can't wait to have
it. My friends, don't laugh at that
stuff. It's serious demonic propaganda. And to me it's significant that
Paul says in 2 Corinthians 11, for, for no marvel, Satan himself
transforms himself into a what? an angel of light. Who is there deceiving these
people that have had near-death experiences? It is the devil
himself who wants to kill in them any fear of death that would
leave them open to the question, how can I deal with this fear
of death? and face death with confidence. He doesn't want them to have
the answer to that question from the Bible. So he makes sure that
they get a pseudo-answer from Red Book and Woman's Day and
popular television programs and interviews and talk shows. Don't believe the current propaganda
that death is a natural part of life, don't believe the current
propaganda that you need not fear death because of the testimony
of near-death experiences, or according to the passage before
us, if you've not been delivered from the fear of death God's
way, and yet you don't fear death, you are in a frightening position. Is it sanity and rationality
for someone to stand, arms crossed, looking up at the blue sky, whistling
one's favorite tune in the middle of railroad tracks at 4.03 when
the commuter train comes roaring around the corner at 4.05 and
you know it? Is that rationality? Is that
nobility? I ask you to answer in the depths
of your own heart, what is it for someone, arms crossed, whistling,
humming his favorite tune, knowing that a locomotive will come crashing
him in two minutes? You say that's insanity. Well,
my dear boys and girls, young people, men and women of any
age, for you to know that it is appointed unto you once to
die. and to do anything other than
tremble at that thought, to fit the description of this passage,
who through fear of death is spiritual and a form of even
mental insanity. Perhaps the most encouraging
thing that could happen to some of you sitting here tonight is
to leave this place trembling like a leaf with a baptism of
rational fear of death, it might be the first indication that
you're in the way of salvation. These who had come to know the
salvation of Jesus are described by the writer to the Hebrews
as those who at one time knew the fear of death. Who, through
fear of death, who through fear of death. Listen again to one
of the old writers writing more than 300 years ago to show there's
no new thing under the sun. John Owen commenting on this
passage and on the fact that by nature men do have a fear
of death but they can through the deception of the evil one
greatly lessen and neutralize that fear. But sinners in their
natural state fear death as it is a penalty for sin, as an issue
of the curse, and as under the power of Satan, and as a dreadful
entrance into eternal ruin. Sinners in their natural state. He says the fear of death is
natural. They know death is not something
God intended. It is the result of sin. He says,
there are indeed a thousand ways whereby this fear is for a season
stifled in the minds of men. Some live in brutish ignorance,
never receiving any full conviction of sin, judgment, or eternity.
Some put off the thoughts of their present and future estate,
resolving to shut their eyes and rush into death when as they
no longer can avoid it. Fear presents itself unto them
as the forerunner of death, but they avoid the encounter and
leave themselves over to the power of death itself. And then
he goes on to enlarge on that. No different then. The lies floated
by the devil may be different, but it's still the same issue.
And so I urge you to consider what is clearly reflected in
this passage, that the writer assumes that the fear of death
was a natural and legitimate fear. But now notice, secondly,
and far more briefly, that the fear of death is a terribly enslaving
fear. The fear of death is a terribly
enslaving fear. Look at the language of the passage.
Since the children are sharers in flesh and blood, he, Jesus,
took part of the same that through death he might bring to naught
him that had the power of death, and deliver them who through
fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage. A more literal rendering of the
original would be this, who in fear of death through all of
life were held in slavery. What graphic language. whom through
fear of death, through all of life, were held in slavery. The picture is someone enslaved
against his will. It is not the picture of someone
voluntarily giving himself to servitude. Romans 6 says, when
you were the slaves of sin, you voluntarily presented your members
instruments of unrighteousness unto sin. But here's the picture
of people held in a position of slavery. And the writer to
the Hebrew says that the fear of death is a terribly enslaving
fear, a miserable slavery in which we are taken captive. While I'm not prepared to even
begin to suggest all the ramifications of this imagery, I know something
of it in my own experience. From the dawning of my consciousness,
as far back as I can remember, anything That's why I say the
dawning of consciousness. How old I was, I do not know.
But I had the awareness that I was more than my dog, who had
honorable discharge papers from the Second World War. It was
a female German shepherd. And we gave Lady to the military
to become a trained K-9 dog to serve the country. We were at
war, gathering our little balls of tinfoil and everyone involved
in the war effort, and we gave up our dog. And I loved that
dog. One of my sisters recently retrieved
a picture of me as a little boy with my arm around that dog,
and oh, how my mind leaped back over the years. Well, way back
then, and even a little bit before then, as long as I have consciousness,
I knew I was something more than my dog lady. I knew that God
had made me, and I knew if I had died, I'd stand in judgment before
God. And how real was that slavery.
I could have no delightful thoughts of God. I could have no happy
thoughts of God. I could have no thought of approaching
God as my Father. All my thoughts of God were,
I've sinned against Him, and I have no forgiveness for my
sins. And I'd lie in my bed as a boy, night after night, Afraid
to go to sleep because the words forever and ever, forever and
ever, and ever and ever would run over in my mind like a broken
record. And I can remember saying, but
oh God, somewhere, at some point, you let me out of hell. And the
words would come back forever and ever and ever and ever and
ever and ever. Was I being psychologically tortured
by bogeymen? No, my friends. God in mercy
was keeping my boy mind in touch with reality. Had I died in that state, I would
have gone to hell. Slavery. I was held in the slavery
of the fear of death. The frustration My last prayer
almost every night, O God, forgive my sins of the day, and I promise
not to do them tomorrow. The knowledge that there was
no real work of repentance, no real casting of myself upon Christ. All their lifetime subject to
bondage. Well, the form of that bondage
may be different for you, but the writer to the Hebrews assumes
that where this legitimate, rational fear of death is present, it
is an enslaving fear. And if some of you sitting here
tonight, you know the form that that slavery takes for you. Oh, how you try, and it's a form
of slavery, to rip into nonexistence your consciousness that you're
a creature accountable to God on your way to judgment. And
oh, how you try to take all of reality and so arrange it that
it would give your spirit some relief from the fear of death. But you can't do it. Who through
all their lifetime were subject to bondage. It puts a worm in the gourd of
every pleasure, puts a bitter taste in the sweetest taste of
life's pleasure. It casts a dark and ominous shadow
over the brightest days that God gives you in His mercy. The
fear of death is a terribly enslaving fear. And I believe that some
of you children are right where I was. And the slave is real,
kids. It's real. And it has grounds
to be real. Thank God He hasn't given you
up to self-deception and the lies of the devil and a hard
heart. I can remember to my shame, half-praying,
God, why can't I enjoy my sins like my buddies? I don't like
it that I can't sin with abandonment. Because the fear of death gnawed
at my soul. How I bless God for it now. And
I thank Him for that pressure upon my spirit. But now I come
to what to me is the wonderful part of this passage. Look at
it with me. We've seen that the fear of death
is a natural and legitimate fear in three basic reasons. Why?
We've seen that the fear of death is a terrible, enslaving fear,
but now here's the good news. The fear of death. Hear me, children. Children, ask God to grow ten
inch ears on your soul over the next fifteen minutes. Our text
tells us the fear of death is a conquerable fear. It is a comparable
fear. Listen to what it says. Since
then the children are sharers in flesh and blood. He, Jesus
himself, took in like manner, partook of the same, that through
death he might bring to naught, that he might destroy, strip
the power, him that had the power of death, that is the devil,
and listen, and might deliver all them. might deliver all them
who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to
bondage. Oh, what a gospel to proclaim
that the fear of death is a conquerable fear. Now, look at the context
of this statement. Here in the first two chapters
of Hebrews, the writer to the Hebrews has begun to set forth
the glory of Jesus in contrast to all of God's previous revelations
and all of God's other creatures, whether angels or great creatures
in redemptive history, Moses and Aaron and the priesthood,
etc. So, in chapter one, he says Jesus
is greater than the angels. In chapter two, he says Jesus
became a little lower than the angels, that he might be our
Savior. And it's in that setting that
we have our text. Since then the children are sharers
in flesh and blood, that is, real human nature. He himself, in like manner, partook
of the same in order that through death, in other words, angels
can't experience death. He who is greater than the angels,
the creator of the angels, for a time becomes lower than the
angels. that he might do what angels
couldn't do for us. That is to die, and if you read
to the end of the chapter, enter into the human experience in
so many ways that he may also succor weak, frail human beings. So he who is higher than the
angels, becomes lower than the angels to do what angels cannot
do to save us, namely, to die and to succor us. That's Hebrews
1 and 2. That's your Savior. Now that's
the context. Now let's look at the specifics
of two questions related to our theme. The fear of death is a
conquerable fear. Two questions from our passage
now, having looked at the larger context. Who is the conqueror
of the fear of death? And secondly, how does he conquer
the fear of death? Now, that's not complicated,
kids, is it? Who does the conquering and how does he do it? You got
it? Who and how? One syllable, three
words each, who and how? Who is the conqueror of the fear
of death? Well, it's not you and it's not
me. It's not our minds persuading us, oh, death's a part of life.
It is not, for some of you into modern philosophy, it is not
convincing yourself that the way you authenticate your identity
is boldly, courageously face death and walk into it without
flinching. modern existentialism. Put the
gun to your head with a smile on your face and tell the world,
I'm no simpering, whimpering coward. I'm an authentic person
and I come to life's ultimate experience like a man. That isn't
how you conquer the fear of death. In answer to the question, who
is the conqueror of the fear of death? It is Jesus. For the subject of this whole
passage is identified in verse 9. But we behold him who has
been made a little lower than the angels, even Jesus. And everything else in the passage
is about Jesus. So when it says, In verse 14,
since the children are shares in flesh and blood, He partook
of the same. That's Jesus. That through death,
He. That's Jesus. Verse 15, and might
deliver. That's Jesus. So in answer to
the question, who is the conqueror of the fear of death? Our passage
is clear. It is Jesus. Only Jesus. Jesus, in all the perfection
of who He is and what He's done, don't dare think of conquering
death in any other reference point but Jesus. That's the message
of our passage. Second question, how does He
conquer the fear of death? And if you look at the passage,
we get three strands to the answer. by undergoing a real incarnation. He overcomes the fear of death
by undertaking, by undergoing, by entering into a real incarnation. Notice again our text. Since
the children are sharers in flesh and blood, that's you and me.
We have real human existence. He Himself partook of the same. He who is the eternal Word, dwelling
in a non-bodily existence from all eternity with the Father. John 1 in the beginning was the
Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. John 1.14
is the Joannine statement of the same truth. The Word became
flesh. The Word, the eternal Son of
God, takes to Himself something He had never had before while
continuing to be what He had always been, essentially, eternally,
undilutedly God. He takes to Himself what? Flesh and blood. My friend, it
took the mystery of the implantation of true humanity in Mary's womb
for the fear of death to be conquered. Nothing less than real incarnation. Look at verse 17. It behooved
Him in all things to be made like unto His brethren. Think
of it! He sees us wallowing floundering
in this horrible morass of the fear of death. And he says, there's
no way to deliver them, but by my becoming one of them, sin
accepted. And all that is essential to
our humanity, he took to himself. Think of it. Think of it. He
knew the dark confines of Mary's womb. May I say it reverently,
he knew what it was to be a zygote, and divide, and divide, and divide,
and develop his little flippers, and then his individual characteristics. Think of it. Why? Why? Because
that's the only way the fear of death could be truly conquered.
Someone had to come into our condition. And the writer to
Hebrews says, he delivers from the fear of death. How? By a
real incarnation. Secondly, by a real substitutionary
death. Look at the passage. Since the
children are shares in flesh and blood, he himself in like
manner partook of the same. Why? For you Greek students,
a clause of purpose in order that through death he might destroy
him that had the power of death and deliver them who through
fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.
Let me put it this way. The focal point of intention
in the incarnation was the crucifixion. He partakes of flesh and blood
that he might die. Angels have no flesh and blood. Angels cannot die. He becomes
lower than the angels, partakes of flesh and blood. In that humanity,
He might not only live the life we should live, but die the death
we deserve to die. It's called later on in this
passage, look at it, verse 17, it's called propitiation. He
might be a faithful high priest in things pertaining to God to
make propitiation. What does that big word mean?
It means nothing less than to appease the wrath of God by a
sacrifice. That's what it means. And how
are we delivered from the fear of death? Now, think closely
with me, children. What brought death into the world?
Romans 5, 12, through one man, sin entered into the world, and
death through sin. For that all sin, the wages of
sin, is death. No sin, no death. Sin, death. As the punishment of a righteous,
holy God upon sin, man dies. Jesus comes, and what does He
do? He goes into the court of heaven
while hanging upon the cross. He takes all of the wrath for
the sins of everyone called in this passage the children, those
who come unto God by Him. And He so exhausts the wrath
of God in His person that God can pass over that wrath righteously. You want to be delivered from
the fear of death? Not only must you understand you've got to
have dealings with Jesus himself, but Jesus, who secures it by
a real incarnation, who secures it by a real substitutionary
sacrifice. And then an emphasis in this
passage is found elsewhere. The third part of the answer,
how does he do it? Look at the passage. By a real
conquest of the devil. Since then the children are sharers
in flesh and blood. He like manner took part of the
same, that through death," now notice, "...he might bring to
naught him," that's a person, "...that had the power of death,"
who is that? He tells us, that is the devil. "...and as a consequence of that
might deliver all them who through fear of death," We're all their
lifetime subject to bondage. You see, as long as sin is your
master and mine, our sins unforgiven, the Bible says we are the servants,
the sons of the devil. John 8, 44, you are of your father
the devil, and the lust of your father it is your will to do. In 1 John, John says, in this
the children of God are manifest and the children of the devil.
There is no middle family, folks. Everyone here is in the family
of God or the family of the devil. And as long as sin is unforgiven
in your heart, and the dominion of sin is unbroken in your life,
you are the servant of the devil. And in a very real sense, as
long as there's no just basis to forgive your sin, and there
is no framework within which the power of sin can be broken,
then the devil's got you, and there's no deliverance from the
fear of death. But Jesus, the mighty conqueror, came forth
and according to this passage, he delivers from the fear of
death by a real conquest of the devil. And this is emphasized
in other passages. You remember in John 12, when
Jesus is speaking of his death, he says that now, now the prince
of this world shall be cast out. And Colossians 2.15 speaks of
Christ in His death upon the cross, spoiling principalities
and powers in that death. While there are mysteries I do
not understand, this much is clear from this passage. Behind
that fear of death that is miserable slavery is the vicious slave
master, the devil himself. And when Christ went to the cross,
He engaged him directly. This is your hour, he said, and
the power of darkness. And in ways that eternity alone
will probably exegete to some degree to us, he engaged the
devil. And there, upon the cross, he
crushed his head, victim of his power, so that all who by faith
are in Christ are in the conqueror. And therefore, in Christ, we
can be delivered. from the fear of death and the
devil who traffics in that fear. This is why, as we bring this
message to a conclusion, we come to passages such as John 11,
25, and I hope we understand them with fresh understanding.
Jesus, in the setting of raising Lazarus from the dead, said,
I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me,
though he were dead, that is, dead spiritually, yet shall he
live spiritually, and then listen to this, and whosoever lives
and believes in me shall never die. Think of it. Shall never die. Does he mean
that if we believe in him, we will never pass through the experience
that we call death? Well, if that's what he meant,
then he doesn't speak the truth. Because Stephen died, and Paul
died, and Peter died, and the saints of God, and untold millions
have died. What did Jesus mean? Whoso lives
and believes in Me shall never die. And look at John 8 in verse
51. A marvelous text. Jesus said,
If a man keep My word, he shall never Now, you believe Jesus
speaks the truth? He says, you keep his word, you
treasure up his word, in faith, in love, and obedience, you're
never going to see death. What in the world does he mean? Will he add to your confusion?
In 1 Corinthians chapter 3, Paul says, all things are yours, whether
life or death. And you are Christ, and Christ
is God's. I thought I'd never see death,
and now you say death is mine. What kind of double talk is that?
Oh, my friends, it's not double talk. There is a blessed synthesis
of reality. Hear me. Oh, hear me, dear unconverted
child, man, woman, boy, girl, dear brother, sister in Christ.
Listen, listen. When Jesus said, the man keep
my word, he shall never see death, what he's saying is this. You'll
never meet death. as that conquering, terrifying,
horrible intruder whose presence brings slavish fear. You know that Christ, by a real
incarnation, by a real substitutionary death, and by a mighty conquest
over the devil has stripped death of its power as the wages of
sin and all death now is is a little glitchy discipline to take you
home to heaven. That's all. It's a little glitchy
discipline to take you home to heaven. While your body goes
in the grave and you wait for the resurrection and you know
what God calls that time in the grave? He calls it a good nap. Them that sleep in Jesus. That
doesn't refer to the soul. It refers to the body. And God
says, you go to bed when you put in your grave and you wake
up in the morning when Jesus comes. That's what Jesus meant
when he said, he that keeps my word shall never see death. Death
as that armed, vicious, horrible intruder who takes the soul and
carries it into the presence of demons and the devil. You'll
never see death. One dear man of God said in ministering
that text to a saint in an old folks' home, his heart was expanded
as he said to her, my dear sister, as you lay dying, soon she was
close to dying. Death may come armed to the teeth
in all of his ominous, ugly village, but Jesus said just at the time
when he would stand before you, you're never going to see him.
Jesus is going to come and take you home. And he kept quoting
that verse, he that keeps my word shall never see death. Experienced dying? Yes, but never
see death. That's what Paul meant when he
said, all things are yours. Death is now mine in union with
Christ, not as a horrible enemy to be dreaded and put me in bondage. That kinky little discipline
by which I'm absent from the body, present with the Lord,
and put to sleep, waiting resurrection and burning. Oh, my unconverted,
sad boy, girl. Wouldn't you want to know that
that's all death could do to you? Then get into Jesus. That's where you've got to go.
You've got to get into Christ. You've got to take a direct route
to Christ, the incarnate Christ, the dying, resurrected Christ,
the conquering Christ. And in Christ, death is yours.
Death is yours. The wonder we read in Revelation
14, 12. Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord. Die in the Lord is to be blessed. You say, well, Pastor, I've seen
you get worked up before. That's all interesting and nice.
But I just soon go on out a slave still. Don't do that. Why go on from the miserable
slavery of the fear of death You could pillow your head tonight
and not simply pray, Now I lay me down to sleep. I pray thee,
Lord, my soul to keep. And should I die before I wake,
I pray thee, Lord, my soul to take. No, go to bed tonight saying,
Now I lay me down to sleep. I know, dear Lord, My soul you'll
keep. And should I die before I wake,
I know you'll take me to yourself for Jesus' sake. How in the world can you be scared
of death when you can say that? May I give you one other illustration
as I close? The dear late Dr. Tozer, for
some of you new to us, this was a man who was recognized to be
one of the most unusual servants of God. Half a generation behind
some of us had he lived. He was born right at the turn
of the century. He'd be 99 now. But he told the instance of a
time when he heard of a dear old saint, an old Methodist saint.
And she was hovering between two worlds, about to pass out
of this world into the presence of her Lord. And the minister
was a young minister, not very experienced in many things, let
alone helping people to die. So he was fumbling for the right
words with his seasoned old saint, just trying to say everything
just right. And she sensed his frustration and his ineptitude. And she said, now Sam, stop troubling
yourself trying to find the right words. She said, in a few minutes,
I'm going to cross the river, and my Father owns the land on
both sides." That's it. She said, I'm just crossing the
river. My Father owns the land on this side called Earth and
the world and life. But on the other side is to be
with Christ. And in a few minutes, I'm going
to cross the river. My friend, can you face death
that way? My Father owns the land on both
sides. And in Christ, death is but the
river by which He takes me from one part of His land to another. The fear of death is a legitimate
and natural fear. The fear of death is an enslaving
fear. But the fear of death is a conquerable
fear. And when you ask who conquers,
it's Jesus. And how does he conquer? By incarnation,
by substitutionary death, followed, of course, by resurrection and
by his conquest of the devil. May God grant that we who are
his people, who are in the providence of God, will face more and more
the reality of death and of dying. May God help us to think biblically,
to feed upon our blessed Lord. that as we approach death, we
may be able to say, death is mine in Christ. My Jesus has said to me, I will
never see death. Let us pray. Our Father, how we thank you
for your word, and with all of our hearts we beg of you, we
plead with you. O God, may it not be preached
in vain this night. May some who have sat here, trembling
in their own souls, leave rejoicing in Christ Jesus. May your people
be established and rooted and grounded in a well-instructed
trust in the Lord Jesus. We pray that you'd have mercy
upon our fellow countrymen, buying by the carload these demonic
lies, that death is just a part of life, death is an entrance
into the big warm light. Oh God, awaken them from their
stupor. Use us to be light and salt to
them, we pray. Help us now as we go forth into
our week. We pray that you would enable
us to live in your fear and so to walk that others may be compelled
to ask a reason of the hope that is within us. Hear our prayers,
forgive and pardon all of our sins, and receive our thanks
for this day in your courts. We pray in Jesus' name.