Let's turn back to Hebrews chapter
2. The title of the message this morning
is something that's very sobering, something that we ought to think
about often. Are you afraid to die? I told
you this morning, two messages are both questions. How you answer
the first question will dictate how you answer the second question.
We looked in the class this morning, are you the friend of God, a
friend of God? And now we're going to look at,
are you afraid to die? Today we're after the service, celebrate
some zero birthdays. I thought this morning is a good
time to ask this question. Are you afraid to die? We're
all aging, getting older, ever getting closer to that moment.
Now I have been there in person to see two people. give up the
ghost and die. I was there when they drew their
last breath on this earth. And it's not like how you might
think that would be. Certainly not how the movies
portray it. There's no glow around the person.
There's no glow in the room. There's no harps playing. It's
just silence. Life is over. That's very mysterious
to us. We don't know what it's like
to die. We've never talked to anyone who's done it. And there
tends to be a certain amount of fear about facing something,
doing something that we've never done before, because we don't
know what it's like. So we don't know what to expect.
So humanly speaking, and it's natural in that sense to fear
death, because we don't know what it's like. And humanly speaking,
it's good for us to have a fear of death. It's just natural to
these bodies to fear death and to rebel against it. Because
God made these bodies for living, not for dying. He didn't create
Adam to die. No, He created him to live. And
the desire to live. There's a desire to live in people. And that's what makes them not
give up in times of horrible trial. I read about these stories
of men who were prisoners of war. Horrible, horrible places. And I think, I just want to die.
I wouldn't want to live. But they wanted to live. They
just wanted to press on for something better that's going to get better.
The desire to live makes us take better care of ourselves. Exercising
and eating right is not going to make us live one day longer
on this earth. But it'll make the days we have
more pleasant. It'll make you feel better. It'll make you able
to be more useful to go out and do the things that you have to
do, you know, the time the Lord's given us. And a fear of death
really gives us a respect for human life, doesn't it? Cultures
that don't respect human life make life miserable for everybody
else. The Islamic people seem to have
absolutely no respect for human life. And it's a scourge on this
world. So in that sense, a fear of death
is good. But for the believer, There is
no reason at all for us to fear death. Actually, it's wrong. It's wrong for a believer to
fear death. When a believer feels a fear of death, it shows a lack
of trust in the Lord. It's like, well, I can trust
the Lord in good times, but not in the bad. You know, I can trust
the Lord with my body, but not my soul. And when a believer
fears death, it robs us of the joy and the peace that we have
in Christ. You know, we ought to have joy
in Christ. There's no fear in love. There's joy and peace in
Christ. But the unbeliever should be
afraid of death because of the eternal consequences of it. It's
appointed unto men once to die, and after this, the judgment,
and facing the wrath of God in our sins. without a covering,
without a mediator, should frighten us. You're right to be afraid
of death if you don't believe Christ. So how then can I not
be afraid to die? I want to give us some concrete
reasons this morning to not fear death. Now, it's not just whistling
through the graveyard and pretending I'm not going to die. I mean,
how many people do you know just pretend like they're going to
live forever? That would just be living a lie. That's not a
reason not to fear death. As I was studying this week,
I read this inscription that someone had recorded that they
found on a tombstone. Said, this might be, I just want
just a little stone. I don't want to pay much money
for it. But this would be, I'd like for somebody to think this.
And they passed by my grave. Please view my grave as you pass
by. For as you are, so once was I. As I am now, soon you must
be. So make your plans to follow
me. Now we're going to die. Unless
the Lord returns first, every one of us is going to die. We're
going to have a funeral. We're going to put the body in
a box and bury it. We're going to die. So how then can I not
be afraid of it? Number one, let me give you about
four reasons. The way not to fear death is
by doing what I compel you to do in every message. Look to
Christ. Look to Christ. Christ came not
just to deliver his people from death, not only to deliver his
people from death, but to deliver them from the fear of death. There's no reason to fear something
you'll never do. Is that right? Look here at verse
14, how Christ delivered his people from death and the fear
of it. For as much then as the children are partakers of flesh
and blood, 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. That's how Christ fulfilled the
prophecy, the very first prophecy of the Messiah. He's going to
crush the serpent's head. He put him out of business. He
crushed him. He took away his power by dying upon Calvary's
tree as a sacrifice for sin. And deliver them. who through
fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage,
bondage to the fear of death. Christ came to deliver his people
from dying, but also to deliver them from the fear of death. And he did that by becoming the
substitute for his people and dying in their place. Now the
children, the children are God's elect. They're all flesh and
blood, sons of Adam. They're human beings. Well, God
can't be the substitute for human beings, can he? God's not flesh
and blood. God's spirit. So Christ took on him flesh and
blood to become the representative, the substitute of his people.
God became a man. Now what a great mystery. God
became a man. Great is the mystery of godliness.
God was manifest in the flesh. Now God didn't change into a
man. God took on him flesh. God stayed
God and became a man. He's both God and man, the God-man. The Lord Jesus Christ is God. He is God in a human body, with
a human nature, yet without sin. And that perfect God-man can
satisfy both God and man. He was made sin for his people,
and he suffered the death. that they deserved by being their
substitute. He is everything that we need. And he is God. So he satisfied
God's holiness by obeying the law perfectly. He was without
sin because he is God. So his righteousness, his obedience
satisfied his father. And his death, the death of the
perfect sinless man, satisfied God's justice and put away the
sin of his people. And since justice is satisfied,
God's not going to demand a second payment. The payment's already
been made. He's not going to demand a second one. We've already
died in the person of our substitute. God's not going to demand a second
death. The believer doesn't have to fear death because everyone
who believes on Christ will never die. These bodies will, but we
will never die. Isn't that what our Lord told
Martha standing right outside the tomb of her brother, Lazarus?
Whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. You believe
this? He said. As in Adam, all die. Even so, in Christ shall be made
alive. They'll never die. Sin in these
bodies reigns unto death in Adam. Even so, grace reigns through
righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ, our Lord. If you look back at second Timothy
chapter one, I'll show you this is God's eternal purpose for
his people, that they never die. Verse nine, second Timothy chapter
one, who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according
to our words, but according to his own purpose and grace, which
was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began. That
was all done in eternity. But that's now made manifest.
It showed us by the appearing of our Savior, Jesus Christ,
who has abolished death and brought life and immortality to light
through the gospel. Oh, what freedom there is in
Christ for the believer. Freedom. See, before we know
Christ, we're in this bondage, aren't we? This bondage to the
fear of death. We can't quit fearing it. We're
such bondage. We're in bondage, always trying
to keep the law, always trying to live well enough so God won't
punish us after we die. We even get the feeling, oh,
I got to live right, I got to do right so God won't punish
me and let me live longer. It's a fear, bondage to the fear
of death. You cannot get away from it.
But the believer in Christ is free, free from that awful bondage
and horrible fear. You think of living in fear,
just living in constant fear, how miserable that is. You think
of a slave living constantly in bondage, never having the
option to say, I'm going to rest. The believer is free from all
of that. There's nothing to fear. There's no bondage. There's nothing
left for us to do. Look to Christ. That's the point. Look to Christ for everything.
Look to him as your righteousness. Look to Him as your justification.
Look to Him as your sanctification. Look to Him as your redemption.
Look to Him as your eternal life. Look to Him to deliverance from
death. And look to Him for the deliverance from the fear of
death. That's why He came. To deliver
His people from the fear of death. Look to Him. Alright, number
two. The believer doesn't fear death.
Because Christ changed the nature of death for His people. Christ
died for his people. There are several different ways
he changed the nature of death. First, Christ changed death into
something that cannot hurt the believer. Christ removed the
sting of death for his people. The sting of death is sin. Well,
the sacrifice of Christ removed the sin of his people, didn't
it? Then there's no sting left to hurt you. Death can't hurt
the believer in any way because Christ took the sting out of
him. Second, Christ changed the nature of death. He made death
a blessing, not a curse for the believer. Christ removed the
curse of the law by being made a curse for us and taking that
curse away. Look at Revelation chapter 20. The death of these bodies is
not going to bring an eternal curse to God's people. Instead,
it's going to bring eternal blessing. Revelation 20, verse six. Blessed and holy is he that hath
part in the first resurrection. And what's that mean, the first
resurrection? It's the new birth. Whoever's been born again by
God's grace, by his power, that person is blessed and holy. On
such, the second death hath no power. You can never die spiritually. But they shall be priests of
God and of Christ and shall reign with him thousand years. See, the death of Christ changed
death from good to bad for the believer. Death's not punishment. It's a promotion for the believer.
It's to leave this world to go to a far better world and a far
better body. It's a promotion. Death is not
an execution. It's deliverance from this clay
prison to be finally set free from this body of sin. It's a
promotion. And death is not the end. No,
death is the beginning of real life, eternal life with Christ.
And for the believer, death is not a failure. Death is a graduation. And every child of God graduates
with honor. You ever been to a graduation?
They list all the graduates, right? Here's the ones with high
honor, different honors. Every child of God graduates with honor. The highest honor, the honor
of Christ. Graduation day. Yesterday, Isaac
Floyd graduated from high school. After he graduated, got his diploma,
he walked around the stage. There his dad sat down there
on the front row, right there at graduation. His dad stood
up, grabbed him, gave him a big hug. We're sorry to all of you,
graduation day. Oh, he was so happy. And afterward,
nobody sat around sad and crying. Oh, Isaac, he failed. He can't go back under the dominion
of Rock Hill High School anymore. He failed. No, we're happy. He graduated. Isaac's moving
on to bigger and better things. He's accomplice. Brethren, that's
what death is for the believer. It's graduation day. Moving on. Bigger and better things. We
haven't failed. No, we got the victory. We finally received
the victory that Christ won for us. That's not true for the unbeliever. Please understand me. I'm not
saying nobody has to fear death. For the unbeliever, anything
on this earth is better than death. Anything is. Trying to decide whether to tell
this personal story, I'm going to tell it. We were in college. Janet was my girlfriend. I told
her one day, if something ever happens to me and they find me
on life support, don't you ever let them turn it off. Sometime later, I told her different. You turn it off. Something changed,
didn't it? Nothing on this earth. is nearly
as good. It cannot be compared to leaving
this life and being with Christ and being made just like him.
But believer, death is not defeat. Death is a victory. Christ has
swallowed up death in victory. O grave, where's your victory? Nowhere be found. The death of Christ changed death
from a hated thing to a precious thing. Precious in the sight
of the Lord is the death of his saints. I don't care how we see
it. However God sees it, that's the
way it is. Precious in the sight of the
Lord is the death of his saints. And it'll be precious to his
saints too once they go through it. As they go through, nothing
will be more precious to them. Then thirdly, get a hold of this
now. Christ has made death the answer
to the believer's prayer. How many times have we prayed,
oh, I long to see the face of Lord Jesus. The moment the believer dies,
that prayer's answered. To close our eyes in this life
is to open them in glory, beholding the face Christ the Savior. To
be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord, and
I'm right willing to do it. There's no such thing as soul
sleep. There's no such place as purgatory. The Lord told that
dying thief who believed on him, Lord, would you remember me?
He looked to Christ, didn't he? Lord, would you remember me when
you come into your kingdom? And our Lord told him, today
shalt thou be with me in paradise. That's the answer to our prayer.
How many times have we prayed I long to be without sin." Well,
the very moment the believer dies, that prayer is answered.
We'll never deal with sin in us or anybody around us ever
again. That prayer is answered. And
how many times have we prayed for ourselves and for others,
Lord, heal them from this sickness, heal them from this pain, deliver
them from this sorrow. Well, do you know the very moment
the believer dies, God's answered that prayer. Huh? Yeah, it's happening. Revelation
21.4, God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes and there
should be no more death, neither sorrow nor crying, neither shall
there be any more pain, for the former things are passed away.
Death is the answer to the believer's prayer. Brother Henry said we
ought to quit praying like that if we don't mean it. Pretty good
advice, isn't it? Now this is not nearly the most
important But this is true. How many times have we said,
Oh, I'd like to see my loved one who departed in the faith.
I'd like to see one more time. When the believer dies, that
prayer is answered. David said, if his baby that
died, I shall go to him. He's not going to return to me.
I'm going to go to him. I'm going to see him. Now I'm
confident that this, that we will know one another in heaven.
And that's not just a feel good emotion that I have. I got scripture
back it up. The disciples on the Mount of
Transfiguration knew who Moses and Elijah were. They knew them.
They'd never seen a picture of them. How could they? They knew. I don't know. They just did.
We're going to know each other in glory. Now our relationships
will be different. I'm going to know Jana, but our
relationship will be different. You'll be married to Christ,
not to me. I'm going to know her. I'm going to love her. I'm
going to love everybody else the same. Our relationships are
going to be different, but we're going to know one another. We'll
remember our life on this earth and we're not going to be sad
about it. We're going to sing in joy and victory unto him that
loved us and washed us from our sins. We're going to sing thou
art worthy for thou was slain and you've redeemed us to God
by thy blood. Another way we can remember the sin that Savior
redeemed us from is to remember this life and that'll include
the people that are in it. You know, if we think we enjoy
worshiping the Lord with our family now, just wait till then. Now, you know, that's, that's
not, Can I stress this? That's not
the most important thing. People say, I want to go to heaven
to see so and so. No, I want to go to glory to see Christ
and be made like him. But when we get there, we're
going to know one another. We'll worship him together. Fourthly,
Christ has changed death. He's made it a restful sleep
for a believer. Our friend Lazarus, sleep. The
death of these bodies is It's just going to be sleep. That's
all it's going to be. It's not a final resting place.
It's just a place to take a nap until the Lord returns. On most
days, unless I'm sick, I cannot, I don't care how hard I try,
I cannot take a nap. Except for Sundays. This afternoon,
I'm going to kick back in my recliner. I won't take a nap.
And Jane's not going to cry about it. It's just a myth. That's what death is for the
believer. See, Christ our Savior died. But brethren, he rose again. And the resurrection of Christ
guaranteed the resurrection of all of his people. If you believe
Christ, you do not need to fear the grave. You're not going to
be there for long. God's elect are going to be raised
in perfect bodies and glorified flesh, just like the body of
our Lord Jesus Christ, he's going to call them out of those graves
to meet him in heaven and forever be with him. The death, burial
and resurrection of Christ has changed death for the believer,
even to the point it's going to make the grave a peaceful
place to wait for our Savior's return. Thirdly, how can I be
Not afraid to die. Live your life walking with God. You all know the story of Enoch.
We don't know a lot about Enoch, do we? But we know this. Enoch
walked with God. And he kept walking with God
until he walked right into glory without dying. They never found
Enoch's body. He was not. He just walked right
into glory. Now, how did Enoch walk with
God? Was Enoch any different than us? No. His life was much
the same as ours is. He had responsibilities in his
life. He had, you know, a job. Maybe
it was farming or whatever, hunting, whatever it was. He had a job.
He had a family to provide for. He had children to raise, children
to teach. But he lived his life looking
to Christ. He lived a life of prayer. He
took care, while he was taking care of all of his responsibilities,
he did it looking to Christ, following Christ. walking with
Christ. Enoch walked with God by living
upon faith in Christ. It's the same way that everybody
mentioned in Hebrews 11 lived. They all lived in faith in Christ. Now, these all died in faith.
Enoch didn't. He just walked straight into
the presence of God. But when all those other ones,
Moses, all the other ones that are mentioned there in Hebrews,
Abraham, Sarah, They died in faith and walked
right in the glory. Enoch just did it without dying.
They all did it by going through death. But you see this, this
is the point I'm trying to make. Death didn't change their occupation. It just changed their location.
They walked with God. That phrase walking with, it
means what you're taken up with. It means what's most important
to you. I wish I could convince us to spend more time walking
with the living God than walking with this dead world. I wish
I could. I'm not being an old grouch when
I say that. I'm really not. Janet says I
am kind of training to be a grouchy old man. I think it's kind of
cute. I don't know. But I really and
truly, young people listen to me. This world I know has a strong
attraction to you. It's sweet to you, I know. But
let's not be taken up with the perishing things of this world.
Let's go on like that. You spend more time walking with
the living God. If I'm walking with God, well,
I got to be afraid of. If I'm walking with God, I come
around the corner, what's there to frighten me? I'm with the
living God. I don't have anything to fear as long as he's there.
I won't be afraid to die if I'm walking with the living God.
And then fourthly, how can I not be afraid to die? By dying daily
to self and dying daily to this world. What do I mean by that,
dying daily to self? You know, we ought to know that
death is coming. Let's not pretend like it's not.
Let's not be shocked when it comes. We know it's coming, we
just don't know when. Isaac said, behold, now I'm old. I know not the day of my death.
I know it's coming soon. I don't know when it's going
to arrive, but it's coming soon. So how can I die daily to self? How can I die daily to this world?
Well, number one, by making preparations to die. By knowing it's coming
and making preparations for it. This year, our family's not going
to go on vacation until the first week of November. Buddy, I got
it all planned out already. I mean, I got all the details
taken care of already. So when that day gets here, we
can head off to the beach and everything's already taken care
of. And the family can just have a good time together. Nothing's
going to need to be taken care of once we get there. Well, how
do I make preparations for death? I know it's coming. So how do
I make preparations for that day? It's by seeking Christ every
day, not just Sundays and Wednesdays, but seeking him every day. Live
your life, do what you got to do, take care of your responsibilities,
but live it seeking salvation in Christ. Live your life seeking
forgiveness of sin in Christ, seeking mercy in him, seeking
your righteousness in him. Live your life. The things that
you've got to do, live it and do them seeking God's way and
God's word. If I've made those preparations,
I'm going to be happy when the day of death comes. Just like
I'll be happy when that first day of vacation gets here. I'll
be happy. Number two, live your life dying
daily to self and dying daily to this world by living like
you're going to die. and leave this temporary place.
Don't cling so tightly to the things of this life because you
think that's the best you'll ever have. Don't live your life
thinking, I'm not going to have a good life if I don't have all
these things of this world. Now, there's nothing wrong with
having things in this world. God, this world is yours. If
you believe God, this creation is yours. Have them and enjoy
them. By all means, have those things
and enjoy those things. But don't cling so desperately
to them that you think I cannot live without them. Hold loosely
to the things of this life. God's going to take them away
someday. I told you this in the class this morning. I try never
to say this. I try never to say I can't live
without Janet. God one day is probably going
to show me I can. Hold loosely to the things of this life. So
don't make him break your fingers, let go of them. Mentally, just
give everything you are, everything you have into his hand. That
way, when he takes it away, it won't hurt you. Then lastly, how do I live dying
daily to self and daily to this world? Live like you're going
to die, not being such a stubborn mule. I had a different word
originally, but mule will serve the purpose. Don't be a stubborn
mule. And here's what I mean by that.
When people know they're on their deathbed, usually, now not always,
but usually when somebody knows they're on their deathbed, they're
nicer, they're more forgiving, they're more loving, and they
don't waste time being mad about something that just don't matter.
Isn't that right? You see people on their deathbed?
They don't got time. I don't got no time for this.
If it doesn't matter, I don't have time for it. If you knew you were going to
die today, think about it for a minute. If you knew you were
going to die today, you mean it. You should tell your wife
you love her. Tell her today. If you knew you were going to
die today, Would you forgive somebody, patch things up? It ought not be this way. Would
you forgive them and patch it up? Then do it today. And if you knew you're going
to die today, this is living your life, dying daily to self,
dying daily to this world. If you knew you were going to
die today, would you seek the Lord? Would you? Would you say, oh, If I just
could hear one more gospel message, would you? I bet we would. Then do it today. That's living
like we know we're going to die. If we live that way, we don't
have to be afraid of it, do we? Don't have to be afraid of it.
Let's bow together. Our Father, How we thank You
for Your Word. How we thank You for Your Word
that answers our every need by showing us the Lord Jesus Christ.
Father, give us the faith, I pray. Give us the wisdom to know, to see, to understand
that the Lord Jesus Christ is all we need. Give us faith to
see Him, to look to Him, to rest in Him with a childlike dependence
that knows He'll take care of everything, that He really is
all I need. If He's all I have, He's all
I need. I've got everything. Father,
bless Your Word, I pray. Bless Your Word to Your glory,
to cause Your people to rest more fully in You. Bless Your
Word to the hearts of Your people. Father, deliver us from this
awful fear, the fear of death, the fear of the law, the fear
of punishment. In Christ, there's nothing to
fear. There's no fear. Father, bless your word to the
hearts of your people. Father, we thank you for this
time of fellowship we're about to have. We ask that you bless
the food and bless our time of fellowship. And we thank you,
Father, for those that we honor today. And they're these special
birthdays. We thank you for each one of
them. Father, how I pray you continue
to bless. Bless each one of them. Bless,
be with them in a special way. Cause your mercy to reign upon
them. Cause your grace to shine triumphant
in their lives. We thank you for giving them
to us and ask your richest blessing be upon them. Father, forgive
us, we pray, of our many sins. Forgive us when we do fear, doubt,
and murmur. and see us and hear us only in
our Lord Jesus Christ. It's in His precious name we
pray. Give thanks. Amen. I know we're going to have
a time of fellowship and celebrate these birthdays, and I don't
think anyone would argue with me that Lila is our guest of
honor. Ten-year-old, this is our favorite
one when somebody's ten. So, as the men set up the tables,
the ladies get the food ready, everybody watch Lila. And don't
go through line until Lila goes. You can go first, and everybody
else will follow. And the other three, you follow right along
on our heels, OK? And the rest of us will go behind
you. So we thank God for you, for each one of you.