Three Aspects of Death

[00:00:00] This audio sermon is provided by AnabaptistSermons.com and may be freely copied and distributed. You may not sell or edit this sermon. Our prayer is that you would be blessed by this ministry. We greet you this morning in Jesus' name. Hallelujah for the blood. That blood meant death for Jesus. And I would like to think with you about death this morning. There were a number of things that have gone through my mind, but as I studied on death, I think there are three things that we can think about, and I'd like for you to keep these in mind as we speak. [00:00:46] Three things that we think about when we think about death One is physical death One is spiritual death And then there is a third aspect of death that the Bible talks about That is neither physical death nor spiritual death But rather it is synonymous with regeneration It is identified with regeneration And so I think I say that at the outset because I think that is helpful to keep those in mind. [00:01:24] As you think of death, do you think of death as a friend or a foe? Or is it neither? Is it indifferent? Is it neither a friend nor a foe? And I suppose that it's fair to ask, well, are you talking about physical death? Are you talking about spiritual death? Are you talking about the other, being synonymous with regeneration, making us think of regeneration? And that is not original with me, thinking of regeneration, but I saw that as I looked at it. [00:02:00] One of my study books, Anae's Topical Bible, had that as a part of it, and that's the last I would like to look at. Webster says about death that it is a permanent cessation of all vital functions, the end of life. And I have a Bible dictionary that said very much the same, the termination of life. Then there was one all the way down at the bottom of the definitions in Webster's that said this. This is number five and I have a Webster's Ninth Collegiate Dictionary. It says to cease to be subject. You think about that just a little bit. Is that physical death? Is that spiritual death? Is that synonymous with regeneration? [00:02:45] It's the last, isn't it? To cease to be subject, to become indifferent. And I think we're talking there about the last one as well. In Revelation chapter 2 verse 11, maybe we should just turn to this and I'll be referring to this a little bit later. But Revelation chapter 2 verse 11 talks about death. You know, death comes close to us. It comes closer to some of us than others. [00:03:19] And in my studies, and I didn't really plan on sharing this, but the way we look at death depends partly on how closely our lives have been touched with it. And I'm just going to suggest that the way we talk about death is influenced by our experience with death. But maybe I should just say at this point, and I'll come back to this, is death a friend or a foe? But, well, maybe we'll just leave it there. We'll come back to that. [00:03:54] Revelations chapter 2, verse 11 says this, He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches. He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death. What is the second death? Spiritual death, right? He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death. Spiritual death is not going to have dominion over him. In 2 Samuel chapter 14 verse 14, it talks about death. [00:04:28] And there it uses, I don't know what you call it, it uses a figure of speech to teach us something about death. It says that death is like water that is poured out on the ground. Can't be recouped again. You can pour water on the ground, you can come back a half hour later, can you scoop up that water? It's gone. And that's the way death is. Death is so final. And that is one of the reasons why I think we do well to be careful how we talk about death. It is a subject that requires sobriety as we talk about it. [00:05:02] Job seemed to be consumed with the idea of death and I just like to refer to several he also talks about the finality of death Job chapter 7 verse 9 as the cloud is consumed and vanishes away so he that goes down to the grave shall come up no more it's final he that goes down to the grave I think Job wrote what he what he knew there. We also know that the graves will be opened. So perhaps what he wrote there is not what we would subscribe to. But in chapter 10, verse 21, he said, I go whence I shall not return. [00:05:47] The finality. It's a one-way street and that's part of what makes death a subject that is a rather difficult subject to address because I don't know of anybody that has come back from the grave that can tell me this is what it's like. It just doesn't happen, at least not on a regular basis. Yes, it has happened and certainly as we talk about death, we need to recognize that. I'd like to turn, if you would turn with me to Psalm 104, and I'd like to just simply notice one thing, and sometimes we talk about a subject, and then sometimes we talk about the opposite of that which we are talking about, to understand better what we are facing, and that is the case here. [00:06:42] Psalm 104. I'd like to read a few verses here beginning at verse 27. It's not talking about death, by the way, here. These wait all on thee. Psalm 104, verse 27. These all wait on thee. And it's talking about the beast, the creation here. That thou mayest give them their meat in due season. That thou mayest give them, that thou givest them, they gather. Thou openest thine hand, they are filled with good [00:07:14] Now, verse 29 is talking about death here Thou hidest thy face, they are troubled Thou takest away their breath, they die and return to the dust Thou sendest forth thy spirit, they are created And thou renewest the face of the earth The reason I wanted to look at this is just simply to recognize what life is It is just simply telling us here that life is a gift from God. It's given to God. And when He no longer gives it to us, we perish. Our life is dependent upon the mercies of the Lord. The very fact that you and I have air to breathe, the fact that our heart keeps on beating, it's a gift of God. [00:07:58] And when he withholds that gift, when he withdraws that, we no longer have that. Why are we talking about death? Turn with me to Genesis chapter 2. And I'd like to just simply notice what it says here. The instruction to man in the garden here, Genesis chapter 2, verse 17. Maybe we should read verse 16 as well. Well, to just simply put it in perspective, and the Lord God commanded the man, saying, [00:08:33] Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil thou shalt not eat of it. For in the day that thou eatest thereof, thou shalt surely die. What kind of death was God talking about? Physical? Spiritual? I think I know. Maybe you should tell me. But I think he is talking about spiritual death, and I say that based on what happened when they ate. [00:09:05] Did they die? Yes, they did. But they didn't physically fall over dead when they ate of the fruit, did they? I think he is talking about spiritual death here. When Brother Ed was here, he turned to Genesis chapter 5, and you have the genealogy of a number of people. And about, for a while there, about every third verse, it says, you know, he says he was born, then he had children, he begat sons and daughters, and then the last verse says, and he died. And it repeats that for everybody there but one. [00:09:38] Ed talked about Enoch. And I'm not going to look at those necessarily, but, and he died. That was it for that person in this life. I would like to just notice what the Bible says about the end of several people's lives. Turn with me to Genesis chapter 25 and just notice what he says. This is the death of Abraham in Genesis chapter 25, verse 8. [00:10:12] Then Abraham gave up the ghost, and died in a good old age, an old man, and full of years, and was gathered to his people. It's interesting that, and he was gathered to his people. In other words, he joined the people who had gone on before him. But we notice here that he died in a good old age. How old was Abraham? Was he 175? That's the number of years that comes to mind. It doesn't really matter. [00:10:44] But he was an old man. He died in a good old age. Now, Isaac says very similar in chapter 35. The last verse there, I think it says, it talks about, And Isaac gave up the ghost and died and was gathered unto his people being old and full of days. And his sons Esau and Jacob buried him. It says a very similar thing if you turn to the last two chapters in Genesis. It talks about the death of Jacob, the death of Joseph. [00:11:15] I'd just like to notice, I don't know how Jacob knew when his death was about here, but he knew it was just about to be, his death was imminent. So he called his sons in and he told them what's going to happen in the last days, the Bible tells us. But at the end of that, the last verse of chapter 49 in Genesis, And when Jacob had made an end of commanding his sons, he gathered up his feet into the bed, and yielded up the ghost, and was gathered unto his people. [00:11:48] I get the idea here, we're looking at the death of godly people. And not all people get to know when their time is coming. Not all of us know just exactly when our time is coming. These people didn't know exactly, but it seemed as though they had a little bit more of an indication. And Joseph, in the last verse of the book of Genesis, So Joseph died, being a hundred and ten years old, and they embalmed him, and he was put in a coffin in Egypt. [00:12:21] Again, it uses a little different words, but saying very much the same thing. As I was contemplating, as I was thinking about this message, I thought of the deaths in the New Testament. And I thought, you know, the New Testament doesn't talk as much about death. But then I started thinking, oh yes, it does. But I started noticing, and it seems like there is a pattern in how deaths are mentioned in the New Testament. [00:12:52] And you can help me out here if you think of something different. But it seems as though death, in the New Testament, death was talked about when there was something outstanding about that death. For example, in Matthew, and I don't think, yes, Matthew chapter 2, verse 16, when Jesus was born and all the children two years old and under were killed in Bethlehem. It was an outstanding thing. It was a fulfillment of prophecy. But think of the mourning that took place in that city when that happened. [00:13:26] It was an outstanding thing. In Acts chapter 7 verse 60, I'm not going to turn to this, but there we read about Stephen, the first martyr for Christ. He died, he was stoned by a vicious multitude. And then you have some other deaths that were mentioned. And it seems to me that they were mentioned because of what happened afterwards. You take Darkus, for example, also in Acts chapter 9 verse 37. Dorcas died and we read about Dorcas that she was a good woman full of alms deeds I think it says [00:14:03] she made clothes for the poor and it reminds me of some people that I know today people that are involved in the very same thing but her death caused grief because of the good works that she had done but that's not all what might be one other reason that the death of Dorcas is mentioned what happened after she died Yeah, she was raised from the dead. Peter went and prayed and the Lord raised her up. And it just seems to me that death in the New Testament was treated a little bit differently than in the Old Testament. [00:14:39] But that is all that I would like to say about that. James, the brother of John, was killed with the sword. Read that in Acts chapter 12, verse 2. But is it because the deaths of the disciples happened after the close of the New Testament? that they are not mentioned, but most of the disciples' deaths are not recorded in scripture. And it just seems as though the focus is a little different in the new than in the old, and I'm not sure if I understand exactly what that is saying to us. [00:15:12] Use a source book, and I didn't notice, oftentimes I don't get anything of value for a message, But from a source book, I got this. This is a quote from a, I don't know how you pronounce his name. It's R-O-U-S-S-E-A-U. Is it Rousseau? That's what comes to my mind, and that's probably not quite right. But he said this about physical death. He said, when a man dies, he clutches in his hands only that which he has given away in his lifetime. [00:15:49] Let me read it one more time. When a man dies, he clutches in his hands only that which he has given away in his lifetime. The empire that we build is not something that's going to do any good, but what I can give to others can stand me in good stead, I think is what he is saying there. Now, spiritual death. Turn with me to Matthew chapter 18. Matthew chapter 18, I'd like to begin reading, I'd like to begin reading at verse 7 and you might say, well, is this talking about death? Yes, it is. [00:16:32] Verse 7, Woe unto the world because of offenses, for it must needs be that offenses come, but woe to that man by whom the offense cometh. Wherefore, if thy hand or thy foot offend thee, cut them off, and cast them from thee. It is better for thee to enter into life halt or maimed, rather than having two hands or two feet to be cast into everlasting fire. And if thy eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee. [00:17:04] It is better for thee to enter into life with one eye, rather than having two eyes to be cast into hellfire. He is talking about spiritual death here. If there is something that, some temptation that I have, if it's a part of my body that I can get rid of this temptation by getting rid of my hand, if I steal, see, in some countries, a person that's caught stealing gets his right hand cut off, is that right? I understand that that's right. [00:17:36] So, the Jesus is saying here, the scripture is saying, it is better to be minus a hand than to be cast into hell fire. It's what I am understanding that to say. Turn with me to Ezekiel chapter 18. I'd like to look at a number of verses in Ezekiel chapter 18. Ezekiel chapter 18 verse 4. Behold, all souls are mine. As the soul of the Father, so also the soul of the Son is mine. The soul that sinneth, it shall die. [00:18:20] Now drop down to verse 21. Verse 21 of Ezekiel chapter 18. But if the wicked will turn from all his sins that he hath committed, and keep all my statutes, and do that which is lawful and right, he shall surely live, he shall not die. Now verse 23 and 24 Have I any pleasure at all that the wicked should die, saith the Lord God, and not that he should return from his ways and live? But when the righteous turneth away from his righteousness, and committeth iniquity, and doeth according to all the abominations that the wicked man doeth, shall he live? [00:19:00] All his righteousness that he hath done shall not be mentioned in his trespass that he hath committed, and in his sin that he hath sinned, in them he shall die. The price for sin is death, is what Ezekiel is saying here in scripture. Romans chapter 6. I'd like to just have you turn with me to Romans chapter 6 and look at just a few verses in Romans chapter 6. We will be looking at Romans chapter 6 a little bit more a little later, but I'd like to just notice several verses here. [00:19:38] Verse 16 of Romans chapter 6 says this, Know ye not that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey, whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness? Now drop down to verse 21 here. What fruit had ye then in those things whereof ye are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death. The sins that we were involved in in our carnal life. [00:20:08] Then verse 23, for the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. I'm glad that as we look at death, you know, we can't help but also look at life. Death in itself is not a subject that I think any of us would welcome. But verse 23, it talks about the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. That's the flip side, and we would not be fair not to notice that. [00:20:43] Romans chapter 8, verse 13, For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die. And we could look at more scriptures. I think maybe we'll just simply stop turning to scriptures and just simply expound on what we have read. I'm going to give you several references if you want to look at them. 2 Thessalonians chapter 1, especially the verses 9 and 10, but you can look at the previous part to get the setting, James chapter 1 verse 15. There is one thing, as we think of births and deaths, that I would like for us to remember. [00:21:22] Three is the sum total of births and deaths in any given person's life. And I suppose all of us or most of us have heard this before, but I think it bears repeating. I think it's wise to think about. Either we're born once and we die twice, the first death, the physical death and the spiritual death, or we have a natural birth and we have a spiritual birth and we die but once. [00:21:55] I think it is important that we remember that fact. Remember the number three. When we think about births and deaths, we will have three. No more, no less. And it's good for us to remember that. Now, death as it is a figure of regeneration. I'd like to turn to Romans chapter 6. Maybe you're still there. I am in my Bible. I'd like to read that out of a different rendering. Often when I study, I look at different translations and usually come back to the King James. Usually it says what I want to say. Sometimes there is just a freshness of a different rendering. [00:22:38] And I'm using the modern Berkeley this morning. I'd like to read verses 1 through 11 here. What is it talking about now here? Is it talking about physical death? Is it talking about spiritual death? Or is it talking about death as symbolic of regeneration? What then are we to say, verse 1 of Romans chapter 6, Shall we remain in sin to let grace become more plentiful? Not at all. How shall we who have died to sin still live in it? [00:23:12] Or do you not realize that as many of us as were baptized in union with Christ Jesus were baptized in union with his death? So we are buried with him in death, through baptism, in order that, just as Christ rose from the dead through the Father's glorious power, so we too shall conduct ourselves in a new way of living. For if we have been united with him in a death like his, then the same must be true of our resurrection with him. [00:23:42] Being aware of this, that our old self was crucified with him, so that the power of the sin-controlled body might be done away with, and we should no longer be slaves of sin, for a corpse is considered guiltless of sin. If, then, we have died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him, well assured that Christ, once risen from the dead, will not die any more. Death holds lordship over him no longer [00:24:12] The death he died was once for all to sin But the life he lives, he lives to God Similarly, similarly, let us consider ourselves as actually dead to sin But in Christ Jesus, alive to God I just thought there was a certain freshness about the Berkley's rendering here. Now, what is he talking about here? Is he talking about the physical death, spiritual death, or regeneration? [00:24:48] It's the last, isn't it? I think so. If I understand correctly what Paul is talking about there, he is talking about death as figurative of regeneration. One more quote that I would like to leave with you. And I thought this one should be on our whiteboard this morning, but it would have come early enough I might have put it on. Fruit, and I don't have a name to give credit for because there was no name given. Fruit is not born by doing, but by dying. [00:25:22] Fruit is not born by doing, but by dying. If you wonder what is that saying saying to us, think of 1 Corinthians chapter 15 where Paul writes about the fact that a seed doesn't give any fruit until it dies. It goes down into the ground and people say it rots. I'm sorry, it doesn't rot. If you look at it, it does not rot. Well, not most seeds don't. they come to life and they put a root down, they put a shoot up [00:25:58] and that is synonymous or that Paul said is a picture of the regeneration that takes place when the old man dies and with the new life comes forth. I remember very well when I was in a place a long ways from here Both geographically and in other ways as well. But there was a small sharing group that I was a part of. [00:26:31] And I don't recall exactly, I don't recall a lot of details about that group. But one young lady there made an analogy that I have never forgotten. And she said that you and I are simply, or we should be, simply containers. And not only are we containers, but we should be empty containers that are then filled with Jesus Christ. [00:27:03] And she said, we have our personalities, we look the way we do, and becoming born again doesn't change the way we, it doesn't change our physical features. Now, it does do some things because I remember going to church one time and a man walked in and the man had experienced the new birth and it was written all over his face. But not because his physical features had changed, but there was something that you could see on that man's face. But basically what I'm saying is we have certain personality that we're not going to change. [00:27:35] I'm not going to change the way I look and probably never going to add a whole lot of hair up here in this life. But there is something that the regeneration does for us that we should not forget. See, I think Laverne talked to us this morning about continuing. And that is partly what I'm talking about. You know, we, as we come to Christ, we need to empty ourselves. We need to be emptied of what was in here. [00:28:08] Here, somebody has said that Christ cannot, I'm not sure if cannot is the correct word or maybe it's will not, fill us any more than we empty ourselves of, see what did Jesus call it? Dead man's bones? Well, the trash, the filth that's in here. And that is something that I believe that we need to work on as long as we live. To get the dead man's bones out of here and let Christ put the newness of life in here. [00:28:45] I think that's a lifelong thing that we do. But I would like for us to remember that God does not fill us except we empty ourselves. And I think that is a part of death to self. We sing that little chorus, he's still working on me. Isn't that saying very much the same as what I'm saying here this morning? Somebody said this, I think it was when my mother-in-law passed away. [00:29:15] She said that dying is hard work. The hardest work anybody has ever done. And that is talking about physical death. But is it not true that dying to ourselves is the hardest thing that we will ever do? What happens when we fast? What is it that tells me, Glenn, get something to eat. What is it? And if we fast for a number of days, that usually doesn't go away. [00:29:46] Sometimes they say that it kind of subsides with time, but it doesn't lay down, I don't think. Why is it when the old man dies that he doesn't do so without a vigorous protest? Isn't it because he has an ally that is resisting that tooth and nail? Now, with everything that's in him, don't do it, is what he would say to us. One person said this, and this is a fine Christian brother, a dear friend of ours. [00:30:20] You would say that as well. I don't have his permission to share this. I'm not going to use a name. Maybe you've heard him talk about it. But he had a very difficult experience. I'm not going to say where it was, but he had an encounter with a person and he knew that he was in the right. And he was. There was no doubt about it. But the other person came back and attacked him. He said, like, I haven't been attacked. He gave that some thought, and I don't know when he came to this realization. [00:30:55] But I think the Holy Spirit told him, if you're dead, why does it hurt so much? I think what he was saying just simply helps us to understand what I am saying about regeneration. If indeed I am dead, why does it hurt so much? Just last night I was lying awake and there was something that was going around and around and all at once this came to me. If you're dead, why does it hurt? And I think we do well to remember that. Is death a friend or a foe? [00:31:27] Turn with me to 1 Corinthians chapter 15. Let's see what the scripture says. 1 Corinthians chapter 15 verse 26. The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death. Friend or foe? It's a foe. The Bible tells us. And we can look at death in different ways than as a foe, I think. Somebody said that death is a door to pass through to eternity. [00:32:01] As I was thinking about this message, this saying is attributed to St. Francis of Assisi, I'm not sure. And you know you will recognize it immediately. It was the last part of this that I copied this for. Where there is hatred, let me sow love. Where there is injury, your pardon, Lord. And where there is doubt, true faith in you. O Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console, to be understood as to understand, to be loved as to love. [00:32:39] for it is in giving that we receive it is in pardoning that we are pardoned and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life shall we kneel and pray we thank you father in heaven for the fact that although death is an enemy he also has been overcome it has been overcome through Jesus. And we recognize that we on this side of the grave have yet to reckon with [00:33:12] this enemy. And we pray, Father, that you would grant us to be so filled with you, so empty of ourselves, that death will hold no fear, will give us no doubts. Father, we thank you that that is And we pray, Father, that you would help us to not allow the enemy of our souls to look at this in any other way but the right way, but the way that you would have us understand it. [00:33:43] Father, give us strength to hear what you are saying to us. I pray, Father, that you would help us to live in such a way that we can too pass on to eternal life when that time comes. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen.