Lesson 12: When Death Tests Your Faith

A. INTRODUCTION

1. The only woman. Sarah is the only woman in the Bible whose age is given. "Sarah was a hundred and seven and twenty years old" (32:1).

2. 37 years. Sarah influenced her only son into manhood. Isaac was born when she was 90 years old.

3. 87 years. Sarah followed her husband in obeying God. "By faith Abraham when he was called . . . obeyed, and sent out, not knowing where he went" (Heb. 11:8). She was 40 years old when Abraham left Ur.

4. Inevitable. Every man/woman of faith must meet death. "Sarah died" (23:2). The Bible teaches, "It is appointed unto men (mankind) once to die" (Heb. 9:27).

5. Faithful till the end. John Wesley said, "Methodists die well." The Bible describes the death of Abraham and Sarah, "These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off" (Heb. 11:13). The phrase in faith is kata pistis, i.e., "according to, or controlled by faith." Their faith guided them right into death.

6. Death is separation. Death is separation of the body and soul. "As her soul was in departing (for she died)" (Gen. 35:18).

7. Soul goes to God. "To be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord" (II Cor. 5:8).

8. Body and soul joined at resurrection. "The Lord Himself shall descend from heaven" (I Thess. 4:16). Jesus will bring saints with Him, "Then also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him" (I Thess. 4:14). The body will be raised and transformed, "In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump . . . the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed, for this corruption must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality" (I Cor. 15:52,53).

B. PRACTICAL TAKE AWAYS

1. Let faith guide you when a loved one dies. "Abraham comes to mourn for Sarah, and to weep"(23:2). It’s inevitable to feel loss (emptiness) for they are part of your life, but you are confident knowing they went to be with the Lord.

2. Sorrow for departed loved one is inevitable. Believers sorrow, but not as the unsaved, "That ye sorrow not even as others which have no hope" (I Thess. 4:13).

3. Two immediate results of a death. Immediate physical response, "Abraham . . . wept for her" (23:2). Longer period of grief, "Abraham . . . mourned for Sarah" (23:2).

4. Time to move on. "Abraham stood up from before his dead" Sarah was probably entombed in a clay coffin that was kept in his tent. Abraham had to bury Sarah and get on with his life. This is a detachment from the deceased.

5. Bury appropriately. Abraham was a wealthy chief of a tribe. He asked the people "In the choice of our sepulchres, bury thy dead" (23:6). The word choice means, "most select" or the "best spot."

6. Faith choice. When local people wanted to give Abraham "loan him" a place to bury Sarah, Abraham insisted on buying it. "I will give thee money for the field" (23:13). This is the first spot of land Abraham owned in the Promise Land. God promised all of the land to him (12:7; 13:13) over 77 years ago, now he buys a small burial plot.

7. Deal honestly. "Give me the cave of Machpelah . . . for as much money as it is worth" (23:9). "Abraham weighed to Ephron the silver which he had named in the audience" (23:16). Verses 16-18 might be the legal title written for transfer of property.

8. Don’t minimize responsibility. Some Christians are so "heavenly minded" they won’t make "earthy preparation" for death. The believer knows they will go to be with God at death, but still they must make preparations for the body at death.

9. Testimony. A funeral must be a testimony to the unsaved, as well as ministry to those grieving. "Abraham stood up, and bowed himself to the people for the land . . . and he communed with them" (23:7,8).

10. Family tradition. The burial plot became a family graveyard. "The field, and the cave . . . were made sure unto Abraham for a possession of a burying place" (23:20). Later Abraham was buried there (25:8,9), so was Isaac, Jacob, Rebekah, and Leah. (49:30-33, 50:13).

11. It took a death for Abraham to begin possessing God’s promises. We possess the riches of God by our death with Jesus Christ. "When we were dead in sins, (God) quickened us together with Christ . . . and hath raised us up together . . . that in the age to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace toward us" (Eph. 2:3-7).

12. Live daily with a view of death. "God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world" (Gal. 6:14). "If any man will come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily; and follow Me" (Luke 9:23).