Intro – A man had a checkup and then went in to see his doctor to get the results. The doctor said he better sit down – that he had bad news and worse news for him. Which did he want to hear first? The man was a bit puzzled and said he'd rather hear the bad news first. The doctor said, "The bad news is that you have only 24 hours to live." When he heard that, the man jumped up, totally shocked. He paced back and forth and said, "24 hours to live? I can't possibly get my affairs in order that quickly. I can't believe this! What could be possibly be worse news than this?" The doctor said, "The worse news is that I was supposed to tell you this yesterday, but I forgot."
What is the worst possible thing that could happen to you today? Of everything that could go wrong in your life, what would be the worst case scenario – the thing that can’t be any more terrible? Would it mean losing something? Losing someone? The very worst that could happen –what is it?
I want to suggest to you that it was identified long ago – that the worst thing that could happen to you or me personally, our very worst enemy, is death.
I. The Worst Enemy – DEATH
You have to understand that I’m speaking from a human perspective here. And, even though we’re going to speak about how Jesus conquered death, death is still an enemy we face, and it’s the last one that will be completely defeated.
December 26th (2004) a tsunami hits southern Asia. We don’t listen to the news as they report how 297,000 people had their hair messed up. We don’t wait in sober silence to hear the way 297,000 people are going to have to pay higher gasoline prices. We don’t get a sick feeling in our stomach as we’re informed that 297,000 people are really lonely. We hear about 297,000 people whose lives are ended, and we agree that’s the greatest tragedy of the whole thing .
You can list all the things that get you down in life. You can go ahead and make a chart of the people and things that cause you the most stress and distress. I can still tell you that the worst problem you have isn’t financial, it isn’t about a relationship, it isn’t about school, it isn’t even about your intelligence or business competition. The biggest problem you face in life…is death.
That’s true because of …
1. It comes from the worst source
We’re at a disadvantage today because the only world we know is the one with death in it, but that’s not how it always was. We need to go back to the way it was created. We need to consider Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden, before death was even a part of the mix. We know death wasn’t there because of what God said,
Genesis 2:16-17 And the LORD God commanded the man, "You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die."
You see, death is a punishment. I’ve never really liked punishments, have you? Enemies defeated in a war are put to death. Criminals convicted of capital crimes are put to death. That’s what God had Israel do. And when man sins, the first and worst result of it is death. Romans 6:23 says the payment for sin is death.
Romans 5:12 …sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men…
I Co. 15:21 says it too – death came through a man.
Satan knew that getting Adam and Eve to sin meant death. Do you think he’s after your best interests?
Hebrews 2:14-15 [Jesus] shared in their humanity so that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death--that is, the devil
Death isn’t “just natural.” It’s nature gone awry. It’s a reminder that something has gone terribly wrong with creation. With all of creation’s beauty, with all of the ways that it declares God’s power and divine nature, it’s still stained. It’s still “subjected to frustration…in bondage to decay…groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time.”
No wonder death hurts so much. It’s the very worst power that Satan can hold over us.
2. It’s irreversible (by human means)
joke - Zachary, LA - Alan, 5 years younger than his brother Brent, was learning how to count by fives. So, he was using their ages to help him remember the next number. "I'm 5 and Brent is 10. When I'm 10, Brent'll be 15. When I'm 15, Brent'll be 20... " Before long, his family tuned him out, until they heard him say, "When I'm 95, Brent will be 100, and when I'm 100, Brent will be dead." Even little guys understand some things about death!
Somewhere in my past, I’m not sure exactly what day it was, I stopped “maturing” and started dying. Maybe it was right around the time that my teenage daughter started to worry about the way my hair was turning gray. “You know, Dad, there’s things they make that will change that.” Thanks, Jenni.
In Shakespeare’s play “As You Like It” Jaques reports that he has met a fool in the forest who was pondering time, and the fool said, “And so, from hour to hour we ripe and ripe, and then from hour to hour we rot and rot.” Not a very positive outlook, is it? But, very real.
Life is a terminal condition. We can’t stop it.
Take a wrong turn, you can back up and do it over.
Lose a bunch of money, you may have the potential to earn more.
Make a bad grade, you may have the chance to do better later.
Become sick, you may have the chance to recover.
But if you die, there’s no reversing it. And there’s no reversing the fact that every day of life brings you closer to the day that life here is going to end for you.
3. It creates uncertainty
John Relyea was an OCC graduate and a missionary in New Guinea. He and his wife have lived there for many years, translating the Bible into the language of the people they lived with. One day, just a few days after completing the NT in another language, John was walking across the room in their house, and he stepped into eternity.
Margery Gamet was a member of VHCC many years ago. She returned to Joplin, and to her church family while we lived there. She didn’t have any family in the area, and she was thinking ahead. She asked me if I’d take some of the legal responsibilities for her care, because in a few years she might not be able to make those decisions. She had an attorney draw up the paperwork, with my name and Carrie’s name on it. It was just a few weeks later, before I ever even saw those papers, that Margery suffered a stroke and went home to be with the Lord.
Psalm 89:47-48 Remember how fleeting is my life. For what futility you have created all men! What man can live and not see death, or save himself from the power of the grave ?
Answer? None.
Psalm 90:9-11 All our days pass away under your wrath; we finish our years with a moan. The length of our days is seventy years--or eighty, if we have the strength; yet their span is but trouble and sorrow, for they quickly pass, and we fly away .
Tell me, with certainty, your plans for the rest of this year, this week, this day. Death hangs a shroud of doubt over everything we expect we’re going to do. This enemy remains in every thought for your future here, because every plan for the future has attached to it the element that your life may end unexpectedly.
Whatever it is, this week will bear some other reminder that death makes our futures here uncertain.
4. It separates
For centuries, people have consulted with mediums and have dabbled in the occult in an effort to reach someone who has died. Even Saul went to a medium at Endor to try to reach the spirit of the prophet Samuel.
The reason is that we don’t want to be separated. I was gone from my family for a week, and it was tough on us. But we all anticipated that I’d come back. Death is different. We spend a lifetime with a spouse, or we spend just moments with a newborn child, and suddenly they’re taken away from us. Remember also that after Adam and Eve sinned, there was another separation – one between mankind and God – to the point where they were hiding themselves from God. Being tainted with death also means being separated from God. Our problem isn’t just that we’ll die physically and be separated from the people we love here. There’s also a spiritual death – a separation from God that lasts forever – a 2nd death.
The closing of a coffin lid is an ominous thing. It means separation; the strongest separation we know.
That’s why death is our worst enemy. Nothing touches us deeper. Nothing hurts us more. Nothing holds more power over our future here. It’s Satan’s very worst, and we all have it.
We’re good at running from it. We manage to postpone it, or try to look like we’re postponing it. Even if we can’t, we can still just pretend it doesn’t exist. Consumerism is fed by a desire to forget our mortality.
Ill - A financial planner said, "When clients talk to me about their estates, they usually say, 'If I die,' not 'when I die.' Even 80-year-olds use the conditional."
But sooner or later, most of us have to face up to it, and that’s what gets us asking the greatest question.
When we’re faced with the power of our worst enemy, the most reasonable thing to do is ask…
II. The Greatest Question – “What do I do?”
When we’re overwhelmed with our biggest problem, we tend to look for help. When we come face-to-face with death, we tend to search for answers. That’s especially true of the person who realizes that he’s in trouble spiritually.
Paraphrased, these come out sounding pretty much the same: “What do I do?”
• John the Baptist comes preaching a warning that the wrath of God is coming. So people began to ask him, “What should we do?” It’s the question of a person in need.
• Acts 2, Peter has preached on the day the church began, and told the people they had unjustly killed God’s only Son. It says they were cut to the heart and said, “Men and brothers, what shall we do?”
• Acts 16, a Philippian jailor is convicted he needs to be saved. He bows before his prisoners, Paul and Silas, and says, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” It’s the question of someone in need.
A.W. Tozer looked at this greatest question and said, "What shall we do?" (Acts 2:37) is the deep heart cry of every man who suddenly realizes that he is a usurper and sits on a stolen throne.
All of these people who asked for help were given answers. 3000 were baptized on the first day of the Church and the Philippian jailor was baptized, along with his family. Still, all of these people one day died. All the helps they were given were good and right, but there has to be more. And there is…
III. The Best Answer - RESURRECTION
1 Corinthians 15:19
If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men.
Our hope goes beyond this life. Our hope is greater than our worst enemy! Our greatest question is answered in the greatest way! God’s best answer to our very worst problem is the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.
Imagine the way the hopes of the disciples were dashed when they watched Jesus die. Imagine how crushed they felt, not only at their own failure to come to His aid, but then the helplessness they felt as Jesus was beaten and crucified. They knew it was real. They knew He was dead. They had high hopes, but suddenly that irreversible enemy we all fear stepped in. Jesus was dead; gone.
2 disciples walking from Jerusalem to Emmaus said to a stranger who joined them, “We had hoped that he was the one who was going to redeem Israel.”
They had seen Jesus raise others from the dead. But this was different. Never before had Jesus been engulfed by the great enemy.
Their desperation needed a great answer.
And you…you’re surrounded by a thousand voices this morning. Some of them seem really credible. After all, some of them are scholars, even theologians, and they’re saying that Jesus was a great man, but just a man – not God like He claimed to be. What will answer your doubts? What answer will you give to their challenges? What makes Jesus different than any other great leader?
The best answer is the resurrection. Don’t be amazed that Jesus rose again. The angels asked the women at the empty tomb, “Why are you looking for the living among the dead? He is not here. He is risen, just as He said.” We shouldn’t be surprised.
1. Jesus didn’t speak of death out of fear
Jairus’ daughter was sick, and then died. Jesus looked at all the people around, looked at the dead girl and said, “She’s not dead. She’s just asleep.” Most physicians wouldn’t speak with such confidence in the case of a patient who’s dead on arrival. Jesus isn’t afraid to.
Jesus hears the news that His friend Lazarus is ailing, in fact dying, in fact…dead. But Jesus isn’t overwhelmed by death. He says to the disciples, “Lazarus has fallen asleep. I need to go to him to wake him up.” They all say, “Uh, Lord, if he’s just asleep, he’ll just wake up on his own.” So Jesus has to rephrase it for them. “Lazarus is dead.” When Jesus thinks of death, He’s not so pushed around by it. It’s not a permanent arrangement in the eyes of the Giver of life. He tells the sister of the dead man, “Your brother will live again.”
So Jesus spoke of His own death. It was going to be hard, but it was also going to be temporary. He wasn’t afraid because each time He spoke He included the fact that He’d rise again. You see…
2. Jesus couldn’t be held down by death
Romans 6:9 - For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him.
Acts 2:24 God raised him from the dead, freeing him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him.
Do you realize what the resurrection means? It means that you and I can live again! I could have died for you. I could have been nailed to a cross and died. That might prove that I’m unselfish, but it wouldn’t prove that I can be any help to you beyond the grave. But let the Son of God be nailed to a cross, let deity descend into death itself, and rise again, and you have a hope that goes past this life! When a man steps out of his own grave, he is anything that he says that he is, and he can do anything that he says he can do.
Romans 8:11
And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit, who lives in you.
3. Jesus destroyed death
2 Timothy 1:10
…it has now been revealed through the appearing of our Savior, Christ Jesus, who has destroyed death and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.
I’m so proud of our troops who are facing the enemy daily in the Middle East. They’re bringing freedom to oppressed people, and the only way that can be accomplished is by destroying the enemies of freedom. That’s what Jesus did on the cross. He disarmed the enemy. He took away death’s sting. And now, it’s just a matter of time until the whole conflict is over.
I Co 15:26 The last enemy to be destroyed is death.
It’s coming. And I can know it’s coming because Jesus has been there and done that !
Conclusion:
Now, let’s go back to the question I asked at the very beginning: What’s the worst thing that could happen to you today? You may have figured it out by now. If you’re a Christ-follower, the worst thing that could happen to you is no longer death. Paul said, for to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. No, if you have the promise of Jesus that you’ll live forever, death has been disarmed against you.
Whoever you are this morning, the worst thing that could happen to you would be to die without Jesus; to face your greatest enemy without your best Ally. To enter into forever without the promise of life forever. The good news is that you don’t have to do that. You can join the winning side right now…
