Verse 18-24-When death invades our homes and brings with it sadness, grief, sometimes division, discouragement, disillusionment and even defeat.
Death is a universal event- Hebrews 9:27-And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment,
Gen. 3:19- In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread Till you return to the ground, For out of it you were taken; For dust you are, And to dust you shall return.”
Rom. 5:12-Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned
All speak of the reality of death. One day, whether we like it or not, or whether we believe it or not, we will all die.
Even know all of that, we still are shocked by it!
“Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died.
The story is told of a family that moved into a new community. They were promptly visited by two elders and the pastor of a nearby church who cordially invited them to attend the services on the Lord's Day. The man assured them that he would come just as soon as he got straightened out. Several months passed, and he still hadn't put in an appearance, so the minister called again and repeated his invitation. But he received the same reply. The fellow hadn't yet gotten everything straightened out. A few weeks later he died, and his widow asked to have the funeral services in the church. The preacher graciously agreed. It was indeed a sad affair. Later when a member of the congregation asked the pastor if the man was a Christian, he answered, "He never attended services here, and no one can recall ever hearing him give a testimony of his faith in Christ, so I can't say. I only know he was a man of his word. He promised to come to church just as soon as he got straightened out - and he did!"
Salvation is the ONE area of life where men are foolish to delay their decision for Jesus - You can put off paying taxes, changing your oil, or doing other things but don’t put asking Jesus in your heart!
Yet, too often, men will put off their salvation until the time to die comes and catches them unprepared and they have to go out into a lost eternity apart from God.
Verse 25-27-Jesus has the power to raise the dead.
Jesus Raised Others From The Dead-Mark 5:41-42, Luke 7:11, John 11:43-44.
Jesus proved His power over death and the grave by raising these people from the dead.
Jesus Promised To Raise His Followers From The Dead-1 Cor. 15:20-23,
1 Thes. 4:13-17. Those who have trusted Jesus as their personal Savior can have the confidence that Jesus will one day resurrect their bodies from the grave.
Jesus Raised Himself From The Dead-Matt. 28:1-6
KNOWING THAT WE CAN SAY!
1 Cor. 15:55-“O Death, where is your sting?
O Hades, where is your victory?”
Romans 8:38-39-For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, 39nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
