Facing Death In Christ
Please stand with me as we go over our current memory Scripture:
Job 19:25-27
“I know that my Redeemer lives, and that in the end He will stand on the earth. And after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God; I myself will see Him with my own eyes - I, and not another. How my heart yearns within me!”
And our memory Scripture “refresher” verse(s) is(are):
Colossians 3:23-24 NIV
“Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord and not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.”
Today we will be reading from Matthew 25:31-46
Matthew 25:31-46 is a prophetic account of the judgment that will take place when Jesus returns to earth. We have looked at this Scripture at least twice over the nearly eleven years since Pastor Karenlee and I came to Crossroads to serve Christ and you.
But, today we will not be looking at the judgment itself. Instead, we will be looking at the actions of the sheep and the goats from the perspective of the hybrid Jewish/Roman culture in which our Savior spoke those words. And, we will be seeing why they can be confusing to us in the culture in which we live.
Finally, we will be discovering what drove the vast differences between the actions of each group.
Please join me in your Bibles as we read: Matthew 25:31-46
(Prayer for help)
Here’s the thing … we tend to read this differently because we live in a culture that is based on Judeo/Christian beliefs; beliefs about caring for those who are hungry, those who are thirsty, those who are without clothing and shelter, those who are sick and in prison.
Indeed, we have both religious and secular individuals and associations who strive to meet those needs. Those who are unbelievers may not even know that they are meeting the needs of others out of the influence of the culture in which they were raised or out of the inherent grace of God that exists even within those who do not know Christ as their Savior.
So, why does the culture in which we live make a difference?
Let’s take a look at something that happened in the third century.
Does anyone know who Galen was? Galen was a physician, surgeon and philosopher who lived from AD 129 to around AD 216.
Galen became so prominent that he was eventually the official physician for several Roman emperors.
Listen to this quote from an online magazine called “Credo”.
“In AD 165, during the reign of Marcus Aurelius, an epidemic of what is thought to have been smallpox was brought to Rome by troops returning from wars against the Parthians (in modern Iran). The disease, known as the Antonine plague, decimated the Roman army and spread rapidly throughout the entire Empire. Lasting episodically for fifteen years, it is estimated that 1/4 to 1/3 of the population in the Empire perished.”
Wow. Can you imagine a pandemic that would wipe out 1/4 to 1/3 of a population? That would be 83,000,000 to 110,000,000 people just in the USA.
Where was Galen? Was he on the front lines investigating the cause of the epidemic? We he striving to discover what would help the infected people survive? Was he gathering other physicians so that they could compare notes and find a cure? Where was Galen? What was Galen doing?
The article in “Credo” tells us, “The noted Roman physician Galen, who described the disease in detail, was in Rome during the first outbreak and fled the city for the country.”
Galen tucked his tail and ran! Yes, Galen DID study and document the sickness but from afar and never in the trenches with those who would care directly for the dying.
This was due to two main factors.
- Mercy was looked on as sign of weakness in the Roman empire, and,
- Galen had no hope of eternal life. If he had any religion at all it was that of emperor worship and the worship of other Roman deities.
o When your god is an emperor and you see one after another die it does not give you much hope!
OK. So, back in AD 165 when the Antonine plague broke out Romans believed that showing mercy was a sign of weakness. So those who were without food and water, clothing and shelter, sick and in prison were just not strong enough to be a true Roman.
At the same time there were many in the Jewish community who believed that those who were without food and water, clothing and shelter, sick and in prison were in that condition because of sin in their lives.
That was the majority opinion of those in the culture at the time of Christ.
Naturally, they would not care for those without food and water, clothing and shelter, and those who were sick and in prison. Those people were either weak, under Godly condemnation or social misfits.
But, there was another culture around. This culture WOULD care for those without food and water, clothing and shelter, and those who were sick and in prison. Where did this other culture come from?
It came from a man called Jesus who said this, “For I was hungry and you gave Me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave Me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited Me in, I needed clothes and you clothed Me, I was sick and you looked after Me, I was in prison and you came to visit Me.”
At the time of this plague there were Christians in almost every village, town and city in the Roman Empire. Did these Christians run away like Galen? Did they drag their infected family members out into the street, put them on top of a pile of corpses and leave them to die?
Many Romans actually DID this!
What did these followers of Jesus do?
They cared for the sick.
This bewildered the pagan observers! Why would the Christians do this? Don’t they know they could die as well? What could they possibly gain from these insane actions? Do they think that this disease cannot kill them as well? What was the difference?
First of all, they were obedient servants of Jesus.
What is one phrase that Jesus speaks three times in the Gospels and that is recorded nine other times in the letters to the churches?
“Love one another.” And the love this verse is referring to is the kind of love that caused the Father to send His One and Only Son into a sin diseased world that would eventually cause His death at the hands of those who were dying from the sin disease on the cross of Calvary!
In John 13:34-35 Jesus says, “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you love one another.”
OK. So imagine yourself in the late second century during the Antonine Plague and you know that Jesus said, “Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.”
At the same time you know that if you come down with this disease you will most likely die. What do you do?
Do you leave the city and move to the country, like Galen did, so you will be safe?
Do you put your infected friends and family members into a quarantine room to wait for them to die in their filth and vomit; wasting away with horrible hunger and thirst and fever?
No. You think about the example of Jesus’ life and the truth of His words, “Love one another. As I have loved you so you must love one another” and “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” (Luke 6:31)
If you are truly a follower of Jesus Christ you must obey EVEN IF IT COSTS YOU YOUR LIFE.
So the obedient Christians did what they could do. They had no knowledge of the cause of the disease or how to treat it. All they had was the kindness of the Good Samaritan.
They did what they could.
They gave as much food and drink to those suffering as they were able to consume. They cleaned up their vomit and bodily waste. They washed the bedding. The cooled those suffering with fever. They did what they would have wanted others to do for them. They loved one another just as Christ loved them and they gave their lives for one another.
As a result of this fearless care the loss of Christians was much less than the losses among the pagans. But, the Christians did not only care for other Christians but they cared for unbelievers as well. This resulted in many coming to Christ for salvation. Some of the unbelievers who found salvation still died from the disease while others survived and continued to follow Jesus.
The Cyprian Plague arrived around a century later with the same devastating effects and the same outcome.
Dionysius of Alexandria, recounted how the Christians showed mercy to others during the pandemic. This is what he wrote …
“Most of our brethren showed love and loyalty in not sparing themselves while helping one another, tending to the sick with no thought of danger and gladly departing this life with them after becoming infected with their disease.
“Many who nursed others to health died themselves. The best of our own brothers lost their lives in this way … a form of death based on strong faith and piety that seems in every way to equal martyrdom. They would also take up the bodies of the saints, close their eyes, shut their mouths, and carry them on their shoulders. They would embrace them, wash and dress them in burial cloths, and (the caretakers themselves would) soon receive the same services.”
And what was written of the unbelievers?
“The heathen were the exact opposite. They pushed away those with the first signs of the disease and fled from their dearest. They even threw them half dead into the roads and treated unburied corpses like refuse in hopes of avoiding the plague of death, which, for all their efforts, was difficult to escape.”
So … why the difference?
The Christians had these things …
- The hope of eternal life
- A longing to see their Savior
- A longing to please their Savior while they were still on earth
- A love for one another
The pagans had only a hope for this life and then, as far as they knew, it was over or off into a totally uncertain future state.
To put it simply, the unsaved had no assurance of salvation as we have in Jesus. So why would they be foolish enough to risk death? To put it plainly and briefly, they wouldn’t and they didn’t.
Of course, this brings us to the final question, why are many of those who claim the name of Christ afraid of death? Why do many who say they love Jesus seem to have the same singular focus of self-preservation-at-all-costs that the unsaved Romans had?
Were the believers who boldly walked into the plague-ridden homes some sort of super Christians who should be exalted into the Catholic cult of saints or were they just what we as followers of Jesus should be?
I wonder if many fear death because they never give it any room in their thoughts. Perhaps if the thought of death ever enters their minds they push it out to make place for happier thoughts.
John Wesley once wrote a sermon entitled, “A Word To An Unhappy Woman” and in this sermon he asks …
“Do you never think about [death]? Why do you not? Are you never (going) to die? No, it is appointed for all men to die. And what comes after? Only heaven or hell. Will not thinking of death, put it farther off? No, (it will not); not one day; not one hour.”
Let’s go back to the Scripture that we read earlier. It starts off this way …
“When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, He will sit on His glorious throne. All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on His right and the goats on His left.”
In this we see Jesus doing the separating of the sheep from the goats. Those who are truly followers of Jesus will not be surprised that they are gathered in with the sheep. After all, Jesus said, “I am the Good Shepherd; I know My sheep and My sheep know Me” and “My sheep listen to My voice; I know them, and they follow Me.”
(John 10:14, 27)
These sheep are those who should not fear death.
Then there are those who know about Jesus and yet live in full rebellion as enemies. These know they are goats and that they will be gathered with the goats at the time of judgment. These should rightly fear death.
But what about those who live a lukewarm, half hearted life “Christian” life? Those who go through the motions of Christianity but have no relationship with the Lord. Those who don’t listen to and don’t follow the voice of Jesus the Good Shepherd. Those who to whom Jesus says, “I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm - neither hot nor cold - I am about to (vomit) you out of my mouth.” (Revelation 3:15-16)
These are those who believe they are sheep and if they don’t change their ways they will be gathered with the goats. These SHOULD fear death but may not.
The fear of death. Why didn’t Job have a fear of death?
Because … “I know that my Redeemer lives, and that in the end He will stand on the earth. And after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God; I myself will see Him with my own eyes - I, and not another. How my heart yearns within me!”
Such confidence!!! And where did that confidence come from? It came from being able to “see over the horizon”, the ability to know without a shadow of a doubt that he loved his Redeemer and his Redeemer loved him.
Dying. Have you made arrangements for dying? Not arrangements such as going to the funeral home but spiritual arrangements?
- Do you know Jesus? Is He your Redeemer?
- Do you believe that He will one day return?
- What do you think about the phrase, “And after my skin has been destroyed?” Does it haunt you?
- Do you believe that you will be resurrected to spend eternity in the presence of God in an immortal body? Do
you have that great hope?
- Do you believe that on that resurrection day you will see God with your own eyes?
- Does your heart yearn for that day?
You CAN have that confidence. You KNOW your own spiritual state.
What if you know that you are lost and without Christ.
What can you do?
Isaiah 55:6-7 says,
“Seek the LORD while He may be found; call on Him while He is near. Let the wicked forsake their ways and the unrighteous their thoughts. Let them turn to the LORD, and He will have mercy on them, and to our God, for He will freely pardon.”
Get out your Bible. Start reading through the New Testament.
Pray before you read; asking Jesus to reveal Himself to you.
Ask Him to show you the way to salvation.
Find someone who knows God, someone who knows the Word and ask them to help you find true life in a world that is filled with a plague of sin; a plague that is more deadly than any plague or pandemic that has ever come upon the earth.
Jesus will save you. Jesus will heal you from the plague of sin.
You WILL be able to say with Job, “I know that my Redeemer lives.”
And … you can be delivered from the fear of death and filled with the hope of eternal life in the presence of Christ our Savior!
Final thoughts and prayer
