OPENING: "Do you believe in life after death?" the boss asked his younger employee.
"Yes, sir."
"Well, then, that makes everything just fine," the boss went on. "About an hour after you left yesterday to go to your grandfather’s funeral, he stopped in to see you."
APPLICATION: Do you believe in life after death?
I. Do you realize that many who aren’t even Christians or religious believe in life after death?
They may not know why, but that’s what they believe.
ILLUS: For example, Hindus believe in life after death… and life after death… and life after death… and life after death.
It seems that nearly everyone suspects that it must be true. Perhaps it’s an innate feeling they have, or a nagging suspicion. Maybe it’s just a hopeful expectation of what they’d like to see. A hope against hope that the grave isn’t the end.
Why do Christians believe in life after death? Well… because we’re Christians - that’s what we’re supposed to believe. It’s good theology.
I Cor. 15:1-8 tells us that life after death is the main message of the Gospel - the Good News of Jesus Christ.
IN FACT in I Cor. 15:12ff Paul ticks off 7 things that would be true if resurrection were not real, and he ends by saying: "Hey, if there’s no resurrection from the dead, let’s eat and drink and be merry, because all that awaits us is a lonely empty grave (I Cor. 15:32b).
II. Do you believe in life after death?
If you believe simply because it’s "good theology," you may encounter doubts and fears that will be difficult to overcome. When faced with the reality of death of those you love or yourself you may find yourself being vulnerable, powerless, empty. You may begin to question. After all greater minds than yours have questioned "life after death."
ILLUS: Bertrand Russell was a man who had no faith in the Bible or God. He describes in eloquent terms the natural outcome of a life from which all faith in the resurrection of Christ is removed. He says:
"The life of man is a long march through the night, surrounded by invisible foes, tortured by weariness and pain, towards a goal that few can hope to reach and where none can tarry long. One by one, as they march, our comrades vanish from our sight, seized by the silent orders of omnipotent death.
Brief and powerless is man’s life, on his and all his race the slow, sure doom falls, pitiless and dark. Blind to good and evil, reckless of destruction, omnipotent matter rolls on its relentless way. For man, condemned today to lose his dearest, tomorrow himself to pass through the gates of darkness, it remains only to cherish, ere yet the blow falls, the lofty thoughts that ennoble his little day."
III. Indeed, Christians believe because that’s what we’re supposed to believe.
But if our theology is the only reason we believe in the resurrection - when life gets hard and death is real - we’ll find that "good theology" doesn’t cut it.
Lazarus had been dead 3 days and decay had begun to set in. Then Jesus shows up. In John 11 we’re told of how Martha approaches Jesus and basically tells Him - "I know the theology, but if you had only been here..."
Good theology was cold comfort. But then Jesus repeats the theology and asks Martha the oddest question:
Jesus said to her, "Your brother will rise again."
Martha answered, "I know he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day." (good theology)
Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die…."
And then the odd question: "Do you believe this?"
III. Do you believe this?
Keep in mind, Jesus wasn’t asking her
A. If she believed in near death experiences
B. If she understood the theology of Rabbis who would die and never leave their graves
C. If she believed the TEACHING but if she believed in the TEACHER
D. If she believed in RESURRECTION or LIFE AFTER DEATH
Rather, Jesus was asking if she believed in He WHO WAS the resurrection and the life.
ILLUS: Have you ever bought a product with a warranty? A LIFETIME guarantee? I encountered a product that promised one of those "lifetime warrentees" some time back… and do you know the first question that came into my mind???
"How long is that lifetime going to last? Just how long is that company going to be in business?"
You see, the warrantee is only as good as the one who gives it!
APPLICATION: Jesus was telling Martha that resurrection was a reality, not because it was
good theology - but because He was guaranteeing it. It would happen because He was going to make it happen.
IV. If we believe this: it makes a difference
With this kind of conviction in our hearts, the idea of our own resurrection is not just cold theology - it’s a burning fire that drives us.
Such conviction makes a difference in:
1. Who we are: Romans 8:10-11 "But if Christ is in you, your body is dead because of sin, yet your spirit is alive because of righteousness. 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."
2. How we live: Job 19:25-27 "I know that my Redeemer lives, and that in the end he will stand upon 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!"
3. How we face death: I Thess.. 4:13 "Brothers, we do not want you to be ignorant about those who fall asleep, or to grieve like the rest of men, who have no hope."
CLOSE: Joe Bailey in his book "A View From a Hearse" tells of the day his boy died of cancer. He had returned to the clinic to thank them for their kindness and care of his son. As he spoke to the receptionist, she motioned toward a woman whose son was playing quietly with toys in the waiting area. "He has the same cancer your son had" she said. "Why don’t you go over and see if you can talk with her."
Bailey went reluctantly over to sit next to her and they whispered just out of hearing of the boy. "It must be hard bringing him in for the treatments," he said, more a statement than a question.
"Hard," she turned with anguish in her eyes. "I die everytime I have to bring him in. What makes it worse is that I know it’s not going to stop the cancer and that he’s going to die."
Uncomfortable, Bailey ventured: "Still it is some comfort to know that when that happens there is no more pain and suffering, and that they go to a better place."
"No," hardness in her voice. "When he dies I’m just going to bury him in the cemetery and I’ll never see him again."
Bailey wanted to leave. It was uncomfortable to be reminded of his loss and even more uncomfortable to speak with this woman who obviously had not hope in any way. Then he spoke quietly, "I buried my boy just yesterday, and I’ve only come today to thank the doctors and nurses for their kindness. I know what you’re feeling but I also know that there is a better life for my son now."
"How could you believe such a thing," she challenged.
And then Joe Bailey told her about Jesus.
The hymn writer tells us "I know not why God’s wondrous grace to me he has made known. Nor why, unworthy, Christ in love, redeemed me for His own....
But I know whom I have believed...."
SERMONS IN THIS SERIES:
Gaining Heaven’s Glory – Rev. 21:1-8
Escaping Hell’s Fury – Heb. 6:1-8
The Resurrection: Cold Theology or Hot Reality – Heb. 5:11-6:3
Going Beyond Repentance – Heb. 5:11-6:3
My Faith Looks Up – Heb. 5:11-6:3
