Fear Factor: “David—Fear of Death” (1 Samuel)
M. Cameron McDonald
February 29, 2004
Intro:
ILL: SAM KINISON WAS A FAMOUS COMEDIAN IN THE LATE 198O’S INTO THE EARLY 90’S. HE GAINED HIS STATUS AS ONE OF THE MOST RECOGNIZED COMEDIANS FOR BEING AS CRUDE AND SHOCKING AS WAS CULTURALLY ACCEPTABLE AT THE TIME. HIS ANTICS WERE ALWAYS PUSHING THE ENVELOPE MORALLY.
BUT SAM KINISTON’S LIFE ENDED YOUNG WHEN HE WAS INVOLVED IN A BAD CAR ACCIDENT. SAM’S BEST FRIEND WAS FOLLOWING BEHIND HIM IN ANOTHER CAR THE DAY THE CRASH HAPPENED. AND WHEN HE SAW THE CARS COLLIDE, HIS BEST FRIEND PULLED UP IMMEDIATELY AND RAN TO ASSIST SAM. AS HE APPROACHED THE CAR HE SAW SAM IN THE DRIVERS SEAT AND HE DIDN’T LOOK GOOD. HE HAD BEEN BADLY INJURED BUT WAS STILL CONSCIOUS, SO HIS FRIEND JUST KIND OF HELD HIM WHILE HELP WAS ON THE WAY, AND HE SAID SAM JUST KEPT REPEATING, “PLEASE DON’T LET ME DIE, I DON’T WANT TO DIE, I AM NOT READY, PLEASE DON’T LET ME DIE.” BUT ONLY SECONDS LATER SAM DID DIE.
A. You will die some day, are you ready?
a. You know most people would really rather not talk about it; death is an unpleasant subject to think about.
b. I think if everyone of us were honest we would admit that none of us really wants to die. Infact, if it were possible we would like to avoid the whole process all together, we would kind of prefer to be like Elijah and never die, just kind of quit doing whatever it is we are doing and hop into the chariot of fire.
c. And this is no special revelation to us; in the Bible we are told that Death is the last enemy. It is to be hated and avoided and even feared somewhat.
d. But as Christians we have the assurance of everlasting life, and for us that is not the problem, the problem for us and every human being is how are they going to get there. How is death going to happen to them.
EX: Will we go quietly, peacefully in our sleep at an old age, will we be struck by lightening or with a ravenous disease that causes us pain, will we drown, or be in a car accident. Those questions have plagued every human mind since the dawn of the ages; we all have this fear this uncertainty of how we are going to die. And it is that mystery that has kept us on our toes for so long, its that mystery which prompts us to schedule regular doctor’s appointments, buy tons of pills and multi-vitamins, to purchase the safest car built with anti-intrusion steel and 64 air bags, to exercise and watch what we eat
e. And as people we all want to go to heaven but it’s the getting there part that scares us, well, quite literally to death.
ILL: I was on the internet the other day and I came across a rather odd website called “Death-Clock.com” On this site you were asked to answer a few questions about yourself, to type in your date of birth, height and body mass index and after you clicked on a button in a few minutes it told you the date you were going to die and how much time you had left, and it began a count down. According to this website I am set to expire June 11, 2068. And by just clicking a button to download this clock, your desktop can now have this mortal reminder counting down your seconds left to live.
But in a sense don’t you wish that were true, don’t you wish you could just magically type in a few buttons and via-la there would be your date of death, we kind of wish we were like a gallon of milk in the grocery store that we all had stamped on us this expiration date.
f. But we all know it doesn’t work that way, God never intended it too, I think we don’t know when this will happen because God wants us to live everyday as if it were our last, living with an eternal mindset and not an earthly one because the things of this earth are so frail, temporary, and uncertain.
SCRIP: (James 4:13-14) Now listen, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money." 14 Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.
B. Just a few years ago death was not mentioned in polite society.
EX: William Randolph Hearst wouldn’t even permit the word death to be uttered in his presence.
EX: Billionaire Howard Hughes evidently didn’t write a will because he was afraid to face his own mortality.
C. But now we have gone to the opposite extreme and we talk about it incessantly. We say things like this could be our last Christmas, or this could be my last birthday.
a. Books about life after death and out of body experiences have become best sellers.
JK: I heard about one man who was reading one of those Shirley MacLaine books on reincarnation, and he asked his wife “If reincarnation is true, does that mean I could come back in the next life as a worm?” His wife replied, “Oh, no, I have read that you can never be the same thing twice!”
b. And these books and this movement holds a certain fascination for some.
EX: On college campuses all across the nation one of the most popular classes students can enroll in is called “Death and Dying.” Students in these classes are visiting morgues and making their own funeral arrangements.
EX: Think of all the movies that picture people right on the verge of death. They are so successful; they are box office blockbusters because we are curious about how people will react when they are faced with their reality of mortality.
c. But both extremes, the nervous silence and the constant obsession are indications that the fear of death still holds many people in it’s grip.
SCRIP: The Hebrew writer describes humans as “those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death. (Hebrews 2:15)
C. That’s why today I think it is appropriate to end the series Fear Factor, talking about the most common fear in the history of humanity and that is the fear of death.
a. Jesus Christ came to set the captives free; He wants to liberate us from our fears and especially the fear of death. And being the only one in the history of mankind to ever die and then resurrect Himself, that gives Him the necessary credentials to speak on the subject.
b. And all throughout Scripture the subject of death is talked about a lot, it is actually mentioned over 700 times in the Bible.
ILL: A cardiologist said one of his biggest deterrents to Christian faith was that he encountered a number of preachers with heart troubles who obviously had a tremendous fear of dying.
c. You see an unhealthy fear of death can negate our witness.
d. But as with most fears, the fear of death is not all together bad.
a. The will to live is one of the strongest, God given instincts we have.
b. The innate fear of death prevents us from taking stupid risks and allows us to act with caution and can sometimes motivate us to more holy living.
ILL: THE SUNDAY AFTER September 11 MY HOME CHURCH HAD WELL OVER 25,000 PEOPLE IN ATTENDANCE AND THE NUMBERS STAYED HIGH FOR MANY WEEKS AFTERWARDS, BECAUSE THE THREAT OF DEATH WHICH SEEMED SO OMINOUS MOTIVATED PEOPLE TEMPORARILY TO THINK ABOUT GOD, JUDGMENT AND ETERNITY.
e. And for the past few weeks we have been looking at various Bible characters and how they over came certain fears they struggled with.
f. We looked at Adam and Eve, and Leah, and Moses but few people talked about in the Bible confronted death more frequently and more courageously than David.
g. And so today we are going to take a look at a few different instances in the life of David when he was face to face with death and how he handled this fear.
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I. Glimpses in the Life of David.
A. The first glimpse I want us to look at today is the Story of David & Goliath
a. Now this is a story you have heard since the time you were growing up.
b. The Israelites were at war with the Philistines, but the Philistines had one warrior named Goliath who was over 9 feet tall. He was two feet taller than Shaquille O’Neil.
c. And nobody would face this guy because he was terrifying, and so for forty days this war was at a stale mate on the front lines. Both armies were prepared for battle, but Goliath would come out every morning and taunt the Israelites and offer them to forgo the war, for just one fight, if someone could fight Goliath one on one and beat him than that would end the war. The only problem was that we read that every time Goliath would come out and taunt and offer this challenge, the Israelite soldiers would run in terror.
d. Well one day David was sent by his father Jesse to take some provisions to his older brothers who were in the army, and while he was there visiting with them, out stepped Goliath to offer this challenge once again, and once again all the Israelite soldiers were trembling in fear.
a. David must have been thinking to himself, this bunch of cowards are the ones designated to defend Israel, you have got to be kidding.
b. And so David kind of offers a challenge of his own by asking:
SCRIP: (1 Samuel 17:28b) Who is this Philistine that he should defy the armies of the living God?”
e. Well word quickly spread that there was one who didn’t seem intimidated by Goliath and so King Saul sent for David, and when David arrived he told him not to lose heart, but that he David, this shepherd boy from Bethlehem, would go and defeat this highly skilled, gigantic warrior.
f. But Saul recognizing his youthful innocence explains to him why he cannot go out and face Goliath.
a. Notice that the entire Israelite Army full of thousands of skilled, battle-trained warriors were terrified of Goliath, but David had this confidence because of his strong faith, but part of it was also because he was so young.
b. And you know that seems to be the way it is when we are young. Teenagers seem to feel a since of invincibility as if they cannot be stopped. They can drive any speed, try any drug, go any place and never have to worry about death. They don’t have an accurate picture of reality; they see death as a long far off event that won’t happen for 60 or 70 years.
EX: That’s why car accidents are the leading cause of death in America for people 15-20 years old. In 2001 more than 9,000 teenagers were killed in car accidents and another 337,000 were badly injured. (Source http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/people/injury/airbags/buckleplan/buasbteens03/index.htm%0D)
ILL: WHEN I WAS 16 AND HAD MY LICENSE A LITTLE OVER A MONTH, MY DAD AND ME WHEN ON A TRIP TO EUROPE WITH ONE OF HIS FRIEND’S AND HIS SON. WHILE WE WERE THERE, I THOUGHT IT WOULD BE REALLY COOL AND EARN ME SOME SERIOUS BRAGGING RIGHTS TO BE 16 AND TO HAVE DRIVEN ON THE AUTO-BON. THE AUTO-BON IS THAT LONG STRETCH OF EXPRESSWAY IN EUROPE WITH NO SPEED LIMIT. SO I BEGGED AND BEGGED AND I FINALLY CONVINCED THEM TO GIVE ME A CHANCE TO DRIVE FOR A WHILE. NOW ALL 4 OF US WERE IN THIS RENTED OPAL, WHICH IS A TYPE OF CAR THAT IS BIG AS FORD PINTO THAT SOME OF YOU ALL MAY REMEMBER. BUT THEY WERE SO NERVOUS AND I COULDN’T UNDERSTAND WHY. WELL I REMEMBER FLOORING THE OLD OPAL AND I HAD IT UP TO 200 KILOMETERS, WHICH IS ABOUT 120 MPH. AND THEY WERE SWEATING BULLETS, I WAS AS COOL AS A CUCUMBER ALL RELAXED ONE HAND ON THE WHEEL, THEY WERE BUCKLED UP TIGHT WITH THEIR HEAD BETWEEN THEIR KNEES AND RECITING THE 23 PSALM. BUT I WAS SO LAID BACK BECAUSE DEATH WAS THE LAST THING ON MY MIND, I NEVER THOUGHT ABOUT THIS BEING DANGEROUS, AND EVEN IF IT WAS I REALLY HAD NOTHING TO LOSE.
g. And so David must have felt the same way, he was young he didn’t have a family of his own so he had nothing to lose.
h. And so David tries to convince Saul citing his credentials. He tells him that as a shepherd guarding his father’s sheep he had killed a Bear and a Lion, but notice even in his youth he realizes how dangerous that was and to whom the true credit belonged.
SCRIP: vs37 The LORD who delivered me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine."
a. David gave credit to God, and his speech was so convincing that Saul gave David his chance. But Saul didn’t get it, Saul didn’t understand who it was that protected David from the wild beasts, so he has all his own personal armor put on David and he gives him his sword. But David was so bogged down with all this heavy armor that he was not used to wearing that he told Saul, “that he could not wear it,” in other words thanks but no thanks.
b. So David chose what he was comfortable with, his staff and sling shot, and he bent down and chose 5 good stones.
i. So Goliath learns that he has a challenger and as he gets closer he sees David and recognizes that he is only a boy. Well this ticked off the Philistine and he said, “Am I a dog that you come at me with sticks.” But David was intimidated by the trash talk so he said to him:
SCRIP: 1SA 17:45 "You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the LORD Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. 46 This day the LORD will hand you over to me, and I’ll strike you down and cut off your head… and the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel.
j. And as we all know, the Lord worked through David that Day and he was victorious over the Philistine. But notice his youthful _______, he isn’t fazed at all by a fear of death.
k. But as we learn more about David we see that he is going to come face to face with death a lot in his life but as he gets older his demeanor changes he has a more realistic fear of death than the one he portrayed against Goliath.
l. So let’s take a glance at another close brush with death in David’s life.
B. Well David and Saul start out on good terms but Saul eventually realizes his inadequacies and he recognizes David as the true God ordained King of Israel, and this jealousy that he is feeling frustrates and infuriates Saul so much that he tries to kill him.
a. He threw a spear at David when David was playing music in the palace.
b. David ducked and barely escaped with his life.
SCRIP: He tells his friend Jonathan, who was Saul’s son, what had happened. And said, Your father is trying to kill me. Jonathan insisted that couldn’t be true. David said, (1 Samuel 20:3) But David took an oath and said, “as surely as the Lord lives and as you live, there is only a step between me and death.”
c. This time David wasn’t nearly as bold or confident that he could escape it.
d. So he and Jonathan devised a plan to determine King Saul’s intentions and when David’s fears were confirmed he fled for his life.
C. One of the first places he ran to as a fugitive was Gath—the hometown of Goliath the Philistine giant.
a. He hoped that since he had become an enemy of Saul, the Philistines would welcome him and protect him.
b. But the soldiers said to Achish their king, “Isn’t this David, the King of the land? Isn’t he the one they sing about in their dances? “Saul has slain his thousands, and David his tens of thousands?”
SCRIP: 1SA 21:12 David took these words to heart and was very much afraid of Achish king of Gath. 13 So he pretended to be insane in their presence; and while he was in their hands he acted like a madman, making marks on the doors of the gate and letting saliva run down his beard.
c. When his life was on the line as a fugitive from his country, David knew what it was to fear death, and he took extreme action to survive.
d. The king dismissed him as a lunatic but it was a close call.
e. For the next 10 years, David lived as a fugitive with a price tag on his head, he went to bed each night knowing their were soldiers trying to hunt him down to kill him.
SCRIP: 1 Samuel 23:16-17 says, “Jonathan went to David and helped him find strength in God. “Don’t be afraid,” he said.
B. No wonder that so many Psalms that David wrote spoke about facing death.
SCRIP: PS 18:4 The cords of death entangled me; the torrents of destruction overwhelmed me. The cords of the grave coiled around me; the snares of death confronted me. In my distress I called to the LORD; I cried to my God for help. From his temple he heard my voice; my cry came before him, into his ears.
SCRIP: My heart is in anguish within me; the terrors of death assail me. PS 55:5 Fear and trembling have beset me; horror has overwhelmed me. I said, "Oh, that I had the wings of a dove! I would fly away and be at rest--I would flee far away and stay in the desert;”
SCRIP: PS 68:20 Our God is a God who saves; from the Sovereign LORD comes escape from death.
SCRIP: PS 88:15 From my youth I have been afflicted and close to death; I have suffered your terrors and am in despair.
SCRIP: PS 141:8 But my eyes are fixed on you, O Sovereign LORD; in you I take refuge--do not give me over to death.
a. And there are literally tons and tons more!
E.Well David lived to reign as king for 40 years and he died as an old man.
SCRIP: 2 Samuel 23 records David’s last words “Is not my house right with God? Has He not made me an everlasting covenant, arranged and secured in every part? Will he not bring to fruition my salvation and grant me my every desire?”
SCRIP EX: 1 Kings 2:10 on his deathbed, David made some final arrangements; preparation for his dying. He placed Solomon on the throne; advised him on following God faithfully; orders to have Joab and Shemi eliminated. Then David rested with his fathers and was buried in the city of David.
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II. Here are 4 lessons from the experience of David that should help us overcome the fear of death.
A. Death is inevitable; make sure you have prepared for it.
SCRIP: David did not pretend he was invincible. He confronted the reality of death and when it came, he was ready.
ILL: Several years ago my grandmother died of an extremely aggressive form of cancer. She felt fine and cooked Christmas dinner for the family, less than 2 weeks later she was dead. But the last few days of her life when she knew she was sick and before she had to go into the hospital, she was scrambling trying to get a will together, and get all her affairs in order so it would be easy for the executor of her estate to do what he needed to do. Now my grandmother was extremely committed to Christ, so she was ready to go spiritually but there were still tons of loose ends she needed to tie up here in this life. And most of us can’t plan our deaths, we may not eve have the short warning that my grandmother did, but when you are healthy planning for your death can help eliminate fear.
SCRIP EX: Abraham planned for his death he knew exactly where he wanted to be buried, and who with, and so did his son Isaac and his son Jacob and their wife’s. All throughout the Bible we read story after story of people planning for their deaths.
ILL: My grandfather passed away in August of this past year, but a year or so prior, he had sat down with a funeral director, paid for his funeral, requested the songs he wanted sung, where he wanted to be buried, and how the whole service should go. And when the time came when he did die, it was such a relief in that time of grief, not to worry about picking out a casket or a burial plot, or making sure we were honoring his wishes, it was all taken care of, and his family was free to mourn and remember his life without getting bogged down in the details.
a. You know the death rate in this world now stands at one per person.
QUOTE: It was musician and philosopher Jim Morrison who said; “Nobody gets out of here alive.”
a. Not talking about it, or denying it doesn’t erase the reality nor eliminate the fear.
b. So you need to face the fact that you are going to die someday and be prepared for it.
c. The most important thing you can do, by way of preparation, is to receive Christ as _______personal Savior and be baptized into Him.
b.One of the main reasons we fear death is that we fear the judgment of God
a.We feel guilty about our sins. We know we’ve done things that are wrong and go against God’s will.
b.And as a result we are horrified at the reality of hell, and we don’t want to spend eternity paying the price for our sins.
SCRIP: Acts 24:24-24 says Governor Felix and his wife Drusilla listened to Paul preach about righteousness, self-control and the judgment to come, Felix was afraid and said, “That’s enough for now! You may leave. When I find it convenient I’ll send for you.”
c.Like Felix we fear the thought of standing before God on judgment day.
c.And the cure for that fear is not to refuse to think about it, but to repent of sin and accept the grace and forgiveness of Christ.
SCRIP: Hebrews 2:9 says that Jesus suffered death so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone…v. 14-15 “So that by his death He might destroy him who holds the power of death—that is the devil—and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death.”
a.When you put your trust in Jesus and are baptized into Him, you are promised the complete forgiveness of your sins. That’s everything!
b.You are promised that when you stand before God, you will not be condemned but you will have the promise of eternal life.
SCRIP: Romans 6:4-5 says, “4 We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. RO 6:5 If we have been united with him like this in his death, we will certainly also be united with him in his resurrection.
c.We fight fire with fire. We fight death with death. We don’t fear death so much because we have already died.
d.If you are terrified of dying, accept Christ and trust His promise when He said:
SCRIP: "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; 26 and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. (John 11:25-26)
d.It can also be helpful to make physical as well as spiritual preparation.
a.Purchase appropriate insurance. Make a will. Secure a cemetery lot.
b.Talk over with your family the order of the service, who you want to sing and speak, and go over all the details so they will have the comfort of knowing they are honoring all your wishes.
c.But be realistic, your family may not want to talk about it. But you just respond by saying that you don’t have immediate plans to die, but that you will just feel better facing reality and knowing you know what to do.
e.Face the reality of death and make preparation.
EX: It’s terrifying to jump out of an airplane with no parachute. But if you have a parachute on, it may still be a little frightening but no where near as bad. Death without Christ is terrifying. But when you have the assurance of safe landing, it loses much of it’s terror.
SCRIP: The Apostle Paul wrote, “"Death has been swallowed up in victory." "Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?" The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. 57 But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
B. Here is the 2nd lesson: Accept the fact that some fear of is normal even if you are a Christian.
SCRIP: David wrote, “Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death I will fear no evil.” David had a strong faith in God, but he still experienced some anxiety about dying.
a. He didn’t say he didn’t fear death. He said when I go through it, I am confident that God will not allow any evil to harm me.
b. Even the strongest believers have some degree of fear about death. Some fear is normal even after you’ve trusted Christ for Salvation.
a. The will to live is a strong instinct.
b. We have never experienced it—it’s unknown.
c. We worry that it could be a painful experience.
d.You hate to leave behind all the people you love here.
a.Most of us struggle with some doubt. What if the Bible’s promises are not true?
SCRIP: We say with the father who begged Jesus to heal his son, “Lord, I believe, help my unbelief.”
f.Even though we are promised to be forgiven by grace, we are so aware of our sin, and we feel guilty.
g.Satan still attacks at the end like he did Jesus. Even Jesus felt the pressure of death and He prayed, “If it be possible let this cup pass.”
c. One of the best things we can do as Christians is to read and memorize the promises of Scripture.
SCRIP: “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” “Let not your heart be troubled.”
SCRIP: “I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know you have eternal life!” (1 John 5:13)
d.After you repeat those Scriptures remind yourself that the one who made them conquered death and never made a promise that He doesn’t keep.
f.Say to yourself, “Lord Jesus, I put my total trust in you. Forgive me when I doubt. I believe your word is true. I stake my life on it.”
g.But understand that some fear is normal even for believers.
C. Thirdly, Be Confident that God will supply the strength you need when the time comes.
a.When the time came for David to die he faced it and was ready to go because he knew the Lord.
SCRIP: God promises us in 1 Corinthians 3:13, “God is faithful; He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, He will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.”
b.God does not want you to live your life in fear of what Satan can do to you.
c.He has not given us a spirit of timidity but of love, power and self discipline.
d.The closer we get to Christ the less we will fear death and the more we will be confident that our God will supply our need according to His riches in Christ Jesus.
D. Finally, Increasingly set your focus on the eternal and less on the temporal.
SCRIP: The Bible says, “Set your affections on the things that are above and not on the things of the earth.
EX: If you won a free 2 week vacation to Hawaii you’d be excited to go even if you’ve never been. Even if you didn’t like to fly. You’d read brochures, you’d watch video’s, you’d plan activities, you’d talk to people who had been. You would look forward to going so much that you would not worry about the 9 hour flight.
SCRIP: 2 Cor. 4:14-18, “we know that the one who raised the Lord Jesus from the dead will also raise us with Jesus and present us with you in his presence. 15Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. 17 For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. 18 So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.
a.The Bible does not give us a whole lot of detail about heaven.
b.It’s kind of like a trailer for a movie that you are really wanting to see, it just shows you enough to get you excited.
SCRIP: 1 Cor. 2:9 says, “"No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him" –
c.The Bible teaches that when we die, we go immediately to the presence of God.
SCRIP: The Bible says to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord.
SCRIP EX: Jesus told the thief on the cross, today you will be with me in paradise.
d.There is no temporary purgatory, there is no sleeping, we go immediately to be with the Lord.’
e.Jesus called it “my Father’s house.”
SCRIP: JN 14:1 "Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. 2 In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.
f.The Father’s house is going to have some exciting things to see and do.
a.We will be given new bodies to enjoy. The mortal will put on immortality.
b.The Bible teaches that we will have opportunity to learn and grow there. The gates of Heaven stand wide open to come in and go out.
ILL: I love what one anonymous poet wrote about Heaven:
“The view of heaven that I sing, is not of angels on the wing,
White robed with harps and golden crowns, I vision rather little towns,
With smogless skies and rivers clear, and not an airplane that you can hear.
No dust, no rust, no rats, no rot, no raucous rock, no potent pot.
No growing old with weakened sight, no dentures slipping when you bite.
No bombs, no guns, no courts no jails, where all succeed and no one fails.
No strikes, no layoffs, full employment, and everyone with job enjoyment.
All tell the truth, state only facts, no wars, no debt, no income tax.
According to this dream of mine, in heaven no one stands in line.
And there are only smiling faces, and lots and lots of parking places!”
g.But mostly Heaven will be about relationships.
a.The Heavenly Father will be there and we will see Him face to face and bask in His perfect love.
b.Jesus will be there and we can thank Him for His grace and sit at His feet and learn.
c.The apostles and patriarchs will be there and we can delight in meeting them and hearing their experiences first hand.
d.Our friends and loved ones in the Lord will be there and we can renew relationships with them.
SCRIP: The Bible says we will sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom. There will be a number there so great that no man can count.”
ILL: A preacher friend of mine told me about him being at the airport the other day and he watched families welcome home soldiers who had been in Iraq for over a year. Wives were dressed up to meet their husbands, Little kids were excited carrying banners, “Welcome home dad!” Parents were standing on the fringe, grinning, and grateful. When the gate burst open they rushed and jumped into each other’s arms and embraced and cried. Then they started talking a mile a minute and would kiss and embrace and cry some more.
EX: I think in heaven they have an arrival schedule. Your loved ones know exactly the day you are going to check in. When the Lord Jesus welcomes you, He’ll open up the gate and they’ll come running to greet you and welcome you home.
h.The longer you struggle with some of the problems of earth, the more you think about heaven and begin to long to go there.
ILL: When I was a boy it would be fun to go and stay over at my friends houses. And when I first got there it was a blast. We would go out and play home run derby, and then play basketball. And then maybe play some video games and just talk and hang out and have fun. But after a while we would get on each others nerves and I would begin to get restless and finally I would say, “I think it’s time I went on home.”
QUOTE: My grandfather who passed away last August was 83 years old, and for the last year of his life he would tell me, “Cameron, I just wish I could go to sleep and not wake up again.”
i. He was ready to go on home.
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