When Death Climbs Through A Window Series

WHEN DEATH CLIMBS THROUGH A WINDOW

Dr. David L. Lane

TEXT: Jer. 9:21

 (NIV) 21 Death has climbed in through our windows and has entered our fortresses; it has removed the children from the streets and the young men from the public squares.

 (CEV) 21 ’We were in our fortress,but death sneaked in through our windows. It even struck down children at play and our strongest young men.'

I N T R O D U C T I O N

Death is no respecter of persons and has no favorites. It doesn’t respect age, position, importance, or prosperity. It marches into the mansions of the rich and squalor of the slums. It doesn’t matter how well you feel or how in shape you are. No one escapes the certainty of death.

It strikes the old and the young, the sick and the healthy, the poor and the rich, the good and the bad. Death can be postponed, but never eliminated.

I know that talking about the subject of death, I am speaking on one of the three most unpopular topics discussed by believers. They are death, money, and hell.

Death dominates the news. It is estimated that about 75% of what we see on the news is somehow related to death. We are now living in what many sociologists are calling, "the culture of death."[1]

The mystery of death is a dominating theme in scripture. Death is called a tale that is told (Psa. 90:9). It is the valley of the shadow (Psa. 23:4), doors and gates of the shadow (Job 38:17). Death is described as being better than the day of one's birth (Eccl. 7:1

.

It is described as the night that comes (John 9:4), as waves that overtake (2 Samuel 22:5).

Death is described as a sleep from which we will wake (John 11: 11 ), as an appointment that must be kept (Heb. 9:27). But no one has described death quite as graphically and shockingly as Jeremiah. In the NIV, he describes death as follows: Death has climbed through our windows and has entered our fortresses (Jer. 9:21).

Dr. James Maxwell in his message using a similar title states “Every human being's life Is like a house that has windows. No matter how strong and secure the windows may be, you can not so lock the window to keep death from crawling through the window.

Let me remind you, death is not a respecter of persons. Death is not courteous or polite. It doesn’t send you a telegram or email; it doesn’t call you on the phone; it doesn’t ring your doorbell; it doesn’t rap or tap your window. It climbs through the window”.

If you are not careful death will kill you. If you mishandle death, somebody else’s death will hasten your death.

When death climbs through a window, the first thing to do is…

I. ASK YOUR QUESTIONS

A. In the text Jeremiah predicts the judgment of God upon Judah, the people of God, because of their stubbornness and sins (Jer. 9:1-5). This prediction includes their being taken captivity by the Babylonians, including the death of thousands of people (,Jer. 9:16).

Jeremiah says when judgment falls upon Israel "death would climb through a window and snuff out hundreds of lives.

It is a sad and dreadful day whenever death climbs through a window. BUT WHEN IT HAPPENS there are questions that need to be asked and answered.

B. What is death ANYHOW? -what do we mean by the use of the word death?

There are three kinds of death:

a. PHYSICAL DEATH, the separation of the spirit from the body;

b. SPIRITUAL DEATH, the separation of the spirit from God;

c. ETERNAL DEATH, the everlasting separation from the presence of God in hell.

EVERYTIME SOMEONE DIES, IT’S A REMINDER THAT THERE IS LIFE AFTER THIS LIFE. The old folk were right, dying wouldn’t be so bad if dying was all. AFTER DEATH IS THE JUDGEMENT. Heb. 9:27

C. THE MAJOR QUESTION WE ASK IS Why? Why this, why me, why now?

Why is not necessarily a rebellious attempt to question God's authority. Why is just wanting to understand and be at one with God's reasoning. .

The American Dictionary defines why this way: For what purpose, reason, or cause, with what intention, justification or motive..

Why? The word why is a request of a student, not merely for an answer, but for the understanding of the procedure that leads to an answer. Why is the student saying, "Explain the answer."

Why is saying, "God, I want to be a clone of Your wisdom. I want to draw from Your spiritual and intellectual resources until Your thoughts become my thoughts and Your ways become my ways, and Your ideas become my ideas. I want a supernatural exchange."