0:04 Let's pray and ask the Lord to speak to our hearts. We ask them to create in us a clean heart. That's what we need daily. And it is through his word that he washes us. He does it through the scriptures, and we need the power of the Holy Spirit to assist us.
0:21 Father, we come before you this morning very much sensing your nearness. Thank you for this family. Thank you for the people of God that are here for the right reason. And Lord, even if there's one that may not be here for the purpose of meeting with you, would you be gracious enough by the Spirit through your word to meet with that person and show them that you love them and that you want them for yourself? You wanna redeem them.
0:49 Lord, let your word be sound clear without error. Let it be without confusion in any person's mind. Let it be given free from distraction. It may be received with power and humility. Lord, we are in desperate need of your help as we open up your word, trusting that you have something for us.
1:09 Give us ears to hear and the heart to obey in Jesus' mighty name we pray. Amen. The the Christian faith is one of hope. The Christian faith is one of hope, and it's because the core of the message of Christianity is something as we know as the gospel of Jesus Christ. The gospel, which is good news, centralizes on this one truth.
1:41 It points out the fact that you and I as men are wretched. We are sinful. We are rebels against God. We have broken God's law, but it does not stop there. It provides the remedy that cleanses us from our sin and makes us right with God.
1:59 And the beauty about this message is that it infiltrates and influences every area of our life with hope. This message, this gospel, this faith does not simply inform you or me. It transforms the one who responds to it accordingly and appropriately. And becoming a Christian, brothers and sisters, is more than a slight alteration to what you do on Sunday morning instead of sleeping in. Responding to this gospel of hope radically shifts every aspect of your existence and mine.
2:40 That's why the Bible says in two Corinthians five seventeen, Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. Behold, the old has passed away, and behold, the new has come. In other words, what this means is that there is a change that occurs when one responds to this gospel by faith. And it's not about instant perfection. It's about, as you've heard before, an instant new heart direction.
3:10 And what happens from that initial change by responding to this gospel is that you live in a continual state of being changed by the power of this word, by the power of the Holy Spirit, by the power of this Bible. How we relate to God changes because of Christ. How you engage with your fellow men changes because of Christ. How you perceive your possessions change because of Christ. How you evaluate your life events and the events of this world changes because of Christ.
3:45 How you understand your past changes because of Christ. How you live in the present changes because of Christ, and how you look to the future changes because of Christ. There is not one corner of your life that is not influenced and impacted by this hope, by this gospel when one receives Jesus Christ. What is the difference between a follower of Jesus Christ and a person who isn't? We can talk about a 100 different reasons and different differences, but here's one.
4:18 The Christian has hope. The Christian has hope, and not hope in the way the world understands hope or discusses or expresses hope. Hope, biblically, is not wishful thinking, crossing your fingers that something were to happen in your life. Hope in the Bible stems from faith. Hope mainly is defined in the Bible as a strong expectation, as a firm anticipation that what God had said, what He would do or who He is and what is to come to pass will surely come to pass.
4:58 And this hope anchors the Christian in every area and every circumstances in life, whether small or big. It does not matter. He can move forward. She can move forward knowing that something's been infused into them, and that is something, as the Bible describes, as hope. Turn your Bibles to Romans 15 chapter 15 verse 13.
5:24 And see this beautiful request that the apostle Paul makes for believers of all time. It gives us insight about what hope is. Romans fifteen thirteen. May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing so that by the power of the Holy Spirit, you may abound in hope. Look at the title that's given to our God.
5:51 May the God of hope. He is a God who gives hope. He is a God in whom we can hope in. He is a God that provides strong confidence, provides firm, steadfast, immovable, unshakable trust. And he gives it more and more until it abounds in you by the power of the Holy Spirit.
6:19 But this is the beautiful thing about this verse. There's a strong connection between God giving hope and you experiencing joy and peace. So hope is not just this strong confidence that I have that is void of emotion, that is void of experiential reality. No. No.
6:36 No. No. When you have this hope, it blossoms into something as we know as true joy and true peace. You feel it. You know it.
6:47 You sense it even though you may not perceive it or see it come to pass right away. And this hope that this world is really in need of is only given to believers by the Holy Spirit. It is reserved for them alone. It produces something in us, and it enables us to walk this life and face anything. Hear me.
7:12 Anything with that joy and peace. Doesn't matter if it's suffering. It doesn't matter if it's persecution. It doesn't matter if it's abandonment by others. It doesn't matter if it's poverty itself.
7:22 This hope can remain. And the purpose of this message this morning, the purpose of this message and coming and bouncing off of this verse is to remind ourselves as Christians that this hope that is only reserved for those who are in the family of God is able to give us something, an ability to face, as I said earlier, everything, including arguably one of the most fearful, dreaded, inevitable, fought against events in every human's life, and we know it as death. Death. There are many theories about death. There are many questions about death, and we don't go to what's popular.
8:09 We don't go to what's comfortable to the world. We go to the Bible, which gives us the measure of truth and gives us all the answer about this event that, guess what, we're all gonna experience one day? Death. What does the bible have to say about death? Well, we can pull three things out in one short verse.
8:27 Turn your bibles to Hebrews chapter nine twenty seven. Hebrews nine twenty seven. It's a well known verse that we've all heard and many perhaps have even memorized. Hebrews nine twenty seven tells us, and just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment. And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment.
8:57 Let's pull three things out of this one verse concerning death and how it relates to all of mankind. Number one, death is inescapable. Death is inescapable. See the language here. It is appointed.
9:15 It is appointed. Whether you realize it or not, our lives are framed about and around appointments. You're at an appointment right now. You knew that this meeting started eleven. Some came earlier, some came later, but we have an appointment every single Sunday.
9:29 It's at 11:00. You have appointments this week. Some of them you've organized yourselves. Some of them are organized by others. Some of them you might cancel.
9:38 Some of them you have canceled in the past. Some are are too great to cancel. Everything is framed around appointments, about set times to be in a certain place, to meet a certain person, or to perform a certain thing. And this is the thing about death. It is an appointment that you will not be able to cancel.
9:58 It is an appointment that no matter how much you ignore it, no matter how much you're uncomfortable with it, no matter how much you try to push it aside in your mind, no matter how much you try to busy yourself to not think of that event, death is coming to meet you and me. It is appointed. It doesn't matter how healthy you are. It doesn't matter how much attention and rigorous discipline you give to your diet. It doesn't matter how strong your muscles are.
10:22 It doesn't matter how sharp your mind is. It doesn't matter what your plans are in the future. Death is coming for you and me. And you may have already successfully, through modern medicine and through science, and we're trying to do this more and more, prolong our life by finding cures and and and finding healing and finding whatever it takes to be able to live another day on the earth. But what modern medicine and modern science, no matter how much advance we get, will not be able to overcome this appointment called death.
11:03 This is what the Bible says in Psalms 49. You don't have to turn there. Verse seven to nine. Truly no man can ransom another or give to God the price of his life. For the ransom is costly and cannot suffice that he should live on forever and never see the pit.
11:20 What does that mean? Take all the money in the world. Take all the gold in the world. Line up all the banks. Open up all the vaults.
11:27 Get the riches of the rich together. Nobody can sign a check and give it to God that would be able to postpone or to dismiss death. It's coming. And I find it quite amazing that many, many get ready for a lot of events in their life. Many prepare themselves for many appointments throughout the week and even for things that are come years to pass, but very few are preparing themselves for this appointment that is due to come.
11:57 And the scary part about this appointment is that you don't know when it's coming. You might get a warning here and there. You might have some close calls, but you never know when it's actually going to come, and very few prepare for it. And no human, unless he is not sane, would dare to admit that death is not a reality. It's a reality for every single one of us.
12:18 And the Bible says it is appointed. Death is inescapable. Number two, death marks the end of one's life on the earth. It is appointed, here's the second part, for man to die once. For man to die once.
12:36 Many have taken comfort to believe that once they die, they will return to the earth in a either lesser or higher form of life. The Bible has no room for something called reincarnation. It doesn't exist. The Bible clearly says that you and I die once nothing more than that in terms of the physical body. There's no reset button.
13:01 Death is not a reset button. Death is not something that you can repeat. It's not a repeatable event. It is something that you cross the line once and for all, and you cannot come back from it. And it's never to be experienced again in in terms of the physical.
13:15 Why is that? Because it comes to the third point of what death is. Death, number three, seals the fate of man's soul. Death seals the fate of man's soul. This is the third part of the verse.
13:29 It is appointed. Death is inescapable. For man to die once, death marks the end of one's life on the earth. Thirdly, death seals the fate of man's soul because it says, and after that comes judgment. James two twenty six tells us that when the spirit leaves the body, the body dies.
13:49 And so there's another part of you that moves on while your body lays here at rest. And what happens is because reincarnation this is the reason why it's not biblical and it's not what the Bible describes after when when one dies. Death is a transition from this world to the next world, and it's another transition to another event. And what's that event? Judgment.
14:13 Every man will be judged. And you're saying, what's the judgement about? And I would say that it depends whether you are a Christian or not. Christians will be judged, yes, that's another sermon for another time, but judgement will come to all people. And if we can sum it up to what this judgement will be about, I believe we can summarize with this.
14:35 This judgment will simply be about God asking you what you did with Jesus Christ. What you did with this person, what you did with this good news, what you did with the sermons that you heard, what you did with this gospel that has been presented to you perhaps more than once. And how you have responded to Jesus in your lifetime will determine where you go in the next lifetime, and the moment you give up your last breath seals the decision that you have made with this truth. It's irreversible. You can't go back.
15:17 There is no holding place after this world where you can somehow get your way into heaven. Once your spirit leaves this body, if it is not in union with Christ, you will be asked what you did with Jesus. And if you did not receive him, you will be rejected by him for all eternity. Death marks and seals the fate of man's soul. And this is not a part of this verse, but this is another point worth writing down.
15:50 Death was not a part of God's original plan. Job eighteen fourteen describes death as the king of terrors. Psalms 50 five:four-five, the psalmist describes how fear and dread and horror falls upon those concerning death. And there's a good reason for it, because there's a finality about it. There's something about the unknown.
16:18 There's something about separation in which you can't bring anything or anyone with you when your spirit leaves your body. And some might object and say, well, what about those whose life circumstances are so intense that death seems like the better option? And I'm not here to give a case by case situation of how might one might think like that, but I remember watching something that left me stunned in in relation to even those who have deep suicidal thoughts. The Golden Gate Bridge, heard of it in San Francisco? The Golden Gate Bridge has claimed many victims to suicide.
16:57 I think over 2,000 at this point since it was built. And I remember watching this story. It's not a testimony. I don't know if the man is a believer, but he was one of the 19, or maybe he was the twentieth, that attempted suicide but survived when he fell into the water. And this man, before he describes that moment, was describing his mental state, the hopelessness, the sense of despair, the hallucinations he was even having.
17:27 And he came to the place where he realized that death is the better option. And so he comes to that bridge and before he's about to even jump off, a tourist asked if he could take a picture of her, and he does. And he thought to himself, here I am ready to kill myself, and nobody even cares about me. So what does he do? He sees the guardrail, and he takes a few steps back, and he puts his hands, and he catapults off of that rail.
17:53 And this is the most profound thing that he has said in that interview. He said, as much as I crave death, the millisecond that I let go of that rail, there was instant regret. And he said him, alongside with the 19 other survivors, said the exact same thing. This is not a part of the message. If you are contemplating suicide, let me tell you something.
18:27 Death is not your savior. Jesus is. Take it from this man who thought that death would be able to solve his problem. And it wasn't until he was faced with it where he realized that Job eighteen fourteen is true, that death is in fact the king of terrors. It was not a part of God's original plan.
18:58 Death, even on the outside, if it's not if it's not directly related to us in terms of our body, when it's when it's affected somebody that we know, there's another sense of horror, and there's another sense of pain, and that is the pain of separation from a loved one. When when somebody moves on, there's grief, and there is sorrow. Truly, that that is something that we have all experienced at one point. And many have objected to the idea of God being real to to this idea of death. If God is so good, how can so many suffer?
19:24 How can this how can these things come to an end like this? And how can people be separated from their families at a young age? But here's the reality of death. It does not point to a God who intended death to be a reality. It points to man who has invited death into existence because of the rebellion against God in the first place.
19:43 Romans five twelve, you don't have to turn there. Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned. Death has a root, brothers and sisters. Death started at some point. Death was not the original plan.
20:04 Death is the cause and was ignited by one thing, man's disobedience to God. It is the result of sin. It is the expression of separation from God due to sin, and we cannot blame God for that. All death really does to you and me, if we are humble enough to receive it, is it preaches to our own rebellion. It shouts at us at the cost of sin.
20:34 It says in Psalms eighteen five that death has cords and is a snare that pulls people down into Sheol, which means the grave. You can't escape it. You can't run away from it. No matter how far you think you could go, eventually, it will pull you down suddenly. And the thing with death is it's not limited to a certain race.
20:58 It's not limited to a certain age group. It's not limited to a certain people. All types of people die. Some have lived few years. Some have lived many years, but they have ended up in the grave.
21:10 And so great is the curse of death. So great is the curse of death, that it is not limited to one way of falling into it. Death has made life so fragile. All it takes is one fatal blow to the head. All it takes is one accidental fall.
21:29 All it takes is one organ failure. All it takes is malnutrition. All it takes is a bullet. All it takes is taking in the wrong substance. All it takes is sometimes we don't even know.
21:47 Death is never satisfied. Death has never and will never come to a place where it says, you know what? I I think I'm full. I've reached my limit on my claim on humanity. Death is like fire.
22:00 You can keep feeding it, and it will only consume whatever you feed it. It's always hungry. It's always wanting. It never shuts its mouth. Just even talking about it this morning doesn't give us the fuzzies, does it?
22:20 Hearing this truth about death, speaking about death, conversing about that, hearing news about somebody dying, there's a sense of coldness and rigidness and fearfulness and questions that come that we try to shoo away, especially those who do not know Christ, and silence its claims on us. But we can be as quiet as possible, and we can be as ignorant as we want. It's coming. But remember the beginning of the message, that this gospel is a gospel of hope. And Jesus Christ offers hope not just in the little things in life, not just in the events of your life, but even in the face of death itself.
23:06 Hebrews chapter two, and you need to turn there with me please. Hebrews chapter two fourteen. Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, he being Jesus, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is the devil. And here's the beautiful promise. And deliver all who those through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery.
23:46 What is the solution to the fear of death, to the power of death, to the claims that death has upon humanity? The Bible tells us very clear right here that Jesus Christ took on flesh and through His death, He conquered death itself. That's the glorious truth. The Bible describes death as having keys. Keys in the Bible speak of authority.
24:13 Keys in the Bible speak of control. We understand keys as an entry a way of getting into a certain place and having access to certain content. And the Bible tells us clearly that death itself has keys. Revelation one eighteen, what did Jesus say? Behold, I'm alive forevermore.
24:36 And he says this remarkable thing in light of keys. I died, and behold, I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of death and Hades. I have the keys now. In other words, though Christ died, he beat death itself and now has the rightful authority to set anyone free with those keys from the power of death that has claim on your life and mine. Think of yourself in a prison cell.
25:03 Think of yourself and the whole world, really, in this prison, and over that prison cell is the name death. And every single person to find themselves in their own cell, locked forever, bound forever, no parole, no getting out, no escape, And in comes Christ. And as he steps in, he pushes aside every guard. He pushes aside the warden. He pushes aside every person that is in charge of that prison.
25:30 He goes into the vault. He takes the master key that opens every single cell, every single door. And all he does is as he walks through those corridors, he waits for one person to realize that he has the keys to shout, Set me free, Jesus. Set me free. And because he has the keys, he comes to your cell.
25:46 He opens that door. He brings you out, and he brings you into freedom. There are many people who don't realize that, unfortunately, that are sitting in their cell, gnawing away at those bars, trying to find a way to escape in their own strength when they don't realize that the Son of God is pacing back and forth waiting for them to just realize it so that He can open it for them. The result of Christ having the keys, verse 15, and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery. Fear cripples.
26:30 Fear binds. Fear locks. Fear paralyzes. And Christ says, even death itself and any fear of it, I am able to break it off of you. So much victory does Christ have over death that death itself is as pathetic and harmless as a headless Goliath.
26:59 I wanna give us three reasons why a Christian can smile at death. Notice smile at death. Why a Christian can sing on their deathbed. Why a Christian can, with joy and peace, enter into eternity. Number one, death in Christ is the means by which you and I enter into the presence of God in his fullness.
27:27 Death is the means now. Death is the roadway. Death is the path. Death is that door that takes you from where you are right now into something that would blow your mind if you were in your natural body. We know this verse, Philippians one twenty one and twenty three.
27:43 Hear it and let it convict you if you're not able to say the same thing. For to me to live is Christ. Now look at this. This is fascinating. This is what hope does.
27:57 For to me to live is Christ, and who in the world would dare to say this, and to die is gain? Why, Paul? Why is it that you can say, for me to die is actually better than for me to live? Well go down to verse 23. I'm hard pressed between the two.
28:15 My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better. Oh, okay. So death means to be with Christ forever. Did Paul not have communion with Christ on the earth? No, he did.
28:29 But what he anticipated was unhindered, unhinged, uninterrupted fellowship with the Son of God Himself. And He knew that when I leave this body, that's when I'm going to experience it. Now I have to ask you this. In light of your relationship with Christ now, can you confidently say verse 21, for to me to live is Christ and to die is gain? Yeah.
28:57 I can't wait till it happens. This is almost insanity unless you have hope, unless you know what's coming after that moment. I can't wait to be in the presence of the Lord all the days of my life. So Paul had a two part perspective. Living is for Jesus, dying is seeing Jesus.
29:16 Living is serving Christ, dying is fellowshipping with Christ. It's one of the most precious verses I believe for the Christian in the New Testament, but flip the perspective. That is the Christian's perspective on understanding what death is like. You know, the Bible says, precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints. Other words, when he sees a believer die, there's there's this he values it.
29:47 It's not cheap to him. It's not something that he just disregards and dismisses. Every single saint that dies, it is precious in his sight. I think about the psalmist, Asaph, in Psalm 73 verse 24. Look how he talks about his relationship with God.
30:04 Hear this very carefully, and look at the language. You guide me with your counsel in this life. You guide me with your counsel in this life. You navigate me through my days. But then look what he says afterwards.
30:15 And afterward, you this is very personal. You will receive me into glory. You will receive me into glory. So there's a reception waiting. There there's someone on the other side that is going to receive you and me into his presence forever and ever.
30:35 As you some of you know, I'm from Canada, and so I I don't have much opportunity to go and visit my family, especially when I was studying the past three and a half years. So those past three and a half years, I would say I probably went to Canada twice a year, at most, and my family would come here more often. And there was a joy whenever I had the opportunity to go, especially if we had the chance to drive up to Canada, because I wasn't being picked up at the airport. I was going straight to my house, and I was entering into my home, and I would see my parents in the comfort of my home with a home cooked Middle Eastern meal waiting for me. But you know what part of the joy was of being able to go into my home after I haven't seen my parents in so long and my family?
31:16 Part of the joy was seeing their reaction and seeing their joy when I stepped into the house and embraced them. There was a joy in seeing, because I knew when I saw them how excited they were to see their son, that he's come home and now there's that face to face. It's not about FaceTime anymore. It's not over the phone. No.
31:39 We're we're in each other's presence. And I believe that we have the same right to believe that when you go into this next life, that we have a father in heaven that is gonna receive us. And I believe there's gonna be an element of joy of just seeing his reaction when he sees his sons and daughters coming home, and there's that uninterrupted fellowship. There's the glorified body that can retain and maintain the glory of God. Are you looking forward to it?
32:14 Death is the means by which you and I enter into the fullness of the presence of God. Number two, death is the means by which you and I are regathered with those who have died in Christ. Second Samuel twelve twenty three, David said when his infant baby died, I will go to him, but he shall not return to me. Luke sixteen nineteen or 31 describes Abraham, the rich man, and Lazarus stepping into the afterlife and being able to recognize each other. First Thessalonians four seventeen tells us that Paul is encouraging the believers to know that though fellow believers have died in the Lord at the rapture, the believers who are currently living will be gathered, and this is a language there in verse 17, together with him in the clouds to meet the Lord.
33:08 What does that mean? That we're not just going to fellowship with the Lord, but we're going out there to fellowship with the Lord together. And for those who have died in Christ beforehand, you and I are gonna be able to see them and recognize them. That is tremendous hope for you and I, specifically for those who have lost a loved one that is in Christ. You better believe that you will see them and not just see them, you will see them in the most beautiful state that you could ever imagine in their glorified bodies, glorifying God with you for the end of ages.
33:39 Think of the retreats that you've been on. Think about the retreat that we go on every single year in Maranatha. What makes that retreat so special? What makes any conference that's Christ centered truly special? We've all said it at one point.
33:50 It's like heaven on earth. Why? Because you're separated from the world. You're separated from distractions. You're separated from the influences and all the filth that spewed on us in our daily affairs, and you've come to a place where it's secluded.
34:00 You've come to a place with like minded people in the presence of God, and you just don't wanna leave. My goodness. I know I know this. People don't wanna sleep, And rightfully so, because there is such deep joy in knowing and experiencing that with one another. Brothers, it's only a fraction.
34:21 Sisters, it's only a a a glimpse of what's to come in glory. That when we step into the shores of eternity, we're not stepping in there unaware of who else is there. Oh, there's gonna be a celebration, especially when you fought the good fight with others and you get to show each other your scars and your battle wounds. And I'm sure we'll be able to say many things, and one of them is this, it was worth it, wasn't it? Death is the means by which we are gathered and reunited with those in Christ.
34:51 Lastly, death for the Christian is never too late, never too early, just on time. Just on time. When you choose to put your life in the hands of God, you've also given him the permission to determine when you leave this life. Now this is this is not even for those who are just Christian. This is specifically for those who choose to as putting their faith in Christ, walking faithfully and righteously before him, dedicating their days and their time and their energy for his glory.
35:27 You wanna know peace in this life, live for God. Because once you do that, and you've determined that your purpose is to satisfy His will, you can be assured that a part of that package is you ain't leaving this earth until He's finished with you. I can testify to this. I've had opportunities to fly, and every time I've gone on a plane, and there have been those occasional turbulent moments that have caused me to begin to pray intensely in my heart, gripping the things. And the thought always comes to me, that always brings me comfort.
35:58 Taking off or landing. Alright, Lord. If this is it, this is it. I'm finished. To live is Christ, to die is gain.
36:09 And this is something that's available to you. If you want a confirmation for that, Acts thirteen thirty six. But here's another one. Revelations chapter 11. Just hear this verse.
36:19 This is about the two witnesses at the end of age. This is so powerful that have been given twelve hundred and sixty days to do what? Twelve hundred and sixty days to perform the will of God, and this is what their ministry is gonna look like in verse six of Revelation 11. They have the power to shut the sky that no rain may fall during the days of their prophesying, and they have power over the waters to turn them into blood and to strike the earth with every kind of plague as often as they desire. So we see here that they have a supernatural ministry granted by God.
36:51 So don't dismiss the fact that they are anointed by God to perform something in the last days. Focus on this this little truth that might some people might miss. They have been given specific days, twelve hundred and sixty days to perform these things. Now look what it says in verse seven. And when they have finished their testimony, the beast that rises from the bottomless pit will make war on them and conquer them and kill them.
37:17 The beast, we're talking about a vicious demonic force, could not lay a finger on the two witnesses because the 1,260 weren't up yet. The moment their day was up was the moment that they were allowed to die. Your days and mine are numbered. And this is not just comfort for us, this is comfort for if we ever lose a brother or sister in Christ, whether it's thirty or 96. We know based on these truths that God has fulfilled his purpose through them, and he's taken them into glory.
37:52 Death is the means by which you and I enter into the presence and the fullness of it, of God Himself. Death is the means by which you and I are reunited with Him. And not just Him, but with fellow brothers and sisters. No wonder Paul says in one Thessalonians four eighteen, encourage one another with these words. And death, in light of the Christian's life, is never too late.
38:12 It is never too early. The subject of death, though avoided, though feared by many, is actually something that the Christian can face with a smile. Listen, the Bible is not unrealistic about death. The Bible gives us permission to grieve. The same Jesus who says, I am the resurrection and the life in John 11.
38:35 He who believes in me, even though he dies, yet he lives. The same Jesus who said that, a few verses later, says that he wept. We can grieve. There is a natural emotion to somebody departing from this world and not living the rest of our lives with them. That is true.
38:52 But the Bible also tells us that we do not grieve as the world grieves. First Thessalonians four thirteen. Why? Because we have a hope that they don't have. And this hope is so powerful.
39:03 This hope is so strong. This hope is so deep that even the most dreaded thing in life can be faced with joy. But it's only for those who are in Christ. Here's a simple exhortation to you and me this morning. Do you feel defeated?
39:28 Do you feel weak? Do you feel like you haven't conquered anything? Do you feel like you haven't accomplished anything? What are you feeling that makes you feel like you're not a conqueror in Christ? Know this, because of Christ, no matter what you do or don't do in this life, you're gonna conquer death.
39:47 You're gonna overcome death itself because of what Jesus has done for you and me. If you're in this place today and you don't have Jesus Christ as your Lord and savior, hear me very carefully. With all humbleness and with all due respect, I say this, none of what was just said applies to you. In fact, you have every reason to fear death. And as dreadful as death is, as the bible describes death as the king of terrors king of terrors.
40:26 Think about that. All the terrors in life, line it up. And you wanna know who the king of is? Death. But if you don't know Jesus Christ as your Lord and savior, know this, that where you will go because of your rejection of Jesus Christ will make you crave death itself, but you will never get death even in hell.
40:52 So where hell is is so terrifying because it's the act of wrath of God that it makes death look appeasing and attractive. You know, when you talk like this, people often condemn you for scare tactics. But line me up with Jesus because he talked about it more than anybody else for good reason because he knew what it was. For good reason, he created it. The invitation today is for hope.
41:25 God is not inviting you to escape hell and just walk aimlessly in this life and void of any true joy. There's hope, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit. God ready to pour out on your life if you simply realize that you're in a prison cell and you can't get out unless you call upon the one who has the keys to set you free. The Bible tells us that whoever calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. The Bible says whoever comes to him, he will never cast away.
42:03 You might be thinking, you don't know what I've done. I I actually deserve this prison cell. And that might be true, but there is something greater than what you think you deserve, and that is the grace of Jesus Christ. And he extends your his hand to yours to say, I know what you've done. I know you deserve this, but my love is greater than the punishment that you deserve.
42:26 And I'm willing to pour it out on you in such a way in which you will experience a freedom that you never thought you would experience. To get today could be the turning point. Today, you can enter into your car and at the same time realize that in your soul you've exited out of your prison cell, and death no longer has claim on you and will never have claim on you. The Bible promises that according to Romans eight thirty eight, that even death itself cannot separate you from the love of Christ. So what's holding you back?
43:02 Do you long to enter into a life in which you can say with confidence to live is Christ and to die is gain? This is what Jesus wants to do in your life right now. Would you receive it saying, brother, how do I do it? Well, you're in a prison cell. Call upon the one who has the keys, and he'll do it.
43:25 Let's pray. If you are a Christian that has known freedom in Christ, our prayer in light of this message is that your heart would be stirred to realize the victory that is yours and that you would have a fresh song on your lips towards the one who has granted you victory. If you have not accepted Jesus Christ, why don't you take this time of prayer to realize that if you just humbly confess, turn from your sin, and believe on him, and ask him to forgive you and to wash you and to set you free, Take that opportunity right now and watch what God will do in your life. It is amazing what he will do to the one who truly wants to be set free.
