Finishing Well | Pastor Daniel Batarseh

Let's read a few verses together. Shall we meet me in the book of second Timothy in chapter four verse six. Second Timothy four six. For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure has come. I have fought the good fight.

I have finished the race. I have kept the faith. Henceforth, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that day and not only to me, but also to all who have loved his appearing. Lord, we love, we yearn, we long for your appearing. We desire it.

Lord, prepare us to live a life, equip us to live a life in which we can echo the same declaration that Paul makes here. Lord, we need your power, we need your grace, we need your help. Lord, cut through all the clutter in our hearts. Soften the calloused parts of who we are. Destroy the curse of being too familiar with something to the point where it doesn't affect us, and and do what only you can do through this word.

Energize the preaching by the spirit, and let our hearts be revived in your presence. We ask these things in Jesus' name. Amen. Death is the dreaded experience that all men must embrace at some point in their lives. At some point in their brief existence on this earth, you will die.

I will die. It is the inevitable and universal fate of Adam's race. Men have tried to prolong their lives. Clever men have attempted to try to eliminate that possibility altogether. What God has said will be done.

Man has been cursed. Men will die. And though every human life story reads differently, they really all have the same ending. Because each and every single one of us share the same curse. Every single one of us has a body with an expiration date.

You may not know it, but God knows it. And it's because of the sin of our first parents translating down to their descendants, including you and I in 2022. And over the years, we've had thinkers and poets, teachers who have philosophized about death, and you've even had some who have claimed to have answers about this thing. And they also, with confidence, claim that their sources derive from some transcendent being. But while most believe that death, cannot be explained until it is experienced, and others have some very bold assertions about what to expect when one dies, it is the word of God that has the exclusive and the necessary truths about this mystery called death.

This book is filled with extensive insights concerning the origination of it, the reason for death, Life after death, the hope over death, and praise God, the death of death itself. And this wealth of information should not only comfort the believer, should not only console the soul of the one who's been redeemed by grace, but it should also challenge us as Christians to reach those before they enter into that portal of no return without a savior. And though many of us would know that the bible speaks about death and gives hope concerning death, many may not understand that the Bible also strategically has given us many records of the final moments of of people's lives. Think about it for a moment. Think about those in which we've been given the concluding thoughts and actions before they have departed into the next world.

Think about Abraham. Think about Jacob. Think about David. Think about, the kings throughout first and second Kings. Think about the prophets.

Think about men like Stephen and others who have died for the cause of Christ. And before us today, you and I have a testimony of a man who sacrificially served God to the very last moments. And the Holy Spirit saw it fit that you and I would see the upright attitude of a man who has laid down his life to serve the cause of Christ with everything that was within him. Why does the Bible go out of its way to reveal such things? Why does the Bible give us records of what we just read here and even even examples of people who have died in a certain way?

Well, for one, so that as you and I reflect on how these men finish their race, we would want to finish well. We ourselves would say, that is something that I aspire to. That is something that I really, really want to avoid. And God cares about how you and I finish. God cares about how you and I end this thing.

He's given us a few verses here to consider because what we see here with Paul, though it is a very strange thing. Because as you read these verses, you see a fearlessness. You see a confidence. You even see an anticipation as a man is ready to face one of the most chilling circumstances that can be possible. Imagine waiting day by day for that call for you to exit this world into the next.

Imagine the anxiety. Imagine the crippling fear. Imagine what's rushing through your mind and your heart, and yet this man here seems so unmoved, so unshaken, so undisturbed. And what we see here with Paul as he's about to embrace what the Bible calls in the book of Job the king of terrors is available to you and I because we serve the same master. We serve the same Lord who is able to impart the same grace that he put into this once a terrorist, now an apostle.

The question is, how is it possible though? How is it possible for this this man to have such a level of composure? How can a man be so calm? How can he have such presence of mind? How can he be so poised while he is pending in a prison?

The call for him to have his head removed from his shoulders. And it's in these verses that we just read. It's what we see right here. It's so plain. It's so clear.

It's so obvious. And it invites us to be able to realize the same strength as you and I one day will slip into eternity. May I remind you today that the preacher's job is to remind you of eternity As you're hustling and bustling through life, this isn't it. There is another world and it's much more permanent than this one. How is Paul so strong?

Well, consider three things. First, his readiness to meet death. Second, his reflection before death. And third, the reward that awaited him after death. First, his readiness to meet death.

Second, his reflection on his life before death. And third, the reward that awaited him after death. In verse six we read, I'm already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure has come. Can you sense the resolve? Can you feel the tranquility?

The control? This man is not writing with uncertainty or with panic. There's no such tone. He's completely aware of the seriousness of the predicament but he is also confident not just in the way he delivers what he is saying right here, but even in the choice of words that he uses in his explanation of what's about to come about. Look at it here.

After he says, I am I'm already being poured out as a drink offering. That that's an old testament connection. A drink offering was a type of offering in which you would pour out, whether it was wine or another substance, mainly that, you would pour it out upon a sacrifice. And what Paul's trying to say is, my life is spent. Every single drop has been given already.

And though he hasn't been a martyr yet, he's already determined in his heart, I'm ready to give it all. But from there he goes on to say, for the time of my departure has come. The word departure is unique in this verse in light of the whole old, New Testament. He when he says this, he's choosing this specifically. He doesn't say the time of my death has come, though that would have been true.

He says the time of my departure has come. And the original word there is unique and it has a variety of meanings, and it's quite insightful. The word in a general sense to be means to be unloosed. The idea there is that you are bound, and you are limited from moving freely or to move forward. And when he says, the time of my departure has come, what he's essentially saying is, I'm being set free.

I'm being set free to go where I want to go and to do what I really want to do. And the common metaphor here is that of a ship that has been attached to the shore by some rope or cable. But all for a sudden, it is lifted off and there is now no hindrance and that boat can sail into the horizon to its desired destination. The time of my departure has come. When this man is speaking about death, he's not speaking about it as a frightening experience.

He's actually speaking of it as a freeing one. As much as he was busy in the world being fruitful for God, there was a sense that he felt limited in many ways. Because in another portion of scripture in Philippians one twenty three, he says, oh, for my desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better. That is far better. You know, to Paul, to be with Christ was better than planting churches.

It was better than seeing Christians built up in their faith. It was better than seeing miracles performed through his own hands. The thing that was the best to him was to just be with Christ. And death here for the apostle, through his final breath, would be the means to lift the anchor. To lift the anchor that was holding him down from experiencing what he longed for since he was born again.

And that was to reach the harbor of heaven and be greeted by his Lord. And to embrace his master. And to have his master embrace him. Death to this man was, though it was dark, it served to undress him. Undress him from his brokenness, from his corruption, from his limitations, and so that he can be dressed and fashioned with a holiness and a beauty that our minds could not comprehend so that he would be fashioned to live with Christ forever and ever and ever.

My desire is to be with Christ. The time of my departure has come. I got my ticket. I'm getting on this flight and I'm going where I wanted to go for so long. Is there a fear in that?

Is there trouble in that? Is there disturbance in that? Who can talk like this? Someone who understands death as a righteous as a righteous man who has been imparted with that righteousness from a gracious savior. You know, this incredible verse in Proverbs 16 verse seven, it says that when a man's ways pleases God, he even makes his enemies to be at peace with him.

Have you ever read that scripture? When a man's ways please the Lord, he even makes his enemies to be at peace with him. In the immediate sense, that speaks about, an unusual favor in life, even with your opponents, that God gives so that you can navigate and perform his will in a certain way. But I like to think of it beyond that without butchering the scripture. Because although God can give us, peace with our enemies here on earth, God has also granted us peace with the greatest enemy of all and that is death itself.

Not because you and I have pleased God, because one who are who is on our behalf pleasing God, who has pleased God. And because of his substitutionary atonement, death, that enemy of enemies, the greatest and one of the greatest enemies to us cannot touch us, cannot harm us. Because of Christ, we can transition through it unscathed. God has called death to be at peace with us because Christ has pleased the father on our behalf. And now we can transition through that that gate that has claimed and sealed the the souls of men into condemnation as though we were walking through any ordinary door.

Consider the other portions of scripture that speak about that experience of death differently for the righteous than for the wicked. Consider for example with me God's prophecy over Abraham in the early journeys of his faith when he was still known as Abram. I want you to go to Genesis fifteen fifteen and see something quite interesting concerning Abram's destiny. After he was told about what was gonna happen with his prosperous and numerous seed, God assures him of a long life and a peaceful departure at a good old age. In Genesis fifteen fifteen, this is the Lord speaking over Abram, and this is what he says to this man.

As for you, in Genesis fifteen fifteen, as for you, you shall go to your fathers in peace. You shall be buried in a good old age. Here's the assurance. You will be buried at a ripe age. But more than that, you will continue to live on still.

You're heading towards something. You will actually be gloriously gathered to your fathers. Specifically, his death would be the door that would immediately usher into the presence of those who have passed on before him, who've also been claimed by God because of their faith though they were in the old covenant. They looked forward as we look back to what Christ has done. Now some might say the phrase here, you shall go to your fathers in peace implies that Abraham would just be buried with his ancestors.

But the flow of the text does not suggest such a thing. Let's look at the fulfillment of this prophecy 10 chapters later in Genesis 25 verse eight. And look what we receive here concerning the fulfillment of what God said earlier. In Genesis 25 verse eight, Abraham breathed his last and died in a good old age, an old man and full of years and was gathered to his people. Now this doesn't mean that when he died he was buried with those that were buried before him.

Because the next verse tells us that Isaac and Ishmael did that for him. So it's the sequence doesn't suggest that he was, he was gathered to those who were already passed on and he put him in a location where he was in close proximity to to those who were connected to him in terms of heritage. They would take him to where Sarah was buried. Abraham purchased a cave for her and he would bury them in the same place. Instead, what's really happening here is that the moment he gave his final breath, he was in the presence of those who were also awaiting that glorious unification with their glorified bodies.

Isn't it a thrilling thought to know that if God grants you a deathbed, you might be whimpering with your last breath, and as you whisper that final exhale, though you may be surrounded by loved ones, in that moment, in that very moment, you'll be gathered to God's people. Perhaps even some that have passed on in your life that you miss dearly, if they are in Christ, they're waiting for you. They're waiting for you. If you still doubt that being gathered to his people means that we are brought into a blissful place with those who have been redeemed by God. Just look at one final text and we'll put any doubts to rest.

Consider how his grandson, Abraham's grandson died. And come here to the final portion, almost the final portion of Genesis in chapter 49 verse 33. I wanna make you excited about this. Genesis 49 verse 33, when Jacob finished commanding his sons, he drew up his feet into the bed and breathed his last and was gathered to his people. You're saying, well it's the same thing.

No, it's not because you you read the next chapter, what do you realize? That they embalmed him for forty days and the Egyptians wept over him for seventy days, so the man wasn't if gathered to his people means to be buried with your people, he wasn't gathered to his people for several weeks. But here we're told that immediately when he put his feet up on that bed, that old man who had to walk around with his staff, who who was leaning on it in worship before this moment as we're told in Hebrews, He gave up his final breath and he was caught up to be with his people. That's exciting to me. Death is not annihilation.

Death is not, cessation to live. Death is just a transition. It's just moving from one location to the next. Though your body remains, it'll be reunited with you at one point, but you are immediately brought into the company of those who have also chosen with their life to trust in the savior. And I don't know what's gonna happen there, but I'm sure it's great.

I'm sure it's wonderful. Death doesn't delete your identity. It doesn't. You will be recognized and you will be able to recognize others. You'll even be able to recognize Abraham, Isaac and Jacob as Jesus says that we will sit at the same table at them as them.

Can you imagine that? How what how wonderful? How glorious? There's such a different experience for the righteous as they come to that final time of their lives. And as comforting and as exhilarating as that might be, I can tell you this, that Paul's most, exciting thought was not to be reunited with Stephen to to surprise him even though he played a part in his martyrdom.

It wasn't to to finally meet Moses, David, and the prophets, the men that he studied about and taught about. As great as those things are, as great as it would be to reunite with those who have died during his ministry, the, the climax for Paul was what you heard earlier, to be with Christ. To be with the one that for week after week you have sung about and heard sermons about. Finally, you will see him. And be in close proximity to him.

Face to face. No more veil. No more seeing through a glass dimly. As real as I am to you, more real will it be when Christ calls you home. And Paul here longed for that.

That was the delight of his departure. That that's what made him giddy almost. Christ purchased our salvation so that death would not be the seal of your condemnation. It would be the means to sail you into his presence. Who awaits us?

Who awaits us after that? Who awaits us on the other side of death's gate? Who's ready to flood us with his affection? Who's ready to ready to welcome us and extend those pierced hands? Who is ready?

Christ himself. Not just the people that you miss, that you live with on this earth. Not just angels who have been summoned to serve you while you were a pilgrim in this world. Christ himself is there waiting for personal welcome and the enjoyment of his presence forever and ever. Paul's readiness to meet death was framed by a revelation that the righteous will experience death differently than every person who is outside of Christ.

Have you heard that story that is often shared among preachers? Of the father and the son driving on a country road with their windows down, And as they're driving, a bee swarms in that vehicle and starts buzzing. And that child, that son is absolutely terrified because they know that they're allergic to bees. And if that bee stung him, then he could quite possibly lose his life. So as the father and son are driving and that that bee became a a third passenger, there was total panic.

Panic in the son at least. The father was totally calm. And the son was calling for the dad to pull over, to to swat the fly away, and giving all these suggestions. And without saying a word, with great calm but great strength, the father extends his hand and grabs the bee in his palm, closes it and makes a fist. There's a brief silence in the son, but then the father opens his hand again and the bee starts buzzing and moving around just like as it was before, and the son starts screaming again, frightened.

This time the father speaks up and when he speaks up, he says, son, look at my hand. And he opens his hand while he has the other one on the steering wheel and the son looks down and he sees that the sting is in that hand. And the father says, there's nothing to fear anymore. I took the sting. All this bee can do is just buzz now, make noise.

And that's what it's like with death for the Christian. It's a fearful experience for many, but Christ took the sting of death. And all that thing can do now is intimidate you and lie to you. But the punishment has been dealt with. It can't do anything to you and I anymore.

For the righteous who have placed their faith in the one who took those piercings in his hands, in his feet, in his side, it cannot touch you. It cannot hurt you. It cannot claim you. It only serves you now. It serves you to bring you to where you want to be.

Right Christian? You wanna be with Christ, I'm sure. Paul had a readiness to meet death because he understood what Christ did to death on his behalf. But I want to tell you today that readiness to meet death is not available to you church goer. It's not available to you, person who thinks that just because you got baptized you're saved.

Just because you take communion consistently means that your sins are forgiven every single time no matter what wretched things you did that means that you're sins are forgiven every single time no matter what wretched things you did that week. You can only have a readiness when you have put your faith and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ. When you have repented of your sin and you have made him the Lord of your life. When he becomes Lord of your life and savior, he will extend his hand and guide you through, guide you through even death, not just life. Paul had a readiness to meet death.

Do you? Do you? You know the question, and you know the answer. But in verse seven, we don't just see the readiness to meet death, we see the reflection before his death. I have fought the good fight.

I have finished the race. I have kept the faith. The greatest peace that you can know in this life is that you know, you you are ensured that you have put your soul in the saving hands of the Lord Jesus. Nothing can triumph over that. Nothing can come close to the serenity that comes only from salvation and salvation alone.

But there was a part to Paul's Paul's peace that you and I have to consider. And what it is here is that when he chose to recollect and reminisce about his days from the moment he became a born again believer to the moment where he would come into glory, there was no serious regrets in his Christian journey. These powerful metaphors, I've fought the good fight, I've finished the race, I've kept they're all saying the same thing essentially. They speak of a completed mission. They speak of someone who was secure in their reflection that the essence of their life on earth was to serve God.

There is a comfort that comes that whatever was assigned to him by the Lord, it was accomplished and observed with faithfulness and consistency. Paul didn't go off course. He didn't put his ministry on the shelf. He didn't fall in love with this present world. He didn't end in the flesh.

And to him, that was a surge of peace as he faced this moment. You know, there are some followers of Christ. I hope every person in here would agree to this, who are convinced today and day by day that to make your life about anything else except for the cause of Christ is a complete waste. Unfortunately, you have some believers who won't realize that until later on in life. Once that they explored a little bit and, and tried buying the newest and the latest and expanding and projects, it's only later on in life where they realize, I didn't think it would feel like this.

And then you have some who will realize it at the end of the road altogether. Who are, who are not convinced until they begin to smell eternity. It's true. There are some professing Christians who struggle to be persuaded that to make your life practically framed around knowing the Lord and serving him maybe isn't as worth it as the preacher says it is. God knew that that would be a temptation.

God knew that that would be a lie that Christians would have to face even. And so he ordains his word to be filled with examples and encouragements and warnings not to believe the lies that would dampen your devotion and cause you to do the opposite of what Paul is doing here in this prison cell and say to yourself, what have I done? What did I do? And we see here that God wants us to be able to echo these sentiments. And he provides so many, so many, so many, so many instructions to be safeguarded and protected so that we can arrive where Paul is here.

Can I show you one example? It's in the gospel of Luke chapter 12. We're told in Luke twelve one that there were many thousands who were gathered around Jesus. I mean, so many people were gathered around the God man that they were trampling on one another. They were actually trampling on one another.

And Jesus took this time to address his disciples and there's no doubt that the crowd around them heard what was being taught. And so as he looks to his core group, he begins to teach. And the first thing that he does is he warns his disciples about hypocrisy. And he points to the Pharisees and the Sadducees, and he says, be careful. Be careful of being like them.

And after that, he goes on to speak about fearing God, not fearing man. He touches on hell. He touches on judgment. And then in the same sentence, he goes on to talk about the loving care of the heavenly father that even gives attention to what we would think is insignificant and that is the little birds that you drive by and walk by. And then from there, he speaks about the day of standing before Christ and ensuring that you do not deny him on earth.

And enduring persecution is the price to pay to following this Lord. And the promise that as you stand before those who would try to condemn you, the Holy Spirit will give you the right words to say. Don't even meditate about it. And after these deep spiritual truths are declared, the teaching is interrupted by a man unnamed in the crowd. And you would think that he would ask for clarification on these things or perhaps the best application to these truths, But then we come here to verse 13 and we realize what is actually being said.

Someone in the crowd said to him, teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me. What? What's the relevance of this? There isn't any. And though I don't know this man's name and you don't know it either, just from this I know a lot about him.

As he is sitting there in the presence of the word made flesh, the incarnate Son of God, declaring these glorious truths, You know what he's concerned about? Personal security. Possessions being secured in his name. His future being established. There's no concern here from this man about spiritual riches or being prepared for eternity.

You know what this tells me? That even as Jesus is preaching, somebody's mind is somewhere else. Brings me some comfort at least. This man this man is not even responding to what's being said. He's not even considering it.

He's not even inquiring about it. All for a sudden, he just belches out. Would you tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me? Where's your mind at? And why is he asking Jesus?

I have a hunch that he realizes when this guy speaks, there's authority, man. People are gripped. And I've seen people come up to him and make requests to heal their daughter or their demon possessed son. So surely he's a humble servant enough to consider my desire. Hey, Rabbi, would you ask my brother to split the check with me?

If you ever doubt the power of greed, don't forget this man. If you ever deny or put into question how materialism can possess a person, consider this person. Case on point, he's in the very presence of God who has done things that Israel has never seen. And yet, all the while, he is consumed with stuff. And Jesus, as the master teacher as he was, he's gonna take this interruption and make it into a teaching opportunity.

And so he masterfully says in verse 14, but he said to a man, who made me a judge or arbitrator over you? In other words, I didn't come here to deal with civil issues. I came here to save souls. I'm not concerned about you having the inheritance that your father left your brother. I'm here about your soul.

And then he goes on to warn. And he said to them, take care. The NASB would say, beware. King James, New King James, take heed. Beware.

Take care and be on your guard against all covetousness. For one's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions. This flies in the face of the American dream. This flies in the face of many people in the West, even who who go to church and love hearing sermons and their life is about accumulating. And Jesus says, don't do that.

And for him to warn with such severity already gives us an idea that it is quite possible that at one point in our journey, we can get caught up with possessions and experiences and promotions. And Jesus says, that's not what life is about. And usually when you bring such a thing before a crowd of Christians, there is some anxiety because especially in the West, people wanna know how can I measure whether or not I am making my life about the wrong thing? I work, I I have desires, I have plans, I'm a businessman, I want to expand, I wanna multiply, I wanna secure my future. And so as something like this is taught, you get some people to think, so what are you asking of me?

Aren't you glad to know that Jesus clarifies what it means to make your life about possessions? And having your life be the exact opposite of how Paul reflected on his own. All you have to do is read on. He gives a parable and we go to verse 18. He speaks about a rich man and he said, this rich man, I will do this.

I will tear down my barns and build larger ones and there I will store up all my grain and my goods. And I will say to my soul, Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years. Relax. Eat, drink, be merry. But God said to him, fool, this night your soul is required of you.

And the things you have prepared, whose will they be? Whose will they be? You know his reoccurring words in this man's thoughts. Two very short words, but are significant to understanding this parable. I and my.

I and my. Look at it again. I will tear down. I will do this. I will build larger ones.

I will store up. I will say to my soul, I, I, I, my, my, my. What's the idea here? If our plans, if our desires, if our resources are exclusively about I and my and exclude God and his kingdom, as this man is showing in his thoughts, you have something to be worried about. You do.

Notice that all this man was concerned was about relaxing, eating, drinking, and being happy. Saying, is there anything wrong with that? And I say no, unless you were doing it apart from enjoying God. Is it is it wrong to relax and eat and drink? No.

But if you're doing it without God, it is. It's idolatry. Who gave you all those things to enjoy by the way? This man doesn't have the Lord in his ambitions at all. And when I looked at this, I thought to myself, how would a Christian, how would a true born again Christian think and reflect if he was in this man's shoes?

If he was successful? If he was strong? If he was a businessman who made much, much for himself? And I thought maybe he would say something along the lines of, Lord, how can I be serving? How can I be witnessing?

How can I advance your purposes with the lot of life that you've ordained for me? Doesn't that sound different? It doesn't exclude the eating, drinking, relaxing, but it includes the program of God lording over your plans and mine. When you say stuff like this, man, people get uncomfortable. At least I didn't call you a fool.

That's what God did. That's what God did. Oh man, when you look at these words, you think to yourself, this is what most people are occupied by. And what's so amazing here is that when a person forgets God, they at the same time often forget about their mortality. Did you understand what I just said?

When a person excludes God from their thinking or they fail to include God in their living, at the same time, they fall into another trap and that's a failure to realize their own mortality, and then they plan accordingly. They plan as though they're staying here forever, as though their stuff will be there forever, like this man is. And that is the result of failing to see God and the realm that he occupies and the destination that we are headed towards. We we begin to think that we are immortal and that this is our permanent residence. And God says you're a fool because in the middle of your planning, I'm going to call your soul to come up.

This is the opposite of what Paul said about his life. Remember those words, indeed I count all things as loss compared to the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake, I've suffered the loss of all things that I may gain Christ and be found in him. Polar opposites. I have suffered the loss of all things for the sake of Christ that I may gain him, know him, love him, glorify him.

This man, I, my, me. And as Paul comes to that portion of second Timothy, he is able to reflect on his life and realize that I I live for a heavenly purpose. Oh, I fought. It wasn't easy. I ran.

It was a marathon. I want you to be able to say at the end of your life, whether you will be a businessman, whether you will be a nurse, whether you will be a doctor, whether you are one right now, or just a mother who is just raising up their children faithfully to be arrows in the kingdom of God, I want you to be able to say at the end of your life, I struggled for Christ. I struggled. Man, I endured betrayal. I I, by the grace of God, did not give myself over to a life of sin.

I didn't I didn't let laziness get a hold of me. When other people walked out on him, by the grace of God, I was loving him still. I want you to be able to say that. Because although it is hard, fighting is not easy. Running a footrace is not easy.

Although it's hard in the moment, oh, there's nothing more. Satisfying that at the end of the road you can say that I endured until the end. I endured until the end. Finally, in the last verse of our text, Paul reflects upon the reward that awaits him after his death. There was no regrets running through his mind as he sat there in that dungeon.

He could lay his head back on that wall with a smile on his face after penning these words to Timothy. He didn't have to pound it in regret or shame or embarrassment. But the lack of regret was not the only reason for his gratification. There was a knowledge of a coming reward. Something is happening.

Do you think Paul was frowning when he was writing about this heavenly award ceremony? Where there was a crown that was guarded for him and safely secured. Can I tell you something? If you take this book from cover to cover and you just study what awaits you as a believer and you put all the clues together, you will be overwhelmed. You will be overwhelmed.

And if you choose to believe it, I don't think you'll be nervous about death. In fact, you might be just like Paul here. Can I give you a couple of glimpses before we close? I love how the Bible organizes itself. It causes you to investigate.

It causes you to excavate. You have to go here and there and put it together and put the pieces so that you have a more clear it's exciting. Let me show you. You're in Luke still, right? We'll go to Luke 16.

Jesus, in this chapter, this wonderful chapter, teaches about different things. One of the things that he teaches about is hell. A word that's rarely even said in church today. Hell. But in his teaching, he contrasts two men, a rich man and a poor man named Lazarus.

This rich man was filthy rich. Lazarus, he was just filthy. And this man, as he was clothed with royalty outside of his home at his gate laid a bum who only experienced the compassion of dogs who were licking his wounds as he laid there as a diseased piece of meat. And he didn't even have a crumb in his name. That's all he aspired to in his pathetic life, one would say.

But finally Jesus says that these two men die. They die. And look at verse 22 with me to see the description of this incident. The poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham's side. The rich man also died and was buried.

Here's a verse to to show us the importance of reading our bibles slowly and carefully. Notice that both men died, but only one was buried. The poor man died and was carried by the angels. The rich man also died and was buried. The poor man didn't even have a burial.

Some believe that he was just thrown outside as an outcast with the dump of the city, letting his flesh rot there like nothing. And yet this rich man had surely a fashionable funeral. Surely a a a rich tomb. Surely an honorable event in light of his life. One was buried.

One didn't The fate of these men even followed them to that last moment. Even to their death. Their death itself described the great difference between these two people and how they lived on this earth. But everything changed after death. There was a great reversal of position and privilege, and you see it in the same verse.

This poor man died Oh, yeah. He didn't have a burial, but he was carried by angels to Abraham's side. This rich man, oh, he might have had a parade for his funeral. No mention of angels escorting him. Drop like nothing into Hades.

While Lazarus was ignored, despised throughout his life and was not offered a hint of human dignity even in his death, The moment he gave his final breath, God didn't send one angel, he sent angels. And they ushered him into the presence of the redeemed. And this man who was rich throughout his life experienced a great reversal quite opposite to that of Lazarus. And Paul, I can't help but think that he is anticipating that great reversal in his own martyrdom. Because at any moment, his head is gonna be placed on a block.

And a corrupt government is gonna claim his head, but he says, there awaits me a crown of righteousness. The same head that they're gonna chop off is the same head that Jesus Christ is going to crown with glory. Death is gonna change a lot of people's fate. Death is going to change a lot of people's scripts. Death is going to change a lot of people in the way they experience their existence.

Paul knew that there was something coming on the other side, and it made him not care what they were gonna do with him in this brief moment with this body. There's so many clues in the Bible. Let me give you another one. Then we're gonna close. Go to the book of Revelation chapter three verse 21.

What happens here? Jesus is speaking to the church of Laodicea. We talked about them last week. Right? The lukewarm church.

One of the most condemned churches out of the seven. And then Jesus says something quite fascinating in verse 21. The one who conquers, I will grant him to sit with me on my throne. As I also conquered and sat down with my father on his throne, He who has an ear, let him hear what the spirit says to the churches. Did you catch that?

The one who conquers. Conquers what? We'll read the the preceding verses. Conquers lukewarmness, indifference, compromise, a casual attitude towards God and his purposes, his word and his commands. The person who conquers over that, who overcomes those things, Jesus says, will sit with me on my throne?

If I didn't show you the verse and I suggested that, you would think I was blasphemous. I didn't say it. Jesus said it. They will sit with me on my throne. What does that mean?

I don't know. All I know is that that is mind boggling. You're telling me that the most wretched church out of the seven arguably is gonna be rewarded with one of the highest privileges in glory? You know, when we come to the word of God and we see what was accomplished at Calvary, many of us just see it as us escaping God's wrath. That is glorious in itself.

But Christ purchased so much more. So much more. I know this sounds scary, but it's true that there is a level of exaltation that awaits the believer. And it doesn't make sense, but welcome to grace. It, we can't comprehend it and it is true, but Christ promised it nonetheless.

And I believe that as Christ goes beyond what we can imagine, he doesn't just let us slip through a door to get into heaven and escape hell. There is going to be crowning and reward and elevation, and I think it's going to break us. I think it's going to totally crush us to a degree by the goodness of God being lavished on us, undeserved, inexplainable, and that's the point. That's the point. If you only knew what was coming, if you only knew what you were going to see, what you're going to be handed, if you only knew the words are gonna come out of that mouth, that precious, glorious savior's mouth, There's a reward that he anticipated and he believed for.

And guess what? It wasn't because he was an apostle. He clarifies by the spirit and not only to me, but also to all who loved his appearing. Think about it. I believe the bible teaches that believers will be rewarded differently in glory.

And I see that there is a reward here for one simple thing. There will be a reward extended to those who simply loved his appearing. Can you imagine that? I don't know what that's gonna be like, but I like my imagination to go to the idea of Christ saying, your whole life you've been waiting for this moment. You've been waiting for me to come.

You've been waiting for me to call you home, and here's a gift to you. Here's a gift to you. Notice that it didn't say for those who believed for his appearing. You're not a Christian or you don't believe that Jesus Christ is coming back. It's just for those who loved his appearing.

There's a great difference about believing a doctrine and desiring what that doctrine teaches. And in this case, Jesus, Jesus will reward those who desire his appearing. You want to be ready to face death? Understand what Jesus purchased for the righteous, so that you would be ready. By the grace of God, live in a way in which it's not about I and my, but his kingdom.

And you will be able to reflect, if you have the chance to even do that to say, oh, it was worth fighting. It was worth gridding it out. It was worth enduring the scars and the whips and the pain and the persecution. It was worth it. I've invested in another world to come.

And lastly, believe that there is a reward for such faithfulness. A reward that will blow you away and give you more reason to glorify him as you are showered by his love and mercy for all eternity. Lord, we thank you for giving us a taste. We have no reason to be afraid. We have no reason to be nervous.

If anything, we have all the reasons to be excited, strong, courageous, fearless. We are unworthy. Unworthy. Thank you, Jesus, for your love. Thank you, Jesus, for hope.

Thank you for salvation. Thank you for forgiving us. Thank you, oh God, that death is but a departure. It is not our seal of condemnation. It is the door into your presence forever and ever.

Because we don't fear death, Lord, we don't fear disease. We don't fear where this economy will lead us. We don't fear what people will do to us because you have dealt with the greatest enemy of all, and we thank you. We just worship you, Lord. We worship you today.

In Jesus' name, amen.