Beyond the Inevitable Program No SPEAKER: JOHN BRADSHAW

Transcription

1 It Is Written Script: 1222 Beyond the Inevitable Page 1 Beyond the Inevitable Program No SPEAKER: JOHN BRADSHAW In 1981, the writer William Saroyan said something that I believe most everybody can relate to. Saroyan had cancer and knew that it wouldn t be long before he died. In an interview with the Associated Press he said this, Everybody has got to die, but I always believed that an exception would be made in my case. And then he said, Now what? Now, there s a question when it comes to death: Now what? The Bible says that people would live three score and ten, which is about 70 years. These days, a lot of people do a little better than that. In Japan, average life expectancy is about 82 years. Now, statistics vary depending on whose statistics you read. The list might be a little bit different but it s generally accepted that Japan has the longest life expectancy than any country in the world with 82.5 years or thereabouts. In Spain or Sweden, average life expectancy is 81. In Singapore, you can expect to live about 80 years old. Now, in Vanuatu in the South Pacific, that number changes. Average life expectancy there is 70. In Ghana, West Africa, life expectancy is 60. In Cameroon it is 50. And in Swaziland, the average life expectancy is almost 40. But no matter how long you are going to live or expect to live, there is always the question that s going to have to be answered one day after death, Now what? When God created Adam and Even in the Garden of Eden, He didn t create them to die. He created them to live forever. And even after sin came into the world and brought death with it, Adam still managed to live to be 930 years old. His son Seth lived to be 912. Seth s son Enos lived to be 905. Methuselah died in the year of the flood in Noah s day, and he lived to be 969 years old. That s almost 1,000 years. A millennium. But even Methuselah had to answer the question, Now what? I m sure you ve heard that old saying that says there are only two sure things in the world, death and taxes. Now, a lot of people has managed to cheat on their taxes, but unless your name is Elijah or Enoch, there s no way in this world you are going to be able to cheat death. I m here at Mount Hope Cemetery in College Place Washington. It s a beautiful place. I ve been here many, many times. When I lived in College Place, Washington, I would often come to Mount Hope Cemetery just to walk around. As a church pastor in this area, I officiated many funerals, a lot of which ended up here at Mount Hope Cemetery, usually in a poignant gathering around somebody s final, very peaceful

2 It Is Written Script: 1222 Beyond the Inevitable Page 2 resting spot. This is a serene place. It s a calm place. It s a place to remember, a place to think. Like cemeteries everywhere, Mount Hope Cemetery tells a lot of stories a lot of very interesting stories. Now really, in all reality, the stories told here are usually very brief. On the average grave marker, you will find the deceased s name and someway there, a year of birth and then a year of death. Sometimes a brief comment, and that s about it. In fact, the story is usually contained in that hyphen that s between the year of birth and the year of death. If you look around a cemetery like this one, you will see that many people lived a good long time. A lot of people here lived to be 100 years old or longer. And as you look around, you ll find who died in their 90s and in their 80s. Good long lives. Then there are those who died in their 70s. That is less than the average U.S. life expectancy of There are those who died in their 60s and 50s. We would agree that s just too early. Some died in their 40s, some in their 30s, others in their 20s, and then there are those who died even younger. In fact, just over there is a cluster of graves where infants and small children rest, just days or weeks old. And that s always a tragedy. No matter how long a person lives, there is that question that waits to be answered: Now what? So how can we find a satisfactory answer to that question? How can we face the inevitability of death with confidence? Death is an invader. The Bible calls it an enemy. And nobody is immune to it no matter what your standing or your accomplishments in this life. Elvis Presley died at the age of 42. President John F. Kennedy was 46 when he died. Fame and fortune couldn t prevent death from coming to John Lennon at the age of 40. Princess Diana was only 36 years old when she died. Death is no respecter of persons. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was 39 years old when he was gunned down in a motel in Memphis, Tennessee. Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Jim Morrison were all only 27 when they died. You can be a president or a pauper, famous or infamous, a saint or a sinner, and death is going to come. And then the question is asked, Now what? Some Australian aboriginals believe that when a person dies, their spirit goes off to a spirit world. Then that person goes to the spirit world and the spirit comes back to guide the living through life in this world. New Zealand Maori mythology teaches that when a person dies, the spirit goes to the northernmost part of that country, therefore departing from there and returning to their ancestral homeland. I had a conversation with a lady from India who told me that in her culture, death is viewed as merely an extension of life. The next stage, as it were.

3 It Is Written Script: 1222 Beyond the Inevitable Page 3 Look at the tombs of ancient Egypt and you will see that they testify that the ancient Egyptians put a lot of care put a lot of thought into what happened after a person died. Greek mythology taught that some of the souls of the dead would be ferried across the River Styx. The ancient Norse believed a variety of things might happen when a person died among them, that those who were killed in combat might go on to inhabit Valhalla, the hall of the slain. One thing we know is certain is: They can t all be right. But what all these cultures have in common is that they all believe death is not the end. They all believe something happens beyond one s final breath. William Saroyan s Now what? question gets answered. The late actress Marlene Dietrich said once, When you re dead, you re dead. That s it. But that s not what most cultures and peoples have taught down through the ages. It seems as though most people have an innate sense that there is something beyond one s final breath. Does the Bible teach us what happens after a person dies? Yes, it does. And to clearly understand where the Bible is coming from on this, let s look at a well know case study. Lazarus was a dear friend of Jesus. He was the brother of Mary and Martha. They were also friends of Jesus. They lived in Bethany, about two miles outside Jerusalem. Four days after Lazarus died, Jesus came to Bethany. When Martha heard that Jesus was coming to town, she got up and ran to meet Jesus. When she saw Jesus she said, Lord, if you had been here, my brother would have not died. You see, she had great faith in Jesus ability to bless and to heal. And she had an idea that death need not be the end for her brother. She said to Jesus, Even now, I believe whatever you ask of God, God will give it to you. It was a prayer, if you like. And Jesus agreed with Martha that death was not the end. He said, Martha, your brother shall rise again. You see, Jesus told very clearly that after death, there would be a resurrection. As a matter of fact, Jesus said in the Bible that there would be two resurrections. I want you to know something: You only want to be a part of one of them. I ll tell you more about that in a moment.

4 It Is Written Script: 1222 Beyond the Inevitable Page 4 EVERY WORD DEVOTIONAL: I heard about some professional football players who went out to dinner at a restaurant in Texas and rang up a bill of would you believe it? $55,000. Even if the entire team of 53 men had eaten and they didn t that would had been more than $1,000 a person. In anyone s language, that s a waste of money. God knows we waste our money, and He says in Isaiah 55:2, Why do you spend money for what is not bread, and your wages for what does not satisfy? So often we pursue things that have little or no value. What are you spending your money on? Or your time on? If an audit was done in your life right now, would you be satisfied with what you are investing your life in? This verse talks to us about priorities. What s most important to you? RETURN TO PROGRAM: Cemeteries like this are usually peaceful places. For some people, cemeteries are painful places, because they represent love ones lost, life gone something precious that has been taken away. Not long ago I officiated in a funeral service for a 12-year-old boy who was laid to rest here in this cemetery. He died after a rather tragic turn of events. As you can imagine, it was a very, very sad affair. However, I can tell you this: That funeral service was colored by hope very real hope because it was known that one day there is going to be a resurrection. Jesus commented on this directly. Speaking to a crowd of people, He said these words, which are recorded in John chapter 5, verses 28 and 29. Jesus said (John 5:28, 29): Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, and shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation. Two resurrections one you want to be in, that s the resurrection to life, the other, the resurrection of damnation. Now, without going into all of the details about the resurrection of damnation just now, it s pretty obvious that it s not the resurrection that you or I would want to be in. Two resurrections. And there we have the answer to the Now what? question. There is going to be a resurrection one day. Now, let s go back to the story of Lazarus. Jesus had told Martha, Your brother, Lazarus, shall rise again. Now Jesus and Martha are joined by Mary outside Bethany. And Jesus says to them that He is the resurrection and the life and that anyone who believes in Him, even though that person was dead, shall live again.

5 It Is Written Script: 1222 Beyond the Inevitable Page 5 Jesus gave them very real hope that there ll not only be a resurrection one day, but a resurrection that anybody who accepts God s great gift can participate in. Jesus then says, Take me and show me where Lazarus is laid, where he is buried. So they went to Lazarus graveside. Now, Lazarus wasn t buried in a cemetery like this. He was buried in that age s equivalent. In fact, when they go to Lazarus grave, we discover Lazarus was buried unsurprisingly in a cave, a tomb. And in front of that cave, a large stone had been rolled for what I think pretty obvious reasons. Jesus then made a radical request. He said, Take away the stone from in front of the grave. The people protested, Oh, you don t really want us to do that. Now, I can understand why they protested from experience. I attended a funeral service for a man who had been dead like Lazarus for four days. This was in a place where embalming was not practiced. Let s just say it wasn t pretty. I can understand why they did not want the stone rolled away. But Jesus was insistent, Take away the stone. And they did. Then Jesus to the amazement of everybody around addressed Lazarus. He cried out and He said, Lazarus, Come forth! Have you ever wondered what the people in that group that day were thinking? He s asking Lazarus to get up and walk out of a cave? What s He thinking? Jesus said, Lazarus, come forth. Then, to the amazement of everybody who looked on, Lazarus walked out of that tomb. They took the grave cloths off him, and Lazarus who had been dead was very much alive. Now, we don t know how long Lazarus lived after that resurrection whether short or long, the Bible doesn t say. But we know he lived. And we can be certain he was glad to have his life given back to him. We can be certain that his family was glad to receive him again. And we can be 100 percent certain that the people looking on were absolutely amazed. Lazarus had been raised from the dead. This was a foreshadowing of what will happen one day. Jesus said in John 5 that there d be two resurrections. The one we want to be in is the resurrection to life. How can we be certain that we can have a place in the resurrection to life? One of the most difficult things a person can be called upon to experience is the death of a love one. Extremely difficult. But even in the midst of that, God does not leave us without hope. God offers us very real hope that one day there will be a

6 It Is Written Script: 1222 Beyond the Inevitable Page 6 resurrection. In the Bible, we have the story of Lazarus, the dear friend of Jesus, the brother of Mary and Martha, who after he d been dead for four days, was raised from the dead when Jesus called out to him and said, Lazarus, come forth! There are many other stories in the Bible dealing with resurrections as well. In the Word of God, we have the widow of Nain, who had her son given back to her from the dead through the power of Jesus. Then there is the 12-year-old daughter of a man named Jairus. Again, Jesus intervened and turned death back into life. And the man was able to receive his beloved daughter again. Also in the Bible, in the book of Acts, there is the story of a man named Eutychus who fell asleep and fell out of a third floor window and died. Now, he didn t fall asleep because the preacher Paul was a boring preacher. He fell asleep because it had been a long day and he was simply tired. But the preacher Paul went down to the ground where Eutychus laid and God worked through Paul. The power of God worked through the great apostle and Eutychus came back from the dead. There s another remarkable story in the 2 Kings 13. A man was on his way to being buried. There was an invasion taking place by a roaring army approaching town, so his family just very hurriedly put his body in the nearest available tomb. It happened to be the tomb of Elisha. This man s body went into that tomb, and then it was put so close to the bones of Elisha I guess touching the bones of Elisha and because he touched the bones of the dead prophet, this man came back to life. Can you imagine the surprise of the family? In fact, can you imagine the surprise of the dead man coming back to life, discovering he was in a tomb? There are other stories in the Word of God. I am not suggesting for a moment that these people were raised to immortality. They weren t. They were raised to life, and they lived again, then presumably, we expect, they died again. They were called upon to experience being resurrected twice. God says there is going to be two resurrections, and the one we are most interested today, the one we want to be a part of should not we be alive when Jesus returns to this earth, is the first resurrection, the resurrection to life. So how can you be certain that you can participate in the resurrection to life? It s this simple: 1 John 5:12 says, He (or she) that hath the Son, hath life. It goes on to say that he or she who hath not the Son of God, hath not life. If you believe in Jesus as your personal Savior as your Lord and if you would yield your life to Him and invite Jesus to live his life in you, then you have the Son.

7 It Is Written Script: 1222 Beyond the Inevitable Page 7 And the Word of God says that if you have the Son, you have life that s life in this world, and should you die, life in the world to come, because you would have faith in the One the Bible calls the resurrection and the life. You can live in hope today. You don t have to fear death. I don t know too many people who embrace death gladly, and I am not saying we are to do that. But you don t have to fear death, because there is hope beyond death. I ve spoken to people who ve looked death straight in the eye, knowing that they were going to die, with peace in their hearts. Why were they able to do that? It s not that they were glad to be leaving, of course. They were going to miss their family and their loved ones. But here is what they knew: They knew that one day there would be a resurrection. The resurrection to life. And they knew that because they had faith in Jesus Christ, they would participate in that very resurrection. They were able to die in faith; they were able to die in peace. I read a story just the other day about a man in South Africa who had apparently died. He had, I think, a terrible asthma attack. His family presumed that he was dead and they took him to the local mortuary. He was put in the refrigerator drawer in the mortuary. About 21 hours later, the mortuary staff was horrified and in fact, they were terrified. They were panic-stricken. From a drawer in a mortuary they heard yelling, shouting and screaming. It was loud. And they panicked. They bolted out of the mortuary and out into the streets. They went and found the local police and said, You need to come down to the mortuary where there is something strange going on. I feel sorry for the police and how sometimes they get the rough jobs. They were brought to the mortuary to investigate this terrible happening screaming and yelling coming from a drawer where there should have been absolute silence. They went to the mortuary, opened up the drawer, and found the dead man very much alive. He was dehydrated, and he was suffering from hypothermia, but he was very much alive. He was brought out of there, he was treated, and he was given back to his family. Then he recuperated and did well. Of course, the man wasn t really dead. We could say back from the dead because he was presumed dead. The truth is a mistake had been made, and he d been alive all along. Well, one day, Jesus is going to come back to this earth. Those who were really dead and died in faith in Christ died with Jesus as their Savior are going to participate in the resurrection of life. Cemeteries like this one all over the world are going to be

8 It Is Written Script: 1222 Beyond the Inevitable Page 8 scenes of intense activity as graves open up, and as the Bible says, the dead in Christ rise. Should you pass away before Jesus returns to this earth, you can have very real hope today because one day there is going to be a resurrection a resurrection of the just, a resurrection to life. You can be part of that resurrection by knowing now that Jesus truly is yours and that you truly are His. Let s pray and tell Christ today that we want to be His. PRAYER: Our Father in Heaven, we thank you today that you don t leave us without hope in this world, and that there is hope in Jesus. We thank you today that death doesn t remove our hope. We are grateful that we can know that one day there is going to be a resurrection, and that those who have chosen to accept your gift of life and have chosen to accept your Son, Jesus, as Lord and Savior, are going to participate in the resurrection of life. Lord, if it is not your plan that Jesus comes back while we are still alive on this earth, then we want to tell you right now that we want to be in the resurrection to life. We want to be with you throughout all eternity. And so today we choose Jesus and we choose life. We thank you in Jesus name, Amen. It Is Written Box O Thousand Oaks, CA USA Tel: (805) Fax: (805)