Matters of Life and Death...And Life Again

Luke 24: 1-6 On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb. They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. While they were wondering about this, suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning stood beside them. In their fright the women bowed down with their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, "Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here; he has risen! Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee: (NIV)

Elizabeth Taylor died this week at the age of 79. Death is always the great equalizer. No matter how famous someone is. No matter how rich someone is. One day we all will return to the dust from which God created us and we will stand before our Creator and give an account for the life we lived. There once was a great chasm separating man and God. But God desired to commune with us again:

All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people's sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ's behalf: Be reconciled to God. God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. 2Corinthians 5: 18-21 (NIV)

Before we were reconciled to God through Jesus Christ we lived in rebellion to God. I did, you did, and Elizabeth Taylor did. The only way to accept this reconciliation is to accept Jesus Christ as your Savior and have a relationship with Him. Too often in modern American Christianity we see the compromising of the Gospel. We see Christian leaders embrace heretical teachings to avoid being perceived as offending someone. As the old adage goes, you can't offend them to hell number two. Yet time and again we see leaders compromising the message:

Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. John 14: 6 (NIV)

In a world where absolutism is mocked, there is no equivocation in the words of Jesus. He is the way, period. No one comes to the Father except through Him. There are not "many paths to heaven." We all do not serve the same God. You must realize beloved, this is not a case of religious bigotry it is a matter of faith. If I believe that you must have a relationship with Jesus Christ or you will spend eternity in hell separated from God then do I care about you at all if I do not tell you? At a bare minimum, shouldn't I warn you of the impending judgment? If I offend you in this life but see you in the next, that has to be a trade off I can live with.

We are fooled into thinking that we have so much time on this earth. The enemy convinces us we can always put off things until tomorrow but sometimes tomorrow doesn't come.

"But God said to him, 'You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?' Luke 12: 20 (NIV)

The reality is that we do not know when our life will be demanded from us by God. It could be 50 years from now or it could be tomorrow. James describes it as such:

Come now, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, spend a year there, buy and sell, and make a profit"; whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away. James 4: 13-14 (NKJV)

Just a vapor. Here today and gone tomorrow. There has to be more than this life and the Good News of Jesus Christ is that there is more! But it starts with telling the truth. It starts with not wavering from that truth. I saw a video from a popular Pastor this week espousing what essentially is universalism. He was taken aback by the notion that someone could say that anyone was definitively going to hell. Realize that this is the scheme of the enemy because without hell, there is no consequence for sin. Without having a consequence for sin, there is no need for a Savior. Thus Jesus Christ becomes a notable person in history but you have stripped the deity from Him.

Why would this famous Pastor choose to go down the universalism road and abandon the absolute truth he once knew? Because universalism sells a whole lot better than the Gospel message of sin and repentance. If you blur the lines enough and muddy the water sufficiently, then everyone can get to go to heaven. It no longer matters how you live your life. You have essentially recreated God in your own image to excuse your sin. But the true Gospel message is a convicting message. It shines a light on the soul of a sinner to show them how they have offended God and how they can repair that breach. Jesus understood His message was not going to be easily sold:

"Do not think that I came to bring peace on earth. I did not come to bring peace but a sword. For I have come to 'set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law'; and 'a man's enemies will be those of his own household.' He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me. He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for My sake will find it. Matthew 10: 34-39 (NKJV)

That is a tough message beloved. But it is a real message. When you start to deviate from this message you are simply making it up as you go along. Man has been creating his own Gods for thousands of years. The Old Testament is littered with tales of false Gods which Israel followed instead of the one true God. The Baal and Asherah of yesterday are merely replaced with the universalistic teachings of today. It is a shame that many who have been charged with protecting the flock are actually the ones leading them astray. The Prophet Zechariah speaks to this:

Household gods give worthless advice, fortune-tellers predict only lies, and interpreters of dreams pronounce falsehoods that give no comfort. So my people are wandering like lost sheep; they are attacked because they have no shepherd. Zechariah 10: 2 (NLT)

But so many in this country have traded in the one true God for household gods that amount to nothing more than advice giving, fortune telling, and lies which provide no real comfort. The sheep are scattered, following whatever doctrine comes their way to tickle their ears:

For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths. 2Timothy 4: 3-4 (NIV)

The time has come beloved. Many will not tolerate sound doctrine anymore, including mega-pastors who used to adhere to the Word of God. The truth is being rejected and people are embracing the myths of universalism. Baal is recreated. Asherah rises from the ashes of Israel's past. False gods litter the landscape and the message of love that is the Gospel message is treated as intolerance. Because the sale is harder, many have walked away instead of embracing the instructions God gave to the prophets before them:

"Son of man," he said, "I am sending you to the nation of Israel, a rebellious nation that has rebelled against me. They and their ancestors have been rebelling against me to this very day. They are a stubborn and hard-hearted people. But I am sending you to say to them, 'This is what the Sovereign L ord says!' And whether they listen or refuse to listen--for remember, they are rebels--at least they will know they have had a prophet among them. Ezekiel 2: 3-5 (NLT)

The modern western church has become that stubborn and hard hearted people. God openly admits here that some will simply not listen. That does not mean that you change the message. That does not mean that the Gospel changes. Most modern day wannabe prophets are nothing more than snake oil salesmen touting the latest excuses for sin as a means to gain eternal life. I have seen these charlatans prophesying against the world. I have seen them compromise the Word of God to sell their next great convention. Or their latest book. But the Prophets God sends do not say what itching ears want to hear. True prophets do not sell out when the message gets too tough. We will know we have had a true prophet amongst us when the Word he gives in uncompromised. When it is unvarnished. When it is thus sayeth the sovereign Lord!

Yes, Elizabeth Taylor died this week at 79. Her life was demanded of her by her creator. I do not wish to get into how her life was led, the eight marriages or the brilliant acting career. Because none of that is going to matter when she stands before God to give account. All that will matter is if she had a personal relationship with Jesus Christ because NO ONE comes to the Father except through Him. NO ONE. Her passing allows us to remember her life but more importantly it provides us with an opportunity to reflect on our own.

The fear of death is still one of the top two fears in this country. Without absolute truth, there is plenty to fear. But our key verses today contain one of the most powerful verses in the entire Bible "why do you look for the living amongst the dead?" It is powerful for two very important reasons. First, it is indicative of how we live our lives before we are saved. We are constantly looking for life but we are constantly looking for it amongst the dead. Whether it is Baal in ancient times or universalism today. Whether it is Asherah in ancient times or the latest Oprah religious fad today. When I see and hear people believing that there are many roads to heaven or that we all serve the same God, I just want to lean in and ask "why do you look for the living amongst the dead?" When I see well intended Christians following false prophets who do not say thus sayeth the Sovereign Lord I just want to lean in and ask "why do you look for living amongst the dead?" When I see pastors leading the sheep astray by walking away from absolutism I just want to lean in and ask "why do you look for the living amongst the dead?" God is not amongst the dead beloved! God has conquered the grave!

This brings us to the second reason why this one simple line in the Bible is so powerful. Because it is the entire hinge upon which faith swings. Man was not created to die. He was created to have eternal life and fellowship with His Creator. Sin was introduced with the fall of man and because of that, death entered the world. But God wanted reconciliation and He had a plan. He loved the world so much that He sent His only Son to die for the sins of man and thus reestablish that fellowship:

Consequently, just as one trespass resulted in condemnation for all people, so also one righteous act resulted in justification and life for all people. For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous. Romans 5: 18-19 (NIV)

We no longer have to look for the living amongst the dead beloved. Jesus Christ is alive in us when we put our faith in Him and call upon His name. Death no longer has any sting. The grave has no victory. We have been translated into eternal life now. Our ears only itch for Jesus and the Gospel that saves us, protects us, and sets us free.

Reverend Anthony Wade March 25, 2011