Messages
from the Bible
A Sermon by Dr. Neil Chadwick
For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our
Lord. Romans 6:23
There seems to be some confusion and mixed feelings about the subject of death.
Some people don't want to talk about it at all. Others are quite flippant, as if it's
no big deal.
A. There's a lot of humor around the subject of death. For example:
As it reached the bottom of the hill, it was heading directly for the front doors
of a drugstore. The coffin sailed through the doors and through the store,
straight to the pharmacy counter at the rear.
The startled pharmacist watched with alarm as the coffin slammed into his
counter, the lid popped open and up sat the corpse who said, "Hey, Mac ! Ya
got anything to stop this coffin?"
2. Do you remember the chant you used to repeat when you were a child?
They wrap you up in a big white sheet
They put you in a big black box
All goes well for about a week
The worms crawl in the worms crawl out
They eat your eyes they eat your nose
A big green worm with rolling eyes
Your stomach turns a slimy green
You spread it on a slice of bread
3. Then there are all those Saint Peter jokes.
Three people from different parts of the country passed away at the same
time. All were met at the gates by St. Peter. The first was an architect from
California. Peter said, "You've built beautiful buildings and served men on
earth, but before you come in you have to pass one small test, spell 'God'".
"G-O-D," replied the architect and St. Peter waved him through.
The second person to approach was a rancher from Texas. Peter looked at
him and said, "You've served man upon the earth by providing food through
the cattle you've raised but before you come in there's just one small test,
spell 'GOD'". "G-O-D", said the rancher and Peter waved him through.
The third person was an attractive businesswoman from New York. Peter
said, "You've served the world of commerce, but before you come in you'll
have to pass one small test." At this the woman interrupted, "Oh come on
now Saint," said the woman, "I've had to fight for every promotion I've ever
gotten. I've had to take lower pay for the same job as a male colleague, and
I've been continually harassed by bosses and peers for one reason, my
gender. And now here I am and you're giving me a hard time too; what kind of
test? Let's get it over with."
Peter thought for a moment and said, "Spell Czechoslovakia"
2. Many believe that death is simply the end of life - extinction, annihilation.
3. But for others, death is the beginning of a new, and hopefully better life.
Some time ago during the Wednesday evening meeting I read from a letter written by a friend who had been diagnosed as having cancer. Ferne Murray had just turned 80 years old. She had been a widow for many years, after watching her husband suffer 12 years with Parkinson's disease before his death. Now she was dying of cancer in the liver, pancreas and ducts. This is what she wrote, "I have no fear of death. I know where I'm going and have looked forward to it all my life. I have a husband and numerous relatives and friends 'over there.' 'For me to live is Christ and to die is gain.' God has never promised us a life without a 'cross.' If a person whines and complains in adversity, they haven't read all the Word. We spiritually grow by our trials."
2. How well I remember Bob and Barbara. Bob was a simple man, very hard
working, although not able to read or write. That is until he became a
Christian. It was at that time that his desire to read the Bible became a
passion, and miraculously he learned to do what he had failed to do during the
nearly 50 years of his life prior to conversion. And as a result of his growth as
a Christian, Bob became reunited with the wife he had divorced many years
before. About two years later this couple was hosting a home Bible Study
meeting when someone asked the question, "What happens to a Christian at
the moment of their death? Do they fall asleep? Do they have go to some
kind of waiting room until Christ returns to the earth?" It was Barbara who
was quick to reply from this Scripture, "To be absent from the body is to be
present with the Lord." Later other members of the group would remember
that as Barbara spoke, there was a glow about her, a radiance. At 5 a.m. the
next morning I was awakened by a call from Bob telling me that his wife
Barbara had died in her sleep. It was as if she knew, and was ready. A few
hours after quoting this important truth from the Bible, Babara was given the
opportunity to experience the reality.
2. Romans 5:12 - Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man,
and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all
sinned--
3. Ezekiel 18:20, 21 - The soul who sins is the one who will die. The son will
not share the guilt of the father, nor will the father share the guilt of the son.
The righteousness of the righteous man will be credited to him, and the
wickedness of the wicked will be charged against him. "But if a wicked man
turns away from all the sins he has committed and keeps all my decrees and
does what is just and right, he will surely live; he will not die.
4. "But," someone might say, "when Adam sinned, he didn't die." No, he was
expelled from the Garden, no longer to have intimate fellowship with God.
And although he didn't immediately die a physical death, he ultimately did. But
the loss of Adam's relationship with God as a result of his disobedience was
his immediate death. That's why Paul says, "You were dead in trespasses and
sins."
First comes death of God - yes, He is dead to you.
Then comes death to other relationships, families break down, friendships get
destroyed.
Then comes the physical death, and finally eternal death.
If we work for sin, the pay check has written across it the word "death".
Is that what we want?
Of course the rest of the verse tells us that even as death is the result of sin,
so life is the result of a gift from God, a "charismata", or a "gift of grace."
The choice is ours, death or life.
The Roman Road, Step Two
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1. A hearse reached the entrance to the cemetery at the top of a hill, passing
over a speed bump. Its back door flew open and out came the coffin, still on
its carriage with rollers. The coffin headed downhill, in the middle of the street,
gathering speed as it went.
B. But for those who do take this subject a little more seriously, there are several
main ways of thinking about death.
Don't you ever laugh as a hearse goes by
For you may be the next to die,
From your head down to yur feet.
And cover you up with dirt and rocks.
Then your coffin begins to leak.
The worms play pinochle on your snout.
They eat the jelly between your toes.
Crawls in your stomach and out your eyes.
A pus pours out like whipping cream.
And that is what you eat when you are dead!
1. For the Eastern religions, like Hinduism, there is the belief that we are
caught in a cycle of life, we leave one form of life to come back around in
another.
C. If you read and believe the Bible, Christian teaching on this is very clear. Death
is to be experienced by everyone, and there are may ways death is experienced.
Physical death is the moment when the soul and spirit departs, leaving the body
lifeless. Note that this is not the same as merely the stopping of brain waves.
But we believe that the soul of man lives on beyond the moment when the soul
leaves the body. What happens next is also clearly taught in the Scripture. Those
who are believers in the Lord Jesus Christ immediately are ushered into the
presence of the Lord.
1. We recall the testimony of the Apostle of Paul, "We are confident, I say, and
willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord. On
the other hand, those who have not been forgiven, will not be received into
heaven. After the last great judgment, they will be thrown into the lake of fire
along with Satan and his angels."
2 Corinthians 5:8
D. So we believe that death is a reality, and it leads somewhere. If what the Bible
says is true, then we can't neglect this subject. "The wages of sin is death."
1. Genesis 2:16,17 And the LORD God commanded the man, "You are free to
eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the
knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die."
E. Going back to Romans 6:23, the Greek word for "wages" is "opsonion" =
compensation, wages, pay, support.
At first it referred to "whatever is bought to be eaten with bread". Then it
came to mean "corn, meat, fruits, salt given to soldiers instead of pay", then
finally, a soldier's pay, allowance, or what one gets in return for his labor.
This can be seen in Luke 3:14 - Then some soldiers asked him, "And what
should we do?" He replied, "Don't extort money and don't accuse people
falsely--be content with your pay." The same idea is conveyed in I Corinthians
9:7 - Who serves as a soldier at his own expense?
Conclusion:
Does sin pay? Yes, but what you get at the end of the day is lousy; it's death.
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