Harvest Pointe Christian Church, Milford Ohio is a non-denominational Christian Church (Church of Christ) on the Eastside of Cincinnati OH

Fear of Life’s Final Moments | Series: Fearless | 10-04-09

Fear of Life's Final Moments
Series:  Fearless
Jeremiah 31:34

  I. Why fear death?
 II. Fear not:  Jesus is with you.
III. Fear not:  You will be changed.

Full Text 

As we continue in our series based on Max Lucado's book Fearless we come to the NUMBER ONE FEAR OF AMERICANS.  Do you know what the number one fear of Americans is?  Public speaking.  So today we are going to face our fears and overcome them by having each of you stand up here and preach for 10 minutes.

Don't panic!  We wouldn't really do that to you.

But, do you know what the number 2 fear of Americans is?  Death.  That means a lot of people would literally rather die than get up in front of people and talk!

So, our topic is the Fear of Life's Final Moments.

Remember that the goal is not to do away with all fear.  Rather, that we all fear less and trust more.

The fear of death is strong with many people.  There was a man who was related to someone in a Church.  The man had lived a very godless life.  But he had had a heart attack and the person who told me about him thought he might be ready to hear about Christ.

I went to see the man in his home.  He told me about the fright of the ordeal of having a heart attack.  He was not ready to die.

I tried to share with him how Christ can give us confidence in death, but he wouldn't hear of it.  He wasn't going to die.  He was cleaning up his lifestyle.  He was listening to the doctors.  He was eating the food the doctors told him to eat.  He was exercising.  He was inhaling all kinds of vitamins that promised to eliminate his heart and artery problems.  He had read that the reason Americans have heart problems is because they drink while they eat.  So he would not take a drink until after he was through eating his meal, which is a Canadian custom.

He had no desire to prepare to die by making peace with his Creator.  The very thought of preparing spiritually for death scared him because it was an admission he was going to die someday, that he would not be on this earth forever.  He was afraid to talk about Jesus.  He was determined not to die.

Even though that man was an extreme, many people do fear death.  Death is the ultimate enemy to doctors.  They fight hard to keep people from dying.

There is big money in weight loss programs, wrinkle removers, hair restorers, hair coloring, body building, vitamins, and all kinds of healthy foods aimed at people's desire to retain their youthful bodies.  They don't want to grow old and die.

But no matter what they do, death comes closer and closer.  And ultimately death overtakes them.  Death comes to all.

Hebrews 9:27 tells us "… man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment."

First of all this morning,
I. Why fear death?

What is it about death that strikes fear in the biggest and badest of men?  Why does the thought of death bring the strongest of women to tears?

I believe there are 2 main reasons why people fear death.  One is misunderstandings.  The other is guilt.

If you listen to people you will hear all kinds of views about what death is.

To the atheist and many agnostics, death is the end.  It is final.  There is nothing after.  Death is a ceasing of consciousness.

On some health website, there is an article by someone whose name I can't pronounce with a bunch of letters after the name.

But it says, "Death, a word that can mean the end or the beginning. The interpretation solely depends on how we perceive death to be. If perceived as the end, it can instil [sic] a lot of fear and anxiety while if thought of as a beginning it can bring in feelings of calmness, satisfaction and hope. Many of us are troubled by the fear of the ultimate darkness, as we perceive it to be - The Death. Is it really this bleak and dark?"

According to this website, if you are not religious, viewing death as a beginning, then death, to you, is the end, the ultimate darkness, bleak and dark.  And the way to remove the fear of death is by hypnosis. 

It is hard to conceive of living without hope.  The apostle Paul quoted the ancient philosophers as he said in I Corinthians 15:32, "… If the dead are not raised, 'Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.'"

As bleak and hopeless as that sounds, isn't that the lifestyle we see flaunted today?  As God is pushed more and more out of the picture, people live more and more for the moment, without any thought for the consequences.  And without hope, they fear death.

Another common misconception is that upon death, you enter another body.  The better the person you are, the better the new life.  If you are born into a wealthy family, it is because you were a good person in your previous life.  If you are born into a poor family, you were a bad person in your previous life.  And it gets pretty complicated.  People fear what they will return as.  It could even be an animal!

And closely related is the belief that ultimately, if you are good enough, you will become one with the cosmos.  You will lose your identity as your consciousness is absorbed by the universe.

Another reason people fear death is they feel so guilty.  They are afraid of standing before their maker and giving an account.

Proverbs 11:7 tells us, "When a wicked man dies, his hope perishes;  all he expected from his power comes to nothing."

When someone shoves God out of their life and goes for what they can get in the here and now, they find one day that it does not last and they cannot take it with them.

Proverbs 24:20.  "For the evil man has no future hope, and the lamp of the wicked will be snuffed out."

No future hope.  All that is left is eternal torment.  And so guilt brings a fear of death.  How depressing all these views are!

But in the greatest contrast, in Titus 1:2 we have "A faith and knowledge resting on the hope of eternal life, which God, who does not lie, promised before the beginning of time."

We have the hope of eternal life.

And because of that hope, secondly,
II. Fear not:  Jesus is with you.

The 23rd Psalm begins, "The LORD is my shepherd."

Then in Verse 4 we discover those calming words, "Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me."

When the time comes for you to die, you can go in peace.  Not only do you have hope, but you have a Savior.  Jesus died and rose again.  He has been through it and will be with you when you go through it.  There is a lot of peace that comes from knowing you have a guide who has been there before.

A group of us went on a mission trip to Cambodia and Thailand.  The leader of the group had made the trip several times.  We had a lot of confidence in him and did what he told us, and were glad we did!

He taught us about customs so we didn't offend anyone.  He told us about foods that were good to eat and some to stay away from.  He even routed us so we did NOT land in LAX!  My wife and I landed in LAX one time and we found out why!  But having someone along who had been there before took a burden off the rest of us.

And even so, when we face our last moments on this earth, we have someone along who has been through it before.  Jesus will take that burden from us.  We can rest assured He will take care of us.

And we need to mention that there is no doubt that Jesus rose bodily from the dead.

Dr. Lewis Foster, who went to both Yale and Harvard, pointed out that there is more and better historical evidence that Jesus Christ rose from the dead - not that He was a real man, but that He rose from the dead -- than there is that Alexander the Great ever existed.

There are those who try to get rid of the miracles of the Bible.  They don't want a God who is involved in this world, who can tell us what to do.  They say Jesus' resurrection was a spiritual thing.  That there was no physical resurrection.  But the evidence in the Bible says Jesus' resurrection was a physical one.

I love Luke 24.  Jesus had been crucified.  The disciples had heard reports of Jesus having risen from the dead, but they aren't quite sure about it.  They are hiding behind locked doors because they're afraid the Jews will come after them next.

We read in Verse 36 that suddenly "36…Jesus himself stood among them and said to them, 'Peace be with you.'  37They were startled and frightened, thinking they saw a ghost."

They had seen Jesus die.  They thought they were seeing a ghost!  The disciples knew fear!

Verse 38.  "38He said to them, 'Why are you troubled, and why do doubts rise in your minds? 39Look at my hands and my feet. It is I myself! Touch me and see; a ghost does not have flesh and bones, as you see I have.'"

Jesus had flesh and bones!  He was solid.  Jesus was not a spirit floating around.  Jesus was not a mass hallucination.  Jesus was a real solid man with flesh and bones.  You could touch Him and feel Him.

Verse 40.  "40When he had said this, he showed them his hands and feet. 41And while they still did not believe it because of joy and amazement, he asked them, 'Do you have anything here to eat?' 42They gave him a piece of broiled fish, 43and he took it and ate it in their presence."

Have you seen the movie, Casper?  The ghosts are all lined up at the table, gorging themselves with all this food and it just falls right through them.  It makes a huge mess!

But when Jesus ate this fish, it stayed inside Him.  Jesus was not a ghost.  Jesus rose bodily from the dead!  And you and I have the same promise of a bodily resurrection.

Romans 8:11.  "And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit, who lives in you."

Just like Jesus was raised bodily from the dead, you will be, too!  And since Jesus has already raised from the dead, you don't have to be afraid.  He will be with you when you die.  He will be with you at the resurrection.

"Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me."  Fear not:  Jesus is with you.

III. Fear not:  You will be changed.

In Revelation 21:5 we read, "He who was seated on the throne said, 'I am making everything new!' Then he said, 'Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.'"

You can write it down.  Everything will be new!  Everything will be different.  Some of you long for a different house.  Listen to this!

John 14:1-3.  "1Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. 2In my Father's house are many rooms; [That word, "rooms", means, big luxurious rooms.  In my Father's house are many big, luxurious rooms;] if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. 3And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am."

You have a big, luxurious room just waiting for you!  And you'll be able to enjoy it.  You won't have to worry about getting old and feeble and not being able to do anything.

I Corinthians 15:42-44 declares, "42So will it be with the resurrection of the dead. The body that is sown is perishable, it is raised imperishable; 43it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; 44it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body."

When you die, what kind of body will you be given?  You will be given an imperishable, glorious, powerful, spiritual body!  You'll be able to enjoy that big, luxurious room of yours.

We had a neighbor who had been a powerful man.  He was a farmer and a carpenter.  Right up to the end he was healthy and still used work horses for some of the work.

In his 80's, his body finally gave out.  I went to see him in the hospital shortly before he died.  He told me he was ready to go.  He was tired.  His legs were giving out and they were hurting.He couldn't do things anymore.

He said many years before he had gotten right with God.  Now, he was looking forward to meeting Jesus.  He was looking forward to no more pain.  There was no fear at the prospect of death.  There was only calm anticipation.

Death is not the end.  It is a beginning.  That's why, when someone dies in the Lord, there is a different atmosphere than when someone dies without Christ.  I've seen it so many times.

The Church at Thessalonica, during the early days of the Church, had some problems.  One of them was that some of the people were worried that the Christians who had already died would miss out on the great celebration when Jesus comes again.  They thought only those who were still alive would see Jesus coming in the clouds and everyone changing and being caught up to be with Jesus.

The early Christians had a euphemism for death:  sleep.

In I Thessalonians 4:13 we read, "Brothers, we do not want you to be ignorant about those who fall asleep, or to grieve like the rest of men, who have no hope."

We do not grieve like those who have no hope.  Yes, we grieve.  We always grieve when we are separated from someone we love. 

When your children go off to college, there are usually some tears shed.  But you have the hope of seeing them again.  The grief is less than if the separation was permanent.

We Christians have the hope of seeing our loved ones again so our grief is different than those without that hope.

Paul goes on in Verse 14.  "We believe that Jesus died and rose again and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him."

Notice again that our hope lies in the death and resurrection of Jesus.  And all who die in Jesus are going to be coming with Him when He returns!  Let's see what will happen. 

Verse 15.  "15According to the Lord's own word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left till the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. 16For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 17After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. 18Therefore encourage each other with these words."

It's going to be awesome!  The loud command of God.  The voice of the archangel.  The trumpet blast.  All the billions of God's people who have died gathered in the clouds with Christ.  All the Christians who are alive sailing up into the clouds to join them.

And for those of you who are afraid to fly in a plane, no fear.  You'll be flying without a plane!!

Did you catch the last verse?  Verse 18.  "Therefore encourage each other with these words."

Encouragement.  We've been talking about fears and insecurities.  In Christ, we discover encouragement, even when we talk about death.  Death is but the beginning.  I do not fear death.  What I do fear is the pain that leads up to death!  But I don't fear death.  I know my Savior will be with me and it will be awesome in the next life!!

What will the next life hold?

I Corinthians 2:9 tells us, "…'No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him'"

We don't know the details, but we do know it will be fantastic.  We have a few glimpses.

Revelation 21:4 promises "[God] will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away."

The struggles of this life will be over.  Stress free!!!

II Timothy 2:11-12
"11Here is a trustworthy saying:
If we died with [Christ],
we will also live with him;
12if we endure,
we will also reign with him."

Not only will the struggles be gone, but we will reign with Christ!!  You will be powerful beyond imagination!  Have you ever wanted to be a king or queen?  The next life will be a dream come true!

Do you know how powerful you will be?  I Corinthians 6:3 asks, "Do you not know that we will judge angels?..."

Angels, the messengers of God.  Angels.  Supernatural beings.  And you will be judging them!  Don't be afraid of death.  The next life will be awesome!

But the only way it will be awesome is if you have responded to the Gospel of Christ.  The word, "gospel" means good news.  What is the good news?  What is that Gospel?

Paul writes in I Corinthians 151-4, "1Now, brothers, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand. 2By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain. 3For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures."

The good news is that Jesus died and was buried and rose again on the 3rd day.  And because He lives, you can live, too. 

Do you believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God?  Are you ready to make Him Lord and Savior of your life?

Then come forward as we sing and accept His forgiveness as you admit that belief before others and are buried with Him in baptism, rising from the water seeing death as a beginning.

Or maybe you've already done that and would like to place your membership with us.  Then come as we sing.