A Dumb Way to Die

[0:00] Father, we give you thanks and praise that Jesus is present amongst us this morning. We thank you, Father, that we have the great privilege and honor to meet with Jesus in the presence of his people.

[0:12] And we acknowledge before you, Father, that we can't come based on our own righteousness, our own specialness, and we can't come in our own power, that we are always dependent upon your grace.

[0:25] We are always dependent upon your Holy Spirit drawing us. So, Father, we ask that now as we think upon your word written, that your Holy Spirit would move deeply in our minds and hearts and wills, move in our souls and in our bodies, and make us, Father, receptive to your word so that your word may come deeply into us, touch our hearts, and our lives will then bring you glory.

[0:52] And this we ask in Jesus' name, your Son and our Savior. Amen. Amen. Please be seated. This is going to make it sound like I'm a world traveler. I'm not a world traveler.

[1:07] But about 13, 14 years ago, something like that, I got to go to Africa. I went to a conference of Anglican leaders from around the world.

[1:17] And we were going to meet in Kenya. And in fact, we were going to meet in a seminary that Africans went to. So it wasn't like five-star fancy.

[1:28] Often places when you go to Africa where tourists go, they're very nice. This is where it wasn't that it was bad, but it was just it was far more simple and rudimentary. And it was going to be about 40, 50 kilometers.

[1:41] I think it was north of Nairobi. Anyway, just a month or so after we'd already bought my plane ticket, before we went, there started to be a travel advisory from the Canadian government recommending that Canadians not travel to Kenya.

[1:56] Some naughty people had been trying to shoot planes down from the sky when they were landing at the airport. There were some attacks against people by terrorist types on top of the normal crime.

[2:10] And so there was a travel advisory against going. And in fact, actually, all of the airlines at the time that flew into Nairobi canceled their flights. Only KLM was still flying into Nairobi.

[2:23] But that was actually the airline that I was with. My wife and I talked about it and we prayed about it and I decided I would still go. And so I went and got there eventually after a lot of travel, got there in an evening.

[2:37] And later on the next day in the afternoon, I'm a runner. Well, actually, increasingly, I'm a daughterer. But I was a runner back then still.

[2:48] And so I went in the afternoon for a run. And I got about two kilometers, we're way out in the country, quite rural. And I'm out running along this rural road. And I'm about two kilometers away from the place where I was staying.

[3:03] And walking towards me down the center of the road were about 12, 15, 20 young black men, every one of them carrying a machete. And they were walking towards me.

[3:15] I mean, they weren't hunting for me. I wasn't that paranoid or anything. But they were walking towards me and I was running towards them. So I'm running along and inwardly I'm having this dialogue. Maybe I should turn around.

[3:27] Maybe I should turn around and go back to the place where I'm staying and not keep running towards them. And on the other hand, I'm thinking, no, no, no, no, no. This would be, you know, this would just, you know, reinforce stereotypes that, of these wonderful people in Kenya that people like me are just afraid of them.

[3:46] And, you know, we don't understand what's going on. And it would be sort of rude for me to see them and turn around and run the other way. And then I'm trying to decide, I don't want to do that. And then I'm running towards them still.

[3:58] I'm thinking, this could be a really, really dumb way to die. And I'm actually going through my mind that I get hacked to death. And back with all of the other several, you know, 150 people at the conference, on one hand, they'd all be very, very sad.

[4:15] But I also know they would then be saying to each other, what a dumb way to die. Like, who in their right mind runs towards 15 young men with machetes after travel advisories?

[4:25] I just pictured my poor wife having a funeral ceremony for me here in Ottawa. And while everybody was expressing their condolences, when they weren't with her, they were saying, what a dumb way to die.

[4:37] What a stupid thing for George to do. On a long list of stupid things, this was the dumbest. Anyway, these thoughts are all going back and forth in my mind, obviously. Actually, I didn't turn around.

[4:48] I kept running towards them. And I thought, well, anyway, I just thought that's what I would just do. That I was being, I shouldn't be afraid. And sure enough, they were all just friendly local people.

[5:01] They all laughed and waved. And I discovered that not many people in that part of Kenya, I suppose, were used to middle-aged white men running along the road in shorts. So everywhere I went, people waved and pointed and laughed.

[5:15] I caused lots of merriment every day for the locals. And anyway, they just all waved. And I can't remember now, there was a greeting you yelled back and forth in Kenya.

[5:26] And they yelled that at me. And I had learned at the time. I yelled it back to them. And there was a response. And I responded. Then they said something else. And I hadn't been trained what the third thing was to say. But I was alive. And I was fine.

[5:37] But it brings up, you know, that there are some really, really dumb ways to die. And what I'd like us to look at today is a letter written by a man in jail.

[5:50] And this letter was written by a man in jail. He's a very interesting fellow. He had at one point in time been a zealot Jewish person who'd actually been responsible for the imprisonment of many Christians.

[6:05] And it actually, in a sense, concurred with the murder of a Christian. And then he claimed that Jesus, he actually saw the risen Jesus.

[6:18] And it completely turned his life around. And there is a record. We have this record of a letter that he wrote. And the context is, it's so funny, you know.

[6:30] It's held in the Bible. And I have to confess, I have this, you know, black sort of vague leather and gold on the edge. But this originally started, in fact, if you could just turn to 2 Timothy 2 because we're going to look at it.

[6:42] It's called, now we know it as 2 Timothy 2. But it wasn't originally written as 2 Timothy 2 to go into the Bible. It was written by this fellow by the name of Paul. It was probably written around the year 65 or 66.

[6:54] That's 65 or 66 with a zero in front of it. Like not 165 or 1965, but 65. And we know from the context and this letter that it was, this fellow Paul had been in jail many, many times.

[7:12] But this is the second time he's in jail in Rome. Nero is the emperor. Nero has been slaughtering Christians in Rome starting in the year 64.

[7:23] And Paul has been caught again. He's in a dungeon. And he's bound with fetters and chains. And he's been bureaucratically lost.

[7:34] You know what bureaucratically lost means? Maybe some of you who've come here from other countries, and probably it happens here in Canada. When friends and family went looking for Paul to see how he was, oh, I don't know where he is.

[7:48] But when the executioner wants to find Paul, they take him right to it. You know, that's called bureaucratically lost, right? Lost to outsiders, but not lost to the bureaucrats.

[7:59] And this fellow, he's written this letter. He's now had a trial, a preliminary trial. It's gone very, very poorly. And so now he's in a dungeon.

[8:10] He's, to all intents and purposes, except for this one fellow who's hunted him down, he's lost to outsiders. Paul knows that the next trial, which is going to be more of a kangaroo court with a sentence, that it's going to happen very soon, maybe the next day, maybe the next week, maybe the next month, very soon.

[8:30] And Paul knows he's going to be found guilty. And he knows that after that, they're going to take him out, and they're going to cut his head off to kill him. And that's, in fact, how Paul dies. Peter, as a bit of an aside, another early Christian, he died by crucifixion.

[8:44] But Paul couldn't be crucified because he was a Roman citizen. And so Paul is going to be executed by beheading. So Paul is in a dungeon. The first trial has gone bad.

[8:57] He's awaiting the second and final trial that will lead to his conviction and his death. And he writes this letter. So let's look at it. And at the heart of this letter is, was it a dumb way for Paul to die?

[9:13] Because as you're going to see in the letter, all Paul had to do was say that, you know what? Jesus is dead. Jesus is dead. Like, I just made it up. Like, I meant well.

[9:25] And, you know, it's really provided a lot of meaning to a lot of people. Like, it's a very, very great metaphor for life. It's a great symbol of lots of stuff. It gives lots of people a minute of comfort and hope internally.

[9:39] But I made it up. And all Paul had to say was, I made it up. Or it's not true. And he had that get out of jail free card.

[9:50] That's all he had to do. Say, I got out of jail. It didn't happen. And I won't say that it happened anymore. And Paul could go free. So what we're looking at here is, did Paul die a really dumb way?

[10:07] Like a dumb, dumb way to die. He wasn't married. But he had nephews and nieces. And we're his nephews and nieces saying, gosh, Uncle Paul, you're such a goof.

[10:18] Like, just tell people the truth. Like, just don't die. Don't, such a dumb way to die. Let's look. We'll begin at verse 1.

[10:29] Just so you get a bit of the context. It's going to be a few verses in before you, we get to the part that's sort of very interesting. Although, actually, it says something very interesting right at the beginning. Verse 1. And just a bit of an aside as well.

[10:40] Like, it looks all fancy right now in our Bibles. But it really was just a letter that was probably written around 65 or 66 or 67. Something like that. There not know precisely where, but somewhere in there. And so it was originally a letter.

[10:53] And you can go and see not the original one, obviously, but copies of it throughout the years. But it looks really nice in our Bible. And verses and all were added many, many, many centuries later just to help people find parts in it.

[11:05] They weren't there, obviously. Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus, verse 1, by the will of God, according to the promise of the life that is in Christ Jesus. And just pause there.

[11:17] The promise of the life that is in Christ Jesus. A few years ago, the Armed Forces of Canada had an advertising campaign. And at the heart of it was a slogan, there's no life like it.

[11:29] Now, if you know anybody who's served in the military, you can ask them about it. And they will tell you a range of rude things that people in the Armed Forces said about the slogan.

[11:42] I'm not going to say any of these rude things. But you trust me. You ask some people in the Armed Forces. They have a variety of ironic or rude things that they would say about it. And so just so you understand here, that's not what Paul is saying here.

[11:54] When the Armed Forces was using the slogan, there's no life like it, what they really mean is there's no lifestyle like it. That's what they mean. Okay? There's no lifestyle like it.

[12:05] So Paul here isn't saying Paul. Remember, he's in fetters. He's in chains. He's in a dungeon. He's in a dungeon. He's already been found guilty of the preliminary trial. He's waiting a kangaroo court to pronounce him guilty.

[12:18] And he's going to be executed. He has a get-out-of-jail-free card. And Paul is writing this letter to his friend Timothy. And how does he begin the letter? And he also, by the way, knows that the officials will probably look at the letter before it goes out.

[12:37] Okay? So what's Paul going to do? He begins his letter by saying, Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God according to the promise of the life that is in Christ Jesus.

[12:50] There's life in Christ Jesus. Not a lively lifestyle, but life in Christ Jesus. It's not the way you talk about a person who's dead.

[13:01] It's not the way you write to impress jailers and judges in a kangaroo court so you can go free. You write it so that if they start to read it, immediately they're going to say, Good grief, that guy's still saying that.

[13:17] Bleepity, bleepity, bleepity, bleepity, bleep stuff. Verse 2. To Timothy, my beloved child. Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.

[13:30] Note he's talking as if Jesus is alive and can do things. Verse 3. I thank God whom I serve as did my ancestors with a clear conscience.

[13:45] He's in jail, but he has a clear conscience. He's not lying. He's speaking the truth. His conscience is clear.

[13:56] I thank God whom I serve as did my ancestors with a clear conscience. As I remember you constantly in my prayers night and day.

[14:07] As I remember your tears. I long to see you that I may be filled with joy. I am reminded of your sincere faith. A faith that dwelt first in your grandmother Lois.

[14:19] And your mother Eunice. And now I am sure dwells in you as well. Just pause for a second. And it's sort of really cool that Paul, in his cell that's going to lead to his death, thinks of grandmothers.

[14:32] It's not one of my points, but if you're a grandmother here, godly grandmothers are really important. Just as godly mothers are.

[14:43] And it's just so, you know, here it is. It's just like a little shout out right here for godly grandmothers and godly mothers. To pray for your kids. Pray for your kids. Don't give up ever praying for your kids.

[14:57] We'll keep going. Where was I? Verse 6. For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands.

[15:09] For God gave us a spirit, and that spirit there should be capitalized. It's the Holy Spirit that he's referring to. He's not talking about an attitude. He's talking about a spirit. For God gave us a spirit, not of fear, but of love, power, and love, and self-control.

[15:25] And just sort of pause. I know I haven't got to the evidence. I mean, we already looked at some evidence here about what Paul, about how he's going to handle the get-out-of-jail-free card. But the word fear here, when it says God gave us a spirit, like what does the Holy Spirit give us?

[15:39] Not of fear. And the word fear there isn't the same word which is translated in other places, like that can be maybe good in terms of a fear of God. It could also be translated, if you were using more words and the grammar would be messed up, it means being a coward.

[15:57] The Holy Spirit never leads you to be a coward. Never. You know, and one of the things here, and we're going to return to this at the very end, it's just a quick application right here.

[16:07] You know, one of the hardest things for most of us to confess to is that we're a coward. You know, there's socially acceptable things. You know, we might say, like, nobody makes a big deal about the fact that you might be afraid of heights or, you know, afraid of, you know, being in an enclosed space or something like that.

[16:22] But just, you know, generally in areas where people should have, you know, be a big, strong woman or a strong man, and we're not, we cover it up.

[16:32] We don't want to acknowledge it about ourselves. We cover it up from others. We try to say about how we're being reasonable, we're being patient, we're being, you know, we're taking, turning the other cheek.

[16:42] We talk a lot about language. But one of the hardest things for any of us to confess to, even to ourselves, is that we are a coward in this situation. In fact, you know, whether or not you believe in the gospel or not, if you just see this text, just as a matter of pure wisdom, isn't it true that we have a hard time acknowledging that we're a coward sometimes about certain things?

[17:06] Maybe we're brave everywhere except talking to our mother-in-law, or our father-in-law, or our daughter, or our boss. Brave everywhere else except in that one area. And isn't it really interesting what it says that the Holy Spirit does give us?

[17:19] The Holy Spirit gives us power, love, and self-control. What a wise combination of virtues. Like, isn't that, even if you're not a Christian, isn't that something that you'd want?

[17:33] Power, love, and self-control. You don't want power without love. The world is filled with people with power without love. And the world is filled with people with power with no self-control.

[17:43] And you don't want to just be love with no power or no self-control. You don't want to have self-control without power. Isn't this a wise three things to want? Like, isn't this a good thing to pray for?

[17:57] Let's just keep going. Verse 8. Therefore, do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord, nor of me, his prisoner, but share in suffering for the gospel by the power of God.

[18:10] Now, I just sort of want to, you know, pause there for another second. This is another really important, just for those of us who are Christians, a bit of a, just a time out here, just to camp here for a second.

[18:22] This is a really, really, really important little verse. The choice before a Christian is always whether or not he or she will be ashamed of the gospel or suffer for the gospel.

[18:38] It's the constant choice. Just a couple of months ago, I was in a Starbucks out in Kanata, and I got talking to a guy who was involved in high tech.

[18:51] And he had just noticed me reading one of these big commentaries, and he noticed me reading these big fat books many times, and I guess he'd never quite figured out what they were. And I guess he thought I was learned or something like that, or like reading serious types of stuff.

[19:05] And he got into a conversation with me, and somehow or another in the conversation, very quickly it turned about how not being, like being a Christian was being on the wrong side, the uneducated, unintelligent side of the divide.

[19:19] And I have this brief moment. He's well-dressed. He's well-spoken. He probably makes two or three times what I do, well-educated, and he's just dismissed the Christian faith.

[19:33] What do I do? Now, it's very, very tiny suffering, but do I want him to think I'm one of those dumb people who take the wrong side? Am I going to be ashamed of the gospel, or am I going to be willing to suffer or share that I believe the gospel and potentially suffer just a small way?

[19:55] The choice before me, be ashamed or suffer. That is a daily thing that we walk in post-Christendom Canada. Now, to my shame, there are times when it's hard for me to be willing to do that, but in this particular case, I said, well, actually, I'm one of those dumb people on the wrong side.

[20:20] Now, in this particular case, I didn't suffer for it. He got red and embarrassed. But you see, often what it is is that the devil uses our fear of suffering to help us be ashamed of the gospel, when actually, if we're not ashamed of the gospel, we actually don't sometimes suffer.

[20:37] Sometimes we do, by the way, as many of us can give stories of. And so it's that very, very important moment in the text. It sends this two directions or pass for us. And just one other thing.

[20:47] I know it's another bit of a time out. But some of you know that one of the things that our church has started is Royal College. And there's a need to have a cross-denominational evangelical training college in Ottawa.

[21:05] In a sense, we want to be your friendly neighborhood evangelical cross-denominational training college, but also a witness to the nation. And one of the things that many academics who teach theology, at the heart of what they're saying, and it can be very sophisticated, when I went to my liberal seminary, I'm dealing with guys and gals who know five languages, one or more PhDs, they're bright, higher IQ than me, nicer people than me, but what was actually at work in much of what they were talking about was they were ashamed of the gospel.

[21:38] And they didn't want to suffer for the gospel. So they blunted the gospel and twisted the gospel. And one of the things which I am so pleased about is that guys like Gary and the academics that we have teaching are not ashamed of the gospel.

[21:56] They aren't. And there is a profound need for a college with professors who are unashamed of the gospel to teach unashamed workers.

[22:08] They equip them. So if you could just pray for a while, college, you know, we need some money and some other help if you want to make a donation, that would be good. I didn't know I was going to go all that direction with it, but it's just a really important moment.

[22:19] And for many of you who are in university or in the civil service, it's really, you know, one of the things which causes us great problems is that the gospel isn't compatible with the modern, the postmodern mind.

[22:32] So it regularly, before we realize it, we don't want to say, well, actually, I think this particular way on this ethical issue. Or, no, actually, I believe God is the creator of all things and we don't want to say that and so we're ashamed of it and we don't want to suffer for it.

[22:47] And before you know it, you lose it. So it's a really important little aside here and it's very, very interesting because Paul is walking the talk.

[23:00] And in fact, actually, remember, the jailers are liable to look at Anisiphorus. Let me look at what Paul's written. Whoa, one moment. He's talking as if Jesus is alive. And one moment. Do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord.

[23:12] That is not exactly a get-out-of-jail-free card being used. This is bring on the guy with the big sword card.

[23:27] I'll read it again and then we'll keep going. Therefore, do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord nor of me, his prisoner, but share in suffering for the gospel by the power of God who saved us and called us to a holy calling not because of our works but because of his own purpose and grace which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began.

[23:50] And now listen to this. And which now has been manifested through the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel for which I was appointed a preacher and apostle and a teacher which is why I suffer as I do but I am not ashamed for I know whom I have believed and I am convinced that he is able he's present he's doing it right now he is able to guard until that day what has been entrusted to me.

[24:25] And then he says to Timothy follow the pattern of the sound words the healthy words that you have heard from me in the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus by the Holy Spirit who dwells within us guard the good deposit entrusted to you.

[24:44] So if you could bring up the first point that would be great. Paul died because he would not lie and say that Jesus was dead. Paul died because he would not lie and say that Jesus was dead.

[25:01] This isn't a full argument for the truth of the resurrection but it's a really important piece of evidence isn't it? in fact if you could put up the next point please just sort of restating it Paul died because he had first hand knowledge and told people that Jesus Messiah had died defeated death and was now alive forevermore.

[25:27] Paul died because he had first hand knowledge and told people that Jesus Messiah had died defeated death and was now alive forevermore. that's what we discover here.

[25:41] You keep on reading the rest of the letter there's other instances where he talks about Jesus being alive having defeated death and that's why he died. If it's not true it was a really dumb way to die.

[25:57] If it is true well maybe some of you might say it's still a bit of a dumb way to die or a tragic way to die like why didn't Paul just agree to it and then get out and do something else.

[26:09] Like why didn't he sort of just say oh yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah you know I don't you know internally I don't believe it but yeah Jesus is dead I made it all up and then he goes out and does something well it would be amongst other things it would then be written in the court records and the people who were killing Christians would be able to tell everybody that one of the people that you claim is a witness to the fact that Jesus is alive that he's defeated death and he's still alive he's actually said on public record that that's not true.

[26:43] You see Paul because of this profound truth he had to maintain it for our good and it is really good for us because every single one of us is going to have to face death.

[26:57] One of the things I do sometimes in the morning is I read some of the obituaries in the paper and it's a very very common thing in the newspapers to see people talk about how the deceased they give a long long line of all the wonderful things about the person who's died and you know probably they were wonderful things about the person who died and then in it they'll talk about how this person will live on in our memories forever.

[27:21] You will live on in our memories forever. It's a very very very just trust me you go you read the obituaries you will see it regularly and it's a regular way that people talk about death. Now I don't mean to upset you but I'm going to challenge that idea.

[27:37] Just this about a month or so ago I read a novel by Reed Farrell Coleman he's won a variety of awards he's a writer in Long Island part of New York City but Long Island and he wrote this novel called Where It Hurts which I was reading and one of the main aspects of the entire novel is him dealing with the sudden death of his son his son John 20 years old he's just playing pick up basketball outside he makes a shot scores the basket just walks away and as he's walking away he just crumbles nobody touches him he just crumbles he had a brain aneurysm I hope that's not a spoiler alert for you but it's not a big spoiler alert he had a brain aneurysm and he just dies he doesn't die in Afghanistan he doesn't die in Iraq he doesn't die doing something bad he doesn't die doing something courageous he just dies all just a couple of friends in a school in a park open air basketball court he just dies and a major thing of the entire novel is the main character wrestling with this meaningless death of his son here's a very interesting thing which is part of the novel he's at the basketball court and it's a fall day and he's looking at it and the wind is blowing the leaves around and he's looking at the basketball court and he says this but this wasn't his grave this wasn't the church this wasn't the funeral home or the hospital those were all places where his body had been places where all that was left of John was bone and flesh in the shape of my son but wasn't my son by the time he got to the hospital he was somewhere else somewhere in the wind his memories his sense of humor his love and anger his smarts and his mess-ups gone just like that gone what was left of him lived now only as pieces of the people who had known him and when we were dead and in the wind he would be forgotten that was still the hardest part to take that he would be forgotten so soon don't tell me about photos and videos about how we live on in those things it's a lie go get out your parents photo albums one with their parents and grandparents in it look really look carefully at all the faces of the dead sure you may recognize your great grandparents but you might not but even if you do what of their relatives what of their friends what of the faces unrecognized this is our future our shared destiny all born to be forgotten

[30:24] Paul is a witness not to how butterflies come out of a cocoon and not to how spring follows the winter and not to how you plant a seed into the ground and then the seed comes to life but he is going to die by the hands of Nero because he is going to claim that there was a man who defeated death who was still alive who would share that defeat with ordinary human beings like you and me listen again to what he says in verses 8-12 therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony about our

[31:27] Lord nor of me his prisoner but share in suffering for the gospel by the power of God who saved us and called us to a holy calling not because of our works but because of his own purpose and grace which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began and which now has been manifested through the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel for which I was appointed a preacher and apostle and teacher which is why I suffer as I do but I am not ashamed for I know whom I have believed and I am convinced that he is able to guard until that day what has been entrusted to me now here's the first thing just to try to unpack that a little bit just to help us very briefly towards the end if you could put up the next point Andrew one of the things that the Bible does which is very counterintuitive to our culture is in our culture when we think of death we think of it as a biological problem to be solved it's a biological problem to be solved the Bible like great scientists and great sociologists and economists and great philosophers who look at things which seem to be quite different and see how they're connected and therefore come to a deeper understanding of what's really going on

[32:54] Newton began to suspect that what governs an apple falling from a tree might be the very same thing that governs the movements of the planets what a jump eh like now it's still a bit counterintuitive to us who aren't really scientist types that dropping something from my hand to the ground can help to determine the movement of the stars in the sky but Newton made that connection and it's not here in this text but it's part of the Bible what the Bible does is the Bible links human death to human rebellion against the living God who created us the Bible links human death to human rebellion against the living God who created us and that means that if you're going to try to solve one you have to solve the other you know just a bit of an aside one of the things about our culture it's very very interesting in our culture on one hand you could have the same newspaper I don't think I don't know if

[33:55] I've ever actually literally seen it but you could easily see it happening because occasionally there's different reports about different scientists or technologists trying to come up with a way of defeating death you know whether it's a matter of freezing us or putting us in a state of suspended animation until the cure for the illness that we have comes available and then they would resuscitate you and then the scientists would be able to cure you or maybe they're going to look at ways of taking our consciousness and putting it in a different body or you know maybe they'll be able to design a baby in a test tube that won't be susceptible to breakdown as our bodies are broken down but in the same time that you have in the science pages things that praise this movies always portray any solution like this in the future as being something connected to evil without exception that if there is a day in the future where some babies can be made in a test tube that won't die that's bad news for everybody else if there is a way to take our consciousness and put it into another body that's bad news for somebody else it's there's always something evil about it at the same time that our culture only understands death as being connected to biology we understand that somehow we should try to defeat death but the other hand part of us understands that human attempts to defeat death by biology will probably involve great evil it will not be a picture of utopia but dystopia and in the midst of our cultural longings and confusion the bible does something our culture never suspects which is to link human rebellion to death human rebellion against the living god to death if you could put up the next slide please one of the things to ask any philosophy of life any new age philosophy any religion any academic philosophy is how does it handle death how does it account for death how does it handle the meaning of death and how does the christian account match up to it and I want to challenge you that if you look at the christian account with its rivals it's wise obviously there can be arguments and quibbles but it's wise and what we see here in this text is that jesus messiah's saving death and resurrection had its origins in eternity but took place in history that jesus messiah's saving death and resurrection had its origins in eternity but take place in history look at verses 9 and 10 who saved us and called us to a holy calling not because of our works but because of his own purpose and grace which he gave us in christ jesus before the ages began outside of time eternity in which now has been manifested through the appearing of our savior christ jesus who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel for which i was appointed a preacher and teacher and apostle appointed if you know the whole story of paul how was he appointed he wasn't appointed by a committee he wasn't appointed by a group of people who wanted to say yay paul yay paul yay paul no in fact the matter is is that when paul first became a christian everybody was terrified of him the last guy on the planet that any human being would appoint who appointed him he got appointed when jesus appeared to him after death after he'd risen that's how paul knew he'd been appointed how paul knew that jesus was alive he'd seen him and so only god is going to be able to fix the problem of human rebellion and only god is going to be able to fix the problem of death and so we see here that jesus messiah saving death and resurrection had its origins in eternity its origins in god but took place in history it's real it's concrete it's not a story it's not a metaphor it's not a symbol paul would have gotten out of jail if he had said it's just a metaphor it's just a symbol it's concrete and it's real and if you could put the next point andrew please jesus messiah's death upon the cross was a just and merciful dealing with human rebellion and his resurrection from the dead vindicated him as the power of god for eternal salvation for all who believe in him see the bible links human rebellion against death god as connected to death you solve one you have to solve the other in fact there's a very very curious bit in the book of revelation that hints that a time in the future might come when human beings solve the problem of death and the very interesting thing is when it hints at this the human response is to ask for death psychologically profoundly wise psychologically profoundly wise because if you solve the biological problem but don't solve the problem of rebellion against god you will only have evil you will have dystopia not utopia and jesus in his death upon the cross in history planned by god voluntarily entered into by him his death upon the cross as our substitute as an act of exchange and his might tasting all there is to taste of death and his mighty resurrection is god dealing with both problems in a way that means that we can share in jesus's defeat of death and live with him eternally in the new heaven and the new earth just a couple of things in closing andrew if you could just a couple of things for you to take away i'm going to put them up fairly quickly if you can't i don't know some people write these down if you can't write them down you can go on the web page later and they'll all be on the web page and really all four of them are prayers i want to challenge you if you're here as a guest or maybe somebody dragged you here maybe a grandmother grad dragged you here i don't know your mom dragged you here i want to challenge you you know there's no better time than today to give your life to jesus to deal with your death to deal with that which causes your death and he turns no one away he turns no one away and there's no magic words romans 10 just says you believe in your heart that god raised him from the dead and you confess with your lips that jesus is lord and you will be saved but i i've just put some words up here to sort of summarize the sermon that you might want to consider praying to begin the great journey the great opportunity to be with jesus to share in his defeat of sin and death to pray jesus messiah you died and tasted all of death and you rose triumphant over sin and death and hell please be my savior and my lord i hold nothing back from you all of who i am i give to you thank you for taking me as your own forever if you pray that prayer from your heart jesus will answer it and the words of that prayer will be true for you put up the next one please just three there are four little prayers for us to take away second one is for those of us who are followers of jesus remember verse seven um actually we'll begin at verse six for this reason i remind you to fan into flame the gift of god which is in you through the lane out of my hands for god gave us a spirit the holy spirit not a fear but of power and love and self-control i want to challenge you some of us aren't even aware of the ways that being a coward has shaped and defined our lives and god does not want you to live as a coward and the gospel helps us to understand that as the gospel grips us we realize that god didn't choose us because we were choice he chose us because he loves us he didn't choose us because we had to be perfect he knows everything there's no about us and still he loved you so much he died for you on the cross and as we are gripped by the gospel the security that the gospel brings to pray lord as i am gripped by the gospel help me to know when i am being cowardly and then please pour out your holy spirit upon me to live with love and power and self-control a prayer for the rest of your life could put up the next one please andrew this comes from verses 8 and verse 12 therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony about our lord nor of me as prisoner but share in suffering for the gospel by the power of god and verse 12 which is why i suffer as i do but i am not ashamed for i know whom i have believed and i am convinced it is able to guard until that day what has been entrusted to me i challenge some of you that who in fact aren't willing to suffer for the gospel not willing to look like you're a hick because you believe certain you see the gospel is in the context of basic christian doctrines and basic christian doctrines are in the context of the gospel and as we are ashamed of some of this because we don't want to suffer our faith withers and maybe even dies and so many of us need to pray this prayer lord as i am gripped by the gospel help me to be willing to suffer for the gospel and help me to never be ashamed of the gospel prayer for the rest of your life and finally if andrew if you could put up the final prayer and i didn't talk about this much but verses 12 to 14 it's really precious verse which is why i suffer as i do but i am not ashamed for i know whom i have believed you know for some of us who are from baptisty type churches i keep wanting to go for i know whom i have believed and am persuaded that he is able to keep that we've now just revealed ourselves as being old fogies you just self-identified yourself that way you um you can join with me in leaving like this afterwards while all the young hip people are take pity on us but i i just i'm i'm i'm old enough i remember when that was one of like that was a very common popular say amen all you baptist presbyterian anglican types you know amen right this was a very common song anyway sorry where was i back to this which is why i suffer as i do but i am not ashamed for i know whom i have believed it and i am convinced that he is able to guard until that day what has been entrusted to me who's guarding it you know jesus is is is guard he's entrusted me something but he's guarding it then he says follow the pattern of the sound words that you have heard from me in the faith and love that are in christ jesus by the holy spirit who dwells within us guard the good deposit guard the gospel guard the beautiful deposit guard that great treasure of the gospel message which is the power of god for salvation which is not just good news it's good news that has doctrinal implications and it's good news that shapes all doctrine and jesus has given this to his people to guard and defend and proclaim and the really good news is it doesn't rest on you to succeed because god guards it and entrusts it that's really some of us we just need to wake up in a day and say you know when we realize that we're starting to walk like this with a our head down and we just have to look up and say one moment i'm carried in the arms of jesus doesn't rest on my shoulders not as a way of avoiding responsibility but when you realize that jesus is involved in it it helps you take responsibility so many of us need to pray this prayer lord as i'm gripped by the gospel help me to take my part in guarding the gospel thank you that it is you and only you that guarantees the transmission of the gospel it's a wonderful thing to pray a prayer for the rest of your life and if you could put up that first prayer just as we're closing i'd like you to stand please just as i we bring this to a close this part of the service to a close we're going to still intercede we're going to take up a collection we're going to have it's it's a you know a short communion service but it's it's it's it's a heart communion service it's not done with lots of you know fancy and all that type of stuff it goes right to the words of institution right to to the words of jesus to enter into holy communion with them and but you know is i'm just going to pray if you're standing here there's no better time if you haven't given your life to jesus i urge you there is no better time than to give your life to jesus then and if you if those words help you use those words it's not a magic formula use them use your own words but there's no better time than now let's pray father thank you for jesus thank you father that you used an ordinary man like paul a man like paul who probably had a temper there's probably all sorts of irritating things about him just like there are irritating things about us but you used him father thank you that you gave him the courage to not use a get out of jail free card but that he was willing to suffer for the gospel to die for the gospel to continue to share with us the good news that jesus lived that he died upon the cross that he tasted all there is to taste of death and then the third day he rose and that he will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead and to bring in the new heaven and earth father thank you for this precious news make us disciples of jesus who are gripped by the gospel and are learning to live for your glory this is our prayer and we ask it in the name of jesus and odd all god's people said amen you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you