[0:00] This message was recorded at Vision Baptist Church in Alpharetta, Georgia. This is the next message in our series on the book of John, entitled, Jesus is God.
[0:14] A little over two years ago, I guess two and a half years ago, I asked the young people to sing that at my dad's funeral. What a tremendous song. It is not death to die.
[0:25] I, from the two of the hardest weeks of my life, I sat by his bed and listened to the death rattle and waited on my dad to leave this earth. He didn't know who we were, didn't know what was going on, and he was soon to step out of this world and into the next world and be in the presence of God.
[0:44] Today, I want to talk to you about what Jesus thinks about death. In Adikipa, where Betty and I lived for 18 years with our family, funerals are a pretty wild thing if you're a lost person.
[0:57] If you don't know Jesus, I'm pretty sure they are here. Not been around a whole lot of those funerals. But on the day the person dies, you'll be buried within 24 hours.
[1:08] That night, the word is spread all over the city, and all the friends and all the family, anybody that can get there, comes. And the family goes into a frenzy because the family will now prepare alcohol and cigarettes and coca leaves, which is what cocaine is made from.
[1:23] And they will bring you into the house, and they'll put the casket there, and there'll be these two massive candles and a picture of Jesus on a crucifix. Or sometimes in a casket, and everybody will sit around the room, and they'll all get drunk.
[1:38] Or they'll get a little bit of a high they get from chewing the coca leaf. The family's working like crazy because the family prepares all the food. The family prepares food for everybody that comes, and so friends come out of the woodwork like never before.
[1:53] Because they're going to get a free, they're going to get free food, they're going to get free booze. And the place is full, and it's a pretty horrible place. I've gone and sat in those places with those guys while they were drinking.
[2:05] They tried to get us to drink, and I would sit there, and I would try to share Jesus with them. Most of them were way too far gone. And I remember one lady named Susanna that was in our church, and she invited us to the house.
[2:15] And when we got there, we walked in the front door of the house, and there were people everywhere. And as soon as I walked in the door, people spread the word. The pastor is here. And so they ran, and they got Susanna. And Susanna came and grabbed me, and she said, you come with me.
[2:30] And she took me and everybody that came from our church, and she took us to a special room. And she sat us in this room totally away from everybody else. Everybody else that was drinking was over here, and smoking cigarettes was over here, and chewing coca leaves was over here.
[2:44] We were in this special room. And she came in and said, please, you all got to understand my family's here and not just me. And then the guys would come by with a tray, and they'd have cigarettes on it, and they'd offer everybody a cigarette. And they'd come by and offer everybody a drink, a pisco sour, and they'd bring that around.
[2:59] And then they would come around, and they would offer coca leaves that you could chew, which is what the Indian people do up in the high levels. And she would get to the door, and she'd say, these are God's people.
[3:10] They don't do that stuff. And so it was the wildest thing you've ever seen, almost a tad bit embarrassing how Susanna, who was a little bit older than us, protected us. But I'll never forget the story of a lady named Rosa.
[3:21] And Rosa Lopez de Cabero was an African-American, an African-Peruvian lady. Her family had actually been brought over to Peru many years ago.
[3:36] as slaves, just like what had happened here. But Rosa had accepted Jesus as her Savior. She was one of the sweetest, most godly ladies we'd ever known. She had lupus, and so she couldn't walk, and she couldn't take care of her.
[3:50] So she could barely walk if you helped her. And so she came to our church all the time. Betty went by every Sunday morning and every Sunday night and every Thursday night, and she picked her up, and she brought her to church, and then she took her home, and then she came back to get me.
[4:02] And one day, Rosa got sick, real sick. And her husband, who was a quote-unquote preacher, said, We don't have the money to take care of her, so we're just going to let her lay at the house until she dies.
[4:12] The girls came to me, and they said, The girls came to me, and they said, Dad's not going to do anything. Mom's just going to lay in the house until she dies. And I said, Well, you get her to the hospital, and I'll take care of whatever it takes to take care of her.
[4:23] So they got her to the hospital. They got her to the hospital, and somehow, I guess, the state took care of her. I don't remember ever paying any of that bill. And every day, about 5 o'clock in the morning, I would show up at the hospital, and I'd just walk in, and I'd see Rosa, and I would talk to her.
[4:37] And one morning, 5 or 5.30 in the morning, I showed up, and her room was empty. Her bed was gone. And I ran down to the station to ask them what happened, and they said, Oh, there's nobody here with her, and she died.
[4:49] So I go to their house. I arrive at 6 or 6.30 at the people's house, at Rosa's house. They were kids, and I knock on the door, and they lived in a shack that you would be ashamed of and embarrassed to see.
[5:03] They lived in this shack, and I knocked on the door, and these people didn't like me. Most of the people in the family, some of them now turned out to be preachers, but at that time, none of them liked me. I'd knock on the door, and they would actually jump across the walls and take off running out the back.
[5:16] I'm not teasing. So I'd knock on the door, and you could see the rats scurrying when I showed up. And so I knocked on the door, and one of the daughters came out, and she said, What are you doing here so early? And I said, Your mom has gone to heaven.
[5:29] And I said, So tell me what we need to do to help. And she said, Well, I'll be in touch with you later today. A few hours later, she called me up, and she said, Dad says we're going to let the state burn her body.
[5:40] We're not going to do anything with it. Don't have any money. We're not going to mess with it. So I go over there, and I say, That's not how it's happening. This lady was a faithful member of our church.
[5:51] She's having a funeral. It's going to be at our church, and I'll just pay. It was a lot of money, $500, I think, which was a lot of money for Peruvians. Please don't think I'm not in any way saying it wasn't a lot of money for them.
[6:02] But we brought her to the church. Betty actually helped bathe her body, put the cotton in her nose, put the cotton in her ears, and all the different things that they do. They don't embalm the body.
[6:12] Put it under a glass, a casket with a glass window so you can look in it. You've got 24 hours to get it in there. And then I told the family, I said, I'm going to teach you how God's people do a funeral.
[6:23] And so that day, I sent word all over the community, and I asked our entire church to come together, and we provided food. There wasn't any alcohol.
[6:33] There wasn't any cigarettes. There wasn't any coca leaves, but there was food galore, and you could have any kind of drink you wanted, like Coca-Cola or Sprite or Pepsi. We had a little bit of it all. And that night, I told them, they said, Somebody has to stay up all night with the body and watch the body and take care of the body.
[6:51] And I said, So tonight, we'll all be at the church, and everybody get there at 7. And we had a service from 7 o'clock till 10 o'clock. And I preached, and I explained all about death and what the Bible said about death, and I explained to them what the Bible said about Rosa and where Rosa was.
[7:05] And during the middle of it, one of the daughters had been living like the devil, came in and almost drug her body out of the coffin. And it was just a wild time. And by the end of that night, every one of our people said, Man, dying like a Christian is a beautiful thing.
[7:21] And it really is. And I want to take you to the Bible, and I want to show you what Jesus thinks. And we don't have time to cover it all by any stretch, but you ought to know today that all of us are going to die.
[7:32] Is that a fair statement or not? Who in this room is not going to die physically someday? Raise your hand. If you do, everybody in this room is going to know you're a nut. Amen? We're all going to die.
[7:43] There's only one way we can escape death. And that'll be if the rapture happens, and he comes and takes us before we die, and he takes us on to heaven. So we could escape death that way. There have only been two guys that have ever escaped death in history.
[7:55] One of them walked with God, and he was not. And the other one was taken up in a chariot of fire. But we're going to die. What did Jesus say about death? And in the middle of the story of Lazarus, it just jumps off the page.
[8:08] It's some of the most wonderful truths that you can imagine. Look, if you would, at verse 11. The first thing I want you to write down, if you do write things down, is Jesus compared Lazarus' death to sleeping.
[8:19] He compared Lazarus' death to sleeping. In verse 11, the Bible said, These things said he, And after he saith unto them, Our friend Lazarus sleepeth, But I go that I may awake him out of sleep.
[8:32] Now, sleeping is a frequent term used in the Bible when you're talking about death. But it's only really used in the New Testament when it talks about somebody who dies in Christ. By the way, you would know, if you know anything about death in America, you know that we have R.I.P.
[8:46] Rest in peace. Well, actually, there's only one person who can rest in peace. That's a born-again Christian. Because that's who gets to rest in peace. But if you would take your Bible, take a sheet of paper, look these verses up and understand a little bit about death with me.
[9:01] 1 Corinthians chapter 15 and verse 20, The Bible said, But now is Christ risen from the dead and become the firstfruits of them that slept. That's 1 Corinthians 15, 20.
[9:11] He used the word sleep. And Jesus has become the firstfruits. Do you know what firstfruits are? Firstfruits are those firstfruits that are harvested. When it lets you know the rest of the harvest is about to be there.
[9:23] It's when you go out to the strawberry patch and you see those first few red strawberries. And you know, my goodness, in fact, as you reach down, if you're a gardener, if you're a farmer, you reach down and you pull those first strawberries off and you grab them and you put them in your mouth and you taste them and you say, Oh, they're good and juicy this year.
[9:41] Oh, they got a good sweet taste this year. Oh, these are going to be really good ones. They're firstfruits. And you know that first one is just proof of what is yet to come. The other day we were in Burkina Faso.
[9:51] We pulled off to the side of the road and to buy strawberries because strawberries were in season. And we pulled off and the lady brought the strawberry bowl over. And Brother Keith grabbed a strawberry, which you are not supposed to do in Burkina Faso.
[10:03] He grabbed that strawberry. He put that in his mouth and he chewed on that thing. He said, man, those are good strawberries. Time my wife gets through with those tonight, you're going to have a good time. I said, you might have one too because you just ate a strawberry that hadn't been cleaned.
[10:17] He said, well, you're not supposed to do that. I said, I'm not going to. I'm glad you're doing it. Amen. But these are the firstfruits and Jesus is the firstfruits. The fact that Jesus arose tells me that I am going to live again.
[10:28] You ought to notice that. You ought to understand that we have life that comes after this life. Look at 1 Corinthians chapter 15, verse 51. Behold, I show you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed.
[10:42] Boy, they've used that over nursery doors ever since I was a kid. Not all the kids in the nursery will sleep, but they'll all at least get changed. But that's not what it's about. You know what it's about? It's about the fact that not all of us are going to die, but we'll all be changed.
[10:56] And what Paul was saying is I'm expecting Jesus any day. I'm expecting Jesus any day. And some of you may not die before Jesus comes back. But those that are dead and buried already will be changed.
[11:08] And those that are alive like us will all be changed. But he used again the word sleep. Interesting word. Why does he use the word sleep? Look, if you would, in 1 Thessalonians chapter 4 and verse 14.
[11:20] 1 Thessalonians 4, 14. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also would sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. Boy, that's a powerful verse.
[11:32] I've already told you I'm in trouble. We're not going to get this message finished. You might have to come back. Watch this. Look at 1 Thessalonians 4, 14. You need to underline this in your Bible. It says sleep in Jesus.
[11:43] There are people who sleep and they're not in Jesus. And there are people that sleep that are in Jesus. How many of you are in Jesus today? Raise your hand. You're in Jesus. You know what that means? It means you're born again. That means you're a child of God.
[11:55] That means your sins are forgiven. That means Jesus paid your sin debt. That means you're alive and you're a new creature. You're in Jesus. And one day you're going to die. And when you die, you will be in Jesus.
[12:06] And but, but, but, but, but, boy, did you see what the verse said? It's right there behind me. Look at it. He said, those that sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. Hmm. How do you bring somebody with you?
[12:18] How do you bring somebody with you? That means they got to be. Are y'all ready for a basic grammar lesson? You got to be with me for me to take you with me. You understand that? All right.
[12:29] Chuck, stand up back there, please. Chuck, I want you to come with me to Betty. He can't come with me. He ain't with me. How would you come up here, brother Chuck? Chuck's standing right here.
[12:41] Chuck's right here beside me. And I said, we're going to go down there. We're going to shake hands with Betty. Chuck's with me. So Chuck, let's go down here and let's shake hands with Betty. How are you doing, Betty? Good to see you today. I'll even give you a kiss.
[12:52] Don't touch her. All right. Thank you. All right. Now, come back up. Now, he is, he is what? He is what? Okay. Wait a minute. What happened when he died? What happened when he died?
[13:04] He's a Christian. I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm representing Jesus here. What happened when he died? We stuck his body in a box and we stuck it in the ground and we threw dirt on top of it. But where is he?
[13:16] Hold on. Where is he? Read the verse. Where is he? Will God bring? Okay. Come on back down here. Now watch this. He dies. Put your body right there. He dies. He leaves his body.
[13:27] We put it in the casket. We all stand around and cry, but he comes with Jesus. So guess what? He's up in heaven. He's up in heaven with him. And look at the verse.
[13:37] Would you read the last part starting with even so? Would y'all read that with me? Even so them. Read out loud. Ready? Also which sleep in will God bring with him.
[13:50] Thank you, brother Chuck. With him. With him. If I told you, if I told you my brother's in Tennessee and I'm going to bring him with me over to your house, you automatically know what that means. He's going to have to get somewhere close enough to me to be with me.
[14:04] Can you say amen? What happens when you die? Christians are with him. Those that sleep in Jesus will he bring with him. Look, if you would, in 1 Thessalonians chapter 5 and verse 10.
[14:16] We're not started yet, but we'll get there. 1 Thessalonians 5, 10. Who died for us that whether we wake or sleep, whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with him.
[14:28] Look at the verse. Whether we wake or sleep, whether we're alive or dead, we should live together with him. Now, how many of you are saved? Raise your hand. Now, let me ask you a question.
[14:38] Where is the Holy Spirit right now? If you know where the Holy Spirit is, you're a born-again Christian, and you can tell me where he is right now. Raise your hand. All right. Tell me where he is. I want to know where he is.
[14:49] Where is he? Somebody hollered out. Where is he? I can't hear you. He's in where? He's in Christ? Is that what you said? Where is he? He is.
[14:59] What did he say? You? He's inside of us. So, where is the Holy Spirit? I want you to touch where the Holy Spirit lives right now if the Bible says, where does he live? He lives in me. Amen?
[15:10] Did you know when you leave here, you're not going to leave the house of God? You are the house of God. This is a warehouse where the house of God gets together. Can you say amen? All of us get together, but this is just a warehouse.
[15:23] People often say, well, that doesn't look much like a church. And I tell them, well, you know, churches are made out of bricks and stones. Amen? He lives in us. I walk and move and have my being in him alive.
[15:34] But it says, whether we're awake or asleep, we will be together with him. What happens when a born-again Christian dies? He will be with him. You'll know that from the scriptures here in just a minute if you keep up.
[15:46] Take your Bible if you would and go with me to Psalm 23. There are a lot of comparisons. He uses the word sleep. And I just want you to see, we're all going to die. And as a Christian, I want to be ready for what's going to happen when death comes my way.
[16:01] I want truth to be told about what's going to happen. Psalm 23, verse 4 of the Bible says, Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for thou art with me. Thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me.
[16:14] Now, you just might ought to mark this one down. It says, yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death. The shadow of death. You're with me and you comfort me.
[16:24] The shadow of death. Do you know that Christians don't really know what death is? All we know is what a shadow of death is. It never touches us. It never touches us.
[16:35] You'll find out tonight and further down in the scriptures here that those of us that are saved, we will never die. We will never die. We will never die. And if we were dead, we will live again.
[16:47] We will never die because in Christ we don't die. We just change places where we live. Look, if you would, at 1 Corinthians chapter 15, talking about death. Verse 15, 56 and 57.
[16:59] O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God which gives us victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
[17:14] Now, I want you, there's two things I really want you to remember here. Number one, it's only a shadow. And number two, it's lost its sting. Number one, it's only a shadow. Number two, it's lost its sting. Can you say that with me? Number one, death is only a?
[17:26] And number two, it has lost its? Number one, death is only a shadow for us. And the second thing, it's lost its sting. It's lost its sting because when we die, we will immediately be in the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ.
[17:44] Before the EMTs get there, before the doctors pronounce you dead, before anybody knows what happens, you will awake in his presence. And I will show you that, Lord willing, today.
[17:56] But he uses the word sleep. Sleep is a Bible word for dying. Why do you use the word sleep? And here's just some things of interest for you. Sleep is restful.
[18:07] Sleep's restful. Ecclesiastes chapter 5 and verse 12. The Bible says the sleep of a laboring man is sweet, whether he eat little or much, but the abundance of the rich will not allow him to sleep. Here's a guy I've been working hard all day.
[18:19] I mean, he is tired. His body is tired. He has no money. But he's just barely getting by. But he's working his backside off. His fingers are tired. His back's tired. His body's tired. And when he falls into bed at night, he just collapses.
[18:31] It's like, whew, I'm tired. There's this other guy that's rich and just has junk and all he cares about is junk. And when he goes to bed at night, he can't sleep because he's afraid somebody's going to get it. Take his stuff away from him.
[18:43] Then Revelation 14, 13, there's a term used just like it. The Bible said, I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, write, blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth.
[18:54] Yea, saith the spirit, that they may rest from their labors. Rest from their labors and their works do follow them. Do you understand what's going to happen? Supposedly the day you got saved, you really surrendered all to Jesus.
[19:08] Supposedly the day you got saved, you really decided that your money was no longer your money and your time was no longer your time. And your talents were no longer your talents. You decided, I'm not living for me. I'm living for Jesus.
[19:19] I'm a born again Christian. I have a new life. I don't live like anybody else around me. And I'm going to go to work for Jesus. And we get up in the morning and we're working for Jesus. We go to the factory and we're working for Jesus.
[19:30] And we come home and raise our children. But we're doing it all for Jesus because it's Jesus in the morning and Jesus in the afternoon and Jesus at night. It's him all the time. And everything I'm doing is all for Jesus. Do you understand what I'm saying?
[19:40] Amen. You mamas ought to realize you're raising children for Jesus. You dads ought to realize you're working all week for Jesus. You ought to be testifying about Jesus. Your life ought to be built around. And here's what he said.
[19:50] And when you die, you will rest from your labors. I might just throw in real quickly. Some of us probably won't have much to rest from. Because we have become extremely lazy Christians.
[20:04] No time for church. No time for prayer. No time for giving. We don't really honor God very much with our life. Maybe not much to labor from.
[20:14] But look, you can rest from your labors. Why is sleep so peaceful? You know, sleep's peaceful. How many of y'all enjoy sleeping? Say amen. How many of you like sleeping? I mean, how many of you take a Sunday afternoon nap?
[20:27] Hold your hand up. Sunday afternoon nappers. You know, isn't that a wonderful nap? You know, I don't get to do that very often. But when you take a Sunday afternoon nap, just like, I mean, it's kind of like a delicious nap.
[20:39] It's like you lay down and it's an extra special sleep. By the way, how many of you enjoy going to bed at night and sleeping? I mean, when you can lay down and you're tired and you shut off everything because you're not afraid.
[20:51] Sleep only comes when you're not afraid, to be honest. Sleep comes because you're not afraid. Sleep becomes because you can rest. And here's what he said. It's sleep for us to die because there's a shadow of death only and death has no stinger.
[21:05] It's sleep because death for us is only a passageway. When I go to bed tonight, I'll only go to bed to wake up tomorrow. Look, if you would, at 2 Corinthians chapter 5 and verse 8. 2 Corinthians chapter 5 and verse 8, if you would.
[21:17] The Bible said, We are confident, I say, and willing, rather, to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord. To be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord. Now, you need to look at this and listen to what I'm telling you.
[21:29] Jesus knew that Lazarus was dying. He was glad he's not there to stop him. He calls it sleeping. Jesus isn't upset, torn up, worried about the fact that Lazarus is dying. And it's not got him all torn out of the frame at all because he knows what death is.
[21:43] And you might not know what death is, but he knows what death is. And what is death for us? Would you say this to me? Absent from the body, present with the Lord. Would you say that with me? Absent from the body, present with the Lord.
[21:56] Say it again. Absent from the body, present with the Lord. I watched my daddy. I watched him breathe that last breath. I heard that last, literally, it was like this. That was it.
[22:08] And that was it. But let me tell you what happened. What sounds like a horrific, terrible thing was really a wonderful thing.
[22:19] My dad, in an instant, as fast as you can snap your fingers, as fast as you can blink your eye, was absent from his body, but he was present with the Lord Jesus. That's what happens when born-again Christians die.
[22:31] It's only a passageway. We lie down to rise again. Jesus said, Lazarus is asleep, but I go to wake him. Lazarus is asleep, but I go to wake him.
[22:44] Now, you won't understand that until you read the whole story. Then they say, oh, if he's asleep, why do you want to wake him up? He said, because, I mean, he's dead. And when he gets there and he shows up, he said, he's asleep, but I'm going to wake him up.
[22:56] Well, that's a tremendous thing. Do you realize that you and I are going to be waked up by him? You and I are not going to be, they always say at the funeral home, you've been there, hadn't you? He looks so peaceful.
[23:08] Well, sure he does. No, he doesn't. Then they say, he looks just like he did in life. Well, that sounds nice, but he probably doesn't. But the facts are, Jesus showed up and said, he's sleeping, but I'm going to wake him up.
[23:22] The Bible says in Daniel chapter 12 and verse 2 that everybody's going to wake up. The Bible says in Daniel 12 too, And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall wake, some to everlasting life and some to shame and everlasting contempt.
[23:39] Everybody's going to wake up. Now, look, just wait a second. Death is not ceasing to exist. Death is not the end. Death is not the end.
[23:50] Death is the beginning. The story about Lazarus is a beautiful story. And Jesus isn't worried because he knows who Lazarus is and he knows where Lazarus is going. And he knows that Lazarus is a born again Christian.
[24:00] But everybody's going to wake up. There's not one person who dies that doesn't live forever somewhere. There's not one person alive who doesn't live somewhere forever.
[24:16] All of us will live somewhere forever. We are not animals. We're not the product of evolution. We didn't arrive here. God created us. God made us. And God gave us eternal life.
[24:27] And he breathed into us his spirit. Mankind's alive. And man will live one place or the other. Daniel said, guys, there's something to tell you. When people die, they don't stay dead.
[24:38] When people die, they don't stay dead. It's not over. It's not over. In Psalm 116 verse 15, Jesus calls it sleep. He said Lazarus is sleeping.
[24:49] Let me tell you one of the things he could say. He says it's precious to the Lord. Look at Psalm 116 verse 15. The Bible says precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints.
[25:01] Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints. We hurt and Jesus sees it precious.
[25:15] We hurt and Jesus sees it precious. And that in December of 1990, Betty and I and my family had, our family had worked very hard.
[25:27] And God had allowed us to see a lot of people get saved and a lot of churches get started. And we were in, we were in Atiquipa. And we told everybody we're leaving and we're going back to the States.
[25:38] And we, I hadn't left that whole time that we'd been there. And my family was going to fly to Atiquipa at 6 a.m. There were no buses and no way to get to town for anybody to show up.
[25:49] That night we stayed in a motel. And all the young preachers came to see me and they stayed up all night with me. I think I got maybe an hour or two sleep. And they walked the streets because they really thought I would never, ever go back.
[26:02] That next morning about 4.30 or 5 when we showed up at the airport, we walked in and there were 50 or 60 people standing inside the airport that had come in buses and cars from all over the city to see us goodbye.
[26:13] Rosa was there and she was sitting down. She hadn't died yet. That was going to happen a lot later. And Rosa came up. Rosa told every one of them, well, he's a good missionary and we'll never see him again.
[26:25] He's done his duty and he's gone. He'll never come back. Another little lady, we called her grandma, abuelita. She's only about 4 foot 11 or 4 foot 10.
[26:38] She's the grandmama of two or three of the pastors down there. And she said she would never, ever see us again. It was an extremely sad day. They hugged us. They sang. They loaded the plane and everybody was on the plane but six people.
[26:51] And finally the guy came out and said, get on the plane now or we're leaving you. And we turned and we walked and it was an extremely sad time in Peru.
[27:02] But can I tell you, it was a precious time back in the States. Grandparents were walking around in the States saying they'll be here soon. Our grandkids are showing up. They were looking forward to our arrival.
[27:13] So you're squalling on this end and about seven, eight hours later you'll be landing on this end. And when you land on this end and you get off the plane, it's going to be an exciting time. There was just a passageway. To be absent from the presence of Peru was to be present in the United States with the family.
[27:27] Do you understand what ends up happening? This is what's going on with death. God says, your death is precious to me. I'm looking forward to it. You and I don't look forward to it but God looks forward to it.
[27:39] Do you know why? Because you have a relationship with him and he is close to you and he lives in you and he dwells with you. And you talk to him in prayer and you listen to his word. But you're still in all the sin.
[27:49] And you're, not that you're sinning but you live in a sinful world. And you have all the pain and all the hurts and you cry out to him every day. And on that day when you come home, it's like, come on home. Come on home.
[28:00] I got it all prepared for you. It's all ready for you. I want you to come home. This is going to be a sweet, glad reunion day. There was a guy named Stephen. In the Bible, in what is it, Acts chapter 7?
[28:12] And he goes and he's preaching. And they stand up with stones and they stone him until he's dead. And while they're stoning him, just as he's right to die, he says, God forgive them. They don't know what they're doing.
[28:22] And he looks up and he says, I see Jesus standing at the right hand of the Father. You know what was happening? It was precious. Come on home, son. They may be stoning you, but up here you're going to be welcome.
[28:35] Jesus said, Lazarus is sleeping. You know, that's a good term in the Bible. I just want to say a couple of things that kind of help you understand what happens there.
[28:46] First thing I'd say to you is this. That doesn't mean you sleep in the grave. That doesn't mean you sleep in the grave. It doesn't mean that when they put you in that box, boy, isn't that one of the worst times?
[28:57] In American funeral homes, they've learned how to control you and control your emotions and not let you see it. Because I used to pastor back in the old days when they didn't do all that. You know, when they reached over and they grabbed the lid and they shut the lid and they turned that key and locked them people in there.
[29:09] Boy, you could hear the gas going around the room. You could hear all the people being upset because they're locking them in there. And then they would take you down to the graveyard and they'd lower you down. And you could hear the dirt as it thudded on the wood of the coffin or the metal of the coffin.
[29:22] And everybody in the room was scared. And it's like, you're locking him in there. You're putting dirt on him. But see, that's not what's happening with us. Where are we sleeping? We only slept long enough to get there. How long was it?
[29:33] Oh, a split second. The Bible says, I don't have time for all this. The Bible says about Lazarus in Luke chapter 16, he died and the angels carried him. You know what happens?
[29:43] There wasn't a split second. He was alone. To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. Sleeping. By the way, most of us, if you go to sleep, when you go to sleep, I mean, have you ever noticed how long eight hours can be when you're working?
[29:58] Compared to how long eight hours can be when you're sleeping? Has anybody in this room ever noticed a difference? I mean, eight hours of work is one thing. Eight hours of sleep is like, bam, it's over.
[30:09] If you ever really go to sleep, it's like, well, I just went to bed. You wake up in the morning, you're like, what happened? I just went to bed. Well, I got to get up already. You're going to wake up in his presence.
[30:19] Number one, it was sleeping. Number two, Jesus was glad that he wasn't there. Jesus was glad he wasn't there. Look, if you would, in verse 15, John chapter 11 and verse 15.
[30:32] I am glad for your sakes that I was not there to the intent that you may believe. Nevertheless, let us go into him. See, they don't understand yet.
[30:44] I mean, Paul hadn't written the book of Philippians yet to explain it. Paul hadn't written the book of Corinthians yet. They don't know much about death. All they got to go on is what they've known from the Old Testament. They're walking around with the resurrection and the life right now.
[30:56] They don't know much about what's going on. And Jesus looks and says, they say, Lazarus is sick. Looks like he's going to die. And Jesus said, okay, well, let's stay here and work a while for two more days.
[31:08] We'll just keep on working. And they kept on working for two days. And finally, they decided to go to Judea. And then the guys were like, well, Lord, what's going on? He said, hey, guys, don't worry. He's asleep. And they said, well, if he's asleep, I don't know why we need to get over there.
[31:21] I mean, that's good if he's asleep. And Jesus said, in case you don't know what I mean, he's dead. And they go, he's dead? You mean you let Lazarus die? And Jesus said, yeah, I'm glad too.
[31:34] I'm glad because you're going to believe. Do you understand what's going on throughout the whole Bible? You know what's going on in your life? Jesus wants you to believe him and trust him and know that he's God.
[31:47] He wants you to lift him up and believe he's God. He said, to the intent that you may believe. In Philippians chapter 1, verses 21 through 25. And we don't have time to say much about this, but verse 21, look what he said.
[32:00] He said, for me to live is Christ and to die is gain. The apostle Paul had a completely different understanding of dying than you do. You came to church this morning and honestly, the worst thing that you could possibly hear is you're going to die.
[32:18] If you went into a doctor and he looked at you and said, you're going to die. You heard about the guy that took the soul winning course. He was a medical doctor and he took the soul winning course. And he was taught that in the soul winning course, you're going to say to the person, do you know if you died today, you go to heaven?
[32:31] So the medical doctor waits till he's seen his friend. He gets through taking care of his friend. And now he's ready for that last little consultation before he leaves. And the guy comes out. He's finally got his clothes on. And he sits down and the doctor looks at him and says, I need to talk to you just a second.
[32:45] And the guy's like, yes, sir. He said, you know, if you died today, you'd go to heaven. And the guy passed out. Well, what he wanted to do was witness to him. He didn't really want to tell him he was dying.
[32:56] Probably not the best soul winning technique. But the truth is dying is a scary thing. But the apostle Paul said for me to live is Christ. And to die is what's the word?
[33:07] To die is gain. You know what Paul said? If I die, I win. If I die, I win. Well, that's different.
[33:18] Jesus said, I'm glad I wasn't there. Because Jesus knew that dying is beneficial. Jesus knew that dying is going to be with the Father. Jesus knew that dying is living forever. Jesus knew that dying was leaving this world to go to the other world.
[33:32] To die was gained. Verse 22, Philippians 1, 22. He said, I live in the flesh. This is the fruit of my labor. Yet what shall I choose? I want not. That means, man, to live is Christ.
[33:43] To die is gain. I'd like to gain. But I don't know what to choose. I'm in a straight. I can't figure it out. Look at verse 23. He said, I desire to depart. I desire to depart and be with Christ.
[33:55] I desire to depart. Paul, you might be going to die soon. Paul said, boy, that'd be good. That'd be gained. And I desire it. And I desire it. And then he said, look at the last part of the verse.
[34:07] That's far better. Now, you want to talk to a Baptist group? You want to talk to a Baptist group? What's dying? That's about like the worst thing that could ever happen to any of us. Most of us are like, you know why we think that, don't you?
[34:20] Because we don't know what the Bible says. Because we don't know what truth is. Because we don't understand what's going on. And Jesus said, guys. They come.
[34:30] They say, the one you love is sick. He's dying. And Jesus said, okay. And he hangs around two more days. And he doesn't go rushing to him. And then when he rushes up to him there.
[34:40] When they decide to leave, he's still not rushing. And they say, what's going on? And Jesus said, oh, he's asleep. And they said, oh, well, sleep. That's good. Glad to hear that. He's only asleep. They said, Jesus said, no, he's dead.
[34:52] And then he said, and I'm glad that I wasn't there. It's almost like a harsh statement. I'm glad. I'm glad. Because he knew something about death that God's people ought to know.
[35:07] And that is that to die is great. Jesus said, he's dead. He died, but I'm going to wake him. Look at John chapter 11 and verse 11.
[35:17] These things said he after that. He said to them, our friend Lazarus sleepeth. But I go that I may wake him. Awake him out of sleep.
[35:29] I don't have time to finish. And I'll save this for another time. But, man, I wish I could help you understand this. And, you know, if you weren't so wrapped up in cultural Christianity in America, I think I could help you.
[35:43] Boy, the Peruvian people, when I taught this stuff and explained what the Bible said and just read them verses, they sat on the edge of their seats and they were in awe. They couldn't believe it. They said that is the word of God. And God said that.
[35:53] So it must be true. And so they began to believe it. And it affected the way they lived. And it affected the way they died. And it affected the way they witnessed. I preached dozens of funerals over the next, over the, over the, Rosa was like the first one.
[36:04] And I preached dozens of funerals after that. Do you understand something here? Jesus said, death, that's sleeping. Death, I wake you up.
[36:15] Death, I'm glad I wasn't there so you know you can believe me. Death? Go through the Bible. Death. And our witness, and we say this.
[36:26] If you know that you died today, are you sure that you would go to heaven? And whether you ask that question or don't ask that question is not important. But can I explain something to you? The Bible says in 1 Thessalonians 4, 13, that we don't sorrow.
[36:41] We're not afraid of death like other people are that have no hope. How many of you have hope in Jesus? Say amen. How many of you know that Jesus lives in you?
[36:52] Say amen. How many of you believe the Bible to be the word of God? Say amen. I didn't have time to get there because if I'd have finished this message today, which I may finish next Sunday, I'm not sure when I'll finish this.
[37:03] But let me just say this to you. Not everybody has hope. And as much as nobody ever preaches hell today, it's true and it's real and people live there forever.
[37:22] Lazarus is asleep. I go to wake Lazarus up. I'm glad I wasn't there. Okay. Why? Because Lazarus was in Christ. Because Lazarus was a born again man.
[37:33] But let me explain to you the same Jesus that talks so beautifully about Lazarus. I don't have time to get to all these verses. I'll do it another day. But you know what he said in John 14? He said, I go to prepare a place for you.
[37:44] I go to prepare a place for you. But in Matthew, he said this. There's a hell that was prepared for the devil and his angels. And that's where you'll go if you don't believe and you don't trust Jesus. There is a hell.
[37:55] A real hell. A burning hell. A horrible place. Today, everybody wants to get rid of hell. They want to get rid of dying. They want to get rid of death. They want to figure out a way around it. But there's no way around it.
[38:06] You are going to die. You are going to die. And I'm not asking to die today. We're not looking forward to dying today. We want to serve Jesus today. And every one of us ought to go out here with a passion to serve Jesus.
[38:19] That's what the apostle Paul did. But the truth is we know that we're only here temporarily. We know that we're going to live forever somewhere else. How many of you know you're going to live forever in the presence of the one who died on the cross?
[38:34] In the presence of the God of glory? How many of you know that? Say amen. How many of you couldn't say amen? How many of you are like, man, I hope so?
[38:48] Kevin Costner in Whitney Houston's funeral said, Whitney, you lived your life wondering if you were good enough. But you were. And then at the end of it, he said, And now you'll sing in heaven in front of God.
[39:02] And Whitney, don't worry about it. You're good enough. Well, let me explain something to you. Nobody's good enough. Nobody has ever been good enough to go to heaven.
[39:18] The Bible says that you're a sinner. The Bible says that all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. The Bible says that we have rebelled against God. We have chosen our own way.
[39:29] We've done our own thing. And we don't care what God wants from us. The Bible says the wages of sin is death. The Bible says there's a second death, which is a lake of fire.
[39:41] The Bible says it's appointed unto man once to die, and after that, the judgment. And Whitney, no, you're not good enough. And there's only one way you'll get good enough to go to heaven. And that will be if you're in Christ.
[39:53] Christ. And to be in Christ, you're about to realize you've sinned against the holy God. And that might not be popular with you. And we want to say all the sweet things when our loved ones die. But the facts are nobody's good enough to go to heaven.
[40:07] And nobody's good enough to be in God's presence. And if you can go to heaven, you go to heaven because you trusted Jesus and what he did on the cross. You know, the whole purpose of his whole discussion about death.
[40:19] You know, the whole story of Lazarus had only had one purpose. That you might believe. That you may believe that you'll see his power. Do you really believe that Jesus died on a cross and paid your sin debt?
[40:34] If you believe that, say amen. Do you believe that Jesus saved you and you're on your way to heaven because of what Jesus did? And only what Jesus did. Say amen. If you don't, you need to today.
[40:46] If you don't. Hey, dying is sleeping for us. We sleep in Christ. But for those who don't know him. That same split second between being absent from the body and present with the Lord.
[41:01] You'll be absent from the body. And wake up in torment. Luke chapter 16. And in hell, he lift up his eyes.
[41:14] Big in torment. I can hear you now. I thought this was a grace church. I thought you told us about the goodness of God. I am. Because that's where you're going if you don't know the grace.
[41:27] And you don't accept it. It's not about being religious. It's not about being baptized. It's not about being a part of the church. It's not about giving an offering. It's about realizing one day that you deserve to die and go to hell.
[41:39] And Jesus paid the debt. Father in heaven, I pray you'd work in hearts. I pray you'd save. I pray you'd magnify yourself. I pray that you'd be real and strong and powerful in our lives.
[41:50] And I will give you great honor and glory and praise. Save somebody that's not saved. And help some Christian that's not been living like they ought to. To get a hold of the real purpose of life. And I'll give you praise for it all.
[42:01] You have been listening to Austin Gardner, pastor of Vision Baptist Church. For contact information, location, service times, or more audio and video recordings, log on to www.visionbaptist.com.
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