Freedom from the Fear of Death
(John 14:1-6 and Hebrews 2:14-15)
The scripture says in Ecclesiastes: “There is A time for everything…”
Ecclesiastes 3:1 through Ecclesiastes 3:4 (NKJV)
1 To everything there is a season,
A time for every purpose under heaven:
2 A time to be born,
And a time to die;
A time to plant,
And a time to pluck what is planted;
3 A time to kill,
And a time to heal;
A time to break down,
And a time to build up;
4 A time to weep,
And a time to laugh;
A time to mourn,
And a time to dance …
We don’t live on this earth forever. We are all aware of that – and this day is a stark reminder of that reality. Therefore, just as a wise man will plan how he wishes to live his life, he also is a wise man who will plan in advance for his death. Death is one of the ugly realities of life, a reality which we must all face. Our gathering here today is to honor the life and memory of Edwin Oswald. It is also to find comfort, not just because of Edwin’s death, but because we are faced with the reality of the certainty of our own death.
Ø What hope is there? If death is a finality are we not greatly fearful of what death means?
Ø The Word of God – the Bible – is the message we have from God. That comfort – the only comfort we have regarding death – is found in the Person of Jesus Christ. I know of no more comforting text than the words of our Lord Jesus Himself, recorded in John chapter 14. These are the words which I would share with you today, as we seek to find comfort in the face of death.
As Jesus was approaching the time of His own death, He spoke these words of comfort and assurance to His own disci-ples:
"Let not your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me. 2 "In My Father’s house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you. 3 "And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also. 4 "And you know the way where I am going." 5 Thomas said to Him, "Lord, we do not know where You are going, how do we know the way?" 6 Jesus said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but through Me" (John 14:1-6). [Pause for effect]
There is one great fear common to all men, which is greater than all other fears. It is a fear which haunts men all of their lives. That fear, is the fear of death. The writer to the Hebrews speaks of that fear in these words:
Since then the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise also partook of the same, that through death He might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is, the devil; 15 and might deliver those who through fear of death were subject to slavery all their lives (Hebrews 2:14-15).
The disciples were no different than anyone else when it came to the fear of death. Even though they had been with Jesus, and had witnessed His power over death on several occasions, the fear of death was always with them; Never more so than when He spoke of His own death. Every time that Jesus told His disciples “I am going to die”, they were uneasy; and they sometimes even tried to persuade Him to change His mission to avoid it..
Jesus was eating the Passover with His disciples on the night He was to be arrested and soon after crucified. He had just shaken His disciples by telling them that one of their group would betray Him – and then he reminds them that He would be put to death very soon – and that they would not be able to follow Him immediately, but would follow Him later on.
Imagine for a moment how you would have felt, if you were hearing from one of your very closest of friends that he/she was about to die, and that you would not be able to see him/her for a time – but that soon you could most cer-tainly see him/her again. I suppose you or I might think that person was not thinking straight. For the fear of the separation that comes with death would appear to make that impossible. We think of death – too often – as a finality, a finish. But Jesus had another perspective on Death….
The words of Jesus in John 14 are spoken to comfort His troubled followers. They are words of comfort not only for those troubled disciples, but for everyone who has trusted in Jesus for eternal life.
Just how do the words of Jesus, spoken here, give us comfort? Many people seek comfort from this text by focusing upon the "mansions" or "dwelling places" to which our Lord refers as being in His Father’s house. Some seem to think of Jesus as the foreman of a construction project in heaven – a project which He has not yet completed. Jesus, we sometimes think had to go away so that He could finish up the project, and so that our dwelling places, now being built, will be completed in time for us to arrive.
Ø In reality, This misses the point almost completely. The disciples are troubled because Jesus will die, and because they will be separated from Him. They do not care about heavenly mansions, they care only about Him. Isn’t it amazing how in the reality of death, material possessions have no real value… These disciples (like we most often do) see death as the enemy, death as the thief which will snatch their friend away. Jesus’ words are delivered to give His disciples comfort con-cerning His death – to remind them again, that death is temporary for those that follow Him.
In John chapters 13-17, which is sometimes called the "Upper Room Discourse", Jesus gives comfort to His disciples by telling them two things.
1. First, He told them that His death was to be the means by which they would dwell with Him forever.
2. Second, He told them that during the time of His physical absence He would be even more present with them through the sending of His Holy Spirit, to dwell not only among them, but within them (ref John 14:16-31; 16:7-15).
In our text, the "going" of our Lord was directly linked with His "preparing" THEM for a place . More than this, His "going away" He described as the means by which they would "be with Him".
· The disciples dreaded Jesus’ death because they thought that it would separate them forever.
· Jesus encouraged them by assuring them that His death was the very means by which they would be united with Him forever.
· The death of our Lord was not the problem – it was the solution. Our Lord’s death did not create a problem for believers, it solved the problem.
· If Jesus had not been separated from them by His death (as a sacrifice to satisfy their sins, they would die in their sins and be separated from Him forever. Jesus’ going away , by death, paid the price for men’s sins, so that men may have assurance of being able to live forever in a place called heaven – in the presence of our Lord and all who follow Him.
The disciples did not understand Jesus at the time, but they did after His resurrection from the dead.
Ø If we are to understand death, then we must hear from one that has been through it – and lived to tell about it. That is the great Hope for the Christian. This is the great comfort from our God: JE-SUS HAS ALREADY BEEN THERE!
· I love the words that Jake Hess sings – “Death Ain’t No Big Deal”
· After they saw Jesus following his resurrection – when he had come back from the grave -- they preached Jesus as the One whose death and resurrection brings eternal life to all who will believe. They no longer feared death, as they once did. Like those disciples, Christians down through the ages, cele-brate His death. The death of our Lord is God’s way to heaven, and it is the means by which we can live forever with Christ. Death, once our enemy, is defeated.
· Death does not keep us from God; NOR DOES GOD KEEP US FROM DEATH – but rather death be-comes a door, and not a wall. It becomes a beginning and not an end.
The death of our Lord changed the way that the disciples looked upon their own death, and the deaths of all who would trust in Jesus. They understood that death, for them, resulted in their immediate entrance into the presence of our Lord in an eternal dwelling place. Listen to these words from the pen of the apostle Paul, which he speaks in refer-ence to his own death:
For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain. But if I am to live on in the flesh, this will mean fruitful labor for me; and I do not know which to choose. But I am hard-pressed from both direc-tions, having the desire to depart and be with Christ, for that is very much better (Philippians 1:21-23).
Therefore, being always of good courage, and knowing that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord--for we walk by faith, not by sight--we are of good courage, I say, and prefer rather to be absent from the body and to be at home with the Lord (2 Corinthians 5:6-8).
Edwin Oswald’s death brings us face to face with our own death. I can assure you today, We will face our own death from one of two perspectives:
1. with fear – because of uncertainty, because of an incompleteness, because we have no assurance of what lies beyond this life…
2. or we will face it with faith – because we have a personal assurance that the one we are following has been there before us, and has reported back == “DEATH AIN’T NO BIG DEAL”.
It all depends on our response to the free gift of salvation, that Jesus Christ paid for by His own death.. Jesus told His disciples that He is the way, not just a way to heaven.
3. Therefore, Our response to the death of Jesus determines our relationship to death. The Bible tells us that If we accept the death of Jesus and his conquering of death – believing in faith that He got up on that Easter morning and SHOWED HIMSELF to many over the next 40 days … SO THAT WE MIGHT HAVE AS-SURANCE OF OUR OWN RESURRECTION IN HIM – then our relationship will be one of trust (that’s another word for faith).
[OPTIONAL ] Death, and funeral services like this one, serve three very important purposes:
1. Review – we review and talk of some details of the deceased. In this case, we can “review” Edwin’s life – and what it meant to us. That shouldn’t end here … keep his memories alive.
2. Reflection – what does death mean. What did it mean for Edwin, and what will it mean for each of us. How should I see death – do I know that I am ready to face my own death?
3. Response –
1) we can decide to do some things differently today. We can be a different person when we leave this place today than when we came in. We can choose to renew our faith in God and the preparation He has made for the time of our own death. We can make sure of our own plans – by planning ahead for that death from the perspective of faith .
2) Or, we can leave here the same person we were when we arrived. No decisions, no changes, no dif-ferent.
These words of our Lord, recorded in John’s gospel, are the solution to the fear of death. I pray that you have, or will, by faith, trust in the Lord Jesus,– in His death on behalf of your personal sin, and in His resurrection for providing your own doorway into heaven.
Death no longer has to be our enemy, because the resurrection of our Lord from the hold of death overcame death and its terror – to all who believe in Him.
