The Worst Way & Best Way to Die - Part B

Now here's what happens when you trust in Christ.

When you believe in his person and you trust in his work. Something happens to you. You who were once a part of this world are no longer part of this world. You get out of the system.

You are the ultimate revolutionary counterculture person. Welcome to Connect with Skip weekend edition far too often for the desperate and hurting death seems like the only solution. Jesus offered hope to us all when it came to death.

In fact, he told us of the best way any of us can die. Skip Heidzig points out that not only is there a better way to face death, but more importantly, a better way to live. Now, before we get to today's study, we live in a world where people are desperate for hope. One of the main purposes of this ministry is to reach out to those people with the hope of Jesus Christ. But we can't do that without you. It's through the support of listeners like you that we're able to spread the good news of the gospel around the world to as many as we can. Don't you help us continue to do that? Won't you help us reach even more people with either a one time donation or by supporting us on a monthly basis?

Just call 1-800-922-1888 to find out how you can help. We continue today in John Chapter 8 as we cover verses 21 through 30. So if you turn there in your Bibles, we'll join Skip Heidzig for today's study. When the Jews said, Will he kill himself because he says, Where I go, you cannot come? You've got to understand that that is a very sadistic and self-righteous comment they just made.

And I'm going to give you a little background to help you understand this. Two thousand years ago in Jewish thinking, if a person killed himself, committed suicide, they would have reserved for them the darkest place in hell. And Josephus, their historian wrote, The souls of those whose hands have done violence to their own lives go to the darkest Hades, and God will visit the sins of the evildoers on their descendants. So when they say, Where is he going? Is he going to kill himself? Here's what they're saying. He must mean he's going to hell and he's right.

We won't follow him there. They are so smug and so self-righteous. What they're basically saying is, We, the Pharisees, we're going to heaven.

Jesus is going to hell. That's self-righteousness, smug self-righteousness. Solomon, Proverbs 30 verse 12 said, There are those who are pure in their own eyes and are yet not cleansed of their filth. You know what the worst form of badness is? The worst form of badness is goodness that substitutes itself for the new birth. So worst form of badness, self-righteousness. The worst form of badness is goodness that substitutes itself for the new birth. Dwight Lyman Moody, the preacher from Chicago a hundred years ago, he said, You can always tell that a person is far from God by how much they talk about how good they are. Just a dead giveaway.

You want to talk about how I'm good and I try and I work hard and don't you know? You can always tell that person's far, far away from God. Man is incurably addicted to working for his own salvation, his own righteousness. Did you know there's only one righteousness God will accept? And it's not righteousness that comes from you, it's the righteousness that comes to you through Jesus Christ.

That's the only one he'll accept. That's why Jesus even said, Unless your righteousness exceed that of the scribes and the Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom. When he said that, everybody went, What? Who could be holier than the scribes and Pharisees?

They try so hard. Jesus said, Not good enough. Because the only righteousness God will accept, here's the biblical theological term, is imputed righteousness.

That is, Jesus' perfect record is put to your account by your faith in him. Here's the third, all part of the worst way to die and that is in worldliness. Verse 23, He said to them, You are from beneath. Imagine having Jesus say that to you. You are from beneath, I am from above. You are of this world, I am not of this world.

In other words, you and I are from two totally different dimensions. I'm from heaven and I'm going back to heaven. You, you're all about this earth, this world. You're from here, beneath the world.

The word Jesus used is a word some of you are very familiar with, others should be. It's the word cosmos. You've heard it, yes? Cosmos. Cosmology.

Cosmopolitan. We get those words from cosmos. John uses the term cosmos 77 times in his writings. It's a word that doesn't refer to the world like the earth or the world of people but the system, the ideology. When Jesus uses this term and when most New Testament writers use this term, it speaks of an ordered system of values, ideas, activities, people that are opposed to God and under, the Bible says, the control of the devil.

2 Corinthians 4, Paul calls Satan the god of this world who has blinded the minds of those who believe not. That's the world as Jesus. You're from that, this system. I'm from above. Big distinction, big contrast.

Here's something to make a note of. The people Jesus was talking to, they were religious people. They were spiritual people but Jesus calls them worldly people.

Isn't that amazing? We know that within this world system, there are many religious, there's a lot of religion and spirituality and intellectualism and cultured stuff, all opposed to God, all opposed to Christ and they're not too crazy about you. That's the world that we live in. So let me sum it up. Here's the worst way to die. The worst way to die is with your sins unrepented of and unattoned for, smugly clinging to your own self-righteousness, I'm a good person, I deserve, I work hard and living for the world with enough religion to blind you from your real need. That's the worst way to die. But let's flip that coin. Let's turn it over because if there's a worst way, then there's a best way.

And what is the best way to die? It's summed up in three statements. Again, they're in your outline and they're part of the text. Belief in His person, the person of Christ, confidence in His work, His work for you and fixed on His word.

Let's explore those three. Go to verse 24. There's one word I want to draw your attention to. Therefore, I said to you that you will die in your sins for if. If there was any word that I would circle in that verse, it would be that word if.

To me, that's the hinge. To me, that word means there are other options. You don't have to die in your sins for, verse 24, if you do not believe that I am He, you will die in your sins. The word if introduces the only way of escape. Richard Lenski in his great commentary on this says, the if clause in this verse is pure gospel. It opens the door of life in the wall of sin.

That's the best way to die. Belief in the person of Christ. Now, evidently, some did that the day Jesus spoke these words. Verse 30, as He spoke these words, many believed in Him.

Stop right there. What are we to believe about Him? I mean, after all, how many times have you heard people say, I believe. I believe.

I believe in Jesus. He's a good guy. Neat guy. Great teacher. Inspirational.

Compassion. I believe in Him. What exactly are we to believe in Him? Look at verse 24 a little more carefully. For if you do not believe that I am He, you will die in your sins. In your Bibles is the word He italicized.

You know why that is? Because it's not in the original. It was added by the translators. Modern translations added the word He as the predicate, but in the original Greek language, it's simply, if you do not believe that I am, you will die in your sins. Two Greek words, ego, ami. I am. Ego, ami.

If you do not believe, ego, ami, that I am, you will die in your sins. Okay, now, to Jewish years, 2,000 years ago, you know what they were thinking? It's unmistakable what they were thinking. Their minds went back to Exodus chapter 3, first time that phrase is ever introduced, when Moses was going to deliver the children of Israel.

Remember the story? And Moses is at the burning bush, and he goes, give me a name here. They're going to ask me, who sent you? Who will I tell the children of Israel is the one that sent me?

Here's God's answer. I am that I am. You tell them the I am has sent you. If you were to look at that verse in the translation of the Old Testament, known as the Septuagint version, where they took the Hebrew and put it into Greek, it's the words, ego, ami, I am. Furthermore, of the times that is used in the Old Testament, I'm going to read to you Deuteronomy 32 verse 39.

This is what it says. Now see that I, even I am he, and there is no God besides me. If I were to read that to you in the Septuagint or Greek translation, it would read this. Now see that I, even ego, ami, and there is no God besides me. So here's Jesus comes on the scene, and he says, if you do not believe, ego, ami, you'll die in your sins.

Jesus is making an unmistakable direct claim to deity, that he is God, the God. And I'm not making that up. There's no other way to view it.

How do I know that? Well, just go down to verse 58. Same conversation, same chapter. Jesus said to them, most assuredly I say to you, before Abraham was, what?

I am. What did they do with that? Did they go, huh, okay, that's cool. Verse 59, then they took up stones to throw at him. Why would they do that? Because that's the punishment for blasphemy.

They knew exactly who he was claiming to be. So you put all that together, and this is what it means. To be a Christian, you have to believe the full biblical revelation of Jesus Christ, that he is God in a body, that he is the second person of the Trinity, incarnated into the virgin womb of a woman, born to this earth, crucified for our sins, risen from the dead and coming back. And unless you believe that I am, you will die in your sins. Can you see now why when somebody goes, I believe in Jesus, good example, great person, inspirational, it's not enough.

It's not enough. The best way to die is believing that, believing him. Second is confidence in his work. Verse 28, he speaks of his work. Jesus said to them, when you lift up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am and that I do nothing of myself, but as my Father taught me, I speak these things. That's a reference to his crucifixion. When you read that phrase, lifted up, Jesus being lifted up, it's not speaking of worshiping him or exalting him. It's speaking of crucifying him. John chapter three said, As Moses lifted up that serpent in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up. Moses put that snake on a pole and lifted it up. The Son of Man will be lifted up on the cross.

So here's what he's saying. When I die on the cross, then you will know that I am who I claim to be. Question, did that happen when Jesus died? Did people know that he was who he claimed to be? Well, yes, they did.

In fact, some of them immediately did. One was a criminal crucified next to him who said to him, Lord, remember me when you come into your kingdom. Jesus said, today you'll be with me in paradise. Second guy was a Roman soldier who said after Jesus died, truly this was the Son of God. But the real fulfillment of this prophecy of Jesus, and it is a prophecy, came weeks later when thousands of these very same people from Jerusalem in the crowd that day came to know that Jesus was who he claimed. The day of Pentecost, Acts chapter two, Peter's giving a message, and Peter says this, you by your wicked hands have taken Jesus and crucified him and slain him along with the Gentiles.

But God raised him from the dead because death could not hold him. The Bible says they were cut to the heart, and they said, what must we do? And Peter gave them the answer, you must repent. And 3,000 did, and 3,000 were baptized that day, and that was the beginning of a groundswell of thousands upon thousands of them believing as Jesus said they would, confident in his work.

Here's my point. The cross that Jesus speaks of is the ultimate remedy. It's the reason no one has to die in their sins. I'll put it to you this way. Jesus died for your sin so that you wouldn't have to die in your sin.

Those are the two options. Either you let him take your sin or you die in your sin. So here's the best way to die, belief in his person, confidence in his work. By the way, no wonder that probably the central theme in Christian songwriting, hymnology through the centuries, the theme most often written about is the cross, the sacrifice, the blood that was shed, the redemption, the atonement.

That's the biggie, because this is the biggie. The third is to be fixed on his word. That's the best way to die, to be fixed on his word. Verse 25, they said to him, who are you? Now this was also, they didn't believe in him. They weren't like saying, you know, we're really curious. It's sort of like, who do you think you are?

Who are you? Jesus said, just what I have been saying to you from the beginning. I have many things to say and judge concerning you, but he who sent me is true, and I speak to the world those things which I heard from him.

Understand this. Jesus is and has been speaking his words to them. Those are words that come from heaven, because he was sent from heaven. He was going back to heaven. And here is God speaking words into our world, and the best way to die is to have your heart fixed on his words, because his words point you to his world.

I am from above, and I am going back. And here's what happens. When you trust in Christ, when you believe in his person, and you trust in his work, something happens to you. You who were once a part of this world are no longer part of this world.

You get out of the system. You are the ultimate revolutionary, counter-cultural person. You were once a part of this world, but as soon as you come to Christ, you're no longer a part of it. John 17, Jesus prays concerning his disciples, Father, they are not of this world just as I am not of this world.

So here's your new position as a believer. You're in the world, but you're not of the world. You're in it, but not of it.

That's a very important thing for every believer to realize. In it, but not of it. In fact, you know what you're like? You're like an astronaut or a scuba diver. You can survive in a foreign environment, but you need special equipment to pull it off. You need a breathing apparatus, a special kind of a suit, because that's not your environment. It's not your element to be in outer space or under the water. So for you and I to survive in this world, we also need the breathing apparatus of prayer and fellowship and reading our Bible and encouragement.

We need that. If we don't realize that we're in it, but not of it, that we're going to a whole different place, and our focus is now on that place, if we don't realize that, we'll be swallowed up by it. Listen to the words of a catechism I'm about to read to you. It's a Norwegian catechism, and it's written so that kids can understand this concept, and it pictures God speaking to the inhabitants of the earth, the saved ones, as being on a island colony called the earth.

Here's the catechism words, God warning man. The greatest danger is that you may fall in love with this island so that you will not care to return to the home kingdom. Love the island because it is my possession, but do not love it because it is your home. It is not your home. Your home is here in the palace with me. No wonder then that the second greatest theme in Christian songwriting and hymnology after the cross are songs about heaven, because His word points us to His world, heavenward.

So let me sum this up now. Here's the best way to die, the best way. The best way is believing in Jesus Christ as God, trusting in His work on the cross, holding on to His word, which points us to His world.

That's the best way to die. Now allow me in closing to boil it down to the irreducible minimum. Let me do it this way.

Is there anybody here this morning who's going through a tough time, a trial, a hardship in their life at all? Really, that's it? The rest of you, I don't know you then. You I know, with hands raised, you I know. Sometimes those trials can get really tough. They cause you to even be shaken in your faith.

Here's what I want you to know. This is as close as you'll ever get to hell. This is as bad as it gets. This is as bad as it gets.

Well, that's good, because it's pretty bad. It's not going to ever get any worse. As bad as it gets on earth, this is as bad as it'll ever get. This is the closest you'll ever get to hell. That should carry you through a lot. If you're not a believer, this is as close as you'll ever get to heaven. That's sobering. That's sobering. It gets much worse than this.

Much worse. Whenever I meet an obstinate unbeliever, the kind who says, yeah, yeah, whatever, I'm not interested in your Jesus, I'm going to do my thing, my way, then my last piece of advice is simply this. If that's where you're going to live and stay, friend, then make sure that you suck this life like you suck an orange. Get every last drop of pleasure out of it, because it's the last good time you'll ever have.

That's sobering. You're going to die. Unless the Lord returns soon, you're going to die. I'm going to die.

Will you die with regrets like Thomas Paine, or will you die with joy like John Newton? I'm packed, man. I'm not packed, man. I'm packed, man, and ready for the post.

I pray that you are. Well, we're all out of time for today. But before we go, we have a great resource this month. Freedom. It's a powerful word with several layers of meaning. Benjamin Franklin said, the birth of America meant liberty if we can keep it. But the freedom Jesus gives from sin is permanent if we receive it. There's a level of freedom that is better than political freedom, that is, a level of freedom that is better than political freedom, better than social freedom, better than any kind of freedom. And that's a spiritual liberation, a freedom from sin. One day, Jesus stood up in Nazareth and clearly declared liberty for those in bondage. Are you enjoying the full rights of your freedom?

Do you know someone still suffering from addiction? You will want to order our freedom package, which includes 10 full-length messages by Skip about your path to freedom, with titles such as Can God Be Known? and Extreme Makeover Soul Edition, as well as his Life Change Next Steps booklet. The freedom package is our thanks for your gift of $50 or more to support the broadcast ministry of Connect with Skip Heitzig.

So request your freedom package today when you give online securely at connectwithskip.com slash offer or call 800-922-1888. Well, we've talked about death, so next time we'll discuss the best and worst ways to live, so be sure to join us right here in Connect with Skip weekend edition, a presentation of Connection Communications. Make a connection, make a connection at the foot of the cross and cast all the burdens on his word. Make a connection, a connection, a connection. Connecting you to God's never-changing truth in ever-changing times.