What Jesus is saying here, ladies and gentlemen, is this. I know where I'm going. And I'm going there to prepare a place for you. And you can't follow me there right now. You still have some time to live out.
You still have a vocation to fulfill. But there is a moment when you will join me. In my father's house. Therefore, he says, What? Mod.
You over.
Alright. Be trouble. The world treats life after death as a fearful mystery. But for followers of the Lord Jesus, it's not a mystery, and we don't have to be afraid. We know what's waiting for us on the other side of death because we know the one waiting for us.
And he has told us not to be troubled. It's great to have you with us today for another episode of Renewing Your Mind. This week, we've been learning from messages from RC Sproul's series Surprise My Suffering, and today, we'll consider what the Bible says about life after death. As we've said previously, suffering has a way of blindsiding people, even Christians, which is why it's so important for us to pursue a biblical framework for understanding our trials. You can receive the downloadable version of this series in the Ligonier app today.
along with the digital study guide. Go to renewingyourmind.org to donate and thank you for supporting this program. Here's our C with today's message. In this segment, we want to consider. to the question of life after death.
And I have to confess at the beginning that I'm a rather sentimental person, and I find that the older I get, the more sentimental. I become, and I suspect that many of you are the same way. And I think that everybody should have in their family An Aunt Jenny I have an Aunt Jenny, a real live Aunt Jenny. And Aunt Jenny was born. In 1900.
And I had the opportunity to visit with her this past summer At that time, she was 87, awaiting her 88th birthday, and I hadn't seen her in years. She was just as sharp as she ever had been. And whenever I had the opportunity to visit with her. Of course, I'm filled with all kinds of questions about my own family background. And as we met together, I sat down and I asked Angini about my father.
And I asked Aunt Jinny about my grandfather, And she told all of the stories about how My grandmother had come on a steamboat up the Ohio River from Ohio to Pittsburgh and How my grandfather had come down from Mount Washington and met her and got married and all of that. And it was so interesting to hear that. And then I began to press a little more deeply in the family background. And I said, well, Anthony Did you know? great grandfather sprawled.
She said, Indeed, I did. She said great-grandfather Sproul was born in Donegal, Ireland.
Some of you are going to have to just eat your hearts out. In Donegal, Ireland, in 1824, he kissed the Blarney Stone in 1825 and put it in his jeans so that it would go on to future generations. But then He died. in nineteen ten at the age of eighty six, and the last ten years of his life. were spent in the home of my grandfather and grandmother, and so that for the first ten years of my aunt's life She knew this elderly gentleman.
And now Seventy-some years later, she's telling me of her childhood memories of the life of Charles Sproul. That had gone all the way back to 1824. And so we began to speak of it. And she said, you know. James Monroe was the President of the United States.
when your great-grandfather was born. Abraham Lincoln, no one had ever heard of Abraham Lincoln. There hadn't been a Civil War. There hadn't been a Transcontinental Railroad. There hadn't been radio and television or all of the modern conveniences that are so commonplace to life in the 20th century.
And when I think about that period in American history. I think about something that happened so long ago. that its only record will be found In the pages of history books, but instead I'm actually talking to a member of my family who is telling me of her first-hand knowledge of somebody who lived that long ago. And then I began to wonder and project this forward into the future. I thought, I wonder if I'll be alive in the year 2024.
and about my son and my grandson. And very soon after I had this interesting discussion with my aunt, we met with a business consultant who was giving me all this dazzling information about what was going on in Japan in terms of long range planning. For those entrepreneurial giants of the Japanese industry who were setting forth their industry goals, not for three years or for five years or even for 10 years, but some of these people were setting forth 100 years and 200-year business operation plans for their corporation. And I said, well, that's silly to plan for 100 years in the future because in the first place we don't know what all the changes are going to take place in the technology, and knowing that we're not going to be here. And then I asked myself the question: what am I going to be doing in three years?
What am I going to do in five years? Where am I going to be in 10 years? And I don't know. But then the question became more urgent when I said, where am I going to be? A hundred years from now.
Have you ever asked yourself that question? Because as soon as we extend the calendar beyond the immediate future. And roll it out into a hundred years from now, we are asking the question that Job asked: if a man dies. Will he live again? In every culture, there is some sense of expectancy of life after death, whether it's the Norse Valhalla.
Or whether or not it is the Indian happy hunting ground or the Judeo-Christian concept of heaven. That it seems to be built into our humanity to embrace this hope that after we die. There is something. That goes on.
Some continuity of personal existence. As I said, there's been much speculation about this question in the history of the world, not only through quackery of fortune-telling and the like, but serious thinkers have probed the question of life after death. And in a poetic way and dramatic way, we remember. The famous words of Hamlet in his soliloquy, remember when he he begins by that dilemma to be. Or not to be, he said, that's the question.
What does he mean when he says to be or not to be that? He says for me to live, to continue to exist, to carry on this life, to be. Or rather, to not be, to end it. Suicide is what is on the mind. Of Hamlet In that speech.
And as he's considering the alternatives of life and death. And swinging between the two Points He experiences conflicting feelings. As soon as we approach. Yeah. There seems to be an accentuation of fear.
Not so much. For those who are prepared to die themselves, but for those who journey with them. to the side of the grey. If you've ever read the Dialogues of Plato. And you read the dialogue that includes the death scene of Socrates.
All of Socrates' students and friends are gathered around the prison as he has been sentenced to death and he on this day has been appointed to drink the fatal hemlock. As his manner of execution, and his friends were allowed to visit him one last time. And they come in, and they have this pall of gloom over their heads. And as they come to the cell of Socrates, they find him. Colour.
They find him relaxed. They find him even in a state of eager anticipation. And they can't figure it out. They say to their teacher, How is it possible that you can be in this state of joyous anticipation when you know this is your last day of life? And then Socrates begins to teach them Philosophically, of his speculation, of all that he has learned from the study of nature, from the study of science, that has convinced him that this is not the last day of his life, that it is the beginning of an eternal existence that is far better than what he experiences here.
Now I find comfort in reading the speculation of Plato. I find comfort in reading. The philosophical musing of Immanuel Kant when he says, for all practical purposes, we've got to believe in life after death, because if there is no life after death, Then this slide is meaningless.
Somebody asked me a question last night about the Holocaust, one of the darkest moments, if not the darkest, blots in the whole history of the human race, the systematic extinction of six million people. Genocide. World War Two. And the question was where was God in all of that? I didn't really say what was going through my mind.
But I've heard people look at that tragedy and they say, how can there be a God? And at the same time, genocide take place. I think of that. I'm going to turn it around. And I say, if there is not a God.
There can't possibly be a Holocaust. You say, wait a minute, why?
So because if there is no God, ladies and gentlemen. then human life doesn't matter. And we can't really protest about the loss of life of six million. undifferentiated pieces of protoplasm, that have emerged by accident from the slime and are now just returning. To the abyss from which they gratuitously.
Came force. Can't call that a Holocaust. Because for something to be tragic. There first has to be value. There first has to be a foundation for ultimate meaning.
And that's what Kant was saying. But again All of that. that gives me a secondary measure of comfort. Remains at the level of sheer speculation. The greatest comfort that I have ever found with respect to the question of life after death.
comes from two sources. One Source Is the teaching of Jesus? The words of Jesus. The other source is the example of Jesus. The Work of Jesus Not too long ago, a poll was taken.
Among American church members. And they were asked to identify their favorite chapter of the Bible.
Now, everybody, I'm sure, has heard of 1 Corinthians 13, the love chapter. 1 Corinthians 13 came in second. The chapter that came in in first place in terms of popularity among American church people was the fourteenth chapter. Of the Gospel according to Saint John. Let's take a couple of minutes to look at that familiar Record of Jesus' words.
You understand the scene. Jesus is with his disciples now in the upper room the night before he is to die. Chapter fourteen begins with these words: Let not your hearts. Betrouble You believe in God, you believe also in me. In my father's house are many mansions, and so on.
You've all heard of that text. If you haven't heard it by going to church, you've heard it at the cemetery. because this text is read at almost every funeral. in America. Let not your hearts.
Be troubled. He doesn't just come out on the stage and say, here's the beginning of my talk. Let not your hearts be troubled. As I said, there is a context to those words. Those words of exhortation take place in the midst of a very poignant discussion that Jesus is having with his friends.
And to understand, I think, the thrust of his teaching. I'll just call your attention to the 21st verse of John. Chapter thirteen where it says this. After he had said this, Jesus was troubled in his own spirit. Isn't that interesting?
But Jesus is not standing there aloof as the preacher, admonishing his congregation.
Now, I don't want you all to be troubled. But he is speaking about their being troubled out of the midst of his own trouble. In chapter 13, we said that Jesus began to be troubled.
Well, what was it that was troubling him? He was troubled in his spirit, and he said, I tell you the truth. One of you is going to betray me. And then he went on and identified the traitor as Judas, and he dismissed Judas, saying to him, What you were about to do, do quickly. And then he went on to predict the subsequent denial of Peter.
And then At the end of this discussion. He says in verse thirty-three, My children. I will be with you only. A little longer. And you will look for me, and just as I told the Jew, so I tell you now that where I am going.
You cannot come. This was startling to his disciples that Jesus was now talking about separation. And one of the most difficult things that ever takes place with the experience of the death of a loved one is the moment of separation. If you go back to the Old Testament, we read the story of the prophet Elijah, who was housed in this poor widow's home, the widow of Zarephath. And the widow of Zarephath had a son who was taken ill, and he died.
And when Elijah came on the scene, this woman was clutching the body of her son. And she was rebuking the prophet, and in her hysteria and anger, you know, saying, if you hadn't come here, if you hadn't been here, this wouldn't have happened. And Elijah is prepared now to bring this dead son back to life. And he says to the woman. Let go of him.
And give him the marriage. That he might live. But how difficult it was for that mother. To let go. You've been there in the hospital at the side of one who is passing, and when death occurs.
Usually people stand there, they don't know what to do, and they don't know what to say until somebody will inevitably say, He's gone. Where she's going. And we must take our leave. The whole ceremony and process of the funeral is to mark. That time of separation, Jesus is preparing his friends for this event in their lives.
And he said, in a little while, I'm going to go, and I'm going to go where you can't come. And he said, A new command I give you to love one another, and as I have loved you, so you must love one another. And all men will know that you are my disciples if you love one another.
Now, here is one of the most important discourses about love that Jesus of Nazareth ever preached. And there have been a million sermons preached on that text: Love one another. Do you know what Peter says next in the text? Let's see what he says. Peter asked Lord Where are you going?
He missed the whole discourse on love. All he heard was Jesus say, I'm leaving, and Peter's mind checked out. He didn't want to hear any little sermon about love. He just got the message: Jesus was leaving. Peter said, Lord, where are you going?
And again, Jesus replied, Peter, where I am going. You cannot follow. Nils But you will follow later. Where I am going, you cannot follow. Do you know what those words must have done to Peter?
His mind must have flashed back to the Galilean seashore, where his whole life had been turned upside down by two words. Follow. Me. And for the past three years, that's all that Simon Peter did, he followed Jesus. If Jesus went to Capernaum, Peter went to Capernaum.
If Jesus went to Canaan, Peter went to Canaan. If Jesus went to the Mount of Transfiguration, Peter went to the Mountain of Transfiguration. He followed Christ, literally. It wasn't simply a spiritual pilgrimage. He enrolled in Jesus' rabbinic school as a disciple.
And now Jesus said. Where I'm going You can't follow me any more. But Jesus put a temporal limit to that prohibition. He said. You cannot follow me now.
But afterwards, you will follow me.
Now, I want you to hold that in your minds because that's the previous part of the discussion that's not mentioned once chapter 14 begins. And let's go back now to chapter 14, where Jesus says, Don't let your hearts be troubled. You trust in God, you believe in God, believe also in me. In my father's house are many rooms, and if it were not so, I would have told you, I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me.
that you also may be where I am. Do you hear what Jesus is saying? He's saying, you can't follow me now. But I'm going to my father's house, and I'm going there to prepare a place for you so that where I am, you. can be also.
And there's going to come a moment. What I'm going to bring you. To that place where I am.
Now, the thing that gives me the most comfort about these words of Jesus is this: in the middle of this promise, where he said, I'm going to prepare a place for you. He gives a parenthetic statement. But comforts my soul. He said, If it were not so. I would have told you.
You know, you come to a place like M. D. Anderson. That concentrates on human suffering and pain, on disease, terminal illness, on death. You know, one of the biggest problems that the physicians and the staff of this place have to deal with is the problem of false hope.
Because we are creatures who want to hope, and times hoping against hope, which can be a very healthy thing at times, but there comes that moment in some people's pilgrimage where the hope runs out. And then they are vulnerable. To the charlatans and to the exploiters, who will offer them some kind of hope that really has no substance to it. And the thing that is so sober about what Jesus says to his disciples is this: He said, Look, I'm a teacher, I'm committed to the truth. My whole vocation, my whole mission is to bear witness to the truth.
I am a rabbi of Israel. I understand the sanctity of truth. And I say to you that there's nothing that I teach you except what I have learned from my Father. And if this were not so. I would have talked to you.
I would not Allow you To indulge In superstitious fantasy. I like the fact that Jesus didn't say, if it was not so, I would have told you. He said, if it were not so, that's conditioned contrary to fact. Yeah. Even in the Greek language, the conditional statement that he uses indicates a condition contrary to fact.
If it were not so, I would have told you. I would have corrected your error. I wouldn't have allowed you to titillate yourself and build up false hopes and false expectations only to be embarrassed and ashamed and profoundly disappointed. At some later time. But what Jesus is saying here, ladies and gentlemen, is this: it is so.
I know where I'm going. And I'm going there to prepare a place for you. And you can't follow me there right now. You still have some time to live out. You still have a vocation to fulfill.
You may still have to fill up the suffering that is lacking in the mission that I have been given to accomplish. But there is a moment when you will join me. In my father's ha Therefore, he says. Yeah. Mm-hmm.
You were. Heart be troubled. We have visited this hospital, MD Anderson, and went through the different. Sections and And I met Dr. Hester and she began to explain to me some of the intricate processes of separation of blood and plasma and platelets and Leukocytes and all of that business.
It was within 15 seconds, ladies and gentlemen, I realized that I was listening to an expert. that this woman was talking to me as one having authority. If you want to hear about life after death. Listen to Jesus. Because he speaks.
Much speculatively. Not superstitiously. But as one Who knows what he's talking about? as one having a sword. He doesn't just Hawk the talk.
But he walks the walk. And he demonstrates. Indeed. What he has declared. with his lips.
There have been so many books published by people who claim to know what's on the other side of death. But as Christians We really do know. because we've been told by the one who defeated death. You've been listening to the Thursday edition of Renewing Your Mind. Tomorrow is the last day that we'll be in this series, which means time is running out to receive the downloadable version of this series in the Ligonair app today.
along with the digital study guide. Use the link in the show notes or call us at 800-435-4343 today and thank you for supporting this program. How does the resurrection of Jesus Christ give Christians hope in the midst of their own suffering? Find out tomorrow as we conclude our study in Dr. Sproll's series Surprised by Suffering here.
on Renewing Your Mind.
