Do you fear death? If so, you're not alone. People spend a lot of money and invest a lot of effort in trying to slow the aging process and defeat this mortal enemy. While science hasn't found the answer, the Bible teaches that we can live forever. We'll find out how it's possible today on Truth for Life.
Alastair Begg is teaching from Genesis chapter 49. There should be for us as believers that about our approach to death in every dimension. certain things that leave no doubt. in the minds of the watching world that we understand that death is not oblivion. That it is not entry to a realm where no voice can be heard and no smile be seen.
Rather, for the believer, it is to be reunited with our loved ones. It is an opportunity for the Christian to proclaim that the king of heaven has come down to earth and made a radical difference. You see, in the issues of life and in the issues of death, in the great crossroads of human experience, Christianity must make a difference. Otherwise, we find ourselves on the wrong side of the equation as Paul says, if Christ be not risen, then we are of all men most miserable, because we are propping up a dreadful mythology. But he says Christ is indeed risen from the dead.
Therefore, where and how were buried Says something.
Now if I may just unpack this a little further, when When Christianity speaks to this issue, It proclaims that God in Christ has come down from heaven in order that a number of things might happen. Why did Jesus Christ come? He came. to deliver us from our sins. He didn't come to have a set up.
camels and donkeys and stuff in the public square. Don't get sidetracked by that stuff. He came to deliver us from our sins. You see, the devil loves it when we start all that stuff. Using all our energy and all our time worrying about whether we have a nativity scene and a nativity scene there, as if somehow or another Jesus came to establish nativity scenes.
He came to deliver us from our sins. But all the time that we're talking about establishing nativity scenes, we'll never be telling the people that need to know that Jesus Christ came to deliver them from their sins. Where do you get that from? You get it from 1 John chapter 3 and verse 5. It says it right in the Bible.
You know that he appeared so that he might take away our sins. Why did Jesus come? says somebody. You say you're a Christian. You believe that Christmas is coming around.
Can you tell me why Jesus came? Yes, you can. 1 John 3:5. Take your New Testament to work and turn it up. It says it right here: He appeared so that He might take away sins.
Anything else, says the person. Yes, I have a second one for you. Just a few verses down in verse 8. The devil has been sinning from the beginning, but the reason the Son of God appeared, that sounds like an explanation for Christmas, the reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil's work. Thirdly, the reason the Son of God appeared was in order that the books of heaven might be cleared.
Do you have any debt? Anywhere? On a credit card, in a bank, somewhere you've got debt? And you look forward to the day when the debt would be cleared? The most awful dead of all is one that compounds itself as you go along.
And what the Bible says is that we are indebted to God by virtue of our sins, but that the reason that God has come in the Lord Jesus Christ is so in Hebrews 10, 17, that our sins and our lawless acts may be remembered no more. In other words, that our debt may be cancelled. That we may not have to live with the burden of our guilt.
Now you see this is good news for people. When I was a younger guy in Scotland on Sunday afternoons, my father used to play these dreadful. Um L P s on our little stereo. used to put five and six on at a time. and immediately go to sleep and I stayed awake and had to endure it.
And the only thing that would wake him up was if you turn the volume down. And so he had to keep the volume up to keep him asleep, but when you kept the volume up, then you had to listen to the thing. But in the course of that, I learned a lot of songs that I didn't really think I was interested in. And one of them went like this: There was a time on earth. When in the books of heaven An old account was standing.
of sins yet unforgiven. My name was at the top. and many deeds below. And I went unto the keeper. And I settled it.
long ago. Long ago. Down on my knees. Yes, the old account was settled long ago. And the record's clear today.
Because he washed my sins away. And the old account is settled. Long ago. You see So many people in a quest for religious experience. Good.
Nice. Clean, fingernailed, starched, collared. Middle class American people. are afraid to go to sleep with the lights out. or with a radio off.
Because you need a light and you need a voice. For you're frightened that it may be the last light or the last voice you ever see or hear. Because you carry with you a great debt of sin, and your account stands against you. And no matter what you have endeavored to do to wipe the record clean, you cannot do it. And that is where death holds its terror.
So surely it is good news. If there is one who has come, Who, by His death upon the cross, would take and bear the brunt of all of our sin and of our rebellion, and by His blood would actually cleanse the record of all of my sin and my Rebellion. That's the message of the gospel. That's actually the message of Christmas. Also, That he came in order that he might deliver us from every fear.
The fear of judgment, the fear of the law. A servile feed of God. The fear of death itself, we noted that last time. Since children of flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity. Why did Jesus come?
Why did he share in their humanity? We're told, you don't have to guess what Christmas is about, so that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death, that is the devil, and free those who, all their lives, were held in slavery by their fear of death. And he came in order to make us ready to live in his presence. 1 John 3:2, that now we are the children of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be or what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when he appears, we will be like him, for we will see him as he is.
When he appears, we will be like him, for we will see him as he is. When I die, I will be like him, for I see him as he is.
So, the question about whether I get cremated, whether I die in the In a plane, whether I die in the ocean, whether I get buried in a box or whatever it is, all of those things that I get letters and concerns about, and they're justifiable concerns, they're not really the issue. People ask me, Do you think it's okay to do this or okay to do that? As I've searched the Bible, I can't find any normative way of disposing with the dead that is actually laid down for Christians.
So, therefore, it becomes for us a matter of conscience. What we can say with emphasis is this: that the Bible's emphasis is on the change to which the Christian looks forward. A dramatic visible transformation that is not tied to the state of our bodies at the time of burial, but is tied to the believer's union with Christ and God. For He alone has immortality. and he alone can bestow.
Eternal life. I think it was Abby years ago, used to sing a little song that went: Anybody here want to live forever? Say I do. Anybody remember that song? But if you ask people, They all want to live forever.
when it comes to the crunch.
Okay. The question is how? The Bible is clear. John chapter 17, verses 2 and 3. For you granted him, that is Jesus, authority over all people.
that he might give eternal life to all those you have given him.
Now this is eternal life. that they may know you, the only true God. and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. You see, everybody everywhere is basing their hope of eternity on something. basing their destiny on the on the forlorn dream that there is nothing.
When deep in their heart they know there is. And some who are here this morning have never come to a personal living faith in Jesus Christ. Have never settled the issue of this great taboo subject of death, actually live tyrannized by it. You don't have to.
So why do you? Would you not just trust in Christ? You're not just cast yourself upon him and say, Lord, I don't trust myself to anything or anyone else. I trust myself only to you, who is the one who came to give eternal life.
Now you say we're a long way from Jacob. No, we're not actually. Because Jacob gave these striking instructions. to affirm, as I said to you before, the radical difference between the people of God and the surrounding cultures. The Egyptians had become expert at saving the carcass, but they knew nothing about dealing with the soul.
And if you've seen on the Discovery Channel lately, these people I think is called the cryonic people. Cryonics, I think is what it's called, where they're storing you in these big metal tubes at sub-zero temperatures, and they're hoping for a day when they're going to be able to bring you back out again. And you know, if you don't like your head, they can put someone else's head on it and they'll recreate you.
Well-meaning people spending vast sums of money. on total futility and stupidity. Because even at the best of it, it doesn't answer the essential questions of life: who am I? Where am I from? Where do I go when I die?
What happens next? And to that. Jacob stands as a radiant and classic testimony.
So you see, he knew what he was asking when he asked about where he was going to be buried. And he also knew what he was asking, let me just mention this to you, when he was concerned about the blessing of his grandchildren. It is interesting that the context, once again, is God's prior promise to him. In Genesis 48 and in chapter 4. I will make you a community of peoples, and I will give this land as an everlasting possession to your descendants after you.
That was the promise. And so when Jacob blesses his grandsons, and when he crosses his hands to the head of Ephraim, who is to become the head of the whole twelve tribes. This was not a formality. And indeed, when the writer of the Hebrews describes an incident from the life of Jacob that is representative of his faith, what does he describe? He describes this.
He doesn't describe him wrestling with the angel in Genesis 32. He doesn't describe his journey back into Egypt. This is what he says. By faith Jacob, when he was dying, blessed each of Joseph's sons and worshiped as he leaned on the top of his staff. Is that really such a big deal?
Yes, it is. Because once again in this incident, Jacob was revealing to his posterity the fact that God had plans and purposes for them. He was declaring again his faith in the certainty of God's promises. He was convinced that the land promised to him would be given to him and to his descendants. And his blessing upon these boys was only significant if God's word proved true.
If we'd gone, for example, to Jacob and said to him, Jacob, how do you feel about this blessing? I mean, do you feel it's going to happen? I think Jacob would have said that I'm sorry, I don't even understand that question. How I feel is actually an irrelevancy. God said it's going to happen.
My fluctuating feelings do not alter that one way or another. It's going to happen, so I bless the boys and the boys will live in the benefit of it. People come to me and say, you know, I have a problem, I don't feel forgiven. I say, well, did God promise in His word that He would forgive you? Yes.
Have you come to God in repentance and faith and confessed your sins? Yes. Well, then, frankly, how you feel is a secondary matter in relationship to the fulfillment of the promises of God. God said He promised to forgive you, therefore, you are forgiven, whether you feel it or whether you don't. I used to go through it with my children.
They would wake me up at night and say that they'd said their prayers, but they didn't necessarily feel that they'd been forgiven of their sins.
So what do you do? Turn music on for them? Sing songs to them to try and create an atmosphere in which they feel it. No. You affirm for them the promises of God's word.
And when Jacob says, Hey, give me these boys here on my knee. And he takes his hands and he pronounces the blessing of God on them. This is no mere formality. He is declaring to all who watch and listen, these are the truths concerning God from generation to generation. Fathers and grandfathers.
The blessings that we bring to bear upon our children and our children's children. Will emerge from the core convictions of our lives. And all who truly walk with God know that irrespective of any financial or material benefit that may be conveyed from one generation to another, there is only one lasting blessing that really matters, and that is the blessing of God's continued abundant provision. Upon those who are his covenant keeping. Family.
Now, I have one final point. I just make it and we'll conclude. I said, first of all, that he knew. When he was going, he knew what he was asking, and finally he knew where he was going. He knew where he was going.
Genesis 49 and 29. And with this, we draw it to a close. Then he gave them these instructions: I am about to be gathered to my people. Bury me with my fathers in the cave.
Now I want you to notice carefully the way the verse reads. The reunion that he anticipates with his people is not created by his burial in the family plot. The reunion does not get does not come to fruition because of where he gets placed. The burial and the family plot is at best simply symbolic of a reunion which has already taken place. You see, Jacob knew that he would have already been gathered to his people before they managed to make the journey to Egypt and bury him in the cave.
Jacob was going to take his place in the family mausoleum with Abraham and Isaac. And he would be marked and sealed for posterity in that way. And the record would be written so that we could refer to it this morning. But the great truth about Jacob was that he wasn't there, he was gone. He was already gathered to his people.
You see, death holds no fear for the Christian. What we fear most, we don't experience. To be absent from our body is to be present with the Lord. We cannot be separated from the love of God.
So actually the location of our burial, and I thought about this last week when I was in Britain, and as I drove past without mentioning it to anybody, the plot where my family is buried, and I said to myself, what do I really believe about this? Do I really need to get shipped from America over here? Does it matter that much to me anymore? And why does it matter?
Well, it matters for sentimental reasons, it matters for emotional reasons, but it doesn't matter for theological reasons. And when I think about it theologically, then I say, put me anywhere you want to put me, because I am not going to be there. And neither will you. That you see is the significance of the Scottish folk song by Yon Bonny Banks and By Yon Bonny Bridge where the sun shines bright on Loch Lomond. Where me and my true love will never meet again on the bonny, bonny banks of Loch Lomond.
For you'll take the high road and I'll take the low road and I'll be in Scotland afore you. What's that all about? It's about two Scottish prisoners held in an English jail. And the song is penned the night before one is to be hanged and the other is to be released. And the one is to be hanged will reach Scotland by the low road of death before the one who is to be released will reach Scotland by means of the journey.
on foot Or horseback. And the one who is about to be released feels bad for the one who's about to be hanged. And the one who's about to be hanged says, don't feel bad for me. Because you'll take the high road. And I'll take the lower.
And I'll be in Scotland before you.
Now that's marginal in comparison to this, but this is the issue of death for the Christian. Don't cry for me.
Now is this your faith? Is this your faith this morning? Do you live with a sense of fear? Can I ask you a question? Just two questions and I'm done.
If you died tonight, Would you go to heaven? Do you know? And secondly, How do you know? That you won't die tonight.
Now if your answer Is anything less than yes to question one? And since you cannot answer categorically to question two, are you prepared simply to throw the dice? For another time? For another day? Another bedtime?
Another week. Another plane flight? And since you're going to base your hope of your destiny on something, I say to you again, why not? Why not cast yourself on the strength and authority of this book? After all, it has stood the test of time.
Cast yourself on the person of the Lord Jesus Christ, who is the only one who has walked through death and come out on the other side. Why live your life on the basis of mythology and pagan superstition? Why in the world would you ever do this? I'll tell you why. because your eyes are blinded by the evil one and you cannot see the truth of the gospel.
Therefore you need to cry to God, take the scales off my eyes so that I can see that I ought to be really afraid of death. Because I have no hope beyond it. And then come to me and show me the wonder of your Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, in whom I can have forgiveness and my record wiped clean. And then place within my heart the assurance and hope of the resurrection to eternal life through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, who will change our earthly body that it may be like unto his glorious body according to his mighty working whereby he is able to subdue all things, even death unto himself. Jacob says, hey.
I'll be leaving soon. Get it ready. Secondly, I don't want buried here. I want buried over there. And thirdly, When I pull my feet up on the end of the bed, And go.
Realize this. I've been gathered. to my people. Is that your faith? Your hope?
Your assurance? You're listening to Alistair Begg on Truth for Life. Alastair returns in just a moment. As Alastair mentioned today, the only lasting blessing we can leave to our loved ones is the truths concerning God and His promises and provision. That's why it's our mission at Truth for Life to teach the Bible clearly and with relevance.
Anyone who fears death needs to hear the good news of the Gospel. And we'd love it if you made this your personal mission as well. We have resources to make it easy for you to do that. One of the items you'll find particularly helpful is a Gospel tract from Alastair titled Ever Wonder Why Your World Feels Broken? In just a few pages, and in simple, easy to understand terms, Alastair explains the overarching story of the Gospel.
These tracts are designed for you to give to those who have not yet met Jesus or are unfamiliar with God's plan of salvation, and we've priced them at our cost of five for a dollar, a pack of twenty five for just five dollars. Look for them in our online store at truthforlife dot org slash tract. By the way, if you're in pastoral ministry or serve as an elder in your church, consider joining Alistair september twenty ninth through the thirtieth in Valencia, California, for the Basics West Coast Pastors' Conference. Alastair will be joined by doctor Herschel Yorke, Dean of the School of Theology at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. The conference will take place at Crossroads Community Church.
You can find out more and register to attend at basicsconference.org.
Now here's Alastair with a closing prayer. Father, we thank you that we're not left to stumble and bumble around. but that you've given your word to us. We thank you for the vast heritage which is ours. in this place as a result of those who through the years Have known that they were leaving and where they were going and knew what they were asking, and they've asked a right, and we have become.
the beneficiaries of their gracious testimony of faithfulness. We bless you for all the saints. who now rest from their labours. who spoke to us the word of life. We revere their memory.
And we pray that more than that, we may too. In our day. Grant such blessing. and live in the light of such truth. The generations yet unborn.
will arise and bless and praise you. as a result of our journey. on the path of faith. Hear our prayer for Jesus' sake we ask it. Amen.
I'm Bob Lepine. If you have ever doubted your salvation or feared that it could be rescinded, Join us tomorrow for a reassuring message. The Bible teaching of Alastair Begg is furnished by Truth for Life. Where the Learning is for Living.
