0:01 All right. Would you guys can we pray again? I said, "Okay." Heavenly Father, Lord, I've prepared. I think I know what I'm going to say, but Lord, if there's not your fire upon it, it's worthless. Lord, if it doesn't really help anybody 0:14 eternally, then I've I've wasted your time and and everybody else's. So, please uh meet with us, Lord. Speak directly to our hearts what you want to say. We love you. We praise you in Jesus name. Amen. All right. So this year I hit a 0:30 milestone. I turned 50 years old. And so when I turned 40, I had this thought like, "Okay, Lord, I think I have I think I'm closer to my death than to my birth." Right? When I turned 40, when I turned 50, I said, "Lord, I know I'm 0:47 closer to my death than to my birth." And started, so I've been thinking about death. And I was like, you know, I I prepared this message a while ago. like I was thinking of sharing it when I was, you know, about the time I turned 50. I 0:59 had other priorities, other things on my heart that I want to share, but I guess today's the day. So, it's in light of turning 50 that I want to share this morning. Really, if I The topic is how I want to die. I don't know how much you guys think 1:13 about death. I know when I was in the military, I worked in the legal profession. I had to draft wheels um for people. That was my job. You know, they would say what they want to do. For those of you that don't know what a will 1:25 is, it's a piece of paper that basically says what you would like to happen if you die. And so, um, I drafted a bunch of those for people. And there's, you know, it's mostly focused on the material world. Um, the material things, 1:40 what, you know, what you should do with my house and with my car and with all my money if I die. That's mostly what it focuses on. Sometimes when you have young kids though, you focus on uh, you know, what what you want done with the 1:51 kids, like who should take care of your kids and things like that. So after I turned 50, Amber and I wrote a will very quickly. You know, it was pretty easy will. Um I I asked all the elders of the church, can you guys be the executives? 2:03 If you don't know what executive is, you can Google it, but they said yes. I don't think they know what they're getting into, but they they care for me, so they accepted. And then I, you know, of course, the older my older boys will 2:13 be the guardians, and that's pretty much it. But if I could summarize it spiritually, I would say, brothers and sisters, if Amber and I die suddenly together, the most important thing is that that little girl knows Jesus. 2:27 That's it. It's the most important thing. The life insurance and all that other garbage I don't care about, but do me a favor. Make sure Zimry knows Jesus. That's a a 50-year-old will. And again, that's not in writing because that would 2:40 never hold up in court. that guy, that guy's a religious fanatic and he's not into he's not taking care of practical things like setting up Zimre's college fund and making sure that she's set if her both her parents die. That's how the 2:51 courts think. That's not how I think. God has changed my mind on a lot of that thing. A lot of the wills I wrote would focus on the the first part. Brothers and sisters, I want I want my kids to know Jesus. That's the most important 3:04 thing. And I want you to know Jesus, too. So, you know, when I think about what's important and, you know, and in terms of death, that is it. That's the inheritance that I want them to have, not a of wealth, but of a down payment 3:19 of the Holy Spirit that the Bible talks about. That's the inheritance I want to give my children. And so, I was thinking about death and how I'm going to die. And I not the method of death. In other words, like if if the Lord asked me, 3:32 Josh, how would you not want to die? I'd say like plane crash. Easy, easy, Lord. I don't like flying. I don't like heights. Not that, you know. So, I'm not talking about that. And also too, you know, sometimes our imagination can run 3:44 wild and we think about what if I were tortured to death and what if they did just horrible things to me? What if they even my faith was on the line in those situations? And I'll tell you brothers and sisters, I I wouldn't waste any time 3:57 with that with the method of death. I would say trust the Lord Jesus Christ that in the moment of even if it's a tragic excruciating death that his grace will be sufficient. And that's what I believe. Lord, if you want to take me 4:11 through just the worst death possible, then give me the grace. And in those moments of torture or whatever, let me cry out in humility, I need your help. I trust that like Augustine said, I trust that that hand will be right there in 4:26 that moment. But all that wor all that I'm going to do if I try to imagine it is worry. And so I'm not talking about the method of death and wasting any time with that. You know, in fact, when it comes to that, I I'll share one one 4:38 verse with you. There's a few of them in scripture. As you consider Jesus and the beloved one that I want my kids all to know, as you consider him, he says something wonderful in the book of Revelation. You know, whenever Revelation, when I 4:51 was growing up as a kid in the Bible belt, Revelation was the scary book. I mean, I I think all of us thought that that was the scariest book, but you get eight verses into this book and you discover something wonderful. 5:05 You discover something that's absolutely wonderful. So, as we think about our death, and this isn't a message for old people, people that are 50 and older, it's not it because even though I'm 50, I can't guarantee that I'll ever get to 5:17 51. I don't hold the keys to that. Somebody else does. Somebody else controls that. I'm not in control. So even if you're a young person, there's no guarantee young person that you're going to get to 50. So this is an important message I think 5:31 for everybody, not just me, not just old people, but I love this verse. Who holds the keys to death and hell? Who's in control? My beloved, the one who loved me and gave himself up for me. The one who died, the one who 5:51 knew me before I was even born. He's in. He holds the keys to death. So if you ever start to worry about death and hell and all that stuff, just see Jesus right there holding the keys and say, "I got it. I got it. Josh, if I 6:06 decide to send you through the worst torture that any human being has ever experienced in death, I hold the keys and I will give you grace." I believe that. So I'm not talking about the method of death, brothers and sisters. Here's what I'm talking about. 6:21 the attitude. I'm concerned about my attitude when I physically die. Somebody asked me who's sharing this Sunday. I said, "I am." I said, "What are you sharing on death?" Well, what do you mean physical or spiritual? Well, in the context 6:38 physical, but I suppose there's also a spiritual component to it as well. There's a there's something connected in our physical and spiritual deaths. So I want to look at six people and each of these in the interest of time each of 6:52 these could be an exhaustive character study and I encourage that you some of them might stand out for you as like I might need to go look at that person's life a little closer at least what's in scripture that might be good for me to 7:04 do but I'm particularly focused on their death. How did they die? Because I I mean I picked six, you know, like there's a lot of deaths in the Bible and I think there's something to learn from each one of them. Like I want 7:18 to have the right attitude in death. And so I want to look at six people. Here's what's interesting. Three of them are in the Old Testament. Three of them are in the New Testament. Three of them I want to take their death as a warning. 7:31 Three of them I want to take their death as an example. And I I decided to kind of alternate. Warning, exa, example, warning, example, warning, example. Does that make sense? You got the format. And the hardest thing about these type types 7:45 of things for me is not to go too deep into, well, let's look at their life. Let's look at how they got to the death. So, if I if I go through it fast, I apologize. I do want to look at the scriptures. I'm not going to put the the 7:57 scriptures on here for the most part. I would like you to look in your own Bible and see uh if if what I'm saying is true. I'm going to read them. I actually because I'm old and because I have to wear glasses now, I printed it out real 8:08 big from my Bible so I can read it from here. But I would if you have any doubt that what I'm reading is from your scriptures, then please go check it out and read it yourself. So who's the who's the first character I want to look at? This is number one. 8:24 This guy. You guys know this story. >> Yeah, you know the story of Samson, right? So, this is kind of a picture that somebody drew of of Samson at his death. And you know, Samson is in the book of Judges. And one of the things to keep in 8:39 mind about the book of Judges, again, I don't want to go too far down anyone path, but the book of Judges leaves me very confused. And when I read stories in Judges, I'm like, "Wait a minute, Lord. Was that your is that your will? Is that what you 8:52 wanted? Is that a good thing, a bad thing? Did what this guy do? Was it good or bad?" And Sam's life kind of leaves me like that. some, you know, in some places, including his death. And so, I'm going to read uh from Judges 9:05 16:21. I think you guys are familiar enough to know of Samson's story that, you know, you can concentrate a little more in the scriptures when I read about his death. I'm in Judges 16. I'm going to read 10 verses starting at 21. Please listen 9:19 carefully. Then the Philistines seized him and gouged out his eyes. If you didn't know that, it's an important detail. The Philistines seized him and gouged out his eyes. And they brought him down to Gaza and bound him with br and bound him with bronze 9:35 chains. And he was a grinder in the prison. However, the hair of his head began to grow after it was shaved off. Now the lords of the Philistines assembled to offer a great sacrifice to Deegon, their god, and to rejoice, for 9:48 they said, "Our God has given Samson, our enemy, into our hands." When the people saw him, they praised their God. For they said, "Our God has given our enemy into our hands, even the destroyer of our country, who has slain many of 10:05 us." And it so happened when they were in high spirits, they said, "Call for Samson that he may amuse us." So they called for Samson from the prison, and he entertained them. And they made him stand between the pillars. Then Samson 10:19 said to the boy who was holding his hand, "Let me feel the pillars on which the house rests that I may lean against them." Now the house was full of men and women, and all the lords of the Philistines were there. About 3,000 men 10:32 and women were on the roof looking on while Samson was amusing them. Then Samson called to the Lord and said, "This is how he dies. Oh Lord God, please remember me." I want you to remember those words. I'm going to come back to them. Oh Lord God, 10:50 please remember me and please strengthen me just this time, oh God, that I may at once be avenged of the Philistines for my two eyes. Samson grasped the middle pillars on which the house rested and braced himself against them, one with his right 11:08 hand and the other with his left. And Samson said, "Let me die with the Philistines." and he bent with all his might so that that house fell in the lords and all the people who were in it. So the dead whom he killed at his death were more than 11:22 those whom he killed in his life. I don't know how that story leaves you. It leaves me a little unsettled. In those days there was no king in Israel. Everybody did what was right in his own eyes. That's how judges can be 11:41 summarized. And I think that's what Samson did. He did what was right in his own eyes. He wanted revenge because they had gouged out his eyes. And so how I don't want to die is an attitude of I want to take people with 11:58 me. If I'm going down, I want to take especially those that hurt me down with me. If they did something to my eyes, I want to take their life. It's an incredible like I, you know, apparently God gave him the strength to 12:13 do it, but it leaves me scratching my head. This is one of the first movies I remember watching in my our mobile home in Oklahoma before cable TV and all of that. It was a it was a public television movie of Samson, and I just 12:25 remember watching his eyes get gouged out, you know, like they use fire brands. I don't know how they actually did it, but in the movie they use firebrands and I remember just thinking, "Wait a minute, what is happening to the 12:36 hero of the story? And then he braces those pillars and he pushes them down and everybody dies including him. And as a kid I'm scratching my head going, "What is happening? This is a crazy story." But what I take from it is Lord, I don't 12:51 want this spirit. I don't want a spirit of vengeance. I want a spirit of death and taking people with me and being so concerned about what was done to my eyes that I want to take their life. I don't I don't think that I think this 13:05 is a warning. I don't want the spirit. But then I think of another man. This is the reference. I think of another man who was also led to his death, mocked and ridiculed, and had his hands spread out. Do you know this man? I hope you know 13:23 this man. It wasn't up against two pillars. It was on a cross. And I think of that man. I want that man's attitude. What was that attitude? Well, here's two verses that give a little bit of the 13:41 other man's attitude. Jesus, you know, think of both of these men and I think probably I watched a movie about Jesus, too. And what's interesting is like if they had come out of that situation they were in at their at their 13:52 death, they would have been maimed forever. Samson would have been blind. Jesus was pretty much whipped to death even to the point that he was grasping for breath on that cross. You know, Jesus doesn't say something like these 40 14:10 lashes they took to my back and that ripped and tore the skin out of me. This crown of thorns they put on me. This spitting that they were doing to me. The punching and then asking who hit you? let me take him down to death with me. 14:27 That is not the attitude of this man. The attitude of this man who also had his arms stretched out is in Luke 23 verses 33 and 34 says when they came to the place of the skull there they crucified him and the criminals one on the right hand and one 14:47 on the right and the other on the left. But Jesus was saying, "Father, forgive them, but they don't know what they're doing." It's a different attitude, isn't it? So, I said I'd alternate one warning 15:05 and one example. God, I want I want this example on my death on my on my deathbed. No matter what the circumstances, I want this heart. Forgive them. They don't know. Well, clearly they know. Everything in my flesh may say clearly 15:23 they know what they're doing. They're they're torturing you to death. No, they don't know. Either way, forgive them. I want that heart, brothers and sisters. And if I think about the guy next to Jesus, you guys know the story. Not telling you 15:39 anything you don't know. also arms spread out like Samson. You know, he says something in verse 42. So, I could have used Jesus, but I could also use that prisoner. You know, he says in verse 42, and he was saying, "Jesus, 15:56 remember me when you come into your kingdom." Okay, I'll take him as an example, too. If I'm being tortured to death, Lord, let my be attitude be so focused on Jesus. I'm looking at Jesus. I'm addressing Jesus. And I say, "Remember me, Jesus." 16:15 Remember those words, "Remember me." Do you remember him from Samson? I I kind of highlighted him when I said, "Hey," Samson said, "Remember me, too." But he said, "Remember me for revenge." Because my eyes were gathered out. This criminal 16:28 says, "Remember me. I've made a mess of my life, but right now I'm taking up with your I'm taken up with your kingdom. Brothers and sisters, if I die, I want to be taken up with Jesus's kingdom. I see that example in scripture, and I 16:43 want it. All right, let's go to a a third one. So, the the first was Jesus. So, number two could have been either one. I get an example from both of it. It could have been Jesus's words or the thief on the cross next to him words. 16:55 Either way, I find a wonderful example of how I should die in my attitude. Number three, David. Now, this isn't as popular a story um as like uh David and Goliath. There's stones involved, but they're not stones to slay a giant. 17:15 It's a different stone story. And if you're not familiar, I would like to read it to you. So, you can find it here. 2 Samuel 16. I'm going to read nine verses starting at verse 5. When King David, now I want you to hear 17:37 the the name again. King David, this isn't the shepherd boy that slayed the giant. This is King David. Now, he came to Baharim. And behold, there was there came out from there a man of the family of the house of Saul, whose name was 17:52 Shimi, the son of Gah. He came out cursing continually as he came. He threw stones at J David, and all the servants of King David. And all the people and all the mighty men were at his right hand and at his left. You got the scene? 18:08 This is a king that's they're throwing rocks at him, right? This guy Shimi is throwing rocks at him and he has his mighty warriors on both sides of him. And it says thus Shimi verse 7 when he cursed said when he cursed get out get 18:24 out you man of bloodshed you and worthless fellow. Wow it's pretty bold words to a king. Verse eight the Lord has returned upon you all the bloodshed of the house of Saul in whose place you have reigned. And the Lord has given the 18:37 kingdom into your hand into the hand of your son Abselum. And behold, you are taken in your own evil, and you are a man of bloodshed." Then Abashai, the son of Zerua, said to the king, "Why should this dead dog curse my lord the king? 18:55 Let me go over now and cut off his head." But the king said, "What I what have I to do with you, oh son, sons of Zerua? If if he curses, and if the Lord has told him, "Curse David, then who shall say, why have you done so?" Then David 19:14 said to Abashai and to all his servants, "Behold, my son came out from me seeks my life. How much more now this Benjamite, let him alone, and let him curse, for the Lord has told him. Perhaps the Lord will look upon my affliction and return good to me instead 19:33 of the cursing this day. So David and his men went on the way and Shimi went along the hillside parallel with him. And as he went, he cursed him and threw stones and threw dust at him. This sounds like a wonderful story. I 19:50 mean, I'm really amazed at at the humility of this king. I mean, this guy's throwing rocks at him, dust at him, cursing him, saying all these hurtful things to him. He's like, "Hey, if the Lord wants him to do it, then that's up to the Lord. We're 20:05 not going to we're not going to cut off his head." Amazing story, right? I wish it ended there. It doesn't end there. It ends on David's deathbed. Three years later, approximately at least when I look at 20:24 scriptures and compare the timelines, it looks like it was three years later that David is now on his deathbed. And he remembers Shimi. He did not forgive Shimi. He held on to that grudge. He's not like Jesus. He held on to it and he remembered that 20:44 grudge. And listen what he says in First Kings chapter 2:es 8-10. Three verses, David is talking to his son Solomon on his deathbed. And he says, "Behold, there is with you Shimi, the son of Gera, the Benjamite, a Baharim. Now it 21:00 was he who cursed me with a violent curse on the day I went to Ma Mahan Mahanim. But when he came down to me at the Jordan, I swore to him by the Lord, saying, I will not put you to death by the sword." Now therefore, Solomon doesn't say 21:17 Solomon, I'm adding that. Do not let him go unpunished. For you are a wise man, and you will know what you ought to do to him, and you will bring his gray hair down to Schol with blood. Now look at the next verse. 21:35 Then David slept with his fathers and was buried in the city of David. Brothers and sister, when I die, I don't want my last words to my children to be, "You know that guy that did that to me? Get him. I don't want to let anything fester in 21:54 my heart for three years, let alone three minutes. If there's anything in my heart against somebody, I want to deal with it right now." That is the new covenant in Christ. Forgive, forgive, forgive. If you do not forgive others their 22:09 trespasses, your heavenly father will not forgive your trespasses. David was a man after God's own heart. And there's so many wonderful things in this book about David. I can't explain this to you. I don't judge David. I judge myself. 22:28 And I say, "Father, let this spirit not beat in me. Not where I hold grudges for years. and I look for an opportunity to take revenge. And I'm calculating in my words. I said I wouldn't do it, but if there's another alternative to make sure he gets what's 22:46 due, I'll take it. I'll do that. I want none of this warning in me. By God's grace, by the power of his Holy Spirit, there will be none of it. But let's contrast it. There's another story about stones being thrown. You guys know this story? This is a 23:06 great story. I want to read it to you, too. Right. Here's another guy named Stephen. And these are I think Stephen got bigger stones than David probably got thrown at him. I think the stones it says David got some stones thrown at him and some 23:20 dust and some cursing and things like that. Steven's stones I think were a little bigger. I gathered that from the result. So, let me read the story of Steven's death. This is the fourth death. We're looking at the story of Steven. and 23:33 contrast it with the story of David and his death. You find it in Acts 7:es 55-60. I I hope you're familiar with this. I hope I'm just recapping things you already know, but you maybe didn't compare them in this light or you maybe never looked at 23:49 them, you know, the story of Steven, but you never looked at the story of Josh or yourself in light of these. Listen to Steven's death. Verse 55. But being full of the Holy Spirit, he gazed intently into heaven and saw the glory of God and Jesus standing at 24:07 the right hand of the father, right hand of God. And he said, "Behold, I see the heavens opened up and the son of man standing at the right hand of God." But they cried out with a loud voice and covered their ears and rushed at him 24:21 with one impulse. And when they had driven him out of the city, they began stoning him. Oh, there's those are the stones that we're talking about. And the witnesses laid aside their robes at the feet of a young man named Saul. They went on stoning 24:36 Steven as he called on the Lord and said,"Lord Jesus, receive my spirit." Then falling on his knees, he cried out with a loud voice, a loud voice, "Lord, do not hold this sin against them." And having said that, or having said this, 24:52 he fell asleep. I want that to be my example. I want the Holy Spirit to be so full in me at the moment of my death that I can't help but forgive. And that what I see is heaven opening up and I look unto 25:11 Jesus. I don't know if it's literal or figurative. I don't I don't know exactly how it works. I've never experienced death. But I see in the word of God, in the words of uh of my savior and in the words of Stephen, the attitude I want to 25:26 have forgiveness. Forgive them. This momentary light of afflictions producing an eternal weight of glory anyway. They're forgiven. I get to go be with you and I get to go be with God. I get to go be with Jesus. What is this? 25:43 Oh, that I have that attitude, brothers and sisters, that's what I want. So, I see the contrast there. Here's number five, Isaac. I don't know if you think much about Isaac's death. It's kind of interesting. I'll read it to you, too. If you turn to 26:01 Genesis chapter 27, look, let's look at four verses. Remember, brothers and sisters, I I'm 50 years old and I'm thinking about death. I'm thinking about my death. I'm judging myself. I have no interest in judging any Bible character, but I want to see 26:18 what the Holy Spirit wrote and see if that helps me judge myself. And this one, maybe more than the others, hits home for me. And I'll tell you why after I read it. Genesis 27 1 and two says, "Now it came about when Isaac was old and his eyes 26:34 were too dim to see." I'm wearing glasses. I'm using large print, right? So I can relate a little bit. When Isaac was old, his eyes were too dim to see that he called his older son, Esau, and said to him, "My son." And he 26:49 said to him, "Here I am." And Isaac said, "Behold, now I am old, and I don't I do not know the day of my death. Now then, please take your gear, your quiver, your and your bow, and go out from the field, and hunt game for me." 27:04 And listen to verse four. and prepare a savory dish for me such that I love and bring it to me that I may eat and that my soul may bless you before I die. You know, I see the focus on that savory dish, that dish that I love. 27:22 You know, there's something about growing up in the United States that it was like if I start working and I work really hard and I think I started working at like age 14 or 15 and I think I've always had a job. By God's grace, I've had a job. 27:39 And you know, I had a plan to retire at 41. That was my plan. God had a different plan. I told you I'm above 50 and I'm still working. God's ways are far superior to anything I could have imagined. But the goal my whole life has been to 27:54 work hard and come to a place that I could kick back and relax and enjoy retirement and enjoy savory food and not have to slave in the sweat of my brow, you know, not have to work for everything, but just to relax and enjoy it. 28:10 And I see something of that in Isaac. Isaac, you know, I don't know if you know this, but he wasn't necessarily on his deathbed. Did you know that he lived another 43 years after this moment? 43 years. It says the Bible says he 28:26 lived to 180. But at 137, he's calling his favorite son. Why is Esau the favorite son? Oh, because he's the hunter and he brings that delicious venison. Oh, that I love. He becomes my favorite. And it's interesting that his this son, 28:45 the same son, traded his birthright and his blessing for just a single meal. I can't tell you, oh, I I would never do that. I'm far better than either of those two men. I've told you my life, my goal was to 29:03 retire early and relax and take life easy and enjoy things. That's what I wanted. God had a far better way for me, I can tell you. But I see this I see something of my own flesh in this. Which which is my favorite of my three kids? The one 29:20 that makes life most comfortable for me. The one that brings me delicious dishes or or or you know gives me the best vacations or or does all these wonderful things that make me more comfortable. That one will be my favorite because I'm 29:33 so focused on myself and the food I like and the things I like and the my own comforts. You know, my my wife is turning 50 and a lot of her family, she she's turning 50 later this year and a lot of her family, you know, the the idea was the similar. 29:48 They're American just like me. And the idea is that you get to that place that in your later years, you can take cruises and you can take vacations and buy time shares and just kind of enjoy life. I love that my wife decided to go 30:00 to Africa and visit an orphanage. The Lord has done such a work in the both of us. He's changed us in so many ways. She paid her own way or we paid her own way, however you look at it. She's not going for any great missionary 30:17 at work. She's going to visit some kids. They don't have parents and they all live together in a poor orphanage in Kenyan Uganda. Now, my wife would probably love to take a cruise and maybe maybe the Lord will do that one day, but not right now. 30:34 You know, she's as close to death as I am. She made a different decision and I praise the Lord for that. Instead of enjoying life, instead of enjoying retirement and kicking back and relaxing, seeking to Lord, what do you want me to 30:48 do? Is there some work you want me to do? Even if it involves sacrifice of comfort, even if they don't have my my most savory dishes in that country, I'll still go if you tell me to go. I appreciate that. And so, I see, you know, something of 31:02 Isaac in me. And again, I don't judge Isaac. I judge me. And I know this temptation in myself. But I contrast that with another man. This man wasn't in a comfy bed asking his his his boy to bring him some food. 31:21 This man was in a prison. And he writes some words to a church that he had a heart for in Philippi. And if you if you'll permit me, I'd like to read his words, too. And I want you to listen to the different spirit. I'll 31:35 go ahead and prompt you. You're familiar with these words. I think you're familiar with this letter. Philippians is one of the most popular letters. But I want to contrast that with Isaac. Isaac was focused on his belly, right? 31:46 What can be done for me as I'm dying? I want you to hear a different spirit in Paul. I'm going to start at chapter 1 in Philippians. I'm start at verse 21 and I'm going to read seven verses. He starts out and he says, "For me to 32:02 live as Christ and to die is gain." You all know that verse. Paul was a man that took every considered all of the things that the earth offers and calls it garbage compared to knowing Jesus. And as he's contemplating his death, 32:16 like he doesn't know if he's ever going to come out of that prison. He might die in that prison. And it sounds like it, you know, might have been imminent or felt imminent to him at the time. But he says, "For me to live as Christ to die 32:27 is gain." But he says, "But if I live on in the flesh, this will mean fruit for my labor, something for the glory of God, something for uh for his kingdom." And he says, "Yet what I choose, I cannot tell. Like I don't know what's 32:43 going to happen." He says, "But I'm hardpressed between the two, having a desire to depart and be with Christ, which is far better." It is As you get older, it is far better to be with the Lord. As you get younger, it's far better to 33:01 be with the Lord always. Whether we're here or whether we're in eternity, it's better to be with the Lord and in his presence. I agree with Paul in that. But look what he says next. He says, "Nevertheless, to remain in the flesh is more needful 33:18 for you. And being confident of this, I know I shall remain and continue with you all for your progress and joy of faith, that in your rejoicing for me 33:37 may be more abundant in in Jesus Christ by my coming to you again. Only let your conduct be worthy of the gospel of Christ. So that whether I come to see you or am absent, I may hear of your affairs, that you stand in one spirit 33:55 with one mind, striving together for the faith of the gospel. This man had a completely different focus. Remember in the same book it says, you know, esteem others as more important as than yourself. Look out not only for your own interest but look out 34:10 for the interests of others. same same Bible book and here's a man that is in prison and he would love to go be with Jesus and he admits that that that's the best thing right now I'm suffering in prison I imagine Paul's body was pretty broken 34:26 up and beat up from the from the accounts that I read in his letters and he says I would love to just end it all and go be with the Lord but his heart was for that church and I think about uh Brother Zack Punan, 86 years old, and I know he doesn't just 34:45 help Austin CFC, he helps a lot of churches. And I'm sure he's had similar thoughts to be with go and be with Jesus would be far better. But yet, he endures sleepless nights and grieving and prayer and and a burden for others. 35:02 I want that. And I contrast that with Isaac. I don't want to spend my years or my last days worried about my appetite and what I'm going to eat and how I'm going to vacation and and what I'm going to get out of life that I, you know, my 35:16 have a midlife crisis because I didn't wasn't able to do these things when I don't want any of that. I want the Lord to put such a spirit in my heart that I can't help but think of others. Paul had that. So, I see that as the sixth 35:28 example. You know, in scriptures in Proverbs, it says, uh, you know, there are six things the Lord hates, but I'm going to tell you seven. So, that's what I'm going to do this morning. I know I said six, but I'd like to add one more if you guys 35:41 will permit me. John the Baptist. Now, why John the Baptist? Because I see that he's kind of um kind of a bridge. You know, there's some mysteries about him that I can't explain to you. Jesus said, "Of those born of women, there's nobody greater than John 35:55 the Baptist." But then he said, "He who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than John the Baptist." And so I see John the Baptist, it says he was filled with the Holy Spirit when he was at in his womb. Yet at the same 36:11 time, I know there wasn't a fullness that we can experience after Jesus was glorified from John 7. I can't explain all that to you, but I can think about John's death and I see that we're all kind of in that crossroads. We're in a 36:25 crossroads between the old covenant and the new covenant. And like John, we can be perplexed. And so John asks sends a messenger to Jesus and saying, you know, you know, John doesn't come out of this prison. You know, he's beheaded by Herod. 36:44 And I imagine he's incredibly confused about this trial that he's going through. Brother is you ever go through a trial? You ever feel perplexed in a trial? Do you ever feel in the midst of the trial like maybe I'm misunderstanding God? Maybe I got here 36:58 because I I didn't hear his voice. I believe that John went through all of that. And so he does the right thing. He sends messengers to Jesus. And I'll read what Jesus uh I'll read the words of Matthew. This man that's in prison that asked 37:15 Jesus, maybe I'm missing something. It says, 'Now when John, while imprisoned, heard the works of Christ, he sent words by his disciples, and he said to him, "Are you the expected one, or shall we look for somebody else?" 37:29 Now, here's what I see, brothers and sisters. He's He's confused. Did I miss something? I thought you were the Messiah. I don't understand why I'm in this trial right now. If If you're the Messiah, if you're the anointed one, why 37:43 am I going through this trial? Why? Why? Why am I going through this what looks like it's going to end in death and did? And look at the words of Jesus. Jesus says, Jesus answered and said to him, "Go and report to John what you hear and see. 38:02 The blind receive sight and the lame walk. The lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear. The dead are raised up and the poor have the gospel preached to them. And blessed is he who does not take offense to me." And brothers and 38:14 sisters, this is what I see as we get closer and closer to our death, which we're going to do every day of our life. We need the encouragement of scripture. And that's what I see Jesus saying. He says, take, you know, take the old 38:28 covenant, the things you hear in the old covenant, and relate them to now in the new covenant. The things that you see in scripture, see if they're not becoming real in your life, and take faith and encouragement in that. And this is why 38:40 we need to encourage one another daily. I need encouragement, brothers and sisters. I go through the same perplexity every man goes through. The difference is I have a hope in Jesus. And very often it's these words that 38:55 strengthen my faith by the power of his spirit. And we need to do this for one another. Death is the great fear. It's the great unknown. And it is perplexing. It can be overwhelming, especially when we watch others go through it. It grieves us very 39:10 much. But we see the Jesus says, "Take faith and comfort in my words. Let it be your hope. Let it be your encouragement. Let it be your strength." And so, one more bonus dying man. I don't have anybody to contrast except me. One more dying man 39:25 in moments of perplexity is strengthened by the word of God. My picture, I can't prove this to you from scripture, but I imagine John sending sitting in that prison cell and when those messengers show up and John says, "What did Jesus 39:38 say?" I picture when they told him what Jesus said. I think he grinned from ear to ear. I believe John the Baptist was overjoyed when he got these words from Jesus. And I trust that when we hear scripture to 39:57 encourage us in those moments of weakness that it strengthens us and it brings a smile to our face as well. All right, quick recap. We looked at characters and we looked at their deaths and we contrasted each. We started with Samson as a warning and we 40:12 said we don't want to die because our or we don't want to die with the attitude of revenge when our eyes are gouged out and we want to take people with us. And we contrast that with Jesus or the criminal next to Jesus and we see a good 40:26 example of how to die focused on the Lord. And then we looked at David and rocks were thrown at him. And at first it seems like he handled it very well. But we find out on his deathbed he held on to that grudge for three years and 40:41 made gave orders to make sure that revenge was enacted. And yet we see another guy that got stones thrown at him and instead of wanting revenge asked for forgiveness. And we see example in that. And we think about Isaac and we think about 40:57 everything that's told to us growing up in this country is you got to live life to the fullest. You've got to experience all the entertainment and all the amusement that America has to offer. You got to do as much of it as you can 41:08 before you die. And you get to eat your your and you may have another 43 years of life left like Isaac did. And you want to enjoy things like your favorite dishes or your favorite scenic things or whatever. And we contrast that with a 41:21 guy like Paul that was willing to go to prison. and even in the midst of suffering doesn't focus on himself. He's concerned about other people. And we say,"Lord, give me that." And we can be perfectly honest, brothers and sisters. 41:34 We can be perfectly honest and say, "I don't have that. Lord, do a work in my heart so that I have that. I see that your spirit wants to give that to men like Paul and even lesser men like me. I want that spirit." Then finally we had a bonus of John the 41:50 Baptist and we saw his attitude when he was the greatest among those born of women the least sh he's least compared to all of us that can enter the new covenant and we see an an attitude of when he's facing death he calls out to 42:06 Jesus and says Lord did I misunderstand something and then we see that the word of God strengthens and encourages him in those moments of weakness and we want to take that as our example as well it's all I have brothers and sisters God 42:18 bless you. Thank you, brother Josh, for the message 42:38 today. Um many of you know this saying by Benjamin Franklin. Um in this world nothing is certain except death and taxes right he's referring to 42:57 constitution this letter um we have to settle our accounts taxes before our death here. Uh we know that just a reminder that this Wednesday 43:16 we'll have a Lord's table. That's a good milestone. But one day we will face death on this earth. Um before Jesus may come that is the last last day on this earth 43:34 and we have to set our accounts. What is the account? And we saw through the contrast of these old covenant characters, Bible characters who also knew God, who also knew the law, who also had authority and power 43:52 and the new covenant characters in the Bible who also knew Jesus. Some of them met Jesus. Some were filled with the Holy Spirit. between Samson versus Jesus, David versus Steven, 44:11 Isaac versus Paul, John the Baptist. You can see the attitudes before the final day of their life on this earth. We know John 15:13, 44:29 greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends. Um, and Jesus said he demonstrated through through his life, whole entirety of his life that he continued to lay down his life for his friends including 44:46 enemies. and he demonstrated for us. So because it's one of the most important things that we have to settle account because he has forgiven us all 45:04 our sins now we can forgive others. He says this is my commandment that you love one another just as loved you. And that is the greater love that there's no more greater love than this. That one laid down his life for his 45:21 friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you. And he doesn't call us slaves anymore, but he calls us friends because he reveals this will of his father directly to us. 45:40 He continues. Jesus says, "You did not choose me, but I chose you and you appointed to you that you would go and bear fruit." When we die, when we die and forgive, we can bear fruit. That's when we bear fruit of forgiveness and 45:56 mercy so that whatever you ask of the father in my name, he may give to you. This is this I command you that you love one another. Again, he emphasizes here's one more thing that Jesus says as he approaches the cross, the final 46:14 moments of his life on this earth. As he completes his mission that he came to do, fulfill on this earth. John 12:4 and we quoted this verse many times in the church. Truly, truly, I say to you, 46:31 unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone. But if it dies, it bears much fruit. If we hold on to anything that I have against another brother or sister, 46:50 I remain alone. But if I die and let go, forgive, it bears much fruit. This is one of the last things Jesus says before to his disciples because he says in the previous verse Jesus answered them saying the hour has come for the son of 47:06 man to be glorified. He's predicting his death. His disciples are not aware but Jesus says and that's one thing he says he who loves his life loses it and he who hates his life in this world will keep it to life eternal. So if anyone 47:22 serves me he must follow me for and where I am there my servant will be also. If anyone serves me the father will honor him. So he asked us not to take Jesus cross the cross that he died on to forgive our sins but he asked us to take 47:41 our cross and that is to forgive as he has forgiven us that whom may have wronged um others may have wronged us. Here's a test for me u I have had enemies uh in my life as well and I'm sure many of you have had enemies in 47:59 your life as well. We've emphasized in new covenant Matthew 567 the sermon on the mount 7 toward the end of chapter 5 Jesus says you've heard that it was said you shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy 48:18 and the new covenant Jesus says I said you love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you so it's a test have I truly forgiven am I praying for the enemy do Do I pray for him whether I like it or not? Can I pray for him? If I can't pray for that 48:37 person that has wronged me, then I don't think I have forgiven him truly. Um so may God help us Lord um and take this to heart as we prepare for this uh Lord's table once again. Um and no 48:56 sign sin of bitterness acrew accumulate in our hearts. It happens every day. We walk in the world. Dust gets on our feet. We must wash each other's feet as Jesus demonstrated right before the Lord's table. Our whole body is bathed 49:13 um through his salvation, through his sacrifice. But we each other have to wash our feet because we walk in the dirty world of sin. and we encourage one another to do that. So, let's do that today. Let's go to the Lord as we close 49:27 tonight. Our father, we thank you for giving us so many examples and ultimately your example to follow your cross and take up our own cross to become your disciples to have no bitterness until the end of our time 49:47 here on this earth. Why wait till the last moment? We want to get rid of it now so we can enjoy the fruits that comes when we die. Lord, we want to settle all accounts, any bitterness towards one another. Lord, help us to do 50:04 that through the power of your Holy Spirit. If we can't do it emotionally, we know, we believe with faith. We ask that you will fill us with the power of the Holy Spirit. the faith to move the mountains that what seems 50:22 impossible that can be done in faith. Lord, thank you Lord. Pray in Jesus name. Amen. Thank you family. Uh just a quick reminder, next week we will not be coming here. We'll meet on Zoom and uh brother Zach will be sharing the message 50:40 next week. So we'll give out more announcements. Thank you. Let's help prepare for the lunch fellowship.
