5 PART STUDY ON DEATH FOR YOUR TEENAGER TO UNDERSTAND.
TEEN TREE OF LIFE
The Doctrine of Death
Part 1
January 29, 2017
BEFORE we begin, if you are a believer in Jesus Christ, take a moment to name your sins to God the Father. This will allow you to be filled with the power of The Holy Spirit as you read this booklet (EPH 5:18 & 1JO 1:9). IF YOU HAVE never believed in Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, you have that opportunity right now. Simply tell God the Father that you are believing on His Son Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. If you make that decision, you are now a believer and will always be a child of God! When you die, you will spend eternity with Him forever in heaven! (JOH 3:16 & ACT 16:31).
For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. (PHI 1:21) This incredible statement by the apostle Paul is not a reference to all believers. He is specifically referring to himself as a mature believer. This statement is true in the life of the mature believer only. If you’re not spiritually mature, neither living nor death is a profitable experience. It is only the mature believer who leaves this world in dying grace and considers the experience a promotion. And this is who is referenced in this verse. It is the mature believer or the believer in spiritual adulthood who lives a meaningful, loving, and enjoyable existence. The verb “to live” points to the enjoyment and love of real life. It also points to an active life full of vigor which comes from knowing that all in life (and death) is secure in Christ Jesus.
Unfortunately for the most part, death has always created fear and anxiety in people. This fear of the unknown, places them in bondage. HEB 2:14 (The Message Bible) says this: Since the children are made of flesh and blood, it’s logical that the Savior took on flesh and blood in order to rescue them by his death. By embracing death, taking it into himself, he destroyed the Devil’s hold on death and freed all who cower through life, scared to death of death. Essentially, Satan keeps people enslaved throughout their entire lives by way of fear of death. It is therefore important to know what the Word of God teaches concerning the subject of death.
There are at least eight categories of death noted in the Bible: spiritual death; physical death; positional death; carnal or cosmic death; production mortality (a.k.a. dead works); sexual death; The Second death; and the Sin Unto Death.
Let’s first look at physical death. The real you is your soul not your physical body. Your present physical body is a temporary housing for your soul. At physical death, the soul is transferred to an incorruptible body, first the interim body until the Rapture and then the resurrected body after the Rapture.
The unbeliever is dichotomous: consisting of body and soul; the believer in Christ is trichotomous: consisting of body, soul, and human spirit. The believer receives a human spirit at the moment of Salvation and this is how God’s Spirit fellowships with man. The soul of the unbeliever is what lives forever and ever; for the believer, the soul and spirit exist forever. When physical death occurs, it affects the physical body only. Physical death has nothing whatsoever to do with the soul and spirit. The mature believer knows this and so considers his physical death profit or a promotion in that it secures a great victory toward the fantastic eternal rewards promised by God. But the unbeliever or the believer who is not educated in God’s Word lives out his life in fear of that which he does not know, i.e., death. This lack of knowledge is due in full to the individual’s own rejection of God’s Word and God’s Plan. This lack of knowledge leaves unbelievers (and the majority of believers) in an uncertain and apprehensive state concerning what happens to them after physical death.
Many believers claim throughout their lives to have faith but when it is put to the test in the face of death, they are suddenly stricken with an immobilizing fear. On the other hand, the mature believer is confident that the death of his physical body, which houses the Old Sin Nature, is left behind and his soul and spirit are promoted to heaven! The soul of the unbeliever upon physical death is transferred to its interim body in a place known as Hades. Then at the end of human history, they are brought forth to the Great White Throne Judgment (for unbelievers only) and issued their resurrection bodies and are thereafter cast into the eternal lake of fire, forever separated from God. This judgment is based on the unbelievers’ rejection of the Son of God, Jesus Christ as their Personal Savior while on earth.
So, physical death happens to the physical body and is a matter of the Sovereign Decision of God, based on His Perfect Knowledge and Perfect Timing: Blessed be the Lord, who daily bears our burden, The God who is our salvation. Selah. God is to us a God of deliverances; And to God the Lord belong escapes from death. (PSA 68:19-20) Physical death does not separate the believer from God: For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (ROM 8:38-39) You should remember that verse and think of it whenever you’re afraid or stressed!!
Another important thing to remember is that physical death means being face to face with the Lord: …we are of good courage, I say, and prefer rather to be absent from the body and to be at home with the Lord. ( 2CO 5:8) Physical death also means the end of pain: “… and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away.” (REV 21:4) Physical death results in an eternal inheritance: to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. (1PE 1:4-5); a new home: “Do not let your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father’s house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you. If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also. And you know the way where I am going.” Thomas said to Him, “Lord, we do not know where You are going, how do we know the way?” Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.” (JOH 14:1-6); and realizing what eternal life is all about: “…and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand.” (JOH 10:28); 20:31.
Physical death secures a great victory and that is how it should be viewed. The sting of death has been removed by our Lord Jesus Christ: O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” 56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law; but thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. (1CO 15:55-57) If you understand what heaven is all about, what eternity holds and what the Word of God promises, you will not live in fear of death!
TEEN TREE OF LIFE
The Doctrine of
Part 2
February 5, 2017
BEFORE we begin, if you are a believer in Jesus Christ, take a moment to name your sins to God the Father. This will allow you to be filled with the power of The Holy Spirit as you read this booklet (EPH 5:18 & 1JO 1:9). IF YOU HAVE never believed in Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, you have that opportunity right now. Simply tell God the Father that you are believing on His Son Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. If you make that decision, you are now a believer and will always be a child of God! When you die, you will spend eternity with Him forever in heaven! (JOH 3:16 & ACT 16:31).
In last week’s Tree of Life, we began a study of the different categories of death. We began with physical death. The second category – Spiritual Death – is actually the most important category to understand. The Spiritual Death of the human race is noted in GEN 2:17: “ …but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you will surely die.” This verse’s reference to death is spiritual not physical. We know this because neither Adam, nor the woman, dies when they eat from the tree of knowledge. Instead, they become separated from God. This is what Spiritual Death is.
The origin of Spiritual Death was not and is not anyone’s personal sin but originates with the fall of man (Adam). The fall of man resulted in the penalty imposed upon the human race. The penalty (Spiritual Death) is issued simultaneously at physical birth when human life is imputed to the biological life. We are all, therefore, born physically alive and spiritually dead: Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned… (ROM 5:12)
There are actually two categories of Spiritual Death: real Spiritual Death and substitutionary Spiritual Death. Real Spiritual Death refers to the actual Spiritual Death of Adam when he was separated from God. Substitutionary Spiritual Death refers to the Spiritual Death experienced by Jesus Christ on The Cross when He was judged for all sins and separated from God in place of us: For Christ also died for sins once for all, the just for the unjust, so that He might bring us to God, having been put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit… (1PE 3:18) This is also taught in 2CO 5:21: He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.
Though we were born in sin, God does not make us pay the penalty for our sins, He allowed a Substitute Sacrifice on our behalf. What then is the solution to man’s Spiritual Death? ROM 6:23 gives us that answer: For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Without the acceptance of this gift on the part of man’s free will, man remains in Spiritual Death and is eternally separated from God.
The next category of Biblical death is the Positional Death of the believer. At the point of Salvation, the believer receives a new nature and the old nature is considered dead to God. Our Positional Death, therefore, is our identification with the Death, Burial, and Resurrection of Jesus Christ. This is known as the Baptism of The Spirit. On the Cross, Jesus Christ paid the price for all sin and also rejected the Old Sin Nature and all it produces: human good and evil. Our identification with this is our Positional Death to the Old Sin Nature and its productions, ROM 6:1-4: What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin so that grace may increase? May it never be! How shall we who died to sin still live in it? Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death? Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life. Our new nature is the nature in which we execute the spiritual life. The old nature can offer nothing to God – no matter how good it appears!
ROM 6:10 tells us that Christ crucified (killed) the Old Sin Nature on the Cross. Therefore, in the eyes of God the Old Sin Nature is dead and can offer nothing good. Apart from God, we can produce NOTHING: “You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me. I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing.” (JOH 15:3-5) Our goal, then, should be to only try to accomplish Divine good which is accomplished when we are filled with The Spirit. We should reject that which the flesh produces. The flesh (Old Sin Nature) produces human good and evil and these are what please Satan.
We should live our lives relying on God and the Power and Nature He has supplied for us in His Plan. When we rely on self, we are adopting the policy of Satan. Jesus Christ incarnate pioneered the spiritual life by His Complete Reliance on the Father’s Will and the Spirit’s Power. We are to live our lives in the same manner. You are therefore a loser believer unless you have the Spirit of God as your Power and are motivated by God’s Word, accurately divided: “God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.” (JOH 4:24)
The next Biblical category of death is Carnal Death or Cosmic Death, which is basically what results in post-salvation when the Old Sin Nature takes control of the soul. Carnal/Cosmic Death exists in three areas: post salvation sinning; post salvation human good; and post salvation evil. The Carnal Death of the believer can be classified in three ways: temporal death which is when the believer is out of fellowship with God; cosmic death which is when the believer lives a life of cosmic involvement; and the fragmented death of the believer when the believer is living in moral or immoral degeneracy. Remember that moral degeneracy is dead works or things done without being filled with The Spirit. All of these carnal deaths refer to the function of the believer’s volition in converting temptation from the Old Sin Nature into sinfulness. In other words, you have to make the choice to sin at the point of temptation! The issue is not whether the believer is aware of his cosmic involvement or not but that the desire is freely acted upon by the believer’s volition. Temptation is not a sin until human volition follows through with action.
Sin and cosmic involvement bring in Carnal Death which separates the believer from God. Look at REV 3:1: “To the angel of the church in Sardis write: He who has the seven Spirits of God and the seven stars, says this: ‘I know your deeds, that you have a name that you are alive, but you are dead.” This verse explains that the carnal believer does have production and that he is alive but God considers his/her works dead!
Remember this: … the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace… (ROM 8:6) If the believer remains in Carnal Death, he/she will eventually die the sin unto death. The sin unto death is maximum punishment from God. It is fair, painful and terminates in physical death. Believers can die the sin unto death through prolonged negative volition and reversionism. This is actually a grace gift from God because God is saving him/her from the greater evil that is surely to come and He is taking him home to heaven.
TEEN TREE OF LIFE
The Doctrine of Death
Part 3
February 12, 2017
BEFORE we begin, if you are a believer in Jesus Christ, take a moment to name your sins to God the Father. This will allow you to be filled with the power of The Holy Spirit as you read this booklet (EPH 5:18 & 1JO 1:9). IF YOU HAVE never believed in Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, you have that opportunity right now. Simply tell God the Father that you are believing on His Son Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. If you make that decision, you are now a believer and will always be a child of God! When you die, you will spend eternity with Him forever in heaven! (JOH 3:16 & ACT 16:31).
As we continue of study of The Doctrine of Death, we are at the next category which is called production mortality. This is known as dead works or operational death. Dead works is the function of human good apart from the filling of The Spirit. That is to say that it’s anything you do while you’re out of fellowship with God. A good example of this is you help your mother bring in and put away the groceries. If you cite your sins to God in His Son’s Name before you do it, you are helping her while being filled with The Spirit so you have produced Divine good. If you just do it, without being filled, it’s dead works. Good works are not a virtue when found in the devil’s world. Works in the cosmic system include legalism, self-righteousness and arrogance, which parlay into evil. Dead works is moral degeneracy and is burned up at the Judgment Seat of Christ. 1CO 3:12-15 teaches us about dead works: Now if any man builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each man’s work will become evident; for the day will show it because it is to be revealed with fire, and the fire itself will test the quality of each man’s work. If any man’s work which he has built on it remains, he will receive a reward. If any man’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire. So does 2CO 5:10: For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.
The next category is Sexual Death. This category of death is mentioned only once in the bible, in reference to Abraham and Sarah: By faith even Sarah herself received ability to conceive, even beyond the proper time of life, since she considered Him faithful who had promised. Therefore there was born even of one man, and him as good as dead at that, as many descendants as the stars of heaven in number, and innumerable as the sand which is by the seashore. (HEB 11:11-12) The idea here is that Sarah was beyond the age of being able to conceive children, so she was sexually dead; however, God stepped in and allowed her to give birth!
Our next category of Biblical death is the Second Death. The Second Death is taught in several verses: “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. He who overcomes will not be hurt by the second death.” (REV 2:11) Also look at REV 20:4-6: Then I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was given to them. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony of Jesus and because of the word of God, and those who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received the mark on their forehead and on their hand; and they came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were completed. This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is the one who has a part in the first resurrection; over these the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with Him for a thousand years. No verse defines The Second Death as well as REV 21:8: “But for the cowardly and unbelieving and abominable and murderers and immoral persons and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars, their part will be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.” It is very important to not here that the only sin mentioned which puts you in the lake of fire is “unbelieving” – nothing else!
So, the Second Death is for unbelievers only and is the final judgment for those who have rejected The Lord Jesus Christ: And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and books were opened; and another book was opened, which is the book of life; and the dead were judged from the things which were written in the books, according to their deeds. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead which were in them; and they were judged, every one of them according to their deeds. Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire. (REV 20:12-15)
Then finally we have the category known as the Sin Unto Death. As we learned in last week’s Tree of Life, the Sin Unto Death is maximum punishment from God. It is fair, painful and terminates in physical death. Believers can die the Sin Unto Death through prolonged negative volition and reversionism. Reversionism is the act of reverting to a former state, habit, belief, or practice of post-salvation sinning. Reversionism is a reversal of your priorities, your attitudes, your affections, the object of your personal love accompanied by the destruction of your impersonal love, and the change of your manner of operation and personality.
The Sin Unto Death is actually a grace gift from God because God is saving the believer from the greater evil that is surely to come and He is taking him/her home to heaven. REV 3:16 describes the Sin Unto Death: “So because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will [a]spit you out of My mouth.” This is the manner of death for the believer who rejects the Plan of God. David notes for us his experience with the Sin Unto Death in Psalms chapters 32 and 38. It’s important to note that he eventually rebounds and is delivered from the Sin Unto Death: I will not die, but live, And tell of the works of the Lord. The Lord has disciplined me severely, But He has not given me over to death. (PSA 118:17-18)
Sadly enough, the Sin Unto Death will be the manner of death for the majority of believers in Christ. Most believers live their lives according to the ideas and goals projected by the cosmic system rather than according to what God’s Plan directs. In their rejection of God’s Plan in time, they become loser-believers and live and die in fear and disgrace. Quite unlike that which Paul states in PHI 1:21: For me living is Christ, likewise dying is gain [promotion].
In this study of The Doctrine Of Death, it must be clearly understood that death is a matter of the Sovereignty of God. Job makes this statement in JOB 1:21: “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, And naked I shall return there. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord.” This verse teaches us that death is decided by God. So, we must trust in the Essence and Plan of God over that of our own personal opinions as to the timing of the death of anyone, including ourselves. Death is an appointment that everyone in the human race will keep. Whether a person is a believer or unbeliever, all will die. But it is the death of the believer which is precious in the sight of the Lord: Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His godly ones. (PSA 116:15) Look at ECC 7:1: A good name is better than a good ointment, And the day of one’s death is better than the day of one’s birth. This is a difficult doctrine to accept unless you truly believe that death equals being face to face with Our Lord and no pain or sorrow for eternity!
TEEN TREE OF LIFE
The Doctrine of
Part 4
February 19, 2017
BEFORE we begin, if you are a believer in Jesus Christ, take a moment to name your sins to God the Father. This will allow you to be filled with the power of The Holy Spirit as you read this booklet (EPH 5:18 & 1JO 1:9). IF YOU HAVE never believed in Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, you have that opportunity right now. Simply tell God the Father that you are believing on His Son Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. If you make that decision, you are now a believer and will always be a child of God! When you die, you will spend eternity with Him forever in heaven! (JOH 3:16 & ACT 16:31).
We are continuing to look at The Doctrine of Death. The believer in Christ will be promoted to heaven after the death of his/her physical body. Always remember that death is a promotion! The unbeliever – the one who has rejected Jesus Christ as the Son of God and his/her personal Savior – is demoted to Hades and then the eternal lake of fire, forever separated from God. So, for the believer, death is a time of victory not discouragement. In 2TI 4:6, Paul calls death a “departure” rather than a termination or an end: For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure has come.
Death is actually a relocation of the believer’s soul and human spirit. As such, death is designed to be the greatest experience of the believer’s life! Now, this is something that will not be easy for you to understand as a young believer; but the more you study God’s Word, the more you will know and love God and the more you will understand and embrace this fact!
Death is a great blessing to the believer, especially the mature believer who goes out in dying grace. Dying grace is defined as the death of the mature believer who anticipates seeing his Lord face to face; and because of this, it is the dessert of life! Dying grace is the experience of physical death under special provision of grace whereby the believer involved experiences both great blessing and happiness during the dying process. Dying grace can occur regardless of the amount of pain and suffering incurred while dying. There could be maximum pain or a minimum of pain, but in either case there is maximum happiness and soul stimulation.
Death is the believer’s ticket to heaven and in heaven there is no physical body with its Old Sin Nature. So why do we mourn for what is actually a promotion of a believer? Believers who are in spiritual adulthood (meaning they are where they should be in their spiritual advance) will not only use the Ten Problem-Solving Devices while living but also while dying, whether it’s in relation to their own death experience or the death of a loved one. The mature believer knows that death is based on God’s perfect Timing. This is so important in understanding death because no matter when a person dies, it’s God’s Plan and Timing!
In dying, both winners and losers leave their bodies behind on earth while their soul (soul and spirit for believers) travel billions of light years to their new destination. Winner believers can die in two general ways: painlessly and quickly, or painfully and prolonged. Dying grace can be found in either situation. The decision is God’s and His Reasoning is Perfect; therefore no one can judge the reason for the death or reason of death of anyone who dies.
Those who are in the habit of judging others while living will judge them while they are dying, too. The loser believer will die the Sin Unto Death which is the last act of Divine Discipline from God. Please note that the Sin Unto Death is not result of sin but rather a result of leading a life separate from God. 1JO 5:16 is often misunderstood in its statement that, “…there is a sin leading to death…” This simply means that there is a status of sinfulness which can exist while dying and that status is one of bitterness and a mental attitude filled with pain.
There are four ways the believer can transfer from time (life on earth) to eternity: dying grace; the Rapture; Sin Unto Death; or suicide. Divine Discipline is confined to one’s time on earth and is a result of the believer using his/her own volition to create the failures in his/her life.
Sin Unto Death is taught in REV 3:16: So because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of My mouth. HEB 12:5-6 tells us the Sin Unto Death is the final stamp of Divine Discipline placed on the loser believer in time: and you have forgotten the exhortation which is addressed to you as sons, “My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, Nor faint when you are reproved by Him; For those whom the Lord loves He disciplines, And He scourges every son whom He receives.”
A case history of believers who have died the Sin Unto Death would include Ananias and Sapphira (see ACT 5:1-10) who were members of the early Christian church in Jerusalem. The account records their sudden deaths after lying to the Holy Spirit about money. 1CO 11:27-30 describes what a believer can do to die The Sin Unto Death: Therefore whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner, shall be guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord. But a man must examine himself, and in so doing he is to eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For he who eats and drinks, eats and drinks judgment to himself if he does not judge the body rightly. For this reason many among you are weak and sick, and a number sleep.
Look at what Paul writes in 1TI 1:19-20: This command I entrust to you, Timothy, my son, in accordance with the prophecies previously made concerning you, that by them you fight the good fight, keeping faith and a good conscience, which some have rejected and suffered shipwreck in regard to their faith. Among these are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I have handed over to Satan, so that they will be taught not to blaspheme. Hymenaeus and Alexander both had persistent negative volition toward doctrine to the point of attacking the Word of God. TheY eventually died the Sin Unto Death.
Then we have King Saul: So Saul died for his trespass which he committed against the Lord, because of the word of the Lord which he did not keep; and also because he asked counsel of a medium, making inquiry of it, and did not inquire of the Lord. Therefore He killed him and turned the kingdom to David the son of Jesse. (1CH 10:13-14) King Saul was guilty of occult reversionism as we see when he “asked counsel of a medium.” He turned from God to a medium!!! YIKES!!!!!!!
Now, the opposite of the Sin Unto Death is dying grace which goes to the winner believer only. Dying grace is the experience of physical death under the special provisions of grace whereby the believer involved experiences both blessing and happiness while dying. And whether there is maximum or minimum pain the winner believer still has maximum soul happiness and soul stimulation. Dying grace removes the fear of death and this is not something that all believers can claim! This is taught in PSA 23:4: Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, for You are with me…”
Dying grace takes the sting out of death: “O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” (1CO 15:55) When a mature believer experiences physical death, because he/she has doctrine resident in the soul, he/she receives the greatest blessing in life – dying grace! But this takes faith to understand and believe. Dying grace is the link between escrow blessings (which are received during our time on earth) and eternal blessings (which we receive when we go to heaven).
TEEN TREE OF LIFE
The Doctrine of Death
Part 5
February 26, 2017
BEFORE we begin, if you are a believer in Jesus Christ, take a moment to name your sins to God the Father. This will allow you to be filled with the power of The Holy Spirit as you read this booklet (EPH 5:18 & 1JO 1:9). IF YOU HAVE never believed in Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, you have that opportunity right now. Simply tell God the Father that you are believing on His Son Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. If you make that decision, you are now a believer and will always be a child of God! When you die, you will spend eternity with Him forever in heaven! (JOH 3:16 & ACT 16:31).
We studied last week that when a mature believer experiences physical death, because he/she has doctrine resident in the soul, he/she receives the greatest blessing in life – dying grace! As we also learned, the other side of the coin is the loser believers who never learned God’s Word during their lifetimes: All these died in faith, without receiving the promises, but having seen them and having welcomed them from a distance, and having confessed that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. (HEB 11:13) This verse describes the loser believers who did not receive their blessings in eternity because they didn’t seek God’s Kingdom while on earth. It’s a very sad verse. These believers will not experience dying grace and this is sadder, still!
Dying grace is the final escrow blessing distributed in time. Death does not terminate escrow blessings for the winner believer but transfers those blessings to the eternal state. And, when a mature believer dies he/she can be confident of the fact that his/her blessings will continue on earth, as well, toward family members, loved ones, and even pets after his/her departure! So there is no point in worrying about the details of this life.
In all matters of life and death, timing is important and only the expert (God) can determine the right time for everything. Remember that ignorance of God’s Essence and Plan for your life will bring bitterness and destroy your capacity to receive dying grace. This bitterness leads to self-pity which is a disastrous sin. Self-pity is basically occupation with self and that is one of the greatest distractions in life. Self-pity makes us very inflexible and weak.
The story of Elijah (1 Kings) is an example of someone with self-pity. The Northern Kingdom had eight kings in its first 58 years as a nation. This story about the great prophet Elijah occurred during the reign (874-853 B.C.) of King Ahab. Ahab married Jezebel, daughter of the king of Sidon, who worshiped Baal. Ahab built a temple to Baal and consecrated priests to serve Baal.
In an encounter between Elijah and King Ahab, Elijah challenged the prophets of Baal. The challenge was to see which god — Baal or God — would answer his prophet(s). Ahab took the challenge, gathered 450 Baal prophets, and met Elijah on Mount Carmel. Many Israelites were present to watch the outcome. Baal’s prophets placed a cut up bull on an altar of wood dedicated to Baal; the prophets called to Baal to ignite the sacrifice. Despite entreating Baal from morning until evening and slashing themselves, the sacrifice to Baal did not catch on fire.
Elijah repaired God’s altar on Mount Carmel which had fallen apart from disuse and neglect. He arranged wood on the altar, cut a bull in pieces, and placed the pieces on the altar. Massive amounts of water were poured over the bull and altar. Elijah prayed naming God, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel. He asked God to light the fire so the people would know that he did these things at God’s direction and also to let the people know that the Lord was God. Immediately, fire consumed Elijah’s sacrifice. The people fell prostrate and cried, “The Lord – he is God! The Lord – he is God!” Elijah commanded the people to seize the Baal’s prophets; they were taken to the Kishon Valley and slaughtered.
When King Ahab reported what happened to Queen Jezebel, she sent a messenger to Elijah that she would have him killed by that time tomorrow. Instead of a day of triumph for Elijah, it became a day of terror. He fled Samaria and ran over 100 miles to an area south of Beersheba in Judah. Elijah came to a broom tree, sat down under it, and prayed that he would die. Elijah was completely disheartened. This is utter and complete SELF-PITY. Finally, Elijah fell asleep and while he was sleeping, an angel touched Elijah, and directed him to get up and eat. Looking around, Elijah saw a cake of bread baked over embers and a jar of water. Elijah ate and drank, then lay down again. The angel came back a second time, touched Elijah and said, “Get up and eat, for the journey is too much for you.” Elijah rose, ate, and drank. Strengthened by the food, Elijah traveled forty days and nights until he reached Mount Horab, where God gave Moses the Ten Commandments. The point here is this: don’t sit under the broom tree! Don’t feel sorry for yourself! It is useless and a waste of time. You won’t accomplish anything and it’s a sin!
The Bible teaches us that there is no self-pity in impersonal love. Impersonal love eliminates the manipulation of emotions and self-pity in the search for attention. God is definitely not interested in people’s self-pity. You are not honoring the Lord Jesus Christ to become abnormal in your grief or to perpetuate your sorrow to the point of mental disorders. When you have disaster and trial and heartache, what you need to do is apply Bible doctrine. Your source of comfort in times of grief and sorrow must come from The Lord and metabolized doctrine circulating in your right lobe. When you are caught up in self-pity, there is no hope. You make the choice of whether or not to drown in self-pity and it’s up to you to choose to get out of it!
Another scary thing about self-pity is that it leads the weak believer into a false sense of self-importance. People who are full of self-pity are arrogant though they seem to be humble and broken in spirit. They are, in reality, very much stuck on themselves and therefore, quite arrogant. If they weren’t stuck on themselves, they would make others feel good rather than try to elicit pity from them by making them feel sad.
Sorrow from a loss of a loved one is totally understandable but shouldn’t expect others to share your grief. Your grief and sorrow should be between you and The Lord. Remember this verse by the apostle Paul when you feel bad for those in Christ who have died: But we do not want you to be uninformed, brethren, about those who are asleep, so that you will not grieve as do the rest who have no hope. (1TH 4:13) Death must be looked at from Divine viewpoint and the point is that life must go on. Most believers do not live a Godly life and so they sink in whatever tragedies come their way.
Death is designed by God to be a blessing. In fact, for the believer, death is designed to be the greatest blessing in life! Death is a reminder that time is short in comparison to eternity. This is taught in JAM 4:14: Yet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. You are just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away. Death is a reminder of the futility of cosmic glory and wealth, fame and profit. Death is also a reminder to be prepared for eternity. This is so IMPORTANT to remember. The majority of Christians are not prepared. But you, just by reading this Tree, are preparing. And that is awesome! That means you’re on your way to becoming a mature believer. And that should be your goal in life! If you do become a mature believer, you will have complete confidence in death. Divine viewpoint, which you can only get if you study God’s Word, will enable you to view death as the victory it is in God’s Eyes! God sees death as the promotion of believers in Christ to a place of no more sorrow, no more pain. The death of the believer means being face to face with The Lord: …we are of good courage, I say, and prefer rather to be absent from the body and to be at home with the Lord. (2CO 5:8) And what could be greater than that?! Why is it that we mourn for those who have been transferred to their new home? They are in the place of eternal inheritance. They are in the place which should be the ultimate focus of every believer. We will no doubt miss those who have gone to their new home before us but we will meet up with them again. If we have Divine viewpoint, we will thank God for the time enjoyed with them and be thankful to Him that they are saved and are face to face with Him in the most glorious of all locations!
OVERCOMING FEAR OF DEATH - TEEN TREE OF LIFE
5 PART STUDY ON DEATH
Pastor Robert R. McLaughlin
