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  DO YOU HAVE ANY LAST WORDS？
  by Shane Idleman
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Summary: This sermon delves into the significance of reflecting on one's
last words, drawing parallels from Jesus's final words on the cross. It
emphasizes the importance of choosing between a life of regret or
redemption, urging listeners to seek God's mercy, repent, and experience
the joy of salvation. The message highlights the transformative power of
acknowledging one's transgressions, seeking renewal, and committing to
lead others to Christ.

Duration: 51:00 Topics: "Final Words", "Redemption and Renewal"
Scripture References: Psalms 51:1, Psalms 126:5, Luke 15:11, Acts 3:19, 2 Corinthians 12:7, Romans 5:8, John 3:16, Psalms 51:10, Psalms 51:12

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DESCRIPTION
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This sermon delves into the significance of reflecting on one's last
words, drawing parallels from Jesus's final words on the cross. It
emphasizes the importance of choosing between a life of regret or
redemption, urging listeners to seek God's mercy, repent, and experience
the joy of salvation. The message highlights the transformative power of
acknowledging one's transgressions, seeking renewal, and committing to
lead others to Christ.

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CONTENT
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The title is, do you have any last words? Do you have any last words?
And what I'm going to do, I heard Greg Laurie actually did it this week
as well. John Stone Street, if you listen to him, look at Jesus's final
words on the cross. What did he say? Because you can gleam a lot from
the last words, at least when a person is able to give the last words
before they die, because it can reveal a lot, can't it? What's really in
the heart is going to come out.

And as I was preparing this sermon, it was really interesting to find
that love, the word love, the theme of love was the most common word in
the final statements of 140 people executed in Texas in the last 10
years. That was the common theme. And I read some of those.

The remorse to the families, I'm sorry. I love my family. I miss them,
and they're being led to be executed.

It's not in those moments you see a lot of cursing. A lot of anger. You
see a lot of remorse.

So I think it's good sometimes that we look. What are our last words
going to be? Because the message of the Gospel, this is why I preach
sometimes with some passion. If you've been coming here a little while,
with some urgency, because the message of the Bible is always today.

Today. Today. When you hear His voice, today, harden not your heart.

When you hear the call of salvation, today is that call. Today is the
day of reckoning. Today is the day of salvation.

Today, not tomorrow. Because procrastination is one of the tools of the
enemy. And let me just be honest with you, my reason for procrastinating
was, I want to enjoy life.

I want to do what I want, when I want, how I want, to who I want, drink
whatever I want, party however I want, and then, and then when all the
fun is over, that's when I'll finally, I guess, submit. Like we try to
wait until all the, and most of us realize, I'm sure you do, is that
that life is not a fulfilling life. We wake up depressed.

We come home depressed. And then we go back to the thing that we thought
would bring enjoyment, and then we get depressed again, go back to the
thing we thought would bring enjoyment, go depressed, it's this endless
cycle. That's why Paul describes the enemy, the devil, as an angel of
light.

Many people don't know that, especially Christians. He comes up to you
sometimes as an angel of light. Not dressed in red with his pitchfork,
and oh, look at that, some horror movie.

But he comes as subtleties, and he shows you the temptation. When Eve
saw that the fruit was pleasant to the eye, good for food, desirable to
make one wise, she took of it and ate that fruit. Just a reminder, the
devil loves subtle temptations.

That's how he walks people down one step at a time, one compromise at a
time, it's through the subtlety. So remember that, do not procrastinate.
God's not gonna send you to some foreign mission field, and you're gonna
live there in a tent unless he puts that desire in your heart.

Those people who leave or go to the mission field have a desire for
that. Those people who do what God wants them to do have a desire for
that. If you would ask me in my 20s when I was running like hell,
running with the devil, who sang that song? Motley Crue? Running with
the devil.

And I would have that song blasting, doing what I'm doing now, oh, I
can't, that is, oh, I'm gonna throw up. But once you come back to the
Lord, now that desire is an all-consuming passion. Now I look back and
hate what I used to be.

So God gives us godly desires that line up with his will, and there's so
much peace in that. And that's why I encourage people, because there's
real peace and real joy. Yes, there's a battle.

There's a fight there. Anything worth having takes fighting. Try to keep
your family together and your marriage together without fighting.

And a good way, spiritual battles, contending and watching over your
kids. And I think that's why the enemy has gotten a lot of men lazy
recently in the last couple decades. Lazy, lulled to sleep, instead of
being, they should be leading their family in prayer.

They should be up before them or going to bed late, and leading in
prayer and being that watchman on the wall, not the lazy person with the
six-pack watching Netflix. That's how he's side, I told you it wasn't
gonna be a comfortable sermon. I didn't say that to you, I told a few
other people.

A few last words. I'm gonna quote the last words from Thomas Paine. He
was one of the leading atheists when America was first, probably the 13
colonies back in those times, 1700s, late 1700s.

Now it's interesting, I like to try to find quotes and source them, try
Snoop's, Snoop's, whatever you pronounce that, and make sure, and
there's so many sites that verified this, but then there's atheist sites
that said, he never said that. Yeah, it's taken, he never said that, we
can't find that. Well, it's attributed to Thomas Paine, an atheist, who
was on his deathbed, he was talking to his nurse.

He said, stay with me. For God's sake, I cannot bear to be left alone.
Oh Lord, help me, what will become of me? I would give the worlds if I
had them, that the age of reason had never been published.

Oh Lord, help me, Christ help me. Don't leave me here. Send even a child
to stay with me, for I am on the edge of hell here alone.

If ever the devil had an agent, I had been that one. What are our last
words going to be? Because the changes we make now do affect that later
on. Compare that to John Wesley on his deathbed, his last words were,
the best of all, God is with us.

The best of all, God is with us. It was actually said of the Methodists,
that they died well. John Wesley, they said, his men died well.

What does that mean? Died well. Cheerful. This fear comes in, it's part
of our fallen nature, but joy filled, and excited to be with the Lord.

In the midst of fear, there's great excitement and trusting, thank you
God, I've made it. I've finished my race. Don't you want to finish your
race strong? Many times we think it's how you start.

That's important, but it's how you finish. Listen, I've seen so many
people, I could give you story after story, that started well, high
hopes, family doing great, and then they fell, and they brought the
family down, they brought many other people down with them. They live in
disgrace.

Sir Thomas Scott, he was a chancellor of England, he said, until this
moment, on his deathbed, I thought there was neither a God nor hell. Now
I know and feel that there are both, and I am doomed to perdition by the
just and judgment of the Almighty. Big lie out there is, it can happen,
but you don't see it as much as you would think, that a person can turn
to God on their deathbed.

They can, we see it, you've prayed with people. But there is so much
pride in the human heart, that many people on their deathbed are so
pride-filled that they don't want to admit that they could have been
wrong, and they would deny God all the way until they face Him. Now
contrast this with Polycarp, one of the early church fathers who was
said to have been a disciple of John, they're gonna throw him to the
wild animals, but they decided to burn him at the stake.

You've heard of that before? They would tie people to this wooden stake
and put timber or brush around it, and light it on fire, and watch the
person burn to death in front of them. And they asked him to recant many
times before this, and they gave him a final chance, and his exact words
were, for many years, I have served my Master, and He has done me no
wrong. How can I blaspheme my King and my Savior? You see the contrast?
What are Jesus' last words on the cross? They're very interesting.

Number one, He said, and most of you know this, of course, but He said,
at the beginning of that painful time of the crucifixion, on Friday, we
think of, it's called Good Friday, it was a dark Friday for many, but it
was called Good Friday because we celebrate the cross and what happened
on the cross, and then on resurrection day, Easter, we celebrate the
empty tomb, and those actually work together. But on that cross, He's
dying, He's beaten for our sins, and He said, Father, forgive them, for
they know not what they do. And this has always just choked me up
sometimes, is thinking about Jesus crying out to Father, saying, Father,
forgive them, they know not what they do.

That wouldn't be my thoughts. Father, get them. Where's that angel that
destroyed 185,000 Assyrians when they tried to battle against You? God,
where's that angel? Send that angel loose on these people.

But He stood there, arms stretched out, and said, forgive them, Father,
for they know not what they do, and I instantly thought of Romans 5.8,
but God demonstrated His love for us in this, while we were still
sinners, Christ died for us. That's amazing, and I've talked about this
before, I won't go off on a rabbit trail, but I always remember this
scripture because I can think of the weeks and months and years I would
blaspheme God, I would mock Him, I would live that lifestyle in total
rebellion to God. And I thought I was a good person.

The irony is amazing. Now I'm like, I can see I'm not that good of a
person. Back then, I'm a great, I'm a good person.

When I stand before God, look at all this good stuff I do. But even
while I was not living right, rebelling against God, even in that,
before that, Christ died for me. While we were still sinning, while we
were sinners, Christ died for us, and that aspect of forgiveness is
something maybe some of you need to embrace this morning.

Because sometimes people don't come to church because they say, I could
never set my, what? Foot into church, a lightning bolt is gonna come
down, it's going to hit me, and this image of God is just a mean tyrant
trying to just get you every time you do something, if that were the
case, nobody would live past three years old. Sin is in that child from
a very young age. But that forgiveness of God, we forget about that.

The Bible talks about God's love for you is long-suffering. What does
that mean, to suffer long, patient, not willing that any should perish.
He's long-suffering, he's gentle, but there does come a time when, when
that grace is mocked and rebelled against and pushed away, there comes a
time where that period is over.

The forgiveness, we don't know where that is. Don't live your life with
a question mark here, don't try to push this envelope. That's why,
again, back to the day, today is the day.

Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do. And then number
two, truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise. One of
the final words on the cross, he told the thief.

One of the gospel accounts says that this thief could have possibly
mocked him earlier in the day, despised him, and then maybe came to
repentance. We don't actually know, we just know that Jesus's words are
true, that this person was in paradise with him. Heaven is real, heaven
is real.

Let's get that across this morning. Heaven is real, Jesus said, you will
be with me in paradise. God desires that none perish, but that all come
to repentance.

There's so many rabbit trails I have in my mind, so I'm trying to stick
to the notes, but one I think that is important is, and I heard it
recently, why does God send people to hell? He doesn't send them to
hell, they choose to reject him. He doesn't desire that any should
perish. How do you reconcile that with sovereignty and free will? Well,
I'll leave that to the theologians, I just preached the Bible.

And it says that God does not desire that any should perish, but that
all come to repentance. So what happens when a person is rejecting God,
and rejecting God, and rejecting God, and they end up separated from
him, that was the choice they made. There has to be a responsibility for
our choices.

And then third, when he saw, this is such a great role model for us,
when he saw his mother, and the disciple whom he left standing nearby,
he said this to his mother. And could you imagine his mom just raising
him as a little boy, and then seeing now on the cross, knowing he's
innocent, knowing there's nothing in there worthy of death, that she
knew there was nothing. And the turmoil that must have been going
through, I can't even imagine.

He said to his mother, woman, behold, your son. Then he said to the
disciple, behold, your mother. And we obviously know that it looks like
Jesus's father was passed away.

And Jesus is gone, now he's just leaving his mother. And he tells the
disciple, behold, your mother. And the disciple, behold, your mother.

To her, woman, behold, your son. Again, providing for her, is what many
people think. Jesus was providing, behold, this is your mother, this is
your responsibility.

And I immediately thought of James 1.27, pure and undefiled religion in
the sight of our God and Father is this. You wanna know if you have real
religion? I actually don't like the word religion. You wanna know if you
have a real relationship with Jesus Christ, is there fruit? It says
this, true religion is this, to visit orphans and widows in their
distress.

It means you have a concern for other people. There's a love, there's a
compassion. If you don't have this this morning, pray for it.

God, I need a baptism of your love this morning. I need to fill that
love and compassion in my heart for others. I don't feel it.

But then it goes on to say, and to keep oneself unstained, what? By the
world. So it's not just having a concern and care for others and loving
them. This you can't force.

This doesn't come naturally, it comes supernaturally. But as you submit
to the work of God, you love others and care for those who cannot be
cared for themselves. This is why there's such a, I promised myself I
wouldn't talk about Easter, but there's such a movement right now to
support life with abortion.

And that falls under, to care for those who cannot care for themselves.
That should be the heart cry of every believer. So it's interesting why
you're going to see a big divide in our country.

It's a moral divide. It's a moral divide. A side of our country, their
conscience has been seared.

They are walking in darkness. That's why they could care less. And you
know what comes next? Infanticide.

You reach a certain age, you're putting too much strain on our universal
healthcare system, you're next. It's a slippery slope. And that's what's
gonna happen.

It's a culture of death. And that's why these things are so important.
But he said also to keep oneself unstained, another translation says,
unspotted, untarnished from the world.

Here's the biggie. A true believer in Jesus Christ, filled with God's
spirit, comes out of the world's mindset. This is why a person looks
different.

They speak different. Their Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram looks
different. The movies they watch are different.

The influence, see, the world's not influencing them, they're
influencing the world. There's a guard up, there's a restraint. They're
remaining untarnished and unspotted from the influence of the world.

Well, how do I know? Who do you look like, Christ or Kardashian? We
laugh, but isn't it true? Do we resemble the world, the things of the
world, the passions of the world, the lust of the world? Do we look like
the world? Because there's many people that they'll say they're
Christian on a sheet, they'll check it off, but there's no fruit. So you
have to wonder, have you truly been changed by a relationship with Jesus
Christ? Because that changes you. What I used to swim in and enjoy,
Vegas, Laughlin, the party scene, now it's filthy.

It just feels like, what is this? But those who are not unspotted, or
those who are tainted by the world, and those who love the things of the
world, for he who loves the world does not have the love of the Father
in him. You cannot serve two masters. See, that's why I make this such a
point in a lot of the sermons, is because in America, we have something
called the American Gospel.

If you're a good person, whatever that means, we can do whatever we
want. Just a good person, it's all about God's grace and God's mercy,
God loves me, and then we continue in the very thing that is destroying
us. So we have to be careful in this area.

The fourth thing he said, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Now
this has confused a lot of people. I could spend the whole sermon here,
but we do know that Jesus had a point in his humanity, fully God, fully
man, but in his humanity, there was a point where God, there's this
separation. My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Maybe at this
point in history, this is where the sin of humanity falls upon the cross
and falls upon Christ, and there's a separation between the Father and
the Son, and Jesus fills that.

So he says, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Can any of you
relate to that dark hour of the soul? Any of you relate to that dark,
that hard season where you feel like, God, where are you? You've left
me. And I was reminded of 2 Corinthians 12, seven, where Paul said, a
thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan to buffet me,
lest I be exalted above measure. Now I'm not trying to tie in 2
Corinthians with what Jesus did on the cross with God being forsaken by
God, but I am telling you this, that there will sometimes be messengers
of Satan.

God will use what Satan is intending for evil. God will use it for good.
The Bible says, had they known what they were doing to Christ on the
cross, they would have never crucified him.

All hell was shouting. There was a party getting ready to start. You can
tell the devil just gloating.

Can you believe it? We're gonna close down this week, and let's have a
party. This guy is gone, but then, oh, hold on, hold on. Then the ground
begins to shake, and even the Roman soldiers say, clearly this was the
Son of God, the veil in the temple being ripped, saying no more blockage
here, no more.

It's not just the high priest. You can come boldly to the throne room of
grace. All hell is still celebrating, but then on the third day.

That's why we celebrate, and that's why we sing. My resurrected king is
resurrecting me. It's a time of being built up again by God, but then
there comes the dark seasons of life, and that's where many people lose
it.

That's when the enemy's coming against you, coming against possibly your
family, and you say all hell's breaking loose, and you can cry out like
Jesus. My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? It's interesting, this
word, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan to
buffet me. It's something sharp.

It's an excruciating pain. It's something painful, and Paul was saying,
God, take this away. Have you ever prayed that? Oh, come on, 9 a.m.,
hopefully 11 a.m. Lord, I guarantee this is a prayer of many of you.

God, take this away. God, take this away. God, take this away, but God
says, I'm gonna see you through it.

Why, because my grace is sufficient. In your weakness, in your weakness,
that's where you become strong, so you can say, oh, like Paul, God, I'm
weak in this area. I need your help, but by the grace of God, I'm going
to succeed.

I'm going to carry forward, and in that weakness, saying I'm not all
that and a bag of chips. I'm not this prideful, arrogant person. I think
I have it all down.

In that humility and brokenness, God will begin to exalt and prop you up
and get you back on the right path, because in that weakness, you are
made strong, but be careful in your strength. You'll be humbled. So that
thing you're praying for, God, please take this away, doesn't mean you
give into it, but you start to rely on God during the battle, because
this is why many people cave in.

Well, God's not taking it away. I was born this way. I can't do this.

I can't, and we use it as an excuse to continue. That's why I love that
song. When all hope is gone and your word is all I've got, I still
believe that you're the God who brings water from the rock.

You have to remind yourself of that often. I hear it repeat. Do you ever
hear it repeat? YouTube has a repeat button.

You can put a song in there on repeat. When all hope is gone and you're
all I've got, have you ever been there? I'm preaching to the group who's
been there. You know exactly what I'm talking about.

Man has let you down. The government has let you down. The court system
has let you down.

Family has let you down. Everybody has let you down but God. And you can
look, when all hope is gone and you're all I've got, I still believe, I
believe you're the God that brings the water from the rock.

You bring provision when I am dry. You will all, when I'm thirsty and
thirsting for you, God, you will fill me with your spirit. When all hope
is gone.

And I think he gets us to that point often that we rely totally on him.
And then another final word from the cross. After this, Jesus, knowing
that all was now finished, he said, to fulfill scripture, he said this,
I thirst, I thirst.

It was mainly, I believe, to fulfill scripture but also to show his
humanity. But then I thought of the scripture, many of you know this, he
who hungers and thirsts for righteousness will be what? Filled. He who
hungers and thirsts for righteousness will be filled.

Are you empty this morning? Are you thirsty? Are you empty, are you
hollow? You have no purpose, you have no plan. Do you know that's what
they're attributing to the highest suicide rate in our nation now? It
keeps climbing. Like when is this gonna stop? When you stop rejecting
God, nation.

When you stop running from God. When you stop looking for answers in
everything from the opiates to the therapy to whatever. The hope is only
in Christ and Christ alone.

There are no new tricks, there are no new truths. You have to hunger and
thirst for righteousness. What is righteousness? Right standing before
God.

If you don't know God, you have to hunger and thirst and say, God, I'm a
sinner in need of a savior. I hunger and thirst for that. I repent of my
sin and I believe.

But if you're a Christian and you're dry and you're dead, same thing
applies. It's just different righteousness. An unbeliever is asking for
the righteousness of Christ.

It's called, big theological term, imputed righteousness. You take on
what Christ did for you on the cross. You actually put that on.

That's how you can stand before God. But then in the life of the
believer, there has to be a hungering and thirsting for righteousness.
Are you empty? Are you thirsty? Are you hungry for more of God? Let me
tell you a secret.

Most of the time, you will not feel like it. Most of the time, you will
not feel like getting up and worshiping and praying and reading the
Bible because there's something inside of you called the flesh. It's an
enmity with God.

It's a war with God. So stop waiting for your feelings to come around.
They're the caboose, not the engine of the train.

See, he who sows in tears will reap in joy. Many times, let me tell you,
many times, I've gotta fight for that time with God. I've gotta fight
for that and say, God, I'm hungry, I'm thirsting for righteousness.

I don't, the flesh isn't, but I am. God, I'm hungering and thirsting.
Look what's going on in our nation.

Look what's going on in the churches. God, I don't wanna feel dead and
deprived and absent of you. My flesh is pulling me in the other
direction.

Become hell or high water. I'm gonna seek you with all of my heart, with
all of my strength. And once you submit to the work of the Holy Spirit
and you begin to, and the flesh begins to submit, it finally says, okay,
you win, and the tears of joy begin to fill your heart.

You begin to be filled with the spirit of God again. You want to do
great exploits for God. You want to just be so involved in what he is
doing, but your flesh is going to fight you every step of the way.

That's why I cringe when people say, but I just don't feel like it.
Well, welcome to the club. Feelings are often a byproduct of the flesh.

Now, they are good and God-given. I believe God gave us feelings. What
about when I held my new baby? This is great, here you go.

No feelings. I can't, can you imagine worshiping God without feelings?
Just a dead mechanical robot? That's most religions. Well, let me just
say it.

That's all religions outside of relationship with God. That's why it's
dead, that's why it's mere formality. You might have new age philosophy
and existentialism, and when they fast, they feel something weird and
they're connected with the trees that they spend all day outside naked
and all this weird stuff.

It's just weird, but I'm talking about true feeling. That was not a
good, I'll remember that for the next service. But isn't that true? He
who, see, here's the mistake we make.

He who hungers and thirsts for righteousness will be filled, well, I
don't have that, so that must not apply to me. No, he who hungers, it's
that deep down inside of you saying, God, I want this, I want more of
you, I want a hunger for righteousness and right standing and your truth
to be exalted again. I want your word back in the schools again.

I want the school districts to fall on their face and repent because of
the curriculum they're allowing into our kids that should not be in
there. I'm hungering for righteousness. I'm hungering for the things
that upset you, God.

I want righteousness, the right standing to govern us again. And that's
why I stay off the news a lot. It's just downright depressing.

You would not believe what they're trying to push in California schools.
And I always go, where are the parents? Where are the parents? Oh,
that's right, they're busy gossiping, shopping, and eating, and
drinking, and could care less. Never forget, today's generation is
tomorrow's government.

It's tomorrow's leaders. And then the sixth thing Jesus said, when Jesus
had received the sour wine, he said, it is finished, and he bowed his
head and gave up his spirit. This is a remarkable word.

Think about this, Jesus on the cross, he calls the shots, not the devil.
He gives up his spirit. He commends it to God.

He commits it to God. He says, it's finished. What does that mean? Well,
in Greek, in the Greek language, this word, tetelestai, meant that a
bill has been paid in full.

I might get a little excited on this. The bill, the debt, has been paid
in full. That should be very encouraging.

This is why you don't have to have people lay hands on you. You don't
have to get baptized. You don't have to tithe.

You don't have to belong to a certain church, because many religions,
especially false cults out there, will tell you, yeah, okay, yes, we
believe in Jesus, but you gotta do this, and gotta do this, and gotta do
this. It's almost like saying, thank you, Jesus, for partial salvation.
I got it from here.

And he said, tetelestai, it's been paid. It's been zero. Why are you
trying to work for a balance that is zero? It's been completed.

It's been done. And every time I talk about this subject, I get emails
from Roman Catholics. But let me say this.

This is the heresy of purgatory. There's no purgatory to go and be
purged of your sin after what Christ did. That's blasphemy.

That's heretical. That's not right. That's adding stuff to Christ's
finished work on the cross.

When he, he didn't say, it's partially done. Now go be purged for a
season. He said, I bore the wrath of God.

I bore the indignation and the shame and the guilt. Everything's been
settled. The account has been drawn to nothing.

There's nothing. Oh, just accept, embrace the free grace of God through
faith and belief in Jesus Christ. That's it.

I just think it's offensive and it gives people the wrong impression.
And then finally he said, Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.
Basically saying, I trust, I lay it down to you.

I give it to you, Father. In trust, I commit my life, my spirit into
your hands. I like what Marshall Siegel wrote.

He said, talking about Jesus, he had been born to climb this vile tree,
walking hand in hand with hostility his whole life. I gave a message
many years ago entitled Born to Die. He had been born to climb this vile
tree.

Murder stalked him before he could even walk. He fought the war of wars
when he lined up against evil himself in the wilderness and defeated it.
While he healed the sick and cast out demons, the religious leaders
accused him of being a devil.

The word became flesh and dwelt among his own people and they brutally
assaulted him, restlessly plotting, beating, and mocking until his flesh
gave away. He said, it is finished. I give, Father, I give my spirit
back to you.

I've came for this purpose. For this purpose, I was sent and I died. And
these final words of Jesus echo throughout history.

They echo. Resurrection Sunday, we celebrate the fact that Jesus cannot
be stopped. Have you thought about this? If death can't conquer you,
nothing can.

That's why the Bible says that he came and he conquered hell, death, and
the grave. All those things that people are worried about, the final
end, this is final conquering where all men have to submit to the anvil
and the hammer of death. Jesus said, I've conquered it.

And really, death for a believer is just the beginning. And then why
we're here this morning. I'm gonna read from one of the Gospels.

Very early in the morning on the first day of the week, the women went
to the tomb, bringing the fragrant spices that they had prepared. And
maybe this will be important. When Jesus died, that's what the Bible
talks about.

He went to Hades and preached to the captives there. And people say,
well, he went to hell. He didn't really, that's not true.

I wish, maybe I shouldn't have opened up this can of words. It might
take a minute to unpack it. But his body was there in the tomb.

And he went, his spirit went and ministered to those. Maybe a final
call, we don't know exactly. But that's what it talks about.

He went to Hades. That's why the psalmist, I believe, said your soul
will not come to corruption. David was writing about it.

And that happened, that your body will not come to corruption. He went,
he preached to those souls. Whatever that means, there was Abraham's
bosom, where you had this great, what do you call it? Chasm, great chasm
between those.

And Jesus gives that analogy of Abram. In Abram's bosom, this Lazarus
that was tormented back on earth. But now he's in Abram's bosom.

And you have this other person who would just, if you just touch my lips
with some of that water, he's in great distress being with the hill. So
Jesus went to this area temporarily and preached to those there. What
that means, I'll let you debate that.

But then on that third day, and that third day, that's the resurrection
is the body comes back to life. His spirit is put into that body again.
And very early in the morning, on the first day of the week, the women
went to the tomb, bringing the fragrant spices they had prepared.

They had found the stone rolled away from the tomb. But when they went
in, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. Now, this might be a
side note, because people say, well, people could just made this up.

He was killed in Jerusalem. He was raised to get from the dead in
Jerusalem. You cannot get away with a lie when the body's right there if
he didn't rise from the dead.

You have hundreds and hundreds of witnesses. You have people actually
dying for the story. If we had time, we could go over what the early
disciples went through.

They didn't live in a big mansion. They didn't own a car. They didn't
have all this money and all.

They died very painful deaths, from being hung upside down, from being
pierced through with spears, to being beheaded, different things. It
was, why? Because they saw the risen Savior. Same thing today.

Although people don't see Jesus necessarily, they have the Spirit of God
in their hearts, and they die for that, for Jesus, because that type of
faith is deeper than the flesh we even have, when you have that
relationship with God. And they didn't know what to make of this.
Suddenly, two men were standing beside them in gleaming bright clothing.

These two men also, these angels also scared away the Roman soldiers,
and the Roman soldiers became like dead men when they saw these men. The
women were frightened and bowed their faces toward the ground, but this
is interesting, but the men said, why do you look for the living among
the dead? Why do you look for the living among the dead? And I was gonna
turn that into a whole sermon someday, and maybe I'll just give you a
quick little sentence or two. Why are some of you looking for the living
among the dead? Where you're looking is what you're finding.

Having a passion for the things of God and seeking God requires not
looking for that among the dead, the wrong places, the wrong location,
hooking up with the wrong people. He isn't here, but he's been raised.
Remember what he told you while he was still in Galilee, that the human
one must be handed over to sinners, be crucified, and on the third day,
he would rise again.

And that's where that song comes from that we sing sometimes, oh death,
where is your sting? Oh death, where is your sting? So think about this.
What would your last words be if you're here this morning and you have
time to consider? What would your last words be? Because it falls into
two categories, regret or redeemed. I want you to think of this for a
moment.

One of the hardest things that I do, there's a couple things, but
obviously it's talking to people that are close to death. I have to
prepare myself out in the car, outside, whether it's hospital homes or
the hospital. And what are you gonna say? Unless God does a miracle and
heals them.

Breathing shallow, hallucination, going in and out, but sometimes they
can talk. I leave there sometimes so broken because of the regret. Can
you imagine getting to the end of your life on your deathbed, having a
hard time breathing, lungs are filling up, and you regret the life that
God gave you.

You didn't do anything for him. And I just, I hold their hands and, you
can't say, oh, it's all right, it's all right. Your former years are
gonna be better than your latter years.

Now, of course, you can encourage them and, but a lot of times, what do
you say to that? That's when the finish line is coming to an end. And to
hear the regret is painful. Oh, I could have been a better father.

I could have been a better husband. I'm sorry, guys, I didn't know that
this would happen, but I also hear that they say, Shane, God called me
at a young age, and I ran from it. I knew what he wanted me to do, but I
never did it.

I spent my whole life chasing all these things, and now they're laying
there. Hours left, what do you do in the final hours? Now, you contrast
that with those who've been redeemed. I've told this before, Sam, I see
Sam here, and went to see his wife before, pretty soon before she passed
away.

And me and Morgan left there encouraged. And like, the joy, oh, don't
worry, I'm going to see him. The joy.

Guys, this isn't a game. This isn't a game. We can't just always talk
about God's love as if he's a gloating grandfather, or a cosmic ball of
love, and let's go hide a bunch of Easter eggs, and let's just celebrate
the day.

Jesus died so that we would be redeemed and set free, and that we can
die someday. And say, I didn't do it perfectly. I would've changed some
things, but oh, God, thank you.

Thank you. Thank you for redeeming me. Thank you for setting me free.

Thank you, God. And this is a call to some of you. You are believers,
but have you not surrendered your life to God? You're still playing
church.

Have you witnessed anybody? Do you want to get involved and do anything
for God, or are you just going through day by day? What are you gonna
say on your deathbed to your children? Listen, it's not pretty. I've
seen grown men and women, daughters and sons, crying, telling their dad,
it's okay. It's okay.

No matter what your situation. Psalm 51 can be a great encouragement.
David said, have mercy upon me, oh God, according to your loving
kindness.

He just killed somebody, committed adultery, and the prophet called him
on it a year later. He said, God, have mercy upon me, oh God, according
to your loving kindness, according to the multitude of your tender
mercies, blot out my transgressions, wash me thoroughly from my
iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. Are you trapped this morning? Cry
out, cry out.

I've held onto that promise before. God, oh God, have mercy on me,
according to your loving kindness. See, that's repentance, and God says,
oh, a broken and humble, contrite heart, I will not cast that away.

That's what I'm looking for. Get rid of the defense of turning within.
Fire that clown.

You know who he is. Oh, come on, that doesn't apply to you. He's
defending us and making excuses.

David said, for I acknowledge my transgressions. Isn't that good to do?
That's good to do. That's what America needs to do.

That's what politicians need to do. I acknowledge my transgressions
before. I have sinned against a holy, righteous, loving, pure God.

I confess my transgressions. I cry out, oh God, have mercy on me. Not
only do I acknowledge them, I repent against you only and have I sinned
and done this evil in your sight.

And then I immediately went to Psalm 126. Those who sow with tears will
reap with songs of joy. Those who go out weeping carry seed to sow.

They return with songs of joy. That's why people crack me up and they
say all the time, Shane, you're too hard. No, you're too hard.

No, what I'm doing is I'm planting some seeds. I'm getting out the
sledgehammer to break up the concrete so we can put something new in
there. Yes, it hurts.

That's the point. The gospel offends. It hurts.

You sow tears of sorrow, oh God, of regret, oh God, and then out of that
tears of sorrow grow this wonderful plant called life that God begins to
bless and he begins to use you. And then David said, oh, that the bones
you have broken may rejoice. When God does a breaking in you, you begin
to rejoice in that.

Hide your face from my sins, oh God, and blot out all my iniquities.
Create a clean heart within me, oh God, and renew a steadfast spirit
within me. Do not cast me away from your presence.

Do not take your Holy Spirit from me. Here's the last sentence. Restore
to me the joy of your salvation.

Restore to me the joy of your salvation. Many of you, are you missing
that joy? Have you ever experienced that powerful joy of God and then it
leaves, maybe years later? You might not know this, but what I love
about this verse is at the end. Because what the enemy's intending for
good, David's caught in a pit of sorrow and depression.

He doesn't even know if God's listening. He's transgressed, he's
acknowledging. And he says, God, renew me, restore me, create me a clean
heart, renew a steadfast spirit.

What is that? It's a concrete, committed spirit. He says, then, then I
will teach transgressors your ways and sinners shall be converted to
you. He said, okay, when all this is said and done, when the enemy
thought he would kill me and you pick me up and you clean me up and I
confess before you and there's joy overfilling, then I'm going to preach
the glorious gospel of Jesus Christ because I've been there, I've been
so close to hell that I know my clothes still smell like smoke.

And you begin to lead people back to the cross, back to Calvary, woe be
to this silly, lukewarm Christianity and preaching that leads nobody
back to the cross. You don't see anybody change because of that. People
say, Shane, you're not gonna build an enormous church saying those
things.

I don't care because the enemy tried to kill me. Then, then I will lead
transgressors to you. I will point sinners to the cross.

That's what a testimony is, is it not? To testify what God has done in
our heart. So think about that. What are your last words going to be?
Two groups primarily.

If you don't know who Jesus is, you need to change that this morning.
And I'm not talking about intellectual. We've done a great job in
America of teaching people who he is, but not having a relationship with
him.

The Bible says repent of your sin and believe, and you will be saved.
Repent and believe, and you will be saved. And also the other group,
maybe Christians, where I was, I was trapped in my 20s and teenage
years.

I believe I came to the Lord, drifted away, wasn't founded in his word,
and you need to come home. Some of you need to say enough is enough. I'm
tired of living like the prodigal.

I'm tired of not trusting God, following God, and I need to change that
this morning. I want my final words to be thank God. Thank God he called
me back.

Thank God he called me back.

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Video: https://sermonindex2.b-cdn.net/76AIYIgF3_c.mp4
Source: https://sermonindex.net/speakers/shane-idleman/do-you-have-any-last-words-76AIYI/
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