Death is Defeated!

We thank you, Father, for the beautiful hymns that encourage our hearts to draw near to you and to give us understanding of your wonderful fatherhood, your saving power through Jesus Christ and the gift of the Holy Ghost working through us. And we thank you, Father, for this new life in Christ Jesus and specifically also, Lord, we thank you for a new year. It's a new day, it's a new year, and enables the Lord to walk in that new year and new life by your power. Father, I ask you to minister life to the congregation today. There would be inspiration in hearts. There would be revelation in hearts. There would be newness of life birthed and breathed upon each one of us by the name of Jesus Christ, amen. May we be seated. I have a subject today that in one way that we look at it, it's a morbid subject. But we also look at it from a positive perspective and that is the subject of death. God created Adam and Eve in his image, breathed his life into them, and they walked and talked with God, but sin entered in and they died. Spiritually, they died. But then physical death also came. Abel was talking with his brother, Cain, in the field. Cain was angry and he rose up and he killed his brother. And Abel died. Adam, he lived 930 years and he died. Seth, he lived 912 years and he died. Enos, 905 years and he died. Canaan, 910 years and he died. And you could continue walking through those historical facts and they died. Abraham, it says he gave up the ghost and died in a good old age, an old man. He was full of years and he was gathered to his people. He was gathered to his people. What might that mean? What might that tell us? There's life after death. Hallelujah, yes. Ishmael, 137 years old and he gave up the ghost and died. Isaac, gave up the ghost and died. What is it? What might we learn about that? He gave up the ghost. Is that just another way of saying he died? His spirit left, okay. What's that? The spirit did not die. That's correct. Jacob had made an end of commanding his sons. He gathered up his feet into the bed and yielded up the ghost and was gathered to his people. Joseph died, being 110 years old. They embalmed him, put him in a coffin in Egypt. Some of my mission journeys to Ghana, I learned that funerals are big issues. Your funeral is probably the biggest day of your existence. And I just don't get it. Why would you make such a big issue about your funeral? And they would talk about that funeral. And the generations to come would talk about the funeral of such and such a man. And what is so important about the way you die? Or about your funeral? Does it matter to you what happens at your funeral? Yesterday we were at a memorial service. They had buried the body before. So this man had given direction for this service. He had the specific songs he wanted sung. He had a specific band he wanted to play. He had a specific pastor who went to preach. And he had it all laid out. He had prepared to die. He was fighting cancer and he knew he was dying. A lot of death in the Old Testament. Aaron's two sons, Nadab and Abihu, they're at the dedication of the tabernacle when the glory of God came down. And the fire of the Lord came out from that presence of the Lord. And it consumed on the altar the sacrifices. And it burned them up. And there was a mighty demonstration of God's glory there. And these two men, Aaron's two sons, they each took a censer and put fire there in. And it offered strange fire to the Lord. We can speculate why. But fire came out from the Lord and it destroyed them. Burned them up. And those two men died. And so we have the recording in the scripture today of how those two men died. This is what they did. And this is how they died. And it's a testimony for the rest of history. It's recorded how what they did and then they died. There was a, well, in the wilderness at Shilon of Israel, they caught someone gathering sticks on the Sabbath day, a Sabbath breaker. And they put him in hold until the Lord would tell them what to do with him. And the Lord told them to take him out and all the congregation was to take up stones and stone him. Aren't you glad that we're not in the Old Testament? Each one of you go out there and pick up a stone and take part in killing that man. And he died. And that's how he died. There's many other stories of how people died. Think of the story of the rebellion of Israel. The rebellion of Korah, he led a rebellion. And Moses said if, and they were complaining about the fact that Moses, you're not, why do you have to be the leader? You think you're the leader here? And these men of Korah rose up against Moses and Aaron. They spoke against them and God got angry. And the presence of God came down on the Tabernacle and the glory of the Lord shone there. And here's the congregation of Israel. They were finding fault with Moses and Aaron. And Moses and Aaron, they see the glory of God appearing there. And Moses and Aaron, they walk over there and God says, get up, Moses and Aaron. Separate yourself from these people that I'm going to consume them. Moses and Aaron, they fell on their faces. And Moses said to Aaron, take a censer and put fire therein and incense and go into the midst of the camp because there's a plague that has begun. And it's like the hand of death was began to just at one end of the congregation and move across the congregation of Israel and the people just fell over dead, dying. And Aaron, he takes a censer, he runs in the midst of the camp there and he puts incense on that censer right there in the midst of that happening. And the plague stopped. And Aaron stood between the living and the dead. The plague came up to that point where Aaron was, everyone on that side was dead, everyone on this side was still alive. And 14,700 people died that day. Some had died just earlier. Moses had said, if you die in a normal death, then you should know that God is not speaking through me. But if the earth opens itself up and swallows you up, you will know that I'm of the Lord. And the earth opens up and it swallows those people up and they died. And we know about that today because that's what they did and that's how they died. In the wilderness there, they, complaining again. Oh, they said, they spoke against Moses. Why did you bring us up out of Egypt to die in this place? We wish we could have died in Egypt. There's no bread, there's no water and our soul hates this manna. And God sent serpents among them and many were bitten and many died because of that. Aaron, he died in Mount Hor. Moses died in the land of Moab. God buried him in a valley in the land of Moab and no man knows his sepulcher to this day. About Moses' death, it says that God buried him. That's how Moses died. There was a man named the Bimelech. In Judges, he was leading the armies and they were fighting against this one city and he had told the people to do as I do and he went out in the woods and he cut a branch and all the men cut branches. They went in, they laid those branches up against the walls of that city and they burned the city with fire. The next time they were taking a city, they tried to go up against the door to burn it and a woman threw a piece of millstone off the tower and it hit him in the head. He immediately said to his armor bearer, quickly thrust me through with the sword lest it be said that I died of a woman, that a woman killed me. He did not want the testimony to go out that he was killed by a woman. How you died was pretty important. Later on, Joab used that example. When he had killed Uriah by the sword, it sent Uriah and his men up there and they got killed and Uriah was killed and he said, sent the letter back to David and said if David gets angry about this, just tell him about the story about a Bimelech. You know, what happened to him? He was killed by a woman and so the testimony continued to go out that a Bimelech had been killed by a woman and he didn't like that. He didn't want that to be the story, the way his story ended. We go on into the kings. David, it says David slept with his fathers. Kind of a new way of saying it there. Solomon slept with his fathers, was buried in the city of David. Jeroboam reigned two and 20 years and slept with his fathers. Rehoboam slept with his fathers, was buried. Abijan the next king slept with his fathers and was buried and Asa slept with his fathers and was buried and so on. What does that mean, anything? They slept with their fathers. Think about Absalom, how did he die? He died fleeing the battle and rebellion, battle rebellion there. His head, he's riding a donkey and his head gets caught in the branches of an oak tree. Was it his hair that hung him up? I'm not sure, but it says his head, maybe his hair. And that's how Absalom died, hanging there in a tree. Hebrews 11, 13, these all died in faith, not having received the promises, but seeing them afar off and were persuaded of them and embrace them and confess that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. Speaking of Jesus, Hebrews 2, 14 says, since then the children are shares in flesh and blood, he, Jesus, also himself in like manner partook of the same, that through death he might bring to naught him that had the power of death, that is the devil. So we learn from this passage that the devil is the one that has the power of death and that he might deliver them who through the fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage. Do we fear death? We don't like the idea of suffering maybe, but are we afraid of death? Should we be afraid of death? This word death or dead in the Old Testament is mentioned 839 times. So a lot of dying, a lot of dead people, a lot of death there, but that's not the end of the story. Jesus, Jesus, God sent his son Jesus to be a partaker of our flesh and blood, take upon himself death and die for mankind. What a beautiful, beautiful plan. Jesus, how did he die? He died on a cross. Yes, he cried again with a loud voice in Matthew and he yielded up the ghost. Mark says, he cried with a loud voice and gave up the ghost. And Luke says, he cried with a loud voice and said, father into thy hands, I commend my spirit. And having said thus, he gave up the ghost. John says, when Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, it is finished. He bowed his head and gave up the ghost. There's another man who died that day. His name is Judas, one of the 12. His death is also recorded in the book of Acts. When he saw that Jesus was being condemned, it says he repented himself. He had sold Jesus for 30 pieces of silver, thinking he could pocket some money and Jesus would surely deliver himself. But when he recognized that Jesus was not going to deliver himself and that he was condemned to die, he went to the high priest and he said, I have sinned. And they wouldn't take the money back and so he threw the money down in the temple floor. And it's recorded that he went and hung himself and that's how he died. We don't have all the details, but Luke records the fact that he fell headlong and he burst the thunder in the midst and all his guts came out. That's the testimony that goes out about Judas and how he died, buying a piece of land with the money that he had taken. And it was known to all the dwellers in Jerusalem so much so that the field is called akeldama. That means the field of blood. All Jerusalem heard about how this man died, but basically all of the world hears about how Jesus died as well. Isn't that wonderful? Let's turn now to Isaiah 53. Actually, I was gonna look at a verse in Peter there. Peter, when Christ died, listen to this. Jesus suffered for sins once, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit, by which he also went and preached to the spirits in prison. So when Jesus died on the cross, his physical body died, he gave up the ghost, he allowed the spirit within him to come out, and it says he went somewhere to prison and he preached to those spirits in prison. His spirit continued to live. His spirit did not die. That's good news. Let's go to Isaiah 53. Could I have a scribe, someone who can write? I would like to look at some words here as we go through this. And just understand what all Jesus died for and what all he, in a sense, it's more than just that I could be saved, but it's so I can have complete freedom and deliverance in every area of my life. Is the fact that Jesus died a fact? I mean, it's a fact, right? But is that just something that is like out there? I know it in my head. Oh yeah, I believe Jesus died, but it's not become a reality in my life to where the outworking that Jesus died for has not yet become a reality in my life. That's one thing I wanna look at today here. Who is believed, I'll report. Whom is the arm of the Lord revealed? He shall grow up like a tender plant as a root of dry ground. He has no form nor commonness. And when we shall see him, there is no beauty we should desire him. He is despised. He is rejected of men. He's a man of sorrows. He carried our grief. So we wanna have despised, rejected, suffering, man of sorrows, sickness. This is a description of what Jesus did for us on the cross or in his death. It was our sickness, you have that, good. And our sufferings, you have that as well. It was because he was pierced because of our rebellions and crushed for our crimes. And he bore the punishment. By his wounds, we are healed. Let's put the wounds up there. Like sheep, we've all wandered and gone astray. We've wandered, we've gone astray. We've gone our own way. He was oppressed. This is what he went through for us. Have you ever been oppressed? Have you ever been rebellious? Tormented? He was tormented. He did not open his mouth, did not complain. How do I respond to those type of things? Due to unjust ruling, unjust. Something like that up there. He was taken away. His grave was among the wicked. Let's have some space over on that side for some more things. Put down here wicked and his grave was among the wicked. He hung between two thieves. He was in the company of thieves. That's how he died. Yet it was the Lord's will to crush him, put him to grief, make an offering for our guilt, put down guilt. Yet the Lord would see his seed and he would live a long time. So this is just a, doesn't this describe mankind in their sin? It's quite a list of things. He's the one that, do you have a blue one? There it goes. He carried our sufferings. Well, maybe just right here, put blue, carry there in front of the suffering. Put that, tie that together. He carried our sufferings. He bore them, whatever. He was pierced for our rebellion and he was crushed because of our crimes. Up top over here. It was the Father's good will to crush him for our crimes. He bore the punishment to make us whole. And by his stripes, we are healed. He made us whole. He bore the punishments that make us whole. Am I made whole? Can I be made whole? By his wounds, we are healed. We already have wounds, healing for us. Yep, you got it up there. And the Lord God eternal allowed our crimes to fall upon him. I think we get the picture. He was oppressed and tormented. His life was taken away. He was cut off from the land of the living and he was struck dead because of my rebellion. His soul was made an offering for me. I think we get the picture, right? And Jesus died. And we have the story today how he died. The four gospel writers, each one of them gives great detail about how Jesus died. All right, thank you, John. That's great, that's good. It was interesting. I found very little evidence of God's people dying in the New Testament. Like the disciples after Pentecost. It's like, it's just not there. It wasn't important how they died. We have to go to other history books to find out how they died. It's not in the scriptures. Now, James was killed by the sword in Herod. Stephen, it says he fell asleep. It doesn't say he died. He fell asleep. Don't you like that? And he fell asleep. Wow. Wow. And Zephira, they also died. They died because they lied to the Holy Ghost. Wow. We do have the testimony of two men in the scriptures who did not die. Enoch walked with God for 300 years. And he disappeared. How long have you walked with God? One year? Five years, 10 years? 20, 30, 40? Is there anyone here that has walked with God for 40 years? Yes. 50 years. 60. 70. 80. Enoch walked with God 300 years. Wow. Elijah was carried up in a whirlwind of chariots and horsemen and fire. I'd like to have that explained to me sometime. It's okay. How do I take all of this and make it applicable to my life? If I would have, you know, if those were all just little pieces of paper, I could take all those pieces of paper one by one and put them into a small bag of some kind. And I could give that to Jesus, maybe in a sense. Or I could nail them up on the cross and all of, basically all of those things, Jesus took upon himself. Everything. There's other things like shame has not been put up there. So let's just use shame for an example. Anyone here know what it is to be ashamed? Is there anyone here who still has shame? Something has happened in your life or maybe many things have happened in your life where you are still ashamed. I was in a meeting one time with a church. We had a kind of an unusual meeting and there's this couple sitting up front there. There was shame written all over her face. It was so obvious to me that this young married woman carries shame in her life. And my heart just yearned for her that somehow she could find freedom from that shame. So how does a person get freedom from shame? This is just one example. We could take every single one of these things. The guilty, the wicked. Maybe you've been treated unjustly. Maybe you feel like you're tormented. Maybe you feel like you've been oppressed or you have lots of crimes or unhealed wounds. Maybe you've wandered away from the Lord and you've gone astray. Maybe you're living for yourself and going your own way. Maybe you're still in rebellion. It might be that you're sick or maybe you're suffering. Anyone ever feel rejected? Do I need to live in that shame? Do I need to live in that rejection so that it actually becomes a part of my life and all my life, all that I know is just shame and guilt and rejection. And because of the way, if those are things that are part of my life, I have a hard time with relationships and I feel despised. How do I deal with those things? Is it possible to be free? Now if Jesus did not die, if he did not carry these things, then you have to live with all those things. All the rest of your life. And until you die, it'll be a part of who you are. And when you die, you go to your reward, whether that's good or whether it's bad. But Jesus came, he took all of these things. He took them all upon himself. When he hung on the cross there, he died. Making it possible for whosoever will could take that specific sin and by faith post it to the cross. Jesus, you took upon yourself my shame. Thank you in Jesus' name. And in the spirit realm, the Holy Spirit kicks in the gear and he takes your shame and places it on Jesus. And you don't need to live with it anymore. While I feel this rejection in my life, post it to the cross. I have a lot of wounds in my heart. Post it to the cross. How do you do that? You do it with your mouth. You acknowledge the reality of it. I am a deeply hurting man, or I'm a deeply hurting woman, or a girl, or youth, whatever. And you bring that thing out of your soul, you acknowledge it, bring it into the light, and then by faith send it to the cross. Lord, this is what happened in my life. These are deep wounds in my life. Today I release them because what you're doing, if Jesus doesn't have them, who does? Why am I still holding on to them so tightly? But when I open up my hands, I open up my heart and acknowledge that they are there, and by faith I post them to the cross, the Holy Spirit will bring it to pass and your wounds will begin to heal. By his stripes we are healed. Oh, death, where is your sting? It's gone. Oh, grave, where is your victory? You don't have any victory. For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. And the last enemy that shall be destroyed is death. So when this corruptible, this physical body shall put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, death is swallowed up in victory. Jesus took upon himself death, our death. He swallowed that enemy and destroyed it. Death has no more power in our lives. Sin is not to have any power in my lives. Any of these other things up here, they're not to have any power in my life. They should have no dominion in my life because I recognize and acknowledge and proclaim that Jesus died for me. But there may be specific things I need to talk about. I need to bring them out and post them to this cross. And everything on the cross dies. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. So there are people who are sleeping in Jesus today. We have something to look forward to. So should we be afraid of death or should we celebrate death? What a slam in the face of the enemy if we can celebrate death, right? And as often as you do this, you eat this bread and you drink this cup, you do show forth the Lord's death until he comes. We celebrate that death. Let's pray. Father, we are just in wonder and amazement at all that you've done through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. You're a mighty working power. We're not afraid of sin and death and guilt and shame and all these other things. They shall have no more power over our lives. But you've made a way for us to be free, really free indeed in every way. Thank you, Father, for your love. And thank you, Jesus, for taking upon yourself all of our sin and suffering, shedding your blood for us, for me. I receive it, I believe it, in Jesus' name, amen.