Boundaries – 11

Boundaries – 11

Subject – The Boundaries of Death and Eternal Life

by Rick Welborne

Hebrews 9:27-28 (NKJV)
²⁷  And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment,
²⁸  so Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many. To those who eagerly wait for Him He will appear a second time, apart from sin, for salvation.

--A few weeks ago God began to deal with me about boundaries in regard to death, life, and eternity. It is not the easiest subject to approach.

--I began to ask God to reveal to me a way of communicating these boundaries. I truly want to bring peace and hope to people who have lost someone or will lose someone they love very much.

1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 (NKJV)
¹³  But I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep, lest you sorrow as others who have no hope.
¹⁴  For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus.
¹⁵  For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep.
¹⁶  For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first.
¹⁷  Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord.
¹⁸  Therefore comfort one another with these words.

--Most of us have heard these verses read or quoted at a funeral or memorial and they point out several good points we need to look at in regard to boundaries.

--In God’s economy (His way of thinking), death for the believer is only sleep. I don’t know about you but sleep is good especially for those who have maybe had an extended battle. 13

--In God’s economy (His way of thinking), He says if we believe Jesus died and rose again…that He identifies with our loved ones in that He died…He rose again and they will too. He is bringing the sleepyheads!

--In God’s economy (His way of thinking), these sleepyheads will get the jump on us…when He descends the dead in Christ will rise first. It’s a God rule and part of His boundaries.

--In God’s economy (His way of thinking), we will again get to be with our loved ones even before we make it to heaven. We shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air.

--In God’s economy (His way of thinking), thus we (our loved one and us) will always be with the Lord. He says within these boundaries comfort one another with these words. That is my intention today.

--And as it is appointed unto men once to die. Or, "since it is appointed unto men to die once only." The object of this is to illustrate the fact that Christ died only once for sin (once and for all).

Barnes Notes on the New Testament - And that is done by showing that the most important events pertaining to man occur but once. Thus it is with death. That death does not, and cannot occur many times. It is the great law of our being, that men die but once, and hence the same thing was to be expected to occur in regard to Him who made the atonement. 

--Two things jump out to me with this…first, Christ again identifying with us chose the same thing for Himself, that like us, He would only die once for all of us. 

Hebrews 2:17-18 (NLT2)
¹⁷  Therefore, it was necessary for him to be made in every respect like us, his brothers and sisters, so that he could be our merciful and faithful High Priest before God. Then he could offer a sacrifice that would take away the sins of the people. 

¹⁸  Since he himself has gone through suffering and testing, he is able to help us when we are being tested.

--Second, think about this, the thing we consider to be the worst thing that could possibly happen to us only happens once. We can get sicknesses and have car accidents multiple times but death only comes once. 

--The same thing was true in regard to the judgment. Man is to be judged once, and only once. The decision is to be final, and is not to be repeated. No second chance or place to be prayed out of no matter what you pay.

--In like manner, it is fitting that the great Redeemer should die but once, and that His death should, without being repeated, determine the destiny of man. This makes us one with Him. 

1. Our death or the death of a loved one is an appointment with God.

Hebrews 9:27 (NKJV)
²⁷  And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment, 

Genesis 3:19 (NIV)
¹⁹  By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return." 

--At least in my mind, the awesome Creator-God Who took dust or dirt (I particularly find it fitting that we were made from dirt) and made us of His good will and pleasure would also control when we return back to dust.

Barnes Notes - That death is the result of an appointment, Genesis 3:19, It is not the effect of chance, or hap-hazard. It is not a "debt of nature." It is not the condition to which man was subject by the laws of his creation. It is not to be accounted for by the mere principles of physiology. God could as well have made the heart to play for ever as for fifty years. Death is no more the regular result of physical laws than the guillotine and the gallows are. It is, in all cases, the result of intelligent appointment, and for an adequate cause. 

--Many times we consider, what seems to be the unexpected death of a loved one, or the result of a major “oops” of nature, or that simply, God had not been paying attention. None of this is true.

--When you speak to anyone about dealing with any of life’s issues we are all told the same thing by much of the body of Christ…my brother or sister, you must trust in the Lord with all your heart.

Proverbs 3:5-7 (NKJV)
⁵  Trust in the LORD with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding;
⁶  In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths.
⁷  Do not be wise in your own eyes; Fear the LORD and depart from evil. 

--For the most part, we believe this from the inmost of our being…but when it comes to death…we act like, talk like, feel like that God cannot be trusted. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.

--If it is appointed for man once to die, we must ask a very important question. Who sets the appointment? Who determines the time of such an important event in our lives? 

--Is it Satan? He does come to kill, steal, and destroy. Please know this, if Satan determined our appointment with death, He would have killed most of us here today. At least the ones who are a threat to his kingdom.

Psalm 91:1-4 (NKJV)
¹  He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High Shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.
²  I will say of the LORD, "He is my refuge and my fortress; My God, in Him I will trust."
³  Surely He shall deliver you from the snare of the fowler And from the perilous pestilence.
⁴  He shall cover you with His feathers, And under His wings you shall take refuge; His truth shall be your shield and buckler. 

--What this says is that until the day of our appointment, God will protect us and keep us alive. When death does occur, even when we do not understand it, as Barnes says…it is for an adequate cause. God’s choice!

--Hear your pastor…An Omni-Present God (A God Who is everywhere), an Omniscient God (A God Who knows everything), and an Omnipotent God (A God Who is all powerful) made the appointment. Trust Him!

--As Barnes said in his notes…Your death is not the effect of chance or a hap-hazard situation but was the result of an Intelligent Powerful God making your appointment. It is within His boundaries to do so. He is God!

--Why do we have to deal with death at all? What is the cause or the reason for the appointment anyway? Based on Scripture, death is the result of sin.

Romans 6:23 (NKJV)
²³  For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

--Are you saying that my love one died because of sin? Yes. And the Bible backs up my answer. The wages of sin is death. Think about Adam.

Romans 5:12&17 (NKJV)
¹²  Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned--
¹⁷  For if by the one man's offense death reigned through the one, much more those who receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.

--Because sin entered the world through Adam…now death has spread to everyone because we all sin.

Romans 3:23 (NKJV)
²³  for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

--Likewise, we have a misunderstanding about these verses concerning death. I have given much thought and prayer to these verses.

1 Corinthians 15:54-57 (NKJV)
⁵⁴  So when this corruptible has put on incorruption, and this mortal has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written: "Death is swallowed up in victory."
⁵⁵  "O Death, where is your sting? O Hades, where is your victory?"
⁵⁶  The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law.
⁵⁷  But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. 

--Someone quoted part of the verse where it said “Oh death, where is your sting?” Because they recently had lost a loved one they said emphatically…This death definitely still has the sting to it.

--What they were saying is that I still have the hurt, the pain, the broken-ness associated with this person’s passing and that is right and appropriate. Do not let anyone tell you that you should not grieve.

--Where this person was mistaken was in the biblical fact that the sting has absolutely been taken away. Not the pain and not the grief. 56. The sting of death is sin. 

--You see, and this is shouting material here, death has been swallowed up in victory. The sting, the sin has been taken away through our Lord Jesus Christ. The hurt is there but the victory is secure in Jesus. 

--I have seen people hurt and weeping. That is appropriate but hear me. The sting is gone because the sin is gone. We weep, but not because of the sin because God gives us that victory through Jesus. We weep because of the separation and because we miss our loved one. 

2. Our death or the death of a loved one only happens once.

--It amazes me after having done somewhere in the neighborhood of 340 funerals and memorials in the last 29 years how people are so hurt and surprised by it. It is inevitable but it only happens once.

--Because this is a for-sure event in our lives, much thought and preparation should go into it. 

Barnes Notes - Death occurs but once in this world. What is to be done but once, we should wish to be done well. We should make all proper preparation for it; we should regard it with upmost interest. If preparation is to be made for it, we should make all which we expect ever to make. 

--Imagine this 200 years ago. A man who is to cross the ocean but once to go away from his home never to return should make the right kind of preparation. 

--He cannot come back to take that which he has forgotten; to arrange that which he has neglected; to give counsel which he has failed to do; to ask forgiveness for offences for which he had neglected.

--It is the same with death. A man who dies, dies only once. He cannot come back again to make it right, if he has neglected it; or to make right the evil things he had done or to ask forgiveness.

--Whatever is to be done with reference to death, is to be done once for all before he dies. Many people tell us and even my show us how to live but few show us how to live and how to die. 

--This seems to be a shock to many but death comes to everyone - it is appointed for men (all men) to die once. No one gets a bye and no one gets to miss their appointment with God. 

--In our humanity and because of our deep love for someone, we think that God should make an exception for that person we have prayed for earnestly to be healed. God lives within His own boundaries. Not ours.

Barnes Notes - No exception is made in favor of youth, beauty, or blood; no rank or station is exempt; no virtue, no patriotism, no talent, can purchase freedom from it. In every other sentence which goes out against men, there may be some hope of reprieve. Here there is none. We cannot meet an individual who is not under sentence of death. It is not only the poor wretch in the dungeon, doomed to the gallows, who is to die—it is the rich man in his palace; the gay trifler in the assembly room; the friend that we embrace and love.

--Everyone is under the sentence of death because of sin. All have sinned. We often are severely disappointed because we have prayed so diligently and the person is so deserving of healing. I just knew God would heal…

3. To those who eagerly wait for Him.

--So what are we missing? We are missing the fact that our loved ones are completely healed, we are missing the beauty of heaven, and we are missing the fact that God set up this appointment. He loves them.

Romans 8:18 (KJV)
¹⁸  For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.

Psalm 116:15 (NKJV) ¹⁵  Precious in the sight of the LORD Is the death of His saints. 

Revelation 21:4-7 (NKJV)
⁴  And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away."
⁵  Then He who sat on the throne said, "Behold, I make all things new." And He said to me, "Write, for these words are true and faithful."
⁶  And He said to me, "It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. I will give of the fountain of the water of life freely to him who thirsts.
⁷  He who overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will be his God and he shall be My son.