What Is Your Response To Tragedy? - [Luke 13:1-9]

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Welcome to No Compromise Radio, a ministry coming to you from Bethlehem Bible Church in West Boylston.

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No Compromise Radio is a program dedicated to the ongoing proclamation of Jesus Christ based on the theme in Galatians 2 verse 5 where the apostle

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Paul said, but we did not yield in subjection to them for even an hour so that the truth of the gospel would remain with you.

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In short, if you like smooth, watered -down words to make you simply feel good, this show isn't for you.

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By purpose, we are first biblical, but we can also be controversial. Stay tuned for the next 25 minutes as we're called by the divine trumpet to summon the troops for the honor and glory of her king.

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Here's our host, Pastor Mike Abendroth. Some time back I was reading Reuters' newest service and in South Korea they have something that's interesting and they have funerals, free funerals offered.

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But those funerals aren't for dead people, they're for living people. More than 25 ,000 people have participated in mass living funeral services.

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And what happens is they have a funeral for themselves because they want to learn how to live better. 75 -year -old man there said, once you become conscious of death and experience it, you undertake a new approach to life.

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And so you can go to South Korea and have a funeral for yourself while you're alive and sometimes it's teenagers, sometimes it's retirees, but they don shrouds, take funeral portraits, pen their last testaments and often lie in a closed coffin for about 10 minutes.

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I don't know if I would like that last one very well and based on the five people who are sitting here, they don't like it either.

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One professor in South Korea said, it's important to learn and prepare for death even at a young age.

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And that part is right, especially when you look at South Korea and all the suicide rates, they're trying to figure out how can we understand the importance of life knowing that one day we'll die.

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One writer said in South Korea, we don't have forever, that's why I think this experience is so important.

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We can apologize and reconcile sooner and live the rest of our lives happily. Now with the news today that we're dealing with in March 2020, most people are thinking about life.

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Most people are thinking about sickness. Most people are thinking about death.

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I think people are actually thinking now instead of the diversions that are okay, of course with sports and entertainment and going out to eat.

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I think maybe a byproduct of what's going on with this virus is that people are thinking and today

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I want people to think about their own mortality and what the

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Lord Jesus says about it. Most people don't want to think about death.

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They can't even say the word dead. Most people can't go to a funeral of somebody else because they don't want to think about death.

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And really, I don't blame people because death is ugly and painful. It's grim and it is the enemy.

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Paul calls it the last enemy in 1 Corinthians chapter 15.

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S. Lewis Johnson called it the king of terrors. And I think both of those men are right. And here's the thing, 150 ,000 people die across the world every single day.

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150 ,000 people this day will stop breathing and they will go through what we don't want to talk about very often.

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They will go through pallor mortis and their body will become pale after about 15 minutes.

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They will go through liver mortis, that is L -I -V -O -R, and the blood begins to settle in the lower parts of the body.

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They will go through algor mortis, the temperature of their bodies will become matching the ambient room temperature.

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And then they will go through rigor mortis and their bodies will become stiff. And whether it is from heart disease or cancer or respiratory diseases or suicide, everyone is going to die.

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Not just those 150 ,000 people today, but you will die and I will die. And the ultimate cause is, we know, sin.

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The wages of sin is death. But today I want to talk about something that the

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Lord Jesus discussed in Luke 12 and Luke 13. There's something worse than death. There's something worse than all the mortises that I described.

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And that is standing before God without your sins forgiven. John Owen said,

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Satan's greatest success is in making people think they have plenty of time before they die to consider their eternal welfare.

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So today I'd like you to take your Bibles and turn to Luke chapter 13. I had Hebrews 11 ready, but I've been thinking a lot about Luke 12 and 13.

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And I want to preach something that Jesus said because I think it's going to make us think rightly.

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Now if you're from Bethlehem Bible Church or you're a Christian and you're watching, I want you to watch this passage and watch how

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Jesus deals with people. And I think it will help you evangelize your friends as you meet unbelievers and deal with people.

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I just got an email from Evan Burns and he was talking to a lady in Taiwan or someplace overseas in Thailand.

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And she's afraid of death. People are talking about life and death and she was afraid of death. How do we as a church, how do we individually as Christians evangelize?

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You're going to get great insight here from the Lord Jesus. When there's a catastrophe, how do we respond?

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Is it politically? Is it socially? Is it economically? I mean, those all have their places. But what do you, the church, do when there's this big dramatic catastrophe where the world is on hold as it seems?

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So if you're a Christian, this is good evangelism strategy. You say, well, I can't go around people to evangelize them.

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Well, I still see people taking walks and I still see people in grocery stores and other places, walking around Lowe's and other places like that.

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So you have opportunities and even with Skype and other things. If you're not a Christian and you're watching, then this is going to be very poignant because you are going to die one day and stand before God.

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And I want you to be like Jim Elliott, that great missionary martyr to the

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Akha Indians. He said, when it's time to die, make sure the only thing you have left to do is to die.

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That is, make sure you're at peace with God and you're reconciled to God and that you're forgiven. Everybody's going to die.

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And the thing about it is you can't have somebody die for you. I mean, we have health care proxies, but you can't have a proxy for your own death.

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Your parents can't die for you. Your friends can't die for you. You have to die and then stand before God. And then what?

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And so Luke 13 is a great passage that helps us see

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Jesus deal with the crisis. And then what's the response? Everybody wants to say, why is this happening?

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Why is the crisis going on? Why World War One, World War Two, the virus, all these other things. And I think the question really is, so what?

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Not why, but so what? How do we respond to this crisis? So we come to Luke chapter 13, this great passage from the physician

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Luke. He was the human author. And imagine physician Luke would put things in a very orderly fashion so that you might believe.

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And he says that in chapter 1 of Luke. And we come here to chapter 13 about Jesus.

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And I think you're going to have lots of questions answered. People say, well, why would a loving God allow this tragedy to happen?

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Why would an all -powerful, good God allow tragedy and viruses? I think those why questions about suffering are going to turn into what's the point?

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God is trying to get people's attention. What's the point? Not why does God allow suffering in this world?

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Now, two weeks ago, we looked at give us this day our daily bread. Last week, the Lord is my shepherd. And now how does

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Jesus deal with tragedies in this world? There were some present at that very time who told him about the

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Galileans whose blood pilot had mingled with their sacrifices. Luke 13 verse 1.

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So you can tell right away, can't you congregation, that there's a tie -in. There were some present at that very time who told them.

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So these people who had heard Luke 12 and prior to that have some questions for Jesus.

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Now, remember in Luke 12, and I just read it, verse 4. I tell you, friends, do not fear those who kill the body and after that have nothing more they can do.

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But I will warn you whom to fear. Fear him who after he has killed has authority to cast into hell.

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Yes, I tell you, fear him. Remember, Jesus had just said that to the people. That's the backdrop. By the way, there's this kind of theology that's going around the world now.

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And it's kind of this Tim Keller, C .S. Lewis theology where if you don't want God, he'll let you not have him.

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And that's what hell is. Hell's gates are locked on the inside. But no, no, you see the language here.

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While that might be true, if you don't want God, you're not going to get him. But here this is throwing, casting, tossing into hell.

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You don't want to be tossed into hell. So somebody who had heard this message from Jesus says,

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Well, what about those Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices? And I think you're going to see

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Jesus respond in such a way where you think there's nobody who preaches like him. Nobody who talks like him. You will marvel at his words.

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There's going to be a disaster. And this author, Luke, ties in 12 to 13.

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There were some present at that very time. That there's a massacre.

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Now, we don't know anything in the Bible about this massacre except what's here. The Galileans whose blood

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Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. Now, you can imagine the Roman people are occupying

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Jerusalem and Israel. And there's a lot of bad things that happen. I've read in church history that some

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Jews were massacred in connection with building of an aqueduct. That's what Josephus, the historian, said.

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Some Samaritans were attacked at Mount Gerizim, according to Josephus. Archelaus slew 3 ,000

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Jews in 4 BC. 6 ,000 Jews were murdered by Alexander Janius, who had been pelted with citrons during the

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Feast of Tabernacles. I don't know about you, when I first hear citrons, I think of a car. But a citron is like a lemon with a thicker rind on it.

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What's my point? There's lots of activity between the Roman people and the Jewish people. And the

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Romans have the swords. The Romans have the armies. The Roman has the legions. And they're doing bad things to the people.

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And now we have this case where some people probably were going to the temple or who were in the temple.

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And now you have the henchmen of Pilate who go in and kill the people who are sacrificing animals, most likely for Passover.

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And then now the blood of the sacrificers is mixed with the blood of the sacrificers' sacrifices.

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And everything about this is awful, because it's murder. It's a massacre. You've got the henchmen,

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Roman soldiers, going into the temple precincts where no Gentiles are allowed to go.

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Everything about this is awful. And, of course, now it's going to be a perfect time for Jesus to talk about politics and oppression of the government and social issues and economic issues and why this is happening.

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Of course Jesus isn't going to do that, because something more important is going on here.

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Not just for these listeners, not just for any readers, but for us as well.

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Watch Jesus' strategy. It's not wrong to talk politics. It's not wrong to talk about social issues.

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But those aren't the issues. Pilate's so cruel. No, that's not what

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Jesus says or does here. When you watch Him respond, when you listen to Him, you'll think, this is the priority of life.

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Tragedies are supposed to show us that life is so fragile and it's a vapor and we're going to meet

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God one day. That's the point. Verse 2, And He answered them,

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Do you think... By the way, He wants you to think. He wants you to ponder. He wants you to not just feel or emote or go with the flow or what do the polls say.

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You, what do you particularly think? That these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other

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Galileans because they suffered in this way? Hey, everybody's sinful, but these

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Galileans were more sinful. By the way, how many sins does it take to damn anyone?

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James chapter 1, James chapter 2 says, Whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles in one point has become guilty of what?

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All. Galatians chapter 3, quoting Deuteronomy, Cursed is everyone who does not abide by all things written in the book of the law and to perform them.

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I read this last week that because of the virus, they're not making certain things. They're redirecting energies and resources.

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And I heard they're not making any marshmallow peeps this year for Easter. I don't know if that's true or not, but I think that's a very sad thing.

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Not because I like peeps. I would not eat a peep. Maybe if I was a grandpa, I would be forced to do it. But I like the word peep because it's a good acronym when

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I think about how do I meet God? And so how do I meet God? I've got two ways to meet

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God without going to hell. Option one is, and I think of that acronym peep, that I need to obey

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God perfectly, entirely, exactly, and perpetually.

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P -E -E -P. Perfectly, entirely, exactly, and perpetually. I have to always obey.

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I'm looking at the faces in the congregation. That's all right. And so how can

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I do that? I mean, it's impossibility because Adam's sin was credited in my account. He was a federal head, yes, and consequently

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I'm sinful. But that can't even work. I know I've sinned, and if I've sinned even one time, I could never do that.

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How could I perfectly, entirely, exactly, perpetually, personally obey? I could never do that.

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It's what we call the covenant of works. It's a covenant that says, you know what? If you want to obey me, you must obey me because I'm your creator, and you're the creature.

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R .C. Sproul said, man's relationship to God and creation was based on works. What Adam failed to achieve,

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Christ, the second Adam, succeeded in achieving. Ultimately, the only way one can be justified is by works.

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So God, the creator, creates us, and we are to obey him. But we, of course, can't obey him, and we've sinned.

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So now we need the last Adam, the Lord Jesus, to obey in our place. Now, what's going on here in this particular case in Luke?

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It's kind of like the Job's friends deal. Hey, everybody sins, but these people sin more.

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Job, you've sinned more, and God's displeased with your sin, and is going to punish you. It's kind of like evangelical karma, where, you know what?

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These Galileans, yeah, were all sinful, but they were worse sinners, and so, therefore, God is going to use

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Pilate like he used Nebuchadnezzar or Belshazzar or Cyrus, and he's going to use these unbelieving people as an instrument of his own vengeance, and take it out on these people who were worse sinners.

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Is that what's happening? How can you read Providence? How can you understand what God's doing if you don't have revelation?

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Job 4, Eliphaz the Temanite answered and said, Remember, who was that who was innocent that ever perished?

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Or were the upright cut off? Hey, they got what was coming to them. It was kind of like that attitude in John chapter 9, with the man born blind.

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His disciples asked him, Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?

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Jesus answered, it was not that this man sinned or his parents, but that the works of God may be displayed in him.

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All this kind of thought about how sinful they were, and what they did, and the ranking of sin, or they were sinners,

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Jesus won't allow that, because what's the point? The point isn't them and their sin.

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The point is you. We're talking about you. When there's a national tragedy, let's talk about you.

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Put your own house in order. You say, well, sometimes, though, in the Bible, specific sins were judged by God.

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Sodom and Gomorrah, judgment of God. Herod, who said, you know, I'm a God, and everybody's worshiping me, and they're singing to me, and praising me, and God killed him and gave him worms.

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Yes, those are true. But that's not what's going on here. What does

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Jesus say, verse 3? No, I tell you. I mean, can you imagine? Just no.

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That's emphatic, by the way, in the original. And I wish I could see the faces of these people. They thought they had all their theology figured out.

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But it was wrong theology. I mean, everybody's a theologian, but they were aberrant theologians. They wanted to hear

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Jesus say, yes. And Jesus says the exact opposite. No, I tell you.

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But unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. I mean, you might not have been one of those people who were sacrificing around Passover and got killed by the henchmen of Pilate, but you were going to die as well.

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What's the lesson? The lesson is, make sure you're ready. What's the difference?

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You die of a heart attack, a plane crash, a car wreck. You choke on food, old age, a virus.

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There's no difference because you have to all stand before God. So do I. And, of course, maybe

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Jesus was alluding to soon Titus from Rome would crush

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Jerusalem in 70 A .D., but I think he's talking about the ultimate final judgment.

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Jesus has said in Luke 9, whoever shall save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it.

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What does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses or forfeits himself? Jesus has said in Luke 17, later on, just as it was in the days of Noah, so will it be in the days of the

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Son of Man. There was eating and drinking and marrying and giving in marriage until the day when

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Noah entered the ark and the flood came and destroyed them all. Likewise, just as it was in the days of Lot, they're eating, drinking, buying, selling, planting, building.

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But on the day that when Lot went out from Sodom, fire and sulfur rained from heaven and destroyed them all.

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So, Jesus said, will it be on the day when the Son of Man is revealed.

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The end's coming for all of us. Short of the Lord's return, and wouldn't that be wonderful? But short of that, we're all going to die.

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And what does Jesus say there? No, I tell you, unless you what? Repent. Jesus has said in Luke 5,

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I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to what? Repentance. He said in Luke 15,

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So I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over 99 righteous persons who need no repentance.

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He, in Luke 24, with the Great Commission, said that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in His name.

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So you think, okay, there's a national disaster, there's a worldwide disaster. What do I do? The answer is make sure you're ready.

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Make sure you've repented. Every sinner faces the same fate. How you die, in one sense, is irrelevant.

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This is kind of a good thing for me, because we all live our lives, and all of a sudden, there's like this speed bump.

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I don't know if you've ever, I mean, I think I do it all too often. I'm driving, and it probably says speed bump or school zone or something, and then the next thing you know, it's this massive bump.

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I'm going way too fast, and it gets your attention. Maybe you're driving down the freeway, and you kind of veer off a little bit, and there's those little divots that make those sounds to kind of make you wake up to say, oh, yeah, that's right.

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I am not going to live forever. I will stand before God one day. Disaster is going to strike me one way, shape, or form, whether I die in my bed, or I am killed in a massacre.

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Well, what about this, though? Verse 4. Or those 18 in whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them.

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Do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others who lived in Jerusalem? Yeah, they had it coming too.

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I mean, those other people were sinful, but these people were really sinful. The tower in Siloam. I mean, one was a massacre, and this was just kind of an accident.

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And by the way, both places were in a place of safety. Don't you think you'd be safe in the temple, in the temple precincts?

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And don't you think you'd be safe by a tower? By definition, a tower, a fortress, where you've got guards.

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These are two places that are very, very protected. I mean, if you're going to be safe someplace, wouldn't it be in those places?

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Now, when I think of tower, I think of what? Tower of Babel, tower of London, tower of Pisa.

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That's right. A radio show I did yesterday on the tower of Pisa. It's a fascinating place.

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I've been there one time. I remember I was a Ural pass in like, I don't know, 1991 or something, and layover in Pisa.

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And I said to the taxi driver, how much time does it take to get to Pisa and back?

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Because I think I had a 45 -minute layover. And he said, well, probably 48 minutes. I said, there's extra money for you if you can get me there and back, and I catch the train.

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Got there, took a picture, got back in, made the train. But the tower itself, what does that have to do with anything?

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It has nothing to do with anything. Just tower language. Tower is supposed to be strong, supposed to be fortified.

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And all of a sudden, instead of having people just go kill and massacre, these people are just minding their own business. And it's like, this is an accident.

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This tower falls down. What's Jesus' response? It's the same thing. No. You want me to say yes, but no.

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I tell you, and by the way, he's not quoting the Old Testament, although he could and has done it. Jesus, with the authority, the eternal

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Son of God, I tell you, but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.

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He does it two times. Everybody should be getting the point of repetition and the emphasis here.

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Two times. Everyone here should ask themselves the question. Everyone listening should ask themselves the question.

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Am I converted? Am I a Christian? Because if I'm not and I die in a state of unbelief,

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I will perish. You ought to be careful. You ought to watch out. You need to make sure you're forgiven and trusting in the

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Lord Jesus. You need to make sure you're trusting in this God who freely grants repentance and faith in the beloved

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Lord Jesus who's victorious over the grave. Both these groups died.

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You're going to die. I'm going to die. Both these groups died quickly. I could die quickly.

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So could you. Both these groups died tragically. Your death will be tragic. So will mine.

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Both these groups thought, Everything's fine. I'm safe. I'm doing religious things.

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I'm in a safe place. But what they viewed as their salvation,

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Defenbaugh says, was their destruction. And the Lord Jesus calls people today, and if you're a

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Christian and you're meeting certain people that are afraid, this is what you call them to. Repentance.

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Repentance. This is a bad word today in our circles. The N word is tolerance.

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But the biblical word is repentance. Did you know

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I studied this week a man in France, southern France, a minister of a reformed church.

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And one time he preached 50 sermons in a row on the one text, repent.

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One of these sermons allegedly lasted four and one half hours.

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I guess we could do that with this live stream because then you could get up and have a snack or have a soda or whatever you want to go do.

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People don't want to talk about repentance today. But what does Jesus do? There's a national tragedy. And what's his response?

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His response is make sure you're ready. It's like a speed bump. Make sure you're ready. And Jesus doesn't come along and make up a word.

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Ezekiel preached repentance. John the Baptist preached repentance. Jesus had Paul preach repentance.

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Peter preached repentance. What is repentance? And repentance is simple.

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It means to change your mind. The way you think about sin, the way you think about who you're sinning against, you change your mind.

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And of course, that will lead to fruits of repentance and a life that's changed. There are deeds in keeping with repentance, certainly,

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Acts 26. Westminster Confession says, what's the definition of repentance? A sinner out of the sight and sense not only of danger, but also the filthiness and odiousness of his sin as contrary to the holy nature and of the righteous law of God, and upon the apprehension of His mercy in Christ Jesus to such as are penitent, so grieves for and hates his sin as to turn from them all unto

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God, purposing and endeavoring to walk with Him in all ways of His commandments.

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Repentance basically says the way I think about sin was wrong, and now I have to think about it rightly.

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Now, if you say repentance means stop sinning so you can come to Christ, that's not repentance.

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Repentance is, I know I can't save myself, I know I can't come to Christ on my own, and I know

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I can't deliver myself but for the grace of God. And I'm thinking differently. That's what repentance is.

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And you say, well, what's the difference between faith and repentance? Why didn't Jesus say here, believe? Why didn't

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He say, repent and believe? Sometimes in the Bible, people say, believe, and that's all they say, right?

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Rich, the jailer in Philippi, believe on the

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Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved. Is that okay to say? Of course it's okay to say. Sometimes, like Jesus, He just says, repent.

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He doesn't say, believe. Sometimes in the Bible, both are talked about, Acts chapter 20.

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Repentance toward God and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. Is there a contradiction?

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If you hear people preach and they never say, repent, or they don't say, believe, sometimes

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Peter preaches in Acts 2, he doesn't say, repent or believe, and they say, what do we do? Sometimes in Acts chapter 17, he preaches,

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Paul preaches repentance and the Bible says, they believed. What are we to make of this? Well, if you think of a coin, on one side of the coin is faith and another side of the coin is repentance,

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I think that's fair enough. Faith and repentance are joined. Can somebody have a repentant unbelief or an unbelieving repentance?

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Of course not. Chronologically, they happen at the same time.

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God grants repentance and faith. It's a simultaneous thing. But some have asked the question, and I think

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Sinclair Ferguson, in his Merrill Controversy book, The Whole Christ, which one comes first logically?

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Now, you could say, they're simultaneous logically, you could say repentance comes first, you could say faith comes first, or you could say like John Murray, it doesn't matter, quit arguing about these things.

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The condition for salvation is clear, sola fide. The ground is the work of Christ Jesus and the instrument is faith.

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But they go together. I don't know if you like kind of strange grammar words, but there's a word called synecdoche.

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And synecdoche just means, if you say a part of something, you mean the whole.

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It's a synecdoche, S -Y -N. And that's what Sinclair Ferguson says, when you say repent or you say believe, but you don't say repent and believe, you're just giving a part.

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When you say repent, you're meaning think differently about your sins so that you'll think rightly about Jesus.

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Faith has to do with who Jesus is and who God is. Repentance has to do with sin. And so if I say repent, yes, think rightly about your sin so you can believe rightly about who

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Jesus is. Or if I say believe only on the Lord Jesus Christ, think about Him rightly and of course you then will see your sins rightly.

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My whole point is when Jesus says repent, think rightly about your sins so that you'll think believingly about the

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Lord Jesus Christ. Why? Because judgment is near, verse six. Why should we repent?

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Why should we think rightly about our sins? Why should we trust believingly in the Lord Jesus? Because judgment is near.

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Do you see the first word in verse six? And he told this parable.

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A man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard and he came seeking fruit on it and found none. And you should probably be thinking the vineyard analogies and allegories in Isaiah 5 about Israel is the vineyard.

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And he said to the vine dresser, look, for three years now I have come seeking fruit on this fig tree and I find none.

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Cut it down. Why should it use up the ground? And he answered him, sir, let it alone this year also until I dig around it and put on manure.

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Then if it should bear fruit next year, well and good, but if not, you can cut it down.

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What's the point? Well, Jesus has just said repent, repent two times. Now here's what he's saying.

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God is gracious, but don't presume on his graciousness. God is patient, but don't put off repenting.

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Judgment is nearer than you think. You say, well, I know people that they didn't believe until they're 85 years old and I'm only 20 now and so I'll put it off.

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That's not the point at all. Jesus is trying to say, be converted now. Don't stop.

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Don't pass go. Be converted now. Now back to the death idea and fearing death.

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I actually think in one sense, it's right for the unbeliever to fear death because they know something else is coming.

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I mean, does not Romans chapter one say that unbelievers know there's a God? Does not their conscience bear witness to their actions?

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I read this week that there's something called death anxiety and it's called thanatophobia.

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Death, thanatos, phobia, fear. And it is, quote, the morbid, abnormal, or persistent fear of one's own death.

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Feeling the dread, apprehension, or solicitude, anxiety, when one thinks of the process of dying.

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And of course, how do we describe this? Freud would say, well, you've got deeper issues that are going to have to come out in counseling.

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You've got daddy wounds. You've got unresolved childhood conflicts. People in psychological research have something called terror management.

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And it's how do you get over the anxiety of death? Knowing that it inevitably will come.

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There are tests for this. There's the DASC, the death anxiety scale for children.

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There's the fear survey schedule for children. I thought it was interesting. One of the things they are trying to do now with children four years old or so, when they're going to try to give them this fear of death questionnaire and anxiety scale, they call it the koala fear questionnaire.

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And so they have pictures of koalas and all this stuff back and forth. The KFQ, koala fear questionnaire.

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Sorry, I can't read KFQ without thinking about KFC, but I think they're closed. Never had a

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Popeye's sandwich. There's all this fear of death.

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How can this be? Is it right? Is it good? So here's what I think. If you're an unbeliever, you should fear death.

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You should be afraid of death. You should run from death under the Lord Jesus. I mean, here's what typically happens.

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Here's Bill Maher's quotes on HBO show several years ago. If you believe in judgment day,

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I have to seriously question your judgment. If you believe you're in a long -term relationship with an all -powerful space daddy, who after you die will party with your ghost forever, there is an electrical fire going on in your head.

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At the end of the day, is magic underwear really that much crazier than giant arcs, virgin births, or talking bushes?

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You're either a rationalist or you're not. Bill Maher goes on. And the good news is a recent poll found 20 % of adults under 30 say they are rationalists and have figured out that Santa Claus and Jesus are really the same guy.

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Now 20 % is hardly a majority, but it's a bigger minority than blacks, Jews, homosexuals,

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NRA members, teachers, or seniors. And it's certainly enough to stop being shy about expressing the opinion that we're not the crazy ones.

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And then what do we hear in the last week? You've got a bunch of movie stars singing Imagine on some kind of, what is it called,

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TikTok? Something like that, some kind of video. I even heard Joe Rogan say, what are we doing having a bunch of unbelievers whose grandmothers are dying, talking about we're sure glad there's no heaven.

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He said, what kind of message does that teach? So if you are an unbeliever, Jesus said you should fear.

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So you think rightly about your sins and repent and then trust in the Lord Jesus Christ and confess with your mouth

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Jesus as Lord and believe in your heart that God has raised him from the dead. And guess what, friends? You'll be saved. And then you, with other

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Christians, don't have to fear death. If you aren't a Christian, fear death. If you are a

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Christian, friends, beloved ones, you don't have to be afraid at all. Because you're not approaching

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God on your own merits. You're not approaching God with your sins. The Lord Jesus has been given to you because the

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Father loves sinners and he sent his Son, listen to Titus 2, who gave himself, this is about Jesus, he gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for himself a people for his own possession, zealous for good deeds.

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You don't have to worry. All the vials of judgment and wrath have been poured out on Jesus in your place.

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And you can stand forgiven. You do stand forgiven. I can't be sinless of my own self, but I can stand in the one and be united in Christ with the sinless one.

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No wonder Hebrews 10 says, we have confidence to enter the holy place by the blood of Jesus.

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What did Martin Luther say? Why should you fear? Why should you be afraid? Do you not know that the

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Prince of this world has been judged? He is no Lord, no Prince anymore. You have a different Lord, a stronger

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Lord, Christ, who has overcome and bound him. Therefore, let the Prince and God of this world look sour, bear his teeth, make a great noise, threaten and act in an unmannerly way.

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He, Satan, can do no more than a bad dog on a chain, which may bark, run here and there and tear at the chain.

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But because it is tied and you avoid it, it cannot bite you. So the devil acts toward every

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Christian. Therefore, everything depends on this, that we do not feel secure, but continue in the fear of God and in prayer.

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Then the chain dog cannot harm us. But this chain dog may at least frighten him, who would be secure and go on without caution, although he may not come close enough to be bitten.

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Christian, you have an elder brother, Christ Jesus, and Hebrews 2 says, Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he,

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Jesus, likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and deliver all those through fear of death who are subject to lifelong slavery.

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Hey, that is great news. The Lord Jesus didn't say, I'll take on angel flesh or angel nature or angel something to die for angels, but He dies for people like us, like you, like me.

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And He destroys what Satan has. His only weapon, death. And it's as if Satan could go to God and say,

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You know what, these people sin, therefore the wages of sin is death. You're holy, you're righteous, you're just, therefore judge them.

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But since we've already been judged because we're in Christ, there's no double jeopardy. Satan has no more weapon against us.

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One writer said, The only way to destroy Satan was to rob him of his weapon, death.

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Physical death, spiritual death, and eternal death. Satan knew that God required death for us because of sin.

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But with Jesus, he destroyed death. The resurrection of Jesus provides the believer with eternal life.

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Satan can't demand our spiritual death anymore, our eternal death, because Jesus has paid for it.

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If your sins are forgiven, no wrath for you. Well, what about this idea of fear of death for the

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Christian? I don't want you to fear death. I don't want you to say to yourself, You know what,

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I'm going to be eternally separated from God because I didn't live a perfect life this week. No, you stand in the stead of the

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Lord Jesus. Listen to what Paul says, and it's almost like a victory song.

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I don't know if you've listened to very many victory sounds and kind of fight songs. I would hate to tell you the

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University of Nebraska's fight song, because while I love the tune, the words are pretty lame.

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You'll have to look them up on your own. You know, I always wanted to have some kind of like Michigan fight song or Notre Dame or something, you know, tough.

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Here's Paul's victory fight song, and the enemy's death, 1 Corinthians 15.

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When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written.

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And here's his exclamation, it's fight song for every Christian. Death is swallowed up in victory.

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Death is done, the death of death in the death of Christ, as John Owen would say. Christians don't need to fear death.

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Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15, O death, where's your victory? You ever see people taunt one another, especially at football games?

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Remember football games? People used to go to these large stadiums, sit next to each other and drink sodas and popcorn. Remember those days?

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This is the fight song. This is the chant. This is the na -na -na -na -na, you know, kind of thing. O death, where's your victory?

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O death, where's your sting? Nobody should say that if they're not a Christian. But every Christian should say that.

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The people are running around crazy today. They're not afraid of a virus. Friends, they're afraid of death. And death has a victory.

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And death has a sting, unless Jesus has been victorious over it. Hebrews 13 says,

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Hosea 13 says the same thing. Shall I ransom them from the power of Sheol? Shall I redeem them from death?

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O death, where are your plagues? O Sheol, where's your sting? Rhetorical questions.

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And you can look at death straight in the face, Christian, because Jesus has paid the penalty for you.

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You say, well, I don't live up to my position in Christ. I know that. But I'm sure you want to. Death for the

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Christian. Even think of the language. What are some of the words for death of a

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Christian? Here's one for you that's not used, I don't believe, of any unbeliever. Sleep. Even the way the

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Bible uses language to take the edge off of death. Sleep. The Christian sleeps.

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That's amazing. Sometimes the Bible talks about death as a departure.

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Remember Paul talked about departure in 2 Timothy chapter 4. Like you're going to leave, but when you're departing, you're going to be coming back.

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Taking the edge off. One Reformed Catechism says,

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What benefits do believers receive from Christ at death? The souls of believers are at their death made perfect in holiness, and do immediately pass into glory, and their bodies, being still united in Christ, do rest in their graves till the resurrection.

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I love the way the Bible talks about death for the Christian. The edge is taken off because the victory of death is taken away.

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The sting of death is taken away. And people sleep. And people depart. And here's another one.

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It's like taking down a tent. The Bible talks about death as taking down a tent. 2

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Corinthians chapter 5 verse 1. For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dismantled, or taking down a tent, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.

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No wonder Paul says, O death, where is thy sting? You can tell when people die, and they don't have this confidence in the

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Lord Jesus. Queen Elizabeth, not this queen, but many years ago,

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O that I might not die. I would give millions that I might not die. Hobbes, the infidel, said,

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I'm taking a fearful leap into the dark. Mirabeau said, Give me more laudanum. I don't want to face the fact of my death.

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Edward Gibbon, All is dark and doubtful. But we, as Christians, I think of the book of Revelation, chapter 14.

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Blessed are they that die in the Lord. Isn't that good news? Blessed are they who die in the

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Lord. Well, what's the point of the message today? Here's the point.

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If you're not a Christian, and you see the death rates of COVID -19, you're next.

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Maybe not of that, but something else. So today's a good day to trust in the Lord. God is merciful and gracious.

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That's just who he is. He loves sinners. And so believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. And I guarantee you, he who believes in the

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Lord, Romans 10 says, will not be disappointed. Repent of your sins. Trust in the

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Lord Jesus. And for Christians, I guess the twofold message is, when you can talk to people about what's going on in the world, this would be a good way to talk like Jesus does, to talk about eternal life and death.

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Are you afraid to die? That's a good question to ask. And if they don't like it, well, then you can social distance more than normal.

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The second lesson for the Christians is, for the Christian is, don't be worried.

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Oh, death, where is thy sting? Oh, grave, where is your victory? I remember certain songs from funerals.

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And I remember certain songs that we would sing at Grandma Evie's funeral, and also driving in the car.

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And then I also remember my mom's funeral, and we sang a song called, Victory in Jesus.

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Now, I don't know if all the lyrics are super, you know, in line with the Belgic Confession, but it is a good idea, victory in Jesus, my savior, and he loves me forever.

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No Compromise Radio, with Pastor Mike Abendroth, is a production of Bethlehem Bible Church in West Boylston.

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Bethlehem Bible Church is a Bible teaching church, firmly committed to unleashing the life -transforming power of God's word, through verse -by -verse exposition of the sacred text.

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Please come and join us. Our service times are Sunday morning at 1015, and in the evening at 6. We're right on Route 110 in West Boylston.

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You can check us out online at bbchurch .org, or by phone at 508 -835 -3400.