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Pastor Mark Mikels – May 24, 2009

“DEATH DEFYING”

(More To Me Series – Part Six)
(John 11:1-44)

Intro … Today as we near the conclusion of our little “More To Me” series, I would draw your attention to one of the most singularly significant statements in the Scriptures.

Every born-again Christian warrior heading into battle – every believer handed the news that his condition is terminal – every follower of Jesus who stands beside the grave of a loved one who died in faith can receive great courage and comfort from it.

It’s John chapter eleven verses 25 and 26 …

Jesus said … “I am the resurrection and the life.
He who believes in me will live, even though he dies;
and whoever lives and believes in me will never die.”

Jesus uttered those words to a grieving woman whose brother had just been placed in the tomb – a woman who had four days earlier urgently requested Jesus to come and heal him. Her faith in Jesus was absolute. Her understanding of his tardiness was not. The full story surrounds those verses that I just read. In that fuller story is the account of one of the most dramatic miracles of Jesus’ earthly ministry – the raising of Lazarus from the dead.

And in that miracle is contained the essence of the truth I would declare to you this morning – a truth that is wonderfully amplified by the other scriptures we will be considering.

And here it is.

It’s “More To Me Series Key Fact #6 and the powerful affirmation that accompanies it …

“More To Me Series Key Fact #6 …

“He is the RESURRECTION and the LIFE -
DEATH will never DEFEAT me.”

(John 11:25-26)

Is that not an incredibly powerful affirmation?
“Death will never defeat me!”

Indeed that’s an affirmation that could sustain one heading into any life-threatening situation or one receiving that dreaded terminal prognosis or
one who has just surrendered a loved one to the grave.

“Because Jesus Himself is the Resurrection and the Life,
Death will never defeat me!”

I want us to see this morning just how Biblically sound that affirmation is …
I want us to see in a most comprehensive way how that affirmation impacts
our lives as followers of Jesus Christ … I want us to personalize it and even
be energized by it.

Consider then with me …
Three Scripturally-Based Amplifications leading to
Nine Death-Defying Personal Conclusions.

SCRIPTURAL AMPLIFICATION #1 …

Death Will Never Defeat Me PHYSICALLY

Here are the Scriptures upon which that statement is based …

Romans 8:22-23
“We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved.”

1Thessalonians 4:15-17
“According to the Lord’s own word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left till the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first.
After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them
in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever.”

1 Corinthians 15:51-52
“Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed- in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed.”

1 Corinthians 15:42-44
“The body that is sown (buried) is perishable, it is raised imperishable;
it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body.”

Here are Three Death-Defying Personal Conclusions I would suggest arise from those incredible scriptures …

“The older my body becomes, the closer to PERFECTION it gets.”
“The moment Jesus returns, my body will be TRANSFORMED.”
“My new body will be SPECTACULAR and ETERNAL.”

“Because Jesus Himself is the Resurrection and the Life,
Death will never defeat me Physically !”

SCRIPTURAL AMPLIFICATION #2 …

Death Will Never Defeat Me SPIRITUALLY

Here are the Scriptures upon which that statement is based …

Romans 8:38-39
“For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in
Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Colossians 3:3-4
“For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God.
When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also
will appear with him in glory.”

2 Corinthians 5:6-8
“Therefore we are always confident and know that as long as we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord. We live by faith, not by sight. We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord.”

Here are the Three Death-Defying Personal Conclusions I would suggest arise from these scriptures …

“Death cannot break my CONNECTION with Christ.”
“Christ is the KEEPER of my real life.”
“Death is simply a passage into Christ’s PRESENCE.”

“Because Jesus Himself is the Resurrection and the Life,
Death will never defeat me Spiritually !”

SCRIPTURAL AMPLIFICATION #3 …

Death Will Never Defeat Me EMOTIONALLY

Here again we begin with the supporting Scriptures …

2 Corinthians 4:16-18
“Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on
what is seen, but on what is unseen.”

1 Thessalonians 4:13
“Brothers, we do not want you to be ignorant about those who fall asleep, or to grieve like the rest of men, who have no hope.”

Hebrews 2:14-15
“Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death – that is, the devil – and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death.”

Here are the Three Death-Defying Personal Conclusions I would suggest arise from these final scriptures …

“The death process will not DISCOURAGE me.”
“The death of a loved one will not DEVASTATE me.”
“The fear of death will not DISABLE me.”

“Because Jesus Himself is the Resurrection and the Life,
Death will never defeat me Emotionally !”

Without a doubt, the greatest thing that Jesus has done for us is to grant us victory over death …

He has removed from us the fear of death and the finality of death and the futility of death. We have come to understand that Death is simply the necessary doorway into His Eternal Presence.

“He is the Resurrection and the Life,
Death will never defeat me!”

What an affirmation to make at the beginning of a day for we never know which day in this fallen, broken, demanding exhausting world might be our last!

Consider then with me today’s …

Final Thot …
DEATH is a believer’s final VICTORY.
Our final chance to say “There’s more to me than meets the eye”.