Welcome to Bible Insights with Wayne Conrad.

God's word is a lamp to our feet and a light on our path. Today's topic concerns death and dying, a biblical perspective.

I come to you with this podcast after a day in which three people that I know were either buried or one of them is preparing to be cremated on Saturday. One was a relative, a cousin. One was a member of our congregation. And one is another friend that we've known for many years, decades. And all of them died in an approximate same amount of time. And another fact is that two of them were buried today, which also happens to be my birthday.

It's times like this that people have the perennial question about death. What it is, how do you handle it? How do you handle it in the company of others? God's word does speak to these issues.

Now often when we go to funerals, especially here in the West, and we are called upon to conduct funerals, specifically I mean Christian ministers, regardless of the person, we tend to emphasize scriptures that speak about the hope of the resurrection for believers. The truth of the matter is that often we're called upon to assist in the burial of those who are not believers. So what do we do? How do we handle this question?

Our whole attitude somewhat in the West, and by that, I mean, my primary experiences here in the United States, is that we have become a death-denying culture. And one mark of this is that we don't have funeral services often. Many times, people die and there is simply a burial somewhere and maybe some close people attended and some maybe don't even do that. It's just disposed of. but then later they have a memorial service in which the dead are not present in their body, but people then after maybe a few weeks get together and sort of talk about them.

I submit to you that this is sort of a denial of death if we don't have funeral services, if we don't come together in the presence of death, staring us in the face as it were, And we shield children from death, which is not wise at all, because at some point, they're going to have to confront it.

So, what does the Bible say about death and dying? I want to address that issue, first of all, in general terms, because I think that's what we have to do if we're dealing with all people. And I take solace in Psalm 90, which is the prayer of Moses, the man of God.

I want to read that Psalm to you, and I'm reading it from the English Standard Version. If I say Yahweh, it is where we have LORD in all caps, because that's the personal name of God. And lower cap LORD is Adonai. So, he begins with

Adonai, our Lord, you have been our dwelling place in all generations before the mountains were brought forth, or ever you had formed the earth and the world from everlasting to everlasting, you are God. You return man to dust and say, return, O children of man, for a thousand years in your sight are but as yesterday when it is past, or as a watch in the night. You sweep them away as with a flood. They are like a dream, like grass that is renewed in the morning. In the morning it flourishes and it's renewed. In the evening, it fades and withers. For we are brought to an end by your anger, by your wrath we are dismayed. You have set our iniquities before you, our secret sins in light of your presence. For all of our days pass away under your wrath. We bring our years to an end like a sigh. The years of our life are seventy, or even by reason of strength eighty. Yet their span is but toil and trouble. They are soon gone, and we fly away. Who considers the power of your anger and your wrath according to the fear of you? So, teach us to number our days, that we may get a heart of wisdom.

Return, O Yahweh, how long, how pity on your servants. Satisfy us in the morning with your steadfast love, that we may rejoice and be glad all of our days. Make us glad for as many days as you have afflicted us, and for as many years as we have seen evil. Let your work be shown to your servants and your glorious power to their children. Let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us and establish the work of our hands upon us. Yes, establish the work of our hands."

And if you followed the psalm, he's saying that death is a common experience of all people. And the reason that death is there is because that we are under the condemnation of God, because we are sinners and we dwell in mortal bodies rather than immortal bodies. And the reason for that is because of the fall of man in Adam and Eve. And all people born from Adam and Eve, with the one exception of Jesus, the Messiah, who is the word made flesh, come with an inherited sinful nature and under the condemnation. People do not like to hear this. Nevertheless, it is the biblical truth.

So, what about death? Is there hope for people in the face of death? Well, yes, there is hope for the people, but we must not sell hope. to everyone by simply promising to anyone who dies that all is all right, or that they're in some kind of spirit world where they're enjoying the things of life, but now in some kind of spiritual form. This is not looking at death biblically or in reality. Death for a believer is one thing, but death for an unbeliever is something else altogether.

Let me read some more scripture in this vein, with reference to the fall of man and the result being death. Because the wages of sin is death, scripture says. Genesis 319 says, by the sweat of your face, you shall eat bread till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken, for you are of dust and to dust you shall return. In other words, death. is the curse being executed upon sinful humanity. Ecclesiastes 3, 20 says, all go to one place. All are from the dust and to dust all return. Who knows whether the spirit of man goes upward and the spirit of the beast goes down into the earth.

Now, Ecclesiastes is written from the point of view of the man under the sun, just natural man without the special revelation of God. Death to the dog and the cat seems to be about the same as death to a man, except for our hope that's built on the revelation that God has given us in scripture. Psalm 146.4 says, when his breath departs, he returns to the earth, and on that very day, his plans perish. These are rather, shall I say, depressing scriptures, and yet they are the truth and the reality of the majority of people who die.

But there is promise. There is promise for the future. God has given that promise. But a prophet Isaiah, Isaiah 25 says, on this mountain, Yahweh Almighty, the Lord Almighty, will prepare a feast of rich food for all people, a banquet of aged wine, the best of meats and the finest of wines. On this mountain, He will destroy the shroud that enfolds all peoples, the sheet that covers all nations. He will swallow up death forever. The sovereign Yahweh will wipe away the tears from all faces. He will remove his people's disgrace from all the earth. The Lord Yahweh has spoken. And that day they will say, surely this is our God. We trusted in him. Then he saved us. This is Yahweh, the Lord. We trusted in him. Let us rejoice and be glad in his salvation.

So, our hope is in the God who is the judge, who has chosen to be the Savior of those who put their trust in Him as revealed in His Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord.

What does Jesus say about the realm of the dead? Again, I read to you from the scriptures, from Luke chapter 16.

Now, Luke 16, Jesus is dealing with the Pharisees, who the scripture says in verse 14, were lovers of money. heard all of these things, and they ridiculed him, his parables. And he said to them, you are those who justify yourselves before men, but God knows your hearts. For what is exalted among man is an abomination in the sight of God.

And in this context, he gave this story. It could be a parable. It may be just a story that he knows of people. But Jesus does not tell stories or untruths when he gives his parables. They are based on the reality of life. For instance, he gives agricultural parables, and when he does so, they're true to agriculture. And so even if we call this the parable of the rich man and Lazarus, Jesus is speaking the truth in it. And this is what he says about the realm of the dead.

If you want to know where the dead go, this is what he says. There was a rich man who was clothed in purple and in fine linen, and he feasted sumptuously every day. And at his gate was laid a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, who desired to be fed with what fell from the rich man's table. Moreover, even the dogs came and licked his sores.

The poor man died, and he was carried by the angels to Abraham's side. The rich man also died and was buried. And in Hades, being in torment, he lifted up his eyes, and he saw Abraham far off and Lazarus at his side. And he called out, Father Abraham, have mercy on me and send Lazarus to dip the end of his finger in water and cool my tongue for I'm in anguish in this flame.

But Abraham said, child, remember that you in your lifetime received good things, your good things, and Lazarus in like manner bad things. But now he's comforted here, and you are in anguish. And besides all this between us and you, a great chasm has been fixed. in order that those who would pass from here to you may not be able, and none may cross from there to us.

And he said, did not beg your father to send him to my father's house, for I have five brothers, so that he may warn them, lest they also come into this place of torment. And Abraham said, they have Moses, and the prophets let them hear him. And he said, no father, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they'll repent. He said to them, if they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be convinced that someone should rise from the dead.

Now, we're not told why Lazarus went to the bosom of Abraham. Evidently, he is considered a righteous person because of his faith in God. But the rich man, on the other hand, has his faith in his wealth, in his riches. And the demonstration of all of this is shown in how he treats the poor man at his gates.

When Jesus presents it, there's two places, Abraham's bosom, which is where the righteous go, and Hades, where there is the torment. Now, Hades is the realm of the dead, but it seems to have two compartments. One is for the righteous, with their faith in God in Christ, and the other is the place of, shall we say, fire reservation for the last day. Why then did Jesus come, and how does Jesus remedy our situation? Because it is a situation. It is appointed to man once to die, and after this, the judgment. And we're told in Daniel 12 too, and many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life and some to shame and everlasting content. And we read in Revelation 20 verse 14, at the end of time, when Christ returns, death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire.

Now, I can't go into all of the explanations about personal eschatology, but here we are taught in scripture that there is a place where the spirits of the dead go, either into Hades or into paradise, Abraham's bosom. But Jesus, you see, was sent by the Father to rescue fallen man. The writer of Hebrews says the following, but we see him who was for a little while made lower than the angels, namely Jesus, crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death, so that by the grace of God, he might taste death for everyone.

Since therefore, Hebrews 2.14, since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself 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 of those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery. Christ came in accordance with the prophecy of God. He is the word made flesh. He is the Son who is in the bosom of the Father from all eternity. He came on a rescue mission for fallen man.

Psalm 16 prophesied it. Therefore, my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices. My body also rests secure, because you will not abandon me to the realm of the dead, nor will you let your faithful ones see decay. You make known to me the path of life. You will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand.

Peter on the day of Pentecost said, fellow Israelites, I can tell you confidently that the Patriarch David died and was buried, and his tomb is here to this day. But he was a prophet, and he knew that God had promised him on oath that he would place one of his descendants on his throne. Seeing what was to come, he spoke of the resurrection of the Messiah, that he was not abandoned to the realm of the dead, nor did his body see decay. God has raised this Jesus to life, and we're all witnesses of it. Exalted to the right hand of God, he is received from the Father, the promised Holy Spirit, and has poured out what you now see and hear.

For David did not ascend to heaven, and yet he said, the Lord said to my Lord, said in my right hand, until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet. Therefore, let all Israel know, and be assured of this, that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Messiah. And Paul, that great apostle, in 1 Corinthians 15, said, Christ, in fact, has been raised from the dead. He is the first fruits of all those who've fallen asleep. For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. but each in his own order, Christ the first fruits. Then it is coming those who belong to Christ. Then comes the end, when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father, after destroying every rule, every authority and power. For he must reign until he's put all of his enemies under his feet. And the last enemy to be destroyed is death. In Revelation 20, verse 14, then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire.

All men will die. Some men, some people, a vast multitude that no man can number, who believe in God and Christ, who were raised from the dead, with immortal bodies to dwell in the new heaven and the new earth with Christ. But all others shall perish in the eternal death of the lake of fire.

The only escape from the finality of death in hell is Jesus Christ. And the reason for that is because in God's love and mercy, he came as a man, the God man, and died our death on our behalf, those whom the Father has chosen in Him, and He was raised from the dead, the proof that His work was more than sufficient, proof that He is the Lord's Messiah, the Savior of mankind.

In the face of death, we must all be sober, and hopefully, Those who are facing the death of someone close to them will be awakened to realize that if they would live eternally, if they would have the joy of heaven, that they must come to God through Christ by repentance and faith.

This has been Wayne Conrad with Bible Insights.