00:00:00.000 - 00:00:45.000

[ Silence ] [ Music ] [MUSIC] [MUSIC]

00:00:45.000 - 00:01:03.700

♪ Higher ground ♪ ♪ Forgive me, O, that I should stand ♪ ♪ My feet on heaven's able land ♪ ♪ The higher claim that I have found ♪

00:01:03.700 - 00:01:25.640

♪ For when I reach the higher ground ♪ ♪ My heart has no desire to stay ♪ ♪ Where clouds arise and ears is made ♪ ♪ No sun may dwell where he's allowed ♪

00:01:25.640 - 00:01:47.420

♪ I will not hear his heart in the ground ♪ ♪ I'm going to live a world of my own ♪ ♪ O say does that star-spangled banner yet wave ♪ ♪ O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave ♪

00:01:47.420 - 00:02:09.360

♪ O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave ♪ ♪ O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave ♪ ♪ O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave ♪ ♪ 'Cause you are great, you have not found ♪

00:02:09.360 - 00:02:30.560

♪ No need beyond to hide your crown ♪ ♪ Lord, in the earth that I shall stand ♪ ♪ I gave my head to save the land ♪ ♪ For I am great and I am found ♪

00:02:30.700 - 00:02:44.580

♪ Lord, let my feet on higher ground ♪ ♪ Lord, lift me up ♪ ♪ Let I just stand ♪ ♪ Thy praise, O Lord ♪

00:02:44.580 - 00:02:57.080

♪ Let me be led ♪ ♪ To higher plains ♪ ♪ Than I have found ♪ ♪ Lord, let my feet on higher ground ♪

00:02:57.080 - 00:03:14.080

[Music] You may be seated. [Silence] Let us pray.

00:03:14.080 - 00:03:31.080

Speak to our hearts, O God. [Silence] And granted we may hear, and may we be not only hearers, but doers also. Amen.

00:03:31.080 - 00:04:07.260

[Audience "Amens"] [Chorus] Romans, the 6th chapter and the 7th verse, "For he that is dead is freed from sin." Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe we shall also live with him, knowing that

00:04:07.260 - 00:04:56.360

Christ, being raised from the dead, dieth no more. For in that he died unto sin once, but in that he liveth unto God." I'd like for you to repeat after me the next word, which is a part of the 2 Corinthians passage, "Dying we live."

00:04:56.360 - 00:05:46.240

One needs to have an understanding of death as a Christian. In fact, our life as disciples of Jesus Christ begins with death. And it's rather strange that we don't want to talk about it until we are facing it. We ought to be able to freely converse about death because it is really with death that

00:05:46.240 - 00:06:18.440

the Christian gospel begins with death. Some months ago, a dear friend of mine was facing death. He had told the members of his family that he knew how to die. So when the family notified me of the fact that he was facing death,

00:06:18.440 - 00:06:41.320

It was sometime about a year before he passed. I went out and visited with him. We talked and had a joyful session together. It was not a sad session, but a joyful one.

00:06:41.320 - 00:07:08.100

He knew he was facing death, and he was prepared to face it. And I thought about a man who, during that period, called me and told me that the doctor had said his mother was not going to live much longer, and he wanted me to go out and tell her

00:07:08.100 - 00:07:21.880

that she was not going to live. And the more I thought about that, this lady was a Christian. She knew that. That was not news to her.

00:07:21.880 - 00:07:48.320

She came into this world almost knowing that there was a time set that we have to face death. In fact, in the very beginning of the Word of God, the Book of Genesis, there is a picture there, man in the garden of Eden, paradise, heaven, all good

00:07:48.320 - 00:08:08.840

things. But there's a tree in the midst of the garden of which you are not to eat, for in the day that you eat of it, you shall surely die." Now, you don't read very much before you >> That's right.

00:08:08.840 - 00:08:27.240

>> Death. >> Amen. >> Death. So, Adam and Eve were disobedient and they ate of the fruit of the tree and were driven

00:08:27.240 - 00:08:56.180

out of the God. Now, notice the word, "The day you eat of it, you shall surely die." They ate of the fruit, they disobeyed the divine command, and are driven out of the garden where they continue to exist.

00:08:56.180 - 00:09:29.060

They died, and yet they existed. I hope you get that. So all of us under Adam are sentenced to existence east of Eden. It's a life that's plagued with difficulty, disease, disappointment.

00:09:29.060 - 00:09:59.360

existence east of Eden, where we are troubled by what I call the ambiguities of life or human existence. We're troubled by anxieties in this existence east of Eden. We're also troubled by absurdities, ambiguities, anxieties, and absurdities, all part of this

00:09:59.360 - 00:10:43.600

existence east of Eden. It was through Adam that this death came. All of us have received this poisonous thing called sin into our systems. And so, in this experience, the sentence of death that is pronounced on Adam is passed

00:10:43.600 - 00:11:20.600

on to us, and death, says the apostle, reigned from Adam to Moses. Now, it seems that our ancestors had a better understanding of death. we were placed on the stand, so to speak, to become a deacon or preacher, they would ask the question, "How do you know you're a Christian?"

00:11:20.600 - 00:11:56.520

And the ready answer was, "I know I have passed from death into life because I love the brethren." So that was the answer that all candidates would be prepared to give. One asked the question, "Well, what about the sisters?" He said, "Well, I loved them before I passed."

00:11:56.520 - 00:12:22.600

So becoming a Christian is to pass--listen--from death into life. That's what it means to become a Christian. It means to be crucified with Christ. And on the first Sunday when we have candidates, we take them there to the pool, and they are

00:12:22.600 - 00:12:53.100

carried down into the water and they're buried in the water. And that's a symbol of being in Christ because our sins are buried and they are no more. We are to live a new life in Him. And Paul puts it this way, that this is something that we do daily, not something that happened

00:12:53.100 - 00:13:07.740

once upon a time and it's all over. It's something that happens over and over. There is a dying and rising again. There's part of us that dies.

00:13:07.740 - 00:13:32.300

And that is a part of us that arises in the newness of Christ, that new humanity that emerges. That is what happens. And so Paul says, "Dying we live."

00:13:32.300 - 00:13:56.740

Dying. Dying we live. Now, we must put on this newness. It must be something that we put on, and there's also something that we take off.

00:13:56.740 - 00:14:23.900

We're passing, there's a transition. "Thou art to thus returnest" was not spoken of the soul. It has to do with this newness, this new beginning, this first Adam. For Jesus Christ gives to the new convert, to his disciples, the gift of life.

00:14:23.900 - 00:15:00.300

We become alive in him so that there is meaning. This existence that some of us are so concerned with is not one that has meaning. Sure, we all like to ride and find cars and have fine homes, but that doesn't mean that your life has meaning.

00:15:00.300 - 00:15:27.220

Now there are people who were possibly with Enron who would like to exchange places with some poor person today. But to have meaning, to have significance, this is what it means to live our lives. So Paul talks about it again in Colossians when he says that some things we must put

00:15:27.220 - 00:15:41.060

away. The names of fornication, put it away. Indecency, put that away. Lust, put that away.

00:15:41.060 - 00:15:58.060

Evil desires, put it away. Ruthless greed, that's to be put away. Idolatry, the worship of false gods, put that away. Then here's another one.

00:15:58.060 - 00:16:11.860

Do not lie, he says. Now he's writing to early Christians, isn't he? But it's real up to date. It's relevant.

00:16:11.860 - 00:16:31.580

Put it away. Then he says, put on new clothes. Put on compassion. Compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness.

00:16:31.580 - 00:16:44.040

Put that on. Patience. And then he says there must be love to bind all of these good things together.

00:16:44.040 - 00:16:57.320

There has to be love. So Christ gives this new life. We cannot do this in and of ourselves. We cannot do it by ourselves.

00:16:57.320 - 00:17:13.460

He died for us. He came and walked among us. There's one passage that he came and built his tent among men and walked the way we are to walk so that we would know how to live the life.

00:17:13.460 - 00:17:26.960

And he suffered for living that life, which he becomes the model for us. He suffered. He died. So he lived, he died, and was buried.

00:17:26.960 - 00:17:42.280

But he rose again. He rose again. I shall never forget the first time I really understood this. I had received from my mother a gift for Christmas.

00:17:42.280 - 00:17:52.800

It was a child's story of Jesus. And I read it. I could hardly put it down. And I saw all of the things this good man was doing.

00:17:52.800 - 00:18:21.480

And then I came to the end where those evil persons crucified him. But when I read that last chapter that he was raised, God raised him up. Something changed in me. I, for the first time, really understood how God moves into the lives of persons

00:18:21.480 - 00:19:01.000

and gives them that newness. And so we are all, if we are alive in Christ, we are all children of the resurrection. Something has happened to us. Something has radically changed our lives. Something has turned us, caused us to turn around and go in a different direction. and this is the new life we live and we find ourselves pulling off and putting on, living

00:19:01.000 - 00:19:29.320

the life of Jesus Christ. So this is what Paul says is good news because in Adam, the first man, we all die. But in Christ, the second Adam, we all are made alive again. So death ought not come as a surprise.

00:19:29.320 - 00:20:07.140

One man was in Baghdad and he was walking about it and celebrating in the party way and he stumbled upon death. Death said to him, "I have an appointment with you." And so he went as far as he could away from that place,

00:20:07.140 - 00:20:19.960

thinking he could escape death. But when he went to this place, he was moving about among the guests, and he encountered death.

00:20:19.960 - 00:20:40.560

Death said, "I didn't expect to meet you here. I thought I would possibly meet you in Tahiti." But he was surprised by death. But the Christian, the honest to goodness Christian is not surprised by death.

00:20:40.560 - 00:21:01.640

We know that it's in the equation. In other words, the Christian view of history is a straight line, and the straight line has a beginning and an end. So somewhere along the way, there is an end.

00:21:01.640 - 00:21:40.040

We need not mourn the fact that there is an end, but we ought to celebrate the presence of God with us from beginning to end. But when the end comes, that doesn't say that there is a note of finality for the Christian. There is a new beginning, a new beginning. someone has thought of life as being like a spool of thread,

00:21:40.040 - 00:22:05.560

that you've got so much thread on it. And we've used up so much of it already, and we have some more left. But it's going to run out. It's going to run out. But God has arranged that when this earthly existence is over. That when all of the time that we

00:22:05.560 - 00:22:33.860

think of here is gone, that there is more for us, more beyond, because the time that we think of is swallowed up in eternity. And we go on and on and on and on and on and on. not an end. For he that hath Jesus Christ hath eternal life."

00:22:33.860 - 00:22:56.340

So we ought to celebrate. We ought to celebrate. A friend of mine was analyzing my eulogies, and so he said, "Well, you deliver the kind of eulogies that people are dying to hear." [ Laughter ]

00:22:56.340 - 00:23:12.500

>> Amen. >> But we need not become disturbed. I know someday, somewhere, the end will come. And for us, some will have a funeral

00:23:12.500 - 00:23:29.780

in which we have this sort of casket. Some will say, "Well, I want to be cremated. it doesn't make any difference which way it comes, that will not really be the end. Because there is a new beginning. Someday

00:23:29.780 - 00:23:51.800

somewhere, this robe that I'm wearing, I'll have to take off. But when I take it off, I have a new robe that's arranged in glory. I got a robe, you got a robe, all God's children got a And when we get to heaven, we're going to put on our robe, and

00:23:51.800 - 00:24:13.620

we're going to shout all over God's heaven. "Robe." I got shoes. You got shoes. You know, in our early days in this country, we didn't have shoes. And in fact, the army group in Boston that went out to fight made such an outstanding record

00:24:13.620 - 00:24:32.680

the shoes. But I've got shoes arranged. You got shoes. All God's children got shoes. And when we get to heaven, we're going to put on our shoes and shout all over God's heaven. So I'm not worried about where I will be taken, whether it's out

00:24:32.680 - 00:25:02.520

the hillside or evergreen, I won't be there. I won't be I will not be there. I should have gone on to some other place where there is no end. So when this poor lip spring's stammering tongue lies silent in the grave, still in a nobler, sweeter song, I'll sing His praise.

00:25:02.520 - 00:25:27.340

So it's good. So, this is--this is good--the good news concerning death. And what I like about it, Jesus gives us good news concerning--you know why He does? Because He has conquered death. And death is

00:25:27.340 - 00:25:51.900

the last enemy for us. He didn't count them. Death was waiting on when he was born. Herod's men were out looking for him. But some miraculous way, arranged by the Lord God Himself, he escaped him. Then early in his ministry, Death said, "I'll get

00:25:51.900 - 00:26:27.920

him." And so he was a poor widow going to the cemetery. And they Jesus and Jesus just touched the coffin and she was made alive so that when they escaped so they went on to sometime later that was Lazarus Lazarus was sick they said word that he's critically ill and come at once

00:26:27.920 - 00:26:47.040

He spent several days before he got there. And when he got there, he had him raised up. And he said, "Lazarus, come forth." And they said the reason he had to call Lazarus by name,

00:26:47.040 - 00:26:59.080

because if he hadn't called Lazarus by name, all of the people that were in the house would have gotten up. "Come forth, come forth." And Lazarus got up.

00:26:59.080 - 00:27:15.040

Let death didn't give up. They went on and said, I'll get Jesus himself. And the time came where he was crucified, and they buried him. And they put a seal there at the tomb.

00:27:15.040 - 00:27:41.180

Surely we have him now. But early, early, early that Sunday morning, he got up. walk the streets again. So, oh death, where is thy sting? Oh grave, where is thy victory? For the sting of death is sin. But

00:27:41.180 - 00:28:10.580

the gift of God is eternal life. Take a different view of death than that traditional view that's held by people who don't really know Christ and go forth to live, saying that I serve a risen Savior. He's risen. For He walks with me and He talks with

00:28:10.580 - 00:28:39.200

me and He tells me that I belong. He's alive. And the reason I know He's alive, He is alive in my heart. That's a good word for this day. Extend the invitation of the church to come to Jesus, to accept him as the Lord of your life, to walk

00:28:39.200 - 00:28:54.380

with him, to be alive, to really be alive. That's what this What this invitation is all about. Children were talking one with the other, talking about what they wanted to do.

00:28:54.380 - 00:29:02.420

One said, "I want to be a doctor." Another said, "I want to be a teacher." Another, "I want to be a business person." And one said, "I just want to be alive."

00:29:02.420 - 00:29:14.960

And that's really what we're talking about, to be alive in Jesus Christ. What, it's an open door, it's an invitation to accept him as Lord of your life,

00:29:14.960 - 00:29:29.780

to be delivered from death. To eternal life, come. Come, come, come. Oh, wonderful.

00:29:29.780 - 00:29:57.920

Faithful, faithful. ♪ I serve ♪ ♪ The risen Savior ♪ ♪ He's in the world today ♪

00:29:57.920 - 00:30:27.520

♪ I know that He is living ♪ ♪ Whatever men may say ♪ ♪ For I see his hand of mercy ♪ ♪ And I hear his voice of cheer ♪

00:30:27.520 - 00:30:53.040

♪ And just the time I need him ♪ ♪ He's always near ♪ ♪ He lives ♪ ♪ He lives ♪

00:30:53.040 - 00:31:18.100

♪ Christ Jesus lives today ♪ ♪ Oh, I want you to know that he walks with me ♪ ♪ And he talks with me ♪ ♪ A long life's narrow way ♪

00:31:18.100 - 00:31:49.840

♪ Oh, he lives ♪ ♪ He lives ♪ ♪ Salvation to impart ♪ You ask me how I know he lives.

00:31:49.840 - 00:32:19.620

He lives within my heart. ♪ In all the world around me ♪ ♪ I can see his loving care ♪ ♪ And though my heart, my heart grows weary ♪

00:32:19.620 - 00:32:42.680

♪ I never, never, never, never, never will despair ♪ ♪ Oh, 'cause I know, I know that he's leading ♪ ♪ Through all the stormy blast ♪ ♪ And the day of his appearing ♪

00:32:42.680 - 00:33:09.680

♪ Will come, he's gonna come at last ♪ ♪ Oh, he lives, he lives ♪ ♪ Christ Jesus lives today ♪ ♪ Oh, he walks with me ♪

00:33:09.680 - 00:33:38.680

♪ And he talks with me ♪ ♪ Along, along life's narrow way ♪ ♪ He lives, he lives ♪ ♪ Salvation to impart ♪

00:33:38.680 - 00:34:12.840

♪ You ask me how I know he lives ♪ ♪ He lives, he lives ♪ ♪ He lives within my heart ♪ (audience applauding)

00:34:12.840 - 00:34:22.820

[ Applause ]