Many Christians struggle with a fear of physical death. I am convinced that these fears derive from death’s mysterious nature and human imagination. Therefore, it is my goal to provide Believer with some Biblical truths regarding death, thus, reducing it’s mystery… and removing the fear within the Christian.

Truth #1 - DEATH IS AN ENEMY
1 Cor 15:25-26 - 25For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. 26The last enemy to be destroyed is death.

Death is not a romantic idea to be embraced. It is not a heroic act to pursued. It is not humorous experience to be scoffed. It is not a glamourous fashion to be displayed. IT IS AN ENEMY!

Truth #2 - DEATH IS CONQUERED
1 Cor 15:54-57 - 54When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: “Death has been swallowed up in victory.”55″Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?”56The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. 57But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

This is the great hope of the Christian faith. Death is conquered by the power of God. THE ENEMY HAS BEEN DEFEATED!

Truth #3 - CHRISTIANS ARE MORE THAN CONQUERERS
Rom 8:37-39 - 37No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons,[b] neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39neither 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.

We understand that Christ has conquered sin and death, and that He has made all Christian conquerors alonside of him… BUT WAHT DOES IT MEAN THAT WE ARE MORE THAN CONQUERORS?

Truth #4 - DEATH HAS BECOME THE P.O.W. OF THE CHRISTIAN
1 Cor 3:21-23 - 21So then, no more boasting about men! All things are yours, 22whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas[a] or the world or life or death or the present or the future—all are yours, 23and you are of Christ, and Christ is of God.

Don’t miss that point - death is ours!!! It belongs to us just as Christians belong to Christ… as a servant. DEATH IS THE SERVANT OF THE CHRISTIAN!

We are at war. Sin and death are the enemy. The enemy has been defeated. Christ is it’s conqueror. Christians are more than conquerors of death. Death is not complete annihiliated… yet!!! Until it’s annihiliation, we hold it captive. It is our slave… our P.O.W.!!!

Big Question - How does death serve the Christian?
1. As a window allowing us to see Christ
2. As a threshold we cross to embrace Christ
3. As an mirror by which we reflect Christ

NEVER FEAR CHRISTIAN… YOU ARE NOT A SLAVE OF DEATH… IT IS YOUR SERVANT!!!

23″Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices—mint, dill and cumin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former. 24You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel.

Cumin… Who’s ever heard of cumin?

Q. What is cumin?
A. A spice… a seed… a means to add flavor to your food
Q. In what part of the world does cumin originate?
A. Egypt and the Mediterranean
Q. What types of food use a lot of cumin spice?
A. Mexican and Indian

Why would Jesus mention spices like cumin?

Because in Deut 14:22-23 God commanded His people to give a tenth of all their fields produce. Obviously mint, and dill, and cumin would be something that is produced in a field. Therefore, a good Torah-observant Jew would tithe a tenth of each. But seriously… how difficult would it be to count out a tenth of all your cumin seeds? It would be SOOO hard. But the Pharisees prided themselves on meticulously adhering to the OT Law.

THE PHARISEES WERE UNBELIEVABLY COMMITTED TO OBEYING THE MINUTE DETAILS OF THE LAW.

Why did Jesus mention justice, mercy, and faithfulness?

Jesus says that the Pharisees, who were unbelievably committed to obeying the law, missed the “more important matters” of justice, mercy, and faithfulnes… He says the should have practiced the “latter” without neglecting the “former.” In essence, Jesus is setting up 2 clear categories:

1. Former = Tithing a tenth of spices (aka - issues of personal morality )
2. Latter = practicing justice, mercy, faithfulness (aka - issues of changing the world)

PERSONAL MORALITY MATTERS, BUT SO DOES THE SUFFERING OF THE WORLD

Why does Jesus conclude with gnats and camels?

Because in Lev 11:21-23 God told His people that they were NOT to eat gnats… so the Pharisees would go to great lengths to keep them out of their food. However, a few verses prior in Lev 11:4 God also told His people that camels were off limits…

What is the point of all this?

The camel is bigger than the gnat… DUH!!!

Camel = neglecting justice, mercy and faithfulness
Gnat = practicing tithes of mint, dill, and cumin

IT IS A BIGGER DEAL TO NEGLECT THE SUFFERING OF THE WORLD THAN IT IS TO PRACTICE PERSONAL MORALITY

TODAYS CHRISTIANS ARE MUCH LIKE THE PHARISEES - WE DO A PRETTY GOOD JOB OF PRACTICING PERSONAL MORALITY… BUT WHAT WOULD IT LOOK LIKE IF FOLLOWERS OF JESUS BECAME MORE CONSUMED WITH CARING FOR THE WORLD? WHAT IF WE STARTED LIVING OUT JUSTICE, MERCY, AND FAITHFULNESS? WHAT IF OUR CHRISTIAN FOCUS BECAME OUTWARD RATHER THAN INWARD?

to be a follower of Christ??? to obey God’s will??? to be a person of faith???

Hebrews 11:32-38
32And what more shall I say? I do not have time to tell about Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel and the prophets, 33who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised; who shut the mouths of lions, 34quenched the fury of the flames, and escaped the edge of the sword; whose weakness was turned to strength; and who became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies. 35Women received back their dead, raised to life again. Others were tortured and refused to be released, so that they might gain a better resurrection. 36Some faced jeers and flogging, while still others were chained and put in prison. 37They were stoned; they were sawed in two; they were put to death by the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated— 38the world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, and in caves and holes in the ground.

Have we been mislead into believing that the Christian life should be one of happiness, pleasure, and success???

HMM… In don’t know about you, but I often find myself desiring a “better” life… or at least an easier one: My desire for money and wealth is sometimes consuming - buy better house… drive better car… more investments… STUFF!!! My felt need for human recognition can be overwhelming… reward me… mention my name… notice what I did… AFFIRM ME!!! and an easy lifestyle quickly becomes something I deserve and expect…

but should this be the expectation of a person of faith in Christ??? It seems that Hebrews 11 (aka - the Hall of Faith) depicts the life and death of the faithful with terms of tragedy, difficulty, torture, and pain… this is not what I expect for the person who is a “good Chrstian”… To my knowledge, none of my modern day “role models” have experienced such difficulty… and when “tragedy” strikes someone who I hold in high spiritual regard, I respond with words like - “that’s terrible” or “no way” or “how awful”…

But maybe suffering is the mark of the faithful… not money… or maybe the faithful are those who couple suffering with endurance… not those who write the best-selling books…

I think I need some new modern day hero’s… Bring on the martyrs!!!

Romans 6:1-2a
1What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? 2By no means…

Main Entry: 1loop·hole
Pronunciation: ‘lüp-”hOl
1 a : a small opening through which small arms may be fired
b : a similar opening to admit light and air or to permit observation
2 : a means of escape
b:an ambiguity or omission in the text through which the intent of a statute, contract, or obligation may be evaded

When I was in college, I remember talking to this guy one time… and in a somewhat drunken frat-boy sort of tone, he told me that he was about to cheat on his girfriend… He spoke in a bragadocious type voice as if I he was going to impress me or something… Interesting I thought - Pre-meditated infidelities… He proceded to tell me that his girlfriend would probably find out, but he didn’t really care… So i asked him why he would do such a thing… To which he replied - “it’s no big deal… She loves me and she’ll take me back”… “so why not just break up with her and save her some serious heartache and yourself a bunch of hassle” I retorted… “Well, I love and all…” he responded along with a bunch other mindless babble…

HMM… Who would be foolish enough to believe that this guy actually loved his girlfriend???

Then I started thinking about how I say that I love God all the time… Then I started remembering that there have been times in my life when I have intentionally ignored the conviction of the Holy Spirit before engaging in various types of sin… Then I recalled thinking things like “it’s OK, God forgave all my sin when He died on the cross…” Then I realized that I can be just like the guy in the story above…

The cross isn’t a loophole for sin…

Romans 12:19 - Dear friends, never avenge yourselves. Leave that to God. For it is written, “I will take vengeance; I will repay those who deserve it,” says the Lord.

So today I was in my normal fast forward mode… Trying to rush from one place to the next… Trying to multi-task and be as efficient as possible… In the midst of my hurries, I decided to carry my backpack, my laptop bag, and a handful of books all the while shouldering my cell phone up to my ear to carry on an important conversation… you know, I was trying to be efficient and all… and to make a long story short, while attemping to get my keys out of my right pocket, I ended up dropping everything at once… books on the ground… backpack contents strewn about… laptop nearly deceased… and cell detached from battery…

These types of situations really tend to bring out my evil twin - JaySIN!!! Holding back the cursing and evil wishes upon all my aforementioned goods, I started laughing out loud… This was ironic considering the fact that tonight at SUMMIT I was teaching a lesson called “luggage” which addresses the effects of holding on to the “baggage” from our past…

Let’s be honest… We’ve all been hurt, right??? Some of us very deeply… We all have those situations and memories that burn within our minds and hearts… We all have those people who we feel like we can’t forgive… but God commands us to forgive… to love our enemies… to bless those who curse us… to let Him take vengence… but this is much easier said than done… What about the victims of rape, molestation, and abuse??? What about those who have been betrayed by good friends or cheated on by a spouse??? Forgiveness doesn’t seem to come so easily…

And we end up carrying around the emtional and spiritual luggage for days, weeks, months, years… and eventually a lifetime… It’s like it becomes a part of us… It begins to define our existence… It’s like we can’t have one conversation without bringing it up… It affects the way we treat the one’s we love…

We think we can never let it go… and we don’t want to let it go…

But what if God said that to us???

If vengeance belongs to God, then why do we try to keep it in our own hands or heads or minds… Can we really do His job better than Him???

May we forgive as we’ve been forgiven… May we set someone free and find that it was us who have been released… May we live a life free of baggage and all the other junk we carry around…

So today I was reading Ezekiel 36 which constantly refers to the “mountains of Israel”… While reading, I realized that I really had no idea what was meant by this phrase… So, I decided to engage in a little researchment…

Turns out that the “mountains of Israel” are none other than the modern day West Bank - the hot point of conflict between Israelis and Palestinians… Very interesting that Ezekiel 36 clearly points out that the nation of Israel will eventually inhabit and enjoy the blessings of the West Bank… Doesn’t yet seem to be the case, but it makes me wonder when this prophecy will be fulfilled… Perhaps in our lifetime…

Of course, I claim to be no expert in prophecy or world affairs, so any clarifying thoughts are welcome…