Death and the Intermediate State

[00:00:00] Okay, so today we're starting in a new section. [00:00:10] And so in this new category, this isn't kind of going along with what Anthony did, but this is kind of going back to what we were doing before with theology. [00:00:21] We're going to cover some heavier topics. I think there's some equally really encouraging topics that we can cover. But some of the topics we're going to cover are things like death. [00:00:32] And so I know that's going to be difficult. [00:00:35] I don't know if you've thought much about death. We don't typically like to do that, but sometimes we do. [00:00:42] But I do think it can be healthy for us to do that. [00:00:45] So I'm going to encourage you even when it's difficult to think about it, because we have to grapple with the reality of death, because it's just part of life, and it's part of life because of our sin. [00:00:58] If it were not for sin, we would not have this problem. But we do, and so we're going to deal with it. [00:01:06] So, you know, along the way, if you have questions, whether about something specific in your life, about something that I've said or haven't said, you can ask questions or you can write them and save them for the end, whatever you prefer. But feel free to ask whatever you would like. [00:01:22] But let's start with the review before we jump on in. [00:01:26] So first, what is theology? [00:01:30] Yes. [00:01:32] Yeah. The study of God and how to be more like Him. So hopefully we can see even in these topics, how we knowing God will help us to know Him. And if we are studying him through faith, he can make us more like His Son, Christ. [00:01:48] So that's theology. Now, what doctrines have we studied? So we've studied a lot of lessons. We've studied 43 over the last couple of years or so. [00:01:57] But I'm thinking the big categories that they fit under. What are those big categories that we've studied? [00:02:07] Yeah, yeah. The doctrine of the Church was the last one we did. [00:02:12] That's right. [00:02:14] Did we do the doctrine of salvation? We did. We did. Salvation. [00:02:22] What else? Some of you weren't even here when we started. You might be able to guess, but yeah, wasn't it. [00:02:33] Doctrine of God? That is one, yeah. So we would talk about the Trinity and his attributes. Yeah, that's the theme of church camp this week, actually. [00:02:51] Well, that's fun. [00:02:53] Mmm. Unsettling. [00:02:57] No, it's not. Mice. That's like something on the roof. It's probably a squirrel. Anyway. So we've got God, church, salvation. Anyone remember anything else? It's okay. They kind of get spread out. [00:03:09] Right before church, we did salvation. [00:03:13] We also talked about the doctrine of the Word. That was the very first one. So we talked about what is the Bible and what are the attributes of the Bible. We talked about creation, so creation in general, the creation of man with the creation of angels, those sorts of things. [00:03:31] We talked about Christ specifically. So we talked about his person, who he is, his being, and then also what Christ does and did, so his works. We talked about the Holy Spirit. If you remember, we had the doctrine of the Holy Spirit not that long ago. [00:03:46] We talked about mankind and sin as well. So the doctrine of man, anthropology, sin. Hamartiology is the fun word. And then we did salvation in the church. So that's all of them. Now, what do you think is left? There's only one left. Does anybody know what it could be? [00:04:07] Do you have a guess? [00:04:10] Doctrine of lasting things. [00:04:12] Not lasting. Well, I mean, they're lasting, but does it say lasting? [00:04:16] Okay, okay. I could have typed. Very good. You used the handout. That's great. The doctrine of last things. There's another word for that that you may have heard. You don't have to remember it, but if you hear it, it would be helpful to know. Does anyone know what it is? [00:04:29] Yeah, eschatology. That's right. It's called eschatology. [00:04:32] Again, you don't have to know that word, but if you ever hear it, maybe you can remember. [00:04:37] It has to do with last things. [00:04:40] So the study of last things, study of the end, People think of it as study of the end times. [00:04:46] Last things is kind of a translation of the word, the eschatology. [00:04:51] So we're starting with death and the intermediate state. We know what death is. It's likely that many of us have no idea what this intermediate state is, but nonetheless, we're going to talk about them both. So here's kind of the summary and definition of those. [00:05:04] So death, which is a penalty for sin, is the cessation or the ending, the cessation of the functioning of the body and its temporary separation from the soul. So death, which is a penalty for sin, is the cessation, the ceasing of the functioning of the body and its temporary separation from the soul. Body and soul separate. [00:05:30] Death is not the end of all existence as the disembodied person continues to exist in the intermediate state until the resurrection. [00:05:41] So just there it's. We're kind of seeing this intermediate state is something between death and the resurrection, when Christ returns and everyone is resurrected. What happens in between your death, whenever that is, and this resurrection, that's called the intermediate state. [00:05:57] So we'll talk about that. But the first affirmation we're going to make, so point number one is that death is unnatural. [00:06:04] Death is unnatural. [00:06:06] And to see this, we're going to go to Genesis chapter two. [00:06:12] Death is unnatural. Genesis two. [00:06:19] We're going to look at verses 16 through 17. [00:06:29] All right, so Genesis 2, 16, 17 says, so this is a creation account in chapter two. [00:06:38] And the Lord God commanded the man, that's Adam saying, you may surely eat of every tree of the garden, but of the tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, you shall not eat. For in the day that you eat of it, you shall surely die. [00:06:53] So what's happening here? There's a command. What's the command? [00:07:00] Yeah, don't eat the fruit from the tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. And if you do what happens, you will surely die. So since the punishment of sinning was death, so that was the punishment. You do this, you will die. [00:07:12] That means. It must mean that death was not a reality for them until that point. If they were going to die anyway. It's kind of an odd punishment. You will die anyway. But they were not going to die until they sinned. So that means that death only came after man sinned, which makes it unnatural. [00:07:36] So when I'm saying unnatural, I just mean anything that is contrary to our nature. How God originally intended his creation to operate. [00:07:45] So however he intended it to work, however he created it, that's natural. [00:07:49] Whenever something goes against that, that is unnatural. And if God intended his people to dwell with him forever, that's natural. Death is not natural. We often talk of it like that, and it's a certainty. But I don't think it's proper for us to call it natural. [00:08:05] Sin is unnatural. It was not intended. Death is unnatural. [00:08:11] We are created to live. [00:08:13] So when our physiological functioning ceases, that is unnatural. [00:08:20] It makes sense that we grieve and are sad when loved ones die, because this is not normal. This is not how it's intended to be. [00:08:28] So death is not what we are meant for, and it is not the end. And so I think that's a note of hope. This is not what you were intended to do. [00:08:40] If we think of ourselves without a view of God and any hope in Christ and the resurrection, then we're kind of left with, well, a hopeless disposition. We kind of are left thinking, well, you're born, you grow up, you get old, you die, and that's it. That's the end. [00:08:58] Well, that is a sad message if you believe that, but it's not the end. [00:09:04] And so there is hope knowing that we are meant for more than death. Death is not the end, the goal or the purpose of humanity. [00:09:13] And so the error number one that we should avoid is, is that we must not think of death as natural. [00:09:19] We shouldn't think of death as natural. [00:09:22] Sometimes people do this. Well, we do this in a number of ways. Sometimes we might say that word and maybe they don't necessarily mean it. And so we don't need to harp on people for using, saying death is natural. So a lot of times people just mean it's normal, it's expected, it's going to happen, but we don't want to think it's truly natural. [00:09:39] But sometimes people treat it as natural by treating death as a good thing that we just need to embrace. [00:09:46] I think we should think about it and have an idea of death, but it's not something that we need to think is good and something to embrace. This is especially relevant for discussions regarding an ethical issue which is physician assisted suicide. [00:10:03] Something that's gaining more and more popularity in the western world, including our country, but especially in Canada. [00:10:11] It is legal in some states, completely legal in Canada. [00:10:17] So what this means is a doctor will administer a lethal dose of a drug upon someone's request to kill them. [00:10:25] Again, it's legal in many places in Canada. They call it maid. [00:10:29] I think this reveals a lot. It's called medical aid in dying and it's sometimes nicknamed good death. They ask people if they want a good death. [00:10:39] And I think even just in this calling this good death kind of reveals a measure of coping, coping with something that's difficult and trying to play God and take matters into our own hands. [00:10:53] Because in reality we know that death isn't right. [00:10:57] This is not something that we should pursue on our own means we should live because God gave us life and we should live until he takes it away. [00:11:08] And so I hope you now and always see that this is really a disturbing way to think of death. [00:11:14] And it, you know, it may not seem relevant to you now, maybe it does, but I unfortunately think it will be. That's why I bring it up. [00:11:22] So that's the first thing we don't want to think is death is natural. The first application then is to contemplate the inevitability of death. So at the same time we want to contemplate and think about it. Not always, you know, there is a measure of kind of a healthy balance. If you're always thinking of death. That might be unhealthy, but we need to realize that death cannot be avoided. [00:11:45] Now why can't death be avoided? [00:11:48] Anyone know? [00:11:51] Yeah, yeah. The wages of sin is death. We are going to die. God promised that we would die, and so we all die. [00:11:59] So whoever that guy is that thinks he cannot die, he is going to die because of sin. [00:12:04] While death is not good, reality is a reminder of us of our sin. [00:12:09] Death is a reminder of us of our need for Jesus. And death reminds us of our mission as Christians to evangelize the lost. And it makes that mission more urgent because people are dying now. Main point number two then is that death is the separation of the material and the immaterial. So death is the separation of the material and the immaterial. To see this, we're going to go to Philippians 1. [00:12:41] It's way on the other side of the Bible. Philippians 1. [00:12:51] Give you a second to get there. We'll read verses 21:24. [00:13:01] So I'm going to read Philippians 1, 21 24. I want you to be thinking, what does Paul teach us about death here? [00:13:08] Philippians 1:21 24. [00:13:12] For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. [00:13:15] If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me. Yet which I shall choose, I cannot tell. I am hard pressed between the two. My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better. But to remain in the flesh is far more necessary on your account. [00:13:34] So just in that short little passage, what does he teach us about death? [00:13:47] It's good in the sense that you will be with Christ. [00:13:51] Yeah, there is something good about it to the point where you can't tell what would be better, to live or to die and be with Christ. [00:14:00] Anything else? [00:14:08] Let's look at it together. I think there's a little bit more here because we see Paul saying that when the body dies, we don't cease to exist. [00:14:21] He says, to live is Christ, to die is gain. So he gains something in death. [00:14:27] And when he departs or dies, he gets to be with Christ. So the body dies, but the believer goes on to live with the Lord Jesus. [00:14:36] So the material, and when I say the material, I mean the body. The material will be separated from the immaterial, the soul. The body will die and the soul will not. The soul goes on to live even after the body dies. [00:14:52] That's important to remember. [00:14:54] So death is not the end. The soul lives on. Now the souls of believers and Unbelievers go to different places when they die, and we'll kind of look at that in a minute. But for now, it's sufficient to understand that our souls are separated from our bodies death. [00:15:10] Now go back a Couple books to 2 Corinthians 5. [00:15:17] Just be a little to the left in your Bible. 2 Corinthians 5. And we're going to look at the first five verses of that chapter. [00:15:28] Second Corinthians 5:1:5 says, for we know that if the tent that is our earthly home is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For in this tent we groan, longing to put on our heavenly dwelling, if indeed by putting it on, we may not be found naked. [00:15:53] For while we are still in this tent, we groan being burdened, not that we would be unclothed, but that we would be further clothed so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. [00:16:07] He who has prepared us for this very thing is God who has given us the Spirit as a guarantee. [00:16:13] So when Paul says he's talking about a tent, what is he talking about? [00:16:19] Hint. It's not a tent. [00:16:22] Our earthly bodies. Yes, your physical body, your current physical body that you all have right now. [00:16:29] And when he refers to being found naked, what does he mean then? [00:16:38] Yeah, bodyless, Right. [00:16:41] Your soul living. But your body has died. They have been separated, and now you are naked. You have no tent or clothing. He's maybe mixing metaphors a little bit. [00:16:53] You are naked, you are without a body. [00:16:56] So the way this works out is this, because I understand this passage has a lot of jargon and can be a little confusing, but people die, their souls live on, either in glory or in a prison of spirits. [00:17:09] They will then be resurrected. [00:17:12] So the souls live on either one of those places, and then they will be resurrected. And at the resurrection, when Christ returns, believers are given new glorified bodies that will live on forever. [00:17:23] How we were created to exist, the natural way for us to live. That's why Paul says the goal isn't that we would be unclothed. It's not to get rid of this body. [00:17:35] Sometimes we hate our bodies. We have negative understanding of our bodies. Our bodies are affected by sin, but the body itself is not what is evil. [00:17:46] Having a body is actually good. God intended it, and that's why he gives us new bodies in heaven if we are in the faith. [00:17:55] So though being found naked after death, being found naked after death, or being found without a body is better than being in the sinful world, Paul is saying it's still not as good as being clothed in a perfected body. [00:18:09] So basically, what state is best? Well, the final one, it's best to be with the Lord in a glorified heavenly body that lives forever. [00:18:20] But is being without a body with the Lord better in some sense than living in the sinful world? Yes, that too. It's good, but not as good. There is something even better in store when Christ returns, and that's when everyone is resurrected and given those bodies. [00:18:39] So this kind of leads us to another error we want to avoid. So error number two, we must not deny existence after death. [00:18:50] So whether you're a believer or not, we do not. We must not, do not deny existence after death, because you will exist after death forever, no matter who you are. [00:19:00] We don't exist in the same space, but we exist nonetheless. [00:19:05] Now, there are a couple of misconceptions about this period. [00:19:09] What happens when we die? [00:19:12] So the first thing to note is that we do not become angels. [00:19:17] You know, Southern movies and other things like that might kind of depict it this way. We talk about people getting their wings or their halos, but angels are separate, created beings. They were created as angels. That's why they're active all through human history. [00:19:34] And God created humans special. They are different from angels. [00:19:38] Angels even long to understand the salvation God has in store for humans. So we don't become angels. That actually would not be a step up. [00:19:48] That's not what happens. We also do not communicate with loved ones. They don't communicate with us because the point is not that we can talk to someone who's in heaven, our loved one. [00:19:59] When someone dies, we might long to see them and speak with them. And it's difficult to accept that we can't communicate. [00:20:07] But instead of trying to talk to them, we should be driven to pray to God and talk to him. Pray to him, not our past family members or friends. So though they continue to exist, they are either in glory or in prison. If they're in glory, they're worshiping the Lord. [00:20:24] And so we should pray to God. [00:20:27] But we should also recognize again that they still exist. [00:20:31] And that can be heavy, especially for those of us, probably many of us, who have loved ones that did not believe in the Lord when they died. [00:20:41] And so that brings us to our third point, that death is different for believers and unbelievers. [00:20:48] Death is different for believers and unbelievers. [00:20:53] Here we can stay in this same part of the Bible. Look at 2 Corinthians 5, 8, a few verses Down. [00:20:59] Paul says, yes, we are of good courage and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord. What does this mean? [00:21:17] Anyone? What does that mean? [00:21:22] That we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord. [00:21:30] We would prefer to be in heaven than here on earth. [00:21:34] Yes, yes. It's kind of what we just talked about. [00:21:38] It is better. [00:21:40] There is something wonderful about what happens for believers after death. [00:21:45] It's not all negative. You know, that being separated from the body gives you a sense of nakedness, as Paul says. [00:21:53] But it is good. It is something he would rather do. If someone is in Christ, it is good even if they to be absent from the body because they get to be with the Lord. [00:22:05] Now, kind of on the. The flip side, and I guess even for both ends, Jesus tells a parable that I think gives us an image of what this looks like for both believers and unbelievers. [00:22:15] Though since it's a parable, I don't think. I don't think we should assume it looks exactly like this. [00:22:20] But I think this is a good way to understand what happens to people when they die. So go to Luke 16. [00:22:33] It's going to be the last section of Luke 16. [00:22:49] So in Luke 16, he's selling this parable. [00:22:53] The poor man, Lazarus was godly, the rich man was wicked. And then look at verse 22 we read. [00:23:01] The poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham's side. [00:23:07] The rich man also died and was buried. [00:23:10] And in Hades or hell, being in torment, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham far off and Lazarus the poor man, at his side. [00:23:21] And he, the rich man, 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 am in anguish in this flame. [00:23:34] But Abraham said, child, remember that you in your lifetime received your good things, and Lazarus in like manner, bad things. But now he is comforted here, and you are in anguish. [00:23:46] And besides all this between us and you, a great chasm has been fixed in order that those who had passed away from here to you may not be able, and none may cross from there to us. [00:23:58] And he said, then I beg you, 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. [00:24:07] But Abraham said, they have Moses and the prophets, let them hear them. [00:24:11] And he said, no, Father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent. [00:24:16] And he said to him, if they do not hear Moses and the prophets. Neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead. [00:24:24] Now, of course, this is a difficult passage for us think about. A lot of times it can be hard. We might even wonder, why can't he send someone from the dead to convince this guy's family to repent? [00:24:39] But the point is exactly right. Even if someone should rise from the dead, if they don't listen to the word, they will not repent. This is proven later in the book of Luke when Jesus rises from the dead. And yet people are still hardened. [00:24:54] So what should we take from this? [00:24:57] Well, so the righteous are comforted and at God's side when they die, but the wicked will be in torment. [00:25:05] And this brings to mind two errors to avoid. [00:25:09] The first is we must not believe in something called soul sleep. [00:25:14] Soul sleep? [00:25:16] This idea teaches that we're just unconscious until Christ returns. A lot of people do believe this, but if we take this idea, Jesus parable makes really no sense. [00:25:27] And what Paul wrote in Philippians and Second Corinthians about being at home with the Lord also makes no sense. And so there's no biblical basis to believe in soul sleep. But some people do nonetheless. But I don't think we should. [00:25:39] And then error number four, we must not believe in purgatory. [00:25:45] P U R G A T O R Y Purgatory is a Roman Catholic invention, and it's supposedly the place where you burn off all the remaining sin that you have so that you can enter into heaven. So all the sin that you've not covered up, you got to burn it off, literally in a pseudo hell, until you can enter heaven. [00:26:09] There is nowhere this is taught in the Bible at all either. So I don't have a lot of biblical evidence because it's just not there. You'd probably even think that Jesus or Paul would have at least mentioned it in some of these passages if it was a thing. So it'd be curious why they wouldn't mention it as well. It kind of brings to mind this question. [00:26:27] If we have to burn off our sins in purgatory, what was the cross for? What did Christ do? [00:26:34] Now, Roman Catholic will have an answer to that, but I don't think they have a good answer for it. [00:26:39] But still, there are a couple of applications we can draw from these passages. So application number two, we must be able to face the death of believers. And thankfully in this case, we can do this with joy. [00:26:52] Getting to go to even a funeral of a faithful person is something that is remarkably happy. It's happy, maybe in a sorrowful way, but it kind of brings joy to the heart. [00:27:06] Joy can and is often mixed with sorrow. So we shouldn't be surprised with this. There's nothing wrong with that either. It's not wrong to grieve and cry when a loved one dies. But if that person was truly in the faith and lived that faith out, then I think we can have confidence that he or she is at home with the Lord, like the poor man. Lazarus application number three. Then we must be able to face the death of unbelievers. [00:27:33] This is much harder, especially if we are close to them. [00:27:36] There are many unbelievers who die and even those who claim to be believers but show no evidence in their whole lives. [00:27:44] These deaths are much more solemn and sorrowful because we know where they are. We know they're suffering. [00:27:53] That's a hard pill to swallow, especially for our loved ones. But we must use that as an opportunity to. [00:28:00] For a few things. First, to examine our own lives so we can wallow in that we can cry out at God that it's not fair. But I think we need to look and examine our own lives and ask yourself, do you believe wholeheartedly in the Lord Jesus christ as the forgiver of all your sin? [00:28:21] Do you live your life completely for the Lord? [00:28:25] Are you putting it off until a later date? [00:28:28] Death can come suddenly. You should not do that. [00:28:32] Another question you can ask when you're struggling with the death of a loved one who apparently did not really believe. [00:28:38] Do you know anyone who, if he or she died, would join the rich man in torment? [00:28:46] You probably do. [00:28:48] I'm positive. We all do. [00:28:51] So while you can, you can minister to that person, you can build relationships and leverage those to share the gospel with people. [00:29:02] Because this reality, it is what it is. It is the punishment that we actually all deserve for our sin, for sinning against God. [00:29:11] And so again, we need to move to action. [00:29:14] If our hearts break for someone who we know is suffering, we need to go and do what we can faithfully to help others hear the good news of the gospel so that they can repent and believe in the Lord. [00:29:30] Now, the last main point is that death ends at the resurrection. [00:29:36] So death ends. It ends at the resurrection. For this, I want to go to 1 Corinthians 15, pretty close to the end of 1 Corinthians 15, close to the end of that book. [00:29:54] Give you a second to get there. We're going to look at 1 Corinthians 15, 51, 54. [00:30:09] As Paul says, 1 Corinthians 15:51. Behold, I tell you a mystery. [00:30:15] We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. [00:30:24] For the trumpet will sound and the dead will be raised. Imperishable. [00:30:29] And we shall be changed. For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality. [00:30:41] When the perishable puts on the imperishable and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written, death is swallowed up in victory. [00:30:53] So there's a lot of imagery here. So let's just get a couple things straight so we can see the glory and the encouragement of this for believers. So what? Does anyone know what perishable means? [00:31:05] What does that mean? Yes, Strawberries. [00:31:09] Strawberries are perishable, but that's not the definition of perishable. Yes. Like, they rot, I guess. Yeah. It can. It can be corrupt, you know, it can spoil. It can. What? [00:31:25] Yeah. Wait, what, like strawberries do? Yes. I wasn't asking for an example of something perishable. I was asking what it means. [00:31:32] Strawberries fit under the big umbrella of perishable. [00:31:37] Imperishable is the opposite. [00:31:39] It does not decay or rot or see corruption. [00:31:43] So that that definition might be helpful. [00:31:47] When the trumpet sounds. What is. What does this refer to? The trumpet sounds? There are other passages that use this, talking about a trumpet. [00:31:57] There are many trumpets in Revelation. But, yeah, yeah, I think we see this in first Thessalonians, it might be second. [00:32:05] The trumpet is announcing the return of Christ. So when the trumpet sounds or when Christ returns, that is, when the dead are raised. And those alive, too, will still be alive, but their perishable bodies are bodies that will rot and decay when. And if we die, if we don't die before he comes back. If we were to die, they would rot, they would see corruption, they would disappear. Over time, those will go away and will be clothed in immortal bodies, those glorified bodies we talked about earlier. [00:32:47] And it is in doing this that death is swallowed up in victory. [00:32:53] So the punishment of death that we will all see, unless the Lord comes before we die, that death goes away. [00:33:02] It's defeated because of what Christ has done and because he takes away our bodies that are dying and gives us bodies that will not die. [00:33:11] And only he can do that. [00:33:13] He did this himself. [00:33:15] He died and came to life and lives in this same kind of flesh. God the Son lives in the flesh, in a body that does not corrupt, that does not perish, because he has defeated and had victory over death. [00:33:30] And so this is wonderfully encouraging, I think, because through faith we can have that same life. We can have that same kind of body that clothes God the Son, and that's a wonderful privilege. [00:33:42] To be in glory when we die is wonderful. But how much better to be clothed in a beautiful, righteous body and in glory forever as well as we are intended not or without sin, without sorrow, without death, without illness. All of those things gone, but only Jesus. [00:34:06] And so this is why we should trust in the Lord, if we. If we have not, because only he can do this for us. And this is why, if you have, you must tell others this good news and you must see what's holding them back. What don't they believe? Not just to share a script of the gospel, but kind of to see why does someone not believe? You know, people here largely have heard the name of Jesus or some elements of the gospel, but do they misunderstand something? Is there some aspect about God or salvation that someone just doesn't believe? [00:34:38] Ask questions and find what holds people back and talk about that. [00:34:43] That'd be a great way to share the gospel with others. Are there any questions about this? [00:34:50] Oh, you have a question? [00:34:51] What is being referenced in First Corinthians 15:55? 55. [00:35:04] Oh, the quote's from Isaiah 25. [00:35:11] Any other questions? [00:35:15] Cool. Well, let's pray and then we can go worship with the church. Father, thank you for your word. God, please help us to contemplate death in a healthy way. Lord, may we not obsess over it, but may we, through faith in your Son, be able to look death in the face without fear. [00:35:33] Instead, to give us utter confidence, because our Lord and Savior Jesus christ has had victory over death. [00:35:41] Lord, give us boldness and the ability to faithfully preach the gospel to others, to help counsel others through questions that they might have, so they too would not see death. They would not reap something perishable, but they would be clothed in immortality along with us. We pray this in Christ's name. Amen.