Lessons #403 and 404
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+ 1. It is best to use this note after you have listened to the lessons because there are +
+ comments given in the actual delivery not in the note. +
+ 2. The Bible abbreviations are as follows: CEV =Contemporary English version, +
+ CEB = Common English Bible, ESV= English Standard Version, +
+ GW = God’s Word Translation, ISV = International Standard Version, +
+ NAB=New English Bible, NASB= New American Standard Bible, +
+ NEB= New English Bible, NET = New English Translation, +
+ NLT = New Living Translations NJB = New Jerusalem Bible, +
+ NJV = New Jewish Bible, TEV = Today’s English Version. +
+AMP = Amplified Bible, UBS = United Bible Society +
+ 3. Notes have not been edited for grammatical errors. +
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Exposition of the Lord’s Supper (1 Cor 11:26-34)
26 For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes. 27 Therefore, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord. 28 A man ought to examine himself before he eats of the bread and drinks of the cup. 29 For anyone who eats and drinks without recognizing the body of the Lord eats and drinks judgment on himself. 30 That is why many among you are weak and sick, and a number of you have fallen asleep. 31 But if we judged ourselves, we would not come under judgment. 32 When we are judged by the Lord, we are being disciplined so that we will not be condemned with the world. 33 So then, my brothers, when you come together to eat, wait for each other. 34 If anyone is hungry, he should eat at home, so that when you meet together it may not result in judgment. And when I come I will give further directions.
The message of this section of 1 Corinthians 11:26-34 that we have been considering for some time now is: You must approach the Lord’s Supper with awe since there are consequences for failing to do so correctly. Our last study focused on the consequences of improper celebration of the Lord’s Supper. The first consequence we considered is being made liable for violating the spirit and significance of the celebration. The second is divine discipline/judgment. We have considered the first evidence of divine discipline/judgment which is sickness or illness. We considered the subject of sickness in detail, suggesting also how to avoid being sick although sickness is inevitable since it is a consequence of the Fall. So, we continue with the second.
The second evidence of divine discipline/judgment due to improper celebration of the Lord’s Supper is the death of some in Corinth as stated in last clause of 1 Corinthians 11:30 and a number of you have fallen asleep.
Apparently, only a few of those that the Lord inflicted with the discipline of sickness/illness for improper celebration of the Lord’s Supper died. We say this because of the word “number.” It is translated from a Greek word (hikanos) that may mean “considerable” in the sense of pertaining to being large in extent or degree as it is used to describe the time Apostles Paul and Barnabas spent preaching the gospel at Iconium as we read in Acts 14:3:
So Paul and Barnabas spent considerable time there, speaking boldly for the Lord, who confirmed the message of his grace by enabling them to do miraculous signs and wonders.
The word may mean “many” in the sense of relatively large numbers as it is used to describe those who were praying in the house of Mary the mother of John the night an angel freed Peter from jail as we read in Acts 12:12:
When this had dawned on him, he went to the house of Mary the mother of John, also called Mark, where many people had gathered and were praying.
In our passage of 1 Corinthians 11:30, the word is used with the sense of “quite a few.” Hence, we should understand that only a few of those who were met with the discipline of sickness/illness that eventually died.
We know that this second evidence of divine discipline/judgment is death because of the verbal phrase have fallen asleep. What does the apostle mean to convey in this verbal phrase have fallen asleep? To begin with, he could not have meant what some say it is, that is, that some in Corinth have fallen asleep spiritually. To see our reason for rejecting this interpretation, we need to examine the verbal phrase closely. The expression “fallen asleep” is translated from a Greek word (koimaō) that may mean “to fall asleep” in a literal sense as the word is used to describe Apostle Peter sleeping in jail in Acts 12:6:
The night before Herod was to bring him to trial, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains, and sentries stood guard at the entrance.
The word may mean “to fall asleep” figuratively in the sense of “to die” as it is used to describe the death of Lazarus by the Lord Jesus as we may gather from John 11:11–12:
11 After he had said this, he went on to tell them, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep; but I am going there to wake him up.” 12 His disciples replied, “Lord, if he sleeps, he will get better.”
The Lord Jesus described Lazarus of having fallen asleep, but the disciples did not understand that He was speaking figuratively so we have a commentary that indicates He meant death, as we read in John 11:13:
Jesus had been speaking of his death, but his disciples thought he meant natural sleep.
The figurative usage of the meaning “to fall asleep” is one that is routinely used to describe the death of believers in Christ. Thus, Apostle Paul used it to describe believers who have died when he wrote this first epistle to Corinthians that we are considering. For example, the apostle used it to convey that some of the believers who were eyewitnesses to the resurrection of Jesus Christ had died at the time he wrote this first epistle to the Corinthians as he stated in 1 Corinthians 15:6:
After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep.
The apostle used the same figurative meaning to describe to the Thessalonians the death of believers who will resurrect in the future in 1 Thessalonians 4:14:
We believe that Jesus died and rose again and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him.
Of course, the Greek word we are considering is outright translated with the meaning “to die” in the passage where Apostle Peter speaks about those who would mock the idea of the second coming of Christ in 2 Peter 3:4:
They will say, “Where is this ‘coming’ he promised? Ever since our fathers died, everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation.”
The sentence our fathers died is literally the fathers fell asleep. In our passage of 1 Corinthians 11:30, the Greek word is used in the sense of “to be dead,” conceived of as being in or entering into the state of sleep.
The last clause of 1 Corinthians 11:30 and a number of you have fallen asleep suggests that many of the Corinthians would not have understood the death of some believers in their local church as due to divine judgment for improper celebration of the Lord’s Supper. It was probably easy for them to conclude that those who died did so because death is that which is natural to all humans. However, the Holy Spirit wanted the Corinthians and so all believers to recognize that although death is natural that there are times when believers would die because of judgment for improper celebration of the Lord’s Supper. There is no way the Corinthians or we would know that some believers died or would die because of improper celebration of the Lord’s Supper. Death of believers because of improper celebration of the Lord’s Supper must be considered as the maximum discipline of God that takes a believer out of this world. The Corinthians probably did not understand this truth because nothing spectacular happened that would cause them to think that some believers that died, did so because of their improper celebration of the Lord’s Supper. Their experience was nothing like what happened in the early church where maximum divine judgment on this planet in form of death was applied to Ananias and his wife, Saphira, for lying to the Holy Spirit. We also are in the same state as the Corinthians were because we rarely think that a believer would have died because of improper celebration of the Lord’s Supper. However, the Holy Spirit through Apostle Paul makes clear that some believers have died, and some will still die because they improperly celebrate the Lord’s Supper. This being the case, we should be careful that we are not one of those who would experience this maximum divine discipline in terms of death. Because of the apostle’s reference to some in Corinth having died because of improper celebration of the Lord’s Supper, it would be appropriate for us to consider the doctrine of death.
DOCTRINE OF DEATH
General statements about death
We begin our consideration of the subject of death with general statements about death that we will elaborate as we proceed in our study of this doctrine. First, death as the termination of life on this planet where the physical body is left behind is a universal phenomenon that that no one escapes barring the return of Jesus Christ when some who are alive would not experience it. The Scripture tells us that no one escapes death, believer, or unbeliever as stated in Ecclesiastes 3:19:
Man’s fate is like that of the animals; the same fate awaits them both: As one dies, so dies the other. All have the same breath; man has no advantage over the animal. Everything is meaningless.
The declaration that no one escapes death is merely a recognition of the fact that death is universal. Certainly, as we have alluded, not everyone will experience death. Believers who are alive when Christ returns will not experience death as the termination of life on this planet as the Holy Spirit communicated through Apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 15:51–52:
51 Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed— 52 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.
That not all believers would experience death as the termination of life on this planet should not be considered unheard of since God has shown that such a thing is possible. He did this through two humans that did not experience death. Enoch did not die as we read in Genesis 5:24:
Enoch walked with God; then he was no more, because God took him away.
That God took Enoch away means that he did not experience death so that his body was left behind in a grave. The human author clarifies for us that taking Enoch away means he did not die as we read in Hebrews 11:5:
By faith Enoch was taken from this life, so that he did not experience death; he could not be found, because God had taken him away. For before he was taken, he was commended as one who pleased God.
The other human that did not experience death in the sense of the body being left behind on this planet is Elijah as we read in 2 Kings 2:11:
As they were walking along and talking together, suddenly a chariot of fire and horses of fire appeared and separated the two of them, and Elijah went up to heaven in a whirlwind.
Second, death in a comprehensive sense is a result of sin. This fact is stated in Romans 5:12:
Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned—
We use the phrase “death in a comprehensive sense” because the word “death” used in this verse is interpreted variously by interpreters. Our concern is not to determine what death meant here so we use our phrase to recognize that there is more than one kind of death.
Third, death in whatever form one thinks of it has been defeated by Jesus Christ’s death on the cross. The Holy Spirit through Apostle Paul asserted this fact in 2 Timothy 1:10:
but it has now been revealed through the appearing of our Savior, Christ Jesus, who has destroyed death and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.
The fact that even believers still die may raise the question as to how we could say that Jesus Christ destroyed death. He destroyed death in the sense that the effects of death in its ultimate impact on believers have been nullified. Thus, death as a concept is like a snake with its head cut off but the body continues to move and twist since it takes a while before the body catches up with the fact that its head has been cut off implying it is dead. Death’s head, so to say, has been cut off but it is still twisting and turning until when Christ returns at that point as the last enemy, death, is put out of commission as we read in 1 Corinthians 15:26:
The last enemy to be destroyed is death.
Anyway, there is more to the defeat of death by Jesus Christ that will be implied as we continue to consider this doctrine of death.
Fourth, there are three general types of death mentioned in the Scripture. There is the physical death, spiritual death, second death. We will consider each of these in detail beginning with physical death.
Physical death
Physical death is the type of death that is commonly recognized by all humans. Some think that it is the end of a person once it occurs, but the Scripture conveys to us that it is that event in which the spiritual part of a human separates permanently from the physical body. Thus, the Scripture describes it differently. It is described in the sense of a person’s breath leaving the body so that the body returns to dust from which it was originally created as we read in Psalm 104:29:
When you hide your face, they are terrified; when you take away their breath, they die and return to the dust.
The verbal phrase return to the dust is literally return to their dust that according to UBS handbook on Psalm should be understood as “the dust they were made of.” The phrase their breath may be translated “their spirit,” or “their life” that God gives to all persons that at physical death is said to return to Him as in Ecclesiastes 12:7:
and the dust returns to the ground it came from, and the spirit returns to God who gave it.
The Scripture describes physical death as sleep. Thus, when Lazarus died, the Lord Jesus described him as asleep in a passage we cited previously but now include a new verse, i.e., John 11:11–13:
11 After he had said this, he went on to tell them, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep; but I am going there to wake him up.” 12 His disciples replied, “Lord, if he sleeps, he will get better.” 13 Jesus had been speaking of his death, but his disciples thought he meant natural sleep.
While it is often the physical death of believers that is described as sleep, but such description applies to unbelievers although unbelievers may not recognize it. It is for this reason that future resurrection of all who have died is described as waking from sleep to experience everlasting life or a life of everlasting contempt, as stated in Daniel 12:2:
Multitudes who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake: some to everlasting life, others to shame and everlasting contempt.
For the believer, physical death is viewed as the destruction of the earthly tent that believer dwells in as we read in 2 Corinthians 5:1:
Now we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands.
The same view of physical death is described by Apostle Peter in 2 Peter 1:13–14:
13 I think it is right to refresh your memory as long as I live in the tent of this body, 14 because I know that I will soon put it aside, as our Lord Jesus Christ has made clear to me.
Anyhow, physical death involves permanent separation of the soul from the body. Thus, there are several facts we need to keep in mind about physical death.
Fact 1, physical death in its finality is an event that is irreversible. It is for this reason that it is described as a journey of no return according to Job 16:22:
“Only a few years will pass before I go on the journey of no return.
After death, the only thing that waits any human is God’s judgment that will take two different forms depending on the individual’s relationship with Christ. We are not at this point concerned with this judgment but to convey that death is irreversible and a journey of no return. The implication is that the concept of reincarnation, that is, that after death people repeatedly return to this life in a lower or higher form, is incompatible with the fact that death is a one-way journey that is described in Job and so a satanic deception. The Scripture is clear that there is only judgment that follows death as we read in Hebrews 9:27:
Just as man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment,
Today, at physical death one either goes to heaven or to hell so there is no way a person who died could return to this world in any form as those who believe in reincarnation assert.
Fact 2, physical death ends all human projects and aspirations. It is for this reason that the wise teacher encouraged people to do their best with their works and aspirations because death brings these to a close as we read in Ecclesiastes 9:10:
Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might, for in the grave, where you are going, there is neither working nor planning nor knowledge nor wisdom.
Fact 3, God has determined the time of physical death for everyone that will undergo it as we read in Job 14:5:
Man’s days are determined; you have decreed the number of his months and have set limits he cannot exceed.
A person could argue that if God had set a limit a person would not exceed that it is possible for a person to die before that limit. The answer is no. This is because the sentence Man’s days are determined should be interpreted to mean that God had decided before hand how long a person would live. This truth is confirmed by the psalmist in Psalm 139:16:
your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book
before one of them came to be.
The assertion that God has determined the time of anyone’s death raises the question of what is often described as premature death. Such concept is complicated by passages that indicate that a person’s life can be lengthened as we read, for example, in Proverbs 10:27:
The fear of the LORD adds length to life, but the years of the wicked are cut short.
This passage and others like it should be interpreted within the clear assertions that God has determined the length of time anyone lives on this planet. So, what these passages mean is that God in His plan has included the activities described as leading to increasing of one’s life in each person’s plan so that when all is said and done the person dies exactly when God had determined. Some have problem accepting that God does not increase or add life to a person beyond His previous plan regarding how long a person would live. This is because of the promise of God through Prophet Isaiah to Hezekiah as we read in 2 Kings 20:6:
I will add fifteen years to your life. And I will deliver you and this city from the hand of the king of Assyria. I will defend this city for my sake and for the sake of my servant David.’”
We considered this passage in our study of prayers so if you want more detailed explanation, I refer you to our exposition on prayer or the book “Exposition on Prayer” (p207ff). Nonetheless, it is our contention that the Lord did not add fifteen years to Hezekiah, but the promise was the way the Lord announced to him that he had fifteen more years left to live on this planet. This is confirmed when the Holy Spirit guided Hezekiah in his thanksgiving to God for healing him, to indicate that for him to have died from his illness would mean that God had cut short his life, as we read in Isaiah 38:10:
I said, “In the prime of my life must I go through the gates of death and be robbed of the rest of my years?”
It is true that there is uncertainty with the meaning of the Hebrew word (pāqǎḏ) translated “robbed” in the NIV or “deprived” in many other English versions. The sense of the sentence is that the Hezekiah would have been deprived the rest of his years. Anyway, we are arguing that God does not add or lengthen anyone’s life so that whenever a person dies, that is the time God intended for the person to die. Therefore, it is improper to speak of premature death of anyone since God had not informed us of how long any individual will live to make such statement.
Fact 4, God is the ultimate cause of death as we may gather from Deuteronomy 32:39:
“See now that I myself am He! There is no god besides me. I put to death and I bring to life,
I have wounded and I will heal, and no one can deliver out of my hand.
We maintain that God is the ultimate cause of death because Satan is an intermediate or immediate cause of death as implied by the power he held prior to the death of Christ on the cross, as we read in Hebrews 2:14:
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—
What does it mean that Satan has power of death? It means that he has the power to kill as well as control over death as far as God permits him. He is God’s agent for bringing about death and so he is not the ultimate cause of death. That is God’s prerogative.
Fact 5, God determines the means of a person’s death. There are those who would die what we call natural death because of old age as was the case with the Patriarchs. Abraham died because of old age as we read in Genesis 25:8:
Then Abraham breathed his last and died at a good old age, an old man and full of years; and he was gathered to his people.
Isaac died also of old age according to Genesis 35:29:
Then he breathed his last and died and was gathered to his people, old and full of years. And his sons Esau and Jacob buried him.
Abraham and Isaac died what we could describe as peaceful because of old age. This peaceful manner of dying was reflected in the death of Jacob. He quietly laid down and he was gone from this planet as we read in Genesis 49:33:
When Jacob had finished giving instructions to his sons, he drew his feet up into the bed, breathed his last and was gathered to his people.
Dying peacefully because of old age is not the only way God has determined for people to die. There are those whom He has determined to die in various ways people could die. Three other ways God had determined for people to die are through diseases, through violence, and through starvation. These three means of death are given in Jeremiah 15:2:
And if they ask you, ‘Where shall we go?’ tell them, ‘This is what the LORD says: “‘Those destined for death, to death; those for the sword, to the sword; those for starvation, to starvation; those for captivity, to captivity.’
The translation of the NIV does not seem to support what we stated because of the sentence Those destined for death, to death. Literally, the Hebrew reads Those who are destined for the plague, to the plague. This is because the word “death” in the NIV is translated from a Hebrew word (māwěṯ) that may mean “death” or “plague, i.e., a pandemic disease that causes death to a population.” The prophet described the ways Yahweh had destined for some of the Israelites to die. Thus, it is better to understand that our Hebrew word is used in the sense of pandemic disease. The NET captured this sense because they translated the sentence of the NIV Those destined for death, to death as Those who are destined to die of disease will go to death by disease. Disease or illness is certainly one of the ways that God uses to bring about physical death. Hence, Prophet Elisha died of illness as we may gather from 2 Kings 13:14:
Now Elisha was suffering from the illness from which he died. Jehoash king of Israel went down to see him and wept over him. “My father! My father!” he cried. “The chariots and horsemen of Israel!”
Death by violent means is usually associated with dying by sword or in our days through gun shot. Although it is not often regarded that way, a person who dies in a car wreck may be considered as dying violently. A person could die violently by falling off from a building as was the case of Eutychus as we read in Acts 20:9:
Seated in a window was a young man named Eutychus, who was sinking into a deep sleep as Paul talked on and on. When he was sound asleep, he fell to the ground from the third story and was picked up dead.
It is true that miraculously God brought him back from the dead through Apostle Paul, but the point is that he died by falling from a building.
We should recognize that the means of death we have mentioned is applicable to all humans – believers and unbelievers. We say this because there are those who think that a believer should not die by the means identified in the Scripture, especially in a violent manner because such individuals incorrectly apply the promise given to Jerusalem in Isaiah 54:17:
no weapon forged against you will prevail, and you will refute every tongue that accuses you. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, and this is their vindication from me,” declares the LORD.
This passage is a promise to God’s people in Jerusalem that no enemy will be able to use weapons successfully against them. It is not a promise that they would not die by a violent means. Anyhow, we contend that a believer could die by the means we have cited. We have already noted that Prophet Elisha died from illness so there should be no doubt that a believer would die through illness. We also have examples of believers who died through a violent means. King Josiah, a faithful believer, and king of Israel, died through a violent means because he was killed in the battlefield as we read in 2 Kings 23:29:
While Josiah was king, Pharaoh Neco king of Egypt went up to the Euphrates River to help the king of Assyria. King Josiah marched out to meet him in battle, but Neco faced him and killed him at Megiddo.
Many Israel’s prophets died through violent means of being stoned to death. Take for example, Zechariah was stoned to death by the order of King Joash who forgot the kindness of Zechariah’s father to him in preserving his life and eventually anointing him the king of Judah. The violent death of Zechariah is stated in 2 Chronicles 24:21–22:
21 But they plotted against him, and by order of the king they stoned him to death in the courtyard of the LORD’s temple. 22 King Joash did not remember the kindness Zechariah’s father Jehoiada had shown him but killed his son, who said as he lay dying, “May the LORD see this and call you to account.”
So, you get the point that a believer could die by illness or violence depending on what the plan of God is for that individual.
We are concerned to make the point that God has determined the manner or means of death of everyone one on this planet. This raises the question of suicide that is a rare event found in the Scripture. The truth is that there is no discussion of suicide in the Scripture although we have examples of suicide in the Scripture. Ahithophel hanged himself as we read in 2 Samuel 17:23:
When Ahithophel saw that his advice had not been followed, he saddled his donkey and set out for his house in his hometown. He put his house in order and then hanged himself. So he died and was buried in his father’s tomb.
Judas Iscariot did the same as we read in Matthew 27:5:
So Judas threw the money into the temple and left. Then he went away and hanged himself.
Although the Scripture does not discuss suicide, but some contend that it is a human being usurping of God’s sovereignty over life. This cannot be the case. If a human being could usurp God’s sovereignty over life, then the implication would be that God is not sovereign in that there is a human being who overrules Him, something unthinkable. Besides, such thinking implies that God’s plan has been thwarted by a human being, again something that is impossible. Thus, the proper understanding of suicide is to consider it as a means in God’s plan for a person to die. The case of Samson proves the point that even suicide is part of God’s plan. How? You may ask. Let us consider first the means of the death of Samson as stated in Judges 16:26–30:
26 Samson said to the servant who held his hand, “Put me where I can feel the pillars that support the temple, so that I may lean against them.” 27 Now the temple was crowded with men and women; all the rulers of the Philistines were there, and on the roof were about three thousand men and women watching Samson perform. 28 Then Samson prayed to the LORD, “O Sovereign LORD, remember me. O God, please strengthen me just once more, and let me with one blow get revenge on the Philistines for my two eyes.” 29 Then Samson reached toward the two central pillars on which the temple stood. Bracing himself against them, his right hand on the one and his left hand on the other, 30 Samson said, “Let me die with the Philistines!” Then he pushed with all his might, and down came the temple on the rulers and all the people in it. Thus he killed many more when he died than while he lived.
There is no gainsaying that Samson committed suicide, but we contend that that is in keeping with the plan of God for him to accomplish God’s purpose. We say this because of the clause of verse 30 Thus he killed many more when he died than while he lived. This clause is in keeping with the God’s declared purpose of using Samson to judge the Philistines as stated in the commentary the Holy Spirit provided when Samson wanted to marry a Philistine woman over the objection of his parents as we read in Judges 14:3–4:
3 His father and mother replied, “Isn’t there an acceptable woman among your relatives or among all our people? Must you go to the uncircumcised Philistines to get a wife?” But Samson said to his father, “Get her for me. She’s the right one for me.” 4 (His parents did not know that this was from the LORD, who was seeking an occasion to confront the Philistines; for at that time they were ruling over Israel.)
If it is God’s plan for Samson to kill the Philistines to fulfill His purpose against the Philistines, it is difficult to see how Samson’s suicide was not a part of God’s plan. Someone may argue that it could not be a part of God’s plan because it is a sin to commit suicide. Yes, it is a sin, but God’s plan includes sins that would accomplish His purpose. This sentence may rattle some believers but before you do so, let me remind you that God included hate in His plan to ensure the Israelites left Egypt as we read in Psalm 105:25:
whose hearts he turned to hate his people, to conspire against his servants.
Hate is a sin, so God include it as part of working out His plan for Israel. This inclusion does not mean that God sins, but He uses it for His purpose. Anyway, it is still our assertion that God determines the means or manner of death of every person. This brings me to the next fact.
Fact 6, the Scripture presents facts that differentiate death of unbelievers from that of believers in the Lord Jesus Christ. Because of this, we will consider the death of unbelievers different from that of believers. We begin with death of unbelievers.
Generally, unbelievers are afraid of death although there are unbelievers who assert that they are not afraid of death. This changes when they indeed face the prospect of death. Nonetheless, the reality is that the natural human is afraid of death. This is confirmed by the declaration of the Holy Spirit through the human author of Hebrews as we read in Hebrews 2:15:
and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death.
This passage supports the point that a natural human fears death. So, if you are a believer that is afraid of dying, it should be a sign to you that you are not spiritual but natural. I mean that you are not living under the control of the Holy Spirit, and you are ignorant of what the Bible teaches about death as it pertains to believers. Our statement is simply to indicate that it is the natural person that is an unbeliever that is or should be afraid of death.
It is not only that unbelievers are afraid of death, but their death is the saddest event in all human history. I describe the death of unbelievers as the saddest event in all human history for several reasons. First, the death of an unbeliever is one in which there is no hope of anything good in the future. Indeed, an unbeliever at time of death is described as not having hope as we read in Proverbs 11:7:
When a wicked man dies, his hope perishes; all he expected from his power comes to nothing.
The phrase a wicked man is a description of an unbeliever. Hope in this passage is translated from a Hebrew word (tiqwāh) that means “expectation, looking forward to, i.e., a confidence in regard to a good and beneficial future.” Such expectation of good things in the future for an unbeliever perishes in the sense that it comes to an end. There is nothing good that awaits such a person as we will note shortly. An unbeliever is in such a state of being without hope because of the second reason we give for describing the death of an unbeliever as the saddest event in all history.
Second, the death of an unbeliever is one that occurs in a state of being without forgiveness of sins. That the death of an unbeliever implies lack of forgiveness of sins is conveyed in what the Lord said to the unbelieving Jews in John 8:24:
I told you that you would die in your sins; if you do not believe that I am the one I claim to be, you will indeed die in your sins.”
Third, the death of an unbeliever means that the individual has immediately entered a state of unimaginable suffering. The Lord Jesus described the state of such a person as that of suffering because of burning in fire as we read in the comparison of the states of Lazarus and the rich man as recorded in Luke 16:22–24:
22 “The time came when the beggar died and the angels carried him to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried. 23 In hell, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side. 24 So he called to him, ‘Father Abraham, have pity on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in agony in this fire.’
Fourth, the death of an unbeliever guarantees that such a person would experience a horrible resurrection. As we have mentioned previously, every human being is going to be resurrected as the Holy Spirit asserted through Apostle Paul as recorded in Acts 24:15:
and I have the same hope in God as these men, that there will be a resurrection of both the righteous and the wicked.
The problem is that the resurrection of unbelievers would continue their suffering since they are the ones that would spend eternity in the lack of fire. The Lord Jesus implied this fact when He spoke of the resurrection of the unbelievers that will lead to their condemnation as narrated by Apostle John in John 5:28–29:
28 “Do not be amazed at this, for a time is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice 29 and come out—those who have done good will rise to live, and those who have done evil will rise to be condemned.
No matter how we look at it, the death of an unbeliever should be recognized as the saddest event in all human history because of the eternal consequence of dying as an unbeliever. The only way an unbeliever could escape such eternal consequence is to believe in the Lord Jesus. Anyway, we are out of time and so we will continue this doctrine of death in our next study.
04/01//22