To: Hebraic-Foundations@yahoogroups.com
From: "Pastor Buddy Martin" <Bro.Buddy@ChristianChallenge.org>
Date: Tue, 29 Apr 2003 13:57:10 -0500
Subject: [HF] Bible Study HF079
- The Death of the Righteous
Hebraics,
In this study I will include a Talmudic reference involving the death
bed experience of one of the earliest rabbis. This particular rabbi
lived both before and after the destruction of the temple in 70 AD.
This means he was well acquainted with Christians. At the same
time he rejected Jesus as the Messiah of Israel. His death bed
experience is one of great sorrow.
However, the primary emphasis of the study is to explain what
Jesus meant, when He said, "He who hears My word, and believes
Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into
judgment, but has passed out of death into life." (John
5:24)
This is Bible Study HF079 - The Death of the Righteous.
First a personal note -- My Martin lineage came to Louisiana in
1804. My g-g-g-grandfather was a revolutionary soldier. He was
Methodist. As far back as I am able to trace, my people have been
Christians. We have produced more than our share of preachers.
When my g-grandfather died, my granddad prepared a homemade
headstone for him. My granddad wanted it to carry a Christian
testimony to the living to read. So the headstone reads:
"Remember friend, as you pass by, as you are now, so once was I.
As I am now, you soon shall be. Prepare my friend to follow me."
His message to the living was to prepare for eternity. But what
happens when a person is not really prepared to die? That is a bad
time to try and find out what life has been about. Life and death are
not games we play. Living is serious business. Dying is serious.
And if what you believe in life is not going to take care of you in
your dying, what you believe is worthless.
This brings me to the dying testimony of one of the founders of
Rabbinic Judaism, as it is recorded in the Talmujd. Rabbi Jochanan
Ben Saccai was given the title, 'Light of Israel, the right pillar of the
Temple, and its mighty hammer.' This rabbi lived before and after
the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD, and was president of the
Sanhedrin for two years. Listen now to how the Talmud records his
death bed experience:
When dying, his disciples came to see him. They wondered why
the rabbi showed such fear. When he burst into tears, they asked,
“Why?”
This is what he said:
“If I were now to be brought before an earthly king, who lives to-day
and dies to-morrow, whose wrath and whose bonds are not
everlasting, and whose sentence of death, even, is not that to
everlasting death, who can be assuaged by arguments, or perhaps
bought off by money, I should tremble and weep; how much more
reason have I for it, when about to be led before the King of kings,
the Holy One, blessed be he, Who liveth and abideth for ever,
Whose chains are chains for evermore, and Whose sentence of
death killeth for ever, Whom I cannot assuage with words, nor
bribe by money! And not only so, but there are before me two
ways, one to paradise and the other to hell, and I know not which of
the two ways I shall have to go whether to paradise or to hell: how,
then, shall I not shed tears?” [Talmud; Ber. 28:9]
The rabbi was dying in fear of judgment. All he saw was blackness.
Compare this to the testimony of a Christian leader who was a near
contemporary of Rabbi Jochanan Ben Saccai. Paul said ...
"For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain... But I am hard-
pressed from both directions, having the desire to depart and be
with Christ, for that is very much better..." (Phil
1:22,23)
As a minister of many years, I've been with the righteous and with
unrighteous in their dying. With the righteous there is a great sense
of peace. It is like a special anointing comes upon them when the
time of going home arrives. With the rejecter it is not so. Where the
righteous gives testimony to peace, the eyes of the unrighteous are
filled with fear.
I will never forget when I stood by the bedside of a man who had
rejected the claims of Jesus all his life. This man grabbed my hand
and pressed it to his head. He wanted me to do something about
his fear. Since it is not for me to judge him, I will leave that as it is.
All I can say is that there was no change. Did he find peace in his
final moments? I don't know. I truly hope so.
One other thing I might mention --- In the death of the righteous,
I've never seen that it made any difference as to which church they
attended. It didn't matter whether they were Baptist, Pentecostal,
Methodist, Charismatic, or whatever. Their departure spoke the
same. For them there was no death. There was only a journey to
their greater inheritance. I'm not saying that all attendants of these
religions are even saved. What I am saying is that the church didn't
make the difference. Only Jesus made the difference.
Why is it that true believers can have such composure in dying? It
is because there is no death in their spirit. Spiritual death means
darkness of the spirit and soul. It speaks of separation from God,
that is, in the inmost part of our being. In our heavenly birth our
spirit passes out of the realm of death and into the realm of life.
This is what eternal life is about. Eternal life speaks both of a
quality of life and a duration of life. The one with eternal life, never
dies. Death has no power over the believer. In fact, in the heart of
a child truly born from heaven, there is a longing for the life to
come. This longing comes with our born again nature. It is one of
the testimonies of true faith.
If you need further testimony on the dying of the righteous, may I
challenge you to read 'Foxes Book of Martyrs'. Some Christians
have a difficult time reading this book because it gives detailed
accounts of the suffering and dying of Christians. But that is not the
main story of the book. The story throughout is the testimony of the
righteous, the testimony of God's glory, and how that in their dying,
the righteous give witness to what was theirs through faith in Jesus
Christ. They were alive and no one could change that. The body
was just a uniform to be discarded.
The fear of death is actually a fear of the unknown. It further
defines itself as a fear of judgment. Religion in its best form cannot
address this fear. This is why Rabbi Jochanan Ben Saccai realized
that the religion he helped create was an empty shell. All it could
give was rituals and trappings. And I would warn anyone who is
clinging to any form of religion, thinking that that religion is their
salvation, you need to rethink what salvation is all about. Salvation
is about Jesus. Nothing more. Nothing less.
The problem was that the rabbi couldn't even depend on the law of
Moses. That Law had passed away with the destruction of the
temple. It had fulfilled its purposing in pointing to Messiah. A new
covenant was in place. But the rabbi had rejected the new
covenant. His fear was very real. To leave this world without Christ
is to enter into 'outer' darkness where wailing and gnashing of teeth
are the sounds to be heard. Jesus said this would be the lot for
those who should have accepted Him, but would not.
When the Centurion expressed his total faith in Jesus, the Lord
said, "Truly I say to you, I have not found such great faith with
anyone in Israel. I say to you that many will come from east and
west, and recline at the table with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the
kingdom of heaven; but the sons of the kingdom will be cast out
into the outer darkness; in that place there will be weeping and
gnashing of teeth." (Matt
8:10-12)
Listen to what the Word of God has to say about the new covenant
believer, with regard to dying and to the judgment to come:
"Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes
Him
who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment,
but has passed out of death into life." (John
5:24)
"All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who
comes to Me I will certainly not cast out." (John
6:37)
"Therefore, since the children share in flesh and blood, He
Himself
likewise also partook of the same, that through death He might
render powerless him who had the power of death, that is, the
devil, and might free those who through fear of death were subject
to slavery all their lives." (Heb
2:14,15)
"By this, love is perfected with us, so that we may have
confidence
in the day of judgment; because as He is, so also are we in this
world. There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear,
because fear involves punishment, and the one who fears
[punishment] is not perfected in love." (1
Jn 4:17,18)
When Balaam began to prophesy over Israel, the Spirit of God
opened his eyes to see God's work among His people, through the
ages. Balaam could only say, "Let me die the death of the
righteous, and let my last end be like his!" (Num
23:10)
I use to find it strange that in all my years of doing funerals, it
didn't
seem to matter if the person attended church or not. Nor did it
matter which church they attended. The testimony is always the
same for those who believe in Jesus Christ. They depart life in
peace. They die the death of the righteous. Righteousness comes
only one way. It has nothing to do with where you attend church. It
has everything to do with your faith in Jesus.
Many years ago I received a call asking if I would do a funeral for
an old gentleman who had passed away. I found it odd that none of
the ministers in that particular community were able to find time to
do the funeral. The old gentleman was not a church go-er. He lived
in a tar paper shack, and had simply died in his yard. I said that I
would do his funeral.
I went to the home of the deceased that evening. A hand full of
people were there, and I was a stranger. No one wanted to talk
much. I prayed and asked the Lord to help me in all this. That's
when my attention was brought to a small sign on the wall, which
read, "I know the Lord will make a way for me." That very moment
I felt in my heart God's assurance that this man belonged to him.
So, when I preached the funeral, guess what my subject was? Yep
- I know the Lord will make a way for me. I simply made it a gospel
message.
Perhaps what I am trying to say is that while we tend to make
Christianity a thing of 'which' church and 'which' denomination a
person belongs to, that is not what it is at all. Sure we should gather
with other believers. Attending church is always a right thing to do.
But my experience has been that when it comes to the place of
dying, it doesn't seem to matter which church the person attended,
or even if they attended church. It all reduced down to one factor
alone --- Did they believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, according to the
gospel? If so, then the carried in their own heart the witness of
Christ.
So, what was it Jesus said of His sheep? He said, "I give eternal
life to them, and they will never perish." (John
10:28)
The study is open. Feel free to respond.
In Christ,
Buddy
Lawrence E. (Buddy) Martin, HF Host
email: Bro.Buddy@ChristianChallenge.org
Web: http://www.christianchallenge.org/
"See to it that no one comes short of the grace
of God; that no root of bitterness springing up
causes trouble, and by it many be defiled." (Heb12:15)