Bypass
Death, We Will Too?
2
Kings 2: 1-2, 6-14
Quacco
Baptist Church
June
26, 2022
Introduction
There has been only one person who mentioned to me that they were
ready to be with Jesus. He didn’t come across as if he ‘had enough’ as we
talked about last week, though his illness I’m sure played a part but not to
the point of ‘caving in’, being in despair of life like Paul wrote in his
letter to the Corinthians.
But like Paul, he trusted in God who raises the dead. We prayed,
shared the Lord’s Supper. I believe he was sincere. As I was preparing this I
thought of what Charles Swindoll said about his grandfather who had told him,
when they talked about Jesus and death, that his grandfather wanted the ‘full
deal’. This means that when he died he wanted to be buried in the ground in a
casket so that he could experience the resurrection when Jesus came back … “the
full Load”.
Paul in his 1st letter to the Thessalonians writes in 4:13-18… “And now, dear brothers and
sisters, we want you to know what will happen to the believers who have died so
you will not grieve like people who have no hope. 14 For since we believe that
Jesus died and was raised to life again, we also believe that when Jesus
returns, God will bring back with him the believers who have died. 15 We tell
you this directly from the Lord: We who are still living when the Lord returns
will not meet him ahead of those who have died. 16 For the Lord himself will
come down from heaven with a commanding shout, with the voice of the archangel,
and with the trumpet call of God. First, the Christians who have died will rise
from their graves. 17 Then, together with them, we who are still alive and
remain on the earth will be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the
air. Then we will be with the Lord forever. 18 So encourage each other with
these words.
These words are encouraging; they should be at
least for a true Christian. It's a win-win situation. Now granted, I think that
we all may be apprehensive about dying; it is something that is unknown, but if
we truly believe that this is the word of God He tells us that to be out of the
body is to be with Him. 2 Corinthians 5:6-9>> Therefore we are always
confident, although we know that while we are at home in the body, we are away
from the Lord. For
we walk by faith, not by sight. We are confident, then, and would
prefer
to be away from the body and at
home
with the Lord. So we aspire to please Him,
whether we are here in this body or away from it. Jesus said, If anyone serves Me, he must
follow Me; and where I am, My servant will be as well. If anyone serves Me, the
Father will honor him. John 12:26. Paul in Philippians 1:23 >> I am torn
between the two. I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is far better
indeed.
Then of course the other part of that blessed
hope, together
with them, we who are still alive and remain on the earth will be caught up in
the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. Then we will be with the Lord forever.
So encourage each other with these words. 1st Thessalonians 4.
Transition
Bypassing death, we too will? >> God had
a slightly different plan for Elijah… he had a no-death contract…
This is going to place him in a special, very
rare category we can call “deathless departures”. Up to today, June 26, 2022,
there have been only two individuals in recorded history who have left earth
without passing through the gateway of death. Yup, only two as far as the
Scripture is concerned have been ushered directly into the presence of
God.
Enoch was the first, Gen 5:23-24;
Elijah is the second. There will be another group, this time, who will
experience this type of departure and they will be those believers who are
alive on earth at the time of Christ’s return in the air. Granted we don’t know
the exact hour or date, but we do know: Those who are alive when Christ comes
for His own, His church, will bypass death. Paul writes of this with assurance
in his first letter to the Corinthians 15:51-54. Behold! I tell you a
mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a
moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will
sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. For
this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must
put on immortality. 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.”
What is really cool though is that Elijah knew
he was going to be taken up to heaven without dying. This, in a way, gives us a
good example of how we should be living in anticipation of Christ’s return.
Though we do not know the hour or date, we know it is going to happen and now
more imminent than before. Elijah knew the date, not just that, he was told
where to be. There were also others who knew. The ‘sons of the prophet’, students
of the Scripture, and Elisha.
Elijah knew he was going up in a “whirlwind”, a
gusty moment. He would be caught up and be in the presence of God in an
instant.
He knew when and where he was going to be
taken, the Jordan, so as you read the text you can see why he moved quickly
toward the Jordan. God had to have told him; but if that were the case why did
he go over the countryside going to Gilgal, Bethel, Jericho, then to the
Jordan?
It is said that at Gilgal, Bethel, and Jericho
were the schools, early seminaries, for prophets in training likely
founded by Samuel. Possibly he wanted to leave a word of encouragement to these
young men who would carry the torch of truth after his departure.
But then also there may be another reason. He
wanted to reflect on his life and that, some say, is why Elisha quieted the men
when they asked Elijah questions. He said in effect give Elijah time to think
& reflect.
Scripture gives us specific places that have
great significance. The last three places Elijah visits are no exception.
Gilgal was the place of beginning. Joshua
4:19-24, this was where the children of Israel camped after crossing the Jordan
into Canaan. They took twelve stones from the Jordan & the people came up from the
Jordan on the tenth of the first month and camped at Gilgal on the eastern edge
of Jericho . . . Joshua set up at Gilgal. This was to be a reminder to them of what God
had done at the Jordan & the Red Sea. The memorial was to serve as a lasting sign of
God’s work among the Israelites. Gilgal was the beginning of their final
journey. It was the beginning of Elijah’s final journey. We have a memorial, a
reminder to all Christians, a lasting sign of God’s Mercy, Saving Grace,
Communion, which is done to remember Jesus’ death and shed blood for our
salvation.
Then he traveled to Bethel, the place of
prayer, Bethel meaning house of God. This is where Abraham spent time and met
with the Lord there. (Gen. 12:8). Possibly Elijah walked the streets of the
town looking and thinking.
Some journey he’d been on!
Training at the brook Cherith, advance training at Zarephath, 1st Kings
17:14-18: He told her that she was to make some food for him, anyway, using
the last of her ingredients for him. He added a promise: “For thus says the
LORD, the God of Israel, ‘The jar of flour shall not be spent, and the jug of
oil shall not be empty, until the day that the LORD sends rain upon the earth’”
The woman’s son later died of an illness and, in her anger and grief, she
blamed Elijah for his death—she assumed God was judging her for her sin (1 Kings 17:17–18). But Elijah cried out to
God: “Lord my God, let this boy’s life return to him!” (verse 21), and the
child was restored to life. When the woman saw this, she said, “Now I know that
you are a man of God and that the word of the Lord from your mouth is the
truth” (verse 24).
As he walked did his life
pass in review?
Then he went on to Jericho,
the place where God’s people drove a wedge into the opposition. One commentator
called it their D-Day; it was Normandy for God’s people.
How he was used magnificently
on Mt. Carmel to battle the forces of evil, anointed to confront Ahab on more
than a few occasions. He emerged as God’s man of the hour. A superhero beyond
belief yet very humble of heart. Knowing it to be his last day he revisited,
and relived the battles of the past.
Then finally he arrived at
the Jordan, the place of death. Not physical death but of death to self, to his
own wishes, this rugged man of Tisbeth who learned to rely on his God, not
himself. He learned to walk in the strength of the Lord, not his own. He
learned to submit & obey.
This self-denial doesn't come
easily especially to those with type A personality. Prophets are notorious for
exhibiting this temperament which makes Elijah more remarkable yet. As tough
& rugged as he was, he was soft as clay in his Master’s hands. He did his
best work when under the “shadow of the Almighty”. He had a life of power because
he came to the place where he welcomed the death of his own desires if it meant
the display of the glory of God.
Can we apply all of this? The
place of beginning, the place of prayer, the place of battle, the place of
death. I think we all have such places in our lives.
There’s a place of beginning
- the very beginning of our Christian experience. When we are born anew. Our
Gilgal, our place of a new beginning. For some it's way back in the past.
Search your memory. Can you remember when you took your first baby steps?
Probably not, but you tottered and there was someone there to help you along.
You learned to get into the basics of life; how to get into the Word; how to
pray; have time with God; how to share your faith.
Then came the place of
prayer. You learned what it was to sacrifice, surrender things dear to you.
Some it may have been a miscarriage, or the loss of a child; the loss of a
wife; a husband. Even the loss of a job, the only means of income, your own
business or dream never realized. Coming all alone to your own Bethel you
learned to pray.
God did a real work in your
life as He carried you from that place of communion to the next stage He
planned for you. Because you learned the value of prayer, you learned even more
at His feet. Search back in time, pause … remember. I guarantee you He will
remind you.
Then there’s Jericho - the
battlefield. Some of you have had serious battles in your life: battles with
rebellion, with attitudes, with addictions, with someone close to you with
addictions, with your thought life, with doubt, with the flesh. I’m sure we can
make a long list of things. You, we, all, have endured struggles at the Jericho
of life. Right?
Then there is the
Jordan, the place of death. Soon, some day we will all approach this place, it
may be decades or real soon. But there is another type of death here, that is a
death to self, learning the necessity of self-denial. It’s a difficult rite of
passage - This death is part of “taking up your cross and following Him” - but
when we finally do learn - peace pervades.
We have the blessed hope after crossing the
Jordan We
shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the
twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the
dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. For this
perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on
immortality. 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.”
Today is the day of salvation, “Everyone who calls on the
name of the LORD will be saved” (Romans 10:13; cf. Joel 2:32). “There is salvation in no one else! God has
given no other name under heaven by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12, NLT). God has told the sinful
world, in no uncertain terms, to repent (Mark 6:12; Luke
24:47; Acts
3:19; 17:30). To repent means to change
your mind from embrace of sin and rejection of Christ to rejection of sin and
embrace of Christ. Those who refuse to repent and turn to Christ in faith will
suffer eternal consequences. “I tell you, now is the time of God’s favor, now
is the day of salvation” (2 Corinthians 6:2). In other words, today
is the day of salvation. “Today, if only you would hear his voice, Do
not harden your hearts” (Psalm 95:7–8).
The problem with delaying repentance is that no
one knows the day he will die. And after death comes the judgment (Hebrews
9:27).
The rich
fool in
Jesus’ parable (Luke
12:16–20)
thought he had plenty of time to enjoy life, but God had news for him: “This very
night your life will be demanded from you” (verse 20). We have today—we have
the present moment—and we should use it wisely.
Saying “no” to what’s right, it becomes a
little easier to say “no” the next time, too. There’s a gradual hardening of
the heart, a searing of the conscience (1
Timothy 4:2),
that can numb an unsaved person to the point of being past feeling. This is a
dangerous spiritual condition to be in. Unfortunately there is a point of no
return. God may eventually stop trying to bring the chronically rebellious to
repentance and give them over to their own ways (Romans
1:28). We
never know when this point of no return is.
It’s true that God is gracious to us and that a
person may be able to repent up until the day he dies. But we should not live
presumptuously. We are not guaranteed tomorrow, we’re not guaranteed our next
breath. There was a time when the Lord shut the door of the ark, and the flood
swept everyone outside the ark away (Genesis 7:16). There came a time when the
wedding
party
began, and those who were not ready for the coming of the bridegroom were
locked out (Matthew
25:1–13).
Eternity is forever & ever. To be separated from God “Then death and Hades
were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death. If
anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the
lake of fire.” Revelation 20:14-15: At the end of time, even
death and the grave (Hades) will be thrown into the lake of fire. In addition,
every person not included in the book of life will be thrown into the lake of
fire. This condition will be final; the destination is permanent where those
who are separated from God by their sin will dwell for eternity.
Come to Christ, The Lord is not slack
concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to
us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to
repentance” (2 Peter 3:9)
Let’s pray:
Heavenly Father, in John 17:3, Jesus says, “Now
this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ,
whom you have sent.” We beseech you that You help those who have yet to give
their lives to Christ. May Your love and power reveal themselves to the
nonbelievers, to those in doubt, to those who hide from you, so that they will
come to know You! Amen.
