The Purpose of Suffering, John 9:1-5

In the little book called the Problem of Pain, C.S. Lewis sums up the problem of human suffering in its simplest form.  “If God were good, he would wish to make his creatures perfectly happy, and if God were almighty he would be able to do what he wished. But the creatures are not happy. Therefore God lacks either goodness, or power, or both.”  This statement makes several assumptions, all of which may or may not even be correct in light of what the Bible says about God.  However, we can all say with truth, that at some point every human being must experience suffering.  I mean let’s face it; a person causes pain by simply being born.  All of us suffer pain at one time in our lives, either from sickness, headaches, broken bones, cuts and scrapes, or even muscle and joint pain. 

Now, while it is true that everyone suffers at some point in their lives, both Christians and nonchristians, it is not true that all suffering is the same.  Looking at it from the outside, a Christian suffering from an incurable disease and a non-Christian suffering from the same disease may be said to be going through the same experience. But, according to the plain teachings of the Word of God, the two are not equal. From God’s point of view the non-Christian is suffering without purpose. Or, which may sometimes be the case, he is suffering at the due to the work of Satan, who is merely doing as he pleases with a member of his own kingdom. In the case of the Christian, an all-wise heavenly Father is permitting suffering in a carefully controlled situation in order that he might accomplish a desirable purpose. The Book of Job alone teaches us about God’s purpose in suffering.

However, if suffering that is endured by the Christian has a purpose, then surely we are not out of line by asking the question, “What is the purpose of this suffering?”  If we are to learn from suffering, then we must ask what it is that we are to learn.  If we are profit from it, as the Bible teaches, then we must ask how.  The answers to these questions and more can be found in various places in the Word of God, but this morning we are going to look at a passage in John chapter 9, where the evangelist tells us about Jesus’ interaction with a man born blind. 

We are only going to read a few verses this morning, John 9:1-5.  Let’s read them now.  As he passed by, he saw a man blind from birth. 2 And his disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” 3 Jesus answered, “It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him. 4 We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day; night is coming, when no one can work. 5 As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”

As Jesus and his disciples pass by, Jesus sees a man who was blind from birth.  His disciples as him the age old question, the question we always ask.  But their question betrays some of their underlying false assumptions that Jesus immediately corrects. 

The first wrong assumption is that his condition was caused by something he or his parents did.  This man or his parents did something wrong, and his condition was the result of some sort of cosmic retribution.  This is also called karma, derived from the eastern religion of Hinduism.  We have all heard this at some point or another.  Someone wrongs someone else or do something bad, and people will say that karma will get him.  Or this will come back to bite him.  Something happens to this person, and people say it was karma that got him back.  All of these assume that people who do bad things will have retribution come back on them.  This is a false assumption, from a false religion, and is simply paganism.  Suffering in this life is often attributed to doing something wrong in this life or a previous life.  Again, this is paganism, and is rampant in the belief system of so many people today.  The Scriptures do not support this. 

The other assumption is that this man’s parents sinned and caused his condition.  Now, the Bible does consider this a possibility.  Sins of parents can be visited upon their children.  Drug or alcohol abuse during pregnancy can cause birth defects.  Abusive parents can cause pain and suffering in children, sometimes for life.  But Jesus says something about this reason here. 

Another error is that people believe that God is a stern, mean judge who is constantly watching us and ready to pounce when we mess up.  God is looking down from the heavens and spends his time watching us waiting for us to mess up.  And when we do, BAM!  He brings the hammer down on us.  This is not only not true, but also a major slam on the character of God.  In fact, it is God who keeps us from being as bad as we can be.  Yes God will judge, and sometimes we reap the consequences of our sins.  But God is patient, kind, and loving.  Those who do not know the Bible have these false views of God.  That is why we do what we do here.  My desire for all of you is to have you know truly the one true living God.  What he is like, and what he not like.  So we may all worship him in spirit and in truth. 

Another error of the disciples in their question is that they condemn this man and his parents as a judge themselves without thought of God and his great grace and forgiveness.  Think about this.  When something bad happens to someone, and they are suffering, often times we ask ourselves, “What did he do to deserve this?”  Perhaps we ask of ourselves, “What did I do to deserve this?”  Those are the wrong questions to ask because they make you out to be a judge instead of God.  We assume things about someone’s circumstances and that they must have done something to deserve what they are getting, even if not in a vengeful way.  But we still make ourselves out to be judge.  Suffering may arise out of sin, but God afflicts his people and others for various reasons.  Some people’s sins God does not punish in this world, but whose punishment he delays for the future life.  Sometimes God inflicts trials on his most faithful, not because they sinned more, but because they can taught to kill their sin even more, and grow in faith and knowledge all the more.  So be careful when looking at someone who is suffering and imagining the reasons for it. 

This is a lesson for us today.  There are no pat or simple answers for human suffering.  There are answers of course, and we will discuss one of them momentarily.  There are no just simplistic answers.  Consequently, we cannot say, as many people do today, that it is the right of every believer to be healthy. This is nonsense. Or that suffering is always the direct result of personal sin. In some cases, suffering is corrective. It is given in order to get us back on the path that God has chosen for us. In other cases, it is constructive. It is given to build character. In still other cases, as here, it is given solely that God might receive glory.

First of all, suffering can be corrective.  God sends some pain in order to get us back on the path he has set before us.  As parents, how often do we correct our children with spankings, or grounding, or even depriving them of their computer or phone?  Do parents do this because they delight in seeing their children suffer?  Or do they do these things because they don’t love their children?  Of course not.  The opposite is true.  We correct those we love because we don’t want them to get hurt, or mess up their life, or hurt others.  The same is true of God.  Look at Hebrews 12 starting with verse 5: My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor be weary when reproved by him. 6 For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives.” 7 It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline? 8 If you are left without discipline, in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. 9 Besides this, we have had earthly fathers who disciplined us and we respected them. Shall we not much more be subject to the Father of spirits and live?

The first thing we should do when we are confronted with suffering is to ask God whether or not it is intended for our correction. If it is, then we need to confess our sin or our straying from the ways of God and return once more to the path set before us.

Secondly, God sends the believer some sufferings that are constructive.  This is where God sends some suffering into our lives in order to build us up and grow us in Christ.  There is an old, silly, saying in the Army.  Pain is weakness leaving the body.  This is funny, but it is also true. After I came home from the hospital, I could barely walk to the end of my driveway.  Now my wife and I walk two miles or more sometimes every day.  It hurt.  I am sore, even now.  But this pain reminds me that I am getting stronger every day.  The same is true with some affliction that God send our way.  It hurts.  But we also grow because of it and through it to become better people and stronger followers of Christ.  David in Psalm 119:67 writes, Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I keep your word.

Finally, we get to our text this morning.  Jesus gives us an answer to the problem of human suffering in verse 3 of our text.  Jesus answered, “It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him. As in the case of the man who had been born blind, some suffering is merely that the grace of God might be revealed in the life of the Christian.  This man had been born blind, so that when Jesus was born and when he would pass by him as the sovereign God had ordained, Jesus would heal him, in a way that many people would see.  Including the Pharisees.  Some would come to believe.  Others would have their hearts hardened, like Pharaoh in Egypt, or like the Pharisees here.  We will talk about this next week. 

Would God permit a man to be struck with total blindness throughout the better part of his life so that in God’s own time he might become the object of a miracle performed by the Lord Jesus Christ? Look at the case of Lazarus.  Would God permit a child of his to die, bringing suffering not only upon himself but also upon his sisters who mourned for him, just so God could be glorified? In the light of the Word of God we answer not only that God would do such things but that he has done them and, actually, continues to do them in order that he might bring victory for himself and all believers in the great and invisible war between the powers of good and of evil. Those who know God well know this and, in part, understand it. They know that God is both perfect and loving and that he does all things well.

So let me conclude with a question this morning.  When you or others undergo pain and suffering, do you blame God and get angry at him?  Do you think that someone suffers because it is retribution for something bad that person has done?  Karma?  Or do you seek God and pray for understanding.  Do you seek God because it may be a corrective to get you back on track, back on the path God has set for you?  Do you also seek spiritual wisdom and understanding because it just me be constructive?  It may be God’s way of building you up, strengthening you so that you grow all the more in the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ.  Or it may be that God allows you to suffer or for Satan to torment you so that in your suffering, you demonstrate the grace and glory of God in your life.  In any of these, we must constantly seek the Lord, and His own wisdom, strength, and understanding, so that we may use this suffering to accomplish God’s will. 

The Great I AM John 8:51-59

Good morning Summit Community Church.  Last week we looked at just a couple of verses in which Jesus said that whoever believed in Him, whoever kept his words, would never see death.  We know that he was not talking about physical death, as many Christians have died.  Even Jesus died.  But He was talking about spiritual death.  “Never see death” is parallel to “have eternal life.”  Not eternal punishment as cosmic traitors, but eternal life as children of the living God. Remember, when Jesus prefaces a sentence with, “truly, truly, I saw to you…” it means God is speaking. It is amen, amen, these are the words of the unshakeable and faithful God.

We asked the question last week, and showed how Jesus could actually be trusted to keep this promise.  But how?  How do we know that Jesus can be trusted to keep a promise so extreme and outlandish as to guarantee someone that they would never see death, but live with God eternally?  We will answer this question this morning, using Jesus’ own words as he continues to respond to the attacks from the Pharisees, the Jewish religious leaders of his day. 

Let’s read John 8:51-59 together. 

51 Truly, truly, I say to you, if anyone keeps my word, he will never see death.” 52 The Jews said to him, “Now we know that you have a demon! Abraham died, as did the prophets, yet you say, ‘If anyone keeps my word, he will never taste death.’ 53 Are you greater than our father Abraham, who died? And the prophets died! Who do you make yourself out to be?” 54 Jesus answered, “If I glorify myself, my glory is nothing. It is my Father who glorifies me, of whom you say, ‘He is our God.’ 55 But you have not known him. I know him. If I were to say that I do not know him, I would be a liar like you, but I do know him and I keep his word. 56 Your father Abraham rejoiced that he would see my day. He saw it and was glad.” 57 So the Jews said to him, “You are not yet fifty years old, and have you seen Abraham?” 58 Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.” 59 So they picked up stones to throw at him, but Jesus hid himself and went out of the temple.

Jesus is promising freedom from death.  But the Pharisees, instead of rejoicing and believing, are even more angered.  The truth always tends to enrage the liars and deceivers.  Even today, as we try and persuade people to stop killing their babies or stop pretending they are something that they are certainly not, and never could be, we see the responses as yelling, screaming, cursing and swearing, and in-your-face attacks that betray their condition as captives and children of the devil.  We see the same thing here in the reaction of the Pharisees in verse 53. The Pharisees are even more angry and respond in anger.  Even asking the same old question they have been asking for a while now, “Who do you make yourself out to be?” 

Jesus, however, answers their question in a way that points the finger back at them. The question and the Pharisees’ response to the claims of Jesus show their ignorance of God, and that they are not of God. 

Look at verses 54-55.  The Pharisees are glorifying themselves by bragging that they are of God and know God, and they are even bringing Abraham and the prophets back into the picture, as their defense. But Jesus punches holes in their defense, pointing out that they are glorifying themselves.  They are making themselves out to be something that they are not.  But Jesus is not glorifying himself.  If he was, he would be like them.  But he is not like them.  The Father is glorifying Jesus as His Son.  Jesus knows who He is, and who they are. 

Jesus hits them with the baseball bat of truth.  He tells the Pharisees that they say God is their God.  Jesus however, shows them He is not their God in verse 55.  The Pharisees had long since lost sight of God, mainly because their own traditions had replaced biblical truth. These Pharisees had ideas about God, but really they had no idea. Therefore, when Jesus promised eternal life, they thought him crazy or evil. 

What are we to do when accused of being liars or having some old-fashioned beliefs, or not being on the right side of history, by people who simply cannot grasp divine truth? We should do what Jesus did.  First, he was able to show that he did not, in fact, live for his own glory but only for the glory of God. Now, we find Jesus simply continuing to tell the truth. He said in verse 55, If I were to say that I do not know him, I would be a liar like you, but I do know him and I keep his word.

Notice Jesus’ emphasis on keeping His word. Remember in verse 31, Jesus said that if you abide in my word, then you are truly my disciples.  We are to stand on God’s Word, just as we are to make it the guide for our belief and conduct. No matter what the Pharisees said, Jesus was going to keep his Word, and we should do the same. When people object that we are not on the right side of history or hateful, we must simply respond: “God has revealed his truth to us in the Bible. We know it is his Word, and he calls us to continue telling the truth.” Let us be determined that if people are going to reject us, it is because they are rejecting God’s message. By making our message a simple presentation of God’s Word, we help people to see that they are out of step with the Bible, and that is often the first step in someone’s coming to faith. 

This was Jesus’ way.  It was also Paul’s way.  Look at 2 Corinthians 4:2.  But we have renounced disgraceful, underhanded ways. We refuse to practice cunning or to tamper with God’s word, but by the open statement of the truth we would commend ourselves to everyone’s conscience in the sight of God. Paul is saying that he and his team do not preach with fancy words, or try and manipulate people into believing.  Or to use ways that do not commend themselves to the gospel.  He does not tamper with God’s word, but preaches and teaches the pure, clear, simple Word of God.  But won’t there be people who will not accept God’s Word? Yes, Paul said, in part because the devil blinds their minds. Then why shouldn’t we turn to a different approach? some may ask. Paul’s answer is that the Bible is the very means God uses to open blind eyes and shine the light of his glory so that people believe.  This is how people are saved.  In verse 6 Paul writes, 6 For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. We gives the light of knowledge of the glory of God in Jesus Christ though the teaching of the Word of God to those who do not believe.  This is evangelism. 

So as we have been going through this text in John 8, we have seen how the Pharisees continually bring up Abraham, and how they are children of Abraham.  Jesus is now going to address this issue of Abraham, and do it in a way that will, quite frankly, shock the Jews.  So much so that they immediately want to pick up rocks and stone him.  What does he say?  Look at verse 56.  Your father Abraham rejoiced that he would see my day. He saw it and was glad. Of course, the Jews were confused.  Abraham had been dead for nearly 2,000 years by this time.  What in the world did Jesus mean when he said that Abraham was looking forward to seeing this day when Jesus was here, and he actually did see it and was glad.  He rejoiced!  Again, what does Jesus mean?  There are several possibilities, but since Jesus is using the past tense – he SAW it and WAS glad – I think it means that Abraham actually saw the Son of God when Abraham was alive.  How can this be? 

In Genesis 18, when Abraham was living by the oaks at Mamre, three angelic visitors came to him, one of whom Abraham addressed as the Lord. This is generally understood as having been a preincarnate appearance of the Divine Son, so that Abraham would physically have rejoiced to see Jesus two millennia before his birth.  In fact, when you study the Old Testament, there are several instances where the Son of God, the preincarnate Jesus, appears to certain men of God and instructs them.  This makes an important point about the Old Testament.  Jesus proves that Old Testament believers were saved by grace through faith just like people are saved today.  There has always been only one way to God, and that is through faith.  In Genesis 15, verse 6, it even says that Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness. 

But what a contrast between Abraham’s faith and the anger and rejection of the Pharisees.  What Abraham had longed to see—the coming of God’s Son, the Messiah—had actually happened in their own lifetimes. Their rejection of the One whom Abraham trusted showed that they really were no children of his. They could say what they wanted, but Jesus knew that their actions betrayed that they were not children of God. 

But to make sure the Pharisees knew in no uncertain terms what Jesus was talking about, he made one final statement, in verse 58: Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.” Remember, when Jesus says truly, truly – amen, amen – this is saying that that God is speaking.  It would have been bad enough for Jesus to say, Before Abraham was, I was.”  But he didn’t.  Jesus went to the fullest extreme and said, “Before Abraham was I AM.”

Why is this so important, and such a shock to the Jews?  Let’s go back to Exodus. In chapter 3, when the LORD appeared to Moses in the burning bush, He told Moses to let the Jewish people know that the LORD will rescue them.  In verse 13, it sates, Then Moses said to God, “If I come to the people of Israel and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ what shall I say to them?” 14 God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM.” And he said, “Say this to the people of Israel: ‘I AM has sent me to you.  So when Jesus said, before Abraham was, I AM, the Jews knew exactly what Jesus was saying.  Jesus was saying that He Himself was the great I AM.  The LORD Jehovah. 

The Jews knew exactly what Jesus was saying, as we see in verse 59. So they picked up stones to throw at him, but Jesus hid himself and went out of the temple.  This was the response of people who could not bear the truth of God and His Word.  They chose to reject Jesus, so much so that they became violent and sought to kill the one who was bringing them truth.  This type of reaction should be no surprise to us today.  How many times have we seen people react violently, with foul language and threats, towards Christians who proclaim he truth of the gospel? Christians who call people out for their sin and unbelief are more often than not nowadays met with hatred and scorn.  Accused of being intolerant, hateful, uncaring, you name it.  Don’t feel bad.  Jesus was met with the same reaction by those who should’ve known better. 

So the question before us this morning is, what is your reaction when presented with the truth of God’s Word?  Is it a reaction of humility, repentance, a desire to ask for forgiveness and do what God has asked us to do?  Or is it more of a rejection?  A reaction of, Who are you to tell me that?  Well, Jesus made it plain who He was – and is.  The very Son of God – God Himself.  The rection of the Pharisees was one of rejection and violence.  They were hardened unbelievers and reacted as such. 

But Jesus also responded as well.  He simply left.  He departed from them.  This is the stark reality for those who are faced with the truth about Jesus but will not believe in Him nor receive the gospel message.  Jesus left them to their sins, and the ultimate consequence of those sins.  The great church father Augustine gives a fitting last word, a word of warning: “As man, He fled from the stones; but woe to those from whose stony hearts God has fled.”

How will you react today to the truth of the message of Jesus? 

Let’s pray.

The Last Enemy Death Defeated John 8:48-51

Good morning Summit Community Church.  I have heard philosophers say that the two most important questions, the two great questions of the world, are:  Who am I? and Where am I going?  These are great questions, and ones which all of us ask over and over again.  Where are we going?  So many people take that to mean, where am I going after death?  Is there life after death?  Or when we die, are we just gone. 

When I was in the Army, and we were called up for Desert Storm, many of my young soldiers were scared.  They were scared that they would be killed in combat.  They were scared because they couldn’t answer these questions about life and death.  We were all in Bradleys or M1 Abrams tanks, and many of my troopers thought those were just steel coffins.  I scheduled time with them to teach them about armored combat.  I told them that historically, a tank was a safe place to be, if there was a safe place on the battlefield.  One author writes, “It is amazing to note that every Israeli tank committed to the Golan fighting was hit by hostile fire at least once during the war. Of the approximately 250 Centurions and Super Shermans hit badly enough to be considered “knocked out,” over 150 were returned to battle (at least once)…” [1]  And when tanks were hit, generally the crew survived. Stories like these seemed to help put them at ease. 

But many of them asked me, “Sir, aren’t you afraid to die?”  I told them no.  Why not, they asked?  I told them I knew where I was going when I died.  That of course led to other conversations.  You have probably heard it said that there are no atheists in foxholes.  There are no atheists in tanks either.  I saw so many soldiers and crewmen embrace Christ before and during the war, only to have them return to their previous life after the war.  After they knew they were free and clear, they tossed aside religion and lived like they wanted.  This is a sad fact that one can see over and over again, even in churches today.  When a crisis comes, people turn to God.  But when the crisis is done, people discard religion for the most part and go back to living like pagans. 

The problem is, the crisis has gone, but death still remains.  The war is over, and the chance of being killed in combat is gone, but death comes to everyone of us sooner or later.  It may not be as immediate as it seems in combat, but death is always present.  Benjamin Franklin is known to have said, “There are only two things in life that are certain, death and taxes.” So many people are afraid of death.  They work out, take vitamins, and do whatever they can do to extend their lives.  No one wants to grow old.  But death can occur at any moment.  For any of us.  But the question remains, What happens when we die?  

This morning we are going to look at one promise made by Jesus in John 8:48-51.  Just a couple of verses this morning, but as we will see, they are life transforming verses. 

Let’s read John 8:48-51 together:  48 The Jews answered him, “Are we not right in saying that you are a Samaritan and have a demon?” 49 Jesus answered, “I do not have a demon, but I honor my Father, and you dishonor me. 50 Yet I do not seek my own glory; there is One who seeks it, and he is the judge. 51 Truly, truly, I say to you, if anyone keeps my word, he will never see death.”

Even though people fear death, we can find comfort in the words of Jesus.  This is a great promise and we will break it down into three parts:

1. The condition upon which the promise is based
2. The Promise itself
3. The assurance that the promise can be trusted

After Jesus comes down hard on the Pharisees as we saw last week, when he called them children of the devil, the Jews respond that Jesus has a demon.  This is another instance that just confirms what Jesus has been saying all along about the Jews (the religious leaders).  Jesus tells them the truth and not only do they not believe him, but they attack him in return.  This just proves Jesus’ point.  They insult Jesus and attack him.  But Jesus simply tells them that No, he doesn’t have a demon, but He honors HIS father and they dishonor him.  Notice that Jesus emphasizes that He honors His father, but implies that His father is not their father. 

Then Jesus makes an astounding promise!  But the promise comes with a condition.  If anyone keeps my word…. This promise is made to all sorts of people.  If anyone…. You can be anyone, rich, poor, sick, healthy, smart, not so smart, great looking, not so great looking…. Thank goodness! 

But one has to ask, what does it mean to keep the words of Jesus?  Let’s make a couple of observations.  One is that to keep the word of Jesus, you must hear it with understanding.  Remember, John 5:24, Jesus says, 24 Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life.  We hear the words of Jesus and act on them.  We hear, and it sinks down into our understanding, and then we act on it. 

This leads to the second aspect of the condition, hear the words of Jesus.  We believe in Christ.  We commit ourselves to him.  We don’t just hear him and understand him, but we do something with that knowledge.  To hear his words and acknowledge what Jesus says is true.  That is good.  But so what?  Even the demons believe God and tremble.  What do we do with it? We commit ourselves to Jesus as his disciple.  As his follower. 

A third aspect of the condition is that we obey Christ.  Jesus said that anyone who KEEPS my word.  The word KEEP here means obey.  Now, I am not saying that salvation depends on obedience, per se, as that leads to a salvation that is by faith and some sort of works.  But faith in Christ, and being born again by the power of His Spirit, leads to our obedience.  We are changed.  Our “want-to’s” have changed.  If we claim to be saved, and yet have no desire to obey the commands of Christ, then we have to ask ourselves, are we really saved? 

Now let’s look at the promise itself.  What is the promise:  that person will never see death. So what does this mean?  We have all known devout Christians who have died.  So does this mean Jesus doesn’t know what he is talking about?  I think it’s obvious that it doesn’t mean necessarily physical death.  After all, Jesus himself died.  I think we need to see that the phrase “he will never see death” is parallel to “has eternal life.”  So the primary reference to death here is spiritual death.  If one keeps the words of Christ, then that person will never see eternal spiritual death that is the result of judgment by God.  Paul writes in Romans 6:23 that the wages of sin is death.  What is a wage?  Something you earn.  It is due to you.  You sin, and what you earn, what is due to you, is death. Paul follows this with, But the gift of God is eternal life. So death is what we deserve, it is what is due to us.  But eternal life is a gift of God that comes through faith alone. 

Now, this gift of God of eternal life also transforms the way we think about physical death.  When we know we have passed from death to life through faith in Christ, we have no fear of physical death.  I could die in combat, but I have no fear of death because I know where I’ll be after death.  This is true freedom.  This is freedom from fear of death.  Freedom from worry.  This is the answer to the question about where are you going. 

Finally, let’s look at the assurance that Jesus and the promise can be trusted. Jesus emphasizes that his words can be trusted when he says, truly, truly I say to you….  This word TRULY in the Greek is Amen.  Did you know that “amen” is a word that can be found in nearly every language of the world.  It is one of the few words that fall into that category.  It comes from an original Hebrew word meaning to support, or that which is supported.  It came to mean firm or unshakeable.  Later, the word took on a meaning which described one of God’s attributes.  That which is unshakeable.  This is God the unshakeable.  The God of truth.  Another meaning is more common today.  It is said when a person agrees with what God has said.  So when we end our prayers with Amen, we are saying that we are in agreement with God and reaffirm our faith in the promises of God. 

In the New Testament, especially when Jesus speaks, we find it means these things and much more.  It is not at the end of the sentence, but at the beginning.  In nearly 80 instances, it is found at the beginning of a sentence when Jesus is speaking.  Taking the other meanings into account, we find that this means it is God who is speaking.  Jesus is basically saying here, “Listen up people; God is speaking.” When Jesus prefaces what he is saying, he is essentially starting out by saying, “God is faithful. Here is what God says.”

Go back in John and see where Jesus says this.  Truly Truly I say to you, everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin (John 8:34).  Look at 6:35 – truly, truly I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, there is no life in you.  John 5:24 we read earlier.  Go back and do some searching.  You will see how important this is, and the significance of these two little words. 

Now let’s wrap it up.  Christ had just pointed out the fearful consequence of rejecting Him and His Word—there was One who would judge them.  The one who hears the words of God and rejects them, or neglects them, there is judgment.  Judgment from God. Not only that, as if that wasn’t enough, there is a constant fear of death.  What happens when I die?  Do I go somewhere, or am I just gone?  If this is the case, then the logical and practical answer is to live your life to the fullest, with your own happiness as the sole goal of all of life.  While this sounds good, it means that you will do whatever it takes to keep yourself happy.  Trample on others to get what you want.  Abort your babies because they put constraints on your happiness.  Lie so you don’t have to pay the consequences of your mistakes.  Is this the kind of world you want to live in?  Where everyone is out for themselves, at the expense of all others?  This is where your beliefs take you if you have no idea about death, or believe that when you die, that’s it.  This is not a very good place to live.  

For the one who hears and treasures the words of God, who obeys them out of love.  For the one who loves God, they have no fear of death.  These people can live life to the fullest not at the expense of others, but with others.  They accept responsibility.  They share, and give and love one another.  Because we know that this life is not all there is.  And more so, the next life is eternal life with God in the new heavens and the new earth, with no sickness, no sorrow, no pain, no sin, no thorns and poisonous snakes. 

So the question this morning is, what do you believe about death?  Is death the end?  Or is death perhaps a transition to something much better.  There is of course the condition laid out by Jesus himself.  Ask yourself where you stand.  Examine yourself.  Trust the promise, and be assured that Jesus will full it. 

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[1] Asher, Jerry; Hammel, Eric. Duel for the Golan: The 100-Hour Battle That Saved Israel . Pacifica Military History. Kindle Edition.