02/16/2025: “Death & The Believer"

The episode explores the themes of death, grief, and preparation through the story of Abraham and Sarah from Genesis 23. It encourages listeners to confront mortality by planning ahead both practically and spiritually while offering hope through faith in Christ.

• Discusses Abraham's deep mourning for Sarah 
• Encourages creating a legacy box for end-of-life wishes 
• Highlights the importance of clear funeral planning 
• Emphasizes the Christian perspective on death as glorification 
• Assures listeners of eternal life through faith in Christ 
• Stresses the need for conversations about death within families 
• Advocates preparing for death to alleviate burdens on loved ones 
• Concludes with a hopeful outlook on life beyond the grave

Transcript

Speaker 1 0:22

Well, good morning church, and welcome to this snowy, rainy, tornado-y, weird weekend we're having. We're glad that you're joining us via the live stream this morning. Today, we're actually going to be in the book of Genesis, chapter 23. Genesis, chapter 23,. If you wouldn't mind opening your Bibles to that, I'm going to pray for us this morning. Wouldn't mind opening your Bibles to that, I'm going to pray for us this morning. Our great God, we are so thankful that we can use this technology to still gather, as it were, virtually to open up your Word together, to study it and to learn more about you. And so, father, this morning, as we go to your Word, would you help to convict us of sin, help to convince us of the love that you have for us and help to spur us on in holiness. And so, lord, I just commit everyone watching to you and I commit this time to you through Christ Amen. Genesis, chapter 23,. Starting in verse 1.

Speaker 1 1:20

Sarah lived 127 years. These were the years of the life of Sarah, and Sarah died at Kiriath Arba, that is, hebron, in the land of Canaan, and Abraham went in to mourn for Sarah and to weep for her. And Abraham rose up from before his dad and said to the Hittites I am a sojourner and a foreigner among you. Give me a property among you for a burying place that I may bury my dad out of my sight. The Hittites answered Abraham, hear us, my lord, you are a prince of God among us. Bury your dead in the choicest of our tombs. None of us will withhold from you his tomb to hinder you from burying your dead. Abraham rose and bowed to the Hittites, the people of the land, and he said to them If you are willing that I should bury my dead out of my sight, hear me and entreat me Ephron, the son of Zohar, that he may give me the cave of Machpelah, which he owns is at the end of his field, for the full price. Let him give it to me in your presence as a property for a burying place.

Speaker 1 2:16

Now Ephron was sitting among the Hittites. And Ephron, the Hittite, answered Abraham, in the hearing of the Hittites, all of who went in at the gate of his city no, my lord, hear me, I gave you the field and I give you the cave that is in it, in the sight of the sons of all my people. I give it to you. Bury your dead. Then Abraham bowed down before the people of the land and he said to Ephron in the hearing of the people of the land but if you will hear me, I give you the price of the field. Accept it from me that I may bury my dead here. Ephron answered Abraham, my lord, listen to me. A piece of land worth 400 shekels of silver. What is it between you and me? Bury your dead. Abraham listened to Ephron and Abraham weighed out for Ephron the silver that he had named in the hearing of the Hittites 400 shekels of silver according to the weights current among the merchants. So the field of Ephron in Machpelah, which was to the east of Mamre, the field with the cave that was in it and all the trees that were in the field throughout its whole area, was made over to Abraham as a possession in the presence of the Hittites, before all who went in the gate of the city. After this, abraham buried his wife Sarah in the cave of the field of Machpelah, east of Mamre, that is, hebron, in the land of Canaan. The field and the cave that is in it were made over to Abraham as a property for a burying place for the Hittites. This is God's word.

Speaker 1 3:36

Well, over the course of the past 20 years or so, I have preached, I think, over 300 funerals. The families, the emotions, the gathered people are still very much etched into my soul. Sometimes they run together in my memory, but they're still here in my heart. Sometimes it's interesting because I've done very traditional memorials in this room. I've done them at the Veterans Cemetery and then some much less traditional. I remember doing one on a mountain ridge top in Vermont and even one in a family's backyard where everyone was wearing flip-flops and t-shirts. That's a lot of families that I love gathering, for men and women that I love, who have gone on from here to find their reward in Jesus Christ.

Speaker 1 4:22

It seems, however, at least in my experience, that death is still an uncomfortable topic of discussion, even for the believer. Perhaps this is because it's not talked about enough, or, when it is, it just adds more confusion. One family I ministered to in this situation was about to spin out emotionally because they were told that Christians should only be positive and joyful and never show sadness or mourning. And so we went to the shortest verse in the Bible, which says Jesus wept. And so they got permission to jettison the bad theology of death and truly weep and mourn, as Jesus did, and, of course, abraham did it here in our text in verse 2. To the other extreme, I know of some who have become so enslaved by grief that the only thing left for them was anger and bitterness towards God, which bubbles to the surface quite often. So I want this passage, then, about Sarah's passing to help us and to inform us on our own mortality and, although I pray it's many years from now, to help us be better prepared for death and to help us on our own mortality. And, although I pray it's many years from now, to help us be better prepared for death and to help us understand the glory that awaits us all who are in Christ. And so, if you're watching this morning and you're hoping for something upbeat and uplifting or a self-help seminar, you might just end up disappointed. Nonetheless, I want you to be prepared.

Speaker 1 5:44

Last week I gave you my theology of the Bible, and this morning it is more my theology of death, death and the believer. In our text, we face death straight on Sarah, who's Abraham's princess, his soulmate for over a century, was dead, and it begins with Sarah dying and it ends with Abraham burying his wife, and in between that there's all these different. I think at least seven times we hear variations of either death or bury. And Sarah's death was a numbing blow to Abraham and he wept over her. Abraham cried aloud for the wife of his youth. And so today we face a serious subject, that of death, death and the believer. And so today we face a serious subject, that of death, death and the believer. And I want to take two rather large steps, cautiously as I'm able, through this passage both deal with preparing for death practically and spiritually.

Speaker 1 6:37

Let's start with the idea of preparing for death practically. In verse 10 it says Now Ephron was sitting among the Hittites, and Ephron, the Hittite, answered Abraham in the hearing of the Hittites, all of whom went and gave to the city. No, my lord, hear me, I give you the field and I give you the cave that's in it In the sight of the sons of my people. I give it to you. Bury your dead. Then Abraham bowed down before the people of the land. Sarah dies, excuse me, sarah dies in the land of Canaan, the land of promise. All right, now I'm going to go into a coughing fit, I guess. So I'm just going to mute. That's what tornado snow does to a man. So Sarah dies in the land of Canaan, the land of promise.

Speaker 1 7:23

And just like chapter 22, this chapter is another gigantic illusion pointing us forward. In fact, we read in Hebrews 11,. All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised, they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance, admitting that they were foreigners and strangers on earth. And this is where we get the poignancy of this passage. What we are being told is that our father of the faith, abraham, he bought this land in Canaan from the Hittites themselves.

Speaker 1 7:53

Sarah lives. She's about 127 years old. That would mean Isaac would have been about 36 or so and so God was gracious to allow her to see her son into manhood. She could see him with her own eyes. Isaac was growing into his own. And I also want to mention that Sarah is the only woman, as far as I could tell or find in all of the Bible, whose death and age at death is recorded for us in the Scriptures. So to me that shows us that there's an importance to her in the plan of God. I mean, we can just imagine the impact Sarah's death had on Abraham. They'd wandered together for about 60 years. They'd been married for over 100 years and now Abraham begins this journey alone.

Speaker 1 8:37

I would never want to seek to downplay anyone's loss. Each type of loss has its own unique pain, but the loss of a spouse is perhaps the most altering in the day-to-day aspect of our lives. I think it is vast, encompassing every aspect of our lives. And of course, sarah is the poster child, if you will, for the submissive wife, the biblical submissive wife, I mean. What that man put that dear woman through deserves to be recounted, including how faithful she was all along the way. And of course, sarah's death provides yet another opportunity for Abraham to show his faith in the promises. He sets out to buy a plot in the land of Canaan, showing that he trusted God, because God said he's going to give his descendants this land.

Speaker 1 9:24

And here Abraham approaches the Hittites and he wants to purchase a grave. He wants to purchase this cave. And they respond by offering to share a grave with him, to provide free of charge one of their own graves. And he acknowledges if you'll notice, in verse 4, that he's a stranger. This is a technical term, it's a legal term. In other words, he's saying I'm not a resident, I'm a resident alien, I'm a nomad, so would you do me a favor by selling me a small piece of land? He knows that he does not have the right to go in and demand that they sell it to him. And so Abraham approaches the city elders and he requests a purchase price, and they offer very kindly to share one of their own plots.

Speaker 1 10:05

But what's happening underneath all of this is they desire that Abraham would not gain a permanent foothold in their land. That's why this chapter is so long. That is why there's this back and forth about land and bowing down and Hittites and money, because by now the promises of God to Abraham are well known in the land. That's why they call him. We have a prince of God among us. You see, once Abraham becomes a landowner, then he had certain rights under law. And this prince of God, he would begin this fabled takeover of their land. That was their fear.

Speaker 1 10:37

Abraham, of course, persists and he suggests the cave at Machpelah, and Ephron instead offers him the field, but he says explicitly that all he wants is the cave. And you might be saying, okay, why does this matter? What is going on here? It just seems like the old testament stuff that doesn't matter. But it matters a lot, because if abraham had been able to buy simply the cave, under the hittite law he would have no right of obligation to the hittite king in the area. And so ephron makes a seemingly generous offer you don't need to buy the cave, I'll give you the field.

Speaker 1 11:13

Most commentators that I read agree that this is a totally insincere offer. This is haggling. Ephron knows the promise and he's going to profit from it, but Abraham finally becomes a landowner and he agrees to pay this exorbitant price. This 400 shekels is actually a very, very large price for this small piece of land. It's probably 10 times its value. And so, assuming it to be sincere, even if Abraham had accepted Ephron's offer once Ephron was dead, if he just gave him the field and he didn't charge him a high price once Ephron was dead, his children could, under Hittite law, have demanded the return of the land, and Abraham would have lost the promise. So Abraham wanted to make sure that the land was secured for him and his descendants, and so he agrees to pay this really high price for the field.

Speaker 1 12:05

So Machpelah and Hebron would become after this a monument to Abraham's faith in God's Word and in His promises. Sarah would be buried there. Abraham would be buried there. Isaac, too, would be buried here. Jacob, although Jacob dies in Egypt, he was carried to Hebron by his sons and buried with his father, joseph as well. He died in Egypt and 400 years later his bones would be carried back to this place by Moses and the people and he would be buried there. And, of course, after visiting Hebron, the 12 spies sent in to scout the promised land declared that it could be taken. David would be anointed king at Hebron.

Speaker 1 12:44

So we see, the bones of the patriarchs are shouting out from the caves throughout redemptive history, and we're not talking about historical fiction here. You can actually go and visit this place today. The cave is still there and the Herods actually built a giant structure over them. The Byzantine Christians would build a basilica over that and then, of course, after the Muslim conquest, it was converted to the Ibrahimi Mosque, which it's still called today. The crusaders took over the site around the 12th century. Saladin took it back for the Muslims in 1188, reconverted it back into a mosque. Israel took control of the site in 1967, but Israel actually divided the structure into a synagogue and a mosque. In 1994, the Hebron Massacre took place here. A Jewish settler killed 29 Muslims in the mosque while they were praying, and so it is full of history and it is full of a lot of things and it is shouted across the centuries. It is considered by the Jews to be the second holiest place in the world after the Temple Mount itself.

Speaker 1 13:49

But Abraham trusted the promises of God and he knew that the land would one day become the inheritance of his descendants, and he still made a provision while he was alive to secure this parcel of land for this very specific purpose. So the direct application here is that Abraham trusted God. Abraham trusted God and still planned ahead. Abraham trusted God and still planned ahead. Abraham trusted God and still ensured a legacy for his children in the land. So with all that in mind, let me take a really sharp right turn here and give you my practical application or your call to action for today. That is, to create a legacy box or, if I could say it in the context of this chapter, buy your field. What does it mean? It means that you take the time right now to ensure that everything your family needs is located in one spot and all the questions are answered to the best of your ability right now, and they know where it is and you sit down together and you review every part of it. And they know where it is and you sit down together and you review every part of it so that when you die, they're not left in shock and out in the cold trying to figure things out.

Planning for Death

Speaker 1 14:57

In 2020, christy and I spent time putting together our legacy box. You can actually go to DaveRamseycom and you can find examples you can actually buy. I think he calls it a legacy drawer. It's just hard for me to say drawer, so I say legacy box, I think. But no matter how and really no matter how old you are, how grim you think this might be, your end of life expenses, depending on what you want done, can be about six to ten thousand dollars, if not more, and I'm not suggesting that you prepay anything. My personal unsolicited opinion is that's not a very good investment to prepay for end-of-life stuff. But you should prepare but I leave that to your judgment. You should create a legacy box with all your wishes and all your paperwork and all your stuff your family needs if you pass away. If you have an attorney and you have a will, that's planned. You did estate planning. Include that in your legacy box. If you have an attorney and you have a will, that's planned. You did estate planning. Include that in your legacy box.

Speaker 1 15:50

I know some good funeral directors and I know some real shady characters as well. They have the advantage just like Ephron had the advantage here. When someone dies, most people have no idea what they need to do, what they're required to do or what it should cost. So, sad and vulnerable, most buy whatever the funeral director recommends. So sit down today, get a piece of paper and leave instructions, and you really need to leave two big pieces of kit if you will. At least two big pieces.

Speaker 1 16:20

Number one what are your final wishes? Or say it another way, plan your funeral. Do you want to be cremated? Do you want an open casket? Do you want it at the church? Do you want an open casket? Do you want it at the church? Do you want it in a field? Do you want it on a mountain ridge in Vermont? What do you want done? Do you want someone to sing? Who do you want to preach? Who do you want to speak? Who don't you want to speak? Be very clear about this.

Speaker 1 16:43

Far too many families I sit with just for the memorial. They have no idea what their loved one wanted because they never talked about it. It's not their fault, it's because they've never planned ahead and never talked it through, and so they don't know if they're honoring them or not. Now listen to me. I'm not saying sit down and tell them. I'm not saying sit down and tell them your wishes. I'm telling you to write it down. Write it down and talk it through. Some of you men are listening right now and you've got your arms folded at home. You're like I'm not doing that. It's because you are full of foolish pride, you stubborn fool. Write it down. Don't tell them you love them. Show them you love them. And if you don't, I will make fun of you at your funeral Because I'm going to preach it, because you didn't leave any instructions. I mean, mine is planned and this I don't care if it comes across disrespectful. I won't be here.

Speaker 1 17:44

My funeral is going to be a party. I want a big cookout, I want a slip and slide. I want everyone hugging and loving my family. I respect traditions of funerals, but ultimately they're for the living. If there isn't a slip and slide at my party, I'm going to be disappointed. So Christy knows, I don't want a big formal thing. I just want everyone to get together and eat and tell stories and give a time of closure for my family. And there's also included in mine instructions that Christy needs to wear only black for seven years and never remarry. That's a joke. You only need to wear black for two and a half years. But Christy and I can sit down and have these conversations because we know full well what death means for both of us. It means new life. It means real life, real life in the kingdom of heaven.

Speaker 1 18:32

But take out the guesswork. Part one of your legacy box plan your funeral. The second part plan for their financial peace. Get all your accounts and access made clear in one place Right now in my legacy box. There's all of that stuff. But there's also instructions, not just insurance and accounts, but who to take advice from and who not to take advice from. What to do when you get a life insurance process. What not to do, what not to buy. Let your family know I love you, and here's all my info. Here's all the insurance. Here's who to talk to when you're ready. Here's who you don't take advice from. Don't take advice from your broke cousin. That's persuasive, because he's broke for a reason. Do take advice from our good friend who works in finance or who's an attorney and so on. Give them clear instructions. It's like being there to help them through what could be the most challenging time of their life, but you prepared them because you love them. Plan your funeral, have these conversations now to save your family great heartache and confusion later on while they're dealing with your death. Prepare for death practically by your field.

Speaker 1 19:40

The second big piece, then, is we need to prepare for death spiritually, which I think is even more important. Sarah dies, abraham dies, their children die. What's the reality of our lives? A physical death awaits everyone. Death rate one per person. Death does not discriminate. So the direct application of this text has to be the question are you prepared for this inevitability, not just for a funeral or for the financial peace of your family, but for what actually happens to you on that day?

Speaker 1 20:11

For the believer, death is the completion of sanctification, it's the glorification in Christ, it's an eternity in perfect creation. But our confidence about what happens after death comes not from anything within us. It actually comes from Christ. I'm not going to boast that heaven awaits me because I've cleaned myself up enough to make myself acceptable to God. Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners. Forgiveness is for the guilty.

Speaker 1 20:39

Sarah did not live a life of perfect holiness. We've studied her life and she didn't live perfectly only to earn heaven. Neither did Abraham. Both of them were given a foreign righteousness, if you will. God gave them righteousness by faith. And this all started before time began.

Speaker 1 20:59

You see, the gospel of Jesus Christ, the redemptive plan of God for all mankind, began before Genesis 1.1. In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. God created the world. God created man, put man. In the beginning. God created the heavens and the earth. God created the world. God created man, put man in the garden to keep the garden. He gave man a command. He held that man to a perfect, perpetual obedience to that command. He promised him life if he kept it, death if he did not. And he didn't keep it. He ate. And because he ate, because of that one man, sin entered the world and death through sin.

Speaker 1 21:31

And everyone who's born through that man, through ordinary generation, inherits that nature of sin, that sin nature, and because of that sin nature, sin proceeds from it and our world is broken because of that sin and we stand guilty before a holy and righteous God. And we know that he's holy and righteous and we know the world is broken because we crave justice. But the problem is is that if God gives justice to us, then we all die. So the gospel is not one of justice for us, but it is mercy given to us. And so that God, so that God, in His holiness and in His mercy, sent forth His Son, who was not born of ordinary generation but born of a virgin. That's why the virgin birth matters so much.

Speaker 1 22:18

If he was born of ordinary generation, if he is born in sin, but because he's not, he is not born in sin, he is clean of sin, he keeps His record clear and he keeps his record clean and he obeys God. And because he is fully God and fully man, he obeys God's law on our behalf. That's God's, that's Jesus' act of obedience. And then, in his passive obedience, god made him, who knew no sin, to be sin for us, because all we, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us turned on his own way, but God had laid on him the iniquity of us all and Christ died for sin, once for all, the just for the unjust. And God imputes our sinfulness to him and he nails our sinfulness to the tree, and Christ dies and rises again on the third day and God takes the perfection of Jesus and imputes it to us by faith. You see, that works in our lives, even after we're saved, until one day when it's all said and done. We're not just saved from the penalty of sin or the power of sin, but we are saved from the presence of sin and we are glorified and we are standing with Jesus. You see, the gospel we need, that's the gospel that is more than enough and that is the gospel that will save us and that is the gospel that will sustain us.

Speaker 1 23:36

What was Sarah's experience on that day when she died? What will our experience be on that day? If we are in Christ, will we take our last breath here and you take your next breath standing before God For the believer? Jesus is there and he says this one is mine and you are ushered into the kingdom of heaven, perfect, because of Jesus. When you enter the kingdom of heaven, we typically talk about what will be there, but I want to start with what won't be there. First, and I think most importantly, we need to jettison from our minds the idea that we're going to become disembodied spirits flitting around on the clouds for an eternity. That's not biblical at all. We also need to get rid of the Renaissance notion of becoming fat little babies in diapers. No, we are going to be who we are just perfected, fully glorified in Christ. We will be full-bodied flesh and blood, just like Jesus.

Speaker 1 24:34

After the resurrection Jesus spoke and he ate and he walked, but, most noticeably, sin will be gone from our presence. Sin will not be there. There will be no sin or possibility of sin and therefore the ravages of sin will no longer be present. So that means death will be no more. Pain will be no sin or possibility of sin and therefore the ravages of sin will no longer be present. So that means death will be no more. Pain will be no more. Cancer will be no more. Weariness, tears, loneliness, brokenness will be no more. Fully bodied flesh and blood, but the ravages of sin and time will no longer have any effect on our physical form. Amen, somebody, alright, all three of them said amen. Glory to God.

Speaker 1 25:16

And also absent from the kingdom of heaven is boredom. Glory to God that boredom will be gone. I get bored pretty easily. I don't do days off. Well. I need that mental and physical stimulus all the time, it seems. On my days off from here I typically go into the jail. If I'm out of the pulpit here, I go a little bit stir-crazy, but in eternity, boredom will be a thing of the distant past.

Speaker 1 25:40

One of Satan's biggest lies is his portrayal of heaven as a tedious place of idleness and forced, endless singing, as if heaven will smell of old books and we'll only have to sit on wooden pews for an eternity. We're not going to be idle in heaven. We're going to reign with Christ and be assigned responsibilities based on what we did on earth. And when we sing, it's going to be because we can't contain the praise within us. Everything good and amazing here on earth, from the wonders of creation in nature to the intricacy and wonder of a single cell, to the beauty of a long-fulfilled marriage, will reflect only a tiny part of the glory of the Creator. And in heaven we will finally be able to see Jesus face to face. So sin and boredom won't be there. What will be there? Well, first and foremost I think primarily Jesus will be there. Jesus will be there, and you want to know what else will be there. It's a memory of this life and the presence of those in Christ that we love who have gone on before us.

Eternal Life and Communion With Jesus

Speaker 1 26:47

Someone said to me a long time ago that heaven won't be that great because they won't know their spouse in heaven. I said, man, that's just bad theology. If something gave you incredible joy in this life, imagine what it will bring to you in the next life. Will my spouse, will Christi and I will? We know each other in eternity? Yes, will our relationship be like it is now. No glory to god if it's going to be eternally more and eternally better. And in eternity my relationship with with her will be eternally more than it is with anyone else because of the commitment we made to each other in this life. Since we're going to remember our time on earth, it means we don't.

Speaker 1 27:27

What we do here is almost foundational to our eternal life. If you're a fan of the movie Gladiator, he says what we do in life echoes in eternity, and there's truth to that. This is only the beginning, but it is the beginning. We build on later in heaven. But the greatest thing about heaven will be living in the presence of Jesus Himself. We're going to commune with Him, we're going to fellowship with Him. Very often people think of other people that they're going to see in heaven and fellowship, and that's a glorious thing and not to be underestimated, but the greatest thing about heaven is going to be being with the Lord Himself.

Speaker 1 28:05

Samuel Rutherford, who's a great Scottish pastor of a previous generation, he once wrote to a woman in his church. She had lost a child and had been through a great deal of personal grief and suffering all throughout her life. He wrote to her and he said Woman, when thou art got up thither, you will say Four and twenty hours in this place are worth threescore years and ten sorrow in this world. In other words, rutherford was saying that the experience of the presence and the communion of the believer with God through Christ in heaven is going to be worth anything and everything that we endure here. So let me end by saying this.

Speaker 1 28:51

Actually, let me give you a scripture. This is from Colossians 3. He says if, then, you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth, for you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you will also appear with him in glory.

Speaker 1 29:14

You see, by faith, like Abraham, when we invest in that promise, giving generously to the kingdom, work on earth, laying up indestructible treasures in heaven, trusting our time and our lives to his kingdom, we declare by faith that we are heirs of the promise, even if our circumstances make us believe something completely different. So, in Christ, we need to remember that this life is as bad as it's ever going to be for us, because what awaits us is eternally better. But if you are far from Christ, this life is as good as it's ever going to be for you. If you are far from Christ, this life is as good as it's ever going to be for you. Turn from your sin and believe in him.

Speaker 1 29:55

Today let's pray together and we'll end our time. Our gracious God. We are thankful for the life and time of Abraham and Sarah. And Lord, help us to learn from this chapter a preparation for our own funeral, our own preparation for the end for our families. But, father, through all of this, help us to give glory to Christ for all the great riches that he gives us right now and for the eternal riches that await us in glory. We love you and we praise you through Jesus. Amen. God bless you.