WEBVTT 00:00:00.400 --> 00:00:08.400 So as we continue through Christ's parables this morning, Jesus is continuing what what we see in the gospel is kind of this constant interaction he has with the crowds of people. 00:00:08.480 --> 00:00:09.759 It seems like they follow him everywhere. 00:00:09.839 --> 00:00:13.599 And when he's doing that, it seems like he's doing one of one of three things constantly. 00:00:13.759 --> 00:00:17.839 He's either healing, he's teaching, or he's arguing with the scribes and the Pharisees. 00:00:18.000 --> 00:00:20.320 Like he's always doing one of these three things. 00:00:20.640 --> 00:00:26.079 So last week in chapter 11, uh we talked about uh he spent some time in prayer. 00:00:26.239 --> 00:00:28.480 He moves into chapter 12 and he's talking to the people. 00:00:28.559 --> 00:00:30.559 He talks about the scribes and the Pharisees. 00:00:30.719 --> 00:00:36.640 He goes through this conversation about wealth and putting things in their proper place, uh priorities with a rich young ruler. 00:00:36.799 --> 00:00:43.759 He talks about anxiety, and then in our passage today, he moves into this conversation about death or the end of life or the doctrine of last things. 00:00:43.840 --> 00:00:47.840 So the flow is kind of like, hey, don't be anxious now, let's talk about death. 00:00:48.240 --> 00:00:51.200 So in today's passage, he's talking to the people of Israel. 00:00:51.280 --> 00:00:58.000 He's been through this whole uh line of conversation about different subjects, and he he kind of ends with this message that it's like, be ready. 00:00:58.159 --> 00:01:07.040 Just be ready because death and the return of Christ uh should incentivize us to be watchful, like these servants that are waiting on their master to return from a wedding feast. 00:01:07.120 --> 00:01:09.280 And for the wise servants, the master will serve them. 00:01:09.439 --> 00:01:11.840 He's gonna spend time with them, he's gonna rejoice with them. 00:01:12.000 --> 00:01:15.519 It's gonna be a great day for those watchful servants. 00:01:15.599 --> 00:01:16.959 But there's an alternative. 00:01:17.120 --> 00:01:27.599 There's also the alternative where the unwise servants they get distracted, they take their eyes off the ball, they get caught up with the cares of this world, and the master's return uh catches them off guard. 00:01:27.760 --> 00:01:29.760 Now, death is a tough subject. 00:01:29.920 --> 00:01:40.719 Uh in 1993, though, somebody launched a website that kind of formalized a series of awards that have been around since the early 80s, and we now know them as the Darwin Awards. 00:01:40.959 --> 00:01:47.519 So the Darwin Awards commemorate individuals who protect our gene pool by making the ultimate sacrifice of their own lives. 00:01:47.840 --> 00:01:56.000 Darwin Award winners eliminate themselves in an extraordinarily idiotic manner, thereby improving our species' chances of long-term survival. 00:01:56.239 --> 00:02:06.159 Like, for example, Lim Ba, a magician who died in October of last year after accidentally steaming himself to death in a giant wok while trying to cleanse his body and soul. 00:02:06.480 --> 00:02:16.080 Or maybe more uh more of a southern Georgia flavor, Cody Horn died getting towed in a golf cart by a garden hose behind a vehicle going down the interstate. 00:02:16.800 --> 00:02:27.199 So normally the word comes posthumously, but they also do honorable mentions, like for the guy who swallowed uh nitroglycerin pills and tried to detonate them by running into a wall. 00:02:28.800 --> 00:02:37.039 So, in some respects, I think it's it we we we get this perverse satisfaction by laughing at these kind of you know, here, hold my beer kind of stunts. 00:02:37.199 --> 00:02:40.879 But deep deep down, I wonder if at times we do that. 00:02:41.039 --> 00:02:50.159 I think we do that because our tendency to laugh at these situations is easy because we it's it's not just about man's inherent stupidity. 00:02:50.240 --> 00:02:51.759 It's we we don't like death. 00:02:51.919 --> 00:03:13.759 We hate death, we're we have this aversion to death, and our tendency to cement these events into permanent memorial may actually be an attempt to distract from the very real pain of death, um, to cover up our struggle with death, the the challenge that we we have when we deal with death, or to avoid having to deal with the meaning of death because end-of-life issues are so real and raw. 00:03:14.719 --> 00:03:18.639 Now it's estimated that over 609,000 people will die in the U.S. 00:03:18.719 --> 00:03:20.479 from cancer just this year. 00:03:20.719 --> 00:03:26.800 In 2016, 37,461 people died in automobile accidents. 00:03:26.879 --> 00:03:33.439 Since 1775, over 666,000 soldiers have died in combat serving our country. 00:03:33.680 --> 00:03:38.080 More than 64,000 people died of drug overdoses in 2016. 00:03:38.159 --> 00:03:46.639 And in 2014, 2.26 million people died in the United States, the number one cause of which was uh heart disease. 00:03:47.439 --> 00:03:51.919 But death is not just a statistic, it's a deeply personal event. 00:03:52.159 --> 00:04:02.560 I think if we ask for a show of hands, probably better than half the room, half the folks here this morning have experienced the death of a loved one or somebody that they were close to just in the last 12 months. 00:04:02.879 --> 00:04:11.360 And it's precisely that deeply painful and personal, kind of inescapable flavor of death that Jesus is talking to in today's passage. 00:04:11.520 --> 00:04:13.120 Look again at the end of verse 40. 00:04:13.280 --> 00:04:17.439 You must also be ready, for the Son of Man comes at an hour you don't expect. 00:04:17.680 --> 00:04:20.800 The message here is the Son of Man is coming. 00:04:21.040 --> 00:04:29.920 This entire parable of the Watchers revolves around one thing, and it's the temporary nature of this life and the absolute certainty that one day it will end. 00:04:30.639 --> 00:04:39.279 This passage is God's reminder to us that death is a reality of this life, but that viewed through a gospel lens, death can actually be fruitful. 00:04:39.519 --> 00:04:42.720 Because let's be honest, we all hate death, and we should hate death. 00:04:42.959 --> 00:04:59.360 In fact, uh Russell Moore, in a book called A Theology for the Church, argues the predominant cultural narrative around death is some it's sort of a Darwinian naturalism, along with most non-Christian philosophies that assumes that death is the natural ending point to life. 00:04:59.680 --> 00:05:12.319 Christian eschatology, on the other hand, insists differently, seeing death as an alien invader of the cosmic order, a curse from the Edenic fall, and a strategy of the enemy spirit to crush God's image-bearing humanity. 00:05:12.560 --> 00:05:15.920 He continues, we actually should hate death. 00:05:16.079 --> 00:05:21.439 A Christian's eschatology does not consist in his prophecy charts, but in his funeral service. 00:05:21.680 --> 00:05:25.600 And nowhere, perhaps, is a church more theological than at a funeral. 00:05:25.759 --> 00:05:37.839 Now, eschatology is just the part of theology that deals with the set of doctrines that revolves around death and judgment, the final destiny of the soul and the final destiny of mankind. 00:05:38.000 --> 00:05:41.439 So more continuous, perhaps clearer than any other set of doctrines. 00:05:41.600 --> 00:05:47.759 Our eschatology reminds us that the Bible is one coherent story with one author and one theme. 00:05:48.000 --> 00:05:58.079 The storyline begins in an innocent garden and it ends in a glorious garden city, and all in between, there's this bloody and violent war between Jesus and the serpent. 00:05:58.319 --> 00:06:05.839 All along the way, Scripture speaks of God's purpose to build a kingdom for his anointed, incarnate Son as the firstborn among many brothers. 00:06:06.079 --> 00:06:11.759 Eschatology, then, is inherently messianic in both the Old and in the New Testaments. 00:06:12.000 --> 00:06:17.759 So today, as we confront the reality of death, there are several reasons that even the Church of Jesus Christ should hate death. 00:06:18.000 --> 00:06:24.240 First, we hate death because it's the ultimate reminder of just how much sin has corrupted our physical world. 00:06:24.480 --> 00:06:26.800 In verse 38, the passage is very clear. 00:06:26.879 --> 00:06:31.120 If he comes in the second watch or in the third and finds them awake, blessed are those servants. 00:06:31.279 --> 00:06:34.959 We see the servants are in a place that the master is not. 00:06:35.199 --> 00:06:37.040 We are separated from God. 00:06:37.199 --> 00:06:43.360 We no longer live in the Garden of Eden where we walk with God daily, daily, on a daily basis face to face. 00:06:43.680 --> 00:06:54.879 So let's face it, Russell Moore continues, he argues again, the more we're conformed to the image of Christ, the more we're frustrated to live in a world of funeral homes and electric chairs and abortion clinics. 00:06:55.120 --> 00:07:07.519 We see rust on our cars, and we see wrinkles in our faces, and mold on our bread, and impatience with our children, and temper and traffic, and we're constantly reminded that this world is just not as God created it to be. 00:07:50.639 --> 00:07:52.480 The earth is broken. 00:07:53.120 --> 00:08:02.240 So we hate death because it reminds us about sin's corruption, but we also hate it because it's the ultimate reminder that this physical world and our place in it is temporary. 00:08:02.480 --> 00:08:03.920 It is not forever. 00:08:04.079 --> 00:08:08.399 Eventually it will end, whether it's through death or through the second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. 00:08:08.560 --> 00:08:10.720 Let's look back again at verse 40. 00:08:11.040 --> 00:08:15.920 You must also be ready, for the Son of Man comes in an hour you don't expect. 00:08:16.079 --> 00:08:18.720 There are no exceptions here, unfortunately. 00:08:18.879 --> 00:08:25.040 Even the greatest, most dedicated Christian believers will eventually get old and sick and eventually die. 00:08:25.920 --> 00:08:28.560 The old saying about death and taxes is pretty true. 00:08:28.639 --> 00:08:30.480 It's inevitable and it's final. 00:08:30.879 --> 00:08:31.360 C.S. 00:08:31.519 --> 00:08:36.000 Lewis said that 100% of us die and the percentage cannot be increased. 00:08:36.240 --> 00:08:39.120 So we hate death because it reminds us of sin's corruption. 00:08:39.279 --> 00:08:41.840 We hate it because of the temporary nature of this life. 00:08:42.080 --> 00:08:50.159 But despite an anti-aging treatment market worth over$140 billion in 2015, there's nothing we could do about it. 00:08:50.399 --> 00:08:54.559 Maybe this is in our humanity, maybe this is the part we hate the most. 00:08:54.799 --> 00:08:58.320 We hate death because it's the ultimate reminder that we're not in control. 00:08:59.039 --> 00:09:00.639 Verse 40 is very clear. 00:09:00.799 --> 00:09:05.200 We don't know the hour when Christ will return or when our lives will end. 00:09:05.360 --> 00:09:14.320 We talk a lot about grace here at Redeemer in terms of our performance, and we talk a lot about how there's nothing we can do to merit what is freely given to us in the cross. 00:09:14.639 --> 00:09:16.080 Death is kind of the same way. 00:09:16.159 --> 00:09:23.919 There's nothing we can do to earn our way out of death or postpone death or make it come at a different time, and in our flesh, we don't like that. 00:09:24.159 --> 00:09:26.240 We don't like not being in control. 00:09:27.679 --> 00:09:31.759 Finally, we hate death because it's ultimately incomplete. 00:09:32.240 --> 00:09:33.919 Death leaves us hanging. 00:09:34.639 --> 00:09:35.600 We don't like that. 00:09:35.759 --> 00:09:39.679 Let's look back at verse 37 and verse 40 45, 46. 00:09:40.080 --> 00:09:43.360 It says, Blessed are those servants who the master finds await when he comes. 00:09:43.519 --> 00:09:45.919 Truly I say to you, he will dress himself for service. 00:09:46.080 --> 00:09:48.639 He'll have them recline at table, and he'll come and serve them. 00:09:48.799 --> 00:09:55.279 And then in 46, the master of the servant will come on a day when he does not expect him, and in an hour he doesn't know. 00:09:56.000 --> 00:10:01.279 So for both the wise and the foolish servants, the arrival of the master is not the end of the story. 00:10:01.519 --> 00:10:01.919 Right? 00:10:02.159 --> 00:10:03.840 There's a part two for both of them. 00:10:04.000 --> 00:10:13.120 Death is the first part of a two-step process that is ultimately incomplete until we see the fulfillment of God's kingdom in Christ and the redemption of this world. 00:10:13.440 --> 00:10:20.000 Returning to a theology for the church, Russell Moore again argues that the reign of death is not simply the expiration of individuals. 00:10:20.080 --> 00:10:22.320 It's not just our bodies going away. 00:10:22.559 --> 00:10:31.120 It's a deceptive and destructive kingdom of Satan that leads to a final confrontation, a final judgment, and praise God, a final defeat. 00:10:31.360 --> 00:10:42.000 The knowledge that death isn't really about our heart stopping or our bones decaying or our funerals is actually a messianic symbol of what has to happen before that final redemption can take place. 00:10:42.399 --> 00:10:52.480 And that knowledge of death's deeper symbolism holds the answer to the fruitfulness in death and ultimately a deep and lasting meaning for those found in Christ Jesus. 00:10:52.720 --> 00:11:00.240 So having looked at the reality of why we hate death, let's now turn and look at the reassurance that we can find in the fruitfulness of death. 00:11:00.639 --> 00:11:12.080 So, for death to be fruitful, we have to first acknowledge that outside the grace of the cross, and this is the tough part, outside the grace of the cross, there's no comfortable explanation for death. 00:11:12.320 --> 00:11:20.159 Many of us have experienced that tough, that awkward conversation with a nonbeliever or somebody who's experienced the death of a non-believer, and our heart aches. 00:11:20.240 --> 00:11:21.200 We just want to comfort them. 00:11:21.759 --> 00:11:22.720 We want to make them feel better. 00:11:22.879 --> 00:11:29.279 We have this very humanly driven, very culturally driven inclination to just make the pain go away. 00:11:29.519 --> 00:11:36.240 But John Owen said, we cannot enjoy peace in this world unless we're ready to yield to the will of God in respect to death. 00:11:36.480 --> 00:11:41.440 Our times are in his hand and at his sovereign disposal, and we must accept that as best. 00:11:42.240 --> 00:11:48.559 So winsome honesty is critical as we deal with death, not just for ourselves, but as we seek to minister to others as well. 00:11:48.799 --> 00:11:58.000 Death is a powerful tool that points people to the cross as we explain the reality of Christ's great struggle to redeem our souls and defeat the enemy for eternity. 00:11:58.159 --> 00:12:02.000 Ultimately, we really need to change how we think about death. 00:12:02.240 --> 00:12:07.360 Not something to be feared or run from or surrendered to, but something that we should hate. 00:12:07.519 --> 00:12:11.519 We should see it as a battle, something we should fight, not surrender to. 00:12:11.840 --> 00:12:15.679 And we do that simply by preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ at all times. 00:12:15.919 --> 00:12:17.200 And we talk a lot about that here. 00:12:17.360 --> 00:12:29.600 Preach the gospel at all times, but especially, particularly in the case of death, when we learn of a family member that's passed away or when we stand at the casket of an unsaved friend, we must preach the saving gospel of Jesus Christ. 00:12:30.320 --> 00:12:33.120 Now the follow-on to that is positive. 00:12:33.279 --> 00:12:34.240 In fact, it's beautiful. 00:12:34.399 --> 00:12:44.879 We can find fruitfulness in death, knowing that even though outside the cross there's no comfortable explanation for death, in the cross we find every comfortable explanation for death. 00:12:45.039 --> 00:12:47.279 And that's what we preach here every Sunday. 00:12:47.440 --> 00:12:49.759 The glory of that gospel is grace. 00:12:49.919 --> 00:12:55.440 That even though we're more broken by sin than we could ever imagine, we're more loved by God than we could ever dare to dream. 00:12:55.600 --> 00:13:02.960 We don't have to surrender to death, we don't have to outperform death, we don't have to meet a certain standard, so we maybe don't have to fear death. 00:13:03.200 --> 00:13:10.799 When we're saved by Christ's death on the cross, we can rest in that finished work, knowing that even in death, he is victorious. 00:13:11.039 --> 00:13:15.840 And because he's victorious, we can honestly embrace death. 00:13:16.240 --> 00:13:18.000 Look at verse 38. 00:13:18.559 --> 00:13:24.399 If he comes in the second watch or in the third and finds them awake, blessed are those servants. 00:13:24.960 --> 00:13:29.039 The wise servants are watching and they're waiting patiently, expectantly. 00:13:29.679 --> 00:13:32.480 They're ready for their master to return. 00:13:33.120 --> 00:13:42.399 In 1 Thessalonians chapter 4, Paul talks about the eschatology of the church, and then he instructs us, therefore, encourage one another with these words. 00:13:42.879 --> 00:13:49.440 Going back to a theology for the church, Russell Moore argues that there's one man that doesn't have to bow to death as a tax collector. 00:13:49.679 --> 00:13:56.159 That's the perfect man, Jesus Christ, who lived a perfect, sinless life, and he's not accountable to death. 00:13:56.480 --> 00:14:08.720 Christ's resurrection was the first and the final wave of counterattack against the satanic wages of sin and has forever given us the opportunity to also participate with him in defying death's tyranny. 00:14:09.200 --> 00:14:16.879 In becoming worldly saints, Michael Whitmer argues that God is so committed to this world that he will one day make it his permanent residence. 00:14:17.120 --> 00:14:26.000 The whole world will be his temple, with his glory streaming from the new Jerusalem, and the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea. 00:14:26.159 --> 00:14:29.279 Habakkuk chapter 2 and Isaiah chapter 11. 00:14:29.919 --> 00:14:43.919 So as we greet death with the gospel of Jesus, we can actually embrace it because it reminds us of who is in control and that because Jesus became sin for us, we don't have to fear death or outperform death or try to postpone death. 00:14:44.159 --> 00:14:49.840 In fact, if you look at the passage today, it's constantly repeated the master, the master, the master, the master. 00:14:49.919 --> 00:14:54.399 And what we see is this entire parable is being driven by the master. 00:14:54.799 --> 00:15:02.480 So as we acknowledge that God's sovereignty over death comes through Christ's resurrection, we can actually embrace death because we know that Christ lasts. 00:15:02.559 --> 00:15:04.399 Oh death, where is your stain? 00:15:04.639 --> 00:15:08.879 Our master has defeated death, and he drives the ark of our story. 00:15:10.000 --> 00:15:18.960 As we look to verses 36 and 45, we see fruitfulness in death because it reminds us to be cautious about our relationship with this world and the things that are in it. 00:15:19.200 --> 00:15:27.519 It says, Keep your lamps burning and be like men who are waiting for their master to come home from the wedding feast, so that they may open the door to him at once when he comes and knocks. 00:15:27.679 --> 00:15:34.960 But if that servant says to himself, My master is delayed in coming and begins to beat the male and the female servants, and eat and drink and get drunk. 00:15:35.600 --> 00:15:41.279 Rest, I think, touched on this last week when earlier in the chapter in verses 16 to 21. 00:15:41.519 --> 00:15:47.440 He told them a parable saying, The land of a rich man produced plentifully, and he thought to himself, What shall I do? 00:15:47.519 --> 00:15:48.799 For I have nowhere to store my crops. 00:15:48.960 --> 00:15:49.840 So he said, I'll do this. 00:15:49.919 --> 00:15:55.600 I'm going to tear down my barns, I'm going to build bigger ones, and then I'm going to store all of my grain and all of my stuff. 00:15:55.840 --> 00:16:02.080 And I'll say to my soul, Soul, you have ample goods stored up for many years, so relax, eat, drink, and be merry. 00:16:02.159 --> 00:16:06.559 But God said to him, Fool this night, your soul will be required of you. 00:16:07.200 --> 00:16:15.360 So Christ reminds us that wise servants are patient and watchful, while the unwise servants are doing anything but watching and waiting. 00:16:15.759 --> 00:16:20.320 There's clearly a right way and a wrong way to prepare for eternity. 00:16:20.559 --> 00:16:35.519 If we turn our attention too much to the idolatry of things or people or success or work or wisdom or even character or spiritual disciplines, we won't be ready for Christ's return because we're not resting in his finished work on the cross. 00:16:36.320 --> 00:16:37.919 So we hate death. 00:16:38.080 --> 00:16:42.080 We hate death because it reveals the extent of sin's corruption in this world. 00:16:42.320 --> 00:16:46.799 We hate death because it reminds us that our situation in this life is temporary. 00:16:47.039 --> 00:16:53.600 We hate death because it reminds us that we're not in control, and we hate death because ultimately it's an incomplete step. 00:16:53.759 --> 00:16:55.120 It leaves us hanging. 00:16:55.360 --> 00:17:06.960 But we also realize that we can find fruitfulness in death if first we acknowledge that there's no comfortable explanation for death outside the cross, but that in the cross there is every comfortable explanation for death. 00:17:07.200 --> 00:17:17.839 We can find fruitfulness in death when we embrace death through rest in the finished work of the gospel because we know who is in control and we know that ultimately he will be victorious. 00:17:18.720 --> 00:17:30.319 Finally, we can embrace death because it's a bridge into eternity, and a biblical eschatology reminds us that eternity in God's kingdom is something lovely beyond our human imagination. 00:17:30.880 --> 00:17:36.480 In fact, placed in the context of God's overarching story, death is hopeful. 00:17:37.200 --> 00:17:42.880 I think it's uh maybe a little ironic that our culture has developed this antithesis for graveyards. 00:17:42.960 --> 00:17:48.079 We don't like cemeteries, we don't like graveyards, and we think about Halloween and horror movies and all these different kinds of things. 00:17:48.400 --> 00:17:59.680 Uh, maybe it shouldn't surprise us uh when we live in a culture where companies are making billions of dollars on plastic surgery and anti-aging cream and dozens of all these other life-giving kind of treatments. 00:17:59.839 --> 00:18:10.720 We're superstitious, we're distrustful, we're negative towards these very visible reminders that sin corrupts that we're not in control, and that this mortal life will inevitably end. 00:18:11.039 --> 00:18:18.799 So imagine with me walking through a graveyard in one morning, it's very quiet, it's perfectly still and peaceful. 00:18:19.119 --> 00:18:31.039 You can just barely see these uh visible monuments of people lives gone past, and people who are once young and vibrant and talented and productive and skilled and all these other kinds of things. 00:18:31.839 --> 00:18:36.160 Even the the gravestones themselves are evidence of the corruption of this world. 00:18:36.240 --> 00:18:46.160 They're faded, they're chipped, they're dirty, they're worn, names and dates and reputations and accomplishments seemingly gone to the past. 00:18:46.559 --> 00:18:49.359 Except what maybe if they're not? 00:18:50.240 --> 00:18:54.319 What if because there's an empty hole in the ground somewhere in the Middle East? 00:18:57.200 --> 00:19:00.000 One day that silence and still enough will be broken. 00:19:01.759 --> 00:19:07.119 One day that eastern sky will explode in glory, and the heavens will ring. 00:19:07.440 --> 00:19:16.319 With a joyful, thunderous shout of a resurrected Galilean conqueror, as he returns and says to us, Right, beloved, we are home. 00:19:18.000 --> 00:19:19.759 That wasn't supposed to happen. 00:19:21.680 --> 00:19:23.440 In practice, it wasn't supposed to happen. 00:19:23.599 --> 00:19:25.839 So let's close with verse 37. 00:19:26.000 --> 00:19:28.880 Blessed are those whom the Master comes and finds ready. 00:19:29.119 --> 00:19:34.880 This next part's the kicker as Jesus gives us just a glimpse of what eternity with him will be like. 00:19:35.200 --> 00:19:42.720 Truly I say to you, he will dress himself for service and have them recline at table, and he will come and serve them. 00:19:44.000 --> 00:19:46.559 Let's read another passage with a similar message. 00:19:46.720 --> 00:19:48.400 Revelation chapter 19. 00:19:48.799 --> 00:20:02.720 The Holy Spirit, through the Apostle John, says, Then I heard what seemed to be the voice of a great multitude, like the roar of many waters, like the sound of mighty peals of thunder, crying out, Hallelujah, for the Lord our God, the Almighty reigns. 00:20:03.759 --> 00:20:07.039 Let us rejoice and exalt and give him the glory. 00:20:07.359 --> 00:20:09.200 For the marriage supper of the Lamb has come. 00:20:09.359 --> 00:20:15.119 The bride has made herself ready, and it was granted to her to clothe herself with fine linen, bright and pure. 00:20:15.359 --> 00:20:18.480 For the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints. 00:20:18.720 --> 00:20:24.559 And the angel said to me, Write this blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb. 00:20:24.720 --> 00:20:27.359 And he said to me, These are the true words of God. 00:20:28.000 --> 00:20:33.759 So blessed are those whom the Master finds ready, because we join him at the marriage supper of the Lamb. 00:20:34.640 --> 00:20:39.039 Eternity with Christ will be glorious beyond our human imagination. 00:20:40.559 --> 00:20:47.359 So let's rest in the fact, let's lean into the fact, even that death is painful, that we hate death. 00:20:47.599 --> 00:20:50.559 It's okay to hate death, it's okay to not like it. 00:20:50.960 --> 00:21:04.240 But let's also rest in the fact that viewed through the lens of the gospel, it is a symbol of the magnificent struggle that has taken place for thousands of years, that has even taken place right now between our conquering Savior and the serpent himself. 00:21:04.559 --> 00:21:13.519 Let's find fruitfulness in seeing death through the lens of the gospel and rest in the fact that because of his perfect death, we don't have to fear death. 00:21:13.920 --> 00:21:17.279 Because we're accepted and loved by him who conquered death. 00:21:17.599 --> 00:21:18.720 Let's pray together. 00:21:19.920 --> 00:21:32.400 Heavenly Father, we thank you that in the cross, every tough question, every hard issue, everything that we struggle with is made clear, it's made simple. 00:21:32.559 --> 00:21:35.440 Father, give us the grace to rest in your finished work. 00:21:36.000 --> 00:21:42.160 Jesus, we thank you for your life, we thank you for your death, we thank you for your resurrection, we thank you that you suffered for us. 00:21:42.640 --> 00:21:45.920 And Lord, we thank you that you love us beyond our comprehension. 00:21:46.079 --> 00:21:47.920 We thank you for the cross, thank you for grace. 00:21:48.319 --> 00:21:49.440 Jesus thank you for praying.