WHEN THE CONCERT IS OVER

Religion

This sermon was preached on Easter Sunday, 2013, at Cornerstone Baptist Church in Cherry Log, Georgia by Pastor Paul Mims.

I Corinthians 15:20-26, 50-58
The Library of Congress in Washington, D. C. holds concerts of classical music by soloists and small groups. Two of the groups that have performed there are the Budapest String Quartet and the Juilliard String Quartet. In these concerts skilled musicians played on priceless Stradivarius instruments that did not belong to them but were the property of the Library of Congress.

When the concerts were over, the musicians returned the instruments to the custodian who keeps them in a special place where the temperature and the humidity is just right to maintain the beautiful resonance of the instruments for centuries to come.

Dr. Clarence Cranford, who was pastor of the Calvary Baptist Church in Washington, attended some of the concerts and made a striking observation. He said, “Our lives are like that. They are not ours to do with as we please. They come from God. They belong to God. One day, they must be returned to God, who alone who can keep them for eternity. Yet some people live their lives as if they were only cheap fiddles to be discarded when the concert is over. Stradivarius would not have taken such pains to produce matchless instruments if he had expected them to be thrown away when the concert is over. And God would hardly have created each of us with a distinct and unique personality if he intended us to be discarded forever at death.”

The Resurrection of Jesus the Christ tells us what happens when the concert is over. This is on all of our minds. “If my parents are dead, where are they now? Where are my other loved ones who have passed on? What will happen to me when I die?” All of us struggle with these big questions of life. Thankfully, the Bible has the answers for us. It tells us about:

I. OUR LAST ENEMY (15:26) “The last enemy to be destroyed is death.”

Back of this whole resurrection chapter is the Greek belief in what happens at death. The Greeks, to whom Paul was writing, held the belief that when a person died the body simply dissolved into the elements of which it was made and the soul was absorbed back into God and individuality was lost.
Paul gives a different view. He says that individuality will survive death and that we will still be who we are. But our last enemy has to be conquered. The reason that we have to struggle with death is because of our sin and our being in Adam. “For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive.” (15:22).

We all know that the body dies. What we want to know is what happens to the soul. If the Lord tarries, all of us will experience the death of the body. But those who are in Christ will not experience spiritual death. The eternal part of us that is in the image of God, our soul, will live on.

The human mind has come up with three possibilities for the soul. They are: the soul survives death, the soul is extinguished in death, the soul is changed into something else after death. Before looking at our Christian belief, let’s examine the others.

There is a widespread belief that when the body dies the soul also dies. For as long as man has existed he has pondered these thoughts. Four centuries before Christ, a philosopher named Democritus denied that there is life after death. You can find people today to hold to this belief.

But from ancient times you can also find those who believed in an existence beyond this life. The oldest known record of human thought bears this out. In a cave in Le Moustier, France, which is a burial place of what is known the Neanderthal man, is a tomb of a sixteen year old boy. Buried with him was an ax and a side of venison to help him on his long journey. But he did not know where he was going. He just believed that it was somewhere.

Here in the United States there is a growing belief in reincarnation due to the influence of Eastern religions. This belief has been Americanized and is laughable to Buddhists and to Hindus who have held this belief for thousands of years. To them, it is a belief of despair in that the imperfect soul has to go through life over again. Their goal is to finally get free of life and be absorbed back in that from which they came.

To the American who believes in reincarnation, it is another chance at life. The Buddhists and Hindus would never see it like that. Their goal is to be relieved of their individuality.

But that is precisely the strong point of Christian belief. You will survive death as you and you will live forever in a spiritual body that will never fall prey to the ills that we have known in this life. This is made possible because Christ came forth triumphantly from his tomb of that Resurrection morning and he exclaimed, “Because I live, you, too, shall live!” He is the mighty conqueror who has slain our last enemy. “Death is swallowed up in victory.” (15:54)

That held His Spirit all secure above the death-bound tree.
Because He lives, I cannot die. Death signifies no loss;
My soul shall know but spirit-change because He knew the cross.
Because He lives, His cross transmutes death into life for me;
And failure, fear, disease, and death, Love crowns with victory.
– Adele Lathrop

II. OUR ETERNAL HOME (15:50)

I declare to you, brothers, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable.”

When Jesus came forth from the tomb He was different. His body looked the same, but it was different. It was a resurrected spiritual body. Paul says that just as our physical body equips us to live here on earth, our new spiritual body will equip us to live in the heavenly home that the Lord has prepared for us.
Time magazine asked the question, “Does Heaven exist?” The article written by David Van Biema says, “It used to be that the hereafter was virtually palpable, but American religion now seems almost allergic to imagining it. Is paradise lost?” The article begins by quoting 1 Corinthians 15:51 which says; “Lo! I shall tell you a mystery!” It suggest that nowadays churches do not talk about heaven except as funerals. The reason given is that a place somewhere out in space is inconceivable to our modern minds that have had a look into the outer reaches of space. Just last week, it was reported that a better telescope has looked almost a billion miles further out into space. We can now see almost 14 billion light years into space and no heaven is found yet. Quoting the article, “…heaven is AWOL. This is not to say that Americans think death ends everything or even that they doubt heaven’s existence. People still believe in it: it’s just that their concept of exactly what it is has grown foggier, and they hear about it less from their pastors.”

If that is true of this pulpit, I want to correct it this morning.

The teachings of Jesus assume certain things about death. He interpreted it around the themes of judgment, resurrection, reward, and punishment. Jesus acknowledged the idea of a separation of the resurrections indicating that there shall be first a resurrection of the just. He did not disclose the mysteries of death and what lies beyond. Rather, He gave His teaching as a backdrop against which he wanted his followers to act.

Jesus introduced a new attitude toward death. Of the daughter of Jarius who had died, He said, “…the damsel is not dead, but sleepeth.” (Mark 5:39) He said the same about Lazarus (John 11:11). To call death a sleep was a new concept, and they laughed at him.

Why did Jesus not speak more precisely about death? His choice not to be more specific is made clear by the problems raised immediately for his followers in communicating this crucial aspect of his teaching. One problem was that of timing. They could not yet understand his concept of resurrection. Another problem was that his audience was made up primarily of Jews who were steeped in their nationalistic and collective view of death.

Jesus did say two things on the cross that indicated that He believed: (1) that the spirit separates from the body at death, (2) that the spirit returns to the Father at death, (3) and that He could take another with him. “Jesus answered him, ‘Today, you will be with me in paradise.’” “Father, into your hand I commit my spirit.” (Luke 23:43,46).

It is clear that when Jesus talked about “sleep” He was referring to the death of the body and not the soul. Jesus said, “I tell you the truth, he who believes has everlasting life. I am the bread of life. Your forefathers ate the manna in the desert yet they died. But here is the bread that comes down from heaven which a man may eat and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever.” (John 6:47-51).

I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?” (John 11:25-26).

In my father’s house are many rooms: if it were not so I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.” (John 14:2-3).

The late Cecil B. DeMille wrote the following shortly before his death:

“One day as I was lying in a canoe, a big black beetle came out of the water and climbed up into the canoe. I watched it idly for some time. Under the heat of the sun, the beetle proceeded to die. Then a strange thing happened. His glistening black shell cracked all the way down his back. Out of it came a shapeless mass and quickly transformed into brilliantly colored life. As I watched it with fascination, there gradually unfolded irridesent colors from sunlight. The wings spread wide as if in worship of the sun. The blue-gray body took shape. Before my eyes had occurred a metamorphosis – the transformation of a hideous beetle into a gorgeous dragonfly which started dipping and soaring over the water. But its former body was left behind still clinging to my canoe. I had witnessed what seemed to me a miracle. Out of the mud had come a beautiful new life. And the thought came to me that if the Creator works such wonders with the lowliest of creatures, what may be in store for the human spirit?”

When the concert is over, the life of the believer is placed in the Father’s hands.

Who can make such a thing possible? Who is this that has such power over death?

He is the Son of God, the conqueror of sin and death. He is the Lamb of God who has died for our sin. He is the one to whom they cried “Hosanna” on Palm Sunday and “Crucify Him” on Good Friday. He is the one who broke the shackles of death on Easter morning. He is Lord. He is Lord. He is risen from the dead and he is Lord. Every knee shall bow, every tongue confess that Jesus is Lord!
He is the one who made eternal life possible for us!

PRAISE BE TO HIS NAME!

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