Temple Baptist Church - 7-15-2026
1 Corinthians 15:55-57
Introduction:
A. Tonight, I want to look at a subject that needs to be explored.
1. Death is a fact of life! A fact that is feared by many, ignored by some, and little discussed by most. Yet, it is a fact of life that is inescapable.
Romans 5:12 Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:
2. It is a rare thing to hear death mentioned in a conversion unless someone has died. Funerals bring people face to face with death for a few days, then it is not mentioned again until the next one.
3. Because of this, it needs to be fully explored and biblically explained.
B. Earlier, we saw the reason for death of this mortal, corruptible body. This flesh and blood cannot inherit the Kingdom of God. Because it is sinful, we must die. “Tis a terrible thing to fear the inevitable.”
C. What is physical death? Death:
1. In the spiritual realm: Temporary separation of the spiritual soul from the physical body until the physical body is changed, taking on incorruption and immortality. (1 Corinthians 15:50-53) This temporary suspension of the activities of the body does not mean that the spirit of man is asleep. The body sleeps until the glorious resurrection when the change comes. To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. Psalm 23 shows the death of the saint as the Lord, our Shepherd walks with us through, not in the valley, the valley of the shadow of death.
2. In the physical realm: Death begins when the heart stops beating. Deprived of oxygen carried by the blood, a cascade of cellular death commences, beginning with brain cells and ending with skin cells. Death is a process rather than an event. Specifying the moment of death usually involves deciding on a point from which there can be no return. Death in one form or another is listed at least 858 times in the Bible.
D. Over the millennia, fear of premature burial was widespread in 18th and 19th century Europe, leading to the invention of the safety coffin. The common element was a mechanism for allowing the 'dead' to communicate with people above ground. Many designs included ropes which, when pulled, would ring a purpose-mounted bell. That is where the expression "Dead Ringer" comes from. “Graveyard Shift" came from hiring people to stay by the grave of a loved one, having a pipe buried with the dead to all both air and communication, for a certain period of time to make sure that they were truly dead. The person hired then pulls the pipe out of the ground when the finality of death is assured.
E. As recently as 1995 an Italian Fabrizio Caselli invented a model that includes an emergency alarm, two-way microphone/speaker, a torch, oxygen tank, heartbeat sensor, and heart stimulator. Why are dead people buried "6 feet under"? The specific depth of six feet came later from an English law, something of an early family preservation act (Black plague and running out of space) in which the idea was to join husband and wife even after death. Six feet down allowed enough space for the coffin of one spouse, and eventually for the coffin of the other on top and still left two feet of dirt on top of both. This practice is now being implemented in the United States.
F. Because of fear of death, many have made light of it. I call that “whistling through the graveyard.”
“Here lies my wife, So let her lie.
Now she's at rest, And so am I.”
“Maria has gone to the Pearly Gate
For once in her life, she wasn't late!”
"Have me decently buried, but do not let my body be put into a vault in less than two days after I am dead". George Washington
Statistics prove single men die more quickly than married men. Therefore, if you men are looking for a long slow death, get married!
G. The body is but the tabernacle or dwelling place of the spirit of man. Upon the death of the body, the spirit of a believer takes departure, closing the senses of the body until the day of its resurrection. Immediately upon the death of our bodies, we leave the flesh:
2 Corinthians 5:8 We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord.
Philippians 1:23 For I am in a strait betwixt two, having a desire to depart, and to be with Christ; which is far better:
Romans 8:23 And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.
Luke 16:22-23 And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham’s bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried; 23 And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.
H. Death brings fear to the unsaved who have no hope. Hebrews 2:15 And deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.
The unsaved do not like to think or talk about death. We ask them the question, “If you died today, would you go to Heaven?” They are not thinking of dying!
J. Death brings about fear, even to those who are saved. Death has a “sting.” Death is something that we have not experienced and the process of dying brings about dread to all.
1. As one preacher said, “If I knew where I was going to die, I probably wouldn’t go there.” “I’m not afraid to die I just don’t want to be there when it happens!” When one man was asked if he could choose when and how he would die what it would be his answer and he said, “I would like to die easy, and not be there when it happened.”
2. We avoid the discussion of death and rarely think about it as we move swiftly through this life. Funerals bring us face-to-face with the reality of death, but then we hear the laughter and change of direction of talk at wakes, visitations, and post funeral get togethers.
3. For the Christian, death does not have to be feared, but it does need to be faced.
Psalms 116:3 The sorrows of death compassed me, and the pains of hell gat hold upon me: I found trouble and sorrow.
K. Dying begins in the womb with conception because it is an inescapable part of living. We are born to die according to Ecclesiastes 3. One day, your or my coffin will arrive in town in a covered truck. Death may be slow, it may be sudden, it may be in a strange way, but sooner or later death will come. Wherever you may be--In a moment you may meet him. Death is written on the face of all that are alive. The report of the birth of a new baby guarantees the digging of a new grave.
L. Around the world, 2.2 souls die each second; 130 souls die each minute, 7,500 souls die each hour, 190,000 souls die each day and approx. 60-70 million souls die each year. Statistical study on the subject comes to a firm conclusion: One out one people dies.
M. The greatest “Peeping Tom” in all the world is death: Jeremiah 9:21 For death is come up into our windows, and is entered into our palaces, to cut off the children from without, and the young men from the streets. Death is no respecter of persons, positions, or professions: young and old die, rich and poor die, kings and sovereigns die. Every religious denomination and ethnic group face death and none escape.
1. Babies die - 2 Samuel 12:18 And it came to pass on the seventh day, that the child died. And the servants of David feared to tell him that the child was dead: for they said, Behold, while the child was yet alive, we spake unto him, and he would not hearken unto our voice: how will he then vex himself, if we tell him that the child is dead?
2. Young people die - Psalms 55:23 But thou, O God, shalt bring them down into the pit of destruction: bloody and deceitful men shall not live out half their days; but I will trust in thee.
3. Old people die - Job 42:17 So Job died, being old and full of days.
4. All die - Ecclesiastes 3:2 A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted;
1. The Assurance Of Death – Hebrews 9:27 And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:
a. Death Is A Divine Appointment
Genesis 2:17 But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.
Romans 5:12 Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:
Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Ezekiel 18:4 Behold, all souls are mine; as the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son is mine: the soul that sinneth, it shall die.
Ecclesiastes 8:8 There is no man that hath power over the spirit to retain the spirit; neither hath he power in the day of death: and there is no discharge in that war; neither shall wickedness deliver those that are given to it.
b. Death Is A Destiny Approaching
Ecclesiastes 3:2 A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted;
Genesis 47:29 And the time drew nigh that Israel must die: and he called his son Joseph, and said unto him, If now I have found grace in thy sight, put, I pray thee, thy hand under my thigh, and deal kindly and truly with me; bury me not, I pray thee, in Egypt:
Job 7:6 My days are swifter than a weaver’s shuttle, and are spent without hope.
Genesis 47:29 And the time drew nigh that Israel must die: and he called his son Joseph, and said unto him, If now I have found grace in thy sight, put, I pray thee, thy hand under my thigh, and deal kindly and truly with me; bury me not, I pray thee, in Egypt:
Ecclesiastes 12:7 Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it.
c. Death Is A Desire Achieved
1. God’s desire - Psalms 116:15 Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints.
Job 14:15 Thou shalt call, and I will answer thee: thou wilt have a desire to the work of thine hands.
“Life is short, death is sure, sin the cause, Christ the cure!”
2. Saint’s desire - Philippians 1:23 For I am in a strait betwixt two, having a desire to depart, and to be with Christ; which is far better.
3. A tombstone in England (the man who died had a last name of Peas) read: “Here lies Peas pod. Peas shelled out and went home to God!”
2. The Analogy Of Death
In the following verses we have a transcendently sublime description of death which assures the believer that it is but “the transient slumber of the body, to be followed by the glorious awakening at the sound of the last trumpet.”
a. The New Testament Saints’ Bodies Sleep
No Biblical description of death is so comforting and consoling to the believer as that which is revealed in the familiar word sleep. It is a word that applies to the body only and never to the soul.
John 11:11-14 These things said he: and after that he saith unto them, Our friend Lazarus sleepeth; but I go, that I may awake him out of sleep. 12 Then said his disciples, Lord, if he sleep, he shall do well. 13 Howbeit Jesus spake of his death: but they thought that he had spoken of taking of rest in sleep. 14 Then said Jesus unto them plainly, Lazarus is dead.
Acts 7:59-60 And they stoned Stephen, calling upon God, and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit. 60 And he kneeled down, and cried with a loud voice, Lord, lay not this sin to their charge. And when he had said this, he fell asleep.
1 Corinthians 15:6 After that, he was seen of above five hundred brethren at once; of whom the greater part remain unto this present, but some are fallen asleep.
1 Thessalonians 4:13-15 But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. 14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. 15 For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. (Bring with him denies soul sleep. The sleep of the physical body.)
b. The Old Testament Saints’ Bodies Sleep
More than forty times in the Old Testament it is said of a man who died that he “slept with his fathers.”
2 Peter 3:4 And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation.
Deuteronomy 31:16 And the LORD said unto Moses, Behold, thou shalt sleep with thy fathers; and this people will rise up, and go a whoring after the gods of the strangers of the land, whither they go to be among them, and will forsake me, and break my covenant which I have made with them.
Job 7:21 And why dost thou not pardon my transgression, and take away mine iniquity? for now shall I sleep in the dust; and thou shalt seek me in the morning, but I shall not be.
Job 14:14 If a man die, shall he live again? all the days of my appointed time will I wait, till my change come.
3. The Annihilation Of Death
a. A Transformation – vs. 51-54 “incorruptible…immortal” POWERFUL
Philippians 3:21 Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself.
1 John 3:2 Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.
b. A Translation – vs. 52 “raised”
Revelation 4:1-2 After this I looked, and, behold, a door was opened in heaven: and the first voice which I heard was as it were of a trumpet talking with me; which said, Come up hither, and I will shew thee things which must be hereafter. 2 And immediately I was in the spirit: and, behold, a throne was set in heaven, and one sat on the throne.
c. A Termination – vs. 54 “swallowed up in victory”
1 Corinthians 15:26 The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.
Revelation 21:4 And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.
Conclusion: Thank God that one day we shall be with Him and like Him eternally and the sting of death forever banished.
1 Corinthians 15:55-57 O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? (56) The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law. (57) But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
1 John 3:1-3 Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not. (2) Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is. (3) And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure.
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