Alston Road Church of Christ Podcast

Series: N/A

Service: Sun AM

Type: Sermon

Speaker: Clement Isonguyo, Darrryl Plat

Series: N/A

Service: Sun AM

Type: Sermon

Speaker: John Kilgore

Series: N/A

Service: Sun AM

Type: Sermon

Speaker: Rick Linn

Series: N/A

Service: Sun AM

Type: Sermon

Speaker: Frederic Gray

Series: N/A

Service: Sun AM

Type: Sermon

Speaker: Scott Kercheville

A couple weeks ago the New York Times published an opinion piece by an ICU doctor in Boston that made me sick.

“BOSTON — As an I.C.U. doctor I’m used to giving bad news, but I was not prepared for this.

I paused outside my patient’s room to watch her for a moment. She lay on the bed, tethered to a ventilator by the tracheostomy tube in her neck. Her husband sat in a small plastic chair beside her with his hand on her leg, smiling at some silly sitcom playing on the TV. I hesitated a beat. And then I entered.

I had to tell him. There was no way to soften the blow. The hospital is changing its rules, I said. No more visitors. When you leave today, you both need to say goodbye.

I watched their faces shift. My patient’s breathing quickened, and her ventilator alarm sounded. Her husband quickly moved his hand to her shoulder and her breaths slowed; the alarms silenced. He knew how to calm her. He had been there through all of it — hospitalizations for cystic fibrosis, the transplant, the bouts of rejection. When we took away her voice with the tracheostomy tube, he spoke for her.

But now, as we tighten our protocols to protect our patients from the threat of Covid-19, she’s alone. Here in my hospital, as in so many others throughout the country, we’ve banished most visitors. It’s a tough decision that leaves our patients to suffer through their illnesses in a medical version of solitary confinement. And I’m worried for them. Because those of us on the front lines simply don’t have a plan for this.”

The article gets more grim, but you get the point. As I read the article I thought about the possibility of my grandma, my parents, Ashley, Willa, or Ruth being treated alone in a hospital - and the thought horrified me. What if they suffered alone? Died alone? But as I have soaked on that thought the question occurred to me: is that the worst thing that could happen?

For Christians, Death Is Gain

In John 5 we are introduced to one of the saddest scenes in the Bible. Jesus goes to a pool called Bethesda where a multitude of invalids were laying. A man was there who had been an invalid for 38 years. How long had that man - who was once someone's son - been laying there alone with no one to care for him.? Jesus told him to pick up his bed and walk. And he did. And he made a beeline for the temple. Jesus later found him in the temple and said, "See, you are well! Sin no more that nothing worse may happen to you." How insensitive! what could be worse than living alone as an invalid for decades, no one to care and clean for you, eating the scraps people throw at you?

Jesus later says there will be a resurrection of the dead — and those who have done evil will be raised up to a resurrection of judgment. How about suffering alone forever and knowing you chose this?

In the midst of this pandemic, we need to hear and speak reason to the world : living alone as an invalid for decades or dying alone in a hospital is not the worst thing that can happen to you. This is the time to hear and make an urgent plea: sin no more that something worse does not happen.

What is wild about this is that the Bible actually teaches us that death-though a terrible enemy-is actually a means of great gain for Christians. While Paul was in prison awaiting trial he realized two possibilities lay before him — life and death. Philippians 1:21–23 (ESV), “For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me. Yet which I shall choose I cannot tell. I am hard pressed between the two. My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better.”

His life was painful, but he knew if he died he would depart and be with Christ, and that was far better. Later, he would say this: 2 Corinthians 5:8 (ESV), “Yes, we are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord.”

Though they did not know Christ, faithful Jews spoke of a similar hope - alluded to in the Bible and more concretely in intertestamental writing. Our bodies may die, but those who put their faith in Jesus and the God of Israel will still live away from the body and be comforted in the presence of Jesus.

In Revelation John sees a very comforting picture of those who are being killed for their obedience to Jesus. Revelation 7:15–17 (ESV), “Therefore they are before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple; and he who sits on the throne will shelter them with his presence. They shall hunger no more, neither thirst anymore; the sun shall not strike them, nor any scorching heat. For the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd, and he will guide them to springs of living water, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”

What great comfort! Praise God that we can actually in a weird way look forward to the grave.

So, Why Resurrection?

Have you ever wondered why God doesn't just leave it at that? Why raise Jesus from the dead? why not just let him die as a sacrifice for sins and let him go to heaven and that's the end of it? And why the same for us? Why speak of a day when all will come out of their tombs? What is the need for resurrection? The Bible gives us a host of answers to this question. I want to consider two of those reasons with you this morning.

Turn back one chapter to Revelation 6:9-11. I have always focused on one picture of the saints who have died, but ignored the other. Revelation 6:9–11 (ESV), “When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the witness they had borne. They cried out with a loud voice, “O Sovereign Lord, holy and true, how long before you will judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?” Then they were each given a white robe and told to rest a little longer, until the number of their fellow servants and their brothers should be complete, who were to be killed as they themselves had been.”

These saints willingly died on the altar for Christ. In one scene we see them praising God and being comforted. In another, they still cry out "how long? How long till you do something about what happened? About what is still happening?" Are they comforted? Yes. Is it way better to be with Christ? Yes. Does that solve the problem? Does that end the persecution still happening on earth? the injustices? The indifference of the arrogant? The lawlessness? The cursing of God's name? I don't know exactly what it's like for the dead, you don't either, all we have are pictures. They are comforted with a comfort I long for so much, but it doesn't seem they are given a blue pill or a flash of light to make them live in total ignorance about the dark state of reality: the wicked are still having their day and the saints are still preyed on.

There is the need to set things right, to deal with all that has gone wrong. Later in the book as judgment is poured out on the beast the altar bursts into praise. Revelation 16:7 (ESV), “And I heard the altar saying, ‘Yes, Lord God the Almighty, true and just are your judgments!’”

So, why resurrection? Because even the dead seem to not be fully at peace until sin and injustice are dealt with. This shouldn't be surprising since we even see angels in Zechariah that aren't pleased with the state of things on the earth (Zech. 1:12). Being in heaven before the end doesn’t mean we won’t still be disturbed by some things. And while God's temporal judgments are praiseworthy, Paul tells us Jesus' resurrection is the signal that there is one big day when the world will finally be judged in righteousness. Acts 17:30–31 (ESV), “The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent, because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead.”

The world thinks everything will continue as it has from the beginning. Even the righteous wonder this at times. Paul says Jesus' resurrection is God's message to all: think again. "I am going to do something about all of this." And the final resurrection is the “when.”

But resurrection day isn't only needed to deal with all that has gone wrong from the perspective of sin and injustice — it is needed because of what death has done to our relationships.

When Paul spoke of himself dying he spoke of it as gain. The very next chapter in Philippians he speaks of how Epraphroditus' death would have caused him sorrow upon sorrow. Because we have accepted death as normal, it is one thing for someone to die after a "full life," strung up on morphine, surrounded by loved ones; it's another thing for a dear friend, a sibling, a parent, a spouse, a child to die before their time. They had plans, a whole life in front of them. 

Even more, those who die leave the living in the dust, carrying all the pieces of life they left behind, with constant reminders of life as it should have been. Yes, we may join them one day, but to do so we have to leave the next generation with the very same problems-broken hearts and broken lives. As John has often said, “Death may be normal, common, but it is not natural.

This is why Jesus' resurrection and the promise of the day when all in Christ will be raised is so important. 1 Thessalonians 4:13–18 (ESV), “But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep. For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. Therefore encourage one another with these words.”

This day is so important because 2,000 years ago someone's son, brother, and friend was ripped from this life "before his time" and then three days later God raised him again. And since we believe Jesus died and rose again, we know the dead in Christ will rise and we will be caught up together with them to meet the Lord in the air.

Conclusion

As everyone around us is terrified of sickness and death and what it may mean for them and their families, we need to remember and to remind: death isn't the worst thing that

will happen to you.

There are reports that when epidemics spread through the Roman world, many people fled, but Christians stayed behind, risked their lives, and cared for the sick. They probably looked foolish when it was all happening, but afterwards people realized who really cared about them.

John 13:35 (ESV), “By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”

John 15:13 (ESV), “Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.”

What gives us love like that is Jesus 'death. What gives us fearlessness like that is his resurrection. Let us trust him and sin no more that this may be our confidence. Let's spread that love and boldness through the good news in a time filled with bad news so the worst thing doesn't happen to our friends and neighbors.

Series: N/A

Service: Sun AM

Type: Sermon

Speaker: Scott Kercheville

I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

(Rom. 12:1–2 ESV)

A prudent person foresees danger and takes precautions. The simpleton goes blindly on and suffers the consequences. (Prov. 22:3 NLT-SE)

1. CONFORMED: Disasters and trials are always and only bad

TRANSFORMED: Difficulty helps us grow, things often get worse in order to get better

Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing. (James 1:2–4 NLT-SE)

I will raise my fist against you. I will melt you down and skim off your slag. I will remove all your impurities. (Is. 1:25 NLT-SE)

2. CONFORMED: This is out of control

TRANSFORMED: God is in control

Then the seven angels with the seven trumpets prepared to blow their mighty blasts. The first angel blew his trumpet, and hail and fire mixed with blood were thrown down on the earth. One-third of the earth was set on fire, one-third of the trees were burned, and all the green grass was burned. (Rev. 8:6–7NLT-SE)

3. CONFORMED: If God is in control, he is a terrible God for doing these terrible things or for allowing them to happen

TRANSFORMED: Partial disasters and judgments are a gift from God to humble us before the final judgment (they are a “dress rehearsal”)

 About this time Jesus was informed that Pilate had murdered some people from Galilee as they were offering sacrifices at the Temple. “Do you think those Galileans were worse sinners than all the other people from Galilee?” Jesus asked. “Is that why they suffered? Not at all! And you will perish, too, unless you repent of your sins and turn to God. And what about the eighteen people who died when the tower in Siloam fell on them? Were they the worst sinners in Jerusalem? No, and I tell you again that unless you repent, you will perish, too.” (Luke 13:1–5 NLT-SE)

Then the fifth angel poured out his bowl on the throne of the beast, and his kingdom was plunged into darkness. His subjects ground their teeth in anguish, and they cursed the God of heaven for their pains and sores. But they did not repent of their evil deeds and turn to God. (Rev. 16:10–11 NLT-SE)

But the people who did not die in these plagues still refused to repent of their evil deeds and turn to God. They continued to worship demons and idols made of gold, silver, bronze, stone, and wood—idols that can neither see nor hear nor walk! And they did not repent of their murders or their witchcraft or their sexual immorality or their thefts.(Rev. 9:20–21 NLT-SE)

4. CONFORMED: It’s every man for himself

TRANSFORMED: Consider other people more significant than yourself

 “The siege and terrible distress of the enemy’s attack will be so severe that you will eat the flesh of your own sons and daughters, whom the LORD your God has given you. The most tenderhearted man among you will have no compassion for his own brother, his beloved wife, and his surviving children. He will refuse to share with them the flesh he is devouring—the flesh of one of his own children—because he has nothing else to eat during the siege and terrible distress that your enemy will inflict on all your towns. The most tender and delicate woman among you—so delicate she would not so much as touch the ground with her foot—will be selfish toward the husband she loves and toward her own son or daughter. She will hide from them the afterbirth and the new baby she has borne, so that she herself can secretly eat them. She will have nothing else to eat during the siege and terrible distress that your enemy will inflict on all your towns. (Deut. 28:53–57 NLT-SE)

  Don’t be selfish; don’t try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves. Don’t look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too. You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had. 

Though he was God, he did not think of equality with God as something to cling to. Instead, he gave up his divine privileges; he took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being. When he appeared in human form,  he humbled himself in obedience to God and died a criminal’s death on a cross.  (Phil. 2:3–8 NLT-SE)

CONCLUSION: Trust and take joy in God no matter the circumstances

I trembled inside when I heard this; my lips quivered with fear. My legs gave way beneath me, and I shook in terror. I will wait quietly for the coming day when disaster will strike the people who invade us.

 Even though the fig trees have no blossoms, and there are no grapes on the vines; even though the olive crop fails, and the fields lie empty and barren; even though the flocks die in the fields, and the cattle barns are empty,

 yet I will rejoice in the LORD! I will be joyful in the God of my salvation!

 The Sovereign LORD is my strength! He makes me as surefooted as a deer, able to tread upon the heights. 

(Hab. 3:16–19 NLT-SE)

Series: N/A

Service: Sun AM

Type: Sermon

Speaker: Scott Kercheville

Series: 1 Peter (Living in Exile)

Service: Sun AM

Type: Sermon

Speaker: Scott Kercheville

1. Rejoice in Our Sure Inheritance (1:1-5)

1 Peter 1:1–5 (ESV), “Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who are elect exiles of the Dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in the sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and for sprinkling with his blood: May grace and peace be multiplied to you. 

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.”

2. Rejoice While Trials Test You (1:6-9)

1 Peter 1:6–9 (ESV), “In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.”

3. Foster Joy through the Prophetic Word (1:8-12)

1 Peter 1:8–12 (ESV), “Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

Concerning this salvation, the prophets who prophesied about the grace that was to be yours searched and inquired carefully, inquiring what person or time the Spirit of Christ in them was indicating when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the subsequent glories. It was revealed to them that they were serving not themselves but you, in the things that have now been announced to you through those who preached the good news to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven, things into which angels long to look.”

Luke 10:23–24 (ESV), “Blessed are the eyes that see what you see! For I tell you that many prophets and kings desired to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it.”

Conclusion

Psalm 126:1–6 (ESV), “When the LORD restored the fortunes of Zion, we were like those who dream. Then our mouth was filled with laughter, and our tongue with shouts of joy; then they said among the nations, “The LORD has done great things for them.” The LORD has done great things for us; we are glad. Restore our fortunes, O LORD, like streams in the Negeb! Those who sow in tears shall reap with shouts of joy! He who goes out weeping, bearing the seed for sowing, shall come home with shouts of joy, bringing his sheaves with him.”

Series: 1 Peter (Living in Exile)

Service: Sun AM

Type: Sermon

Speaker: Scott Kercheville

Psalm 44:11, 13-16 (NLT-SE), “You have butchered us like sheep and scattered us among the nations... You let our neighbors mock us. We are an object of scorn and derision to those around us. You have made us the butt of their jokes; they shake their heads at us in scorn. We can’t escape the constant humiliation; shame is written across our faces. All we hear are the taunts of our mockers. All we see are our vengeful enemies.”

Psalm 120:5–7 (NLT-SE), “How I suffer in far-off Meshech. It pains me to live in distant Kedar.  I am tired of living among people who hate peace. I search for peace; but when I speak of peace, they want war!”

Psalm 137:1–6 (NLT-SE), “Beside the rivers of Babylon, we sat and wept as we thought of Jerusalem. We put away our harps, hanging them on the branches of poplar trees. For our captors demanded a song from us. Our tormentors insisted on a joyful hymn: “Sing us one of those songs of Jerusalem!” But how can we sing the songs of the LORD while in a pagan land?  If I forget you, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget how to play the harp. May my tongue stick to the roof of my mouth if I fail to remember you, if I don’t make Jerusalem my greatest joy.”

1 Peter 1:17 (ESV), “Conduct yourselves with fear throughout the time of your exile...” 

1 Peter 2:11 (ESV), “I urge you as Sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul.”

1. Build Houses and Live in Them (Jer. 29:4-7; 1 Cor. 5:9-10)

Jeremiah 29:4–7 (ESV), “Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, to all the exiles whom I have sent into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon: Build houses and live in them; plant gardens and eat their produce. Take wives and have sons and daughters; take wives for your sons, and give your daughters in marriage, that they may bear sons and daughters; multiply there, and do not decrease. But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the LORD on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare.”

1 Corinthians 5:9-10 (ESV), “I wrote to you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people— not at all meaning the sexually immoral of this world, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters, since then you would need to go out of the world.”

2. Depart, Touch No Unclean Thing (Isa. 52:11; 2 Cor. 6:14-7:1)

Isaiah 52:11 (ESV), “Depart, depart, go out from there; touch no unclean thing; go out from the midst of her; purify yourselves, you who bear the vessels of the LORD.”

2 Corinthians 6:14-7:1 (ESV), “Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness? What accord has Christ with Belial? Or what portion does a believer share with an unbeliever? What agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; as God said, “I will make my dwelling among them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Therefore go out from their midst, and be separate from them, says the Lord, and touch no unclean thing; then I will welcome you, and I will be a father to you, and you shall be sons and daughters to me, says the Lord Almighty.” Since we have these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and spirit, bringing holiness to completion in the fear of God.”