“Seven
Last Words:
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord
Jesus Christ. Amen. In our Lent services this year we have meditated on the Seven Last
Words spoken by Jesus from the cross: “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they
do.” “Today, you will be with me in paradise.” “Dear woman, here is your son.” “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” “I thirst.” Next week on Good Friday we will meditate on Jesus’ declaration, “It is
finished.” This evening we meditate on what is actually the final words
from the cross, uttered by Jesus just moments before his death: “Jesus
called out with a loud voice, ‘Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.’ When
he had said this, he breathed his last.” Jesus not only shows us how to LIVE a Christian LIFE; in these final
words just before the end of his earthly life, he also shows us how to DIE a
Christian DEATH. Paul says in Ephesians, “Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as
an offering and sacrifice to God.” On the cross, Jesus sacrificed himself
as a ransom to pay for the sins of the whole world. Your punishment was
upon him, and his blood shed on the cross cleanses you from every sin. Jesus promises, “Everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him
shall have eternal life.” For you, and all who trust in Jesus, death is no
longer something to be afraid of. Because for you, death is not the end
but the beginning of eternal life. Paul writes in 1st Thessalonians, “We do not want you to be ignorant,
brothers, about those who fall asleep, or to grieve like the rest of men, who
have no hope. We believe that Jesus died and rose again and so we believe
that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him.” For
you and all who trust in Jesus, death is like falling asleep. So often when our children were little they would fall asleep in the
car seat on the way home at night. Terese and I would gently carry them
into the house, and they woke up in the morning to find themselves in their own
rooms. “Do not let your hearts be troubled,” Jesus says. “Trust in God ;
trust also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms . . . I am
going there to prepare a place for you. . . I will come again and take you
to be with me so that where I am you also may be. You know the way to the
place where I am going. . . . I am the way, the truth and the life.” For the children of God death is like falling asleep on the journey
home. The angels of God will gently carry your soul into your heavenly
home, and when you awaken from the sleep of death you will find yourself in the
eternal dwelling where Christ has prepared a place for you. Paul says in 2 Corinthians, “We fix our eyes not on what is seen, but
on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.
Now we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building
from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands. . .
Therefore we are always confident and know that as long as we are at home in the
body we are away from the Lord. . . We are confident, I say, and would
prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord.” I saw those words of Paul in action about 25 years ago as a member of
my congregation was entering surgery for a quintuple heart bypass. As they
rolled her out for surgery, I told her I would be back to visit her the next
day, and she said, “If I don’t see you tomorrow, Pastor, I’ll see you in
heaven.” A few hours later her heart finally did give out and she went to
be with Jesus in paradise. Like that woman, learn from Jesus not only how to live a Christian
life, but also how to die a Christian death. Committing yourself to your
heavenly Father, with confident trust that he will take you home. As Psalm
23 says, “Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear
no evil, for you are with me. . . and I will dwell in the house of the Lord
forever.” “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit. Return to Top | Return to Sermons | Home | Email Church Office
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