FINAL THINGS: The Inevitability of Death

Pastor Phil Taylor and Ric Shields discuss the inevitability of death and how Christians should prepare for it, emphasizing that death is not an end, but a transformation into eternal life in the presence of God. They conclude by urging listeners to trust in God and find peace in the knowledge that death is the door that leads to his presence.

Transcript

FINAL THINGS: The Inevitability of Death
GUEST: Rev. Phil Taylor
Season 3, Episode 29 

Ric Shields (00:00):

I don't know about you, but I've learned so much from this series about final things. I really hope the same is true for you. My friend, pastor Phil Taylor, the Pastor Emeritus of Carbondale Assembly of God in Tulsa, Oklahoma, has provided us with some outstanding insight into what scripture tells us about death and dying for the believer. I am so very grateful that he has joined us for these discussions. 

I've never had the same guest chair on three consecutive episodes before, but Pastor Phil will join us again today. Last week we spoke about the inevitability of suffering, and today we'll talk about the inevitability of death. Pastor Phil will share about a transformational experience he had as a young man. We'll also take a look at what we can learn from Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, and talk about viewing the worst thing that can happen to us. 

I'm glad you've joined us. Welcome to the DoorWays® Ministry Network Podcast.

(01:09):

We've seen some Christian leaders who died. Some were younger than others, some died from a lingering disease, others from heart attacks, aneurysms or strokes that took their lives without any indication of illness. And we've seen others who have died from accidents. It seems to me as if death may be no respect or persons. So how should we prepare for this inevitability of death?

Phil Taylor (01:34):

Well, obviously, the first thing we do is we, as we've been saying, we put our faith in the one who conquered death by his death. The fact that Jesus rose from the grave, Paul says that “now Christ has risen, and because he's risen, then we have hope.” He's the first fruits, the firstborn from the dead. So, because Jesus lives, all of us are going to live. Resurrection's going to come for us.

(02:04):

And so, the inevitability of death just says, yeah, for the Christian, there's the inevitability of resurrection as well. And it's not just that we die, but that we're immediately in the presence of the Lord. And we say that because of what Jesus said to the thief on the cross that said, “remember me when you come in your kingdom.” And Jesus said, “this day, you're going to be with me in paradise.” So, we believe there's, there's an immediate sense in which we're in the Lord's presence. And so

Ric Shields (02:34):

That's really good. The inevitability is not only of death, but of life.

Phil Taylor (02:38):

Exactly. Yeah. Life forever. If you've not made Jesus the Savior and Lord of your life, if you've not placed your trust in him, then, that's the first thing you do to be free of that fear of death, is to know the one who is the resurrection and the life. And Jesus said, “If you believe in me, if you die yet, shall you live?” You know, so yeah, trust in Jesus, put your hope in him.

(03:06):

And then I think it's okay, you don't have to be morbidly fixed on dying, but I think everybody along the journey, you need to give some thought to it. Again, how am I living my life so that there's going to be a good death, a good life, and a good death? And whether that's in a car accident or whether it's through some of the things you mentioned there, when death comes, I'm able to close my eyes and know that I'm going to be in his presence.

(03:36):

I remember, and it's been long years ago, maybe 45 years ago or more. I had a vision. I was a young guy. In fact, yeah, it may be close to 50 years ago, but doesn't matter long ago. And I know where I was, kneeling at the altar at Carbondale Assembly of God, and just in a season of prayer. And I had this vision, and the Lord showed me several things. It was almost like I could see myself walking on this journey of life. And, but I was kind of up above. It was like I had a heavenly view looking down. But I'm seeing myself and hearing things that I'm saying, and Jesus has some correction that he gives me and cautions me about some things or whatever. And so, I make it all the way kind of to the end of this journey.

(04:28):

And all of a sudden, I realize that Jesus is standing with me, and I kind of look at my own garments. I'm wearing kind of a dingy white robe of some kind, but mine just looks pretty sad compared to his who, who he's wearing this brilliant white kind of shining garment. And all of a sudden, I had, I felt it in my physical body in this vision, but I felt it as I'm kneeling there, and I said, “Oh, I'm dying.” I mean, I was just totally aware that that's what was happening. And in that moment then of dying, I saw that dingy white robe that I was wearing turn into the same kind of brightness of the robe that Jesus was wearing. And I said, as soon as I'd said, “Oh, I'm dying,” then I said, “Oh, no, I'm living.”

(05:27):

This is what life is. This is eternal life. And all those years back, it was a moment for me that kind of said, well, yeah, there's nothing to fear. I felt like then that something had been shown to me that I think wherever it is down the road, that I face death if I'm given the opportunity to, you know, to have a moment to face it, that I can draw back to that and go, yeah, I've already seen it. And it's transformational. You know that we lay aside, we sow a mortal body and we're raised immortal.

Ric Shields (06:07):

You know, Paul said in 2 Corinthians 5:4, he talks about “that which is mortal will be swallowed up by life.”

Phil Taylor (06:16):

Yeah.

Ric Shields (06:17):

Like in a big gulp. What will that be like? And suddenly we go from breathing this air, or having difficulty breathing it, to a moment when we are swallowed up, completely engulfed in life. It will be an amazing moment.

Phil Taylor (06:34):

And it's so rich and so good that, again, I think it not only should take away the fear from the heart of a believer, but then it allows us to have those kind of positive conversations, particularly if, again, if someone is nearing what we know of death, you know, that we can say, “Boy, this is what's coming.” And the anticipation ought to be one of just, man, I can't hardly wait.

(07:02):

You know, I've had believers say to me, “Why is it taking so long?” I have an uncle that just passed away, and the kids said his daughter said he would wake up and say, “Oh, I'm still here. Why am I still here because I thought I was going to heaven.” So, the, the inevitability of it again, it's a good thing in a sense because we just know that yeah, one of these days, this is what's going to happen.

(07:33):

Ric one other little story here, if I can tell it is, I heard a, he was an Episcopal priest father Terry Fullam. I heard him speak at a conference at an Episcopal church here in Tulsa. And he told me, he actually said, he said, “I saw an eagle die once.” And he told this story about his father who had been a salesman, and, and he said, we always went to church on Sunday. And one Sunday morning, dad said, “You know, I don't feel too well. I think I'm just going to stay home.” He said, “We knew something was wrong. And when we got back home from church, my mom and all of my siblings, he was still there in the chair.” And they took him to the hospital and, and diagnosed him with something, and he was dying.

(08:14):

So, on his final day, some months later, he said, we'd all gathered around my dad. We were all gathered there around his bed. And he said, and dad spoke to each one of us, and he spoke to my mom and, and said, boy, what a great journey we've had together. And then he spoke to all my siblings, each one of us, and said something to us and just blessed us, you know, and kind of spoke a word over us. And he said, and by the time he had finished that, it was almost as if he didn't realize the effect he was having. He said, all of us were crying. And he said, and my dad said, “Oh, you're crying.” And then he said, “Oh, don't weep for me if you could see what I see, and if you could hear what I hear. Oh, don't weep for me. This is my coronation day.” And he said, and then my dad laid back in the bed and died.

(09:04):

I think for anybody that's fearful of this, we put our faith in Christ. We receive his forgiveness and his grace, and then we know there's a coronation day coming. So, Paul says, “I finished the race, I kept the faith, and now there's laid up before me, the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge is going to give to me on that day. And not only to me, but to everybody.” He looks forward to his appearing. We're standing in the winner's circle, and he presents us this crown of life and the crown of his righteousness. It's going to be exciting, you know?

Ric Shields (09:41):

It is.

Phil Taylor (09:41):

It really is.

Ric Shields (09:43):

And unfortunately, we've come to believe it's not the winner's circle, it's the loser’s circle when we die. But it isn't.

Phil Taylor (09:47):

But it's not.

Ric Shields (09:48):

It is the winner's circle. Absolutely.

Phil Taylor (09:49):

Absolutely. Yeah. It's the beginning and not the end. It's life and not death. It's all good.

Ric Shields (09:55):

Here's a great thought for us to conclude on. You shared the story of Shadrach, Meach and Abednego, and the account of the fiery furnace in Daniel chapter three when we spoke yesterday, and I liked what you had to say about their confession of faith. Would you share that with us?

Phil Taylor (10:13):

You know, the king lined them up. He'd kind of, you know, he was threatening them or whatever, and they'd heated that furnace, whatever it was, five times hotter than it had ever been. And their response was, look, here's the deal. Old king you can throw us in the fiery furnace, and the God that we know and the God that we serve is able to deliver us out of the fiery furnace, deliver us from the flames, but if not, we're still not going to serve you. We're going to serve him.

(10:46):

And so it was, it was like, either way, we've already made our decision. We're going to serve God and we're going to live for him. Yeah. I think that, again, that's kind of the way with death, that we look at it and like, all right, Lord, if you heal me…

(11:02):

It's Brother Cornell. Again, “if you heal me, I'm going to rejoice and praise you and give thanks and tell others about the healing. If you choose to take me on to heaven, well, I'm going to give thanks and praise God, but I'll be able to do it face to face. I'll do it in your presence.”

(11:18):

 You know, our friend Vicki Arnold wrote a song about Either Way, I win. And that's the truth. If God takes us home to stay, then we win. And if he heals us here, well then, we win.

(11:30):

And Ric, another thing to consider about all that, and I'm not trying to step away from, from the Hebrew children, I was going to read exactly what they said. “If we're thrown in the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to save us from it, and he'll rescue us from your hand.” And they said that, like, that's fully what they expected to happen, alright? That was their confession. “He will rescue us from your hand. We know that's what he's going to do, but even if he doesn't, we want you to know, oh, king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you've set.” And of course, the king threw him in the fiery furnace, and then he saw not three guys, but four guys walking around in there. And the fourth looked like a son of God of some sort. So, they had that mighty deliverance, you know?

(12:14):

But what I was going to say, the day came at some point in time when Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego said to whatever family or friends they had around, “Looks like it's time for me to go.” They died. The widow's son at Nain that the Lord raised from the dead. Later, that guy died. Lazarus, whom God, who Jesus raised from the dead. Later he died. Like you said.

Ric Shields (12:39):

They died. And we are still encouraged by their faith that they had.

Phil Taylor (12:44):

We're still here. We still know that God's a God that heals and raises the dead and all those things. And someday he will ultimately call and all of us are going to rise from the dead. We're all going to rise to be with him.

(12:57):

But yeah, this is the balance. This is the tension that we live in. That the God who heals sometimes is the God who takes us on to heaven. That the God who liberates and stands with the Hebrew children, you know, hallelujah. Boy, that is good news. And, and the writer of Hebrews says, oh, yeah, people are delivered from the fire and they're delivered from this and that and the other. But then he says, but you know, there were others who were faced jeers and flogging and chained and put in prison and stoned and sawed in two and put to death by the sword. And he says, of those, “The world was not worthy.” So, some escape from the fire and some are put to death in the fire. It still means we're going to trust the Lord. We still have confidence in this good and loving God who cares about us.

Ric Shields (13:50):

I don't have another question to ask unless there's something additional you'd like to conclude with.

Phil Taylor (13:56):

Well, you'd kind of said there at the end that can we ever fully understand the concept of death and dying on this side of eternity? And I don't think we can, because again, so many different facets to this, which the older I get, and the more I know of him, his grace and his goodness, and even the tough things in life are multifaceted.

(14:24):

You know, we look at something.

I remember Bob Benson telling a story about his neighbor that had had a heart attack and had heart surgery. So, he went over to him and he said “Boy, I guess that was about the, you know, was that the worst thing that ever happened to you?” And he said, “No, actually, maybe it's the best thing that ever happened to me.” Really? Well, yeah. “Because I'm more aware of each moment that I have and I'm more thankful” and all those kind of things.

(14:48):

That's kind of the multifaceted thing about our life in general, so that somebody dies and we think that's the worst thing that's ever happened. And then five years down the road, we realize that boy, the righteous are swept away because of the wicked day that's coming. And you know, their testimony, people came to know the Lord because of that and their faithfulness. And that person's gone on to bless other lives.

(15:14):

And we look at all these pieces, and the reality then kind of comes back to what Chrysostom was saying, that is, it's premature for us to say, that's the worst thing, or that's the best thing, or I wish that hadn't happened, or this happened, or whatever. Because all of it, ultimately in eternity, is going to be shown to us. Oh, there was purpose in this. Oh, I see. This could have been, it could have been so different. It could have been something else. This would've been tragic. This is God's grace that allowed this to happen.

(15:45):

So, I think all of those pieces then allow us to come back to what we've been saying for the last hour. And that is we just put our trust in the Lord and we rest in him. We know that he's a good God, and that we can have peace knowing that, and we can face death and yeah, it's the last enemy that's going to be destroyed and put under his feet. But at the same time because we're in Christ, he's defeated death, and it's going to be the door that takes us right into his presence. And so, even so, Lord Jesus come quickly. And if that means we're dying, well, hallelujah. We’ll open our eyes and be breathing, celestial air and giving praise and thanks to Jesus.

Ric Shields (16:31):

For the believer, death is not the end of the road. It's actually the doorway through which we travel from this life and to eternal life. The Apostle Paul wrote about this experience in Romans 6:8. The Message Version reads like this: “If we get included in Christ's sin conquering death, we also get included in his life-saving resurrection.” I think that's pretty good. 

And he followed up with that train of thought in chapter 6:23 when he wrote, “Work hard for sin your whole life and your pension is death. But God's gift is real life, eternal life delivered by Jesus, our Master.”

(17:15):

Maybe those who fear death the most aren't confident of their relationship with Christ. So, that becomes my question to you. Do you believe you will live even after you die? When you believe in Christ Jesus to be the one who forgives your sin and who puts you in a right relationship with God, that's what happens. And you can do that with a simple prayer.

(17:41):

This prayer is called the Salvation Poem and was written by my friend Matthew McPherson. It goes like this. Say it with me.

(17:50):

“Jesus, you died upon a cross

and rose again to save the lost.

Forgive me now of all my sin,

come be my savior, Lord and friend.

Change my life and make it new.

And help me Lord, to live for you.”

It really is that simple.

(18:14):

If you'd like more information about what it means to follow after Jesus, go online to salvationpoem.com for free resources.

(18:23):

In our next episode, I'll chat with Vicki LaFave, a hospital chaplain. She is often present when people die and has a chance to minister to both the patient and their family members. We'll talk about praying for people to die. Is that a good thing to do? I hope you'll join us as we discuss that topic and more.

(18:44):

You can also drop me an email if you have questions or suggestions about this topic of “Final Things.” My address is info@doorways.cc.

Until next time, this is Ric Shields. Thanks for listening.