Death and Immortality
A Sermon on Death and Immortality
Originally preached Dec. 10, 1954
Scripture
Sermon Description
Everyone lives forever. But what happens and how does it happen? For many years, people had lost curiosity about the study of these questions because the world was so comfortable. And then World Wars I and II occurred, shattering people’s confidence and security in the things the world had to offer. Everything was uncertain, and thus, interest in studying these topics was revived. In this sermon titled “Death and Immortality,” Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones discusses death as a fruitful means of evangelism because it forces people to face questions of eternal importance. Oftentimes, the Lord used the fear of death to prompt people to examine their hearts. Death is not the end of existence, but simply the separation of the body from the soul. Death exists simply because sin entered the world— it is a natural consequence of disobeying God. Even though Christians are saved from eternal death of the soul, Dr. Lloyd-Jones explains why Christians still suffer and die. Even though they experience death, believers can have a vastly different outlook on it because they have been saved from eternal death through faith in Jesus Christ.
Sermon Breakdown
- The sermon topic is eschatology which is the study of last things.
- Eschatology is an important doctrine because everyone is curious and concerned about the end.
- The Bible deals with all aspects of life including the end.
- Questions addressed in eschatology include: What is death? What happens after death? What is the future? What is our destiny? What will happen to the world?
- Eschatology can be viewed from a personal and global perspective. A personal perspective deals with individual destiny. A global perspective deals with the destiny of the world.
- Death is not the cessation of existence according to the Bible. It is the separation of the soul from the body.
- Death entered the world as punishment for sin according to Genesis 2:17 and Genesis 3:19. Death is not inherent in life.
- Christians still die as part of God's sanctification process. Death can be a blessing and lead to repentance.
- Though Christians die, they view death differently because they know death has lost its sting through Christ's victory over sin according to 1 Corinthians 15:55.
- The Bible assumes the immortality of the soul though it does not explicitly state it. Arguments for immortality include: God gave the gift of immortality to humans, 1 Timothy 6:16 refers to God alone having immortality in himself, progressive revelation shows greater clarity over time, Sheol and Hades show existence after death, Psalm 16 and 17 teach immortality, prohibitions against spiritism suggest existence of spirits after death, and New Testament teachings like Luke 12:4-5, the Transfiguration, Luke 16, and Matthew 22:32 suggest immortality.
- Topics to cover next include: the intermediate state, conditional immortality, and the second chance theory.
Great Biblical Doctrines
Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones
Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones (1899-1981) was a Welsh evangelical minister who preached and taught in the Reformed tradition. His principal ministry was at Westminster Chapel, in central London, from 1939-1968, where he delivered multi-year expositions on books of the bible such as Romans, Ephesians and the Gospel of John. In addition to the MLJ Trust’s collection of 1,600 of these sermons in audio format, most of these great sermon series are available in book form (including a 14 volume collection of the Romans sermons), as are other series such as "Spiritual Depression", "Studies in the Sermon on the Mount" and "Great Biblical Doctrines". He is considered by many evangelical leaders today to be an authority on biblical truth and the sufficiency of Scripture.