In this Easter message, Dr. David Jeremiah delves into the profound concept of the second death as outlined in the Bible, emphasizing its eternal consequences. Journey through the resurrection story of Jesus Christ, exploring its significance beyond the empty tomb and into the realms of faith, forgiveness, and everlasting life. With compelling biblical references and real-life anecdotes, this episode unlocks the mysteries of Christ’s victory over death and its implications for believers today.
When you think of death, you probably imagine the end of the body’s earthly life. But that’s just one kind of death. The Bible tells us there are actually two. Today on Turning Point, Dr. David Jeremiah considers the lesser known but far more important concept of the second death and the eternal consequences that come with it. To conclude his Easter message, the resurrection of Jesus, here’s David. And it is true.
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Without death, there’s no resurrection. Jesus died and was brought back by his own power from the grave. And he says when we trust in him, when we die, we’ll experience the same thing in his power. Because He lives, we also shall live. The resurrection teaches that and proves that, and we’ll talk more about that today as we open our Bibles to Luke chapter 24. During this month, we are making available to those of you who will help us in the month of April the book, The World of the End. how Jesus’ prophecy shapes our priorities, how the things Jesus said would happen in the future are telling us how to live our lives today. This book will help you understand the future, and most of all, understand how the future determines the present. It’s a hardcover book, 240 pages, and it will help you discover how to navigate the world of the end. It’s yours for the asking when you send a gift of any size to Turning Point to help us in the cost of programming and airtime and all the things that go into the ministry that God has given us. We’re so grateful for your support, your generosity, and your faithfulness and consistency. We are so blessed to be in a family of people just like you. So thank you for your thoughtful giving, and I trust the book will be a blessing to you. Here’s part two of The Resurrection of Jesus.
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All the famous tombs in the world are famous for one reason. They’re famous because of the people who are buried there, whether it’s Westminster Abbey in London or the tomb of St. Thomas in India or the tomb of the unknown soldier in Washington. They’re all famous for the bodies that they contain. The tomb of Jesus is famous for what it does not contain. It was empty on that first Easter, and it is still, and the emptiness is a constant reminder of this angel message. He’s not here. He’s risen, as he said. When you go through a tough time, you need something you can hold on to, something that’s sure, something that’s time tested. Let me tell you, people haven’t gathered for the past 2,000 years to say the stock market has risen, it has risen indeed. They have not gathered to say the dollar has risen, it has risen indeed, or the employment rate has risen, or the gross domestic product has risen, or the value of my 401K has risen. Here’s the one hope that has held up human beings across every continent and every culture for two millennia of difficult times of poverty, disease, pain, hardship, and death itself. Here it is. Christ is risen. He is risen indeed. And then there’s this moment of awakened memory. And I put this in here because it’s kind of critical to the way some people look at the resurrection. Verses six through eight, the angel speaking to the women said, do you remember how he spoke to you when he was still in Galilee saying that the son of man will be delivered into the hands of sinful men and be crucified in the third day rise again? And the lights go on. Oh yeah, I remember that. I run into people all the time that say, I don’t know why you people make such a big deal out of the resurrection. Jesus didn’t even believe in the resurrection. I love it when people say stupid things like that. Because obviously they haven’t read the Bible. What do you mean Jesus didn’t believe in the resurrection? He experienced the resurrection. but he also spoke about it. During his three years of ministry, he spoke freely of his death, his burial, and his resurrection. For instance, early in his ministry, immediately after he cleansed the temple, he got into this discussion, and he said this to the Jews of Jerusalem, and I gotta tell you what he said freaked them out. He said, if you destroy this temple, in three days, I will raise it up. Now, he’s standing at the temple that was built, that took hundreds of years to build, one of the seven wonders of the world, and he’s talking to the Jewish people and he says, if you destroy this temple, I’ll raise it up in three days. And they say, yeah, right. But you don’t have to wonder what he was saying because in the verse it says, but he was speaking of the temple of his body. In other words, if you destroy this temple, In three days, I will raise it up. On another occasion during the second period of his Galilean ministry, after he healed a demoniac, Jesus said, for as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. What was he talking about? He was talking about the resurrection. Immediately following Peter’s great confession, we read that from that time Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem, suffer many things from elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed and be raised the third day. So if somebody says Jesus didn’t believe in the resurrection, they just haven’t read the record. He believed in it. He taught it to his disciples. He told them what was going to happen. He described all the details of it. And the fact that they didn’t believe it, even after it happened, many of them, is not the fault of Jesus. He told them. The empty tomb and the resurrection, when it happened, hit the disciples with shock and awe. In fact, in the early moments of his resurrection, the people who were closest to him, they didn’t believe it. It happened. It happened exactly as he said it would, and they were caught in unbelief. his repeated appearances to them ultimately broke down their doubt. It’s an amazing thing that they had been with him all this time. They had heard all these teachings, but when it happened, of course, there’s the evidence of the empty tomb and the declaration of the women. When they went into the tomb and saw that it was empty, The Bible says they returned from the tomb and told all these things to the 11, all the rest. And it was Mary Magdalene and Joanna and Mary, the mother of James and the other women with them who told these things to the apostles. I must stop here and make a note about the priority of women in this story. They were the first to see the empty grave. Women were the first to see the angels. Women were the first to see the resurrected Lord. Women were the first to hear his loving words. And they were the first to share the joyful news that he was alive. And you know why it’s important? We as a country probably have the highest regard for women of any of the countries we know about. But it wasn’t that way in Jerusalem when Jesus came out of the grave. Women were given no credit for anything. They couldn’t even serve as a witness at a trial. And so culturally, such a story from women would be viewed with suspicion. One of the main proofs that the resurrection story is credible is the realization that the first century church would never have created a story like that whose main witnesses were women. They just wouldn’t have done that. And when they told the disciples what they had seen, verse 11 says, their words seemed to them like idle tales and they didn’t believe them. I mean, the apostles were not men poised on the brink of belief, just needing somebody to push them over the edge. They were utterly skeptical. Even when the women they knew well told them of their experience, they refused to believe. So if you’re here today and you’re a hard case, you’re a skeptic, you’re in good company. The disciples were just like that too. They got through it and I hope you will too. There’s a person who’s going to enter into the dialogue here. He’s going to fix everything. He always fixes everything. Do you know about Peter? Peter listened to these women. He didn’t know if they were telling the truth or not, but Peter, listen to what it says. Peter rose and he ran to the tomb. I don’t know if it’s true or not, but I’m going to find out for myself. Did you notice that in the story of the resurrection, there is more running than in any other place in the Bible? I’m not kidding you. Half of the running experiences of the Bible are in the resurrection story. The women ran from the tomb. Peter and John ran to the tomb. The disciples in Emmaus ran back to Jerusalem. And somebody has written, where’s that energy in the church today? We shuffle along, they ran. And then they came and they found this discovery. Stooping down, when Peter got to the tomb, he saw the linen cloths lying by themselves. In a real sense, the grave of Jesus was not totally empty. In fact, some years ago, I preached an Easter sermon on the title, The Not Quite Empty Tomb, because the tomb had some grave clothes that were still there. And when John leaned in and he looked into the tomb and he saw the grave clothes, it was so startling to him that the Bible tells us that he became a believer. Let me tell you what he saw. Here were the grave clothes in the form of a body, slightly caved in and empty, like the empty chrysalis of a caterpillar’s cocoon. You see, in burial, in Jesus’ day, you didn’t put on a shroud or put on a coat or a burial gown. The way you got buried is you got wrapped like a mummy. with clothing, oh, wrapped all around your body. But when they looked inside, there was no body, but all of these wrappings and all of this cloth was still in the shape of a body, and there was no body there. It was this discovery that caused John the Apostle to believe in the resurrection. Now I’m gonna quote from John’s gospel, but first I wanna explain something to you about John. John wrote his gospel, the fourth gospel, and he never talked about himself by name. He called himself the disciple that Jesus loved. Come on, John. I know you’re trying to be humble, but that’s over the top, man. The disciple that Jesus loved? Well, it gets worse. The Bible says in John 20, So they both ran together, and the other disciple outran Peter and came to the tomb first. John could not help himself. He had to put in the text that when they ran to the tomb, he was faster than Peter. The other disciple that Jesus loved got there first. John left the tomb that day full of faith, but not Peter. The Bible says about Peter that he departed marveling to himself what had happened. So I tell you all of this to let you know that the opening mood for Easter that day wasn’t what you might think, that here’s all these religious people maybe in a church someplace waiting to hear the news. Well, he came out, he’s risen. No, it was surrounded by people just like all of us in all different stages of belief and unbelief about the reality of the resurrection. Some were sure, some were not sure, but seemed to me like the ones who were closest to Jesus had the most trouble trying to figure this out and accept it as fact. When Jesus came out of the grave, he met astonishment and surprise and fear and confusion. Yeah, he told them this was going to happen, but they didn’t get it. And Easter’s still like that today for many people. It’s a surprise. So let me ask you this question. If all of this is true, if he really did come out of the grave, if he is alive, if he overcame death, if he’s the only one who’s ever lived, who of his own power took back life, if that is true, what does it mean to us? Let me suggest three things that it means to me. Maybe you agree. First of all, it means that I can be forgiven. You see, when Jesus was teaching and preaching before his death, he said things like, if you put your trust in me, you can be forgiven. If you put your trust in me, your sins can be covered. And then he went and did what he said he was going to do. He died on the cross and everybody knew that. And he was witnessed by the Jewish community and by the Romans. He hung on a cross between two thieves and poured out his life and he died. And so let’s put a period there for just a moment and say, if that’s all that happened, are we still okay? No, we’re not still okay. We’re not okay because a lot of people have died for things they believed in. A lot of people have said, I’ll die for this. Even some of our own patriots have put their lives on the line for things they believe. But Jesus said, I’m going to die. And I’m going to come back. And when I come out of the grave, you’re going to know that everything I told you about forgiveness is true. And when Jesus came out of the grave that day, what he proved was that his death on the cross was sufficient for our sin. I like to say it this way. His death was the sacrifice and his resurrection was a stamp on the document paid in full. So my sins have already been covered. You say, how could that be? He was just a man. No, he was not. He was the God-man. He was the infinite God-man. He was God walking around in a body, and when he died on the cross, his death was infinite just as his life was infinite. His death was enough for everyone who would put their trust in him. So when he died on the cross, you can be sure that it was sufficient for everyone. But how do you know it was really true and that it was really miraculous and that it was really from God? You know that because three days later, he came out of the grave victorious over death. Nobody’s ever done that before. Romans says it this way, he was delivered up because of our offenses and he was raised because of our justification. And Paul tells us this, that if we confess with our mouth the Lord Jesus, and if we believe in our heart that God has raised him from the dead, we will be saved. You know, I know that’s a term that’s gotten thrown under the bus in a lot of religious circles. I grew up with that term. People coming up and ask you, are you saved? Most of the time people today don’t know what that means, but the Bible speaks of it very clearly. To be saved is to have salvation. To be saved is to be forgiven. To be saved means that your sins are forgiven and God has accepted you and you’re on your way to heaven. And the Bible says, if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised him from the dead, you will be saved. So I got saved one day, long, long time ago. My dad led me to Christ. I’ve been saved ever since because once you get saved, you stay saved. And I know that my sins are forgiven. I’ve done some things I’m not proud of as all of you have, but I’ve confessed them to the Lord. And the Bible says, if we confess our sin, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sin and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. And that’s what he does. I stand before you today free and forgiven. I’m a forgiven boy. And I know a lot of you are forgiven too. Amen. But not only are we forgiven, the Bible says we have fellowship. Remember what happened? Jesus came out of the grave. He came out of the grave, and 40 days later, he went back to heaven. So what’s he doing up there? The Bible says he’s seated at the right hand of the Father, making intercession for us. Literally, he’s our advocate in heaven. Do you know what that means? It means I got an attorney in heaven taking care of my stuff. That means when I do something that’s not understood, my attorney in heaven, he takes that to the Father and puts it right. The Bible says he’s making intercession for us. He is seated right next to God the Father, and when I pray, he takes my prayers and he puts them in the perfect format and gives them to God, and they get answered. And here’s the goodest of all the good news. He’s not only in heaven as my advocate and my intercessor, he also lives within my heart, and I can talk with him anytime I want, and I talk to him today, to my risen Lord. When you receive Jesus Christ as your personal Savior, when you become a Christian, you not only get a Savior and Lord, you get a friend. And the Bible says Jesus is a friend who sticks closer than a brother. How many of you could use a friend like that? Last of all, third, not only do I get forgiven and I get fellowship with God, but third, my future is sealed, it’s fixed. I don’t have to worry about what’s gonna happen to me when I die because the promise is this. Jesus said, I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me, though he may die, He shall live and whoever lives and believes in me shall never die. Oh, wait a minute. That sounds like double speak. What is that all about? The Bible teaches that there’s two kinds of death. In fact, it calls it the first death and the second death. Death is a word that means separation. That’s what the word itself means. By the way, I’ve done some homework on this and death is 100%. Did you know that for everybody? So death is separation. And the first death, it means that your soul and your spirit gets separated from your body. That’s what happens when a person dies. We put their body in the grave, but the Bible says their soul and their spirit goes to be with God. That’s the first death. And all of us will experience that if the Lord doesn’t come back beforehand. But the second death is one that’s not understood by many. It’s the one you don’t want to get close to. The second death isn’t the separation of your soul and your spirit from your body. The second death is the separation of your soul and spirit from God forever. Now listen again to what Jesus said. Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me, though he may die physically, he shall live. When you die, you keep on living. And whosoever lives and believes in me shall never die, because when you believe in Jesus, you live forever in his presence. So what I know is this, I’m not afraid to die. I’m not anxious to die. I don’t want to die any sooner than I have to, but I’m not afraid to die because I know what it is. I’ll never die spiritually because I’ve made peace with God. I’ve faced death physically and I know that it’s a scary thing, but I’m not afraid of it because I know what it is. One day Jesus is going to come back and if we haven’t already died before then we’re going to be caught up together be with him and the Bible says so shall we ever be with the Lord well that’s the resurrection that’s why I believe in it why I love to teach it why this is such a special day I’m forgiven I got somebody to talk to every day in heaven and I’m going to spend eternity with my father those are pretty good takeaways from the resurrection let me tell you this story and we’re done Carol Wolfe tells about a time some years ago when she was in a Christian theater group, and she was traveling around doing a musical based on C.S. Lewis’s The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. I don’t know if you’ve read that, but it’s a pretty good metaphor of the gospel. And the lion, Aslan, is a metaphor or a picture of Jesus Christ. I just need to tell you that so you understand the rest of the story. She said, I helped prepare the costumes and the sets and the props, make the bookings. She said, I booked a show at Easter in a children’s hospital. And when the kids arrived for the show in wheelchairs and even on a gurney, as well as by foot, we realized that we were going to be very crowded and we decided to remove some of the set pieces. And even when we did that, the children were right next to the actors throughout the entire performance. At any rate, during this performance, there was a scene where the White Witch, the devil, humiliates and kills the good lion, Christ. And the children were totally caught up in the action. I mean, they didn’t stir or speak, but more than a few were starting to cry. She said, I was offstage watching this, waiting to go on, and the activities director of the hospital came and furiously started to chew me out. She said, what are you doing? You didn’t tell me this was going to happen. Look at these children. You’re breaking their hearts. I said, don’t you get it? Aslan is like Jesus. He’ll come back. Just then, two actresses playing sisters were singing a beautiful song in the midst of this presentation, and the song was called Why Did This Have to Happen? They sang about Aslan taking the punishment for their traitor brother all while sitting in front of Aslan’s dead body on the set. When they finished their song, they cried on each other’s shoulders, and while in this posture of grief, Aslan sat up behind them. And that’s when the children came to life. They shouted with joy. They clapped and laughed as if they were full of excitement. And the ones closest to the two women were tugging at the women’s clothes and shouting and waving their hands, saying, look, look, he’s alive, he’s alive. And that’s what Easter is all about. And the same excitement that he brought to those children, he waits to bring to us if we will just come to him with our arms open to receive him. And I want to tell you today, it’s not enough to know that Jesus is alive in the world. What’s really important is to know whether or not he’s alive in you. Is he alive in your heart? Do you know what it means to be forgiven? Do you have fellowship with God? Are you looking forward to the future or are you scared to death? The Bible says there are some people who go through their whole life and they’re in bondage to death. Let me tell you, you can have Jesus Christ as your living savior today. He won’t force himself into your life. He doesn’t come and require you to become a Christian, but he offers himself to you. He says, come unto me, all you that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. And I want to ask you today, is there any reason why you wouldn’t want to do that? Why you wouldn’t want to receive Jesus Christ as your savior? And here’s how you can do that. It’s done through prayer. You just simply talk to God and tell him that you want Jesus Christ to be your savior.
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And hundreds of people have done that. And they’re doing it every day, every weekend at our church and across the whole globe. We hear from people who have put their trust in Christ. When we get to heaven, we’ll have to have a Turning Point alumni party. All the people who came to Christ through Turning Point, that will be something, wouldn’t it? And what a blessing it is to have a part in making sure that people get to heaven. And I hope that’s true of you. I hope you know for sure that you’re going to heaven. If not… Just follow the instruction we just gave you, and you can have that certainty in your own life. Tomorrow, one last message on Good Friday before we get to Easter. He really is alive. That’s the message tomorrow. It will help us prepare our hearts for the celebration of this wonderful event, the return from death to life by Jesus Christ. Join us then, won’t you? We’ll have a great time talking about it together. Have a good day.
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Our message today originated from Shadow Mountain Community Church and senior pastor, Dr. David Jeremiah. Will you take a moment to tell us how our ministry is an encouragement? You can write us at Turning Point, P.O. Box 3838, San Diego, California, 92163. Visit our website at davidjeremiah.org slash radio or call 800-947-1993. Ask for your copy of David’s book, The World of the End, with a special Be the Answer bookmark, yours for a gift of any amount. You can also download the free Turning Point mobile app for your smartphone or tablet, or search in your app store for Turning Point Ministries to access our content. Visit davidjeramiah.org slash radio for details. That’s davidjeramiah.org slash radio. This is David Michael Jeremiah. Join us tomorrow for another special Easter message here on Turning Point with Dr. David Jeremiah.
