WISDOM: YOUR VICTORY OVER DEATH!

A Sermon by Pastor Moses Tumwine
Date: Tuesday, November 18, 2008 at 06:30 AM

"In the thirty-ninth year of his reign, Asa developed a serious foot disease. Yet even with the severity of his disease, he did not seek the Lord's help but turned only to his physicians he died in the forty-first year of his reign.He was buried in the tomb he had carved out for himself in the City of David. He was laid on a bed perfumed with sweet spices and fragrant ointments, and the people built a huge funeral fire in his honor" - 2 Chronicles 16:12-14(NLT)

It may be shocking for you to know that by the time you celebrate your 70th birthday, you will have survived 3.9 billion chances of dying! Simply put, knowingly or unknowingly; had it not been God on your side one out of the 56 million attempts per year by this enemy called death would have robbed you of your precious life. These figures, experts say, are factual but not infallible, until verified, will never become the truth!

The fact still holds, however, that many people are still dying around us, and many still alive are living in uncertainty and fear of being caught unawares by death.

Like King Asa who "was buried in the tomb he carved out for himself in the city of David," many are busy doing the most difficult thing: talking to their beloved ones about their death, and planning out the way they would want their funeral to look like! They are channeling their savings into funeral policies for their final arrangements before "need" arises. This is no easy task as an average traditional funeral in the United States may cost $4,600 in addition to $1,000 for flowers, obituary notices, acknowledgment cards, burial liners and special transportation burial can cost an additional $2,400.

Funeral arrangement is not a new concept even King Asa embraced it, this is another front on which spiritual values are under attack! This is an organized campaign to weaken the faith of God's people in the value of life. The world lives in great fear of death today, yet death no longer has power over you as a child of God! The disobedience of the first Adam brought sin and death thereof; while the death of the Second Adam-Jesus was the release of mankind. Jesus loves you too greatly to let your life go before your appointed time.

"Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command" -John 15:13-14

Jesus laid down his life for you to live, all you need is to tap into the wisdom of overpowering death whenever it knocks at the door of your life. Very simple; all you have to do is what Jesus commands! Until your days are fulfilled, death is a matter of choice. Not even the most dreaded accidents that rock the air, rail and road systems can kill you; you did not come by accident, you are not permitted to go by one in the name of Jesus Christ! God is committed to keeping you alive because He created you to meet a need, if you were not needed He would not have created you. That need is not met yet, how far have you advanced the kingdom for you to die now when the population of unbelievers is on the increase!

"If I am to go on living in the body, this will mean fruitful labor for me. Yet what shall I choose? I do not know! I am torn between the two: I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far; but it is more necessary for you that I remain in the body" -Phil 1: 22-24

Your choice should be to remain in the body so as to accomplish God's purpose and plans for your life. God's thoughts for you are "thoughts of peace,and not of evil,to give you an expected end"-Jeremiah 29:11

The pain and grief that comes with the death of a beloved one, is questionably beyond what God wants for you. Is the pain and the grief to those left behind the "expected end" according to God that repeatedly says "the end of a matter is better than its beginning thereof;..." I do not think so, friend!

"It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life"-John 6:63(KJV)

When you accept Jesus as your personal savior, the spirit becomes responsible over quickening your life. To "quicken" means "to come or return to life". The spirit has and will always return to life what the enemy has taken away to initiate death in your body. The spirit of God makes you to live above natural circumstances that go on rampage killing everybody around you. This explains why that illness will not kill your husband or why that accident did not take your life!

Your faith is the instrument with which you plug into this supreme reality, fear not. It's upon you to determine the duration of your stay on Earth not physicians or those that predict doom over your life.

"Today I have given you the choice between life and death, between blessings and curses. Now I call on heaven and earth to witness the choice you make. Oh, that you would choose life, so that you and your descendants might live!" -Deuteronomy 30:19(NLT)

Death is a choice that we ignorantly make because even God admonishes us to choose life. This is a very serious matter that the two principle witnesses are the heaven and the earth. This partially explains why when you die, you are kept in your grave on earth because its not time for you to heaven yet. Whichever way, you have to wait. Why then not make a choice to "remain in the flesh" since its more necessary or "more needful" as King James Version puts it! -Phil1:24

The word of God created you, it also take the same word to sustain you, to preserve you and to elongate your life. The word of God that you learn and apply is the wisdom that death hears about in rumors:

"Destruction and Death say,'Only a rumor of it has reached our ears.' God understands the way to it and he alone knows where it dwells.." -Job 28:21-23

When you walk into this wisdom, death will too hear about your name through its rumor machine but it will never locate your physical address. Let your mouth confess the state of your heart formed by God's word, you will live as long as you want;

"From the fruit of his mouth a man's stomach is filled; with the harvest from his lips he is satisfied. The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit." -Proverbs 18:20-21

Your authority over death starts with your thoughts, then your tongue. You can not spend more time thinking about the most qualified apothecaries in your city, cremation, flowers, the burial plot, the casket and the cost of the best grave makers at hand like king Asa did and speak death and expect to live even if your pastor and all the church elders lay hands on you. "For as a man thinketh in his heart, is he:..." -Proverbs 23:7

You will never die physically 'til you have died in your mind, God will never change your life beyond your thoughts. It's high time you renewed your mind over this death hokum that has become another god in the lives of even the elect. Therefore "We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ." -2 Corinthians 10:5

Start thinking about "... whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things" -Phil 4:8

Only your knowledge of the truth guarantees your freedom in the area of your bondage and absolutely nothing can tie you down. There's a place that death can not access and the only way to it is knowledge. Acquire knowledge and apply it!

"Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death�that is, the devil" -Heb 2:14

The death of Jesus disarmed Satan and Jesus empowered us to live. Jesus will never use that power in favor of the enemy other than you and I his friend. What you own you control, we have power to control death. Death no longer has power over you at all!

"Where, O death, is your victory? Where,O death,is your sting?" -1 Corinthians 15:55

Death lost its "sting" which means it has lost its "ability to get your life by deceitful means or trickery". And the grave has lost its victory because the victory of the grave depends on the deceitfulness of death, it obtains people's lives by tricks but only the knowledge transformed into wisdom traps it. Only the truth weakens this enemy force called death, whenever it speaks to you answer with God's word.

Friends, God says "With long life will I satisfy him and show him my salvation." -Psalm 91:16

All of us agree the life we have lived is not "long" enough for us to go now. Do not worry about your medical condition, this truth will make those tricks of the devil to vanish from your life in the name of Jesus Christ! May the unction under which I am writing this piece fall upon you. The Lord will preserve your life, your family and everybody you care about in the name of Jesus Christ! For it is He that "preserves the lives of those appointed to die." He shall do according to his word in the name of Jesus Christ!

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-Pastor Moses Tumwater has granted permission for this sermon to be reprinted here at A Heart To Witness. -