Last Sunday morning we looked at the necessity of love as proof of our new life in Christ. In the process, we looked at the earlier context and the Lord’s conversation with Peter. As Jesus had prophesied, His Apostle had denied Christ three times before hearing the crowing of a nearby rooster and coming to his senses. After Christ’s death and resurrection He met with His disciples on several occasions. In John 21 He revealed Himself to them once again when they were concluding a night of fruitless fishing. “Cast the net on the right side of the ship, and ye shall find…” and they did, catching 153 large fish. There were so many fish they couldn’t pull in the net back into the boat. At that point John exclaimed, “It is the Lord.” After Peter reached land and pulled the catch to shore, everyone enjoyed a tasty fish-fry. It was that point Christ Jesus asked Peter, three times, “Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me?”
What we didn’t look at last week, but which we’ll consider today, is the context which followed Jesus’ question. “Verily, verily, I say unto thee, When thou wast young, thou girdedst thyself, and walkedst whither thou wouldest: but when thou shalt be old, thou shalt stretch forth thy hands, and another shall gird thee, and carry thee whither thou wouldest not. This spake he, signifying by what death he should glorify God. And when he had spoken this, he saith unto him, Follow me.”
Notice those words – “by what death he should GLORIFY God.” You probably won’t be happy with my subject today, but it is one which must be preached from time to time. Peter’s eventual death would bring glory to God. And so will yours – like it or not. We need to look at death as a means of serving God and glorifying our Saviour.
But first, why do people have to die at all?
Let’s lay aside the fact that as Paul tells us in I Corinthians – “Flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption.” It is necessary that, “as we have borne the image of the earthly, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly.” Heaven is a different kind of world, and the people of this world are not fit for that one. God has sovereignly designed that it is through death His people enter into His presence.
But again, why this way? Why death instead of the very rare translation into Heaven. Well, as it is with so many other questions, the answer is – “So God will be glorified.” Christ Jesus described, somewhat cryptically, “by what death Peter should glorify God.” But wouldn’t God be better glorified if the Lord kept people from dying? Wouldn’t that display His miraculous power? Wouldn’t God’s love be seen in a brighter light if people were rescued from death at the last minute? Actually, and generally speaking, NO He would NOT be more glorified in abolishing death.
And here is the reason why – Our first parents, Adam and Eve, were given the prospect of living in Eden for ever – without death. But God laid out a test before them in Genesis 2:16 – “And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.”
History tells us that both Adam and Eve ate some of the fruit which God prohibited. And their eternal spirits instantly died within them. Furthermore, their bodies began the process of physical death, until they both died and were buried. Subsequent history, along with medical and other sciences, prove that death has been passed on to all Adam’s children, including our grandparents, our parents and eventually to ourselves.
Over and over again the Bible tells us that death is a consequence for sin. “The WAGES of sin is death” – Romans 6:23. Ezekiel 18:4 – “Behold,” God says, “all souls are mine; as the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son is mine; the soul that sinneth it shall die.” Romans 5:12 – “Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned.” After Adam’s sin, God said to him, “In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out it wast thou taken; for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.” Our bodies were originally formed with the materials and minerals of the ground, and when we die our bodies return to those original materials. Since we are ALL sinners by birth and by choice, we shall die – barring God’s miraculous interference.
And the Lord has graciously brought a few blessed souls into His presence without passing through death. But they are exceptions to the rule, and they can be counted on our fingers. Enoch was an early servant of God – “Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him.” Hebrews 11:5 – “By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and was not found, because God had translated him: for before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God.” Elijah was privileged to have a miraculous departure from life. “Behold, there appeared a chariot of fire, and horses of fire, and parted (Elijah and Elisha); and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven.” Moses appears to have escaped death, but there is mystery about his translation, so we can’t be sure.
My point is: because of sin we shouldn’t be surprised if we all died before the clock strikes noon today. But in Peter’s case, the Lord told him that his death was reserved for some time in his old age. “When thou wast young…” you did whatever you pleased… “but when thou shalt be old…” other people will control your life – and your death. “This spake he, signifying by what death he should glorify God.” And in his second epistle, written late in his life, Peter said, “Knowing that shortly I must put off this my tabernacle, even as our Lord Jesus Christ hath shewed me.” In speaking of his “tabernacle,” he was referring to his physical body which was temporarily housing his eternal soul.
And what kind of death did Peter endure? Ancient church history tells us that Peter was martyred for his testimony of Christ. That seems to be the Lord’s meaning here. “When thou shalt be old, thou shalt stretch forth thy hands, and another shall gird thee, and carry thee whither thou wouldest not.” This tells us that Peter’s hands would be bound, and he would be carried to the place of his death. Some imaginations see crucifixion in these words, and he may have been crucified, but I don’t see it here. Nevertheless, he would be – and he was – taken to a place where he’d prefer not to go. He didn’t die in his bed; he didn’t die of a heart attack; he didn’t die of old age. He probably wanted to continue to serve the Lord here in this world, but that was not the Lord’s intent.
As the Holy Spirit tells us – in his death, PETER BROUGHT GLORY to God.
That may sound contradictory to what I said a few minutes ago about death being the direct result of sin. But remember – that to authenticate my earlier statement I gave you several scriptures. And here it is the Holy Spirit who tells us that Peter’s death would be glorious to God. Since both thoughts are true, we need to try to find how they harmonize.
But first, let’s go back to verse 19 – “This spake he, signifying by what death he SHOULD glorify God.” The Lord Jesus may have been speaking about something thirty, forty or even fifty years into the future. As such, we might argue that Christ was expressing His foreknowledge and omniscience. God, at this moment, knows exactly what you will be doing at 11:34 next Friday morning. And He knows the precise moment in which you will die, if He should take you to Himself in that way. Jehovah is God; He knows all things. Let that thought sink into your hearts.
But there is the added fact that the Lord is the sovereign God; He controls all things. There is nothing that takes place in this world which He doesn’t oversee – permitting and/or ordaining. Nothing surprises Him; nothing catches Him off guard; there is nothing He is powerless to stop. And in this context, Peter’s death was going to glorify the Lord, because God had ordained it to be so.
A few minutes ago, we read some of the opening words to the Book of Revelation. John describes the glorified Lord Jesus Christ – the first and the last; the alpha and omega. Christ spoke with the voice of a trumpet as loudly as the roar of a waterfall – but it was probably so sweet that despite its volume it was a joy to hear. When John turned to look, he saw the Son of Man – Christ Jesus – with beautiful, perfectly white hair. He was dressed in a one piece garment, perhaps like the seamless robe He wore down here. The Lord held seven stars in His nail-pierced right hand, and a sword flashed out of his mouth just under eyes that flashed with flames of fire. And then Christ spoke again, “I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death.” In Christ’s left hand, or perhaps hanging from his belt, John saw the keys of death and hell. CHRIST holds the key of death; not Satan; not fate; not the euthanasia doctor or even the abortionist. Christ Jesus decides when we will die, and He controls every bullet, every germ, every enemy.
The man who describes Christ in Revelation, the Apostle John, tells us Peter’s death would glorify GOD. I hope you agree with my spiritual mathematics, but to my mind and heart this is another Biblical declaration that the Son of Man is also the Son of God. Christ Jesus, God the Son, the Saviour, is the one who controls who dies and when. And it is God the Spirit who declares that Peter’s death would glorify the Lord.
Additionally, I believe that EVERY human death glorifies God, but in different ways.
There have been some notable deaths – which have taught God’s saints to say, “Praise the Lord.” And sometimes, those who were not saints, were forced to look toward the Lord, even if they didn’t want to.
Somewhat like Peter, the Old Testament Judge Samson had an up and down life and ministry. He made some poor choices when it came to his friends, but God still used him for His glory. Samson judged the Philistines, through destroying some of their crops, in a very strange way. When they sent an army to arrest him, Samson took the jaw bone of an ass and used it like a sword, battering a bunch of them to death. Again, when the Philistines tried to take him, Samson destroyed the gates of the city where he was staying in order to escape. When they finally caught up with him, he was blinded and taken to the heathen temple of Dagon as a trophy. There, while enduring their ridicule and torment, he prayed. “And Samson said, Let me die with the Philistines. And he bowed himself with all his might; and the house fell upon the lords, and upon all the people that were therein. So the dead which he slew at his death were more than they which he slew in his life.” You could say that in Samson’s death he brought glory to the Lord, in a spectacular and unforgettable way.
In the New Testament we have a parallel to Samson in the person of Stephen. Except that Stephen, a servant of the church in Jerusalem, can’t be charged with open sin. But he too was taken by God’s enemies, tortured and killed under a shower of heavy stones. He died, “calling upon God, and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit. And he kneeled down, and cried with a loud voice, Lord, lay not this sin to their charge. And when he had said this, he fell asleep.” He died. How could this horrible event glorify God? Well, there was at least one observer of this death, whom the Lord touched and redeemed – Saul of Tarsus.
History is filled with the names and descriptions of Christian martyrs who willingly laid down their lives in death for the testimony and glory of God their Saviour. And the way that our nation is headed, it may be that we will be called upon to die as martyrs ourselves. But that is fine, because the sovereign God, not only knows, but He controls, our deaths. He holds a key with our name on it – so to speak. He will turn it whither so ever He will.
Earlier I said that EVERY human death brings glory to God. But that glory will be brought to the Lord in two major and very different ways. “This spake he, signifying by what death (PETER) should glorify God.”
There is another kind of death described in Acts 12 which brings glory to God in a different way. When Herod Agrippa was king of Israel under the jurisdiction of Rome, he executed the Apostle James. In his death, James brought glory to his Saviour, although we don’t have specific details. We do know that he died as one of the Lord Jesus’ servants and ambassadors. There is no more glorious way to die than that. Nevertheless, Herod then arrested Peter with the intention of executing him as well. But Peter wasn’t yet “old” as Jesus had prophesied, so God miraculously delivered him. The chapter goes on talking about Herod, stating that he had a beef with the people of Tyre and Sidon. To calm a political tempest arrangements were made for the king to visit the erring province. “And upon a set day Herod, arrayed in royal apparel, sat upon his throne, and made an oration unto them. And the people gave a shout, saying, It is the voice of a god, and not of a man. And immediately the angel of the Lord smote him, because he gave not God the glory: and he was eaten of worms, and gave up the ghost.”
Someone might say that they can’t see how the horrible death of King Herod could bring glory to God. Is it because they can’t see justice being served? It wasn’t that some backslidden Christian friend of James, took a sword and turned Herod into shishkabob. No. “Vengeance is mine saith the Lord, I will repay, saith the Lord” – Romans 12:19. Herod was a horrible sinner – a rebel against the God of his fathers. And the God of his fathers executed him for his sins in what must have been a very painful way.
As I have already said, quoting the Bible, “The wages of sin is death…” Unless there are special circumstances put into play, if sinners escaped death it would be to the discredit of the holy God. If God told Adam that he would die if he ate what was forbidden, but then he didn’t die, that would bring shame to the name of the Lord. Will Jehovah keep His word or not? If God fails to can’t keep these promises, then what can we trust Him to do?
When John, in Revelation 20, foresees the dead, small and great stand before God to be judged… When he sees the books opened, including the book of Life, and the dead are judged out of those books… When he sees that “whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire…” There are no tears running down his face; there is no hint of embarrassment at what God is doing. God is being perfectly just in condemning these sinners to the judgment their sins deserve – eternal death. And the fact of the matter is – these people, in being cast into the Lake of fire, will bring God glory in their second death. God keeps His word.
As Paul says in Philippians 2 – “God also hath highly exalted (Christ Jesus) and given him a name which is above every name; That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; And that ever tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” Those who die in CHRIST shall bring glory to the Lord in their deaths, of whatever kind it might be. And those who die in their SINS will bring Him glory as well, not willingly, but as casualties of His justice and wrath.
Now, going back to Peter, WHY do you suppose THE LORD TOLD HIM about his decease?
Do you suppose that it might have been to prepare him? After each of Jesus’ questions about Peter’s love, He added, “Feed my lambs, feed my sheep, feed my sheep.” And when He had spoken to Peter about his eventual death, Jesus said, “Follow me.” Since they didn’t immediately get up together and walk off the beach, I’m going to assume the Lord meant, “Follow me for the rest of your life.” “Peter, you WERE so FEARFUL of dying there in the courtyard of the high priest, what about NOW? “Are you willing to follow me into the death I have designed for you? Are you willing to glorify me in death?” And the question becomes: Are WE willing to glorify God in our deaths?
How can we prepare ourselves for the opportunity of glorifying God in that ultimate way? First, we need to be READY. Live like you believe the hymn you sang earlier, “This world is not my home, I’m just a passing through.” “Set your affections on things above, not on things on the earth.” “Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven…” But counter-balancing your readiness to depart, be PATIENT, because it may not be today. “Peter when thou shalt be old, thou shalt stretch forth thy hands, and another shall gird thee, and carry thee whether thou wouldn’t not.” And then, if you are really interested in bringing glory to God in your death, speak often of the relationship between your death and Christ’s death. John said of Peter, “This spake Jesus, signifying by what death he should glorify God.” John also said in 12:33 – “This said Jesus, signifying what death HE should die.” What sort of death did Jesus die? Christ said, “And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me.”
There has never been a physical death even close to matching death which Jesus, the Son of God endured. Paul testified, “This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.” “For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world thru him might be saved.” Paul was willing to die repeating those words over and over again.
But how was it possible that the world through Christ might be saved? That salvation necessitated an extraordinary death – a God-glorifying death of the most exceptional kind. Christ didn’t die as the wages for His own sin, because He had no sin. Christ Jesus died bearing the sins of others – like Peter, Paul and thousands of others. The Lord Jesus said, “I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep” to save those sheep from eternal death. “When we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.” “He was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruise for our iniquities; the chastisement of our peace was laid upon him, and with his strips we are healed.”
Baring the direct intervention of God, you and I are going to physically die. The Lord may have ordained that it be painless, or it might be quite the opposite. But our bodies will all die and we will give up the ghost – our souls – just as Jesus did. Because we are sinners, physical death is inescapable. But there is a way to escape the second, eternal death. By accepting the offer of Christ’s death as the substitute for our death. “Neither is there salvation in any other, for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.”
Your death is going to bring glory to God in one of two ways: Like the man described in Luke 16, you will die, and in his case he immediately lift is eyes in torment. Like him, you may begin an eternity under the just judgment of God. Or by grace you may die and immediate find yourself in the presence of your Saviour. What will it be? What kind of glory will your death bring to the Lord? Make it positive kind, by repenting before God, putting your faith in Christ and His death on the cross.