A Death Worth Dying (Dr. Evans)

Wondering why the Bible teaches. Our days are numbered. Dr. Tony Evans says we should live with only one goal in mind till that number runs out to hear God say You finished celebrating. This is the alternative after 2011, author, speaker, senior pastor of hopefully Bible Fellowship, Texas, president of the Dr. Evans wife Lois passed away on December 31, 2019. After battling a rare form of cancer. Just days later he was back in the pulpit, sharing what had to be one of the hardest messages he ever preached it was both a powerful and personal perspective on what the Bible says about life and death and we want to share it with you today. Dr. Evans will be referring to passages found in second Timothy chapter 4, let's join him a few days ago since Evans went home to a no. As I reflected on her home-going. In this passage the principle that dawned on me was the best way to have a life worth live if they have a death word – Paul is saying goodbye to Timothy's son in the faith, and it is goodbye to him. He has some very valuable lessons. Some of them. Most of them I saw them lived out in the goodbyes that I just experienced begins in verse six by saying the time of my departure is key you.

His life was coming to an end.

He knew that his time on earth was closing and he wanted to know that it was okay all of us have a time. The Bible says is supported on the man once to die, and after that the judgment all of us have a time to go home. The problem is we don't know the time we really don't know today will be old people in the church because how old you are, is not determined by your birthday, but by your death if you're 50 and only going to make it to 60-year-old if you're 50 and the live to be 100. You're still pretty young. Many people think that younger when they are older than they think because we don't know that. But when that time begins to door as it did with Paul is at the time of my departure is at hand. It became clear, even though we made it out of a number of other scenarios that threatened his life he was going to make it out of this one of the things I observed in life and in Scripture is that when people walk with God and he doesn't take them suddenly he will give them a glimpse of heaven while they're still transitioning from the wall that no not only that it's time but it's okay two years ago when we found out that this rare cancer, punchlist evidence, we had all these plans prior to that, then we got the sudden shock of this rare disease. The disease of the Dr. says has no cure. We did all that we knew to do to see MD Anderson, Bella went online. What was out of the country.

All of the options we looked at, hoping that this could be arrested. We would get good news from the doctors, it seemed that things were not progressing as they predicted. Life was not anything as quickly as they said it would. You were praying for Austin. We felt the prayers extending time and maybe, just maybe, God would cancel it altogether. But as time went on, particularly over the last month and 1/2 or so it became increasingly clear the time of her departure was nearly simultaneous to the time of her departure were things taking place that were letting us know she was dealing with something outside of the earth will for example, she said my father is my father and there was no one in the room physically.

She was seeing something is the time of her departure got close she said today.

Today take me out to 1/2 day she was gone she heard something she saw something is the time of her departure got Nero like Stephen in acts chapter 7 when he was being stoned to death. He says he saw heaven opened, and Jesus standing on the right hand of the father giving him a standing ovation when the time of your departure, you want to be closing up the dog that you can hear things that other folks can see things that other potentially don't know whether you go to get sick don't know whether life is going to change whether you will be laid off.

You don't know all that down the line. Therefore, it is absolutely critical. Since you and I don't know a way of surprising you. It's the intruder that disrupts our well-being and gives us grief. Paul says the time of my departure is at hand. What was it about Paul that prepared him for this time. He says three things in verse seven as he talked about his departure. The words departure is a picture of anger being pulled up so that the ship can move from the dock to a new shore first thing he says in verse seven is fought a good fight. I hope you know all fight worth fighting far too many of us spend far too much time with bad fights. I look at some of the stuff since Evans and I disagreed over most of the time. The one huge stuff but when I look back even the non-beneficial. So when you look at your battles in life, you must ask the question, fighting but is it worth the bad. He says fought a good fight thought in the realm of that which was beneficial yes you fight for that relationship fight for those kids so that they don't go astray. Not so good fight fight for your well-being. You fight so that other people's lives about you fight for your best self. So, good fight for the good fight this last year to your process, but the legend has been a doozy is been a fight fight fight with prayer.

Your prayers prayers of faith every day.

We went to this treatment every day before we fought the good fight.

Make sure what you're getting divorced over, not some stupid had a bad fight that broken relationship between mother and child on the old Goldilocks coworker and you get a good fight. Tony will tell us more about what it means to fight good fights when he comes back in a moment to continue this message from his new series living with loss. It can be a painful topic when we might want to avoid something each of us has faced will face or is facing to help you when the time comes. Dr. Evans and his family have written a book called divine disruption. They talk about the raw emotions they felt in the tough questions they ask after Lois's death.

They also explore ways to keep your faith from crumbling how to keep moving forward.

When grief and pain make it hard to even brief would like to send you a copy of divine disruption as a thank you gift when you make a contribution to help us keep Toni's teaching on the station along with it will send you CDs were access to digital downloads of all seven parts of our current living with loss series, including a touching roundtable conversation with the Evans family about grief again. Both these resources are yours with our thanks when you make a donation online@tonyevans.org or call our resource Center, day or night at 1-800-800-3222 that's 1-800-800-3222. Dr. Evans will come back with more of our message right after this had some adventure to your family time and impart spiritual truths to your kids with a library of books from Dr. Tony specifically geared toward children written for children only to help you teach your kids for five depend on the Lord and spark joy in their hearts for him, all the while enjoying time together as a family. You'll find Scripture to memorize internal problems and practical applications for the whole family to put into practice. But most importantly you have a way to spend an intentional time with your kids having fun and enjoying each other learn chemical truth together explore Dr. Evans line of kids books today and start them on the path to discovering what it really means to live faithfully for changes. The second thing he says is not finished my course, I finished my course is good to know when your time is up, that your finished Paula say I completed what I was put here to do. Don't waste your life so that when you are finished you work finished but you never got around to what God created and redeemed you to do that. There was nothing normal about your life where the course that God had for you and has a course for every believer to service kingdom survey Lord, don't your life wondering why you lived.

I learned a little bit more. Even then I knew previously about my wife. She got saved that 99 her bother letter to Christ. Her oldest sister she got on her knees with the two of them. Let them in the process of trusting Christ as their Savior. At 15, she went to a camp and was challenge them to surrender our life to Jesus Christ fully and in service to him as the story was told to me. She got on her knees at the camp at 15 and told the Lord, you can have all of my life for any of your purposes.

I surrender to you, even if that means I will never marry or have children so this was a serious moment where she gave up everything over to Jesus Christ.

This would lead to us meeting us marrying, but it would also lead to her fingerprints being all over my life. You would not maybe know all of that, but there's no place that you go that I go that has not been touched by her fingerprints. I made it to school because she typed the papers and reviewed them when we started the church with 10 people. She was the secretary she was a hospitality person and she was the music leader. She was the pianist while at the same time raising the kids when they are an alternative started she would make the tapes we duplicate the text put them in a bag taken to the post office mail and then she would manage things so we got on the radio. So anybody who knows me. Anyway, the world only know me because her fingerprints and her motivation was something her mother told her as she grew up. All she would say regularly for his glory.

All for his namesake, so everything had the mark of God associated with Paul says I finished my course, I did all that I was design to do when it comes time for God to transition me and you and you want to be able to say unfinished. Paul currently says I kept the faith. I didn't walk away from my faith when times got hot.

I didn't give up on Jesus. Our bedroom looks like a hospital room. The wheelchair walk around all of the things that come with hospice but anytime she could be conscious when here are calling on Jesus or asking me all the kids to read Scripture or playing Scripture on a CD or listening to music on Christmas we gather the children of the grandchildren and great-grandchildren around. We just say sang carols about Jesus just move her lips trying to bow the words about Jesus the night before she passed away.

A friend came over and just saying to her songs about the Lord when she stopped singing she would paddle on the lake you can talk, but that meant keep going keep going but lady wanted to make sure she was getting through. And so she said if you are hearing me and if you are worshiping with me blink your eyes.

She would blink arrives. In other words, things got closed out with Jesus never gave up on the faith never walked away from God. I don't care how bad things get, you will want allergies to keep the faith stay with them all. Paul said I didn't give up on What I wanted to give up when I won the throw of the town.

When I got to tired kept the faith that he comes to his final verse, verse eight Paul says now there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, but not for me only, but for all those who love his appearing. Now there is laid up for me a crown of glory before he left he knew that that was going to be an award waiting last week since Evans run out of the room. Lord, they're calling me for an award. She kept saying, Lord, Lord, just waiting for the stall there was a dissipation about an award before she was gone. The path to the patient about an award before he was gone. Now there is laid up for me when I came by the office yesterday. There was a plaque with a resolution resolution had a quote on it from sister Evans that I never remember ever reading.

Let me read what she wrote in 2012 as a woman that heard the voice of God and stayed on track as much as she could and with the plan that he ordained and preordained for her life. I want to hear.

Well done. I might not please all the people here, but I want to hear. Well done. Because what he foreknew about me and predestined for me. I took time in my life to really accomplish that.

I want to leave a legacy and heritage for my children and grandchildren and four. Any woman that the Lord brought my way. I want to leave some inspiration and some encouragement for them. Foremost in my mind is I want to hear. Well done for the goal of everybody.

Dear well done hear God say you bought a good thing you Can pay you for this course. He says now there is laid up for me which means that one of the begin one of the conjunction of the damages and how long is it going to take my soul and spirit to leave my body.

How long take is able to explain this like a blue what area when you printed it goes pop in the air escapes and the rubber falls down to the ground. The rubber once you pop the balloon is useless, but the is still there when that occurs when you close your eyes for the last time the light escapes the body is dormant because it has nowhere but the air is still there very much alive, to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. When you have that assurance that you don't get the state dad when you die, the Lord, so if you are here today you are a Christian.

If you are you and you love the Lord because this light is your draft for eternity. You say, but it's hard but it's tough, but if I told you that if I got you to eat squash for you and like squash, but if you are you I would pay all bills for the rest of your life. It would change your view of squash. Your life may have sloshing but God said goodbye, Dr. Tony, fearing biblical truth and personal experience in a message he calls a death worth dying. The full-length version of this heartfelt presentation is available as a part of his current seven part series living with loss.

Remember, it's yours.

With our thanks, along with the divine disruption book. I told you about earlier when you make a contribution to keep this listener supported ministry coming not just to you with the people like this listener who left us a voicemail recently. Hi my name is Matthew Greenwald and I wanted to mention I think Dr. Evans.

He was on a ham radio Houston back in the early 80s when I was just a young boy of 12 years old and I wanted to let you know that he is absolute instrumental voice in my life now more so than ever and I'm 51 years old. I didn't want him to know that he has touched the other little boat in his world, that he may not even know exist.

Thank you so much.

S is true throughout the 40 year history of this ministry. Everything we do is made possible by the faithful generous contributions of people like you, so get ready to take on her contact information will have it for you right after this from the manger to the empty tomb of Jesus and live the life that transformed the world.

Dr. Evans and family want to take you to the very place where it all happened in a new film called journey. Jesus will travel with them to the land of the Bible and hear insightful biblical teachings brought to you from some of the most well-known sites in Scripture coming to select theaters this November visit Tony.org to learn more and journey with Jesus will be showing you get all the information on the movie and the special resources. I told when you visit us@tonyevans.org or if you like him in person help our resource center is open for you 24 seven at 1-800-800-3222 that's 1-800-800-3222. Everybody knows that exercise builds strength. Dr. Evan says there's an even better kind of strength we get when we do less not find out more about it. Join us tomorrow.

The alternative with Dr. Tony have an alternative celebrating 40 years of faithfulness, thanks to the generous contribution