In this episode, I open the word of God with you and explore a profound promise: when a man’s ways please the Lord, He makes even his enemies to be at peace with him (Proverbs 16:7). We look at death as Scripture defines it—an enemy—and consider how, through the finished work of Jesus Christ, that enemy becomes a defeated one for the believer.
Drawing from 1 Corinthians 15, Hebrews 2, Romans 5, Ephesians 2, and Colossians 1, I walk through why Christ is our perfect ally, how Scripture is our flawless intelligence, why His victory provides absolute superiority over death, and what a true exit strategy looks like in the light of the Gospel. Along the way, I contrast famous last words of unbelievers with the confident, hope-filled testimonies of saints like D. L. Moody and F. B. Meyer, and reflect on Hezekiah’s extended years and the Songs of Degrees as a picture of gratitude and preservation of God’s Word.
We conclude by rejoicing in God’s promise that death is swallowed up in victory and will one day be utterly destroyed (Revelation 20:14). For the believer, the Good Shepherd prepares a table for us even in the presence of our enemies—we can feast in hope, live in wisdom, and rest in the peace Christ purchased with His blood. If you’ve wandered, come back to Him: seek His counsel, pray, and trust the Savior who conquered the grave.
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(00:04:15) Live from Asylum Studios: Welcome and Purpose
(00:05:36) Family first amid cultural and spiritual decline
(00:06:39) Are we in the “last days of the last days”?
(00:07:20) Wisdom series continues: Proverbs 16:7 as the launch point
(00:08:45) Death named as “the last enemy” (1 Corinthians 15)
(00:13:43) Dying words: Stalin, Charles IX, Newport, and Voltaire
(00:16:47) D. L. Moody and other saints: death as a defeated enemy
(00:19:55) Five stages facing death: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, resignation
(00:22:46) Hezekiah’s bargain and the 15 “songs of degrees”
(00:29:36) What you need when facing an enemy: allies, intelligence, superiority, strategy
(00:30:55) Christ our ally: firstfruits of the resurrection
(00:34:11) Reliable intelligence: the Bible’s witness over death
(00:36:37) Superiority over death: Hebrews 2 and Jesus tasting death for all
(00:37:50) Exit strategy: preparing for eternity
(00:39:47) From enemies of God to reconciled through Christ (Romans 5, Ephesians 2, Colossians 1)
(00:45:00) Defeated yet noisy: illustration from postwar Japan
(00:45:48) Unconditional surrender: “O death, where is thy sting?”
(00:46:42) Rejoicing in deliverance: Psalms 18 and 97
(00:48:48) Death destroyed: Revelation 20 and the end of the grave
(00:49:44) Feasting in the presence of death: Psalm 23 and the Egyptian reminder
(00:53:48) Appeal and prayer: salvation and victory over death
(00:56:00) Local church invite and closing house notes
(00:59:05) Sign-off and farewell
- Wayne Rankin
- Rosanna Rankin
- Carolina Jimenez
[00:04:16]
Unknown:
Transmitting live from the Asylum Studios deep in the bowels of Southwest Texas. It's the Joe Ruse show. The show where we talk about anything and everything.
[00:04:29] Unknown:
Where nothing is sacred, nothing is watered down, and nothing is PC. Alright, hey folks, this is Joe Roos and it is great to be with you once again as we open up and study the precious Word of God, your King James Bible. And you know folks, whenever and wherever you find yourself listening to us, it's always my prayer that you also find yourself in the grace and in the mercy of our Lord and savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. Hey, welcome to the Joe Ruse show. And of course, we are transmitting live again from the asylum studios from the pimple on the backside of Texas.
The beautiful city of Eagle Pass. Alright folks, I hope that you guys have had a great weekend. Weekend. Hope you got to do a lot of really great neat things and, get to spend time with your family, do some good stuff, you know, quality things, quality time. It's so important today folks. We need to spend time with our loved ones as much as we possibly can. There's really nothing in this life that is more important than family. There truly isn't, you know, on on a non spiritual level, I'm I'm telling, of course. But your family comes first in everything, in all things. It should always be that way. So, I got that shadow on me. Alright. So I guess we're not gonna be using the boom too much more, but okay.
At any rate, again, being with your family is the most important thing to do, especially today, especially in today's day and age. You know, we're rapidly seeing just a deterioration in our culture. We're rapidly seeing a deterioration spiritually, around the world. Yeah. We have these moments where we have these, these awakenings, these, scriptural not scriptural, but, spiritual awakenings, like, we're experiencing, right now with, you know, in in the aftermath of of, Charlie Kirk's assassination. It's been great to see this the mass amount of people, heading out to church, in prayer and prayer groups. It's all great. That's a beautiful thing.
But, you know, the Bible speaks very, very clearly that we are in the last days. And I've said this many times, and I'll I'll continue to say it. I believe that, yeah, we are in the last days, but I think we are in the last days of the last days. So, that's it's an incredibly important distinction, and one that, you know, you really have to be able to make. So, with that said, spend time with your family. Get to know the Lord again. If you if you wandered away from the Lord, get to know him again. Come back to him. Talk to him. Pray. Seek his counsel. Seek his wisdom. That's what we've been doing here, on these, the last few Sunday shows. We've been talking about wisdom.
Wisdom. And, last week, we, we were teaching on, the biblical admonition that we find in Proverbs, he that winneth souls is wise, and we talked about soul winning. And, and in keeping with that theme, at least this week, you know, I kinda thought, well, you know, who knows who needs to hear this? You know, this is this is important stuff. This is truly important stuff, and, that's why we're gonna spend some time today in Proverbs chapter 16 and in verse number seven. Proverbs 16 and verse seven. That's gonna be our launching point for today. And that verse says, when a man's ways please the lord, he maketh even his enemies to be at peace with him.
Now our, our general tendency, I guess, you would say, would would be to put that in some kind of a political context. You know, whether it's national politics, local state, whatever it might be. You know, we have you know, it has some kind of a a a political ramification to it. And, of course, you know, it would be appropriate. It would be appropriate to think of that that way because, you know, many enemies lurk in this life in human form, as well as the demonic form. But then, you know, then I got to thinking about it. There has to be another application.
There has to be another application. So what I'd like you to do is take your Bible, if you would, and head over to first Corinthians in chapter 15. First Corinthians in chapter 15, and, when you get there, we're gonna head over to, verse number 20. First Corinthians 15 and verse 20. But now is Christ risen from the dead and become the first fruits of them that slept. For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam, all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. But every man in his own order, Christ, the first fruits, afterwards, they that are Christ's at his coming.
Then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the father, when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power, for he must reign till he hath put all enemies under his feet. The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death. So the Bible the Bible declares that death is an enemy. Death is an enemy. Now some people some people would, would would view death as a, as an undefeated enemy. You know, there there's a there there are a couple of kinds of enemies. Alright? There's a defeated enemy, and then there's, of course, the undefeated enemy. Now before we get into any of the rest of the sermon tonight over the bible study today, do some usual housekeeping stuff. So if you would head over to our website, joeroos.com joeroos.com, and when you get over there, make sure that you check out our contact section.
Alright? Open up that little web form, fill out the contact form, let us know whatever's on your heart, whatever's on your mind, any questions, comments, cares, or concerns that you might have, whatever it might be. If you have any suggestions, maybe you have a guest in mind that you'd like us to try to get or particular topic or conversation that you'd like us to have. Let us know what you're thinking. Now if you don't wanna use the web form, totally fine with me. You could always email me directly at [email protected]. That's info at joe roos. There's even a little email button on the website. You can just click that, and it'll open up the email for you. Alright. So you could do that, and, we'd be happy to hear from you. We'd love to hear from you. It's important for us to hear from you. This way we know how we're doing. Right? Right. Alright. Now, folks, this show is brought to you by Ezra Healing. Ezra Healing is a substantial part of the new wellness paradigm currently being born in North America and around the globe. The global citizenry are no longer satisfied with the sick care version of so called health care. Band Aid medicine, endlessly treating symptoms rather than root causes, must be abandoned as soon as possible.
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Alright. Now, quoted over in Newsweek magazine, Svetlana Stalin. Yes. The daughter of Joseph Stalin. Svetlana Stalin provided a description of her father's death, and here's how she quoted it, or or at least here how she how she describes Joseph Stalin's death, her father. She said, quote, my father died a difficult and terrible death. God grants an easy death only to the just. At what seemed the very last moment, he suddenly opened his eyes and cast a glance over everyone in the room. It was a terrible glance, insane or perhaps angry and full of fear of death. Then he lifted his left hand as though he were pointed to something above and bringing down a curse on us all. The gesture was full of menace. The next moment, the spirit wrenched itself free of the flesh of the flesh.
Alright. So that's the description of Stalin's death by his own daughter. The last words the last words of Charles, Charles the ninth who ordered the massacre on Saint Bartholomew's Day. And then if you don't know what that is, if you don't know what that massacre was all about, that's really something worthy of study. You should check it out. He said this, quote, what blood? What murders? I know not where I am. How will all this end? What shall I do? I am lost forever. I know it. Those were his last words. Sir Francis Newport, the head of an English infidel club. Now that's just an that's just an old word, an old English word. Today, we would say an atheist, but but that's what it is, an infidel club. And, he said to those that were gathered around his dying bed, quote, you need not tell me there is no God, for I know there is one and that I am in his angry presence.
You need not tell me that there is no hell, for I already feel my soul slipping into its fires. Wretches cease your idle talk about there being hope for me. I know I am lost forever. Well, I guess it pays to be an atheist, doesn't it? Didn't really work out too well for him, did it? Voltaire, another philosophical atheist said this on his deathbed. As he addressed his doctor. He said this, quote, I am abandoned by God and man. I will give you half of what I am worth if you will give me six months life. And then the doctor replied, quote, sir, you cannot live six weeks. And then Voltaire replied, then I shall go to hell, and you will go with me.
And then soon after that, he died. Probably one of the most interesting studies that I've done, And and these are just a few that I pulled out, but, you know, I did some research on the dying words of people like that. None of them had anything pleasant to say. It's really an it's a fascinating study. You know, most of them were were, enveloped in with just total agony, fear. Now in contrast, some have said, death is not my undefeated enemy, but death is my defeated enemy. Alright? Now when when a when a when a man's ways please the Lord, the Lord says even his enemies are at peace with him.
Alright? Now now death is your enemy, but your enemy is at peace with you because he's a defeated enemy, in your case, if you're a believer, if you're saved. Alright. Let me give you some examples. Here's D. L. Moody. And if you don't know who D. L. Moody is, D. L. Moody was a great preacher and evangelist, and when he was when he was dying, realizing that he would soon be gone from this world, Moody said to a friend, quote, someday you'll read in the papers that DL Moody of Northfield is dead. Don't believe it. Don't believe a word of it. At that moment, I shall be more alive than I am now. I shall have gone on higher.
That is I shall have gone higher. That is all. Out of this old clay tenement into a house that is immortal. A body that cannot that sin cannot touch, that sin cannot taint, a body fashioned unto unto his glorious body. I was born in the flesh in 1837. I was born in the spirit in 1856. That which is born in the flesh must die. That which is born in the spirit will live forever. You know, if you're if you're ever gonna get honest words out of an individual, it would probably be on their death bed. Because there's no sense in holding any any pretenses at that point. You know? There's no point in it. Why would why would you bother? Alright? And just before he died, doctor FB Meyer wrote this to his wife.
And, and if you don't know who FB Meyer was, he was a great preacher. He said, quote, dear, I have just learned, to my surprise, that I and he was out of town someplace. I don't remember where he was, but he was he was out of town, so he wrote this as and and a letter to his wife. He said, he said, I I've learned that I I only have a few days to live. It may be that before this reaches you, I will have entered into the palace. Don't don't trouble to write me. We shall meet in the morning. Doctor Samuel Gobut, the, bishop of Jerusalem, was nearing the end of his earthly journey, and his son reminded him that, he had no need to be afraid of any evil in the dark valley of the shadow of death. And then the the bishop just smiled and he and he whispered, it's not dark.
It's not dark. When Henry Reed of Tasmania was dying, he said, quote, I find no shadow of death in the valley. It is to me full of light, green pastures, and living water. Never so happy since I was born. Glory, glory, glory to the triune God. Alright. Now, folks, these are just a handful of examples, but, you know, there have been books, whole books written with these kinds of stories, with these kinds of illustrations and examples, you know, in in contrasting these two things. Well, the enemy of death. The enemy of death. Now according to, a lengthy study that was done, by psychiatrists, chaplains, nurses, you know, medical doctors in, Chicago's billing hospital, people who suffer a terminal illness go through five stages of emotions.
Alright? Now I'm sure we've all heard of these things, you know, the the five stages of grief. Well, number one was was denial. Alright? So denial. The patient's unwilling to accept his fate and the nature of his predicament. Many deal with enemies of all sorts this way. Think about that. Think about it like this. You have, you have the Taliban. You have Al Qaeda. You have Iraq. Iran, you know, and and the list goes on. You know? And they say there were no weapons of mass destruction. You know, I don't know. Haven't seen the evidence of it. Well, but but then again, you could say that, you know, the Kurds were gassed, so there must have been something.
I'm sure some of you remember that, but I'm just bringing it up just to make a point. And, and and and it's kinda related to what we're talking about here. Some people say, you know, well, there's no weapons of mass destruction waiting for me. Well, it's a period of denial. But the fact of the matter is, it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this, the judgment. Alright. Then the second the second emotion that people go through in these stages of grief is anger. Anger. They become angry at the at, at the doctors, at at family, at friends, and, in some cases, people get angry at God.
They blame God. And, you know, frequently, it it they get angry at the people who are attempting to protect and nurture them, and that's where they vent their anger to, those people that are closest to them. Alright? And then the the third one is bargaining. Bargaining. A determination to live for God, to go to church, you know, to be good to everyone. And I've you know, over over my life and over my experiences and my Christian walk, I've come across a lot of folks like that. A lot. You know, some would say, in the political realm, you know, let's bargain with the enemy. You know, let's send them a $7.47 full of cash.
You know, that's bargaining. See what I'm saying? Well, when it comes to death, a lot of people take the same approach. You know? I'll bargain and see if God will accept my bargain. Well, generally, he doesn't. Generally. Occasionally, he does. It's a rare thing, though, but occasionally, he does. And and you actually do have a biblical example of that in your Bible. Alright? Where a guy actually bargained with the Lord, and the Lord said, okay. I'll tell you what. I'll take you up on it. You remember who that was? Do you know who that was? Let alone remember, do you know who it was? Well, it was Hezekiah.
Hezekiah. And if you remember the story, God gave him an extra fifteen years. He gave him an extra fifteen years because, because, the the issue is not so much in just that Hezekiah got fifteen years, but the issue is what did Hezekiah do with those fifteen years? Well, if you get if you go over to Isaiah chapter 38, you're gonna find out that he wrote some songs. He wrote some songs, and and we find those songs in the Psalms. Now it's interesting. Alright. We got time for a little bit of a sidebar here, so we're gonna just run this out really quick. Alright? I may have I may have talked about this before at one point, but I don't I don't really I don't remember if I did or not for sure, but, let's go let's go take a look at something. Alright?
I think it's in Psalm one twenty, if I'm not mistaken. Alright. Psalm one twenty. So let's, let's go over there really quick. Psalm one twenty. Now if you recall with me, let's see. Psalm one nineteen, Psalm one nineteen, Psalm one twenty. Now if you recall with me, this is here here was the deal. Isaiah came to King Hezekiah, the prophet Isaiah, went to King Hezekiah, and he said, okay. Look. Here's the deal. God heard your prayer. God heard your bargain. And so, and so here's a sign for it. Since you're a good Jew, and the Jew seeks after a sign, your sundial is gonna go backwards, 10 degrees.
Alright? Now if if and if the sundial goes backwards, that's like your clock moving backwards ten minutes. Okay? Do you do you follow me? So if your sundial goes backwards 10 degrees, then that's a sign from God. So in other words, everything in the universe was put in reverse. Think about that. Everything in the universe is put in reverse. That's far out. You know? That's really far out. You know? All of that's put in reverse, and he said that that'll be the indicator that you get an extra fifteen years. So after all of that transpires, what is, what does Hezekiah do?
Well, over in Proverbs, and I think it's chapter 25. I don't have I don't have that in my notes, but I think it's Proverbs chapter 25. We're told that he forms a group of or or a guild of copyists to make sure that the word of God was continued to be copied. You know? He didn't want basically, he didn't want anybody running out of Bibles. Alright? So and, and and and all the copying in those days was, of course, handwritten. All handwritten copies. And so he formed this guild of copyists, and and he wrote some of the songs himself over in Isaiah 38. Now in Psalm one twenty, alright, Psalm one twenty says a song of degrees.
So if you have those little chapter headings in your bible here, like mine does here, it says, Psalm one twenty, underneath it says, a song of degrees. Alright? Psalm one twenty one, a song of degrees. Psalm one twenty two, a song of degrees, degrees of David. 23, a song of degrees. 24, a song of degrees of David. 25, a song of degrees. One twenty six, a song of degrees. 27, the, song of degrees for Solomon. 28, degrees. 29, degrees. 30, degrees. 31 degrees of David, 32 degrees, 33 degrees of David, 34 degrees, and that's it.
That's it. Now one twenty to one thirty four is how many? 15. 15. But five of them are are given authorship. Four by David and one by Solomon. Right? We saw that. Well, the other 10 are anonymous. I wonder who wrote them. I wonder who wrote them. Well, you don't know until you get over to Isaiah in chapter 38, and you and you read about Hezekiah's songs. So so do you see what that guy did? He wrote a song for every one of the degrees that the sundial went backwards, and then God gave him fifteen years. Alright. Now that's just the tip of the iceberg. You know what Hezekiah had? You know what Hezekiah? He had an intense interest in the word of God, the preservation of the word of God, the authority of the word of God, and so God acknowledges that.
He recognized that. He honored that, and he said, okay. I'll tell you what I'm gonna do. I'm gonna give you a long life. I'm gonna extend it another fifteen years. Now most people would be pretty happy, really, to bargain with God for another fifteen years. Most people would say, oh, yeah, man. Give me that. Another fifteen years. Especially if it's fifteen years of good health. Right? You know? So, so it's denial, it's anger, it's bargaining, and then it's increasing depression. Increasing depression. When when someone finally begins to grieve for his own demise. And so, so that's you know, they they fall into that state of depression, and that's and you can you can understand why. Right? You can understand why.
And and listen, folks. None of this is being said in criticism of anyone. Alright? Or or or being critical towards anyone. This is just information. This is just factual information. Alright? We understand? Alright. And then finally, resignation. You know, finally coming to terms with the inevitable. Alright? So those are the five stages. Those are the five stages. Now that isn't necessarily according to the Bible, you know, so that's not good theology, but that's what science says. And they say that based on a study of innumerable cases of terminal patients.
But, you know, I I I believe that these stages only find a direct application in death or if death is a is viewed as an enemy. Because an enemy suggests if you turn if if you label something as an enemy, it suggests war, struggle, strife, casualties, fear, anger, hostility, desperation. That's what an enemy suggests. But folks, you know, as a believer, as a saved, blood bought, born again, bible believing Christian, We're not talking about an ordinary enemy. We're talking about a defeated enemy. Okay? A defeated enemy.
When you have enemies, you need and when you have enemies, you need the following. You know, if you're gonna follow, you know, what the media will tell you, that you need, you need to follow along with what their recommendations are, and and and, you know, we're gonna see how this stacks up as as we think about it. So according to them, the first thing that you need when you have an enemy is what? Well, allies. Right? You need allies. This is this is one enemy the United Nation cannot help you with. The best allies the best allies are those that have been involved in the same struggle against the same enemy and were victorious.
Say that again. The best allies are those who have been involved in the same struggle against the same enemy and were victorious. Now that really narrows the field down quite a bit. Quite a bit. Go over to first Corinthians chapter 15 again. Alright? First Corinthians chapter 15. And so first Corinthians, your New Testament, Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Acts, Romans, first Corinthians chapter number 15 and, verse 12. First Corinthians 15 verse 12. Now if Christ be preached that he rose from the dead, how say some among you that there is no resurrection of the dead? But if there would be no resurrection of the dead, then Christ is not risen.
And if Christ is not risen, then is our preaching vain and your faith also vain. Yay, and we are found false witnesses of God because we have testified of God that he raised up Christ, whom he raised not up, if so be that the dead rise not. For if the dead rise not, then is not Christ raised? And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain, ye are yet in your sins. Then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished. If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable. But now is Christ risen from the dead and become the first fruits of them that slept.
First fruits of them that slept. You know what Jesus Christ is? You know what Jesus Christ? He's your ally. He's your ally, and he's the best ally you can get because he's already walked through the valley of the shadow of death, and he's claimed victory over it. He subdued the enemy. And so the enemy, which is declared here to be death, no longer has to be an enemy that you fear because it's it's a subdued enemy. It's a defeated enemy. Now some people say, well, you know, if you have an enemy, what else do you need? You need an ally. Okay. You got one. And then people say that you need intelligence.
Alright? And and, you know, that's a big deal. You know, you hear that word flung around all the time in the news media. Right? Intelligence. Well, our intelligence says and our intelligence says this, and, you know, so what that basically means is that, you know, our intelligence is is is, is letting you know about what's happening in the in the camp of the enemy. Alright? I'm trying to think how I could put this because, I guess intelligence would be something that won't fail you or lead you astray. Alright. Now you think about it like this. You know? Another exam you know, went to Iraq, you know, we we well, we didn't find any weapons of mass destruction, but our intelligence says you know what that do you know what you need?
You need absolute, 100%, verifiably correct intelligence. Amen? Alright. Now if if a man's ways please the lord, he maketh even his enemies to be at peace with him. You see, you don't have to look at death like as this grim reaper that's just lurking around the shadows is ready to, you know, to to to strangle you at a moment's notice. He's defeated. He's defeated. Alright? Well, what's your intelligence about this? Well, a source that's been never proven wrong, that exceeds all the expectations of science and education is your Bible.
Your Bible. Your King James Bible. That's a great source. It's believable. It's reliable in all matters of soul, eternity, heaven, and hell. You can depend on it. Intelligence. You follow me? Intelligence. And then, you know what else you're gonna need when you're dealing with an enemy? You need some some source of superiority, don't you? Now, you know, all the generals, when, you know, when they're told to come up with battle plans, you know, you know what they're trying to do? They're trying to figure out how can we be superior to the enemy in forces, in ammunition, in armor, technology, you know, whatever?
You know you know, the the whole issue is how are we going to be superior? You need some form of superiority. Go with me over to Hebrews chapter two. Hebrews in chapter two. Hebrews chapter two, as we're getting there. So life lessons from Proverbs. Right? Life lessons from Proverbs. Hebrews chapter two. Go all the way to the, the last of the Pauline epistles, and then go to chapter two. Hebrews chapter two. You know, it might seem like a stretch, but when you really start to think about it, when you really start to think about it, and it it isn't at all because, you know, one of the greatest lessons that we can learn in this life is to is to be prepared for the next life.
Right? So preparation is everything. Preparation is everything. If we do not prepare for the next life, then everything that's been done or accomplished in this life is of no real value. Hebrews chapter two and, let's go to verse 14. Hebrews two verse 14. Let me get that. Here we go. Alright. For as much then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same, that through death, he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is the devil. Alright? The devil has been given certain powers, and death is one of them.
And you know what you need? You need someone of superior power for your protection. I, you know, look back in verse nine. Look back in verse nine, Hebrews two verse nine. Let's learn who that is. Hebrews chapter two verse nine. But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honor, that he may, by the grace of God, should taste death for every man. So a form of superiority. A form of superiority. And so what do you need when you face an enemy? Well, you need allies, you need intelligence, you need a form of superiority, and then finally, you need a strategy, don't you?
Alright. Now here's a here's a phrase that's that's flung around a lot, and it's it and popular and you know what it's called? An exit strategy. An exit strategy. Well, if if, you know, if if we take so many of our troops over here to face the enemy and we have a war or a skirmish or whatever you wanna call it, what's our exit strategy? You know, are we gonna be there forever? And, you know, this country, United States, has managed to get itself into a number of situations where that where where we have and still don't have an exit strategy.
Give you an example. It's called Korea. We still don't have an exit strategy over there, and we've been there for how long? Sixty years? It's been a long time. Been a long time. And we obviously didn't have an exit strategy in Afghanistan. That debacle, 13 servicemen killed, billions of dollars of advanced military equipment left behind. But the question is this, you know, as we apply it to the human soul, do we have do you have an exit strategy? I mean, you know, someday you're gonna leave this world, folks. What's your exit strategy? Now if if you really look at it, this is the kind of lesson that you can you can you can bend, you know, toward evangelism and and soul winning.
And, you know, that's all great. That's all great. But the issue but the issue is further confused when you when you realize we are considered to be the enemies of God. Oh, now that's a problem. That problem has to be solved, doesn't it? Go with me over to Romans chapter five. Romans chapter five. You have an enemy that's called death. You have an enemy that's called death, but mankind is also said to be the enemy of God. So if we're God's enemies, how in the world can we rely on on God to be our ally, to give us intelligence and the superiority and an exit strategy?
Well, Romans chapter five and verse nine. Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. Alright. That thing right there is what we deserve. What we have coming to us is the wrath of God. That's what we have coming to us. Alright? Go to Ephesians chapter two. Ephesians chapter two, if you would. Ephesians chapter two, and we're gonna go to verse number 11. Ephesians chapter two verse 11. Wherefore, remember that ye, being in time past Gentiles in the flesh, who are called uncircumcision by that which is called the circumcision in the flesh made by hands, That at that time, you were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus, ye who sometimes were afar off are made nigh by the blood of Christ.
For he is our peace, who hath made both one and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us, having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances, for to make himself of twain one new man, so making peace, and that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby. Alright? So mankind mankind finds himself to declare the enemy of God, and there needs to be a reconciliation affected. And that reconciliation, as you well know, is activated through Jesus Christ and through his finished work and his shed blood.
The thing that that that whole thing is is is is well consummated over in in Colossians chapter one. Alright? Go over to Colossians chapter one. Alright? Colossians chapter one, and let's go to verse 20. Colossians chapter one verse 20. And having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself, by him, I say, whether they be things on in earth or things in heaven, and you that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled. Now we can have peace with the enemy.
We can have peace when the enemy unconditionally surrenders. We can have peace when the enemy unconditionally surrenders. Now the unconditional surrender of the enemy was more complete than the one that took place on the deck of the Missouri or or, or Appomattox. It's a complete surrender. Death has no strings for the believer. Now believe me, he makes noise and wants you to think that he may have some kind of a hold on you, but as a real trusting believer in Jesus Christ, he has none. None. You know, let me illustrate let me illustrate it to you this way. Great story, by the way.
Doctor Ruckman, who I greatly admire as a bible teacher, you know, as a preacher, just an amazing amazing man. Doctor Ruckman, at the end of World War two, was on the staff of general MacArthur, and, general MacArthur was assigned the duty of having an occupying army in Japan. And so, doctor Ruckman was given the assignment because of his ability to to really grasp languages, and and he had already grasped several. The assignment of learning Japanese in in a short period of time is really difficult language, by the way. You know, doctor Ruckman was given the assignment by general MacArthur to learn Japanese for the express purpose of monitoring Japanese radio to make sure they weren't spewing out anti American rhetoric.
That was his job. That was his job. It's quite a job when you think of it. Right? That's that's that was his job. Now they were a defeated enemy. You with me? Totally defeated. Signed the surrender on the deck of the Missouri, but death still makes noise. Death still makes noise. It makes noise to haunt you, to disturb you, to bother you, to influence you until you absolutely recognize that it's a defeated enemy and has zero power over you. None. None at all. No power. Well, you know, it's hard for us to grasp that sometimes. Honestly, it is. Sometimes that's hard. I mean, I have my moments where I where I, you know, stumble at it.
I have not yet arrived as they say. You know? First Corinthians chapter 15 verse 54. Let's go back to, first Corinthians. Alright. First Corinthians 15 and verse 54. So So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, death is swallowed up in victory. Oh death, where is thy sting? Oh grave, where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Unconditional surrender. It has no power whatsoever. It's a defeated enemy. Now, you know, once the enemy is defeated, I can, you know, go over to Psalm 18. Psalm 18. Again, once the enemy is defeated, Psalm 18 and verse 47. It is God that avengeth me and subdueth the people under me. He delivereth me from mine enemies. Yea, thou liftest me up above those that rise up against me. Thou hast delivered me from the violent man. Therefore will I give thanks unto thee, oh lord, among the heathen, and sing praises unto thy name. Now what individual is more violent than the devil?
What individual and didn't we just read over in in in Hebrews chapter two verse 14 that he has the power of death? Well, you can rejoice in your deliverance. That's one thing that you can do, and you could just absolutely rejoice in it. I've been delivered from it. I don't have to worry about it. Go over to Psalms Psalm 97. Psalm 97, and, let's go to verse one. We'll start in verse one. Psalm 97. Great Psalm, by the way. Psalm 97 verse one. Let let the the them. Psalm 97 verse one. The Lord reigneth. Let the earth rejoice. Let the multitude of isles be glad thereof.
Clouds and darkness are round about him. Righteousness and judgment are the habitation of his throne. A fire goeth before him and burneth up his enemies round about. You know what I can do? You know what I can do? I can rely on the eventual total destruction of death. I can rely on that. Not only is it defeated, but ultimately it'll be destroyed. There will be a time when death is or or or or will be eradicated from the dictionary. The word won't even be there. Look with me over in Revelation chapter 20. Revelation chapter 20. Do you ever think about that? Just think about that.
Well, I guess I guess if there'll be no more death, there'll be no mortuary. There'll be no cemeteries. There'll be no gravestones. Amen? That's something. That's something alright. Revelation chapter 20 verse 14. And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. So so so death is not only defeated, but one day, it's gonna be utterly destroyed on the other side of and on the other side of this, as as we launch to into the great eternity, death is gonna be something that'll be unknown. You'll never hear of it.
You'll never hear of it. Folks, it doesn't get any better than that. It does not get any better than that. Alright? Psalm 23. Everybody knows Psalm 23. Right? The twenty third Psalm. And, this should be, this is my last passage. I know right now someone is out there saying, oh, thank god. Right? Psalm Psalm 23. Should all know the twenty third Psalm. The lord is my shepherd. I shall not want. You know that one? Psalm 23. I'll get there. There we go. Great Psalm. Absolutely great Psalm. Let's go to, verse five. You know what? Let let's do verse four. Alright.
I want you to notice the subject, and the context is is death in verse five, but I want you to notice this. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for thou art with me. Thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me. Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies. Folks, you can feast in the presence of death. You can feast in the presence of death. Now the ancient Egyptians, they had a custom that, you know, it might seem a little bit morbid to us, but I guess, you know, I guess it served a purpose even even though it it it led them in the wrong direction. And and the custom was that, at the head of every feast, or feast table, they would sit a skeleton there.
I can't just imagine that. Just imagine that. Yeah. Having the relatives over for Thanksgiving dinner. Hey. Yeah. Come on into the dining room. Yeah. Oh, yeah. It's great to have you here. It's fantastic. You know? And then then the skeleton sitting right there at the table. You know? That probably like, I guess it would be a good conversation piece. Right? You would think. But that's what they would do, and they and they would do that to remind themselves that life is temporary. You know, life is fleeting. Well, that's Bible, isn't it?
Isn't that Bible? Book of James says it's like a vapor. It comes and goes. How many times on a birthday? Well, actually, it doesn't really have to even be your birthday. I had this conversation with a with a buddy of mine just a couple of days ago. You know? He's got some health issues, and he was saying it it's it, it sucks being over 50. I, you know, I guess I could agree. But, ultimately, the question was, well, you know, where did the time go? Where did it go? What happened? You know? Then he sent me some pictures of of us and, you know, the old crew hanging out and everything, and it's like, yeah, man. You know, we were so young back then. What happened? Where did where did the time go?
You know? Where did it go? But, but they would feast. They would feast, the Egyptians, and they would feast. And but they had but they had that that that hideous, gruesome reminder at the head of the table that that they too will one day face doctor death. We don't need a skeleton at the head of our table because death has been defeated. We've got king Jesus at the head of our table. He's the one that defeated it, and so we're in him. He's in us. We have that declaration, and we have that promise of absolute victory over death. When a man's ways please the lord, he maketh even his enemies to be at peace with them.
Death doesn't have to be your enemy. Doesn't have to be your enemy at all. Now are you afraid of death? As a blood bought, born again, saved Christian, I promise you, you don't have to be because it's a defeated enemy, folks. It's a defeated enemy. Death is defeated. Our heavenly father, we wanna thank you for these great truths, the promises that you give us in your book, in your holy word, that death is is a defeated enemy for the believer. Father, help us each to live that every moment of our lives on this earth, Not be not be afraid of it.
Understand that it's defeated, and one day would utterly be destroyed. And we can thank you for that, Lord, through the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, because that is the only way that death is defeated for the believer. So, father, we just thank you so much. We praise you. Lord, we lift up all of those that are listening and watching today. If there's any that do not know Jesus Christ as their personal savior, that lord that today they would call upon the name of the lord and be saved. The Bible tells us over and over again that there is no other name under heaven whereby man can be saved, That it's not by works of righteousness which we have done, but by his mercy he saved us.
That it's by grace you're saved through faith and that not of yourselves. It is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast. That while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. So, god, we just pray today for all of those that are listening and watching. Draw them into yourself. Save them. And we'll thank you for it in the precious name of our savior, the lord Jesus Christ. Amen. Alright. Folks, don't forget to head over to our website, joeroos.com, joeroos.com. Sign up the program, the announcements, email list. It's free. It doesn't cost you anything, and, it's it's just information that we're gonna send out regarding the shows, you know, start times, changes, guests, so on and so forth.
So just head over to the website, sign up for it. Again, it's free. That's not gonna cost you anything, and it's easy as $1.02 3. Alright? Now, also, folks, if you are in the Eagle Pass area and you're looking for a good King James Bible believing and Bible teaching church, why don't you consider paying us a visit over at First Baptist Church of Eagle Pass? We meet at 664 North Monroe. Our Sunday school hour starts at 10AM. Our worship service begins at eleven. Sunday evening service is at 6PM. Wednesday night Bible study is at 7PM. And for more information about the church and everything that's going on at the church, just head over to the church's Facebook page. All you have to do is just log in to Facebook, search for First Baptist Church of Eagle Pass. And when you get there, just hit that like button or subscribe and follow it, and you'll see all the information that you need to know about the church. It's easy to find too because it's the only church in Eagle Pass called First Baptist Church of Eagle Pass. So it should be very very very simple to find. Alright. So just head over there and do that, and, come pay us a visit. Check it out.
Alright. And don't forget to check out check us out on the show here, with on all of our socials on on Twix, at, Joruus, Truth Social, Joruus, Minds, great platform on Minds. And by the way, we're gonna be we we will be hosting, the, CEO and cofounder of Mines, Bill Ottman, here on the show. I think it was October 22, if I'm not mistaken. So make sure you check out the show on that day. It's gonna be a good one. Facebook, Joe Russo. Instagram is not Joe Russo. TikTok, Joe dot Russo, and get her at Joe Russo. Shout outs to our executive producers, Wayne Rankin, Rosanna Rankin, Carolina Aminez, and Marissa Lee. Also shout out to our producer, the inestimable on anonymous Angela. Thank you guys for all that you do, and thank you for, all of the support you've done and for donating your time, your talent, your treasure. We really do appreciate that. Now if you want, more information about how you can help us out and support us through donations, just click the support button on the website. It's all broken down for you right there, and, check it out. And if you have the means to do it and you're able to do it, just remember this is value for value, which all that means is that if you are receiving value from what we're putting out, we're only asking you return that value to us in the form of a donation. But, again, which could be your time, your talent, or your treasure.
Also, if you wanna help us out with some cryptocurrencies, all of our wallet information's up there as well, so very, very easy to, to do. Also, thank you to the folks that are streaming stats to us on the modern podcast apps. Thank you very, very much for that. We really do appreciate it. You can get yourself one of these modern podcast apps by going to modernpodcastapps.com or podcastindex.org. Alright? I think, folks, that's gonna do it for us for tonight. So thank you for taking the time to be with us. Don't forget website, joerus.com. Let us know what you're thinking. Don't forget folks, it's a live show, weeknights 7PM central, Sundays in the afternoon sometime, and occasionally on Saturday. Alright folks, make Texas independent again. Go podcast and keep a steady stride. Keep talking. God bless you. Happy trade. See you tomorrow.
You. Happy trends to you. Keep smiling until where. Who cares about the clouds that we're
Transmitting live from the Asylum Studios deep in the bowels of Southwest Texas. It's the Joe Ruse show. The show where we talk about anything and everything.
[00:04:29] Unknown:
Where nothing is sacred, nothing is watered down, and nothing is PC. Alright, hey folks, this is Joe Roos and it is great to be with you once again as we open up and study the precious Word of God, your King James Bible. And you know folks, whenever and wherever you find yourself listening to us, it's always my prayer that you also find yourself in the grace and in the mercy of our Lord and savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. Hey, welcome to the Joe Ruse show. And of course, we are transmitting live again from the asylum studios from the pimple on the backside of Texas.
The beautiful city of Eagle Pass. Alright folks, I hope that you guys have had a great weekend. Weekend. Hope you got to do a lot of really great neat things and, get to spend time with your family, do some good stuff, you know, quality things, quality time. It's so important today folks. We need to spend time with our loved ones as much as we possibly can. There's really nothing in this life that is more important than family. There truly isn't, you know, on on a non spiritual level, I'm I'm telling, of course. But your family comes first in everything, in all things. It should always be that way. So, I got that shadow on me. Alright. So I guess we're not gonna be using the boom too much more, but okay.
At any rate, again, being with your family is the most important thing to do, especially today, especially in today's day and age. You know, we're rapidly seeing just a deterioration in our culture. We're rapidly seeing a deterioration spiritually, around the world. Yeah. We have these moments where we have these, these awakenings, these, scriptural not scriptural, but, spiritual awakenings, like, we're experiencing, right now with, you know, in in the aftermath of of, Charlie Kirk's assassination. It's been great to see this the mass amount of people, heading out to church, in prayer and prayer groups. It's all great. That's a beautiful thing.
But, you know, the Bible speaks very, very clearly that we are in the last days. And I've said this many times, and I'll I'll continue to say it. I believe that, yeah, we are in the last days, but I think we are in the last days of the last days. So, that's it's an incredibly important distinction, and one that, you know, you really have to be able to make. So, with that said, spend time with your family. Get to know the Lord again. If you if you wandered away from the Lord, get to know him again. Come back to him. Talk to him. Pray. Seek his counsel. Seek his wisdom. That's what we've been doing here, on these, the last few Sunday shows. We've been talking about wisdom.
Wisdom. And, last week, we, we were teaching on, the biblical admonition that we find in Proverbs, he that winneth souls is wise, and we talked about soul winning. And, and in keeping with that theme, at least this week, you know, I kinda thought, well, you know, who knows who needs to hear this? You know, this is this is important stuff. This is truly important stuff, and, that's why we're gonna spend some time today in Proverbs chapter 16 and in verse number seven. Proverbs 16 and verse seven. That's gonna be our launching point for today. And that verse says, when a man's ways please the lord, he maketh even his enemies to be at peace with him.
Now our, our general tendency, I guess, you would say, would would be to put that in some kind of a political context. You know, whether it's national politics, local state, whatever it might be. You know, we have you know, it has some kind of a a a political ramification to it. And, of course, you know, it would be appropriate. It would be appropriate to think of that that way because, you know, many enemies lurk in this life in human form, as well as the demonic form. But then, you know, then I got to thinking about it. There has to be another application.
There has to be another application. So what I'd like you to do is take your Bible, if you would, and head over to first Corinthians in chapter 15. First Corinthians in chapter 15, and, when you get there, we're gonna head over to, verse number 20. First Corinthians 15 and verse 20. But now is Christ risen from the dead and become the first fruits of them that slept. For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam, all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. But every man in his own order, Christ, the first fruits, afterwards, they that are Christ's at his coming.
Then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the father, when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power, for he must reign till he hath put all enemies under his feet. The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death. So the Bible the Bible declares that death is an enemy. Death is an enemy. Now some people some people would, would would view death as a, as an undefeated enemy. You know, there there's a there there are a couple of kinds of enemies. Alright? There's a defeated enemy, and then there's, of course, the undefeated enemy. Now before we get into any of the rest of the sermon tonight over the bible study today, do some usual housekeeping stuff. So if you would head over to our website, joeroos.com joeroos.com, and when you get over there, make sure that you check out our contact section.
Alright? Open up that little web form, fill out the contact form, let us know whatever's on your heart, whatever's on your mind, any questions, comments, cares, or concerns that you might have, whatever it might be. If you have any suggestions, maybe you have a guest in mind that you'd like us to try to get or particular topic or conversation that you'd like us to have. Let us know what you're thinking. Now if you don't wanna use the web form, totally fine with me. You could always email me directly at [email protected]. That's info at joe roos. There's even a little email button on the website. You can just click that, and it'll open up the email for you. Alright. So you could do that, and, we'd be happy to hear from you. We'd love to hear from you. It's important for us to hear from you. This way we know how we're doing. Right? Right. Alright. Now, folks, this show is brought to you by Ezra Healing. Ezra Healing is a substantial part of the new wellness paradigm currently being born in North America and around the globe. The global citizenry are no longer satisfied with the sick care version of so called health care. Band Aid medicine, endlessly treating symptoms rather than root causes, must be abandoned as soon as possible.
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Alright. Now, quoted over in Newsweek magazine, Svetlana Stalin. Yes. The daughter of Joseph Stalin. Svetlana Stalin provided a description of her father's death, and here's how she quoted it, or or at least here how she how she describes Joseph Stalin's death, her father. She said, quote, my father died a difficult and terrible death. God grants an easy death only to the just. At what seemed the very last moment, he suddenly opened his eyes and cast a glance over everyone in the room. It was a terrible glance, insane or perhaps angry and full of fear of death. Then he lifted his left hand as though he were pointed to something above and bringing down a curse on us all. The gesture was full of menace. The next moment, the spirit wrenched itself free of the flesh of the flesh.
Alright. So that's the description of Stalin's death by his own daughter. The last words the last words of Charles, Charles the ninth who ordered the massacre on Saint Bartholomew's Day. And then if you don't know what that is, if you don't know what that massacre was all about, that's really something worthy of study. You should check it out. He said this, quote, what blood? What murders? I know not where I am. How will all this end? What shall I do? I am lost forever. I know it. Those were his last words. Sir Francis Newport, the head of an English infidel club. Now that's just an that's just an old word, an old English word. Today, we would say an atheist, but but that's what it is, an infidel club. And, he said to those that were gathered around his dying bed, quote, you need not tell me there is no God, for I know there is one and that I am in his angry presence.
You need not tell me that there is no hell, for I already feel my soul slipping into its fires. Wretches cease your idle talk about there being hope for me. I know I am lost forever. Well, I guess it pays to be an atheist, doesn't it? Didn't really work out too well for him, did it? Voltaire, another philosophical atheist said this on his deathbed. As he addressed his doctor. He said this, quote, I am abandoned by God and man. I will give you half of what I am worth if you will give me six months life. And then the doctor replied, quote, sir, you cannot live six weeks. And then Voltaire replied, then I shall go to hell, and you will go with me.
And then soon after that, he died. Probably one of the most interesting studies that I've done, And and these are just a few that I pulled out, but, you know, I did some research on the dying words of people like that. None of them had anything pleasant to say. It's really an it's a fascinating study. You know, most of them were were, enveloped in with just total agony, fear. Now in contrast, some have said, death is not my undefeated enemy, but death is my defeated enemy. Alright? Now when when a when a when a man's ways please the Lord, the Lord says even his enemies are at peace with him.
Alright? Now now death is your enemy, but your enemy is at peace with you because he's a defeated enemy, in your case, if you're a believer, if you're saved. Alright. Let me give you some examples. Here's D. L. Moody. And if you don't know who D. L. Moody is, D. L. Moody was a great preacher and evangelist, and when he was when he was dying, realizing that he would soon be gone from this world, Moody said to a friend, quote, someday you'll read in the papers that DL Moody of Northfield is dead. Don't believe it. Don't believe a word of it. At that moment, I shall be more alive than I am now. I shall have gone on higher.
That is I shall have gone higher. That is all. Out of this old clay tenement into a house that is immortal. A body that cannot that sin cannot touch, that sin cannot taint, a body fashioned unto unto his glorious body. I was born in the flesh in 1837. I was born in the spirit in 1856. That which is born in the flesh must die. That which is born in the spirit will live forever. You know, if you're if you're ever gonna get honest words out of an individual, it would probably be on their death bed. Because there's no sense in holding any any pretenses at that point. You know? There's no point in it. Why would why would you bother? Alright? And just before he died, doctor FB Meyer wrote this to his wife.
And, and if you don't know who FB Meyer was, he was a great preacher. He said, quote, dear, I have just learned, to my surprise, that I and he was out of town someplace. I don't remember where he was, but he was he was out of town, so he wrote this as and and a letter to his wife. He said, he said, I I've learned that I I only have a few days to live. It may be that before this reaches you, I will have entered into the palace. Don't don't trouble to write me. We shall meet in the morning. Doctor Samuel Gobut, the, bishop of Jerusalem, was nearing the end of his earthly journey, and his son reminded him that, he had no need to be afraid of any evil in the dark valley of the shadow of death. And then the the bishop just smiled and he and he whispered, it's not dark.
It's not dark. When Henry Reed of Tasmania was dying, he said, quote, I find no shadow of death in the valley. It is to me full of light, green pastures, and living water. Never so happy since I was born. Glory, glory, glory to the triune God. Alright. Now, folks, these are just a handful of examples, but, you know, there have been books, whole books written with these kinds of stories, with these kinds of illustrations and examples, you know, in in contrasting these two things. Well, the enemy of death. The enemy of death. Now according to, a lengthy study that was done, by psychiatrists, chaplains, nurses, you know, medical doctors in, Chicago's billing hospital, people who suffer a terminal illness go through five stages of emotions.
Alright? Now I'm sure we've all heard of these things, you know, the the five stages of grief. Well, number one was was denial. Alright? So denial. The patient's unwilling to accept his fate and the nature of his predicament. Many deal with enemies of all sorts this way. Think about that. Think about it like this. You have, you have the Taliban. You have Al Qaeda. You have Iraq. Iran, you know, and and the list goes on. You know? And they say there were no weapons of mass destruction. You know, I don't know. Haven't seen the evidence of it. Well, but but then again, you could say that, you know, the Kurds were gassed, so there must have been something.
I'm sure some of you remember that, but I'm just bringing it up just to make a point. And, and and and it's kinda related to what we're talking about here. Some people say, you know, well, there's no weapons of mass destruction waiting for me. Well, it's a period of denial. But the fact of the matter is, it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this, the judgment. Alright. Then the second the second emotion that people go through in these stages of grief is anger. Anger. They become angry at the at, at the doctors, at at family, at friends, and, in some cases, people get angry at God.
They blame God. And, you know, frequently, it it they get angry at the people who are attempting to protect and nurture them, and that's where they vent their anger to, those people that are closest to them. Alright? And then the the third one is bargaining. Bargaining. A determination to live for God, to go to church, you know, to be good to everyone. And I've you know, over over my life and over my experiences and my Christian walk, I've come across a lot of folks like that. A lot. You know, some would say, in the political realm, you know, let's bargain with the enemy. You know, let's send them a $7.47 full of cash.
You know, that's bargaining. See what I'm saying? Well, when it comes to death, a lot of people take the same approach. You know? I'll bargain and see if God will accept my bargain. Well, generally, he doesn't. Generally. Occasionally, he does. It's a rare thing, though, but occasionally, he does. And and you actually do have a biblical example of that in your Bible. Alright? Where a guy actually bargained with the Lord, and the Lord said, okay. I'll tell you what. I'll take you up on it. You remember who that was? Do you know who that was? Let alone remember, do you know who it was? Well, it was Hezekiah.
Hezekiah. And if you remember the story, God gave him an extra fifteen years. He gave him an extra fifteen years because, because, the the issue is not so much in just that Hezekiah got fifteen years, but the issue is what did Hezekiah do with those fifteen years? Well, if you get if you go over to Isaiah chapter 38, you're gonna find out that he wrote some songs. He wrote some songs, and and we find those songs in the Psalms. Now it's interesting. Alright. We got time for a little bit of a sidebar here, so we're gonna just run this out really quick. Alright? I may have I may have talked about this before at one point, but I don't I don't really I don't remember if I did or not for sure, but, let's go let's go take a look at something. Alright?
I think it's in Psalm one twenty, if I'm not mistaken. Alright. Psalm one twenty. So let's, let's go over there really quick. Psalm one twenty. Now if you recall with me, let's see. Psalm one nineteen, Psalm one nineteen, Psalm one twenty. Now if you recall with me, this is here here was the deal. Isaiah came to King Hezekiah, the prophet Isaiah, went to King Hezekiah, and he said, okay. Look. Here's the deal. God heard your prayer. God heard your bargain. And so, and so here's a sign for it. Since you're a good Jew, and the Jew seeks after a sign, your sundial is gonna go backwards, 10 degrees.
Alright? Now if if and if the sundial goes backwards, that's like your clock moving backwards ten minutes. Okay? Do you do you follow me? So if your sundial goes backwards 10 degrees, then that's a sign from God. So in other words, everything in the universe was put in reverse. Think about that. Everything in the universe is put in reverse. That's far out. You know? That's really far out. You know? All of that's put in reverse, and he said that that'll be the indicator that you get an extra fifteen years. So after all of that transpires, what is, what does Hezekiah do?
Well, over in Proverbs, and I think it's chapter 25. I don't have I don't have that in my notes, but I think it's Proverbs chapter 25. We're told that he forms a group of or or a guild of copyists to make sure that the word of God was continued to be copied. You know? He didn't want basically, he didn't want anybody running out of Bibles. Alright? So and, and and and all the copying in those days was, of course, handwritten. All handwritten copies. And so he formed this guild of copyists, and and he wrote some of the songs himself over in Isaiah 38. Now in Psalm one twenty, alright, Psalm one twenty says a song of degrees.
So if you have those little chapter headings in your bible here, like mine does here, it says, Psalm one twenty, underneath it says, a song of degrees. Alright? Psalm one twenty one, a song of degrees. Psalm one twenty two, a song of degrees, degrees of David. 23, a song of degrees. 24, a song of degrees of David. 25, a song of degrees. One twenty six, a song of degrees. 27, the, song of degrees for Solomon. 28, degrees. 29, degrees. 30, degrees. 31 degrees of David, 32 degrees, 33 degrees of David, 34 degrees, and that's it.
That's it. Now one twenty to one thirty four is how many? 15. 15. But five of them are are given authorship. Four by David and one by Solomon. Right? We saw that. Well, the other 10 are anonymous. I wonder who wrote them. I wonder who wrote them. Well, you don't know until you get over to Isaiah in chapter 38, and you and you read about Hezekiah's songs. So so do you see what that guy did? He wrote a song for every one of the degrees that the sundial went backwards, and then God gave him fifteen years. Alright. Now that's just the tip of the iceberg. You know what Hezekiah had? You know what Hezekiah? He had an intense interest in the word of God, the preservation of the word of God, the authority of the word of God, and so God acknowledges that.
He recognized that. He honored that, and he said, okay. I'll tell you what I'm gonna do. I'm gonna give you a long life. I'm gonna extend it another fifteen years. Now most people would be pretty happy, really, to bargain with God for another fifteen years. Most people would say, oh, yeah, man. Give me that. Another fifteen years. Especially if it's fifteen years of good health. Right? You know? So, so it's denial, it's anger, it's bargaining, and then it's increasing depression. Increasing depression. When when someone finally begins to grieve for his own demise. And so, so that's you know, they they fall into that state of depression, and that's and you can you can understand why. Right? You can understand why.
And and listen, folks. None of this is being said in criticism of anyone. Alright? Or or or being critical towards anyone. This is just information. This is just factual information. Alright? We understand? Alright. And then finally, resignation. You know, finally coming to terms with the inevitable. Alright? So those are the five stages. Those are the five stages. Now that isn't necessarily according to the Bible, you know, so that's not good theology, but that's what science says. And they say that based on a study of innumerable cases of terminal patients.
But, you know, I I I believe that these stages only find a direct application in death or if death is a is viewed as an enemy. Because an enemy suggests if you turn if if you label something as an enemy, it suggests war, struggle, strife, casualties, fear, anger, hostility, desperation. That's what an enemy suggests. But folks, you know, as a believer, as a saved, blood bought, born again, bible believing Christian, We're not talking about an ordinary enemy. We're talking about a defeated enemy. Okay? A defeated enemy.
When you have enemies, you need and when you have enemies, you need the following. You know, if you're gonna follow, you know, what the media will tell you, that you need, you need to follow along with what their recommendations are, and and and, you know, we're gonna see how this stacks up as as we think about it. So according to them, the first thing that you need when you have an enemy is what? Well, allies. Right? You need allies. This is this is one enemy the United Nation cannot help you with. The best allies the best allies are those that have been involved in the same struggle against the same enemy and were victorious.
Say that again. The best allies are those who have been involved in the same struggle against the same enemy and were victorious. Now that really narrows the field down quite a bit. Quite a bit. Go over to first Corinthians chapter 15 again. Alright? First Corinthians chapter 15. And so first Corinthians, your New Testament, Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Acts, Romans, first Corinthians chapter number 15 and, verse 12. First Corinthians 15 verse 12. Now if Christ be preached that he rose from the dead, how say some among you that there is no resurrection of the dead? But if there would be no resurrection of the dead, then Christ is not risen.
And if Christ is not risen, then is our preaching vain and your faith also vain. Yay, and we are found false witnesses of God because we have testified of God that he raised up Christ, whom he raised not up, if so be that the dead rise not. For if the dead rise not, then is not Christ raised? And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain, ye are yet in your sins. Then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished. If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable. But now is Christ risen from the dead and become the first fruits of them that slept.
First fruits of them that slept. You know what Jesus Christ is? You know what Jesus Christ? He's your ally. He's your ally, and he's the best ally you can get because he's already walked through the valley of the shadow of death, and he's claimed victory over it. He subdued the enemy. And so the enemy, which is declared here to be death, no longer has to be an enemy that you fear because it's it's a subdued enemy. It's a defeated enemy. Now some people say, well, you know, if you have an enemy, what else do you need? You need an ally. Okay. You got one. And then people say that you need intelligence.
Alright? And and, you know, that's a big deal. You know, you hear that word flung around all the time in the news media. Right? Intelligence. Well, our intelligence says and our intelligence says this, and, you know, so what that basically means is that, you know, our intelligence is is is, is letting you know about what's happening in the in the camp of the enemy. Alright? I'm trying to think how I could put this because, I guess intelligence would be something that won't fail you or lead you astray. Alright. Now you think about it like this. You know? Another exam you know, went to Iraq, you know, we we well, we didn't find any weapons of mass destruction, but our intelligence says you know what that do you know what you need?
You need absolute, 100%, verifiably correct intelligence. Amen? Alright. Now if if a man's ways please the lord, he maketh even his enemies to be at peace with him. You see, you don't have to look at death like as this grim reaper that's just lurking around the shadows is ready to, you know, to to to strangle you at a moment's notice. He's defeated. He's defeated. Alright? Well, what's your intelligence about this? Well, a source that's been never proven wrong, that exceeds all the expectations of science and education is your Bible.
Your Bible. Your King James Bible. That's a great source. It's believable. It's reliable in all matters of soul, eternity, heaven, and hell. You can depend on it. Intelligence. You follow me? Intelligence. And then, you know what else you're gonna need when you're dealing with an enemy? You need some some source of superiority, don't you? Now, you know, all the generals, when, you know, when they're told to come up with battle plans, you know, you know what they're trying to do? They're trying to figure out how can we be superior to the enemy in forces, in ammunition, in armor, technology, you know, whatever?
You know you know, the the whole issue is how are we going to be superior? You need some form of superiority. Go with me over to Hebrews chapter two. Hebrews in chapter two. Hebrews chapter two, as we're getting there. So life lessons from Proverbs. Right? Life lessons from Proverbs. Hebrews chapter two. Go all the way to the, the last of the Pauline epistles, and then go to chapter two. Hebrews chapter two. You know, it might seem like a stretch, but when you really start to think about it, when you really start to think about it, and it it isn't at all because, you know, one of the greatest lessons that we can learn in this life is to is to be prepared for the next life.
Right? So preparation is everything. Preparation is everything. If we do not prepare for the next life, then everything that's been done or accomplished in this life is of no real value. Hebrews chapter two and, let's go to verse 14. Hebrews two verse 14. Let me get that. Here we go. Alright. For as much then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same, that through death, he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is the devil. Alright? The devil has been given certain powers, and death is one of them.
And you know what you need? You need someone of superior power for your protection. I, you know, look back in verse nine. Look back in verse nine, Hebrews two verse nine. Let's learn who that is. Hebrews chapter two verse nine. But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honor, that he may, by the grace of God, should taste death for every man. So a form of superiority. A form of superiority. And so what do you need when you face an enemy? Well, you need allies, you need intelligence, you need a form of superiority, and then finally, you need a strategy, don't you?
Alright. Now here's a here's a phrase that's that's flung around a lot, and it's it and popular and you know what it's called? An exit strategy. An exit strategy. Well, if if, you know, if if we take so many of our troops over here to face the enemy and we have a war or a skirmish or whatever you wanna call it, what's our exit strategy? You know, are we gonna be there forever? And, you know, this country, United States, has managed to get itself into a number of situations where that where where we have and still don't have an exit strategy.
Give you an example. It's called Korea. We still don't have an exit strategy over there, and we've been there for how long? Sixty years? It's been a long time. Been a long time. And we obviously didn't have an exit strategy in Afghanistan. That debacle, 13 servicemen killed, billions of dollars of advanced military equipment left behind. But the question is this, you know, as we apply it to the human soul, do we have do you have an exit strategy? I mean, you know, someday you're gonna leave this world, folks. What's your exit strategy? Now if if you really look at it, this is the kind of lesson that you can you can you can bend, you know, toward evangelism and and soul winning.
And, you know, that's all great. That's all great. But the issue but the issue is further confused when you when you realize we are considered to be the enemies of God. Oh, now that's a problem. That problem has to be solved, doesn't it? Go with me over to Romans chapter five. Romans chapter five. You have an enemy that's called death. You have an enemy that's called death, but mankind is also said to be the enemy of God. So if we're God's enemies, how in the world can we rely on on God to be our ally, to give us intelligence and the superiority and an exit strategy?
Well, Romans chapter five and verse nine. Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. Alright. That thing right there is what we deserve. What we have coming to us is the wrath of God. That's what we have coming to us. Alright? Go to Ephesians chapter two. Ephesians chapter two, if you would. Ephesians chapter two, and we're gonna go to verse number 11. Ephesians chapter two verse 11. Wherefore, remember that ye, being in time past Gentiles in the flesh, who are called uncircumcision by that which is called the circumcision in the flesh made by hands, That at that time, you were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus, ye who sometimes were afar off are made nigh by the blood of Christ.
For he is our peace, who hath made both one and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us, having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances, for to make himself of twain one new man, so making peace, and that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby. Alright? So mankind mankind finds himself to declare the enemy of God, and there needs to be a reconciliation affected. And that reconciliation, as you well know, is activated through Jesus Christ and through his finished work and his shed blood.
The thing that that that whole thing is is is is well consummated over in in Colossians chapter one. Alright? Go over to Colossians chapter one. Alright? Colossians chapter one, and let's go to verse 20. Colossians chapter one verse 20. And having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself, by him, I say, whether they be things on in earth or things in heaven, and you that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled. Now we can have peace with the enemy.
We can have peace when the enemy unconditionally surrenders. We can have peace when the enemy unconditionally surrenders. Now the unconditional surrender of the enemy was more complete than the one that took place on the deck of the Missouri or or, or Appomattox. It's a complete surrender. Death has no strings for the believer. Now believe me, he makes noise and wants you to think that he may have some kind of a hold on you, but as a real trusting believer in Jesus Christ, he has none. None. You know, let me illustrate let me illustrate it to you this way. Great story, by the way.
Doctor Ruckman, who I greatly admire as a bible teacher, you know, as a preacher, just an amazing amazing man. Doctor Ruckman, at the end of World War two, was on the staff of general MacArthur, and, general MacArthur was assigned the duty of having an occupying army in Japan. And so, doctor Ruckman was given the assignment because of his ability to to really grasp languages, and and he had already grasped several. The assignment of learning Japanese in in a short period of time is really difficult language, by the way. You know, doctor Ruckman was given the assignment by general MacArthur to learn Japanese for the express purpose of monitoring Japanese radio to make sure they weren't spewing out anti American rhetoric.
That was his job. That was his job. It's quite a job when you think of it. Right? That's that's that was his job. Now they were a defeated enemy. You with me? Totally defeated. Signed the surrender on the deck of the Missouri, but death still makes noise. Death still makes noise. It makes noise to haunt you, to disturb you, to bother you, to influence you until you absolutely recognize that it's a defeated enemy and has zero power over you. None. None at all. No power. Well, you know, it's hard for us to grasp that sometimes. Honestly, it is. Sometimes that's hard. I mean, I have my moments where I where I, you know, stumble at it.
I have not yet arrived as they say. You know? First Corinthians chapter 15 verse 54. Let's go back to, first Corinthians. Alright. First Corinthians 15 and verse 54. So So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, death is swallowed up in victory. Oh death, where is thy sting? Oh grave, where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Unconditional surrender. It has no power whatsoever. It's a defeated enemy. Now, you know, once the enemy is defeated, I can, you know, go over to Psalm 18. Psalm 18. Again, once the enemy is defeated, Psalm 18 and verse 47. It is God that avengeth me and subdueth the people under me. He delivereth me from mine enemies. Yea, thou liftest me up above those that rise up against me. Thou hast delivered me from the violent man. Therefore will I give thanks unto thee, oh lord, among the heathen, and sing praises unto thy name. Now what individual is more violent than the devil?
What individual and didn't we just read over in in in Hebrews chapter two verse 14 that he has the power of death? Well, you can rejoice in your deliverance. That's one thing that you can do, and you could just absolutely rejoice in it. I've been delivered from it. I don't have to worry about it. Go over to Psalms Psalm 97. Psalm 97, and, let's go to verse one. We'll start in verse one. Psalm 97. Great Psalm, by the way. Psalm 97 verse one. Let let the the them. Psalm 97 verse one. The Lord reigneth. Let the earth rejoice. Let the multitude of isles be glad thereof.
Clouds and darkness are round about him. Righteousness and judgment are the habitation of his throne. A fire goeth before him and burneth up his enemies round about. You know what I can do? You know what I can do? I can rely on the eventual total destruction of death. I can rely on that. Not only is it defeated, but ultimately it'll be destroyed. There will be a time when death is or or or or will be eradicated from the dictionary. The word won't even be there. Look with me over in Revelation chapter 20. Revelation chapter 20. Do you ever think about that? Just think about that.
Well, I guess I guess if there'll be no more death, there'll be no mortuary. There'll be no cemeteries. There'll be no gravestones. Amen? That's something. That's something alright. Revelation chapter 20 verse 14. And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. So so so death is not only defeated, but one day, it's gonna be utterly destroyed on the other side of and on the other side of this, as as we launch to into the great eternity, death is gonna be something that'll be unknown. You'll never hear of it.
You'll never hear of it. Folks, it doesn't get any better than that. It does not get any better than that. Alright? Psalm 23. Everybody knows Psalm 23. Right? The twenty third Psalm. And, this should be, this is my last passage. I know right now someone is out there saying, oh, thank god. Right? Psalm Psalm 23. Should all know the twenty third Psalm. The lord is my shepherd. I shall not want. You know that one? Psalm 23. I'll get there. There we go. Great Psalm. Absolutely great Psalm. Let's go to, verse five. You know what? Let let's do verse four. Alright.
I want you to notice the subject, and the context is is death in verse five, but I want you to notice this. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for thou art with me. Thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me. Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies. Folks, you can feast in the presence of death. You can feast in the presence of death. Now the ancient Egyptians, they had a custom that, you know, it might seem a little bit morbid to us, but I guess, you know, I guess it served a purpose even even though it it it led them in the wrong direction. And and the custom was that, at the head of every feast, or feast table, they would sit a skeleton there.
I can't just imagine that. Just imagine that. Yeah. Having the relatives over for Thanksgiving dinner. Hey. Yeah. Come on into the dining room. Yeah. Oh, yeah. It's great to have you here. It's fantastic. You know? And then then the skeleton sitting right there at the table. You know? That probably like, I guess it would be a good conversation piece. Right? You would think. But that's what they would do, and they and they would do that to remind themselves that life is temporary. You know, life is fleeting. Well, that's Bible, isn't it?
Isn't that Bible? Book of James says it's like a vapor. It comes and goes. How many times on a birthday? Well, actually, it doesn't really have to even be your birthday. I had this conversation with a with a buddy of mine just a couple of days ago. You know? He's got some health issues, and he was saying it it's it, it sucks being over 50. I, you know, I guess I could agree. But, ultimately, the question was, well, you know, where did the time go? Where did it go? What happened? You know? Then he sent me some pictures of of us and, you know, the old crew hanging out and everything, and it's like, yeah, man. You know, we were so young back then. What happened? Where did where did the time go?
You know? Where did it go? But, but they would feast. They would feast, the Egyptians, and they would feast. And but they had but they had that that that hideous, gruesome reminder at the head of the table that that they too will one day face doctor death. We don't need a skeleton at the head of our table because death has been defeated. We've got king Jesus at the head of our table. He's the one that defeated it, and so we're in him. He's in us. We have that declaration, and we have that promise of absolute victory over death. When a man's ways please the lord, he maketh even his enemies to be at peace with them.
Death doesn't have to be your enemy. Doesn't have to be your enemy at all. Now are you afraid of death? As a blood bought, born again, saved Christian, I promise you, you don't have to be because it's a defeated enemy, folks. It's a defeated enemy. Death is defeated. Our heavenly father, we wanna thank you for these great truths, the promises that you give us in your book, in your holy word, that death is is a defeated enemy for the believer. Father, help us each to live that every moment of our lives on this earth, Not be not be afraid of it.
Understand that it's defeated, and one day would utterly be destroyed. And we can thank you for that, Lord, through the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, because that is the only way that death is defeated for the believer. So, father, we just thank you so much. We praise you. Lord, we lift up all of those that are listening and watching today. If there's any that do not know Jesus Christ as their personal savior, that lord that today they would call upon the name of the lord and be saved. The Bible tells us over and over again that there is no other name under heaven whereby man can be saved, That it's not by works of righteousness which we have done, but by his mercy he saved us.
That it's by grace you're saved through faith and that not of yourselves. It is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast. That while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. So, god, we just pray today for all of those that are listening and watching. Draw them into yourself. Save them. And we'll thank you for it in the precious name of our savior, the lord Jesus Christ. Amen. Alright. Folks, don't forget to head over to our website, joeroos.com, joeroos.com. Sign up the program, the announcements, email list. It's free. It doesn't cost you anything, and, it's it's just information that we're gonna send out regarding the shows, you know, start times, changes, guests, so on and so forth.
So just head over to the website, sign up for it. Again, it's free. That's not gonna cost you anything, and it's easy as $1.02 3. Alright? Now, also, folks, if you are in the Eagle Pass area and you're looking for a good King James Bible believing and Bible teaching church, why don't you consider paying us a visit over at First Baptist Church of Eagle Pass? We meet at 664 North Monroe. Our Sunday school hour starts at 10AM. Our worship service begins at eleven. Sunday evening service is at 6PM. Wednesday night Bible study is at 7PM. And for more information about the church and everything that's going on at the church, just head over to the church's Facebook page. All you have to do is just log in to Facebook, search for First Baptist Church of Eagle Pass. And when you get there, just hit that like button or subscribe and follow it, and you'll see all the information that you need to know about the church. It's easy to find too because it's the only church in Eagle Pass called First Baptist Church of Eagle Pass. So it should be very very very simple to find. Alright. So just head over there and do that, and, come pay us a visit. Check it out.
Alright. And don't forget to check out check us out on the show here, with on all of our socials on on Twix, at, Joruus, Truth Social, Joruus, Minds, great platform on Minds. And by the way, we're gonna be we we will be hosting, the, CEO and cofounder of Mines, Bill Ottman, here on the show. I think it was October 22, if I'm not mistaken. So make sure you check out the show on that day. It's gonna be a good one. Facebook, Joe Russo. Instagram is not Joe Russo. TikTok, Joe dot Russo, and get her at Joe Russo. Shout outs to our executive producers, Wayne Rankin, Rosanna Rankin, Carolina Aminez, and Marissa Lee. Also shout out to our producer, the inestimable on anonymous Angela. Thank you guys for all that you do, and thank you for, all of the support you've done and for donating your time, your talent, your treasure. We really do appreciate that. Now if you want, more information about how you can help us out and support us through donations, just click the support button on the website. It's all broken down for you right there, and, check it out. And if you have the means to do it and you're able to do it, just remember this is value for value, which all that means is that if you are receiving value from what we're putting out, we're only asking you return that value to us in the form of a donation. But, again, which could be your time, your talent, or your treasure.
Also, if you wanna help us out with some cryptocurrencies, all of our wallet information's up there as well, so very, very easy to, to do. Also, thank you to the folks that are streaming stats to us on the modern podcast apps. Thank you very, very much for that. We really do appreciate it. You can get yourself one of these modern podcast apps by going to modernpodcastapps.com or podcastindex.org. Alright? I think, folks, that's gonna do it for us for tonight. So thank you for taking the time to be with us. Don't forget website, joerus.com. Let us know what you're thinking. Don't forget folks, it's a live show, weeknights 7PM central, Sundays in the afternoon sometime, and occasionally on Saturday. Alright folks, make Texas independent again. Go podcast and keep a steady stride. Keep talking. God bless you. Happy trade. See you tomorrow.
You. Happy trends to you. Keep smiling until where. Who cares about the clouds that we're
Live from Asylum Studios: Welcome and Purpose
Family first amid cultural and spiritual decline
Are we in the “last days of the last days”?
Wisdom series continues: Proverbs 16:7 as the launch point
Death named as “the last enemy” (1 Corinthians 15)
Dying words: Stalin, Charles IX, Newport, and Voltaire
D. L. Moody and other saints: death as a defeated enemy
Five stages facing death: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, resignation
Hezekiah’s bargain and the 15 “songs of degrees”
What you need when facing an enemy: allies, intelligence, superiority, strategy
Christ our ally: firstfruits of the resurrection
Reliable intelligence: the Bible’s witness over death
Superiority over death: Hebrews 2 and Jesus tasting death for all
Exit strategy: preparing for eternity
From enemies of God to reconciled through Christ (Romans 5, Ephesians 2, Colossians 1)
Defeated yet noisy: illustration from postwar Japan
Unconditional surrender: “O death, where is thy sting?”
Rejoicing in deliverance: Psalms 18 and 97
Death destroyed: Revelation 20 and the end of the grave
Feasting in the presence of death: Psalm 23 and the Egyptian reminder
Appeal and prayer: salvation and victory over death
Local church invite and closing house notes
Sign-off and farewell
