Welcome to Gateway Church's podcast. Wherever you're tuning in from, we hope you're encouraged by today's message.

We are concluding the series called Good News. And what we've done is each week we've taken a word and shown how it's without Jesus coming and bringing the good news. That word's really kind of a bad word.

Not like the word condemnation. Now there's no condemnation in Christ. Like the word repentance. We saw that as a bad word. But it's really a good word to change our minds about something and allow God to work in our heart.

And then last week we talked about judgment. How we're punished for our bad works before Christ. But when we come to Christ, judgment becomes a whole new word. And that whole new word for us is that we're actually rewarded for our good works.

But this week the word is death. We're going to talk about death because before Christ, death only had a bad connotation to it.

Now as I thought about this, I thought I really can't say that the only definition or the only application of death is good news.

So I really believe God's giving me a very scripturally balanced message that will help us all deal with the subject of death. Not only for one day what will face, but what we face all the time with our family, friends and loved ones and things like that.

Number one is part of death is bad news. Part of death is bad news because there's a person you love that you're not going to see anymore on this earth. So we've got to recognize that we have some friends from high school.

So we've known them. I've known him since sixth grade. And so I'd like six grades so much. I did it twice. But anyway, I'm joking. Anyway, so we've known this couple. They started dating in high school. They've been I started dating high school. So we've known them for a long time. Her brother, my one of my best friends growing up. And then again, we've known this couple for a long time. Her brother got COVID.

Very severe had other complications. And for the last two weeks has been very close to death. And so they've been texting us updates. And on Friday morning, I got a phone call and I looked down and saw the caller ID and I saw it was my friend.

And here's what I knew immediately. I knew it was bad news. He wasn't texting me on update. He was going to take the time to call me and and sure enough, and he told me then that his wife's brother had passed away.

Now, their believers, his wife, brother, a believer. So we know no more pain. We know where he is. We know all of that. But it still hurts.

There's no reason for us to try to avoid that truth. But why am I saying bad news? Because I want to go to point two in a minute, which is going to sound just a little different. Give us more clarification. But why am I saying bad news?

Let me tell you how death is really bad news for some people. And that is for any person who dies without believing in Christ.

It's very bad news. Let me show you a scripture. You may have never even seen the scripture or heard this phrase before.

John 8 verse 21. Jesus is talking to some Pharisees. And he said, then Jesus said to them again, I am going away and you will seek me and will die in your sin.

This is a theological phrase that we are very familiar with in theological circles. But most people have probably never even heard this phrase, die in your sin. You will die in sin.

Where I go, you cannot come. In other words, I'm going to go be with the Father. You're not going to do so. So that you said to him, well, will he kill himself? They never knew what he was talking about. Because he says, where I go, you cannot come.

You said to them, you are from beneath. And I am from above. You are of this world. And I am not of this world. Therefore, I said to you that you will die in your sins.

For if and he had now, he's don't explain what it means to die in your sins. For if you do not believe that I am he, you will die in your sins.

If you don't believe that I'm the Messiah, if you don't believe I'm the Son of God, if you don't believe who I say I am, you're going to die in your sins. And if you die in your sins, you're not going to be able to go where Jesus is going, which is to be with the Father.

I want to the majority of people that I speak to every weekend are believers. But not everyone. There are people listening that could be flipping through the channels and seeing me for the first time.

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