There is only one lethal weapon in the artillery of Satan.

If you've ever thought about this, listen carefully.

There's only one lethal, deadly, final, destructive weapon in the artillery of Satan. You know what it is? Your

sin. So how did Jesus break sin's grip and Satan's power? In this episode of light and truth, John Piper turns to Hebrews 2, 14 to 18, to show how

the death of Christ removed our sin and frees us from the fear of death. This sermon was originally

delivered at Bethlehem Baptist Church on June 23, 1996.

Death is sad and death is terrifying if there's a holy, just God who's going to call everybody to account.

If you don't believe in God, if there is no God and death is simply the end of a long

summer, it's just sad. It's sad. The reason it's sad is because life, as we know it,

in this world, is the basis of everything that makes us happy. Family, friends, leisure, food,

sex, job, work, meaning, if you don't have life, you've got none of that. And to lose that

feels sad. But it doesn't feel terrified. It's not terrifying to fall asleep thinking, you never wake up.

It's over. No consciousness ever again. That's not terrifying. It's sad to lose things that you know,

but it's not terrifying to go to sleep and never wake up again. Zero consciousness.

But if Billy Graham is right and there's a holy, just God of truth, who has a law, who has a glory.

And we will one day give an account to that God.

And we will render good or evil for everything good or evil we've ever done or he will render that to us,

then death is terrifying if we're not right with God. The existence of God in relationship to death

is a terrifying thing. This text says that it's a slave master if you're

afraid of death. And it says in verse 14 that everybody has been held in bondage all their

lifelong by the fear of death.

And I thought about that.

...