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Don’t Let Her Die Before You Say This · Pastor John Piper's answers

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  Speaker 1: Imagine you are a brand new believer, new to the faith,
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  Speaker 1: and your mother is an unbeliever, a woman who has
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  Speaker 1: fought cancer four times, but now she's running out of
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  Speaker 1: time and it looks like she is losing her final battle.
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  Speaker 1: What do you say to her when the claw is ticking?
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  Speaker 1: The stakes are eternal, and you are new to the
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  Speaker 1: faith today on Aspaestor John, don't let her die before
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  Speaker 1: you say this, Pastor John, Hello, My name is Ethan
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  Speaker 1: in Newcastle, England. My mother, who has battled cancer four
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  Speaker 1: times since she was eighteen, is now facing what appears
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  Speaker 1: to be her final fight at the age of fifty one.
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  Speaker 1: As a believer of only two years, I am heartbroken
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  Speaker 1: knowing she could pass away without the peace found in Christ.
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  Speaker 1: I've shared the Gospel with her and will continue to
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  Speaker 1: do so, trusting in God's sovereignty while staying by her
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  Speaker 1: side to comfort her. How can I, as a young Christian,
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  Speaker 1: navigate this difficult situation in a way that honors God
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  Speaker 1: and reflects his love to my mother?
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  Speaker 2: Ethan? I don't know if we have recorded this in time.
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  Speaker 2: It may be that your mother is already gone. If so,
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  Speaker 2: I'm sorry we didn't make it in time. But I
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  Speaker 2: do hope that what I say here will be of
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  Speaker 2: some help to you and to others, perhaps since that
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  Speaker 2: will not be the last time that you say goodbye
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  Speaker 2: to somebody you love. As I thought about how I
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  Speaker 2: might be of help, it seemed to me that the
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  Speaker 2: best thing I could do is to make the connection
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  Speaker 2: between your love for your mother and the love of
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  Speaker 2: Christ for you. It seems to me that you already
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  Speaker 2: have the right instincts for how to love her, because
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  Speaker 2: you say you're going to stay by her and comfort her,
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  Speaker 2: and that you've tried to share the Gospel with her.
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  Speaker 2: And I would add simply that you keep on doing
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  Speaker 2: what you're already doing, and that you see it as
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  Speaker 2: an expression of Christ's love for you and through you
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  Speaker 2: to your mother. So here are the specifics of what
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  Speaker 2: I mean by this connection between you loving your mom
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  Speaker 2: and Jesus loving you. I'm going to suggest ten things
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  Speaker 2: that you can say to your mother and that you
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  Speaker 2: can embody for your mother, which show the love that
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  Speaker 2: you have for her and the love Christ has for
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  Speaker 2: you in the same way. This is remarkable how Christ
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  Speaker 2: has loved us in all the ways that we can
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  Speaker 2: extend to dying loved ones. The Bible says in one
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  Speaker 2: John four nineteen, we love because God first loved us.
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  Speaker 2: Now what that means right now for you is that
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  Speaker 2: every expression of your love for your mother is a
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  Speaker 2: picture or an embodiment of God's love for you and
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  Speaker 2: threw you to her. So I'm going to give you
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  Speaker 2: ten things that you can say to your mother with
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  Speaker 2: the Bible verses that show that God has loved you
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  Speaker 2: like that. Number one, say to her, I love you, Mom.
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  Speaker 2: I love you so much because God says to you
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  Speaker 2: Ethan in Ephesians two four and five, being rich in
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  Speaker 2: mercy because of the great love with which I loved you, Ethan,
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  Speaker 2: even when you were dead and your trespasses, I made
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  Speaker 2: you alive together with Christ. Number two say to her,
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  Speaker 2: if I could, Mom, I would take your place. I
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  Speaker 2: really would, because Christ said to you Ethan and Isaiah
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  Speaker 2: three four. Surely I have borne your griefs. I have
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  Speaker 2: carried your sorrows. I was pierced for your transgressions. I
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  Speaker 2: was crushed for your iniquities. Number three say to her,
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  Speaker 2: I am so sorry that you are going through this.
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  Speaker 2: Every sympathetic bone in my body goes out to you, mom,
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  Speaker 2: because Christ said to you Ethan in Hebrews four point fifteen.
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  Speaker 2: You do not have a high priest who is unable
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  Speaker 2: to sympathize with your weaknesses, but one who in every
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  Speaker 2: respect has been tested like you are yet without sin.
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  Speaker 2: Number four, Say to her, I will stand by you, Mom.
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  Speaker 2: I won't leave you. I'll be here because Jesus said
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  Speaker 2: to you Ethan in Hebrews thirteen to five. I'll never
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  Speaker 2: leave you. I'll never forsake you. I am your helper.
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  Speaker 2: Don't be afraid no man can harm you. Number five.
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  Speaker 2: Say to her, you are very precious to me, Mom,
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  Speaker 2: very vicious, because the Lord has said to you Ethan
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  Speaker 2: in Psalm one sixteen fifteen precious in the sight of
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  Speaker 2: the Lord is the death of his saints. And in
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  Speaker 2: Deuteronomy thirty two ten, you are the apple of my eye.
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  Speaker 1: Ethan.
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  Speaker 2: Six. Say to her, I want the very best for you, Mom,
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  Speaker 2: because God said to you Ethan in Romans eight twenty
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  Speaker 2: eight and thirty two. Because you love me. I am
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  Speaker 2: working all things together for your good because you're called
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  Speaker 2: according to my purpose. I did not spare my own son,
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  Speaker 2: but gave him up for you, Ethan, and I will
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  Speaker 2: not fail to give you everything with him. And he
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  Speaker 2: also said, Ethan, I make the sun to rise on
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  Speaker 2: the evil and the good. Matthew five. Seven Say to her,
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  Speaker 2: how can I serve you?
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  Speaker 1: Mom?
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  Speaker 2: Can I get you something? Because Jesus has served you,
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  Speaker 2: Ethan and given you an example in John thirteen. Five
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  Speaker 2: he poured water in a basin, began to wash the
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  Speaker 2: disciples feet and to wipe them with the towel that
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  Speaker 2: was wrapped around him.
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  Speaker 1: Eight.
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  Speaker 2: Say to her, you have been so faithful to me, Mom,
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  Speaker 2: so faithful. Thank you because even though you never gave
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  Speaker 2: Jesus anything that he hadn't first given you, nevertheless you
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  Speaker 2: served him faithfully. And he will say on the last day,
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  Speaker 2: well done, good and faithful servant. So say to her,
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  Speaker 2: well done, Mom, well done. Nine Say to her, I'm
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  Speaker 2: going to miss you, Mom. I'm really gonna miss you,
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  Speaker 2: because God said to you in Joseah eleven. Eight, how
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  Speaker 2: can I give you up, oh Ethan? How can I
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  Speaker 2: hand you over, oh dear one? How can I make
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  Speaker 2: you like an enemy? My heart recoils within me, my
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  Speaker 2: compassion grows warm and tender. God has spoken like that
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  Speaker 2: to you, Ethan, even though you were once his enemy.
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  Speaker 2: So speak tenderly to her like that. Finally, number ten,
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  Speaker 2: say to her mom, I won't let you down. I
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  Speaker 2: will make you glad. I promised to live in a
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  Speaker 2: way you could admire, because Jesus has said to you, Ethan,
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  Speaker 2: I won't let you down, Ethan. I'll always be the
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  Speaker 2: kind of savior you can admire. I will be for
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  Speaker 2: you unsearchable riches. So Ethan, you may or may not,
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  Speaker 2: God will give you wisdom in this. Tell your mother
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  Speaker 2: that the ways you are loving her are stronger and
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  Speaker 2: more heartfelt because you have not only seen love in her,
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  Speaker 2: but you've seen it in Jesus. He has loved you
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  Speaker 2: these ways, given you the ability to love her in
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  Speaker 2: these ways. And then pray for her, and we will
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  Speaker 2: pray with you that she see the connection between being
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  Speaker 2: loved by her son and being loved by Christ.
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  Speaker 1: And we pray believe, Amen, that is our prayer, that
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  Speaker 1: she would come to faith through your words. Ethan. It
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  Speaker 1: is truly remarkable how Christ has loved us in all
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  Speaker 1: the ways that we can extend to dying loved ones.
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  Speaker 1: Every time you tell a dying person you love them,
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  Speaker 1: or you wash their feet, or you promise not to
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  Speaker 1: leave their side, you are echoing the love of Jesus
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  Speaker 1: to them. And when you tell someone you'd take their
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  Speaker 1: place if you could, you echo what happened in the
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  Speaker 1: substitution of Christ on the Cross for us that is
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  Speaker 1: so moving. Thank you, pastor John, for those vivid illustrations
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  Speaker 1: from life about what we can communicate to others through
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  Speaker 1: our actions and our attitudes and our words, and for
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  Speaker 1: more on end of life topics, and there are many
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  Speaker 1: of them that they through see the as passage on book.
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  Speaker 1: In that final section of the book on suicide, euthanasia,
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  Speaker 1: and the Will to Live, pages four forty one to
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  Speaker 1: four forty nine, we've covered a lot enough summarized that
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  Speaker 1: for you in that final section in the book. Staying
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  Speaker 1: on this theme of passing away ten seconds after you die,
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  Speaker 1: where will you be? That's next time. I'm Tony Ranky.
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  Speaker 1: We'll see you back here on Thursday.