“THROUGH THE VALLEY TO THE VICTORY”
TEXT: Psalm 23:4
INTRO: A. When I last saw Alice Stayton she was in the valley! But she refused to let that defeat her. She was sick, uncomfortable and weak physically, but she would not allow that to dampen her spirit, nor her sense of humor. Alice was strong! Through a hard life, with major disappointments, abandoned by her husbands, she had to work to support her family. She worked in a soda fountain and during WWII she worked in an aircraft factory as a riveter. (There was a popular song called “Rosie the Riveter” at the time, which glorified women leaving the home to support the war effort. Unfortunately, many of them never went back home!) I was honored to have known her and to have been called her Pastor.
TRANS: Alice went through many valleys and always seemed to come out the other side victorious. Now she has passed “THROUGH THE VALLEY TO THE (FINAL) VICTORY!” Our text is one of the most famous in the Scriptures and I want to deal head on and speak plainly (Alice liked that!) about death in general and her death in particular:
1 DEATH IS SCARY - BUT JUST A SHADOW:
A. A Shadow Is Mysterious:
1. No matter how spiritual a person is there is always some apprehension to dying, because it is an unknown. (Experientially, not intellectually)
2. The same objects that appear friendly in the light, appear foreboding in the shadows.
B. A Shadow Is Dark:
1. A shadow is always darker than the reality of the object which casts it.
2. Death looks dark and foreboding to us because we cannot see the reality which casts the shadow.
ILLUS: Honestly, when I saw Mrs. Stayton in the hospital for the last time, hooked up to gadgets, tubes and wires, her “valley” looked pretty dark and her “shadow” looked pretty foreboding. But we know that for her death was only a shadow, for she knew the Light of the World.”
C. A Shadow Suggests Light:
1. A shadow is actually proof that the light is shining which casts the shadow.
2. There are no shadows with out light - only pure darkness.
3. The reason death is merely a shadow for the believer is because of our Savior Who is Light.
II. DEATH IS REAL - BUT HARMLESS:
A. There Are No Valleys Without Mountains:
ILLUS: In his book: “A Shepherd Looks At Psalm 23” Kellar speaks about the time of the year when, after the long winter, the caring Shepherd takes his flocks up the steep mountains where there are many valleys. It is in those valleys where the sheep find the “still waters” and “green pastures.”
1. It is in the valley where the sheep is alone with the Shepherd! “I will fear no evil, for Thou art with me”
2. There are dangers in those dark valleys, but the Shepherd has already gone before the sheep to scout out the area.
QUOTE: IBID., P.83 “Never did he take his flock where he had not already been before. Always he had gone ahead to look over the country with care…Nothing took him by surprise. He was fully prepared to safeguard his flock and tend them with skill under every circumstance.”
a. The very reason the valleys are sometimes dark is because of the mountains.
b. It is because of those mountains that the valleys have such an abundance of “green pastures” and “still waters.”
ILLUS: The believer-sheep often speak of “higher ground.” We long to move out of the lowland of stagnation into a more intimate walk with God. The valley is the place where we will find that, as we climb ever upward. The way up is often hard and scary, but the only way to higher ground is by climbing up thru the valleys!
111 DEATH IS OUR ENEMY - BUT IS DEFEATED:
A. The One Who Conquered Death Goes With Us: “…for Thou art with me”
1. The saint always desires death at the end; the unsaved never do!
2. The saint talks about “going home” and about seeing the Savior and about the glories of
heaven!
ILLUS: My last conversation with Mrs. Stayton was about her impending home going. She said again and again that she wanted to go home. I knew she wanted out of the hospital, but there was something else she was insisting on, so I asked her do you mean home with Carolyn and Wayne? Her answer was “No!” I said “Do you mean home to heaven?” She emphatically said “Yes!”
B. The Valley Leads To Victory For The Believer:
1 Cor. 15:26
The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.
1 Cor. 15:55
O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?
1. This is why the believer need not fear any “evil” at death.
2. The path to the high country and the richest feeding grounds for the sheep are often thru valleys with deep and dangerous ravines, dark shadowy cliffs, lurking wolves, lions, serpents and poisonous plants, but the sheep with a Good Shepherd will “fear no evil” for He will see them thru the valleys and protect them with His rod and staff.
ILLUS: Our Savior-Shepherd has already gone thru all these valleys before He leads us there and He has conquered all the enemies for us, including our last enemy thru His resurrection. In the darkest valleys when night would fall, the Shepherd would build a makeshift “sheepfold” - a little stone enclosure for His sheep to sleep in during the dark night. Then after all were safely in the fold, He would lie down at the doorway This would allow the sheep to sleep in confidence and enable Him to ward off any attackers. What a Shepherd! What a Savior!
John 10:1
Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber.
John 10:9
I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture.
IV DEATH IS SEPARATION - BUT NOT PERMANENT:
A. Separation Is A Reality:
1. The sheep may become separated from the flock but because of a common Shepherd, the separation is only temporary.
2. The sheep can never become separated from the Shepherd!
CONCL: Alice was a part of our flock here at Faith Baptist, her family, and she was our sister in Christ! We will miss her smile, sense of humor and her faithfulness. I will miss her barbed jokes and her personal loyalty. She was one of my sheep and I was honored to be her under-shepherd. She is now with her True Shepherd!
TEXT: Psalm 23:4
INTRO: A. When I last saw Alice Stayton she was in the valley! But she refused to let that defeat her. She was sick, uncomfortable and weak physically, but she would not allow that to dampen her spirit, nor her sense of humor. Alice was strong! Through a hard life, with major disappointments, abandoned by her husbands, she had to work to support her family. She worked in a soda fountain and during WWII she worked in an aircraft factory as a riveter. (There was a popular song called “Rosie the Riveter” at the time, which glorified women leaving the home to support the war effort. Unfortunately, many of them never went back home!) I was honored to have known her and to have been called her Pastor.
TRANS: Alice went through many valleys and always seemed to come out the other side victorious. Now she has passed “THROUGH THE VALLEY TO THE (FINAL) VICTORY!” Our text is one of the most famous in the Scriptures and I want to deal head on and speak plainly (Alice liked that!) about death in general and her death in particular:
1 DEATH IS SCARY - BUT JUST A SHADOW:
A. A Shadow Is Mysterious:
1. No matter how spiritual a person is there is always some apprehension to dying, because it is an unknown. (Experientially, not intellectually)
2. The same objects that appear friendly in the light, appear foreboding in the shadows.
B. A Shadow Is Dark:
1. A shadow is always darker than the reality of the object which casts it.
2. Death looks dark and foreboding to us because we cannot see the reality which casts the shadow.
ILLUS: Honestly, when I saw Mrs. Stayton in the hospital for the last time, hooked up to gadgets, tubes and wires, her “valley” looked pretty dark and her “shadow” looked pretty foreboding. But we know that for her death was only a shadow, for she knew the Light of the World.”
C. A Shadow Suggests Light:
1. A shadow is actually proof that the light is shining which casts the shadow.
2. There are no shadows with out light - only pure darkness.
3. The reason death is merely a shadow for the believer is because of our Savior Who is Light.
II. DEATH IS REAL - BUT HARMLESS:
A. There Are No Valleys Without Mountains:
ILLUS: In his book: “A Shepherd Looks At Psalm 23” Kellar speaks about the time of the year when, after the long winter, the caring Shepherd takes his flocks up the steep mountains where there are many valleys. It is in those valleys where the sheep find the “still waters” and “green pastures.”
1. It is in the valley where the sheep is alone with the Shepherd! “I will fear no evil, for Thou art with me”
2. There are dangers in those dark valleys, but the Shepherd has already gone before the sheep to scout out the area.
QUOTE: IBID., P.83 “Never did he take his flock where he had not already been before. Always he had gone ahead to look over the country with care…Nothing took him by surprise. He was fully prepared to safeguard his flock and tend them with skill under every circumstance.”
a. The very reason the valleys are sometimes dark is because of the mountains.
b. It is because of those mountains that the valleys have such an abundance of “green pastures” and “still waters.”
ILLUS: The believer-sheep often speak of “higher ground.” We long to move out of the lowland of stagnation into a more intimate walk with God. The valley is the place where we will find that, as we climb ever upward. The way up is often hard and scary, but the only way to higher ground is by climbing up thru the valleys!
111 DEATH IS OUR ENEMY - BUT IS DEFEATED:
A. The One Who Conquered Death Goes With Us: “…for Thou art with me”
1. The saint always desires death at the end; the unsaved never do!
2. The saint talks about “going home” and about seeing the Savior and about the glories of
heaven!
ILLUS: My last conversation with Mrs. Stayton was about her impending home going. She said again and again that she wanted to go home. I knew she wanted out of the hospital, but there was something else she was insisting on, so I asked her do you mean home with Carolyn and Wayne? Her answer was “No!” I said “Do you mean home to heaven?” She emphatically said “Yes!”
B. The Valley Leads To Victory For The Believer:
1 Cor. 15:26
The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.
1 Cor. 15:55
O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?
1. This is why the believer need not fear any “evil” at death.
2. The path to the high country and the richest feeding grounds for the sheep are often thru valleys with deep and dangerous ravines, dark shadowy cliffs, lurking wolves, lions, serpents and poisonous plants, but the sheep with a Good Shepherd will “fear no evil” for He will see them thru the valleys and protect them with His rod and staff.
ILLUS: Our Savior-Shepherd has already gone thru all these valleys before He leads us there and He has conquered all the enemies for us, including our last enemy thru His resurrection. In the darkest valleys when night would fall, the Shepherd would build a makeshift “sheepfold” - a little stone enclosure for His sheep to sleep in during the dark night. Then after all were safely in the fold, He would lie down at the doorway This would allow the sheep to sleep in confidence and enable Him to ward off any attackers. What a Shepherd! What a Savior!
John 10:1
Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber.
John 10:9
I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture.
IV DEATH IS SEPARATION - BUT NOT PERMANENT:
A. Separation Is A Reality:
1. The sheep may become separated from the flock but because of a common Shepherd, the separation is only temporary.
2. The sheep can never become separated from the Shepherd!
CONCL: Alice was a part of our flock here at Faith Baptist, her family, and she was our sister in Christ! We will miss her smile, sense of humor and her faithfulness. I will miss her barbed jokes and her personal loyalty. She was one of my sheep and I was honored to be her under-shepherd. She is now with her True Shepherd!
