Rev. David Holwick ZI Halloween
First Baptist Church
Ledgewood, New Jersey
October 31, 2010
Matthew 27:50-54
THE LIVING DEAD
I. They're everywhere.
A. Zombies are a ubiquitous character in modern culture.
1) Many popular movies.
a) "28 Days"
b) "I Am Legend"
c) A total of 481 movies are listed at one website.
2) George Romero started it all.
a) He has been called "Godfather of the Zombie."
1> He began with "Night of the Living Dead" in 1968.
2> He followed it up with "Dawn of the Dead" which
cost $500,000 to make. It earned $55 million.
b) With Romero, zombies just moaned and staggered.
1> In current movies, they run after you.
2> Romero's comment: Dead people can't run.
c) He gave them the appetite for human flesh.
3) You don't want to run into zombies.
B. Are you prepared?
The University of Florida believes in being prepared.
It has plans for dealing with hurricanes and pandemics.
And it appears to be the only school in America that's planning
for a massive night of the living dead.
Part of the university's Disaster Preparedness Plan is an
exercise describing how officials would respond to attacks
by "flesh-eating, apparently life-impaired individuals."
It has some helpful tips:
* Genuine zombies are hard to kill. Chainsaws and explosives
are suggested.
* Contrary to myth, "garlic will not stop true zombies, only
vampires."
The plan includes an "infected co-worker dispatch form" where
you can list their symptoms like "lack of rational thought."
It also notes that this can cause problems confusing zombies
with managers.
At the end of the section, employees must notify human resources
to stop salary payments to the zombie and its victims.
#36030
II. Zombies actually reveal some important truths about us.
A. People have an attraction to fear and terror.
1) It reminds us that reality is not just warmth and peace
and love.
2) Terrible things are out there. They can happen to you.
B. Death is one of the most frightening experiences for us.
1) Hebrews 2:15 says our fear of death enslaves us.
a) I think zombies show a modern slant.
b) They are dead people who even when they are revived,
still look and act dead - or at least pretty dead.
2) Atheists can't hope for much more.
a) Movie "Hereafter" explores modern views on death
and what comes after it.
1> One character, a French guy, says you die and
that's the end.
2> Millions agree with him.
b) But the other characters in the movie do not.
1> And that seems to be true for most of this planet.
2> We want life to go on. And we want it to be good.
III. Could you be one?
A. Rev. Bob Brink notes that lots of people stagger through life.
1) They get up, go to work, go home, watch TV, go to bed,
get up, go to work, go home, watch TV, go to bed.
Their lives are just mindless routines.
They wander aimlessly and never arrive at a destination.
Their life revolves around the next game, the next high,
the next party, the next relationship, the next whatever.
But it's always the next one; it never lasts.
You know anybody like that?
They give ourselves to people who give them nothing in return,
work jobs that do not matter, for bosses they don't like,
with co-workers who annoy them.
All this so they can make money to buy a home that's never
big enough, a car that's never fast enough, and a life
that's never good enough. [1]
2) They're zombies!
a) Always consuming, never full.
b) Always pursuing, never at rest.
c) They're physically alive and spiritually dead.
1> Maybe this describes you...
B. Those who don't believe in Jesus are the real walking dead.
1) Ephesians 2:1-5 describes the real status of non-believers.
Ephesians 2:1-2 says,
"As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins,
in which you used to live when you followed the ways of
this world
and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who
is now at work in those who are disobedient.
a) They may look alive, but they are dead in their sins.
b) They have aligned themselves with the "ruler of the
kingdom of the air" - that is, Satan himself.
2) And note verse 3 - every last one of us has been in this
category at one time.
C. Are you still in this category?
1) Only Jesus can put you out of your misery.
2) No chainsaws or explosives will work, just his blood shed
on the cross for your sins.
IV. Some who should be alive are really dead. Rev 3:1-3
A. Zombies can be very religious.
1) In Revelation 3:1-3, God says this to the church of Sardis:
"...you have a reputation of being alive, but you are dead.
Wake up! Strengthen what remains and is about to die,
for I have not found your deeds complete in the sight
of my God.
Remember, therefore, what you have received and heard;
obey it, and repent.
But if you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and
you will not know at what time I will come to you."
2) This means that some nice people who are sitting in these
pews -- if you could look into their souls, their heads
would be hanging to the side and they're muttering,
"Brains!"
B. They may seem religious, but the reality is not there.
1) These are people who understand the gospel (they received
and heard it) but they are not following it.
2) Their lifestyle doesn't match what they say they believe.
C. Are they phony Christians, or just completely backslidden?
1) Hard to tell. Parallel passages suggest they are fakes.
2) Either way, they will be rejected if they don't repent.
V. The Un-Zombie.
A. Only one figure in history is an anti-zombie -- Jesus.
1) When he was killed, he became even more alive.
2) He didn't come back to this world in some diminished stupor,
but in a glorious transformed body.
Revelation 1:18 quotes Jesus as saying,
"I am the Living One; I was dead, and behold I am alive
for ever and ever!
And I hold the keys of death and Hades."
B. Jesus came back to life not to destroy us, but to save us.
1) If you are spiritually dead, Jesus holds the keys that can
set you free.
2) Do you want this? Have you accepted him?
VI. You can be the living alive.
A. There are different ways to be alive.
1) Zombies are only sort of alive. They deteriorate.
2) The longer they "live," the more dead they look.
B. True Christians should be very alive.
1) Jesus says in John 10:10 - "I have come that you might
have life, and have it to the full."
2) Magazines reported this week that research shows the
most religious people are the happiest.
3) But life is more than happiness.
a) It is a life that has purpose.
b) It is a life that builds people up instead of
eating them alive.
c) It is a life that lives for God and dies to sin.
C. It is life that never ends.
1) Real Christians die physically, but they will live again.
2) The first concrete of this was on the first Easter morning.
a) Jesus wasn't the only one who was raised from the dead.
b) According to Matthew, many saints joined him.
c) They were sort of a down payment on the resurrection
we can expect for ourselves.
3) For those in Christ, it only gets better!
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SOURCES FOR ILLUSTRATIONS USED IN THIS SERMON:
[1] Taken from Rev. Bob Brink’s sermon “Zombies!” Kerux sermon #36327,
August 15, 2006.
#36030 “Zombie Emergency Plan,” by Nathan Crabbe; adapted by Rev. David
Holwick. < http://chalkboard.blogs.gainesville.com/11334/
uf-site-has-emergency-plan-for-zombie-attack/comment-p>,
October 1, 2009.
These and 35,000 others are part of the Kerux database that can be
downloaded, absolutely free, at http://www.holwick.com/database.htm l
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