Will It Do When You’re Dying?
Hebrews 9:27 And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:
Intro: Since Genesis 2, mankind has been confronted with the reality of death.
We are faced with the inevitable fact of death each and every day.
The Bible is clear – we all have an appointment with death
This past week our church laid to rest one of our precious men.
As I sat with him just a few days before he passed away, I saw a peace on his face that can’t be explained.
He looked at me and said, “I’m ready to go see Jesus. I want to go to Heaven.”
I realized that the dying grace that he had heard sang about and preached about was a reality.
I realized that when it gets right down to the time to die, all that matters is “Are you ready?”
Our text verse is clear:
- Death is Inevitable – it is appointed
- Death is Individual – unto men
- Death is Irreversible – once to die
I. Will Your Line of Reasoning Do When You’re Dying?
- Proverbs 16:25 There is a way that seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.
We live in a world today that is so blinded by so many false systems of belief.
There is a battle for the minds and souls of people.
Since the Garden of Eden, Satan has been trying to convince people that they know more than God.
That they know better than God.
That second-guessing God’s word and God’s intentions is justified.
Look at these efforts of man to dispute God and His existence. (show 5 slides)
One day, the people that put up these signs will die.
One day, the people that funded these anti-God campaigns will face their own mortality.
I wonder if their line of reasoning will do when they are dying?
In Acts 12:1, King Herod stretched forth his hands to vex the church.
And he killed James with the sword. – vs.. 2
Then he imprisoned Peter and was going to kill him too, but God let him out.
Herod was so upset that he had the keepers killed in verse 19.
In verse 21, Herod was sitting on his throne and made a speech.
The people began to call him a god, and not a man.
Notice what happened when he didn’t give God recognition.
- 12:21 And upon a set day Herod, arrayed in royal apparel, sat upon his throne, and made an oration unto them.
- 22 And the people gave a shout, saying, It is the voice of a god, and not of a man.
- 23 And immediately the angel of the Lord smote him, because he gave not God the glory: and he was eaten of worms, and gave up the ghost.
- 24 But the word of God grew and multiplied.
I wonder if his line of reasoning was working for him that day while the worms ate him alive?
I wonder if everybody around him calling him a god instead of man held up while they stood around and watched him die?
II. Will your Lack of Responsibility Do When You’re Dying? – Absalom (II Sam. 12:10-12; 18:8-15)
We live in a day and age where people as a whole refuse to accept responsibility for their life.
It is popular today to simply blame everybody around us for where we are and how we live.
Here in II Sam. we have a prime example of a man that was held personally responsible for his choices.
In II Sam. 12, the prophet Nathan issued a condemnation upon King David for his sin.
His judgment was:
- II Sam. 12:9 Wherefore hast thou despised the commandment of the LORD, to do evil in his sight? thou hast killed Uriah the Hittite with the sword, and hast taken his wife to be thy wife, and hast slain him with the sword of the children of Ammon.
- 10 Now therefore the sword shall never depart from thine house; because thou hast despised me, and hast taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be thy wife.
- 11 Thus saith the LORD, Behold, I will raise up evil against thee out of thine own house, and I will take thy wives before thine eyes, and give them unto thy neighbour, and he shall lie with thy wives in the sight of this sun.
- 12 For thou didst it secretly: but I will do this thing before all Israel, and before the sun.
The Bible is clear – because of David’s sin, his family would suffer.
God said he would “raise up evil against thee out of thine own house…” 12:11
That prophecy was fulfilled in II Sam. 15:6 where Absalom stole the hearts of the people from his father.
The prophecy in 12:11 was also fulfilled in II Sam. 16:22.
There is no question – God was judging David for his sin.
There is no question – Absalom was the fulfillment of this prophecy and this judgment.
There is also no question – Absalom was responsible for his own actions.
In II Sam. 18:8-15, Absalom faced a must unusual and disturbing fate.
As he rode upon a mule, his head got caught in the boughs of a great oak. And the mule went away.
In verse 14, Joab thrust three darts through the heart of Absalom while ye was yet alive.
Verse 15, ten men took him down and beat him to death.
Question: Was Absalom responsible for his choices?
Was Absalom prepared to die for those choices?
III. Will Your Life of Rejection Do When You’re Dying? – Judas Iscariot (Acts 1:16-18)
If there is an example in the Bible of a man that died a more tragic death than Judas Iscariot, I don’t know who it is.
Judas was handpicked by Jesus to be a disciple. Matthew 10:1-3
He was privileged to hear every message Jesus ever preached.
He was privileged to witness every miracle that Jesus ever performed.
He was privileged to see every person that Jesus changed.
He was privileged to spend 3 ½ years with Jesus.
Yet, at the end of Jesus’ ministry, Judas betrayed the Son of God for 30 pieces of silver.
Yet, because of his own greed and selfishness, he rejected Jesus and all that Jesus had to offer for what he could fit in one hand!
His death was one of the most unusual deaths recorded in the Scripture.
- Matthew 27:5 And he cast down the pieces of silver in the temple, and departed, and went and hanged himself.
but that was not the end…
Peter stood in front of the church in Acts 1:15 and told the whole church the rest of what happened to Judas…
- Acts 1:18 Now this man purchased a field with the reward of iniquity; and falling headlong, he burst asunder in the midst, and all his bowels gushed out.
Not only was his death a bizarre twist of circumstances, but his rejection of Christ has been recorded in Scripture.
Question: Will your life of rejection do you when you’re dying?