All right, now turn with me to
Deuteronomy 32. Deuteronomy chapter 32. A very dear, sweet friend. of mine and Hannah's. None of
you know him. None of you. But a very, very
dear and sweet friend. A man who since the day that
I met him and since the day Hannah met him, she met him a few years
before me. He's been nothing but kind and
generous and loving to us. At every stage of our life, he
has been so generous to us. Above and beyond, just loving. And we found out last Friday
that he's been diagnosed with terminal lung cancer. And he went for surgery and they
thought they were going to get it all. And when they got in,
they realized it was just too far gone. I'm sorry. Nothing we can do. As soon as Hannah called me and
told me all that, I was shocked. I was just shocked. I was just
so sad. And I realized how sobering it
is every time you get the news somebody's about to leave the
world. Somebody is about to cross over. It sobered my day. And the reason
is because one day, that's going to be me. That's going to be
me. And in that day, however many
more days the Lord gives me on this earth, when that day comes,
it's not going to make one bit of difference what I did in this
world. It's not going to make one bit
of difference what I accomplished or what I accumulated in this
world. Job said, naked I came in, naked
I'm leaving. Not taking any stuff, not taking
anything, any work, nothing. The only thing that's going to
matter is, am I covered head to toe in the blood of Jesus
Christ? That's all that's going to matter.
It's going to be one thing that matters. And I was sitting there thinking
about all that, and I thought about how many people there are
who have no idea what that means. I just made the statement, the
only thing that's gonna matter is that I'm covered in the blood
of Christ, and it dawned on me when I was thinking about every
bit of that, how many people there are in this world that
have no idea what that means. And I thought about how many
people who don't care, they just don't care, but they will. And my heart broke for him. My
heart breaks for the human race. It really does. It breaks for
this world. And I thought of this verse of
scripture right here. Look at Deuteronomy 32 verse
29. It says, Oh, that they were wise, that
they understood this, that they would consider their latter end. Death is a subject that nobody
wants to talk about. Nobody. But it's something that
every single soul on this earth is going to have to face. Every
single soul is going to have to face it. Nobody wants to talk
about it. Let's ignore it and maybe it'll
go away. But every soul on this earth,
until the Lord comes back, is going to have to face death.
Every single soul. And I'm so thankful that doctor
told our friend the truth. I'm so thankful he just told
him the truth. He didn't lie to him and he didn't say, I don't
see anything. I think you're going to be fine.
This man is a very busy man. He's a wonderful businessman.
He travels a lot. Go on back to your busy job.
Go on back to this busy life we all live in. I think it's
going to be fine. I'm so glad he told him the truth.
And our friend can take a minute and just be with his precious
wife, be with his children, and call on God. He can just take
a minute and consider his latter end, and like we all must do,
he can call on God. I'm just thankful he told him
the truth. By God's grace, I want to do that same thing right now.
I want to tell the truth. We all had a beginning. Every one of us. We're all right
now in the middle. It appears that some of us are
in the early middle. Some of us are in the latter
middle, but that's not necessarily true. It's just not true. I was sitting here thinking about
how small we are tonight. And what I was thinking is, well,
this is the way it always was. We had a few people. And when
our loved ones are missing, there's an empty hole there. But there's
going to come a point in the days ahead that the phone's going
to ring, and then the phone's going to ring, and then the phone's
going to ring, and then the phone's going to ring. No longer here. Just because something appears
a certain way, it doesn't mean that that's how it really is.
I thought about, Dwight, are you 70, 71, 72? You could live 20 more years.
I know you don't want to, but you could. My last night on this
earth could be tonight. Could be tonight. We all had
a beginning. We're all in the middle. And
we all have an end. We all have an end. Go with me
over to Ecclesiastes chapter 2. Ecclesiastes 2. Verse 14 says, The wise man's eyes are in his
head, but the fool walketh in darkness. And I myself perceived
also that one event happeneth to them all. Then said I in my
heart, as it happeneth to the fool, so it happeneth even to
me. And why was I then more wise? Then I said in my heart that
this also is vanity. For there's no remembrance of
the wise more than of the fool forever. Seeing that which now
is in the days to come shall all be forgotten. And how doth
the wise man? Just like the fool, the same. Look at chapter 3 verse 1. It
says, to everything there is a season. and a time to every
purpose under heaven, a time to be born and a time to die. There's a time to die. Look at
chapter nine, Ecclesiastes chapter nine. Verse one says, for all this
I considered in my heart, even to declare all this, that the
righteous and the wise and their works are in the hand of God. No man knoweth either love or
hatred by all that is before them. All things come alike to
all. There is one event to the righteous
and to the wicked, to the good and to the clean and to the unclean,
to him that sacrificeth and to him that sacrificeth not. As
is the good, so is the sinner. And he that sweareth is he that
feareth an oath. This is an evil among all things
that are done under the sun, that there is one event unto
all. Yea, also the heart of the sons
of men is full of evil, and madness is in their heart while they
live. And after that, they go to the dead." One event, it's coming to everybody.
They go to the dead. Job said, man's days are determined. The number of his months are
with thee. Thou has appointed his bounds
that he cannot pass. He can't pass them. Why? Every soul on this earth is going
to face death. Why is that? Go with me to Ezekiel
18. This is an eye-opening passage
right here, Ezekiel 18. Ezekiel 18 verse 4, it says,
Behold, all souls are mine. As the soul of the father, so
also the soul of the son is mine. The soul that sinneth, it shall
die. Now watch this right here. But
if a man be just and do that which is lawful and right, and
don't we all think that's what we're doing? Lawful and right. That's what our flesh says. If
a man be just and do that which is lawful and right, and hath
not eaten upon the mountains, neither hath lifted up his eyes
to the idols of the house of Israel, neither hath defiled
his neighbor's wife, neither hath come near to a minstress
woman, and hath not oppressed any, but hath restored to the
debtor his pledge. hath spoiled none by violence,
hath given his bread to the hungry, and hath covered the naked with
a garment. He that hath not given forth
upon usury, neither hath taken any increase, that hath withdrawn
his hand from iniquity, hath executed true judgment between
man and man, hath walked in my statutes, and hath kept my judgment,
to deal truly, he is just. He shall surely live, saith the
Lord God. What he said is, if a man is
right with me, he will not die, physically. So what that means
is, if a man dies, he's not right with God. That's what it means. If a man dies, he is not right
with God. No human being on earth in his
own sin is right with God. I had a man tell me not long
ago, another one of our dear friends died, and he made the
statement, well, he was right with God. Well, according to the word of
God, no man in his own flesh is right with God. Not me. No man. Romans 3 says all have
sinned and come short of the glory of God. Anything short
of the absolute glory of God will not enter into God's heaven.
He won't do it. Romans 3 says there's none righteous,
no not one. They're all gone out of the way,
there's none that doeth good, no not one. And people hear that,
they hear you quote that and they think that's the worst attitude
I've ever seen in my life. You got the worst attitude? That's
nothing but sour. That's negative. It's insensitive. This man is dying. That's insensitive. No, it's the truth. It's the
truth. There's the diagnosis, the problem, the reason, the
diagnosis. What's the remedy? What's the
remedy? Is there a cure? I'm gonna be
honest with you and I'm gonna tell you the truth. Yes, there
is. Yes, there is. Go with me over
to Hebrews 9. Hebrews 9, look at verse 22. It says, and almost all things
are by the law purged with blood and without shedding of blood
is no remission. Remission. That's what I need.
That's what you need. That's what my dear sweet friend
needs. He needs remission, remission
of sin. That's what he needs. That's
what I need. How can it come? How can we have it? Only one
way. That's said by the shedding of
blood. By the shedding of perfect blood,
sinless blood. That blood is only found in one
location. It's in the veins of God. It's in the veins of God. It's
in the blood of Jesus Christ. It's the blood that maketh an
atonement for the soul. I'm as serious as cancer right
now. You know that? I know the remedy for eternal death. It's the blood that's flowing
in the veins of Jesus Christ. Look at verse 27 right here in
Hebrews 9. It says, And as it is appointed
unto men once to die, but after this the judgment, so Christ
was once offered to bear the sins of many. And unto them that
look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto
salvation. Christ died and He spilled that
blood. He spilled that blood, that soul-cleansing
blood for many, it says. Not all, but many. Who did He spill it for? It says,
them that look for Him. Them that look for Him. Christ didn't spill his blood
for those who look to themselves. We get to the end of this life
and we start looking at, what's my hope? Everybody does. What's my hope? He did not spill
that precious blood for those who look to their past. Okay,
let me look back now and see what I've done and see if it
stacks up. He didn't spill his blood for
those who look to their deeds. Those who look to their charity,
those who look to their religion. He didn't spill it for them.
He spilled his blood for those who look to him. Look to him. Look and live, my
brother, live. Look to Jesus Christ and live. He said, whosoever liveth and
believeth in me, in my works, in my blood alone shall never
die, never die. Why is that? What are they looking
to? What are we looking to? Well,
go with me to 2 Corinthians 5. 2 Corinthians 5. Verse 21 says, For he hath made him, God made
Christ, to be sin. The soul that sinneth shall surely
die. Every man and woman is going
to leave this world because of their sin. But God took my sin
and he put my sin on Jesus Christ. He hath made Him to be sin for
us, the one who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness
of God in Him. Totally pure, totally cleansed,
total remission, forgiveness, life. Christ is our only hope in the
latter end. He's it. He's it. I heard a man
say one time who preached and preached and preached for decades
and decades and decades to a man who sat there for decades and
decades and decades and he came up and he said something to him
at the end of the service and he thought, oh man, have I muddied
the message all these years? We are looking to one thing,
a man, Jesus Christ, nothing else. Christ is our only hope
in the latter end. So seek ye the Lord while he
may be found. Call ye upon him while he is
near. Let the wicked, that's me, let
the wicked forsake his way. And the unrighteous man, that's
me by nature. Let him forsake his thoughts
and let him return unto the Lord and he'll have mercy on him.
And to our God, for he will abundantly pardon. That song says, reach
out and touch the Lord as he passes by. You'll find he's not
too busy to hear your heart's cry. He's passing by this moment,
your needs to supply. So reach out and touch the Lord
as he goes by. Touch the Lord. Our Lord said,
you'll seek me and find me when you search for me with all your
heart. all your heart. A preacher said,
I speak as a dying man to dying men. Seek Christ with all your
heart. Beg him for his blood with all
your heart. Trust in the Lord with all your
heart and lean not to thine own understanding. In all your ways
acknowledge him and he shall direct thy paths. He said all
the paths are going to be mercy, righteousness, truth. He leads
me in paths of the righteousness of Christ. All the paths that
he leads us in go to God. Every single one of them. He'll
direct your paths. David said, we read it in the
scripture reading just a minute ago. David said, Lord, teach
us to number our days. Teach us to number our days.
Teach us, Lord, to count every day as though it were our last.
We don't believe that. None of us in here believes today
is my last day. None of us. There's going to
come a day, though, that it is. Lord, teach us to number our
days that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom, wisdom himself,
the Lord Jesus Christ. Lord, make us wise. Make us wise. Cause us to understand this.
Cause us all to consider our latter end right now and let
us run to Christ. I want to run to Christ. I really
do. Put us in him. Wash us in his
blood. It's our only hope. It's our
only hope. Pray for my dear friend. His
name is Rick and I love him. Pray for me. Pray for yourselves. God help us all. More importantly,
God save us all. May God save us all. All right,
let's stand together.