There is an hour when I must
part with all I hold most dear, and life with its best hopes
will then as nothingness appear. There is an hour when I must
sink beneath the stroke of death and yield to him who gave it
first my struggling vital breath. There is an hour when I must
stand before the judgment seat and all my sins and all my foes
and awful vision meet. There is an hour when I must
look on one eternity and nameless woe or blissful life my endless
portion be. Turn with me, if you will, to
1 Samuel chapter 12. I'm sorry, chapter 20, 1 Samuel
chapter 20. Saul, the king of Israel, is
determined to murder David. His jealousy of David, his pride,
his envy had him acting as a madman and he was determined to murder
him. And Jonathan wasn't aware of that, but Jonathan loved David
as his own soul. And David's soul loved Jonathan. They were the dearest, dearest,
dearest of friends. And now Jonathan and David are
about to enter into a covenant with one another. Jonathan's
come to see his friend David, though he doesn't know it now,
for the last time. They're going to speak for the
last time. And they made a covenant with one another by which Jonathan
preserved the life of his family through David for days and years
as long as David had power in Israel. And of course, by that
covenant, you'll remember Mephibosheth was brought to the king's house
and ate food all the days of his life at the king's table
as one of the king's sons. That's a marvelous, marvelous
picture of God's covenant grace by which sinners are saved through
Jesus Christ our Redeemer according to God's eternal purpose of grace. But tonight I want us to look
at verse 3, 1 Samuel chapter 12 and verse 3, and just at the
last statement that David makes to Jonathan, the very last sentence
of verse 3. Truly, as the Lord liveth, and
as thy soul liveth, there is but a step between me and death. There is but a step between me
and death. I want to ask you a question,
sobering, serious question, a question I contemplate much in every day. A question I think I'm wise to
contemplate, and you will be wise to contemplate much every
day. A question you probably would
prefer not to deal with, but a question you must deal with.
Here it is. This is my subject. Will you
die tonight? Will you die tonight? Give it earnest thought. I've
asked myself countless times this day, Will you die tonight? And let me make five statements
by way of introduction, then five statements concerning the
message. I won't be brief. I mean, I will be brief. Excuse
me. I promise I'll be brief. That term depends on what you
mean by the word brief. I know, but I'll be brief. This
first, you deserve to die. You deserve to die. Not only
do you deserve to die, you know it. You may try to convince yourself
otherwise, but you know it. Your conscience tells you you
do. You know something of your sin
and the corruption of your heart, let alone of your deeds, of your
heart, of your nature. You deserve to die. The wages
of sin is death. That means you deserve to die,
and I do. Your wife does, and mine does.
Your husband does, and the next lady's husband does. Your children
deserve to die, and mine deserve to die. The wages of sin is death. The fact that you're still breathing
God's air, living on God's earth outside of hell is itself a testimony
to infinite mercy. God Almighty allows you to breathe
on his earth and restrains his wrath for a while, but you deserve
to die. Judgment has not yet fallen,
but that doesn't mean it's not going to fall. Judgment has not
yet come. That doesn't mean it's not going
to come. The wheels of justice move slowly, but I promise you
they grind to powder, and soon you will die. You're going to
die. That's the second thing. You deserve it, and you're going
to. And the day of your death was
appointed before you ever drew your first breath. It is appointed
unto men once to die, and after this, the judgment. Job asked
the question, is there not an appointed time to man upon the
earth? He said, seeing his days are
determined, the number of his months are with thee. Thou hast
appointed his bounds that he cannot pass. At God's appointed
time, you're going to die. No doctor's going to prevent
it. You're not going to live one second longer than God Almighty
predestined that you live before the world was made. Not all the
medicine in the world can prevent it. And you can't prevent it
by anything you do. I know we live in this crazy
health age. I know, I'm aware, I know people,
I guess they'd eat a bale of hay a day if they thought they
could live a second longer. It's not going to help you one bit
in the world drink all the green slime you want to drink. It ain't
going to help you. You're going to live as long
as God determined you live, and you're going to die when God
determined you die. Exactly when God determined it.
Life in this world at its longest, taking the longest possible view,
is a very, very brief, painful existence. What is man? He's like the flower of the grass.
He shall pass away. For the sun is no sooner risen
with the burning heat, but it withereth the grass, and the
flower thereof falleth, and the grace of the fashion of it perisheth.
So also shall man fade away in his ways. What is your life?
It's a vapor. It's a vapor. It appears for
a little while, and it's gone. That matter whether you live
to be 50 years old, 60 years old, 80 years old, life at its
longest in this world is but a vapor, a very brief, brief
existence, and a painful existence it is. Brother Scott Richardson
said one time years ago, He said life in this world ain't much. He said it begins with a slap
on the bottom and ends with a shovel full of dirt in your face and
everything in between is just bumps and bruises. And that's
a pretty good description of life in this world. Every community
has its cemetery. Every tombstone, every graveyard
reminds us that those buried there, once walked on earth just
like us, and thought like we tend to think we're going to
live forever. I recall years ago reading an
epitaph I often preaching places where they have graveyards, especially
in England. They have cemeteries by the church
buildings. And I'll spend a little time walking around reading the
epitaphs on those tombstones. This one I read in print somewhere
years ago. Please view my tomb as you pass
by, for as you are, so once was I. And as I am, soon you shall
be. So make your plans to follow
me. Soon, you and I will die. The wise man said, it's better
to go to the house of mourning than to the house of feasting.
Better to go to the funeral home than to the party place. For
that's the end of all men, and the living will lay it to heart.
Every time you get a chance, go to the funeral home, look
square in the face of that cold, dead corpse that can't look back
at you and understand soon, that's where you will be. Soon, you
will die. I know that you'll die, and when
you do, when I die, when you die, we will stand immediately
before God in judgment. turn over to second corinthians
chapter five for a second second corinthians chapter five paul
is reasoning here with folks urging folks to believe on christ
urging folks to come to christ urging sinners to trust the savior
and this is how he does it second corinthians five verse ten we
must all appear before the judgment seat of christ that everyone
may receive the things done in his body according to that he
hath done whether it be good or bad. Knowing, therefore, the
terror of the Lord, we persuade men." Now, there's much concerning
life after death about which this book gives us no explanation.
But this is certain. As soon as you die, you will
either awake with Lazarus and Abraham and Isaac and Jacob in
paradise with Christ, or you'll open your eyes in hell with the
rich man and Judas and all the damned. You're going to meet
God in judgment. You're going to meet God in judgment.
And you will be consigned to everlasting bliss or everlasting
torment. There is a real place called
heaven, a real place called hell. And this I want you to understand
fourthly. Whatever your state is when you leave this world
will be your state forever. There'll be no changing. No such
thing as purgatory. No such thing as soul sleep.
No such thing as all these superstitious delusions folks have. You're
going to meet God in judgment, and you'll either spend eternity
in heaven's bliss or hell's torment, one of the two. One of the two.
Now, hear this fifth thing, and I'll get to my message. Your eternal destiny, your eternal
destiny is going to be determined Right here, right now. Right here, right now. Oh, but
Brother Don, we believe in predestination. That not anybody you've known
in your lifetime believes that anymore than I do. or preaches
it any more fully than I do. No question about that. God's
predestination, His purpose stands permanent, fixed forever. The
elect are elect, reprobate are reprobate. There's no question
about that. Every chosen sinner is going to come to Christ. Every
sinner redeemed by Christ's blood is going to come to Christ. Every
sinner called by God's Spirit is going to come to Christ. But
you must believe on the Son of God. You must believe on the
Son of God. God commands you to repent. That is, God commands you to
trust His Son. God commands you to come to His
Son. God commands you to trust His
Son. Not to do so is to stand with
your fist in God's face and call God a liar, and you'll meet God
in judgment for it. You must come to Christ. As surely
as you must be born again, you must believe on the Son of God.
There's no such thing as salvation apart from faith in Jesus Christ
the Lord. The preacher, God gives me in
faith. He does. There's no question
about that. Yes, sir. Faith is the work and operation
of God. If you believe it's because God gave you faith. There's no
question about that. But you must believe. You must believe
on the Son of God. Prepare to meet thy God. Soon you must die. Will you die
tonight? Will you die tonight? I pray
God will not allow you to stop hearing that question when I'm
done preaching. I pray that God will cause you who do not know
his Son to be disturbed in your souls with no rest, no sleep
to your eyes until he gives you faith in his son. And for you
who are his, I pray that God will give you grace and understanding
in his word to be able to answer this question with confident
joy by faith in our Redeemer. Number one. I know I'm a dying
man. In this world, there are few
things about which we can speak with absolute authority and certainty.
Very few. But this I know. I'm a dying
man. We joke about it. I'm 63 years
old. I remember, like most men my
age, when I was strong as an ox and I could whip the world,
and everybody knew it. I remember what it was to think
I was invincible. But I'm a dying man, and I know
it every day. Every day. This body is wearing
out. It's wearing out. Energy is waning. Strength is fading. This earthly
house of this tabernacle of clay is rapidly dissolving and soon
must be dissolved. As much as I have loved and overloved
this body, soon I'm going to leave it to the grave. And there
it will lie and rot in darkness as a neglected, hateful thing. I recall years ago. I went to
the funeral home to make final arrangements for my mother after
she had died. And the undertaker, of course,
those fellows are slick salesmen. They've got you in a painful
situation. And he's trying to persuade us
we ought to spend, I forgot what it was, a bunch of money on a
vault. And a casket is sealed up. It
won't let any water in. It just preserves things well.
And I finally got tired of it. And I said to him, mother is
dead. And her body is going to rot
in the earth, no matter what you put it in. And he seems shocked. Folks are shocked to think about
it. You're going to the dust. Dust to dust, ashes to ashes,
air to air. That's the way it is. This body
is going to the earth. These eyes soon will see no more. These hands will work no more.
These feet will walk no more. This mouth will speak no more.
This mind will think no more. This heart will beat no more.
This is the fruit of sin. But thank God this body, oh thank
God, thank God this body is not me. This body is not me. Oh, no. You see, death is separation
from the body. It must come, but it will come
as a welcome separation, a separation from a troublesome, hateful companion. Richard Baxter wrote this. He
said, death is like taking off a shoe that hurts my foot. It will be a welcome relief. It's like dismissing a servant
whose services are no longer needed. He said death is like
laying aside a tool whose work is finished. This body of flesh
has been my greatest enemy. I mean life in this world, my
soul's greatest enemy. It's caused me pain, toil, and
sorrow. It requires constant care and
attention. I'll be glad to put it aside.
I know by long, long experience, this body of flesh has been a
painful lodging for my soul. And when I'm free of this body,
I will be free from the bondage of corruption and the prison
of sin. I groan within myself like Paul,
O wretched man that I am. Who shall deliver me from the
body of this death? That's something. The body of
this death. The body of this death. That's
what life in this world is. It is just a constant life of
dying. Somehow, we must learn to treat
this body This physical frame has a perishing thing. I don't
mean, I don't mean that we should be negligent with regard to our
health or reckless. That would be a great evil. But
I do mean we spend far too much time, too much care, too much
concern, too much money pampering, soothing, satisfying, and gratifying
this body. Soon it's going to the grave.
It's your soul that's important. It's my soul that's important.
What shall it profit a man if he should gain the whole world
for the comfort of his body and lose his soul? What will a man give in exchange
for his soul? All right, here's the second
thing. Will you die tonight? Here's my second answer. I'm
not afraid to. I'm not afraid to. Look at 2
Timothy. 2 Timothy chapter 1, verse 12. I'm not trying to impress you
with bravery or strength or strong faith, but I know something about
what it is to be faced with death. I know something about it. And
I'm telling you, I'm not afraid to die. For I know, look at verse
12, I know whom I had believed and am persuaded. That's that
word, I stand convinced. I stand convinced. You can fuss
and argue about it all you want to, I'm convinced. that he, the
one I trust, is able to keep that which I've committed to
him, my life, my whole being, against that day. Look at chapter
4, verse 6, 2 Timothy. I am now ready to be offered,
and the time of my departure is at hand. Now let me tell you
what makes people afraid to die. What makes people afraid? Their
sin. their sin, and their righteousness,
their lack of it, their fear of the unknown. They don't know
what lies beyond the grave. I don't know how many times I've
heard folks say, well, we just don't know what lies beyond the
grave. and their families, the welfare of their families. Folks
want to be sure family's taken care of. And for God's people,
especially God's servants, gospel preachers, God's church. We want
to be certain God's church is well cared for. Let me deal with
these things one at a time. This I know. There's no reason
for me to be fearful for God's church when I'm gone. I think
about that a lot. I told you this when you called
Brother Chris to be your pastor and I was down here the first
time. I can count on my hand. That hand. And it wouldn't take
all five fingers. On that hand. The number of churches
I know of in history. I'm not saying there are no more.
I'm saying the ones I know of in history, in my lifetime, and
in all time. I can count on that hand. The
number that have been faithful to the gospel beyond the first
generation. Count on that hand. It's rare.
And I'm concerned for folks in Danville. I've given my life
to them. I've given my life to preaching the gospel to them.
I'm concerned for their welfare. But I ought not be terribly concerned. Concerned as a pastor, yes. Concerned
as a member of the family, yes. Concerned for the glory of God,
yes. But not fretfully concerned. You see, the church of God can
get along just fine without me. Church of God can get along just
fine without me. It doesn't need me. It got along without me a
long time before I ever came into existence. God's church
is safe. It's in His hands. The Lord Jesus
walks amidst the golden candlesticks. He preserves His church. He preserves
His truth. and he still daily adds to his
church, such you should be saved. And there is no reason for me
to be fearful about the welfare of my family when I've left this
world. I probably told you this. I was 26 years old. Doctors thought
I was dying of cancer. I did too. And I only had one
real concern, one real concern at the time. My daughter, that
little girl, just a little tyke. What's going to become of my
daughter? We're gonna raise my daughter. We're gonna take care
of my daughter. And that gave me a real problem,
Les. That gave me a real problem. I just, I had a tough time with
it. Until one day God spoke to my
heart as if he had spoken openly from heaven. She's not yours,
she's mine. And I'm a better father than
you can ever be. And I can provide for her like you can never provide
for her. And I can take care of her like you can't take care
of her. That's all right, that's all right. That's all right. He is a father to the fatherless,
a husband to the widow. He takes care of his own. Martin
Luther wrote in his will, Lord, thou hast given me wife and children.
I have nothing to leave them, but I commit them to thee. Oh,
father of the fatherless, judge of widows, nourish, keep, and
teach them. Tell you something else. My sin doesn't give me any problem. It used to. It used to. Oh, yes, it used to. Not anymore. You see, Jesus Christ, God's
darling son, took my sin upon himself. He who knew no sin was
made sin for me. And he suffered all the furious
wrath of God Almighty to the full satisfaction of justice
on my behalf. And he has removed our sins from
us. Listen to this. Psalm 103 verse
12. As far as the east is from the
west. Isn't that wonderful? as far
as the East is from the West. Now, Brother Dan Park said, I'm
sure glad he didn't say as far as North is from the South. Because
I can find the North Pole and I can find the South Pole. But
there's no East Pole and no West Pole. He's removed our sins from
us. He's taken them away. Did you
hear what Jesus said to me? They're all taken away. Your sins are pardoned and you
are free. They're all taken away. Removed as far as the east is
from the west. Never to be laid to my charge. Blessed, David said. Oh, blessed
is the man to whom God will not impute sin. Blessed is the man
to whom the Lord will not impute sin. Larry Criss, God Almighty,
cannot injustice. Charge his son with my sin and
charge me with it. be done. Not by a just God. Not by just God. My sin, oh the
bliss of this glorious thought, my sin not in part to but the
whole is nailed to his cross and I bear it no more. Praise
the Lord. It is well with my soul. God's wrath doesn't give me a
problem. It used to be. Oh, it used to
be a problem. I used to be terrified of God. John, I was terrified of God.
Terrified of God. The thought of God made me tremble.
I'd go to bed at night and beg God for mercy. Let me live through
the night and I'll do better tomorrow. And get up the next
day and live cussing God with my fist in his face. Go to bed
terrified of God. Terrified. Terrified because
I knew justice demanded my everlasting execution. I knew it. No more. No more. One day, God revealed
his son in me. And looking on the crucified
son of God, my terrified, screaming conscience said, enough. Enough. That's enough. That's enough!
That's enough! Where God says enough, your conscience
will say enough, and nowhere else. Nowhere else. Your good
works, your repentance, your labors, your church going, your
tithing, your missionary work, your preaching, it won't ever
satisfy your conscience! But that which satisfies the
justice of God satisfies the conscience of the awakened sinner.
The law and justice of God have nothing against me. So God, God,
now listen to me. Are you listening? God in heaven
never has any reason to frown on me or be angry with me. God in heaven never has a reason
to frown on me. I'll be angry with me. Never.
Never. He said, this is my beloved son, in whom I am well pleased. Now, I've only got one daughter.
Don't have any sons. I've got a grandson, though.
And if I should say to you, this is my beloved son, Will, in whom
I'm well pleased, you'd say, brother, you meant to say with
whom, didn't you? And I'd say, yep, that's right. I meant to
say with him. With him. But when God said in whom, he
meant to say in whom. He's not saying I'm well pleased
with what my son has done, though that's certainly true. He's not
saying I'm well pleased with my son's righteousness, though
that's certainly true. He's not saying I'm well pleased
with my son's sacrifice, though that's certainly true. He's saying
I'm well pleased with all who are in him, my son, in whom I
am well pleased. You see Christ is my righteousness. Christ is my atonement. Christ
is my perfection. Christ is my holiness without
which no man shall see the Lord. More than that, life after death
is not a hidden mystery to me. I don't know a great deal. Don't
pretend to. I have not seen, nor heard, neither
hath it entered into the heart of man the things the Lord has
prepared for them that love him. I know that. I know that. But
I tell you what I do know. I know that my Redeemer liveth,
and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth. And
though after my skin were him to destroy this body, yet in
my flesh shall I see whom I shall see for myself and not another.
I want to see him. I want to see him. All right.
Here's the next thing. Will you die tonight? This is
my third answer. I endeavor to live every day
in the immediate prospect of eternity. I purposely endeavor
to live in the habit of dying. As Paul put it, I die daily. I endeavor to turn loose of everything
here every day. Turn loose. You're either going
to turn loose or God's going to break your fingers, but you're
going to let it go. You're going to let it go. Turn loose of everything
here. Hold everything here with a loose
hand. One day, a young preacher was
visiting with one of the old men in his congregation who had
done well for himself. He was fixed. He had a large
estate. Everything fixed up for him.
His children and grandchildren were there. And they'd invited
the young pastor to come by. And the old man sitting there
in his easy chair in the backyard was looking over his grandchildren
and his great-grandchildren and his children and his estate.
And he said, Preacher, these are the things that make it hard
to die. And that's exactly right. That's
exactly right. These are the things that make
it hard to die. Let it go. Soon you will. Hold everything
here loosely. Be ready at a moment's notice
to turn loose of anything and anyone in this world. I say to
my wife and to yours, to your husband and to hers, ask God
to give you grace at his appointed time to turn loose of everything
here right now. You soon will. You soon will.
Don't build your nest in any of the trees of this dark forest. they're soon going to be cut
down and burned. I try, and I admonish you to
do so, I try to live in this world like a fellow traveling,
staying in a motel. I've stayed in a lot of motels.
I've stayed in some nice ones, and I've stayed in some that
you wouldn't want to take a dog to. I've stayed in a lot of motels.
But usually it's just for a night or two. And you know, I never
get too disturbed about anything in that motel. I used to go preach
a place, and every year I'd go stand in a motel, and the same
bed, every year, propped up by a coffee can on one end. Now
if it had been at home, I'd have fixed it. But I never thought
about fixing it. I'd just stand there a couple
of nights. I thought surely next year they'd fix it, but they
didn't. Every year, same bed, propped up by a coffee can. But
it wasn't mine. It wasn't home. picture's crooked,
I never bother straightening them out. They don't bother.
It's just a motel room. I'm just passing through. Oh
my soul, this world is not my home. I'm just passing through. We ought to live that way. Spend
as much time as you can focused on things eternal. This is the day the Lord's given
me. Let me press as much work for
him in it as I can. Serving him to the last breath,
redeeming the time for the days of evil. The time is short. God
give me grace to do what I can in the day he's given me for
his glory. I'd like to spend it like Whitefield
did. Whitefield on September 29, 1770. I read it again today. He couldn't hardly preach. He
begged God to give him strength to preach one more time. And
when he got up, he couldn't hardly stand up, but the Lord gave him
strength, and he rallied and preached for a little over two
hours. And he sat down, went home, went
to bed, and was gone the next morning. That's the way to leave
this world. That's the way to leave this
world. Here's number four. Will you die tonight? If I do,
I'll count it a great blessing. Now understand what I'm saying.
My life in this world has been a life of remarkable blessedness. I have a wife that adores me
and dotes on me. Most of you ladies, you see Shelby
the way she behaves with me, you might not say it, but you
think, I wouldn't do that for any man. If you had me, you would. She dotes on me. She adores me. She loves me. She admires me.
We've had 45 years of blessed, blessed, blessed, happy marriage. 45 years. What a rare thing. My daughter, Sheldon and I talked
about it the other day, she was such an easy daughter to raise
up. I don't ever remember spending five minutes concerned about
where she was, what she was doing, not in 43 years. Just what a
blessing. Our grandchildren, my son-in-law,
love me. I just, I have a remarkably blessed
life. Pastor congregation that loves
me and just a blessed, blessed fellowship. But Living in this
world, at best, ain't much. Because I've got to live with
me. And living with me is pain. Pain like I can't describe. Pain
like I don't wish to talk about. Life in this world is a life
of pain for the believer. And if I should die tonight,
it would indeed be a great blessing, for to be absent from the body
is to be present with the Lord. Turn to Philippians chapter 1
for a minute. I'll hurry. I'm about done. Philippians chapter
1, Paul said, to die is gain. He lived, this man Paul, in the
midst of relentless contention and opposition. That's the way it's been for
me for as long as I can remember
as a preacher. Relentless contention and opposition. Some of this
man, Paul, esteemed his brethren, his fellow laborers in the gospel,
counted Paul their enemy and spoke evil things against him.
You can see it in verses 14 through 17. But he didn't allow either
the flattery of friends or the opposition of foes to affect
him very much. Look at verse 19. He said, I
know that this shall turn to my salvation through your prayer
and the supply of the spirit of Jesus Christ according to
my earnest expectation and my hope that in nothing I shall
be ashamed. But that with all boldness as
always, so now also Christ shall be magnified in my body, whether
it be by life or by death. For to me to live is Christ,
to die is gain. But if I live in the flesh, this
is the fruit of my labor. Yet what I shall choose, I want
not. I don't know what I ought to choose. I don't know what's
best. We never do. For I am in a strait betwixt
the two, having a desire to depart and be with Christ, which is
far better. Nevertheless, to abide in the flesh is more needful
for you. But death will be a welcome relief. You think and meditate a little
bit about what it'll be. to die in the Lord. Blessed are the
dead which die in the Lord. When these eyes close in death,
we will open our eyes to see him who loved us and gave himself
for us face to face. Beloved, now are we the sons
of God. Now listen to this. And it doth
not yet appear what we shall be. For when we see him, we shall
be like him. For we shall see him as he is. We will see Christ in all his
glory with keen remembrance of all that we have experienced,
both in rebellion and in faith. of all that he has accomplished
for us through his obedience, his suffering, his death, and
his resurrection. But we will see him not as he
was, but as he is, in his glory, as the result of all that has
come to pass in history by his hand. And we will be like him
in his glory. He said, the Father, the glory
which thou hast given me, I have given thee. He said, Father,
I will. that they also, whom thou hast
given me, may be with me where I am, that they may behold my
glory. And we'll see our brethren. I'm
sometimes asked, you reckon we'll know each other in heaven? Why,
that's such a silly question. That's the silliest question.
We'll know better then than we do now, and I know you now. Oh
yeah. Peter, James, and John didn't
have to be introduced. Abraham and Elijah, or Moses
and Elijah did, when they saw them on the Mount of Transfiguration.
Where's Moses? They'd never seen a picture of
him. They never read a description of it. There's Moses, there's
Elijah. How about that? How about that? We will sit down
with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, with all the host of God's elect
in the bliss of heaven's glory, knowing even as we are known.
And we will greet there our friends and family, God's family. And I don't know that we'll ever
learn it here or not. I can say it, but I don't know
whether I've learned it or not, Larry. God's family is a lot more important
than my family or your family. You see, this lady and I, we
have a remarkable relationship that's going to go on forever,
that's better than what we have here. Better. You reckon you'll
know she was your wife? I expect I'll know that, but
it won't matter. It won't matter. Oh, no, no,
no. We are one in Christ. One in
Christ forever. Understand that? When we leave
this world, all our most anxious, fervent,
earnest prayers will be immediately answered. What is it you pray
for? What is it you pray for more
than anything? What do you pray for? What do you long for more
than anything? Oh, I want to be like Christ.
Either I do or I'm a liar. There's no in between ground.
I want to be without sin. Oh God, I want to be without
sin. I want never to have an evil passion in my heart again. Either I do or I'm a liar. There's no in between ground.
I want to be perfectly righteous. Oh, in perfect conformity to
Christ, in perfect communion with the Son of God. I've been
praying every day for 47 years. that God make me like his son.
God make me like your son. And the longer I live, the more
unlike his son I know I am. But not for long. Not for long. Soon, I will awake in thy likeness. In fact, the psalmist put it
this way. Then shall I be satisfied when I awake in thy likeness. Will you die tonight? Well, let
me answer that question one more way. Frankly, I don't think so. Not
tonight. Not tonight. Maybe in a day or two, but not
tonight. I believe God yet has something for me to finish, a
work for me to complete, for which he created me. And when
the work is done, then I'm leaving here. The hymn writer put it
this way, mortals are immortal here until their work is done. Mortals are immortal here until
their work is done. But when I die, when I do, remember
this. Remember this, when you get a
call that Brother Don died this morning, don't be too sad. Don't be too upset. Don't let
it disturb you too much, because Brother Don didn't die. I'm not
going to die. I'm not going to die. We use
the word. This body's going to die. That's
not me. I told you that in the beginning. Our Lord Jesus said, he that
liveth and believeth on me shall. What'd he say? Say it. Never
die. Never? Never die? No, no. Then I'll begin to live. I got
to think about this some years ago and wrote this hymn. I'll
send you a copy if you want sometime later. When I breathe my final
breath and drop this flesh in death, when my appointed work
is done and my allotted time is gone, don't stand around my
grave and cry, I'll not be there, I did not die. My Savior came
to call me home, and I with Him to heaven have gone. Now I'm
free from sin and pain, and with the glorified I reign. So don't
stand around my grave and cry, I'm glorified, I didn't die.
Seated with Jesus on His throne, glorified by what He has done.
I am a trophy of his grace. Rejoicing, I behold his face.
Don't stand around my grave and cry. I'm with Christ. I did not
die. My body lies beneath the clay
until the resurrection day. In that day, when Christ comes
again, body and soul unite again. So don't stand around my grave
and cry. Rejoice with me. I didn't die. Amen.