When Is a Person Ready to Die?

Q: What does the Bible say about being ready to die?

The Bible teaches that being ready to die involves seeing and believing in Christ as our salvation. Being ready to die, according to scripture, is rooted in having a personal relationship with Christ. In the case of Simeon from Luke 2, he was assured by the Holy Spirit that he would not die before seeing the Lord's Christ. When he finally encountered Jesus, he expressed his readiness to depart in peace because he had witnessed salvation. The spiritual readiness to face death is deeply connected to understanding and knowing Christ (Luke 2:25-32).

Q: Why is it important for Christians to see Christ before dying?

Seeing Christ is essential for Christians as it affirms their faith and readiness for eternal life. For Christians, seeing Christ means recognizing Him as the fulfillment of God's promises and the source of salvation. As noted in John 6:40, the will of God ensures that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him will have eternal life. This encounter with Christ instills confidence and peace in the believer's heart, providing assurance of their destiny beyond death. Thus, knowing and experiencing Christ is crucial for spiritual readiness, as seen through Simeon’s example who expressed readiness to die only after encountering the Lord (Luke 2:28-30).

Q: How do we know that a person is truly ready to die?

A person's readiness to die is confirmed by their faith in Christ and assurance of salvation. A person is truly ready to die when they have a personal belief in Christ as their Savior, which is often accompanied by a genuine interest in spiritual matters, as exemplified in Simeon’s life in Luke 2. The evidence of this readiness can be seen in their assurance of salvation and a clear understanding of God's promises. As articulated, 'when a believer has been awakened by the Spirit of God' and they have embraced Christ in faith, they gain confidence to face death because they can say they've seen God’s salvation (Isaiah 28:14-17).

Q: Why is faith in Christ essential for facing judgment?

Faith in Christ ensures believers are justified and prepared for God's judgment. Faith in Christ is crucial for facing judgment because it provides the believer with a righteousness that is accepted by God. According to Romans 3:22, the righteousness of God is through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. When someone has faith, they are justified before God's justice, just as Simeon received assurance of his readiness upon seeing Christ. Therefore, faith in Christ allows believers to approach judgment with peace and confidence, knowing they stand righteous before God (Luke 2:29-30).

Let's read again from the second
chapter of Luke, beginning with verse 25. Luke 2, 25, And behold, there
was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon, And the same man was just and
devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel. And the Holy Spirit
was upon him. And it was revealed unto him
by the Holy Spirit that he should not see death before he had seen
the Lord's Christ. And he came by the Spirit into
the temple. And when the parents brought
in the child Jesus to do for him after the custom of the law,
then Simeon took he him up in his arms and praised God and
said, Lord, now let us thou, now let me, thy servant, depart
in peace. Let me die. according to thy
word, for mine eyes have seen thy salvation, which thou hast
prepared before the face of all people to lighten the Gentiles
and the glory of thy people Israel." There are two expressions which
are very common today. In fact, they have been used
for years and years and years. One of them is this. Oftentimes,
when people refer to a person who has recently died, they're
frequently heard to say, well, he was ready to go. He was ready
to go. Meaning, he was ready to die
and to meet God. But the scripture says, it's
appointed unto men once to die, and after that, the judgment.
And what they're saying is this, he was ready to die and he was
ready to stand before God in judgment. He was ready. And then
the second expression, you find perhaps two people discussing
old age and death and leaving this world, and you'll hear one
of them say, well, I'm not afraid to die. I'm not afraid to die. I'm ready to go. And which is
not always the case. If you'll turn with me to Isaiah
28. Keep Luke 2. Now I'm coming back
there. But Isaiah 28. Here's some people
that were pretty confident about being ready to die. And the Lord
said they had a false refuge. A false refuge. In Isaiah 28
verse 14. Isaiah said, Wherefore hear the
word of the Lord, ye scornful men, that rule this people which
is in Jerusalem. These were religious leaders.
They were the rulers of the religious kingdom. You have said, because
you have said, we have made a covenant with death, and with hell are
we at agreement. And when the overflowing scourge
shall pass through, it won't come unto us. For we have made
lies our refuge, and under falsehood have we hid ourselves." We have
a refuge, we have a hiding place, but he said it's a refuge of
lies. And it's a false hiding place.
And you can make a covenant with death, and a man can say, well,
I'm ready to go, I'm not afraid to die, My subject tonight is
this, when is a person ready to die? When is a person ready
to die? When can we confidently and with
assurance say, well, I'm not afraid to die. I'm ready to die. When are we ready? Now it's a
serious subject, not one to be taken lightly. For the really
great and important things in regard to this life and eternity
are only done one time. The great and important things
are only done one time. We're born once. And we have very little to do
with that. We're born one time. That's all. Never, never again. Just one time. Secondly, we die
one time. Don't have an opportunity to
die twice. You die one time. And we have very little to do
with that, because the scripture says God has determined our bounds,
set our bounds, and our months are determined, our days are
determined. And we stand before God in judgment one time. We
meet God once. We're born once, we die once,
and we meet God once. But that ladder appointment, how I die and how
I meet God, I have something to do with that. Yeah, I can
have something to do with that. There's some preparation that
can be made. That's what Scripture says, prepare
to meet God. Prepare to meet God. And so I've
selected for my text Luke chapter 2, and I believe I can show from
this Scripture when a man, woman, young person is really ready
to die. And when they're gone, somebody
can say, of them, he was certainly ready. Or she was certainly ready. Or we can say of ourselves, I'm
ready. I'm ready to meet God. I'm ready to meet God. I have
a righteousness with which He's pleased. I have a clear justification
before His justice. I'm ready. Well, here in verse
25, let's take this first. Number one. This man, Simeon,
had an interest in spiritual matters. He had an interest. It says here in verse 25, And
behold, there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon. Now, I've
checked and rechecked, and there's no way to prove he was a priest.
I don't think he was a priest. He wasn't a high priest. We really
don't know who Simeon was. We don't know very much about
him. We know he was a man and we know he was in Jerusalem,
but we know this about him. That same man was a just man
and a devout man and a man who was waiting for the coming, the
consolation of Israel, the coming of the Messiah. This man had
an interest in the things of God. We know that about him.
Now, we don't know very much about him, but we do know that
he had an interest in the things of God, in spiritual matters. And I'm saying this, this is
not the rule without exception. But I look throughout the scriptures
and I find that most of the Lord's people, most of the people whom
the Lord brought to a knowledge of the gospel, had an interest
in that gospel. They had a real, genuine interest
in that gospel. I preached up in Dingus two nights
this week, Thursday night and Friday night. And something gave
me a great deal of pleasure, great deal of joy. I came home
so very happy. This young man there, I've known
him since he was, I suppose, eight, seven or eight years old.
Known his family and him since he was a little boy. I've been
going up there preaching for fourteen years, I guess, twelve,
thirteen, fourteen years. I've known him since he was a
little boy. He's married now. And he's a big, strong man, a
handsome young man. And he drives an eighteen-wheeler. He's a man among men. He sails
down the highway with forty thousand pounds of coal behind him, rolling,
keeping the coal going. But these two nights when I was
up there preaching, he and his wife were there early and stayed
late. And they sat and he sat and listened
to me preach the gospel. Almost enraptured with the gospel. I could see it written on his
face. I could see the interest. I could see the keen interest
in the singing, in the reading of the Word. especially in the
preaching of the word. And after the message, each night,
I would go by him and shake hands with him. He'd say, oh, that
was a blessing. That was a blessing. I enjoyed
that. And the night I got ready to
leave, And I had to stay another night because I had some problems
and I couldn't come home. He said, go stay at my house
and we'll just sit up and talk all night long. Listen, I came
home. Now that's where it starts. He
says he's saved, I don't know. But it sure looks like he's going
to be. Has he made a profession? I don't
know. I don't know. But I do know there's
an interest. And I'll tell you this. You go
through the Scripture and you find Cornelius and you find Lydia. Lydia, here's a woman, a sailor
of purple, from another city in Philippi, and she looks up
some people who are worshiping God and meets with them down
by the river. She's got some interest. She
didn't know the gospel. She didn't know the apostles.
She didn't know Christ. But she wanted to know God. She
had an interest. Look at Zacchaeus, running ahead,
climbing up in a tree. Look at the Ethiopian eunuch.
Even going through the Scripture, and you see this man Simeon,
this man Simeon was a man with an interest in the things of
God. He said there's a Messiah coming.
All right, secondly, verse 26. And it was revealed unto him
by the Holy Spirit that he wouldn't see death. He wouldn't die before
he'd seen the Lord's Christ. Now, he knew that he wasn't going
to die until he saw the Lord's Christ because God showed him
that. But I'm telling you one thing is certain. Not one of God's elect will die
until they have seen Christ. You can bank on that. Not one
of God's elect will die until they've seen Christ. You may
not know that, but He knows it. He knows it. If you're one of
His sheep, if the Father gave you to the Son, and the Son took
upon Himself to be your servant, and went to the cross of Calvary
and died for your sins, you may have not the slightest knowledge
of that, But He knows it. You may not know Him, but He
knows you. Remember in that movie, The Ten Commandments, when Moses'
wife, Zipporah, you remember? They were talking about that
mountain, the mountain of God, and she was saying something
about God, and Moses had freshly come out of Egypt, 40, 45 years
of age, and he said, I don't know your God, She said, Moses,
He knows you. He knows you. And I say this
over this whole congregation. There may be somebody here tonight
that will say to me, I don't know your God. Well, I'll tell
you this. If you're one of His elect, He knows you. He knows
you. And He'll have you. And you'll
never die till you, by faith, have seen Christ. Now, the covenant
assures that. The covenant assures that. The
covenant of God's grace says, All that my Father giveth me
shall come to me. And him that cometh to me I will
in no wise cast out. For I came down from heaven not
to do my will, but the will of him that sent me. And this is
the covenant, this is the will, this is the purpose of him that
sent me, of all which he hath given me. I'll lose nothing,
but I'll raise it up at the last day. The covenant assures this
fact that you'll never die if you want to God's elect until
you've seen Christ. The Father assures it. They murmured
at him because he said, I came down from heaven. He said, murmur
not among yourself. No man can come to me except
my Father which sent me draw him. As it's written in the prophets,
they shall all be taught of God. And he that hath heard of the
Father and learned of the Father He'll come to me. He'll come. The Father assures it. The Covenant
assures it. The Shepherd assures it. He said, Whatever sheep I
have which are not of this fold, them I must bring, and they shall
hear my voice, and they shall be one fold and one shepherd.
And the Holy Spirit assures it. Whom He foreknew, He predestinated
to be conformed to the image of His Son. Whom He predestinated,
He called. Whom He called to justify, who
He justified. Alright, thirdly, look at verse
27. And He came by the Spirit into
the temple when the parents brought in the child Jesus. Now let me
tell you something. This is interesting. He came by the Spirit to meet
Christ. Here is Mary and Joseph. Christ
was born in Bethlehem. They fled to Egypt. All of these
things took place. There were certain requirements
upon Jewish parents when children were born, especially boys. They
were to be circumcised the eighth day. That's when they named them.
And then certain purification laws were in effect, and Mary,
after a certain length of time, After she gave birth to a son,
a certain length of time passed, and she had to offer some kind
of sacrifice. And they were a poor family.
They couldn't bring a lamb or a ram. They brought turtledoves
or pigeons, just ordinary pigeons. That's what's said back there,
you read. She brought pigeons. And they were to bring that,
and they were to bring the child to the temple. And you see, the
Spirit of God, this was things that had to be done and were
done and ordered by God, and this man is over here in Jerusalem,
and so forth, and at the time they brought Christ to the temple,
God brought Him to the temple. And it was no accident. Simeon
was brought by the Spirit of God to the temple at just the
time that the Lord Jesus was brought there. The Lord crossed
His path. And Simeon saw Christ. In verse
27, he came by the Spirit into the temple, and when the parents
brought in the child Jesus to do for him after the custom of
the law, Simeon took him up in his arms. He saw him. He saw
Christ. Turn with me to John 6. Hold
that scripture there and turn to John 6. He saw Christ. Now this is interesting. In John
6, 40. And this is the will of Him that
sent me. Let's go back up a little bit
to that I quoted a while ago, John 6, 37. Now, I want to make
this very clear if I can. John 6, 37. All that the Father
giveth me shall come to me. And him that cometh to me I'll
in no wise cast out. For I came down from heaven not
to do my own will, That is the Messiah's will, but the will
of Him that sent me. This is the Father's will. This
is His will. You know, you talk about what
Bob, you and I are talking about today is, somebody says it's
the will of God to save everybody. No, it's the will of God to save
those whom He gave to Christ. That's what it says here. This
is the Father's will, which has sent me, that of all which He
has given me, I'll lose nothing, but raise it up at the last day.
This is the will of him that sent me, that everyone that seeth
the Son, everyone that seeth the Son and believeth on him
may have everlasting life, and I'll raise him up at the last
day." Now, God doesn't save his people without or apart from
faith. He made a covenant of grace with
Christ, in Christ, and gave Christ to people. And Christ came down
here, our Lord came down, and by His obedience and death, gave
to these people a perfect righteousness and a right standing before justice.
But these people have got to believe. They've got to hear
the gospel, they've got to see who Christ is and what He did,
why He did it, and rest in Him, believe on Him. So God sends
them the gospel. And they will come because they
will see Christ. And they will believe on Him.
Now, it matters not how much revelation they have. The important thing is that they
see Him. You see what I'm saying? I'm
not talking about with these eyes. A lot of people saw Him
with these eyes who never believed on Him. You remember reading,
when you read in the study, He raised Lazarus. He raised the
man from the dead. And some believed on Him, but
others ran and told the Pharisees. Said, you want him dead? They
didn't believe on him. They want him killed. But these
people see Christ with eyes of faith. They see him with the
understanding and with the emotions and the heart. Abel saw him in
a lamb sacrifice. Abel saw Christ in that lamb. That's right. By faith, he offered
the lamb. Abraham saw him in a miraculous
son. in Isaiah. He did. Isaiah saw
him in a vision on a throne. Here, Simeon saw him as an infant
in his brother's arms. The disciples saw him on a cross.
We see him in the gospel. This same Jesus Peter kept talking
about there on Pentecost. which is taken up from you in
heaven, just so come and like mine." So, Simeon came into the
temple and he saw this infant. He said, well, he didn't see
him on a cross, he didn't see him buried and crucified, buried
and risen again, he didn't see him enthroned. It matters not
how much revelation, it's who's revealed to you. That's the key. Isn't that right, John? That's
the reason these people in the Old Testament were saved by looking
to the Christ who will come. They knew that God would come
into this world. Behold, the Lord himself will
give you a sign. A virgin shall be with son. You'll
call his name Immanuel, God with us. And they saw that. They saw
that by faith. And you and I have more revelation
than anybody's had. We've got more responsibility.
We've got more pressure. We know more than those people
knew back then. More than sinners. But Simeon
saw him. Simeon saw him. Alright, here's
the fourth thing, verse 28. Back to the text. Then he took
him up in his arms and blessed God. I don't believe I'm overextending
the picture now. God revealed who that infant
is to Simeon. That's the Christ, the Son of
the Living God. And Simeon embraced Him. Simeon
believed and embraced Him. He took Him up in his arms. It
was an embrace of faith. It was an embrace of love. I
found Him whom my soul loved. I found Him. It was an embrace
of hope. He took Him up in His arms. And
that's what a person comes to saving faith, when he literally
actually receives Christ, takes him up in his arms. And when
Simeon took this infant up in his arms, Simeon let go of all
the law and the types and the Sabbaths and the feasts and the
sacrifices, he let go of all those things. He had God's salvation. Can you imagine him going back
to anything after he'd seen Christ? Can you imagine him going back
to those beggarly elements after he'd seen the Lord Christ and
took him up in his arms? Here's my hope. My hope's in
the man, the God-man, who will honor the law of God, satisfy
the justice of God, and enter into glory for me. And then he
took him up in his arms, and listen to this, and he blessed
God. He blessed God. He gave God all
the glory. It was the gift of God's grace,
the fulfillment of all of God's promises. He blessed God. He
praised God for giving Christ, for sending Christ, for allowing
him to see Christ, for bringing him to know Christ, for giving
him an understanding of the glory of Christ. He blessed God. Salvation's
of the Lord. I see this so clearly here. I
see this man starting out at the beginning with an interest,
an interest. And I see that he's not going
to die until he's seen Christ, until he's seen Christ. And I
see God bringing him there, crossing his path, an encounter with Christ,
the Christ of God. And he recognizes it. One of God's elect will recognize
this gospel. He will. He's got discernment.
He's got an ear for the gospel. He'll recognize it. He'll know
it when he hears it. He'll know it. Christ said, another
shepherd they will not follow. Another voice they will not hear. You say, well, my friends, they
don't understand what I'm talking about, but they follow these
preachers. Self-seeking preachers, they
don't have an ear. They don't have an ear of discernment.
They don't have a heart of understanding. God gives that. That's the reason
Simeon, when he saw the Christ, he took Him up in his arms. And
he didn't get enamored with the excitement of the moment or the
experience. He immediately lifted his eyes and blessed God. Thank
You, Lord. Thank You for giving me an understanding. Thank You. Did I see Christ? And then he said this, verse
29, and he said, Lord, now let me die. Now let me die. Let me die. According to your
word, let me depart in peace. Let me depart in confidence and
assurance, comfort and peace. I'm ready. Because I've seen,
my eyes have seen your salvation. That's when a man's ready. That's
when he's ready. I tell you, when a believer has
been awakened by the Spirit of God and given an interest in
the things of God, and God has crossed his path with the gospel,
who Christ is, who Christ is, Christ in his person and work,
Why He came to this earth, what He did, where He is now, who
He is. This issue is a person. Who is
Jesus Christ? What think you of Christ? What's
He to you? To me? I've seen the Lord. I know who He is. I know whom
I have believed. I'm persuaded He's able to keep
that which I've committed to Him. And so, all right. Now He
says, let me die. According to your word, die in
peace. Because I've seen your salvation.
That's when a man's ready to die. I tell you, when there was
a flood, God provided an ark. When there was a manslayer, God
provided a city of refuge. When there was a thirst, God
provided a rock. When there was death in the camp,
God provided a serpent lifted on a pole. And I tell you, where
there's a sinner, God provides a fountain filled with blood.
drawn from Emmanuel's veins, and sinners plunge beneath that
flood, lose all their guilt and shame. Dear dying Lamb, Thy precious
blood shall never lose its power till all the ransomed Church
of God be saved to sin no more. I believe a lot of folks here
tonight can say with simian, Lord, it's all right. It's all right. I'm not afraid. Now, according to Your Word,
when it pleases You, You let me depart. Depart in peace. I've seen Thy salvation. I've
seen Him. And I'm happy with Him. And I
rejoice in Him. And I'm content in Him. And I've
embraced Him with faith, hope, and love. Alright, Mike, come
lead us in a closing here.

When Is a Person Ready to Die?

What does the Bible say about being ready to die?

Why is it important for Christians to see Christ before dying?

How do we know that a person is truly ready to die?

Why is faith in Christ essential for facing judgment?

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When Is a Person Ready to Die?

What does the Bible say about being ready to die?

Why is it important for Christians to see Christ before dying?

How do we know that a person is truly ready to die?

Why is faith in Christ essential for facing judgment?

Sermon Transcript

About Henry Mahan

Comments

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