Let's Talk About Dying

Let's talk about dying. Now I know that to many of us
this is not a pleasant subject, and we don't want to even think
about it, let alone talk about it. But I'd like to talk about
dying. The Word of God talks about dying.
In 2 Samuel chapter 14, verse 14, it says we must needs die.
And we are as water spilt on the ground which cannot be gathered
up again. Job wrote in chapter 7 verse
1, is there not an appointed time to man on the earth? I shall
sleep in the dust. Job wrote again in chapter 14
verse 1, man that is born of woman is a few days and full
of trouble. He cometh forth as a flower and
is cut down. he fleeth also as a shadow, and
continueth not." David wrote about it in Psalms 89, 48, what
man is he that liveth and shall not see death? Shall man deliver
his soul from the grave? Paul wrote about it in Hebrews
chapter 9, verse 27, and he said, it is appointed unto men once
to die, and after this The word of God talks about death. We
ought to talk about it. God's word talks about it. And
then the seasons and nature talk about death. Spring comes and
we see life beginning to bud. We see the little flowers begin
to poke their heads out of the ground. And we see the buds on
the trees. And then the flowers begin to
bloom on the fruit trees. And then summer comes along and
gives us the full bloom of life. There are the flowers blooming,
and there's the fruit on the trees, and there's our corn and
tomatoes and potatoes and vegetables all growing. But after a few
weeks, you begin to see spots on the leaves. What's happening?
They're dying. You begin to see brown spots
on the flowers. What's happening? They're dying.
you began to see these marks on the vegetables and the fruit,
what's happening? They're dying and then winter
comes and like it is right now, nothing out there is alive, it's
all dead. It's all dead. So the seasons
talk about death. These things wither and die.
There's death all about us. Isaiah 40 verse 6 through 8 says,
all flesh is grass and the beauty of man, the glory of man as the
flower of the field The grass withereth, the flower fadeth,
the Spirit of God bloweth upon it, but the Word of God abideth
forever. Man's not going to abide forever.
We've got to die. The seasons, nature talks about
dying. And then you've got a message
a lot closer home than even the Bible on your coffee table or
the trees out in your yard. Your body's talking about dying. your body's talking about. If
you read Ecclesiastes chapter 12, that, the first eight verses
of Ecclesiastes chapter 12, the seventh and eighth verses, man's
going to his long home and the mourners go about the streets,
but those first seven verses talk about the weary body, talk
about the failing eye, Talk about the ear not being able to hear. Talk about the graying of the
hair, the wrinkled brow, the empty chair. What's happening?
What's happening to you? You're dying. Your body is dying. Your body is delivering to you
a message. You're dying. God's Word says
it. Nature says it. The seasons say
it. And your body says you're dying. And what fools we are
not to listen. You know how Lord Jesus Christ
told a story one time about a rich young man? Young man! I guess
he was in his thirties, late twenties, but he was a wealthy
young fellow. He just had everything he needed.
In fact, he was lying on his bed one night, and he had so
much he didn't know how to use it. He was lying there thinking
about all of his barns that were every one full, and he said,
I know what I'll do. He said, I'll just tear down
these little barns and build me bigger barns, and I'll have
more room in which to bestow my goods, and I'll say to my
soul, soul, take thine ease. eat, drink, and be merry. And
God came to him that night and said, man, you're a fool. You're
a fool. This night shalt thou soul be
required of thee. And then, who shall these things
be that you've accumulated? Oh, yes, our bodies tell us we're
dying, and God's telling us we're dying. And my subject is one
upon which it is impossible to say anything new. It's all been
said. It's been said again and again
and again. But you know, the sad thing is,
the problem is, it's been said, but it hasn't been heard. Now
that's the whole problem. Death's not uncommon. Death's
not unusual. Pick up your paper in the morning.
You'll never pick up a Huntington or Ashland or Arlington paper
or Charleston paper without the name of someone being in the
obituary column. Every day. From the time Abel
died under the hand of his angry brother, every son of Adam has
died. Death's not uncommon. Death is
not unusual. Since Adam, all men have died,
but men won't listen. They won't listen. The scripture
says, he that hath ears to hear, let him hear. But who's hearing? We're saying these things. But
nobody's listening. I guess Amos put it as simply
and plainly and powerfully as it's ever been stated. Prepare
to meet thy God. Prepare to meet thy God. All
for ears to hear. All for eyes to see. All for
heart to understand. All for mind to grasp the things
that God Almighty has written. Oh, for the sense, for the spiritual
sense to set my thoughts on things above, not on the perishing,
decaying, vanishing things of this world that Solomon called
vanity of vanities, all is vanity. Let's talk about dying. And let's
not only talk about it, let's think about it. And let's not
only think about it, let's consider it. Now I'm choosing for my text
today Job 16.22. I recommend that you read it
with me. Job 16 verse 22. Job says, when a few years are
come, when a few years are come, then I shall go the way whence
I shall not return. Now there are four things suggested
here. Number one is this, the person, the certain person referred
to. He says, when a few years have
come, I shall go. I shall go. Now, we all of us
recognize that all men are mortal. We know that. There's no argument
there. I needn't spend any time on that. We know all men are
mortal. We know also that all men must die. Now, we know that,
don't we? We know that all men must go
to the grave. All men. Now, I'd get no argument
there, but we're slow to learn and slow to realize that I must
die. This is what Job was saying.
He's not saying in a few years all men must go the way from
which they shall not return. He says in a few years I shall
go. Oh, for a heart that makes personal
application of what God says. personal application. Now, I'm
acquainted with death. Most preachers are. Some more
than others. As a pastor, I have buried many
dear friends. I've been pastor of the same
church for 27 years, almost. 27 years. And in that time, I
have buried many good friends. I'm acquainted with death. As
a son, I have buried both my father and my mother. And as
a family member, I have buried my only brother. And as a father,
I have buried my 21-year-old son. I have buried many of my
close friends and loved ones. And in these experiences, God
has taught me something. He has taught me that these have
died, and he has taught me also that I must die. I must die. It's certainly true. that we
do not really believe anything till we experience it. Isn't
that right? We don't really believe anything till we experience it.
But I'll tell you this, and I speak frankly from my heart, not only
from the word of God, not only from an aging body, but I speak
from my heart. I am expecting God's summons. I'm looking for that call. I'm
listening for the day when someone says, the master's here, the
master's here. and he's calling for you. Do
you believe that could happen to you tonight? Do you really?
Do you believe that actually the Lord might come this very
day and say, the master's here and he's calling for you? You
and I ought to be brought to the place where we expect death. No, I'm not being morbid. I'm
stating truth. I'm stating fact. Actually, my
friends, it's amazing we've lived so long. Someone said one time,
it's amazing that a harp, speaking of the human body, of so many
strings, stays in tune so long. There's so many things that can
happen to this body. It's actually a masterpiece,
how wonderfully the psalmist said, I am made. But also, it's
a fragile thing. The least thing can take it away.
And it's not amazing, my friend, that we have, that men die. It's
amazing to me that men live as long as they do. There's so many
ways to die. There's so many things to call
us away. But you know, to the believer, death is gain. It's
not lost to die. It's gain. I'll lose an old body
and get a new one. I'll lose a life of sin and gain
a life of perfect holiness. I'll lose pain and gain eternal
happiness. I'll lose the prospect of death
and gain eternal life. To live is Christ, to die is
gain. Paul said, I have a desire to
depart and be with Christ, which is far better. Why do we hold
on to this valley of tears? And why are we so reluctant to
let it go? Why do we cling to this old frail, suffering, sick,
sorrowful, dying, bleeding, weeping, frail body? Why do we hang on
to it so long and so hard when God has a new body waiting on
us? Why, if this earthly tabernacle, this tent be dissolved, we have
a building, a house eternal in the heavens, not made with hands,
but made by God, that'll never weep, that'll never know sorrow,
that'll never know pain, that'll never know tears. But yet we
just hang on to this old earth and hang on to this old life
and hang on to this old body. To die is game. It's game for
the believer. And I'll tell you, if it ever
comes to the place where I expect to die and expect God to call
me, I'll begin to live. I'll begin to live with a peace
and a joy and a happiness that I never knew. When I'll quit
fearing the future and put it in the hands of the Lord, when
I'll quit fearing death and rest in Him, when I'll quit fearing
calamity and trial and just rest in Him, I'll find some happiness,
some happiness. All right, the second thing now,
we talked about that certain person, I. I shall go. Now let's talk about that certain
journey. I shall go. Man goeth to his long home. Now
listen, when the day comes for God to take me away from here,
there is no power and no force in heaven or earth or hell that
can prevent it. I shall go. That's what Job says.
In a few years, I shall go. Not I might, perhaps, I shall
go. I've heard about death, now I'm
going to experience it. That day's coming. I've heard
about the grave, now I must lie down in it. I've heard about
judgment, now I must face it. I've heard about eternity, now
I must enter it. Let me ask you to do something
right now, and I'll do it with you. I ask you to place yourself
in this position right now. The hour has come. God's determined
hour is here. The instrument of death is revealed. In just a few moments, I'm leaving
this earth. How will it fare, the prophet
said with you, in the swelling of the Jordan? If that hour was
here right this moment, some things that were important are
of no value now, and no importance. And some things that I've neglected,
some things that weren't of great importance, are now of the greatest
importance. Isn't that right? You know, when
we come to die, somebody says, well, was he old or young? Well,
what difference does it make? Somebody says, well, was he rich
or poor? Well, what difference does it make? Now, it makes a
lot of difference to people age and youth. We talk about it a
lot. It makes a lot of difference to people while they're living.
But when I come to die, what difference does it make? I know
wealth and possessions make a lot of difference to a lot of people,
but when that hour comes, naked I came into this world, naked
I shall leave. Somebody says, well, was he famous
or unknown? Well, John Kennedy's dead, and
that old tramp that died on the streets of Dallas that day down
by the waterfront, he's dead too, they're both dead. The whole
world knew one of them, and nobody but a mother knew the other one,
but they're both dead. And you know what matters now?
Well, it's not their wealth, and not their fame, and not their
strength, and not their education, and not their power. You know
the sole issue in the hour of death? Did he know the Lord? That's about the size of it.
When a man comes to die, about all that's important is this.
Did he know the living God? Did he know Christ Jesus? Are
your sins forgiven? Do you have a Redeemer? You know,
Job said that. He knew he was going to die.
And he said, I know that my Redeemer liveth, and on this earth he
shall stand. And though worms destroy this
body, yet in my flesh I'm going to see the Lord. Not another,
I myself, I'm going to see the Lord. All the fine things about
our fame and our goodness and our works and our position and
our wealth melt like the frost before the morning sun in the
hour of death. These things don't matter. All
of our great experiences and all of our knowledge that leads
us to believe that we're somebody of some great account, when we
come to die, they're of small account. Death reveals the truth
about us. Death blows away the chaff that
we thought was wheat. When a man comes to die, he looks
as a sinner to the mercy of God, and that's all he is. He may
be a rich sinner or a poor sinner. He may be an old sinner or a
young sinner. He may be an educated sinner or an ignorant sinner,
but when a man comes to die, he's just a sinner looking to
the mercy of God. That's all. He must look as the
guilty to the grace of God. Dying men want reality. Dying
men care nothing for sham professions and emotional religion and flimsy
hypocrisy and numbers in Sunday school and all these other things.
Dying men need a savior. Dying men need mercy. Dying men
need an atonement. Dying men need a ransom. Dying
men need a mediator. Dying men need a redeemer. God
doesn't need me, I need Him. I desperately need Him. And I
need him in the hour of death. Usually, usually, men die as
they live. That's right. Usually men die
as they live. If they live seeking the Lord,
they'll die seeking the Lord. If they live trusting the Lord,
they'll die trusting the Lord. If they live seeking mercy, they'll
die seeking mercy. If they live calling on God,
they'll die calling on God. And if they lived in a fellowship,
in a relationship with a living Redeemer, they'll die in that
fellowship. I shall go. I shall go. Now here's
the third thing. We've seen that certain person.
I. I shall go. We've seen that certain journey.
I shall go. In a few years, I shall go. Now
let's look at that certain hour. In a few years. May not be that
long. You know, some of us, I wonder,
I wonder, maybe myself, maybe you, but I wonder if we might
be reading this in a few days. You reckon? You reckon I'm reading
that to you today or to myself? In a few days I shall go. It could be that I'm reading
it in a few hours, but this I know, whether it be a few years or
months or weeks or days or hours, that day is determined by the
Lord. I'm not a fatalist. I believe
in a living God. I believe in an almighty God.
I don't believe in fate. I believe in God. I don't believe
in luck. I don't believe in luck. I don't believe luck has a thing
in the world to do with my life. I believe God has a whole lot
to do with it. I'm not superstitious. I think we ought to discard all
these old superstitions and all this use of the word luck here.
Lucky. Wasn't he lucky? No, sir. He
was blessed of God. God had mercy on him. I don't
believe in luck. I believe that our lives are
in the hands of a sovereign God. And the scripture says that that
day of my death is determined by my heavenly Father. In Job
14 verse 5, David said that. He said a thousand will fall
at your right side and ten thousand at your left, but it won't come
nigh you until God sees fit. But Job wrote in chapter 14 verse
5, seeing man's days are determined The number of his months are
with the Lord. Thou hast set his bounds. You
know what bounds are? Boundaries. That's as far as
you go. Thou hast set his bounds he cannot
pass. Now my friend, listen to me.
Would you listen to me a minute? Rather than upsetting me, this
gives me great comfort. The fact that God has determined
my day of death gives me great comfort. That's what makes me
happy, gives me peace in my heart. You know why? Well, here's the
reason. If I'm God's child, by faith
in Christ, by his mercy, I shall not die until God's appointed
time, which will be for his glory and for my good. Because he said,
all things work together for good to them who love God, who
are called according to his purpose. And if God has set the day of
my death, my bounds are set, the number of my months are with
the Lord, I'm his child, and the day I die will be for his
glory and my good, it will also be for the good of all concerned
in my death. That's right. I need not be concerned
for any of these things when the All-Wise Heavenly Father
has planned it for my good and His glory. Let it come. Any extension
of that time would not be for my good. If God says this day's
for my good, the next day won't be. This day is. God has planned
it, all of it, from eternity past. It's all in His hand. And
that day, whenever it is, It's but a short time off. That Job
was using the right words. He said, in a few years. Not many years, not long years,
but in a few years. So I'm saying this, if there's
a work to be done, let's do it. The night cometh when no man
can work. If there's a gospel to be preached, let's preach
it. He said, go unto all the world, preach the gospel to every
creature. Boast not thyself of tomorrow. You know not what a
day you'll bring forth. Today's a day of salvation. Now's
the accepted time. Be busy about the master's business.
Be a good steward of the grace of God. If there's a burden to
be borne, bear it. It won't be for long. If there's
a salvation to seek, and there is in Christ, seek it. Seek ye
the Lord while he may be found. Nobody in the grave is seeking
the Lord. Nobody at the judgment seeking the Lord. Nobody in hell
seeking the Lord. People who are seeking the Lord
are seeking the Lord right here on this earth. Yes, sir. Abraham
dwelt in tents, and so do we. You're living in a tent, and
I'm living in a tent. It's a frail tent. It's a falling
tent. It's a fading tent. But Abraham
looked for a city. Do you? The hour's coming, and
now is. When the dead shall hear the
voice of the Son of God, and they that hear shall live. Now
the fourth thing, and I want you to listen carefully to me.
We've seen that certain person, I shall go. We've seen that certain
journey, I shall go. We've seen that certain hour
in a few years, or months, or weeks, or days. Now that certain
realization, and he said, and I shall not come back. I shall
not come back. My friends, I shall not return
to my home. The example that I set before
my children and before my wife, if God calls me away tonight,
it's set. It's fixed. I can't change it.
The attitude that I've had around my loved ones in my home, it's
fixed. There's no changing it. The way
that I've treated my family, my loved ones, my children, my
wife. It's fixed the way I treated my parents. It's fixed. I shall not return. I shall not
return to improve on it. I shall not return to change
it. It's all over. One of these days I'm going to
walk through that door. And I'm not coming back. That's
what Job would say. I shall not return. I'm not coming
back to this home to straighten out the mess I've made, to take
back the words I've said, to undo the deeds I've done, to
change the example that I've set. It's over. It's over. You got another week? Use it
for God's glory. You got another month? You got
another year? I don't know. Maybe you have. Use it for God's
glory. Instead of being so disgruntled
and unhappy and complaining and murmuring and finding fault and
making everybody miserable, why don't you seek the Lord and find
in Him that joy and grace and new nature and love that He sheds
abroad in the hearts of those who know Him, huh? It's time
to seek the Lord. I don't mean religion. I don't
mean go down to some church this morning, walk an hour, and come
back just as ornery as you were before you went. I'm not talking
about going down and getting religion, joining the church,
and coming home just as mean as you ever were. I'm talking
about fall on your face and seek the Lord. A work of grace, a
new birth, a new nature, something only God can do for you. No preacher
can do it. Only God can do it. Most preachers
haven't experienced it themselves. How could they help you? You
need Christ. And I'll tell you this, I shall
not return to my job or my friends. The memory of me is fixed. I
should have loved and helped and understood them while I was
living. The words I should have said will never be said. The
words I should not have said will never be erased. They are
stamped indelibly on their hearts and on their minds. I'm dead
now and I can't change anything. I'm gone. I can change it right
now. By God's grace, I can change it. By God's grace, I can be
a new creature in Christ Jesus. By God's grace, the old man can
be crucified, mortified, and the new man put on the throne
by God's grace. But after I'm dead, in a few
days, in a few years, I'll go, and I'm not coming back. And
then I'm not coming back to my church. Oh boy, you can think
of a thousand reasons not to go to church, but the day's coming
when you won't be able to. You're not going to hear another
sermon, you're not going to hear another hymn, you're not going to hear
another prayer, you're not going to have another opportunity to
seek the Lord. May your prayer be at this moment, O God, help
me to be what I intended to be. O God, let me walk with Thee.
O God, let me actually begin to be what I expect to be throughout
eternity. For the day is coming when I
shall go, and I won't be coming back. You'd like to have this
message. Let's talk about death and salvations
of the Lord. You write to me. They're on cassette
tape. The cost is $3. Until next week
at the same time, I bid you a very pleasant good day.

Let's Talk About Dying

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Let's Talk About Dying

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