Will You Die Tonight?

I'm reading to you from God's
Word, the book of Luke, chapter 12, verse 20. My subject today
is a question. Will you die tonight? Will you
die tonight? And I'm reading from Luke 12,
verse 20, in which the Lord Jesus, in a parable concerning the rich
man, had this to say. God said unto him, thou fool,
this night thy soul shall be required of thee, and then who
shall these things be which thou hast provided?' Now, I've been
preaching the gospel for about thirty years, a little over thirty
years, and in the providence of God, many people have heard
me preach and died within twenty-four hours. They've heard me preach
the gospel and then within 24 hours they were standing in the
presence of Almighty God. I remember preaching a message
in Grand Rapids, Michigan, back several years ago, one Sunday
night. I preached that morning and also
conducted an afternoon service and preached an evening message.
And one of the deacons of the church asked me to go home with
him and have a cup of coffee and some cake, and he had his
mother with him and his wife and his children, We went by
his mother's house to let her off before we went on over to
have coffee and cake, and he invited her to go with us. He
said, Mother, come along with us and let's fellowship with
the preacher a little while and have some coffee and cake. She
said, No, I've enjoyed the messages so much today, I believe I'll
just go in the house and read the text again and meditate on
the things God has shown me. Well, the next morning This man
called his mother, and she didn't answer the phone, and he sent
his wife over to see about her. And his wife found her lying
on the floor where she had turned on the light and dropped her
Bible and fell over dead. She walked in the house and turned
on the light and went to be with God. I was preaching down in
Owensboro, Kentucky in a revival meeting several years ago, and
a man came to hear me one Wednesday night. After the service was
over, I was standing back by the door shaking hands, and this
gentleman came through the door. I'd never seen him before. He
lived there in Owensboro, worked in the General Electric plant.
We shook hands, and he said, I enjoyed that message very much.
And I said, well, come back and visit with us another night.
I'd be glad for you to come back to the services the rest of the
week. I'll be here through Friday night. The next day, he went
down to the basement of the plant to see about a boiler that was
had too much pressure. And as he bent over the border
to check on it, it blew up and killed him. And I could go on
giving you illustration after illustration of people who have
sat and listened to the message as you're listening to the message
right now. And within 24 hours they have gone out to meet God,
to stand in the awesome presence of a holy God. So I ask you this
question right now. Is this the last message you'll
ever hear? Is this the last sermon that you'll ever listen to? Is
this the last warning that God will ever give you? Is this the
last invitation that you'll ever hear? Will you stand tonight
in the awesome presence of a holy God? Well, let me answer the
question for you. Let me give an honest answer.
This is what all of us think. Let me answer as I would answer
and as you would answer. Will I die tonight? No. I do
not believe I will, and I don't think you believe you will. I
think all of us would have to say this if we told the truth.
I have no plans to die tonight. I'm still a young man. Oh, I
know that many of God's greatest servants have died as young men. Brainerd died when he was twenty-nine,
the great missionary to the Indians. God called him when he was only
twenty-nine years of age. Took him out of this world. And
Maxine, that great Scottish preacher, died when he was only thirty
years of age. Some of God's greatest had been
called away at a very early age. And there are thousands in the
cemetery now much younger than I or you, but we have no plans
to die tonight. And we'd say this, I'm in good
health, I'm in excellent health. Well, I had a brother, only one
brother, who was in excellent health. He was a colonel in the
army, a rugged individual, had spent almost 30 years in the
army. At 48 years of age, his heart stopped and he went to
meet God. Somebody else says, well, I have
no plans to die tonight. I have a work to do. I have people
who depend upon me. I have people who are looking
to me. Charles Haddon Spurgeon pastored one of the greatest
churches in the world. And he had an orphanage for hundreds
of children. Hundreds of children went through
that orphanage. They were dependent upon this great man. He had a
pastor's college which trained a thousand men for the ministry.
He had missionaries on the field who were looking to him for their
monthly salaries. And yet when he was only 58 years
of age, at the height of his ministry, in the middle of the
greatest work ever performed in England in the name of Jesus
Christ, God called him home. I have no plans to die tonight.
My family needs me. My friends need me. My work needs
me. I have no plans to die tonight.
I believe I have a few more years. Yes, I plan, I know I'll die
someday, preacher, but not tonight." Now, this is foolish talk. And
this is what our Lord revealed in this parable in Luke chapter
12. You take your Bible, and let's read just above what I
quoted a moment ago. Luke chapter 12, begin back up
a few verses and listen to the Lord Jesus Christ. Now listen
carefully. The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully. And he thought within himself,
saying, I'll pull down my barns, and I'll build greater barns,
and I will store all my goods, and I will say to my soul, soul,
take thine ease. Thou hast much goods laid up
for many years. Eat, drink, and be merry. And
that's when God said, thy fool, this night, this night, shalt
thou soul be required of And then who shall those things be
which you have provided? Now, doesn't this apply to you
and to me? When we talk about having many
years, when we talk about having good health, when we talk about
having security, when we talk about the world needing us and
our families needing us and our friends needing us, when we contemplate
or consider even tomorrow, James says we say we're going into
the city and do this and we're going into the city and do that.
He said you ought to say the Lord willing. I'll go into the
city and buy and sell and get gain. Boast not thyself of tomorrow,
thou knowest not what a day shall bring forth, and when we give
no consideration to the fact that we may die tonight, this
may be the last message I'll ever preach." I don't really
believe that, and you don't either, but it may be. And this may be
the last sermon you'll ever hear. Now, you don't believe that.
If you believed that, you'd be glued to that TV set. You'd have
your Bible open, and you'd follow with intense concentration every
word I said. You'd look there at me as I preached,
and you'd say, Preacher, tell me now. Tell me the truth. Tell
me what God says. Tell me what I need to know.
Tell me how to be saved. Now, this is my last sermon.
Preacher, be true to my soul. Don't take your time. singing
and take your time entertaining and take your time bragging on
your ministry, tell me about God. If you really believed that,
you'd be mighty serious, wouldn't you? Well, it may be. It may
be. Christ said that. He said that
today, tonight, thy soul shall be required of thee. Now, the
five statements that I want to look at in this Scripture, I
want to take this Scripture and look at five statements. And
I want you to remember them. I want God, the Holy Ghost, to
apply it to my heart and to yours. Five statements. The first one
is this. The man who had great wealth, to whom our Lord said,
Thou fool, this night shall thy soul be required of thee. The
first thing he said was this. Thou hast much goods. Thou hast
much goods. We put, you do and I do, too
much stock in material things. Entirely too much stock. We spend
too much of our time concerned about what we'll eat, what we'll
drink, and what we'll wear. Our Lord said this is what the
heathen seek. What shall we eat? What shall
we drink? What shall we put on? He said in verse 15, Beware of
this type of covetousness. A man's life does not consist
in the abundance of things which he possesses. A man's life does
not consist in the abundance of things he possesses, like
clothes, and food, and houses, and land, and wealth, and automobiles,
and all of these things. That's not life. Life is not
even how long you live. Top Lady lived only 38 years.
The man who wrote Rock of Ages cleft for me, he only lived 38
years, but Charles Wesley lived 81 years. They were contemporaries. They lived at the same time.
Top Lady lived 38 years, Wesley lives 81 years, but they're both
dead. My son lived 21 years, my brother lived 48 years, my
dad lived 82 years, but they're all three dead. What difference
does it make if a man lives 20 years or 40 years or 80 years? He's gone. Gene says, what is
your life? It's only a vapor. It appears
for a little while. What little while? 20 years?
80 years? It's a little while when it's
gone. Doesn't matter how long it is, it's a little while. So
your life doesn't consist in how long you live. And your life
does not consist in what you have. What shall it profit a
man if he gain the whole world and lose his soul? Belshazzar
had a kingdom. The thief had a cross. Which
is better? Which would you rather be now?
Well, when he was living, I'd rather be Belshazzar, but nobody's
dead. Belshazzar had a kingdom. The
thief had a cross. Which would you rather be? The
rich man had plenty. Lazarus had nothing. Which is
better now? They're both dead. Your life
does not consist in how much education you get either. The
Bible says we're ever learning, ever learning, ever learning,
never coming to the knowledge of the truth. Oh, I know there
are a lot of worldly men who have died with great learning
and great understanding of material things and many degrees who would
like to have been able to say with Paul, I know whom I have
believed. I am persuaded he is able to
keep that which I have committed unto him against that day." When
the time of your departure comes, and this is what Paul was talking
about, the time of my departure is at hand. What had you rather
be able to say? Well, I understood all the mysteries
of the world and I knew nothing of the kingdom of God, or I understood
the mysteries of the kingdom of God and knew not much about
the world. Your life does not consist in
how well you are known. A lot of people would give anything
in the world to be famous. They'll give up their reputation,
they'll give up their character, they'll give up their families,
they'll give up anything to be famous. To have somebody walk
up to them on the street and ask them for their autograph,
oh, that's the greatest thing that could possibly happen according
to some. But let me tell you something.
What a tragedy to be known by everyone on the earth and then
hear him say it that great day, I never knew you. I never knew
you. Had you rather be an unknown
here, known in glory, or had you rather be known here by everyone,
an unknown in glory? A man's life does not consist
in how long he lives. A turtle lives 400 years, but
he's still a turtle. It does not consist in what he
has, it does not consist in how much he knows, it does not consist
in how well he's known, and life does not consist in how high
we climb. The scripture says, he that exalteth
himself shall be abased, and he that humbles himself shall
be exalted. My friends, when the old Titanic
left these shores, on board that great vessel that was not supposed
to be able to be sunk, on board that vessel were rich and poor,
old and young, learned and ignorant, famous and unknown. On board
that ship were all classes of people. But when the notice of
the sinking of the Titanic was posted on the bulletin board
back in New York City, there were just two classes of people
listed. Saved and lost. That's all. Saved and lost. And that's the
way it is when this life is over. The grave is an awful leveler.
The grave makes all men equal. In the grave the rich man's dead,
in the grave the poor man's dead. and both are broke. In the grave
the learned man is dead and the ignorant man is dead. In the
grave the famous man goes back to the dust from which he came,
but no more rapidly than the fellow who was unknown, who had
nothing. What is your life? What is your
life? It does not consist in the things
that you have. That's what Christ is saying.
It consists in who you know. That's This is life eternal. Our Lord Jesus said, Now, Father,
he prayed in the garden of Gethsemane, Now, Father, the hours come. Glorify thy Son, that thy Son
may glorify thee. Thou hast given me power over
all flesh, that I should give eternal life to as many as thou
hast given me. And this is life. This is life eternal. This is it. That they might know
thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent.
That's life. You ask me what is life? What
does life really consist of? In knowing God and knowing Christ
the Son. Listen to what our Lord said
in John 11.25. I am the resurrection and the life. He that believeth
in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live. Whosoever liveth
and believeth in me shall never die. Here's the second statement
that I want to consider from this verse of scripture. The
rich man says, I have many goods, I have many years. I have many
years. You know, we're so quick to condemn
this man. Every one of us, you do and I do, we're so quick to
condemn this man, and yet our attitudes are no different. We're
guilty of the same thing. We have many years. You bought
a home not long ago and you set it up on a 20-year pay deal,
didn't you? How do you know you're going
to live 20 years? Some of you men have set up retirement plans
that are supposed to come to you when you're 65 and you're
just now 35. Will you be around at 65? We're
just like this, man. But our years are not in our
hands. Our years are in the hands of
God. Now, you get your Bible and turn to Job 14, verse 5. You read that whole 14th chapter
of Job, but look at verse 5. Now, listen to this. Man's days
are determined. Days are determined. The number
of his months are with God. God has appointed his bounds
he cannot pass. God says, I am the Lord, I kill,
I make alive. He has the keys of hell and death.
Life is in the hands of God who gives life and God who takes
life. Most of us live and we plan as
if we had many years left. You do and I do, I'm guilty of
the same thing. We live and plan as if we had
many years, many years, many years on this earth. Are we not
guilty of assuming something? Just like this man who was lying
on his bed at night and was thinking about all of these goods that
he had collected, and all of this wheat and corn and oats
that he had stored up, and he said, I think I'll just tear
down these barns and these over here and go build me some bigger
barns, because I've got all these goods and nowhere to put them,
and I've got a whole lot of years ahead of me. My life's just started.
But now, what's the next statement? It comes thundering from the
skies, thou fool, thou fool. Now, my friends, the man said,
I have many years, and God said, you're a fool, you're a foolish
man. The Bible describes several sorts of fools. Have you ever
looked at this? God says in Proverbs, or rather
Psalm 14.1, the fool hath said in his heart, know God for me. The man who claims to be an atheist,
an agnostic, is a fool. That's what God said. In Proverbs
10 verse 18, the man who slanders another is a fool. In Proverbs
15.5, the man who despises instruction and rebuke, who will not listen
to advice and counsel, is a fool. In Proverbs 14.9, fools make
a mock of sin. In Matthew 7.26, fools build
their houses on the sand. In Ecclesiastes 5.1, fools are
rash with their mouths in the presence of God. In Luke 11.39,
fools cleanse the outside of the body and neglect the inside,
but the greatest fool is the man who lives only for today,
who lives only for the material world, who lives only for the
luxuries and comforts of this life, and neglects his eternal
soul, and neglects his relationship with a holy God, and neglects
his interest in the saving grace of God. Thy fool. Thy fool. Why is the man a fool? God says,
because thy soul shall be required of thee this night. Thy soul
shall be required. This word is interesting here,
the word required of thee. Your soul will be required of
you. Now, the believer's soul is never
required of him. You know why? He's already committed
it to Christ. He's already given it to Christ.
The Apostle Paul said, I know whom I have believed. I am persuaded
he's able to keep that which I've already committed to him.
And whether I live tonight or whether I don't live, Christ
has my soul. It's been committed. The Lord
Jesus said, Father, into thy hands I commit my spirit. Stephen,
as they were stoning him, said, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.
It's already been committed. Receive it. God didn't require
it. He'd already received it, already
been given into his hands. But the unbeliever has kept his
soul. He has kept his soul. He has
held on to it. He has kept his soul, and his
soul has lived for sin and for selfish purposes and for the
things of this world, and now God says, turn it loose. Turn
it loose. I require your soul of you right
now. You've got to leave all this
behind that you've lived for and that you've acquired and
that you've given yourself to. You've got to give it up. You've
got to turn it loose. Turn loose now and go to meet
God. God required his soul. He took
it away from him. That's what our Lord's talking
about when he said, he that loseth his life, your life is your soul. He that gives it up, he who surrenders
it, he who submits to Christ. I submit my soul to Christ. I
submit all that I am and all that I have to Christ. I give
it up. Lord, it's yours. Now, if you want to let me live
here 20 more years, fine. If you want to take me tonight,
that's fine, too, because I'm yours. But the unsaved man, he
that saveth his life, keepeth his life, holds on to his life,
refuses to let it go, refuses to submit to God, one day God
will say, turn it loose. God will say, turn it loose.
I require your soul right now. Right now. And it's too late
to cry for mercy, and it's too late to seek peace, and it's
too late to cry for God's grace, and it's too late to try to make
matters right between you and the Holy God, it's all over.
I require your soul, I take it away from you, and that's mine. And then the last statement,
soul. Our Lord said soul. Now the rich man says, I got
many years, and I've got much goods, and God said, you're a
fool, you're a fool. I'm going to require your soul
of you tonight, give it up, turn it loose, let's go. The master's
come and he's calling for you. And so is he, so is he what? So is he a fool that layeth up
treasure for himself and is not rich toward God. So is he. Now that means me, and that means
you, and that means anybody that's listening to my voice, anybody
who reads these words. That man who layeth up treasure
for himself, no matter how he gets it, whether he gets it honestly
or dishonestly, whether he gets it in the world of materialism
or the world of religion. No matter how he lays up for
himself treasures on this earth, that man is a fool who is not
rich toward God. Now what is this rich toward
God? What does it mean? Well, it's
not this idea of sending up your tithes and offerings to build
your mansion. That's not rich toward God, and
that's not what we're talking about. That's not what it's all
about. Here it is. Here's the riches of God. Now
I want you to watch this and take your Bible and turn first
of all to Ephesians 2 verse 4. What is it to be rich toward
God? First of all, it's to partake of. It's to enter into. It is to enjoy the riches of
his mercy. That's right, that's what he
says here. But God, who is rich in mercy, rich in mercy, for
his great love, wherewith he loved us even when we were dead
in sin, hath quickened us with Christ. He's rich in mercy. And
I tell you, when I partake of his mercy, when I fall down at
his feet as a guilty sinner, And as I plead like the publican
in the temple, Lord, be merciful to me. As I plead like the woman
with the sick daughter, Lord, have mercy on me. As I plead
with the thief on the cross, Lord, remember me. When I receive
that mercy, I'm rich toward God. I'm rich. And then here's another
riches. And as I say, it's not sending
up things to build your mansion in heaven. That's not riches
toward God. Riches towards God is to be rich in his mercy, and
secondly, it's to partake of the riches of his grace. Ephesians
2.7, listen, that in the ages to come he might show the exceeding
riches of his grace. Not the riches of my works and
the riches of my sermons and the riches of my righteousness.
That's all filthy rags in God's sight. That's nothing to show
off. God's going to show in glory, in me, the riches of his grace. in his kindness toward us in
Christ Jesus. Let me give you a little definition.
Grace and mercy. Rich in grace and rich in mercy.
Grace is God giving us what we don't deserve. And mercy is God
not giving us what we do deserve. I'm rich. I'm rich in his mercy
and I'm rich in his grace. But I read on. In Ephesians 3.16,
it's not only to partake of the riches of his mercy, and the
riches of his grace is to partake of the riches of his glory."
Ephesians 3.16, that he would grant unto you the riches of
his glory. Watch it now. What is that? That
Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith. I'll tell you the man
in whose heart the Lord Jesus lives. Christ in his grace and
Christ in his mercy and Christ in his power And Christ in his
love, that man in whose heart Christ lives, is the world's
richest man. He's the richest man in the universe.
He has the unspeakable gift. He has the pearl of great price.
He has the riches of glory. He has Christ in his heart. That's
glory. Christ in you. That's the hope
of glory. Not my name on a church roll,
not out trying to keep the law and do the best I can, but Christ
living in my heart. That's rich toward God. That's
all the riches you can have. When you have Christ, you have
all that God has, the riches of his glory. And then one more,
and I close. What is it to be rich toward
God? It's to partake of his mercy in Christ, his precious blood,
his grace for the guilty, the riches of his glory, and then
the riches of assurance. Colossians 2 verse 2, the riches
of full assurance. But to be able to say, the Lord
is my shepherd, I shall not walk. He maketh me to lie down in green
pastures, he leadeth me beside the still waters, he restoreth
my soul. He leadeth me in pairs of righteousness for his name's
sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I fear no evil, for thou art with me. To be able to say that,
to have the riches of full assurance, Christ in you, the hope of glory. Will you die tonight? If you're
in Christ, it doesn't matter, does it? But if you're not in
Christ, it matters a great deal. If you'd like to have this message
on cassette tape that's available, you write to me. The address
will be given to you by the announcer. The tapes cost three dollars.
There are two messages on each tape, the message I'm preaching
today and the message I'll preach on this station next week. Write
to me. Be glad to hear from you. So next week I bid you a very
pleasant good day.

Will You Die Tonight?

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Will You Die Tonight?

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