Confessions of a Church: All Die
The Psalm writer wrote: Open my eyes, that I may behold Wonderful things from Your law. As we come before a Holy God and hear his word, may we have eyes open to the wonderful and fearful things from his law. May it move us to repent and seek forgiveness, fear disobedience, and live in light of the grace we have received. This is the word of God. It is eternally true and applicable for all of life.
Ecclesiastes 9:1-10 For I have taken all this to my heart and explain it that righteous men, wise men, and their deeds are in the hand of God. Man does not know whether it will be love or hatred; anything awaits him. 2 It is the same for all. There is one fate for the righteous and for the wicked; for the good, for the clean and for the unclean; for the man who offers a sacrifice and for the one who does not sacrifice. As the good man is, so is the sinner; as the swearer is, so is the one who is afraid to swear. 3 This is an evil in all that is done under the sun, that there is one fate for all men. Furthermore, the hearts of the sons of men are full of evil and insanity is in their hearts throughout their lives. Afterwards they go to the dead. 4 For whoever is joined with all the living, there is hope; surely a live dog is better than a dead lion. 5 For the living know they will die; but the dead do not know anything, nor have they any longer a reward, for their memory is forgotten. 6 Indeed their love, their hate and their zeal have already perished, and they will no longer have a share in all that is done under the sun.7 Go then, eat your bread in happiness and drink your wine with a cheerful heart; for God has already approved your works. 8 Let your clothes be white all the time, and let not oil be lacking on your head. 9 Enjoy life with the woman whom you love all the days of your fleeting life which He has given to you under the sun; for this is your reward in life and in your toil in which you have labored under the sun. 10 Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might; for there is no activity or planning or knowledge or wisdom in Sheol where you are going.
This is the Word of the Lord.
Whether you are White,
Black,
Single,
Married,
Young,
Old,
Man,
Woman,
Boy,
Girl,
Wealthy,
Poor,
Learned,
Stupid,
Vaccinated,
Unvaccinated,
Masked,
Unmasked,
Republican,
Democrat,
Presbyterian,
Baptist,
Ordained Minister,
Lay person, or any other category you may be able to pencil yourself into, each of these and all others have a common denominator:
One day, you will die.
One day, you will experience your last heartbeat, take your last breath, lay your head down to sleep for the last time.
The last time you tucked your child into bed, may be the last.
The last time you said "goodbye" to your husband may be the final time you utter those words.
In the future you will sit down for your final meal. You will enjoy that last intimate moment with your wife.
The sound of your children giggling from the other room could be the last time you hear that, so enjoy it.
There will be a final cigar.
A final sunset.
A final birthday.
Your final moment may come quickly on the heels of worry, lust, anger, or coveting. Imagine having death usher you into the presence of God with hatred on your heart or lust filling your mind.
It is appointed once for a man to die, and then comes the judgement. Death is the great leveler. It is the doorway through which each and every one of us must one day pass.
It is the same for all. There is one fate for the righteous and for the wicked; for the good, for the clean and for the unclean; for the man who offers a sacrifice and for the one who does not sacrifice. As the good man is, so is the sinner; as the swearer is, so is the one who is afraid to swear. 3 This is an evil in all that is done under the sun, that there is one fate for all men.
On this day, Sunday September 12, 2021, 150,000 people around the globe will die and find themselves in the presence of Almighty God. They will die in ways as numerous as the sins which earn us that dismal wage. But die they will, and one day, so will you. This is our shared fate.
Death is oftentimes a painful experience. For quite a few it brings relief. It is marked by the appearance of rest for the one who is dead. Frequently those who view their loved one lying in a coffin will remark "he looks so lifelike", "she looks as if she could wake up any minute". The nice clothes, the sanitary funeral home, the pretty flowers all attempt to mask the reality that death is putrid. Death leaves a stench that no amount of scrubbing can remove. Even a whitewashed tomb cannot hide the telltale signs of death from within. Death bears fruit: rotting and stinking. This is our shared fate.
Each second we stand on the brink of eternity, yet live lives as if our days on this spinning rock will not end.
We toil, strive, waste time, and squander the precious moments God has given us. Instead of living lives of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self control:
We worry, pursue our lusts, neglect our duties to God, spouse, children, church, and neighbor.
Rather than living life to the fullest, laying hold of the abundant life which Jesus came to give those who call upon His name, we allow fear, circumstances, the evil schemes of men, other people's expectations, hellish lies, and the old sin nature to drag us around.
We are so engrossed in clinging to worldly concepts of what it means to live, that we forget that to truly live is Christ, and to die is gain.
I believe that sometimes, we like to write off a verse of Scripture like that as being overly spiritual. We equate a verse like that with the "let go and let God" sentiment. We have plans, goals, standards, and an idea of what a good life looks like, and because we are American Christians who have had a taste of liberty, the idea of identifying with Christ, all the way to the point of suffering like Him, and dying to self, seems foreign to us.
But one must die to self. Jesus said that unless one takes up his cross and follows after him, that one is not worthy to be a disciple. Just as death is an equalizer which will usher all men into the presence of God to be judged, only death to self, death to your will, leads one to a place in which one can truly live as God intended.
Abundantly.
Free from fear.
Having liberty in the face of oppression and persecution.
Full of joy, when surrounded by calamity.
It is only through dying to self and living your life in Christ that one escapes the death march of mankind from physical life to physical death: eternal torment, unceasing pain, and God's wrath poured out upon you for eternity with no relief.
The irony is, we love all our doing. We love our striving. We love feeling as if we are contributing something to our peace. We love believing that our working and toiling is how we find contentment. Without saying it, we believe that all our plans, ideas, imaginations, visions of grandeur, and plots apart from God's will, can lead us to a place of rest. But Scripture paints a different picture for us, one of surrender. Until we recognize that it is God's will which will be done, first, last, and at every point along the way, we will quickly wander into a mode of living akin to self rescue.
Without surrendering to God's will, His plan, doing things His way, we quickly, arrogantly fall into self righteousness. While it is true that God uses means to provide for His people, for instance "If a man don't work he don't eat", it is also true that we are saved by grace through faith, and must come to God as the broken, contrite tax collector who could only beat his breast and cry out "Be merciful to me, the sinner!" It was this man, the humble tax collector who made his petition known to God, who was justified in the eyes of God. "Nothing in my hands I bring, only to the cross I cling" was this man's slogan.
What is your life's slogan?
When death comes knocking, and it will, will you be able to say with the Apostle Paul "Oh death where is your sting?" Having placed all your hope, all your faith, all your trust in Christ and His finished work, depending upon the grace of God for your salvation is the only way this is possible.
Or, will you vainly trust in your own scheming, your own plans, your own course of action to deliver you on the day of trouble, the day of death? I pity you if this is your intent. You will fail. If you attempt to enter the Kingdom of Heaven apart from the finished work of Christ, you are a usurper, a traitor, a son of the devil whose only portion will be found in the lake of fire.
We will die. Therefore let us repent lest we perish without hope, and be thrust into everlasting burning.
If you are able at this time, please kneel as we confess our sins to God.
Heavenly Father,
We come before you this morning aware that a common fate awaits all mankind, the day of our death.
Father, each of us have ways and means in which we seek to hold off this dark day, and few of us seem to lay hold of the means You have provided, which is living an abundant life through Your Son.
We toil, strive, and labor, as we should, yet often forget that it is not those things which will save us. We forget that true living comes from dying to self and living for Christ.
Help us to not be fearful of fully surrendering our will, lives, and plans to You.
Please forgive us when we attempt to live our lives saying with our mouths that our faith is in Christ, while our actions show otherwise.
Please forgive us for our neglect of the means You have provided, namely prayer, the preaching of Your Word, and the fellowship of the Saints.
Help us to have humble, broken, and contrite hearts which fully surrender to You and Your will, and kill the old man within us which frequently causes us to doubt and hesitate in our submission to You.
In Jesus's name we pray,
Amen.
Please stand and listen to the comforting assurance of the grace of God, promised in the gospel to his church:
2 Corinthians 9:8-10 And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that always having all sufficiency in everything, you may have an abundance for every good deed; as it is written, “He scattered abroad, he gave to the poor, His righteousness endures forever.”Now He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness;
To all those who thus repent and seek Jesus Christ for their salvation, your sins are forgiven in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Lift up your hearts!