Place: I.Hall 13:7:97 Reading: Isaiah 38: 1-22 ARE YOU READY TO DIE? On Thursday 10th June 1993 I stood in the Intensive Care Unit of the Royal Victoria Hospital, beside the bed of a dying friend. I watched him as he battled with leukaemia. I held his hand and prayed with him and for him. Later that day I received a phone call to tell me that Ronnie had slipped home to glory. Two days later I preached at his funeral service. How did he die? With his hope: his confidence: and his trust firmly fixed in Christ? A few months later I was in the same Hospital. The date was Tuesday 26th October 1993. The time was 5.00am in the morning. And in the quietness of that morning hour I spoke to one who had nurtured me from a baby in the things of God. I listened intently as he said, " Don't worry I'm going home to see the Lord." How did Jack Lyle die? With his hope: his confidence and his trust firmly fixed in Christ? Just last Sunday evening the phone rang in our home, to inform me of another death. A man who had stood shoulder to shoulder with me in the work of the Gospel for 12 years had been visiting the old run down farmstead in which he was reared. He did not come home. A coronary finished his life. How did John die? With his hope: confidence: and his trust firmly fixed in Christ? Tell me: are you prepared for death? How will you die? In Christ or without Christ? With hope or without hope? Moving towards Heaven or Hell? Ill: Some 15 years before Gandhi's death he wrote: " I must tell you in all humility that Hinduism, as I know it entirely satisfies my soul and fills my whole being." Just before his death he wrote, " My days are numbered. I am not likely to live very long... for the first time in fifty years I find myself in the slough of despond. All about me is darkness. I am praying for light." What a contrast to the way D.L.Moody the American Evangelist died. For a few hours before entering Heaven D.L.Moody caught a glimpse of the Glory awaiting him. He said, " Earth is receding: Heaven is opening: God is calling. I must go. This is my triumph. This is my coronation day. It is glorious." My... are you ready to die? Have you made preparation for death and for eternity? Or is your attitude the attitude of so many today, " The end I don't think about that, I'll take my chance?" The words that I want to share with you this... were originally given by God to godly King Hezekiah. For in the midst of his very serious illness he heard this warning from God, " Thus saith the Lord, Set thine house in order for thou shalt die, and not live." ( 38:1 ) Is your house in order? Are all your affairs material: spiritual: eternal settled? Are you ready to die? I want you to notice here:
(1) A REALITY WE CANNOT DENY " Set thine house in order for thou shalt die and not live." ( 38:2 ) The reality of death is obvious to us in THE WORD: Do you recall that after he had sinned God said to Adam " For dust thou art and unto dust shlat thou return." ( Gen 3:19 ) The writer of Ecclesiastes reminds that " to every thing there is a season... a time to be born and a time to die." ( 2:1) Paul tells us that that " we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out." ( 1 Tim 6:17 ) And in that classic statement in ( Heb 9:27 ) we read " And is appointed unto men once to die... " My... the reality of death is obvious to us in THE WORLD: For there is nothing more certain about life than the fact of death. Are we not reminded of this fact by the obituary notices placed in our newspapers? By the spectacle of funerals passing silently along our streets? By the unexpected departure of our friends? You see the sentence of death has passed upon all men. Here is (1) " For thou shalt die and not live." Notice: (a) THE CERTAINTY OF IT: " Thou shalt die." ( 38:1 ) The only exception to death is if Christ comes first, but if He does not come first you will die. Death may be long delayed but it will surely come. It will come to you and me as it has come to millions of others. It is sure: it is certain: it is inevitable. It may come as a thief in the night or it may approach after ample warning. It may come early in life or after years of happiness, but come it must. The only to escape death is never to be born. " Thou shalt die." Now the number of deaths may fluctuate widely from one year to the next. But let me give you a rough estimate of the annual deaths in the world. Sixty million or about two every second. Think of it: 120 die every minute: 7,200 die every hour: 172,800 die every day. Let me give you another statistic, " One out of one people die." Did you get that? " One out of one people die." My... these are the facts? Death is a REALITY! Ask the young wife who has lost her husband at war if death is a reality? Ask the mother whose son will not be coming home from work if death is a reality? Ask the little children scattered over this province of ours whose father has been gunned down by terrorists if death is a reality. Think of it again. 2 die every second: 120 die every minute: 7200 die every hour. One out of one people die. Have you grasp that fact? Will you allow this CERTAINTY to penetrate your soul? (a) (b) THE INDIVIDUALITY OF IT: " Set thine house in order for thou shalt die." ( 32:1) Now Hezekiah was a GODLY King. Of him it was said, there " was none like him among all the kings of Judah, nor any that were before him." ( 2 Kings
18:5 ) It was this King that instituted sweeping reforms throughout the land of Judah. He was a godly King but that did not prevent death from knocking at his door. Hezekiah was a YOUNG King. He came to the throne when he was 25 years of age and he reigned for 29 years in Jerusalem. ( 2 Kings 18:2 ) He passed through this time of serious illness when he was 39 years of age and he died when he was 54. Do you know something? Death is no respector of PERSONS: Rich and poor: Prince and pauper: Learned and illiterate death comes to all. Death is no respector of AGE: My... I have stood at a graveside and watched a broken-father lower the precious remains of his little one into the grave. I have been there when children have sobbed their hearts out as a young mother has been snatched from them. My... do you recognise that death is no respector of persons? That death is no respector of age? My... your appointed time has not come yet but its somewhere on the Divine timetable, the time: the place: the circumstances. Listen to this word from God, " For THOU shalt die and not live." (a) (b) But notice: (c) THE SOLEMNITY OF IT: " For thou shalt DIE and not live." ( 32:1 ) The Bible speaks of three kinds of death. It speaks of SPIRITUAL DEATH: thats the seperation of the soul from God: ( Eph 2:1 ) it speaks of PHYSICAL DEATH: thats the seperation of the soul from the body: ( Gen 3:19 ) it speaks of ETERNAL DEATH: thats the seperation of the soul and body from God in hell forever. ( Rev 21:8 14:11 ) Now listen: as death leaves men so judgement will find them. My... there is no chance of being saved after death for there is a permanence of destiny beyond the grave. ( Lk 16:26 Jn 8:21 ) After death all are eternally secure, the saved in heaven, the unsaved in hell. You see death is a journey which we shall travel only once. ( Heb 9:27 ) " Set... shalt die and not live." (1) My... have you faced up to this reality? Have you pondered the fact that within a few short years you will be in eternity? In Heaven or in Hell? In Glory or Gloom? But there is something else. For notice: (2) A REACTION WE CANNOT DISMISS Look at ( 38:4 ) and notice the words " And Hezekiah wept sore." Was the King afraid to die? One thing is certain he clung tenaciously to life. Its very interesting to notice that Satan in the Book of Job describes man's clinging to life like this, " Skin for skin, yea, all that a man hath will he give for his life." ( Job 2:4 ) My... we are challenged by the questions " Can you die? Can you die now? You see there is in each one of us that natural fear of death and dying. We love life. We passionately cling to life. We shrink back from putting our foot down into the cold stream of death. You see: (a) FEAR IS OFTEN PRESENT IN GOOD MEN: And Hezekiah was a good man. His Faith in God:
( 2 Kings 18:5 ) His Walk with God: ( 32:3 ) and His Acts for God: ( 32:3 ) are all marked and noted. Was this good man then afraid to die? Why was Hezekiah fearful? Was it because that even for a saint like him death is an event of unutterable solemnity? Was it because that Hezekiah being an OT saint had not that clear view of the future that we have? ( 38:18 2 Tim 1:10 ) Or was Hezekiah fearful because his kingdom was threatened by a powerful enemy and he thought he was indispensable? Or perhaps it was the fact that even at this very time he had no child and therefore no heir to the throne ( 1 Kings 2:4 2 Kings 21:1 ) Whether it was one or all these reasons one thing is sure. Hezekiah shrunk back from death! Christian... would you like to face death without fear and dread? Then there is only one answer and that is to have such a consciousness of the Lord's presence with you that you " fear no evil." Is that not what David said? " Yea though I walk... for Thou art with me." ( Ps 23:4 ) Think about it my Christian... you won't have to cross Jordan alone: you won't have to die alone. We will know what Christ meant when He said, " I will never leave thee... forsake thee." Yes, (a) and: (b) FEAR IS OFTEN PRESENT IN GODLESS MEN: Ill: Svetlana Stalin described her fathers death like this. " My father died a difficult and terrible death... at what seemed the last moment he suddenly opened his eyes and cast a glance over everyone in the room. It was a terrible glance, insane or perhaps angry and full of fear of death." My... are you unsaved? Then you should fear death. For you will face it without Christ: without hope: and without God! Ill: On a warm Thursday afternoon in October 1958 over a 100 men went down to work in a mine in Springhill, Nova Scotia. That day an earth tremor occurred 12,000 feet down. Seventy five men were killed immediately and about 20 more were trapped in the pit. Twelve of these managed to get together to face what seemed certain death. They had all various injuries. By Saturday evening their water supply was exhausted and their only remaining lamp went out and plunged the 12 men into total darkness. One of the men, was a believer by the name of Caleb Rushton. And in the darkness facing death he sang to them the hymn " The Stranger of Galilee." On Sunday morning Caleb brought the dial of his watch close to his face. " Its going on 7. They'll be getting ready for church soon," he said. Without another word those men began praying, some almost incessantly. Why? Because they were afraid to die. But God heard their cry and they were taken to fresh air and safety. What about you? Are you afraid to die? Are you fearful of death because you know that you're facing death without Christ? Because you know that death will usher you into hell itself? My... will you listen to God's voice again " Set thine house in order... and not live." (1)(2) (3) A RESPONSIBILITY WE CANNOT DEFER " Set thine house in order." or " Put your house in order." In other words " Hezekiah, in view of
the fact that you're going to die settle your affairs, do the necessary things that remain undone." " Set thine house in order." ( 38:1 ) My... we need to do that in: (a) RELATION TO TEMPORAL AFFAIRS: Here was Hezekiah directed to give command concerning his house. His wishes respecting the succession to the throne. In other words his affairs were to be so kept that when he was called from this scene of time there would be no difficulty or problem. My... have you set your house in order relative to temporal matters? Do you recall Paul's words to Timothy, " But if any provide not for his own and specially for those of his own house, he hath denied the faith and, is worse than an infidel." ( 1 Tim 5:8 ) Now listen: temporal matters distract the mind from spiritual realities, and if they are not arranged until the last moment, the result too often is that to " the mercy of a moment," are left the vast issues of eternity! My... " Set thine house in order." It will not hasten death. It will save expense. It will secure the rights of all. It will prevent family disputes. It will relieve the mind. Above all, it will leave the mind free to attend to the soul. Ill: Someone has said: " When you come to die, make sure that is all you have to do." (a) (b) RELATION TO ETERNAL AFFAIRS: Of Hezekiah it was said, " He trusted in the Lord God of Israel." ( 2 Kings 18:2 ) What about you? " Set thine house in order." My... do it: (1) PERSONALLY: Tell me: have you settled affairs concerning your soul: your destiny: your eternity? I tell you, you cannot leave this to a preacher. You yourself must apply to Christ who can settle all in order for you, for this very purpose He came into this world. Do you recall what the Saviour said concerning His mission? " The Son of Man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister and to give his life a ransom for many." ( Mk 10:45 ) And my... on Calvary's Cross Christ settled something. He settled the sin question in its totality and for eternity and this... " There's a way back to God... " " Set thine house in order." ( 1 ) Do it: (2) BIBLICALLY: How can I settle my affairs? How can I settle this matter of my sin: my soul: my eternity? My... by Realising that you are a Sinner: by Recognising that God loves you: by Repenting of your sin: by Receiving Christ as your personal Saviour! Have you set your house in order Biblically? Have you said with the hymn-writer " Not the labour of my hands, Could fulfil Thy laws demands Could my zeal no respite know, Could my tears for ever flow,
All for sin could not atone, Thou must save and Thou alone." (3) URGENTLY: For the problem with death is that you and I do not know when we are going to die. My... we live a step at a time. David said, " There is but a step between me and death." ( 1 Sam 20:3 ) The old man: the young mother: the little child may drop his toys to grapple with the iron strength of death. I must preach as a " dying man to dying men," because I do not know, this may be the last sermon I will ever preach, and this may the last sermon you will ever hear. Tell me: when the news goes round that you have " gone," what will be your destination? Will you be in Heaven with Christ or Hell without Him? My... time is short: death is real: eternity is beckoning! " Thus saith the Lord, Set thine house in order... and not die." (1) (2) (3) Ill: Three centuries ago a story went around about a students visit to Thomas Goodwin the Puritan President of Magdalen College Oxford. In the dark study Goodwin opened the conversation by asking his young visitor a very important question. He said, " Young man are you ready to die?" My... what about you? Are you ready to die? " Set thine house... not live."