Death Is But A Step Away

1 SAMUEL 20:1-3 “DEATH IS BUT A STEP AWAY”

A) David now has fled from Naioth in Ramah and found Jonathan.

* David exclaimed. “What have I done? ... Why is your father so determined

to kill me?”

B) Jonathan declared, “That’s not true David ... I’m sure he’s not planning

any such thing .......”

* “For he always tells me everything he’s going to do, even little things.”

* “And I know he wouldn’t hide something like this from me – It just isn’t so.”

C) “Of course, you don’t know about it,” David said ... “Your father knows

perfectly well about our friendship, so he has said to himself .......”

* “'I’ll not tell Jonathan, why should I hurt him?”

* “But the truth of the matter is that I am only a step away from death.”

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A) This message is not going to be pleasant, but many things

in life are unpleasant.

* The Bible is filled with many unpleasant subjects ... However, no one

should ignore reality because it is unpleasant.

B) Death is not the joyous thought that ever passed through the mind,

but it is a reality.

* Ignoring it will not cause it to go away ... Evading and dodging it will

not help ... Even denying it offers no consolation.

C) Men try desperately to hide the horrible, hideous, haunting

reality of death.

* They embalm the body to keep it from stinking for a few days.

D) They fix the hair in a most lovely manner.

* They tint those lifeless cheeks with a life-like glow to keep them from

looking so ghostly pale and dead and lifeless.

E) They dress the body in the most attractive clothing as it were

a special occasion. (Dead atheist)

* They put it in a beautiful box trimmed inside with the most expensive cloth.

F) They cover those clods of dirt back up with the grass to make it

look like it’s still growing.

* Then they put flowers over the whole affair to give the appearance of life.

* And they sing songs about living to cheer up those who weep and mourn

over the loss of a loved one.

G) What an effort to camouflage reality, yet, who wants to honestly

face this truth?

* What one of you wants to admit that in a few days, or months, or years .......

* Your body will be a mass of dead, lifeless, rotten flesh, turning back to dust,

and your lovely face will be a grinning skull?

H) So, we don’t talk about it ... We try not to think about it ... We don’t

want the preacher to preach about it ... We close our minds to it .......

* We don’t want to be reminded of it, but the truth remains ... The appointment

is fixed.

* Life in this world is a one-way road ... At the end, men must keep that

appointment with the last enemy ... Death.

(1) THE BIBLE REMINDS US OF DEATH

A) If you don’t like to be reminded that death is coming, don’t read the

Bible, you’ll be miserable.

* You can hardly read a dozen pages without stumbling over the fact of death.

B) It starts right at the beginning in the Garden of Eden,

in the Book of Genesis.

* God warned Adam not to eat of the forbidden fruit – Gen. 2:17 .......

* From that reference in Genesis through the Bible, the same song is

sung over and over again.

C) Gen. 5 is a list of the generations from Adam to Noah.

* Of each man the Bible says the same thing.

* Start with v.5, v.8, v.11, v.14, v.17, v.20, v.24, v.27, v.31, 7:21-22, 9:29.

D) The Patriarchs: Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Joshua – Their

report is the same ... They gave up the ghost and died.

* Following Joshua, 13 judges ruled in Israel for 300 years.

* Many of these judges made great accomplishments, yet all of them died,

and was buried.

E) The Kings: Saul, David, Solomon, they all died and slept with

their fathers.

* Multitudes died in the Bible ... The Bible tells of millions who have died.

F) In the days of Noah, the whole human race died in the flood.

* Pharaoh’s army died in the Red Sea ... Sennacherib’s army was lying in

wait against Jerusalem during the days of Hezekiah – Isa. 37 .......

* The angel of the Lord passed through and slew 185,000 in one night.

(2) DEATH IN THE NEW TESTAMENT * You find the same song sung.

A) It begins with the most bloody, heartbreaking accounts in history.

* Herod – Matt. 2:16 “Slew all the children that were in .......”

* John the Baptist – He was beheaded for preaching against sin – Matt. 14.