If I Knew I Only Had 30 Days To Live

If I Knew I Had Only Thirty Days To Live

Chris Sligh

September 30, 2007

TEXT: Kings 20:1 – “In those days was Hezekiah sick unto death. And the prophet Isaiah the son of Amoz came to him, and said unto him, Thus saith the LORD, Set thine house in order; for thou shalt die, and not live.”

INTRODUCTION

Illus. – of when doctor told me I only had six weeks to live! That was in 1979, so obviously the doctor was off by a few years. Three words stand out to me as I think back on that time:

--Shock

--Fear – I had no fear of dying, but I did fear suffering

--Evaluation – of my life, of what was important in life, of my marriage, of my priorities

Our passage tells us that King Hezekiah became sick. It tells us that Isaiah came to him and told him that he was going to die. Imagine what must have gone through his mind. (EXPAND) Isaiah told Hezekiah to set his house in order.

Suppose you, like Hezekiah, knew that you only had a certain number of days to live. What would you do? (EXPAND)

My message today is titled, “If I Knew I Had 30 Days to Live.”

(PICK AND CHOOSE POINTS TO FIT THE NEED OF THE HOUR.)

I. IF I KNEW I ONLY HAD THIRTY DAYS LEFT TO LIVE I WOULD WANT TO MAKE SURE THAT I WAS SAVED, ON MY WAY TO HEAVEN, WITH MY SINS FULLY FORGIVEN.

1. Being saved is having a RELATIONSHIP with a person—Jesus Christ

John 1:12 – “But as many as received him, tho them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name.”

It’s not being religious. I’ve often said that one of the most dangerous things in the world is religion. Many wars have been started in the name of religion.

True Christianity, the Christianity found in the Bible, is not religion at all. It’s a personal relationship with a person.

READ AND EXPAND AS LED ON Philippian 3:4-10

2. Second, note that being saved is, in a sense, choosing a ROAD.

If you are on a road, it is possible to go in the wrong direction.

Illus. of going to a missions conference in Mannheim some years ago. When I was through at the conference, I got back on the Autobahn to go home. But after about a half hour I noticed that nothing looked familiar. By this time I should have been just north of Heilbronn, but instead I was seeing signs for Saarbruken.

I took a quick reckoning of where the sun was and suddenly realized I was going in the OPPOSITE direction of where I thought I was headed. Somehow, I had inadvertently gotten on the wrong Autobahn, heading in the wrong direction.

Note:

--I was very sincere.

--I was really enjoying the ride.

--BUT I was on the WRONG ROAD and I ended up at the WRONG DESTINATION!

(APPLICATION)

Jesus says in John 14:6 – “I am the way the truth and the life. No man cometh unto the Father, but by me.”

Here Jesus states unequivocally that there is no other way to heaven except through HIM.

--The road to heaven is NOT the road of church membership.

--It’s NOT the road of good works.

--It’s NOT the road of baptism.

--It’s NOT the road of religion or a certain church or a certain denomination.

But only through Jesus and what HE did on the cross.

3. Third, consider this: Being saved is believing a RECORD.

Many people are searching for an experience. You can have some kind of spiritual experience and still go straight to hell. The question is not have you had some kind of spooky, mystical experience, but have you followed what God has told you to be saved?

Note 1 John 5:10-13 – “He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself: he that believeth not God hath made him a liar; because he believeth not the record that God gave of his Son. 11 And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. 12 He that hath the Son hath life; [and] he that hath not the Son of God hath not life. 13 These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.” (EXPAND AS LED)

II. IF I KNEW I ONLY HAD THIRTY DAYS LEFT TO LIVE I WOULD WANT TO KNOW THAT I WAS RIGHT WITH GOD.

There are two Sauls mentioned in the Bible, and they are an interesting study in contrasts. Both of them were saved, but one lived his life in disobedience to God, and the other lived a life of surrender and service to God.