Life’s Greatest Deadline
Hebrews 9:27
Introduction
We all live under the pressure of having to meet deadlines. We have the pressure of paying our bills by no later than the due date in order to avoid an additional financial penalty. We have the pressure of buying or renewing our car tags on time in order to avoid an expensive ticket by one our fine state troopers. And we all have the pressure of filing and paying our taxes on time in order to avoid the knock of our friendly I.R. S. agent on our door with papers seizing our possessions.
I could go on and on telling you more deadlines we each face every day of our life. The truth is deadlines are just a part of life. But today I want to talk with you about life’s greatest deadline we all face. The Bible says: … man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment…
In fact, this deadline is so important; I want every one of us to see it with your own eyes from God’s Word.
Read Scripture: Hebrews 9:27
I. We All know of life’s greatest deadline but only a few are ready when the deadline arrives.
Ecclesiastes 9:5 “For the living know that they will die…”
Matthew 7:14 “But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.”
The passage of Scripture from Ecclesiastes tells me that there is not a single boy, girl, man or woman in this room tonight, who having their right senses, doesn’t know that one day they will face death. So 100% of us know that we are going to face death.
Then I am a little confused by the second Scripture. One hundred percent of the people know about the deadline and yet I am told in this Scripture by Jesus Himself that only a few are prepared for when the deadline arrives.
So here is the picture. There is a deadline. The greatest of all deadlines. We know how to be prepared for deadlines because life is full of deadlines that we all meet day in and day out. But for some reason the greatest deadline in the world we fail to ready for. It doesn’t make sense; and I want to know why?
II. Could it be that most people are not prepared because we don’t know the appointed time?
Hebrews 9:27 “…it is appointed…”
The electricity bill is due on a certain date of the month; my cell phone bill is due on a certain day of the month, and the water bill is due on a certain day of the month.
We know the dates that they are due. This thing called death, life greatest deadline, I know it is an appointed time but the problem is that God knows when it is but I don’t know when it is.
So I am thinking to myself; if God wants to get more people prepared for life’s greatest deadline, He is going to have to start telling us the date and time of our death. If we know the date and time it seems like more people would be prepared except…
However, as I read my Scriptures, there is a passage that makes me believe that even knowing the date and time would not change a thing.
Luke 16:27-31 “He answered, 'Then I beg you, father, send Lazarus to my father's house, for I have five brothers. Let him warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment.' "Abraham replied, 'They have Moses and the Prophets; let them listen to them.' "'No, father Abraham,' he said, 'but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.' "He said to him, 'If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.'”
If someone rising from the dead won’t get me ready for the appointed time; how would just knowing the appointed time get me ready. It wouldn’t.
III. Could it be that most people have seen and heard of the loving side of God that they can not accept the judging side of God?
Hebrews 9:27 “…but after this the judgment…”
On any Sunday afternoon in the fall, you can be watching an NFL football game and as they scan the stands you see someone hold up a John 3:16 sign. And we all know what that says:
John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”
And that is very much a side of God that we need to know. But the Bible tells us that is indeed one side of God and I am very thankful for that side of God but there is also another side of God.
Maybe we forget Genesis 7:1 where God rescued Noah and his family but then proceeded to destroy all living creatures with a flood.
Maybe we forget that God rescued righteous Lot and his family and then proceeded to rain down fire and brimstone on Sodom and Gomorrah.
Maybe we forget that God released the waves, which were held back so the Israelites could cross the Red Sea upon dry land, upon the advancing Egyptian army destroying them all.
Maybe we forget that Ananias and Sapphira died because they lied to the Holy Spirit of God.
I can see how if you don’t have the whole picture of God that you might think it is OK for the deadline to come and not be prepared because you feel that God will just love you into heaven. The only problem is that you are seriously wrong.
IV. Could it be that most people overlook this deadline because it only occurs once in their life?
Hebrews 9:27 “…for men to die once…”
My annual tax return is due only once a year and I had started filing tax returns when I was 18 so I have been prepared for that deadline 15 times.
I have owned a car since I was 18 years old and have paid my auto insurance every month since that time. I have been prepared for that deadline 180 times in my life.
Now death on the other hand, it only occurs once. What a difference between that and my car insurance. One time verses 180 times.
So even though it is my life’s greatest deadline because it only occurs once I am so busy living life- meeting the other deadlines of life- that I forget about the greatest deadline.
Let me show you two Scripture that make this exact point:
Luke 12:16-20 “And he told them this parable: "The ground of a certain rich man produced a good crop. He thought to himself, 'What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.' Then he said, 'This is what I'll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods.
And I'll say to myself, "You have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry."' "But God said to him, 'You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?”
James 4:13-14 “Now listen, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money." Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.”
Conclusion
Life’s greatest deadline requires me to ask myself life’s biggest question. Are you prepared to meet God?
Are you living your life today like life’s greatest deadline really means something to you?
