HOW WILL YOU DIE?
We are afraid to die, we are afraid of what happens when we die, it is our biggest fear and it is a problem. Come on let’s face it, we are scaredy cats, cowards, we are even afraid of the dark, of spiders.
Life is so short and so uncertain, a clever man can find a way out of paying taxes but one thing we can be certain of is that no-one escapes death.
James 4:14
You don't know what will happen tomorrow. What is life? You are a mist that is seen for a moment and then disappears.
Worldwide there are approximately 56600000 deaths each year, it works out to 4.7 million per month, 155000 per day, 6500 per day, 108 per minute, 1.8 per second.
Ecclesiastes 3:1-2
Everything has its own time, and there is a specific time for every activity under heaven: a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to pull out what was planted….
So does death win in the end?
Death is not the end of our lives for those who know the Lord. What is next?
Let us read 2 Corinthians 5:1-5
We know that if the life we live here on earth is ever taken down like a tent, we still have a building from God. It is an eternal house in heaven that isn't made by human hands. In our present tent-like existence we sigh, since we long to put on the house we will have in heaven. After we have put it on, we won't be naked. While we are in this tent, we sigh. We feel distressed because we don't want to take off the tent, but we do want to put on the eternal house. Then eternal life will put an end to our mortal existence. God has prepared us for this and has given us his Spirit to guarantee it.
our bodies are like tents, they wear out, they sag, they expand, they wrinkle, the teeth fall out, the arms grow weary, the bones break or become brittle, our muscles weaken, we say we are strong but a little flu bug can kill us. We get old, bodies begin to break down and eventually stop.
Now we exercise and diet, stay in shape. Well the news I have is that a part of your body dies daily. That’s right the cells of your body are actually programmed to die. It is known as Apoplosis. Before the sun goes down today between 50 and 70 billion of your cells will die, no wonder you need to lie down and take a nap, you are falling apart even while you are listening to this sermon.
Someway, somehow, someday we will die, that is guaranteed. Whoever is around at the time, your spouse, your siblings will arrange the funeral, take you to the mortuary where the undertaker will do his job. You will be dressed up, cleaned up but still dead. They will have a funeral service for you where someone will hopefully say nice words. People will remark on how they will miss you, they will sing, say a prayer then you are put six feet under.
Now while we are still alive and kicking I would like to go through four deaths that people can die. Some may die all four deaths, many will never experience any of them, you sitting here might have gone through one or maybe two.
PUZZLED? HEAR ME OUT.
The first death we get is physical, when you are returned to the earth.
1 Corinthians 15:22
As everyone dies because of Adam, so also everyone will be made alive because of Christ.
The second death we get is Eternal death- this is the opposite of eternal life, we usually call it hell.
Revelation 20:14-15
Death and hell were thrown into the fiery lake. (The fiery lake is the second death.) Those whose names were not found in the Book of Life were thrown into the fiery lake.
The third death is death in sin – the day a person sins, you die, being alienated from the life of God.
Ephesians 4:18
They can't understand because they are in the dark. They are excluded from the life that God approves of because of their ignorance and stubbornness.
Romans 7:13
Rather, my death was caused by sin so that sin would be recognized for what it is.
The fourth death is death to sin – this is death of the sinful self and back into the life of God.
Romans 6:6-7
We know that the person we used to be was crucified with him to put an end to sin in our bodies. Because of this we are no longer slaves to sin. The person who has died has been freed from sin.
SO HOW WOULD YOU LIKE TO DIE?
Let us look at how the Apostles / disciples died
- Apostle Peter was crucified upside down
- Apostle Andrew was crucified on an x-shaped cross
- Apostle Matthew was staked to the earth by spears and then beheaded
- Apostle Nathaniel was flayed to death by whip, literally torn to shreds
- Apostle Thomas was stabbed with a spear
- Apostle Philip was impaled by iron hooks in his ankles and hung upset down to die
- Apostle James (Son of Zebedee) was beheaded
- Apostle Jude was crucified
- Apostle Matthias was stoned and beheaded
- Apostle John was the only one who died a natural death of old age
- Apostle James (the less) was thrown from the top of the temple and then beaten to death
- Apostle Simon was crucified
- Judas the betrayer hung himself
- James (the brother of Jesus) was thrown of a wall and then beaten to death by clubs
- Apostle Paul was beheaded
THEY ALL PROCLAIMED JESUS UNTIL THEIR LAST BREATH
WELL I AM HAPPY to say that it is not all doom and gloom.
Death is not the end, one day we will trade in our broken bodies for a new body:
It is from God
It is not made with hands
It is eternal
It is heavenly – not earthly
No more cancer, abuse, hatred, crime, sadness, sickness, no more death.
1 Corinthians 15:20
So I ask you again….. How will you die…. in your sins
If you step out of this life without Jesus Christ, then you have sealed your own fate and eternally separated yourself from God.
Repent today, confess your sins, see your need for a savior and put your trust in Jesus. There is coming a day when no man or woman can be joined together with Jesus so why not decide this very hour.
For when He comes, it will be too late.
Amen
Let us pray…..
