APPOINTED ONCE TO DIE
Heb. 9:27
INTRODUCTION
A. HUMOR: 4 actual tombstones
1. When voiceover artist Mel Blanc, who was the voice behind Bugs Bunny, Woody Woodpecker, Daffy Duck, Porky Pig, Tweety Pie, Sylvester, and many other popular cartoon characters, died in 1989, his family put the Looney Tunes’ ubiquitous sign-off, “The-the-the-that’s all folks.” Blanc had done that too!
2. Comedian Rodney Dangerfield who died in 2004 was famous for his role in the film Caddyshack, but also for his deprecating humor. His tombstone reads, “There Goes The Neighborhood.”
3. John Denby was a dentist. When John, born in 1870, passed away in 1927, his tombstone was inscribed with the phrase: “I’m filling my last cavity.”
4. Then there’s this cheeky tombstone is in Ruidoso, New Mexico; “Here lies John Yeast. Pardon me for not rising.”
B. THESIS
1. There’s an alternative explanation of death that is being taught throughout the culture of the US, very subtly. It has replaced the Christian worldview until 43% of Americans and even one-quarter (25%) of U.S. Christians also hold to this heathenistic doctrine, and I’m not talking about Atheism.
2. What is this teaching? It’s that, after death, at some time in the future, our soul or consciousness will come back to earth and we will live as another person. Many people say “déjà vu,” meaning, “I’ve been here before.”
3. So we’re going to see what the Bible says about this.
C. TEXT & THESIS
1. “And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment,” Heb. 9:27.
2. We’re looking at the myth of reincarnation, its practical effect on godliness, and three things Heb. 9:27 tells us to correct this error.
3. The title is, “Appointed Once to Die.”
I. A MODERN DEPARTURE FROM TRUTH
A. THE RISE OF REINCARNATION
1. Reincarnation is the belief that the personal soul or consciousness survives death and is later reincarnated or reborn into another body. Some form of this is taught by Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, Sikhism, and Wicca.
2. The most popular version – the Hindu one – teaches that we are rewarded or punished according to how we lived our lives, being born upward or downward in the chain of creatures, accordingly.
3. You ask, “Where is this coming from?” Reincarnation is taught as a religion, through movies (Star Wars – “the Force be with you” (the god of reincarnation karma is a force); “P.S. I Love You” where a wife starts receiving letters from deceased husband), in music (Beatles, etc.), and is implied by evolutionary teaching, which explains the longevity of the universe by saying it dies & is reborn (stars, etc.). But with young people, the largest influence is Anime, which are cartoon movies and games with origins in the far East. 43% of 18-25 year-olds now believe this.
4. This doctrine teaches that we will get endless chances/lives to make our wrongs right. Yes, we may suffer a little more in the next life, but why care. It teaches that there’s no personal God we’ll face at life’s end and give an account to. It removes the consequences of our sins from us. It has no Savior, for none is necessary: you must save yourself by suffering in future life-times until you decide to be good. Then you will get better & better until you blend in with the ultimate good force (not person), Brahman. A false vision!
B. HISTORY LESSON: SELF-IMPROVEMENT TO PERFECTION NEVER WORKS
1. During the 1600-1800s, there was the period of Enlightenment. With learning, medicine, and science pushing mankind upward – and since we were evolving upwards as a species – it just made sense that we would become better & better humans until we formed a utopia, with no crime, violence, or war. This belief dominated the European countries.
2. Then came the French Revolution with its blood lust & beheadings, WW1 & WW2 – where we poison- gassed each other and dropped atomic bombs that could destroy the whole world, and then totalitarian governments (Communism) took over, enslaving 1/3 of the planet.
3. These developments showed the utter bankruptcy of human nature. We are NOT getting better! We will never get better by ourselves. We have fallen, broken natures and there is only one hope – salvation & transformation through Jesus Christ!
4. This same truth can be applied to reincarnation. It’s a childish myth that we selfish, violent creatures will ever evolve, by our own efforts, into perfection. The sinful nature will always reassert itself; the devil will always tempt us; circumstances will always frustrate our efforts. The only real hope of change is the Living God! (see Romans 7:21-25).
C. ILLUS.: MORE TIME DOESN’T HELP
1. It reminds me of the evolutionist who said that all the creatures just assembled themselves by chance over time. He said, “The more complicated the creature, the more time it took.”
2. Someone said, “Let’s go up in a plane with all the parts of a car and drop them out at 10,000 feet and see if they assembly themselves into a car.” They didn’t. The evolutionist squirmed – “We just need more time.” “Okay, then we’ll drop the parts out at 40,000 feet.”
3. How many of you believe more time assembled the 30,000 parts, accidentally, into a car? No.
4. Nor can more lifetimes make us better people! When humans lived the longest (over 900 years), all of them but 8 people became corrupt and God had to drown them all in a flood.
II. THE 3 MEANINGS OF HEBREWS 9:27
A. WE HAVE AN APPOINTMENT
1. Appointment (defined): An arrangement to do something or meet someone at a particular time and place. We have an appointment. But this appointment is a bit different. You see, with an appointment with your doctor, you can cancel it. But this appointment CAN’T be cancelled!
2. It’s carved in stone. It will occur right on time. There is an hour, there is a day, there is a place where we will face an inevitable rendezvous with death.
3. We think we’re in charge of history, but we’re NOT. God is in charge! Did God consult you when He set up the universe? Did He give you a vote? Did He address the Congress or the U.N. about how it would be done? No, He simply made all the decisions because HE is in charge!
4. God makes all the decisions about us too. “God determines the times set for us & the exact places where we will should live so that we will seek Him....” God determined who our parents would be, the color of our skin, our hair, our eyes, what century we would be born in and what location.
5. God also determined how many days we would live, and when it’s over, that’s it.
B. ONCE TO DIE
1. “It is appointed unto men once to die” and only once. This is a truism, a universal rule. [Of course there were a few people resuscitated in the Bible, like Lazarus, but they never got resurrected bodies.] If there are multiple lives (like reincarnation), then it doesn’t matter how we live this one.
2. But the Bible says we’re only born once, live on earth once, die but once, will be judged but once, and receive our reward or punishment once.
3. Someone said, “Tis only one life, t’will soon be passed, and only what’s done for Christ will last.” That’s why we must be careful with our lives; this is our only shot!
C. THEN COMES THE JUDGMENT “And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment,” Heb. 9:27.
1. God has appointed a Man, a great Judge, and “He has given proof of that appointment by raising Him from the dead,” Acts 17:31. We shall all stand in the presence of Christ, to be judged.
2. According 1 Cor. 3:15 some of us shall be “saved as if by fire.” If we build with “wood, hay, and stubble” (selfishly), it will be burned up.
3. But if we build with obedience to God, it will be like “gold, silver, and precious stones” 1 Cor. 3:12. Paul said that in the day of fiery testing it won’t be destroyed. But the day of judgment will test every man’s work, of what sort it is.
4. Are we living like that day is coming?
CONCLUSION
A. ILLUS
1. In Bosrah, Jordan, a servant came to his master saying, “Lend me your horse that I may flee to Baghdad, for I met Death on the streets this morning, and he looked at me.”
2. And the master, out of the goodness of his heart, gave to his servant his finest steed that his servant might flee from the face of Death to Baghdad.
3. That afternoon the master met Death on the street of Bosrah. And the master said to Death, “What do you mean by frightening my servant?” And Death replied, “Sir, I did not mean to frighten him. I was merely surprised to see him here in Bosrah, for I have an appointment with him tomorrow in Baghdad!”
4. We all have an appointment and we must be ready.
B. THE CALL
1. Albert Ryder painted a picture entitled, “The Race of Death.” It pictures a racetrack where many of the human race are depicted as riding horses, trying to reach the finish line. But one of the riders is Death—dressed as a hooded skeleton with a scythe in his hand. The artist placed him ahead of all his competitors – because he will always win the race!
2. “And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment,” Heb. 9:27.
3. “He who covers his sins will not prosper, but whoever confesses and forsakes them will have mercy” Prov. 28:13.
4. Let’s repent and get our sins under the blood of Jesus. I want God’s mercy, don’t you? PRAYER.
