Sermon #1398 Miscellaneous
Sermons
Title: “The
End Of All Men”
Text: Ecclesiastes 7:2-6
Subject: Death
and Judgment
Date: Saturday Morning – April 8, 2000[1]
Funeral
Sermon for Chloe Annabelle Peters
Floyd,
Virginia
Reading: 2
Corinthians 5:1-21
Introduction:
Ecclesiastes 7:2-6
2.
It is better to go to
the house of mourning, than to go to the house of feasting: for that is the end of all men; and the living
will lay it to his heart.
3.
Sorrow is better
than laughter: for by the sadness of the countenance the heart is made
better.
4.
The heart of the wise is
in the house of mourning; but the heart of fools is in the house of mirth.
5.
It is better to hear
the rebuke of the wise, than for a man to hear the song of fools.
6.
For as the crackling of thorns under a pot, so is the laughter of the fool: this also is vanity. (Ecclesiastes 7:2-6 AV)
This is the end of all men, you and me.
Will you lay it to heart? Mrs. Peters, your mother, your grandmother,
our mother-in-law, our friend, dearly beloved as she has been, is gone. Her
body lies here before us dead; but she is gone. There nothing I can say today
that will, in any way affect her. But I pray that God will give me your
attention, and that he will graciously speak to your heart.
Oh, may God
almighty, whose wrath we deserve, have mercy upon your soul, and give you life
and faith in Christ! I pray that God will cause you to lay to heart what you
see and hear today, for the glory of Christ and the salvation of your immortal
soul.
·
These bodies must die, decay, and rot in the ground. This
is the result of sin. Because we are all sinners, we all must die. “The wages of sin is death.” But death
does not end all.
·
After death, we must meet God (Infinitely Holy! --
Inflexibly Just! -- Inconceivably Pure! -- That great and glorious Lord God who
is a consuming fire, whom no man hath seen, nor can see!) in judgment.
Hebrews 9:27 "And as it is appointed unto men once to
die, but after this the judgment.”
We are all immortal souls. (We have
bodies. But our bodies are just tents, outward shells, temporary housings for
our immortal souls. Man is a living, undying, immortal soul.) We must spend
eternity somewhere, either in the bliss and glory of everlasting life, with God
in heaven, or in the torments of the damned, forever enduring the second death
in separation from God in hell. Will
you lay this to heart?
You may try to
convince yourself that man dies like a dog, and that is the end of things; but
you know better. In the deep recesses of your heart, in your conscience, God
has inscribed a word you cannot erase, a voice that you cannot silence,
constantly makes you uneasy. That word is – “Righteousness! --Judgment! --
Eternity!” Being the sinner you are, your conscience torments you with these
facts, and will continue to do so until you find some way to answer the demands
of God’s holy law inscribed upon your heart.
With these facts
in mind, as I watched Mrs. Peters die this week, night and day, I have been
asking myself – “Don, how will it be for you, when you are on your deathbed,
when your body is trembling, gasping for breath, when the cold sweat of death
is on your brow, when you are compelled to face the fact that soon you must
meet God?” The fact is, these are questions I ask myself, with all the honesty
my depraved heart can muster, continually. This is the calm, confident answer
of my soul…
My sin, (Oh, the
bliss of this glorious thought!)
My sin, not in
part but the whole,
Is nailed to the
cross the cross and I bear it no more!
Praise the Lord!
Praise the Lord! It is well with my soul!
Perhaps you say,
“Pastor, how can you be sure? How can you know that when you meet God in
judgment, he will smile upon you and accept you? How can you be certain that
you will die in peace?”
·
I’ve been there. I know from experience what it is to lie
on a hospital bed in the immediate prospect of death.
·
I stand before God right now in peace.
·
I know the answers to three questions every sinner’s
conscience asks. They are questions that few ever really face, questions which
very few deal with honestly, but questions which will continually haunt your
soul until they are answered satisfactorily, answered to the satisfaction of
your own conscience by God the Holy Spirit.
These three questions must be answered
before you will ever be able to live and die in peace. They can be answered
only by the Word of God. So I ask your attention for a few minutes, as I show
you what the questions are and what their answers are in the Book of God.
I.
The first question that must be answered is this – How
good do I have to be to go to heaven?
What does
God say in his Word? How good does a person have to be to be accepted of God?
Genesis 17:1 "And when Abram was ninety years old and
nine, the LORD appeared to Abram, and said unto him, I am the Almighty God; walk before me, and be thou perfect."
Leviticus 20:7 "Sanctify yourselves therefore, and be
ye holy: for I am the LORD your
God."
Leviticus 22:21 "And whosoever offereth a sacrifice of
peace offerings unto the LORD to accomplish his
vow, or a freewill offering in beeves or sheep, it shall be perfect to be
accepted; there shall be no blemish therein."
Psalms 24:3-4 "Who shall ascend into the hill of the
LORD? or who shall stand in his holy place?
4 He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart; who hath not lifted up his
soul unto vanity, nor sworn deceitfully."
Matthew 5:20 "For I say unto you, That except your
righteousness shall exceed the
righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into
the kingdom of heaven."
1
Peter 1:15-16 "But as he
which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation; 16 Because it is written, Be ye holy;
for I am holy."
Revelation 21:27 "And there shall in no wise enter into
it any thing that defileth, neither whatsoever
worketh abomination, or maketh a
lie: but they which are written in the Lamb's book of life."
God will never accept the best I can
do. He will not, and in his strict holiness, justice, and truth, he cannot
accept anything less that absolute perfection, righteousness, and holiness. If
there is any spot of sin found in me, any failure in any point, any lack of
perfection, any blemish of any kind, I must be consumed in the fire of his
absolute light and infinite, perfect holiness. But we are sinners. – Sinners by
nature. – Sinners by choice. Sinners by practice. Sinners at heart. And sinners
in deed.
II. That being the
case, a second question must be answered. – What does this great and
glorious, holy Lord God require of me?
What does God require of man?
A. As I have
already shown you, God requires
righteousness.
Matthew 5:20 "For I say unto you, That except your
righteousness shall exceed the
righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into
the kingdom of heaven."
B. God also requires satisfaction.
The holy Lord God, that God who
revealed himself to Moses, that God before whom Isaiah trembled, that God who
killed his Son at Calvary, the one true and living God is the God of justice
and truth, who declares, “The soul that
sinneth, it shall die…I will by no means clear the guilty…The wages of sin is
death.”
Does this mean we are all without
hope? Does this mean we must all perish in hell, under the wrath of God
forever. Oh, no! Thank God, it does not. There is a great multitude of sinners,
chosen of God from eternity, who can and must be saved. When justice called,
mercy answered and God, because he is gracious, said, with regard to his elect,
“Deliver him from going down to the pit:
for I have found a ransom!”
I know, I know beyond a shadow of a
doubt, that since Christ died, since he paid the ransom price for many, since
he obtained eternal redemption for somebody, since he put away somebody’s sin
by the sacrifice of himself, since he shed his blood to justify and save
somebody, then all for whom he died must and shall be saved.
If Jesus Christ is God, and he is,
then, as Isaiah said of him, -- “He shall
not fail!” Those sinners Christ came to save shall be saved. The purpose of
God cannot be frustrated. The cross of our Lord Jesus Christ shall never be
discouraged a miscarriage.
Yet, one question remains. My
conscience still requires an answer to this third question…
III. How can sinners stand before this
great Lord God perfectly holy, completely righteous, without any sin, without
any blame, without any fault, without any guilt, without any debt to be paid? How
can I be justified before God?
Job 25:4-6 "How then can man be justified with God?
or how can he be clean that is born
of a woman? 5 Behold even to the
moon, and it shineth not; yea, the stars are not pure in his sight. 6 How much less man, that is a worm? and the son of man, which is a worm?"
I know that most of you are religious.
Most of you have made a profession of faith. I presume that many of you go to
church very regularly and try to do good. But I fear for your souls. I have no
doubt that many of you are described by the prophet Isaiah.
·
You’ve made a covenant with death and with hell; but your
covenant will soon be dissolved.
·
You have a religious bed of ease; but it is too short, and
you cannot stretch yourself upon it.
·
You have some religious covers to wrap yourself in; but the
cover is too narrow.
·
You have chosen the wide gate and are walking in the broad
road of free will, works religion; and the end of that road is death.
Proverbs 16:25 "There is a way that seemeth right unto
a man, but the end thereof are the
ways of death."
·
I know you have a refuge; but, if it is a refuge of your
making, it is a refuge of lies, which will soon be dissolved.
How can a man be
just with God? How can I obtain God’s salvation?
·
Not By Something I Do – Feel – or Experience.
·
Salvation is the free gift, work, and operation of God. If
I have eternal life, it must be given to me and wrought in me by the irresistible,
almighty grace and power of God. – “Salvation
is of the Lord!”
·
Yet, even God, if he would save, must save in a manner
consistent with his own character. God cannot and will not violate his
character. – What does that mean?
A. If I am to be saved, I must be saved by
blood atonement. – Justice must be satisfied.
The only way justice could ever be
satisfied is by the infinitely meritorious, effectual, sin-atoning sacrifice of
the Lord Jesus Christ, the God-man, as the sinners’ Substitute. Thanks be unto
God, justice has been satisfied!
Illustration: “Why did Jesus have to die?”
Isaiah 53:10-11 "Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him;
he hath put him to grief: when thou
shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his
days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in his hand. 11 He shall see of the travail of his
soul, and shall be satisfied: by his
knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their
iniquities."
Romans 3:24-26 "Being justified freely by his grace
through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: 25 Whom God hath set forth to
be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness
for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God; 26 To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and
the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus."
2
Corinthians 5:21 "For he
hath made him to be sin for us, who
knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him."
Galatians 3:13 "Christ hath redeemed us from the curse
of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a
tree."
Hebrews 9:12 "Neither by the blood of goats and
calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having
obtained eternal redemption for us."
B. If I would stand before God, accepted, I
must stand before him robed in the imputed righteousness of Christ.
·
Romans 5:12-18
·
2 Corinthians 5:21
C. If we would be saved, we must have yet
another work performed for us and in us by the grace of God. We must have the
righteousness of Christ imparted to us in the new birth.
·
“Ye must be born
again.”
·
We must be made partakers of the divine nature.
D. If I would be saved, I must come to God
as a guilty, helpless, doomed, damned sinner, trusting the Lord Jesus Christ
alone as my Savior.
It is written, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou
shalt be saved.” “Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be
saved.” “He that believeth on the Son of God hath everlasting life.”
Perhaps you ask,
“But, pastor, how can I know if I am one of God’s elect? How can I know that
Christ died for me? How can I be sure that God has called me? How can I know
whether or not I was predestinated to be saved?”
·
If you choose Christ, your choice of him is proof that he
chose you.
·
If you come to Christ in faith, your coming to him is
evidence that he has come to you in grace.
·
If you call on him, he has called you.
·
If you have faith, he gave you faith.
·
If you get God’s salvation, it is because “Hod hath, from the beginning chosen you to
salvation,” -- “In love predestinated you unto the adoption of children, by Jesus
Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will.”
Illustration: “Help me! Help me! Won’t
somebody, please, help me!))”
Application: Come to Christ.
Come to Christ now. God help you to come, for Christ’s sake. AMEN.
[1] Tape # V-77a -- A Visit To The Funeral Home – (Danville - Sunday Morning - April9, 2000), San Leandro, CA – (Friday - April 14, 2000)