Mini-Series Part 2: Verses To Read Before You Die

1. Mini-Series Part 2: Verses To Read Before You Die Text: Hebrews 9:27-28

2. Absolute Truths • Many College professors and humanists assert -“There are no absolute truths. All truth is relative.” • An Absolute Truth:We will all die! • “And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment” (Hb. 9:27). • Proof abounds everyday (obituaries, family members, news stories, etc.).

3. Minneapolis Bridge Collapse • Key Highlights: • 13 dead, 79 injured, 1 still missing after dozens of vehicles plummet into river. • Sadiya Sahal, who was five months pregnant, was on her way to pick up a friend who needed a ride to work when the bridge collapsed. The nursing student had moved to the Twin Cities from Somalia in 2000. We are living to die another day.

4. Have You Not Read? • In the gospels, Jesus repeats some things over and over because it was needed. • Jesus repeats 10 times in the gospels the question, “Have you not read?” (i.e. Mt. 12:3; 19:4; 22:29, 31; 21:42). • Why? Jesus places a high priority on direct contact with God’s word. Why should we read the Bible? • It tells you who you are and why you are here. • It teaches you wrong from right. • It produces faith in God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit. • It tells us about Jesus, the greatest story every told. • It gives us victory over sin and helps us overcome worry. • It equips us to teach others the way to eternal life. • Today, we need to hear and come to terms with some important verses before we die.

5. Hb. 9:27 - “And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment” Ro. 3:23 - “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” Jh. 3:16 - “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” Ac. 2:42 - “And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers” II Co. 13:5 - “Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Do you not know yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you are disqualified” Ga. 6:9 - “And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart” Ep. 4:15 - “but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head - Christ” Ph. 4:13 - “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me,” Jm. 1:27 - “…to keep oneself unspotted from the world,” Is. 38:1 - “Set your house in order, for you shall die and not live.” Verses To Read Before You Die

6. Verse #6: Galatians 6:9 • “And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart” • Spiritual and Physical Law: We reap what we sow. • Seeds sown have different results – “For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life” (Ga. 6:7). • Keep sowing good seeds and don’t give up! • Satan wants us to quit doing what is right. We grow weary by letting: People discourage us, circumstances defeat us, evil thoughts ruin us, and the world lure us. • It is possible to “grow weary while doing good,” but the promise is that we will “reap if we do not lose heart.” Depend whole-heartedly upon God’s word and His promises to be safe.

7. Verse 7: Ephesians 4:15 • “but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head - Christ” • Be careful of “What” we say and “How” you speak. • Content – “Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth” (Jh. 17:17), BUT“Out of the same mouth proceed blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not to be so” (Jm. 3:10). • Emotion/Motive – “…Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth…Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away…” (Ep. 4:25-32). • We will be judged by God for what we say and do. • Brethren may argue over matters of opinion, practices and even the Scriptures resulting in impatience, wrath, arrogance, rudeness, or immaturity. • Love like Jesus – “…be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you” (Ep. 4:32).

8. Verse 7: Ephesians 4:15 • The essence of learning how to care for an Alzheimer’s patient is – day to day experience, in reacting to the patient; making the environment safe, and being ready for the unexpected. Patients: • Suffer extreme memory loss and often do not know who they are or who they are with. Insist on going home but do not know where home is. Ask you where people are who died many years ago. Get up lost everyday and need comfort, affection and warmth. Demand truthful information spoken in a loving manner. • KEY: You tell patients the truth in the right manner. • If you tell patients the truth with impatience or an irritating manner, then matters get worse. • If you tell patients the truth in kindness and exaggerated affection, then they will be more likely to accept the truth in a calm manner. • The policy in dealing with Alzheimer’s patients should be extended to everyone. Tell everyone the truth in love! Our speech gives away what is in our heart and our attitude can get in the way of communicating the truth.

9. Verse #8: Philippians 4:13 • “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me,” • Overcoming all situations rely upon Christ. • People may sound an alarm at saying “I can do all things.” • Similar attitude to those who attempted to build Babel, king Saul’s downfall, the Egyptian Pharaoh, or humanism today. • The next two words are important – “I can do all things through Christ.” • Without Christ, we can NOT: know our lost condition, know God, have victory over sin, be saved from God’s wrath, etc. • Jesus says, “without Me you can do nothing” (Jh. 15:5). • Paul teaches those outside of Christ have “no hope” and are “without God in the world” (Ep. 2:12).

10. Verse #8: Philippians 4:13 • Jesus gives us abundant strength to do everything God asks such as: • We can do it! Evaluate ourselves, obtain remission of sins, pray to God through Him, have the character to follow His example and obey Him. • Paul’s Example – “Of the strength which Christ can impart, Paul had had abundant experience; and now his whole reliance was there. It was not in any native ability which he had; not in any vigor of body or of mind; not in any power which there was in his own resolutions; it was in the strength that he derived from the Redeemer. By that he was enabled to bear cold, fatigue, and hunger; by that, he met temptations and persecutions; and by that, he engaged in the performance of his arduous duties…” (Barnes). We can have confidence knowing that Jesus will give us strength.

11. Verse #9: James 1:27 • “…to keep oneself unspotted from the world,” • What is in the world? - “…All that is in the world is the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life…” (I Jh. 2:15-17). • The world is hostile toward God and His will. • Examples: Fads and fashions of culture, ideology of anti-authority individualism, popular styles, and movement away from Bible authority. • These are “things not of the Father, but of the world.” • “keeping oneself unspotted from the world” means We must live in the world but not be like the world, and walk the difficult straight and “narrow way” (Mt. 7:14-15). • Our actions demonstrate our “spottiness.” • James emphasizes “pure and undefiled religion” is demonstrated in the examples of “visiting the orphans and widows” in times of trouble.

12. Verse #9: James 1:27 • Before we die, we must decide to be unspotted by the world or soiled by the world. • We are continuously warned against being worldly: • “…Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God?” (Jm. 4:4). • “…do not be conformed to this world…” (Ro. 12:2) • “…the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word.” (Mt. 13: ). • We can not be saved if we are afraid to be godly people. • If we let the world lead us, then we are not letting God lead us. • If we are pleasing the world, then we are not pleasing Christ. “You can not serve two masters.” We chose to serve God or riches.

13. Verse #10: Isaiah 38:1 • “Set your house in order, for you shall die and not live.” • Hezekiah was sick “at the point of death.” • Isaiah says to Hezekiah, “This is what the Lord says: Put your house in order, because you are going to die; you will not recover.” • The “house” is my life, and spiritual affairs need to be in order. • The warning is about getting your last will and testament ready, not rearranging the furniture or cleaning the house.

14. Verse #10: Isaiah 38:1 • We have a duty to have our life right with God in three ways: • Full repentance of all sin – “…knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance?” (Ro. 2:4). • Full submission to God – “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind” (Mt. 22:37). God is first in everything. God is our ruler. God is worthy of obedience with all my heart. • Full trust and obedience in Christ – “And having been made perfect, He became to all those who obey Him the source of eternal salvation” (Hb. 5:9). • Hezekiah had notice, but there is no guarantee in the Bible that we will have notice before our death. Get your life right with God before you die.

15. Hb. 9:27 - “And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment” Ro. 3:23 - “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” Jh. 3:16 - “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” Ac. 2:42 - “And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers” II Co. 13:5 - “Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Do you not know yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you are disqualified” Ga. 6:9 - “And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart” Ep. 4:15 - “but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head - Christ” Ph. 4:13 - “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me,” Jm. 1:27 - “…to keep oneself unspotted from the world,” Is. 38:1 - “Set your house in order, for you shall die and not live.” READ: John 12:48!!! Verses of Absolute Truth

16. Minneapolis Bridge Collapse Key Highlights: Peter Joseph Hausmann, 47, was a computer security specialist and a former missionary who met his wife, Helen, in Kenya. The evening of the collapse, he was heading to St. Louis Park to pick up a friend for dinner. It can happen to you: <Your name> dies in an accident.

17. Key Conclusions • The Bible must be Read, Believed, and Obeyed. • God words are absolutely true. • We must always be ready to die. • Choices and decisions must be made with a view of eternity. • Warning:“Set your house in order, for you shall die and not live.”