It is appointed unto men once to die ...

Sermon notes from Friday 31 March 2017

Hebrews 9 verses 27 and 28

I want to speak to you of an awful appointment.  It is not a subject people like to talk about.  "It is appointed unto man once to die".  It has often been said that death is the king of terrors and the terror of kings.  I once seen a poster outside a church which read "If you were born once you will die twice, if you were born twice you will only die once."  If a man is born physically he will die physically.  Revelation 20 verse 6 talks about the second death that will have to be faced as well.  A man who is saved by the grace of God might never die.  Paul tells us in 1 Thessalonians 4 verse 16 "the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trump of God and the dead in Christ shall rise first. Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air and so shall we ever be with the Lord"  The Lord could come at any moment.  Those of us saved will never pass through the tomb.  If the Lord tarries and spares, if I have to go through the valley of the shadow of death I will have nothing to fear.  For the Christian the Lord will go with us.  His rod and his staff will comfort us.  Christians are not dwellers on death.  Christians are people who are lovers of life because the God of heaven has given us life with a capital L, something worth living for.  "He makes the path grow brighter every passing day, he makes the burden lighter all along the way."  The scriptures say "it is appointed unto man once to die." (Hebrews 9 verse 27)  Here in this verse we have a constant reminder that death is all around us.  It seems to be endless.  There are many funerals day and daily.  Statistics tells us that 265 people die every minute of every day.  You read the death columns -- some papers it takes 3 pages of those columns and they change daily.  New names, new situations.  Many can look back to a moment when they settled the old account, trusted the Lord as their own and personal Saviour.  John 3 verse 16.  Ephesians 5 verses 25 "Christ loved the church and gave himself for it."  That is precious.  Galatians 2 verse 20 "He loved me and gave himself for me."  That is personal.  If I had been the only one in the whole world Jesus would still have died for me.  You can know the Lord as your own and personal Saviour.  I love the Lord because He first loved me.  He is the one worth living for.  Death is no respecter of persons.  Some die suddenly, some die slowly.  We can be sure of it.  Adam, the first man died and Methuselah, the oldest man to ever lived died.  Solomon, the wisest man that ever lived also died.  Whether we are wise or meek or the oldest man in the world it is still going to come.  A constant reminder.  Death still comes as a shock.  Death is the last enemy to be defeated in every life.  Some times it comes unexpected, some times it comes unexplained.  It is also a reality.  We are living in a world that constantly reminds us that death is coming.  I do not know what you are depending on for eternity but maybe it is a denomination.  Is that all you have for eternity?  It doesn`t matter where you hang your heart on a Sunday morning.  Jesus spoke to Nicodemus, a very religious man.  Jesus told him his religion was not going to make it.  Jesus told him his reading of the scriptures was not going to help him make it.  Jesus told him his fasting and praying and giving of tithes were not going to help him make it.  "You must be born again or you will never see the kingdom of heaven."(John 3 verses 5 and 6)  There is an appointment we have to keep.  It is a continual reminder and reality - "after this the judgment."  Death is not the end.  An old soldier during the war had done some mighty deed for which he was awarded the George Cross was asked "do you not fear death?"  The soldier replied that he had faced death many times on the battle field but what he feared more was what came after death.  If there is no judgment there would have been no point in Jesus dying on the cross.  You could live and get away with whatever you wanted to.  This book says "after this the judgement".  You have heard of Richard Dawkins and the different debates he has held.  Recently he placed a banner on the London buses that said "There is probably no God."  He had to put the word "probably" in just in case it would offend other world religions.  What does God say about Mr Dawkins?  He is a "fool". (Psalm 14 verse 1)  The world would love you to believe that if there was no God then there was no judgment.  If there is no judgment you are not accountable for anything you have done.   Your conscience would tell you that after this there is a judgment.  People would say they have got away with it down here but one day they will have to face God.  Adolf Hitler didn`t die in a bunker, one day we are told the "dead small and great", men of all standards and walks of life will appear before that great judgment throne. (Revelation 20 verse 12)  Sin will be accounted for.  Sin collects its wages.  If your sin was not dealt with on Calvary`s cross it will be dealt with at the judgment throne.  Many have heard this gospel message time and time again for years and have put it off to another night saying they will not put their lives in Christ`s hands.  You have the best intentions of not standing at the judgment throne of Christ.  The men who have a desire to get saved at 11.30 pm normally die at 10.30 pm.  You could be hearing God`s voice speaking to you but still miss God`s offer of mercy.  I read the story of a man who went to the Niagara Falls.  He watched everything that was going on.  Then he looked away up river and could see a block of ice coming down towards the falls.  An eagle was swooping down onto the ice block.  There on the block was the carcas of a lamb.  The eagle started to feed on the lamb but every so often he lifted his head to see how near the fall of river was.  It got closer and closer.  Suddenly the eagle thought it was time to flee.  He opened his huge wings but his feet were now encased in the ice block.  He could not get away and he went over the edge with the block of ice.  That is a picture of sin.  Men and women are feeding on sin and every so often they lift their heads to check everything is still OK.  They will enjoy life for now but want to think of sin another time.  They can leave it just too late.  "My spirit shall not always strive with man." (Genesis 6 verse 3)  God speaks and you can understand there is a judgment coming.  You are just playing with your sin.  Let it go.  Run from it.  Do not finish up in a lost eternity because of your sin.  The pleasures of sin.  When W P Nicholson preached he made it clear - a spade was a spade in his eyes.  He pulled no punches.  One time he looked down from the pulpit and shouted downards as if into the pit of hell "Judas are you there?"  The cry came back "I am here".  W P Nicholson said "let me shake your hand for you sold the Lord for 30 pieces of silver, more than any man did sell the Lord.  There are men in this meeting who have sold themselves for a lot less."  What are you selling your soul for?  After death is judgment but maybe not just because of sin.  Maybe because you are fearful.  Revealtion 21 verse 8 tells us who will never be in heaven and the first in the list are the fearful.  "The fear of God is the beginning of wisdom". (Proverbs 9 verse 10)  "The fear of man brings a snare."  (Proverbs 29 verse 25)  Many are afraid of what their friends might say to them.  They might laugh at them.  You could be here tonight and if I were to make an appeal you would start to worry.  You would be worrying about what the person next door would say.  Maybe it is because of neglect.  "How shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation?"  You keep putting it off.  You want to be sure but keep putting it off.  It is like the story of the man in the New Testament who prepared a great feast and asked his servants to invite people in to share it with him.  People began to make excuses why they couldn`t come.  They were neglecting the offer.

Verse 2 "  This is where the picture changes.  We have a compassionate redeemer.  "Christ was once offered."  There is one who loves you that he left the splendour of heaven and went to Calvary`s cross and laid down his life.  "Greater love hath no man that this that a man lay down his life for his friends." (John 15 verse 13)  There is no love like the love of God.  If there was no judgment there was no need for Christ to go to Calvary to lay down his life.  The Lord believed in judgment.  He spoke more of hell and judgment than of heaven.  For every time he spoke of heaven he also spoke 13 times more of hell.  There is a punishment that needs to be embraced.  Calvary is not just about nailing him to the tree, thrashing his back until it was like a ploughed field, having his head pierced with thorns but for 3 hours God laid my sin on him.  He "endured the cross, despising the shame". (Hebrews 12 verse 2)  He laid down his life for me.  "He was wounded for my transgressions, he was bruised for our  iniquities, the chastisement of our peace was upon him and with his stripes we are healed."

There is a coming revelation - verse 28 "unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation."  "What a day that shall be when my Jesus I shall see, when I look upon his face."  A day to be ready for.  In this meeting there is a division.  There are those looking for Christ`s return and others looking for everything else but Christ.  Some day Christ is going to come again. He will appear in the clouds and call us out.  George Mueller was a great man of prayer.  When he pulled the curtains at night he would say "perhaps tonight Lord" and he repeated it every morning "perhaps today Lord."  Are we living for Christ`s return.  PThe day is short when no man can work."   When Christ comes again there will be no need for labourers in the mission field. He is coming for those who believe.  A brethren preacher used to tell the story of 2 boys who ran about the streets of London together at 12/13 years of age.  One day they saw an advertisement of a gospel mission taking place in Hyde Park by the preacher RA Torrey.  They decided to go to it on the Sunday evening just for a laugh.  When they arrived there were 300 people packed into that meeting.  R A Torrey began to preach but he stopped right in the middle of his message.  He said "there is someone in this meeting and God has told me that this your last opportunity to get saved".  One of the boys, George Cole was afraid and was about to get up.  George Bell his friend told him not to go forward because all preachers did this to scare people.  Torrey repeated the words and George Cole jumped up from his seat and shouted "it`s me Sir".  Torrey told him how to pray to God and George Cole knew when he sat down he was saved.  His friend was very angry with him.  The next day at school George Bell did not turn up.  George Cole went to his house after school and knocked on the door.  His mum opened the door and she was white as a sheet.  She told George Cole that his friend had meningitis and the doctor was working with him at that moment.  George Cole asked if he could go and see him, he would not talk to him, he just wanted to see him.  When he went into the bedroom there was a big net around the bed and George Bell`s head was rocking from side to side as a result of the pain he was suffering.  George Bell looked at his friend and said "it wa me last night, I should have got saved".  With those words he fell into a deep sleep.  His mum told George Cole that it was the fever and he didn`t know what he was saying.  A few short hours later George Bell went out into eternity and George Cole never forgot the words of his best friend.  God could speak to you for the very last time.  Don`t miss salvation.  What if this was your last opportunity?