Text: "The days of the years of our life are three score years and ten, and if by reason of strength they be four score years, yet is their strength labor and sorrow, for it is soon cut off and we fly away." (Ps. 90:10)

"Father, you are going to die." "Mother, you are going to die." "Son, you are going to die." Death is a reality of life.

There used to be a chant children said at play that went,

"Doctor, doctor, will I die?"

"Yes, my child, and so shall I."

Death is a reality of life. We will not recover from every illness. Barring an "accident," we will not recover from our last illness. From it there will be no healing. We will grow worse and not better. We will not awaken in this life because "It is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment." (Heb 9:27)

Our death may be sudden, but it may be long in coming. As surely as we are living, we are dying. Spurgeon said, "Our heart is beating a funeral march to the grave."

* "physic" offered by psychology

In our generation, some psychologists have tried to explain away the reality of death. Such people choose to ignore the subject of death altogether, but it should be brought up in conversation, they will change the subject -–but the reality will not go away.

This brand of psychology teaches that no competent Counsellor (and to them this includes Gospel ministers) would ever discuss death with the dying, and the preparations they ought to make. To them this would be poor "bedside manner." And, they want every minister of the Gospel to be certified by them! They have already captured most, hospital and prison chaplaincies.

Other psychologists have attempted to soften the reality of death by speaking smoother things than God does allow. These people have organized "support groups" for those who have had a death or near-death experience. Anyone who has listened or read about the experiences of these people will note the similarity of them. For instance, nearly all speak of a great light at the end of a tunnel which they say is what some people call "god." Nearly all speak of great warmth and peace.

What ought to be enormously apparent is the utter lack of any mention of repentance and of faith in Jesus Christ. These people are not worshippers of God. They are not Godly people. The Bible tells us "Neither is there salvation in any other: for thee is none other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved." (Acts 4:12) These people have been delivered over to amazing delusion!

The prophet Isaiah gave sagely wisdom when he told Hezekiah, the dying king of Judah, "Set thine house in order for thou shalt die and not live." (Is. 37:1)

Books containing the testimonies of children who have died in the Lord used to be read by the young, Such a book is Lambs Safely Folded. It was first printed in 1893. Thanks to Gospel Mission in Choteau, Montana, this classic is again in print. The book details the accounts of children between the ages of 10 and 19 who died experiencing God’s grace and comfort.

In his Pilgrim’s Progress, John Bunyan gives godly instruction to Pilgrim as his earthly life draws to a close. Pilgrim is told he must exercise patience because he must not hurry his death. He must wait until he is bidden to cross over the river of death.

It is unequivocally wrong for someone to end our life, and it is morally reprehensible for us to take our own life. There are some who have been taught that suicide is the "unforgivable sin." This is not so. We are not lost because of anything that we have done. We are born into this world as sinners, and as soon as we are born we go astray, (Ps 58:3)

Neither are we saved because of anything that we do. "Salvation is of the Lord." (Jon. 2:9) And, we do not remain saved because of anything that we do, but "He that hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ." (Phil. 1:6) The only sin for which there is no forgiveness either in this world or in the world to come (Matt. 12:31) is to die without the Lord Jesus Christ as our Lord and Saviour.

But how do we prepare the dying for death?

First, The Bible says, "The day of death (is better) than the day of one’s birth." (Eccles. 7:1) In death we are free at last from temptations, trials and heartaches.

Second, Life is short, even if we are allotted the full 70 years God gives to man. "If by reason of strength they be fourscore years, yet is their strength labor" (difficult labor) "and sorrow" (sorrow at the sight of friends and family who precede us in death); "for it is soon cut off and we fly away."

Third, It goes without saying that he who would die well must live well. But how do we prepare for death for both ourselves and those we love? How do we prepare ourselves and others for a voyage to a place we have never been?

There are dangers to shun in death.

Impatience - We should beware of impatience. Our pain will last no longer than God in His wisdom knows is healthy for us.

Inordinate fear --We should also beware of an inordinate fear of death. It is only natural for our flesh to recoil and to cringe at the unknown, but what is there to fear in death except the consequences of it? If we are going into the presence of Him who loves us and who gave Himself for us, to experience the joys of our Lord for evermore, can we think to compare it with the joy of standing behind the counter one more hour to make one final sale?

We must allow sickness to work our sanctification. If we do, our sickness will not be able to work us ill.

Despair --We must beware of despair for we must not lose sight of the fact that God is good. We must resist the fleshly desire to complain, or to give up. Our hope, however strong, is the anchor of our soul.

We must continue to affirm that God is almighty and all-wise; that nothing is too hard for Him. The Lord knows what He is doing, and we have His Word that He has designed all things to work together for good to them that love Him, to them who are the called according to His purpose." (Rom. 8:28)

* The Duty of Prayer

If we would die well, we must not neglect the duty of prayer. Prayer is a powerful physic both for ourselves and for whom we pray.

The blessedness of God’s presence at the deathbed has largely been obfuscated by the use of drugs that leave dying saints both mentally and spiritually insensible. The grace and comfort of God in the midst of mortal pain has been the occasion of worship among God’s people down through the ages. The Psalmist declared, "Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints." (Ps. 116:15)

We have as much a duty to die well as we do to live well, and no man can do either who does not pray. The dying have the duty to pray for patience and for grace in the midst of pain.

A few years ago, I was asked to visit a dear Pentecostal woman who lay in critical condition in a local hospital. She had contracted an internal case of measles and she was bleeding through the pores of her skin. I found her packed in sandbags in order to stanch her flow of blood. Her parents had arrived from Tennessee.

She was a pious woman in her 20’s. It was evident she loved the Lord. She told me she had asked God to heal her, and that she had "rebuked the Devil" and had proclaimed herself healed; but because she was none the better, she was dismayed. "Why?" she asked.

I quoted Philippians chapter 3, verse 10: "That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings being made conformable unto his death." I then told her "Perhaps you have not recovered in order that you might know the fellowship of His sufferings." She raised her head in shock, and said, "I never thought of that." She recovered, and about a week later she was at home.

Pain is the severest of trials, but it is a reality of life; and if we were spared pain, we would not know the fellowship of His sufferings. In the midst of pain, we must pray for faith; otherwise the bitter root of unbelief may sprout and cause us to charge the Good Lord with evil, and to make our spirit to become bitter.

People locked in mortal conflict with Death must resign themselves to the will of God. Peter testified that God is a "faithful Creator" saying, "Let them that suffer according to the will of God commit the keeping of their souls to him in well doing, as unto a faithful Creator." (I Pet. 4:19)

Reader, if you have trusted your soul to the Lord, can you not trust Him with your life?

Faith in God -- We must exercise faith in God, and not in either physicians, or in medicines. All healing comes from God. The Lord may use a physician in whom He has placed wisdom and skill, but God must heal. It is not in the power of man to heal. It is to King Asa’s shame that "in his disease, he sought not the Lord, but to the physicians." (II Chron. 16:12)

God may choose to use medicines in our healing, but whether or not He does, He is "Jehovah-rapha," ’The Lord that Healeth."

Sometimes long periods of illness forbid us to attend public worship with any regularity. While this can weaken a saint, public worship is even more critical for the ungodly because "It pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe." (I Cor. 1:21 b) "Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: because strait is the gate and narrow is the way which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it." (Matt. 7:13,14)

The sick and dying need to confess their sins to God. How much pride and deceit lurks in their heart! Yet, "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." (I Jn. 1:9)

But are there sins the sick need to confess to others? Has he wronged another by harboring resentment or a grudge? Has the dying manifested an unforgiving attitude? Has he stolen from another? Has he lied to their hurt? Then confession needs to be made to those persons. This may be considered by the ungodly to be poor "bedside manner," and hospital personnel may not allow such instruction, but if the dying is not to go to his grave with such weights upon his soul, then he needs to be told these things.

Has the dying person repented of his or her sins? It is not sufficient to call them in confession: there must be Godly sorrow for having done things contrary to the will of God. And, Godly sorrow must be joined with faith in the work of the Lord Jesus Christ.

When his feet grow cold, and his toes curl up, will this one open his eyes in glory, or in shame? in blessedness, or in everlasting contempt? The way of everlasting life is found by only a few. (Matt. 7:14)

Are there things the dying person ought to correct? Are there wrongs that need to be redressed, repaid or returned? Do things need to be made right? If these are not righted, the dying person will take them to the grave.

What about family members are things settled with them?

Has the one dying experienced God’s forgiveness of his sins? Has he forgiven all who have wronged him?

Are there instructions the dying would leave for them who survive him? Has he any last minute requests of them?

A funeral is for the living. A minister may declare a reprobate to be a Godly man, but nothing has changed. The dying has preached his funeral by the life he has lived.

If we listen to many funeral orations, it appears as though most evangelicals are secretly universalists. It seems no one goes to Hell anymore. If a funeral is not the place to preach the Gospel, there is never a season.

But what shall we tell them who have assembled? If the deceased is a true Christian, tell them who yet survive that he is no longer able to pray for them. Tell them he can no longer urge them to attend public worship or to repent of their sins. Tell them if they are not a Christian when they die that they will not go where the saints have gone before them. Tell them, "Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from henceforth." (Rev. 14:13) Tell them "Repent and be converted that your sins may be blotted out." (Acts 3:19)

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From a letter—by Geoffrey Thomas, Aberystwyth, Wales -(5-16-92):

He writes regarding the Banner of Truth Ministers’ Conference held at Leicester --