If You Faced Death Right Now
"It is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment." Hebrews 9:27
"And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire." Revelations 20:11-15
We find in these verses some of the most staggering words in the entire Bible. They are the ones that make men shudder and tremble. Yes, "It is appointed unto man once to die," and no man can cancel this appointment. It is also appointed unto man to stand before an all knowing Judge whose name is Jehovah. We all know the possibility of death hovers over every one of us this very moment. The question that I would like to impress upon each of us is this: Are you ready to face this death if it should come now? As you are pondering the words of this sermon, realize that it could be your last one before you are transported into eternity. Do not think it is impossible. Many people think this subconsciously, but the truth is, you could die right now while you are reading this.
I was preaching in my country a few years ago, and God was moving in a mighty way. One particular night, as I was standing in the pulpit of God, a burden came into my heart that was unusual. It was such a crushing burden that I began to hold on to the pulpit and cry out to the people with deep compassion and care. I didn’t understand what had come over me. As I was pleading with the people, a man who was sitting in the front row of that church suddenly slumped forward. I was the first to see it, and I went from the pulpit, and ran down to where he was. I called for some medical help. A nurse rushed forward and took his pulse. She looked up at me in shock and said, "He’s gone. This man is dead. I’m sorry." A tear came down her face as the reality settled down upon her. The tears flowed down my face as I realized that this man had died while I was preaching. I couldn’t carry on preaching. I looked at the congregation in brokenness and said to the stunned congregation, "This man has passed away. We cannot go on. I want you to go home and come back tomorrow to the next meeting."
I watched the people of this town stand and move towards the door in stunned silence. Suddenly, my heart rent in two, and I was moved to cry out loud, "If you faced death right now, would you be ready to meet with God?" Revival broke out in that church that very night. If that would have been you, would you face it having prepared to meet with God?
When I was first married, I was preaching in Cape Town, South Africa. I was in the church, soaking my self in prayer and the Word of God, preparing to preach. I looked out and saw what a lovely day it was. I felt I should go for a walk along the beach to get my mind clear and to get some fresh air. It was just a short distance from the church. I went down to the beach. I began to pray as I walked along. I went away from the crowds. I walked and walked until I was out of sight of everyone.
Suddenly, two men came swiftly over the dunes. I realized these men were evil as I looked in their faces. Screaming like animals, they pulled out these long blades. I could do nothing. I just looked at the blades. One pulled me down. The other got on top of me.
One said, "Kill him! Kill him!" Suddenly I saw blood all over. I didn’t feel any fear, but I knew that I was being badly hurt. The long blades were cutting me.
I looked into their eyes and saw hatred. I thought to myself, "How could someone who knows nothing about me, hate me so much?"
He shouted at me, "We hate you people! I’m going to kill you!" And suddenly, my mind began to realize what was actually going on. The most amazing thing happened right at that moment. I thought to myself, "My time is gone. I am going home right now, never to be hurt by the devil again. I’ll never face any more temptation or hurt from Satan again. I’m going home to Jesus right now. My time is finished."
In my heart came welling up a joy and a peace that passeth all understanding. Like a wave, divine love flowed through me. The thought that I was going to be with Jesus for all eternity, safe in His arms, caused this joy to well up so much that I began to worship God aloud.
Suddenly, this man standing over me began to weep. He shouted at me, "How can you say such things when you know you’re going to die? How can any man die like this? How can you say such things? How can you have no fear of death like this?"
I looked at him, and I said, "It’s because I’m a Christian. I have prepared to meet with God. I’ve been washed in the blood of Jesus. There is no judgment facing me of any sin. It has all been washed in the blood through Christ. The Bible says, ‘Fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul; rather fear him that is able to destroy both the soul and body in hell.’"
The man got up, and he cried loudly. The other man got up from behind me, and he began to hit this man and swear at him, "What are you crying for? We hate these people. Kill him, man!"
This man said, "No. No. What I have done to you today, sir, is a terrible mistake. I am sorry for what I have done to you. I have made a terrible mistake."
I began to speak to them about God. The other man started crying, "Let’s just get away from him." They began to run. As they ran, they turned around. The one was weeping so loudly he was literally sobbing.
I cried out to them, "Oh, I want to see you in heaven! I want to know you’ve been saved, that I didn’t go through this for nothing. Seek God to save you." They just kept running, weeping.
I got up somehow and made my way back. When they found me they took me to a hospital, and contacted my wife. There I sat while they were stitching me. I began to think and reason, "Oh God, why would Thou allow such a thing to happen to me? I wasn’t out there in sin. I wasn’t out there in folly that I needed to be rebuked and chastened. I was out there in prayer. I was going through a sermon to preach for Thee. How could You allow such a thing to happen to me?"
Suddenly God spoke to me in my heart. His voice echoed in my heart, "I allowed this to happen to you to show you how man can die with a peace that passeth all understanding, no matter what the circumstances of his death are."
Oh, if you faced death right now, would you face it having prepared to meet with God? Would you face it having God’s peace? There’s no understanding how God can give you this peace at such a moment—but He does give it! Death has lost its sting. The grave has lost its victory. If you faced death right now, would you face it with men’s blood on your hands? Will you answer that question to God, every one of you, right now?
If you faced death right now, would men's blood be on your hands?
Ann Smith was a twenty-year-old girl when I was a young fellow at Bible School. The Smith family had one of the godliest homes in our nation. Her father was one of the most loved preachers of our time in South Africa. This family took me under their wing, and I loved them for their godliness.
But, here was Ann, one of their daughters, backslidden. She was so backslidden that she was going into the world. As a girl, she gave her life to Christ. As a girl, she knew what it was to have quiet times. She knew what it was to confess Christ to people, to walk with God. Now, somehow, she was tasting what the devil wanted her to taste. Is that possible? It is. It’s beyond understanding. I have never been able to grasp it, even to the smallest degree. How is it possible that you could have tasted Christlove, presence and power; and then, after having tasted God as your friend and companion, go back to what the devil holds out to you? It’s beyond understanding how anyone could ever listen to Satan again after tasting of Christ. There’s no understanding, no way of explaining it. Ann was backslidden, and there she was going off into the world breaking her godly mother’s heart. This was after her father had just died.
I remember talking to her about what she was doing. She said, "You know Keith, don’t think I enjoy sin. I’m not going to lie. I’m not enjoying it. I just can’t stop. Don’t think I enjoy walking out that door knowing that my mother gets on her knees as I shut the door and doesn’t get up until I come home." She said, "Even in laughter, the heart is sorrowful. I laugh, but I am sorrowing."
I said to her, "Oh, Ann, what is God going to have to do with you? What is God going to have to do to make you come back out of sin?"
Two weeks later, they found she was riddled with cancer—at twenty years old. She was in such bad shape that they just closed her up and said, "She’s only got days to live." She lay dying—dying. Oh, how she clung to God in desperation to cleanse her by the blood for her sins, for trampling afresh on the blood of Christ! How desperately she sought God to enable her to face eternity.
Then, when she had confessed with such desperation and longing to be cleansed and forgiven afresh, she did something that staggered everyone. She didn’t sit back and say, "Okay, now let me die. I’ve been given my time to get right with God and now all is well." No, Ann, in her dying days, said, "Bring my friends here. I must speak to them." She begged them to come. They came. They began to weep looking at her. She said, "Forgive me, I never warned you while I was in sin with you. I knew you were going to hell. I knew with what you were doing you’d go straight to hell. I never warned you. Forgive me, but I must warn you now. You are going to hell. If you die, you are going straight to hell for eternity. God will judge you unless you come to Christ. Repent from your sins. Please don’t go to hell." She begged them. They wept. As the next one came, she begged the next one; as the next one came, she begged him. There were those that would not come. She said to the nurse, "Please take this telephone number. Please tell her, ‘You wouldn’t come to me, but I need to give you this message. You are going to hell unless you repent from your sins. Forgive me that I didn’t warn you. I beg your forgiveness. I should have warned you. Oh, come to Christ! Get saved by the blood of Christ!’"
Then Ann would ask the nurse, "Did you tell her she was going to hell?"
"Yes," the nurse said weeping.
"Please take this next phone number. Tell him the same thing. He’s going to hell."
The moment came when Ann Smith sat back on that bed and could not think of one single soul left on earth whose blood would be on her hands. She had warned everyone she had neglected previously. She had begged each of them. She didn’t want to face God with men’s blood on her hands! She was desperate not to face God that way.
Tell me, if you faced death right now would you face it with men’s blood on your hands? The only reason you’ve never warned them is because you’re backslidden yourself. If you’re rightly related to God, you will take this seriously. The only reason you can sit here tonight with men’s blood on your hands is if you’re backslidden—not a little bit, but greatly backslidden. Don’t doubt that. I would be a liar in the pulpit if I would say anything different. If you faced death right now, would you face it with men’s blood on your hands?
If you were with a soul that was facing death right now, what would you say to him?
I was talking with an Anglican minister, who had come to one of my meetings, to pray and weep for souls while I preached. I said to him, "Why are you different than other Anglican ministers?"
He looked at me and started to weep again, "Oh, Keith, I was a blind leader of the blind for over twenty years. I stood in the pulpit preaching as an unsaved man. I was so sincere. I wanted to serve God, but I was blind.
"One day the phone rang. There was a terrible accident outside of town. I rushed out to the ambulance. Crowds gathered. I looked down at a young man who had grown up under my preaching. His body had been ripped apart. I thought he was dead. I went down on my knees. His eyes focused on me. He was dying. He said, ‘Father, thank God it’s you. I’m dying. I can’t face God. I’m so full of sin. Help me to face God.’" He pulled this boy up into his arms. This boy looked at him in desperation, "Help me. I’m dying. I’m going right now. Please help me to face God!"
This man looked at him and felt for his prayer book. He couldn’t pray without a prayer book. He didn’t know how to help a man who was so condemned by sin to face God. Suddenly he saw this young man’s eyes turn from desperation to condemnation as he realized that this "religious" man couldn’t help him to face God. The young man died with his eyes full of condemnation.
This minister looked at me and said "I couldn’t eat. I couldn’t sleep. I couldn’t preach. I couldn’t go back into the pulpit. I wondered if anyone has ever faced God through anything like that. What have I done to help men find God and truth so that they can face God? When I looked into that boy’s eyes, I knew he wasn’t clear with God!"
"No one knew what to do with me. My mind just snapped! Some Christians came and said, ‘You’re coming with us, we’re taking you to hear the truth!’ They took me to a series of meetings where a young fellow was preaching the gospel. I stood there and thought to myself, ‘Oh, I know these verses are in the Bible, but I’ve never been able to put it like that. How is it that I’ve never been able to understand? This person is preaching in such a way that a child could understand. How is it possible?’ I began to sob and weep.
"I cried out loud, ‘Oh God, I’m a blind leader of the blind! Save my soul! Save me by the blood of Jesus!’ I stood up, and I knew that I was born of God. The Holy Spirit bore witness with my spirit that I was a child of God. I began right there to worship God. Oh, how I began worshipping and shouting!"
"I got in the pulpit the next Sunday. I cried out to my congregation, ‘I have been a blind leader of the blind. I haven’t helped anyone to God, but now I see. I want all of you to see. I want all of you to come to Christ!’
He went to saved and unsaved ministers and told them all that had happened to him. Then he said, "I don’t care who it is, if it’s your church people, I must share this message. I’m going to every home to beg them to come to Christ." He went from home to home and implored them to seek God. He told them of the hell that awaits them. He told them of the heaven they could gain, of the Christ that could save them from all. He was a minister that went to every home in his town to tell them of Christ, because he had now found Christ himself.
Oh, my dear friend, if you’re a blind leader of the blind, and if one of the blind you are leading would face death right now, what would you say to them, sir? Come to Christ yourself, and then go back to your pulpit, and tell them what you’ve found tonight.
If you son faced death right now, what would you say to him?
What would be your last words to him? Your son, your blood, if he faced death right now, what would be your last words to him?
I remember a little boy named Timothy who was from a godly home. We all loved Timothy, this little character. He came often to the youth camps where I preached. He quickly grew to be a teenage boy. He was good looking. The girls all liked him. I used to watch from the back of the building when people were preaching about hell from the pulpit. There was Timothy. He was kicking the girls’ feet while hell was being preached. I looked and said in my heart, "Oh Timothy, it’s like water off a duck’s back to you. You’ve heard everything, but you haven’t allowed it to get into your heart. You’re playing the fool while hell is being preached."
Oh, we loved him. I loved him, but I feared for his soul. I went away, and the years went by. I was asked to come back and preach to the youth camp again. All of these young children were now older and married. They came back to see me. There came this fellow with a little beard, and black leather jacket. "Do you remember me, Uncle Keith?"
I said, "Timothy? Oh, I must be getting old. Look at you, Timothy. You’re a man. I remember you playing the fool when we preached hell. I was so worried for your soul. You must be saved by now. Did you get through to God, boy?"
Tears just welled up in his eyes. "Goodbye, Uncle Keith." He turned and began to walk away.
I said, "Timothy, Timothy, you don’t mean that after all these years you’re not right with God? How can it be possible that you’re not right with God?"
"I only came to say hello to you. Don’t speak to me, please," and he began to weep. He got on his big motorbike.
I said, "Timothy, you could die on that thing. That thing is a death trap. You could die right now. Don’t take a chance with your soul. Please, Timothy, come pray with me. Get right with God now."
He just looked at me. He revved his bike up and without a word sped away, weeping as he went. I stood weeping as I watched him go.
That same night, his father phoned me, "Oh, Keith, Timothy has been involved in an accident. He’s dying. That motorbike. I warned him, I begged him not to buy it. Keith, he’s dying without God! Pray for him. Please. I’m going now to the hospital. He can’t die. He doesn’t know God. Pray. Please pray!"
We got on our knees, weeping to God.
The phone rings again. The father calls and says, "Timothy’s gone. He’s dead."
"Did you manage to speak to him?"
"Oh, Keith, when I looked at him I thought he was dead already. The doctor said he’s not dead. He’s alive. I grabbed hold of his hand and shouted, ‘Timothy! Timothy, boy, can you hear me?’ The doctor said he couldn’t hear me. I said, ‘This is my son! He’s dying without God! Don’t tell me not to try to talk to him!’
‘Timothy, oh, Timothy, I’ve always warned you, boy. You’re going to face God right now Timothy, and I know you can’t face God this way. I know you’re in sin. Oh, Timothy, if you can hear me while you’ve yet got breath, ask Jesus to wash you in the blood. Receive Him as your Savior. Timothy, you’ve still got moments! Ask him!’ I paused and then pled with him, ‘Timothy, if you’re praying, you owe this to me son, squeeze my hand. I know you can’t speak, but let me know you’ve prayed.’ And, Keith, he squeezed my hand with such strength that even the doctor uttered out loud! I looked at my boy as he squeezed my hand, and then he died. I wept and shouted, ‘Hallelujah, Timothy’s with Jesus.’
Oh, if your son faced death right now, what would your last words to him be?
Beware, even facing death may not make you seek God. If you’ve hardened your heart continually, and you think that by leaving it until your dying moment you can still seek God, beware! Even facing death may not make you seek God.
Oh, now is the acceptable time. God says today is the day of salvation if you will harden not your heart. I want to ask you all something very tenderly, from the depths of my heart. I want to ask all of you, young and old, even if you’re a preacher who has been in the pulpit for twenty years. Are you prepared to meet with God? If you faced death right now, would you face it with God’s peace? What excuse would you give God that you didn’t prepare?
This article was adapted from a sermon. Click here to listen to it or order it from the tape ministry.
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