Sermon: How Do I Prepare for Death?

I ask you to take a copy of God's word this evening. If you would turn open to the book of one Corinthians

this evening, one Corinthians chapter 15.

We're just gonna look at one verse there, verse 58.

We're continuing this series on death. Someone again asked me tonight what, um, when did you guys decide this, uh, in essence was the question. And, and this was, we decided to do this series quite a long time ago. So, uh, back in, oh, probably February we had decided to do this series. And so, uh, thought it would be a good series, especially here in the fall, just to kind of think through together. So this seed, we're gonna think about

how do I prepare for death? How do I prepare for death? And I wanna look just at this one verse for Corinthians 1558

Corinthians 1558. Let's pray before we open the word together.

Father, we would like to hear from you.

We're thankful that you are a God who is not silent, but that you have spoken authoritatively to us, that you carried along men by the power of the Holy Spirit, so that when they wrote these words, that they were your very words, breathe doubt by you. And so we pray this evening that even as we just look at a short verse, just a little passage, that we would be reminded that we are hearing your voice from one high, and that we wouldn't treat it as the mere words of men.

It is that which is everlasting and eternal. And so may it delight our souls. We pray. Christ's name, amen. One Corinthians chapter 15, verse 58. This is the holy iner word of God. Therefore, my beloved brothers be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain. And then the grass withers and the flower fades. Word of God is forever. Thanks be to God. Amen.

Boy scout motto. It's pretty simple. It's been a good rule of life for me, uh, as I've gone through life after all those years in scouts. It's just kind of, it's just kind of ingrained in my person. And so I, uh, pretty frustrated with myself when I show up to a meeting and I don't have the right documents, or I show up for an appointment and haven't thought through what the conversation is going to be. Or there is some theological question that comes my way

and I feel like I, I don't even know where to begin to, to answer this. And some of those things are just kind of inevitable. Uh, they're inescapable. It can't be helped, it's going to happen. But other times I say in my head, J Jason, you, you should have been ready. Or of course, that Boy Scout motto, be prepared. Should be prepared. There's some things that are more important to be prepared for than others. As college students want to be prepared for

that college graduation day. You want to make sure that you have all the right classes taken for that day. You don't want to get to that day and not have the right classes taken. Uh, the young man that is getting ready to marry a young woman, they want to be prepared. And so he will read the books and he will go through premarital counseling and the young couple that is getting ready to have their first child, they will watch all kinds

of other families with their children and they will ask questions and they will think about their own parents and their successes and failures and we'll talk through because they want to be prepared. That's right. They want to be prepared for all these different life events, but frankly, it's even more important to be prepared for the duff event. And how are we to be prepared? One verse this evening, three main thoughts in this one verse,

and then I want to offer eight takeaways as a result. So three main thoughts, and it's based upon the wording here. Three main thoughts from this verse, this passage, just one verse. First, he says, be fixed, be fixed. Steadfast, there has in it the idea of being seated stationary. What, what does Paul want you or want these Corinthians to be steadfast in? Well, it's in their belief in the truth of the gospel. Paul has just walked through, I think one

of the greatest chapters in all the scriptures. One Corinthians 15. And in one Corinthians 15, what he is doing is he is walking through the gospel message, but in particular, he is summing it all up with the resurrection. He is underscoring that the resurrection is the great proof of our faith, Christ's resurrection. And it's not only the great proof, he's also saying it's the great hope of our faith, our bodily resurrection.

As he says in verse 56 and 57, just the immediately preceding verses, he says, the sting of death is sin and the power of sin is the law, but thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Christ has victory. His resurrection is proof. He gives that victory to us. That's our hope. He was raised. So we shall be raised. And so Paul say, be steadfast in that faith. You're not to be moved from that.

You're to sit down in that, be steadfast in that, know the hope of the resurrection. Second, he doubles down by almost using the exact same word. It's a, it's a little different in understanding. He says, be immovable. That is, don't be moved from where you're at. Don't be moved from the hope of the resurrection.

People don't tend to be immovable these days. We, we tend to be moved every which way. I think that's why it's such a fascination when you go to Buckingham Palace or you go to the tomb of the unknown soldier and you have those soldiers that are standing there immovable and they become kind of a side show. People will gather around them and a crowd and they'll watch them and look at them and see that they stand and they don't move.

And then there will be people that try and get as close as they can and they get their picture taken with them. And then you've seen a lot of these videos where someone's making jokes and just trying to get them to crack a smile. Or they'll get as close as they can and see if they'll yell at 'em. And it's a good, I think little illustration for the Christian in this world. The, the world's seeking to move you. It wants to move you, it wants you to abandon your posts.

And so it will scream and it will laugh and it will inch in. And it's aimed at rattling. You like those spectators at Buckingham Palace getting you to compromise. And Paul was saying, no, you be immovable. Don't you move from this third. He says, always abounding, always abounding. It's one word in the Greek, it's in the present tense and it's a, it's a, uh, participle. And so it has this idea of kind of an ongoing activity.

Keep on keeping on in this keep on keeping on in this. Keep going, keeping on in this, in what Paul? Well, he says in the work of the Lord, the, the word for work there is literally the word toil. It, it has in view the idea that this is costly, that it sometimes hurts to be involved in this work. And what is this work? Well, he says it's the work of the Lord, the work of the Lord. That's what he wants you to abound in,

in light of the resurrection.

The reformation I think was very helpful in, oh, so many regards. But one of them was that it back brought back the importance of what you and I do daily matters. That it, it kind of, it it tore down this wall that was erected during the medieval times and during the Middle Ages that separated the sacred and the SEC secular and said, you know what? It's only those that are vocationally doing the work of ministry, the sacred.

It's only them that are actually giving glory to God in doing what matters. And those that are engaged in the things of the secular world, they're not actually giving glory to God. And one of the great gifts of the reformation was to say, no, no, no, no, no. What you do throughout the day matters and you can give glory to God in whatever station of life you have been called to. But that's not what this text is addressing.

The text is in light of Paul's entire discussion about the resurrection. And he said back in verse 49, he says this, just as we have born the image of the man of dost, we shall also bear the image of the man in heaven, the work of the Lord. It's focused here. It's said in light of that eschatological reality that in times reality, as one scholar stated, when Paul tells the Corinthians to abound in the work of the Lord, he's not issuing a call

to general Christian living in light of the resurrection. Rather, the work of the Lord refers to what believers do to advance the gospel among unbelievers and to establish believers in the gospel. He's saying the hope of the resurrection, it's meant to stir you. It's meant to stir you to share the gospel with others, some to be brought from darkness and delight for others to be built in, built, be built up in the gospel that they already know

bound in the work of the Lord. And Paul's point is this, in this entire section about the resurrection, he, he comes to this conclusion and, and the reason is this. He's saying, look, this is what it looks like to live in light of the resurrection, is that you labor for what lasts because there's a resurrection or to be abiding in the work of the Lord because people will be raised

you live in light of eternity. Paul say he uses the same phrase just a few verses later in 1610 when he says this, when Timothy comes see that you put him at ease among you, he's doing the work of the Lord as I am He. He's advancing the gospel among unbelievers and he's building up believers in the gospel, the work of the Lord.

The work of the Lord is not in vain. He says he gives great encouragement. It's a interesting prepositional phrase. Oh, it can't be too dogmatic about it here, but it seems what Paul is stating is that as we labor as Christians in the work of the Lord, we participate in the work that Christ is doing himself. He's busy and he's busy through us. He's at work in this world and he is at work through us. And that helps to make sense why Paul comes

to the conclusion saying, no, that your labor is not in vain. Of course it's not in vain because if we participate with Christ in his work, he always accomplishes his work. Your labor's not in vain.

So to our question this evening, how do we prepare for death?

Eight ways I'm gonna talk about tonight. First, we must understand that it's inevitable. First, we must understand that it's inevitable. One of the reasons that politics, this entire chapter one Corinthians 15, to discuss resurrection is because it applies to everyone.

It applies to everyone. Every single one of us in this room has an interest in this conversation.

Now, some in this room may be facing death a little closer than others by the circumstances of life that they're going through.

And it's just a little more up close and in the face. But the truth is, is that everyone in this room is facing death. Death has an incredible success rate like 99.99% in the history of humanity. It's only two that have escaped it. It comes for everyone. And how do you prepare?

The first and the most crucial thing is to embrace Christ.

Now you might think, well we're, we're at a Sunday evening service. Those that come back for a Sunday evening service, surely you can take it for granted that you don't need to talk about the need to embrace Christ, but no hell will be filled with people that went to church twice a week.

You have to embrace Christ.

And surely in a room of this size with this many people, there are a number here this evening, evening at evening, evening church. They have not placed their faith in Christ.

It really doesn't matter what you do to prepare for death if you haven't placed your faith in Christ.

I think often we are prepared for other things more than we are death. Maybe you're prepared tonight for the potluck supper or that Sunday evening football game. Maybe you're prepared for work tomorrow or school tomorrow because we think death is so distant.

But you realize that it could come sooner than work tomorrow or school tomorrow could come sooner than the football game tonight. It could come sooner than the potluck.

If there's anything you and I are to be prepared for in life, it's death.

We want to be prepared.

If you placed your faith in Jesus, Paul says in verse 22 of this chapter, for as as an Adam all die. So also in Christ shall all be made alive. But you have to be in Christ. Jesus said in John 14, I am the way and the truth, the life. He said in John six, whoever comes to me, I will never cast out. The writer of Hebrews says, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.

Do you believe? Have you drawn near? Do you believe he rewards those who believe in him? Do you have faith in Christ?

I can't answer that for you. The person sitting next to you can't answer that for you. Mom and dad can't answer that for you. Do you believe in Christ?

It's the most important thing preparing for death. Second, we live with the hope of the resurrection before us. And that's the point of the verse. We look at be steadfast and movable in the hope of the resurrection. He's saying, death has lost its thing we, we have no near to fear. There is nothing to be frightful of in it. Now, I don't want death to be painful. I don't wanna have to go through agony as I go into it whenever that day is.

But the hope of the resurrection shows that it's a conquered foe because Jesus first laid in the grave and he prepared the grave for me. And now the grave is not darkness and it is not agony. It was sanctified for us. What was tear now ushers us into the raptures of delight in death.

Third, we labor today for what matters. Tomorrow we labor today for what matters tomorrow always abounding in the work of the Lord. If we're preparing for death and we don't dabble in that which is passing,

disappears, labor for that which is lasting. We, we focus the vast majority of our lives upon that which will exist tomorrow. And what is that? It's people and in particular the souls of people. Now creation is to be enjoyed, but recreation is to be our obsession, to be obsessed with it.

That you want to see people recreated in Christ.

Christ's work in this world as a work that will stand tomorrow. And we want to participate in that work as much as we have breath in this world. Fourth, we keep on working. Though at times it is wearying, knowing that you in the Lord, your labor, as he says, is not in vain because the work, it's often frustrating, it's often discouraging. It's often demoralizing. It's often filled with pain. As we do the work of the Lord, people will mock,

they will criticize, they will critique, they will reject, they will abandon. They will fall. They, they will run away.

And we keep on keeping on.

Paul says, and he includes himself in Galatians six, nine. He says, and let us not grow weary of doing good for induced season. We will reap if we do not give up. Thomas Watson said it this way. If anything makes our pillow easy at death, it will be that we have endeavored to do God's will on earth. No one on their death bed ever says that they wish they had done less of God's will on earth. No one

said old phrase, I

think it's a good one to try and live by. Rather burn out for Christ than rust out for Christ.

Expend ourselves. So you keep working though at times it's weary. Fifth, having said that, we also rest in Jesus

even as we work, we rest, we prepare. But knowing that all is already prepared for us, he says that he goes on to prepare a place for us. He is the trailblazer that has led the way into heaven. He led the way through this life. He led the way into the grave. He led the way through his resurrection and he leads the way into heaven. He, his resurrection is simply the first fruits and there's real rest. When you understand this, we just follow him.

Six, be prepared for death by thinking much upon it. Be prepared by death, by thinking much upon it. It has a, a great sanctifying effect when you think about death.

It will keep you from being obsessed with the world. It will encourage you to use your time well. It will focus your energies. It's interesting how when people learn that their life may come to an imminent end, whether it's in a couple of years, or whether it's in months or it's in weeks, or even when it's in days, that they will often change their priorities in life.

And you'll see this, I've, I've sat by many of these beds where someone gets the news and then immediately their mind turns to other things and say, I, I really need to reconcile with this person before I die. I really want to call all my loved ones together and spend time together before I die.

I often, I've said as a pastor, I, I have been with different people through the years. And you know, you ask them, can I pray with you or can I read a scripture with you? And sometimes people will tell me, no. Nobody has ever told me no. When they're on their deathbed, no one has told me no. The most avid atheist through life. And I sit by their death bed and say, can I read the scriptures with you and pray with you?

They always say Yes. Priorities change.

Death is thought on regularly. We put our proverbial house in order. What would it look like if you lived with, ah, death could come at any moment in the mind. Your proverbial house would constantly be in order.

Seventh, we seek him now and seek to grow more like we shall be.

We seek him now and we seek to grow more like we shall be. Leah, we were talking about this this week, my wife. And she said to me, she said, you know, heaven is home. And she made this comment, she said, that means it shouldn't feel like a vacation destination or something foreign. And that's right. And I yet we often think of it, don't we as something foreign. And it's something different. It's, it's other, but it's not. It's home.

You've had this experience where you meet someone for the first time and after a couple of hours of conversation, you say to them, I, I feel like I've known you forever.

You, you just think the same way. And you seem to feel the same way. There's just a comfortability between you. You just know each other well. When we get to heaven, we want to be prepared in the sense that we just, we know it.

We know it because we know him. There isn't a foreignness to it because we've been living with him here. We delight in worshiping him here. We love to draw near to him here. And so there it's only more of what we already enjoy here.

It just feels like home.

That's when Puritan said, on his deathbed, he said this, he said, I shall change my place, but not my company. Meaning that he so knew God here on earth. He so enjoyed his friendship with God here on earth. So conversed with him here on earth that when he died, he knew he would enjoy that same company and death that he had enjoyed in life, just in a different place. He was prepared for it home. Finally, eighth, prepare for death by filling your mind

and soul with the promises of God. Fill your mind and soul with the promises of God. It allows us to welcome death.

And I truly think the Christian is to welcome death. Not because death is a friend, but because of what we gain in death.

It means going home to be with Jesus.

Paul, honestly, he wrestles with this in Philippians one when he says, for me to live as Christ and to die is gain. And then he goes on to, to talk to the Philippians and he says that, you know, I'm hard pressed as I think about those two things, if I had to choose, I don't know what I would do.

I, I know that that death is gain. Why? Because I get to be with Jesus. But, but I know that for me to remain here, that it's of you. It's for your benefit. It works for your good. And that's true resurrection living. He's looking through the lens of the resurrection. And that Paul knows that Christ is triumphed over death. And so he knows that in immediately when he passes into death, he knows that a soul immediately

goes to be with Christ. And he knows that his body is not forsaken. But there shall be a day when Christ returns upon the clouds with the angels and the archangels. And our bodies are raised from the dust of the ground and they're reunited to our souls. And we shall dwell bodily and soul with him forever as we were created to do. He has that hope for me to die. It's gain.

But he's also looking through that resurrection lens for me to live as Christ. Why? Because Christ, even now, he reigns in heaven and his kingdom is coming on earth as it is in heaven. And Paul is saying, look for me to live, it's still all about Christ. And I know that as I labor here, it's actually beneficial to you.

So he comes to the conclusion. He says, I know that I will remain and continue with you all for your progress and your joy in the faith. He lives in light of the promises of God.

That's one of the best ways to prepare for death.

Ah, what promises he has given to us.

We're almost home, some nearer than others. It's true of all of us in Christ. We're almost home.

And I can't wait. But we could. Each say, to remain in the flesh is more necessary on your account. And so as long as we are here, we labor with every breath that he has given to us for his glory and for the good of one another.

That's how you prepare for death.

Be prepared for death, would you? It's coming. It's coming for all of us. Let's pray.

Father, we are thankful

for a savior who is triumphed over death.

We're thankful for the truth of the resurrection,

The great comfort that it is, the great hope that it is. And we would pray that we would be those that prepare for death with Christ in view and that great resurrection to come.

May we be steadfast. May we be immovable in the hope of this gospel.

May we always be abounding in the work of our Lord and Savior Christ Jesus, knowing that our labor is not in vain, where we deal in things that are eternal and what a gift that is. Would you lead us home to glory and there not be a soul that is lost in this room? And we pray all of this in the strong name of Jesus. Amen.