I believe what is expressed in these words is the fact that death could be much nearer for me and you than we think. David could certainly say this because he was confronted with great danger at all times. According to 1 Sam.18:11, Saul had cast a javelin at him at least twice, but David escaped. Others were sent to seize him (1 Sam.19:20). Many times the Psalmist had made a narrow escapes in preserving his life.

If Jesus tarries his coming many more years, many of us here today will be faced with our own physical death. We do not know the when, the how but we all do know that one day we have an appointment with death. Most appointments you can cancel, but this one no man can council.

Death is merely the separation of the soul and spirit from the body. Man is a tri-part being. As there is a Father, Son and Holy Ghost in the God head, man has a trinity, which is body, soul and spirit. When a Christian dies he goes to the blissful place called heaven. On the other hand, when a lost sinner dies, he goes to a dreadful, awful, torturous place called hell.

In the Bible there are mainly three kinds of death which are emphacises. First, there is spiritual death (Rom. 5:12). We are born into this world spiritually dead—in rebellion to and in antagonism against God. Everyone born in Adam’s race is born in a state of spiritual death (Isa.64:6).

Secondly, there is eternal death, which is separation from Holy God forever and ever. That is what Romans 6:23 is speaking about when it says, "The wages of sin is death." Sin brings separation from a holy God forever to the lost person.

Thirdly , there is physical death. As time goes on our bodies began to break down; we get sick and die. That is a part of the natural process and is the direct result of sin in the Garden of Eden. That is the kind of "death" with which we will have to do with in this message.

None of us know when death may come knocking at our door. It may coming morning, noon, or night. It may overtake us as we are asleep at night or working during the day.

People of all ages can face death–some babies die, some children die, and all adults will eventually one day leave this world.

Physical death is described in the Bible in many ways:

1. Returning to dust (Ps.104:29)

2. Going to the fathers (Gen. 15:15)

3. Gathering unto our people (Gen. 49:29)

4. Giving up the ghost (Gen.25:8)

5. To sleep with thy fathers (Deut.31:16)

6. As being "crushed like the moth" (Job.4:19)

7. As a tent cord pulled up (Job. 4:21)

8. As a breath exhaled (Job 7:7)

9. Being "cut down like a flower" (Job.14:2)

10. Lying down in the dust (Job.7:21)

11. The spirit going upward (Eccl.12:5)

12. The spirit returning to God (Eccl.12:7)

13. Going to our everlasting home (Eccl.12:5)

14. Sleeping in the dust of the earth (Dan.12:2)

15. Falling asleep (1 Cor. 15:18)

16. Being clothed with a house not made with hands (2 Cor.5:2)

17. Being swallowed up of life (2 Cor. 5:4)

18. Absence from the body (2 Cor.5:8)

19. A journey (Phil.1:23)

20. Putting off the tabernacle (2 Pet.1:14)

Why do people die in the first place? When our first parents, Adam and Eve sinned in the Garden of Eden, they brought physical death upon all of the human race. I have never read in the Bible of having a memorial service or a funeral for angels. They do not live and die as men do. It was disobedience that brought death upon the entire human family. If Jesus doesn’t come in the near future some of you will die from natural causes, others from accidents, but we will all one day die-----that is unless we are living on the earth when Jesus comes for His redeemed, blood-bought church.

If you are an unbeliever, you should be shaking in your shoes. The Bible says, "It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of a living God."(Heb.10:31). Sometimes we speak as believers about being in the hands of God. Here in Heb.10:31, it refers to being in God’s hands as one arrested as a criminal, being brought before the judgement bar of God, and receiving the sentence of condemnation. When you think of standing before a holy God condemned, and the future judgement that awaits you called hell,  you should bow on your knees and cry out, "God be merciful to me a sinner."

To the believer, death is but a corridor through which we pass, to enter into the presence of our wonderful Lord. We do not see death as a tragedy, but as a means from getting from this imperfect world, to a perfect one.

To the unsaved man who knows there is a God and that hell is a reality, it is an experience full of terror and horror as the demons of hell come to snatch their souls and carry that person off to the regions of the damned. It is the unsaved man’s worst nightmare, or at least it should be, to think about closing their eyes to this world and opening them in a place of fire, torment, screaming, gnashing of the teeth, unending pain, and punishment forever, and ever, and ever–worlds without end.

I have heard medical professionals through the years tell me of incidences that happened by the bedside of people dying without Christ.

Illustration:

I heard of one man who was unsaved. He had been sick for a while with a terminal illness. Just before he closed his eyes in death his eyes suddenly opened. There was a wild look in them. Suddenly the man screamed, " Oh no, it can’t be, it is hell- they are coming to get me–help, help......" Those were the last words that unsaved man spoke this side of eternity. He died lost, thus without any hope for the future.

When we think about dying, the main word is the words "prepare" or "preparation." "Prepare" means "to put in the proper condition or readiness." We are to get into the proper condition so we will be ready to die.

We prepare for tests– prepare for work—prepare for meals, but we had better make sure and prepare for death. You had better make sure you are ready, because you do not know when it will come your way.

There is much preparation involved in a person’s death. I feel the Lord would have me to mention those preparations in three different areas.

1 Peter 2:24 says, "Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed."

Isaiah 53:5, "But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon Him; and with his stripes we are healed."

Christ, and Christ alone could atone for the sins of man. There was only one qualified to be the sin bearer. The one who was the sin sacrifice had to be without spot or blemish. Christ is the only completely Perfect One.

He had no sins for which to die, since He was sinless. It was for our sins----where we came short and disobeyed—for which he died.

It was you and I who should have been separated from God forever but Jesus cried, "My God, my God why has thou forsaken me." Darkness speaks many times of the absence of God. In the three hours of darkness, Jesus experienced a feeling of being forsaken of the Father.

 "My God, my God, why has thou forsaken me?"

What a shame for the Son of God in His humanity to be stripped of His clothes, beaten with the cat-of-nine-tails, to be spat open, treated as a common criminal, and spat upon as though He were nothing. To the contrary Christ was:

The darling of heaven

The dear Lamb of God

The dedicated one to the will of the Father.

The desiring one who wanted the salvation of mankind.

The Bible calls Him the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end.

I do not understand all that took place there, but he stepped in and took my whipping and my punishment.

Also, He arose and because He lives I will live also.

Our bodies may be planted in the ground but they will arise as did Jesus’ body.

Christ knew we would need a Savior in life and in death.

The Bible says, "Prepare to meet thy God." I know that verse is in reference to Israel and God judging His own people, but we can apply that to the sinner and say, "Prepare to meet God."

Two things every person needs– a will and a living will.

A Will tells those left behind how your properties are to be distributed and leaves particulars on your wishes.

Living Will keeps them from leaving your body hooked up to life support when it is not going to get better. It protects your family from high medical bills on your behalf also.

Some folks do not want to prepare for death legally. If you will take care of the distribution of your properties, it might help your children from fussing and fighting when you are gone.

If possible work at prepaying your funeral expense or have enough insurance where you family will not face great debt when you are gone.

1. Avoid procrastination-

Some folks put off salvation until it is too late.

That is the chief tool of the devil. He has gotten many souls though that method of deception.

2- Alleviate excuses

**Hypocrites in the church

**Not live good enough to be saved

**I just don’t have time now to consider salvation–too busy.

3- Accept Christ

Jn. 1:12–"But as many as received Him........"

He that hath the Son hath life.

If Jesus is your Savior and Lord, you are prepared for death.

Jesus said, "I go to prepare a place for you."

A. It is a glorious place

The glory of God lightens it. It is unimaginably bright and full of splendor.

B. It is a gorgeous place

It’s beauty is indescribable with human vocabulary. It is hard enough to describe a beautiful sunset, nevertheless a place like heaven.

No one can say they deserve to be there. The gates of pearl, which speaks of suffering, will ever remind us why we were able to inherit a glorious mansion.

There are many in the pages of the Bible and in church history that have taught us how to die. You should live right and die right. Let me give you some experiences of others who can help prepare you for the time of death.

A. Stephen

Acts 7- looked into heaven- saw the glory of God. Not bitter at those who gave him a hard time and killed him. He asked forgiveness for them.

He wrote the song, "No One Ever Cared for me Like Jesus." He was sick and knew he would not get better, so Dr. Weigle decided he wanted to go home. He was not afraid of death. He kept telling the nurse in the hospital, "I want to go home." She thought he meant back to his apartment. He kept saying to the nurse, "I want to go home." It was heaven he was talking about. When dying grace comes you are not afraid to die.

C. Other Saints

Illustration:

There was a man riding on horseback over the mountains of Oregon. A stranger came out of a cottage and asked if her were a minister, saying, "There is a woman dying inside the cottage." As the minister went in and knelt beside here, he saw a woman who had been blind for 20 years. She was slipping away into eternity. She told him how 75 years before, in the old country, she was saved and Christ became her Savior. She said she had wandered over the world and buried many friends and love ones. God had always been with her. As the tears rolled from her sightless eyes, her old face glowed with a tender light as she whispered, "I will soon be over! I will see Jesus and I will hold all my loved ones in my arms again."

I think of when D.L. Moody died. He spoke these words:"This is glorious. Earth receding, heaven opening, God calling me."

John Antler said: "The chariot has come and I am ready to step in."

John Lyth said, " Can this be death? Why, it is better than living! Tell them I die happy in Jesus."

Margaret Prior said, "Eternity rolls before me like a sea of glory."

Martha McCrackin said, "How bright the room! How full of angels!"