An Appointment You Will Keep....Regardless

Sword & Trowel Gam Publications | October 1971 | John G. Reisinger

[bkaycee]

"It is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the JUDGMENT" Hebrews 9:27

You may do all in your power to put the thought of death away from you. However, you cannot escape the fact that you must die. You KNOW that you must die and face God. Maybe the reason you are reluctant to think about death is that you also know that judgment follows death as surely as night follows day. I an seriousness, could I possibly press a more sensible or important question upon you than this -- What is going to happen to you when you die?

Conscience, common sense, and the Bible all declare to you that there is an eternity that you must face. As you read these lines, you know I speak the truth. You know the above text of Scripture is as true as can be. If you and I were talking over a cup of coffee, you might grin and say, "Ah com on John, you are just trying to scare me." However, as you think about the words DEATH...JUDGMENT...ALL MEN, your "heart of hearts" deep inside of you is saying to you this very moment, "Sure, man, he's telling it like it really is. I must die and face God my Creator."

Honestly now, what is so fanatical about earnestly considering the most definite appointment you will ever keep? Is IS appointed unto YOU to DIE< and it is just as certain that judgment before Almighty God will follow -- AND YOU KNOW IT! I fail to see anything either funny or stupid about honestly facing such awesome facts. If you refuse to face them or to think about them, it is you who are playing the part fof the fool.

Did you ever ask, "Why is death inevitable? Why must men die? Where did death come from" The Bible teaches us that death is the penalty of sin. "The wages of sin is death..."(Romans 6:23) Our sin earns "wages" and God is honest -- HE pays those wages. "...in the day thou eatest therof thou shalt surely die" was no empty threat by a God either unwilling or unable to carry out His oath. The very existence of death itself is proof that God will keep every one of His curses as well as every promise. The fact that you are personally certain to die establishes your personal guilt. You have been disobedient to God your Creator and Lawgiver. God's law justly demands perfection or punishment. Law without any penalty, or without the enforcement of the penalty is not really law, it is merely advice. God's law is not just "good advice." It is the voice of authority from our sovereign Creator and Judge. By disregarding, despising, yes, and deliberately disobeying God's Law, you and I have earned God's curse. God is no liar. He is holy and just -- He will execute judgment where it is earned and deserved. Physical death, followed by eternal death or damnation, is the "earned wages" of every man. Death and judgment are certain, and you know I am not 'putting you on.'You know I am telling God's truth.

There is Another Person's death that you ought to think about. I has already taken place. It was also by Divine appointment and was a direct result of the just and holy judgment of God. The Bible tells us that Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God, was 'delivered (bound over to die) by the determinate counsel... of God...' The death of Jesus Christ was no 'tragic accident' of history , nore was its real cause in man. It was God Himself Who appointed and delivered Christ up to death as a victim of justice and judgment, and it was God Himself Who adminstered that awful judgment upon the head of His own beloved Son. Hear what the early Apostles said 'For a truth against they holy Child Jesus whom thou hast anointed, both Herod, and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles, and the people of Israel, were gathered together, for to do whatsover THY hand and THY counsel DETERMINED before to be done.'(Acts chapter 4:27,28)

Now that is really amazing! The very Son of God not only died, but He died under the wrath and curse of His Father Whom He loved and Who also loved Him. Why did the Holy Father so deliver up His Son to such awful treatment, and why did the Son wo willingly give Himself up to such a sacrificial death! The answer, my friend, is the very gospel itself. Jesus died under the Father's curse so that guilty sinners like you and me might be righteously forgive. The just judgment of God fell upon Jesus Christ in order that the holy love of God might righteously fall on poor lost sinners like us. Yes, that is the gospel message. That is what 'Christ died for our sins' means. Christ, the Just One, was judged and condemned so that we, the guilty ones, might be delivered from the judgment we have earned and be accepted as God's own sons. The Apostle Peter put it this way: 'For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God...' (1 Peter 3:18) God completely forgives and fully accepts every guilty sinner who turns from sin and believes the gospel promises. God is 'rich unto all that call upon Him...,' and He turns none away who seek Him with their whole heart.

We cannot escape death. It is an appointment we must keep, and we will keep it whether we are ready or not. However, by God's grace and power, we escape our just judgment and condemnation. How? By bowing to the Lord Jesus Christ, in true repentance and faith. I urg you to read the gospel of John and the book of Romans. PRAY that God will open their pages to your heart and bring God' grace and forgiveness to you.

May God the Holy Spirit be pleased to bring you to understand and believe the gospel as set for by Isaac Watts in his great hymn.

Alas! and did my Savior bleed?
And did my Sovereign die?
Would He devote that sacred head
For such a worm as I?
Was it for crimes that I have done
He groaned upon the tree?
Amazing pity! Grace unknown!
And love beyond degree!
Well might the sun in darkness hide,
And shut his Glories in,
When Christ, the Mighty Maker, died
For man the creature's sin.
But drops of grief can ne'er repay
The debo of love I owe;
Here, Lord, I give myself away,
'Tis all that I can do.

IF this little tract and Isaac Watt's hymn are not true, then how do you explain Jesus Christ? How do you understand His death and resurrection? What do you suppose will happen to you after death, and what authority gives you assurance that Christ and the New Testament lie, while your 'ideas' about death and judgment are the real truth? However, if this tract is the truth, and in your 'heart of hearts' you know it is, why have you not sought the forgiveness of the Lord Jesus Christ and received Him as your Lord and Savior? May the God of grace and power bring you this very moment to call upon His Name in true repentance and genuine faith.

[SkyDancer]

I read about this guy who was real nasty (I'm being polite here) his entire life. On his death bed while chatting with his son he suddenly said "what's burning? What's that smell?" He stared at the wall, his mouth formed an "O" and he died.

Another story related to me was almost the same scenario except the guy wound up kicking the end of the bed to pieces yelling "They're coming for me" - those were his last words.

There's something out there.

[Hoodat]

Jesus is coming. Look busy.

[momtothree]

I definitely believe it, too! My Mom worked as a nurse and told us stories about dying patients that talked about their long-passed spouse coming for them. One older lady that was dying swore that her dead husband came, talked to her and promised he would be back for her in the evening. The woman was very excited since it had been years since she saw him. Needless to say, she passed that evening and Mom always felt comforted that the two were together again.

[cuban leaf]

I just can’t get into the “turn or burn” message. I believe the message of Christ was the good news as hinted at in the OT, preached in the hew testament and, specifically, the Gospels.

My take on acceptance of Christ is: Dont’ do it because you fear what will happen otherwise. Do it because you desire an eternity in His presence. IOW, choose your husband because you love him and want to please him, not because you think he will beat you endlessly if you don’t. The latter is not based on love.

‘Course, I’m more into the concept of “anihilation” rather than eternal suffering after one is not found written in the book of life. I believe those who do not accept the attoning blood of our savior will be simply “ended” at the second death much as animals and insects are in this world. They will, of course, be “eternally ended”, never to awake again.

I’m not married to this belief about eternal damnation, but it is the best I can come up with based on the personality of God as I understand it coupled with what is written in His Word.

[cuban leaf]

My wife’s sister, when she was about 5, woke up one morning and came to the kitchen, where the family was gathered, and asked “where is grandpa?” They told her that he lives in California and he was not there (they were in Chicago). She was sure that he went into her bedroom that night and had said goodbye to her. She was very insistant to the point that they called grandpa to show her he was there.

Turned out Grandma was going to call them to let them know that Grandpa had died that night.

[equaviator]

Of all the “Wonders of the World”, life itself is the absolute grandest.

[momtothree]

I like to think that he said good-bye. Okay... people can laugh but so many times... people at the end of their life will dream of a person (deceased) or “visit” with them before the end. My Mom was a very comforting person and wouldn’t disregard what people would say. One day, she heard a conversation going on in a room and a woman was talking/laughing/etc.. so she waited until later to get vitals. Mom asked her, “who was visiting with you?” She said, “My son, John... I haven’t seen him since he was very young”. Mom figured that maybe he flew from out of town etc.. Later, the woman died and the family came in to say good-bye. Mom approached them, offered her sympathies and asked one to let John know. The only “John” in the family had been the woman’s son (who died in Viet Nam).

[SkyDancer]

There’s a book titled “Famous Last Words” I think you’ll find interesting. Also, do an on-line search on those words. I firmly believe there’s something after. I told one elderly lady that the reason people die in their sleep is because what they’re experiencing there is better than what they experience in real life and they decide to stay.

[the_doc]

Wow, bkayce. I read John’s article back in the 1970s. I still have it my stacks of S&T, I think.

[cuban leaf]

—Jesus is coming. Look busy.—

I confess that is one of my favorite bumper stickers. My absolute favorite is: The voices told me to stay home today and clean the guns.

[batmast]

All the world’s a stage,
And all the men and women merely players:
They have their exits and their entrances;
And one man in his time plays many parts,
His acts being seven ages. At first the infant,
Mewling and puking in the nurse’s arms.
And then the whining school-boy, with his satchel
And shining morning face, creeping like snail
Unwillingly to school. And then the lover,
Sighing like furnace, with a woeful ballad
Made to his mistress’ eyebrow. Then a soldier,
Full of strange oaths and bearded like the pard,
Jealous in honour, sudden and quick in quarrel,
Seeking the bubble reputation
Even in the cannon’s mouth. And then the justice,
In fair round belly with good capon lined,
With eyes severe and beard of formal cut,
Full of wise saws and modern instances;
And so he plays his part. The sixth age shifts
Into the lean and slipper’d pantaloon,
With spectacles on nose and pouch on side,
His youthful hose, well saved, a world too wide
For his shrunk shank; and his big manly voice,
Turning again toward childish treble, pipes
And whistles in his sound. Last scene of all,
That ends this strange eventful history,
Is second childishness and mere oblivion,
Sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans everything.
-from William Shakespeare’s As You Like It

[bkaycee]

Certainly, Jesus talked more about Hell than any of the prophets! While this is not politically correct today, it is accurate. Anihilation, would seem to deny quite a bit of what Jesus spoke of. People who no longer exist probably find it hard to engage in weeping and gnashing of teeth, whose worm never dies, suffering everlasting punishment. Can a nothing suffer?

Certainly, Jesus demonstrates His love for us in dying to save us. He is perfect Love and Mercy, and Perfect Justice. To show His love and mercy He perfectly satisfied God's Justice in our place.

[bkaycee]

I really liked it after reading it a year ago!

[cuban leaf]

—People who no longer exist probably find it hard to engage in weeping and gnashing of teeth, whose worm never dies, suffering everlasting punishment.—

Well, I do believe that the punishment, death, is everlasting. But it brings up the concept of the passage of time in eternity. I like to say that “time” is a current that flows in an ocean called “eternity”.

I think the Mark verses are basically saying that their punishment is death and they STAY dead.

[the_doc]

Thanks, Mr. Masterson! I have always liked that speech. My favorite from Shakespeare, however, is "Out, out, brief candle..." (from MacBeth, of course).

[Former Fetus]

I have a Sunday school student, an adult, who believes just the way you do. We have been going through Revelation 19 and 20 and it’s been an ordeal with him. I mean, he can believe whatever he wants, but I don’t understand his coming to a Southern Baptist Sunday school and argue with everybody! Last time I quoted something I had read in J.V. McGee’s commentary: I’d rather live like eternal literal hell is real and die to find out I was wrong, than live like it is not real (or not literal, or not eternal) and then find out that I was wrong! He glared at me, but for the first time didn’t have anything to say.

[cuban leaf]

Your student sounds a bit like me. 8->

I’ve ben a student of Revelation for a couple of decades now, though. There is a great site that covers how I feel about this to the point that I just post it here as how I interpret scripture regarding Hell:
http://www.jeremyandchristine.com/articles/eternal.php

His link to the interpretation of Lazarus and the Rich Man is also very good.

BTW, regarding this: “I’d rather live like eternal literal hell is real and die to find out I was wrong...”

I’d rather live like Jesus died for my sins and I accept Him as my personal savior. The Hell thing becomes pretty irrelevant for me.

Regarding all scripture about eternity, I very much consider it the equivalent of trying to explain the color “red” to someone who only sees in black and white. It is a study in our willingness to apply strange phrases to our understanding of reality. That is why I use the river/ocean analogy. I also use a “slaughterhouse” analogy regarding the lake of fire. If the fire is never quenched, but it is ineternity - outside of “time” - then what does that really mean? And if it IS in time, then it is like a slaughterhouse that exists for a hundred years. If you say a steer was slaughtered in a slautherhouse that existed for 100 years, it does not mean the first steer was slaughtered for that long. The steer did “stay slaughtered” though, for at least that long. ;->

[cuban leaf]

BTW, I’m in the land of a thousand “Babdis” churches myself. 8->

[johngrace]

How much did He love us?

He stretched his arms a little then a little bit more.

Then He stretched even more till his arms reached both sides of the cross.

This is how he loves us.

Good Post! Thanks for sharing!