II Kings 20.1
Time we thought the Spanagels were visiting in Bellmore.
Pastor Paul Cunningham, "Is Your House Ready?"
In order= command, give charges, appoint, give orders
Basically chose the next king from your sons, prepare life for your family after you are gone.
One of the most forgotten verses in the Bible today is: Hebrews 9:27 ...it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment.
We are going to die one day if Jesus does not return in our lifetime...
We are bombarded with information today on extending our lives through medication, check ups and surgery. Pastor Earl Lee at 80 went to be with the LORD. "He could have still been here if he took care of himself!"
See how this flies against the scripture:
Philippians 1:21-24 For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. If I am to go on living in the body, this will mean fruitful labor for me. Yet what shall I choose? I do not know! I am torn between the two: I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far; but it is more necessary for you that I remain in the body.
For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive what is due him for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad. II Corinthians 5.10
Hezekiah was 39 years old when he received this news from Isaiah.
Jim Elliot, missionary to the Auca Indians, who was martyred at age 29 wrote in his journal a few years before his death,
"I must not think it strange if God takes in youth those who I would have kept on earth till they were older. God is peopling Eternity, and I must not restrict Him to old men and women." ex/ Oswald Chambers (43), Deitrich Bonhoffer(39) and Keith Green (28) and then there was Jesus Himself.
Isaiah 57:1-2 The righteous perish, and no one takes it to heart; the devout are taken away, and no one understands that the righteous are taken away to be spared from evil. Those who walk uprightly enter into peace; they find rest as they lie in death.
Put your house in order:
What will be your spiritual legacy? What will people remember about your spiritual life? Your legacy in the people your life influenced will far outlast anything you ever achieved. What would those people say?
A sobering song:
After all our hopes and dreams have come and gone
And our children sift through all we've left behind
May the clues that they discover and the memories they uncover
Become the light that leads them to the road we each must find
Oh may all who come behind us find us faithful
May the fire of our devotion light their way
May the footprints that we leave
Lead them to believe
And the lives we live inspire them to obey
4 years ago last month:
My family in Florida was in shock at the death of Christopher. Two weeks ago this morning, in my cousin, Lori's home, I got up early before we were to leave for church and was reading my Bible and journaling. The day before I was on a Southwest Airline flight out of MacArthur. I had been reading Psalm 50-70 while I waited. These are some of David's psalms of difficulty written while Saul was pursuing him and trying it take his life. I encourage people to read these psalms while going through deep grief. I discovered how much they can help from my own experience.
Suddenly Psalm 55.22 jumped out and grabbed my heart there in MacArthur Airport. That is the verse for my family I thought. I took my journal out the next day, on that Sunday morning and wrote down the verse, "Cast all your cares on the LORD and He will sustain you." I had no sooner written it than Lori my cousin, came out and greeted me with a "Good morning". She picked up what had been our Nana's (Rose Biggs) old Promise Box, full of scriptures, Nana had based her life upon.
Then my cousin Lori began to tell me a story about it.
She showed me how she had one card sticking out of it. She said that during a very difficult night in her life, she could not sleep, so she got up to clean. She was dusting and she accidentally knocked Nana's Promise box off. It fell on the floor and one card flew out. She showed it to me. It was Psalm 55.22 and I Peter 5.7. I showed my journal in which I had just written out Psalm 55.22 and how the day before as I began my trek to Florida the LORD had given this to me for my family there. And suddenly we realized we in the Presence of God. We prayed, thanking God for the wonderful gift of our heritage. Our Nana had gone to heaven 22 years ago but the influence of her life lived on and the LORD was showing us that and that those promises were as true today as the day He gave them and the day our Nana read them and the night that card popped out. Our God is an Awesome God.
There are times when we find life's situations to be unbearable. I think of Tiffany, Christopher's fiance. Wedding Invitations all sent out and now he is gone and what was to be three weeks of wonderful expectation has become difficult beyond description. Horatio Spafford and Joseph Scriven knew about this. They wrote, It is Well With My Soul and What a Friend We Have in Jesus. Scriven's fiance drowned the night before they were to be married.
Hezekiah found this news to be unbearable. He had been a very good king, like David. God hd blessed him greatly. This didn't seem fair or right to him. So he asked God to heal him. The LORD did. He would have been far better off and the nation and his descendants if he had simply submitted to God's Word.
Put your house in order!
We should pay heed to these words while we are healthy. This could contain repentance, farewells & goodbyes, and a reflection on anything that needs to be paid attention to.
Put your house in order means:
1. Any Unfinished Business With Anyone.
Forgiveness
Debts
*Is there anyone or any group you owe money to? We are to be people of integrity and should obey the admonition by Paul the Apostle to the Church in Rome: Romans 13:8 Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for whoever loves others has fulfilled the law.
Relationships-
When my brother Mark was diagnosed in October 1997, comment to me,
"You probably rushed right up here to make things right with him." My response was, "No, there was nothing to make right. I just wanted to be by his side." The lady, "I wish I could say that about my sister and I."
Our neighbor John Mehler and his brother
2. Last Will and Testament
Not just a legal document but journals, Bible, Mark's letter
McDivitts Note
Dad's video tapes/ my video tapes- DVDs
Our lives
Our check books
We are building our lives with what we do. We can change things.
3.Gifts To Be Given.
Jack Benny
Jack loved his wife and was devoted to her. As Benny's widow reported to McCall's magazine shortly after her husband died in December 1974, the entertainer's will specified that one red rose be delivered to her for as long as she lived.
"Every day since Jack has gone the florist has delivered one long-stemmed red rose to my home. I learned that Jack actually had included a provision for the flowers in his will. One red rose to be delivered to me every day for the rest of my life."
Giving to a ministry
Giving to people- pastors' libraries.
This sentence of death which will come to all of us gives us a proper evaluation of material things. It separates life from death and shows us what is ultimately important. We need that today. Our possessions are on loan from God.
Like the Hymn Until Then says:
The things of earth will dim and lose their value
If we recall they're borrowed for awhile;
And things of earth that cause the heart to tremble,
Remembered there will only bring a smile.
Hezekiah's request was answered but it was in those 15 additional years that he sinned and made terrible mistakes.
The Apostle Paul's Reaction to His Imminent Death 2 Timothy 4:6-8
1. I am ready to be offered
2. The time of his departure was at hand
3. He fought a good fight
4. Finished his course
5. Kept the faith
6. Knew that rewards were waiting
Finishing well
Acts 20:24 However, I consider my life worth nothing to me; my only aim is to finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me—the task of testifying to the good news of God’s grace.
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