"Living Like You Want to Die,
or Dying Like You Want to Live – Which?"
TEXT: Num. 23:1-10, “… Let me die the death of the righteous, and let my last end be like his!
Balaam was a prophet that lived during the early stages of the nation of Israel. He was a prophet for hire, he would preach
anything a man wanted to hear for the right price. Balak was king of Moab and had seen how God blessed this young nation
of Israelites and was afraid of them. He offered this false prophet a great price to curse Israel but God would not allow him
to do it. Balaam prayed to die the death of a righteous man.
A. The death of the righteous in
those times implied being gathered to one's fathers in a good old age,
having seen his
children and his grandchildren.
B. A righteous man is one who is
saved from his sins, one who is justified and sanctified through the
blood of Jesus Christ
and lives a holy and useful life.
C. He who would die well must live well; for a bad death is the issue of a bad life.
D. There are many who desire to
die the death of the righteous, but do not endeavor to live the life of
the righteous.
E. Many believers want to be
in the bride of Christ but will not submit to baptism and unite with
one of the Lord's
churches.
F. All church members want the
best God has to offer but many are not willing to be obedient to His
Word.
I. How do You Want to Die?
A. The best rule to live by is to
decide how you want to die, and then live as you wish to be living when
you die…
Heb
9:27, And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this
the judgment; Ec 11:3, If the clouds be full of
rain, they
empty themselves upon the earth: and if the tree fall toward the south,
or toward the north, in the place
where the tree falleth, there it shall be.
1.
The way you fall in death is the way you'll spend eternity.
a. If you die
without Christ you'll spend a Christ less eternity in hell.
b. If you die
in Christ you'll live with Him through-out eternity.
B. How one dies is a choice that
you & I must make! (Joshua 24:15) And if it seem evil
unto you to serve the LORD,
choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of
the flood, or
the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my
house, we will serve the LORD.
1. I can only speak and decide for myself.
C. I want to die with faith in
Jesus Christ as my personal Savior, having been saved by His marvelous
grace. (Eph 2:8, 9)
For by grace
are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift
of God: Not of works, lest any man
should boast.
1.
I want to live the faith life by being obedient to His Word …
2.
Paul talks about living the FAITH life in …(Galatians 2:20). I am
crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not
I, but Christ liveth in me: and
the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son
of God, who loved
me, and gave himself for me.
3.
He is not talking about trying to live the crucified life.
4.
He declares that under the Law he was tried, found guilty, was
condemned, and in the person of his Substitute he
was slain (crucified).
5.
When did that take place? It took place when Christ was
crucified. Paul was crucified with Christ.
6.
Paul is saying, “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I
live.”
7.
How do you live Paul if you are crucified with Christ? “Yet not
I, but Christ liveth in me.” (Gal 2:26).
a. He died for
me down here that I might live in Him up yonder and that He might live
in me down here.
b. And the life
which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God.
8.
What kind of life is this? It is a life of faith—we are saved by
faith, we live by faith, we must walk by faith
(Jer 10:23).
a. I live by
the faith of the Son of God—how tender this is—who loved me, and gave
himself for me.
b. Christ loved
me, but He could not love me into heaven. He had to give Himself for
me.
c. The gift of
God is eternal life in Christ Jesus.
d. You can only receive a gift by faith this applies to any gift.
e. You have to
believe that the giver who holds out the gift to you is sincere.
f. You have to
reach out in faith and take it before it belongs to you.
g. God is
offering you the gift of eternal life in Christ Jesus.
D. I want to die in fellowship
with God, walking and talking with Him as Enoch did… (Heb 11:5)
By faith Enoch was
translated
that he should not see death; and was not found, because God had
translated him: for before his translation
he had this testimony, that he pleased God.
1.
If you die in fellowship with God then you must live in
fellowship with God by reading His Word, by prayer, and
by pleasing Him in your daily life.
2.
(John 14:21) He that hath my commandments, and keepeth
them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me
shall be loved of my Father, and
I will love him, and will manifest myself to him. (John 14:22-23)
Judas saith
unto him, not Iscariot, Lord, how
is it that thou wilt manifest thyself unto us, and not unto the world?
23 Jesus
answered and said unto him, If a
man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we
will
come unto him, and make our abode with him.
3.
When we are obedient to His Word then we can say with the apostle
John (1 John 1:3) … and truly our
fellowship is with the Father,
and with his Son Jesus Christ.
E. I want to die without fear,
knowing from Scriptures and by experiences that God is with me… (Ps
23:4) Yea, though I
walk through the
valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with
me; thy rod and thy staff they
comfort me.
1.
In order to die without fear we must learn to live without fear
and doubts, with the blessed assurance that we are
saved and He is always with us… (Heb
13:6) So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I
will not
fear what man shall do unto me.
2.
There is nothing like fear in the human heart, but the child of
God does not need to fear any judgment which is
coming.
3. It was all settled when Christ died for you.
4.
If you are fearful, you cannot enjoy your salvation.
5.
Joy stems from love, and if you have love for the Lord Jesus, for
God, and for your brethren, then fear has been
cast out. (1 John 4:18) There is
no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath
torment. He
that feareth is not made perfect in
love.
F. I want to die being obedient to
the plain and simple commandments of Christ, having been saved,
baptized, united to
one of His New
Testament churches and working in the church of which I am a member
(John 14:23) “ Jesus
answered and said
unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words:…” (Mt 28:19) Go ye
therefore, and teach all
nations, baptizing
them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:
1.
GO! Is a command. TEACH! Is a command. BAPTIZE! Is a command.
2.
Obey these simple commands and you will not die in disobedience
to them… (1 John 5:3) For this is the love of
God, that we keep his commandments: and
his commandments are not grievous. (John 15:14) Ye are my friends,
if ye do whatsoever I command you.
G. I want to die at peace with God
and with all His people, with no malice toward any of Gods people.
1.
To die like this one must forgive others and hold no grudges… (Mt
6:14,15) For if ye forgive men their
trespasses, your heavenly Father
will also forgive you: But if ye forgive not men their
trespasses, neither will
your Father forgive your
trespasses. (James 5:9) Grudge not one against another, brethren, lest
ye be
condemned: behold, the judge standeth before the door.
H. I want the words written on my
tombstone, “I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I
have kept the
faith.”
I. Live true and faithful to God
and you will die as you have lived… (2 Tim 4:6-8) For I am now ready to
be offered,
and the time
of my departure is at hand. 7 I have fought a good fight, I have
finished my course, I have kept the faith:
8 Henceforth
there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the
righteous judge, shall give me at
that day: and
not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing.
II. You Must Decide How You Want To Live, And then Ask Yourself, “Do I Want To Die That Way? Or Should
I Change My Way Of Living?
A. (A young man lay dying on a
liquor store floor after being shot for robbery- As he was going out
into eternity he said,
“Oh my God, not this way.”
B. How do you want to live this life?
1.
Do you want to live it for Satan, the pleasures of sin, running
with the wicked crowds?
a. Then you
must die as you lived (Proverbs 13:15) the way of transgressors is hard.
2.
Do you want to live your life outside of Christ, out of Gods
will and out of fellowship with Gods people?
a. Then you
must die as you have lived.
C. Are you willing to die as you
have lived? (Pr 29:1) He, that being often reproved hardeneth his neck,
shall suddenly be
destroyed, and that without remedy.
D. If you want to live without God
then you must die without His presence and help, for you must die as
you have lived.
Conclusion:
A. The rich man of Luke 16 chose
to live for the comforts of this life, without heeding Gods call to
repentance.
1.
He died as he had lived, and “in hell he lifted up his eyes,
being in torments.” (Luke 16:23).
B. Saul of Tarsus repented and chose to live the faith life.
1.
He lived like he wanted to die, and he died as he lived.
2.
He went to be with Christ to receive a great crown. (2 Tim 4:8)
Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of
righteousness, which the Lord,
the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but
unto all
them also that love his appearing.
C. Do you want to live without ever being saved and die without Christ?
1.
The correct choice is to trust Christ by faith and die with faith
in Christ?