The death of the godless

SERMON TOPIC: The death of the godless

Speaker: Gavin Paynter

Language: ENGLISH

Date: 13 October 2013

Topic Groups: DEATH, HELL, SALVATION

Sermon synopsis: Will a loving God send sinners to hell?
Who spoke the most about hell in the Bible?
Was the story of the rich man who went to hell a parable?
Is there consciousness in hell, “soul sleep” or annihilation?
We look at the death of the godless and the godly including deathbed quotes from Cesare Borgia, Mahatma Gandhi, Napoleon Bonaparte, Charles IX, Josef Stalin and Robert Ingersoll – contrasted with D.L. Moody, John Leland, John Newton, Adoniram Judson, King David, the martyr Stephen, the apostle Paul and Jesus Christ.

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THE DEATH

OF THE

GODLESS

By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return. (Gen 3:19)

Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. (James 4:14)

Once the game is over, the king and the pawn go back into the same box. (Italian Proverb)

THE CERTAINTY OF DEATH

Inscribed on a tombstone in a cemetery in England were the words: �REMEMBER MAN, AS YOU WALK BY AS YOU ARE NOW, SO ONCE WAS I, AS I AM NOW, SO SHALL YOU BE, REMEMBER THIS AND FOLLOW ME.�

To which someone replied by writing on the tombstone: �TO FOLLOW YOU I�LL NOT CONSENT, UNTIL I KNOW WHICH WAY YOU WENT.� 1 1 www.churchchrist.net

THE CERTAINTY OF DEATH

Toward the end of the 19th century, Swedish chemist Alfred Nobel awoke one morning to read his own obituary in the local newspaper: �Alfred Nobel, the inventor of dynamite, who died yesterday, devised a way for more people to be killed in a war than ever before, and he died a very rich man.� There was only one problem, Alfred Nobel had not died. Actually, it was his older brother who had died, but a newspaper reporter had somehow gotten it wrong.

Regardless of how it happened, the account had a profound effect on Alfred Nobel. He decided he wanted to be known for something other than developing the means to kill people efficiently and for amassing a fortune in the process. So he initiated the Nobel Peace Prize, the award for scientists and writers who foster peace. Nobel said, �Every man ought to have the chance to correct his epitaph in midstream and write a new one.� 1 1 www.churchchrist.net/ Sermons/ Death.htm

Alfred Nobel (1801-1872)

There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and lived in luxury every day.

LUKE 16:19-31

At his gate was laid a beggar named Lazarus, covered with sores and longing to eat what fell from the rich man�s table. Even the dogs came and licked his sores.

The time came when the beggar died and the angels carried him to Abraham�s side. The rich man also died and was buried.

In hell (Hades), where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side. So he called to him, �Father Abraham, have pity on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in agony in this fire.�

But Abraham replied, �Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, while Lazarus received bad things, but now he is comforted here and you are in agony.�

�And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, so that those who want to go from here to you cannot, nor can anyone cross over from there to us.�

He answered, �Then I beg you, father, send Lazarus to my father�s house, for I have five brothers. Let him warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment.�

Abraham replied, �They have Moses and the Prophets; let them listen to them.� �No, father Abraham,� he said, �but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.� He said to him, �If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.�

Some who are uncomfortable with the message of this story will say that it is a parable. However:

Jesus never used names (like �Lazarus�) in parables.

Parables teach a spiritual truth by means of using an earthly truth e.g. Jesus would communicate spiritual principles by using stories that people could relate to about shepherds, farmers, fishermen, masters & servants etc. This is clearly not a story about a physical earthly event that anybody could relate to.

PARABLE OR NOT?

So Jesus is teaching us that hell is a place where there is consciousness (i.e. no �soul sleep� or annihilation)

Jesus taught that the rich man:

Could see � he saw Abraham & Lazarus

Could speak � he called out to Abraham

Could hear - heard Abraham�s reply

Could feel � he was in agony

Certainly then could smell (if all his other senses were present)

CONSCIOUSNESS

He could remember. He recognized Lazarus and remembered that he had a father and brothers.

Luke 16:27-28 He answered, �� send Lazarus to my father�s house, for I have five brothers.

Abraham also appealed to his memory of a misspent life.

Luke 16:25 But Abraham replied, �Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, while Lazarus received bad things��

MEMORIES

The memory will be there for eternity. Remembering all the lost opportunities will add to the suffering.

He could reason � he wanted to warn his brothers.

Luke 16:27-28 He answered, �Then I beg you, father, send Lazarus to my father�s house, for I have five brothers. Let him warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment.�

Abraham made it clear that we need to heed the Law and the Prophets (i.e. the Bible) if we don�t wish to have a similar fate.

Luke 16:29-31 Abraham replied, �They have Moses and the Prophets; let them listen to them.� �No, father Abraham,� he said, �but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.� He said to him, �If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.�

REASON

Interestingly we see the truth of what Abraham said in the life of another man called Lazarus. He was allowed to come back from the dead and the chief priests (i.e. the Sadducees who didn�t believe in the resurrection) were not swayed to change their beliefs � rather they wanted to kill both him and Jesus.

John 12:9-11 Meanwhile a large crowd of Jews found out that Jesus was there and came, not only because of him but also to see Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. So the chief priests made plans to kill Lazarus as well, for on account of him many of the Jews were going over to Jesus and putting their faith in him.

HEED THE BIBLE

So what does the Bible teach about hell?

Luke 16:23-28 In hell, where he was in torment� �I am in agony in this fire� Let him warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment.�

Legion shouted to Jesus: �What do you want with us, Son of God? Have you come here to torture us before the appointed time?� (Matt 8:29)

A PLACE OF TORMENT

THE TARES: They will throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. (Matt 13:42)

THE MAN WITHOUT WEDDING GARMENTS: Then the king told the attendants, �Tie him hand and foot, and throw him outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.� (Matt 22:13)

THE UNFAITHFUL SERVANT: He will cut him to pieces and assign him a place with the hypocrites, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. (Matt 24:51)

THE WICKED LAZY SERVANT: And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. (Matt 25:30)

SORROW & REGRET

2 Thess 1:9-10 They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the majesty of his power on the day he comes to be glorified in his holy people and to be marveled at among all those who have believed.

SEPARATION FROM GOD

Luke 16:24 So he called to him, �Father Abraham, have pity on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in agony in this fire.�

Mark 9:43-48 If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life maimed than with two hands to go into hell, where the fire never goes out� It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into hell, where �their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched.�

A PLACE OF FIRE

Rev 9:2 When he opened the Abyss, smoke rose from it like the smoke from a gigantic furnace. The sun and sky were darkened by the smoke from the Abyss.

Rev 20:10 And the devil, who deceived them, was thrown into the lake of burning sulfur�

A PLACE OF FIRE

Matt 25:30 And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness�

2 Pet 2:17 These men are springs without water and mists driven by a storm. Blackest darkness is reserved for them.

So hell is not a place where you�ll be �partying� with all your friends.

DARKNESS & LONELINESS

There is no second chance to change your mind about serving God after you die.

Luke 19:26 �And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, so that those who want to go from here to you cannot, nor can anyone cross over from there to us.�

Rev 20:14 Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death.

A PLACE OF FINALITY

Heb 9:27 Just as man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment�

Mark 9:43 � hell, where the fire never goes out.

Jude 7 They serve as an example of those who suffer the punishment of eternal fire.

ETERNAL PUNISHMENT

Matt 25:41-46 Then he will say to those on his left, �Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.� �Then they will go away to eternal punishment�

Rev 20:10 And the devil, who deceived them, was thrown into the lake of burning sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet had been thrown. They will be tormented day and night for ever and ever.

Rev 14:11 And the smoke of their torment rises for ever and ever. There is no rest day or night for those who worship the beast and his image, or for anyone who receives the mark of his name.

Daniel 12:2 Multitudes who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake: some to everlasting life, others to shame and everlasting contempt.

2 Thess 1:9 They will be punished with everlasting destruction�

ETERNAL PUNISHMENT

Luke 12:4-5 I tell you, my friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body and after that can do no more. But I will show you whom you should fear: Fear him who, after the killing of the body, has power to throw you into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him.

Heb 10:26-31 If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God� For we know him who said, �It is mine to avenge; I will repay,� and again, �The Lord will judge his people.� It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

John 3:36 � whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God�s wrath remains on him.

A PLACE TO BE FEARED

1 John 4:16 God is love�

2 Thess 1:6-8 God is just: He will pay back trouble to those who trouble you and give relief to you who are troubled, and to us as well. This will happen when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven in blazing fire with his powerful angels. He will punish those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus.

Jude 14-15 Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied about these men: �See, the Lord is coming with thousands upon thousands of his holy ones to judge everyone, and to convict all the ungodly of all the ungodly acts they have done in the ungodly way, and of all the harsh words ungodly sinners have spoken against him.�

LOVE & JUSTICE

In a sense, the concept of hell gives meaning to our lives. It tells us that the moral choices we make day by day have eternal significance, that our behavior has consequences lasting to eternity, that God Himself takes our choices seriously. The doctrine of hell is not just some dusty theological holdover from the Middle Ages. It has significant social consequences. Without a conviction of ultimate justice, people�s sense of moral obligation dissolves, and social bonds are broken. (Chuck Colson)

ULTIMATE JUSTICE

Chuck Colson

Rev 20:11-15 Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. Earth and sky fled from his presence, and there was no place for them. And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books. The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and each person was judged according to what he had done. Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death. If anyone�s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.

THE BOOK OF LIFE

Prov 11:21 Be sure of this: The wicked will not go unpunished�

Isaiah 13:11 I will punish the world for its evil, the wicked for their sins. I will put an end to the arrogance of the haughty and will humble the pride of the ruthless.

John 5:28-29 Do not be amazed at this, for a time is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice and come out - those who have done good will rise to live, and those who have done evil will rise to be condemned.

WILL EXCEPTIONS BE MADE?

2 Pet 2:4-9 For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but sent them to hell, putting them into gloomy dungeons to be held for judgment; if he did not spare the ancient world when he brought the flood on its ungodly people, but protected Noah, a preacher of righteousness, and seven others; if he condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah by burning them to ashes, and made them an example of what is going to happen to the ungodly; � if this is so, then the Lord knows how to rescue godly men from trials and to hold the unrighteous for the day of judgment, while continuing their punishment.

WILL EXCEPTIONS BE MADE?

DEMONS

Luke 8:30-31 Jesus asked him, �What is your name?� �Legion,� he replied, because many demons had gone into him. And they begged him repeatedly not to order them to go into the Abyss.

WHO WILL BE THERE?

SATAN

Matt 25:41 �Then he will say to those on his left, �Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.

Isaiah 14:12-15 How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High. Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit. (KJV)

Rev 20:10 And the devil, who deceived them, was thrown into the lake of burning sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet had been thrown. They will be tormented day and night for ever and ever.

WHO WILL BE THERE?

Those absorbed in this life only (Materialists)

Luke 12:16-21 And he told them this parable: �The ground of a certain rich man produced a good crop. He thought to himself, �What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.� Then he said, �This is what I�ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I�ll say to myself, �You have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.�� �But God said to him, �You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?� �This is how it will be with anyone who stores up things for himself but is not rich toward God.�

WHO WILL BE THERE?

Those unconcerned about the suffering of others

The rich man in Luke 16 lived in luxury but was unconcerned about the starving beggar at his gate.

Matt 25:41-46 �Then he will say to those on his left, �Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.� �They also will answer, �Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?� �He will reply, �I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.� �Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.�

WHO WILL BE THERE?

The sexually perverse

Matt 5:27-29 �You have heard that it was said, �Do not commit adultery.� But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart. If your right eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell.�

Jude 7 In a similar way, Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding towns gave themselves up to sexual immorality and perversion. They serve as an example of those who suffer the punishment of eternal fire.

Rev 21:8 But � the sexually immoral� their place will be in the fiery lake of burning sulfur.

WHO WILL BE THERE?

Drunkards, revelers & brawlers

Isaiah 5:11-14 Woe to those who rise early in the morning that they may pursue strong drink, Who stay up late in the evening that wine may inflame them! Their banquets are accompanied by lyre and harp, by tambourine and flute, and by wine; But they do not pay attention to the deeds of the LORD, Nor do they consider the work of His hands� Therefore Sheol has enlarged its throat and opened its mouth without measure; And Jerusalem�s splendor, her multitude, her din of revelry and the jubilant within her, descend into it. (NASB)

WHO WILL BE THERE?

Liars, murderers, occultists, pagans etc

Rev 21:8 But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars - their place will be in the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death.

WHO WILL BE THERE?

Of the New Jerusalem, John writes:

Rev 21:15 Outside are the dogs, those who practice magic arts, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idolaters and everyone who loves and practices falsehood.

Rev 21:27 Nothing impure will ever enter it, nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb�s book of life.

WHO WILL BE THERE?

Those who cause others to lose their faith

Matt 18:5-9 �And whoever welcomes a little child like this in my name welcomes me. But if anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a large millstone hung around his neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea. �Woe to the world because of the things that cause people to sin! Such things must come, but woe to the man through whom they come! If your hand or your foot causes you to sin cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life maimed or crippled than to have two hands or two feet and be thrown into eternal fire. And if your eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into the fire of hell.

WHO WILL BE THERE?

Those who murder God�s prophets

Matt 23:29-33 �Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You build tombs for the prophets and decorate the graves of the righteous. And you say, �If we had lived in the days of our forefathers, we would not have taken part with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.� So you testify against yourselves that you are the descendants of those who murdered the prophets. Fill up, then, the measure of the sin of your forefathers! You snakes! You brood of vipers! How will you escape being condemned to hell?�

WHO WILL BE THERE?

Those who deliberately keep on sinning after they know the truth

Heb 10:26-29 If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God. Anyone who rejected the law of Moses died without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. How much more severely do you think a man deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son of God under foot, who has treated as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant that sanctified him, and who has insulted the Spirit of grace?

WHO WILL BE THERE?

Those who are ashamed of Jesus

Matt 10:28-33 Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell� �Whoever acknowledges me before men, I will also acknowledge him before my Father in heaven. But whoever disowns me before men, I will disown him before my Father in heaven.

WHO WILL BE THERE?

Those servants who do not do God�s will

Matt 25:30 �And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Hypocrites

Matt 24:48-51 �But suppose that servant is wicked and says to himself, �My master is staying away a long time,� and he then begins to beat his fellow servants and to eat and drink with drunkards. The master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he is not aware of. He will cut him to pieces and assign him a place with the hypocrites, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.�

WHO WILL BE THERE?

Those who hate (root sin of murder)

Matt 5:21-22 �But I tell you that anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to his brother, �Raca,� is answerable to the Sanhedrin. But anyone who says, �You fool!� will be in danger of the fire of hell.�

Those who do not believe the gospel

Mark 16:15-16 He said to them, �Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.�

Rev 21:8 But � the unbelieving� their place will be in the fiery lake of burning sulfur.

WHO WILL BE THERE?

Those who have no relationship with Jesus

Matt 7:21-23 �Not everyone who says to me, �Lord, Lord,� will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, �Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?� Then I will tell them plainly, �I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!�

James 2:19 You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that - and shudder.

WHO WILL BE THERE?

Those who are unprepared

Matt 22:11-13 But when the king came in to see the guests, he noticed a man there who was not wearing wedding clothes. �Friend,� he asked, �how did you get in here without wedding clothes?� The man was speechless. Then the king told the attendants, �Tie him hand and foot, and throw him outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.�

ARE YOU PREPARED FOR ETERNITY?

Matt 25:41 Then he will say to those on his left, �Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.�

Cesare Borgia was the illegitimate son of the notorious Pope Alexander VI and his mistress. He is believed by some to have murdered his brother Giovanni. He was feared by his own father and murdered those who stood in his way.

His dying words were: �I have taken care of everything in the course of my life, only not for death, and now I have to die completely unprepared.� 1

1 www.thewordteaches.com

A PREPARED PLACE FOR AN UNPREPARED PEOPLE

Some 15 years before his death, Mohandas K. Gandhi wrote: �I must tell you in all humility that Hinduism, as I know it, entirely satisfies my soul, fills my whole being, and I find a solace in the Bhagavad and Upanishads.� Just before his death, Gandhi wrote: �My days are numbered. I am not likely to live very long�perhaps a year or a little more. For the first time in fifty years I find myself in the slough of despond. All about me is darkness; I am praying for light.� 1

1 www.evolution-facts.org

ALL ABOUT ME IS DARKNESS

Adoniram Judson grew up in a conservative Congregational pastor�s home but went to Brown University where he made friends with Jacob Eames, a persuasive Deist, leading to his own rejection of Christianity. He broke his parents hearts when he told them that he had no faith and that he intended to go to New York and learn to write for the theatre. He did not, however, find his expected fame or fortune there.

Eventually he headed West and one night he stayed in a small village inn where he�d never been before. The innkeeper apologized that his sleep might be interrupted because of a man critically ill in the next room. Adoniram was tired but rest did not come. Throughout the night, he heard sounds in the next room - low voices, people moving about on the creaking floor, groans and gasps, but most of all agonizing cries of despair and desperation, coming from the dying man. 1

1 SOURCES: www.nationalministries.org, www.wholesomewords.org, www.desiringgod.org

DEATH OF A DEIST

It bothered him to think that the man may not be prepared to die. All night long He wondered about himself and had terrible thoughts of his own death. How would he face this enemy that his own father would welcome as the doorway to God? His philosophy offered no answers beyond this earthly life. But then he felt ashamed of himself - what would his deist friend, Jacob Eames, think of his silly thoughts of God?

Upon leaving the next morning he asked if the man was better. �He is dead,� said the innkeeper. Struck with the finality he asked, �Do you know who he was?� �Oh yes.� came the reply, �Young man from the college in Providence. Name was Eames, Jacob Eames.� 1 1 SOURCES: �The Life Of Adoniram Judson� by Courtney Anderson, www.nationalministries.org, www.wholesomewords.org, www.desiringgod.org

That reality sent Adoniram�s mind reeling and he wondered about the eternal destiny for such a man. Suddenly, he realized that his father�s God was true: The beliefs of Jacob Eames were empty and had failed him at his greatest hour. Adoniram was converted and later went to Burma as a missionary. 1

Shortly before Adoniram Judson died he said: �I am not tired of my work, neither am I tired of the world; yet, when Christ calls me home, I shall go with the gladness of a boy bounding away from his school.� 2

1 Ibid 2 Florence Huntington Jensen � www.wholesomewords.org

Napoleon Bonaparte, the French emperor who brought death to millions to satisfy his selfish plans: �I die before my time, and my body will be given back to the earth. Such is the fate of him who has been called the great Napoleon. What an abyss between my deep misery and the eternal kingdom of Christ!� 1

1 www.evolution-facts.org

Charles IX (1550�1574) was the young French king who, urged on by his mother (Catherine de Medici), gave the order for the massacre of the Huguenots, in which 30,000 to 100,000 Protestants were slaughtered.

Charles IX did not long survive the Massacre� emotionally, his moods now swung from coarse boasting about the extremity of the Massacre, to claims that the screams of the murdered Huguenots kept ringing in his ears. Frantically he blamed his mother: �Who but you is the cause of all of this? God�s blood, you are the cause of it all!� The Queen-mother responded by declaring she had a lunatic for a son. The strain following the Massacres weakened his body to the point where, by spring of 1574, the hoarse coughing turned bloody and the hemorrhages grew more violent. He became bedridden and delusional. �What blood shed! What murders! he cried to his nurse. What evil council I have followed! O my God, forgive me... I am lost! I am lost!� 1

1 Wikipedia

Josef Stalin was the murderous atheistic dictator of the communist U.S.S.R. from 1922 until his death in 1953.

In a Newsweek interview with Svetlana Stalin, the daughter of Josef Stalin, she told of her father�s death: �My father died a difficult and terrible death� God grants an easy death only to the just� At what seemed the very last moment he suddenly opened his eyes and cast a glance over everyone in the room. It was a terrible glance, insane or perhaps angry� His left hand was raised, as though he were pointing to something above and bringing down a curse on us all. The gesture was full of menace� The next moment he was dead.� 1

1 www.evolution-facts.org

Thomas Hobbes, the political philosopher and skeptic who saw of human existence as self-interested cooperation and was one of the main philosophers who founded �materialism�.

His deathbed words were: �I am about to take a fearful leap in the dark!� 1

1 www.evolution-facts.org

The agnostic, Robert Ingersoll, when standing at the grave of his brother, said, �Life is a narrow vale between the cold and barren peaks of two eternities. We strive in vain to look beyond the height. We cry aloud, and the only answer is the echo of our wailing cry. From the voiceless lips of the unreplying dead there comes no word.�

On his deathbed Ingersoll is reputed to have cried, �Oh God, if there be a God, save my soul if I have a soul.� 1

1 www.bibleweb.com

When Colonel Ingersoll died, in the summer of 1899, and his family were overwhelmed with grief, the Young Women�s Christian Conference was in session at Northfield. On this occasion Mr. Moody made his first public allusion to Mr. Ingersoll when he said: �Mr. Ingersoll and I started out in life about the same time, and in the same State. Of course I have been interested in watching his career, but I have never mentioned his name in public until tonight, and I don�t believe in talking about a man after his death. I am sorry for his wife and children, for it is said that he was a kind husband and father, and I don�t want to tear open that wound. My feeling toward him has always been that of deepest pity, for a life like his seems so barren of everything that has made my life joyous and blessed. How dark must be the life of a man for whom, by his own confession, it was like �a narrow vale between the peaks of two eternities; we cry aloud, and the only answer is the echo of our calling,� and for whom death seemed like �a leap into the dark.� 1

1 �The life of Dwight L. Moody�: by William Revell Moody (1900)

Moody continued: �How different from that of a believer in Christ ! For him not only is the present life filled with the peace of God, but the future is bright with hope. He knows that for him death is only the exchanging of a shifting tent for an enduring mansion. How much Colonel Ingersoll�s sorrowing wife and daughters need our prayers, as they stand by the still body of their loved one, if they really believe the hopeless doctrine he taught!� 1

1 Ibid

DEATH OF AN ATHEIST

An atheist is to be pitied when he faces death because - if his worldview is correct, he faces oblivion - and if he is mistaken, he faces the fate of the damned.

Dwight Lyman Moody (1837 - 1899)

The famous American evangelist, D.L. Moody, died in the same year as Ingersoll.

Moody had said, �Some day you will read in the papers that D.L. Moody of East Northfield, is dead. Don�t you believe a word of it! At that moment I shall be more alive than I am now; I shall have gone up higher, that is all, out of this old clay tenement into a house that is immortal - a body that death cannot touch, that sin cannot taint; a body fashioned like unto His glorious body. I was born of the flesh in 1837. I was born of the Spirit in 1856. That which is born of the flesh may die. That which is born of the Spirit will live forever.� 1

1 Source: www.wholesomewords.org

THE DEATH OF THE GODLY

God was magnified again in his marvelous triumph over death, but what we call death had absolutely no terrors for him. He calmly looked death in the face and said, �Earth is receding. Heaven is opening. God is calling me. Is this death? It isn�t bad at all. It is sweet. No pain. No valley. I have been within the gates! It is beautiful. It is glorious. Do not call me back. God is calling me.� 1

For four hours Mr. Moody faced death without a tremor. Nay, he rejoiced in it and welcomed it� Later he said, �This is glorious. This is my coronation day, I have long looked forward to it.� � It is the testimony of those who were privileged to stand around that bed, that his last four hours took all the sting and terror out of death, and that the room was transformed from the place of mourning to the chamber of triumph.� 2

1 �The life & work of Dwight Lyman Moody� by the J. Wilbur Chapman 2 Source: www.archive.org/ stream/ lessonsfromlifed

THE DEATH OF THE GODLY

John Wilmot, 2nd Earl of Rochester was an English Libertine, 2 a friend of King Charles II, and the writer of much satirical and bawdy 3 poetry� By the age of 33, Rochester was dying, presumably from syphilis, gonorrhoea, other venereal diseases, as well as the effects of alcoholism. His mother had him attended in his final weeks by her religious associates� A deathbed renunciation of atheism was published and promulgated as the conversion of a prodigal. This became legendary, reappearing in numerous pious tracts over the next two centuries� In the early morning of 26 July, 1680, Rochester died a �without a shudder or a sound�. 1

1 Wikipedia 2 A libertine is one devoid of any restraints, especially one who ignores or even spurns accepted morals, and forms of behaviour sanctioned by the larger society. 3 Bawdry or ribaldry is humorous entertainment that ranges from bordering on indelicacy to gross indecency.

A CONVERTED ATHEIST

NO-ONE EVER REPENTED OF BEING A CHRISTIAN ON HIS DEATHBED.

King David: �Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me.� (Psalm 23:4)

The martyr Stephen:

For those who were murdering him: �Lord, do not hold this sin against them.� (Acts 7:59-60)

To Jesus: �Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.�

THE DEATH OF THE GODLY

As he bore the sin of the world Jesus cried, �My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?� (Matt 27:46)

About those who had unjustly condemned Him to death and who were mocking Him: �Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.� (Luke 23:34)

Just before he breathed His last: �Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.� (Luke 23:46)

THE DEATH OF JESUS

The apostle Paul:

For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain. (Phil 1:21)

Death has been swallowed up in victory. Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting? (1 Cor 15:54-55)

For I am already being poured out like a drink offering, and the time has come for my departure. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day�and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing. (2 Tim 4:6-8)

THE DEATH OF THE GODLY

Rev. John Leland (1691-1766), the English Presbyterian minister: �I give my dying testimony to the truth of Christianity. The promises of the gospel are my support and consolation. They, alone, yield me satisfaction in a dying hour. I am not afraid to die. The gospel of Christ has raised me above the fear of death; for I know that my Redeemer liveth.� 2

John Newton, the converted slave trader who penned the words of �Amazing Grace�: �I am still in the land of the dying; I shall be in the land of the living soon.� 1

1 www.thewordteaches.com 2 http:// christschurchinmichiana.org

THE DEATH OF THE GODLY

John Newton (1725-1807)

2 Pet 3:9 The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.

So if God wishes all to be saved, why will many perish?

Rom 6:23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

GOD WISHES ALL TO BE SAVED

God�s gift of salvation is free, but you have the choice to accept it or not.

Jesus said, �For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God�s one and only Son.� (John 3:16-18)

YOUR CHOICE

Whoever believes in him is not condemned

The Bible says that God prepared hell for the devil and his demonic cohorts (Matthew 25:41), that He is �...not wishing for any [person] to perish but for all to come to repentance.� (2 Peter 3:9), and that He has done everything possible to save us from that terrible, terrible place. Yet in the end God will not violate or overrule the deliberate choice of those who consciously and willfully turn away from Him. (Daryl E. Witmer)

YOUR CHOICE

Daryl E. Witmer founded AIIA in 1991. He presently also serves as associate pastor of the Monson Community Church. His ordination credentials are with the Evangelical Free Church of America.

I willingly believe that the damned are, in one sense, successful, rebels to the end; that the doors of hell are locked on the inside. All that are in Hell, choose it. Without that self-choice there could be no Hell. (C.S. Lewis)

YOUR CHOICE

C. S Lewis (1898�1963) was a British novelist, academic and Christian apologist. He is known for his books, especially �The Screwtape Letters�, �The Chronicles of Narnia� and �Mere Christianity�. Former atheist Lewis was a close friend of J. R. R. Tolkien, and both authors were leading figures in the English faculty at Oxford University. Owing to the influence of Tolkien and other friends, at the age of 32, Lewis converted to Christianity. Lewis's works have been translated into more than 30 languages and have sold millions of copies over the years. The books that make up �The Chronicles of Narnia� have sold the most and have been popularized on stage, in TV, in radio, and in cinema.

�Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God�s wrath remains on him.� (John 3:36)

YOUR CHOICE

Jesus Christ � the Son of God

COPYRIGHT INFORMATION

Unless otherwise stated, Scripture quotations are taken from the NIV:

THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION�, NIV� Copyright � 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.� Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Scripture quotations taken from the NASB:

New American Standard Bible�, Copyright � 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation Used by permission. ( Lockman.org)




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