Friday with Spurgeon

Reminding Men of Death

Men have been helped to live by remembering that they must die.

Today's reflection on this entry from "Spurgeon Gold" is to shine light on the truth of this quote. Really when we think about it, folks have been able to lead normal lives with no thought of the death that lies ahead for all men. Lack of thought of one's own mortality does not help as much as it hurts. Particularly the unsaved, as their death is a passing to another death, as it were.

Yesterday I was talking to a guy and he informed me that a young lady we both knew had died. She was young (27), and I followed the normal path of someone such informed. I came with the classic follow-up of "wow, how did she die?" I was told that it was due to a wreckless lifestyle that had lead to a particular disease that eventually killed her. Nothing really noteworthy about the conversation thus far. Here's the kicker though: The gentleman then (seemingly without knowing) compared her situation that lead to death to his own situation that, since different, should NOT lead to death. He was saying how glad he was that he had changed his own lifestyle, and proceeded to tell me what that change looked like. I thought to myself, "does he (and do we) assume that because a person died from something that we no longer do (or something we don't have), we're somehow safe?"

I mean, think about it: when we hear that a person died in a car accident, it seems our default is to think of how safely we drive. If we hear a person died from a drug overdose, it's almost like "whew, I'm so glad I don't do drugs." We think in these ways as if everyone who dies around us proves our exemption from death. It's like a response that helps us to avoid the contemplation of our own deaths. If you're a person who has not been born again, this is actually understandable. Hell awaits if you die in your sins outside of Christ. Generally, since there is no avoidance of death, there need not be avoidance of the thought of death. Namely, your own death. Now I'm not be macabre here by saying one should contemplate their own death as a normal course of action. I'm simply saying that our understanding of our own mortality plays out in the way we live. To the unbeliever, (and believer alike-just in a different way) here's the message of God's Word: It is appointed unto man once to die, and after this comes the judgement (Hebrews 10:27). Appointed: whether by car accident, drug overdose, natural causes or whatever. It is appointed unto man once to die, and after that face the judgement of a righteous and Holy God. I once heard man's core problem summed up like this: "God is Holy, you are not; what are you going to do about it?" This will be an unavoidable issue at the judgement in view within the Hebrews text. The perfection of Christ is the only remedy to this "issue." Issue, in fact, is an understatement. Looking back at Spurgeon's quote think, "how can my thinking about death help me to live?"

If you feel up to it, I'd love to see comments reflecting your thoughts. I'll start by listing 1 way thinking about my own death will help me to live.

1. Thinking about my death helps me to keep in perspective my need to prepare. Paramount in that preparation is Spiritual preparation. Since I am but the air within my nostrils, I must depend wholly on God for any sustenance whatsoever. It's difficult to view myself rightly before God when I think I'm invincible.

You?