In this compelling episode of the International Gospel Hour, we explore the profound message of living a life that ensures a righteous death. Reflecting on the teachings from Numbers 23:10, we dive into what it means to prepare for eternity and how our actions today impact our eternal destiny. Through poignant stories and biblical insights, listeners are invited to examine their spiritual readiness and consider the gravity of living righteously.
Today, from the International Gospel Hour, we are going to conclude our study of dying the death of the righteous by asking this question. Are you living that you may die the death of the righteous? Let’s think about this today in light of Scripture from the International Gospel Hour. Stay with us.
SPEAKER 02 :
Hi, this is Jay Webb for International Gospel Hour. For 90 years, churches of Christ have proclaimed God’s Word through International Gospel Hour. You are about to listen to another Bible-based lesson with Jeff Archie of International Gospel Hour, starting now. I am bound for the promised land.
SPEAKER 01 :
Ladies and gentlemen, we welcome you to our Bible broadcast today. It is a joy to have you in our listening audience. And remember, this program is brought to you by the Churches of Christ and interested individuals. We are so happy we can render this spiritual service to our fellow men along the pathway of life. In a very real sense, every one of us is a rapid traveler upon the road to death, judgment, and a never-ending eternity, either in the home of the soul or the abode of the damned. In our previous broadcast, we have been giving serious and solemn consideration to a statement from Numbers 23, verse 10, that says, Let me die the death of the righteous, and let my last end be like his. Death and destiny are both portrayed in this terse verse of Holy Scripture. Every sensible person should desire to die the death of the righteous. Every seriously minded individual should desire the destiny that is reserved for the righteous. But we can only experience a righteous death and a righteous destiny by being righteous in life. We cannot be unrighteous in life and righteous in death. We cannot be unrighteous in life and expect to live with the righteous of all ages in that heavenly hereafter. My friends, do you believe this? Are you making your preparation for a righteous death and righteous destiny by being truly righteous in your thoughts, speech, and daily deeds? These matters are of moving gravity, and we hope you so recognize them to be. You know, my friends, none of us know the day of his death. With Isaac of old, each of us can truthfully declare, I know not the day of my death, Genesis 27, 2. Isaac thought he was going to die right then, but he lived for a number of years after the making of this statement. The particular manner in which we may meet the sure summons of the so-called grim reaper is yet wrapped in the mysterious future of uncertainty. Even those with present diseases of an incurable nature, such as terminal cancer, may be taken by another avenue of death than they currently anticipate. However, some things can be stated with unerring certainty. Death ends our period of preparation to meet the judge in judgment. There will be no proclaimed messages offering salvation, extended invitations to the lost, confessions unto salvation, or baptismal scenes in water for proffered pardon on the other side of death. The only baptismal scenes then will be in hellfire, which is how John described eternal punishment in Matthew 3, 11 and 12. Now, you can believe Christ, repent of your sins, confess that precious name of the lovely Lord, and be baptized under the remission of your sins, your past sins, every one of those sins. My friends, I ask each of you, are you listening? were you to obey the gospel this very day you would have the rest of your earthly pilgrimage whether long or short to work to worship to watch and wait for the hour of death or the Lord’s coming whichever comes first obedience to the gospel now will bring present redemption beginning now to run the Christian race will place the crown of life upon your future horizon of hope However, redemption will not be available for the non-Christian on the other side of death. My friends, hear me closely today. I say, are you listening? Now you can become a Christian. Now you can live soberly, righteously, and godly with a view toward being prepared for heaven. Now you can develop Christian character. Now you can worship Jehovah God in spirit and in truth. Now you can become fruitful as one of the branches of the Lord Jesus Christ, but on the other side of death. There will be no provisions for your becoming a Christian. There will be no provisions for you to live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present world, for the present world will then be passed for you. There will be no opportunity for you to worship God in spirit and in truth. There will be no opportunity for you to develop Christian character and develop Christian faithfulness or fruitfulness, rather, in the Lord’s work. Are you listening to the closing remarks of our lengthy study of… The Bible doctrine of death. Are you, my friends, ready to close your eyes in the sleep of death? If not, then lay no longer. Time waits for no man. In a real sense, death and decay are written on the wings of time. Death will not always be distant, and may not be distant at this very moment. Right now, each of us can barely state with the fleeing David that there is but a step between me and death. 1 Samuel 20 verse 3 Every moment wasted in service to Satan is just that, a wasted moment. It might have been employed as a valuable moment in preparing for judgment, and the… certain hereafter. Well, friends, now is the time for preparation. You know, I recall reading where the paths of two men crossed at a church service one night. One was a gospel preacher conducting a gospel meeting in a southern part of the United States. The other also was a fellow gospel preacher who came as a visitor. Both were young in years, they were close friends, and apparently both had most of their lives before them. Yet the very next time the one would see the other was in the preaching of his friend’s funeral plus that of his young son. Both were killed one morning as the father took the child on the way to school just a short distance from their home. That is just how quickly earthly life can end. Some years ago, an elder in the church of our Lord was asked to teach a man the truth. He did so for about three hours one night. He sought to get the man to be baptized that very night. It was near midnight when they finished. The man said he was not quite ready. Some days later, he sent word for this elder to come and baptize him. It was on a Saturday. The elder had to drive several miles to do this. The man was baptized about 11 o’clock on that Saturday morning. Within 13 hours of his baptism, he was dead. That elder has often said, What if I had waited until Monday to do this? What if I had said, I cannot make the long trip today, but will be there the first part of next week? This man would have gone dead. into eternity unprepared. I could have never lived with myself had I practiced procrastination that day. On the other hand, what if that man had put off his gospel obedience just twenty-four more hours? Friends, this could be the last message that I will ever preach. It might be the last message of salvation to which your ear will listen before meeting the one called the Grim Reaper. Surely you should become a Christian right this very day if you are not ready to meet your Maker. To become a Christian you must hear the word of the Lord as stated in Romans 10 verse 17, which brings us to faith to believe from the heart that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, John 3.16, John 8.24. repent of all your sins, Luke 13, 3, Acts 2, verse 38, and upon your confession of the deity of Jesus Christ, your faith, as the eunuch did in Acts 8, verse 37, yes, friends, that you are to be immersed into the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. So we urge you, seriously and solemnly urge you, to obey the gospel today. Now is the time. Today is the day of salvation. Any gospel preacher near you will be delighted to aid you, and we shall be happy to put you into contact with one that is near you. Friends, may I ask, are you like that gentleman we just mentioned that said he was not quite ready, but some days later he was? There’s no doubt he thought about the things that he had studied and probably looked at them a little closer. Dear friends, we want to urge you to make a move now. You’re thinking about some things we’ve talked about. You want to study further. We want to help you. And I want to help you in three ways. First, we’ll be more than happy to receive your call and to have someone be in contact with you in your area from a local Church of Christ. We’re careful how we arrange that. So if you’ll call our toll-free number at 855-444-6988 and leave your name and your number and request a visit from a local Church of Christ, the next thing we’ll do is contact you as soon as we get that message. And then we will talk with you and we will go from there. And we will put you in contact with someone. You may want to study a little more by mail, and we respond very quickly with our studies by mail. Here is our J-Web how you can receive your free Bible study course by mail.
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Our well-received Bible study course by mail is available to everyone absolutely free. Would you like to try it? All you do is call us toll-free at 855-444-6988 and leave your name, address, and just say, Home Study. That’s it. That’s all you have to do. You may also go to our website at internationalgospelhour.com. Click on the Contact tab and leave us the same information, name, address, and type Home Study in the message box. At your own pace, you can study the Bible in your own home. Again, it’s free. Give it a try. And it’s from your friends here at International Gospel Hour.
SPEAKER 01 :
And friends, the third option, if you would like to move onward quickly with an online study of the Bible, we have that available for you. Once again, our J-Web.
SPEAKER 02 :
How about an online study of the Bible? That’s right. The World Bible School has a free online Bible study available. Just go to worldbibleschool.org and register. A study helper will assist you in answering questions and provide feedback for your lessons. That’s the free online study at worldbibleschool.org. Sign up today. Tell them the International Gospel Hour sent you.
SPEAKER 01 :
Friends, we truly are interested in your soul, and we’ll help you every way possible. We hope one of those three options will be of help to you in your study of the Word of God and concerning your soul. Let’s make certain we die the death of the righteous. Thank you for joining me today on the International Gospel Hour. I’m Jeff Archie, and friends, keep listening.
