I recently attended a Donald Trump rally and
as I stood there listening to him, all
I could focus on was not politics, but
the brevity of life.
For as Donald Trump was undoubtedly the richest
man in that room, it was unquestionable that
I was the poorest man among those who
came to hear him.
And as I heard him say how he
just turned down a $10 million donation because
he did not need the money, my thoughts
ran to a future judgment seat that awaits
all mankind, a judgment seat of a great
white throne, and him who sat upon it,
the king of the universe, the Lord Jesus
Christ, judging the dead for the works done
in the body.
And as I stood there listening to the
appeals of Donald Trump for president, all that
filled my mind were three things, a coffin,
a grave, and eternity.
And that's the title of my message this
evening, friends, a coffin, a grave, and eternity.
Turn if you will in your bibles to
the book of Ecclesiastes, we'll be in chapter
12 and verses 1 through 7.
This passage of scripture speaks of a person's
life on its way to a final funeral
procession.
Let me read this striking passage of scripture
to us at this time, and it is
my prayer that the Spirit of God will
attend the reading of His holy word.
Remember now, thy creator, in the days of
thy youth, while the evil days come not,
nor the years draw nigh, when thou shalt
say, I have no pleasure in them, while
the sun, or the light, or the moon,
or the stars, be not darkened, nor the
clouds return after the rain.
In the day, when the keepers of the
house shall tremble, and the strong men shall
bow themselves, and the grinders cease because they
are few, and those that look out the
windows be darkened, and the doors shall be
shut in the streets, when the sound of
grinding is low, and he shall rise up,
as the voice of the bird, and all
the daughters of music shall be brought low,
also, when they shall be afraid of that
which is high, and fear shall be in
the way, and the almond tree shall flourish,
and the grasshopper shall be a burden, and
desire shall fail because a man goeth to
his long home, and the mourners go about
the streets, or even the silver cord be
loosed, or the golden bowl be broken, or
the pitcher be broken at the fountain, or
the wheel broken at the cistern, then the
dust return to the earth as it was,
and the spirit shall return unto God, who
gave it.
Here, friends, we see a picture of a
person's life, heading the way of the grave,
that long feared enemy, of old age is
come, the knees begin to tremble, teeth are
few, sight is darkened, hearing is faint, gray
hairs abound, and fear shall be in the
way, even at the smallest things.
I remember listening to a famous preacher in
his older years, and when I heard him
preach, it was his last public time, that
this man spoke to my knowledge, he'd missed
his plane at the airport, because he was
too feeble to fly alone, when he finally
arrived at the conference, he was visibly shaken,
and nervous the whole time he spoke, and
when he was through with his message, he'd
give out a warning to all of us
in the room not to stop him, and
ask for his autograph, because he had not
the time to waste, as he had to
rush and catch his plane, old age had
gotten better of this dear saint of God,
it wasn't long after that, till he went
home to be with the Lord.
Now listen to me, dear friends, every one
of you, within the sound of my voice,
has three things awaiting you, and these three
things are, a coffin, a grave, and an
eternity.
I want you to think about that great
event now, the event of death.
Death may come to some of you quite
suddenly and unexpectedly.
Some of you here are still young in
life, but that's no guarantee of living, friend.
You could be cut off by a sudden
accident, and sent to eternity without any advance
notice.
Some of you here are older and a
sudden health crisis could place you at death's
door, unless the Lord suddenly appears.
Every one of us will face a coffin,
a grave, and an eternity.
How much time do you give to pondering
these things, to pondering things about eternity?
How much time do you waste here on
earth on foolish things of little eternal consequence?
Life is short, friends, shorter than we realize,
and like our passage we just read, soon
our spirit shall return unto the God who
gave it, and we shall be lying in
a silent coffin, in a dark grave, and
our soul will be in eternity, either in
the bliss heaven with Christ, or in the
agonies of a burning hell.
I want us to focus our attention on
these three things this day, while we have
time to use our minds, and make use
of the time God has given each of
us.
I want us to focus on a coffin,
a grave, and eternity.
Let me begin with the coffin.
As I stood there listening to Donald Trump,
who is a billionaire, I could not help
but think that one day he will be
laid in a coffin.
He will not be able to take his
wealth with him.
He will not be able to fit all
his vast real estate holdings in that tiny
coffin.
He can't squeeze all his millions in that
seven-foot-long coffin.
As vast as his many mansions are, he'll
one day be laid in a tiny compartment
of satin and steel, placed in the ground.
You can't take it with you.
Naked came I out of my mother's womb,
and naked shall I return thither.
So said Job.
No matter how much you have in your
retirement account, friend, you can't take it with
you when you die.
The great evangelist Sam Jones had this to
say.
Don't worry about your money.
God bless you, bud.
They'll halve you off in a shroud without
a pocket, and if it had a pocket,
your arm would be too stiff to get
into it.
Each one of us here will one day
face our own coffin, our final resting place
for our earthly remains.
Our passage of scripture speaks of a funeral
procession as man goes to his long-awaited
grave.
And that's our second aspect I'd like to
focus our attention upon now, friends.
The grave.
How unexpectedly we meet our grave.
I remember talking to Adrian Rogers at the
funeral of Stephen Oldford, and Dr. Rogers was
in good health as we talked that day.
But it wasn't long after I was standing
at the grave of Adrian Rogers.
Most of us think we have more time
than we actually have.
Listen to me, dear friend.
If you're not living for eternity, you'll have
your regrets as soon as you enter eternity.
I used to have a business partner who
was born into a wealthy family, and one
day while in his office, I heard him
tell me that he wanted carved into his
tombstone three words, and these three words were,
win, win, win.
All this man was concerned about was making
money, and he already had plenty of it,
but he wanted more.
I went home that day and told my
wife that my partner wanted to have written
on his tombstone three words, win, win, win.
And I told my wife what I wanted
to have written on my tombstone, and this
is what I said I wanted on my
gravestone.
Only one life, which will soon be past,
only what's done for Christ will last.
If the Lord tarries, friend, everyone within the
sound of my voice will one day be
laid in a grave.
It'll be too late to live for Christ
then.
Our time will be over.
How did we spend our time?
Did we make good use of it for
things of eternal worth?
Or was our time here consumed on silly
things of this world like entertainment and fleshly
enjoyments?
Did we use our money wisely and give
to God now, and the spread of the
gospel while we have it, and trust God
for the future?
Or did we selfishly lay up treasure for
ourselves and families?
There are 1,900 languages that still need
to have a Bible translated into them.
There are missionaries on the field and wanting
hardship.
There are people groups who have yet to
hear the name of Jesus Christ.
What are we doing with our time, our
talents, and our money?
Is the spread of the gospel and a
Christian witness our primary aim in life, or
is it to entertain and enjoy ourselves?
I've been on this earth a long time
now.
I don't believe I've ever seen a more
self-centered, self-absorbed generation than the one
we have today.
Even the church herself, friends, has lost her
vision of reaching the world with the gospel
and is content to rest upon comfortable pillows
of conformity and compromise.
We like to have all the time in
the world, and our motto is, eat, drink,
and be merry.
But the fact remains, friends, a long-awaited
grave faces each one of us.
There are some here today who won't be
in this world this time next year.
My Bible speaks of the unavoidable certainty of
death.
This is what it says in Hebrews.
And as it is appointed unto man wants
to die, but after this the judgment, there's
a final judgment in eternity awaiting all mankind.
And that brings us to our third aspect
of this message, friends, eternity.
Each one of us will die, and our
souls will go back to the God who
gave it.
We'll either exist in the blissful comforts of
heaven, in the presence of Christ and his
angels, or we'll exist in the agony and
torments of a burning hell.
Listen to me, friend.
Hell is a horrible region of torment and
misery.
Hell is inhabited by demons.
In hell you'll be surrounded by demon entities,
and you will not be able to get
away from them.
They will brush up against you, tear you,
attack you, and there'll be no one to
help you.
That hell is inhabited by demons is seen
from the words of Christ.
Then shall he say, also unto them on
the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed
into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and
his angels.
Hell is also a very crowded place.
It's been estimated that 83 people a minute
die apart from Christ and enter the regions
of hell.
Do the math.
That amounts to 5,000 people an hour
every day.
120 soul, 120,000 souls are thrown into
the hell.
And that prison of misery and burning fire,
that's over 800,000 a week.
Listen to me, friend.
Every month that adds up to 3 million
people falling into the tears of hell.
Through the course of a year, 40 million
souls are shut up in there to scream
in agony.
Let 10 years go by, and another 400
million souls enter the regions of hell.
Now think back in your mind of all
the generations since the time of Adam, and
add up all the hordes of people who
have died in their sins and occupy hell
right at this moment.
I repeat, hell is a very crowded place,
and hell is a place of eternal suffering,
physical suffering, and this world eventually ends for
the Christian believer.
Often we hear of a loved one who's
passed away, and we hear, well, at least
they're no longer suffering.
They are now with the Lord.
But for the unsaved, this is not so.
Their suffering continues into the next world, a
world of eternal misery and physical torments, to
which there's no relief and no end.
Jesus described hell as a place of weeping
and gnashing of teeth.
Weeping speaks of great loss and grief, and
gnashing of teeth signifies great anger and regret.
Each of us will someday enter eternity.
Some of you will enter it quite unprepared.
Sudden death is all around us.
Only one life will soon be passed.
Only what's done for Christ will last.
Those were the words of C.T. Studd,
who gave his fortune away to serve God
as a missionary in China and Africa.
What is your motto, friend?
Are you focused on this world and its
enjoyments, or are you focused on eternity and
its rewards?
I'd like to bring you face-to-face
with a coffin, a grave, and eternity, because
they must be addressed seriously now, for each
of us will face them soon enough.
Are you living for eternity, or are you
living for this world?
I'd like to end this message just reading
a few lines from this poem of C
.T. Studd.
Only one life, it will soon be passed.
Only what's done for Christ will last.
Only one life, a few brief years, each
with its burdens, hopes, and fears, each with
its days I must fulfill, living for self
or in His will.
Only one life, it will soon be passed.
Only one life, a few brief years, each
with its burdens, hopes, and fears, each with
its days I must fulfill, living for self
or in His will.