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SERIES: THE REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST, WEEK 28

TITLE: THE FOURTH SEAL: DEATH

TEXT: REVELATION 6:7-8

INTRODUCTION: (1) HEBREWS 9:27 SAYS: (READ IT)

* NOW THE CLEAR TEACHING OF THIS VERSE IS ALL HUMAN BEINGS HAVE TO DIE AND OUR DEATH IS BY DIVINE APPOINTMENT.

** IT’S ONE APPOINTMENT EVERYONE WILL KEEP AND WE WON’T BE LATE OR EARLY, BUT RIGHT ON TIME.

*** IN FACT, JOB 14:1-5 SAYS:

V. 1 – MAN, WHO IS BORN OF WOMAN, IS SHORT-LIVED AND FULL OF TURMOIL.

V. 2 – LIKE A FLOWER HE COMES FORTH AND WITHERS. HE ALSO FLEES LIKE A SHADOW AND DOES NOT REMAIN.

V. 3 – YOU ALSO OPEN YOUR EYES ON HIM AND BRING HIM INTO JUDGMENT WITH YOURSELF.

V. 4 – WHO CAN MAKE THE CLEAN OUT OF THE UNCLEAN? NO ONE!

V. 5 – SINCE HIS DAYS ARE DETERMINED, THE NUMBER OF HIS MONTHS IS WITH YOU; AND HIS LIMITS YOU HAVE SET SO THAT HE CANNOT PASS.

(2) NOW IN THESE VERSES WE SEE THAT JOB EMBRACED THE FACT OF GOD’S CONTROL OVER THE ISSUES OF THIS LIFE AND THAT OUR LIVES ARE SHORT AND DIFFICULT.

* AND THAT OUR DAYS ON PLANET EARTH ARE DETERMINED, SO PREDETERMINED, THAT GOD HAS SET THE LIMITS OF OUR DAYS.

** IN OTHER WORDS, WE HAVE A DIVINE APPOINTMENT WHEN WE ARE GOING TO DIE.

*** AND APPROXIMATELY 56 MILLION PEOPLE ARE GOING TO DIE THIS YEAR BARRING A MAJOR WORLDWIDE CALAMITY.

**** ONE OUT OF EVERY 113 PEOPLE IN THE WORLD DIED LAST YEAR.

(3) APPROXIMATELY 107 PEOPLE DIE EVERY MINUTES OR 6,390 PER HOUR OR 153,000 PER DAY.

* 80,000 PEOPLE DIED ALMOST INSTANTLY WHEN AN ATOMIC BOMB WAS DROPPED ON HIROSHIMA.

** IN HISTORY CHINA HAD TWO DEVASTATING EARTHQUAKES THAT KILLED 830,000 PEOPLE ON JANUARY 24, 1556.

*** AND 200,000 DIED ON DECEMBER 16TH, 1920.

**** AND ESTIMATED 30 MILLION PEOPLE DIED DURING THE GREAT INFLUENZA EPIDEMIC OF 1918 & 1919.

(4) 8.5 MILLION SOLDIERS DIED IN BATTLE IN WORLD WAR I.

* AND IT IS ESTIMATED THAT OVER 52 MILLION CIVILIANS AND SOLDIERS DIED IN WORLD WAR II.

** AND THESE ARE HORRIFIC SHOCKING STATISTICS. ONES THAT CAN MAKE YOU NUMB.

*** BUT EXCUSE THE BAD ENGLISH, YOU AIN’T SEEN NOTHING YET.

**** DANIEL PREDICTED A FUTURE TIME OF TERRIBLE TROUBLE IN DANIEL 12:1B WHERE HE SAID: “AND THERE WILL BE A TIME OF DISTRESS SUCH AS NEVER OCCURRED SINCE THERE WAS A NATION UNTIL THAT TIME;”

(5) JEREMIAH, THE PROPHET WROTE ABOUT THIS FUTURE TIME, “ALAS FOR THAT DAY IS GREAT, THERE IS NONE LIKE IT; AND IT IS THE TIME OF JACOB’S DISTRESS.” - JEREMIAH 30:7.

* DESCRIBING THE COMING JUDGMENT OF THE GENTILE NATIONS, ISAIAH SAID IN ISAIAH 34:1-4 :

V. 1 – DRAW NEAR, O NATIONS, TO HEAR; AND LISTEN, O PEOPLES! LET THE EARTH AND ALL IT CONTAINS HEAR, AND THE WORLD AND ALL THAT SPRINGS FROM IT.

V. 2 – FOR THE LORD’S INDIGNATION IS AGAINST ALL THE NATIONS, AND HIS WRATH AGAINST ALL THEIR ARMIES; HE HAS UTTERLY DESTROYED THEM, HE HAS GIVEN THEM OVER TO SLAUGHTER.

V. 3 – SO THEIR SLAIN WILL BE THROWN OUT, AND THEIR CORPSES WILL GIVE OFF THEIR STENCH, AND THE MOUNTAINS WILL BE DRENCHED WITH THEIR BLOOD.

V. 4 – AND ALL THE HOST OF HEAVEN WILL WEAR AWAY, AND THE SKY WILL BE ROLLED UP LIKE A SCROLL; ALL THEIR HOSTS WILL ALSO WITHER AWAY AS A LEAF WITHERS FROM THE VINE, OR AS ONE WITHERS FROM THE FIG TREE.

** AND THEN OUR LORD JESUS SAID IN HIS OLIVET DISCOURSE IN MATTHEW 24:21&22 –

V. 21 - FOR THEN THERE WILL BE A GREAT TRIBULATION, SUCH AS HAS NOT OCCURRED SINCE THE BEGINNING OF THE WORLD UNTIL NOW, NOR EVER WILL.

V. 22 – UNLESS THOSE DAYS HAD BEEN CUT SHORT, NO LIFE WOULD HAVE BEEN SAVED; BUT FOR THE SAKE OF THE ELECT THOSE DAYS WILL BE CUT SHORT.

*** AND BELOVED, MY POINT IS, AS BAD AS WORLD WAR I AND II WERE, AS BAD AS THE GREAT INFLUENZA WAS, THE WORST IS YET TO COME.

**** AND DEATH IS THE THEME OF OUR STUDY TODAY. FOR UNDER THE 4TH SEAL DESCRIBED IN REVELATION 6:7&8, ONE FOURTH OF THE EARTH’S POPULATION IS GOING TO DIE.

(6) AND IN MATTHEW 24:4-8, THE BIRTH PAINS, THE BEGINNING OF SORROWS, CORRESPOND, ARE THE SAME AS THE FIRST FOUR SEALS OF REVELATION 6:1-8.

* THEY PARALLEL OUR LORD’S CHRONOLOGY IN MATTHEW 24:4-8.

** MY POINT, AS TERRIBLE AS THOSE 4 JUDGMENTS ARE, THEY ARE BUT THE PRELIMINARY OUTPOURING OF GOD’S WRATH CULMINATING IN THE FINAL SEAL JUDGMENTS ALONG WITH THE TRUMPET AND BOWL JUDGMENTS LEADING UP TO THE BATTLE OF ARMAGEDDON AND THE 2’D COMING OF CHRIST TO THE EARTH.

*** AND I’M NOT TRY TO SENSATIONALIZE THESE JUDGMENTS BUT SIMPLY COMMUNICATE THEM AS THEY ARE GIVEN.

**** AND DEATH, ¼ OF THE EARTH WILL DIE UNDER THE FOURTH SEAL, LEADING TO THE TITLE OF OUR STUDY TODAY: THE FOURTH SEAL: DEATH.

(7) AND UNDER THAT TITLE WE’LL LOOK AT TWO MAIN POINTS. NO. 1 THE CALL OF THE 4TH HORSEMAN TO COME AND DELIVER DEATH, V. 7; AND NO. 2 THE CALAMITY THAT HE BRINGS, V. 8.

* AND WITH THOSE INTRODUCTORY THOUGHTS ABOUT THIS GRIM REAPER IN MIND, LOOK AT V. 7 PLEASE WHERE WE’LL SEE OUR FIRST POINT TODAY, THE CALL.

I. THE CALL, (READ V. 7)

A. NOW THE “HE” OF V. 7 IS CHRIST – THE LAMB, THE ONE WHO BROKE OPEN THE FIRST SEAL IN V. 1 OF CHAPTER 6 AND BREAKS OPEN EACH OF THE SEVEN SEALS OF JUDGMENT.

* FOR IF YOU RECALL, IN REVELATION 5:1-7 CHRIST RECEIVED FROM THE FATHER A SCROLL, A SCROLL BOOK, SEALED WITH SEVEN SEALS.

** ** AND CHRIST THE LAMB WAS THE ONLY ONE IN THE UNIVERSE WORTHY TO OPEN THIS BOOK OR SCROLL.

*** NOW THIS SCROLL CONTAINED THE TITLE DEED TO THE EARTH.

**** BUT UNLIKE A NORMAL TITLE DEED, IT DID NOT CONTAIN A DESCRIPTION OF CHRIST’S INHERITANCE, BUT RATHER DETAILS IN HOW HE WILL CARRY OUT HIS RECLAIMING OF WHAT IS RIGHTFULLY HIS, THE EARTH.

2. NOW SPECIFICALLY, BEGINNING IN REVELATION CHAPTER 6, THE SCROLL IS UNROLLED AND IT’S SEALS BROKEN.

* AND THE UNROLLING OF THE SCROLL MARKS THE BEGINNING OF GOD’S WRATH AND JUDGMENT ON REBELLIOUS MANKIND AS THE LORD JESUS TAKES BACK THE EARTH FROM THE USURPER, THE GOD OF THIS WORLD, SATAN.

** NOW AS EACH SEAL IS OPENED IN JOHN’S VISION, WHAT IS WRITTEN ON THE SCROLL IS NOT READ, BUT SEEN, AND UNFOLDS AND PLAYS OUT IN FRONT OF JOHN’S EYES.

*** AND IN EACH OF THE FIRST FOUR SEALS, THE 4 LIVING CREATURES, TALKED ABOUT IN REVELATION CHAPTERS 4&5, WHO ARE CHERUBIM OR SERAPHIM, OR AN EXALTED ORDER OF ANGELS, ARE INVOLVED IN MAKING THE ANNOUNCEMENT, IN GIVING THE SUMMONS FOR THE 4 HORSEMEN TO COME OUT.

3. AND THE 4TH LIVING CREATURE MAKES THE ANNOUNCEMENT FOR THE 4TH AND FINAL HORSEMAN TO COME FORTH AFTER CHRIST BREAKS THE 4TH SEAL IN V. 7.

* AND THAT’S THE CALL, THE SUMMONS FOR THE 4TH RIDER TO COME FORTH, WHICH LEADS US TO OUR 2’D POINT TODAY, THE CALAMITY. LOOK AT V. 8 PLEASE.

II. THE CALAMITY, (READ V. 8)

A. NOW REMEMBER JOHN IS AN EYEWITNESS SPECTATOR FROM HEAVEN WITH A FRONT ROW SEAT TO SEE WHAT HAPPENS ON THE EARTH.

* AND HE SAID IN THE BEGINNING OF V. 8, “AND I LOOKED, AND BEHOLD.”

** NOW THESE EXCLAMATIONS APPEAR TO INDICATE A STARTLED SURPRISE BY WHAT JOHN WILL SEE HERE.

*** JOHN’S USE OF THE WORD BEHOLD REVEALS HOW STARTLED AND SHOCKED HE WAS BY WHAT HE SEES.

**** NOW WHAT DOES JOHN SEE HERE?

1. WELL, THE FOURTH HORSEMAN COMES RIDING OUT ON AN ASHEN HORSE IN THE NAS AND IN THE REST OF THE MAJOR TRANSLATIONS, A PALE HORSE.

* NOW THE GREEK WORD TRANSLATED ASHEN OR PAL IS CLO-ROCE FROM WHICH THE ENGLISH WORDS CHLOROPHYLL AND CHLORINE ARE DERIVED.

** AND SPECIFICALLY THE COLOR OF THIS HORSE IS A PALE, SICKLY, YELLOW-GREEN.

*** AND SOME COMMENTATORS SUGGEST THAT THIS COLOR IS ASSOCIATED WITH THE PALENESS OF A DEAD BODY OR THE APPEARANCE OF A PERSON STUCK WITH TERROR.

**** WE USE THE EXPRESSION, YOU LOOK LIKE YOU’VE JUST SEEN A GHOST, WOULD BE APPLICABLE HERE.

2. WE’RE TALKING ABOUT A GHASTLY COLOR, THE COLOR OF DEATH, FRIGHT, SICKNESS AND DECAY.

* AND WE KNOW CONTEXTUALLY THIS IS THE IDEA FOR THE RIDER’S NAME IS IDENTIFIED, HIS NAME IS DEATH. HE HAS THE OMINOUS NAME OF DEATH.

** THIS 4TH HORSEMAN WILL BRING DEATH ON A MASSIVE GIGANTIC SCALE.

*** BUT NOTICE THIS RIDER, UNLIKE THE OTHER 3 RIDERS HAS A COMPANION, AND HIS NAME IS HADES.

**** AND THE VERB FOLLOWED OR WAS FOLLOWING WITH HIM IS USED HERE WITH THE PREPOSITION WITH, TRANSLATED THAT WAY IN THE KJV, NAS AND THE NKJV SUGGEST THAT HE ACCOMPANIED RATHER THAN FOLLOWED THIS 4TH HORSEMAN.

3. IN OTHER WORDS, WHEREVER DEATH RIDES THIS INSEPARABLE COMPANION IS WITH HIM.

* DEATH AND HADES ARE INSEPARABLE COMPANIES AND THEY ARE LINKED TOGETHER IN REVELATION 1:18 WHERE IT SAYS: “AND THE LIVING ONE; AND I WAS DEAD, AND BEHOLD, I AM ALIVE FOREVERMORE, AND I HAVE THE KEYS OF DEATH AND OF HADES.”

** AND HERE IT IS A REFERENCE TO CHRIST WHO HAS ABSOLUTE AUTHORITY OVER THESE ENEMIES. HE HOLDS THE KEYS.

*** THEN IN REVELATION 20:13-15, DEATH AND HADES ARE CONNECTED AT THE GREAT WHITE THRONE JUDGMENT WHERE THE LAKE OF FIRE IS SHOWN TO BE THEIR ULTIMATE DESTINY.

**** REVELATION 20:13 SAYS: AND THE SEA GAVE UP THE DEAD WHICH WERE IN IT, AND DEATH AND HADES GAVE UP THE DEAD WHICH WERE IN THEM; AND THEY WERE JUDGED, EVERY ONE OF THEM ACCORDING TO THEIR DEEDS.

(THEN READ REVELATION 20:14&15)

4. SO DEATH AND HADES ARE COMPANIONS, LINKED TOGETHER IN THE BOOK OF REVELATION.

* AND DEATH HAS TO DO WITH PHYSICAL DEATH, THE DEATH OF THE BODY, AND HADES HAS TO DO WITH THE SOUL, WHERE THE SOUL GOES TO WITHOUT CHRIST.

** DEATH ACTS UPON LIVING PEOPLE WHEREAS HADES CLAIMS THE SOULS OF THE DEAD. DEATH PRECEDES HADES. DEATH DEALS WITH THE LIVING AND HADES DEALS WITH THE DEAD.

*** BELOVED, THEY WORK TOGETHER, THEY ARE A TEAM.

**** DEATH IS THE CONDITION AND HADES IS THE PLACE, THE LOCATION OF THE UNSAVED DEAD, LIT. HELL, UNTIL THEY ARE JUDGED AT THE GREAT WHITE THRONE AND CAST INTO THE LAKE OF FIRE FOR ETERNITY.

5. HADES IS THE TEMPORARY PLACE OF JUDGMENT, WITH REAL FIRE ACCORDING TO LUKE 16:19-31, AND IS THE PLACE UNSAVED PEOPLE GO TO, IN ESSENCE THE COUNTY OR LOCAL JAIL UNTIL THEY ARE ARRAIGNED AND TRIED AND THE FINAL SENTENCE OF GUILTY IS GIVEN IN REVELATION 20:11-15 AND THEY ARE CAST INTO THE LAKE OF FIRE FOREVER, THE FINAL PRISON OR PENITENTIARY.

* SO DEATH IS ASSOCIATED WITH THE BODY AND HADES WITH THE SOUL.

** NOW AS WE GO BACK TO V. 8, THESE TWIN BROTHERS, THESE COMPANIONS ARE GIVEN AUTHORITY.

*** AND WE ARE REMINDED OF GOD’S SOVEREIGNTY AND CONTROL AND KINGSHIP HERE AGAIN. FOR SATAN, ANTICHRIST OR ANY ENEMY OF THE GOSPEL IS STILL UNDER GOD’S CONTROL AND CAN ONLY DO WHAT GOD AUTHORIZES AND ORDAINS TO BE DONE.

**** FOR WHO GIVES DEATH AND HADES POWER OR AUTHORITY TO DO WHAT THEY WILL DO?

***** THE ANSWER IS GOD ALMIGHTY HIMSELF. THESE TWIN ENEMIES, THESE COMPANIONS ARE AGENTS APPOINTED BY AND CONTROLLED BY GOD.

6. ALL THIS IS UNDER GOD’S SOVEREIGN CONTROL AND PLAN. AND HERE WE HAVE ANOTHER SPIRITUAL POP-UP, A REMINDER TO GET OUR ATTENTION AGAIN.

* THIS TRUTH PERMEATES REVELATION 4-6.

** THE LORD REIGNS, NOT SATAN, NOT MAN, NOT DEATH AND NOT HADES! REJOICE AND REST IN THAT TRUTH.

*** NOW NOTICE THE DAMAGE THAT IS DONE BY THIS RIDER OF DEATH AND HADES HIS COMPANION.

**** “AUTHORITY WAS GIVEN TO THEM OVER A FOURTH OF THE EARTH.”

7. AND HERE WE HAVE THE EXTENT OF DEATH IN THE WORLD UNDER THIS FOURTH SEAL. THE NUMBER IS QUANTIFIED.

* A FOURTH OF THE EARTH IS GOING TO DIE UNDER THE JUDGMENT OF THIS SEAL.

** AND THE WORD EARTH IS USED 6 TIMES IN REVELATION 6 ALONE AND MUST BE SEEN AS A WHOLE AND THERE IS NO CONTEXTUAL JUSTIFICATION FOR LIMITING IT EITHER TO THE LAND OF ISRAEL OR TO THE BOUNDARIES OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE.

*** WE ARE TALKING ABOUT THE EARTH REFERRING TO THE INHABITED WORLD.

**** AND THIS WORD EARTH IS USED AGAIN AT THE END OF V. 8 WHICH AGAIN CONTEXTUALLY IS NOT TALKING ABOUT THE BASIS OF PALESTINE.

8. THE IMPACT OF THIS SEAL IS WORLDWIDE. ONE FOURTH OF THE POPULATION AT THIS TIME WILL DIE, MASSIVE, LARGE SCALE, DEATH TAKES PLACE HERE.

* AND WE’RE NOT TALKING ABOUT MILLIONS HERE, BUT BILLIONS.

** FOR ACCORDING TO THE UNITED STATES CENSUS BUREAU, THE EARTH’S POPULATION HIT 6.5 BILLION ON SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 25TH OF THIS YEAR.

*** AND IF YOU TAKE A QUARTER OF OUR PRESENT POPULATION TODAY, WE’RE TALKING OVER 1.6 BILLION PEOPLE.

**** LET THAT FIGURE SETTLE IN YOUR MIND FOR A MOMENT. AT TODAY’S CURRENT WORLD POPULATION, OVER 1.6 BILLION PEOPLE WILL DIE UNDER THIS SEAL JUDGMENT. THE MAGNITUDE IS STUNNING. NOTHING LIKE THIS HAS EVER HAPPENED. IT’S STAGGERING.

9. AND QUITE FRANKLY IN AN AGE OF BIOLOGICAL, NUCLEAR AND CHEMICAL WEAPONS SOMETHING LIKE THIS IS TOTALLY PLAUSIBLE.

* AND SPECIFICALLY IN THIS CONTEXT THIS CALAMITY IS CAUSED BY 4 THINGS. TO PUT IT ANOTHER WAY, THIS RIDER AND HIS COMPANION WILL USE 4 TOOLS TO ACCOMPLISH THEIR MISSION.

** NO. 1 THEY WILL USE WAR PICTURED BY THE SWORD. AND ALTHOUGH WAR IS THE JUDGMENT OF THE SECOND SEAL, WAR WILL OBVIOUSLY WORSEN AND INTENSIFY IN IT’S OUTBREAKS.

*** NO. 2 FAMINE IS ALSO A MEANS TO KILL ONE FOURTH OF THE POPULATION OF THE EARTH. AND SEAL 3 DEATH WITH FAMINE, BUT HERE THE FAMINE WILL WORSEN AND HAVE A DEVASTATING EFFECT.

**** NO. 3 PESTILENCE, DISEASE, PLAGUE AND DEATH ARE USED DEPENDING ON WHAT TRANSLATION YOU HAVE.

10. AND THE WORD TRANSLATED PESTILENCE, DISEASE, PLAGUE OR DEATH IS THE SAME GREEK WORD TRANSLATED DEATH EARLIER IN V. 8.

* AND HERE IT MAY PRIMARILY REFER TO PESTILENCE OR DISEASE AS THE CAUSE OF DEATH, AND IS BROAD ENOUGH TO POSSIBLY INCLUDE NATURAL DISASTERS LIKE EARTHQUAKES THAT JESUS PREDICTS IN MATTHEW 24:7.

** AND THEN NO. 4 THE LAST TOOL OF DEATH TO BRING ABOUT THE CATASTROPHIC RESULT OF ONE FOURTH OF THE EARTH’S POPULATION IS DYING IS WILD BEASTS.

*** AND THIS MAY SEEM STRANGE AT FIRST GLANCE, BUT ANIMALS CAN SPREAD DISEASE.

**** FOR EXAMPLE, RATS HAVE BEEN RESPONSIBLE FOR A MULTITUDE OF DEATHS THROUGHOUT HISTORY BY EATING FOOD SUPPLIES AND SPREADING DISEASES.

11. IN FACT, THROUGH RATS IN THE 14TH CENTURY, A RAT BORNE DISEASE CALLED BLACK DEATH, BUBONIC PLAGUE CAUSED THE DEATHS OF ONE FOURTH TO ONE THIRD OF EUROPE’S POPULATION.

* AND IN A WORLD ALREADY RAVAGED BY DISEASE, WAR AND FAMINE, WILD BEASTS WILL CAUSE DEATH BY SOME MEANS.

** AND WHAT WILD BEASTS ARE TALKED ABOUT IS NOT COMMUNICATED HERE FOR US AND HOW THEY WILL CAUSE DEATH IS NOT GIVEN TO US.

*** BUT THROUGH WAR, FAMINE, PESTILENCE AND WILD BEASTS A QUARTER OF THE EARTH’S POPULATION WILL DIE UNDER THE FOURTH SEAL.

IN WRAP UP AND IN APPLICATION: (1) NO. 1 THE THOUGHT OF DEATH ITSELF BRINGS THE FEAR OF DEATH TO MANY IN OUR WORLD AND POSSIBLY TO SOME OF YOUR TODAY.

* IT IS A TERRIFYING THOUGHT TO SOME AND SOME ARE ACTUALLY OBSESSED WITH THE THOUGHT OF IT.

** BUT DEATH DOES NOT NEED TO BE THE GRIM REAPER, IT DOES NOT NEED TO GENERATE TERROR AND DESPAIR AND FEAR.

** FOR PAUL IN TALKING ABOUT THE VICTORY OF CHRIST OUR DEATH THROUGH HIS GLORIOUS RESURRECTION SAID TO THOSE WHO TRULY KNOW CHRIST AS THEIR LORD AND SAVIOR:

*** READ I CORINTHIANS 15:55-57.

**** NOW FOR THOSE WHO’S SINS HAVE BEEN FORGIVEN BY CHRIST, THE STING OF DEATH IS TAKEN AWAY, THE GRAVE WILL NOT BE VICTORIOUS OVER THE PERSON WHO HAS TURNED TO JESUS CHRIST IN REPENTANT FAITH.

(2) FOR WHEN WE SEE THE IMMENSITY OF OUR SIN AGAINST A GOD WHO IS PERFECT, PURE, HOLY AND LIGHT, WE REALIZE WE ARE THE ENEMIES OF GOD AND NEED A SAVIOR.

* AND WHEN WE TURN TO THE ONLY SAVIOR, THE LORD JESUS CHRIST, GOD THE SON, WHO ROSE FROM THE DEAD, AND RECEIVE HIM AS OUR LORD, OUR MAKER AND OUR SAVIOR, WE ARE FORGIVEN AND DEATH FOR THE BELIEVER IS GRADUATION TO GLORY TO BE WITH THE ONE WE LOVE AND FOLLOW.

** MY ADMONITION TO YOU TODAY WITHOUT CHRIST, IS TO TURN IN REPENTANT FAITH IN HIM AND FOLLOW HIM.

*** NO. 2, BELIEVER, I WANT TO REMIND YOU THAT WE SHOULD NOT BE CONSUMED WITH DEATH BUT LIFE, LIVING FOR CHRIST.

**** FOR YOU SEE GOD HAS ORDAINED OUR DAYS WHICH WE WILL NOT EXCEED.

(3) AND SOMETIMES THROUGH DISEASE AND SICKNESS, WE ALLOW ANXIETY TO ATTACK US ABOUT DEATH THAT WE ARE NOT LIVING FOR CHRIST.

* AND BELOVED, WE NEED TO LIVE FOR HIM UNTIL WE DIE. AND BY THIS STATEMENT I’M NOT TRYING TO BE INSENSITIVE TO ANYONE WHO MAY BE TERMINALLY ILL TODAY.

** BUT THE REALITY IS, WE ARE ALL TERMINAL. AND WE MAY DIE TODAY THINKING WE ARE IN GOOD HEALTH.

*** BUT WE NEED TO LIVE FOR CHRIST FULLY UNTIL WE DIE.

**** I CLOSE WITH THE FOLLOWING SCRIPTURES AND THEN I’LL PRAY. READ I CORINTHIANS 15:58.

(4) IN LIGHT OF THAT TRUTH READ PSALM 90:12 AND JAMES 4:14.