Why Have We Become So Comfortable with Death? (102024)

This past Thursday, as I was making my way to the funeral service for the Crawford’s father, I was sitting at a stop light. I looked in my rear view mirror and saw..

Skeleton Co-Pilot

This wasn’t the actual vehicle that I saw, but that’s what I saw - a skeleton sitting in the passenger seat of the vehicle behind me.

That’s when the question came to my mind: “Why have we become so comfortable with death?”

On July 8, 1741, Jonathan Edwards preached his message, Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God, in a church in Enfield, Connecticut.

Although revival, at that time, was spreading throughout New England, the people in Enfield were hard-hearted and resistant to the working of God.

Edwards began his sermon by quoting Deuteronomy 32:35: “Their foot shall slide in due time.”

He used this text to show that the Israelites would eventually face the judgment of God.

The same judgment that the Israelites would face would be the same for all of those who had not placed their faith in Christ and Christ alone.

The only reason their feet haven’t slid yet is due to God’s mercy and his sovereign timing.

The response to the sermon was so swift and fierce that Edwards was unable to finish due to the immense volume of weeping from the congregation.

It was recorded that parishioners clasped their hands to the pews in front of them due to fear that they would soon be thrown into the Lake of Fire.

Men, women, and children of all ages came to repentance and a saving knowledge of Jesus that day.

That was in 1741.

Now, in 2024, people are riding around with skeletons in their cars.

Now, instead of saying, “God is my co-pilot,” people are saying, “A dead body is my co-pilot?!?!?”

SCBA Elementary Students/Would you choose death or life?/LIFE

Now, it seems that there are more people who would - in all seriousness - choose DEATH?!?!?

Now, instead of mourning death, we are spending big bucks to celebrate death?!?!?!?

In 2023, Americans spent $12.2 billion on Halloween. (That was a record amount.) This year, Americans are only expected to spend $11.6 billion?!?!?

Why is that the case?

Could it be that more people these days are getting their theology from the New York Times Best Seller’s list instead of God’s Word? Or, could it be that we just no longer think that death and hell are all that serious?

Our doctrinal statement says:

We believe in a literal Hell, the lake of fire and brimstone, which shall be the place of eternal punishment of Satan, fallen angels, demons, and the unbelieving dead.

Turn to and read Jude 5-7.

Turn to and read Revelation 20:1-15.

Hell is a real place.

Hell is a place of real pain and torment.

Words used to describe Hell:

lake of fire and brimstone

Lake of fire - Have a good idea of what that is?

Brimstone - Think “volcano.”

torment - extreme pain and anguish

vengeance of eternal fire (Jude 7)

Someone asked the question, “Why do burns hurt so bad?” Without the protective covering of the epidermis, nerve endings are sensitized and exposed to stimulation.

Hell is a place of permanence.

Just as there is a place of eternal life - Heaven - there is a place of eternal Death - Hell/The lake of fire and brimstone.

Jude 7 calls it “eternal fire!”

In Mark chapter 9, Jesus, 5 times within 6 verses, states that the fire is not quenched.

Turn to and read Mark 9:43-48.

Jesus, in this passage is not advocating self-mutilation. Instead, He is emphasizing the seriousness of death and Hell and because of that, individuals should do whatever is necessary to avoid Hell!

Turn to and read Luke 16:20-31.

Everything that I have stated up to this point is emphasized in Luke chapter 16.

But there is one last point that I want to make.

The Reality and Terror of Hell creates evangelists!

Notice Luke 16:27-31.

As I close…

Turn to and read Jude 17-23.

Jude 22–23 (KJV 1900)

And of some have compassion, making a difference:

and others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire; hating even the garment spotted by the flesh.

This past Tuesday, Ms. Sumbo and her family experienced a fire on the opposite side of their apartment building.

When the fire occurred, I went to meet them and to offer help.

By the time that I arrived, the fire had been put out.

There were literally dozens of fire fighters there who battled the blaze to try and minimize the damage to life and property. Fortunately, no lives were lost although many were forced from their apartments.

Ask any of those who were forced from their homes: “Is fire serious?” Their answer would be “Yes.”

Ask any of those firefighters: “Is fire serious?” Their answer would be “Yes.”

Why then, do we not take the lake of fire and brimstone seriously?

Hebrews 10:31 KJV 1900

It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.