WHAT IF I DIE TODAY?

INTRO

“The most important day of our lives is the one where we receive and commit ourselves to Jesus, because on that day we become heirs of Heaven; the second most important day of our lives is the day of our death, because on that very day, we face eternity.”

Throughout our short lives on this planet, we prepare ourselves diligently for an infinite amount of things to be experienced during our short existence: friendship, graduations, marriage, awards, titles, raising our children, having success at the workplace, being a decent person, etc. But there is a special construction that should be on the top of our list, given that it is infinitely more important than all the others altogether: the preparation for the day we breathe our last breath, because at that very suspire, we salute the most relevant agenda of all times: the meeting with our Maker.

Speaking about death is never comfortable, because God put eternity in us, in our DNA, death is not natural! But is also necessary!

THEME:

¿Y SI ME MUERO HOY?

WHAT IF I DIE TODAY?

MAIN TEXT

Amos 4:12 RVR95BTO

Por eso, Israel, haré lo mismo contigo; y porque te he de hacer esto, prepárate, Israel, para venir al encuentro de tu Dios.

CONTEXT

This text of the prophet Amos is just 1 example of the countless times the Bible warns us about eternity;

YOU SEE, THE REALITY OF LIFE IS THIS: WE DON’T KNOW THE TIME THE LORD IS COMING TO MEET US, BUT WE CAN GO TO MEET HIM ANYTIME!

There are currently more than 7 billion people alive today and the Population Reference Bureau estimates that about 107 billion people have ever lived, that is, there is much more people dead than alive!

If we prepare ourselves to so many things, we have to be prepared to the encounter with the Lord as well;

Death is:

Inevitable - We all will die, unless the Lord returns before;

Inaplazable - no se puede posponer (Inadiável); no se puede evitar o negociar con la muerte - there is a 1998 movie with Brad Pitt (Meet Joe Black) where Death falls in love and postpones its mission - that is only fiction!

Intransferible - no se puede transferir a otra persona.

The first word and the first question are:

1. LECCIONES

HOW do you live your life?

Life is about all the lessons we learn while living, we may live a whole life and not learn the right lessons… but the sooner we learn them, the better.

LESSON #1: TIME IS PRECIOUS AND FLIES

You don/t feel that until you start being a little wise...

Time is the most important material asset someone has

Moses says that at 80 years old, we are nothing but tired and bothered

Psalm 90:10 RVR95BTO

Los días de nuestra edad son setenta años. Si en los más robustos son ochenta años, con todo, su fortaleza es molestia y trabajo, porque pronto pasan y volamos.

The Lord Jesus always said that we should consider opportunities to do things while is “day”:

John 9:4 RVR95BTO

Me es necesario hacer las obras del que me envió, mientras dura el día; la noche viene, cuando nadie puede trabajar.

Think about the day you got married or had your first child; it seems like YESTERDAY!!

If we are clear about this lesson, we will learn to value time as it deserves to be valued.

LESSON #2: THINGS ARE NOT IMPORTANT, PEOPLE ARE

Possessions are somehow important for a few things, but people are incomparably more essential;

The time to say “I love you” is NOW!

Pr. Hernandes Dias Lopes says that “there are more flowers than people in funerals because the weight of guilt is greater than the ways of gratitude.”

When people say: “hug, love, spend time your family, be with them”, DO IT!, because time really flies, even if you don’t believe it. How many times we waste life with things that are worth nothing, and let go of the real important ones??...

LET US REMEMBER: WE TAKE NOTHING TO ETERNITY!

Let’s not forget about the man whose story is registered in the Scriptures in Luke 12 who said to himself: “I have life and goods laid up for many years…”, and in contrast, the Lord said to him: “This night your soul will be required of you.” Notice the clashing and irreconcilable difference between the two perspectives: “many years” and “this night.” It’s also remarkable that the Lord also uses the word “prepared” in His final question to that man: “Who will get what you have prepared for yourself?”, in a clear demonstration that the man had not properly prepared himself for the encounter with God. Few chapters later, in the same Gospel of Luke, we see another similar story when Jesus talks about the final fate of a rich man and the beggar Lazarus.

LESSON #3: LIFE WITHOUT GOD IS WORTHLESS

Solomon stated that in the end of your life, in Ecclesiastes, after experiencing “all that his eyes could have”:

Ecclesiastes 12:13–14 RVR95BTO

El fin de todo el discurso que has oído es: Teme a Dios y guarda sus mandamientos, porque esto es el todo del hombre. Pues Dios traerá toda obra a juicio, juntamente con toda cosa oculta, sea buena o sea mala.

We were created for the glory of God and a life without Him is empty of purpose and filled with sadness

NOT ONLY this is important during this life, but it MAKES ALL THE DIFFERENCE IN ETERNITY!!

Let’s go to the 2nd word… (The first was “Lecciones”)

2. LAMENTO

WHO will cry for you?

LAMENTO is the worst part of death, it’s the realization that someone is really GONE, but it is PART OF OUR PREPARATION

There are some things we don’t like to think about: the Preparation & pain of a funeral (we need to be practical)

There will be a time of lament for all of us, and the more we are honest and aware about it, the less pain we have when talking about it;

We are humans, we have feelings, and besides that, God planted eternity in us, so death will not ever be felt as something natural;

It’s OK to cry with those who cry, it’s OK to be sad for a while!

Buying of a casket, velorio, a. flowers, b. funeral, c. food, d. forgetting

(cajón, cerimonia, comida)

TO UNDERSTAND LAMENT IS TO UNDERSTAND AND BE CONSTANTLY REMINDED OF OUR FINITUDE

Let’s go to the 3rd word… (The first was “Lecciones”, the second was “Lamento”)

3. LEGADO

WHAT are you leaving behind?

Do you really remember people who lived 25 years ago, or 50 years ago? How about 100 years ago? Do you know how much they left in their bank accounts

Example: Vanderbilt Families and their mansions in Newport Beach, Rhode Island. Today, all of them belong to the Preservation Society;

Legacy here in this topic is not about money/possessions (because money exchanges hands all the time), but those values and accomplishments someone leaves, which stay for generations to come;

What is it that you have been building? What will be your legacy? How will people remember you, and most important of all, how will history and God remember you? What is your LEGACY?

FINAL APPLICATIONS

Death is one of those things that, willing or not, sooner or later, we have to face;

Yes, death is inevitable, inaplazable e intransferible, but it doesn’t have the final word! It’s the last enemy to be conquered, and it will be thrown in the lake of fire

Even a question asked 29 centuries ago continues reverberating today: “Are you prepared to encounter the Lord if you died today??”

IF YOUR ANSWER IS “NO”, IT’S TIME TO COMMIT YOUR LIFE TO THE ONE WHO CONQUERED DEATH AT THE CROSS OF CALVARY TO GUARANTEE YOUR VICTORY AND A PLACE WITH GOD IN ETERNITY.

Let’s pray.