Pray

Read: Ecc 3:1-8.

Meditation

There are particular seasons of life that Solomon brings to our attention in verses 2 to 8, and he starts with the big guns. There is, he says in verse 2, “a time to be born, and a time to die.” These are the great realities of time, the bookends of life.

There is a time to be born, and this reminds us straight away that we are not in charge. When we were born, we had no say whatsoever about anything: where we would be born, when we would be born, what we would look like, who our family would be, our country of origin. All of this was determined for us in the sovereign decree of God.

We should therefore be thankful and content with our lot in life. This challenges some of our sinful thought patterns. For example, did God make a mistake by making you look the way you do? When we wish we looked different, that is what we are saying. Did he make an error in judgement by giving you certain abilities but not others? When we envy the gifts of others, that is exactly what we are saying. Did he drop the ball when it came to limiting your opportunities? When we complain about these sorts of things, what we are really saying is that we do not trust God. No, wisdom humbly accepts the circumstances which God has decreed in our lives.

There is a time to die. Have you ever thought about the fact that God knows the precise moment when you will die? He knows the circumstances under which it will occur, and what is more, he appointed it. There is a time to die.

The great question with death is this: Are you ready for it? It is possible that your appointed time to die may be in the car park after church tonight. It may be lying in your bed many years from now. We do not know. But what we learn here, and what we are warned about in many other parts of scripture, is that we must be prepared for the day of our death. Hebrews 9:27 puts the matter plainly: “it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment.” So let me ask you: are you ready for judgment?

Listen carefully, because this is extremely important. The cold, hard truth is that we cannot stand up under judgment. We are guilty. Psalm 130 says, “Lord, if you mark iniquity, who shall stand?” If our sins and evil were brought against us, who could maintain innocence? The honest answer is: no one. No one is innocent.

Maybe you are thinking that your good will balance out the bad. My friend, that is a dangerous idea. There is no cosmic scale where good and bad deeds are weighed against each other. Think of it this way: if a man lives an exemplary life, works hard, gives to charity, raises a family, loves his children, and then one day, at age 56, shoots a man in cold blood, he will face the full force of the law. Not all the good deeds in his life will earn him a let-off for his crime, nor should they. This is justice. And God is a God of justice.

Perhaps you think that is fair enough for a murderer, but that eternal hell is too harsh a penalty. Even if you have done the wrong thing at times, you think you do not deserve hell. Truth be told, you think it is unjust for God to send people to hell. You reject the idea. Let me tell you now that it is perfectly just for God to do so. Let me explain why.

According to Scripture, God is a perfect spiritual being of absolute and infinite purity, goodness, and holiness. Note that word infinite, because it is very important. If you steal one hundred dollars from someone, there is a certain value attached to that. Justice may require you to return the one hundred dollars and compensate them with some extra. That would be just. But imagine if you stole one hundred dollars and were then forced to pay that person one hundred dollars every day for the rest of your life. That would be unjust.

The problem is that when it comes to God, we have small thoughts of sin. Maybe you think you have only stolen a hundred dollars from God. You think your anger, irritability, or lust are not really that bad. But we have not merely stolen one hundred dollars from God. Let me show you how this works. Every time we sin, it is a sin against Almighty God. Psalm 51 says, “against you, you only, have I sinned.” Every sin against God is by definition a sin against his infinite goodness. Are you following me? Again, note the word infinite. He is infinitely good, and so anything wrong we do against him is against his infinite goodness. What this means is that any single sin at all, because it is against the infinite goodness of God, is a sin that is by definition infinitely bad. A single act of spite or hatred echoes infinitely against God’s goodness. For this reason, it is just that our punishment should also be infinite. Infinite punishment in hell is entirely just on God’s part.

So let me ask again: Are you prepared to die? Are you prepared to face judgment?

If you do not know the answer to that question, there is only one hope of escape. That hope is to cast your soul on Christ. This is the message of the gospel: Christ died to save wretched sinners. He bore the punishment of God’s infinite wrath on behalf of all who would believe in him. If you cannot say that you know Christ, then let me tell you plainly: you are not prepared for the day of your death. It is a sobering thought.

I know this is bad news, but it is because things are so bad that we call the gospel the good news. And here is the good news for you: even if you have not yet come to Christ, there is nothing whatsoever hindering you from doing so right now, even in this moment. Come and believe. Come and drink freely of God’s forgiveness in Christ. Admit your sins, accept Christ, and follow him. There is a time to die, but in Christ we will be prepared for that time. SDG.

Prayer of Confession & Consecration

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