HIS DEATH AND MINE
Edited from a prayer meetingexhortation by bro Linus Chua, on 24 August, 2001

“And as it is appointed unto men once todie, but after this the judgment:
So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many;
and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sinunto salvation.”
(Hebrews 9:27–28)

In our modern and materialistic society, most people give very little thoughtto death and to life after death. Very few believe that there will be a day ofjudgment after they die,—a day when they would have to give an account of theirlives on this earth. Even Christians, in general, do not think too much aboutdeath and judgment until death strikes close by and then we are forced to cometo terms with this sad reality.

All of us have a mental knowledge of what the Scriptures teach concerning deathand judgment, but many of us do not have a heart-felt knowledge of thesetruths. Few of us prepare for death. Few of us are like that Old Testamentsaint, who said, “… all the days of my appointed time will I wait, till mychange come” (Job 14:14). That change, which Job spoke about, was none otherthan death itself. Christians really ought to be actively preparing andpatiently waiting for their change to come. The way to prepare ourselves forthat great change is not to ignore it or put it to the back of our minds tillanother time,—as if by doing so, we will postpone our death! Instead, the wayto begin preparing for death is to seriously consider and mediate upon what Godhas to say concerning death, and more specifically, concerning the death of manand the death of Christ. To do this, I will like to draw our attention to afairly familiar verse in Scriptures, namely Hebrews 9:27, and to the verse thatfollows it.

Context

In the 9th chapter of Hebrews, the writer shows us how the old and newcovenants are related and how the new covenant is far superior to the old inall ways. In the immediate context (vv. 25–26), we find the writer comparingthe annual sacrifice of the high priest on the Day of Atonement with the oncefor all sacrifice of Christ. Then in verses 27–28, he further confirms andstrengthens his assertion that Christ’s death was “once for all” by appealingto the universal fact of death in mankind. So while verses 25–26 show thecontrast between the Levitical high priest, who entered the holy place eachyear “with blood of others,” and Christ, who made the unrepeatable offering ofHis own blood through which He entered into the heavenly sanctuary once forall; verses 27–28 show the similarity between all men, who have been appointedonce to die, and Christ, who died but once in order to bear the sins of many.

And as it is appointed unto
men once to die…

Firstly, we observe that God has sovereignly ordained and appointed thatall sinful men should die. Death is not the result of chance. Neither is it theresult of a natural law that God created in the beginning. No, death is theresult of sin. In Genesis 2:17, God told Adam, “… for in the day that thoueatest thereof, thou shalt surely die.” And God was true to His word, for inthe day that Adam sinned, his soul died and his body began the process ofdying. Romans 6:23 says, “For the wages of sin is death….” Death is the wagesof sin. All men have to die because all have sinned. Death is one appointmentthat everyone, whether willingly or unwillingly, has to keep.

But not only does God ordain that all should die, He also ordains the exacttime of death for each and every person. Just as each of us has a birthday, so also,if Christ tarries, each of us will have a death day. The life of everyindividual is in God’s hands. He appoints the time and the manner in which eachof us will be cut off from the land of the living. Death cannot be resisted.The only certainty in life is death. Men may do a multitude of things toprevent or to delay death but all to no avail. Once God sends those icy handsof death to lay hold upon our shoulders, we will not be able to run or hidefrom it.

Death is a certainty in life, yet many of us live as if we will never die. Wego about our daily routine without considering that we are mere mortalsdestined to die one day. So James warns us not to have a presumptuousconfidence of the continuance of our lives when he says, “Whereas ye know notwhat shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, thatappeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away. For that ye ought to say,If the Lord will, we shall live, and this do, or that” (Jas 4:14–15). Jamesspeaks of things in a positive manner, “If the Lord will, weshall live…,” while the author of Hebrews speaks in a negativefashion, “And as it is appointed unto men once to die…,”yet they are essentially saying the same thing. God alone is the one whodetermines how long we live and God determines when we die.

But after this the judgment…

Secondly, we observe that God has appointed that after a person dies, hemust face judgment. Judgment takes over from where death leaves a person. Forthe unbeliever, judgment before the Almighty God will be a most frighteningthing. He has no advocate to plead his cause, no mediator to stand betwixt himand the Great Judge and no friend to entreat for him. And he shall hear thoseawful words, “Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared forthe devil and his angels” (Mt 25:41). But for the believer, there will also bea judgment to face,—not a judgment of condemnation but a judgment of works.“For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ… then every one ofus shall give an account of himself to God” (Rom 14:10, 12). “For we must allappear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive thethings done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good orbad” (2 Cor 5:10). Scriptures plainly show us that we must all prepare to givean account of our lives at the judgment.

And so, let us not lose sight of these two great truths: That we shall surelydie someday and that there shall be a judgment after that. Let this thoughtexcite and motivate us to prepare for that day of death and judgment, by livinggodly in Christ Jesus and seeking His glory in all things. Joseph Alleine, oneof my favourite Puritans, would say to his wife as he arose each morning, “Nowwe have one day more, here is one more for God, now let us live well this day,work hard for our souls, lay up much treasure in heaven this day, for we havebut a few to live.”

So Christ was once offered to
bear the sins of many…

Thankfully, the author of Hebrews does not stop at verse 27. If all that may besaid concerning life and death were in verse 27, then we would surely be drivento despair and hopelessness. What is the use of contemplating death andpreparing for it if there was no hope, no comfort, no assurance of everlastinglife after this life?

I mentioned earlier that verse 27 is a familiar verse to many us. It has oftenbeen quoted by preachers during gospel sermons. That’s good because this is animportant verse, which ought to be repeated over and over again. But sadlythough, the very next verse is often neglected and omitted. Yet these twoverses are really a pair. They go together. In fact, if you think about it, youwill realise that the main focus and thrust of the author’s argument isactually found in verse 28, “So Christ was once offered to bear the sins ofmany….”

Just as man is appointed once to die, so Christ was appointed once to die tobear the sins of many. Peter tells us that Christ, the Lamb of God, wasforeordained before the foundation of the world to shed His precious blood andto bear the iniquities of us all (1 Pet 1:19–20). Christ is described, inRevelation 13, as the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world (v. 8). Thedeath of Christ was no mistake. It was no accident either. It was foreordainedeven before Adam fell into sin. And just as God sovereignly appointed all mento die, so also He sovereignly appointed Christ, the second person of theGodhead, to die for His people.

In Genesis 22, we read of the trial of Abraham’s faith in the offering up ofIsaac his only son. God told Abraham, “Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac,whom thou lovest… and offer him there for a burnt offering” (v. 2) Abrahamobeyed and took his son to mount Moriah. But while journeying to the mount,Isaac said, “My father,… behold the fire and the wood: but where is the lambfor a burnt offering?” Abraham answered, “My son, God will provide himself alamb for a burnt offering.” And God did indeed provide a sacrifice for Abrahamthat day and Abraham named that place Jehovah Jireh,—the Lord willsee to it, the Lord will provide a lamb for an offering. And so when we read inHebrews 9:28, we remember how Christ is God’s sovereignly appointed Lamb, whowas once offered to bear our sins.

Christ was only offered up once, and yet His one death is able to save many.The death of Christ is of infinite value and worth. No sin is too great that Hecannot bear, no sinner too vile that He cannot save. Just as we saw thecertainty of death in verse 27, so we see the certainty of salvation in thisverse for all for whom He offered Himself up. As an aside, I find it difficultto understand how some of our brethren can say that Christ died merely to makesalvation possible to all men; that His death does not actually secure thesalvation of anyone, and that Christ was offered up universally for all menwithout exception. Oh no! Christ died to save His people. His name is Jesusbecause He saves His people from their sins (Mt 1:21)! There is a certainty about thesalvation of God’s people just as there is a certainty about death and judgmentfor all men. Christ did not die a general death for all men. He diedspecifically for His own to purchase and secure their salvation.

You remember how at the end of that eventful Passover week when the Lord Jesuswas finishing His earthly ministry, the Romans had prepared three crosses forthree criminals. Two of the crosses were for men guilty of theft, but the thirdcross, the centre cross was reserved for an insurrectionist and murderer namedBarrabas. Barrabas was guilty of treason against Rome and was to die for hisdreadful crime. But Barrabas never made it to the cross. He was guilty andcondemned but was not executed. Someone took his place. There on that centrecross hung no violent or rebellious man like Barrabas, but the sinless Son ofGod. Jesus took his place. And Jesus took the place of each of us who belong toHim.

And unto them that look for Him…

I began by suggesting that the way to start preparing for death is to considerand meditate upon the death of mankind in general and especially upon thecertainty of our own death and the judgment that follows. This fact ought to beseriously considered by us each day. But we must not just look at ourselves andupon the fact that we will someday die. We must look out of ourselves to Christand His death upon the cross, in our behalf. We must fix our eyes upon the Onewho was once offered upon God’s altar to bear our sins and iniquities. And thatis what the writer of Hebrews tells us to do too. Verse 28b, “and unto themthat look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation.”

In the ancient times, on the Day of Atonement, the high priest would, as itwere, disappear within the veil into the Holy of Holies. The people would waitwith great expectation, looking for their high priest to emerge from theHoliest Place to bless them once again. They knew that if their high priest haddone something wrong or if he had failed to follow God’s precise instructions,then he would be struck dead by the Most Holy God, in whose presence he served.And so there was always a sigh of relief, for their own sakes as well as forhis, when he reappeared. Now if the people of old were so eager to see theirhigh priest, who was but a type of Christ, reappear from the earthly Holy ofHolies, how much more should we today look eagerly for our Great High Priest toreappear from the Heavenly Holy of Holies?

When the high priest walked out of the sanctuary, the people knew that hissacrifice on their behalf had been accepted. So also Christ’s reappearing willbe the final confirmation that He did everything right and that God hasaccepted His sacrifice and is well pleased with Him. And God accepts us toobecause we are His blood-bought people.

When Christ appears the second time, He would bestow upon His people eternalsalvation. He will appear without sin, that is, apart from or without referenceto sin. The first time He came, He came as the sin bearer of His people and allour iniquities were laid upon Him. But when He comes again, He will appear asthe Lord of lords and King of kings, Conqueror of sin and Satan, Saviour of Hispeople. At His return, the efficacy of His once for all offering will beclearly and openly manifested.

On our part, we must wait for Him, “though it tarry, wait for it; because itwill surely come, it will not tarry” (Hab 2:3). We must have an ardent longingfor His return. We must cry daily, “Even so, come Lord Jesus.” That’s thesurest way to prepare for death and for eternity—living in constant and earnestexpectation for His return.

Conclusion

I will end with Apostle Paul’s encouragement and instruction in Philippians3:20–21,—“For our conversation [citizenship] is in heaven; from whence also welook for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ: Who shall change our vile body,that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the workingwhereby he is able even to subdue all things unto Himself.” Amen.

[Ed. Note: BroLinus has expressed a desire to serve the Lord in the Gospel ministry in thenear future. Let us pray with him that the Lord may prepare him and that he mayhave many opportunities to stir up what gifts that he has received from theLord for the advancement of the Kingdom of Grace.
—J.J. Lim]

—17 March 2002

We Should Not Fear Death,But Lift Up Our Heads
Excerpt from John Calvin, Golden Booklet of the True Christian Life, (Baker Book, 1992 [1952]), 77–80

1. It is terrible that many who boast themselves to be Christians, instead oflonging for death, are so filled with fear of it that they tremble whenever theword is mentioned, as if it were the greatest calamity that could befall them.

It should not surprise us, indeed, if our natural feeling should be alarmed athearing of our separation from this life.

But it is intolerable that there should not be sufficient light and devotion ina Christian’s breast to suppress all that fear with an overwhelmingconsolation.

For, if we consider that this unstable, depraved, perishable, frail, withering,and corrupt tabernacle of our body is dissolved, in order that it may hereafterbe restored to a durable, perfect, incorruptible, and heavenly glory,—will notour faith then induce us to wish ardently for what nature dreads?

If we remember that by death we are called back from exile to home, to ourheavenly fatherland, shall we then not be filled with comfort?

2. But it will be said, there is nothing in this world that does not want to bepermanent.

It must be admitted, but for that very reason we should look forward to afuture immortality, where we may obtain such a realm of stability as is notfound on this earth.

For Paul clearly teaches believers to go with anxious longing toward death, notto be stripped of our body, but to be clothed with a new garment.

Shall brute animals, and even lifeless creatures, down to blocks and stones,aware of their present vanity, be looking forward to the resurrection at thelast day, that they may be delivered from vanity, together with the children ofGod; and shall we, gifted with the light of natural reason, and with the farsuperior enlightenment of the Spirit of God; shall we, when we consider our futureexistence, not lift our minds above the corruption of this world?

3. But, it is not necessary or suitable for my present purpose to argue againstsuch utter perverseness as fear of death.…

I would persuade such timid hearts to read Cyprian’s treatise on Mortality,unless they should deserve to be referred to philosophers, that they may blushwhen they discover how even pagans despise death.

But this we may positively state that nobody has made any progress in the school of Christ, unless he cheerfully looksforward towards the day of his death, and towards the day of the finalresurrection.

4. For Paul stamps this mark on all believers, and Scripture often calls ourattention to it, when it wants to provide us with a motive for true joy.

“Look up,” says the Lord, “and lift up your heads, for your redemption drawsnigh.”

Is it reasonable to expect that the things which He planned to arouse us toecstasy and wide-awakeness should cause us nothing but sorrow andconsternation?

If this is the case, why do we still glory in Him as our Master?

Let us, therefore, return to a sounder judgment, and notwithstanding theopposition of the blind and stupid desires of our flesh, let us not hesitate tolong passionately for the coming of our Lord, as the most stirring of allevents.

And let us not only long for it, but even groan and sigh for the day ofjudgment.

For He shall come to us as a Saviour, to deliver us from this bottomlessmaelstrom of all evils and miseries, and He shall guide us into the blessed inheritanceof His life and glory. 2 Corinthians 5:4; Titus 2:12; Luke 21:28.