The Inevitability of Death by Raymond Bennett

THE INEVITABILITY OF DEATH

By Raymond F. Bennett

“And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment” (Heb. 9:27 ).

As we gather to pay respects to Stella Cedenia Bennett, my beloved wife for 48 years, we are faced with many areas of thought. I want to address just three of them at this time. Please forgive me if I read a good portion of this message, but I am sure you will understand the emotions that are so close to the surface. However, in the course of this message you will discover the reason for those emotions and, hopefully, find the same comfort that God has given me.

That death is inevitable is a foregone conclusion. That fact does not require our attention. I Corinthians 10:13 declares: “There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man. . .” While we usually apply this to temptations to sin, the testing of our faith, such as the loss of a loved on, are included. How we handle these tests is determined by our relationship with Jesus Christ. Even among those who profess to know Him as Lord and Savior, there will be varying degrees of confidence, hinging on the reality of faith and the spiritual maturity of the one grieving. In these words, if God permit, I would give you all the hope that God has given me, and that supersedes the tears of grief you see me shed, and many of you also shed.

INEVITABILITY MUST BE PREPARED FOR

At a funeral some years ago, I was talking with a mutual friend, and the question came up, “Was the deceased prepared for death?” My friend and I were using the same terms, but it wasn’t long until we discovered that he was talking about life insurance, while I was talking about salvation.

In reference to death our text declares: “But after this, the judgment.” We only have one go around in life, and then we must face our Maker. Amos rightly warns, “Prepare to meet thy God” (Amos 4:12 ). No man is ready to meet God, on his own, but by God’s sovereign grace, there is a way of preparation. We will discuss that later. Stella was prepared.

Christ had touched her life in her teen years, and she gave her life and soul to Jesus Christ as her Lord and Savior. She believed what God had clearly said in His Word, both the threatenings and the promises. The only way of salvation is just that---faith/believing. Not blind faith believing in some religious doctrine, some mystic experience, the message of an evangelist, or even in following the good works taught in the Scriptures, ---as important as that is.

But rather in the belief of the gospel message so clearly and simply taught in such passages as Romans 3:23: “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.” “Behold, all souls are mine;. . .the soul that sinneth, it shall die” (Ezek. 18:4). Romans 6:23: “. . .the gift of God is eternal life. . . .” And Romans 10:13: “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”

INEVITABILITY CAN BE FACED IN COMFORT AND SAFETY WHEN PROPERLY PREPARED

She was prepared to die, so we have the comfort of knowing that the cliché, “She’s in a better place now,” is a statement of truth, not just hope. I call your attention to verses on the back of your bulletins. Yes, we used verses dealing with sheep because Stella loved sheep, but I especially call your attention to the underlying theme of these verses. Please notice these four themes.

1. Christ is the Good Shepherd.

1. Christ calls out His own sheep.

3. Christ’s sheep follow Him.

4. Christ guarantees their resurrection at the last day.

Please notice that these are all indicative statements---that is a statement of fact, as opposed to hope, supposition, possibility, or even command. These are facts to be taken for granted of those thusly described as “His sheep.” That very fact forces us to examine our own lives to see if we qualify. But my friend, I hasten to advise you that such qualification comes only by grace, through faith (Eph. 2:8-9). This also we will touch on later.

With the assurance that Stella was one of Christ’s own sheep, we also have the assurance that her spirit and soul are safely and comfortably resting in the presence of her Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, at this very hour, even as we mourn her loss.

The tears I have shed, the tears my children have shed, and the tears we have yet to shed, can rightly be classified as selfish tears, because we are no longer crying over Stella’s pain (she is out of pain and better off now than we are), but for our pain at the one we have loved for years.

As we celebrate her life and reflect on her memories, we rejoice because we know that she is finally with her Lord, ---and that we will see her again.

At this point I think it both needful, and an added blessing to those who really know the Lord, to review a few parts of Stella’s last days. Rather than verbally cover that at this time, I call your attention to the insert in your bulletin.

First, there is a sense in which God didn’t give Dee to me but He lent her to me. First and foremost, she was God’s.

Second, God didn’t give me a slave---someone bound to do my bidding regardless of her dignity, feelings or morality. He gave me someone to love and care for. Someone who’s welfare, feelings and opinions I should, could and would always respect.

And third, God didn’t give m a supervisor, who would always argue with me, try to make me to things her way, or tell me what to do. He gave me a helpmate, who’s counsel I sought, who’s opinions and point of view I respected, and who’s help I often needed, from the wifely skills she possessed, who’s mothering skills exceeded mine, to even willingly helping me repair the back door on the big truck I drove and installing driveshafts.

This leads us to our last point.

CERTAIN INEVITABLES REQUIRE CERTAIN PREPARATION

The often used reaction of David to the loss of his son (II Sam. 12) teaches several points that we will not touch here, but the pure logic of his statement must be used here.

“I shall go to him, but he shall not return to me.” There was an old Indian proverb which said, “If you want to catch fish, you have to go where the fish are.” If you want to see Stella, you have to go where Stella is.

On occasions such as this we too often present the assurance of the saved as if they were universal to all mankind. From either end of the evangelical spectrum we ultimately tend to make salvation either almost automatic and academic, or so far from the reaction of mortal man that we cannot know until eternity if we are saved or not, but only have some hop of possibility that Christ’s sacrifice applies to us. But my friend, there is a valid promise---and a valid command---pertaining to the salvation of your soul and the hope of eternal life in Heaven.

This last Lord’s day, your pastor, here, preached on the reality of Hell. That reality is the alternative to salvation, and it is the knowledge that Stella Bennett both believed the promise and obeyed the command that gives us hope concerning your lost friend or loved one, and my beloved wife. And I hasten to insert here that this is not a salvation by works, but by grace alone and seeing the evidence of that grace in Dee ’s life.

I refer you again to the themes of the quoted verses on the back of your bulletin.

1. Christ is the Good Shepherd.

2. Christ calls out His own sheep.

3. Christ’s sheep follow Him.

4. Christ guarantees their resurrection at the last day.

1. Christ is the Good Shepherd that gave His life for the sheep. Stella’s salvation and your salvation is only granted or achieved by the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ.

“Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost” (Titus 3:5).

“For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast” (Eph. 2:8-9).

2. Christ calls His own sheep out. We don’t seek Christ. Christ seeks us. Those thus enlightened by the Holy Spirit, and granted faith to believe the gospel message unto personal application, have been chosen in Christ, according to His eternal plan, from before the very foundation of the world.

“Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, (please notice now) and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit. . . .” (John 15:16).

“According as He hath chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love” (Eph. 1:4).

3. Christ’s sheep follow Him. The proof of the pudding is in the finished product. We have often said, “There is an impalpable line of distinction between working for salvation or working because of salvation, and failure to discern that line is spiritually fatal.” Stella worked because she was saved, evidence of the Holy Spirit’s presence in her life, and the natural production of the seed of God, planted there by the new birth of regeneration mentioned earlier in Titus 3:5.

Please notice---His sheep follow Him, implying that there were other sheep than His fold. The sheep will not follow a shepherd they do not know. Following Jesus is the evidence of being His sheep.

“For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them” (Eph. 2:10 ).

4. He will raise His own at the last day.

It is possible to appear to have one without the other, but appearances will not result in the fourth theme. Jesus promised to raise up all that the Father had given Him at the last day, and that He would lose none of them.

But there are many who only have one of the visible qualifications of faith. Yet many of these do not, and are not, following Christ in obedience. To these He says, “Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven” (Matt. 7:21).

And there are also those who have done many wonderful, kind and righteous deeds, but have placed their trust in those deeds instead of Jesus Christ. To these He says, “Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity” (Matt. 7:22 -23).

One verse from the recitation that goes with our closing hymn fits so well here, not only expressing my emotion, but expressing that hope I would that we all have.