Would you be at peace with yourself and your current state of life if you were to die tonight? Would you be filled with confidence that when you stand before the Father that you will hear the words “Well done, thou good and faithful servant?”
Most people, before they die, like to have all of their “affairs in order.” This means that they don’t want to have any debt that they owed being passed on to their sons or daughters and burden them with that debt. They want to die having the knowledge that they had accomplished everything that they wanted to do. They want to be free of any guilt or regret, so that they can be be filled with peace when they die.
To be filled with peace means to be in a state free of oppressive and unpleasant thoughts and emotions.
So with that being said, would you be able to die in peace with the knowledge that you had done everything that you should have done for the Lord? If you looked at your life and compared it to the teachings found in the Bible, would your life match up to it?
The Apostle Paul seemed to know that he was about to depart from this Earth, as he wrote in his letter to Timothy. But Paul wasn’t afraid or concerned about what would happen on the day that He stood before the Lord. He knew that he had lived his life in accordance to the will of Christ, and he knew that there would be a crown waiting for him on that day. He could die in peace with this knowledge that he had lived his life for the Lord.
2 Timothy 4:6-8 “For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand.
I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith:
Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing.”
This crown of righteousness, Paul explained, could be given to everyone who loves Christ. Everyone who loves Jesus and is obedient to Him can receive His rewards. Doesn’t knowing this fill you with a sense of peace and confidence that when you die these rewards will await you?
The promise of eternal life can be obtained through a life spent for the Lord. That is what Paul did. That is what James and John did. They kept the faith, and when they died they could die with peace in their minds that they would receive that promise.
Hebrews 3:14 “For we are made partakers of Christ, if we hold the beginning of our confidence stedfast unto the end;”
So how about you? How have you lived your life? We have all sinned, of course, but have you left those sins behind? Have you turned away from a life of iniquity and turned to serve the one true God? Take this moment to look at your life, and compare it to the Scriptures. Do you see anything that needs to be changed? If so, don’t wait until tomorrow to change it, because tomorrow could be too late. Do it now!
Would you be at peace with yourself if you died tonight? But most importantly, will you be filled with the peace of Christ?
In Christ,
Andrew
Teufer Lake King James Bible Church 