When My Time Comes

James 4:14 says that our lives are like a vapor that appears for just a little while, and then quickly vanishes. This sobering reality was put on full display recently when a 13-year-old accidently shot himself in the head on Instagram Live with his neighborhood friends watching.

My son is 13, and I can’t imagine what that kid’s parents are going through. It seems like only yesterday when we adopted him, and to think of him losing his life today is almost unfathomable.

However, by the time I was 16, I had already had several brushes with death. At around 10, I had a severe anaphylactic reaction to Noxema. When I was 13 I spent a little over a week in the ICU because I had been poisoned by a corrupted batch of Albuterol we were using in my breathing treatments. And in my junior year of high school, I miraculously survived a massive car accident coming back from College Station where my brother and I flipped three times across the highway at about 80mph.

Today I found out that the guy who has been cutting my hair at Great Clips died two days ago of a heart attack. He was in his mid-40s. Hosea says that the span of our days on earth can be compared with dew that’s here before breakfast and gone before lunch.

However, the Bible teaches that death is not the end. In many ways, it is a beginning. But the choices we make during our time on earth determine an unalterable eternal destiny for each one of us.

Hippolytus was the Bishop of Rome in the late 2^nd and early 3^rd centuries. He was a personal disciple of Irenaeus (Bishop of Lyons), who was a personal disciple of Polycarp (Bishop of Smyrna), who was a personal disciple of the Apostle John. Hippolytus’ writings are therefore regarded as faithfully carrying on the tradition of the Apostles, and he had quite a bit to say about what happens when people die.

Now we must speak of Hades, in which the souls both of the righteous and the unrighteous are detained. Hades is a place in the created system, rude, a locality beneath the earth, in which the light of the world does not shine. And since the sun does not shine in this place, there is necessarily perpetual darkness there. This place has been destined to be, as it were, a guardhouse for souls. … And in this locality there is a certain place set apart by itself, a lake of unquenchable fire, into which we suppose no one has ever yet been cast. …

But the righteous (who will obtain the incorruptible and unfading kingdom) are indeed presently detained in Hades, but not in the same place with the unrighteous. For to this locality there is one descent, at the gate of which we believe an archangel is stationed with an army. And when those who are conducted by the angels who are appointed unto the souls have passed through this gate, they do not all proceed down one and the same path. Rather, the righteous are conducted in the light toward the right. …

They are brought to a locality full of light. And there all the righteous persons from the beginning dwell. They are not ruled by any necessity. Rather, they perpetually enjoy the contemplation of the blessings that are in their view. Also, they delight themselves with the expectation of other blessings, ever new. … And that place brings no labors for them. … But the faces of the fathers and the righteous are seen to be always smiling, as they wait for the rest and eternal revival in heaven that follow this location. And we call this place by the name of “Abraham’s bosom.”

However, the unrighteous are dragged toward the left by angels, who are ministers of punishment. These souls no longer go of their own accord. Rather, they are dragged as prisoners by force. And the angels appointed over them hurry them along, reproaching them and threatening them with an eye of terror, forcing them down into the lower parts. And when the souls are brought there, those appointed to that task drag them on to the vicinity of Gehenna.

And those who are so near [to Gehenna] hear incessantly its agitation, and they feel the hot smoke. And when that vision is so near, as they see the terrible, and excessively glowing spectacle of the fire, they shudder in horror at the expectation of the future judgment, already feeling the power of their punishment. And again, when they see the place of the fathers and the righteous, they also suffer punishment merely from seeing this. For a deep and vast abyss is set there in the midst, so that neither can any of the righteous in sympathy think to cross it, nor do any of the unrighteous dare to cross it. – Hippolytus 205CE, ANF Vol. 5, p. 395-396 [CD-ROM]

I understand that some of what Hippolytus wrote may be outside of your denomination’s tradition. However, please remember that it faithfully represents the majority of the apostolic fathers’ beliefs. Also, please be sure to keep the main thing the main thing.

Hebrews 9:27-28 sums it up well, “Inasmuch as it is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment, so Christ also, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time for salvation without reference to sin, to those who eagerly await Him.”

When we die, our souls either go to be with Jesus forever, or they descend to an incredibly horrific place of no escape. Then, after the resurrection of our bodies, the righteous will reign in glory with Jesus forever in the new heavens and new earth. And, the unrighteous will face a second death, the lake of fire, which burns forever and ever.

I understand it’s not pleasant to think about death, but it is a healthy exercise. And similarly to the day we meet the person we will eventually marry, it often comes unexpectedly as we’re operating in the regular rhythms of life. Death will not only happen to us, it will also find every single person we know. However, because Jesus lovingly gave His life as a ransom for all people, everyone we know has an opportunity to receive Him as his or her Lord and Savior.

Have you done that? What about your family members? What about your friends and coworkers? What about your neighbors?

This week, how can you help someone who doesn’t know Jesus become more prepared to meet Him face to face when his or her time comes? 

The Five “We Wills”

Early in my childhood, my parents took our family to the circus. I had a great time, but the thing that impressed me the most was seeing performers stand on the seats of moving bicycles.

Of course, the next day I pulled out my trusty BMX and gave it a shot. Peddling up some momentum, in a crouched position I cautiously put one foot on the seat, and then the other. Surprised I had made it that far, I decided to stand up and shout, “I’m the king of the world!”

Face… meet concrete. Thank goodness the dentist was able to fit me into his schedule and give me a new front tooth.

Whenever I tell that story, people always quote the same Bible verse to me, “Pride goes before a fall.” It’s true, though. Pride does serve as a forerunner to destruction because the Bible says that God Himself opposes the proud.

“God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” … Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, and spend a year there and engage in business and make a profit.” Yet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. You are just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away. Instead, you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and also do this or that.” But as it is, you boast in your arrogance; all such boasting is evil. – James 4:6, 13-16

The word ‘opposed’ is an ancient military term, which pictures an army assuming a specific battle-array position to attack an enemy force. James says that God is not messing around about pride. When He sees it, He gets ready to throw down, and God never loses a fight.

A classic example of this God versus pride dynamic is found in Isaiah 14, a passage known as the five ‘I wills’ of Lucifer.

Take up this taunt against the king of Babylon, and say … “How you have fallen from heaven, O star of the morning, son of the dawn! You have been cut down to the earth, you who have weakened the nations! But you said in your heart, ‘I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God, and I will sit on the mount of assembly in the recesses of the north. I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.’ Nevertheless you will be thrust down to Sheol, to the recesses of the pit.” – Isaiah 14:12-15

In Isaiah 14, the king of Babylon is described as being analogous to the devil. And just as the divine rebel was cast down and humiliated because of his treacherous pride, Isaiah declares that the same fate will befall the pompous king of Babylon.

When the President of the United States of America ended his inauguration speech, he did so in an eerily similar fashion as the king of Babylon’s boast against God. President Trump, however, used five ‘we wills’. Some have argued that the use of the word ‘we’ is a clear mark of humility, but the mere usage of a first person plural pronoun means nothing. What matters is what he said ‘we’ can and will do.

Please read his closing remarks from the speech:

When America is united, America is totally unstoppable. … No challenge can match the heart and fight and spirit of America. … We stand at the birth of a new millennium, ready to unlock the mysteries of space, to free the Earth from the miseries of disease, and to harness the energies, industries and technologies of tomorrow. A new national pride will stir our souls, lift our sights, and heal our divisions. … Your voice, your hopes, and your dreams, will define our American destiny. And your courage and goodness and love will forever guide us along the way. Together, We Will Make America Strong Again. We Will Make America Wealthy Again. We Will Make America Proud Again. We Will Make America Safe Again. And, Yes, together, We Will Make America Great Again. Thank you, God Bless You, And God Bless America.

The spirit of America? The Bible tells us to not readily accept every spirit, but rather to test them since not every spirit comes from God. And before you totally write me off, claiming that it’s absurd to insinuate that there is an actual spirit of America, pause with me and reflect on what the Scriptures might have to say on the matter.

Knowing that the book of Daniel says there were angelic principalities called the Prince of Persia and the Prince of Greece, I wonder what it was that drove thousands of Ephesians to shout in unison for two hours, “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!” If it’s possible that there was a territorial angelic spirit over the area of Ephesus that led people to be hostile to the simple words of Christ, isn’t it possible the same dynamic is happening here?

So, let’s briefly test this spirit of America using the words we just read from President Trump’s speech.

Is America truly unstoppable and all-powerful? Is America what ushers in the New Millennium? Is America able to rid the world all disease forever? Who or what does the spirit of America tell us to put our confidence in? Does the spirit of America glorify the Lord God Jesus Christ, or the god of us?

We Will. We Will. We Will. We Will. We Will.

What ever happened to God’s will? There’s not much room left for God when we’re so full of ourselves.

Beating our chests with shouts of our grandiosity won’t open the floodgates of heaven, but it will lead to spectacularly painful face-plants. God doesn’t bless pride; He never has and never will. God blesses humility.

We need to rediscover our roots. We need to go back to a time when Christianity was truly great… when it couldn’t care less about the affairs of the State, but would relinquish anything for the kingdom of God. We need to get on our knees in repentance of our pride, and plead not for America to be great again (whatever that means), but for the glory of God to be great in the Church again.

Let us do all those things which pertain to holiness, avoiding all evil-speaking, all abominable and impure embraces, together with all drunkenness ... all abominable lusts, detestable adultery, and repulsive pride. “For God,” says [the Scripture], “resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” … Let our praise be in God and not of ourselves; for God hates those that commend themselves. Let testimony to our good deeds be borne by others. … Arrogance, and audacity belong to those that are accursed of God; but moderation, humility, and meekness to such as are blessed by Him. – Clement of Rome 95CE, Volume 1, p. 25-26 [CD-ROM]

Clement of Rome on Living in the Sight of God in 95CE

All things are open before Him, and nothing can be hidden from His counsel. “The heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament displays His handy-work. Day unto day utters speech, and night unto night shows knowledge. And there are no words or speeches of which the voices are not heard.”

Since then all things are seen and heard [by God], let us fear Him, and forsake those wicked works which proceed from evil desires; so that, through His mercy, we may be protected from the judgments to come. For where can any of us flee from His mighty hand? Or what world will receive any of those who run away from Him? For the Scripture says in a certain place, “Where shall I go, and where shall I be hid from Your presence? If I ascend into heaven, You art there; if I go away even to the uttermost parts of the earth, there is Your right hand; if I make my bed in the abyss, there is Your Spirit.” Where, then, shall any one go, or where shall he escape from Him who comprehends all things? Let us then draw near to Him with holiness of spirit, lifting up pure and undefiled hands unto Him, loving our gracious and merciful Father, who has made us partakers in the blessings of His elect. …

Seeing, therefore, that we are the portion of the Holy One, let us do all those things which pertain to holiness, avoiding all evil-speaking, all abominable and impure embraces, together with all drunkenness, seeking after change, all abominable lusts, detestable adultery, and execrable pride. “For God,” says [the Scripture], “resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” Let us cleave, then, to those to whom grace has been given by God. …

Let us cleave then to His blessing, and consider what are the means of possessing it. Let us think over the things which have taken place from the beginning. For what reason was our father Abraham blessed? Was it not because he worked righteousness and truth through faith? Isaac, with perfect confidence, as if knowing what was to happen, cheerfully yielded himself as a sacrifice. Jacob, through reason of his brother, went forth with humility from his own land, and came to Laban and served him; and there was given to him the scepter of the twelve tribes of Israel.

All these, therefore, were highly honored, and made great, not for their own sake, or for their own works, or for the righteousness which they worked, but through the operation of His will. And we, too, being called by His will in Christ Jesus, are not justified by ourselves, nor by our own wisdom, or understanding, or godliness, or works which we have wrought in holiness of heart; but by that faith through which, from the beginning, Almighty God has justified all men; to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.

What shall we do, then, brethren? Shall we become slothful in well-doing, and cease from the practice of love? God forbid that any such course should be followed by us! But rather let us hasten with all energy and readiness of mind to perform every good work. …

Let us without delay accede to His will, and let us work the work of righteousness with our whole strength. The good servant receives the bread of his labor with confidence; the lazy and slothful cannot look his employer in the face. It is requisite, therefore, that we be prompt in the practice of well-doing; for of Him are all things. And thus He forewarns us: “Behold, the Lord [comes], and His reward is before His face, to render to every man according to his work.” He exhorts us, therefore, with our whole heart to attend to this, that we not be lazy or slothful in any good work.