Now, friends, let me tell you a story from days gone by. Back in 1899, two well-known men left this world. The first was Colonel Robert Ingersoll, a man with a sharp mind who spent his life arguing against Christianity. When he died suddenly, his family was caught off guard and their grief was deep. His wife was so heartbroken she couldn’t even bear to let his body leave the house until it simply had to. His funeral was a sad, heavy affair—so much so that even the newspapers noticed how lost and hopeless it all seemed.
But that same year, another man died—Dwight L. Moody, the great evangelist. He’d been sick for a while, and his family gathered around as he neared the end. On his last morning, he looked up and said, “Earth is receding; heaven is opening; God is calling.” His son thought he was dreaming, but Moody said, “No, Will, it’s real. I’ve been within the gates. I’ve seen the children’s faces.” He slipped away, but before he went, he said, “Is this death? This is not bad; there is no valley. This is bliss. This is glorious.” When his daughter prayed for him to stay, he said, “No, don’t pray for that. God is calling. This is my coronation day. I’ve been looking forward to it.”
Moody’s funeral was filled with hymns and hope. Folks sang, “O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” (1 Cor. 15:55). You see, the difference between those two funerals shows just how much our faith matters—especially when we face death. It’s important, friends, that we know what the Bible says about death and what comes after.
Folks don’t need fancy explanations when death draws near. They need the comfort of familiar words, like Psalm 23:
The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.
He maketh me to lie down in green pastures:
He leadeth me beside the still waters.
He restoreth my soul:
He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.
This psalm shows us that, for believers, death isn’t the end. It’s not something we go into, but something we pass through. David tells us death is just the valley—not the destination. What comes after is glorious!
We should face our death not with regret, but with hope. That’s how it ought to be for every Christian—death is not the end, but the start of real life.
THE BIBLE’S VIEW OF DEATH
Now, what does the Bible say about death? First, it tells us death is real. We live in a world that tries to soften it, saying folks have “passed away” instead of saying they died. But the Bible is clear: “It is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment” (Hebrews 9:27).
Jonathan Edwards, a great preacher, once resolved to think often about his own dying. That might sound strange today, but it’s wise. We need to remember life is short, just as David prayed in Psalm 39:4: “Show me, LORD, my life’s end and the number of my days; let me know how fleeting my life is.”
Second, we must recognize that death is wrong. Some folks say, “Dying’s just a part of living,” but that’s not what the Bible teaches. Death is the result of sin. The Bible says, “The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death” (1 Cor. 15:26). Even Jesus, when his friend Lazarus died, wept at the grave. He was troubled by death—not just spiritual death, but the physical death of his friend.
I lost my own father more than ten years ago, and I still grieve. Folks ask if I’ll ever get over it. I tell them, I’ll get over it at the resurrection, and not a minute before! Death is real, and it hurts, because it’s not how things were meant to be.
But, friends, there’s a difference between the death of the righteous and the death of the wicked. For those without Christ, death is the beginning of everlasting separation from God. But for believers, death is the end of sorrow and the doorway to eternal life. Psalm 23:4 says we walk “through the valley of the shadow of death.” For Christians, death is just a shadow. The sun may be hidden for a moment, but it’s still there.
Psalm 121 tells us:
The LORD will keep you from all evil;
he will keep your life.
The LORD will keep your going out and your coming in
from this time forth and forevermore.
And Psalm 116:15 says, “Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints.” Only a believer can say, with Paul, “O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” (1 Cor. 15:55).
So, my friends, let’s be honest about death. Let’s not pretend it’s easy or natural. But let’s also remember: for those who trust in Jesus, death is not the end. It’s the waiting room for eternity, the place where we get ready to meet our Lord face to face.
Let us live—and die—in that hope.
Amen.
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