A Coffin a Grave and Eternity

I recently attended a Donald Trump rally and as I stood there listening to him, all I could focus on was not politics, but the brevity of life. For as Donald Trump was undoubtedly the richest man in that room, it was unquestionable that I was the poorest man among those who came to hear him. And as I heard him say how he just turned down a $10 million donation because he did not need the money, my thoughts ran to a future judgment seat that awaits all mankind, a judgment seat of a great white throne, and him who sat upon it, the king of the universe, the Lord Jesus Christ, judging the dead for the works done in the body.

And as I stood there listening to the appeals of Donald Trump for president, all that filled my mind were three things, a coffin, a grave, and eternity. And that's the title of my message this evening, friends, a coffin, a grave, and eternity. Turn if you will in your bibles to the book of Ecclesiastes, we'll be in chapter 12 and verses 1 through 7. This passage of scripture speaks of a person's life on its way to a final funeral procession.

Let me read this striking passage of scripture to us at this time, and it is my prayer that the Spirit of God will attend the reading of His holy word. Remember now, thy creator, in the days of thy youth, while the evil days come not, nor the years draw nigh, when thou shalt say, I have no pleasure in them, while the sun, or the light, or the moon, or the stars, be not darkened, nor the clouds return after the rain. In the day, when the keepers of the house shall tremble, and the strong men shall bow themselves, and the grinders cease because they are few, and those that look out the windows be darkened, and the doors shall be shut in the streets, when the sound of grinding is low, and he shall rise up, as the voice of the bird, and all the daughters of music shall be brought low, also, when they shall be afraid of that which is high, and fear shall be in the way, and the almond tree shall flourish, and the grasshopper shall be a burden, and desire shall fail because a man goeth to his long home, and the mourners go about the streets, or even the silver cord be loosed, or the golden bowl be broken, or the pitcher be broken at the fountain, or the wheel broken at the cistern, then the dust return to the earth as it was, and the spirit shall return unto God, who gave it.

Here, friends, we see a picture of a person's life, heading the way of the grave, that long feared enemy, of old age is come, the knees begin to tremble, teeth are few, sight is darkened, hearing is faint, gray hairs abound, and fear shall be in the way, even at the smallest things. I remember listening to a famous preacher in his older years, and when I heard him preach, it was his last public time, that this man spoke to my knowledge, he'd missed his plane at the airport, because he was too feeble to fly alone, when he finally arrived at the conference, he was visibly shaken, and nervous the whole time he spoke, and when he was through with his message, he'd give out a warning to all of us in the room not to stop him, and ask for his autograph, because he had not the time to waste, as he had to rush and catch his plane, old age had gotten better of this dear saint of God, it wasn't long after that, till he went home to be with the Lord. Now listen to me, dear friends, every one of you, within the sound of my voice, has three things awaiting you, and these three things are, a coffin, a grave, and an eternity.

I want you to think about that great event now, the event of death. Death may come to some of you quite suddenly and unexpectedly. Some of you here are still young in life, but that's no guarantee of living, friend.

You could be cut off by a sudden accident, and sent to eternity without any advance notice. Some of you here are older and a sudden health crisis could place you at death's door, unless the Lord suddenly appears. Every one of us will face a coffin, a grave, and an eternity.

How much time do you give to pondering these things, to pondering things about eternity? How much time do you waste here on earth on foolish things of little eternal consequence? Life is short, friends, shorter than we realize, and like our passage we just read, soon our spirit shall return unto the God who gave it, and we shall be lying in a silent coffin, in a dark grave, and our soul will be in eternity, either in the bliss heaven with Christ, or in the agonies of a burning hell. I want us to focus our attention on these three things this day, while we have time to use our minds, and make use of the time God has given each of us. I want us to focus on a coffin, a grave, and eternity.

Let me begin with the coffin. As I stood there listening to Donald Trump, who is a billionaire, I could not help but think that one day he will be laid in a coffin. He will not be able to take his wealth with him.

He will not be able to fit all his vast real estate holdings in that tiny coffin. He can't squeeze all his millions in that seven-foot-long coffin. As vast as his many mansions are, he'll one day be laid in a tiny compartment of satin and steel, placed in the ground.

You can't take it with you. Naked came I out of my mother's womb, and naked shall I return thither. So said Job.

No matter how much you have in your retirement account, friend, you can't take it with you when you die. The great evangelist Sam Jones had this to say. Don't worry about your money.

God bless you, bud. They'll halve you off in a shroud without a pocket, and if it had a pocket, your arm would be too stiff to get into it. Each one of us here will one day face our own coffin, our final resting place for our earthly remains.

Our passage of scripture speaks of a funeral procession as man goes to his long-awaited grave. And that's our second aspect I'd like to focus our attention upon now, friends. The grave.

How unexpectedly we meet our grave. I remember talking to Adrian Rogers at the funeral of Stephen Oldford, and Dr. Rogers was in good health as we talked that day. But it wasn't long after I was standing at the grave of Adrian Rogers.

Most of us think we have more time than we actually have. Listen to me, dear friend. If you're not living for eternity, you'll have your regrets as soon as you enter eternity.

I used to have a business partner who was born into a wealthy family, and one day while in his office, I heard him tell me that he wanted carved into his tombstone three words, and these three words were, win, win, win. All this man was concerned about was making money, and he already had plenty of it, but he wanted more. I went home that day and told my wife that my partner wanted to have written on his tombstone three words, win, win, win.

And I told my wife what I wanted to have written on my tombstone, and this is what I said I wanted on my gravestone. Only one life, which will soon be past, only what's done for Christ will last. If the Lord tarries, friend, everyone within the sound of my voice will one day be laid in a grave.

It'll be too late to live for Christ then. Our time will be over. How did we spend our time? Did we make good use of it for things of eternal worth? Or was our time here consumed on silly things of this world like entertainment and fleshly enjoyments? Did we use our money wisely and give to God now, and the spread of the gospel while we have it, and trust God for the future? Or did we selfishly lay up treasure for ourselves and families? There are 1,900 languages that still need to have a Bible translated into them.

There are missionaries on the field and wanting hardship. There are people groups who have yet to hear the name of Jesus Christ. What are we doing with our time, our talents, and our money? Is the spread of the gospel and a Christian witness our primary aim in life, or is it to entertain and enjoy ourselves? I've been on this earth a long time now.

I don't believe I've ever seen a more self-centered, self-absorbed generation than the one we have today. Even the church herself, friends, has lost her vision of reaching the world with the gospel and is content to rest upon comfortable pillows of conformity and compromise. We like to have all the time in the world, and our motto is, eat, drink, and be merry.

But the fact remains, friends, a long-awaited grave faces each one of us. There are some here today who won't be in this world this time next year. My Bible speaks of the unavoidable certainty of death.

This is what it says in Hebrews. And as it is appointed unto man wants to die, but after this the judgment, there's a final judgment in eternity awaiting all mankind. And that brings us to our third aspect of this message, friends, eternity.

Each one of us will die, and our souls will go back to the God who gave it. We'll either exist in the blissful comforts of heaven, in the presence of Christ and his angels, or we'll exist in the agony and torments of a burning hell. Listen to me, friend.

Hell is a horrible region of torment and misery. Hell is inhabited by demons. In hell you'll be surrounded by demon entities, and you will not be able to get away from them.

They will brush up against you, tear you, attack you, and there'll be no one to help you. That hell is inhabited by demons is seen from the words of Christ. Then shall he say, also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels.

Hell is also a very crowded place. It's been estimated that 83 people a minute die apart from Christ and enter the regions of hell. Do the math.

That amounts to 5,000 people an hour every day. 120 soul, 120,000 souls are thrown into the hell. And that prison of misery and burning fire, that's over 800,000 a week.

Listen to me, friend. Every month that adds up to 3 million people falling into the tears of hell. Through the course of a year, 40 million souls are shut up in there to scream in agony.

Let 10 years go by, and another 400 million souls enter the regions of hell. Now think back in your mind of all the generations since the time of Adam, and add up all the hordes of people who have died in their sins and occupy hell right at this moment. I repeat, hell is a very crowded place, and hell is a place of eternal suffering, physical suffering, and this world eventually ends for the Christian believer.

Often we hear of a loved one who's passed away, and we hear, well, at least they're no longer suffering. They are now with the Lord. But for the unsaved, this is not so.

Their suffering continues into the next world, a world of eternal misery and physical torments, to which there's no relief and no end. Jesus described hell as a place of weeping and gnashing of teeth. Weeping speaks of great loss and grief, and gnashing of teeth signifies great anger and regret.

Each of us will someday enter eternity. Some of you will enter it quite unprepared. Sudden death is all around us.

Only one life will soon be passed. Only what's done for Christ will last. Those were the words of C.T. Studd, who gave his fortune away to serve God as a missionary in China and Africa.

What is your motto, friend? Are you focused on this world and its enjoyments, or are you focused on eternity and its rewards? I'd like to bring you face-to-face with a coffin, a grave, and eternity, because they must be addressed seriously now, for each of us will face them soon enough. Are you living for eternity, or are you living for this world? I'd like to end this message just reading a few lines from this poem of C.T. Studd. Only one life, it will soon be passed.

Only what's done for Christ will last. Only one life, a few brief years, each with its burdens, hopes, and fears, each with its days I must fulfill, living for self or in His will. Only one life, it will soon be passed.

Only one life, a few brief years, each with its burdens, hopes, and fears, each with its days I must fulfill, living for self or in His will.