Well, my eyes are a little bit blurry this morning, so I'm preaching with my computer glasses on, just as I was singing with my computer glasses on. That's what I have to do when the pages get a little blurry on me. So now you're a little blurry, okay? I can see real well down here, but you're all just a fuzz on me, okay? So understand, if I don't make too much eye contact, I might have a little bit of trouble doing that. But we do what we have to do, and I appreciate God's grace. Genesis chapter number 5, once again, Genesis chapter number 5. We began last week to look at Genesis 5, which I told you I have labeled in my Bible as the death chapter, and that's because one of the most prevalent phrases in this chapter is, and he died. And I want to think about that thought, and he died. You'll find it in verse 5. It talks about Adam. All the days of Adam lived were 930 years, and he died. And in verse 8, all the days of Seth were 912 years, and he died. And all the days of Enos, verse number 11, all the days of Enos were 905 years, and he died. And then verse 14, and all the days of Cainan were 910 years, and he died. Verse 17, and all the days of Mahalil were 895, and he died. And all the days, verse number 20, and all the days of Jared were 962 years, and he died. Now, we get a little reprieve there with Enoch. It says in verse number 23 and 24, verse 23, all the days of Enoch were 365 years. And Enoch walked with God, and he was not, for God took him. But then in verse 27, it resumes with his son Methuselah, all the days of Methuselah were 969 years. he died and we see the verse number 30 and Lamech lived after he begat Noah 595 years and begat sons and daughters and all the days of Lamech were 770 and seven years and he died and so we see The phrase, and he died, repeated for eight of the nine who are mentioned before Noah and his sons in the last verse. With all nine of these that I just mentioned no longer living on the earth. None of them remained on the earth. Even Enoch was translated. And the records provided here give us three items of important information. First of all, we're given the names of the pre-flood patriarchs and the line of the promised seed who would ultimately fulfill God's promise. God always fulfills His promise. Sometimes we don't know how He's gonna go about it, but we know that He does fulfill it. And then we see the number two thing, we're given the chronological framework of primeval history, showing a total of 656 years from Adam to the flood. And there's no indication of any gaps in any of this. And then number three, we're given the lifespans of those living before the flood, which averaged over 900 years, 912 actually, excluding Enoch, which indicates a vastly superior climate, which changed after the flood. You wonder what happened for them to be able to live an average of 900 years, and then the flood hits, and we're gonna be hitting the flood next. Well, we will see that that climate change That climate change, we're going to see that in a future message, it had nothing to do with mankind's use of fossil fuels or anything like that. God was in charge of the climate then just as he is now. You need to understand that as children of God. There's nothing that we can do to change the climate. God changes the climate. God calls the climate to change in response to mankind's sin spiraling out of control and getting ahead of my messages. I know we're going to be preaching that next time, Lord willing, but I want you to understand God does the same thing today. God changes the climate with regard to the sin of men. Nahum 1, verses 3 through 8. I'm going to just read it and I'm going to have you take the time to turn there because you'd be fumbling and I'll be waiting on you to get there, so I'm just going to read it to you. Nahum 1, verse number 3. The Lord is slow to anger, great in power, and will not at all acquit the wicked. The Lord hath his way, and the whirlwind and in the storm. And the clouds are the dust of his feet. He rebuketh the sea, and maketh it dry, and dryeth up all the rivers. And verse number five says, the mountains quake at him, and the hills melt, and the earth is burned at his presence. Yea, the world and all that dwell therein. Who can stand before his indignation? Who can abide in the fierceness of his anger? His fury is poured out like fire, and the rocks are thrown down by him. The Lord is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble, and he knoweth them that trust in him. But with an overrunning flood, he shall make an utter end of the place thereof, and darkness shall pursue his enemies. So we see very clearly there, the Lord affecting weather, affecting the earthquakes, affecting landslides, he affects those things. We also know other places in scripture, I'm just going to share one more with you, 2 Chronicles 7, verse 13 and 14. The Lord told Solomon and told the people of Israel, he says in verse 13 and 18, if I shut up heaven, that there be no rain, or if I command the locusts to devour the land, or if I send pestilence among my people, if my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves and pray and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land." And there are many other passages in scripture that I could share this morning. showing the Lord God being the one who affects the climate for his purposes. So don't be fooled by what you hear on television. Weathermen do not know if they don't know the Lord. Tim Deegan, he don't know. He talks about climate change all the time. Boy, we've got to get this climate change under control or we're going to have a problem. You've got a problem because you've got sin in our land. That's the problem. Back to the death chapter. In my introduction last week, I shared three lessons that can be learned from this chapter. First of all, it said God's word is true. God said sin was going to bring forth death, and it did. We saw number two, our sin affects our children, and we see all these descendants of Adam passing away along with Adam, and we saw death passes to all men. In Hebrews 9.27, as it is appointed, and the man wants to die, but after this, the judgment. Now, we zeroed in on Enoch last time, whom scripture says walked with God, one of two that's in this list that walked with God, and Noah is the other, and he's mentioned in the next chapter as having walked with God in Genesis 6 and 9. Now, remember we said walking with God is the biblical expression for having a living, active faith shown by having fellowship and obedience with God that results in divine favor or grace. And last time we saw Enoch's life and the essentials in walking with God. We saw how the faith in God, obedience to God, and fellowship with God are essential. But this morning, I want us to look and move on to see a very sobering truth out of these verses, a reality that is found in this chapter that is not just here, but it's reiterated throughout Scripture. And it's not just a reality found in scripture, but it's a reality that can be seen each and every day of our lives, and all of mankind needs to understand, and that's this. Mankind's days, I'm talking about all of our days, on this earth, are numbered. You're gonna leave this earth one day, and you're gonna stand before God. Despite the longevity of the lives we see experienced prior to the flood, and boy, they lived a long time. I don't know that I'd want to live that long in the body that we have. I mean, you think about 900 years, that's a long time. But nevertheless, they lived, and of course, their bodies weren't affected as bad as ours is. I realize that. We are affected at an earlier age, and it don't take long to wear ourselves out. But despite the longevity of the lives we see experienced prior to the flood, all of their earthly lives did come to an end. It came to an end. Death became a reality to most of them, while just one, Enoch, that we saw last week, was translated without seeing death, but even he was separated from life on this earth in that translation. So there's a sobering truth here that cannot be escaped. We're all going to leave this earth one day and stand before God. So until the day we leave this earth, either by way of death or by way of the rapture, we are to live with the thought in mind that our days on earth are numbered. Our days on earth are numbered. Sadly, there are those who very rarely give it any thought whatsoever. And often it shows up in an ungodly living. That's where it shows up at. A number of years ago, there was a book written by Dr. Ernest Becker called The Denial of Death. That book won a Pulitzer Prize for the best of non-fiction in a certain category. In it, the author made this telling comment confirming what the Bible clearly states and what it shows throughout its pages. And I quote, it says, the idea of death The fear of it haunts the human animal like nothing else. It is the main spring of human activity. Activity designed largely to avoid the fatality of death. To overcome it by denying in some way that it is the final destiny of man. You know, people can deny it all they want to, but listen, it's coming. It's coming. We know the Bible shows that all of mankind separating from this life is a reality. Most folks are separated from this life by way of death. And even those that are made righteous separate from this life by death most of the time. I mean, you look at Hebrews chapter 11, that hall of faith, the only one that was translated they mentioned there was Enoch. And Hebrews 9 verse number 27 tells us very clearly, and as it is appointed, and the man wants to die. Listen to what Solomon said in Ecclesiastes 3.2. He says, there's a time to be born, a time to die, a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted. A time to be born and a time to die. Like it or not, There will come a time when each person on planet Earth will be separated from this life that we have in the flesh here. Most will be separated by physical death, but as we saw last time, Enoch, even Enoch in our text, and Elijah were separated from this life by being translated. And sometime soon, praise the Lord, I hope it's real soon, even so come Lord Jesus, amen, Sometime soon the Lord Jesus Christ will return in the air to catch his bride away. the church, the dispensation we live in. And he will catch his bride away, separating those of us who are in Christ from this life. We'll be taken out of here in a moment and a twinkling of an eye. I'm not gonna take time to read the verses in 1 Thessalonians 4, but I've given you those references there. 1 Thessalonians 4, verses 13 through 18, and 1 Corinthians 15, verses 51 and 52, if you want to read those. So understand this sobering truth. It doesn't matter how advanced medical science gets, it will never be able to undo the effects of sin by doing away with death. Never, never, never. It's not going to happen. There are people that are banking on something happening and then being able to escape death. They are deceiving themselves. Death is coming. Separation is coming. Listen, there's not going to be a vaccine developed that prevents death. Now, there may be some developed that might cause one's death to be sooner. But there's not going to be one to, well, you got to get this vaccine so you won't die. No, no, no. It's not going to happen. Not going to happen. There will not be a medical breakthrough of any kind that will provide immortality. Man wants immortality. But the only way you get it is through Christ. Okay? If you ever see a tabloid headline, I know you look at them like I do, you know, you go through the checkout line. Well, you used to go through the checkout line, but now you gotta check it out yourself. But you remember when you used to go through the checkout line, and they had the tabloids there, and there was some crazy stuff that they put in the headlines, and you say, eh, that don't seem right. Well, if you ever see a tabloid headline to that extent, the medical breakthrough, we found a way for immortality. I can assure you it's a hoax. It's a hoax. There will not be a time when science becomes so advanced that they will ever be able to bring one who has died back to life in some future more technological time. A lot of folks are banking on that. In fact, they bank on it so much they spend a lot of money to, when they die, with a thing called cyrogenics. Cyro means icy cold. They have their bodies frozen by liquid nitrogen, hoping that enough of them will be preserved, that in that future time, when they figure out how to reverse death or how to take the DNA out of that and bring you back to life, that that is going to happen for them. Not going to happen. Okay? And they realize now, you know, they realize that the moment they died, that that wasn't going to happen. And listen, there is no reincarnation to get another chance to do life over again. Remember when you used to play on the playground and you didn't mean to do something and you said, I want a do-over. There's no do-overs with life. You get one life. Just one. There's no do-overs. Each and every person on this earth will face death one day, barring being caught up in the rapture. There's no escaping our divine appointment with death, as the Bible shows it has to be a very divine appointment. But good news is there's a resurrection available. Amen. There's a resurrection available. The only hope that anyone has of ever having a life after death is found in the gospel of Jesus Christ alone. You're going to need a resurrection because that's the only way. And that resurrection is only found in Christ. I like the way Acts 4 verse 12 puts it in one of the early verses that I memorized as a child. Listen to Solomon's words in Ecclesiastes 7 and verse 2. Think about this. It is better to go to the house of mourning than to go to the house of feasting. For that is the end of all men, and the living will lay it to his heart." Now, if I were to ask this morning, how many of you want to go to a funeral? I'd have no takers, okay? That's not what we like to do, is it? I mean, we go to them, we try to respect the dead, whatever. We'd much rather go to a feast. Go to a party, right? Let's go to a party. But the Bible says there, Solomon said, it's better to go to the house of mourning than to the house of feasting, and the reason for that is that it's the end of all men, and he says the living will lay at the heart. So let that scripture sink down in your heart. Why is it better? For that is the end of all men. Do you ever contemplate your end? The house of mourning is more likely to motivate a person toward a sober contemplation of his own mortality. Don't you think about it. Every cemetery you drive by or see, every obituary we read, every wake or funeral that we either attend or hear about, Even every news account of someone's death or the accounts of multiple deaths that happen in some unexpected tragedy befalling a group. Those should serve as not only a wake-up call, but as a not-so-subtle reminder of our own mortality. You're going to die. Just as those people died, you're going to die one day. Such contemplation tends to affect one's thoughts. If it affects our thoughts, then it will rightly affect our actions or living if we are serious in our contemplation. Some folks will think about it to be a fleeting moment of thought. Well, I'm going to die one day, but I'm going to think about that right now. I got other things to do. I don't want to think about dying. Well, you better. You better think about that day is coming, and I can assure you it's going to be sooner than you think. It's going to be sooner than you think. Now, I've noticed that there is a trend away from folks having old-fashioned wakes and funerals. Have you noticed that? Yeah, we have a preacher presenting a thought-provoking Bible message in the gospel so that the attendees are called to contemplate their own mortality. That's what ought to happen. But what do we see now? Those old-time houses of mourning are sometimes being cast aside. Sometimes for no funeral or memorial of any kind. I've heard believers And I know they weren't well-meaning. I don't want anybody fussing over me. Just burn my body and be done with it. Scatter the ashes somewhere or just forget about the funeral and just plant me in the ground. Sadly, on more than one occasion now, I've actually had to talk a Bible-believing family member into having a funeral or memorial service. That ought not to be. I'll not have to talk folks into having a funeral or memorial service. And that goes for either for themselves before they died or for their loved one that has died. And I hope you're not like that because you're missing out on a great way to leave a lasting legacy in your departure. That's right, a gospel message. You know, there were two people saved at my dad's funeral. I'm not saying people get saved every time, but listen, the gospel is planted, or it's watered, and somewhere, who knows, God may give the increase because of that message that goes forth. Sometimes funerals and memorial services are being cast aside for celebrations of life. You hear that term, celebrations of life? More often than not these days, a party being thrown in the name of the deceased. When our parents died, my wife and I, the funeral director gave that to us as an option. These days, people are just having parties. We can cater anything you want to in here, even alcohol if you want it. You can just live it up. You can just have a grand old time. Now, I don't want you to misunderstand me. I am okay with celebrations of life being a part of one's funeral, especially for someone who was saved and has lived a godly life for the Lord. Amen? But listen, a celebration of life for a believer should give glory to God. It ought not to be a drunken brawl. It ought not to be a whoop it up thing. It ought to be giving glory to God for having been saved. I think of the funeral I did for Brother Kent Harvey. I think about him the same time every year. His death comes up in my memories. Brother Kent got saved one month exactly prior to his home going. Those of you that knew him, he had a problem with alcohol before he got saved. He was open about that. He attended our church for a couple of years before he got saved. He wouldn't get saved because he had trouble with alcohol. He had to get to the point where he was going to give it up. He finally came to me and said, Preacher, I'm turning it over. I'm letting loose of it, and I'm getting saved today. And he did. He got saved. And one year, praise God, one month later, he died. One month. I was able to do his funeral. I would have hated to have to do his funeral without him coming to know Jesus. That's a terrible thing. If you don't live for the Lord, it makes it difficult on the preacher trying to do your funeral. But listen, it was a grand time that we had at Brother Kent's funeral. Not because he was dead, but because he got saved. I was able to share his testimony with his drinking buddies. All of them were there. Yeah, people that he whooped it up with all life long. Now, to my knowledge, not any of them got saved, but listen, they sure got the gospel. They sure got his testimony. They knew that there was a change in his heart and life. I think of Brother Doug Schneiders, our previous song leader, but his dad and mom getting saved in their 80s. His dad just, you know, totally Really, they've been anti-God up to that point. I remember them coming to know the Lord. Nine days after Brother Doug's dad got saved, I did his funeral. Nine days, he died. I was able to do his memorial service for him. His mom got saved like one year before. She passed. We were able to rejoice. We were able to have a celebration of life, of the life that they had in Christ. We did, you know, that's what we celebrated. They came to know the Lord before they died. Because a celebration of life for a believer has to be For a believer that has been saved for some time should be one of giving glory to God as well, especially if that person faithfully served God." Now, those three that I mentioned didn't have a chance to serve God, but God saved them. Amen. And so, listen, we should do as Solomon subtly urges, and take steps to confront the sobering truth of death, especially our own impending death, and what influence that should have on our overall conduct in life. And it ought to affect your life. If you know you're gonna die and stand before God, that ought to affect you in a great way. So, Death is the one event that happens to us all, both to those who are believers and those who are unbelievers. We will all face a day of death, the day of separating from this life as we know it and facing our destiny that is beyond the grave. We call that judgment. The Bible calls it judgment. So how will you die? I'm not asking about the manner of your death because none of us knows how we're going to go. We just don't know. What I'm asking is, when I ask, how will you die, is it going to be in faith or not? If you die in faith, you'll be okay. If you die outside of the faith, you don't want to do that. You don't want to do that. Trust me, my friend. The Bible shows that some folks die without ever having appropriated saving faith in Christ. And such a person dies without help. And can I just say, without Jesus, you won't make heaven? You won't. I don't care what the Pope says, that all roads are leading to the same place. No, no, no, they're not. They're not at all. There's only one way, truth and life, and that's Jesus. Salvation in Christ is the only thing that will help you make heaven, that will get you to make heaven. Dr. Harold Sightler often said that God's people die well, and I agree with that statement. Over the time of my ministry, I have been in the room when people passed away, many people. I have watched both saved and lost breathe their last breath, and the difference is visible. It just really is. Such a person, though, that dies without Christ dies without help. Such a person also dies without hope. There's no hope without Christ. 1 Thessalonians 4.13, listen. Also, but I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. Now he was talking to believers. Believers have hope. But don't sorrow like those who don't have hope. If I die, it's okay for you to be sad that I'm gone, not your pastor anymore. Some of you would be rejoicing, be glad. I don't know. You never know. You never know. But I know my wife will be sad, right? Yeah, she'll be sad. But I don't want you to sorrow like you don't know where I'm at. Because I'm with Jesus. I'll be with Jesus. Proverbs 11 verse 7 says, When a wicked man dieth, his expectation shall perish, and the hope of unjust men perisheth. You know, people have all kinds of expectations of what happens after they die. Yeah. But if they don't believe Jesus, listen, their expectation, whatever it is, forget about it. It perishes. Proverbs 10, 28 says the expectation of the wicked shall perish again. Job 8, verse 13 and 14. It says, so are the paths of all that forget God, and the hypocrite's hope shall perish, whose hope shall be cut off, whose trust shall be a spider's web. Sadly, hell is a truth realized too late for those who remain lost. Remember the rich man Lazarus? The rich man died. And in hell, he lifted up his eyes. Just think about that. As soon as he closed his eyes in death, he woke up in hell. How sad. I've been to and conducted the funerals of both believers and unbelievers. And once again, the difference is visible. I remember I was fresh in the ministry. Pastoring a church in Jasper, Florida. My very first pastorate. Hadn't been there very long. and I had to conduct a funeral. It wasn't one in our church. The only individual in that family that had any relationship with God was a lady in my church. She was a sister-in-law. A sister-in-law. And they asked me to do the funeral because I was the only preacher that they knew. I tell you, boy, that's tough. What do you do? I preach Jesus. I preach Jesus and I preach, hey look, what's happened here with her, it's going to happen to you one day. Believers and unbelievers. The Bible shows that some folks die though after having appropriated saving faith in Christ. These folks die with a great source of help. Psalm 23, 4, which is read at many a funeral. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for thou art with me. Thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me. That's only true for those that know Christ. These folks die with a great source of help. They die with a great source of hope. Paul talked about death, he said in Philippians 1 verse 21 through 23, he says, For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. But if I live in the flesh, this is the fruit of my labor, yet what I shall choose I want not. For I am in a straight betwixt two, having a desire to depart, talking about departing and death, to be with Christ, which is far better. Listen, if you are saved, and you die, you've got far better to look forward to. Being with Christ is far better than anything we've got on this earth. Far better. Proverbs 10 verse 28 again says, The hope of the righteous shall be gladness, but the expectation of the wicked shall perish. I like that gladness part. Amen? So, if you don't know the Lord this morning, get on board. Don't leave here and say, well, I'll think about it some other time. The Lord's got you here for a reason. It's a sobering truth, but we're all going to face death. Make sure that you face it with Christ as being your personal Lord and Savior and not without Christ. Amen. Let's pray. Father, we thank you so much for the saving blood of Jesus Christ. His death, His burial, His resurrection, His death became our death. He died our sin for our sin. He died in our place. He died the death that we should have died. Lord, he was buried. He rose again the third day, giving him new life. And those of us that are in him, in Christ, we have not only identified in his death and in his burial, but we identify in his resurrection as well. Thank you for the resurrection that is to come when we stand before you, Lord, our declared righteous in your sight through that blood of the Lord Jesus Christ that we have in our life. Thank you for sending Christ our way. Lord, I pray that everyone that's here today knows Christ, but I don't know the hearts. I know that you do and your Holy Spirit does. And there's some maybe who are concerned about a loved one who doesn't know Christ. This is a wake-up call for that as well. That loved one that doesn't know Christ They are one heartbeat from really, really having a bad time. Lord, help them to come to a saving knowledge of Jesus. Help the lost to come. Lord, help those that are saved to wake up to the reality of people around us dying in their sin and going to a devil's hell that need Jesus Christ. And we got the solution. We got the answer. Jesus is the answer. Lord, if there's one here today that needs Christ, help them to come to that saving knowledge. And we just pray all of this in Jesus' name. Amen.