Sermons
Robbed In Our Latter Days
Series: Joy RobbersROBBED IN OUR LATTER DAYS
Sermon By Terry Siverd
Cortland Church of Christ / January 20, 2019
One of the saddest stories in the annals of early American history is found in the latter days of President Thomas Jefferson.
In his captivating biography of Jefferson (American Sphinx), which I finished reading during our
recent stay in the Georgia mountains, Joseph Ellis chronicles President Jefferson's final days.
Presidents John Adams (#2) and Thomas Jefferson (#3) both played key roles in the founding of our nation.
With a script that seems almost apocryphal, but true nonetheless, both presidents died on the same day - -
July 4, 1826 - - the 50th anniversary of The Declaration Of Independence. Adams was 91 and Jefferson was 83.
As an added twist to this spectacular ending, Adams and Jefferson had renewed their friendship.
A silence and a form of enmity had come between Adams and Jefferson beginning in the 1790s.
But finally, in January of 1812, their friendship was renewed and the ice was broken.
Dr. Benjamin Rush is credited for serving as the key “go-between” in bringing these two men back together again.
Adams wrote to Jefferson, saying, “You and I ought not to die before we have explained ourselves to each other.”
Over the last dozen or so years of their lives Adams and Jefferson corresponded as the dearest of friends - -
with over 300 letters written between them during their last decade have survived.
Back to Jefferson's final days.
In the last few months of his life Jefferson walked the grounds of Monticello being very sad and grim.
Much of his sorrow was related to his personal indebtedness - - He was about $100,000 in the red - -
the modern equivalent of a debt of several million dollars.
Six months after Jefferson died, on a cold day in January, his surviving daughter and grandchildren
saw Monticello dismembered and destroyed. “The auction lasted five days, and when it was over, the
proceeds covered only a portion of Jefferson's monumental debt, which passed on to his descendants.”
I'm telling you this story this morning, not as a lesson on how to manage your assets.
I want to use this sad episode in American history as a reminder of the importance of “finishing well”.
The apostle Paul employs this metaphor of “running a race” in two places - - 1Cor.9:24ff and 2Tim.4:6ff.
In this second passage, Paul declares - -
The time of my departure has come. I have fought the good fight,
I have finished the course, I have kept the faith;
In the future there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness,
which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day,
and not only to me, but also to all who have loved His appearing.
Eugene Peterson has written a book that is titled,
A Long Obedience In The Same Direction: Discipleship In An Instant Society.
Though it may be painful to consider it, many of us are in our latter days.
Our time on planet earth is drawing to an end.
This truth is not just for octogenarians but for all of us. Sometimes even the good die young.
I don't want to bum you out on this already bleak and frigid winter's day,
but the truth is this might be one of the most important sermons you'll ever hear.
I've been thinking of the importance of preparing to meet God well in advance.
This charge, “Prepare To Meet Thy God”, is a focal text in the prophecy of Amos. cf. Amos 4:12
One of the saddest events in the lives of us humans comes when we are ROBBED IN OUR LATTER DAYS.
Some live a long and full and carefree life, but when they near the end their joy unravels.
Their homestretch is littered with sorrow and depression and days emptied of joy.
For Christians, this ought not be the case, but sadly, sometimes it is.
Like not a few major league baseball pitchers, many struggle with “finishing well”.
They start out like gangbusters, but then they run out of gas and peter off in the later innings.
<<<<<>>>>>
Open Your Bibles To Isaiah Chapter Thirty-Eight.
Vss.1-6 reads as follows: In those days Hezekiah became mortally ill. And Isaiah the prophet
the son of Amoz came to him and said to him, 'Thus says the Lord, SET YOUR HOUSE IN ORDER,
for you shall die and not live.' Then Hezekiah turned his face to the wall, and prayed to the
Lord, and said, 'Remember now, O Lord, I beseech Thee, how I have walked before
Thee in truth and with a whole heart, and have done what is good in Thy sight.'
And Hezekiah wept bitterly. Then the word of the Lord came to Isaiah, saying,
'Go and say to Hezekiah, Thus says the Lord, the God of your father David, I have
heard your prayer, I have seen your tears; behold, I will add fifteen years to your life.
And I will deliver you and this city from the hand of the king of Assyria; and I will defend this city.
Did you catch that exhortation from God - - Set your house in order?
What does this entail?
I'm not talking specifically here about monetary concerns, although it's good to engage in financial planning.
Neither is it my aim to urge you to pre-plan your funeral arrangements, which is also a good thing to do.
Setting our house in order is more than that.
It includes asking some very penetrating questions. Questions like...
Are we certain of our salvation?
Are there loved ones (friends & family) that we have failed to tell of God's love and grace?
Are there hurt feelings or grudges that need to be made right?
Is there someone we need to seek forgiveness from or grant forgiveness to?
Are there un-confessed sins that call for our repentance?
Maybe we need to think about a SPIRITUAL BUCKET LIST - - things we long to do before we die.
How sad the thought of waiting too late to set our house in order.
We all know that one day we're going to die, but we always seem to think it will come later...
Wouldn't it be wiser to work from the premise that later may come sooner than we think?
Ps.90:10 states:
As for the days of our life, they contain seventy years,
or if due to strength, eighty years...for soon it is gone and we fly away.
It would be best to view this text - - not so much as a guarantee (of 70 years), but as a warning (life is fleeting).
King Hezekiah began his reign at the age of 25. He reigned for 29 years. He died at the age of 54.
In his case, when Hezekiah was 39, he almost died, but God added 15 years to his life.
Even with this extension given by God, King Hezekiah fell well short of 70 years.
The Scriptures reveal a rather sorrowful postscript to the life of King Hezekiah.
One preliminary note is a warning to be careful what you ask for (in prayer), you might just get it.
There are two sections of Old Testament Scripture that tell us about the life of King Hezekiah.
Isaiah 38:1ff and 2Kings 20:1ff
2Kgs.20:8 implies that Hezekiah asked for “a sign” from God as to the truthfulness of HIS promise.
Was not the word of God delivered by the prophet Isaiah enough in itself?
Another thing we notice when we read both accounts (Isaiah 38 and 2Kings 20) - - we never read
of a direct word of thanks from King Hezekiah to God (except in a roundabout way - - cf. Isa.38:19).
It may be hoping against hope to categorize this as an oversight or just a vacancy in the text.
I don't want to be too harsh on King Hezekiah, but it seems to me that he wasted his 15 extra years.
He showed off to the king of Babylon and was reprimanded by God for doing so (2Kgs.20:16ff & Isa.39:6ff).
I'm not implying that he was completely selfish.
We read of how he made a pool and conduit to bring water to the city (2Kgs.20:20).
One last point. King Hezekiah was followed by his son Manasseh, who reigned for 55 years in Jerusalem.
This son was the product of Hezekiah's extension on life - - born to him in the early days of these extra 15 years.
What is truly pathetic here is to note that King Manasseh was one of Israel's worst kings.
2Kgs.21:2 states, he did evil in the sight of the Lord...
2Chron.33:9 adds, Thus Manasseh misled Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to
do more evil than the nations whom the Lord destroyed before the sons of Israel.
Manasseh ended up un-doing the good things that his father had done.
One would think, that in having been blessed with 15 extra years that King Hezekiah would
have spent every waking hour instructing his young son in the ways of God. But apparently not.
My exhortation today is really quite plain and simple and for all of us - - every age.
Let's begin today to set our house in order and let's give diligence to do it every day.
Any one of us could be here today and gone tomorrow.
Let's not grow old grumbling and griping.
Rather, let us grow sweeter as the years go by.
Let us run the race of faith with both endurance and example.
Let us finish strong, so that our lives from beginning to end might be filled with abundant joy.
