The Most Important Question

What is the most important question anyone can ask? Christianity says that it is the question of how all will die. This is not the question of what way will they die, but it is the question of the state of the soul when they die. Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, (1899-1981) explains in his sermon, "Two Ways To Die", how many simply wonder if they will die rich or poor, lonely or surrounded by friends, in war or peace. Yet, while these may be important questions, the most important is whether or not one is right with God. 

Jesus teaches that all who die in their sins and apart from Him will be condemned. While many may believe that they will continue to exist after they die, this is still wrong if it does not include the Bible’s teaching in the final judgment, resurrection of the dead, and necessity of believing the gospel. What, then, is the right way to die? Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones says that the only way to die in peace is to believe that Jesus is who He says He is, and that He has done what He has said He will. It is to believe that Jesus is the only savior of the world and that He has redeemed all those that believe in Him.

In a blink of an eye, we will exchange realities when we die. (2 Corinthians 5:8 – “To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord.”) We will either be with Jesus, our souls present with Him in Heaven, or we will be apart from Him, our souls permanently residing in Hell. That is what the Bible teaches and I believe it to be true. 

Dr. Jones, in his famous sermon on the subject, reminds us that the words to focus on are in John 8:21 and 24. Jesus says “Ye shall die in your sins” and repeats it to emphasize its importance.

The Jews rejected Jesus despite his offer of light, knowledge, reconciliation with God, and power. They discarded his offer of shelter from the power of death because they didn't believe this to be true. This is the problem of humanity. 

People don’t think about how they will die and the consequences of rejecting Jesus. They treat religion as a casual debate instead of something that determines their eternal destiny.

There are those who never consider death, think wrongly about death, or fail to think rightly about death in spiritual terms. They only care about the physical act of dying, not the state of their soul.

According to Jesus, there are only two ways to die: in your sins or in the Lord. Dying in your sins means dying as you are now, unprepared, not understanding what’s happening, realizing the things you lived for are worthless, feeling guilty, and glimpsing hell.

Dying in the Lord means dying at peace, not surprised, forgiven of sins, carried by angels, hiding in Christ, and entering into glory. The mode of death doesn’t matter, only the state of your soul.

We must consider how we are going to die and if we would want to die as we are now. We must come out of our sins and get into Christ. The beauty of God's grace is that we can all settle it now by believing in Jesus.