In Scott Brown's sermon 'Prepare to Die', he addresses the inevitability of death and its divine appointment, emphasizing that everyone will face death as decreed by God. The sermon explores eschatology through the lens of the Baptist Confession, explaining what happens to the body and soul after death. For the righteous, the soul is received into paradise, achieving perfection and awaiting bodily resurrection. Conversely, the soul of the wicked experiences torment in hell, overseen by Christ, with a future resurrection for judgment. The sermon highlights the body's transformation at resurrection, where the righteous will possess glorified bodies united with the soul, while the wicked's bodies are remade for eternal dishonor. Brown underscores the necessity of understanding death to live a life aligned with faith, encouraging believers to look forward to eternal life and God's promises. He concludes that understanding death prepares one to live, as it is a stepping stone to a superior existence with God.

I think it would be right to title the message tonight, Prepare to Die. That's exactly what the subject matter covers in our Baptist Confession. In chapter 31, we'll be covering this, and we'll learn what the scripture teaches us about what happens when we die. And I think, you know, God has providentially brought this to us to help us to consider the matter. You know, 100% of us will die.

This applies to 100% of us here in the room. There's a day that has been appointed by God, by God alone, in which we will die. Even in our text this morning in James 4, verse 15, we read these words that, let's see, if the Lord wills, we shall live. If the Lord wills, we shall live. He is the one who holds the strings that play the chords of our lives.

And, you know, it is appointed for man once to die, and then comes the judgment. And it's a blessing to know that God's Word prepares us for everything. You know, God has been so kind. He's shown us how to think about everything. How to think about the troubles and the evil of this world.

How to deal with the trials that take place in this world. How to understand the thoughts and the meditations of our hearts, how to discern what's happening with people around us. God gives us many different ways to understand this life. One way that you know that the Bible is true is that it really does describe life the way it really is. And the passages of scripture that we'll study tonight really bear witness to the authority and the perfection of Scripture and also the kindness of God, that he would tell us what happens to us when we die.

There isn't this gray area out there. The Bible is really clear about what happens when we die I was reading this last week a pastor in Aberdeen Scotland David Gibson Who said some of life's greatest gifts are found in the strangest places. He said, coffins lay things to the heart better than cribs. They are better preachers. And death is a preacher and it brings forth many messages that we'll examine here tonight.

Because when someone dies, that death tells a thousand stories. When there's a crib, when there's a baby in a crib, there are thousands of stories that will be told but when there's a when there is a coffin there are thousands of stories to be told and so in that sense I think he's correct to say that coffins lay things to the heart better than cribs. They are better preachers. So tonight, death really is the preacher to us tonight, and this chapter, chapter 31 in the confession, is one of those chapters about eschatology, about future things. Those of us who are in this room are considering a future moment in our lives.

And so in a sense this is a study in eschatology, the things that will happen in the future. And the confession here examines the things that happen between death and resurrection, the distinction between the body and the soul, and what happens to the righteous body and the wicked body, the righteous soul of the saint and the and the soul of the wicked. So these distinctions are carefully laid out in the confession. Let me just summarize the three paragraphs that are here. The first paragraph is a general statement about what happens to bodies and souls after death.

So then after that explanation, the second paragraph answers the question, what happens to the bodies, focus on the body of saints. And then the final paragraph is what happens to the bodies of unbelievers. So there's tremendous clarity in this. So let's begin with the first paragraph, this general statement about what happens to bodies and souls after death. The first thing that we learn is that bodies return to dust and decay.

And that's why we read these words, the bodies of men after death return to dust and see corruption. So what we learn here is that the bodies of both believers and unbelievers do the same thing. They return to dust. There's no distinction in comparing the body of the the believer and the unbeliever at death. The grave consumes their bodies.

This is talking about the physical body. Genesis chapter 3 verse 19 makes it very clear, for dust you are and to dust you will return that is what happens to your body you return to dust you know we have a graveyard on our property and there there are impressions in that graveyard where you can tell, you can tell that a body had been laid there because there's a depression several inches, because that body returned to dust. When that person was buried, The ground was level, but it's not level anymore because their body returned to dust. There's a brilliant illustration of it in every graveyard that is like ours. The second thing that we learn is that souls do not die or sleep, but the souls of mankind return to God.

And these words describe it very clearly. But their souls, which neither die nor sleep, having an immortal subsistence, immediately return to God who gave them." So There is this idea that you do not sleep, you actually go, your soul returns to God. This contradicts the whole idea of annihilationism. Annihilationism is the idea that you are cast into the lake of fire and annihilated and there's nothing left. John Stott teaches this, Anabaptists typically believe this as well, that there is an annihilation and then there's no ongoing condition of the soul.

That's not what the Bible teaches nor what our confession teaches. In Luke chapter 16 in the story of the rich man and Lazarus, We see very clearly that the soul actually does return to God. The soul does live on for sure, and it is not annihilated. Isaiah, in Isaiah chapter 66, verse 22 speaks of the ongoing condition of the soul when when the prophet makes it clear that for those who have those whose corpses have died and whose souls have returned to God their worm does not die and their fire is not quenched. They shall be an abhorrence to all flesh.

So the souls, the souls of all the dead do return to God. The third thing that we learn is that the souls of the righteous immediately are received into paradise and this is why we read the souls of the righteous being then made perfect in holiness are received into paradise where they are with Christ and behold the face of God in light and glory waiting for the full redemption of their bodies the souls of the righteous who are Quote made perfect in holiness are received into paradise What does it mean to be made perfect to be made perfect is to believe? In Jesus Christ to trust him as Savior and to be made perfect in God's eyes through the death and the resurrection of Jesus Christ. His taking our sin and shame upon him has created perfection for the believer and the believer is made holy before God and as a result they are received into paradise. Now I want to outline nine experiences that those who die in Jesus Christ will experience that really are explanations of this this part of this first paragraph.

First of all, you will return to God. Ecclesiastes chapter 12, verses 6 and 7 says, the dust will return to the earth as it was, and the Spirit will return to God who gave it. The Spirit returns to God when the saint dies. Isn't that amazing? The second thing is that you will have no corruption.

In Acts chapter 13 verse 36, we read that God raises up those who see no corruption. The days of the corruption of the Spirit are over. And then thirdly, you'll be in paradise. And of course, probably one of the most famous passages of scripture and most heartwarming for all of us is the scene at the cross where the thief at the cross is there hanging alongside of the Lord Jesus Christ and the Lord Jesus says to him, Assuredly I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise. In a moment he is transferred from the suffering on the cross and the condemnation and the shame and he enters into paradise that very same day.

He died that day and he entered paradise. The fourth is that you'll shine like stars to everlasting life, Daniel chapter 12, verse one through three makes this very clear. And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake some to everlasting life some to shame and everlasting contempt. Those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the firmament and those who turn many to righteousness like the stars forever and ever. To shine like the stars.

What could that possibly be like? We have this language that explains something that it's hard to picture, but the Lord describes it like shining like stars. This is what happens immediately upon the death of the righteous. They shine like stars. Fifth, you'll be clothed from heaven and present with the Lord second Corinthians 5 11 5 verse 1 reads like this for we know that if our earthly house this tent is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.

For in this we groan earnestly desiring to be clothed with our habitation, which is from heaven. And then the apostle goes on and describes his own desire for this and he says that It is better to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord. There in death, the moment the saint dies, he's relieved of the burdens of the body. All of the physical burdens, the emotional burdens, the various afflictions are relieved immediately upon death. And in sixth, you are with Christ.

Paul says it's a much better situation in Philippians chapter 1 verses 22 and 23. He says, for I am hard-pressed between the two, between staying here and going to heaven. Having a desire to depart and be with Christ, which is far better. Here we learn that it's actually far better to be with Christ than it is to be here. Which means we should never fear death, it's better.

We should never think that this life is better, it's not better. And when we find ourselves slipping away into death, We must know that we're not slipping away from a superior condition. We are slipping away from an inferior state and into a superior state, a better state, where then you see him face to face. The seventh thing that you'll experience is that your spirit will be made perfect. In Hebrews chapter 12 verses 22 and 23 the writer says but you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God the heavenly Jerusalem to an innumerable company of angels to the general assembly and Church of the firstborn Who are registered in heaven?

To God the judge of all to the spirits of just men made perfect. Heaven is like a city of an innumerable host of angels and people who are now in heaven, whose names are registered in heaven, and their spirits have been made perfect. Wouldn't you like to have a perfect spirit? Wouldn't that be nice? Even an hour of your life to have a perfect spirit, now you have a perfect spirit for all eternity.

The eighth condition is that you'll have rest from your labors. Revelation 14, 13 speaks of the reality of this, this picture of the beauty of this paradise, beholding the face of God in light and in glory. And John says, Then I heard a voice from heaven saying to me, Right, blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on. Happy, blessed are the dead there's no reason to fear death it is the most blessed state yes says the spirit that they may rest from their labors and their works follow them And this blessedness where you have rest from your labors. Now the Bible actually makes it clear that there is a kind of labor in heaven.

There is work that goes on in heaven, but it's a different kind of labor. It's not a burdensome labor. It's very different. It's not like the labors that we experience today where we fight back the thorns and the thistles and they keep growing back and we keep having to hack back the jungle of the thorns and the thistles that keep growing up and over everything that we are part of. Not like that at all.

The labors are over. Imagine that. Imagine that, men. Imagine that, moms. The labors are finally over, and your works will follow you.

What a blessing it is. Ninth, you will see God. Job 19, verses 26 and 27. Job says, And after my skin is destroyed, this I know, that in my flesh I shall see God, whom I shall see for myself and my eyes shall behold and not another how my heart yearns within me." Job in the time of his suffering, encountering remarkable pain on every single level. Pain in his family, pain in all of his relationships, pain in the loss of every material possession, pain in the loss of every physical function that was a blessing to his life.

Job lost it all. And yet, one thing he could not lose, did not lose, was this the yearning to see God Job had a confidence that he would see God when his skin was destroyed that was his hope tenth we will be ever present with the Lord. That's first Thessalonians 4, 17 and 18. It says that that when we are caught up with the Lord we shall always be with the Lord. And then 11th, again Job makes this very clear that he will see God.

So this is what happens to the souls of the righteous at death. Each one of these things takes place. Now, the souls of the wicked, however, are experiencing something completely different. And I'll read the words here that describe it. And the souls of the wicked are cast into hell where they remain in torment and utter darkness reserved in the judgment, I'm sorry, reserved to the judgment of the great day.

And here we, I think, are reminded that the Lord Jesus Christ really spoke more about hell than he did of heaven. We should never be embarrassed or retiring about speaking of hell. Jesus was not, and neither should we. And we have many false ideas about hell. One of them is that Satan is ruling in hell You know, he's the one with the pitchfork letting people in and out of hell This is not the picture of the Bible in the Bible It's very clear that Jesus Christ is ruling over the punishments of those for all eternity who are in hell.

Jesus, the Lamb of God, is the one presiding over hell, not the devil. The devil doesn't have free reign, ever, and he certainly does not in hell either and what happens in hell several things first you experience condemnation in john 5 28 the Lord Jesus says do not marvel at this for the hour is coming in which all Who are in the graves will hear his voice and come forth? Those who have done good to the resurrection of life and those who have done evil to the resurrection of condemnation Jesus here is speaking of that final resurrection But the very same thing is experienced at the moment at the moment of death for the unbeliever that that person faces condemnation. There is another resurrection however that that person will experience. Second, you'll be tormented in the flame.

Luke chapter 16 makes this very clear particularly illustrated in the in the story of Lazarus and the rich man and this rich man cried and he said father Abraham have mercy on me and send Lazarus that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue for I am tormented in this flame you'll be tormented in the flame and and thirdly you will go into everlasting punishment Matthew chapter 25 verses 41 to 46 make this very clear the Lord Jesus Christ says to those who are on his left hand the goats depart from me you cursed into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels for I was hungry and you gave me no food I was thirsty and you gave me no drink I was a stranger and you did not take me in naked and you did not clothe me sick and in prison and you did not visit me they then they also will answer him saying Lord when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or in prison and did not minister to you? And he will answer them, saying, Assuredly I say to you, inasmuch as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.

And these will go into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life. Fourthly, their end will be destruction. Philippians chapter 3 verses 18 and 19 make this very clear. He speaks of those whose end is destruction whose God is their belly whose glory is in their shame and they set their mind on earthly things and they will end in destruction and then fifthly you'll experience everlasting torment no rest day and night while the righteous experience rest, there's no rest at all for the wicked. In Revelation chapter 14 verses 10 and 11 make this very clear, And we read about those who are tormented with fire and brimstone.

And notice this, in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. The holy angels and the Lamb are somehow presiding over what's happening in hell. And the smoke of their torment ascends forever and ever, and they have no rest day or night who worship the beast and his image and whoever receives the mark of his name." And then we learn that There are, it's very clear here that there are only two places where the soul goes. There are only two places. We read these words, besides these two places for souls separated from their bodies, the scripture acknowledges none.

In other words, there is no purgatory, there's no intermediate state like that, there is no soul sleep. And, you know, there are those that say that what the Bible speaks of when it refers to hell is a metaphorical punishment and you know the question is it is it is hell a metaphor or is it not a metaphor and you know our confession makes it very clear that orthodoxy teaches that it's not a metaphor at all. I really like what Spurgeon said about it. He said, now do not begin telling me that it is a metaphorical fire. Who cares for that?

If a man were to threaten to give me a metaphorical blow on the head I should care very little about that he would be welcome to give me as many as he pleased you know there's no such thing as a metaphorical fire as there is a metaphorical blow on the head and the confession makes that very clear. So after this introductory picture in the second paragraph there is a focus on what happens to the bodies of the saints and we read these words, At the last day such of the saints as are found alive shall not sleep, but be changed. And all the dead shall be raised up with the self-same bodies." Notice that language, the self-same bodies. That's important. You need to recognize what kind of body is going to be raised.

Well, it is a body like your body and none other although with different qualities which shall be united again to their souls forever so the focus of this second paragraph is on bodies The bodies of the saints are remade. Now we know that our bodies are decaying, our bodies are changing for the worst, right? Now your body, the body that you the body that you have will be changed for the better and The body is Reconstructed God re He takes your body and he reconstitutes that body. One of the commentators on the confession said that it was like melting down iron and then remaking it into something new. You know, most of us are going to need a total meltdown, you know, by the time, by the time this happens, probably.

But it is the same body, but it is enhanced. It will have new qualities, different qualities, quote-unquote, as it's stated in this confession. And that body, your body, remade, redone, improved, new, but not completely different, will be united with your soul. So at the resurrection, your body will be raised and reunited with your soul. There's a time when the body and the soul are separated and then they are reunited.

That's what the scripture teaches. And The body and the soul will no longer be at war with one another. The flesh will not wage its war against the spirit any longer. It's that new. It's that good.

You know right now now your flesh wages war against the Spirit. No longer will that be true. Is that the major improvement? I don't know. That would be a major improvement.

But this is described in 1st Corinthians 15 where Corruption will put on incorruption. And Paul says it like this, Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does corruption inherit incorruption. Behold, I tell you the mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall be changed in the moment in a moment in the twinkling of an eye at the last trumpet for the trumpet will sound and the dead will be raised incorruptible and we shall be changed for this corruptible body must put on incorruption the new body and this mortal body must put on immortality So this change has to do with immortality as well. And then we read, So then, so when this corruptible has put on incorruption and this mortal has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written Death is swallowed up in victory All that death is swallowed up in victory in in this new body United with the soul and so your body will be raised in glory and in power the Apostle Paul continues in first Corinthians 15 and he says that the body is sown in corruption and it is raised in incorruption.

It is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory, it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power, it is sown a natural body, It is raised a spiritual body. These are clues as to what kind of reconfiguration the body goes through. And then we read, there is a natural body and there is a spiritual body, and So it is written, the first man Adam became a living being, the last Adam became a living spirit. And so here we encounter the way that God deals with the body of his church. He glorifies the bodies of those saints of those of his church.

You know perhaps this is why we read in Ephesians chapter 5 that husbands are supposed to treat the bodies of their wives very well to nourish their bodies and cherish their bodies. This is exactly what the Lord Jesus Christ does to the bodies of those who are in His Church. His bride's body is very well taken care of and it is reconfigured and shined up and beautified and it's actually it's raised up in glory and so you have this transition from the natural body to this spiritual body with far more capabilities and sensibilities about it than we have now. And then we come to the third paragraph, the final paragraph, what happens to the bodies of unbelievers a very different thing the bodies of the unjust shall by the power of Christ be raised to dishonor the bodies of the just by his spirit unto honor and be made comfortable to his own glorious body. So the bodies of the wicked are also reconstituted and they are remade but they are remade in a completely different way for a completely different function.

Their bodies are made to function for dishonor for all eternity. Their bodies are remade for torment, which is why you have the picture that you have in the story of Abraham and the rich man. And so you have this completely different body made for a completely different function. One is made for honor, the other is made for dishonor. And God has made it that way.

These are the ways that the Christian and the non-Christian experience death. And there are several final things I would just like to make about death. The first is this, death is a necessary good. That's the only way that one can find full enjoyment in God. John Flavel tries to explain it like this.

He said, It may keep your heart from shrinking back to consider that death is necessary to fit you for the full enjoyment of God. Whether you are willing to die or not, There certainly is no other way to complete the happiness of your soul. Death must do you the kind office to remove this veil of flesh before you can see and enjoy Him fully. While we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord. Flavel is making it very clear that the enjoyment that you were created for by Almighty God cannot be experienced in its fullest measure unless you die.

In that sense, death is a necessary good. Death is the only way to finally experience that enjoyment that you long for. You do now experience a measure of enjoyment in God, and it is a beautiful thing. It's not something that anyone would want to trade. There's joy in knowing God.

There's joy in His Word. There's comfort everywhere in His kingdom, but the joy that we experience is still yet a shadow of the joy that we'll experience in heaven. So the grave actually stands in the way of our joy. And so it's a necessary good. Secondly, The death of those who love the Lord is precious in the sight of the Lord.

And that's why David says in Psalm 116 verse 15, those very words, precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints. When a believer dies, there's no heartbreak in God. It's precious to him. And then thirdly, death is not an end. It's not an end for anyone, but for the believer, it's a stepping stone to an entirely upgraded and new version of existence.

And it's a new beginning. It's a stepping stone. Death is not an end for the Christian. And for the person who's repented of their sins and turned to Jesus Christ, the person who has recognized that the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life, For those who believe that, for those who have been saved, they are the ones who actually have already stepped out of death and into life. When you became a Christian, you really did step.

You took a step into another world. You took a step into eternity. You haven't experienced the full measure of it yet, but you are on that road and you will stay on that road, just be aware that you have already made the step into eternity. You haven't experienced the glory of it that God has, But the Christian has already stepped out of death into life. It's amazing.

And so, death is a stepping stone. It's a beginning. Fourth, death is not a random happening. Death always happens according to the perfect ordaining of God. It is appointed to man by God wants to die.

Everyone dies at the moment God has ordained for him to die. I know some of you have remarkable stories of holding loved ones in your arms when they finally passed. And It's one of the most remarkable experiences one can ever have. If you've experienced that, it was God who ordained the very second that person would pass into eternity, because it was appointed by God for a man or a woman to die. God has numbered our days.

God is the ruler of death and dying. You know, I was reading in the first Samuel the other day, and in Hannah's prayer she speaks of this. She prays, the Lord kills and makes alive. He brings down to the grave and brings up." She understood that. The doctrine of death and dying is no different from the Old and the New Testament, except with the particulars of the changes of the New Covenant, but you see the very same pictures in the Old and the New Testament.

I think we need to recognize that death is a path to peace. Now, the more you know about the next world, the less you will have to worry about this world. And I believe God has given us such clarity about what happens when we die in order to deliver us from our fears about death, and that we would have a clear understanding of the blessings that they're there, that He will hold you fast all the way through, and He will carry you from one world to another by His grace. And we have no real need to worry about our death because of all of these great promises that God has made for us. The Apostle John, at the end of his life in 1 John 3, verse 2, He said this, Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be.

But we know that when he is revealed, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is." That's the great promise to those who die in Jesus, to see him as he is, to be reconstituted, to have a body that has been completely remade for a completely different world. Yes, your body, but way, way, way better. Now if a person knows how to die, then it will teach them how to live. If they have an understanding of what is going to happen, then they'll know how to act in this world. And so it's very important that we understand how to die and what will happen when we die.

Because if you know how to die, then you'll know how to live life abundantly, looking forward to that world that God has prepared for us, creating in us a heart of fearlessness, a heart of joy, a heart of trust, knowing that he's covered everything from the beginning to the end, and that it is him and him alone in his kindness who has appointed the day of our birth and the day of our death, and He covers everything thereafter. What a blessing it is. So there's the doctrine of dying. It would be right for all of us to prepare to die. There's no better way to prepare to die than to understand what will happen to you when you die.

Because when you understand that, then you'll know how to live. Would you pray with me? Lord, these theologians, these men who worked on refining these statements, Lord, are such a blessing to us. They help us to understand the various distinctions, and they help us to see our lives now and our lives for all eternity. And O Lord, I pray that you would take these things and that you would cause them to help us to long for holiness in this world and for any who have not turned to you, O God, that you would even convince them tonight to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and to be saved.

Amen.