James Merritt - Last Breath
There are two dates that are very important to me, personally. They mean a lot to me. And individually, one is December the 22nd, 1952. The reason that date is so important, that's the date of my birth. And I'm at the age and stage of my life where I frankly, don't really care to have any more birthdays. And then I think about the alternative, and that kind of cheers me up a little bit. But that leads me to another date that's very, very important to me, extremely important. It's February the 15th, 2034. I visited a website recently, and it asked me to type in my date of birth, and my health, and answer a few questions about how I was. So out popped my estimated date of expiration.
So according to this computer, on February the 15th, 2034, I'm gonna buy the farm. Now I did the math, and I figured out I've got about 345 million seconds left on this Earth. That kind of puts it a little bit, a different perspective. And so, assuming that clock is right, I was kind of down about it at first. And then I thought well, wait a minute. There are two pieces of good news. First of all, if that's true, that means I'll be dying in the wintertime, which is, that's what I wanna die. The weather's mucky anyway. I thought well, that that's a good thing. And then I figured it out, and I counted. And I said, well, I will probably have seen Georgia win its 13th consecutive national championship.
So I said, that won't be too bad. And the truth of the matter is, I don't know. And you don't know. And that computer doesn't know when I'm going to die. It doesn't know how I'm going to die. It doesn't know where I'm going to die, or when I'm going to die. What we do know, is we're gonna die. Everybody knows that. You don't think about it much when you're a teenager, or college student, in you're in your '30s, '40s, '50s, maybe even your '60s, but you know that you're going to die. The truth of the matter is, God has a death clock for every one of us. And that clock is ticking. We don't know when, but the ticking will stop. And I wanna say right up front, I understand we don't like to talk about death. People are uncomfortable with it. You start shifting in your seats. You stare at the floor.
We change the subject. We really don't wanna face reality. I mean, people go to two extremes when it comes to death. This is what I found in my experience. When you talk about death with other people, they, some people are just obsessed with it. Matter of fact, there's some people that as they get older, they really can't handle getting older. Because they do begin to see the end of the runway. They do know that the end is coming up. And they just almost obsess with it, and think about it a lot. Matter of fact, this will blow your mind. Did you know that you can buy what's called a ticker watch? I'm not making, this is a picture of it. This is a ticker watch, okay? This watch will not only ask you some questions, and predict when you're going to die, it will even begin the countdown.
So you, every time you wanna know how much time you've got left, just look at your clock, and it will tell you when you're going to bite the bullet. And you just check your time. And so there's some people, they're just obsessed with it. And then there are people that go to the other extreme. And they just, they don't wanna talk about it. They laugh it off. If you bring it up, they'll make a joke about it. And even, they'll try to convince themselves some way, somehow I'm gonna be the exception. Somehow, some way I'm really not going to die. I read a story about a church that was doing an evangelistic meeting and they brought in this evangelist.
And so he was really trying to emphasize how brief life is, and how quick it goes by. And he was trying to get people to start thinking seriously about their death. And so he walked to the front of the platform, and he said, "Let me tell you something. Every member of this church is going to die". And I mean, everybody got so quiet and so somber. And people began to frown, and grimace, and squirm in their seat. But there was one man all the way in the back row, he started smiling. And he couldn't figure it out. He said, "Why is this guy smiling"? So, this time he said the same thing. But sometimes preachers think if you get louder, people hear it. And so he, he said real loud. He said, "I'm telling you, every member of this church is going to die".
And this man in the back, back there, he crossed his arms. And he just started kind of chuckling. Well, it really annoyed the preacher. And so this time, I mean, he yelled is to the top of his lungs, "Every member of this church is going to die". And this man's just, he's laughing out loud. I mean, he's laughing so hard, he's got tears coming down his cheeks. Everybody else is saying amen. And here's this guy laughing. So after the service, evangelist, he tracks this man down. And he said, "Hey, I gotta have a word with you". He said, "Sure". He said, "I have never seen a man with as hard a heart as you have in my entire ministry". He said, "Why were you laughing when I said, every member of this church is going to die"? He said, "Because I'm not a member of this church".
Now. Whether you're a member of a church, or you're a member of no church, you're going to die. And we're in a series we're beginning today, I've never done a series like it ever. I've thought about doing it, really, for probably 20, 25 years. Just never really got the urge to do it. Maybe it's because of where I'm in my life. But we're gonna call it "From Here to Eternity". And so what I thought would be really an interesting thing for us to do, both in terms of information and preparation, is let's just go to the moment when we draw our last breath. Let's go to the moment when we die. From that moment until the real end of time, what happens? What does the word of God say happens at death? What does the word of God say happens after death? What does the word of God say happens between death and the time we believe that Jesus is going to come back?
If you're like me, I've got a mom that's somewhere. I believe I know where. I've got a dad I believe is somewhere. We've got grandparents. Some of us, unfortunately, have children, sons and daughters, brothers and sisters. Maybe you buried a loved one this week. So what happens? What does God's word says? Because unless Jesus returns first, one day one of your breaths will be your last one. Your chest will rise and fall one last time. Your heart will beat one final time, and then the end will come. And you need to be ready for that moment. Because today may be the day. Yesterday, yesterday I got a call from my best friend in the world, Danny Akin, President of Southeastern Seminary. And I said, "Hey, Danny. What's up"?
I was out in Fort Worth and we were talking. I said, "What's up"? He said, "Well, did you hear about"? And he named a pastor up in Wake Forest. And I said no. This man's 44 years old, had been having some trouble in his church, and so he decided to get away, and just go visit with his family. And he was under a lot of stress. And he got home and took a shower to get ready to go to bed. And he came outta the shower, and he said to his wife, "My head hurts just terribly". And those were his last words. He collapsed. 911 came. On the way to the hospital, he died. 44 years old, massive heart attack. No forewarning, nothing wrong. Just gone. Well that's gonna be us one day. We just don't know when that time is going to be. Today may be the day.
So I just wanna summarize the message today in one simple sentence. When death comes knocking at the door, you will open the door. When death comes knocking, you will open the door. Well, I want you to take God's word today, and I want you to turn to a book called Hebrews. It's in the New Testament. If you wanna go all the way to the end of the maps, and start working back, it's about six books back. I want you to turn to the ninth chapter of the book of Hebrews. And there's a couple of verses there where the author of Hebrews gives us an encyclopedia of truth about our last breath. So I want you to imagine. Maybe you're ready for it, maybe you're not. Maybe you're expecting it, maybe you're not. But that moment has come, and you are done.
What does God's word say? Three things. Number one, we have a definite date with death. We have a definite date with death. God knows the day. God knows the hour. God knows the second. God knows the moment. On a calendar you can't see, there's a date that you don't know. And you have an appointment with death. Here's what God's word says in Hebrews 9:27. "And just as it is appointed for people to die once". Now that word appointed is a very interesting word in the Greek language. It's a word that was used to make a reservation at an inn, or a place to stay. It literally means to be laid up, or to be laid aside.
So you can translate it reserved. When you make a reservation at a hotel, you get a confirmation number. And you let them know you when you check in, hey, this is my confirmation number. And they know, and you know you've got a certain room laid aside for you. Nobody else can use it. It is yours. Well, what the author of Hebrews is saying is, you've got a confirmation number. There's a day that God knows, 'cause the days of. The Bible says the days of our lives are numbered. There's a day when your number is going to be up. You got a reservation with death. You didn't make it. God made it. You have a date, a day, a minute, a second, a moment. It's been laid aside. It's just for you. Nobody, custom built for you. And you're going to draw your last breath.
Now you can't cancel the reservation. You can't move it back. You can't say, I don't want to keep the appointment. You will keep it. As a matter of fact, while I'm standing up here right now, two people every second, 106 people every minute, 6400 people every hour, 153,000 people every day, 56 million people a year keep that appointment. It's there. There were two older men, and they were kind of getting up in years, and they were talking about death. One of the guys said, wouldn't it be neat to know the time and the place, the exact moment you're going to die? The other guy said, well, what good would that do? The other guy said, I wouldn't show up. Well, you will show up. You will be there. When death knocks at the door, you will open it.
And here's the thing. This is kind of the bad side of being a human being. Have you ever thought about the fact that human beings are the only living organisms in the universe that know they're going to die? Animals don't know they're going to die. Plants don't know they're going to die. Insects don't know they're going to die. Even the very cells in your body, they don't know you're going to die. Only human beings know they're going to die. And yet, that's probably what bothers us so much. But at the same time what, it may be a good thing that you know you're going to die. Let me tell you why. This fascinated me. I was reading the other day about an insect called the mayfly. This is so fascinating. There's an insect called the mayfly. There's a female species of this mayfly. It's called Dolania americana. That's the name of the mayfly, Dolania americana.
I couldn't believe this. You ready for this? Do you know how long that female lives? She lives less than five minutes. Not making this up. Mayfly is born. She lives less than five minutes. But wait a minute, you talked about living a full life. In that five minutes, you know what she does? She finds a mate. She consummates the relationship. And she lays eggs before she dies. Now I'm talking, you talking about moving fast. Man, I call that warp speed. But you know what, it's probably a good thing that that mayfly doesn't know, I got five minutes. I'm going to die. Or, take a fly known as the gall midge fly. Listen to this. The gall midge fly, it is born fully grown in the morning, and dies that afternoon. Their lifespan is so short, they don't even get to eat a first, much less a last supper. It's just they're here today, and they're gone today. Ignorance is bliss. But not for us. Because we know we're going to die.
And there's another thing about death that just bothers us. You see, the one troubling thing is the certainty of death. We know we are. The other problem is the uncertainty of it. Yeah, I know I'm going to die. I just don't know when. And I don't know where. And I don't know how. I don't know. Will I be surrounded by my family? Will I be alone? Will somebody find me in the shower? Will somebody be standing around my bed? We don't know. I caught a glimpse yesterday. Somebody sent me a clip of the G-Day game over at Georgia. And if you saw it, or if you hadn't heard about it, on the very first play of the game, they deliberately took a delay of game. The players kneeled down, and got a penalty.
And they were doing that in honor of a football player, 21 years old, Devin Willis. He goes over to Athens, and celebrates on a Saturday morning the winning of the national championship. And that night he is thrown out of a car, the window of car, and he is killed. And this 21 year old future NFL football player, who had a great future ahead of him. He had no clue. He had no clue. I've seen the video. He had no clue when he drove down Athens in that street that night that he wouldn't live to see the next day. He had no clue. There's an old legend, some of you probably have heard it. Cowboys die with their boots on. How many of you have heard that? Cowboys die with their boots on.
That is the dumbest thing I've ever heard in my life. Lemme tell you why. The only way for a cowboy to die with his boots on, is never take his boots off. I mean, because you don't know when you're gonna die. So you may die when you don't have your boots on, right? So the truth of the matter is, it doesn't really matter whether you die with your boots on or your boots off. You can kick the bucket with a barefoot or a booted one. You're gonna kick the bucket. So it's really irrelevant. You've got a definite date with death. You will not miss it. You will not delay it. You will not postpone it. You will not cancel it. There's an old proverb that says, "If the rich could hire other people to die for them, the poor would make a wonderful living".
And you know, that is so true. And I guarantee you there are a lot of rich people that would give all they've got to get somebody else to die for them. But you can't do it. You have a definite date with death. You will keep the appointment. You've got a reservation, it's just for you. And you will make sure, and God will make sure, you keep that reservation. Now I've not told you anything you don't know, maybe something you don't like to think about. Maybe you wish you weren't hearing it again. But the fact of the matter is, it's true. I've got, you've got, we've got a definite date with death.
Here's the second thing God's word says. We have a determined destiny after death. We have a definite date with death. But we have a determined destiny after death. I can't even tell you the number of times I've been asked this question, particularly after a funeral. I get asked this a lot. And I get this asked a lot, believe it or not, not by believers, but by unbelievers. Here's the question I get so often. So what happens after I die? We all know we're going to die. But I mean really now. What happens after I die? Well, it's a very deep question. It's a very good question. We've been asking that question since the first man ever came to the Earth. Philosophers have been debating this. What does happen after we die? And it calls for a very long answer that we're gonna continue to answer in this series, but...
I can tell you one thing I know that is going to happen to every single individual human being after we die. Here's what we read. Just as people are destined to die once, and after that to face, say that word out loud. Judgment. That I do know. After that, judgment. There's an old saying that two things are certain, death and taxes. I don't know about the tax part, but I'll tell you two things that are certain, death and judgment. Those two things are joined at the hip. Those two things are absolutely unbelievably, incontrovertibly certain in your life. That raises a question. Why does one follow the other? Why is it that judgment always follows death?
And by the way, it follows death for everybody. We'll talk about that later in the message too, or later in the series. But why is it that judgment always follows death? Well, there are three words that you might wanna write down. This is kind of Death 101. But there are three words you might wanna write down. They're always linked together in the Bible. And they're always linked together in your life. And if you remember these three, you'll keep a lot of things clear. There is sin. There is death. And there is judgment. They're always connected, from Genesis chapter three, all the way to the end of the Bible. Sin, death, and judgment.
Now let's just unpack that for a minute. Why is it those three are absolutely linked together? They're joined at the hip. You cannot separate them. No doctor can separate them. You can't get away from them. We've all got sin. We all face death. And we're all going to realize judgment. Why is that? Well first of all, the reason for death is sin. A lot of, the world doesn't understand this. The reason for death is sin. Romans 5:12 says this, "Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man". Talking about Adam. "Just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all people, because all sinned".
Now, man was forewarned. Adam and Eve, they weren't taken by surprise. Because one of the very first things God said to the two of them when he created them was, "You see that tree over there, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil? Don't eat of that tree. Don't touch that tree. Because in the day you eat of it, you will die". That is a word God never intended for the human race to experience. He's just giving them warning.
Now, if you'll leave that alone, you'll live forever. But if you eat that fruit, you will die. He said right up front, what causes people to die is sin. I was reading the other day about the number one cause of death in America. Probably won't surprise you. But they say the number one cause of death in America is heart disease. And that we're taking, talking about all the other things that are the number one causes of death, but they said the number one cause of death is heart disease. And I wrote down in the margin of that article, really not true. Because the number one cause of death, not only in America but in the world, is sin. The only date that Adam and Eve had with death was the one they made when they chose to sin. They learned the first time, and they learned the hard way, what Paul said in Romans 6:23. "The wages of sin is death".
Now the reason for sin is death. But the result of death is judgment. 'Cause everybody has to face judgment. Now this may surprise some of you to hear this. If you're an unbeliever, you're gonna face judgment. If you're a believer, you're gonna face judgment. That's two different types of judgment. But if you're a believer, you're gonna face judgment. If you're an unbeliever, you're going to face judgment. If you're not a follower of Jesus, you're gonna face the judgment of dying without Jesus. If you are a follower of Jesus, you're gonna be judged for how you lived for Jesus. But everybody faces judgment.
Now that bothers a lot of people, and I don't really understand why. Because if you understand the concept of justice, then you understand the concept of judgment. And when you understand God is a God of justice, and God is a God of judgment, that shouldn't make you feel bad. It ought to make you feel glad. That ought to make you extremely happy. It ought to make you very thankful. You say, why is that? Well, New Testament scholar, N.T. Wright, put it this way. "In a world of systematic injustice, bullying, violence, arrogance, and oppression, the thought that there might come a day when the wicked are firmly put in their place, and the poor and the weak are given their due, is the best news there can be. Faced with the world in rebellion, a world full of exploitation and wickedness, a good God must be a God of judgment".
I'll tell you why I'm so thankful for God's justice. And I'll tell you why I'm so thankful for God's judgment. Because I go to bed every night knowing nobody gets away with anything. There are no unsolved murders in Heaven. There are no unrequited crimes in Heaven. See, sometimes to be honest, we think people do get away with it. And it appears that way. I mean these are staggering statistics. Here in America, I want you to listen to this. Here in America, if you burglarize somebody, your chances of being arrested. Guess what it is? 7%. If you burglarize somebody, your chances of being arrested, 7%. If you get arrested, only 87% of those who are arrested will be prosecuted. If you are one of those 87% that's prosecuted, only 79% will be convicted. If you are of those 79% that's convicted, only 25% will actually go to jail.
So when you add all those probabilities up, it means if you decide, just on a one time deal, you're gonna become a burglar, you've got about a 1.2 chance of going to jail. So, no wonder we think people do get away with it. And we see it happens. People buy off a high powered lawyer. And everybody knows they're guilty, but this lawyer gets them off. Or it just takes one jury member that maybe has a sentimental bone that shouldn't be there. And all it takes is one jury member, and you get away with it. Well, the good news is the percent of people who will stand before God and will be judged is 100%, 100%. Nobody escapes judgment.
So if you refuse to accept Jesus into your life, you will stand before God. You'll give an account for your refusal to receive Jesus. However, if you receive Jesus into your life, you will be judged for what you did for Christ after you received him. See, here's the two differences. One judgment determines punishment. The other judgment determines reward. I know I'm going to stand before God one day. And I know I'm going to be judged. I have no fear of that judgment. Say why not? Because when I gave my life to Jesus, I settled my case outta court. Because guess what? When you give your life to Jesus, it's a rigged trial, because the judge is also your defense attorney. So I don't fear the judgment of God. It'll be about rewards. It'll be what I've done. Hopefully, good things that I've done in my life. But the point I want you to understand is, one judgment determines punishment. You didn't receive Christ.
One judgment determines reward. The point to keep in mind is, not only do we have a definite date with death, we've got a determined destiny after death. We have an appointment with death. We also have an appointment with God. One of these days you're going to stand before God. I'm going to stand before God. And nobody will stand with you. It'll be just you. Just you and God, just me and God, all of us. We're gonna stand before God, and we're gonna give an account for our life. And that leads to one last thing we need to hear about death. And it's something we need to know, and get right before our last breath. First of all, we got a determined date with death. Gonna keep it. We have a destiny after death. We know we're gonna face judgment.
Here's the last thing. We have a deliberate decision before death, a deliberate decision before death. So, what's the facts? We don't have a choice as to whether or not we're going to die. Now, you can work out. You can do cardio. You can do weights. You can eat cardboard. You can do whatever you wanna do. Doesn't matter, you are going to die. We don't have a choice. We don't have a choice whether or not we're gonna stand before God. Yes, one day you're going to die. And the God that made you, and the God that put you, and the God that took you away, you're going to stand before God. What we do have a choice in, what we do have a decision to make is, how are we going to stand before God?
All right, that's where Jesus comes in. Now watch this, verse 28. "So Christ was sacrificed once, to take away the sins of many. And he will appear a second time not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him". Now that little word "so" in the first part of that verse connects verse 28 with verse 27. And there's reason for that. In verse 27, here's what we see. We've got three problems, three, only three. Sin, death, and judgment. When you look at this entire world, and you really really get real, and you really boil it down. The real problem, the great problems we have in this world, it's not inflation, it's not high interest rate, it's not the threat of nuclear proliferation and war.
The three world problems we've got in this world, and they all are, all those other things are symptoms. The real problem we've got in this world is sin, and death, and judgment. So John R.W. Scott put it this way. "Our eternal destiny is settled in life. It is sealed at death. And it is stated on the day of judgment". He said it right. That's exactly the way it is. You're gonna decide how you stand before God, in this life. After this life, you will stand before God. And how you lived your life, and what you did with your life will determine what happens in the judgment after your death. But here's what I want you to see. This is why I love Jesus so much.
In verse 28, we see Jesus is the solution to every one of those problems. Number one, he died to save us from our sins. Number two, he was raised to deliver us from death. Number three, he will appear a second time to bring us salvation and spare us from the judgment of God. Because remember I told you there's two types of judgment. One is for punishment. One is for rewards. So everybody's going to face Jesus. But not every one of us will have to fear the judgment. 'Cause this is the way it works. If you reject Jesus, you will accept judgment. But if you accept Jesus, you will escape judgment. What I mean by judgment, I'm talking about the judgment of refusing to be forgiven for your sins.
So you've heard this before, but lemme just remind you. This is the way way it works. So Jesus comes to die on the cross for our sin problem. Well guess what? When he takes care of the sin problem, he takes care of the death problem. Because what causes death? We've already seen it, sin. Well, if he takes care of my death problem, and I don't have to worry about being judged for my sin, then he takes care of my death problem. Because I don't have to fear death anymore, 'cause I know I'm gonna be racing the dead. And when he takes care of my death problem, guess what? He takes care of my judgment problem. When he comes again, if you've accepted his forgiveness, there will not be any judgment for punishment whatsoever. But if you have not, you'll be condemned in your own trial.
And you know who's gonna condemn you? You are. Your words are gonna condemn you. Your deeds are gonna condemn you. Your thoughts are gonna condemn you. Your life is going to condemn you. Your unbelief's gonna condemn you. The evidence will be there. You don't need a grand jury to indict you. You'll indict yourself. You don't need a prosecutor, an attorney to present the case. You'll present your own. And it'll be evident to you, what I did, what I didn't do, what I did not do with Jesus. You'll be condemned in your own trial by your own unbelief. Because one of these days you will take your last breath. But until you do it, it is never too late to escape the penalty of sin. It is never too late to escape the problem of judgment. It is never too late to accept, to escape the fear of death.
But here's what it all comes down to. So yesterday, they. The way this worked out, we had a wedding at Fort Worth. Had a flight, last flight out of Atlanta, I think. Thank God I caught it. Had a flight out of Atlanta. And we had this flight down to the minute where we're, I'm about 50 miles from the airport. And so the wedding was a certain time, and we had, they had hired a driver, professional driver to take us to the airport. And so, I mean we had to, I had to get out at just the right time. And I did, I got out at the right time. This driver's name was Brad, real nice guy. In fact, he owns the company. He's a really very successful guy. So we get to talking, and I'm always trying to steer the conversation to spiritual things.
And so we get to talking, and he knew. Course, he knew I was a pastor 'cause I was doing a wedding. And I said, Hey Brad, I said, while we're in the neighborhood, I said, do you have a spiritual background? And he said well no, not really. He said I'm Jewish. I said, oh really? He said, yeah. And I said, well, now, so tell me. I said I'm assuming you're a reformed Jew. There's conservative, reformed, orthodox. I said, I'm assuming you're a reformed Jew. He said, yeah, that's pretty much what I am. I said, okay. I said, so tell me. I said, now, were you raised Jewish? He said yes. And he said, and my wife was not raised Jewish. I said no? He said no, she was raised Southern Baptist, but she converted to Judaism. It broke my heart. And I just wanna, while them in the neighborhood, I just don't understand people that turn their back on Jesus. I just don't, I don't, I don't get it. I really don't understand it. But anyhow, that's another conversation.
So he said yes, and we, we're all Jewish. I was raised Jewish. My mom and dad were Jewish, and so forth. And I said, well. Look, I don't wanna offend you. But I said, do you mind if we talk about spiritual things? He said oh, I don't mind, be glad to. And I said, well, I got a question for you. I said I've been to Israel about 30, 35 times. I love Israel, Jewish people. And I thank God for Israel, and I'm kind of where I am. I was kind of grafted into your tree, according to God's word, and so I love you people. I want you to know that. But I said, I'm just curious. What do you believe about Jesus? He said you know what's interesting? He said I kind of went through a crisis in my faith, and I wasn't really sure if Judaism was the way to go.
So he said, I started doing an investigation of different religions. And he said, I just decided I would kind of hone in on Jesus. And he said, so I started studying the life of Jesus. I said okay. He said, I was doing okay with Jesus till I got to one thing. And I said what was that? He said, the resurrection. I said, I am so glad you said that. He said, why? I said, well that's the ball game, isn't it? I said, that's the ball game. I said, now I told our church last week, I said I will grant you something. I said, there's been about 30 billion people that have lived on this planet. And only one guy claimed to have beat death, only one. Nobody else has ever claimed to come back from the grave, and really proved it, he's the only guy.
So I counted 30 billion to one odds. He said yes. I said that's pretty high. He said oh yeah. I go to Vegas. He said that's real high. I said I don't go to Vegas, but it's still high. I said, but. What if he did it? The tomb was empty. What if he did it? He's driving, he looks in the rear view mirror. And I'm, we're locked eyes. What if he did it? Dead silence. And the Lord, the spirit of God just spoke to my heart, and said just, just leave it there. You got his attention. Just leave it there. And I said, I just want you to know. I said one thing we will agree on. I said one thing we will, we absolutely agree on. Because he said I believe Jesus was a rabbi. I believe he was a teacher. I've heard all that stuff. I said one thing we will agree on. I said either he did or he didn't. We agree on that? Yep.
I said okay. Understand, you're betting your life he didn't. I'm betting my life he did. And we both believe in the same God. We believe in the God and Father of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. I understand that. But it all comes down to the resurrection. And it really does. It all comes down to that. And it's because, it's not just because Jesus died. I want you, that's why I'm telling you this. Yeah, he was more of a virgin. Yes, he lived a perfect life. Yes, he died on the cross for our sins. But the reason why we don't have to fear sin, or death, or judgment is because of the resurrection. The resurrected Lord says, I took care of all that. I took care of your sin problem. I took care of your death problem. I took care of your judgment problem.
So I read an article recently about people who are in hospice. They know they're dying. They know they're coming close to taking their last breath. So some hospice workers got together and they, they began to just on purpose describe conversations with these people. And they found an amazing thing. They found the number one thing that people wanna talk about when they're in hospice, is their regrets. All the things in life they wish they could do over. Well from those conversations, they determined the five biggest regrets people have before they take their last breath. You'll find this interesting. Here are the five biggest reasons they gave, why they have regrets.
Number one, they did not live a life true to themselves, but did what other people expected of them. Number two, they worked too hard. I've said this many times, nobody ever on their death bed said, I wish I'd spent more time at the office. All right, they worked too hard. Number three, they wished they'd had the courage to really express their feelings. Number four, they lost the desire to have stayed in touch with old friends. Number five, they didn't let themselves be happier. Now the truth of the matter is, we're all in the same boat. We're all together. And here's what I mean. If I died today, I've got regrets in my life. I wish I had my life, in some areas, to do over. I'd give anything if I could, as a dad, as a husband, as a believer.
There's some things I would undo that I've done. There's some things I would've done, I didn't do. And if you're sitting there saying, oh I don't, I don't have any regrets, you're not telling the truth. 'Cause the only person that died without any regrets is Jesus, and you're not Jesus. So we all have regrets. But I would submit to you today that all those regrets these people have pale in comparison to the biggest regret you will have when you draw your last breath. Here's the biggest regret you'll have, is if you draw your last breath without Jesus. That will be your biggest regret. That will be Brad's biggest regret. Because in a way, think about it. All those other regrets really won't matter in eternity. But that one regret will, so.
Be very quiet. Do you hear it? Do I hear what? Do you hear the tick tock the death clock? Do you hear it? That clock is ticking for you. And that clock is ticking for me. The question is, when the ticking stops, where will you be? That clock's ticking for you, it's ticking for me. But the question is, when the ticking stops, where will you be? Because on one day of God's choosing, that clock will stop. We will all take in our last breath. But here's the good news. And I close with this. If you know Jesus, your last breath on Earth will be your first breath in Heaven. So make sure, 'cause I have, that your last breath is your best breath.