The document discusses the reality and purpose of death, citing various biblical verses that emphasize the consequences of sin, the nature of life and mortality, and the final judgment. It highlights death as a reflective moment for the living and reassures believers with the hope of life after death, emphasizing the rewards for faithfulness. Ultimately, it calls for prioritizing spiritual matters in light of the inevitability of death.

1. Getting Last Things First

2. The Reality of Death

3. James 4:14
[14] Yet you do not know what your life
will be like tomorrow. You are just a vapor
that appears for a little while and then
vanishes away.

4. Hebrews 9:27
[27] And inasmuch as it is appointed
for men to die once and after
this comes judgment,

5. Ecclesiastes 12:7
[7] then the dust will return to the
earth as it was, and the spirit will
return to God who gave it.

6. The Purpose of Death

7. The Purpose of Death
1) To show us that
sin has
consequences.

8. Genesis 2:16-17
[16] The LORD God commanded the man,
saying, “From any tree of the garden you
may eat freely; [17] but from the tree of
the knowledge of good and evil you shall
not eat, for in the day that you eat from it
you will surely die.”

9. Romans 5:12
[12] Therefore, just as through one man
sin entered into the world, and death
through sin, and so death spread to all
men, because all sinned—

10. The Purpose of Death
2) As a stopping
point of our
“trial” period.

11. 2 Corinthians 5:10
[10] For we must all appear before the
judgment seat of Christ, so that each one
may be recompensed for his deeds in the
body, according to what he has done,
whether good or bad.

12. The Purpose of Death
3) Give the living a
time of reflection.

13. Ecclesiastes 7:2
[2] It is better to go to a house of
mourning
Than to go to a house of feasting,
Because that is the end of every man,
And the living takes it to heart.

14. Psalm 90:10,12
[10] As for the days of our life, they
contain seventy years,
Or if due to strength, eighty years,
Yet their pride is but labor and sorrow;
For soon it is gone and we fly away. …
[12] So teach us to number our days,
That we may present to You
a heart of wisdom.

15. Ecclesiastes 12:13-14
[13] The conclusion, when all has been
heard, is: fear God and keep His
commandments, because this
applies to every person.
[14] For God will bring every act to
judgment, everything which is hidden,
whether it is good or evil.

16. The Hope of Death

17. Philippians 1:21
[21] For to me, to live is Christ
and to die is gain.

18. 2 Timothy 4:6-8
[6] For I am already being poured out as a
drink offering, and the time of my
departure has come. [7] I have fought the
good fight, I have finished the course, I
have kept the faith;

19. 2 Timothy 4:6-8
[8] 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.

20. Psalm 116:15
[15] Precious in the sight of the LORD
Is the death of His godly ones.

21. Genesis 25:8
[8] Abraham breathed his last and
died in a ripe old age, an old man and
satisfied with life; and he was
gathered to his people.

22. 1 Corinthians 15:54-57
[54] But when this perishable will have
put on the imperishable, and this mortal
will have put on immortality, then will
come about the saying that is written,
“DEATH IS SWALLOWED UP in victory.

23. 1 Corinthians 15:54-57
[55] “O DEATH, WHERE IS YOUR VICTORY?
O DEATH, WHERE IS YOUR STING?”
[56] The sting of death is sin, and the
power of sin is the law; [57] but thanks
be to God, who gives us the victory
through our Lord Jesus Christ.

24. If it will be important then,
let’s make it important now.