Does God Know the Exact Day I Will Die?
00:00:00.000 | (upbeat music)
00:00:02.580 | We are gonna close out the week
00:00:05.120 | looking at an intimate question,
00:00:07.240 | a dark and mysterious question
00:00:09.480 | that we all face in this life.
00:00:11.280 | It's inevitable, the moment of our personal passing.
00:00:15.080 | A podcast listener named Jim writes in to simply ask this,
00:00:19.520 | does God determine when we each die?
00:00:23.120 | And was this determination made
00:00:24.820 | from even before we were born?
00:00:27.720 | Pastor John, what would you say to Jim?
00:00:30.160 | Yes and yes.
00:00:33.120 | He does, God does determine when everybody dies
00:00:38.560 | and he did decide that in eternity.
00:00:41.600 | So those are my answers.
00:00:42.840 | The first thing to say is that God governs
00:00:47.840 | with infinite wisdom and power
00:00:50.400 | everything that takes place.
00:00:53.800 | Ephesians 1, 11, God works all things
00:00:59.000 | according to the counsel of his will.
00:01:03.280 | There is no reason contextually or biblically
00:01:06.320 | or theologically to limit that all things.
00:01:09.840 | So God governs all things.
00:01:13.140 | That applies to the giving of life
00:01:15.880 | and the sustaining of life and the taking of life.
00:01:20.320 | He works everything, including when we are born
00:01:23.920 | and when we die, according to the counsel of his will.
00:01:28.200 | For example, in Acts 17, 25,
00:01:31.920 | he is not served by human hands as though he needed anything
00:01:36.000 | since he himself gives to all mankind
00:01:39.600 | life and breath and everything.
00:01:44.040 | Or again, 1 Timothy 6, 13,
00:01:46.820 | I charge you in the presence of God
00:01:49.060 | who gives life to all things
00:01:53.280 | and of Jesus Christ, et cetera.
00:01:55.840 | Here's more specifically,
00:01:57.360 | James applies this sovereignty precisely
00:02:02.020 | to whether and when we die.
00:02:05.460 | He says that instead of saying,
00:02:09.920 | we're going up to such and such a town
00:02:12.080 | to do some business there and get a profit,
00:02:15.080 | quote, "You ought to say," this is James 4, 15,
00:02:18.800 | "You ought to say, if the Lord wills, we will live."
00:02:24.280 | Now that just settles it for me.
00:02:28.160 | And do this or that.
00:02:30.240 | And then James adds, "As it is, you boast in your arrogance."
00:02:35.240 | Meaning he thinks it's arrogant to presume
00:02:38.300 | we live one second longer than God wills for us to live.
00:02:42.720 | All such boasting is evil.
00:02:45.080 | That's James 4, 15 to 16.
00:02:47.160 | The point is only if God wills do I live another minute.
00:02:53.740 | Therefore, the Lord decides when I die.
00:02:57.100 | Jesus put it this way.
00:02:59.860 | Are not two sparrows sold for a penny?
00:03:03.320 | And not one of them will fall to the ground,
00:03:08.060 | meaning die, apart from your father.
00:03:11.540 | Even the hairs of your head are all numbered.
00:03:15.500 | Fear not, therefore, a cure of much more value
00:03:17.840 | than the sparrows.
00:03:19.900 | Now what's the point?
00:03:21.360 | The point is if the time for the death of a tiny bird
00:03:26.360 | in a remote forest is of a concern to God
00:03:30.980 | and determined by God,
00:03:32.580 | how much more will our days be numbered
00:03:36.740 | and determined by God with great care and wisdom?
00:03:41.740 | In fact, the psalmist says,
00:03:44.320 | "Your eyes, O God, saw my unformed substance in your book
00:03:51.180 | were written every one of them,
00:03:53.820 | namely the days that were formed for me
00:03:57.380 | when as yet there was none of them."
00:04:00.580 | Which means the days that God has allotted for me and you
00:04:05.260 | are already written in a book.
00:04:07.620 | They are decided.
00:04:09.300 | There aren't any extra ones outside the book
00:04:12.420 | that slip up on God.
00:04:14.440 | Job confessed this about his own children
00:04:18.900 | when they had all died in a storm.
00:04:21.640 | And he said, "Naked I came from my mother's womb,
00:04:24.160 | naked I shall return.
00:04:25.700 | The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away.
00:04:30.700 | Blessed be the name of the Lord."
00:04:34.260 | Hannah says the same thing.
00:04:37.100 | In 1 Samuel 2, 6, the Lord kills
00:04:40.100 | and the Lord brings to life.
00:04:41.740 | He brings down to shield and raises up.
00:04:44.900 | In other words, life and death are in the hand of God.
00:04:48.120 | Moses says the same thing when he quotes God
00:04:51.700 | in Deuteronomy 32, 39, "See now that I, even I am he
00:04:56.700 | and there is no God besides me.
00:04:58.800 | I kill and I make alive.
00:05:01.100 | I wound and I heal.
00:05:03.180 | There is none that can deliver out of my hand."
00:05:07.260 | So my answer is, yes, God is God.
00:05:11.060 | He governs the world and that includes the time
00:05:14.500 | for our conception in the womb and the time for our death.
00:05:19.040 | His children don't want to have it any other way.
00:05:23.860 | I mean, God is always better than blind fate.
00:05:27.680 | God is always better than random chance.
00:05:31.240 | God is always better than demonic triumphs.
00:05:35.480 | What else would we want than for God to determine
00:05:39.360 | when we're born and when we die?
00:05:42.520 | And in answer to the other part of Jim's question,
00:05:46.700 | there are reasons for saying that God decides this
00:05:51.120 | in eternity, whether we live or die and how long we'll live.
00:05:56.120 | One of the reasons is that he speaks of our being chosen
00:06:00.420 | in Christ before the foundation of the earth.
00:06:03.680 | It's hard to imagine that God would choose us
00:06:07.420 | for salvation before creation and leave something
00:06:11.980 | as relatively insignificant as when we're born
00:06:16.380 | and when we're died, just leave that to chance
00:06:19.540 | while taking care of the big thing
00:06:21.220 | before the foundation of the world.
00:06:23.580 | In fact, verse 11, and then I'll end where I began.
00:06:28.100 | Verse 11 of Ephesians 1 says, "God works all things
00:06:32.900 | according to the counsel of his will.
00:06:35.220 | There is no such thing as chance with God.
00:06:37.940 | Therefore, all things are moving according to plan.
00:06:42.660 | And since God knows all the future,
00:06:45.340 | he can take all things into account
00:06:47.940 | when he plans in the beginning.
00:06:50.580 | He does not have to wait to see how history unfolds
00:06:54.220 | before he completes his plan.
00:06:57.020 | History and our lives were planned
00:07:01.300 | and they were planned before the foundation of the world."
00:07:05.340 | So Jim, you and all God's children are in very good hands.
00:07:10.340 | You are, as Henry Martin said, now let this sink in.
00:07:15.900 | As Henry Martin said, you are immortal
00:07:19.940 | until God's purpose for you is complete.
00:07:23.580 | What could be more thrilling?
00:07:25.620 | What could be more empowering?
00:07:27.140 | What could release more courage and risk
00:07:30.380 | in the cause of Christ than this?
00:07:32.740 | - Wow, amen.
00:07:34.340 | With such a grim reality that is empowering
00:07:37.380 | and confidence giving, true.
00:07:39.100 | Thank you, Pastor John.
00:07:40.100 | And thanks for listening to this episode.
00:07:42.700 | You can find our audio feeds.
00:07:44.140 | You can keep up with all of the episodes as we release them.
00:07:47.540 | And you can sift through the 1,000 plus episodes
00:07:50.460 | in our archive.
00:07:51.300 | You can do all of that through our online home
00:07:53.260 | at desiringgod.org/askpastorjohn.
00:07:57.660 | Well, God knows the day and he knows the hour of our death,
00:08:02.100 | but are we ready for death?
00:08:04.820 | How can we know that we're prepared personally
00:08:07.020 | for that day that draws closer and closer
00:08:09.380 | to each of us every moment?
00:08:12.180 | Preparing for our last day is the next question
00:08:14.100 | on the docket and we'll pick it up on Monday.
00:08:17.660 | I'm your host, Tony Renke.
00:08:18.780 | Have a great weekend and we will see you on Monday.
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