I've got two readings today so the first reading is in Job chapter 1 and then the second reading is in the book of Ecclesiastes and the chapter number 12 and you'll find Ecclesiastes just nestled in there between The book of Proverbs and the book of the Song of Solomon. And so Job chapter one and Ecclesiastes chapter 12. We'll read the word of God and then we'll pray together. Job chapter one, verse number 13. And so let's hear God's word. There was a day when his sons, speaking of Job's sons and his daughters, were eating and drinking wine in their eldest brother's house. There came a messenger unto Job, and said, The oxen were ploughing, and the asses feeding beside themselves, beside them, sorry, and the Sabians fell upon them, and took them away, yea, they have slain the servants with the age of the sword, and I only am escaped alone to tell thee. When he was yet speaking, there came also another, and said, The fire of God is fallen from heaven, and burned up the sheep and the servants, and consumed them, and I, only am he skipped alone to tell thee. While he was yet speaking, there came also another and said, the Chaldeans made out three bands and fell upon the camels and have carried them away, yea, and slain the servants with the edge of the sword, and I only am he skipped alone to tell thee. While he was yet speaking, there came also another and said, thy sons and thy daughters were eating and drinking wine in their eldest brother's house, and behold, There came a great wind from the wilderness, and smote the four corners of the house, and fell upon the young men, and they are dead, and I only am escaped alone to tell thee. Then Job arose, and rent his mantle, and shaved his head, and fell down upon the ground, and worshipped, and said, naked came I out of my mother's womb, and naked shall I return hither. The Lord gave, the Lord hath taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord. and all this Job sin not, nor charge God foolishly. And then in Ecclesiastes 12, the verse number one, remember now thy creator in the days of thy youth, where the evil days come not, nor the years draw nigh, when thou shalt say, I have no pleasure in them, where the sun or the light of the moon or the stars be darkened, nor the clouds return after the rain, and the day when the keepers of the house shall tremble, and the strong men shall bow themselves, And the grinders cease, because they are few. And those that look out of the windows be dark, and the doors shall be shut, and the streets, when the sound of the grinding is low. And he shall rise up, the voice of the bird, and all the daughters of music shall be brought low. Also, when they shall be afraid of that which is high, and fears shall be in the way, and the almond tree shall flourish, and the grasshopper shall be a burden, And desires shall feel, because man goeth to his long home, and the mourners go about the streets. Wherever the silver cord be loosened, or the golden bowl be broken, or the pitcher be broken at the fountain, or the wheel broken at the cistern, then shall the dust return to the earth as it was, and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it. Amen. Could we unite in prayer together? Our loving Father, we come now to the preaching of thy word. We pray for the help of thy spirit, the unfilling of the Holy Ghost. Bless, Lord, our waiting souls. Lord, help us to understand the end of all flesh. May we live our lives in light of that. Grant, Lord, now help to be given. And Lord, I give myself entirely to thee. Come now, I pray. Cleanse me of my sin. Fill me with Thy Spirit. I pray these prayers in Jesus' name. Amen. The only thing that will stop it taking place is the second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. You might be wondering what I'm talking about. I'm referring to our return to God, a death. Someday, see if the Lord's return, all of us will make a return journey back to God through the means of death. That return to God is something that has been presented to us in these two passages of scripture that we have read just a few moments ago. As he worshipped God in some of the most trying circumstances that a human being could ever go through, Job declared in Job chapter 1 verse 21, The Lord gave the Lord hath taken away, blessed be the name of the Lord. Later on in the Old Testament Scriptures, Solomon, he comes to speak about the aging process and the natural end of that process, death itself. Here in Ecclesiastes chapter 12, he speaks about the silver cord being loosed, speaking about the spinal cord. He speaks about the golden bowl being broken, speaking about the brain or the mind. He speaks about the pitcher being broken at the fountain, and the wheel broken at the cistern. He's speaking there about the human heart. Then he says, "...then shall the dust return to the earth as it was, and the Spirit shall return unto God who gave it." Now, as much as sinful man hopes it to be, Death is not the end of one's existence. In 2020, in the Daily Express newspaper, they published an article that carried the following headline. There is no life after death. Scientists insist afterlife is impossible. The opening paragraph of the article it read as follows, there is no life after death according to one well-respected physicist who claims humanity has to abandon all fanciful beliefs and focus on what the laws of the universe dictate. The well-respected physicist was a man by the name of Sean Carell. He was a cosmologist and a physicist from the California Institute of Technology. He stated that if there was to be an afterlife, consciousness would need to be something that is entirely separated from our physical body, which he claimed cannot ever be. However, what Mr. Carroll conveniently forgot is that man consists of more than a physical body. According to Scripture, man is both physical and spiritual in his makeup. That is very clearly set forth in Moses' detailed description of the creation of the first ever human being who lived in this world in Genesis chapter 2. Because there Moses writes in Genesis 2 verse 7, And the Lord formed man from the dust of the ground, that is the physical part of man, and he breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living soul, that is the spiritual part of man. And therefore there is a duality to man's makeup or to man's constitution. There is a physical part of man, hands, my feet, my body, my eyes, my ears, but there is also a spiritual part of man. There is a soul or a spirit as Solomon refers to it here in Ecclesiastes 12 and the verse number 7. And it is that part of man, it is the spiritual part of man that will continue to exist in the afterlife in all of its consciousness until the body is reunited with the soul on the day of general resurrection. And then united together, that body and that soul will then either, in God's wisdom and in God's justice, will either return to everlasting punishment where the soul was confined to a death or be in heaven with Christ, which is far better. What happens? after he dies is something that has intrigued many, many down through the ages. We read in scripture that man is born and man dies and then the question is asked, and where is he? This is a question that has baffled many scientists. This is a question that has intrigued many individuals. But the Word of God is very clear at what happens at death. Because Solomon tells us here in our text, in Ecclesiastes 12 verse 7, what exactly happens to man when he comes to die. It says, Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was, and the spirit shall return on to God who gave it. At death the body will return to dust, while the soul will return to God. Those who framed our Westminster Confession of Faith and our catechisms, they had something to say about this particular matter. In the chapter number 32, a chapter that is entitled Men After Death and the Resurrection of the Dead, they had this to say with regard to what happens to man at and after death. Let me read that particular paragraph. It is the opening paragraph of chapter 32. It says, the bodies of men after death returned to dust to see corruption, but their souls, which neither die nor sleep, having an immortal sustenance, immediately returned to God who gave them, the souls of the righteous, being then made perfect in holiness. are received into the highest heavens, where they behold the face of God in light and glory, waiting for the full redemption of their bodies. And the souls of the wicked are cast into hell, where they remain in torments and utter darkness, reserved to the judgment of the great day. Beside these two places, for souls separated from their bodies, the scripture acknowledgeth none. In other words, they put to bed the fallacy of purgatory or the fallacy of soul sleep. They say beside these two places, heaven, hell, the soul or the scripture acknowledgeth none. And so in this service, I want us to think today about man's return to God at death. Man's return to God at death. And we want to do that in order that we might then live our lives in light of the fact that our souls are going to return to God at death. Whether you be a Christian or whether you be not a Christian, your soul will return to God. How are we then to live in light of that very fact? I believe that we are to live soberly. I believe that we are to live humbly. I believe that we are to live godly, because someday the souls of ours housed in these bodies are going to return to God. Taking the words of Solomon here in Ecclesiastes 12 verse 7, I want us to think just about a number of things, just a couple of very simple thoughts today. I want us to think first of all about the two returns that will take place at death. Two returns. Sometimes we think, well, there's only one return. We find here that in our text it speaks about two returns that will take place at death. Then shall the dust return on to the earth or to the earth as it was and the spirit shall return on to God who gave it. Now what we come to note very simply and firstly from Solomon's words here is that the body and the soul will come to separate at death. Union that exists presently with those of us who are living and we're all living here today This union that exists between the physical part of man my body and the spiritual part of man My soul is going to disson all a death There's going to be a separation that takes place at the moment of death There is a separation of man's body, or man's soul, from man's body. There is a disillusionment that will come to pass as the soul will leave this tent, this clay house, and will return to God. And can I say that that soul will find itself before God, before our bodies hit the ground? So immediate will it be. Now the body, we're told by Solomon, it says, the dust shall return to the earth. It's very interesting how Solomon, he comes to speak about the physical body in this verse. He refers to it as dust. He doesn't say that the body will return to the ground. Of course, it will be the case that our bodies will be taken by an undertaker, and that undertaker will dress, and that undertaker will repair the body, and that body will return to the family. A funeral service will be held, and then they'll go to a graveyard, a cemetery, and they'll bury the body of that individual into earth. And so the body, the physical body, this frame of ours, it will find itself someday in the ground. But that is not how Solomon refers to the body. He doesn't say that the body shall return to the earth. He says the dust. The dust. Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was. Now obviously Solomon, Solomon is referring back to man's original state whenever he was created by God. We remember that when God formed man, and the boys and girls, you know this. This is in your catechism. How did God form man? What did God form man out of? God formed man out of the dust of the ground. That's what the scripture says. God formed man from the dust of the ground. When Adam fell from his first estate, his state of innocency, God would pronounce a curse on all mankind that would result in Adam and all of his descendants returning to that original state, to dust again. Because God informed man, Adam, as man's representative, in Genesis 3 verse 19, he says, "'In the sweat of thy face thou shalt eat bread till thou return unto the ground.'" And so God speaks about this return. The return of the body to the ground. Now think of how God describes us. God describes us as thus. This is what he says to Adam. He says to Adam, thus thou art. Now Adam was still living. Adam was still breathing. Adam was still in the land of the living when God refers this to Adam, but God says this to Adam in the present tense. He says, Adam, no, he didn't say that, Adam, you're going to be dust someday. He says, Adam, this is what you now are. Thou art dust, or dust thou art. And really, men and women in our best estate, that is all we are. It's sobering. It's humbling to think that this is what we are. We are simply dust in our present living state. This is a sobering and a humbling fact that is drawn to our attention a number of times in Scripture that we are referred to in this way, thou art dust or dust thou art. Do you remember whenever Abraham came to stand before God plead for the righteous who were living in the city of Sodom. Abraham, he comes to plead with God that God would preserve the righteous from the overthrow that was about to fall that city of great sin and that city of iniquity because sodomy is that. It's sin. It's iniquity. It's abhorrent to God. this is what Abraham said in Genesis 18 verse 27. So Abraham, he thought himself to be dust. We think about Balaam. He spoke about the children of Israel. He tried to curse the children of Israel, but he couldn't. God would not permit him to do it. And so Balaam, he asks in Numbers 23, verse 10, who can count the dust of Jacob? He's not speaking there about the dirt on the ground. He's speaking about the number of the people. He goes on to explain that. Who can count the dust of Jacob and the number of the fourth part of Israel? Let me die the death of the righteous and let my last end be like his. Job spoke about being brought to the dust In Job chapter 10 in the verse 9, remember, I beseech thee that thou hast made me as the clay and will bring me into dust again. Elihu, in the same book, Job 34 verse 15, all flesh shall perish together and man shall turn again onto dust. The prophet Isaiah speaks about the nations of the world and how does he speak of them? He refers to them as but small dust upon the balances. Isaiah 40, verse 15, Behold, the nations are but as a drop in the bucket, and are counted as the small dust off the balance. In other words, it doesn't affect the balance, so small is it. It doesn't make the balance go heavier, this light dust that's upon the balances. Behold, he taketh up the aisles as a little thing. David and Sam 103, verse 14, he says, For he, God, knoweth our frame, he remembereth that we are what? We're dust. We're dust. And this is how we must come to view ourselves. Dust. Dust. A little boy came in excitement one day to his mother and cried, Mother, is it true that we are made from dust and after We die, we go back to dust again. She says, yes, yes, that's true. Well, he said, I looked under my bed this morning and there's someone either coming or going. She obviously hadn't cleaned under the bed. But to dust we will return. It's a very humbling description of us. The Puritan John Flavell, or Flavell, however way you want to pronounce it, I'll not argue with you. Mr. Flavell thought about this description of man dust. This is what he said. The consideration is humbling, and it serves to tame the pride of man, who is apt to dote upon his own beauty. Man's body was not made of heavenly matter, as the radiant sun and sparkling stars, nor yet of the most precious and orient earthly matter. God did not melt down the pure and splendid gold and silver, or powder the precious pearls and sparkling diamonds, but he formed it of the vile and despicable dust. You know, our society places a tremendous emphasis on the physical body. We're not the first society or generation to do that. Go back into Greek mythology, and you go into some of those museums that you'll find in Italy and France, you'll find that the physical body is placed before man. You think of Michelangelo's depiction of David. You think of that picture, that piece of marble, man and his physical body, and the beauty of his physical body. And our society, it places a tremendous emphasis on the physical body to the point that the body has now taken precedent over the soul. Gyms are full. Churches are empty. Many pound the streets in order to lose a pound or two, but they never walk through the church door to a gospel preaching church in order to attend to the well-being of their soul. What is dust? I'll tell you what dust is. Dust is frail. Dust is feeble. Dust is fragile. Blow the dust, it's gone. And such is man. Oh, how we need to keep the right perspective. All our physical bodies is animated dust. As Mr. Linden used to say, I believe I've heard people praying it, that we're just a big pile of dirt, a big pile of dust. However muscular and however well formed and however athletic and however strong and however toned your body is, you must remember that it's going, that body of yours is going to be consigned to the dust from whence it came. See if the Savior's returned. Matthew, Henry, sorry, make sure then, sorry, in light of that, make sure that you don't prioritize the welfare of your body. which is but dust over the welfare of your immortal soul. Matthew Henry, he said, fools despise their own souls by caring for their bodies before their souls. If that is the measure of a fool, let me ask you, are you a fool? Are you a fool? If this is the measure of a fool, that fools despise their own souls by caring for their bodies before their souls, are you a fool? Do you care for your body above your soul? Do you spend as much time feeding and caring for your soul each week as you do exercising and caring for your body? Listen, your soul is immortal. It's going to live forever. put first things first. Tend first to your soul. And so, we have the return of the body to the ground. But when the physical body will return to the dust as its constituent parts decompose in the grave, The spirit of man, the spiritual part of man, that part that cannot be seen by the natural eye, but that part that is as real as your body, your soul, your soul is going to return to God who gave it. This is what Solomon tells us in our text. That's very simple, but the thought is and the truth is that God gave us our souls. God gave us our souls. I'm not going to get into the debate today about the origin of the soul. Whether creationism or traditionism is the correct school of theological thought, you'll probably not even know what I'm talking about even with regard to that. I'm not getting into that debate. But needless to say, it is God who gave us our souls because God made our souls. Isaiah 57 verse 16 tells us that the souls, God is the speaker and he says, concerning the souls which I have made. And so the soul will return to its maker, the soul will return to its creator at death, and it will stand in his presence and stand before his tribunal. William Nicholson, he put it like this, death conducts the soul to the immediate inspection and scrutiny of God, and its everlasting state is fixed according to the result of that investigation. He went on to quote the words, be not deceived, God is not mocked. For whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to the flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption. But he that soweth to the spirit shall of the spirit reap life everlasting. The day of our death will see to the disannulling of the union that exists between body and soul. The body will go to the grave, the soul will return to God. So I want to ask you, have you thought about your day of death? Have you considered where you will be one second after you die? These things must never be pushed to the back of one's mind, but they must be kept to the forefront of our minds, and we are to live in light of the fact that our bodies will return to the dust of earth, our souls will return to the God who made it." Now, what part of your constitution do you want to be healthy on that day? It's good to have a healthy body. It's good to watch what fat you put into your body. It's good to exercise. There's no problem with exercise. But what about your soul? What health is your soul in today? And so that's the first point. The second point I want you to see is this two destinies that await the soul's return to God. Yes, the body will be placed in the ground and that body is going to stay there. That body will remain in the ground. It will remain in that place. That body is going nowhere. There's only one place for that body. to go, but there are two destinies that await the soul at its return to God. You see, the spirit or the soul of man will return to God, and there it will answer for its deeds that was done here in the body. It will retain its identity, and yet it will continue or it retains its accountability to God. And so there are two destinies. that await the soul's return to God. There was a 17th century English preacher by the name of John Guise. He said this about the journey of the soul after death, and I quote, immediately after death, the soul appears before God to be consigned to a separate state of blessedness or misery in another world. He went on to qualify by setting out in stark setting out the stark differences of the two destinies between those who die in Christ and those who die without Christ. Regarding those who die in Christ, Guy stated that the soul will find itself with Christ in heaven. I quote, the souls of believers immediately after death enter into a state of blessedness with Christ in glory. There are many scriptures that we could turn to that affirm that to be the case. I'll not give them all to you, I'll give you just a number. Psalm 49 verse 15, This is speaking of the believer. 2 Corinthians 5 verse 8, we are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord. Now, how can that be? If the body's in the grave, and if all we consist of is body, how can then we be present with the Lord? Well, the simple answer is that there is body and soul. And thus, we will be with Christ, present with the Lord. Revelation 14 verse 13, And I heard a voice from heaven saying, Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth. Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labors, and their works do follow them. You think of the dying thief on the cross. He asked the Lord to remember him when he came into his kingdom, and the Savior responds to the dying thief with these words today. Thou shalt be with me in paradise. then that the soul and body can exist, or the soul can exist separately from the body after death. The body of the dying thief, it would have been taken down from the cross, it would have been disposed off in some way, whether it was buried or whether it was carried to the flames of the fires that were in the Valley of Hinnom. We don't know what happened, really, the criminals during the days of Christ, but that body would have been disposed off, but his soul was going to be today in paradise. And so all those who die in Christ are, thank God, with Christ in heaven. But these are my questions in light of the Christians going to heaven at death, the soul of the Christian. I wonder, will your entrance into heaven be an abundant entrance? Will you hear the words, well done, thy good and faithful servant? What's waiting for you, child of God? What's waiting for you? What is waiting for me when I get to heaven? What's waiting there? You see, the Bible says about being able to lay up for ourselves treasures in heaven where moth and rust do not corrupt and where thieves do not break through and steal. So is there anything waiting you in heaven, child of God? What awaits you in heaven? Here's another question. Who awaits you in heaven? Is there a godly mother there? A godly father? Is there a child who died early on in pregnancy, waiting there? Who's waiting there for you? And who will follow you into heaven as a result of your witness as a result of your service for Christ. I know that there are people here today and their loved ones, they've gone on to be with Christ. And there's tremendous comfort in that, that the Spirit has returned on to God who gave it. Their souls are there. They are among those that we read about there in the book of Hebrews, in the chapter 12. But you come on to Mount Zion, onto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, to the innumerable company of angels, to the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to the judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect. And to Jesus, the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel, to the spirits of just men made perfect. That's where your Christian, saved, loved one is today. That's where your father is, who died in Christ. That's where your saved mother is. They're with Christ. And they've entered into their eternal reward. At death, they entered into a state of blessedness with Christ in heaven, from which they will never leave. And soon, you and I who know and love the Savior, you and I who have turned and trusted in Christ for salvation, we will go to join them. But until that day, child of God, there is a testimony to maintain. And there's a life to live. And there's a race to run. And there's service to render to God. You're not home yet, child of God. You're not home. One preacher gave this counsel. Christian, meditate much on heaven. It will help thee to press on and to forget the toil of the way. This veil of tears is but a pathway to the better country. This world of woe is but the stepping stone to a world of bliss. And so the prospect of our appearance in heaven, that our souls are going to return on to God, that we're going to enter into the blessedness of heaven itself, this prospect of our appearance in heaven should spur every weary Christian pilgrim on this world is not our home heaven is and so press on brother and sister pick up the piece pick up the piece press on brother because heaven's fair city awaits our souls return to God while heaven awaits the child of God at return. Scripture reminds us that a different destiny awaits the sinner on their soul's return to God. For the one who dies in their sin will find themselves not with Christ in heaven, but they'll find themselves without Christ in hell. While the soul of the believer will enter into the eternal bliss of glory, the soul of the unrepentant sinner of death will enter into a state of everlasting misery. Such is set forth by the Savior himself. In Luke's gospel, chapter 16, he spoke about a rich man. He had his death, he lifted up his eyes in hell. The Savior also said in Matthew 25, referring to the unrighteous, that they shall go away. into everlasting punishment. The Apostle Paul writing to the saints in Thessalonica said that there are those who will be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his power. If heaven is the absence of all that is evil and the presence of all that is good, then hell is the antithesis of it. Hell is the absence of all that is good and the presence of all that is evil. Ask yourself then this question, when I come to the end of life's journey, will I, like the nations which forget God, will I, like the wicked, will I be turned into hell. Will you think of that statement? Turned into hell. Turned into hell. There's no doubt in my mind that every person listening to the preacher today, no doubt in my mind that all want to be in heaven. But it might be that you might be turned into hell. I don't want that for you. And so my counsel is, turn on to Christ. Turn on to Him in repentance, turn on to Him in faith, for if you don't, you will be turned into hell, turned into its darkness, turned into its torment. turned into its wailing, turned into its fire, turned into its loneliness, turned into its separation from God, turned into hell. Imagine that, to leave a free Presbyterian church and to be turned into hell. What will it be like for you, man? What will it be like for you, young woman, older man, older woman, to be turned into hell? You turned into the church many a time, and you heard the gospel only for you to be turned into hell. In light of the body's return to dust and the soul's return to God and the destinies that await that soul's return to God, let me make the closing points of application. My time is gone. I address those who, first of all, are unsaved. I say to you, friend, your residency in this earth is not a permanent residency. Someday, maybe sooner than you imagine, you're going to leave this world for the next. Make sure that you leave this world reconciled to God. soul that returns to God unsaved will find itself separated from God eternally in hell. I can't be any more simple. I cannot be more blunt. But you will find yourself separated from God in hell. And for those who are saints of God, I remind you as I remind myself that my presence in this earth is not permanent. We sometimes forget that as Christians, don't we? We get comfortable in this world. And maybe that God's gonna have to prize some of us away from this world. And our soul, our soul is going to return on to God who made it. And when it does, brother, sister, we are going to have to give an account of our lives. not going to account for our sin. That's under the blood. But we will give an account of our stewardship, and we'll give an account of our service. May we all return to God, having lived for him and for his glory. Now, I don't, but what if I was to say to you today that in this envelope, I have the name of the person who will next leave this church in death. I don't have that today, but if I was to open this envelope and say that there's a name written on it, what if that name was yours? What if it was mine? How would you leave this meeting if your name was on that piece of paper, knowing that you would be the next person from this congregation whose body would be taken to the ground and whose soul would return to God? How would you leave this meeting? Would you still remain in your sin? Or would you not today be reconciled to God? And if you're a Christian, And it was your name on that piece of paper. How would you live your life for the next number of days, the next number of hours? Is there someone that you would be reconciled with, maybe a brother or sister? Is there some sin that you would repent of? Is there some service that you would give to God? Because, brethren and sisters, it's going to happen. Someday we are going to die. And we must live our lives in light of that day. The Apostle Paul did that, and this is what he said. For I am now ready to be offered the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith. Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me in that day, but not only to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing." Solomon, he said that the dust will return to the earth as it was. The spirit shall return on to God who gave it. To live our lives in light of the day of our death is how we should live in this world. I couldn't find the illustration, and I stand to be corrected, but I believe it was one of the Bonner brothers. I don't know if it was Horatius. I don't know if it was Andrew. When they went to bed, One of the brothers at least, whenever they went to bed, they closed over the blinds of the curtain. And as they did so, they said, maybe tonight, Lord. And whenever they woke for the next day, they opened their blinds with the words, maybe today, Lord. What did he mean? What he simply was speaking about was his own death. and the reality that through the night, he could have left the scene of time. He understood that through that particular day, he could have died and his soul returned to God. And thus, he lived in light of his imminent death. This is how to live. This is how to live life to its fullest. It is to live in light of the fact that we are going to die, and the soul will return to God. Will it return to God redeemed, or will it return to God still in its sin? Well, that's a question that I leave with you. as we now come to close the meeting in a word of prayer together. So let's bow our heads in prayer together, please. We appreciate you listening to God's Word. May we all feel the challenge of it, whether we are Christians, whether we're not. May we come to understand that the day of death is coming for us all. And we will return to God, and we'll give an account of our lives. May God help us on that day not to be ashamed. Our loving Father, and our gracious God in heaven, we solemnize, Lord, with the reality, O God, that we will die. See, if I return, we will all be taken, brought into Death Valley, We will go the way of all flesh. We will be brought to the house appointed for all living. Thou will bring me to death. That's what we read in Job. Thou will bring me to death. God will bring us to it. And oh God, we pray that we will therefore make all of our decisions, Lord, in light of that day when life on this earth is over. Cause hearts, Lord, to be challenged and smitten by the Spirit. May each of us, Lord, if there's sins that need to be put right, even in our lives as believers, maybe, Lord, we need to be reconciled to another brother, another sister in Christ. Maybe there's some service that we've relinquished and we need to take it up again and pick it up again. Oh God, we pray that we will be ready, Lord, to do that which the Lord deals with us on, the matters that God brings and draws to our attention. Help us to understand what we really are, Lord, when we find ourselves priding and being proud, oh God, may we understand that we are dust. That's all we are, we're just dust. frail and feeble, and soon, soon to be taken away. Oh, help us, Lord, we pray, and may every heart be challenged and dealt with, Lord, through thy word this day. Deal with my heart, Lord. I pray this in and through the Savior's grace.