The only way to die in peace is to believe that Jesus is who He says He is, (I Am that I Am) and all that He has done (Works) and all that He has said, (Words) He will. It is to believe that He is the only Savior of the world and that He has redeemed all those that believe in Him.
I. Introduction:
Believing in Christ is the central issue of becoming a disciple, striving to live in the light of eternity through His glorious gospel. Not believing that Christ is the great "I am", condemns one to a Christless eternity, "I am" is an expression of Jesus' deity, the eternally existing One. The second time Jesus said that if they were to reject Him they would die without anyone paying for their sins. They would spend eternity in hell because they were not fit to go into the presence of God.
II. Message: Life & Death. Paul said in Phil 1:21, "For to me to live is Christ and to die is gain" We have an account of his life and death. His life was Christ & his death was gain. This is the best way to die and to live. In contrary, is the life & death of Judas, worst way of life & worst death (Matt. 26:24). Here observe on how both physical and spiritual in human's life and death happen:
A. To Die. To die faithless and Godless is the worst way to die. But to die in peace with God is the best.
1. The negative aspects - What is the worst way to die. Each person fears something & each one has a pain tolerance level that could differ from others. Some would be in terror being buried alive while others are drowning, freezing, burning or being slowly tortured, dismembered while alive. Some think the worst death is to be helplessly kept on life support and medicated for years. I don't have an answer to any of this as each person must answer this for themselves. But Jesus has already an answer. He said, "ye shall die in your sins, if ye believe that I am He" Therefore the worst to die is like:
a) Judas who hang himself filled with remorse. We shall die in our sins if we believe not that Jesus is the God who forgive sins and cleanses all our iniquities (1 John 1:9)
a-1) The betrayal (Matt. 26:25) "Master, is it I? He said unto Him, Thou has said. Jesus didn't say this to condemn Judas but to call Him to repentance. It is fair to assume that He said with love in His eyes & showed Judas that He loved Him even knowing His treachery.
a-2) The Repentance (Matt, 27:3-5) And he cast down the pieces of silver in the temple & departed & went & hanged himself. Judas was filled with remorse, not repentance. Meaning, if Judas truly repented he is sure to be save. But Jesus said that Judas was doomed to destruction (John 17:12) & it would be better for him if he hadn't been born. (Matt 26:24)
b-1) The hypocrisy (Prov. 30:12) There's a generation... not washed from their filthiness. Anyone who thinks he is pure apart from God's divine cleansing process, hide an unsuspected depth of depravity (wickedness)
b-2) Woe unto you. Jesus condemned the self-righteous Pharisees of murder, a group of people who may observe outer ritual but pay no attention to inner cleansing. Such hypocrisy is harmful in every walk of life. Matthew 23:27, "Woe you..whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward but are within full of dead men's bones & of all uncleanness."
c) Worldly people. We shall die in our sin if we believe not that Jesus overcome the world. In John 16:33, "In the world...ye shall have tribulation, but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world. The worldly people were doing ordinary things without God, or business as usual. They are godless society, In other words, God was not part of their everyday life. here observe:
c-1) The days of Noah - (Luke 17:27) They did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ark, and the flood came, and destroyed them all.
c-2) Twin cities of worldliness (Luke 17:29), "But the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire & brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all."
2. The positive aspects. It is the undoubted character of every good Christian is to believe and live is Christ. The glory of Christ ought to be the end of our life, His grace is the principle of our life and His Word is the rule of it. Our life is derived from Christ & always directed towards Him. He's the principle, rule and end of it. Here observe, the best way to die is like: