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If It's Time to Go What's Your Plan?

Plans for When It's Time to Go

Around election time, I can't turn on anything without hearing somebody accuse somebody of something. Accusations are just flying out there, and it's always that way around election day.

It takes me back to 2004, because the accusations coming against President Bush during that election are what led me to first write the outline for this message. Apparently he took all of our soldiers into Iraq without a good exit plan. In other words, he and his advisers made all the right plans about getting in and winning the war, but they made no plans for how to get out of Iraq.

Then, just a few years ago, we saw firsthand the worst exit in the history of modern wartime, when the United States exited Afghanistan in one of the most bush-league and dangerous ways possible. I still feel like those responsible should have been held accountable for negligence and incompetence, at the very least.

But alas, we always have plans, right? Remember Y2K? How many of us had extra candles and food and water on hand on New Year's Eve that time? How many had plans in place in case the neighborhood descended into chaos?

So let's talk about the matter of plans for when it's time to go.

This Life Will Not Last Forever

I don't know if you've realized it or not, but this life you and I are living will not last forever. In fact, I can guarantee that it will definitely end someday.

Want to see the entire endgame summed up in one verse? The whole deal of our coming and going, worshiping, building churches, living for each other and worshiping God is summed up in one Bible verse:

"And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment."

Hebrews 9:27

That's the ultimate boom shakalaka right there. You can't run, and you can't hide.

And since that is true, doesn't it stand to reason that everyone needs a good endgame plan? We make plans for living this life, right? We buy insurance. We put our money into retirement accounts. We plan for this and that. And yet, how much time does the average person spend planning their departure from this world, beyond buying a life insurance policy?

Two Exits Without a Plan

Henry Ward Beecher was one of the most prominent preachers of the 1800s. In his latter years, he turned from the faith and embraced Darwinism. He denied the deity of Jesus Christ and lived a less than glorious life. When he lay dying, his last words were these: "Here comes the mystery. Here comes the mystery." How is that possibly a good endgame plan? It's not an endgame plan worth having at all.

Queen Elizabeth I died in 1603. Her final words were, "All my kingdom for another moment of time." That doesn't sound like she had prepared a good exit plan either, does it?

Enoch Knew How to Leave the World

Our text in Genesis tells us about a man who knew how to leave the world. This is pretty rich text, and it will teach us a lot:

"When Enoch lived 65 years, he fathered Methuselah. Enoch walked with God after he fathered Methuselah 300 years and had other sons and daughters. Thus all the days of Enoch were 365 years. Enoch walked with God, and he was not, for God took him."

Genesis 5:21-24

Enoch had developed a great exit strategy. There are a few elements of his life that can teach us how to have a good game plan for leaving this world when it's time to go. And by the way, it's never time to go, is it?

Each of the points is a three-S word:

• Saved
• Suddenly
• Serving

1. Plan to Go Saved

The point that gives us confidence more than anything else is this: plan to go saved.

The Birth of Methuselah

The Bible tells us nothing about the early years of Enoch. All we know is that at age 65, Enoch became the father of a child named Methuselah. After that child was born, we are told that Enoch walked with God for the next 300 years of his life.

What was it about the birth of that child that caused Enoch to come to faith in God? Have you ever asked yourself that question?

It may have something to do with the name of the child. The name Methuselah actually means "when he is gone, it will come." If you do the math, you find that Methuselah died the very year the flood of Genesis 6 through 8 came. So apparently Enoch was made to understand that the death of his son would signal the destruction of the world. Can you imagine every time Methuselah got the sniffles, Enoch might have gotten nervous?

But God used the birth of that child to open the heart of Enoch, and he used it to save this man's soul. It would appear that Enoch came to God under the judgment of God. God says he's going to ruin it all when your son Methuselah dies.

Have you ever stopped to consider what a blessing that knowledge was, and how it could be a symbol for us of the approaching judgment? It shows the long-suffering love and grace of God. Methuselah lived longer than any other human in history, and you find that in Genesis 5:27. How cool is that? As soon as he died, that's when the judgment would come. God is long-suffering with many of us, but it won't last forever.

How God Draws Us to Jesus

God used the events of this life to touch people's hearts and bring them to Jesus. Today he does that just like he did in ancient times, and he does it in different ways:

• Sometimes people are touched when they think of hell.
• Others react when they think of the love and sacrifice manifested at the cross.
• Others think of loved ones who have died and gone to heaven and are overcome with a desire to be with them.
• Still others feel guilty because of their sins, and they're drawn to Jesus.

The means God uses to convict a person and eventually draw them to himself does not matter. The important thing is that he does draw them.

For Enoch, it was the birth of a son. For me, it was the thought of dying lost and going to hell, which I deserved. And yet this punishment headed my way was paid off and satisfied by Jesus, and I've never been the same since. Am I perfect? No. I make a lot of mistakes. But I know that I'm saved.

It may be different for you, but the main thing is seeing your need of God, that you are a sinner and can't save yourself, and then coming to him for salvation. That is what a good game plan for leaving this world starts with. If you do that, you're going to leave saved, and you don't want to leave any other way. There's no other way to live in this world but saved, either. When you are saved, you have peace and you have contentment.

The Gospel in Scripture

So how does a person actually get saved, with all the different mumbo jumbo swirling around out there? It's coming to the place where you are willing to acknowledge yourself a sinner before the Lord and willing to receive Jesus into your heart as your personal Savior.

Here is the gospel in all of its simplicity, a string of Scriptures you can hand to anyone, anytime:

"Because if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. For the Scripture says, 'Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.'"

Romans 10:9-11

"For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved."

Romans 10:13

"For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him."

John 3:16-17

"Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household."

Acts 16:31

"Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes has eternal life."

John 6:47

You will leave this world someday. I will leave this world someday. So we need a good game plan, and being saved is without a doubt point number one.

2. Plan to Go Suddenly

Here's a reality: plan to go suddenly.

We are told that Enoch walked with God, and he was not, for God took him. It has been said that Enoch was walking with God one day when the Lord simply said, "Enoch, you're closer to my house than your house, so just come on out and you're going to stay with me."

We don't know all the details of his departure, but we do know that the writer of Hebrews tells us Enoch was basically raptured:

"By faith Enoch was taken up so that he should not see death, and he was not found because God had taken him. Now before he was taken he was commended as having pleased God."

Hebrews 11:5

The King James Version says Enoch was translated so that he should not see death. Taken up. Translated. What does that mean? It means to transfer. It carries the idea of being carried across. One minute Enoch was here, and the next minute he was with the Lord. However it happened, it happened suddenly and without warning.

The writer of Hebrews also tells us that before his translation, Enoch had this testimony: he pleased God. Perhaps God called Enoch home because he wanted him nearer to the one who pleased him so well. Whatever the reason, Enoch left this world behind and cheated death in the process.

You and I need to make our plans to depart this world suddenly as well. I guarantee you, no matter how or when you leave here, it will catch you off guard. It will come suddenly, when you least expect it.

There are only two ways to leave this world. Saved people can leave it both ways, but a lost person can leave it only one way. Those two ways are a rapture and death.

The Rapture

Only saved people have the hope of leaving this world by a rapture. The Bible calls it the blessed hope. I'm referring, of course, to that time when Jesus will return in the clouds above the earth to carry his people away to heaven (1 Thessalonians 4 and 1 Corinthians 15).

That's how I hope I go. I want to be a "was not," translated like Enoch. How about you? I joke with people that we didn't plan well financially for the older years. When they ask, "What's your retirement plan?" I tell them, "The rapture."

The rapture also has some S words attached, four of them. It doesn't matter if this is pre-trib, mid-trib or post-trib; these four words will be in play:

• Sudden. There will be no prior warning. Jesus will come, and every saved individual will simply be gone.
• Selective. Jesus is coming for his people and no one else.
• Serious. It will mark the end of the church age. All the saved will be gone, and the darkest hour and wrath of mankind will be upon us as God pours it out.
• Sad. Some will be saved, and others will be left behind.

Now, if it happens today, would you go or would you stay?

We are told twice in these verses that Enoch walked with God and was taken, and I want to be with Enoch. Do you know the two witnesses in Revelation 11? The big debate is whether it's Elijah and Enoch or Elijah and Moses. Elijah and Moses represent the Prophets and the Law, right? Well, Elijah and Enoch are the two souls in the Bible who never died. Scripture says it is appointed for man to die once, and after that the judgment, so it pays to be ready if that day is today.

There are plenty of rapture date setters out there, and their most recent date was in mid-October. I think we're past that. They do all this math based on the Feast of Trumpets, the Feast of Tabernacles, the Jewish calendar, and the week of Daniel after the six thousand years. A lot of it makes sense, and I find it fascinating. But I also know that Jesus says one key thing to his disciples in Matthew 24: he doesn't know the day or the hour, only the Father does.

"But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only."

Matthew 24:36

So if Jesus says that, we're not going to know. It's going to happen suddenly.

Death

The second way to leave this earth is death. Both saved people and lost people alike leave this world through the doorway of death. Death is coming, and when it comes, it rarely gives advance warning. Even when disease has made the end inevitable, the exact moment of one's departure is still a mystery.

Since death is coming, and since it is coming unannounced, it stands to reason that a person needs to be ready for that moment. You may not know when death will come for you, but you can know where you will go when it does.

If you are saved by grace, then you have already passed from death to life. Eternal life has already started for you:

"Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life."

John 5:24

If you've never been saved, then you're lost in your sins, and you go somewhere else. But if you're lost, you don't have to stay that way. If you come to Jesus, he will place his life within you and will prepare you to leave this world, whether it be in the blessed hope of a rapture or whether it ends in death.

3. Plan to Go Serving

We are told twice in these verses that Enoch walked with God. That is not Enoch's testimony of his own life. That is the testimony of God and his Spirit concerning Enoch. God looked at Enoch's life and saw a man whose life pleased the Lord. We can't even do that on our own. God has to help us, and he is the giver of faith. You ask, and he'll give it abundantly.

"And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him."

Hebrews 11:6

What does the word walk mean? It is a biblical expression for fellowship and obedience that results in divine favor. It refers to a manner of life that results in a person having nearness to the Lord, so that circumstances don't steal your joy. That's the kind of walk Enoch had with God. It is a walk of dedication and devotion, a walk in which Enoch lives up to his name. Do you know what his name means? The name Enoch means dedicated. Isn't that cool?

The Bible tells us two things about this man's walk that need to be noted. It's the same kind of walk I'm hoping to see in my own life, and I love seeing it in other people's lives as well.

A Visible Walk with God

Enoch lived a life that demonstrated the faith that was in his heart. He didn't talk one way and live another. He constantly, consistently and completely walked with God, and he did it for 300 years. Think about that. People lived a long time back then, before the flood changed our atmosphere. Look at Genesis 5 and see if you can find anything that any of these other men did that was outstanding or remarkable. Then look at Enoch, who walked with God consistently for 300 years. That's quite an achievement.

That's the kind of walk we all need today. We should try to have visible Christian lives and just settle in and consistently walk with the Lord.

You may say, "Well, yeah, but you stumble, and I stumble, and we've heard our testimony here and our testimony there." Yeah, that's what forgiveness is. That's what daily repentance is. And you end up getting a sanctification process. What's that? It means you're consistently moving toward being made more and more like Jesus every day. Yes, you get knocked back, but you keep going. Why? Because you walk with God, and it's a visible walk. That's the kind of life that pleases him.

God's Plan for Your Life

Everybody always asks, "Does God have a plan for my life? What's God's plan for my life?" Here it is, laid out in the Scriptures:

"Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain."

1 Corinthians 15:58

"He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?"

Micah 6:8

"Whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked."

1 John 2:6

We have an expectation on us from God that we walk before him in a certain way. And it comes down to the intent and desire of your heart. It's hard to judge people's motives for what they do. Sometimes it's obvious, and sometimes it's not. But God can judge the intent of the heart, and Jesus lays it out:

"Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied."

Matthew 5:6

When I see unrest all over the place, when I see Israel constantly being browbeaten, it makes me, for lack of a better term, bummed out. What gets me going again is the hunger and thirst for righteousness. Hold on to that, all of us, and we will be satisfied.

A Verbal Walk with God

Jude tells us in verses 14 and 15 (Jude is only one chapter) that Enoch had a verbal walk with God. Enoch was an actual prophet:

"It was also about these that Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied, saying, 'Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousand of his holy ones, to execute judgment on all and to convict all the ungodly of all their deeds of ungodliness that they have committed in such an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things that ungodly sinners have spoken against him.'"

Jude 14-15

Enoch was the world's first prophet, and he preached to the people of his generation. He preached about the coming judgment and the need for repentance. He was a hard preacher with a hard message. He was saved, and he wanted others to know this God who saves people from his judgment. There's no evidence that he knew the judgment would come in the form of a flood, but he knew God was going to take care of some things.

What does that mean for us? As we pass through this world, we need to do so with the gospel on our lips. We must live out the truth, and we have to do what we can to tell others about Jesus.

Keep Salvation Top of Mind

But here's the number one thing you can do in a dying world: constantly have your salvation at the top of your mind.

Many of you know I worked in advertising for many years. The whole trick in advertising is to create what's called TOMA, top-of-mind awareness. When you hear radio ads and TV ads, the point is not to get you to buy anything right then. It's that when you need that product, it's the first name you think of. You don't need a plumber today, but then the sink blows up, and you remember the guy you hear on the radio, and you call him.

Or think of it this way. You just moved to town and you know nobody. A tree falls down in your backyard, and you need a chainsaw. We happen to be talking, and I say to you, "Hey, I know a guy who has five or six chainsaws, and he loans them out all the time." What are the odds you're not going to call that guy? Pretty slim, about 99.9 percent, unless something really stupid happens. You're calling that guy based on my recommendation.

It's the same thing with your salvation. I know a guy. I know a guy who took all of our just punishment upon himself, and he gives it away freely to those who come to him. Then he puts a thirst and a desire for righteousness in us.

Some of us can't even sort it out. We're trying to figure it out, so we go and study our Bible, and sometimes that's hard, sometimes it's easy, and sometimes it's incredibly encouraging. But the bottom line is that with salvation as top-of-mind awareness in our hearts, in a dying world, and with us planning to go saved and to go suddenly, life gets a little easier and your burdens become lighter. Jesus says, "My yoke is easy and my burden is light" (Matthew 11:30).

Why? Because in your top-of-mind awareness, you cannot get over the fact that the King of the universe who created you came and suffered and died in your place. It becomes so incredible that you don't even want to try to picture a heaven if Jesus isn't there. So we tell a dying world about our Lord.

What a Way to Go

Old Enoch had the right kind of plan. He left this world saved. He left it suddenly. And he left it serving the Lord. What a way to go.

How would you like to leave this world? If you had to leave today, would the people at your funeral be able to say that you left this world saved? And if death came suddenly, or if the Lord came again for his church, are you ready?

At the start I quoted two people who died without a good plan. Let me finish by quoting a couple of people who left with a good plan.

The great missionary David Livingstone said at the very end of his journey, "May heaven's rich blessing come down on everyone who will help heal this open sore of the world."

In 1998, Karla Faye Tucker, who had been convicted of a particularly gruesome and terrible murder, was executed. She had received Jesus while she was in prison. Before she died, she said this: "I'm going to be face to face with Jesus now. I will see you all when you get there. I'll wait for you."

Is that not a far better way to leave the world?

If there are problems with your plan, if there are problems with those three S words of saved, suddenly and serving, get them worked out. You'll be glad you did. And for those of us who have worked them out, let's live together in unity and in joy that we're saved, in spite of our weaknesses and in spite of anything else in our circumstances. It simply pays to be ready.