Two Ways of Dying

A Sermon on John 8:21-24

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Scripture

John 8:21-24 ESV KJV

So he said to them again, “I am going away, and you will seek me, and you will die in your sin. Where I am going, you cannot come.” So the Jews said, “Will he kill himself, since he says, ‘Where I am going, you cannot come’?” He said to …

Sermon Description

What is the most important question anyone can ask? Christianity says that it is the question of how all will die. This is not the question of what way will they die, but it is the question of the state of the soul when they die. In this sermon on John 8:21–24 titled “Two Ways of Dying,” Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones explains how many simply wonder if they will die rich or poor, lonely or surrounded by friends, in war or peace. Yet, while these may be important questions, the most important is whether or not one is right with God. Jesus teaches that all who die in their sins and apart from Him will be condemned. While many may believe that they will continue to exist after they die, this is still wrong if it does not include the Bible’s teaching in the final judgment, resurrection of the dead, and necessity of believing the gospel. What, then, is the right way to die? Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones says that the only way to die in peace is to believe that Jesus is who He says He is, and that He has done what He has said He will. It is to believe that Jesus is the only savior of the world and that He has redeemed all those that believe in Him.

Sermon Breakdown

The words to focus on are in John 8:21 and 24. Jesus says “Ye shall die in your sins” and repeats it to emphasize its importance.
The Jews rejected Jesus despite his offer of light, knowledge, reconciliation with God, and power. This is the problem of humanity.
People don’t think about how they will die and the consequences of rejecting Jesus. They treat religion as a casual debate instead of something that determines their eternal destiny.
There are those who never consider death, think wrongly about death, or fail to think rightly about death in spiritual terms. They only care about the physical act of dying, not the state of their soul.
According to Jesus, there are only two ways to die: in your sins or in the Lord. Dying in your sins means dying as you are now, unprepared, not understanding what’s happening, realizing the things you lived for are worthless, feeling guilty, and glimpsing hell.
Dying in the Lord means dying at peace, not surprised, forgiven of sins, carried by angels, hiding in Christ, and entering into glory. The mode of death doesn’t matter, only the state of your soul.
We must consider how we are going to die and if we would want to die as we are now. We must come out of our sins and get into Christ. We can settle it now by believing in Jesus.

The Book of John

Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones

Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones (1899-1981) was a Welsh evangelical minister who preached and taught in the Reformed tradition. His principal ministry was at Westminster Chapel, in central London, from 1939-1968, where he delivered multi-year expositions on books of the bible such as Romans, Ephesians and the Gospel of John. In addition to the MLJ Trust’s collection of 1,600 of these sermons in audio format, most of these great sermon series are available in book form (including a 14 volume collection of the Romans sermons), as are other series such as "Spiritual Depression", "Studies in the Sermon on the Mount" and "Great Biblical Doctrines". He is considered by many evangelical leaders today to be an authority on biblical truth and the sufficiency of Scripture.