"The wicked is driven away in his wickedness: but the righteous hath hope in his death." Proverbs 14:32
This is a passage that brings us face to face with what we might call “ultimate reality”. It is easy to think about life as being all fun and games, until we begin to consider death. It is easy to ignore wisdom and pursue our own agenda until we come face to face with the fact that we cannot ignore or escape death. In a world that has done its best to convince us that there are no absolutes, no one is so foolish as to pretend that the life that we now live will someday come to an end. The question this morning is not “Will you die?”, but “How will you die?” It is said of the wicked that they are overthrown in their own wickedness. The person, who thinks they will escape the consequences of a rebellious life, will find themselves overtaken in their own rebellion. There is no hope for the wicked. In the end they will find that their endeavors to try and prove God wrong will only confirm that He was right.
However, for those who are pursuing a life of obedience, there is hope in death. The sting of death is no longer a reality for the believer. The hope of the Christian is that death brings gain. Where is your hope today? Are you hoping that God’s Word will prove to be wrong, concerning your rebellion; or are you hoping in the person of Christ to guide you in this life and the next?