Sermons from Tim Reed

Focusing on the last words of individuals in scripture.

Jesus (duh).
“Into your hands I commit my spirit.” Obedience to God to the point of death could be a theme, maybe a look at martrys, starting in Acts. That same passage includes the bit with the temple curtain tearing in two, and another (or only) theme could be the reconciliation of God and humanity through the death of Christ.

Joshua.
Just before his death Joshua gathered together the people and had them swear to remain faithful to God. Themes include the necessity of faithful leaders for a faithful people (Joshua 24:31), staying faithful to God even when a majority of people surrounding you aren’t (Joshua 24:15), and the faithfulness of God to his people (Joshua 24:1-15).

Moses
Of course you’ve got all of Deuteronomy to choose from here so there’s 31 chapters of material to choose from. Deut. 6:4-7 is a good place to start, in there you’ve got monotheism, love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind and strength, as well as impressing the commands of God on your heart and passing it on to your children. That’s at least an entire sermon in and of itself. But you also have Moses prophesying that God will raise up another prophet like Moses, which of course, ends up being Jesus.

Stephen
You’ve got an entire chapter’s worth of Stephen’s last words here. Needless to say you’re not covering all of it. Sticking with the theme means going with Stephen’s really last words. Here you’ve got Saul (the future Paul) holding coats and looking on which opens the door for a discussion of Paul’s change of heart. What sets off Stephen’s murderers was his mention of Jesus at the right hand of God, which flows into a discussion of the centrality of Christ, and of course you have Stephen being faithful to the point of death.

Jezebel/King Saul
Cautionary tale time.

Solomon
You’ve got all of Ecclesiastes to choose from. The general theme is the meaningless of pursuing anything but God, and Solomon ends with this little gem:

Now all has been heard;
here is the conclusion of the matter:
Fear God and keep his commandments,
for this is the whole duty of man.

It practically writes itself.

I’m sure there will be more to come….