People often talk about “living in style.” I want to speak to you about “dying in style.” For 100 years Abraham has been living right. Now we come to the last chapter of his life and we find him dying right. I want to say two things about dying at the very beginning. First, all of we should plan on dying. Hebrews 9:27 says, “It is appointed unto men once to die.” Your death is as certain as your life. Secondly, we should prepare for dying. Since we are going to die, we should get ready for death. We should prepare for death so that we will not be afraid to die. The dread of death is removed by the Lord we know as Saviour.

We should be prepared for death so that we will not be ashamed to die. The despair of death is removed by the life we live as Christians. If a person will live right they will die right. If we want to leave as Christians without being ashamed, we should live as Christians without shame. John Wesley once said of his followers, “Our people die well.” When we look at the death of Abraham we see him dying well. As believers we should say, “I want to die well.”

When the last chapter has been written what will be said about us? I want us to look at the last chapter of Abraham’s life and there are 3 features that I want you to notice. These 3 features of his life we should want to be true about our life when the Divine author writes two words to our life’s story, “The End.”

First, notice with me:

1. THE FRUITFULNESS HE WAS EXPERIENCING

We read in verses 1-2, “Then again Abraham took a wife, and her name was Keturah. And she bare him Zimram, and Jokshan, and Medan, and Midian, and Ishbak, and Shuah.” We see 2 things occurring. Abraham is becoming a husband again and he is becoming a father again. He is around 125 or possibly older. Instead of hearing the squeak of a rocking chair, we hear wedding bells. Instead of leaning back and enjoying his golden years, he is surrounded by preschoolers. When it was about time to look at Nursing Homes, he was looking for kindergarten’s. Instead of wheelchairs, there were baby carriages.

Sarah has been dead around 20 years and now he remarries. Her name is Keturah, which means “incense” or “she who makes incense to burn.” She was a woman that added a fragrance to all she came in contact with. John Phillips says, She was the Old Testament Mary whose box of ointment, when broken and outpoured, filled her home with perfume."1  She no doubt brought a lovely fragrance to the last years of Abraham’s life.

Someone has said that optimism is a 90 year old man marrying a 20 year old woman and buying a house next to an elementary school. At well over 100, Abraham marries Keturah and she bares him 6 children. Even in his old age and in the closing chapter of his life, he is a fruitful man. As we look at his fruitfulness we see:

A. A Larger Fruitfulness

Abraham was 85 years old before his first child was born (Ishmael). He was 100 when his second child was born (Isaac). Having children at age 85 was cutting things close. It was in his desperation that Ishmael was born. When the second child was born at age 100, it was nothing short of a miracle. Romans 4:19 speaks of “his own body now dead.” At 100 he was past the age and ability of fathering children. When God does something He does it right. Here is Abraham well over 100 and he’s having children left and right. He’s got a cane in one hand and a camel seat in the other (They didn’t need car seats). Not only do we see him having 6 children, but we read of him having 7 grandsons, and 3 great-grandsons.

Here’s the point I want you to get. His most fruitful days were in the last years of his life. If the average Christian were honest, they look back to days that were more fruitful than the present. They can recall a time when they were doing more for God and a time when God was using and blessing them more. Abraham was more fruitful at the end than he was at the beginning. He started well but finished even better. That’s the way we should want to die; still bearing spiritual fruit till the day God calls us home. May it even be so that we are in the most fruitful days of our life when it is our time to go. 

John chapter 15 is the great fruit chapter. Jesus said, “Ye have not chosen Me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain.”  Here is the ordination of the nail scarred hands. We are to be fruitful. Furthermore our fruit is to remain. We are to never cease bearing fruit. 

There is also an interesting process and levels of fruitbearing that is described. Jesus talked about bearing “fruit” (Vs.16). Then He talked about bearing “more fruit” (Vs.2)  Finally there is “much fruit” (Vs.8). I think these levels of fruitbearing can be applied to stages in life. As a new convert we should bear fruit. As the years past and we mature we should bear “more fruit.” And as life has the years of spiritual experience and wisdom, we should bear “much fruit.” Jesus said in John 15:8, “Herein is My Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit.” 

Benjamin Franklin had only 2 years of formal schooling. But at age 25 he founded the first library in America. At age 31 he started the first fire department. At age 36 he invented the lightning rod. At age 40 he was learning how to harness electricity. At age 43 he designed a heating stove that is still in use today. At age 45 He founded one of the Ivy League Universities. At age 79 he invented bifocals. Conversationalist, economist, philosopher, diplomat, printer, publisher, linguist (spoke and wrote 5 languages). All this until age 84. He never stopped producing and making contributions.

Furthermore, we see: 

B. A Lasting Fruit 

Do you realize that Abraham’s descendants still are affecting the world today. Abraham’s fruit touches you and me. You take Isaac as the chosen seed. It was in his line that Messiah came forth. Our salvation in one sense is a part of his fruitful life. You take his life as Divinely preserved in the Bible. Right now he is bearing fruit as we study and consider his life. The fruit of his life remains. His life was of life of lasting fruit.

I think of D.L. Moody. A simple man, limited education, but oh how he was used of God. On one occasion someone approached him about writing his biography. He replied, “A man’s life should never be written while he is living. What is important is how a man ends, not how he begins.” I think of the inscription on his tombstone.  He is buried on a hill called “Round Top” behind his birthplace. His tombstone simply reads, “Dwight Lyman Moody. February 5, 1837 - December 22, 1899. He that doeth the will of God abideth forever.” Almost 100 years later his life is still bearing fruit. His life was one of lasting fruit.

May God help us to live in such a way that years and generations after we are gone, we are still bearing fruit. Secondly, notice with me:

2. THE FAITHFULNESS HE WAS EXEMPLIFYING 

Notice Vs.5-6, “And Abraham gave all that he had unto Isaac. But unto the sons of the concubines which Abraham had, Abraham gave gifts, and sent them away from Isaac his son, while he yet lived, eastward, unto the east country.” Abraham is settling his will and estate among his children. In doing so we see the disposal of his family and the dispersal of his family. The way he handles things is for the purpose of ensuring the succession of the covenant and the safety of Isaac. He gives all to Isaac and gifts unto the others. Everyone but Isaac is sent to live in the east country. In his actions we see a life of faithfulness. 

In his life of faithfulness we see him being:

A. Faithful To The Word Of God 

God had declared plainly and repeatedly that in Isaac would Abraham’s seed to be called. We read in Genesis 17:18-19, “And Abraham said unto God, ‘O that Ishmael might live before Thee.” And God said, ‘Sarah thy wife shall bear thee a son indeed; and thou shalt call his name Isaac: and I will establish My covenant with him for an everlasting covenant, and with his seed after him.” Also, we read in Genesis 21:12, “And God said unto Abraham, ‘Let it not be grievous in thy sight because of the lad, and because of the bondwoman; in all that Sarah hath said unto thee, hearken unto her voice; for in Isaac shall thy seed be called.” In his distribution of his wealth, giving it all to Isaac and sending the others away, he was making sure that it understood that in Isaac would his seed be called. Why? He was being faithful to the Word of God. 

That’s the way to live and that’s the way to die; being faithful to God’s Word. When I leave this old world, I want people to pass by and say, “He believed that book, he preached that book, and he lived by that book.” I have a poem hanging in my study entitled, “My Old Bible.” It speaks to my heart every time I read it.

Though the cover is worn,

And the pages torn,

And though places bear traces of tears;

Yet more precious than gold

Is this book, worn and old,

That can shatter and scatter our fears.

This old book is my guide,

Tis a friend by my side,

It will brighten and lighten my way;

And each promise I find,

Soothes and gladdens my mind

As I read it and heed it each day.

To this Bible I will cling,

Of its worth I will sing,

Though great losses and crosses be mine.

For I cannot despair

Though surrounded by care,

While possessing this blessing divine. 

One line in the poem grips my heart: “To this Bible I will cling.”  Being faithful, staying faithful, remaining faithful to God’s Word should be our hearts desire. 

I think of R.C. Eggars and one of the last visits I had with him. He followed me the gate and then choked up with tears and said, “Young man. Stay with the Book. It’s been my battle ax in many a war, my lamp on many a dark path, and a shelter in many a storm. Young man, just stay with the Book.” Stay with the Book! Good advice for us all.

Furthermore, we see in his faithfulness him being: 

B. He Is Being Faithful To The Will Of God 

Again, Abraham is acknowledging God’s will concerning Isaac being the seed of choice. He is being faithful to God’s Word and Will in his actions. George W. Truett said, “To know the will of God is the greatest knowledge; to find the will of God is the greatest discovery, and to do the will of God is greatest achievement.” I would add one more statement to Dr. Truett’s words: “To keep the will of God is the greatest pursuit.” 

One dear friend of G. Campbell Morgan wrote of him, “The dominant note of his ministry is the will of God, and I believe that the one desire of his heart is to ever live and work within the compass of that brief comprehensive prayer, ‘Thy will be done.’” 

One of my favorite stories is the story of the engineer of the Brooklyn Bridge. During its building the engineer was injured. For many months he was confined to his room. His gifted wife shared his toils and carried his plans to the workmen. At last the great bridge was completed. The invalid architect asked to see it. They put him on a cot and carried him to the bridge. They placed him where he could see the magnificent structure in all its beauty.

He scanned the work intently. His critical eye ran over the great cables, the massive piers, the mighty girders. He noted every detail carried out precisely as he had dreamed it in his dreams, and wrought out in his plans and specifications. And then as the joy of achievement filled his soul, and he realized that it was finished exactly as he had planned, he cried out, “It’s just like the plan; it’s just like the plan.”

Is your life just like the plan - God's plan? Lastly, notice with me: 

3. THE FULLNESS HE WAS ENJOYING 

We read in verses 7-8, “And these are the days of the years of Abraham’s life which he lived, and hundred threescore and fifteen years. Then Abraham gave up the ghost, and died in a good old age, and old man, and full of years; and was gathered unto his people.” The last words are spoken, the last breath is breathed, a life is over. But it is a life that ends in fullness.

Let me sum up Abraham's life in the: 

A. The Quantity Of His Life 

Verse 7 says that he lived 175 years. Vs.8 says that died in a good old age, an old man. He had been born just 2 years after Noah had died. He out outlived his wife Sarah by almost half a century. God had given him a healthy life, a happy life, and a honored life. But what was so great about the days of his life is that 100 of those years he had given to God. Notice carefully that Vs.7 speaks of the  “days of the years of Abraham’s life.” God had given him some 63,000 days and he had given 36,000 of them to God. 

We should want to give God every day we can. Furthermore, there is: 

B. The Quality Of His Life 

Notice in verse 8 the statement, “full of years.” It literally means, “satisfied with life.” He does not die an empty man but a full man. He does not end life with regrets but with rejoicing. Warren Wiersbe said, “How few people really experience joy and satisfaction when they reach old age! When they look back, it is with regret; when they look ahead, it is with fear; and when they look around, it is with complaint."2 

Another has said, “Just as anticipation is the dower of the young, so regret is often the possession of the old."3

I think of an old mountain song:

I want to die on the battlefield,

I want to die in the fight.

I want to die on the battlefield,

With glory in my soul. 

One does not have to come to the end of life filled with regrets and an empty heart. They can come to the end of life with rejoicing and a full heart.  We should want our Lord to be satisfied with us, and we satisfied with life. If we live right, we will die right. Abraham shows us how to die in style.