Reflections on the recent death of HRH Prince Philip

Text Hebrews 9:27 Time 04 03 21 Place Childs Hill Baptist Church

You will all be aware of the recent death of Philip Mountbatten, the Duke of Edinburgh, the husband of the Queen and the longest serving UK consort ever. In Scripture we are told (1 Timothy 2:2) to pray for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. Prince Philip was a bit unusual in this, in that he had no official role in leading the nation but, as the Queen's husband and right hand man, he was enormously influential. It is appropriate for us to note his passing then I think and to try and learn some lessons.

Firstly, it is a reminder that we are to pray for those in authority, including the Queen. We ought to pray for her and the family especially in their grief, as they mourn.

But then, secondly, it is a reminder that we too will all one day die. Few of us will reach the age of 99, as he did, but whether we do or not, we must all one day die and this recent death is a reminder of that fact.

So what I want to do is first just to remind you of some of the facts about his life and death and then take a text - Hebrews 9:27 where it says that ... people are destined to die once, and after that to face judgment. I want to ask three questions of the text.

So, as many of you know, Philip was born into the Greek Royal family on the Island of Corfu in 1921. While still young, his family was forced into exile so he ended up growing up in France, Germany and Britain. He went to a boarding school in the Scottish Highlands, called Gordonstoun, where the headmaster was a German refugee called Kurt Hahn. Hahn was an enormous influence on Prince Philip. During the war he served in the Royal Navy. In 1934 he first met Princess Elizabeth, as she was then, and in 1947 they were married. She was the oldest daughter of King George VI. The King died quite young and quite suddenly in 1952 and Elizabeth became Queen. She was only 26. Philip left the navy and after struggling to find a role threw himself into working for a variety of charities, in 1956 beginning the Duke of Edinburgh awards for young people, promoting Hahn's ideas. He was always a keen sportsman playing polo until he was about 50 and was still competing in the sport of carriage driving quite late in life. He also liked flying aeroplanes and sailing yachts as well as art.

Philip was born into the Greek Orthodox Church. Later in life his mother became an Orthodox nun. She was buried in Jerusalem. He, of course, was officially an Anglican. He was involved in the St George's Centre, Windsor, that in the sixties tried to bring together people from various walks of life to discuss religious and social issues. His work with the Worldwide Fund for Nature led to a fondness for inter-faith gatherings that focussed on conservation and green issues. Sadly, one never gets the impression that he had a personal faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. However, he apparently took notes when he heard a sermon and wanted to discuss it after and had a very good knowledge of the Bible. Apparently, it was he who encouraged the Queen to talk of her faith in her Christmas broadcasts, as she has since the year 2000. What a good providence that is.

One other thing, weirdly, you should know that there is a small village in the Pacific Island of Tanna, part of Vanuatu, where Prince Philip has long been revered as a god. It is based on a so-called prophecy that a mountain spirit’s peripatetic son would one day return to the island in the company of his powerful wife. It is one of the cargo cults that abound in the area.

So now to Hebrews 9:27 and the phrase ... people are destined to die once, and after that to face judgment. And then three questions. You will find these questions very interesting I hope because none of the multitude of news programmes has raised these questions, as far as I am aware.

1. Why did he die?

I don't mean what was the physical reason but what was the fundamental reason? The physical reason has not yet been disclosed.

The fundamental reason why Philip died, indeed had to die and was dying all his life, is the same reason we all have to die - because he was a sinner. We tend to think sometimes of death as quite natural but it is not. We must see that it is unnatural and alien. It is a great enemy. It only came into this world because of sin. Until there was sin, there was no death. The reason we die is because of sin, because we are sinners.

Now when I say that Prince Philip died because he was a sinner, what do I mean? I mean that he was a sinner in two senses.

Firstly, in the sense that he was born a sinner. Like all of us, Philip was descended from Adam and so genetically he was related to him and federally too. That is to say that Adam was his representative in the Garden, as he was my representative and yours, and so when Adam fell all his descendants fell too. Philip was born with original sin and with original guilt. He was born already condemned. He was born condemned to death because of the sin of Adam.

'But then Philip, like us all, was also a sinner because of his own personal sins. Now I don't know what those sins might have been. Whether he committed adultery or told lies or not; whether he misused God's name or kept the Lord's Day or not; whether he was covetous or hateful or not. What I do know is that there were sins. No-one who knew him has ever claimed he was perfect. A lot of very positive and appreciative things have been said since his death but no-one is saying that he was perfect.

"So", you may say to me, "if a person was not a sinner, he would not deserve to die?" That is so. The Lord Jesus Christ was without sin in that he was conceived by a virgin and he had no personal sin of his own. He did not deserve to die. He did die, of course, and the reason he did die was so that he might bear the sin of others - those who put their trust in him.

All who are sinners, have to die, as did Prince Philip. Indeed, the death of Prince Philip is something of a proof of this.

2. What happened after he died?

Hebrews 9:27 makes perfectly clear not only that we all die but also what happens after a person dies. It says ... people are destined to die once, and after that to face judgment. As soon as a person dies, they are judged. At the very moment they die God judges them and they are immediately consigned to heaven or to hell in their souls.

When the Lord Jesus comes again and all are raised from their graves, then there will be the more formal judgement - the fine detail of what was done and what was not done - but straight after death there is a judgement of the soul and, whatever happens to his body on earth, his soul goes directly to heaven or to hell.

And so when we think of the death of the Duke of Edinburgh then we know that his body will soon be buried - this Saturday. We do not know the full arrangements for that but they will become clear no doubt. At the same time, his soul is either in heaven or hell. There is no purgatory as Romanism teaches, no only heaven or hell. And heaven and hell last forever.

It is a sobering thought to think that in a moment you can die and once you die you are judged and you are then either in heaven forever or in hell forever. That is what the Bible clearly teaches, however, and expects us to believe, however difficult we may find it to accept.

So those two things then - Prince Philip died because he was a sinner. Immediately after his death God judged him and he was consigned either to heaven or to hell forever.

3. What does that teach us who are still alive?

The final thing I want to do is to ask what we can learn from this death.

The first and obvious thing is that we are all going to die. We are all sinners and so we will all die. Prince Philip was a very rich man (worth $30 M they say); he was a powerful man in many ways and he was a famous and a popular man and a man who lived a very long time. But he still died. And it is the same for all of us - however rich or poor you are, you will die; however powerful or powerless you are, you will die; however famous or popular or obscure and unknown you are, you will die; however long you live, you will die in the end. Therefore, it is wise to get ready.

When you die you will be judged. Your soul will immediately be in heaven or in hell the moment you die and you will remain there. You need to be ready for it. If you knew there was going to be a test or an exam some time soon then you would get ready for it. You know you are going to be judged - so get ready. How do I get ready? Whether you go to heaven or hell really depends on your trusting in the Lord Jesus Christ. If you trust in him he will save you.

Another thing to remember, as we have said, is that heaven and hell are eternal. This is not something you can afford to make a mistake over. I urge you to trust in Jesus Christ today.

Finally, we all need to be ready to die. We do not know how ready Philip was for death. He had a long time to think about it, longer than most. May be God will give you a similar length of time. It is more likely that he will not. We all need to be ready to die. Cf Matthew 24:44 So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him. Luke 12:35 Be dressed ready for service and keep your lamps burning, John 9:4 As long as it is day, we must do the work of him who sent me. Night is coming, when no-one can work. Are you ready?