In Christian eschatology, the Four Last Things are Death, Judgment, Heaven, and Hell, the four last stages of the soul in life and the afterlife. They are often commended as a topic for pious meditation; Saint Philip Neri wrote, "Beginners in religion ought to exercise themselves principally in meditation on the Four Last Things". Traditionally, the sermons preached on the four Sundays of Advent were on the Four Last Things.
Hieronymus Bosch's 1500 painting The Seven Deadly Sins and the Four Last Things. The four outer discs depict (clockwise from top left) Death, Judgment, Heaven, and Hell.
A sermon is a religious discourse or oration by a preacher, usually a member of clergy. Sermons address a scriptural, theological, or moral topic, usually expounding on a type of belief, law, or behavior within both past and present contexts. Elements of the sermon often include exposition, exhortation, and practical application. The act of delivering a sermon is called preaching. In secular usage, the word sermon may refer, often disparagingly, to a lecture on morals.
A Roadside Sermon by John Pettie
The Sermon on the Mount by Carl Heinrich Bloch, 1877
Martin Luther Preaching to Faithful (1561)
A Reformed Christian minister preaching from a pulpit, 1968