Encouragement
Concerning people who are not ready to die, they might be classified in one of 3 groups:
1) The unsaved - not prepared to meet God
2) The unconsecrated - walking afar off from God and are ashamed to meet God.
3) The uninformed - erroneously afraid to die for they don't know what the Bible says about death...or if they know, they don't believe it as they should.
Nelson Price (pastor in Marietta, Ga.) wrote:
"I was scared to death of death.
Then I realized that death died the day that Jesus Christ arose from the grave.
He turned a 'death-dirge' into a 'Day of Delight' .....
and transformed a funeral into a festival."
In Revelation 21 and 22, God shares with us His 'No Mores in Heaven'.
1) No More Separation (Rev. 21:1-3)
Seas separate and when it says 'there will be no more sea' in Heaven...
we can be assured that there will be no more separation.
2) No More Death (Rev. 21:4)
Now death has a sting (I Cor. 15:55-57)...
but I Cor. 15:19-26 tells us that Jesus conquered death.
We must look at death as a friend and not as an enemy....
for the alternative to death is old age, pain, etc.
We can prolong quantity of life, but not quality.
It is selfish on our part to want to keep our loved ones here....
when they are physically and spiritually ready to go 'Home'.
3) No More Sorrow, Suffering, Pain and Crying (Rev. 21:4)
In life there are 2 kinds of sorrow....sorrow with hope. (I Cor. 15:12-19)...
and sorrow without hope (I Thess. 4:13f and Ephesians 2:12)
With Christ there is endless hope (Heaven)....
but without Christ, there is a hopeless end (Hell).
Atheist Robert Ingersoll spoke of 'hopelessness' at his brother's funeral when he said:
"Life is a narrow vale between the cold and barren peaks of two Eternities.
We strive in vain to look beyond the heights.
We cry aloud and the only murmur is the echo of our wailing cry."
The Apostle Paul said:
"To live is Christ and to die is gain....
and absent from the body is to be present with the Lord".
4) No More Danger (Rev. 21:10-27)
It tells about 'a great high wall in Heaven'
and Luke 16:26 speaks of 'a great gulf fixed between Heaven and Hell'.
Rev. 21:23-26 and 22:5 speak of:
'No Night There'...
No Fear...
No Insecurity...
and No Unknown.
Hence, Perfect Peace in a Perfect Place!
5) No More Hunger, Thirst nor Curse (Rev. 22:1-3)
No more toilsome labor, but rest and perfect fulfillment.
6) No More Defeat (Rev. 21:7 and 22:5b)
We will reign with Him.
Now we are free from the penalty of sin (Romans 8:1)...
and can (if we will) be free from the power of sin (I John 4:4)...
but in Heaven we will be free from the presence of sin.
Life is short at it's longest (Ps. 90)
B.H. Carroll said, "Life is like a great ocean. I just get my feet wet and it's time to die!"
Psalm 90:12 says:
"As long as we live, the important thing is to know God's Wisdom and Will, then do it".
While pastoring in Kona, Hawaii, we enjoyed snorkeling at Kahalu'u Beach not far from our church. We could wade out into the ocean and see very little, but when we went out 100' or more, we could see hundreds of of brightly colored fish.
But the Pacific Ocean (like Heaven) has so much more out there.
As long as we live, let us dive deeply....and live life fully.
Then in Heaven, there will be SO MUCH MORE than the NO MORES I've listed.
Heaven is one of the 'Riches of God' that He has reserved for you!
In his latter years, the great Preacher/Evangelist D. L. Moody said to a friend:
"Someday you will read in the paper that D. L. Moody is dead.
Don't you believe a word of it.
At that moment I shall be more alive than I am now.
I shall have gone up higher, that is all - out of this old tenement...
into a House that is Immortal."
During this Easter Season, I thought of:
Daniel leaving the Lions' den...
the three Hebrews leaving the fiery furnace...
Lazarus leaving the tomb....
and Praise the Lord, we can all tell about Someone Who left a tomb.
We had a good visit today from our nephew, Daniel, who lives in Puerto Rico.
He shared with us that he really liked the unique Easter card we sent him.
We got it at Hobby Lobby which is a Christian store here that takes out a full page ad at Christmas and Easter, telling how one can come to know Christ.
They (and the Christian Book Store next door, Mardels) are closed on Sundays.
On the front, it showed the stone being rolled away and the caption read:
NO ONE EMPTIES A TOMB LIKE JESUS!
*****************
'Christ Arose'
Robert Lowry (1826-1899) wrote both the words and the music in 1874.
"Lo, in the grave he lay, Jesus my Savior
Waiting the coming day, Jesus my Lord
Up from the grave He arose
With a mighty triumph or'e His foes
He arose a Victor from the dark Domain
And He lives forever with His Saints to reign
He Arose! He arose!
Hallelujah, Christ arose!
Vainly they watch His bed, Jesus my Savior
Vainly they seal the dead, Jesus my Lord
Up from the grave He arose
With a mighty triumph or'e His foes
He arose a Victor from the dark Domain
And He lives forever with His Saints to reign
He Arose! He arose!
Hallelujah, Christ arose!
Death connot keep his prey, Jesus, my Savior
He tore the bars away, Jesus my Lord
Up from the grave He arose
With a mighty triumph or'e His foes.
He arose a Victor from the dark Domain
And He lives forever with His Saints to reign.
He Arose! He arose!
Hallelujah, Christ arose!"
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