“The other [thief] rebuked [the first], saying, ‘Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? And we indeed justly, for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong.’ And he said, ‘Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.’ And he said to him, ‘Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise’” [LUKE 23:40-43].
“As they were stoning Stephen, he called out, ‘Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.’ And falling to his knees he cried out with a loud voice, ‘Lord, do not hold this sin against them.’ And when he had said this, he fell asleep” [ACTS 7:59-60]. [1]
Death fascinates us. We cannot avoid speaking of the last enemy, this final scourge of all mankind. Though death is the last thing we talk about, it is nonetheless inevitable. The Word of God speaks of some who die only to be condemned to eternal separation from the love of God. As an example, recall that Jesus related an incident that occurred when two men died. One of those men was a poor man named Lazarus. The other individual was a rich man, and though we are not given his name, it is obvious that he was well-known in his community. The Master related at the appropriate point in the account, “One day the beggar died and was carried away by the angels to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried. In the afterlife, …he was in constant torment” [LUKE 16:22-23 ISV].
In another week, we will celebrate the conquest of death! We’ll celebrate the Resurrection of our Master, Jesus, who is the Christ. He conquered death and brought life and immortality to light through the Gospel. Today, preparing our hearts to rejoice in Christ’s victory over death, hell and the grave, I ask you to focus on two men as they entered Heaven. We’d be inclined to say that one of those men should never have entered into the precincts of Heaven; the other man, we’d likely agree, surely merited being received into heavenly mansions.
Truthfully, no one deserves Heaven, no individual merits Heaven. We do not go to Heaven based upon our achievements or based on how we lived life, we are accepted into the glory of the Father solely on the merits of Christ the Lord. I daresay that most of us give little thought to dying, though we should meditate on what follows this life. The child of God should be aware of what God has promised and make preparation for that eventuality.
A gracious Christian woman was in a former congregation which I served. She loved God and longed for those about her to know the grace of Christ the Lord. Following the death of her first husband, she had married a gentleman some years later, a man who knew the language of Zion, though he seemed unable to sing the melody. Visiting in their home one evening, this gracious woman spoke to her husband, “Garnet, are you going to Heaven?” He was obviously startled by the bluntness of the question, but he recovered quickly and responded, “Of course.”
“Garnet,” she said again, “if you were going to Montreal, I would see you preparing for the journey. You’d gather your clothing and the things you needed. You’d pack a suitcase. You would plan your journey. You say you are going to Heaven, but I never see you making preparation for the journey. You never read your Bible and you never pray. It doesn’t look as if you are planning on going there.”
That was certainly blunt enough. She had really placed her finger on the issue that should touch each follower of the Christ. Her husband could only stammer until he had recovered enough to say, “I’m okay. I’ve done what I needed to do.” I performed his funeral about a year after that conversation. The only thing to which I ever heard him appeal was his membership in the Lodge. I could not speak of his faith; I was able only to point those who were in attendance at his memorial to the fact that all must give an account to the Living God, appealing for each one to ensure that they had made preparation for the inevitable journey.
I do invite you to consider the death of two men, deaths which are recorded in the Word of God. While I propose to examine in greater detail the death of one of these men in a later message, it is sufficient for this message to consider the response the One to whom these men looked in the message presented today.
DEATH IS INEVITABLE — Death is inevitable, but the manner of death is seldom evident beforehand. The statistics on death are amazing—one out of one die. I understand that people don’t want to speak of death; in fact, it is the last thing we talk about. I’ve certainly been condemned by some for speaking of death from the pulpit. My standard response is, “When people quit dying, I’ll quit speaking about death. But so long as they insist on dying, I will continue warning that death is coming.”
Some years ago, after one televised sermon that dealt with death, a woman living on the east coast sent a rather pointed E-mail that began, “Are you crazy? You talked about death!” I responded by assuring her that I was not crazy; in fact, I had papers proving my sanity. I continued by pointing out that a major responsibility for the preacher is preparing people to die!
The important truth about death is that whatever we will do in preparation for what lies beyond the grave must be done now. We aren’t given the luxury of anticipating that we will do something about eternity after death. We have no promise of a second chance beyond this day. While such a premise undoubtedly holds an attraction for the casual thinker, nowhere in the sacred writings do we have even the hope of such a thing.
I am always startled by the blunt language that the Son of God employed concerning this matter. Listen to the account of death for a couple of men Jesus told a group of Pharisees on one occasion. “There was a rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day. And at his gate was laid a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, who desired to be fed with what fell from the rich man’s table. Moreover, even the dogs came and licked his sores. The poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried, and in Hades, being in torment, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham far off and Lazarus at his side. And he called out, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus to dip the end of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am in anguish in this flame.’ But Abraham said, ‘Child, remember that you in your lifetime received your good things, and Lazarus in like manner bad things; but now he is comforted here, and you are in anguish. And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, in order that those who would pass from here to you may not be able, and none may cross from there to us.’ And he said, ‘Then I beg you, father, to send him to my father’s house—for I have five brothers—so that he may warn them, lest they also come into this place of torment.’ But Abraham said, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them.’ And he said, ‘No, father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent.’ He said to him, ‘If they do not hear Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead’” [LUKE 16:19-31].
Take special note of the TWENTY-SECOND AND TWENTY-THIRD VERSES: “The rich man also died and was buried, and in Hades, being in torment, he lifted up his eyes.” This man died, and immediately the scene shifts to Hades, the place of eternal banishment from the presence of God. He had no time for God in this life, but after death, too late, he sought God’s intervention!
I am sometimes asked to participate in memorial services for people who have died. Those who request my participation usually understand that I will point to God, reminding those who hear me that they must give an answer to Him Who lives forever. I will remind those who listen that the deceased has already discovered the truth that we are each accountable to God who gives life. If that is offensive, then people need to find someone else to conduct the memorial services. I must answer to the Living God, and I fear displeasing Him if I fail to warn those who hear me that though He now offers life, His wrath remains on those who fail to receive His grace.
There have been occasions when people requested my services and then raged against the message I would present. On one occasion a family asked that I provide a memorial service for a woman who had died. Her adult son and daughter asked for my participation. However, when I met with the family, the son immediately began to rage, shouting, “I don’t want no hellfire and brimstone sermon!”
I assured him that I was not in the habit of presenting “hellfire and brimstone” sermons at funeral services. He was not mollified continually shouting angrily that he didn’t want a “hellfire and brimstone” sermon.
I asked why he wanted a Baptist preacher to conduct his mother’s funeral. He responded, “She sent us to a Baptist church when we were children, and we want a Baptist minister.”
I assured him that I would be sensitive to his situation, but that because we were dealing with death, I would speak of our accountability before God, stating that each of us must give an answer to Him for our lives. However, this seemed to make him more agitated still.
He spoke of how a stock scam had financially ruined his mother, so that her last months were spent trying to recover funds that she had invested and lost, all the while his voice growing more-and-more strident. At last, he stood and raised his fists, shouting one more time that he didn’t “want no hellfire and brimstone” sermon.
At that, I stood and firmly stated, “If your mother had not died, I would feel no compunction to speak of our accountability to God. However, your mother had the audacity to die, leaving me but little choice to speak of the accounting that each of us shall give to the Living God. I will withdraw my offer of assisting so that you may find someone who will agree to your wishes. I do recommend that you not invite an Baptist minister. If they are true to their Faith, they will be compelled to warn of judgement to come and call those present for your mother’s memorial to consider Christ as Master over life. Good day.”
The man and his sister were dumbstruck, standing in silence as I exited the house. Later, I was informed they “hired” an infidel, a modernist minister who spoke of the mother’s welcome into Heaven and how pleased God was to have her with Him. He was only too happy to provide the service for an appropriate fee. I suppose they were satisfied, but they did not face the truth.
Discussing the situation with the funeral director who provided the services for the family, I was informed that he usually hired an Anglican priest who restricted himself to doing funerals. His fee was $500—cash in an envelope on the pulpit when he arrived five minutes before the service. He would leave immediately after providing a ten minute “sermon.” He guaranteed that he would speak of the departed as present with God and received into Heaven. He would assure the family that everything was good for their loved one. The funeral director informed me that this “minister” was so busy he couldn’t fulfil all the requests for his services!
After meditating on the futility of life, Solomon at last made a cogent observation when he wrote the following words: “Remember also your Creator in the days of your youth, before the evil days come and the years draw near of which you will say, ‘I have no pleasure in them;’ before the sun and the light and the moon and the stars are darkened and the clouds return after the rain, in the day when the keepers of the house tremble, and the strong men are bent, and the grinders cease because they are few, and those who look through the windows are dimmed, and the doors on the street are shut—when the sound of the grinding is low, and one rises up at the sound of a bird, and all the daughters of song are brought low—they are afraid also of what is high, and terrors are in the way; the almond tree blossoms, the grasshopper drags itself along, and desire fails, because man is going to his eternal home, and the mourners go about the streets—before the silver cord is snapped, or the golden bowl is broken, or the pitcher is shattered at the fountain, or the wheel broken at the cistern, and the dust returns to the earth as it was, and the spirit returns to God who gave it” [ECCLESIASTES 12:1-7].
There was a day when we Christians spoke of death. We who know the Master were once moved at the thought that people we know and people whom we love are dying. We were moved with compassion because we knew the time was short. Our hymns spoke of this.
Brethren, see poor sinners round you slumb’ring on the brink of woe.
Death is coming, hell is moving—Can you bear to let them go?
See our fathers and our mothers and our children sinking down.
Brethren, pray, and holy manna will be showered all around.
Sisters, will you join and help us? Moses’ sister aided him.
Will you help the trembling mourners who are struggling hard with sin?
Tell them all about the Savior—Tell them that He will be found.
Sisters, pray, and holy manna will be showered all around.
In that day, a day that has receded into the distant past, we passed from this life surrounded by our loved ones. As the dying person began that journey to unseen shores, they were surrounded by those who loved them, family members and friends who lovingly cooled the fevered brow and ministered to the body as strength drained from the body. As they struggled for that final breath there were friendly voices consoling them and gentle hands stroking them as life ebbed from their body. Things are quite different today.
Today, death comes while we are isolated in a sterile environment with tubes inserted into every orifice, machines breathing for us and machines prompting the heart to continue beating. Seldom do we pass from this life with a loved one present, someone who loves us holding our hand or insuring that the final words we hear will comfort us. Physicians and nurses, strangers who have never really known us, surround us, bustling with the busyness of ushering us out of this life. As we have hidden the reality of death as part of life, we are the poorer for the exchange we have made. We are no longer willing to prepare for the inevitable.
I’ve been challenged on multiple occasions by people complaining that preachers speak about death way too much. Usually, I inform the one challenging me that when people quit dying, I’ll quit speaking about death. However, so long as people insist on dying, I am compelled to remind those who hear the message presented at these memorials that we must each give an account to God Who gives us our life. It is only unpleasant for those who are both unprepared for the inevitable and unwilling to prepare for what must surely come.
THE PROMISE OF LIFE — In either instance under review today, individuals received the promise of life. One of those receiving the promise had walked in the knowledge of that life for some time. In the other case, the one receiving the promise of life had barely any time to rejoice in the promise he received. What we must see is that each did receive the life that was promised. It is of small moment to our eternal condition whether one has walked with the Master for long years or whether one is struck down immediately upon receiving the forgiveness of sin. I say this not as an excuse to permit us to trifle with the call to believe; it is a word of comfort for those who do believe. We know that God is just and that He will fulfil every promise.
We must not, as some imagine, think that we can live without seeking to know God and then plan at the last moment to believe in order to inherit the reward of life with Him. To be certain, the thief on the cross did believe, and he was received into Paradise. However, I remind you that there is only one person said to have entered heaven at the last moment. This is meant to give us hope that God does receive all who come to Him in faith; but there is only one so that none will presume. God is gracious to receive all who believe, but we do not know the hour of our death. We do not know at what point God will say, “Enough!”
We witness a strange phenomenon in this day. The message from multiple pulpits, perhaps the message from a majority of pulpits, is that the life God has promised is meant to be problem free now. A distorted message has been presented in which we appear to imagine that we will believe and there will be no problems ever. Paul was mystified at the response of the Corinthian Christians attitude concerning salvation and the Christian walk. He marvelled and wrote, “You are already full! You are already rich! You have begun to reign as kings without us—and I wish you did reign, so that we could also reign with you” [1 CORINTHIANS 4:8 CSB]! We do receive eternal life when we place our trust in the Saviour, but it should be obvious that this does not mean that we are free of the pressures and the pain that often attends this new life. We are not delivered from the trials of this present life.
Peter wrote a strange thing to people who had trusted the Saviour, and as result of their trust, they were suffering. Consequently, this suffering is the norm when we consider the vast sweep of history. Most saints have paid a price for trusting the Master. So, Peter writes, “This is a gracious thing, when, mindful of God, one endures sorrows while suffering unjustly. For what credit is it if, when you sin and are beaten for it, you endure? But if when you do good and suffer for it you endure, this is a gracious thing in the sight of God. For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps. He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth. When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly. He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed. For you were straying like sheep, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls” [1 PETER 2:19-25].
Grasp what Peter has said—it is to your credit when you bear up under persecution because of your faith! He follows through in this line of reasoning when he writes soon after this, “Even if you should suffer for righteousness’ sake, you will be blessed. Have no fear of them, nor be troubled, but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect, having a good conscience, so that, when you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame. For it is better to suffer for doing good, if that should be God’s will, than for doing evil” [1 PETER 3:14-17].
Graciously bearing up when we are persecuted is not pleasant, nor is it required of the Christian in every instance! Men are to defend their family against evil. Husbands are responsible to defend the honour of their wives. Peter teaches that husbands are responsible to show honour to their wives [see 1 PETER 3:7]. There is an entire sermon in this admonition, but for the purpose of this message, it surely means that we are to defend our wives and our children against evil. Men are to defend their children against unjust persecution; no man who wishes to be a man would tolerate someone abusing his child. Do you recall the stern statement the Apostle included in his first letter to Timothy? “If anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for members of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever” [1 TIMOTHY 5:8].
And we are each responsible to defend the vulnerable. Recall the admonition the LORD delivered through Isaiah.
“What to me is the multitude of your sacrifices?
says the LORD;
I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams
and the fat of well-fed beasts;
I do not delight in the blood of bulls,
or of lambs, or of goats.
“When you come to appear before me,
who has required of you
this trampling of my courts?
Bring no more vain offerings;
incense is an abomination to me.
New moon and Sabbath and the calling of convocations—
I cannot endure iniquity and solemn assembly.
Your new moons and your appointed feasts
my soul hates;
they have become a burden to me;
I am weary of bearing them.
When you spread out your hands,
I will hide my eyes from you;
even though you make many prayers,
I will not listen;
your hands are full of blood.
Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean;
remove the evil of your deeds from before my eyes;
cease to do evil,
learn to do good;
seek justice,
correct oppression;
bring justice to the fatherless,
plead the widow’s cause.”
[ISAIAH 1:11-17]
That final strophe that instructs those who would seek the Lord to “correct oppression,” to “bring justice to the fatherless” and to “plead the widow’s cause,” anticipates James’ warning. “Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world” [JAMES 1:27]. In short, those who actually know the Lord will reveal that knowledge through willingness to get their hands dirty in the messy business of actually defending the defenceless.
It should be obvious to all except the most obtuse individual, that there is a time to resist evil; there is a place for the people of God to refuse to allow themselves to be persecuted. To be certain, we are taught that we are not to resist persecution when it comes because of the Faith. When persecuted, we are to commit ourselves to the Master. Persecution is to be allowed by the child of God only when it arises because of our faith in the Son of God. The Master has taught, “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
“Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you” [MATTHEW 5:10-12].
I am confident that it is better to be righteous than it is to be unrighteous, to walk with the Saviour even though the world may be opposed to me. It is far better to be godly than to be ungodly, even though the reward for my godliness lies beyond this moment we know as “now.” The Apostle has presented the truth that weighs this position against eternity when he writes the saints in Corinth, “We do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal” [2 CORINTHIANS 4:16-18]. We who know the Saviour are focused on what lies ahead and not on immediate gratification such as the world teaches us to expect from life.
Is this not the meaning of Paul’s words in ROMANS 8:18-25? You will recall that the Apostle has written in that passage, “I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.”
We who pursue Christ’s honour must not sacrifice the permanent on the altar of the temporary; and that is what we do when we focus on the immediate to the exclusion of eternity. When we begin to console ourselves that a little compromise will make this life easier, imagining that it makes no great difference in our eternal condition, we are sacrificing the eternal for the transient. Those who watch our life, learning of Christ will be turned away from righteousness. Those who need our firm stance against wickedness in order to gain strength for their own will be deprived of the blessing that would otherwise have been conferred through godly firmness. Those who secretly depend on us for the revelation of God’s work in the lives of others will be cheated of the rich blessing that would have been theirs because we were consistent.
GOD’S INVITATION TO LIFE — The twin texts present the accounts of two men who were killed. One man was executed because of a criminal conviction—he was executed as a capital sentence was carried out. The other man was murdered by a mob howling for his death. The Word of God presents the account of the death of each of these men. As physical life ebbed from their mortal bodies, eternal life was being revealed to them. “[Jesus] said to [the penitent thief], ‘Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise’” [LUKE 23:43]. Even as stones pelted his body, the blows driving life from his body, the first Christian martyr exclaimed, “Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God” [ACTS 7:56]. Stephen saw the Son of God standing to receive him into Heaven!
Jesus our Saviour receives His people when they die. Indeed, the Psalmist has said:
“Precious in the sight of the LORD
is the death of his saints.”
[PSALM 116:15]
This particular verse echoes another verse found in the Psalms, a verse which informs us,
“From oppression and violence [God’s Messiah] redeems [the life of the needy],
and precious is their blood in his sight.”
[PSALM 72:14]
If we live only for what we can receive from this present existence, we lose everything when at last life has fled our bodies, for it is certain that we take nothing with us. As the Apostle has written, “We brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world” [1 TIMOTHY 6:7]. When the day comes that we must leave this present existence, life as we now know it shall have ended. If, however, we live for Christ and for His glory, this life is but preparation for eternity; and the Son of God shall stand to receive us at the last.
Is this not the teaching of Christ the Lord? Remember that our Saviour has taught us, “Do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.
“Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble” [MATTHEW 6:25-34].
The Master’s teaching in this instance anticipates something that Peter would write: “Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you” [1 PETER 5:6-7].
We who would honour the Lord must train ourselves to see this life as the anteroom to eternity; we stand on the doorstep of eternity. Think of that—this life is preparation for eternity. What we do now, the choices we make and our manner of life, is preparing us for eternity. As followers of the Lamb of God, we are responsible to so live here that we glorify His holy Name.
James, the brother of our Lord, speaks of viewing this life as preparation for what is to come when he writes in JAMES 4:13-5:8, “Come now, you who say, ‘Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit’—yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. Instead you ought to say, ‘If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.’ As it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil. So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.
“Come now, you rich, weep and howl for the miseries that are coming upon you. Your riches have rotted, and your garments are moth-eaten. Your gold and silver have corroded, and their corrosion will be evidence against you and will eat your flesh like fire. You have laid up treasure in the last days. Behold, the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, are crying out against you, and the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts. You have lived on the earth in luxury and in self-indulgence. You have fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter. You have condemned and murdered the righteous person. He does not resist you.
“Be patient, therefore, brothers, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient about it, until it receives the early and the late rains. You also, be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand.”
The Lord Jesus is coming to receive His own to Himself. And if His return is delayed, should we be required to pass through the tomb, we are confident that we shall die in the Lord. Those who die in the Lord receive a blessing. In the Apocalypse, John heard a voice from heaven, announcing, “Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.” He would add this affirmation to that pronounced blessing, “‘Blessed indeed,’ says the Spirit, ‘that they may rest from their labors, for their deeds follow them’” [REVELATION 14:13]!
The Apostle to the Gentiles testifies, and we draw encouragement from his words, “So we are always of good courage. We know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord, for we walk by faith, not by sight. Yes, we are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord” [2 CORINTHIANS 5:6-8]. Away from the body and at home with the Lord—that is a view that is foreign to many of the professed saints of the Lord, though this should be the prevailing view. Perhaps we preachers are the reason this is not the prevailing view. Perhaps we invest too much time attempting to equip people to live for the present, rather than understanding that we are destined to be eternally with the Lord.
We will remain and serve so long as the Master is pleased to employ us. We long for our heavenly home, but we know that we have responsibilities here. Paul struggled with this pull toward heaven. He wrote, “It is my eager expectation and hope that I will not be at all ashamed, but that with full courage now as always Christ will be honored in my body, whether by life or by death. For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me. Yet which I shall choose I cannot tell. I am hard pressed between the two. My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better. But to remain in the flesh is more necessary on your account. Convinced of this, I know that I will remain and continue with you all, for your progress and joy in the faith, so that in me you may have ample cause to glory in Christ Jesus, because of my coming to you again” [PHILIPPIANS 1:20-26].
One great reason we remain is to remind this dying world that the Saviour calls all people to righteousness. Paul continued in his instruction to the congregation in Philippi, “Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving side by side for the faith of the gospel, and not frightened in anything by your opponents. This is a clear sign to them of their destruction, but of your salvation, and that from God. For it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in him but also suffer for his sake, engaged in the same conflict that you saw I had and now hear that I still have” [PHILIPPIANS 1:27-30].
We have purpose in our presence here. We are to glorify the Son of God who redeemed us by living holy, godly lives. We are to live boldly, compelling the world to wonder at the source of our courage, so that some may seek the Lord who gives us that holy boldness. Our presence is a stern reminder to the lost that there is a distinction between us and them. They are destined for destruction, but we are destined for salvation. This is that eternal differentiation that cannot be explained but is witnessed in each generation. Child of God, your presence here has purpose. And when it pleases God to call you home, your dying will likewise be precious in His sight. When that day comes, the lost who witness your death will be compelled to wonder at the grace you receive and which you manifest. This will be evidence of God’s love toward you, perhaps calling some of those who witness that moment to turn to Christ in Faith.
Though it may be necessary for us to remain, our heart longs for our heavenly home. Christ prepared us for this and placed in our heart the desire to be with Him. I confess that I’m quite homesick, and the more so whenever I observe this broken, dying world. Squire Parsons hit just the right note with a great old song.
I'm kind of homesick for a country
To which I've never been before
No sad goodbyes will there be spoken
For time won't matter anymore
Beulah Land, I'm longing for you
And some day on thee I'll stand
There my home shall be eternal
Beulah Land, sweet Beulah Land
I'm looking now, just across the river
To where my faith, shall end in sight
There's just a few more days to labour
Then I will take my heavenly flight
Beulah Land, I'm longing for you
And some day on thee I'll stand
There my home shall be eternal
Beulah Land, sweet Beulah Land
Beulah Land, oh it's Beulah Land
Oh Beulah Land, sweet Beulah Land [3]
So long as God is pleased for me to be here, let me serve Him with my whole being. Then, let me go home to be with Him. Let me live the life of the righteous; let me die the death of the blessed. May Christ be glorified in me, and may others be turned to faith in Him as they witness how I live and how I transition from this present life to that life that is to come.
Long years past, the patriarch, Job, spoke for the one who follows the Saviour. He said,
“Then call, and I will answer;
or let me speak, and you reply to me.
How many are my iniquities and my sins?
Make me know my transgression and my sin.”
[JOB 13:22-23]
Ah, yes, Lord, my sins were great, but you have put them all away in Christ Your Son. How can I ever thank you enough? It must be that I shall live for You, for Your glory. Receive my praise, Lord.
The question I pose now is, “Have you made yourself ready for that inevitable day when you must give an answer?” He will call, and you shall be compelled to respond. Have you made yourself ready? Have you received Christ as Master over your life? Amen.
[1] Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. Wheaton: Standard Bible Society, 2016. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
[2] George Atkins, “Brethren, We Have Met to Worship,” from Spiritual Songster, 1819
[3] Squire Parsons, “Sweet Beulah Land,” Lyrics @ Universal Music Publishing Group
