Praise God from whom all blessings flow! Just a quick note to say this past Sunday was a blessings, starting with one being saved at church. I preached the funeral of a dear Christian lady who fought the battle with cancer for the last several years, and during the funeral two precious souls were saved.
The message was entitled: We Sorrow not as Others which have no Hope!
Taken from I Thess. 4: 13-18. Since we are saved by God's grace our sorrow is not like that of the unsaved. We will miss our loved ones and friends that go to be with the Lord. But we know that to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. Paul said since we know that " if we believe that Jesus died and rose again even them that sleep in Jesus will God bring with Him!"
Notice that the Paul used the word " sleep " to refer to the death of a Christian. Jesus used the same word when speaking of death, He said about Lazarus, " He sleepeth..."
Why did the Lord use this word to describe death?
Just a thought:
1. When a person is asleep, he is still living.
I may take a nap in my lazyboy on Sunday afternoon. If you will check real closely, I am still breathing and moving and yes, living!! And so it is, for those who are saved, Death is just a separation process, from this life to the next. We will live somewhere forever. And it depends what you have done with Jesus Christ that determines where you will be when you die. You will go on living either in Heaven with the Lord, if you trust Him as your personal Saviour, or in Hell if you reject Him as your Saviour. You will eternally live in torments. But you don't have to go to hell, Jesus died that you might have life and that more abundantly. Amen!
I may take a nap in my lazyboy on Sunday afternoon. If you will check real closely, I am still breathing and moving and yes, living!! And so it is, for those who are saved, Death is just a separation process, from this life to the next. We will live somewhere forever. And it depends what you have done with Jesus Christ that determines where you will be when you die. You will go on living either in Heaven with the Lord, if you trust Him as your personal Saviour, or in Hell if you reject Him as your Saviour. You will eternally live in torments. But you don't have to go to hell, Jesus died that you might have life and that more abundantly. Amen!
2. When a person is asleep, they are resting.
We need sleep at night so our bodies can rest and rejuvenate for the things we need to do the next day. God designed sleep as a way for us to get the rest physically we need. Proper rest will keep us healthy and going for whatever we need to do.
We need sleep at night so our bodies can rest and rejuvenate for the things we need to do the next day. God designed sleep as a way for us to get the rest physically we need. Proper rest will keep us healthy and going for whatever we need to do.
In death, our bodies go to an eternal rest, rest from the cares of life, rest from the sicknesses, pain, sufferings and trial of life. Thank God this one that went to be with the Lord this past week is at rest from cancer, no longer to suffer, no longer to go through the chemo and long stays at the hospital and no longer to endure pain and trials of this life. She is with the Lord Jesus and now
in a temporal body awaiting the glorious resurrection morning when she will reunite with her glorified body, and the Bible says where we will forever comfort one another with these words.
3. When a person is asleep, they must be awakened.
One of the worst sounds I hate is the sound of the alarm clock. I love to sleep, but it is necessary to wake up. You can't sleep forever, there is time when we must wake up. The same is true spiritually, we go to sleep in Jesus and we wake up on the other side of Heaven in the presence of the Lord! It is not talking about soul sleep, because the soul of the person goes immediately into the presence of the Lord according to II Cor. 5:1-8. Praise the Lord! Just think, when our loved ones died, they actually went to sleep here on this side of Heaven, and when they opened their eyes the next time, they were in the presence of the Lord of glory, they saw the pearly gates, the streets of gold, and the mansions in glory. Not rooms as the modern translations put it, no my friend, there are mansions there just like Jesus told us in John 14:1-3. He said if was not true, He would have told us! So we too, if Jesus tarries His coming, we have an appointment with death, ( Heb. 9:27 ) and we will go to sleep to wake up in the celestial city!!
One of the worst sounds I hate is the sound of the alarm clock. I love to sleep, but it is necessary to wake up. You can't sleep forever, there is time when we must wake up. The same is true spiritually, we go to sleep in Jesus and we wake up on the other side of Heaven in the presence of the Lord! It is not talking about soul sleep, because the soul of the person goes immediately into the presence of the Lord according to II Cor. 5:1-8. Praise the Lord! Just think, when our loved ones died, they actually went to sleep here on this side of Heaven, and when they opened their eyes the next time, they were in the presence of the Lord of glory, they saw the pearly gates, the streets of gold, and the mansions in glory. Not rooms as the modern translations put it, no my friend, there are mansions there just like Jesus told us in John 14:1-3. He said if was not true, He would have told us! So we too, if Jesus tarries His coming, we have an appointment with death, ( Heb. 9:27 ) and we will go to sleep to wake up in the celestial city!!
Do you know the Lord Jesus Christ as your personal Saviour? Why not right now, stop reading this message, and just get on your knees and bow your head and pray this prayer from your heart:
" Dear Lord Jesus, I know that I am a sinner. I have done wrong and I know it. My life is hopeless without you. Please forgive me of my sin and come into my heart and save me. I do now trust what you did on the cross, I ask you to cleanse me with your precious blood.
I believe you died for me, I believe you were buried for me and that you rose from the dead the third day so that I may be justified. Thank you Lord Jesus for saving me now.
In Jesus name, Amen.
Read Romans 10:9-13 and I John 5:11-13 and rely on those verses for assurance.
God bless you and let us know if you trusted Christ today!!
Pastor Taylor
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