Encouragement

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I've almost quit reading the obituaries, for many are younger than my 76 yrs. If we don't watch it, that which is a reality (death) can become an obsession and we miss LIFE, which is 'reality' right now! We personally, have had an abnormal amount of tragic deaths of friends and acquaintances within the past 2 weeks, so death and dying have been very much on our minds.

The 23 yr. old daughter of our son Kyle's boss, was murdered last week in Florida.

A 37 yr. old friend of our's in Hawaii was killed this past week when he was hit by a van. Randy, a paraplegic wheelchair athlete, was a 2 time winner of the Ironman Triathlon handcycle division there in Kona. We praise God that Randy knew Christ as his Savior!

A medical Dr. on Kauai (who had preached at his church last Sunday) was stabbed to death by a man he was trying to help. Dr. Kern's last words were asking God to 'forgive this man'. (We would ask your prayers for Dr. Kern's wife, as she witnessed her husband's death)

I'm sure that you have also experienced tragedies within your own family and community. Our prayer is that today's words will help as you seek to minister to those in pain and sorrow.

Psalms 90 speaks of the shortness of life in verse 1-9.
Then verses 10-12 "The days of our years are seventy and if by reason of strength, they be eighty, yet there is strength for labor and sorrow, but it will end and we will fly away. So teach us to number our days and apply our hearts to wisdom which is God's Will and God's Way."

I've shared with you readers Psalm 46 on 'God is my present help and my eternal hope'. I Corinthians 15 is such a great chapter on the Resurrection of Jesus, backing up what Psalm 46 says and underlining all of God's Promises for Now...and Then!
I Corinthians 15:55-58 lays it out very plainly that "death does have a sting and the grave seems to have a victory. But thanks be to God, Who gives us the Victory by way of our Lord, Jesus Christ. So, we should be steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, for we know that our labor is not in vain in the Lord."

For the rest of this paper, let me share two things:
The Much Mores of God NOW.....and the No Mores of God THEN!

1) The MUCH MORES of God NOW (Romans 5)
Verse 9: "MUCH MORE then, being now justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him.

Verse 10: "MUCH MORE, though once we were enemies, we have now been reconciled and saved. (Sounds good, huh?)

Verse 15: "MUCH MORE, the grace of God has been given to us through Jesus Christ." By receiving the Grace of God, we receive righteousness through Christ. (See verse 17)

Verse 20-21: "But where sin abounded, grace did MUCH MORE abound; that as sin has reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto Eternal Life by Jesus Christ, our Lord," See further study on The Sufficiency of God's Grace in Ephesians 2:8; I Cor. 15:10; II Cor. 3:4-5; II Cor. 8:9 and II Cor. 9:8)

2) The NO MORES of God THEN (Heaven) Revelation 21 and 22
Verses 1-3: "The NO MORE of separation". 'Sea' seperates.....and when it says, "no more sea", we can be assured there will be no more separation.

Verse 4a: NO MORE death, for Jesus conquered (by His crucifixion and resurrection) sin, death and the grave. We must look at death as a friend and not as an enemy.

Verse 4 b: NO MORE sorrow, suffering, pain and crying. There are two kinds of sorrow: Sorrow with hope (I Cor. 15: 12-19), and sorrow without hope (I Thess. 4: 13-18 and Eph. 2:12) In Christ, there is endless hope! Doesn't that sound better than 'hopeless end'?

Verse 10-27: This tells of a great high wall in Heaven. It also speaks of 'no night there', with no fear, insecurity, or the unknown. What we have there is Perfect Peace in a Perfect Place!

Rev. 22: 1-3: NO MORE toilsome labor, but rest and perfect fulfillment as we serve our Lord, Who so graciously saved and served us!

Rev. 22: 5b: NO MORE defeat (see also 21:7) Now we are free from the penalty of sin (Rom. 8:1) and can if we will, be free from the power of sin (I John 4:4), but in Heaven, we will be completely free from the presence of sin.

CONCLUSION:
Concerning death, people can classified in one of three groups:
The Unsaved, not prepared to meet God;
the Unconsecrated - walking afar off from God and are ashamed to meet God;
the Uninformed who are 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 said, "I was scared to death of death. Then I realized that death died the day that Jesus Christ arose from the grace. He turned a 'death dirge' into a 'day of delight' and transformed a 'funeral into a festival'." Contrastly, Robert Ingersoll, an atheist, speaking at his brother's funeral 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, "For me to live is Christ and to die, is gain." (Phil. 1:21) He also said, "To be absent from the body, is to be present with the Lord." So, make up your mind....which sounds better?

Please live now, with Eternity in mind (Heaven IS a reality) and don't lose in life, by making death an obsession. Quantity of life is good, but quality of life is better....and Jesus is to be Lord of Both!

Oh, by the way.....the ONLY way we won't die, is for Jesus to come, and He WILL one day!
More on this later, concerning His return.

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