Help For The Hereafter And The Here And Now

“Hope Hereafter and Here and Now!”

Scripture Reading

John 14:1 Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me.

2 In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.

3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.

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I. The Comfort Offered to the Dying

a. A peace for the dying

No other passage of Scripture has brought comfort to the dying than this passage and make no mistake it is when we are dying that we need comfort the most! Even those with the strongest faith often times need a word to help them as they complete their earthly passage. Dr. R. W. Dale, one of the great ministers of a bye gone era lay dying it is said that a horror of great darkness fell upon him. This man who had established the faith of many thousands during a lifetime of ministry now found his own faith failing him. Thankfully we have a record of his triumph. F. W. Borehand tells us the story;

“It was a sad, distressful night in the early stages of my illness, the doctor said. The house was quiet, all the members of the family having retired to rest. Soon after midnight I awoke in great pain, and a terrible distress crept over me. I was full of fear. I did not wish to disturb my wife and daughters; they were worn out with anxious watching; so I lay silently struggling against the indescribable horror of an unknown dread. When the conflict reached its worst it seemed as through Christ himself came, and, standing close beside me, said:

1 Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me.

2 In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.

3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.

“That added the doctor, with a look in his face that was full of confidence and glorious hope, that steadied me, and I felt strong and safe in the love of Christ!”

These same words were read to Sir Walter Scott as he lay dying to which he replied “It’s a great comfort, a very great comfort!”

-- A.B. Simpson

Once my hands were always trying; Trying hard to do my best;

Now my heart is sweetly trusting, And my soul is all at rest.

Once my brain was always planning, And my heart, with cares oppressed;

Now I trust the Lord to lead me, And my life is all at rest.

Once my life was full of effort, Now ’tis full of joy and zest;

Since I took His yoke upon me, Jesus gives to me His rest.

b. A promise for the dying

The promise for us is that death does not have the last word. There is existence beyond the grave. This is a certainty and Jesus defines the nature of this life in the hereafter. There are many different teachings concerning life after death. One of the most popular is reincarnation that teaches that we live and die and are reborn in a new body over and over again until we reach a higher state of consciousness called nirvana or nothingness. This new body can be an animal or a human body. It is interesting to me that when you hear people talk about reincarnation they almost always are reborn in the body of some famous person, never a dog or a cat or something like that. This is a teaching that takes the individual from hopelessness to nothingness but Jesus offers us something better!

c. A place for the dying

The overwhelming majority of us will never see the inside of a mansion but we have that promise in this passage. There is “a place that is fairer than day, and by faith we can see it afar…” It is a comfort to know that the one who “made the worlds” has been at work preparing a place for almost 2,000 years for “those who love and serve Him.”

house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.

“Let nobody suppose, however, that these monumental words were designed for the special comfort of the dying. Such an assumption would be the very reverse of the truth. They were first uttered by the dying for the special consolation of the living. The redeemer of the world was turning His face towards the cross, and was comforting the desolate hearts of His disciples.”