Illus: Doris Day that lovely woman and a great singer was so afraid of death she forbid anyone to talk about death in her presence.
But today we have to deal with this subject of death.
Since we are forced to deal with death today, let’s deal with it on the basis of God’s Word.
WHAT DOES GOD SAY ABOUT DEATH?
There are two verses of scripture that use to confuse me dealing with death as a young convert.
(1) One of them is Psalm 116:15 which states “Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints.”
The other one is…
(2) Phil 1:21 – “For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.”
Look at these two verses that are confusing
(1) The first word is “Precious”
(2) And look at this second verse that tell us that death is a “Gain.”
I was confuse also I did not see death as a gain but as a loss.
Later as a young ministerial student I thought how can I go to a family member that has lost a family member and tell them what has happened to their love one is precious.
The reason God can say the death of a family member or a friend is PRECIOUS and that it is a GAIN because when Christ said this he was looking at death from His perspective, not ours!!!
From His perspective death is PRECIOUS and it is a great GAIN.
HOW IS DEATH PRECIOUS and a GREAT GAIN?
I. We Gain a better body
We gain with a glorified, immortalized, resurrected body.
In this present body of clay we are subject to all the sorrows and tears that come with it.
Such as…
• Age,
• Sickness,
• Sorrows of life
• Tears of life
• Disappointments
And finally death is the inevitable end of this house made of the dust of the earth.
But in death it is PRECIOUS and a GAIN at our resurrection we gain is a better body, one that can:
• Never grow old,(Can I stop and say Praise the Lord)
• Never be affected by any kind of disease, (Aman)
• Suffer no pain, (Glory)
• And we can never die. (Halelujah)
We gain a better body.
When I heard of Rose Mary in the hospital I immediately began to pray for a miracle.
I woke up during the night and would pray for God to work a miracle and heal her.
Needless to say when my wife told me she had passed away I was disappointed that God had not healed her.
I was expressing this disappointment to the Lord. And God spoke to my heart and said I DID WORK A MIRACLE, I HEALED HER BUT AFTER I HEALED HER I BROUGHT HER TO HER ETERNAL HOME.
Heaven is a wonderful place to be.
Life is PRECIOUS AND IT IS A GAIN FOR US CHRISTIANS BECAUSE WE GAIN A BETTER BODY.
Also, heaven is PRECIOUS and is a GAIN because of us receiving a BETTER BODY also…
II. We Gain a better HOME.
Illus: We can drive around town and see some beautiful homes.
However, Rose Mary is enjoying her eternal home and there is no home in the world can compare to her new home.
I like that song that is titled, SOME CALL IT HEAVEN BUT I CALL IT HOME!
Look at the promise of our Lord in John 14:1-3. He has made to the believer…
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.
The longing of the Apostle Paul for his home in heaven is expressed in Phil 1:23 “For I am in a strait betwixt two, having a desire to depart, and to be with Christ; which is far better:”
I use to wonder why the Bible has more to say about hell than it does about heaven.
I think I know the answer. It is because:
(1) Heaven is incomprehensible.
Illus: Can you Imagine what it would be like to live centuries ago…
• Trying explain one day we are going to have airplanes carrying hundreds of people to other countries in a few hours.
• Trying explain that we will not need a horse buggy we will have cars that we can get into with air conditions.
• Trying to explain we will have television that we can see people in other parts of the earth.
• Trying to explain that we will have computers and no longer need a post office at the touch of a button we can send a letter to them.
• Trying to explain that we will have telephones that we can call and talk to family members and friends.
If we tried to explain to people before these things were invented they would think that we are crazy. THEY COULD NOT COMPREHEND IT.
And the reason God does not say more about heaven than he does is because we can not comprehend heaven.
If we could comprehend it we would be begging God every day to take us to our eternal home.
Death for us christians is PRECIOUS and great GAIN because:
I. We have a BETTER BODY
II. We have a BETTER HOME
And also…
III. We Gain a better INHERITANCE.
Our final reward is not here – it is in Heaven.
I do not know about you but when someone works for me…I PAY THEM!
The Lord Jesus does this sometime but at other times He waits till we get to heaven and He rewards us there.
But no one in heaven will be able to say I WORK FOR THE LORD ALL MY LIFE AND HE CHEATED ME OUT OF MY MONEY!
When we get to heaven we will receive a reward for every thing we did for Him.
Rose Mary was MISS SUNSHINE and brought to everyone she met in this church a smile.
Death for us Christian is PRECIOUS and great GAIN…
We have a better BODY
We have a better HOME
We have a better INHERITANCE
An also…
IV. We Gain a better FELLOWSHIP.
All of us live in this world of a dissolving family circle.
Illus: Mother is gone – Father is gone, or a child is gone, or our beloved grandparents are gone, or a close friend is gone.
But the circle is unbroken in Heaven forever and ever.
There is no death there, no sorrow or crying or pain, for these former things are passed away.
Jesus is there.
If “for me to live is Christ,” then to die is gain.
• If for me to live is money – then to die is loss.
• If for me to live is self – then to die is loss.
• If for me to live is ambition – then to die is loss.
• If for me to live is sin – then to die is loss.
• But if for me to live is Christ – to die is gain.
Now I understand why God Tells us death is PRECIOUS and is a GAIN.
I. We have a better BODY
II. We have a better HOME
III. We have a better INHERITANCE
IV. We have a better FELLOWSHIP
Before I close I would like to make some personal comments about Rose Mary.
(1)Rose Mary was 3 years old when her brother Richard went into the army. Most of their life they have had no time to know each other. When Rose Mary came to live with Richard after his wife Shirley had died this brother and sister made up for the time they were separated.
(2)Richard is a wonderful Caretaker. He provided a home for her and took care of her like she had never been taken of before.
(3)Rose Mary loved flowers and spent a lot of time in their yard.
(4)Rose Mary was MISS SUNSHINE. When she walked into church every she greeted and hugged everyone.
(5)She had a special gift of making me as a pastor feel that I was the best pastor in the world.
(6)She enjoyed the special singing here at the First Baptist tremendously.
We as individuals and as a church family will miss her greatly!!!
But we look forward to seeing her again when the Lord raptures his church.
