Volume 1 - page 61 - funeral of Mrs. Moderow Daniel 7:27
Then the sovereignty, power and greatness of the kingdoms under the whole heaven will be handed over to the saints, the people of the Most High. His kingdom will be an everlasting kingdom, and all rulers will worship and obey him.’
Some come to a funeral with no other interest than to look at the dead. The Word of God teaches His children to look beyond death, as St. Paul says, “I would not have you to be ignorant, brothers, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope.” We cannot ask the dead of the beyond, but we have a view of the beyond, a sure view, an authentic and true description in God’s own revelation, the Bible. Our test gives us a view of -
The Inheritance of the Saints
Let us notice first what this inheritance is according to the description given here. He says, “The kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints of the Most High.” The saints shall inherit a kingdom. That is not a small price of the earth as the kingdoms of the earth now are. U.S. seems (a blessed?) country and plenty for any one to inherit, yet the kingdom of the saints shall be larger, for he says the kingdom under the whole heaven.
According to our earthly knowledge and cause we would expect God to do as he did when Israel inherited the promised land when each was given a certain piece and section by lot. That may be necessary here where sin and unrighteousness dwells, lest they quarrel about their property. The eternal kingdom of God should not be divided them but be given to them all, to each individually and to all collectively. And we know there will be no quarreling, for God should create a new heaven and a new earth when righteousness shall dwell. In the first Christian church even here on earth it says that love was so great among its members that they had all things in common and no man called anything his own, even as it is in a family. Shall it not be more so in the kingdom of God which the saints inherit?
And in this kingdom they shall not merely be subjects and subjects to it’s laws, but have dominion under the whole heaven. Dominion means rule. They shall rule even as a king rules, each and every one. A full and complete dominion shall it be. Even a king on earth has not complete dominion. His rule is hampered on all sides and most please his subjects otherwise he totters unstably on his throne. Their dominion shall be complete, because it is the dominion of love.
It should be a great kingdom, for he says, the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven. Few people, yea no man living has ever compassed the whole earth. They may travel around the world to every country, yet there will be many spots on earth that they have not seen and cannot see as they die. And who has explored the heavens? But of the inheritance of the saints it says, the greatness of all shall be theirs to traverse and explore to inhabit.
This is one everlasting kingdom, for it says, “Whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom.” As you read history, you see how kingdoms come and go and the maps of the world must be changed from one generation to the other. What our forefathers learned in their geographies is out of date today, because the kingdoms do not last, (armies) come and take it away. The kingdom of the saints should be everlasting and never taken away, as Jesus said to Martha. Mary has chosen that good part which shall not be taken away from her.
Surely we have all reason to seek this kingdom above all things and it should give us comfort over those who through death have passed into this everlasting inheritance.
II.
But we may ask: Who are the saints that shall receive this inheritance. Who on earth can lay claim to that title, a saint? For saint means a holy person without sin. We call the apostles saints. The apostles in writing to the congregation called them saints, but were they truly such and without sin: The apostle Paul says: I know that in me, that is in my flesh dwelleth no tgood thing, and again he says: There is no difference, all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.
Thus gaging man by the glory of the Lord by what God in the law and Ten Commandments calls right and wrong, holy and unholy, there are no saints on earth, more that can lay claim to such holiness which comes out of the deeds of the law. But those called saints in Scripture are gaged by the cross of Christ: through the blood of Christ their sins are taken from them, as John says, “the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sins. They have part of the old man and crucified the flesh and put on the new man which often God is created in righteousness and true holiness. Therefore when John had a glimpse of heaven and saw the saints there, the angels told him. These are they which are washed in the blood of the lamb, the lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world.
And how many saints are there such who will inherit this kingdom? In revelation it says something about 144,000 and a man once asked who those 144,000 were. I know not. I only know that there will not be such a small number humanly speaking, for the same book says, the saved shall be a multitude whom no man can number out of all people, tongues, and nations. Surely we could number 144,000. The number points to a plain fact that God has numbered them and knows the number and has chosen the number, as the Bible says, the Lord knoweth His own and Jesus says no man can pluck them out of my hand. If we look at it then in Scriptures own light it is rather a comforting than a disturbing truth.
Therefore we bury this body with the honor and hope of a saint, giving it into the ground unto the resurrection of the dead in the hope of everlasting life, for she also believed in the Lord Jesus and loved this Word and Scripture says, “Whoever believeth = His shall not be confounded.”
