“If you want to change the world, pick up your pen and write.” Martin Luther

Friday, November 5, 2010

Death and the Christian (Part 2)

Now we come to how we as believers deal with others that die. It is a different consideration altogether from dealing with our own mortality. But, that said, the two are undoubtedly connected. When people you know and love die it will often lead to some consideration of your own mortality and the mortality of others you love but have not yet lost. Yet, how should we view their deaths? I hope the following consideration will help.

First, let us consider the death of others that are not saved. This is, or should be, the hardest to deal with. If we have loved them then I have no doubt we have striven for their salvation. That may have taken on different forms from witnessing to them, praying for them, and simply being there to let them know you care about where they will spend eternity. So, whether an unexpected death or a protracted passing, there is a huge let down when they go. Not just because you have lost someone you love, but because you know they are now beyond help, they are now cemented in hell never to repent and turn to Christ and this, to the believer, is the most pitiful condition a soul could have. But you have to let them go. No longer are you able to witness to them and it is certain they are not in heaven looking down upon you as the world would like to believe. I think we have a wonderful example of this concept in the story of David and Bathsheba. David's illegitimate child has been cursed by God as punishment for his sin with Bathsheba and her husband Uriah. When the child becomes sick David is inconsolable and none can convince him to do anything except pray and fast. But as soon as the child dies he gets up, cleans himself up, and gets prepared to resume life. His servants are troubled and astonished at his behavior and they ask him why he is acting like this. His response is clear and it is appropriate for us as well, especially in dealing with the death of lost people we have loved. He says in 2 Sam. 12:22-23, "While the child was yet alive, I fasted and wept: for I said, Who can tell whether GOD will be gracious to me, that the child may live? But now he is dead, wherefore should I fast? can I bring him back again?" This doesn't mean that there won't be emotional concerns in dealing with the loss. So grieve as is natural for you to do and move on; but, dwelling on their condition will not change anything for them and will most certainly be a stumbling block for you. This, as in all things, must be handed over to the Lord knowing that His will is perfect and it has come to pass.

Second, we have the death of loved ones who were saved. This is by far the more desirable position to be in. Once again, there is going to be a sense of loss; emotion is a reality for all of mankind. But the perspective is entirely different here. Here your sadness is for your loss exclusively. There is no way it can be for them for they are now where you are waiting to be. They have finally been called home and you can rest assured knowing that nothing on this earth, including you, will ever give them the slightest desire to come back. Nothing here can compare to the blessing they have there. Finally they are with our Lord, finally they worship by sight and not by faith, finally the struggles with sin that pain us all are gone from them. I have thought that one day it will be really amazing to sit down with the Apostle Paul, with Moses, with Solomon, with David, with John Calvin, and John Knox, and just speak with them. But even that will not compare with being in the blessed presence of my God never to be separated again. And this, dear friend, is where your saved loved one has gone. Rejoice for them in spite of your loss. For you have the added benefit of David's ending sentence in the aforementioned passage. He says, "I shall go to him, but he shall not return to me." We will see them again in heaven with all of the saints of all of the ages for all of the rest of eternity. It is as if they moved to another country and lost contact yet you know that one day you will meet again. Because only the saints can say with certainty, only the saints can confidently cry, "O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?" (1 Cor. 15:55) Rejoice for them, and rejoice for you, knowing that death has not truly torn you apart and that one day you will share in the richest privilege of all and be with our Lord in heaven.

Tuesday, November 2, 2010

The Struggle With Sin

[...] religious exercises are very much modified by the temperament, and in some cases, by the idiosyncrasy of the individual. The liquor put into an old cask commonly receives a strong tincture from the vessel. Old habits, although a new governing principle is introduced into the system, do not yield at once; and propensities, apparently extinguished, are apt to revive and give unexpected trouble. It is a comfortable thought, that these bodies cannot go with the saints to heaven until they are completely purified. - Archibald Alexander "Thoughts on Religious Experience"

Be ever vigilant that the Old Sin Nature is not an enemy unknown; for the life you live in Christ has made you a New Man, but not yet a sinless man. Yet sanctification has its work and it prepares us for heaven when this battle with sin will finally be over and with Christ we will reign victorious. Actively live your life seeking to mortify sin and to glorify God in all that you do.