I want to begin our service tonight
by reading two verses of scripture to you, and then we'll go to
our text. The first one is in Revelation
14. Turn with me if you would there
to Revelation 14. Revelation 14 verse 13 says, And I heard a voice from heaven
saying unto me, Write, Blessed are the dead which die in the
Lord from henceforth. Yea, saith the Spirit, that they
may rest from their labors, and their works do follow them. Blessed
are the dead which die in the Lord. Blessed are the dead which
die in the Lord. That's gonna be the theme of
our message tonight. We're gonna worship our Lord
tonight. First and foremost, that's what we're here to do.
That's what our sister Juanita would want us to do. There is
no doubt in my mind that that is, there's no doubt in your
mind that that's what our sister Juanita would want us to do. We're here to worship our Lord.
And we're gonna do that in light of the blessing that our Lord
gave to our sister in calling her home to himself last Wednesday
afternoon. Blessed, blessed, oh how blessed are the dead to us by the way
that we see things. Blessed are the dead which die
in the Lord. And it's because of this reason
right here. Here's the second scripture. Turn with me to Psalm
116. Psalm 116 verse 15 says, Precious in the sight of the
Lord is the death of His saints. I think about that when one of
our believing loved ones is called home. I think about the interaction
between our loved one and our loving Lord. Do you ever think
about that? Do you ever think about that moment? It's so exciting to us. It's
so the thought of it. We know it's going to be so exciting
to us. It's going to be so relieving
to us. What a moment that is for us. What a moment that is. But I
love thinking about and knowing and realizing that. That moment
is just as precious to our Lord. As it is to us. Verse 15 says, Precious in the
sight of the Lord is the death of His saints. Now every death
is not precious in the sight of the Lord. Not every death
is precious. It doesn't say that. It says
the death of His saints is precious in His sight. In Revelation 14, it did not
say, blessed are the dead which die. Just because a person dies, that
does not mean that was a blessed person, even though I've never
been to a funeral where the person didn't go to heaven and everything
wasn't all better now, and I've never been to a funeral like
that. But just because a person dies, That does not mean that
was a blessed person. Lest are the dead which die in
the Lord. Lest are the dead which die in
the Lord. That's what a saint is. A saint
is a soul that has been placed by the Father in the Lord Jesus
Christ. When the Father made all of His
souls and created all of His souls. And one of these days
every soul that God created and gave is going to go back to the
God that gave it. And on every soul that he was
pleased to do so, every sinful, wicked soul, the Father took
one of them, and he set it right there inside the Lord Jesus Christ.
And he took another one, and he set it right there inside
the Lord Jesus. That's a saint. A saint is a soul that has been
placed in Christ, and what a blessed person that is. What a blessed
person that is. Blessed are the dead which die
in the Lord. I want to take a minute tonight
and see what that truly means. What is it? What does it mean
to die in the Lord? What does that mean? What is
it to die in the Lord? All right. Turn with me to our
text. And while you turn there, I'll
tell you why this is our text. This is not not a standard text
for a service like this. But I'll tell you why. Go to
Romans 15. Romans chapter 15. I have known for years that our sister Juanita had and
listened to a lot of CDs. Message, you know, preaching
CDs. from many different true preachers. She had a lot of them from my
dad, a lot of them. For years she was on their mailing
list and she got CDs every week and she would tell me, I just
listened to this message by your dad the other night. I knew she had a lot of CDs,
but I just didn't have a clue how many it truly was. That's
the part I didn't know. Hannah and myself and Daniel
Moody and Stan, we were over at Juanita's house on Monday
getting a few things. Karen and David lovingly passed
out some of Juanita's things. We got some things for the church.
David met us over there and in Juanita's garage was a big pile
of plastic tubs, a bunch of plastic tubs, clear plastic tubs. And
David told me, he said, these are all the tubs that held all
of Juanita's CDs. He said all of them were completely
full of CDs. And I said to him, I said, are
you serious? He said, yeah, I'm serious. She
listened to CDs all day, every day, and every night. And her
compliment to you, she used to tell me, I fell asleep listening
to you on CD. You know, and I take that as
I put her to sleep. That's not what she meant. She meant I listened
and listened and listened until I just couldn't listen anymore.
That's what she did. She listened to her CDs. Well, what led to Juanita going
to the hospital was Karen went to Juanita's house to check on
her and she walked in the front door and Juanita was laying there
in the floor holding onto a CD she had just listened to. And Karen, seeing her, rushed
over to her, trying to figure out what's going on. What's happened? Is she OK? And Karen said the
whole time Juanita was just trying to give her the points of this
message, this message she just heard, trying to tell her all
about this message. Karen's trying to figure out, are you OK? What's
going on? And she said, I couldn't get any information out of her
because she wouldn't stop talking about this message. That touches my soul. That touches my soul. Karen told
me that, I thought, how glorious is that? How glorious is that? The CD that Juanita was holding
when Karen found her is on my desk right now. David and Karen
brought it to me last Sunday. They said, we thought you'd like
to see the CD that the story came from. It was a message from
my father titled. Be ye like minded. And I will
tell you this, I want to be like minded. The text was from Romans 15. Versus four to eight. And I turned
over here, and I read those verses and a few more, and I thought,
that will be a wonderful text for us tonight. Let's read the
first 13 verses here, okay? Romans 15, verse one, it says,
we then that are strong ought to bear the infirmities of the
weak, and not to please ourselves, Let every one of us please his
neighbor for his good to edification. Now watch verse three. For even
Christ pleased not himself, but as it is written, the reproaches
of them that reproached thee fell on me. For whatsoever things
were written aforetime were written for our learning. that we through
patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope. Now the God
of patience and consolation grant you to be like minded one toward
another according to Christ Jesus. That you may with one mind and
one mouth glorify God, even the father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
Wherefore receive ye one another as Christ also received us to
the glory of God. Now I say that Jesus Christ was
a minister of the circumcision for the truth of God to confirm
the promises made unto the fathers and that the Gentiles might glorify
God for his mercy. As it is written for this cause,
I will confess to thee among the Gentiles and sing unto thy
name. And again, he saith, rejoice
ye Gentiles with his people. And again, praise the Lord, all
ye Gentiles, and laud him, all ye people. And again, Isaiah
saith, there shall be a root of Jesse And he that shall rise
to reign over the Gentiles, in him shall the Gentiles trust.
Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing
that you may abound in hope through the power of the Holy Ghost. Verse seven right there said,
wherefore receive ye one another as Christ also received us. to the glory of God. Think about
that. Christ also received us to the
glory of God. That's our goal. That is our
prize. That is the hope of our calling
that Christ would receive us to the glory of God. Can you imagine what our sister
is experiencing right now? The glory of God. That's where
she is. That's what she's been received
to. The glory of God. Now, as I mentioned, our theme
and our question for the evening is, what is it to die in the
Lord? That's what we're going to look
at. What is it to die in the Lord? Blessed are the dead. And again, that's as we know
it and as we see it to be on this earth. Our God is not the
God of the dead. He's the God of the living. I read John 11 for our scripture
reading. Our Lord said, whoever lives
and believes in me will never die. Never die. To leave this world is to leave
the world of the dead. We're in death right now. And to leave this world is to
leave the world of the dead and to go on to life, eternal life.
But from our point of view, blessed are the dead. who die in the
Lord. What does that mean? What is
it to die in the Lord? We're going to use Romans 15
to answer that for us, all right? Verse 1 says, we then that are
strong ought to bear the infirmities of the weak and not to please
ourselves. Let every one of us please his
neighbor for his good to edification. For even Christ pleased not himself
But as it is written, the reproaches of them that reproached thee
fell on me. He said, Father, the sin of my
people who sinned against you, that sin fell on me. That reproach fell on me. That guilt fell on me. That condemnation fell on me. That responsibility fell on me. That payment fell on me. That
agony fell on me. That cup, that cup of suffering,
it fell on me. To die in the Lord is to die
in His sufferings. That's what it is. When we talk
about what is it to die in the Lord, it's to die in His suffering. That is such a good place to
die. What a blessed Blessed place
to die in His sufferings, not our own, but His. Paul told the
Philippians, oh, that I may know the fellowship of His sufferings,
being made conformable unto His death, if by any means I might
attain unto His resurrection. A sinner who dies in the Lord,
That's a sinner who dies in the suffering of the Lord, the suffering
for his own sin. That's a blessed soul. That's
a blessed soul. Look at verse four right here.
It says, for whatsoever things were written aforetime were written
for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures
might have hope. A soul who dies in the Lord,
that's a soul who dies in hope, the hope of the Lord, looking
to, honestly, sincerely looking to, trusting in, waiting on the
Lord. God's people have been called
to hope and expected anticipation. We hope in Him. We truly trust
Him. We truly look to Him. And we
do that all the way to the end. All the way to the end. Our sister
clung to Christ all the way to the end. Hebrews 10 says, God's people
are not of those who draw back. Those who hear of Christ for
a while. Gather with the saints for a
while. seem to believe on, seem to follow Christ for a while,
but ultimately they leave him for other things in the world.
Those who die in the Lord believe, look, trust, hope all the way
to the end. They hold to him all the way
to the end. They cling to Christ all the way to the end. And it's
only because Christ is holding on to them and clinging to them.
But the evidence of Christ holding on to a person is that person
will hold on to Christ. That's the evidence. That's the
response to Christ holding on to a person. That person will
be kept clinging by the power of God. To die in the Lord is
to die in His sufferings. It's to die in His hope. Look
at verse five. To die in the Lord is to die
in unity and agreement with Christ Jesus. Whatever he says, amen. Whatever
he says, amen. It's to be like minded with whatever
the word of the Lord says. Every word that has proceeded
out of the mouth of God, his sufferings, his hope, his mind,
his will, his purpose in all things. Look at verse six. that you may with one mind and
one mouth glorify God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
To die in the Lord is to leave this world giving Christ all
the glory for all things that were, are, and will ever be. All the glory. Thine is the kingdom
and the power and the glory. Verse 7 says, Wherefore, receive
ye one another, as Christ also received us to the glory of God. Wherefore, receive ye one another,
as Christ also received us to the glory of God. To die in the
Lord is to die in the love and the fellowship of His people.
Our Lord said, By this shall all men know that you are my
disciples, if you have love one to another. God's people love
God's people. They love Christ and they love
Christ in His people. To die in the Lord is to die
in the love and the unity and the fellowship of God's people
around the gospel of God's Word and God's worship. For a soul
in the Lord, there's nothing better. There's nothing better. Verse 8 says, Now I say that
Jesus Christ was a minister of the circumcision for the truth
of God. To confirm the promises made
unto the fathers. To die in the Lord is to die
in His covenant. Is to die in His promise. God
elected a people and He made a promise to save those people.
And to die in the Lord is to leave this world clinging to
that covenant promise. He made a promise. I believe
Him. Verse nine. and that the Gentiles
might glorify God for His mercy. As it is written, for this cause
I will confess to thee among the Gentiles and sing unto thy
name. To die in the Lord is to die
in His mercy. I need His mercy. I started in
His mercy. I'm going to end in His mercy.
I live in His mercy. I need to die in His mercy. I
need mercy, the mercy of the Lord. I need redemption. I need the covering of that blood.
That's what His mercy is. To die in the Lord is to die
in His blood. What a blessed place to die. Verse 10 says, and again, He
saith, Rejoice, ye Gentiles, with His people. To die in the
Lord is to die in His joy. had many health problems, but
you know what stood out to me every time I talked to her, and
I mean what I'm saying. This stood out to me every time
I talked to her. The joy of the Lord. She was
happy. She was so happy. So many times
after a message was over that I had just preached, she would
come up to me and she would say, now that was good, wasn't it? Wasn't that good? And I'd say, well, I hope so. She'd say, that was good. But
you didn't preach long enough. Can't tell you how many times
she told me that. You didn't preach long enough.
I'd tell her I gave you all I had. I ran till I was empty. I'm always
brief, but every time I knew I had a short message, I knew
I'm going to be in for it with Juanita. I appreciate that. That woman had the joy of the
Lord. She was happy in the Lord. Verse 11, and again, praise the
Lord, all you Gentiles. and laud Him, all you people.
To die in the Lord is to leave this world praising Him, lauding
Him, magnifying Him and Him alone. Verse 12 says, and again, Isaiah
saith, there shall be a root of Jesse, and he that shall rise
to reign over the Gentiles in him shall the Gentiles trust.
To die in the Lord is to die in the love and the acknowledgement
of His reign, His sovereignty, His sovereign reign over all
things and all people and all places and all salvation and
all everything. That's what it is to die in the
Lord. It's to die knowing, believing,
saying Christ is all. Christ is all. Our sister Juanita
died in the Lord. That's where I want to die. Where
she died, that's where I want to die. Where she was buried,
you know where she was buried? In Christ. Where she was buried,
that's where I want to be buried. Where she has gone, that's where
I want to go. Where she now lodges, that's
where I want to lodge. I want her people to be my people.
I want her God to be my God. I want to die in the Lord. I
want to die in the Lord. Verse 13 says, Now the God of
hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing that you may
abound in hope through the power of the Holy Ghost. David said,
I'll be satisfied when I awake with his likeness. David has
awoken with his likeness. Juanita has awoken with his likeness. And I'll be satisfied and we
will all be satisfied when by his grace we awake with his likeness. Oh, Lord, bless us, let us die
in you, let us die in you. Let me close this message by
making just a few factual statements concerning our sister Juanita
for our comfort, our hope, our enjoyment. It's amazing to me. A week ago Friday, Hannah and
I went and visited her and talked with her. Things are different now. And
it's just, it's amazing. But here's a few
facts concerning her for our comfort and our enjoyment. 2
Corinthians 5 verse 8 says, to be absent from this body is to
be present with the Lord. Our sister Juanita is right now
with the Lord. She's with the Lord. Romans 8
tells us that nothing will ever, for all of time and eternity,
be able to separate her from the Lord. Nothing will ever be
able to separate her from the Lord. She will never again not
be in the presence of the Lord. Never again. Never again. There will never be a moment
where she's not in the presence of the Lord. Never again. From here on out, she will forever
be with the Lord. That's what she is, with the
Lord. 1 Corinthians 15 and 1 John chapter 3 both tell us that she
is just like our Lord. She's just like our Lord. And the reason is because she
now sees Him as He is. Psalm 110 tells us that you would
recognize her. The apostles recognized Moses
and Elijah on the Mount of Transfiguration. They knew, they looked at them
and knew. That's Moses, that's Elijah. If you looked at her
right now, you would say, that's Juanita. You would recognize
her. But you wouldn't recognize her
because she looks so young. She right now has the dew of
youth on her brow. The scripture says in the twinkling
of an eye we're going to be changed. I don't know how far from this
we're going to be changed. We're going to be changed from
this. This is a vile body. I don't know how far things changed
from when Adam fell to what he looked like before to after.
I don't know. But I do know if you want to
have any idea of what she looks like right now, you're going
to have to dig up some really old photos because she's young. She's very young. We spend our
whole lives trying to accomplish anti-aging. The moment a child
of God leaves this world, they're young. They immediately go young. As Christ is, Juanita literally
is. As he has the dew of youth on
his brow, she has the dew of Christ on her brow. And very
soon, we're going to see her again. Very, very soon. If not in glory before, we're
going to see her in the skies of this earth. This earth right
here. Turn to 1 Thessalonians 4. 1 Thessalonians 4 verse 13 says, But I would not have you to be
ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that you
sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. For if we believe
that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep
in Jesus will God bring with Him. Juanita is coming back with
Him. Roy is coming back with Him.
And a whole bunch of other believers who have already gone to be with
the Lord, they're coming back with Christ. They're coming back
with Jesus Christ. Verse 15 says, For this we say
unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain
unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. For the Lord Himself shall descend
from heaven with a shout with the voice of the archangel and
with the trump of God and the dead in Christ shall rise first. Then we which are alive and remain
shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the
Lord in the air. And so shall we ever be with
the Lord. Wherefore, comfort one another
with these words. Revelation 21 says, The moment we're with Him, there
is no more sorrow, there's no more pain, there's no more tears,
only everlasting joy. That's all it is. That's all
it is. Blessed are they that die in
the Lord. Lord, bless us like you blessed
our sister Juanita. Bless us like you blessed her,
for Christ's sake.