The following sermon was delivered
on Sunday morning, May 26, 2002, at the Trinity Baptist Church
in Montville, New Jersey. Now those of you who regularly
attend this place on the Lord's Day know that two weeks ago I
began a series of messages entitled, In Praise and Defense of Marriage,
Motherhood, and Homemaking. And I had every intention of
continuing that series this morning until some of the singles who
are going to be away today spoke to me last Lord's Day and with
a rather earnest look in their eyes said, Pastor, we're not
going to be there. And I got their message and I
made something short of a covenant of promise that I would wait
until they were back next Lord's Day. And having done that, since
the righteous swears to his own hurt and keeps it, It left me
in the position of casting about, what shall I bring on this Lord's
Day? Shall I bring something that
is particularly related to the significance of this weekend?
What should I do? Well, when news came to me Friday
evening that my sister, Sue Keener, had passed into the presence
of Christ, and I began to reflect in a very concentrated way, Lord,
what is true of her right now? It was not true an hour ago.
My mind was then fastened on what the scripture has to teach
us concerning these blessed realities for the child of God. And the
more I thought and the more I prayed, the more I was constrained to
seek to preach to you this morning on this very basic, simple theme,
the Bible, death, and the child of God. The Bible, death. and the child of God. If we are
ignorant of or willfully reject the witness of the Bible with
respect to the cause and to the issue and to the conquest of
death, we will find ourselves very much in sympathy with these
pathetic words. I don't know where I read them
or where I heard them, But I wrote them down on a little stick of
note and put them on my desk months ago, believing that at
some point there would be a judicious opportunity to quote them in
the course of preaching. Here are the words of someone
who was either pathetically ignorant of or willfully rejected what
the Bible says concerning death. This is what he wrote. Life is
a narrow veil. between the cold and barren peaks
of two eternities. We strive in vain to look beyond
the heights. We cry aloud and the only answer
is the echo of our wailing cry. That is nihilistic despair. Someone says, here we stand in
a narrow valley between two cold and barren peaks of an eternity
past, not knowing where we came from, an eternity future, where
we're going. And when we try to look up above
those mountains, we can't do it. And when we cry out, why
are we here? What is death? What is reality? All we get is the haunting echo. of our own wailing cry. And sitting here this morning,
if you are ignorant of or willfully reject the testimony of the Bible
concerning this matter of death, that experience that will inevitably
come to us all. You will stand with this one
in this narrow veil between two cold and barren peaks of two
eternities, and all you'll hear is the echo of your own wailing
cry. But when we open our Bibles,
we find not the echo of our wailing cry, But we find such statements
as these, Revelation 14, 13. Blessed are the dead who die
in the Lord. Or the words of Jesus in John
8, 51. Truly, truly, I say unto you, he who keeps my word shall
not see death. Or the words of Philippians 1,
21. For to me to live is Christ,
and to die is gain. And if we are to be able to understand
and enter into some of the realities encompassed in those words of
scripture, think with me this morning on our subject, the Bible,
death, and the child of God. Now I begin, first of all, by
highlighting what I'm calling two foundational facts of biblical
revelation. We will never think aright about
death unless we understand and grasp these two foundational
facts of biblical revelation. Fact number one has to do with
the essential nature of human beings. Fact number one has to
do what the Bible reveals concerning the essential nature of human
beings. According to the scriptures,
mankind, men and women, boys and girls, made in the image
of God, were created by God and composed of two distinct entities. Now, I'm not injecting Greek
philosophy into what I'm about to say. This is the clear testimony
of Holy Scripture. We were made with a physical,
material, a corporeal entity that we call our bodies. It is in this entity that I stand
before you. These hands that wave when I
speak are part of that entity. The tongue and the lips and the
larynx and the mechanics of speaking are all part of that entity called
the body. But we were also made with a
non-physical, non-material, non-corporeal entity that the Bible calls our
souls or our spirits. And while the Bible everywhere
assumes this fact regarding our essential nature as human beings,
there are texts which unmistakably assert this reality and which
are sheer nonsense if this is not reality. For example, Matthew
10 and verse 28. Jesus, in commissioning his twelve
disciples to go forth as apostles, depriving them that they're going
to face opposition, even as he did, says in Matthew 10.28 these
words, Do not be afraid of them that kill the body, entity number
one, but are not able to kill the soul, entity number two,
but rather fear him who is able to destroy both soul, entity
number two, and body, entity number one, in hell. I say the
words of Jesus are undiscernable gibberish if this is not the
teaching of scripture with respect to the essence of who and what
we are as human beings. We have the two entities joined
in our humanity, body and soul. Or take, for example, Paul's
prayer in 1 Thessalonians chapter 5. As he prays for the Thessalonian
believers, he tells them what he prays for them. This is his
sanctified wish, we might call it, rather than a prayer. Verse
23 of chapter 5. The God of peace himself sanctify
you wholly, that is, in the totality of who and what you are. That
means, and may your spirit and soul, the non-material, immaterial,
non-corporeal part of you, and body, the material, corporeal,
physical part of you, be preserved entire without blame at the coming
of our Lord Jesus Christ. If we are to think biblically
concerning death, and in particular death and the child of God, we
must have clearly in place in our understanding this foundational
fact of biblical revelation concerning what I have called the essential
nature of human beings. We are in that sense utterly
distinct from all of the other of God's creatures. Angels are
spirit beings, but they have no corporeal physical essence. They can assume in the sovereignty
of God and by the mighty power of God temporary physical constitutions
apparently, but in essence they are called ministering spirits. They are essentially spirit beings.
The animals are physical, corporeal, material beings, but they have
no soul or spirit in the sense that human beings have a soul
and a spirit. Fact number two has to do with
the essence of death in the case, again, not of the animals, but
of human beings. The fact of the essence of death
in the case of human beings. What does the Bible tell us?
The experience of death for human beings is the radical separation
of these two entities. The radical separation of the
soul or spirit and the body. James 2 and verse 26, for as
the body apart from the spirit is dead, he's using an illustration,
everyone would understand this, so faith apart from works is
dead. As the body apart from the spirit
is dead, when the non-material essence leaves the body, a person
is dead. John chapter 19 with respect
to the death of our Lord Jesus Christ. This is abundantly clear
in the text. John 19 verses 30 and 31. Our Lord Jesus is hanging on
a cross. His life's blood is flowing out
of him. And we read in verse 30, when
Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, it is finished,
and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit. When he yields
up his spirit, the scripture tells us he died. What is the
very essence of death in the case of human beings? It is this
radical separation of the two entities of the spirit or soul
and the body. We see it again in the case of
the death of Stephen I, Christian martyr, Acts 7, verses 59 and
60. Acts 7, 59 and 60. And they stoned
Stephen, calling upon the Lord and saying, Lord Jesus, receive
my spirit. And he kneeled down and cried
with a loud voice, Lord, lay not this sin to their charge.
And when he had said this, he fell asleep. A beautiful euphemism. for what death is for the child
of God. It is a falling asleep in Jesus,
not with respect to the soul going into a state of non-consciousness. Stephen has said, Lord Jesus,
receive my spirit. And when he dies, it is called
a falling asleep. And we are told that this man
was then buried. Verse 2. Devout men buried Stephen. They buried Stephen. What did
they bury? They did not bury his spirit.
That was in the presence of Jesus. But they buried the corporeal,
physical part of Stephen. They buried his body, but it
says they buried him. Now concerning this radical separation
of the soul and the body, that is the very essence of death
in the case of human beings, we need to understand these two
things. And I can't emphasize enough
how critical they are. If we're to think biblically
concerning death and the child of God, it's vital that we understand
this. This radical separation of the
soul and the body is unnatural and is the result of sin. Death
is unnatural and is the result of sin. Let me quote from a very
helpful book on the future and on last things. It's called The
Promise of the Future by a man named Venema. And notice how
carefully he has stated this, contrary to many modern myths
about death. that death is a natural part
of life. That is the buzzword in society
right now. Death is a natural part of life. Contrary to many modern myths
about death, that death is a natural part of life, that it marks the
cessation of existence, that there is a natural dignity in
dying well, the Bible paints its portrait of death with the
most stark and sobering of colors. Nowhere in the Bible is death
treated as something natural, as something that can easily
be domesticated and treated merely as a part of life. No encouragement
is given us in the Bible to minimize the terror and fearfulness of
death as our last enemy, 1 Corinthians 15, 26. The biblical understanding
of death begins with the fall into sin. Death is the divinely
appointed punishment of humankind's disobedience. In Genesis 2.17,
as part of the stipulation and probation of obedience, Adam
was forewarned, you must not eat of it. If you do, you shall
surely die. Adam formed from the dust of
the earth and made a living soul through the in-breathing of his
creator, Genesis 2.7, became liable to death through his act
of disobedience, a liability which now falls to all whom he
represented as their covenant head. One does not have to read
far in the biblical record to discover that the curse of God
extends to all. Because of Adam's sin and disobedience,
he in his posterity must now return to the dust. from which
they were formed, Genesis 3.19. And then you know from Romans
chapter 5, Wherefore as through one man sin entered into the
world, and death by sin for that all sin. This radical separation
of the soul and the body that we call death, that the Bible
describes as death, we must understand that it is unnatural and is the
result of sin. And secondly, listen carefully
now, it is a temporal condition awaiting the reunion of soul
and body at the return of Christ. and the general resurrection
and judgment. This death, this radical separation
of the soul and body is not only unnatural and the result of sin,
but according to the Bible, it is a temporal condition awaiting
the reunion of the soul and body at the coming of Christ and the
general resurrection and judgment. And we must constantly remind
ourselves of that biblical truth. In John chapter 5, our Lord Jesus
asserts it in the plainest words possible. John chapter 5, 28
and 9, marvel not at this, for the hour is coming in which all
that are in the tomb shall hear his voice and shall come forth. They that have done good unto
the resurrection of life And they that have done evil unto
the resurrection of judgment. And ours coming when the body
and soul that have been radically severed in death shall be reunited
in resurrection. A resurrection to life for those
in Christ. A resurrection to judgment for
those outside of Christ. Acts 24 verses 14 and 15, a similar
statement from the Apostle Paul. Acts 24 verses 14 and 15. And he says that this perspective
is rooted in the Old Testament Scriptures as well. But this
I confess unto you, that after the way which they call a sect,
so serve I the God of our fathers, Believing all things which are
according to the law and are written in the prophets, having
hope toward God, which these also themselves look for, that
there shall be a resurrection both of the just and the unjust. So that if we're going to think
biblically about death, these two foundational principles of
the word of God are crucial. We must think biblically with
respect to man's essential nature. He is spirit. He is body. and that the essence of death
in the case of human beings is this radical separation of the
soul and body that is not natural but is the result of sin and
is a temporal condition awaiting the day of resurrection. Now then, having considered those
two foundational principles, now I want to address one simple
question concerning the Bible death, and the child of God. And the question is this. According
to the scriptures, what is the immediate result of this separation
of soul and body for the one who is savingly united to Jesus
Christ? Let me give you the question
again. According to the scriptures, What is the immediate result
of this separation of the soul and body for the person who is
savingly united to Christ? Now let me explain the words
of my question. I've written and rewritten and
changed words here or there. I want you to understand why
I've chosen precisely those words. We're concerned with the immediate
results of the separation of soul and body in the case of
the believer. We are not concerned with the
ultimate destiny of the one who is in Christ. We had some blessed
Lord's days contemplating that as we opened up the doctrine
of the second coming. And we saw from the Scriptures
that the focal point of the believer's hope is not what happens when
the body and soul are severed in death. That is not the hope
of the Christian. The hope of the Christian terminates
upon what will happen when Jesus comes again in glory and in power. and our salvation is consummated
in the resurrection of the body, or if we're alive, it is coming
in the immediate transformation of body and soul into the likeness
of Jesus. We are dealing in this question
with what the theologians call the intermediate state. What happens immediately when
death comes, when body and soul are temporarily severed? We're concerned to discover from
our Bibles what happens immediately upon the separation of soul and
body, and that with respect to those whom I've described in
these words, who are savingly united to Christ. Now, why did
I use those terms and not just say with Christians, with believers? Well, because those terms have
such a diluted significance in the minds of many. And I want
to be true to such terminology as Revelation 14, 13. Blessed
are the dead who die in the Lord. That is, in saving union with
Christ. Or in the language of 1 Corinthians
15 and verse 18, them, I was about to quote it from memory
and it slipped me exactly how it's stated. Here we are. Then
they also that are fallen asleep in Christ. That's the description
of a true Christian. He falls asleep in union with
Christ. When the separation of the soul
and the body occurs in death, it comes to one in saving union
with Christ. Such are blessed. Such die under
the benediction and the canopy of the blessing of God. Blessed
are the dead who die in the Lord. And we are concerned this morning
to discern from our Bibles what happens immediately when there
is the separation of the soul and body in the case of one who
is savingly united to Christ. A union that from the human side
is effected when we believe into Christ. John 3.16. God so loved
the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believes
into Christ through faith is a believing into Christ. And
from the divine standpoint, that union is effected when we are
indwelt by the Holy Spirit and the Spirit becomes the bond of
our union with Christ so that we are said to be indwelt by
Christ Himself. We're talking about real, vital,
Spirit-wrought, true saving union with the Lord Jesus. Now, with
that understanding of the question, what is the immediate result
of the separation of the soul and body for the person who is
in Christ? The Bible does give us some answers. Now granted, the Bible's witness
concerning the intermediate state is very scanty compared to the
Bible's witness concerning the ultimate, consummate state of
redemption. For every text that speaks explicitly
to the issue on the intermediate state, there are 20 that speak
explicitly and clearly on the ultimate state of the believer.
But nonetheless, God has given us sufficient light that no true
Christian ought to have murky, fuzzy ideas of what will happen
when he or she crosses that river. We ought to be able, with our
Bibles before us, to say, this is what death can do to me, this
is what death cannot do to me, and I know it because here, in
this text, in this text, God has said it. And for many of
us, the next great crisis in the life of Trinity Church in
the next 10 to 15 years is going to be dying well. And we're not
going to die well if we die with fuzzy notions of what happens
to us when we die. You see that? That was the thrust
of that marvelous hymn by Isaac Watts. He said, if only we can
see clearly what is on the other side, we won't stand trembling
on the brink of the river. The river is real. The river
is terrifying. Death is still the last enemy.
And we must not try to cosmetize it. We must not try in any way
to think of it in any other framework. But nonetheless, the child of
God, instructed by his Bible, walking by faith, can say, this
is what I know will happen to me when there is that unnatural,
radical separation. of soul and of body for a time
until the Lord Jesus comes and reunites me in the integrity
of who and what I am as image of God, body and soul. Well, first of all, the one who
dies in Christ is in the full consciousness of his existence
immediately made perfect in moral likeness to Christ. The one who
dies in Christ is in the full consciousness of his existence. It's not put in some kind of
a spiritual coma. The one who dies in Christ is
in the full consciousness of his existence immediately made
perfect in moral likeness to Christ. Now according to Romans
8 in verse 29, the great goal of God in redemption is what?
I hope by now all of you are familiar with that text. It's
been quoted times without number over the years in this place.
God's great goal in redemption is nothing less than this. Whom
he foreknew That is, those upon whom He set His sovereign love
and marked out to be the recipients of His saving mercy, whom He
foreknew, not what He foreknew, that some people were going to
choose Him, and so He chose them. No, whom He foreknew. He foreknows
people. those described in our passage
in Ephesians this morning, who were chosen in Christ before
the foundation of the world, whom he foreknew, he also foreordained
to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he the Son,
Jesus, might be the firstborn, the chief one among many brethren. In other words, God's goal in
redemption was nothing less than the full restoration of His image
after the pattern of His own beloved Son, so that He will
have a heavenly family who all bear without exception the full
family likeness. Think of it! That's God's goal! Now, For those who are the children
of God, how does God accomplish that goal? Well, He begins it
when, by the mighty work of His Spirit, He opens our eyes to
our sinfulness regenerates us, takes out the heart of stone,
gives us a heart of flesh, unites us to Christ, and in that complex
of our saving union with Christ, whether we call it conversion,
whether we call it our coming to faith, however we describe
it, the reign of sin is dethroned. The reign of sin is dethroned. Sin is no longer the master.
In what the theologians call definitive sanctification, the
reign of sin is broken. We are united to Christ, indwelt
by the Spirit, and then the fruit of the Spirit begins to be manifested
in us. And we, as quickened from the
dead, are engaged consciously in the powers of our new life
in Christ, in seeking to put to death the deeds of the flesh.
That's the negative side of sanctification. We seek to cultivate those graces
of Christ-likeness. That's the positive side of conformity
to Christ. And throughout our lives, God's
purpose to make us like Jesus is being accomplished. He begins
it in our conversion with that radical cleavage from sin, the
dethronement of sin as our master, the indwelling of the Spirit,
the implantation of both desire and power in the direction of
holiness. And by degrees, and sometimes
with two steps forward and one and three quarters backwards,
we are seeking to press on in likeness to Christ. And then,
when we die, what does God do? In an instant of time, I don't
know how I struggled with how to describe it. You say a millisecond. I don't know how to describe
it. In an instant of time, God will put forth the energy of
redemptive grace that first touched us in our conversion and broke
the reign of sin, all right? And implanted within us a yearning
to be holy and gave us spirit-wrought enablement and power to pursue
holiness, God will give a concentrated beam of that same grace that
in an instant is going to complete the work as to our souls. so
that passing into his presence, total conformity to the moral
likeness in our souls will be accomplished by the living God. Think of it! In an instant of
time, all of the sins of the mind, distractiveness, envy,
lust, jealousy, inordinate preoccupation with the things of this life
Every facet of sin that ultimately has its tap roots in the soul. Every last vested purge in an
instant of time. Marvelous. That's what God will
do for those who are alive at the coming of Christ. He'll do
that in an instant for them as well as in an instant give them
glorified bodies. But most of us are going to get
conformity to Christ in two stages. First stage, when we die. Second
stage, when he returns. And child of God, if you're a
true child of God, next to the second thing we're going to consider,
nothing, nothing, nothing makes you long for heaven and be willing
to face the river of death more than this truth. That immediately
upon the separation of your soul and your body, that work begun
in your regeneration and conversion, carried on by degrees with varying
periods of success and failure in progressive sanctification,
will in a moment of time be completed and every last vestige of sin
forever removed. And in the language of Murray
McShane, you'll love him with unsinning heart. Now you need to understand, that's
what God is going to do for you. He's committed to. When He set
His love upon you in Christ, before the foundation of the
world, He did so with this end in view. I'm going to make that
sinner just like Jesus. And this is how I'm determined
to do it for the vast majority of them. I'm going to begin it
in their conversion, carried on by this process. And when
the appointed time comes to separate their soul from their bodies,
I'm going to complete that work in their souls in this instant
of time. And they will then enter my presence,
totally conformed to the moral likeness of my Son, and that
forever. But then the second thing God's
going to do, the one who dies in Christ, is, in the full consciousness
of his existence, immediately brought into the presence of
Christ. Not only immediately conformed
to the moral likeness of Christ, but having been conformed, immediately
brought into the presence of the glorified Christ. And here
we have two texts in scripture that are as clear as the noonday
sun. The first is 2 Corinthians chapter
5. I should say, before passing
on to that, I got carried away trying to see whether I was preaching,
looking at your eyeballs, and neglected to mention another
key text on that first head. May I back up please? Hebrews
chapter 12. Hebrews chapter 12. A very key
text. in showing the contrast of what
God's covenant people came to under the old covenant when they
came to Mount Sinai and the giving of the law and what we now come
to in Christ in the new covenant. The writer to the Hebrews says,
under the blessings of the new covenant, here are some of the
things to which you come. Verse 23 of Hebrews 12, you come
to the general assembly and church of the firstborn who are enrolled
in heaven and to God the judge of all and to the spirits of
just men made perfect. Now, when we come to Christ,
we enter in to a mystic communion, not only with people with us,
but those in the very presence of God, the spirits of just men
made perfect. And therefore, when we die to
join them, we become part of the company of just men, just
women made perfect. So that's another pivotal text.
Now then, we come to the second thing, the one who dies in Christ.
is in the full consciousness of his existence immediately
brought into the presence of Christ. The two key texts, 2
Corinthians chapter 5. Paul has mentioned that he counts
all of his sufferings and afflictions a light thing because he's not
looking at the things that are seen, but at the things that
are not seen. For the things that are seen
are temporal, but the things that are not seen are eternal.
Then he launches into this marvelous statement in the first 10 verses
of chapter 5 concerning that wonderful prospect of being glorified
and having a resurrected body, having what he calls his tabernacle
that is not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. And Paul
says, my basic desire is not to enter the intermediate state,
I would rather go from where I am right now to being clothed
upon with my heavenly habitation, that is, I would love to shed
my earthly body immediately at the return of Christ and put
on my glorified body. That's the language. It is so
be that being clothed we would not be found naked. Verse four,
indeed, we that are in this tabernacle, this present dwelling, we groan
being burdened, not that we'd be unclothed, but we'd be clothed
upon that what is mortal might be swallowed up of life. My great
desire is that I might put off this earthly tent, how? By having
my new tent encompass me, having my resurrected body given to
me without an intermediate state. However, Though he says this
is the thing that God has marked us out for, verse 5, now he that
wrought us for this very thing is God, who gave us the earnest
of the Spirit, being therefore of good courage, and knowing,
now notice, while we are at home in the body, this body, we are
absent from the Lord, for we walk by faith, not by sight. We are of good courage, I say,
and are willing, rather, to be absent from the body and to be
at home with the Lord. Now you see this language, absent
at home. He says now, as long as we are
here at home in our bodies, the radical separation of death has
not occurred. We're at home in our bodies.
Body and spirit are one. As long as we're at home in our
bodies, we're absent from the Lord. Now, here's a man who knew
wonderful, intimate, soul-ravishing communion with the Lord Jesus,
who said in Philippians 3, this was the great passion of his
life to know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship
of His sufferings. But he says, as to being in the
immediate presence of the glorified Lord, as long as I'm intended
in this body, I'm absent from Him. However, there's another
alternative. If I take my leave of my body
and absent from my body, what happens? I am immediately at
home with the Lord. The moment the soul leaves the
body, absent from the body, it is at home with the Lord. Where is the glorified body of
the Lord Jesus? I don't know. but I know wherever
he is in his glorified heavenly existence and place the moment
the soul is gone from the body it's at home with him absent
from the body present with the Lord I remember how this text
came home with such power a few years ago when the Lord took
our dear sister Mabel Philbrook And many of you know, Dusty,
with some of his limitations. In trying to comfort Dusty, I
remember sitting down with him and saying, now Dusty, as far
as grandma is concerned, you've got to remember one thing. And
I said it with a poetic cadence. Absent from the body, present
with the Lord. Now say it after pastor. And
so he would repeat it after me. Absent from the body, present
with the Lord. Absent from the body, present
with the Lord. My friends, you and I need to
say it to ourselves. And when we're brought to the
edge of the river and we're filled with the apprehensions of the
experience of dying, and it's a frightful experience. We've
never died before. We'll never die again. You've been to the dentist. Felt
the needle go in your jaw. Felt the trauma of a tooth pulled.
You may be scared going the next time, but at least you've been
there before. Eight times I've laid there, I've lain there on
the table when they've stuck the needle in and sent me in
La La Land. I don't like it, but at least I've been there
eight times and I know what to expect. You lie in your deathbed,
if God gives you a deathbed, you ain't been there before and
you'll never be there again. There's an element of the fear
of the experience of dying. But child of God, there should
be no doubt as to what your experience will be the moment you breathe
your last absent from the body at home with the Lord. The one who dies in Christ in
the full consciousness of his existence is immediately brought
into the presence of Christ. And the second text, some of
you have already thought of it, is Philippians chapter 1. The
great apostle who had said in verse 21, for to me to live is
Christ and to die is gain, who has one great passion that Christ
will be magnified in his body, whether by life or by death. Then he says, but I've got a
tug of war going on in my soul. Part of me wants to depart and
to be with Christ. Notice how he describes it, verse
23, I'm in a strait betwixt two, having the desire to depart and
to be with Christ, which is very far better in the mind of the
apostle to die, to have the Roman soldier come to his cell and
say, Paul, today's the day you kneel by the chopping block.
Paul said the thought of going to the executioner's hall, kneeling
and having my head laid on the chopping block in the swift flash
of the executioner's axe, he said, that's far better. Because
the moment my head plops in the basket, my spirit is in the presence
of Jesus. To depart and to be with Christ,
far better. Child of God, You and I must
face death with that kind of confidence. To die is gain. Gain what? Gain looking face
to face upon the Savior who loved me, with whom I have walked by
faith and not by sight. How disembodied spirits see and
interact with the glorified Christ, I don't know. I don't need to
know. I just know. that to depart is
to be with Christ, which is very far better. Whatever we now know
of communion with Christ, when Paul says, to die is gain, what
is the great gain? The great gain is that there
will be ravishing communion with Christ, increased measures of
real, conscious, face-to-face communion with Christ. No more
mourning. in our hearts when we say, Lord
Jesus, how can I love you so feebly when I do believe all
that you've done for me, all that you are doing with me, bearing
with me by your constant intercession, receiving me when I come again
and again seeking forgiveness for the same old sins dozens
of times? To see Him face to face, to love
Him with unsinning It is at that moment that Jesus' own prayer
for you and for me is going to be answered. Did you know that?
Jesus' own prayer for you and me is going to be answered. Look
at John 17 and verse 24. John 17 and verse 24. Father,
and this is the first time in the prayer that Jesus uses the
stronger verb, I will. All of the other petitions are
in the nature of petitionary prayer, but here's an expression
of his regal will. Father, I will that they whom
you have given me be with me where I am. Be with me where
I am that they may behold my glory which you have given me
for you loved me for the foundation of the world. That's one of the
prayers that Jesus prays for you, my dear believer. He wants
you with him that you might behold his glory. Undimmed by the veil
of your remaining sin and dullness and distractedness and prickleness,
beholding that glory face to face. Death and the child of God, the
scriptures tell us, the one who dies in Christ is in full consciousness
brought immediately into the presence of Christ. And as I
was preparing and looking up the various passages, I wonder,
I wonder, that's all I'm not dogmatizing, if we don't have
a very helpful clue as to how we're going to get there in Luke
16, in Luke 16. Jesus, in a parable again that
makes no sense if we are not comprised of the two entities,
bodies that can die and go into graves, and spirits that can
go to Abraham's bosom or into Hades. Luke 16, 19, Now there
was a certain rich man in his clothed in purple and fine linen,
and a certain beggar named Lazarus laid at his gate full of sores.
And it came to pass, verse 22, that when the beggar died, and
that he was carried away by the angels into Abraham's bosom. Carried away by the angels into
Abraham's bosom. Angels are spirits, so they know
how to carry spirits. I don't know how to carry a spirit.
You came to me and said, I've got three spirits. Will you take
them? I said, wait, whoa, whoa, whoa. I don't know how to carry
spirits. When the Lord tells an angel, hey, go down there,
take the spirit of that my child, the angel says, yes, Lord. And
the spirit knows well how to carry spirits. Could it be because the scripture
says concerning angels, are they not all ministering spirits to
do what? To do service to the heirs of
salvation. What greater service could an
angel perform than to take your departing spirit and surround
it with its God-given power and might. Take it safely up through
layers of those principalities and powers that would want to
claw at your spirit and drag it down to hell. Take it up and
bring it safely into the presence of Jesus. I'm not ready to write
a book about it, but it does say it was carried by the angels. I didn't write that. Lord Jesus
spoke that. But however God does it, our
spirits will be brought into His presence. Quickly then, in
these last two, the testimony of the scripture is not as clear
and explicit, but I believe there is enough in our Bibles in the
general tenor of scriptural teaching, what the old writers would call
the analogy of faith, the overall climate of the teaching of the
Bible, that we have reasonable grounds to expect that when we
die, this will occur in our experience. And here we get three and four
more quickly. The one who dies in Christ is,
in the full consciousness of his existence, brought immediately
into the company of all the blood-washed saints of Christ. The one who
dies in Christ is in the full consciousness of his existence
brought immediately into the company of all the blood-washed
saints of Christ. Now the scripture is clear. Our
experience is clear. We are born individually, even
if you're one of triplets. You came out one by one. We're
born individually. We are born again individually. We will die individually. Yet
God's design in salvation is not individualistic. It is a
design in salvation to have a new humanity in Christ, called His
church, called the body of Christ, called the bride of Christ. The
vision of the glorified saints is the city of God coming down
out of heaven. And we shall see as we read the
book of Ephesians, God's commitment in saving mercy has these cosmic,
corporate dimensions. He's to sum up all things in
Christ so that we must not think of our salvation, especially
as we enter into its consummate blessings in a crassly individualistic
way. Final state is set before us
under the imagery of the city of God. When Paul describes the
return of Christ, he says, then we that are alive and are left
shall together with them be caught up in the clouds to meet the
Lord in the air. And so shall we ever be with
the Lord in this state of eternal togetherness. Togetherness. And if we are already in fellowship
with the spirits of just men made perfect while on earth,
and that's what Hebrews 12, 23 is saying, you have come, it's
a perfect tense of the verb, you have come and remain in the
condition of some relationship to the spirits of just men made
perfect. If we have communion with them
whilst we're here and they're up there, what will it be when
we're up there with them? and we're part of the spirits
of just men made perfect while believers still in their earthly
pilgrimage have communion and fellowship with us. If we are
already in fellowship with the spirits of just men made perfect,
then surely when we join such spirits, our relationship to
them will be exponentially increased. in the intensity of pure brotherly,
sisterly affection and delight as we gaze upon the common object
of our highest devotion, even our glorified Lord Jesus. And there are hints in the book
of the Revelation and some of the pictures of the redeemed.
Revelation 7, 9 to 17 may be a vision of the saints in the
intermediate state That's debatable, but certainly Revelation 6 is
a picture of the saints, some of the saints, in their intermediate
state. And notice how they are pictured,
Revelation 6 verse 9. And when he opened the fifth
seal, I saw underneath the altar the souls of them that had been
slain for the word of God and for the testimony which they
held. And they cried, now notice, with a great voice. It doesn't say they cried with
great voices. With one united cry, how long,
O Master, the holy and the true, do you not judge and avenge our
blood? And it was given to each of them a white robe and said
to them that they should rest for a little while until their
fellow servants also and their brethren who should be killed
even as they were should have fulfilled their course. You see
what God is saying? They are together. There is this
beautiful togetherness, even in their cry that God would avenge
their blood. And the Lord says, look, there
are others yet to join you. But the whole concept again is
the togetherness of the people of God. And I believe we have
biblical warrant from the general tenor of Scripture to say that
the one who dies in Christ is in the full consciousness of
his existence. brought immediately into the
company of all the blood-washed saints of Christ. And every grace
of pure human love established in the hearts of believers here
will surely be augmented and increased and overflow to fullness
when we join their company. From that standpoint, John, Nia, I don't know if I see Sarah. but if Sarah's here too. Susie,
Mom, sees Pop-Pop and sees Grandma Sanquist and
Grammy Melville. I wonder if they reflect on us
poor earthlings what they're saying about us. every human affection that at
least in some measure partakes of grace here on earth surely
will be augmented when we are brought into the total moral
conformity to Christ in the moment of our death. I couldn't help
but think of this when this past Friday I had the privilege of
seeing a dear brother that I haven't seen for about twenty years.
Back when we used to worship in the Cracker Box in Essex Fells,
he came up one summer to work while he was in seminary and
to get him a wife. And he got him a wife from one of our young
ladies who has served nobly as his helper, as he has labored
for over 25 years in the land of Kenya, speaking of Keith Underhill.
And I was anticipating what it'd be like when they drove up into
the driveway and what it'd be like to see my brother after
20 years. And my mind was going through Will he upgrade much?
Will he have paunched out? All these things. What's he expecting
as he thinks of me? And as I relive right now, standing
before you, that moment when I opened the door and he came
out of the car and our eyes met one another and we embraced. I said, surely, Lord, if there
can be such exquisite moments of pure Christian love here,
what will it be when my spirit is paunched into the very presence
of Christ, able perfectly to love. You mean to tell me that
if I go to glory and He follows me, we have something better
in the driveway than we're going to have up there? Not on your
life. As I say, by analogy, I believe
we have grounds to expect that those graces which are implanted
in their imperfection here, that will flower to perfection there.
One of them will be the blessed privilege of entering into totally
selfless, pure, love-energized relationship with the company
of all the blood-washed saints of Christ. And then fourthly
and finally, the one who dies in Christ is, in the full consciousness
of his existence, brought immediately to experience the promised rest
of Christ. The one who dies in Christ is,
in the full consciousness of his existence, brought immediately
to experience the promised rest of Christ. And here we come to
our text that I quoted in the introduction, Revelation 14 and
verse 13. Some will sit here and remember
that I've used this text in other ways at the funeral of some of
your loved ones. And I heard a voice from heaven
saying, Write, Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from
henceforth. Yes, says the Spirit, in order
that, Ahena, clause of purpose. Blessed are the dead who die
in the Lord in order that they may rest from their labors, for
their works follow with them. Here is a blessing pronounced
on those who die in the Lord, and the aspect of blessedness
highlighted by the Spirit in this text is that they may rest
from their labors. Now in Matthew 11, 28, Jesus
promises in the Gospel a measure of blessed rest. Come unto me,
all you that labor and are heavy laden. Same family of words,
all you that labor and are heavy laden. I will give you rest. I will give you rest. Same family
of words. I'll give you rest. Rest is promised to the one who
comes to Jesus. Rest from an accusing conscience
when coming to Jesus. We lay hold by faith of the virtue
of his shed blood on behalf of sinners. Rest from the galling
dread of death and of judgment that the scripture calls a form
of bondage. Those who all their life were,
through fear of death, subject to bondage. We find rest in Christ. But that rest issues in a labor,
for he goes on to say, take my yoke upon you, for my yoke is
easy and my burden is light. And no sooner do we find rest
from an accusing conscience and rest from the crippling bondage
of the fear of death and of judgment that we know we are in the labor
of seeking to live holy lives in an unholy world with much
remaining sin within us. And there is that which the Bible
describes with the term of agonizing in the Christian life. And there
is buffeting our bodies. And there is amputation, plucking
out right eyes and cutting off right hands. And there is, in
the overall curse that yet rests upon the world, there is that
labor with toil and sweat. And whatever is of the nature
of grueling, oppressive toilsomeness, The moment the body is separated
from the spirit, the child of God enters into the fullness
of the promised rest. You remember in the Revelation
6 passage, that was the comfort given to these who are longing
for the day of God's judgment upon those who took their lives
unrighteously. It is said in verse 11 of Revelation
6, it was said to them that they should rest for a little time. Rest. Rest. Rest. Rest. Whatever it is that is
of the nature of toilsome, burdensome labor, The moment we breathe
our last, we enter into that rest. Well, I've tried to open
up the Scriptures for this morning under this very simple, unglamorous
title, The Bible, Death, and the Child of God. We've looked
at two foundational facts of biblical revelation. Fact one,
the essential nature of human beings. We are body, we are soul.
Fact two, the essence of death in the case of human beings is
this radical separation of soul and body, unnatural, the results
of sin, temporary, awaiting the day of resurrection. Then we
addressed one simple question concerning the Bible death and
the child of God, and that question was this. According to the scriptures,
what's the immediate result of the separation of the soul and
the body for the person savingly united to Christ? And we've seen
four things. The one who dies in Christ is
immediately made perfect in the moral likeness of Christ. He's
made like Jesus. The one who dies in Christ is
immediately brought into the presence of Christ. He or she
is with Jesus. The one who dies in Christ is
immediately brought into the company of all the blood-washed
saints of Christ. He or she is with the people
of Jesus. And the one who dies in Christ is immediately brought
to experience the promised rest of Christ. And while we do not
deny that death is still an enemy, he is called the last enemy,
and he is not conquered until the resurrection. I get irritated
when I hear people quote that verse at funerals. Oh, death,
where is thy sting? Look into the coffin. There's
its sting. Go to the graveside. There's its sting. Death is still
conquered, and sometime perhaps we'll preach on, since Christ
is born, all the penalty of the broken law. What has death become
in relationship to divine law and divine punishment? It's a
matter that I believe needs to be addressed, not today. But
though it is the last enemy, is ugly and cruel, nonetheless,
in the light of what we've seen this morning, I want you to see
why such statements as these can be written in our Bibles.
In 1 Corinthians chapter 3, Paul can say to the Corinthians, 1
Corinthians 3 and verse 21, Wherefore let no one glory in men, for
all things are yours, whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or
the world, now notice, or life or death. or things present or
things to come are all yours. And you are Christ's and Christ
is God's. My brother, my sister, death
is yours in Christ. That's what the text says. I
didn't write it. Death is yours in Christ. But you will not regard it yours
in Christ unless your understanding is enlightened by the Scriptures
and you're walking by faith and you can view death in the light
of the things we've studied this morning. Or the familiar words
of Romans 8, 35 to 39, where Paul can say, neither life nor
death shall be able to separate us from the love of God that
is in Christ Jesus our Lord. And then that fascinating verse,
that I've meditated on much in recent days, John 8, 51, he that
keeps my word shall never see death. What's that mean? Well, whatever else it means,
surely it means this, we'll never see death as the naked result
of the wages of sin. Christ saw it, Christ tasted
it, Christ swallowed it up in his death. Yes, we will experience
dying, but we'll never see death. as the naked fury of God as the
wages of sin. And what's made the change? For
as much as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he likewise
partook of the same, that through death he might destroy him that
had the power of death, and deliver those who through fear of death
were all their lifetime subject to bondage. Hebrews 2, 14 and
15. My closing word, I've spoken to God's people this morning.
I've had little to say to you who are not in Christ, but I
close with this simple word. You may sit here this morning
feeling very comfortable living without Christ. But I want to
ask you, do you think you're going to die comfortably without
Christ? I want you to think about it.
Yes, you're living very comfortably without Christ. That's why all
the gospel appeals you hear, Sunday by Sunday, make no dent
on you. But I ask you, are you going
to die comfortably without Christ? You know the answer. Death will be a horrible, terrible
intruder and will only hand you over to the irreversible judgment
of God. My friend, get into Christ. Give
yourself no rest until you're into Him. Let's pray. Our Father, we pray that you
would take your word on this sobering theme, on this matter
that we must all ultimately face. And we pray that you will help
us as your people. to have a well-instructed mind
and a vigorous faith that we may be a people who, when it
comes time for us to die, will glorify and magnify Christ in
our death. We think of your words concerning
Peter, telling him by what death he should glorify you. And we
with Paul do desire that we shall glorify you in our death. that
should we have consciousness bringing us up to the river,
we may, as men and women of faith, bear testimony to your grace
and to our confidence in your saving mercy. Have mercy upon
those who have no such confidence. Be gracious to them and draw
them to yourself, we pray, in Jesus' name. Amen.