I was going to preach out of
1 John chapter 1, walking in the light, but in light of what
has transpired this morning, I thought I would say a few things
and hopefully be a blessing and help folks to really understand
how God views His people. and he has taken them home to
himself. How God views it. It says here in Psalm 116 and
verse 15, precious in the sight of the
Lord is the death of his saints. Now, that's what it says, in
the Lord's sight. In our sight, it's sad. In our sight, it's mournful. In our sight, it's hard on the
flesh. But in God's sight, He said it's precious. And that's
where it counts, in His sight. There's many precious things.
Precious blood, precious faith. People are precious to us. But
they're precious to Him. When our Lord takes one of His
own saints home to be with Him, He says it's precious in His
sight. You know, we love God's people. We love their lives. Their lives are precious to us.
So precious. And we'd never, ever, if we could
help it, never let them leave. Never let them leave. And we feel that ourselves that
their death is a great loss to us. But the scripture says for
me to die is to gain. So he said it's far better for
me to depart and to be with the Lord. But if we could, we'd keep
them here just a little longer, just a little longer. But if
we did, we'd just deprive them, deprive them of their inheritance
and keep them in this wilderness just one more day. And it's a
wilderness. It's a wilderness. But oh my,
people, they view death as something
that's horrible, tragic, terrible, hideous. But this is what heaven's
side of it is. Precious. Precious in the sight
of the Lord is the death of His saints. You remember our Lord
prayed in John 17, 24, Father, I will, I will, I will, that
they whom Thou hast given me be with me where I am, that they
may behold my glory. That prayer was answered this
morning from this one. Father, I will. Ever-saint who passes from this
life to glory, our Lord's prayer is answered, and he is glad.
And he sees, he sees our Lord Jesus Christ, because he says
He is precious, our Lord Jesus Christ in every perfected saint
that he takes to be with himself. He sees a proportion, a reward
of the travail of his soul. He said, he shall see the travail
of his soul and shall be satisfied. And he sees when that saint,
every saint, if the scripture says the angels rejoice in the
presence of the Lord at repentance, and of every sinner that's saved,
when Christ carries that sheep home, if they began to rejoice,
imagine what it's like when a saint enters glory, when our Lord sees
the travail of his soul and sees it that perfected and fulfilled
at that time. I remember a fellow named Charlie
Payne one time. He'd been sick for a while, and
he went to the hospital one Sunday morning, and they said, well, you reckon you'll be all right?
Charlie, and he said, I'll be well one way or another. And
he was well the other way. He was well the other way. You
know, here's, let me tell you this. Death, death for a saint,
cures every ill. that they ever had, every ill,
that they're cured once and for all of every disease that they
ever had. And the greatest disease that
they're cured of is the disease of sin. Our Lord Jesus says,
by His stripes we are healed. And He's healed. And all beloved,
healed forever. Death cures everything for a
believer. Well, let's see what's precious about it. What's precious
about this death in the sight of the Lord? What's precious
about it? Well, first of all, their persons
are precious. The persons themselves are precious
to the Lord. The persons. Do you know, our
Lord Jesus Christ said, I loved you with an everlasting love,
and with cords of lovingkindness have I drawn thee? They were
and always will be beloved of God. When Paul wrote to the Romans,
he says, brethren, beloved of God. What more can be said about
a child of God than beloved of God, called to be saints, called
His elect, my chosen, my beloved, my redeemed, my sheep, my children,
my sons, my vessels, And He loved them. He loves His
people. They're precious. Persons are
precious to the Lord. He loves them with an everlasting
love. Before the world was ever made,
before a star ever began to shine in the heavens, He loved His
people. The word persons are precious.
And they're the ones, it was the Lord's people that He left
glory for. He left heaven itself to come
here to identify with these dear people. He left glory to come
here for those whom He bought with His precious blood. He said,
I lay down my life for the sheep. And so He come into this world
left glory for these people. No wonder He said precious in
the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints. And He gladly,
gladly laid down His life for His people. And they're precious
to Him because He paid such a great, great price for them. Look with
me over here in Isaiah 45. Look at Isaiah 45. I want you to see this. Isaiah
45 and verse 15. They're so precious to him that
he engraves their names on his own hands. Isaiah 49, excuse me, Isaiah
49, I'm sorry, not 45, 49, verse 15. I have craven thee upon the palms
of my hands, and thy walls, thy safety, are continually before
me." Not on my hands, on my hands. Both of them. Both of them. And you know, that's why when
the saints got to glory, the first thing they saw was a lamb
as it had been slain. And he told his disciples, they
said, is it the Lord? He says, behold, my hands. Behold,
my hands. You want to know if it's me? There's evidence that it's me. And, oh, beloved, they're his
sheep. He says, they're my sheep, and
I lay down my life for the sheep. He calls them his children. He
said, I'll be your God, you shall be my children. And he says,
all thy children shall be taught of God. They're his children.
They're members of his body, bone of his bone, flesh of his
flesh, and everything about them, every single thing about them,
the Lord's people that he calls home to himself, is precious
in his sight, so precious that he numbers the hairs of their
head until the day they leave this world. He sends angels while
they're left in this world to minister unto them that are heirs
of salvation. And He does this because their
persons, their persons are so precious to the Lord. And if
they're precious to Him like that, no wonder He said precious
in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints. Huh? I'll tell you another reason
why, because their persons are precious. Their persons are precious. I've loved you. He said, I loved
you. He didn't say, I love everybody. But He says it to every individual
for whom He died. Every individual He left glory
for. Before we ever existed, God said, I loved you with an
everlasting love. And with cords of loving kindness
have I drawn thee. And He said over in Hosea 11.14,
He says this. He said, I have loved them. How? Freely. Freely. There was nothing. Here's the
thing. There's not a thing in one soul
on the topside of God's earth that would cause God to love
a man than just willing to do it. Ain't that right? So if they're
precious in their persons, that he loved them, laid down his
life for them, calls them his own. Having loved his own, he
loved them to be. No wonder he says, precious in
the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints. And I tell
you why it's precious, because death, death, and I say, should
say the passing into life, terminates every sort of sorrow and suffering
and trials and troubles that a saint will ever have in this
world. Job said it this way, man that's
born for a woman is a few days and they're full of trouble,
full of trouble. But oh, when you go and you start
thinking about all the things that will never happen again,
never have another tear, never have another body ache,
never have another fear, never have anxiety again. Never, ever
worry. Never be woke up in the middle
of the night and ever have to lay there praying, wondering
what's going on. Never waking up before daylight
without being able to go back to sleep of course. Never, never
have another doubt. Never, ever be sick again. Never watch a body grow old and
say goodbye to anybody. And as old Scott Richardson said
one day, he says, no more birthdays. No more birthdays. No more getting
old. In a land where we'll never grow
old. In a land where we'll never grow
old. No more birthdays. If the Lord
would have left him here till next Friday, he'd have another
birthday. He ain't gonna have no more birthdays. That blesses my heart. No more
birthdays. No more birthdays. And, oh, beloved,
I'll tell you, you know, it's through much tribulation that
we enter into the kingdom of God. But because of our Lord
Jesus Christ, who was afflicted in all our afflictions and was
tempted in all points like as we are yet without sin, because
He was afflicted in all our afflictions, He made sure that all of our
afflictions are taken care of. And he says, you know that the
Lord, as a father pities his children, almost even so the
Lord pities them that fear him, for he remembers our frame. Then
we're bedazzled, just dazzled. And all the troubles, all the
trials, all the heartache, all the fears, all the tears, all
the angst, all gone. And beloved, there's three great,
great blessed graces that God gives us. He gives us faith.
Oh, thank God for faith to endure as seeing Him who is invisible.
Thank God for that faith that lays hold of Christ. Thank God
for that faith that looks up to the Lord Jesus Christ and
Him alone. that makes a soul go outside
itself. Thank God for that faith that
endures. Thank God for hope. The second
is hope. God gives us hope, a blessed
hope, a glorious hope, a sure hope. And hope is a confident
expectation that you'll get what was promised to you. Not some
pie in the sky by and by, but a blessed hope. Paul said we're
saved by hope, but hope that is not seen is not hope. But
when we see that, then we hope for it, then we don't need hope
anymore. And then the greatest of faith,
hope, and then there's charity. Oh my! Faith! Hope! That's gone now. When a saint, God takes him to
one, we said precious in the Psalms, you don't need faith
anymore. Don't need hope anymore. But one thing you'll have all
the way through eternity. Not only charity, not only love,
but a perfect love. A perfect love. An enduring love. A love that finds all of its
enjoyment that it had here, finds it fulfilled there. Finds it
fulfilled there. Oh, and I say, no wonder the
Lord said it's precious in His sight. They finished the race. Paul, did you know, he says,
I pressed for the mark for the prize of the high calling of
God in Christ Jesus. Let us run with patience the
race as set before us. And there's a time that you finish
the race. You cross the finish line. Well,
I tell you, no wonder it's precious they cross the finish line. They
get the victor's crown. The labor, all the labor. Paul
said, let us labor to enter into that rest. No more laboring. Zion's healed where our labors
are done. Oh, my. And now you're talking
about rest. What did David say here? Oh, I'll take the cup of salvation
called upon the name of the Lord. And he says there in verse 7
of here, Psalm 116, return unto thy rest, O my soul. For the
Lord hath dealt bountifully with thee, now rest. We've enjoyed
a wonderful rest here in Christ, but the rest in glory, no wonder
he said it's precious. They get to see the Lord who
loved them and washed them from the sin and his own blood. Oh, how precious is it? How precious
is it? And I'll tell you another reason
why the Lord says they're precious. Because it affords God. It enables
God. God's grace, it displays the
grace of God, which is always sufficient. It displays His faithfulness
and His goodness and His grace in those who are left here. Those
who are left here. They all had a display of His
grace. What a display of His faithfulness and His goodness
that we see how God upholds His people while they have to part
ways with somebody they love, when they have to say goodbye,
when they don't get a chance to say goodbye. You know, love is never so happy,
never so happy as when someone is sick and in trouble to be
able to minister that one you love. And never is the believer so
needy and so helpless as in the hour of his death. And the Lord is so gracious and
so strengthening and so faithful, and His grace is sufficient,
so sufficient, always abounding, always abounding. But look with
me again over here in Isaiah 41 with me, just a moment. But
God their Father says to us, this is what God says to His
dear saints. Isaiah forty-one, verse ten. He says, Fear thou not, for I
am with Be not dismayed, for I am thy God. I will strengthen
thee, yea, I will help thee, yea, I will uphold thee, not
with just my hand, but with my right hand, my right hand of
righteousness." Oh, he's upholding his people that just lost, that
when they lose their loved one, he upholds them. with the right
hand of His righteousness, holds them up. Oh, no wonder. You know, when we... David said, yea, though I walk
through the valley of the shadow of death, and when we see somebody
we love, we walk through that valley with them. And that's all it is, is a valley.
And it's just a shadow. Just a shadow. And then we see
the strength is made perfect in the weakness that those who
are left have. His strength is made perfect
in their weakness. And their saint, the saint's
death is precious in the Lord's sight, in His sight, in Heaven's
sight. Because He shows His great love, His great grace, His great
power. to undertake for His dear, dear,
dear people. Oh, what love, what grace, what
power to undertake for His people on this earth. And let me give
you another thing, and then I'll quit. You know it's precious. It's
precious. Because it's the fulfillment
of a promise. Look with me to John 14. It's the fulfillment of a promise.
You know, our Lord makes many, many promises to His people.
Many promises. In John 14. It's precious in His sight because
it's a fulfillment of a promise. You know, that's why Abraham
and those saints before they had the promise. They persuaded
of Him and embraced Him. Look in first city whose builder
and maker was God. When a saint leaves this world,
he's found that city. He's found that blessed city.
Look here in John 14.1. Let not your heart be troubled. You believe in God, believe also
in Me. 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.
And if I go and prepare a place for you, you," and he says, you,
not, and you is you. You is you. You is me. If I was sitting out there and
you said, you, you'd be said to you. I go to prepare a place
for you. I will come again and receive
you unto myself, that where I am, there you may be also." A lot
of fulfillment of a promise. He told that thief, that day
beside him on the cross, he says, today, today, today, Thou shalt be with me, with me,
in paradise, with me. And I'll tell you another reason
why it's so precious. Because when a saint leaves this
world, he immediately goes into the presence of the Lord. To
be absent from the body is to be present. The minute that gleam
goes out of the eye, and that breath leaves that shell, Immediately,
to be absent from this body is to be present with the Lord.
Just that quick. Paul called it a moment, the
twinkling of an eye. A moment, the twinkling of an
eye. And no wonder Paul had a desire to depart and be with Christ,
which is far, far better. Which is better? To be here or
to be there. Which is better? To see Christ
face to face or seeing by faith? Which is better? To be in the
presence of Christ there or sitting here, dealing with this old flesh? Which is better? And another
thing, in John 17, let me show you this. I've done quoted it
once, but look at it with me again. It's the fulfillment of a promise
is why it's precious. To be absent from the body, we're
face to face with Christ my Savior, face to face with Christ my Lord. And, O Beloved, it's the answer.
It's an answer to our Lord's prayer. And look what He said
in John 17, 24. Father, I will. You need to go through the Scriptures
one of these days and look at the I wills of Christ. Father,
I will that they also whom Thou hast given me be with me where
I am. where I am, that they may behold
My glory, which Thou gavest Me, for Thou lovest Me before the
foundation of the world." So you reckon our Lord's prayer
is answered? It's the answer to our Lord's
pocket. And you know, Paul said, who shall deliver me from this
body of death? Now, it's to be delivered from
this body of death. It's to be had this tabernacle
taken off, this tent taken down, and to be clothed upon with a
house made without hands, made without
hands, eternal in the heavens. Now, eternal in the heavens.
The saint's death is precious. because it's a sheep that's been
taken into the everlasting fold. It's precious because the Lord
came and took a home with a sheep that's been harvested. It's precious
because a vessel of honor has been brought into
glory. And like a ship, that sea, that's
been in a great, great storm. It finally reaches its harbor,
and the storm is over. Never another one to be done.
And it's like a child that's been a long, long time away at
school. He's brought home. Gonna stay
with his father forever. And you know, it's like that
prodigal. It's like that prodigal. Father knows he's coming home.
And he kept watching for him and watching for him. Watching
and watching and watching. Well, he's precious. Going to be precious for you.
Going to be precious for me one of these days. In God's sight.
In the Lord's sight. May not be precious for those
who are left behind. But he's precious in the Lord's
sight. Our Father, in the blessed name
of your Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, I thank you for the day. Thank
you for your wonders, goodness, mercy, and grace given us in
Christ before the world ever began. I thank you that you've
given us these blessed scriptures so that we can find some comfort.
We can find some help, some encouragement. Find some blessed hope. Our hearts
won't be so heavy. And we pray again for the dear,
dear family that's left behind. God strengthen them, bless them,
encourage them. They're so faithful. They're
so gracious. And I pray for these children
that don't know the Lord Jesus Christ, that you'd open their
hearts. Open their hearts and show them
their need. of the Lord Jesus Christ. We ask these things in
His name. Amen. Amen.