The Death of the Righteous

Q: What does the Bible say about the death of the righteous?

Isaiah 57:1-2 states that the righteous are taken away from evil and shall enter into peace. The death of the righteous is viewed in Scripture as a blessed event. Isaiah 57:1-2 reveals that the righteous may perish, but they are taken away from the evil to come, entering into God's peace. This indicates that death for a believer is not a cessation of existence but a transition into a state of bliss where they rest and find ultimate peace away from the troubles of this world. The righteousness that is credited to them by faith in Christ allows them to stand justified before God, guaranteeing their eternal destiny with Him.

Q: How do we know that believers go to heaven when they die?

Believers are assured of entering heaven through the righteousness of Christ, which is imputed to them. The assurance that believers go to heaven upon death is grounded in their faith in Christ and the righteousness that is imputed to them. Romans 4 explains that it is not through works but through faith in Jesus that righteousness is credited to those who believe. When believers die, they do not face judgment for their sins but enjoy immediate fellowship with Christ. The death of a believer is portrayed as a transition into ultimate peace and fulfillment in God's presence, as stated in Isaiah 57, confirming God's promise to His people.

Q: Why is preparation for death important for Christians?

Preparation for death is crucial for Christians to ensure they have true saving faith in Christ. Preparation for death is essential as it prompts one to examine the state of their soul before God. Believers are reminded that death is inevitable, and having a solid assurance in Christ’s righteousness is vital for eternal life. Many may have a superficial acknowledgment of faith, but true saving faith manifests in a transformed life characterized by a pursuit of righteousness and mercy. The urgency stems from the fact that death can come unexpectedly, and meeting God without being covered by Christ’s righteousness leads to eternal wrath, as emphasized throughout Scripture.

Q: What happens to believers after they die?

Believers experience peace and rest in the presence of God after death. After death, believers enter into a state of peace and rest, as affirmed in Isaiah 57:1-2, where they are described as resting in their beds. This reflects the perfect peace and satisfaction that comes from being in God’s presence, free from sin, suffering, and strife. They enjoy communion with Christ and await the resurrection of their bodies, which will be transformed and glorified. This hope provides comfort and assurance as they depart from earthly struggles to partake in the glory that God has prepared for them.

Brother Richard Turner, who was a missionary with Baptist Faith Missions at the time I knew him, was telling about his father. I never met V.A. Turner. His dad was a preacher. Some of you knew him, I think. But Richard was sitting at our house in lookout, and he told me that his dad was a kind of gruff-looking character, always wore a heavy wool army-type trench coat. He was a faithful witness, though, always trying to witness folks. He and some other folks were out at a restaurant one night, and his dad got ready to leave, put his hat on, turned his collar up around him, started to go out the door, and the lady stood and rested.

He said, young lady, are you ready to die? And kind of took her back. Well, I want to ask you a question. Are you ready to die? Are you ready to die now? There's a very good possibility. Before the sun rises tomorrow, one of us may be gone. Are you prepared to meet God? That's a question. If we were wise, we would never think about closing our eyes without answering. Are you ready to die?

I've seen a lot of people die. I've seen religious men who lived in confident hope or just dead sure everything's all right. I've seen them come to face the chilly reality of death and tremble like babies without hope. And I've seen irreligious men. I'm talking about men. Men, nothing bothered them. Men who were just scared of nothing until they came to meet God and they're scared to death. And I've seen believers die. I've seen men and women quietly close their eyes and breathe their last breath with peace, with confidence.

And I have said, like Balaam of old, let me die the death of the righteous and let my last end be like his. Now I want this evening, if God will enable me, to talk to you about the death of the righteous. Forever blessed, oh, forever blessed, are those men and women who die in righteousness. Forever blessed. Read with me Isaiah 57, verses one and two.

The righteous perisheth. and no man layeth it to heart. And the merciful men are taken away, and none considering that the righteous is taken away from the evil to come. He shall enter into peace. They shall rest in their beds, each one, each one of them. No exceptions. Each one walking in his uprightness. If you have a marginal translation, it reads each one walking before him. Maybe the best way to translate it is each one walking in uprightness before him. That's the death of the righteous. Now hold your hands there for just a little bit and let me talk to you plainly about death. And then we'll look at the message of these two verses. You and I are dying men and women.

We are eternity bound. What a word. eternity bound sinners. Sinners with immortal souls who must live forever either in the bliss of everlasting life with God or in the torment of everlasting death in hell. Those are the only two options. There are no other possibilities. Either eternal life or eternal death. Eternal blessedness or eternal torment. Eternal righteousness or eternal evil.

Those are the only two options. It's only two. We're going to spend eternity somewhere. Right now in this world, We are dying. Not living, dying. Dying. That's what we do here. We begin to leave, if we're gods, when we leave here. Right now we're just dying.

I was sitting in the office, you fellas forgive me, but I was sitting back there. I wasn't looking in a mirror this time. I was looking at faces and frames and heads, and I thought, boy, we sure look a lot different than we did 15 years ago when I came here. Look a whole lot closer to the grave than we did 15 years ago when I came here.

We're dying here, withering away. As soon as it comes into the world, heads to the grave, and as soon as folks reach what we consider to be adulthood, they begin to decline into senility, and decline into physical wrecks, and decline into death. We're dying. Most everybody makes preparation for old age and retirement. Very few make preparation for death and eternity. But I tell you this, old age and retirement are just dreams for most people. Death and eternity is reality.

For you who are without Christ. For you who don't know God. Now you listen to me. You listen to me. I know who I'm talking to. But a little decision you made when you're six, seven, eight, or 20 years old. Walking down an aisle and saying, I believe in Jesus, because somebody told you to say, I believe in Jesus.

Joining the church, getting baptized, and living in outward morality and having Christ are two different things. They're just two different things. And if you're without Christ, if you're or without life before God, if you're without righteousness, if you're without atonement that'll satisfy the justice of God and without grace in your heart, for you to die is the beginning of woe, everlasting, endless torment.

I can't describe it. But I know that we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ. It's appointed unto man once to die, and right now, the judgment. Right now, the judgment. I don't know how everything fits together in the prophetic scheme of things. I know there's a future resurrection, future judgment.

But I know this, as soon as you close your eyes in death, you're going to meet God in judgment. You're going to meet God in judgment. And God's gonna demand of you perfect righteousness and complete satisfaction for all sin. And if you meet God without a substitute, you're lost forever. You'll be cast into hell. You know, this book talks more about hell than it does about heaven.

But I don't know much about it. Folks, I can debate about it. All I know is this. There is a place described as a bottomless pit, described as outer darkness, described as a place where the worm dies not and the fire is not quenched. A place where many women suffer mentally, emotionally, spiritually, and physically for sin and suffer forever. An indescribable, indescribable. The torments of hell No tongue can describe and no picture can paint. Our Lord said, the worm dieth not. And I'm sure that's figurative language. Literal worms be the least of your troubles. Talking about the worm of a tormenting, awaited conscience. Probably that's what he means.

Can you imagine what it is to spend eternity with your conscience fully alert to everything and constantly tormenting you? The fire, I'm sure there's literal physical fire and tormenting hell, but there is the fire of the memory that you cannot erase. and darkness. Oh, darkness, darkness, darkness. The darkness of utter hopelessness. The mental agonies of hell I suspect are agonies and torments that no one can begin to appreciate until they've begun to have some foretaste of what mental agony is on this earth. I can't think of anything more miserable than a sense of horrible guilt and horrible hopelessness combined.

And the pit, oh, that bottomless pit of despair. I can talk a little bit about those things, because I know what it is to be sinking down to hell, hopeless with guilt, tormented in conscience, miserable, all miserable, under the wrath of God Almighty, and incapable of doing anything about it, utterly in despair.

Now, if you die without Christ, that'll be your portion forever. And if you're content to do that, you're a fool. If you're content to do that, you're a fool. But for the believer, Things are different. Oh, infinitely, infinitely, infinitely different.

For the believer, death is not something to be dreaded with fear. You know, somehow, I was trying to, in preparation for this message, I was trying to, yesterday, try to think of some way to talk about this sensibly. Because I know that we all have some apprehensions concerning death. We all have some apprehensions concerning leaving this world. Every man does while he walks in this world. Because we're so, not negligent, so accustomed to walking with this companion we call the body. we're reluctant to lay it aside, just reluctant to be parted with it.

You know, when you've been with somebody for a long, long time, just been with them constantly for a long, long time, and then you have to part company. That's difficult to do, even when you know that parting company is best for you and best for the friend that you party company with.

And when we come to the valley of death, the valley of the Shadow of death. Just a shadow. We're going to pass through it, but when we come to it, we've got to drop this flesh. And we do so with apprehension. And I want to help you get over the apprehension. I want to help you get over the fear. Because death is not something to be dreaded and feared by a believer, but rather something to be anticipated with hope. You see, when we come to die, and put off this body of flesh, it'll be a welcome relief.

To put off this body of flesh is to put off that which has caused us more trouble and more heartache, more sorrow than anything else, our flesh. It's to lay it down, lay it down forever. To enter into heaven's glory, will be for every believer the genuine answer to his heart's prayers before God. We try to pray and don't know how. Tried to pray for Albert a little bit ago. I don't know how to pray for them. I don't know how to pray for myself. I really don't. I don't know what's best. All we can do is express our heart's desire before God and surrender to his will.

Oh, how blessed to be able to do that. But I will tell you this. When all said and done, you take away all the words, take away all the other things about prayer, When I pray for you, and I do, I call your name before God. I pray for you. When I pray for myself, this is what I ask.

This is what I want. I want to be perfectly like Christ. That's what I want for you. I want to be completely committed to Christ. That's what I want for you. And I want with all my heart to live in perfect harmony and fellowship with Christ. That's what I want for you.

And when I breathe my last breath, I'm going to have it. You understand that? When you have left this world and entered into glory, you shall have exactly what in your heart of hearts you have sought since the day God saved you. You're going to have it.

For the believer, death is the beginning of life. You remember the story about Richard Baxter. He was laying on his deathbed. One of his friends came to visit him. Like us, he was looking for something to say, right? He said, how are you today, brother? Baxter was laying there, couldn't hardly breathe. And he lifted up on his one elbow and he said, almost well. Because he knew he was about to leave this world. Oh, almost well. And completely well when I see him. That's what death is for us. For the believer, death might be compared to a friendly visit from the Lord.

A man goes out in his garden on Sunday afternoon after the services. Mr. Campbell, I guess he's the only one I know who's got a flower garden sitting here. He goes out into his garden and he walks around and he sees a beautiful, fully bloomed rose. Reaches down and snips it off and sticks it right there in his lapel. Now, we don't wear flowers much anymore, but let's just suppose he did. He puts that rose right there.

That's what I've been working for all the time. So it fits right there, just perfect. So be exquisite and beautiful and admired. Nobody thinks that was any cruelty. The Lord God comes into his garden every day and he spots one of his lilies that he has nurtured and cherished and cared for and made exactly what he wants of it. And he takes it to his bosom and displays it in his glory forever. That's what death is. Neither more nor less than that.

It's God gathering his own to himself for his glory and our good. Augustus' top lady said this, he said, oh, what a burst of joy. What a scene of glory opens to the ravished view and beams on the triumphant soul of a saint in the moment of departure.

The deathbed of a Christian is the antechamber of heaven and the very suburbs of the new Jerusalem. I read that in a top lady in a I remember what Paul said, I have not seen nor ear heard, neither hath it entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for them that love him. But I can't help but try to imagine. Think for a moment, if you can, what it would be like to close your eyes to this world of sorrow and open your eyes in the glory of the new Jerusalem.

For the first time, we will see Christ, sort of like Peter, James, and John saw him on the Mount of Transfiguration, in all his glory and in all his fullness, perfectly. For 27 years, I've been seeking to know Him. And every new thing I discover about Him, every expanded view I have of Him, has served only to endear Him to my heart all the more. One of these days, one of these days, we'll see Him in the fullness of his glorious being as he is. Now, I've never seen an angel and nobody else living on this earth has seen any angels either, no matter what they say.

But we will stand before God in the presence of his angels And though they are spirit beings, they have some kind of a form because they are described as such throughout the scriptures. We will see the angels of God in the beauty of the purpose of their creation by our God for our benefit.

We'll see the church of God in triumphant bliss. And our souls will stand immediately in the consummation of grace. James will stand before God and have an immediate understanding of the whys and wherefores of all we've experienced in this world in the consummation of his grace. An immediate understanding. And we will see redemption in the fullness of the story. The beginning, back yonder before the world began, in covenant grace, accomplished in time, and brought to pass by the power of God, at last everything rebounded to the glory of God.

That's what it'll be like immediately to stand before God. Now, let's look at Isaiah 57, verses 1 and 2. And let me show you four things plainly stated in this text. Isaiah 57. First, our text describes the character of God's saints. They're called righteous and merciful. You see that? They're righteous and merciful. Now that's just what God's people are. That's just what they are. I didn't say religious folks are. I didn't say folks who profess faith in Christ are. I didn't say folks who claim to be saints are. I said God's saints, every one of them living in this world, are righteous and merciful. There are no exceptions.

They are made righteous by God's grace in two ways. The believer is made righteous by the imparted righteousness of Christ, being reckoned to him by God himself on Christ's account. So that God looks on us and says we're righteous because of what Christ has done.

That's God's reckoning. And I'll tell you what, God's reckoning is right. It's right. The Lord Jesus Christ was made to be sin for us. by our sin being reckoned his, being charged to his ledger, being charged to his account, and he paid for our sin. In exactly the same manner, every son of Adam who believes on Christ, every child of God, is made righteous by the righteousness of Christ being laid to our account, being charged to our ledger, and we'll be rewarded for perfect righteousness. That's what justification is. It's God declaring us to be righteous in Jesus Christ the Lord. Lindsay read a text back in the office before services here in Romans chapter 4, Romans the fourth chapter. I'm talking about Abraham. Paul's giving an example of justification.

He says in verse 4, Now to him that worketh is the reward reckoned not of grace, but of debt. That is, if you work for it, if you earned it, and God rewards you, then God paid you your debt. He paid you what he owed you. But to him that worketh not, But believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly his faith.

His faith. Now this needs to be clearly understood. Not his act of faith, but his object of faith. The one whom we believe, the Lord Jesus, is counted for righteousness. So that God looks on us as we look on Christ, and God says, you're righteous. You're righteous. Now look at another text. In Proverbs chapter 17. Proverbs chapter 17 and verse 15.

Many folks talk about this thing of justification and righteousness, as though it's a sort of an imaginary thing, as though it's just that God imagines we're righteous and therefore he deals with us as though we were righteous. Don't ever think that way.

Here in Proverbs 17 verse 15, he that justifieth the wicked, he that justifieth the wicked, and he that condemneth the just, even they both, or an abomination to the Lord. But wait a minute, doesn't God justify the wicked? Yes and no. Yes and no. He takes men who are naturally wicked, men who are deservingly the objects of his wrath, and makes them righteous and justifies them on the count of righteousness imputed to them. Just as he took his son, who was perfectly just, and condemned him because of our sins that became his sins. You understand that? So we're made righteous by divine imputation. But then the believer is also made righteous by the imparting of righteousness to him.

So that when a person is born again by God's Spirit, he's given a new nature. 1 Peter 1 verse 4 says, with partakers of the divine nature. Christ in you, the hope of glory. If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature. All things are passed away. So that the believer, when he is born of God's Spirit, has a new heart, a new nature, a new principle, a new will, planned within him. so that he's a new man in Jesus Christ. He loves what once he hated, hates what once he loved, seeks what once he despised, and despises what once he longed for. He's made new in Christ Jesus. And that person who is made righteous by God pursues righteousness in his conduct. He pursues it in his behavior. He seeks to behave right. He just does. He seeks to do what's right. He recognizes sin in everything he does, but he's no longer the servant of sin. He recognizes the depravity in his heart, but he's no longer the servant of his depraved heart.

His old depraved passions are still there. His old depraved nature is still there. His old depraved corruptions of nature are there, and he knows it. But he doesn't surrender to them, neither will they surrender to him. So he constantly lives in warfare. He constantly sees that which is right and righteous and desires to do it. And he recognizes that he can't do what he would. He just can't. The old nature's still with him.

But you're no longer the servants of sin. That's what Paul said in Romans chapter six. Read it at your leisure. Paul said, now God has reckoned you righteous, now reckon yourselves to be righteous. And no longer the servants who sin. And God's saints in this world are merciful. People who have experienced mercy are merciful. They just are. They're not mean, they're not vicious, they're not hard. bitter and malicious and cruel, they're merciful.

The Apostle Paul, right into the Corinthians, says in chapter 13, though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity. We use the word charity today sort of to describe a soup line or a welfare handout. But that's not what the word means. It means a self-sacrificing generosity. That's what it's talking about.

No, I speak with the tongues of men and angel and have not this love that makes me merciful. I become a sounding brass or a tinkling cymbal. And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, O what gifts! Best preacher walking, has the best understanding of the prophecy of Scripture, of him that walketh, and has faith, so I can say to this mountain, be removed into the sea. And have not this charity, this love that makes me merciful.

I'm nothing. It's all just a show. It's all just a pretense. It's all just a refuge of lies. And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned and have not charity, it profits me nothing. But what on earth is that?

It suffers law and is kind. Charity envieth not. Charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, does not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, feeketh no evil, rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in truth, bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, and it never fails. God's saints in this world are righteous and merciful. Righteous and merciful. Secondly, I text back here, and Isaiah speaks of the providence of God in the death of his saints. The righteous perisheth. The righteous is taken away.

Not eternally. He may, by reason of temptation and sin, fear that he shall perish. He may sometimes say, my strength and my hope has perished before the Lord, and his peace and comfort may at times perish for a little season, but the righteous cannot perish everlastingly. He who believes in Christ, being washed in his blood, robed in his righteousness, and born in his Spirit, has everlasting life and shall not come into condemnation.

He will never perish. But Isaiah is here talking about the perishing of the body, that's all. This body of flesh must perish. But I never shall. This house of clay has got to come down. It's got to go back to the ground. It's got to go back to dust and ashes. But I'll live forever.

You understand that? So that the believer really never dies. We saw that this morning in John 11. Our Lord said concerning Lazarus, while he was in the grave, he said, Lazarus is asleep. And the disciples said, well, that's all right then. They didn't understand Lazarus was dead physically, but alive spiritually. He was dead in his body, but alive in his soul before God. The believer never perishes. Not really, just his body. And this perishing of the righteous body is an act of God's wise and good providence. The merciful man is taken away, gathered up to heaven by the hand of God.

When am I going to die? How am I going to die? Where am I going to die? I've thought about those three things a lot. I've thought about them a lot. And this much I am confident of. God has ordained the time of my death. God has ordained the place of my death. And God has ordained the instrument of my death. and it may be on its way here right now.

That's all right. That's all right. And it really doesn't concern me when, where, or how I die. It really doesn't concern me. That's entirely up to my master. Righteousness delivers us from the sting of death but not from the stroke of death. And whenever the stroke of death comes, wherever it comes and however it comes to the righteous, it's a blessing. You understand that? It's a blessing. It is not something to be dreaded.

In his providence, God often removes the righteous and leaves the wicked. And we wonder what's going on. Fruitful trees are cut down, and unfruitful trees are left to come to the ground. The merciful are taken away by the hands of the malicious, and the malicious are left to work havoc in the earth. What on earth is going on? What's happening?

God took Abel by the hands of Cain, and he left Cain to live out Accursed life in this world So that's God's providence and we will be wise to recognize it God Takes no one out of this world by accident Anymore than he brings anyone into this world by accident. It just doesn't happen God is ordained the place and the time of our habitation and the length of our days, and when our life, which is but a vapor, is over, God calls us out of here, and that's all there is to it. Now thirdly, our text displays the foolishness of those who disregard the death of others. No man layeth it to heart non-considering that the righteous is taken away from the evil to come. What does that mean?

I recall years ago I used to help slaughter cattle every Thanksgiving. We'd get together and slaughter cattle in West Virginia Put it in the freezer. It's a strange thing. It's a strange thing. Cattle would get a little disturbed when one of their own was slaughtered right in front of them. They'd get a little disturbed.

But I'd give them five minutes and everything's all right. They go right back to grazing. And that's just exactly what this text is talking about. Men die. You pass by the accident on the road and you see the dead bodies laying there. They haven't covered them up yet. And you kind of tremble a little bit. One of your classmates is in a car wreck. You spend a day or two a little bit concerned about that. You quiver a little bit. But you figure out a way to just shake it off and go about your business.

Nobody pays any attention. Nobody pays any attention. Very few, very few value the lives of God's saints. And when they are taken, few look upon the loss of a believer in this world as a public loss. Elvis Presley dies, there'll be folks, I guess, a hundred years from now thinking, boy, we lost something great. But when a righteous man dies, few lay it to heart. That's no public loss. And fewer still take notice of it as a public warning. Now you listen to these two things, just these two things. Wise people, wise people, folks who have learned to look beyond their nose, wise people, look upon the death of another as a reminder that I must die. Without warning, I must die. Turn to Ecclesiastes 7. Ecclesiastes chapter 7. Solomon said in verse 15, all things have I seen in the days of my vanity.

There is a just man that perisheth in his righteousness, and there is a wicked man that prolongeth his life in his wickedness. You scratch your head, you think, well, that ought not be. Looks to me like a man lived justly, he ought to live a long life. Looks to me like a man lives wickedly, he ought to die early. But in God's providence, he takes the righteous and leaves the wicked. Now look at verse two.

It's better to go to the house of mourning than to go to the house of feasting. That means you'd be wise if you have the choice, rather than going to a party, to go to the funeral parlor. That's what he says. It's better to go to the house of mourning. Better to go there, for that's the end of all men. And the living will lay it to his heart. Sorrow is better than laughter, for by the sadness of the countenance, the heart's made better. The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning. But the heart of fools is in the house of mirth.

In other words, you don't learn anything from partying, you do learn something from sorrow. You don't learn anything from having a good time, you do learn something from going through some difficult times. You don't learn anything at the house of laughter, you learn something when you go to the funeral parlor. It's better to hear the rebuke of a wise man than for a man to hear the song of fools. For as the crackling of thorns under the pot, so is the laughter of the fool.

It will soon be over. This also is vanity. But learn this, too. When God's saints are taken out of the world, we are especially wise to lay it to heart. David did. David said in Psalm 12, in Psalm 12, verse 1, with regard to this thing, Help, Lord, for the godly man, cease it, for the faithful fail from among the children of men. Lord, I beheld, and the godly are taken away, and the faithful are taken away. Lord, we need help, because you've taken them away. You see, when the righteous perish, their influence perishes.

You stop and think about that. You stop and think about that. When the righteous perish, their influence perishes. So that those for whom and to whom they had been an influence for good are now without that influence. Oh, that's a blessing that God's taken the righteous, but it's a curse to them. When the righteous perish, his influence is gone. When the merciful are gone, only the malicious are left. If the righteous and the merciful are taken away, then the wise will say, so too shall I be. The unrighteous and the unmerciful shall also perish.

When God comes to take folks away, you will be wise if you pay attention and listen to what God says. Now briefly, look at the blessedness of the righteous when they die. In verse 1, we read, the righteous is taken away from the evil to come. Now, this is an act of compassion to them. The prophetess told Hezekiah to go back and tell Hezekiah that their judgment is coming, but the Lord will take you away from this so you won't see it. God comes and takes the righteous away from the evil that's out there in front of them so that they might not see it, so that they might not be tempted by it, and so that they might not be harmed with it. Oh, thank God he takes them away from the evil that's advancing.

When the flood was coming, God put his elect into the ark and shut them in. And when he rained fire upon Sodom, he snatched Lawrence out of the city and delivered him safe there. God takes the righteous away. But this is an act of judgment upon the world.

Here's a wall, a dam. and is holding back the flood. If that wall falls, the floods come in. And that's what the righteous are. They stand in a gap. And as it were, hold back the flood of God's wrath upon people. But when God takes them away, he sends the deluge and the flood of his wrath comes. Matthew Henry said it is a sign, now you listen to this, he said it is a sign that God intends war when he calls home his ambassadors. The righteous is taken away. And when the righteous are taken away, you bank on it, evil's coming. He shall enter into peace. You see that in verse two? He shall enter into peace.

We walk in peace now. The peace of God passeth understanding. Being justified by faith, we have peace with God. Jesus Christ is our peace. Oh, but when we leave this world, we will enter into a world of peace. Oh, what a boo. Peace. I thank God for a peaceful home. Thank God for the peace he's given us in our assembly. Oh, we live in a world where there's no peace. No peace. But we're going to a world where we will enter into a heaven of peace. The God of peace is there. The prince of peace is there. The sons of peace are there. All things there minister to peace. Heaven is a world where everything is peaceful and nothing is contrary to peace.

There will be no sin within. That causes me more trouble than anything else. And when I drop this flesh, I won't have it anymore. And there'll be no temptations without. There'll be no sorrow, no sighing, no sickness, no pain, no bereavement, no death. Because there'll be no sin. And there'll be no strife.

Seems like in this world we're always trying to, for whatever foolish reasons, we're scared to death of offending because folks are so easily offended and we try to handle things like a setting of eggs, you know, scared to death you're going to say or do the wrong thing. Wouldn't it be a relief not to have to handle folks like that anymore? Or not have to be handled like that anymore? Oh, no strife. No strife. I can't imagine a world with no strife.

Heaven is a world full of everything that conduces peace. Infinite riches of grace and glory are ours when we enter into heaven. Infinite honor, so that we shall be lifted up Mary, you, right there, that man right there, when you leave this world, you're gonna be lifted up to the highest, highest state of honor humanity can ever be lifted to. And there'll be no pride. And no envy. And that's impossible here. But in heaven, we shall be exalted to the loftiest position possible made to sit with Christ in his throne. Everyone of us who are believers. And there'll be complete satisfaction.

Now folks who lack understanding in the scriptures and understanding in grace will tell you that if you've been good and extra good and you've worked hard and you've accumulated enough points to your credit, then when you enter into heaven, you'll enter into heaven and wear crowns, and you'll be somebody, and you'll be satisfied. But if you haven't been so good, and you haven't worked so hard, and you don't have so many points to your credit, then you'll get in by the skin of your teeth, but you'll be miserable, and everything will be just way as me forever, because you'll spend eternity ruining the days that you send upon the earth. Nonsense. Nonsense.

Heaven's a place of satisfaction. And we shall be rewarded to the full satisfaction of our souls, to the full satisfaction of Christ's soul, who is our substitute. Whatever it takes to satisfy Him, that's what we'll have. Whatever it takes. Now, as soon as we step out of this world, As soon as we leave this world of strife, we'll step into a world of peace. I know that this earth of the house of this tabernacle must be dissolved. But just as soon as it is, we have a tabernacle, a building, a house not made with hands, a building of God eternal in the heavens. Now look at the next line. And shall rest on their beds, When our souls have entered into heaven, into that world of peace, these bodies will rest. That's a good word.

In their beds. Some of them are in beds in the sea. Some of them are in beds in the forest. Some of them are in beds on battlefields. Some of them are in beds in dungeons where they've been persecuted and put to death. Some of them are in beds out in the graveyard. But they've been, they've been put in their beds to rest.

To rest from their toils and labors. To rest from their burdens. To rest from disease and pain. To rest out of the reach of the enemy. so that the angels of God keep watch over the bodies of his saints, even those who have been burned to ashes and their ashes scattered to the four winds, they rest. They rest in hope, in hope of the resurrection, because when Christ comes, these bodies shall come forth triumphant.

I know But though my skin worms destroy this flesh, yet with these eyes I see my God, because my Redeemer lives. That's what Job said, Job 19. My Redeemer lives, I see him for myself. You too, if you want to hear this. Each one walking in his uprightness. Oh, how I long for that blessed, blessed day when I will walk without sin before Him forever. Now, I ask you again, are you prepared to die? Are you? Believe in Christ. I am. Are you prepared to die? God help you to answer that question affirmatively, with peace and confidence. by faith in our Redeemer.

The Death of the Righteous

What does the Bible say about the death of the righteous?

How do we know that believers go to heaven when they die?

Why is preparation for death important for Christians?

What happens to believers after they die?

Sermon Transcript

About Don Fortner

Comments

Articles

Featured Authors

Podcast

Sermons

Featured Preachers

Books

Browse by Format

Music

Recent Comments

About

Legal

Subscribe

Account

Articles

Featured Authors

Podcast

Recent Comments

Sermons

Featured Preachers

Books

Browse by Format

Collections

Music

About

Legal

Subscribe

The Death of the Righteous

What does the Bible say about the death of the righteous?

How do we know that believers go to heaven when they die?

Why is preparation for death important for Christians?

What happens to believers after they die?

Sermon Transcript

About Don Fortner

Comments

More from Don Fortner

Related Sermons

Same Scripture

Articles by Don Fortner

Books by Don Fortner

Where this book stands in the tradition

Plato

Augustine

The Western Christian Tradition

This Book