This is what Job was saying in
Job 16. I'll turn there for a moment. Job chapter 16, verse 22. It says, when a few years had passed, Our time is so short. Many of us, our time is much
shorter. It's a few years. Thankfully, that time is not
determined by anything in this world, but by our Lord, who said
in chapter 14, Verse 5, that man's days are determined. His days are set. The number
of his months are with leave. Thou hast appointed his bounds.
Thou hast numbered his days, set his bounds. He cannot pass. So our days may be few, and they
may be fewer. They may be numbered in double
digits or single digits. But when a few of them are come,
then I shall go. He says here in verse 22, I shall
go. It's a part of the, me wants
to die. I shall, no avoiding it. of possibility,
absolutely none, of avoiding disappointment. I shall go, not
go and come, not go and return, but I'll go the way, the way
of all flesh, which I shall never, ever return. That's Christ. That's death. And the world looks upon this
as a terrible, terrible experience. The most terrible experience
that can happen to a person, that's the way the world sees
it. Death for them is the end. But our Lord has three words,
three magnificent words, by which he describes the death
of a believer. The first word is this, blessed. In Revelation 14, 13, he said,
blessed are the dead who die in the Lord. They're blessed. It's the greatest
blessing that can possibly come their way after knowing Christ,
is to go and be with the Lord, to see Him and be conformed to
His image. Blessed are the dead who die
in the law. They're blessed. The second word
he uses to describe the death of a believer is the word precious. Precious. He talks about Christ
being precious. The blood, precious. Faith, precious. The word, precious. The promises, precious. And death,
the death of a child of God, precious. It's precious in the sight of
the Lord. It's a special time. And then
the third word he uses to describe the home going of a believer,
the departure of a believer, is the word gain, G-A-I-N, gain. Paul wrote it in Philippians
1.21, he said to me, to live is Christ, to die is gain, not
loss, it's gain. I was reading over in Revelation
21, if you'd like to turn there, and this thought occurred to
me. In Revelation 21, verse 3. Revelation 21, 3, I heard a great
voice out of heaven, saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God
is with men, men and women, and he'll dwell with them, they'll
be his people. God himself shall be with them
and be their God, and God shall wipe away all tears, no more
tears, from their eyes. There'll be no more death. No
more death. Death of anything. Death of anything. No more sorrow. No more sadness. No more crying.
No more broken hearts. No more pain. The former things. No more sin. No more thoughts
of sin. No more mistakes. No more failures.
The former things are passed away. And I thought when I read
that, do you think for a moment, just one fleeting moment, that
any believer who has died and is now there would come back
here? Do you think even for a fleeting
moment they'd even entertain no more kitties? No more death? No more sorrow, no more pain,
no more trouble, no more disappointment, no more sin. But they come back
here. David said one day in thy court,
one day in thy presence is better than a thousand, thousands, anywhere
else, anywhere else. One day in thy courts is better
than tens of thousands of days in the world. Hebrews chapter 2 now, my text. So death for the believer is
precious, blessed, and all gain. And here in Hebrews 2, the text
says that our Lord Jesus Christ became a man just like us, his
brethren, took upon himself flesh and blood, bones, made in the
likeness of sinful flesh, and through his perfect obedience,
through his perfect life, through his vicarious suffering and death,
his death, his burial, his resurrection, It says here that he, verse 14,
was much then as the children of partakers of flesh and blood,
he also himself likewise took part in the same, that through
his death he might destroy him that had the power of death.
Destroy the devil. Destroy the power of death over
his people and deliver us, set us free. break the fetters and shackles
and set us free through fear of death. All our lifetime subject to bondage. Our Lord removed the fear of
death. First of all, he removed it by
dying himself. Dying himself. He actually died. Our Lord died. His soul left the body. He was
buried in a grave. But he rose again. His footsteps
not only go into that grave, but they come out as well. And
by dying himself, he removed the fear of dying. Did you ever,
when you were growing up, play that game, you go first, we come
to a new swimming hole, There's a high rock up there, and boys
and girls, maybe two, like to jump off high places in the water.
It may be this deep, it may be that deep. Somebody wants to
jump off. So everybody goes up there, and
everybody wants to jump, but everybody's afraid to. You go
first. No, you go first. You go first.
You go first. For some brave soul goes first,
and then we all go. And we run back up and do it
again. Run back up and do it again. Run back up and do it
again. Just keep doing it. The fear is gone. He went first. He's the firstborn
of every creature. And you and I don't have anything
to fear. Because he showed us the way.
He showed us the way. Secondly, he removed the fear
of death by removing the sting. If you turn to 1 Corinthians
15, this is what makes death fearful. Who's out yonder and what's out
yonder? Judgment. Eternity. Vengeance. Payday someday. In 1 Corinthians 15, verse 55,
O death, where is your sting? Grave, where is your victory?
What is the sting of death? It's sin. That's the sting of
death. It's sin. It's our sins that
separate us from God. It's our sins that are ever before
us. It's our sins against God that's
offended Him. Sin. Well Christ took that sin. He took that our sin. Took them
in His body and paid for them. put them away. He took the sin
out of death. There is no condemnation to them
who are in Christ. He separated our sin from us
as far as the east is from the west. He remembers them. He says
no more. They're forgiven. They're forgotten.
They're non-existent. He that believeth on Christ has
no sin. being justified freely by his
grace, we have peace with God. So let me tell you something.
The person who believes on Christ, I didn't say the person who works
and labors and gives the most and does the most and preaches
the most and goes to church the most. The one who believes on
Christ has no sin. Sin is gone. The sting of death
is sin. The strength of sin is the law.
That's the strength of sin. That's what gives sin its strength,
is God's holy law. Would Christ just fulfill that? He delivered us from the curse
of the law being made a curse for us. Ain't no language can
be plainer than that. So he removed the fear of death
by removing the sin. I sang that old song, Walk that
lonesome valley, you gotta go there by yourself. I don't intend
to go there by myself. He said, I'll never leave you,
I'll never forsake you. You gotta face the judgment trial,
you gotta face it by yourself. Not on your bottom dollar. Christ
already faced it. Paid it. We don't have any judgment. We don't have any sin. There's
no reason for God to try us. We've been tried at Calvary.
That's over. That's over. And then the Lord removed the
curse, the fear of death, not only by dying himself and removing
the sting, but he changed the character of death. The believer
doesn't die. The unbeliever dies. Whosoever believeth in me, he
said, shall never die. But he that believeth not on
me shall die, and die, and die, and die, and die. This is a second
death. It's a continual death. But we
don't die. We've already died. We died in
Christ. We've been buried in Christ.
We're risen in this scripture, risen with Christ, and seated
at God's right hand. So he changed the character of
death. The unbeliever dies, the believer
sleeps. Lazarus had died and the news
came that he was sick and our Lord said he sleeps, he sleeps
and the disciples said well if he sleeps let him sleep. Now Christ said I'm going that
I might wake him Well, let him sleep, it's good for him. Let's
go sleep with him. Christ said, in your language,
he's dead. In my language, he's sleeping.
That's what he said to them, wasn't it? I'll put it in your
language, since you don't know anything about sleep. Believers
don't die, they sleep. So he's changed the nature of
death. You take the child into its room
and put it to bed and it goes to sleep. Are you concerned? Not in the
least. He's asleep. And that's the way
the Lord puts his children to sleep. Not concerned. So death is not a curse, it's
a blessing. Death is not to be dreaded, it's
precious. Death is not a loss, it's gain.
Death is not a penalty, it's a reward. He's gone to his what? Reward. I am thy exceeding great reward.
Death is not the end of life, it is for the unbeliever, he's
dead. But for the believer, the glorious
beginning of an endless life in his presence. Who among us wouldn't want to
die when we realize what death is? And what does end tears, sorrow,
pain, suffering over? I want to answer four questions.
Question number one, when we die, when we go to sleep, when
the believer leaves this earth, does he go immediately to heaven?
Well, I can give you so many scriptures, but this one especially
in Luke chapter 23, from the mouth of our Lord Jesus Christ. When the Lord Jesus Christ died,
where did he go? He went to my father. He said, I go to my father and
your father. He didn't go to Hades, he didn't
go to Gehenna, he didn't go to a halfway house, he didn't go
to a soul-sleeper, he went to glory, he went to the Father. And he said to that thief, who
confessed him in Luke 23, verse 42, the thief said to Christ,
Lord, remember me when you come into your kingdom. And Jesus
said to him, verily I say unto you, Truly, is the word there,
truly I say unto you, today, shalt thou be with me in paradise. And when Paul was taken up to
the third heaven, he called it paradise. I was taken up into
paradise, where God dwells. And that's what Christ said to
their feet today. So if one of us The Lord calls
one of us today. Today we'll be with him in paradise. That's what he said. And then our Sunday school lesson
this morning, the verse said, when a man dies, the believer
sleeps, the dust returns to the earth as it was, and the spirit
returns to God who gave it. body goes back to the dust, but
the spirit goes to God who gave it. Now turn to 2 Corinthians
5, and this clearly tells us that to be absent from the body
is to be present with the Lord. In 2 Corinthians 5 verse 1, we
know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle This tent,
this body is called a tent. Why is it called a tent? It's
so temporary. It's so frail. It's worn out. It doesn't make a very secure
place to live, a tent. And it's going to be dissolved.
We have a building of God. What is this building of God?
Our Lord said in my Father's house are many dwelling places.
I go to prepare a place for you. If I go to prepare a place for
you, I'll come and receive you unto myself, that where I am
there you may be also." This dwelling place, this building
of God, house not made with hands, eternal in the heaven, is the
abode of the believer while he waits for his body to be raised.
I can't explain it, but I read it here. In this tabernacle,
verse 2, we groan. tears and pain and sorrow and
decay and death. Earnestly desiring to be what?
Clothed upon. Not naked, not unclothed, not
a bodiless spirit floating around in the ether. Clothed upon with
our house from heaven, our dwelling place, our building of God, not
made with hands. If so be that being clothed,
we're not going to be found naked. For we that are in this tabernacle,
we do groan, we're burdened, not for that we would be unclothed.
That's not what we're looking for. We're not looking just to
get rid of this tabernacle. We want the other one. We're not just looking to be
unclothed. We're not looking just to get this carcass. We're looking for that new ground,
that building of God, that perfect holiness and righteousness God is a person, but he's called
the invisible God, but he's a person. Sits on the throne, sits down
on my right hand, he said to our Lord Jesus Christ. So I can't explain, I do know
this, without doubt, we're going to leave this earth and drop
this tabernacle, but we're going to be clothed upon with immortality,
clothed upon with righteousness, clothed upon with beauty, clothed
upon with a building God himself made. And I'll tell you, if I
had my choice of who to make my dwelling place when I leave
here, I'll leave it to him. I'll leave it to him. No better,
no better artist, no better planner than my father. So that question
is easily answered. When we go to sleep, this body
sleeps, but we go to be with the Lord. That's what Paul said,
let me read you Philippians 1. Philippians 1 verse 22 and 23. If I live in the flesh, if I
live in the flesh, this is the fruit of my labor. Yet what I
should choose I want not, but I'm in a strait between the two,
having a desire to depart and to be with Christ. There it is. To depart, to be with Christ. All right, here's my second question.
When we're finally raised from the grave, what sort of body
shall we have when we're raised from the grave? Heaven and Earth passed away
and Christ has come and resurrected our bodies. What sort of body
will we have in which to spend eternity? Well, I'll show you
in Luke chapter 24. I can show you exactly the kind
of body that we'll have in Luke chapter 24. Number one, it's
going to be the same kind of body in which our Lord arose. Our Lord arose from the grave
and he appeared to the woman, Mary, at the tomb and talked
to her. She thought he was the gardener.
She didn't recognize him, the pale light that morning and misty
and foggy and out there when they were out at sea, you remember? And he called them and said,
if you caught anything, and they said nothing, he said, cast your
net on the right side. They did, caught 150 fish. And they knew it was the Lord.
They came back to land, and there he had built a fire and cooked
bread and fish. Him said, cooked it, but wouldn't
you like to have eaten that meal? He cooked it and they sat down
and ate together. And they talked with him. had
a body. And then here in Luke 24 verse
36, And as they thus spake, Jesus himself stood in the midst of
them, and said to them, Peace be unto you. And they were terrified
and apprised. And suppose they had seen a spirit.
And he said, Why are you troubled? Why do thoughts arise in your
hearts? Behold my hands and my feet.
It's I myself. Now remember that comment. It's
I myself. Why did he say behold my hands?
The nail prints. That's the only scars that are
going to be in heaven. You got some scars through operations
and things like that. You don't have a perfect body.
But he bears his scars. Tokens of our redemption for
eternity. Behold my hands and my feet. precious Christ by which we were
healed. Handle me, touch me, reach out
here, touch me, take my hand, Thomas, touch my hand, my feet. The spirit doesn't have flesh
and bones as you see me have, I've got flesh and bones. You look up here at me and you
say, brother, now he is not a spirit, he's flesh and bone. Well sure,
I'm going to shake hands with you at the service. I have a spirit, I have a soul,
I have a soul. But it's in a house. And Christ had flesh and bone.
And when he had thus spoken, he showed him his hands and feet.
And while they were eating out for joy, they saw him die. They
put him in a tomb. And while they didn't believe
for joy, he said, do you have any meat? And they gave him a
piece of boiled fish and a honeycomb. And he took it and he ate it. And he drank. And I fully expect after the
resurrection to have a body It'll be I myself. It'll be flesh and
bone. I'm going to show you what kind
of flesh. Turn to 1 Corinthians 15. These
questions answered in the word of God. How do you know we're
going to be like the Lord? He said when we see him we're
going to be like him. Isn't that what it says? We see
him as he is and be like him. Or 1 Corinthians 15. Verse 35,
some man will say, well how are the dead raised up? With what kind of body do they
come forth? Thou fool, that which thou sowest
is not quickened, except it die. That which thou sowest, thou
sowest not the body it shall be, but bare grain. It may chance
be of wheat or some other grain. But God gives it a body that
pleases him and every seed his own body. Now listen to Mr. Spurgeon
here. Oh this blessed me. Let me read
you what he said. The seed that we put in the ground
dies. It rots, it decays by water and
dirt. By and by we see a green blade
appear where we put the seed. It grows and grows until it becomes
a stalk and a full ear of corn. Now that's the same corn that
you planted, isn't it? Of course it is. It came up where
you put the seed. You put this poor seed in the
ground, this shriveled seed in the ground, and it springs up
a whole beautiful stalk of abundant corn. And yet people are impressed. I don't see anybody out on anybody's
cornfield saying, amazing. That's amazing. You mean you
put that little silver seed in the ground and that came up?
That's amazing. I don't see anybody doing that.
But that is amazing now. That is absolutely, utterly unexplainable
in human terms. A few days ago, you held a swiveling
seed that rotted in the ground. Are they the same? No one doubts
that they're the same. The new corn came from the old
corn. And it bears a likeness except
much more beautiful. So shall it be in the resurrection. It says here, In verse 42, so
is the resurrection of the dead. First Corinthians 42, 1542. It's sown in corruption, it's
raised in corruption. It's sown in dishonor, it's raised
in glory. It's sown in weakness, it's raised
in power. It's sown a natural body, it's
raised a spiritual body. There's a natural body, there's
a spiritual body. There's no beauty about this
body when we put it in the ground. Just like there's no beauty about
that shriveled corn. Most caskets we don't open. The body we put in the ground,
it rots and decays. But when the Lord returns, the
full flower of manhood and womanhood will come forth different, yes,
but the same person. Different, yes. Is that the same
seed, the corn you planted? That's the same corn. Different,
yes. But that's the same corn. Body,
different, yes. But the same body. And the identity
will be preserved. Christ said it's I, myself. Now here's the third question.
Will we know one another? Well that question's already
been answered. If my identity remains the same. If your identity remains the
same, we know each other now, we'll know each other better.
That's right. These disciples knew the Lord. They knew the Lord. When they
were out there fishing, he appeared on the bank, they said, it's
the Lord. They knew him. He served them. He fed them. They handled him,
held him, embraced him. They were glad to see him. He
was dead, now he's alive. And we're going to do the same
thing with those to whom we said goodbye here. We're going to
embrace them. We're going to be so glad to
see them. It's going to be them. When Moses and Elijah appeared
there in Luke 9, was it Moses and Elijah? That's what the disciples
said, it was Moses and Elijah. The same Moses that walked Mount
Sinai was standing there on Mount of Transfiguration. Same Moses,
same Elijah. David, when his son died, did
he say, well I'll never see him again? Oh no, no, he wrote under
divine inspiration. He cannot come back here, he
wouldn't anyway, but I can go to him. I'll go to him. Job said, listen to Job in Job
19. Job chapter 19, he said, I know,
verse 25, my Redeemer lives. He's going to stand on this earth
in the latter days. This is a long time before Christ
came. And I know, though worms destroy this bottle, this old
silver grain of corn, yet, in my flesh, I'm going to see God. In my flesh. Whom I'll see for
myself, and my eyes shall behold, and not another, though my reins
be consumed. Now, like I said, That corn is
the same corn, but infinitely more beautiful. Let me show you
now 1 Corinthians 15 about this flesh business. Verse 38, 1 Corinthians 15. Now turn over there, this is
important. God gives it a body as it pleases him. He gave us
this first body of flesh, didn't he? Adam was created in flesh
and bones and blood in the image of God. And God will give us
that new body as it pleases him to ever see his own body, see
his own. All flesh is not the same flesh,
you say but this flesh bleeds and it turns dark and it It's
easy to bleed and prick and it pains and it gets old. Well there's several kinds of
flesh. Listen. There's one kind of flesh of
men. There's another flesh of beasts.
Another flesh of fish. And a flesh of birds. There's
all kind of flesh. The flesh of birds is It's not
nearly as magnificent as the flesh of a
man, a woman, and the flesh of an animal. We don't even hesitate
to kill an animal and put it on our grill. But you wouldn't
should, I hope you wouldn't do that to me. That's different, but that's
right. And this new flesh, It's going to be glorified first,
redone. See, there's celestial bodies,
heavenly bodies, and there are bodies of terrestrial, earthly
bodies. The glory of the celestial is
one, the glory of the earth is another. There's one glory, the
sun, another glory, the moon, another glory, the stars, and
one star differs from the other in glory. So is the resurrection. It's sown in corruption, it's
raised in a heavenly It's on a natural sinful body. It's raised
a perfect holy body. But still, flesh and bones. Flesh and bones. And will we be the same? All
right, let me give you just a couple of scriptures. In Revelation
5, when we praise our Lord in eternity, we're going to say,
He saved us. He redeemed us from our sins
and made us kings and priests of God. Who's that talking? That's
us. I myself. In John 14, he said,
I go to prepare a place for you. If I come again, I receive you.
That where I am there, you. That's pretty clear. Same identity. In John 6 he said, All that my
father giveth me will come to me, and him that cometh out of
no wise cast out. He said, I came not to do my
will, but the will of him that sent me. And this is the will
of him that sent me, that of all that seeeth the Son, and
believeth on him, I raise him up. That's the last act. Raise
him. The one that heard and believed
on him. Last question. What will the new heaven and
new earth be like? And how will our eternity be
spent? One of our brethren and I were
talking last time we met together about, are we just going to sit
around at the Lord's feet and worship and sing hymns all through
eternity? No. Not at all. But now I'm careful here with
these things I'm going to say now. I know Paul went to the
third heaven. Paul didn't see the new heaven
and the new earth. He went to the third heaven.
And he said, I heard things that are not lawful to utter, unspeakable. So who am I to try to talk about
what heaven will be like? What our environment, our surroundings
will be like? But I have enough scripture.
to give me a lot of understanding. And the first is 2 Peter 3. I'm going to tell you what I
believe the scripture teaches about the new heaven and new
earth. In 2 Peter chapter 3 verse 10. Now the day of the Lord will
come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens shall pass
away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with
fervent heat. The earth also and the works therein shall be
burned up. Seeing then that all these things
shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought we to be in
all holy conversation of Godliness? Looking far, longing far, expecting,
hastening unto the coming of the day of God, when the heavens
shall be on fire, being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements
shall melt with fervent heat. Nevertheless, according to his
promise, we look for new heavens and a new earth. Now, new heavens. Everybody's talking about going
to heaven when they die, going to heaven, going to heaven. We're
going to heaven, we're going to a new earth. There's going
to be a new heavens and a new earth. That's right, a new earth. Turn to Romans 8. And this new
earth, This new earth is going to be enough like this one if
you'll recognize it. It's just like we're going to
have a perfect body, flesh and bones, but it's recognizable. It's going to be infinitely more
beautiful than what we were in this decaying flesh, but it's
still going to be flesh. And this new earth is going to
be an earth. That's right, look at Romans 8 verse 18. I reckon,
verse 18, Romans 8, that the sufferings of this present time
are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be
revealed in earth. For the earnest expectation of
the creature, the creation, the creature, the creation, is waiting
for the manifestation of the sons of God. This new earth,
this new creation is waiting till Christ comes and He'll manifest
His people, His bride, His church. Verse 20, for the creation was
made subject to vanity, not willingly. The creation, the animals and
the trees and the plants and the grass and the sea, they didn't
have any part in Adam's sin. Adam's sin But they sure suffered
because of it. Adam's sin caused death to come
on everything. The creation was made subject
to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of God, who subjected
the same in hope, because the creation itself shall be delivered. from the bondage of corruption
unto the glorious liberty of the children of God. For we know
the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together unto
them. Not only they, but we ourselves
who have the first fruits of the Spirit. We ourselves groan
waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our bodies. What's
the creation waiting for? That God makes a new garden of
Eden. That's right, a new earth. That's
right, a new earth, without sin, without death, without anything,
as we know the banished is perfect. Turn back to Genesis 1, let me
show you something over here. This new earth, Genesis 1, let's
look at it. This new earth is going to be
a whole lot like that one that he made, because I'll tell you
what he said about the first one. And of course then came
Genesis 1 verse 9. And God said, Let the waters
under the heaven be gathered together in one place. Let the
dry land appear. It was so. And God called the
dry land earth. Wait a minute now. What's this
new earth? It's going to be a new earth. That's right. He called it the same name. And
the gathering together of the water called the seas. And God
saw it was what? good. This earth back here was good. That is going to be better. This
back here was good, but subject to vanity. That's going to be
better and not subject. That's right. Let's read some
more. Verse 11 and 12. And the earth brought forth grass,
and the herb yielding seed after its kind, the trees yielding
fruit, whose seed is in itself, at this kind and God said this
is good! If it's good for God, it's good
for me! That's right! Good! Good! Talk about the trees yielding their fruit in Revelation.
How many trees on this new earth? And look down here at verse 24. And God said, let the earth,
let the earth bring forth the living creature after its kind,
cattle, creeping thing, beast of the earth. It was so. God
made the beast of the earth after its kind, the cattle after its
kind, everything creepeth upon the earth after its kind. God
said, this is good. This is good. And God said, let's
make man in our image. He's going to make us in His
image. We're going to be conformed to the image of His Son. Let's
make man in our image without sin, without a possibility of
sin of the fowl. Let's make man in our image.
And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and the
fowl of the air, over the cattle, over the earth, over the earth,
all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth
upon the earth. Let them enjoy, the ox will lay down beside the
lion and the cow will play on the ass for holding. And verse 28, and God blessed
him and he said, be fruitful multiply and replenish the earth,
so do it, have dominion over the fish, over the sea, over
the foul air, every living thing. and God said in verse 29 I've
given you every herb bearing seed which is on the face of
all the earth and every tree and that which is the fruit of
a tree yielding seed to you shall be for me to every beast of the
earth to every fowl of the earth to every thing creepeth upon
the earth wherein there is life a living soul I've given every
green herb for meat it was so now watch this verse and God
saw everything he had made It was very good. What's wrong with
that? It's very good. Very good. Sin came in. Death, destruction. Christ
came, redeemed it.