Category: death of the believer

A Burdened Musician

Thursday, October 25, 2012

“That I have great heaviness and continual sorrow in my heart” (Romans 9:2 KJV).

With the passing of another saint I knew personally, we remind ourselves that our family and friends need to hear from our lips the salvation found only in Jesus Christ.

Mr. Hadley Castille, a world-renowned Cajun fiddler, passed away earlier today at age 79, not too far from my home. A few years back, when we had our newspaper ministry, he read and enjoyed our Bible study columns. The last couple of months of his life, he battled brain cancer, and I was privileged to recently visit him in a rest home and minister to him and his wife.

During his last few days alive, Mr. Castille had such a burden for his lost friends, two of whom were visiting him the same day I was there. He expressed his grief to me that he wanted to tell them how to go to heaven, but he was unsure of where to begin and what to say exactly. I gave him gospel tracts, and suggested that he simply give those to them when they approached his bedside.

Those two friends and I shook hands, and then they went to Mr. Castille’s bedside. I heard the urgency in the dear man’s voice as he softly stated, “I want you to go to heaven with me.” Nevertheless, these two friends—both in bondage to world religions—refused the gospel tracts he offered them. One reassured us that his pagan religion would certainly get him to heaven, and the other friend preferred not to have a “theological discussion.”

In today’s Scripture, even the Apostle Paul sorrowed that his fellow Jews were lost and going to hell (cf. Romans 10:1-3). He preached that he “might save some of them” (Romans 11:14). Saints, we should be burdened to share the Gospel of God’s Grace with everyone we know and meet. After all, even those currently suffering in hellfire, have an intense desire that their living loved ones do not come and meet them in that awful place of torment (Luke 16:27,28).

Let us be burdened, just as that musician….

-IN MEMORIAM-
Mr. Hadley J. Castille
(March 3, 1933 – October 25, 2012)

A Departed Saint

Saturday, October 20, 2012

“But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope” (1 Thessalonians 4:13 KJV).

Beloved, our deceased loved ones in Christ are not lost forever!

With the recent passing of a dear saint, who I personally knew and referenced in a previous devotional, today’s Scripture is of great solace. God does not want us to be “ignorant” (uninformed) about those who have died in Christ. We members of the Church the Body of Christ have hope in Christ, a hope that non-Christians do not have.

While a vast distance separates us from the dearly departed Christians, some of whom we have not seen in many years or decades, there is a glorious prospect that we shall see them again, as if they never parted from us. Yes, their physical bodies are “asleep,” but they will one day be wakened, reunited with their souls and spirits.

As soon as the Church the Body of Christ is complete, our Dispensation of Grace will terminate with the “rapture” (derived from the Latin word translated “caught up” in 1 Thessalonians 4:17). Jesus Christ will leave heaven, bringing with Him the souls of the Christians who have died: “For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him” (verse 14).

Christ will stand “in the air,” and from there, He will resurrect the physical bodies of deceased Christians and place their souls back into their bodies (verse 16). Then He will transform the physical bodies of us Christians who are alive. Both dead and living Christians will then “be caught up together… in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words” (verses 17,18). All members of the Body of Christ will meet each other… for the very first time!

We mourn their loss, but we have hope: our loved ones who are dead in Christ are still in Christ, and if we are in Christ, we shall see them again, and be with them forever with the Lord. 🙂

-IN MEMORIAM-
Mrs. B. P. R.
June 23, 1936 – October 15, 2012

A Departing Saint and an Incoming Saint

Tuesday, October 2, 2012

“And whether one member suffer, all the members suffer with it; or one member be honoured, all the members rejoice with it. Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular” (1 Corinthians 12:26,27 KJV).

Saints, rejoice with us! One saint is going home to be with the Lord, and another just trusted Jesus Christ as her personal Saviour!

Mrs. “B.,” a family friend, trusted Jesus Christ as her personal Saviour about 40 years ago. She was a great Christian mother and wife. For the past five years, she has endured Alzheimer’s disease. Within the last few weeks, her health has rapidly deteriorated, and as of the last few days, she is less alert, and is sleeping more. She is nearing home, drifting away from this world, and inching closer to the heavenly abode which marks the end of the Christian’s earthly life. The Lord has not forgotten her, and He will usher her home in His own time: therein we shall rejoice!

Ms. “K.,” someone with whom I just spoke on the phone, has trusted Jesus Christ as her personal Saviour. She is only a few minutes old in the Lord, but how she is just as much a member of the Church the Body of Christ as Mrs. “B.” Welcome to the family of God, Ms. “K.” You have new life in Christ! Therein we shall rejoice!

As today’s Scripture indicates, we mourn that Mrs. “B.” is unable to bid us a (temporal) farewell, and that she will not understand when we bid her a (temporal) farewell. How we mourn that she is suffering, but are comforted in the fact that she is not fully mentally aware of that suffering. If only she could remember, for her “to be absent from the body, [is] to be present with the Lord” (2 Corinthians 5:8). Though she cannot comprehend that verse anymore, we rejoice on her behalf, for she is nearing heaven’s glory.

In summation, we rejoice that, one day, Ms. “K.” and Mrs. “B.” will meet each other in eternity, two saints whose earthly lives briefly overlapped…. 🙂

Hope Deferred, Sick Heart Incurred

Sunday, September 2, 2012

“Hope deferred maketh the heart sick: but when the desire cometh, it is a tree of life” (Proverbs 13:12 KJV).

Regarding today’s Scripture, we can all shout, “Amen!”

Have you ever had an intense desire to have something (or perhaps, someone)? Your heart was thrilled beyond words, was it not? How you looked forward to that wish coming true. In effect, that want became a crutch, something that you depended on entirely. You had such hope, and you looked forward to that certain event happening (a relationship, raise at work, new car or house, friendship, job, vacation trip, et cetera).

But to your horror, that hope was shattered, as that dream was “deferred” (delayed), or worse, it never even came to pass. Were you not sick to your stomach? Did you not have a horrible feeling inside, like something in you died? Maybe you despaired even of life? Perhaps you felt angry, sad, or both. This is to be expected, since the first part of today’s Scripture reads: “Hope deferred [delayed, overdue] maketh the heart sick.” When we hope for something, and it fails to come to pass, it wounds us emotionally. Our innermost being feels sick.

Now, the second part of today’s Scripture declares: “but when the desire cometh, it is a tree of life.” Here is the flipside to our previous paragraph: suppose that wish or hope did come true. Were you not overjoyed? You wanted to live and enjoy that good time, right? The Bible describes this as “a tree of life,” something that makes you want to live and makes you happy that you are alive.

Saints, life is full of disappointments. While we are emotional beings, we need to be reminded that our emotions should not be in control of our lives. Let us walk by faith in an intelligent understanding of God’s Word to us (believing the King James Bible rightly divided), and let our emotions follow us (not vice versa). Above all, let us hope in Jesus Christ and our sufficiency in Him, which hope is never deferred, and a sick heart is never incurred.

To Be (For All Eternity)

Tuesday, August 7, 2012

“Therefore we are always confident, knowing that, whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord: (For we walk by faith, not by sight:) we are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord” (2 Corinthians 5:6-8 KJV).

As I celebrate my 24th birthday today, we remember that the axiom, “You only live once,” is true… eternally true….

“And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul” (Genesis 2:7). According to this verse, we humans have a visible physical body, made of the elements of the earth’s crust, and an invisible spiritual body.

Our soul and spirit—the “real” us—cannot be seen, but they reside in a visible tabernacle (tent), our physical bodies. The soul is our will, our emotions, and our heart (not the muscle of flesh, but our innermost being, what we use to believe God’s Word; see Romans 10:10). “God is a Spirit” (John 4:24a), so He communicates with and educates us by means of His indwelling Holy Spirit connecting with our spirit, our mind, and enlightening us once we meditate on His Word (1 Corinthians 2:12; Ephesians 4:23).

In today’s Scripture, the Holy Spirit through the Apostle Paul explains that we believers, upon physical death, still exist: “To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord.” Physical death is not the end—the human soul and spirit continue, saved and lost alike. When we who have trusted Jesus Christ alone as our personal Saviour, physically die, our souls and spirits go to be with the Lord in the third heaven, and we remain there until the rapture, when we all receive new glorified physical bodies (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18). However, when those who do not trust Jesus Christ as their personal Saviour, physically die, their soul and spirit literally wake up in hell’s torments, and eventually the everlasting lake of fire (Luke 16:22b,23).

Saved, or lost, you only live once… and that life is for all eternity….

Final Voyage

Sunday, April 15, 2012

“Man is like to vanity: his days are as a shadow that passeth away” (Psalm 144:4 KJV).

On 10 April 1912, a massive British passenger liner left Southhampton, England to embark on its maiden voyage. Its destination was New York. The ship, 882 feet (269 m) long, held over 2,400 passengers and nearly 900 crewmembers. On 14 April, just shortly before midnight, she struck an iceberg. Exactly 100 years ago today, RMS Titanic plunged into the frigid waters of the North Atlantic, taking with her 1,500-plus persons….

Some of the wealthiest people in the world boarded Titanic for her maiden voyage, oblivious to the fact that it would actually be Titanic’s final voyage. Millionaire John Jacob Astor IV, who would be worth nearly US$12 billion today, lost every last cent he had on that cold, April night 100 years ago today. Although he was the richest person aboard Titanic, death took his fortune just as much as it took the poorest victims’.

As the psalmist expressed in today’s Scripture, this earthly life is ever so brief. Life on earth is but a “shadow that passeth away,” “even a vapour that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away” (James 4:14).

One day, short of the rapture, death will steal from us every last material possession we own. Large bank accounts, although nice, are not permanent because economic recessions and depressions can empty them quickly. Although we are expected to have jobs so we can eat and buy goods (2 Thessalonians 3:10; cf. 2 Corinthians 12:14), our priority is not seeing how much worldly possessions and “wealth” we can amass.

Our primary focus is to trust in Jesus Christ as our personal Saviour now, while we still have breath. Then, as Christians, we desire to store up a treasure of sound doctrine in the inner man (studying and believing the Bible dispensationally). Although our “uncertain [material] riches” (1 Timothy 6:17) will eventually vanish, we are spiritually rich in Christ (2 Corinthians 8:9), “blessed with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ” (Ephesians 1:3).

Praise the Lord—we can never lose our spiritual wealth in Christ!

By the way, our past two devotionals about Judas’ replacement have recently been combined and expanded to form the study “Judas’ Replacement: Matthias or Paul?”

My Soul is Secure in Christ

Tuesday, March 27, 2012

“For the which cause I also suffer these things: nevertheless I am not ashamed: for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day” (2 Timothy 1:12 KJV).

According to today’s Scripture, those of us who have trusted exclusively in the Lord Jesus Christ as our personal Saviour, we are eternally secure in Christ. We have committed unto God our very souls, and God Himself has promised that He will forever keep us. How can we unworthy sinners have such a glorious hope?

We Christians are unfaithful, rebellious creatures who still live in these sinful human bodies. Thankfully, our salvation is independent of our performance. “If we believe not, yet [Christ Jesus] abideth faithful: he cannot deny himself” (2 Timothy 2:13). No matter what, we Christians are the Church the Body of Christ. Jesus Christ cannot deny Himself!

God the Father has given us Christians “the earnest [promise] of the [Holy] Spirit in our hearts” (2 Corinthians 1:22). God has guaranteed our salvation by giving us the indwelling Holy Spirit, “the earnest of our inheritance” (Ephesians 1:14). God has promised us salvation in Christ, and He cannot lie (Titus 1:2).

We have confidence in Christ Jesus. The Apostle Paul writes: “Now he that hath wrought us for the selfsame thing is God, who also hath given unto us the earnest of the Spirit. Therefore we are always confident, knowing that, whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord: (For we walk by faith, not by sight:) We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord” (2 Corinthians 5:5-8).

Verily, verily, once we members of the Body of Christ die physically, the Holy Spirit Himself will escort us to live with the Lord Jesus Christ in heaven’s glory (to wait for the resurrection/rapture; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18).

I rejoice in the Lord: God Almighty has captured my soul and my soul is secure in Christ (Romans 8:35-39).

The Glory of Our Lord Jesus Christ #2

Monday, March 19, 2012

“But we are bound to give thanks alway to God for you, brethren beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth: whereunto he called you by our gospel, to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ” (2 Thessalonians 2:13,14 KJV).

As today’s Scripture indicates, God has called us Christians by Paul’s Gospel (1 Corinthians 15:1-4) for us to obtain “the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Our souls have already been purchased (redeemed) from the bondage of sin through Christ’s bloodshed (Titus 2:13,14). However, we still live in these sinful physical bodies that are prone to die. At the rapture, that will change, literally!

Unlike our spiritual bodies (souls), our physical bodies have not yet been redeemed from sin. If the Lord tarries, we shall die physically, and our physical bodies will go into the ground. But, at the rapture, these physical bodies will be resurrected and redeemed: Paul wrote, “[we are] waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body” (Romans 8:23; cf. Ephesians 4:30).

Although we now have “the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ” inside (in the inner man, the soul), these physical bodies limit us from seeing what God has really made us in Christ. So, these vile (sinful) physical bodies must one day be instantly transformed at the rapture (1 Corinthians 15:50-57). Our physical bodies will be automatically changed to resemble Jesus Christ’s glorious resurrected body (Philippians 3:20,21). Wow!

We have Christ’s glorious resurrection life living in us now (Galatians 2:20), but we cannot see that glory. One day, God will give us glorified physical bodies, which, unlike these physical bodies, will be able to reflect this inward glory. The inward glory we now have will be manifested for all creation to see. “For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared to the glory which shall be revealed in us. For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God [us Christians!]” (Romans 8:18,19). Glorious truth!

A Brief Ministry

Thursday, December 29, 2011

“See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil” (Ephesians 5:15,16 KJV).

In my nearly six years of ministry, one thing I have learned is not to waste time with contentious fools. We have better things to do than argue with those comfortable in ignorance (1 Corinthians 14:37,38). Saints, God has given us “the ministry of reconciliation” to proclaim to the world “the word of reconciliation” (2 Corinthians 5:18-21). What a grand ministry that is, albeit brief!

The seconds of life are fleeting, beloved. Ask yourself, have you been wasting those seconds? The outward man is growing older, weaker, and closer to going home to be with the Lord. “For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away” (James 4:14). Even the life of a centenarian is brief… a milestone most never reach.

Today’s Scripture exhorts the saint whose mind has strayed from God and whose Christian service is unacceptable. That child of God piddles about, wasting precious time that could be spent for God’s glory. How many more precious souls could be saved and edified if Christians spent less time in front of the television, and more time studying God’s Word? While there is nothing wrong with watching television, our priority is souls, both saved and lost!

As we study God’s Word, God’s way, using dispensational Bible study, understanding that God’s Word to us is Paul’s 13 epistles of Romans through Philemon, the sound doctrine contained therein will transform our lives for God’s glory. This is “walking circumspectly [cautiously].” The lost world is watching: what do they see in your life? Carelessness, or wisdom?

“Walk in wisdom toward them that are without [lost, unsaved], redeeming the time” (Colossians 4:5). “The days are evil,” so “redeem the time:” buy back the time for God’s glory by letting His doctrine transform you for His glory. Remember, your ministry is brief, for once this life ends, your “Christian ambassadorship” here is over, and your heavenly ministry begins. Will you be ready?

The Vacuum

Saturday, November 19, 2011

“And whether one member suffer, all the members suffer with it; or one member be honoured, all the members rejoice with it” (1 Corinthians 12:26 KJV).

During the past few days, a tragic situation has unfolded. An internet acquaintance of mine and dear saint, just 31 years old, shortly after communicating with me electronically, passed away in a tragic house fire. Instantly, his wife and children lost both their home and their husband-father. Now, saints are donating money and supplies. Why are they doing this?

In today’s Scripture (and its context of verses 12-27), God the Holy Spirit gives an analogy. Just as our physical bodies and its members (organs, limbs, et cetera) are interconnected, the Church the Body of Christ (all present-day Christians) and its members (individual Christians) are linked.

The indwelling Holy Spirit unites us as members of the Body of Christ. When one Christian suffers, the Holy Spirit inside of each of us grieves. He causes us to have sympathy for that Christian. The love of Christ that drove Him to Calvary’s cross operates within us, the believers. It is a selfless, unconditional love, that seeks another person’s highest good. In Philippians 2:1-11, Paul urges us believers to have the same (self-sacrificing) mind that Jesus Christ had.

The verse preceding today’s Scripture is: “…but that the members should have the same care one for another” (verse 25b). God’s grace teaches us to “seek another’s wealth” (1 Corinthians 10:24). Human nature is selfish, but as Christians, when we let Christ live His life in us, He will seek the highest good of all with whom we interact. God’s grace teaches us to seek another person’s benefit, not ours.

Just as this unnamed family has a vacuum in its heart, we too have a vacuum. We mourn as they mourn and pray for them in this time of suffering. When these tragedies happen, God’s Word works within saints so they help with prayer and donations.

But, just as we mourn the loss of that saint, we rejoice with his family as he is now dwelling in the presence of the Lord, to be seen again!