This is for you, Christian, facing death sooner or later.  Do you believe Jesus Christ is God himself, who died for your sins and was raised from the dead?  If your mouth and heart say “yes”, you are a true believer on the Lord Jesus Christ. Romans 10:9-10; I Corinthians 15:1-4; John 10:30; Ephesians 2:8-9; Mark 8:29; I Corinthians 12:3. This is what I mean when using the term “Christian” or “believer”. The good news is you are saved and going to heaven.  But when bad medical news comes, many unanswered questions come to mind. If you don’t understand how to face death as a Christian, you are not alone.  First, we would rather not talk about death because it makes others so uncomfortable. Second, we do not ask the tough questions because we do not want others to believe we have too little faith. Honestly, as Christians we are in the habit of accepting that we are supposed to be somewhat confused about death. But it is wrong to believe God wants us to be confused, even about death. “For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace…” I Corinthians 14:33. 
    
     Read on, and you will face death cheerfully and confidently, knowing death as your Master's servant. I pray this gives you peace and joy, abundantly, today. "If any man speak, let him speak as the oracles of God..." I Peter 4:11.

       The terminally ill appreciate company and comfort, but all the small talk highlights how little we know about facing death. Isn’t it a shame that we have so few meaningful words for the dying after discovery of terminal illness, when treatments fail, or during hospice palliative care? We quickly discover our limited understanding of death when speaking about death to someone terminally ill (or, more likely, in nervously avoiding the topic). The smartest man who ever lived, Solomon, “hated life” because he was confused about death. “And how dieth the wise man? As the fool. Therefore, I hated life…” Ecclesiastes 2:16-17.  “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom” (Psalms 111:10; Proverbs 9:10), but “the fool hath said in his heart, there is no God.” Psalms 14:1; Psalms 53:1. It looks like the foolish unbeliever and the believer die the same death, although that is not true. If you are not a Christian, you do not have even "the beginning of wisdom" (Psalms 111:10) so this will not make any sense to you. "How hast thou counseled him that hath no wisdom?" Job 26:3.

Seek ye the Lord while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near; Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon. Isaiah 55:6-7.

If you have not come to Jesus, today is not too late for you to know him. 

     For the Christian, I pray this may provide the answers about death that you need. God promises “grace to help in time of need” to soothe the raw anguish. Hebrews 5:16. There is eventually a peace that comes to the dying that is seen in the eyes. There is no Scripture about the look in Jesus’ eyes while on the cross, but I have seen what I believe is that same look in the eyes of dying Christians. Have you seen that look?  This is “peace of God, which passeth all understanding." Philippians 4:7. The Holy Spirit brings this peace to the Christian as a gift, not as a result of understanding death.  

     Wouldn’t it be wonderful to have that peace throughout the whole process of living and dying with understanding of death? "So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom." Psalms 90:12.

     I have never prayed harder than to be given understanding of why a completely forgiven believer, fully and finally forgiven by the blood of Jesus, still had to die a physical death, and often, a death with suffering. I write this explanation of “why we die” for you, Christian, as a great truth God has given me to give you. I Corinthians 9:16.

     Do you remember Jesus mentioned a great truth to his disciples but didn’t tell them what it was? He explained that even the disciples wouldn’t have been able to bear it. John 16:12.  He promised the Holy Spirit would tell it later. So, we know he wasn’t speaking of his own crucifixion. John 16:13. As Jesus promised, The Holy Spirit later revealed this truth through God’s Word.  “It is the glory of God to conceal a matter, and the honor of kings to search it out.” Proverbs 25:2; Revelation 1:6.

     Here it is.

     You, Christian, will not die for sin. The plan of salvation requires that you be a living sacrifice, that your greatest work be the same as Jesus’ greatest work, dying a physical death before resurrection. It is God’s will for you to be like Jesus, obedient unto death. No matter how God wills you die, it is to follow Jesus in death and resurrection, as a living sacrifice delivered to death for Jesus' sake. This means the death of any Christian, not just death from persecution. Death is your Master's servant.

     This needs explanation. What you read here is Scripture, from the King James version, and several references to the New Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible, put together to explain Christian death. Prayerfully read the Scriptures mentioned here for yourself, and, live or die, you will be well equipped to face death obedient to God.  

     Your first thought is probably just like mine when this was revealed to me, “I never heard that before." I have been taught all my life that forgiveness of sin does not relieve us from judgment for original sin (Adam’s sin as our ancestor), our sinful nature, sin’s consequences, or some combination of these. Due to Adam’s sin, God told Adam, “thou shalt surely die." Genesis 2:17. God’s Word explains that both our sinful nature and the curse of death became part of our inheritance from Adam. Hebrews 9:27; Romans 5:12.  

     Maybe, like me, that explanation has never quite satisfied you, because there are other Scriptures that say what seems to be the opposite.   God’s Word also tells me, and I know, I am fully forgiven for Adam’s sin, my sinful nature, and my sins, by the blood of Jesus. You, Christian, also know what it means to be cleansed.   I was confused at reading both that I am fully forgiven for sin, but to the contrary, that I still have to pay the judgment price for sin (or my inherited sinful nature) with physical death. This confusion makes us feel we are being punished for sin with death.

     Does forgiveness have a disclaimer, that Jesus’ death for my sins was not quite enough payment to pay the full sin debt, whether Adam’s or mine or both, so I still must die a physical death? Does grace have an asterisk?  

     Can a loyal soldier face dishonorable discharge from the military, while at the same time being promised the Medal of Honor once discharged, and not be confused?

     A forgiven Christian facing death, wrongly believing it is judgment for sin but then expecting heaven, is likewise confused. This confusion about death can take the joy out of living, and not just for the sick. I Corinthians 14:33. We don’t talk about this confusion, probably because it might sound like we have little faith.  "Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and show thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not." Jeremiah 33:3. I trust your heart is open to the Biblical truth that God is still in the business of revealing truth, even in the 21st century. Since we have the "mind of Christ," let's use it. I Corinthians 139:17-18; Jeremiah 29:11. 

     Let’s start at the beginning. Here is God’s Word, revealing the truth of death. The curse of death from Adam’s disobedience (described in Genesis 3:18) required that the guilty, all of us sinners, be hung on a tree.  Deuteronomy 21:23. In addition to the curse from Adam's disobedience, "…cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them." Galatians 3:10. "As it is written, there is none righteous, no, not one…” Romans 3:10. This leaves us all condemned sinners.

     Now, advance to Jesus communing with the Father in Gethsemane, the evening before his crucifixion. Jesus had asked James and John if they could drink from his cup (Matthew 20:22), then took them to Gethsemane where he prayed that very cup of death be taken from him (Luke 22:42), not out of human fear for himself but out of compassion for them, and for you and me, having to die a physical death as a necessary step in the plan of salvation. The Lord Jesus Christ was no coward. The Creator of the universe (John 1:3; Ephesians 3:9) did not have a moment’s fear or anxiety about his own crucifixion. In Gethsemane, he suffered the unseen but physical attack of the hordes of hell and began to bleed. Luke 22:44. In Gethsemane, he experienced for us and as us what it means to face death. Jesus was “very heavy…exceedingly sorrowful, even unto death…” Matthew 26:37-38; Mark 14:33-34.  

     Remember, this happened once before. Jesus wept (John 11:35) when it was necessary that he delay visiting Lazarus until after Lazarus had died (John 11:28-32) in order that Lazarus’ spectacular resurrection could be publicly witnessed. Jesus had to let his friend Lazarus die to resurrect him, and Jesus wept that this was necessary. Likewise in Gethsemane, Jesus did not sorrow from fear for himself. 

     In Gethsemane, don’t you see, Jesus was not sorrowful for himself, but for all his friends, you and me, because like Lazarus, and like Jesus, we must be "delivered” to die to be resurrected. Romans 4:25; II Corinthians 4:10-11. His coming crucifixion made that path of death before resurrection a certainty for us. When Jesus asked that the cup of suffering be taken away, it was not Jesus’ call to the Father for “Salvation Plan B” to avoid his own suffering. God’s plan of salvation to make us his holy friends was irrevocably in motion. Jesus was “slain from the foundation of the world.” Revelation 13:8. Jesus communed aloud about crucifixion with the Father three times to ensure you and I would have a record that there was no other way for him and for us, except that we also be delivered to die and be resurrected. Matthew 26:44. Jesus’ great sorrow in Gethsemane is that one moment in history when he publicly displayed how very “precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints.” Psalms 116:15. This was God’s compassion for you and me, because we would also have to die a physical death to follow in his footsteps to resurrection. Luke 22:42.

           Jesus told James and John they would drink in communion from his cup and be baptized into his baptism. This applies to James, John, and you. Matthew 20:23. Baptism and communion are both about our union with Jesus in death and resurrection. Jesus was “delivered” to death (Romans 4:25) so we are “delivered unto death for Jesus’ sake” (II Corinthians 4:10-11) to follow him in resurrection. Jesus could not tell his disciples that Jesus’ physical death meant we must follow in his footsteps to be resurrected (I John 4:17) and die a physical death, because it was too hard for them to bear.           

      Would Lazarus have been able to bear it, if his friend Jesus had sent word that he was not coming to heal his sickness, deliberately delaying, as part of a plan for Lazarus to die in suffering and be resurrected in joy? John 11:6. How is it that we know a Christian’s sickness can be God’s will “for the glory of God” to display his healing (John 11:4) but we don’t also know a Christian’s death is God’s will to glorify God? Just as the John 16:12 message was too hard for the disciples to bear, and may be hard for you to bear now, this message would have been too hard for Lazarus to bear.

     Who comes to Jesus to have abundant life, may not be quickly ready to learn that he is required to be conformed to the image of the man of sorrows, experiencing a taste of his suffering, and dying a physical death.  

      “Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall also be in the likeness of his resurrection.”  Romans 6:3-6. Jesus hung on a tree for you, the greatest of all works in history. Please remember Jesus’ death was a work. Since “the life of the flesh is in the blood” (Leviticus 17:11), there is no “remission” of sin “without shedding of blood” (Hebrews 9:22). “By one offering,” “one sacrifice for sins forever”, Jesus’ blood and death “hath perfected forever them that are sanctified.” Hebrews 10:12,14. “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends." John 15:13. Jesus said “It is finished” (John 19:30), so all our sins are totally forgiven by his grace, due to his work, the crucifixion (Hebrews 10:17-18; John 3:16).

     Christian, the curse of physical death was removed for you at that moment.  God’s great plans involve stunning reversals. The crucifixion turned the greatest curse into the greatest blessing. Jesus turned the curse of physical death, even that required by hanging crucified on a tree, into the blessing of a physical death, with heaven added in. “[B]ut the Lord thy God turned the curse into a blessing, because the Lord thy God loved thee.”  Deuteronomy 23:5. "[H]e appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself." Hebrews 9:26. The “forbearance of God” follows the “remission of sins". Romans 3:25. “Christ hath released us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us; for it is written, cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree…” Galatians 3:13.  When he said “It is finished” he had satisfied his own law removing every curse of sin from your account. Jesus seized back the keys to hell and death. Revelation 1:18. Jesus’ death conquered death, our last enemy. I Corinthians 15:26.

     We are “crucified with Christ” (Galatians 2:20; Romans 6:6) so it is not true that we must again die to satisfy the judgment of God for original sin, our sin nature, or personal sin. One died for all. II Corinthians 5:14. Jesus “by the grace of God tasted death for every man”. Hebrews 2:9.  God does not demand overpayment or even interest on debt. Exodus 22:25; Leviticus 25:37; Deuteronomy 23:19-20. Double payment for the same debt violates God’s own law. We cannot die again for the sin debt our sinless Jesus paid as us and for us. Jesus’ death was full, not partial, payment of our sin debt. Hebrews 10:17-18.  So, it is as true to say that Jesus must be crucified again, as to say that the true Christian believer must die for sin. Thank God, that is not true. As a believer, you are redeemed from the curse of death by the blood of Jesus. Romans 6:23 promises, the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.   “The wages of sin is death...,” is condemnation only for unbelievers.  

      The first half of Romans 6:23 (and similar verses describing death as condemnation or judgment for sin) does not apply to Christians. There are many verses in the Bible that warn the unsaved of death for sin, judgment and condemnation, that simply do not apply to the destiny of God’s own saved believers.    We “were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.” Ephesians 2:3.  Romans 5:18-21 explains this best:

Therefore as by the offense of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one free gift came upon all men unto justification of life. For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many more be made righteous. Moreover the law entered, that the offense might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound: that as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord.

The thief on the cross next to Jesus was suffering “condemnation” (Strong’s 2917) for sin. Luke 23:40. Freedom from this identical condemnation (Strong’s 2917, also called judgment) is freely “given unto” believers. Revelation 20:4. “It is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment.” Hebrews 9:27. You, Christian, are free from the judgment of condemnation.  “Therefore as by the offense of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life.” Romans 5:18. “[H]e that believeth in him is not condemned.” John 3:18. “There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.” Romans 8:12. This is the superseding law of grace for the believer, superseding even “the law of…death”. This is exactly what God means when he says, where sin and death abound, grace and life abound even more. Romans 5:20-21.

     I ask you plainly, Christian, do you believe God’s Word? If you do, you must now believe you are “free from the law of…death” (Romans 8:12) so the first half of Romans 6:23 does not apply to Christians. Christians do not die for the wages of sin.  There are at least two additional proofs that death is not punishment for sin for the true believer. First, Enoch and Elijah were both taken to heaven without death. Genesis 5:24; II Kings 2:11. Second, the day is coming when “we which are alive shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air.” I Thessalonians 4:17. For Enoch, Elijah, and those to be raptured, God has sovereignly suspended the pattern of resurrection through death. Isaiah 55:9.

     The second half of Romans 6:23 does apply to Christians.  “[B]ut the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord”, is for you and all those saved by grace. Christians must still die a physical death, but for a new reason.  You are forgiven fully, not condemned to die for sin, either Adam’s or yours. A Christian’s death is God’s ordained grace, not judgment. Death of a Christian is an essential element of God’s plan of salvation, according to God’s Word.

          Romans 8:17 reads: “And if children, then heirs: heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ, if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be glorified together.” Now you know that Matthew 10:39 means what it says: “whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.” And what Luke recorded is literally true: “any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple (Luke 14:33)...yes, even his own life” (Luke 14:26). Do you see that your physical death as a believer on Christ is the last step in God’s plan for your resurrection?

     Jesus was “delivered” to death (Romans 4:25) setting the pattern for his followers.  “Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus…we which live, are always delivered unto death for Jesus’ sake....” II Corinthians 4:10-11; I John 4:17.  “Dying”, Strong’s 3500, means necrosis, death of living tissue, the dying of Jesus becoming your physical death. The “corruptible” (Strong’s 5349) body dies (I Corinthians 15:53), but it dies “the dying of the Lord Jesus” (II Corinthians 4:10), not a death of judgment for sin. We are “crucified with him”, “buried with him by baptism into death”, and “planted together in the likeness of his death”, all meaning the curse of physical death exists no more for the Christian. Romans 6:6, 6:4, 6:5. “Delivered” is Strong’s 3860, a form of Strong’s 1325, used in John 17:6. This word delivery means a physical delivery, such as a gift is handed to another.  We are a gift from the Father to the Son as described in John 17:6 to be his friends forever. “My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand.” John 10:29.

     You were born to be God's good friend. There is no true honor other than this: friend of God. John 15:15; James 2:23. Made in his image, we like having friends, too. Genesis 1:27. The Golden Rule is our friendship with God, but expressed toward man made in his image, serving our generation, until called to heaven. "For David, after he had served his own generation by the will of God, fell on sleep and was laid unto his fathers…" Acts of the Apostles 13:36. You best serve your generation by introducing others to your best friend, Jesus. Do you know how to invite a friend to dinner? Since you are still here to win souls (Proverbs 11:30; James 5:20), why not invite your family and friends to dinner with you in Heaven? God has written that you may ask anyone you want, and he wants everyone to accept your invitation. II Peter 3:9. Every pleasant meal with family or friends is a small rehearsal, on earth as it is in heaven, of a big meal with family and friends coming up, planned for you to attend before time began. Revelation 19:9; Romans 8:29-36; Ephesians 1:4-14. If you want to be sure of a reunion in heaven with those you love, have them promise now to be there with you. This is your duty, not the pastor’s. Mark 16:15. If you are not sure how to ask a friend to heaven, just ask the exact question I first asked you above, about your faith.

     Do you wonder at God's timing? The Lord is perfect in all his ways. Deuteronomy 32:4. When you come to the cross (Luke 14:27), “thou shalt come to thy grave in a full age, like as a shock of corn cometh in season” (Job 6:26; I Kings 14:13). Your “full age” may be any age, even as a bud or when in full bloom, as he likes it. We must resist the popular notion that we are entitled to a long life well lived, since we are created to be eternal citizens of heaven. Psalm 103:14-15; Hebrews 11:6.

     Psalm 44:22 and II Corinthians 4:11 teach our deaths are for Jesus’ sake, to complete our delivery to Jesus. John 17:6. “Yea, for thy sake we are we killed all the day long; we are counted as sheep for the slaughter.” Psalm 44:22. II Corinthians 4:11 reads: For we who live are constantly being given over to death for Jesus’ sake….” Being “delivered over to death” means God uses death to deliver us to him. You will die, Christian, but for Jesus’ sake to be delivered to him, not for sin. Romans 8:12. Your physical death is the final delivery of the gift (you). John 17:6; II Corinthians 4:10-11; John 10:29. Even the disciples, after about three years with Jesus, were not ready for the hard teaching you are reading now. John 16:12. It is hard to bear that our loving, life giving God requires us, his friends, to die a physical death.

     This applies to all true Christian believers, not just those dying from persecution or in the mission field. We have the “faith of”, and the death and righteousness of, Jesus credited “upon all them that believe, for there is no difference.” Romans 3:22; Ephesians 3:12.

     Your physical death is a work, planned by God beforehand, and so we must be obedient to his plan and praise him for transforming death from being judgment for sin, to death that is not judgment for sin. Romans 4:17. Jesus changed the purpose of death. “For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.” II Corinthians 15:22. Would it make sense for Jesus to seize back the keys to death (Revelation 1:18), and do nothing to change its purpose for our good? Of course not, since God promises to work all things (even death) together for the good of those he loves, and to perfect that thing which concerns us. Romans 8:28. (If anything concerns us, it is death.) Here again we know what it means when he promises that where sin abounds, grace abounds even more. Romans 5:20. What a generous God we serve, cancelling debt and freely giving the riches of his grace, an account full of good works, his righteousness our own, only for believing him true. Romans 3:22; Ephesians 2:6; Colossians 1:27.

     Are you facing death a little short on good works? “Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.” Luke 12:33. Your account of good works in the kingdom of God is credited with Jesus’ own death, plus your own death to come, “for Jesus’ sake”. II Corinthians 4:11; Romans 4:22. In addition to credit for Jesus’ death, although you were forgiven and not sentenced to die, God declares it is every Christian’s reasonable service to die as a living sacrifice (Romans 12:1) just like Jesus. Remember, we each must “suffer for his sake” (Philippians 1:29) and be “delivered unto death for Jesus’ sake” (II Corinthians 4:10-11). Your account of good works is full since Jesus credits you with suffering and dying for his sake as a great work for him. Romans 4:22. Your account of good works overflows. “… [M]y cup runneth over." Psalms 23:5. (Remember what Jesus said to James and John about the “cup” of death? Matthew 20:23.) No greater work could be offered than your life.

     Can you see the scales tipping in your favor with Jesus’ own death and your death as a living sacrifice (Romans 12:1) both on your side of the balance? His grace far exceeds our sin on the scale. Romans 5:20. This truth makes it easy to understand how God’s Word tells us we are saved by grace alone, not of works (Romans 11:6; II Timothy 1:9; Ephesians 2:8-9), but also, on the other hand, how it is also written that every man will be judged according to his works  (Proverbs 24:12; Romans 14:12; Matthew 16:27; II Corinthians 11:15).

     Of course you don’t deserve such a generous accounting, but don’t you love him for planning the very best for you?

     Does this sound too good to be true? Maybe you just don’t know yet how much God loves you just for believing he died to save you. Jesus taught a parable about an unusual employer who paid all his workers exactly the same pay for a full day’s work, even though they were called to work at different times of the day and some worked only a very short time. Jesus taught it was his good pleasure to reward us better than we deserved, and warned it was envious and evil for us to doubtingly substitute our earthly notion of justice for his divine judgment. Matthew 20:1-16. This parable applies here, to us, counted as tortured and crucified although we did not have to suffer that horrible death. Again, we have the “faith of” Jesus credited “upon all them that believe, for there is no difference.” Romans 3:22; Ephesians 3:12.

     We cannot grasp our great reward for faith alone. Ephesians 2:8-9. His love for us reaches to the skies. Psalms 36:5. God wills we must suffer and die, so it can be no surprise he rewards us in greater measure than we deserve. On the other hand, no amount of good works, suffering or death can earn heaven for any who do not believe Jesus Christ is God himself, and that he died for their sins and was raised up from the dead. John 3:16. Beware of seduction away from the "simplicity that is in Christ" by those who preach "another Jesus' or "another spirit" or "another gospel". II Corinthians 11:3-4. Heaven is not for sale to those too proud to accept  the free gift of salvation.

     It is also true that those dying from persecution for Christ obtain an even nobler resurrection (Hebrews 11:35), a “crown of life” (Revelation 2:10), and God’s great honor (Revelation 6:9-11; Revelation 20:4). Witness for Christ subjects us to death by persecution, ever more true in these times. Acts 15:26. If you have not read Foxe’s Book of Martyrs, you should. Christians are still being persecuted, imprisoned, and killed for faith in many parts of the world.

     Whether you die from persecution or not, it is a necessary part of the plan of salvation that your greatest work be the same as Jesus’ greatest work, suffering and dying a physical death. You will die for Jesus’ sake (no matter how God wills your death), “delivered” to die, and your reward will be far greater than you deserve. Death is a work established by gracious God for every Christian.  “We are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” Ephesians 2:10. Now you know that one of those good works is your own physical death, a "gift of God" just like faith itself. Ephesians 2:8-9.  “For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his son [including dying a physical death, just like Jesus].”   Romans 8:29.   “[A]s he is, so are we in this world.” I John 4:17. “For unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe, but also to suffer for his sake.” Philippians 1:29.

          Jesus’ body was a living sacrifice for you, and yours is a living sacrifice for him. Our obedience unto death must be like Paul’s, expressed in Philippians 3:10:  “That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death…”. “Conformable” (Strong’s 4833) as used here means assimilated, united, joined together, and becoming like him, in death.  Again, baptism and communion remind us we each shall follow after the death and resurrection of Jesus.     

     Just as Jesus was delivered to death to precede us in being delivered to death, so was Jesus first delivered to sorrow, suffering, and grief in order that we take up the cross and follow him through the same. “Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him; he hath put him to grief…” Isaiah 53:10. We join in “the fellowship of his sufferings” (Philippians 3:10) “to suffer for his sake” ( Philippians 1:29). Our sufferings and death are "the will of God". "Wherefore let them that suffer according to the will of God commit the keeping of their souls to him in well doing, as unto a faithful Creator.” I Peter 4:19.

How sweet is the thought that, the pains which we suffer are the pains which love alone inflicts! Not a stroke of God's rod lights upon us that is not a subdued echo of His love. Viewed in this light, how sweet is every pang we endure! The hand that inflicts it, is a Father's; the love that sends it, is a Redeemer's; the grace that soothes it, is the Comforter's! ... Another sweet reflection springs from the fact that, there is no curse in the pains our Heavenly father in infinite wisdom and righteousness inflicts. Were it not so, oh how piercing and how bitter would they be! But Jesus, in bearing all our pains, and enduring all our sufferings, has so completely extracted every drop of the curse, has so extinguished every spark of hell, that there is, in the most acute mental and bodily suffering, nothing but covenant blessing. Charles Haddon Spurgeon, "No More Pain" (emphasis in original).

“I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable sacrifice.”  Romans 12:1. Do you see that your body is to be sacrificed obediently as God wills, when he wills it?  As Jesus’ body was sacrificed, your coming death is a “good work” “which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in” it (Ephesians 2:10), “in the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death” (Philippians 3:10)?

          Now that you know this, follow after the Lord Jesus Christ in “obedience unto death”.  Philippians 2:8. Offer your suffering, your life, and your body as a living sacrifice by declaring this out loud for Heaven and the enemy of your soul (Psalm 143:3) to hear:

          I am released from every curse and forgiven every sin because Jesus died for me. I will not die from sin. I will not shrink from death. I offer my suffering, my body and my life as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God.  No matter how I may die, I declare that my death is to be delivered to Jesus and glorify God.  So be it now and forever, bound on earth as it is in heaven. Matthew 16:19.

          God promises no power in the universe can take you from your Father’s hand. John 10:29. And now you know why, as described in Revelation 12:11, God delights in those obedient unto death:   “They overcame him by the blood of the lamb and by the word of the testimony [that Jesus Christ is God himself, Romans 10:9] and they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death [but offered their bodies as living sacrifices, Romans 12:1].”

          You are now a saint well equipped to pass through physical death with the obedience of your Lord.   I Corinthians 15:54-55.   Perfect love drives out fear, so fear not. I John 4:18. Rejoice at the time to come.  Psalms 31:25.  Your death will be an honored sacrifice, not a death for sin, so laugh at the future with strength and honor.  Proverbs 31:25.  “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.” Psalm 23:4.  “[D]eath is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is your sting?  O grave, where is your victory?” I Corinthians 15:54-55. “I will ransom them from the power of the grave; I will redeem them from death….” Hosea 13:14. “But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory making us conquerors through our Lord Jesus Christ.”  I Corinthians 15:57. 

     Do you pray, "thy kingdom come, thy will be done" and still feel heaviness? In all your troubles, make a beeline for the Cross and your Savior, confident God is a rewarder of those trusting him for forgiveness and eternal life in his presence. Hebrews 11:6. Will you disobey your King's order to enter into his gates with thanksgiving and praise? Psalms 100:4; Revelation 22:14. Leave the world’s music behind, and listen instead to his! Music activates angels and demons. I Samuel 16:16-23. Have you tried praising God for his great plan for you? It is the antidote for any heaviness inside you. Put on Jesus’ own “beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness.” Isaiah 61:3.

     Don’t all the verses you’ve read here suddenly make a new kind of sense? This understanding is the mind of Christ (I Corinthians 2:16), wisdom itself (Psalms 139:17), given to you by the Word of God. "[T]o depart, and to be with Christ…is far better.” Philippians 1:23. "We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord." I Corinthians 5:8.  "[T]he day of death is better than the day of one's birth." Ecclesiastes 7:1.     You may not feel worthy to be forever in the presence of God. Fear not, there is a purifying baptism of perfection that can only come through death. Luke 3:16.

Can it be true that this poor sinful heart of mine is to become holy even as God is holy? …When I cross the Jordan, the work of sanctification will be finished; but not till that moment shall I even claim perfection in myself. Then my spirit shall have its last baptism in the Holy Spirit’s fire. … I long to die to receive that last and final purification which shall usher me into Heaven. Not an angel more pure than I shall be…                                                                                          
Charles Haddon Spurgeon, “Made Perfect - Hebrews 12:23.”

Jesus said John the Baptist was greatest among men, but that the least among those who had entered Heaven was even greater. “For I say unto you, among those born of women there is not a greater prophet than John the Baptist: but he that is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he.” Luke 7:28.

I think the most honourable and glorious thing we shall ever behold, next to Christ’s entrance into heaven, and his glory there, is the entrance of one of God’s people into heaven. I can suppose it is made a holiday whenever a saint enters, and that is continually, so that they keep perpetual holiday. …[T]here is a shout that cometh from heaven whenever a Christian enters it, louder than the noise of many waters…which all the ransomed raise…” Charles Haddon Spurgeon, “The Death of the Christian”, Sermon of September 9, 1855.

The Christian transformed into heaven is a being of “everlasting splendor” that if seen now you would be “tempted to worship”, and, so shall you be. C.S. Lewis, “The Weight of Glory”. “And as we have borne the image of the earthly, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly.” I Corinthians 15:49.

     Several in the Bible have seen the blue sky just overhead roll back like a one way mirror to reveal the host of heaven and the Father’s throne. Exodus 24:10; I Kings 22:19; II Chronicles 18:18; Ezekiel 1:1; Acts 7:55; Acts 10:11. You are now living in the presence of a great cloud of witnesses, Moses and Elijah and all your father’s fathers and mother’s mothers, cheering you on. Hebrews 12:1. We do not have far to go.

I've seen a dying eye

Run round and round a room

In search of something, as it seemed

Then cloudier become

And then, obscured with fog,

And then…wavering gaze,

Until it settled firm on Paradise.

Emily Dickinson, Poems by Emily Dickinson, Series One, XV

Perhaps you have seen, as I have, the unconscious saint in his last moments suddenly reach upward with arms extended, toward no one visible to us, trying to speak. His sheep hear his voice. John 10:14.

     “For whether we live, we live unto the Lord; and whether we die, we die unto the Lord; whether we live therefore, or die, we are the Lord’s.” Romans 14:8. When you suffer, it is unto the Lord, so make your suffering, like your life and body, your obedient offering to him who suffered more. Romans 12:1. "My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness." II Corinthians 12:9.

     "They that sow in tears shall reap in joy." Psalms 126:5. Suffering is temporarily great here so it can be finished, that joy will be forever even greater and perfect. "For I reckon the sufferings of the present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us." Romans 8:18. "I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me in that day…” II Timothy 4:7-8. "Neither shall there be any more pain." Revelation 21:4.

     "Father, I will that they also whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory…." John 17:23. Jesus speaks this to you: Well done, my good and faithful servant. “[S]aid I not unto thee, that if thou wouldest believe, thou shouldest see the glory of God?” John 11:40. Soon he will present you to your fellow immortals saying, this is my friend, in whom I am well pleased. It’s time to get ready for “our gathering together unto him”.  II Thessalonians 2:1. “As for me, I will behold thy face in righteousness: I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with thy likeness.” Psalms 17:15. Now you understand why we die, to take Jesus' own last step to resurrection in glory we cannot imagine, to a new life we cannot imagine.

But Death said to the other man [Christian], “I am come for thee.” He smilingly replied, “Ah, Death! I know thee; I have seen thee many a time. I have held communion with thee. Thou art my Master’s servant; thou hast come to fetch me home. Go, tell my Master I am ready; whenever he pleases, Death, I am ready to go with thee.” And together they went along the road, and held sweet company. Death said to him, “I have worn these frightful bones to frighten wicked men; but I am not frightful. I will let thee see myself. The hand that wrote upon Belshazzar’s wall was terrible because no man saw anything but the hand; but,” said Death, “I will show thee my whole body. Men have only seen my bony hand, and have been terrified.” And as they went along, Death ungirded himself to let the Christian see his body and he smiled, for it was the body of an angel. He had the wings of cherubs, and a body glorious as Gabriel. The Christian said to him, “Thou art not what I thought thou wast; I will cheerfully go with thee.” At last death touched the believer with his hand—it was even as when the mother doth in sport smite her child a moment. The child loves that pinching upon the arm, for it is a proof of affection. So did Death put his finger on the man’s pulse, and stopped it for a moment, and the Christian found himself by Death’s kind finger changed into a spirit; yea, found himself brother to the angels; his body had been etherealized, his soul purified, and he himself was in heaven.

Charles Haddon Spurgeon, “The Death of the Christian”, Sermon of September 9, 1855.

Peace and joy to you in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. God be with you until we meet again. See you soon! 
Christopher C. Edwards,