Dying to go home
Hi I found this on a website called www.sliceoflaodicea.com and thought it a wonderful thing to share here.
Charles Spurgeon on the Joy of his Church Members Dying.
Posted: 17 Jul 2008 03:38 AM CDT
“As I have often told you, there is never a week without some of our number being taken up. Although I have visited a large number of dying believers, I have never yet visited a member of this church who has expressed the least fear in his dying moments, or the slightest dismay in the hour of departure. It makes me feel happy to see how the brethren and sisters die; they pass away as if they were going to a wedding rather than to a tomb, as if it were the most joyful thing that ever happened to them to have reached their expected end.“
Re Dying to go home
Hi Jessie
I read with joy your posting above as it is a topic I never used to consider very often.
I received a telephone call a few moments ago from a sister in the Lord who told me that a brother we both know has died, after a difficult time with cancer. When he was first diagnosed, he was quite cheerful about it, believing that the Lord would heal him. As time went by he had chemo or radiation and it seemed to go away for a time, but then it came back, in far greater proportions. Initially, he was very afraid and had difficulty in accepting it had come back, but as time went by, he started to lose his fear and started learning how to trust the Lord in the difficulty that he was in and his relationship with the Lord grew. Trust replaced fear and brought together with it, love. God's love and an acceptance of whatever the Lord wanted for His life.
He told one of the Church elders a few weeks ago that he was ready to go home if that was what the Lord wanted - that He could not wait to see his Saviour. Thank You Beloved Jesus!!
Until recently, I never really had given much thought to what it would be like to see Jesus face to face. When I was a teenager, older people (they were probably my age (40) now, which seemed sooo old to me at 16! ) would talk about going to heaven one day and we even sang choruses about it, but I used to wonder "what we were going to do there?" "Wouldn't it be really boring?" I never understood what it meant to spend any time in His presence. Perhaps many still feel like this now? Near the end of my posting, I have shared the reading in Revelations 3:15 -20. It used to TERRIFY me as a youth because I did not want to be lukewarm but did not understand how to 'get real' with God.. It was the beginning of a life-long journey of seeking.
Isaiah 55:6 - Seek the LORD while He may be found, Call upon Him while He is near.
My relationship with the Lord has had a huge transformation in the past couple of years which has changed everything about this. I used to want Him to take me home, because my life was often too difficult or traumatic for me to deal with down here, because I never understood how to deal with my life in Him with Him. Now I do, and now, I cannot wait to be with Him forever just so I can be with Him and for no other reason. It is so incredibly exciting!
I have been studying much about the end-times and following many of the changes that are taking place in our world on spiritual, political, and social levels, and can see that much is taking place that I was not aware, were. Things that I thought were very much still to come in the future, but have found out that they are happening right now.
The Truth is - Jesus is coming back as He promised. No matter what men might say, no matter what the religions of the world may say and no matter what schemes man is putting into place to further his end, the 'cogs' of God's 'machine' are moving forward regardless - men don't realise that their scheming and plans are being used by God to His end and ultimately His glory, not their own.
The most important questions here are, Are we ready should He come for us today? Are we expectantly waiting for Him? Are our lives so in-tune and given to Him, that we are 'dying to go home" with Him? Do we know Him intimately inside our hearts and lives?, Are we completely in- touch with Him in our 24/7 life? Or do we have one foot in the world and one foot in Him? Are we assured of our salvation? Are we? If we are not sure of the answers to any of these questions, then we need to fall flat on our faces before God and seek Him out for the answers and do it right now. Belonging to God is not a 50%. It is a full 100% or nothing. We need to read our bibles and see what God says about all these things. In Jesus' own words -
Revelation 3:15-20
Jeremiah 29:13 says "And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart." This does not describe a half hearted search. Or a casual search or on a Sunday only search. This search means very serious eternal business. We need to ask our Heavenly Father to a show us how to do this.
I want to share below, the parable in Matthew 25, what Jesus Himself says about always being ready for His soon return.
The Parable of the Wise and Foolish Virgins
1 “Then the kingdom of heaven shall be likened to ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. 2 Now five of them were wise, and five were foolish. 3 Those who were foolish took their lamps and took no oil with them, 4 but the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps. 5 But while the bridegroom was delayed, they all slumbered and slept.6 “And at midnight a cry was heard: ‘Behold, the bridegroom is coming, go out to meet him!’ 7 Then all those virgins arose and trimmed their lamps. 8 And the foolish said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’ 9 But the wise answered, saying, ‘No, lest there should not be enough for us and you; but go rather to those who sell, and buy for yourselves.’ 10 And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the wedding; and the door was shut.
11 “Afterward the other virgins came also, saying, ‘Lord, Lord, open to us!’ 12 But he answered and said, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, I do not know you.’
13 “Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man is coming.
May our Lord Jesus become more real than anyone else around you.
Re: Dying to go home - God's assurance!
Here is one of the vital things Jesus says on this matter to give us assurance:
"I assure you, most solemnly I tell you, the person whose ears are open to My words — who listens to My message — and believes and trusts in and clings to and relies on Him Who sent Me has (possesses now) eternal life. And he does not come into judgment — does not incur sentence of judgment, will not come under condemnation — but he has already passed over out of death into life." (John 5:24, Amplified Bible)
Gaan ek dit maak? (tot in die Hemel) "Dying to go home" -3 boeke
Sjoe, Hierdie is 'n belangrike onderwerp vir Christenne, en ek het pas gelees van 'n boek wat mens kan help met hierdie vraag. Die artikel 'n Tyd vir alles het hierdie gedeelte wat uitstaan:
Dan is daar verseker Dr Isak Burger se boeke van
5 minute VOOR die dood en nou die laaste
5 Minute NA die dood.
Ons kan maar net vir ons Vader dankie se dat hy sekere van sy kinders oprig om hierdie belangrike vrae vir elkeen te help beantwoord.
Re: Dying to go home
Hi Jessie
The other day I was chatting to one of my aunts and we were talking about growing old and how our bodies change as we age and what was not normal a few years ago is considered normal now, just a few years later. She has been a Christian much longer than I have known her and we were chatting about the exact subject of this blog posting - Going home to the Lord at the end of our lives here on earth.
She then said something astonishing for me to hear from her and that was "I hope so". I was speechless at the other end of the phone for a moment. Here was this lady who has walked with the Lord her whole life and here she is at 60 something saying "I hope so." No-one but the Lord Himself, can give this assurance to us changing the "I hope so" to "I know so."
It made me think - what will I be saying at her age? I know what I am saying now, but what about a few years down the road? I pray to God that I will have the reassurance then of the Lord that I have now. What changed her? What could change me?
It is all about His unending, unmerited Grace and the deep, continual work of the Holy Spirit in our hearts and lives. Always putting Him first, second and third.
This morning I came across Ingrid's thoughts on this on her Blog (where your original posting came from on this subject) and it fitted right in with this subject. I pray she will bless you too. - In Jesus, Steph
Finishing Well
Aug 02 by Ingrid Schlueter - http://www.sliceoflaodicea.com/
My Dad was angry. Basic maintenance had clearly not been done on the plane. A check of the maintenance records shortly after showed that the tire should have been changed a long time before we ever took that flight. (It hadn’t been changed in 800 hours and was a 2-ply rather than an 8-ply tire.) As a pilot, Dad had trusted the aviation company to do what was needed to help us fly safely. It hadn’t been done. What had started out as a textbook perfect flight nearly ended in disaster because of this carelessness.
I’ve been thinking lately about how we can start out strongly in our Christian lives. We can do all the (Bible) text book right things initially that we need to do to grow in the Lord. We can pray and read our Bibles, sit under good preaching and take care about the condition of our hearts. But then we can get careless. Basic maintenance can go undone in our hearts. It goes unnoticed, perhaps, by everyone else. And then…the tire blows. How to prevent the disaster? Go back to the basics. Allow the Lord to do the maintenance. Pay attention to basic issues of heart attitudes, time in prayer and reading God’s Word. Stay humble. Keep your eyes on Christ and His sacrifice on the cross. He alone can save. He alone can sanctify us. It is He alone who can keep us in the faith. When we take the time to take stock of the condition of our hearts, and go to the Lord for the maintenance needed, we, too, can finish well.
Gunmen: "If anyone in here is not a Christian, please leave."
I came across this article in the latest newsletter (dated 08/08/08) from Christian Reasearch and Aplogetics Ministry - also known as CARM. It tied in with all the above postings in a slightly different way. They have a very comprehensive site to browse through. You can catch them here: http://www.carm.org/
Devotion by Ryan Turner
Death as Gain!
"For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain" (Philippians 1:21).
These are the striking words of the apostle Paul as he wrote his letter to the Philippians. They are not the declarations of a mad man, but a man who was insanely in love with his Master. A man who had suffered for Christ and knew with an unquenchable passion that the resurrected God man from Galilee was the only hope for his life!
I also remember another story about two gunmen who stormed a church in the Soviet Union back during the communist era in Russia. The church was filled with people. The gunmen said, "If anyone in here is not a Christian, please leave. We only want to kill the Christians."
During this tense moment, numerous terrified church members fled the building leaving a smaller crowd inside the church. The two gunman then said, "We now want to worship with you. We prefer to only worship with real Christians."
If you were in a church and a host of terrorists stormed the building, would you deny your faith, or be willing to die? As a Christian, are you confident that to die is gain? Or, would you have serious doubts and flee the situation?
The piercing question that we must remind ourselves is that death is gain. Are you living for heaven or are you caught up with this earth? What are you doing to impact eternity?
What are you facing right now in your life? Doubt, frustration, financial difficulties, divorce, the loss of a loved one, etc. May the words of the Holy Spirit through the Apostle Paul inspire and comfort you. Remember, to live is Christ and to die is...gain!
Re: Dying to go home - Assurance of our Salvation
What is Biblical conversion and assurance?
A biblical understanding of regeneration and conversion has been lost by some of the modern church. To have salvation and assurance of that salvation you need to hear the Gospel which works in conjunction with the supernatural work of the Holy Spirit.
Our New Birth
John 3:1-8 1Now there was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews; 2this man came to Jesus by night and said to Him, "Rabbi, we know that You have come from God as a teacher; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him." 3Jesus answered and said to him, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God."4Nicodemus said to Him, "How can a man be born when he is old? He cannot enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born, can he?" 5Jesus answered, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. 6"That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7"Do not be amazed that I said to you, 'You must be born again.' 8"The wind blows where it wishes and you hear the sound of it, but do not know where it comes from and where it is going; so is everyone who is born of the Spirit."This supernatural work, called regeneration, produces repentance toward God and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. Here are two verses from Ephesians, but please read the whole chapter of Ephesians 2 - Made Alive in Christ -( the link to do this online is at the end of the posting.)
Ephesians 2:5 even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ by grace you have been saved
Ephesians 2:8 For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; )not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.
OUR REGENERATION
Regeneration simply put, is a change of heart that is brought about by the Holy Spirit who brings to life people who are dead in their sin. He re-news our entire nature which brings about a love and desire to become holy and enlightens our minds on a spiritual level to understand the Word of God. This is done by the wondrous, undeserving Grace of God alone. He gives it freely to us.
OUR REPENTANCE
Acts 20:20-21 20 how I did not shrink from declaring to you anything that was profitable, and teaching you publicly and from house to house, 21solemnly testifying to both Jews and Greeks of repentance toward God and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.
We will spend the rest of our lives repenting of our sin that we do daily - sometimes we are aware of it and sometimes not - while we are living our lives for Him and are growing to be more like Jesus, which is God's greatest desire for us. The Bible tells us that
1 John 1:8 If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us.
"The Bible teaches that even the most mature, the most godly Christian is still susceptible to sin. What this is teaching us is this. One of the greatest evidences that a person has truly been born again, that a person is truly a child of God is that they will be sensitive to the sin in their life and they will be led to repentance and confession of that sin." quotation from Paul Washer' s sermon - Examine Yourself
OUR PERSEVERANCE IN FAITHFULNESS
The truly saved person perseveres in faithfulness.
Philippians 1:6 6For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.
Matthew 7:16-20. 16"You will know them by their fruits. Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes nor figs from thistles, are they? 17"So every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit. 18"A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a bad tree produce good fruit. 19"Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20"So then, you will know them by their fruits.
It is a continuous, on-going moving towards God. A daily examination of our lives and asking God to search our hearts - we cannot do this - it has to be God who does it because we are prone to deceive ourselves all too easily.
Jeremiah 17:9-10 “ The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it? 10 I, the LORD, search the heart, I test the mind, even to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his doings.
This perseverance is the basis of assurance. The man who walks in a continual state of carnality (worldliness) with no divine discipline can have no assurance of sonship no matter how strongly he professes his allegiance to Christ.
Hebrews 12:8 But if you are without discipline, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate children and not sons.
Proverbs 3:11-13 11My son, do not reject the discipline of the LORD or loathe His reproof, 12For whom the LORD loves He reproves, even as a father corrects the son in whom he delights. 13How blessed is the man who finds wisdom and the man who gains understanding.
Proverbs 9:10 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom,And the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.
We can see clearly from these scriptures that if we are His, He will divinely discipline us becuase He loves us and is teaching us how to become Holy and live a Holy life!
Please don't take my words for it - Go to God's Word and read it for yourself. Be a Berean. (See Acts 17 v 10 & 11)
All Scripture taken from New American Standard Bible (NASB) at http://www.biblegateway.com When you look these verses up, you can will find all the cross-references in the actual Bible below each set of verse/es.
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