It has been stated that only two things are certain – death and taxes. While I understand the point of the statement, it is necessary to speak concerning two firm events that are positively sure to occur. These two events will occur in the life of literally every individual that is living, or that has lived. The first is the conclusion of this life; the second is the initiation of the next.
The Conclusion of This Life
Your life upon this earth is temporary, and its end is as sure as its beginning. The end of one’s life is never escaped; it is only delayed. Refusal to speak of life’s end will not prohibit its occurrence. Omit the thought from your mind, and its reality will seize your physical being into its clutches. Every life ends in one of two ways; either by death, or by rapture. Most lives have ended, and will end, in death. The heart will stop. The brain will cease its activity. The lungs will exhale its final breath of air. The blood will flow no longer. The body temperature will drop. This is the route by which most lives transit from time to eternity. This is the well-beaten path by which so many have, and so many will, travel from this life to the next.
Those whose lives will not end in death will end in rapture. The rapture, or the “catching up” of the saints of God, is an absolute true event that will occur, despite opposing opinion. Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of the living God, will descend from heaven with a shout. The dead in Christ shall rise first, and we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them to meet the Lord in the air. Should I be alive when Jesus returns to gather His church and pour out His wrath upon the children of disobedience, I will avoid the clutches of death. This is what the Bible means when Paul writes, “We shall not all sleep.” He is referring to the bodily sleep of death. Some will escape death. Those who are washed in the blood of Jesus Christ at His coming will undergo a change. Our physical bodies will be changed into a body like His glorious body. Those children of God who have already died will be resurrected, and will be changed as well. They will rise to the atmosphere, their bodies being changed into a glorious body. Whether I die to be resurrected later, or whether I live until Jesus comes; my life as I know it now, will assuredly and positively come to an end. I will not live for ever in this body or in this life.
The Initiation of the Next Life
As sure as the fact that this life will end, the next life will begin. Those who oppose the very thought of any existence after this life are opposing an already-proven fact. It is proven by the words of a God who cannot lie. Nothing is as irrelevant as a man’s opinion that opposes God’s absolutely true words.
Hebrews 9:27 – “And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment.”
Man whose life has ended will surely face God Almighty at the eternal judgment bar. Three witnesses who have testified to you on earth will testify, either for you or against you, on this Judgment Day. The first witness that you face on that day is the Spirit of God. He has pricked your heart to be saved while you were on earth. He will testify to the Father as to whether you yielded to Him, or rejected Him. The second witness that will testify to the Father is the water, that is, the Word of God. When you heard the gospel message, how did you respond? When you read its pages or heard its pages proclaimed, how did you respond? Perhaps you never read a page of the Bible in your life. Then, those who lived a holy life in your presence LIVED its holy words before you! How did you respond? Did you obey its words? Did you accept the gospel call to repent and believe the gospel? Or, did you reject the eternal Word of God? The Word will testify concerning you on that day. The third witness you will face is the Blood, that is, the blood of Jesus Christ. Did you let the blood of Christ cleanse you of your sin? Or, did you rather trample the blood of the Son of God under your feet? The blood will testify concerning you on that day. And, should you have rejected these witnesses, it is stated clearly what is waiting:
Hebrews 10:29, 30 – “Of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted THE BLOOD of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto THE SPIRIT of grace? For we know him that hath said [THE WORD], Vengeance belongeth unto me, I will recompense, saith the Lord. And again, The Lord shall judge his people.”
You may ask, “Where do you get the idea that there are three that witness to us on earth?”
I get it from I John 5:8 – “And there are three that bear witness in earth, the Spirit, and the water, and the blood: and these three agree in one.”
It is absolutely true that this life will conclude, and the next will begin. Only those who have cast off every weak attempt to save themselves, and trust solely in Jesus Christ and His atoning blood, will be saved.
Facing Death with Grace
Death, though defined as a dark-shadowed valley, has no terror for me. I am amazed at how many people I have heard testify of death’s “lonesome valley.” I hereby declare with absolute certainty and blessed assurance that the One who has promised never to leave me, will not forsake me in the hour of death!
I have heard of many who tell of their loved ones passing from this life to the next, who were simply escorted by heavenly hosts into realms of glory. Jesus told of one such occurrence. He tells, first, about a rich man who died and went to hell. The man closed his eyes for the last time in this life, to open them for the first time in hell. This rich man had no help getting to hell. No one escorted him. No one stood at the brink of the river to make sure his crossing was safe. He crossed the dark valley of death ALONE. No help, no escort, no support, no comfort, and no escape.
Then, Jesus tells, in the same story, of a beggar who died. The beggar did not go to a fiery hell. He departed from this life to the next, being escorted by angels! Jesus tells us, “He was carried by the angels into Abraham’s bosom!” He had plenty of company in his transition from time to eternity! He had light in death’s dark valley! Death always looks like an end, until a child of God faces it. Then, the child of God opens his eyes, and sees that there is much more over there than there is over here!
A minister visited his dying mother in the hospital. She asked, “Son, aren’t the flowers beautiful?” The son looked for flowers. There were flowers in the hospital room, but they were below the hospital bed. It shocked the minister that his mother even saw those flowers. Nevertheless, he responded, “Yes, Mother, the flowers are beautiful.” She went on to say, “The walls! Aren’t the walls beautiful?” The minister looked at the unattractive, grey hospital walls. Failing to see any beauty before his eyes, it dawned on the minister. He then realized that his ailing mother was seeing the jasper walls of the heavenly world. So, responded to his dear mother, “Yes, Mother, the walls are beautiful!” With those final words, the minister, Monroe Parker, took his mother’s hand. She closed her eyes in this life and opened them in the next! What a peaceful transition! Not a trace of fear was present in that room!
Augustus Toplady, author of the well-known hymn “Rock of Ages,” lived out the hymn’s plea at the hour of his death. Having seen his physician, Toplady’s physician told him, “Your pulse is becoming weaker.” Toplady responded, “That is a good sign that my death is fast approaching; and I can add that my heart beats every day stronger and stronger for glory.” When Toplady’s physician tried to encourage him, he simply responded, “No, no; I shall die, for no mortal could endure such manifestations of God’s glory as I have had, and live.” This man experienced at his death what he wrote in his life:
Rock of Ages, cleft for me!
Let me hide myself in Thee.
Let the water and the blood
From thy wounded side which flowed,
Be of sin the double cure –
Save from wrath and make me pure.
When I draw this fleeting breath;
When my eyes shall close in death;
When I rise to worlds unknown;
And behold Thee on Thy throne,
Rock of Ages, cleft for me!
Let me hide myself in Thee!
The Conclusion of This Life
Your life upon this earth is temporary, and its end is as sure as its beginning. The end of one’s life is never escaped; it is only delayed. Refusal to speak of life’s end will not prohibit its occurrence. Omit the thought from your mind, and its reality will seize your physical being into its clutches. Every life ends in one of two ways; either by death, or by rapture. Most lives have ended, and will end, in death. The heart will stop. The brain will cease its activity. The lungs will exhale its final breath of air. The blood will flow no longer. The body temperature will drop. This is the route by which most lives transit from time to eternity. This is the well-beaten path by which so many have, and so many will, travel from this life to the next.
Those whose lives will not end in death will end in rapture. The rapture, or the “catching up” of the saints of God, is an absolute true event that will occur, despite opposing opinion. Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of the living God, will descend from heaven with a shout. The dead in Christ shall rise first, and we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them to meet the Lord in the air. Should I be alive when Jesus returns to gather His church and pour out His wrath upon the children of disobedience, I will avoid the clutches of death. This is what the Bible means when Paul writes, “We shall not all sleep.” He is referring to the bodily sleep of death. Some will escape death. Those who are washed in the blood of Jesus Christ at His coming will undergo a change. Our physical bodies will be changed into a body like His glorious body. Those children of God who have already died will be resurrected, and will be changed as well. They will rise to the atmosphere, their bodies being changed into a glorious body. Whether I die to be resurrected later, or whether I live until Jesus comes; my life as I know it now, will assuredly and positively come to an end. I will not live for ever in this body or in this life.
The Initiation of the Next Life
As sure as the fact that this life will end, the next life will begin. Those who oppose the very thought of any existence after this life are opposing an already-proven fact. It is proven by the words of a God who cannot lie. Nothing is as irrelevant as a man’s opinion that opposes God’s absolutely true words.
Hebrews 9:27 – “And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment.”
Man whose life has ended will surely face God Almighty at the eternal judgment bar. Three witnesses who have testified to you on earth will testify, either for you or against you, on this Judgment Day. The first witness that you face on that day is the Spirit of God. He has pricked your heart to be saved while you were on earth. He will testify to the Father as to whether you yielded to Him, or rejected Him. The second witness that will testify to the Father is the water, that is, the Word of God. When you heard the gospel message, how did you respond? When you read its pages or heard its pages proclaimed, how did you respond? Perhaps you never read a page of the Bible in your life. Then, those who lived a holy life in your presence LIVED its holy words before you! How did you respond? Did you obey its words? Did you accept the gospel call to repent and believe the gospel? Or, did you reject the eternal Word of God? The Word will testify concerning you on that day. The third witness you will face is the Blood, that is, the blood of Jesus Christ. Did you let the blood of Christ cleanse you of your sin? Or, did you rather trample the blood of the Son of God under your feet? The blood will testify concerning you on that day. And, should you have rejected these witnesses, it is stated clearly what is waiting:
Hebrews 10:29, 30 – “Of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted THE BLOOD of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto THE SPIRIT of grace? For we know him that hath said [THE WORD], Vengeance belongeth unto me, I will recompense, saith the Lord. And again, The Lord shall judge his people.”
You may ask, “Where do you get the idea that there are three that witness to us on earth?”
I get it from I John 5:8 – “And there are three that bear witness in earth, the Spirit, and the water, and the blood: and these three agree in one.”
It is absolutely true that this life will conclude, and the next will begin. Only those who have cast off every weak attempt to save themselves, and trust solely in Jesus Christ and His atoning blood, will be saved.
Facing Death with Grace
Death, though defined as a dark-shadowed valley, has no terror for me. I am amazed at how many people I have heard testify of death’s “lonesome valley.” I hereby declare with absolute certainty and blessed assurance that the One who has promised never to leave me, will not forsake me in the hour of death!
I have heard of many who tell of their loved ones passing from this life to the next, who were simply escorted by heavenly hosts into realms of glory. Jesus told of one such occurrence. He tells, first, about a rich man who died and went to hell. The man closed his eyes for the last time in this life, to open them for the first time in hell. This rich man had no help getting to hell. No one escorted him. No one stood at the brink of the river to make sure his crossing was safe. He crossed the dark valley of death ALONE. No help, no escort, no support, no comfort, and no escape.
Then, Jesus tells, in the same story, of a beggar who died. The beggar did not go to a fiery hell. He departed from this life to the next, being escorted by angels! Jesus tells us, “He was carried by the angels into Abraham’s bosom!” He had plenty of company in his transition from time to eternity! He had light in death’s dark valley! Death always looks like an end, until a child of God faces it. Then, the child of God opens his eyes, and sees that there is much more over there than there is over here!
A minister visited his dying mother in the hospital. She asked, “Son, aren’t the flowers beautiful?” The son looked for flowers. There were flowers in the hospital room, but they were below the hospital bed. It shocked the minister that his mother even saw those flowers. Nevertheless, he responded, “Yes, Mother, the flowers are beautiful.” She went on to say, “The walls! Aren’t the walls beautiful?” The minister looked at the unattractive, grey hospital walls. Failing to see any beauty before his eyes, it dawned on the minister. He then realized that his ailing mother was seeing the jasper walls of the heavenly world. So, responded to his dear mother, “Yes, Mother, the walls are beautiful!” With those final words, the minister, Monroe Parker, took his mother’s hand. She closed her eyes in this life and opened them in the next! What a peaceful transition! Not a trace of fear was present in that room!
Augustus Toplady, author of the well-known hymn “Rock of Ages,” lived out the hymn’s plea at the hour of his death. Having seen his physician, Toplady’s physician told him, “Your pulse is becoming weaker.” Toplady responded, “That is a good sign that my death is fast approaching; and I can add that my heart beats every day stronger and stronger for glory.” When Toplady’s physician tried to encourage him, he simply responded, “No, no; I shall die, for no mortal could endure such manifestations of God’s glory as I have had, and live.” This man experienced at his death what he wrote in his life:
Rock of Ages, cleft for me!
Let me hide myself in Thee.
Let the water and the blood
From thy wounded side which flowed,
Be of sin the double cure –
Save from wrath and make me pure.
When I draw this fleeting breath;
When my eyes shall close in death;
When I rise to worlds unknown;
And behold Thee on Thy throne,
Rock of Ages, cleft for me!
Let me hide myself in Thee!
