Where Are They Now? Philippians 1:1-6, 19-26

Transcription

1 Where Are They Now? Philippians 1:1-6, Rev. Michael D. Halley May 25, 2014 Suffolk Christian Church Suffolk, Virginia Sixth Sunday of Easter Memorial Sunday ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Death surely is one of the most perplexing problems that we humans face. We avoid thinking about it, as best we can, but it is always there and we know it is coming at some point in our life. The story of Adam and Eve teaches us that death is the sentence imposed upon us humans because of our willful disobedience to God. Because we all are sinners, we have been sentenced to death, so to say, and we are all waiting for that sentence to be carried out. And death, our mortal enemy, is the reason we are here today; together, remembering our loved ones who died. Our friend Paul the Apostle also knew that death was coming for him some day, but that was not a fearful thought for him. In fact, he found himself in a bit of a dilemma. He truly believed the Gospel and truly believed he would be with Christ when he died, and he certainly was looking forward to that. However, he also knew he had work to do here on earth. So, while he eagerly awaited the time he could join the Lord, he wanted to stay here because of the ministry God had entrusted to him. That s why he said that for him to live is Christ. That is, to live is to live for Christ and serve him. That was Paul s solitary purpose in his life. 1

2 Page 2 But if he died, there would be even more of Christ. He firmly and sincerely believed this. To Paul it did not matter which road he would take, to live or to die. Now, I have pondered that thought over and over, as no doubt you have, as well. How do I feel about death in my own life? I do not fear dying, because I sincerely believe the Gospel. My fear, if there is any, would be in the manner and the timing of my death. I think I could probably agree with the great American philosopher, actor Woody Allen, who is reported to have said, "It s not that I m afraid to die, I just don t want to be there when it happens. 1 I sincerely believe that for us Christians, there awaits a wonderful life in the very presence of God. So for Paul, living and dying were not like something good and something bad; for him it was something good -- living -- and something better - - dying. In 1846, former president John Quincy Adams suffered a stroke. Although he returned to his seat in Congress the following year, his health was clearly failing. His friend Daniel Webster described his last meeting with President Adams, saying,... a friend of his came in and made particular inquiry of his health. [Mr.] Adams answered, I inhabit a weak, frail, decayed tenement [house]; [it is] battered by the winds and broken in upon by the storms, and from all I can learn, the landlord does not intend to repair. 2 President Adams was right: the landlord does not intend to repair these aging bones, he will completely rebuild them one day. We affirm our faith in that fact when we recite the phrase in the Apostles Creed: I believe in the resurrection of the body. We can have confidence in saying that because this has already happened to Jesus. He came forth from his tomb with his resurrection body. His disciples could recognize

3 Page 3 him but his body had been dramatically altered. And Paul wrote about this, in 1 Corinthians chapter 15, verses (NLT ): But in fact, Christ has been raised from the dead. He is the first of a great harvest of all who have died. So you see, just as death came into the world through a man [Adam], now the resurrection from the dead has begun through another man [Jesus]. Just as everyone dies because we all belong to Adam, everyone who belongs to Christ will be given new life. But there is an order to this resurrection: Christ was raised as the first of the harvest; then all who belong to Christ will be raised when he comes back. 4 5 When my mother died in 1992, my father was understandably distraught and deep in grief. Among the things that gave him comfort was a book about heaven written by the well-known evangelist of an earlier generation, Dr. John R. Rice. My father read that book several times over because it gave him comfort to be reminded that Mother was all right. We seek comfort and reassurance when we lose our loved ones and God understands our grief. But where are they now? Have they gone into a long sleep, awaiting the day of resurrection? Or are they conscious somewhere? We know where our bodies go when we die. We all have stood in the cemetery many times and seen the body lowered into the earth. But where is the spirit of that person? Recently I have been studying again this whole matter of what theologians call the intermediate state. I have concluded and affirmed, in my own mind and heart, that the Bible clearly teaches that our souls at death go immediately into the presence of God in heaven.

4 Page 4 This is what Jesus promised the penitent thief on the cross, when he said 6 to him, Today you will be with me in paradise (Luke 23:43 ). In this intermediate state, we have a soul but no body. We are conscious and we will know others, but in the resurrection we will be reunited with our earthly body, changed and glorified even as Jesus body had been changed and glorified. The biblical view is that we experience an unbroken continuity of personal, conscious existence such that immediately upon death we are actively in the presence of Christ and of God. 7 Cremation does not alter this process. Burial in the ground does not affect the process. A body that is not recovered does not change anything. I am certain that when the time comes God can retrieve every particle and cell of our body from wherever it is and raise us up, as he has promised. So we don t lose heart. God s promises are most comforting. Yes, there is pain in our loss. Yes, we grieve and we miss our loved ones. But at the heart of it all are the promises we know will be fulfilled. Still, death remains a mystery and even an enigma. But it is a thing we all face. So do not fear, my children, all is well with God in charge. A Christian man was once near death and was attended by his physician, who was also a Christian. Tell me something about the place to which I am going, the man asked the doctor. As the doctor fumbled for a reply, he heard a scratching at the door. Do you hear that? he asked his patient. It s my dog. I left him downstairs, but he has grown impatient, and has come up and hears my voice. He has no notion what is inside this door, but he knows that I am here. Isn t it the same with you? You don t know what lies beyond the Door, but you know that your

5 Page 5 Master is there. 8 9 I love the words to the old hymn, Come, Ye Disconsolate. To be disconsolate is to be very unhappy or very sad. And that describes many of us here today, thinking about our friends and loved ones we have lost in death. Hear the comfort of these words: Come, ye disconsolate, where er you languish, Come to the mercy seat, fervently kneel. Here bring your wounded hearts, here tell your anguish; Earth has no sorrow that heaven cannot heal. Joy of the desolate, light of the straying, Hope of the penitent, fadeless and pure! Here speaks the Comforter, tenderly saying, Earth has no sorrow that Heaven cannot cure. Here see the Bread of Life, see waters flowing Forth from the throne of God, pure from above. Come to the feast of love; come, ever knowing Earth has no sorrow but heaven can remove. Let us pray together: O God, how we thank You for Your love and Your promises which sustain us and comfort us during our days of grief and pain. Thank You for our loved ones who have gone on ahead. Thank You for their faith and for their witness. May we walk on through the remainder of our days with courage, unafraid of what lies ahead. We live because of our Lord Jesus and his sacrifice for us. We pray for Your Spirit to fill us and we give You thanks, praying this in the name of Jesus. Amen

6 Page 6 +==+==+==+==+==+==+ All Scripture references are from New International Version, NIV, copyright 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc., unless otherwise indicated. +==+==+==+==+==+==+ Sunday Sermons from Suffolk Christian Church are intended for the private devotional use of members and friends of the church. Please do not print or publish. Thank you. Suggestions for sermon topics are always welcome! 1. This is quoted widely on the internet. I first found it at Death, 2. Told in Today in the Word, April 11, 1992, and quoted at Death, Today in the Word is a devotional published by Moody Bible Institute, 3. New Living Translation (NLT), copyright 1996, 2004, 2007 by Tyndale House Foundation. 4. Rena Elvira Perry Halley, John Raymond Halley, For further reading, see the article, What did Jesus mean when He said, Today you will be with me in paradise?, at 7. A quote from Dr. R. C. Sproul, in Everyone s A Theologian: An Introduction to Systematic Theology, published by Reformation Trust (a division of Ligonier Ministries), 2014, p This is an excellent book! 8. Story attributed to New Testament theologian Dr. A. M. Hunter, quoted in Bruce L. Shelley s book, Christian Theology in Plain Language, published by Word Books, 1985, p Words written by Thomas Moore, first published in Sacred Songs, in The tune it is sung to is Consolator, composed by Samuel Webbe, Sr., first published in Collection of Motetts or

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