Before you begin your
Bible study, as a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, be sure you have named
your sins privately to God the Father.
If
we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to
cleanse us from all unrighteousness. [Known, Unknown and Forgotten sins] (1Jn
1:9)
You will then be in fellowship with
God, Filled with God the Holy Spirit and ready to learn Truth from the Word of
God.
God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in Spirit
and Truth.
(Joh 4:24)
Dying
Grace
THE CHALLENGE OF PHYSICAL DEATH
INEVITABLY, ALL OF US WILL FACE PHYSICAL DEATH. Some of us will die
painfully, some peacefully, and some honorably. Some will fall asleep and never
awaken; others will go out in a blaze of glory fighting for freedom on the
battlefield. Think of the courageous men in the United States Navy with their
carrier after the battle of Midway. Trapped in airtight compartments, they
endured the remaining moments of life in darkness knowing that between them and
the waves and the sky above was absolutely nothing but tons of water. Yet they had to sit there fully aware that
sooner or later, the oxygen would run out and they would die. What would you do
if you were in one of those airtight compartments, still alive but hundreds and
hundreds of feet from the surface? Would you panic? Would you fall apart?
Nothing produces greater fear in the human race
than the thought of physical death. Satan, as the ruler of this world, (Joh 16:11) uses death as a lever to frighten and
worry man. (Heb 2:14-15) However, God
never designed dying to be horrible or frightening for the believer in the Lord
Jesus Christ. The omniscience of God knows precisely
how long you are going to remain on earth, and when He decides to take you
home, it will be at the right time, at the right place, and in the right way.
Until then, nothing can remove you from this life — no person, no circumstance,
not even the devil and all the forces of evil — “...because greater is He who is in you than he who is in this world.”
(1Jn 4:4)
God’s
plan for every believer is to have a wonderful death, a time to be anticipated
as the dessert of life. Whether facing danger or enduring a prolonged,
painful illness, never does the believer need to fear or worry about death. God has assigned a specific death to each believer and He
graciously supplies every need to make dying the best, the sweetest part of
living.
God’s plan can be fulfilled only through the believer’s inculcation and
application of the Word of God. Only the believer with maximum Truth resident
in his soul has the capacity to appreciate and experience all of the fantastic
blessings and happiness of dying grace. His death
may or may not include great physical pain. However, there will be maximum
tranquility of soul so that he departs from his physical body in a state of
supreme happiness. Death for the believer with
Divine Thinking in his soul; will be a walk across the high golden bridge of
dying grace; from phase two into phase three. (Eternity) Dying grace is the ultimate departure from this life.
WHY PHYSICAL DEATH?
Before we can study dying grace, we must understand exactly what death
is. The word “death” in the Scripture
does not always refer to departure from life on earth. In fact, the Bible
speaks of ten kinds of death. (Spiritual, (Rom 5:12) physical, (Php
1:21) temporal, (1Co 3:1)
[Men of flesh or carnal] sexual, (Rom 4:19)
the sin unto death, (1Jn 5:16)
productional, (Jas 2:17) uselessness of
the body of flesh, (Rom 8:10) the
second death, (Rev 20:14) retroactive
positional death, (Col 3:3) and
experiential death, (Mar 8:34-38) to
the old sin nature) For the purpose of this study we will focus on only two
categories of death: Spiritual death-the separation or alienation of man from
God, (Rom 3:23) and physical death-the separation
of the human soul, which is the real person, from the body, which is man’s
earthly tent. (2Co 5:1-4) To understand
why man does not live forever on the earth, we must go back to the origin of
Spiritual death.
In the Garden, God graciously warned Adam and the women that His
judgment on disobedience, or sin, would be Spiritual death.
But from the tree of the knowledge of good and
evil [Satan's thinking] you shall not eat, for
in the day that you eat from it you shall surely die.”(Gen 2:17) cf. (Heb
5:14)
We know that the statement “You
shall surely die” does not refer to physical death because Adam and the
women did not immediately die physically when they violated God’s Command. They did, however, immediately die Spiritually; (Gen 3:7) they lost
their human spirit and acquired a sin nature. “You shall surely die” refers to
Spiritual death, separation from God in time. Adam’s newly acquired status of
Spiritual death also caused all the future generations to be plunged into
Spiritual death. (Rom 5:12-14) With the
exception of Jesus Christ, every person is born Spiritually dead. (Eph 2:1)
At the end of, (Gen 3:17) we
learn from the phrase “all the days of
your life” that physical death is a consequence of Spiritual death. At some
point in time each member of the human race will die physically, separation of
the soul from the body so that the person no longer lives on planet earth. The
soul, however, never dies, but lives forever in Heaven, the Abyss or the Lake of
Fire.
Physical death was therefore introduced as a vital issue in the angelic
conflict. Since man was created to resolve this age-old conflict by choosing
for or against God’s plan, his time on earth becomes significant. God allots
each individual a specific number of days which he may choose for or against
His plan. When this time runs out physical death occurs.
And inasmuch as it is appointed
for men to die once [Physically] and after this comes judgment. (Heb 9:27)
GOD PROVIDES THE SOLUTIONS
GOD IS HOLY. (1Sa 2:2) God’s integrity — holiness, is composed
of His perfect righteousness and justice. God’s
righteousness is the Standard Principal of his integrity; His justice is the function of His integrity. What God’s righteousness accepts, His justice blesses. What God’s righteousness rejects, His justice
judges? Since God’s righteousness can have nothing to do with Spiritually dead
mankind, His justice can only condemn him. Yet knowing that man [Adam] would
sin and fail, the love and integrity of God provided a way for man to have a
relationship with Him. Man could come to God through his grace policy.
Grace is the expression of God’s unfailing love and integrity, the
policy of His unmerited favor bestowed on sinful humanity. (Isa 30:18) Simply
stated, grace is freely given and undeserved. God does everything for
man based on the saving work of Jesus Christ on the cross. (Eph 1:6) Grace began
in eternity past with God and is the Divine initiative that offers a
relationship and blessings to mankind, totally apart from human merit, human
works, or any other human resources. Mankind can do nothing to earn or
deserve grace. God’s grace plan of Salvation not only demonstrates His perfect
character, but ensures Satan’s defeat in the angelic conflict. (Gen 3:15)
For God so loved the world that He gave
His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have
eternal life.
(Joh 3:16)
On the one hand, the righteousness and justice of God necessitate both
Spiritual and physical death. On the other hand, His righteousness and justice
are propitiated by the work of Christ on the cross; on our behalf.
He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our
behalf so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. (2Co 5:21)
God is now free to provide solutions to the greatest problem of man. The
problem of man’s Spiritual death is solved by means of his non-meritorious
faith in Jesus Christ as Savior. At the moment of Salvation, the new believer
instantly receives a human spirit into which the Holy Spirit imputes eternal
life making him Spiritually alive, or “born
again.” (Joh 3:6-7) The problem of
the believer’s physical death — fear — is solved
through his inculcation of Truth and advance toward Spiritual maturity where he
will inevitably receive wonderful Divine blessings in dying grace.
THE DEATH OF THE UNBELIEVER
For the unbeliever who does not possess eternal life, physical death
presents a grim picture. In, (Job 24:17)
Job says, speaking of the unbeliever facing death, “For the morning is the same as the death shadow.” (Corrected
translation) The brightness of the morning means nothing to the dying
unbeliever. He
is so frightened by the thought of death that the time of day or his
environment mean nothing to him; he is in a state of terror. Elihu
agreed with Job about the unbeliever facing death in, (Job 34:22) when he said, “There is no darkness nor death shadow where
the workers of iniquity may hide themselves.” There is no place where the unbeliever can hide from the REALITY
of death. When he dies, his soul goes to Hades to await the Last Judgment.
To the unbeliever death is a reminder that his time on earth is short. (Jam 4:14) Even if he lives a hundred years, that
is still a short time compared to eternity. Death is also a reminder of this
world’s fading glory. Human celebrity-hood or vast
wealth or any supposed key to happiness which has been frantically sought after
in life is destroyed by death. Gaius Julius Caesar was a man of true
greatness, a man of genius in every realm of life, but where is he today? He
“appears” to be in Hades waiting to be transferred to the lake of fire at the
last judgment. He as an unbeliever would be in Torments now and will be in
torment forever. (Mat 25:41; Luk 16:23; Rev
20:14-15) What profit to him now are his greatness and well deserved
fame and glory? None at all. For once a person begins to die, all these
things fade away — sic transit Gloria
mundi, “so the glory of the world passes away.”
Only the eternal things remain forever!
For what does it profit a man to gain the
whole world, and forfeit his soul? For what will a man give in exchange for his
soul? (Mar 8:36-37)
Whatever enjoyment the unbeliever and or carnal
believer had in life or whatever his accomplishments, ALL will become bitter
memories. For the unbeliever there is no hope beyond the grave — only anticipation of eternal judgment.
The unbeliever and carnal believer facing death are also reminded
that they dare not take tomorrow for granted. Death is a haunting experience of the certainty of judgment
for those who are unprepared.
For,
behold, those who are far from You will perish; [Unbeliever] You have destroyed all those
who are unfaithful to You. [Carnal believer]
(Psa 73:27)
The only preparation for eternity is the most important decision of
life: choosing to believe in Jesus Christ as Savior (Act 16:31) and for the believer to stay in fellowship and
Think with Truth.
But as for me, [Spiritually
mature believer] the nearness of God is my
good; I have made the Lord GOD my refuge, That I may tell of all Your works.
(Psa 73:28)
On the one hand,
He who does not believe has been judged
already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of
God. (Joh 3:18)
But on the other hand,
He who believes in the Son has eternal
life; but he who does not obey the Son shall not see life but the wrath of God
abides in him.
(Joh 3:36)
For the unbeliever, death means
eternal judgment in the lake of fire.
If anyone’s name was not found
written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire. (Rev 20:15)
For the carnal believer, few lashes many lashes, (Luk 12:41-50) or the Abyss. (Mat 8:11-12; Jude
1:11-15; 2Pe 2:15-17; Rev 20:1-3)
For if God did not spare angels
when they sinned, but cast [Tartaroo; from Tartaros] them into hell [Tartaroo;
the deepest Abyss of Hades] and committed them to pits of darkness, reserved
for judgment; (2Pe 2:4)
For this reason we must pay much
closer attention to what we have heard, so that we [Believers] do not drift
away from it. For if the word spoken through angels
proved unalterable, and every transgression and disobedience received a just
penalty, how will we [Believers] escape if we neglect so great a Salvation? After it
was at the first spoken through the Lord, it was confirmed to us [Believers] by
those who heard. (Heb 2:1-3)
There is no way we can or want to minimize the horror of death. (Mar 9:47-50) We must face this stark Reality if
we are not prepared for eternity. (Psa 89:48)
For if we [Believers] go on sinning willfully
after receiving the knowledge of the Truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice
for sins, but a terrifying expectation of judgment and THE FURY OF A FIRE WHICH
WILL CONSUME THE ADVERSARIES. [From; Nah 1:2]
Anyone who has set aside the Law of Moses
dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. How much severer
punishment do you think he will deserve who has trampled under foot the Son of
God, and has regarded as unclean the blood of the [New] Covenant by which he
was sanctified, and has insulted the Spirit of grace? For we know Him who said,
VENGEANCE IS MINE, I WILL REPAY. And again, THE LORD WILL JUDGE HIS PEOPLE. It is a terrifying
thing to fall into the hands of the living God. (Heb 10:26-31)
Yet, God does not tamper with the
free will of anyone. (1Ti 2:4; 2Pe 3:9)
THE DEATH OF A GROWING BELIEVER
In contrast to the unbeliever and the carnal
believer’s terrifying prospect,
the death of a Spiritual growing believer in dying
grace is absolutely fantastic. (Psa 116:15;
Pro 11:4; Pro
13:14; Ecc 7:1; 1Co 15:55) Besides
removing all fears and uncertainties of death, dying grace is superior to all
the blessings in life because of Who and What Christ IS and His magnificent
provision in His written Word. Through maximum Truth resident in his
soul, the believer is able to look back on his life with no regrets and with
great satisfaction. At the same time, he faces
eternity with the exhilarated anticipation of meeting the Lord of Glory face to
face. With unwavering confidence, the
believer with maximum Truth in his soul looks forward to receiving his eternal
blessings and rewards provided by God in eternity past. (1Co 2:9; Eph 1:3;
Eph 2:7;
Php 3:14; Rev
2:10; Rev 2:28; Rev 3:4-5)
Why is it that dying grace seems to be the exclusive privilege of those
believers with maximum Truth in their souls? Would not a loving God want all
His children to have great happiness in their last moments on earth? Can God be
unfair? Absolutely not! It is impossible for perfect God to be anything but
totally just and fair in everything He does. How, then, can we explain this
apparent inconsistency?
BLESSING IN DYING
Therefore the Lord longs to be
gracious to you, And therefore He waits on high to have compassion on you. For
the Lord is a God of justice; How blessed are those who long for Him. [Patience
and dedication to the persistent intake of Truth] (Isa 30:18)
All blessing is a matter of God’s grace. The omnipotence of God has the
power and ability to bless the believer. From eternity past, the omniscience of
God has always known exactly how to bless the believer. However, in the
exercise of any of His Divine attributes God must conform to the demands of His
own perfect righteousness. So God’s justice says, “Wait! Certain righteous
Standards must be met before I can give anything by way of blessing to sinful
man.”
Only God could Think of a way for sinful man to fulfill His righteous
Standards and be blessed without compromising His character. God begins by
imputing His Divine righteousness to the believer at the moment of Salvation. (Rom 3:22; 1Co 1:30;
2Co 5:21; Php
3:9) Imputed righteousness is the basis for our justification.
Imputed righteousness makes the believer the object of God’s eternal, Personal
love. Since God seeks the highest and best for the objects of His love, in
eternity past he provided phenomenal blessings including dying grace for every
believer. Imputed righteousness is also a target for all subsequent blessings
from God. The imputation of Divine righteousness sets up a ‘grace pipeline’
that is encapsulated from any system of human works or merit and through which
God can bless the believer.
In every phase of the Divine plan, the believer functions under his
nonmeritorious volition to believe in and appropriate the blessings God has
accomplished on his behalf. First, because Christ, the Son of God was judged on the cross by God the father for all
the sins of the entire human race, all we need to do is believe in the saving
work of Christ for Salvation. (1Pe 2:24)
Second because Christ has already paid the penalty for our sins on the cross,
we simply rebound — name our sins to God — to recover fellowship with Him after
we have sinned. ...God is “faithful and
righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
(1Jn 1:9) And
finally, because His Thinking — the Word of
God, the “Mind of Christ” (1Co 2:16) — saturates
our souls by means of the grace apparatus for perception for learning Truth,
(Operation Z) we can
advance to Spiritual maturity where we have maximum capacity to be showered
with magnificent blessings for living and dying. (Psa 138:2) However,
to receive blessings from God, capacity for blessing must precede blessing. All
capacity in the Spiritual life is based on knowledge of Truth. The more Truth the believer knows, the greater his
capacity for blessing from God. Only from the
soul filled with God's Thinking can God the Holy Spirit produce the inner
blessings of tranquility, happiness and confidence to combat the usual panic,
dread and instability that accompanying dying.
Behold,
the eye of the Lord [A reference to Divine
protection and blessing] is on those who fear
[Stay in fellowship with] Him, [Mature believers
who are occupied with the Thinking of God] On
those who hope [Have confident expectation]
for His lovingkindness, To deliver their soul [Dying grace] from death. And to keep them alive in famine. (Psa 33:18-19)
Why is the “eye of the Lord” on those who are occupied with the Mind of
Christ? Because the believer who has Spiritually
matured is fully adjusted to God’s justice! He
has followed the Divine plan by adjusting to the justice of God in Salvation,
rebound, and Spiritual growth so that he has the capacity to receive dying
grace blessings. Being occupied with Christ and His Thinking is
Occupation with Christ. (MGG) — Mechanics.jpg
God is therefore free to bless him,
even with the greatest of all blessings for time.
Precious in the sight of the Lord
is the death of His godly [Adjusted] ones. [Spiritually mature believers] (Psa 116:15)
As a Spiritually mature believer, your dying
moments are highly valuable to God because they are His final opportunity to
vindicate all of the Truth in your soul. Furthermore,
bestowing dying grace demonstrates His Divine approval. You have glorified God in the angelic conflict. You have
pleased Him and it gives Him great pleasure to bless you.
THE TWO DEATHS OF JESUS CHRIST
No book on the subject of dying would be complete without a study of the
uniqueness of our Lord’s death. Jesus Christ died twice on the cross; He died
Spiritually by His separation from fellowship, (In His human nature) with the
father (Psa 22:1) and then He died
physically by dismissing His spirit. (Joh 19:30)
His grave was assigned with wicked
men, Yet He was with a rich man in His death, Because He had done no violence,
Nor was there any deceit in His mouth. (Isa
53:9)
Our Lord was on the cross for six hours, from approximately nine o’clock
in the morning until three o’clock in the afternoon. While He endured
tremendous physical maltreatment prior to and during the cross, (Mat 26:67; Mat 27:26-35; Mar 14:65; Mar
15:15-26; Luk 22:63-64; Luk 23:11; Joh
18:12; Joh 18:22; Joh 19:1-19) He was
physically alive during the entire period. However, the three-hour span
from twelve noon until three p.m. was the period of His Spiritual death when
the sins of the entire world were poured out on Him and judged.
For Christ also died for sins once
for all, the just for the unjust, in order that He might bring us to God. (1Pe 3:18)
When Jesus Christ shouted, (Tetelestai) “It is finished!” (Joh 19:30) Jesus Christ had paid the penalty for our sins. His
substitionary Spiritual death — the separation of His impeccable humanity from
God the father, and judgment on the cross, was the price of our so-great
Salvation. (Mat 27:46) Of the four
Gospel writers who tell us of His last moments on earth, only Luke records
enough for us to identify the full passage that Christ quoted from the Psalms:
Into Your hand I commit my spirit; You have
ransomed me, O LORD, God of Truth. (Psa 31:5)
This statement is of extreme importance to you as a believer in the Lord
Jesus Christ, for it reveals the basis for the dynamics of Jesus Christ
throughout His unique and terrible suffering on the cross — both physical and
Spiritual. “Truth”
is the last word Jesus uttered during the First Advent. The inner dynamics of the Truth resident in the soul of our Lord Jesus
Christ sustained Him for thirty-three years and while He was on the cross; are
the same dynamics designed to sustain us in both living and dying.
Just as it was necessary for Christ to suffer Spiritual death and
judgment to secure our eternal Salvation, so it was necessary for Him to die
physically in order to be resurrected — raised from the dead with an immortal
human body — and glorified at the right hand of God the Father. Without the
resurrection, ascension, session and glorification of Jesus Christ in His
resurrection body, in the presence of God the Father, our faith would be in
vain. (1Co 15:12-17) Resurrection
demonstrates that Christ has power over death; because He lives, we also will
live. (Luk 20:38) The resurrection of
Jesus Christ gives us absolute confidence in the future, (1Pe 1:3-5; 1Pe 1:21)
and is a source of tremendous comfort when we face death.
When the resurrected Christ ascended into heaven, He was seated at the
right hand of God the Father. (Psa 110:1;
Mat 22:44; Mar
12:36; Luk 20:42-43; Act 2:34-35; Heb
1:13; Heb 10:13) The Lord’s
session, the glorification of His humanity in a resurrection body, indicates
that the justice of God the Father was completely satisfied by the Salvation
work of His Son on our behalf. (Act 2:33;
Act 5:31; Rom
4:25; Php 2:9) As a member
of the human race, the Lord Jesus Christ has won the strategic victory of the
angelic conflict; the judicial verdict of God the Father against Satan and the
fallen angels has been demonstrated to be totally fair.
In addition, the glorification of Christ as the King of kings and Lord
of lords (Rev 19:16) necessitates God
the Father calling out a new, Spiritual, royal family, and beginning a new
dispensation, the New Covenant Church Age. Christ is the “first fruits” and the Spiritually Mature Church Age royal family
will be next in line to be removed from the earth. (Rev
3:10)
Seated at the right hand of the Father, Christ continues His ministry as
our High Priest, “always living to make
intercession on behalf of them.” (Royal family) (Heb 7:25) Divine Thinking is the
heritage of the royal family, as well as the source of capacity for every
blessing in time and eternity. The Word of
God resident in your soul as your number one priority guarantees that you will
share in the supreme victory of all history! Because of our Lord’s
Spiritual and physical deaths and His subsequent resurrection, ascension, and
session as the Victor in the angelic conflict, God the Father has given Christ
the riches of the universe which He will then distribute to Spiritually mature
believers.
As a result of the anguish of His
soul, He will see it and be satisfied; By His knowledge the Righteous One, My
Servant, will justify the many, As He will bear their iniquities. Therefore, I [God the
Father] will allot Him [Jesus Christ] a portion of
[The spoils of victory] with the great, [Spiritually
mature believers] and He will divide the booty
with the strong; [Growing believers]
Because He poured out Himself to death, And was numbered with transgressors;
Yet He Himself bore the sin of many, And interceded for the transgressors.
[Substitutionary judgment for all] (Isa 53:12)
As part of the spoils of victory, the Old Testament saints were
transferred from Paradise, or Abraham’s Bosom, into the third heaven in a
triumphal procession with Jesus Christ. However, the greatest distribution of
spoils belongs to Spiritually mature believers. Only the “strong” believer, who
exploits the heritage of Truth that our Lord emphasized in His final breath on
the cross, will have the capacity in his soul to receive maximum blessing in
dying. When the believer’s life is Truth, part of
the plunder of victory makes his death, dying grace.
JOB’S DESCRIPTION OF DYING GRACE
One of the most extensive descriptions of dying blessings in the Bible
is found in Job 5. However, Job begins his
comments on dying grace by reminding us that until God decides to take us home,
there is nothing that can remove us from this life. God has a system of
deliverance that is perfect.
From six [Categories of] troubles
He will deliver you, [Mature believer] Even in seven [Categories of trouble]
evil will not touch you. (Job 5:19)
Four examples of trouble are given in (Job
5:20-21) economic depression, social disaster, military defeat, and
dying.
In famine [Economic depression] He will redeem
you from death, And in war the power of the sword. You will be hidden from the
scourge of the tongue, [Maligning and gossiping] Neither will you be afraid of
violence when it comes. (Job 5:20-21)
God can deliver the believer from any catastrophe or disaster of life;
none are too great for the plan of God. Furthermore,
with the inner dynamics of Truth in his soul the believer can be completely at
ease in any dangerous environment because he knows that the Lord Himself has
allotted him a right time to die and that until then, nothing can remove him
from this life.
You will laugh [A relaxed mental
attitude from the inner dynamics of resident Truth and capacity for life] at
violence and famine; neither will you be afraid of wild beasts. [Any source of
lethal danger, including automobiles or airplanes today] For you will be in a
league with the stones of the field; [Ancient weapons of destruction;
equivalent today to guns, atomic bombs, intercontinental ballistic missiles,
etc.] and the beasts of the field [Dangerous animals which can kill a man] will
be at peace with you. (Job 5:22-23)
When God’s appointed time arrives, there is no power in heaven or on
earth, not even the best efforts of medical science or the protective ability
of angelic realm that can keep the believer alive. Danger does not bother the
mature believer because he is grace orientated; he responds to the Divine
initiative of grace from Truth resident in his soul. He
looks forward to dying grace and the innumerable, eternal rewards and blessings
reserved on deposit for him.
And you will know [Through Truth
resident in the soul] that your tent [Human body] is secure, [Fully aware of
what is happening, and anticipating a good death] for you will visit your abode
[House] and fear no loss. [From Crime] (Job
5:24)
The mature believer also knows that under dying grace he
will be able to look back on his life with complete serenity, for he will not
be worried about his family and loved ones left behind.
You will know also that your
descendants will be many, And your offspring as the grass of the earth. (Job 5:25)
This does not mean you are going to have many children, rather that more
mature believers will continue living after you are gone. This places your
death in its proper prospective in relationship to the Lord and the angelic
conflict. Knowing this while you are dying means you can objectively view those
who remain left behind.
Once you begin to die, you are
different from your friends. They are well and healthy. You have gone into a
new sphere and it’s difficult for them to enter into what is happening to you.
No matter how many people may be at your bedside while you are dying, they
cannot go with you. Yet there is Someone who accompanies the believer through every stage of
dying and He is the only One who can — the
Lord Jesus Christ
The believer in dying grace can help the living go on living. He can
assist his loved ones to adjust to his departure. His stability and relaxed
mental attitude help others to relax and put death in its proper prospective.
His Spiritual maturity enables him to comfort those who must remain behind in
the angelic conflict while he advances to a state of complete eternal happiness
— a place of “no more sorrow, no more
tears, no more death.” (Rev 21:4)
God’s timing for your death is perfect, and part of dying grace is to die at
the right time.
You will come to the grave in full
vigor, Like the stacking of grain in its season. (Job 5:26)
There is a right time and a wrong time to pick corn; only the expert can
tell whether a shock of corn is green or ripe. Likewise,
in the Divine blueprint of your life, God is the Expert. God chooses the
point in which to harvest you from this life so that as a Spiritually mature
believer with Truth resident in your soul, your death will be the greatest
blessing on earth. When you depart, we might grieve, but we also will rejoice
in the victory of your crossing from dying grace in time to the blessings of
eternity.
In conclusion, Job 5 stresses the
importance of knowing the Word of God, the necessity of saturating your soul
with Truth.
Behold this; [Think this] we have investigated it, and so it is.
Hear it, and know for yourself. (Job 5:27)
DEATH IS GOD’S DECISION
The dying and death of every believer is a grace decision of the
sovereignty of God based on God’s wisdom and His integrity. Therefore, we have
no right to question the death of anyone. God IS
absolute righteousness and cannot possibly make a mistake. God IS perfect justice and cannot be unfair. Omnipresent
and omniscient God is a firsthand Witness, Who knows all the facts to determine
the right time and the right way to remove each one of us. (Psa 31:15)
In (Ecc 3:1-2) Solomon says, “There is a right time for everything. There
is a time to be born and there is a time to die.” (Corrected translation) God’s timing is perfect, and death is always God’s victory.
He decides the time, the manner, and the place of our death and He gives
us the victory. “For if we live, we live
for the Lord, or if we die, we die for the Lord; therefore whether we live or
die, we are the Lord's.” (Rom 14:8)
We belong to the Lord whether we live or whether we die. Furthermore, the Lord
does not take every believer home in the same way. Solomon also tells us that
each day we live is one more step toward our particular kind of death.
...For man goes to his eternal
home while mourners go about in the street. Remember Him before the silver cord
is broken and the golden bowl is crushed, the pitcher by the well is shattered
and the wheel of the cistern is crushed. (Ecc
12:5-6)
In the Church Age we are born again into royalty and not with a silver
spoon in our mouths, but with our lives suspended from a ‘silver thread.’ Even
for privileged aristocracy, God controls the length of our days. Solomon’s
poetic description of death reminds us that just as the meter of poetry is
perfect, so God has within appointed each of us a death that fits perfectly.
The “golden bowl” in this verse is a container of oil with a wick that draws
oil to the top where a flame gives light, depicting life. The oil represents
assignments and allotments within your life; the combination of oil, wick and
flame represents the energy of life. This ancient type of lamp is a picture of
your life span; the consumption of its oil is analogous to your death. Your
lamp may develop a slow leak or the bowl may be smashed, but either way, the
flame eventually goes out. To understand the last of Solomon’s illustrations,
we must realize that the ancient world there were two problems that could
prevent you from getting water from the well: the clay pitcher smashing against
the side of the well, or a mechanical failure in the well’s wheel and pulley
system. The wheels represent the actual muscle of the heart, while the line and
the pitcher portray the circulation of the blood. These two illustrations
describe two general categories of cardiovascular death: The shattering of the
pitcher connotes the interruption of a great vessel which destroys blood volume
and circulation; the mechanical failure of the wheel means a collapse in the
heart itself. In other words, the smashed pitcher is analogues to death by
hemorrhage, while the broken wheel on the well illustrates death by cardiac
arrest.
Then the dust [The body] will return to the
earth as it was, and the spirit [Soul and spirit] will return to God who gave
it. (Ecc 12:7)
When a person dies, the real person, the soul, no longer occupies the
body; it is simply vacant house. The uninhabited body decomposes into chemicals
and returns to the soil or to the gases in the air. (Gen 3:19) So, what happens to a corpse is inconsequential. To
have a memorial service to remember a loved one is wonderful, but it makes no
difference whether the body is cremated or left on a battlefield or thrown in a
ditch. What we need to remember is that after the death of the believer, his
soul and spirit return to the Lord Jesus Christ. (1Th
5:23) Although God has always known when each one of us is going to
die, none of us knows when mortality will give way to immortality. Life hangs
by a slender thread that can be snapped any moment. Our
physical condition is not an issue; God can take us just as easily in good
health as in poor. Neither is age a criterion
for the right time to die. Since God’s
judgment is perfect, it is blasphemous to suggest
that the believer’s death was a tragedy because he died young. It is also true that God sometimes takes the mature
Christian at the peak of his Spiritual life. While its natural for those
left behind to mourn, they should not grieve to the exclusion of Divine
Viewpoint “as do the rest that have no
hope,” (1Th 4:13) for there are
certain common denominators that characterize all mature believers after death,
regardless of how they die.
1. Face to face with the Lord. (2Co 5:8)
2. No more sorrow, pain, tears,
death, regrets, or embarrassment. (Rev 21:4)
3. An eternal inheritance. (1Pe 1:4-5)
4. A new home. (Joh 14:1-6)
5. The perpetuation of eternal life.
(Joh 10:28; 1Jn
5:11-12)
6. An interim and resurrection body.
(Job 19:25-26; Joh 11:25; 1Co
15:55-57; Php 3:21; 1Jn 3:1-2)
7. Removal of the sin nature (1Co 1:8; Php
3:20-21; 1Th 5:23)
8. Removal of human old sin nature
good and evil. (2Co 5:10)
Neither your death nor the death of a loved one should ever be a source
of worry or despair; death should never be an issue. Your
only concern should be preparation for death, and the preparation for death is
the same as for life: Truth resident in your
soul. Truth gives you a relaxed mental
attitude toward all potential death situations. When
you understand dying grace, your Thinking about death is strictly a matter of
applying your knowledge of God’s perfect character.
The believer can check his own Spiritual progress
by his attitude toward death, and his attitude has an impact on his capacity
for life. One of the
keys to a tranquil life is not being afraid of death. Fear of death causes
instability: “Cowards die many times before their
death; the valiant never taste death but
once.” The Spiritually mature believer lives
in the light of eternity, one day at a time, fully adjusted to God’s Person and
plan, prepared and eager for whatever life has to offer! (Psa 118:23-24)
What you do in dying demonstrates the dynamics of your life. If you have spent your lifetime accumulating Truth and
advancing to Spiritual maturity, you will have a glorious death. However if you neglect and ignore Truth, God in His Justice
permits your self-induced miserable life to reflect itself in a horrible death.
Thus, since God has seen fit to make dying the reflection of living,
your attitude toward death tests the quality of your attitude toward life.
EVERY BELIEVER HAS A CHOICE
How well you die or how miserably you die simply depends on one factor:
whether you were positive or negative toward the Word of Truth. Just as you had
a choice whether or not to believe in Jesus Christ for your eternal Salvation,
so the justice of God has set up another issue in the angelic conflict for your
free will. At Salvation, the object of your
non-meritorious faith was Jesus Christ, the Living Word; after Salvation the
object of your faith must become Jesus Christ the Written Word.
You have a choice between two
antithetical roads in your Spiritual life. Your attitude toward God's Word
EVERY DAY of your life determines cursing or blessing in life and agony or
contentment in dying. If you adjust to the
justice of God by utilizing the grace provision of His Word, then you will travel
up the road to dying grace. But if you fail to
adjust to the justice of God by ignoring or rejecting His Word, then you will
stumble down the road of cursing, discipline, and self- induced misery
resulting in sin unto death. You and you only choose this painful
alternative to the glories of dying grace. You are the one who says “no” to the walk across the high golden bridge of
dying grace and “yes” to a pitiful, miserable crawl to heaven.
DEATH OF THE REVERSIONISTIC BELIEVER
As a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, if you
are negative toward the Word of God, whether just apathetic or overtly
antagonistic, you are in the same reversionism. Analogous
to apostasy, reversionism is the regression of the believer from any stage of
Spiritual growth to the thinking of the unbeliever. (2Pe 2:20-21) In
reversionism, characterized by perpetual carnality and a continual neglect or
rejection of the Word of Truth, you create for yourself a life of misery.
(Hos 8:7) The self-induced misery is then compounded by Divine discipline. You further intensify your discipline with more self-induced
misery through the mental attitude sins of bitterness, pettiness,
vindictiveness, implacability, jealousy, self-pity and arrogance. Until
you change your mind about the Mind of Christ (1Co
2:16) and begin to recover your Spiritual growth, you will remain under Divine discipline the rest of your
life.
No believer can violate God’s righteous Standards or reject His
magnificent provision of Truth with impunity. God loves His integrity and His
righteous Standards demand that His justice administer punishment. Furthermore,
every believer is the object of God’s Personal love. “Those who I love, I reprove and discipline; be zealous therefore, and
repent.” (Change your thinking and rebound) (Rev
3:19) Divine discipline is the sum total of
punitive action taken by the justice of God to correct, punish, encourage,
train, and motivate the believer. Divine
discipline is designed to warn the believer to rebound and to get back into
fellowship with God.
Divine discipline is characterized by three stages. “Behold, I stand at
the door and knock. If any man will open I will come in and have fellowship
with him”; (Rev 3:20;
corrected translation) is addressed to the reversionistic believer. Knocking is
warning discipline, the first stage. Having “fellowship
with him” does not refer to Salvation, but to the status quo of the
Spiritual life of the believer. If the reversionistic believer does not respond
to warning discipline, he then comes under intensive discipline, the second
stage. “FOR THOSE WHOM THE LORD LOVES HE
DISCIPLINES, AND HE SCOURGES EVERY SON WHOM HE RECEIVES.” (Heb 12:6) Intensive discipline is designed to
get the reversionists’ attention so that he might avoid what is called in, (1Jn 5:16) “the
sin face to face with death” (Corrected translation of, pros thanatos) — the final stage of
punishment from God.
THE SIN UNTO DEATH
There is a sin leading to death. (1Jn
5:16)
The “sin leading to death” or
literally “the sin face to face with
death” (Psa 118:17-18) is not
caused by a particular sin, but by the believers rejection of the Word of God.
And the Lord said, Because they
have forsaken My Law [Divine Thoughts] which I set before them, and have not
obeyed my Voice nor walked according to it, but have
walked after the stubbornness of their [Own thoughts] heart...” (Jer 9:13-14)
God can administer the sin unto death as
either a strictly personal disaster or as a part of a national catastrophe. But in either case, the sin unto
death is a demotion and a disgrace for the believer in the Lord Jesus Christ.
So Saul died for his trespass
which he committed against the LORD, because of the Word of the LORD which he
did not keep; and also because he asked counsel of a medium, making inquiry of
it, and did not inquire of the LORD. [Sixteen years of negative volition]
Therefore He killed him, and turned the kingdom to David the son of Jesse.
(1Ch 10:13-14)
There is no pain or discipline in the presence of God. (Rev 21:4) The sin unto death is God’s final
opportunity to express maximum corrective discipline to the reversionistic
believer. He goes through the dying process without
the advantages of dying grace because he never recovered fellowship with God
through rebound and did not change his attitude toward Truth. Without
the inner dynamics of Truth in his soul, the reversionist has no capacity for
the blessing of dying grace. He fears death. He goes through the dying phase in
the worst possible irrationality and pain. His death is miserable, horrible,
and monstrous in every possible way: a nightmare of physical pain and soul
torture. His body hurts; his soul agonizes as he realizes how he has failed.
However, the reversionist is removed from this life with his Salvation
intact. He still has forty plus irrevocable absolutes, which include being in
union with the Person of Jesus Christ and possessing eternal life and imputed
righteousness. The moment a reversionistic believer dies he is “absent from the body and at home face to
face with the Lord.” (2Co 5:8) He
is “in a place of no more sorrow, no more
tears, no more pain, no more death; the old things have passed away.” (Rev 21:4) At the Second Advent, he receives a
resurrection body and ALL believers will be judged. (2Co 5:10) And Believers will receive thirty, sixty or one
hundred percent of their inheritance, (Mat 13:8-9)
or few lashes many lashes or the Abyss. (Luk
12:42-49) The losers will not receive their eternal blessings and
rewards for phase three. Their eternal blessings will remain on deposit forever
as a memorial to lost EQUAL opportunity to advance in God’s plan. (Heb 10:35-36)
THE SUICIDE OF THE BELIEVER
Sometimes the reversionistic believer is so disillusioned in his
self-induced misery and discipline that he thinks committing suicide is a
solution to his problems. This of course is total arrogance and a further
manifestation of his rejection of Truth. While suicide may appear to be
circumventing the sovereignty of God in deciding the time, manner, and place of
death, every believer’s death was known to God from eternity past. Until God
decides it’s time for the believer to come home, nothing can remove him from
this life. This is why suicide attempts are often unsuccessful; those that
succeed do so under the permissive will of God.
Some say that when a believer commits suicide, he cannot go to heaven.
That is absolutely heresy! Anyone who has believed in Jesus Christ, no matter
how he dies, is going to heaven until the Judgment Seat. (Mat 8:10-13)
For I am persuaded that neither death, nor
life, nor angels, [Satan and the demons] nor principalities, [Rulers] nor
things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any
other created thing shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is
in Christ Jesus, our Lord. (Rom 8:38-39)
DEATH OF THE MATURE BELIEVER
Just as the mature believer functioned in his
life under God’s grace provision, so he goes through his dying phase under
dying grace. Not only does he have the inner dynamics from the Word of
God, the Spiritual Thinking of Christ in his soul, (1Co
2:16) he knows the Lord is with him. (Psa
23:4) He will take the Truth he has learned in phase two with him to
phase three. (2Jn 1:2) The same Truth that brought him happiness, tranquility,
and contentment in time is intensified in dying. The point of dying is
his moment; even the elect angels in heaven rejoice over the manner of his
departure. (Dan 12:2-4; Dan 12:10; Dan
12:13) The mature believer’s dying
testimony is the greatest of all testimonies; to glorify God in dying is the
ultimate glorification of the Lord.
BIBLICAL HEROES AND DYING GRACE
Though they died in various ways, all of Old Testament heroes mentioned
in Hebrews 11 died under dying grace. (Heb 11:13-16) As long as you are alive there is
hope! No believer has ever reached the point of maximum failure without daily
opportunities to change his mind about Truth, to listen and read Bible
teaching, and to advance to Spiritual maturity. Appropriating dying grace and
receiving eternal blessings and rewards are dependent upon your Spiritual
advance.
Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of
witnesses [Old Testament heroes] surrounding us, let us lay aside every
encumbrance, [Distractions to learning Truth] and the sin [Sin nature] which
easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance [Persistent function of
Operation Z] the race [Agon; agony of overcoming the lust of the eyes, lust of
the flesh and pride of life] that is set before us. (Heb 12:1)
Abraham is an example of an Old Testament believer who experienced dying
grace. Abraham reached the ultimate in Spiritual
maturity by means of God's Thinking resident in his soul (Heb 11:2) so that he
crossed that high golden bridge of dying grace to embrace his eternal
blessings. The mechanics of his death are the classic illustration of dying
grace.
And
Abraham breathed his last and died in a ripe old age, an old man and satisfied
with life; [A great man of Spiritual maturity]
and he was gathered to his people. (Gen 25:8)
Abraham inhaled, exhaled, and died. His soul and spirit rode out on his
last exhale, and he died with no pain, no bitterness, no regrets-utterly “satisfied with life.”
For the mature believer, there is no tragic death, no matter how
seemingly or how violent the circumstances. Even for a
murder victim, dying grace still applies. For
example, Abel was murdered by his brother Cain, yet he had a wonderful life
occupied with the Lord up to the last moment. In fact, his death emphasized the
power Truth had in his life.
By faith [Truth in the soul] Abel
offered to God a better sacrifice than Cain, through which he obtained the
testimony [Received approval] that he was righteous, God Testifying about his
gifts, and through faith, [This same Truth resident in the soul] though he is
dead, he still speaks. [Abel died physically because
of the sins of ONE man.] (Heb 11:4)
cf. (Heb 12:24) Christ died Spiritually because of the sins
of ALL men!
Many of the Old Testament and Tribulational heroes have and will
encourage us by dying because of their testimony of
Jesus and because of the Word of God. (Rev
20:4)
They were stoned, they were sawn
in two, they were tempted, [Tested by pressures] they were put to death with
the sword... (Heb 11:37 )
Even though Isaiah was probably cut in two and Zechariah was stoned to
death, (2Ch 24:20; Mat 23:34-35) these men had more blessing and
happiness in transferring from time to eternity then some have in a lifetime.
Why? Because God decreed the manner of their deaths and His perfect justice
guaranteed the provision and blessings for their deaths. Their confidence in
the Source of dying blessing and knowledge of His provision through Truth
replaced all the fear of death so that they were Occupied with Christ and had
maximum capacity for life and dying grace.
THE APOSTLE PAUL
Excluding the Lord Jesus Christ, who is perfect and unique, the Apostle
Paul is one of the greatest believers that ever lived. His phenomenal breadth
of Spiritual Thinking, and his understanding of the deeper Concepts of Truth
are revealed in the Pauline Epistles. Second Timothy
is of great significance to our subject of dying grace, because this Epistle
contains the Divinely inspired, dying Words of one of the most Spiritually
brilliant minds and one of the most Spiritually mature believers of all time.
Paul wrote 2 Timothy during his second
imprisonment. According to, (2Ti 2:9)
Paul was condemned before his trial and it was a foregone conclusion that he
would not be released. As Paul sat down to write, he knew he would soon be
executed. Even though Paul had suffered poor health
most of his life, he was now enjoying fairly good health as he
approached the moment of his death. His departure would be swift and violent;
according to tradition, with one stroke of the lictor’s axe he would be
decapitated on the Ostian Way.
But Paul’s mental attitude leading up to his execution reflected dying
grace. In fact two years before his death he explained this perspective of
death to the Philippians.
According to my earnest
expectation [Intense concentration on Truth] and hope, [Confident expectation]
that I shall not be put shame in anything, but with all boldness, [And
openness] Christ shall even now, as always be exalted in my body, whether by
life [Continued Spiritual advance] or by death. [Dying grace] For to me, to
live IS Christ, and to die is gain. [Promotion] (Php 1:20-21)
Though Paul had colossal failures in life,
he recovered, persisted with Truth, and seized and held the high ground of
Spiritual maturity. His dying moments were free from regrets. (2Ti
4:7) He was not only prepared for death,
but he was looking forward to his dying moment, knowing that it would be the
happiest experience of his life. He would pass from life to death — to eternity to be face
to face with the Lord.
For I am already being poured out
as a drink offering, and the time of my departure has come. (2Ti 4:6)
A “drink offering” refers to
the custom in the ancient world of pouring fine wine out of a cup as an
offering to the heathen gods. In this analogy, the soul of Paul would be poured
out just as easily as wine is “poured out” of a cup. The Greek word used for “departure,” (Analusis) has five different meanings, all which relate to the
Principle of dying.
The military usage of analusis
means “to strike a tent and break camp.”
In the analogy, Paul's tent his human body, and in death his soul would leave
the bivouac of life and move into his eternal mansion in heaven. The naval
usage means “to hoist anchor as a ship
sets sail.” Paul knew that he would soon hoist anchor and leave the port of
life to sail to the port of heaven. The agricultural meaning refers to a farmer
unyoking his oxen after working them hard all day and providing shelter feed
and perhaps even a rubdown to reward his animals and make them comfortable.
Likewise, Paul is being unyoked; the labors
of his life are complete and the great Apostle is about to enter into the
blessings and rewards of eternity. Another usage of analusis refers to a prisoner being
released from jail. Paul is released by death from the confines of time
and life on this earth to enter into the freedom and glories of eternity. The
final meaning of analusis is used in
the sense of unraveling a mystery or solving a philosophical problem. Death unravels the mystery of eternity and dying grace
resolves all the problems of life.
Paul’s awareness of approaching death did not
hinder his enjoyment of life. Even though condemned, he was not brooding
or pouting, vindictive or bitter. To the contrary, he
was completely relaxed. Paul’s capacities for love, happiness, for
blessing and for life continued undiminished in the sphere of dying. This is an
important Principle of Truth: The knowledge of
imminent death does not hinder the Spiritually mature believer’s capacity for
life.
When you come bring the cloak
which I left at Troas with Carpus, and the books, especially the parchments.
[Old Testament Scriptures] (2Ti 4:13)
With unwavering capacity for life, Paul lived in the best comfort
despite the squalor of the Mamertine dungeon. The heavy coat Timothy brought to
warm his body was a provision for his comfort and dying grace. Paul was also
visited often by friends and loved ones, and was surrounded by his favorite
books. He read
and studied the Bible parchments until the day of his execution. For the Spiritually mature believer, life and all its
blessings march on during the process of dying. Paul did not change his routine! He did not entertain self-pity! Whatever Paul had been doing in life, he continued to do
until his dying moment, a beautiful illustration of dying grace.
God’s grace plan for you is to advance step by step up the glory road
from Salvation to eternity by way of blessing after blessing. In Psalm 23, David described His grace plan.
The Lord is my shepherd, I shall
not want. [Can ot be wanting] He makes me lie down in green pastures; [Truth]
He leads me beside quiet waters. [Filling of God the Holy Spirit] He restores
my soul; [From sin nature thinking] He guides me in the paths of righteousness
for His name’s sake. (Psa 23:1-3)
To even enter upon the glory
road and the life of blessing, you must first believe in Christ as your Savior.
The Lord is the Shepherd who gave His life for the sheep. “I shall not want” refers to God’s logistical grace blessing —
everything necessary to keep you alive physically, (Psa
68:19-20) and to grow Spiritually, (Mat
6:11; Mat 6:25-34) and
protection in the devil’s world. (Heb 1:14)
“He makes me lie down in green pastures”
refers to God’s provision for your perception of Truth: a right pastor-teacher
to diligently study and faithfully communicate the infallible Word of God, a
local church as a classroom, the canon of Scripture, the privacy of your royal
priesthood, the ministry of God the Holy Spirit, and the function of your human
spirit. “He
leads me beside quiet waters” is the
refreshment, the happiness and tranquility of soul that comes as a result of
applying Truth in your soul to the circumstances of your life. When you
sin and fail, God’s provisions of rebound is the means of regaining fellowship
with Him; “He restores my soul.”
When you take advantage of these provisions,
you will eventually crack the maturity barrier where you glorify and please
God. He is then free to bless you in five different spheres: Spiritual
blessings which include Occupation with Christ, sharing God’s perfect
happiness, and capacity for life, love, and blessing; temporal blessings which
can include promotion, wealth and social prosperity, leadership dynamics;
blessing by association to those in your periphery — family, business, church,
community, nation; historical blessings to both your generation and your future
generations because of your Spiritual impact; and dying blessings.
In the phrase “paths of righteousness,” the word for paths is the plural
Hebrew word, (Ma’gal) meaning “a rut in which wheels revolve,” and should
be translated “wagon tracks.” In the ancient world, wagons would follow the
course of least resistance and as they traveled across the terrain their wheels
would create ruts. As time went on, others would see those ruts and put their
wagons in the same ruts, so eventually wagon tracks developed from place to
place.
For believers in the Church Age, the “wagon tracks of righteousness”
belong to the humanity of Christ. He went ahead of us
and set down the original tracks. Our Lord Jesus Christ tested and
proved the Spiritual life which He has given to us — the same Spiritual life
which through the power of God the Holy Spirit and maximum Truth in His soul
gave him the inner dynamics to remain impeccable, go to the cross, and bear the
imputation and judgment for our sins. When you get
into his righteous tracks and advance as He did, you not only gain momentum,
but you gain capacity for blessing.
Following Christ’s lead in the wagon tracks of righteousness — advancing
Spiritually — produces in you Spiritual capacity righteousness. This is a
special capacity given to mature believers to enjoy their blessings both in
time and in eternity and is tantamount to Occupation with Christ. Through the
attainment of Spiritual capacity righteousness, capacity for living becomes
capacity for dying. (Php 1:21) While capacity for living is related to your inculcation
and application of Truth to experience, capacity for dying is actually LIFE as
you have never lived it before. With Spiritual capacity righteousness,
there is no fear in dying, only profit as you journey through your very own
death-shadowed valley. Dying grace becomes a wonderful process of promoting the
Spiritually mature believer to the infinite glories of heaven.
THE DEATH-SHADOWED VALLEY
Even though I walk through the
valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod
[Adversity] and Your staff, [Blessing] they comfort me. You prepare a table
before me in the presence of my enemies; [Spiritual prosperity] You have
anointed my head with oil; [Spiritual maturity] My cup overflows. [Capacity for
material prosperity] Surely goodness and lovingkindness will follow me all the
days of my life, And I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever. (Psa 23:4-6)
You own one of the most marvelous pieces of real estate this life has to
offer, your very own death-shadowed valley provided by the Lord Jesus Christ in
eternity past. The Hebrew noun (Tsal’mavet)
is usually translated “shadow of death,”
but is one word compounded from two nouns. The first noun, (Tsal) is the word for shadow; (Mavet) the second noun is the word for
death. Best translated “death-shadowed,”
tsal’mavet refers to your very own “death-shadowed valley.”
A shadow is defined as a “dark figure or image cast on the surface by a
body intercepting light.” In the analogy, the dark of the shadow refers to your
dying phase. In your death-shadowed valley you have the opportunity to
intercept the light, the Truth in your soul. You will not fear the manner of
your death because “You are with me.”
The Lord Jesus Christ accompanies you through your death-shadowed valley. The
Shepherd, the Lord Jesus Christ, who guided you by His precedence in the wagon
tracks of the Spiritual life, also guides you through your very own
death-shadowed valley. The comfort and encouragement
you derived from God's Thinking in your living phase will also comfort and
encourage you in your dying phase. With the inner dynamics of the
Spiritual life, you have nothing to fear in your journey through your
death-shadowed valley.
Just as God provided everything for your Spiritual growth in life, so He
provides everything for your dying phase. This is part of the Lord’s victory
that takes the sting out of death. (1Co 15:55-57)
Since this is God’s last opportunity to bless you on
earth, He will make the dying grace blessing superior to all the prosperity,
promotion, wealth, and success that you enjoyed in life. God intends for
the last blessing in time to bring you the summum bonum of life. Your “cup
overflows.” As a Spiritually mature believer, you have learned
enough Truth to know your death is in the hands of the Lord. Whether you die
instantly in a head-on collision or after a prolonged, painful illness, you are
perfectly relaxed because you know that you
“will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.”
THE BRIDGE BETWEEN TIME AND ETERNITY
Dying grace can also be viewed from another perspective: the link
between blessings in time and blessings in eternity. God has seen fit to
provide a special bridge for the Spiritually mature believer as he crosses over
the chasm from life on earth to life in heaven — the
high golden bridge of dying grace. Stonewall Jackson beautifully
expressed this crossing in his dying words: “Let us cross over the river, and
rest under the shade of the trees.”
The author of Hebrews tells us that a Spiritually mature believer of the
Old Testament, such as Abraham, could look from his vantage point on the high
ground of Spiritual maturity into eternity and see his eternal blessings and
rewards in a magnificent city. (Heb 11:9-10;
Rev 21:2; Rev
21:10) The Reality of these eternal rewards, stated in many passages
of Scripture, (2Co 5:10; Jam 1:12; 1Pe 5:4)
can be expressed by the term “surpassing
grace,” derived from literal translation of, (Eph
2:7).
In order that in the ages to come [Eternity]
He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in his kindness toward us in
Christ Jesus. (Eph 2:7)
Surpassing-grace blessings, which are awarded to the Spiritually mature
believer in eternity, are above and beyond the common denominators provided for
every believer after death.
You enter dying grace saluting or acknowledging your surpassing-grace
blessings from the near end of the bridge and complete the journey by embracing
them at the other end. Your advance across the high golden bridge from time to
eternity may take a long time or a short time, but during the transfer, God will give you, through Truth resident in your soul and
accompanying Spiritual capacity righteousness, the perspective of the blessings
and rewards you are about to receive in eternity.
All these died [Old Testament believers
who died under dying grace] in faith, [According to Truth resident in the soul]
without receiving the Promises, [Surpassing-grace blessings of eternity] but
having seen them and having welcomed them from a distance. [From the high
ground of Spiritual maturity in time] (Heb 11:13 )
TRANSFER APART FROM DEATH
A Unique Transfer
For a very few believers, God assigns a
unique transfer to heaven which does not involve death. Enoch, who lived
before the flood, is an illustration of one category of transfer apart from
death.
By faith [Truth in the soul] Enoch
was taken up so that he should not see death; AND HE WAS NOT FOUND BECAUSE GOD
TOOK HIM UP; for he obtained the witness that before his being taken up he was
pleasing to God. (Heb 11:5 )
Dying blessing can be compared to a draw-bridge. Ordinarily the
draw-bridge is controlled and lowered from the time side of the chasm, because
it is a blessing related to time. The believer dies physically; his soul and
spirit go to heaven while his body remains on earth. In the case of Enoch,
however, the draw-bridge was controlled from the eternity side. He did not
experience death. His body, soul and spirit — still intact — went to paradise.
(Gen 5:24) Why was God free to bless
Enoch with such a unique and wonderful transfer? Enoch’s blessing was related
to his surpassing-grace rewards.
We must remember that God is free to give
direct blessings to any believer who has adjusted to His justice to the
maximum, the status of maturity that “pleases”
God. Enoch fulfilled this Principle.
For he obtained the witness that
before his being taken up he was pleasing to God. (Heb 11:5 )
How could Enoch please a perfect God who possesses absolute
righteousness and justice.
And without faith [Divine Thinking
resident in the soul] it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God
must believe [By resident Truth] that He IS and that He is a rewarder [The
source of blessing] of those who seek Him. [Through the daily intake of Truth]
(Heb 11:6)
THE SPIRITUALLY MATURE
Like Enoch, the second transfer to heaven does not involve the
believer’s physical death. At some point in the future, before the Great
Tribulation, Spiritually mature believers of the royal family will be
transferred to heaven, some possibly without even dying physically, and then go
to the Wedding Feast. (Rev 19:7-9) No
man knows the day or hour of this event, only the season. (Rev 3:10)
Now learn the parable from the fig tree:
when its branch has already become tender and puts forth its leaves, you know
that summer is near; so, you too, when you see all these things, recognize that
He is near, right at the door. (Mat 24:32-33)
THE INTERIM BODY
In, (2Co 5:8) the aorist active
infinitive, (Endemeo) meaning “to be at home,” followed by the
preposition (Pros) and the accusative
of harmonious relationship, direct object (Kurios)
means “to be present face to face with
the Lord” and implies that after death our souls and spirits are housed in
an interim body in heaven while we await resurrection. (Job 19:25-26; Joh
11:25; Rev 20:5-6) The Bible never speaks of disembodied souls. “Face to face” also means we will be
recognizable in our interim bodies. For the believer in an interim body, death
means no more sin nature, no more “mourning,
or crying, or pain.” (Rev 21:4)
There is no distinction made between the interim bodies of those believers who
advanced to Spiritual maturity and those who did not. In
an interim body, we have great happiness. We have a new home, (Joh 14:1-6) and a
realization of eternal life. (Joh 10:28)
This knowledge that loved ones are in a perfect state of happiness in an
interim body is a source of great comfort to those we leave behind.
TO THOSE LEFT BEHIND
The believer in dying grace knows that he is
leaving the best possible heritage to his children and loved ones: blessings by
association. Because of his adjustment to the justice of God, his family
and close associates will have blessing and security throughout their
lifetimes. The believer with Truth in his soul dies with the assurance that the
justice of God will continue for those he has left behind. But how does Divine
provision handle the sorrow and loss of those left behind? Likewise, it is
knowledge of the justice of God that is the basis for stability and blessing in
the absence of a loved one. Any time God removes a person from this life, the
decision is based on his perfect wisdom and integrity. Since God is the source
of every friend or loved one we have, (Jam 1:17)
we have no right to be bitter or to question God. Our response should be that
of Job, who lost all his children at once.
...The LORD gave and the LORD has taken
away. Blessed be the name of the LORD.” (Job 1:21)
God says in effect, “You go on living without
this dear one, but remember you are not without Me and that you will see your
believing loved one again. To develop capacity for life you must lean on Me,
not on people. So I am keeping you behind to
get better acquainted with Me in time.” We know that the death of loved
ones who have believed in Christ is only a temporary separation; it is not the
end at all, for we will see them forever in eternity.
I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go
and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you to Myself; that
where I am, there you may be also. (Joh 14:2-3)
So with a lump in your throat you may say, “Farewell,” but you know that
you will be reunited with your loved ones at either your own death or
resurrection on the last day. (Joh 6:39-40; Joh
6:54; Joh 11:24; Joh 12:48) Until that rendezvous, you can rejoice
in the knowledge that your loved ones are in a state of perfect happiness with
the Lord. Our knowledge of the integrity of God also enables us to be objective
about the unbeliever. We know that God will not tamper with the free will of
any member of the human race. We also know that He
wants EVERYONE to have eternal life and then grow to Spiritual maturity!
Who desires all men to be saved
and to come to the knowledge of the Truth. (1Ti
2:4)
Every member of the human race
has every possible opportunity to hear Gospel information, and to choose for
God’s plan of Salvation and blessing through faith in Jesus Christ.
Furthermore, the omniscience of God knew that certain persons would never
accept Jesus Christ as Savior even if they were given additional time. Since
the justice of God is absolutely fair and cannot be compromised, He must
condemn the unbeliever to the eternal torment of separation from God which
begins immediately after death. Even though there is no hope beyond the grave
for the unbeliever, it is blasphemous to be bitter toward God regarding the
death and eternal judgment of any person who freely chose to reject the saving
work of the Son of God. Many consider it a tragedy when babies or young
children die; yet it is far better that they should die and automatically go to
heaven before reaching the age of accountability, (2Sa
12:23) than to die later in life possibly as an unbeliever and go to
the Lake of Fire. It is also sinful to be bitter toward God for removing
someone at an early age. As we learned from, (Job
5:26) God is like the farmer who
knows exactly when the ear of corn is ripe and should be picked. Some ears
ripen sooner than others; so it is with believers. In the angelic conflict, the
purpose of each believer’s life is fulfilled at a different age. Even if death occurs at a relatively early age by human
standards, that does not reduce the possibility of happiness, blessing, dying
grace, or rewards to that person. We know that in the case of young
children and all who die in Christ, we shall see them again. Reassuring though
it may be, knowledge of this future Reality does not eliminate the grief of the
moment, or the pain of missing the company of a loved one. God has allotted us
a certain amount of time to mourn for those we love who have departed from this
world.
A time to weep… And a time to
mourn. (Ecc 3:4)
Greif is bona fide. Mourning is not wrong; it is a tender and even
powerful part of life. The weeping of grief expresses great capacity for love.
With Truth in your soul, you are able to stand at the graveside and take
advantage of your time to mourn, to remember the missing friend or loved one
and to honor him with auld lang syne. With Truth in your soul, you have no regrets.
Neither does your mourning overpower you, but instead turns to the pleasant
fragrance of memories.
However, there is also sinful weeping from bitter frustration,
self-pity, and remorse. All regrets must be buried in God’s provision of grace:
Rebound, forget it, and move on! There is no
place for bitterness, doubting, hysteria, or abnormal grief as expressed by
others “who have no hope.” (1Th 4:13) You must not allow grief over the
death of anyone to destroy your life. God still has a purpose for your life,
and He will provide for you to go on living even as He provides for dying.
Women, especially, must be taught to adjust to the death of a loved one. (Jer 9:20) Since a woman is a responder in her
soul, the removal of someone to whom she responds is a difficult situation for
her. Friends and relatives might afford her immediate comfort, but as time goes
on, these people move back into their places in life and she is alone, totally
dependent on the Truth in her soul. If she lacks Truth, she is incapable of
coping with loneliness and sorrow. But if she possesses the inner dynamics of
Truth and Spiritual capacity righteousness, she emerges as a magnificent and
noble woman, a person who has had one of life’s major heartaches and dealt with
it beautifully.
THE CHALLENGE TO THE BELIEVER
Whether you are confronted by your own death or the death of a loved
one, maximum Truth in your soul is the only effective
response. Through your daily persistence in
learning Truth, you mold your response to the tests of living and dying in a
manner that glorifies the Lord. With the
Written Word giving you the assurance and blessing of the Living Word, you have
Spiritual capacity righteousness, the perfect combination of stability,
capacity, and happiness for both living and dying.
Paul understood this Principle when He wrote Philippians
3. He was challenged to keep advancing as he had not yet reached the
objective in the Spiritual life, Maximum Glorification of God.
Not that I have already obtained
it, [Removed from this useless body] or have already become perfect, [Completed
the Spiritual life] but I press on [Persistent positive volition toward Truth]
in order that I may lay hold of that [Full Spiritual maturity] for which also I
was laid hold of by Christ Jesus. (Php 3:12)
At this point, Paul fully understands what
he has achieved and where he is going in his Spiritual life. His accurate
self-evaluation motivates him to keep advancing. Yet as Paul points out, all believers fail from time to time.
Brethren, [Members of the royal
family of God] I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it [Attained full
Spiritual maturity; MGG] yet; but ONE thing I do: forgetting what lies behind
[Past victories, sins and or failures] and reaching forward to what lies ahead,
[Spiritual maturity and Maximum Glorification of God] I press on [Keep
advancing] toward the goal [MGG] for the prize [Surpassing-grace blessing] of
the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. (Php
3:13-14)
Paul stresses the importance of getting back on our Spiritual feet as
quickly as possible and continuing the advance toward the objective. We must
not become subjective about our victories, sins and or failures. We must ignore them, keep pressing, and continue to make
Truth our number one priority in life. Our positive attitude toward
Truth is a guarantee of blessing to our loved ones, associates and nation as
well. (Mat 5:13)
This Principle is especially pertinent in times of historical or
national disaster, when suffering and death are very real and daily
occurrences. How have believers faced national disasters in the past? How have
they handled the threat of death over against a compromise of Truth? Did they
fall apart? Did they give in? Note Daniel’s friends’ response, in the face of
death to King Nebuchadnezzar.
If it be so, our God whom we serve
is able to deliver us from the furnace of blazing fire; and He will deliver us
out of your hand, O king But even if He does not, let it be known to you, O
King, that we are not going to serve your gods or worship the golden image that
you have set up. (Dan 3:17-18)
Rather than compromise Truth, they chose to rest in the infinite wisdom
and omnipotence of God concerning the time and manner of their deaths. Job
expressed this same mental attitude when he wrote:
Though He [God] slay me, I will
hope [Have confidence] in Him... (Job 13:15)
This confident, relaxed mental attitude in the face of Satan’s most
powerful scare tactic — death — has always been and will always be achieved by
believers in the same way.
Remember as you begin your journey through your very own death-shadowed
valley, that your loved ones cannot go with you. Only
the Lord Jesus Christ, the Living Word, accompanies you. Even though you may be attended by the best medical care,
only Truth, the Written Word, resident in your soul can sustain you during your
dying moments. Socrates, an unbeliever,
said, “You are never truly successful until you dye well.” The Divine Viewpoint
variation is: If you live well by advancing to
Spiritual maturity, you will die, even better, for dying grace transcends
anything in life.
By now, your outlook on death should be quite different from the human
viewpoint expressed around you. With Truth in your soul, you are not afraid of
death. You anticipate dying as you would your favorite desert, knowing that the
blessings of dying grace will be superior to the best of life.
Here is the question you must answer to the Lord: If you were told that
you had only four hours to live, what would you do; what would you Think during
your last hours on earth? Would you be Occupied with Christ and His Word or
obsessed with your failures? Would you be filled with regrets or possessed with
contentment? Would you be kicking yourself or be relaxed?
In dying grace you will be able to look back on your life without
regrets or bitterness, and with deep satisfaction. You can say with Apostle
Paul:
I
have fought the good fight, [Overcame the lust of the eyes; the lust of the flesh and the
pride of life]
I have finished the course, [Maintained Spiritual maturity until death] I have kept the faith. [Guarded
the Truth resident in my soul] (2Ti 4:7)
As did Paul, you can also look forward to
eternal, glorious life with the Lord — a life filled with indescribable blessings and rewards.
In the future [Eternity] there is laid up for
me a crown of righteousness, [Eternal rewards] which the Lord, the righteous
Judge, will award to me on that day; [At the Judgment Seat of Christ] and not
only to me, but also to all who loved His appearing. [Personal love for God]
(2Ti 4:8)
Like the victory wreaths awarded for
outstanding achievements in the ancient Roman world, rewards in the Spiritual
realm are God’s eternal response to those believers who have fully adjusted to
His justice, remained faithful to His Word, and advanced to Spiritual maturity.
Consequently, when you stand in your
resurrection body before the Lord Jesus Christ at the Judgment Seat of Christ,
you will hear His Words:
...Well done, good
and faithful slave. You were faithful with a few
things, [Divine
Thoughts] I will put you in charge of many
things; enter into the joy of your master! (Mat 25:23)
End
No comments:
Post a Comment