Our Hope is in Christ

"Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints." Psalm 116:15

When we lose of a loved one to death, it is a very difficult mix of emotions for many of us: Sorrow, grief, lonliness, anger at times, questions to God about why He didn’t stop it from happening….. all of this is part of the human experience that brings tears to our eyes as we sit in a funeral or by a graveside and say our farewells to those who have left us behind to grieve. In reality, for believers, we are not saying “goodbye” but rather, “see you later”, for our HOPE in Christ is that we have eternal life through belief in Jesus Christ as our personal Savior. It is in these painful moments that our Faith MUST hold onto us and comfort us and ASSURE us that what we believe is sure and true. We can over time come to a point where we realize that it is within these tears that we find peace that passes understanding to face tomorrow without that loved one in our lives, but it still doesn’t make the initial period following the death of our loved ones easy to walk through. Remember David said, “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for You are with me…” Psalm 23:4 David knew grief, he knew loss, and he learned to walk THROUGH these kinds of dark valleys, and surrender his fears to the One Who stayed with him and led him through to the other side of loss.

Some deaths are harder to understand than others, say for example when a small child dies unexpectedly, or a parent receives that call in the night that there has been a terrible car accident and their high school son or daughter will not be returning home from Prom…. Other times, when there has been a long illness, or we know of someone who has lived a long rich life, we see it as a release or a promotion of sorts that they are free to run through the hillsides of heaven and celebrate their life in the arms of their beloved Heavenly Father. Such is the case of a dear friend of Grace Harbor Church: Mrs. Estelle Mathis, who recently went home to be with the Lord. I remember Estelle from my childhood growing up at Tustin First Baptist. She and her husband Bill were always in the midst of every church activity and event. Estelle had such a precious spirit throughout her 89 years here on earth, and a beautiful smile that always showed the love of Jesus, she would simply shine for God without even saying a word. I know that I will see Estelle in heaven someday, rejoicing and dancing with Jesus. Estelle, thank you for showing us such a beautiful example of a Proverbs 31 woman, gentle, strong, always about the Father’s business, a wonderful wife, mother, grandmother, and servant of God, always about the Father’s business for the kingdom work at our church.

Our scripture passage today is a tender one for it speaks of something PRECIOUS to our Heavenly Father. Why does God consider the death of His people precious when we dread it and make every effort to avoid it and postpone it? God deems the death of his saints precious because their happiness is very dear to Him. When they die, they enter at once into eternal rest. The death of God’s people must be precious to Him because He has so long sympathized with them in all their trials, pains, and sorrows. Whatever has touched them has touched the apple of his eye, but when He sees all these trials terminate, to be renewed no more--their physical pains and trials cease--all their wants supplied forever, and the state of want passed forever away; when He sees all this, can you not understand that He rejoices in it with great joy?

In a very important sense, when God receives his children home, He receives the reward of all His labors in their behalf. We are apt to speak only of our reward, when we allude to the joys of saints in heaven; why should we not also think and speak of God's? Has not He deserved a reward for all his cares and sacrifices and labors? And is it not fit that He should receive it? Didn’t God pay the HIGHEST price to be reconciled with His children for eternity because of the shed blood of HIS only Son? God has experienced watching His loved One die, and He can sympathize with our suffering as we grieve, but understand that at the time of death, is it not also reasonable that He should rejoice in his own reward, and furthermore, that we should also rejoice with Him?

Today, take comfort in knowing that our times are in His hands, and when our time comes to be called home, whether it is unexpected or due to an old body that just wears out, remember that He will welcome His beloved children personally into His kingdom, and will hold them and wipe away all pain and suffering and tears, and will send the Holy Spirit’s Comfort to those left behind to know that it is well with our souls to trust our God to be GOD in such circumstances when words fall so short of comforting our hearts when death comes. Paul told us to “comfort one another with these words” found in the book of I Thessalonians 4:16-18 regarding that last day when we will be reunited with those who have died before us: "For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words." Be comforted in knowing that your FAITH produces HOPE for an eternity with Him, and with our beloved brothers and sisters who have died in Christ.

Here is one of my favorite hymns to close our time today, but it speaks of our HOPE, that it holds strong, even in times when we face death for ourselves or our loved ones.

Shalom, sister Lahoma

My Hope Is Built On Nothing Less
By Edward Mote, William Bradbury


My hope is built on nothing less,
Than Jesus' blood and righteousness.
I dare not trust the sweetest frame,
But wholly lean on Jesus' Name.

CHORUS:

On Christ the so lid rock I stand,
All other ground is sinking sand,
All other ground is sinking sand.

When darkness seems to hide His face,
I rest on His unchanging grace.
In every high and stormy gale,
My anchor holds within the veil.

His oath, His covenant, His blood,
Support me in the whelming flood.
When all around my soul gives way,
He then is all my hope and stay.

When He shall come with trumpet sound,
Oh may I then in Him be found.
Dressed in His righteousness alone,
Faultless to stand before the throne.

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