Ecclesiastes chapter 3 tells us that there is a time for every matter under heaven.  There is a time to keep silence, a time to speak, a time for war, a time for peace, a time to weep, a time to laugh, a time to be born, and a time to die.  We all live in a day and age where we experience all of these things on a regular basis.  It can be very tempting to think that this is all there is.  This cycle of birth and death, of war and peace, of weeping and laughing seems to never end, and as we get further along in life, the sad times can seem to outnumber the happy ones, especially on a week like this.

Sunday brought with it the news that our friend and brother in Christ, Larry Gossett, had gone to be with the Lord.  Sunday was also a celebration of Father’s day, the first Father’s Day my wife was without her father who went home to be with the Lord late last year.  Many of you have similar situations you may be thinking about.  So, how do we respond?  Is there hope?  For the Christian, there definitely is.

In Philippians 3:20, Paul tells us that we are citizens of heaven, not of this world.  We are just visiting this place, albeit for many decades.  When we think of death, and many of the other sad things attached to this existence, we must remember that it will all end when this world ends, and for each of us, that end comes when we stop the life-long trip in this world and finally come home to the next.  I pray that we all find comfort in the thought that this world is not our home, it’s only where we happen to live at the moment.  I’ll leave you with the words of the song we sang on Sunday; a great poem about our passage into heaven.

It Is Not Death To Die

It is not death to die, To leave this weary road,
And join the saints who dwell on high,
who’ve found their home with God.
It is not death to close the eyes long dimmed by tears,
and wake in joy before Your throne, delivered from our fears.
It is not death to fling aside this earthly dust,
and rise with strong and noble wing, to live among the just.
It is not death to hear the key unlock the door
that sets us free from mortal years to praise you evermore.
 
O Jesus, conquering the grave,
Your precious blood has pow’r to save.
Those who trust in You will in Your mercy find that it is not death to die.
 

From Come Weary Saints ©2008 Sovereign Grace Music
Translated by George Bethune (1847)
Music, chorus and alternate words by Bob Kauflin (2008)

Original words by Henri Abraham Malan (1787-1864)