DEATH is no respecter of persons; it strikes every moment of everyday: young & old, healthy & sick, rich & poor, male & female, and there is no discharge in this war! Every one of us must die, unless Christ returns. So Solomon wrote in Ecclesiastes 12:6-7, “Remember now your Creator in the days of your youth, before the difficult days come, and the years draw near when you say, “I have no pleasure in them”: Remember your Creator before the silver cord is loosed, or the golden bowl is broken, or the pitcher shattered at the fountain, or the wheel broken at the well. Then the dust will return to the earth as it was, and the spirit will return to God who gave it.”
In other words, those who are wise will always have in view both the certainty of death and the uncertainty of when it will occur. Even in the best of health death should always be before our eyes lest we become prideful and forget the Word of our Creator. But you cannot live life wisely unless you believe and understand what the Bible teaches about death. Our view of death must rest on the truthfulness of God’s revelation to us in His Word and not the speculations, imaginations, or superstitions of sinful men devoid of the Spirit of God. We read an amazing testimony concerning the death of a believer in Philippians 1:21. The Apostle Paul is in a Roman prison awaiting the possible sentence of death for preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and he writes these words, “For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.”
How could the Apostle Paul say that? How can death be gain? Paul could say that death was gain because he could also say, “For to me to live is Christ.” Is this your confession, “For to me to live is Christ”? Are you trusting in Jesus Christ alone for the salvation of your soul? Has He redeemed you? Have you heard His words in your soul, “Your sins are forgiven — I give you eternal life — You shall never perish?” If so, then you are one who can also say, “and to die is gain.” This is the wonderful testimony of every true Christian. Death is gain, for in the moment of death the believer goes immediately to be with Christ. Remember what Jesus said to the thief on the cross, “Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise” (Luke 23:43).
In Christ,
Pastor S. Henry