From the Pulpit ................................................................Pages

Owner/Publisher: Rob Wood

John 11:25-26: "Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?'"

In the scripture of verse 25, Jesus uses life to talk about the resurrection life. That includes even the body that was buried, for as long as the person was a Christian, they will live even though they had died; they will be resurrected.

In the scripture of verse 26, Jesus is talking about of the one who lives and believes will never die. Now, "lives" is referring to eternal life. Eternal life is not something we get after we die, as many

R.I.P!

How can you be sure that you will Rest In Peace when you Pass?

Christians believe. Eternal life is what we receive when we give our lives to Jesus Christ, at that very moment we decide to walk with Him, and don't walk away from Him.

What Jesus is saying here is that, even if the outer man dies, the Christian will live in the outer man again because Jesus is the resurrection. But even more than that, the Christian already has eternal life in the inner man and will never die.

How many times have I heard these three simple words, Rest in Peace or 'R.I.P.' But the problem with that is that only those who live for Jesus Christ will R.I.P after passing, not non-believers. I see it everywhere, on social media when someone's family member passes or in cemeterys on the head stones; it's mentioned at visitations or funerals. You see, everyone thinks they're going to heaven when they pass; they think that you can buy your way into heaven. The thing is, we can't buy our way into heaven; we can't get a spot just because we have been good most of the time in our lives. Instead, it is a gift from God that we may enter into heaven. Ephesians 2:8-9 says, "For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not works, lest anyone should boast."

John Harper was on the Titanic the night it went down to the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean. While the Titanic was sinking, there was a guy in a lifeboat. While he was in the boat, he heard voices coming from the midst of the ocean. They were all crying for help. At that point, John Harper took his daughter and kissed her. He said to her, "Sweetie, bye bye." That very moment, he got up and leaped into the ice cold water and then he started preaching his final message.

He kept saying to all the people in the water, "You Need Jesus, Are you Saved!" In front of John there was a guy; he was nearly dead from the cold water and John Harper gave him his life vest and then John said, "I don't need the life vest anymore, because I'm not going down, I'm going up, because of Jesus."

Later on, that guy said, "That night I got saved twice. First of all, John Harper gave me his life vest...But more important than that, John Harper gave me the Gospel of Jesus Christ."

The last known words of John Harper, "Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved." Romans 16:31.

R.I.P!

What an amazing man, what an amazing servant of God! Not only did he make sure his daughter was safe, but without any regards for himself, he leaped into the water to save others. He couldn't save their flesh bodies, but he did bring many to the One that could save them so they would spend eternity with Jesus in heaven.

Rest in Peace comes from the latin blessing requiescat in pace, which literally means "May he begin to rest in peace." This expression "Rest in Peace" is not used at all in Scripture in reference to a person who had died. In that sense, we could say "Rest in Peace," really isn't biblical.

Looking at the book of Daniel, at the end of the book an angel speaks of Daniel's death, saying to him, "You will rest." Daniel 12:13 says, "But you, go your way till the end; for you shall rest, and will arise to your inheritance at the end of the days." Also Isaiah 57:2 says, "He shall enter into peace; They shall rest in their beds, each one walking in his uprightness." Both of these scriptures are the closest the Bible comes to saying R.I.P. Still, those exact words, "Rest in Peace" are not used.

I know the thoughts of death can be a bit scary to those who do not know Jesus. People all through the years have come up with all kinds of words to comfort themselves. When someone dies, people say all kinds of unbiblical sayings such as, "She's an angel now;" "God needed another angel in heaven;" or "He is in a better place now." They say these things with no thought that he might actually be in a much worse place. People who never have time for or just don't want to be bothered with God, suddenly want to be close to Him when it comes to going to funerals. They all try to assure themselves and other people that, regardless of the deceased's relationship with God while they lived their lives here on earth, he or she is in heaven now and are happy, because they were good people. But we should never ignore what the scripture is telling and teaches us. The Bible is very clear on physical death; it is not the end of life. Hebrews 9:27 says, "And it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgement, so Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many. To those who eagerly wait for Him He will appear a second time, apart from sin, for salvation." Also, John 3:16-18 says, "For God so loved the world that He gave His only be gotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God." Jesus said many times that there are only two options for everybody, and that is Heaven or Hell. Matthew 10:28 says, "And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and the body in hell." Jesus also gave us a very clear picture of the two places we will end up in after death in the parable of The rich man and Lazarus. Luke 16:19-26 says, "There was a certain rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and fared sumptuously every day. But there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, full of sores, who was laid at his gate, desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man's table. Moreover the dogs came and licked his sores. So it was that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels to Abraham's bosom. The rich man

R.I.P!

also died and was buried. And being in torments in Hades, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. Then he cried and said, 'Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame.' But Abraham said, 'Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things; but now he is comforted and you are tormented. And besides all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed, so that those who want to pass from here to you cannot, nor can those from there pass to us.'" In this parable, the rich man was given everything, yet never paid any attention or even thought for a minute about God during his earthly life, so he died and went to hell. Lazarus on the other hand, didn't have anything on earth, except for his pure heart for God; he died and was taken to paradise. Hell is described as a place of pain and torment, not a place of rest, not a place of fun as many think. As scripture talks about in the Bible many times, a person who dies without Jesus is not "resting in peace." Isaiah 57: 20-21 says, "But the wicked are like the troubled sea, when it cannot rest, whose waters cast up mire and dirt. 'There is no peace, Says my God, for the wicked.'"

The death of a Christian is so different than that of a non believer. Romans 8:1 says, "There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death." This reminds us that it's normal to grieve for a loved one who believed in Jesus, because we know we will see them again. The Bible often refers to the dead in Jesus as 1 Corinthians 15-20 says: "But now Christ is risen from the dead, and He become the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep." Also 1 Thessalonians 5:9-10 says, "For God did not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us, that whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with Him."

Biblical writers used sleep as a metaphor because death of a Christian is only temporary. Paul said in 2 Corinthians 5:7-8: "For we walk by faith, not by sight. We are confident, yes, well pleased rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord." Those who give their lives to Jesus Christ are with Him for all eternity in Heaven when they pass. Luke 23-43 says, "And Jesus said to him, 'Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise.'" As we have been talking, after-death Christians will enter a "rest" and it is a "peaceful rest." However, those who do not believe in Jesus will not have a peaceful rest, but torment and pain in hell. That is why it is so important to give your life to Jesus today. John 14:6 says, "Jesus said to him, 'I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me."

WOOD Ministries

Publisher/Sales/Graphic Designer/Writer: Rob Wood

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wood.ministries.2020@gmail.com Writer: Lynne Wood

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