Death And Dying
some scriptural thoughts by Pastor Charles P. Schmitt
The Scriptures declare two things about death. First of all, death is an “enemy.” Paul tells us: “The last enemy to be destroyed is death ” (I Cor. 15:26). Death is our enemy, robbing us of those we love so dearly; death is also our enemy, taking our own lives in its evil grasp. But, Scripturally, death is also “precious” – “Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints” (Ps. 116:15). The Hebrew word for “precious” is often used in the Old Testament to describe the rare beauty of a precious jewel. The death of a saint is “precious” in the sight of the Lord because it is the very act by which another of His servants (having been shaped and polished by His dealings in life) is taken to become a treasure in His crown! “They will be mine,” says the Lord Almighty, “in the day when I make up my treasured possession” (“my jewels,” kjv) Mal. 3:17.
These two aspects of death – as an “enemy” and yet as “precious” – are reflected in the words “loss” and “gain.” When a loved one dies, there is a great “loss,” often an overwhelming “loss.” That is why we grieve; we grieve over the loss of someone precious to us, though Paul tells us, we do not “grieve like the rest of men, who have no hope” (I Thess. 4:13). Our grief has a shaft of hope radiating from it because of Jesus! Though the loss is ours, to the one who has gone to be with the Lord, it is all gain. Paul declares: “for to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain ” (Phil. 1:21). This glorious gain is reflected in his words: “I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far ” (v. 23). For Paul, as for all of God's saints, “to be absent from the body [is] to be present with the Lord ” (II Cor. 5:8). And this is “joy unspeakable and full of glory!” This is indeed gain ! And for this reason the death of a believer (though death is an enemy ) is also “precious” in the eyes of the Lord, for it is the doorway into eternal glory and delight! Jesus our Lord is the One who has transformed death for the believer from being an “enemy” into being “precious.” He, by His own death and resurrection, has taken the sting out of death and made death a passageway into life – eternal life!
The recent death of our dear Betty Cassidy, personal assistant to pastor Dotty for eight year, is a loss – a loss for her family and friends and for all of us who loved her so dearly; but for Betty this experience is nothing but gain – the gain of a new dimension of the Presence of our Lord! I believe Betty was welcomed into the eternal habitations of glory on Monday morning at 9:00 A.M. by our sister Irene (and the two of them, I am sure , are right now dancing before the throne of God in utter delight). Family members and friends who know Jesus and other of our Immanuel's saints were also there to greet her. What a glad reunion that was! I wish I was there to see that!
We grieve over all deaths, but especially over untimely deaths. Betty should have been with us yet another 20-25 years, at least. But no believer departs this earth apart from the sovereign decrees of our God. He has appointed “a time for everything…. a time to be born and a time to die…” (Eccl. 3:1-2). According to Psalm 90:10, “the length of our days is [normally] seventy years – or eighty….” To us, therefore, the loss of 20-25 years is a lot , but to God, whose timetable is: “One day is as a thousand years” (vs. 4), Betty has only lost about ½ hour! – A small loss compared to the immense gain of being forever with the Lord!
One final note – how do we understand any untimely death in the light of our conviction that Jesus heals ? The same Scriptures that teach us that “by His wounds you have been healed ” (I Peter 2:24) also record of Paul, “I left Trophimus sick at Miletus” (II Tim. 4:20). How do we reconcile these two thoughts? We can only reconcile them in the sovereign will of a God “who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of His will” (Eph. 1:11). And sometimes it seems He chooses to take the best prepared saints prematurely (a Jamie Buckingham and a Ruth Heflin, for example – both of whom died just around Betty's age), and He heals and raises up others who perhaps, in some cases, need yet more time for preparation before they can appear before Him. But in all things, though we may not understand His ways, we can most certainly trust His wisdom and His sovereign purposes. It seems He has been recently populating heaven with His more choice servants, perhaps as part of those intercessors who appear before His immediate Presence (Rev. 6:9-10; 8:3-4), birthing – by their very prayers – the fresh purposes of God in the earth!
Many of us had been faithfully praying Psalm 30, along with Betty. We had hoped that by His healing hand our Lord would bring Betty “up from the grave” (vs. 3) and save her from “going down into the pit” (vs. 9). But we must now simply change our expectation on how this psalm shall be fulfilled for Betty, for it will now be fulfilled in Betty's physical resurrection at the soon coming of our Lord, when death will be fully swallowed up in victory and those who are in the graves will come forth with singing (Isa. 25:8-9)! Such is the fruit of the redeeming work of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be all glory and praise – for all time and for all eternity!
