The family hurried me out of the house, into a waiting car, and we rode down the rough dirt road to my aunt’s. I was to be left there overnight, as no child should be around when a great-grandmother was dying. My grandmother was especially sad, as another death, only a few days earlier, had hit the family like a double whammy. My great-grandmother’s daughter, Ruth, had died. Because Grandma was so near death herself, they had not told her, afraid the news would be more than her heart could take.
The next morning when they came to get me, the family was all talking about Grandma. As she had slipped across that place where the spirit leaves the body and becomes “present with the Lord,” she called out in a clear voice, “Ruth! Ruth! What are you doing here?” I never forgot that morning.
Years went by, and my dad died. I never missed him; he was not a father that left a huge hole after his passing. However, I often wondered where he had gone, for his salvation was not something any of us were certain of. Three years later my mom came to live with us, and we kept her while she slipped further and further away from us as she traveled the road of Alzheimer’s.
One learns much when care-giving, and after several years it was obvious the end was getting close. During that last year, I had often remembered my great- grandmother, and turned it into a prayer that was a continual beat of my heart. “Lord, I remember, even as a little child, Grandma calling out for Aunt Ruth. Please, if it can be in Your will, may I please be with Mother as she goes to You, and if You don’t mind, could she call out Daddy’s name, if she sees him?” I must have prayed that hundreds of times, believing with all my heart that He could easily bring that about.
I began to have to feed her, and she was not able to walk very far. One day, she couldn’t get out of bed, and I didn’t want to hurt her by forcing her. When she tried to talk to me, her speech was so garbled she sounded like a one-year old. I called Hospice, who had been working with us, and they began coming daily over the next couple of weeks as she worsened. She gradually stopped trying to communicate, and slipped into a coma. I thought every breath might be her last. She was in the coma for about a week when, around ten a.m. on a Wednesday morning, the hospice aide and I were at her bed, ready to change her. She opened her eyes, and looked up at the crown molding around the edge of the ceiling. Her face became–“beaming” is the only word that fits–and her voice came out strong and clear! She lifted her arms as far as she could, and started talking. “Oh! You’re so beautiful! I can’t reach you!” She was continually talking, smiling, and I can only think of “transfigured,” her voice sounding as it had when she was a young mother. At one point she said “Mabel!!” She had had a best friend as she had grown up on a farm in West Virginia, whose name was Mabel, and later another best friend “Mabel,” a godly woman who had died about 10 years before. I knew it must be one of those two that she saw.
She lapsed back into the coma after about two hours, exhausted but happy. It was not long before she crossed the line between earth and heaven. But I never doubted, in these few years since she died, that she had seen into the realm where the saints are gathered, and was going there herself. It was several months before I realized she had said nothing about my dad, but that’s in God’s hands. He gave me a gift that day, and the hospice aide could witness to what we saw. How can I fear death now, having seen my mom on the verge of entering that glorious place?
Sunday, September 3, Dr. Ed. Hindson spoke on the promises that God gives in His word about the glories that await Christ-followers. I’m so grateful I was raised to attend church, to hear the gospel message, and to accept His gift of salvation! Yes, I’ve made bad choices, but He has granted repentance and forgiveness. I can hardly wait to join my mom!
Get your notebook, a cool drink, and sit back and enjoy the entire worship service if you have time! The singing will prepare your heart to worship, and the service is one you don’t want to miss. Click on the link http://www.trbc.org/sermon-archive, and select “Believer’s Exciting Future” by Dr. Ed Hindson. You’ll want to invite a friend if possible to share the sermon study below, and learn how you can look forward to that place of eternal glory!
The Believer’s Exciting Future Dr. Ed Hindson
Open:
Millions of people have arranged for that first vacation at Disney! So much planning, money and time goes into the excitement of preparations. But until you physically arrive, are you able to envision the thrill, joy, and delight that the reality produces?
This week Dr. Ed Hindson presents some of the promises Jesus made to believers concerning heaven, and the blessings that have been prepared for those who have accepted Jesus Christ as Lord.
Focal Passages: 1 Thessalonians 4:13-17; John 14:1-6; 2 Corinthians 5:10; Revelation 19:7-14, 20:1-6, 21:1-2, 9-10.
Think About or Discuss:
Background:
- In this world today, everyone who believes in an eternity will assure you they will be in heaven. What are reasons they say they should be able to go there?
- What does the truth say in John 3:16?
Rapture:
- Read 1 Thess. 4:13-17. Why did Paul write these verses to the believers in Thessalonica?
- How does this passage impact your life today? If God called you home today, would you be ready (you don’t have to answer aloud)?
Bride to the Father’s House
- Read John 14:2-6. What does Jesus promise here? Is this for you? How can you take comfort in it?
- Read Rev. 21:9, 10. What was being shown to John in this passage? Who is the Bride?
Judgment Seat of Christ
- Read 2 Cor. 5:10. What promise does this verse contain? Paul is speaking of rewards, because believers will not have to be judged for sin, as they have been covered by Calvary. So what would merit a reward?
- What will be done with those rewards?
Marriage of the Lamb
- Read Rev. 19:7-9. This may seem strange to you, that the church would be called the Bride of Christ. But what does He command you to do, and why?
- What is the “fine linen”?
Triumphal Return
- So far, believers have been taken to heaven to be with Christ, as a Bride going to her Father’s house; they have been taken before the judgment seat of Christ for rewards, and the marriage of Christ and the church has been accomplished. Read Rev.19:14. What happens next? Is this a promise we can be assured of? Who are the armies following? How are they dressed?
Millennial Reign
- Read Rev. 20:4-6. Who are “they” in verse 4? We do not know exactly what the 2nd resurrection is, but it will be dreadful, as souls are sent to hell (Matthew Henry, Vol. XI, Rev. 20). Is the promise of reigning with Christ for a thousand years something we can stake our faith on? Why?
The New Jerusalem
- Read Rev. 21:1-2. What is the climax of the revelations John was given for the saints? How does 1 Corinthians 2:9 describe this scene?
Close:
What an amazing future believes can look forward to, all backed by promises of God—Who cannot lie—of what He has in store for us! To study those promises, and absorb them into our hearts, should cause us to yearn for the souls of those whom we love who have not made the choice to follow Jesus. Or worse, we can withdraw from the obligation that Jesus laid on us before He descended into heaven: “GO, make disciples, baptize, and teach,” and assume it is meant for others. This was not a suggestion: this is a command. We let family, jobs, getting ahead, having fun, chasing happiness, and more, take priority in our lives, and decide to let those “called” do the “going.” As we learned last week, we need to start by inviting friends and neighbors, those we don’t know, to our homes to get to know them. We have to earn the right to be heard, by building that relationship. That is “going.” We don’t have to get a passport and go to India—there are souls within a half mile of us going to hell, who need to be told Jesus has died to save them.
Hopefully one day you will have the blessing of standing by the bed of a loved one as they make that transition with a shout of hallelujah, and witness the joy as they see heaven—you’ll never be the same! Let that vision color all you do, and never delay the decision to invite Christ into your life, if you haven’t done so already!
Memory Verse: 1 Thess. 4:17: 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.
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