- [Presenter] Death for a Christian breaks the connection
that holds us captive in this present evil world,
so that angels may convey believers
to their heavenly inheritance.
Death is the raging chariot, the gentle voice of the King,
the invitation to nonstop passage
into the banquet house of the world of glory.
Angels escorted Lazarus to Abraham in heaven.
Let this story be a comfort to you
as you think about the topic.
We will actually be taken by angels
into the presence of God.
These ministering spirits who have helped us here so often
will be with us in our last great battle on Earth.
Death is a battle, a profound event of crisis.
Paul calls it the last enemy, First Corinthians 15:26.
While the nip of death has been removed
by the work of Christ on the cross and by His resurrection,
the crossing of this valley
still stirs up fear and questions.
Nevertheless, angels will be there to help us.
We who have made our peace with God
should be like the evangelist D.L. Moody.
When aware that his death was at hand,
he said, "Earth recedes, heaven opens before me."
It appeared as though he was dreaming.
Then he said, "No, this is no dream.
"It is beautiful.
"It is like a trance.
"If this is death, it is sweet.
"There is no valley here.
"God is calling me and I must go."
Having been thought dead, Moody came back to life
to indicate that God had allowed him to see
beyond that thin veil
separating the seen from the unseen world.
He had been within the gates and beyond the portals
and had caught sight of familiar faces
he had long loved and lost a while.
Then, he could remember
when he had proclaimed so vigorously
earlier in his ministry,
"Someday you will read in the papers
that D.L. moody of East Northfield is dead.
"Don't you believe a word of it.
"At that moment, I shall be more alive than I am now.
"I shall have gone up higher,
"that is all out of this old clay tenement
"into an immortal house, a body that death cannot touch,
"that sin cannot taint,
"a body fashioned like onto His glorious body.
"That which is born of flesh may die.
"That which is born of the Spirit will live forever."
The life of Dwight L. moody by W.R. Moody.
If Moody were to witness to us now,
he would surely tell us
of the glowing experience that became his,
as the angelic hosts ushered him
into the presence of the Lord.
Phillips Brooks,
the writer of "O Little Town of Bethlehem,"
was one of the greatest pulpit speakers
and best loved preachers of the 19th century.
No greater tribute could be paid to him
than the words of a five-year-old Boston girl
who exclaimed after her mother had told her
that Mr. Brooks had died,
"Mother, how happy the angels will be."
Death is not natural.
Man was created to live and not to die.
It is the result of God's judgment
because of sin and rebellion of man.
Without the grace of God through Christ,
it is a dire spectacle.
Charles Spurgeon said of the glory
that attends the death of a believer,
"If I may die, as I have seen some die,
"I court the grand occasion.
"I would not wish to escape death by some byroad
"if I may sing as they sang,
"if I may have such hosannas and hallelujahs
"beaming in my eyes,
"as I have seen as well as heard from them.
"It was a blessing thing to die."
Death is robbed of much of its terror for the true believer,
but we still need the protection of God
as we take that last journey through the atmosphere.
But the Bible teaches us that the devil lurks then.
He is the prince of the power of the air, Ephesians 2:2.
If the eyes of our understanding were open,
we would probably see the air filled with demons,
the enemies of Christ.
If Satan could hinder the angel of Daniel,
10, for three weeks on his mission to Earth,
we can imagine the opposition
a Christian may encounter at death.
But Christ on Calvary cleared the road
through Satan's kingdom.
Till then, the moment of death is Satan's final opportunity
to attack the true believer,
but God has sent His angels to guard us at that time.
In telling the story in Luke 16,
Jesus says that the beggar was carried by the angels.
He was not only escorted, he was carried.
What an experience that must have been for Lazarus.
He had been begging at the gate of the rich man
until his death.
But then, suddenly, he found himself carried
by the mighty angels of God.
Imagine the homecoming of a true believer,
who has said goodbye to all of the sufferings of this life
and then, immediately surrounded by angels
who carry the believer upward to the glorious welcome
awaiting the redeemed in heaven.
The Christian should never consider death a tragedy.
Instead, he should see it as angels do.
They realize that joy should mark the journey
from time to eternity.
The way to life is by the valley of death,
but the road is marked with victory all the way.
Angels revel in the power of the resurrection of Jesus,
which assures us of our resurrection
and guarantees us a safe passage to heaven.
There are hundreds of accounts
that record the heavenly escort of angels at death.
Susanna Wesley said, "When I am gone,
"sing a song of praise to God."
Dying patients are given so many drugs today,
that we do not hear as many of these stories now,
but to those who face death in Christ,
it is a glorious experience.
The Bible guarantees every believer
an escorted journey into the presence of Christ
by the holy angels.
The angelic emissaries of the Lord are often sent
not only to catch away the redeemed of the Lord at death,
but also to give hope and joy to those who remain
and to sustain them in their loss.
He has promised to give the oil of joy for mourning,
the garment of expensive praise
instead of a heavy, burdened and failing spirit.
Today, man has been overtaken
by an increasing sense of gloom about life.
We are obsessed with the fear of sudden death
and recognize the unpredictable nature of life.
In popular thinking, you heard people speaking of death
as crossing the Jordan.
It is found in some hymns of the Christian faith.
Of course, it comes with the victorious march
of the Israelites who crossed the River Jordan
to enter the Promised Land.
They pass over the River Jordan on dry ground.
By analogy, we can know that the ministering angels
will see us safely across the Jordan River of death
as we enter the promised land of heaven.
So, the Christian does not sorrow as those who have no hope,
First Thessalonians 4:13.
When the apostle Paul spoke of his own approaching death,
he said, "We are of good courage and confident hope,
"and prefer rather to be absent from the body
"and to be at home with the Lord," Second Corinthians 5:8.
When that glorious physical and spiritual separation occurs,
the angels will be there to escort us
into the presence of our Savior with abounding joy.
It will mean life everlasting.
The angels and death.
The angel who came to the garden where Jesus' body lay
rolled away the stone and permitted fresh air
and morning light to fill His tomb.
The tomb was no longer an empty vault or dreary dormitory.
Rather, it was a life-affirming place
that radiated glory of the living God.
No longer was it a dark prison,
but a transformed reminder of the celestial light
that sweeps aside the shadows of death.
Jesus' resurrection changed it.
An unknown poet has said of the tomb,
"Tis now a cell where angels used to come and go
"and with heavenly news."
No words of men or angels can totally describe
the height and depth, the length and breadth of the glory
to which the world awakened
when Jesus came forth to life from the pall of death.
As Charles Wesley says in his hymn,
"Till mystery all, the immortal dies,
"who can explore His strange design?
"In vain, the firstborn seraph tries
"to sound the depths of love divine.
"Tis mercy all.
"Let Earth adore.
"Let angel minds inquire no more."
In contrast to Jesus, we all still have to die.
Yet just as an angel was involved in Christ's resurrection,
so will angels help us in death.
Only one thin veil separates our natural world
from the spiritual world.
That thin veil, we call death.
However, Christ both conquered death
and overcame the dark threats of the evil fallen angels.
So now, God surrounds death
with the assurance of angelic help
to bring pulsing life out of the darkness
of that experience for believers.
We inherit the kingdom of God,
the wonderful welcome to come.
You may be filled with dread at the thought of death.
Just remember that you may be suffering at one moment,
but in another moment, you will be instantly transformed
into the glorious likeness of our Savior.
The wonders, beauties, splendor and grandeur of heaven
will be yours.
You will be surrounded by these heavenly messengers
sent by God to bring you home
where you may rest from your labors,
though the honor of your works
will follow you, Revelation 14:13.
No wonder the Apostle Paul said,
"Therefore, my beloved brothers and sisters,
"be steadfast, unmovable,
"always excelling in the work of the Lord,
"being continually aware that your labor in the Lord
"is futile nor wasted," First Corinthians 15:58.
Are you ready to face life?
Are you prepared to face death?
Anyone who has not learned to live for the glory of God
is truly not ready to die.
You can put your trust in Jesus because He died for you.
And in that last moment, the greatest crisis of all,
He will have His angels gather you in their arms
to carry you gloriously, wonderfully into heaven.
As glorious as the angelic and heavenly beings are,
they become dim beside the indescribable glory
resident in our heavenly lamb, the Lord of glory,
to whom every power in heaven and on here on Earth,
bow in holy worship and excited adoration.
May God grant us understanding.
Say, "Lord, open up my eyes
"to help me to understand the Bible.
"Open my eyes to see the great truths in your instructions.
"Give me understanding so that I can know more of you.
"Amen."
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