Early Morning Meditations: February 2011

I received word that a good Christian friend of mine who was a member of a congregation where I had preached several years ago was in a hospital in critical condition, having suffered a series of strokes. The problem was at that time I did not know in which hospital he was a patient. As soon as I could I called his home telephone number hoping that some of the family members might be there. The person who answered the telephone was a granddaughter of my good friend. I asked, “Where is your grandfather?” In a very sweet loving voice and without a moment of hesitation she replied, “He is in heaven”. Of course it was then that I knew my brother in Jesus Christ had passed from this life into eternity to be in the care of our Heavenly Father. I thought to myself, what an impression this brother had made on his granddaughter that she would speak with such confidence concerning her grandfather’s eternal destiny.

Now I realize that only God knows for certain the eternal destiny of every person who dies. We do know that “the dust will return to the earth as it as, And the spirit will return to God who gave it” (Ecclesiastes 12:7). And the child of God does have this precious promise from our Lord Jesus Christ: “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…” (John 11:25, 26). The apostle John later wrote in 1 John 5:11-13: “And this is the testimony: that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life. These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life…” This is the blessed assurance that a true believer in Christ, one who has been redeemed by the blood of our Lord and is a child of God has when he passes from this life into eternity. This young lady’s grandfather was a Christian and that is why she answered me with such confidence.

I habitually read the obituaries in the local and area newspapers because of my acquaintances of numerous friends and brethren. Often the writer will say that their loved one has gone to be with the Lord and similar statements regarding their relative or friend. This may or may not be true. God will be the judge and not man (Matthew 25:31-46). Some people die without believing and obeying Jesus Christ and some may be unfaithful members of the church but their survivors desire that they might all inherit eternal life. But stating such in an obituary would not make it so. Regardless of what might have been written or what some preacher might say at the funeral service regarding an individual will not have any effect on the deceased person’s eternal destiny. That has already been decided. And the person who died made that decision while he lived. Jesus Christ has given each individual a choice when He said: “Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there many who go in by it. “Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it” (NKJV, Matthew 7:13, 14).

Think, my friends, what will your precious loved ones say when you pass from this life into eternity. Will there be any hope in their hearts that you will be with God? Or, will there only be sadness, sorrow and grief, knowing that you did not have the Lord Jesus Christ as your Savior and that your life was not lived for Him? While the mercy of God lingers, you have the time to believe in Jesus Christ as the Son of God and that He died for you on Calvary’s cross. In true repentance submit to His will and be immersed for the remission of your sins (Mark 16:16; Acts 2:36-38). If, as a child of God, you have not been faithful, repent and confess your sins to your Heavenly Father (1 John 1:6-10). When death overtakes us, it is then too late for us to have anything to do with our eternal destiny.