Precious in the sight of the Lord...

       The Word of God tells us in Psalm 116:15 "Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints." Today we laid to rest a dear saint of God. He was one of our two deacons and the oldest member of our church. On Tuesday, he was absent from the body and present with the Lord.

       He is one of a handful of people in my life that I knew well who has gone to be with the Lord. He was  an encouragement to us and an example of faithfulness to the Lord. Until he became too weak to attend our services, we knew right where he would be come Sunday morning.

     One of the last Sundays he was able to attend, I remember him standing and with a smile and gleam in his eyes, he quoted 1 Corinthians 13:12. We had been talking about the soon coming of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and he said...

"For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as I am known"


       On Tuesday, he saw the Creator of all things, face to face. The first few verses of John chapter 1 tells us that Christ was in the beginning with God and that all things were made by him; and without him was not anything made that was made.

     Not only did Jesus Christ create all things, he sustains all things. If that wasn't enough, He came to this earth, was born of a virgin, lived a perfectly sinless life and at the appointed time died for the sins of His people. Jesus Christ is the Savior...and my dear brother in Christ who was 84 years old saw his Savior face to face.

    For him, faith is no more. He has no need of faith. Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things unseen. He has seen Christ. My dear Mother-in-love, Vivian, saw the Lord face to face a little over a year ago. These dear Christians know what Christ looks like. I can't fathom that! They don't see in part any longer...they are not looking through a glass darkly.

     We mourn because we miss our loved ones, but not in the same way the world mourns. We don't want them back, they are where they belong. They ran their race. They finished their course. Now they are in the presence of the One who became their sin and died so they might live.

1Thessalonians 4:13-18
13   But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which  are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. 
14   For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. 
15   For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep.
16   For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God; and the dead in Christ shall rise first;
17  Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.
18   Wherefore comfort one another with these words.

     One day, we who trust in finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ upon the cross of Calvary for our salvation, will see Him face to face as our loved ones have.   Even so...Come Lord Jesus!