Facing Death with Confidence

Presentation by Bob Russell

Bob Russell: Well, if you would follow along from 2 Corinthians 4, this passage discusses what happens when a believer dies from God’s vantage point. Here’s what it says, beginning with verse 16 in 2 Corinthians 4.

“Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.

Now we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in Heaven, not built by human hands. Meanwhile we groan, longing to be clothed instead with our heavenly dwelling, because when we’re clothed, we’ll not be found naked. For while we are in this tent, we groan and are burdened, because we don’t wish to be unclothed but to be clothed instead with our heavenly dwelling, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life.

Now the one who has fashioned us for this very purpose is God, who has given us the Spirit as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come. Therefore we’re always confident and know that as long as we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord. We live by faith, not by sight. We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord. So we make it our goal to please Him, whether at home in the body or away from it. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, to receive what is due him… What is due us for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.”

You know, information is almost always the best antidote for fear. There was an ophthalmologist in our church who suggested to me years ago that he could perform LASIK surgery on me and I wouldn’t have to wear glasses anymore. I said, “I’ll tell you what, I’m a little apprehensive about somebody cutting on something as sensitive as my eye.”

He said, “No, let me tell you what happens.” He said, “We just put a little eye drop in your eye and it numbs the eye, then we just inject a little Novocaine, you don’t even feel it, numbs the whole section. Then we tape your eyelid open, put a patch over it. And then you’re under the laser for 45 seconds, less than a minute. You don’t feel anything. And the next day you take the patch off and you can see. Your eye might burn a little bit for a day like you’ve been under chlorinated water, but that’s it.”

And all that information convinced me that I should try LASIK surgery, which I did and I’m glad I did. I have to use cheaters now a little bit, but it really improved my eyesight. But information helped me to overcome that fear.

Now, we can use this passage in 2 Corinthians and coordinate it with others to arrive at a sequence of events that we can anticipate at death so that it eliminates fear for us. First, there is the wasting away of the body and the renewal of the Holy Spirit. “Though outwardly we’re wasting away, yet inwardly we’re being renewed day by day.”

Now, when God created Adam and Eve, He created them to live forever. Their cells would reproduce and they would not die. But when sin, the sin virus entered the world, then there’s kind of a planned obsolescence with our bodies. As we age, things give way. Our legs get shaky, arthritis, pains in our knees, our back hurts, plumbing doesn’t function well, heart weakens, memory fades, eyes grow dim, and hearing fades. I’m here to bring you good news.

My wife and I are 82 and 84. I was 15 feet behind her, I said, “Judy, can you hear me?” No response. 10 feet, “Can you hear me now?” No response. Five feet closer, “Can you hear me now?” No response, I got right behind her ear, I said, “Can you hear me now?” She said, “For the fourth time, yes!” One of us is wasting away more than the other.

Now, some people are fortunate enough to escape that. You know some people are healthy right up to the last breath and at 80 they have a sudden stroke and they’re gone. We say that’s the way we want to die. That’s not the norm. Mostly, outwardly, we waste away. I hear people say, “I’m not afraid to die. It’s just the process and suffering that I want to avoid. I don’t want to go through prolonged pain. I don’t want to be confined to a nursing home. I don’t want to be a burden on my children.”

Now, you can spend a whole lot of time churning about those things or you can trust the Lord and His promise. He said, “I care for the birds of the air, and they eventually die, but I feed them. I care for the lilies of the field, and they eventually get thrown into the fire. But I’m going to care for you because you’re much more valuable than they.”

I like the plaque that reads, “Lord, remind me, nothing’s going to happen to me today that You and I can’t handle together.” Deuteronomy 32:11 says that God leads us like an eagle that stirs up her nest and spreads upon her wings, broader wings, teaches the eagles to fly. That when the mother eagle thinks it’s time for the eagles to get out, little eagles to get out of the nest, she takes out the rabbits for the lamb’s wool, makes it prickly in there and the eagles start moving around and exercising their wings because they’re about to get out of that nest, it’s time to fly.

And if you’re getting older and it’s starting to get uncomfortable in this tent, you know, it’s a lot harder to get up than it used to be, and you think about it a lot. Just remember, this world is not your home. This earthly tent is going to be dissolved. We got a building of God eternal in the heavens. We’re going to soar to be with the Lord. And that hope lifts our spirits. As we get older in Christ, inwardly, we’re being renewed day by day.

I had the nicest thing happen to me not very long ago. My grandson came home from his first year in college, we all went out to eat as a family. In the middle of the conversation, he said, “Pop, how come you and Nana aren’t grouchy like a lot of old people?” Now, I know that the preacher isn’t supposed to make himself the hero of the story very often, but I got to brag a little bit about my grandson’s grandpa. I am a joyful person. Maybe more joyful than I’ve ever been. And that gave me an opportunity to tell Andy why.

I says, “You know, if we really believe what we say we believe and we’re getting older as Christians, we ought to be more joyful because we’re closer to heaven.” I said, “Andy, you know how I hate overseas flight.” I mean, I’ve flown from China and India and Korea. I hate 14-hour flights. When do you think I’m the happiest? 15 minutes after takeoff or 15 minutes before landing? 15 minutes before landing, I don’t look as good, I don’t feel as fresh, I may stink a little bit, but I’m a whole lot happier because I’m almost home.

And so it ought to be in the church. The church ought to be filled with joyous old people. Inwardly, we’re being renewed day by day, even though outwardly we’re wasting away. Then one day, there’s the departure of the spirit from the body. The Bible calls it being away from the body. “As long as we’re at home in the body, we’re away from the Lord. We live by faith, not by sight.” When the Apostle Paul was about to die, he said, “I fought a good fight, but the time of my departure is at hand.”

And he pictured, used a nautical term, picturing a ship hoisting its anchor, sailing out to sea. You picture the people waving goodbye as the ship disappears, but you expect the ship to anchor soon in another harbor where there are new relationships and new joys.

We are so much more than physical beings. It’s a tent we live in, and outwardly it’s wasting away. But you know, you can cut off a person’s arms and legs, give them a heart transplant. Still the same person inside. I look at pictures of me in the first grade. I can’t believe that was me living in that tiny little body. But it was, not one cell is the same, but I’m still the same person inside. God is a Trinity, Father, Son, Holy Spirit. I think He’s created us in His image and we are Trinitarians. We’re a mind, we’re a body, and we’re a spirit, a soul inside.

And when this body is completely destroyed, just like a hand slips away from the glove and the glove has the form of the hands, that’s the remains. The spirit inside slips to be out of the body, to go be with the Lord. Because there’s a new dimension out there. In Wetumpka, Alabama, there’s a famous tombstone for a guy that reads, the epitaph reads, “Here lies Solomon Peas. Peas is not here, only the pod. Peas shelled out and went home to God.” And that’s it.

Jesus said, “Don’t fear those who kill the body but are not able to kill the soul. Rather fear him who’s able to destroy both your soul and your body in hell.” Now, we’ve had that drilled into us since we were kids. Weren’t you taught to pray? “Now I lay me down to sleep, I pray the Lord my soul to keep. If I should die before I wake, I pray the Lord my soul to take.”

George Duncan was a treasurer of our church, gentleman, wonderful Christian man, but he had a heart that was weak. In his mid-60s, he had applied for a heart transplant that never came. I learned he was in a suburban hospital in intensive care and not doing well. I went into intensive care, sat down beside his bed, and I said, “George, how you doing?” And I’m telling you, he was as clear and lucid as he could be. He said, “Well, I don’t hurt, but I’m just so weak, Bob, I’m just so weak.”

I said, “Well, George, I don’t want to make you weaker by carrying on a conversation but let me just have prayer with you.” And I grabbed his hand and I had a prayer and in the prayer I quoted the 23rd Psalm. “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for thou art with me.” And then I had a few more sentences and said amen. And when I said amen, I looked up. He had died in my prayer.

I’ve had people go to sleep in my sermons. I’ve never had anybody die in a prayer. And the nurse was sitting beside and she said, “I was watching the monitor, I could tell he was going, but then I thought, you know what? What better way to go than in a prayer?” Now let me ask you. Where was George Duncan? Everything I knew and could see about George Duncan was right there. But the spirit that animated him had slipped away and gone.

That’s why Paul says, “Don’t be so concerned about what you see. It’s temporary. Be concerned about what you don’t see that is eternal.” Then there’s the immediate presence with the Lord. He says, “We’re confident, I say, that we would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord.” Only two states, in the body or out of the body, absent from the body or present with the Lord.

So notice, the spirit does not go to a place of purging of sin. Jesus purged all of our sins at the cross. The blood of Christ cleanses us of all sins. So when we depart the body, we go immediately to be in the presence of the Father. Jesus told the penitent thief on the cross, “Today you’ll be with me in paradise.” And when he died, Jesus said, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.” Jesus said, “Don’t let your heart be troubled. If you believe in God, believe also in me. I will come back and take you to be with me so that you may be where I am.”

Herschel Hobbs was a well-known Baptist preacher years ago whose wife was dying of cancer and she said, “Honey, tell me, what’s going to happen when I die?” He said, “Well, you know, I’ve never been there, but as I understand Scripture, I’m going to hold onto your hand here while you’re here on this earth and I’m not going to let go until Jesus grabs your hand with the other hand.”

And I’ve heard all kinds of comments and stories about people who were dying. Lee Carter Maynard was a well-known preacher in the Restoration Movement. I heard him preach when I was a boy. Great man, and he was 94 when he died and his secretary was at his side, and Lee Carter Maynard perked up a little bit and he said, “I see it! Do you see it? It’s beautiful.” And he slumped over and died. All kinds of reports of Christian people saying, “I see the Lord. I see Jesus. There’s somebody at the end of my bed, I’m coming.”

I reported on some of those sayings in a revival meeting one time and a woman came up to me afterwards and she said, “I want to tell you what my uncle said. He was not a Christian, he lived the worst kind of life, and he rallied just before he died and said, ‘I see a fiery pit.'” Understand we’re talking about the promise to Christians. Christians who can say with David in the Old Testament, “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, for thou art with me.”

Bishop Berger was asked one time by a little child, “What’s it like to die?” He said, “Well, picture your father walking his four-year-old son to town, and they come across a river. The bridge has been wiped out by a horrible flood and all that’s left are these pylons up out of the river. And the father grabs his son by the wrist and half carries him, half drags him across those pylons, and they go to town. They don’t return until dusk. And as they’re walking back home, the father hears the little boy whimpering. Said, ‘What’s wrong with you?’ He said, ‘Daddy, we barely made it across that horrible river in the light. We’ll never make it in the darkness.’ And the father picked up his son and carried him and the little boy went to sleep. And the next thing he knew, he woke up and he’s in his father’s house in his own room. Sunlight was shining through the window and his father’s standing there in the doorway smiling at him.” And Berger said, “I think that’s what it’s like to die. That which we fear the most, we don’t really experience. We just go to sleep in the Father’s arms and we wake up in the Father’s house with the light of His love shining through.”

There’s wasting away the body, the departure of the spirit, immediate presence with the Lord, and then there’s the granting of a new glorified body at the Second Coming of Christ. “Meanwhile we groan, longing to be clothed instead with our heavenly dwelling, because when we’re clothed, we’ll not be found naked.” We’re not going to spend eternity as disembodied spirits floating around on a cloud, strumming a harp. When we die, our spirits go to be with God, but we are not yet, as I understand this, in our perfect, eternal existence.

We don’t receive our resurrected, glorified bodies until Jesus Christ returns. I take it when we die, we’re going to be alert. We’re going to retain our personalities, as did the beggar in Jesus’ parable of the rich man and Lazarus. We’ll be in the presence of God, we’ll be joyful. But our eternal existence is not going to be complete until the return of Jesus.

John 5:28 says, “Don’t be amazed at this. A time is coming when all who are in the graves will hear His voice and come out. Those who have done what is good will rise to live, those who have done what is evil will rise to be condemned.” Or this passage in 1 Thessalonians 4. “Brothers and sisters, we do not want you to be ignorant or uninformed about those who sleep in death, so that you don’t grieve like the rest of mankind, who have no hope. We believe that Jesus died and rose again, and we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in Him.”

And I’ll stop there for a second. When Jesus comes back, He’s going to bring with Him, what? Those who have fallen asleep. Christians who have died and gone to be with Him. He’s going to bring with Him their spirits. “According to the Lord’s own word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord will come down from heaven, with a loud command, the voice of the archangel, the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first.”

I thought the dead were coming with Jesus. Oh, there’s going to be a resurrection of the body. The dead who have been with Jesus, the Second Coming is going to be a glorious day for them too because that’s when they’re not going to be found naked anymore, they’re going to receive their new resurrected bodies. “After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds.”

First Corinthians 15 says, “We will be changed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye. Our bodies will be changed too.” “And we’ll meet the Lord in the air. And so we’ll be with the Lord forever, therefore encourage one another with these words.” This is why the Second Coming of Christ is going to be glorious, not just for those who remain, but for those who come with Jesus. There’s an old song, “There’s going to be a great, great meeting in the air. I’m going to meet you there at that home beyond the sky.”

First Corinthians. By the way, don’t you wonder what your new body’s going to be like? 1 Corinthians 15, Paul says, “As in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive.” And it says that Christ is the first fruits. If you want to know what happens when you die, look at what happened to Jesus. There was a wasting away of His body. He finally said, “Father, into Your hands I commit my spirit.” His spirit went to the presence of the Father. Three days later, His spirit came back and resurrected His body.

They still recognized Him. He had nail scars in His hands and feet, but it was a new glorified body. Sometimes they didn’t recognize Him, but He made Himself known to them in the breaking of the bread, for example, and in the road to Emmaus. And 1 Corinthians 15 says, “Some will ask, ‘How are the dead raised? With what kind of body will they come?’ How foolish! What you sow doesn’t come to life until it dies. When you sow, you don’t plant the body that will be, but just a seed, perhaps of wheat or something else. But God gives it a body as He has determined, and to each kind of seed He gives its own body.”

I grew up on a farm. You take a little gray seed of wheat, plant it in the ground. Doesn’t seem like there’s any life in it all. A couple weeks later, here comes this green shoot coming out of that thing. Looks nothing like that seed, but the seed had that source of life. Now, if human beings can take one cell and they can clone a sheep or something, then God the Creator has no problem with giving a new glorified body to somebody who’s drowned at sea or been burned at the stake or been cremated.

“So it will be with the resurrection of the dead.” It’s going to be a miracle. “The body that is sown is perishable, it’s raised imperishable. Sown in dishonor, raised in glory. Sown in weakness, raised in power. Sown a natural body, raised a spiritual body.” The old-time Christians knew that. They used to insist that when they were buried in the cemetery, they were buried always facing east, because they believed that Jesus was going to return facing east. Jesus. They believed Jesus was going to return in the eastern sky and they wanted to be raised facing Jesus. Today, everybody’s concerned about a watertight crypt and airtight casket. I want one with a flip top box. I want to come out of there fast as I can.

And we’re going to have new glorified bodies. I’m thankful for that. The older I get, the more thankful. I’m going to be in Heaven; I’m going to be 6’3″ and look like Brad Pitt. You might not recognize me, I’ll wear a name tag. People, it always seems dumb to me, people ask, “Do you think we’ll recognize each other in Heaven?” Well, the Bible says we’re going to sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. I’ve never met those guys. If I’m going to recognize those guys, I have supernatural power to recognize who they are. I’m certainly going to recognize my mother and my father and my sister and so many friends I’ve got in Heaven.

Then comes the judgment of the righteous and the distribution of rewards. “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each of us may receive what is due us for the things done well in the body, whether good or bad.” Now, there’s going to be a judgment of the unbeliever and the judgment of the believer, and they’re going to be two different judgments. The judgment of the unbeliever will be a judgment for sin.

Luke 12:3 says, “What you’ve said in the dark will be heard in daylight. What you’ve whispered in the ear, in the inner rooms, will be proclaimed from the rooftops.” Nothing is hidden from God’s sight. The non-Christian will receive judgment incommensurate with the sins that they committed. I understand Scripture to teach there will be more severe punishment for a child molester than for one who lives a fairly moral life. Jesus talked about it being more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrah on the day of judgment than for those who had rejected Him.

But the judgment of the Christian will be different. Our sins have been washed away by the blood of Christ. God says our sins are buried in the deepest sea, and what? Not remembered anymore. So He’s not going to dredge up those old sins when we stand before Him on judgment day. Our judgment, as I understand, is for rewards.

In the Olympic Games in that day, the judge sat at the finish line in what was called the bema seat. And the race determined the victor, but the judge handed out the awards. Just like at a graduation ceremony from high school. Not pass, fail. They say, “This person was a member of the National Honor Society. This person is most likely to succeed,” whatever. The bema judgment for the Christian is a reward ceremony. And just as there are degrees of punishment in Hell, there will be degrees of reward in Heaven. I understand the Scripture to teach that there’ll be a greater reward for martyrs like Stephen and Paul than there will be for softies like me.

Look at 1 Corinthians 3:12-15. “If anyone builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones.” Now, those are durable metals that can withstand intense heat. “Or wood, hay or straw.” Those are combustible elements easily consumed. “Their work will be shown for what it is, because the day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire.” Now, that’s not the fire of Hell. That’s the fire of judgment, fire of testing. “The fire will test the quality of each person’s work. If what he has been built survived, the builder will receive a reward. If it is burned up, the builder will suffer loss but yet will be saved, even though only as one escaping through the flames.”

We used to sing, “Will there be any stars in my crown?” God’s going to judge my preaching. Did I preach for money? Did I preach so people would think Bob Russell’s a good preacher? Or did I preach because I really wanted to bring people to Christ and edify believers? That’s why verse nine of that passage we read said, “We make it our goal to please Him.” That sacrificial, unassuming mother who for years takes care of a special needs child that demands her attention all day long, year after year, is going to receive such a fantastic award in Heaven, more than maybe a television evangelist where the last will be first and the first will be last.

Resource

Announcer: Dr. David Reagan’s book will show you how to die with a smile on your face instead of fearing the unknown or dreading the transition. He explains how Christians can look forward to their own heavenly homecoming when they are immediately ushered into the presence of Jesus Himself. Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 2 that “no eye has seen and no ear has heard the things that God has prepared for those who love Him.” And yet scripture says that God has revealed them through His Holy Spirit.

If you’ve trusted in Jesus Christ, How to Die with a Smile on Your Face will offer you hope and encouragement based on a biblical preview of Heaven. And if you know someone that does not yet know the Lord, it will offer a warning of torment that awaits them if they reject God’s offer of salvation. And right now we have a special buy one, get one offer. Two copies for only $15, and that includes shipping. Just call the number on the screen or visit our online store at Christ in Prophecy.

Closing

Nathan Jones: I wish we had more time to air Bob’s sermon in its entirety. He finished by beautifully explaining the promises God has made to His children when we finally live in eternity with Him. Bob also read a special letter from a dear friend who has since departed that he’s been carrying around for decades. You can watch Bob’s sermon in its entirety on our Christ in Prophecy YouTube channel.

Tim Moore: Lord willing, tune in next episode as we continue this 4-part series titled “Taking God at His Word.” Next up, Pastor Terry Cooper challenges the Church to be a voice crying in the wilderness and inheritors of God’s eternal promises. You won’t want to miss it. Godspeed!

End of Program