Margaret

It is a year ago today since our dear friend, sister (and mother) in the Lord, Margaret Lee was delivered out of her temporary sojourn on earth into the everlasting presence of Her Lord.

Among her possessions was a coaster which delineated the character of a “Margaret” as follows:

From the Greek word for “pearl”. She is reliable, hardworking, very smart and she certainly knows her own mind. A great conversationalist.

I don’t know whether these things are completely made-up, but there is certainly a good deal of truth in those statements concerning Margaret.

I knew Margaret for some ten years at the end of her life. Many happy times were spent with her whether they be individually, with our family, with friends or in church. She was a lady with a heart for the Lord. She was truly a Christian lady. She loved her Lord.

She was a woman of her word and certainly thereby reliable and trustworthy. Her home was a refuge for many. So many knew reviving of their hearts and a renewing into their life ahead at 26 Felbridge Court. She was a great listener; which is such a rare gift. Often this was to her her own detriment as she would give lengthy amounts of time to others when she needed rest herself. But that was Margaret she wanted to spend and be spent on the Master’s service. She always wanted to encourage as well. She seized opportunity to spur you on in serving the Lord.

This of course, leads me on to mention her servant-heartedness. She reflected her Lord as one who wanted to serve and bless others. And permeating this ministry was her desire to share about her Saviour with those in need.

The fact that she did all this in the midst much struggle made it all the more admirable; and dare I say, it was the fact that she suffered and knew weakness that made her all the more accessible. It was not as if Margaret was one who had got everything in life sussed. Rather she served and witnessed out of affliction.

And yes she did know her own mind and at times would firmly communicate such. We were not always in agreement with each other and we had our awkward moments, but I always knew that she loved and cared.

Paradoxically, it was the fact that she was not perfect that made her life in Christ the more attractive. This is most cogently expressed in the words of Paul: But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us. (2 Cor. 4:7). That was how dear sister Margaret was: the surpassing power of the Lord was on display through her jar of clay.

And how she was interested in people! As a result people were drawn to her because they knew she was interested. I have written previously here of her welcome. This was all reflective of her interest in people.

And I call to mind those sweet times of prayer. Again so many were encouraged by being able to spend time praying with her.

So I say finally my life is the better for having had Margaret a part of it for those years. She loved me, cared for me guided me and told me what I needed to know.

An online memorial to Margaret is here. Also her funeral and thanksgiving service is here.

Will Death Be Over By June?

We are in a moment of transition. An increasing proportion of population of the UK have had the covid-19 vaccine. The number is increasing by the day and expected to be quite comprehensive by late spring. As a result expectations are growing that the bringer of death, namely Covid-19 will be conquered in the next few months. And we will be free! Free of death and moving into a new time. The vaccine will have done it and we will celebrate the vaccine.

Now do not get me wrong I want to be quick to acknowledge the goodness of God in giving us the vaccine. But please let us get real the statistics will still be as bad as ever. Death will still be taking everyone. One cause, covid-19, may have been largely vanquished, but the multitude of other ways which lead to death will still be around. By June time you may be less likely to die of Covid-19, but you will still not escape the foul clutches of “the Grim Reaper”. The basic biblical truth is that we are appointed to death; Covid-19 is not the ultimate cause of death, sin is.

Sin has wrecked the human race. Sin has placed us under the judgement of an outraged just God who must honour His justice in the judgment of sin.

Let us get real then and realise our big issue is with sin. Without sin there would be no Covid-19 or any other cause of death, The vaccine gives us an immunity against covid-19, but we are fooled if we think that it gives us an immunity against death. We thank God for the benefits of the vaccines produced by Pfizer and Astra-Zeneca, but let’s realize their limits.

But praise be to God there is a greater vaccine; there is an ultimate vaccine. there is a product with a greater source. There is a vaccine against death which has been proven 100% effective. The vaccine is the blood of our Lord Jesus Christ which cleanses us from all sin. And in that cleansing, death is finished. As the hymn by Stuart Townsend and Keith Getty puts it:

Death is dead, love has won
Christ has conquered;

So please avail yourself of the vaccine, but please realise its limits. It helps us in the fight against covid-19, but it won’t beat death. Only being vaccinated in the blood of Jesus Christ achieves that.

Death Conquered

Yesterday here I ventured forth with some musings on death as it is being evaluated at this present time. Today want to draw your attention to a piece here from Tim Challies. It is an incredibly poignant article in which he describes the pain of losing his son yesterday. It is also draws us into the triumph of the gospel which is seen so profoundly in the face of death.

It is incredibly moving to read about what Tim is going through. You may shed a tear or two. And why not pray for the Challies family.

Above all because of Christ death has lost its sting. How great that is.

Death

One of the implications of the Covid-19 outbreak is that it has brought death onto the national agenda.

One impression that can be gleaned from the sentiments expressed by the media and politicians is that death has just become an issue because of the arrival of the coronavirus. Of course this is a falsehood because death has been around since Adam and Eve messed up in the Garden of Eden. Death is a foul thing. However, death has not just become an issue because we have the coronavirus. Death is always an issue. The focus of policy on just stopping deaths through the coronavirus, although fully understandable, does seem to be misdirected because just stopping death through one cause can have the consequential impact of seeing others die through other causes.

So we have all the restrictions at the present time, which are harmfully affecting our society, in order to prevent the spread of Covid-19. However, are we really giving enough attention to the fact that many will die because they have become fearful about offering themselves for treatment or through not being able to get the requisite treatment of other illnesses such as heart disease and cancer.

It is simplistic and cheap politicking to say that you are doing everything to save lives through lockdown type policies and desire to be lauded as a result. But in doing so you are actually contributing to more deaths. The attempt to prevent death through policies which curtail the spread of the coronavirus may actually lead to more deaths from other causes. In mentioning that I would mention the toll on people’s mental health through the restrictions. Lack of socialization, loss of jobs, confinement indoors and the media’s proclivity for fear-mongering are not helpful to mental well-being. As a result there will be more deaths through suicide. And what about the escalation of obesity cases because of the lack of exercise.

Is it cynical to say that there is this big concentration on Covid-19 because it delivers statistics and lost of them? The other issues do not engender such alarming statistics. The media loves the statistics that shock. With such reporting stirring the emotions of the people the politicians feel they must follow the lead of the media.

I must emphasise that I believe the government has an incredibly hard job to balance up issues here. But I am just left wondering about the rectitude of the approach.

In all this we should never be underestimate the terror of death. To die is to pass into eternity. To die without Christ is is enter an eternal death; separated from God’s favour and immersed in His wrath. Accordingly, every death should concern us.

I muse in this post on the issues of death and make some tentative observations appertaining to the present crisis. However, I am not tentative at all about the need for people to know about our Saviour so as to find life in Him.

So let us go forth and proclaim to people the one who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel (2 Tim. 1:10b). He triumphs over death.

My Obituary

Some years ago an obituary of myself appeared in a magazine. This was not a spoof it was genuine. What had happened was that someone had made a quantum leap of thinking based upon a single piece of information, I had resigned my membership of a club and they had concluded that I had died. I do not want to go into the detail of what was written. Instead I want to think about the impact of having an obituary.

It certainly makes you think of your mortality. The way of God is that we are allotted a certain time period on this planet and then are called away. To have an obituary is to be reminded of this in a very clear way. Everyday people are being taken out of this life and their happenings are remembered and sometimes recorded in obituary form. Every obituary  is a reminder that I am appointed to die.

It reminds us to think about what will be read in our obituary. It may include good and bad, it may include success and failure. It may truly reflect may life; it may be a fabrication.  But in the end the obituaries of this world do not matter. The only obituary that matters is that of our God. Two statements that each of us need on our obituaries and should desire to be there are: “in Christ” and “a good and faithful servant”.

 

Jerry’s Funeral Statement

Below is a somewhat unique document. Jerry Haglund who passed away to be with the Lord on August 13th 2007 wrote this so that it could be read at his funeral.  I have set it down exactly as Jerry wrote it.

————————————————————————————————————–

Some funerals are less sad than others! You may think that this is a strange statement to make, so let me explain what I mean.

Christians believe the words of the Lord Jesus Christ (as God incarnate) when He said,”Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” John 3:3. Again “that whosoever believeth in him should not perish , but have everlasting life.”John 3:15 and “For God so loved the world , that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”   John 3:16

I believe that in June 1952, when I accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as my personal Saviour, I received the gift of eternal life. Further, I believe that at the moment that I died I went into the presence of God. Paul under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, when he was writing to the Christians in Philippi said, “For I am in a strait betwixt two, having a desire to depart and be with Christ, which is far better: nevertheless to abide in the flesh is more needful for you.”

Therefore my funeral is less sad for those present here today who are Christians, for they know that I am in the presence of the Lord . Many who conduct funeral services will, I believe, have a lot of explaining to do to God for deceiving people. To sum up their messages to their congregation is ‘rest assured that your loved one is now at peace and in the presence of the Lord.’ even though they may not have committed their lives to God, or prayed, or read the bible, or worshiped God , that somehow it will all be forgotten of God.

It is a fact of human nature that we are to accept the pleasant facts of life, but ignore the unpleasant ones. To sum up, there is a hell to be shunned and a heaven to be gained ; and heaven is not gained by good works, but by accepting the Lord Jesus Christ as one’s personal Saviour, believing that when he died on the cross it was able to pay the penalty for our sin. I do hope that all present here today, by faith, with assurance that they know their eternal destiny will be in heaven in the presence of God.

My Bereavement.

A previous post (2nd Oct) reminds me of my own bereavement. It is five years ago today since I lost my Mum. The pain is still real. I miss her so very much. And as I write this a few tears come to my eyes, I have to confess.

What I’m led to dwell upon here though is the mindless nonsense people often emit in such situations. I have written here about some of my alarm over this.

However, what I specifically remember was a dear friend of my Mum’s, at the pre-funeral assembling, saying some stuff about how I should think of my Mum being with us just watching on from above.

I mouthed some platitudes I think, but indignation arose inside me. It was nonsense she was telling me, possibly well-intentioned nonsense, but still nonsense and it was of no help to me. My Mum was not there; she had gone and the pain was immense. She was no longer around for me to call or spend time with. She was gone. Ah the pain still goes into me as I think of this.

I am left thinking that sometimes the best thing we can do for people in distress is simply to be there; simply just to spend time and show we care. And in this we can be there to listen to them or simply just to be there. For our instruction we can remember that Job’s friends were of the most use to him when they were silent for those seven days. Then they sat on the ground with him for seven days and seven nights. No one said a word to him, because they saw how great his suffering was (Job 2:13). It was when they started talking that they proved to be less than comforting comforters.

Bereavement

Yesterday’s post reminds me of the whole issue of how we respond to bereavement. When a person has lost a loved-one we, who know that person or the deceased, immediately feel their loss. We flock around them: we take an interest and make it evident that we care. And then the funeral comes. The funeral brings closure for so many of those who were close to the deceased (but not too close); for them they can move on with their lives.

The assumption is though, that the one who has lost a very close relative such as a son, daughter, or spouse will also be moving on. But as a general rule they are not. Maybe the funeral has brought some degree of closure. However, there is still such a sense of loss and loneliness as they come to terms with the fact that someone who was so much a part of their lives is no longer around.

The whole feeling is exacerbated by the fact that all of the comforters, in the immediate days after the bereavement, have moved on.

This all leads me to think about how we should be ever so thoughtful and sensitive to these situations. Continuance of interest is so important. In the church we should ever be prayerful and thoughtful for those who have lost ones even if it is a longtime after the event. We should sensitively talk to the person and listen to see how they are getting on.

One tip is to be thoughtful of anniversaries. Perhaps write in a diary pertinent dates so that you can show your loving interest in the bereaved at those times.

Preparing to Move On (Cont.d).

Last friday we looked at the realities of eternity and how we should be preparing to meet our God. Today we continue this theme buy looking at issues which should concern us, given the inevitably of our departure from this world.

We have to confess that death is an enemy. In fact the enemy of our souls, Satan, has death in his power (see Heb. 2:14). Consequently upon this is the thought that death casts a shadow over our lives. This is particularly true when we draw near to this enemy. Psalm 23:4a refers to the “walk through the darkest valley”. However, David goes on to say that he will “fear no evil: for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me” (Psalm 23:4b).

These comments by David are very important for us in getting a handle on how the Christian should prepare for death. David knows that the God of all comfort (2 Cor.1:3a) is being so really good to him now. And with this knowledge he has confidence to fear no evil in the future day when he walks into the valley of the shadow of death.

It is further very interesting to note that David draws his comfort from both the rod and the staff. The rod corrects us and the staff upholds us. We can easily see how God’s upholding hand is a comfort to us. However, it is less easy for us to see that the rod is a comfort. We start to get an insight into this though, when we look at Heb. 12:9-10 where the writer says “we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the Father of spirits and live! They disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, in order that we may share in his holiness.” The clear implication here is that the LORD’S correction, symbolised by the rod in Psalm 23:4b, means that He has a fatherly care for us. And an awareness of His fatherly care, at the present time, encourages us not to fear the day of death ahead because, in that day we know He will be with us taking care of us.

So what does this mean to us? It means that we should be continually learning more of our God’s comforting hand upon us as we pass through the twists and turns of life. And the knowledge of this will mean that we need not have any fear in that day because we know he will be there to comfort us.

What about the things we leave behind?

As Christians we are called to be good stewards of that which God has committed to our care. This applies very much to the making of arrangements concerning our affairs after we depart to be with the LORD. This implicitly challenges our lifestyle at the present time. If we hoard and/or live in chaos then someone after us will have to clear up the mess and what testimony will that bear to the LORD’S Name? In fact in all our ways we should live so that we are unashamed before him at his coming (1 John 2:28b).

One crucial aspect of the ordering of our affairs is that we should have a will. This means that our relatives/friends know what to do when we die. It hopefully will prevent any unnecessary disputes arising. Very regrettably disputes often abound concerning issues of inheritance (the LORD Himself faced this in Luke 12:13) and we should be wise to seek to prevent this. Furthermore, leaving a will can mean that the work of the LORD is benefited by all or a portion of your estate being left to an appropriate designated organisation.

One further specific area to consider is that of the funeral. Relatives are often in disarray after a loved one has passed on and funeral arrangements can become a very toilsome issue. Accordingly making clear your desires; even choosing hymns and Bible readings is very wise. It is best to speak to relatives and the elders of the church about this so that everything is clear to the relevant parties. How sad it is when a believer leaves no clear requests then, after death, the unbelieving relatives take over leading to the funeral being undertaken with neither any testimony to the LORD nor to His resurrection power.

Let us then be careful to prepare for the day of our departure. And in all things remember that as believers when we part from this scene we have a home in heaven awaiting us: Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. (John 14: 1-3). HALLELUJAH; PRAISE THE LORD.

(Taken and adapted from Feltham Evangelical Newsletter March 2004)

Preparing to Move On.

One of the greatest realities which bears upon each of our situations is the fact that we are not going to be in this world forever. Evidence of this fact surrounds us whether it be in our families, in the news or in the graveyard. And yet, notwithstanding the continual reminders of our own mortality,so many people pay no attention to making preparations for the day when they pass out off this scene. So let us seek to rectify this by looking at some ways in which we should prepare for the day of our departure.

Where will I go after I die?

Here is the point where all the issues of religion focus. We can discuss so many things and yet when all is said and done we return to this very basic issue of what is going to happen to each individual upon passing beyond the grave. In this context point-scoring about various religious matters is an utter irrelevance. Rather, we need to know the truth pure and simple; we want no deceptions at all.

Let us look at the truth of God in the Bible and see what He says. Very straight-forwardly, God says that Just as people are destined to die once, and after that to face judgement (Heb 9:27). We learn therefore straight away that there is a something after death for a man to face; death is not the end; there is judgment to face!

But what after this judgment? The Bible makes it clear that the judgment is followed by either a life in heaven for some or and eternity in hell for some. Those who die in their sins without ever repenting of their sinful condition will be in a similar state to the rich man in Luke 16 of whom it is recorded in vv 23-24 that In Hades, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side. So he called to him, “Father Abraham, have pity on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in agony in this fire.’

However, what a contrast there is for those who repent of their sins and trust the Saviour, the LORD Jesus. Those who have turned to God in repentance and have faith in our Lord Jesus Christ (Acts 20:21a) will enjoy the fulfilment of the Psalmist’s desires in Psalm 16 that you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand. (v11b). And above all they will be, as the hymn says, “Praising their Saviour all the day long” and proclaiming with the heavenly host “praise and honour and glory and power, for ever and ever!”.

How marvellous it is to be a Christian and to know of these wonderful things which are ahead! In fact for the believer death has lost its power and so with the apostle Paul we can cry: “Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting? The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. (1 Cor.15:55-57). We have the victory in Him and so for the Christian there is nothing to fear from death or Hades. The contest is over the Victor who is our Saviour has triumphed through His death, burial and resurrection and through that we are blessed.

Judgment for the Christian.

However there is a judgment for the Christian to face. 2 Cor.5:10 refers to this when Paul says “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each of us may receive what is due to us for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.

Believers have had their sins all forgiven in the cross of the LORD Jesus and they will never have to face judgment for these. However, they will have to face judgment for how they have lived as Christians.

Four passages deal with this judgment:-

• Rom.14:10-12 teaches us that each will stand before the LORD as an individual.
• 1 Cor.3:10-15 indicates that we will be judged for what we have built into the local church.
• 1 Cor.4:1-5 shows that we will be judged by the LORD for how faithful we have been to the stewardship He has committed to us.
• 2 Cor.5:9-11 Indicates we will be judged for how much pleasure we have brought to the LORD.

So let us as Christians prepare for that day now so that we will hear our Master say “Well done, good and faithful servant; you have been faithful with a few things, I will put you in charge over many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!”

Moreover, we should remember that our LORD may return at any time to take His people home to heaven and death will be swallowed up in His victory (see 1 Cor.15:54). What marvellous prospects there are in store for the believer in Christ!

(Taken from Feltham Evangelical Church Newsletter February 2004)