Goodnight but not Goodbye

Goodnight but not Goodbye

I have just come back from my Father in Law's funeral. This took place in Ballymena, Northern Ireland. I flew home lat night.

He was an amazing man. The Lord took him home to heaven on Saturday morning at 1:55 am. He is now in heaven, in the presence of the Lord Jesus, in the presence of God, the Father. Psalm 16:11 states 'in thy presence is fullness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore'. David McMullan is now enjoying the presence of the God, and of the Lord Jesus Christ, in a way that he had never experienced before.

For those of us left behind, who are Christians there is a slight feeling of jealousy. To be with the Lord Jesus will be the most wonderful thing we could ever imagine. In fact we cannot even begin to imagine it. The only way to be sure that we end up in heaven is to agree to heaven's terms. Jesus said 'I am the way, the truth and the life no man comes unto the Father but by me'.

Death is awful. It separates from loved ones in this life and can separate us for eternity from the love of God. However if we repent of our sin and believe the gospel nothing will be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus.

As I close let me remind you of what the Bible teaches about dying. This is a great comfort to all believers who have lost a loved one:

Psalms 116:15 - Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints.

This is true because God delights to receive into heaven those who trust Him.

2 Corinthians 5:6-9 - So we are always confident; even though we know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord— for we walk by faith, not by sight. Yes, we do have confidence, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord. So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please him.

When we die we are 'away from the body'. We abandon our bodies at death as they were only needed for this life. In the next life we will either be in hell or with the Lord in heaven.

My last verse is this:

Psalm 17:15 - As for me, I shall behold your face in righteousness; when I awake I shall be satisfied, beholding your likeness.

My father in law is finally fully satisfied having looked into the face of The Lord Jesus Christ. Where would you be if you had passed through the 'valley of the shadow of death'? Would you have reached heaven's shore safely or will you one day hear the words of Jesus Christ saying, 'depart from me I never knew you'.

For us the parting was hard but the reality is we have only said goodnight and not good bye. We will see him 'in the morning' when Jesus Christ comes back again. The parting, although painful, is only for a little while. For the scriptures teach in Hebrews 10:37 For yet “in a very little while, the one who is coming will come and will not delay".

The Lord bless you.

Stephen