This is the third book

THE VALLEY OF THE SHADOW OF DEATH

Springing from my previous writings I have been asked to do an article on death, now you know that I am always obedient, therefore I can do no other than respond

We all worry about death, more so getting older.Not so much regarding what will happen to us, as Christians we have no fear, it is an absolute certainty we will be with our Lord, that is our hope' with the Biblical understanding of that word as being something sure & certain' , the worry is the process we go through to get there

Our Lord Jesus Christ, yes give Him His full title, He could only tell the truth, if this was not so then He was not the Son of God.In the gospel which was written by the Apostle John, we have 25 words that are known as The Gospel in a Nutshell'.These words were spoken by our Lùord Jesus, by them we understand there are only two ways we can go in life, all of us going through death to that which is eternal, to what ever destiny we choose.In the one way we will perish, to perish eternally without God, be in a Christ-less existence which is hell, or we can have that life which is everlasting, to be with our Lord for ever and ever, this is heaven.There is so much in the Royal Oracles in support of this, in Proverbs we read, There is a way that seemeth right to a man, but the end thereof is the way of death', we also have the teaching of our Lord Jesus in those special words, I am the resurrection and the life, he that believeth on Me, though he die, yet shall he live', so if we do not believe there is the only alternative, eternal death with this being hell.As we consider these two matters from the Word of God there is a conclusion we correctly draw, the first being death, the way of man, the second the way of our blessed Lord being life with that life is eternal.In thæe divine economy the death coin' has two sides, with a different impression on each

One could now ask, Why are there these two different ways in the lives of all mankind?'To understand this we do not have to go back to ancient times, we only have to glance at the news coming on the media, see the problems in the lives of folk within the villages, towns and cities where we live, nay we come much closer to home and recognise disobedience in the lives of every one of us.Since the fall of mankind there has always been the controversy between good and evil, expressing itself in so many ways throughout time, but coming to a special climax in the death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus.It will come to another major climax in the return of this same Jesus at the consummation of the ages, at the end of the Dispensation of the Grace of our Lord Jesus'.Having established that principle, we know that our God, the Lord God Almighty is holy, righteous and just, with the penalty againüst sin being death.Our Lord is a loving, JUST God, the wages, the penalty of sin through death must be paid so Jesus, the Only Begotten Son of The Father came into time to pay the price of our salvation, yes death, death upon The Cross.Jesus the Son of God and the Son of Man gave His life for my, for our sins at Calvary, in doing this Jesus flung wide the gate of real life here in time, moving forward to that which is eternal.Jesus said, I am the resurrection and the life, he that believeth in Me, though he die, yet shall he live'.As we become Christians in the correct understanding of the word, in belonging to Christ our life does not end at three score years and ten', but then we, as the lovely hymn by Edith Gilling Cherry clearly states we, Pass through the gates of pearly splendour, victors, we rest in Thee, through endless years the same' -what a joy that will be!

Regarding the details of what heaven will be like, this is beyond the understand of we humans, we can romance about it, yes øthis is in order.In establishing that fact let us fall back on the teachings of Scripture, we are told that, To be with Christ will be FAR BETTER', far better than anything we have experienced here in time.We are also told that in being Absent in the body we will be PRESENT with our Lord'.Then in the older record we have the words of David, Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for THOU ART WITH ME', but we still ask, what will it be like?

In the divine writings of the Bible we have the words in Corinthians, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither has entered into the heart of man, the things which God has prepared for those who love Him'.Ê I am now going to call to mind more of the life of our Lord Jesus.Jesus lived as a man in Israel, He did many miracles, in them doing a perfect, complete work, as the sight of folk was restored a complete job was done, they did not have just one eye to see out of, the lame were able to walk, not just limping aÿlong on one good leg and the lepers were fully healed or they would not have been accepted back into society again, so we ask again, what will heaven be like?

In John's Gospel c14 we have those well known words of our Lord, Let not your heart be troubled, ye believe in God, believe also in Me.In My Father's house are many MANSIONS, if it was not so I would have told you.I go to prepare a place for you'.Our Lord Jesus, the resurrected Christ is preparing not a house' but a MANSION for us in glory as we believe, what could be better than that?To me these are words which we humans can understand with ease.Jesus was and is the perfect one, without any sin at all, His teaching was of the highest standard, the miracles wrought were flawless and death could not hold Him. Thismust mean the MANSION being prepared for us Christ-ones will be wonderful, it will be heaven, just romance about this for a few moments as I do, this to me is perfectly in order, doing it in a sanctified way

We could now ask, øWhat about our loved ones in The Master who have gone before?'Sometimes we say of those who are no longer with us, that they are lost', this cannot be correct.When we loose something we know not where it is, if we did then it would not be lost.With our loved ones in our Lord we know where they are, they are with our Lord, they are not lost

It is also said that asloved ones are with our Lord we start a new chapter of our life.This is OK but we go on living, living in the legacy, the spiritual legacy of our loved ones, I so understand this in my life.For me loved ones become dearer to us, if not then I dare to suggest that there is something wrong, now how can they be dearer to us than what they were while with us and how shall we recognise them?

As Christians we love our Father God, the Lord God Almighty, through our dear Lord Jesus, by His Spirit who is Divine.We know a little of what Jesus was like, themiracles He did, His wonderful teaching as it should be expressed in my,Êin our ²lives.In that eternal day, when are with our dear Lord we will see Him with our eternal eyes, beholding Him in the fullness of His glory, God The Father, God The Son and God The Holy Spirit.We will then worship our Lord in a way we never understood while here in time.This will go beyond anything we can now grasp, our loved ones in our Lord are already there, so we can look forward in having a deeper understanding of our great Almighty God, also a fuller understanding with our loved ones who are already with Him

As I understand the Word of God we will, as we pass away, be first of all with our Lord and also with our loved ones in Him, when around the Throne of our God, there will be a, 'Great multitude, which no man can number, of all nations, kindred, peoples, tongues, standing before The Throne and The Lamb, clothed with white robes and palms in their hands, singing Salvation belongeth to our God and to The Lamb', this company of folk will be those whose names are written in The Lamb's Book of Life', written with those nailed pierced hands of our dear Lord Jesus, the record of those names can NEVER being erased.Now that will be wonderful but the question asked has not as yet been answered, How we will recognise our loved ones in glory???

For me just one portion of Scripture is enough, that is the Transfiguration.In that experience there was our blessed Lord Jesus, with Him were those three disciples who were so close to The Master, Peter, James and John.In the experience they saw our transfigured Lord with Moses of the law, Elijah of the prophets.The three disciples previous to this experience, would not have any knowledge what these two Old Testament characters looked like, but they knew who they were.For for me is so clear, but now I hear you saying, What about the record in Matthew that They saw no man save Jesus only', please read on

When with our dear Lord, all worldly things of this life will have passed a-way, we will be changed, the former things passed away, with us being fully New creatures in Christ Jesus'.No more pain, suffering, grief or worries and no more sexuality in any way, we will all be changed.Before you go mad at me and push all this on one side, please remember those words in Corinthians already quoted, I will now paraphrase them,We will not loose anything of this life, which will not be replaced by something much richer and deeper than what we now enjoy', what more could one desire?

But what about those loved onËes of ours, how will we know who they are, Come on Trevor give us an answer?'I am now going to be bold and make a suggestion and this satisfies me. We will recognise our loved ones by their Christian characteristics, the things we knew of Christ in them when they were with us in time, so in them we will see Jesus only', in their special expression of Him-what could be clearer?

I close this writing with the words of the last verse of the well known hymn by S J Stone

Yet she on earth hath union, with God the three in on.Mystic sweet communion, with those whose rest is won.O happy ones and holy!Lord give us grace that we, like them, the meek and lowly, on high may dwell with Thee

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This is the third book