"Comforted "
Matthew 5:4
Jesus Christ is risen. He is risen, indeed! Those seven, simple words are God's gracious truth which moves Believers from Hell to Heaven. They provide hope to those who are dying and comfort to those who mourn. Because Jesus Christ lives, we shall live also. God grant such a confession of faith to us all. Amen.
It has been many years since the event I am about to relate took place. Although other events and experiences have faded from my memory, this one remains . I think it will always remain as clear to me as the day it happened. I was a rookie preacher I called upon some parents. The father was a member of my parish and, as far as I knew, the mother had no faith in anything or anyone. That made my job doubly difficult. Not only was I inexperienced, I had been called to visit with them about the imminent death of their son........
We were in the hospital room and the doctor had just told them the boy's end was near. Choosing those words carefully, I said, "It's a blessing to know, even though the doctors say the medical outlook is bad, there is hope for your son. After your son leaves us, he will be healthy and whole. The sickness and sufferings of his last two years will be at an end. He'll be well, and he'll be happy, and he'll be living forever with our Saviour in Heaven."
When I finished talking about the Saviour's comfort and the glories of Heaven, I looked up and saw the red-eyed father nodding his head in sorrowful agreement. But the mother, the parent who had no faith, with an agonizing slowness, said, "If I could only believe that." She repeated those words again, "If I could only believe that." Then, more to herself than to anyone else, she added, "But I don't believe that...... When my son dies, I will cover him with dirt and spend the rest of my life trying to forget I ever had him......." Please understand, she was not a hard-hearted person. She was a loving lady, a good mother, but she was a mother who had no faith; and because she had no faith, she had no hope.
Which is why, on this Sunday All Saints' Day, as the church stops to remember the cloud of witnesses, the multitudes of our brothers and sisters who have died with faith in the forgiveness and salvation which has been given to us all by the crucified and living Lord, this message speaks to those whose lives have been touched by the death of someone whom they love, someone who was close to them. And if you are among those select few who have never had to make funeral arrangements, who have never had to go to a cemetery to say a final, earthly farewell, let me say: if death has never come to the special people in your life, please enjoy them while you can. Do not let the days, the moments, the opportunities with them go unappreciated or unused. If you have a broken fence, mend it; if you have said harsh words, call them back, cover them up, offer an apology; if you have let these precious people simply slip out of sight, remember them, reclaim them. To be surrounded by all your loved ones is a precious gift from God; a gift which should not be squandered or taken for granted. As the rest of the world will tell you, this gift will not last forever. The truth is, if you live long enough, death will come calling on them; one after another death will come calling and you will be made into a mourner.
Rich or poor, famous or forgotten, long or short-lived, respected, revered, or reviled, your life's situation makes no difference. Death is not a respecter of persons and it will come for everyone you love. Death will come and it will bring, in varying proportions, a mixture of sadness and sorrow, loneliness and relief, emptiness, anger, joy, and loss. It will not arrive at a time of your private choosing or personal convenience. It will not select its victims according to logic, or love, or fairness. All that can be said with certainty is this: death is coming.
Now if it sounds as if I am unnecessarily belaboring an obvious point, I'm sorry. The coming of death should be apparent, but it's not. Far too many of us live our days as if we have some unique, one-of-a-kind immunity from the repercussions of death. We are like William Saroyan, a well-known writer of plays and short stories. From his deathbed he contacted the Associated Press and said, (we all know) "Everybody has got to die, but I have always believed an exception would be made in my case." In spite of an overwhelming amount of evidence to the contrary, many people seem to think death will come for billions of strangers, but it will leave untouched those whom they love and will never claim those for whom they care. If that is what you believe, let me lay it on the line: every human being has sinned and the penalty for sin is death. Because of sin you will not be untouched by death's cold hand.
Because we have rebelled against God and His perfection, rejected the life He wished to give, the day most certainly will come when you must say an earthly farewell to a friend or family member. On that day as you walk away from the gravesite, you will leave behind a part of yourself and your life will never again be the same. You will find friends feel uncomfortable talking
Does believing in Jesus really give you eternal life? Are we not eternal anyway? We were brought into this world to sin, if we leave it in sin, would Jesus really want us by his side? A sinner who repents, goes on to sin again.
As I understand it, Jesus taught us about unconditional love for a reason. He did not intend for us to convince ourselves that he exists, and that we are without sin purely because he forgives us, so that we can believe we have an easy ride to eternal life.
Yeah, I think you're right. Christians lose a lot of credibility when they promote such foolishness.
Eternity has no beginning and no end, so for someone to be consigned to eternal damnation, they would have always been in that state. Which would kind of make god pretty crazy to do something like that I reckon. Yet how many times has someone stood on the pulpit and said exactly that phrase?
Fear through ignorance IMO
Christianity was corrupted long ago. For intelligent people it is a joke and has only become a fertile breeding ground for atheism. This is very unfortunate. Shows just how powerful and merciful God is that sincere people can somehow still develop love of God anyway.
it's just ego, if it can't persuade through offering paradise, it will persude through threatening a diabolical fate, even if it's impossible to deliver.
In any case, I'm thoroughly persuaded. I have no doubt that God is there. It helps a lot to find scientifically verifiable and convincing material as presented in the Vedas.
I would not say it is atheism, though that is what they call themselves. It's anti-spiritualists, oddly enough, like I used to be. A life of avoiding the scriptures was a very good thing for me. Allowed me to see god without the corruption of pre-conceived ideas.
I think your path was similar - you had to find a god you knew nothing about, in order to see the truth.
The Western approach to God consciousness has been perverted in many different ways. The main problem is that people are following what the Vedas refer to as the path of karma mimamsa. They think God put them here to enjoy and then they get all caught up in the tragic drama of competing with one another for their chance to enjoy. It is both ironic and pathetic.
Surely, all beings disconnected with god will subvert and pervert their interpretation of reality, not just the west. Though it's a topic I'm in the early stages of understanding.
One things for sure in my mind though, not a single race/belief/geography is without that disconnection with god. It may be self imposed, but we do it from early childhood and it is so difficult to remember what we have lost.
All of us do things just to fill the hole. Distraction through religion is just as easy as through material goods and often much harder to escape from. Anyone can lose their house, it's much more difficult to lose a false god.
Krishna takes everything away from us. That's good. If I've got nothing, then I've got nothing to lose. That's called Vaikuntha. It means "no anxiety". Hare Krishna!
I have forgotten the quote and who by, but the gist of it is "The richest man is not the one who has most, but the one who needs least". Never a truer word spoken.
PRAISE GOD JESUS CHRIST CREATOR OF HEAVEN AND EARTH AND ALL THAT IS SEEN AND UNSEEN FOR CREATING KRISHNA, BUDDAH, ISIS , AND ALL THE OTHER SAINTS AND PROPHETS.....WHAT A BLESSING... I KNIW HE SPOKE EVERYTHING INTO BEING..I SUPPOSE HE WILL SPEAK BROKE DICK GEORGE AGAIN, BUT MAYBE THEN HE WON'T BE BROKE DICK GEORGE...LAUGHTER IS GOOD FOR THE SOUL.....
And you are a scream. As your original post points out, death is coming. We need to learn how to live every moment as if it is our last. In this way we can increase the likelihood that we will have a good death. You can judge a man's entire life by how he dies.
I think that age has a lot to do with everything..................what am I trying to say? I will just leave it there then!
i am aren't i....but life is boreing if you don't drop in on Sarvos place every once in awhile and jump start the vedas.....
ALOHA IF I COULD I WOULD BRING YOU A GLASS OF WATER ACROOSS THE CHASM...HOT OVER THERE HUH????
You are not very kind or gentle. In this way you miss your opportunity to please either Jesus or God. If you apologize for your abusive and insulting behavior, then we can consider the possibility of a new start here.
Christianity was corrupted long ago. For intelligent LIKE CHRISTIANS ARE NOT INTELLIGENT RIGHT SARVO???people it is a joke and has only become a fertile breeding ground for atheism. This is very unfortunate. Shows just how powerful and merciful God is that sincere people can somehow still develop love of God anyway. WITHOUT THE ACCEPTANCE OF JESUS CHRIST AS YOUR PERSONAL SAVIOUR SARVO YOU WILL NEVER ENTER THE KINGDOM HEAVEN THERE IS NO OTHER WAY NO OTHER NAME GIVEN UNDER HEAVEN BY WHICH YOU ARE SAVED AND HAVE ETERNAL LIFE..I WON'T ARGUE WITH YOU THOSE ARE THE FACTS ABUSE THEM IF YOU WILL YOU HURT YOUR OWN SOUL AND THE OTHERS YOU MISLEAD DAILY .
DON'T GET ME WRONG I AM NO SAINT..JUST A FOOL WHO KNOWS..... SO DELETE AWAY SARVO YOU HAVE POWER ONLY IN THIS LITTLE WORLD YOU HAVE CREATED FOR YOURSELF
NOW I'M OUT OF HERE...
ACCEPT THIS DAY THE LORD JESUS CHRIST AS YOUR LORD AND SAVIOUR, AND LIVE..........
I accepted Jesus as my Lord and Saviour many years ago. Jesus said, "Thou shall not kill." Unfortunately the Christians are killing like anything. In this way they are crucifying our Lord Jesus Christ over and over again. When they begin actually following the instructions of Lord Jesus, then there can be a real chance for happiness. Otherwise there will only be more trouble.
"Thou shall not kill."
Yep.................the main rule in many faiths, Judaism, Islam, Christianity....................................
It is wrong that so many people purport to be followers of these religions when they can't obey their most fundamental rules.
