A Grand Passing

Late in the evening of Saturday 16th, I received news that my sister-in-law, my younger brother’s wife, had passed on and gone to be with the Lord. Death has a power that defies normalcy, and I am still reeling at the news. Joyce was more than a sister-in-law to me; she was just as one of my sisters. Her face was pasted with a permanent smile, and I cannot imagine not seeing that again; nor her deep, infectious laughter. It is these two that I shall miss especially.

But the Bible is filled with spiritual comfort at every turn, and in 1 Thes. 4:13-14, the Apostle Paul gives us reason to rejoice even in death, for he writes, by the Word of the Lord:

“13 But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. 14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him.”

I am therefore filled with much comfort, even as the whys and the hows assail me. The most important thing is that she died in the Lord and that, if I also live with the Lord, I shall one day see her in the only place that matters – HEAVEN.

The passing away of a saint is, indeed, a grand passing.

[Joyce Paul]

Seeing Into God’s Kingdom – Part 1

15 Wherefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus, and love unto all the saints,

16 Cease not to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers;

17 That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him:

18 The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints,

19  And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power… Eph. 1:15-19

I have a brother, a fellow pastor, who goes from one conference to another, from seminar to seminar, and I have come  to discover that all he is really after is money. Most of the conferences that he attends are hosted by organisers who promise numerous perks to the attendees: return tickets, free food, free accommodation and even, sometimes, pocket money. The truly big fish that a preacher can land in these meetings, of course, is to ‘connect’ with a wealthy ministry that can support him financially.

In my heart, I have refrained from judging this brother because I was once in exactly the same boat that he is in right now. There was a time when I thought that “gain is godliness” (1 Tim 6:5)!

But the revelation of the gospel of the cross of Jesus Christ has helped me to know that God’s Kingdom has absolutely nothing to do with anything of this world, much less its material and financial propositions. Therefore now, even though I may not have everything that I need in this world, yet my eyes are not set on these things.  I run a different race now, a difficult one in the flesh, but refreshing in the Spirit.

Notice, in the above scripture, that Paul prays for the Ephesians that, as believers in Christ, their spiritual eyes may be opened to the end that they may see or “know” something different from what the world is chasing after. The things that he wants them to see are spiritual:

• The hope of God’s calling upon their lives;
• The riches of the glory of God’s inheritance in the saints; and
• The exceeding greatness of God’s power in us who believe.

The Letter to the Ephesians is an incredibly powerfully spiritual letter. Right from the beginning, it compellingly portrays our spiritual inheritance in the Spirit. But for us to know these things, our spiritual eyes must be enlightened.

Most people assume that, because they are saved, that they can see everything, that they know everything. But that is a wrong assumption. Notice how Paul addresses the Ephesians in verse 13:

“In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise…”

In other words, these were people who had believed in Christ Jesus. They were saints. Moreover, they were filled with the Holy Spirit (“… sealed with that holy Spirit of promise” – refer Acts 2:39). The Ephesians were Spirit-filled, tongues-speaking believers!

And yet the Apostle Paul prays for their eyes to be enlightened. How can that be?

It is scenarios like that of my pastor friend that show that the church’s eyes are not enlightened yet, even though we are saved. When a baby is born, it is born with its eyes closed. The mother looks for nothing else but the eyes. She eagerly anticipates the moment when her baby’s eyes will flip open and, as she looks deep into her baby’s eyes she says, with deep emotion, “Welcome to the world, baby!”

It is even so with God. God’s earnestness is for us to see into His spiritual Kingdom. Not until our spiritual eyes have been enlightened to see into His spiritual Kingdom can God feel truly satisfied and say, “Welcome to My Kingdom, my beloved son/daughter!”

[Below: “The earth is the LORD’S, and the fulness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein.” Ps. 24:1. Many nationalities, including Chinese, are welcome in Tanzania]