Death, the last enemy to be conquered according to Scripture. In the Book of Revelation it speaks about a second death, the death of our souls. Now we know that we all will face a physical death, where the body dies, but most of us do not know about the second death. Now the word death in Greek, means to be separated from. We know when someone dies here on earth that we are separated from them and that is why we are so grieved and mourn their departure. We love them and this is natural because we want to be with them. Death is part of our human experience but it is not something that we enjoy at all. It is never pleasant when we hear that someone has passed on, especially a loved one.

I want to address this second death, because this second death that is spoken about in Scripture is when the LORD judges us and we are eternally separated from Him for all of eternity. Now we know that the LORD is gracious and that He loves us all. That is the reason that He sent His Son Jesus Christ to die on the cross in our place, so that He could receive us into His presence for all of eternity. But this only happens, if you receive Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. Now I know that a lot of you are having questions at this point about those that you have lost in the past whether they are with the LORD or not. We will not know until we are there ourselves, do not drive yourself crazy thinking about it. The only thing that you can do is get yourself right with God in order to know that you will be there and pray and hope that they made the right decision also.

I have spoken to many people who claim to know that their loved ones did not go into the presence of God, but I have to say to them, that they really do not know this for a fact. Even the thief on the cross accepted Jesus as Lord before he died in his last dying moments. We never know whether someone has accepted Him or not, only God truly knows every man’s decision on this matter.

I know as a child of God that when I die that I am going into the very presence of God because Scripture tells me so. I confess that Jesus Christ is my Lord and Savior and this confession lets me know that I am going to spend eternity with my Lord. Now there was a time that death really confused me and I did not have this assurance, as a matter of fact, I was actually mad at God, if there was a God according to my belief at the time. For the only time I ever heard about God, was when someone had died and my mom would tell me that they were now with God. But I grew up in a house that my dad said that we did not talk about religion or politics, so in general we did not. Not that my dad was ignorant on either subject I believe, but he definitely did not discuss religion, he actually mocked it. So when I was teenager and over a few years some men that I was close to were taken by death, I got mad at God. I did not know if there was a God and if there was, I was going to rebel. As you probably already know, this was not a good choice. God will let you rebel, and you will reap what you sow. But God is also understanding and He did not let me receive everything that I sowed, thank God! Instead when I was 31 years old, He revealed Himself to me and got me straight with Him, before He took my parent’s home to be with Him. But shortly after I came to know Him, I got mad at Him again because of my circumstances and this time, God made sure to drive the point home, that I was His child and I was going to learn the lesson, to trust Him and to not get mad at Him for teaching me life lessons, that need to be taught.

In Scripture we see that Jesus Himself died on the cross for our sins and that He did this in order to get us right with the Father in Heaven. So that we could spend eternity with Him, instead of being eternally separated from God for all of eternity. Let’s face it, God is not going to force you to spend eternity in heaven if you choose not to be there. He is a loving God who sent His son to die on the cross, where we all deserve to die because of our sins, but instead He sent Jesus to die in our place. Now we see in Scripture in the Garden of Gethsemane that Jesus cried out to the Father to take this cup from him, that is, the death on the cross. We see how human Jesus was at this point, He knew the suffering that was coming to Himself that He was going to endure all by Himself. He knew that at the point where He was going to be hanging on the cross and taking the sins of the world upon Himself, that He was going to be separated from His Father for that time. This was absolutely appalling to Him. He had never been separated from the Father since the beginning of time, now He knew that He was going to be separated for awhile, I do not know if He knew for how long, but He did know that He was going to be separated from His Father’s presence for this time.

When Jesus was doing His ministry we see that He was upset with death. In the story of Lazarus we see that when Jesus showed up to Mary and Martha’s that they were upset with Jesus and that they thought that Jesus could have stopped it, but chose not to. At this point Jesus wept, not because He could not do anything about the situation, but because He saw the pain that death brings to people. The questions, the hurt, the what if’s, all of the strife among the living. Jesus knows the destruction that death brings upon families and how it either brings people closer together or further apart. My experience has been that it usually tears people apart unless they are really grounded in the Lord. Now we know that Jesus resurrected Lazarus and that God brought glory to Himself that day, but Jesus could see that Lazarus was going to physically die again also in the future.

According to Scripture it says that Jesus conquered death and that it is the last enemy to be destroyed. What this means, is that when Jesus comes back to earth and reveals Himself to everybody and after the millennial that Jesus is going to judge everything accordingly including death. It will be the last enemy destroyed just like Scripture says.

Now I hope and pray that God uses this mourning process that we all go through to bless your life and that you will let Him speak to you in such a way that you will understand that death is not right and that you will get right with Him in order to know that you will be with Him and I hope and pray that you will be reunited with your loved ones in the future. I hope that God gives you His grace during this time of pain and that He will replace your pain with joy in knowing that you will be reunited with your loved ones. May God Bless You and Keep You throughout all eternity and may you be a blessing to others while we are here, in Jesus’ name, Amen.

I would suggest that if you are really having a hard time with this letting go process and that you feel that you need more assistance, that you contact a good Bible based church, that has a bereavement ministry, these ministries are usually lead by people who have had tragedy in their lives and have overcome this difficult topic in their lives by sharing it with others. They will help you learn ways of dealing with it, so that you can move on and restore some kind of joy back into your life. You do not necessarily have to talk, just listen and learn, take what is given and start the healing process. There are a lot of ministries that are attached to this website that have these ministries, so please look into the resource page and click on the different ministries to find one close to you.

Bereave: v. to take away something or someone dear to one; leave sad and lonely

[I was bereaved by my friend’s death.] Bereavement n.

Psalm 23

The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me to lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still waters. He restores my soul; He leads me in the paths of righteousness For His name’s sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; For You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You anoint my head with oil; My cup runs over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me All the days of my life; And I will dwell in the house of the LORD Forever. (NKJV)

Ecclesiastes 7:1-4

A good reputation is more valuable than the most expensive perfume. In the same way, the day you die is better than the day you are born.

It is better to spend your time at funerals, than at festivals. For you are going to die, and you should think about it while there is still time.

Sorrow is better than laughter, for sadness has a refining influence on us.

A wise person thinks much about death, while the fool thinks only about having a good time now.

Ecclesiastes 7:15-18

In this meaningless life, I have seen everything, including the fact that some good people die young and some wicked people live on and on. So don’t be too good or too wise! Why destroy yourself? On the other hand, don’t be too wicked either – don’t be a fool! Why should you die before your time? So try to walk a middle course – but those who fear God will succeed either way.

Ecclesiastes 9:1-12

This, too, I carefully explored: Even though the actions of godly and wise people are in God’s hands, no one knows whether or not God will show them favor in this life. The same destiny ultimately awaits everyone, whether they are righteous or wicked, good, or bad, ceremonially clean or unclean, religious or irreligious. Good people receive the same treatment as sinners, and people who take oaths are treated like people who don’t.

It seems so tragic that one fate comes to all. That is why people are not more careful to be good. Instead, they choose their own mad course, for they have no hope. There is nothing ahead but death anyway. There is hope only for the living. For as they say, “It is better to be a live dog than a dead lion!”

The living at least know they will die, but the dead know nothing. They have no further reward, nor are they remembered. Whatever they did in their lifetime – loving, hating, envying – is all long gone. They no longer have a part in anything here on earth. So go ahead. Eat your food and drink your wine with a happy heart, for God approves of this! Wear fine clothes, with a dash of cologne!

Live happily with the woman you love through all the meaningless days of life that God has given you in this world. The wife God gives you is your reward for all your earthly toil. Whatever you do, do well. For when you go to the grave, there will be no work or planning or knowledge or wisdom.

I have observed something else in this world of ours. The fastest runner doesn’t always win the race, and the strongest warrior doesn’t always win the battle. The wise are often poor, and the skillful are not necessarily wealthy. And those who are educated don’t always lead successful lives. It is all decided by chance, by being at the right place at the right time.

People can never predict when hard times might come. Like fish in a net or birds in a snare, people are often caught by sudden tragedy.

2 Corinthians 5:1-10

For we know that when this earthly tent we live in is taken down – when we die and leave these bodies – we will have a home in heaven, an eternal body made for us by God himself and not by human hands. We grow weary in our present bodies, and we long for the day when we will put on our heavenly bodies like new clothing. For we will not be spirits without bodies, but we will put on new heavenly bodies. Our dying bodies make us groan and sigh, but it’s not that we want to die and have no bodies at all. We want to slip into our new bodies so that these dying bodies will be swallowed up by everlasting life. God himself has prepared us for this, and as a guarantee he has given us his Holy Spirit.

So we are always confident, even though we know that as long as we live in these bodies we are not at home with the Lord. That is why we live by believing and not by seeing. Yes, we are fully confident, and we would rather be away from these bodies, for then we will be at home with the Lord. So our aim is to please him always, whether we are here in this body or away from this body. For we must all stand before Christ to be judged. We will each receive whatever we deserve for the good or evil we have done in our bodies.

Matthew 5:4

God blesses them that mourn, for they will be comforted.