OPEN HEAVENS
“Knowing that shortly I must put off this my tabernacle, even as our Lord Jesus Christ hath shewed me.” 2 Peter 1:14
“For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand.” 2 Timothy 4:6
It is so amazing to read the words of Peter and Paul in the above verses of scripture. They spoke of their impending deaths as though they were making preparations for a trip to a better country. Contrary to the common human response to issues relating to death, there is no trace of fear or anxiety in their words. We have important lessons to learn about death from these great apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ. In Hebrews 9:27, the Holy Spirit spoke through Paul saying:
“And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgement.”
He also spoke through Peter in 1 Peter 4:7 saying:
“But the end of all things is at hand, be ye therefore sober, and watch unto prayer.”
These two great apostles had no fear of death because they knew that death was just a vehicle to transport them to the glorious place Christ had prepared for them. They could look death in the eye without flinching because they had lived their lives in holiness, doing the will of God from a heart of love. They lived a victorious life over the devil, and were not held bound by the world with all its trappings. They knew with certainty that death would only be a passage to life in eternity, and that once they closed their eyes in death they would be carried into the presence of Jesus by His holy angels. Death and the grave had no power over them, and they could truly say:
“O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?”
1 Corinthians 15:55
God deliberately gave us these two apostles as examples so that we would learn from their attitude. We who are alive today are to follow in the footsteps of Jesus, appropriating the victory He has won for us over death by shedding whatever fear of death we may still have. Christ has indeed delivered us from the fear of death (Hebrews 2:15). His expectation is that we will begin to make preparations for our flight to eternity, either by death or by the rapture. Finally, in the words of Amos 4:12, I plead with you today: “PREPARE TO MEET YOUR GOD!”