"To die is gain." No unbeliever can say that. If you were to die today, you would lose everything. You would lose all that you have cherished in this life. You would lose your present life. And you would lose your soul in hell. But for every true believer, for every man and woman who is redeemed by the blood of Christ, robed in the righteousness of Christ, united to Christ by faith, and living for the glory of Christ, TO DIE IS GAIN." Paul said, "What I shall choose I know not For I am in a strait betwixt two, having a desire to depart, and to be with Christ: which is far better: Nevertheless to abide in the flesh is more needful for you." For the children of God, to die is a very great blessing. It is no cause for fear. I would not long to die just to be free from my troubles, or just to be free from my labor and toil, or just to be free from my responsibilities in life. But if I had my preference, if I had that which I most greatly desired, I would prefer to die, to depart and be with Christ. "To die is gain." Death will be a welcome relief for God's elect. Think and meditate upon what it is to die in Christ. Blessed are they that die in the Lord. Just before he died, a friend came into Richard Baxter's room and asked him, "How are you, my friend?" And Baxter, with a slight sparkle in his eye, replied, "Almost well! Almost well!" When God's elect die, then all is well for them.
Children of God, don't be afraid of death, and don't weep for those who have died in the Lord. For us, "to die is gain". DEATH WILL BRING US INTO THE PRESENCE 0F MANY FRIENDS. Death takes the wife from the husband, the child from its mother, the father from his family; but we cheer ourselves with the prospect of a glorious reunion (I Thess. 4:13-18). It is true, above all else, we will see Christ and be with him; but it is also promised that we will sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Yes, we will know one another in heaven. DEATH WILL BRING AN ANSWER TO OUR PRAYERS. How often have you prayed that you might be delivered from your trials, temptations, and troubles? We shall be delivered from them then. "God shall wipe away all tears from our eyes." How often have you prayed that you might be freed from sin? When this body is in the grave, "there shall be no more sin". Many, many times you have prayed that you might be more like Christ, in love, in purity, in conduct. When we have laid aside this robe of flesh, we shall awake in his likeness. We shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. BUT MOST OF ALL, "TO BE ABSENT FROM THE BODY IS TO BE PRESENT WITH THE LORD." This is our chief concern. This is our noblest ambition. This is the happiness and glory of heaven. This is heaven! We shall be with Christ, forever with the Lord! "There cannot be heaven without Christ. He is the sum total of bliss; the fountain from which heaven flows, the element of which heaven is composed. Christ is heaven and heaven is Christ...Just to be with Christ is all the heaven a believer wants. The angels may be there or not, as they will, and the golden crowns and harps present or absent, as may be, but if I am to be where Jesus is, I will find angels in his eyes, and crowns in every lock of his hair; to me the golden streets shall be my fellowship with him, and the harpings of the harpers shall be the sound of his voice. Only to be near him, to be with him - this is all I want."(C. H. Spurgeon). This is heaven - "TO DIE IS GAIN!"
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