WILL YOU REST IN PEACE?

I have to admit one of my biggest struggles with attending a lot of churches today is the fact that I seldom hear anyone in the pulpit preach the raw gospel anymore. So much of church today has become more about entertainment & meeting the temporary felt needs of people And less about the person's spiritual condition in which it relates to God. Many preachers bypass talking about hell altogether for the sake of offending some people. But shockingly on the flip side, many preachers don’t even talk about Heaven a whole lot either. In my opinion, these topics are avoided because many churches believe that people will stop attending church if their personal felt needs are not addressed or even met, and in many ways it’s true. Most people will stop attending church if you minimize the entertainment & crank up the reformed teaching of God’s word. I recently attended a well-put-together Christmas play with my wife at a church in our local area. And during the intermission break, the pastor came up on stage & announced the church will be putting on an event series teaching the book of Revelations verse by verse for those who are interested in the end times & the promises of God for His people in the future. When I heard the pastor say that I was surprised, no in fact I was shocked. I was so happy to hear a church concerned about the end times & how it related to God's people & the world.

So you may be asking what does all this have to do with the question will you rest in peace? The reason is many churches today are not preparing people for life after death, but rather the focus is on addressing creative ways on how people can live in this world. (Aka blessings) The phrase “rest in peace” often abbreviated “RIP” comes from the Latin blessing requiescat in peace (literally “may he begin to rest in peace”). Is it biblical to say “rest in peace”? It depends, the bible is clear that physical death is not the end Hebrews 9:27 states “And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment”. This verse truly emphasizes that each of us has an appointment with death. But that our peace is only predicated on the next step in death & that’s facing God. The question is will you be let into Heaven, or will you be thrown into hell. Per the bible, those are the only two options given to us upon breathing our last breath. John 3:16-17 states “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved”.

Yes God loves the world enough to give His son Jesus to pay for the penalty of sin. But the precious hope of going to Heaven & escaping hell is reserved for those who believe & put their faith in Christ finished work on the cross. Sure a person can spend a large portion of their life driving a fancy car & living in the most luxurious home one can find. But if we are honest & sensible about it, none of that is going to matter when our appointment with death comes. That’s why I think it’s unwise for many preachers to spend the bulk of their precious time & energy telling people how they can become prosperous in this life & not equally put that same energy or more into preparing an individual to be prosperous & ready for the next life. Contrary to many beliefs having wealth & status does not mean a person is going to heaven. To back this up the book Luke 16:19-26 states “There was a certain rich man, which was clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day: 20 And there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, which was laid at his gate, full of sores, 21 And desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man's table: moreover the dogs came and licked his sores. 22 And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried; 23 And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom 24 And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame. 25 But Abraham said, Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things: but now he is comforted, and thou art tormented. 26 And beside all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed: so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot; neither can they pass to us, that would come from thence”.

Honestly, I can’t think of a more tragic end to a person’s life than to live in luxury & to die in agony. The hope of living for Heaven purifies you from wanting to sin & makes you want to live in obedience to Christ. Because you know this life is temporary & you have something better in the future coming. But in our culture today because the thought of death can be frightening, people have invented sayings to comfort themselves. When someone dies we often hear unbiblical statements such as “She’s an angel now & God needed another angel in Heaven”. Or sometimes we hear sayings like he/she is in a better place. But this is spoken with no thought that he/she might be in the worst place. In reality, many people try to assure themselves & others that regardless of how the deceased’s relationship with God while on earth he or she is in Heaven now.

But sadly most of these beliefs come at the expense of ignoring what scripture teaches. I tend to look at the world through spiritual lenses. For example, every time I watch the news & hear about someone who dies tragically or just hear of someone dying period, my mind immediately wonders if that person is currently in Heaven or hell. I am truly amazed how so few people even think about that, usually, it’s a sign of how that person views the tragedy of dying without Christ & the misery of going to hell to live in eternal punishment. Also, it’s a sign that many people are not aware of how bad hell is. Luke 13:28 in the bible states “ There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when ye shall see Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and all the prophets, in the kingdom of God, and you yourselves thrust out”. This verse is simply saying people in hell will experience such intense grief & sorry beyond anything we could fully understand or comprehend in this life. Also, the book Isaiah 57:21 in the bible states “There is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked”. So as we can see there is no resting in peace for people who don’t know Christ. They are considered wicked because they are still depraved sinners who don’t know Christ.

In closing, we must keep in mind that only God knows the heart of every person. Only God knows whether a person in his or her last moments cried out to Jesus for forgiveness, as did the thief on the cross (Luke 23:43). It has been said that one of the best gifts we can give our loved ones is to let them know by our lives and our lips where we will be spending eternity. Death can be considered merely a “change of address” for those who love Jesus, with a major upgrade in living conditions! About God’s children, we can say with confidence, “Rest in peace.”