Friday, December 17, 2010

The Lonely Journey of Grief, Part 15 of 15

Following is the program transcript with Scripture references:

Brian: When Christians face death their own or that of another believer they have loved, they’re cast back on Scripture. The Word of God becomes a word from God to us. The emphasis of the Scripture is not on death, the emphasis is on Christ’s resurrection and on ours. Because He lives, the Scripture boldly declares we who trust in Him shall live also. Hear God’s Word that deals with the great issue of death and life.

Haddon: Martha said to Jesus,

Alice: Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died. But I know that even now God will give you whatever you ask.

Haddon: Jesus said to her, your brother will rise again.

Alice: Oh, I know he will rise in the resurrection of the last day.

Haddon: Jesus said, I am the resurrection and the life. You who believes in Me will live, even though he dies. And whoever lives and believes in Me will never die. [John 11:21-26] Everyone the Father gives to Me will come to Me. I will never turn away anyone who believes in Me. [John 6:37]

Alice: God, who raised Jesus Christ from the dead will also give new life to our mortal bodies through His indwelling spirit. [Romans 8:11]

Haddon: Don’t let your hearts be troubled, trust in God, trust also in Me. In My Father’s House are many rooms, if it were not so, I would have told you. I’m going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with Me, that you also may be where I am. You know the way to the place where I am going.

Alice: Thomas said to Him, Lord, we don’t know where you’re going. So how can we know the way?

Haddon: Jesus answered, I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. [John 14:1-6]

Alice: My heart, therefore, is glad. And my spirit rejoices, my body also shall rest in hope.

Haddon: You will show me the path of life. In your presence, there is fullness of joy and in your right hand are pleasures forevermore. [Psalm 16:9-11]

Alice: Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have died.

Haddon: For since death came through a Man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through the Man. For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive.

Alice: But each in his own turn, Christ the first fruits, then when He comes, those who belong to Him.

Haddon: Then the end will come. When He hands over the kingdom to God the Father after He has destroyed all dominion and authority and power. For He must reign until He has put all His enemies under His feet, the last enemy to be destroyed is death. [1 Corinthians 15:20-26]

Alice: But someone may ask, how are the dead raised? With what kind of body will they come?

Haddon: How foolish. What you sow does not come to life unless it dies. What you sow, you do not plant the body that will be, but just the seed. perhaps of wheat or something else. But God gives it a body as He has determined and each kind of seed, He gives it their own body. [1 Corinthians 15:35-37]

Alice: So it will be with the resurrection of the dead. The body that is sown is perishable, it is raised imperishable.

Haddon: It is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory.

Alice: It is sown in weakness, it is raised in power.

Haddon: It is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. [1 Corinthians 15:42-44]

Alice: For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable and the mortal with immortality.

Haddon: When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true, death has been swallowed up in victory.

Alice: Where oh death is your victory?

Haddon: Where oh death is your sting?

Alice: The sting of death is sin and the power of sin is the law.

Alice: and Haddon: But thanks be to God, He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Haddon: Therefore, my beloved, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourself fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain. [1 Corinthians 15:53-58]

Alice: Therefore, we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.

Haddon: For our light and momentary troubles, are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.

Alice: So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.

Haddon: Now we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands.

Alice: Meanwhile, we groan, longing to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling because when we’re clothed we will not be found naked.

Haddon: For while we are in this tent, we’ve grown and are burdened, because we do not wish to be unclothed, but to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life.

Alice: Now it is God who has made us for this very purpose. And has given us the spirit as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.

Haddon: Therefore we are always confident to know that as long as we’re at home in the body, we are away from the Lord. We live by faith, not by sight.

Alice: We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord.

Haddon: So we make it our goal to please Him, whether we are at home in the body or away from Him. [2 Corinthians 4:16-5:9]

Alice: The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, His mercies never come to an end. They are new every morning.

Haddon: Great is Your faithfulness. The Lord is my portion, says my soul, therefore I will hope in Him.

Alice: The Lord is good to those who wait for Him, to the soul that seeks Him.

Haddon: It is good that one should wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord. [Lamentations 3:22-26] For the Lord will not reject forever.

Alice: Although He causes grief, He will have compassion according to the abundance of His steadfast love. [Lamentations 3:31-32]

Haddon: Bless the Lord, oh my soul and all that is within me, bless His holy name.

Alice: Bless the Lord oh my soul and do not forget all of His benefits.

Haddon: Who forgives all of your iniquity.

Alice: Who heals all your diseases.

Haddon: Redeems your life from the pit.

Alice: Who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy.

Haddon: Who satisfies you for good as long as you live, so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s. [Psalm 103:1-5]

Alice: He does not deal with us according to our sins, nor repay us according to our iniquities.

Haddon: For as the heavens are high above the earth, so great is His steadfast love towards those who fear Him.

Alice: As a Father has compassion for His children, so the Lord has compassion for those who fear Him.

Haddon: For He knows how we are made.

Alice: He remembers that we’re dust.

Haddon: As for mortals, their days are like grass, they flourish like a flower of the field, where the wind passes over it, and it’s gone and its place knows it no more.

Alice: But the steadfast love of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear Him and His righteousness to children’s children.

Haddon: To those who keep His covenant, to remember to do His commandments.

Alice: The Lord has established His throne in the heavens and His kingdom rules over all.

Haddon: Bless the Lord all His works, and all places of His dominion.

Alice: Bless the Lord oh my soul. [Psalm 103:10-22]

Haddon: The God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus Christ, the Great Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, make you perfect in every good work to do His will.

Alice: Working in you that which is well pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen. [Hebrews 13:20-21]