Near The End

As a pastor, I get calls to minister to people facing terminal illness. It is sad. Families grieve. The ill often fade in and out of consciousness. The air is heavy with sadness. It is a difficult time for everyone.

Long ago in college, I learned a valuable piece of pastoral instruction. In life's most difficult moments don't try to say something profound. Don't offer trite cliches. Pray with them. Just be there for them. Your presence can be a comfort. Just those two things. Presence and prayer.

Death comes for everyone. We may try to avoid it. We may try to ignore it. We may not even talk about death. We try to soften the finality of death with other words and phrases. All people die. All people face judgment afterward. There is a day of reckoning for everyone. Judgment of the condition of the soul. If a person has never been reconciled to God, continues to bear the weight of their sin, all the while storing wrath for themselves from a Holy God, hell awaits. There is hope for those who have cast themselves on the mercy of Jesus and trusted Him for salvation through faith. Such people are spared eternal judgment, but reap eternal reward.

Judgment or reward awaits those near the end.

Hebrews 9:27-28 (ESV)
27  And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment,
28  so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him.

Jesus offers forgiveness and rescue.

Romans 5:7-10 (ESV)
7  For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die—
8  but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
9  Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God.
10  For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life.

Though death shows no mercy, God shows mercy on the other side of death, and before death in salvation. Death does not have to be something to fear. Death can actually be advantageous.

Philippians 1:21 (ESV)
21  For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.

There is gain on the other side of death for children of God. Great reward. Everlasting benefits. God knows this. I believe what He has in store for us there is better than anything life on earth can offer. Check out God's perspective of death. 

Psalm 116:15 (NKJV) 

15  Precious in the sight of the LORD Is the death of His saints. 

All of these verses are words of warning and comfort for those near the end of life's journey. They are words to cling to and to heed. They are words of truth to build your eternity on. May these verses accomplish every purpose for which God intends for those near the end.