Heaven or Healing?

Introduction

One of the telling questions is that God has put upon my heart is: ‘Would you want heaven or would you want healing?’ This explicit question says so much about a person’s walk with God, about their desire to see Jesus, and their outlook on and beyond this world..

The choice is mutually exclusive, it is a binary decision for it reveals our hearts desires. By its very nature, there cannot be a ‘but’ (such as wanting to see children grow up, finish my career, and so on), for it demonstrates that there is not a whole-hearted yearning to be with the Lord in heaven. There are so many instances of when people have put other things in front of being with God right now, it might be almost a disappointment to them if He was to call them Home right now (yes, even before finishing reading this blog article!). The hustle and bustle, the busyness of life, even of church life, can restrict our vision.

Sadly, there is not always the response when I have asked that question that Christians have wanted to go to heaven in preference over healing. This article is written to address some of the responses that have been made to me, and I hope that it is done in a loving and truthful way, in a biblical way and, above all, how God would want to turn all our hearts toward Him.

It should be emphasised that, beyond our desire whether to go Home with Him or to tarry on this earth, God is sovereign so we might want healing, but He may decree that the number of our days is concluded; or we might want heaven, but God may want us to finish the work He has set out for us to do.

Personal Perspective

I thought it would be useful to put this article into context, why this question has become predominant in my life at this moment.

It will come as no surprise to anyone that knows me that my greatest longing is for heaven. I am aware that my attitude is like an impatient child on a journey: “Lord, am I nearly there yet?” I cannot wait for the prequel to finish and get to God’s great Opus. My answer would be ‘heaven’ any second of a minute, any minute in an hour, any hour within a day, any day within a month, any month within a year, and any year that God gives to me.

It might be understandable to those same people as my gorgeous and godly wife, Deborah, has been called Home by God. It is true that that the question has taken on a new momentum since Deborah has commenced her new adventures with Jesus, which she was looking forward to.

However, my sentiment even predates this both sad and happy event, an oxymoron known only to Christians since we grieve her absence with us and yet celebrate her presence with our Lord. As a couple, we have experienced the deaths of much-loved relatives (such as my grandparents, Deborah’s Dad and her beloved Aunty Mary) and friends almost beyond number. The saddest events for us were the deaths of our three pre-born children: Henry, Hannah and Timothy, who were so dearly longed for.

And yet the history of my longing to be with Jesus in heaven is even before these events. At our marriage service, Deborah walked down the aisle, accompanied by her Dad, to the tune of ‘Thine Be the Glory.’ The Bible reading was from Psalm 139, a touchstone passage for us, telling how God knows and cares for us from our conception until He calls us to be with Him. Two of the songs on that day were about standing before God in glory and singing His praise – not the usual wedding material. We knew that we were setting out on an earthly journey together that would only be ended when we entered into the presence of our Saviour.

For me, the desire to be with Jesus started before all of these events, when He came as Lord and Saviour of my life; and, from that moment, I could never understand why any Christian would not want to see Him face to face. I cannot wait to cast my crown before Jesus.[i]

Indeed, a year to the day after Christ brought me into His family, I was knocked down on a pedestrian crossing by a car – so forcefully that one of my shoes was found in a garden 200 yards away. The tibia and fibula in my right leg were broken, but I had no fear of seeing Him who had saved me.

Shortly after God had called Deborah Home, I was conversing with a friend at church and commented (part joking, but more seriously) that I was ‘miffed’ that Deborah had gotten to see Jesus face to face before I had. She reminded me that it was not a competition. I know that, in His good plan, I will be with Him who is my Lord and Saviour in His wonderful plan.

It is important to state that it does not mean having a suicidal mentality, but continuing to take the medicines prescribed by the doctor.

Healing

There would have to be biblical linguistic gymnastics to deny that God heals (for that is one of His names, cf. Exodus 15; 26) and, furthermore, that He still heals today. For a start, the New Testament clearly shows that there is the gift of healing available in the Church (1 Corinthians 12: 9, 28, 30). We cannot pick and choose as to which gift is applicable today – the Bible does not give us that option. If we say that the gift of healing ceased at the end of the New Testament period, then we would have to state that evangelists, teachers, administrators and so on are also not applicable to our generation – there has to be consistency.

Once it is accepted that healing is applicable to the Church in all generations, the question has to be posed as to what reason healings take place, since they are not random occurrences as our God has His reasonable purposes.

It cannot just be that the healing miracles are there to glorify God, as it is only part of the reasoning and not its total raison d’étre. It should be true that everything that the Christian does, speaks and thinks should be for the Lord’s glory. For as Paul writes to the church at Corinth: ‘So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.’ (1 Corinthians 10: 31) It is a lazy thought process that allows this to be the only cause. It applies equally to all aspects of our lives, such as the arts which is illustrated by the composer Johann Sebastian Bach writing ‘Deo gloria’ at the bottom of his manuscripts.

Reasons

Healings are metaphorically sticking plasters, pointing to the permanent healing that will happen in heaven (as seen in Revelation 22: 3 for example) where sickness will be banished. It is the truth that all the people in the Bible who were brought back to life or healed had the common experience: they either died again or got sick again and died – for none of them are still around today. Likewise, in the subsequent ages, people who were raised from the dead or were healed had the same experience – they will be dead again or they will get sick again and die.

When we read of Jesus’ healings, they occurred in order that people could have the opportunity to hear the Good News[ii]. When Jesus sent out the twelve disciples on their mission, He equipped them to cast out demons and to heal (Matthew 10: 1, 8, cf. Mark 3: 15; 6: 13, Luke 10: 9). His work was prophesied in Zechariah 11: 16. The ministry continued with the apostolic band that Jesus sent out.[iii] Interestingly, the Bible does not tell of healings occurring again in the same place, although it could be argued from silence but the Bible would have detailed any subsequent healings happening at the same place where the Gospel had been preached. After all, it was not that the healings were important as the Gospel is not transmitted by anything but hearing (Romans 10: 14 – 15). It can be illustrated that the believers’ prayer in Acts 5: 25 – 30) put the emphasis and priority on speaking out the message, and healing was clearly secondary to the proclamation.[iv]

Occasionally, healings take place so that a Christian can continue the work that God has given to that person. An example of this in the Bible is the healing of Dorcas (Acts 9: 39 – 42). Elsewhere, there is the clear indication that healing of any Christian was to be accompanied by a visit from the elders, to anoint the sick person with oil accompanied by prayer (James 5: 14 – 16).

There are many references to heal’, ‘heals’ and ‘healing’ in the Bible all with different connotations, just as we say that someone has ‘healed our broken heart’, we do not literally mean that our hearts are broken nor do we mean that someone physically patched us up.[v]

There are also passages that refer to ‘natural’ healing, i.e. where there is no supernatural intervention by God, (e.g. Exodus 21: 19, Leviticus 13: 18 and 37, Leviticus 14: 3, Joshua 5: 8, Job 5: 18, Ecclesiastes 3: 3), so these instances could be included in our definition of healing.

One of the verses that is often used is Isaiah 53: 5, where the prophet told of the Suffering Servant: ‘But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities, the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed.’ The verse is referred to in 1 Peter 2: 24. Isaiah employed the word ‘healing’ in its holistic and total meaning not in the limited and temporary way that we have now, where there is completeness and fullness, that will be seen on the day when we come before our Lord (cf. Isaiah 30: 26).[vi]

It has to be acknowledged that, when people are healed, there are occasions when the healed person makes disastrous decisions subsequently. An example is King Hezekiah, whose life summary can be found in 2 Chronicles 32: 24 – 26 (a fuller treatment is in 2 Kings chapter 20 and Isaiah chapter 38). It is not that the healing is important, but what the Christian does with the time that God has granted them. The extra time has not been given to squander in profitless and/or selfish activity, and will be one of those things for which we will be accountable before God when we do see Him (cf. Matthew 25: 14 – 30).

The limitations of healing

There is nothing wrong in asking for a miracle, but it should mean that we do not take our eye off the ultimate goal of wanting to be with our Lord where He dwells. Tim Keller reminds us: ‘We modern people think of miracles as the suspension of the natural order, but Jesus meant them to be the restoration of the natural order. The Bible tells us that God did not originally make the world to have disease, hunger, and death in it. Jesus has come to redeem where it is wrong and heal the world where it is broken. Jesus’ miracles are not just proofs that he has power but also wonderful foretastes of what he is going to do with that power. His miracles are not just a challenge to our minds, but a promise to our worlds, that the world we all want is on the way.’ [vii]

The reality is that our bodies will wear out (as the ‘anti-aging’ products advertisements remind us), however much we want them to be renewed on earth. Paul reminds the church in Corinth: ‘For while we are in this tent, we groan and are burdened, because we do not wish to be unclothed but to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling, so that which is mortal may be swallowed up by life’ (2 Corinthians 5: 4).

The lack of healing has nothing to do with the amount of faith that we may or may not have, regardless of what has been said in the past, which has caused guilt for those people who were not healed. It can be illustrated by Jesus in the garden of Gethsemane, praying not once but twice for His destiny to be diverted. In Mathew 26: 39, Jesus prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken away from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.” Then several verses later, He prayed a similar plea, “My Father, if it is not possible for this cup to be taken away unless I drink it, may your will be done.” (v. 42)

Likewise, Paul pleaded with God to take away a ‘thorn in the flesh’ (although we are not told the nature of this physical ailment) on three occasions (2 Corinthians 12: 7 – 9). The response of the Lord was that “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ (v. 9)

It cannot be said that either Jesus or Paul lacked faith, what they have was trust – trust that God had everything in control. It is that same putting our hand into His hand which will determine our attitude to our illnesses, disorders and diseases – knowing that God knows the best way to achieve His plan for His glory and our benefit.

Indeed, conversely, it takes faith to move from what we know and are comfortable with to the eternal scene which will be amazingly new to us, where we will actually be praising God in heaven with the multitudes rather than a church pew with a few thousand at the most and considerably less than that number in the experience of most of us. It really does take faith to move from hope, however certain, to reality.

The wonderful saint of the twentieth century, Corrie Ten Boom, has commented: ‘The wonderful thing about praying is that you leave a world of not being able to do something, and enter God’s realm where everything is possible. He specialises in the impossible. Nothing is too great for His almighty power. Nothing is too small for His love.’[viii] It could be, and often is, the way that God’s possibility is achieved is by the remarkable act of Him taking you into His presence forever.

Christians can fall into secular thought by thinking that healing can delay or ‘cheat’ death. It is interesting to observe, in our churches, the ‘hallelujahs’ of when a procedure is successful and the doom and gloom of a Christian has gone to be with Jesus (although there is sorrow that we will miss that person) – almost as though death has won (contrary to what we sing and say) and that it is preferable to be in this world. There can be a false sense of optimism and positivity, borrowed from the mindset of the world, which can veil the inevitable consequence of the disease or condition, and may even be damaging to the person concerned who has failed to be prepared to meet Jesus. These thought processes are addressed further in the article.

Being aware of all circumstances

There is deep truth in that, bearing the witness that we should pray for all outcomes as He is sovereign. (Deuteronomy 32: 349). We may need to recognise that the person has completed the work that God has planned for them to do, however many or few are their days on earth.[ix]

In our very limited understanding of God’s sovereignty, it is therefore right to pray for all eventualities, without being duped by the false promises of medicine. It is often the case, as has been admitted by palliative care and other medical professionals, that death is often viewed as a failure of surgeons and physicians, when life has a natural ending as determined by God. Medicine is literally not the panacea for all ills, since disease and sickness is the outcome of sin, which will only be removed when we are in the presence of God.

Despite all of these provisos, there is still a disconcerting tendency for Christians to state ‘Praise the Lord’ (or more usually ‘PTL’) when things go in the direction that they want, that is normally the delay in seeing Jesus in person. When the test comes back and the cancer or other disorder is not there, when the operation rectifies the body’s fault, then the messages comes out ‘PTL.’ It is so far from the Biblical model where Job experienced the deaths of his children, certainly not what he desired: ‘The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised.’ (Job 1: 21) was his only response for his offspring were never going to be resurrected from the dead but they had gone to be with the One who had made them..

It is strange that, although many Christians have (rightly) disavowed the health, wealth and prosperity ‘gospel,’ there are echoes of this theology in our mentality as people do not want to leave this earth, preferring to be in churches on Sunday that are but shadows of the Church that is waiting for us.

In May 2000, Pastor James Montgomery Boice stood up and preached for the last time at Tenth Memorial Church in Philadelphia. He told the stunned congregation that he had liver cancer and would soon be meeting his Lord at the age of 61 years. At the conclusion of the sermon, the pastor commented: ‘Should you pray for a miracle? Well, you’re free to do that, of course. My general impression is that the God who is able to perform miracles – and certainly He can – is also able to keep you from getting the problem in the first place…Above all, I would say pray for the glory of God. If you think of God glorifying Himself in history and you say, ‘Where in all of history has God most glorified himself?’ the answer is that He did it at the cross of Jesus Christ, and it wasn’t by delivering Jesus from the cross, though He could have…And yet that’s where God is most glorified.’[x]

From a personal perspective, Deborah and I knew that our earthly journey together was going to be ending in the April when we received the diagnosis of my wonderful wife having brain tumours, which were confirmed as glioblastomas the following month. She did receive palliative radiotherapy, in order to slightly prolong her life, but we were saddened by the fact that we were going to be parted, albeit briefly (as Deborah reminded me that I would be leaving this world shortly after her), but rejoiced in our Saviour who had already prepared a place for us (John 14: 2 – 3).

We had to completely trust the One who loved and saved us; after all, if He is not Lord of all, He is not Lord at all. It was in His strength and sustenance that we realised the truth of these words:

No more we doubt Thee, glorious Prince of Life!

Life is naught without Thee; aid us in our strife.

Make us more than conqu’rors, through Thy deathless love;

Bring us safe through Jordan to Thy home above.[xi]

Heaven

Reluctance to go to Heaven

Christians are more concerned about the Second Coming of Christ, rather than them going to see Him. It is as though they are kicking meeting their Saviour into the long grass – the longer off it can be, the better. It could be that many Christians are almost too scared about their own death especially if they ‘escape’ it through operations or circumstances, so they try to think about the longer perspective instead.

Till He returns or calls us home[xii]

A study in the United States, which presumably is typical of many Western countries, has shown that people of religious faith (95 per cent of respondents in this category were of Christian faith) were three times more likely to choose aggressive treatment in end-of-life days, even though they knew that they were dying and that the treatment they wanted was unlikely to lengthen their days on earth. The survey maintained that ‘relying on religion to cope with religion to cope with terminal cancer may contribute to receiving aggressive medical care near death.’[xiii]

It is not the action of people who realise the limitations of the medical profession and who know that God uses death to bring His people to Himself. It is certainly opposite of the example of the early Methodists who, in John Wesley’s words, died well. It seems as though the appetite to be with God has diminished in this day and age.

In the last two lines of the song ‘O Church arise and put your armour on’, there are the words that we ‘hunger for the day/ When with Christ we stand in glory’ (my italics).[xiv] We should have that hunger, that thirst to meet with our Maker; but, sadly, it is so lacking in all of us.

The last verse of ‘Abide with me,’ a hymn that I think is one of the most evangelistic and willingly included it in the funerals that I conducted, reads:

Hold thou thy cross before my closing eyes.

Shine through the gloom and point me to the skies.

Heaven’s morning breaks and earth’s vain shadows flee;

In life, in death, O Lord, abide with me.[xv]

A more modern song uses these words:

I long to be where the praise is never-ending,

Yearn to dwell where the glory never fades,

Where countless worshippers will share one song,

And cries of ‘worthy’ will honour the Lamb! [xvi]

I wonder if Christians sing these words with the Church equivalent of crossed fingers behind their backs – knowing that that the sung sentiments are correct, but they do not want to see the reality just yet, not wanting God to take them to Himself at the moment. There is truth in the often-used quote by A W Tozer: ‘Christians don’t tell lies – they just go to church and sing them.’ There might be a reticence to sing with honesty about us standing before God on His throne (in such songs as ’10,000 reasons (Bless the Lord)’)[xvii] There is a need to sing and speak convinced that we really want to be there, otherwise we should be silent when those words are in the lyrics.

Some of the reticence surrounds the fact that the Bible tells us comparatively little about Heaven. However, it has told us of the important issues such it is where God is and that should be the best thing about the destination.[xviii] It is true that we do not know, at present, everything about heaven, or even as much as we would like, and indeed we can speculate. (Deborah said on occasions that I speculate about issues and put it forward as fact!) It is like planning to go on holiday to a wonderful place, when we would naturally read all the brochures that we can get our hands on and locate all the websites that we put our destination into our search engine, even seek out the photographs, videos and opinions of those who have been there. Even after undertaking all these activities, no person is ever deterred from wanting to be there. Likewise, there are the writings of Daniel, Ezekiel and John, and the testimony of Jesus, that give us insights about our ultimate destination. However, it is only when we reach our Home that we will wonder and marvel at the place which God has prepared for us. We are clearly told that the glory will be evidently revealed and we who love our Saviour will share in it (1 Peter 5: 1). In the meantime, we can only hanker after seeing God when He is revealed fully to us as we stand before Him.

In a poor comparison, it is like having a friend in a different locality. You would have spoken to each other, and you would have been sent photos and videos of their home by your friend. When you go to visit your friend, you know that you will have a good time because your friend is there, regardless of how great their home is. Likewise, our Friend has sent us ‘snapshots’ of Home, but it will be really great for us because we are going to be with our Friend – regardless that the fact that Heaven will be sumptuous.

Moving on

When Deborah and I facilitated Bereavement Awareness events on behalf of Care for the Family[xix] to assist churches, we often asked the question as to when the attendees last heard a sermon on death of people. Even on Good Friday and Easter Sunday, very few sermons mention our deaths, although we celebrate the Lord who has overcome and vanquished death. (Our Anglican friends are generally better in this respect as they remember those people who have died in the previous twelve months on All Souls’ Day, 2 November.) It is incredible that death is one of the events that is common to all people (the other being birth) is very often ignored within our churches.

This state of affairs can be traced back to a lack of excitement generally in going to heaven– as we should not merely intrigued or interested. Our attitude should be a longing to be with God; however, there are Christians who are too firmly encamped in this world and are reluctant to be on the move.

There is an old song that reads: ‘This world is not my home, I’m just a-passing through.’ However, many Christians particularly in the Western world have, like Terah (Genesis 11: 31 – 32), settled down and feel more at home here rather than looking forward to being with Jesus in person.

When we read the words of Romans 12: 1 – ‘Therefore, I urge you brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God – this is your spiritual worship’ – there is a tendency to restrict the meaning to us living on this earth. However, it applies to all circumstances that we find ourselves in, so we are not to hold back, even when He calls us Home. Our departure from this world should be as pleasing to Him as the way we live, indeed the early Methodists saw how a person died as an extension and a reflection of how they had lived.

There has been the increasing tightening of the Christian’s hand, particular in the affluent West, around the materialism that surrounds us, and loosening our grip on the certain hope of heaven. It is worth quoting Oliver Burkeman (a British author, who has written about time management among other subjects) in a podcast: ‘You could set out to say that everything that’s wrong with our feelings about time is capitalism’s fault. You can set out to say that capitalism is a symptom of deeper things, or technology is. There’s a big sort of industrialisation and technology piece. There’s evolutionary psychology, always waiting in the wings to step in and say “Ah, this is the explanation for everything.” I just sort of end at the point of like, we are afraid of the fact that we die, and that we are somewhat uniquely material beings with the deeply finite material beings with the conscious capacity to envision, to understand that we’re going to die, and to envision infinity and to envision the possibility of escape from our finitude. And so, this creates a sort of insurmountable thing that we’re always trying to surmount by, if not literally with the sort of transhumanist experiments in Silicon Valley, then at another sort of conceptual level by attaining control over our lives that would be tantamount to stepping outside of the finite stream. And so, you can either do that by imagining that you’re going to live forever, or you can do it by imagining that you’re going to get it done by the end of next week. Right? They’re both different routes to not being constrained by finitude. And I kind of think probably, fear of death is where that stops. And I think there’s a more and more…I think the argument that capitalism at its worst excesses is a symptom of the fear of death makes more sense to me than that all of this comes from the economic level first.’[xx]

If we divert our eyes away from the things that can entice us in this world, we will see things as they really are. Randy Alcorn has stated the reality: ‘Death is life’s great certainty. Death will come, whether or not you’re prepared. But death is not an end – it’s a transition that will bring us face to face with our Creator. The absolute certainty of our death gives the gospel it’s urgency.’[xxi]

The passage in 2 Timothy 4: 7 – ‘I have fought the good fight’- is not about fighting any disease albeit through possible healing, but about keeping close to God and using the spiritual armour that He has provided (cf. Ephesians 6: 10 – 20). It is about the conclusion of the turmoil of this earthly life and going to see the One who has conquered sin and death.

There can also be the temptation to allot an arbitrary age to when we want healing and we do not. However, the Bible tells us that ‘All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.’ (Psalm 139: 16 – this psalm was our signature one) In case we did not get the point, James tells us: ‘Why, you do not even know what we happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a short while and then vanishes. Instead, you ought to say, “If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that”.’ (James 4: 14 – 15).

It is illustrated by the character of Simeon who (in Luke 2: 28), after seeing the baby Jesus, praised God by saying: ‘Sovereign Lord, as you have promised, you now dismiss your servant in peace.’ In many depictions, he is seen as an aged man, but the Bible does not tell us how old he was – he could have been in his thirties or any age for all we know – however, the important thing is that his work was completed and he was willing to be with God, regardless of how many years he had been on earth.

In my blog article, ‘Taken too soon,’ I have outlined the lives of people who lived a limited number of years on this earth, including Jesus Christ, so we cannot be guaranteed three score years and ten.

Otherworldliness

We are, through Christ who loves us, more than conquerors in all things (Romans 8: 37), and that includes the process of death. We are told continuously in the Bible ‘do not be afraid’, which someone has calculated to be 365 times – one for each day of the year. God has assured us: ‘Fear not, for I have redeemed you, I have summoned you by name; you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze.’ (Isaiah 43: 1b – 2)

Because we know that, when we go through that fire, our attitudes will be refined in new purity and our intensity to see Jesus will increase, as has been the testament of so many saints. In the Beatitudes, Jesus told us that ‘Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.’ (Matthew 5: 8). The commentary by C. S. Lewis is: ‘It is safe to tell the pure in heart that they shall see God, for only the pure in heart want to.’[xxii]

It is not about abandoning the needs of the world, as can be illustrated by the words of William Wilberforce (who was responsible for so many of society’s good): ‘Keep me from being absorbed by, or too solicitous about, worldly things, remembering that a Christian is to regard and feel himself a stranger and a pilgrim, and to have his portion, his conversation, his treasure, his country in heaven’[xxiii]

Enthusiasm for Heaven

There was a definite enthusiasm as I can recall singing about going to see the Lord. A song of my childhood was: ‘I’ve got a home in glory land (that outshines the sun).’ One of my favourite hymns then and still is ‘I saw a new vision of Jesus,’ written by a pastor who was in hospital after an asthma attack from which he was not expected to recover, and he literally saw Jesus.[xxiv]

I was reminded by friends in New Zealand that, when I was with them for a number of months in the early 1990’s, there was the song ‘Soon and very soon, we‘re going to see the King,’ which concluded ‘Hallelujah, Hallelujah, we’re going to see the King.’

In the present day, there are very few songs for children and adults that address our eternal destiny. There are so many that address how we are to live in this world in order to please God, which is good, but the other world gets scant attention from our hymn and song writers.

In my wife’s school (where she had responsibility for religious education and collective worship), they sang ‘My Lighthouse’ written by the Rend Collective, which states ‘I will trust the promise, You will carry me safe to shore.’ Incidentally, they also enjoyed ‘The Lord’s my shepherd’ (the Stuart Townend arrangement, which was Deborah’s favourite), which looks forward to being in the house of the Lord forever. However, these are exceptions as we have written songs for children, as for adults, in the modern era that has very little reference to being with God after this life.

It is in contrast with the certain hope and longing by members of the early Church to be with Jesus in heaven. Paul wrote: ‘I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us’ (Romans 8: 18); ‘’For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hope for what he already has? But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently’ (Romans 8: 24 – 25); ‘Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal’ (2 Corinthians 4: 16 – 18); ‘we groan, longing to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling’ (2 Corinthians 5: 2); and ‘we are always confident and know that as long as we are at home in the body, we are away from the Lord. We live by faith, not sight. We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord’ (2 Corinthians 5: 6 – 9).

Paul was not the only one as Peter described the Christian as ‘aliens and strangers in the world’ (1 Peter 2: 11), which means that not only are we to hold loose to what we have on earth but to strive and willingly hope for that residency with our Lord and Saviour,

The delight was expressed by the eminent Victorian preacher, C H Spurgeon: ‘Depend upon it, your dying hour will be the best hour you have ever known! Your last moment will be your richest hour, better than the day of your birth will be the day of your death. It shall be the beginning of heaven, the rising of a sun that shall go no more go down forever!’[xxv]

Spurgeon also addressed the subject in another sermon: ‘What if we should soon be called to the heavenly realm? Certainly, there would be nothing to deplore in such a summons, but everything to rejoice in. Living or dying we are the Lord’s. If we live, Jesus will be with us; if we die, we will be with Jesus.’[xxvi]

In the same light, Alexander Maclaren stated: ‘We lose nothing worth keeping when we leave behind the body, as a dress not fitted for home, where we are going.’[xxvii]

That desire to be with our lovely Lord Jesus is expressed in the words of Isak Dinesen: ‘God does not create a longing or a hope without having a fulfilling reality ready for them. But our longing is our pledge, and blessed are the homesick, for they shall come home.’[xxviii] It reflects the words of C S Lewis, who wrote: 'If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made fir another world. If none of my earthly pleasures satisfy it, that does not mean that the universe is a fraud. Probably earthly pleasures were never meant to satisfy it, but only to arouse it, to suggest the real thing. If that is so, i must take care, on the one hand, never to despise, or be unthankful for, these earthly blessings, and on the other, never to mistake them for something else of which they are only a kind of copy, or echo, or mirage. I must keep alive in myself the desire for my true country, which I will never find until after death; I must never let it get snowed under or turned aside; I must make it the main object in life to press on to that other country and help others do the same.' [xxix]

The Church that we are experiencing now is but a dress rehearsal for the time when we see our God in person. The book to the Hebrews was written to Jewish converts who tempted to revert to their previous beliefs because they were facing persecution and could be killed at any moment. The author urges the readers: ‘Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how we may spur one another on towards love and good deeds. Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another – and all the more as you see the day approaching’ (Hebrews 10: 23 – 25, the NIV has unhelpfully inserted a capital ‘D’ for ‘day’ as the original is in lowercase). The day was the one when these persecuted Christians would go to meet their Saviour. It is an echo of Isaiah 2: 3 where, on the last days, ‘Many people will come and say, “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob. He will teach us his ways, that we may walk in his paths”.’

Indeed, the book of Hebrews does look back to the finished work of Jesus on the cross and how He is greater than the angels and Moses; however, it is also a book that projects forwards, Chapter 12, the hall of faith, tells of men and women who were keen to press onward until they see God by sight and the fulfilment of His promises.

In chapter 8, the author refers to the New Covenant and its culmination in heaven where ‘No longer will a man teach his neighbour, or a man his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest.’ (Hebrews 8: 11, quoting Jeremiah 31: 34). The time when we are gathered together in our church buildings are a faint reflection of how we will all be in heaven.

We should be wanting to praise and glorify God in His presence. There is the reminder in a Christmas carol as it exalts ‘Sing, all ye citizens of heav’n above’[xxx] – the company that we should want to join where saints who have gone before us and are waiting for us.

A good example was seen on the last night of Isaac Watts’ life on earth, on 24^th November 1748. The person who was attending the beloved pastor noted how he had taught his friends how to live and, at that moment, he was teaching them how to die. The people sitting close to Isaac Watts’ bed listened intently. ‘If no more service for me to do,’ the pastor explained, ‘through grace I am ready…I trust all my sins are pardoned through the blood of Christ…I have no fear of dying.’ After uttering these words, the author of so many hymns went to meet his Saviour.

In more recent days, there was the message from the great pastor Tim Keller’s twitter account by his son Michael: ‘Today, Dad is being discharged from the hospital to receive hospice care at home. Over the past few days, he has asked us to pray with him often. He expressed many times through prayer his desire to go home to be with Jesus. His family is very sad because we…’ ‘all wanted more time, but we know he has very little at this point. In prayer, he said two nights ago, “I’m thankful for all the people who’ve prayed for me over the years. I’m thankful for my family, that loves me. I’m thankful for the time God has given me, but I’m ready…’ ‘…to see Jesus. I can’t wait to see Jesus. Send me home.’[xxxi] Tim saw his Saviour face to face on Friday 19 May 2023.

God does not forsake us in the process of death; indeed, there is the great promise in the Bible that God will never leave or forsake us (Hebrews 13: 5, cf. Deuteronomy 31: 6). The writer to the Hebrews then also quotes Psalm 118: 6 – 7, which states triumphantly: ‘The Lord is with me; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me? The Lord is with me; he is my helper. I will look in triumph on my enemies.’[xxxii]

It is reminiscent of Paul’s words that ‘neither death nor life’ among other things ‘will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord’ (Romans 8: 38 – 39). It is interesting that death is not split in two, that is the process and the finality, because both are conquered by Jesus as Paul reminds us that ‘Christ Jesus, who died – more than that, who was raised to life – is at the right hand of God and is interceding for us.’ (Romans 8: 33 – 34). It is mind-blowing that we do not even have to fear the process of death because Jesus Christ has already gone through it and was risen again, and is willing to walk through it with us.

Erwin Lutzer states: ‘Death is not the end of the road; it is only a bend in the road. The road winds only through those paths through which Christ has gone. This Travel Agent does not expect us to discover the trail for ourselves. Often we say that Christ will meet us on the other side. That is true, of course, but misleading. Let us never forget that He walks with us on this side of the curtain and then guides us through the opening. We will meet Him there, because we have met Him here.’[xxxiii]

When there is temptation to cower in the face of death, Tim Keller wrote to challenge us: ‘If the most powerful person, the power behind the universe loves you with all his heart, soul, strength, and mind, and you can see that on the cross, why are you afraid?’[xxxiv]

Evangelism

If as Christians, we want others to know Jesus and be with Him in heaven, which we surely must do, we must confront our mindsets in the first place.

If we fail to tell of heaven and our enthusiasm to be with Jesus forever then our Christianity will be just another belief system or another social theory. But it is more than that, much more. It is often said that Christianity is not a religion but a relationship with God – we need to emphasise that it is the relationship that goes on forever. Failure to do so sucks the air of our evangelism because, without showing the eternal destination and the fact that death is the final barrier, there is nothing distinct about what we believe.

Randy Alcorn tells of interviewing a young man from Burundi, who gave the profound observation that: ‘If I fear death as unbelievers do, I have nothing to offer unbelievers. Only when you are free from the fear of death are you really free.’[xxxv]

One of the most notable evangelists of the twentieth-century, Billy Graham, revealed his eager expectation: ‘The most thrilling thing about heaven is that Jesus Christ will be there. I will see Him face to face. Jesus Christ will meet us at the end of life’s journey.’[xxxvi]

There is the great good news that Jesus has come to release us from the fear of death. ‘Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death – that is, the devil – and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death.’ (Hebrews 2: 14 – 15)

There is undoubtably power in telling how God has healed a person – it is an opportunity to share the narrative of how majestic and wonderful God is in intervening in people’s lives. However, it is not an experience that every person can identify with, for every person knows that they will die and also have experienced loved ones and others who have died. People want to know how Christians deal with the common suffering found in bereavement. From personal experience, we have had talked about how Jesus helped us when our pre-born children went to be with Him; and, indeed, people have been interested in how the Lord was with Deborah and myself during her last illness before she saw Him face to face.

If we do not have joy in where we are going and the fact that we are going to see the Person we love, we will lose the impact of telling others. We should be like the character Christian in John Bunyan’s book Pilgrim’s Progress, striding on toward our heavenly destination and wanting fellow travellers to accompany us on the way, having knelt at the cross of Jesus and watched what He has done for our sins have rolled away – that should be the exciting message of the start and the end of our travels.

Pastoral Implications

There is a lack of preparations for death by Christians, which is common in the world in general. There is a reticence to compose powers of attorney to allow others to act in their best interest if the person lacks mental capacity in the areas of health and wellbeing, finance and housing.

Although more controversial, Christians have rarely thought about advance directives – what treatment they would or would not want if the case that they were unable to communicate their desires.

The number of people who have not made a will, outlining what was to happen to their finances and belongs, is comparatively few. It is important to ensure that your wishes are observed and that important decisions are made such as the guardianship of any children under majority age (in the United Kingdom, it is the age of 18 years). I was advised by a solicitor when I was at a young age to make a will, even if I only had a tent! It is especially important as we never know when the Lord will call us Home.

David Meyers, a family physician and a health policy researcher in the Washington D.C. area, was living with terminal brain tumour (glioblastoma). He wrote: ‘Often when someone is diagnosed with advanced cancer, friends and family offer advice to stay strong and be positive, insisting that the person will beat even the most aggressive form of the disease. For me, these types of well-intentioned comments are not comforting. Instead, they highlight our culture’s fear of dying and its denial of death.

‘When I was diagnosed, I knew that no amount of strength, positivity or even faith would stop glioblastoma from killing me. The thought of leaving the people I loved left me heartbroken, but I chose to confront my prognosis honestly and openly. I thought deeply about what was most meaningful to me so I could make conscious decisions about what to do with the limited time I had. Rather than making a bucket list, I decided to carry on working in a job I found deeply rewarding, to spend time with friends around our backyard fire pit, and to enjoy many evenings with Hannah reading aloud to each other while we knit together on the couch.’[xxxvii]

There is the need for pastoral support for people with illnesses and those who love them. It is important that people acknowledge that healing will not happen. It is imperative to prepare for a life of long-term disability or the good and timely saying of au revoir for the person who is dying. By holding onto a premise that will not happen robs people of the opportunity to settle into a life that will continue to be difficult, or to make peace with themselves, with others and/or (more importantly) with God.

Our hearts

The Church continues for we are reminded that ‘Once you were not a people but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.’ (1 Peter 2: 10) The incredible thing is that we will remain as God’s people when we arrive in heaven. Indeed, God will announce Himself: ‘Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live them. They will be His people, and God Himself will be with them and be their God.’ (Revelation 21: 3)

Paul wrote: ‘We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord. (2 Corinthians 5; 8)

There have been a number of requests for prayers from preachers and Christian leaders, or at least on behalf of them, that those that are ill would be healed. It is a rarity for such pleas to include a reason why this should be the case. There appears that the person is more concerned about their ministry than meeting the One who gave them that task.[xxxviii]

In the great psalm of the Shepherd (Psalm 23), we are supposed to progress along the paths of righteousness. God does not want us to remain in the green pastures being satisfied with the provisions that He gives at that time, for the same paths continue in and through the valley of the shadow of death, and on to the time when we will dwell in the house of the Lord for eternity. Our destiny is not for the pastures of this world but for the feast with our Saviour. Our destination are not the green fields eating grass but the vast banquet of the King, which means going through the hard times of death; however, the Lord is with us in all of these situations. The sad reality is that we often want to remain where we are comfortable and the surroundings are familiar, when we should want to be with the Lamb who is also our Shepherd.

Nancy Guthrie has written honestly: ‘There is no doubt that a shadow is a dark place to be. But when the Lord is our shepherd, we no longer have to fear the dark places that death takes us. In the shadows we reach out to find him beside us, and the fear of the unknown fades. When he gently uses his rod of correction to prod us in the right direction and his staff of compassion to draw us close, we find comfort.

‘When we are in the fold of God, death is impotent to destroy us. It is depleted of its evil power. The valley where we encounter death is transformed into a place of peaceful comfort; it is in this valley that we are more aware of God’s presence than ever before.’[xxxix]

C. S. Lewis wrote to a correspondent who was in hospital: ‘Can you not see death as a friend and deliverer?’ Then later in the same paragraph he continued: ‘Has this world been so kind to you that you should leave it with regret? There are better things ahead than we leave behind.’[xl]

With expectancy, Joseph H. Gilmore composed the words:

And when my task on earth is done,

When by Thy grace the vict’ry’s won,

E’en death’s cold wave I will not flee,

Since God through Jordan leadeth me.[xli]

There should be great anticipation, not dread, in meeting our Saviour. Tim Keller has exhorted us: ‘Grieve with hope; wake up and be at peace; laugh in the face of death; and sing for joy at what’s coming. If you have Jesus Christ by the hand, and he’s got you by the hand, you can sing.’[xlii]

We should have the same eagerness as Paul had when he wrote: ‘I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, to attain the resurrection of the dead. Not that I have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining towards what is ahead, I press on towards the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenwards in Christ Jesus.’ (Philippians 3: 10 – 14) We can only truly know someone or rather Someone if we see them face to face. It is great to have the letters, which the Bible is as it is 66 love letters from God, but it is a pale reflection to having a close-up relationship with our Saviour and Lord. We should be straining, using all our sinews and all the energy we have, in looking forward to that moment in time when we can gaze on His glorious face.

At this point, it is important to stress that we must not have a suicidal tendency, and we must not disregard medical advice. Although I long to see Jesus, I am still going to take the medicines that my doctor has prescribed for me because God has given wisdom to medical personnel. However, there should be a holy dissatisfaction with this world.

It is in the same vein as Hebrews chapter 11, the great hall of faith, whose examples were always looking forward to something more than this world could possibly give. The examples include Abraham looking for the fulfilment of the promise, Moses seeking God’s permanent value, and Abel who looked to live with God forever. The passage also speaks to us as people do receive their loved ones after healing, but in verse 35, the writer tells us that we may not experience healing, but we can certainly be assured of a better resurrection, guaranteed by the Great Physician and we will be with Him.

This enthusiasm (in the proper and literal sense of being in God) was expressed by Fanny Crosby:

But purer, and higher, and greater will be

Our wonder, our rapture, when Jesus we see.[my emphasis][xliii]

It appears that we are so transfixed by this pale imitation, wanting to be healed because we are comfortable, that the idea of being enraptured by the presence of Jesus does not enter our mind, when it should be our greatest longing – being, at last, with our Friend.

Our favourite book in the ‘Chronicles of Narnia’ series was The Last Battle. The concluding words of the book was read at the celebration of Deborah’s life: ‘And as He [that is Aslan, the figure to portray Christ] spoke He no longer looked to them like a lion; but the things that began to happen after that were so great and beautiful that I cannot write them. And for us this is the end of all the stories, and we can most truly say that they all lived happily ever after. But for them it was only the beginning of the real story. All their life in this world and all their adventures in Narnia had only been the cover and the title page: now at last they were beginning Chapter One of the Great Story which no one on earth has read: which goes on forever: in which every chapter is better than the one before.’[xliv]

The Church at large is eager for Jesus Christ to come for the final time (Revelation 22: 20). However, it is the also the heart’s desire for the individual Christian (1 Corinthians 16: 22) for the Lord to come and take them Home.

Conclusion

We should be encouraging each other to look beyond this narrow slit called time:

Come on heaven’s children,

The city is in sight.

There will be no sadness

On the other side.[xlv]

Death is something that never should have occurred, but it did because we are creatures with sinful natures. However, for the Christian, it is the gateway into life everlasting with our glorious Saviour.

Be excited, be enthusiastic for the bigger and better Church that we will be part of when God calls us to Himself – saved by the Saviour’s work on Calvary, clothed in His righteousness and completely, permanently healed.

[i] ‘Love divine’ (hymn) written by Charles Wesley.

[ii] Examples are: the general crowd (Matthew 4: 23 – 24; 8: 16; 9: 35; 12: 13 14: 14; 14: 46; 15: 30; 19: 2; 21: 14; Mark 1: 34; 3: 10; 6:5; 6: 56; Luke 4: 40; 5: 15; 6: 18 - 20; 7: 21, 9: 11[cf. 9: 2 and 6], 13: 32; Acts 10: 38), the man with leprosy (Matthew 8: 3 – 4; Luke 5: 12 - 14), the official’s son (John 4: 46 – 53), the paralysed man (Luke 5: 17 – 25), the man at the pool of Bethsaida (John 5: 1 – 15), the centurion’s servant (Matthew 8: 5–13; Luke 7: 1 - 10), Jairus’s daughter (Luke 8: 50), Peter’s mother-in-law (Matthew 8: 14 – 15; Mark 1: 31), the sick woman (Matthew 9: 20 – 22; Mark 5: 25 – 34; Luke 8: 42 - 48), the blind and mute man (Matthew 9: 27 – 34), the man with the withered hand (Matthew 12: 13; Mark 3: 5 – 5; Luke 6: 6:-11), the demonic man (Luke 8: 26 – 39) the blind and mute man (Matthew 12: 22), the daughter of the Canaanite woman (Matthew 15: 21 – 28), the demonic boy (Matthew 17: 18, Mark 9: 25, Luke 9: 42), the cripped woman (Luke 13: 10 – 13), the man with dropsy (Luke 14: 1 - 4), the ten lepers (Luke 17: 11 – 19),the blind man (John 9: 9 – 16). blind Bartimaeus (Mark 10: 46 – 52, Luke 18: 42), the High Priest’s servant (Luke 22: 51)

[iii] Examples are the crippled beggar (Acts 3: 1 – 16, cf. Acts 4: 8 - 22), the crowds (Acts 5: 12 – 16), Acts 19: 12, Philip in Samaria (Acts 8: 7), Peter healing the paralysed man in Lydda (Acts 9: 32 – 34), Paul in Lystra (Acts 14: 8 -10), Paul on Malta (Acts 28: 7 – 9)

[v] The wide sweep of passages include those that are poetic (e.g. Psalm 6: 3, Psalm 30: 2, Psalm 103: 3, Psalm 107: 20, Psalm 147: 3, Jeremiah 30: 7, Ezekiel 34: 4) and others look forward to the coming days in heaven (e.g. Isaiah 35: 6, Ezekiel 47: 12, Malachi 4: 2), the restoration of the land (2 Kings 2: 21, 2 Chronicles 7: 14, Jeremiah 14: 19, Jeremiah 30: 12 – 13, Jeremiah 33: 6), regarding unbelief (John 12: 40, cf. Isaiah 6: 10; Acts 28: 27), helping others (Hebrews 12; 13), or healing after sin (e.g. Genesis 20; 17, Numbers 12: 1 – 15, 1 Samuel 6: 3, 2 Chronicles 30; 20, Psalm 41: 4, Isaiah 19: 22, Isaiah 30: 26, Isaiah 57: 18 and 19, Isaiah 58: 8, Jeremiah 8: 15 and 22, Jeremiah 17: 14, Jeremiah 46: 11, Jeremiah 51: 8 – 9. Lamentations 2: 13, Ezekiel 30; 21, Hosea 5: 13, Hosea 6: 1, Hosea 7: 1, Hosea 11: 3, Hosea 14: 4, Nahum 3: 19).

[vi] Alec Motyer, The Prophecy of Isaiah (Inter Varsity Press, Leicester, 1993), p. 431

[vii] Tim Keller, The Reason for God: Belief in an Age of Scepticism (Hodder & Stoughton, London, 2009) pp. 95 - 96

[viii] Corrie Ten Boom, I stand at the door and knock: Meditations by the Author of the Hiding Place (Zondervan, Grand Rapids, Michigan, 2008) p. 95

[ix] See my blog article ‘Taken too soon’ https://andrewd-followjesus.blogspot.com/2023/03/taken-too-soon.html

[x] Quoted in Eternal Perspectives, Spring/Summer 2022, p. 5

[xi] ‘Thine be the glory’ (hymn), words by Edmond Budry translated by Richard Hoyle, music by George Frederic Handel

[xiii] Andrea C Phelps et al, ‘Religious Coping and Use of Intensive Life-Prolonging Care Near Death in Patients With Advanced Cancer,’ Journal of the American Medical Association 301, no 11 (2009), https://journalofethics.ama-assn.org/article/coping-religious-coping/2009-10, https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19293414/

[xv] ‘Abide with me’ (hymn) written by Henry Francis Lyte. It was written at the death of a fellow clergyman.

[xviii][xviii] It is not the purpose of this article to discuss what heaven is like. For a fuller treatment, see Randy Alcorn, Heaven (Tyndale House Publishers Inc. Wheaton, Illinois)

[xix] For more information, https://www.careforthefamily.org.uk/support-for-you/family-life/bereavement-support/bereavement-care-awareness-for-churches/

[xx] Oliver Burkeman in conversation with Elizabeth Oldfield, The Sacred podcast, 19 April 2023

[xxi] Tweet (@randyalcorn), Saturday 29 April 2023, 4: 30 p.m.

[xxii] C S Lewis, The Problem of Pain (Harper Collins, London, 2012) p. 149

[xxiii] Robert Isaac Wilberforce and Samuel Wilberforce, The Life of William Wilberforce, volume III (John Murray, London, 1838) p. 154

[xxiv] https://andrewd-followjesus.blogspot.com/2023/03/i-saw-new-vision-of-jesus-hymn-by-w.html

[xxv] The sermon ‘Christ with the Keys of Death and Hell,’ Revelation 1: 18, 3 October 1869, Metropolitan Tabernacle volume 15

[xxvi] Charles H Spurgeon, The Promises of God: A New Edition of the Classic Devotion Based on the English Standard Version (Crossway, Wheaton, Illinois, 2019) June 22 – Proverbs 10: 27

[xxvii] Alexander Maclaren, Pictures and Emblems (Forgotten Books, London, 2015) p. 4, note 13

[xxviii] Isak Dinesen, Anecdotes of Destiny and Ehrengard, https://gutenberg.ca/ebooks/blixenk-anecdotesofdestiny/blixenk-anecdotesofdestiny-00-h-dir/blixenk-anecdotesofdestiny-00-h.html

[xxix][xxix] C S Lewis, Mere Christianity (Fontana Paperbacks, Glasgow, 1980) pp 118 - 119

[xxx] ‘O Come all ye faithful, joyful and triumphant’ attributed to John Francis Wade, translated by Frederick Oakeley

[xxxi] Tim Keller twitter account (@timkellernyc) Thursday 18 May 2023, 10:44 p.m., three separate tweets

[xxxii] An excellent book is Rob Moll (afterword by Clarissa Moll), The Art of Dying – Living fully into the life to come (Inter Varsity Press, Downers Grove, Illinois, 2021)

[xxxiii] Erwin Lutzer, One Minute After You Die (Moody Publishers, Chicago, Illinois) pp. 78 - 79

[xxxiv] Tim Keller twitter account (@timkellernyc) 15 May 2023, 12: 11 p.m.

[xxxv] Quoted in Eternal Perspectives Spring/Summer 2017, p. 14

[xxxvi] Billy Graham, Franklin Graham, Donna Lee Toney, Billy Graham in Quotes (Thomas Nelson Inc, Nashville, TN, 2011) p. 52

[xxxvii] David Meyers, ‘I Have Just Months To live. Instead Of Making A Bucket List, Here’s What I’m Doing Before I Go,’ 23 December 2022, https://www.huffpost.com/entry/brain-cancer-glioblastoma-knitting-son_n_639892c3e40169d76dacc78

[xxxviii] A notable exception was Nearing Home: Life, Faith, and Finishing Well written by Billy Graham (Thomas Nelson, Nashville, TN, 2011)

[xxxix] Nancy Guthrie, One Year Book of Hope (Tyndale House Publishers Inc, Carol Stream, Illinois, 2005) p. 61

[xl] The Collected Letters of C.S. Lewis, volume 3: Narnia, Cambridge, and Joy 1950 – 1963. Letter to Mary Willis Shelborne, 17 June 1963. She would live for another 12 years, C. S. Lewis died less than five months later. (The quote has often incorrectly two additional words to read ‘far, far better.)

[xli] Hymn: ‘He leadeth me’ composed by Joseph H. Gilmore

[xlii] Tim Keller, On Death (Penguin, 2020) p. 72

[xliii] ‘To God be the glory’ written by Fanny Crosby. Later versions have watered down her original sentiment, so that one version has ‘our wonder, our worship’ which is less impactful.

[xliv] C S Lewis, The Last Battle (Harper Collins Publishers Ltd, London, 1980) pp 171 - 172

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