The Lord is Good
Scripture: 2 Corinthians 5:8Devotional Series: He Does All Things Well
Teaching: He Does All Things Well pt. 1 (WED 2021-03-31) by Pastor Star R Scott
The Lord is good, amen? One of the mighty among us has fallen. It’s appointed unto men once to die and after that the judgment, amen? And it so speaks to this fifteenth chapter of First Corinthians. I love this passage. We use it, of course, at every graveside service, but so applicable to one of those among us that was faithful for many, many years, served in so many ways, touched so many lives—he has finished his course, has gone home, and is receiving his reward, for “To be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord” (2 Corinthians 5:8). Hallelujah! Amen? Ready to change places in a moment, just get out of this place, to go home and be in the presence of the Lord. And the Lord determines, not Paul, for he said, “If I had my druthers, I’d go be with the Lord, but it is necessary for you that I stay to carry out this ministry.” Amen? Guess who determines all of this? God does, doesn’t He? And He makes no mistakes. And here’s that passage that I just love so much in the fifteenth chapter of First Corinthians. “O death, where is thy sting?” “The sting of death (verse 56) is sin.” It’s great to die without sin. Amen? It’s a great victory. There is no sting to death when we are the righteousness of God in Jesus Christ.
As we face this absence in our midst, I think the thing we need to look back on is: where would our brother have been today had he not run into Jesus? Amen? Where would he be today if Jesus hadn’t hunted him down as that little crook on the streets, causing trouble, running around sowing to his own flesh and going to a devil’s hell. But what we need to celebrate today is: he was redeemed and he’s gone on to receive his crown (hallelujah!), and we should be jealous about that. We should rejoice in the victory that has been won, praise God. There is nothing wrong with the emotions that we are going to feel. It’s absolutely normal, the emotions. Mourning is a biblical principle. They were given thirty days to mourn as we see the Old Testament pattern. So, it was a normal process. The only ones who were not able to mourn to the full extent of others were the priests. And the priests in general were still allowed to mourn for their wives, for their mothers, and for their fathers, but for no one else. The high priest was not allowed to mourn at all.
What that’s saying is the preeminence of God being glorified, amen? The preeminence of whatever happens here on earth. It’s appointed; we’re all going to die if the Lord tarries, but God is to be glorified in the midst of it all. In the midst of all the natural course and the tragedies of life. The High Priest, who represented the kingdom of God, was to be focused on God, and God got His glory. They weren’t distracted by the natural course. They weren’t distracted by incidents, even concerning those closest to them, but their focus was the glory of God. There is not a whole lot mentioned about the process in the New Testament. It’s because of that peace, it’s because of the understanding of the eternal victory already being won. You see, in the Old Testament they were mourning; they didn’t know eternal life. We have eternal life abiding in us, praise God! Amen? We’ve already tasted the life of God, the goodness of God. Jesus came that we might have life and have if more abundantly.
As we face this absence in our midst, I think the thing we need to look back on is: where would our brother have been today had he not run into Jesus? Amen? Where would he be today if Jesus hadn’t hunted him down as that little crook on the streets, causing trouble, running around sowing to his own flesh and going to a devil’s hell. But what we need to celebrate today is: he was redeemed and he’s gone on to receive his crown (hallelujah!), and we should be jealous about that. We should rejoice in the victory that has been won, praise God. There is nothing wrong with the emotions that we are going to feel. It’s absolutely normal, the emotions. Mourning is a biblical principle. They were given thirty days to mourn as we see the Old Testament pattern. So, it was a normal process. The only ones who were not able to mourn to the full extent of others were the priests. And the priests in general were still allowed to mourn for their wives, for their mothers, and for their fathers, but for no one else. The high priest was not allowed to mourn at all.
What that’s saying is the preeminence of God being glorified, amen? The preeminence of whatever happens here on earth. It’s appointed; we’re all going to die if the Lord tarries, but God is to be glorified in the midst of it all. In the midst of all the natural course and the tragedies of life. The High Priest, who represented the kingdom of God, was to be focused on God, and God got His glory. They weren’t distracted by the natural course. They weren’t distracted by incidents, even concerning those closest to them, but their focus was the glory of God. There is not a whole lot mentioned about the process in the New Testament. It’s because of that peace, it’s because of the understanding of the eternal victory already being won. You see, in the Old Testament they were mourning; they didn’t know eternal life. We have eternal life abiding in us, praise God! Amen? We’ve already tasted the life of God, the goodness of God. Jesus came that we might have life and have if more abundantly.