The Blessing
Of    Death!
                                                                                                 By Pastor F. M. Riley
                                                                                                January 20, 2019
     "The righteous perisheth, and no man layeth it to heart:  And merciful men are taken away, none considering  That the righteous is taken away from the evil to come."  Isaiah 57:1.  
Introduction
     This study is not about the curse of death, Hebrews 2:15.  This study is not about the sting of death of death, 1 Corinthians 15:56.  Rather, this study is about the blessing of death.  Read on.......
Another Overlooked "Sign"
     My wife died on the 6th day of September, 2018.  She died of inoperable cancer.  Before her death she was in terrible pain.  Many of our readers are familiar with Aleve, the pain medicine that boasts that only one tablet will relieve pain for 12 hours.  My wife was taking four Aleve tablets every day to keep herself from screaming from the pain.  She was a dedicated Christian believer, and refused to kill herself, even though she told me, that she had thought about suicide.  She dismissed the thought as being from Satan and her flesh.  She didn't believe suicide  would be pleasing to her Lord, who is the giver and taker of life.  I cried and prayed for her in her suffering, but she wouldn't let me stay with her in her tormented suffering.  In her last days we talked only by telephone.  One morning I received a phone call from her son, who checked on her daily.  That morning he had found her peacefully asleep in Jesus.  What a blessing her death was, in ending her pain and suffering.  And I have the blessed assurance she is now enjoying the blessings of Heaven in a new body, that will never know sickness nor sorrow nor pain ever again.  Praise the Lord!  
     But since my wife died last September, I have received numerous phone calls, emails, and letters from dear brothers and sisters in Christ, telling me that their father, their mother, their sister, their brother, their son or daughter,  or their own precious wife or husband had passed away. Once or sometimes twice in a week I receive such notifications from a brother or sister in Christ.  Of course, most of them are in deep sorrow over the loss of their loved ones.  They need prayer, asking the Lord to give them grace and strength to go on in His service without their loved one.
     Why are these deaths of our loved ones, now happening so frequently?  Because the nations are entering a time of terrible crisis, and the Lord God is protecting His people.  Read this inspired text Scripture again, and pay attention to what it says.  The now frequent deaths of believers is a "sign" from the Lord, a "sign" which most of God's people commonly overlook.  Doesn't our text Scripture say that none considers "That the righteous and mercifull is taken away from the evil to come?  Well, doesn't it?  
Our Text Scripture
     Read it carefully!  Doesn't this Scripture explicitly state that the righteous and the merciful are "taken away from the evil to come?"  It sure does!  But what evil?  Every reader who is seriously studying Bible prophecy, knows that the terrible seven year Tribulation is staring mankind in the face right now.  However, every true believer, living or dead, is going to escape that period of time through a Pre-tribulation resurrection and rapture.  So this text Scripture is not speaking about the future Tribulation period.  So then what "evil to come" is it talking about?  For the answer to that question, let's go to.......
Joel 2
     I urge our readers to read this entire chapter carefully.  This chapter is a warning from our gracious God about the future "Day of the Lord" [Tribulation period].  However, in 2:30-31, these Scriptures explicitly say,
     "And I will shew wonders in the heavens and in the earth, Blood and fire, and pillars of smoke.  
     The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood,
BEFORE the great and the terrible day of the Lord come."  
     So this prophecy is to be fulfilled BEFORE the Tribulation period [day of the Lord].  That puts a new light on things.  
     Now dear readers, stop and think about the current situation in the world today.  Just as the Lord warned His disciples, there are massive clashes between cultures and races and genders going on in nations all over the earth.  There are also wars going on between nations and kingdoms.  And there are famines and pestilences in various nations, and earthquakes are happening all over the earth, Matthew 24:6-8.
In the Heavens  
      Just a few weeks ago, in broad daylight,  the Sun became totally dark for a few seconds.  There has already been four blood moons and a significant moving of the stars in the constellations above the earth.    Now on this  very day on which I am writing, there will be another blood moon tonight.   This will be the fifth blood moon, with two more to come in the next two months, making a total of seven blood moons in the series.  I have studied God's Word long enough to know that "7" is the number in the Bible signifying "completion; to complete; to finish; to bring to a conclusion."  Does this series of seven blood moons then signify the end of this present dispensation and age?  I don't know!   But I highly  suspect that it does.  
In the Earth
     However, the prophecy in Joel 2 plainly states that the "wonders" [signs; omens] take place in both "the heavens and in the earth."  So what is going on in the earth?  What was Joel inspired of God to write?  "Blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke," Joel 2:30.  
     Dear readers, when I was a young child, I begin listening to the news of the day on our old cabinet model radio,  then when TV became available. I began watching the news reports on TV.  This has been a habit with me most of my life.  I wanted to keep up what was happening in the world.   
     Anyway, every day I try to catch the evening news reports.  And always, the first item they report on is the murders which have happened in the St. Louis area over the past 24 hours.  They always, without fail, report that there has been at least one murder in the past 24 hours, and sometimes as many as seven or eight.   I know that there are many more murders in other cities and towns across this nation.   Now did Joel mention something about "blood" in the earth, or did he not?  Every honest reader knows the answer.  
     But Joel also mentioned "fire, and pillars of smoke."  I have already wrote and posted a study about the explosion and eruption of  the Mt. St Helens volcano, on May 18, 1980.  Since that time there have been many more volanoes which have erupted in various places all over the world, and it is still happening today.  Scientists studying the volcanoes have publicly stated that there are more than 100 volcanoes all over the earth, which are right now showing signs of eruption.   Do our readers catch the significance of this?  
     When a volcano erupts there is "fire," but there are also standing upright columns or "pillars of smoke."  When a volcano erupts, it usually blows a column of smoke and ash thousands of feet into the air.  The smoke and ash column from Mt. St. Helens ascended up 35,000 feet into the air above the earth.   
      The Lord also warned His disciples that there would be "earthquakes in divers places," Matthew 24:7.  There have been a rash of such quakes over this past year, and when these quakes occur, they usually stir up volcanic eruptions.  This ties Joel's prophecy of "fire, and pillars of smoke," together with the Lord's prophecy of "earthquakes in divers places."   Hello!  
     However, I don't think it completes the picture.  As I write, the nations of the earth are on the brink of a third world war.  Far too many nations have nuclear bombs in their military arsenals.  And there are wicked men on the earth who will not hesitate to use them in the event of war.  The explosion of nuclear bombs could account for the fulfillment of all three things predicted in Joel's prophecy; "blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke."  
      And remember that Joel was inspired of God to say that all of these things will occur "BEFORE the great and terrible day of the Lord come."  
The Coming of the Lord
     Dear readers, I do believe the "signs" the Lord told His disciples to "watch" for, indicate that the coming of the Lord is very near.  Based on
Songs 2:8-13, I am personally looking for the Lord to come in the Spring of this present year.  Whether I am right or wrong, none of us have long to wait to find out.   
     But only the Lord knows what will happen even in this short time between now and His coming.  Another blood moon on February 19th, and then one more on March 21st.  But what happens in the interval? Here in America, Civil War?  A collapse of the economy?  Fighting in the streets?  Loss of electrical power and communication?  A surprise nuclear attack by our enemies?  I don't know! But if the prophecy of Isaiah 57:1, is speaking of these last days in which we are presently living, and any of these things are to happen, or all of them,  it would explain why so many of our "righteous"  and "merciful" loved ones are being taken away right now.  In order to escape "from the evil to come."  Praise the Lord!  What a blessing for those we love so dearly.  
     Think about it!   While we sorrow at the passing of those we love, they are rejoicing in Heaven with our Savior.  
"No more sickness,
No more death;
No more exposure
To Satan's breath.
No more sorrow,
No more pain;
For to live is Christ,
But to die is gain.  
Philippians 1:21.   
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     My personal contact information:
POSTAL........Pastor F. M. Riley, 14275 Co. Rd. 8120, Rolla, MO 65401
EMAIL..........francismriley34@gmail.com
PHONE........573-202-6493
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