(ii) Alex Brown

2 Corinthians 5: 6-8; 1 Thessalonians 4: 15-18

We have come together today, not because of an arrangement made by man but because the Lord Jesus has taken our brother to be with Himself. His work here is complete: the time had come for his release, and we are together now in the presence of death. The body of our brother is here but he is with the Lord.

I read this scripture in 2 Corinthians because the apostle Paul is writing with full assurance. He says, "Therefore we are always confident, and know that while present in the body we are absent from the Lord". Now that applies to all here who are lovers of Christ – present in the body, absent from the Lord. The time is near when every lover of Christ will know what it is, if the Lord does not come, to face death. However we do not think of death but of the One who is coming for us. So Paul says, "we are always confident": that is the confidence of faith. Every true believer lives on the principle of faith, not of sight. We are gathered to celebrate the victory of the One who has annulled death and brought to light life and incorruptibility by the glad tidings. What glad tidings these are! How our brother loved them! Those who heard him preach know that he always presented Christ. We should all love the glad tidings because of the One who is the theme of them, the Lord Jesus Christ, the Saviour of the world, the One whom we have come to know and love, as our brother did. Think of what it means to have a bond with Christ that will never be broken – for if our brother is absent from the body he is present with the Lord. He is at home there. I understand that the word 'absent' here means 'away from home', and 'present' means 'at home'. Elsewhere Paul speaks of his desire to be present with the Lord and he gives a reason for that – "for it is very much better", Phil 1: 23. The portion of our brother is very much better; he is with his Saviour.

We have heard of the last moments of our brother's life here. What a wonderful matter the transforming power of Christ is, the power of the One who has annulled death. As we read in 1 Thessalonians 4, the living who remain are in no way to anticipate those who have fallen asleep. The Lord Himself with an assembling shout, shall descend from heaven. Think of a shout that will assemble every lover of Christ, those who have fallen asleep and those who remain. We are waiting for the coming of our glorious Saviour, dear brethren and friends. It may be that there is someone here who does not have a link with the Saviour. What an opportunity this is for you to decide for Christ and have Him as your Saviour and Lord. It is very simple. You can have a link with the Saviour through repentance towards God and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. He is the One who "shall descend from heaven; and the dead in Christ shall rise first; then we, the living who remain, shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air; and thus we shall be always with the Lord". That bond will never be severed. We shall be with Him. What glory, the glory of being with Him! Oh, the joy of it! We would have a sense of triumph as we think of the One who has overcome death, annulled its power, and is there at the right hand of God. What a place He fills! So we would encourage one another with these words, for encouragement is needed. We think of the family. Death is the final breaking of every natural link, but what a prospect we have of what Is beyond death and its power.

So we can well encourage one another with these words.