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Everlasting Life
by Pastor Cornelius R. Stam


Romans 8:2, when correctly read, is a most blessed passage of Scripture. To get the sense we should place a dash between the words “Spirit” and “of.” Thus it would read: “For the law of the Spirit — of life in Christ Jesus, hath made me free from the law of sin and death.”

When a sinner places his trust in Christ as Savior he is justified before the bar of God, because Christ’s death and righteousness are imputed to him. This is a judicial matter.

But at the same moment something else happens: the Spirit regenerates and gives new life (Tit. 3:5). This is a law, an inexorable, unchangeable law. The sinner who sincerely places his trust in Christ as Savior is given life by the Holy Spirit. It is always so; it is never otherwise.

I John 5:12 says: “He that hath the Son hath life….” John 3:36 says that “He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life” and Col. 3:3 declares that the believer’s life is “hid with Christ in God.”

Thus the Apostle could say: “The law of the Spirit, [that of] life in Christ, hath made me free from the law of sin and death.” Adam forfeited his life by sin, but the believer’s new life can never be forfeited, for this life is nothing less than the life of Christ, in whom the believer now stands perfect and complete before God.

It is a law, a fixed unchangeable law, that sin brings forth death (Rom. 5:12; 6:23; et al). This is called “the law of sin and death,” but the believer has already died for sin in Christ and has been given new life by the Spirit. Thus “the law of the Spirit,” that of “life in Christ,” has made the simplest believer “free from the law of sin and death.”

Thank God for “the law of the Spirit,” everlasting life through the Lord Jesus Christ, who died for our sins.

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Ambassadors for Christ
by Pastor Paul M. Sadler


    “Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God” (2 Cor. 5:20).

Such a glorious message as reconciliation must at all cost be taken without haste to the unsaved masses. This is precisely what God did when He commissioned us as ambassadors for Christ. I read some time ago that in the Roman empire there were two types of provinces— senatorial and imperial. The senatorial provinces were peaceful for the most part, and never caused Rome any problem. This could not be said of the imperial ones, for they were dangerous and frequently rebelled against the empire. It was to the imperial provinces that Rome sent ambassadors to help ease tension and announce the emperor’s objectives. They were some of the first diplomats in the truest sense of the term.

In the present evil age in which we live, the world is an imperial province that has nothing but contempt for God. In the midst of this tumult, God has sent in His ambassadors to offer amnesty the world’s weary warriors of rebellion.

What an honor it would be to be chosen by the President of the United States to serve our country as an ambassador in a foreign land. Every ambassador seems to have three outstanding characteristics. First, they always look presentable. Secondly, they are dignified, and finally, they are well informed as to the goals of the commander in chief. If this is true in the affairs of men, how much more so as we represent Christ in His absence. Many in the world are dull of hearing and therefore need to hear again that God loves them and has reconciled them unto Himself. Unlike the Great Commission given to Israel, our commission does not concern nations, but individuals within the nations. Begin by committing the word of reconciliation to your loved ones, and remember that the mission field extends into foreign lands as well.

What has happened to the missionary zeal that was cradled in our country? The fires have seemingly gone out except for a few flickering AMBASSADORS for CHRIST By Pastor Paul M. Sadler embers that yet glow. Pray that God will ignite a fire in our hearts for lost souls in other lands. Permit me to say that far too often our Grace Missionaries struggle on meager salaries that would probably be below the poverty level in this country. They have left family and friends and the security of our homeland to preach Christ to those who are less fortunate than ourselves. The very least we can do is to encourage them with our financial support and pray without ceasing for their needs. I suppose the polar caps would melt before the denominational churches of North America would come to their assistance, for reasons that are obvious. We must rise to the occasion on their behalf before the doors of third-world countries are completely closed.

A Herculean task lies before us to spread the word of reconciliation. And may it ever be before us that “…if one died for all, then were all dead.” Can it be truthfully said that all who have been born of the woman are born in sin and therefore spiritually dead? Then as the apostle says, Christ died for all without exception (2 Cor. 5:14,15). Yes, Christ died for you! “Now is the accepted time, NOW IS THE DAY OF SALVATION.” How many would you say have died in the last 24 hours around the world? Tomorrow death may tap you on the shoulder and say, “Your hour has come.” Time is of the essence; to receive God’s wonderful offer of reconciliation, simply believe that Christ died for your sins personally and rose again the third day for your justification. Do it today, eternity awaits.

— An Excerpt from Exploring the Unsearchable Riches of Christ.

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God's Delight
by Pastor John Fredericksen


We delight in the embrace of a child, the gathering of family, even in things and hobbies.  But what delights the heart of God?  In Proverbs 15:8 we learn, “The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the Lord: but the prayer of the upright is His delight.”

When the lost seek to worship or give to the Lord apart from saving faith in Christ, in effect, on their own terms, it cannot please the Lord.  Oh, but when God’s redeemed children come to Him in the praise and dependence of prayer, it is His delight.  He created us for fellowship with Him.  He longs for your relationship with Him to be vibrant and consistent.  Each of us can delight the heart of God by daily making time to be with Him in prayer and in the study of God’s Word.

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Christ And Politics
by Pastor Cornelius R. Stam


Astronaut John Glenn in politics — running for the U. S. Senate! It seems odd to think of him in a political role, but evidently he feels he can serve his country best in politics.

But did you ever think of Christ’s relation to politics? He came into this world, remember, as a King. The very opening words of the New Testament are: “Jesus Christ, the Son of David…” (Matt. 1:1). This emphasizes the fact that He came from the royal line. John the Baptist had gone forth as the King’s herald, to prepare His way, and the twelve apostles proclaimed His royal rights as they preached “the gospel of the kingdom.” This was all in fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy:

    “For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given; and the government shall be upon His shoulder: and His name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. Of the increase of His government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David…” (Isa. 9:6,7).

Instead of crowning Him King, however, they nailed Him to a cross and wrote over His head His “accusation”: “This is Jesus, the King of the Jews.”

Actually our Lord had come especially, this first time, to be rejected and crucified for the sins of men. Psalm 22, Isaiah 53 and other Old Testament passages had predicted that at His first coming He would be despised and rejected. Matt. 20:28 says of this coming: “The Son of Man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister and to give his life a ransom for many.”

Our Lord did not die an untimely death; the cross was not a useless sacrifice. He knew that man’s greatest need is moral and spiritual — that his sins must be paid for if he is not to be condemned forever before the court of eternal Justice. So in love He came to be rejected and suffer and die “the Just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God” (I Pet. 3:18.).

He will come again to judge and reign as all prophecy indicates, but for the present He deals with mankind in grace. Eph. 1:7 says that “in [Him] we have redemption, through His blood, the forgiveness of sins according to the riches of His grace” and Rom. 3:24 declares that believers are “justified freely by [God’s] grace, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.”

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An Indisputable Fact
by Pastor Cornelius R. Stam


The theological confusion in the Church today is basically the result of her rebellion against the authority of Paul as the divinely-appointed apostle for the present “dispensation of the grace of God” (Eph. 3:1-3).

On every hand Paul is referred to merely as one of the apostles, sometimes even as one of the twelve, though the record of Scripture proves that he could not possibly have qualified as one of the twelve (See Matt. 19:28 and cf. Acts 9:1).

In Galatians 1 and 2 the Apostle throws down the certificate of his apostleship, as it were, to those who questioned it in his day. He opens his argument with the declaration:

    “…I certify you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached of me is not after man.

    “For I neither received it of man, neither was I taught it, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ” (Gal. 1:11,12).

The Scriptures teach beyond the shadow of a doubt that Paul’s apostleship and message were absolutely unique and separate from that of the twelve or of any who had preceded him. This is what Christendom as a whole has refused to accept. Is it any wonder, then, that they confuse God’s prophesied kingdom program with “the mystery,” committed to Paul for us in this present dispensation?

The Scriptures emphasize not only the Apostle’s constant use of the first person pronoun, “I,” “me,” “my,” but the unique character of his apostleship and message. Ignore this fact and confusion must inevitably result; accept it and a hundred seeming contradictions in Scripture disappear.

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Sprinkled or Dunked?
by Pastor Ricky Kurth


Just as some people believe that doughnuts should be sprinkled with sprinkles, and others believe they should be dunked in coffee, so some Christians believe they should be baptized by sprinkling, and others believe they should be dunked, or immersed. I personally believe the only mode of water baptism in Scripture is by sprinkling.

First, while it is popular to say that water baptism is a testimony that has nothing to do with salvation, the Bible is very clear that the purpose of water baptism is to cleanse men by washing away their sins(Acts 22:16 cf. Mark 1:4; 16:16; Acts 2:38.). In Scripture, cleansing is often accomplished by sprinkling (Num. 8:6,7; 19:13,18-22), but never by immersion. In fact, God promised the Jews that after He gathers them back into their land for the kingdom,

    “Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness…will I cleanse you” (Ezek. 36:24,25).

We know it is commonly taught that the Greek word baptismos that is translated “baptism” in our Bibles means to “dip” or to dunk, but that’s not so. It’s true that bapto, the verb form of baptismos, means to dip, for that’s how it’s translated in Luke 16:24. However, dipping is only the beginning of water baptism, as we see in Numbers 19:18:

    “And a clean person shall take hyssop, and dip it in the water, and sprinkle it upon…the persons that were there.”

“Hyssop” was a flowery bush that, when dipped in water, was capable of absorbing enough liquid to then sprinkle it on people (Heb. 9:19). So in water baptism, the hyssop was immersed, the people were sprinkled.

We know that those Old Testament sprinklings were baptisms, for baptismos is the word used to describe those “divers washings” (Heb. 9:10). Even the priests were washed (Ex. 29:4) with water from the laver (Ex. 40:11,12) that was not used for immersion (Ex. 30:18-21). We know John the Baptist washed people in the same way, for the Jews didn’t ask “what” he was doing, as they would if he were doing something new, they asked “why” he was doing it (John 1:25). He stood in the Jordan so he could easily dip the hyssop and sprinkle people. Baptismos is also translated “washing” in Mark 7:4, and few (if any) households in Israel had a receptacle large enough to immerse “tables.”

Of course, today our hearts are washed “by…regeneration” (Titus 3:5). But while your heart was cleansed in this manner, to cleanse your “way” (Psa. 119:9), you can only do so “by taking heed thereto according to thy Word.” Let’s take heed!

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Mumbling and Grumbling
by Pastor Paul M. Sadler


    “Do all things without murmurings [grumbling] and disputings [arguing]: That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation [generation]” (Phil. 2:14,15).

Whenever there is something that is disrupting the harmony of the local assembly, each member of that Body needs to examine himself, and ask, “Lord is it I? Am I the one who has caused this problem?” The flesh can justify anything, even grumbling to others how they would have handled things differently. This only serves to cause discord among the brethren. These types of things are normally said in the shadows of the assembly hall where the battle lines are drawn for a major confrontation. When you’re not on the frontlines fighting the good fight of the faith, it’s easy to stand in the shadows and criticize others who are defending the faith. Criticism is not one of the gifts of the Spirit, but a manifestation of the flesh!

Paul wanted those at Philippi who were living in carnality to turn from it so they could be used in a greater way by the Lord. They were to be blameless, harmless, and without rebuke, so that there would be little question who they were in the eyes of the world. You see, believers have something the world is searching for: peace, purpose and hope! Therefore, it was important that these children of God maintain a consistent testimony for Christ before a crooked and perverse generation. Essentially, the apostle is challenging the Philippians to live a godly life so as not to disgrace the name of Christ before the world.

The unsaved of our day, for example, revel in pointing out: “Oh, you mean that church where they fight like cats and dogs and had to call the police to settle a dispute. Why it’s no different over there than the corner tavern I frequent.” Once a local assembly has this type of reputation, it is highly unlikely they will have much of an outreach to the community for Christ. As it has been said, “When a non-believer sees a professing Christian who is argumentative, hard to get along with, and worldly in his ambitions, conversation, and behavior, the unbeliever soon forms a poor opinion of Christianity.”

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Imitators
by Pastor John Fredericksen


A few weeks ago, when our grandson was about 27 months old, we noticed him doing something incredibly cute. He had put on his daddy’s flip-flops (a size 12) and was proudly walking around the room with a big smile on his face. He has become a great, natural imitator of what he hears us say and sees us doing. This got me to thinking that even we adults usually imitate someone.

Once Israel was in their promised land, “the people refused to obey the voice of Samuel; and they said, Nay; but we will have a king over us; that we also may be like all the nations…” (I Sam. 8:19-20). This was an unwise decision on the part of Israel. God had been governing them through a series of judges who represented the Lord. These judges certainly were not perfect, but this had been God’s design. Jehovah’s response to their virtual demand to Samuel to give them a king was, “they have not rejected thee, but they have rejected me, that I should not reign over them” (I Sam. 8:7).

This pattern of imitating the world later worsened. “They rejected His [the Lord’s] statutes, and His covenant…and became vain, and went after the heathen that were round about them, concerning whom the Lord had charged them, that they should not do like them” (II Kings 17:15). Throughout the Old Testament, God’s people frequently became too close and familiar with the lost people around them. In the case of Lot, he first pitched his tent toward Sodom but before long he was living within the city and had completely lost his testimony. In other instances, Israel made treaties with the heathen nations, began to intermarry with them, and in short order began to worship their false gods. They were imitating the wrong things and the wrong people.

This same danger is still entrapping many believers in our day. Far too often, we are unduly influenced by the way the lost in our society talk, dress, think, and by what they embrace as acceptable, even when these things are clearly displeasing to the Lord. We believers are too often caught in the trap of being overly occupied with sports, recreation, leisure time, and hobbies to the neglect of spiritual things and the Lord’s local work. The Lord has something far better in mind for us, and someone far better to imitate.

The Lord tells us in Romans 12:2: “Be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.” As believers, our lives are to be so transformed that there is a marked difference between us and the unsaved. Our standard ought not to be what the world is doing, or what the latest fad dictates. Our standard should be what would please and honor the Lord. There is no virtue in being weird, strange, or odd. These things do not enhance our testimony or effectiveness as a representative of the Lord Jesus Christ. Nonetheless, we believers should be different from the world in many ways.

Believers do have someone they should be imitating. We should “mark them [godly believers] which walk so as ye have us for an ensample” (Phil. 3:17). Godly, knowledgeable Christians who followed Paul as he followed Christ and are fervent in their walk with Christ are the ones we should imitate.

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The God Who Sings
by Pastor Kevin Sadler


    “Sing, O daughter of Zion; shout, O Israel; be glad and rejoice with all the heart…the king of Israel, even the LORD, is in the midst of thee…The LORD thy God in the midst of thee is mighty; He will save, He will rejoice over thee with joy; He will rest in His love, He will joy over thee with singing” (Zeph. 3:14-17).

The majority of the book of Zephaniah rumbles with judgment and doom, but it culminates with joy and deliverance. The prophecy builds to a crescendo at the end, as within the kingdom of heaven on the earth there will be cause for great joy. The reason for their joy is that “the King of Israel, even the Lord” is in Israel’s midst. Christ’s personal presence among Israel in the kingdom on earth, reigning over them as her King, will be the cause for their greatest joy. Because of this, Israel is told to sing, shout, be glad and rejoice with all her heart.

Paul tells the Church, the Body of Christ to “Rejoice in the Lord alway: and again I say, Rejoice” (Phil. 4:4). The Lord is the reason for our joy and gladness. We too sing because of the Lord. Colossians 3:16 tells us to be “singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.” We sing to the Lord out of our joy because of Him and all He has done for us.

Within the kingdom on earth, Israel is told also that the Lord will rejoice over them. “He will rest in His love,” speaks of a still, silent joy by the Lord for Israel, but then He will break the silence with singing in His joy over His people!

The Lord loves us, the Body of Christ, just as much as He loves Israel. Out of His infinite love for you and me, He rejoices over us also with a joy so strong that it would cause Him to sing over us. It reminds us how the love of Christ “passeth knowledge” (Eph. 3:19). The Lord loves us so deeply that He willingly gave His life on the Cross for our sins. When we place our faith in Christ and that He died for us and rose again, we are saved, and we rejoice in the Lord always who fully purchased our salvation. But our Savior also rejoices over us that we belong to Him eternally. The voice of God that created all things, stilled the storm, and will raise the dead at the Rapture; that voice sings over His deep joy for His redeemed. One day in glory we will hear the God who sings.

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God: A Just Judge
by Pastor Cornelius R. Stam


How just are the judgments of God! In Rom. 2:16 St. Paul says: “God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ according to my gospel.” Notice carefully what this involves:

1. He will judge “the secrets of men.” In human courts there are often miscarriages of justice because all the facts are not brought to light. But at the “Great White Throne” there will be a Judge with “eyes… as a flame of fire” (Rev. 19:12), before whom no secret can remain hidden. (See also Heb. 4:13).

2. He will judge the secrets of men “by Jesus Christ.” Not the Father, but the Son will preside at the judgment of the unsaved. John 5:22 declares that “the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son” and Verse 27 adds that the Father has given the Son this authority “because He is the Son of man.” This insures just judgment, for, men will be judged in that day by the One who loved them enough to become a man that He might understand and help men, and even die for their sins.

3. He will judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ “according to my gospel,” says Paul. How eminently fair and just this is. If He judged men according to the law of Moses no one ever would be saved, for all of us have broken the Law. Moreover the children of fallen Adam, because of their depraved nature, cannot consistently keep the Law. Thus they will not be judged on the basis of that which they were unable to live up to. This is why He will judge men according to the good news proclaimed by Paul, which is the great truth that salvation is denied to no one who takes God at His Word and approaches Him in His way. His way for today? “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved.”

    “To him that worketh not, but believeth on Him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness” (Rom. 4:5).

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The Fruit Of The Spirit
by Pastor Cornelius R. Stam


    “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance; against such there is no law” (Gal. 5:22,23).

The “fruit of the Spirit” is that combination of graces evidenced in the lives of believers who “walk in the Spirit.” Let us never make the mistake of supposing that “the Spirit,” in Gal. 5:22,23, refers to “the spirit of man which is in him” (I Cor. 2:11). It refers rather to the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of God, who indwells believers. The spiritual virtues listed above do not spring from any goodness in us, but from the Spirit of God dwelling within.

Next, we should observe that these graces are not the product of human effort. The passage above declares that they are fruit, and fruit is the natural product of life and growth. Indeed, “the fruit of the Spirit” is here contrasted with “the works of the flesh” (Vers. 19-21), and these are all bad!

Finally, it is a remarkable fact that the graces which the Holy Spirit produces in yielded believers are certainly not those which the world admires. The world admires self-confidence, self-respect, self-made men, intellectual prowess, personal magnetism, authority, etc., while the Spirit produces “love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance.” But consider the difference. A man may have self-confidence, intellectual acumen, political or other power — and he may still be very difficult to live with, but not so with the virtues which the Spirit produces. Of those who possess these graces the Apostle says: “Against such there is no law.”

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Heaven -- And Who Will Go There
by Pastor Cornelius R. Stam


Most people are surprised when they learn that the Old Testament, though three times as large as the New, does not contain one single promise about going to heaven. God’s people, in Old Testament times, looked forward to a glorified earth, with Messiah as its Ruler.

This was so even when our Lord was on earth and continued to be so through Pentecost. Peter, addressing his kinsmen just after Pentecost, said in essence: “Repent, and God will send Jesus down here” (See Acts 3:19-20), but Paul, in his epistles, says by divine inspiration: “Believe, and God will take you up there.”

This apostle of grace teaches us that God has already given believers in Christ a position and “all spiritual blessings” in heavenly places in Christ (Eph. 2:4-6; 1:3). And he teaches further that at the close of this dispensation of grace “the dead in Christ shall rise” and “we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together …to meet the Lord… and so shall we ever be with the Lord” (I Thes. 4:16,17).

Thus it is that Paul, God’s special apostle for our day, declares that “our conversation [or citizenship] is in heaven” (Phil. 3:20) and writes of “the hope which is laid up for you in heaven” (Col. 1:5). Thus it is that he encourages persecuted saints, saying: “Ye…took joyfully the spoiling of your goods, knowing…that ye have in heaven a better and an enduring substance” (Heb. 10:34). And thus he writes even of death:

    “For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens” (II Cor. 5:1).

    “…to die is gain….to depart and to be with Christ…is far better” (Phil. 1:21,23).

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The Holy Spirit And The Believer Today
by Pastor Cornelius R. Stam


Grace and faith are the characteristic features of the present dispensation. Not only is salvation now declared to be by grace, through faith, but the Spirit also operates in the believer by grace, through faith. He does not take possession of us and cause us to do what is right, but dwells within each believer (I Cor. 6:19) to provide needed guidance and the strength to withstand temptation, and we may avail ourselves of this provision by faith.

The Spirit, Who first imparted life to us will also impart strength to withstand temptation and overcome sin. In our inability to even pray as we ought, “the Spirit… helpeth our infirmities” and “maketh intercession for us” (Rom. 8:26). In our weakness we are “strengthened with might by His Spirit in the inner man” (Eph. 3:16) and God even stoops to “quicken [our] mortal bodies by His Spirit that dwelleth in us” (Rom. 8:11).

    “Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh” (Ver. 12).

The implication from the above passage is that though sorely tempted we are debtors to the Spirit who dwells within and provides overcoming power.

The question, in times of temptation, is generally whether we truly desire to overcome, for we may overcome in any given case by grace, through faith. In the present dispensation it is not true that it is not possible for the believer to sin, but it is blessedly true that in any situation it is possible for him not to sin, for the Spirit is always there to help.

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What's Happened Since 1909?
by Pastor Cornelius R. Stam


In 1909 Dr. C. I. Scofied wrote the following passage in the Introduction to the Scofield Reference Bible:

    “The last fifty years have witnessed an intensity and breadth of interest in Bible study unprecedented in the history of the Christian Church. Never before have so many reverent, learned and spiritual men brought to the study of the Scriptures minds so free from merely controversial motive. A new and vast exegetical and expository literature has been created….”

Even the years that followed the writing of this passage produced many great Bible expositors, but their number has since dwindled fast, until today evangelistic-revival campaigns have all but replaced the great, thrilling Bible conferences of some decades ago.

Regardless of the popularity of such campaigns, however, the Church will not make true progress, either in spiritual power or in the number of genuine converts to Christ, until it once again places due emphasis on the Word of God, both in private study and in public ministry.

Unpopular but vital Bible doctrines have stopped many preachers and Bible teachers short and have hindered them from bringing to the Scriptures “minds free from merely controversial motive,” largely because the price of standing for these truths has seemed too great. But until it is the sole passion of men of God to know THE TRUTH and make it known, true revival will not come, for the Church has never made one step of progress apart from progress in the study of the Word.

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Heaven Is Better Than This
by Pastor Cornelius R. Stam


A large percentage of the people of the world wake up every morning with some kind of ache or pain. If you are one of the many victims, with some infirmity of the flesh, perhaps you will agree with the little chorus which says: “Heaven is better than this.”

The Scriptures tell us that “the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now” (Rom. 8:22). Note the expression: “the whole creation.” This takes in the whole world; no one is excluded. Indeed, the very next verse goes on to say to Christian believers:

    “And not only they, but ourselves also… even we ourselves groan within ourselves… waiting for… the redemption of our body.”

No doubt many of us feel like crying out with the Psalmist David, “Look upon mine affliction and my pain” (Psa. 25:18.). In spite of all sorrow, trouble and pain which the child of God must endure, however, he can be assured with the Apostle Paul that: “our light affliction, which is but for a moment [comparatively], worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory” (II Cor. 4:17). When we go to be with the Lord we will no longer be living in “this earthly tabernacle,” but will have “a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens” (II Cor. 5:1). Paul even adds that as Christians we earnestly desire “to be clothed upon with our house [our new body] which is from heaven” (II Cor. 5:2).

Finally, St. Paul declared that “to depart, and to be with Christ… is far better” (Phil. 1:23); far better, not only than all earth’s sorrow and trouble and pain, but far better even than earth’s greatest joys and its dearest treasures. How wonderful it is to know that “Christ died for our sins,” to have a light beyond the grave, a hope beyond the tomb! Surely “heaven is better than this!”