Voice of the Nazarene 11-12-23

I'm coming to you from North Central Ohio, we share with you the voice of the Nazarene, a week by week venture into the Word of God sponsored by the Bucyrus, Ohio Church of the Nazarene. We join our Pastor Reverend Ray Lasalle and the voice of the Nazarene.

I want to talk to you this morning about the kiss of death.

Judas placed the kiss of death upon the cheek of Christ. But I want to tell you in retaliation, one day Christ is going to place the kiss of death on the Christians forehead. Young preacher was pastoring and he got a little lengthy and his wife wrote something on a slip of paper and handed it to an usher and said, Go up there and give that to my husband. He said, he's preaching she said that's all right, interrupt him.

And so he headed up to hand it to that preacher who was just preaching away and he wasn't nosey he was just curious. Is there any difference? So he's turned it over and looked at it, and it was just one word, kiss, k-i-s-s. He thought, boy, this is strange. And he stopped the pastor and handed him the note.

The pastor looked at it and he was quite shocked. And when the Usher headed back to the back of the building, he headed up the pastor's wife, and he said, I didn't mean to, but I read that note. And he said, that was quite romantic. That little thing you said about kiss. She said, there was no romance to it. It meant keep it short, stupid. So I will endeavor to do that a bit. Kissing is a wonderful thing. Somebody said it's been so long I couldn't remember if you blow or you suck, but they say it's a wonderful thing. A guy was going to a park and it was a handsome looking stud and two beautiful girls on either side. And he had his arms around them and kind of smooching on them. There was a father going through that same park with his boy, his boy wasn't totally bright. He had some intellectual problems. And they followed that guy with the two beautiful girls on either side. He looked over to his dad and said, windshield wipers. The dad said what he said windshield wipers. He said what are you talking about windshield wipers?

He pointed to that boy who had his arm around both girls who was going kiss kiss. Deuteronomy chapter 34, verse five. So Moses, the servant of the Lord died. He died down there in Moab. By the word according to the Word of the Lord, he died.

Deuteronomy 34 · chapter mention

That is something that is going to happen to everybody in the house and those joining us by livestream and telecasts. No way to elude it, no way to escape it. Every one of us are facing the last enemy it's called death. You can prepare for it or you may not prepare for it. You may think if I don't do anything about it, it'll never happen.

But it will whether you make your own funeral arrangements, pick out your headstone and whatever. Or you can leave it for your family who was unprepared for your departure.

You can make out a living will or a trust and arrange the inheritance for the family or you going to leave the family to get all divided over who gets what. The Bible said Moses died.

One day they'll put another name in there that they died. And I cannot tell you the number of times that I've been called out to the side of the bed of someone who was about to leave this world it's been a common occurrence in my life since I've lived here in this little city.

I joined up and kind of took charge of the chaplaincy at our local hospital. I only did it because I felt like it was needed and no one else was assuming the responsibility and so I did and almost every week of my life, it's not uncommon to get a call somebody needs a preacher. They need a chaplain, can you get up to the ICU? How quickly can you get here? And sometimes I don't make it in time. Do you know them? No, I don't know most of them. But the prayer that I pray will be the last prayer that they'll ever hear. My hand will be the hand, it'll be the last hand that most of them many of them will ever hold. My face will be one of the last faces they'll ever see in the land of the living. I've walked in, and I've seen the fear that's registered in the eyes of somebody that's about to go out and meet God, unprepared.

I've also seen the peace on the countenance of those who had gotten right with God, somewhere in the passage of the years, and they were ready to meet God.

Nothing can be any sweeter than watching someone who's ready to go. And nothing can be any worse or horrendous, than standing at the bedside of somebody about to step into the night of eternity.

And they're not ready. It said that Moses died, all of us are going to die. And all of us one day stand before God and will give an account. We'll not get out of this world alive. We're gonna die. And standing at those bed sides in those moments make me to understand that there is a heaven that's regal and the heaven that we have to go to.

And as people leave this world with a radiant smile. I've had them as they were dying, say, preacher, preacher, did you see them? And I said, See who? I see my papa. I see mother. I see my baby that died. Preacher, I can see heaven. I didn't see it. But I stood by their bedside and I knew they were looking into the world beyond this world in which we are gathered. I want to tell you something, I have also been there when they would scream as they were about to plunge into hell, that they could feel the flame. They knew they were lost.

I went to see a kid that I had attended seminary with he was in the ministry too. He was a pastor. I had gone to his home to eat and he said to me after dinner, he said, Ray, would you mind going with me over to a hospital there's a lady needing a preacher. She's dying. I did not know her I found out later that she had been married to a man who had gotten saved who was called to preach and she was mean to him. And he would go out and preach. And when he would come back, she would lock him out of the house and throw his clothes out of the upstairs window and they'd be all across the yard. Till one day he gave up and quit trying to serve God.

Now she's dying. Mike and I went into a room and and we stood by her bedside and she said can either one of you pray. I'm about to face God. I feel like there's fire burning. I feel the hot coals of hell. Can you pray?

Mike, He was the pastor bowed his head and give it the best prayer that he had. And when he finished she said it's not good enough I'm going to hell and you need to pray again. Don't let me be lost like this. Please help me don't go. Finally he turned to me and he said would you pray? I tried to pray and it was like praying against a ceiling, as though the prayer never left the room. She could sense hell so close. I closed out there in English, Indiana, the meeting on Sunday night and the local mortician attended that church and he invited the pastor and his family and I over to his home. Their home was connected to the funeral home and he mentioned would you like to see through some of the building and see what we have? And I didn't say yes, I just followed them.

I didn't feel called to that ministry let me tell you. And we got into a room and it was the room where they were preparing the body and on the cooling board was a body under a sheet and he said here's one. We just got her in earlier today and he pulled back the sheet and I looked in the face of the woman who was as she was dying talked about I'm going to hell. Can't you get God to hear me? Can't you get God to hear me? I want to tell you something. I've been in the ministry now since 1967, I want you to know that everybody is going to die. And you will either be prepared to die or you'll be unprepared. And I've seen the difference that it makes, I don't know about you, I've made my choice. I'm going to die on God's side. I want to die prepared. I don't want to die lost and unprepared. I've seen the difference that it makes. Now here's a Christian who dies and he says I see Jesus. That's a wonderful side, isn't it? It's Acts chapter seven, verse 56. His name is Stephen. He was a deacon in the early church, the first martyr that ever died in the early church. And as he's dying, he looks up and he said, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of Man standing on the right hand of God. That's what he saw. And I want to give you three reasons why I want to be prepared, I want to die as a Christian.

Number one, Jesus meets us when we die. The Bible said that Stephen saw the son of man standing on the right hand of God. Now listen, Paul said, For me to live as what?, Christ, and to die is what?, gain. And then he went on to say, I have a desire to depart to be with Christ, which is far better, nevertheless, to abide in the flesh is more needful for you.

In other words, I could die right now and be with Christ, it'd be a wonderful thing. But if I live, I can continue to minister among you and he felt the need for that. Now, the moment that a Christian dies, he sees Jesus. And I've been at the bedside of so many. And sometimes when they didn't get morphine to them in time. I've been there when they've died without seeing Jesus and plunged into the world beyond. Now, one of the reasons why we as God's people ought not to shrink back when we think of death, is the fact that we'll see Jesus. The song writer said, oh, I want to see him. Look upon his face.

They're to sing forever of His saving grace on the streets of glory. Let me lift my voice, Cares all pass home at last ever to rejoice. Another songwriter said it'll be worth it all when we see Jesus. Lives trials will seem so small when we see Christ, one glimpse of his dear face, all sorrow will erase. So bravely run the race, till we see Christ. But not only does Jesus meet us as a Christian in death, but it's how he meets us.

First of all, according to the Scripture, Jesus meets us standing. Now, here's Stephen, and I'll get to him in a moment.

When Jesus Christ finished his redemptive work on the cross and He died, and he ascended back to him. The Bible said that he sat down on the right hand of God, the Father, he sat down. Now, anyone that has loved ones when family returns home and you haven't seen them for a while, you don't just sit there like you don't care. You stand up, you throw your arms out, and you welcome them. I mean, if you had a soldier boy that's come home from the battles, you're going to stand up and welcome them.

You got a kid that returned from college, you haven't seen them for a while you stand up because it's an honor. And the Lord Jesus sitting there in heaven, looked down and he saw Stephen about to die. Stephen, who had stood against the Sanhedrin.

Stephen who's willing to give his life for the great cause in the great kingdom. Jesus said, He stood for me, I'm going to stand for him. And he stood up and he welcomed Stephen back home. I believe Jesus will stand to greet us. Now if you recall Luke 15. It's the story of the prodigal the wayward prodigal.

May I say that the prodigal represents you and represents me. And the father in that story represents God the Father. Now, here's the prodigal he's returning home. He spent everything that he had he left rebelliously. Now he comes back humbly. And the father evidently was looking for him, but when he saw him, he ran to him fell on his neck and what did he do? He kissed him. He kissed him.

That's what the scripture is saying. And we read here that Moses died at the word of the Lord of which many died at the mouth of the LORD. What does it mean? Well, the ancient rabbis thought this when Moses died, God had pity on him, because Moses had been a friend to God.

If you remember the story of Moses, Moses led the children of Israel 40 years. Moses, he's the one that prayed down mana, Moses prayed water out of the rock.

Moses led the children of Israel across the Red Sea. Moses, stood up against Pharaoh forum, Moses followed God and led three and a half million Jews. The greatest dream that Moses ever had in his life, was to go into the Promised Land and lead the people. He wanted to see Canaan.

That was his dream that he had lived for. And he comes to the very door of Canaan and God and mercy said, I'm not going to let you go in. There's things that's happened in your life, I cannot let you in. You talk about disappointed, he goes to the top of Mount Pisgah. And he looks over the waterway and he looks into the promised land and he wanted in so desperately, he looked from the great heighths of Pisgah, and was never allowed to go in but left there on a flight to heaven. But he never entered the land. His feet was never in the land that flowed in milk and honey. His hands never reached up and grasped a cluster of grapes of Eskil. He never ate of the pomegranates of Israel.

Moses said, Lord, please, please let me go in. It's what I've lived for, it's what I've dreamed of I want to go into the Promised Land. And God said, No, Moses. Fact of the matter I don't think it was the Lord's will, for Moses to go into the Promised Land. The more I read it, I don't think that God ever intended for Moses to enter into Canaan. Do you know why? Because Moses in the Old Testament represented the law. And I want you to know the law can't get you into heaven, only Jesus can get you into heaven. Who was it that led them on into the Promised Land? That was Joshua, and the name and the word Joshua in the Old Testament is the same word for Jesus in the New Testament. It wouldn't have been a fitting type of salvation for Moses, the Law to lead the children of Israel into the Promised Land, he could only led them up to the door, but it's Jesus who took them on in. Now, wait a minute, the Bible says that when Moses died, that he died at the mouth of the Lord.

And I think the Lord looked down and he said, Moses, and they placed a kiss on the brow of this great leader, and welcomed Moses to heaven. Now, if you recall, again, the prodigal son, and I think it gives us a picture of how God will receive us when we come down to death's door. When he returned home, they kill the fatted calf. They put the best robe the had on him, they put a ring on his hand, they called in the neighbors, and that father ran to him had compassion on him, fell on his neck and kissed him, the kiss of death. I believe that when it comes time for you and I to die, the Lord's going to reach down and kiss your brow and welcome you home. What kind of a father wouldn't welcome his children home with a kiss. I'd be away at college and I'd be away for months at a time and I would return home and mom and dad would both run and there'd be a big kiss on both sides of cheek, welcome home. Listen to me. I'm saying it's time to realize we've got to die someday.

Their beats in your breast a never dying soul. And you've got to face the God who made you.

You got to look him in the eye and give an account of the life that you've lived in what you did with his son. I mean, how can we live on His earth? Drink his water, eat his food, enjoy his sunshine. and never expect to pay up? This is rental property. If I had a renter come to me and say, Well, hey, Mister, I'm not going to pay you this time because I'm not your child, I'd say, it doesn't matter whether you're my child or not you're living in my apartment. And God is saying, you're living in my world.

You're living on my green soil.

You're drinking my water, you're eating my food, you're enjoying my sunshine, it's time to pay your rent. And someday we're gonna move out of this rental property. And into the world beyond, you're never dying soul will live somewhere, but not here. This world is temporary.

And the Bible said that Moses died. A mother gives her little baby a bottle. And soon that baby is full and begins to drift off to sleep and mother picks up that gentle little baby and puts it over her shoulder begins to pat its back until it gives that final birp. Then she takes that precious baby and leans over the crib and places that baby in the crib and brushes its cheek with a mother's beautiful kiss. And one day out there in the past, when Moses time came to die, and when he's about to be put to sleep, God leaned over the cribs of heaven, and placed the kiss of death on the cheek of his great leader named Moses. Here's the third thing I want to mention to you. It's when Jesus meets us that's wonderful. You see Stephen in Acts, chapter seven. He was still talking when he looked into the heavens and saw Jesus, he wasn't dead yet.

He was still alive. And there seems to be a moment that when a Christian dies, there's an overlapping between the leaving here on Earth and going into heaven. There seems to be a space. Stephen hadn't left the body his death is near but he's able to see into heaven. I used to come in from revivals. And I would pull into the drive and dad would come thundering out of the back door and rush out to my car and hug me and begin to help me to unload. I was home and I could see him but I wasn't in the house yet. There's something when we leave this world, we're able to look for a moment into the heavens and God's arms begin to reach for us. And a gentle kiss is laid on us. There is that space in between precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints. Stephen was still alive when he saw Jesus. I had a little baby brother was born before I and between my brother and I and I buried my brother probably four months ago. Now my oldest brother, Roy had pneumonia and at six months of age, the pneumonia finally got him. He was lying there on the bed, my mother did not know God at the time. She didn't have any god to help her. That little baby was gasping and dying and as she touched his feet, she noticed suddenly, that a big smile broke across Roy's face.

And he raised his hands up and he was reaching for somebody as though angels in the sky were reaching for him and he let out a little laugh, fell back on the pillow and was gone. What do you think happened, Preacher? I believe that angels saw that little innocent boy six months of age, born into a sinners home. No god in that home and in mercy allowed him an angel to come and slip his arms around him and take him home. I pastored in Brazil, Indiana before coming here. I was born in Brazil. So it was pretty amazing. After 23 years in Evangelism to go back to the very town I was born in. The hospital was across the street from that Nazarene church where I took the pastorate. One of the men in that church his name was Jim McKinney. Jim had a burden for people and he would invite folks to Sunday school and we would go out and we'd make calls together. I'd ride in his car, he'd ride into my car, whoever had money in their pocket would buy lunch on those Saturday afternoons. I'm riding along with Jim and Jim turned to me and he said, Pastor, he said I used to be an electrician before I was disabled. I said what happened? He said, I was up on a ladder there in the factory and I was working in the electric and I touched some live wires and I was electrocuted. It literally he said, knocked me off the ladder, the ladder flipped out from under me, I hit the concrete hard and my heart stopped beating, he said I was dead. I didn't hear anything going on around me. But he said they gathered around and began to work frantically to bring me back. And they took paddles and begin to shock by body trying to get my heart to start beating again, and finally got it going.

He said in that brief time, I want you to know something pastor I had died and he said, there's nothing to death. It's a wonderful thing. It's just going through a doorway to something better. He said, I left a dark world and entered a bright world. Suddenly, he said, I found myself in heaven. And I saw loved ones I hadn't seen for years, I saw the streets of gold. I saw beautiful colors beyond any colors that you've ever seen in the arrangement of colors in this world. And he said, I saw Jesus. And about that time, they brought me back and he said I didn't want to come back. I didn't want to leave heaven. It was the most glorious thing ever. He had met Jesus and evidently had received that kiss and a standing ovation. I'm simply saying to you, and asking you a question.

Have you made any provision for the future? I didn't ask if you had joined any church. I didn't ask if you have shaken a preachers hand or signed a three by five card or rubbed against the communion rail. I asked you did you make any preparation to meet God? Did you get ready?

Have you have you made ready?

Dying with Christ in your life makes all the difference in the world. I don't want to come down to that final hour and it's a lonely moment and it's empty and no Lord there to meet me and walk me across the waters of death. The Psalmist said yea though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, behold thou heart there. Thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me.

There will come a time and every one of our lives we're gonna need the comforting of the blessed Holy Spirit. We are shook, and we're about to step across lines a world and the soul is about to depart the body. You better know your Savior. You better have the Spirit of God in your life and that crossing moment.

Thanks for being a part of the voice of the Nazarene. Visit us every Sunday at 9am with BNC's Pastor Ray LaSalle. For more information regarding BNC visit Bucyrus nazarene.org.