Isaiah 53:9, “And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death; because he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth.”
Luke 23:42-43, “42 And he said unto Jesus, Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom. 43 And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, Today shalt thou be with me in paradise.”
Jesus was crucified between two criminals, one of whom mocked Jesus and one who took responsibility for his crimes and repented. The man seeking forgiveness was assured that “Today shalt thou be with me in paradise.”
John 19:38, “And after this Joseph of Arimathaea, being a disciple of Jesus, but secretly for fear of the Jews, besought Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus: and Pilate gave him leave. He came therefore, and took the body of Jesus.”
Joseph of Arimathaea and Nicodemus took the body of Jesus, wound it in linen clothes with the spices and placed it in Joseph’s sepulcher. Indeed Jesus was with the rich in death.
The above is well known so I’d like to take a different approach.
2 Corinthians 5:6-8 “6 Therefore we are always confident, knowing that, whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord: 7 (For we walk by faith, not by sight:) 8 We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord.”
In life we are absent from our Lord and live in this fallen and wicked world. 2 Timothy 4:3-4, “3 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; 4 And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.”
Our world becomes more sin-filled each day. Lawlessness is sweeping across the United States as those in power fan the fires of racial unrest. What should be the safest environment for the unborn, his/ her mother’s womb is perhaps the most dangerous as millions of babies are ripped in pieces and removed from the womb.
Greed has perverted the simplify of the Gospel and turned it into a money machine. Prosperity preachers live in multi-million homes far removed from the humbleness of Jesus. Luke 9:58, “And Jesus said unto him, Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head.”
Christians are being persecuted in the most horrific ways by ISIS and their ilk. Some Christians holding to a mid-tribulation rapture theorize that we are already in the tribulation.
More each day I wait on the Lord to take His Church out of this grave with the wicked. Meanwhile, I’m in this world but not of this world.
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