Dead Saints 

Hebrews 11 & 12

Take heart! We have a balcony of witnesses watching us... 

When I was a child, seven years of age, my mother used to read Psalms 91 to me. I was bedfast at the time with a serious kidney disease which usually proves fatal to children. In fact, the doctors at Children's Mercy Hospital in Kansas City weren't giving my parents any hope for my survival.

I remember vividly being in a ward with numerous other kids. During the night it wasn't uncommon for there to be noises and lights as nurses would move screens around a bed in the ward. The next morning the bed was empty. Even a seven year old knew that the kid who had been in that now empty bed wasn't out playing baseball this morning!

I would get really perturbed that the team of doctors and would-be doctors would gather around each bed and talk about the kid as though the child was deaf or an idiot, then move on to the next bed and repeat the scenario.

Early on I developed less than admiration for the arrogance and typical attitude of the multitude of doctors with whom I had come into contact. Some things haven't changed much in the intervening five decades.

I developed an attitude toward death that has greatly influenced my entire life - it is inevitable, and God is not only in control, He is awaiting each of us. Psalms 116:15 Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints.

Now, looking back on the passing of loved ones, I am comforted by this; Hebrews 11:39. These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised. 
40. God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect. 
Hebrews 12:1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. 
2. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

We are surrounded by "witnesses" and we therefore have hope in this life and the life to come! We are surrounded by eternity and just a heartbeat away from it. God alone will make the decision about that heartbeat.

Keep your chin up and your eyes on the skies...you have a cheering section in the balcony of eternity! You can make it - and you will ultimately make it. 

I John 3:2 Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.