The Sickness Whereof He Died

Have you every heard something said that impacts you so profoundly you still remember it many years later? I don’t mean remember it in a way where you say, “Oh I remember something about that. “ I mean, remembering it so vividly that you remember exactly where you were when it was said. You remember the day, time and everything else about it. You can see it in your minds eye as if you were still there. Several years ago this happened to me and I have never forgotten what was said.

It was a Sunday morning in July of 1990. My family was on vacation and we had stopped to visit some close friends. We were in services with them that day and setting in the Adult Sunday School Class. Elder Harvey Cantrell was pastor of the Church we were visiting in Hanford, California and was teaching the lesson that day. During the course of the lesson Elder Cantrell read a passage of scripture that impacted my life. Now, in all honesty, eighteen years later I don’t remember what he was teaching that day. Nor do I remember much that was said before or after he read and made a short comment on this passage of scripture. It was the scripture and the brief comment that struck a chord in my heart.

The scripture was; “Now Elisha was fallen sick of his sickness whereof he died…” (2 Kings 13:14). The comment that he made was, “We will all die sometime, unless the Lord comes first. That is why sickness comes and people aren’t healed. It doesn’t mean they don’t have faith, it means that it is time…”

What made this scripture and statement so impacting to me was the fact that just a few months prior to this we had found out my father had Parkinson’s disease. We had been praying and fasting for his healing, however, he wasn’t getting better but was getting worse. I was dealing with unanswered questions in my mind and in just a few simple words God had given me an answer to my question. There are just sometimes God doesn’t heal because it is time to go home. That day God let me to know that my father wouldn’t be healed in this life. I needed to live my life accordingly.

Death is a hard subject to address for a couple of reasons. One is that very few people are around to tell us about death that has actually experienced it. Because of this it remains a mystery and we are all somewhat afraid of the unknown. The second reason is death is looked upon as the end of everything, which it is in this life. No one wants to experience death. However, I have a couple of thoughts about death that came to mind recently with this memory and I felt maybe I should share.

Death was introduced into this world because of the sin of Adam and Eve in the garden. The Bible tells us it is the curse of man, because of sin. We also know that it is appointed unto man to die. That is the end of it all for us.

There is another way that the child of God can view death. Looking at our own death or looking at the death of a loved one who is a “believer.” The Psalmist tell us in Psalms 116:15, the death of one of His saints is precious in the eyes of the Lord. This should let us know there is a different view of death for the born again child of God. In God’s opinion His saint passing on is a special event. Why? One of the reasons is God looks upon us with great value and calls us His jewels in Malachi 3:17.

Death came to this world by the sin of one, Adam. By the same token life was brought to us by the second Adam, Jesus Christ. Paul said that when we were born again we became new creatures in Christ. Those things of old are passed away and all things become new. I am in no way saying that we will never die, I have preached too many funerals for faithful saints to say that. What I am saying, however, is that we can take a different view of the death of a saint. The curse of sin was death. Yet when we are born again, that curse is removed. Jesus Christ walked into hell and demanded the keys of death and hell. Death no longer has dominion over us. It no longer rules or has authority over us. Death is no longer a curse to the saint of God, it is now precious. Our second birth has brought about that change.

I remember sitting there that morning and thinking of my loved ones who had already gone before me to meet the Lord. I thought of others I knew who were dealing with sicknesses whereof they would die if God didn’t heal them. I realized, although I was a healthy young man at the time, there might come a time when I would hear a doctors report that spelled out the end being near. I remember these thoughts going through my mind and thinking; “Isn’t that just like God, He takes sickness, tragedy and all of the other things that seem to be so bad and brings about that which is precious. He uses it to add another Jewel to His Treasury!”

Just a thought!

God Bless!