Death – the ultimate experience?

Why did we put a question mark at the end of this statement?

Answer -– because "salvation" through the precious
blood of the Lord Jesus Christ is the ultimate experience!

What thoughts go through the tortured mind of one about to
die, without understanding all about what lies on the other side.

From the ledge of a tall sky-scraper;
From a hospital bed, with family all around;
Lying bleeding in an open field with shells flying overhead;
On the railing of a bridge;
Sitting petrified as your plane goes into a steep dive;
Sitting in the gas chamber of a U.S. prison;
Lying with your body broken, on a ledge in a forgotten ravine... 

a) Voltaire -– a godless philosopher who died in 1778 -– "In
the name of God, let me die in peace." He then looked at a lamp flaring up
alongside him and exclaimed, "The flames already".

b) Francis Newport -– a militant atheist who died in 1692 -– "Oh,
the insufferable pangs of hell and damnation".

c) William Pope -– he led an atheistic cult, at whose meetings
a Bible was ritually kicked around the floor. He died in 1797 -– "I have
done the damnable deed. The horrible damnable deed. I cannot pray, God will have
nothing to do with me. I will not have salvation at His hands. I long to be in
the bottomless pit, the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone. I tell you I
am damned. I will not have salvation. Nothing for me but hell. Come eternal
torments. Oh God, do not hear my prayers for I will not be saved. I hate
everything that God has made".

d) Thomas Scott (who died in 1887) talking to a priest -– "Be
gone, you and your trumpery. Until this moment, I believed there was neither a
God or a hell. Now I know and feel that there are both and that I am doomed to
perdition by the just judgement of the Almighty".

e) Tony Hancock -– British comedian who over-dosed in 1968. In
1964, prior to his death, he did a t.v. monologue which later on could be called
his obituary as the Bible says "For out of the abundance of the heart,
the mouth speaketh" -– "What have you achieved? What have you
achieved? You lost your chance me old son. You contributed absolutely nothing to
this life. A waste of time you being here at all. No place for you in
Westminster Abbey. The best you can expect is a few daffodils in a jam-jar, a
rough hewn stone bearing the legend, "He came, and he went, and in between,
nothing."
Nobody will even notice you're not here. After about a year
afterwards, somebody might say down at the pub, "Where's old Hancock? I
haven't seen him around lately."
"Oh, he's dead you know".
"Oh, is he?... Nobody will ever know I existed. Nothing to
leave behind me. Nothing to pass on. Nobody to mourn me. That's the bitterest
blow of all".

Note the contrast!

f) Anthony N. Groves -– a missionary who died in 1853. He
wrote to his son -– "Now my precious boy, I am dying. Be a comfort to
your beloved mother, as your dear brothers Henry and Frank have been to me.
And may the Lord Himself bless you and make you His own.
May the Lord give you the peace and joy in Himself that He
has given me, for these are true riches.
What would thousands of gold and silver be to me now?
Now, I give you a fathers blessing." (Emphasis
added.)

g) James Kent -– an American jurist who died in 1847 -–
"Go, my children. My object in telling you this is that if anything
happens to me, you might know, and perhaps it would console you to remember,
that on this point my mind is clear. I rest my hopes of salvation on the
Lord Jesus Christ".

Q. How can the reader know that we are speaking the truth?
A. You will. The moment you breathe your last breath, you
will know very clearly.

You will see the Lord Jesus Christ portrayed as a Lamb.
Remember, "God will provide Himself a Lamb".

Hey, don't you dare die without this Lamb!

Q. Which name?
A. His Name is Jesus 

You give a little gasp and your spirit leaves the body on the
breath. Nothing matters now.

Your managerial position -– don't worry, someone else is
already sitting in your seat.

The halls of Parliament, the millions of empty words and
jibes; the cut and thrust of politics; the back stabbing, just keep your job -–
your seat is already filled.

Your position at the university. No longer do you have to put
up with that horrible little group of born again Christian students who keep
asking those niggly questions that seem to turn your philosophic views into
matters for ridicule.

The dark passage is silent now. You are lonely. No friends to
encourage. No other sceptics like yourself to titter at your clever witticisms.
Just you in this particular tunnel. It is, you will notice, all downhill.

But wait -– who is that dark figure that comes alongside?
What a horrible leering expression on his diabolical face. What's he saying?
"Come with me to your final destiny -– fool. You missed the Lamb and His
blood."

Look up for a moment now, and observe with your own eyes what you have just
missed. That place is called 'Paradise'.

Remember what Jesus said -– "I go to prepare a place
for you..." but of course you knew best -– fool.

Come, the fire is waiting.

Your excuse is that you didn't read the text book. Really?
How sad! You can spend forever wondering why not.

The family gathers around his bed, as suddenly, against all
odds, in his final moment, he sits up, a supernatural strength comes upon him,
as his eyes light up. He exclaims, "They've come for me. The room is full of
them, can't you see them?"

His wife quietly answers, "Who are you talking about my
dear? Who is here?"

He slips silently from his body, like a hand from a glove.

Form a vantage point somewhere up by the ceiling, he looks
down and sees the medical staff pull the sheet over that body that a few minutes
ago had been his home for 75 years. He observes the family hugging, praying,
some even singing a few words of an old familiar hymn -– "It is well with
my soul".

He moves now into the dark valley with a little trepidation.
He had never been this way before. He feels somebody next to him in the darkness
and upon reaching up and taking this Person's hand, he instinctively knows
that all is going to be well from here on.

He then hears a familiar passage of Scripture being read,
which now seems to make more sense than it ever has before.

"Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow
of death, I will fear no evil: for thou are with me; thy rod and thy staff they
comfort me."

At last, the two of them reach the end of the valley. There
is a river flowing vast and wide. People, real people, dressed in white await
him on the far shore. They beckon from their grassy vantage points as he looks
up into the face of the most wonderful Person he has ever seen or ever hoped to
see.

There are a number of unusual features about this man. He has
wounds all over His body.

"And one shall say unto Him. What are these wounds in
thine hands? Then He shall answer, Those with which I was wounded in the house
of my friends."

"Who are you, Sir?"

"Fear not. I am the first and the last. I am He that
liveth and was dead and behold I am alive for evermore, Amen, and have the keys
of hades and death." Look up my son!

Suddenly, the scene is so splendid and outstanding that all
earthly memories pale into insignificance by comparison.

"...Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have
entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that
love Him."

This is reality.