The Open Door

For me, the most glorious day of worship in the year is Easter. On this very special Lord’s Day we remember with joy that the Lord Jesus did not remain in the grave. He came out alive demonstrating His power over sin and death.

For all believers, the resurrection of Christ is the assurance of eternal life to all who believe. I am confident that if we were able to know fully what we might expect one moment after our physical bodies die, we would never fear death, but see it as the door to life that is everlasting.

While serving as pastor at First Baptist Paducah, Kentucky, I had a very fine deacon whose name was Lewis Duke. Lewis was a faithful member of our church, a great encourager to the pastor, and a devoted husband to Lorella who worked in our church office.

Lewis developed a serious heart condition. One day while dining in a local restaurant, Lewis’ heart stopped. As God would have it there was a cardiology nurse in the restaurant that day. She worked with Lewis for several minutes and soon his heart was beating once again. He recovered.

His cardiologist placed a wonderful piece of technology in his chest that would shock his heart in the future should it stop beating and he lived for a number of years after that. I remember so well what Lewis said to me after his recovery. He said, “When my heart stopped in the restaurant, I remember being overwhelmed with a feeling of peace. There was a brightness that surrounded me and I knew I was getting ready to enter heaven. I felt that I was above my body looking down, watching the nurse attempting to revive me. To tell you the truth, when I was revived, I was kind of disappointed. I will tell you this; I will never fear death again. It was a wonderful feeling of incredible joy.”

I am confident that what Lewis experienced on that occasion is the experience God reserves for believers. We have all heard similar stories. The Apostle Paul taught us that “to be absent from the body is to be at home with the Lord.” How wonderful to know that there is but a momentary transition into the wonderful presence of our precious Lord.

As we gather for worship on Easter Sunday morning we have much to celebrate. Further, our joy in Christ should encourage our giving a witness to those who are without Christ. If we really believe what the Bible teaches about the resurrection of Christ and the promise of eternal life to all who believe and receive Christ, we should not be satisfied until everyone in our world has had an opportunity to be saved.

There is one further dimension of celebration I want to encourage you to add to this Easter Sunday morning’s worship service. We have been praying for rain and God has answered with downpours. I believe that a very important part of prayer is thanking God for His direct answer to our prayer. Let us make this Easter a “Day of Thanks” for God’s bountiful provision of refreshing rains that will be quickly followed by the new birth of spring.