April 14, 2006

[Rev. Doc]

Resurrection Power

"Jesus said to her, 'I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?'"
John 11:25

Gilbert Haven was a Methodist Episcopalian Bishop known as an able writer, a zealous reformer, an earnest preacher, and an indefatigable laborer. He died on Saturday morning, January 3, 1880, in Maiden, Massachusetts.
In his last few hours of life, Bishop Haven's allowed many of his friends to see him one more time in this life. Many were near at hand. Others were summoned by telegram and by messenger, until groups gathered around that couch, touched with the light of immortal glory, to muse over the transition from death unto life.

A physician who was present said: "I never saw a person die so before." A clergyman remarks: "To me it did not seem that I was in the presence of death. The whole atmosphere of the chamber was that of a joyous and festive hour. Only the tears of kindred and friends were suggestive of death. I felt that I was summoned to see a conquering hero crowned."

His last words were: "Oh, but it is so beautiful, so pleasant, so delightful! I see no river of death. God lifts me up in His arms. There is no darkness; it is all light and brightness. I am gliding away into God, floating up into heaven." With a final breath he proclaimed: "I believe in the resurrection of the body!"

Prayer: Thank God for the power found in His Son's resurrection, the true hope of the world.

"Without the victory of the resurrection, the death of Jesus would have been in vain. For death by itself is no victory, no matter how well-meaning the sacrificial lamb, no matter how noble the cause. Through His resurrection, Christ broke the power of death once and for all time. Salvation was not completed only because of the cross. It was completed by the victory of the empty tomb."
~Katherine Walden