And to Die is Gain

Driving home: that vicious intruder, that king of terrors, Paul says, for him to do his work upon me, for me to die, is gain, is profit, is advantage.

Martin uses Job's description of death as the 'king of terrors' and vivid metaphors of death as a 'dread intruder,' 'vicious thief' to highlight the common, fearful human perception of death, contrasting it with Paul's statement of death as gain.

Now we're again confronted with an amazing statement. Here he says, He says that death, that which Job describes as the king of terrors, that dread intruder who shatters those most intimate ties of family affection, who rips open sensitive hearts and tramples them underfoot with grief, that vicious thief who snatches babies from the arms of their mothers and plants them in the cold embrace of the earth, that vicious intruder, that king of terrors, Paul says, for him to do his work upon me, for me to die, is gain, is profit, is advantage. Now I say that's an amazing statement. And if we're to b...

6:25 - 7:32 Read in full sermon

Driving home: We can know nothing for certain about death unless God has certainly revealed something concerning death.

Martin refutes modern accounts of people who 'clinically died' and reported pleasant experiences, arguing they did not truly die according to Scripture, which states it is appointed once to die. This serves to underscore that true knowledge of death comes only from divine revelation.

My friends, they have not died. For the scripture says, is it appointed unto men once to die, not twice. So when they speak of warm, beautiful white lights and beautiful personages as receiving them, they have not died. It is appointed unto men once to die.

16:35 - 16:59 Read in full sermon

Driving home: The knowledge we now possess is dim and indistinct though real and saving compared with the knowledge that we shall possess. We see through a glass darkly but then face to face we shall know even as we are known.

To explain 1 Corinthians 13's 'through a glass darkly,' Martin uses the analogy of ancient windows (mica) or mirrors (polished metal) that give dim reflections, illustrating how our current knowledge of God is indistinct compared to the direct knowledge gained at death.

Why? Because the essence of that life which is eternal life is the knowledge of God and its growth and development can only be realized in the increasing knowledge of God as He is revealed in the Lord Jesus. And what we now possess in the way of knowledge is true knowledge. But the scripture says in 1 Corinthians 13 we see through a glass darkly and there is some debate as to the precise significance of the imagery whether they're speaking of an ancient window through which one would look, a window made of mica and could not see clearly or the ancient mirror which was not like our polished gla...

20:05 - 21:19 Read in full sermon

Driving home: The knowledge we now possess is dim and indistinct though real and saving compared with the knowledge that we shall possess. We see through a glass darkly but then face to face we shall know even as we are known.

Martin recounts the story of Moses and Elijah conversing with Jesus about his 'decease' (exodus) at the Transfiguration, noting their profound understanding compared to the disciples. This illustrates the 'burst of knowledge' believers receive upon entering God's immediate presence at death.

And when the apostle writes to the Philippians and says if you hear that the sentence went forth that I should be executed and if someone brings you the sad story of the details of my going to the executioner's block don't feel sad for Paul. For me to die is gain and it will be gain first of all as to my knowledge of God and of his Son. For the scriptures seem not only to suggest but in such passages as 1 Corinthians 13 to affirm that the moment the spirit or the soul of a believer is taken from his body in death there is a burst of knowledge that makes all that he knew here not invalid but pa...

21:19 - 22:47 Read in full sermon

Driving home: The knowledge we now possess is dim and indistinct though real and saving compared with the knowledge that we shall possess. We see through a glass darkly but then face to face we shall know even as we are known.

Martin quotes Robert Johnstone's eloquent description of the expanded, direct, and satisfying knowledge of God believers will have in heaven, far surpassing earthly understanding. This reinforces the point that death is gain as to knowledge.

that I could never match then dear friends shall we have then dear friends shall we have knowledge to a degree and in modes of which we cannot even now form any conception. Being then perfectly pure in heart we shall see God not no longer darkly as by a mirror but face to face. Our spirits will apprehend his excellence not slowly indirectly and by inference as now but by a direct intuition far more certain and distinct and satisfying than is now the action of the eye or any bodily sense. We shall no longer have to content ourselves with gathering pebbles on the shore of the great ocean of trut...

24:27 - 25:53 Read in full sermon

Driving home: The knowledge we now possess is dim and indistinct though real and saving compared with the knowledge that we shall possess. We see through a glass darkly but then face to face we shall know even as we are known.

Martin quotes Spurgeon's quaint saying that 'the least saint in heaven knows more than the greatest saint on earth.' This serves as a memorable summary of the gain in knowledge at death.

Spurgeon in his own quaint way said that the least saint in heaven knows more than the greatest saint on earth. Now with a certain conviction that the moment the executioner's sword had done its work there would burst upon his renewed soul and mind a knowledge of God and of Christ hitherto all of his reception of direct revelation all of his being caught up into the third heaven and hearing things unlawful to utter all of his holy and sanctified reflections and meditations had never attained. Can you not see why he says for me to die is gain? For one to whom the knowledge of God in Christ was ...

25:53 - 27:15 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: The fourth and foundational area of gain is communion with Christ. Martin explains that while believers have communion with Christ in life, death brings an immediate, unveiled…

Martin quotes lines from a hymn comparing earthly communion with Christ to 'streams' and heavenly communion to an 'ocean fullness.' This illustrates the intensified communion with Christ that death brings.

Love of more intimate communion with the Lord Jesus. And it's something of this reality that has been captured in some of our hymns. Oh Christ, he is the fountain, the deep sweet well of love. The streams on earth I've tasted.

40:11 - 40:30 Read in full sermon

Driving home: Christ hath redeemed me from the curse of the law, being made a curse for me.

Martin references Grandpa Walton's noble-sounding but ultimately flawed statement about death being 'part of life.' This serves to critique humanistic views of death that ignore its origin as a consequence of sin.

Although it may sound very noble and admirable when grandpa in the old Waltons would gather the young'uns around and say, well, we just have to face the fact that death is a part of life. And part of learning to live is accepting death. That sounds all very noble. But death is not a part of life as God originally made life.

42:31 - 42:55 Read in full sermon

Driving home: Christ hath redeemed me from the curse of the law, being made a curse for me.

Martin quotes a writer who called death 'the dark archway through which we must pass into the immediate presence of our Savior.' This metaphor helps to reframe death as a transition rather than an end, emphasizing the destination.

Paul understood that Christ, by His work, has stripped death of all of its power and horror as the wages of sin. He stripped death of all of its power and its horror as the wages of sin. And in the language of Hebrews chapter 2, He partook of flesh and blood that through death He might destroy him that had the power of death and deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage. The apostle understood that death had now been transformed into a fatherly discipline by which he would be ushered into the immediate presence of Christ to change the imagery one writer ...

43:55 - 45:15 Read in full sermon

The point: Examine your conscience regarding your confidence in Philippians 1:21.

Martin lists common euphemisms like 'passing on' for dying and 'remains' for corpses. This illustrates humanity's attempt to soften the harsh reality of death, which the Bible does not do.

You know, those words we use by which we try to strip ugly things of their ugliness. We don't talk about people dying, we talk about them passing on. We don't talk about corpses, we talk about remains.

45:46 - 45:58 Read in full sermon

The point: Examine your conscience regarding your confidence in Philippians 1:21.

Martin quotes the Bible's stark language about death, such as 'Behold, he stinketh' and Job's reference to worms consuming flesh. This reinforces the point that the Bible is unflinching about death's reality.

My friends, the Bible uses no euphemisms. It speaks of death. Behold, he stinketh. By now his body is decaying.

46:01 - 46:14 Read in full sermon

The point: If you lack confidence that 'to die is gain,' meditate upon what death will actually do for a believer (burst of knowledge, holiness, communion).

Martin shares his personal experience of his first airplane flight, describing the fear and apprehension of being disconnected from the earth. This analogy helps explain why the experience of dying, being an unknown, is naturally fearful, distinguishing it from the fear of death itself.

As to God and gain as to fellowship with Christ. It's natural to fear the experience of death. We've never died before. Most of us can remember the first time we flew in an airplane.

50:57 - 51:10 Read in full sermon

The point: If your problem is unbelief, have confidence in the sufficiency of your Savior's work; He cried 'it is finished' and conquered death.

Martin cites the historical example of martyrs who 'literally went singing to the stake.' This illustrates the powerful testimony of believers who faced death calmly and joyfully because of their confidence that 'to die was gain' in Christ.

Well, if he did, then you see no little part of a Christian's great convincing testimony in a world where death is a mystery is to be able to face death calmly, as did the apostle Paul, and have a rational explanation for that calm and that assurance. The world does not have it. And no little part of the vibrance of Christian testimony through the centuries has been the way believers have been able to face death. Some of you have read in the history of the church of martyrs who went literally singing to the stake.

53:42 - 54:21 Read in full sermon