When you face the reality of death, my friend, will it be with hope or with fear? The answer to this question has much to suggest concerning your relationship with Jesus Christ. May you trust in Him for eternal life, before and beyond the grave.

In the Christian understanding, human beings are a unity of body and soul, of matter and spirit. We are created in the image and likeness of God, and we are made for eternal life with him. Deep down we sense that our true homeland is in heaven. For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of his death, certainly we shall be also in the likeness of His resurrection (Romans 6:5).

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We can learn from the example and teaching of the saints. It’s good to read about their lives and build up a storehouse of knowledge about them. Now here is the burning question for me. Is the anchor of my soul as firmly attached to my soul as it is to the altar of God? In other words, is the picture here of an anchor with its hook and chain bound unbreakably to the altar of God in the holy of holies so that nothing could loose it from that end, but with the rope just hanging out of heaven in the air? Is the only point of this text to say, “Take hold of the loose end of this rope and you will have safety and firmness and assurance”?

Pray earnestly that God would open your mind and heart to this greatness and this certainty and incline you to hope in him. Henderson tries to ingratiate himself with his children, but Keith isn't having any of that; Penny goes along with it to a certain extent but also maintains a slightly wary distance. But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers and sisters, about those who have died, so that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have died.”

Oh! rest of the righteous, how blest art thou, where families shall again be bound up in one bundle, where parted friends shall again meet to part no more, and where the whole church of Christ united in one mighty circle, shall together praise God and the Lamb throughout eternal ages.” (MTP 3: 213) It is easy to see that the first half of verse 1 pertains to Michael and the last half to the period of the Great Tribulation, but it is difficult to accept the connection between the two. When Michael arises, the time of Israel’s trouble begins. At first this does not seem possible. Michael is “Israel’s prince” (10:21), the “great prince who stands guard” over the sons of Daniel’s people, Israel (12:1). How could the “protector of Israel” precipitate this time of such great suffering? The writer is here comparing Mt. Sinai with Mt. Zion. Under the old covenant, no one could come near God except under very strict conditions. That's why the mountain shook with thunder and lightning. [Note: three times, the writer of Hebrews uses a Greek word that means "to come near" or "to approach closely.] But now, in Christ, we have been brought near to heavenly realities. Think of what he is saying: