Midweek Review #15 (Acts 7:54-8:13)

But notice at the end of verse 60, when he had said this, he fell asleep. The Greek word there is koimao. Koimao. And from that we get koimaterion. Koimaterion is where we get the word cemetery. A cemetery, literally by the Greek, is a sleeping place.

It says in our text that he koimao, he fell asleep. When a believer in Christ dies, it's not death but sleep. John Owen wrote the death of death in the death of Christ. Because of Christ, our death is not final.

It's only a resting place. And many of you, all of us, have loved ones buried in cemeteries. This week, an uncle that I love very much passed away. Uncle Herb, out in Washington State, when he was about 40 years old, he suffered a farm accident.

Falling off a tractor, he broke his back and he was in a wheelchair. And this man loves the Lord. The rest of his life, almost 40 more years of life, in a wheelchair, he continued to love Christ. These last few years, you know what he's been doing?

He's been writing the Bible by hand. Got through, I think, more than one copy of writing the Bible by hand because he found that as he wrote down the scripture, it helped him to understand and for it to sink in.

So there are entire boxes of his handwritten Bible notes. He was a special uncle to me because when he saw that I went into the ministry in the early 2000s, he and I really connected. And he would pray for me.

In fact, he said that he would pray for me every day. You know, early on, I would write him letters back and forth. He lived in Linden, Washington. And in the last couple years, I've been busy and I forgot to write him.

And it's kind of a source of sadness in me that, man, I really wanted to get back out to Washington to see him one more time, but it didn't happen. Some regret there. But then I remember that the cemetery is a sleeping place.

And when our Lord Jesus comes back to redeem us, the dead in Christ shall rise. And those who have been in wheelchairs their whole lives will be dancing and running and enjoying the presence of the Lord.

And death, where is your sting? It's swallowed up in victory. Our Lord Jesus has conquered the grave and so he's able to raise us too. And we will be with him and there will be eternal joy in his presence, in the presence of the Lord.

And so the Christian mourns, but not without hope. The Christian grieves, but we still have joy. Remember to to reach out to those you love. Write those letters that you've been forgetting to write. But remember this, that if you have a loved one that you've buried in the Lord, there's coming a day of resurrection.

And so this is a story of hope. He fell asleep. This is not eternal death, this is sleep according to the Word of God.