Back in the 80's of the last century, when the Y.M.C.A. in Galveston, Texas, was in its infancy, struggling for existence, and looking for a leader, who would have power with men, because he knew the power of God in regenerating and transforming, in his own soul, in the providence of God, Judson B. Palmer was sent to meet the need.

From the beginning, Mr. Palmer placed the great emphasis of the work of the Association upon the teaching of the Word of God, all other activities, social, educational or physical, being subordinate to, and governed thereby. Thus the Galveston Y.M.C.A. soon came to be known, near and far, as a stronghold of true Christian testimony, increasing year by year in service and influence under the leadership of this godly man.

Then came the awful storm of September 8, 1900, and Mr. Palmer was among those who suffered in that terrible calamity. After a night of such horror that it beggars description, the morning of September 9 found him battered and bruised, homeless, his wife and only child among those missing, their bodies never to be found.

It was in the weeks of loneliness, suffering and weakness that followed that he gave himself to a definite study of the Word in regard to departed believers, in order to comfort his own heart. Some years later, after he had resumed his responsibility as General Secretary of the Galveston YMCA, a young woman, who was sorrowing over the departure of her mother to be with the Lord, appealed to Mr. Palmer for light and comfort. The fruit of the study, made in the agony of his own soul, was then written out and given to the young woman, and was so blessed of the Holy Spirit to her that Mr. Palmer was led to show the manuscript to a few Bible loving friends, who urged its publication, which was done for the sake of extended testimony, and it proved to be such a blessing to bereaved hearts that seven editions have been exhausted.

Mr. Palmer continued as Secretary of the Galveston YMCA until 1912, when, on account of broken health, he resigned, but so great was the appreciation of the Board of Directors of his faithful, effective service, that he was made Secretary Emeritus, in which relationship he continued, always sought after because of his power in prayer and the exposition of the Word, until the Lord called him to higher service on April 23, 1937, two days before his eighty-sixth birthday.

The characterization of God's nobility, as those, "who received the Word with all readiness of mind and searched the Scriptures" is given to us in Acts 17:11. In God's estimate Judson B. Palmer must have ranked high in that company, and through this message, his ministry continues, as there are always newly made graves and aching hearts that need comfort.

Margaret E. Tarrant.

After our loved ones have passed beyond this life, so many questions are raised by the living concerning their departed. Where are they now? Are they conscious? What are they doing? Do they know each other there? Do they see those whom they have left behind, and do they know what is transpiring here on earth? Are they perfectly happy? These, and many similar questions are asked. Some of these questions are very clearly answered in the Word of God. The answers to others may be inferred, while to some we may find no answer at all.

Contrary to the statements of some, the Bible does have a good deal to say about the life after death. Much of our ignorance is due to the fact that we have not carefully and prayerfully studied the Scriptures to find God's answers to our questions. All that we do know, and all that we possibly can know about the life after death, is what is revealed to us in the Word of God. It is all a matter of revelation. Only as God has spoken can we know. Man's beliefs, or conjectures, or imaginings or reasonings, will not avail us anything. At the very best we can only guess, but God has spoken with authority, and we can rest contented on His Word.

From the study of the Scriptures we learn:

1. That physical death is the separation of soul and body. When Elijah raised the widow's son, "he stretched himself upon the child three times, and cried unto the Lord, and said, 'O Lord my God, I pray thee, let this child's soul come into him again.' And the Lord heard the voice of Elijah; and the soul of the child came into him again" (1 Kings 17:21-22). Death had separated the soul from the body, but God again united soul and body. Likewise the Apostle James says in so many words that death is the separation of soul and body. He says, "The body without the spirit is dead" (James 2:26). He does not say that the spirit is dead, but that the body is dead. Death does not touch me, the soul, the ego, the I, myself, the personality. It only touches the body. It can not harm me. Death is a release rather than a hindrance to me. It sets me free. The body is laid away and sleeps in the grave, but the soul lives on more thoroughly awake than ever.

2. The child of God at the moment of death receives a spiritual and glorified body. I believe this to be the teaching of 2 Corinthians 5:1-4. He will have the same form and features that he had here on earth, but glorified. It is NOT the resurrection body when "this corruption shall put on incorruption," but a glorified body retaining the form and features of the body which he had on earth, and through which he can manifest himself between death and the resurrection. Our present material body of flesh, and bones and blood, is the house in which we now live, and through which we now manifest ourselves. At the very moment of death we move out of this house of clay into the house not made with hands, a house that will be adapted to our new mode of existence, and it will be glorious.

It is evident that the Apostle Paul had been greatly distressed over the thought of moving out of this house just a naked spirit, unclothed, floating about with no form and features, and so he exclaimed, "For verily in this we groan, longing to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven, if so be that being clothed we shall not be found naked." I deeply sympathize with the Apostle, for I have often shared those feelings myself. But I have been greatly comforted by the assurance which he has given us, that such will not be the experience of those who die in Christ; for he says, "We know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens." He says, "we know" it. There is no doubt or question about it. And "we have" it. It is in the present tense. Not at some time in the future, but the very moment when we move out of the earthly house we move into the heavenly.*

*[Since the first edition of this booklet was issued, the writer has learned that eminent Bible expositors, as Bengel, Thos. Aquinas, Photius, Anselm, Dr. C. I. Scofield and others, have given the same exposition of 2 Cor 5:1-4, as is given here. The saintly Bengel in his "Gnomen" said: "We have a house -- it is present tense--immediately upon the dissolution of the earthly house." Dr. Scofield in his note on Heb. 9:27, in the Scofield Reference Bible, says: "At the believer's death he is 'clothed upon' with a 'house from heaven' pending the resurrection of the 'earthly house,' and is at once 'with the Lord' (2 Cor. 5:1-8, Phil. 1:23; Luke 23:43)."]

When Moses and Elijah appeared to the disciples on the Mount of Transfiguration, they appeared as men. Luke says that they were men (Luke 9:30). They had the from and features of men, but they appeared in glory, with bodies that were glorified. Moses had been dead nearly fifteen hundred years. God had buried his body in the valley of Moab, but now he appears in a body of glory. This could not have been that body which God buried in Moab now raised from the dead, because Christ is the first-fruits of them that sleep, and He had not at that time risen from the dead. It must needs be the spiritual and glorified body which Moses received when God kissed away his breath. Surely, immediately after death the believer will move out of his house of clay into a house resplendent with glory, adapted to his needs, and through which he can manifest himself between death and the resurrection.

That the believer after death has a body with form and features is evident also from the real, after-death scene of the rich man and Lazarus, the particulars of which were given by the Lord Jesus, and every detail of which He must have personally known (Luke 16:19-31). Remember that this is no parable, but a real occurrence. Parables do not give the names of persons. The rich man had eyes. He saw Lazarus. He knew him. He recognized him as the poor beggar he had seen many times at his gate. Lazarus must have had hands and fingers, for the rich man prayed that he might dip the tip of his finger in water and cool his tongue. The rich man had a tongue, for he "cried and said." He also recognized Abraham although he had never seen him before. There can be no question but that there were form and features in the case of each of these persons.

We shall know each other in heaven, and possibly as now, much by form and feature, although radiant with glory.

The disciples recognized Moses and Elijah on the Mount of Transfiguration. We will need no introductions there. What comfort would it be if our loved ones were so changed that we could not know them? That would not be heaven. That glorified body will, by its intonations of voice, and by its form and features, and every act, recall the dear one we had known and loved on earth. It was the old familiar voice of Jesus at the tomb when He spoke her name, "Mary!" that led the Magdalene to recognize her Lord.

3. At the moment of death the child of God will be with Christ in heaven. Christ Jesus ascended into heaven and took His seat at the right hand of the Father on high in His resurrection body, a material body of flesh and bones (Luke 24:39), the Man in the Glory. He has been seen there since He ascended by three men in the flesh on the earth, on three different occasions. He is there this very moment, in the same body in which He ascended from Olivet.

When the believer moves out of this body into the glorified one, he is with Christ. Paul says it is gain to die. There is a good reason for it and he gives the reason, because to die is to be with Christ -- "Having a desire to depart and to be with Christ which is very far better" (Phil. 1:23 RV). The believer who departs this life is at once with Christ. He is not in the grave with his corruptible body, but with Christ in the third heaven, in paradise. To depart this life means to be with Christ, to live with Him in the Glory. It means all of the blessedness that can possibly come from personal association and fellowship with Him.

The Lord Jesus said to the dying thief on the cross, "Today shalt thou be with me in Paradise" (Luke 23:43). With Jesus, in Paradise. His body was in the grave, but he was with Christ, a trophy of His redeeming grace. Paradise is a place of blessedness, of happiness. When the thief left his body, he went to be with Christ in Paradise.

When Stephen was dying, he saw the heavens opened; and he looked into the third heaven and saw the throne of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God, and with parting breath he cried, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit" (Acts 7:55-59). He did not say, "Receive my body," but "Receive my SPIRIT." "Receive me, myself." Stephen saw into the third heaven. It was all very real to him. He saw Jesus and recognized Him, and he expected the next moment to be with Him in the Glory. Who can doubt for an instant that his expectations were fully realized? We must never think of our loved ones as sleeping in the grave, but always as living with our Lord in the Glory.

The Apostle Paul makes this very clear when writing to the Church in Corinth he says, "Knowing that whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord," *** "And are willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be at home with the Lord" (2 Cor. 5:6-8 RV). While living in this body of flesh we cannot be present with Jesus corporeally, who is the Man in the Glory. As a spirit, and spiritually, we can have fellowship with Him here and now; but bodily He is in Heaven, and not until we are absent from this body can we be at Home with Him. But we are fully assured that the very moment when we depart this body we are at Home with the Lord. And who can begin to measure the fullness of the meaning of that word "home"? It is one of the most precious words in the English language to us now. It is freighted with meaning to every one of us. What hallowed and sacred associations cluster about it! What holy memories it excites and stirs within us! But crowd into it all of the meaning, and all of the significance we possibly can, and when we have done our very best, we shall never be able to fully measure the meaning of that word home as it  will be revealed to us when we shall be "at Home" with the Lord.

4. The child of God will be conscious between death and the resurrection. Death only touches the body. It does not touch him, the ego, the person. He lives right on. It is only the body which he has laid down. There is no break in the continuity of his thinking, of his being, of himself. His memory is more keenly alive than ever. He can think, and feel, and know, and experience pleasure and delight. It is the delight of moving out of a hovel into a mansion. "He is gone! no longer here; he is there, seeing, knowing, loving, as the blessed only can see, and know, and love."

Memory will suffer no lapse, nor loss, but will be stronger, keener, and more active. As we can now look back over the years and recall incidents in our early childhood, and all along during the years since then, so after death will we be able to go back over the years -- and with some it may be over the centuries -- and recall the same incidents which we do now.

Abraham said to the rich man who was in torment, and very conscious, conscious of his sufferings and anguish, "Son, remember" (Luke 16:25). Just recall the beautiful mansion in which you lived on earth, and the purple and fine linen with which you adorned yourself, and the table which groaned with luxuries and delicacies on which you feasted; and then "remember, that thou in thy life time receivedst thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things, but now he is comforted, but thou art tormented." Like a moving picture it must all have passed before him. He saw it all. He saw Lazarus at his gate full of sores, and full of wretchedness, and he remembered that he had not done one single thing for his comfort, or to alleviate his sufferings. In his case what a blessing if he could only forget, but he could not. He was conscious, so very conscious, and memory was intensely active and tormenting.

We have begun a life that will have no end. What was said of the wicked rich man could as truthfully be said of the saved man with Christ, "Son, remember." The rich man's memory took him back to his father's house, to the old home, and to his five brothers who were living in sin, and he was greatly concerned for their welfare. He was distressed because they were neglecting their Bibles, and forgetting God, and making no preparations for the life hereafter, and were heading for the same place of torment in which he now found himself. He must have loved them, for he wished to spare them the anguish which he was suffering. And notice that he asked that one from the dead might go to his brothers and warn them of their awful danger, so that they might escape the agonizing suffering and intolerable catastrophe which had befallen him. If lost souls can feel and love, how much more can those who have died in the faith, and who are now with the Lord of Glory feel and love! How vivid is their memory, how deeply they feel, how fervent is their love! Our loved ones in Glory still love us. There is no more break in their love than there is in their continuity of thought. Their love will not die. It cannot die. It is a part of their being, of themselves, and not of their body. The Scriptures tell us that love never faileth. Our loved ones will continue to love right on after they are with Christ in Glory. They love us with a purer, holier, and intenser love than they ever knew before. They think of us and they continue to love us.

If this man in torment still loved his brothers, how much more will the redeemed in Glory with Christ love those whom they loved in the flesh. Does it not mean much to you who have been left behind to mourn, that your loved ones who have gone on before to be with Christ, continue to love you with a greater and sweeter devotion than they ever knew on earth? The very thought of it has brought great comfort and satisfaction to me, and has often sustained me in the dark hours of sorrow.

The rich man could feel. He was in anguish, in torment. Lazarus could feel. He was happy and comforted, He was in Paradise, the very meaning of which is a place of surpassing delight. His joy is now unspeakable as compared to his sufferings on earth. He can now understand that these sufferings were "light afflictions working for him a far more exceeding and eternal weight of Glory."

Revelation 14:13 speaks of the consciousness of those who die in the Lord. To be sure the particular class, and the time here referred to is still future, but it is equally true of those who die in the Lord now. They are blessed; that is happy, and therefore conscious. They are at rest. Their labors are over, and their works do follow them.

Paul said that to depart and to be with Christ was very far better than to abide in the flesh (Phil. 1:23 RV). But it would not be very far better if there was no consciousness after death, and if one could not feel, and think, and know. He said, "to die is gain," but there would be no gain if there were no consciousness and if one could not experience pleasure, and delight, and realize and know.

I believe the Apostle Paul in 2 Corinthians 12:1-4 is recounting a marvelous experience which was his own, and that he was in Heaven at the time. He was very much alive, he was very conscious, and he heard unspeakable words -- unspeakable because it was not lawful for him to utter them. The Lord had sealed his lips concerning the language of Heaven which he had heard. It seems that he could have spoken if he had not been forbidden. He was ravished with that experience. He was in the third heaven. It was after this experience that he said he had a desire to depart and be with Christ which was very far better. Can you wonder that he had such a longing to depart this life when he knew something of the glories which were awaiting him?

The Lord Jesus told the Sadducees that the saints of God were conscious after death. He said, "He is not the God of the dead, but of the living. Neither can they die any more for they are equal unto the angels" (Luke 20:36-38).

If the believer is not conscious immediately after death, then the words of the Apostle would be meaningless when he said, "We are willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be at home with the Lord" (2 Cor 5:8). There could be no "at home with the Lord," no home going, no fellowship, without consciousness. Home is where the family lives. Communion is an essential idea of home, but there can be no communion without consciousness.

In Revelation 6:9-11 we are introduced to a company of believers who had suffered death. We see them between death and the resurrection of their physical bodies. They are conscious and cry with a loud voice, which shows them to be very much alive, and their cry is a prayer to the Lord. That they are in Heaven is evident from the manner in which they contrast THEIR abode with that of their murderers to whom they refer as "them that dwell on the earth." They had memory, for they recall their slayers and their own tragic death. How vividly did that whole bloody scene --their last experience in the flesh on earth -- come before them! They reason and think, for their sense of justice calls for the avenging of their blood upon those who had killed them. They had voices, for they cried with a loud voice. Their cry was articulate in words. Their words expressed their thoughts, and feelings, and desires, and are very natural and clear to us. Their cry was answered, and they were told that they should rest for a little season. Their former bodies were dead, but they were never more alive, nor more conscious. You bury bodies, but you cannot bury people. The disciples took up the body of John and buried it, but they did not bury John (Matt. 14:12). They could not bury him. This scene which we have just studied from Revelation is still future, but it certainly has a present application.

5. It is evident that the child of God between death and the resurrection will be actively employed. The nature of that employment is not clearly revealed. There is no contradiction in the statements that the saints of God rest in Glory, and that they are actively employed. The rest of the people of God is not the rest of inactivity. Inaction would be no rest for those who are all on fire with love to Christ, and who have intense longings to know more of Him, of His Person and of His work.

But we get some hints from the Word of God as to what the redeemed in Glory are doing. I am sure it is the universal belief of Christians, and that too, based upon the Scriptures, that the saints in Glory are engaged in worship and in the praise of Him who loved them and gave Himself for them. That would be a natural and logical conclusion even though the Bible was absolutely silent on the subject. How could a poor sinner deserving the wrath of God, but saved by grace, redeemed by the blood, sustained amid the fiery temptations and struggles of this life, and finally brought home to Glory triumphant and more than conqueror, refrain from shouting the praises of his precious Savior?  It would be unthinkable. His love of the Savior would prompt him to shout with a loud voice. "Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honor, and glory, and  blessing" (Rev. 5:12). With ecstatic rapture would he sing his songs and shout his hallelujahs of thanksgiving and praise. How could he help but give expression to it? His heart would break unless he could speak forth the Savior's love.

The Psalmist says, "Whoso offereth praise glorifieth me" (Ps. 50:23); and that is true whether offered on earth or in heaven.

I feel sure that we have reason for believing that the saints in Glory will continue their Bible study. For a long time it has been a bright anticipation of mine, that in Heaven, I would be able to study the Bible with far greater light, and with better help than it is possible for me to get here. It seems to me that the study of His Word will be one of the great joys of the redeemed in Glory. What a privilege it will be to talk with Abraham, Moses, David, Peter, John and Paul, and many others of God's dear saints about many of their sayings and experiences recorded in the Bible which have been so perplexing to us, and to get the answers direct from them at first hand. "Forever, O Lord, Thy Word is settled in Heaven" (Psalm 119:89).

But, whatever the employment of the saints in Heaven, of one thing we have been unmistakably assured, that the dead, whether good or bad, do not return and communicate with the living. Abraham's reply to the rich man settles that question forever when he says, "They have Moses and the prophets, let them hear them."  And "If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead." A great mass of Scripture from both Testaments confirm this truth set forth by Abraham.

6. The home of the child of God between death and the resurrection is a place of inexpressible blessedness and ineffable glory; and those who attain to it are unutterably happy and filled with unspeakable rapture. I am sure that no imagination has ever been able to picture it either in words or on canvas.

Heaven, the place of God's throne, where Christ is, where the angels are, where the saints are between death and the resurrection, must be a place of unspeakable happiness. It is the Person, the Person of our Lord, and not so much the place, which makes it the blessed home and the home of the blessed. "There the wicked cease from troubling and there the weary are at rest" (Job 3:17). "And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes, and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither will there be any more pain" (Rev. 21:4). I know this promise refers to the new earth, but the blessings realized there and then, are but the consummation of the joys of the redeemed in their present state. Already have they entered into the joy of their Lord, and they know that it will continue forever. "Their excellences are all perfected; their defects are all gone; their happiness is complete."

They suffer no more, and they sin no more. What rapture is theirs! "They do rest from their labors" (Rev. 14:13). What immeasurable blessing will that be to multitudes of God's own dear children, who are so weary in body and in mind, and are just longing for rest. So many of His dear ones go on day after day, all tired out, and weary and worn, eagerly waiting for the shadows of the night when they can lay their weary bodies down to rest. But just think of the rest of the saints in Glory! That will be perfect and undisturbed rest. Poor Lazarus, the beggar, sick and sore, suffering and helpless, was comforted. He who knew the depths of suffering when here on earth is now comforted and happy in the Glory. Abraham said, that in his lifetime Lazarus had received his evil things, but now it is all changed and he is comforted. Our sick and suffering ones when they depart these mortal bodies leave their sufferings and their troubles behind and are comforted. What a relief it is! No more sickness, no more pain, no more sorrow, free from it all, and forevermore. All of God's children will be perfectly happy and comforted who are "at Home" with the Lord. They will be ravished with the Savior's presence and the glories of Heaven. What a surcease it will be from the toils, the trials, the troubles and sorrows of this life! Can we wonder for a moment that after the entrancing experience of Paul in the third heaven he should exclaim, "I am in a strait betwixt two, having a desire to depart and to be with Christ which is very far better" (Phil. 1:23 RV)? Being with Christ was very far better for him than abiding in the flesh, and so it will be for us.

The Psalmist David, by faith and under divine inspiration said, "In Thy presence is fullness of joy; and at Thy right hand are pleasures forevermore" (Psalm 16:11). Oh, what a prospect! It is a "far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory" (2 Cor 4:17). It is immeasurably beyond words to describe. Language fails in the attempt. The imagination in its highest flights cannot picture the scene. The mind cannot begin to take in the rapture and glories of the redeemed forever with the Lord.

7. The children of God at death often get glimpses into Heaven as it opens to receive them. This was the experience of Stephen (Acts 7:55-60). In his dying moments he saw the heavens opened and the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God. He told his persecutors what he saw and said, "I see the heavens opened, and the Son of Man standing on the right hand of God." He recognized Jesus, and as the stones came thick and fast from his tormentors pelting him to the death, he prayed, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit," and surely the first martyr had a royal welcome by the Lord of Glory into the mansion prepared for him. What was true of Stephen and recorded in the Scripture for our comfort, has been true of multitudes of God's dear children since then. Such deathbed scenes would fill a book. They are so numerous and so alike, and bear such uniform testimony, that it would require greater credulity to discredit them, than it does to accept them as true and genuine.

Samuel Rutherford when dying said, "Christ is holding forth His arms to embrace me."

The dying words of the Rev. Alfred Cookman are made familiar to us in the precious hymn, "I am sweeping through the gates, washed in the blood of the Lamb!"

The great world Evangelist Moody when dying said, "If this is death there is no dying. This is glorious. This is bliss, it is like a trance. If this is death it is beautiful. I have been within the gates and I saw the children, Dwight and Irene." (His two grandchildren who had gone to be with the Lord.) Among his last words were these: "Earth is receding. Heaven is approaching. God is calling me."

My last pastorate was with a church in Iowa. One of my predecessors was Rev. A. D. Sandborn who related the following incident. He was president of a school at Wilton, Iowa. In going back and forth to his school, he passed a home where a devoted Christian young woman lay seriously ill. He was accustomed to call for a few minutes' conversation with her and to inquire about her physical condition. One morning as he called he found the family at her bedside. She was bolstered up in bed in nearly a sitting position. She took no notice of any one in the room, but was intently looking off into the distance. She seemed to see a glorious city. She said, "Now just as soon as they open the gate I will go in. They will be here very soon now." As she looked, her eyes just danced. She leaned her head forward with a happy, eager expression as she said, "There! there! they are coming now and I shall go." Then suddenly she sank back upon her pillow with such a disappointed look and exclaimed. "There they have let little Mamie in ahead of me, but next time they will let me in. Pretty soon they will open the gate again, and then I will go in." Still gazing eagerly and expectantly into space, she lay quietly for a few moments, and then starting up she exclaimed, "There! there! they are going to open the gate. Now I shall go in." With head leaning forward and eyes straining to see, she again sank back on the pillows in sore disappointment as she said, "There, they let Grandpa in ahead of me, but next time I will go in sure. They will be back pretty soon." She still kept looking far away and talking. No one spoke to her, and she said nothing to any one in particular and seemed to see nothing, save the sights of the beautiful city.

Dr. Sandborn could not remain from his duties longer, and quietly left the house without having spoken to any one. Later in the day he learned that soon after he left she had died just as he had seen her, so full of eager expectancy and waiting for the gate to open and give her entrance into the beautiful city.

The scenes of that morning made a profound impression upon Dr. Sandborn, and a few days after the funeral he called at the house and inquired who it was that the dying girl had called "Little Mamie." They replied that she was a little girl who had lived near them at one time, but later had moved to some place in New York State. To this question, "Who was Grandpa?" they replied that he was an old friend of the young lady who had just gone to be with the Lord, and that he had moved to some place in the Southwest, giving the name of the place. All of the circumstances made such an impression on Dr. Sandborn that he at once wrote to each of the postmasters in the places referred to, asking for information, in the one case of "Little Mamie," and in the other of "Grandpa." Several days passed, when one day, in the same mail he received letters from the two postmasters replying to his questions and worded very much alike. In each instance the reply was that the person referred to had lived there, but had died on the morning of September 16th, naming the hour. This proved to be the very time when he witnessed that affecting deathbed scene.

Heaven is very real. Heaven is a place. Heaven is not far away. Its glories will soon burst upon our view. How ravishing and entrancing will be the sight! What a joy it will be, if the Lord does not come before, if in our last earthly moments, we too, shall be privileged to look within the beautiful city, and see our loved ones beckoning us from the other shore, and be able to shout triumphantly, "I am sweeping through the gates, washed in the blood of the Lamb!"

"Let me die the death of the righteous, and let my last end be like his!" (Numbers 21:10)
 

To those who read this message who do not know the Lord Jesus Christ as Savior, and so have no hope of meeting their dear ones now at home with Him:

The sincere acceptance of a few statements from God's Word, dear Friends, will change your mourning into joy, the "spirit of heaviness into the garment of praise."

First: Concerning yourself. God says that you are a sinner. "For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God." Rom. 3:23.

Second: Concerning sin, God says that "the wages of sin is death" Romans 6:23. Eternal death, everlasting punishment, Matthew 25:46.

Third: Concerning His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, THE ONLY SAVIOR, God says, that He "so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in Him shall not perish, but have everlasting life." John 3:16. Also God says, "Neither is there salvation in any other; for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved." Acts 4:12.

Fourth: Concerning salvation; God says, that His GIFT is eternal life, Rom. 6:23. God says, that "He (Christ Jesus ) came unto His own, and His own received Him not. But as many as received Him, to them He gave the power, the right, to become the children of God, even to them that believe on His name; which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God." John 1:11-13. God also says "Except a man be born again (from above), he cannot see the kingdom of God." John 3:3.

In conclusion, to sum up what God says, You are a sinner, under sentence of death, eternal death. Jesus Christ IS THE SAVIOR. The sinner must accept THE SAVIOR in order to be saved, and that moment he receives salvation, eternal life, and becomes a child of God.

"Behold, NOW is the accepted time; behold, NOW is the day of salvation." 2 Cor 6:2.

On December 26, 1948, the Lord took my dear sister, Margaret Eleanor Tarrant, to her Eternal Home. We believe she, too, was given a glimpse into Glory ere her spirit left the earthly tabernacle. The doctor had given her a sedative to keep down the pain, but Friday afternoon, December 24th, she roused from an apparent sleep, and looking straight ahead, with a startled expression on her face, exclaimed, "It is wonderful, it is wonderful, it is wonderful," and closing her eyes, lay back on the pillow.

Two days later, with sunshine flooding the room, fragrant with gifts of flowers, with a little smile on her lips, she left this earthly life where she had served her Lord so lovingly, faithfully and graciously, to be forever with Him whom she had so longed to see.

Mary M. Tarrant

"With mercy and with judgment My web of time He wove, And aye the dews of sorrow Were lustered by His love. I'll bless the hand that guided, I'll bless the heart that planned, When throned where glory dwelleth--In Immanuel's Land."

<Back Cover>

DELIGHTFUL BOOKS FOR YOUR READING

VISIONS OF HEAVEN as seen by Daisy Dryden. A most unusual book of her visions of the heavenly world. <prices omitted> She saw Heaven a week before she died -- saw her relatives, friends.

THE MINISTRY OF ANGELS by Osterhus. The sweetest story ever told. An angel visited children who are still alive.
 

ORDER OF FUTURE EVENTS, by Dr. Robert L. Moyer. He writes about the Rapture, Anti-Christ, the Great Tribulation, the Millennium, and so on.

GOD'S GLORIOUS PLAN FOR YOUR LIFE by Henry M. Morris. The most important question in your life answered by common logic and the Word of God. 32 pages.

LOVING TALKS TO ADVANCING CHRISTIANS by Anna E. McGhie. Shared blessings of the Atoning sacrifice of Christ. 64 pages.
 

Order from OSTERHUS PUBLISHING HOUSE 4500 W. Broadway, Minneapolis, Minn. 55422 U.S.A.

TRACT ASSORTMENT on Angels -- 12 tracts you'll enjoy.

A BARGAIN -- One each of above books and tracts --.
 

[Retyped on March 16, 2001 by Clyde C. PRICE, Jr. <Clyde.Price@CDLF.ORG> for the Christian Digital Library Foundation <http://www.cdlf.org> from an apparently public domain print-media booklet...> published by OSTERHUS PUBLISHING HOUSE 4500 West Broadway, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55422 USA 20 cents each, 8 for $1.00 Eighth edition --2000 -- October, 1946... Seventeenth Edition -- 30,000 --March, 1967  CDLF Etext Editor's Note: I left out mention of decades-outdated prices, and haven't determined whether or not the publisher still exists. This is the second time I have retyped this little booklet, having apparently lost the media on which I had originally saved it. I pray that this time the etext of this old but timely message will run rapidly all over the earth and bear heavenly fruit.  I dedicate this etext to the memory of my parents Cotton and Mary Jane Price, who now both live in the Glory. -- Clyde Cotton Price, Jr. March 16, 2001 Alpharetta, Georgia, USA This file distributed in 2001 by Parakletos Ministries & the Christian Digital Library Foundation. Contact: Clyde C. PRICE, Jr. email: Clyde.Price@CDLF.ORG 11770 Haynes Bridge Rd., Suite 205-214 Alpharetta, GA 30004 USA Founder and President: The Christian Digital Library Foundation, Inc. CDLF is recruiting Treasure-Hunters, Scribes & Eager Readers to help collect, create, distribute and enjoy Christian & educational etexts.  Find CDLF files at  http://www.cdlf.org File marked up into HTML by bibleteacher.org, in cooperation with Parakletos Ministries & the Christian Digital Library Foundation.