“Why should any of you consider it incredible that God raises the dead?” – Acts 26:8

On Saturday morning, January 3, 1880, in Maiden, Massachusetts, Bishop Gilbert Haven’s physician said that his last day had come, and he allowed his friends to see him one last time. He had lived a full life into his late seventies, having been a pastor, an author, and an abolitionist. As his friends entered his bedroom to say good-bye, Haven comforted them from John 8:51: “Shall never see death; Glory! Glory! Glory!” Haven rarely shouted, but in his last hour he was exceedingly overjoyed.

“You have a great Savior,” someone said to him.

“Yes,” Haven answered, “that is the whole of the gospel, the whole of it” With difficulty he said: “Happy, if with my latest breath I may but gasp His name, Preach Him to all, and cry in death, Behold, behold the Lamb!”

A physician who was present said: “I never saw a person die so before.” A clergyman remarked: “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.”

The grave is not the end. Jesus Christ is living proof that God raises the dead. Are you excited that you have eternal life with the Lord? Today in prayer, give thanks to Christ for His love for you and praise Him that you have eternal life in Him.

“Belief in the resurrection is not an appendage to the Christian faith; it is the Christian faith.” – John S. Whale

God’s Word: “For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive.” – 1 Corinthians 15:22

By Peter Kennedy, Copyright 2002, Devotional E-Mail DEVOTIONS IN ACTS pkennedy@devotional.com