Public Speaking or Death? ............. Parables 716

May 15, 2001

Sweaty palms, short breaths, knocking knees. For most of us, if we must stand up and talk to a crowd, the thought of dying comes to mind, or at least the wish to be someplace else. No matter how often I do it, forget the butterflies — my stomach feels as if an entire herd of bison is thundering through. I am convinced the statistic is correct — the main fear in North America is not death but public speaking.

Maybe we are so afraid of it because we can imagine ourselves flubbing up in front of a crowd. We can hear the hoots and cat calls and feel ourselves tripping over our own tongues. These images are far more vivid than imagining ourselves dead. Death is an unknown. Oh, we’ve read about people seeing a bright light or feeling themselves float to the ceiling. I suppose we can imagine that, or at least that we have moved somewhere else, yet being dead is a foreign experience.

The Bible agrees that a person does not know much about it. The apostle Paul explained in his New Testament letter to the Corinthians: “As it is written, ‘No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him.”

Who has departed from this world and came back with an eye-witness account? Who has seen the angels or heard them sing? Who can fathomed a city with streets of gold, glowing in the light of God Himself?

We can read the words and study the biblical descriptions, but we find it more difficult to put ourselves in that entire scenario. Those near-death stories of being with Jesus, of walking toward a bright light and seeing relatives who have died before us are only a taste.

Notice that Paul’s quote ends with “... for those who love him.” What about those who deny God or hate Him? A doctor wrote a book from his experience of being with people who were resuscitated. Some saw that heavenly light but others saw flames and torment. They were terrified as they related those images to him, but without exception, anyone who had them soon forgot what they saw. Perhaps that is the biggest reason most people fear death. While the uncertainty of what waits on the other side is a perplexity, those who reject God and refuse His light do fear another reality, that judgment is coming. Where will they spend eternity?

The above quote from Paul adds another phrase. While we cannot see, hear, or imagine our eternal dwelling place, it concludes with “. . . but God has revealed it to us by his Spirit.”

In other words, our unaided imagination cannot know about death and the afterlife but by revelation from the Holy Spirit, God’s people are not in the dark about their future. We can know where we are going. He gives us an understanding of a heavenly place that is beyond a mere glimpse. We know with certainty that we will be with Jesus. Wherever and whatever else that means, His presence will guarantee perfection.

The Bible ends with a description of our eternal dwelling. It says, “God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain . . . nothing impure... nor shameful or deceitful... no more curse . . . no more night.”

Even though that is hard to imagine, the Holy Spirit and the fact that God promises it, gives me a certainty that all this wondrous perfection will be mine. Now I just wish it was that simple when it comes to the delivery of my next speech!