| Author | Message | ||
| Hec Registered user Username: Hec Post Number: 643 Registered: 3-2009 |
I just had and investigative judgment experience night before last. My MIL had a panick attack and my wife and I were call to assist. She lives with her husband who is 94 and can't do much anymore. She is 79. When my wife and I got there, she was shaking like a leave. she was having a very hard time breathing and was out of control. I told her not to think about anything, but Jesus. How He saved her and how she is in His hands. Here is where the IJ experience comes in. She started calling Jesus' name, and then started pleading with Him to forgive her sins and if she had any |bold{unconfessed sins} to please forgive her. She went almost into a trance trying to get assurance of His forgiveness for her unconfessed sins. I though to myself, how terrible to live with that doubt. How terrible to live without the assurance that if I die at this very moment, I'll be with Jesus. It must be awful for a SDA to die thinking that his unconfessed sins will keep him/her out of heaven. Thank God for the assurance of salvation. Thank God for the assurance that the believer does not come into judgment. Thank God for the peace that I don't have to worry about my sins. Jesus took care of that. Hallelujah! Hec | ||
| Flyinglady Registered user Username: Flyinglady Post Number: 7619 Registered: 3-2004  |
I am so sorry Hec. That must have awful to witness. Diana L | ||
| River Registered user Username: River Post Number: 5639 Registered: 9-2006  |
I imagine this happens to many of them Hec. She probably got to thinking about her mortality and the uncertainty scared the living daylights out of her. Its a sad thing. seems like the older I get the faster the years pass. I guess you done what you could for her. River | ||
| Seekinglight Registered user Username: Seekinglight Post Number: 451 Registered: 3-2009 |
Hec, that must have been very difficult to bear--to hear her speak that way. I'm saying a prayer for her right now. I hope one day she'll have complete peace knowing that Jesus bore all that shame and guilt so she doesn't have to anymore! *Thank you, Jesus. You paid the ultimate price on our behalf. Now we have nothing whatsoever to fear because the Devil's claim on us is broken forever!* | ||
| Colleentinker Registered user Username: Colleentinker Post Number: 10516 Registered: 12-2003  |
Hec, what a traumatic experience. I agree with River. that she likely got to thinking about her mortality and ended up panicking. I believe many Adventists have similar fears, especially as they come closer to the ends of their lives. We have a friend who is a neurosurgeon and a former Adventist. He said one of the things that had bothered him for years, long before he personally confronted his own questions about Adventism, was the fact that Adventists "die badly". He said they always (pretty much) fear death and fight it to the end. He also said that sometimes he would see non-SDA Christians as they died, and their experience was completely different; they had peace and were not struggling. Colleen | ||
| River Registered user Username: River Post Number: 5642 Registered: 9-2006 |
It just amazes me no end that I have such peace about my upcoming demise.Its not that I am not afraid of death, I would not be truthful if I said I was not afraid of the unknown. The will to survive is built in. I think this says it best: Corinthians I 15:53 For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. Corinthians I 15:54 So when this corruptible has put on incorruption, and this mortal has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written: "Death is swallowed up in victory." Corinthians I 15:55 "O Death, where is your sting? O Hades, where is your victory?" Corinthians I 15:56 The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law. Corinthians I 15:57 But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Am I saying the right thing when I say that Jesus takes away the sting? At least the worry and I am not distraught over it. I talked with Toria intimately about her upcoming death. Or rather she spoke with me, I didn't say much. She was not overtaken with fear. She had fears, yes, but not the kind of fear that carries the kind dread with it Hec has described. Am I interpreting the scripture right in saying that trusting in Jesus takes away the 'sting' of death? River | ||
| Philharris Registered user Username: Philharris Post Number: 1869 Registered: 5-2007  |
River, Onces again, you see it right. I have had many Christian friends who knew they were dying of cancer and they all had peace. I have seen others in great fear including Adventist family, just like Hec described. P.S. Toria's last Facebook message to me was an invitation to come out and stand on her clift and see her Atlantic Ocean. It may not happen but I have the desire to do just that. Under the Wings of Jesus what have we to fear? Fearless Phil | ||
| Doc Registered user Username: Doc Post Number: 446 Registered: 2-2003  |
Yes, River, you are right about the "sting of death" thing. Hec, that is really awful about your mother-in-law. I get so angry sometimes about those who really want to know God and are being prevented by being in some cultic system or other. It is not their fault, it is the leaders who are leading people astray. But I guess God knows and He sees their hearts! I pray she gets some assurance that it is OK just to trust Jesus! God bless, Adrian p.s. There is no such thing as the investigative judgement. They made it up to save face! p.p.s My step-mother is 83, and though she does not want to die yet, she does not have those panics about dying. She knows the Lord! | ||
| Skeeter Registered user Username: Skeeter Post Number: 408 Registered: 12-2007 |
A couple years ago my MIL (SDA) was diagnosed with cancer (uterine). She was 80 years old and had NEVER been for a "physical" never had a momogram, or any other tests, never a flu shot, etc. While waiting for test results she remarked that she might have waited too long,(too see a doctor) but then said that she was "anxious for Heaven". The doctor told her it appeared to be small in size but would not know for sure until surgery if it had broken through the vaginal wall or not. We were all there (her children and daughter in law(me) and her son in laws) at the hospital when she had her surgery and had prayer with her before they took her in. Thankfully it had not broken through but they removed her uterus, ovaries, etc just to be sure.. she didnt even have to have chemo or radiation which we were all of course very thankful for. But thinking back on it now (as a now "former SDA") And though I still worry about her being SDA... I am glad that she has a relationship with God that is strong enough that she did not fear death, but looked forward to heaven. I feel this was not BECAUSE of Adventism but IN SPITE of it. I feel that the Doctrines of Adventism are WRONG, Adventism is wrong at the very roots... and yet, I believe that there will be those even in the Adventist church who will be saved , not because of the "church" and its teachings,but because of their FAITH in Jesus Christ. Also, Catholics, Mormons, JW's, etc. If their relationship with Jesus is there DESPITE the wrong things they hear preached in church,,, I believe He will save them. | ||
| Philharris Registered user Username: Philharris Post Number: 1870 Registered: 5-2007 |
It is mathmatical: Has saved ( is saved ( will save)) = eternal salvation If any part of the above is true it is all true. Fearless Phil | ||
| Hec Registered user Username: Hec Post Number: 644 Registered: 3-2009 |
It is a dramatic experience. I felt like telling her all the errors of her thinking (doctrines) but of course, she was out of understanding anything. I guess in my post, I forgot to tell you that, yes, she did think she was dying. In her panic attack, she thought she was going to die. That's why she was so desperate for her unconfessed sins. The strange thing is the feeling that I had as she went through it. A feeling of a rare spirit in the air. Even as she called the name of Jesus, it was as if there was a spiritual war going on. Ufff. Thank you Jesus for you gospel. Hec | ||
| Gcfrankie Registered user Username: Gcfrankie Post Number: 624 Registered: 1-2007 |
Hec, I am sooo sorry about your mother-in-law having a panic attack. I know how frightening that can be for the person having it and the family trying to help. I remember when my dad had his stress attack (the hospital thought it was a stroke) and he was telling me how in the middle of the night he saw these two angles going at it and he knew they were satan and Jesus fighting over him and the oppressive feeling in his room. He said he cried out to Jesus and all of a sudden the oppressive feeling left the room. He said it was very real and all I could say is "Wow". I will be praying for her that she truely knows Jesus loves her unconditionally instead of conditionally based upon her fear of unconfessed sins. Gail | ||
| 8thday Registered user Username: 8thday Post Number: 1298 Registered: 11-2007  |
Very reminiscent of what I went through this summer with my 97 yo grandmother. So sad!!!! I keep hearing that she is now at peace. It's what I have been praying for - for her to to truly trust Christ with her whole being.. in spite of bad information. She was diagnosed with lymphoma.. a tumor growing in her throat was causing severe pain and trouble eating and talking. They annointed her and prayed for her healing and comfort, and she has not been in pain since, and eating very well again. I am praying God had mercy on her and took this away as a reassurance to her of his love for her. She is still growing weaker, but did not want to see her die in that condition. I am told she is now in a deeper peace that she has ever been. I pray this is reality and not just propaganda. =) I was not silent about the distress of what I saw this summer. I don't know what to make of it all, but it does make me very sad, what this terrible teaching does to people. I believe some have taken their own life as a result of taking this seriously. Thankfully, many sda's can't even explain it - so they don't know it well enough for them to be traumatized by it! The Good News is just too good to believe. I run across this in many Christian circles, in different forms. We believe we are saved by faith, but we have to be good through our own striving and effort. So sad to watch. The IJ fits well with the instincts of our human nature. Sondra |
