The Incomparable Riches of His Grace - Pete Garcia - http://www.omegaletter.com/articles/articles.asp?ArticleID=8136
By faith Enoch was taken away so that he did not see death, "and was not found, because God had taken him"; for before he was taken he had this testimony, that he pleased God. Hebrews 11:5
With as busy as this past week has been, I really hadn't had the opportunity to properly mourn and internalize what Jack Kelley's passing really meant to me. Both he and Jack Kinsella were two men that I considered spiritual mentors, seeing how much they both helped me mature in my faith. Although I'd only talked to Jack Kinsella on the phone and by email a couple of times, and to Jack Kelley only by email, I'd grown to know them, so to speak, by their articles they faithfully published each week.
Both Jack's passed rather suddenly, and well before their prime, and I had to ask God, why them and why now considering all the things that are rapidly unfolding in these final moments of human history. Although we won't know the answer to those questions until we ourselves get to that other, glorious side, I'd like to think that God couldn't stand being apart from them one second longer, and was the case with Enoch, brought them home sooner rather than later.
But if anyone loves God, this one is known by Him. 1 Corinthians 8:3
Presumably, each school of thought within Christian eschatology has their go-to men who tenaciously defend their positions. While both Jacks weren't the biggest names on the block per say for the Pre-Trib, Dispensational position, both of them were committed and humble teachers, who diligently did the Lord's work presenting solid teaching on many, many subjects pertaining to our Christian faith. What does the Lord say to those who for instance, diligently defend Preterism or Amillennialism once they get to heaven, only to realize that their position they'd held too all their lives, was wrong? Again, we don't know, but what a glory it must be for both Jacks now to know face to face, that the view they held too, although becoming the minority position, was and is the only correct understanding.
For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also am known. 1 Cor. 13:12
How awesome it must be for both of them right now at this moment, to have had their faith validated by meeting Christ face to face. To meet the Apostle Paul, Peter, John, Enoch, Samson, David, Abraham, and all the rest of the saints they'd spent their lives studying and learning about. They are now, in the eternal state, awaiting like us, that glorious moment when Christ will step out of eternity and into our stratosphere, to call us up to be with Him forever. The reunion in the air as it were, will involve the living and the dead, receiving our glorified, sinless, perfected, and eternal bodies as we return with Him to be where He is, while what remains, i.e...the Christ-rejecting world made up of Jews and Gentiles, enter into that long held in abeyance, Seventieth Week of Daniel. (Jeremiah 30:7-11; Daniel 9:24-27)
For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep. For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words. 1 Thessalonians 4:15-18
Both Jacks left behind a voluminous body of work to continue to pour over. Comparatively speaking, they each wrote enough to rewrite the New Testament several times over. If I were a betting man, I'd bet that the Apostle Paul probably wrote a lot more than what we were privy to, of which, we may have received only a portion thereof. But that was the way God intended it to be. Not knowing what will become of their (both Jacks) work on the other side, perhaps theirs too will be included in some future historical writings that those in the millennium study upon to learn about the final age of man here on terra firma.
While it may be said about men of such spiritual caliber, "our loss, is heaven's gain", truly, it does not diminish the pain of that loss this side of heaven. We know they are in a better place, yet we remain to continue trudging along in this fallen and decaying world. It is hard. It is hard to keep the same optimistic sensibilities without men like them here, to make sense of all the craziness we see and hear on an hourly basis.
God used them mightily in ways that we won't know the full impact of this side of heaven. I'm confident in that just as a man's work will condemn him long after he is dead (think Charles Darwin, Karl Marx, Adolph Hitler), so too will a man's work reward him long after he has passed from this life. For the unbeliever, that is why the Great White Throne Judgement (Rev. 20) is at the very end. For the believer, ours is right after the Rapture of the Church. While our salvation does not depend upon our own works of righteousness, (Titus 3:5-7) our sanctification very much does, because our works for Christ, will be tested and purified by fire. All that was wood, hay, and stubble will not remain, but be burnt up. All that does remain (gold, silver, precious stones) after the fire has been applied, will be those things we did for God, for the right reasons. (Matt. 3:11; Cor. 3:11-15; 2 Cor. 5:10)
And in both their passing's, the world barely noticed. There was no parades, no mention by the media, no huge outpouring on the state or national level...yet, there is one I know, one who did notice, and that was the prince of darkness himself. Satan sighed a sigh of relief, noting the heavy damage both these men inflicted on his perverse plan in corrupting the Church and drawing people away. I can honestly state, that God used both of these men in my life in a way that greatly impacted where I am today. When I first came back to the faith after some 20 years of wandering, I was searching. Trust me, there is A LOT of garbage out on the internet.
Had they not wrote as faithfully as they did, and maintained their lives in such a way as to continue serving humbly and without all the self-glorification, many in theology end up becoming like, I would have never committed to the study and earnest soul searching that I did. Although I'm a rank amateur compared to them, by God's grace I have crested over 200 articles, and I thank Him for that. I thank God that I got to breathe the same air as these Godly men, and share some of the same digital space as them, even though it was as brief as it was (for me).
Closing Thoughts
Although I didn't know these men in person, by God the Holy Spirit, I connected with them in a way that can only be possible through His direct influence. God steered me to them both, and I drank in as much as I could, for as long as I could, until God kicked me out of the nest and told me to spread my spiritual wings and start flying on my own. I will be forever thankful to God for them, and will continue to write as long as God deems fit for me to do so. If you are reading this and you've not read from either of these men, I can only recommend them as a tremendous blessing to your own growth and understanding. God used these men mightily and while we still can, read, learn, and grow. Read your bibles, and if you come to a portion that you're not clear on, or need help in understanding, you can't go wrong with either Jack.
In regards to what Jack Kinsella helped me most to understand, there is too much to share in the space I have available; the tripartite nature of man and how sin impacts the believer while we are in this terminal, human condition. He also made the complex simple, and the confusing, understandable. Also, that we are solid Biblical ground, when holding to the Dispensational, Pre-Tribulation nature of our role here in the final moments of the Church age.
To Jack Kelley, he helped me grasp the enormity of the glorious future that the Church (the Body of Christ) has in store for us. In particular, it is to Ephesians 2:7 that he really drew my attention to, in understanding the 'incomparable riches of His grace' He has towards us. In honor of his life, work, and good testimony in finishing strong, I'll leave you with this.
But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. Ephesians 2:4-10
My recommended;
Maranatha!
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