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One Shot!

Beloved:

On Saturday, June 12, my family and friends had a “Celebration of Life” service for me. I went to be with the Lord on Tuesday, June 9 at 3am in the morning. A friend is writing this June Proclaimer on my behalf. My passing accentuates the certainty of death for us all. The scripture says: 

“And as it is appointed unto men ONCE TO DIE, but after this the judgment: So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation”--Hebrews 9:27-28, KJV.

Ever since sin entered into the world by the first man, Adam, the death principle has played out with EVERY one of his descendants. On June 9, 2020 it played out for Bill Chapman. There have been exceptions. Death got TWO SHOTS at every one Jesus or an OT prophet raised from the dead (e.g., Lazarus). In two cases we know of, death got NO SHOT at all (e.g., Enoch, Elijah). But for every one else, the ONE SHOT principle applies. 

The good news is death only gets ONE SHOT at a born-again believer in the Lord Jesus. As it’s been said many times, if you’re born twice, you only . The unbeliever, on the other hand, DIES TWICE—once physically and then eternally in the Lake of Fire. 

This truth caused Paul to write: “O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law. But tDIE ONCEhanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ”--1 Corinthians 15:55-57,  KJV. 

Those two questions are rhetorical. The answers of death and the grave respectively are: "I don't have any sting!” and “I can no longer claim victory!" The grave is only a TEMPORARY abode for a believer’s body. The resurrection of Jesus guarantees one day he’ll snatch the believer’s body (including mine) from the grave. It’s a comfort to know death only gets ONE SHOT at us believers. The Lord Jesus will get the FINAL WORD when he empties the graves of his children in the resurrection!

Now a word from His Word: “By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts: and by it HE BEING DEAD YET SPEAKETH”--Hebrews 11:4, KJV.

[Author's note: Evangelist Bill Chapman wrote and published the Proclaimer for over 40 years. We will continue to publish a Proclaimer each month from the archives so that he'll STILL be speaking!]