Reuel Howe had a friend who had terminal cancer. Howe went to visit his friend one day, not knowing what to say. He was amazed to find the friend in control of himself. His friend told Howe:

"When I began to work through this experience, I made an amazing discovery. And it is this: `For every exit, there is an entrance.'' All the way through my life I have been having to give up things in order to get things. I''ve had exits in order to get entrances. I had to give up something in order to go to school. I had to give up something in order to take a job. I had to give up single life in order to get married. All the way through my life, I''ve died a hundred deaths. I have had to die for something in order to get something new and better. For every exit, there is an entrance. And death is one more exit to that which is more."

Howe''s friend died, and Howe was asked to have the funeral. It was a difficult experience for him. The loss of that loved one hurt, and he was overcome by grief. As he was walking down the aisle in front of the casket, he noticed written on the back wall, courtesy of the fire marshall, the word that summed up the experience of his friend''s life and the faith that he had. That one word was "EXIT." (1)

When death comes to our loved ones, there are a few things we want to know. We want to know that God cares, that we are not alone in our grief. But even more importantly, perhaps, we want to be reminded that for every `exit'' there is an `entrance.'' We want to know that there is a future for us and our loved ones who we seemingly have lost.

THE PROMISES OF SCRIPTURE BECOME LIVING REALITIES IN TIMES LIKE THESE. Our faith in those promises, along with the presence of the Lord in our hearts, sustains us.

One of the most beautiful promises is found in Isaiah 25:8, "He will swallow up death in victory; and the Lord will wipe away tears from all faces." That promise has been wonderfully fulfilled by _______________. She knew she was in God''s keeping and that the end of earthly life would only release her to victory. The poet said,

Think of stepping on shore and finding it heaven!

Of taking hold of a hand and finding it God''s!

Of breathing a new air and finding it celestial air!

Of feeling invigorated and finding it immortality!

Of passing through storm and stress to perfect calm!

Of waking and finding it Home! (2)

______________ has now found herself Home.

In his book THE BEST IS YET TO BE, Henry Durbanville told the story of a man who lay dying. He was fearful, even though he was a Christian. He expressed his feelings to his doctor. The physician was silent, not knowing what to say.

Just then a whining and scratching was heard at the door. When the doctor opened it, in bounded his big, beautiful dog, who often went with him as he made house calls. The dog was glad to see his master. Sensing an opportunity to comfort his troubled patient, the doctor said, "My dog has never been in your room before, and he didn''t know what it was like in here. But he knew I was here, and that was enough. In the same way, I''m looking forward to heaven. I don''t know much about it, but I know my Savior is there. And that''s all I need to know!"

That''s all any of us need to know. Death has been swallowed up in victory. Our exit from this world is an entrance into the presence of God. There is, indeed, great comfort in the promises of God.

BUT WHAT ABOUT US WHO ARE STILL ON A JOURNEY? Are there promises for us? Yes, there are. We can be assured that we too will be led to victory if we trust fully in Christ and in him alone. Death may seem to hide his face temporarily, but his promise is to be with us always, even to the end of the world.

Corrie Ten Boom, who suffered horribly in the Nazi concentration camps and lost her sister and family to them, said, "When a train goes through a tunnel and it gets dark, you don''t throw away your ticket and jump off. You sit still and trust the engineer."

Our lives have an engineer. We can trust Him who said, "Peace I leave with you. My peace give I unto you; let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid."

You and I can find that the same faith which led ____________ home brings comfort to us.

A great preacher and revivalist tells about a camp meeting back in the old days. One night it looked like a storm was coming up. They had no lanterns.

The preacher had to walk down by a dangerous cliff to where he was staying. So an old farmer got together some "lighters" as they were called in the Blue Ridge mountains. He took a branch of pine wood, set it on fire and brought the torch to the preacher. "This will see you home," he said.

The preacher was not convinced and replied, "I don''t know about that. What if it rains?"

"It will see you home," assured the farmer.

"But what if the wind blows it out?" asked the preacher.

The farmer knew his pine-lighters. "It''ll see you home," he insisted, and it did.The hymn says,

Through many dangerous toils and snares,

I have already come,

''Twas grace that brought me safe thus far,

And grace will lead me home.

It was so for ______________ and it will be so for us also.

A newsboy, thinly clad and drenched to the skin by the soaking rain, stood shivering in the doorway one cold day in November. First, one bare foot and then the other was lifted for a moment and pressed against his leg to get a little warmth. Every few minutes his shrill cry could be heard, "Morning papers! Morning papers!" A gentleman, who was well protected by his coat and umbrella, stopped to buy the early edition. Noticing the boy''s discomfort, he said, "This kind of weather is pretty hard on you, isn''t it?" Looking up with a cheery smile, the youngster replied, "I don''t mind too much, mister. The sun will shine again!" (3)

That''s Christ promise to us as well. Every exit is but an entrance. Christ is faithful to his promises. He has promised us that in his Father''s house are many mansions, and he has promised us that in our times of need he will never forsake us. There are clouds now. But in _____________''s new home, the sun is shining and someday it will shine again for us.