Opening the Gates of Heaven Perry Stone

The third point is that some noes are simply unexplainable. One of the unexplainable events in life is the death of a child or a loved one. When a child or loved one passes unexpectedly through an accident or a terminal illness, sincere believers attempting to comfort the mourner will often make statements such as: “God took them because He needed another angel.” “God needs more workers to prepare for the marriage supper.” “God took them to spare them from all the trouble on earth.” These strange comments, meant to comfort at that moment, can actually agitate the mourner as he or she often smiles in response and walks away. I know of minister friends who prayed for their children’s protection, asking God to build a hedge around them (Job 1:10) and not allow premature death to take them out before their appointed time. They claimed the protective scriptures for a long life and yet received a dreaded phone call that changed their world in a split second—as the voice on the other line released the news that the child had been killed in an accident. It is appointed unto men once to die. Here is fact number one: it is appointed unto men once to die (Heb. 9:27). This is a spiritual law that cannot be broken. Only two men have escaped death, Enoch (Gen. 5:24) and Elijah (2 Kings 2), and they will experience death at the hand of the future Antichrist when they return as the two witnesses to Jerusalem (Rev. 11:7). There are also those who will be “caught up” at the time of the gathering