What does the Bible say our loved ones who have fallen asleep are doing right now? What happens to us when we die? An atheist acquaintance of mine says, “Nothing.” The scripture corrects that false assumption. After leaving life-lessons for Solomon, David rested with his ancestors and was buried. In Psalm 16:9-11, he expressed confidence that he would live after he died. Then his descendant King Jesus defeated death on Resurrection Sunday. His victory is also ours. Our “with-God” life here continues for eternity. If we rest, we will also rise. Message based on 1 Kings 2:10; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18.
Quotes:
Duane Brooks: Believers who die are with Christ, when they die, after they die, when he returns and forever. So immediately, consciously, victoriously, eternally, with Christ. He told them this to comfort them.
Leith Anderson: What makes heaven heaven is God. It is being there with him. With his presence comes peace and contentment, a fulfillment, a sense that all is well.
Duane Brooks: There are two ways to die: in Christ, or outside of Christ.
John Donne: From rest and sleep which but thy pictures be.
Duane Brooks: Christians who die are immediately in the comfort and care of Christ.
T. S. Eliot: Resurrection is not a metaphor but a reality.
John Stott: We live and die; Christ died and lived.
Vanice Siler: I will either live here or I will live with the Lord.
Alexander McClaren: His death makes our deaths sleep, and his Resurrection makes our sleep calmly certain of awaking.
David Garland: While graveyards may remind one of the brevity of life, the resurrection ensures the brevity of death.
George Herbert: Death used to be an executioner, but the gospel has made him just a gardener.
J. B. Phillips: One word of command, one shout from an archangel, one blast from the trumpet of God and God in Person will come down from heaven!
Alexander MacLaren: The apostolic church thought more about the Second Coming of Jesus Christ than about death and heaven. The early Christians were looking, not for a cleft in the ground called a grave but for a cleavage in the sky called Glory.
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