A study of death and the proper approach to this subject.
Death is an enemy ( 1 Corinthians 15:26); but God aso states that He is the God of the living not the dead ( Matthew 22:32).
We read in 1 Corinthians 15:55-57
55 O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?
56 The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law.
57 But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
It may seem like overstating the obvious here; but death for a believer; TRULY BORN AGAIN is a victory while for the unsaved is anything but. It may be true at funerals that relatives claim that their loved one is with the Lord; but for someone who is clearly saved should have a more demonstrative rejoicing in that regard than the world in their feigned attempt to convince everyone of the same fact when it is likely the person is suffering in hades.
I state this after seeing a reaction at a funeral for someone in our church the other week; apparently someone there was very uncomfortable hearing scriptures related to where we go as a believer after death. This is probably why many dumb down what should in reality be an atmosphere of joy. I am not saying that grief shouldn't occur but as Paul stated in 1 Thessalonians 4:13-15
13 Brothers and sisters, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death, so that you do not grieve like the rest of mankind, who have no hope. 14 For we believe that Jesus died and rose again, and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. 15 According to the Lord's word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep.
(Whew thought I lost all this work)...
All this discussion at the funeral led to this particular concept of sleep; but our Pastor does NOT believe in "soul sleep". We certainly rest from our works and for a while in His presence ( Rev. 6:11)
Death is an enemy ( 1 Corinthians 15:26); but God aso states that He is the God of the living not the dead ( Matthew 22:32).
We read in 1 Corinthians 15:55-57
55 O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?
56 The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law.
57 But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
It may seem like overstating the obvious here; but death for a believer; TRULY BORN AGAIN is a victory while for the unsaved is anything but. It may be true at funerals that relatives claim that their loved one is with the Lord; but for someone who is clearly saved should have a more demonstrative rejoicing in that regard than the world in their feigned attempt to convince everyone of the same fact when it is likely the person is suffering in hades.
I state this after seeing a reaction at a funeral for someone in our church the other week; apparently someone there was very uncomfortable hearing scriptures related to where we go as a believer after death. This is probably why many dumb down what should in reality be an atmosphere of joy. I am not saying that grief shouldn't occur but as Paul stated in 1 Thessalonians 4:13-15
13 Brothers and sisters, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death, so that you do not grieve like the rest of mankind, who have no hope. 14 For we believe that Jesus died and rose again, and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. 15 According to the Lord's word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep.
(Whew thought I lost all this work)...
All this discussion at the funeral led to this particular concept of sleep; but our Pastor does NOT believe in "soul sleep". We certainly rest from our works and for a while in His presence ( Rev. 6:11)
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