1Th 4:14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him.
1Th 4:15 For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep.
There IS hope.
There IS an eventual life after death.
Those who die in Jesus- God WILL bring with Him, and those who are alive when the Lord comes again cannot stop those who have died in Jesus from living again.
We have hope.
We all have hope, but only in Jesus Christ our LORD and SAVIOR.
We cannot wake ourselves from death's sleep.
And we cannot wake up anyone else from death's sleep.
Yes, back in the days of the apostles there were miracles of bring the dead back to life, but it wasn't a wide scale practice. Not everyone that died was brought back, it was at the Lord's discretion, for His purpose.
Too many people believe their loved ones are already alive and watching them, waiting for them, standing by on another plane of existence able to see everything going on down here on earth.
Some swear that those who they believe are too horrific to gain heaven are suffering in a fire pit, endlessly suffering, always to suffer. Our God is TOO just to ever arrange things this way, but people have twisted His word to suit their purposes, they've taken His parables and turned them into fact when in truth they are only meant to serve as a tale depicting a situation whose meaning has been veiled and meant truly only for those who really have eyes and want to see the truth of God not blinded by Satan's deceptions that are so perfected they will deceive ALL but God's very elect.
I've spoken on this before and I feel the need to speak on it again because just recently there was a death in my extended family. So many people want to find selfish comfort in believing their loved ones are still alive. I say selfish comfort because they are using this belief to pacify themselves, their grief, when the truth is we are supposed to feel the harshness of death. We are supposed to comprehend that death brings a finale to our lives. That finale is the end of our chance to choose to live for God. No one after death has that choice- to choose salvation in Christ or not to choose it. That choice is gone forever and every death needs to remind us of that fact, because if we aren't reminded of it by death and we pull the fictional snuggle blanket of continuing life right after death, and our loved ones- simply because they were good and we love them, and they are family, must deserve heaven- well, we are going to be in for a huge eternally deadly shock later on.
I'm not belittling anyone's sorrow! It is a very real, very raw process to grieve the loss of a loved one. There is comfort to be found in the knowledge they are sleeping death's sleep.
There is great comfort in this--
Ecc 9:5 For the living know that they shall die: but the dead know not any thing, neither have they any more a reward; for the memory of them is forgotten.
The dead know not any thing.
Why in the world do people WANT their deceased loved ones to see all their pain and heartache? Why?! Yet, millions, billions want just that! They want them looking down on them as if our pain and heartaches are so important that our dead loved ones must suffer with us and offer us their unseen comfort while we pretend to feel it because it makes us feel better knowing we're sharing our agonies with someone, someone who loves us and cares for us. I say pretend but the truth is, Satan has GREAT power. We don't want to believe that fact either, but Satan has amazing powers and abilities, and so do his evil angels- those that fell with him from heaven. These beings exist every bit as much as God exists- we can't believe one without the other. Satan and his angels know everything there is to know about us and he uses it all to deceive us at every opportunity. So if he allows an evil spirit (angel) to make someone feel the invisible comfort from a dead loved one it's all to his delight, all serving HIS purpose to deceive.
The word of God tells us that when Christ comes again the dead that are found in Him will rise.
They will RISE!
1Th 4:16 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:
1Th 4:17 Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.
1Th 4:18 Wherefore comfort one another with these words.
They will RISE!
So answer me this- what are they rising from if they're already living in some wonderful existence with God in heaven? Seriously, what could this possibly mean other than the dead in Christ are NOT risen yet, and won't rise until He returns for them.
We are to comfort one another with THESE words, not the words of false belief, not the words of heaven realized immediately after dying, they aren't true!
A friend of mine wrote a wonderful message today and in it she emphasize just how short our time here on earth is and how we need to realize that every breath we take is one breath closer to our end.
There is so much truth in this, realizing that our lives NOW matter. We choose NOW whom we are going to serve- God or Satan. As soon as we die we no longer have that choice, and for most people there is no opportunity to even have a thought before they are suddenly gone. We have to have our house- our lives- in order NOW. God wants us to be His, to LOVE Him, to know Him and be known by Him and we can do this through HIS word, studying, reading, praying, living a life that makes God a real entity in our existence, a real force. The Holy Spirit will guide us but we have to choose to be led by Him, He'll NEVER force Himself on us, never.
We are given so much LOVING instruction in the word of God, so much! We need to make it real and we need to make it REAL now, not some other time at a later date.
We aren't going to find peace in this world, Jesus didn't come to bring peace to this world- His words, not mine.
Mat 10:34 Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword.
What is the sword He's brought instead of peace?
Eph 6:17 ... and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God
HIS WORD! HIS TRUTH UNDEFILED!
All by HIS GRACE, HIS MERCY, HIS LOVE, HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS, HIS FORGIVENESS! HIS SANCTIFICATION! HIS HOLINESS!
1Th 4:15 For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep.
There IS hope.
There IS an eventual life after death.
Those who die in Jesus- God WILL bring with Him, and those who are alive when the Lord comes again cannot stop those who have died in Jesus from living again.
We have hope.
We all have hope, but only in Jesus Christ our LORD and SAVIOR.
We cannot wake ourselves from death's sleep.
And we cannot wake up anyone else from death's sleep.
Yes, back in the days of the apostles there were miracles of bring the dead back to life, but it wasn't a wide scale practice. Not everyone that died was brought back, it was at the Lord's discretion, for His purpose.
Too many people believe their loved ones are already alive and watching them, waiting for them, standing by on another plane of existence able to see everything going on down here on earth.
Some swear that those who they believe are too horrific to gain heaven are suffering in a fire pit, endlessly suffering, always to suffer. Our God is TOO just to ever arrange things this way, but people have twisted His word to suit their purposes, they've taken His parables and turned them into fact when in truth they are only meant to serve as a tale depicting a situation whose meaning has been veiled and meant truly only for those who really have eyes and want to see the truth of God not blinded by Satan's deceptions that are so perfected they will deceive ALL but God's very elect.
I've spoken on this before and I feel the need to speak on it again because just recently there was a death in my extended family. So many people want to find selfish comfort in believing their loved ones are still alive. I say selfish comfort because they are using this belief to pacify themselves, their grief, when the truth is we are supposed to feel the harshness of death. We are supposed to comprehend that death brings a finale to our lives. That finale is the end of our chance to choose to live for God. No one after death has that choice- to choose salvation in Christ or not to choose it. That choice is gone forever and every death needs to remind us of that fact, because if we aren't reminded of it by death and we pull the fictional snuggle blanket of continuing life right after death, and our loved ones- simply because they were good and we love them, and they are family, must deserve heaven- well, we are going to be in for a huge eternally deadly shock later on.
I'm not belittling anyone's sorrow! It is a very real, very raw process to grieve the loss of a loved one. There is comfort to be found in the knowledge they are sleeping death's sleep.
There is great comfort in this--
Ecc 9:5 For the living know that they shall die: but the dead know not any thing, neither have they any more a reward; for the memory of them is forgotten.
The dead know not any thing.
Why in the world do people WANT their deceased loved ones to see all their pain and heartache? Why?! Yet, millions, billions want just that! They want them looking down on them as if our pain and heartaches are so important that our dead loved ones must suffer with us and offer us their unseen comfort while we pretend to feel it because it makes us feel better knowing we're sharing our agonies with someone, someone who loves us and cares for us. I say pretend but the truth is, Satan has GREAT power. We don't want to believe that fact either, but Satan has amazing powers and abilities, and so do his evil angels- those that fell with him from heaven. These beings exist every bit as much as God exists- we can't believe one without the other. Satan and his angels know everything there is to know about us and he uses it all to deceive us at every opportunity. So if he allows an evil spirit (angel) to make someone feel the invisible comfort from a dead loved one it's all to his delight, all serving HIS purpose to deceive.
The word of God tells us that when Christ comes again the dead that are found in Him will rise.
They will RISE!
1Th 4:16 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:
1Th 4:17 Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.
1Th 4:18 Wherefore comfort one another with these words.
They will RISE!
So answer me this- what are they rising from if they're already living in some wonderful existence with God in heaven? Seriously, what could this possibly mean other than the dead in Christ are NOT risen yet, and won't rise until He returns for them.
We are to comfort one another with THESE words, not the words of false belief, not the words of heaven realized immediately after dying, they aren't true!
A friend of mine wrote a wonderful message today and in it she emphasize just how short our time here on earth is and how we need to realize that every breath we take is one breath closer to our end.
There is so much truth in this, realizing that our lives NOW matter. We choose NOW whom we are going to serve- God or Satan. As soon as we die we no longer have that choice, and for most people there is no opportunity to even have a thought before they are suddenly gone. We have to have our house- our lives- in order NOW. God wants us to be His, to LOVE Him, to know Him and be known by Him and we can do this through HIS word, studying, reading, praying, living a life that makes God a real entity in our existence, a real force. The Holy Spirit will guide us but we have to choose to be led by Him, He'll NEVER force Himself on us, never.
We are given so much LOVING instruction in the word of God, so much! We need to make it real and we need to make it REAL now, not some other time at a later date.
We aren't going to find peace in this world, Jesus didn't come to bring peace to this world- His words, not mine.
Mat 10:34 Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword.
What is the sword He's brought instead of peace?
Eph 6:17 ... and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God
HIS WORD! HIS TRUTH UNDEFILED!
All by HIS GRACE, HIS MERCY, HIS LOVE, HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS, HIS FORGIVENESS! HIS SANCTIFICATION! HIS HOLINESS!
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