Vic Lipsey 1934 - 2014
Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His faithful servants. (Psalm 116:15)
Question 1:
WHAT DOES THE BIBLE SAY ABOUT DEATH & THE GRAVE? DO YOU GO TO HEAVEN THE MOMENT YOU DIE? WHAT IS THE “SLEEP” THE BIBLE TALKS ABOUT?
All of us born to women live only a few days and have lots of trouble. We grow up like flowers and then dry up and die.
We are like a passing shadow that does not last. Will the dead live again?
(Job 14:1-2, 14 – New Century Version)
Death raises many questions: When will it happen? What will it be like? What is the soul's destiny? When the believer dies, the body goes into the grave;
the soul and spirit go immediately to be with the Lord Jesus awaiting the body's resurrection,
when they're joined together to be forever with the Lord in eternal bliss. (Chuck Swindoll)
Human beings were created by God to live forever
God has planted eternity in the hearts of men, even so, many cannot see the whole scope of God’s work from beginning to end. (Ecclesiastes 3:11 – Living Bible)
At the exact moment of death, we enter into eternity
It is in the plan that all men die once. After that, they will stand before God and be judged.
(Hebrews 9:27 – New Life Version)
When you die, you immediately go to one of two places – heaven or hell
. . . even though we know that as long as we live in these bodies we are not at home with the Lord. For we live by believing and not by seeing . . .
and we would rather be away from these earthly bodies, for then we will be at home with the Lord.
(2 Corinthians 5:6-8 – New Living Translation)
Truly I say to you, today you shall be with me in Paradise.
(Luke 23:43 – English Standard Version)
He will punish those who do not know God and those who do not obey the Good News of our Lord Jesus Christ.
They will be punished forever and taken away from the Lord and from the shininggreatness of His power.
(2 Thessalonians 1:8-9 New Life Version)
When we die as a Christian, our soul goes immediately to heaven, at the 2nd coming of Christ, our bodies are raised and changed
I am telling you a secret. We will not all die, but we will all be changed. In a very short time, no longer than it takes for the eye to close and open,
the Christians who have died will be raised. It will happen when the last horn sounds. The dead will be raised never to die again.
Then the rest of us who are alive will be changed. Our human bodies made from dust must be changed into a body that cannot be destroyed.
Our human bodies that can die must be changed into bodies that will never die.
(1 Corinthians 15:51-53 – New Life Version)
The word “sleep” used in the Bible is simply a metaphor for physical death
Now we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers and sisters, about those who are asleep, so that you will not grieve like the rest who have no hope.
For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, so also we believe that God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep as Christians. (1 Thessalonians 4:13-14 – New English Translation)
The reference to “sleep� in this passage is a metaphor for death which compares one thing (physical death) to another (sleep).
It is used of believers because for us, death is somewhat like sleep.
The use of the word “sleep� for death is used only of believers in the New Testament.
The aim of this metaphor is to suggest what death is like and means to the believer.
Sadly, many fear their souls will have to wait indefinitely for heaven.
"Soul sleep"—the belief that the soul rests after death in an unconscious state, or ceases to exist, until the final resurrection—
finds its roots in the common "sleeping" metaphor for bodily death. Although this metaphor appears in Scripture,
a thorough study shows that the metaphor of sleep refers only to the earthly body's
inanimate state after death, not to the soul. (Chuck Swindoll)
God loves every person on earth and wants all of us to go to heaven
Now the Lord is not slow about enacting His promise— slow is how some people want to characterize it— no, He is not slow but patient and merciful to you,
not wanting anyone to be destroyed, but wanting everyone to turn away from following his own path and to turn toward God’s. (2 Peter 3; 9 – The Voice)
Question 2:
WHY – NO MATTER WHAT I DO – I STILL CANNOT KEEP FROM SINNING?
Keep watch and pray that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.
(Matthew 26:41 – Good News Bible)
If we claim that we’re free of sin, we’re only fooling ourselves. A claim like that is errant nonsense. On the other hand, if we admit our sins— make a clean breast of them—
he won’t let us down; he’ll be true to himself. He’ll forgive our sins and purge us of all wrongdoing. (1 John 1:8-9 – The Message)
Commit everything you do to the LORD. Trust him, and he will help you.
(Psalm 37:5 – New Living Translation)
Commit your activities to the LORD, and your plans will be achieved.
(Proverbs 16:3 – Holman Christian Standard Bible)
I don’t understand myself at all, for I really want to do what is right, but I can’t. I do what I don’t want to—what I hate. I know perfectly well that what I am doing is wrong,
and my bad conscience proves that I agree . . . But I can’t help myself because I’m no longer doing it. It is sin inside me that is stronger than I am that makes me do these evil things.
I know I am rotten through and through so far as my old sinful nature is concerned. No matter which way I turn I can’t make myself do right. I want to but I can’t. When I want to do good,
I don’t; and when I try not to do wrong, I do it anyway. Now if I am doing what I don’t want to, it is plain where the trouble is: sin still has me in its evil grasp.
It seems to be a fact of life that when I want to do what is right, I inevitably do what is wrong. I love to do God’s will so far as my new nature is concerned;
but there is something else deep within me, in my lower nature, that is at war with my mind and wins the fight and makes me a slave to the sin that is still within me.
In my mind I want to be God’s willing servant, but instead I find myself still enslaved to sin. So you see how it is: my new life tells me to do right,
but the old nature that is still inside me loves to sin. Oh, what a terrible predicament I’m in! Who will free me from my slavery to this deadly lower nature?
Thank God! It has been done by Jesus Christ our Lord. He has set me free. (Romans 7:15-25 – Living Bible)
Confess
Commit
Connect
Word
Prayer
Fellowship
Service
Question 3:
HOW CAN I BE READY FOR CHRIST’S RETURN? IF I AM “LEFT BEHIND”, HOW IS THIS DECIDED? AS A CHRISTIAN, WHAT ARE THINGS TO DO TO BE READY?
FACT 1: Christ is coming again! (Promised return)
He was taken up into a cloud while they were watching, and they could no longer see him. As they strained to see him rising into heaven,
two white-robed men suddenly stood among them. “Men of Galilee,” they said, “why are you standing here staring into heaven?
Jesus has been taken from you into heaven, but someday he will return from heaven in the same way you saw him go!� (Acts 1:9-11 – New Living Translation)
FACT 2: No one knows when! (Imminent return)
But the exact day and hour? No one knows that, not even heaven’s angels not even the Son. Only the Father knows.
The Arrival of the Son of Man will take place in times like Noah’s. Before the great flood everyone was carrying on as usual,
having a good time right up to the day Noah boarded the ark. They knew nothing—until the flood hit and swept everything away. (Matt. 24:36-39 – The Message)
FACT 3: We must be ready at any moment! (Sudden return)
For you know quite well that the day of the Lord's return will come unexpectedly, like a thief in the night.
(1 Thessalonians 5:2 – New Living Translation)
Just as a man can prevent trouble from thieves by keeping watch for them,
so you can avoid trouble by always being ready for my unannounced return. (Matthew 24:43 – Living Bible)
FACT 4: We must get busy sharing Christ! (Delayed return)
And the Good News about the Kingdom will be preached throughout the whole world, so that all nations will hear it; and then the end will come.
(Matthew 24:14 – New Living Translation)
Don’t overlook the obvious here, friends. With God, one day is as good as a thousand years, a thousand years as a day.
God isn’t late with his promise as some measure lateness. He is restraining himself on account of you, holding back the End because he doesn’t want anyone lost.
He’s giving everyone space and time to change. (2 Peter 3:9 – The Message)
Let’s Pray