The Precious Event


INTRODUCTION: Quote: Statement of Beliefs of the Worldwide Church of God, taken from WCG Webpage, 1/30/99:

The Intermediate State

The intermediate state is the condition of the dead until the resurrection of the body. Christians hold various viewpoints on the nature of the intermediate state based on their interpretation of relevant biblical passages. Some passages suggest a conscious intermediate state, and others an unconscious state. The Worldwide Church of God holds no dogmatic position on whether humans are conscious between death and the resurrection of the body.

(Isaiah 14:9-10; Ezekiel 32:21; Luke 16:19-31; 23:43; Romans 8:38-39; 2 Corinthians 5:1-8; Philippians 1:21-24; Revelation 6:9-11; Psalms 6:5; 88:10-12; 115:17; Ecclesiastes 3:19-21; 9:5, 10; Isaiah 38:18; John 11:11-14)

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About a year ago, our sister in Christ, __________, went through a brain operation. Before the operation, though, I had a chance to visit with her and talk with her about the possibility of her death in the operation...

Do you know what was her concern???

She was concerned because she knows she has a relationship with the Lord right now...She talks with God all the time...

She was concerned that this relationship was going to be cut off at her death...

She was concerned that she was going to be put into the ground and have to WAIT until the resurrection--how ever many years that might be--until she finally sees God...

She didn't want any interruption in her existence...

For her, the idea of separation from God, even for an instant, was unbearable....

The idea that she would be in the presence of the Lord in the "next split-second of consciousness" somehow was not very satisfying to her...

With the many changes in our understanding in so many areas, perhaps it's time for us to ask again, "What Happens to a Christian at Death???"

We've already talked about the BLESSED EVENT of the RESURRECTION of the DEAD....

We know we will have GLORIFIED BODIES like Jesus' glorified body...

We know that Revelation tells us that ultimately God will create a new heavens and new earth, and that God will come and dwell with us....

But what happens BETWEEN the time you die and the time you are resurrected???

S.P.S.: Today, I would like to show you a couple of the various views Christians have concerning the state of Christians who have died in Christ....They are views that are not universally agreed upon...But in the ultimate analysis, whatever view we may believe, we can be SURE that when we die, we are firmly in God's loving hands if we are in Christ...

I. The time in question... 


 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

II. Theory 1: SOUL SLEEP... 


 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Proponents of Soul Sleep:

Martin Luther (at one point)...

Anabaptists..

SDAs

JWs

WCG historically...

Some Protestant Evangelicals: Stanley Grenz, Clark Pinnock, John Stott, and others...

III. Theory 2: The "Intermediate State"... 


 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

IV. Scriptures POSSIBLY pointing to the Intermediate State...


 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

I say "possibly" because even theologians who believe in the "intermediate state" acknowledge that there is some but not a lot of definitive discussion in the Bible about the details of the time between death and the resurrection.

It has been taught at least from the time of Augustine of Hippo (4th C.)...

The Reformers continued to teach the intermediate state, but rejected the idea of "purgatory..."

In recent year, a number of questioned the view, maintaining that after death, there is only one eschatological perspective for believers, the resurrection of the dead...

QUOTE: The Bible and the Future, by Anthony Hoekema, p. 94:

In reply to these objections it must be admitted that the Bible says very little about the intermediate state and that what it does say about it is incidental to its main eschatological message about the future of man, which concerns the resurrection of the body....The fact remains, however that there is enough biblical evidence to enable us to maintain that at death man is not annihilated and the believer is not separated from Christ.

MAT 10:26 NIV "So do not be afraid of them. There is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, or hidden that will not be made known. {27} What I tell you in the dark, speak in the daylight; what is whispered in your ear, proclaim from the roofs. {28} Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell.

There is something about you which those who kill you cannot touch...the SOUL...psuche...

Many Protestants realize that the soul is not inherently immortal...

"God only hath immortality..."

That does not mean that God cannot keep a "soul" alive indefinitely even though the soul is not INHERENTLY immortal...

When we finally have immortality, that immortality is PROVISIONAL in that GOD PROVIDES IT....

The Greeks taught that the body is evil and the soul is INNATELY IMMORTAL...

This scripture says that man cannot touch a part of you, the soul...

PHI 1:19 NIV for I know that through your prayers and the help given by the Spirit of Jesus Christ, what has happened to me will turn out for my deliverance. {20} I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death.

{21} For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.

Those who believe in "soul sleep" say that dying is gain because in Paul's next split-second of consciousness, he would be with the Lord...

Those who believe in "the intermediate state" say that Paul meant his SOUL would immediately be with Christ at the death of his body....

{22} If I am to go on living in the body, this will mean fruitful labor for me. Yet what shall I choose? I do not know! {23} I am torn between the two: I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far; {24} but it is more necessary for you that I remain in the body.

Notice Paul says he desires to DEPART and BE WITH CHRIST....

QUOTE: The Bible and the Future, by Anthony Hoekema, p. 104:

Analysai (to depart) is an aorist infinitive, depicting the momentary experience of death. Linked to analysai by a single article is the present infinitive, einai (to be). The single article ties the two infinitives together, so that the actions depicted by these infinitives are to be considered two aspects of the same thing, like two sides of the same coin. What Paul is saying here is that the moment he departs or dies, that very same moment he will be with Christ...

...The moment I die, Paul says, I will be with Christ. This condition, he adds, will be "far better" than the present, clearly rejecting the thought that after death he will enter into a state of soul-sleep or non-existence. For how could soul-sleep or nonexistence be "far better" than the present state, in which he does have conscious, though imperfect fellowship with Christ?

2CO 4:15 NIV All this is for your benefit, so that the grace that is reaching more and more people may cause thanksgiving to overflow to the glory of God. {16} Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. {17} For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. {18} So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.

2CO 5:1 NIV Now we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands. {2} Meanwhile we groan, longing to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling, {3} because when we are clothed, we will not be found naked.

{4} For while we are in this tent, we groan and are burdened, because we do not wish to be unclothed but to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life.

{5} Now it is God who has made us for this very purpose and has given us the Spirit as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.

{6} Therefore we are always confident and know that as long as we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord. {7} We live by faith, not by sight. {8} We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord. {9} So we make it our goal to please him, whether we are at home in the body or away from it.

{10} For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive what is due him for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad. {11} Since, then, we know what it is to fear the Lord, we try to persuade men. What we are is plain to God, and I hope it is also plain to your conscience.
 
 

REV 6:9 NIV When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God and the testimony they had maintained. {10} They called out in a loud voice, "How long, Sovereign Lord, holy and true, until you judge the inhabitants of the earth and avenge our blood?" {11} Then each of them was given a white robe, and they were told to wait a little longer, until the number of their fellow servants and brothers who were to be killed as they had been was completed.

REV 20:1 NIV And I saw an angel coming down out of heaven, having the key to the Abyss and holding in his hand a great chain. {2} He seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil, or Satan, and bound him for a thousand years. {3} He threw him into the Abyss, and locked and sealed it over him, to keep him from deceiving the nations anymore until the thousand years were ended. After that, he must be set free for a short time. {4} I saw thrones on which were seated those who had been given authority to judge. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony for Jesus and because of the word of God. They had not worshiped the beast or his image and had not received his mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ a thousand years. {5} (The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended.) This is the first resurrection. {6} Blessed and holy are those who have part in the first resurrection. The second death has no power over them, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with him for a thousand years.

HEB 12:18 NIV You have not come to a mountain that can be touched and that is burning with fire; to darkness, gloom and storm; {19} to a trumpet blast or to such a voice speaking words that those who heard it begged that no further word be spoken to them, {20} because they could not bear what was commanded: "If even an animal touches the mountain, it must be stoned." {21} The sight was so terrifying that Moses said, "I am trembling with fear." {22} But you have come to Mount Zion, to the heavenly Jerusalem, the city of the living God. You have come to thousands upon thousands of angels in joyful assembly, {23} to the church of the firstborn, whose names are written in heaven. You have come to God, the judge of all men, to the spirits of righteous men made perfect, {24} to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.

LUK 23:39 NIV One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him: "Aren't you the Christ? Save yourself and us!" {40} But the other criminal rebuked him. "Don't you fear God," he said, "since you are under the same sentence? {41} We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong." {42} Then he said, "Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom. " {43} Jesus answered him, "I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise."

Jewish cosmology prior to the Intertestamental Period held that sheol was the place or abode of the dead...idea not only of the grave, but also of the realm of departed spirits of men....

During the Intertestamental period, they came to believe that sheol had two compartments, one for the wicked, and one for the righteous...

The compartment for the righteous became known as PARADISE or ABRAHAM'S BOSOM...

Jesus parable in Luke 16, Lazarus and the Rich Man, makes reference to Abraham's bosom and to hades, which is the Greek word used in the Greek translation of the OT (Septuagint--LXX)...

Hades meant roughly the same as sheol, but is not limited to the fuzzy OT understanding....

V. NT Scriptures teach that man is a UNITY...but body, soul and spirit... 


 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

1CO 7:33 NIV But a married man is concerned about the affairs of this world--how he can please his wife-- {34} and his interests are divided. An unmarried woman or virgin is concerned about the Lord's affairs: Her aim is to be devoted to the Lord in both body and spirit. But a married woman is concerned about the affairs of this world--how she can please her husband.

JAM 2:26 NIV As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.

MAT 10:28 NIV Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell.

1TH 5:23 NIV May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

VI. CONCLUSIONS... 

 QUOTE: Discovering the Plain Truth--How the Worldwide Church of God Encountered the Gospel of Grace, by Larry Nichols and George Mather, Interview with JWT, Jr., Mike Feazell, and Greg Albrecht, p. 128:

What are your present beliefs about eschatology?

. . . The converted have been born again and have entered the kingdom of God. They have eternal life and will receive immortality. We look forward to Jesus' personal return and his judgment of the living and the dead, and the fulness of the kingdom in the new heavens and new earth. All who believe in him as Savior will be given immortality and will live with God forever; those who do not believe will be condemned to eternal punishment.

We used to have dogmatic views on many additional aspects of prophecy, and we criticized those who held other views. Today we recognize that equally sincere believers can come to different conclusions as to what Scripture teches on some of these issues.

p. 96:

Do you still hold to "soul sleep," the concept of somebody not being conscious after death until Jesus' return, at which time they are raised?

MF [Mike Feazell]: Yeah, that has always been the position of the Worldwide Church of God. It still is. But as fast as we say, "Well, that's our official position," we also tell members that it isn't the only way to interpret Scripture on this issue. These are things that we will not know for sure until we're all dead anyway. God knows what he's doing, and we probably wouldn't understand it if He explained it to us in clearer terms.