Heaven: The Intermediate State | 08/16/26

Good morning, church.

I am really excited and grateful to be

here today to kick off this four-week

series on the topic of heaven.

Josh mentioned that four of us are going

to be preaching in it. I want to give

you kind of a road map for what's going

to be covered each of these four weeks.

So, this morning I'm going to preach on

the intermediate state. Next Sunday,

Jason's going to preach on the day of

the Lord. Sunday after that, Eric's

going to preach on the new world, and

then Josh is going to close it out

preaching on the beatific vision. If you

don't know what some of those things are

or what they have to do with heaven,

perfect. That is why we are doing this

series,

and it's going to be awesome.

And as Josh mentioned, we're doing it in

Morgan Hill as well. So, this is now my

second time getting to preach this

sermon, and I got to learn from

everything I did wrong last week. So, it

works out great.

You know, my hope for the series is that

it will challenge us in the ways that

our concepts, our conception, and our

thoughts about heaven stray from the

Bible.

But I also hope and pray that this

series will

make us so much more excited for the

glorious hope we have in Christ that

awaits us when we die.

So, without further ado, let's pray and

we'll jump into it.

Heavenly Father,

our thoughts

far too often are focused on this earth

and the things of this earth,

on temporary realities,

things that change, things that will

pass away.

And yet you, Lord, are eternal.

You always have been.

You always will be.

And for those of us here who have been

saved by your son, Jesus Christ, you

have for us an eternal inheritance

waiting.

You have told us in your word that it is

good.

Not lowercase G, capital G good. It is

the greatest good.

And yet, Lord,

so often we forget this, or we live as

if this is not true.

And so, I pray that this morning and

over the next 4 weeks, Lord, you would

focus our hearts on eternal glories,

Father.

Focus our hearts on the things that

await us

when we are with you.

Even though we know, God, that this

sermon series, all the things that we're

going to say about heaven will fall so

far short of the reality and how great

it will be, Lord, would you help us

help us to understand what your word

says about heaven. Lord, help us then

to not just know what heaven's going to

be like, but to live differently in

light of that, Lord.

Help us to live as citizens of another

kingdom.

Help us to live as strangers and exiles

passing through this life

before we are with you forever.

Lord, I also want to just lift up in

particular just a member of the Morgan

Hill campus, Bob Wells and his family.

Bob found out

last week Monday that he has terminal

cancer and he's

now on hospice care and

it seems, Lord, that these things that

we're preaching about over these next 4

weeks are going to be true for him. And

I I saw him yesterday afternoon and just

rejoiced to see

a man who has lived his life well for

you and is ready to meet his king and

savior. He is so excited. This

this series is very real for him.

I pray it would be real for all of us,

Lord, because

Lord, one day, unless you return first,

we will all

we will all be there, too.

Help us, God, now to think about eternal

things and the glory in them, I pray, in

Jesus' name. Amen.

If you've been saved by Christ,

where will you go the the you die?

Your first answer might be heaven.

But, what does heaven mean to you?

What do you picture?

Maybe you picture clouds, harps,

sunshine.

You picture little babies with wings

flying around inexplicably.

If you picture a never-ending worship

service that you kind of want to end,

but it just it just doesn't stop, you

know, it just keeps on going and going.

Do you think of books or movies about

people who

have had near-death experiences and then

and then share about this vision of

heaven they saw or claim to have seen?

And how do you feel about heaven?

How do you feel about heaven? What are

you excited for? What emotion does it

elicit?

Are you excited for heaven? Do you love

imagining what it will be like to be

with God?

Is it a little confusing?

Do you wonder

well, how's it going to work? Am I going

to be with Christ right away or

am I going to maybe sleep or be

unconscious until he returns?

Is there fear?

Do you wonder

can heaven really live up to all of the

hype? Is that possible?

Are you afraid that you might get there

and discover after

a year, a decade, a hundred years, a

thousand years, that it's actually kind

of boring

and that heaven can't remain interesting

and entertaining forever, that one day

you're going to realize, man, I

feel like I've done all there is to do.

Where do you Christians go the moment

they die and what will it be like? That

is the question we're going to answer

this morning. And as I've studied and

wrestled through this question, I want

to give you the answer I believe is most

faithful to God's word. It's a bit

technical. I'll say it a couple of

times.

Upon death, those in Christ go

immediately to the present heaven to be

with Christ in a disembodied

intermediate state awaiting the final

resurrection on the day of the Lord.

I know that's a lot. Let me say that

again.

Upon death, those in Christ go

immediately to the present heaven to be

with Christ in a disembodied

intermediate state awaiting the final

resurrection on the day of the Lord.

Now, my guess is you probably have a lot

more questions now, don't you?

What exactly is this intermediate state?

What does it mean to be disembodied?

What is the present heaven?

Where is the present heaven?

Where is it different than where we'll

be after the final resurrection?

And maybe most importantly, what are we

going to do in this intermediate state

while we wait for the final

resurrection? Well,

we'll start answering those questions by

going to God's word, but before we do, I

think it's important that I give a

little disclaimer up front. We are

entering into an area of theology that

is not black and white. It's just not.

There are a few things about the

intermediate state we can say with

confidence, and there are a lot more

things that we can speculate about. So,

I'm going to try my best to speak

confidently where the Bible speaks

confidently,

and to make it clear when I'm

speculating off of things in the Bible

that aren't quite as clear.

So, listen, here's the deal. When we're

all in heaven, don't be coming up to me

and saying that I was wrong about stuff,

all right?

>> [snorts]

>> I'm not I'm not going to take it.

I promise you that whatever I am wrong

about in the sermon, and I'm sure there

will be some things I'm wrong about,

whatever the reality is in heaven is

going to be so much better than whatever

I preached to you this morning.

Well, we're going to be in a few

different passages today, but we're

going to start in 2 Corinthians 5. So,

if you have a Bible, you can go ahead

and start turning there. And while you

turn there, I want to give you some

context.

In the book of 2 Corinthians, up until

this point,

Paul has been defending his ministry to

the Corinthians.

And he's also been defining what true

ministry for Christ looks like.

And in the previous chapter, chapter 4,

Paul explained that serving Christ often

means suffering.

Chapter 4, verse 8, Paul says, "We are

afflicted in every way, but not crushed.

Perplexed, but not driven to despair.

Persecuted, but not forsaken. Struck

down, but not destroyed. Always carrying

in the body the death of Jesus, so that

the life of Jesus also may be manifested

in our bodies."

But then if you jump down to verse 16,

he gives some hope. He says, "So, we do

not lose heart.

Though our outer self is wasting away,

our inner self is being renewed day by

day.

For this light momentary affliction is

preparing for us an eternal weight of

glory beyond all comparison. As we look

not to the things that are seen, but to

the things that are unseen.

For the things that are seen are

transient, but the things that are

unseen are eternal."

Paul is saying, "Yes,

we are weak and our outer selves, our

earthly bodies, are wasting away, but we

look forward to an eternal hope.

It's invisible to us now, but one day it

will be revealed and its glory will be

on be beyond all comparison."

So, now in chapter 5, Paul is going to

speak to that glorious hope that we have

in Christ, that invisible eternal

reality.

2 Corinthians, chapter 5, beginning in

2 Corinthians 5 · chapter mention

verse 1.

"For we know that if the tent that is

our earthly home is destroyed, we have a

building from God, a house not made with

hands, eternal in the heavens.

For in this tent we groan, longing to

put on our heavenly dwelling, if indeed,

by putting it on, we may not be found

naked. For while we are still in this

tent, we groan, being burdened, not that

we would be unclothed, but that we would

be further clothed, so that what is

mortal may be swallowed up by life.

He who has prepared us for this very

thing is God, who has given us the

Spirit as a guarantee.

So, we are always of good courage. We

know that while we are at home in the

body, we are away from the Lord, for we

walk by faith, not by sight.

Yes, we are of good courage, and we

would rather be away from the body and

at home with the Lord. So, whether we

are at home or away, we make it our aim

to please him.

In this passage, Paul starts out by

talking about our bodies, and he uses

this metaphor of a tent. Right? What is

a tent?

It's a temporary lodging. You stay in a

tent for a season, but it's not meant to

be used long-term.

He says that in our earthly bodies, our

tents, we groan, longing to put on our

heavenly dwelling. And that heavenly

dwelling, that is our resurrection body.

We will receive our resurrection bodies

at the day of the Lord. We're going to

learn more about those later in this

series.

But notice what Paul says in verse 3.

He says, "If indeed, by putting our

resurrection bodies on, we may not be

found naked."

What does it mean to be found naked?

What's the metaphor here that Paul's

getting at?

Most likely, I think, it means that we

will be without a body after death

temporarily, until we receive those

resurrection bodies. So, to be naked in

a sense is to be without a body.

We'll come back to that. Paul continues

in verse 4. He he "For while we are

still in this tent, we groan, being

burdened, not that we would be

unclothed, but that we would be further

clothed."

Paul is looking forward not just to this

intermediate state, but even more so to

what comes after the intermediate state,

the final resurrection.

He's looking forward He's not looking

forward to being bodiless. He's looking

forward to receiving a new and better

body.

In verse 6, he says, "We know that while

we are at home in the body, we are away

from the Lord." And then in verse 8, "We

would rather be away from the body and

at home with the Lord."

And so if we understand Paul to be

talking about this disembodied or

bodiless state, then he's saying that to

be in your earthly body is to be away

from Christ, at least physically,

but to be away from your earthly body is

to be at home with Christ.

The way most theologians have understood

this throughout church history is that

when a Christian dies, their body

remains on Earth, and their soul goes to

be with Christ in a disembodied state.

That's my view as well, but it's not the

only view Christians have held.

Some Christians don't make a hard

distinction between the body and soul,

but still believe in a disembodied

intermediate state.

Other Christians believe don't believe

uh the intermediate state is

disembodied. They speculate that perhaps

the Lord will grant us temporary

physical bodies until we are ready to

receive our resurrection bodies.

But either way,

we can all agree that God has designed

human beings to be embodied. We are

ordinarily supposed to have bodies. That

is how God made us, and it's how we will

be for eternity in the new heavens and

the new Earth.

And I think that's why Paul seems a

little bit uncomfortable with the idea

of being naked, of being bodiless in the

intermediate state, if that's what he's

referring to.

Now, Paul is not saying that the

intermediate state is bad. Remember, he

just said we would rather be away from

the body and at home with the Lord.

And there's actually a couple other

passages I want to take you to as well

that back this up. So, Philippians

chapter 1:22-23,

Paul says, "If I am to live in the

flesh, that means fruitful labor for me.

Yet which I shall choose I cannot tell.

I am hard-pressed between the two.

My desire is to depart and be with

Christ for that is far better."

And second,

you might remember what Jesus said to

the thief on the cross.

Luke chapter 23:43,

"Truly I say to you, today you will be

with me in paradise."

Paradise.

I think we can say pretty confidently

that the intermediate state is going to

be so much better than life on this

fallen Earth.

It's possible that Paul's simply

recognizing that there's just there's

something unnatural and abnormal about

existing without a body.

And he certainly recognizes that there's

something waiting for us beyond the

intermediate state that's even better.

I think it's helpful to think of the

intermediate state kind of like

Christmas Eve.

Remember Christmas Eve when you were a

kid? It's a time of joy. Christmas Eve

is awesome, but it's a time of joyful

anticipation.

You're excited for what's going to come

the next morning. You can barely sleep

cuz you're so excited to open all those

presents, right? That's kind of what the

intermediate state is. It's this time of

joyful anticipation for the day of the

Lord, the resurrection of the dead and

the new world.

Now, before we learn more about the

intermediate state, I actually want to

clarify a couple errors and

misunderstandings about what happens

after we die.

First,

we will not be asleep or unconscious

between our death and the final

resurrection.

That idea, which is also known as soul

sleep, is a misunderstanding of a common

biblical metaphor.

And and show you in scripture. So, the

Bible uses sleep as a euphemism for

death quite frequently. Uh we see this

really clearly in the story of Lazarus

in the book of John. So, John chapter

John 11 · chapter mention

11, starting in verse 11,

"After saying these things, Jesus said

to his disciples, 'Our friend Lazarus

has fallen asleep, but I go to awaken

him.'"

"The disciples said to him, 'Lord, if he

has fallen asleep, he will recover.'"

"Now, Jesus had spoken of his death, but

they thought that he meant taking rest

in sleep." "Then Jesus told them

plainly, 'Lazarus has died.'"

I think that's a really clear example,

but we see this all throughout

scripture. Sleep is used as a metaphor

for death. It's a softer way to talk

about a really harsh reality.

I I think it's also an appropriate

metaphor because for those who are in

Christ, the intermediate state is

temporary, just like sleep. When you go

to bed at night, when you go to sleep,

you have the expectation you're going to

wake up in the morning. And so, in a

similar sense, when we go into this

intermediate state, even though we'll be

fully conscious, we recognize it's a

temporary state. We're going to awaken

to something much better.

If you're still not convinced, I I think

those three passages we read earlier

also make it pretty clear that at death,

we go immediately to be with Christ

consciously.

In 2 Corinthians 5, Paul didn't say he

would rather be away from the body and

asleep. Said he would rather be away

from the body and at home with the Lord.

He didn't say in Philippians 1 that his

desire was to depart and take a nap for

a couple thousand years.

And Jesus, of course, did not say to the

thief on the cross, "Truly I say to you,

one day, many, many years from now, you

will awake with me in paradise."

Soul sleep is the first common

misconception about what happens after

we die. The second is purgatory.

I think that for all those same reasons,

there isn't strong biblical grounds for

believing in purgatory, either.

If you're not familiar with it,

Purgatory is the predominantly Catholic

belief that

some Christians will have to pass

through some sort of purifying, purging

state, intermediate state before they're

fit to enter heaven.

One of the primary passages that

Catholics use to defend the doctrine of

Purgatory is from the apocryphal book of

Second Maccabees.

That's not in our Protestant Bible. We

believe it has historical significance.

It's really interesting. It's

fascinating to read, but it's not

inspired scripture.

Now, that passage in Second Maccabees,

it's not the only passage that Catholics

use to defend the doctrine of Purgatory,

but the others don't make a convincing

case for it. As we just read, I think

the Bible's very clear that when

believers die, they go immediately to be

with Christ without any need for

additional purification or purging.

Now, let's talk about where we will be

during the intermediate state.

At the start of the sermon, I said that

we're going to be in a place called the

present heaven.

Now, that's not like a strictly biblical

term. If you look up present heaven in

your Bible, you're not going to see that

anywhere. I'm borrowing it from the

Christian author Randy Alcorn because I

think it's helpful because it

distinguishes between the heaven that

exists right now and the new heavens and

the new earth where we're going to live

for all eternity in our resurrection

bodies after the day of the Lord. But

since our focus is on the intermediate

state, let's focus on the present

heaven, the heaven that exists right now

where we will go unless Christ comes

back first. What is that heaven like

right now?

Well, first and most importantly, it is

the place where God dwells.

It's the place where God is. Now, God is

omnipresent. He is everywhere at once.

God fills every atom of this universe to

the farthest reaches of the universe.

Even though he is everywhere at once, he

is present in a gloriously unique way in

heaven.

Heaven is where God dwells. It's where

he's surrounded by his angels

worshipping him.

And from those passages where we read

earlier, we know that heaven is also now

where Jesus is in his physical body.

In Acts chapter 7, Stephen

Acts 7 · chapter mention

uh if you're not familiar with him, he

was the first Christian martyr.

Yeah, as he's dying, he sees heaven

opened up before him. And it says in

Acts 7:55, "But Stephen, full of the

Acts 7:55

Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw

the glory of God and Jesus standing at

the right hand of God."

And he said, "Behold, I see the heavens

opened and the Son of Man standing at

the right hand of God."

In Revelation chapter 6, and you can

Revelation 6 · chapter mention

turn there if you have a Bible,

we get a more robust picture

of what heaven might look like for us in

the intermediate state.

Revelation chapter 6,

Revelation 6 · chapter mention

I'll start reading in verse 9.

When the Lamb opened the fifth seal,

I saw under the altar the souls of those

who had been slain for the word of God

and for the witness they had borne.

They cried out with a loud voice, "O

sovereign Lord, holy and true, how long

before you will judge and avenge our

blood on those who dwell on the earth?"

Then they were each given a white robe

and told to rest a little longer until

the number of their fellow servants and

their brothers should be complete who

were to be killed as they themselves had

been.

Now, we got to remember Revelation is

full of symbolic imagery. Revelation uh

is not always answering the questions

that we are asking. We have to remember

that, keep that in mind. But at the same

time, I think these verses might have a

lot to tell us about the intermediate

state.

If they do, they tell us that those who

have died in Christ are fully conscious

in the presence of the Lord

and that they they have communion with

God. They talk to God and God talks back

to them.

Those verses tell us that we will retain

our memories from our lives on Earth.

Our memories won't be wiped in heaven,

but we'll retain our memories. Perhaps

we'll our memories of our lives on Earth

will be even clearer and sharper than

ever when we are in heaven.

The martyrs, we see that because the

martyrs they they didn't forget that

they were martyred for Christ. They knew

what had happened to them in their lives

on Earth. And then these verses they

also tell us that we might even have

some awareness of what's going on on

Earth while we're in heaven.

The martyrs are aware that they haven't

yet been avenged by the Lord, that there

is still evil on the face of the Earth.

There's one last thing that you might

have noticed here.

Even though the martyrs are with God,

they still seem to have what I would

call a holy discontentment.

They have a holy discontentment. They

cry out with a loud voice, "Oh sovereign

Lord, holy and true, how long before you

will judge and avenge our blood on those

who dwell on the Earth?"

Even though they're now resting in the

perfect peace of God,

they long for justice. They long for

every wrong to be made right. And they

actually they plead with the Lord for

it.

You know, imagine that you go to war

and while you're in combat you're

injured.

You're wounded and so you're brought

back home and you're brought to a

hospital to recover.

Even though you're out of the fight for

good and your new priority is simply to

rest,

not to fight,

what would you be doing with your spare

time? I I would imagine you'd still want

to read the headlines. You'd want

updates on the war. You would want to

hear how it's going because you long for

that final victory.

You long for peace.

In a similar way, I think these martyrs

in Revelation 6, perhaps all believers

in the intermediate state,

we after we are out of the fight and

that are in the presence of our God and

our savior.

I believe that there will still be

perhaps a holy discontentment as we wait

and long for the fulfillment of all

things, for God to make all things new,

for justice to extend to the ends of the

universe.

This intermediate state is kind of what

we call in theology an already not yet.

It's an already not yet because in one

sense, we will already be in the

presence of God

and yet in another, we will not yet be

in our new bodies. We will not yet

be in our resurrected bodies on this

resurrected earth after all things have

been put under the dominion of Jesus

Christ.

But even if there's still some sort of

longing or incompleteness in there in

this intermediate state,

we should absolutely still look forward

to it just as Paul did. It's the place

where God is. It's It's a place that

Jesus called paradise.

Now, word for paradise it in the in the

Greek Septuagint, that's the Greek

translation of the Old Testament that

was around in Jesus's time. This word

for paradise, it's the same word that's

used for Eden.

So, even if this intermediate state

isn't literally like the Garden of Eden,

it's being compared to it in a sense. It

is a paradise, a place of rest.

So, that's where the intermediate state

is. It's in heaven in the presence of

God. Now, now the next obvious question

and maybe the one you're most curious

about is this. Well, what are we going

to do?

What are we going to do in this

intermediate state?

I don't know with absolute certainty,

but I think we can make some good

biblically educated guesses here. So,

let let me give you five

to vary with varying degrees of

confidence here. First, I'm the most

confident about this one.

I think we're going to worship God.

Think about this.

I don't think that we will be able to

not worship God in this presence. I just

can't imagine a scenario where I'm in

heaven, disembodied or not, in the

presence of God and I don't worship him.

I think that we'll we'll just we'll want

to.

Even the martyrs in Revelation 6 seem to

worship God in their cry for justice,

right? They worship him. They say they

call him sovereign Lord, holy and true.

That's worshipful even as they're

pleading for his intervention.

Now, will we worship God constantly 24/7

in heaven? I I don't know, but I know

that if we do, I can guarantee it will

be because there is nothing else you

would rather do.

If heaven is a constant worship service,

you will not wish for anything

different. Because remember, when you're

with Christ, you will be free from

everything and anything that inhibits or

diminishes your worship right now.

There'll be no obstacle between you and

the worship of the Lord.

You will want to worship him.

That's the first one. We're going to

worship God, I believe. Second, we will

rest.

We will rest.

Just think about this for a moment. You

will be able to say with the Apostle

Paul, "I have fought the good fight.

I have finished the race.

I have kept the faith." And then you

will get to rest in the presence of your

king and savior. To know, "My ministry

is complete.

I sinned. I stumbled. It wasn't always

pretty, but by God's grace and by God's

grace alone, I am now in the presence of

my savior, and nothing will ever take me

from it."

We're going to rest in the presence of

God.

Third,

I think we'll probably have fellowship

with each other.

Now, I I don't really know exactly what

fellowship looks like in a disembodied

state, but if all Christians who die go

to be with Christ, then it follows that

we'll be there with each other as well.

We're all going to be in the same place,

gathered around Christ, and I think that

fits the communal image that we're given

in Revelation 6 as well.

And if we're all together, and we all

have our memories, then I I you can make

a good case that in the intermediate

state, we will also be reunited with our

loved ones who've gone before us to

Christ.

I know that will absolutely be true in

the new heavens and the new earth, but I

don't see why it may not be true before

then in the intermediate state as well.

Fourth,

this is a little bit more speculative,

but I think it's possible that we will

get to watch events as they unfold on

the earth. Might get to be spectators of

God's work in the world.

The martyrs in Revelation 6, like I

said, they seem to have some knowledge

of what's taking place on earth.

And then another important passage is in

Hebrews. Hebrews chapter 12 verse 1 says

Hebrews 12:1

that we are surrounded by a great cloud

of witnesses. And And it says that after

spending a whole chapter describing the

saints who have gone before us. That

That is the great cloud of witnesses.

Now, the meaning of that passage is

debatable. There's a couple different

interpretations.

One possible interpretation though is

that believers in heaven might have some

ability to see or know about what's

happening on earth.

Now, am I saying that like when you get

to heaven, you get like a free pair of

gold binoculars and you can just watch

earth like TV anytime you want?

I don't know. That might be That might

be a stretch.

But I think we may very well be allowed

to see some of what unfolds on earth.

Or if we can't see it ourselves, perhaps

God or his angels will tell us. Perhaps

newly arrived souls in heaven will give

us, you know, we'll just wait at the

entrance. They'll be like, "Hey, what's

what's going on down there?" You know, I

I don't know. This is speculative, but I

think it's possible.

Fifth and finally,

whatever it is like in the intermediate

state,

you will not be bored because you will

be with God, and God is not boring.

You got to hear that loud and clear.

You will not be bored because you will

be with God, and God is not boring.

Now, listen, like you may have heard

some boring sermons about God in your

life. You may have read some boring

books about God in your life, but God is

not, never has, and never will be

boring.

He's just not. He is by his very nature

the opposite of boring. He is the

fountain, the source of all life, and

all beauty, and all creativity. And so,

that means that every un-boring thing

you have ever experienced,

everything that's ever taken your breath

away, like the adrenaline rush of a

roller coaster, the majesty of a lion's

roar, the enormity of the Grand Canyon,

the taste of a chocolate milkshake,

holding your newborn son or daughter in

your arms for the first time,

all of those things flow from and point

to the unchanging un-boringness of God.

So, the question is this,

how could being in the presence of the

God who made all those things

and a trillion others [snorts]

possibly be boring?

It's just not going to happen.

And yet,

even this intermediate state and all

that's glory is going to be just a

shadow compared to what comes after it,

and I'm kind of jealous of Eric that he

gets to preach on that. I'm just like

just trying to put the ball on the tee

for him here.

Well, that's the intermediate state. At

least everything that I think we can say

confidently about it from the Bible.

But my goal this morning,

my goal in this sermon is not just to

satisfy your curiosity for what happens

when you die in Christ, but I I want you

to be changed by this. I I want your

life to be different because of this

glorious reality. And so, with the time

we have left, let's just get really

practical.

How should our knowledge of what's going

to come after we die change our lives

and change how we live?

Here's the first point.

Don't fear death.

You've seen a glimpse this morning of

what's waiting for you on the other side

if you belong to Christ.

Church, isn't it

Isn't it incredible like to be in the

presence of Christ, to worship him

beside the saints who have gone before

you, besides the angels who have known

him before we existed, right? To finally

rest from all the pain and suffering of

this life.

I mean, I was reminded of the of this

this morning. Like 3 days ago I was

hiking in Point Lobos and I got poison

oak and I've got poison oak on my face

and I'm like, "Man,

I'm going to be free from poison oak.

It's going to be great. No poison oak in

heaven."

How much more so for the suffering that

you carry that's far, far more

significant? The pain,

the grief,

man,

it has an expiration date.

How awesome is it going to be to get to

look forward that after we're in this so

much better state, to then be able to

look forward to an even more glorious

state, to receive resurrected bodies

that'll never grow old or die again,

to be with our savior in a resurrected

earth.

It's going to be incredible.

You got to remember that God has safely

walked every single one of his saints

before you through the doorway of death

into everlasting life.

You're not going to be the first person

who faces death.

You're not going to be the first person

God carries safely into his arms.

Remember that. He will not abandon you.

He will be faithful to the end.

No matter how he takes you home,

whether it's tomorrow or it's a hundred

years from now,

whether it takes seconds,

minutes,

days, weeks, months, or years, whether

it's painful or painless, however God

takes you home, the moment you depart

from your body, you will be at home with

the Lord and he will hold your hand with

you every single second until that

moment.

You're taken care of, church. You guys

you're you're covered in Christ.

Hebrews 2:14 says, "Since therefore the

Hebrews 2:14

children share in flesh and blood, Jesus

himself likewise partook of the same

things, that through death he might

destroy the one who has the power of

death, that is the devil, and deliver

all those who through fear of death were

subject to lifelong slavery."

Fearing death is a form of slavery, and

Jesus died to set us free from it.

He's defeated death, and because he's

defeated death, because the grave

couldn't hold him, because death

literally vomited Jesus out 3 days after

he died, because he had no claim on him,

because of that, you no longer have to

be enslaved to the fear of death.

You don't have to.

You know what's waiting for you on the

other side. And so, brother and sister

in Christ,

dying might be scary,

but death is not scary.

We know where we are going, don't we?

That's the first point. Don't fear

death. Second,

don't neglect the work that God still

has for you in this life.

Don't neglect the work that God still

has for you before you die.

I read it earlier, but Philippians

Philippians 1:22

chapter 1, verse 22, Paul said, "If I am

to live in the flesh, that means

fruitful labor for me.

Yet which I shall choose I cannot tell.

I am hard-pressed between the two. My

desire is to be with depart and be with

Christ, for that is far better."

So, Paul wanted to depart and be with

Christ, but he was really torn up over

this.

And the reason he was torn up is because

he knew that that would mean the end of

his labor, his fruitful labor here on

this earth.

Christian, when you die,

your ministry is completed.

You will not share the gospel with an

unbeliever again. You will not bring a

meal to your fellow church member again.

You will never teach another Sunday

school lesson.

It's done.

So, the point is,

make the most of however much time the

Lord gives you, knowing that you might

have less than you might think. All

right, we don't know when Jesus is going

to take us home.

Lay up for yourselves treasures in

heaven.

Live with these eternal realities in

mind. Don't get too caught up in the

things of this earth. Remember where

you're going.

Here's a a deep question for you.

If the Lord took you home right now,

would you feel like you had any

unfinished business?

Or maybe more specifically, if the Lord

took you home right now, would you feel

like you have any unfinished ministry?

Are there people in your life you've

been trying to work up the courage

to invite to church?

Is there someone in this church, in this

room, who you've been wanting to

encourage or bless for a while, but you

just haven't gotten around to it yet?

Is there a sin

you've never asked your spouse or your

parent or your child or your friend to

forgive you for?

And it's like it's something where

you've both moved on past it, but you've

never actually addressed it. You've

never actually healed the wound. You've

just kind of let the scar tissue form

over it.

You know, ultimately,

we're all going to die with unfinished

ministry, right? And

and and that's okay.

We can rest knowing that Jesus is going

to build his church and the gates of

hell will not prevail against us.

Church, it's not all on us,

right?

Jesus is going to He's going to lead his

church. He is the great shepherd. But

remember that as long as you are still

on this earth breathing, Jesus has work

for you to do.

As long as you are still here and

breathing, Jesus has work for you. And

that's true whatever your season of life

and whatever your circumstances.

I mean, it's true even if you are

watching this from home because of

chronic pain or illness or something

else going on that just makes coming in

person impossible. Maybe your ministry,

if that's you,

is just to pray for others, to send

encouraging texts. Maybe your ministry

is actually letting other people

minister to you.

Because when you let us bless you, we

are blessed.

If God hasn't called you home yet, the

question is, what has he called you to?

And third,

if you haven't decided to follow Jesus

yet,

I challenge you to lean in a little bit

closer.

Lean in a little bit closer. Like you

you might not believe that a word of

what I just said is true. Okay, that's

that's fair.

But let me ask you, is there a part of

you that wants it to be true?

I mean, like, wouldn't that be awesome?

Wouldn't it be awesome if this world was

more than just the product of random

chance?

Wouldn't it be awesome if there really

was a good and loving and sovereign God

who is going to make all things new?

Wouldn't it be awesome to know that when

you face death,

you aren't going into oblivion and

nothingness,

but rather you'll be falling into the

arms of your savior

to enjoy him forever? Because at his

right hand are pleasures forevermore.

Wouldn't it be awesome if God made a way

through the death and resurrection of

his son for you to be saved from your

sin so that nothing could keep you from

that eternal hope?

If any part of you resonates with that,

wants it to be true, dares to wonder if

it might actually be true, I challenge

you,

take another step forward.

I mean, you're you're already here.

You're already in church.

Why not try reading the Bible for

yourself?

Matthew, Mark, Luke, or John, those are

four books of the New Testament that

talk about Jesus' life. I encourage you,

just

pick one of those. Try reading one of

them.

Learn about who Jesus is from Jesus

himself.

Maybe you don't really pray, or you've

never prayed before. Why don't you try

praying?

It's it's not complicated. You don't

have to say some magic words to make it

get through to God. You know, God God

knows your heart. You can pray out loud.

You can pray in the silence of your own

heart, and he hears you.

Why not try coming to some more church

events?

Get to know some more Christians.

I I can speak for the folks here.

They're This isn't like a a super

spiritual Christian-only club here. I

mean, like the people here would love to

welcome you in, particularly if you're

not a Christian. I mean, if you if you

went up to Josh and said, "Hey, I'm not

a Christian, but I just want to

I want to keep coming here and keep

learning about this Jesus guy." I mean,

Josh would be like so excited. So,

I just lean in closer. Get to know some

more Christians. Invite them into your

life.

Tell them about who you are.

If you do that,

if you lean in and take some more steps

forward, I really really believe that

you're going to see that all of this

actually is true.

It really is true. There really is a God

who really sent his son to die for us,

and we really can spend eternity with

him when we believe in his son by faith.

Church, we may not comprehend all that

God has in store for us

when we die or when he returns.

But, I can promise you it is going to be

incredible.

It's going to be glorious.

Let's pray.