If you will open your Bibles
again tonight to Isaiah 26 and verse 19, I want to pick up right
where I left off this morning. You will find my text in the
opening words and my subject in the opening words of this
verse of scripture. Thy dead men shall live. Thy dead men shall live. When reading the scriptures,
always pay attention to the context in which a passage is found,
in which words and promises given by our God are given. In this
portion of scripture, the Lord Jesus is addressing his church
in a time of great sorrow, great distress. As I said this morning,
a time much like the days in which we live. Apostasy was everywhere. Everywhere men who claimed to
be God's people, who claimed to worship God had turned to
idolatry. Spiritual darkness, moral decadence
was everywhere. Things looked bleak. Didn't look
like there was much hope for God's people in this world, much
like our day. But the Lord here speaks to encourage
you and me in such a day as this. And if I'm not mistaken, this
is what he's saying. Thy dead men shall live. That is, when you leave this
world, you who are mine, you live. Though this body dies,
you live. Then he makes another statement.
Together with my dead body shall they arise. That is, in the last
day, every ransomed sinner, being called by God's free grace, though
they die and leave these bodies in the earth in the last day,
they shall arise together with my dead body. That is, arise
by virtue of, and in union with me, their crucified Redeemer. And then he makes this statement.
Awake and sing, ye that dwell in the dust. You and I who seem
so prone to be languishing, so prone to look on the gloomy side
of things, so prone to ignore God's promises, so prone to anticipate
the worst rather than the best. He says, awake and sing, ye that
dwell in the dust, for thy dew is as the dew of herbs, the dew
of heaven, which falls upon us. The spirit of God is like the
dew of herbs. Herbs in the garden wither and
die, and you can go through the garden and break them off, but
they're still there. And then in the spring, the dew
falls from heaven and the ground warms and those dead herbs spring
up to life. Thy dew is as the dew of herbs
in these dark, dark times. God sends his refreshing. He
sends his spirit and his church arises with refreshed vigor,
with refreshed faith, with refreshed commitment, with refreshed encouragement
to believe God. And when that happens, the earth
shall cast out her dead. That is, God's elect, as Brother
David just read from Ezekiel 34, scattered around the world,
shall be brought up from the dead by the power of God's Spirit
in the new birth. And at last, the earth will cast
out her dead in the resurrection. I like to think a lot about death. I deliberately think a lot about
death through each day. I spend a little time communing
with my God about the subject every day. Death is not something
that believers should look upon with dread or with fear or with
any lack of confident faith. My subject this morning was the
hope of the resurrection. But what about the time between
death and the resurrection? When this body is buried and
laid in the dark, cold grave, what then? When this body is
laid in the grave, what about me? What about my spirit? What about my soul? What happens
between death and the resurrection? What transpires with God's people
between death and the resurrection of these bodies sown in the earth? I would think that few subjects
arouse greater interest than the state of the departed dead. It's a subject about which everyone
has some interest. We're interested in it personally
because you and I are dying mortals. And we're interested in it because
we all have loved ones whose bodies are buried beneath the
earth. Where are those who sleep in
Jesus before the resurrection. And let me say it now and I'll
say it several times before I'm done tonight. When it speaks
of believers sleeping in the earth, sleeping in death, the
sleep refers only to these bodies sleeping in the grave. What is
the condition of a redeemed soul when it leaves this body? Those
questions are questions about which no one can really be indifferent. And I have searched the scriptures
seeking answers to those questions for many years. And I believe
God has given me some answers that I trust will bless, comfort,
and encourage you. The wise man Solomon considered
all the oppressions that are done under the sun. The tears
of the oppressed in this world. The power of those who oppress. And he considered the fact that
there is no comfort for God's saints in this world. Comfort
from our Savior, but no comfort for God's saints in this world.
He then said, I praise the dead, which are already dead, more
than the living, which are yet alive. In the book of Revelation,
John was inspired to make another statement similar to that. He
said, blessed, blessed. happy, favored, blessed, are
the dead which die in the Lord. And yet, still, when you and
I go to the funeral home or to the graveside and bid our loved
ones goodbye, we are filled with sorrow and weeping. Why? If the one God has taken is an
unbeliever, the sorrow is completely understandable. I have buried those in my own
family very dear to me with a broken heart because they
didn't know my God and my Savior. And it's never easy to preach
the funeral for one who doesn't know God, especially for one
that you love, who's very dear to you. That sorrow is understandable. Those who die in unbelief die
under the wrath of God. Those who die in unbelief die
under the wrath of God. And you will do yourself, them,
or those you influence no favor to imagine that it is otherwise. If our sorrow is the sorrow of
parting loved ones and friends, then that too is reasonable.
None of us likes to part with cherished friends or loved ones,
even temporarily. But if the sorrow is the sorrow
of those who have no hope, an uncontrollable anguish, even
an anger at God for having taken someone from us, I can't understand
that. Such sorrow reveals both ignorance
and unbelief. Ignorance of the blessed state
of God's saints in heaven, and unbelief regarding the word of
God, the promises of God, the gospel of God, and the finished
work of our Redeemer. Now I want to show you from the
scriptures that God's saints in heaven, our departed friends,
are alive and well, though their bodies have died and they lay
in the earth, they're more alive now than ever. More alive now
than ever. Let me make two or three statements
and try to answer a couple of questions. First, I want you
to see from the scriptures that the spirits of redeemed sinners,
saved people, believers, immediately after death enter into heaven. into a state of absolute eternal
blessedness. Turn back to Ecclesiastes 12.
We're going to look at a little scripture tonight. Ecclesiastes
chapter 12. This is what the wise man says
about this. Then shall the dust return to
the earth as it was. I'm not much for formalities
and ceremonies of any kind. First time I went to preach a
funeral as a young pastor, I was 21 years old, maybe 22, and the
mortician who was a very good mortician, he was around all
the time I was in West Virginia, and he was very good. He could
make an ugly fellow look right good before he got done with
him. But he asked me, he said, you want the ashes and dust? And I said, what? I had never
done that. You know, preachers, they sprinkle
ashes to ashes and dust to dust and earth to earth. No, no, no,
no. But that's exactly what happens.
Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was, and the
spirit shall return unto God who gave it. That's what happens
with God's people when they die. The dust returns to the earth
as it was, and the spirit returns to God who gave it. It's not
my intention to answer the foolish questions of infidels and heretics. I have been saddened in recent
months in the last year or two to find men who once professed
to believe the gospel of God's grace embrace this idea of annihilation,
that when you die, that's all there is to it, or the idea of
soul sleep that some folks teach that the believer waits until
the second coming of Christ before he's brought into heavenly glory. I don't intend to answer their
foolish questions, and I don't want to be sidetracked by the
foolish speculations of ignorant people, men and women, about
life after death. I do, with some curiosity, occasionally,
not very often, listen to folks who talk about near-death experiences
or death experiences in returning to this earth. But when we come
to think about things of this nature, spiritual things, things
of God, we have one source of instruction, only one. One source
of authority, one source of information, and that one source is the revelation
of God in his word. Only the eternal God can answer
for us the mysteries of eternity, and he does so only as he sees
fit. The Apostle Paul said, I have
not seen nor ear heard, neither hath it entered into the heart
of man, the things which God has prepared for them that love
him. That means that you and I can just, we can just barely
scratch the surface. We can just barely get some idea
of some thought about those things as mortals dwelling on this earth.
but he has revealed them to us by his spirit. So that while
we can't begin to understand the mysteries of eternity, you
can forget that. The facts of things we can expect,
he has revealed to us by his spirit. We are creatures of God,
made with undying souls. And though these bodies die in
the earth, just like brute beast, Our souls exist forever. As soon
as you die, you will enter into a state of endless happiness,
endless bliss. I use the word immediately after
death, but there's really not any sequence. As soon as you
die, immediately you enter into heavenly glory. We do not die
like dogs. When we die, our souls live on. not in a state of sleep or insensitivity
or inactivity, but in fullness and consciousness of life. The believer enters into everlasting,
fully consciousness of life. And the unbeliever enters into
everlasting, full consciousness of death. Desiring to die and not able
to die. Praying to die and not able to
die with full consciousness. The damned as fully conscious
as the redeemed are fully conscious. The souls of believers, redeemed
sinners, men and women who've been made righteous before God
by Christ Jesus, the souls of God's saints return to God at
death. Our departed brothers and sisters,
as soon as they closed their eyes in death, awakened eyes
wide open at the throne of God. As soon as they closed their
eyes in death, awakened with their eyes wide open at the throne
of God. Turn, if you will, to 2 Corinthians
chapter five. I'll say very little about hell
tonight, But the reality of it, oh, the
reality of it, oh, the reality of it, I hope you never push
out of your mind, never. But for God's sakes, God speaks
of the believer and always represents our life after death as an immediate
entrance into heaven's glory. I said, turn to 2 Corinthians.
You turn back to Isaiah 57 first. Isaiah 57. Isaiah 57. Look what the scripture says
here. We'll get to 2 Corinthians 5 in a little bit. The righteous perisheth, and
nobody pays any attention. No man layeth it to heart. And merciful men are taken away,
and nobody pays any attention, none considering that the righteous
is taken away from evil to come. The righteous, when he dies,
is taken away from evil to come. He shall enter into peace. Now
watch this. They shall rest in their beds,
their bodies rest in the earth. Each one walking in his uprightness. These bodies laid in the grave. But the righteous walking with
God into heaven, the glory in his uprightness, in his righteousness. As soon as the believer dies,
he's carried by the angels of God into heaven. It's described
by our Lord in Luke 16 as Abraham's bosom. As soon as the rich man
died, he lift up his eyes in hell and sees Lazarus afar off
in Abraham's bosom and seeing him, envy him. Every believing
sinner. as soon as he leaves this world,
is taken by Christ into paradise. Our Lord Jesus said to that dying
thief, today, immediately after this painful ordeal of death
is over, shout thou most assuredly, Be with me in my presence, in
my company, in my communion, in paradise, in the garden of
God, in heavenly glory. The believer is taken immediately
into paradise to be with Christ. Now understand this second thing.
Turn to Philippians chapter one, Philippians chapter one. Death for the believer is immediate
entrance into heavenly glory. We have three examples in scripture
of men who were taken to heaven, to paradise, to the garden of
God from this earth and returned to the earth. The apostle Paul
is the only one who was caught up into the third heaven. and
came back to this earth. He says, I don't know that I
was in the body, out of the body, I couldn't tell you. And when
he comes back and tells us about the experience, he tells us not
about what he saw in heaven. He says, the things I saw are
unutterable. They're things that words can't
begin to describe. I remember years ago, I was preaching
from John chapter 11, and Brother Rex Bartley left the auditorium
and asked me, he said, Where was Lazarus those four days?
That's a good question. He was with Christ in glory. With Christ in glory. You mean
he went to heaven and the Lord brought him back here to this
earth and then he died and went to heaven again? That's what
the scriptures say. That's what the scriptures say.
And Lazarus never said a word about it. All we know about Lazarus
is he sat at the table with the Lord Jesus and was oppressed
and persecuted by others because he had been raised from the dead.
And then when our Lord Jesus died in Matthew 27, Matthew tells
us that when our Savior died after his resurrection, many,
not all, but many of the saints arose from the graves that were
opened when the veil of the temple was rent. They arose from the
graves and walked the streets of the Holy City, the Holy City
of Jerusalem. We're told nothing else about
them. I presume they continued to walk on this earth until our
Lord's ascension. But this much we know, they had
been dead and then they arose and walked on this earth and
were again taken to glory. But for the believer, that man,
that woman who closes his eyes in death and immediately enters
into glory, death. is an immeasurably infinite gain. Philippians 1 verse 21. To me, to live is Christ and
to die is gain. But if I live in the flesh, this
is the fruit of my labor. Yet what I shall choose, I want
not. I don't know what's best for
me to do. For I'm in a strait betwixt the two. having a desire
to depart and to be with Christ, which is far better. That is,
I want to be useful here. I want to be useful to you. I
want to do what I can to serve the interest of God's people
and God's kingdom on this earth. But to depart and be with Christ
is far better. He was confident that as soon
as he departed from this world, he would immediately be with
the Lord Jesus in blessed communion in heaven. Well, what state are
God's saints in, in heaven? Let me say no more than the scriptures
say, but as much as the scriptures say. Now turn to 2 Corinthians
5. 2 Corinthians 5. The souls of God's saints are
not floating around in the sky. They've gone to a specific place
where Christ is. And they are assembled, we're
told in Hebrews 12, as a glorified church. Their souls exist in
a recognizable form. when Moses and Elijah appeared
with the Lord Jesus on the Mount of Transfiguration, Peter, James,
and John, who had never seen Moses or Elijah, and they had
never seen a picture or a drawing of Moses and Elijah, immediately
recognized Moses and Elijah. Moses and Elijah, who never saw
one another on this earth, were standing there immediately recognizing
one another. We're often asked, will believers
know one another in heaven? I expect so, I know you here.
And I'll have better knowledge there than I do here. Of course
they'll know one another. We'll sit down with Abraham,
Isaac, and Jacob in communion with our Redeemer. In Abraham's
bosom, even the rich man in hell saw Lazarus and recognized him. God's people, you see, in heavenly
glory have a body. I can't begin to describe it.
I don't know what it is. A physical body? No, but a body,
a spiritual body, a heavenly form, a house for their souls. Most definitely, 2 Corinthians
chapter five says that. Every believer, as soon as he
leaves this body, enters into heavenly glory with a heavenly
body with Christ. Look at verse 17 of chapter four.
Our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for
us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we look
not at the things which are seen, but the things which are not
seen. For the things which are seen are temporal, but the things
which are not seen are eternal. For we know that if our earthly
house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building
of God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. When this form is dissolved,
we have a building of God. A house not made with hands,
eternal in the heavens. For in this, in this body we
grow, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house which
is from heaven. If so be that being clothed,
we shall not be found naked. For we that are in this tabernacle
do groan, being burdened, not for that we would be unclothed
but clothed upon, that mortality might be swallowed up of life.
Now he that hath wrought us for the selfsame thing is God, who
hath also given unto us the earnest of the spirit. What is this house? I don't know, I won't guess,
the scriptures don't tell us. But it is a heavenly form, a
heavenly body, a spiritual body in which the saints walk with
God in their uprightness as soon as they leave this earth. It
is a spiritual form, no question about that. It is a heavenly
form, no question about that. But it's in distinct contrast
to this earthly form. This house is a tent. This new house is a dwelling
place, a building. The old house, though not made
with hands, was made what it is, a house of death, defiled
and defective by the sin and fault of our father Adam. The
new house is God's work and God's gift. The old house is temporal
and perishing. The new house is eternal forever. When Paul says, we have this
house in the heavens, it's plain he's not talking about heaven
itself, but this is what we have in the heavens. This house is
a new body. Some house replacing and surpassing
the old. If we had the wisdom of Solomon,
we too would praise the dead, which are already dead, more
than the living which are yet alive. And we're beginning to
learn that. We're beginning to learn that.
We've buried some folks and walk away from the last song, the
last word of prayer at the graveside and converse about it and converse
about it with joy. Oh, how blessed they are now. Oh, how blessed they are now.
No more weeping, no more pain, no more sorrow, not for God's
sakes. Third, we should always remember
that for believer, the death of this body and the freeing
of his soul is a welcome relief. While we live in this world,
we seek to be content with God's providence. And I don't know
how to say what I want to say here in such a way as to make
any sense to an unbelieving person. We go through sickness, Brother
Lindsey, Brother Kenzie, go through a tough time. But if he's a believer,
why go to the doctor? We have a responsibility to protect
life. Our Lord gave us that responsibility.
We have a responsibility to exercise judgment and care to protect
life. And yet the believer, when the
Lord God calls him out of this world, is happy to leave. Our Heavenly Father always knows
and always does exactly what's best for us. He always knows
And he always does exactly what's best for us. I have said to some
of you, as I've said to friends around the world who are concerned
about my health, God put this cancer in me and he was merciful. And God can take it from me just
as easily as he put it in me and be merciful. Or he can leave
it and cause it to grow. And he's nonetheless merciful,
wise, and good. Our Heavenly Father makes no
mistakes. He does exactly that which is
best for each of his own, and nothing less than the very best. For some, God's people leave
this world very early. I buried a few infants in their
infancy with joy. I buried some young people, younger
than me, with joy. I read in history of men like
Toplady and McShane, so greatly used of God and so quickly taken
by God's hand. And remember their labors with
joy. They lived a full, complete life. A full, complete life. Accomplishing everything God
put them in this world to accomplish. Everything. Oh God, let me do
that. I ask no more. Let me live here
with contentment in your providence, but all the while groaning in
this tabernacle of clay. We grow because this body is
a body in which we struggle with sin. In heaven, we'll be free
from sin. In this body, we're tempted and
we fall a thousand times a day. In that body, we will be tempted
no more and never be subject to a fall. In this body, we weep
much and cause much weeping. In heaven's glory, we will weep
no more and never cause anyone else to weep. In this body, we
long to be like Christ In that body, we shall be exactly like
Christ. In this body, we long for our
Lord's presence. In that body, we shall have it
forever. We have many friends whom we
love. We miss them much, but we don't sorrow for them. No,
we envy them. We envy them. And as for me,
I shall be satisfied when I awake in thy likeness. Here's the third
thing. Where have our friends gone? They've gone to heaven. I've
already said that many times. They've not gone to purgatory.
They've not gone to limbo. They're not floating around in
the air. Their souls are not asleep with their bodies in the
earth. Our friends who have left us are in heaven. But pastor, where is that? I
don't have a clue. You got any idea? I don't have
a clue. I know this, it is a real place. a place somewhere outside this
time world. But it's a place, a real place. It is the place where our resurrected,
omnipotent Redeemer sits in His glory, God in the flesh, ruling
all things upon a throne of grace. Heaven is the place where Christ
is. The place where He has promised
He will bring us. He said, let not your hearts
be troubled. You believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father's
house are many mansions. If it were not so, I would have
told you. I go and prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare
a place for you, I will come again and receive you unto myself,
that where I am, there you may be also. Heaven is a place where
our departed friends are right now. what rejoicing, what blessedness,
what delight they have in the presence of Christ and with one
another. I hear folks sometimes say, I'm
not interested in seeing anybody else. Well, I am, I am. I'm not quite that spiritually
minded. I'm anxious to see my Redeemer face to face, but I'm
anxious to see some friends I haven't seen for a while. and to commune
with them in a way that I was never able to commune with them
on the earth, and to speak with them about things neither they
nor I could enter into upon this earth. In heaven, we shall have
another house for our souls in which to walk with God all of
eternity, in which to walk in our uprightness, the uprightness
that God has made ours, the uprightness, the righteousness of Christ forever. As soon as this earthly house
of this tabernacle is dissolved, spirit and soul shall enter into
heaven in a body prepared for that habitation. Where have our
departed friends gone? They've gone to heaven. They've
gone home. going to be with Christ. Two
more questions briefly. What are they doing there? I
said briefly and I'll be very brief. Read Revelation Chapter
4, Chapter 5, Chapter 7. The saints of God in heaven serve
Him day and night. The saints of God in heaven continually
embrace the Savior and are embraced by Him. They continually look
upon Him and are looked upon by Him. They're the saints of
God. continually grow in the grace
and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. Take that back. Grow
in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. Continually ever
increasing knowledge. We shall know even as we are
known. That is, we will know things
perfectly, but we will never become gods. We will never have
omniscience, but rather, And I'm guessing here, I'm just guessing
here, I acknowledge it. We will have an ever-increasing
knowledge of God, of our Redeemer, of that covenant of peace you
read about, of the accomplishments of our blessed Savior, the wonders
of his grace, the wonders of his providence, and ever increasing
knowledge. I have a pretty good basis for
saying that because in heaven's glory, the saints of God continually
sing praise to God our Savior as the Lamb of God, worthy to
receive honor and power and blessing, worthy receive all glory for
all that He is and all that He's done. One more thing. Turn back to
Mark's Gospel, Chapter 8. If all this is so, if all this
is so, why on this earth has He left us here for so long? There's Merle back there. Have
to use that cane now and the knees won't hardly work. And
claws is gonna have a little oxygen and legs don't work like
they used to. Me too, me too. Why does God
leave us here? Why? Why some for so long? That's a question that I can't
answer fully, but I found an answer that satisfies me. I said
Mark chapter eight, Mark chapter five, verse eight, verse 18 rather. Here we read about a man, a maniac,
who lived in Gadara. He had been a beastly, vile,
demon-possessed man. Folks were scared to death of
him. He did nothing but terrorize people. And now he's clothed
in his right mind, born of God, washed in the blood sanctified
by God's Spirit, given life and faith in Christ Jesus. And when
he was coming to the ship, he that had been possessed with
the devil prayed him that he might be with him. Howbeit Jesus
suffered him not, but saith unto him, go home to thy friends and
tell them how great things the Lord hath done for thee. and
hath had compassion on thee. And he departed and began to
publish in Decapolis how great things Jesus had done for him. And all men did marvel. God has a work for you to do,
for you and for me. for you and for you. He has a
specific work for us to accomplish. And mortals are immortal here
until their work is done. This maniac of Gadara, this saint
of Gadara is sent back to his home to tell his family and friends
what great things the Lord had done for him. and how he had had compassion
upon him. And when he did, folks marveled. Folks marveled. I take that to
mean they marveled at God's goodness and God's work. I take that to
mean being overcome by God's grace and mercy to this man,
they were overcome by God's grace and mercy. It is our business
to spend our days declaring to men, as God gives us opportunity,
by whatever means God puts in our hands, what great things
the Lord has done for us. And of all men, how he has had
compassion on me. Because God has put the treasure
of his gospel in these earthen vessels that we might carry his
treasure to his people scattered to the four corners of the earth
for the saving of their souls. What a great reason to live.
What a great reason to live until God has finished with me the
work he's appointed for me. Until God has finished with you,
even if you have to hobble around on one leg, the work he has ordained
for you to accomplish. This is the goodness of our God. Amen.