Where Have They Gone

Q: What does the Bible say about what happens after death for believers?

The Bible teaches that believers enter into a state of eternal happiness with Christ immediately after death. According to Scripture, the souls of redeemed sinners immediately enter heaven upon death. This is supported in 2 Corinthians 5:1-2, which states, '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.' In Luke 23:43, Jesus assures the dying thief, 'Today shalt thou be with me in paradise,' indicating that believers go instantly into the presence of Christ after death, experiencing eternal bliss and communion with Him.

Q: How do we know that the souls of believers go to heaven after death?

Scripture provides clear evidence that believers' souls enter heaven immediately after death, as seen in multiple passages. The assurance that the souls of believers go to heaven immediately after death is rooted in both the teachings of Christ and the apostolic writings. In Philippians 1:21-23, Paul expresses his longing to depart and be with Christ, emphasizing that dying is gain. Additionally, 2 Corinthians 5 affirms that believers are 'absent from the body and present with the Lord.' The Book of Revelation further confirms this state of bliss by declaring, 'Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord.' This culminates in the understanding that when believers die, they are not merely resting, but living eternally in the presence of God.

Q: Why is understanding death important for Christians?

Understanding death is crucial for Christians as it shapes their view of eternal life and the hope they have in Christ. Understanding death is vital for Christians as it informs their perspective on life and eternity. Ecclesiastes 7:2 states, 'It is better to go to the house of mourning than to the house of feasting,' highlighting that acknowledging death prepares the heart for the reality of God's judgment and the hope found in Christ. This understanding fosters a life grounded in faith, with the assurance that death is not the end but a transition to eternal communion with God. Moreover, knowing the eternal fate of our souls encourages believers to evangelize and uphold the truth of the Gospel for others. Such knowledge transforms sorrow into a hopeful anticipation of reunion in Christ.

Q: What does the Bible say about the state of believers in heaven?

Believers in heaven are described as being at peace, in the presence of Christ, and free from sin and suffering. The Bible assures us that the state of believers in heaven is one of profound joy and peace. In Isaiah 57:1-2, it states that the righteous are taken away from evil and enter into peace. Hebrews 12:22-23 depicts heaven as a vibrant place where believers are part of the 'general assembly and church of the firstborn.' Furthermore, Revelation 21:4 promises that God will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death, sorrow, or pain. This indicates that in heaven, believers enjoy pure, unbroken fellowship with God and are completely sanctified, free from sin and its consequences.

I couldn't help but think all
weekend long as I prepared for tonight's message how providentially
timely that I should begin preaching to you last week and shall for
the next couple of weeks concerning death and judgments in the light
of the fact that my mother has just died. It's no accident. A long, long time ago, these
words were inscribed on a grave marker. They're worth remembering. Please view my tomb as you pass
by. For as you are, so once was I. And as I am, soon you must be. So make your plans to follow
me. Turn back here to Ecclesiastes chapter 7. Sometimes people ask me, do you
think we ought to bring a child to a funeral by all means? By all means. But don't you think
it would be devastating to them? I hope so. I hope so. People need to learn from their
earliest days they're sure to die and meet God in judgment. Here in Ecclesiastes chapter
7 and verse 2, Solomon speaks by inspiration. This wise man
speaks not the wisdom of a man, he speaks by the wisdom of God
and says it is better, it is better, not just good, it's better
to go to the house of mourning than to the house of feasting.
Better to go to the funeral home than to go to a party. It is better to go to the house
of mourning than to the house of feasting, because that is
the end of all men, and the living will lay it to his heart." Sorrow
is better than laughter, better for you than laughter. I wonder
why he has so much sorrow, because it's better for you. For by the
sadness of the countenance, the heart is made better. The heart of the wise is in the
house of Morhen. Look in chapter four. Here's
our text for this evening. This wise man speaking by wisdom
from God Almighty says, so I returned and considered all the oppressions
that are done under the sun. and behold the tears of such
as were oppressed, and they had no comforter. And on the side of their oppressors
there was power, but they had no comforter. Wherefore, since
I considered all the oppressions that men experience in this since
I considered the power of those who oppress and the fact that
there is no comfort for God's oppressed saints in this world.
Therefore, Solomon said, I praise the dead that are already dead
more than the living which are yet alive. Now, of course, those
words could only be spoken concerning those who have died in the Solomon
says concerning these oppressed believers who in the world have
no comfort, who in the world deal with powerful oppressors,
he says, considering these things, I praise the dead, the dead in
the Lord which are already dead, more than the living which are
yet alive. You have a similar statement
in the book of Revelation chapter 14. Blessed are the dead which
die in the Lord. I read those things and I'm convinced
that we who know God believe those things. Yet when we go
to the funeral home in the graveside to bid our loved one goodbye,
we're filled with sorrow and weeping. How come? Well, if the
one God has taken is an unbeliever, if the one God has taken is in
the gall of bitterness in the bond of iniquity. If the one
God has taken has been besieged with a strong delusion and drunk
with the wine of Babylon's fornication of freewill works religion, then
I understand the sorrow. I know what that is. Those who
die in unbelief and in sin, no matter how religious, are lost
forever. Those who die in unbelief and
sin, no matter how respected by men, are lost forever. If our sorrow is the sorrow of
parting friends, we miss each other. We miss each other. I've
said goodbye to a lot of friends, fellow believers, men and women
who know the Lord and are now with But oh, we miss him. We miss him. My heart feels a
void and an emptiness for Brother Bill Clark. He's gone. Gone forever
as far as this world is concerned. Gone forever as far as our experience
on this earth is concerned. He's a friend and I miss him.
I can understand that sorrow. None of us likes to part with
cherished friends and loved ones. But if the sorrow that we feel,
the sorrow we feel at the death of a believing brother, death
of a believing sister, the death of a believing mother, or the
death of a believing father, if that sorrow is the sorrow
of those who have no hope, uncontrollable anguish, or even anger at God
for having taken someone we love, I cannot understand that. I cannot
understand it even if the one we love taken out of this world
is an unbeliever and taken out under the wrath of God Almighty
because our God does everything right. He doesn't make mistakes. He makes no error neither in
his justice and judgment nor in his justice and in grace.
Such sorrow reveals both ignorance and unbelief. of the justice
of God, ignorance of the just desert of sin and willful unbelief,
ignorance also of the blessed state of God's saints in heaven,
and unbelief regarding the Word of God, the promises of the gospel,
and the finished work of Christ. So tonight I want to answer one
question. I want to answer this question with regard to God's
with regard to God's elect, those who have preceded us into heaven's
glory. The question is this, where have
they gone? I've had that question asked
so many times in one way or another. Where have they gone? I want
to show you tonight that God's saints in heaven, our departed
friends, are alive and well. Though their bodies have died
and are laid in the earth, they are more alive than ever and
more full of happiness than ever they could be on this earth.
In this message, I want to just make a couple of statements and
I won't be long. The first is this. I want to
show you from the word of God that the soul of redeemed sinners,
immediately after death, As soon as they close their eyes in death,
as soon as they draw their last breath, the souls of redeemed
sinners immediately after death enter into heaven. They enter
immediately into a state of eternal blessedness and happiness with
Christ. It's not my intention this evening
to answer the foolish questions of infidels and heretics I just
quit doing that a long time ago. I get carping letters all the
time, both in regular mail and through this electronic mail,
get more of them than ever. And I just got to the place,
I just ignore them. Not worth answering, not worth
bothering about, not worth fretting about. All the heretics in the
world and all the heresies in the world, just let them go on
and don't try to answer them. Somebody says, well, we need
to find the answers to those things. My soul, when you've
got bread, why eat on grass? When you've got the proof, why
chase after error? I'm not interested in action,
we'll say. I don't intend to be sidetracked by the foolish
speculations of ignorant men about life after death. But I
have a purpose in bringing this message. First, I want to comfort
and instruct you who are God's saints beforehand. Some of you have experienced
the loss of dear friends and dear relatives who are in Christ,
and I want to minister to you, and some of you certainly will
soon. I want to minister to you. I
want to persuade sinners, you who are yet without life and
faith in Christ, to seek Him and to trust Him. And above everything
else, I want to honor God. I want to honor God. I was talking to Bob Malinger
back there before the folks came in. You go to the graveside and
everybody throws the Word of God away and clings to emotions
and sentiments and they talk nonsense. They talk nonsense.
Bob's his usual sweet self, you know. He said, well, you know
in the height of emotions folks say and do. And I said to him,
he won't mind me telling you this, men speak what they really
believe in their heart. You can bank on it. You can bank
on it. When they're careful, you can't bank on it because
they hide it. But when they're not careful, when they let their
guard down, what comes out of their mouth, that's what's really
in their heart. You can bank on it. Let's look into the Word
of God and seek to honor God. Let's seek to honor God in all
our circumstances and particularly as we consider this matter of
the death of his elect. Let's speak about this wonder
of immortality. I want to do so with simplicity
and I want to appeal to nothing but the Word of God. You and
I are men and women with immortal undying I wonder if we've even begun
to get any grasp of that at all. These bodies, Bobby, are decaying. These bodies are going to the
earth. These bodies will soon be laid
in the dust. We had a funeral home the other
day and the undertaker, you know, they want you to buy Cadillacs
with cushions in them. And I just told him plainly,
I said, it's me. I'd spend no more money to put
in the ground than is absolutely necessary. None at all. That
body of my mother, the body that you now sit here in, I don't
care how pretty it looks in the coffin, is going to the ground
and it's going to rot and it's going to return to the dust.
The thing that matters is your soul. Your soul. Our undying, immortal soul. These bodies must die and rot
like brute beasts, but our souls will live forever. As soon as
you die, your soul will enter a state either of eternal misery
and woe or eternal bliss and happiness in Christ the Lord.
Most people imagine foolishly or try to convince themselves
foolishly, I don't think any man really believes it, but they
try to convince themselves that a man dies like a dog. When your
dog dies, that's all there is. You take him out here, stick
him in the ground, and you forget him. He's gone. But when you
die, Bob, that's not all there is. That's not all there is. When a man dies, his soul lives
on. Not in some state of sleep, insensitivity,
and inactivity, but in a state of conscious awareness and life. Either life that is life everlasting,
or life that is called death. death forever. What will it profit
a man if he should gain the whole world and lose his own soul? What will a man give in exchange
for his soul? The souls of believers, redeemed
sinners, men and women who had been made righteous by God by
the imputation of Christ's righteousness to them, the souls of God's saints
return to God as we die. Our departed brothers and sisters,
as soon as they close their eyes in death, open them in glory. And there they live. They will
remain in that blessed state until Christ comes again in the
second coming and at the resurrection their bodies will be snatched
up out of the earth as Christ comes again and we which are
alive and remain then will be caught up to meet them and be
with them and the Lord in the air and we will come with him
again to this earth. But until that day the bodies
of God's saints sleep in the earth and they are made to live
with Christ in his glory. I'll not speak concerning the
horrible state of the wicked. I don't have any idea really
what hell is. I speculate some, gathering what
little bit I can from scriptures. But the damned are damned forever. The wicked are lost forever. And they justly justly have reaped
the reward, the wages of their transgression. And that will
be their unbearable portion forever. But with regard to God's thanks,
the Word of God, when speaking of the believer's death, always
represents the believer as moving out of this world immediately
and making his entrance into heavenly glory as soon as he
closes his eyes in death. Turn to Isaiah 57. We'll just
look at a few texts of scripture and I want you to see it. Now
when we talk about death, please understand when I'm talking about
a believer dying, really God's elect never die. They never do. Our Lord said, Ron, to He said,
he that liveth and believeth on me shall never die. Never
die. He uses the word death to speak
of the sleep of the body. And he uses it only as a term
of convenience condescending to our ignorance and our carnal
sensibilities. But the believer never really
dies. Whosoever liveth and believeth
on me shall never die. The death of the body is the
liberty of the soul and as soon as our souls are freed from this
body of sin and death, we enter into heaven. When the righteous
perish from the earth, they live in uprightness forever. Look
here in Isaiah 57 verse 1. The righteous perishes and no
man layeth it to heart. Nobody gives a hoot. And merciful
men are taken away none considering, none considering that the righteous
is taken away from the evil to come. When a believer leaves this world,
that believer is taken out of a world of evil. He's taken away
from the evil to come. He shall enter into peace. They
shall rest in their beds. each one walking in his uprightness. Now hold your hands out and look
at that image. The righteous, the righteous are those men and
women who are born of God and made righteous by grace. It's
not talking much about men and women who have done good things.
Men and women, they talk about such a good, good man, such a
good, good woman. That's just not so. That's not
so concerning you, not so concerning me, not so concerning your children
or mine, your mom and dad or mine, or anybody else. There
is none that doeth good and sinneth not. There is none that doeth
good, no not one. Now, we act good before men and
men are impressed. My soul, men are impressed if
a fellow just doesn't steal as much as he's stolen before. Men
are impressed if a fellow doesn't drink as much as he's drunk before.
Men are impressed if a fellow doesn't beat his wife but once
a week instead of every day of the week. That's nonsense. Men cannot
impress God. You don't do good. But the righteous
are those who've been made good. made righteous by God, putting
away their sins by the sacrifice of his Son, and imputing to us
the righteousness of his Son, and then in free grace dropping
the nature of his Son into our hearts in regeneration. When
the righteous die, they're taken away from evil, the evil that's yet to come in
the world, the evil That's just the constantly accumulating mass
of the result of sin in this world. And they enter into a
world of peace. And then the text here says they
rest in their beds. What does that mean? Their bodies rest in the grave. These bodies go to the tomb and
the skin worms destroy this flesh. And there their bodies rest,
and it doesn't disturb them a bit. It doesn't bother a thing. They're
resting in the grave. And their souls rest in the arms
of Christ. Oh, what a bed. Their souls rest
in their bed, and they walk in their uprightness. You see, God
reckons the righteousness of Christ imputed to us to be our
own righteousness. And he makes it ours so that
the righteousness of Christ is also imparted to us. And in heaven
our departed brethren walk in their uprightness, in spotless
purity, holiness, in shining robes of bliss and glory. And then as soon as the believer
dies, he's carried by the angels of God into Abraham's bosom. Turn to Luke chapter 16. Abraham's bosom was a Jewish
expression referring to a place of heavenly happiness prepared
for God's saints between death and the resurrection. It's a
place of endless comfort, satisfaction, and delight. Now, if you've got
some various reference Bibles, you will see notations in this
passage in Luke 16 referring to Abraham's and they have taken
the Roman Catholic doctrine of purgatory and made Abraham's
bosom to be a compartment in hell and such nonsense as that. Listen to the scriptures and
listen carefully. In Luke 16, 22, and it came to
pass that the beggar died and was carried by the angels into
Abraham's bosom. It's figurative language, figurative
speech. The rich man also died and was
buried. And in hell he lift up his eyes,
being in torment, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his
bosom. And he cried and said, Father
Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip
the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue, for I am
tormented in this flame. But Abraham said, My son, remember
that thou in thy lifetime receivest thy good things, and likewise
Lazarus' evil things. But now he is comforted, and
thou art tormented." In Luke 23 and verse 43, we have this
picture of the dying thief. Everybody runs to the dying thief
and says, well, there's always hope. As long as there's breath,
there's always hope. Well, that's just not so. That's
just not so. God speaks of men being shut
out of the kingdom of God long time before they draw their last
breath. J.C. Rye was exactly right. He said
there's one example of deathbed repentance and only one. One
and only one that none might despair. One and only one that
none might presume. Don't you wait for your last
death. your last breath, hoping that on your deathbed you're
going to repent and turn to Christ. Here our Lord Jesus speaks though
to this penitent thief. And he says to this penitent
thief, believing on him, today shalt thou be with me in paradise. Now, that's not purgatory. That's not some state of limbo. Paradise is the place called
the third heaven to which Paul was called for a brief visit
before he left this world permanently. Paradise in Revelation chapter
2 and verse 7 is spoken of as the garden of God. Paradise is
the place to which Christ went as soon as he died and with the
merit of his own blood obtained eternal redemption for us. It
is the promise to sinners who seek the mercy of God in Christ. The Lord Jesus says to you who
believe, To you who, like that thief, look to him and say, Lord,
remember me when you come into your kingdom. To you, to you
who trust Christ, bowing to him as your sovereign Lord, he says
today, immediately, shalt thou most assuredly be with me in
my presence in endless company with me in paradise, in the garden
of God. And death for the believer is
gain, infinite immeasurable gain. Paul believed that as soon as
he departed from this life, he would immediately be with Christ
in blessed communion. And believing the word and promise
of God, he looked upon death as something desirable. Listen
to this. To me, to live is Christ, but
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,
for I ministrate betwixt two. having a desire to depart and
be with Christ, which is far better. But what's the state
of God's saints between death and the resurrection? I'll not say more than the Bible
says, but I know this much. The souls of God's saints in
heaven are not somehow floating around on clouds and strumming
harps. That's just not the picture given
in Scripture. They've gone to a specific place.
They've gone to where Christ is. They are assembled in a glorified
church. Hebrews chapter 12 says, Here
come unto Mount Zion the city of the living God, unto the general
assembly of the church of the firstborn, to the saints, to
the spirits of just men made perfect, and to Jesus the mediator
of the new covenant. Their soul exists in recognizable form as well. Nancy Bailey asked me the other
day, I guess the last time I was here at service, must have been
last Tuesday night, she said, she said, well, I know my infant
child in heaven. I said, absolutely, absolutely. Actually, it won't make any difference
if she was your child, but know her, yeah, yeah. You see, there
we will love one another perfectly. But we'll know one another. You
say, how do you know that? Abraham, or rather the rich man,
knew Lazarus and he was in hell. I expect I'd know that much.
Know at least what he did. When Peter, James, and John were
on the map of Transfiguration, they had never seen Moses and
Elijah. They'd never heard their voice.
They'd never seen a picture of them or a drawing of them. But
immediately when they saw them, they knew them. Recognized who
they were. And we, as believers, will certainly know one another
in heaven's glory. Folks ask, well, what's the state
of God's saints? Do they have some kind of a body?
Yeah. I don't have any idea what it
is. But in 2 Corinthians 5, in verse 1, 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.
Believers aren't floating around in some kind of a disembodied
spirit, but rather they are given a house from God, a house not
made with hands, made by him, to which their bodies, their
physical bodies, will be joined in the resurrection day. Now
for the believer, The death of this body is the
freeing of his soul. It's a welcome relief. Blessed
are the dead which die in the Lord. Turn to 2 Corinthians 5. I'll wrap this up. I don't want anyone to misunderstand
me. I know you won't. No one in this world Could I
have a happier life than the life God's given me in the last
30 years? I have a wife who loves me and
dotes over me, daughter who loves me and son-in-law who loves me,
granddaughter's gonna be just sore rotten by now. I have everything
in this world to make a man happy. And you, my church family, my
friends, the ministry God's given us, Nothing, nothing about all those
things do I consider in the least bit things of a burden or concern.
But life in this world at its best is a burden to a heaven-born
soul, at its best. Verse 2 of 2 Corinthians 5, Paul
says, in this we grow. earnestly desiring to be clothed
upon with our house which is from heaven. If so being clothed
we shall not be felled naked for we that are in this tabernacle
do groan being burdened." Not just that we might get out of
the mess we're in, not that we might just be unclothed, but
clothed upon, that mortality might be swallowed up of life.
Here we struggle with sin, in heaven we'll be free from sin.
Here we're tempted, in heaven we'll be tempted no more. Here
we often fall in heaven, there won't even be a possibility of
a fall. Here we weep and weep much, in heaven's glory we'll
weep no more. Here we long to be like Christ,
there we shall be like Christ. Here we long for his presence,
there we shall have his presence. I have a lot of friends in heaven
I dearly love and miss them. But I don't really sorrow for
them. I envy them. Amen. Imagine, let's sing number 78.
I was looking at this just a minute
ago in his Songs of Grace book. This is the first hymn I felt
any inclination to write, and I think it's most appropriate
tonight. Number 78, My Soul Considered.

Where Have They Gone

What does the Bible say about what happens after death for believers?

How do we know that the souls of believers go to heaven after death?

Why is understanding death important for Christians?

What does the Bible say about the state of believers in heaven?

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Where Have They Gone

What does the Bible say about what happens after death for believers?

How do we know that the souls of believers go to heaven after death?

Why is understanding death important for Christians?

What does the Bible say about the state of believers in heaven?

Sermon Transcript

About Don Fortner

Comments

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