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Absent
From the Body. Today there are many souls in heaven and they are
not asleep in the ground waiting for the end of the world. Enoch is
a great example of one that God took to heaven and who did not die.
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By faith Enoch was taken up so that he should not see death;
AND HE WAS NOT FOUND BECAUSE GOD TOOK HIM UP . . . (NASB) Heb.
11:5 |
That means that he did not sleep, either, but that he went to heaven
alive. God also took the prophet Elijah to heaven alive (2 Kings 2:11).
When we come to Matt. 17:1-4, we find that Moses
and Elijah were talking with Jesus. This means they were spiritually
alive. It is wonderful to know that when we die we go to be with God.
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Therefore, being always of good courage, and knowing that while
we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord - for
we walk by faith, not by sight - we are of good courage, I say,
and prefer rather to be absent from the body and to be at home
with the Lord. (NASB) 2 Cor. 5:6-8 |
To be absent from the body means that our soul leaves our physical
body and either departs to hell or to heaven. Men die once, and then
we are judged by God.
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And inasmuch as it is appointed for men to die once and after
this comes judgment . . . (NASB) Heb. 9:27 |
Christians go to heaven and non-Christians go to hell. The verdict
for each human has already been decided. Those who do not believe
in Jesus will go to hell and those who do believe will go to heaven.
Those who do not believe will some day discover that all of their
good deeds are not good enough. Only those who depend on Jesus and
not on their own good works will go to heaven. Those who have believed
in Jesus and died are in are heaven today. Do
you believe in Jesus?
Conclusion:
The apostle
Paul had a great passion in his heart to be with Jesus. He was not
looking for sleep, but to be with Jesus.
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But I am hard-pressed from both directions, having the desire
to depart and be with Christ, for that is very much better;
yet to remain on in the flesh is more necessary for your sake.
(NASB) Philippians 1:23-24 |
He wanted to be with Jesus. It will be wonderful to be with Jesus
some day - to be with our God and Savior. |
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