Bible Studies

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It is appointed once for a man to die, after that, the resurrection.

Why do we fear death? Why is it such a traumatic event for each of us?

I’ve come to the conclusion, after many years of life experiences and Bible study, that most of our fears are based on ignorance, lack of understanding of God’s Word, but most of all, our own personal loss of the separation from those we love. As Christians, death of the body is a marvelous homecoming!

Let me ask you this: Is all this something that should frighten us? Excite us, yes, frighten us, no.

I discover, unfortunately, that many people today are facing the approach of the death of the body, or even Christ’s return at the Rapture, with unnecessary fear and depression.

There is anticipation, largely promoted by the secular media, that we may be nearing the end of the world and sure death.

There is anxiety and hopelessness everywhere. The world seems to get just a bit uglier every day as crime increases, wars break out, and immorality rules the day.

Yes, those are the facts. Things will get much worse before they start to get better after the Rapture and during the Millennium. But the believer need not despair, especially when we remember what Jesus did for us on the cross of Calvary. He defeated the last enemy, death (1 Corinthians 15:26).

Paul said, "To be absent from the body [is] to be present with the Lord" (2 Corinthians 5:8.

The psalmist said in chapter 17, verse 15, "I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with thy likeness."

You know, that’s something to look forward to, being like Christ! Not only are we going to dwell in a mansion, but also we are going to be made over into a glorified body just like Christ.

In Philippians 3:21, Paul says that God will change our vile bodies—not leave them behind but change them—so that they may be fashioned like unto His glorious body.

In 1 John 3:2, it says that when we see Jesus, we shall be like Him, "for we shall see Him as He is."

What could be more exciting and encouraging than the idea that we will be like Him?

Some of us will never die! The Lord is coming for us very soon. (The Rapture) That’s why in Titus 2:13, Paul calls the Rapture our "blessed hope." In 1 Thessalonians 4:18, he says, "Comfort one another with these words." Comfort one another, he says, not frighten one another. That goes for the death of the body and the approaching Rapture.

You know, after witnessing some Christian’s moment of death I have come to the belief that God sends angels to escort us over the void to Paradise.

Look at this: Luke 16:22 provides a precedent for us, "And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham’s bosom.”

I believe that angelic hosts may also come after those of us who ascend in the Rapture. Why? Because every believer, not just Elijah, has his or her own ministering angel

(Hebrews 1:14). Are not all angels ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation?

That be us, folks!

I have a lot of people ask me, What kind of a body will I have in heaven and will I know my loved ones?

When Jesus Christ comes to call us home at the Rapture, He will come to receive us exactly as He left.

How did He leave? He left bodily, ascending into the clouds.

Acts 1:9—11 says, "And when He [Jesus] had spoken these things, while they beheld, He was taken up; and a cloud received Him out of their sight. And while they looked stedfastly toward heaven as He went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel; Which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen Him go." In other words, Jesus ascended into heaven bodily and He is coming back bodily.

Why? Because the Bible says He is coming back exactly as He left. After spending three days in the grave, He rose and stood on the earth in His new body.

In Luke 24:39, He says to some of His followers, "Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have."

In verses 41-43, He says, "Have ye here any meat? And they gave him a piece of a broiled fish, and of an honeycomb. And he took it, and did eat before them."

This is Christ in His new resurrected body, a body that could be seen, a body that could be touched, and a physical being that could eat food.

This is a picture of what all believers will have at the time of the Rapture. We do not receive our glorified body when we die if we die before the Rapture.

In this case we will be carried into Paradise and await there for the Rapture.

How long is this going to take and when will it happen?

I’m glad you asked! "Behold, I shew you a mystery," the Bible tells us in 1 Corinthians 15:51—53. "We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible and we shall be changed. (in other words, given glorified bodies) For this corruptible [the dead] must put on incorruption, and this mortal [the living] must put on immortality."

This is going to be a glorious event because we shall be changed to be like Jesus. All who have died "in Christ" during the past two thousand years are already with Christ.

Paul said, "To be absent from the body [is] to be present with the Lord" (2 Corinthians 5:8) "We are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones" (Ephesians 5:30).

Does that sound like something to be afraid of?

Our greatest pain will be the (short) separation from our loved ones here and now.

Sometimes I feel guilty about my wanting my dying loved ones to hold on till the Rapture, which I believe is coming in my lifetime.

Have you ever felt like that? I want their presence with me as long as possible!

When you look at death in the light of God’s plan for man, you can take comfort that He has a much better life for us than that we now imagine.

The only catch is, are we in God’s plan of salvation and eternal life with Him or are we standing on the outside looking in?

Have you accepted the gift of Salvation that only comes from the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ?

Glorified bodies do not go to the damned!

The comfort of Abraham’s bosom is not for the damned.

Eternity with Jesus is not for the damned!

Eternity with your Christian loved ones is not for the damned! On the contrary, failure to accept Jesus and His sacrifice on the cross for us will get you eternity with Satan, his fallen angels, and those other humans who rejected Jesus.

Joshua addressed the Israelites, after they had taken the Promised Land and assembled them before him, “Choose you this day whom you will serve.” “But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord!“

So, there it is!

You have been asked the question.

What will you do?

What is your answer?

Your eternity may very well be determined right now by the way you answer this question.

We are not promised tomorrow!

Choose you this day whom you will serve!

We have a homecoming awaiting us, where do you want to spent eternity?

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