Church: Reformed Baptist Church of Franconia | Text: — | Date: September 23, 2018 | Speaker: Fred Zaspel

We have a handout again this evening. If you do not have it yet, would you raise your hand and someone in the back will—everybody have it? Good. Thank you.

We’re continuing our study on the Bible’s teaching of life after death. For a brief review of last time, I’d like to begin at 2 Corinthians chapter 12. I think all of you here are familiar with this passage. It’s the passage recording Paul’s visions that he had received; and then, lest he be exalted above measure, God sent some kind of affliction, which he calls a thorn in the flesh.

In describing those visions in verse three, he says, speaking in the third person, speaking of himself: “I know that this man was caught up into paradise, whether in the body or out of the body, I do not know. God knows.” Now, whatever else we can say about this passage—and there’s much more to be said—we have to say that the Apostle Paul considered it entirely possible to exist outside the body. That’s what he says. And that’s what we’re talking about now in this matter of the intermediate state of the redeemed: those who have passed, those believers who have died and yet continue to exist.

We looked last time at the fact that the Bible teaches that man is created as both a material and an immaterial part of his being. The material part, of course, is the body. The immaterial part is the soul or spirit. Those two terms are used interchangeably, referring to the same thing. “Spirit” is probably a more precise term, speaking of its essence. It’s not material; it’s not corporeal; it’s spirit in its essence. “Soul” is the term that’s normally used to speak of the spirit as it resides in the body; it’s an embodied spirit.

I think I mentioned last time that the English has a third word—soul, spirit, and ghost—and that usually refers to the disembodied spirit. The Greek and the Hebrew do not have a third word for that, although soul and spirit both are used in that sense as well of the formerly embodied spirit. By the way, just an interesting historical note: that word “ghost” in English, in our terms and the way we understand it today, is usually something ghoulish. In earlier days, “ghost” was one of the terms used for a spirit, even the human spirit, and even of the Holy Spirit as well.

When the King James Version was translated, there were a number of men on the committee that preferred the translation “Holy Ghost.” Others preferred the term “Holy Spirit.” And so you’ll see both of those in the King James Version. Because the King James Version is so massively influential in the tradition of Christian theology and terminology, we still have that today. So we’ll sing in the doxology, for example, “Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.” So we still use that language there, but that’s where it comes from. Side note.

We also mentioned that because the personality is tied to the spirit or the soul, we often will say of the ones who have died, when we see them in the casket, “He is not here.” And I mentioned that that is accurate. That’s right to say because, as I say, personality is tied to the soul, not to the body. We can say that, and we can say that confidently. In fact, something very important is communicated in that, as we’ll see again this evening.

But it is also accurate to say that he or she is in the casket—that’s part of the being as well. In fact, we find those kinds of uses in the Bible as well: with regard to Lazarus, with regard to Jesus—they laid Jesus in the tomb, and so on. But still, that terminology of remembering that the personality is tied to the spirit is a good thing to remember at times like that, because we live on after physical death. And physical death, then, we said last time, is the separation of body and spirit.

The Intermediate State Of The Redeemed

All right, what I want to do this evening, then, is just trace out some of the teaching of the Bible with regard to the intermediate state of the redeemed. Remember, we looked at some of the terminology: the terminology “intermediate state” and “final state.” The intermediate state is that state between death and resurrection. The final state, or the eternal state, refers to the state of the person after the resurrection. So now, this evening, we’re dealing with the intermediate state of the redeemed—those who are believers; they’ve been saved; they have died—what is their condition now?

And I thought I’d begin that with Psalm 23, with an interesting observation I read recently there. I’m going to question it, but I’m also going to bring it up. Psalm 23, verse four. It is the verse that every one of you could quote, at least once I started: “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil.”

I mentioned last time I’d read a little booklet by Rick Phillips on something to do with the intermediate state—I forget the exact title. But he makes an interesting observation there. When I read it, I thought, “Wow, that’s fascinating.” He said, for a believer, notice he’s emphasizing the preposition “through” in that verse: “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death.” And he writes: “For a believer, death is not the end, but the middle. Death is not something into which we go, but something through which we pass. According to David, death is the middle, and what comes after is glorious. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil.”

Well, I saw that, and I thought, “That’s fascinating.” It’s a wonderful observation I’d never thought of with that verse before. After thinking on it a little longer, I’m not so certain. I’m not certain that’s what that verse is saying. What if the valley of the shadow of death is a metaphor for his struggles and such things as that? But he may be right. In any case, the Bible is very clear to the point that he is making: that at death, believers are received into the immediate presence of God.

Now, the Bible does not give us much extensive detail as to what the condition of the soul is at that point, or what the circumstances are in that intermediate state, but it does give us some. And so what I want to do is survey some of the prominent passages that tell us about it, and then we’ll draw some conclusions from that at the end.

Survey Of Biblical Passages

We’re here in Psalms, so let’s look at Psalm 31. Psalm 31 is one of David’s Psalms where he is looking to the Lord for refuge in his own struggles and times of trouble—when he is being hunted, looking back on times when life was uncertain. Let’s start with verse 1: “In you, O Lord, do I take refuge; let me never be put to shame; in your righteousness deliver me! Incline your ear to me; rescue me speedily! Be a rock of refuge for me, a strong fortress to save me! For you are my rock and my fortress; and for your name’s sake you lead me and guide me; you take me out of the net that they have hidden for me, for you are my refuge.”

So here he’s crying to God in praise for the fact that He has protected him and helped him. And then notice the wording of verse 5: “Into your hand I commit my spirit.” Clearly there, the intent is that God will protect me, God will keep me safe, and I commit my being and my well-being to God. But as soon as I read that verse, a bell rang in your mind, right? You’ve seen that expression somewhere else? It’s exactly the verse that Jesus quotes when he’s on the cross, when he’s dying. And now he uses it in that respect: “Into your hands I commit my spirit.” And there Jesus is expressing the same confident trust in God his Father, and now with regard to his death. In death, God will take care of me. I think there is some obvious indication there of Jesus’ own expectation of the continuation of life and fellowship with God after death.

There’s another verse in the New Testament that echoes this psalm, Psalm 31, verse 5. Pastor Boyd quoted it this morning—a message this morning; it was a wonderful setup for this evening, wasn’t it? Acts chapter 7, when Stephen says, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” I think that’s an echo here of Psalm 31:5. But again, whether it’s an echo of Psalm 31:5 or not, it is clearly Stephen’s own expectation that in death he will enter into fellowship more immediately, in fellowship with Christ.

A very important passage here, and I have it on your handout, is Luke chapter 16, verses 19 to 31. I don’t think I’m going to take time to read through that now, because we will get to that when we look at the intermediate state of the lost. That is more the point of that passage, so we’ll put it off until then. But just to note here in passing: remember the story of the Rich Man and Lazarus. We have Lazarus himself who is in Abraham’s bosom, it says, and he’s conscious. He is safe in the enjoyments of paradise. In paradise, there’s conscious existence, and it is a happy existence.

All right, we can find a little bit more definitive than that. Let’s look at John chapter 11. Again, this is a very familiar passage. You remember the story of the death of Lazarus. Mary and Martha are grieving. Jesus comes to the scene. “If you had been here, he wouldn’t have died,” expressing their confidence in his abilities to have healed him. But now he’s dead and they are grieving. Jesus grieves with them. He expresses some anger at the situation—the intrusion that death is into humanity.

And Jesus says in verse 23, “Your brother will rise again.” Martha said to him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.” Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die.”

Now, a couple of points are very important to our discussion here. First of all, the point at hand, obviously, is the resurrection. So there we’re talking about the eternal, or the final state—the state of resurrection. But the point overall that Jesus is making here, pretty obviously, is that the life that he gives transcends death. Ultimately, that means physical resurrection—the reuniting of the soul and the body in resurrection. But there’s more to see here than just that.

Notice in verse 25, Jesus says, “I am two things. I am the resurrection and the life.” The resurrection, obviously, is the resurrection of the body. And the fact that Jesus says, “I am the resurrection,” is simply highlighting what Paul spells out in more detail in 1 Corinthians 15: that it is by our union with Jesus that we too are raised from the dead. And that’s why he can say, “I am the resurrection.” It’s only through our union with Christ that we can anticipate that resurrection of the just.

But he says, “I am the resurrection and the life.” What’s the life? Well, we’ve seen that before here many times. It refers to eternal life. What is eternal life? Eternal life is the life of the resurrection. It’s the life of the end times—the life of the eschaton, we say. When we are raised from the dead and enter into that final state, that is eternal life. That’s the way it’s defined in the Old Testament. That meaning is still in the New Testament as well. Eternal life is a blessing of the age to come.

Now the great thing about—one of the great things about—Jesus’ work for us is that he has brought the blessing of that age into this age. And so eternal life, the age of the life to come, is our present possession in Christ. So we enjoy eternal life today in Christ. We’ve seen that together here many times.

So Jesus says, “I am both. I’m resurrection. In me, you will be raised from the dead. In me, you have eternal life.” And then he expands on that. The last part of verse 25 affirms the first—that is, “I am the resurrection.” Notice what he says: “I am the resurrection, the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live.” That is, he’ll be raised from the dead. So, “I am the resurrection.”

And then he goes on in verse 26: “And everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die.” There is an expansion on the second one: “I am the life, the eternal life.” Everyone who lives and believes in me—how can you believe in Jesus without living, right? So I doubt that the word “living” here—”who lives and believes in me”—simply means those who have physical life and they’re believing. It’s almost redundant to say that because you can’t believe without living. I think “he who lives” here—the reference is to eternal life. He that has eternal life, who lives in that sense and believes in me, shall never die.

So on the one hand, if we die, we die with the knowledge that we will be raised. And on the other hand, if we die, we die with a knowledge that we have an eternal life that transcends death, even in that intermediate state. And I think Jesus here, although the final reference of course is to the resurrection, he’s tying them together, I think pretty obviously, so that in an important sense that resurrection life that we have then in the resurrection is something that we will have even in death. Eternal life is something that we will enjoy even in death. That’s the point.

So, Jesus is affirming here that if eternal life is ours, even in death, he’s affirming the continued conscious existence of the soul in the enjoyment of eternal life. I think that with the focus on the final state—the state of resurrection—but saying that eternal life is ours even in the intermediate state, I think there’s a hint here of what we see in a couple of other places. And that is that the blessing of the eternal state is entered into, in part, upon death. Not fully, because we don’t have physical resurrection. But that blessing of eternal life is something we enter into in an important sense, even in death.

Okay, the next one is 2 Corinthians chapter 5, verses 1 to 11. And I’m not going to spend much time on this because I want to go back to it next time and spend all of our time on it, I think. But just quickly and briefly, let’s point out a very important point here with regard to what we’re saying. 2 Corinthians 5, let’s read verses 6 through 8: “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.”

Now, Paul is giving a contrast here. “At home in the body” means away from the immediate presence of Christ. At home in the body is away from the Lord. But the other side of the contrast is, if we’re “away from the body” or absent from the body, it means we’re present with the Lord in his immediate presence. So again here we have that life now in the body is to be followed at death immediately by life in the presence of Christ.

Now that probably has brought another verse to mind already, and let’s look at that: Philippians chapter 1. Very closely related to that. In Philippians chapter 1, a famous passage where Paul is sort of weighing the alternatives of life and death. Which is better? Which is to be preferred? And of course there are other considerations, chief of which is what the will of the Lord is. He’ll take care of the decision finally. But in terms of personal preference, what is better? To be here or to be there?

And so, verses 20 through 24: “As it is my eager expectation and hope that I will not be at all ashamed, but that with full courage now as always Christ will be honored in my body, whether by life or by death. For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. 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.” Remember, in verse 21, he called it gain. To depart and be with Christ is far better, “but to remain in the flesh is more necessary on your account.”

Now, we’re not going to work our way through the passage. Our point here is just simply to notice the contrast again that Paul is giving to us. Life in the body is life that is not lived in the immediate presence of Christ. Now, of course, in one sense, he is with us and we are with him, and Paul affirms that in many cases, but he’s speaking here in terms of the immediate presence of Christ. To live in this life, we are away from him; but to depart from this life, he says, is to be in the presence of Christ, which he says is far better. So then, the intermediate state in these verses, we can say, is continued conscious existence of the soul in the happy presence of Christ.

All right, the next verse I have on your outline is 1 Thessalonians 5:10. That’s just a brief mention of Christ “who died for us so that whether we are awake or asleep we might live with him.” But let’s move on to Hebrews chapter 12.

Hebrews chapter 12, beginning in verse—well, earlier in the chapter now, he’s—we’re going to be looking at 22, 23, and 24. Earlier he’s speaking of how they have come to Mount Sinai, and it was a terrifying thing. But we, in the New Covenant, by contrast, verse 22: “But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering, and to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.”

On contrast here, he’s describing what it was to be under the Old Covenant with what it is now under the New Covenant. We have such greater blessing because we’ve come not to Mount Sinai but to Mount Zion with all of its attending blessings. But to our point this evening, notice how he describes what’s going on in heaven. There’s a heavenly Jerusalem, he says, and there is the innumerable number of angels in “festal gathering.” Sounds like a celebration of some kind. We have come to them and to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect. That must be, then, a reference to those believers who have died ahead of us and who are already there in heaven. In this celebrating time with these innumerable angels in festal gathering, they are already there. And it says, not only are they the spirits—so there’s what they are, disembodied spirits—but they’re spirits of the righteous, the justified ones, “made perfect.” So they’ve entered into moral perfection. So death then here, or the intermediate state, is described as heaven. It’s the presence of the angels, it’s the presence of God, and it’s in the state of moral perfection.

All right, what have we seen so far? At death, the believer passes into the presence of Christ, moral perfection, into an atmosphere of celebration amidst the angels in the very presence of God, and enjoying the presence of Christ.

All right. Another one: 2 Peter 1, over just a few pages. 2 Peter 1. This is a verse that has just long fascinated me. I’ve often thought of it when a believer dies. In the previous verses, he is speaking of our responsibility to pursue godliness. He speaks of it in several terms, but then he comes to his end of it here in verse 11, and he says, “For in this way there will be richly provided for you an entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.” Or some of your versions translate it, “You will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.”

Now the expression here, “the eternal kingdom”—I suspect that that is most likely referring to the final state. When Jesus comes, the eternal kingdom, probably the new heavens and the new earth, the second coming of Christ—that seems to be in view. But death seems to be spoken of here as the way that we enter into it. The picture is of the believer himself being welcomed—not seeing Christ coming, but the believer being welcomed or entering into at least a preliminary experience of that eternal kingdom in death. And it’s speaking of it as a “rich welcome” being given to them.

So the picture is of what? A warrior coming home? I suspect it’s more of a personal thing than that. Family being welcomed as they come home. When I go home to visit my mother, I’m still her little boy; it’s a big deal. There’s a lot of fussing going on and it’s happy fussing. And there’s hugs and there’s kisses and it’s a happy thing, say, when you visit your families. When Jim and his family—Jim, Marina, and the boys—come over, there’s always a big fuss over it, especially for the boys and especially for the littlest one, of course, because he’s so little. And evidently we make quite a fuss over that because last evening they stopped by and when they walked in, Andrew says, “I’m here!”

Welcoming family that you haven’t seen in a while is a happy occasion. That’s the atmosphere here, and it seems to be saying that that’s what happens when the believer dies. He’s welcomed in—a rich welcome, a big celebration is going on as he is welcomed into this preliminary experience of the eternal kingdom. I think it’s a fascinating imagery and it’s an exciting prospect: that at the death of the believer, they have scarcely left here, and already there they are entering into the joys of the kingdom of God.

And then another: Revelation chapter 6. Revelation chapter 6. You remember here is the description of the seals that are being peeled away from the scroll in the Lamb’s hand. And then verse 9 tells us: “When he 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.”

Well, it’s a temple scene. We see that here in verse 9 with the altar. The souls are under the altar. It’s a temple scene here—a heavenly temple. This is an interesting segment or step in the Bible’s unfolding of the temple theme. In broad perspective, the temple theme in scripture begins in Eden, actually, with some temple imagery there in the Garden of Eden. We don’t know that until later when we can look back at it from more information that’s given later in the biblical narrative. But the garden is a temple. It’s the presence of God. We lose the presence of God because of our sin.

But then the rest of the biblical narrative is God coming to make himself present among his people again. And so there’s the building of the tabernacle; God is moving in. There’s the building of the temple; God is moving in. And it comes to a really high point in the incarnation of Jesus: “The Word became flesh and tabernacled among us, and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.”

So we have this temple theme moving in a little more. It comes to a higher point—or depending on your perspective, a closer point—at Pentecost. Now the Spirit has come, and now the church is the dwelling place of God. The church is called the temple. And it comes, of course, to its climax later in the book of Revelation. We come to chapters 21 and 22 where actually we are told there was no temple there because God himself and the Lamb are its temple. So we have the immediate presence of God, the temple imagery finally fully realized as we enter into the presence of Christ in the final state. That is the new heaven, the new earth. There’s no temple there because God and the Lamb are the temple.

That’s the heavenly abode of God on full display, finally in the final state. But during this period—this post-fall and pre-consummation period—we are given some glimpses here and there in the New Testament of what’s going on in heaven, and it’s described in terms of a temple that’s in heaven. This temple is the abode of God. It’s reflected in expressions like “God is the God of heaven” or “God is in heaven,” those kinds of expressions. And again, this is that temple imagery, but the temple is in heaven itself.

And we have occasional glimpses of that in the New Testament, even in the Old—Isaiah chapter 6, for example, where Isaiah has this vision of the temple and God in the temple as well, where God is residing there. And in this temple, which is described as his palace, the place of his throne, it’s his place of his holy dwelling. He’s secure, sitting in heaven, ruling above the changes of this world. God is in his temple, sitting on his throne, and so on. And from there, he rules over history and directs all things according to his purpose.

That temple we find here and there, described as having an altar. That’s what we see here in Revelation chapter 6. We find it equipped with the Ark of the Covenant as well in Revelation chapter 11. It’s consistently described in terms of God’s supreme majesty, the place of his presence. And in fact, in the book of Hebrews, we have some fascinating glimpses of it as well, where Jesus is said to have, after his death, taken his sacrifice to heaven, and there it is offered before the real temple, after which the tabernacle and the temple itself on earth were patterned. This was the real temple in heaven, and there his sacrifice is accepted, and we are safe because of the full acceptance by God of Jesus’ sacrifice.

Well, that’s the true temple, then, in heaven. And here in chapter 6, we’re given a glimpse of that, and we are told that the disembodied spirits—that is, the souls of those who had been beheaded, that is, disembodied spirits—are there. And notice what they’re doing: they’re praying. And they’re praying for God to act with finality with regard to the wicked. “How long, O Lord, before you avenge our blood?” They themselves are there, and they’re dwelling safely in the presence of Christ, and yet they pray, and there’s hope, and there’s still anticipation, and their desires are not fully satisfied yet. They’re waiting still for God to finish his work and avenge their blood. So their souls, their disembodied spirits—it says they are at rest, and yet at the same time, although morally perfect, they are still hoping and still in anticipation of the fullness of God’s work, and yet safe already.

Well, then one more: Revelation chapter 14, verse 13: “And I heard a voice from heaven saying, ‘Write this: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.’ ‘Blessed indeed,’ says the Spirit, ‘that they may rest from their labors, for their deeds follow them.'” Here they are described—the disembodied spirits are described as being safe, at rest, rest from their toils of the past life, and again happy in the presence of Christ.

Summary Of The Intermediate State

All right then, there’s a survey of at least the most prominent passages that speak to the intermediate state of the redeemed. What can we say in summary? How can we put all this together? I’ve just put it this way—you may be able to say it better: The intermediate state then is the conscious, joyful existence of the redeemed in the immediate presence of Christ, his angels, and the redeemed who have died. They are morally perfected, and yet still awaiting the full completion of our promised salvation.

Let me say that again. This is the conscious, joyful existence of the redeemed in the immediate presence of Christ and his angels and the redeemed who have died before them. They are morally perfected, yet still awaiting the full completion of our promised salvation.

Now with all of that behind us, with all of that in mind, I just have to read you a passage from John Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress. This is part two of the Pilgrim’s Progress. It’s just a wonderful passage. I think of this as well at nearly every funeral that I ever attend when it’s a funeral of a believer. I want you to follow along.

When Mr. Steadfast—remember, Pilgrim’s Progress, for those of you who might not be familiar, is an allegory, of course. When Mr. Steadfast had thus set things in order, and the time being come for him to haste him away, he also went down to the river. Now there was a great calm at that time in the river; wherefore Mr. Steadfast, when he was about halfway in, stood a while and talked with his companions that had waited upon him thither. And he said, “This river has been a terror to many; yea, the thoughts of it have also frightened me often. But now methinks I stand easy. The waters indeed are to the palate bitter and to the stomach cold; yet the thoughts of what I am going to and of the convoy that waits for me on the other side do lie as a glowing coal on my heart. I see myself now at the end of my journey; my toilsome days are ended. I am going to see that head which was crowned with thorns and that face which was spit upon for me. I have formerly lived by hearsay and faith, but now I go where I shall live by sight and shall be with him in whose company I delight myself.”

Now, while he was thus in discourse, his countenance changed; his strong men bowed under him; and after he had said, “Take me, for I come unto thee,” he ceased to be seen of them. But glorious it was to see how the open region was filled with horses and chariots, with trumpeters and pipers and singers and players upon stringed instruments to welcome the pilgrims as they went up and followed one another in at the beautiful gate of the city.

Well, there’s some imagination in that, but he’s picking up, as you see from the passages that we’ve read, that there’s a rich welcome given into the presence of Christ for his people. And it’s because of these kinds of things that John Wesley’s statement is such a famous and wonderful one when he said, “Our people die well.”

We don’t cherish the event of death. There’s nothing of that in the scriptures. We don’t romanticize it in that way, but yet there’s a real sense in which the stinger has been pulled because we know that now we enter into the presence of Christ. It’s not to deny that death is an enemy. The victory over that will come at the resurrection. But it is to say that although it is an awful experience, it is a blessed one because through it we enter into the presence of Christ.

And this is why Paul will say in 1 Thessalonians, although we do sorrow, we do not sorrow as those who have no hope with regard to those who have gone before. We will see in times to come, in weeks to come, with regard to the resurrection and the final state. And in 1 Corinthians 15, when Paul quotes Isaiah, “O grave, where is thy victory? O death, where is your sting?” That is not something that’s been—that’s not a promise that’s been fulfilled yet. Paul’s looking to the coming of Christ, and then will come to pass that which is written.

And yet at the same time, there’s an important sense in which the stinger has been pulled, because it doesn’t have the haunt for us that it does for others. And this is the prospect that we have in Christ: that death is not the end of things, and in fact it’s the beginning of joyous existence in His presence.

All right, any questions about this evening? Next time we’ll begin to look at the intermediate state of the lost—no, no, next time we’ll finish this up with a look at 2 Corinthians chapter 5, I think. But then we’ll look at the intermediate state of the lost. Questions?

All right, let’s stand and be dismissed in prayer. Pastor Greg, would you pray for us, please?

Tonight this wonderful survey of the spirit outside the body of a believer who will be with the Lord. I want to reflect on that view of the celebration that so many of our family members and even former church members are enjoying right now. We have a plaque in our corridor on the “Church Victorious.” We recall so many of the names there: Grandma Robinson, she’s been with us all—