Studying Death, Dying and Future Hope in the SSnet.org series Lesson 9, may the Holy Spirit be the speaker to your heart.

The Topic today is: “To desire to be in Christ living and with Christ dying for Morning Manna of the Sabbath School Lesson Death, Dying and Future Hope”.

Edition is on page 114 and for the laymen edition or Standard Edition, on page 75.

The SSnet.org site allows anyone, anywhere to read the lesson in their own language. Choose your own language to see God speaking also to your heart.

Why do you not click on this now?

--- https://absg.adventist.org/pdf.php?file=2022:4Q:SE:PDFs:EAQ422_09.pdf

---It is not wrong for Paul to desire to be “in Christ” while living and to be “with Christ” when dying.

---In Philippians 1:23 he said that he desires to depart [die and later Resurrection implied in other passages like 1 Corinthians 15 and 1 Thessalonians 4:3-18] “and be with Christ”.

---But when Paul speaks in Philippians 1:23 he does not saying what he already said elsewhere.

---It is like putting beads in a wire. Many colorful ones. But somewhere else Paul was using a pattern of dying, non-immortality, non-consciousness, Coming of Christ, Shout of Trumpet, Dead shall rise in Resurrection, meet Christ in the air to be ‘with Him’.

---Those colorful beads are not put into the wire of Philippians 1:23 explicitly, but because we are Bible readers and not grabbing data from one passage only, we harmonize and “fill in from Paul elsewhere” to get the macro picture.

---To be “with Christ” after dying, can only be experiencing a switch-off and sudden awakening in himself, but a reality of thousands of years lingering between the two processes for living human beings until the Second Coming.

---The experience of time for the dead and the living are not the same.

---In reality, looking at what sleep means, one is “with Christ” when one dies, because the individual personal experience is quick. But many ages past year by year without that person’s knowledge.

---That is another lesson from Scripture how we should properly read the Bible.

---Always harmonize data from one text with what the author said in the following verses to clarify or give added data, or go to other passages or even books of the same author putting it all together.

---Never allow contradiction to remain in God’s Word.

---The Holy Spirit is the final Editor of the Bible and because there are not many Holy Spirits, there is unity of thought and mind in the whole Bible.

---Holistic reading is the required reading for the Bible.

---Paul from our holistic reading of him, never thought he would be in reality “with Christ” when he dies, but he knew the experience of sleep is a quick switch-off and switch-on. Time aside. Time cancelled personally but not for other people living.

---Texts that are necessary here to consider is 1 Philippians 1:21-24, 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18, 1 Corinthians 15:16-18, 2 Timothy 4:6-8. They all clarify the synopsis of what is written above.  

---Does your denomination “grab” one text and jump to conclusions with their minds filled with ideas from Homer and Plato, the pagan philosophers saying the soul never dies?

---Many pastors of other denominations preach at the funeral service that the soul is now in Jesus’ arms in heaven.

---Then when they throw the sand on the open grave on the coffin, they say, many that person lie there until Jesus come.

---What a contradiction which they do not realize they are preaching!

---Is it not time for you to throw those pagan glasses away, and keep to the Bible itself?