IS IT GOODBYE OR GOODNIGHT?

1st Thessalonians 4:13, “But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope.” The phrase “those that are sleep,” is further explained in John 11:3-4, 11-14. Sleep in this sense means physical death, considered as sleep for a true believer of Jesus Christ. John 11:25, “Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believeth thou this?”

1st Thessalonians 4:14 reads, “For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep (or dead physically and their bodies are in the grave).” There is coming a moment when the dead or those who are asleep, in Jesus Christ shall rise up and those who are physically alive and remain in the Lord Jesus shall join the risen dead, because they will awake out of sleep in Christ Jesus.

1st Thessalonians 4: 16-17 states, “For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain (in the faith of the gospel of Jesus Christ) shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.” This shows that there is coming a moment when all the dead or asleep in Christ and those who are “alive and remain” in Christ Jesus will meet him in the clouds of glory. Are you counting on such a moment, to see one another with Jesus in the cloud on our way to heaven, through the door as in Revelation 4:1.

Let me tell you the truth, so you do not fall into self deception: The only way to go through that heavenly door is through repentance and conversion.  Accept Jesus Christ as your Savior and Lord, and follow Him in holiness and purity. Only the pure in heart shall see him, (Matt. 5:8). When you are faced with any person’s death, ask this question: Is the departed individual a true believer in Jesus Christ? The answer is either yes or no.

If the question comes up with the answer “Yes,” the dead believer is merely asleep, because the body is in the grave but the spirit and soul are back to God in Paradise, awaiting for the translation; when Jesus Christ shall fulfill Colossians 3:3-4, “For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory.” If the answer is “No,” it means the dead were not saved, were not a true believer and are gone to a waiting place called hell (Luke 16:19-31).

If you are physically alive and refuse to repent and be converted, if you die you will meet the other person in hell. But if the dead were saved and a true believer, they would have gone to Paradise. If you are not saved you can never see them again, and so all you can say to them or their casket is goodbye at the grave side, because you will never meet again. But if you are equally saved and a true believer, you do not tell the dead or asleep in Christ goodbye, you tell them goodnight because you will see them in the morning, which is the translation when Jesus Christ comes to wake the sleeping. It is either goodbye or goodnight.  Comfort one another with these words. Therefore, for the saved it is goodnight we shall see in the morning but for the unsaved it will be goodbye. This scripture, “repent and be converted” has eternal consequences (Acts 3:19). Is it goodbye or goodnight? Goodbye is eternal separation, but goodnight is a scriptural guarantee that the translation is forever true, and we shall meet again to part no more from Jesus Christ and one another. Amen. Goodnight or goodbye are real, think about it before you say it anywhere about anyone. Goodnight is a walk into light as you expect in the morning in the translation. But goodbye is a final walk into darkness and horrible expectancy called hell and lake of fire and the second death, Revelation 20:14

197 – IS IT GOODBYE OR GOODNIGHT?