I encourage you to open your Bibles this morning to 2 Corinthians chapter 4. 2 Corinthians chapter 4 as we continue our brief series in eschatology. We continue in individual eschatology today as we consider the subject of the intermediate state. Last Lord's Day we began what I intend to be a brief four-sermon series in the subject of eschatology, two sermons in individual eschatology, and two sermons in what would be called cosmic eschatology. Last week we looked at the subject of fanatos, or death, and this Lord's Day we want to look at the intermediate state. The Lord willing, next Lord's Day we'll look at the resurrection and judgment, and then the fourth Sunday, heaven and eternity. Also, I mentioned last week I had ordered a couple of books, four books actually, I see two are gone. Nearing Home, Comforts and Counsel for the Aged. It's a great little book, actually a fairly good-sized book, that have poems and writings in them by many authors that you would recognize their names. It's a great book. It's a good devotional book. And you may say, well, I'm not, that doesn't fit me. Well, that may be so, but it's a great gift if you want to give it to someone in your family. And I think I said last week, it's about $20 to cover the cost of it. So if you want to get one, please do, and you can just drop the money in the box for the offerings. 2 Corinthians chapter 4, I begin the reading today with verse number 16. So we do not lose heart, though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing us, preparing for us, an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison. As we look not to the things that are seen, but to the things that are unseen, For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal. For we know that if the tent that is our earthly home is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For in this tent we groan, longing to put on our heavenly dwelling, If indeed by putting it on, we may not be found naked. For while we are still in this tent, we groan, being burdened. Not that we would be unclothed, but that we would be further clothed, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who has given us the Spirit as a guarantee. 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, for we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one of us may receive what is due for what He has done in the body, whether good or evil. May God be pleased to bless the reading of His Word, and may His people say, Amen. Now, a working definition of the intermediate state is that the intermediate state refers to that state of the soul between death and the resurrection. what happens between death and the coming again of Jesus Christ at the resurrection. Now having said that, I want to make a point that is really will guide, it's a guiding point. It's overshadowing and actually foundation of everything else that I'll be saying. The focal point of eschatology or the end things, the predominant emphasis of redemptive history is the second coming of Christ. It is the resurrection and the second coming, the resurrection, and what follows. It's the very end. That is the focal point. The new heavens and the new earth. That's the emphasis. As you read through scripture, the emphasis is the very end, the new heavens and the new earth. Lorraine Bettner says, The Bible has comparatively little to say about the intermediate state, evidently because it is not the ultimate state. It focuses attention not on that which is passing and temporary, but rather on the return of Christ and the new era that shall then begin. And then one other writer says, It must be admitted that the Bible says very LITTLE about the intermediate state, and that what it DOES say about it is incidental to its main eschatological message, which concerns the resurrection of the body. That again is foundational to what I'm going to say. I'll go ahead and say this up front. I'll front load this. The problem often is that so much of hymnology, so much of what is thought, really doesn't get that. It stops short of that. and it doesn't see that the main focus of redemptive history is the very end, the coming of Christ, the resurrection, the new heavens and the new earth. The next great redemptive event that is going to occur is the coming of Jesus Christ again. The believer's goal, the believer's hope is the resurrection and glorification, not the intermediate state. Now, turn your Bibles to Philippians for just a moment. We're studying Philippians right now in Bible study. And as I said earlier, last week I believe it was, that the primary place of counseling is here. And the best time to build your boat is before the flood. You don't build it in the middle of when you're in a crisis. You build it now. You patch the roof on your house before the storm comes. When the storm's coming, it's not a good time to try to do it. You don't build the arc when the flood's here. And you don't try to counsel people when you're in the middle of the issue because that's not what I'm thinking clearly. So the main place of counseling It's here and now and teaching and preaching, and we're in a study of Philippians, but you notice this dual theme of intermediate state and resurrection in Philippians. In Philippians chapter 1, verse 21 and verse 23, Paul is speaking about the intermediate state, what happens at death between death and the resurrection. He says, for to me to live is Christ and to die is gain. And then in verse 23, I'm hard pressed between the two. My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better. So he's telling us something about what happens when one's physical life is over. And this is the intermediate state. However, that's not his goal. That's not the sum total. That is not the end goal. That's not the focus of Scripture. That's not what I'm pressing forward to. That He mentions in chapter 3. And that is the resurrection. Paul addresses his great hope, his great goal, and that's not to die and simply be with the Lord. That is the intermediate state. Yes, that's far better. Yes. But that's not his hope. That's not his goal. That's not what it's all about. That's not the end of redemption. And this he addresses in chapter 3 where he says, I count everything but loss. I don't even think about these other things. They mean nothing to me. My great hope, my great goal, that which I'm pressing forward to, that which I long for, is the resurrection. And you notice in chapter 3, verses 10 and 11, He says, "...that I may know Him, and the power of His resurrection, and may share His suffering, becoming like Him in His death, that by any means possible I may attain to the resurrection from the dead." And then we look at verses 20 and 21, that same chapter. But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like His glorious body by the power that enables Him even to subject all things to Himself. This is His goal. This is what he's aiming for. This is his great desire. Oh yes, it's better, he says. I know to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. I'm in a strait. That's preferable, but my great desire is the resurrection. However, until Christ comes again, there is a span of time from death until the coming of Christ. That's what the Intermediate State is about. What happens to those who died during this time? What happens to those who died from the time of Jesus' resurrection until now? What about the Old Testament saints? What happened to them? Well, that's what the Intermediate State is about. Now, there's varying opinions on this. And I'm not going to spend a lot of time, hardly, just in passing, but there's varying opinions on this. Of course, one of the ones that you've probably heard about and talk about the Reformation is certainly one that the Reformation dealt with. I'm sure you've heard of Tetzel. And, you know, when a coin in the coffer rings a soul from Purgatory Springs. And there was a teaching of purgatory. And that idea was the intermediate state was it was corrective. That one, after they died, their soul went to purgatory and it spent an indefinite period of time. Whatever was necessary for that person to be purified, so it's corrective in its nature. Our confession indirectly addresses this in chapter 22, paragraph 4, when it says, �Prayer is to be made for things lawful, and for all sorts of men living, or that shall live hereafter, but not for the dead.� That is an indirect reference to that. It's to be made for all men, all sorts of people, and even for those not even yet born. So someone here might be expecting you would pray, pray for that unborn child, but not for the dead, which is what? In purgatory, you would pray for them to, their time to be shortened, to get out, but not for the dead. Another is annihilationism or annihilation. Seventh-day Adventists, Jehovah's Witnesses today teach annihilation. And that is that at death all consciousness ends and the dead do not know anything and they do not do anything. And that the second death refers to annihilation. That is the extinction of the unrepentant. And Jehovah's Witness, when you die, you cease to exist, except in the consciousness of God. I'm not quite sure how all that works out. But at Judgment Day, everybody but the faithful Jehovah's Witness will be resurrected just to be annihilated. But anyhow, I'm not going to go there. And then, there is Two years before Calvin wrote his Institutes, he wrote a track in response to some Anabaptist. The name of the track was Psychopanikia. And that's a fancy word for soul sleep. And he called it a myth. And the idea is that when one dies, their soul sleeps. And it's this unconscious state. It doesn't cease to exist. It's just asleep. So there's a difference between psychopenicia, soul sleep, and extinction that the Seventh-day Adventists or JWs and others teach. Now there's a frequently used euphemism in the Bible for death that I'm sure would lead some people to think of death this way. And what would that euphemism be? Sleep. Sleep. 1 Kings 2 verse 10, Then David slept with his fathers, and was buried in the city of David. John 11, Jesus, after saying these things, said to his disciples, Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep. But I go to awaken him. The disciples said to him, Lord, if he's fallen asleep, he will recover. Now Jesus had spoken of his death, but they thought that he meant taking rest and sleep. Acts chapter 7, verses 59 and 60. And as they were stoning Stephen, he called out, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit. And falling to his knees, he cried out with a loud voice, Lord, do not hold this sin against them. And when he had said this, he fell asleep. 1 Corinthians 15 verse 6. Then he appeared to more than 500 brothers at one time. Most of them are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. Verse 20. But in fact, Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. And then in 1 Thessalonians chapter 4, it's used about three times, but we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you grieve as others who have no hope. Now, it's very likely that the use of this euphemism has led some people to think of death as soul sleep. Cornelius Venema makes an interesting observation, however. He says that the Bible uses death as the fallen asleep only for those who are in Christ or in Jesus, not for those outside of Christ. That's the way it's used, only for those in Christ. Now this uninformed concept of death, this soul sleep, it's an uninformed concept. It fails to consider, and it's disagreeable with historical confessions of faith and catechisms. It's not a historical, I mean, even though there are those in history that believed it, it's out of step. Our own confession, Chapter 31, Paragraph 1 says it's not that. No, and it's actually verses. So it's an uninformed position, it's an unbiblical position. And it also fails to appreciate the kindness of God. Ryan made a point this morning in Bible study about the kindness of God in dealing with sinners, and I mentioned something Thomas Manton wrote about how in the New Testament it would often sought an Old Testament saint, but it would do it with kindness and grace, not mentioning some great sin in their life. And God communicates to us in a very kind way in Scripture. And I think this is a kindness of God when He refers to this great enemy of the believer. And He uses this term of sleep. When you were a child, did you ever get frightened at night? Did every shadow in your room become some sort of terrible something? And was there something in the closet or under the bed? And did your imagination just go awful? And did you ever get scared enough to actually call out to a parent? And then a parent would come. And a lot would go on. And those awful shadows that just sack it before, that were just going to consume you, they just dissipate. Because they're a shadow. And there's nothing they can do to you. Even though they might have taken on some horrendous form in your imagination, it's a shadow. And the psalmist said, even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil. Why? For thou, you are with me. All that horrendous fear can dissipate because of the presence of the shepherd. And so this kind euphemism that God uses is to console his people. It's not said for the unbeliever, but of the believer. And it fails exegetically, those that think of it as soul sleep, they're failing to exegetically distinguish body and soul. They're failing to understand the constitution of man, how God created human beings. That God made him from the dust of the earth and then God breathed into his nostrils. We talk about scripture as God breathed. There's one other thing that God breathed. He breathed into man, and he became a living soul. And at death, the body goes to the ground from whence it was made, and the spirit returns unto God who gave it, so declares the scripture. And yes, the body sleeps in the dust. until Christ returns. The soul doesn't. The spirit doesn't. And so they fail to exegetically understand the constitution of a man and how the scriptures makes this point. And they really rob of the joy of the believer's hope. To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. that to be soul-sleep is to have this nothingness, while the scripture says, no, there is a somethingness. It is to behold the face of God in glory. So, a study of the intermediate state usually involves a word study. You usually get into the study of Sheol and Hades. I'm not going to do that today. And you usually go to New Testament passages when I've already mentioned Philippians. You go to the parable of the rich man and Lazarus. That's another one that's often considered. There are the words of Jesus to the thief on the cross in Luke 23. Truly I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise. And of course those who reject this teaching simply say that Jesus is simply saying, I'm saying this today. And they take away the emphasis that Christ is saying to the thief that you will be with me in paradise today. And they just say, oh no, he's just saying I'm making this statement today. No, that's not the grammar there. The grammar there is that Jesus is saying you will be with me today in paradise, which is much different than just saying I'm making a statement today. And then there are many verses in Revelation. It was said earlier, they're more incidental if you want to say it that way, but there's many verses in Revelation. Revelation 7, 9-17, 14-13, 6-9-10, 20-4, and all of these are descriptions of departed saints who are living in the presence of God. They're LIVING in the presence of God, and that tells you much about the pastoral nature of Revelation, that when John is penning this book, he knows that these believers are suffering, they're in tribulation, they're in trial, and God, through John, is giving them this picture of their departed loved ones who have suffered for the sake of the gospel that have been martyred, been killed, have died for Christ's sake, and He's giving them this lovely picture of their family members that are alive and living in the very presence of God. Again, a very kindness of our Lord. But it tells you the pastoral nature of the book of Revelation, which again so many times people take it as this I don't know what they take it as, a newspaper headline book or something. And you go, no, no, that's not what it's about. I like Hendrickson's title in his commentary, More Than Conquerors. And there you see the picture. You look at the picture of those saints that have departed, and there they are. There they are in the presence of God throughout the book. So now, with those introductory thoughts, let's come to the passage. Let's start with the context. 2 Corinthians, just very briefly. Chapter 1, verses 8 through 9. Verses 8 and 9. Something of the context. Paul says, We do not want you to be ignorant, brothers, of the affliction we experience in Asia, For we were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself. Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death. But that was to make us rely not on ourselves, but on God who raises the dead." Right out of the gate, here it is. But he tells you, this is our situation. Our affliction is so great. We didn't even know that we were going to live. We despaired of life. But part of the reason of this is that we would not look to ourselves, our own strength, our own confidence, our own skills, but we trust in God, the God who raises the dead, the resurrection, the focal point of eschatology. He's talking about how greatly he and Timothy were suffering. And then he goes on and talks about why he changed his travel plans, and then in chapter 3 he gets into what it is to be a minister of the new covenant, that he doesn't need letters of commendation or recommendation to the Corinthians, that THEY are his letter of recommendation. THEY are the ones that he looks to as being his commendation, that what God has done in And then he talks about how the gospel is more glorious, and how being a minister of the gospel is more glorious than Moses, and the gospel is more glorious than the law. But what Moses, he covered his face because that glory was passing away. But what they're doing, the gospel is not passing away, it's meant to stay. And then in chapter four, it goes through some of the burdens and the suffering. And then in chapter four, verse one, he says, Therefore, having this ministry by the mercy of God, we do not lose heart. And then he goes on and says in verse three, he talks about the gospel being hidden or veiled, even though we preach. People don't get it. And what we preach is unto some life and to others is death. That's a heavy burden. In verse 8, he talks about being afflicted in every way. He brings that back up. He says we are afflicted in every way. This is verse 8, but not crushed, perplexed, but not driven to despair, persecuted, but not forsaken, struck down, but not destroyed, always carrying in the body the death of Jesus. And then in verse 16, he talks about their outer self is wasting away. That's where I started reading. And then Paul explains how in spite of all the weight of the ministry, the affliction they're undergoing, and his own mortality, verse 16, they do not lose heart. Verse 16, so we do not lose heart, even though we're wasting away, even though sometimes this gospel's failed, sometimes People don't get it, even though we're afflicted. We do not lose heart. And then Paul explains how, in the spite of the weight of the ministry, affliction and mortality, not only did they not lose heart, but more than that, in chapter 5, verse number 6, he says, so we're always of good courage. Not only do we not lose heart, but we have good courage. So we have this assessment. Now let's look at the assessment, which I've already sort of given you just now. But let's look at the assessment, the explanation, and the declaration. So the assessment is this. Chapter 4, verse 16. This is where I want to kind of start focusing in more narrowly here now. So the assessment is this. Our outer self is wasting away. I'm getting older. Been through a lot, Paul says. I've been beaten, shipwrecked, robbed. I'm getting old. My body hurts. I had to make these journeys on a ship and by walking. My mouth's dry today because I had to take a pain pill to stand here. I can't imagine Paul's. He says, he told the Corinthians, you want to see proof of my apostleship? That's what 2 Corinthians is about in a big way, because you had these super apostles saying, Paul's not really an apostle. Look at him. Look at the man. Listen to him. His speech isn't fine. Listen to us. We've got golden tongues, and look at us. Look at him. Paul says, you want to see proof of my apostleship? Pulls up his robe, as it were, and says, this is where I've been beaten. Let me tell you about the shipwrecks. Let me tell you about the hazards. This is the evidence of my apostleship. And can you imagine as you get older, we talk about rheumatism and arthritis. Can you imagine his? And then he has to walk or travel on some ship, not like our luxury liners. I've been on a couple of cruises. You know, to suffer, you know. You know, those banquets and food. Oh, it's terrible. I'm sure his affair was not like that. All the indignities that go with old age. Turn to Ecclesiastes chapter 12. We've done this before. Looked at this before, but maybe, maybe you weren't here when we did that. It's been a while. Yes, he's 12, verse 1. I used to tell my son-in-law this when he was on the drug task force years ago, and running all around arresting all the drug people. It was exciting, and they were getting all those tussles and up and down in the ditches and all over the road. And I said, that's OK for a young man, but hey, you're not doing your body any favors. Now you can hardly walk. Bad shoulders, bad knees. Remember also your creator in the days of your youth. Before the evil days come and the years draw near, of which you will say, I have no pleasure in them. Before the sun and light and the moon and the stars are darkened and the clouds return after the rain, not seeing so good. And the day when the keepers of the house tremble, that's probably the arms, the keepers, strong, that strength goes. And the strong men are bent. Some think that's the legs. As they get older, the legs bend. You get shorter. The grinder sees teeth because there are few. And those who look through the windows are dimmed cataracts. And the doors of the street are shut. When the sound of the grinding is low, the hearing goes. And the one rises up at the sound of a bird. And on the other hand, you can't Your hearing goes, and on the other hand, you can't sleep very well. The smallest thing bothers you. And they were afraid of what is high. Now, I've always had that problem. But even as you get older, it seems like it gets more pronounced, accentuated. The terrors are in the way. Things you didn't used to think about didn't bother you. Now you kind of, hmm. Self-preservation kicks in. Balm and tree blossoms. Well, I've got that. I mean, it's blossomed for a long time. It gets white up here. The grasshopper drags itself along. You can't even hardly motor anymore. And the desire fails. A lot of desires fail. Like, let's go out and eat. No, I'm just tired. Let's just forget that. Because man is going to his eternal home, Well, because you're getting older and that's where you're going. So that's the description of growing old. That's what Ecclesiastes 12, 1 is. So remember your youth now in the days of your youth before these days come. So Paul says in 4.16, we do not lose heart, though our outer self is wasting away. And this decay of old age leads to death itself. So the question is, in spite of disappointments, any disappointments recently? Failures, any failures recently? Rejections? Financial reversals or losses? Uncertainties? bereavement, disease, or might even be my own diagnosis of a terminal disease. How is it that we may not lose heart? Even more than that, always be of good courage. That's what Paul says. In verse 17, there is an explanation. For this light, momentary affliction. This is verse 17. For this light, momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison. So there is an appreciation and a TRUST And the fact that the Lord is using these things, these afflictions, these pressures, these problems, these weights, in my progressive sanctification. There's an appreciation of the fact that they help grind away what's not holy, what's carnal, and God uses that in preparing me for glory. And he not only appreciates that, but he trusts that the Lord is doing this. And that's walking by faith there. And then in verse 18, there's this proper vision. We talked about this last Lord's Day, but there's this proper vision that He's looking at things eternal as we look not to things that are seen, but to things that are unseen. Now that sounds a lot like what we referenced last week in Colossians chapter 3 verses 2 and 3 where Paul says, Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth, for you've died and your life is hidden with Christ and God. So Paul says not only do we trust that God is using these things, this affliction in preparing us for glory. But we�re also looking not to things that are seen, but are unseen. For everything that I see is transient. Everything I see is transient. That�s transient. But things that are unseen are eternal. and then we come to the declaration in chapter 5 verse 1 we have the declaration for we know now what does that sound like? I preached another little short series not terribly long ago that's right Romans 8 28 and we know And here he says, for we know. What is it that he knows? We have a building, excuse me, for we know that if the tent that is our earthly home is destroyed, we have a building from God. Now he's not focusing our minds so much on transient things. But He's taking our vision to eternal things. So, I want us now to look at what I'll call the apostolic tension. The intermediate state versus the resurrection. And this is the heart of it right here. The apostolic tension. The intermediate state versus the resurrection in these verses. So verse 1, For we know that if the tent which is our earthly home is destroyed, this is my physical body. He calls it a tent. He calls it our earthly home. So the tent is my physical body. Verse 1, he says, For if our earthly home is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. We have something that's more durable than a tent, more permanent than a tent, and that is the resurrection body. This body that I have is a tent. I have something more durable than that. It's the resurrection body. Just as a comparison or contrast, think tabernacle temple if you want to. The tabernacle was a tent. It served for a limited period of time. It wasn't meant to be durable and go on and on and on. But it lasted while they were nomads. And then when they settled, they built a permanent dwelling made out of stone. And it was meant to be more permanent. Now, we know it was destroyed. I understand that. So my comparison has a a limit to it, but I'm just trying to show you that you've got one that's made a tent out of skins and furs, etc., and cloth, and another that's made out of rock, stone. It's meant to be permanent. And so Paul says, we have a building from God, a house, not made with hands. Now, sometimes I think, I wonder about this, you know, Christ has gone to prepare for me a mansion. Well, think about this one. I have a home, a permanent dwelling place, and he's talking about the resurrection body. This body is a tent. But I have a resurrection body. And compared to this one, that one's durable. It's a building. I'm in a tent now. For in this tent, in this physical body we groan, longing to put on our heavenly body. What I desire, what we desire is our resurrection body, like Paul in Philippians 3. Verse 3, if indeed by putting it on we may not be found naked, that is, without a body. What we want is our resurrection body. We don't want to be found without a body, because God created us, body and soul. He created the body, then He breathed into it, and man became a living being. Paul does not want to be without a body. He doesn't want to be disembodied. Verse 4, for while we are still in this tent, this physical body, we groan. being burdened. Not that we would be unclothed. I don't want to be without a body. But that we would be further clothed. What we want, what our desire is, is the resurrection. So that what is mortal, this is mortal, may be swallowed up by life. And that is the contrast between mortal and immortality. temporal versus eternal 1st Corinthians chapter 15 Paul if he had a choice would choose the resurrection the second coming over the intermediate state Paul wants the resurrection That's his goal. That's his desire. That's the chief end While we are in this physical sin-cursed body and Our great desire is to be glorified. We want to have our lowly body transformed to be like His glorious body. We want this falling down shanty to be replaced with a mansion. We want this defiled suit of clothes I have on to be replaced with a new clean set of clothes, a white robe. We're looking forward to not simply the intermediate state, but the Second Coming, the Resurrection. I am looking forward to glorification. That's the ultimate, glorification. The great hope of the Christian is not simply to die, to be free from my body, but the great hope of the Christian is to be raised from the dead with a new glorious body conformed to the very image of Jesus Christ. or better still, to be alive when he comes back again and never see death, and to be changed in a moment in the twinkling of an eye. I can't tell you how many times I have stood in a cemetery officiating a service, and I've had that very thought, and I've said it a couple times, but I've had that thought. What would it be like if Christ came right now? Could you imagine? This whole place would just... And those of us who are alive, after that happened, in that very moment, I mean, we think of things linearly, but that would happen in almost instantaneous, the rest of us would be changed. So, verse 5, Paul says, He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who has given us the spirit as a guarantee. The very spirit as our guarantee is that very spirit that causes us to just long for this. In verse 6, so we're always of good courage. Why? Because we have this witness, this testimony, this desire of us being born again. 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 be at home with the Lord. Now, Paul knew to be at home, to be in this physical body, to be in this tent, was to be absent from the Lord. But he also knew to be absent from the body was to be at home with the Lord. So while he LONGED for the resurrection, he also preferred to be absent from the body and be with the Lord. But his great, ultimate GOAL is the resurrection. Do you understand? Does that make sense to you? Do you follow what I'm trying to say here? So His great goal is not simply to die. His great hope is the resurrection, to be glorified, to be with Christ. For here in this flesh we must walk by faith. When we're with the Lord, hope becomes reality and faith is replaced by sight. Yet, the intermediate state is one of incompleteness. It's one of anticipation. It's one that Calvin and others refer to as provisional blessedness. It's not our predestined end. Now, closing. In Romans 8, Paul declared that nothing can separate the believer from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. He said, not angels, not rulers, not things present, not things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation. No, not even death can separate us, he said. Why? Why can't death separate you from the love of God through Jesus Christ our Lord? Well, for number one, Because you don't go to sleep, you're conscious. Because at death the soul of the righteous is, in the words of our confession, made perfect in holiness. At that moment. Received into paradise where they are with Christ and they behold the face of God in light and glory. It doesn't matter what their condition is, what one's condition is at death. They may be blind. They may be comatose. They may be brain-dead. It does not matter. But at that moment of death, the believer is with Christ. They're made perfect. Their spirit is made perfect. They're received into paradise, and they behold the face of God in light and glory. And then we're told in 1 Thessalonians chapter 4, and God will bring those with Him when Christ comes back. No, nothing can separate us from the love of God that's in Christ, not even death. Because of death, the intermediate state, soul goes to be with the Lord, and there they stay until Christ comes. And when He comes, they'll come back with Christ. And the body will be resurrected and they'll be reunited with that body. So Paul says, this we know. So we're always of good courage. My question then, of course, to us is, do I know this? And if I know this, then I would not lose heart. And I would be greatly encouraged. And then we also are told to encourage one another with these words. May this be our hope, may this be our confidence. May we seek to know the Lord Jesus Christ better. May we spend our time profitably in his word and prayer and public worship and fellowship. that the hope that Paul spoke about, the confidence that Paul spoke about may be our own. Let's pray together. Holy Father, we pray that you would bless your word, that the things that have been spoken would resonate to all those who will hear it, that it would bring consolation and comfort to your people, that it will cause us to hunger and thirst more after righteousness to know you better, to more deeply appreciate our redemption in Christ, and to long more for the return of our Savior. Forgive us of our sins, Help us to rejoice. May our worship be that of rejoicing in who you are, what you've done. Open our hearts, Lord. Give us hearts to rejoice in you and to truly worship you in spirit and truth. It's my prayer in Jesus' name. Amen. Closing hymn is hymn number 243, and that will be in the Trinity, in the Trinity hymnal, 243.