On Monday, we looked at how to love a dying unbeliever well.

And today we ask, what happens when the believer dies?

We probably all stood there at a gravesite, looked down at the pile of dirt or the new grass,

and we wonder,

is he just sleeping there? Or is he somewhere else entirely? If you've ever wondered whether

believers simply sleep in the grave until Christ returns, or do they immediately go to be with

Jesus, it's a big question.

And to get the answer, we need to reconcile 1st Thessalonians 4, verse 16 to 17, the rapture text,

with Paul's confidence that the soul is immediately at home with the Lord,

as we are about to encounter in our Bible reading in 2 Corinthians chapter 5,

which is coming up here, I think late next week,

we begin 2nd Corinthians next month. Today on Ask Pastor John, 10 seconds after you die.

The question is from Jessica. Pastor John, I've been studying 1st Thessalonians 4, and as I do, I'm getting

more confused about what happens when believers die. When I read that passage about the dead in Christ

rising first and then meeting the Lord in the air, it sounds like believers who have already died

don't actually meet Jesus until his second coming. Like maybe their souls are just

sleeping or waiting somewhere until the resurrection happens. And that's when they first

encounter Christ face to face. But I've always been taught that when a Christian dies,

they go immediately to be with Jesus. So which is it? Great question. And here's how Pastor John answered

this almost exact question in 2018. The reason this is an excellent question is because

1st Thessalonians 4, 16 and 17, says that believers who have died are raised from the dead and in that sense first meet the

Lord at his coming rather than immediately meeting him when they die. It sounds like that. But I'm sure

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