Comfort one another with these words– 1 Thessalonians 4:18
These words comfort. These words speak real consolation to real heartaches and real sorrow. These words, when received by faith and firmly fixed before our eyes, are sufficient to bring hope to even the darkest times and deepest difficulties.
What are these comforting words of which the apostle speaks? It is the two-fold good news that death is temporary and that our life with Jesus is not.
When we face the gaping, cavernous pain of the grave—for ourselves or with our loved ones—there is nothing that could be more encouraging than to hear and to know that this is not forever. The seeming finality of death is broken to pieces by the declaration of the resurrected Christ: I will come again and bring you with me!
Only the body of God’s children is asleep. The soul that is absent from the body is immediately with the Lord. And here is the second part of Paul’s comforting message — your time with the Lord will never come to an end.
Heaven is not an extended vacation, the end of which you anticipate and dread even from its beginning. No, we will be forever with the Lord! The greatest moment of our life—when we finally see our Savior and bask in his glory and perfection—is the one moment that will never have to come to an end.
Dear believer, comfort others—and comfort yourself—with these words.