Decease Or Departure?

There are only two men in the bible who specifically call themselves "apostles" and both of these two write about their impending physical death. They are Peter and Paul.

In 2 Peter, which was written to the same people as Peter's first epistle, Peter writes:

2 Peter 1:12 Wherefore I will not be negligent to put you always in remembrance of these things, though ye know them, and be established in the present truth.

2 Peter 1:13 Yea, I think it meet, as long as I am in this tabernacle, to stir you up by putting you in remembrance;

2 Peter 1:14 Knowing that shortly I must put off this my tabernacle, even as our Lord Jesus Christ hath shewed me.

2 Peter 1:15 Moreover I will endeavour that ye may be able after my decease to have these things always in remembrance.

Peter is not referring to any new revelation here. He is making reference to what the Lord had said to him while he was yet on the earth, during the forty day period of time before he ascended into heaven, as in:

John 21:18 Verily, verily, I say unto thee, When thou wast young, thou girdest thyself, and walkedst whither thou wouldest: but when thou shalt be old, thou shalt stretch forth thy hands, and another shall gird thee, and carry thee whither thou wouldest not.

John 21:19 This spake he, signifying by what death he should glorify God. And when he had spoken this, he saith unto him, Follow me.

When Peter says "this tabernacle" he is referring to his body as a temporary dwelling place, just as the children of Israel had the "tabernacle" in the wilderness at the time of Exodus. The tabernacle was a temporary building which God gave Moses the pattern for. It was designed to be assembled and disassembled and taken with the Israelites during their wandering in the wilderness. Paul also refers to the body as being a "tabernacle." He calls it "our earthly house" in 2 Corinthians 5:1-2.

But notice that Peter, in referring to his impending physical death, calls it "my decease."  That word is literally the word EXODUS. This is not the usual word which is used when speaking of death. An "exodus" is a departure from a place, but not necessarily the arrival at a final destination. For example, the Israelites made an "exodus" from Egypt but they didn't immediately "arrive" in the promised land. Yet, Peter says that I "must put off this my tabernacle."

Now when Paul writes about what is obviously his impending physical death he uses a totally different word:

2 Timothy 4:6 For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand.

To be offered carries the idea of being "poured out." That is to say, his life or his blood as a sacrifice. The word "departure" is not the same word Peter used. Departure means just that: Departure. It is the act of going away, or leaving. But notice what Paul also says about his departure:

Philippians 1:23 For I am in a strait betwixt two, having a desire to depart, and to be with Christ; which is far better:

Peter didn't say that! Peter didn't say that at his decease, his exodus, that he expected to go and be with Christ. Why is that? It is because the salvation of "Peter's soul" is in the FIRST resurrection of Revelation. Notice:

1 Peter 1:9 Receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls.

1 Peter 1:13 Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ;

In other words Peter, and those involved in Peter's ministry, which consists of the 3000 of Acts chapter two, the 5000 of Acts chapter four, and the "many thousands of Jews" of Acts 21:20, had "Holy Ghost power." They had the power to suffer. Their faith was on trial. Peter spoke of the fiery trial of their faith in 1 Peter 4:12. But, if their faith failed, then their salvation failed. They must "endure to the end" in order to be saved at the end, as we saw in the verses above. You see a parallel passage in Hebrews:

Hebrews 3:14 For we are made partakers of Christ, if we hold the beginning of our confidence stedfast unto the end;

Hence, Peter would have died in faith, went down into the heart of the earth, and in the first resurrection be "born again," that is raised from the dead to enter the kingdom.

Revelation 20:4 And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.

There are 12 of those thrones mentioned in Matthew 19:28 and the 12 apostles were told that they would sit on them "judging the 12 tribes of Israel." Notice how the Lord instructed the 12 in Matthew:

Matthew 10:21 And the brother shall deliver up the brother to death, and the father the child: and the children shall rise up against their parents, and cause them to be put to death.

Matthew 10:22 And ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake: but he that endureth to the end shall be saved.

And then he said:

Matthew 10:28 And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.

Matthew 10:38 And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me.

To take up his cross is not a reference to "having hard times" or bearing certain hardships that often come to people. He means it literally. In other words they were to follow the Lord...in death.

When Christ died he went down into the heart of the earth, down into hell. Now we know that hell has two compartements. One where Lazarus was and the other where the rich man was as in Luke 16:19-31.

Luke 16:19 There was a certain rich man, which was clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day:

Luke 16:20 And there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, which was laid at his gate, full of sores,

Luke 16:22 And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried;

Luke 16:23 And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.

This is not a parable. it is an account of actual events. Notice what the Lord had said in Matthew 16:

Matthew 16:15 He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am?

Matthew 16:16 And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.

Matthew 16:17 And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven.

Matthew 16:18 And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

Hell is in the heart of the earth. It has gates and those gates have locks. The locks have keys and Jesus Christ has those keys:

Revelation 1:18 I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death.

Notice he didn't say "I am one of the ones that liveth." He said I am HE THAT LIVETH and was dead. Notice in the gospel of John:

John 3:13 And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven.

Then how many men have ascended into heaven? Only ONE. It is the same one which came down from heaven. Even David, king of Israel, is not in heaven:

Acts 2:34 For David is not ascended into the heavens: but he saith himself, THE LORD SAID UNTO MY LORD, SIT THOU ON MY RIGHT HAND,

So Abraham's bosom is still there, in the heart of the earth, and souls are there awaiting resurrection. John saw souls in Revelation 20:4 and they are raised in the first resurrection. Paul says the same thing:

1 Corinthians 15:22 For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.

1 Corinthians 15:23 But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ's at his coming.

Don't confuse "his coming" here with what Paul later says about the Rapture in verse 51. This is a reference to the second coming of Christ:

1 Corinthians 15:24 Then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power.

1 Corinthians 15:25 For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet.

1 Corinthians 15:26 The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.

The reigning there is the literal and visible and earthly 1000 year reign of Christ. Notice that there will still be death during that period of time.

So Peter expected to make an "exodus," to go down into the heart of the earth, to a place the Lord called "Abraham's bosom." But he was assured that the "gates of hell" would not prevail, against him, nor against the "church" the Lord spoke of. That church, the one in Matthew 16 has a name. It is called "the church which was at Jerusalem" in Acts 8:1.

After the Lord's resurrection and the baptism with the Holy Ghost, they had power. They had the power to suffer and to endure unto the end. They had no fear of death, because the Lord had already went there, defeated death, and had made a way to get them out. Notice:

Revelation 12:10 And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night.

Revelation 12:11 And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death.

Notice that it is not just "unto death," but unto THE death. That is, the death of a martyr.

Revelation 6:9 And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held:

John is not seeing an alter in heaven. Why would God take souls and put them under an alter in heaven? The alter is most likely the place where they lost their lives as martyrs. John is looking "under" it.

Revelation 6:10 And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?

Revelation 6:11 And white robes were given unto every one of them; and it was said unto them, that they should rest yet for a little season, until their fellowservants also and their brethren, that should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled.

So there is a wait for them, and they should rest yet for a little season. But that is not the case in Paul's doctrine.

2 Corinthians 5:1 For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.

Our house not made with hands is "eternal in the heavens." Every indication is that it is already there. It is evidently vacant right now. Notice this verse:

Jude 1:6 And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day.

Notice what those angels did? They left their "own habitation." The word "habitation" is a residence or a house. The "building of God," the "house" Paul refers to is from the same word as the word in Jude. Those angels which kept not their first estate are called the "sons of God" who married the daughters of men in Genesis. That was the cause of the flood.

But there appear to be vacant houses in heaven and these houses seem to be what Paul is referring to in 2 Corinthians 5:1. There would be an exact number of them known unto God and there is a point at which the last person on earth who is going to be saved in this age will be saved and so fill up the body of Christ, the fulness of him that filleth all in all.

Notice that Paul says WE HAVE a building of God...not that "we will have." But Paul in Philippians said that he had a desire to depart and to BE WITH CHRIST. He didn't expect to go down into the heart of the earth to await the resurrection of Revelation.

2 Corinthians 5:2 For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven:

2 Corinthians 5:3 If so be that being clothed we shall not be found naked.

Paul doesn't expect to be found naked. He doesn't expect to be unclothed. There is no such thing for the body of Christ as an "intermediate state" nor an "intermediate body" as some suppose.

2 Corinthians 5:4 For we that are in this tabernacle do groan, being burdened: not for that we would be unclothed, but clothed upon, that mortality might be swallowed up of life.

So we, in the church, the body of Christ do not expect to be unclothed at death, if that were to happen before the Rapture. Instead we fully expect to be "clothed upon" with our new house, our new body.

2 Corinthians 5:5 Now he that hath wrought us for the selfsame thing is God, who also hath given unto us the earnest of the Spirit.

2 Corinthians 5:6 Therefore we are always confident, knowing that, whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord:

2 Corinthians 5:7 (For we walk by faith, not by sight:)

At home in the body equals being absent from the Lord. But what is the other side of that?

2 Corinthians 5:8 We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord.

And there it is. When a saved person leaves this tabernacle, this body, he goes to be present with the Lord. We just simply cross the boundry of time, step into eternity and into the presence of the Lord. No naked state, no intermediate state, no "resting for a little season" as the souls in Revelation were told to do. When a believer who trusts Christ as his Saviour dies, it is to him as if the Rapture occurred then. Time as we know it is not in the equation.

But then again, how many religious people do you know who can honestly make a statement like verse eight above? There are many people who cannot honestly say that they are confident and WILLING to be absent from the body. They have no confidence at all in how that would work out. There is but one kind of person today who can say WITH CONFIDENCE that he is willing to be absent from the body. The only person who can truly say that is a person who knows whom he has believed:

2 Timothy 1:12 For the which cause I also suffer these things: nevertheless I am not ashamed: for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day.

Paul committed his salvation to the Lord. He said I know WHOM I have believed. The risen, ascended and glorified Lord Jesus Christ spoke to Paul and through Paul and gave to the church, the body of Christ the "form of sound words" by which we can say with Paul that we too are confident and willing to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord.

2 Timothy 4:8 Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing.

When the Lord appeared to Paul he gave Paul the gospel that Paul preached, the gospel that Paul received, and the gospel by which we are saved when we commit our salvation to the Lord.

2 Corinthians 5:19 To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation.

God imputed all of our sins to the Lord Jesus Christ. Christ died on the cross for our sins. He was delivered for our offenses and was raised again for our justification. Salvation is free today. It is a gift.

2 Corinthians 5:20 Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God.

2 Corinthians 5:21 For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.

How then can you be reconciled to God? By trusting in the Lord Jesus Christ alone for salvation. Put your salvation in his hands. Trust him has your Lord and Saviour. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved.