Adventistische Schriften über: "What does Ellen White say about Philippians 1:23?"

Ellen White emphasizes that biblical hope is not in death, but in the future return of Christ and the resurrection at the last day. Righteous people such as David or Paul do not go immediately to heaven after their death, but sleep until the moment of resurrection. For the deceased, the time between death and awakening at Christ’s return passes only like a fleeting instant.

Although Paul, while in prison, longed for "separation," the writings indicate that his hope rested on the gift of immortality at the last trumpet. He did not expect a reward immediately after death, but the crown of righteousness "on that day" of the Lord’s appearing.

The Sleep of Death and the Hope of Resurrection

»Throughout the Holy Scriptures one finds no statement that the righteous go at their death to their reward or that the wicked go to their punishment. The patriarchs and prophets left no such assurance. Christ and His apostles gave no indication of this. The Bible clearly teaches that the dead do not go immediately into heaven. They are depicted as sleeping until the resurrection. ... The time, whether long or short, is for them only an instant. They sleep; they will be awakened by God's trumpet to a glorious immortality.«

1 - Ellen Gould White, The Great Controversy (1888 ed.) (GC88 550.1)

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Paul's Expectation of Christ's Second Coming

»His thoughts and hopes are focused on the second coming of his Lord. And while the executioner’s sword descends and the shadows of death gather around the martyr, his final thought leaps forward—just as his first did at the great awakening—to meet the Giver of life, who will welcome him into the joy of the blessed. ... "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith; now the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give me on that day, lies ready for me; not only for me, but also for all who love His appearing.«

2 - Ellen Gould White, The Acts of the Apostles (AA 512.2)

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The Refutation of Immediate Entrance into Heaven

»The fact that David remains in the grave until the resurrection proves that the righteous do not go to heaven at death. Only through the resurrection and because Christ has risen can David finally sit at the right hand of God. And Paul said: "If the dead do not rise, then Christ has not risen… Then also those who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost." If the righteous had gone directly into heaven at death for four thousand years, how could Paul have said that those who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost, if there is no resurrection? A resurrection would not be necessary.«

3 - Ellen Gould White, The Great Controversy (1888 ed.) (GC88 547.1)

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