Philippians 1:23-24

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“For I am in a strait between two, having a desire to depart, and to be with Christ; which is far better: nevertheless to abide in the flesh is more needful for you.”

Was Paul saying that he wished to die and immediately go to heaven? As with II Corinthians 5:1-8, be careful of assumptions!

II Timothy 4:6-8 shows that Paul knew that he would have his reward “at that day” and at “His (Christ’s) appearing,” rather than at death. Notice: “For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: 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 is “that day”? Revelation 22:12 states, “behold, I come quickly; and My reward is with Me, to give every man…” (also I Thes. 4:16-17; I Cor. 15:52; Dan. 12:2-3). As we have seen, and so much of our literature carefully explains, Christians do not “die and go to heaven.” They wait (in the grave) for Christ to return to earth bringing “His reward with Him.”

Paul knew that the dead who “sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake” (Dan. 12:2). He also understood Ecclesiastes 9:5-6, 10 and Psalm 146:4. These verses show that when a person dies, his thoughts perish, and he is unaware of the passing of time—“for the dead know not anything.” Paul recognized that his next waking moment would be in the resurrection, and that it would seem as though it had happened immediately upon death, not almost 2,000 years later.