The Saints That Have Gone, Are They in Heaven Now?
1) Direct Answer
Yes. The saints who have died are with the Lord now—in Paradise, at rest and conscious—but they are not yet in their final, resurrected bodies. They are waiting for the resurrection.
2) Scriptural Explanation
- The Bible says, “To be absent from the body… is to be present with the Lord” (2 Corinthians 5:6–8). And it says we have “a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens” (2 Corinthians 5:1–4). That shows a heavenly dwelling while we wait.
- Paul desired “to depart, and to be with Christ” (Philippians 1:23). Not unconscious—“with Christ.”
- Jesus told the thief, “Today shalt thou be with Me in Paradise” (Luke 23:43). That is immediate presence, a place of rest.
- We come “to the spirits of just men made perfect” in the heavenly Zion (Hebrews 12:22–23). They are there, perfected in spirit.
- Revelation shows souls conscious and at rest, speaking and waiting (Revelation 6:9–11).
- And the Bible says that when the Lord comes, “them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with Him… and the dead in Christ shall rise first” (1 Thessalonians 4:14–17). They are with Him now, and they will receive their glorified bodies at the resurrection.
3) Simple Clarifying Logic
- When a believer dies, the body sleeps in the grave, but the person is not lost. The inner man goes to be with the Lord. You see, Scripture calls death “sleep” for the body, but shows the saints awake with Christ.
- They are clothed with that “house from heaven” now, at rest in Paradise, and at His coming they will return with Him and pick up a glorified body (1 Corinthians 15:51–54; 1 Thessalonians 4:16–17).
- Final Heaven and the New Earth come after the resurrection and judgment, but the saints are already in His presence.
4) Reinforcing Statement
So yes—God’s people are with the Lord now, rejoicing and resting in Paradise, waiting for that great day when they will rise in glorified bodies. It’s not soul-sleep; it’s blessed rest in His presence.
See also The related topic:
https://truebibleteachingsai.org/answers/is-there-a-scripture-that-shows-that-the-dead-saints-are-in-a-dimensio-e5cbbdb There a Scripture That Shows That the Dead Saints Are in a Dimension and Jesus Is in a Higher Dimension?
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What did the Laodicean Church Age (our age) Angel (- messenger) Say about this?
Ranked passages from the local William Branham sermon and Church Age Book database. Relevance is relative, not a statement of doctrinal certainty.
An Exposition Of The Seven Church Ages
CAB 5:E-112
Let me show the exact Scriptural truth of this matter, for I do not want anyone to think that I am giving a revelation of my own--one not found in Scripture. Daniel 2:31-45, "Thou, O king, sawest, and behold a great image. This great image, whose brightness was excellent, stood before thee; and the form thereof was terrible. This image's head was of fine gold, his breast and his arms of silver, his belly and his thighs of brass, His legs of iron, his feet part of iron and part of clay. Thou sawest till that a stone...
An Exposition Of The Seven Church Ages
CAB 6:E-66
Right here I will be getting ahead of myself and maybe I ought to reserve this for the message on the last age, but it seems just right to put it in now because it deals so clearly with organization and what is going to happen through it. And I want to warn you. Revelation 13:1-18, "And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy. And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard,...
Israel and the Church: Israel at the Red Sea, part 2
53-0327 §105
(Our dismissing song, Take The Name Of Jesus With You; you know it, don't you?) Now shall we stand just a moment. Now while we sing the first verse, I want you to turn around, shake hands with your neighbor, say, "My name is John Doe, I'm glad you were here in the Tabernacle tonight. I hope to see you again." The Lord bless you now. But don't leave; we're going to be dismissed in the regular, respective way, just in a little bit. (You brothers go to the doors, if you will.) All right, now. Take the name of Jesus......
An Exposition Of The Seven Church Ages
CAB 7:E-64
"And he that overcometh, I will not blot out his name out of the Book of Life." Once again we come to a most difficult portion of the Word. This verse superficially regarded will be used by both the Arminians and the Calvinists to suit their purposes. The Arminians will declare that this verse assuredly annuls John 6:37-44, "All that the Father giveth Me shall come to Me; and him that cometh to Me I will in no wise cast out. For I came down from heaven, not to do Mine own will, but the will of Him That sent Me. And...
Spirit of Truth
63-0118 §30
It's been about, almost two years now. I was ... one morning I was walking in the house, and had sat down in a chair. Now, this seems very strange that God would include an animal. Like some precious brother on that vision of heaven, and that little carrying-up I had---I believe I told you about it once in some meeting. He wrote me a letter the other day and said (Businessmen's Voice packed it), said, "It was ... your vision was all right, Brother Branham, your translation. But listen, it was all right until you sa...