What happens to believers who die before Jesus comes?
Believers who die before Jesus comes still live forever with Him. Scripture teaches God has not appointed them to wrath but to obtain salvation through the Lord Jesus Christ, who died for them, so whether they are alive or have died, they will live forever with Him.
Les explains that God has not appointed believers to wrath nor designated them to suffer the awful events of the tribulation before Jesus comes; they will be taken out ahead of it. But the promise of verse 9 is that whether we wake, or whether we have died, we are going to live forever with Him, because Christ died for us. So believers who die before His coming still share in that eternal life with Him.