AFTER HERE, WHAT’S HEREAFTER? (PART 1)
This morning we are going to embark on a difficult topic. I’ll be saying some things that may be hard to hear, but they are from the Bible and are truth.
We will discover what is meant by “Sheol, Hades, and Hell.”
We will look at what the Bible reveals to us about some things we can know about the hereafter.
1. We all wonder what’s behind that curtain.
a. Denial, anger, fear, depression - helpless resignation- all these feeling erupt in the souls of those who face death. Each of us must face this ultimate experience individually. No one can endure this moment for us; the dying one must disappear behind the veil alone.
b. Analogy: Someone said that when we face death we are like a hen before a cobra, incapable of doing anything at all in the presence of the very thing that seems to call for the most drastic and decisive action.
i. There is, in fact, nothing we can do. Say what we will, dance how we will, we will soon enough be a heap of ruined feathers and bones, indistinguishable from the rest of the ruins that lie about. It will not appear to matter in the slightest whether we met the enemy with calmness, shrieks, or a trumped-up gaiety, there we will be.
2. Naturally we would like to know in advance what we can expect on the other side.
a. We look for some clues, some hint we might receive from someone who is about to cross over.
b. Anxious to hear something good.
c. Assurance that all is well.
d. Michael Landon on deathbed confided to friends
i. the bright light
ii. eased fears
iii. made him look forward
iv. Died calmly anticipating “quite an experience.”
3. Hollywood movies about reincarnation
a. Altered states of consciousness.
b. Glad reunion
c. Popular at box office
4. Fear of death replaced by blissful feelings about a hereafter where everyone ends happily reunited.
a. No judgment
b. No review of one’s life
c. Death has mystery but not to be dreaded have fear about the great beyond for all.
i. What do you think?
5. How real are these reported glimpses from behind the parted curtain?
a. Many convinced immortality of the soul now confirmed by these paranormal experiences.
i. No other explanation
6. We agree the soul does survive death of the body, but………
a. How much info can be transmitted back to earth by those who tell us what they have seen on the other side?
7. Let’s look at three kinds of evidence sometimes used to assure us that all will be well.
a. Some people claim to have talks with the dead
i. In his book “The Other Side” Bishop James a. Pike described in detail how he made contact with his son, who had committed suicide. Using a spirit medium the bishop had what he believed to be several extensive conversations with the boy.
1. “I failed the test, I can’t face you, can’t face life,” Pike’s son reportedly said. “I’m confused….. I am not in purgatory, but something like Hell, here…yet nobody blames me here.” Jesus, the boy said was an example, but not a Savior.
ii. A surprise was the alleged appearance in spirit of a friend, Paul Tillich, a well-know German-American theologian who had died several months before. Pike was caught off guard when he discerned his deceased friend’s German accent passing through the lips of the medium….or chandler.
b. Pike, liberal theologian that he was, did not realize that demons impersonate the dead to create the illusion that the living can communicate with the dead.
c. Word study reveals medium/spiritists as those who have “familiar spirits.”
d. These spirits have astonishing knowledge of the dead person’s life since they carefully observe individuals while they are living. Through the power of deception, they can mimic a deceased person’s voice, personality, and even appearance.
e. God strongly warns against using “mediums and/or spiritists.
i. Leviticus 19:31
1. “Do not turn to mediums or seek our spiritists, for you will be defiled by them. I am the Lord your God.”
ii. Leviticus 20:6
1. “I will set my face against the person who turns to mediums and spiritists to prostitute himself by following them, and I will cut him off from his people.”
iii. Leviticus 20:27
1. “A man or woman who is a medium or spiritists among you must be put to death. You are to stone them, their blood will be on their own heads.”
f. God seems abundantly clear in his instructions to us concerning mediums/spiritists……. Aka fortune tellers.
8. Sometime the story of Samuel and Saul is used to justify communication with the dead.
a. Read 1Sam 28:3-15
9. Samuel was apparently brought back from the dead, but not by the witch of Endor. God Himself seems to have done this miracle, only such a surprising act can explain the medium’s terror.
a. Vs 12
10. Important note: The voice of Samuel did not speak through the lips of this medium. Samuel and Saul spoke to one another directly.
a. We see the Almighty was very unhappy with Saul’s desperate attempt to consult the dead prophet.
i. Heard prophecy of judgment that he and his sons would die the very next day- a prophesy that was fulfilled.
b. Attempting to talk with the dead is consistently condemned by God.
i. Deuteronomy 18:10-12
1. “Let no one be found among you who sacrifices his son or daughter in the fire, who practices divination or sorcery, interprets omens, engages in witchcraft or casts spells, or who is a medium or spiritists or who consults the dead. Anyone who does these things is detestable to the Lord, and because of these detestable practices the Lord your God will drive out those nations before you. You must be blameless before the Lord your God.”
11. Be assured, no one has ever talked to you dead uncle, cousin, or grandmother etc.
a. There are, however, spirits capable of impersonating the dead.
i. Trickery compounded when talking about love, value of religion, or make favorable references to Christ.
1. Know enough about the deceased to deceive the unwary.
12. The main point here is that all info about life after death that comes from a spiritists or channelers or medium is unreliable. Those who turn to the occult world for knowledge of death ore misled.
13. Yes, there is life after death, but we cannot learn the details from demons, whose chief delight is to confuse and deceive.
a. We, the living, have no right to peek behind the curtain by communicating with those on the other side. Once the curtain has opened to admit a fellow traveler, it loses and we must not try to peek behind the veil.
14. Reincarnation?
a. Recycling.
b. Shirley MacLaine
i. Princess in Atlantis
ii. An Inca in Peru
iii. Even a child raised by elephants
iv. Sometimes male, sometimes female.
15. Do not be deceived by thinking you can communicate only with “good spirits.”
a. 2cor 13-14
i. “For such men are false apostles, deceitful workers, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. And no wonder, for even satan disguises himself as an angel of light.”
b. THE ONLY GOOD SPIRIT IS THE HOLY SPIRIT!
16. Near death experiences?
a. Almost always positive
b. From Melvin Morse’s book “Closer to the Light”
c. Typical story = 16 yr old boy rushed to hospital with sever kidney problem
d. While waiting – slumped over
e. Nurse could find no pulse
f. Eventually resuscitated
g. Told this story:
h. “I reached a certain point in the tunnel where lights suddenly began flashing all around me. They made me certain that I was in some kind of tunnel, and the way I moved past them, I knew I was going hundreds of miles an hour.
i. At this point I also noticed that there was somebody with me. He was about seven feet tall and wore a long white gown with a simple belt tied at the waist. His hair was golden, and although he didn’t say anything, I wasn’t afraid because I could feel him radiating peace and love
j. No, he wasn’t the Christ, but I know that he was sent from Christ. It was probably one of his angels or someone else sent to transport me to Heaven.”
17. More recently, Betty Eadie, in “Embraced by the Light” gives another account.
a. Claims to have seen Christ
i. Dedicated her book to him “To the Light, my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, to whom I owe all that I have. He is the ‘staff’ that I lean on; without Him I would fail.”
b. But her Jesus is not the Jesus of the New Testament.
i. Eadie’s Jesus is a benevolent being of light that surround her is such a way that she could not tell where her “light” stopped and his began.
ii. Jesus, she says, is separate from the Father and would do nothing to offend her.
iii. There was not reason to regret past sins.
iv. As humans we are not sinful creatures.
1. Human “spirit beings” assisted the heavenly Father at creation.
2. Thankfully, world not filled with tragedy
3. In the presence of Christ, Eadie concluded, “I knew that I was worthy to embrace Him.
18. What do these experiences prove?
a. Apparently one could say they do confirm at death soul separates from the body.
i. A few patients not only looked back and saw doctors hover around their body, but could see other places in the hospital.
1. Seems impossible unless soul left body.
a. Reviewed earth from a different perspective.
b. We have biblical reason to believe that a person may see Christ in the twilight zone between life and death.
i. Before Stephen stoned God gave him a glimpse into heaven.
1. In Acts 7: 56 Stephen said “Behold, I see the heavens opened up and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God”
ii. In 2 Corinthians 12:4
1. Apostle Paul had a similar experience, though some believe he actually died when he was caught up into paradise where he heard “inexpressible words, which a man is not permitted to speak.”
a. Event happened 14 yrs earlier – could have been at Lystra where stoned, dragged out of city presumed dead (Acts 14:19-20)
c. If Paul did die, then was revived.
i. Could be classified as near death experience.
d. If Stephen saw our Lord before he died and if Paul died and was caught up into paradise, it is just possible that other believers might also have such a vision.
i. Reports of seeing Christ, relatives long dead may have some validity.
1. Shouldn’t expect, but it may be possible.
19. Problem – Cannot accept without careful examination.
a. May or may not reflect true conditions of life beyond death.
b. Do they conform to the biblical picture of the hereafter?
c. Also, prior beliefs are essential en evaluating what was experienced.
i. More on this important aspect of our walk with Christ later.
20. MOST IMPORTANT TO REMEMBER:
a. Satan will try to duplicate the same positive experiences for unbelievers that God gave to Stephen and Paul.
b. The Great Deceiver want people to think one’s relationship with Christ has no bearing on the beauty and bliss that awaits everyone.
i. If angels await those who have been made righteous by Christ, it is understandable that demonic spirits await those who enter eternity without God’s forgiveness and acceptance.
21. We know at least some positive near-death experiences are demonic, for they sharply contradict the teaching of the Bible.
a. First, like Betty Eadie – tell us their Jesus assured them that everyone will have an equally blissful welcome into the beyond!
b. Second, there will be no judgment?
c. Third, some report all religions of the world are paths to the same destination
i. Always Satan’s most believable lie.
22. ABOUT THE LIGHT
a. God is light.
i. Don’t you think satan duplicates light of his own?
b. CANNOT EMPHAZIE ENOUGH THAT SATAN WISHES TO DISQUISE HIMSELF AS AN ANGEL OF LIGHT!
i. 2Corinthains11:14 –“And no wonder, for satan himself masquerades as an angel of light.”
23. Also remember, many reports of dark and foreboding experiences.
a. Some have seen the lake of fire or abysmal darkness, along with tormented persons- all of whom are awaiting judgment.
24. IT’S NOT THE TRANSITION, BUT THE DESTINATION THAT REALLY COUNTS!
25. WE DO MUCH BETTER TO TRUST SOMEONE WHO WAS ACTUALLYDEAD, NOT SOMEONE WHO WAS JUST NEAR DEATH.
26. CHRIST is the only one who is qualified to tell us what we can expect on the other side.
a. So dead body became cold – put in a tomb.
b. Three days later raised with a glorified body.
i. An opinion we can trust.
27. Revelation 1:17-18 To John Christ said, “Do not be afraid; I am the first and the last, and the living One; and I was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of death and Hades.”
28. God alone knows what really lies on the other side of the veil.
a. We can do no better than study what the Bible has to say about the Great Beyond.
29. Pastor Erwin Lutzer, author of “One Minute After You Die” tells of a time he received a call from a distraught family who wanted a minister to do a quick funeral.
a. Quick – because he was asked to speak for only a few minutes.
b. Asked why so important for funeral to be brief.
i. Told family not religious
ii. The father had died suddenly
iii. Had never attended church
iv. They did not believe in God
v. Only asked because relative thought a minister should be present!
c. Lutzer agreed conditionally
i. Would tell what he believed about death in general, Christ in particular
d. Described the mood of funeral as “hopeless”
e. Dead man made millions
i. To be cremated that day following long eulogy and short sermon.
f. Doesn’t claim to be man’s judge
g. Only God judges.
h. But if son was right, and for illustration
i. Unbeliever
1. What would we have seen if we looked beyond the elegant casket?
30. WHAT THE OLD TESTAMENT TELLS US
a. Death, the consequence of Adam & Eve disobedience in the Garden of Eden.
i. Warned by God not to eat forbidden fruit or would die
1. They did…..and they did
a. Spiritually –(For me this would be the most terrifying type of death. They found themselves separated from God)
i. Tried to hide from Him
1. (Dwell on this for a minute)
b. Physically – as bodies began the journey to the grave.
c. If not redeemed by God, they would have died eternally.
31. Most important Old Testament word = Sheol
a. Occurs 65 times in OT
b. King James translated to “hell” thirty-one times, “grave” 31 times and “pit” three times.
i. Inconsistence causes confusion about what sheol really means
1. Clearly distinguished from hell (more on this later)
2. Because sometimes translated “grave,” does not meat refers only to the grave.
a. Can be translated grave in some contexts, because the word includes the concept of the grave.
3. But, seem clear the OT writers believe that to go to sheol was not only to go to the grave but also to experience a conscious afterlife.
4. There is Hebrew word can only be translated “grave” (kever) but writers often preferred sheol because it encompassed the region of departed spirits who were conscious, either in bliss or torment.
32. Some facts we should know in order to understand what the OT means by the word Sheol.
a. First, there is a clear distinction between the grave, where the body rests, and sheol, where the spirits of the dead gather.
b. Graves usually in shallow earth, or even above the earth
c. Sheol always thought of as down under, somewhere in a hollow part of the earth.
i. Isaiah 14:9; “Sheol from beneath is excited over you to meet you when you come, it arouses for you the spirits of the dead, all the leaders of the earth; it raises all the kings of the nations from their thrones”
ii. Not impersonal – a place of activity (See vs. 10)
d. Second, sheol is often spoken of as a shadowy place of darkness, a place that is not a part of this existence.
i. Ezekiel 26:20 “then I will bring you down wit those who go down to the pit, to the people of long ago. I will make you dwell in the ear4th below, as in ancient ruins, with those who go down to the pit, and you will not return or take your place in the land of the living
e. Third, after death one can be united with his ancestors in sheol.
i. Jacob went down into sheol and was “gathered to his people.” (Genesis 49:33)
ii. Abraham was assured by the Lord that he would go down to his fathers in peace. (Genesis 15:15)
33. That the word sheol refers to the realm of departed spirits seems unmistakable. What seem equally clear -
a. All who entered did not have same experience.
i. For some, gloom
ii. For some, a place where they would dwell with God.
b. Forth, there are hints in the OT that sheol has different regions.
i. Jacob went into sheol, but so did the rebellious people.
34. The OT makes a sharp distinction between the wicked and the righteous, wit the clear implication that they have separate destinies in the afterlife. Though this division of sheol is not expressly stated, later rabbis clearly taught that sheol has two compartments.
35. WHAT IS HINTED AT IN THE OT IS MADE ABUNDANTLY CLEARER IN THE NT
36. The OT was written in Hebrew. The Hebrew word sheol is used for the realm of the dead in the OT.
37. The NT written in Greek. Sheol translated to “Hades.”.
a. In fact, when the whole OT was translated into Greek before the time of Christ, sheol was always translated “hades.” Similarly, when the NT quotes OT texts, sheol is always translated “hades”; they are one and the same.
38. NT “hades” is never used of the grave, but always refers to the world of departed spirits.
TO BE CONTINUED NEXT WEEK!
