What Happens When We Die?
Job 14:14 “If a man dies will he live again?”
Is this all there is to life? What happens when we die? If we die is that it? Are we simply absorbed into the cosmos? What lies beyond the grave? Is there life after death? Death and dying are an inevitable part of human life. We are all going to die? But will we all live again?
What do philosophers and religion say about life after death? What does the Bible tell us?
I. What the world’s says about Death
A. Cessation of Existence -“When you’re dead—you’re dead.”
1. There are those who teach that you cease to exist when you die – you are annihilated. Death ends everything; it leads to utter nothingness. It is the same as never existing in the first place.
2. Such a belief fosters the Epicurean philosophy of life.
B. Reincarnation – “You are a cuckoo bird appearing through windows of time in various forms and stages”
1. Reincarnation is the belief you have lived many previous lives and after you die you will return in another life form. If you have lived a good life, you come back as a higher life form, but if you haven’t, you will be reborn as a bug or snake or even a slug.
2. Leo Tolstoy - "As we live through thousands of dreams in our present life, so is our present life only one of many thousands of such lives which we enter from the other more real life and then return after death.”
C. Soul Sleep – R.I.P. - between the time of our individual deaths, and the time of the final resurrection and judgment, we will be in an "unconscious" state
• Soul sleep’ is the idea that after death the soul ‘sleeps’ until the final resurrection. The soul is said to hibernate until the resurrection- when it is then awakened and reunited with its body. A belief held by SDAs, JWs, Christadelphians, and various cults.
D. Universal immortality – God is good all the time and won’t condemn anyone.
1. Universalism is a belief that all people will be “universally restored” after they die. In other words, it teaches that everyone, regardless of how they lived their lives on earth will eventually end up redeemed in heaven.
2. Mormonism teaches that “We either go to a Spirit world or to a place called Paradise. People, who received the gospel and were baptized into Christ’s church by someone having authority in this life, go to Paradise to wait to be judged according to the work and deeds in life and to be rejoined with their resurrected (renewed) bodies. If you didn’t have the opportunity to accept the gospel in this life then you have the opportunity to learn more about it in the Spirit World and will have the opportunity to accept it there as you are waiting to be resurrected. Thanks to our Savior Jesus Christ we will all live again.” (copied - mormon.org)
II. What the Scriptures teach about Life after Death
A. Luke 16:19-26 “There was a certain rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and fared sumptuously every day. But there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, full of sores, who was laid at his gate, desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man’s table. Moreover the dogs came and licked his sores. So it was that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s bosom. The rich man also died and was buried. And being in torments in Hades, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. Then he cried and said, ’Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame.’ But Abraham said, ’Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things; but now he is comforted and you are tormented. ’And besides all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed, so that those who want to pass from here to you cannot, nor can those from there pass to us.”
B. There is Eternal Consciousness after Death
1. Verse 23 - "And being in torments in Hades, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.”
2. Some day you will read in the papers that D.L. Moody of East Northfield, is dead. Don’t you believe a word of it! At that moment I shall be more alive than I am now; I shall have gone up higher, that is all, out of this old clay tenement into a house that is immortal- a body that death cannot touch, that sin cannot taint; a body fashioned like unto His glorious body. I was born of the flesh in 1837. I was born of the Spirit in 1856. That which is born of the flesh may die. That which is born of the Spirit will live forever. – D.L. Moody
3. When John Owen, the great Puritan, lay on his deathbed his secretary wrote (in his name) to a friend, "I am still in the land of the living." "Stop," said Owen. "Change that and say, I am yet in the land of the dying, but I hope soon to be in the land of the living." - John M. Drescher.
C. One Retains His Individuality after Death
1. Verse 24 “"But Abraham said, ’Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things; but now he is comforted and you are tormented.”
2. After death Lazarus was still Lazarus and the rich man was still the rich man.
3. You will still be you after you die.
4. The Bible says that hell is a place of conscience and memory where, should you not come to Christ, you will remember your opportunities to avoid going there and what suffering you could have spared yourself.
D. You will Either Spend Eternity in Suffering or Comfort
1. A recent poll reveals that 89% of Americans believe in Heaven while 73% believe in Hell. When asked where they think they will go when they die, 3 out of 4 think they will go to Heaven while only 2% believe they will end up in Hell.
2. Verse 23-25 “"And being in torments in Hades, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. "Then he cried and said, ’Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame.’ "But Abraham said, ’Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things; but now he is comforted and you are tormented.”
E. Your Decision in Life will Determine Your Destiny After Death
1. There is no way out. Once your there that is where you stay
2. Verse 26 “’And besides all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed, so that those who want to pass from here to you cannot, nor can those from there pass to us.”
3. Once in Heaven, always in Heaven; once in Hell, always in Hell. No one can pass from one place to another.
4. "It’s choice, not chance, that determines our destiny."--Brian Tracy
5. In Acts 24 we read that the Apostle Paul presented the Gospel to Felix, and Felix was so convicted by the Holy Spirit of God that he actually "trembled." He had heard the Gospel, and now had to make a decision either to trust the Lord Jesus Christ as his Savior, or reject Him, and continue on the broad road to Hell. Well, what was his decision? He said to the Apostle Paul, "Go thy way for this time, when I have a convenient season I will call for thee." Friend, he made the wrong decision... Proverbs 27:1, "Boast not thyself of tomorrow; for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth." Listen, you and I have no guarantee that we’ll be alive at this time tomorrow. In fact, today’s date may be on our tombstone as the date of our death. Solemn thought, is it not? Yes, and that’s the reason that you, who are still "in the valley of decision," should make the right decision today, and accept the Lord Jesus Christ as your own and personal Saviour. Tomorrow may be too late! - copied
Disclaimer: No claims of originality are made.Source material for this sermon has been gleaned from many different sources. I have attempted to acknowledge these sources whenever possible.
