The First Five Minutes After Death
Introduction
A. Example - A group of old men was sitting around talking about death. Each one had an idea on the perfect way to die. A seventy-year-old man said, “I want a quick and exciting death—like in an airplane crash.” An eighty-year-old man who had once been a sailor said, “I want to die by drowning, enveloped in the sea.” The oldest of them all, a ninety-year-old man, thought for a second, then said, “I would like to be shot by a jealous husband!”
B. Death. No one wants to think about it. Nobody likes to talk about it. In fact, if we do talk about it, we often joke about it.
C. But unless the Lord comes before we die, we will all experience the mystery of death.
D. It is my desire to be straight forward, kind and loving as possible as we notice a very challenging topic.
E. Lesson Title - The First Five Minutes After Death
F. Before we get to the topic of discussion, I believe it is wise for us to take a moment and notice where we stand in our association to God.
G. I believe all of us here today fall into one of the following categories.
H. Number One - Innocent
1. If we could bring a baby up on the stage or bring someone who is mentally inadequate and incapable of understanding the Bible on stage, we could say that they are innocent.
2. Some say that we are born sinners. They believe we have inherited the sin of Adam. The Bible doesn’t teach either of those ideas.
3. James 4:17 - “Therefore, to him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin.” Babies are not capable of knowing right from wrong.
4. I John 3:4 tells us that sin is lawlessness or sin is the transgression of the law.
5. Matthew 18:3 - “Assuredly, I say to you, unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven.”
6. In addition, the sin of Adam and Eve was NOT inherited but was something that was acquired. Acquired characteristics cannot be inherited!
7. If the sin of Adam and Eve was inherited, then God is sinful because he created them in His own image (Genesis 1:27). But God is not sinful!
I. Number Two - Lost
1. If you are living a life of sin and you have never given your life to Jesus, then you are lost.
2. Throughout the New Testament, whenever people heard the gospel (the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus) they did one of two things.
3. They were either baptized into Jesus for the remission of their sins (Acts 2:38) or they rejected Jesus. (As Felix and King Agrippa did in Acts 24 and Acts 26)
4. Someone says, “But I’m a good, moral person.” Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6)
5. None of us can get to heaven on our own goodness. It is only through Jesus that we will see God.
J. Someone says, “Well, I’ve been baptized into Christ. What about my situation?”
K. Number Three - Faithful
1. If you are someone who is in love with Jesus and you’ve dedicated your life to serving Him, then you are faithful. You’re faithful in all areas of your life.
2. Perfect? No! You stumble. You make mistakes. But you walk in the light and have fellowship with Jesus so that his blood will continually cleanse you from your sins. (I John 1:7)
3. There is no doubt that Jesus is first in your life! Clearly, he is the top priority!
L. Number Four - Rebellious
1. At one time, you were faithful and obedient to Jesus. You were so in love with Him and did all you could for him.
2. But now—to be blunt—you’ve turned your back on Jesus! You’ve walked away from him; you’ve turned back to your old ways; you’ve rebelled against him.
3. Just like the prodigal son, you’ve wandered away into a “foreign” country of sin. You have left your first love.
M. Number Five - Lukewarm
1. You’re not hot or cold—you’re indifferent and apathetic. You come to church on a regular basis but you might as well be somewhere else because your heart is not in it. You’d much rather straddle the fence.
N. Which category do you fall into? Think about it, because we will come back to these characteristics at the end of the lesson.
O. Now, take your Bibles and turn to Luke 16 and let’s talk about the first five minutes after death.
P. Ever since man has walked the earth, the reality of death has intrigued him. All of us wonder, “What will that experience be like?” How does it happen? How do you explain the separation of the body and the soul?
Q. My first recollection of the reality of death was as a child at the funeral service of my great-grandmother. I was maybe four or five. It was a grave side service. I had never seen my mother cry before! It was unsettling to say the least!
1. When I was about 10 years old, I saw a dead person up close for the first time. A teenage boy at our church had died an untimely death. That evening when I went to bed, I woke up with nightmares about it.
R. Death! The enemy of mankind! BUT Jesus conquered it and defeated it!
S. Yet, let’s admit that we are a bizarre culture when it comes to death. We do everything we can to deny death and aging.
1. We color our hair, we color our skin. We workout or exercise to keep our bodies in shape.
2. Think of all the “infomercials” you have seen on T.V. and ask yourself how many of them have to do with our physical appearance.
3. There are creams and lotions to get rid of those wrinkles. There are exercise programs and equipment to keep you in shape.
4. Or you can get a facelift or have liposuction and vacuum away all the fat!
5. We will do everything we can to make ourselves look younger and deny death.
6. Some say, “You’re not getting older, you’re getting better!” WRONG! We’re not only getting older, we’re getting worse. Our bodies are wearing out.
7. 2 Corinthians 4:16 - “Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.”
8. If you don’t think you are getting older and wearing out, then get out the old high school yearbook! Your kids will say, “Dad! You had hair! Mom, you looked so good!”
T. Young people will often try to laugh at death. Some of the most popular movies when I was a teen were the “slasher” type movies. (Friday the 13th series or Nightmare on Elm Street)
U. It is hard to look death and mortality in the face and not want to look the other way.
1. So we pay morticians large sums of money to make dead people look alive as possible.
2. You can go to the funeral home and purchase a wooden box for about $300 or you can get an expensive casket that costs $5,000 to $6,000!
3. Why do we pay such large sums of money for a “beautiful” casket? Why do we pad the pillows? Why is make-up put on the faces?
4. All of it is done for the benefit of those who are still living. Death is such a hard thing to deal with so those things help to soften the blow and make it easier to swallow.
5. But for the most part, we are a culture that wishes to deny the reality of death.
6. Hebrews 9:27 - “It is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment.”
V. Let’s admit that the first five minutes after death on this side are difficult to handle.
1. There is shock! “No, it can’t be!” Calls have to be made. Arrangements have to be prepared.
2. Then there is a mixture of pity and fear. “Wow, they were my age.”
3. A lot of things happen when you die. The family will weep; memories will be shared and then, they will go on with their lives. Because life does go on.
W. Good News: The Christian, the faithful child of God does NOT have to fear death!
1. I Corinthians 15:55,57 - “Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting? But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”
2. We can gather here today and sing “Victory in Jesus” because we don’t have to be afraid of death! Jesus has given us a way to deal with death!
X. But what we need to understand is NOT the first five minutes after death on THIS side, but on the OTHER side.
1. People have always been curious about death. They have always wanted to know, “What is it like?”
2. In John 12:9 we see that after Lazarus was raised from the dead that many people came to see him. I imagine they had a few questions for him. “What was it like, Lazarus? Please tell us what death is like!”
Y. Jesus understood how curious we would be about death and so he pulls aside the curtain for just a moment in Luke 16.
1. Why? Why does Jesus tell us these things about death?
2. Answer - So that no one would be able to say, “I didn’t know it was going to be this way!” Jesus wants us to know full well what we will experience after death.
Z. What are the first five minutes after death going to be like? Let’s take a look.
Body
A. Luke 16:19-22 - There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and lived in luxury every day. At his gate was laid a beggar named Lazarus, covered with sores and longing to eat what fell from the rich man’s table. Even the dogs came and licked his sores. The time came when the beggar died and the angels carried him to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried.
1. Pause for just a moment. That ends the story for the men on THIS side.
2. Two men die in this story and there is quite a difference between them.
3.Rich Man - A man who was so rich and wealthy that he would have been able to provide a great abundance of food for Lazarus by simply sweeping the crumbs off of his table. Here was a man who had a party every day of his life and ate to his heart’s content. We might say he was “filthy rich.”
4. Lazarus - A Beggar; destitute of the necessary things of life. He had nothing. The text says he was laid at the gate but it literally means, “he was thrown” or cast carelessly down by the people who took him there and was left alone. He was so poor that the dogs came and licked his sores.
5. I don’t know how much wealth and money the rich man left behind. I imagine that Lazarus left nothing.
6. Point: You know what? When we die; we all look alike! Rich, poor, presidents, paupers, etc.
7. Death is the “great equalizer.” Death makes us all even. There are no barriers of race, color, creed, origin or financial status.
8. So let’s take them at even when they die—at least so we think!
B. Confession time - I need to fess up! I’m not going to preach about the first five minutes after death—because after death, there is no time! There are no clocks! There are no watches that beep at the beginning of each hour!
1. You see, we only have time here! There is no time on the other side!
2. If you have something you need to do, you have time here; none over there!
3. There is no sense of time on the other side. No sunrises; no sunsets; no more “Give me just five more minutes!”
C. People will sometimes wonder, “Why is the preacher so insistent about people giving their lives to the Lord as soon as they can? Why does he always extend the invitation to come to Jesus?” Because there is no time or opportunity to do it on the other side!
D. While we cannot discuss the first five minutes after death, we need to notice five truths about what happens after death.
I. First, There Will Be a Real Consciousness.
A. You will be aware of your circumstance and the state you are in.
B. Some say, “When you are dead, that’s it. There is no more. There is nothing afterwards. There is no eternal consciousness or existence.”
C. But the first clear thing you will notice—whether, God forbid, you die in an accident or in a hospital bed—when you have taken your last breath—the first thing you will notice is—it isn’t over!
D. Pity the man or the woman who reaches for a gun or a razor blade and says, “I can’t take it anymore. I just want to end it all!” You don’t end your existence by taking your life!
E. How many people will be shocked, when they “open their eyes” on the other side and find out it is real?
II. Second, There Are Two Distinct Worlds After Death.
A. There are two distinct and separate worlds after death. There is not a third place.
Please notice our text.
B. Luke 16:23-26 - In hades, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side. So he called to him, “Father Abraham, have pity on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in agony in this fire.” But Abraham replied, “Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, while Lazarus received bad things, but now he is comforted here and you are in agony. And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, so that those who want to go from here to you cannot, nor can anyone cross over from there to us.”
C. This all seems to come as a shock to the rich man. He can’t believe it!
D. Point: That is no time to get a shock! That is no time to be surprised!
1. It would be an awful shock to find out that your husband had been unfaithful to you for several years. It would be a terrible shock to find out that your wife had been cheating on you for a long time.
2. It would be a tragic thing for a doctor to sit you down and tell you, “You’ve got cancer and we can’t cure it.”
E. Friends, those types of shocks won’t mean a thing compared to the shock that any man or woman will get when they get on the other side and realize what their eternal destiny will be.
F. There are only two places; two destinations: (1) comfort “in Abraham’s bosom” or (2) Agony and torment with the devil.
G. Someone says, “Well, I just don’t believe that! I don’t see it that way!”
1. A lot of people won’t believe this until the last day. A lot of people won’t ever believe in Jesus.”
2. You don’t have to believe it now—BUT ONE DAY YOU WILL!
3. 2 Corinthians 5:10 - “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive what is due him for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.”
H. My advice is: Beat the rush! Do something about it now!
1. The rich man believed too late! O how we hate those words—too late! Just like the parable of the foolish virgins in Matthew 25, many will find out that it is too late—the door has already been shut!
I. Some people have a problem with this passage about now. They say, “How can you say that God is love and then come up with this? What kind of God is that who would allow people to be lost forever in a place of torment?”
1. Point: God never intended hell for you! Hell is for the devil and his angels. (Matthew 25:41)
2. Hell is NOT for God’s children! Hell is for the devil and his angels and whoever wants to follow them!
3. Point: Hear me loud and clear: It is God’s desire that no one in this auditorium (or anywhere else) ever goes to hell! God wants everyone to come and be with Him!
4. 2 Peter 3:9 - Quote (“not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to repent!”)
5. God has put up road block after road block; He sent His son to die on the cross and say, “Stop! Don’t go that way!”
6. Friends, if you want to go to hell—you’re going to have to jump over the Bible, ignore Jesus, plug your ears to every Christian friend, get around the church, jump over every good gift God has given you—if you want to go to hell you can; but it won’t be easy!
7. After hearing that, someone will say, “That’s great God! You don’t want me to go to hell so I’ll make a deal with you. You let me live any way I want to.”
8. That sounds great, doesn’t it? That’s just, so... just, so UN-just! Grace is not a license to sin; it is an incentive for living righteously!
9. Besides, any rule without a penalty is a sham. If there’s no penalty, we won’t pay attention! (Example - driving fast and police man slapping your wrists instead of giving you a ticket!)
10. When it comes to our eternal destiny, we have a choice in the matter. We either choose God, or we don’t!
III. Third, There Will Be a Deep and Real Need for God.
A. Luke 16:24 - “Father Abraham, have pity (mercy) on me.” says the rich man.
B. All of the sudden, this rich man thinks, “NOW, I need God! Now I want God!”
1. It’s funny how he didn’t need God when everything was going well!
2. Maybe that’s where you are in your life right now. Things are going well. Life is good and smooth and fine.
3. Maybe you haven’t had any problems or any accidents or any diseases and sicknesses in your life.
C. Maybe you’ve been able to “live it up and party” and nothing bad has ever happened to you.
D. You haven’t made it your choice to be a part of God’s will or His family. You don’t feel like you have a need for God.
E. But just like this rich man, one day you will! One day you will stand before God and the only thing that will count is this: Is Jesus your Lord and Savior?
F. Did you notice in the text that when Lazarus died, the angels carried him to Abraham’s bosom? The rich man had no such comfort for him.
G. Talk about a role reversal! Poor ole Lazarus suffered so much. His life was filled with pain and heartache and difficulty.
H. Brother or sister, that may describe your life right now! But praise God one day the angels will carry you to a place of comfort and rest!
I. Question - How could ANYONE not have a need for God in their life right now?
J. With God, you have everything to gain. Without God, you will lose everything!
K. When this life is over, the one thing you can take confidence and assurance in is Jesus.
L. Why will there be such a deep and real need for God if you find yourself in the location of the rich man?
M. It is a sobering and tragic thing that we need to notice at this point.
N. Luke 16:25-26 -But Abraham replied, “Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, while Lazarus received bad things, but now he is comforted here and you are in agony. And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, so that those who want to go from here to you cannot, nor can anyone cross over from there to us.”
1. Point: You cannot get out of hell! When you’re there, you’re there forever.
2. Some teach that you can work your way out of hell. That would certainly be a wonderful thing but IT ISN’T TRUE. You can’t get a transfer! You can’t work your way out of it. There is no crossing over.
IV. Fourth, There Will Be a Great Concern About Your Loved Ones Relationship to God.
A. Luke 16:27-31 - He answered, “Then I beg you, father, send Lazarus to my father’s house, for I have five brothers. Let him warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment.” Abraham replied, “They have Moses and the Prophets; let them listen to them.” “No, father Abraham,” he said, “but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.” He said to him, “If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.”
B. I need to pause for a moment because here is a spot in the Bible that I don’t know how to preach.
C. The rich man says, “I beg you, father.” Do you know what happens right before the rich man says, “I beg you?” He learns that he has NO HOPE!
1. I don’t know what that feels like! No hope!
D. Surely after 1,000 years in hell and in torment God will say, “All right. You’ve learned your lesson. Now you can come and enjoy the bliss of heaven.”
E. “But Ross, there’s always hope! There’s always a chance! (Football - we’ll get them next year)
F. This poor man thought he might get another chance. “Just let me go back and warn my family.”
G. Abraham says, “You can’t go back! It’s over! Your destiny is sealed.”
H. The rich man realizes his fate. “But send Lazarus! Send someone back from the dead to warn them!” (That would certainly be something if it could happen.)
I. I’m sure that there are a lot of people in the world today who are looking for something spectacular to happen to them before they will believe in God.
J. Yet, the bottom line is, we have all that we need to know. God has revealed His will to us in His word. It’s up to us to OBEY it!
V. Finally, We Will Realize the Ultimate Value of Our Relationship With Jesus.
A. We have to leave the rich man where he is. He is begging, he is lonely, he is in torment and he is lost.
B. Guess what? Praise God that NO ONE in this room ever has to meet him! Nobody has to be lost without Christ or without hope.
C. What is the ultimate value of our relationship with Jesus. We’ll let Paul answer.
1. Romans 5:6-8 - “You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
D. Some might be thinking, “I know what I need to do, but that’s a long walk to the front row.”
E. Friends, the walk to the front row is nothing compared to walking before the throne of God and asking him, “O God, please give me one more chance!” And for God to say, “There are no more chances to give!”
Conclusion
A. Now we are back where we started when our lesson began. I mentioned several different categories and asked each one of us to think about where we stand in our association with God.
B. Are you innocent? Are you lost? Are you rebellious? Are you lukewarm? Are you faithful?
C. I need to mention that only two of these categories will spend eternity with God.
D. Three of them will never live with God in glory.
E. I wish I had time to label five chairs and ask you to come up on stage and sit in the chair that best describes your relationship with Jesus.
F. But I don’t have to do that. Because God already knows where you are sitting in your relationship with him.
G. Life is short. Eternity is forever. Where will you spend it?
H. Prayer
