SPEAKER_00 0:36

What happens when you die? Depends on who you ask. Some people, most people don't want to talk about it. They don't even want to think about it. But it's something that we're all going to have to, we're all going to have to deal with. For some people, when that question comes up, well, what happens when you die? For instance, the non-believer, the atheist that we talked about last week, they got a simple answer, remember? They live in the moment. And so when the moment of death comes, the question's irrelevant. Nothing happens when you die. That's the way they look at it. It's like the dog that got buried in the backyard named Rover. When you die, you like a rover. You're dead all over, and that's it. Other people view it differently. You may have heard this before. You may have even said it before. When someone you know passes away, you will hear some people say, Well, heaven gained an angel. Heaven did not gain an angel. I think angels are pretty cool. One day we're going to do a study on just on angels. Angels are really cool. I don't want to be one. Because when you look at what the scriptures say, the scriptures teach that the saved will judge the angels. We're going to have a higher standing in heaven in the afterlife than the angels do. Thank you. I think angels are cool. I don't want to be one. Other people have the view that when you die, you've completed the upward climb of existence. This is reincarnation. You start out, say, maybe as a rat, then you die if you're a good rat. Then you become a cat, and if you're a good cat, you become a dog, and on up the chain until you achieve humanity. And if you live a good human life, well, then you achieve nirvana. And quite honestly, most folks that believe in reincarnation can tell you what nirvana is. So what happens when we die? Well, if you believe in the word of God, Hebrews chapter 9, verse 27 says that all will die and then the judgment. You see, everybody's going to come to that conclusion where the narrow gate and the wide gate come back together again. They're scripture reading this morning. Most are going to pass through the wide gate and the wide path. A few, as Jesus says, are going to pass through the narrow gate along the narrow path. And very few, he says, will find it. But there's a point where they will come back together. And the question is, what happens then? What happens then? That's what we're going to look at today. So before we get into the message this morning, let's go to God in prayer together. Lord and our God, we thank you for bringing us together today, and we thank you for your word, because it is our guide to all things that are holy and all things that you would have us to say and to do. And Lord, there's things in your word that we don't understand. There's things in your word that we haven't quite figured out yet. Lord, I just pray that the message today will bring glory to you. Spirit, I pray that you'll speak to us this morning. Lord, we thank you and we love you so much, and we look forward to a home in heaven with you when this life is over. We pray these things together in Jesus' name. Amen. Let me get a disclaimer out there before we go any further. I am not an expert on this subject. In fact, nobody is, if you want to get right down to it. In order to answer the question, what happens when you die? You kind of have to die first. I hadn't done that yet. Hopefully, not looking forward to that anytime soon. But the Bible does give us some things that we are going to look at today, and we're just barely going to scratch the surface. But I'm hoping that we'll be able to share some things together that will give us some deeper insight to an answer to this question for the believer. What happens when you die? When this physical life is over? What's next? And so, with that being said, let's go ahead and get into the message this morning. In our study last week of this very same passage regarding that wide gate and the narrow gate, we talked about how the wide path and the narrow path will come together again at the judgment. Now, church, the question now is, as I've already stated, what then? What happens after that? Well, church, that's a subject that either people really don't want to talk about, or they don't know about and avoid it, or they have inaccurate information. John records in Revelation chapter 14, verse 13, saying, And I heard a voice from heaven saying, Write this. Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on. Blessed indeed, says the Spirit, that they may rest from their labors, for their deeds follow them. Family, be sure that you don't miss that last phrase straight from the Holy Spirit when he says, For their deeds follow them. Family, what we say, what we do, and what we think matters. Paul writes to the Philippians, if you remember from prison, he's on death row. That regardless of his circumstances, sitting there in prison, not knowing if his life is going to end today or tomorrow or next week, he's going to continue to rejoice. Listen to what he says in the latter half of verses 18 to 21. He says, I will continue to rejoice, for I know that through your prayers and God's provision of the Spirit of Jesus Christ, what has happened to me will turn out for my deliverance. I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage, so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death. And notice what he says next for to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. Church, that last statement that Paul makes right there on the screen in verse 21, for me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. Family, the question I have is gain what? That's the question that so many people have out there in the world today who have a completely blank slate of faith in what God is all about. What are you talking about? Gain what? What do we gain? What does the believer gain? In other words, what happens on the other side of the gates? What happens when you die? You know, this reminds me of a Star Trek movie, and yes, I am a Star Trek nerd. I admit it. But it reminds me of a Star Trek movie where Dr. McCoy is trying to have a conversation with Spock, which is not easy, after Spock's been brought back from the dead. McCoy says, Come on, Spock, it's me. McCoy, you really have been where no man has gone before. Can't you tell me what it felt like? And Spock replies, it would be impossible to discuss the subject without a common frame of reference. Then McCoy says, You mean I have to die to discuss your insights on death? Church, to some degree, I feel a lot like Dr. McCoy this morning. I've never died either. But we'll do my best with this fascinating subject that no one really knows a whole lot about. Family, this isn't a subject that's regularly discussed. People just don't want to talk about it. And the Bible gives limited information on this subject. And so at the end of the day, it's going to be faith that sees us through. Deuteronomy 29, 29 says that the hidden things belong to God. There's some things that we're just not meant to know in this life. We have to trust the Lord for it. And so this passage that I want to begin with is found in Luke chapter 16, verses 19 to 31. And as you can see on the screen, I put together a diagram. It's also on the back of your sermon notes in the handout this morning. That we're going to begin on the left side of the diagram with the story of the rich man and Lazarus, one that we're all familiar with. But as I share this with you this morning, I want you to pay special attention to the details. Because a lot of times we'll read this and we'll fly right over some very, very important detail. The text says there was a rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen, and who feasted sumptuously every day. And at his gate was laid a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores who desired to be fed with what fell from the rich man's table. Moreover, even the dogs came and licked his sores. The poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham's side. The rich man also died and was buried, and in Hades, being in torment, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham far off and Lazarus at his side. And he called out, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus to dip the end of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am in anguish in this flame. But Abraham said, Child, remember that you in your lifetime received your good things, and Lazarus in like manner bad things. But now he is comforted here, and you are in anguish. And besides all this, between us and you is a great chasm that has been fixed in order that those who would pass from here to you may not be able, and none may cross from there to us. And he said, Then I beg you, Father, to send him to my father's house, for I have five brothers, so that he may warn them lest they also come into this place of torment. But Abraham said, They have Moses and the prophets. Let them hear them. And he said, No, Father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent. He said to him, If they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead. Now there's a few things in this very familiar story that we need to take notice of. That maybe, just maybe, we've never thought about and have never noticed before. First, in verses 22 and 23, we see that upon his death, Lazarus is carried by the angels to Abraham's side, and the rich man, upon his death, was buried and found himself in Hades and in torment. Now the word that's used there in verse 23 is the Greek word hadasse, and it's translated in our English translations as Hades. But in the King James translation, it's translated as hell. Now, Hades here is a general reference to the afterlife. But the King James translation takes it a step further, and the King James puts a condemnatory spin upon it, and we'll get into that a little bit later. But there's three things, family, that I want to notice about this passage. First, we see that Lazarus receives an escort of comfort to Abraham's side, and the rich man a destination of pain and suffering. Now here's the thing I want us to notice. Don't miss this. Did you notice that these things are all felt? They're all felt. In other words, we are consciously aware of comforts and we are consciously aware of suffering after we physically die. Now, for the believer, that is truly a comfort. Many times we're led to say, after the long illness of a family or member or a friend, we say, well, now they can rest in peace. Their suffering is over. But for the non-believer, can that truly be said? Not according to this text. According to this text, family, eternal suffering is very real. And this is what the rich man faced when he died. Second, there's recognition after we die. Take a look at the latter part of verses 23 through verse 25. He, being the rich man, lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham far off, and Lazarus at his side. And he called out, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus to dip the end of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am in anguish in this flame. But Abraham said, Child, remember that you in your lifetime received your good things. And Lazarus, in like manner, bad things. But now he is comforted here, and you are in anguish. I have no idea how the rich man knew who Abraham was. I don't know if Abraham was wearing a name tag or what, but he knew who Abraham was. He recognized Abraham. He knew who Lazarus was because he had known him in this life, and he recognized Lazarus after he had died. Family, the rich man is aware. He is fully, consciously aware after he had died who Abraham was and who Lazarus was, and he recognized them. And he saw them. And also Abraham saw and recognized the rich man. Now notice verse 26. Besides all this, between us and you, a great chasm has been fixed, in order that those who would pass from here to you may not be able, and none, none may cross from there to us. Church, not only is there recognition when we die, there is also eternal separation when we die. If you look at the diagram, that great chasm is represented by the horizontal line that runs through the middle of it. And you can see up and down arrows from one side to the other that indicate that there's no passage from one side to the other. Family, when we die, we know where we are. When we die, we know who others are. Family, when we die, we know where we are, and we know where we cannot go. And depending on your spiritual condition right now, at this very moment, that's either of great comfort to you, or it is of great concern to you. And it should be. Another passage I'd like to note this morning is Hebrews chapter 12, verse 1. Which says, Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and sin which clings to us so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us. Church, this is the first thing that the Hebrew writer says after all that he says in the great faith chapter of Hebrews chapter 11. In chapter 11, if you remember, we see characters there that we expect to be mentioned in a great faith chapter, like Abraham and Moses and Noah. But also, if you remember, there's some characters in that chapter, in that great faith chapter, that we might be a little surprised to hear about being included with Abraham and Moses and Noah. Names like Samson and Rahab and Jephthah. Church, this cloud of witnesses is a witness. It's a witness to the race of life that you and I are encouraged to run with endurance. Now, some folks view this reference to witnesses as being witnesses of their example. They take the view that this is purely figurative. Personally, I take what the Hebrew writer says here from a literal sense. Both in light of the word that is used in this passage and the text in Luke about the rich man and Lazarus that we just looked at. The word used here in the Greek language is the word martuse. It's where we get our English word martyr from. And it can be used figuratively. But church, we need to understand that it can also be used literally, meaning a judicial witness. And the fact that we will be included in a literal final judgment where witnesses will testify. It makes sense that those mentioned here in this great cloud of witnesses are literal witnesses. Literal witnesses to the life we live now for the purpose of the judgment later. Let that sink in for just a moment. Don't miss the gravity of that. That great cloud of witnesses, I believe, are literal witnesses that are witnesses to our life that we live today for the purpose of the judgment later. As you move along the horizontal line of the diagram, represented as the great chasm of the diagram, I want to focus on the top left quadrant of that diagram. To the left of the center line of the judgment, where it says paradise. Church, this is important to our discussion. Because in Luke chapter 23, we see in verses 42 and 43 where the thief on the cross says, Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom. And he said to him, Being Jesus, said to him, Truly I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise. We're all familiar with that passage, right? If anyone notice exactly what Jesus says there. He doesn't say, today you'll be with me in heaven. He says, today you'll be with me in paradise. That specifically is what he says. Church, the word used here is paradisos, and it literally means a park or an orchard. Now somebody might say, well, aren't they the same thing? Isn't heaven and paradise the same thing? Is it just semantics? Well, not exactly. If it were, then Jesus would have used a different word. He didn't use a different word. He used paradisios. If he were to use the word for heaven, he would have used the word Uranos, which we see in Revelation chapter 21, verses 1 and 2. Look at what it says. Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth. For the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. Family, the word heaven appears there in that text three times. And each time it's the same word. Uranus. In fact, it's better. Now, if you can imagine something better than paradise, be my guest. But what that says right there is something better than paradise awaits the believer. At the judgment. We'll come back to that later. At this time, if you look at the diagram, family, we're moving to the lower left quadrant below the horizontal line of the great chasm and staying to the left of the center line, which represents the judgment. And here you're going to see the side of the great chasm that the rich man was speaking from. That's where he's at. 2 Peter chapter 2, verses 1 to 4, Peter writes about false prophets in the past and of the future. Listen to what he says. He says, But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the master who bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction. And many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of truth will be blasphemed, and in their greed they will exploit you with false words. Their condemnation from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep. For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell and committed them to chains of gloomy darkness to be kept until the judgment. Take a good look at that. Notice carefully what Peter says in verses three and four. And we'll start in verse four and work our way back. Peter says that God did not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell to be kept until the judgment. Church, this is one of two words that's translated as hell in the New Testament. The word here is the Greek word taurus, and it means to incarcerate in eternal torment. This is a word that Peter uses. This is a word that he uses regarding fallen angels and these false prophets if they don't change their ways. And this is the same place in the Hadean realm that the rich man spoke from. It's a holding place. Peter says, until the judgment. Or people can pray for their loved ones to be prayed out of purgatory and into paradise. Or if they give enough money and special indulgences in the name of their loved one or friend, they can give them to the point that give to the point that they are freed from purgatory and move over into paradise. Or if they say enough rosaries, or if they do enough charitable work in the name of their friend or family member, then they can be saved from purgatory. Purgatory is a concept of men, not of the Bible. But once you go through that wide gate, and once you go through that narrow gate, the wide gate of Tataurus, the narrow gate of Paradisios, you're there to stay until the judgment. Now notice what Peter says in verse 3. He says, their condemnation from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep. Family, this means a couple of things. First, these angels torment, and those who pass through the wide gate, their torment has already begun. But this is just the beginning. Second comes the judgment. Which brings us back to the diagram. And the vertical line right down the middle, which represents the judgment. We read about this in Revelation chapter 20, verses 11 and 15. Look at what John records. He says, Then I saw a great white throne, and him who sat upon it, from whose presence the earth and heaven fled away, and no place was found for them. And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the book of life, and the dead were judged from the things which were written in the books according to their deeds. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead which were in them, and they were judged, every one of them according to their deeds. Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. And if anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire. Here John sees with his own eyes the Lord God Almighty descending from heaven. The word Uranus. And what we read about here, family, is something that we're all going to see. Doesn't matter what gate we go through when this life is over, we're going to see that. We're all going to see that. Look at what the Bible says in the first half of verse 12. I saw the dead, the great, and the small standing before the throne. We're all going to be there. We're all going to be there. Everybody that's ever lived is going to be there. The homeless guy that's sitting on the corner of I-65 and 72, he's going to be there. Donald Trump, he's going to be there. And everybody in between is going to be there. You and I will be there. We will see that. Church, I don't know about you, but that great cloud of witnesses that we were talking about earlier in Hebrews chapter 12, verse 1, is starting to come to my mind again. As we look at this throne scene in Revelation 20. Now notice what it says next in the latter half of verse 12. And books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged from the things which were written in the books according to their deeds. And the host would come out with a big red book. Does that know the TV show that I'm talking about? Anybody? This is your life? Remember that show? They would come out, you know, somebody they come out with a big red book, and you know, this is your life, and on the front cover would be the name of that person, and they would give clues from their life, and they would, I think they would have to guess who submitted the clue or whatever. That's going to be us. There's going to be a point in time at the judgment where our book is going to be opened. The book of our life. Everything we've ever said, everything we've ever thought, everything we've ever done is going to be laid wide open for everybody to see, everybody to hear. God is going to call every detail into account. And somebody might say that will take forever. Hello. Eternity. But there will be a point where it ends, believe it or not, when judgment's passed. Every one of us, church, family, we're going to have our this is your life moment, and the book of our life is going to be opened. What you see there on the screen, church, is the judgment. Based upon the charges brought and witnesses to the acts brought forth. You can't have a judgment, church, without those two elements. You can't have a judgment without charges, and you can't have a judgment without witnesses. Make no mistake about it this morning. This is not a trial that we're seeing. It's a judgment. It is the judgment. And there's a huge eternal difference between the two. A trial is used to determine guilt or innocence. But at the judgment, our guilt or innocence has already been determined. And we're awaiting sentencing. Whatever that may be. Wherever that may be. Verses 14 and 15 says, Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death. You see, we all die physically, but there's only a certain amount of us that are going to die the second death, which is spiritual death. And if anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the fire. If you go back to the diagram, it's at this point that those below the horizontal line of the great chasm, those whose names are not found in the book of life, pass over from Totarus, the holding place, to the left of the vertical line, into Gehenna, which is the everlasting lake of fire. Church Jesus himself spoke about Gehenna, which is the everlasting hell. And he spoke more about it than anyone else did. I can promise you, if anybody believed in an everlasting, eternal hell, it was Jesus. For the sake of time, I won't go into this passage, but Mark chapter 9, verses 43 to 48, Jesus spoke of Gehenna, making reference to it three times. Again, if anyone believed in eternal, everlasting hell, it was Jesus. And he wants you and me to avoid it at all costs. However, this is also at this point that those whose names are written in the book of life, where they pass over from paradise on the left of the vertical center line into Aranos, which we call heaven. On the right side of the vertical line. Look again. Revelation 21, verses 1 and 2. It says, Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth. For the first heaven, the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. The first heaven and the first earth, everything we know is passed away. And the sea was no more. You see that? The sea was no more. Family, that word translated as sea is the Greek word philosoph. And it means separation. It's not talking about an ocean. It's talking about the vast sea of separation. And so, family, it's here where we will experience no separation whatsoever. Not from God, not from one another. There will be no black, there will be no white, there will be no brown, no red, no yellow, or any other thing that separates us as God's children, as God's people. All of it will be gone, and all of God's children will come home. Let me close with this. What happens when you die is an important question that we all want to know the answer to. And one day we all will. That's for certain. And again, let me emphatically restate: I am no expert. But this is where I am today on this subject. And I hope that I grow more from here. But this is where I'm at. What happens when you die is an important question, but there is an infinitely more important question that we need to ask in this life on this side of the judgment. And for certain we need to answer. And that question is this What happens when you die to yourself? Because the answer to that question right there on the screen, church, determines the answer to the questions, what happens when you die, and what happens on the other side of the gates? Church, here's what dying to yourself looks like. We find it in Romans chapter 6, verses 1 to 11. Listen to how Paul describes it. He says, What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin so that grace may increase? May it never be. How shall we who died to sin still live in it? Or do you not remember, or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into his death? Therefore we have been buried with him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life. For if we've been become united with him in the likeness of his death, certainly we shall also be in the likeness of his resurrection. Knowing this, that our old self was crucified with him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin, for he who has died is freed from sin. Now, if we have died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him, knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, is never to die again. Death no longer has his master over him, for the death that he died, he died to sin once for all. But the life that he lives, he lives to God. Even so consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus. Family, when we die to ourselves in baptism, we have no fear of living this life. Because we're already living alive to God in anticipation of what is to come on the other side of the narrow gate. Church, if we're living life with joyful victory in Jesus, then the question of what happens when you die is irrelevant. Because we have no fear. And you either know the answer to that question right now or you're lying to yourself. There is no I don't know. Which gate are you going to pass through? What's going to happen to you when you stand before the throne of God? Do you are you going to know? I can tell you right now, you will know. I will know. We all will know. The real question is, will that knowledge be of great comfort to you? Or will it be of great distress to you? You get to choose today. You get to choose on this side of the gate. So, what's it going to be? It's up to you. If you need us to pray with you to make the right decision, let us do that. Let us pray with you. If you have something that's going on in your family, relationships, finances, friendships, work-related stuff. Let us pray with you. Let us pray for you for those things. But make no mistake about it, family. The most important thing that you can have straight before you walk out of here today is which gate you're going to go through when this life's over. And where you're going to be standing in front of the throne of God when that time comes. That's your choice. May the Spirit guide you as we stand and sing.