What happens when we die?

Introduction

And with tonight’s service, we draw to a close this special series of lessons and Bible studies that we’ve had together. And it has been such a great week. I wish I could adequately communicate for Heidi and I how wonderful it has been for us to be with you all again. To get to spend some time together and visit and catch up and stand in amazement at how all of our children have grown. To enjoy some good meals together. You’ve been so hospitable to us. It’s just been a wonderful week. I woke up this morning and I thought, my goodness, it’s Friday. Where has our time gone? It’s passed so quickly. It’s been wonderful to be with Bob and Arlene again. We enjoyed almost seven wonderful years of work here together.

It was such a blessing to be with him. And you know, my wife’s pretty easy to get along with, but I’m a pretty high maintenance house guest, and every time they let us come back, and I appreciate that so much. And it’s been really great to be with Josh and Janet again. I’d love to say something tacky about Josh’s height, but I wouldn’t dream of using his excessive height as a time to mock him about something. I’ll tell you folks, I’m glad he’s here. And I’m glad he’s such a good such a good wife supporting him in his work. What a blessing they are to you. And to God’s work here. And I want you to know how thrilled we are. We keep track. Marion emails me the bulletin, or maybe Marion does it, and Mike emails it to me, but we get it every week and we keep track of what’s happening here.

And we’re so happy about your good progress. But let me say most of all that I’m grateful for you, those of you who have come to the services each night and attended to the lesson. That’s what we’re here to do. It’s nice to renew old acquaintances, but we’ve been here to study the Word of God. And so many of you have been dedicated to that. And I appreciate that. You’ve been here, you’ve listened. You’ve attended to the lessons, and you’ve had questions and comments when we’ve been done that showed it was all something you took seriously. And I appreciate that. And it’s been such an encouragement to me. Please pray for us as we head back home and for our work as we will be praying for yours as well.

Well, we’re going to talk tonight about what happens when we die. Death is such an interesting subject, one that mankind has such an odd relationship with. Sort of a love-hate relationship. On the one hand, there are times where we don’t want to talk about death or even think about it, not one bit, not at all. Particularly if we’re talking about death relative to ourselves, our own death, reaching that moment when it will come to us. You know, there’s some people that won’t make any funeral arrangements. They won’t even buy life insurance because it makes them consider the inevitable. For many, death is life’s ultimate tragedy. And so what they try to do is they try to pretend that it’s not even there. To live as though it’s not even going to happen, to put that as far away from their minds as they can, although we are never really successful at that.

We hate to talk about it. And yet, at the same time, when you pause and think about it, there is also a situation in which we are utterly fascinated with the topic of dying and death. Do you realize that there have been tens of thousands of volumes written about this subject? And I don’t suppose that’s so it can line the warehouses of those who sell books. People buy them and read them. They’re interesting. Some of the most popular movies over the last few decades have explored the subject of death, and particularly what follows death. Movies like Poltergeist from when I was a boy, or Ghost, more recently, The Sixth Sense, or What Dreams May Come, were all movies that, well, propose to consider what comes after this life.

People are captivated by stories of near death experiences with people who died, they say, or at least came very close to dying, and visited the other side. There was a book on the New York Times bestseller list a couple of years ago called 90 Minutes in Heaven. Did you hear about this book? A Texas preacher severely injured in a car accident. He said, I died for 90 minutes. Well, that’s probably not exactly true. But it was during that period after this terrible accident, they said he went over to the other side and visited there. And now he’s come back to write this book and to tell everybody about what happened. And it’s a bestseller. Some go to other extremes. They will visit the medium or the psychic in the hopes that maybe they can contact a loved one on the other side and be confirmed about what’s become of them and where they are.

Isn’t it odd? That on one hand we don’t want to think about it at all. And yet on the other hand, it seems we are utterly fascinated with it. We have this insatiable curiosity, and we can’t get enough of it.

Well, let’s think about the question then. What does happen when we do?

How that question is answered, I think largely depends on who you happen to be posing the question to. Ask an atheist the question, and he will tell you when you die, that’s it. It’s the end. An atheist believes that there is nothing more to us than our physical existence, than this physical machine, and when it shuts down, when it stops working, then that’s it. It’s the end in every sense of the word. There is no more. I heard one atheist claim one time that he was not afraid of dying. Because he assumed that he would just go to whatever state he existed in before he was alive, and he didn’t remember that being particularly unpleasant, and so he wasn’t worried about going there again. I guess there have been dumber things said than that.

Just at the moment, I can’t think of it.

The flaws in that logic are too numerous to pursue in the limited time we have denied. The Jehovah’s Witnesses also claim that when we die, we cease to exist. But with this caveat, they believe that good, righteous people have the hope, live in hope. Well, that wouldn’t be right. Have the hope of being recreated one day. Others say that when we die, we become one with nature again. We join in the great circle of life. Simba would be happy to hear that.

While I was preaching here in Orlando, I visited with a man out in the Sand Lake area. Went by his office to study the Bible with him. And he shared with me that he believed that when he died, he was going to be reincarnated. And that perhaps he would come back as another human being or perhaps an animal. It kind of depends on how good he did in this life, and that that process would continue. He would live and die and come back in some other form until he got it right. That was an interesting proposition. Others believe that death is like being asleep. We don’t cease to exist. We’re just sort of unconscious and not aware of what’s going on anymore. The movies give us a lot of different ideas, don’t they?

In the movies, we see dead people interacting with the living coming back to settle scores and haunt those who taunted them in life, even giving psychological counseling to small children. What are we to believe about all that? May I suggest tonight that there is a certain absurdity in attaching any significance at all to these Hollywood fantasies. In fact, may I suggest that it is that it is absurd to listen to what any man would say on this issue. Someone says, wow, David, what a great setup for the lesson. What do you think about that? If you’ve come tonight to hear my thinking about death, would you appreciate the limit of what I would have to offer on that? I’ve not been there yet. And if you think of the tens of thousands of volumes that have been written, none of those people have been there yet.

None of them have experienced it. They don’t know what they’re writing about. They haven’t a clue. Whatever they might say would be little more than speculation. And I will tell you that if you’ve come tonight to hear what I think about death and dying, it won’t be of very great value to you. But you’re holding a better option. And that’s what I want to talk about tonight. We do have the option of consulting the Word of God. We do have the option of considering what Jesus said. And talk about an authority on the subject of death. That’s why I invited you to Revelation chapter 1. Notice verses 17 and 18 of this text. I think this is interesting. The Lord here speaks to John and he says, do not be afraid.

This is after Jesus had appeared to him in this amazing vision. He 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. Isn’t that great? I was dead and I’m alive. Ladies and gentlemen, he’s been there. But it gets better than that. He said, and I have the keys of death in Hades. Having the keys means that he has the power over death in Hades. This is subject to him and to his wills. Well, one of the reasons that Christians do not have to fear death and dying is because we are not going anywhere where our master has not already been and where he does not already reign. And so if we are going to consider what anyone has to say about death, how about God?

1. Death Is Not the End

It is only in consulting his word that we can really find the truth. And so what does his word tell us? Well, I don’t know, ladies and gentlemen, that we’re going to consider anything earth-shattering tonight, but what I would like to do is to go back and ask you to consider with me again some important realities that the Bible reveals to us about what happens when we die. There are four things I want you to notice with me in the lesson this evening, starting with this. The Bible teaches us, first of all, that death is not the end. And maybe that is the first and most fundamental thing that we need to say about it. Because remember, the atheist says exactly the opposite. He tells us that death is non-existent.

When we die, we’re like rover. We’re dead all over. He believes that, however, because of another fundamental element of his philosophy. And that is that there is nothing more to a man than his body. That’s it. That’s all you get. And when it stops, then we cease to exist. Because that’s all there is to us. Ladies and gentlemen, that is not what the Lord said on this subject. I’m thinking about this passage in Matthew 10 and verse 28, where Jesus said, do not fear those who kill the body but are unable to kill the soul. You see, here Jesus introduces a new and different element. The atheist says, that’s all there is, just the body. Jesus said, No, there’s something more. He says, Don’t worry about your enemies who can kill the body but cannot kill the soul.

In fact, he says, but rather fear him who is able to destroy both soul and body and hell. Now Jesus has introduced another fundamental element to the equation that the atheist ignores. Jesus says that there is a more there is more to a man than the physical machine. That man also possesses a soul, a soul that he said the persecutor can’t touch. That’s why he said, Don’t worry about the persecutor. Don’t fear the man who can just kill the body. You know, if this is all we have, the verse makes no sense at all, does it? Jesus is saying there’s more to a man than the physical machine, that there is a soul that survives physical death. And over and over again, we see that principle at play in Scripture.

Notice this passage in Luke chapter 23 and verse 43, as Jesus is hanging on the cross. Do you remember his interaction with one of the thieves? What did he say? He said to that thief, truly I say to you, today you shall be with me in paradise. Isn’t that an interesting statement? What was happening to that thief at that moment? Folks, he was being executed. He was being put to death. His physical body was dying. In fact, on that day, they were going to put it in the ground. They would bury his physical body. What did Jesus say to the man? He said, Today you shall be with me in paradise. What does that mean? It means that this man’s soul would continue on after his body was dead.

There’s more to a man than just his body. Let’s look at another passage together. Turn to Philippians chapter 1. Notice what the apostle Paul said, Philippians chapter 1. And go down to verse 21. Paul says, For to me to live is Christ. And to die is gain. What a radical concept. But if I am to live on in the flesh, this will mean fruitful labor for me, and I do not know which to choose, but I am hard pressed from both directions, having the desire to depart and be with Christ, for that is very much better. Yet to remain on in the flesh is more necessary for your sake. Paul says that for him death would be gain. My question is, folks, if all there is to us is the physical body, and if, as the atheist says, when it’s dead, it’s all over, how could death ever be gain?

It couldn’t be. But you see, death wasn’t the end of everything for Paul. He understood that when he died, yes, his physical body would go into ground and undergo decay, but he would go to be with the Lord. That’s what he said. In verse 23. He desired to depart and be with Christ. Was not to pass into non-existence, it was to go and be with Christ. Perhaps the best passage in the New Testament on this subject is found in Luke chapter 16. Turn over there with me, if you will. If you still have a ribbon left in your Bible, if the kids haven’t yanked it out, put it there, because we’ll spend most of our time in this passage tonight. Luke chapter 16. And pick up with me reading down in verse 19.

Jesus says, Now there was a rich man. And he habitually dressed in purple and fine linen, joyously living in splendor every day. And a poor man named Lazarus was laid at his gate, covered with sores and longing to be fed with the crumbs which were falling from the rich man’s table. Besides, even the dogs were coming and licking his sores. Now the poor man died. And was carried away by the angels to Abraham’s bosom. And the rich man also died and was buried. And in Hades he lifted up his eyes, being in torment, and he saw Abraham far away, Lazarus’ bosom. And he cried out and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me and send Lazarus, so that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool off my tongue, for I am in agony in this flame.

But Abraham said, Child, remember that during your life you received your good things, and likewise Lazarus, bad things. But now he is being comforted here, and you are in agony. And besides all of this, between us and you there is a great chasm fixed, so that those who wish to come over from here to you will not be able, and that none may cross over from there to us. Let’s pause in the reading there. What have we learned? We’ve learned that the two men under consideration in this story faced the same fate that all human beings face. They lived their lives, however good or bad that they were. They lived their lives, they spent their days, however many years they were, and then they died. And that’s what happens to all of us.

But you will notice that for neither man did that spell the end. Do you see it there? Both continue to exist. The rich man was tormented and begged to be relieved. Lazarus experienced comfort in Abraham’s bosom, but what we learn from both men is that even though the physical body had died, both continued on. And that’s the point that I want you to see, ladies and gentlemen. Death is not the end. Each of us, good or bad, however we may live this life, possess a soul that will continue on after the body dies. Which then raises a question if death is not the end. If we continue on, then what is the state of death like? What will we experience when we die? Will it be like a deep sleep in which things may be going on, but we’re unaware of it?

2. We Are Conscious After Death

Is it like a dream state where we just have sort of a vague sense of reality? Have you ever been in a sort of a dream state where you weren’t sure if you were asleep or awake? Is that what it is when we die? Well, that brings us to the second point we want to emphasize tonight. Not only do we know from the Bible that death is not the end, but secondly, we also know that we are conscious after death. Death does not resign us to a state of extended sleep or a dreamlike state or some state where we’re not aware of what’s happening around us. In fact, what we see here in Luke 16 is exactly the opposite. I want you to notice that both the rich man and Lazarus experience their surroundings.

They experience consciousness. They know what’s going on around them. They’re aware of it. They’re lucid. We’re told, for example. In verse 25, that Lazarus is experiencing comfort in this place. And we know what’s going on with the rich man too, don’t we? Verse 24, he suffers, he feels agony, he’s being tormented, he pleads for relief. I want you to notice also that the rich man’s memory is clearly intact. He remembers Lazarus. He remembers his brothers. Look at verse 27. After finding out that no one was going to be able to come and help him in verse 7, it says, And he said, Then I beg you, Father, that you send him to my father’s house. For I have five brothers, in order that he may warn them so they will not also come to this place of torment.

He remembers his family. He remembers his brothers. He is concerned for their welfare, concerned that they may make the same foolish choices that he made and wind up in this place. He has feelings about that, doesn’t it? There is concern there. I think an expression of love for wanting to do something to protect his brothers. Ladies and gentlemen, these are not the actions of someone who is experiencing a deep sleep or a dream state or some mystical feeling. These people are conscious and awake and aware of their surroundings, memories intact. Now we should probably point out. That our Jehovah’s Witness friends don’t make too much of that text. In fact, what they will do with one swipe of the hand to say, well, you can’t make any of that, anything of that, because after all, it’s just a parable.

Have you ever heard someone say that? That doesn’t really tell us anything about death because it’s just a parable. Let me say two things about that. First of all, I’m not so sure they’re right about that. There are at least some aspects of the story here in Luke 16 that do not bear the same marks of a typical parable. But even if it is, I don’t think it really makes a difference. Even the parables of Jesus, ladies and gentlemen, were always based in reality. They were stories about things that really happened. A farmer going out to plant his seed, debts being settled with debtors, lost sheep being found by the shepherd. Those were things that happened. Things experienced by the people of that culture. And the same is true in this case.

Jesus is not weaving some fanciful myth about the afterlife that has nothing to do with reality in order to make some point here.

3. The Righteous and the Wicked Are Separated at Death

Whether this is a story of actual people and what happened to them, which is a possibility, Lazarus is named after all. Or whether it’s a story that Jesus created to illustrate a point, it is still an accurate picture of what happens to men when they die and cannot be so lightly dismissed as our witness friends try to do. So what does it tell us? That we will be conscious after death. But there’s something else in this story that really jumps off the page at us, and I want you to notice with me. Secondly, I want you to notice that in this story we find that the righteous and the wicked are separated at death. Can’t you just immediately see that when you read this account? I mean, it just sticks right out at us that these two men had very different experiences in life, and listen, they’re having very different experiences.