What happens after I die? Part II
(9 downloads)Wednesday, Jun 13, 2007
1 Thess 4:13-18
What really happens when we die? And how can I be prepared. If there is a heaven, what is it like? And if I am going there how does that change the way I look at death and how does it change the way I look at this life? For our answer to this mystery, once again, we go to the word of God, and to many passages which describe heaven for us.
The word Heaven is used nearly 700 times in the Bible.
There are three places called heaven or the heavens
#1 the atmosphere where birds fly.
#2 The starry universe
#3 The place where God dwells with angels and departed saints.
There are several different names for heaven
The "Father’s house" # Joh 14:2
"Paradise" # Lu 23:43 2Co 12:4 Re 2:7
“Abraham’s bosom" # Lu 16:22 Mt
"The heavenly Jerusalem" # Ga 4:26 Heb 12:22 Re 3:12
The "kingdom of heaven" # Mt 25:1 Jas 2:5
The "eternal kingdom" #2Pe 1:11
The "eternal inheritance" #1Pe 1:4 Heb 9:15
The "better country" # Heb 11:14,16
Heaven has at least five distinct phases
The pre-sin heaven, before Satan fell (Is. 14:12-15, Rev. 12:4).
The OT heaven of Paradise or "Abraham's bosom" ( Luke 16:22),
The current heaven, in the presence of God (Eph. 4:8-10; 2 Cor. 5:8).
The millennial kingdom (Rev. 20:14).
The New J & the new heavens and new earth (Rev. 21-22).
(Nearly) 40 facts about heaven about heaven
1. It is the dwelling place of God (Deut. 26:15; Matt. 6:9).
2. It is the dwelling place of angels (Luke 2:15; Matt. 28:2; Heb. 12:22).
3. It is the dwelling place of the saints (Rev. 4-5; Luke 16:22; Heb. 12:23).
5. There is immediate conscious existence after death, (Luke 16:22ff.
6. It is an actual place (John 1:32; 6:33; Acts 1:2),
7. It is consistently referred to as "up" (Mark 6:41; Luke 9:51).
8. It is where Christ came from (John 6:42),
9. It is described as a city (Heb. 11:16; 12:22; 13:14; Rev. 21:12)..
10. It is an inheritance reserved for us. (1 Pet. 1:4).
11. It is the Christian's country of citizenship (Heb. 11:16; Phil. 3:20)..
13 It will deliver us from our sinful condition (Rom. 7:24).
16 Heaven's central draw is Christ (Phil. 1:23).
17. Heaven contains an actual temple (Heb. 8:5; 9:11,23-24
18. Christ promised we would live with him there (John 12:26; 13:36; 14:2.
20. Our body will be like Christ’s (1 Cor. 15:20, 48-49; Phil. 3:21; 1 John 3:2).
29. In heaven, we will have eternal rewards, (Matt. 6:19-25; 25:20-21).
30. At least five different crowns are given as heavenly rewards:
33. We will reign with Him in heaven (2 Tim. 2:12; Rev. 3:21; 22:5).
35. Heaven has light, water, trees and fruit (Rev. 22:1-2).
39. God's people should long for heaven (Heb. 11:13-16; 2 Cor. 5:2, Phil. 3:14
40. Heaven should be a central object of our attention (Col. 3:1-4).
If there be so certain and glorious a rest for the saints, why is there no more industrious seeking after it? One would think, if a man did but once hear of such unspeakable glory to be obtained, and believed what he heard to be true, he should be transported with the vehemence of his desire after it, and should almost forget to eat and drink, and should care for nothing else, and speak of and inquire after nothing else, but how to get this treasure. And yet people who hear of it daily, and profess to believe it as a fundamental article of their faith, do as little mind it, or labor for it, as if they had never heard of any such thing, or did not believe one word they hear. Pastor Richard Baxter
Lost: What happens when I die?
(5 downloads)Thursday, Jun 07, 2007
Luke 16:19-31
What will happen to me after I die? Is there a heaven? If so, how can I get there? Is there a hell? If so, how can I avoid it? If there is not, what is the point of living and dying anyway? You hover on the brink of consciousness hoping for answers, but no bright glow comes, no great tunnel of light appears, no angels sing, and no devils roar. In fact, the silence is so overwhelming that your heart beat is a deafening sound. Since life after death cannot be scientifically ascertained, and since heaven and hell, if they exist cannot be observed from our vantage point on earth, what really happens when we die? And how can we be prepared.
The Rich Man and Lazarus
Jesus tells this story as though he knows the people involved
A wealthy man – he has five brothers
A beggar named Lazarus
The patriarch Abraham
Abraham was a real person, the others may be as well
They teach us something about the afterlife
The poor man went to a place called Abraham’s bosom
A place of good things
A place of conscious comfort
The Rich man died and went to a place called Hades
A place of thirst without expiration
A place of excessive temperature
A place of no mercy
A place of conscious torment
A Primer on Hell
Hades–used of the grave, the underworld, death & hell
Sheol – Is the match for the Greek word Hades
Tartarus –the place of fallen angels 2 Peter 2: 4
the Bottomless Pit - equivalent to the Abyss or Tartarus Rev 19
Gehenna –the word for eternal hell fire
Mark 9:43 - A fire that will never be quenched
Mat 8:12 –outer darkness weeping and gnashing of teeth
Mat 25:41, 46 – a Place of everlasting punishment
2 Thess 1:9 the unbeliever will receive everlasting destruction
Daniel 12:2 everlasting contempt
A Short History of Hell
The Lake of Fire was created for the Devil and his angels
Until the final judgment, unbelievers are sent to hades
Fallen angels are cast into Tartarus
At the Judgment unbelievers will be cast into the lake of fire
What Hell is like – Rev 20 10-
Hell is eternal punishement - 10.
Judgment is final and certain - there is no way out 11-13. .
Judgment is impartial and just - Vs 12-15.
Every person will have an opportunity for his works to be examined. Whoever does not have his name written in the book of life, will be consigned to the Lake of fire. The book of life contains the names of all the saved of all time. Anyone who has but their faith and trust in Jesus Christ as Savior, has his name written there.