What Happens After Death?

Synopsis May 26, 2021

Delivered by Bishop Joseph W. Walker, III

I.          INTRODUCTION

1. Dying is a significant part of our living. As Christians, more than anyone, we should know what happens after we die.
2. Our main source for researching this should be the Bible. Know that there is life after death.

II.          KEY PHRASES FOR UNDERSTANDING

A.    Eternal Life

1. Jesus promised we as his followers would have eternal life.
   1. John 11:25-26 NKJV 25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. 26 And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?”

B.     Jesus’ Life an Example

1. God sent Jesus into the earth that us as humans could have eternal life. – John 3:16 NKJV 16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. –

C.     Resurrection of The Body

1. During the resurrection, we will be raised with a new spiritual body.  – 1 Corinthians 15:42-44 NKJV 42 So also is the resurrection of the dead. The body is sown in corruption, it is raised in incorruption. 43 It is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness, it is raised in power. 44 It is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body.

D.    Immortality of The Soul

1. Luke 23:42-43 NKJV
   42 Then he said to Jesus, “Lord, remember me when You come into Your kingdom.” 43 And Jesus said to him, “Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise.” – When your soul leaves your body, it will live again, if you are saved or born again.

III.          WHAT ARE WE?

1. The essence of who you are was what God breathed into you. When God made Adam, he did not live until God breathed His breath into him.
2. The reason we were put into this body of ours, is because this is how our minds relates to each other. The natural man has to understand from an anthropomorphic perspective.
3. Jesus had to come us in a body, because we could not comprehend His natural state. God’s presence in His normal state is just too much for our minds to comprehend II Corinthians 5:1 NKJV  “For we know that if our earthly house, this tent, is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.”– When we die, there is a separation of the body and soul. The soul leaves the body. The body goes back to decay and soul goes back to the originator who is God.
4. Your body is like a house. It is temporary housing for your soul. We often cry when a loved one dies, but really we should morn at birth of a child and celebrate at death of a saved loved one.

IV.          IS CREMATION A SIN?

1. Cremation is leaving bone behind. During cremation, a body is placed into a chamber that is 800 to 2000 degrees. The only thing that doesn’t burn completely is the bones.
   1. 1 Samuel 31:11-13 NKJV 11 Now when the inhabitants of Jabesh Gilead heard what the Philistines had done to Saul, 12 all the valiant men arose and traveled all night, and took the body of Saul and the bodies of his sons from the wall of Beth Shan; and they came to Jabesh and burned them there. 13 Then they took their bones and buried them under the tamarisk tree at Jabesh, and fasted seven days.
2. Is cremation a sin? No. The body is just the house or essence of who you are.
   1. 1 Corinthians 15:42-45 NKJV 42 So also is the resurrection of the dead. The body is sown in corruption, it is raised in incorruption. 43 It is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness, it is raised in power. 44 It is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body. 45 And so it is written, “The first man Adam became a living being.” The last Adam became a life-giving spirit.
   1. God is able to raise a person that has been cremated. It doesn’t matter if it is buried or cremated. 1 Thessalonians 4:16 NKJV 16 For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise
      first. – God made us from the dust and to dust it shall return.
   1. We want to glorify the flesh, but our flesh is not really who we are.
3. Job 34:14-15 NKJV 14 If He should set His heart on it, If He should gather to Himself His Spirit and His breath, 15 All flesh would perish together, And man would return to dust. – Funerals were meant for the living to remember the person who passed. If you were to research the bible, you won’t find one funeral that Jesus attended. There are only 2 incidents that even come close to Jesus attending a funeral
4. He went to Lazarus after he had died and raised him from the dead.
5. Jesus happen to come by as a grieving mother and others taking her dead son to the grave and having compassion for her, he touched the little boy and raised him from the dead.
6. God gives us life, breath in our lungs, and our spirits.
7. One day He will raise us with a body that will never wear out. We will have a new body.

V.          Sorcery, communication with the dead, divination

1. James 1:5 NKJV 5 If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him.
2. Leviticus 19:26 NKJV 26 ‘You shall not eat anything with the blood, nor shall you practice divination or soothsaying.
3. Deuteronomy 18:10 NKJV 10 There shall not be found among you anyone who makes his son or his daughter pass through the fire, or one who practices witchcraft, or a soothsayer, or one who interprets omens, or a sorcerer,
4. Galatians 5:19-20 NKJV 19 Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, 20 idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies,

E.     When you mess with demons, it opens the spirit world to the demonic.

1. Acts 7:57-60 NKJV 57 Then they cried out with a loud voice, stopped their ears, and ran at him with one accord; 58 and they cast him out of the city and stoned him. And the witnesses laid down their clothes at the feet of a young man named Saul. 59 And they stoned Stephen as he was calling on God and saying, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” 60 Then he knelt down and cried out with a loud voice, “Lord, do not charge them with this sin.” And when he had said this, he fell asleep.
   1. Acts 8:1-4 NKJV 1 Now Saul was consenting to his death. At that time a great persecution arose against the church which was at Jerusalem; and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles. 2 And devout men carried Stephen to his burial, and made great lamentation over him. 3 As for Saul, he made havoc of the church, entering every house, and dragging off men and women, committing them to prison. 4 Therefore those who were scattered went everywhere preaching the word.
   1. Acts 9:4-5 NKJV 4 Then he fell to the ground, and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?” 5 And he said, “Who are You, Lord?”
      Then the Lord said, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. It is hard for you to kick against the goads.”
   1. Philippians 1:21 NKJV 21 For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain.
   1. 1 Timothy 1:15 NKJV 15 This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief.

VI.          IS SUICIDE A SIN?

1. Does a person have a chance to repent in that split second before they die? What if it is mental illness that causes a person to commit suicide? Is this still a sin?

VII.          IMMEDIATE CONSCIOUSNESS

A.    After death, we transition to a place of immediate consciousness.

1. 2 Corinthians 5:8-10 NKJV 8 We are confident, yes, well pleased rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord. 9 Therefore we make it our aim, whether present or absent, to be well pleasing to Him. 10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad. – The body enters consciousness instantaneously even though the body dies.
   1. We learn from the story of the rich man and Lazarus that when Lazarus awoke, he knew that he was in the bosom of Abraham. This represents paradise.
   1. We also know that when the rich man arose, he immediately realized that he was in torment.
   1. We also know that the rich man was aware of Lazarus, because he asks Abraham if Lazarus could dip his finger in the water and drop it on his tongue. Lazarus on the other hand never speaks as if he is not aware of the torment that the rich man is going through.

VIII.          SLEEP VS. DEATH

• Sleep is for the believer and death is for the unbeliever.

A.    Three Biblical Examples

1. Jesus Referred to Death As Sleep On Two Occasions
   1. Jairus’ Daughter Was Only Sleeping
2. Matthew 9:18 NKJV 18 While He spoke these things to them, behold, a ruler came and worshiped Him, saying, “My daughter has just died, but come and lay Your hand on her and she will live.”
3. Matthew 9:23-24 NKJV 23 When Jesus came into the ruler’s house, and saw the flute players and the noisy crowd wailing, 24 He said to them, “Make room, for the girl is not dead, but sleeping.” And they ridiculed Him.
   1. Lazarus Was Only Sleeping
4. John 11:11-14 NKJV 11 These things He said, and after that He said to them, “Our friend Lazarus sleeps, but I go that I may wake him up.” 12 Then His disciples said, “Lord, if he sleeps he will get well.” 13 However, Jesus spoke of his death, but they thought that He was speaking about taking rest in sleep. 14 Then Jesus said to them plainly, “Lazarus is dead.

•  
• Stephen’s Statement
• Acts 7:59-60 NKJV 59 And they stoned Stephen as he was calling on God and saying, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” 60 Then he knelt down and cried out with a loud voice, “Lord, do not charge them with this sin.” And when he had said this, he fell asleep.
• He expected to be in the presence of the Lord immediately.
• People who have a relationship with Jesus Christ, they are not dead. They are just asleep.
• David’s Body Decayed
• Acts 13:36-37 NKJV 36 “For David, after he had served his own generation by the will of God, fell asleep, was buried with his fathers, and saw corruption; 37 but He whom God raised up saw no corruption. – His body, not his spirit, saw corruption.
• On this side, we experience a lot of mess, but on the other side, we experience the Peace of God.

IX.          REST UNTIL THE RAPTURE

1. John 5:25-29 NKJV 25 Most assuredly, I say to you, the hour is coming, and now is, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God; and those who hear will live. 26 For as the Father has life in Himself, so He has granted the Son to have life in Himself, 27 and has given Him authority to execute judgment also, because He is the Son of Man. 28 Do not marvel at this; for the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear His voice 29 and come forth—those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation. – We are raised from a state of sleep. We are aware of the presence of God, but we are sleep.
2. Psalm 16:10 NKJV 10 For You will not leave my soul in Sheol,
   Nor will You allow Your Holy One to see corruption. – Sheol is hell.

X.          WILL WE KNOW OUR LOVES ONES AFTER DEATH?

1. The spirit will know the spirit, but not the flesh. On this side, we can only process what we have known. We know each other now carnally. We know each other by how we look.
2. In the spirit, we will know each other by our spirits. When God makes us over, there is no time or measurement. Light skin, big or small doesn’t exist in the spirit realm. All these things are of the flesh.
   1. In the spirit realm, the essence of who you are is completely different.

C.     What will time be like?

1. There is no time. The morning you were born, you started aging. You were born to die in a sense. When we die and are raised again, there will be no aging, because the spirit realm will be timeless.
   1. Before sin entered into the garden, Adam wouldn’t age and wouldn’t have died.  We were originally intended to live forever.   
   1. When we die, we will return to the state we were intentionally meant to be. We will be made over in a spirit state.
   1. When you die, instantly you will know if you are in the presence of God or not. Some people believe that being absent from the Lord’s present is considered being in Hell .
   1. Hell has been depicted of fire and place of suffering.
2. What is purgatory? Some people believe that there is a place of limbo when we die. In this place, you are not in heaven and you are not in hell. You would be in limbo and this is what people call purgatory.
   1. There is no purgatory. The bible doesn’t speak it at all.
   1. God gave us the choice to love him or not.

XI.          IS HELL REAL?

1. Luke 16:23 NKJV 23 And being in torments in Hades, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom – When a person dies and hasn’t lived right, wake up in torment. A person who gave their life to Christ, wakes up in the presence of God.

XII.          HEAVEN IS A PLACE OF REST

• There is no communing between this world and that world. (the after life).
  • Luke 16:23 NKJV 23 And being in torments in Hades, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. – Notice that the rich man saw Lazarus in the bosom of Abraham, but he never talked to Lazarus. He was only able to talk to Abraham
  • Hebrews 11:13-16 NKJV 13 These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off were assured of them, embraced them and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. 14 For those who say such things declare plainly that they seek a homeland. 15 And truly if they had called to mind that country from which they had come out, they would have had opportunity to return. 16 But now they desire a better, that is, a heavenly country. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared a city for them.
• Heaven and Hell is real. The choice however, is ours. Live in a way that when you die, eternal life will be yours.
• As a believer, we should find comfort in knowing that absent from the body is present with the Lord.