The King's Church in Ilford
Reading: 1Thess 4:13-18
There's one question that we all want to know the answer to: "What happens when we die?" It's strange that the one Book that says more about this than any other - the Bible, is the one most rejected by people. It's not surprising then that the answer to this question has become a bit of a free-for-all, and it appears to be OK to believe what you like. That is a hell of a risk to take! Yet novels and film scripts abound with stories about life after death. "Ghost", "Heaven Can Wait", "Truly, Madly, Deeply", "Titanic" & "Gladiator"- are just some titles that come to mind, all with very confusing ideas about what happens after death - but God doesn't feature in any of them - let alone any mention of Jesus!
They didn't have cinema in Paul's day, which in the light of the above was probably a good thing! But Greek ideas too, about life after death were a bit confusing. Yet these new Believers knew that Jesus had risen from the dead, and that now Christians have a hope of eternal life, but it was still a bit confusing, and they needed reassurance. So Paul answers two burning questions:
What happens to Christians after they die? and
What happens to those who don't die?
Let's be realistic. Most of us are not very keen to die; yet the Bible tells us that to live is Christ, and to die is gain - for the Believer. Yet in the midst of all our teaching on discipleship, prayer, giving, spiritual warfare, not to mention healing, the one thing that is certain - ahead of Christ's coming - is that we will one day die. And yet most of us are not prepared for death. We tend not to talk about it very much. These days we have a built-in expectation of about 80 years, but the fact is, we don't know when we will die. Our next-door neighbour, Mickey, drowned two weeks ago at 39. Carol Walsh died recently at 51. Sometimes people speak of a drop in the death rate. There's never a drop in the death rate - only a delay perhaps.
Even those Jesus raised from the dead, died again some time later. You can visit two tombs of Lazarus, one at Bethany, and one on Cyprus. So then, if death is such a certainty, we need to be clear about what's going to happen when it does. Certainly if after death, that's it - oblivion, then our being here this morning is a waste of time. What are we worshipping? If there is nothing beyond death, there was nothing for Jesus beyond death. We might sing, "Worthy is the Lamb", but there's no lamb. He's dead and gone! Worship is pointless. We'd be better off doing something else on Sunday mornings. Forget the church.
This is exactly how Paul argues it in 1Cor 15:13-19 (read it)
Paul is so confident that death is gain for the Believer, that he pictures himself in a struggle to choose between staying in this life, or going to be with Christ.
(Phil 1:23. Perhaps we don't always share Paul's preference because of the pain it would cause to others if we went. If it's someone we love that goes, it may be gain for them, but for us there is a sense of loss and loneliness. Do we really believe we're going to see them again?
This is the point at which Paul comes in, in our passage today. He doesn't want us to be ignorant about those who have fallen asleep; nor does he want us to grieve as those who have no hope. There is a right grief which is healing. We need to allow ourselves time and space to work through it; but to do so in the knowledge that our parting is temporary. There is also a wrong kind of grief where if we don't let go of grief at the right time, it starts to eat away at us, and destroys us emotionally. It can even become an entry point for the enemy, and I've known people who needed to be delivered from a spirit of grief.
So what happens to us immediately after we die? We hear plenty of testimonies from people who've had near death experiences. Lazarus, having been dead for four days, must have quite a story to tell - yet we read not a word of it in the Scriptures. Paul, it appears, had a vision of heaven and was unable to report on it. He heard inexpressible things, things that man is not permitted to tell. I'm not saying these other testimonies are necessarily untrue. I am suggesting we take them at face-value, and don't try to build a doctrine of Heaven from them!
In basic terms, at death the Believer goes to heaven, and the nonbeliever goes to hell. But actually this is too simplistic. It is important to understand that there is a distinction between death and final judgement in that they occur at different times - unless you are alive when Jesus returns. The NT tends to use the term "sleep" to describe the death of a Christian. At Stephen's death in Acts 7:60, he commits his spirit into Jesus' hands, "and when he had said this," records Luke, "he fell asleep." Perhaps it's trying to convey the temporary-ness of our condition, and is looking to the resurrection of the body.
Some have suggested a doctrine known as "soul sleep", meaning that when a Christian dies, there is no further consciousness until the return of Christ. He will then be awakened by the blast of the trumpet and the cry of the archangel, and will rise with a resurrection body. The rest of Scripture doesn't really support this idea. Jesus said to the dying thief, "Today, you will be with me in Paradise." Also, in the parable of Lazarus and the rich man, both are held in a conscious state, but in rather different places! Paul talks of preferring to be away from the body, and at home with the Lord; and Stephen sees Jesus stand up to greet him as he enters heaven.
So what we have is a period that Bible scholars call the Intermediate State. Our earthly bodies have died and our spirits have gone to be with the Lord, but we haven't got our new heavenly bodies yet. In this state, we should, strictly speaking, describe the Christian's spirit as being with the Lord in paradise, although in practice we simplify it and say that the Christian who has died is in heaven with the Lord. The Westminster Confession speaks of those in paradise as having been made "perfect, (and who have been) received into highest heaven where they behold the face of God in light and glory, while waiting the full redemption of their bodies." If that's Paradise, it sounds pretty heavenly, but the Bible is making a distinction that suggests it's not our final destination!
What and where that is, will be apparent after Christ Second Coming, and after we get our new bodies - both of which happen at the same time. In v.14, Paul says "we believe that God will bring with Jesus those that have fallen asleep in Him." But in v.16 he says, "the dead in Christ shall rise first." This apparent contraction is resolved when we realise that spirits of Believers will come back with Jesus to be reunited with their now glorified bodies.
When this has happened, "we who are left alive will also be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air". Now this is the event referred to by many as the Rapture. I remember Barry Macguire once saying, "Can you imagine how we're going to applaud when the Lord comes back?" Annie Herring immediately retorted, "We're not going to applaud. We're going to fly!" This is the moment when those still alive are changed - in the twinkling of an eye - from having perishable bodies, to having imperishable bodies.
Those who die as nonbelievers will also experience an Intermediate State, for their bodies too will be raised at the return of Christ for final judgement. (Read John 5:28-29). What kind of bodies they will have the Bible doesn't tell us. They will have been in a place the OT calls Sheol. Nothing particularly good or bad happens there, it's simply a place of waiting. A bit like a doctor's waiting room where you don't know if you're going to get good or bad news! The NT translates Sheol as Hades, not Hell. The Greek word for Hell is Gehenna, which is the place of final condemnation. There is nobody in Gehenna at the moment. Strictly speaking, everyone who dies goes to Hades, but in the NT, it becomes apparent that Hades has two parts to it with the spirits of the Redeemed being in Paradise awaiting the Return of Jesus and their resurrection bodies. The spirits of the unredeemed are held in the other part of Hades awaiting final judgement. (See Dives & Lazarus - Luke 16:19ff)
When Jesus returns and all come before the great white throne, judgement is passed, and the eternal state of both the Redeemed and the Unredeemed begins in either Heaven or Hell. If you're not sure that you are among the Redeemed this morning, let me urge you to make sure before leaving this meeting. We don't know when Jesus is coming back. What you can be sure of is that it'll be at a time when you don't expect Him. But then it will be too late!