After Life

2 Corinthians 4:18 So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since

what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.

Prudence: “Christian, when do you find yourself in your most wholesome, vigorous and

spiritual state?”

“When I think about the place to which I am going.”

– Christian, Pilgrim’s Progress, John Bunyan

2 Corinthians 5:6-8 So we are always of good courage. We know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord, 7 for we walk by faith, not by sight. 8 Yes, we are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord.

IN HEAVEN...

1. Everything is ___________.

Revelation 21:1 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.

Revelation 21:2 And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.

John 21:5 And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.”

2 Corinthians 5:1-4 For we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands. 2 Meanwhile we groan, longing to be clothed instead with our heavenly dwelling, 3 because when we are clothed, we will not be found naked. 4 For while we are in this tent, we groan and are burdened, because we do not wish to be unclothed but to be clothed instead with our heavenly dwelling, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life.

2. God is ______________.

Revelation 21:3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling

place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God

himself will be with them as their God.

3. ________________ is no more.

Revelation 21:4 He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no

more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former

things have passed away.”

4. Satisfaction will _____________ ______.

Revelation 21:6 And he said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the

beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give from the spring of the water of life

without payment.

5. Not ______________________ will be there.

Revelation 21:8 But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers,

the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake

that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.”

AFTER LIFE – PART 3

FAITH THAT IS BIGGER

Psalm 23:4 Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.

1. Your faith has to be bigger than life, or you will lose hope.

2 Corinthians 5:7-8 For we live by faith, not by sight. 8 We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord.

• Never let your feelings become bigger than your faith.
• Remember death distorts your emotions.

Anger

Temptation

Emotional low

2. Death is hard on us. It is not hard on them.

Psalm 116:15 Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his faithful servants.

• They know they will see you in a couple hours.

2 Peter 3:8 But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day.

• Even with all we know, there are things we wish we would have done.

Philippians 3:13 Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead.

• Our friends aren't mad, they are cheering.

Hebrews 12:1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses…

3. If you are living through it with them, make their last moments good moments.

• Whenever you worship, you are standing side by side with them.

Ephesians 3:14-15 For this reason I kneel before the Father, 15 from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name.

4. One of our most troubling questions is what happens to the person who says they believe but they live as though they don’t?

In Luke, Jesus gives us a glimpse of the Father’s heart.

Luke 17:6 So the Lord said, “If you have faith as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be pulled up by the roots and be planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you.

• Live your life in a way that there is no question.
• It’s ultimately God’s call in the end.

Matthew 13:29-30 But he said, ‘No, lest while you gather up the tares you also uproot the wheat with them. 30 Let both grow together until the harvest, and at the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, “First gather together the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my barn.”’

5. Praying for those who are close to you but far from God.

• You are not trying to talk God into doing something that He doesn’t want you to do.

2 Peter 3:9 …but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.

• Let your life be bigger than your prayers.

2 Peter 3:1 Beloved, I now write to you this second epistle (in both of which I stir up your pure minds by way of reminder)

• Be for other people what you would want people to be to your loved ones.

Luke 10:2 (NCV) He said to them, “There are a great many people to harvest, but there are only a few workers. So pray to God, who owns the harvest, that he will send more workers to help gather his harvest.”

• Make Paul’s prayer in Ephesians personal.

Ephesians 1:16-20 I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers.¹⁷ I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give ________ the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that ________ may know him better. ¹⁸ I pray that the eyes of ________’s heart may be enlightened in order that _______ may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, ¹⁹ and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is the same as the mighty strength ²⁰ he exerted when he raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms,

Ephesians 3:17-19 so that Christ may dwell in _________ heart through faith. And I pray that _______, being rooted and established in love, ¹⁸ may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, ¹⁹ and that _______ would know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

• Tell the story.

AFTER LIFE – PART 2

A GLIMPSE OF HEAVEN

Psalm 23:4 Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.

“…a continual looking forward to the eternal world is not (as some modern people think) a form of escapism or wishful thinking, but one of the things a Christian is meant to do. It does not mean that we are to leave the present world as it is. If you read history, you will find that the Christians who did most for the present world were just those who thought most of the next. The Apostles themselves, who set on foot the conversion of the Roman Empire, the great men who built up the Middle Ages, the English Evangelicals who abolished the Slave Trade, all left their mark on Earth, precisely because their minds were occupied with Heaven. It is since Christians have largely ceased to think of the other world that they have become so ineffective in this.” – C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity

John 4:24 (ESV) God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.

Deuteronomy 30:19_a (KJV) I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life.

1.  Death is an ENEMY.

1 Corinthians 15:25-26 For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. ²⁶The last enemy to be destroyed is death.

Philippians 1:21-23 For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. ²²If I am to go on living in the body, this will mean fruitful labor for me. Yet what shall I choose? I do not know! ²³I am torn between the two: I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far;

2.  Grief is the price of LOVE.

John 11:35 Jesus wept.

3.  There are questions you will never ANSWER this side of heaven.

Deuteronomy 29:29 The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may follow all the words of this law.

• Don't let your questions become BIGGER than your faith.

4.  Going to heaven isn't FAILURE.

2 Corinthians 12:4 was caught up to paradise and heard inexpressible things, things that no one is permitted to tell.

5.  Death isn't a MYSTERY.

Luke 16:19-22 There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and lived in luxury every day.²⁰At his gate was laid a beggar named Lazarus, covered with sores ²¹and longing to eat what fell from the rich man’s table. Even the dogs came and licked his sores. ²²The time came when the beggar died and the angels carried him to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried.

2 Corinthians 12:2-3 I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago—whether in the body I do not know, or whether out of the body I do not know, God knows—such a one was caught up to the third heaven. ³And I know such a man—whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows—

• The dead are not ALONE. The angels are there to meet them.

Luke 16:22 The time came when the beggar died and the angels carried him to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried.

• They possess a PHYSICAL form.

Luke 16:23 In Hades, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side. 

Luke 16:24 So he called to him, ‘Father Abraham, have pity on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in agony in this fire.’

• They have AWARENESS.

Luke 16:23 In Hades, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side. 

• They know MORE, not less.

Luke 16:24 So he called to him, ‘Father Abraham, have pity on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in agony in this fire.’

• The decisions you make this side of heaven are LASTING.

Luke 16:25 But Abraham replied, ‘Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, while Lazarus received bad things, but now he is comforted here and you are in agony. 

• There is a heaven to gain and a hell to AVOID.

AFTER LIFE - PART 1

Everyone Lives Forever…Somewhere

There are 6 common views of life after death

1. Naturalist: when you die, you’re done 
2. Reincarnation: The ultimate recycling experience
3. Cosmic destiny: Become one with the universe
4. Christian: Faith is the key to heaven and hell
5. Purgatory: The ultimate holding tank 
6. Universalist: All roads lead to God.

Ecclesiastes 3:11 He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end.

There is more to life than this life.

• Your spirit and soul aren't disposable.
• You are an eternal being.
• You can't evade responsibility.
• You have been given a will.
• You have a choice.
• As a Christian we know that the decisions we make on earth determine our destiny beyond this.

Hell is real. Jesus taught more about Hell than any other individual because He didn't want people to end up there.

• God the Father felt the same way; that’s why He gave His Son.
• Heaven isn't the ultimate pleasure factory.
• Heaven is about a relationship with God. It is where the will of God is fully manifested.
• If you don't want a little God down here, why would you want a lot of God up there?
• All the metaphors about hell are God simply giving people what they want: A life without Him.
• Outer darkness is a place where His presence is not active.
• Burning fire is where someone's desires are unimpeded.
• Weeping and gnashing of teeth means living knowing that those desires will never fulfill you.
• Hell is about not having a relationship with God.

Hell was never created for man.

Matthew 25:41 Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.

• Man was always intended to have a relationship with God.
• But if people persist in wanting a life without God, He lets them have it.

Romans 1:24 Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. he gave them up

Romans 1:26 Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural sexual relations for unnatural ones.   

Romans 1:28 Furthermore, just as they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, so God gave them over to a depraved mind, so that they do what ought not to be done.

• God the Father will let people have what they want: A life without Him.
• But He sent His Son so they can have a life with Him.