WHAT IS NEXT?

The most important thing that may occupy the mind of man is the events that may occur after physical death. Now, physical death happens to all living creatures, whether male or female; every living thing will eventually die. The end of man is the time in which he/she expires [I.e. physically dies]. When a person dies, that person will eventually turn to dust, the same as if they had never lived. The great problem for people today who are still alive is, “What Happens After Death?”

The evidence of physical death is present in every breath that a person takes. As I go from place to place in my travels, I have observed the burial places of many people. There are gardens of stone [I.e. burial sites] everywhere, these sites attest to the fact that men and women of all ages, sexes, and nationalities die and are buried somewhere.

WHAT IS MAN’S PURPOSE?

One of the great questions that continues to occur in man’s mind as he/she lives on the earth is, “what am I to do and where am I to ultimately go?” Indeed, the questions that surfaces as people live from birth to the death bed is “what is ahead after I die” is there life or some form of existence after I have expired? How many times in our lives have we contemplated this age-old question? Indeed, many times the answer to this question is elusive in our world because of the free moral agency [I.e. ability to make choices between two or more possibilities}.

TO ANSWER THE QUESTION

{I.e. to arrive at a conclusion}

The answer that the humanist, atheist, and skeptic accept is; “man is an animal just like a dog, sheep, monkey or lizard, when he dies he ceases to exist.” This philosophy is the most prevalent mind set for humankind since the dawning of human existence. There is a degree of satisfaction for these people especially if they live and interact like a dog, a sheep, a monkey or a lizard. If this is all that mankind is and all is consummated at death there is nothing wrong with this concept that man has concocted from within his own mind [i.e. human wisdom has dictated this concept to them].

Yet, there is one thing wrong with this concept of man’s state after he dies; what if there is something after physical death? Indeed, whatever a person dies with as a resume of his/her past life they must ultimately face after death, if there is an after life.

CAN I KNOW FOR SURE?

While we may choose the life and end of the humanist, we will also experience the after-death existence predicated upon whatever conditions are prevalent in that state.

While man cannot know what is after physical death for sure he can know that there is another view of death and the after death state of all humanity, Indeed, every person from the first man to the last man on earth will face a great trial after death sometime in the future of mankind.

IS IT POSSIBLE?

Is it possible that GOD EXISTS? Indeed, if God exist then everything is different for everyone who has ever lives on the earth; Adam, Eve, King David, The Sodomites of the plain cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, the great flood is a reality, and everything in the Bible is true. As the apostle, Paul has stated well, “What shall be the end of those that obey not the gospel of God’s son, Jesus Christ?”

{2 Thessalonians 1:6-10, “6 if so be that it is righteous thing with God to recompense affliction to them that afflict you, 7 and to you that are afflicted rest with us, at the revelation of the Lord Jesus from heaven with the angels of his power in flaming fire, 8 rendering vengeance to them that know not God, and to them that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus: 9 who shall suffer punishment, (even) eternal destruction from the face of the Lord and from the glory of his might, 10 when he shall come to be glorified in his saints, and to be marveled at in all them that believed (because our testimony unto you was believed) in that day.“ ASV

WHERE IS THE EVIDENCE THAT IS IT IMPOSSIBLE?

The truthfulness of the claim that God exist and that the Bible is given to man directly from God cannot be denied. To affirm that the Bible is not from God or that God does not exist is just as believable as the big bang theory that brought the earth into existence from nothing. Indeed, how can a person believe that the theory of evolution is possible and deny that God exist and that the Bible has been preserved for man so that after physical death he/she may find a paradise to live in rather than accept that physical death is all that there is and that when man dies all is gone, everything is lost.

WHAT HAPPENS AFTER PHYSICAL DEATH?

The spirit leaves the dead physical body and returns to God. Eccl 12:6-7, “6 before the silver cord is loosed, or the golden bowl is broken, or the pitcher is broken at the fountain, or the wheel broken at the cistern, 7 and the dust returned to the earth as it was, and the spirit returned unto God who gave it.”

David was confident even in his day that the soul will survive through physical death as is shown in the Psalms:

NOTE the following passages of Scripture:

Psalms 16:10, “For thou wilt not leave my soul to Sheol; neither wilt thou suffer thy holy one to see corruption.” ASV

Psalms 25:13, “His soul shall dwell at ease; and his seed shall inherit the land.

Psalms 30:3, “O Jehovah, thou hast brought up my soul from Sheol; Thou hast kept me alive, that I should not go down to the pit.” ASV

Psalms 33:19-20, “19 to deliver their soul from death, and to keep them alive in famine. 20 Our soul hath waited for Jehovah: He is our help and our shield.” ASV

Psalms 49:15, “But God will redeem my soul from the power of Sheol; for he will receive me. (Selah)” ASV

Psalms 23:1-6,

“1 Jehovah is my shepherd; I shall not want.

2 He makes me to lie down in green pastures; He leadeth me beside still waters.

3 He restores my soul: He guides me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake.

4 Yea, thou I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for thou art with me; Thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me.

5 Thou prepare a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: Thou hast anointed my head with oil; my cup runneth over.

6Surely goodness and loving-kindness shall follow me all the days of my life; and I shall dwell in the house of Jehovah for ever.”

THE RICH MAN AND LAZARUS

A CASE OF LIFE AFTER DEATH - THE SOUL [i.e. SPIRIT] CONTINUES ON, THE SPIRIT IS CONSCIOUS DURING THIS PERIOD ACCORDING TO THE TEXT HERE IN Luke 16.

Luke 16:19-26,

“19 Now there was a certain rich man, and he was clothed in purple and fine linen, faring sumptuously every day:

20 and a certain beggar named Lazarus was laid at his gate, full of sores,

21 and desiring to be fed with the (crumbs) that fell from the rich man's table; yea, even the dogs came and licked his sores.

22 And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and that he was carried away by the angels into Abraham's bosom: and the rich man also died, and was buried.

23 And in Hades he lifted up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.

24 And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am in anguish in this flame.

25 But Abraham said, Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime received thy good things, and Lazarus in like manner evil things: but now here he is comforted, and thou art in anguish.

26 And besides all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed, that they that would pass from hence to you may not be able, and that none may cross over from thence to us.”

EDITOR’S COMMENTS:

Verse 22, tells us that THE BEGGER WAS IN PARADISE AFTER HE DIED

Verse 23, 24, tells us that the rich man was in a place of torments [plural]

Verse 25, 26 tells us that the two souls {i.e. the rich man & Lazarus] were in the same state but were separated from each other by an impassable gulf [I.e. great gulf].

From research through the years I am convinced that there is a place prepared by God to receive the soul [i.e. spirit] of each person, reserving them for the great day of judgment that will occur someday yet future; cf. Rev 20:13-15, “13 And the sea gave up the dead that were in it; and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. 14 And death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death, (even) the lake of fire. 15 And if any was not found written in the book of life, he was cast into the lake of fire.”

John 12:48, “He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my sayings, hath one that judgeth him: the word that I spoke, the same shall judge him in the last day.”

After the trumpet of God sounds, all that are alive will be changed, the dead small and great will arise, then death [i.e. the grave] and Hades will give up their dead,

1 Thess 4:15-5:1,

“15 For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we that are alive, that are left unto the coming of the Lord, shall in no wise precede them that are fallen asleep.

16 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven, with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first;

17 then we that are alive, that are left, shall together with them be caught up in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.

18 Wherefore comfort one another with these words.” ASV

1 Cor 15:51-53,

“51 Behold, I tell you a mystery: We all shall not sleep, but we shall all be changed,

52 in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.

53 for this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.” ASV

EDITOR’S CONCLUSIONS

So far as I can understand the following are the events that will take place after physical death:

1. The eternal spirit returns to God - Eccl 12:7, “and the dust returneth to the earth as it was, and the spirit returneth unto God who gave it.“

2. The soul is reserved in either paradise or torments in Hades [I.e. the unseen abode of all the dead of all ages] ---- Luke 16:19-26 [I.e. page 3]

3, The resurrection someday in the future - 1 Cor. 15:22-26

4. The assignment of the righteous and the wicked to their final [I.e. eternal abode] - Rev. 20:10-21”8

DO NOT TAKE A CHANCE!

Determine to choose God’s Way

You must choose whether to follow humanism or follow God in your life. You cannot make a choice after you have died; you must choose to serve God now before it is too late. The time that we have to make a decision is relatively short; let us make the decision before our time runs out. Let us make the decision to serve God today. “Today is the day!

By Garreth L. Clair via the Hilliard Bulletin Vol.10, No 4, April 2008

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