This is a message that I have presented on a couple of different occasions. I hope it will clearly explain where a person goes after death.
Where Are They Now?
Ecclesiastes 3:11 says, “He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end.”
At the end of the “Lord of the Rings: Return of the King” Frodo is speaking when he says, “Bilbo once told me his part in this tale would end, but each of us must come and go in the telling. Bilbo’s story was now over. There would be no more journeys for him say one.”
Have you ever noticed that people at funerals try to comfort themselves by saying, “He or she is in a better place now.” or “My, my, doesn’t he or she look good?” Most people don’t have a clue as to what happens to a person when they die. Most people wonder where are they now and how are things going with them.
1 Thessalonians 4:13-14
13 And now, dear brothers and sisters, we want you to know what will happen to the believers who have died so you will not grieve like people who have no hope. 14 For since we believe that Jesus died and was raised to life again, we also believe that when Jesus returns, God will bring back with him the believers who have died.
This passage is a very comforting passage for the person who believes in the Lord Jesus Christ. What about the people who do not believe, who do not acknowledge the Lord? What about the masses of people who have no concern for eternal things? Are they just taken away to a better place because they have died?
It would be better said that heaven is where those who don’t go to hell reside. Most people believe only the worst of people go to hell. Reality says everyone deserves hell some are saved into heaven.
The following message is going to be very difficult for anyone who has the thought that everyone goes to a wonderful place when they die. This message is going to cut to the core of what you believe about life after death. This message is going to answer the question, “Where Are They Now?”
When the earthly body dies, we are told by the Scriptures that, the soul of man does not die but it is separated from the body and delivered to another place. Man’s soul is an eternal creation. The body dies due to sin but the soul lives on after death in one of two places. There is no such thing as soul sleep in the Scriptures. There is no such thing as purgatory in the Scriptures. Your eternal destination will be decided while living in your body and the reality of your belief will determine your eternal future.
Jesus used a story about afterlife to make this point clear. This is a true story signified by the way Jesus uses a real person by name in the story.
Luke 16:19-31
19 Jesus said, “There was a certain rich man who was splendidly clothed in purple and fine linen and who lived each day in luxury. 20 At his gate lay a poor man named Lazarus who was covered with sores. 21 As Lazarus lay there longing for scraps from the rich man’s table, the dogs would come and lick his open sores.
22 “Finally, the poor man died and was carried by the angels to be with Abraham. The rich man also died and was buried, 23 and his soul went to the place of the dead. There, in torment, he saw Abraham in the far distance with Lazarus at his side.
24 “The rich man shouted, ‘Father Abraham, have some pity! Send Lazarus over here to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue. I am in anguish in these flames.’
25 “But Abraham said to him, ‘Son, remember that during your lifetime you had everything you wanted, and Lazarus had nothing. So now he is here being comforted, and you are in anguish. 26 And besides, there is a great chasm separating us. No one can cross over to you from here, and no one can cross over to us from there.’
27 “Then the rich man said, ‘Please, Father Abraham, at least send him to my father’s home. 28 For I have five brothers, and I want him to warn them so they don’t end up in this place of torment.’
29 “But Abraham said, ‘Moses and the prophets have warned them. Your brothers can read what they wrote.’
30 “The rich man replied, ‘No, Father Abraham! But if someone is sent to them from the dead, then they will repent of their sins and turn to God.’
31 “But Abraham said, ‘If they won’t listen to Moses and the prophets, they won’t listen even if someone rises from the dead.’ ”
First we have to understand that this is an Old Testament story. Jesus has not yet died on the cross and resurrected back from the dead.
With this information let’s look at the passage.
There are two places in which those who have passed from the body go. One is the place of the dead or Hades. The other is Abraham’s bosom or paradise. Between these two places is a great chasm that cannot be crossed.
Don’t think that the rich man is in Hades because he was rich and the Lazarus was in paradise because he was poor. Abraham explains that faith and belief in the revelation of God that these two men had available determines their destiny.
27 “Then the rich man said, ‘Please, Father Abraham, at least send him to my father’s home. 28 For I have five brothers, and I want him to warn them so they don’t end up in this place of torment.’
29 “But Abraham said, ‘Moses and the prophets have warned them. Your brothers can read what they wrote.’
30 “The rich man replied, ‘No, Father Abraham! But if someone is sent to them from the dead, then they will repent of their sins and turn to God.’
31 “But Abraham said, ‘If they won’t listen to Moses and the prophets, they won’t listen even if someone rises from the dead.’ ”
As we see from this illustration there is no second chances. What you read in the Scriptures and hear from the prophets, and then believe in your heart, determines your eternal destiny. At death your eternal destiny is sealed. There are no second chances.
The picture is not pretty. The rich man is in a place of torment. It is a place of flames. It is a place of remembrance. He is thirsty. And the most difficult part is he can see the other side and realizes that he would rather be on the other side but there is no way to cross over. He also realizes that his family, that was left behind, is still living in sin and needs to be warned about the reality of this horrible afterlife.
Could you imagine living for all eternity in a place like this with all that is pictured here.
Let me tell you that this is just the start of the torment. Hades is a place of waiting. This is not the final destiny of those who die in their sin without believing in the truth of the Scriptures.
Revelation 20:11-15
11 Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. Earth and sky fled from his presence, and there was no place for them. 12 And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books. 13 The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and each person was judged according to what he had done. 14 Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death. 15 If anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.
By the way, the name’s of the people who are in Hades will not be in the book of life. Remember the angels carried Lazarus to be with Abraham. The rich man was buried and his soul went to the place of the dead.
The rich man was never born again. He never received spiritual life. According to God’s Holy Scriptures he was dead in the body and will suffer the second death.
I firmly believe by what we have been told through the Scriptures that Hades is still in the business of holding the dead until the final judgment. Those who do not believe in Jesus Christ, His atonement for their sin, His resurrection to life, His ascension to the eternal throne of God, His way of salvation, are DEAD! They have no hope of anything but torment in Hades and the reality of the second death in the Lake of Fire.
Why is it so important for me to make sure you hear this message? There is no chance for salvation after you pass from the body and into eternity. What you believe right now will determine your eternal destiny and time is running out on all of us. Your last breath could be breathed today.
So what happens to all those who have been carried off to Abraham’s side or paradise?
I’m so glad you asked.
Paradise was a pre-ascension holding place for the saints who had faith in the revelation of God that they had available in their day.
Jesus had not yet died on the cross, He had not yet ascended into heaven where He is now preparing a place for those who believe. But on the day Jesus died there were some mighty things that happened.
Luke 23:40-43
40 But the other criminal protested, “Don’t you fear God even when you have been sentenced to die? 41 We deserve to die for our crimes, but this man hasn’t done anything wrong.” 42 Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your Kingdom.”
43 And Jesus replied, “I assure you, today you will be with me in paradise.”
The thief on the cross came to believe in Jesus and Jesus assured the thief that he would be with Jesus in paradise. Jesus is headed for paradise after He dies on the cross.
Ephesians 4:7
7 But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it. 8 This is why it says: “When he ascended on high, he led captives in his train and gave gifts to men.”
Now we are about to see something else that is pretty spectacular. Jesus is about ready to take those who have been waiting in paradise to heaven.
Matthew 27:51-53
51 At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook and the rocks split. 52 The tombs broke open and the bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life. 53 They came out of the tombs, and after Jesus’ resurrection they went into the holy city and appeared to many people.
Where do you think all these holy people went? These are the captives that Jesus took to heaven in his train.
2 Corinthians 12:3-4
2 I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven. Whether it was in the body or out of the body I do not know—God knows. 3 And I know that this man—whether in the body or apart from the body I do not know, but God knows— 4 was caught up to paradise. He heard inexpressible things, things that man is not permitted to tell.
Paradise is now in the third heaven. We’ve discussed this before. The first heaven is earth’s atmosphere. The second heaven is outer space or the universe. The third heaven is where God resides.
Revelation 2:7
7 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.
The tree of eternal life.
Genesis 3:22
22 And the LORD God said, “The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever.”
So the tree of life was taken into the paradise of God which is in heaven. The only people who can eat from the tree of life are those who overcome this world and it’s ways. These are the people who fear God and come to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ for their salvation.
For those who do not believe eternal doom awaits them in Hades and then the second death in the Lake of Fire.
By the way, when the earthly body dies we will be given spiritual bodies in which we will live and experience all these things.
2 Corinthians 5:1-10
For we know that when this earthly tent we live in is taken down (that is, when we die and leave this earthly body), we will have a house in heaven, an eternal body made for us by God himself and not by human hands. 2 We grow weary in our present bodies, and we long to put on our heavenly bodies like new clothing. 3 For we will put on heavenly bodies; we will not be spirits without bodies. 4 While we live in these earthly bodies, we groan and sigh, but it’s not that we want to die and get rid of these bodies that clothe us. Rather, we want to put on our new bodies so that these dying bodies will be swallowed up by life. 5 God himself has prepared us for this, and as a guarantee he has given us his Holy Spirit.
6 So we are always confident, even though we know that as long as we live in these bodies we are not at home with the Lord. 7 For we live by believing and not by seeing. 8 Yes, we are fully confident, and we would rather be away from these earthly bodies, for then we will be at home with the Lord. 9 So whether we are here in this body or away from this body, our goal is to please him. 10 For we must all stand before Christ to be judged. We will each receive whatever we deserve for the good or evil we have done in this earthly body.
The Christian judgment takes place at the moment we agree with God that we are sinners and need salvation, forgiveness and redemption. This is the point called Justification. The Christian is justified right with God in this earthly realm when he believes in God and His Word. The non-Christian is never justified right with God because he never agrees with or believes what God says about his condition before God.
Salvation is by God’s grace through our faith in all that He has said. What we believe determines our justification before God. Our justification seals us with God’s Spirit. God’s Spirit then begins to make our souls ready for our eternal destiny.
I hope this message has answered the question, “Where Are They Now?”
I hope this message has opened your eyes, ears, minds, and hearts to the importance of making sure you are believing in the Scriptures and what they have to teach about God, Jesus, and eternal destiny, RIGHT NOW!
You do not want to pass from this earth and into eternity without knowing the Lord. I don’t believe you want people who are close to you to pass from this life without knowing Jesus Christ.
The stakes are high.
The rich man had gained everything he desired in the world but after his life was over he became the beggar. He desired much and had no ability to change his destiny. He desired water, he desired the other side of the chasm, he desired that his family could be warned.
All the rich man was left with was the reality of the Word of God. Time is short and even if you gain the whole world, is it worth losing your soul?
This is the question you must answer.
The Scriptures are real and true. You may not believe them but that doesn’t change their reality.
John 14:1-6
“Don’t let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, and trust also in me. 2 There is more than enough room in my Father’s home. If this were not so, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you? 3 When everything is ready, I will come and get you, so that you will always be with me where I am. 4 And you know the way to where I am going.”
5 “No, we don’t know, Lord,” Thomas said. “We have no idea where you are going, so how can we know the way?”
6 Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me.
Jesus said, He is the Truth, He is the Way, and He is the Life, there is no way to the Father, no way to resurrection, no way to paradise, and no way to an eternal destiny in heaven outside of Him.
Do you believe this? I hope so. I hate hearing people say at funerals, “There in a better place now,” especially when they have no understanding or knowledge of God’s truth.
Where Are They Now? It all depends upon what they believe in their heart about the Word of God.
29 “But Abraham said, ‘Moses and the prophets have warned them. Your brothers can read what they wrote.’
30 “The rich man replied, ‘No, Father Abraham! But if someone is sent to them from the dead, then they will repent of their sins and turn to God.’
31 “But Abraham said, ‘If they won’t listen to Moses and the prophets, they won’t listen even if someone rises from the dead.’ ”
Jesus rose and very few are willing to believe in Him or the written Word.
What do you believe today?
Let’s start this new year off right. If you believe the Scriptures are true and you’re willing to accept what they say about eternal life. I would like for you to join me here at the altar this morning for prayer.
Let us Pray
