WHAT HAPPENS AFTER DEATH?

                                                             Acts 24:1-16

INTRODUCTION: When you visit a cemetery some of the tomb stones are humorous and some

are very serious. But one thing those tomb stones or head stones tell us is that for all of us

there is a time to be born and a time to die: Ecclesiastes 3:1-2. None of us know the day of our

death, but the important question is not when will we die. The important question is “What is

going to happen to me after I die?”

I. WHAT HAPPENS TO US AFTER WE DIE?

Almost every major religion teaches that there is life after death. However only one religion

has an originator of that religion that conquered death, and His Name is Jesus Christ!

Revelation 1:12-18. Only our Lord Jesus Christ has conquered death! Jesus offers eternal life to

all who will place their faith in Him as their Lord and Savior: John 14:19; John 11:23-26. Jesus

Christ is going to be the judge of the living and the dead: John 5:22-29; Acts 17:30-31: the

message here for all of us is we also need to repent! We must turn from self, we must turn

from sin and turn to the Savior! It really doesn’t matter if you believe that or not, what does

matter is that God says it is the truth! Acts 24:14-16. One day there will be a resurrection of

the righteous and the wicked! When you pass this life you will either die as one that is

righteous because of your faith in Jesus Christ or you will die in your sins because you never

placed your faith in Jesus Christ: John 8:24.

II. WHAT HAPPENS WHEN A CHRISTIAN DIES?

When a Christian dies their soul and spirit go to heaven immediately: 2 Corinthians 5:8.

When a Christian dies the body dies but the soul and spirit leave your body and go to heaven:

Luke 8:55-56. There are three different resurrections for believers. The first resurrection of

believers will be at what is called the rapture of the church: 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18;

Philippians 3:20. So one day those of us who have trusted in Jesus Christ as our personal Lord

and Savior will get a glorified body just like our Lord Jesus. Old Testament saints will be raised

from the dead when Christ Jesus returns to set up His millennial kingdom seven years later.

Then those Christians who were killed during the Tribulation will also be resurrected:

Revelation 20:4-6. We resurrected Christians will be at the Judgement Seat of Christ to receive

the rewards our Lord will give to each believer: 2 Corinthians 5:6-10; 1 Corinthians 3:11-15.

III. WHAT HAPPENS WHEN A NON-CHRISTIAN DIES?

When a non-Christian dies physically their body also goes into the grave but their soul and

spirit go to a place called Hades, which is not the same as Hell. Hades is like a county jail

awaiting the penitentiary which is what “The Lake of Fire or Hell is. Jesus told a story about a

man who went to Hades: Luke 16:22-23. At death the soul and spirit of all those who died in

their sins will go to Hades. Hades is the holding place for the soul and spirit of the unbelievers.

Every unbeliever in Jesus Christ will go to The Great White Throne Judgment!” Revelation

20:11-15. There will be no grace or mercy at The Great White Throne Judgment everyone at

that Judgment will be cast into the Lake of Fire! All that will be judged at The Great White

Throne Judgment is how much punishment they are going to receive in The Lake of Fire!. These

will be judged according to how much revelation they had and what they did with that revelation:

Romans 1:18-20. Every person ever born on this earth has two witnesses; the voice

of conscience and the voice of creation. God gives us all a free will. God doesn’t force you to

believe in Him; He simply encourages you to believe in Him. You get to chose as long as you are

alive. But the time will come when this present life will end and then you are locked into the

choice you made either to turn to Christ in faith or to reject Him as your personal Lord and

Savior. At the Great White Throne the books are opened and those books contain the record of

every sin you ever committed and you will be judged according to what you have done!

Romans 3:23. Another book will be opened which is the Book of Life. If you did not receive

Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior your name will not be found in the Book of Life and you will

be thrown into the Lake of Fire! Jesus in the Garden prayed to His Father: Luke 22:42. So Jesus

is also going to yield to your will because you chose not to yield to His will for your life. God

does not anyone to perish. He has made a way for all to be saved. The Lake of Fire or Hell was

not made for mankind but for the devil and his fallen angels: Matthew 25:41. When you reject

Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior you reject God’s plan for your life. The Bible tells

us God does not want anyone to go to the Lake of Fire: 2 Peter 3:9. A forgotten word in so

many churches today is repentance, but what did John the Baptist say so many years ago?

Matthew 3:1-2. What did our Lord Jesus preach when He first began His ministry?

Matthew 4:17; Luke 13:3. What must our message be to the world we live in? Repentance

toward God and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ! Our lives on this earth are short. Death

eventually will come to all of us. Our sin is the curse and our Lord Jesus Christ is the cure!