Is There Real Evidence of Life After Death? — Peter Brandon

Tonight is a difficult subject. Is there real evidence of life after death? Trust we shall find help tonight from the message. We are going to read from Luke 16 tonight and commence reading at verse 18.

The Rich Man and Lazarus: Eternal Consequences After Death

Whosoever putteth away his wife, and marrieth another, committeth adultery. And whosoever marrieth her that is put away from her husband, committeth adultery. There was a certain rich man which was clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day.

And there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, which was laid at his gate full of sores. And desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man's table, moreover the dogs came and licked his sores.

And it came to pass that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom. The rich man also died and was buried. And in hell he lifted up his eyes, being in torment, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.

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 tormented in this flame. But Abraham said, Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivest thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things, but now he is comforted, and thou art tormented.

And beside all this, between us and you there is a great goal fixed, so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot, neither can they pass to us that would come from them. Then he said, I pray thee therefore, Father, that thou wouldst send him to my father's house, for I have five brethren, that he may testify unto them, that they also come into this place of torment.

Abraham saith unto him, They have Moses and the prophets, let them hear them. And he said, Nay, Father Abraham, but if one went unto them from the dead, they will repent. And he said unto him, If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead.

And the Lord will bless to us the reading of his word, and you will notice that in that particular narrative of scripture, it deals with five problems. It shows there is no such thing as annihilationism.

It shows that the soul sleep is a mere theory. It also shows universalism, that everyone eventually will be saved to be incorrect. It shows that there is no such thing as the second chance, or purgatory.

It's fixed. And lastly, it's a death blow to spiritism. We cannot contact the dead. It's fixed. And so you can see, five theories are destroyed by one narrative. But tonight, the subject is vast, too vast for your poor preacher.

Life Before Death and the Quest for the Afterlife

Is there evidence of life after death? Ever since man has been on the earth, there has been a quest to find what happens after death. I think it's true to say that mostly all the religions of the world believe in some kind of life after death.

The only religion that doesn't believe it is communism. And would you believe it today, there are some in the communistic faith that now believe that there might be life after death. So they're learning.

It was Colonel Ingersoll, that great Victorian infidel, that stood at the graveside of his brother, and he made this statement that he would give £20 ,000 then to anyone that could prove to him if there was life after death.

So you can see Ingersoll, after all he wrote, had that terrible fear that there might even be something after death. Now what I want to do just for a little while is to show to you that you must have life before death if you're going to have life after death.

Now that's vital. Secondly, I want to show to you from the scripture the ugly fact of death. It happens and we cannot deny it. Then thirdly, I want to give you the biblical evidence of life after death.

And then we want to look at the very process and then the action of death. And after that we shall look at the glorious triumph after death. And then we are closed by speaking on a very hard subject, tragedy after death.

New Birth and Everlasting Life in John's Gospel

First of all, life before death. I was once challenged in Hyde Park where we had a stand, and a person said this, you preachers of the gospel are only preachers of the gospel because you are dead scared to die.

And Christianity is a death-bed religion. And my dear friends, if you don't mind me being very dogmatic, he couldn't be more wrong. There is one complete book in the bible, it's John's gospel, and it was written that we might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the son of God, and that believing we might have life, life through his name.

If you go through John's gospel, in every chapter there is a reference to life with the exception of one. In John chapter 1, if you look carefully, in him was life, and the life was the light of men. In John chapter 3, the Lord Jesus is said to have and possess everlasting life.

In John chapter 4, if you read it correctly, he is the great fountain of life. In John chapter 5, he is eternal life. In John chapter 6, he is the bread of life. In John chapter 7, he is the mighty river of life.

In John chapter 8, he is the light of life. And in John chapter 10, he is the abundance of life. And if we had time to go into the 11th chapter, he is the resurrection and the life. Now what does it mean?

When a person becomes a Christian, God does two things within the realm of his body. First of all, God gives to that person a cleansing or a forgiveness of sin that's so great that it's once and forever.

Now when human beings forgive, we forgive in bits and pieces. For instance, if I were to tell you a deliberate lie and you got into trouble for it, and I came to you and told you that I was very sorry that I told you that lie, you would forgive me for that lie, but that's just one.

But when God forgives sins, now please note this because it's so wonderful, he forgives because of the work that the Lord Jesus did on the cross. And when he died on the cross, he died for sin once and for all.

And when God forgives our sins, he forgives our sins once and for all, so that he never has to forgive again. Now how can I say that quietly? That's the greatest news that we've ever heard, the fact that we can receive a once and for all forgiveness.

And therefore John says, if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ, his son, cleanseth us from all sin. But that's not the final thing.

Immediately if we have been forgiven of our sins, in the sight of God, the inner life is so pure, that then he gives to us the third person of the Trinity. And that means the Spirit of God, who is divine as God in every single detail, actually comes into a person's life.

And when he comes into that person's life, his body becomes God's Holy of Holies. God actually lives within him or her. And when the Holy Spirit comes within us, he makes his home and abode in our spirit, so that the Bible says, and I'm quoting the words of the Lord Jesus, we are born from above.

Again, that's one of the greatest things that God ever does. And it's called the workmanship of Christ Jesus. So that when a person becomes a Christian, there is this two-fold work of God. Forgiveness that comes through his blood, and secondly, the indwelling of the Spirit, so that he is born of God.

Now you might think that the Bible is exaggerating, but there's no such thing as exaggeration in the Bible, otherwise it wouldn't be an inspired book. But when a person is born of God, that person has everlasting life.

And we shall see, that even when the process of death comes, that's not death, that's sleep. You see, in the New Testament, the Lord Jesus changed death into sleep. And that means the sleep of the body.

The real you that lives in that body will be more alive when you're out of it, than when you're in it. Absent from the body, present with the Lord. And forgive me, hallelujah. Isn't that wonderful? So then can you see, dear friends, Christianity isn't a death-death religion.

It's not holding on to God, as it were, with the white of your knuckles showing. It's God holding on to you, and God giving you this great gift of eternal life. Secondly, I must now face up to the fact that people do die.

The Certainty and Origin of Death

The latest insurance figures tell us, that every time the old-fashioned clock ticks, two people die. And if you're good at simple mathematics, that means 200 ,000 people pass out of time into eternity every day.

So whilst I am speaking here, every second, two people somewhere in the world are dying. Now that's the fact of death. I have been looking at my congregation, and can I give you all a little shock? 50 of my congregation will be skeletons within 25 years.

And that's the reality of death. It happens. Now in this modern materialistic world, people are scared of it. In fact, in America, where they're more materialistic than what we are in England and Britain, they try to make the corpse as though it was alive.

And they glamorize it. But no matter how much they try and glamorize a corpse, that corpse is dead, or it's sleeping. Now when I use the word sleep, I simply mean, if I may use terms we can understand, the person has died, but that person who is a Christian waits for the resurrection of his body.

So we can see that there is this ugly fact of death. And the scripture says, Hebrews chapter 9, It's appointed unto man once to die and after this to judge him. Ladies have an appointment with their hairdresser.

We all have to have an appointment with a dentist in England. And most people have an appointment at one time or another with a doctor. And God is going to have an appointment with us in death. And we shall never dodge it.

You see we must remember this, that the almighty God holds every man in the palm of his hand, and when the moment comes, he'll snap the golden thread. It's appointed unto man once to die. But how can God be the source of life and the source of death?

Well of course he can't. You cannot have harmony with light and darkness. And you cannot have harmony with death and life. So who is the source of death? The Bible makes it quite clear that Satan is the source of death.

The Bible teaches that he destroyed him who had the power of death, that is the devil. Now what does that mean? When Satan engineered the fall of man when he was in the garden of Eden, and because he brilliantly caused man to fall, in that way he is the engineer of death.

And therefore dear friends I want to say this with a strong voice, God hates death. Can I prove it to you? In the Old Testament if they touched a dead body they had to be unclean for three days, and they were not prepared to move among the children of Israel until the water of the ashes of the red heifer was applied to them.

Because the whole of God's character is one of life. He is the living God. And death is something that is abhorrent to God. Ah but you say blessed are the dead which die in the Lord. We shall talk about that in a few moments.

But always remember, God will never, never, never be satisfied until through the Lord Jesus he will swallow up death in victory. And that means there will come a day when death will disappear and it will never be seen again.

And what a wonderful moment that will be. Therefore we can see now that the one who was behind death was the power of Satan. But there is a death that concludes death, and that was the Lord Jesus. And when he died upon the cross, and I must say this because this is vital to the subject, he became first of all obedient unto death.

No, death is a necessity for us unless the Lord comes. The Lord Jesus volunteered to die and submitted to death. Always remember this. When Jesus Christ hung on that cross, he was on that cross because of his own voluntary will.

He became again obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. And when he was on that cross, he was bearing our sins, number two, he was tasting our death. And that's why he cried, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?

And thirdly, the Lord Jesus was hanging on that cross to pronounce upon Satan an eternal verdict of death. And he by death destroyed him who had the power of death. That is the devil. And one day because of Calvary's cross, Satan and all his angels are going to be cast into the lake of fire.

And then there will be the final victory. It's all through the cross. And for the Bible student, when he became obedient unto death and submitted to it completely, at that moment he stripped from him all the powers of hell that were figuratively clinging to him.

And Satan was potentially defeated. And so we can see now that death is a fact. Satan is the engineer of death. But the Lord Jesus potentially has destroyed his power. And one day he's going to swallow up death in victory.

What a moment that will be. But then someone might say, Well where's your evidence of life after death? Now I'm not going to give you death bed stories. I don't think that happens. So where's the evidence?

The Resurrection of Jesus as Evidence of Life After Death

Again in Hyde Park I remember a man challenging me and I can see he was perfectly sincere. And he said, young man, this is over 52 years ago of course, young man, he said, you have no right to speak about life after death.

Now notice what he says. Until some responsible person has genuinely died, no resuscitation, genuinely died. And when that responsible person has genuinely died, and we have real proof that he died, and if that man comes back again from the dead, then he can speak with authority.

And that man was perfectly right. You see dear friends, they used to believe that the world was square and flat. And there were two brilliant seamen, one was called Christopher Columbus and the other one was called Vasco da Gama, and they did not believe in that theory.

Though in those days if you believed that the world was round, you were actually put in prison. In fact you can still see in some parts of the world where they had a cube and lions sitting upon the top of it to show that the world was square.

Or flat. But these two men, they pierced the east and they pierced the west and they came back with samples of America and samples of India and they exploded the theory. Why? Because there was a breakthrough.

Again, when I was a boy, Professor Jeans used to speak to us through the wireless and we were in class and I remember him saying two or three occasions that there was atmosphere on the moon. And he believed that there were beautiful gardens there on Mars.

And he was the number one world astronomer. You see, even the big intellectual guns can be wrong. But now there has been a real breakthrough. We know that there is no atmosphere on the moon. And we know that there's no beautiful gardens on Mars.

But it's taken a breakthrough. Has there been a breakthrough into death? The founder of Christianity was the Lord Jesus Christ. And may I say using terms that all of us can understand, he was the greatest man that ever lived.

The only infallible person that ever will live. And still lives. And when he was here he claimed to be a man from heaven. So he was the only man who actually lived who was alive before he was born. The Lord Jesus.

And quite obviously he was a man from heaven. Even some of his critics said that, that he was a teacher that came from God. Now the Lord Jesus taught more about the afterlife than any other prophet. In fact he spoke about heaven and he spoke about hell.

And I must be honest with the scripture, he spoke more about hell than heaven. In fact he's the only one that actually describes the existence of a man in hell. Now we know from the scriptures that the Lord Jesus died and we know the purpose of that death.

It was to bear our sins and bear the corresponding judgment of our sins so that God could righteously forgive us. And then the Bible tells us that he was raised again from the dead. Now can I share this with you with enthusiasm.

I have been giving lectures on the evidence of the resurrection now for 25 years. And I've never heard a good argument against the resurrection of Christ. We have textual evidence. We have historical evidence.

We have critical evidence. We have legal evidence. And we have experimental evidence. And can I say this to my Christian brothers and sisters. No one needs to be ashamed of being a Christian. It's based on the historicity of Christ.

And the great Gibraltar rock of our evidence is his resurrection. You see we can say with Peter that we have not followed cunningly devised fables when we made known unto you the mystery of God or the great story of the gospel of God.

Now my dear friends because of the mighty evidence of the resurrection when John the Apostle saw the Lord Jesus. The Lord Jesus said to him I am he that lives and became dead. And behold I am alive forever more.

And have the keys of death and Hades. They're all in his hands. And therefore dear friends that's the biggest piece of evidence I can give you. And shall I say this it's evidence that's irrefutable. So you see there's a man in the glory.

And because there's a man in the glory it simply means this there's going to be millions with him. But this is the other side of the story. There's going to be millions to in hell. Now what about the act of death.

Death as Separation of Body and Person

Well it's an act of separation. A little girl actually was allowed to go and see her grandad buried. A bright intelligent little girl. She loved him very much and he was an outstanding Christian. And when she got home she said to her mother where's grandad gone?

Gone to heaven oh no. Those men in black suits put him down in the ground. He's not gone to heaven he's still in the grave mother. And she was very wise. Well she says that's the kind of house that grandad lived in.

But she wasn't clicking. So she said we're going to move house next week aren't we? Yes. Will we move these brick walls? Oh no. Who will move? We'll move. And what else? All the furniture. Yes. Now the house has gone into the grave.

The person who lived inside of that house has gone to heaven. And that clicked. Well what's going to happen to his body she said? Well God made us from dust and in hundreds of years time if Jesus hasn't come.

He'll go to dust. Oh we came from dust. We're going to dust yes. Well they weren't cleaning the house because they were moving. And the little girl was upstairs under her mother's bed. And she came tearing down she says mother come up there's a man coming or going I don't know which.

But have you got the reality of it? That little girl could see that the physical part had gone into the ground. But the person who lived in the house. That glorious entity. That identity. That mysterious thing that we call personality had gone to be with the Lord.

Now that is the action of death. But we must be absolutely fair with the scripture. The Lord Jesus said this. Strive to enter in at the straight gate. For many will seek to enter in and shall not be able.

When once the master of the house has risen up and shut to the door. Then you will begin to cry outside with eaten and drunk in your presence thou has taught in our streets. So can you see not all go to heaven.

Again he said on one occasion. Strive to enter in at the straight gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction. And many there be which go in there act. Because straight is the gate and narrow is the way that leads to life.

And few there be that find it. So Jesus taught there be people in heaven and in hell. Now here is a solemn challenge. Would you take it dear friends. Supposing now one of us had a heart attack. And it was fatal.

Where would that person be. With Christ or away from Christ. You see if you look at that rich man. Obviously he had a very pleasurable time in life. If you look at his death. It appears that there was a fanfare of trumpets blown over him.

When he was buried. But then you get this terrible shock. In hell. He lifted up his eyes in torment. You see dear friends. He was not ready to meet God. And that states eternal. So all of us must face up.

If death comes. Am I ready. To be with Christ. What I want to do just for a few moments. When I speak about the triumph of death. Is to try if I can. To introduce you to the apostle Paul. I think I am correct in saying.

Paul's Confidence in the Face of Death

He was one of the greatest Christians that ever lived. And we are going to try and meet him. Just a few days before he dies. He is going to be executed by Nero. The prison is a dungeon. And may I say this with deep feeling.

It was rat infested. Scores of people died in the dungeon. Before they were ever executed. When we get into this prison. And we look at this outstanding Christian. We shall find that his body is terribly mutilated.

He is about 65 years of age. He looks much older. We shall find him chained to two of the imperial guard. And we shall have to hold our breath. Because there will be an offensive odor. Coming from the actual prison.

Eventually the door opens. And we see the apostle crouched in a corner. Bound to two soldiers. And we say. Are you Paul the apostle? Yes. Do you realize in a few days time you are going to die? I know.

What is your reaction? To that death? You have served the Lord for years. We can see that you have been butchered. Your body has been broken. You have been shipwrecked. You have been robbed. And now this is the way you are going to end your life.

How do you feel? Very, very happy. You are exaggerating. Not a bit. You see when Nero severs my head from the rest of my body. Then I shall be free. And then he would say with a smile. And you will look closely at that withered face.

Absent from the body. Yes. Present with the Lord. But why are you so sure that you are going to be with the Lord? Are you so sure because of all your missionary efforts? And because of all your healing ministry?

And because of the thousands of people you have brought to Christ? Are you sure because of those facts? Not at all. What makes you so sure then? I'm sure because I have been cleansed by the precious blood of Jesus.

I'm sure because I have been born again of the Spirit. I'm sure because I have been sealed with that Spirit. And it's all according to the grace of God. Nothing to do with me. It's God coming to me and saving me.

And changing my whole life. But no. Let's put this question to you. You have served the Lord and look at your body. Do you mind if we say this? You look a very old man. And the whole of your face is scarred.

And then he would say, stop talking about that. And then he would pull aside his garment and say, look at those stripes. I look at these as my stigma. What's that? A kind of a medal. And every stripe I've had for him.

Everything that I've lost. He's going to pay me a hundred for that. And he would say this with a gleam on his face that was like heaven. For me to live is Christ. And to die, gay. So the historians tell us.

When he went to the block in order to be executed. He prayed this kind of prayer. I am now ready to be offered. The time of my departure is at hand. I have fought a good fight. I have kept the faith. Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness.

Which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give to me. And not for me only. But to all them that love his appearing. And if history is right. It took them 15 minutes to remove his head. He had tranquility that the executioner couldn't actually do it.

Until he was commanded. You see there's a man ready for death. And when a person gets to heaven you say well what is it like? Do you know how the scripture expresses it? When that which is perfect is come.

That which is in part shall be done away. Heaven is a state of absolute perfection. First of all when a person moves out of his body. And he moves into the realm of paradise. Hallelujah. He will never sin again.

Never. He will be among the spirits of just men made perfect. That's bliss. But more than that. Every single person that is in heaven. Among the spirits of just men made perfect. Are in that same state of absolute perfection.

And so he will never hear a gossiping tongue. And he will never see a case of lust. And he will never see any moral pollution. The whole of the society is marked by absolute perfection. That's glory. But there's something more than that.

When a person gets to heaven. It's not only in a perfect state as far as his soul and spirit is concerned. It's not only perfect society. He will have perfect knowledge. And just as the Lord knows him.

In that glorious day. He will know the Lord. You see heaven will be a place where intellectually we shall reach maturity. In all its glory. And we shall know. Forthly. We shall be in an environment that's so pure.

It will be saturated in love. You will never see one person ever lose his temper. And everyone in heaven. I'm speaking about the final day. Will be in a state of servitude. And even those who are crowned with glory.

Will serve. And serve. There will be almost shall I say. If I may use my crude language. An argument who's going to be the lowest in heaven. But what makes heaven heaven. It's the presence of the Lord Jesus.

Beloved. We shall see him. Can I just quietly worship. As I say that. We shall see him. The Lamb of God. The blessed bridegroom. In all his loveliness. See him. Blessed Lord Jesus Christ. You'll see him.

And be like him. Forever. What a wonderful thing it is to be a Christian. I wish I could stop there. But you say what about this other place. Now I'm not going into all the Greek expressions. I think it would confuse some here tonight.

Hell, Eternal Separation, and the Urgency of Salvation

But if a man dies without Christ. It is an indescribable tragedy. You see dear friends. Hell was never made for the human family. Hell was made for the finalization. And the isolation of all evil. Hell was made for Satan and all his angels.

And it will be a wonderful thing. When this evil and all the powers behind evil. Will be isolated from society forever. But this is the problem. If men will go the way of Satan. And not the way of the Lord.

They're treading on the broad road. And that means hell is a place of eternal darkness. What does that mean? In hell there's no light of God. In hell there's no full understanding. In hell there will be eternal darkness.

Upon every single subject imaginable. A fact of the universe. God unknown forever. Remember dear friends. You will never find a child of light there. You will never find a preacher there. Everything that's observed in the darkness.

Will be darkness. And that is suicidal. To our way of thinking. Hell is a place of distance. What does that mean? Men and women have lived without Christ. Lived without God. Lived without hope. Men and women go through their life.

They begin at birth. And they finish at death. And it's all over in comparison with eternity. In about five seconds. Would you mind if I counted that? One. Two. Three. Four. Five. That's all that this life is.

In comparison with eternity. And that comparison is odious. And after they have been right the way through life. All the way through the Lord Jesus. Has been coming to them in order to save them. And they have rejected him.

And therefore they die without him. Because they lived without him. And therefore hell is a place of eternal separation from God. Think of that. Hell is a place of eternal moral disease. You say what do you mean?

A man will have eventually a body of damnation. And in that body he will be able to sin forever. Under the judgment of God. Just imagine being in a sphere where there are millions upon millions of demons.

Not directly under the authority of Satan. But he will be there. And eventually in the lake of fire. The man of sin will be there that will deceive the world. And the great force profit. And just imagine being in the environment of men and beings like that forever.

And then last of all friends. And I know not how to say this. It hurts me. Even as I say it. It's eternity. It's not six thousand years. It's not even six million years. It's not even six billion years.

It's not even six trillion years. It's the darkness of a damnable day. And already dear friends. There are millions in hell. Now I know what you're saying. I've heard it so many times. How can you equate that with the love of God?

Dear friends. It's not the will of God that any should perish. The reason why we've had a mission. Is because this mission is so vital. It's just a yard from hell fire. And that is why we have this mission.

Not just to see people change. It's a mission with an urgency. That people should be saved from hell. And therefore I want to say tonight. The reason why I'm preaching hell is this. Because my master the Lord Jesus.

Would come to you. And on bended knee tonight. He would come before you. And plead with you that you might trust him as your saviour. Let me close with this. There was a young man in Scotland. And he's about my age now.

Christ's Plea to Be Saved Before Death

And he was at Largs. A young man by the name of Alec Legg. And there were about 20 or 30 young people walking by the side of this river. And there was one boy who dived in. Just for some sport. And he got into difficulty.

And Alec Legg was the only one that was prepared to dive in to save him. And he got to this friend. And when he got to him the friend clawed his cheek. And badly mutilated his face. And all the young people on the bank were saying.

Alec come away. But he wasn't. He waited. With a bleeding face. And he went in again. And the chap who was drowning grabbed him by the throat. And nearly throttled him. And they were calling out come back.

Come back Alec. But he wasn't. He went in once more. And they both went under. And they saw the ginger hair of Alec Legg coming up. About 20 yards from him. And they made a chain. They walked into the river holding their hands.

And they just caught him and pulled him in. And at the grave. There was Alec Legg. And he said with a scarred face. As they lowered that boy into the ground. John. I wanted to save you. But you wouldn't let me.

The Lord Jesus. Wants to save you tonight. We don't let him. And do you know what he says. Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord. Shall be saved. May someone call upon him. And be saved from that awful place.

And be prepared for heaven. What a contrast. Can I do it with my hands. Hell and the Lord is here to save you. Trust someone will call upon him tonight. And experience that salvation that comes from the Lord.