End of Life, End of Times: The Day You Die Various Texts

Good morning. Welcome to the gathering of Eureka Baptist Church. It's great to see everyone from afar This morning. It's amazing the gift of technology that God has given us that even though we can't meet in person during this time We can meet from afar and as I came in this morning It what it reminded me is how much I miss each of you for today and probably for a while now.

But I know that the Lord will use this time for our good. And my prayer this morning is that the Lord will use this sermon as a blessing to you as an encouragement and even To convict you and to bring you into deeper intimacy with our Lord.

Now I mentioned last week that I had planned all week to preach for Matthew the book We have been going through since the fall. I Planned on preaching through Matthew until it occurred to me that we are going through a period that none of us have ever experienced.

Our world is shutting down to prevent the spread of this virus and last week I preached a sermon with six reflections on the corona virus and let me remind you of those right now. What we saw is that viruses trace back to the fall of humanity.

God is in control of this virus. Do not be anxious about it. And our only true security is in God in Christ. We also saw That in the end times there will be a virus that causes global chaos. And what we also saw is that this virus Opens up the door for us to share the gospel with unbelievers and maybe you've already had opportunities to do that this week.

My preaching last week was dictated by our unprecedented Circumstances and my preaching over the next couple of months will be Dictated by the corona virus that has drastically changed life for the time being.

And I want to be clear that all scripture is relevant. I could preach from Matthew this morning and it would be very helpful to you. All scripture is breathed out by God as 2nd Timothy 3 verses 16 and 17.

Tell us.

However.

Sometimes there are places in scripture that are more relevant than others because of an experience that we are going through. When 9 -11 took place almost 19 years ago pulpits all across America addressed from the scriptures what people most needed to hear and When the corona virus is all said and done this might be bigger than 9 -11.

Not maybe because of the the damage that it causes as the World Trade Centers came down. But because of the global impact and all of the chaos and all of the panic that we have seen. So that was my effort last week by giving you those six reflections on the corona virus and that's my effort this morning as We start a new mini sermon series today and over the next nine weeks.

I Feel that it is right for our church to divert from Matthew. Because of what is on our minds the most at this time. For me personally, there have been two realities that I've been thinking about and maybe you have as well.

That is the reality of death happening all over the world and the reality that this world will not go on Forever. This is obvious to everyone even if you aren't a follower of Jesus Christ. It has to enter your mind that this can't keep continuing.

God's Word has much to tell us about what happens to you when you die and how the world will end and we need to be Thinking rightly about these things so that we will live lives that are pleasing to him.

This theme of the end it can be very beneficial to us. So let's not miss this opportunity. Let's not waste it. This has been a burden on my heart this week and through discussion and prayer We will do this mini sermon series over the next 10 Sundays including today.

And it's titled end of life end of times. The corona virus has brought this discussion to the forefront. What Jesus said about the time before his coming is That there would be birth pains. Matthew 24 8 says so and for those of you who have had children.

What you know, is that at the end of the pregnancy the birth pains? Increase with the with the contractions that take place. Jesus told us in the Olivet Discourse in Matthew 24 and Mark 13 that there would be false Christ.

Wars and rumors of wars nation will rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom and there will be famines and earthquakes all over the place. These calamities will increase as we get closer to the end and as I mentioned to you last week We are not at the very end right now, but the end might not be far off.

The corona virus is a warning from God. It is a birth pain telling us that the end will come may we straighten up our heads and may we pay attention as Luke 21 28 says realizing that our redemption is drawing near if you belong to Jesus Christ.

As I mentioned above my goal in preaching on this is not to shower you with doom and gloom to the contrary I Want you to live well now. Be filled with hope and be ready To discuss death and the end of this world are healthy.

And if we approach it rightly it will be beneficial to you. And as I mentioned to you Last week those who seek a healthy understanding of the end times and are spurred to action from it experience Blessing as Revelation 1 3 tells us and my prayer is that indeed this would be a blessing to you.

Before I jump in to the main body of our sermon Let me preview what we are going to see over the next 10 weeks. To whet your appetite. So this morning we will look at what happens to you when you die.

Then Lord willing. Here's what's coming over the next nine weeks and it looks by the way that Much of this will probably be done from afar through video. Next Sunday the plan is we'll look at Daniel's 70 weeks the Old Testament witness to the final seven years before Christ's return.

Then we'll look at the rapture before the tribulation. We'll look at the rise of the Antichrist and false prophet. We'll look at the destruction during the second three and a half years of the tribulation.

We'll look at the salvation of Israel. How does Israel play in in the end of the world of events? We'll look at the second coming of Christ which will happen after the tribulation. We'll look at Christ's 1 ,000 year reign we'll also look at the end of the universe and lastly the new universe the new creation as the eternal state begins and This will be very interesting and very important for us to understand together as a church.

This opening sermon in this mini sermon series end of life end of times will focus on the end of your life. Every one of us are one heartbeat away from meeting God. One of the most common questions that people ask is what will happen to me when I die.

When an unbeliever asked this question, they don't know and when Christians asked this question They often are often are wondering the details of what it will be like. And scripture has much to tell us about this.

So this morning we are going to look at the destiny of the blessed and the destiny of the cursed. The study of the end times is known as eschatology that comes from the Greek word eschaton in The New Testament and this sermon today will focus on personal eschatology.

That is your end times the day of your death. If Christ's return is delayed all of us will die. That is a guarantee and we must be ready and anticipate what our experience will be. The coronavirus is causing death all over the world, especially in some places.

If you're watching the news and this is ever-present on our mind. So let's address this and I hope this will be an encouragement to many of you filling you with hope and for others a call To be rescued before it is too late.

So what my big idea this morning is this? What awaits everyone awaits you? So be ready that your end will be glorious and I have three questions that we are going to zero in on. The first question is why is there death?

The second question is what happens to believers when they die? And the third question is what happens to unbelievers when they die? So the first question why is there death? There are two deaths described in Scripture physical and spiritual.

Revelation 2014 describes the second death this takes place only for the unbeliever. This happens when an unbeliever is sent to eternal hell as punishment for their sin. The implication of this is that there is a first death and no one is immune from it.

Not even believers. The first death is of course physical death. Well, the Lord warned Adam and Eve in Genesis 2 17 is that the day they ate from the forbidden tree in the garden they would die. We know that how the story goes in Genesis 3 they ate from that tree and as punishment God said in Genesis 3 19 to dust you shall return.

And that is another way of saying of course, you will die. And what we saw is they did eat from that tree and they were Kicked out of the garden of Eden, which is which is spiritual death and we know that many years later They did suffer their physical death.

So people die because of sin. Death is judgment from God everyone is deserving of death as punishment for sins. Romans 6 23 says for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. When unbelievers die, they are facing punishment for their sin.

However.

Believers do not experience punishment when they die. That's very important to note. In a fallen world Jesus Christians and even animals die because of the fall. Not not as as punishment. Each has a fallen body that eventually perishes.

For the believer your death completes your sanctification. That's that fancy word. That means the process of growing in holiness and death is the end of that process. Revelation 2 10 teaches us to be faithful unto death.

Philippians 3 10 describes the Christian as one who shares in Christ's sufferings becoming like him in his death. So we are uniting with Christ in his death first. Peter 4 13 Says to rejoice in so far as you share Christ's sufferings.

That you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed. Hebrews 12 2 says looking to Jesus the founder and perfecter of our faith. Who for the joy that was said before him endured the cross despising the shame and is seated at the right hand of the throne? of God.

Jesus is the perfecter of our faith and as we persevere through life all the way Till the day of our death we suffer along with him. Comfort in this life should not be the goal of the Christian. We should live in this life as if we are going to be here forever.

Our time here is Temporary. We should be striving toward the mission that he has for us realizing that what awaits us is so much better as Philippians 1 21 says to live is Christ and to die is gain. So as we have seen death happens to the unbeliever as punishment.

But for the believer you're suffering with Christ in this life is completed. The second question We are looking at here is what happens to believers when they die. So we're gonna look at look at the experience here and the blessing in this case.

The short answer is believers go immediately into God's presence. So let's take a look at this. Luke chapter 16 verse 22 says the poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham's side. In Old Testament terms Abraham's side is heaven.

He was carried to the place where Abraham was in the Lord's presence. A Number of years ago about 11 might my grandfather passed away and my grandfather was a very strong Christian Throughout his life and an excellent example of a follower of Christ and he was one who finished the race of his life.

And I remember I got a phone call saying he's gonna die and so I left work that day and Went to his bedside and my parents were there and my brother were there and and I remember we were talking. We were seeing him take his last breath so we were talking about how it seemed like there was angels in the room and there and we know that there were and He was so much at peace and a nurse came in and even talked about the peace that that she saw Just tending to him in the last days of his life.

And what a blessing that was that he was leaving the pain of this world to enter the presence of God. Scripture says to be away from the body is to be with the Lord. And so when my grandpa died that day just like any other believer He went to be with the Lord as 2nd Corinthians 5 8 says he was at home with him.

Philippians 1 23 says that you go to be with Christ when you die. Who is at the right hand of the Father. And what the Apostle Paul says is that to be there is far better? Than being in this world. Which is why we should be heavenly-minded.

Realizing that the place where we are going is so much better than this world of suffering that by the way We especially see right now Jesus also said to the thief on the cross in Luke 23 43 truly. I say to you today.

You will be with me in paradise.

Now.

There are some false views within larger Christianity about what happens to you when you die, and I want to address those briefly here. Roman Catholics Believe that many people go to a place called purgatory to be purified for a time if before one can go to heaven.

Now this view is obviously Problematic as we have already seen from the verses above. Those verses say you die, and you go directly Immediately to be with the Lord. There is no in-between period or place.

Purgatory is not taught in the Bible. In fact Roman Catholics only support for it comes from the Apocrypha That was that was the Jewish literature written between the Old Testament and New Testament period.

So there is no support Anywhere in the 66 books of Scripture. Secondly if people had to pay for the rest of their sins in Purgatory it would show that Christ's work on the cross was insufficient. Which is very? Problemsome.

It becomes a workspace system of salvation Which is entirely foreign to the Bible. No believer needs to pay the penalty for their sins. This is impossible for one to earn favor with God. Jesus already paid it all.

We know it from the song Jesus paid it all all to him I owe and as Hebrews 9 26 says he has appeared once for all at the end of The ages which from our perspective is 2 ,000 years ago to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.

Our.

Responsibility is to believe in that finished work, and that is when salvation comes. Another false view appears within a branch of Christianity known as seventh-day Adventism. This movement is mostly known for the fact that they meet on Saturdays.

Which is which is the Sabbath in the Jewish calendar, and they don't meet on Sundays. But also they another unique position that they take is. They do not believe that the soul goes anywhere when you die.

They believe in what is known as soul sleep. What this means is that believers are not conscious when they die. What they argue is that all the references are relating to? Relating death to sleep for the believer in the Bible indicate that the soul is actually asleep.

Only to be awakened at the resurrection when the body is reunited with the soul and they reference texts like John 11 11 where Jesus tells his disciples that Lazarus had fallen asleep and first Thessalonians 4 13 where Paul tells his Readers that the saints that had passed away had fallen asleep.

But as the sleep mentioned in these passages and other passages literal or figurative. They are obviously figurative as we have seen from the verses above the believer goes immediately to heaven at death.

For example, Jesus told the thief on the cross Today you will be with me in paradise. There's no there's no soul sleep. There's no purgatory today. You will be with me in paradise. So clearly the doctrines of purgatory and soul sleep are unbiblical.

What scripture teaches is that at death your body and soul? Separate for a temporary period of time and we know this from our experience. We see a body at a funeral. What that body is it's a corpse without a soul which is why it looks so lifeless the soul has left and for a believer has gone to be with the Lord and It's interesting when you think about it that we only know about death from the earthly perspective.

We see the lifeless body, but we don't know. Well, what is it like for the one who actually dies? What's an interesting question to ask what Jesus praised to his father in Luke 2346 he says into your hands.

I commit my spirit. Jesus knew he would go directly into the presence of his father in heaven in very early Christianity in the early church Stephen one of Jesus disciples after the twelve disciples. He actually saw the place where he was going to in Acts chapter 7 verses 56 through 59.

What we read is that Stephen saw heaven opened up and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. So he got a glimpse into Heaven and Stephen prayed to Jesus the same prayer Jesus prayed to his father. He said Lord Jesus Receive my spirit.

He breathed his last and went to the place the Lord enabled him to see how blessed the experience is for a believer to leave this world and enter the presence of God and As we have seen to die is gain as Philippians 1 tells us if you know Christ and Christ's return is delayed.

You will experience this if you're listening today, and you're a follower of Jesus Christ. Which I know many of you are. The Lord loves taking those who are his to be with him. Psalm 116 verse 15 says.

Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his Saints. When your soul leaves your body at death one day your soul and body will reunite. When Jesus returns, but the difference between now and then is that your body will be much much better.

We know from our experience in this life that our bodies decay they get weak and this is your experience. Not even when you're younger not only when you get older. Philippians 321 says that he will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body.

Once your body and soul reunite this will be the state you are in forever and you will never decay. How wonderful does this sound? Especially as we have seen this disease go all across the world. Over the last several months starting in China and then spreading all over the place what we are seeing with the corona virus Is how vulnerable our bodies are?

My college coach who coached me in cross-country and track once said that we are one bump of the head or One bug away from our life ending and I remember I was with other students, you know we're all between 18 and 22 and when you're between 18 and 22, you're not thinking about death and I remember I Still to this day remember that and and I'm reminded of how easily and how quickly Life can end and we're seeing that with this virus going all over the world.

We should be filled with the hope that no matter what happens to our bodies in this life. The suffering that we inevitably face is only Temporary. This is the great hope of the believer in Christ. The worst thing that can happen to you is that your body dies and Then something amazing happens from that is that you go to be with the Lord in his presence.

So what we have seen is that what comes first when you die is you go to be with the Lord then a day will Come when you will have an indestructible body forever. What hope what joy what a future? The flip side by the way as we transition to our third question is true for an unbeliever who dies Separated from fellowship with God and who dies in their sin.

I Believers the opposite is true for an unbeliever. What hopelessness what sorrow what a dark future. So here's the third question. What happens to unbelievers when they die. I Mentioned earlier that I I mentioned I was at my grandfather's bedside when he died and he was he was a strong Believer, so we knew that he was going to heaven and the nurse talked about how peaceful was on the flip side.

This was a nurse who had seen many people died. What she said is is that she usually saw people with a lack of peace when they died and I don't know Who these people were? But there are people all over the world who always die with lack of peace because they don't know God that they don't know what's gonna Happen to them they banked all their hope in this life, and they're not ready to die and I've seen that in my own life where people know they're gonna die and they can't sleep and They're just restless and what what a horrible place to be if only people would find their refuge in Christ.

The best day in a believer's life is the day he or she dies. The worst day of an unbeliever's life is the day he or she dies. Jesus said concerning Judas in Matthew 26 24. Who is in hell right now? It would admit it would have been better for that man If he had not been born.

Have you read that in Scripture? Very very sobering.

Words.

Unbelievers enter the punishment due for their sins once death comes upon them. Remember Romans 6 23 the wages of sin is death and if you die in your sins you are getting what you deserve. Everyone who goes to hell deserves to be there.

It's not as if people in hell want to be with God. They might want God's gifts who doesn't want God's gifts. The many enjoyable things of this life, but they don't want God. Just like Esau in Genesis as we saw a while back.

He wanted God's gifts. He just didn't want God. And he wasn't sorrowful about not being in a relationship with God. He was sorrowful about the promises that he didn't get. That the gifts that God was going to give him and his family.

So by rejecting God in this life people have made their choice, of course, no human will enjoy hell. Sometimes you hear people say they will be partying with their buddies there and they and they look forward to it.

But this is no joking matter. Hell is not a place of partying. It is a place of sorrow pain isolation and hopelessness. Even as we're going through this virus, right? The hope is okay. This will pass life will go back to normal those who are in hell.

It never goes back to normal. It's it's hopelessness forever. Everything that one enjoys in this life will not be there to enjoy in the in the age to come. One is completely cut off from the goodness of God.

Now almost everyone you talk to wants to go to heaven and almost every funeral you go to. People say that people are in heaven. But so much of this is not true. The Bible says that why does the path leads to destruction and narrow is the path that leads to life and few?

Find it. There will be many people in heaven, but there will be many many in hell. Unbelievers are in love with their sin and they would not enjoy the true heaven where believers will dwell with God. Why is that that's because heaven is a holy place and Holiness is what the unbeliever despises.

The unbeliever takes pleasure in sin and that true joy in God. What's sobering about Jesus words in the New Testament. And what's very interesting is that Jesus talks about hell more than he talks about heaven.

And why does he do that? I think he does that because he wants to warn people about it and that's what we must do and that's what I'm doing here.

Right now.

He describes hell as fire and outer darkness Matthew 5 22. Matthew 8 12 it is the place where both soul and body are destroyed in Matthew 10 28. The soul first in the present hell and the body later in the lake of fire.

Where people are sent after the final judgment? Hell is also called in an unquenchable fire mark 643 in this reference. Jesus is Quoting from the Prophet Isaiah who said this in Isaiah 66 24. Jesus also describes hell as a place where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Matthew 8 12 Growing up. I always wondered what that meant weeping and gnashing of teeth. And I saw I saw a sermon clip from R .C. Sproul Not too long ago where he was describing that these are two reactions that people experience in hell.

So one is weeping and where someone is saying Lord Why am I here? And this is the person who who maybe thought they were saved but they weren't in there and and they're sorrowful that they are there. And truly they were never saved.

And then there's the other one who hated God in this life and and nobody and nobody questioned their hate for God in this life. I think of think of the most the atheist who Who spends his whole life trying to tell people that God doesn't exist and then he sent to hell and he says How dare you put me here because we know that atheism is not an intellectual people don't arrive there from pure intellectualism.

They arrive there because they hate God and when God sends that person to hell or anyone like that to hell. They're gonna be cursing God. So that's what gnashing of teeth means. The eternal punishment faced by a person in hell will be never-ending.

It isn't an eternal Conscious torment or as Jesus or as Jesus calls it eternal fire in Matthew 25 41 The Beast and the false prophet described in Revelation. They're the ones who are the first occupants of the lake of fire this end times hell that will go on forever.

And we'll talk about this more in detail down the road in this sermon series. Satan will follow them to this place of torment after the Millennium a revelation 2020 and.

Following.

The.

Antichrist and the false prophet and Satan and Satan in the hell will be all the condemned Throughout world history not covered by the blood of Christ. Revelation 2015 says if anyone's name was not found written in the book of life.

He was thrown into the lake of fire. There have been many efforts to say that hell is not real or hell is described as one's misery in this life. And those who say this are false teachers and the irony is they are Themselves on their way to hell.

Scripture talks about false teachers very strongly and talks about their future Destruction so they're they're denying the place that they will once occupy. Some have taken the position known as universalism that everyone will be saved through Christ's death at the cross.

There's also another view that those sent to hell will be eventually annihilated. So it's not eternal conscious torment, it's conscious torment, but it's not eternal. The Bible teaches none of these but but it clearly teaches that hell is eternal conscious torment.

Now people who say that a loving God would not send anyone to hell do not understand How great man's sinfulness is how great God's holiness is. And how great God's grace is to offer Christ and in some receive Refuse that offer and are sent there.

Jesus Truly bridges this great chasm between God and us and he is the only one who can do so first. Timothy 2 5 says There is one God and there is one mediator between God and men the man Christ Jesus.

And acts 412 says there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved. There are even Evangelical churches that Confessionally believe that unbelievers go to hell so you can go to their web page.

You can go to their statement of faith. They would say yes, we believe in hell, but they don't talk about it it's never addressed and And I remind you Jesus addressed it a lot in His time here on earth and the motivation I think it to the softer approach is that some churches would rather have people in the seats.

Then.

Teach the whole Council of God as X 2025 tells us. Now this this does not mean that that every sermon should focus on hell. Certainly not. The Bible has a lot much else to talk about. But it does mean that it needs to be addressed clearly so that people would be warned.

The penalty awaiting them do their sin and how much they need to repent and put their trust in Christ. Who died for their sins? When we realize how much we need Christ and he is our only hope before a holy God it shows how amazing The gospel is.

If you don't talk about the punishment awaiting people then the gospel doesn't make sense. You don't just tell people God loves you and And then and then leave there. You say God loves you and he wants to rescue you from your dark future of Punishment that awaits you if you will not find your refuge in Christ.

And so we must be reminded how gracious God is to send his son to be that.

Refuge.

There's been a famous illustration that's been used that it's like someone drowning in the sea and and someone standing on the ship and throwing a life vest out. And when we're when you're sharing the gospel son what you're doing is you're throwing you're offering Jesus to them.

Jesus is that life vest that they grab a hold of and he's the only life vest or Or safety boat that that rescues people. So as we have seen this this morning. What awaits everyone awaits you so be ready and what awaits everyone is death.

And this is how I want to close this morning. We have seen true. We've seen two drastic Destinations that everyone listening to this sermon is heading toward. And in my hope and prayers that most of you are on your way to heaven.

But I realized that some of you listening to this. It may not be and some of you here are listening to this. You're living for this life only and you're not thinking about what is to come and you don't want to wait.

For that because it might never come you might die Unexpectedly and your destiny will be sealed. What awaits one in hell is indescribably bad as we have seen. But you can escape the flames of hell and for the first time you can have a joy that is deep and lasting.

This joy that is only found in God and his son Jesus Christ. God the Father sent his son to the grot to the cross to suffer the punishment that you deserve to suffer. Jesus at the cross he faced God's holy wrath.

He faced hell for you so that you don't have to. That's what Romans 5 8 and 9 it teaches us. Every sin is paid for either in hell or at the cross of Christ for you. May it be at the cross and If you sincerely believe in Christ, you will be saved from the flames of hell and instead experience the most blessed future possible.

So if you are listening to this You've never trust in Christ find your refuge in him today. And I realize many many many of others of you who are listening I do have a relationship with Christ and in what what you might be asking.

Okay, what's the takeaway from this sermon for me? Well, you should be filled with hope realizing what is coming towards you in the future and it should motivate you all the more To live for him now so that you are ready to meet him.

And and you and your attachment to the life to come should be much greater than your attachment to this temporary life. That we are in and my goal over the next 10 weeks including today has been to to give you in anticipation and excitement a Hope and a joy for what is awaiting you whether it's your death when you go to be with the Lord or whether it is Jesus Christ Piercing the sky and coming down to take you to be with him.

Either way your future is bright and it should motivate you in the present to live all the more for him. I think that's why the Bible talks about the day we die. So in so many places about what it's going to be like and it talks about the return of Christ in so many places because if you live in Expectancy it's going to change the way you live now.

And so I hope that this will be an encouragement to our church as we go through this sermon series. So today we begin by looking at personal eschatology your end times now next Sunday We're gonna have a nine-week study on What does the Bible say about the end of the world?

So this is what we call corporate eschatology the end times of The whole world and I look forward to going through that with you Over the web and I know this will be a rich time for us. No, let's close at this time in prayer Father in heaven, I thank you for this opportunity Lord to to preach from afar.