WHAT HAPPENS AFTER DEATH?
1) THE DEAD CANNOT HAVE CONTACT WITH THE LIVING.
Ecclesiastes 9
1 Indeed all these things have I considered in my heart, to declare all this: that the righteous, and the wise, and their works, are in the hand of God, and also that man knows neither love nor hate; everything passes before him.
2 Everything happens equally to everyone; the same is true of the righteous and the wicked, the good and the clean, and the unclean; so to the one who sacrifices as to the one who does not sacrifice; both to the good and to the sinner; to him who swears and to him who fears an oath.
3 This is the evil that is among everything that is done under the sun; the same happens to all; and that also the heart of the children of men is full of evil, and that madness is in their heart while they live, and afterward they go to the dead.
4 Now for him who is among the living there is hope (for a living dog is better than a dead lion).
5 For the living know that they will die, but the dead know nothing, nor will they have a reward, but their memory is given over to oblivion.
6 Their love, and their hatred, and their envy, are perished, and have no part for ever, in anything that is done under the sun.
7 Go, eat your bread with joy, and drink your wine with a merry heart, for God is already pleased with your works.
8 Let your clothes be white at all times, and never lack oil on your head.
9 Enjoy life with the woman you love, all the days of your vain life, which God has given you under the sun, all the days of your vanity; for this is your portion in this life, and in your work, which you did under the sun.
10 Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might, because in the grave, where you are going, there is neither work nor design, nor knowledge, nor wisdom.
11 I turned and saw under the sun that the race does not belong to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, nor bread to the wise, nor riches to the prudent, nor favor to the understanding, but that time and opportunity comes to everyone.
12 that man also does not know his time; like the fish that are caught in an evil net, and like the birds that are caught in a snare, so are the sons of men snared in bad weather, when it suddenly falls on them.
13 I also saw this wisdom under the sun, which was great to me:
14 There was a small city where there were few men, and a great king came against it, and besieged it, and set up great bulwarks against it;
15 And there was found in it a poor wise man, who delivered that city by his wisdom, and no one remembered that poor man.
16 Then I said, Wisdom is better than strength, though the poor man's wisdom was despised, and his words were not heeded.
17 The words of the wise must be heard in silence, more than the cry of the ruler among fools.
18 Wisdom is better than weapons of war, but one sinner destroys many goods.
2) AFTER DEATH THE SPIRIT RETURNS TO GOD
Ecclesiastes 12
1 Remember also your Creator in the days of your youth, before the evil days come, and the years draw near when you will say, I have no pleasure in them;
2 Before the sun, and the light, and the moon, and the stars, are darkened, and the clouds return after the rain;
3 In the day when the keepers of the house tremble, and the strong men bow down, and the grinders cease, because they are few, and those who look out the windows are darkened;
4 And the doors of the street shall be closed because of the low noise of the grinding, and the voice of the birds shall rise, and all the daughters of music shall bow down.
5 As also when they fear what is high, and there are terrors in the way, and the almond tree blossoms, and the locust is a burden, and the appetite perishes; for man goes to his eternal home, and the mourners will walk around in the square;
6 Before the silver cord is broken, and the golden cup is broken, and the pitcher at the fountain is broken, and the wheel is broken at the well,
7 And the dust returns to the earth as it was, and the spirit returns to God who gave it.
8 Vanity of vanities, says the preacher, all is vanity.
LUCAS 24
As they spoke of these things, Jesus himself stood among them and said to them, Peace be with you.
And they, amazed and terrified, thought they saw some spirit.
And he said to them, Why are you troubled, and why do such thoughts rise in your hearts?
See my hands and my feet, that it is I; touch me and see, for a spirit does not have flesh and bones, as you see I have.
And saying this, he showed them his hands and feet.
And while they still did not believe because of joy, and being amazed, he said to them, Have you anything here to eat?
Then they brought him part of a broiled fish, and a honeycomb;
Which he took, and ate before them.
And he said unto them, These are the words which he spake unto you, while he was yet with you, That all things must be fulfilled which were written concerning me in the law of Moses, and in prophets and in the Psalms.
Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures.
And he said unto them, Thus it is written, and thus it behooved the Christ to suffer, and the third day to rise from the dead,
And in his name repentance and remission of sins would be preached to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem.
And of these things you are witnesses.
And behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you; but stay in the city of Jerusalem until you are endued with power from on high.
And he led them out to Bethany; and, lifting up his hands, he blessed them.
And it came to pass, as he blessed them, he withdrew from them and was taken up into heaven.
And as they worshiped him, they returned to Jerusalem with great joy.
And they were always in the temple, praising and blessing God. Amen.
Luke 24:36-53
3) WHEN THE CHRISTIAN DIES THEY GO DIRECTLY TO THE PRESENCE OF JESUS.
ACTS 7
And when they heard this, they raged in their hearts, and gnashed their teeth against him.
But he, being filled with the Holy Spirit, looking intently into heaven, saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God;
And he said, Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God.
But they shouted with a loud voice, stopped their ears, and rushed at him with one accord.
And, driving him out of the city, they stoned him. And the witnesses laid down their cloaks at the feet of a young man named Saul.
And they stoned Stephen, who invocation said: Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.
And falling to his knees, he cried out with a loud voice, Lord, do not lay this sin to their charge. And having said this, he fell asleep.
Acts 7:54-60
PHILIPPIANS 1
For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.
But if living in the flesh brings me the fruit of my work, then I don't know what I should choose.
But on both sides I am in a pinch, wanting to depart and be with Christ, because that is so much better.
But I think it more necessary, for your sake, to remain in the flesh.
And having this confidence, I know that I will stay and remain with you all for your benefit and the enjoyment of the faith,
So that your glory may increase through me in Christ Jesus
Philippians 1:21-26
4) CHRISTIAN BODIES SLEEP AFTER DEATH
John 11
1 However, a certain Lazarus, from Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha, was sick.
2 And Mary was she who had anointed the Lord with ointment, and had wiped his feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick.
3 His sisters therefore sent to him, saying, Lord, behold, the one whom you love is sick.
4 And Jesus, hearing this, said: This disease is not for death, but for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified by it.
5 Now Jesus loved Martha, and her sister, and Lazarus.
6 So when he heard that he was sick, he stayed two days longer in the place where he was.
7 After this he said to his disciples, Let us go again into Judea.
8 His disciples said to him, Rabbi, even now the Jews were trying to stone you, and are you going back there?
9 Jesus answered: Are there not twelve hours in the day? If anyone walks by day, he does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world;
10 But if he walks by night, he stumbles, because there is no light in him.
11 Thus he spake; and afterwards he said to them, Lazarus, our friend, sleeps, but I will wake him up from sleep.
12 His disciples therefore said, Lord, if he sleep, he shall be safe.
13 But Jesus said this of his death; but they thought he was speaking of the rest of sleep.
14 Then Jesus said to them clearly: Lazarus is dead;
15 And I am glad for your sakes that I was not there, so that you may believe; but let's go to him.
16 Then Thomas, who is called Didymus, said to his fellow disciples, Let us also go, that we may die with him.
17 When Jesus arrived, he found that he had already been in the tomb four days.
18 (Now Bethany was nearly fifteen furlongs from Jerusalem.)
19 And many of the Jews had gone to comfort Martha and Mary about their brother.
20 When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went out to meet him; Mary, however, sat at home.
21 Then Martha said to Jesus, Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.
22 But now I also know that whatever you ask God for, God will give it to you.
23 Jesus said to him, Your brother will rise again.
24 Marta said to him, I know that he will rise in the resurrection on the last day.
25 Jesus said to him, I am the resurrection and the life; whoever believes in me, even if he dies, will live;
26 And everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?
27 She said to him: Yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who was to come into the world.
28 And having said this, he departed, and called in secret to Mary, her sister, saying, The Master is here, and calls you.
29 When she heard this, she got up immediately and went to him.
30 (For Jesus had not yet arrived in the village, but he was in the place where Martha had found him.)
31 When the Jews who were with her in the house and were consoling her saw that Mary had hurriedly got up and gone out, they followed her, saying, “Go to the tomb to weep there.”
32 So when Mary had arrived where Jesus was there, and seeing him, he fell at his feet, saying to him, Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.
33 When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who were with her weeping, he was greatly moved in spirit and troubled.
34 And he said, Where have you laid him? They said to him, Lord, come and see.
35 Jesus wept.
36 The Jews therefore said, See how he loved him.
37 And some of them said, Could he not, who opened the eyes of the blind man, also keep this man from dying?
38 Jesus, therefore, moved again very much in himself, came to the tomb; and it was a cave, and it had a stone laid over it.
39 Jesus said: Take away the stone. Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him: Lord, it already stinks, because it has been four days.
40 Jesus said to him, Did I not tell you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?
41 So they removed the stone from which the dead man was lying. And Jesus, looking up, said: Father, I thank you for listening to me.
42 I know that you always hear me, but I said this because of the crowd standing around, so that they may believe that you sent me.
43 And having said this, he cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come out.
44 And the dead man came out, his hands and feet bound with bandages, and his face wrapped in a handkerchief. Jesus said to them, Loose him, and let him go.
45 Many therefore of the Jews who had come to Mary, and who had seen what Jesus had done, believed in him.
46 But some of them went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done.
47 Then the chief priests and the Pharisees formed a council, and said, What shall we do? because this man does many signs.
48 If we leave him like this, everyone will believe in him, and the Romans will come and take away our place and our nation.
49 And Caiaphas, one of them who was high priest that year, said to them, You know nothing,
50 Nor do you consider that it is expedient for us that one man should die for the people, rather than the whole nation perish.
51 Now he did not say this of himself, but, being the high priest that year, he prophesied that Jesus should die for the nation.
52 And not only for the nation, but also to gather into one body the children of God who were scattered abroad.
53 From that day, therefore, they consulted together to kill him.
54 Jesus therefore no longer walked openly among the Jews, but withdrew from there to the country near the desert, to a city called Ephraim; and there he stayed with his disciples.
55 And the Passover of the Jews was at hand, and many from that region went up to Jerusalem before the Passover to purify themselves.
56 So they were looking for Jesus, and they said to one another as they were in the temple, What do you think? Won't you come to the party?
57 Now the chief priests and the Pharisees had given orders that if anyone knew where he was, he should report him, in order to arrest him.
1 THESSALONIANS 4
But I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, about those who are asleep, lest you grieve as do others who have no hope.
For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him.
For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will not precede those who are asleep.
For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet of God; and those who died in Christ will rise first.
Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord.
So comfort one another with these words.
1 Thessalonians 4:13-18
5) THE BODIES OF CHRISTIANS AGREE ON JESUS' RETURN
1 CORINTHIANS 15
Behold, I tell you a mystery: Indeed, we will not all sleep, but we will all be changed;
In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we will be changed.
For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.
And when this corruptible clothes itself with incorruptibility, and this mortal clothes itself with immortality, then the word that is written will be fulfilled: Death is swallowed up in victory.
Where, O death, is your sting? Where, O hell, is your victory?
Now the sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law.
But thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.
1 Corinthians 15:51-58
PLEASE SHARE THIS MESSAGE WITH EVERYONE YOU KNOW. THANKS.
