Sermon Tone Analysis

XII.FUTURE LIFE:

What to Expect When We Die

the conscious existence of the dead (Phil 1:21-23; Luke 16:19-31), the resurrection of the body (John 5:28-29), the judgment and reward of believers (Rom.

14:10-12; II Cor.

5:10), the judgment and condemnation of unbelievers (Rev 20:11-15), the eternal life of the saved (John 3:16), and the eternal punishment of the lost (Matt.

25:46; Rev 20:15).

[We understand eternal punishment to be a conscious state (Rev.

14:11).]

What WillHappen to you When you die.

1.Separation.

1. Death is a state of Separation.

A. The separation of the sinner from God.

A. The separation of the sinner from God is spiritual death.

i.

This {first} occurred in the Garden of Eden when Adam sinned.

Gen. 3:6-10 {v8, they hid from the Lord’s presence; v9 Where are you?; v10 I hid}

ii.

This is the state in which all human beings are {born} .

(1) This necessitates the {new} birth, or being “born again.”

John 3:3–7 (NASB95) 3 Jesus answered and said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” 4 Nicodemus said to Him, “How can a man be born when he is old?

He cannot enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born, can he?” 5 Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. 6 “That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.

7 “Do not be amazed that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’

{that which is born of... Spirit is spirit}

(2) This occurs the moment saving {faith} is exercised in Jesus Christ.

John 3:14–16 (NASB95) 14 “As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up; 15 so that whoever believes will in Him have eternal life.

16 “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.

{the one who believes is given eternal life; cf Acts 16:31 (NASB95) 31 They said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.”

}

iii.

This is the state in which all {unsaved} people will exist forever.

{Hell is eternal separation from God.

This is the state of eternal spiritual death.}

B. Separation of the Spirit from the body is physical death.

B. The separation of the human soul/spirit from the body is physical death.

i. James 2:26 (NASB95) 26 For just as the body without thespirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead.

{the body without the spirit is dead}

ii.Examples of the soul’s {departure} from the body resulting in physical death:

(1) Gen. 35:18 {Rachel’s soul was departing, and she died}

(2) Luke 23:46 {Christ committed His spirit into the Father’s hands}

(3) Acts 7:59-60 {Stephen called out, ‘receive my spirit’}

C. Conscious Existence.

C. When physical death occurs, the soul/spirit continues in a conscious existence.

i. Philippians 1:21–23 (NASB95) 21 For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.

22 But if I am to live on in the flesh, this will meanfruitful labor for me; and I do not know which to choose.

23 But I am hard-pressed from both directions,having the desire to depart and be with Christ, for that is very much better; {the verb ‘depart’ (v23) is avnalu,w meaning: to unloose for departure – Paul knew that when he died he would be existing consciously in Christ’s presence; cf 2 Cor.

5:8-9, ‘absent from the body...present with the Lord’}

ii.

Luke 16:19–31 (NASB95) 19 “Now there was a rich man, and he habitually dressed in purple and fine linen, joyously living in splendor every day.

20 “And a poor man named Lazarus was laid at his gate, covered with sores, 21 and longing to be fed with the crumbswhich were falling from the rich man’s table; besides, even the dogs were coming and licking his sores.

22 “Now the poor man died and was carried away by the angels to Abraham’s bosom; and the rich man also died and was buried.

23 “In Hades he lifted up his eyes, being in torment, and saw Abraham far away and Lazarus in his bosom.

24 “And he cried out and said, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus so that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool off my tongue, for I am in agony in this flame.’

25 “But Abraham said, ‘Child, remember that during your life you received your good things, and likewise Lazarus bad things; but now he is being comforted here, and you are in agony.

26 ‘And besides all this, between us and you there is a great chasm fixed, so that those who wish to come over from here to you will not be able, and that none may cross over from there to us.’ 27 “And he said, ‘Then I beg you, father, that you send him to my father’s house— 28 for I have five brothers—in order that he may warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment.’

29 “But Abraham said, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them.’

30 “But he said, ‘No, father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent!’

31 “But he said to him, ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be persuaded even if someone rises from the dead.’

”

{both the saved man, Lazarus, and the unsaved rich man were existing consciously in Sheol after they had died.

This is called the “intermediate state”– the time of existence between a man’s life on earth and ‘life’ in his resurrection body.}

2. Resurrection

2. Both believers and non-believers will be {raised} from the dead.

John 5:28–29 (NASB95) 28 “Do not marvel at this; for an hour is coming, in which all who are in the tombs will hear His voice, 29 and will come forth; those who did the good deeds to a resurrection of life, those who committed the evil deeds to a resurrection of judgment.

A. Reuniting of the spirit with the body.

a. Resurrection is the {reuniting} of the soul/spirit to the physical body.

i.Since the OT teaches that the {body} is a vital part of man (Gen.

2:7), then it follows that the OT also revealed a coming bodily resurrection.

{God created man as a unified material & spiritual being to live forever.

Death (separation) is an intruder.}

(1) Job 19:25-27 {At the end of the world, Job will see Christ from his body; cf Job 14:14, “If a man dies, will he live again?

...I will wait until my change comes”}

(2) Isa.

26:19 {‘your dead will live;’ ‘their corpses will rise’}

(3) Dan.

12:2 {‘those who sleep in the dust of the ground will awake’; God’s power is infinite – since He created man from dust, He can bring Him back from dust!}

ii.The Greek word for ‘resurrection,’ avna,stasij (anastasis), means “a {standing} up,” i.e. ‘a resurrection, a raising up, rising.’

{It appears 2x’s in Jn5:29.

It’s a special NT term always depicting bodily resurrection.

Only possible exception is Lk 2:34.}

(1) The {nature} of resurrection is defined by Christ’s own resurrection.

(a) John 2:19–20 (NASB95) 19 Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.”

20 The Jews then said, “It took forty-six years to build this temple, and will You raise it up in three days?”

{‘the temple of his body’ – the body standing before them!}

(b) 1 Cor.

15:20 {Christ is the first-fruits of the resurrection – i.e.

Christ is the first real resurrection in history where His body was changed – glorified.}

(2) The very body that died is the {same} body that is raised again.

{So we’ll retain our human identity forever.

My face, personality are mine forever, sinless!}

b.

Physical death is a temporary separation of the soul/spirit from the body for {all} men, saved or unsaved (John 5:28–29 (NASB95) 28 “Do not marvel at this; for an hour is coming, in which all who are in the tombs will hear His voice, 29 and will come forth; those who did the good deeds to a resurrection of life, those who committed the evil deeds to a resurrection of judgment.).

(1) All men will be raised by Christ in {bodily} form.

{all the dead shall hear His voice (v28), and shall come forth (v29)}

(2) Just as there are two abodes after death, so there are {two} resurrections.

(a) John 5:29

B. Order of Resurrection

(i) a resurrection of {life}

(i) a resurrection of {life} {to eternal life, cf.

Dan 12:2; the glorified body is described in 1 Corinthians 15:36–50 (NASB95) 36 You fool!

That which you sow does not come to life unless it dies; 37 and that which you sow, you do not sow the body which is to be, but a bare grain, perhaps of wheat or of something else.

38 But God gives it a body just as He wished, and to each of the seeds a body of its own.

39 All flesh is not the same flesh, but there is one flesh of men, and another flesh of beasts, and another flesh of birds, and another of fish.

40 There are also heavenly bodies and earthly bodies, but the glory of the heavenly is one, and the glory of the earthly is another.