What Happens When You Die? - Part A

Think of the most beautiful thing you've ever seen in your life. Heaven's going to be better than that. I think every sight we see, every sound we hear, every sense we take in, it's going to be breathtaking. It's going to be the most beautiful thing we've ever experienced in life. What are you going to do?

Who's going to be there? Today on Connect with Skip Heiting, Pastor Nate Heiting begins his message, What Happens When You Die, and helps you imagine what heaven is really going to be like when you get there. But first, here's a timely new resource about the current war in Israel and how it fits in God's plan for His nation. Israel at War.

That's the title of a new book by Skip Heiting. Modern Israel has been at war from its very first day of existence, as Skip points out. On the day after Israel became a nation, that was May 14, 1948. On May 15, virtually every Arab neighbor attacked Israel to destroy it. Israel had been a nation one day.

They didn't have an organized army. Israel at War is up to date concerning current events in the Mideast and includes Skip's comments during his December tour of the Gaza border and a video link to Skip's interview in Jerusalem. The new book, Israel at War, is our gift to you this month to anyone who encourages the growth of Connect with Skip with a gift of $50 or more.

Make your financial vote of support at connectwithskip.com or by calling 1-800-922-1888. Israel at War will give you Skip's insight from over 40 trips to Israel and decades of Bible study. I know the Middle East seems like a very complex situation.

It's actually pretty basic. One side wants the other side dead. On one side, you have a Jewish nation, a Jewish state, called modern-day Israel. Israel wishes to exist as a sovereign state living in peace. Most Palestinians and other Arab nations, not all, but many of them, deny the right of Israel to exist. Receive Israel at War by Skip Heitzig with your gift.

Go to connectwithskip.com or call 1-800-922-1888. All right, now let's hear what Nate Heitzig has for us today. We're in Luke 16 as we join him. Today, we're going to ask the question, look at what happens when you die?

And I have a question as we get started. Are you ready to die? A few of you said yes, but most of you are like, are you serious?

Like, we just got done saying hail, hail, Lion of Judah, and now this pastor comes and hits us with this heavy question. Are you ready to die? Like, that's not how you start a conversation. You don't start a date, and it's like, hey, so what's your favorite color or your favorite movie? Are you ready to die? Girls, if a guy asks that question on the first date, run. That is a red flag, all right? That's not like how you start a job interview.

So, what are the qualifications you think you have for this job? By the way, are you ready to die? By the way, are you ready to die? Like, that's not the way we start conversations, and that's a heavy topic. Most of us don't want to talk about death. Most of us don't want to think about what's going to happen when we die.

We don't want to face the fact that we're mortals. We don't want to face the fact that our days are numbered. We don't even want to face the fact that we're going to get older, do we? In our society, we're all about prolonging life for as long as we can, and also we want to look like we're 20 when we're 80. So we're like doing all these things and trying to make our skin look like it's new skin and trying to get rid of fat and increase muscle and do all these things because we hate the idea of aging. We hate the idea of getting older. We hate the idea that our days are numbered. We can't stand the fact that someday we're going to die. But everyone has to face it, whether you want to or not. Novelist William Boyd wrote this, we all want to be happy and we're all going to die.

You might say these are the only two unchallengeable true facts that apply to every human being on this planet. We all want to be happy and we're all going to die. Now, you might be a good person, but good people die and you're going to die.

It's a harsh reality that we all have to live with. My question is, are you ready? Are you ready to die? Can you be ready to die? Because death is no respecter of persons.

It doesn't matter if you're a billionaire or you're living on food stamps. You might be an old person, but sometimes you could be a very young person. You could be a president, a king, a queen, a movie star, or a rock star, but eventually everyone dies. Why? Because death is unavoidable. But the question that we're asking this weekend is what happens when you die? We all know death is coming. We all know that we're going to die, but what happens when you die?

And this is a question we should all ask in life. What happens beyond the grave? What waits us on the other side? And as a society, we're obsessed with this topic. We're obsessed with the supernatural, the paranormal, what's on the other side.

That's why there's so many horror movies and books and TV shows that address ghosts and hauntings and the paranormal and angels and demons, because we're fascinated with what's on the other side. We all want to know what really happens beyond the grave. One survey said this, roughly 81% of Americans believe in an afterlife of some sort. 76% believe that heaven exists. If you believe that heaven exists, raise your hand.

I would expect nothing less than a church. Of those, 46% say it is an eternal place in God's presence, and 30% say it is just a place of reward that souls go to. So pretty much everyone goes there and you kind of get what you gave on earth, more or less. 14% say that heaven is just symbolic and there is no life after death. 71% of people believe in hell. If you believe in hell, raise your hand.

Okay? Again, would expect nothing less than the church, but of those, 39% say that hell is eternal separation from God, and 32% say it is an actual place of torment and suffering where you go when you die. So it seems a lot of people believe in the afterlife.

A lot of people believe in heaven and hell, but what if we make it more personal? Not just do you believe in heaven and hell, but what happens to you when you die? When asked that question, 64% of people believe that they will go to heaven when they die. 5% say they will come back in another form. Another 5% say they will cease to exist. 24% say they have no idea what will happen when they die.

And this last statistic shocked me to the core. Only one half of one percent expect that they're going to go to hell when they die. So a lot of people believe in heaven and hell. A lot of people believe that they're going to go to heaven.

Very few people expect to go to hell. So there's a lot of different views on the afterlife, but what happens when you die? What happens after the death? What happens after the grave? Do we all just go to heaven, everyone? We all just kind of show up there, and it doesn't matter what you did on earth.

We all just end up there, and we kind of get rewards based on what we did. Do we look the same in the afterlife? Does your body, are you still recognizable? Will you see your loved ones again? Or do we come back as ghosts and haunt the people who cut us off on the way to church this morning and all of our exes? Like, what happens? What do we do in the afterlife? Now, this is a topic we have to deal with because we're all going to face it one day. The Bible says it's appointed to man once to die and then the judgment.

I want you to remember that. Write that verse down. It's appointed to a man once to die and then the judgment. How many times are you going to die?

What's going to happen after? The judgment. It is appointed to a man once to die and then the judgment. But did you know the Bible actually teaches there are two deaths? I know we just said it's appointed to man once to die, but the Bible teaches two deaths. One is a physical death and the other is an eternal death. Jesus warned that we are to fear the second death more than the first death. He discussed the second death as hell, which is eternal separation from God. And he indicated that the death of your body is nothing compared to the conscious everlasting banishment of a soul from God. It is clearly taught in all of scripture that there are only two options after the grave, heaven and hell.

That's it. There's only two options. They're not like option C, purgatory. You can work off your sins and you can get to heaven.

That is not taught in the Bible. Option D, come back as a ghost and mess with people. That's not an option.

There's no other options. There's two options, heaven or hell. And it's also not handed out willy-nilly. It's not like whether God has a good day or not depends on whether or not you're going to heaven or hell. Like God's like, man, I really hate magenta shirts. So if you're wearing a magenta shirt today, you're going to hell.

It's not how it works. God doesn't just kind of dole it out based on how he's feeling that day. As a matter of fact, you know the determination of heaven or hell depends on you. You get to choose. It's your choice whether you want to go to heaven or it's your choice whether you want to go to hell. Let me ask the question, who in here wants to go to heaven when they die? Good choice. Who in here wants to go to hell when they die?

Also a good choice. Every now and then you get some snarky person who raised their hand like, are you kidding me? All my friends are going to be in hell. It's going to be a party, man. Not true. We're going to talk about that in a little bit. But here's the catch. It's your choice whether you want to go to heaven or hell, but it's a choice that you must choose now. It's not a choice you get to make later.

It's a choice you have to make now. Now we're going to look at both heaven and hell in this message and how you can decide which one you want to go to. But first let's look at our text and talk about heaven, the future hope of all believers in Christ. Luke 16 19 to 31. You didn't bring your Bibles.

There's Bibles in the front seat beside you and also we're going to have the text on the screens. There was a certain rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and fared sumptuously every day. But there was a certain beggar named Lazarus full of sores who was laid at his gate, desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man's table. Moreover, the dogs came and licked his sores.

So graphic, right? But it wants to paint the picture of the disparity of these two individuals. So it was that the beggar died and was carried by the angels to Abraham's bosom. But the beggar also died and was buried and being in torments in Hades, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham afar off and Lazarus in his bosom. Then 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 in your lifetime you received your good things and likewise Lazarus evil things. But now he is comforted and you are tormented.

And besides all of this, between us and you, there is a great goal fixed so that those who want to pass from here to you cannot, nor can those from there pass to us. Then he said, I beg you therefore, Father, that you would send him to my father's house. For I have five brothers that he may testify to them lest they also come to this place of torment. Abraham said to him, they have Moses and the prophets, let them hear them. And he said, no, Father Abraham, but if one goes to them from the dead, they will repent. But he said to him, if they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rise from the dead."

Let's stop there. This answers our question today. What happens when you die? The first thing that we see is that some will go to heaven. Now, I first want to point out, this story is not a parable. Some have believed that this is a parable.

It's listed in a sermon that Jesus was giving throughout several chapters of Luke that was filled with some parables. But in every parable, Jesus never introduces the names of characters. He always refers to a certain rich man or a rich man.

He always refers to a rich man or a sower or a property owner or a fisherman. He's always referring to people not by name, but simply by what the role they were in the story. But in this one, we're given a specific name of a person. His name is Lazarus. And we're revealed and we're introduced to Lazarus and this rich man. It's interesting to me that Lazarus' name is given and the rich man's is not.

I think it may be due. Again, keep in mind, Jesus sees outside of time and space. It would appear that this story happened well before Jesus came on the scene.

And you'll kind of get to why I believe that later on. But I think it's almost like Jesus was able to look into the Lamb's Book of Life and see the story of this man named Lazarus. And he was able to pull this story that he knew happened because he's God and share about Lazarus. But the rich man, his name isn't in the Lamb's Book of Life. So the rich man isn't named. I have no biblical proof to back that up, but it's an interesting thought and a theory.

I read it in a commentary. But this is an actual story about a man named Lazarus. It's also said that Lazarus dies and it says the rich man is buried. That's because in this time, a really poor person like Lazarus, he would die. He would be thrown into the Valley of Gehenna along with all the other poor people in a mass grave.

And it would be to putrefy and smell. But the rich man would have the money to be buried. So again, showing the significance and the disparity of these two people. But Jesus is telling us an actual story.

This really happened. And this is incredible because so many people want a glimpse beyond the grave. They want a glimpse behind the veil. They want to know what happens after death. We watch so many movies of all these things wanting a glimpse beyond into the afterlife. And none of that is real, but here in this incredible true story, Jesus gives us an actual glimpse into the afterlife.

So if you've ever wanted to know what it's like, you've ever wanted to see behind the veil, see what it's like after death, Jesus here gives us an actual story of what that looks like, the invisible world. Now Jesus was addressing people in this story who were obsessed with greed and materialism. People who were possessed by their possessions. People who were trying to make themselves happy.

People who had a void in their life and were trying to fill that void with the things of the world to give them satisfaction and joy. And we are introduced to this certain rich man who lived in luxury. And I want to point out the rich man's sin wasn't that he was rich. The rich man's sin wasn't his wealth. Rather, his sin was a disregard for spiritual values that revealed itself in his prideful flaunting of his resources while he neglected a starving disabled man who sat at his very door. Meanwhile, outside of the gates, this impoverished man named Lazarus ate the crumbs from this man's table.

Now I want to give some clarification to what that means. In this time period, they didn't have paper napkins. So people of wealth would wipe their hands and their mouth with scraps of bread and throw that on the floor. That is what it's referring to that Lazarus ate. He ate bread napkins from this rich man's table. That was his diet. That was his sustenance. We're told that he had sores on his body. We're also told that he was laid at the gate. So perhaps he was crippled too.

But all that changes in an instant. Verse 22, we really get to the meat of our story. It says, so it was that the beggar died and was carried by the angels to Abraham's bosom. Now we're going to discuss Abraham's bosom in a second. We're going to define it. We're going to talk about Hades. We're going to talk about what these places are. We're going to talk about the difference between heaven and hell, the difference between Hades and the lake of fire. We're really going to do that over the next couple weeks when Pastor Skip talks about the great white throne judgment, the lake of fire, new heaven, new earth, new Jerusalem, all that. But for now, for the simplicity of it, let's simply define Abraham's bosom as heaven.

Let's talk about heaven for just a moment. Now when you travel somewhere that you haven't been before, you want to know a little bit about it before you go there. Does anyone here like to travel?

Travel, it can be near, far, other states, other countries, even around New Mexico. When you go somewhere, you want to learn about it a little bit before you go there. Why?

Well, a few reasons. You want to make sure you pack appropriately, right? You want to make sure you have the right clothes. You don't want to go to South Africa at Christmas time and think it's going to be snowing in winter and realize you're in a different hemisphere and it's hot as Hades, no pun intended with the message.

You don't want to come from South Africa to Denver for Christmas time and think, oh, it's summertime and show up with shorts and t-shirts and then freeze your butt off the whole time that you're in Denver because it is not hot in Denver at Christmas time, right? You want to learn about the place. You want to know what restaurants there are, what hotels there are. You want to know what there is to see, what there is to do. You want to learn about that environment, especially if you're going to move there permanently.

Then you really want to do your research and know what you're in for. So let's look at heaven. What are we in for in heaven?

What is it like? What do we need to be prepared for? What are we going to see? Where are we going to live?

What are we going to eat? Well, when you go to heaven, you don't have to worry about hotels or accommodations because Jesus said, in my Father's house are many mansions and I go to prepare a place for you. I don't know about you, but I don't live in a mansion, so that's a welcome upgrade for me. Anyone else looking forward to the mansion that Jesus has prepared for you in heaven?

Come on, somebody. Got a lot of people living in mansions is what this is telling me. But I love that he clarifies. He says, I go to prepare a place for you. I love the individuality of Jesus. I love that he doesn't say I go to prepare a place for them or I go to prepare a place for all the saints. He says, I go to prepare a place for you. Jesus has you in mind as he prepares the place for you to dwell. And would we expect anything different from our loving Savior who created each and every one of us with a unique purpose and a plan, who knows the hair on your head, who knows the tears that you cry, who knows your hopes, who knows your dreams, who knows your desires, whose plans for you are good, not evil, to give you a future and a hope. Would we expect anything less than that Jesus has you in mind as he prepares your place? I love that and I'm so excited to see like the individuality of the mansions in heaven.

I'm so excited to see like what each person's mansions gonna be like. I don't know, maybe someone has a sports-themed mansion. I don't know what sports are in heaven, like maybe wrestling lions.

That sounds fun. Not on earth, but in heaven maybe. Maybe someone has like a car-themed mansion with like chariot wheels and pictures of horses on there. I don't know, but I love that Jesus is thinking about it because I don't have to. Because guess what? Jesus knows me better than I know myself. So I know that whatever he's planning and preparing is going to be way better than anything I could come up with.

So I love this. What about restaurants? What are you going to eat in heaven? Well, we're told that you're going to be an honored guest at the marriage feast of the lamb, a much better meal than taco cabana after a Sunday church service. But it doesn't really matter because you're going to be in a glorified body. You're not going to need to eat anything. You're glorified body. You're not going to need to eat anyways. Can we just get a little bit of that right now for those who are trying to lose weight?

Somebody give me an amen. What about clothes? What are you going to have to pack? What are you going to wear in heaven?

You don't have to worry about it. Clothes will be provided. Revelation 19 says to her, referring to the church, it was granted to be arrayed in fine linen, clean and bright. What about things that you're going to see?

There's a lot of questions about this. People are like, when I get to heaven, it's just going to be like a big white room. It's just bright light everywhere. And I just kind of stand there in the bright white light. Like, what does it look like?

Revelation 22 tells us some of the things that we're going to see in heaven. It describes a sea of glass. Now it's not literal glass, but anyone ever been to the ocean or a lake early in the morning? And it's like glass on the water.

It's so smooth. It's beautiful. And the sun rises and it's breathtaking. So there's a sea of glass. We're also told that the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal will flow from the throne of God and of the lamb throughout heaven. And along sides of this river, the streets of heaven, there will be the tree of life on either side of the river and the streets throughout heaven.

Think of the most beautiful thing you've ever seen in your life. Heaven's going to be better than that. I think every sight we see, every sound we hear, every sense we take in, it's going to be breathtaking. It's going to be the most beautiful thing we've ever experienced in life. What are you going to do?

Who's going to be there? Will anyone in here like fishing? Well, maybe you could sit around and share some big fish stories with the disciples. They can tell you about that time when they hauled all those fish in and they can talk about, I'm sure Peter's going to exaggerate about the size of fish that he had. He's in heaven.

He can't lie, but I think he's going to find some way to exaggerate it a little bit. Maybe you're going to share glory stories of evangelism with Paul and Elijah, sharing battle stories with Gideon and David. Maybe you're going to swap fitness routines with Samson. Girls, how about high tea with Esther, Deborah, and Mary? And don't you worry, Martha will be the one who prepares the food. It's not biblical, by the way.

Don't be like, hey, he said Martha was going to prepare the food. In 2 Corinthians 12 two, Paul described his time in heaven briefly. He was granted just a vision, and this is what he said.

It was paradise, a royal garden of a king with all kinds of fruit and flowers, and I heard unspeakable words, which it is impossible for a man to utter. In Revelation 22 five, we're told that in heaven there will be no night, there will be no need for a lamp or light of the sun, for the Lord God gives them light. Heaven will also be a place of great joy. We're told in Scripture that in his presence is the fullness of joy. I hear people say, well, are my pets going to be in heaven?

Because I don't know if I'd be happy without my pets. You don't need to worry about that, because in the presence of God is the fullness of joy. That means, think about the time in your life when you were the happiest you've ever been.

You're going to be happier than that all the time, and it won't be possible with time, and it won't be based on things that happen. It will simply be based on the fullness of the Lord. That's Nate Heitig with his message from the series The End is Near, giving you a glimpse of your eternal home. Find the full message as well as books, booklets, and full teaching series at connectwithskip.com. Now, here's Skip to share how you can connect you and many others with the truth of God's word with a gift.

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800-922-1888. Thank you for your generosity. And did you know that you can now connect with Pastor Skip and his resources via text? Just visit connectwithskip.com slash text to sign up for text messages from Skip. When you do, you'll receive a free digital booklet, Living in the Last Days, in which Pastor Skip gives you a glimpse into the last days and how you can be ready for them. So go to connectwithskip.com slash text to keep in touch and get your free booklet. Come back next week for the conclusion of Pastor Nate's message, What Happens When You Die. Make a connection, make a connection at the foot of the cross and cast all burdens on his word. Make a connection, a connection. Connect with Skip Hyten is a presentation of Connection Communications, connecting you to God's never changing truth in ever changing times.