Life After Death . . .

The recent flurry of high-profile deaths has caused me to consider mortality and where these souls will spend eternity, but that actually is none of my business. It is, however, my business to spread the Truth of God's Word to those who are living to the best of my God-given ability.
"So wherever you go, make disciples of all nations: Baptize them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Teach them to do everything I have commanded you." Matt 28.19-20a

So . . .

If you believe in God and believe that when you die there is eternal life for believers, please, please read the following. The time is NOW for us to "get right" with God!

The recent flurry of high-profile deaths has caused me to consider mortality and where these souls will spend eternity, but that actually is none of my business. It is, however, my business to spread the Truth of God's Word to those who are living to the best of my God-given ability.
"So wherever you go, make disciples of all nations: Baptize them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Teach them to do everything I have commanded you." Matt 28.19-20a

So . . .

If you believe in God and believe that when you die there is eternal life for believers, please, please read the following. The time is NOW for us to "get right" with God!

Every time someone dies we say things that imply that a person is in heaven "looking down on us" or "singing with the angels," etc. I was conflicted about this because of things that I have read in the Scriptures, so I did some research and what I found contradicts these conceptions.

(This is kinda long, but please stay with me, it's too important to miss!)

MYTH: Everyone who hasn't done something really bad goes to Heaven.

If this was so, that would make God a liar. Consider the Scriptures:
Romans 2:7-9a says that eternal life is only promised to those who "persist in doing good . . . There will be trouble and calamity for everyone who keeps on sinning . . ."
1 Cor 6.9 says ". . . those who do wrong will have no share in the Kingdom of God. Don't fool yourselves. Those who indulge in sexual sin, who are idol worshipers, adulterers, male prostitutes, homosexuals, thieves, greedy people, drunkards, abusers, and swindlers, none of these will have a share in the Kingdom of God."
Gal 6.7, "Don't be misled. Remember that you can't ignore God and get away with it. You will always reap what you sow! Those who live only to satisfy their own sinful desires will harvest the consequences of decay and death. But those who live to please the Spirit will harvest everlasting life from the Spirit."

More importantly, just believing in God is not enough! "You believe that there is one God. That's fine! The demons also believe that, and they tremble with fear. You fool! Do you have to be shown that faith which does nothing is useless?" (James 6.19-20)

So, if you believe in God and His Word, then you know that He can not lie and His Word does not change or become void. Therefore, those of us who go to church, who do more good than bad, who say that we believe and have never done anything really awful will still not be with God if we do not submit our lives to Him and serve Him in obedience.

MYTH: We go straight to Heaven after we die.

I do believe that upon death, everyone goes to "a better place." That place is sleep, in our graves . . .
Eccl 9.5-6, 10 ". . .but the dead know nothing. . . Their love, their hate and their jealousy have long since vanished; never again will they have a part in anything that happens under the sun. . . for in the grave, where you are going, there is neither working nor planning nor knowledge nor wisdom."
Daniel 12:2 "And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt."
John 5.28-29 "A time is coming when all the dead will hear his voice, and they will come out of their tombs. Those who have done good will come back to life and live. But those who have done evil will come back to life and will be judged. "
Acts 2:29, 34 "Let me speak freely to you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his tomb is with us to this day.. .. For David did not ascend into the heavens."
John 3:13 "No one has ascended to heaven but He who came down from heaven, that is, the Son of Man who is in heaven."
Plus, Paul discusses in 1 Cor 15 (the Resurrection chapter) how our bodies will rise upon Christ's return. There can not be a resurrection if we are already in Heaven.

And now, a question . . .

DO WE GET A SECOND CHANCE TO REPENT AFTER DEATH?
The Scriptures discuss resurrection of the dead that occurs what seems to be three times. The first is when Christ returns to set up God's Kingdom
(1 Corinth. 15.23, Rev. 20.4, 5b-6a), the second after the millennial rule of Christ (Rev. 20.5, 11-12) and the third after Satan is destroyed (Rev. 20.13).

Now those who rise when Christ returns are the faithful who will join with those who are still alive and spend the 1,000 years with Christ (they won't need to repent). Those who rise next, are apparently those who never received the opportunity to accept or reject salvation, i.e. those who died before Christ, those who lived in places that didn't allow for this knowledge to reach them, babies and those without the faculties to understand. They will be given the chance to repent and learn about God and be offered salvation . Finally, the remaining dead will arise and then EVERYONE will be judged and those whose life actions did not make the grade will be tossed (Rev. 20.14-15). I haven't found anything that says they will get a second chance.

I say all of that to say this: if you have heard the truth of God and you choose to rebel against this knowlegde and refuse to submit to His will, don't believe that you have a second chance. So many of us are "lukewarm believers" just going through the motions of doing church and saying the right things when are hearts are hardened to God. I know when I was living this kind of life, I always thought that I would have time to change later, when I was older. Just looking at your local news shows us that it can all be over in the blink of an eye.

So, dear departed souls Rest In Peace. There is nothing else that I can do for them, but there is something that I can do for us who yet live. After the resurrection of us all, I want to be sure that you AND I are given eternal life, which should be our ultimate goal - not prosperity, not acceptance, but ETERNAL LIFE. If you believe in God and you believe the Bible, please believe the He is coming back to judge us whether we are living or dead. And please believe that unless you accept God, commit yourself to Him and serve Him for the rest of you days on Earth, you will NOT spend eternity with Him.

Peace and Blessings . . .
(If anyone reading this needs prayer or wants to accept salvation, PLEASE send me a message and I will be more than happy to help you.)