Dale Partridge - Real Christianity #105： What Happens After We Die？

00:00:00.000 Welcome to this episode of Real Christianity. My name is Dale Partridge, where each week

00:00:13.120 I offer 15 to 20-minute answers to tough theological and pastoral questions. This is

00:00:19.100 a 100% listener-supported audio ministry of relearn.org. And for those who don't know,

00:00:25.720 our mission at relearn.org is to educate and equip ordinary Christians to plant biblical,

00:00:31.860 confessional, and missional house churches. For more information, just visit relearn.org

00:00:37.600 forward slash house. Okay. I have an important question for you guys. Do you ever wonder

00:00:45.620 what's going to happen right after you die? Do you fall asleep? Do you wake up in heaven?

00:00:55.120 Do you even have a body in heaven?

00:00:57.900 What does the Bible teach us about this important topic?

00:01:02.600 Well, we're going to unpack that discussion today, but before we begin, I want to make

00:01:08.180 two quick announcements.

00:01:10.380 And one is about our six-week marriage mentor program.

00:01:15.420 My wife, Veronica, and I have developed a six-week biblical marriage program at

00:01:22.380 ultimatemarriage.com. It's a companion ministry to relearn.org, and it's actually one of the ways

00:01:28.840 that really funds the ministry. It provides financially for the ministry, meaning that

00:01:34.160 many couples have gone through our six-week program. Probably nearly a thousand couples

00:01:39.700 have gone through the program. It is a great program, and I'm going to explain what it is.

00:01:45.420 It's six weeks, and we go over sex and money and the theology of marriage and biblical roles and

00:01:51.340 finances and the purpose of marriage. And every week has about a 30 to 40 minute video. And it's

00:01:59.300 got this really great couples PDF pack that you get to go through some important questions that

00:02:05.240 will strengthen your marriage. You can do this class by yourself as a couple or in a small group.

00:02:10.860 We offer both of those options available. So would you consider enrolling at ultimatemarriage.com?

00:02:17.300 It would really support our ministry and we believe that it would bless your marriage

00:02:20.780 the testimonies that have come out of that

00:02:23.220 on strengthening your marriage

00:02:24.560 and really getting your marriage

00:02:26.260 in alignment with the scriptures.

00:02:28.000 So many people have given us encouragement

00:02:30.400 and encouraging testimonials.

00:02:33.820 So again, just visit ultimatemarriage.com

00:02:36.120 and you can check that out.

00:02:38.000 The second thing I wanna talk to you about

00:02:39.540 is considering a donation to our ministry.

00:02:43.240 If you're a regular listener to the show

00:02:45.420 and we've blessed you in some capacity,

00:02:48.280 the Lord has used our ministry in some way

00:02:50.580 to edify you, to strengthen your faith,

00:02:53.100 to help you understand the scriptures in some capacity,

00:02:55.820 would you just prayerfully consider

00:02:57.420 making a donation to our ministry?

00:02:59.300 Our ministry is, we have several people

00:03:02.120 that are on part-time or full-time staff,

00:03:04.580 and we have a team of people that work together.

00:03:08.240 We have to produce a lot of content,

00:03:10.920 and our mission is so big,

00:03:14.040 and we are training as many pastors as we possibly can,

00:03:17.140 and we're answering questions for people over here

00:03:19.340 in marriage and helping people with breaking free from pornography. But our core mission again is to

00:03:23.740 plant hundreds, thousands by God's grace of biblical house churches. And we are studying

00:03:30.740 and producing and using equipment and buying new equipment and it's expensive. And so if you guys

00:03:37.020 would be willing just to consider prayerfully to make a donation, it might be something that's $10

00:03:42.320 a month or maybe $100 a month. If you're a person that wants to give more, we offer a program called

00:03:51.120 The Pillar. And you can go to relearn.org forward slash pillar, P-I-L-L-A-R. If you're interested

00:03:59.580 in becoming a member of The Pillar, these are people that give larger donations and support

00:04:05.820 really the back end of our ministry. So again, thank you guys. You can always go to relearn.org

00:04:12.100 forward slash donate. Again, that's relearn.org forward slash donate. And I think that page

00:04:18.040 actually will bring you to both of those pages, the pillar and for donation. So thank you guys

00:04:23.820 for making that consideration. Today's question comes in from Kayla and Kayla is in Dayton, Ohio.

00:04:32.960 And she asks, Pastor Dale, in recent months, I have been thinking about physical death.

00:04:40.140 Like many Christians, while we are secure in Christ, it can cause me concern. I think my

00:04:46.920 concern is driven from the unknown. Dale, what does the Bible actually say about what happens

00:04:54.180 after death? Do we sleep until the Lord restores all things? Do we go to heaven immediately?

00:05:01.580 How should I settle my heart in this matter? Hey, Kayla, thanks for writing in. I really

00:05:07.520 appreciate your question. It's actually one of the most common questions out there. And, you know,

00:05:13.260 it's why I thought it was really important to provide an answer for you. So let's start with

00:05:19.080 reality. If you're listening to this episode, you have a brain and a heart that keeps that brain

00:05:28.120 functioning, right? Your heart's pumping blood. And eventually that heart and that brain will stop

00:05:35.320 working and you, like me, will die. Every single person dies. About 150,000 people 0.99

00:05:44.600 die each day in our world. And that's about, if you do the math, that's about a million people per

00:05:51.680 week. About 25,000 of those deaths are under the age of 20. 16,000 of those 25,000 deaths occur

00:06:03.220 before the age of five. And this isn't even including the millions of babies who are aborted

00:06:10.220 every year. Just earlier this year, I had the experience of watching our four-year-old son

00:06:20.320 almost die in an ambulance from a respiratory closure. And that was the third time that has

00:06:25.680 happened. I've held him in my arms thinking that he was going to die in my hands. Our death and

00:06:30.540 the death of loved ones is the only physical guarantee that we have on earth. And it shocks

00:06:41.060 me that for such an absolute fact, many of us are still surprised by it, like that we're actually

00:06:48.020 going to die. A recent study shows that a group of people under the age of 30 thought about death

00:06:54.940 less than 12 times per year. And again, I can understand why. Without the hope of eternal life,

00:07:00.380 the thought of death brings pure despair. Life becomes, you know, like a cruel experience

00:07:07.900 without hope of salvation, right? You know, it's this experience with joy and love and friendship

00:07:15.220 and family only to end in dirt. What a, you know, a depressing idea that that is and lie, I should

00:07:24.800 say. It amazes me that the atheist can look at their child and think of them as just a mass of

00:07:36.420 cells and a genetic product of DNA. Basically, they believe that they're purely a biological

00:07:43.220 phenomenon, like an empty machine made of tissue functioning on mathematics. And they've reduced

00:07:51.400 the soul to science that, you know, the firing of neurotransmitters and the flooding of hormones

00:07:56.420 in the brain. But sadly, one day they're going to have to explain death to their child and how

00:08:02.500 the coming together of random matter and molecules is how they were created and how when those

00:08:08.820 molecules stop working, so will they. And that's again, a sad misinterpretation of the most

00:08:16.440 important truth on earth. You know, one of my friends who's a pastor says, you know, if you

00:08:23.920 believe wrong, you'll never live strong. And believing correctly about the purpose of life

00:08:31.360 is the central piece of truth we need to have. I always say the most important thing that you

00:08:38.860 can ever do is have a correct view of God and a correct view of self. Those two things

00:08:46.400 will serve you better than anything else in this world. But the truth is, we know if you're a

00:08:53.300 Christian and a listener to the show, as I just said, a Christianer, which is, I guess,

00:08:59.740 the blending of Christian listener, the truth is you and I are not simply biological matter.

00:09:05.360 We're made in God's image. Death is a product of sin. Romans 5.12 says,

00:09:15.360 therefore just as sin came into the world through one man and death through sin, and so death

00:09:23.260 spread to all men because all had sinned. So when Adam and Eve were first created,

00:09:30.680 they had the capability to live forever. But as we know, they chose to disobey God.

00:09:37.440 And because God delivered the instructions for morality to Adam and not to Eve, it was

00:09:44.340 through Adam's disobedience that sin entered into the world. But the disease of sin wasn't isolated

00:09:51.520 to just Adam, right? It was systemic and it spread by birth to all born after Adam. And, you know,

00:10:02.000 this is called the doctrine of original sin and is why we look at sin not as an act, but as a

00:10:08.940 condition. For example, a newborn baby is not sinless simply because they have not committed

00:10:16.020 an act of sin. They're born into sin. This is why Paul can say in Romans 3, 11, none is righteous,

00:10:25.320 no, not one, right? Because we're born in sin. Sin is a condition of our headship by Adam,

00:10:35.820 our federal headship. We are represented by his sin. His sin came through birth. Sin is a

00:10:44.040 condition, again, not an act. But later, the Bible tells us an important truth in Romans 6.23. It

00:10:51.680 says, for the wages of sin, so the cost that is to be paid for the price of sin is death. For the

00:11:05.800 is why everybody dies. This is why it was an injustice for Christ to die and God resurrected

00:11:12.660 him for the dead because he didn't commit a sin. So he was resurrected, right? This is the bad news

00:11:19.000 that everybody dies and that death is a consequence of sin. But the good news is the second half of

00:11:25.540 that verse that reads, so I'm going to read you the whole verse, for the wages of sin is death,

00:11:29.800 but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus, our Lord.

00:11:34.640 So God, through Jesus Christ, has conquered death

00:11:37.000 and made a way through his sacrifice on the cross to reconcile us to himself.

00:11:41.980 So he's done this by applying the punishment of our sin, Christ.

00:11:46.960 So the wages of our sin, the punishment of our sin has been applied to Christ

00:11:52.280 and by attributing Christ's righteousness to us through repentance and faith.

00:11:59.800 So we get to actually have Christ's righteousness

00:12:01.500 and forgiveness through repentance and faith.

00:12:07.620 That's the gospel, right?

00:12:08.880 That's the basics of the gospel.

00:12:10.540 It's also the basic truth of John 3, 16.

00:12:12.820 For God so loved the world that he gave his only son

00:12:14.800 that whoever believes in him should not perish,

00:12:17.340 but have, what?

00:12:18.320 Have eternal life.

00:12:20.020 But again, Kyla, you're probably wondering,

00:12:21.900 okay, why has this guy not answered my question?

00:12:23.860 What happens after we die?

00:12:26.300 Here's what the Bible says about that.

00:12:28.580 For those who deny Christ as Lord, they will immediately find themselves in hell in judgment,

00:12:35.700 awaiting the final judgment that comes after Christ's return. And we can read about that in

00:12:42.360 Jude as well as Revelation. The Bible further describes these people as being cast into eternal

00:12:50.640 lake of fire. That's Matthew 25, Revelation 20, or casting them into a pit or outer darkness.

00:12:56.740 that's Matthew 8, or into torment, you know, Revelation, I think it's 14 that talks about that.

00:13:04.000 But again, for those who have received Christ as Lord, they will find themselves immediately in a

00:13:09.860 glorified state in the presence of their Lord. Charles Spurgeon, I love how he said this, he put

00:13:15.460 it like this, he said, sudden death is sudden glory, right? Sudden death is sudden glory.

00:13:21.020 And glory is another word of,

00:13:22.800 you know, it's a synonym for saying,

00:13:25.060 you know, in heaven with your Lord, right?

00:13:27.280 You're in a glorified state.

00:13:30.240 But how do we know

00:13:31.620 that we're going to be immediately with Christ?

00:13:34.660 Well, there are a few verses

00:13:35.620 that support this conclusion.

00:13:38.120 And there's probably a far greater theological study

00:13:41.340 that you can do on this,

00:13:42.160 but I'm going to give you the basics here, Kyla.

00:13:45.240 And I'm hoping that I'm saying that right.

00:13:46.760 Is it Kyla or am I saying Kayla?

00:13:48.160 No, it's Kyla.

00:13:49.360 Okay, good.

00:13:49.760 I'm doing this right. So a couple of these verses that will be important for us to go through.

00:13:56.800 2 Corinthians 5, 8 through 10 says, we are confident, yes, well-pleased rather, to be

00:14:03.320 absent from the body and to be present with the Lord. Basically, Paul is saying, if you're not

00:14:08.860 here in your physical body as a Christian, then you're present with the Lord. But again,

00:14:13.860 note that Paul also says that he'll be absent from his body. Okay, this means that while our

00:14:21.780 body will turn to dust, our souls will be with the Lord. You know, even think about Stephen in

00:14:31.500 the book of Acts, right? That the church's first martyr knew this when he said, Lord Jesus, receive

00:14:37.300 my spirit. He's not saying receive my body and my spirit. He said, receive my spirit. And he says

00:14:43.220 this as his killers or throwing stones that would eventually kill him, right? So without going into

00:14:49.260 much detail, the Bible teaches that like Christ, we will experience physical death. And like Christ,

00:14:56.860 we will experience a physical resurrection. Romans 6, 5 says, for if we have been united with him

00:15:04.600 in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his.

00:15:11.000 but again when does that happen when does that happen the first Thessalonians 4 16 says that

00:15:19.380 with regard to the second coming of Christ you know he's basically saying the Lord himself will

00:15:27.120 descend from heaven with a shout you guys might have read this with the voice of an archangel

00:15:32.700 and the trumpet of God and the dead in Christ will rise first. So what he's basically saying

00:15:41.060 there is that when Christ's return comes and those who have died as Christians, their souls 0.60

00:15:49.640 will be with the Lord and their bodies will be raised from the dead first. So they're the ones 1.00

00:15:57.520 that are going to get their new resurrected bodies first, prior to those Christians that 0.99

00:16:02.760 are on the earth at that time, and prior to them to being transferred into a glorified state.

00:16:11.020 The early 20th century German theologian, Eric Sauer, I love this quote. He captured

00:16:16.700 this truth perfectly. He actually said this line, quote, the graveyards of men will become the seed 0.81

00:16:23.640 plots of God's garden. Okay, so think about your body is going a graveyard down, but that's actually

00:16:30.540 just a seed plot because it's going to come out and resurrect into a new body according to

00:16:36.820 scripture. And so on the day of Christ's return, again, our glorified bodies, our incorruptible

00:16:42.440 bodies, our sickness-free bodies, again, will be joined again with our souls and God will restore

00:16:49.000 the heavens and the earth, and we will reign with Christ in our bodies in God's kingdom.

00:16:55.200 But again, I want to leave you with just a few more verses, Kyla, that will tell you

00:17:02.020 the support for our souls going immediately with Christ in the presence of the Lord.

00:17:08.100 Philippians 1, 23 through 24 says, I am hard pressed between the two.

00:17:13.640 My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better.

00:17:17.260 but to remain in the flesh is more necessary on your account. Again, Paul speaks here of death

00:17:24.500 as an immediate portal to be with the Lord. Luke 23, Jesus says to the thief on the cross who

00:17:31.800 believes in him, he says, today you shall be with me in paradise. In John 14, one through two,

00:17:38.600 Jesus comforts his disciples and he prepares, he's getting ready to go to the cross, right? And he

00:17:44.920 knows that he's going to to be murdered um he says to his disciples let not your hearts be

00:17:50.260 troubled believe in god believe in me also in my father's house are many rooms and if it were not

00:17:55.840 so would i have told you that i go there to prepare a place for you um so again there's a

00:18:01.700 that calmness of don't worry don't be troubled i'm going to prepare a place for you

00:18:06.780 um uh but again at the end of the day death while it remains our our enemy it is an enemy

00:18:15.080 It's been conquered by Christ.

00:18:16.620 First Corinthians 15 says,

00:18:18.960 death is swallowed up in victory,

00:18:21.840 meaning that death has no sting for the Christian.

00:18:25.580 And this is how Paul can say in Philippians 1.21,

00:18:28.240 for me to live is Christ and to die is gain.

00:18:32.700 Can you say that?

00:18:33.600 Can you say that?

00:18:35.200 Can you say for me to live?

00:18:36.680 Hey, to live is Christ, but to die, man, that's better.

00:18:40.400 To die is gain.

00:18:41.260 Now, I'm not gonna go and die right now.

00:18:43.180 I'm not going to take my own life,

00:18:45.520 but I'm going to wait for the Lord's sovereign plan

00:18:48.040 over my life because I know that to live,

00:18:51.040 I'm living here for Christ,

00:18:52.660 to fulfill the great commission,

00:18:53.880 to do the work of God that he's laid before me.

00:18:57.620 But when I die, man, what a gain that is

00:19:00.180 because I could just sit before the Lord

00:19:01.700 in a glorified state to be in union.

00:19:04.720 That is what Paul is saying.

00:19:07.400 Because of Christ, basically death has been disarmed.

00:19:11.440 It's been defanged.

00:19:13.080 And for those who have made Jesus Lord,

00:19:14.640 we can live in the confidence

00:19:15.840 and the hope of the life to come. 0.98

00:19:18.420 So yes, we do have an immediate promise of you die 0.96

00:19:23.160 and then you, boom, you go to be with the Lord 0.98

00:19:26.660 in a spiritual state, in a state of your soul.

00:19:29.540 We don't understand what that'll be like.

00:19:31.220 We know that Paul was taken up to a second heaven

00:19:33.460 in his spirit in some capacity.

00:19:35.420 There's a lot more to study about this,

00:19:37.780 but we don't have to fear that we're gonna be

00:19:40.480 just in a sleeping state for centuries and centuries

00:19:44.140 as we're waiting for the Lord to come back.

00:19:46.060 Our bodies will, but our spirits will not.

00:19:48.180 And we will yearn to be back with our bodies.

00:19:50.280 That is something that's scriptural.

00:19:51.900 And when that time comes and the Lord's return,

00:19:54.360 we will be united again, back with our bodies

00:19:56.440 to live in the new heaven, the new earth

00:19:58.300 with him reigning in his kingdom.

00:20:01.440 So hopefully that helps answer that question for you, Kyla.

00:20:03.480 I'm gonna leave you guys with a few resources

00:20:05.380 that you can check out.

00:20:07.880 Again, you can find these on the post page

00:20:09.660 for this episode at relearn.org. This is episode number 105. It's titled, What Happens After We

00:20:17.580 Die? So one is a sermon by John MacArthur, and I'll have this link to the sermon you can watch

00:20:24.940 on YouTube. It's titled, What Happens When a Christian Dies? It's a much more deeply expository

00:20:33.360 message than what I've offered here, but it'll take you an hour to listen to it. The other thing

00:20:38.320 is a short 85-page book. I'm actually holding here in my hand. It's titled Fear Not, Death and

00:20:46.720 the Afterlife from a Christian Perspective. And that's by Ligon Duncan. It's a simple book. It's

00:20:53.700 a great pastoral resource. If you're a pastor, you might want to grab a copy of it just to have

00:20:57.760 ready for those who are going through trials and facing death. But it really does answer a lot of

00:21:03.160 these heavier questions about death and the afterlife. So again, those resources will be

00:21:07.720 available for you. This is episode 105, What Happens After We Die. Guys, if you are a regular

00:21:15.440 listener to this episode or to this podcast, I should say, would you guys consider leaving a

00:21:19.760 review? You don't even need to write anything. Just tap the stars in the podcast app. They really

00:21:24.260 do help the exposure of the show. They really do help further the mission of our ministry.

00:21:29.300 Thank you guys for joining us today. My name is Dale Partridge,

00:21:32.260 and we will see you guys again next Wednesday for another episode of Real Christianity.

00:21:37.720 Thank you for listening to this episode of Real Christianity.

00:21:41.980 If you're a regular listener to this show,

00:21:44.020 would you prayerfully consider making a donation to support our ministry efforts?

00:21:47.900 Simply visit relearn.org forward slash donate.

00:21:51.160 Again, that's relearn.org forward slash donate.

00:21:54.820 And for those looking to explore the idea of joining or planting a church in your home,

00:21:58.540 you can download our free PDF ebook titled The Basics of Biblical House Church

00:22:02.680 by visiting relearn.org forward slash house.

00:22:05.580 lastly do you have a theological question you would like answered on the show

00:22:09.680 submit your question at relearn.org forward slash question thanks for joining us on this

00:22:15.100 episode of real christianity we'll see you next wednesday

Dale Partridge - August 05, 2020

Real Christianity #105： What Happens After We Die？

Episode Stats

Summary

Transcript