What Happens When We Die?

1. To what age do you think you will live?

• Life expectancy for males:
• Life expectancy for females:
  (National Vital Statistics Reports, March 11, 2021; based on 2018 data)

2. What do you think will happen when you die?

Luke 16:19-31 (ESV)

“There was a rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day. ²⁰ And at his gate was laid a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, ²¹ who desired to be fed with what fell from the rich man’s table. Moreover, even the dogs came and licked his sores. ²² The poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried, ²³ and in Hades, being in torment, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham far off and Lazarus at his side. ²⁴ And he called out, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus to dip the end of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am in anguish in this flame.’ ²⁵ But Abraham said, ‘Child, remember that you in your lifetime received your good things, and Lazarus in like manner bad things; but now he is comforted here, and you are in anguish. ²⁶ And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, in order that those who would pass from here to you may not be able, and none may cross from there to us.’ ²⁷ And he said, ‘Then I beg you, father, to send him to my father’s house— ²⁸ for I have five brothers—so that he may warn them, lest they also come into this place of torment.’ ²⁹ But Abraham said, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them.’ ³⁰ And he said, ‘No, father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent.’ ³¹ He said to him, ‘If they do not hear Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead.’ ”

1. When I die, I will continue to have , existence.

2. When I die, my earthly condition will not be a reliable of my eternal destiny.

3. When I die, I will immediately experience either . . .

(1) carrying me into the presence of the Lord (heaven); or

• “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise” (Luke 23:43, ESV)

• Yes, we are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord.
  (2 Corinthians 5:8, ESV)

• For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. ²² If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me. Yet which I shall choose I cannot tell. ²³ I am hard pressed between the two. My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better. (Philippians 1:21-23, ESV)

(2) the of separation from the Lord (hell).

“Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. . . . ⁴⁶ And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life” (Matthew 25:41, 46, ESV).

4. When I die, my eternal destiny will be forever and will not change.

And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment, ²⁸ so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him. (Hebrews 9:27-28, ESV)

5. When I die, how I have responded to will determine my eternal destiny.

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16, ESV)

The Father loves the Son and has given all things into his hand. ³⁶ Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him. (John 3:35-36, ESV)

For God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, ¹⁰ who died for us so that whether we are awake or asleep we might live with him. (1 Thessalonians 5:9-10, ESV)