What Happens to Me Once I Die?

For just a little over 5 years I worked for a national lawn-care company while being the Assistant Pastor of Madison Baptist Church. During that time I had the opportunity to access different places in Central KY that normally are off limits to the public.  I have treated the lawns of several top-notch horse farms, different state government buildings in Frankfort, and some very expensive properties in some exclusive neighborhoods. There is one place I have treated that forever will etch into my mind the reality of death: Georgetown Cemetery.

I had to treat the property (along with two others) over a two day time (its that big!).  I was fine the first day while treating the grass.  It was sunny, and I was enjoying hearing the birds singing and smelling the spring air of KY.  I was also reading the tombstones while I was working nearby, noticing all the epitaphs that were written. I realized I was learning history of people who lived as far back as mid-19th century.

Then came the second day.  The weather was still perfect KY spring weather, but a sobering reality struck me.  The epitaphs of the tombstones still were there; they still read the same as the day before.  The finality of death hit me; once you are dead, you are permanently separated from this life.  No more can the corpse enjoy the spring weather I was enjoying.  No more can they laugh.  No more can they enjoy the love of family. When I was done working, I went home to my family to enjoy lunch.  These corpses still lay there-and will for the rest of time until the Lord returns. Whatever history I read on those tombstones then became to me a burning and sobering question: I wonder where those people are spending eternity right now?

What I experienced that day was a personal illustration to a passage in the Old Testament book of Ecclesiastes.  Ecclesiastes is a book of wisdom.  It was most likely written by King Solomon, using the name the Preacher (Ecclesiastes. 1:1).  He was the wisest man to ever live outside of the Lord Jesus Christ.   The Preacher states this wisdom in chapter seven verses one through four:

Ecclesiastes 7:1-4  A good name is better than precious ointment, and the day of death than the day of birth.  2  It is better to go to the house of mourning than to go to the house of feasting, for this is the end of all mankind, and the living will lay it to heart.  3  Sorrow is better than laughter, for by sadness of face the heart is made glad.  4  The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning, but the heart of fools is in the house of mirth.

These verses teach us that it is wise to consider death.  It was wise that the tombstones instructed me in the reality that death is final.  In our passage, the Preacher is teaching us that there is more to be learned about the end of life at a funeral than at a place of partying. Why is it better to consider death?  Because the Preacher tells us in verse two that death is the end of every person and that it will cause those who are still alive to consider there own end. Have you considered your own mortality?

I hope you have considered how short your life really is.  I also hope you have considered the mortality of your life to the point that you are concerned about where you will spend eternity.

There is an account in Luke 16 the Lord Jesus Christ gives about a man who was rich who wasn't ready for death.  This man had a servant whom he treated poorly.  Here is the account:

Luke 16:19-31  "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.'"

Fortunately for you, if you are reading this, you are still alive and are able to do something about where you will spend eternity once you die.  Listen to the Words of Abraham in Luke 16, listen to Moses and the Prophets and be like Lazarus when you die--going to heaven!  Moses and the Prophets all pointed to the coming of Jesus Christ (Luke 24:25-27) and His work on the cross to pay for the penalty of sin so you and I do not have to suffer in Hades and Gehenna when we die! If you turn from your sin and believe in the Gospel (1 Cor. 15:1-4) that Jesus Christ died for your sin and that He rose the third day from the dead, you will go to heaven when you breath your last breath (John 3:16).  Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved (Acts 16: 31; Rom. 10:10-13)!

In Christ,
Pastor Steve
Psalm 119.89