Hope In Death

"Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints." (Psalm 116: 15)

What happens when a person dies? Does the person continue to exist consciously, in soul or spirit, when the body dies? What does the bible teach? What did Jesus say about it? Do the wicked and the righteous, in spirit, go to different places? Wrote James:

"For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also." (James 2: 26)

The physical body dies, but not the spirit or soul that dwells within the body. The soul is life to the body. When the soul leaves the body, the body dies. As long as the soul is in the body, the body is not dead. Jesus taught us this clearly in the story of the "Rich man and Lazarus."

"There was a certain rich man, which was clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day: And there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, which was laid at his gate, full of sores, And desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man's table: moreover the dogs came and licked his sores. And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried; And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom." (Luke 16: 19-23)

The believer in Jesus can expect the same experience in death as did Lazarus. When the believer dies, a number of blessed things take place, instantaneously. Like Lazarus, angels are dispatched to the dying saint, and they serve as escorts and ushers for the saint's journey home. Like Lazarus, they can expect to "be comforted" in the bosom of Abraham, and in the bosom of the other saints, yea, even in the bosom of Christ himself, and in the bosom of the Father. They are safely at rest.

When Stephen was being martyred for his preaching of the gospel, we read:

"But he, being full of the Holy Ghost, looked up stedfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God, And said, Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God. And they stoned Stephen, calling upon God, and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit." (Acts 7: 55, 56, 59)

So, not only do Christians experience what Lazarus experienced, but also what Stephen experienced.

Though the eyes of the body die, the eyes of the soul do not. Though the physical tongue be destroyed, yet the soul may yet communicate, especially with other souls and spirits. Though the physical ear be no more, yet the soul still hears. Science, so called, may decry this as impossible to prove, yet it is a fact nonetheless.

Stephen, while in dying, was given vision, vision that he did not have previously, with his mere physical eyes. He saw God, and the Lord Jesus Christ at his right hand. This is called the "beatific vision," what all the Lord's people will experience when they die, and when they enter their eternal and glorified state. They can expect to be gloriously welcomed home into Heaven. Jesus stood up to receive Stephen. Wondrous thought! All the Lord's people can expect such a reception upon the death of their bodies.

Like Lazarus and Stephen, yea, like all the saints of all the ages, who have already died, believers go home to the house of the Lord, to the house of the saints.

"Then Abraham gave up the ghost, and died in a good old age, an old man, and full of years; and was gathered to his people." (Genesis 25: 8)

Glorious gathering! What an assembly! Every believer will join this heavenly company when his soul departs his body. Said Jesus to the dying thief on his right hand, who had begged Christ to remember him.

"And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, Today shalt thou be with me in paradise." (Luke 23: 43)

Abraham, Lazarus, the thief on the cross, and Stephen, all went to this place of gathering and rest, to Paradise itself, the very "third heaven" where God the Father and his Son dwell in infinite splendor.

Christians do not, in soul, sleep unconsciously in the grave, as does the body. The spirit leaves the body, as James taught. So too did Moses teach, saying about the death of the righteous - "for it (our life) is soon cut off, and we fly away" (Psalm 90: 10) What "flies away"? Certainly not the body, but the soul.

Wrote the Apostle Paul:

"...so now also Christ shall be magnified in my body, whether it be by life, or by death. For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain." (Philippians 1: 20, 21)

"Therefore we are always confident, knowing that, whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord: (For we walk by faith, not by sight:) We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord." (II Corinthians 5: 6-8)

These verses give us more than just what some might call "cold doctrine." These verses express the hope and expectation of believers respecting their coming deaths, a doctrine that inspires their faith and gives them confidence in facing life's final conflict. It is a heart warming doctrine.

"But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope." (I Thessalonians 4: 13)

Unbelievers have sorrow in facing death, and in attending the funerals of their departed friends and neighbors, that believers do not have. Christians celebrate when a fellow Christian dies. The Christians celebrate because they believe their brothers or sisters have experienced what all the above verses in detail describe. No wonder the even the wicked pagan prophet, Baalim, when shown a little of this glorious doctrine, exclaimed - "Let me die the death of the righteous, and let my last end be like his!" (Numbers 23: 10) If the death of the righteous were not so precious, why would he desire it?

"The wicked is driven away in his wickedness: but the righteous hath hope in his death." (Proverbs 14: 32)

"Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me..." (Psalm 23: 4)

Christians face death with great courage and faith. Many have even left this world as did Stephen, with great visions while departing the body. Oftentimes, in dying, the soul begins to get its first glimpses of the realm of spirit, and of heavenly things.

Friend, are you ready for that departing hour? Will you be carried by the angels into heaven, or open your eyes in hell? The record is - "blessed are the dead which die in the Lord" (Revelation 14: 13).

"Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved." (Acts 16: 31)