The biblical understanding of the afterlife, distinguishing between the Old Testament concept of Sheol and the New Testament Hades. It uses the parable of the rich man and Lazarus from Luke 16:19 to illustrate that departed spirits go to a place of torment or comfort based on their earthly spiritual condition. The message further clarifies that after Christ's resurrection, Old Testament believers who were in a place of comfort were taken to be with God, and now, believers who die are immediately present with the Lord in paradise, which is in the presence of God.
Restored with Diffio
Audio restored with Diffio. Diffio processed the original archive recording to reduce noise and produce a cleaner listening version; the original stays available.
We begin to trace out just what the Bible says on a subject like this, it takes many hours of hard labor. It means looking into the original language of the Old Testament and of the New Testament, of comparing dozens of scriptures. scripture, of arriving at conclusions, of praying over it, lest we should say anything that was contrary to the truth of God. But I have spent many hours on this study as to just what lies on the other side of death.
What I give you, I am convinced, is the truth of God. I am not going to take time to retrace any of the ground covered last Sunday night, nor covered by the notes on Thursday night, but we are going to move on from there. We have seen that in the Old Testament, those who died, their spirits, souls went to a place called Sheol. When our translators, the translators of our English Bible, when they decide to put that into English, sometimes they made it hell because it was very apparent, but they died and went to Sheol too.
So... thinking as they did that they were clarifying it, rather, more confusing it, they put them in the grave, which is absolutely contrary to the meaning of the word shield. We saw that that is true of the New Testament as well. Now from there I want to take up and answer these three questions. these ones, these righteous men, whom, of whom the Old Testament says that they want to shield in the Old Testament days?
What about them? Where did they go? And where are they now? Does the Bible give us any light? I believe it does. You see, as I pointed out, and what we need to remember lest it be carried away by the false cults. Let me say this. Generally, the false cults, that is those who are wrong on the destiny of man after death, almost invariably they go to the Old Testament. And if there's one favorite book with them, it's the book of Ecclesiastes, Now, the book of Ecclesiastes is the searching of a natural man, trying to understand things under the sun.
It gives us absolutely no authoritative information on what lies beyond that. a man looking and trying to understand, well what has happened to my friend? He died? We buried his body? Where is he? Well, I know that that friend of mine was more than just a body. I know that we buried his body, but what about his soul? What about his spirit? Where did that go? Now, all that the Old Testament tells us is that he's gone to the place of departed spirit.
There's a very interesting expression used, oh, something like nine or ten times in the Old Testament, always of a righteous man. It says, when he died, he was gathered. to his people. Gathered to his people. Sometimes gathered to his father. Now that's all that the Old Testament does. It gives you to see a burial and we're told about that. And then it tells you the man himself was gathered to his people, to his father.
Now it's very apparent that isn't in the tomb. Wasn't in the grave because almost invariably they were buried in one of their own and sometimes it was a long ways away from the tomb of their father but the Old Testament believers knew that out there somewhere there was a place where the spirits and souls of men and women went to. Now I want us to read the words of our Lord Jesus in the 16th chapter of Luke's Gospel. Luke chapter 16, verse 19, 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. They 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 lifted up his eyes, being in torment, are far off and Lazarus in his bosom. And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am tormented in this flame.
But Abraham said, Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime and receiveth thy good thing, and likewise lashes evil things. But now he is comforted, and thou art commended. And beside all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed, so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot. Neither can they pass to us which would come from hence. Then he said, I pray thee therefore, Father, that thou would send me to my father's house for I have five send him to my father's house for I have five brethren that he may testify unto them lest they also come into this place of torment Abraham said unto him they have Moses and the prophets let them hear that and he said nay father Abraham but if one went unto them from the dead they will repent And he said unto him, if they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead.
Now, here is our Lord. And as we saw last Sunday night, he draws aside the curtain and lets us see a little of what the Old Testament word, or Hades, the New Testament word. I showed you in the Lord's own words that our Lord was the one who taught very emphatically that in the Hades there was fire that never would be quenched.
that we saw beyond a shadow of a doubt on the authority of our Lord's work. Now here he is showing us that where a man goes after he dies can be either a place of torment or a place of comfort depending of course on the spiritual condition of that man if he was a wicked man who had rejected the salvation God had provided then he went to the place of torment if he was a righteous man who had believed in God then he went to the place of comfort it is not my purpose tonight to deal particularly with the 16 chapter of the gospel according to Luke, only to point out to you that here are two men and they have died.
One is at a burial. Nothing is said about the burial of the other. He may not have had one so far as a public funeral was concerned, but in eternity one is said to be tormented the other is said to be comforted now when you think back to the Old Testament and think of righteous men and wicked men dying and their souls and spirits going out into shield the great unseen the Lord would teach us here repentance, it was going to a place of torment, a place that our Lord, as I've said, described as having unquenchable fire in Mark chapter 9.
But those who were righteous, those who in the language of today were saved, they went to a place of comfort. Now, where are they I want you to turn of me to the epistle to the Ephesians. There are certain things, things that we need to know, that are made unmistakably clear. There are other things that are not nearly so clear. When you examine them, they are things that it's not necessary.
necessary for us to know. But I want you to read with me in verse 8 of Ephesians chapter 4. Wherefore he saith, when he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive and gave gifts unto man. Now if you will glance over in the margin of your Bible, it looks like mine and all probability it has in the margin where a number indicates that expression captivity captives, it has a multitude of captives.
Now there are those who believe that when our Lord arose from the dead and ascended the heaven he took back with him the spirit of the righteous dead who had been in shield in Old Testament times before the cross and the resurrection now there are those that reject that idea I've carefully examined both, I see no reason to reject it, and quite a number of reasons to believe it.
You see, in the Old Testament, you do not read clearly and distinctly about anyone going to heaven except Elijah. And you remember, he went up by a whirlwind into heaven. quite an exceptional case. There's another exceptional case by the name of Korah. It says in Numbers that he went down alive into Sheol. The only one.
So there's one went up alive to heaven, another went down alive to Sheol, but they are the exception to the rule. You see, Christ had not died, and not until Christ died was sin put away. Not until Christ died was the sin question settled. It was only covered over in Old Testament days. In fact, the word for atonement in the Old Testament is the word kaffir, which simply means to covered.
You and I know that the blood of an animal could never put away sin, and yet they were told to bring the blood of animals, and they did. But as I've explained many times, the blood of that animal, when offered in faith, simply covered the sin of the believing offerer, covered it in the sight of God as a promissory note until Christ would come, then when he died, according to Hebrews 9.26, he put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.
Not only we are told in the epistles of the Romans, the sins of the future. But he put away the sins that were done aforetime, that had merely been covered over by the animal sacrifices, so it seems to me that the way into the holiest, the way into the presence of God, the way into heaven itself, was not yet opened up even for believing me. men and women of Old Testament days.
But once Christ had gone to the cross, gathered up those sins of the past, and our sins, and borne them in his blessed body on the cross of Calvary, and put away sin by the sacrifice of himself, you see what he could do? he could release from shield those who had been held captive there. But they're now liberated by the finished work of Christ. And I believe when Jesus Christ went back to heaven, he took with him the souls and spirits of all the Old Testament believers.
Why are they now? I've every reason to believe they are in the glory now. But the question is often raised. What about Christ? Isn't there a verse somewhere that says he went to hell when he died? Isn't there a verse something like that I've been asked and I have heard some preachers say that Christ suffered for our sins in hell that is wrong that is in error when Jesus Christ bowed his head in death on the cross of Calvary he had undergone all the suffering that he ever would he had finished the work what does John 19.30 say it is finished and he bowed his head gave up the goat my friends when Jesus Christ
dismissed the spirit there was no further indignity done to him even to his body before that them spit in his face. God let them slap him. God let them scourge him. God let them crucify. And then after man had done his work, God poured on him the judgment our sins desert. And Jesus Christ bore it all. Wave after wave, billow after billow, the wrath of God rule over the holy soul of the Son of God on Calvary until he could look up and say it is sin.
It's done. And God never let an unsaved man touch his Son after them. Those were believers that drew the nails out of his hands. Those were believers that took him down from the cross those were believers that wrapped him in that linen cloth those were believers that put spice into those holes of linen cloth that was a believer's tomb in which he was laid and when he came out from the dead no one saved i saw him only his people saw him in resurrection.
Yes, I know I have doubts about something, but I know this. My blessed Savior never suffered in heaven. He suffered on the cross. All the work of atonement was done in three hours of darkness on the cross of Calvary. And then he cried, it is said. But isn't there a verse somewhere that he went to hell? Yes, there is. I want you to read it with me. Acts chapter 2. The second chapter of the book of the Acts, Peter's great sermon on the day of Pentecost.
and we shall begin our reading at verse 25 for David speaketh concerning him I foresaw the Lord always before my face for he is on my right hand that I should not be moved therefore did my heart rejoice my tongue was glad moreover also my flesh shall rest in hope because thou wilt not leave my soul in hell neither wilt thou suffer thine holy one to see corruption thou hast made known to me the ways of life thou shalt make me full of joy with thy countenance now peter is quoting psalm 16 you read psalm 16 he's quoting the verses of the 16th Psalm.
Now it goes on to apply. Verse 29. Men and brethren, let me freely speak unto you of the patriarch David that he is both dead and buried, and his sepulchre is with us unto this day. Therefore being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him, that of the fruit of his loins, according to the flesh, He would raise up Christ to sit on his throne. He saying this before, speak of the resurrection of Christ, that his soul was not left in hell, neither his flesh did see corruption.
This Jesus has God raised up, for of we all are witnesses. I have some very good friends. teachers of the Word of God, whom I respect very highly for their knowledge of the Word. They disagree with me very definitely on this passage. They believe that the whole thing refers to the body of Christ. Much as I respect them, I can't agree with them. How can it be possible for Peter to say his soul was not left in hell.
Neither his flesh. Neither his flesh. Now his flesh is, of course, his body. Now you always use neither when there's a contrast. You never use it to join two things together. You use it to separate them. to indicate a difference. Either nor? Neither. And so it is his soul was not left in Hades. Neither his flesh did see corruption.
I think this is very clear that when Christ died, his body went to the tomb. We know that. We know whose tomb, Joseph Arimathea. But his soul went to Hades. The place of departed spirit. It did not go back to heaven until he ascended. For you remember he said to Mary, touch me not. For I am not yet ascended to my father but go and tell my brethren but I want to show you from the word of God that the Hades he went to was not the hell of suffering that a wicked man goes to that the rich man was in and you will immediately think possibly of our Lord's words in Luke's Gospel chapter 23 Our Lord is hanging on the cross of Calvary, and he has been appealed
to by the dying but repentant thief, and his answer, possibly we had better read verse 42, as a thief, he said unto Jesus, Lord, remember me when thou comest in thy kingdom, and Jesus said unto him, unto thee today shalt thou be with me where? In paradise. And Christ and the thief went to paradise. To the paradise of Hades.
That part of Hades which is a place of comfort where the beggar found himself in Luke chapter 16. Now, if I had any doubt about this, I would only have to remind myself that the body of Christ was put in Joseph's tomb. Was the body of the thief put there too? No. Was this man with Christ in the body after he died no where was he put well we're not told in all probability he was thrown into the common grave along with the body of his fellow that's where they intended to bury Christ that was the custom if they had five that were crucified they dug a hole big enough for five and they threw the five bodies in covered them over that's why the prophet Isaiah in chapter 53 says they
made his grave with a wicked but he was with a rich man in his death you see they fully intended to bury Christ along with those other two malefactions but if they had Let's just suppose I have. And Christ had risen from the dead, how could you prove it? No, it says God, you bury him all by himself in a tomb, a rock tomb. You roll a great stone over it. You put a seal on it. You put some soldiers out in front so no one can ever deny that he was buried there.
I'll raise them from the dead. And I'll have an angel open up that tomb, and you can go on and look and see where he lay, and see he isn't there. You see how careful God was of the resurrection of his beloved son. But they made his grave of the wicked. But he was with the rich man in his death. So when Christ said to this thief, today shall thou be with me he could not have been talking about his body could he must have been speaking about his soul and he was and Christ and the dying thief went to what in the old testament is called shield but in the new testament is called Hades.
But a place of rest, a place of comfort, a place I believe that was empty when our Lord in triumph rose from the dead and ascended yonder the glory. So that in heaven tonight there are the spirits of just man made perfect. Not their bodies yet. That awaits the resurrection But the spirits of just men made perfect are yonder in the globe. You see, Christ, and I want to go back over that and repeat it because it's the crux of the whole situation, Christ, by his atoning death, he did what millions of animals' sacrifices could never do.
He did what rivers of animal blood could never do. He paid the debt of sin. He put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. Now I believe there's another scripture that indicates just what I have said regarding Christ. And I want you to turn to it, and you'll find it in Matthew's Gospel. Matthew's gospel, if my memory serves me right, it's about to chapter 12. Matthew chapter 12, and yes, verse 40.
For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the whale's belly, so shall the son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. Now, again, a lot of my good brethren differ with me, and as I say, I respect their opinions. But while I respect it, at times I have to differ. with us. We must decide before God what the Spirit of God means when he tells us these things. Some my good brethren tell me that this simply means that Christ was buried in a grave.
Now it takes a lot of imagination for me, a lot more faith than I've been able a muster in 40 years of Christian life to believe that a grave is the heart of the earth. Somehow I get the idea that the earth is a little bigger than that. I don't know how large Joseph Arimathe is, too, more. He's a rich man. No doubt it was quite large. It may have been spacious enough for all the family. don't know. But no matter how large it may have been, no matter how deep into that hillside it may have been human, I can't quite conceive that it was the heart of the earth.
But we are told here that just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the whale's valley, shall the Son of Man be three days and three nights, not in a grave, but in the heart of the earth. And I am fully convinced that that is in the place of paradise, shield, or Hades, whichever you want to call it, the place of departed spirit. There he rested.
There he rested in company with that redeemed thief, the one who was wise enough, at that last moment, to cast himself on the mercy of the thief, the one who was wiser than some of you to whom I'm speaking tonight, who have never done that, but he cast himself on the mercy of this one, Lord, remember me when thou comest in thy kingdom. And Christ said, I have something better than that for you. Today, this very day, you'll be with me in paradise.
And he won't. And there our Lord rested. But long centuries before the prophet David had said, Thou wilt, speaking of the coming Messiah, Thou wilt not leave my soul in shield. Neither wilt thou suffer thine holy one to see corruption. And on the third day, up from the grave he arose, as far as his body was concerned, up from Hades came his spirit, Reunited, the Lord appeared to his own to ascend into heaven 40 days later.
And there he is, at the right hand of God, at this present time. There's no question, no doubt whatsoever about that. So what happens when a person trusts Christ now? Here's a sinner that knows he's a sinner, knows he sends these are of eternal punishment, knows he can't save himself, knows that all his good works and his prayers and tears and church joining and baptism and everything else will not save him, comes to Christ, casts himself on him, trusts his finished work, on his precious blood and sometime later dies.
What happens to him? You will read what happens to him if you care to turn to 2 Corinthians chapter 5. I've just one or two other things I want to say then I shall conclude. 2 Corinthians chapter 5. And in this great This chapter, 2 Corinthians, we have the confidence, the assurance, the certainty of the Apostle Paul who begins the chapter with, for we know. He's talking about what he knows.
And he says in verse 6, because we know this, therefore we are always confident, knowing that whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord. So 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, or let's keep it as it was in the other verse, at home with the Lord. Yes?
My friends, when a believer in Jesus Christ dies now, he is absent from the body. He's at home with the Lord. During his earthly life, because he belonged to Christ, after having trusted him, he was a pilgrim. He said, as long as I'm in this body, I'm not at home yet. I'm at home in the body. But I'm absent from the Lord. But I'd rather be absent from this body and at home with the Lord.
And writing to the Philippian saints, the apostle had very much the same to say to them in chapter 1 and verse 23. for I'm in a straight for tricks too having a desire to depart and to be with Christ which is far better nevertheless to abide in the flesh is more needful for you need that verse to understand Paul says now I'm just torn between two so far as I'm concerned, he said, I'd much rather depart to be with Christ, but I know that you really need me for a little while longer.
That's what he's saying to these Philippians things. And so I'll forego the great privilege for the time being of going home to be of the Lord, and I'll stay with you to help you in the things of God. for a little while longer. A desire to depart. He said, now that's my real desire. And he knew that to depart was to be with Christ which is very far better. So that just as our Lord said to the dying thief, today shall thou be with me in paradise.
So today, when a believer dies, today we are with Christ in paradise. But wait a minute. Paradise is not now in Haiti. Turn back to 2 Corinthians chapter 12, please. Thank you, Corinthians chapter 12, verse 2, I knew a man in Christ. Now that's the important thing, this man was in Christ.
I don't think there's any doubt about it being Paul. But suppose he said Paul. Well, When I read that, I said, well, I'm not Paul. Suppose he said, Paul the Apostle. Well, I'd say to myself, well, I'm not an Apostle. But when he says, a man in Christ, I said, that's me. I'm just as much a man in Christ as the Apostle Paul. I may not be as much a man as he was, but I'm just as much a man in Christ. you. If you have trusted Christ, whoever you are, whatever your life is, you are a man in Christ.
Now let's see what he says about it. I knew a man in Christ about 14 years ago, whether in the body I cannot tell or whether out of the body I cannot tell. God knows. Young fellow came to me after I preached on this one time. He said, Mr. McKay, was falling the body or out of the body. I said, son, if he didn't know, why ask me? I wasn't even there. He was, and he didn't know. So I have the slightest idea because he didn't either. God knew, and that was the important thing. It wasn't important as to whether he was in the body or out of the body.
It was important as to where he went. Now what did he say? one caught up to the third heaven. I'll keep that in mind. Caught up to the third heaven. And I knew such a man, whether in the body or out of the body, I cannot tell God knows, how that he was caught up into paradise. Oh, there's no question there. But when Paul was caught up into paradise, he was caught up in the third heaven. when he was caught up in the third heaven he's caught up in the paradise so there's no question of paradise now is in the very presence of god what you say how could that be if it was in the heart of the earth before why because christ has died we're back at the same place christ has died the work has been finished things been put away he's been raised from man is.
And because he's there, the moment this spirit of ours is released, it wings its flight into the presence of God. I tell you, my friend, death is nothing to fear for the Christians. If I had any fear of death, when I looked it straight in the face two years I lost it. I'm thankful for that experience. When my time comes, I believe I'll be able to lay my head down my pillow and say good night.
I'll see you in the morning. Why, my friends, just think you're getting rid of all these aches and pains. All these creaking joints and all that business, and takes you about 10 minutes to get out of bed. I've seen some Christians that have been awfully reluctant to go to heaven. God knows if I thought my work was done, I'd want to drop dead right now. I don't believe it is done. It'd be a lot easier for me but where, friends? I can tell you this, the past two years has been a whole lot easier for me heaven than down this poor and miserable old earth.
But thank God, my friends, because Jesus Christ died on the cross and put away sin. We're going to be with him. What a prospect. Doesn't it thrill your heart? But are you ready, friend? You're not going to the third heaven because you're in the church or because you've been in the baptismal booth or because you're in society or in anything else unless you are in Christ. And friends, you weren't born in Christ. You are born in your sins.
And you've got to be taken out of Christ, out of your sins and put in Christ and when you are you'll be a man in Christ ready to go home to be with himself that's good isn't it but that isn't the best that isn't the best if there was there'd be a show this next moment the undertaker would never come let my burial enjoy. That little plot that I've got out there would never be used by me.
But I'd go to be with him in a moment the twinkling of an eye. And so will you friends, if you belong to Christ. My friend, a Christian has got the best of whether he lives or die you can't lose when you're a Christian except your sins and when you lose those it's a tremendous relief let me close then friend are you sure are you sure that you are safe if you're not sure my friend make sure tonight if this is the last message that I have the privilege of bringing to you I want you to remember I pressed on your heart the need of being sure that you are born again.
Don't be satisfied with religion. Don't be satisfied with church membership. Don't be satisfied with morality. Friends, ye must be born again. and only when you put your trust in the Lord Jesus Christ as your Savior. God helped you to do that tonight. Now we're going to have a baptismal service. These are not being baptized to save us. They're not being baptized to help save us. They're not being baptized into this local church.
They're being baptized as a public confession of their faith. faith in Christ. They have been carefully talked to by one of our elders at least. They have given a clear confession of faith in Christ and on their confession they are going now to obey the Lord in the waters of baptism. Those who are going to be baptized if you retire now and prepare please, those Father Andrews, will you take charge here, please?