Sermon Audio Archive

What Must I Do To Be Saved?

  

FROM: 4/6/03 Radio Program

Question:

When a person dies, are their thoughts with them? Does every part of us die? When a person dies, is he/she aware that they are dead?

Answer:

In the case of physical death, the part of the person which dies is the body (Jas. 2:26). The soul lives on (Ecc. 12:7). Our Lord made this clear when He spoke to the Sadducees and told them, "But as touching the resurrection of the dead, have ye not read that which was spoken unto you by God, saying, I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob? God is not the God of the dead, but of the living" (Matt. 22:31-32). Though Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob had left this earth many years before our Lord set foot on the earth, it is declared with no uncertainty that they are still LIVING!

Now, are the thoughts still with the dead? According to Luke 16:19-31 they are. In this text, we see a picture of what it is like for the righteous and unrighteous after they die (Lk. 16:22). After death, the rich man was told to "remember" (Lk. 16:25). To "remember" something, one must be conscious, as well as have some capacity to recall past events. This man who had physically died, had both, therefore, his thoughts were with him.

This same text answers our querist concerning whether or not a dead person is aware that he/she is dead. Notice that he knew he was in torment (Lk. 16:28). He also knew his 5 brothers were not there, but were still living on earth (Lk. 16:27-28). He was very much aware of where he was, that he was dead, and that there were others who were not dead.

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