Study Companion
Ask
Browse
Listen
+
Install
←
Back
Podcast
Do We Take Anything With Us When We Die Podcast
Open original on relationalconcepts.org ↗
Your browser does not support audio.
↺ Start from beginning
0% listened
Transcript
0:00
Today, I want to talk to you about what the Bible says about the question, do we take
0:08
anything with us when we die?
0:10
I think it was Chuck Swindoll who created or popularized the expression, there are no
0:16
U-Haul trailers behind a hearse.
0:20
There's also a common expression that when J.D. Rockefeller died, his lawyer was asked,
0:26
how much did he leave?
0:27
And the lawyer said, all of it.
0:30
Let's look at some biblical passages and see if we can determine what we take with us when
0:36
we die.
0:37
Isaiah 65, 17, and 18 says, For behold, I create a new heaven and a new earth, where
0:45
the former things will not be remembered or come to mind, but be glad and rejoice forever
0:51
in what I create.
0:53
For behold, I create Jerusalem for rejoicing in her people, for gladness.
0:58
In a context which begins with the millennial blessing, God, through Isaiah, extends his
1:04
thoughts to the new heavens and the new earth.
1:08
And this passage, God said, former things will not be remembered or come to mind.
1:14
But the context is the lack of memory, is that of creating a new Jerusalem for rejoicing
1:20
and gladness.
1:21
This does not seem to be the wiping away of all memories, but a new situation so glorious
1:31
that the old painful ones will not come to mind.
1:35
In Daniel 12, 2, and 3, we read, Many of those who sleep in the dust of the ground will awake.
1:42
Those who have everlasting life, but others to disgrace and everlasting contempt.
1:48
Those who have insight will shine brightly like the brightness of the expanse of the
1:52
heavens and those who lead the many to righteousness like the stars forever and ever.
1:58
Daniel 12 describes the resurrection of the Old Testament saints at the second coming
2:04
of Christ.
2:05
But it also reveals several things we take from this life to the next.
2:12
Everlasting life is clearly different from everlasting contempt.
2:16
There seems to be a difference between this life for those who will shine brightly like
2:21
the brightness of the expanse of heaven and those who lead the many to righteousness.
2:28
In Daniel 12, 3, God told Daniel, But as for you, go your way to the end.
2:34
Then you will enter into rest and rise again for your allotted portion at the end of the
2:38
age.
2:39
Apparently, there's a portion for Daniel awaiting him after this life at the end of
2:45
the age.
2:46
In Matthew 5, 11 and 12, Jesus said, Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute
2:55
you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me.
3:00
Rejoice and be glad for your reward in heaven is great.
3:04
It seems that reward for verbal persecution for the sake of Christ follows us to heaven.
3:13
In Matthew 6, 20, Jesus said, But store up for yourselves treasures on earth where neither
3:19
moth nor rust destroy, where thieves do not break in and steal.
3:23
If we can store up treasures in heaven, it seems like if we don't take them with us,
3:30
we can at least send them on ahead.
3:33
In Matthew 17, 1 through 8, describes the transfiguration of Jesus Christ.
3:40
The event of the mouth transfiguration gave the apostles a glimpse into the kingdom of
3:45
heaven.
3:46
As an apparent fulfillment of Matthew 16, 28, where some would see Jesus in his kingdom,
3:53
Jesus is transfigured.
3:56
The Greek word metamorphosis, we get the word metamorphosis from it.
4:01
So Jesus apparently changed so that his glory was momentarily unveiled.
4:09
But we should notice three things about Moses and Elijah.
4:12
First, they were together in the same place.
4:16
Remember Moses had been dead for 1,500 years and Elijah for 700 years.
4:23
Also notice they were the same people they were when they lived on earth.
4:27
I take it the apostles knew them because they and Jesus greeted one another.
4:32
Moses and Elijah were not in their resurrected bodies since Old Testament saints receive
4:37
their resurrected bodies at the second coming of Christ, according to Daniel 12, 1 to 3.
4:44
They're the same sort of bodies we have or we will have before being resurrected at the
4:51
rapture described in John 14, 6 and 1 Thessalonians 4.
4:56
We can therefore assume we will be identified in heaven as the same people as we were on
5:03
earth.
5:04
Who we are does not change.
5:08
Our DNA makes us all unique people here on earth and that uniqueness seems to follow
5:13
us to heaven.
5:16
Next we have two rich men of Luke 16.
5:21
In this chapter, Jesus tells us about two rich men with some discussion with the Pharisees
5:26
in between.
5:27
The first rich man had an unjust steward who the rich man ultimately praises because the
5:34
steward prepared for his future.
5:37
The point was the importance of preparing for our eternal future.
5:42
We can only conclude that we can make preparations on earth that go with us to heaven.
5:50
The next account Jesus gave in Luke 16 is about a selfish unnamed rich man and a poor
5:55
beggar named Lazarus.
5:57
We're also told the rich man was daily reminded of Lazarus' condition of being hungry and
6:04
covered with sores.
6:05
When both died, we learn this about Lazarus.
6:09
He was carried away by the angels.
6:12
He was no longer suffering.
6:15
He is the same person he was on earth and we know this about the rich man.
6:20
He was the same person he was on earth before his death.
6:24
He was aware of conditions on earth when he left.
6:29
He also had evil brothers.
6:32
His evil deeds, including his neglecting of the needs of Lazarus, followed him into the
6:38
afterlife.
6:39
He asked for mercy but was given none.
6:43
Neither he nor Lazarus were allowed to go back to earth after their death.
6:49
It seems their lives on earth followed them to the next life.
6:54
You might also notice that they were aware of what happened and what was happening when
6:58
they left earth.
6:59
But there's no indication that they knew what was going on back on earth after they
7:05
left.
7:06
In John 5, 24, Jesus said,
7:10
Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears my words and believes in him who sent me has
7:14
eternal life, does not come into judgment, but is passed out of death unto life.
7:19
Jesus promised life beyond this life without condemnation, judgment to those who believe
7:26
that his words are those of his heavenly Father.
7:32
In 1 Timothy 4, 8, Paul told Timothy,
7:36
Bodily discipline is only a little profit, but godliness is profitable for all things
7:41
since it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come.
7:47
It seems there's a discipline that profits this life and one that we take with us in
7:53
the life to come.
7:55
In Revelation 6, 9-11, the apostle John wrote this,
8:01
When the Lamb broke the fifth seal, I saw under the throne of the altar the souls of
8:06
those who had been slain because of the word of God and because of the testimony which
8:11
they had maintained.
8:13
And they cried out with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, will you
8:18
refrain from judging and avenging our blood on those who dwell on the earth?
8:23
And it was given to each of them a white robe, and they were told that they should rest for
8:30
a while longer until the number of their fellow servants and their brethren who were to be
8:36
killed, even as they had been, would be completed also.
8:42
Whatever observation should we make about these martyred believers?
8:47
John saw the souls of those who had been slain, so they were not ghosts, but people John could
8:52
see as those with human form.
8:57
These martyred saints were aware of what was going on when they left earth because they
9:02
had been recently killed.
9:06
They did not know what continued to go on upon the earth after their death except for
9:12
what God told them.
9:15
They had a body, but not a resurrected body, since they'll be resurrected at the second
9:20
coming according to Revelation 20, verse 4.
9:25
Like the rich man in Luke 16, they asked for God to intervene on earth and were denied.
9:33
But they were also told about God's future intervention.
9:38
The Bible also mentions many crowns, crown of righteousness, crown of life, crown of
9:44
glory.
9:45
These crowns are probably symbolic of heavenly rewards, and nonetheless they represent things
9:50
from this life that we take with us to heaven.
9:54
Jesus said, but I tell you that every careless word that people speak they will give an account
10:00
for in the day of judgment.
10:02
So apparently our words follow us into the afterlife.
10:07
Conclusion.
10:09
The saying is probably not true, whatever happens in Vegas stays in Vegas.
10:15
But it's certainly not true, whatever happens on earth stays on earth.
10:20
Of course, we leave behind our bodies with its pains and pleasures, our physical possessions
10:25
and debts, our relationships, beneficial and painful.
10:31
There are many things that happen on earth which we leave behind on earth, but not everything.
10:39
Some things follow us into the afterlife.
10:42
According to the Bible, things that follow us include our salvation, our character, although
10:50
we believers are released from our sin nature, but we're the same people that we are on earth.
10:57
Our memories, although the dead do not know what's happening on earth at the present time,
11:03
they remember what was going on when they died, memories will be overpowered by learning
11:10
new surroundings.
11:11
That does not mean our previous thoughts are wiped away.
11:16
I remember my grandmother saying, if any of my grandchildren are not saved, I'll never
11:21
know it in heaven because it would make me sad.
11:26
I would add, or you'll have a completely different perspective on a completely different reality.
11:34
Going from this earthly physical dimension to a heavenly dimension is a whole new adventure.
11:42
Our involvement in evangelism on earth leads to people who will greet us in the heavenlies.
11:48
Also, what we learn here about truth, the way things actually are, goes with us to heaven.
11:55
Thank you for listening.
11:57
A more complete paper on this subject is available on our website relationalconcepts.org.