Tony Evans - What Happens When You Die

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
You and I are marching toward a destiny at your
local cemetery. Now the question on the floor is is
there anything on the other's side.

Speaker 2 (00:09):
Doctor Tony Evans talks about the afterlife.

Speaker 1 (00:12):
Ladies and gentlemen. Death is a conjunction. It is not
a period. It's not over. You've only just begne.

Speaker 2 (00:23):
This is the Alternative with Doctor Tony Evans, author, speaker,
senior pastor of Oakliffe Bible Fellowship in Dallas, Texas, and
President of the Urban Alternative. Some people say life's too
short to be religious. Today, doctor Evans explains why eternity's
too long not to be as he offers a look

(00:44):
at what happens when we die. Let's join him.

Speaker 1 (00:47):
Now, I lay me down to sleep, I pray the
Lord my soul to keep, and if I die before
I wake, I pray the Lord my soul to take.
The prayer of children who are taught early that there
is such a thing as a soul, that there is

(01:11):
such a thing as death, and that there is such
a thing as life after death. That simple prayer is
forgotten as we grow older, and we get so encumbered
in the realities of time that it is easy to
lose a sense of eternity. My desire today is not

(01:35):
to be morbid, but it is to be truthful. And
the truth is, if Christ be not come, you're gonna die.
That's the truth. Now, I don't care how you camouflage it.
I don't care what fancy words you use to change

(01:58):
how bad it sounds. You can call it pass away
if you want to. You can call it a family
plot if you choose to. But the reality is that
you and I are marching toward a destiny at your

(02:20):
local cemetery. Now, the question on the floor is is
there anything on the other side? And everybody's got an opinion.
There's the atheist who says, when you die, that's it.
You're dead, you're gone, you're worm food. There is nothing
on the other side. Then there is the universalist who says,

(02:45):
there's only one thing on the other side, and that
is the marvelous destiny of utopia, whatever you call it,
so that we all get to enjoy the great by
and by, for a loving God would never have his
creatures go to a place called hell. Whoever tells you

(03:07):
about what awaits on the other side of death, it's
giving you an uninformed opinion. So today I want to
answer the question what happens when you die? Hebrews nine
twenty seven says, it is appointed on command wants to die,
and after that the judgment you die by appointment. Now

(03:30):
you may be late for a lot of things in
your life, but this is one appointment you will not miss,
since it's inevitable and you can't escape it. What happens
when you go through it? What does it mean to die? Look?
In Luke sixteen we read about two men. I won't

(03:51):
go through all the details of the story. It was
a rich man and a poor man. The rich man
in verse nineteen was dressed in all the fancy clothes
and the gala. He was a party adam all. And
then there was the poor man Lazarus, and he was
a beggar outside of the gates. Verse twenty two and
twenty three had something very instructive, it says, and now

(04:12):
it came about that the poor man died and he
was carried away by the angels to Abraham's bosom. And
the rich man also died and was buried. Verse twenty
two says of Luke sixteen, and in hades he lifted
up his eyes being in torment and saw Abraham far

(04:34):
away and Lazarus in his bosom. Now I want you
to notice a couple of things. Number One, both men died.
The rich man died, and you can't make enough money
to keep you out of this one. You can't drive
enough cars, living and buy enough homes, take enough vacations
to get rid of this one. The rich man died.

(04:59):
I don't care where you you live, how much you make,
or who you are. You check any cemetery and you
can't tell one set of bones from another. The rich
man died, the poor man died. Both were equally dead.
But the Bible says when it discusses both men and

(05:24):
their death, it uses a conjunction, not a period. It
says the poor man died, and it says and the
rich man died. And now we can make this sermon
real short if I could simply say the poor man
died period, the rich man died period. But that's not

(05:48):
what the text says, nor is it what the Bible says.
And the reason I'm leading on the Bible is because
here I'm dealing with somebody who's been there and back.
Both men died, and one was carried to Abraham's bosom,
one opened its eyes and torment in hell, ladies and gentlemen,

(06:12):
Death is a conjunction. It is not a period. It's
not over. You've only just begun. In the Bible, the
Bible knows nothing of the definition of death, which means
you don't exist anymore. In the Bible, the word death

(06:34):
means to separate. When you and I use the word death,
what we're talking about is what James two twenty six
calls the separation of the immaterial part from the material part.
There is a separation that occurs, and so both men died.

(06:57):
Both men were immediately carried away. Because death's separation, not
cessation of existence, the first man's destiny is called Abraham's bosom. Now,
I won't spend a lot of time here because we're
going to talk about this whole thing of heaven. But

(07:17):
why is it called Abraham's bosom. Well, this phrase of
the bosom is a very intimate phrase, and i'll just
give you a summary statement here. It's used when John
the Apostle. John rested his head on the bosom of Jesus.

(07:38):
To rest your head on the bosom is to relax
or be at rest. So this particular passage doesn't go
into a lot of detail except for you and I
to know that heaven is a place of eternal rest.
But let me tell you what it's not a place
of It is not a place of eternal bom. People

(08:03):
want to know what am I gonna do in heaven
all day? Fly around and play harp? How boring? Let
me hang out with my homeies in hell? Who wants
to be bored all day long? Forever? Have you ever
been bored for a week? That's pretty traumatic to be
bored for a week. Think about being bored forever. Absolutely

(08:26):
not the glimpses of heaven that are provided in the Bible,
there will not be one second of boredom. There will
not be one second of frustration, irritation, aggravation in this
sickness of depression. There will be eternal rest and rest
in the sense of internal enjoyment. There will be so

(08:49):
much enjoyment in heaven. The Bible declares God is gonna
remove nighttime so that you won't ever not be able
to see any of it. And He's gonna give you
a brand new body that won't get tired of enjoying
any of it. It's gonna be non stop forever, because

(09:09):
that's how long it takes to uncover God. Ephesians two
seven says that in the ages to come, he might
demonstrate to his people the magnificence of his grapes. You
pick your best day, think back on your very best day,

(09:30):
and that will be hell compared to your first minute
in heaven. How long did it take God to create
the heavens and earth? Or let's just say to Earth,
how long did take them create the eary renovate the ear?
Six days? Right? Jesus been working on heaven for two
thousand years. Now, if he could create an earth in

(09:50):
six days and come up with this, what do you
think he's putting together up there that he'd been working
on for two thousand years? It is staggering, beyond your
wildest dreams. Now, we'll look at this a little closer.
But God let one of his apostles go to heaven
and come back and talk about it. Set Grinthians twelve.

(10:11):
His name is the apostle Paul. One day he was
stoned to death and left for dead. God took him,
snatched out his soul, and allowed him to go back
up to heaven and to come back and talk about it.
In second read of Griffians twelve, and he says, I
saw stuff that are not lawful for a man to discuss.

(10:32):
Have you ever seen something you just didn't know how
to explain it? He said, what I saw up there
was so staggered. So when he came back, guess what
he said. He said, guys, I got to go. I
got to leave, y'all. He said, I can't stay here.
He says, to stay with you is okay, but to
go to be with him is far better. He says,

(10:53):
I have not seen his, have not heard. You can't
conceive of this place called and you know the thing
I like about it. Before the doctor pronounces you did,
you're already there.

Speaker 2 (11:06):
When doctor Evans continues our message, in just a moment,
you'll tell us more about why we won't have time
to get used to being dead now. What you're hearing
today is part of Tony's hard hitting five part series
The Afterlife Glimpses of Heaven and Hell. It covers all
the biggest questions about what's out there beyond the grave,
gives you a biblical look at what eternal life is

(11:27):
all about, and describes the kind of faith you need
to get it. We'll send you this collection along with
the study guide that goes with it, when you make
a donation to help keep Tony's teaching on this station,
and as an added bonus, we'll also include a powerful
book from the Evans family that personalizes the messages we'll
be sharing over the next week. It's called Divine Disruption,

(11:50):
Holding onto Faith when life breaks your heart. Before her passing,
Tony's wife, Lois, had urged her family to work together
on a collaborative project, and this book, focusing on how
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and loss, is the product of her wish. In Divine Disruption,
Doctor Evans and his four adult children, Krystal Evans Hurst,

(12:13):
Briscilla Shire, Anthony Evans, and Jonathan Evans Candle, they share
honest questions they've asked, raw emotions they've felt, and solutions
they've learned through the tumultuous experience of losing eight loved
ones in less than two years time. Through their shared
experiences and individual viewpoints, you'll discover your own path to

(12:34):
persevere in difficult times and ultimately to experience God's peace
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(12:54):
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Speaker 3 (13:05):
And this does the rising price of eggs make you
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(13:29):
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Speaker 1 (13:36):
Now, of all the things I like about Heavy, I'm
looking forward to going. But let me tell you what
makes me feel real good is I won't have to
get used to dying. By the time the doctor pronounces
this Preacher Dad, before the flat line has gone all
the way across the screen, I will have been ushered

(13:58):
out of this body and have been ushered into the
presence of the Lord, awaiting my new body that will
be eternal, to keep up with my soul that is
already eternal, because I have trusted in the finished work
of Jesus Christ. Guess what this preacher will never die.
The good news about heaven is I don't have to
die agout. In fact, when the Bible talks about a

(14:22):
Christian dying, it use is another word asleep, not referring
to the soul, referring to the body, because the body
is awaiting its resurrection. Let me tell you, if you're
Christian today, why you don't have to fear death. Because
you're fearing something you'll never experience. You will never experience it.

(14:42):
The Bible says, to be absent from the body is
to be present with the Lord Tewod Corinthians five six
through eight. The moment you leave the body, you won't
even be able to do a sight seeing two of
the universe. You will be immediately transformed or transfigured into
the presence God. You will never experience the thing that

(15:03):
causes you the most fear. And if you know Jesus
Christ today, you will never be more alive than at
the moment when the doctor pronounces you did remember the
thief on the cross, don't you? The thief on the
right side, dying next to Jesus. Guess what he said?
Today You will be with me in paradise, not fifty
million years later. Today. As soon as you close your

(15:25):
eyes and death, you and I buddy, are gonna take
a trip and the angels usher you into eternity. And
that's a good way to feel. When the doctor pronounces
it terminal and you have this hope within you. Yes,
you may cry because you are going to leave your
loved ones. That's a natural response. But it won't be

(15:46):
tears without hope. It'll be tears with hope. I like
Stephen and Acts chapter seven, they were stoning in the death.
The man has got bricks coming upside his head. And
while he was stoning in the death, and this is
a whole other point, but while he was stowing him
to death, the Bible says, and he saw heaven open,
and he saw Jesus Christ stare on the right hand

(16:08):
side of the Father, and Jesus Christ stood giving him
a standing ovation. And he says to Jesus Christ Christ,
will you now receive my spirit? One of the great
church fathers was dying and the family was gathering around Chrime,
and he looked up and he said, I see heaven opening,

(16:30):
and how I see Earth receding. This is my crowning day.
And when he said those words, he closed his eyes
and died. Now, the beautiful thing about knowing Jesus Christ
is when it comes time to die, while nobody knows
what's happening on the outside, you're getting a preview of

(16:51):
God on the inside, watching heaven open. And one of
the reasons God lets you get sick if he doesn't
take you suddenly, so that you want to get out
of this body. He'll give you a little glimpse of
where you're going so that you don't mind leaving. Let
you move from consciousness to unconsciousness so you can transition

(17:12):
yourself up out of here, not the way you want
to go. Donald Gray Barnhouse, whose first wife died, He
was driving his kids from the funeral and one of
the kids said, Daddy, what happened. I don't understand. Why

(17:36):
didn't Mammie go, what's happening with this thing called death?
Was trying to explain death and eternity to his kids,
And just then a truck passed by and cast a
shadow over the car. He looked back at the kids
and said, kids, would you rather have been hit by

(17:58):
the truck or hit by the shadow? Well, of course,
rather be hit by the shadow, because the shadow doesn't
hurts you, It just darkens you for a moment. Then,
in his own with them, bonn House said these words.
He said, some, when you die about Christ, you hit
by the truck. When you die with Christ, you only

(18:18):
hit by the shadow. The shadow is all you get behave.
Though I walk through the valley of the shadow, I
will fear no evil. This man opened up his eyes.
Being in torment, you will see as we go through
this series, verse after verse after verse, there are degrees.

(18:40):
You will discover a punishment in hell. Everybody's not equal.
Everybody's hell is not equal to everybody else's hell. Everybody's heaving,
it's not equal to everybody else's heaven. There are degrees
because God is just in every way. Well, let me

(19:01):
say this, folks, Eternity is a real long time. Let
me tell you how long eternity is. I just left
the Pacific Ocean, largest body of water in the world.
Let's say you drained it, it'd be a big hole
in the ground. And let's say you fill the Pacific
Ocean with sand. Mount Everest is the highest mountain in

(19:23):
the world. Let's say you made that sand pit of
the Pacific Ocean as high as Mount Everest, the tallest
mountain peak in the world. That's a pretty hefty sandpole. Right.
Let's say you got a bird and the bird came
and took one grain of sand every one hundred quadzillion
years one grain. How long would it take that bird
to finish that sandpile. You don't have numbers that can

(19:46):
go that far. But when the bird took its last
grain of sand, you will have been in eternity one second.
That's a long time to be wrong today. If you
are a Christian, this is the only hell you'll ever know. Today.
If you're a non Christian, this is the only heaven

(20:07):
you'll ever know. Don't play Russian roulette with eternity. As
long as the wheel is spinning, you can change your bet.
But once the wheel stops, all bets are off. God
has come up with a way to take out the
sting of death. Yes, it's still uncomfortable, but God has

(20:32):
come up with a way to remove it sting. It
no longer has to sting you. You no longer have
to wake up in the middle of the night sweating.
What will happen to me when I die? A bee
one day flew in a car with a little boy
riding with his father. The boy began to scream. His
father reached out and grabbed the bee and squeezed it
in his hand. He then opened up his hand. The

(20:54):
bee flew back out and began to buzz around, and
the boy began to scream again. The father look back
and said, son, you don't have to scream, And he
held out his hand, and there inside the palm of
his hand was the stinger of the bee. He said, son,
all the bee can do now is make noise, because
I got the stinger in my hands on the cross

(21:16):
of cavalry. Jesus Christ took the stinger. So all death
can do now is make noise. It has lost its sting,
and an eternity waits for everybody who will simply come
to Jesus Christ for salvation. He says, I died for you.

(21:39):
I arose for you in order to give you free
of charge, had no cost to you. Salvation. All you've
got to do is come by faith. Trust me, not yourself,
not your good life, not your good words, not your
church membership, not anything. Trust me. Come to me and

(22:01):
I will take you there.

Speaker 2 (22:05):
If taking that step of faith and trust is a
decision you have yet to make, be sure to stay
with us, because doctor Evans will return in a moment
to tell us how it's done. Today's lesson was titled
what Happens when You Die, part of Tony's straightforward series
The Afterlife. As I mentioned earlier, we were offering this
five part series. The accompanying study Guide and the Divine

(22:27):
Disruption Book is our thank you gift. When you make
a contribution to help us keep this program coming your way.
Contact us today at Tonyevans dot org for the details
or give us a call day or night at one
eight hundred, eight hundred thirty two twenty two and let
one of our resource team members help you again. That's
one eight hundred eight hundred three two two two, And

(22:50):
now here's a final word from doctor Evans.

Speaker 4 (22:53):
If you've been listening to the broadcast and you have
yet to accept Jesus Christ as your personal savior. We
can resolve that.

Speaker 1 (23:00):
Right now.

Speaker 4 (23:00):
I'm going to say a little prayer. I want you
to pray it after me, but you've got to mean
it for yourself. Lord Jesus, I'm a sinner and I
know I need a savior because I can't save myself.
So right now I trust you alone. Because you died
for me and arose from me to be my sin bearer.

(23:24):
You are now my substitute, and I'm believing you to
forgive my sin and to give me eternal life. Thank
you for the free gift of salvation that you have
given to me. Help me to live a life to
please you in Jesus' name.

Speaker 1 (23:43):
Amen.

Speaker 4 (23:45):
Welcome to the family, and we'll keep ministering to you
for your spiritual growth through our broadcast. God bless you.

Speaker 2 (23:53):
If you prayed that prayer for the first time, or
if you or someone you know wants to learn more
about what the Christian faith is all about. Visit Tonyevans
dot org today and click on the link at the
top of the homepage that simply says Jesus, Tony has
some encouraging things to share with you on video, and
you'll find great resources you can access to help you

(24:13):
grow in your brand new life once again. That's at
Tonyevans dot org. Well coming up next time. I want
to live a more passionate, purposeful life on earth, Doctor
Evan says the way to do it is to think
more about Heaven. Be sure to join him on Monday
as he offers guidelines on how best to accomplish that.

(24:35):
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