If You Die Today, Where Will You Go?

The Truth About Death

by Emmil Glenn Personal Note from NYX: Most of us probably have been taught that when a person dies, he either goes to heaven or hell.. ..because this was a teaching of tradition that has been passed down from generation to generation. When my father died years ago.. I thought he was already in heaven watching over us. ..as what I have been commonly hearing from people. However, as I started to study the Word of God & diligently searched the scriptures regarding death.. I was surprised to nd out that what has been taught to us was.. ..A LIE & was never written in the scriptures. I told the LORD, If only this TRUTH was clearly taught to everyone since childhood.. then we would not lived our lives in the vanities of this world. Rather, we would always seek to do good & offer our every day lives to God since we are holding on to a promise of a better life waiting for those who will overcome. The Truth of Gods Word will only be revealed to those who are humble & penitent, with a clean heart & pure motives in seeking the Truth, knowing the LORD through His Word.. ..and not for the purpose of seeking glorication or appraisal from men by gaining much biblical knowledge to boast of their self, name, status, education, etc.. This is a P D F c om pila t ion ( w i th a p p r o v a l o f th e a u th o r , Gl e n n o f emmilglenn.wordpress.com) that conrms everything that the LORD has taught me through His Word. **Note that I never had a hard time realizing & understanding this truth, for I receive this truth as a child, directly from My Father, My Greatest Teacher & Friend. I have no knowledge or background of ANY doctrines/studies/theologies of the wise men of this world. Everything that I know was from the LORD by the Power of His Spirit within, that teaches us ALL things.**

Redemption is NEAR!
PDF Compilation: Nyxstory.WordPress.com
The hour has come for you to wake up from your slumber, because our SALVATION is NEARER now than when we first believed. The night is nearly over; THE DAY IS ALMOST HERE. So let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light. Romans 13

Souls are NOT immortal: The Truth about Death - Part1

November 29, 2009 Ive been having discussions with several people about the topic of hell, hence my recent posts and studies on it. Eventually in the discussion the topic seems drift to the issue of the state of the dead, since the two are related. The popular belief is that when you die, you either go to heaven or hell. Ive been meaning to address this issue, but there are so many angles one can use to cover it. It is probably the cause of my hesitation and delay writing about it. After much thought, I decided to tackle this issue the following way, and will divide this study into several parts. Introduction Since the beginning of this world, mankind has been obsessed with the concept of what happens people die. Even in todays sophisticated know-it-all society, science cant explain the real phenomenon of seeing spirits of dead people, ghosts, and other strange paranormal activity. This has spawned a whole host of TV shows on ghosts, including two popular television series, Ghost Whisperer and Medium. So I intend to use this study to answer questions like, are these ghosts for real, are souls immortal, what happens when we die, do we go to heaven or hell when we die, and what is the truth about death? Immortal Soul? First of all, let us look at the most popular belief in Christianity regarding death. Most churches teach that when you die, you either go straight to heaven (if youre good and saved) or to hell (if youre lost.) The underlying principle in both scenarios is the immortality of the soul. A lot of people, including most Christians believe that the soul is a separate entity of the body, and that it can live forever, as its immortal and cannot die. Where does this teaching come from? Denitely NOT the Bible. Most Christians dont realize that the Bible contains over 1600 instances of the word soul, yet not once is immortal connected to it. Youll never see immortal soul in the same context. So where does the teaching of an immortal soul come from? For that answer well have to go back all the way to ancient Egypt. Keith W. Stump wrote a booklet on the same topic, entitled What is Man? Here is a passage from that booklet that shows the history of this doctrine: The idea of an immortal soul long predates the founding of todays major religions. The ancient Greek historian Herodotus (5th century B.C.) tells us in hisHistory that the ancient Egyptians were the rst to teach that the soul of man is separable from the body, and immortal.

This Egyptian idea was centuries before Judaism, Hinduism, Buddhism, Christianity and Islam came onto the scene. Nowhere in the ancient world was the afterlife of more concern than in Egypt. The countless tombs unearthed by archaeologists along the Nile provide eloquent testimony to the Egyptian belief that man possessed a spiritual aspect extending beyond his physical life. To the east, the ancient Babylonians also held a belief in a future life of the soul in a lower world. But Babylonian beliefs were nowhere so elaborate as the Egyptian. Then along come some popular Greek Philosophers. Stumps booklet continues The idea of the souls immortality did not cease with ancient Egyptian civilization. Notice again the testimony of the historian Herodotus: The Egyptians were the rst that asserted that the soul of man is immortal This opinionsome among the Greeks have at different periods of time adopted as their own (fromEuterpe, the second book of HerodotusHistory). The pagan Greeks got the concept of an immortal soul from the Egyptians! The foremost advocate among the ancient Greeks of the idea of an immortal soul was the Athenian philosopher Plato (428-348 B.C.), the pupil of Socrates. Plato was the founder of the Academy, an institute for philosophical and scientic research just outside of Athens. The pre-Socratic Greek philosophers had no real conception of any nonmaterial element in man. The philosophers Socrates and Pythagoras were among the rst of the Greeks to adopt the Egyptian view. They subsequently had a great inuence on the thought of Plato. It was Plato who popularized the immortal soul concept throughout the Greek world. And then it crept into Jewish thinking and philosophy: The belief that the soul continues its existence after the dissolution of the body is nowhere expressly taught in Holy ScriptureThe belief in the immortality of the soul came to the Jews from contact with Greek thought and chiey through the philosophy of Plato its principle exponent, who was led to it through Orphic and Eleusinian mysteries in which Babylonian and Egyptian views were strangely blended (TheJewish Encyclopedia, article, Immortality of the Soul). And then inevitably it crept into Christian doctrines: Many of the early theologians and scholars of the professing Christian religion including such men as Origen, Tertullian and Augustinewere closely associated with Platonism.

Tertullian (A.D. 155-220), for example, wrote: For some things are known even by nature: the immortality of the soul, the instance, is held by many I may use, therefore,the opinion of Plato, when he declares: Every soul is immortal (The Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. III). Notice how he cites Plato. Stump continues: Augustine of Hippo (A.D. 354-430)held to be the greatest thinker of Christian antiquityalso taught the immaterial and spiritual nature of the human soul. But notice the source of his teachings. TheEncyclopaedia Britannica states: He [Augustine] fused the religion of the New Testament with the Platonic tradition of Greek philosophy. Why should those early professing Christian scholars have resorted to the opinions of a pagan Greek philosopher? Could it be that the immortal soul doctrine is not clearly supported in Christian Scripture? Notice the much later view of Martin Luther, leader of the Protestant Reformation in Germany. More than a thousand years later, in 1522, he wrote: It is probable, in my opinion, that, with very few exceptions, indeed, the dead sleep in utter insensibility till the day of judgment .On what authority can it be said that the souls of the dead may not sleep in the same way that the living pass in profound slumber the interval between their down lying at night and their uprising in the morning? Luther himself encountered difculty in nding support for the immortal soul doctrine in the pages of Scripture. Immortality in the Bible As you can see. The doctrine of the immortality of the soul is not found anywhere in Scripture, but was borrowed from ancient Egyptians and has crept into Christian teachings. But what does the Bible have to say on this issue. Lets look at what the truth is as found in Scriptures. According to truthaboutdeath.com the word immortal only appears once in the Bible, and immortality ve times. Here they are: Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, to God who alone is wise,be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen. (1 Timothy 1:17, naming characteristics of God [the King]) The following four verses make reference to immortality as a gift the God/Jesus gives to us when we are saved (I have included surrounding verses to put some context):

Romans 2:7 6 whowill render to each one according to his deeds:7 eternal life to those who by patient continuance in doing good seek for glory, honor, and immortality; 8 but to those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness indignation and wrath, 1 Corinthians 15:53 52 in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.53 For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. 1 Corinthians 15:54 54 So when this corruptible has put on incorruption, and this mortal has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written:Death is swallowed up in victory. 2 Timothy 1:10 10 but has now been revealed by the appearing of our Savior Jesus Christ,who has abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel, This last verse shows that there is only one immortal being, and that is God. 1 Timothy 6:16 15 which He will manifest in His own time,He who is the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings and Lord of lords,16 who alone has immortality, dwelling in unapproachable light, whom no man has seen or can see, to whom be honor and everlasting power. Amen. The Bible is clear on this topic. God alone is immortal, and we are given immortality as a gift when Christ takes us to heaven at the 2nd coming.If the lost were burning in hell for eternity, then Paul is lying to us, because God wouldnt be the only immortal being. Burning forever in hell implies that you are immortal. So to answer the question, Is the soul immortal? Yes, if you accept Ancient Egyptian doctrines, and the teachings of Plato. If you accept only the authority of the Word of God, then the answer is a big fat NO. So if the soul isnt immortal, and we dont go straight to heaven, or straight to hell, where do we go when we die? Simple, we sleep. Jesus calls death in John 11 sleep, so look out for the following studies which will delve into the subject further..
http://emmilglenn.wordpress.com/2009/11/29/souls-are-not-immortal-the-truth-about-death-part-1/

Breath + Dust = Soul: The Truth about Death - Part2

December 4, 2009 In the previous part of this continuing study on death, we discovered that there is no such thing as an immortal soul. Only God hath immortality, and we are only given eternal life when Jesus comes again to take us home. So if our souls arent immortal, then what are they, and what happens to us when we die? This study will answer those questions. What is a soul? I believe the whole initial misunderstanding with the concept of an immortal stems from the fact that the word Soul is found numerous times throughout the Bible, in all versions. Couple that with the popular preconceived notion of a bodiless spirit oating around as taught by the Greeks, its no wonder the majority of Christians today accept the teaching without fully questioning the veracity of the doctrine. However, as well see, soul often times in the Bible can literally be interchanged with person/being/body, and not as a disembodied spirit. Lets look at the earliest mention of Soul in the Bible, Genesis 2:7 in the KJV. 7And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul. (KJV) Lets look at the other translations to get an broader picture: 7 the LORD God formed the manfrom the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being. (NIV) 7Then the LORD God formed man ofdust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being. (NASB) 7 And the LORD God formed manof the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being. (NKJV) 7 Then the LordGod formed the man from the dust of the ground. He breathed the breath of life into the mans nostrils, and the man became a living person. (NLT) 7then the LORD God formed the man of dust from the ground andbreathed into hisnostrils the breath of life, andthe man became a living creature. (ESV) I want you to notice 2 things above: We can see that the word soul, is interchangeable with being/person/creature. In essense, soul = a person. When they say there were 20 souls lost at sea, it basically means 20 people died, not 20 spirits wandering around looking for land.

This interchange is illustrated many times over the Bible. Soul in this case does not refer to the spirit that gets detached from a body when it dies. The Hebrew expression translated living soul in Genesis 2:7 isnephesh; it is used in several other places in Genesis 1 and 2 as well as throughout the Old Testament and in many of these passages it refers to animals. The Englishmen who translated the King James Version of the Bible renderednephesh as living creature in Genesis 1:21 where it refers to sea animals; they rendered it living creature in verse 24 where it refers to land animals. In verse 30, this same Hebrew expression is used to describe all living things on the earth. In Genesis 2:19, Adam was asked to name every living creature again, the Hebrew expression isnephesh. Hence the English Standard Version also uses Living Creature to dene Gods creation. So the term living soul in this verse gives no hint of immortality of any kind. The 2nd thing to note is the formula that was used to create a human being.

Dust + Breath of life = Living Soul /Person /Being

That is the formula for creating humans, dust from the ground, and the breath of life from God. The exact opposite happens when we die, Genesis 3:19 says: 19 In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread Till you return to the ground, For out of it you were taken; For dust you are, And to dust you shall return. The Bible doesnt say either that our spirits/souls will roam the earth either. 7 Then the dust will return to the earth as it was, And the spirit will return to God who gave it. (Ecclesiates 12:7 NKJV) Its the exact reverse of creating life. Living Soul Spirit = Dust Or we can look at it this way too:

Soul = Spirit?

What is the spirit that Ecclesiates mentions, isnt it like a soul or spirit that leaves the body upon death? Not at all. Let us use the Bible to be our translator. James 2:26 says that the Spirit=Breath. 26 For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also. (NKJV) 26 Just as the body is dead without breath,so also faith is dead without good works. (NLT) Job 27 conrms this: 3as long as my breath is in me, and the spirit of God is in my nostrils, (ESV) 3 As long as my breathis in me, And the breath of God in my nostrils, (NKJV) So basically, when you die, the spirit/breath goes back to God. Some Christians will use this text as proof that we go straight to heaven at death. That is misguided, as you can see, what returns to God is the breath he gave us. The Bible says that people are still buried in their graves, waiting for Christs return: 28 Do not marvel at this; for the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear His voice 29 and come forththose who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation. 30 I can of Myself do nothing. As I hear, I judge; and My judgment is righteous, because I do not seek My own will but the will of the Father who sent Me. (John 5:28-30 NKJV) Peter even conrms this, he talks about David, a man after Gods own heart still buried in his grave, and not yet ascended to heaven in Acts 2:29, 34: 29 Men and brethren, let me speak freely to you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. 34 For David did not ascend into the heavens(NKJV) I am pretty sure that when Jesus comes again, we will see David raised from the dead at the rst resurrection. Like him, when we die, we will wait as well. Souls Do Die Even the Bible dispels directly the idea of the immortal soul, as souls do die. Ezekiel 18:20 says: 20 The soul who sins shall die. The son shall not bear the guilt of the father, nor the father bear the guilt of the son. The righteousness of the righteous shall be upon himself, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon himself. (NKJV)

20 The person who sins is the one who will die. (NLT) 20The person whosins will die (NASB) Also notice how the above is another instance of soul being interchanged for person. The idea of a spirit that is separated from the body was borrowed from the Egyptians by the Greeks, Plato popularized that teaching and it crept into early Christianity. The Bible clearly shows that a soul is a person, a being, a creature, and not a disembodied spirit. No where in scriptures does it talk about souls being immortal. So if we dont go straight to heaven or hell, and our souls can die, what happens to us when were dead? Stay tuned for Part 3 as itll answer those questions and more. ~God bless.
http://emmilglenn.wordpress.com/2009/12/04/breathdustsoul-the-truth-about-death-part-2/

Death is like Sleep: The Truth About Death - Part3

December 14, 2009 It bafes me how most of Christianity missed this crucial point. The lesson from Jesus is so clear, that I cant seem to gure out why a lot of Christians believe otherwise. This is the lesson: Death is like sleep. When we die, we dont go anywhere else, not heaven, not hell, but remain in our graves oblivious to the world around us. To explain this concept better, well delve into the story that revolves around the death of Lazarus. This study will look at the Biblical denition of: death=sleep, primarily by examining Chapter 11 in the book of John. We will also cover other instances of writers calling death a sleep. So lets go John 11 (NKJV) 1 Now a certain man was sick, Lazarus of Bethany, the town of Mary and her sister Martha.2 It was that Mary who anointed the Lord with fragrant oil and wiped His feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick. 3 Therefore the sisters sent to Him, saying, Lord, behold, he whom You love is sick. As we can see in the introduction above, Jesus was very close to this family, which consisted of Lazarus, Mary, and Martha. It was the same Mary who bought the alabaster box and cleaned his feet with her tears and the oil. This was a family dear to Jesus. That is why they sent Jesus a message that Lord he whom You love is sick.

Jesus replied in verse 4: When Jesus heard that, He said, This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God may be gloried through it. From this verse, we can see an indication that Jesus plans to use this trial to teach us something, and that God may be gloried. Now notice something odd in the following verses: 5 Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. 6 So, when He heard that he was sick, He stayed two more days in the place where He was. The odd thing is that the Bible is clear that this family was special to Jesus, yet he decided to take his sweet time and stayed at the place for 2 more days. Why? Wouldnt the more obvious course of action for Jesus to take is to go directly once he heard the bad news? If you heard that someone dear to you got into a serious accident and is in the hospital, wouldnt you drop everything and go straight to visit? But Jesus/God works on their own timeline, and we have to remember that. Remember verse 4, that the sickness is for the Glory of God. So if your prayers have yet to be answered right away, remember in Romans 8:28, 28 And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. So back to John 11, perhaps Jesus knew that this was a perfect opportunity to teach us, and those around Him at the time a lesson. So after waiting 2 days, Jesus nally says: 7 Then after this He said to the disciples, Let us go to Judea again. 8 The disciples said to Him, Rabbi, lately the Jews sought to stone You, and are You going there again? 9 Jesus answered, Are there not twelve hours in the day? If anyone walks in the day, he does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world. 10 But if one walks in the night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him. The disciples were aware of the plot by some of the Jews to kill Jesus, and they were afraid for His life. Jesus is not concerned, as He is still focused on bringing light into the world. He then says in verse 11: 11 These things He said, and after that He said to them, Our friend Lazarus sleeps, but I go that I may wake him up. (NKJV) 11After he had said this, he went on to tell them, Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep; but I am going there to wake him up. (NIV) From here, the disciples must have understood that Lazarus was only sick, and would get well as Jesus said that Lazarus was only sleeping. Hence the following reply by them:

12 Then His disciples said, Lord, if he sleeps he will get well. (NKJV) Jesus saw their confusion, and cleared it up with the following response: 13 However, Jesus spoke of his death, but they thought that He was speaking about taking rest in sleep. 14 Then Jesus said to them plainly, Lazarus is dead. 15 And I am glad for your sakes that I was not there, that you may believe. Nevertheless let us go to him. (NKJV) There are two things to take a note of through the rst 15 verses of John 11. First, is, Jesus likens death to a sleep. When we die, its like when we go to sleep. We know nothing of what is going on around us. I dont know about you, but when I go to bed, the next thing I know is the alarm waking me up, and Im like Already?! Its as if you just went to bed and now you have to get up. Same thing with death. When we die, the next thing we know will be Jesus calling us out of our graves. Jesus knew what he was talking about so for us to understand it, he called death sleep. The second thing to take a note of is Jesus sometimes takes his time on purpose. We purposely waited an extra 2 days in order to teach us a lesson. Note in verse 4 he says: but for the glory of God, that the Son of God may be gloried through it. And in verse 15: 15 And I am glad for your sakes that I was not there, that you may believe. So its just a little reminder to us that sometimes, that God leaves our prayers unanswered or makes a wait a little longer than we have to, in order for us to believe more fully. Let us continue on with the lesson Jesus is trying to teach us: 17 So when Jesus came, He found that he had already been in the tomb four days. 18 Now Bethany was near Jerusalem, about two miles[a] away. So take note, Lazarus would have already been dead at least four days, and was buried in the tomb. What happens to a body that has been dead for a few days? It starts to decompose and that whole process gives off an unpleasant odor. Jesus knew this, and purposely took his sweet time in order to show that Lazarus was indeed dead.

19 And many of the Jews had joined the women around Martha and Mary, to comfort them concerning their brother. 20 Now Martha, as soon as she heard that Jesus was coming, went and met Him, but Mary was sitting in the house. 21 Now Martha said to Jesus, Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died. 22 But even now I know that whatever You ask of God, God will give You. 23 Jesus said to her, Your brother will rise again. Again, it is conrmed that Lazarus was indeed dead, but Jesus was about to perform one of his greatest miracles yet. Let us skip to verse 32, where Jesus goes to see Mary, Lazarus other sister: 32 Then, when Mary came where Jesus was, and saw Him, she fell down at His feet, saying to Him, Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died. 33 Therefore, when Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her weeping, He groaned in the spirit and was troubled. 34 And He said, Where have you laid him? They said to Him, Lord, come and see. 35 Jesus wept. 36 Then the Jews said, See how He loved him! 37 And some of them said, Could not this Man, who opened the eyes of the blind, also have kept this man from dying? As we can see, its human nature to question the methods of God. Jesus easily could have came earlier and prevented all the hardship, but he did it to show us all something. 38 Then Jesus, again groaning in Himself, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone lay against it. 39 Jesus said, Take away the stone. Martha, the sister of him who was dead, said to Him, Lord, by this time there is a stench, for he has been dead four days. As I noted above, Jesus was fully aware of the stench that would come out, but he wanted everyone to smell the stench for effect. 40 Jesus said to her, Did I not say to you that if you would believe you would see the glory of God? 41 Then they took away the stone from the place where the dead man was lying. And Jesus lifted up His eyes and said, Father, I thank You that You have heard Me. 42 And I know that You always hear Me, but because of the people who are standing by I said this, that they may believe that You sent Me. 43 Now when He had said these things, He cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth! 44 And he who had died came out bound hand and foot with grave clothes, and his face was wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, Loose him, and let him go. As we can see, Jesus is very clear on this issue. So for me, I just cant understand how most of Christianity missed his lesson here.

If we die and go straight to heaven or hell, where did Lazarus go those four plus days he was dead? Since he believed in Jesus, he would have died in Christ, and would have went to heaven. But wouldnt it be cruel of Jesus to allow Lazarus to go to Paradise, only to call him back to earth Notice how Jesus said Lazarus, come forth! Not Lazarus, come back down! Jesus knew that when we die, its just like if we were only sleeping. When we sleep, we are completely oblivious to things around us. Ecclesiates 9:5-6 conrms this: 5 For the living know that they will die; But the dead know nothing, And they have no more reward, For the memory of them is forgotten. 6 Also their love, their hatred, and their envy have now perished; Nevermore will they have a share In anything done under the sun. If we went straight to heaven or hell at death, then the above verse is wrong, as wed know what exactly was happening to us. Other Bible Writers Jesus wasnt the only one to liken death to sleep. Paul for example uses the sleep analogy in describing Christs Second Coming in 1 Thessalonians 4: 13 But I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep, lest you sorrow as others who have no hope. 14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus.[b] 15 For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep. 16 For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise rst. 17 Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord. 18 Therefore comfort one another with these words. There are so many lessons one could take from the above passage. Firstly, to Paul, death=sleep. When Paul wrote this letter, the prevailing thought at the time, especially among Greek converts was that when you die, people went to Hades, the underworld as it was taken from popular Greek mythology. So people were worried about their loved ones who were suffering down below. Thats why in verse 13, he expressed his wish for the believers to not be ignorant about those who die.

That is why he ends the passage with a command to comfort one another with these words, as consolation to those who grieve that their loved ones are only sleeping in Jesus, and not suffering in hell. Another point we can take from this is, when Christ comes again, the dead will rise rst. If the saved already went to heaven, why would they have to come back down, only to go back up?!?! Does that make sense? Of course not. That is why both Paul and Jesus made it clear that everyone who dies, sleeps. Peter conrms that the dead stay in their graves in Acts 2: 29 Men and brethren, let me speak freely to you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. 34 For David did not ascend into the heavens (NKJV) How clear is that? Lets look at more examples such as John 5:28-29. 28 Do not marvel at this; for the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear His voice 29 and come forththose who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation. That section of John talks about the nal judgment, but I wanted to highlight verse 28. If we either went straight to heaven or hell at death, thered be no one in the graves to hear His voice. But as we can see, everyone that dies waits in the grave for the nal judgment, and will either get eternal life, or will be there during the 2nd resurrection (the one we dont want to be a part of) when God will send his nal punishment. One last example, 1 Corinthians 15 conrms what was written in 1 Thessalonians 4: 51 Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed 52 in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. 53 For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. Notice when all this takes place, at the last trumpet. All of us will be changed at the last trumpet, when Christ comes again. If we went to heaven with new immortal bodies at death, wed be hearing trumpets playing all the time. 16 For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise rst. (1 Thes 4) So its pretty safe to conclude now that when we die, we will all sleep, awaiting for Jesus return, and our alarm clock will be that last trumpet sound. Amen.
http://emmilglenn.wordpress.com/2009/12/14/death-is-like-sleep/