What happens when you die ?

[JohnHurt]

Luke 16:(22) And it 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;

[Sudsy]

Luke 16:(22) And it 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 what do you think Abraham's bosom represents ?

[JohnHurt]

Luke 16:(22) And it 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 what do you think Abraham's bosom represents ?

Abraham's Bosom is a representation of being with God.

This is a parable to make a point avoiding materialism, and doesn't necessarily completely follow reality. I don't think you can see from one realm to the other.

But as far as "angels" carrying you to heaven...

I was with my father when he died from cancer. He was a Christian minister. A lot of weird things happened that last day. But, there was a "presence" in the hospital room, floating above his bed, that he fixed his eyes on, and held his arm straight up and pointed, until he could not hold his arm up any longer. Then he kept his forearm and finger pointed up at it for about an hour. His eyes never left it. This "presence" brought him a lot of comfort. I could feel it too, and it kinda freaked me and my sister out. Everyone else left the room. It was weird. He lost consciousness and died that night.

My second experience with with my grandmother, the last day she was alive. She was in a hospital bed, with an empty bed next to her. When I walked in, she was alone, with her eyes fixed on "something" that was sitting on the empty bed next to her. I could feel it. I tried to get her attention, and even though I felt a "presence", I thought, "this can't be real". So I got between her and the other bed, and she did see me, but seemed disturbed by me. When I stepped back, she resumed her gaze at whatever was sitting on the bed that I could not see, and it gave her a lot of comfort. She died a few hours later.

After witnessing these two events, I think that "the angels carry you home" is a true statement. I think on that last day, you put out your hand, and they walk you down the path to your new home. It is something so beautiful, and it is not scary at all.

After witnessing this, I am not scared of death so much now, I just want to finish the work I have to do here with my family before that time.

But it is a comfort to know that I will be taken care of when I make that journey.

I hope this helps you. If you have any similar experiences, let me know.

Oh, I have lived 65 years, and I have somehow run into several people that have had a Near Death Experience (NDE), and that has always been interesting. One man with a NDE became a full time Christian evangelist after his experience. He cried as he told his story to me.

All of the NDEs have several things in common, which is interesting.

These events are another validation to me that God has a place for us, and this world is not the end.

John

[Valerie]

When my husband was in the hospital with covid (3 weeks) he kept asking if he was going to die. He was much worse in the hospital than before he went. It did look iffy for a bit.

One time I came in his room, and he was sitting up, joyful and talkative. It seemed he turned a positive corner. I commented of the change! He then told me "My Mom was here". His mother had passed 1.5 years prior. Obviously then I was taken aback by this.

Neil went on to tell me, his Mom visited him, talked to him in the same soothing voice as when he was a sick child. He said she said she wanted him to know that she understood what he was going through and for him not to worry that he was going to come through this, he would be all right.

Of course we know God sends his angels as messengers. Neil was convinced this was his mother as her voice & manner were his Moms. He trepeated this to me 3 times that night & began to cry each time at the "visit". Well she was right, he did get through, & no left over symptoms.

I am not one who believes in soul sleep.

[Valerie]

For those who believe in soul sleep:
LUKE 23 referring to thief on the cross:

39One of the criminals who hung there heaped abuse on Him. “Are You not the Christ?” he said. “Save Yourself and us!”

40But the other one rebuked him, saying, “Do you not even fear God, since you are under the same judgment? 41We are punished justly, for we are receiving what our actions deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong.” 42Then he said, “Jesus, remember mej when You come into Your kingdom!”

43And Jesus said to him, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with Me in Paradise.”

Also, Jesus met with Moses and Elijah:

Matthew 17:

Now after 6 days Jesus took Peter, James, and John his brother, let them up on a high mountain by themselves, and He was transfigured before them. Hiis face shown like the sun, and His clothes became as white as a light. And behold Moses and Elijah appeared to them, talking with Him. Then Peter answered and said to Jesus, "Lord it is good for us to be here, if you wish let us make here 3 tabernacles, one for You, 1 for Moses and 1 for Elijah."

God said "I Am the God of the living (referring to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob AFTER they died, making the point they were "alive"

What does this mean?

Hebrews 12:18-24:

For you have not come to the mountain that may be touched and that burn with fire, and to blackness and darkness and tempest, and the voice Of words, so that those who heard it begged that the word should not be spoken to them anymore. For they could not endure what was commanded:. And if so much as a beast touches the mountain it shall be stoned or shot with an arrow. And so terrifying was the site that Moses said "I am exceedingly afraid and trembling".
But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, to an innumerable company of angels, to the General Assembly and the church of the first born who are registered in heaven , to God the judge of all, to the spirits of just men made perfect, to jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and the blood of sprinkling that speaks better things than that of Abel.

Just a few examples of why it seems the spirits of the believers who pass are with the Lord. Then at the Resurrection, their earthly body joins their spirit- of course we know there was a resurrection of some in Jerusalem:
Matthew 27: 51: Then, behold the veil of the temple was torn in 2 from top to bottom; said Michael and the earth quaked , and the rocks were split. And the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised; and coming out of the graves after His resurrection, they went into the holy city and appeared to many.

Remember too, Jesus descended to Hades at His death to preach the Gospel to the souls:

1Peter 3: 18: For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, being putvto death in the flesh, but made alive by the Spirit by whom He went to preach to the spirits in prison, who formally were disobedient, when once the divine longsuffering waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few that is 8 souls were saved through water.

[Valerie]

Regarding cremation, the Church has always taught against it- the ancient faiths, but recently I think Catholics will make exceptions?
Sometimes I read in obituaries of "A Christian burial". Our pastor is against cremation as well. He said he had a writing on it if interested, I have not read it as I was already against cremation. I believe more conservative Anabaptists are as well.

[Soloist]

Valerie,

Jesus did not go to heaven when He died. Therefore the thief did not either.
That being said, the thief didn’t go to suffer either.

Jesus saith unto her, Mary. She turned herself, and saith unto him, Rabboni; which is to say, Master.
Joh 20:17  Jesus saith unto her, Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father: but go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God.

[Valerie]

Valerie,

Jesus did not go to heaven when He died. Therefore the thief did not either.
That being said, the thief didn’t go to suffer either.

Jesus saith unto her, Mary. She turned herself, and saith unto him, Rabboni; which is to say, Master.
Joh 20:17  Jesus saith unto her, Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father: but go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God.

That always puzzled me. So they went to Paradise that day

[JohnHurt]

Valerie,

Jesus did not go to heaven when He died. Therefore the thief did not either.
That being said, the thief didn’t go to suffer either.

Jesus saith unto her, Mary. She turned herself, and saith unto him, Rabboni; which is to say, Master.
Joh 20:17  Jesus saith unto her, Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father: but go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God.

That always puzzled me. So they went to Paradise that day

The way I understood it, there are no commas in the original Greek. So I read Luke 23:43 to mean:

"I say unto you today - you shall be with me in paradise" - as Christ did not ascend for another 40 days after His death.

But the thief was dead, and his consciousness left his body. I don't think the consciousness of the thief is waiting or sleeping anywhere, but that when he left his body, he left our timescale.

From people that have had NDEs, they say our earthly concept of time has no bearing on the other side.

So whether you think you "sleep" or go to heaven immediately - time is irrelevant as there is no comparison between an earthly timescale and eternity.

There is a problem with "infinity" with any calculation. And because of our environment, we think of time as running along a numbered timescale.

There was a start to this timescale when the universe was created, and an end to the timescale when the universe ends. Time has something to do with the existence of matter moving through distance.

If you are outside this reality, without the matter or distance of the universe as we know it, there is no time.

That is my best guess why the NDE's state there is no concept of time on the other side.

And if you fall asleep and then awake, it is like no time has passed at all, so that is similar. When you sleep, you appear dead to others, but to you, no real time has passed. Soul sleep is what the outsider would see, but the person that dies may experience something different.

In any discussion of the New Testament, I hold the words of Christ as supreme over others. There are statements by others in the NT that are interpreted that the righteous are "raptured" away from this world first. Yet Christ said in the parable of the Tares that the wicked are bound up and burned first, then the righteous inherit the kingdom. If there is a difference in what what Christ and another author has said, Christ is correct and the other author is mistaken or has been misinterpreted.

I don't see "soul sleep" in the Words of Christ, so I am not worried about it.

Just read the words in red, that is all you need. The first 4 books of the NT should be all that you need. Christ is supreme, and has given you everything you need in His Gospels.

So I believe Christ knew what He was talking about when he said that the beggar was carried to heaven by angels, while the wicked are buried in a pit. I would hold this view as being superior to all others, because of the Author.

[Sudsy]

Regarding cremation, the Church has always taught against it- the ancient faiths, but recently I think Catholics will make exceptions?
Sometimes I read in obituaries of "A Christian burial". Our pastor is against cremation as well. He said he had a writing on it if interested, I have not read it as I was already against cremation. I believe more conservative Anabaptists are as well.

Here is an article that says - 'There’s no indication that cremation is a sin anywhere in the Bible. The Bible does not appear to have a stance for or against cremation; it remains neutral.' I think this article has some good arguments including scriptures that cremation is a non-issue regarding obeying the Lord or not. https://everloved.com/articles/funeral- ... ecQAvD_BwE

What I notice, in reading the obits every day to see if my name is there , is that the older people that die are the ones that still use the burial of the body method. I think if they were to learn about what goes on when the body is prepared for burial, they perhaps may have a different take on the matter. https://everloved.com/articles/funeral- ... EAQAvD_BwE

If one has concerns about the costs of a funeral and how to handle a corpse, the cremation way is the less expensive way to treat the remains. For myself, since the remains will end up ultimately as dust, as the scripture says, I chose cremation and have had it booked and paid for years ago. I have no concerns that any Christian that has their body burned up either by cremation or in some other kind of fire or blown to bits in an explosion will not make heaven. I doubt that there are few who still bury embalmed remains are actually preaching against cremation as a sin that takes one to hell.

I don't anticipate my new glorified body to be at all like my current deformed (one arm) body with all it's other flaws. When scripture says we will know each other (can't remember the verse), I really doubt this will be some facial or other body recognition. But rather a spiritual connection with others in a glorified body of some sort.