What Happens When We Die? — 2 Corinthians 5:1-8 Explained

Hello and welcome to Through the Bible with Les Feldick. An Oklahoma rancher and farmer, Les Feldick has been teaching homestyle Bible classes for 20 years in Iowa, Oklahoma, and Texas. Les Feldick's unique style of Bible teaching has made the books of the Bible come to life. When Les is teaching, it's so interesting that people say time just seems to fly by. And now, here is Les Feldick. Okay, let's turn once again to 2 Corinthians, but now we're going to move into chapter 5. We're going to make a little headway today. And again, we like to invite our television audience to come in and study with us. And we appreciate those comments when they say, well, I feel like I'm right at the back row of the studio. So cameramen, I guess, do have a part in that. So we're glad to have you. And we, again, have to let folks know that all the past programs are available in video, audio, and the printed page. So if you're interested in that, you write to us. Because again, I want to make it known, because we have so many inquiries. Even though our material is copyrighted, that's only to protect us from somebody who would use it for profit. But anytime someone wants to copy our material, we give full permission for that. Because I do not believe in making merchandise of this book. And anything that I say or print is this book. And I do not feel we can make merchandise of it. So for those of you out in television, if you want to dub tapes, if you want to copy the books, you feel free to do so, as long as you don't try to sell them for a profit. That's all we would ask. But it kind of irritates me that so many of God's men seemingly are profiting from the Word of God. And that's not what it's been given to us for. It has been given us, as Paul has laid it out, that we reach out to hungry hearts. And the monetary should not enter into it whatsoever. All right. Second Corinthians, chapter 5. And remember, he's still dealing with this whole concept that he thought he was going to die and lose the rest of his ministry. And so all of this is on the man's mind. But remember, the Holy Spirit is inspiring it. And so now in this chapter, I'm going to be able to answer questions that come so often. What happens when we die? Well here it is. Second Corinthians, chapter 5. For we know that if our earthly house, now the word here in the Greek speaks more like a tent, this temporary dwelling place, now remember that's all the body is, you know. The body is just a dwelling place for the real you and the real me. See the real us, the part that's going to go on into eternity, is that invisible again. The mind, the will, and the emotions, the personality. And it is simply dwelling in this earthly tabernacle. And this whole earthly tabernacle is going to dissolve and go back into the earth from which it came, unless of course the rapture takes place. And then again, it'll just be changed. But whatever, this earthly tabernacle that Paul is talking about now is the body of flesh. All right. Now he says, if this earthly tabernacle or tent of this tabernacle were dissolved, in other words it goes back into the ground from which it came, that's not going to stop us. We're eternal. And so we now have a building of God. Not a tent, but something permanent for eternity. And a house not made with hands. And what is it? Eternal. Eternal. In the heavens. You know, I was sharing with one of the class again the other night, all men get excited about eternity, because even though Israel is more or less still going to enjoy the ramifications of the new earth and God's earthly people, yet you and I as members of the body of Christ are going to be what? Heavenly. Heavenly. And I think whatever new universe God is going to create, He's going to create a universe that will be literally garden plots for believers. And I think we will have responsibilities throughout all of God's new creation. And remember, we won't be limited by time and space. We'll be able to go to the end of the universe and back in a second or two, so don't let that stop you. But we are literally going to be ruling with Christ in the heavenlies. What a prospect. And not for a thousand years, not for a million years, but for eternity. Now that's mind boggling, but that's what it says. Eternal. Forever. In the heavens. All right, verse 2. For in this we groan, in other words, we just can't fully comprehend, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house, or our dwelling place, which is from heaven. In other words, the new body. Now again, I've got to turn to Philippians, because these phone calls keep coming in, and I've just about worn out this verse in Philippians, because it usually answers all these questions. Well, what kind of a body are we going to have when we get to the eternal? Well, Philippians chapter 3. Philippians chapter 3, verses 20 and 21. And it says it so plainly, so simply. Philippians chapter 3, verses 20 and 21. For our conversation, now if you have a marginal help, it's citizenship, is in heaven. From whence? In other words, it's from that same heaven that our citizenship is now located, that we also look for the Savior, not the King. Now I always have to emphasize this. He's going to come at the second coming to the Mount of Olives, to the nation of Israel, as King of kings and Lord of lords. But not for the church. He comes for His body, the body of Christ, as the Savior, as the head of the body, not the King. And so we look for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. Now here it comes in verse 21, who shall change. It'll be metamorphosis, only on a grander scale than a butterfly. Who shall change our vile, corrupt body. This body, like he speaks of in verse 1 in chapter 5, as being dissolved. But this is going to be a new body. Reading on, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself. And what have I always told folks? If you want to get a glimpse of your new resurrected body, just study the 40 days of Christ's resurrection. And how did He operate? Well, He looked very normal. He walked on two feet. He had all the outward appearances as another human being, and He walked in step with the disciples on the road to Emmaus. They didn't see Him as something strange and weird. They invited Him on into the house for probably the evening meal, and then all of a sudden He's gone. He didn't go out the door. He didn't slip out a window. He was gone. And in a split second, where was He? Up in the upper room in Jerusalem with the disciples. And again, He didn't come in through a closed door or an open door. There He was in their midst. And then all of a sudden He's up at Galilee, and He stands there on the seashore, and He waits for the fellows to come into their little boat. And when they don't have any fish, what can He tell them? Breakfast is ready. He had the fish frying, and He had the bread ready, and He ate with them, the Scripture says. Now is that weird? Is that bizarre? No. He had a human appearing body, and it could do all the things that the disciples did, but it was now an eternal body. It was the resurrected body, not flesh and blood, but as we saw several programs back, it was what? Flesh and bone. And the Spirit is the life-giving aspect of that new body, and that's our prospect. And so when this old body dies, and if we are buried and it goes back into corruption, we know without a shadow of a doubt that this is going to be resurrected to a new body fashioned like after His body. All right, back to II Corinthians chapter 5. So we groan earnestly, desiring, now wait a minute, how many Christians today can say that? Oh, very few I'm afraid, I hope I'm wrong, but you see every believer, the minute they wake up in the morning, the first thing they should hope is, Oh Lord, I hope You come today. We should be getting so fed up with this old world, and I always tell people, hey, I love life as much as anybody. I love what I'm doing. When I drive across those pastures and I can look at those cattle, I love it. Ask my wife, I think she sometimes thinks she's in second place. Don't think I don't enjoy life. I mowed hay all day yesterday, and I love every minute of it. I come home dog tired, but I love it. But you know what I love more? The thought that maybe today, that maybe tonight, I'm going to be suddenly in the realms of glory. What a prospect, and I know it takes a lot of faith. Iris and I were talking about it the other night. I know it takes a lot of faith to believe that all of a sudden there's going to be a sudden disappearance of millions of people. Now I have to, in my own mind, now if the Lord comes above here, that means those people down on the other side of the globe are going to have to make a circuitous run, but whatever. I want you to realize that if you can believe God's Word, it's going to happen. And I can understand when the scoffer says, how can you believe such stuff? Because it does take faith. But for us who believe it is an exciting prospect, that maybe before this day is over, maybe before this year is over, maybe before this century is over, it's going to happen, and we're getting close. And it's going to happen, because the Word declares it. And so now Paul says that if this body does go back to the earth, one day in resurrection it's going to be clothed with a new body, fashion-like unto his body, which of course is from heaven. Then verse 3, "...if so be that being clothed we shall not be found naked. For we that are in this tabernacle," that is we're still in the flesh, we're still walking on terra firma, "...and we're being burdened. Not for that we would be unclothed, but clothed upon." Now what's he driving at? We are not so much looking forward to losing this old body and having the soul and spirit separated from it, but the whole prospect is that as soon as this body has quit functioning and it is no longer necessary, we have a what? A new one, one that's far better. One that'll never again have an ounce of pain. One that'll never again have sickness. One that'll never have a cold, see? Oh, what a glorious prospect. But it's coming, and we're getting close. Even for young people, I try to tell, we were so thrilled in Minnesota the other night. We had a home Bible study, and the house was full, and we had mostly young couples under the age of 30, 35, and it hadn't happened for a long time. What a thrill. But you know, you can tell those young people the same thing that you can tell you older folk. Hey, listen, we're getting close. One of these days, this body, whether it's young, old, or in between, is suddenly going to be gone, and we're going to be clothed upon with that which is immortal, alright? And mortality, that being prone to die. Now as we've seen in the world in the last week, how all of a sudden, lives full of vigor and full of vitality and full of everything, suddenly gone in a split second. And it happens on our highways every day. And we never know who's going to be next. But whatever, all of a sudden, this body that is prone to die is never going to die. And that's the hope of the believer. Alright, now then let's go on to verse 5. Now he that hath wrought us for the selfsame thing is gone. It all began with him, and it'll all end with him. It's gone, everything. And he hath given unto us the earnest, or the down payment, of the Spirit. Now, why in the world did the Holy Spirit inspire the Apostle Paul to talk about something like a down payment? Because a down payment is something that is only a holding pattern until something later consummates. Alright, let's go over to Ephesians again, chapter 1, Ephesians chapter 1. And just drop in at verse 13 and 14 again. We've used these verses often times. Ephesians chapter 1, verse 13 and 14. All with me? Now, like I've told you before, I take my time because listeners out in television, they tell me. Now don't start reading that until I've had time to find it in my Bible. So I'm doing this as much for the audience as I am for you here in the studio. Alright, Ephesians 1, verse 13. In whom, speaking of Christ, you also trusted, placed your faith after, not before, you placed your faith after you heard the word of truth. Now I'm reading this slowly because you'd be surprised how many people have told me that just by my reading the verse, not commenting on it, but by reading it, the Lord opened their eyes. That after all, you've got to be old enough to understand that you're a sinner and need salvation and that the gospel is the remedy. See that? Alright. So after you heard the word of truth, the gospel, here it is again, that one we looked at a couple of programs ago, 1 Corinthians 15, 1 to 4, how that Christ died and rose from the dead. Alright, after you've heard that, the gospel of your salvation, in whom also after you, now again, there's one of those places you can put in all the things that people think you have to do, and it's not in there. But what is? Believed! See? After you believed, then what did God do? He sealed us with the Holy Spirit of promise, and now verse 14, which is the, there's the word, that's what brought me back here. The what? The earnest, the down payment. I thought my salvation was complete. I thought your salvation was complete. Yes and no. That's a terrible answer, isn't it? Spiritually of the soul and the spirit? Yes. It's complete. We are redeemed, we are justified, we're sanctified, we're in the body. But there's one part of the great plan of redemption that is only partial, and here it is. At our salvation, the Holy Spirit comes in as God's earnest or down payment of the purchased possession, which will all redound to the praise of His glory. All right, what's the purchased possession if it's not the soul and the spirit? Well, there's a third part of us that has to be ready for eternity. What is it? The body. See? The body. Now, I remember years ago, I had a pastor claim from our pulpit that God's not concerned about the body, He's not concerned about the physical, all He's concerned about is your soul. Oh, no! We are a three-partite person. We are body, soul, and spirit. Before we go to Romans, turn with me to Thessalonians, 1 Thessalonians chapter 5, because I try to prove everything I say from Scripture. We are a tripartite. We are a... I don't like to use the word trinity because that brings us too close to being like God, but we are a three-part individual. And here it is in 1 Thessalonians chapter 5, and come down to verse 23, 1 Thessalonians chapter 5, verse 23. All with me? And the very God of peace sanctify or set you apart wholly or completely, and I pray God your whole, W-H-O-L -E, complete, that's your complete spirit and soul and body. See that? Your complete what? Body, soul, and spirit. All three of us might be what? Preserved for 70 years? Don't you kid yourself. Preserved for how long? Eternity. We're talking about eternal things. And so we are not going to be a viable entity in eternity until we get the body. The soul and spirit, as it takes flight, we're not going to have time in this program, that'll be the next one, but for you and I living today, we are body, soul, and spirit. When we go into the eternal state, again, we're going to have to be body, soul, and spirit. So if the soul and spirit is totally redeemed, it has experienced absolute salvation, what is waiting to be consummated? The body. All right, now let's go over to Romans chapter 8, and I think we've got time, and then that'll probably end this half hour again. Romans chapter 8, Romans chapter 8, oh, what a thrilling concept. Now we're going to see when we get into our next program that what happens to the believer, especially the moment we die, the moment that the medical authorities say, well, he's gone, she's gone. Where are they? Well, they're in the presence of the Lord immediately, but we'll cover that in a later program. For now, Romans chapter 8, and let's come down to verse 23. Well, let's look at verse 22 and 23 as well. For we know, see, that the whole creation groaneth, the whole creation groaneth, and travaileth in pain, together, all of it, until now. And verse 23, not only the things of creation, but who, ourselves also, see that? But ourselves also, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, believers. Even we, ourselves, groan within ourselves, and what are we waiting for? The adoption, see? The adoption, that is to say, the redemption of our, what, body. See how beautifully that all fits? So even though the moment we're saved, the soul and spirit is totally redeemed, it's saved, it's made ready for eternity, but what about this old body? Oh, it's not ready yet, but God has put His down payment on it, by virtue of the indwelling Holy Spirit, that's His brand on us, and that tells us that regardless of whether we go through the valley of the shadow of death, and we're put out in the cemetery, or we may have some other bizarre disaster happen to us, we know one thing for sure, that one day we're going to have a new body, and it's going to be reunited with the soul and the spirit, so that we are a complete entity for the eternal. Alright, we've got a couple of minutes, let's come back again to II Corinthians, chapter 5, verse 6, "...therefore we are always confident, knowing that while we are at home in the body..." In other words, while we're alive and on the planet, while we're at home in the body, we are absent, that is bodily, from the Lord. I mean we can't be in both places. Now we know that spiritually, in the realm of the invisible, yes, we are already citizens of heaven. Colossians makes that so plain, that we already have been translated into the kingdom of His dear Son. We are already citizens of that, and we'll be looking at that more in detail at the last part of chapter 5, but for now, the soul and the spirit are the Lord's. The Holy Spirit is indwelling us to be that paraclete of John 14, the comforter, but the old body is still thrown to death and sickness and failure. Alright, now verse 7, how do we know all this? Because we walk by faith, faith, taking God at His Word. If the Word declares it, then we believe it, and God reckons it, of course, for righteousness, especially for salvation. Alright, now then, verse 8, he repeats, we are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord. Now as we're looking at these verses, I hope you haven't lost what we've been talking about, what the apostle has just recently gone through. There he was laying on a sickbed in Philippi, having almost escaped, I suppose, with his life out of Ephesus, under constant attack from all of his adversaries within the church as well as without, and now death then almost becomes, I think, a welcome escape. But on the other hand, what does Paul realize? There's unfinished business to be done. There are still people to be reached with the gospel, as only he could do it. Alright, come back to the text. So we are confident, I say, verse 8, and willing rather to be absent from the body and present with the Lord, wherefore, he says, we labor. His life isn't his own. He had long pitched that. You remember he says in Philippians he counted everything in his past, which was no doubt rather lucrative in the area of Judaism, and he probably had a rather expensive lifestyle. I think he had a family. He probably had a beautiful home in Jerusalem, and he called it all but dung, you know, all for the sake of the gospel. Alright? For, he says, whether we labor, that whether present or absent, we may be accepted of him. Now that's not for salvation. That's for what? Reward. See? Reward. A lot of people don't like to look at it in that light, but listen, that's the whole idea of salvation in the first place, is that God leaves us here to further the work of the gospel. And as we do it, in whatever capacity God gives us, it's to be for his glory, to further the work of the gospel, because you never know. You may just drop a word someplace. You may just have just a little short conversation with someone that will all of a sudden make them start thinking, and they're going to start considering some of the claims of God on their life. Oh, I hear it almost every day of just one little comment someone may make, and it just blows people's mind. I shared it with one of my classes, a guy called from the audience, and he said, I just love to go in and bounce some of these things off of people, and they look up at me quizzically, and all I say is, well, think about it. He's an I. Lee. And he said, one day, three people in particular, I just hit them with some of these things, and they didn't know what I was talking about, and I said, think about it. Well, he said, the next day, one of them, who happened to be a pastor, was back at my door. And he said, I never thought of these things before, but he said, now you've got me searching the Scripture. Well, you can do that. My, you come across someone, and all you have to say, have you ever thought about it? Have you ever considered it? Well, think about it. Eternity is long. Eternity is forever, see? And we can do this while we are yet in the body. Thank you for watching Through the Bible with Les Feldick, a weekly Bible study. If you would like more information about the Les Feldick Ministries, a Bible study in your area, or about this program, write to Les Feldick Ministries, Route 1, Box 760, Kinta, Oklahoma, 74552. That's Route 1, Box 760, Kinta, Oklahoma, 74552. Through the Bible with Les Feldick is viewer supported, and your gift is appreciated. Thank you, and be sure to tune in next time for Through the Bible with Les Feldick.