Can we Really Have Comfort in Death?

Maybe you personally or someone near to you have experienced the sad and difficult loss of a loved one. Perhaps it was a mother or father. Or maybe it was a brother or sister, another relative, or a beloved friend. This might very well be a grief that no one else can imagine, a sorrow that others might be able to know about but others just could not share the depth of your grief.

As you can imagine, this would be something that you—and you alone—know something about. You have wept and thought about your dear one but who can really know of this but you? When this comes your way, we think that God alone can know what you are going through. The Word of God might be the only consolation that you can identify with. Consider these passages.

We read of the death of Lazarus in John 11. We imagine that our Lord was particularly close to this family (consisting of Mary, Martha, and Lazarus—John 11:1). We may know the account already. Christ’s friend, Lazarus, got sick and died. But did our Lord—who knows all about the future and knew that He was about to raise this friend to new life—just pass over this experience? Not at all. “Jesus wept,” said the apostle John who recorded this death (v. 35). Yes, even our Lord shed tears in the loss of this dear friend!

What did our Lord say to the grieving Martha? “I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies, and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die” (vv. 25-26). Wouldn’t this be encouraging to Martha and any other persons who may have heard it. Lazarus will rise again! Whether it be in a few minutes when this friend would rise again or beyond this to the future when he would rise to live eternally, our Lord’s words would sink into the heart of Martha, this beloved friend. Would this not be the encouragement that you—personally—need at a crucial time like this?

Another passage that may often be read at a funeral would be 1 Corinthians 15:1-22 (actually the entire chapter). Here we find a passage that encourages us to look to the resurrection for encouragement. Just as Jesus died and rose again, says Paul, “so also in Christ all will be made alive” (v. 22). This would refer to you and me—to all who are living for Jesus now. Because of Christ’s death and resurrection, we can face the future with confidence.

A very heartening passage would be Philippians 1:21-23. Here, Paul says that he would like to depart from this life, but he says, “To live is Christ and to die is gain” (v. 21). Then he says that he has a “desire to depart and be with Christ, for that is very much better” (v. 23). Do we look at death in this way? Do we have the full conviction that if we “depart” from this earthly life, we will be “with Christ”? And let’s remember that the apostle says that this is “very much better” than to live here on this earth!

A final scripture that we’ll refer to says that we should “prefer rather to be absent from the body and to be at home with the Lord” (2 Corinthians 5:8). In light of this, “we have as our ambition, whether at home or absent, to be pleasing to Him” (v. 9). If we belong to God and are living consistently for Him, when we die and are absent from our earthly body, we will be “at home with the Lord”! Do you have this as your daily focus? Do we want to cling to this earthly life in our earthly body, or do we believe that if we depart, we will be at home with the Lord?

This seems quite clear! If we live for Jesus here and now, we will go to be with Him when we die! The apostle then says that “we have as our ambition, whether at home or absent, to be pleasing to Him” (2 Corinthians 5:9). We should not want to enjoy the “passing pleasures of this life” but to be pleasing to the Lord here and then to depart to be with Him in the life to come!

Our thought is that most of the world’s population have some sort of “hope” when they die. There are now nearly 8 billion people on earth and most do have some sort of “hope” to come. Even if we were to eliminate the hundreds of millions of total unbelievers (whether agnostics or atheists), the majority have some sort of hope for the future. It may be the millions who falsely think that they will be reincarnated into another body and form, but still they have some sort of hope. It may be a Muslim who mistakenly thinks that Muhammad communicated truth in the Qur’an, but still they have hope.

Let’s eliminate the Buddhists, many of whom are atheists, and let’s eliminate the Hindus who look vainly for a coming reincarnation. Let’s eliminate the vain hope of the Muslim who holds tenaciously to the doctrines of Islam. Let’s also eliminate the hundreds of millions of Catholics with their purgatory and eliminate the millions of Orthodox with their vain hope of a future life. Still, we are faced with hundreds of millions of Protestants of one sort or another. And if we were to eliminate all of the nominal Protestants who are mistaken in their commitment to these false Protestant religions, we still have many devotees on earth.

Suppose that Bill Jones or Mary Smith dies, what do these devoted Protestants think? Sadly, the “hope” and “comfort” that people find here, in the face of death, are usually unfounded. They comfort themselves, thinking that their loved one is in “a better place” but (in reality) they may be burning in the anguish and pain of hades.

Satan must earnestly strive to keep us in the dark, somehow causing us to think that death is not that serious and not eternal—or that their loved one found peace in this life—through a false conversion. How deceptive! How cruel. How sad. May we have the grace to see and accept the truth while we may. Why? That we may make the necessary changes now, while time is still with us.

Think for a moment about Christ’s words at Luke 16:19-31. Whether this was a parable or a true account, we may not know. If it was a parable, everything about it says that it communicates truth. If it is a true account, then all the more we should read with interest. It describes two men who lived—and died. We’ll only speak about the evil and unprepared man here.

This man was wealthy. He had a family. He lived without regard for others. The Lord says, “He habitually dressed in purple and fine linen, joyously living in splendor every day” (Luke 16:19). But, as all of us do, he died. He was like everyone else before him—and he breathed his last.

Jesus then says, “In Hades he lifted up his eyes, being in torment. . . .” (v. 23). The account goes on to say that he was not only in torment, but he was in agony (v. 24). He had received “good things” while on earth, but after death, he was in agony (v. 25). He was in a flame (v. 24). He was in a “place of torment” (v. 28). He could not change the lot of his family—and could not change his own condition (vv. 27-31). We know that this is not a pleasant story, but it is a true one—one that Jesus wants us to know and apply!

We vainly think that people just go to heaven or hell. And somehow, we have deceived ourselves into thinking that nearly everyone will go to heaven! Perhaps we may make exceptions for people like Hitler or Stalin or certain others such as terrorists and mass murderers. But people mistakenly think that most people will “make it” and go to heaven to enjoy the blessings of this beautiful place! How wrong!

Actually, very few will have eternal life but most will experience destruction. As Jesus warned, “Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and many are those who enter through it” (Matthew 7:13). But the Savior goes on to continue His warning: “For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it” (v. 14).

When a friend or family member dies, somehow we assume that the person has gone to a place of comfort, fulfillment, and joy. The pain of a last illness will be gone, the sorrows of loneliness will be gone, and the terror of the world’s influences will be past.

In reality, according to Jesus, the vast majority will go to this place of torment and agony! Apparently, the person will not go to a place of happiness but will go to a place of sadness, pain, and anguish. We do want to think well of our lost loved ones but, sadly, this is not the way it will be. Scripture says, “The wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 6:23). As sad as it is, we must face the facts—that (unless our loved one came to know Jesus and lived for him while on earth) actually our lost loved one died in sin and does not know the bliss of eternal life.

We know that this truth is not easy to take. It hurts us and brings deep pain for we know that nothing can change after death. The destiny of our father or mother, the destiny of our close friend, the destiny of our preacher, priest, or minister will never change! The rich man in Luke 16 was told that no one could go to his family and warn them. They had the truth of Scripture and this alone would reach them if they were to be reached (Luke 16:28-31). Sadly, this is the way with our lost loved ones. Death ends all opportunity for repentance and most do not come to Christ for His free deliverance in this life. Since the doctrine of purgatory is a false teaching, we can’t rely on this to change our loved one’s future. He or she is gone and never can change.

Dear friend, what is the message here for us? It is simple. We urge you to repent while you may. And urge others to also repent in this life. This is the only way. Jesus is “the resurrection and the life” (John 11:25-26) and He alone is worthy of our trust, our love, and our devotion. Won’t you come to Him now!

(We encourage you to find answers about life and death by going to www.Truediscipleship.com. Many passages will help you to discover the truth and walk in it.

–Richard Hollerman