Will Your Life Count After You Die?

By Rev. Ernest O'Neill

If you say, "Well, I know we're going to die." Yes, but somehow we don't think it'll happen the same way with us. We think, "Yes, yes, they're all gone and people have forgotten them, but with us, it's going to be different." Why do we do that? You might say, "Well, we're not morbid. That's it, we're just not morbid." Or you might say, "Well, we don't want to think about it. I have been to funerals. I've seen people die. I have seen my own mother being buried, but I still think I am not going to end up in that spot the same way. It's not going to be exactly like that. I think I'd go crazy if I actually thought that that would happen to me."

Ecclesiastes 12:7, "And the dust returns to the earth as it was, and the spirit returns to God who gave it." That's why. "The dust returns to the earth as it was." Your body crumbles up and becomes dust or ashes that we could put in a box and spread on water if we want, but your spirit returns to God who gave it. Your spirit, inside you, is immortal. It's immortal. You actually are immortal and that's why you think "But it won't happen to me."

And if you say, "Well, then I am right, aren't I?" No, you're wrong, because we accept two lies about that truth. The first lie is that we continue on this earth forever. That's not true. It's your spirit that is immortal. You will not continue on this earth forever. I'd ask you to look over how fast the past five years have gone. And look how much faster they went than the five previous years and let me assure you that the next ten years are going to whip by so fast, you won't even see them.

So it's not hard for you and me to realize, "Yes, time is passing." The truth is, loved ones, you will not continue on this earth forever. That's a lie that Satan creates from the real truth that you have a spirit that is immortal. It's your spirit that is immortal. Your body is not immortal and you will not continue on this earth forever. Your body will crumble and cease to exist and the things that you see - the gray hairs or the things that are beginning to bulge in the wrong places that didn't bulge before - those are the things that tell you: it's moving on, and you can't stop it. It will come to the end as far as this earth is concerned, a few years down the line.

The other lie is, "My spirit is immortal, so that means I am going to dwell in God's presence forever." No loved ones. That's a false sense of security if you believe that just because you're a human being and just because your spirit is immortal that you're automatically going to dwell in God's presence forever. No, this dear book is very clear that at the end of this life, there is going to be a great dividing among all of us who have been in unity for so many years as human beings. I'll show you where that is. It's in Matthew 25:34.

Matthew 25:34, "Then the King will say to those at His right hand, "Come, O blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; And then in verse 41 loved ones, the great dividing in 41.

Matthew 25:41, "Then He will say to those at his left hand, 'Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.'" All our spirits are immortal but some of us will live in the eternal presence of God forever and some of us will live in a hell of separation and of critical selfishness forever. That's it.

So, our security can be false security. If we keep on saying, "Well, they forgot about John Wayne, they forgot about Bing Crosby, they forgot about everybody else, but not me, I will continue." You will continue but that isn't the issue. Who wants to continue forever in a hell of selfishness and a hell of hatred? Loved ones, the question is: What will happen to you the moment after you die? What will happen to you the moment after you die? And what is important at that moment? What have you done in this world that will be important at that moment?

Loved ones, what are you doing that will be important the moment after you die? What are you doing in your present life that will be important the moment after you die? In other words, are you involved in the work of God? Thank God, it no longer means becoming a full-time Christian worker. It means, is that the primary purpose of your life tomorrow through Friday? Because when you come to that moment, the stocks won't matter and the house won't matter and even the lovely children or the grandchildren won't matter. The moment after you die, God, the Creator will look at you to see if His image is reflected in you and then He'll look behind you to see how many others you have brought into His likeness. That's the one thing that counts the moment after we die.

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