4/12/2026 - biblical geometry- the line: john 3:18

THE LINE: Hebrews 9:27

3 Observations in talking about LIFE AFTER DEATH. The bible may not tell us all we would like to know, but rest assured the Bible tells us all we need to know (& the rest, we will understand better by and by). We do need to let the Bible be our guide; too often we have let art, literature (Dante/Milton), folk tales and pure speculation guide us in leading to wild & inaccurate claims about life after death I must admit that there are honest and sincere disagreements between Christians about life after death. (Adrian Rogers and Herschel Hobbs). Tonight, we will not emphasize the points of disagreement; THE LAST THING OUR LORD JESUS wants to see when He returns is His children arguing over when He’s going to return!

People have always been interested in life after death, from the Egyptians and their elaborate burial preparations with the pyramids to the native americans and their happy hunting grounds to psychic research’s explorations of whether/not consciousness remains after death &.... it piques our interest.... where is my loved one and what is life like for him/her.... what will it be like for me?

Raymond Moody: LIFE AFTER LIFE: his book is a survey of those who had “death experiences” and then returned; from the survey, Moody listed a number of “conclusions”

a. many heard the news of their death

b. many had a feeling of peace and quiet, followed by a loud noise

and the sensation of being pulled through a tunnel

c. many viewed their own bodies; some met others, including

a “being of light”

d. some experienced a review of their life, and seemed to approach

a border before being told to turn back (not unlike SB pastor’s Don Piper’s experience, which he put in a book which was made into a film: 90 Minutes in Heaven)

ALTHOUGH MANY OF THESE FACTORS DIFFERED, ALMOST TO A PERSON THOSE SURVEYED  WERE CERTAIN THEY WOULD SURVIVE BODILY DEATH And.... so do I....not because Raymond Moody’s book tells me, but because THIS BOOK tells me: HEBREWS 9:27.... there is an “AFTER THAT”.

Let’s look at our first section, LIFE ON EARTH

John 3:18: you are saved or lost based on what you do with Jesus after reaching the STAGE of accountability: it’s all about Jesus: we divide people into many categories, but with God there are only 2: LOST/SAVED; above/below; we come to our PHYSICAL DEATH, and no one is ON THE LINE.

Let’s look at our second section, LIFE AFTER DEATH, BUT BEFORE THE SECOND COMING 

This entire segment is given various names, some of them biblical: Sheol, Hades, the place of shadows, the place of the departed, the valley of shadows.

2 Scripture passages cast light on this shadowy place

a. JOHN 11:25-26: life goes on after death

b. LUKE 16:25-26: DESTINY IS FIXED at death

LIFE ABOVE THE LINE.....

1. A place (John 14:1-3)

2. A place of happiness: (Lk 23:43)

3. A place of consciousness: Mt. of Transfiguration: Mt. 17

4. An incomplete place

LIFE BELOW THE LINE

1. A place (Matthew 25:41)

2. A place of torment (Luke 16:23)

3. A place of consciousness (Luke 16:28)

4. An incomplete place

SO, THE BIBLE DOES NOT TEACH reincarnation (Hindus), annihilationism (Jehovah’s Witness) or purgatory (Roman Catholic); there is no 2nd chance between death and the final judgment.

RETURN OF CHRIST

1. WHEN: Mark 13:32-33

2. HOW: Acts 1:11

Let’s look at our third section: LIFE AFTER DEATH AND AFTER THE SECOND COMING....

3. LIFE AFTER DEATH AND AFTER THE 2ND COMING

A. JUDGMENT: 1.2.7: YES

Revelation 20:11-15: BOOK/BOOKS: not decision, declaration

You can either be born once and die twice, or born twice and die once!

Where are you...tonight?

No one gets to Heaven by accident: by reservation only Rev.21:27

How long may men go on in sin; how long will God forbear

Where does hope end and where begins the confines of despair

One answer from the sky is sent-you who from God depart

While He does call today: REPENT, and harden not your heart

04/05/26 Easter Sermon: Empty Promises: John 20:1-18

The story of the plastic easter egg: Philip was a child who attended Sunday School at a church in Michigan; one Sunday, about this time of year: his teacher gave each child a plastic Easter egg. She let them go outside and find something, told them to put something in your egg that reminds you of Easter. They came back to the classroom, and each gave their egg to the teacher. One held a flower symbolizing new life; another a butterfly symbolizing the change that Jesus brings; another held 2 twigs, twisted together to form a cross. Then came Philip’s turn; he gave his egg to his teacher, she opened it and was astounded by what she saw: what in Philip’s egg was NOTHING: and when the teacher showed the class, they all began to laugh and point and make fun: NO, CRIED, PHILIP, I DID NOT MAKE A MISTAKE; I DID UNDERSTAND, MY EGG IS EMPTY, JUST LIKE THE TOMB WAS EMPTY..... & the class grew quiet, and, according to the story, if you go to that children’s classroom in that Michigan church today, you will find Philip’s egg on a shelf, reminding each new class of children that the tomb was empty.

Normally, when we use the word EMPTY, it’s not good:

*my car is on empty

*my stomach is empty

*my bank account is empty

*that’s an empty promise

But EMPTY at Easter has a good meaning, for like Philip’s egg, Easter holds some EMPTY PROMISES that fill our lives with good.......

So, this morning, let’s use our Scripture to find 3 EMPTY PROMISES

OF EASTER......

*the empty cross

*the empty grave clothes

*the empty tomb

EMPTY CROSS (1-2)

What the women saw in the last 36 hours; they were coming to see Jesus, coming to

serve Jesus (in the only place they could/the only way they could): coming to a grave to anoint: WHY? BECAUSE JESUS HAD DIED on FRIDAY AFTERNOON. They had seen it: the stains were on the wood and on their hearts: they knew He was dead.... where have you lain him? The cross was gruesome, horrifying, cruel....all of these..... but now it was EMPTY.... BUT THAT EMPTY CROSS WAS FULL OF THE FORGIVENESS OF GOD, because Jesus had paid the debt of our sin by taking our place.... IT IS FINISHED: the account is settled. John 19:30: paid in full: the importance of forgiveness....

Rogers Cadenhead would take a domain, license it, sell it (just the way some flip houses); when a new pope was being elected in 2005 he correctly guessed the name

that would be chosen: benedictxvi.com. The Vatican said we want this: Cadenhead agreed but it will cost you...

1) 2 nights and 3 days in the Vatican

2) a real hat worn by a cardinal

3) complete and total absolution of any sins committed by me on 

Spring Break 1987 (18 years); DID HE GET? He was asking the wrong people

1 John 1:9: let us rejoice that the now empty cross provides for the fullness of forgiveness (if you ask the right person)

EMPTY GRAVE CLOTHES (4-10)

What they found when they entered the tomb; the face cloth: neatly folded and put to side. This was significant, if the disciples or grave robbers came and stole the body, the disciples would not have unwrapped the desecrated body; robbers would not have taken time to neatly fold and lay it to the side...NO: it was Jesus: he did not wear grave clothes because not going to be in grave: NOT DEAD BUT ALIVE. The empty graveclothes is a promise full of LIFE: & Jesus would be seen alive at least 11 times in the next 40 days before He would ascend to Heaven from the Mount of Olives. Nnot that He was, but IS, the empty grave clothes: a promise full of life

EMPTY TOMB (11-18)

Mary Magdalene: look at all He had done for her: exorcised, befriended, taught, shown

Mary Magdalene was the last at the cross, the first at the tomb: the first to see/worship the risen Lord, the first to tell the Easter miracle.... Why did she not recognize HIM? Maybe the tears in her eyes, maybe because it was totally unexpected, maybe like the disciples on the road to Emmaus, God kept her from knowing until right time & the right time came when He spoke her name: HE KNOWS OUR NAMES.

John 14:1-3: the empty tomb: a promise filled with HOPE: of a future with Jesus

Do you know who Mr. Hooper is? Mr. Hooper was the kind owner of Hooper’s General Store on Sesame Street: one of original human characters on Sesame Street: he was played by Will Lee who died of a heart attack in 1982 & the show famously addressed his death in a 1983 episode where the characters explained to Big Bird that Mr. Hooper was gone and wasn’t coming back. That is true for us, but NOT THE GOSPEL: not the story of Easter: Jesus died and He did come back, shown by 3 empty promises that were full of FORGIVENESS and LIFE and HOPE

ALLELUIA.... HE IS RISEN