And as you do so, turn with me in your Bibles to Luke and chapter 16. Luke and chapter 16. It was only last week when I was thinking about the year 2024. and thanking God that we had gone through a year without the loss of any church member. Not knowing that we were on the eve of losing our brother Saidi Mlewa. And as you've already heard, it was a person that has been in membership here for at least 30 years. And I do remember the early years of his membership here as a single young man. Soon after that, getting married with Peggy, and we've seen their children coming through in terms of being born, going through the earlier years of being toddlers running through the church, through Sunday school, in due season, one by one, professing faith in the Lord Jesus. And as we heard from Mr. Bortas, we're sharing here, he was someone who was quite active in the context of the church. In fact, in the earlier years of the illness that finally took him, I do remember the struggle we used to have when he would offer to come and do the Bible reading from the front here. And our general feeling would be, will he manage? And sure enough, he would make his way to the front and read the section of scripture that needed to be read. Well, the Lord was pleased towards the end of this week to finally take him to glory. One aspect that I still remember of him, and I mentioned it to the elders when I visited him towards the end of last year, the 20th of December to be precise, was the way in which, even in his illness, he never lost his sense of humor. Our brother Saidi just somehow saw some humorous aspect of whatever aspect of life that you'd be speaking about. And so I did more laughing than he did because of the fact that he was weak, he was sitting in a wheelchair in his home. But he was the one cracking the jokes and me ending up almost forgetting that I was in front of a patient. who had struggled with this illness for a number of years. He's over with that struggle. He breathed his last. On this side we say he is no more. But obviously we must still ask the question, what has happened to him? Where is he? And that's really what I want us to speak about this morning and also to speak about in this evening as we meet together for worship. We know where his body is. It's in a mortuary. within the city, in a fridge somewhere, and soon to be laid in the ground. But if you've ever had the experience of losing a loved one, I'm almost certain that both the wife and the children now are asking themselves the question, where is he, consciously speaking? Where is he? What are his thoughts? Or does he have any thoughts at all at this point? In other words, did he go into a complete blank the moment he breathed his last? I want to answer this question in two ways. First of all, it is, what does the Bible teach happens to us immediately after we die. The moment we breathe our last, what is it that takes place then? And then this evening as we meet together again at 16 hours, I want us to answer the question, what is it that happens to us ultimately, finally, eternally? What is it that happens to us then? And for this first question, what happens to us immediately after we breathe our last, I want us to read from Luke 16 verse 19 down to the very end of the chapter. It's a passage I have read from a number of times before, even preached from there, but this time I want us to particularly draw information on what happens to us immediately after we die. As we begin to read this account, let me quickly state that although some people teach that this is a parable, whenever I have come to this passage, I have been quick to say it is not a parable. The reason is quite simple. allegories. They use earthly life to illustrate heavenly life. They use physical aspects of life to teach us about spiritual aspects of life. That's not what you have here. What you have in this account is an actual story. It is reality. It is that which is spiritual that is being spoken about, that which is heavenly, that is within the story itself. So it's not a parable. It's a story about what happened. Verse 19. There was a rich man who was clothed in paper and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day. And at his gate was laid a poor man named Lazarus. And one of the differences you'll again see between parables and this is that there is no parable in the whole Bible that gives you names of individuals. So if you call this a parable already, that's your problem. It's talking about real individuals. And if you think Lazarus was not real, at least Abraham, you will believe, was real. Named Lazarus covered with sores, who desired to be fed with what fell from the rich man's table. Moreover, even the dogs came and licked his sores. The poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham's side. The rich man also died and was buried. And in heads, being in torment, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham far off and Lazarus at his side. And he called out, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and sent Lazarus to dip the end of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am in anguish in this flame. But Abraham said, child, remember that you in your lifetime received your good things, and Lazarus, in like manner, bad things. But now he is comforted here. and you are in anguish. And besides all this between us and you, a great chasm has been fixed in order that those who would pass from here to you may not be able and none may cross from there to us. And he said, then I beg you, Father, to send him to my father's house. For I have five brothers, so that he may warn them, lest they also come into this place of torment. But Abraham said, they have Moses and the prophets. Let them hear them. And he said, no, Father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent. He said to him, if they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead. What do we learn from this story, from this account, with respect to what happens to us immediately after we die? I think before we get into what happens to us immediately after we die, let us at least acknowledge one thing, and it is this. We will die. Each one of us. We live, we come into this world, we rejoice, especially when a baby is born. We don't want to think about it, but it is inevitable that a day will come when we too will die. The Bible speaks about three kinds of death. The first is physical, the very one that we will be considering in this message. The second is spiritual. It is the death that took place when Adam and Eve sinned against God. So there is a way in which at that point they actually died. They died in terms of the fact that there was a separation that took place. And this was a separation between God and themselves. And that spiritual death is the condition in which we are when we come into this world. We come already dead. We come already under the statement that God has made, but also we come already having no relationship with God Almighty. And then there is a third kind of death the Bible speaks about, and it refers to it as either an eternal death or as a second death, a second death. It is the final separation that takes place between sinners and God, and it is a state in which they must be for all eternity. My interest in this morning's message is with respect to the first one, the physical death. the separation that takes place between the body and the soul. From what we see on this side, it is a person stopping to breathe. It's finally still. If there are machines that are tied to the individual, We are even told that the heart has stopped beating. We are told that even the brain has stopped functioning. Whatever it was, the messages that were coming through the machines, now what we have in front of us is a corpse. A corpse, a person himself is gone. We are told about this in this account. There was a rich man clothed in purple and fine linen, feasting sumptuously every day, full of life and activity and enjoyment and comfort and wealth. And we can continue multiplying like any one of us. And there was also somebody else equally full of life, At his gate laid a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, who desired to be fed with what fell from the rich man's table." The kind of person you drive past, either in your neighborhood or within the context of the city center, the kind of individual perhaps who's even gone mad and is getting the things you threw away from trash cans and dustbins and rubbish heaps, but living his life nonetheless in the depth of poverty. We're told that this man, even dogs came to lick his wounds. Two totally different kind of lives. Educated, uneducated. Poor, rich. Black, white. Healthy and unhealthy. Weak, strong. And so forth. But there is one thing that is in common in the midst of that kind of variety. And we read here, the poor man died. the rich man also died. Death is inevitable. All of us will one day die. As I was preparing to come and preach here, I went through a list of people that I married off over the years, and I have a list of over 100 couples. And as I was going through quite a number of the earlier ones, I was noticing that the man is alive, the wife is dead. The wife is alive, the man is dead. And it was hitting me afresh that death belongs to all of us, that one day in front of a gathered congregation will be a coffin and you will be in it. All your plans and wishes, you will not be able to carry them out anymore. it will be over. It will be over for you in this life, but it will not be over for those to whom you mean something. We read in the last chapter of the book of Genesis, Genesis and chapter 50. I'll begin from chapter 49, the last verse. Chapter 49 of Genesis, when Jacob finished commanding his sons, he drew up his feet into the bed and breathed his last and was gathered to his people. That sounds like the end, but that's the end for him, but not the end for his children. his family. Then Joseph fell on his father's face and wept over him and kissed him." We can easily, as we're going through Bible study and thinking about some lessons, we can easily begin to treat death as just a full stop in a sentence. It's not. For those who remain behind, it's a time of anguish. It's an emotional tailspin. You can be sure that in the early hours of yesterday while we were sleeping, and Saidi was put on life support system, that there was a family, a wife and children that were hanging in suspense. You can be sure that the moment the words were produced by those who are medical people, that has left us. There was a family that wailed, that wept, that was crushed. Like Joseph here, life caved in in that moment. God said to Adam, the day you die, The day you eat of this fruit, you will surely die. Nothing is worse than that. Nothing. The Bible refers to it as the wages of sin. The wages of sin. The sin that Adam committed together with Eve has produced this sentence on the whole of their children, and their children, and their children's children, all the way until the end of this world. We will die. Death is that moment. Yes. When you leave Your family. But it's also the moment you leave everything else. Everything. Everything. Your property. When you go home, go and look at it. And that day you leave all that. Your education. All those many hours when you toiled and burnt the midnight candle and added certificates and diplomas to degrees. Everything else left behind. Here's my question. Are you ready for this? Are you ready? Are you ready? Yesterday, in the middle of the day, I received news of another death, a young lady whose the white people would call it my niece, but in our culture, she's my daughter, who graduated just last year from the School of Medicine. She died yesterday. Young. Gone. Leaving everything behind. Gone. This week, the Lord willing, I'll be looking into the face of a friend who's been one of my closest friends since 1998. And he's on his deathbed as we speak. He's on his deathbed. I'm looking forward to seeing him before he breathes his last. And there's a question that I will put before him. And it is this. Are you ready? He's leaving his wife, he's leaving his son. But there's a question I want to put to him. Gary, that's his name. Gary, are you ready? But friends, there's nobody who should kid us into thinking that that's a question we must only answer when we are on our deathbed, being dealt with by an illness that is refusing to let go of us. There are many individuals who die suddenly. a sudden stroke, a sudden accident, a tsunami, and they are gone. The question is, are you ready? Let me use strong language. It's only a fool who knows he's got an appointment, a sure appointment, and is still willing to live one day, one week, one month, or whatever number of hours it might be, without himself knowing that today, if this appointment comes, I'm ready. Don't be that fool. Why? Well let's see what happens immediately after. Death does not bring about an end to your existence. Lazarus and the rich man continued to be conscious. Back to our story. We are told there that the poor man died and noticed it was not his corpse that was carried to Abraham's side. It was him that was carried by the angels to Abraham's side. But more so, the next verse, the rich man also died and was buried, and listen to this, and in his hands being in torment He lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham far off and Lazarus at his side. And he called out." A few facts there. Number one, when we die, we don't cease to exist. We don't go into unconsciousness. We don't simply black out and that is it. We carry with us our senses. In other words, we are able to relate to our past. This man, the rich man, knew Lazarus. We are able to think and to think logically. This man was able to say, this place is not the place I want my brothers to come to. And they're still out there. They ought to be warned so that they don't come through here. Simple. One plus one is equal to two. The guy could think. He also had the ability to experience pain just as Lazarus was able to experience comfort. In other words, what you end up being on the other side of death is really you. Yes, you. you relate to life that you have left behind. That's what lies ahead. The main reason why the people behind here will cry It's not because your life has now simply, you are now nothing. You've become nothing but air. It's because they'll miss you. They won't see you again saying hello, hugging them, speaking to them with words of love. You're gone. But you are very much, if I could use the phrase, alive. alive in terms of being conscious. You see, whereas we have a beginning, we don't have an end. God is the only one who has no beginning. He is the original eternal one. His immortality is from everlasting to everlasting. But what God made that he has put into us as he has made us as human beings, that may have a beginning, it will never, ever, ever have an end. You, John Banda, hoping there's no John Banda in here, will live forever. You will. Your soul is immortal. And when death comes, it will simply take you from this life into the next. And friends, that is only right. It is only logical. It is the only way in which anybody can understand a perfect world. Do you honestly think that the God who made us, with the perfection with which He has made us, You know, first of all, people who say we just evolved over millions of years, I think they exploded their brains somehow. They put in a grenade or something. Look, this world is just a human body alone. It's too intricately balanced. for it to have been an accident. Talk to any doctor, or at least the ones that are believing doctors. And they'll tell you, just a little thing this side in your body goes wrong and everything else begins to go haywire. They'll tell you. And to imagine that all that came from just one or two cells that have been developing in the human womb and in due season come out and then it's just been development and development and to mature manhood. I love photography and I'm always amazed at how many things I have to adjust when I'm trying to get a picture, proper picture. How many things I have to adjust to get the right picture that people can say, wow! Well, your human eye does that without even you thinking. And it does it a hundred times better. Friends, Here's my next point. The one who did all this also gave us a human conscious so that we can know right from wrong. We know when we are doing wrong. We know it. So here is somebody, to borrow the picture that Mr. Botha gave us, who is a king. and he slaughters innocent people, takes them into a gas chamber or into a hot oven, burns them alive out of malice. And one while still on the throne, he dies. The God who gave him a conscience, do you honestly think that God is saying, wow, that guy has escaped? Before he could be toppled, before judges could send policemen to go and arrest him so that he can spend the rest of his days in jail, he's died, he's gone, he's escaped, wow. I forgot to add something, so that after he dies, I catch up with him. I forgot. Do you honestly think that's what has happened? All I'm saying is, think! Think! Think of those who sacrificed so much for this great God and at the same time are persecuted and brought to an early grave. Are they losers? Are they? Because they've died. Some religious fanatic took a bullet and blew their brains apart. They're losers. Well, the Apostle Paul says this. If only in this life we have hope. If there's no resurrection, it's only in this life we have hope. Then of all people, we Christians are the most to be pitied. We're the most to be pitied. if that thinking is correct. But friends, I want to say again, that is short-circuiting your brain. Shall not the judge of all the earth do right? Could that have escaped the one who has engineered life and living, who sustains planets in space? by magnetic forces who've put a ball of fire in the middle of all the solar systems and we call them stars and these fires continue to produce flames upon flames and never extinguish and are providing the warmth and so on for the various solar systems and galaxies and so on. And you want to tell me that he forgot, he gave us consciences but forgot to ensure that those consciences bring us to judgment. No friends, the soul is immortal. When our brother Saidi breathed his last in that hospital bed, he did not cease to exist. He moved from one life to another. And what is it that he moved into? That's where I want to end. Before the final resurrection, which I will come and deal with in the evening service, Believers go straight to heaven. Unbelievers go straight to hell. Our text makes that point. Hey, it is. Verse 5, rather verse 22. The poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham's side. The rich man also died and was buried. It was his body that was definitely buried because we are told, and in Hades, the place of death, being in torment, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham far off and Lazarus by his side. Where he is is a place of torment. And we go on to be told, he called out, Father Abraham, have mercy on me. He's in a place of pain. He's asking for mercy. And sent Lazarus to dip the end of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am in anguish in this flame. He's in a place of torment and pain and suffering, while Lazarus is in the opposite. We are told there in verse 25, but Abraham said, child, remember that you in your lifetime received your good things and Lazarus in like manner bad things. Now he is comforted here. He is comforted and you are in anguish. Let me emphasize that this is immediate. This is not waiting for the second coming of Christ. This is not waiting for the final resurrection. This is in the now. Three quick texts and I must hurry on to close. First of all, Luke 23. Luke 23 and verse 43. Luke 23 and verse 43. This is the criminal that was by the side of Jesus, who was sentenced to death together with Jesus, who had a conversion pre-Jesus. Death, conversion. In verse 42, we read, and he said, Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom. In other words, your second coming, when you return, remember me then. But listen to Jesus' response. And Jesus said to him, truly I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise. Today you'll be with me. When we have both breathed our last, we will both enter into glory. 2 Corinthians 5. 2 Corinthians 5. This is what the Apostle Paul says about his longing. 2 Corinthians 5 and verse 8. 2 Corinthians 5 and verse 8. Let me begin from verse 6. So we are always of good courage. We know that while we are at home in the body, we are away from the Lord. So we are either here or there. There's nothing in between. For we walk by faith, not by sight. Yes, we are of good courage, and listen to this. And we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord. Away from the body and at home with the Lord. There's nothing in between. There's no sort of thousands of years in the grave. It is either here, I breathe my last and bang, I am with King Jesus. And then finally, Philippians 1.23. Philippians 1, 23. This is Paul again speaking. I begin from verse 21. For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain. Notice, it's not zero. It's gain when I die. If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me. Yet which I shall choose, I cannot tell, and here it is now. I am hard-pressed between the two. My desire is to depart, notice, and be with Christ, for that is far better." That's my desire. I die, bang, I'm with Christ. Not, I die, bang, I disappear, and until Jesus comes again, for thousands and thousands of years, I'm just waiting. No, no, no, no, no. I die, I'm with Christ. That's the message I got yesterday. Not from Saidi, but from his wife. He's gone to glory. She was right. He's gone to glory. It was about 5 a.m. He's gone to glory. That's the Christian. He's gone to glory. May I suggest that the opposite is equally true, just that we never say it. We always say, rest in peace. But we know that what we really ought to say is, gone to hell. Yeah. I know it's not politically correct, but in our hearts, we know, gone to hell. Because it's one or the other, friends. It's one or the other. And that's the reason why it's crucial that we settle this question now. The story of the rich man and Lazarus helps us to begin to process this reality. It may not answer all our questions. I agree, it doesn't. But I want to repeat, there's one thing at least it leaves us with, and it is the question, am I ready? If this roof were to cave in, and I'm gone, Will those who will hear about it say, gone to glory, gone to glory. He's gone to heaven. He's gone to meet the Savior whom he loved, whom he faithfully served. Or will they, just out of being politically correct, say, he's resting in peace. When they know very well you are not. Death is coming to all of us. We will all die unless Jesus returns first. We'll deal with that in the evening. Unless He returns first. You are not yet ready to die unless you have put your faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Unless you've genuinely repented of your sin. Only then can you confidently say in the words of the Apostle Paul, the time has come for my departure. The time has come for my departure. I have fought the good fight. I have finished the race. I have kept the faith. And now I'm ready to go and receive the crown of righteousness that Jesus will give not only to me but to all who are waiting for His coming. Oh, I plead with you, turn from sin and put your faith in Christ. Put your trust in Christ. He alone has paid the penalty for sin. He alone. Put your faith in Christ. Amen.