"If The Soul Of Man Never Dies, Then Where Does It Go At Death?" By: Dr. Shuffel P. Hepburn

If the soul of man never dies then where

does it go at death. That's our

message. This question of where the soul

of man goes when he dies is a very

perplexing one that so many have

wondered about. I will show you in this

message that there are some religions

and denominations that make a false

claim about this. They claim the soul of man goes to a

place that is not according to scripture. In other words men seem to

have used their imagination to fabricate

these places that they claim the soul

will go for rest or restoration until

the resurrection. Ecclesiastes 12:7 says,

"Then shall the dust return to the earth

as it was and the spirit shall return

unto the God who gave it." But is this

all that we know about this place in God

where the soul goes to. Does the Bible give us any more

clarity on this? Jesus Christ said that those who wholly

believe in Him and follow His

commandments may die physically but will

never die spiritually, confirming the

eternal nature of our spiritual being.

He said the following to Martha,

Lazarus's sister while Lazarus was still

in the grave. He said "I am the resurrection and

the life, he who believes in Me though he

may die he shall live, and whoever lives

and believes in Me shall never

die." Do you believe this? John 11:25.

Lazarus was Jesus's close friend

who believed in Him, and He raised

Lazarus from the dead.

Father we thank you for this word. Send

it forth and give understanding and

comfort to your children. We pray that

the Holy Spirit will speak to their

hearts and that any error in this

message will be left out Father we pray

in the name of Jesus, from their heart

and from their mind. Give them a good

understanding of all the things that you

desire that they should know about where

their soul will rest. In Jesus name we pray

Amen. We know that man consists of a

physical body and that he is also a

living soul and a spirit.

The soul and the spirit can only be

separated by the power of the word of

God according to Hebrews 4:12, where the

word of God tells us that God's word is

so powerful and so sharp that it can

divide asunder or separate the soul from the

spirit. The implication here is that this

is an impossible task for any except

God's word. And we also know that the

soul and the spirit of man will live

eternally either in the presence of the

Lord or behind His back in a place of

eternal torment. Therefore six billion souls or

more living on earth today and many who

have already died are in eternal

jeopardy. But what is the difference

between the soul and the spirit? The

Apostle Paul says in 1 Thessalonians

5:23, "I pray your whole spirit and soul

and body be preserved blameless unto the

coming of our Lord Jesus

Christ." At death the soul and the

spirit seem to be separated from the

body. But these three will come together

again at the resurrection and can be

preserved blamelessly. The word of God

tells us until that time. When did we become a soul? Well

according to Genesis 2:7, when the Lord

breathed His breath of life into man's

nostrils man became a living soul.

Other versions of scripture say that he

became a living being or that he became

a living creature. Presumably man became a soul

and a spirit at the same time, because

God is a spirit and He gave us some of

Himself when He breathed His breath into

us. And so we became a spiritual man, a

spiritual being. We know this because He

said He made us in His image and

likeness. Some teach that all souls

remain in Hades until the last

judgment. These also teach that

Christians may improve in holiness after

death, during what they call the middle

state before the final judgment. Scripture does not uphold this.

But what we do know is that scripture

says it is appointed unto man once to

die and after death the judgment.

Implying that there is no room no space

between death and judgment. At least there's no mention of

any space that would allow for man's

purification after death. This means man must get it right

before he dies, not after he dies.

For the word of God clearly says to us

"This is our time to seek the Lord for

the salvation of our

soul." The Apostle Paul preached God's

word about this saying, "In an acceptable

time I have heard you, and in the day of

salvation I have helped you. Behold now

is the accepted time. Behold now is the

day of salvation," 2 Corinthians

6:2. And this is a partial quote of

Isaiah 49 And 8. Here the Lord God is telling us

that the time for us to make our peace

with Him is right now. It is the only

certainty that we have.

Roman Catholic tradition teaches that

unbaptized infants who die not being

freed from original sin through what

they call baptism go to a state that

they call limbo. This word limbo is short for the

Latin phrase limbus infantum which

means children's limbo or perhaps the

limbo for infants. But the word of God does not

support this. In speaking about children

Jesus was very clear and He said the

following, "Let the little children come

to Me and do not forbid them For of such

is the kingdom of

heaven." It is certain therefore that the

kingdom of heaven belongs to children

who die before reaching adulthood. And in

addition those of us who want to enter

must become like children, otherwise we

cannot enter heaven is what the word

tells us. There's no mention of a limbo

for children in scripture. Roman Catholics also teach

that all who die in God's grace and

friendship but are still imperfectly

purified undergo a process of

purification after death. The church teaches that they go to

a place called purgatory.

In other words they say this is the

place for those who die in God's

friendship but are short of the eternal

salvation and therefore need further

purification in order to enter into the

happiness of heaven. Yet the word of God tells us in

Romans 3:23 that we have sinned, all of us, and

we have fallen short of the glory of God.

But in another place we are told that

the word is near us and in our mouth.

Therefore we must confess with our mouth

and believe in our heart and we will be

saved. Therefore friend we must grab a

hold of all that is required for

salvation before we die not after. The

Catholics claim that 2 Timothy 1:18, Matthew

12:32, Luke 23:43. 1 Corinthians 3:11-15 and

Hebrews 12:29 support them

in this doctrine of purgatory, when in my opinion it does not.

I have reviewed these scriptures and

encourage you to look at them as well

and you will see that there's no basis

in these scriptures for the belief in a

place called purgatory. While we do not know anything

about purgatory, we do know that there is

a place called paradise, but we do not

know where it is. Jesus Christ promised

the thief on the cross that he would be

with Him in paradise that very same day

that He and the thief died. And what we

do know is that according to 2

Corinthians 6:22 today is our only time

to get it right. We also know that

according to Matthew 24:44 we are warned to be ready because

the son of man will come at an unexpected hour.

In addition the Orthodox

Christian Church believes that the soul

separates from the body at death and

enters a state of consciousness,

experiencing either a foretaste of

heaven or hell, and ultimately awaits the

general resurrection and final judgment.

They believe that death is the

separation of the soul from the body, and

this is similar to the beliefs held by

the majority of Christians. They also

believe the soul remains conscious and

retains his personhood experiencing a

state of either comfort in the bosom of

Abraham or torment in Hades.

However Orthodox Christians also

believe that prayers and memorial

services for the deceased can help the

soul's journey and eventual salvation

again. Scripture again does not teach

this. This belief is similar to the

doctrine of purgatory taught by the

Roman Catholics. But they do not call the

state purgatory, as the Catholic Church

does. The Holy Bible teaches that at

resurrection the soul will be reunited

with the resurrected glorified body,

which will then become immune to aging

and sickness. And we are told in 1 Corinthians

15:51-52 and I quote, "We shall not all

sleep but we shall all be changed in a

moment in the twinkling of an eye at the

last trump for the trumpet shall sound

and the dead shall be raised

incorruptible and we shall be

changed." We are also told "We will be

like Christ after He was resurrected."

A common belief is that 40 days are

frequently observed from the time of

death. Beginning right after a person has

departed this life the spirit is thought

to remain near the physical form and

gentle prayers are offered to support

the spirit's journey onward. Well my

friend this is not scriptural. Perhaps

this 40-day theory came about because

Jesus Christ remained on the earth for

40 days before He ascended into heaven.

The Bible does not tell us why he

remained on earth for 40 days. Nor are we

told what He did during this period. We

do know that He appeared to many. And we

also know that the thief on the cross

went to paradise on the very same day of

His death. Now one of the beefs that Martin Luther

had with the Catholic Church was that

they sold what was called indulgences.

Well my friend these were

certificates produced by the church and

given to people who would pay the church

money to purchase these certificates so

that they could spend less time in

purgatory. Apparently the church did this

to make money.

No church has the authority according to

scripture, even if purgatory is real. And

so we conclude according to Luke 16:22,

the Lord Jesus told a parable about a

poor man named Lazarus who died. Here is

what He said, "So it was that the beggar died and

was carried by the angels to Abraham's

bosom. The rich man also died and was

buried And being in torments in Hades

that is the rich man lifted up his eyes

and saw Abraham a far off and Lazarus in

his bosom. Then he cried and said, "Father

Abraham have mercy on me and send

Lazarus that he may dip the tip of his

finger in water and cool my tongue for I

am tormented in this flame." Of course

Abraham told him that this was

impossible. What does this phrase

Abraham's bosom mean? Some Bible translations

do not use the word bosom. Instead they say

Abraham's arms Abraham's side or seated

next to Abraham.

We can find further insight by looking

into the words of Jesus Christ spoken to

the thief on the cross, who because of

his faith was forgiven his sins, because

he believed the Lord it was counted unto

him as righteousness, and earned him a

spot in God's kingdom. And Jesus Christ

said to him, "Assuredly I say to you

today you will be with me in paradise."

All we know is that Jesus Christ went to

paradise on that day and so did the

thief on the cross who went along with

Him. All the Bible translations at this verse use this very

same term to describe the place that

Jesus said this man would go. And they

all call it paradise, to describe the place where the

soul of the thief went the day that he

died, which does not appear to be heaven.

Because after rising from the grave the

Lord Jesus Christ told Mary "Touch me

not for I am not yet ascended to My

father." And we see this in John

20:17 Yet we know that he had already

been to paradise.

We can also assume that Abraham's bosom

and paradise may be the same

place. And finally we also know that

according to Revelation 6:9, the soul of

those slain for the word of God and for

their testimonies was seen under the

altar in heaven. And they were all given

white robes and told to rest for a

little while until their fellow servants

and their brethren should be killed for

the gospel and for their testimony just

as they were killed. And so there are many unanswered

questions left for us. But by faith we

are required to trust the Lord and

satisfy our souls with all that He has

revealed to us on this subject. And

resist the temptation to add anything

else to it. So I encourage you to pray

and ask the Holy Spirit to comfort you

and to give you a peace, that peace that surpasses all

understanding, about the place where you

will go after you die, trusting God and being assured that

wherever He is, there you shall be if you

remain faithful. God bless and keep you

in Jesus holy name, amen.

You've been listening to this message

and perhaps you do not know Jesus Christ

as Lord and Savior and you want to go to

paradise and you want to be with the

Father wherever it is that the word of

God tells us we will go.

In the meantime, engage your heart and say this

prayer after me and the Lord will honor

your sacrifice. Say after me Father I am a

sinner. I am sorry for all my

sins, truly sorry Lord. I crave your

forgiveness for all my sins.

Today I return to you. Thank you Lord for your

forgiveness. Thank you for Jesus Christ

who died for me. I invite Him into my heart

today. Dear Lord Jesus make my heart Your home.

I give You the key to my heart because I

now believe that I belong to You

forever. Please keep the

key. Please give me the Holy Spirit to

lead me into all truth. Thank you Lord for saving my soul

Amen. Welcome friend to the body of

believers in Christ. We are all here

awaiting the return of the Good Master.

In the meantime we want to encourage you

to become water baptized as quickly as

possible. Let your pastor know that

you've given your heart to the Lord and

you want to be baptized. Begin reading the word of God

every day. Begin in the book of John, then

go to Matthew Mark and Luke reading

audibly as often as possible because

faith comes by hearing the word of God.

Pray daily, Attend at your local church,

And one glad morning the Savior will

come and receive us all unto Himself And

we shall indeed forever be with the Lord.

God bless and keep you in Jesus mighty

name, amen.