AFTER DEATH, WHAT THEN?

I Cor. 15:19 ... "If we have only hoped in Christ in this life, we are of all men most to be pitied."

      "After death, what then?" is a question that has been asked by men since we first began to live on this planet. Various answers have been given, answers which to a large extent determine the character of the lives of those who accept them. This writer once toured the ruins of the ancient Phoenician city of Gebaal, presently Byblos in Lebanon. The native guide pointed out the area of the oldest habitation, which dated back before 3000 B.C. There, he said, archaeologists in the 1930s excavated the tombs of hundreds of people who had been buried in large clay jars. Interestingly, the bodies had been placed in the fetal position, obviously indicating that it was believed they would be born into another life in some other world. In every culture on earth people have strongly believed that death does not end human existence, but life, or some part of it, continues in a dimension of time and space different from that here.

      In more recent times the growing skepticism of human wisdom has adopted the view that death means annihilation. Human existence is believed to be confined to the period between birth and death. To defend this view it is pointed out that no one who has actually died has come back from death to testify that another life awaits the human soul. Furthermore, they say, there is no scientific evidence that anything answering to a "soul" departs a body at death to fly away to some other world. Robert Ingersoll, the famous 19th Century atheist, expressed the view in these words: "Life is a narrow vale between the cold and barren peaks of two eternities. We strive in vain to look beyond the heights. We cry aloud, and the  only answer is the echo of a wailing cry. From the voiceless lips of the unreplying dead there comes no word."

      The central tenet of the Christian religion is that life indeed continues beyond death. The entire fifteenth chapter of First Corinthians presents, explains, and defends this conviction with zeal and solid conviction. Our text (above) declares that "if we have only hoped in Christ in this life, we are of all men most to be pitied." Many people think that death terminates one's existence, and accepting that postulate, go on with life as best they can. Their ambition usually is to crowd as much meaning and pleasure into their daily activities as they can, thinking it to be the most they can do with their life. Christian doctrine, however, urges people to adopt its view and follow it by holding out the incentive of life after death in a state that far exceeds earthly life in both quality and longevity. If this teaching is a delusion, the product of overactive imaginations, then Christians certainly are "of all men most to be pitied." For by denying themselves the meaning and pleasure that this world offers, they are forfeiting all that humans are ever able to achieve. If the central issue of Christian faith is based on delusion, then either the God who foisted it upon us is indeed heartless, or else He does not exist, and the view is of human origin.

      This idea, however, can be reversed. If the Christian view is correct, then what about the person who believes his existence ends at death? After the confusion of the death event has passed, and the deceased discovers he is still existent and conscious in another world, what then? He lived his life for the moment with no reference to an afterlife, but now he "wakes up" in a very real afterlife for which he made no preparation. To this writer it seems far wiser to believe that death is a transition of life than its termination. If death ends all, I feel I have missed nothing, for I believe the temperate Christian life is far better than the one devoted to sensual and psychological pleasures. If death does transfer one's spirit into another world, for which preparation by the Gospel is necessary, then the unbeliever is the one who is in a wretched condition from which there is no possibility of recovery.

TRUE AND ACCEPTABLE WORSHIP

I Cor. 14:15 ... "What is the outcome then? I shall pray with the spirit, and I shall pray with the mind also; I shall sing with the spirit, and I shall sing with the mind also."

      One of the supernatural gifts conferred upon certain members in the church in Corinth was the ability to speak in tongues. The purpose of this gift was to bridge the language gap, so that a Christian preacher or teacher could readily convey the gospel message to someone in his own language. That is, the "tongues" were languages then spoken by nations or ethnic groups somewhere on earth. The gift of tongues was the ability from God to speak in those languages without the long, difficult process of learning them. It was not what it is often taken today to be, an incoherent babble expressed by someone in a highly emotional state.

      To a great extent the members in Corinth were abusing this gift. Rather than use it to its intended purpose, they were making vain and proud displays of it in their worship services. In this chapter Paul rebuked them for this excess and pointed them toward the proper, controlled use. He limited those who spoke in tongues at a given assembly to two or three, and then in succession, (v.27). Furthermore, no one could speak in tongues unless someone who could interpret was present, so that the audience would know what was being said, (vs.27-28). The net result of the tongues, as with all other gifts, was to be the edification of the church, (v.5), through a full understanding of what was being taught, (v.19). This would be accomplished only when "all things (were) done properly and in an orderly manner," (v.40).

      It is in this context that Paul makes the statement in I Cor. 14:15. In fact, he is repeating the word of Christ in Jno. 4:24, "God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and in truth." To worship God "in spirit" is the opposite of worshiping Him in a merely physical way. In Acts 17:24-25 the apostle declared that God "does not dwell in temples made with hands; neither is He served by human hands." The attempt to worship God with manual activity is vain.  The object of worship is to praise, glorify, and please God, and only He knows what will do that.  It is not human prerogative to employ any manual activity because it seems good, majestic and beautiful in sight or sound.  Christian worship must be restricted to what the New Testament reveals to us the early Christians did as they were instructed by the inspired apostles.  This is what it means to worship God "in truth."  There are five activities of worship revealed in the New Testament: singing (Eph. 5:19), praying (I Tim. 2:1), observing the Lord's Supper (I Cor. 11:23-29), monetary offering (I Cor. 16:2), and preaching / teaching (II Tim.4:2). In this brief article there is not sufficient space to cover all the particulars about how we are to sing, pray, observe the Lord's Supper, give, and preach / teach.

      In I Cor. 14:15, however, Paul emphasizes them with special reference to singing and praying. In the case of each the worshiper must engage with "understanding" and with "spirit." These terms relate to Jesus' requirements of "in truth" and "in spirit" in Jno. 4:24. They require us to respond to the plan of worship specified by God with a keen mind focused upon what we are doing and why we are doing it. It is possible to perform these acts of worship, which we have reduced to a routine through long repetition, with no conscious thought involved. One can sing "When I Survey the Wondrous Cross" without missing a word or note, and never once think about the crucifixion of our Lord. One may eat the Lord's Supper while he mentally reviews yesterday's football game. Worship performed by habit, without meditation and discernment, is vain because it is not "in spirit" or "with understanding." How much of our worship is vain? How much affronts God rather than praises, petitions, and pleases Him? True and acceptable worship demands mental discipline which comes only through determination, concentration, and the awareness that God is real and always present. 

THE GREATEST OF THESE IS LOVE

I Cor. 13:13 ... "Now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love."

      When Paul preached the gospel in Corinth and founded a congregation there, he conferred by the laying on of hands the gift of the Holy Spirit to certain brethren. The purpose of these miraculous abilities was to confirm the spoken word as truth from God, (Heb. 2:3-4). Rather than use these wonderful abilities unto this exalted purpose, however, these people abused them by making vain displays of them and by competing with one another in using them. The problem was so serious that the apostle devoted a considerable portion of this epistle (chapters 12-14) to the effort to rectify it. He introduced the subject in 12:1 with the statement, "Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I would not have you ignorant." After warning against the vain use of these gifts as a decisive factor in their fellowship, he said in v.31,"But earnestly desire the greater gifts. And I show you a still more excellent way." There is a gift available to all Christians that is "more excellent" than being able to speak in tongues, heal the sick, interpret mysteries, etc. It does not require the laying on of apostolic hands, but only a heart that is good because it has established open communion with God. It is the Gift of Love.  Paul devotes the thirteenth chapter to love, comparing it to other valued abilities (1-3), analyzing it (4-7), and emphasizing its eternal nature (6-13).

      The Corinthians esteemed the abilities to speak eloquently, understand mysteries, and perform miracles. In reality, however, without love to motivate and guide them, they became vain and useless. Even to give up one's life, if it were not an act of loving loyalty to God, is a waste of life. When light is passed through a prism, it separates it into its basic components: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet. When the light of love is passed through the inspired intellect of Paul, it also is separated into its essential parts: patience, kindness, benevolence, humility, courtesy, unselfishness, self-control, pure-mindedness, compassion, resilience, optimism and endurance. The period of supernatural gifts was quickly drawing to an end, because "the perfect" (the full revelation of the gospel, confirmed and recorded in Scripture) was in progress of being completed. In fact, by the end of that century the twenty-seven books of the New Testament had been written and disseminated to the churches. The miraculous powers, so coveted and abused by the Corinthians, were then and forevermore no longer needed.

      But love remains! In comparison to all other spiritual qualities and endowments it is far superior. It is greater than faith, which by many is exalted as the most basic element in man's relationship with God. Love is also greater than hope, the "anchor of the soul," (Heb. 6:19), by which "we have been saved," (Rom. 8:24). Faith and hope are indispensable factors in our journey toward God, but they are, after all, designed for the journey itself rather than the destination. Of hope we are told in Rom. 8:24, "But hope that is seen is not hope; for why does one also hope for what he sees?" Hope keeps the Christian moving along the right road toward heaven, but once heaven is seen, the hope is irrelevant. Of faith we read in Heb. 11:1, "Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen." It also relates to the future, blessed state which we cannot now see. When we arrive at God's throne, the end goal of faith will be reached, and faith will no longer be needed. Love, however, will survive the transition from the material to the spiritual world. "God is love," (I Jno. 4:8), and He already inhabits heaven. Those who are allowed to enter in and dwell in His presence will both receive and return pure love.

THE IMPORTANCE OF THE INDIVIDUAL

I Cor. 12:15-16 ... "If the foot should say, 'Because I am not a hand, I am not a part of the body,' it is not for this reason any the less a part of the body. And if the ear should say, 'Because I am not an eye, I am not a part of the body,' it is not for this reason any the less a part of the body.'"

      The church is the body of Christ, (Eph. 1:22-23). As a body is composed of many members that are controlled and coordinated by the head, so is the church. It is a spiritual body composed of many members who are under the control of Christ. Since the church in Corinth was divided over many issues, Paul compared the human body to the spiritual body of the church to discourage the division and rebuild the unity of the church. In the first chapter of First Corinthians he emphasized that Christ alone is the head of this body and that the choice of certain men as leaders of competing parties was entirely out of order. Here in the twelfth chapter he faces the issue of their fragmentation because of differing spiritual gifts. Paul had conferred the power of the Holy Spirit upon certain to enable them to perform miracles. These people unfortunately began to misuse these gifts. Rather than employ them as the means of confirming the truth of the gospel, they made a vain display of them. Those with the more spectacular abilities began to think themselves superior to those whose abilities did not make such a show. And those with the less spectacular abilities began to think themselves inferior to those whose abilities attracted great attention and admiration. Confusion and chaos began to reign over the Corinthian church.

      To correct the problem, the apostle called their attention to the harmony that characterizes the human body. The foot does not isolate itself and deny its function to the body because it is not a hand. None of us would want to face life without our feet, even if we possessed remarkable dexterity with our hands. Neither does the ear pull apart from the body and refuse to do its work because it is not a hand. We consider deafness a serious handicap and highly value the vital contribution of hearing to our lives. Our physical bodies are a wonderful harmony of many parts which complement, depend on, and support each other. They experience no rivalry, jealousy, or rejection toward one another.

      This same harmony should prevail in the body of Christ. Each Christian is an individual member whose place and function should be respected, honored, and supported by all others. We all know, however, that we fall far short of this ideal in actual practice in the church. We exalt those who are usually in front of the congregation. We feel their work is superior and their places indispensable. This is all well and good until it begins to build the idea that those who are not inside this special circle are somewhat inferior. Many Christians may come to think they are no more than "fillers" in the congregation. They are of value only in filling up pews, tallying up attendance numbers, and performing the menial duties that, though necessary, attract no special attention and elicit little praise. We face a challenge in the church to correct this problem for the good of all. The gifted, extrovert Christian whose duties cause him continually to be seen and heard must be careful "not to think more highly of himself that he ought to think," (Rom. 12:3). He must always remind himself with humility that he is to be a servant to his ordinary brethren. The ungifted, more introvert Christ whose duties are not performed before hosts of eyes must not think he is worthless except to take up space on a pew and increase the numbers on a display board.  He must remember that he is important to God, who observes his efforts and uses their effects to accomplish great deeds to His glory.

THREE VITAL REQUIREMENTS OF THE LORD'S SUPPER

I Cor. 11:27 ... "Whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner, shall be guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord."

      On the night He was betrayed and arrested, Jesus kept the Passover Feast with His apostles in an upper room somewhere in Jerusalem. At a certain point in the ceremony Jesus took some unleavened bread, broke it and said, "This is My body which is for you, do this in remembrance of me." Then He took a cup of wine, and after He had sipped from it, He said, "This cup is the new covenant in My blood; do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me." With these words Jesus established a memorial to His sacrificial death by which He atoned for the sins of all people. This solemn meal was established to be observed as an act of worship by Christians as long as time shall last, for in the verse previous to the text above, it is proclaimed that "as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until He comes." Since the death of Jesus was uniquely important to God, as indeed it is also to us, we bear a grave responsibility to observe it in the manner which God approves. We must not be like the Corinthians who modified the ceremony to suit their own desires and vanity. In this passage we are shown three vital requirements set by God that we must be careful to meet lest we keep this holy feast "in an unworthy manner" and become "guilty of the body and blood of the Lord."

      First, we must observe the Lord's Supper with a backward look. Nearly twenty centuries have passed since that day when Jesus was nailed to a cross, suspended in the air, and suffered excruciating pain for about six hours before He died. Time tends to obscure the meaning of events, and to many people now the death of Jesus is about as relevant as the death of Sekhemkhet, third pharoah of the Third Dynasty in 2643 B.C. This distant king's death has absolutely no bearing on anyone today, but the death of Jesus means everything to everyone! He died to pay the penalty of death that is due us for our sins. Had He not done so, we would each have to die for them ourselves. Every few years I review the history of the 170 pharoahs; most people, however, never do. But every day of the year I review Jesus death for me. And every Sunday Christians around the world come together in their congregations to look back 2,000 years to the day when a loving Lord died for them. For both when He blessed the holy bread and the holy cup, Jesus said, "Do this in remembrance of Me." That is the backward look.

      Second,. we must observe the Lord's Supper with a forward look. According to I Cor. 11:26, when we keep this memorial, we "proclaim the Lord's death until He come." Our assemblies each Sunday for this observance proclaim to the community about us that the Lord we worship is going to return some day to terminate the world and summon all men unto judgment.

      Third, we must observe the Lord's Supper with an inward look." We must turn our attention inwardly upon our own heart to determine how far off from the image of Christ it happens to be. Our text does not demand that we be "worthy" to participate in this supper. If that were the case, no one could every take part. The essential idea in this command is for everyone to "examine himself" to discover the sin within him, sin that is removed only by the death of Jesus which we commemorate in this holy meal.

THE WAY OF ESCAPE

I Cor. 10:13 ... "No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it."

      A temptation in the moral sense is an inducement to violate the will of God. The possibility of temptation assumes that man has a choice in experience. He is free to choose to conform to God's will, and he is equally free to choose not to conform. God has revealed His will for us in the Bible so that we might know it, and offered us glorious inducements to subject our lives to its direction. At the same time, however, Satan endeavors to persuade us to ignore God's will and live as we wish. He also offers us enticing rewards for such independent behavior, although his rewards are deceptive, being temporary and ultimately dissatisfying. His method is to approach us with such powerful stimuli to sin that we are overwhelmed and cannot help ourselves. When we fall to temptation, as we often do, we defend our behavior by pointing out how forceful the temptation was and how understandable it is that we could not resist it. Take the case, for instance of the drunk driver who kills someone. When brought into court, he seeks to exonerate himself by blaming the deed upon the power of the alcohol and his inability to leave it alone. We are expected to convict the alcohol of the tragedy and acquit the drunkard as its helpless pawn. We yield rather easily to this rationalization, for somewhere in our hearts we are prone to say, "But for the grace of God there am I." After all, do we not "all sin and fall short of the glory of God?" (Rom. 3:23). A particular individual might not drink and kill another with his car, but he knows he falls to other temptations, with sin as the result in either case.

      Our lead text above points us to a different conclusion than our rationalization. It assures us first that no one is ever confronted with a unique temptation. Temptation can be cruel, but never unusual. Any temptation is "common to man," that is, it is generally a problem in human experience. Many people are tempted to consume alcohol, but not all of them give in to its allurement, dull their senses with its toxin, and kill someone with a car. Many people are tempted to great anger toward someone who is provoking them, but most of them do not succumb to its urge to attack the obnoxious one and perhaps kill him. We should always consider that Christ was "tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin," (Heb. 4:15).  Someone then may well object, "but Christ, as God in the flesh, was a Superman!" Indeed, but His struggle with temptation was faced in His humanity, which He shared with us; otherwise, the victory He won over sin would be meaningless as a model for us.

      Our lead text also informs us that God is always involved whenever we are tempted, not as the tempter (Jas. 1:13), and not as One who prevents it (Jas. 1:2-3), but as the One who controls its power. It is significant that I Cor. 10:13 says nothing of God shielding an individual entirely from temptation, nor does any other Scripture. Rather, God guarantees us that no temptation shall come  upon us that is too strong for us to withstand, reduce, and defeat. We can never say, "The devil made me do it!" Neither can we ever say, "The Lord failed me in my time of need." In Jsh. 1:5 God assured Israel, "I will not fail you or forsake you." The Lord still shows the same fidelity to His people today. We are told in I Jno. 4:4 that "Greater is He (God) who is in you than he (Satan) who is in the world." God certainly does not allow our arch-adversary to bring pressure upon us that we are unable to resist. He limits Satan's seductions so that they are less than our power to defeat them. When we sin, the fault is always our own.

TO RECEIVE AN IMPERISHABLE CROWN

I Cor. 9:25 ... "Everyone who competes in the games excercises self-control in all things. They then do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable."

      Only a few miles from Corinth a  great athletic event, the Isthmian Games, was held once every five years. Similar to the Olympic Games, they generated great interest among the Greek people, and every town in the Hellenic world sent young men to try to win glory for themselves and for their fellow citizens. It has been conjectured that these games took place while Paul labored in Corinth during the years of about 50-52 AD and that he witnessed some part of them. This contact evidently made a significant impression upon his mind, suggesting parallels with the Christian life that he often used as illustrations. Such is the case in I Cor. 9:24-27, where Paul compares the self-control required in the Christian effort to the athlete's training.

      He introduces the illustration with a question, "Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but only one receives the prize?" There were several running events in the Isthmian Games, and a great number of men competed in them. But in each event only one could be the winner. The life of a Christian is also a race, not in competition with other participants, but rather with agents of evil that would prevent the disciple from reaching the goal. To receive the prize in the Christian race, one only needs to finish it. So Paul encourages his readers, "Run in such a way that you may win." Several years later, as he himself faced death, Paul was able to proclaim triumphantly that he had run the race to the end (τὸν δρόμον τετέλεκα!) and was prepared to claim his prize. He wrote in II Tim. 4:7-8. "I have finished the course, I have kept the faith; in the future there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day; and not only to me, but also to all who have loved His appearing."

      As he continued to instruct the Christians, the apostles says, "Everyone who competes in the games excercises self-control in all things. They then do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable." His readers knew that to compete in the Isthmian Games it was required that each athlete undergo a very strict ten month period of intense training. To neglect or refuse to do so disqualified one from the events. Here Paul makes a strong point that many of us seem not to have grasped. The spiritual involvement of many Christians ranges from indifferent to little more than lukewarm. For a while they show some interest and participate a little in the activities of the church. Then for a while they absent themselves, showing no interest and lending their efforts in no way to the works the church must do. Nevertheless, they expect  at death to receive the same rewards as those who have kept fully committed to the Christian effort throughout their lives. Our text informs us, however, that the "imperishable crown" is given only to those who "exercise self-control," and that means  application to constant, continuous effort. No one wins a race by running for a stretch, resting a while,  running a little further, deserting the track to engage in some other activity for a time, then returning to the race to run a bit more, etc. One who lives his life in this manner and considers himself worthy of the imperishable crown will be tragically surprised at the end of life. The reward of the victor in the Isthmian Games was a laurel wreath crown which soon faded and decayed. But the reward of the completed Christian race is a "crown of (eternal) life, " (Rev. 2:10). This crown is not granted to every soul that expects it just because at some point he professed faith in Christ, (Mat. 7:21). It is granted rather only to those who exercised the self-discipline to stay involved in active Christian service to the end of life.