Five Minutes After You Die: A Sober Warning

by David Chadwick

What will happen five minutes after you die? Today’s topic is truly a sober warning.

While there will be many wonderful things that take place after death for those who follow Jesus. There is also a sober reality of what death looks like for those who are far from God and have not put their trust in the grace and mercy of Jesus Christ.

Solid, biblical preaching must always include a warning. A “woe,” as it is sometimes called in the Bible. The prophets practiced it. As did Jesus.

Jesus made it very clear in John 14:6 and other places that he is the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through him, and outside of his grace, there is an eternal separation from God.

When you awaken from death, it will be in heaven, where you will stand before the judgment seat of God (Romans 14:10). Please note this: for those who love Jesus, they will never experience the judgment of this dreadful seat, for our judgment has already been made secure through Jesus. Upon receiving Jesus as Lord, we are declared “not guilty” from all our sins. Christians please “Jesus” before the Father and are welcomed into heaven.

But for those who have rejected Jesus or have been faux followers of him, pretending to be “religious” without a true, living, dynamic relationship with Jesus, these people will spend eternity in hell. The measure to which you do or do not embrace the fullness of the message of Jesus’s grace will determine your eternal destiny.

Look forward to heaven, believer in Jesus! But take seriously the call to warn those around you of what may be awaiting them. For those of us who have placed our trust in Jesus, the first five minutes after death will be glorious, beyond all description in beauty and splendor. But for those who don’t accept his gift of salvation, may today serve as a loving but sober warning for you to get right with God.

Please run to Jesus. Receive his forgiveness. Develop a personal relationship with him. If you do, you will never fear death again!

Death becomes the entrance into Jesus’s glorious presence and into eternal life with him and our loved ones who have gone to him before us.

Five Minutes After You Die: It Was Worth It

by David Chadwick

What happens five minutes after you die? You will have an immediate awareness of your surroundings. You will see Jesus face to face. You will experience eternal, perfect peace. It will be like awakening from a deep, restful sleep.

What else? You realize it was worth it.

What was worth it, you might ask? All that you walked through in this life!

How? You will see the providence of God working in your life. You will find out why he let certain things happen to you. You will see the full picture. You will no longer see in part and know in part. You will fully understand and fully know the fullness of God and the glorious presence of fellowship with Jesus!

This is so hard to comprehend on this side of eternity while we are still living in the midst of so much pain, uncertainty, hurt, and brokenness. When we are experiencing so much chaos, it’s hard to even comprehend that it has a purpose. But the Bible says that God is working all things together for our good (Romans 8:28).

I have often joked that I think the most often spoken word in heaven is “Oh!” as God reveals to each of us how he was working out his purposes in our lives for his glory.

That is what Romans 8:18-24 means when Paul says that everything here that is groaning in pain will have it all alleviated in heaven. That our current sufferings pale in comparison to the glory that is coming.

It’s what Paul meant in 2 Corinthians 4:17-18 when he said our present difficulties are “light and momentary” in comparison to the eternal glory of heaven. Think about it: our pain has tremendous purpose in light of God’s eternal plan.

God always has purpose in the pain. In the victories. In the trials. In the successes. In the tragedies. All things are working for our good and his glory in this world. In the first five minutes in heaven, we will say, “Oh! It was worth it! It was ALL worth it!”

Five Minutes After You Die: There Will Be Perfect Peace

by David Chadwick

Peace is such a powerful word. It’s not just the absence of chaos. It’s wholeness in the midst of a storm. It’s rest. Quietness. Tranquility. In fact, one of the biblical definitions for one of the Greek words for “peace” implies being exempt from the rage and havoc of war.

What is something else that happens five minutes after you die? You will be in perfect peace!

The Bible is very clear that in this world, we will have trouble (John 16:33). But in the same verse, he promises us peace. He promises undisturbed wholeness in the midst of the burdens, afflictions, tribulations, and anguish of this world.

Our world throws us empty promises on a regular basis. Promises of temporary “peace” and comfort through carnal solutions. Take this medication. Eat this food. Buy this drink. Watch this tv show. Date this person. Land this business deal. Fill your immediate desires. But the peace that Jesus gives us is a very different peace than the world offers (John 14:27).

The peace of Jesus exists outside of our earthly circumstances. It is untethered to this carnal world. It shines in the face of destruction. Jesus’s peace is untouchable to the enemy’s schemes. Someone once described it as, “joy in chaos. Peace that makes no sense.”

The peace that Jesus offers in this broken world is leading us to the ultimate, eternal peace we will find in heaven. That’s what Revelation 21:4 clearly states when it says, “He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more.” In an instant, all fear, heartbreak, and grief will melt away. They simply won’t exist anymore.

From the reality of perfect peace, I think we will move toward worship. Profound, unabashed, relentless worship. Did you know that right now, thousands upon thousands of angels are presently worshipping God? They cry out, “Holy, holy, holy” and “Worthy is the Lamb seated on the throne.” As are the saints who have gone before us.

We will join in on that chorus!

Our worship will create extraordinary, eternal joy in our hearts. There will be no religion in heaven, just an eternal relationship with the King of kings and the Lord of lords, which will motivate more and more worship for all eternity.

Heaven will resound with perfect peace.