On the Doorstep, But Don't Get to Enter-Part 9

Here again we bump into the idea that there is nothing to fear about dying.  Actually there IS something to fear if a person has not accepted God's salvation.  As said in other of the blog entries in this series, there is Hades and God on His Great White Throne to face and Hell for everlasting punishment; that is to be feared.  A person can mock and jeer at this all they want, but they may well have a rude and terrifying awakening when it is their turn to die.

This On the Doorstep, But Don't Get to Enter series has been greatly based on findings in the book The Eternal Journey written by Craig R. Lundahl, Ph.D. and Harold A. Widdeson, Ph.D.  The book is about Near Death Experiences (NDE).

From the book pages 82-83 comes the following:

"Problaby the most frequently mentioned aftereffect of the NDE is that dying is nothing to fear.  As Doreen Edwards stated flatly, "The terror I had of death is gone..."

"The specific events in the process of dying suggest that dying is a relatively painless, quick and simple process.   As Betty Eadie was told by her guides in the other world, when a person is dying he or she is experiencing nothing more than a transition to another state." 

>  We cannot refute that these people have actually experienced and 'learned' these things.  However, I query from whom they learned.  Just who were their 'guides'?  Does what was learned all match up to what God has to say in the Holy Scriptures, the Bible?

Certainly, if we are a follower of Jesus Christ, we need NOT fear death.  Certainly it is a transition from death to the consummation of everlasting life with Christ in Heaven.

It is an out of the body experience.  Our body is only our "house" for our spirit and soul.  So, a transition to another state could simply mean, just that.

However, I believe we need to have a healthy fear of where our spirit and soul will end up after death.  That is what a person needs to address.  Have you accepted Jesus Christ as Savior, allowing Him to give you that gift of salvation and atonement for your sins and soul?  Have you?  If you have, then, yes, I agree 100%---fear is unnecessary!

However, and this is a BIG 'HOWEVER', an important however, if a person has NOT accepted that offer of salvation, their spirit and soul will go to the waiting room called Hades, en route to Hell for everlasting death as already stated.  This is a tragedy to be terrified of.  

"The soul that sinneth, it shall die" (Ezekiel 18:20-KJV).  

God's Word in Revelation 20:14-15 (NIV) goes on to say, 

"Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire.  The lake of fire is the second death.  If anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire."

There are not two ways about it.  God has given us His warnings, we will do well to be afraid and take heed. 

Later on in the book there is a section re:  souls who've experienced a taste of that during their NDE.  Being in Hell forever is definitely something to fear so, all totaled, I believe that Doreen Edwards and Betty Eadie may well have met the Deceiver (Satan) or one of his minions in the other world.

From the book page 85

"The primary fear of death for most people is a fear of pain and what, if anything, occurs after death.  Death has always been thought of as the great unknown.  However, 1000s of individuals just like Mr. Dippong have lived, died, and returned to report on what they have seen while they were clinically dead.  There are also countless individuals who have caught glimpses into the next world just before they died and whose observations and reactions were recorded.  The rich detail in these accounts does much to alleviate the fears and uncertainties about death that plague so many people today."

"What is it like to die?  In studying thousands of recorded cases, the answer is clear.  Dying may be very painful, but death is not.  In fact, death itself is beautiful.  One man in his twenties was dying from gunshot wounds in is abdomen.  When he saw Jesus and felt he was going with Him, his mood changed from fear to acceptance, from agony to peace, and he was not afraid to die."

All I can say is that which the good book, God's Word, has to say in Hebrews 9:27,

"It is appointed unto man, once, to die and after death the judgement." 

Also in 2 Thessalonians 1:8-9, where it reveals that if a person does not belong to Christ, the end is death and Hell; everlasting death and torment.  That person should be afraid to die!

"He will punish those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus.  They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the majesty of His power..."

If a person does belong to Christ, he or she will have their name written in the Lamb's Book of Life (Rev 21:27).  They will be with Christ forever experiencing everlasting life and the joys it affords in His presence.  This person does not need to be afraid to die.  The gunshot fellow mentioned above must have been a child of God, and therefore his glimpse of Jesus and his peace before departure.

As was related in Part 1 of this series, my husband said to me, "All these stories are experiences; not doctrine."  Thus one must always line up the experience to the plumb-line of God's Word.  We are to "test the spirits to see whether they be of God" (1 John 4:1).  Please, everyone, do look out for your soul and spirit.  If what I have countered here is true, and I believe it is, then it is well for you believe it too; not just because I say so, but because God says so.  The alternative, unbelief, will still get you to the wrong place.  I would not wish that on anyone.

                                                                 ~ERC  2016~