The Intermediate State

0:05in the field of eschatology we look at

0:08some big-ticket items there now on the

0:11night yet kingdom of God Jesus is second

0:14coming millennium and tribulation the

0:16final judgement but before we get to

0:18things like heaven hell and new creation

0:21we have to look at individual

0:23eschatology the state and the fate of

0:26the individual person in the post-mortem

0:28future here we investigate something

0:31usually called the intermediate state

0:34that the believer experiences upon death

0:37but before the final resurrection the

0:40subject of the intermediate state seemed

0:42important for several reasons first I

0:45mean what we all have to wrestle with

0:47our own mortality I mean I know I may

0:50look 21 but I am now in fact can you

0:53believe 44 years of age and I've reached

0:55the point where naive feelings of

0:57invincibility and immortality associated

1:00with youth are beginning to recede

1:02quicker than my hairline my my

1:05strawberry and cream colored hair is

1:08beginning to show more cream and then

1:10strawberry these days death approaches

1:13me and you what will become of me what

1:18will happen to you that's that's why

1:20it's irrelevant second we must consider

1:23how to minister to the dying and the

1:25bereaved when someone asks what is going

1:29to happen to me or what happened to my

1:30mom my dad my son my wife what do we say

1:34what do we say happens to the fate of

1:35the individual beyond death what hope do

1:38we offer them and what details does the

1:41Bible give us for a life beyond the

1:43grave thankfully Scripture has something

1:46to say to these issues so tackling this

1:49topic reminds us that the gospel holds

1:52out the promise of eternal life because

1:54it brings news of God's victory over

1:56death the Christian testimony to the

1:59gospel is one of hope that those who

2:01died in the Lord for where the Lord is

2:03there we shall be also there are a

2:06number of options for what's where and

2:09when the intermediate state takes place

2:12and well we'll give a quick survey of

2:15those now one position is called soul

2:19label Syco panicky which is the doctrine

2:22that the soul is unconscious between

2:24death and resurrection this position has

2:27popped up throughout church history and

2:29it's sometimes been a bit of a minority

2:31of you Martin Luther is said to have

2:33hold to it as did some of the Anabaptist

2:35and some of the Sicilians more recently

2:38it's held by seventh-day Adventists and

2:40Jehovah's Witnesses those who hold to a

2:43monastic understanding of human

2:45Constitution also adhere to this view

2:48because they insist that human existence

2:50requires a bodily mode and if we do not

2:53have a bodily state we cannot in fact

2:55exist personally I can see the

2:58attraction to this is someone who has

3:00struggled with insomnia

3:01pretty much my whole life the prospect

3:03of one big nap before resurrection is

3:06kind of attractive however we have

3:08indications especially from persons

3:11present at Jesus's Transfiguration and

3:13the portrayal of the martyrs in the book

3:15of Revelation that there is a conscious

3:18life beyond the immediate corridors of

3:21death a second option is purgatory in

3:25the Roman Catholic tradition the holy

3:27saints that death are directly

3:29transported to heaven while lesser Souls

3:32like us must experience the cleansing of

3:34purgatory before entering the Blessed

3:37state according to the Catholic

3:39catechism the official doctrine of the

3:42Catholic Church all who die in God's

3:45grace and friendship but still

3:47imperfectly purified are indeed assured

3:50of their eternal salvation but after

3:53death they undergo purification so as to

3:56achieve holiness necessary to enter the

3:58joy of heaven as such it says the church

4:02gives the name purgatory to this final

4:05purification of the elect which is

4:07entirely different from the punishment

4:09of the Damned Thomas Aquinas taught that

4:13if purely cannot be attained by works of

4:16satisfaction in this life it is

4:18necessary to posit purgatory or a place

4:21of cleansing for this to occur in

4:24response to purgatory I would argue that

4:26there is no evidence in the old or New

4:28Testament that there is an intermediate

4:31state which is a place of

4:32cleansing somewhere where you can work

4:34off your sins with good behavior it is

4:37undoubtedly true that human beings need

4:39to be cleansed from their sin however

4:42cleansing and purification are one of

4:44the achievements of the Cross and

4:46received by faith

4:48the author of Hebrews are taught that

4:50Jesus's death is better than the Old

4:53Testament sacrifices because the author

4:55says how much more then will the blood

4:58of Christ who through the Eternal Spirit

5:00offered himself unblemished to God

5:03cleanse our consciences from acts that

5:07lead to death so that we may serve the

5:09Living God the good news is that Jesus

5:13makes us clean as clean as we need to be

5:16there's nothing left for Jesus to

5:19cleanse and purgatory

5:20Jesus has washed all of our sins away

5:22and in terms of the biblical witness the

5:25place of the Dead is described with two

5:28main words in Scripture she all the Old

5:31Testament and Hades in the New Testament

5:33a number of Luke and texts provide

5:36information about a possible

5:38intermediate state the most

5:39controversial is the parable of the rich

5:42man and Lazarus in Luke 16 and the key

5:45thing to remember about that passage is

5:47that it's something of a of a fictional

5:50narrative designed to reinforce the

5:52warning about the dangers of the love of

5:54money it's the ancient equivalent of

5:56little stories about Saint Peter's gate

5:58or the the pearly white gates where the

6:00meaning is more moral than literal so

6:03although the parable refers to an

6:05intermediate state personal eschatology

6:07is not the main point of it it's

6:09primarily about wealth and riches also

6:13in the Gospel of Luke there's a curious

6:15remark uttered by Jesus on the cross

6:17when one of the bandits are crucified

6:20with Jesus asked him he says remember me

6:23when you come into your kingdom and

6:24Jesus replies with the promise truly I

6:27tell you today you will be with me in

6:30paradise now that saying is problematic

6:34because the other two appearances of the

6:36word paradise owes in the New Testament

6:38both refer to heaven now is Jesus saying

6:42here that he went directly to heaven

6:44after death well I don't

6:46think that's possible because the risen

6:48Jesus told Mary Knossos do not hold on

6:51to me for I have not yet ascended to the

6:53Father and I go instead until my

6:55brothers that I am ascending to my

6:56father and your father that type of a

6:58thing so Jesus had not been to heaven

7:00yet so if Jesus was not in heaven

7:02where did he go what is this paradise he

7:05promised the the band of the other thief

7:07most likely paradise here denotes the

7:10intermediate state and it's another way

7:13of referring to Hades and especially the

7:15good part of Hades this comports with

7:17the biblical teaching that when Jesus

7:19died he went to the waiting place of the

7:22Dead the Greek word Paradiso s' was a

7:25Persian lone word that denoted an

7:27enclosed park surrounded by a wall it

7:31was also used to describe the future

7:32state so that the future city of

7:34Jerusalem the New Jerusalem will be like

7:37a Garden of Eden only better

7:39in subsequent Jewish thought paradise

7:42also referred to the present abode of

7:44departed patriarchs the elect and the

7:47righteous paradise here is an

7:49intermediate state that is neither

7:51heaven nor hell it's the waiting place

7:53of the Dead the blissful location of

7:56saints within Sheol or Hades shifting to

8:01Luke 2nd volume the Acts of the Apostles

8:03Stephen was stoned for his testimony to

8:07Jesus exultation at the right hand of

8:10God as he was bludgeoned with stone

8:12Stephen exclaimed Lord Jesus receive my

8:16spirit

8:18now this mirrors the words of Jesus

8:20himself at his crucifixion now father

8:22into your hands I commit my spirit

8:25it is crystal logically significant that

8:28while the Lucan Jesus prays to the

8:30Father to receive his spirit at his

8:32crucifixion

8:33Stephen prays that Jesus would receive

8:36him beyond his martyrdom what Luke

8:39presents to his readers seems to be a

8:42belief in an intermediate state located

8:45in Hades before the resurrection and

8:48then an intermediate state located in

8:50heaven after Jesus's resurrection so

8:53there is a kind of transition going on

8:55here

8:55formerly believers when they passed away

8:58went to Hades

9:00the waiting place of the dead but ever

9:02since Jesus is ascension now when the

9:05faithful die they go directly to heaven

9:07to be with their Lord so beyond that I

9:10think we can also gain some clarity from

9:13what the Apostle Paul says about the

9:15intermediate state Paul writes to the

9:18Philippians about his you know the

9:20prospect of his own execution he says

9:22for me to live is Christ and to die is

9:25gain

9:26if I'm to go on living in the body this

9:28will mean fruitful labor for me get what

9:31shall I choose I I do not know I'm torn

9:33between the two I desire to depart and

9:36be with Christ which is better by far

9:38but it's more necessary for you that I

9:40remain in the body here note how Paul

9:44contrasts living in the body with

9:47departing to be with Christ which he

9:49says is better by far paul provides no

9:52data our no information about the nature

9:54of this intermediate state where it

9:57takes place or what form he exists in

9:59there we can only assume that death

10:01entails our removal from his body and a

10:05transportation to instant intimacy with

10:08the Savior we learn even more from 2

10:12Corinthians 5 and though this is a

10:13somewhat ambiguous passage in many

10:16respects yet Paul still seems to

10:18envisage a post-mortem time where he's

10:21away from the body where we are yet he

10:24says unclothed yet at home with the Lord

10:27and while there were still waiting an

10:29eternal house in heaven Paul seems to

10:33envisage upon death not a spiritual

10:37resurrection but a future spiritual mode

10:40of existence that is transcendent yet

10:43not fully actualized until the parousia

10:47Paul hopes to please the Lord both in

10:50his bodily state and again in his

10:52heavenly State knowing that he will

10:54stand before Christ at the final

10:56judgment the book of Revelation focuses

11:01attention on the events leading up to

11:03the final state and new heavens and a

11:06new earth still John makes some comment

11:08about a possible intermediate state for

11:11believers after death

11:13yet before the general resurrection when

11:16John refers to the state of martyrs it's

11:18a it's clear that they exist in the

11:20heavenly dimension that is once both

11:23blissful busy and yet not entirely

11:27satisfying in Revelation six the martyrs

11:30cry out for vindication and they look

11:33forward to the judgment and wrath that

11:35is set to come upon those who mistreated

11:37them and murdered them some people in

11:40heaven are in fact complaining that this

11:41has not happened yet in Revelation 7 the

11:45martyrs enter into the presence of the

11:47throne room of heaven and even engage in

11:49heavenly worship and enjoy heavenly

11:52peace and they are shepherded by the

11:53Lamb who comforts them this penultimate

11:57stage depicts departed saints as being

11:59in the presence of God in heaven and as

12:02we've seen some are complaining some are

12:04worshiping and then there's another

12:06thing to note from revelation as well is

12:08the relationship between Hades and Hell

12:12in Revelation um Hades is closely

12:15related to death and it stands as the

12:18waiting place of the Dead rather than

12:20the final place of the condemned though

12:23the Greek word for hell Gehenna does not

12:26occur in Revelation there is a mention

12:28of a lake of burning fire or sulfur that

12:31amounts pretty much to the same thing -

12:332 - Helga Hina note that there's a point

12:37in Revelation where John describes how

12:39death and Hades were thrown into the

12:43lake of fire the lake of fire were told

12:45is the second death that is to say Hades

12:48gets thrown into hell

12:51that would mean if we take the language

12:53seriously that no one is in Hell yet the

12:57contents of Hades will be dumped into

12:59hell at the final judgment which means

13:02now there is no one populating Hell so

13:06if we step back for a minute in light of

13:09what we've seen from the gospel from

13:12Paul from Revelation we could map out

13:15the intermediate state this way prior to

13:19Christ's ascension all who died

13:22descended to Sheol or Hades which was

13:26divided into two pi

13:27one for the wicked and one for the

13:29righteous then at Christ's ascension he

13:32went into heaven and he took with him

13:34all the Saints and the Paradise all part

13:37of she all Hades I think this is implied

13:39by a fusion sport while the wicked then

13:42remain in Sheol Hades waiting for

13:44judgment upon death New Covenant

13:47believers going to be with Christ in

13:49heaven ahead of the general resurrection

13:51while the wicked go to Hades waiting for

13:55judgment eventually Hades will be thrown

13:59into hell and all believers will share

14:01in the new heavens and the new earth

14:04coming to a close in the movie Bill and

14:08Ted's Excellent Adventure there's a

14:11point where the Grim Reaper makes a very

14:13profound statement he said you can be a

14:15king or a streetsweeper but sooner or

14:17later you dance with the Reaper death

14:20like taxes is unavoidable in Hebrews we

14:25read that people are destined to die

14:27once and after that to face judgment

14:29there's a whole industry related to

14:32death and our society including its it's

14:34prevention its preparation Potamus care

14:37for the bereaved there's even a

14:39peer-reviewed journal called death

14:40studies death has fascinated people from

14:43homer to Shakespeare and today we can

14:47find it portrayed in literature art

14:49music and drama so death is a big big

14:52business it's a big deal that's

14:54artistically captivating philosophically

14:56fascinating and existentially haunting

14:59but it is real it's universal acceptable

15:02yet Jesus taught that death is not the

15:06end he also proved it by his

15:08resurrection and he promised us that

15:11something better lies in store when we

15:14die in the Lord ahead of the

15:17resurrection we still have an

15:19intermediate state where we are with the

15:21Lord no text except perhaps 2

15:25Corinthians 5 discourses on it at length

15:28but overall it seems that the New

15:30Testament consistently represents

15:32fellowship with Christ after death as

15:35the distinctively Christian view of the

15:38intermediate state Paul is clear that

15:41underparts to be with Christ and

15:43according to John the Evangelist where

15:46Christ is there believers shall also be

15:49for nothing not even death demons can

15:52separate believers from the love of God

15:55that is in Christ Jesus our Lord the

15:58intermediate state brings fellowship

16:01with Christ and in him we also find the

16:03continued fellowship of believers ahead

16:07of the final consummation death does not

16:10eradicate the believers union with

16:12Christ or their communion with fellow

16:15believers whatever life is ahead in the

16:18eschatological future interim or final

16:21there is still life in Christ