R.I.P.--Rest In Peace?

by Frederick Hoehn, copyright 2013, all rights reserved.  

When people die, there are usually two options:  cremation or burial.  But Osama Bin Laden was buried at sea, however that doesn't happen very often.  

We've seen it on TV many times.  Or, you could visit a graveyard, when people are buried, the families often place a tombstone at the grave.  

It will have the person's name, year of birth and death.  And something like, "Beloved sister."  Or, "Beloved Father."  

And some families include, "R.I.P.," which stands for "Rest In Peace."  

I can certainly understand that the family wanted their departed one to be in peace.  But is that really what's happening there at the grave?  Is someone resting in peace?

Uh, well, no, that's not what is happening.  

Do you remember what Jesus said about the rich man and Lazarus?  

In Luke chapter 16, verses
 19 There was a certain rich man, who was clothed in purple and fine linen, and feasted every day.
 20 And there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, who laid at his gate, full of sores,
 21 And desiring to be fed with the crumbs that fell from the rich man's table, also the dogs came and licked his sores.
 22 And the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom, the rich man also died, and was buried.
 23 And in hell he lifted up his eyes, being tormented, and saw Abraham far off, and Lazarus in his bosom.
 24 And he shouted, "Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, so he can dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am tormented in these flames."
 25 But Abraham said, "Son, remember that in your lifetime, you received your good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things, but now he is comforted, and you're tormented.
 26 And beside all this, between us and you there is a large gulf fixed, so that those who might want to pass from here to you can't, nor can they pass to us that want to come from there."
 27 Then he said, "Please, therefore, father, send him to my father's house,
 28 For I have five brothers, so that he'll testify to them, so they won't also come into this place of torment."
 29 Abraham said to him, "They have Moses and the prophets, let them hear them."
 30 And he said, "No, father Abraham.  But if someone went back to them from the dead, they'll repent.
 31 And he said to him, If they won't listen to Moses and the prophets, they won't be persuaded, even if someone rose from the dead."

Now this is not a parable.  Parables often start off like this, "The Kingdom of Heaven is like..."

No, this is a historical event.  

Jesus said, "There was a certain rich man..."  Jesus didn't tell us the rich man's name, I expect we'll find out his name on Judgment Day.  

The beggar's name was Lazarus.  

Jesus said the rich man died and was buried.  Then in hell, he lifted up his eyes...

Do dead bodies lift up their eyes to see something far off?  No, they do not.  The rich man was in hell without the dead body.    

The rich man died and was buried, and in hell he lifted up his eyes to view, and so he could speak with Abraham, who had the recently died Lazarus in his bosom.  

He looked up with his eyes from hell.  

Hell is a place of torment, where their worms don't die, and where the fire is not quenched, where there's weeping and gnashing of teeth, says Jesus in the New Testament part of the Holy Bible.   

The rich man died and was buried.  Then in hell, he lifted up his eyes.  What happened to the body that was buried?

The body that was buried was still right there in the grave.  The rich man, when he died, came out of that body that had been his house during his life on earth.  It was only his body that died.    

When they die, everyone comes out of their bodies that had been their houses during their lives on earth.  The body might get buried or cremated, but as for that body, it's an empty house.  Nobody home.  

When people die, and come out of their bodies, they go to one of only two places.  They either go down to hell, or they go up to heaven.

They go to heaven if their names are written in "The Lamb's Book of Life," a book that God keeps in heaven. (Rev 13:8)

So then, how does a person get his name written in the Lamb's Book of Life?

The angels write your name in that book when you get born again, when you become a Christian. (John chapter 3, Romans 10:9,10)

But God can also blot names out of the Book of Life, if a former Christian goes back on God and quits being a Christian. (Matt 7:22) (Rev 3:5)  

Howard Pittman had an out-of-body experience.  He told the story one evening to a group of people at my apartment in Houston, Texas.  

Something broke inside of Pittman's body.  He knew he was dying.  So, he prayed a prayer asking God for the right to stand before God's throne in heaven and present his petition for an extension of his life on earth.  

The medical people pronounced Pittman dead.  Pittman said that when his spirit left his body, he passed through a dimensional barrier.  He passed into the spirit world.  

The spirit world exists, but we don't normally see into the spirit world with our natural eyes.  Having passed into the spirit world, Pittman could see some demons and angels.  

God opened Kenneth E. Hagin's eyes to see into the spirit world when Hagin was dealing with a woman who was dying from lung cancer and needed healing.  Hagin then saw the demon that was causing the cancer and he cast it out of the woman.

She recovered, and lived another twenty years.  

God promised Pittman another three years, and he went around giving his testimony and telling some things God gave him to say to the listeners.    

God told Pittman to tell the people that we are now in Noah's second age, like Jesus talked about in Matthew chapter 24, verses
 37 But as the days of Noah were, so also shall the coming of the Son of man be.
 38 For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ark,
 39 And didn't know until the flood came, and took them all away, so also shall the coming of the Son of man be.  

The flood of water killed everyone except Noah and family.  But God has given us the rainbow to signify he will not again destroy the earth by water.  

This time, instead of water, the Lord will catch away his church, as in 

1 Thessalonians chapter 4, verses
 16 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ shall rise first,
 17 Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air, and so shall we always be with the Lord.  

When the Christians have been caught away, great tribulation will come on the earth, worse than has ever been before that.    

The Lord also told Pittman to tell the people that God is putting together an army of his people.  I believe I'm part of that army.    

So then, was the rich man resting in peace?  No, he was not resting in peace, he was in torment in hell.    

So then, why do we say, R.I.P., Rest in Peace?

Well, it's a tradition.  It's someone wishing well to the recently departed one.  But it's an unrealistic wish, because that body in the grave is just an empty house.  The person is either already with Jesus in heaven, or being tormented in hell.  

And if they're in hell, that is certainly not resting in peace.  And Jesus said most people go to hell.

In Matt chapter 7, verses
 13 "Enter in at the restricted gate, because wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leads to destruction, and there are many that go in there,
 14 Because the gate is restricted, and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it."  

I guess it does no harm to place "R.I.P." on the tombstone, but the issue has already been decided.  The recently departed one is either already in heaven, or already in hell, and what is placed on the tombstone doesn't change their status.  

I know of a false religion where they look up their genealogies so that they can pray for their dead ancestors.  

That does no good.  Those who've died are already in heaven or hell.  Praying for them won't change their location.  

I've seen in one or more movies where someone died, and the pastor or priest who is conducting the funeral prays a prayer that includes, "And have mercy on their soul."  

That prayer might give some comfort to family members at the funeral, but the matter has already been decided.  If the person's name was in the Lamb's Book of Life when they died, they went to heaven.

Otherwise, they went to hell, so asking for God's mercy at that point is a wasted prayer.  

Hebrews 9:27 tells us,  "And as it is appointed to men once to die, but after this the judgment..."

We must get ourselves straight with God during this life.  After we die, the matter has already been permanently decided.  

The Bible tells us, "Now is the hour of salvation."  If we put it off until later, we may not have another opportunity.  

But the Jehovah's Witnesses will try to tell you that it's just a parable about the rich man and Lazarus. 

No, it really happened.  Jesus said so.  

Jehovah's Witnesses is a false religion that says there's no hell.  

I rode a bus one time from Dallas to El Paso.  There was a Jehovah's Witness man on the bus.  I said to that man, "You people say there's no hell.  But Jesus said there is a fiery hell.  Now someone is lying, and I know Jesus doesn't lie."    

I have also heard a false teaching that there is a third option to heaven and hell, a place called Purgatory, a place where if you didn't make it to heaven, you might somehow work it out, and eventually get to heaven.  But that teaching is a lie.  

Hebrews 9:27 tells us you either get straight with God during this life, or if you don't, you'll go straight to hell when you die.  

Now the Muslims have been taught that if you die a Muslim martyr, you'll go to heaven.  Some Muslims have also been taught that Muslim martyrs go to a heaven where they get 72 virgins to be their wives.  

But Jesus taught us that there is no marriage in heaven. (Matt 22:30)

And 1 Jhn 3:15 says no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.  You don't go to heaven by murdering people, as Muslim martyrs are doing.  

Major Hasan of the Ft. Hood massacre saw Muslim martyrdom as a short cut to heaven for himself, and killed about 13 people.  

Whoever it was that told Hasan that would get him to heaven lied to him.  

The Muslims say that Jesus is one of their prophets.  How then could they swallow the lie that they'll get 72 virgins in heaven, when Jesus said there's no marriage in heaven?  

Well, you see, you have to read the Bible if you want to know what Jesus said.  But the Muslims read the Koran, so they don't know what the prophet Jesus said.  

Others think that by doing penance, that will help them get to heaven.  No, you must be born-again, Jesus said. (John chapter 3)

You don't do penance, you get God to forgive your sins.  You confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus, and you believe in your heart God raised him from the dead. (Rom 10:9,10)  

Scriptures quoted are from the Holy Bible, Hoehn Version and the New Testament, Hoehn Version, both available as ebooks for the Kindle readers from Amazon.com.