1. Three times in our text, our Lord says to His disciples, "Fear not" (10:26,28,31).
2. He is telling them not to fear because many of them would be put to death because of their faith (cf. 10:16-26). He tried to warn them that the Gospel message would not be popular and would result in persecution.
3. And while we have no way of telling if any of us will ever be executed for our faith, it is very likely that one way or another some of us will face death.
4. There is much confusion over what actually happens when we leave this world. Some false beliefs can immediately be rejected because they contradict the Bible:

• Reincarnation (Heb.9:27)
• Purgatory (Matt.25:46)
• Annihilation (Luke 16:23-26).

5. Much of the confusion comes from religious cults that twist the Bible and deceive gullible people.
6. For example, they teach people that the word hell should not be in the Bible because the word refers to the grave. But the Bible teaches no such thing.
7. The great evangelist, Billy Sunday, said: "You may not believe in hell now, but you will one minute after you get there."
8. The great French writer Victor Hugo, wrote these words about what happens after death: "When I go down to my grave, I can say, like so many others, ‘I have finished my day’s work’; but I cannot say I have finished my life. My day’s work will begin again the next morning. The tomb is not a blind alley; it is a thoroughfare; it closes in the twilight, to open with the dawn."
9. I have entitled this message: "What Happens After Death?"

1. EVERYTHING WILL BE OUT IN THE OPEN (MATT.10:26)

1. Today, the enemies of the Gospel seem to be prospering. The devil’s crowd seems to be running everything – the government, the schools, the media, even most of the churches!
2. It can be discouraging for the child of God to look around and see the cause of Christ suffering while the forces of wickedness appear to be triumphing.
3. But our Lord assures us that His work will not fail, his church will withstand the gates of hell, His Word will not return void, and His followers will be vindicated (10:26).
4. Today, the Gospel seems to be hidden and drowned out by the noisy racket of rock music and TV and Hollywood – but our Lord promises us that "there is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed…" (10:26).
5. When our Lord returns, "the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea" (Isa.11:9; cf. Hab.2:14).
6. Right now it appears that the wicked are getting away with their evil deeds, but soon everything will come to light (cf. Rom.2:16; I Cor.4:5).
7. Right now, wicked principles and wicked acts are now veiled in the darkness of secrecy – but soon "God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil" (Eccl.12:14).
8. Perhaps there is some one here today who is committing some secret sin that you think that you will not get caught. Remember the Bible says, "Be sure your sin will find you out" (Num.32:23).

2. FEAR OF HELL IS BETTER THAN FEAR OF MAN (MATT.10:28)

1. Some people say it is wrong to have a fear of hell. I cannot agree with them. If you are crossing a busy street such as Hempstead Turnpike, you are careful. Why? Because you fear getting hit by a car!
2. If you are going for major surgery, you make sure that the doctor knows what he is doing. Why? Because you fear dying on the operating table!
3. When policemen walk the beat in dangerous sections of NYC, they wear bullet-proof vests. Why? Because they fear getting killed by a criminal! All would agree that these are good, healthy fears, but Jesus says it is far more important to fear God, who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell (10:28).
4. The word our Lord used here for hell is Gehenna, the valley of Hinnom, a place outside Jerusalem where backslidden Jews worshipped devils and sacrificed their children to Molech, a cruel pagan god of death and slaughter.
5. Good King Josiah put an end to this horrible practice and turned this disgusting place into a garbage dump. It developed into a cesspool for the city’s sewage and all their refuse was burned there.
6. Because of the continual fires burning, the horrible memories of weeping and wailing, idolatry and human sacrifices, the horrible stench of burning garbage with piles of dead criminals, the rotten carcasses of animals and the unspeakable filth – our Lord referred to Gehenna as "hell."
7. The word Gehenna is used twelve times in the New Testament and it always refers to eternal hellfire (cf. Mark 9:43-48). Unquenchable fire is eternal fire.
8. The worst thing that evil men can do to the born-again Christian is kill him and send him straight to heaven (Matt.10:28; cf. Luke 12:4), but the soul that dies without Christ goes straight to hell.
9. The Bible says that for the Christian, to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord (II Cor.5:8). But for the unsaved, death means eternal suffering in the lake of fire and brimstone.
10. Some one once asked Oliver Cromwell why he was so brave and he replied: "I’ve learned that when you fear God, you do not have any man to fear."
11. On the tombstone of John Knox, it says: "Here lies one who feared God so much that he never feared the face of any man." No wonder he was able to drive popery out of Scotland!
12. We are speaking here of a reverential fear that recognizes that God is holy and righteous and would be perfectly just in casting each and every one of us into hell.
13. Do not let any one try and tell you that hell is just the grave. Hell is not the grave. Hell is more than physical death – it is eternal torment and eternal punishment (notice "destroy" – 10:28).
14. Hell is weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth.
15. Spurgeon said: "Some have refused to burn at the stake, and have burned in their beds; and many more have dreaded the pains of persecution, and so have plunged into the flames of hell by apostasy."
16. Spurgeon jotted these words down in his Bible:

Should persecution rage and flame,
Still trust in thy Redeemer’s name;
In fiery trials thou shalt see
That, "as thy days, thy strength shall be."
When called to bear the weighty cross,
Or some affliction, pain or loss,
Or deep distress, or poverty,
Still, "as thy days, thy strength shall be."

17. The Biblical Illustrator has these words: "The thought of damnation ought to have greater weight to engage our fears than the most exquisite miseries that the malice of man is able to inflict."

3. ONLY THOSE WHO CONFESS CHRIST WILL BE SAVED (10:32,33)

1. We have seen that in the next world, everything will come to light.
2. Furthermore, we have seen some solemn warnings from the lips of our Saviour concerning the horrors of hell. My third and final point is perhaps the most important part of the message.
3. If hell is real, and the Bible certainly teaches that it is real, then no sensible person would want to go there. We do not have to wonder whether or not we are safe from the horrors of eternal damnation, the Bible is very clear (Matt.10:32,33).
4. Confessing Christ means trusting Christ; it means believing in Him.
5. It means confessing Him as both Lord and Saviour (cf. Rom.10:9).
6. To deny Christ means to be lost forever. If we refuse to confess Him before men, He will refuse to confess us before God the Father up in heaven (10:32,33).
7. Take your stand for the Lord Jesus Christ, confess Him publicly, get baptized and join His church. Don’t let the devil hinder you from making a total commitment to Christ.

1. Most people have some form of an opinion concerning the afterlife. Most are sincere, but unfortunately they are sincerely wrong.
2. I recently read of a couple who took the famous and luxurious Queen Mary from their home in London to New York. From here they hoped to fly down to Texas to see some relatives.
3. They boarded a flight out of Kennedy Airport, thinking they were on their way to Dallas, Texas. You can imagine their surprise when their plane landed in London!
4. They sincerely thought that they were heading to Texas. That’s the way many people are – they sincerely believe that they are heading for heaven but are actually going in the opposite direction.
5. This British couple were able to eventually get the right plane back to NY and then down to Texas.
6. But if you wind up in hell, it will be too late – there is no way you can turn around and get out!