Sunday Tidbit: Is There Life After Death?

    The answer is yes. The following testify to the reality of “life after death.” While these events did not happen to me, they happened to people I know. As Christians, we can be assured, “To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord” (2nd Corinthians 5:8). 

   One day, I received a call that a relative had died. He was mowing the lawn when he suddenly died of a massive heart attack. The family held an open-casket service, allowing loved ones to say their final goodbyes and find closure. I noticed people in line turned left, well away from where his body lay. I went right up to the casket and was surprised to see a beautiful smile on his face. I then heard the Lord say, “Just before his heart attack, I came for him.”

    I was sitting at my desk when I received the call, “Roy, your sister is in the hospital.” At the hospital, the doctors informed me that she had suffered a brain aneurysm and was on life support. Although her body continued to function normally, her brain was dead. After consulting with the family, heartbroken with grief, we decided the best thing to do for her was to take her off life support. It was also time for us to let her go. 

   With the family gathered around her bedside, the doctor took her off life support. The room was filled with the presence of God. I perceived angels in the room. I had never felt such supernatural peace and comfort. Without a struggle, she passed on. But something happened. Lying just above her body was my sister’s spirit. Looking up at me, she wore the most beautiful smile, as if to say, “Thank you.” She was then escorted home by the angels in the room. 

    You might wonder, “How is it that I see these things?” By the grace of God, I have “The gift of discerning of spirits” (1 Corinthians 12:10). This gift enables me to discern angels, the Holy Spirit’s presence, witchcraft, demonic entities and their assignments, truth from deception, a person’s motives and purposes, and spiritual gifts and callings. 

     In another life-and-death event, someone in the family was seriously ill. While I was on my way to visit her at the hospital, the thought came to me, “She has passed on.” Sure enough, there she stood in the hospital corridor, with an angel beside her. When I asked the doctor about her passing, it was at that moment that it was revealed to me. 

    I knew a man who died on the operating table. Before his passing, I testified that Jesus Christ was crucified at Calvary for our sins and that, by the grace of God through faith, we receive the gift of salvation with eternal life (Ephesians 2:8). He refused to listen. During the surgery, he was pronounced dead. Soon after, the doctors revived him. 

    When I asked about his experience with death, he said he had gone to hell. “So,” I asked him, “Now that you know hell exists, you must know there is a heaven. Wouldn’t you prefer to go to heaven?” In his bitter, hateful state, he replied, “No. I would rather go to hell!” I never saw him again, but I always wonder how someone with such anger toward God would choose Satan and spend eternity being tormented in hell rather than spend eternity in heaven with Jesus.  

       Life is short, just a vapor of smoke. Do not take for granted that you will go to heaven at your passing. Being a good person, doing good deeds, or attending church will not get you there. Only through the Lord Jesus Christ, who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life (John 14:6), can we receive the gift of salvation with eternal life. As Paul tells us, 

     “If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus Christ, and believe in your heart that He is the Son of God, whom God has raised from the dead, you will receive the gift of salvation with eternal life” (Romans 10: 10). 

     If you are not sure of your salvation, or have never received Jesus Christ into your heart as Lord and Savior, now is the time to do so. Don’t wait any longer. To arrange for a confidential “one-on-one” session, send your request to me at info@eastgateoffice.org

   In His heart with love – Roy Roden