That was the title of a pamphlet that I found inside a Gideon Bible while on vacation this summer.  Can you guess who published the pamphlet? It was the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society…and it is the publishing arm of the Jehovah Witnesses.  The little folded tract sounded really good.  For example, on the front page it states, “There is…one book that contains reliable answers. …Today we know that Word as the Holy Bible.”  However, the information contained within was really far from the truth.

For example one of the six segments asks, “What happens to us when we die?”  The Watch Tower answers, “What the Bible teaches: At death, humans cease to exist” The article also strongly implies that the wicked are not punished in an everlasting hell.

The Bible never teaches that life ceases to exist.  Death in the Bible refers to the separation of the body and soul.  The body dies (ceases to function), but the soul lives on into eternity, either with God or away from the presence of God in Hell.

Death also means to be separated from God.  Every person is born in such a spiritual condition. (Rom 5:12, 14, 17, 21)  Each one is spiritually dead until he or she turns to God by placing his/her faith in the Lord Jesus believing that He died for them and rose from the dead. 

The apostle Paul saw death as gain for the saved.  “For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.” (Phil 1:21) To me, ceasing to exist is not gain. According to Corinthians 5 verses 6 thru 9, the apostle indicates that we are either absent from the Lord while in the body or present with Him when we are no longer in this body.  It is either one or the other.

Lastly, who are the souls under the altar in Revelation 6 verse 9?  According to this verse they are individuals who have been martyred for their faith.  And even though their body has died, they speak out and are told to rest with their fellow servants.  Clearly they did not cease to exist.  

Would you like to know the truth?  The truth is you will never cease to exist. The Bible states, “It is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment.”(Heb 9:27)  And this judgment will be based on Whom you have placed your faith.  “For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world , but that the world through Him might be saved.” (John 3:17)  However, “…he who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him. (John 3:36)  As you live on after physical death, where will you spend your eternity?