There are secular accounts of what individuals saw or reported to have seen and/or experienced as they departed or after having departed the body.
We will take a few of these Biblical accounts to see what light they shed on the type of environment that departed souls have or will experience. Note that what ALL of these events have in common is that they speak of a conscious existence.
One involved the departed soul of Samuel with whom King Saul sought guidance (1Sam 28). At that time, the departed soul of Samuel was in the Paradise of Hades where ALL of the departed souls of believers during the Old Testament descended to at the moment of physical death. As Luke 16 teach, both the environments (Torments vs. Paradise) of Hades involve a conscious knowledge and experience of the environment in which the soul finds itself. This is the same "Paradise" to which the repentant man on the cross next to our Lord descended to and was with the Lord prior to our Lord's resurrection (Luke 23: 43). While in Paradise, Samuel reports being disturbed as a result of being called up by the seer. This disturbance was a breach in the rest that Samuel was enjoying in Paradise. Rest, here, is not unconscious sleep, but a release from the "work" that one was involved in while here on Earth. This does not mean that there won't be "work" for us to do throughout Eternity, but that whatever work there is, it will be one of joy, similar to the work that Adam enjoyed in the Paradise of Earth, but became laborious after the Fall (Gen. 3:19).
For the Old Testament believers, the bodily form that they had in Hades did have the ability to receive comfort, and this change in environment did not alter the ability of the soul to think or to experience human emotions. As of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ, departing souls of believers no longer go to Hades, but go directly to the 3rd Heaven (2Cor. 5:8).
The souls of unbelievers, upon departing this Earth, continue to go to the Torments of Hades and will eventually go to and spend all of Eternity in the Lake of Fire (Rev. 20: 13, 15).
As noted earlier in this teaching, the "fire" and the "suffering" that unbelievers will experience in Hades and later in the Lake of Fire are presented in Scripture via "language of accommodation". Language of accommodation uses verbal similarities to describe things that are beyond the human (earthly) experience in terms that can be understood by ALL generations of Man. In the natural realm, suffering that is associated with fire involves intense pain and death to one's human body. In Hades, the soul is no longer connected to the human body that was left behind at the moment of death, but has a body in Hades that also can suffer, but is NOT consumed by the tormenting fire! The same can be said of the Lake of Fire where the souls of Hades will be sent at the Judgment of Unbelievers (Rev. 20: 13, 15).
From these passages we can discern that there are two very different locations and environments awaiting the departure of EVERY soul. Are you prepared for yours?
Next we see that Steven, the first recorded martyr of the Church, was permitted to see a vision of glory (Acts 7:55) as the fatal stones that would take his life were headed his way. Even though most of us will not be afforded such a vision, we can ALL choose to be focused on the glory that we are about to see if the immanency of departure is made known to us. If the circumstances of your departure permit, will you be focuses on all that did or didn't take place here on Earth, or will you have the spiritual maturity to look forward to meeting the Lord face to face?
Then there was the "out of body" experience or vision of Paul. With the help of the 15 year dating factor noted by Paul in 2Cor. 12, most Biblical scholars conclude that this event took place in Lystra where Paul was stoned and left for dead outside of the city gates (Acts 14: 19). Paul, himself, writes in his letter to the believers in Corinth, that did not know at that time if this took place in a vision or in the course of an out of body experience 2Cor.12:3). I favor the latter. Either way, Paul does not report what his personal experience in the 3rd Heaven "felt" like, but only reported that he was caught up and while in the 3rd Heaven, heard (and I believe, saw) "inexpressible words" (and I believe, things) "which a man is not permitted to speak (1Cor. 12:4). Whatever these inexpressible words (or things) were, they will be a part of the experience that believers will take part in after departing this Earth!
Finally, we can only wonder what day to day life , void of Satanic influence (Rev. 20:2) will be like during the millennial reign of Christ when we (The Church) returns with the Lord at the Second Advent (Rev. 20:6). We can only speculate what it is going to be like when the 1,000 years are over with and the devil is set loose (Rev. 20:3, 7) and permitted to organize the Gog and Magog revolt (Rev. 20: 8). We can only speculate what it is going to be like to see the coalition that the devil forms is destroyed by divine power as it advances towards Jerusalem (Rev. 20:9). We can only speculate what it ils going to be like in the New Heaven and the New Earth that God is going to establish (Rev. 21) after the present one goes up in a ball of fire (2Pet. 3: 10).
As Deut. 29:29 teach, God does NOT choose to tell us everything that we (may) want to know, but has told us everything that one needs to know in order to be confident (John 8:32) where we are going upon departing this world.
God has not revealed all that has taken place in Eternity past , nor has He chosen to reveal all that He has in mind beyond what is revealed in Scripture concerning future events. What we DO know for SURE is that we ALL have an appointed time to depart this world, and that where and how we will spend all of Eternity is based on the choices that we make during our lifetime here on Earth.
We are going to be "dead" a lot longer than we were ever "alive" on this Earth. In fact, our existence in Eternity, unlike our existence here on Earth, will NEVER come to an end!
This concludes our answer to what is like to die.
We will take a few of these Biblical accounts to see what light they shed on the type of environment that departed souls have or will experience. Note that what ALL of these events have in common is that they speak of a conscious existence.
One involved the departed soul of Samuel with whom King Saul sought guidance (1Sam 28). At that time, the departed soul of Samuel was in the Paradise of Hades where ALL of the departed souls of believers during the Old Testament descended to at the moment of physical death. As Luke 16 teach, both the environments (Torments vs. Paradise) of Hades involve a conscious knowledge and experience of the environment in which the soul finds itself. This is the same "Paradise" to which the repentant man on the cross next to our Lord descended to and was with the Lord prior to our Lord's resurrection (Luke 23: 43). While in Paradise, Samuel reports being disturbed as a result of being called up by the seer. This disturbance was a breach in the rest that Samuel was enjoying in Paradise. Rest, here, is not unconscious sleep, but a release from the "work" that one was involved in while here on Earth. This does not mean that there won't be "work" for us to do throughout Eternity, but that whatever work there is, it will be one of joy, similar to the work that Adam enjoyed in the Paradise of Earth, but became laborious after the Fall (Gen. 3:19).
For the Old Testament believers, the bodily form that they had in Hades did have the ability to receive comfort, and this change in environment did not alter the ability of the soul to think or to experience human emotions. As of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ, departing souls of believers no longer go to Hades, but go directly to the 3rd Heaven (2Cor. 5:8).
The souls of unbelievers, upon departing this Earth, continue to go to the Torments of Hades and will eventually go to and spend all of Eternity in the Lake of Fire (Rev. 20: 13, 15).
As noted earlier in this teaching, the "fire" and the "suffering" that unbelievers will experience in Hades and later in the Lake of Fire are presented in Scripture via "language of accommodation". Language of accommodation uses verbal similarities to describe things that are beyond the human (earthly) experience in terms that can be understood by ALL generations of Man. In the natural realm, suffering that is associated with fire involves intense pain and death to one's human body. In Hades, the soul is no longer connected to the human body that was left behind at the moment of death, but has a body in Hades that also can suffer, but is NOT consumed by the tormenting fire! The same can be said of the Lake of Fire where the souls of Hades will be sent at the Judgment of Unbelievers (Rev. 20: 13, 15).
From these passages we can discern that there are two very different locations and environments awaiting the departure of EVERY soul. Are you prepared for yours?
Next we see that Steven, the first recorded martyr of the Church, was permitted to see a vision of glory (Acts 7:55) as the fatal stones that would take his life were headed his way. Even though most of us will not be afforded such a vision, we can ALL choose to be focused on the glory that we are about to see if the immanency of departure is made known to us. If the circumstances of your departure permit, will you be focuses on all that did or didn't take place here on Earth, or will you have the spiritual maturity to look forward to meeting the Lord face to face?
Then there was the "out of body" experience or vision of Paul. With the help of the 15 year dating factor noted by Paul in 2Cor. 12, most Biblical scholars conclude that this event took place in Lystra where Paul was stoned and left for dead outside of the city gates (Acts 14: 19). Paul, himself, writes in his letter to the believers in Corinth, that did not know at that time if this took place in a vision or in the course of an out of body experience 2Cor.12:3). I favor the latter. Either way, Paul does not report what his personal experience in the 3rd Heaven "felt" like, but only reported that he was caught up and while in the 3rd Heaven, heard (and I believe, saw) "inexpressible words" (and I believe, things) "which a man is not permitted to speak (1Cor. 12:4). Whatever these inexpressible words (or things) were, they will be a part of the experience that believers will take part in after departing this Earth!
Finally, we can only wonder what day to day life , void of Satanic influence (Rev. 20:2) will be like during the millennial reign of Christ when we (The Church) returns with the Lord at the Second Advent (Rev. 20:6). We can only speculate what it is going to be like when the 1,000 years are over with and the devil is set loose (Rev. 20:3, 7) and permitted to organize the Gog and Magog revolt (Rev. 20: 8). We can only speculate what it is going to be like to see the coalition that the devil forms is destroyed by divine power as it advances towards Jerusalem (Rev. 20:9). We can only speculate what it ils going to be like in the New Heaven and the New Earth that God is going to establish (Rev. 21) after the present one goes up in a ball of fire (2Pet. 3: 10).
As Deut. 29:29 teach, God does NOT choose to tell us everything that we (may) want to know, but has told us everything that one needs to know in order to be confident (John 8:32) where we are going upon departing this world.
God has not revealed all that has taken place in Eternity past , nor has He chosen to reveal all that He has in mind beyond what is revealed in Scripture concerning future events. What we DO know for SURE is that we ALL have an appointed time to depart this world, and that where and how we will spend all of Eternity is based on the choices that we make during our lifetime here on Earth.
We are going to be "dead" a lot longer than we were ever "alive" on this Earth. In fact, our existence in Eternity, unlike our existence here on Earth, will NEVER come to an end!
This concludes our answer to what is like to die.