Participants: John Lomacang
Series Code: ASHF
Program Code: ASHF000062
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00:20 Hello and welcome to another
00:22 Wednesday night Bible study here at A Sharper Focus. 00:25 We want to thank you for tuning in. 00:26 We know it's always a pleasure to have you join us. 00:29 We want you to know that from our audience, 00:30 can you all say amen? 00:32 Amen. 00:33 And here we are at the 3ABN Worship Center, 00:35 some say West Frankfort, 00:37 but actually it's just a few feet away 00:38 is West Frankfort, but this is Thompsonville. 00:41 But that's not important 00:43 wherever you're joining us from, 00:44 whether from Australia, from South Africa, 00:47 from the Caribbean, 00:48 from different parts of the United States 00:50 or some of our friends from Orlando, or New York, 00:54 or from Pretoria, 00:56 wherever you may be joining us from, 00:57 we thank you for tuning in tonight. 00:58 Get your Bibles, get your pens, 01:00 invite your family and your friends 01:02 to stay with us for the next hour 01:03 as we continue with the topic, 01:05 "The truth about life and death." 01:08 And very important topic 01:10 because so much is taught about life and death 01:12 that's really just not true. 01:14 And here at A Sharper Focus, we want to remain 01:17 on the cutting edge of God's Word. 01:19 We don't want to guess, 01:21 we don't want the media to form ideologies, 01:23 we don't want to be molded by the society around us 01:26 or the media, 01:27 we want to know what the Word of God says. 01:29 Amen? 01:30 So tonight, let's bow our heads before we sing our theme song, 01:32 which is Victory in Jesus, 01:34 and we'll invite the Lord to bless us 01:36 as we all study together. 01:37 Let's pray. 01:39 Our gracious Father in heaven, 01:40 a blessing comes to us whenever we open the Word. 01:43 We come face to face with that which is truth. 01:46 It may be written on paper, parchment, 01:50 whatever the source, it even may be digital, 01:52 but it is the living Word of God 01:55 breathed by the Holy Spirit, 01:57 inspired through the lives of men 01:59 and those who have walked with You, 02:00 and have been clearly commanded 02:04 and directed to write and to speak to us 02:06 in these modern times. 02:07 And so, Lord, tonight as we deal 02:09 with a very delicate but important topic, 02:12 be our teacher we ask, 02:14 in Jesus' name we pray, amen. 02:17 Now our theme song, 02:19 Victory in Jesus, we all sing together. 02:21 So as the words will not appear on your screen, 02:24 but you will hear us singing. 02:25 And if you know the song, 02:27 we invite you to join us as we sing our theme song, 02:28 Victory in Jesus. 02:39 Okay, we'll sing it later on. 02:42 Yes, we have. 02:49 I heard an old, old story 02:53 How the Savior came from glory 02:56 How He gave His life on Calvary 03:00 To save a wretch like me 03:04 I heard about His groaning 03:08 Of His precious blood's atoning 03:12 Then I repented of my sins 03:15 And won the victory 03:19 Oh, victory in Jesus 03:23 My Savior forever 03:27 He sought me and bought me 03:30 With His redeeming blood 03:34 He loved me 'ere I knew Him 03:38 And all my love is due Him 03:42 He plunged me to victory 03:45 Beneath the cleansing flood 03:49 I heard about a mansion 03:53 He has built for me in glory 03:57 And I heard about the streets of gold 04:01 Beyond the crystal sea 04:04 About the angels singing 04:08 And the old redemption story 04:12 And some sweet day I'll sing up there 04:16 The song of victory 04:18 Key change. 04:20 Oh, victory in Jesus 04:23 My Savior forever 04:27 He sought me and bought me 04:31 With His redeeming blood 04:35 He loved me 'ere I knew Him 04:38 And all my love is due Him 04:42 He plunged me to victory 04:46 Beneath the cleansing flood 04:50 He plunged me to victory 04:54 Beneath the cleansing flood 05:00 Amen. 05:02 That's why that has become our theme song. 05:03 You know, we travel around, and my wife and I, 05:06 we've had people that say, "Could you send us the words?" 05:09 So what we're going to do 05:10 is we're going to upload the words to our website 05:13 where you can also get a copy of the lesson. 05:16 And to get a copy of the lesson, 05:17 to follow us along, it's go to asf.3abn.org. 05:22 Don't put www, you won't find it. 05:25 And download lesson number 19, the truth about life and death, 05:29 which is a part of a new series, 05:31 how to know the truth about the truth. 05:33 And then on next week, 05:35 we'll upload the lesson if we go to the next one, 05:39 and also the lyrics for the song, 05:41 Victory in Jesus. 05:42 Now do you all have your Bibles? 05:45 And do you all have your pens? 05:46 Do you all have your lessons? 05:48 Are you ready to go? So join us. 05:50 Now let me dive into the topic, 05:52 this is the truth about life and death, 05:55 very important topic. 05:57 And we covered eight questions so far. 06:01 But I just want to recap really quickly 06:02 about the truth about life and death. 06:05 Now the reason why this topic is so important 06:07 is because a misunderstanding 06:09 of this topic lays the foundation 06:12 for spiritualism. 06:13 What word did I just use? 06:15 Spiritualism. Spiritualism. 06:17 Spiritualism is simply when you add ism to a word, 06:22 it changes the meaning of the word. 06:24 For example, to be spiritual is a good thing, 06:26 but spiritualism. 06:29 See commune is a good thing, but not communism. 06:32 See? 06:34 See when you add ism, it changes the word. 06:38 It doesn't always make it a bad word 06:40 like advent and Adventism, 06:42 simply meaning the beliefs of the Adventist movement. 06:45 Communism, the system of... 06:47 A commune of people that have a specific type of government. 06:51 But spiritual, when you add spiritualism, 06:54 it gives it a negative connotation. 06:56 In that, Satan introduced to the key to spiritualism 06:59 in the Garden of Eden. 07:01 And I want you to go with me 07:02 to the Book of Genesis 3 tonight. 07:04 I want you to see what he introduced 07:05 because this has become the foundation 07:07 for every lie told. 07:09 And excuse me for using the word lie, 07:10 but I want to be clear. 07:12 It's not just another theory, it's not just another thought. 07:15 Anything that diverts away from the truth of God's Word 07:18 is a lie. 07:20 Ain't that right? It's either true or it's false. 07:23 It's either somebody is telling the truth in court 07:25 or they're telling a lie. 07:26 And we want the truth and nothing but the truth. 07:29 Ain't that right? 07:30 So now we're going to Genesis 3, 07:32 and we're going to look at something that... 07:36 I want to put this in the proper context. 07:38 This is a satanic exchange with humanity 07:45 because according to the setting, 07:47 by this time, Satan has been expelled, 07:50 expunged, evicted, whatever you're going to call, 07:52 kicked out of heaven because he rebelled 07:54 against the government of God. 07:56 And now he's in the Garden of Eden. 07:58 And what I want to keep in mind is that he couldn't go to Eve. 08:01 The Lord does not allow, and this is really important. 08:04 The Lord does not allow sin to pursue us generally. 08:08 In most cases, you have people that may come and tempt you, 08:12 and so this is not just a blanket statement, 08:14 but in many cases the reason 08:16 why people often find themselves in temptation 08:18 is they go to where the temptation is. 08:21 That's often the case 08:22 where they expose themselves to the temptation. 08:25 In this case, that was the scenario. 08:29 The Lord warned Eve not to go 08:31 to the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. 08:33 He said, "In the day, 08:34 you eat of it, you will surely..." 08:36 What's the next word? "You will surely die." 08:38 I mean, you're going to die. 08:40 Now He didn't say, "You're going to die that day." 08:42 But He said, "You're going to die." 08:44 He said, "That day death will come into the picture." 08:47 And what many people think is that 08:49 because he didn't die that day, then it really wasn't true. 08:52 But He said, "You are going to die." 08:54 And so I mentioned this last week, each of us, 08:57 when we are born, 08:58 you know, we start as an infant, 09:00 we grow up, young child, we get to an apex in our lives, 09:03 and then we start going down the other side, 09:06 we begin to die. 09:07 It's a sad truth. 09:09 And at the end of this sliding board called the other side, 09:12 there's a 6 foot hole, 09:13 and we all slide into it eventually 09:15 if the Lord doesn't come before then. 09:17 I'm hoping that He will come before I slide into the hole. 09:20 That's just my personal desire. 09:22 My wife and I share that together. 09:23 But look at the conversation. 09:25 I want you to see it very, very clear, 09:26 and see what happened. 09:29 And... 09:30 Say it again, what does she calls it? 09:33 The first sermon on... 09:35 The first sermon ever preached to a human being 09:38 from about the immortality of the soul. 09:41 Now really the first sermon 09:42 was when the Lord gave Adam and Eve instruction. 09:45 But this is the first lying sermon ever told, okay? 09:49 Let's look at Genesis 3:1. I want you to see this unfold. 09:53 It says, "Now the serpent was more cunning," 09:55 or if you have the King James Version, 09:57 "more subtle than any beast of the field 10:00 which the Lord God had made. 10:02 And he said to the woman, 'Has God indeed said," 10:07 or "ye have God said, 10:09 'You shall not eat of every tree of the garden?'" 10:12 First thing he did was make it appear 10:14 as though God wasn't letting her do anything. 10:17 He said, "Every tree." 10:19 You see, what happens 10:20 is one of the principles of temptation 10:23 is a person makes it broad. 10:24 Can you do anything? 10:25 Does your mother want you to do anything? 10:28 Well, no, there's a lot of things. 10:29 So why are you letting me stop you to do this? 10:31 See they generally, 10:33 "Can you do anything after 6 o'clock in the evening? 10:35 Can you watch anything on television? 10:37 Can you eat anything other than veggie meat?" 10:40 You see, they broaden it 10:41 before they get you to narrow it down 10:42 to the real issue at hand. 10:44 Be careful when somebody comes at you 10:46 and when you've been told what not to do, 10:48 and they say, "Can't you do anything?" 10:50 It's what Satan had done. 10:51 Can you eat of any tree, every tree of the garden? 10:54 "And the woman said to the serpent, 10:56 'We may eat of the fruit of the tree of the garden.'" 10:58 Yes, we may. 11:00 "But of the fruit of the tree 11:01 which is in the midst of the garden, 11:03 God has said, 'You shall not eat of it, 11:05 nor shall you touch it, lest you..." 11:07 What? "Die.'" 11:10 So she knew the dangers. 11:12 But I want to make a point here 11:14 before I go to the very next verse. 11:16 She wouldn't have had this conversation 11:17 had she not gone 11:19 where God told her not to go, right? 11:22 If you don't go to the bar, 11:24 you're not going to have somebody 11:26 there trying to convince you to get a drink. 11:29 Because chances are, 11:30 then I can be banging your door down, 11:31 "Hey, I got a drink for you, open the door," right? 11:35 So what happens is be careful not to go places 11:37 where temptation is greater than it could have been. 11:40 Now look at verse 4. 11:42 "And the serpent said to the woman, 11:45 'You will not surely..." 11:47 What? "Die.'" 11:49 Now when you compare that with what God said, 11:52 God said to the woman, "Yeah, you will die." 11:54 And he said, "You will not die." 11:56 So now let me ask you the question, 11:58 who do we believe, God or the devil? 12:00 Right. 12:01 Clearly, the answer is we believe God, 12:03 but what I want you to get here is the reason why people today, 12:07 and I've said this in some other prior programs, 12:09 the reason why people today 12:11 won't spend the night in the cemetery 12:15 is because they don't really believe 12:17 that everybody in there is dead. 12:20 So somehow this lie has permeated 12:24 the minds of even some Christians. 12:25 I had a guy at our church, one of our other churches, 12:28 I won't tell where, but he was from a country 12:31 where they believe in a lot of voodoo 12:33 and all the spiritualism. 12:35 This pervades many countries. 12:37 But he became an Adventist Christian, 12:39 he believed that you die. 12:40 But I said, "Okay, if you really believe that, 12:42 spend the night in the cemetery." 12:44 He said, "Not me. There will be no way." 12:46 You know what I say, 12:48 "That's the safest place in your community." 12:50 Because no... 12:52 You could put your wallet down on the gravestone next to you, 12:55 you can put your cell phone on this gravestone to the left, 12:58 wake up in the morning and it will be there 13:03 because you'll find out why. 13:05 But here's the point. 13:07 He said, "You will not surely die." 13:09 So let's break that down the way that Hebrews said. 13:12 The Hebrews actually, 13:13 in the way that Hebrew is saying is, 13:15 "I am sure you will not die." 13:17 Or you will die, but not surely." 13:23 So in the Hebrew here, 13:24 Satan is saying in the way that the Hebrew says it is, 13:27 "I am sure you will not die." 13:30 So what happens? 13:32 That gets a person to try drugs 13:33 or anything that could cause them death 13:35 is because your friend says, 13:36 "Do you think you're going to die in the first puff? 13:39 I mean really?" 13:41 You think you're going to die from the first drink? 13:43 You think you're going to die 13:45 from the first trying of a particular toxic drug. 13:49 But he said, "You will not surely die." 13:51 So the reason why so many programs now days 13:53 on television... 13:56 And movie producers can make you believe anything 13:58 if you believe what they say or what the Bible, 14:00 they can make it look like the lights are flying 14:02 toward the sky, and people will say, 14:04 "Oh, the souls are going up to heaven." 14:07 They can make it look like, 14:08 you're talking to your dead loved ones. 14:10 And I'll tell you what actually is behind that in a moment. 14:14 But here's the reason why 14:15 we have to understand something here, 14:17 is when God told Adam and Eve that death would come... 14:22 Let me ask you the question. 14:24 Has death come upon our soul, right? 14:28 Is death a problem in society? 14:32 Okay, let's go to Romans 6:23. 14:35 Let's just see what happened here. 14:37 Romans 6:23, 14:38 and then we're going to dive into question number one, 14:40 this is just a little bit of foundation. 14:43 Okay. 14:48 Okay. 14:50 And Romans 6:23, we all know it by heart. 14:56 Paul said, well, "For the wages of sin is..." 14:59 What? 15:00 "Death, but the gift of God 15:02 is eternal life in Christ Jesus, our Lord." 15:06 Now the reason I delved to this verse is 15:08 because what I want to get is a very important point. 15:10 If we really believe that dead are dead, 15:13 then the dead don't have continued life after they die. 15:18 So either they die or they have eternal life. 15:22 We will all have eternal life those of us 15:25 who believe in the Lord, 15:26 that promise has been made to us, 15:28 but eternal life does not begin at the time of death, 15:31 it begins when Jesus returns, 15:33 that's when we put on immortality. 15:35 We talked about that last week. 15:37 So tonight, the reason why I've delve into this one is 15:39 because question number nine, "Where we're going to go next?" 15:42 is so important to understanding 15:45 that nothing survives death. 15:47 You've heard the arguments, people say spirit, 15:50 some say soul, some come to the conclusion 15:53 that there is something about a person 15:55 that just survives, 15:57 and in as far as television is concerned, 15:59 and many movie producers, and many books, 16:02 and even many preachers claiming 16:04 to believe the Bible, 16:06 they say, "Well, they're in heaven now 16:08 or they're looking down 16:09 or your mother is your angel now 16:11 or your daughter is your new guardian angel." 16:14 They have bought into this lie. 16:16 And one of the reasons why I say this next statement 16:18 is because here at 3ABN, 16:20 we are committed to telling nothing but the truth. 16:25 I could tell you some more after that, 16:26 but let me go to question over nine. 16:29 I don't want to be too... 16:31 I want to tell you too much too quickly. 16:32 But look at question number nine, 16:34 it's where we're starting tonight, all right? 16:37 How else do we know that man does not possess 16:42 an immortal soul? 16:44 Let's go to Ezekiel 18:4. 16:48 Ezekiel 18:4, all right? 16:53 And as many of you already there. 16:57 Okay, we're going to look at a text 17:00 that makes it very clear. 17:04 Okay, here I am. 17:08 Okay, I am there now. 17:13 Okay. 17:20 Are you ready? 17:22 And the Bible says... 17:23 Clearly, let's read this together, 17:25 it's on the screen. 17:26 "Behold..." How many souls? 17:28 "All souls are Mine, the soul of the father 17:33 as well as the soul of the son is Mine, 17:36 the soul who sin shall..." 17:38 What? "Die." 17:39 Or the soul that sinneth as the King James Version says, 17:42 you know, right away it's in my head, 17:43 I could quote it right off the bat, 17:45 I'm still getting used to the New King James Version 17:47 after many years of using it. 17:48 But the soul that sins, it shall die. 17:52 So then here's the question 17:53 that naturally is already been answered, Can a soul die? 17:57 Okay, now let's go to Genesis 2, 17:59 just a peek back to see something, 18:01 because the word soul, 18:02 one of the failures of the English language, 18:05 is that we can't give the proper qualification 18:09 to the word soul. 18:11 It has a singular word in the Greek, 18:13 but it means so many different things. 18:15 And what I'm going to do 18:16 is give you a couple of examples in the Bible 18:18 where you find the word soul used 18:20 in many particulars. 18:22 The word soul used in many particulars. 18:24 Okay, let's go to Genesis 2:7. Is that where we're going? 18:28 Genesis 2:7. 18:33 And the Bible says in Genesis 2:7, 18:39 "And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, 18:44 and He breathed into his nostrils 18:46 the breath of life, and man became a living..." 18:49 What's the next word? "Living soul." 18:52 Now the reason I didn't say what translation 18:53 because I want to create a little bit of confusion here. 18:56 We had some people saying being, 18:57 we had some people saying soul, 18:59 you know what they were all saying? 19:01 The same thing. 19:03 Because the word in the Hebrew is the word nefesh. 19:08 Say that with me, nefesh. 19:11 But now what you'll get here is, 19:14 you're going to see this word soul 19:16 in various contexts in the Bible. 19:19 The word is nefesh, but it's also the word neshama, 19:24 it's also the word ruach. 19:29 And so depending on the context, 19:32 it can either mean a living being, 19:34 it can mean a person's desire, it can mean a person's passion, 19:39 it could mean vitality, it can mean a number of things. 19:42 So... 19:43 But you have to put the context together. 19:45 And in this particular context, it means the breath 19:47 that God put into man's nostrils 19:51 is the word neshama, say that with me, neshama. 19:55 That's a Hebrew word. 19:56 It means not just breath, 19:58 like it comes from a human being, 20:00 but it means a breath of vitality. 20:02 When you think of vitality, the word there is life, 20:05 the breath of life. 20:07 What God put into man's nostrils 20:08 the breath of life was what brought man to life. 20:11 And in other words, that's that spot, 20:12 that that divine property that none of us possess, 20:16 the ability to give somebody life. 20:18 So, and so... 20:19 Huh? Say it again. 20:21 It's not CPR, that's right, we can't do it. 20:23 You may be a great physician 20:25 or a person who's got a certificate in the class, 20:28 but you will never be able to give somebody life 20:30 after they've been declared dead, all right? 20:33 But let's look at a couple of examples. 20:35 Go with me to the Book of Genesis 34. 20:40 Genesis 34, I want to show you a couple of examples. 20:44 I'm going to go to my trusted Bible here on my iPad. 20:49 Yes, I have a Bible on my iPad. 20:52 Okay, we're going to go and look that word up. 20:55 Where did I say to go? Genesis 34. 21:00 And I'm going to do some comparisons 21:01 because I have in front of me the King James 21:03 and the New King James Version, 21:04 and I'm going to read it in both contexts, okay? 21:07 Now in the King James Version... 21:14 Let's read verse 3 21:17 of Genesis 34. 21:22 I think one of the reasons why the King James Version 21:25 has been not necessarily replaced 21:27 but the New King James Version has been added 21:29 because we don't necessarily talk this way today. 21:32 In the King James Version, it says, 21:33 "And his soul clave unto Dinah the daughter of Jacob, 21:37 and he loved the damsel, 21:39 and spake kindly unto the damsel." 21:43 All right, now in the New King James Version, it says, 21:46 "His soul was strongly attracted 21:49 to Dinah the daughter of Jacob, and he loved the young woman 21:52 and spoke kindly to the young woman." 21:56 Now the word there soul in the King James Version 22:00 is or in the Hebrew is the same word nefesh, 22:04 but in this context it means his heart. 22:10 Come on, say that word with me, his heart. 22:13 You know, when you get an emotional feeling... 22:16 And I know I was a young man. 22:18 When I first saw my wife, 22:21 now this still happens periodically. 22:22 I don't want to make it appear like it dies. 22:24 So even now, then I stand back 22:25 and see how much God has blessed me. 22:28 But I remember seeing her for the first time 22:30 when I, as a teenager, we went to the same church, 22:33 we grew up in the same church together, 22:34 but I think when I hit 16 one day, 22:37 as she and her sister came into church 22:38 after the service had started just recently, 22:41 they stood in the back. 22:42 And it was in those days when girls wore long gowns, 22:45 and they looked like two princesses. 22:48 And I looked at her from a few aisles away 22:49 and I thought, huh! 22:52 Wow! 22:54 I better not even try to talk to her 22:56 'cause I am surely not going to get anywhere. 22:58 There's no way anybody that pretty is going 23:00 to pay any attention to me. 23:02 So I never even made an attempt. 23:03 At that time, I just looked at her from a distance, 23:05 so I understand what it means when it says, 23:08 "His soul was strongly attracted to Dinah, 23:11 the daughter of Jacob, 23:12 he loved the young woman and spoke kindly to her." 23:14 And there the word soul means heart. 23:18 It means what? Heart. I'm giving some examples. 23:20 Now let's go, one more example. 23:23 Let's go to the Book of Leviticus Chapter 6, 23:27 Leviticus Chapter 6. 23:30 And this is an exercise to help us see that, 23:34 you know, when the Bible speaks, 23:37 the English language is a new language, 23:40 it's not nearly as old as Hebrew, 23:42 surely not nearly as old as Greek and Aramaic, 23:45 these ancient languages. 23:47 But Leviticus 6:2, all right? 23:51 Let me go there in my, my... 23:54 Okay, here we are, Leviticus 6:2, okay? 23:59 Now I'm going to read it from the King James first, 24:01 then I'm going to read it in the New King James. 24:03 It says, "If a soul sin, and commit a trespass 24:08 against the Lord, 24:09 and lie unto his neighbor in that 24:12 which was delivered him to keep, or in fellowship, 24:16 or in a thing taken away by violence, 24:18 or hath deceived his neighbor." 24:21 Now let me read the same passage 24:22 in the New King James Version. 24:25 In the King James says, "If a soul sin," 24:27 and the New King James says, "If a..." 24:29 What? Next word." If a person sins." 24:33 So there it doesn't mean heart, it means what? 24:35 Person. 24:37 So you have first of all, living being, heart, person, 24:42 vitality, it also means desire, it also means desire. 24:49 And so when you go through all the meanings 24:51 for the word nefesh, you'll find it's just abundant, 24:55 you have to look at the context. 24:56 And so when the Bible says, "Man became a living soul." 25:00 That means body, that's the dust of the ground, 25:03 plus the vital breath of life which is from God, 25:07 when that was combined, man became. 25:09 What word did I just say? Became. 25:11 Say that word, became. 25:13 That means he didn't have a living soul, 25:15 he became a living soul. 25:17 So get this now. Here's a picture of the soul. 25:20 When the man dies, what separate? 25:24 He no longer has the breath of life. 25:26 He's just a body. And what happens to that body? 25:30 It goes back, it decays. 25:32 And we found out last week where this goes 25:34 because this is the breath of life. 25:37 And the breath of life that came from the Lord 25:39 goes back to the Lord, that means He still owns, 25:43 He still possesses the breath of life. 25:44 That's why when He returns, 25:46 He's going to call us forth from the grave. 25:49 He's going to be the one that gives us the power 25:51 to be resurrected, all right? 25:54 Okay, I think that was clear. Any questions anyone has? 25:57 I want to open it up, so you could ask questions. 25:58 Any questions, anyone has? 26:00 All right, let's go to number 10. 26:02 Let's go to number 10. 26:03 Now we're going to dive right into this. 26:05 So the answer is, "Behold, all souls are Mine, 26:08 so the soul who sin shall die." 26:12 Can... 26:13 Does a soul have...? 26:15 Can a soul die? Yes or no? Yes. 26:17 Okay, so how else do we know 26:19 that a man does not possess an immortal soul? 26:21 Because souls die. Souls die. 26:25 Okay, here we go, question number 10. 26:28 Okay, "When a person dies, 26:30 do they continue to live somewhere else?" 26:34 Do they move 26:35 from the United States to Australia or to England? 26:42 Do they show up in a different neighborhood? 26:44 Do they go to heaven right away? 26:47 Do they go to hell right away? 26:53 Where do they go? 26:55 I've never been to a funeral where a pastor said, 26:58 "They're down there now." 27:02 They have somehow assigned everyone to heaven. 27:06 No matter how bad they are, they all go. 27:09 Let's see what the Bible says. 27:10 Ecclesiastes, 27:13 Ecclesiastes 9:5-6, 27:19 Ecclesiastes 9:5-6, 27:25 all right? 27:27 Wow, really wonderful passage. 27:30 It takes away all the confusion. 27:32 Now I want us to read this together, 27:33 and it's going to be on the screen. 27:35 Let's look at this together, 27:36 and then we'll stop and pause along the way. 27:39 "For the living..." 27:41 What's the next word? 27:42 "Know that they will die, but the dead know..." 27:47 How much? 27:48 "Nothing, and they have no more reward, 27:51 for the memory of them is..." 27:53 What? "Forgotten." 27:55 Now, I want to go ahead 27:56 and add some other components to that. 27:59 The living know that they shall die, 28:00 but the dead know not anything. 28:03 I want to go out and hit through verse 6 here. 28:05 Verse 6 says, "Also their love," 28:10 on the screen, "their hatred, their envy have now..." 28:14 What? 28:15 Perished, nevermore will they have a share 28:18 in anything done under the sun." 28:21 Okay, now here's the key, this is very important. 28:22 And this is of... 28:24 Actually one of, there's the gentlemen 28:25 that was at one of our evangelistic series 28:28 in Vallejo, California. 28:29 And for years, he had believe that people die 28:32 and continue to live. 28:33 And in a very sad way, 28:35 he thought that his friend was in hell being tormented. 28:37 And that evening after he learned this truth 28:39 about what the Bible teaches, 28:41 he came up to us with tears in his eyes, 28:43 we say, "What happened?" 28:44 He says, "For the first time, 28:46 I could actually go to bed at night 28:48 and not feel bad for my friend. 28:50 I thought all these years 28:52 he was in hell burning and being tormented." 28:55 He said, "You don't know 28:56 how much of a burden has been lifted from me." 29:00 And that's why this text says, "Also their love and their... 29:03 What? "Hatred." 29:05 So if somebody loves you, 29:06 they don't go on loving you after that. 29:09 If somebody hates you, 29:10 they don't go on hating you after that. 29:12 Every human emotion, 29:14 every human characteristic ceases to exist 29:18 at the time of their death. 29:20 Their hatred, their love, their envy have now perished. 29:24 And if you go back to the verse right before this, 29:28 it also says, "For the memory of them." 29:30 I want to just go back here for our audience, 29:31 "For the memory of them is forgotten." 29:34 Now, let me ask you this, right? 29:35 Do you forget your loved ones? 29:37 Have anybody here forgotten loved one? 29:38 No, you know what it is saying, their memory, 29:41 for the memory of them, their memory, 29:45 they're not sitting on thinking, 29:46 "I wonder, I wonder how Dan is doing? 29:50 I wonder if he got that car he wanted." 29:53 They're not down in the grave thinking, 29:55 they're not wondering how long is it going to be. 29:58 Matter of fact, the reason why it says, 29:59 the memory of them is forgotten, 30:01 let me give you an illustration. 30:02 Somebody... 30:04 Okay, I'll just tell you very quick, my dad. 30:06 He's deceased now, I want to tell 30:07 a kind of interesting story about him. 30:10 My dad, I was raised by my dad 30:13 who really was tight financially, 30:16 I mean really he was tight. 30:17 He'd send you to the store with a dollar 30:18 and he try to split it 30:20 before he sends you to make sure 30:21 there's not two stuck together. 30:22 So I was at a tough place in life growing up 30:25 and I called him and asked him I said, 30:28 "Dad, I'm in a tight bind, 30:29 could you help me out with some money?" 30:31 He said, "No." 30:32 And so... 30:33 But his wife said, "Yes." 30:35 And his wife was... 30:36 Second marriage, first wife had died. 30:38 His wife said, "Yes." And he said, "No." 30:40 But his wife said, "Okay, 30:41 I'll lend it to you from my money. 30:43 It's okay." 30:44 And she did and went ahead and lend to us. 30:45 And so after his wife died, 30:47 he said, "But you, you almost finished paid off, 30:51 so pay me the rest." 30:52 I said, "No, I owe her. 30:56 That debt is over." 30:59 He looked at me and kind of chuckled. 31:02 I said. 31:03 If he is going to call her to have pay CS bill. 31:06 Is she going to be paying 31:08 any more light bills after this? 31:09 Is anybody going to be sending her birthday card? 31:11 No, everything she owed or is owed her 31:13 has just been canceled. 31:15 And he stopped bothering me. 31:17 Now I don't suggest that you say that to everybody, 31:20 that was for my dad. 31:21 We have that kind of relationship 31:23 because some people go into it together as a partner. 31:26 And I don't want you guys to feel complacent 31:28 that you run to the kitchen and say, 31:30 "Mom, I don't owe you anything more." 31:32 That's not what I'm suggesting. 31:34 But the point of matter is this, 31:37 whatever you had that happened before you died... 31:41 My mother... 31:42 My wife may remember this. 31:44 My mother, when my mom passed away, 31:47 I got a call from a company that she... 31:52 They said, "She owed a debt." 31:54 And I said, "My mother has been dead 31:56 for a number of years." 31:59 Now I know that people sometimes would say 32:00 that to debt collectors. 32:02 That's a sad truth. 32:03 But they said, "Okay, sir, 32:05 could you give us a phone number 32:06 where we can reach her." 32:07 That is after I told. 32:09 I said, "Sir, my mother has been dead 32:10 for a number of years." 32:12 And they kept pushing. 32:13 I said, "Sir, let me just make it 32:15 very clear to you, I'm a pastor. 32:17 I did not make lie to the fact that my mom has died. 32:20 If you want, you could go down 32:22 to the Virgin Islands in St. Thomas, 32:24 I'll tell you where she's buried." 32:26 And after I got really specific 32:28 and very, very non joking on the phone with them. 32:31 I said, "Sir, my mom has been dead, 32:32 and I mentioned how many years." 32:34 He said, "So, so..." 32:35 And for whatever reason, 32:37 they just didn't seem to want to let that go, and I said, 32:40 "Okay, if you can go down to mention the cemetery, 32:44 and collect the debt, I feel... 32:47 If that's what's going to satisfy you, 32:49 then go right ahead and do that." 32:50 It was one of those arrogant bill collectors. 32:52 And I don't know 32:53 where they get their training from, 32:55 but they just won't accept the fact that she died. 32:57 But you know what? "Never more," the Bible says. 33:00 How more? 33:01 "Never more will they have a share 33:04 in anything down under the sun." 33:06 So how much do the living know? No, you didn't hear me? 33:10 How much do the living know? 33:13 I want to see if you're listening. 33:14 We could know anything we want to know, right? 33:17 I believe you can stay up 24 hours a day, 33:18 and go to Wikipedia, and in the end, 33:20 and just learn whatever you want, 33:21 you can sit in the library until you're 90, 100 years old, 33:23 and learn whatever you want to learn. 33:25 But when you die, 33:27 your library card has been expired, 33:30 you will not be showing up to any house, any gatherings, 33:33 it's all done you can put. 33:35 Matter of fact, go to the next question, 33:36 we can even give this even more solid details, right? 33:41 So the answer to number nine is, 33:43 when people die do they continue to live 33:44 somewhere else? 33:45 The answer is what? 33:47 No, they don't live anywhere else, 33:48 they're in the grave. 33:49 That's why we have things like Memorial Day. 33:51 And by the way, when you go to the cemetery, 33:54 you may talk to the stone, 33:55 but I want you to know they don't hear you. 33:58 No disrespect, they don't hear you. 34:00 I'll give you some Bible for that in a moment. 34:02 All right, now here's the question number 11, 34:05 "How does the Bible confirm 34:07 that the dead ceased to be active? 34:11 Same book, Ecclesiastics 9, 34:14 and we're going to look at verse 10, all right? 34:19 Ecclesiastics 9:10, and the Bible says, 34:24 here it is on the screen. 34:25 "Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your..." 34:30 What? "Might." 34:32 In other words, put everything you got into it, 34:34 "for there is no work or device 34:37 or knowledge or wisdom in the grave..." 34:40 And say the last four words, "Where you are going." 34:45 Say it one more time, "Where you are going." 34:48 Okay, so now TV audience, let's say, where we're going? 34:52 Give me the word, where we're going? 34:54 To the grave. 34:56 When we die, we're going to the grave. 34:57 Have you seen those lights on the highway, 34:59 they're all lined up together with their headlights on, 35:01 with a hearse in the way, and a black Cadillac, 35:04 and a couple more following them, 35:05 and all those people, if you follow them, 35:08 you'll know exactly what this text mean. 35:10 They're going to the cemetery. 35:13 They're going to lay that body down in the ground, 35:16 and they're going to wait for some event in the future 35:19 for that body to have any chance 35:21 of coming back to life again. 35:22 So how should we do the things 35:24 that we do on earth with all of our, what? 35:27 All of our might. 35:28 In other words, do it your best 35:29 because when you die there is no work, 35:32 there's no device, 35:34 knowledge or wisdom in the grave 35:36 where you are going. 35:37 How does the Bible confirms 35:39 that the dead cease to be active? 35:44 No work, no device, no knowledge 35:48 or wisdom in the grave, where you are going. 35:51 Nothing continues there, nothing at all. 35:54 That's why it always troubles me. 35:56 And I don't know how many of you feel, 35:57 but sometimes it troubles me when I hear terrible reports, 36:01 and I know some people try to console, 36:03 but I think it's better... 36:05 I think there's a better way to console people 36:06 than to tell them something 36:08 that's not true, don't you think so? 36:10 Because when they find out that it's not true, 36:12 like when I first found out that there was no Santa Claus. 36:17 I know this is not the program, but I kind of... 36:21 I always want to find out 36:22 where these gifts were coming from? 36:25 And I finally found out that UPS brought them 36:31 the night before December 25th. 36:34 Different topic altogether, 36:36 but I tell you we need to know the truth about the truth, 36:39 we don't need to tell a person something 36:42 that's not true to bring them consolation. 36:45 I think the best consolation 36:46 is not that somebody says to you, 36:48 "Oh, your mother's looking down." 36:50 I got a phone call 36:51 from a little boy once in Florida. 36:54 My sister-in-law met this young man, 36:56 and he talked about an experience 36:58 he was having that he was having apparitions. 37:01 He said, "He kept seeing his mother in his room." 37:04 But he was afraid. 37:06 And polite little southern boy, he kept saying, "Sir..." 37:11 And he was explaining to me, "Sir and..." 37:13 And I said, "Well, how do you feel it?" 37:14 "Well, sir." "You know, how you see? 37:16 Does it look like your mom?" "Yes, sir." 37:18 "Did you talk?" "Yes, sir." 37:19 "How do you feel when this happened?" 37:20 "I'm afraid." 37:22 And I said, "Have you been... 37:23 Were you afraid of your mom?" "No." 37:26 And I said, "Let me tell you why you are afraid." 37:27 And I explained to him about familiar spirits, 37:30 how the devil can conjure up 37:34 what your mother, or father, 37:35 or your brother, or your sister, 37:37 or relative, or friend look like. 37:39 These are familiar spirits, 37:41 that's why the Bible uses the word familiar, 37:42 from which we get the word family. 37:44 And I said, "Next time you see it..." 37:46 And I told him what to do. 37:47 And he did that, we spoke a few months later on, 37:50 and he said, it never happened again. 37:52 Because the dead cannot contact you. 37:54 And he tries. 37:56 In some cultures people say, 37:57 "I smelled his cologne two days after he died." 38:00 Well, you need to say to your brother or sister, 38:01 "Put the cologne away." 38:03 Because he didn't come back and sprayed. 38:05 Somebody said, "I smelled a rose." 38:07 I tell you the devil has been playing 38:09 with people's minds 38:11 just like which still trying to figure out 38:12 whether UFOs are coming from another planet. 38:16 The devil is busy, is he not? 38:18 And he will fool us 38:19 if our minds are not safeguarded 38:21 by what the Word of God says, all right? 38:24 Question number 12, question number 12. 38:27 How can we be certain that dead relatives 38:30 do not return to visit us? 38:34 How can we be certain that dead relatives 38:37 do not return to visit us? 38:40 Job 7, 38:42 Job 7:9-10. 38:48 Got to be certain 38:49 because, you know, people die every day, 38:52 people die all the time. 38:54 It's one of the sad lots of life, 38:56 but I like that text in Revelation 21:4, 39:00 "There shall be no more death, no more death, no more sorrow, 39:05 no more crying, 39:06 neither shall there be any more pain, 39:09 no more, no more." 39:13 Okay, here I am. 39:15 I was just in Job 5, 39:17 I was wondering why it looked different. 39:19 Okay, here it is. 39:22 The Bible says, "As the cloud disappears 39:27 and vanishes away, 39:29 so he who goes down to the grave does not come up. 39:36 He shall never return to his house, 39:40 nor shall his place know him anymore." 39:44 Now come on, can somebody say amen? 39:47 Is that clear? 39:49 Can you find a text clearer than that? 39:53 He goes down to the grave, he does not come up, 39:59 he shall never return to his house, 40:02 nor shall his place know him anymore. 40:07 So whatever is happening 40:08 in some of these strange places, 40:09 we know that there are evil spirits, 40:12 we know the Bible says 40:13 that they're going forth to deceive the world, 40:16 we know that demons and devils are very busy, 40:19 that's why let me just add another component here, 40:21 that's why... 40:22 I know this is not the program either, 40:23 that's why we should never celebrate Halloween. 40:26 Can I get an amen? 40:27 'Cause that's a devil's holiday, 40:30 that's as demonic as you want to get. 40:32 That's when they used to believe 40:33 all these spirits and souls. 40:35 And I tell you, in the dark world, 40:36 well, there's some evil things that are going places, 40:39 there are evil things that are happening around you, 40:40 but, you know what? 40:42 My wife and I have been married for 30 years, 40:45 we never had a visit. 40:47 Nobody ever woke up us at night and said, "Move over." 40:50 Nobody move things in our houses. 40:51 We've gone places, I've slept in the house by myself, 40:54 she slept by herself, nothing. 40:55 Do you know why? 40:56 Because the angels of the Lord encamps around 40:59 about those that fear him, amen? 41:02 If the devil could do that, he would twist our minds 41:04 to make us think certain things. 41:07 But when the Word of God is your safeguard, 41:09 here is the key why the Word of God is important. 41:11 When the Word of God is your safeguard, 41:14 your mind doesn't even go down that path. 41:17 Your mind is not even open 41:19 to that like my good pastor C.D. Brooks said, 41:22 he said, somebody once said to him 41:24 when they were discussing the Sabbath, he said, 41:25 "Can you have an open mind?" 41:27 He said, "When it comes to the truth of the Sabbath, 41:29 my mind is closed. 41:31 You don't have to open your mind to everything." 41:34 The devil suggested to Eve, 41:36 "Come on, let's have an open discussion 41:38 about this issue." 41:39 Can you have an open mind about it? 41:41 And that's why he was able to deceive her 41:43 about what happens when the Lord told her 41:46 that death would be awaiting her, 41:49 if in fact she disobeyed. 41:51 So the answer to number 12 is what? 41:54 How can we be certain that dead relatives 41:56 do not return to visit? 41:59 They don't come back, they don't come back, 42:03 they don't come back. 42:06 I have never... 42:07 I don't want to be lighthearted, 42:09 but I've never left the cemetery 42:10 and had the person follow me home. 42:13 And it better never happen. 42:16 Matter of fact, to be very frank, 42:17 it won't ever happen, right? 42:21 Don't look for it. 42:23 All right, number 13, here we are. 42:26 When we visit the cemetery, 42:28 do our deceased loved ones know that we are there? 42:32 We have Memorial Day, I think Memorial Day... 42:35 Do we just had it, Memorial Day? 42:37 We have Memorial Day... 42:39 Labor Day, sorry, I get them all mixed up. 42:41 In all my life, I've never been able 42:42 to Memorial Day and Labor Day in the right place. 42:44 I know where Thanksgiving is 'cause there's food. 42:49 But I always get it mixed up Labor Day, Memorial Day, 42:51 I say Labor Day in... 42:53 But people have times of the year 42:55 where they remember their loved ones. 42:57 And it's done differently in different cultures. 42:59 In America, it's called Memorial Day, 43:03 and also Veteran's Day for various reasons. 43:06 Okay, so let's go to the question. 43:08 When we visit the cemetery, 43:10 do our deceased loved ones know that we are there? 43:12 And the answer is found in Job 14:21. 43:17 Job 14. 43:18 A lot of people don't know that Job says a lot. 43:21 Job says a lot about what happens 43:25 when a person dies, all right? 43:28 And the reason why I'm giving you verse 21, 43:30 we're going to jump up 43:32 to a few verses in just a moment, 43:34 but I want to give you verse 21. 43:35 And as we go back into earlier verses 43:37 in the Book of Job 14, 43:39 we'll see that the whole topic is about death. 43:42 The entire topic is about death. 43:44 Okay, what does it say in Job 14:21? 43:47 It says, "His sons come to do..." 43:50 What? 43:51 "Honor, and he does not know it. 43:54 They are brought..." 43:55 What? 43:56 "Low, and he does not..." 43:58 What? "Perceive it." Doesn't know it. 44:00 Nobody knows what's going on. 44:02 They're there, and out of respect, 44:04 people do that. 44:05 I used to go to... 44:07 In New York, we went into the cemetery quite a bit 44:09 on Memorial Day, and we take flowers, 44:11 and clean up the gravestone, and wash it off, 44:14 and just kind of out of respect, 44:15 you know, we want to make sure that dust doesn't get overrun 44:18 because I'll tell you, 44:19 the cemeteries in New York are huge. 44:21 Unless you pay somebody to do that, you've got, 44:23 you know, millions of people in that place. 44:27 By that, and now out here, 44:29 we drive down south Thompsonville Road, 44:31 and they're just wide open. 44:33 You know, and every now 44:34 and then you can pull over and read. 44:35 And sometimes, we used to do that. 44:37 We haven't done it in a long time, 44:38 but sometimes my wife and I would go 44:40 and read the gravestones and find out how long 44:42 that person's been dead. 44:44 And up in Michigan up in the northeast, 44:46 you find some cemeteries that are like a 1700s, 44:50 way back, huh? 44:54 And in Manhattan. 44:55 Lower... 44:57 That's right, by the World Trade Center, 44:58 right at the church that was across the street, 45:02 from the World Trade Center. 45:03 That church 45:05 that didn't get destroyed when it fell, 45:06 old gravestones, 1700s. 45:09 And you can see 45:10 some of the stone is fading away, 45:12 but the dates are there. 45:13 But the Bible says, 45:15 "When people come to honor them..." 45:16 As has been the case 45:18 even just not to date this program, 45:20 but since it's live, I can go and mention that. 45:22 Today is September 11th. 45:24 And the entire nation remembers 45:26 what happened on September 11th. 45:28 And the names of all 3,000 people that... 45:30 Plus that lost their lives unfortunately down 45:33 at the World Trade Center in Washington DC, 45:35 and in these terrible plane accidents, and the terrorism, 45:39 the names were read today alphabetically, a memorial. 45:44 But this whole memorial was not witnessed 45:47 by anyone that died. 45:50 None of them knew that they were honored today. 45:53 And, but then their memory goes on in the hearts 45:56 and lives of their family members, 45:57 but they absolutely know nothing. 46:00 And it's good, God knows best why that in fact is the case. 46:04 So let's put the answer down there 46:06 for question number 13. 46:09 When they visit, 46:11 do the loved ones know they are there? 46:12 Just put one answer. What's that? 46:14 No, no, they don't know 46:17 because the dead know not anything, right? 46:20 The living know, they're gone, but the dead know nothing. 46:23 I remember growing up, we used to always ask, 46:26 "Momma, how long are we going to be in the cemetery?" 46:29 I must tell you a story 46:31 because I'll, Momma got so tired of me asking 46:34 that when there was Momma, 46:36 and Nina, that was her mother, and my sister and I, 46:40 we were in the cemetery, 46:42 and they close at 5 o'clock in New York, 46:45 the gates close. 46:47 Because in the cities, you know, people vandalize. 46:49 It's not the same as countries like out here, 46:51 the small country roads of Thompsonville. 46:54 5 o'clock came 46:55 and we were still in the cemetery. 46:59 We went to walk out to catch a cab, 47:03 and the gates were locked. 47:05 And little all spike me, 47:07 I had to climb the gates to get out. 47:11 You should have seen it. 47:13 Somebody eventually got the attention of somebody 47:17 in the cemetery. 47:18 I don't remember all the details. 47:19 But thankfully, 47:21 Momma didn't have to climb the fence. 47:22 And her grandmother, 47:24 and her mother didn't have to climb the fence. 47:26 It would have been a horrible thing to see a lady 47:28 in her 60s and her mother 47:31 in the middle of her 80s climbing a fence. 47:34 I was able to climb the fence. 47:36 And I think my message was clearly received that day. 47:40 How long are we going to stay in a cemetery? 47:42 And we never stayed in there again 47:44 after the gates locked. 47:46 But Job says, "They don't know." 47:48 Let us even go further 47:50 because the Bible continues to unfold, 47:51 what you're finding out, friends, here is this. 47:54 The Bible, the Bible, the Bible, the Bible. 47:56 What words did I just use? The Bible. 47:58 You've got to have a point of reference. 48:00 You can either choose to believe a program 48:02 on television. 48:04 You can choose to believe a magazine 48:07 or you could even choose to believe 48:10 what your preacher says over the Bible. 48:12 I choose the Bible 48:14 rather than the human source, right? 48:16 That's what you have to do. 48:18 That's exactly what you must do. 48:20 Now, let's look at another question. 48:22 Question number 14, 48:24 what description does the Bible give 48:26 for the resting place of the dead? 48:30 Job 17:13, what description does the Bible give 48:34 for the resting place of the dead? 48:35 It's got a description. Okay, now, this is powerful. 48:42 This has revolutionized a statement 48:44 that is often made by many preachers. 48:47 Okay, Job 17:13, very short but to the point. 48:52 And Job is making a point here. 48:54 He says, "If I wait..." 48:55 I'm reading the King James Version. 48:56 "If I wait, the grave is mine..." 48:59 What? "House. 49:01 I have made my bed in..." 49:03 What? "Darkness." 49:04 He said, "If I wait, if I wait..." 49:06 And that's how... 49:07 That's the point we make. 49:09 Just wait long enough, 49:10 the grave is going to be your house. 49:12 Now, I've heard preachers say this. 49:13 And this is a new phrase nowadays. 49:15 First phrase was we're here to celebrate the person's life. 49:19 But there's a new phrase now 49:20 that has invaded the Christian world. 49:22 We're having a home going service. 49:24 Have you heard that? There's a new phrase now. 49:26 Now, you won't hear 49:28 that at the Seventh-day Adventist funeral 49:29 because the only place they're going to is the grave. 49:31 But there's a new phrase now that's pervaded Christianity. 49:35 We're having a home going service. 49:37 And I finally agree with them. 49:39 They're going home to the grave 49:42 because the grave is their house. 49:46 Not going home to heaven, they're going to the grave. 49:52 Clear? 49:53 So when people say home going service, 49:55 I know what they mean. 49:57 But that's not what the Bible means. 49:58 We're going to go home when Jesus comes, right? 50:01 And I peak at that text just to, 50:03 just if this is the only program 50:05 you get a chance to see, I want to give you that text 50:06 before the program is done. 50:08 Matter of fact, let's go there right now. 50:09 Let's go there right now. Okay? 50:12 Don't lose Job because we're going 50:13 to go right back to Job very quickly, 50:15 but let me show you the home when we go home. 50:19 When we go home, 50:20 where you think we are turning to? 50:21 Somebody tell me. 50:25 No, we're going to 1 Thessalonians. 50:28 Good try, but that's good too. Revelation is great. 50:31 But we've got a 1 Thessalonians 4. 50:35 Okay? 50:36 Paul makes it so clear, 1 Thessalonians 4. 50:40 He makes it so clear, so, so clear. 50:43 And so the answer to question number 14, 50:45 "What description does the Bible gives 50:46 for the resting places for the dead?" 50:49 House, grave, grave. Okay. 50:54 That's what it's called, the grave. 50:56 1 Thessalonians 4, let's see how we get to heaven. 51:00 Now we're going to go to heaven, right? 51:02 If you believe in Jesus, you're going to go to heaven. 51:04 If you've died and you're resting in Christ, 51:06 when He comes back, we're going to heaven. 51:08 But let's see how we get there, all right? 51:11 You're going to find a word continually 51:13 repeated over and over and over again, verse 13. 51:18 "But I do not want you to be ignorant, 51:20 brethren concerning those who have fallen asleep. 51:25 Lest you sorrow as others who have no hope. 51:30 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, 51:32 even so God will bring with Him those who do..." 51:36 What? "Sleep in Jesus." 51:38 Let me pause and make this text very clear. 51:41 The same way that Jesus was brought back to life, 51:44 when the Bible says, "Your father calleth you." 51:47 In the very same way, 51:50 the Lord that called Jesus is going to bring with Christ, 51:53 those who are sleeping in Jesus. 51:55 Now, get this. 51:57 They're not, He's not sending with Christ. 52:00 He's bringing with Christ. 52:02 Some people read this text and think this means 52:04 He's sending with Christ. 52:06 No, He's bringing with Christ. 52:08 And all you've got to do is read 1 Corinthians 15 52:10 and you see verse 20-22. 52:12 "Those who are resting in Jesus will come forth at His coming." 52:16 So this is not sending, but this is bringing, 52:19 that is bringing back. 52:20 For the very next verse verifies this. 52:23 Verse 15, "For this we say to you 52:26 by the word of the Lord, 52:28 that we who are alive and remain 52:32 until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede 52:35 those who are asleep." 52:38 Asleep, sleep, asleep, three verses. 52:41 Sleep, asleep, sleep. 52:43 Verse 16 now, 52:45 "For the Lord Himself will descend 52:46 from heaven with a..." 52:48 What? 52:49 "Shout, with the voice of an archangel, 52:51 and with the trumpet of God. 52:52 And the..." 52:54 Next word. "Dead in Christ will," do what? 52:58 "Rise, first." 53:00 You've got to get that 53:02 because now here's the point, friend. 53:03 If they were already in heaven, they wouldn't rise. 53:05 And in fact, this very teaching was the one that... 53:10 Let me finish the passage 53:11 and then I'll tell you the story. 53:12 When the Lord shouts, when the trumpet is blown, 53:17 when the Lord descends, then that shout like the call, 53:24 Lazarus come forth. 53:25 Remember he didn't say, "Lazarus come down. 53:28 Lazarus come forth." 53:29 And Lazarus gave no account about him 53:31 being in heaven anywhere. 53:33 Preachers try to dramatize that and say, 53:34 "Lazarus was in heaven having a conversation, 53:36 and all of a sudden he disappeared." 53:38 And I've heard preachers dramatize that. 53:39 You can tell a lie through drama, 53:41 and many preachers do that. 53:42 But it says here that when the trumpets blown, 53:44 the Lord descends and He shouts 53:46 with the voice of the archangel. 53:48 That's the call of the life giver, 53:50 then those who are sleeping in Christ rise first. 53:54 But now look at verse 17, "Then we who are alive...: 53:58 And what's the next word? "Remain." 54:01 Boy, pay attention now. 54:03 "Shall be caught up..." 54:06 How? "Together." 54:08 Say that word again, together. Together. 54:11 Those who never die, 54:13 those who were dead and came back to life, 54:17 together, caught up. 54:20 To do what? 54:23 Just say the word meet 54:26 because they haven't met Him yet. 54:28 The living haven't met Him, and the dead haven't met Him, 54:31 and we meet Him together. 54:33 So here's my point. 54:34 If your mother passed away, 54:36 and you are alive until Jesus comes, 54:38 you haven't met Jesus, I know that, 54:41 neither has your mother. 54:42 He's going to allow you and your mom to meet 54:44 the Lord at the same time. 54:46 Amen? Amen. 54:47 Meet. 54:48 We always go meet the Lord, but I want to break it down. 54:50 Meet the Lord where? In the air. 54:55 You don't meet Him in heaven. You meet Him in the air. 54:58 And then the journey begins to heaven. 55:01 So that's the key. Now, let's go ahead. 55:04 "We meet the Lord in the air and thus we shall always..." 55:08 What? "Be with the Lord." 55:11 And that's why verse 18 says, 55:12 "Therefore comfort one another with these words." 55:17 What do we get out of that? Comfort. 55:19 What do we get out of that? 55:20 Comfort. 55:22 There is comforting because when the faithful... 55:25 Go to Hebrews very quickly. 55:26 I'm giving you some extra credit here. 55:28 When those who were tortured and sawn asunder, 55:34 they lost their lives... 55:36 We always talk about the faithful, 55:38 and those who are serving the Lord 55:40 and everything was hunky dory, 55:42 but there were some that died that were not... 55:44 They were faithful, but they died. 55:46 Look at Hebrews 11, Hebrews 11 very quickly. 55:50 Hebrews 11, okay? 55:53 And I want to read, 55:54 I want you to read verse 55:59 35 first, 13:35. 56:04 "Women receive their dead raised 56:05 to life again. 56:07 The Lord allowed some to be raised to life. 56:09 Others..." 56:11 And the Bible talks about that in the Book of John. 56:12 "And others were tortured not accepting deliverance 56:16 that they might obtain a..." 56:18 What? "Better resurrection." 56:22 Not a better funeral. 56:25 Now, let's go down to verse 39. 56:28 "And all these having obtained a good testimony through faith, 56:32 did not receive the promise." 56:34 Well, how is this promise going to be fulfilled? 56:36 Verse 40, God having provided something better for us 56:41 that they should not be made perfect..." 56:44 What? "Apart from us." 56:46 So here's my point. 56:48 They ain't, they're not in heaven perfect, 56:50 and we're not perfect. 56:51 We're going to be made perfect together. 56:53 When we continue to study, 56:55 you're going to see one of the reasons 56:56 why we're waiting for the coming of the Lord 56:58 as Paul says in Philippians, 57:00 "We are looking to the heavens from whence our Lord comes 57:02 who will change our lowly bodies 57:05 that it may be fashioned like unto His glorious body." 57:09 It hasn't changed yet. 57:11 We are one day going to be immortal. 57:13 That's why Jesus said to the disciples, 57:15 "I go to prepare a place for you, 57:17 and if I go and prepare a place for you..." 57:20 What's the words? I will come again, what? 57:24 And receive you to Myself that where I am presently, 57:29 there you may be also. 57:31 And when you read the rest of the verses right after that, 57:33 He said to the disciples, 57:35 "Where I'm going, you cannot come now." 57:37 Peter said, "Why can't we go?" 57:39 Because Peter wasn't ready to go. 57:41 Some of us are not ready to go yet. 57:43 That's why the Lord is giving us time 57:44 to be sanctified to become more like Him. 57:45 So when the time comes, we are ready to go. 57:48 So, friends, continue studying the topic, 57:51 continue trusting God's Word 57:53 because, you know, it doesn't always make sense, 57:55 but if you keep trusting God's Word 57:57 and put that first, one day, 57:58 whatever is not clear will come into A Sharper Focus. 58:02 God bless you. |
Revised 2018-11-26