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Series Code: DPM
Program Code: DPM000012A
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00:08 A few years ago, the Howard Scripps News Service
00:11 and Ohio University conducted a survey 00:15 on the occult and supernatural phenomenon. 00:19 And in this survey, 00:21 they asked people three questions. 00:23 All three are on the screen. 00:25 Question number one, do you believe there could be 00:28 such a thing as ghosts 00:30 and the appearance of dead people? 00:33 Forty eight percent said, "Yes," 00:35 47% said, "No" and 5% said what? 00:40 "I don't know." 00:42 Question number two, do you think books 00:45 and television shows and movies about monsters 00:48 and the supernatural are harmless, 00:50 or do you worry about their effect on people? 00:53 Fifty four percent of the respondents said, "Yes, 00:56 I'm worried about their effect." 00:59 Thirty nine percent said, "No, 01:01 they're harmless," and 7% said what? 01:04 "I don't know." 01:06 Third question, do you believe that people 01:10 who claim to be witches or have mystical powers 01:12 are self diluted, or do you think 01:15 they could have mystical powers? 01:17 Sixty three percent said, "They're diluted," 28% said, 01:22 "No, they have special powers." 01:24 And 9% said what? 01:26 "I don't know." 01:29 This survey was conducted probably around the same time 01:32 that a movie called The Blair Witch Project 01:35 hit the box office. 01:37 And if you perhaps remember that movie, 01:39 it grossed about 100 million dollars in sales. 01:44 And see in the last few generations, 01:45 there has been 01:47 a growing interest in this world 01:48 in the supernatural, and the occult, 01:52 demons, and sorcery, and wizards, 01:55 and mediums who can channel the dead 01:58 and people have questions about it. 02:01 You see these things portrayed in movies, in books, 02:05 even in cartoons, and on television talk shows, 02:09 and you can tell from this survey, 02:12 people don't know what to believe. 02:14 They're scared, and they're confused 02:17 about what happens and whether there is life 02:20 beyond the grave. 02:22 But the good news is, you will find that the Bible 02:25 addresses every single one of those questions 02:29 in a very clear and a very understandable way. 02:32 Can you say amen? 02:33 And so we're going to let the Bible speak tonight. 02:36 The foundational text I want us to begin with 02:39 is actually Revelation 1:18. 02:43 Now this is printed on the screen. 02:45 This is the one we're gonna keep coming back to 02:48 because it provides the good news 02:50 as the theme for our topic tonight. 02:53 Revelation 1:18, the Bible says, 02:58 and this is Jesus speaking. 03:00 "I am He who lives and was dead, and behold, 03:05 I am alive forevermore, amen." 03:08 And then it goes on to say, 03:10 "And I have the keys of Hades and of death," 03:14 or the King James says of hell and of death. 03:18 Now that's good news for us 03:19 because Jesus is saying to you and I, 03:22 and really to the rest of the world, 03:23 "Don't let this subject scare you. 03:27 Don't let this subject throw you off guard, 03:30 because I have the answers to these questions." 03:33 Jesus says, "I'm the one who died on the cross. 03:36 I'm the one who went into the grave. 03:38 I am the one who had victory over death. 03:41 I hold the keys of death 03:44 and I have the answers for you." 03:47 That's how the Book of Revelation begins. 03:49 It's right there in the first chapter, 03:51 Jesus wants us to know He has the keys of death. 03:57 But, if we want to understand 04:00 what happens at the end of life, 04:03 guess what we have to do first? 04:07 You got to study what happens at the beginning of life. 04:11 See, in order to get to the end, 04:13 you got to start with the beginning. 04:15 So we're actually gonna start our journey 04:17 in the Book of Genesis and let God talk to us 04:21 about the beginning of life. 04:23 So I want you to take your Bibles 04:25 and let's go to Genesis Chapter 3, 04:28 and I want to read the first 5 verses. 04:32 Genesis Chapter 3 and in verse 1, 04:36 we have already read this passage 04:38 previous in the seminar, 04:40 but I want to read it again. 04:42 And I want you to notice 04:43 as this conversation takes place 04:46 between the serpent and Eve. 04:49 I want you to notice 04:50 what subject the conversation revolves around. 04:55 Genesis 3:1, the Bible says, "Now the serpent was more 05:01 cunning than any beast of the field 05:03 which the Lord God had made. 05:06 And he said to the woman, 'Has God indeed said you 05:10 should not eat of every tree in the garden?' 05:13 And the woman said to the serpent, 05:15 'We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden, 05:18 but of the fruit of the tree 05:19 which is in the midst of the garden, 05:22 God has said, 'You shall not eat it, 05:24 nor shall you touch it, lest you," what? 05:28 "Die.' 05:29 Then the serpent said to the woman, 05:34 'You will not surely die. 05:38 For God knows that in the day you eat of it, 05:41 your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, 05:47 knowing good and evil.'" 05:50 Now, folks, that is a significant verse 05:52 for understanding this subject. 05:55 Adam and Eve are in the perfect Garden of Eden. 05:59 She gets apparently separated from Adam, 06:01 gets near the tree of knowledge of good and evil, 06:04 and eventually has a conversation 06:06 with the serpent. 06:07 And you notice how Satan twists things. 06:09 He starts the conversation off by saying, 06:12 "Has God said you can't eat of any of these trees?" 06:15 Now did God say they couldn't eat 06:16 of any of these trees? 06:18 He didn't say that. 06:19 He said, "You can have the fruit 06:21 of any tree except," what? 06:23 "The one in the middle." That was their test of loyalty. 06:26 And so Eve corrects him, which is a bad idea 06:29 to get into an argument 06:31 and a conversation with the devil, 06:32 but Eve corrects him and says, 06:34 "No, it's the one in the middle, 06:36 God has said that 06:37 we shall not eat it nor touch it 06:39 or we shall die." 06:42 See, God knew 06:43 that when mankind chooses to disobey Him, 06:47 when mankind steps on Satan's ground 06:50 and opens himself up to temptation, 06:52 it will begin the process of death. 06:56 They may not have died that very minute, 06:58 but God was telling them 06:59 it will bring death into this world, 07:01 it will bring the process of death. 07:04 And when Eve took of that fruit, 07:06 the process of death started. 07:09 But what you notice, 07:10 God says, "You will surely die." 07:14 And what does the serpent come back and say, 07:17 "You will not surely die." 07:22 The very first lie that was ever told 07:25 on the face of this earth 07:27 was a lie about death. 07:32 See, that's why it's important to understand this subject. 07:35 In fact, what the devil said is, 07:36 "You will not surely die because when you eat of it, 07:40 you will enter another kind of existence, 07:43 you will be like God, you will know good and evil, 07:48 the mysteries of the universe will be open to you. 07:52 And do you realize, that is exactly the definition 07:57 of spiritualism today. 08:00 Spiritualism says that when you die, 08:02 you don't surely die. 08:04 You enter another world of existence 08:07 where you will in a sense be like God. 08:10 Spiritualism comes all the way back 08:12 from the devil's first lie in the Garden of Eden 08:16 and ever since then, 08:17 he's been trying to twist the truth about death, 08:20 because he wants us to believe 08:23 that we can live a life without Jesus 08:25 and still have eternal life. 08:27 He doesn't want us to believe 08:29 that the wages of sin really is death. 08:33 And so now we need to do is go into the scriptures 08:37 and untwist the devil's lie and see what God's truth 08:41 is concerning this subject because Jesus said, 08:44 "I'm the one that has the keys of," what? 08:48 "The keys of hell and death." 08:51 So to understand this, there's one term 08:53 we have to talk about before we go 08:55 to some more Bible verses. 08:57 How many of you have ever heard 08:59 this term used on the screen, the immortal soul, 09:03 can I see your hands? 09:04 Ever heard anybody talk about the immortal 09:06 or the never dying soul? 09:08 Yeah, you hear that talked a lot in Christianity. 09:11 But I'm gonna make a statement that might possibly shock you. 09:16 Do you know that in the entire Bible, 09:19 from Genesis to Revelation, 09:22 never once does the Bible used the term, 09:27 the immortal soul? 09:30 You can search 09:31 from the first book of the Bible, 09:32 till the last book of the Bible, 09:34 you won't find it there. 09:37 The idea that the soul is immortal 09:39 and keeps on living actually comes from 09:42 pagan philosophy that crept into the church in the early 09:46 and the Middle Ages. 09:48 You can get out of concordance, 09:49 you will never find that term in the Bible. 09:52 The only one who's described as immortal is God Himself. 09:57 Now we could get out of concordance 09:59 and you will discover that there are 1600 references 10:03 to the word soul in the Bible. 10:06 But in all 1600 references, 10:08 it is never described as being immortal. 10:13 You may say, "Well, wow, 10:14 I thought that was all over the Bible." 10:17 But see, that's what happens when we sometimes assume things 10:20 without actually studying the scriptures 10:22 for ourselves. 10:23 See, what we need to do is understand what is a soul? 10:27 Is a soul some separate part of our body 10:31 that flies away when we die, like tradition says, 10:34 or does the Bible teach something else? 10:36 So now let's go back to Genesis 10:40 and we're going to allow the Bible to give us 10:42 its own definition of what is a soul 10:46 because we really can't understand this subject 10:48 until we know what is a soul. 10:50 So let's go back to Genesis 2:7 here, 10:54 it's on the screen for you. 10:56 This describes the process of life. 11:00 Genesis 2:7, the Bible says, 11:04 "And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, 11:09 and breathed into his nostrils," what? 11:13 "The breath of life, 11:14 and man became a living soul." 11:20 Now, we may not catch this on the surface, 11:22 but I want you to think about the process of life 11:24 the Bible just described. 11:26 It says that God basically took His hands 11:29 and formed man's body from the dust of the ground. 11:32 And then He breathed into man's nostrils, 11:34 the breath, the spark of life that can only come from God 11:38 and God alone. 11:40 And notice it says, "Man became a living soul." 11:45 It doesn't say that God put a soul into man 11:48 as a separate component, he became a living soul. 11:52 See, the Bible teaches us that anything with the body 11:56 and the breath of life in it is a soul. 11:59 So in other words, a soul is a person. 12:03 A soul is a living being. 12:06 I do not have a soul. I am a soul. 12:12 You know, that figure of speech we use in our world today 12:14 is actually true when we see someone 12:16 who's down on their luck. 12:17 What do we usually say? 12:18 Oh, that poor what? Soul. 12:21 Are we saying there's some poor spirit 12:23 that's floating around? 12:24 We're saying, well, 12:25 that's a poor person down on their luck. 12:27 A soul is a person. 12:30 The Bible does not teach 12:31 it as a separate part of our body 12:33 that goes flying away upon death. 12:37 You say, well, wow. Bible explains that very clear. 12:42 But let me show you some verses in the Bible 12:45 of how the word soul is used just to illustrate it. 12:48 Let me go to Genesis 46:27. 12:51 Here it's describing the life of Joseph, the Bible says, 12:56 "And the sons of Joseph which were born him in Egypt, 13:00 were two," what? 13:01 Souls. 13:03 "All the souls of the house of Jacob, 13:05 which came into Egypt, were threescore and ten." 13:09 So it talks about Joseph's wife, 13:11 she gave birth to two souls. 13:15 So let's ask the question, what did she give birth to? 13:18 Two spooks that were floating around? 13:20 She gave birth to two babies. 13:23 Babies, that had a body and a breath of life, 13:26 two living people 'cause a soul is a person. 13:31 Let's go to another verse in the New Testament. 13:33 Now, I'm not gonna go through 1600 verses tonight 13:36 or we'll be here all night. 13:37 Now if you want to take your concordance 13:38 and go through 1600, be my guest. 13:41 We're gonna cover a few tonight. 13:43 Acts 2:41, describes the day of Pentecost. 13:48 When Peter preached the Bible describes it this way. 13:52 "Then those who gladly received his word were baptized, 13:56 and that day about 3000," what? 13:59 "Souls were added to them." 14:02 So Peter preaches on the day of Pentecost, 14:05 3000 people accept the gospel and they're baptized. 14:09 Now, let me ask you, who was baptized? 14:11 A bunch of spirits that were floating around? 14:14 No, 3000 people, 14:16 because a soul is a person. 14:21 That's why Ezekiel himself wrote, 14:23 "The soul who sins shall," what? 14:26 "Die." 14:27 Souls die because a soul is a person. 14:32 You say, "Well, wow, 14:33 the Bible makes that one pretty clear. 14:35 But, pastor, isn't there something 14:38 that goes back to God when a person dies?" 14:42 And the answer is yes. 14:44 But it's not the soul, because a soul is a person. 14:49 So now let's go on 14:50 and turn to the Book of Ecclesiastes. 14:54 What actually happens when a person dies, 14:56 Ecclesiastes Chapter 12 and let's go to verse 7. 15:00 Now I don't know, yeah, 15:02 we have been to Ecclesiastes before. 15:04 Just go to the Book of Psalms 15:05 and keep going forward a little bit 15:07 and you will end up in Ecclesiastes. 15:11 Now who wrote the Book of Ecclesiastes, 15:13 can you tell me? 15:14 Solomon did. 15:15 Solomon was known as the wisest man 15:17 that ever lived filled with the Spirit of God 15:20 when he wrote this, and he actually talks about 15:23 the process of both life and death. 15:27 Notice what he writes in Ecclesiastes 12:7. 15:33 The Bible says, 15:36 "Then the dust will return to the earth as it was, 15:40 and the spirit will return to God who gave it." 15:46 Now real quick, when we read that verse, 15:48 we tend to jump on it too fast and we say, 15:50 "Oh, see, yeah, there's the spirit 15:52 that goes back to God." 15:54 You know, that's the part of man 15:55 that just keeps on living forever. 15:58 But let's just hold on a second, 15:59 and let the Bible interpret itself. 16:02 First of all, in this verse, it clearly tells us that 16:05 when a person dies, what happens to the body? 16:08 It turns back to dust. 16:10 I mean, basically, 16:11 when you're buried in the ground, 16:13 you give it enough time, 16:14 it disintegrates back to ashes and dust. 16:17 You know, what's that old poem say, 16:18 you know, ashes to ashes and dust to dust, 16:21 that comes from the Bible. 16:22 The body basically goes back to the elements 16:25 from which it was made, 'cause Genesis says 16:28 that God formed man's body from what? 16:32 The dust of the ground, so that makes sense. 16:35 You see but what is this spirit that goes back to God? 16:39 That is the question. 16:42 Is this some conscious part of us that keeps on living? 16:47 Or is this something else? 16:49 What's interesting that you discover 16:51 is that the Old Testament Hebrew word for spirit 16:55 is actually ruach which simply means breath. 16:59 That spirit is nothing more than the breath of life 17:03 that God gave man at the beginning, 17:06 the breath goes back to God. 17:09 Notice what it says in the Book of Job. 17:11 Job 27:3, I want you to see 17:14 how the Bible uses the word breath 17:17 and spirit synonymously. 17:20 Job 27:3, the Bible says and Job is describing himself 17:25 when he's going through trials and tribulations here, he says, 17:28 "All the while my breath is in me, 17:32 and the Spirit of God," is where? 17:35 "In my nostrils." 17:37 Now what does that mean, 17:38 the Spirit of God's in his nostrils? 17:40 That sounds weird. 17:41 Well, he's not talking about the Holy Spirit. 17:44 What's the answer to that? Genesis explains it. 17:48 Back in the beginning, what did God breathed 17:50 into man's nostrils? 17:52 The breath of life. 17:54 You see that spirit that goes back to God 17:58 is simply the spark of life that God gives us 18:02 from the beginning. 18:03 You know, and when you think about it, 18:04 that makes perfect sense, because when a person dies, 18:09 what do they stop doing? 18:11 They stop breathing. 18:13 The breath goes back to God, 18:15 the spark that only God can give. 18:20 You say, "Wow, just a few verses, 18:21 the Bible makes that awfully clear." 18:25 But that leads us to another question. 18:27 Because then we wonder, "Well, what does happen 18:30 when one goes to the grave? 18:32 Is there life beyond the grave? 18:35 Are they conscious or aware of anything 18:38 that's going on in this world?" 18:40 Well, let's keep allowing the Bible 18:42 to give us the answer here. 18:43 Let's go back to the Book of Ecclesiastes. 18:46 We're already there. So let's just go to Chapter 9. 18:50 And Solomon will answer that question 18:53 in verses 5 and 6. 18:56 Ecclesiastes Chapter 9, I wanna start reading 18:59 in verses 5 and 6. 19:02 The Bible says, 19:04 "For the living know that they will die. 19:08 But the dead know," how much? 19:11 "Not anything," or my version says nothing, 19:14 "And they have no more reward, 19:16 for the memory of them is forgotten. 19:19 Also their love, their hatred, 19:21 and their envy have now perished. 19:23 Nevermore will they have a share in anything done 19:27 under the sun, 19:29 at least not till the resurrection." 19:31 And then verse 10, 19:32 "Whatever your hand finds to do, 19:35 do it with all your," what? 19:37 "Might, for there is no work or device or knowledge 19:41 or wisdom in the grave where you are going." 19:47 Okay, now that is filled with a lot of lessons. 19:50 We need to go through that a little slower here. 19:53 Clearly the Bible is telling us that when a person dies, 19:58 they are not aware of anything that is going on in this world. 20:03 It says the living know that they're gonna die. 20:05 We all know that if Jesus doesn't come first, 20:07 we're eventually gonna die. 20:08 We know that, but the dead know not anything. 20:13 Sin can't touch them. 20:15 The evil things that happen in this world 20:17 can't hurt them anymore. 20:19 They peacefully sleep in the grave. 20:21 They know nothing 20:22 about what goes on in this world, 20:24 according to the Bible. 20:26 But there's a phrase in here that is sometimes misunderstood 20:30 and it disturbs people. 20:31 It's the phrase that says the memory of them is what? 20:36 Forgotten and we look at that and you know, our, 20:39 our hair bristles on the back of our neck 20:41 and we think, "No, I will never forget. 20:45 I will never forget about the loved one 20:47 who passed away. 20:49 The Bible is not saying that we forget 20:52 that our memory of them is forgotten. 20:54 The Bible is saying that their memory is gone 20:58 because they're sleeping in the grave, 20:59 they're not aware of what's going on in this world. 21:02 That's why Ecclesiastes describes it 21:05 as saying their love, 21:06 their hatred, their envy are now perished. 21:09 Their memory of what goes on here is gone, 21:12 not ours. 21:14 You know, I think of my grandmother. 21:17 We used to call her Grandma Esther. 21:20 When I grew up in Pennsylvania, 21:22 Thursday night was always grocery night, 21:26 and my mom and dad would go to the grocery store 21:29 and they'd buy the food they needed for the week. 21:31 But what they would do 21:33 is they would always take me over 21:35 and drop me off at Grandma Esther's house 21:37 and I'd spend Thursday night with her. 21:40 My grandma was probably one of the most godly woman 21:44 you would ever meet. 21:46 Gentle, kind, long-suffering, I mean, she grew up 21:52 under difficult circumstances. 21:55 She was married to one who was not a believer 21:58 and at times was somewhat abusive, 22:01 but you could always see the love of Jesus in her face. 22:04 And I can remember spending Thursday nights there 22:08 with grandma, with Sparthy the dog 22:11 and Calico and Pumpkin the cat, 22:14 and just playing with the animals 22:16 and she lived right across the street 22:18 from Jim and Nena's Pizzeria. 22:20 And so sometimes she takes me across the street 22:22 and we will get homemade pizza, you know, and then 22:25 she gives me ice-cream from her freezer. 22:28 You know, when you go see Grandma Esther, 22:30 you know, this isn't about a health day, etc. 22:32 You're just having fun, grandma and grandchildren. 22:35 And sometimes she'd sit me at the table 22:37 and we would just read and study the Bible together. 22:41 Well, she died when she was about 96 or 97. 22:44 She had Alzheimer's disease for about 12 years. 22:48 I'm looking forward to seeing her again. 22:51 See, my memory of her is not forgotten. 22:54 She was an influence in my life. 22:56 We will always remember those that have passed on. 22:59 It's just simply saying that when they're in the grave, 23:02 their memory is gone. 23:06 Now, I want to address something that's in here. 23:09 As a minister, I've been to many funerals 23:12 more than my fair share. 23:14 And I'm sure Pastor Mark can say the same thing. 23:17 Funerals are not my favorite thing to go to. 23:22 I understand it certainly is a job of a minister, 23:24 and it's an opportunity to bring comfort to people 23:27 who are hurting and point them to Jesus. 23:30 But still at a funeral, there's pain, there's sorrow, 23:33 there's crying, you know, 23:34 sometimes it's just hard to watch that. 23:37 So it's not my favorite thing to do. 23:40 But being at funerals, I can tell you this. 23:44 Do you know how many funerals there are? 23:48 Where people stand before a casket 23:52 and they're weeping, 23:54 they're sobbing, they're devastated 23:59 because for years, they held on to a grudge. 24:05 For years, they withheld forgiveness 24:08 over something that was so silly and so insignificant. 24:12 They didn't talk with each other. 24:14 They spoke ill of each other. 24:16 They avoided each other at family gatherings. 24:19 And now death knocked on their door 24:22 long before it was expected and they are gone. 24:26 And all that person wants is one chance to say, 24:28 "I'm sorry." 24:31 One chance to give them a hug and say, 24:32 "You know, I really did love you." 24:36 And now it's too late because they're gone. 24:40 See, life is too precious for us to be harboring 24:44 unforgiveness against people. 24:47 Are you against, let's be honest, 24:49 some of the dumbest and the silliest things. 24:52 That's why the Bible says take life seriously now. 24:55 Whatever your hand finds to do, do it. 24:57 Spend time with your family. 25:00 Don't go to bed angry over crazy things. 25:02 If there's someone in your family, 25:04 you're estranged from or some friend, 25:06 go make it right before one day death comes 25:10 and it's too late to do it. 25:14 It also tells me that if there are decisions 25:17 I need to make in my life, 25:19 decisions about my relationship with Jesus, 25:22 something about my spiritual life, 25:24 the Bible's saying, "Don't delay." 25:26 Because the truth is, we don't know when our time is. 25:29 I'm not gonna be an evangelist that tells you 25:31 that if you don't give your life to Jesus 25:33 that tonight you never know 25:34 you could be run over by a Mack truck, 25:37 though that's actually happened. 25:39 But the truth is that we all realize, 25:42 none of us are promised tomorrow. 25:46 We don't know what the future is holding. 25:48 And so that's why the Bible tells us 25:50 here in Ecclesiastes, 25:52 whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might, 25:55 take life seriously, take your relationship 25:58 with Jesus seriously. 26:03 Every so often, ministers are asked to do 26:07 the funeral of people who are not believers. 26:11 I'll tell you, that's a hard funeral to do 26:13 because you never want to stand up there 26:15 and make a judgment as to where someone's eternity is, 26:20 because God hasn't set you up to be the judge. 26:23 And so it's kind of a little hard. 26:24 You just kind of point to the promises of the Bible, 26:26 try to point the family to Jesus. 26:29 But I can tell you this. 26:31 There is a difference between a Christian funeral 26:33 and a non-Christian funeral. 26:35 Can you say amen? Oh, there is still weeping. 26:38 There is still crying and there is still pain, 26:41 even in a Christian funeral 26:42 because it hurts to lose someone. 26:44 Even Jesus wept at the tomb of Lazarus. 26:48 But the difference is, the Christian knows 26:51 that's not the total end. 26:53 The Christian knows there is a resurrection. 26:57 The Christian knows that Jesus holds the keys to death, 27:01 He gives us victory over the grave, 27:04 that gives us hope. 27:07 But see, it's the one who is not a believer. 27:10 Deep down inside, though they may not show it, 27:14 they're really not sure. 27:17 Will they ever see that person again? 27:21 Or is this the dreadful absolute end. 27:27 You see there's a benefit to knowing Jesus. 27:30 Because Jesus says, "When you know Me, 27:32 you have victory over the grave, 27:35 because I will give you the keys of death." 27:40 In fact, in the Bible, did you know that 27:42 Jesus actually gave us a little picture 27:45 of what it means to have victory over the grave? 27:48 Would you like to see it? 27:50 Okay, a little more enthusiasm, would you like to see it? 27:52 All right, I want you to take your Bibles 27:54 and we're going to go to John Chapter 11. 27:58 You want to go to John Chapter 11. 28:00 Oh, I'm going too fast there. Chapter 11 verse 11. 28:04 And if you know your Bibles, 28:05 you know what story I'm going to, 28:07 this is the story of who? 28:09 Lazarus. 28:10 Now here in John 11, 28:12 Jesus was close friends with Mary, 28:15 Martha, and Lazarus. 28:16 He spent a lot of time at their home in Bethany. 28:20 In fact, for Jesus, 28:22 this was His respite from an evil world. 28:26 You know, the rabbis and the religious leaders, 28:28 they were always dogging His every step, 28:31 trying to twist His words to find something 28:34 they could accuse Him of. 28:35 They never left that man alone. 28:39 I mean, how would you feel to have the press 28:40 or as they say, the paparazzi 28:42 following you around everywhere you go, 28:44 taking pictures 28:46 just waiting for you to do something 28:47 that could be misconstrued 28:49 that they could put into the papers 28:50 or on the news to try to make you look bad. 28:53 Let's be honest, how many of us 28:55 would get annoyed after a few minutes? 28:57 Most of us probably would. 28:59 But Jesus was patient, and many times going to Mary, 29:03 Martha, and Lazarus house. 29:04 That was his way to get away from it all. 29:06 They were very close. 29:08 But the Bible tells us the time came 29:10 when Lazarus was very ill, so ill he was near death. 29:15 And the family specifically made a request for Jesus 29:19 to come and heal him. 29:20 Man, if he could heal the blind, 29:22 and the deaf, and the lepers, 29:23 He could heal His best friend, 29:25 one of His best friends, Lazarus. 29:28 And amazingly enough, to the dismay of His disciples, 29:34 Jesus purposely waited two, or three, or four days 29:40 before He went to Bethany, 29:43 and He intentionally let Lazarus die. 29:49 Pick up the story in verse 11. 29:51 The Bible says, "These things he said, 29:56 and after that, he said to them, 29:58 'Our friend Lazarus," does what? 30:00 "Sleeps, but I go that I may wake him.' 30:05 Then his disciples said, 'Lord, if he sleeps he will get well.' 30:09 However, Jesus spoke of his death, 30:13 but they thought he was speaking about 30:15 taking a rest in sleep. 30:17 Then Jesus said to them plainly, 30:19 'Lazarus is dead.'" 30:20 See, you notice the word Jesus used to describe death. 30:23 What word did He say? Sleep. 30:25 You see it over and over again in the Bible. 30:28 Now the disciples didn't get it. 30:30 They thought he met Lazarus has taken a nap. 30:32 And they thought, "Oh, well, good, 30:34 you know, he'll get better." 30:35 And Jesus had to come right out and say, 30:37 "No, Lazarus is dead. 30:39 He's sleeping in the grave." 30:41 And so Jesus then goes to Bethany. 30:44 And as He stands before the tomb, 30:47 now you pick it up in verse 43. 30:50 Because right before verse 43, 30:52 it says that Jesus wept at that tomb. 30:55 Now that says a lot to me about the emotions of Jesus, 30:59 because sometimes we think Jesus doesn't see 31:01 what I face on this earth. 31:04 Jesus doesn't understand my tears. 31:08 He doesn't understand my trials and my tribulations. 31:12 Does Jesus really see and hear those things? 31:15 And yet in the Bible, it gives us a picture 31:19 of a sympathizing Savior. 31:21 Even though He knew He was going to raise Lazarus, 31:24 He stood at that tomb, and He saw the pain 31:27 that the human family was going through. 31:29 And the Bible says, He was overcome 31:31 with emotion and Jesus wept. 31:35 That show of emotion tells me how much Jesus loves you 31:39 and how much He loves me. 31:42 I wonder how much He weeps over the things 31:44 that happen in our lives. 31:48 Verse 43, the Bible says. 31:51 "Now when he had said these things, 31:53 he cried with a loud voice, 'Lazarus, come forth,' 31:58 and he who had died came out 32:01 bound hand and foot with grave clothes, 32:04 and his face was wrapped with a cloth. 32:06 And Jesus said to them, 'Loose him and let him go.'" 32:10 Now, if that wasn't a little microscopic picture 32:14 of what the resurrection would be, 32:16 I don't know what is. 32:17 Can you say amen? Amen. 32:18 But in this story, understand 32:22 that what Lazarus didn't do 32:25 is just as important as what he did do. 32:30 You say, "What do you mean?" 32:31 Well notice, Lazarus comes out of the tomb 32:33 and Jesus says, okay, 32:35 unwrap the grave clothes from the man. 32:38 Now, I want you to pretend. 32:39 Let's just say, did this happen? 32:41 Okay, I'm gonna use something fictional. 32:44 Mary and Martha and the others unwrapped the grave clothes. 32:47 Lazarus adjust to the light, squints his eyes, 32:50 looks around, sees Mary, sees Martha, 32:53 sees Jesus and says, "What happened? 32:57 Where am I?" 32:58 And Mary and Martha said, "Oh, Jesus raised you 33:01 from the dead, Lazarus. 33:02 He brought you back to life." 33:04 And Lazarus looks at Jesus and he says, 33:07 "What did you do that for? 33:10 Man, I was up in heaven walking on streets of gold. 33:12 I was fellowshipping 33:14 with the angels in perfect paradise, 33:15 and you had the audacity 33:17 to bring me back to this rotten, sinful earth. 33:19 Why did you do that, Jesus? 33:22 Does the Bible say that happened? 33:24 Does Lazarus had any story to tell of heaven, or hell, 33:28 or anywhere else? 33:30 None. 33:32 Because he was sleeping in the grave, 33:35 just like Jesus said. 33:38 I mean, when you really think this through, 33:41 if we really go to heaven as soon as we die, 33:44 because the Bible says the reward 33:45 comes at the second coming. 33:47 If we really go to heaven or wherever right after we die, 33:50 and Jesus really did pull Lazarus out of heaven, 33:54 that really would have been a dirty trick, wouldn't it? 33:57 Who would have wanted to leave heaven 33:58 and come back here? 34:00 He was sleeping. 34:01 That's why he had no story to tell. 34:05 See, sleep is the Bible's way of describing death 34:08 because it's peaceful. 34:11 Think about when you fall asleep at night, 34:13 you lay your head down on the pillow 34:15 hopefully before midnight. 34:16 That didn't happen for me last night. 34:18 But hopefully before midnight, you lay your head down, 34:21 you fall asleep, and you're at peace. 34:24 Time passes unnoticed. 34:27 And after seven or eight hours passed by, 34:29 you wake up in the morning, it doesn't even seem that long. 34:32 It seemed like a snap of a finger. 34:34 That's what the Bible says death is like. 34:37 Sin can't hurt the person anymore. 34:39 Heartache can't touch them. 34:41 And whether they've been in that grave 34:42 three years or 3000 years, they won't know the difference. 34:46 Because when they wake up, the first face they see 34:49 is Jesus Christ giving them victory over the grave 34:52 because He has the keys of death. 34:57 Now having said that, I understand that 35:00 when a person hears this for the first time, 35:03 it might be a little disturbing 'cause I know people 35:07 at various seminars have come up to me 35:09 and they've said, "Oh Pastor Dave, 35:12 this steals my joy away. 35:15 I always loved thinking of my loved one 35:18 just up in heaven at peace 35:20 and looking down on me and my family. 35:23 Oh, I wish I hadn't heard this message. 35:25 This takes my joy away." 35:28 I can understand it's hard to wrestle with 35:31 because on the surface to us, 35:35 I can see how it would be comforting to think that 35:37 that loved one is heaven. 35:39 That is a comforting thought. 35:41 But you know, God's way is always best. 35:43 Let's think it through. 35:44 It might comfort us to think that, 35:48 but would that loved one really be happy? 35:52 Being there and looking down on their family, 35:56 all the problems the family goes through, 35:59 all the trials, all the fighting, 36:02 watching children or grandchildren 36:04 stray from the Lord, 36:06 making decisions that pains them 36:08 and they can't do anything about it. 36:12 See resting in the grave, 36:14 so that sin can't touch you anymore. 36:16 That's God's way. Let me illustrate it this way. 36:19 I'm going to use myself as an example. 36:21 Now I want you to really think this through. 36:24 Let's pretend that tonight I die. 36:26 I'm not planning on that. 36:28 But let's just pretend that 36:29 as I drive back to my apartment tonight, 36:32 I get hit and I die on a terrible accident 36:35 on the interstate. 36:36 So I die, I go to heaven. 36:39 I look down from heaven and I watch 36:43 as the officer in St. Louis knocks on the door of our home, 36:47 wakes my wife up in the middle of the night 36:49 and tells her that her husband has tragically died 36:52 that she is now a widow. 36:56 I watch as my wife slumps under her knees onto the ground 37:00 and begins to weep and to cry hysterically. 37:05 I watch as the news is passed to my 80 year old mom and dad. 37:09 They fly out to St. Louis to help her. 37:13 I watched the next morning as Marquita goes 37:17 into the bedroom of my little girls. 37:20 Now has to wake them up and tell them, 37:22 "Honey, You're not going to school today. 37:25 Daddy's died. 37:27 He won't be coming home to us anymore." 37:31 I watch my two little girls break down crying 37:34 because they miss their daddy. 37:38 I'm seeing all this from heaven. 37:41 A few days pass, I watch the funeral take place. 37:46 I see my mom and dad just crying uncontrollably 37:49 because children aren't supposed to die 37:50 before their parents. 37:53 And when the funeral's over, and they bring the family up 37:56 to the casket to see it one last time 37:58 before they close that lid. 38:02 I watch Marquita put her hand on my cold clammy arm. 38:07 She says, "David, I loved you. I'm gonna miss you. 38:11 I don't know how I'm going to make it." 38:13 And the tears stream down her face. 38:17 I watch my two little girls walk by. 38:20 I watch my six year old look up at Marquita and say, 38:23 "Mommy, when is daddy gonna wake up? 38:25 Why doesn't he answer me anymore?" 38:29 And I'm looking down from heaven. 38:32 Time passes. 38:36 Marquita is trying to adjust to being a single mother. 38:39 I watch her work two jobs, work her hands to the bone. 38:44 I watch when she puts the girls to bed each night 38:47 and she goes into our bedroom 38:48 and just slowly cries herself to sleep 38:50 for the next three months. 38:53 I listen to my girls wake up in the middle of the night 38:55 because they have nightmares 38:56 'cause they don't have their daddy anymore. 39:01 But more time passes. 39:05 Marquita gets through the grieving process. 39:08 And after a while another man 39:14 starts paying attention to her. 39:18 I watch another man take her by the hand. 39:22 Take her out to eat. 39:25 Kiss her on the lips. 39:29 I hear her say to another man, "I love you," 39:33 words that were once reserved for me. 39:37 Oh, but I'm happy in heaven. 39:40 Time passes. 39:43 I watched them get married. 39:46 I watched my wife being intimate in bed 39:48 with another man. 39:49 Come on. Let's get real. 39:52 I hear my kids call another man daddy. 39:55 And I watch it slowly. 39:56 My pictures are taking down from the mantle 39:59 and replaced with his. 40:01 I ask you, "Would I be happy?" 40:06 I would not be happy at all. 40:08 That's why God says His way is best. 40:11 We sleep. 40:12 We rest in the grave until the resurrection. 40:15 And then we all walk into the kingdom together. 40:19 Can you say amen? Amen. 40:20 1 Thessalonians 4:16, the Bible says, 40:24 "For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven 40:28 with a shout, and with the voice 40:30 of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. 40:33 And the dead in Christ will rise first. 40:37 Then we who are alive and remain 40:39 shall be caught up together with them in the clouds 40:42 to meet the Lord in the air." 40:44 And then my favorite sentence, "And thus or in other words, 40:48 then we shall always be with the Lord." 40:51 Can the church say hallelujah? I love that part. 40:54 Then we will always be with the Lord. 40:59 See, this is where sometimes people have the idea. 41:01 "Well, you know, 41:03 that's where Jesus is gonna take the souls 41:04 out of heaven and put them back into the body." 41:07 Now remember, a soul is a living person. 41:09 It's not some separate part of our body. 41:11 But let's just think how illogical that is. 41:14 Jesus is gonna say to the people in heaven, 41:17 "Pardon me, folks, but what I need to do 41:19 is I need to take you, 41:20 I need to put you back down in your body 41:22 so that I can come back to the earth 41:24 and raise you up and take you back to heaven 41:25 where you already were to begin with." 41:28 How much sense does that make? 41:30 That's God is not an illogical God. 41:32 The fact that there is a resurrection 41:34 tells us that people are sleeping. 41:38 That's why 1 Corinthians 15 says, 41:41 "Then the mortal puts on immortality 41:44 at the resurrection." 41:47 See, in my mind's eye, here's what I picture. 41:50 At that second coming, I can just see an angel 41:54 taking a two-year old child that was cruelly taken 41:58 from her mother by some childhood disease, 42:01 and at the resurrection, 42:03 places that child back in the mother 42:05 and the father's hand, a family is reunited. 42:08 They make the journey to heaven together. 42:10 Why? Because Jesus is their Savior. 42:14 Jesus gives them victory over death. 42:16 Jesus has the keys of death, somebody say amen? 42:19 Amen. 42:21 That's the beauty of the Word of God. 42:25 But I realized it leaves a question. 42:28 As a pastor did I understand? Does it make perfect sense? 42:30 I don't know why I didn't understand it before. 42:36 But now let's understand why it's important. 42:39 Why does it matter? What happens when you die? 42:42 Why does it matter 42:44 what a person believes about that? 42:46 Now I'm sure there's people in the past 42:48 who didn't understand what happens when you die. 42:50 I suspect they're gonna be saved 42:52 because Jesus loves them. 42:54 But when we know the truth, 42:55 Jesus wants us to follow that truth. 42:59 Here's why it's important. 43:00 You know, sometimes in the Christian world today 43:02 I hear a phrase that just makes me 43:04 a little bit nervous. 43:05 I know what they mean by it. 43:06 But sometimes people say doctrine isn't important. 43:09 Jesus only, Jesus only. That bothers me a little bit. 43:13 I agree with the part, 43:14 Jesus is all we need for salvation. 43:17 We are not saved by works. 43:18 We are saved by grace through faith. 43:20 Amen? 43:21 But doctrine is teaching. It's in the Bible for a reason. 43:25 You see every doctrine of the Bible 43:28 that I misunderstand, 43:30 I'm gonna misunderstand something 43:31 about the character of God. 43:33 Because doctrine tells me something about 43:36 who He is and what His character is like. 43:39 So doctrine doesn't save me. 43:41 But it does help me to be on the right path 43:44 in this journey through life. 43:46 Now, I want to illustrate this. 43:47 Why it is important to know what happens when we die? 43:51 What about when we hear these stories? 43:54 We hear these stories of people who communicate with the dead. 43:59 Mediums and channelers, 44:02 you know, you can stay up late night TV. 44:04 I'm not suggesting you do this tonight. 44:05 But on late night TV, you can stay up 44:07 and you can listen to the psychic network, 44:10 you can call 1900 number and they will be glad to talk 44:14 to departed spirits and charge you $10 a minute 44:18 and give you advice as to what choices 44:20 you should make in life. 44:22 You see, the occult and the supernatural 44:25 has really become 44:26 a billion dollar business in this world. 44:29 So what are we supposed to make of it? 44:31 If they claim to see something 44:33 and they claim to talk to something, 44:35 but yet the Bible says the dead know nothing. 44:39 What am I supposed to make of this? 44:42 I want you to take your Bibles and turn to Isaiah Chapter 47. 44:46 In Isaiah Chapter 47, God actually gives us 44:51 some very strong advice as to what our perspective 44:56 should be on speaking to the dead 44:59 and life beyond the grave. 45:01 Isaiah 47:12-14. 45:06 Now as I read this, I'm just going to tell you, 45:08 this is a verse where God uses 45:10 some really strong language here. 45:13 Isaiah 47:12, here's what's happening. 45:18 He is uttering a rebuke against Babylon, 45:21 because spiritualism also came from Babylon, 45:24 and Israel was getting involved in it. 45:28 Going to mediums and sorcerers and things like that. 45:31 Notice what God said. Isaiah 47:12. 45:36 The Bible says, 45:37 "Stand now with your enchantments 45:40 and the multitude of your sorceries 45:43 in which you have labored from your youth. 45:46 Perhaps you will be able to profit, 45:48 perhaps you will prevail. 45:50 You are wearied in the multitude 45:53 of your counsels. 45:55 Let now the astrologers, and the stargazers, 45:58 and the monthly prognosticators stand up 46:01 and save you from what shall come upon you. 46:04 Behold, they shall be as," what? 46:07 "Stubble the fire shall burn them." 46:12 And I'm gonna stop here. 46:13 Would you agree that's some pretty blatant 46:16 straightforward language God uses? 46:18 He's saying to Babylon, He's saying to Israel, 46:20 "Listen, you're going to all these sorcerers, 46:22 you're going to mediums and wizards 46:24 instead of going to your God, fine. 46:26 Go to them. 46:27 See if you profit anything, 46:29 see what kind of advice they give you." 46:32 And he goes on to tell them in verse 14, 46:34 he's basically saying get away from it. 46:37 It's a road that leads straight to what? 46:40 To hell. 46:41 It says the fire shall burn them, 46:45 they shall be as stubble. 46:46 That's talking about the fires of destruction, 46:49 the fires of hell. 46:50 That's how serious God is. 46:51 He says, "I have nothing to do with those things. 46:54 Get as far away from it as possible." 46:58 I say, "Wow, why is God so serious about that?" 47:03 Let's think about it. 47:06 If the Bible says the dead know nothing, 47:08 they rest in the grave till Jesus comes. 47:12 Then who are these people talking to? 47:15 Oh, they're seeing something. 47:18 They're talking to something. 47:21 But according to the Bible, it's not the dead loved one 47:25 because they sleep in the grave. 47:28 They know nothing, their emotions, 47:29 their memory is perished until the resurrection. 47:33 The reason God is so serious, my friends, 47:37 is because we are playing 47:38 with the forces of hell and demons, 47:42 when we get involved in contacting with the dead. 47:47 You see, the devil is well able to impersonate someone 47:50 who has died in the past, whether it be a famous figure 47:54 or whether it be a loved one. 47:56 Notice what it says in 2 Thessalonians 2:9, 47:59 the Bible says, "The coming of the lawless one 48:03 is according to the working of," who? 48:05 "Satan with all power, signs, and lying wonders." 48:10 See, the devil can do signs and lying wonders as well. 48:14 I mean in Genesis with Eve, what did he turn himself into? 48:18 A serpent. 48:20 He can impersonate a dead loved one, 48:23 because he knows how deceptive that would be. 48:27 You know, we might be thinking, "Oh, that's low. 48:29 That is just a low blow for the devil." 48:32 Like, yes, I know. 48:34 The devil is willing to stoop that low. 48:38 Because he knows if I really thought 48:42 that was my mother, 48:44 I would be likely to believe everything she says. 48:48 Because I would figure, "Well, she's passed from the grave, 48:51 she must know, she's experienced that." 48:54 And so, if she says something that's not according 48:57 to the Word of God, 48:59 I will believe it, because I figured that 49:01 she's already passed through the grave 49:03 and the devil will deceive millions of people that way. 49:09 That's why the Bible wants us to know the truth about death. 49:14 I'll give you another example, it's kind of a sensitive issue. 49:17 And I'm not trying to be negative towards any group. 49:21 But this is a very good illustration 49:23 we need to be aware of. 49:25 Do you know what is one of the most 49:28 widely documented supernatural phenomenas 49:31 in the world right now? 49:34 It's the appearance of the apparition, Mary. 49:39 It has been seen and documented in many places 49:43 throughout the world. 49:45 And so that leaves us with a very serious question. 49:50 Is that Mary? 49:53 Because if it is, 49:55 you might as well take this Bible 49:56 and throw it out the door 49:59 because it would mean the Bible is a lie. 50:02 And all the verses we read are meaningless. 50:05 According to the Bible that's not Mary. 50:08 Now, no disrespect to Mary, I'm thankful that 50:10 you know God used her in a special way 50:13 for the role she played in the plan of salvation. 50:15 Can you say amen? 50:17 That God used her to be the earthly mother 50:19 of Jesus Christ. 50:20 So there was something special about Mary's character. 50:23 But the truth is, Mary's a sinner 50:26 just like you and me, saved by grace. 50:29 Mary needs a savior to get to heaven. 50:33 Mary is in the grave, 50:34 just like all who have passed away. 50:38 And what's eventually going to happen is 50:41 that apparition is going to start speaking 50:43 if it hasn't already. 50:45 And when that apparition starts saying things 50:48 that contradict the Word of God, 50:50 there will be millions of religious believers 50:53 who will be deceived, because we don't know 50:56 what the Bible teaches about death. 51:00 That's why it's so important. 51:05 I'll give you one more example. 51:06 This might be a hard one. 51:09 They did a survey a few years ago, 51:11 because they discovered 51:13 that many Christian young people 51:14 were getting involved in the occult, 51:15 and seances, and Ouija boards and they wanted to figure out 51:18 why are Christian young people doing this? 51:22 I don't remember which Christian magazine 51:23 did the survey. 51:25 But when they did the research, 51:27 do you know what they discovered? 51:28 It's shocking what they discovered. 51:30 You know, who they found to be at fault. 51:34 The Christian churches today. 51:37 You say how is that? 51:40 What's one of the most popular doctrines 51:42 in the majority of churches today? 51:45 That when you die, you continue to live somewhere 51:48 where it's heaven, or hell, or somewhere else. 51:53 And when we indoctrinate a young person with that 51:55 from the beginning, 51:56 then when they get involved 51:58 and there's someone who drags them over here 52:00 or to some seance or something appears to them. 52:03 They've already been taught by their church 52:06 that when you die, you don't surely die. 52:10 And we repeat the same lie that the devil did 52:13 in the Garden of Eden. 52:15 And so the young people get sucked into these things. 52:18 Because we're not teaching that when you die, 52:21 you rest in the grave until Jesus Christ comes. 52:26 That's why Job is so clear. 52:28 He says, "As the cloud disappears 52:30 and vanishes away, 52:32 so he who goes down to the grave does not," what? 52:37 "Come up. 52:38 He shall never return to his house, 52:40 nor shall his place know him anymore." 52:44 Not until the resurrection. See, the Bible was clear. 52:48 It's always important to follow the teachings of the Bible. 52:51 It's there for a reason. 52:54 Hi, I'm Pastor Dave, and this is my family. 52:58 My wonderful wife, Marquita 53:00 and my two beautiful daughters Melanie and Emily. 53:03 Thank you for joining us today. 53:05 We pray that you have been blessed 53:07 by today's presentation. 53:09 If you would like to give a donation 53:11 to keep the series on the air 53:13 or purchase the Discover Prophecy series, 53:16 visit our website at discoverbibleprophecy.org 53:22 or contact us at Discover Prophecy, 53:25 PO Box 850, Columbia, Maryland, 21044 53:32 or call toll free 855-774-HOPE. |
Revised 2019-09-30