A few years ago the Howard
Script News Service and Ohio
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University conducted a survey
on supernatural phenomena and
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in this survey they
asked people three questions.
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Do you believe there are ghosts
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and the appearance of
dead people 48% said yes.
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47% said no and 5% said
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Don't Know question 2
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DO you think books
TV shows and movies
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about monsters and the
supernatural are harmless
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or do you worry about
their affect on people. 54% said
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they are worried.
39% said no they are
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harmless and 7%
said they don't know
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the third and final
question of the survey said
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DO you believe that people
who claim to be withces or have
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mystical powers
are self-deluded or
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do you think they
could have mystical powers
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63% said said no
thier self-deluded.
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28% said they
could have powers and
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9% said they don't know.
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Now this survey was conducted
about the same time that a movie
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called the Blair Witch project
hit the box office and it
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grossed about 100,000,000
dollars and in the last few
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decasdes our culture has been
obsessed with the supernatural
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with the occult and whether
or not there is life beyond the
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grave tell from the way that
people answered this survey that
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people are scared and
confused they do not actually
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know what to believe
about life beyond the grave
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but the good news is the
bible gives us the clear answer
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to all three
questions raised in this survey
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so rather than trying to find
the answer through tradition
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we're just going to open up the
word of God and let the Bible
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speak for itself. So the
first place we want to go is
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Revelation chapter 1 and we're
going to verse 18 this will be
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our foundational
text for this evening. "
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He says that He is
the one who was alive
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and was dead and yet
is alive forever. Jesus
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is the one who has
conquered death and gone through
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the portals of the grave
and as a result Jesus tells us
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He is the one who
holds the keys of death, he
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had victory over the grave
and he can give us the same.
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So when it comes to all these
questions about the supernatural
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Jesus is basically saying
don't be scared don't be worried
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I have the answerrs
to these questions and I
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hold the keys of death.
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Now if we want to understand
life beyond the grave there
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is a particular term that
we have to come to grips with
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and you should see that
term on your TV screens now.
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It is a term called the
immortal soul. Now the popular
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belief in many churches
today is that when a person
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dies tey ahve an
immortal soul that comes out
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of their body and floats
back to heaven where God is
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and that immortal soul
is living and conscious
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and you can look
down from heavena nd see
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everything happening with
friends family adn the like
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but the question we
have to ask is not what
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is popular, but what is true
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what does the Bible actual
say. And so I am gonna make a
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statement here in the beginning
that may come as a bit of a
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shock did you know that you can
search the Bible from Genesis to
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Revelation and
not once will you ever
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find the term the immortal soul.
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there is no such
thing in the Bible
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only God is
described as being immortal
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Now you will find the word
soul used many times in fact
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about 1600 times
but never is the soul
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described as being
immortal or undying
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now that may come as a shock
to you but I would encourage you
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search the Bible you
will never find that term used
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The Bible does not teach that we
have an immortal soul that goes
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flying away when we die? You say
well where do we get that idea
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it comes from
pagan greek philosophy
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and teachings that
began tos lip into the church
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somewhere around the time of the
middle ages sow hat we need to
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do is not worry about what pagan
traditions from the past tell us
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but allow the
Bible to tell us what is
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a soul. Is that soul immortal.
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so to understand
what happens when we die
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we have to begin with looking at
what happens in the beginning of
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life so I want to take you all
the way back to Genesis chapter
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2 and verse 7
notice how God describes
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the beginning of
life for mankind.
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Genesis 2:7
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the Bible tells when
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God formed the body of Adam that
He formed that body from dust of
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the ground and then he breathed
into that lifeless body what
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is called the breathe of
life or the spark of live
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that only God can give and
when that happened man began
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a living soul.
Notice God did not
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put a soul into a
man as some separate
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part of his being
it says man became a
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living soul
because a soul is aperson
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anyhting with the body or
breathe of life in it is a
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soul a soul is a
living being is that clear?
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In others words
you don't have a soul
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you are a soul because a soul is
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a living person much the
same we throw around this term
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when we see soemone down
on their luck we tend to say
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oh that poor soul. We don't
mean that there're some kind
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of spirit that is floating
around, we're talking about a
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person so a soul is
a person in fact notice
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how Genesis 46:27
uses the word soul
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The Bible says,
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In other words Joseph's wife
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gave birth to two souls.
Now what did she give birth to
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did she give birth to two spooks
floating around? She gave birth
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to two babies who had a body
and the breath of life in them
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she gave birth to
two people becasue a soul
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is a person. And as you
continue to look through
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many verse of
scripture it is clear
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that in Ezekiel 18:4 the
Bible says the soul who sins
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shall die in other words the
person who sins and turns away
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from God the end
result of that is death
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so we need to understand that
according to the Bible a soul
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is not a separate part of
our being that goes flying away
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when we die the soul
is simply a living person
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or a living being now with that
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understanding it may raise a
question in your mind. You may
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wonder but isn't there something
that goes back to God when we
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die? and the answer
is yes but it is not
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the soul. The answer is found
in the book of Ecclesiastes
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chapter 12 and verse
7 I would like to invite
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turn there. This was
written by the wisest person
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that ever lived, Solomon
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and Solomon wrote
about life and death
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notice what he
writes in Ecclesiastes 12:7
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Let's pause here.
We already know that
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when a person dies and we bury
the body after a period of tme
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it basically
disentrigates into dust
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that is what the old poem says.
Dust to dust, ashes to ashes.
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But then it goes on to
say that the spirit returns
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to God who gave it and this is
where we tend to mis-interpret
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things and get all confused
and we think oh the spirit
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well that is the soul that keeps
on living and I can look down on
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evertything that happens
on earth but the spirit is not
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the soul. In fact
that spirit is not even
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a living
conscious part of our body
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when you look in the hebrew
the word for spirit is simply
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ruauch which means breath
00:10:02.96\00:10:06.97
remember what the bible
said in Genesis it said that God
00:10:06.97\00:10:11.01
breathed into man's nostrils
(waht?0 the breath of life
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so this spirit
that returns to God
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is nothing more than the
breath of life that God gave
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man from the beginning
and that makes perfect sense
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with the whole of scripture
and really if you've ever
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been with someone
when they died what do they
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stop doing? They stop breathing
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we say they have breathed
their last because that spirit
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or that breath of live
goes back to God who gave
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it in the
beginning so the spirit is
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the breath now
having said that, that may
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raise another question in your
mind. and we may wonder well
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this spirit that goes back to
God if that is simply the breath
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of life is there any
living conscious part of us
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that goes to heaven
upon death? am i able
00:11:07.40\00:11:11.40
to look down upon family and
friends and know what is going
00:11:11.40\00:11:15.47
on in this world? well let
us allow the Bible to continue
00:11:15.47\00:11:19.47
to give us an answer. we
are gonna stay in the book of
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Ecclesiastes and we wanna
go to chapter 9 and verse 5
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I don't think I can
explain it any better than the
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way Solomon just put it. The
living know they are going to
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die you all know that is going
to happen unless Jesus comes
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first But in describing
the dead the Bible says
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the dead know nothing
00:12:03.65\00:12:07.66
absolutely
nothing. Theya re not aware
00:12:07.66\00:12:11.66
of anyhting that is happening
on this earth after they die
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that is why verse 6
says their love their haterd
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all their emotions are persihed
becasue the Bible describes
00:12:19.63\00:12:23.67
them as simply resting
or sleeping in the grave
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until Jesus Comes.
00:12:27.68\00:12:31.68
Now having said that
I want to address a very
00:12:31.68\00:12:35.68
serious subject. Because
if the Bible says the dead
00:12:35.68\00:12:39.69
know nothing, that
they simply rest or sleep
00:12:39.69\00:12:43.69
in the grave until the
resurrection a question that may
00:12:43.69\00:12:47.66
arise in the minds of some are,
00:12:47.66\00:12:51.67
I have talked with my
dead loved ones who passed away
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I have seen them. They ahve
appeared to me they looked like
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my family, talked like
them, I know it was them
00:12:59.71\00:13:03.78
and I know that every time I
have ever preached this message
00:13:03.78\00:13:07.78
or done a seminar that talks
about live after death There is
00:13:07.78\00:13:11.79
always someone who shares I have
talked and seen my loved one
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and I know that perhaps if
you are watching on television
00:13:15.79\00:13:19.79
you may have had this
experience as well. How do we
00:13:19.79\00:13:23.80
deal with this? If we have
seen soemthing with our own eyes
00:13:23.80\00:13:27.77
but yet the Bible
says the dead know nothing
00:13:27.77\00:13:31.81
they sleep and rest in the grave
how do we make sense of that.
00:13:31.81\00:13:35.81
the thing we have to understand
is the devil is a master
00:13:35.81\00:13:39.81
deceiver and is well able
00:13:39.81\00:13:43.82
to impersonate our dead loved
ones in order to lead us astray
00:13:43.82\00:13:47.82
see the devil watche
sour lives too he knows
00:13:47.82\00:13:51.83
our mannerisms, how we talk,
00:13:51.83\00:13:55.80
in some ways he knows how
we think and it is not hard
00:13:55.80\00:13:59.80
for the devil to impersonate
himself and changed himself into
00:13:59.80\00:14:03.87
a human being to
look like a dead loved one
00:14:03.87\00:14:07.91
even though thtey act and talk
like mom according to the Bible
00:14:07.91\00:14:11.91
that is not our dead loved
one becasue the Bible says they
00:14:11.91\00:14:15.92
simply sleep in the
grave and the dead know nothing
00:14:15.92\00:14:19.92
see when it comes to
communicating with those who
00:14:19.92\00:14:23.93
have passed away through
spiritualism or wizardry or any
00:14:23.93\00:14:27.93
of the such the Bible clearly
tells us that is an abomination
00:14:27.93\00:14:31.90
and God says stay as far
away from it as possible.
00:14:31.90\00:14:35.44
becasue really, if
00:14:35.44\00:14:39.47
you are seeing someone or
communicating with someone and
00:14:39.47\00:14:43.48
the bible says that isnt
your dead loved one who is it?
00:14:43.48\00:14:47.52
see the Bible knows that we are
00:14:47.52\00:14:51.55
playing with demonic
forces that these are
00:14:51.55\00:14:55.56
evil angels seekinbg to
impersonate loved ones and God
00:14:55.56\00:14:59.59
says stay away
from that as possible
00:14:59.59\00:15:03.67
becasue our loved ones
simply sleep in the grave until
00:15:03.67\00:15:07.70
Jesus comes. Sin
can't hurt them anymore
00:15:07.70\00:15:11.71
they awake to the resurrection
00:15:11.71\00:15:15.74
now having said that I
also want to address something
00:15:15.74\00:15:19.78
that isinv erse 10. Now
verse 10 is not on the screne
00:15:19.78\00:15:23.82
and I wanna read it from the
scriptures because there is a
very important pronciple there
00:15:23.82\00:15:27.86
in Ecclesiastes
chapter 9and verse 10
00:15:27.86\00:15:31.89
I want you to notice what
Solomon writes the Bible says
00:15:31.89\00:15:35.86
whatever your hand finds to do
00:15:35.86\00:15:39.93
do it wiht all your
might for there is no
00:15:39.93\00:15:43.94
work or device or
knowledge or wisdom int he grave
00:15:43.94\00:15:47.98
where you are going. In
other words God is encouraginf
00:15:47.98\00:15:52.01
us that if he has laid a
decision on our heart we need to
00:15:52.01\00:15:56.05
make it today. If there is
some path he wants us to follow
00:15:56.05\00:16:00.16
we need to follow it
today. If there is some choice
00:16:00.16\00:16:04.16
that he is wanting us to make,
God says take life seriously
00:16:04.16\00:16:08.13
because nobody is
guaranteed tomorrow
00:16:08.13\00:16:12.13
you know how many funerals
there have been where someone
00:16:12.13\00:16:16.17
has had to lean over a
casket and becasue they
00:16:16.17\00:16:20.18
withheld
forgiveness for years or held on
00:16:20.18\00:16:24.18
to a grudge or argued
over the silliest things
00:16:24.18\00:16:28.18
wouldn't talk to a friend
or loved one for years maybe
00:16:28.18\00:16:32.19
even decades and
now death has come
00:16:32.19\00:16:36.19
prematurely adn that loved
one was taken away and they were
00:16:36.19\00:16:40.20
never able to say im sorry.They
were never able to say
00:16:40.20\00:16:44.17
again, I love you.
00:16:44.17\00:16:48.17
and theyre broken
they weep over that casket
00:16:48.17\00:16:52.17
wishing they had
not wasted so many years
00:16:52.17\00:16:56.21
arguing about the
silliest stupidest things
00:16:56.21\00:17:00.28
friends if there is a
relationship you need to make
right, make it right
00:17:00.28\00:17:04.29
today. If there is someone tow
hom you need to say I am sorry,
00:17:04.29\00:17:08.29
or someone to whom you
need to remind them, I love you
00:17:08.29\00:17:12.29
do it today and make it right
becasue the Bible says there is
00:17:12.29\00:17:16.26
no work or device or
knowlede int he grave once
00:17:16.26\00:17:20.27
we die it is too
late so God encourages us
00:17:20.27\00:17:24.31
take life
seriously now because life
00:17:24.31\00:17:28.31
is a precious thing
00:17:28.31\00:17:32.31
that leads us to a few
other questions. If indeed
00:17:32.31\00:17:36.32
the Bible
describes death as a sleep
00:17:36.32\00:17:40.32
I want us to take a
looka t the life of lazarus
00:17:40.32\00:17:44.33
when Jesus called him from the
tomb because there is a lot we
00:17:44.33\00:17:48.30
can learn from this passage
it is almos tlike Jesus gives us
00:17:48.30\00:17:52.30
a little microscopic picture
of what is going to happen
00:17:52.30\00:17:56.34
on the day of the resurrection.
Now here is the background.
00:17:56.34\00:18:00.38
Jesus was close friends
with Mary Martha and Lazrus
00:18:00.38\00:18:04.41
and when Lazarus was
deathly ill they called
00:18:04.41\00:18:08.42
for Jesus to come to
Bethany and heal him yet Jesus
00:18:08.42\00:18:12.42
did something
strange. He purposely
00:18:12.42\00:18:16.42
waited and he let Lazarus die
00:18:16.42\00:18:20.43
And just befroe
he made the journey
00:18:20.43\00:18:24.40
to Bethany he had this
discucssion with his disciples
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John 11 verse 11 The Bible says
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Do you notice the word
Jesus used to describe death?
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he called it a sleep. See, Jesus
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himself says that
death is simply a peaceful
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sleep for some of us we
may sleep for a few years
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for some it may be a 100 years
for other it may have been 1000
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years but on the day of the
resurrection that is when jesus
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comes to wake us up. Because
in this story with Lazarus when
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Jesus said to him come
forth from the grave the bible
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describes that he bounded out
of the tomb still dressed in t
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these grave clothes and he
told the people to unloose him
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but it is important understand
what did not happen imagine this
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imagine lazarus coming out
of the tomb they unwrap these
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grave clothes from him, he
blinks his eyes and he wonders
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what hs happened and mary
and martha said Jesus raised you
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from the dead! and Lazarus and
turns to Jesus and said you
raised me from the dead?
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what did you do that
for?! I was up in heaven walking
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the streets of gold and singing
wiht angels and talking with
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the saints nad you had the
audacity to bring me back to
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this sinful place? Why!
Does the Bible say that?
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No. Did Lazarus hve any idea
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or story to tell about
being in heaven or hell
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or anywhere else. Absolutely not
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because he was
simply sleeping in the grave
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like Jesus said and
Jesus came to wake him
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up lazarus was not livining
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or conscious in hea en or
anywhere else he was not aware
of what was happening
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on this earth, he was peacefully
resting in the grave and Jesus
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woke him up that
is how it will be
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for you and I becasue
when you think about it
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if Lazarus really
had been in heaven
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and Jesus brought him back
to this rotten earth that really
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would have been a
dirty trick wouldnt it
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Lazarus was simply sleeping and
if you and I should die before
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Jesus comes we will
peacefully rest in th grave
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until the orning
of the resurrection
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now it may be having
said this you may be thinking
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wel pastor dave oh i
wish I hadnt listened to this
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message that takes my joy away.
I have always thought of my
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loved one being in heaven and
looking down upon me and that
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made me feel so
good. i can understand that
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truly i can but if we are
honest in our thinking lets ask
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ourselves a question.
Do we believe that because
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we think it would be
beter for our loved one
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or simply we thinkt
hat makes us feel better
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see God's way is always best
sleeping in the grave is much
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better than being living
and conscious of what happens on
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this earth can you imagine what
that would be like for a loved
one to look down from heaven
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and to see all
the pain and decisions
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all the sorrow their family is
going through or maybe a child
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who is going down the wrong
patha nd they cant do anything
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about it in fact to illustrate
this I want you to pretend
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something. we are gonna use
myself as an illustration okay?
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I want you to pretend that
tonight when the meeitng is over
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and I am driving home I
have a terrible accident and die
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now i am not planning
that let's just pretend
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so I die and I go to heaven and
i am looking down from heaven
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and as I do so, I watch
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as the officer at the scene goes
to my home knocks on my door
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and tells my wife
that her husband is
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dead and I watch
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as my wife just
collapses and sobs
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uncontrollably
knowing that she is anow
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a widow. The next
morning when my girls get up
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to go to school Marquita pulls
them inside and says youre not
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going to school today
you see daddy died last night
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he isn't coming home anymore
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and I watch my two
little girls cry in pain
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as they realize they
don't have a daddy anymore
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but I am watching from
heaven the funeral takes place
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I watch my 80 year old
parents go to the funeral
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their backs bent weeping
becasue children arent supposed
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to die before
their parents as if
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the funeral ends
I continue watching
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as Marquita reaches
into the casket one last time
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Grabs my cold clammy
had said David I love
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you. I don't know how I am
going to make it without you
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and I just watch her cry
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I listen as my youngest girl
walks out the door screaming
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saying why doesn't daddy wake
up why doesn't daddy answer me
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and I am watching from heaven
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time passes the
greiving process is over
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and now I watch
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as another man begins
to enter Marquitas life
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I watch as he holds her hand
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kisses her on the lips
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I watch as she says I
lvoe you to another man
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words that were
once reserved just for me
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I watch as they get married
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I watch my wife be intimate
in bed witha nother man come on
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lets be real
time continues to pass
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I listen to my girls
call another man daddy
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once me. I watch
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as my pictures are
slowly taken off the mantle
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and replaed with
somebody else's now I ask you
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would I be happy? I would not
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be happy at all.
Thatis why God tells us
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we rest and sleep in
the grave until jesus comes
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again. God's way is
always best. Sin cannot
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touch us anymore. in
fact the Bible describes
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what that day of reunion will be
like and I want to focus on this
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as our last verse
today. 1 Thessalonians 4:16
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The Bible Says, "
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" Husbands and wives
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united parents and children
bother and sister, grandparents
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and grandchildern
and the bible describes
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that together as one
happy group we will all make
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the journey to King of Heaven
and walk through the gates
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together it will
be a shared experience
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see that is the day we are
waiting for. the day of the
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resurrection when
we all will be reunited
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my friends if you
desire to be reunited
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with your loved ones
agian if you desire to
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experience eternal life
and the kingdom of heaven
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we are going to need Jesus
Christ as our savior becasue
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Jesus said he is the only
one who has the keys of death
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he is the only one that can
give us victory over the grave
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and he is the only one
who can give us eternal life
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that is why Jesus said, "
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" There is a
resurrection my friends a day
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that we can look forward
to and I wodner if tonight
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we can make the decision to not
only accept Hima s our savior
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but that we would love him
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and follow him with
our hearts and minds
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and soul. So that he
too can give us the keys
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of death and we can
experience eternal life
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through him.
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