Participants: David Down
Series Code: DUTP
Program Code: DUTP000014
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00:01 We're here at Bethchurin. It simply means, House of Gates.
00:04 In the 2nd century A.D. when the Jewish leaders were buried, 00:08 they were buried here in the catacombs. 00:10 After the burial, the gates were put across. 00:13 So there we have it. Beth meaning house, 00:16 and Churin, meaning gates. 01:50 Well, maybe you didn't even know that there were catacombs 01:53 in Israel, did you? They're interesting, aren't they? 01:55 In fact, there's a lot of very interesting burial customs. 01:59 So many people have different ideas about burial. 02:02 For instance, in India, the Hindus cremate their dead 02:07 put them on a funeral pyre and then light the fire 02:10 and burn the body completely. The Tibetans have rather a 02:16 gruesome method of disposing of the dead, very practical, really 02:20 because out there in Tibet on the roof of the world, 02:23 it is very stony, very hard ground and who wants to 02:27 dig a grave in a place like that? And so what they do, 02:31 is they have special men appointed who will cut the body 02:34 into pieces, and then they throw them to the birds. 02:38 In fact, that is what the Parsees do. You know 02:41 the Parsees who originally came from Persia, driven out by 02:44 the Muslim invasion. And they worshiped fire and water 02:48 and the earth, the elements. They don't like to desecrate 02:52 these things. And so they have a system whereby they have a big 02:56 round tower. They call it a tower of silence. And then they 03:00 place the naked body inside this tower on an iron grating 03:03 and of course the vultures come down in about 10 minutes. 03:06 All that's left is the bones. That's all. 03:09 Of course the Muslims believe in burial and a form of 03:14 resurrection. And so there's some very magnificent 03:17 Muslim burial places, for instance, you're all familiar 03:21 with the Taj Majal, where Shah Jahan buried his beautiful wife, 03:27 Mumtaz Mahal, many years ago. And that's a 03:30 magnificent monument. 03:31 And then of course the ancient Greeks believed in the 03:36 preservation of the soul. So did the Egyptians. 03:41 In fact, they had a very interesting custom. 03:43 They had what they call this- they called a ushamti. 03:46 Its a little figure, about this big or sometimes smaller 03:50 sometimes bigger, and this figure carried a flail 03:55 and a sickle over his - in his arms, you see. 03:59 The idea is, put one of these in your burial place and this 04:04 fellow's will be animated in the life to come and he will do 04:07 all your farm work for you. So different people had different 04:11 customs, different ideas about what happens when you die. 04:14 And of course Christians have their own ideas about this, too. 04:18 You go to a Christian cemetery and they will read on the 04:21 tombstones where so and so has gone to heaven. 04:24 And most Christians believe you ought to go to heaven or 04:28 go to hell when you die your soul leaves the body. 04:31 Well, what's it all about anyway? 04:33 What does happen when you die? 04:35 Does the soul leave the body and go to heaven or wherever? 04:41 The best answer that we can get, of course, is from the bible. 04:45 Because, after all, that's God's answer. God ought to know what 04:48 happens when you do die. So we need to consult the bible, 04:53 to find out just what is involved in death. What happens, 04:56 Where are you 10 minutes after you die. Well, I'll tell you 04:58 one thing that you can get from the bible. The very first 05:01 message is this. You don't need to be afraid of dying. 05:06 This is not actually the tomb of Jesus Christ. Its the tomb of 05:12 Herod's family. But its very like it. And you can imagine 05:16 Jesus Christ, stepping out of this tomb and coming back to 05:21 life. He'd been dead. Really dead. Yet here he is 05:24 back to life again. Well what would you like to ask him? 05:27 I'm sure there's a lot of people who would like to ask him, 05:31 Jesus, what's it like to die? What's it feel like to be dead? 05:35 Actually here's somebody who's been through the experience. 05:39 No use asking a preacher or asking somebody who hasn't been 05:42 through the experience. Ask somebody who's been through it. 05:45 And Jesus has, and he gives us the answer. You know what it is? 05:48 It's found in Revelation, chapter 1 and in verse 17. 05:53 Where he said, I fell at His feet as dead, but he laid his 05:58 right hand on me, saying to me, Do not be afraid. I am he who 06:04 lives and was dead, and behold, I'm alive forevermore. 06:09 So the right message that Jesus Christ has been through 06:13 the experience of death, the message he has for us is, 06:16 Don't be afraid. It's only a sleep. Don't worry about it. 06:19 And why don't we need to worry? Because he says, I have the keys 06:24 of Hades and of death, that is of the grave and death. 06:28 He's got the keys. He can open the door. He can let you out. 06:31 So, nobody needs to be afraid of dying, when you know that 06:35 Jesus Christ has been through it. He says, don't be afraid. 06:37 And he's got the keys to let you out again. 06:51 At the moment, we are visiting the church of Lazarus. 06:55 Actually the tomb of Lazarus is just up the lane a little bit 06:59 Well, I say the tomb of Lazarus, It's really not his tomb. 07:03 In fact, it's not even a tomb. It's more likely to be a water 07:07 system. But anyway, it reminds us of the story of Lazarus. 07:11 And it's a very dramatic story. Jesus Christ was down the other 07:16 side of the river Jordan when the message came to him 07:18 that his friend Lazarus was sick. He waited another 4 days 07:23 and then he said to his disciples, Our friend Lazarus 07:27 sleeps, but I go that I may wake him. 07:30 Well his disciples said, If he's sleeping that's a good thing 07:34 But Jesus said in John 11, verse 14, Lazarus is dead. 07:40 I want you to notice that he referred to death as a sleep. 07:44 And really that's what death is, just like going to sleep. 07:47 That's why you don't need to be afraid of dying. You know, when 07:50 you see a little baby lying in it's cot, you don't get all 07:53 excited and say, Hey, this baby isn't doing anything. 07:57 No, its sleeping and you know that its going to awaken out of 08:00 sleep. And so when people die, they don't need to be afraid 08:04 of dying, because its just a sleep. And you're going to 08:07 awaken out of that sleep. in fact in Psalm 17 and in verse 15 08:14 the writer said, As for me, I will see your face 08:18 in righteousness. I shall be satisfied when I awake in your 08:23 likeness. So David was quite satisfied to go to sleep 08:26 in death and then just awaken out of that death. And so 08:30 nobody needs to be afraid of dying. But what about the soul? 08:35 In the meantime, what happens to that. Let me read to you 08:38 the bible definition of a soul. I'm reading in Genesis, 08:42 chapter 2, and verse 7, where there's a record of the creation 08:46 of man. It says, And the Lord God formed man of the dust of 08:51 the ground. That is, made his body. And breathed into his 08:55 nostrils the breath of life, - Breath of life and spirit are 08:59 equal terms in biblical record. And man became a living being, 09:05 or a living soul - same thing. Now let me illustrate it on 09:08 the board. God, first of all made man's body. 09:13 And then he breathed into his nostrils the spirit of breath of 09:19 life, and man became a living soul. Alright. 09:29 Now, when a man dies, what happens? Just the opposite. 09:32 In Psalms 146, and in verses 3 and 4, it says, 09:38 Do not put your trust in princes nor in a son of man in whom 09:43 there is no help. His spirit departs. He returns to his 09:48 earth. In that very day his thoughts perish. Alright, 09:53 You see what has happened then, when a man dies? 09:56 He was a living soul. His spirit left and all that was left 10:04 was the body. And you know the old funeral prescription, 10:09 ashes to ashes, dust to dust. All that was left was the body. 10:13 So, what was the result? Well, we have here in Ecclesiastes, 10:18 chapter 9, and in verse 5. For the living know that they will 10:24 die, but the dead know not anything. 10:27 How can you, if its just a dead body? Well, you might say, Well, 10:31 where did the soul go to? Surely it went somewhere. 10:34 Not necessarily. Let me illustrate it this way. 10:37 Now, we have a light in this room, and it has a glass bulb, 10:42 and metal filament and its got electricity flowing through 10:45 is. So we have light. But now, let me just reach over and 10:49 flick the switch off. Now the light's gone off. 10:53 Where did it go? Did it go out the window, or under the table, 10:56 or where did it go? It didn't go anywhere. We simply turned 10:59 it off. Now, that's the way it is with the living soul, 11:03 the human being. Its alive, its got all the elements, 11:06 the material elements, but God switches it off. And so 11:10 life ceases to exist, and all you have left is the human 11:14 body. Now this comes as a bit of a surprise to some people 11:18 when they raise the question, but listen, doesn't the bible 11:21 teach that the soul is immortal? that it cannot die? No, 11:26 that's not what the bible teaches. Listen, I'm reading in 11:28 Ezekiel, chapter 18, and in verse 4, Behold, all souls 11:33 are mine. The souls of the father as well as the soul of 11:36 the son is mine. Listen, The soul who sins shall die. 11:41 That's plain enough, isn't it? The soul that sins shall die. 11:44 So the soul can die. But at the resurrection, again we get 11:50 back to the creation formula. In other words, body plus spirit 11:55 or breath of life equals a living soul again. 11:58 This is the valley of Gehenna. This is where all the rubbish 12:04 from Jerusalem was dumped. They brought it out of the dung 12:07 gate over there and dumped it into the valley here, and 12:11 of course the maggots got to work and the fires were 12:15 smoldering all the time. Jesus Christ referred to this where he 12:19 referred to the place where, their worm dieth not, 12:22 and their fire is not quenched. Now this also is probably 12:27 the valley of dry bones. Ever read about that in the book of 12:30 Ezekiel? Interesting. Chapter 37 And the hand of the Lord came 12:34 upon me and brought me out in the Spirit of the Lord 12:37 and set me down in the midst of the valley and it was full of 12:40 bones. Apparently there had been some battle and a lot of 12:44 people got killed and their bodies were just dumped down 12:48 here and the vultures had picked their flesh, and so 12:51 just a lot of dry bones are lying around. And so God said to 12:55 Ezekiel, Prophecy to these bones and say to them, 12:59 Oh, dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. Fancy bones hearing 13:03 the word of the Lord. You see bones can listen if God speaks. 13:06 So I prophesied as I was commanded and as I 13:10 prophesied, there was a noise and suddenly a rattling, 13:12 and the bones came together, bone to bone. All the bones 13:15 gathered together and they're all fitted up as nice skeletons. 13:18 But then, that wasn't the end. Indeed as I looked, the sinews 13:23 and the flesh came upon them and the skin covered them over, 13:26 but there was no breath in them. Here they were, beautifully made 13:30 bodies, remade, and they looked alright but they were still dead 13:35 but there was no breath in them. Alright, what comes next? 13:38 Then he said to me, Prophecy to the breath. So I prophesied 13:43 as he commanded me and breath came into them and they lived, 13:46 and stood upon their feet an exceeding great army. 13:50 Now, can you see the process? Creation was the body plus the 13:54 breath of life, and it became a living soul. 13:57 At death, the living person died, the breath of life left, 14:03 and only the body was there. Now again, you've got the 14:05 reversal of this process, you see? And so here is a picture 14:09 of the resurrection. Now some people might say, 14:12 That's all very well; but, what if there are no bones left? 14:14 Suppose a fellow has been eaten by a tiger or he's been burned 14:18 in the fire. There are just no bones left. You don't need to 14:21 worry about that. You see God is not dependent upon the 14:25 original atoms from which we are made. He can use other atoms 14:28 and remake us just exactly as we were originally. 14:32 Job voiced this thought in chapter 19, verse 25, he says 14:37 I know that my redeemer lives, and He shall stand at last 14:42 on the earth. And after my skin is destroyed, this I know 14:47 that in my flesh I shall see God. It doesn't matter if your 14:50 body is destroyed. God can re- make it just the same. 14:53 And so the hope of people in this world is the future mortal 14:59 life as a result of the resurrection. Paul described 15:04 this in 1 Thessalonians chapter 4, and in verse 16, 15:08 where he says, For the Lord himself will descend from heaven 15:11 with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the 15:13 trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ shall rise first. 15:17 What a great day that will be! But listen, I just want to tell 15:20 you something. There's going to be two resurrections. 15:23 Did you know that? Well, you better accept it because that's 15:26 what Jesus Christ said in John chapter 5, and in verse, 28. 15:31 He said, Do not marvel at this, for the hour is coming in which 15:35 all that are in the graves will hear His voice. 15:38 It doesn't matter whether you believe it or not, whether you 15:41 are ready or not, you're going to hear that voice. 15:43 And then, he says, They shall come forth, those who have done 15:48 good to the resurrection of life, and those who have done 15:52 evil to the resurrection of damnation. 15:54 Its terribly important you come up in the right resurrection, 15:58 Isn't it? I'm sure we all want to be 16:01 in the right resurrection. Sometimes people get involved 16:04 in spiritualism and they're quite certain they've seen 16:07 a soul or a spirit. Others believe it's all an illusion 16:11 an maybe there is illusion and trickery practiced. But things 16:15 do happen and sometimes some quite frightening things. 16:18 We'll be coming to grips with this issue in our next program 16:22 where we visit Endor where the first recorded spiritualist 16:26 séance in history took place. |
Revised 2014-12-17