What really happens when we die?
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Do we go up? Do we go down?
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Do we come back around?
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What does the Bible really say?
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You'll find out
on His Voice Today.
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Welcome to
another His Voice Today
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with Steve Wohlberg.
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Welcome to solving the
mystery of death, Part 1.
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Once upon a time
there was a young boy
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and he was walking in a
cemetery looking at tombstones.
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I don't know if
you've ever done that,
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I've done that many times...
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it's very interesting to see
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what people have
inscribed upon their stone.
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Well, as this little
boy was walking along,
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he saw one stone
that really struck his eye
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and it was the stone
by the name of Paul Adams.
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He lived from 1902 to 1964,
how he died... I have no idea
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but this is what this
man had written on his stone,
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he said, "Stop my
friend... as you go by
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as you are
now... so once was I...
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as I am now...
you soon shall be...
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so prepare
yourself to follow me. "
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Well, this young boy
was quite a thinker...
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and he thought about
what was written on that stone
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and he took out an orange marker
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and he wrote these
words on the stone,
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he wrote, "To follow
you... I am not content
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until I know
just where you went. "
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Pretty smart boy...
well, where did Paul Adams go?
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Where does
anybody go after they die,
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this is probably one
of the most emotional,
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controversial and
important question
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that every human
being asks themselves
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at some point in their life
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and there are a lot
of different views...
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in the religious
world and the secular world
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around the world...
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some believe you go up,
some believe you go down,
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some believe you
come back around,
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depending upon how you live,
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maybe you could be reincarnated
as an elephant or as a mouse...
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some believe you
enter the spirit world
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and some believe you
basically don't go anywhere...
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you're just dead and that's it.
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To make it really simple,
there are three basic views
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concerning what
happens after you die,
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the first view
is the Atheist view,
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that basically... you're gone,
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that's it, there's no
heaven, there's no hell,
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there's no future,
there's just nothing,
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eternal darkness,
so that's one view,
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I do not
subscribe to that view...
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the second view
is what we could call
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"the immortal soul idea"
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and that is the idea that inside
of every body, physical body...
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there is an immortal
substance called the soul
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and then when the body dies,
which is basically "the house,"
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the dust goes
back to the dust...
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then the immortal soul goes on,
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it goes somewhere depending
upon the religious persuasion
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that would determine where
people believe the soul goes,
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some believe you go to
heaven, some believe hell,
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some believe... reincarnation,
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some believe you
enter into the spirit world
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you can come back as a ghost,
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there are
various different views,
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and then there's the
third view which I call
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"the mortal soul
view" that basically teaches
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that man is a mortal
being and that when he dies,
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he is dead...
asleep in the grave...
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but he is waiting for the
resurrection from the dead
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three basic views, so, we
are here on His Voice Today,
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to try to find out what
does God's book have to say.
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Our first text is, 1st
Thessalonians chapter 4,
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verses 16 and 17,
here Paul is talking about
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the return of Jesus Christ...
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the great day when the
Lord comes down from the sky,
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verse 16 says,
"For the Lord himself
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shall descend from
heaven with a shout,
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with the voice of the archangel,
and with the trumpet of God:
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and the dead in
Christ shall rise first... "
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the dead in Christ
shall rise first...
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verse 17 says,
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"Then we which
are alive and remain
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shall be caught up together
with them in the clouds,
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to meet the Lord in the air:
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and so we shall
ever be with the Lord. "
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Verse 18, Paul wrote,
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"Wherefore comfort one
another with these words. "
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Now let's examine this
closely, at the end of verse 16,
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again I read, Paul said that
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when Jesus comes
down from the skies,
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that the dead in
Christ shall rise first,
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so, here it's
talking about the dead,
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it's talking about
death and those who have died
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in believing in
Jesus, Paul says,
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that they will rise which
is the concept of resurrection,
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they rise from the
dead, now the word, "rise"
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implies that
they are not up there,
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but that they're down somewhere
and that they are rising
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which means
they are coming up...
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coming up from the
grave on resurrection morning,
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the resurrection and...
this concept... this truth...
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is mentioned many
times in the Bible,
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John 11 verse 25, Jesus said,
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"I am the
resurrection and the life.. "
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1st Corinthians 15:3 and
4, Paul talked about Jesus...
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how he died... He was buried...
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and then He rose from
the dead on the third day.
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Matthew 28 verse 7,
on resurrection morning
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when... after Jesus died...
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the women came to the
tomb and they saw an angel,
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and the angel said,
"Don't look for Him here,
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'He has risen... He
has risen from the dead...
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He's not in the tomb anymore. '"
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Acts 24 verse 15, Paul wrote
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that there will be a
resurrection of the dead
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both of the just
and of the unjust
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so the concept of people rising
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and of the
resurrection of the dead...
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it's a basic Bible doctrine,
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it's mentioned at least a
100 times in the New Testament
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there are... there
are just so many verses
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that teach this... now
going back to verse 17,
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Paul talks about how when
Jesus comes down from the sky,
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after one group...
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those who have died in
Christ believing in Jesus
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are resurrected, then he said,
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"We which are
alive and remain... "
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which refers to
those who haven't died,
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and personally, I
hope to be in this group
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I don't have any
interest in biting the dust
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or going down to the grave...
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I would like to be alive
on the day when Jesus comes,
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and there will be a
group of people that are alive
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that go through the
final days, they're alive,
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they look up and
they see Jesus coming
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and Paul says that
those who are alive and remain
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will be caught up together...
and the word, "together"
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has to do with a reunion with
those that have been resurrected
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and those that are
alive are caught up together
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in the clouds to
meet the Lord in the air,
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and then Paul says,
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"So shall we
ever be with the Lord
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wherefore comfort one
another with these words. "
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If I were to ask you
based on this text...
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just this text alone,
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when do believers
get to be with Jesus
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what would your answer be?
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Based on this text,
if you answered right,
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the answer would be...
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"we get to be
with the Lord forever
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when He comes
down from the sky,"
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when he resurrects the dead
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and when the living
are caught up together
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to meet Him in the
air... that's when Paul says,
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"so shall we
ever be with the Lord"
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and this is a
very comforting truth,
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this is what we're
waiting for, and Paul says,
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"Comfort one
another with these words.. "
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we're waiting for the big day
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when Jesus will
come down from the sky
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now, next
question is, the soul...
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we have to tackle the soul,
we have to understand the soul
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in order to
understand what the Bible says
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so let's go back to the
beginning... back to Genesis...
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Genesis chapter 1 verse 1 says,
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"In the beginning God created
the heavens and the earth"
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in chapter 2 verse 7,
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Moses described how the Lord
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originally made
man in the beginning.
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In verse 7... Genesis 2:7,
that the Lord God formed man
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from the dust of the ground,
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and He breathed into His
nostrils the breath of life;
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and man became a living soul.
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I remember one time I
was talking to my little...
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little daughter,
Abby, she's five-years old
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and I was talking about
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how God originally formed
Adam from the dust of the ground
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and He made him into a man
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and then He breathed into
his nostrils the breath of life
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and man became a living soul...
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trying to teach
my daughter the Bible
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and Abby looked
at me and she said,
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"Daddy, did God get His
hands dirty when He made Adam?"
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and I had to say to
her, "Well, you know, Honey,
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I really just
don't know, I don't know,
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there are a lot of
things I don't know"
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but I do know
what God has told us
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and this verse
tells us about the soul
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and it tells us
how God formed the soul
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and also the
components of the soul
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so notice... God made man
from the dust of the ground,
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here's the formula, He
put man together from dirt
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and then once He had him formed,
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he was either standing
up as a statue or lying down
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then it says that God
breathed into his nostrils
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the breath of life,
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the Hebrew word for
"breath of life" means
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the breath of
the spirit of life,
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he breathed some spark into Adam
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and then at the end
of the verse it says,
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"Man became a living soul"
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so, basically, what
we read here is that
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God took the dust of the
earth and then He breathed
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the breath of life and the
combination of dust plus breath
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resulted in man
becoming a living soul,
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the word "soul"
here in the Hebrew
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is "nephesh"
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there's
commentary that I've read
00:10:10.31\00:10:12.44
Lawrence O. Richards Expository
Dictionary of Bible Words
00:10:12.47\00:10:16.54
page 576, and this is
what he says about this verse
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he says, the word
"soul" does not indicate
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some immaterial
part of human beings
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that continues on after death,
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in the context
of the living soul
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was basically the
totality of what Adam was,
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God didn't put a soul into Adam,
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into his physical
house or physical body,
00:10:41.30\00:10:44.04
it says that when the
dust and the breath combined
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that Adam became a living
soul, so that's what he was,
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he was himself in his totality
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he was a living
soul, now when you go on...
00:10:54.72\00:10:57.95
to verse 16 and
17, we have a warning,
00:10:57.99\00:11:01.62
this was the first
warning given in the Bible,
00:11:01.66\00:11:04.23
God warned Adam and
he told Eve the warning,
00:11:04.26\00:11:06.73
in verse 16, the Bible says
00:11:06.76\00:11:08.86
that the Lord God
commanded the man and he said,
00:11:08.90\00:11:11.47
"Of every tree of the
garden you may freely eat"
00:11:11.50\00:11:14.54
you're free to eat all
the beautiful delicious fruit
00:11:14.60\00:11:17.61
from all these
different trees, the plants,
00:11:17.64\00:11:19.81
all the good things
that God had made for Adam,
00:11:19.84\00:11:21.98
and then he said,
"But... " in verse 17...
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"But... " and
this is a big "but"
00:11:24.25\00:11:25.75
"But of the tree of the
knowledge of good and evil,
00:11:25.78\00:11:29.58
you shall not eat of it:
00:11:29.62\00:11:32.65
for in the day that you eat
of it, you will surely die. "
00:11:32.69\00:11:38.39
Now notice those four
words, "You will surely die"
00:11:38.43\00:11:43.57
when God said, "You... "
00:11:43.60\00:11:44.93
He was talking to
Adam as a whole person,
00:11:44.97\00:11:46.87
again, Adam was a living soul
00:11:46.90\00:11:48.84
and God warned the
living soul that if he sinned,
00:11:48.90\00:11:52.47
if he ate from the fruit...
that he would surely die.
00:11:52.51\00:11:56.08
In chapter 3,
the drama begins...
00:11:56.11\00:11:59.48
the great controversy
between God and the devil.
00:11:59.51\00:12:03.28
In Chapter 3 verse 1,
00:12:03.32\00:12:05.69
the Bible says that the
serpent was more subtle...
00:12:05.75\00:12:08.32
he was very
crafty... he was tricky...
00:12:08.36\00:12:10.43
more subtle than
any beast of the field
00:12:10.46\00:12:12.53
which the Lord God had made
00:12:12.56\00:12:13.90
and he struck up a conversation
with the woman... with Eve...
00:12:13.93\00:12:18.03
Eve had wandered
away from Adam's side...
00:12:18.10\00:12:20.10
she found herself
gazing at the tree,
00:12:20.14\00:12:22.34
wondering about it
and all of a sudden,
00:12:22.37\00:12:25.04
she heard this
very... most likely musical,
00:12:25.07\00:12:27.74
melodious voice
coming from a snake,
00:12:27.78\00:12:31.01
and Eve didn't realize
who was behind the snake,
00:12:31.05\00:12:34.58
she didn't realize
that the devil himself
00:12:34.62\00:12:36.89
that Lucifer...
a fallen angel...
00:12:36.92\00:12:38.32
was speaking through the
reptilian lips of the serpent
00:12:38.35\00:12:42.69
but he was and
as they dialogued,
00:12:42.72\00:12:45.53
in verse 4, the
serpent said to the woman,
00:12:45.56\00:12:47.86
he said, "You
shall not surely die. "
00:12:47.90\00:12:52.97
Now notice the four
words, "You shall... "
00:12:53.00\00:12:55.54
the five words...
"You shall not surely die"
00:12:55.57\00:12:58.54
now, God had told
Adam and Adam told Eve,
00:12:58.57\00:13:01.48
His own
voice... His own words...
00:13:01.54\00:13:03.85
"You will surely die"
00:13:03.88\00:13:06.05
and then the
serpent challenged that,
00:13:06.08\00:13:08.12
and the serpent said,
"You will not surely die"
00:13:08.15\00:13:12.45
he quoted the words of God
00:13:12.49\00:13:13.82
but he put his one
little word of poison
00:13:13.86\00:13:16.46
in the middle of
the four words of God,
00:13:16.49\00:13:19.09
and that word was, "not... "
00:13:19.13\00:13:21.96
basically the devil
was contradicting the Lord,
00:13:22.00\00:13:25.13
God said, "You will die... "
00:13:25.17\00:13:26.63
and the serpent
said, "No you won't...
00:13:26.70\00:13:29.10
if you eat this
fruit, you will not die. "
00:13:29.14\00:13:31.54
Now, let me ask
you, have you ever heard
00:13:31.57\00:13:33.91
or felt like you were
hearing two voices in your head,
00:13:33.94\00:13:37.15
you have the voice of
conscience telling you one thing
00:13:37.18\00:13:40.32
and then you have this other
00:13:40.35\00:13:41.88
tempting voice
telling you something else?
00:13:41.95\00:13:44.62
I think it's pretty safe to
say that just about all of us
00:13:44.65\00:13:48.19
have had that
experience many, many times,
00:13:48.22\00:13:50.36
we're in a
battle... we're in a drama...
00:13:50.39\00:13:52.76
we're in a war
between the voice of God
00:13:52.79\00:13:55.06
which speaks to our consciences
and the voice of Satan
00:13:55.13\00:13:58.77
who contradicts God's words.
00:13:58.80\00:14:01.10
Now, in this situation,
00:14:01.14\00:14:03.14
Eve had to make
a very big choice.
00:14:03.17\00:14:07.08
Should she
listen to what God said?
00:14:07.11\00:14:10.11
God said, "If
you eat, you'll die"
00:14:10.15\00:14:12.71
or should she
listen to the serpent
00:14:12.75\00:14:15.02
who promised that she won't die
00:14:15.05\00:14:17.25
that if you sin...
you really don't die...
00:14:17.29\00:14:19.75
you'll just keep going...
you'll keep going on and on
00:14:19.79\00:14:22.49
and on and on
and on... forever...
00:14:22.52\00:14:24.53
which is basically the idea
that no matter what happens,
00:14:24.59\00:14:29.53
you just... you'll never die
00:14:29.56\00:14:31.83
and if you really think about
it this is actually the root...
00:14:31.90\00:14:35.50
the root teaching of the
doctrine of the immortal soul
00:14:35.54\00:14:42.18
that no matter what
happens, souls just continue
00:14:42.21\00:14:45.71
on and on and on forever,
00:14:45.78\00:14:47.32
that's basically what
the serpent said to Eve
00:14:47.35\00:14:50.49
and Eve had to make a choice...
whom was she going to listen to
00:14:50.52\00:14:53.86
God or this pleasant voice
00:14:53.92\00:14:56.42
speaking through the
lips of a snake in a tree?
00:14:56.49\00:14:59.89
And we know what the Bible says
00:14:59.96\00:15:02.16
that she made the wrong choice,
she listened to the serpent,
00:15:02.20\00:15:05.23
she took the
fruit... she ate it...
00:15:05.27\00:15:07.07
and then she handed
it to Adam and he ate it
00:15:07.10\00:15:09.97
and their eyes were both opened
00:15:10.01\00:15:12.11
and they realized
that they were naked...
00:15:12.14\00:15:14.18
the air began to
get a little bit colder,
00:15:14.21\00:15:16.18
they went over into the trees,
00:15:16.24\00:15:18.35
they covered
themselves with fig leaves
00:15:18.38\00:15:20.68
and then God came to
them and brought them out
00:15:20.72\00:15:23.95
from their hiding
place and confronted them
00:15:23.99\00:15:27.12
and told them many
things in Genesis 3 verse 19,
00:15:27.16\00:15:30.96
we find what God
told... told Adam,
00:15:30.99\00:15:34.76
He said, "In the
sweat of your face
00:15:34.80\00:15:38.50
you will eat bread,
until you return to the ground;
00:15:38.53\00:15:43.17
for out of it were you
taken: for dust you are,
00:15:43.20\00:15:47.78
and to dust shall you return. "
00:15:47.84\00:15:51.21
Now, God didn't say that He
was just talking about his body,
00:15:51.25\00:15:54.58
He said, He was
talking about Adam himself,
00:15:54.62\00:15:57.15
He said, "I made
you from the dust
00:15:57.19\00:15:59.15
and you are going
back to the dust. "
00:15:59.19\00:16:01.09
But again, the
serpent denied that teaching
00:16:01.12\00:16:06.03
and it's significant when you go
00:16:06.06\00:16:08.60
all the way to the
book of Revelation,
00:16:08.63\00:16:10.17
chapter 12 we read
that the serpent's teachings
00:16:10.20\00:16:14.77
actually deceive
the entire world,
00:16:14.80\00:16:18.04
Genesis... I'm sorry...
Revelation chapter 12 verse 9
00:16:18.07\00:16:23.14
says that the great
dragon was cast out,
00:16:23.18\00:16:25.11
that old serpent,
called the Devil, and Satan,
00:16:25.15\00:16:28.55
who deceives the whole world:
he was cast out into the earth,
00:16:28.58\00:16:31.95
and his angels
were cast out with him.
00:16:31.99\00:16:34.36
And when Revelation...
at the end of the Bible
00:16:34.39\00:16:36.69
talks about the old serpent,
00:16:36.73\00:16:38.06
that idea takes us back to
the beginning of the Bible,
00:16:38.09\00:16:40.63
where Satan first
deceived Eve with the doctrine
00:16:40.66\00:16:43.77
that she wouldn't
die if she ate the fruit
00:16:43.80\00:16:46.97
and verse 9 says
that the serpent deceives
00:16:47.00\00:16:50.07
the entire world and so
the doctrine of the devil...
00:16:50.11\00:16:53.17
the doctrine that he
taught in the Garden of Eden
00:16:53.21\00:16:56.95
is a doctrine that's part
of his arsenal of deception
00:16:56.98\00:17:00.42
through which he
used... not just to deceive Eve,
00:17:00.45\00:17:03.85
but through which he deceives
people all over the world.
00:17:03.89\00:17:07.99
Now let's go back to Genesis,
00:17:08.02\00:17:10.33
what happened to
Adam and Eve years later
00:17:10.36\00:17:13.66
after they listened to
the voice of the serpent,
00:17:13.70\00:17:16.63
who really was right?
00:17:16.67\00:17:18.00
Was the serpent
right or was God right?
00:17:18.03\00:17:20.90
In Genesis 5 verse 5, the
Bible tells us very clearly
00:17:20.94\00:17:26.31
it says, "all the
days that Adam lived
00:17:26.37\00:17:29.04
were nine hundred
and thirty years... "
00:17:29.08\00:17:31.71
he lived a long time
and then the Bible says,
00:17:31.75\00:17:34.32
"and he died. "
00:17:34.35\00:17:36.02
He lived for 930 years
00:17:36.05\00:17:39.12
and during that time
he was still a living soul
00:17:39.15\00:17:41.42
and then it says, at the
end of that period simply
00:17:41.46\00:17:43.69
that he died, so
when he was alive,
00:17:43.73\00:17:45.96
he was a living
soul and when he died,
00:17:45.99\00:17:48.90
we might say that
he was a dead soul.
00:17:48.93\00:17:51.77
Death is the result of sin.
00:17:51.80\00:17:55.10
Now, the next question is,
00:17:55.14\00:17:58.37
"Can a dead soul continue to
go on forever just naturally,
00:17:58.41\00:18:05.31
are we basically immortal?"
00:18:05.35\00:18:06.68
Well, let me share with you some
Bible verses about the soul.
00:18:06.72\00:18:09.72
In Acts 27 verse 37,
the Bible talks about
00:18:09.75\00:18:15.52
Paul boarding a
ship and it says,
00:18:15.59\00:18:18.23
"In all the ship there were
00:18:18.26\00:18:19.76
two hundred three
score and sixteen souls... "
00:18:19.79\00:18:22.56
showing that a soul is a person,
00:18:22.60\00:18:24.53
Acts 3:23 says,
00:18:24.57\00:18:26.67
"Every soul who will
not hear that prophet... "
00:18:26.74\00:18:28.80
referring to Jesus,
00:18:28.87\00:18:30.21
"shall be destroyed
from among the people... "
00:18:30.24\00:18:32.21
and so this is talking
about the soul being a person.
00:18:32.24\00:18:34.74
In 1st Peter 3:20,
00:18:34.78\00:18:36.68
the Bible says that
in the days of Noah,
00:18:36.71\00:18:38.58
there were eight souls
who were saved by water.
00:18:38.61\00:18:41.42
So again, the soul is a person.
00:18:41.45\00:18:43.65
Now, are these souls immortal,
do souls naturally live forever?
00:18:43.69\00:18:47.56
Here are some other verses,
this is what the Bible says,
00:18:47.59\00:18:51.23
1st Timothy 6:16 says
that God only has immortality.
00:18:51.26\00:18:54.86
Romans 2:7 says that
Christians are to seek
00:18:54.90\00:18:58.03
for immortality
through Jesus Christ.
00:18:58.07\00:19:00.60
1st Corinthians 15:53,
00:19:00.64\00:19:02.70
Paul wrote that on
resurrection morning...
00:19:02.74\00:19:04.57
this mortal will
put on immortality.
00:19:04.64\00:19:08.21
So, all of these verses
show that the soul is a person
00:19:08.24\00:19:12.98
and that when we are living
in this world even after sin,
00:19:13.01\00:19:17.72
we still don't have
an essence within us
00:19:17.75\00:19:20.96
that is basically immortal
because only God has immortality
00:19:20.99\00:19:25.26
and we seek for
immortality through the gospel
00:19:25.29\00:19:27.93
through Jesus
Christ... through His death...
00:19:27.96\00:19:30.53
His burial and his resurrection,
that's what the Bible says.
00:19:30.57\00:19:35.44
Now, let's continue on
00:19:35.47\00:19:38.37
and find out what
happens after death.
00:19:38.44\00:19:40.61
According to God's book,
00:19:40.68\00:19:42.18
can a dead soul
continue to think?
00:19:42.21\00:19:44.38
You know that we're
not naturally immortal,
00:19:44.41\00:19:48.22
we are mortal beings
waiting for immortality
00:19:48.25\00:19:50.79
on the resurrection morning
but what about our minds?
00:19:50.82\00:19:53.52
Can we continue
to think after death?
00:19:53.56\00:19:55.96
Well let me just give you
00:19:55.99\00:19:57.33
a string of clear
simple Bible verses from...
00:19:57.36\00:20:00.90
not from Steve Wohlberg,
00:20:00.93\00:20:02.26
not from any church
but from God's book.
00:20:02.30\00:20:04.83
Ecclesiastes chapter 9 verse 5,
00:20:04.87\00:20:07.47
the Bible says that
the dead know not anything.
00:20:07.50\00:20:11.07
Psalm 146 verse 4 says
that when a person dies,
00:20:11.11\00:20:14.68
his thoughts perish.
00:20:14.71\00:20:16.24
Psalm 115 verse 17 says that
the dead go down into silence...
00:20:16.28\00:20:21.95
when a person dies,
it's silent in the grave
00:20:21.98\00:20:25.25
where they are going.
00:20:25.29\00:20:26.92
Psalm 6 verse 5 says
00:20:26.96\00:20:28.56
that in death there
is no remembrance of you:
00:20:28.59\00:20:31.33
in the grave who
shall give you thanks?
00:20:31.36\00:20:35.43
If you think about it,
according to these verses,
00:20:35.46\00:20:39.17
death is a little bit
like just blacking out,
00:20:39.20\00:20:41.94
I don't know if you've
ever blacked out or not,
00:20:41.97\00:20:44.64
I did one time... a long
time ago when I was a teenager,
00:20:44.67\00:20:48.04
I was playing basketball
with some buddies of mine
00:20:48.08\00:20:49.98
and I went out to get the ball
00:20:50.01\00:20:51.81
and as I went up,
somebody's elbow came down
00:20:51.85\00:20:54.72
and the elbow hit
me right in the nose
00:20:54.75\00:20:56.69
and I still
remember I was out...
00:20:56.72\00:20:59.99
and I don't remember anything
00:21:00.02\00:21:03.22
about... during the
time that I was out...
00:21:03.26\00:21:05.16
but I do
remember opening my eyes
00:21:05.19\00:21:08.30
at some point after
the elbow hit my nose
00:21:08.33\00:21:12.93
and I was looking up...
I was flat on my back...
00:21:12.97\00:21:16.00
looking up and I saw all
these faces looking down on me
00:21:16.04\00:21:18.51
and now, I had "come
to" from my blackout,
00:21:18.54\00:21:23.68
how long I was blacked out...
00:21:23.71\00:21:25.41
I think it was about ten minutes
00:21:25.45\00:21:27.08
but during the time
when the elbow hit my nose
00:21:27.12\00:21:31.69
and the time that I looked
up, I was not aware of anything,
00:21:31.75\00:21:34.79
I wasn't thinking about a thing,
00:21:34.82\00:21:36.99
I was totally out and
that just convinced me
00:21:37.03\00:21:40.76
that it is possible
for thoughts to cease
00:21:40.80\00:21:44.47
and if you've ever blacked out,
00:21:44.50\00:21:46.13
I'm sure you
know the same thing.
00:21:46.17\00:21:47.70
This is very... it
happens all the time,
00:21:47.77\00:21:50.67
it happens to lots of people.
00:21:50.71\00:21:52.04
Now, what about
further descriptions of death
00:21:52.07\00:21:56.54
again... does the Bible...
00:21:56.58\00:21:58.95
we know the Bible
says we're not immortal...
00:21:59.01\00:22:00.72
we know the Bible
says, we can't think,
00:22:00.75\00:22:02.42
we know the Bible
says, we're in the grave...
00:22:02.45\00:22:04.05
we're silent...
00:22:04.09\00:22:05.42
but there's
another word that God uses,
00:22:05.45\00:22:07.29
many times... Old
Testament... New Testament,
00:22:07.36\00:22:09.36
that makes it very
clear what death is
00:22:09.39\00:22:12.06
and here are a number of verses.
00:22:12.09\00:22:14.50
Psalm 13 verse 3...
00:22:14.53\00:22:16.36
David talked about
the sleep of death.
00:22:16.40\00:22:20.10
Acts 7 verse 60 when Stephen
preached a powerful sermon,
00:22:20.14\00:22:24.71
it was his last
sermon about Jesus Christ
00:22:24.74\00:22:27.21
to the Jewish
Leadership in the book of Acts,
00:22:27.24\00:22:29.84
it says that they
stoned him and in verse 70,
00:22:29.88\00:22:32.45
the Bible... verse
60... the Bible says,
00:22:32.48\00:22:34.48
Acts 7:60 that
when he was stoned,
00:22:34.52\00:22:36.92
he fell asleep.
00:22:36.95\00:22:38.55
In 1st Corinthians
15:6, Paul wrote that
00:22:38.59\00:22:41.82
many of the witnesses
of Jesus' resurrection,
00:22:41.86\00:22:44.23
who were still alive at
that time when he wrote that,
00:22:44.26\00:22:46.09
but he said, "many
have fallen asleep. "
00:22:46.16\00:22:48.73
1st Thessalonians 4:14,
00:22:48.76\00:22:50.53
Paul talks about
those who sleep in Jesus,
00:22:50.57\00:22:53.97
and 1st Corinthians
15 verses 51 and 52,
00:22:54.04\00:22:57.37
Paul said that when
Jesus comes down from heaven
00:22:57.41\00:23:00.44
on the great day, he said,
00:23:00.48\00:23:02.04
"We shall not all sleep
but we shall all be changed
00:23:02.08\00:23:05.61
in a moment... in the
twinkling of an eye...
00:23:05.65\00:23:07.18
at the last trumpet,
"for the trumpet shall sound
00:23:07.22\00:23:09.48
and the dead will
be raised incorruptible
00:23:09.52\00:23:12.39
and we shall be changed. "
00:23:12.42\00:23:14.72
So, all of these
verses basically teach
00:23:14.76\00:23:18.23
the idea that
when a person dies,
00:23:18.26\00:23:20.90
they are asleep.
00:23:20.93\00:23:22.70
Now, if you think
about the concept of sleep,
00:23:22.73\00:23:25.13
it's actually
rather a comforting concept
00:23:25.17\00:23:27.54
because when you
go to bed at night
00:23:27.57\00:23:28.97
and you're sound asleep,
00:23:29.00\00:23:30.37
the next thing you know is
the alarm clock's going off
00:23:30.41\00:23:34.51
it's time to wake
up, there is no awareness
00:23:34.54\00:23:38.41
of the passing of time
00:23:38.48\00:23:40.08
from the moment that you're out
to the moment that you're awake,
00:23:40.12\00:23:43.55
it's easy to prove
this, I've given many talks...
00:23:43.59\00:23:46.96
given many seminars
sometimes I look at the audience
00:23:46.99\00:23:50.33
and I'll see somebody asleep
00:23:50.36\00:23:51.89
and if I'm talking
about this subject,
00:23:51.93\00:23:54.16
I'll often use that
person as an illustration
00:23:54.20\00:23:57.20
and I'll say to
the crowd, I'll say,
00:23:57.23\00:23:58.97
"Folks, when you're
asleep you don't know anything
00:23:59.00\00:24:01.87
and here is my proof"
00:24:01.90\00:24:03.64
and I'll point to
this person then I'll say,
00:24:03.67\00:24:05.44
"Look, that person doesn't
know that I'm talking about him,
00:24:05.47\00:24:07.08
he doesn't know
what's going on around him,
00:24:07.11\00:24:09.98
he's just... as they
say, 'out like a light. '"
00:24:10.01\00:24:13.08
Now, the big question
is, when a person dies,
00:24:13.11\00:24:16.18
when they're asleep,
if they're not conscious,
00:24:16.22\00:24:19.15
if they don't know anything
like Ecclesiastes 9 verse 5
00:24:19.19\00:24:22.12
says, "Is there any
hope for the future?"
00:24:22.16\00:24:25.86
Is there any hope that we
will come back to life again?
00:24:25.89\00:24:29.26
Well, the answer
to that is very clear
00:24:29.30\00:24:31.63
and I've already
alluded to it many times,
00:24:31.67\00:24:33.94
Daniel chapter 12 verse 2
tells us that on the great day,
00:24:33.97\00:24:42.38
when Jesus comes,
"many of them that sleep
00:24:42.41\00:24:46.01
in the dust of
the earth shall awake,
00:24:46.05\00:24:48.88
some to everlasting life,
00:24:48.92\00:24:50.85
and some to shame and
everlasting contempt. "
00:24:50.89\00:24:54.39
So the Bible says
that people are sleeping
00:24:54.42\00:24:57.39
and at some point they
will... they will wake up.
00:24:57.43\00:25:00.33
They will wake up and it
will be resurrection morning...
00:25:00.36\00:25:04.17
and there are two resurrections
00:25:04.20\00:25:05.53
which we'll talk
about in future meetings,
00:25:05.57\00:25:08.20
there's a good
resurrection for believers
00:25:08.24\00:25:10.97
and then there's
a bad resurrection
00:25:11.01\00:25:13.38
for those who are not believers.
00:25:13.41\00:25:15.51
Now, we've got a lot more to do,
00:25:15.54\00:25:17.58
in our next program
we're going to talk about
00:25:17.61\00:25:19.28
the New
Testament, we'll talk about
00:25:19.31\00:25:20.92
what Jesus Christ taught about
death, burial and resurrection,
00:25:20.95\00:25:23.49
we'll talk about the story
of the rich man and Lazarus,
00:25:23.52\00:25:26.19
we'll talk about
the people on the cross,
00:25:26.25\00:25:28.82
we'll talk about
Paul's statement,
00:25:28.86\00:25:30.23
"absent from the
body, present with the Lord"
00:25:30.26\00:25:32.19
we'll take a look at all
these texts from the Bible
00:25:32.23\00:25:34.93
in Part 2 of
"solving the mystery of death"
00:25:34.96\00:25:37.63
but let's finish with...
back with 1st Corinthians...
00:25:37.67\00:25:40.70
I'm sorry...
1st Thessalonians...
00:25:40.74\00:25:43.00
I have so many texts in my head,
1st Thessalonians chapter 4
00:25:43.04\00:25:46.57
verse 16 and 17... this
is the hope of the Christian,
00:25:46.61\00:25:50.55
these are the words of God,
00:25:50.58\00:25:52.65
Paul wrote that the
Lord himself will one day
00:25:52.68\00:25:55.68
descend from
heaven with a shout,
00:25:55.75\00:25:57.09
with the voice of the archangel,
and with the trumpet of God:
00:25:57.15\00:25:59.95
and the dead in
Christ shall rise first...
00:25:59.99\00:26:03.39
here's the resurrection...
00:26:03.43\00:26:04.76
"then we which
are alive and remain
00:26:04.79\00:26:06.53
shall be caught up together
with them in the clouds,
00:26:06.56\00:26:08.80
to meet the Lord in the air:
00:26:08.83\00:26:10.80
and so shall we
ever be with the Lord.
00:26:10.83\00:26:14.07
Wherefore comfort one
another with these words. "
00:26:14.14\00:26:18.64
Comfort one another.
00:26:18.67\00:26:20.01
God wants us to
know that if people die,
00:26:20.04\00:26:22.58
if they believe in Jesus,
death is just a quick sleep
00:26:22.61\00:26:25.71
and then at the resurrection
morning we get to see Jesus
00:26:25.75\00:26:28.82
and be with Him
forever and ever and ever
00:26:28.85\00:26:31.25
and Paul said,
"Comfort one another
00:26:31.29\00:26:33.49
with these words... "
00:26:33.52\00:26:35.29
these are the
words of God for us today
00:26:35.32\00:26:38.33
and you have just
heard, His Voice Today.
00:26:38.36\00:26:41.23
We hope you've
enjoyed this timely message
00:26:41.26\00:26:44.07
from Pastor Steve
Wohlberg and we want you to know
00:26:44.10\00:26:46.87
that White Horse
Media is deeply committed
00:26:46.90\00:26:49.37
to bringing you
many more simple messages
00:26:49.40\00:26:51.81
straight from the Bible
designed to educate the mind...
00:26:51.87\00:26:54.88
inspire the heart and
help bring our Viewers
00:26:54.91\00:26:57.31
and their
families closer to God.
00:26:57.35\00:26:59.45
To learn more
about White Horse Media
00:26:59.48\00:27:01.45
or to watch more
of Pastor Steve's
00:27:01.48\00:27:03.45
television programs online,
00:27:03.49\00:27:05.09
including his powerful
new series of two-minute talks
00:27:05.12\00:27:08.26
visit hisvoicetoday. com
00:27:08.29\00:27:10.96
that's: hisvoicetoday. com
00:27:10.99\00:27:13.60
If you have any prayer requests
you can e-mail them to us at
00:27:13.63\00:27:17.03
prayerrequests@hisvoicetoday
.com
00:27:17.07\00:27:19.80
If you would like a free copy
of Steve Wohlberg's audio CD
00:27:19.83\00:27:23.47
"Behold the White Horse"
00:27:23.51\00:27:24.91
you can call us
at: 1-800-78-BIBLE
00:27:24.94\00:27:28.31
that's 1-800-78-BIBLE
00:27:28.34\00:27:31.78
We hope you will
join us next time
00:27:31.81\00:27:33.98
for another inspiring
His Voice Today presentation
00:27:34.02\00:27:36.75
with Steve Wohlberg.
00:27:36.79\00:27:38.12
What happens when we die?
00:27:38.15\00:27:39.49
Do we enter the spirit
world on the other side?
00:27:39.52\00:27:41.92
What about reincarnation?
00:27:41.96\00:27:43.63
Learn the Biblical
facts in today's free offer
00:27:43.66\00:27:46.19
"Solving the Mystery of
Death" by Steve Wohlberg.
00:27:46.23\00:27:49.66
To request your free
copy, call us at 1-800-78-BIBLe
00:27:49.70\00:27:53.10
that's: 1-800-782-4253.
00:27:53.13\00:27:57.31
You may also write to
us at: White Horse Media
00:27:57.34\00:28:00.14
PO Box 130
Priest River, ID 83856
00:28:00.18\00:28:04.05
or online at:
whitehorsemedia. com
00:28:04.08\00:28:07.95