Participants: Chris Holland
Series Code: IIWC
Program Code: IIWC201325
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00:11 >>Announcer: It has stood the test of time.
00:14 God's book, The Bible 00:18 Still relevant in today's complex world 00:23 It Is Written 00:25 Sharing messages of hope around the world! 00:42 >>Chris: There is no doubt that the Bible clearly teaches that heaven is a 00:46 real place. The question that many have is when do we get to go to heaven. 00:52 Some say that it happens immediately after we die, others say that there is a 00:57 waiting time in purgatory, and others say that it happens when Jesus comes 01:03 again. When is it that we get to go to heaven. I'd like for us to go on a 01:08 little journey today. I'd like us to go to ancient Egypt, there in ancient 01:13 Egypt we may discover the secret to immortal life and when we will go to 01:21 heaven. Why to Egypt? In ancient Egyptian culture and religion, the 01:27 afterlife was very important. In fact some of the greatest monuments and 01:32 treasures found in Egypt have been in regard to the after-life. As we travel 01:38 back to ancient Egypt and visit some of those tombs, we would find coffins 01:44 nested one inside another. The innermost coffin would contain the embalmed body 01:53 of the deceased. The embalming process involved removing all the body's 02:00 fluids, often all of the organs except the heart and then wrapping the body 02:08 and included in that wrap would be placed the Book of the Dead. Now the book 02:14 of the dead would not have been a book like we think of today.a bound book, but 02:19 rather it would have been likely on a papyrus scroll. The book of the 02:25 dead was in the Egyptian mind, inscriptions to guard and protect the 02:30 spirit of the dead. As Egyptologists have worked to decipher the book, they 02:36 have found a ceremony called the weighing of the heart. The weighing of the 02:42 heart was an act performed by the gods of weighing the heart to determine a 02:49 person's destiny. Friend aren't you glad that Jesus doesn't work that way. His 02:56 grace is freely received and can save us to the uttermost. He doesn't 03:02 measure whether we done 600 hundred good deeds, but then finds 601 bad 03:05 deeds and banishes us. No, Jesus stands for us and as long as we given our life 03:14 to Him, He will save us. 03:17 During the Egyptian process of preparing a body. At the end of that 03:21 process the deceased's mouth would be opened so the would again be able to 03:30 eat, breath, drink and speak. The Egyptians didn't believe death was 03:37 the end, they believed in an after life. In fact the first century history, 03:43 Herodotus in his book The Histories, said this, 04:29 And it is here that we begin to see that an understanding about what 04:33 happens at death and when we go to heaven is such an important topic. What we 04:40 begin to see emerge are really two lines of thinking. You have the 04:44 pagan doctrine of immortality conceived by the Egyptians and handed 04:50 down to the Greeks, which would become known as Greek dualism and then 04:55 what the Bible teaches about immortality and the afterlife. Two streams: 05:01 man's thoughts and ideas then God' true principles. The question is which will 05:08 we believe and follow? So what happens when we die and when do we get to go 05:15 to heaven? The only reliable answer on this topic is found in God's 05:21 word. 05:24 So where do we start? The only logical answer is at the beginning. In fact, 05:31 the only way to understand what happens to a person when they die, is to know 05:36 first how life begins. Genesis 2:7, 06:05 Notice the simple formula that is used here. God took the dust of the 06:09 ground, He breathed into his nostrils the breath of life and man became a 06:15 living soul. Notice that man doesn't have a soul but rather he is a soul. 06:25 The equation is not that complicated.dust plus spirit equals a living 06:31 soul. Or even more simply, the elements of the earth, plus the breath of God 06:36 equals a living being. The soul is not some separate conscious entity, but 06:45 rather is the being. So the word soul could be simply said to be a 06:53 person. Some say that the soul is immortal. However from a Biblical point of 06:58 view, that is not the case. A soul is a person. In fact Ezekiel 18:4 is 07:08 quite clear, 07:15 The soul is not an immortal entity. It is the person and a person can 07:22 die. In fact some of the more modern versions of the Bible state that the 07:27 person who sins shall die. In the Bible 'soul' is used in one of two ways. 07:32 If the Bible is talking about soul as the product of body and spirit 07:39 together-God formed man out of the dust of the ground; God breathed into 07:41 his nostrils the breath of life-he's a living soul, he's a living person, a 07:46 living being.If the Bible talks about the soul as something I am, it's 07:51 always, 'I am a living person'. Secondly, if the Bible talks about the 07:57 souls as something I have, it's always 'life' or the very essence and core of 08:05 who I am. We have a soul in the sense that we have life. But the soul is not 08:12 immortal. In fact none of us are inherently immortal. 1 Timothy 6:15 08:20 states clearly, 08:35 It is God alone who has immortality no one else. In fact the Bible uses the 08:41 word soul over 1500 times and never once is it in reference used in the 08:50 context of an immortal soul. Notice how Jesus himself uses the word 08:54 soul. In Matthew 16:24-26, Jesus says these words, 09:38 Notice how Jesus uses the word life and soul interchangeably. Soul is 09:43 never immortal in the Bible. It is a description of the very life of an 09:49 individual but not some separate immortal entity. Job 4:17 is clear when it 09:59 say that, 10:14 Man is called mortal, not immortal. In fact Romans 2:7 tell us this 10:32 certainty, 10:43 Please take note that the scripture is clear that we seek immortality. Why 10:50 would we need to seek it, if we already possessed it? It is because we are 10:55 not naturally immortal. 1 Corinthians 15 tells us that some day that will 11:03 happen in verse 51-54, 11:47 Again friend, listen to the words of scripture, we must obtain immortal life. 11:53 When does the Bible say that it will happen? At the last trumpet. When is 11:59 that trumpet blown? 1 Thessalonians 4 leaves little doubt in our mind 12:05 as to when this event will take place - at the second coming of Jesus. The Bible 12:13 is clear friends, immortality is not granted to humanity until the 12:18 second coming of Jesus. The Father, Son and Holy Spirit are alone in their 12:24 possession of eternal life. It is not granted to us until the second 12:31 coming. 12:34 You see pagan and Greek dualism has entered the church and brought with it 12:39 the false teaching that the body and soul are separate entities and that 12:43 the soul exists eternally. No, the Bible clearly delineates that we are a 12:51 soul or a living being and very mortal. Listen to these words of Strabo, an 12:58 ancient Greek historian and philosopher, speaking about Christians in his 13:04 book Geographica, 13:18 Early Christian writer, Justin Martyr, who was just one generation after 13:24 the disciples said these words, 13:53 Justin Martyr has strong words about an error that entered the church in the 13:58 early days. He himself is demonstrating the Biblical understanding that a soul 14:04 is a living person and a person is mortal and shall die. 14:13 So if the Christian church did not teach that a person would be taken 14:18 immediately to heaven after death, what does the Bible teach about death. 14:24 What we will find is that the Bible teaches that death is simply an 14:30 unconscious sleep waiting for the return of Jesus. Friend and student of the 14:37 Bible, death is merely creation in reverse. Ecclesiastes 12:7 14:52 describes what happens, 15:09 Death is the cessation of life and entering into an unconscious sleep awaiting 15:16 the return of Jesus. In ancient Hebrew the word for spirit and the word 15:21 for breath are the same. It is the Hebrew word Ruach. The spirit or 15:27 breath is simply a reference to God's life giving power. When we die 15:35 that power is returned to Him and there is a ceasing of existence, until Jesus 15:42 comes again. Notice in Job 27:3 that the words spirit and breath are used 15:51 interchangeably in the King James Version as well as other versions, 16:06 This interchangeable use demonstrates that the spirit or breath is the 16:11 life-giving power of God. We can't live without it. James 2:26 says, 16:35 There is no in between state, no spirit life. Once we die, we are dead 16:43 awaiting the wake up call of Jesus. 16:48 It is comparable to a box. What do you need to do to build a box? Well, you'll 16:54 need some boards and you'll need some screws. The formula and plan for 16:59 building a box is rather easy, boards plus screws equals a box. Take away 17:07 the screws - you have boards; take away the boards and you have 17:11 screws. Without both components the box simply ceases to exist. When we 17:22 die. We rest. We're not a living being anymore. We no longer have life. It's 17:27 like resting in the arms of Jesus for a believer. It's resting secure in His 17:32 love. There is no conscious thought processes until the day 17:37 that Jesus comes and in a moment, in a twinkling of an eye Jesus comes and 17:43 we're resurrected from the dead. Psalm 146:4 says, 18:06 When a person dies they are sleeping. Their thoughts perish. There's 18:10 no conscious existence there. Ecclesiastes 9:5-6 offer further insight, 18:47 The dead know nothing. Their thoughts stop, their emotions stop. Why? 18:52 Because death is a sleep. As sleep where we wait, unconsciously for 19:00 Jesus.Thank God, friends, that your dead loved ones do not see have to see the 19:09 sorrows of life. Your loved one that died of cancer no longer suffers 19:13 but they are sleeping, resting until the glorious day of the resurrection 19:19 that Jesus comes. But we can be thankful that death is not the end. You will 19:27 again see that husband that died in Jesus. You will again see that wife 19:31 that died in Jesus. You can see that son that died in Jesus. 19:39 Jesus Christ is coming again. They'll be a powerful resurrection that 19:45 day and they will be raised from the dead, if they've been believers and 19:51 followers of Jesus, with immortal bodies. We who are alive will receive the 20:01 immortal bodies and caught up together with them to meet Christ in the air. 20:07 Death is but a sleep. David called it a sleep in Psalm 13:3, 20:30 Friends the Bible is clear that death is a peaceful sleep awaiting Jesus. 20:39 Psalm 115:17 says, 21:08 Death is a sleep awaiting that last trumpet of God - the second coming of Jesus 21:13 when this mortal will put on immortality and we will be with Jesus forever. 21:20 Friend, I know that today's topic may have been new to you. It may be 21:24 unsettling. But I encourage you to study your Bible on this topic 21:29 and draw near to Jesus. Ask the Holy Spirit for guidance. I know there are 21:34 questions, what about the thief on the cross, what about Lazarus, and what 21:38 about those who say they have had near death experiences. We will 21:43 answer all those questions and more in the coming weeks programs. In the 21:48 meantime, let us be thankful to Jesus that in His mercy and in His 21:53 grace, He came to save us. Let us be thankful that while death is like a 21:58 sleep - it isn't forever. It isn't like the atheist says that it is simply a 22:06 time of nothingness never to exist again. No death is a temporary pause. It 22:12 is a pause that only Jesus can release. It is because He is our Wonderful and 22:19 Merciful Savior that he came to save us. 22:27 Wonderful, merciful Saviour 22:33 Precious Redeemer and Friend 22:39 Who would've thought that a lamb could 22:46 Rescue the souls of men? 22:51 Oh, you rescue the souls of men. 23:02 Counsellor, Comforter, Keeper 23:08 Spirit we long to embrace 23:14 You offer hope when our hearts have 23:20 Hopelessly lost our way 23:25 Oh, we've hopelessly lost our way. 23:34 You are the One that we praise 23:40 You are the One we adore 23:45 You give the healing and grace 23:50 Our hearts always hunger for 23:56 Oh, our hearts always hunger for. 24:40 Almighty, infinite Father 24:46 Faithfully loving your own 24:52 Here in our weakness you find us 24:59 Falling before your throne 25:04 Oh, we're falling before your throne 25:12 You are the One that we praise 25:18 You are the One we adore 25:24 You give the healing and grace 25:30 Our hearts always hunger for 25:36 Oh, our hearts always hunger for. 25:43 You are the One that we praise 25:50 You are the One we adore 25:56 You give the healing and grace 26:01 Our hearts always hunger for 26:07 Oh, our hearts always hunger for. 26:30 >>Chris: Friend, the subject of heaven is vital because we want to be 26:33 there. Part of understanding that subject is understanding what 26:37 happens when we die. As a resource to help you build your spiritual library, I 26:42 want to offer today to you the special edition Signs of the Times magazine that 26:47 is called "What happens when you die?" There, you'll find more 26:52 information than we covered today in the program, and it will 26:55 certainly help you understand this topic thoroughly. Here's the 26:59 information that you need to get today's offer. 27:53 Friend, I know that today's program is a challenging program, but 27:58 it is exciting to know that Jesus loves us, Jesus takes care of us, and 28:03 Jesus is coming soon to take us home. I want to invite you to go to our 28:07 website, itiswrittencanada.ca and there you'll find more 28:12 resources to help you grow in your relationship with Jesus. You can also go to 28:16 youtube.com/iiw.canada and there you can find archived programs. I hope 28:24 you'll join us next week. Until then, it is written, "Man shall not live by 28:30 bre alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God." 28:37 $$$$$$$$$$$$$$ 28:57 $$$$$$$$$$$$$$ |
Revised 2015-02-05