Participants: Pastor Charles Byrd
Series Code: IST
Program Code: IST000005
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00:01 Welcome to our ongoing series "In Search of the Truth".
00:05 I'm Karen Bird. 00:07 Recently, Charles and I went to see the only remaining object 00:10 of the 7 Wonders of the World. 00:14 It is the Great Pyramid of Giza. 00:17 This tomb was built with as many as 2.3 million stone blocks, 00:22 each averaging 2.5 tones. 00:24 Some of the blocks weighed as much as 16 tones. 00:28 There are many fascinating facts about this building 00:31 built to house the remains of Pharaoh Khufu. 00:33 The base of the pyramid covers 13 acres, 00:36 and its angles are precisely aligned to the stars. 00:40 Without any of our modern equipment, they harvested these 00:44 large stones from quarries and drudged them to, and up, 00:47 the Great Pyramid. 00:49 This tomb is some 50 stories tall. 00:53 This tomb was robbed, along with almost all the others 00:56 in Egypt, of its gold and precious artifacts. 01:00 The only known tomb undisturbed by the grave robbers, 01:03 was that of Tutankhamen. 01:05 We visited the museum in Cairo and saw many of the items 01:09 from his tomb, along with the golden face mask that covered 01:12 the head of the youthful monarch. 01:15 But do you know the number one reason so many 01:18 of the Egyptians put so much effort into their tombs? 01:22 They believed they had an immortal soul, their "ka", 01:26 and they wanted to make comfortable provision 01:29 for that afterlife. 01:31 Today, even Christians have adopted this belief 01:34 in an immortal soul, but does this belief square 01:36 with the truth taught by the God of creation? 01:40 Let's join Charles as he goes in search of the truth about death. 01:45 [Introductory Music] 02:32 "Crossing Over" with John Edwards, 02:34 it's causing quite a stir. 02:36 It makes people want to believe in actually talking to those 02:40 who have crossed over ahead of us. 02:42 Can we? 02:44 I had an interesting experience myself talking to a lady 02:47 in Mifflintown, Pennsylvania. 02:49 After I had held a series of meetings, she came to me 02:51 one evening with this story. 02:54 She said that she would go over to her elderly mother's 02:56 house every week, and take her grocery shopping, 02:59 out to eat, something warm and special 03:01 in her mother's waning years. 03:03 She brought her home one evening, 03:05 something strange was there. 03:07 They came into the door and she felt a presence in the house. 03:11 Her mother wanted to go to the bathroom, so she took her there, 03:14 and then went out in search of that presence. 03:17 As she came down the hall and turned to the kitchen, 03:20 there, leaning against the counter was her step dad 03:23 smoking his favorite pipe. 03:26 There's just one problem, her step dad was dead. 03:31 She didn't acknowledge him, she turned around and went back 03:34 to the bathroom, got her mother and as they came 03:37 to the bathroom door, her step dad walked 03:39 right in front of them, past them and on down the hall. 03:44 Strange experience indeed to come home and find 03:46 your departed step dad in your kitchen, smoking a pipe, 03:51 but stranger still is to actually look 03:53 for those kind of experiences. 03:56 One of those stories is found in the Bible in 1 Samuel 28. 04:01 It's the story of King Saul. 04:04 About 55 miles north of Jerusalem 04:06 is the Valley of Jezreel. 04:08 On the right of the valley is the hill of Gilboa. 04:13 We're standing today on the Mountain of Gilboa. 04:16 Saul and his soldiers were camped out here 04:18 at the foot of Mount Gilead, 04:19 about to do battle with the Philistines. 04:22 The Philistines had been taking advantage of the kingdom of Saul 04:25 because he had been wasting his time chasing David, 04:28 and now they were controlling the iron mines down here 04:32 in the city of Beth Shean. 04:35 Saul is afraid because the Philistines 04:38 are stronger than he, and he doesn't have any word 04:40 from the Lord. And so he begins to pray, and nothing happens. 04:45 He waits for a priest to come, nothing happens. 04:48 He waits for a prophet to talk to him, nothing happens, 04:51 so in desperation, he comes down, breaks through the lines 04:55 with two of his men, crosses over behind this hill here, 05:00 ends up behind this city on the ridge there, at Endor, 05:03 where he talks to a witch. 05:06 And there he spoke with Samuel 05:11 ...or... was it? 05:13 There's no need for us to wonder about the other side, 05:17 no need for us to wonder about those who have crossed over. 05:20 We can answer this question not from speculation, 05:25 or even anecdotal evidence. 05:26 You can know from God's word what happens when someone dies. 05:32 To understand our end, we must understand our beginning. 05:37 And to do that we go back to the book of Genesis. 05:40 In the book of Genesis 2:7, we find how we were created. 05:45 How God developed and formed us in His very image. 05:49 [Text on screen]. 06:03 How did man become what he is? 06:05 First off, God formed the of the ground, 06:08 then He breathed into its nostrils the breath of life, 06:11 and man became a living soul. 06:15 Notice that he wasn't given a soul, he became a soul. 06:19 A soul is what he is. 06:22 And this exact process can happen in reverse - and does - 06:26 when a person dies. 06:28 Look what it says in Ecclesiastes 12:7 06:31 [Text on Screen] 06:39 That's how the process works. A person is born, 06:43 the body receives the breath of God and becomes a living soul. 06:47 It happens the same way in reverse 06:50 - the breath returns to God, the dust returns to the earth, 06:54 and the man, or the living being or the soul, ceases to be. 06:58 But you might be asking: 07:00 "Charles, the spirit doesn't die does it?" 07:03 "Doesn't the spirit return to God?" 07:05 The answer is "Yes, it does. " 07:08 The question is: What is the spirit? 07:11 To find the answer to that question we must once again 07:14 go back to The Bible for the answer. 07:17 In James 2:26, we read [Text on Screen]. 07:23 So what is the spirit? 07:26 When you look up in the Strong's Exhaust of Concordance 07:29 the word "spirit", you discover it comes 07:31 from the Greek word pneuma. 07:34 It's where we get words like "pneumatic drill" 07:37 or "pneumatic hammer" or "pneumonia", 07:40 and what the word simply means is "breath". 07:44 So we could look at the text again, 07:46 and what the text simply says is: 07:48 "... The body without the breath is dead... " 07:53 Job has the same message for us 07:55 in the book of Job 27:3 [Text on Screen]. 08:05 Job said that when the Spirit of God was in his nostrils, 08:10 he had breath. 08:12 Simply understood, the Spirit of God, 08:15 or the Breath of God, is that spark of life. 08:19 It is not some supernatural intelligence 08:22 that resides within us, it is that spark of life 08:26 that keeps us living. 08:28 You know, we were created to live forever. 08:30 That's something that we desire, something that we want, 08:33 something that we feel like we should have, 08:36 and that's the way God meant it to be. 08:38 And so we would like our spirit to live on forever, 08:42 but the breath, or the spark of life, simply goes back to God. 08:46 But what about the soul, does the soul live forever? 08:50 Well, to understand that, we go back to Genesis 2:7 again 08:54 [Text on Screen] 09:03 Once again, we discover that this is not something 09:06 that we have, but a soul is simply something that we are. 09:12 Contained in the simple Bible texts, is a Biblical formula 09:15 that helps us to understand where we came from, 09:18 and where we're going. 09:21 God starts with dust. And from that dust He creates a body. 09:25 Then He adds to that body breath, or spirit. 09:30 What does that equal? 09:32 It equals life, or as the Bible tells us in Genesis 2:7 09:36 "... a soul". 09:37 But what happens if that formula goes in reverse, 09:41 and the body loses its breath, then you have death. 09:45 The same thing would be true for the soul. 09:47 The soul dies, it ceases to exist. 09:52 Much the same way you would have with a light 09:54 and a light bulb. You take a light bulb, 09:56 add electricity and you have light. 09:59 If you take away the electricity, or the spirit, 10:02 the light just ceases to exist. 10:05 When Genesis 2:7 says that man become a living soul, 10:09 it is something that we are, 10:10 it isn't something that we have. 10:12 And when we die, when the breath goes back to God, 10:16 and the body is laid in the dust, 10:18 the soul ceases to exist. 10:21 So how did we come to the conclusion that we have 10:23 an immortal soul, that lives on and on 10:26 - a spirit consciousness that survives the grave? 10:30 Our first parents in the Garden of Eden were lied to. 10:35 The Bible tells us in Genesis 3:4 [Text on Screen]. 10:44 From that day to this, people have chosen to believe his lie, 10:50 instead of God's plain written truth. 10:54 The serpent's lie did have an element of truth in it, 10:57 for God did design man to live forever. 11:00 And their desire to be "forever beings" is a legitimate desire, 11:05 but we've tried to fulfill it in illegitimate ways. 11:08 People all over the globe have believed in the immortality 11:11 of the soul from Egypt, all the way to Bali, 11:15 people have lived their life around this belief. 11:19 But what does the Bible say about the soul? 11:23 In Ezekiel 18:20, it says [Text on Screen] 11:30 John believed the same thing when he saw 11:33 an apocalyptic vision: the angels pouring out 11:36 bowls of plagues upon the Earth. 11:38 He tells us about it in Revelation 16:3 [Text on Screen] 11:53 The New King James translates the word "soul" as "creature", 11:57 a fair translation, because man becomes a living soul, 12:02 or a living creature, or a living being. 12:06 That's why in the old newspapers, 12:08 when there was a great fire they would say 12:10 "25 souls were lost". 12:13 When a soul is lost, when a person dies, 12:16 and those of us who love them come and pay our last respects, 12:20 when we look at them lying there, there's something 12:23 that God wants to tell us, something that He wants us 12:25 to know about those who have passed on. 12:28 We can read about it in Eccles. 9:5 [Text on Screen]. 12:38 Listen to what God says: the living know that they'll die, 12:42 but once they're lying there, they don't know anything. 12:45 They have no more reward, for the memory of them 12:49 is forgotten. "For the living know that they will die," 12:52 "but the dead know nothing". 12:55 I think that's pretty clear. 12:57 The living know that they will die. 12:59 When we come to the funeral and we see those 13:01 that we love lying there, we know that our fate 13:04 will be like theirs. 13:05 We all know that if we live long enough 13:08 we'll end up in that same box. 13:11 But the dead, what do they know when they're lying there? 13:13 What are they feeling? 13:15 Nothing. 13:16 The text goes on to say that "they have no more reward," 13:19 "for the memory of them is forgotten". 13:22 "Their love, their hatred, their envy, it all has perished. " 13:28 "Never more will they have a share of anything" 13:31 "done under the sun. " 13:33 Never more will they have any participation. 13:36 They're not watching what's going on, 13:38 they're not grieving over what's happening, 13:40 they're not rejoicing, they're not rejoicing at all. 13:43 In fact, Psalms tells us [Text on Screen] 13:50 Once again, the Word of God is clear. 13:53 Dead people are not praising the Lord, 13:55 those who are gone down into their graves 13:57 are resting quietly in silence. 13:59 "Whoa, don't confuse me with the facts here. " 14:01 I hear someone asking: "I thought grandma was in Heaven" 14:04 "with God right now, I thought she was praising Jesus," 14:07 "looking down on me, answering my prayers. " 14:10 Well, let's look at the facts as they're found in God's word. 14:13 New Testament doctrine, Acts Chapter 2. 14:17 Peter was preaching on the Day of Pentecost, 14:19 and as he was preaching, he got to talking about David. 14:23 Now any of us who know the Bible, would believe that if 14:26 anyone would go to Heaven when they die, 14:28 it would certainly be David. 14:30 David, the man after God's own heart. 14:33 David, the man who loved God and repented greatly. 14:36 David, who chose God's way. 14:39 David, who was talked about over and over in scripture as 14:42 "the man who followed God". 14:45 But Peter, in preaching about David, says this in verse 29 14:50 [Text on Screen] 14:59 Ahah, but you're saying "Yes," 15:01 "his tomb is with us to this day," 15:03 "that's where they laid his body," 15:06 "but he went to be with the Lord. " 15:09 That's not what Peter says in verse 34. 15:12 In verse 34 he says [Text on Screen]. 15:18 David isn't with the Lord in heaven, David is resting. 15:23 Just a moment, just a slight, brief intermission until 15:28 that great resurrection morning. 15:30 Peter did not invent this doctrine, this concept that when 15:34 people die they just rest in the grave. 15:37 Peter learned this truth from Jesus Himself. 15:40 From the Son of God who came to reveal all truth. 15:43 This is what Jesus taught us in John 5:28 [Text on Screen] 15:56 Now let me ask you, if all the dead people are with God 16:00 in heaven, when Jesus comes back for that resurrection, 16:03 why will they in their graves hear His voice? 16:07 Jesus explains this in more detail in verse 29 16:11 [Text on Screen] 16:22 Jesus clearly explains that there are two resurrections. 16:25 Jesus clearly explains that those who die 16:28 are resting in their graves, and at those two resurrections, 16:31 whether you've been righteous or whether you've been evil, 16:35 you will be raised up in that resurrection. 16:38 Not come down from heaven, but be raised up. 16:42 Jesus explains this truth about the resurrection 16:46 and the state of the dead probably best 16:47 in his experience with Lazarus. 16:51 Lazarus was one of his best t friends, but he got very sick, 16:54 and his sisters - Mary and Martha - sent word to Him: 16:57 "Lord, he whom Thou lovest is sick". 17:00 Jesus sent comforting words back, He said: 17:03 "This sickness is onto death. " 17:06 How much they were encouraged by those words. 17:08 They clung to those words, and still, Lazarus died. 17:13 Jesus wasn't there to bring health back to Lazarus. 17:16 Jesus wasn't even there for his funeral. 17:19 Jesus wasn't there to comfort the sisters as they were weeping 17:23 for the loss of their brother, 17:25 but Jesus was there in heart and in spirit. 17:29 Even though Lazarus was dead, Jesus, who is the life, 17:34 had a plan. 17:35 Jesus turned to his disciples and He said: [Text on screen] 17:44 Jesus had said that Lazarus was sleeping. 17:48 The disciples didn't understand what He really meant, 17:51 in fact, the disciples said: [Text on Screen] 18:13 Lazarus had died. 18:15 They'd had the service, wound his body all up, 18:18 mummified style, with tight windings. 18:22 They had taken him and placed him in a tomb. 18:25 This tomb was a unique tomb because it was down in a cave, 18:28 steps leading downward. 18:31 Then he was laid out on a cold stone, 18:35 but Jesus, who is the way, the truth and the life, 18:40 had another plan for Lazarus. 18:43 Jesus came to Lazarus' tomb, and He called in clear tones: 18:47 "Lazarus, come forth. " 18:51 And the miraculous power of God picked up Lazarus, 18:55 carried him up those stones, 18:57 and set him at the opening of that tomb. 19:02 And Jesus said: "Unwind his clothes, let him go free. " 19:06 Jesus used the term "rest", or "sleep", in talking about death, 19:11 and so did other Bible authors. 19:14 I did some research with my Franklin Electronic Bible. 19:17 Did you know that 66 times the term "sleep" is used for death, 19:22 in 17 different books of the Bible? 19:25 But we can't talk to our dead, departed loved ones. 19:29 They are asleep. 19:32 They're not thinking about us, 19:34 they're not worried about us. 19:36 Job 14:12 clearly tells us [Text on Screen]. 19:50 Look what the text says carefully: 19:52 "till the heavens are no more". 19:55 That's when they'll wake up; at that resurrection morning. 19:59 Job goes on to tell us in verse 21 [Text on Screen]. 20:12 After someone has passed on, they're not thinking 20:15 about their loved ones, they're asleep. 20:17 They're not worried, they're asleep. 20:20 They're not talking to Jesus about their loved ones, 20:23 they're asleep. 20:25 [Text on screen] 20:35 I can see how honest people can make an honest mistake 20:38 when it comes to the Bible. 20:40 For example, in 1 Samuel 28, there's a text 20:44 that talks about Samuel, who's long since dead, 20:47 talking to King Saul. 20:49 This is what it says: [Text on Screen] 20:57 Doesn't that prove that the dead people can talk to us? 21:01 That those who have crossed over still can think 21:03 and communicate with us, who are living? 21:06 Not necessarily. 21:08 Let's look at the story more critically, 21:10 and I'll let you decide for yourself. 21:13 King Saul was worried about the battle he was going 21:15 to have the next day with Philistines. 21:17 So he sought out a witch, a woman, who seemed to have 21:20 the ability to communicate with the dead. 21:23 He went to her cave secretly at Endor, and asked her to bring 21:27 there the prophet Samuel, so he could speak with him. 21:31 This is what the word of God says in verse 13 21:34 [Text on Screen]. 21:42 If Samuel had gone to heaven when he died, 21:44 as you would expect a prophet of God to do, 21:47 why wouldn't he coming down from heaven instead of coming up 21:50 out of the earth? 21:51 Let's look at the next verse: [Text on screen] 22:04 The Bible doesn't clearly say that it was Samuel. 22:07 It says that he perceived that it was Samuel. 22:10 And under that assumption it keeps referring to him as Samuel 22:15 Saul is there in the cave in Endor, there with the witch, 22:19 but was it Samuel who appeared? 22:22 God refused to talk to King Saul through dreams, 22:25 He refused to talk to Saul through a priest, 22:28 He refused to talk to Saul through a prophet, 22:30 His appointed means through which He communicates. 22:35 Saul then took matters into his own hands, 22:37 and he went to the witch of Endor. 22:40 Satan always goes too far in trying to prove his point. 22:44 Just like he did with the woman who saw her step dad 22:47 there in the kitchen, smoking his favorite pipe. 22:50 Let's suppose that when the step dad died, 22:52 he went right to hell. 22:54 And then one day he said to God: 22:56 "God can I go visit my family for just a few minutes?" 22:59 Do you think God would let him out of hell? I don't think so. 23:03 But let's suppose that when the step dad died, 23:05 he went to be with Jesus in heaven. 23:07 And one day he went to the Father and said: 23:09 "Father, can I visit my wife and stepdaughter," 23:11 "just this once, just for a few minutes? I miss them so much. " 23:15 Do you think a loving God would let him come back 23:18 just for a few minutes? Maybe. 23:21 The only problem is that he really doesn't want to 23:23 visit his wife, he doesn't say hello, 23:25 he doesn't give his stepdaughter a hug, what he does is runs 23:28 to the kitchen and gets out his favorite pipe and some tobacco. 23:31 Why? Because God doesn't allow smoking in heaven. 23:35 Smoking causes death, and there's no more death in heaven. 23:39 And so he really wanted to come back 23:41 just to have another smoke. 23:43 Friend, there is life after death, 23:46 but not because we have some immortal soul 23:48 that lives on and on after we die. 23:50 Not because we have some cosmic spirit consciousness 23:53 that goes up into the cosmos somewhere. 23:56 We can live forever because we've invited Jesus 23:59 to come into our heart, and He has promised that 24:01 on the resurrection morning He will raise those to life, 24:05 those who have given their lives to him. 24:08 On the resurrection of the righteous, we can be with Him 24:11 and our loved ones once again in heaven 24:14 and the New Earth, forever and ever. 24:17 So next time you're tempted to believe some apparition 24:20 that might appear in your home, next time your tempted 24:23 to go to some séance, where they're going to communicate 24:25 with our departed loved ones who have crossed over, 24:28 think twice. 24:30 Think about what the word of God has to say, 24:33 think about the truths that you've heard here today, 24:35 think about what God's truth is, and then let His word guide you. 24:42 Someday, I long to be at a Gettysburg Cemetery 24:46 where my brother is lying in a box, just like this. 24:49 I long to be there when the skies part, and Jesus 24:52 comes back, and He calls my brother to eternal life. 24:56 That day is coming very soon, 24:58 invite Jesus into your heart, 25:01 chose Him, and believe His word. 25:05 Today's topic may have been unsettling for some of you, 25:08 but I have found that those who fully study it from God's word, 25:12 have found great peace and security in His truth. 25:16 Now get your pen and paper ready because today 25:18 we are giving you a free resource to help 25:21 you look deeper into this matter. 25:23 This study guide will cover a lot of ground and will even 25:26 answer some of your thought questions, like: 25:29 "Didn't the thief on the cross go to Paradise with Christ" 25:31 "the day he died?" and "Doesn't Matthew 10:28," 25:35 "or Revelation 6, 9 and 10, prove that the soul is undying?" 25:40 You'll find this guide a wonderful resource. 25:43 Now here's the information you'll need. 25:47 Are the dead really dead? 25:50 To access this powerful resource, 25:53 go to www. amazing facts. org 25:57 and simply select the "Studies" button. 25:59 From there, you can order the entire set 26:02 of these study guides, or you can look and listen 26:05 to this particular study guide. 26:07 You can even enroll in the free online Bible study course, 26:11 which will answer many of your Bible questions. 26:14 Again, this study guide is available to you 26:16 anywhere in the world, at [information on screen]. 26:24 In our next program, we'll be going with Charles 26:26 to Mount Sinai. 26:28 Perhaps the most costly tent that was ever made, 26:31 was erected on this valley floor. 26:34 Here, within its walls and contained in its ceremonies, 26:38 God illustrated many truths that have been forgotten today. 26:42 Here in symbolic form, God predicted the future 26:47 and had intimate fellowship with His people. 26:50 Can you imagine the God of creation going camping 26:53 with human beings? 26:55 Does that same God still want to go camping with us? 26:59 Join us next time as we go in search of the truth. 27:04 [Music for Credits Begins] |
Revised 2014-12-17