Participants: Pr. Dwight Nelson
Series Code: NP
Program Code: NP011009
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00:27 "And life is worth the living just because He lives."
00:39 Amen. Amen. 00:42 This morning, there is a song called "Kindness" 00:44 that is probably unfamiliar to most of us 00:46 and so we're gonna have Fidi sing 00:48 through the first verse in chorus 00:50 and then we're gonna join him again 00:52 on the first verse and chorus as we learn the song. 00:55 It's such a powerful song and I'm just really excited 00:58 that we're gonna have an opportunity 01:01 to sing it this morning. 01:17 Open up the skies of mercy 01:25 Rain down the cleansing flood 01:31 Healing waters rise around us 01:39 Hear our cries Lord, let them rise 01:45 It's Your kindness, Lord 01:49 That leads us to repentance 01:52 Your favor Lord, is our desire 01:59 It's Your beauty, Lord 02:03 That makes us stand in silence 02:07 Your love Your love, is better than life 02:29 Open up the skies of mercy 02:36 Rain down the cleansing flood 02:43 Healing waters rise around us 02:51 Hear our cries Lord, let them rise 02:56 It's Your kindness, Lord 03:01 That leads us to repentance 03:04 Your favor Lord, is our desire 03:10 It's Your beauty, Lord 03:15 That makes us stand in silence 03:18 Your love Your love, is better than life 03:38 We can feel 03:40 We can feel Your mercy falling 03:47 You are turning our hearts back again 03:54 Hear our praises rise to heaven 04:01 Draw us near, Lord, And meet us here 04:07 It's Your kindness, Lord 04:11 That leads us to repentance 04:14 Your favor Lord, is our desire 04:21 It's Your beauty, Lord 04:25 That makes us stand in silence 04:28 Your love Your love, is better than life 04:42 Better than all the riches of the world 04:45 Better than all the riches of the world 04:48 Better than all the riches of the world 04:52 Better than all the riches of the world 04:55 Better than all the riches of the world 04:59 Better than all the riches of the world 05:02 It's Your kindness, Lord 05:06 That leads us to repentance 05:09 Your favor Lord, is our desire 05:16 It's Your beauty, Lord 05:20 That makes us stand in silence 05:23 Your love Your love 05:30 It's Your kindness, Lord 05:34 That leads us to repentance 05:37 Your favor Lord, is our desire 05:43 It's Your beauty, Lord 05:47 That makes us stand in silence 05:50 Your love Your love is better than life 09:20 Let's pray. 09:23 Oh, God, in the quiet of that revelry 09:28 we listen for You 09:33 of all new beginnings. 09:40 We need You now. 09:47 As we set out together on this new voyage, 09:50 You lead us through Holy Scripture teach us. 09:55 We pray in Jesus' name, amen. 10:02 Are you afraid of death? 10:10 Are you afraid of dying? 10:14 My freshman year as it turns out second semester 10:22 on a rain slicking curve 10:23 two beautiful young college girls 10:30 spun out of control and were killed instantly. 10:40 I knew them. 10:43 One of them was sitting in the next row 10:44 over end to the back of the communications class 10:48 we were taking together. 10:51 I didn't know them that well 10:53 but that very night when I crawled into bed, 10:58 I'm telling you what I went into an emotional tailspin. 11:05 I tossed and turned in that 11:08 dormitory bunk bed panicked, 11:15 feeling as if death's cold clammy hand 11:18 was groping in the darkness trying to find me next 11:25 and I suddenly found myself petrified, 11:29 petrified over death. 11:32 I was sure I would be the next victim on that campus. 11:38 I should have gone to talk to somebody, 11:39 I should have talked to the dean, 11:40 I should have talked to the some counselor at the college, 11:46 but I was too chicken to admit 11:52 that I was scared of death. 11:57 You afraid of death? May be not. 12:00 Most of us are kind of like Woody Allen. 12:03 Woody Allen said, "I'm not afraid of dying. 12:05 I just don't want to be there when it happens." 12:11 But one of these days it is gonna happen for Woody, 12:15 for you and for me. 12:19 And when death comes to us what will it feel like. 12:25 Do you suppose you have warning like well, 12:27 I think I'm gonna die in just the next few moments 12:33 or will death stalefully grab us from behind. 12:40 And when death comes, what next? 12:49 Believing as I do that we all 12:54 not like a panicky freshman I understand that, 12:58 but we all nurse 13:04 a secret fear of death believing that. 13:12 I think the time is right for you and I, 13:14 for us to undertake-- 13:19 by the way I love that word undertake 13:23 because that will make us undertakers 13:25 which is a great death word. 13:28 It is time for us to undertake a journey. 13:31 A candid and frank exploration of this thing called death. 13:38 We'll do it, come on I promise you, 13:39 we'll do it from a safe and skeptic distance. 13:42 Kind of like the pathologist in that CSI morgue. 13:47 We're not dealing my own death here, 13:48 we're dealing with somebody else's death. 13:50 We'll deal with it that way, but we need to take a look. 13:57 It's a tiny little mini series that we begin today 13:59 just three parts long. 14:01 We'll call the series "The Truth About Death." 14:06 Today will be "The Fork-tongued Beast." 14:11 Next week will be "The Unmade Bed" 14:15 and then the third week will be "The Midnight Blitz" 14:20 because could it be true 14:21 that if we can expose the truth about death, 14:23 we can defang death of its fear. 14:29 So let's just plunge into this thing. 14:31 I mean, come on, tell me, how in the world, 14:33 how in the world do we get into this death thing anyway? 14:36 I mean, look, if God-- if there is a God 14:39 and I believe there is 14:41 and if He is a loving and compassionate God 14:44 and I also believe that He is that too. 14:47 Then why in the name of God in all that is good 14:50 would He invent something so wretched 14:53 and treacherous as death 14:58 or may be He didn't invent it. 15:01 May be death didn't get invented by anybody. 15:03 May be it's just some people say, 15:05 you know, just been here. 15:09 You evolve, you live, you die. 15:16 You must learn to embrace it. 15:18 It's kind of the way of life in a random universe like ours. 15:23 Is that it or could it be? 15:27 It makes you wonder could it be that the very fact 15:31 we numinously fear is mortal foe. 15:39 Could it be that that numinous fear 15:41 in fact is proof enough? 15:45 We've been made not to succumb 15:49 to death in the beginning. 15:54 Open your Bible with me please, 15:56 to that story in the beginning. 15:58 We got to, we got to find the answers, guys, come on. 16:00 Open your Bible with me, please 16:03 to a story long, long ago and far, far away 16:07 five days of creation 16:11 on this primordial pristine planet. 16:14 Over five are gone, it's day six already. 16:20 Already, the planet is bursting 16:24 and its green seems the eco system alive 16:28 with every imaginable life form from orchids to orcas, 16:33 to ostriches to orangutans, wow, what a place. 16:37 By then when the Creator comes to His masterful, 16:43 crowing act of creation, 16:45 suddenly the account burst with detail. 16:49 Let's go to that Genesis Chapter 2, 16:51 crowning act of Creator, Genesis 2. 16:55 By the way if you didn't bring your Bible 16:56 you got to grab the pew Bible right in front of you. 16:58 It's waiting to be picked up, just hoping you'll pick it up. 17:00 Genesis 2, be page one in your pew Bible. 17:04 Let's take a look at this, Genesis 2, 17:06 by the way pew Bible-- hope the Bible same translation 17:09 today the New King James Version, Genesis 2. 17:15 Here comes the detail, verse 7, Genesis 2:7, 17:19 "And the Lord God" 17:21 hit the pause button right there. 17:22 I need to remind you just in case you didn't know 17:25 or have forgotten that according to the New Testament 17:28 John 1, Colossians 1 and Hebrews 1 17:30 the lowered God, the divine player. 17:33 In the first three chapters of Genesis that divine player 17:35 is none other than the pre-incarnate Christ. 17:38 Now I have no idea what the pre-incarnate Christ look like, 17:40 I know what Jesus looks like 17:43 because I've looked at that picture 17:44 as you have for a long time. 17:46 So we've got that face in our minds. 17:47 Well, this is the face of the same being, 17:51 same one, the Lord God, the pre-incarnate Christ. 17:56 And the Lord God formed-- 17:57 by the way the Hebrew word for form is 17:59 what a potter does with a hunk of clay. 18:00 Just takes that clay forms. 18:02 "And the Lord God formed man." 18:04 By the way as well in the Hebrew aw-dawm. 18:08 Not a proper name. 18:09 It's a name, it's a generic name for humanity, aw-dawm. 18:12 "And the Lord God formed" aw-dawm 18:14 "man out of the dust of the" aw-dawm-ah, Hebrew for ground. 18:20 See the connection because he came out of the ground. 18:22 His name even sounds like ground. 18:24 "And the Lord God formed man out of the dust of the ground, 18:27 and He breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, 18:30 and man became a living being." 18:33 Hey, do you remember when you were in first grade 18:35 and your teacher announced today 18:36 boy and girls, our class in afternoon. 18:38 All right, boys and girls, 18:39 today I'm gonna put something special in your hands 18:41 and I want you to make for me a face. 18:44 You make your own face please 18:46 and then she handed out red lumps and blue lumps 18:48 and green lumps and yellow lumps of clay. 18:50 You remember that? 18:52 Your teacher said all right, work this clay. 18:53 All right, make it into a face and so you took that lump 18:55 and you rounded it into this kind of 18:58 cockamamie shaped head. 19:01 You took a little bit out of the back of the head and you, 19:04 you squiggled into this long pointing nose. 19:06 You took the sides of the head, 19:07 and you pulled it out as ear are cauliflower. 19:10 You punched in two holes, got two holes for the eye 19:13 and dropped in two little clay balls 19:14 and then you pencil prick that smile 19:16 and you held it up to your teacher and she told you 19:18 it was the most beautiful face she had ever seen. 19:21 And we were all thinking of ourselves 19:22 I'm sure glad he was not my creator. 19:28 Genesis 2:7, "And the Lord God 19:31 formed man of the dust of the ground, 19:35 and breathed into his nostrils" 19:39 breathed into his nostrils 19:46 "the breath of life, and man became a living being." 19:53 Just hit the pause button again for one more moment. 19:54 We need to know the vital ingredients 19:57 that when they are combined 19:58 turn a human being into a living being. 20:01 We got to get these down. 20:02 Grab your, grab your study guide 20:03 and your worship bulletin today, 20:04 blow the snow off of it. 20:06 Take that study guide out and by the way 20:07 if you don't have a study guide, you got to get this one. 20:09 There are some equations that we are gonna 20:11 share with you that you got to have. 20:12 So hold your hand up, 20:13 our friendly ushers will be coming 20:14 your way up in the balcony in the overflow right here. 20:17 Just hold your hand up and say 20:18 I need one of those study guides. 20:19 And while we're getting those out here 20:21 I want to welcome those of you who are watching on television, 20:23 listening on a radio, we're delighted you are here. 20:26 You can get the same series. 20:27 Let me put it on the screen for you. 20:29 This is the series, "The Truth About Death." 20:32 Little three part mini series. 20:34 Go to our website please, www.pmchurch.tv 20:39 and you're looking for today's teaching 20:40 "The Forked-Tongue Beast." 20:44 That's today's teaching and when you say 20:45 study guide right beside that title, 20:47 you click on, you will have the same study guide we have 20:50 and you can plunge into this with us. 20:53 I'm glad you're here, everybody. 20:54 All right, let's go. We got to go. 20:55 Genesis 2:7, fill it up please. 20:58 "Dust of the ground." 20:59 Okay, what are the ingredients 21:00 that make a human being a living being? 21:01 "Dust of the ground" + 21:03 "Breath of life" = "Living soul." 21:09 "Dust of the ground" + 21:10 "Breath of life" = "Living soul." 21:12 We just saw it in this verse, we're not adding anything. 21:14 Those are the two ingredients that make a living being. 21:18 The Creator stoops over this statue. 21:20 I mean you try to imagine in your heart this is-- 21:23 there's just this clay statue, 21:25 perfect man but lifeless. 21:28 And the Creator the pre-incarnate Christ 21:30 puts His mouth over that clay, those clay nostrils 21:33 and He breathes in the animating life 21:35 that belongs only to God and as He does 21:38 suddenly those huge eyes begin to flutter 21:41 and that massive chest go 21:43 and Adam becomes a living being. 21:47 In fact here's an easy way 21:48 to remember the formula, jot it down. 21:49 Body + Breath = Being. 21:54 All right. Body + Breath = Being. 22:00 So now what does God do? 22:02 Drop down to verse 15, 22:03 and "Then the Lord God took the man" aw-dawm 22:07 "and He put him in the Garden of Eden to tend and keep it." 22:09 And verse 16, "The Lord God commanded the man, saying, 22:13 'Of every tree of the garden you may eat freely, 22:16 but'" verse 17 "'of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil 22:21 you shall not eat, for in the day 22:24 that you eat of it you shall surely die.'" 22:28 Now I want you to imagine in your mind, 22:31 Adam is listening to his Creator 22:32 and friend give these instructions. 22:33 Hey, time out please. 22:36 My Lord, and dear divine friend, 22:39 I ought to ask You a question. 22:41 You said that if the day that I eat of it, I'm gonna die. 22:44 What does that mean? What do you mean die? 22:49 You think about it. There has been no death. 22:52 There has been no death on this primordial planet, zero. 22:55 Nobody in the universe has seen death. 22:58 What do You say I'll have it? I would die? 23:05 The Creator is warning in verse 17 is clear. 23:07 That whatever death is 23:09 and right now we don't know what it is, 23:10 but whatever death is, it would only ensue 23:13 should the man or woman chose to reject the Creator as Lord. 23:19 Unless the humans choose to disobey the Creator, 23:22 there will never be death on this planet 23:27 which being interpreted means. 23:30 That any theory of origin that necessitates death 23:34 as a method of the Creators creating 23:37 or evolving life forms of this planet 23:40 is in direct contradiction to the utterly clear 23:43 and plain teaching of scripture. 23:45 In fact would you write this down please? 23:47 Genesis 2:17 makes clear that death 23:50 is the consequence of human rebellion, 23:54 not the modus operandi of human evolution. 23:58 Keep writing. 23:59 The Creator did not need long ages of death cycles 24:03 in order to create our life cycle. 24:06 Roman 6:23. Keep scribbling. 24:08 "For the wages of sin" 24:10 Hey, tell me what are the wages of sin? 24:11 Say it to me. Death. 24:14 "The wages of sin is death"-- i.e., no sin, no death. 24:20 Whatever death is, 24:22 it is the fruit of sin and rebellion against God. 24:29 No wonder the serpent 24:34 went with bared fangs 24:38 after the truth about death. 24:42 Chapter 3:1, "Now the serpent was more cunning 24:49 than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. 24:53 And he said to the woman, 'Has God indeed said, 24:57 "You shall not eat of every tree of the garden'?'' 25:00 Hit the pause button again. 25:02 Clearly, clearly, ladies and gentlemen, 25:04 clearly the serpent creature has been co-opted 25:08 by an intelligent life form that is using the serpent 25:12 as a medium for his own nefarious purpose. 25:17 And who's that intelligent life form? 25:18 The Bibles, the Bibles last book 25:21 confirms this story in the Bible's first book. 25:25 I want to look at that last book, 25:26 in fact I want you to go there. 25:27 Keep your finger right here 25:28 because we are coming immediately back 25:29 but you need to see this for yourself 25:31 in your own Bible Revelation, 25:33 the Bible's last book chapter 12. 25:35 I want you to see this. Revelation 12:7. 25:42 All right, that is our page number here 25:44 page number 829. 25:46 All right, Revelation 12:7, 25:47 "And war" this is the most 25:50 inexplicable line in all of Holy Scripture. 25:53 How you get war in the home 25:55 and family of God with perfect parents? 25:57 You know, I have parents come to me heartbroken. 25:59 What happened to my daughter? What happened to my child? 26:01 I had two parents in my office this very week, 26:03 this very week with tears. 26:09 I tell parents listen, don't be too hard on yourself. 26:12 I've been there and done that, and number two 26:14 you can be the most perfect parent in the universe 26:19 and you can have your family fall apart. 26:22 So take it easy on yourself. 26:25 God, even God couldn't stop the war. 26:29 Not of your love, not if you give people free choice. 26:32 You can shoot at them if they disobey, 26:33 but if give them free choice, it's a whole another ball game 26:35 and love always gives free choices, doesn't it. 26:38 Or it's not love, it's rape and war. 26:43 By the way the Greek word for war, 26:45 Polemos from whence comes our word polemics. 26:48 It's a war of ideologies, 26:49 it's a war of ideas, the war of philosophies. 26:51 That's the word, they are not boxing each other. 26:53 "And war broke out in heaven, 26:55 Michael and his angels fought with the dragon, 26:57 and the dragon and his angels fought back" verse 8, 26:59 "but they" the dragon and his angels "did not prevail, 27:03 nor was a place found for them in heaven any longer." 27:06 Verse 9 "So the great dragon was cast out," 27:09 you can't a leave a rebel in the house forever. 27:11 It will destroy everything. 27:13 "So the great dragon was cast out," 27:15 verse 9 "that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, 27:20 who deceives the whole world, he was cast to the earth, 27:24 and his angels were cast out with him." 27:27 Write it down ladies and gentlemen, 27:29 "The serpent of Genesis is none other than the devil," 27:32 write it in" none other than the Devil or Satan, 27:35 the fallen Lucifer of heaven. 27:38 That's who that is. That's who he is. 27:43 Once upon a time there was a civil war in the house of God 27:50 and Lucifer was finally cast out of paradise 27:54 and lo he came to Eden. 28:01 Go back where your finger was, in Genesis 3:1. 28:05 "Now the serpent was more cunning 28:08 than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. 28:11 And he said to the woman, please, Has God indeed said, 28:17 'You shall not eat of every tree of the garden'?'" 28:19 By the way that is the most ludicrous line 28:21 you could possibly think of, 28:22 but that's the whole point why he spoke it. 28:25 I mean, he's making a-- it's ludicrous. 28:28 Hey, hey, girl, you, come here. 28:31 Did God tell you, you can't eat any of these trees? 28:34 How dumb? 28:37 All He wants, whenever Lucifer comes to you 28:39 all He wants is for you to engage 28:43 in a little bit of friendly conversation. 28:46 Trust me it's never friendly and you'll never win. 28:49 Because if your consensus is saying don't, don't, don't 28:52 and there's another voice in you saying, do, do, do. 28:55 The voice is saying do if you argue with that voice, 28:58 he sets you up for the kill just like that. 29:03 You walk away. You just walk away. 29:07 Get out of that car, walk away from that party, 29:11 get out of that place, just get out. 29:14 If your mind has got consensus to you saying, 29:17 don't, don't, don't, don't you argue, just leave. 29:24 It worked, hook, line, and sinker. 29:27 She bit the bate. 29:28 "And the woman said" hey, wait a minute. 29:31 What are you talking about? Verse 2. 29:33 "We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden," 29:35 you got it wrong buddy, verse 3, 29:39 "But of the fruit of the tree 29:40 which is in the midst of the garden," 29:42 coincidently if this very tree that you are coiled in. 29:46 "But of the fruit of the tree 29:49 that is in the midst of the garden, 29:50 God has said, 'You shall not eat it, 29:52 nor shall you touch it, lest you die.' 29:55 Then the serpent said to the woman, 29:58 'You will not surely die. 30:01 For God knows that in the day you eat of it 30:04 your eyes will be opened, 30:05 and you will be like God, knowing good from evil.'" 30:11 Would you write it down please, 30:13 those words you will not surely die 30:17 in the English are the strongest wording 30:20 Hebrew is capable of, 30:22 literally the Hebrew reads "Dying, 30:25 you will not die"-- i.e., "You will positively" 30:30 I promise you positively you will not die. 30:34 The serpent's language is as forceful 30:37 as he can possibly make it. Take my word lady. 30:41 Take my word, read my lips, 30:45 I promise you, you will not die. 30:50 That's what the Hebrew is telling us. 30:54 It is a blatant contradiction of God's warning 30:56 to Adam and Eve 30:57 proving that the serpent's tongue 30:59 has been forked from the beginning. 31:04 Jesus by the way, the creator 31:07 when he became incarnated into our midst 31:09 matched the serpent's strong language 31:11 with a bit of strong language back at you of his own. 31:15 Jot it down this is from John 8:44 31:18 and I love it in the NIV. Watch this, fill it in. 31:20 Jesus said, "The devil was a murderer 31:23 from the beginning, not holding to the truth, 31:26 for there is no truth, no truth in him. 31:31 When he lies," isn't it something 31:33 "he speaks his native language," 31:37 that's all he knows what to do is lie. 31:40 Oh, he will mix the truth in. 31:41 He'll have a little bit of the truth in 31:43 to catch you off guard. 31:45 But when he speaks lying is his native language 31:48 and then Phil is saying, "For he is a liar 31:50 and the father of lies." 31:54 He is a liar and the father of lies. 31:57 And what did he say to the human race? 31:59 You're not gonna die, you're not gonna die, 32:01 I said, this is what I say to you, 32:03 liar, liar pants on fire. 32:08 Because she did die 32:14 and so did he... 32:17 and so will you... 32:21 so will I. 32:27 Verse 6 "So when the woman saw" 32:33 he's going at her sore eyes. 32:35 "When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, 32:38 that it was pleasant for the eyes, 32:41 and a tree desirable to make one wise, 32:43 she took of its fruit and ate. 32:44 And she also gave to her husband with her, and he ate." 32:51 And what follows, ladies and gentlemen, 32:53 is one of the most heartbreaking, 32:55 heart to heart conversations in all of scripture. 32:59 And at the very end of it, 33:01 God turns to Adam and answers the unspoken 33:06 but now open question, what happens when I die? 33:11 He never answered in chapter two, 33:13 now has to come the answer. 33:17 The devil lied about death. 33:19 Listen to God tell the truth about death. 33:21 Verse 17 "Then to Adam" the pre-incarnate Christ said, 33:27 "Because you have heeded the voice of your wife, 33:31 and have eaten from the tree of which I commanded you, 33:33 saying, 'You shall not eat of it.'" 33:36 Let me tell you something, Adam. 33:37 Here's the planet you now get with Lucifer as your lord. 33:40 You went to the running booth, 33:41 you went to that tree, you pulled the lever, 33:43 we would rather have Lucifer than Me, all right. 33:46 Here's what you get now. " 33:48 Cursed is the ground for your sake, 33:51 in toil you shall eat of it all the days of your life." 33:55 Verse 18, "Both thorns and thistles 33:58 it shall now bring forth for you, 34:00 and you shall eat the herb of the field." 34:03 Verse 19 "And in the sweat of your face 34:06 you shall eat bread till you return to the ground, 34:11 for out of it you were taken, 34:15 for dust you are, and to dust you shall return." 34:21 What is death? God is absolutely clear. 34:24 Death is the great reversal of creation. 34:29 That's what death is, cutting us off 34:36 from the source of life because of our choice. 34:40 Would you jot it down, please? 34:41 Death is to return to the ground. 34:43 Death is to "return to the ground, 34:45 for dust you are, 34:47 and to dust you shall return." Guess what? 34:51 Those are the words we intone at the grave site 34:54 those of us that join you there. 34:57 Ashes to ashes, dust to dust, 35:03 that's where it came from 35:04 the Creator's definition of death. 35:10 You remember that equation 35:11 we put on the screen a moment ago. 35:12 Hey, guys, just put the screen-- 35:13 let's put that equation please back up on the screen. 35:15 You remember this Body + Breath = Being. 35:21 So if death is a great reversal of creation 35:23 the equation for death would go something like this. 35:24 Fill it in. 35:26 Body (back to dust) 35:28 - Breath (back to God) = Death. 35:34 That's it. 35:36 And when our bodies turn back to dust 35:37 and our breath returns to God, is there anything leftover? 35:40 Is there something that goes on living, 35:41 anything that goes on existing? Very good question. 35:46 Let's illustrate it by building a box together. 35:49 I put a stack of boards right here, 35:51 stack of boards right here 35:52 and a pile of nails right here. Can you see it? 35:54 You have to squint to see it, 35:55 but stack of boards right here pile of nails. 35:59 Every carpenter knows there is a formula for building a box. 36:04 Stack of boards, pile of nails. 36:05 Let's put the formula on the screen please. 36:07 Boards + Nails = Box. 36:12 If you memorize that formula, 36:14 you'll be able to build boxes till you die. 36:18 Boards + Nails = Box. 36:22 Now, Mr. Carpenter, you, 36:25 what's the formula for taking a box apart? 36:28 It's very simple. 36:30 I'll put it on the screen for you jot it down. 36:32 Boards - Nails =... Now go ahead fill it in. 36:39 Go ahead fill it in. Boards - Nails =... 36:47 Now let's put three question marks up there. 36:51 You're not sure, I'm looking in your faces, 36:52 you're not sure. 36:54 Hey, listen, hey listen, people, what do you have 36:58 when you take the boards and the nails of a box apart, 37:00 what do you have? What do you have? 37:02 In fact let's do it this way. 37:03 There's a little 'Q' and 'A' in your study guide. 37:05 Let's put the 'Q' up on the screen. 37:06 When you take the boards and nails apart, 37:08 where does the box go? 37:11 Does it go-- do boxes that have been disassembled 37:15 hover up in the corner of rooms 37:16 right up there near the ceiling? Where do boxes go? 37:19 Do they go to a box heaven and wait? 37:23 You know the answer write it down, please. 37:25 The answer, "It simply ceases to exist." 37:30 And now ladies and gentlemen, 37:31 it's precisely God's point about death in Genesis 3. 37:35 When you take a human being apart, 37:37 it simply ceases to exist. 37:40 In fact I'll just write it in little shorter formula for you. 37:43 Body - Breath = Death/ Ceasing to exist. 37:51 Death is a great reversal of creation 37:57 and God is looking into the face, 37:59 the pre-incarnate Christ looking into the face-- 38:02 faces of Adam and Eve 38:04 and you can almost hear Him say, 38:06 I'm so heartbroken for you. I'm telling you. 38:13 I'm telling you for devil lied to you. 38:18 You are going to die now. 38:25 And then the writer of Genesis 38:27 to make sure that we knew God's definition in Genesis 3 38:34 is the correct definition about death. 38:38 Now we might know the truth of the serpent's lie. 38:41 Just turn the pages, turn your pages 38:42 just like this to Genesis 5. 38:44 Drop down to verse 5, read this. 38:46 Genesis 5:5 it's speaking of Adam 38:48 and "So all the days 38:50 that Adam lived were nine hundred and thirty years," 38:54 and read the next words to me "and he died." 39:02 And he died. 39:04 The devil told him he wouldn't, 39:06 the Bible tells us he did and he died. 39:15 What happened when Adam died? 39:17 Death reverse creation, 39:19 that's how the Bible defines death. 39:20 In fact put this on the screen 39:22 but you have it there in your study guide 39:23 Ecclesiastes 12:7. Fill it in. 39:27 "Then [at death]" here's how the Bible defines death. 39:29 "Then [at death] the dust will return 39:31 to the earth as it was, and the spirit" 39:34 now the Hebrew word there is ruach 39:36 and it can be translated breathe 39:37 so you need to put that in there. 39:39 "And the spirit or breath will return to God who gave it." 39:43 I told you, Dwight, I told you 39:45 there is something intelligent that goes back to God 39:48 when we die and it's that spirit. 39:50 Oh, my friend, be very-- 39:52 be very cautious about jumping 39:54 so quickly to that conclusion. 39:56 You want to know what that's spirit is? 39:57 Let's go, let's check it. 39:58 You know, we have to let the Bible interpret itself, 40:00 it's not your opinion and mine, 40:01 let's let the Bible interpret itself. 40:02 Job 27:3, take a look at this. It's in your study guide. 40:06 Job speaking, "All the while my breath is in me, 40:09 and the spirit" ruach write in the word breath. 40:14 And the spirit of God is where? Is where? "Is in my nostrils." 40:20 Now either we conclude ladies and gentlemen, 40:23 that our intelligent spirit lives in our nostrils 40:26 which doesn't seem very intelligent to me at all 40:33 or we have to conclude and recognize 40:40 that when Ecclesiastes 12:7 describes death, 40:42 it is a great reversal of creation. 40:44 In Genesis 2:7 it means that our bodies go back to dust 40:48 and our breath of life returns to the life giver. 40:51 You don't have your intelligent spirit living up your nose. 40:59 But I thought there was some kind of the soul thing. 41:01 You know, what about the soul, this immortal soul? 41:06 It comes as a rude shock to anyone 41:08 who carefully studies the Bible teaching on death 41:09 to discover that the Bible 41:11 never speaks of an immortal soul. 41:13 Would you jot this down in your study guide, please? 41:16 In face, over 1,700 times the words 41:19 "soul" and "spirit" are used in the Bible, 41:22 and not once is the adjective "immortal" 41:26 attached to them, never. 41:29 In fact according to the Bible immortality, 41:33 immortality belongs to only one being in the universe 41:37 and you have the text there 1 Timothy 6:15, 16. 41:41 "He who is the blessed and only Potentate," 41:44 that would be Almighty God himself 41:46 "who alone" would you write that down please, 41:49 alone, a-l-o-n-e in the universe. 41:54 One being has the immortality. 41:56 You say, come on, Dwight, the angels are immortal. 41:58 No, they are not. 41:59 The angel, look at-- if the angel were immortal 42:01 we would have Lucifer for ever and ever. 42:04 The angels are not immortal, 42:05 they borrow life from the life giver. 42:09 There is only one being in this universe 42:11 ladies and gentlemen, never forget it. 42:13 There is only one being in the universe 42:16 who is immortal and that is Almighty God himself. 42:19 There's nothing inside of you that is immortal. 42:21 There is nothing inside of me. 42:22 In fact that word immortality athanasia. 42:26 That word is used only twice in the New Testament. 42:28 It's in your study guide, fill this in please. 42:30 The good news is, the good news is that 42:32 God the only one who has immortality one day-- 42:36 hold on now, one day 42:38 He is gonna give that immortality 42:40 to you and me. Watch this. 42:41 The Greek word athanasia is used in two places 42:45 in the New Testament-- here in 1 Timothy 6 42:47 and in 1 Corinthians 15:53, 54 42:50 where it describes the "immortality" 42:52 bestowed upon God's friends. 42:54 Now this is a key point. When? 42:56 At the resurrection, write it in, 42:59 at the second coming of Jesus, 43:01 when, as Paul scribbles it there 43:03 "this mortal must put on immortality." 43:06 You have no immortality in you now 43:08 that immortality will come as a gift 43:10 only when Christ returns and there is a resurrection. 43:13 Those who are dead will receive it, 43:15 those who are his friends and alive, 43:16 boom in a twinkling of an eye you got it too. 43:19 You got it. 43:21 You're going to live forever now 43:24 because you got it from the only source in the universe. 43:28 Yes, death is the abrupt often times 43:32 unexpected complete cessation of physical life 43:37 and mental existent. Gone. 43:40 Where did it go? It's gone. 43:42 Where did the box go? It's gone. It's gone. 43:47 But hallelujah, death is not the last word about life, 43:52 Jesus is. 43:54 There's one text we skipped over 43:55 I want you to see it. Genesis 3:15 skip right over. 43:59 The Creator is looking straight into the snake eyes 44:01 of that serpent. 44:03 He is talking to Lucifer, you know, who is talking to. 44:06 Genesis 3:15, "And I" the Creator says 44:08 "And I will put enmity between you and the woman," 44:10 I like the way Eugene Peterson renders this. 44:13 I'm declaring war between you and the woman. 44:15 I like the way the New Living translation renders this. 44:17 From now on you and the woman will be enemies. 44:22 I need you to be reminded this morning 44:24 that you have been declared to be 44:26 an enemy of Lucifer not his friend. 44:30 You are his enemy. 44:31 It is been placed in you by your Creator 44:33 to be at war with the dragon. 44:36 Never settle for peace with the dragon, 44:40 don't you ever sue for peace. 44:42 You are supposed to be at war. 44:45 Oh, great do I he is gonna hurt me. 44:47 Don't you worry about that, don't you worry 44:51 because there is a second half of this. 44:54 "And I will put enmity between you and the woman, 44:57 and between your seed and her Seed," 45:00 Somebody is going to come through 45:02 the line of the human race. 45:03 Who is that somebody, some Messiah. 45:05 What's he gonna do? And He shall bruise" 45:07 hey, serpent "He shall bruise your head, 45:10 and you shall bruise His heel." I have a quiz question for you. 45:13 You know, if there are always re-black 45:16 topping the highways here in Berrien Springs 45:18 whether we need it or not. 45:20 And so you've seen these big steam rollers out there, 45:22 that's just these huge steam rollers. 45:24 Here's a quiz question for you, 45:25 you'll have to ponder it for a minute. 45:27 Which would you rather have the steam roller row over? 45:30 You're heel or your head? Which would you rather have? 45:35 You say that's a no brainer, Dwight. 45:37 You got it. That's the point here. 45:39 He's coming. 45:41 You'll crush his heel, you will crush his heel 45:44 but he will steam roll your head. 45:50 He will crush your head. You'll lose. 45:59 And that's something-- jot it down, 46:00 the fork tongue-beast is hallelujah defeated. 46:08 The Calvary when Jesus cried out it is finished. 46:11 The head of our mortal enemy was crushed, 46:13 his dome was made certain 46:15 and get this when Christ arose alive from the grave 46:19 he shook the keys in the face of the panicked serpent 46:23 and He said I'm alive. 46:26 I was dead, I'm now alive forever more. 46:29 And listen to this, 46:30 I have the keys to death in the grave. 46:33 Oh, death, where is your sting. 46:36 Oh, grave, where is your victory. 46:38 But thanks to God who gives us the victory 46:40 through our Lord Jesus Christ, 46:41 what do you say? Amen and amen. 46:44 That's what I love the single line 46:46 near the end of the Bible I'll end with this. 46:48 Fill it in please 1 John 5:12. 46:50 "Whoever has the Son has life, 46:55 whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life." 47:01 Dwight, what's the point of this teaching? 47:02 Jot it down. 47:03 "If you will be a friend of Jesus, 47:07 you never will be afraid of death." That's it. 47:12 You don't have to live with a fear of death. 47:14 You don't have to be panic like that college freshman 47:16 I was telling you about. You don't have to afraid. 47:19 If you be a friend of Jesus, 47:22 you will never have to be afraid of death. 47:25 Don't be afraid. Don't be afraid. 47:30 The head's been crushed. Fear not, be of good cheer. 47:36 I've overcome the world he who has the Son has life. 47:40 She who does not have the Son of God 47:44 does not have life. 47:50 I want to end with a story about the day 47:53 I saw my friend Norm Trubee die. 48:00 I shall never forget that moment as long as I live. 48:04 Last time I saw Norm before conducting his funeral 48:06 he was hooked up to a life support system. 48:12 It was only supposed to be a fairly routine 48:13 open heart surgery. 48:14 Norm was an accountant for the university. 48:16 You know, I mean if open heart surgeries 48:18 can never be routine I understand that 48:21 but the surgeon ran into great complications. 48:25 And when Norm came out of surgery, 48:27 he never regained consciousness. 48:31 His wife Alison, their three children 48:33 kept up this vigil by his ICU bedside up the road 48:38 and that numbing moment came 48:41 and the doctors gathered them, informed them 48:46 that their husband and father 48:52 had no brain wave activity at all. 48:54 He is just being kept alive by this respirator. 49:01 My phone rang on the other end of it Alice, 49:06 Alice's brave voice asking 49:07 if I would come back down to the hospital. 49:11 The doctors had some bad news and the family needed, 49:14 needed to make a tough decision. 49:16 I hurried back down to the hospital, 49:18 gathered with the family. 49:20 I always went by, they could not bring themselves 49:25 to the inevitable decision. 49:28 And finally after much prayer they called the doctors back 49:32 and informed the physicians 49:33 that they would accept medical council 49:37 and they would disconnect the life support system. 49:43 It was one of the most tender and sacred moments 49:46 I've ever had the privilege of being a part of. 49:52 Family gathered about Norm's bed. 49:55 They are behind the curtain in the ICU. 50:00 One by one, the oldest to the youngest 50:05 they expressed their goodbyes 50:10 and then they reached out to clasp hands 50:13 and they drew me into that circle 50:17 and they began to sing. 50:20 You're not gonna believe this. 50:21 They began to sing of their trusting faith in the Savior. 50:28 And nurses gathered around. 50:31 A white clad technician walked into the room, 50:35 he walked into the corner where the respirator was, 50:39 he stoop down and he turned it off. 50:46 But hopes spray and Norm's chest 50:51 on its own kept moving. 50:56 But it was only for a handful of breathes, 50:58 autonomic response and finally 51:02 death entered that room. 51:08 How could a family around a loved one 51:13 so precious possibly be singing as he is dying? 51:20 I'll tell you why. 51:22 Because the people who knew him best 51:25 knew that Norm trusted the Savior 51:32 and knew that one day when Jesus comes, 51:38 life, immortal life will be given to him. 51:45 He who has the Son has life. 51:49 He who has not the Son of God has not life. 51:56 So what do you have? What do you have? 52:04 May be we need, 52:07 we with this numinous fear of death, 52:10 may be we need to sing the prayer together. 52:15 O, when I come to die, O when I come to die 52:23 O when I come to die, give me, give me Jesus 52:29 You want Jesus? You want Jesus? 52:34 You want Jesus, stand your feet. 52:35 Well, if you want Jesus you just stand your feet. 52:39 It's a beautiful prayer, beautiful prayer. 52:41 When we get to that last stanza, 52:43 sing your prayer when I come to die. 52:48 Sing your prayer, Give me Jesus. 52:54 In the morning when I rise 52:59 In the morning when I rise 53:05 In the morning when I rise, 53:12 give me Jesus 53:18 Give me Jesus, 53:24 give me Jesus 53:30 You can have all this world 53:37 Give me Jesus 53:47 Oh, and when I am alone 53:52 Oh, and when I am alone 53:58 Oh, and when I am alone, 54:04 give me Jesus 54:11 Give me Jesus, 54:17 give me Jesus 54:23 You can have all this world 54:29 Give me Jesus 54:40 Oh, and when I come to die 54:45 Oh, and when I come to die 54:51 Oh, and when I come to die, 54:58 give me Jesus 55:04 Give me Jesus, 55:10 give me Jesus 55:17 You can have all this world 55:23 Give me Jesus 55:29 Give me Jesus, 55:35 give me Jesus 55:41 You can have all this world 55:47 Give me Jesus 55:58 And so may the communion of the Father 56:02 and the love of the Son 56:06 and the fellowship of the Spirit abide with us all, amen. 56:21 I'd like to take a moment here at the end of the service 56:23 to tell you about one of the most 56:24 important groups of people 56:26 that make this ministry possible. 56:29 They're team of people, 56:30 they're not afraid to get down into the thick of life itself 56:34 which is why you're gonna find them, 56:35 you will find them moving forward on their knees. 56:38 They're our prayer partners. 56:40 A group of men and women and young adults 56:43 who believe that this humble television ministry 56:46 has been raised up by God for such a time as this. 56:49 And so they pray earnestly that God will use the preacher. 56:52 And God will use me and God will use 56:53 the countless other volunteers 56:56 to spread the everlasting Gospel 56:58 and the word of God in ways 56:59 we could never have imagined before. 57:01 They're the ones who are praying 57:03 that God is gonna open up the hearts of people, 57:06 open up the hearts of viewers around the world 57:08 for the message, the critical message 57:11 for this end time generation. 57:14 And what I like to do is ask you, 57:16 would you be willing to be a prayer partner with us? 57:18 A prayer partner with New Perceptions. 57:20 You don't have to call a toll free number, 57:22 you don't have to go online to register. 57:24 All I need to know is 57:25 that you'd be willing to lift this little ministry up 57:30 day after day after day. 57:32 Pray that somehow through radio 57:35 and television and the web, 57:36 God will open up new doors, new regions on earth 57:41 where the everlasting gospel can be proclaimed. 57:43 There is no question, the power of prayer 57:46 has potential to take this ministry to places 57:48 we could never have imagined before. 57:51 So that's it. 57:52 Would you please be willing to partner with me in prayer. 57:56 The times are urgent, the need is critical. 57:59 And I hope you will say yes. 58:01 Until we're together next time, 58:03 may the prayer answering God 58:05 accompany you every step of the way. |
Revised 2014-12-17