Participants: John Lomacang
Series Code: POFCM
Program Code: POFCM000013
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00:39 Live from the 3ABN Worship Center.
00:42 Welcome to the Pillars Of Our Faith event. 01:03 I give all my service to You. 01:11 I give all my service to You. 01:19 No matter the cost or what others do, 01:27 I give all my service to You. 01:37 I give all my problems to You. 01:43 I give all my problems to You. 01:52 No matter the cost or what others do, 02:00 I give all my problems to You. 02:08 I give all my family to You. 02:15 I give all my family to You. 02:24 No matter the cost or what others do, 02:31 I give all my family to You. 02:45 I give all my future to You. 02:52 I give all my future to You. 03:00 No matter the cost or what others do, 03:08 I give all my future to You. 03:18 I give all my worship to You. 03:25 I give all my worship to You. 03:32 No matter the cost or what others do, 03:40 I give all my worship to You. 03:49 I give all my worship 03:57 to You. 04:15 Thank you, C.A. 04:17 Well, it is so good to have all of you here at 3ABN. 04:21 And we just want to welcome everyone who is watching 04:23 from around the world to 3ABN. 04:26 If you're just joining us, this is the 04:28 Pillars Of Our Faith event. 04:30 And aren't we having a marvelous time in the Lord. 04:33 Right now, our next speaker will be Pastor John Lomacang. 04:38 You may know him as the pastor who hosts House Calls. 04:42 We know him as the pastor who makes house calls because 04:45 he's our local pastor here at the Thompsonville 04:48 Seventh-day Adventist Church. 04:50 His topic will be State Of The Dead. 04:52 But before that, we have Ladye Love and Reggie Smith 04:55 who are going to sing a beautiful song, 04:58 Marvel Not At What I Say. 07:23 Amen. 07:27 Can we say amen again? 07:28 Amen. 07:29 I always like it when a song tells the truth. 07:33 And what I like about the songs written by the Pillars projects 07:36 are, they all tell the truth. 07:39 And I'm going to ask for the Lord to give me the wisdom and 07:43 strength to just tell the truth. 07:48 Let's bow our heads. 07:50 Father in heaven, this is Your opportunity. 07:52 I'm the person that you've given this responsibility 07:57 and I pray now through your Holy Spirit 07:59 that I just tell the truth 08:02 to the glory and honor of your name. 08:04 In Jesus' name I pray, amen. 08:09 My topic is The Nature Of Man. 08:11 You know it's amazing, it's amazing what God 08:14 can do with dust. 08:19 When we look around our world today, everything that exists 08:22 that has life in it had a beginning somewhere. 08:27 But God's crowning act of creation was humankind, mankind. 08:32 And the record is clear what God can do with dust. 08:36 The Bible says in Geneses 2 and verse 7: 08:49 Now you'll notice I didn't use the King James Version. 08:53 I used the New King James Version. 08:56 Because the word used in the King James Version, soul, 09:00 has taken on a connotation that the Bible never intended. 09:06 God didn't insert an additional man into man. 09:11 God inserted into man the breath of life that belongs to God. 09:15 What do you say? Amen. 09:17 So man does not have a... 09:19 Man is not two parts; man and man. 09:23 He's dust and the breath of life. 09:25 When the dust of the ground that only God can design 09:29 is mixed with the breath of life that only belongs to God, 09:34 then man becomes a living being. 09:37 Say that with me, "living being. " 09:41 So the word soul has taken on the wrong connotation 09:45 based on something called Neo-Platonism. 09:50 The teaching of Plato that the soul and the body and the spirit 09:54 are separate living entities. 09:56 And that the soul survives the death of the body. 10:00 It even affected the early Jewish church 10:02 by the time that Jesus came. 10:03 That's why Jesus waited four days before He 10:07 went to raise Lazarus. 10:09 Because there was a belief existing that the soul attempted 10:12 for three days to get back into the body. 10:14 And if it were successful then the body would 10:19 come back to life. 10:20 Jesus waited four days, not because Jesus is ever late. 10:24 He's always on time. 10:25 What do you say? Amen. 10:26 But Jesus waited four days to buttress, that is, 10:30 to debunk that is, the ideology that the soul is the soul 10:36 container of life. 10:38 And then He said on that particular day, 10:40 "I am the resurrection and the life. " 10:44 So Jesus is the only one. 10:45 In Him was life, and that life is the light of men. 10:49 That's why He waited four days. 10:50 And so when Lazarus came back to life, you may remember 10:53 the story, from that on they decided that Jesus must die. 10:58 Because a belief that was even embraced by the Jews of His day 11:04 was completely obliterated by the resurrection of Lazarus. 11:08 So from the outset, we see that man did not possess a soul. 11:14 Man is a soul. 11:16 Someone say amen. Amen. 11:18 We are living souls. 11:20 The breath belongs to God, the body belongs to us. 11:23 And then God made it abundantly clear 11:25 before the fall what the results would be if man would make the 11:30 decision to go opposite to God's direction. 11:34 And by the way, when you read that, brethren, 11:36 there is no gray area in this topic. 11:38 It's only gray because of what people have taught that's 11:41 outside of scripture. 11:43 It is as black and white as black and white. 11:50 No gray areas. 11:51 As a matter of fact, Genesis 2 and verse 16 starts this way. 12:00 Notice how the devil makes it appear as though 12:02 you can't do anything. 12:03 God said take whatever you want, but... 12:17 I looked that word up in the Hebrew and the Bible said... 12:20 This is what God actually said in the Hebrew, 12:22 "You will definitely die. " 12:24 "I am sure you're going to die. " 12:26 God made it abundantly clear that the payment for 12:30 transgression is sin. 12:31 The wages of sin is what? Death. 12:35 But then Eve... 12:36 I don't want to get on the woman thing right now because my wife 12:39 is a very obedient wife. 12:41 But I'd say, in the very beginning... 12:42 I say obedient, not in the sense that I'm her master, 12:45 but we have a love relationship and we like 12:47 spending time together. 12:48 Amen. 12:49 And I believe that if more women and more husbands and wives 12:51 spend time together, there'll be a whole lot less temptation. 12:54 Can you say amen? Amen. 12:55 But Eve decided to take a stroll that God did not give her 12:59 a GPS to follow. 13:02 She went in an ungodly direction to the very tree that God 13:05 forbade her to partake of and she stood there. 13:08 And Satan, knowing that Eve had already been compromised, 13:12 reeled her in with a lie. 13:14 Notice Genesis 3 and verse 4. 13:24 In other words, I looked that up also in the Hebrew 13:26 and he said to her, "I am sure you won't die. " 13:29 And that's why people take drugs nowadays because 13:32 somebody said, "I am sure you won't die. " 13:35 That's why people have illicit relationships because they 13:38 believe that they are exempt from any kind of sexually 13:41 transmitted disease and they believe that they will not die 13:44 no matter what. 13:46 I also believe that's why people bungee jump. 13:51 I've said, I am not going to give the devil 13:53 a chance to kill me. 13:54 Anybody else? Come on. 13:57 Folk nowadays strap themselves to a gigantic rubber band 14:01 and in the back of their mind the devil says, 14:03 "You will not surely die. " 14:06 I listened to Paul Harvey one day on the news. 14:08 He talked about a 23 year old man that had 14:10 gone bungee jumping. 14:11 And you know Paul Harvey's classic ending to the stories. 14:14 And he said, "And he was 23." 14:19 The cord was longer than the distance between 14:24 from where he jumped to where the ground was. 14:26 And I always think about that. 14:28 Some people strap themselves to these cords and jump. 14:30 Other people are ridiculously very adventurous and so they 14:33 sit in a seat and they get pulled back like a gigantic 14:36 sling shot and get shot out into space. 14:38 Now, do you know how far you would go if 14:40 you're not seat belted in? 14:44 So I've determined that when the devil says, 14:46 "You will not surely die," I listen to God instead. 14:49 Can you say amen? Amen. 14:50 Thus the lie was born. 14:52 And I'm amazed how Satan is more supported today than God is. 14:57 Even, surprisingly enough, among Christians. 15:00 For example, some Christians argue and try to prove 15:04 that Satan was right. 15:06 You think about that. 15:07 You go to funerals, some of the greatest lies 15:09 are told at funerals. 15:12 "Up in heaven looking down. " 15:14 No she's not, she's right there. 15:19 "Oh she's so happy that you came here today, 15:21 oh dearly departed soul. " 15:23 People say that Frank Sinatra is in heaven dancing 15:25 on the streets of gold. 15:26 No, he's not. 15:27 And Liberace is not up in heaven playing on the piano. 15:30 How did the piano get there? 15:32 And let me make this one clear too. 15:34 Dogs don't die and go to heaven either. 15:40 I need to make something else clear. 15:44 And you need to look this up theologically. 15:46 Animals are not going to be in heaven. 15:49 Animals are going to be on the new earth. 15:51 During the 1000 years, there are no pets running back and forth 15:55 on the streets of gold. 15:57 They will be in the new earth. 15:59 We always talk about them being in heaven. 16:01 They're not going to be in heaven. 16:02 Look and read your Bible. 16:03 I've been hearing that preached even in our church. 16:05 "Oh, your pet may be in heaven. " 16:07 No he won't, he'll be in the new earth but not in heaven. 16:09 I've got a lot of dogs that died and I'm looking forward to 16:11 them being in the new earth. 16:12 But I know they're not going to be in heaven. 16:13 During the 1000 years we're going to be reviewing 16:16 the records of the decisions that Jesus has made. 16:18 We're not going to be walking a puppy or riding a horse. 16:22 Amen, somebody. 16:23 Then there are songs that are written that tell lies. 16:27 "When I die, hallelujah by and by, I'll fly away. " 16:31 No you're not. 16:33 Not unless they're transporting you're body from 16:35 New York to Chicago. 16:37 And then again, you won't even know it. 16:41 And movie producers do all they can to scheme and try to make 16:44 Satan seem like he is valid. 16:45 For example, listen to some of the movies. 16:47 And by the way, I don't watch these kinds of movies. 16:49 Amen. 16:50 If it's a demonic movie, stay off of my television. 16:53 I don't even watch it even if it is for free. 16:56 Here's some of the movies. 16:57 The Ghost and Mrs. Muir. Remember that one? 16:59 You've got to have gray hair to remember that one. 17:01 Death Becomes Her. 17:03 Then the Whoopi Goldberg and Patrick Swayze movie, Ghost. 17:07 Love after death. That's not true. 17:09 Angels In The Outfield. 17:10 Another one, Heaven Can Wait. All Dogs Go To Heaven. 17:14 Dead Like Me, was another one. 17:16 Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid. 17:19 Living men shouldn't wear plaid. 17:20 Anyway, I just... 17:23 I'm sorry. 17:26 That was not in the sermon notes. 17:30 Here's another one, Soul Taker. 17:34 And then this modern repetitive whatever they call it, 17:37 Six Feet Under. 17:38 And then there are those that write books. 17:40 You know, sometimes you could be intellectual 17:42 but if your mind is not guided by God's Holy Spirit, 17:45 you are two french fries short of a Happy Meal. 17:54 Because you have a Ph. D., an M.D., or whatever else is 17:56 after your name, if God is not in it, it doesn't mean anything. 17:59 It means you are intellectually on your way down. 18:03 I'm trying to be kind about it. 18:05 But here are some of the books that are written. 18:06 Evidence Of The Afterlife, written an M.D. 18:10 That means mentally disturbed. 18:14 In this sense. 18:15 I don't want to make that mean that all the time. 18:18 But in this sense, if you have evidence of the afterlife, 18:21 you've got to be mentally disturbed. 18:25 Another one, Nothing Better Than Death. 18:27 About 20 or 30 experiences about near death experiences. 18:30 Another book and you've hear about this, 18:32 Embraced By The Light. 18:33 It was sold at all of these Wal-Mart's and Sam's Club 18:35 and all these other big stores. 18:37 And people bought it by the millions. 18:38 Somebody said that when you die, they got embraced by the light. 18:41 Somebody should have turned the flashlight off. 18:44 Because they did not go to the light. 18:46 Remember the Bible says, "God dwells in a light which 18:49 no man can approach unto, which no man has seen nor can see. " 18:55 Even when Moses asked to see God, he could not. 18:58 And I'll tell you later on why. 19:01 Here's another one, I saw this book in one of the 19:03 best seller catalogs, Twenty Minutes In Hell. 19:07 Why only 20 minutes? 19:10 Another one, One Hour In Heaven. 19:12 They were in heaven three times longer than the person who 19:15 wrote the other book was in hell. 19:17 Here's another one. 19:18 There's an organization actually called, 19:20 After Death Communications Research Foundation. 19:23 An organization that exists only to support Satan's lie. 19:29 And another one, teachings; purgatory, limbo, 19:32 the immortality of the soul. 19:34 And then those talk shows where they get that nice shaven guy, 19:37 he looks like a young huppy buppy. 19:38 You know, he's intellectual and he sounds so nice 19:41 and so convincing. 19:42 And he tells people that their loved ones are sending messages. 19:45 And the program is called, Medium. 19:46 You know what medium means; he's halfway to insanity. 19:51 Because you cannot base your feelings and say that your 19:58 feelings and your premonitions and your apparitions 20:02 are supported by God's word. 20:04 I would rather trust a "thus saith the Lord" any day 20:07 over somebody else's experience. 20:10 The Lord made it very, very clear. 20:11 When Eve sinned, she opened the door to deception 20:14 but Adam opened the door to death. 20:15 Notice Romans 5 and verse 12, the Bible says: 20:28 What that means is everybody received the nature 20:31 of their father, Adam. 20:34 Every one of us. 20:35 By the way, the mortality rate is 100%. 20:38 In 120 years, God forbid, everyone of us in here if Jesus 20:41 doesn't come, will be dead. 20:43 That's a fact. 20:45 Unless somebody found some vitamins I haven't taken yet. 20:51 And when they fell into sin, something happened that 20:53 man never expected and God never intended. 20:56 Genesis 5 and verse 5, the record is clear. 21:08 So you cannot prove that man has an immortal soul. 21:12 There is no such thing as an immortal soul. 21:14 Listen to Ezekiel 18 verse 4. 21:27 There are some people that like that text in Matthew 28 21:29 that says, "Fear him not that's able to destroy the body 21:33 but not able to destroy the soul. 21:35 But fear Him who is able to destroy both the 21:37 body and soul in hell. " 21:38 They use that to support the idea that souls don't die, 21:41 but if you finish it, it says, "Who can destroy both 21:44 body and soul in hell. " 21:46 It's evidence that the soul is not immortal, amen. 21:50 When Adam sinned, God made it clear what Adam's fate would be. 21:53 Genesis 3 and verse 19, this is Biblical. 22:02 We return to where we came from. 22:12 In other words, "Adam, you're going back to 22:14 where you came from. " 22:15 The ground is your home until the resurrection. 22:20 As a matter of fact, Hebrews chapter 11, the faith chapter. 22:24 When you read that... 22:25 I don't have it on my notes but when you 22:27 read that, think about this. 22:28 Read about all those who were persecuted, all the faithful. 22:31 And the Bible says they all died in faith not having 22:34 received the promise but having seen it afar off. 22:38 And then the Bible ends in that chapter, it says, 22:41 "But God, having prepared something better 22:43 that they without us will not be made perfect. " 22:46 They didn't die hoping to go to heaven. 22:48 The Bible says in verse 35, they wanted to obtain 22:52 a better resurrection. 22:54 Not a better death. 22:55 If you get buried in a $35,000 coffin, you're still 23:00 going into the ground. 23:02 It could be nickel plated, it could be see through, 23:05 it could have air conditioning, it could have an escape hatch, 23:08 you ain't going anywhere. 23:12 I like that Danny had an uncle that got buried, and he got 23:14 buried in his pajamas. 23:15 And they said, "Why would you do that?" 23:17 "So that when people come, they know I'm resting 23:18 until Jesus comes. " 23:21 I've seen people go to funerals and they say, 23:23 "Well, how did he look?" 23:24 He looked real good but he was still dead. 23:27 It doesn't matter how you look, you're still dead. 23:29 Oh he looked really good, but he was dead. 23:33 He didn't know how he looked. 23:35 Then you go to funerals, "Man, I don't even know who that was. " 23:38 Well in the resurrection, the Bible says we will know 23:41 as we are known. 23:42 We are going to look a whole lot better in the resurrection. 23:45 What do you say? Amen. 23:46 But God made it clear. 23:47 Let's discover this further because the Bible makes it 23:50 abundantly clear what happens after you die. 23:52 Ecclesiastes 3 and verse 20, the Bible says: 24:07 Look at the next one, Job 34 and verse 15. 24:18 Let's keep on seeing the theme from verse to verse. 24:20 David the Psalmist, Psalm 104 verse 29. 24:33 You may notice that there's a word that's repeated 24:35 in all those verses. 24:36 And the word is what? Return. 24:38 That means we go to where we began. 24:42 We did not begin in heaven, God did. 24:46 We began in the dust. 24:49 And that's why ministers say, "From dust thou art, 24:52 unto dust thou shalt... " 24:53 It's in the Bible there. 24:55 Earth to earth... Come on. 24:56 ...ashes to ashes... What? 24:57 ...dust to dust. 24:58 I've left many funeral sites in the cemetery, 25:02 but nobody ever followed me home. 25:06 A young lady once said she smelled the cologne of 25:08 her father that had died. 25:09 Well somebody needs to get rid of his cologne because 25:11 that's not him. 25:12 And what you've got to keep in mind is that devil is 25:14 busy about fooling people. 25:16 And if your mind is not safeguarded by what 25:18 God says in His word, the devil will make a fool out of you. 25:22 He'll make you see and hear and smell all kinds of things. 25:25 There was a movie that came out not too long ago, 25:27 and I didn't watch that either, called 23. 25:30 Somebody died and their favorite number was 23 25:32 and it started showing up everywhere. 25:36 And they said that person was trying to send a message. 25:39 No they were not. 25:41 The devil was trying to send a message. 25:43 That's why the Bible says we've got to keep ourselves 25:46 from being fooled. 25:47 The Lord made it very clear in the Word. 25:51 And we do not want to be fooled. 25:54 We've got to be clear because if you think that the 25:56 devil is done, the best is yet to come. 25:59 Sorry, sorry. The worst is yet to come. 26:03 We didn't come from heaven, we came from the dust. 26:08 The Bible made it very, very clear. 26:10 Here's another one, Ecclesiastes 12 and verse 7. 26:13 This is one that we often get confused by. 26:15 A lot of people try to use this as support for their 26:17 belief in the afterlife. 26:18 Ecclesiastes 12 and verse 7. 26:29 People read that and say, "There it is. 26:31 The spirit goes back to God. " 26:32 But they've got to follow that carefully because 26:34 if you follow what goes back to God, you have to begin 26:37 what came from God. 26:38 The spirit that came from God is the life giving 26:41 power that only God possesses. 26:43 When you pop a balloon, where does the air go? 26:47 In the air. 26:49 It goes into the very atmosphere that God created. 26:52 When you unplug a light, where does the electricity go? 26:58 It goes back to electricity heaven? No. 27:02 It doesn't, it doesn't. 27:04 It's waiting. 27:06 In the very same way, that life giving force 27:08 that belongs only to God... 27:10 But get this now. 27:11 I want to read that verse again and say something that 27:13 you may have missed. 27:14 "Then the dust will return to the earth as it was and 27:17 the spirit will return to God who gave it. " 27:19 Now notice, this text means that whether you are righteous or 27:22 wicked, your spirit goes to heaven. 27:25 Because it's the breath of life. 27:27 If this text meant you died and went to heaven, 27:29 that would mean even wicked people go to heaven. 27:32 But this does not mean that. 27:33 Because if the spirit that goes to heaven is a living source 27:38 that survives the body that died, it means everybody 27:41 dies and goes to heaven. 27:42 So the spirit that returns to God is abundantly clear 27:45 the breath of life. 27:46 Because people that are not righteous do not die and 27:49 go to heaven, even after Jesus comes. 27:53 Job 27 verse 3 made it very clear. 27:55 Are you following? 27:56 If you want to see the text you can peak at the screen. 27:57 Job 27 and verse 3, the Bible says: 28:08 The spirit is the life force that God put into Adam's body 28:12 through Adam's nostrils. 28:14 Those were the portals in. 28:16 And by the way, if you try to bring somebody back to life by 28:19 breathing into their nostrils, if they are dead 28:22 you can't do that. 28:23 We don't possess the life giving force. 28:25 In Him is life. 28:26 The life belongs only to Jesus, only to God. 28:29 So the spirit that Adam had was simply the breath of life that 28:33 God gave him. 28:35 And by the way, when you read the account of the flood 28:37 the Bible makes it very clear that the word breath and spirit 28:39 sometimes is interchangeable. 28:41 Notice in Genesis chapter 7 and verses 21 and 22. 28:46 Talking about the flood. 29:11 Once again, we did not come from heaven. 29:13 And death is not an alternate route to heaven. 29:18 Death is an enemy. 29:20 Death is not something we like. 29:22 That's why people cry at funerals. 29:24 People don't go to funerals and rejoice. 29:26 Well I've been to a funeral once, I need to say this. 29:30 I was at a funeral once. 29:32 I try to be kind, I try to say nice things about the 29:36 person that had died. 29:38 They didn't have a pastor so I got invited to, you know, 29:40 the local funeral parlor did that and invited me to 29:44 go ahead and perform the funeral. 29:46 I said all these nice things about the guy that was dead. 29:48 Didn't know that he was hated. 29:52 And people started popping up giving testimonies 29:54 to the contrary. 29:57 And they were saying, "I'm so glad that, you know, is dead. " 30:00 "I'm so happy that so and so is dead. " 30:03 And I though, whoa. 30:04 You know, I thought I was coming to do a Christian funeral 30:07 but I evidentially found out that this guy 30:09 had lived a horrible life and everybody there was 30:12 testifying to the fact. 30:13 That was the first funeral that they didn't put 30:15 that man in heaven. 30:21 But somebody asked the question, "What about 30:22 the thief on the cross?" 30:24 What about him? 30:25 What does the Bible say about him? 30:26 Let's look at that together, Luke 23 verse 43. 30:28 Look at what Jesus said to him. He's talking to the thief. 30:35 Get this now, Jesus made the promise that day. 30:39 Because three days later when Jesus rose, He told Mary 30:43 that He had not yet gone to heaven. 30:45 He said "Do not... " 30:47 And I'll read that verse in just a moment. 30:48 But notice, we often forget what the thief asked Jesus. 30:52 The key is remembering what the thief asked. 30:55 Look at verse 42 of Luke 23. 31:08 Remember me when you come, not when you go to heaven. 31:11 Because three days later Jesus said to Mary in 31:14 John chapter 20 verse 17: 31:28 You want to get this, this is a powerful thought, 31:29 but even Jesus had to wait until His resurrection 31:32 before going to heaven. 31:36 So if Jesus had to wait until His resurrection to go 31:39 to heaven, how do we get a go pass go card? 31:44 Dying, go directly to heaven. Don't wait for the resurrection. 31:47 Even by that very act... 31:49 Let me talk to this side. 31:50 I keep looking over there, I know you're over here. 31:52 Even by that very act is evidence that Jesus, 31:56 if Jesus had to wait until the resurrection, 31:58 what makes us better than Jesus? 32:01 Jesus made it clear, the resurrection is the 32:04 way to the Father. 32:05 Three days later. 32:06 So the thief said, "When you get back, remember me. " 32:09 "When you come into your kingdom, remember me. " 32:11 But thieves, you know, people that are stealing our minds 32:14 from pulpits around America, wants us somehow to believe... 32:17 And you know they go to those texts. 32:18 They pull one text out of the entire Bible and build an entire 32:21 world trade center around it. 32:24 It's like one piece of metal that ends up 32:26 to be 120 stories high. 32:29 But they ignore all the other verses in the Bible that 32:31 makes it abundantly clear what happens when you die. 32:33 The Bible made it clear. 32:35 Here's Job, one of the oldest books in the Bible, 32:37 that asks the question and answers it. 32:40 Job chapter 14 beginning with verse 10. 32:43 Here it is. 32:44 "But man dies and is laid away. 32:46 Indeed he breathes his last and," look at the question, 32:49 "where is he?" 32:51 Follow carefully. 32:52 "As water disappears from the sea, and a river becomes 32:56 parched and dries up," get this brethren, 32:59 "so man lies down and does not rise. 33:06 Till the heavens are no more, they will not awake 33:12 nor be roused from their sleep. " 33:14 And Job asked the question, Job made a request of God. 33:23 "Until the time of trouble is gone," Job says, 33:26 "keep me in the ground. " 33:27 And notice what else he says. 33:46 And brother what he meant, and you'll see this 33:48 in just a moment, there's got to be a change 33:50 before we go to heaven. 33:51 You can't go the way you are. 33:53 You can be the nicest Christian, you can't go to heaven 33:56 until your change comes. 33:58 And so when death comes, life ceases. 34:00 There is absolutely no consciousness after death. 34:03 You know, when my father's... He's dead now. 34:06 I'll get you confused. 34:08 If you read my book, I have two fathers and two mothers. 34:11 The man that raised me, when his second wife died, 34:13 because his first wife died; when his second wife died 34:16 she had loaned me some money. 34:19 He didn't want to give me the money. 34:22 So his wife loaned it to me. 34:23 And she died and he tried to collect. 34:27 And I said, "The dead know not anything. " 34:32 I said, "She loaned me the money and Sears is not 34:37 calling her for any money and JC Penney is not calling her 34:42 for any money because they know the debt has been cancelled. 34:44 Papa, the debt has been cancelled. " 34:47 And he kind of looked at me and... 34:51 Here's what the Bible says, Ecclesiastes 9 verse 5 and 6. 35:05 There's something every one of us knows. 35:07 What is it? That we will die. 35:16 Let me tell you what that means. 35:17 It means their mind no longer is working. 35:19 It doesn't mean you forgot them. 35:20 It means they can't process anymore. 35:22 That brain is just as dead as the body is. 35:37 Not under this sun. 35:38 Maybe the sun after the Lord remakes the earth. 35:41 But not under this sun. 35:42 Nobody is coming to your house, nobody is going to be sitting 35:44 down at the dinner table. 35:45 Stop putting that extra plate out there and throwing salt 35:48 over your shoulder and talking to people that you can't see. 35:51 Amen, somebody. 35:52 Amen. 35:53 All kinds of nonsense. 35:54 I went to somebody's house once, they had an extra plate. 35:56 I said, "Well, who's that for?" 35:57 "My Father. He died a while ago. " 35:59 What? Has he eaten since he died? 36:03 I don't want to be insensitive but that's kind of ridiculous 36:05 What do you think? 36:06 And these traditions, and then some people try to comfort 36:10 other folk by saying, "You know, don't say that because 36:12 mama can hear you. " 36:14 Well now, let me give you a hint. 36:15 If mama shows up and talks to you, you better say, 36:17 "Satan, get out of my house. " 36:21 And when you read your Bible in Deuteronomy, 36:23 the Bible calls those, "familiar spirits. " 36:26 From which we get the word family. 36:28 And then some people are drawn in because they say, 36:30 "Nobody knows that but my mother. " 36:32 Well the devil has got angels that are listening on your 36:33 conversation right now. 36:35 So they come back and tell you something that only mama 36:37 told you and the angel repeats what she said many years ago. 36:39 And you think, "Well that's got to be mama. " 36:41 But remember Saul. 36:42 When Saul disobeyed God and God departed from him, 36:45 he went to a witch to talk to Samuel. 36:48 And Samuel was in his grave dead. 36:50 But if Samuel was righteous and died and went to heaven, 36:52 he would have come down but he came up. 36:56 And then the other things is, witches don't have power 37:00 over saints that have died in Jesus. 37:04 That was a satanic apparition and that was the 37:06 sealing of Saul's fate. 37:10 Going down to a witch. 37:11 And some people that go to soothsayers and want to 37:13 get their palms read. 37:14 If you want your palm read, get some red ink. 37:18 Because they're just going to lie to you. 37:21 That's it, they're going to lie to you. 37:22 They're not going to tell you the truth. 37:24 Here's what the Bible says in Ecclesiastes 9 verse 10. 37:26 Let me keep going on. 37:27 The dead don't know anything. All communication ceases. 37:29 Get this, Ecclesiastes 9 verse 10, here it is. 37:46 There's so many people dead in New York that you have to 37:48 go get buried in New Jersey. 37:55 Somebody just got that. 37:57 There's no space to bury folk in New York. 38:00 And by the way, I suspect that there may be some people that 38:03 died right here where this church is built. 38:07 When the resurrection comes, if they're righteous the Lord's 38:09 going to make a hole in the floor and 38:10 bring them up to heaven. 38:12 But they are not doing anything right now. 38:15 They are not working, they are not computing, 38:18 they are not communicating. 38:19 They are not doing anything. 38:21 And by the way, Christians are not in heaven 38:23 singing songs to God. 38:26 Let's read the Bible again, Psalm 115 verse 17. 38:36 Get that, my brethren. 38:37 Not up into praise, but down into silence. 38:40 All singing ceases. 38:42 That's what Job meant when he says, "I will wait 38:46 until my change comes. " 38:48 And then some people think that the New Testament doesn't 38:50 teach that we are sleeping. 38:52 By the way, let me make this very clear. 38:54 Thirty-six times in the Old Testament 38:55 you find the word slept. 38:57 Slept, slept, slept, slept. 38:59 And some people say, "Well, do you believe in soul sleep?" 39:01 No, I believe that you're dead. 39:07 Don't fall into that trap. 39:08 "Died and slept with his fathers. " 39:10 "Died and slept with his fathers. " 39:12 "Died and buried with his fathers. " 39:13 Sleep is the condition of those who are resting in Jesus. 39:17 Do you know why? 39:18 Because one day the Lord is going to wake you up. 39:22 The second death has no resurrection on the heels of it. 39:28 It's gone, kaputs forever. 39:31 But not the first death. 39:32 Let's look at the example. 39:33 John 11 verses 11-14. 39:48 They thought that, well that's what you need when you're sick. 39:56 That's the problem. 39:57 What you think rather than what Jesus said. 40:09 That's Jesus' word. 40:11 Now I'm going to not be sacrilegious, 40:13 but is Jesus a liar? 40:15 He can't lie. He can't die. 40:19 He can't fail. He can't change. 40:24 And by the way, what Jesus says it's not open for alternation by 40:29 any doctor on earth. 40:31 Whether theological or any other such. 40:34 Whether he's in university or not, if it doesn't agree 40:37 with Jesus, forget it. 40:38 David the psalmist said, Psalm 13 verse 3: 40:51 And by the way, when you continue to read this subject 40:54 you see very clearly that Jesus even said to His disciples 40:57 before He left to go to heaven, He says, "I'm going someplace 41:00 that you can't even go. 41:01 You can't even follow Me. " 41:03 Look at John 7 verses 33 and 34. 41:23 Is that clear? 41:25 "You can't go where I'm going. I'm going to My Father. 41:27 You can't even go. " 41:29 Jesus didn't say, "I'll see you when you get there. " 41:35 People nowadays say, "Oh, you know, they're with the Lord. " 41:39 You hear all these TV preachers. 41:41 And I'm glad our TV preachers tell the truth. 41:44 What do you say? Amen. 41:45 "Oh, they're with the Lord now. " 41:46 "Dearly brother, he served God for 48 years. 41:49 He's with the Lord now. " 41:50 Come on, just read the Bible. 41:52 Stop believing these lies. 41:54 And by the way, if you like a lie, the Lord says, 41:56 "Okay, if you want a lie, here's a lie. " 41:59 "Those who receive not a love of the truth that they might be 42:02 saved, God will send them strong delusion that 42:04 they will believe the lie. " 42:06 What lie? 42:07 This very lie that Satan told them, 42:08 "You will not surely die. " 42:10 And people believe that nowadays. 42:11 But Jesus said, "Where I'm going you can't come. " 42:13 So the question is, how are we going to get there? 42:15 You see, the grave is our place of rest until Jesus returns. 42:19 We will not go to heaven until Jesus returns. 42:21 Here is the phrase from the lips of Jesus. 42:25 John 14 verses 2 and 3. Are you ready, here we go. 42:28 I'm almost done. This is amazing. 42:30 My church members are getting happy, I'm preaching sermons 42:32 within an hour. 42:33 This is amazing. 42:35 I told you guys if you give me a clock I could be done. 42:39 Anyhow, here we go. 42:40 John 14 verses 2 and 3, the words of Jesus. 43:08 We're not going to get there until He comes 43:09 back to receive us. 43:10 What do you say? 43:11 That's why you've got to remember, it's not 43:13 about the rapture. 43:14 It's not about dying and going to heaven. 43:16 It's about the second coming of Jesus. 43:18 It's about the resurrection. 43:19 It's about waiting for God to come back and get us. 43:22 How are you going to go if He's not finished 43:24 building your house? 43:27 "I'm still working on it, what are you doing up here?" 43:32 And by the way, I've got to say this. 43:33 There's no such conversation like that even 43:37 when Lazarus died. 43:38 When he came back to life he didn't say, 43:40 "Why did you bring me back from heaven?" 43:44 He had no account. Do you know why? 43:45 Because the dead know not anything. 43:48 When you go to bed at night, are you watching the news? 43:52 Are you reading a newspaper? 43:54 How is it that in this life you are very mortal until you die. 43:57 Then all of a sudden you become immortal. 43:59 Then people say, "Mama's looking down from heaven. " 44:00 Now what does she have, telescopes? 44:03 What kind of divine telescope do you have? 44:04 I don't want to be insensitive, but I want to hit the 44:06 devil on his head. 44:09 He's a liar and we need to know he's a liar. 44:11 God is not a liar, amen. 44:13 People can't even see around the corner in this life, but 44:16 they die and all of a sudden they can see 37 million miles 44:19 down to earth. 44:30 Can't even see from the back to the front of the stage. 44:32 Who is that? 44:34 That's what we do in this life. 44:35 While we're alive we can't see that far, but then we die 44:37 and all of a sudden they can see a long way. 44:39 But that doesn't happen because we're not in heaven. 44:42 One day we will be what Jesus wants us to be. 44:45 We don't get like He is by disobedience 44:48 and we don't become like Him at death. 44:50 The Bible makes it very clear. 44:52 Let me continue. 44:53 Notice 1 Corinthians 15 verse 22. 44:55 You've got to get this. 44:56 See, Jesus if the first and only to gain the victory over death. 45:01 At His coming, so will we. Here's the Bible. 45:03 And I'm reading this from the New American Standard Bible. 45:07 1 Corinthians 15 verses 22-23. 45:26 That's the scripture. 45:27 So it seems as if the resurrection has 45:29 almost been ignored. 45:30 That's why I love that song that Reggie and Ladye Love sang. 45:33 It comes from this scripture here in John 5 verses 28-29. 45:38 This is the hope we have. 45:40 And by the way, you've got to make your mind up 45:42 to be in the first resurrection. 45:43 Which resurrection did I say? 45:45 The first. 45:46 Here's the Bible, John 5 verses 28-29. 46:00 The same voice that Lazarus heard. 46:13 The voice that will break the silence of the grave 46:15 is the trumpet call of God. 46:17 Amen for that. 46:18 So when Paul repeated these words in 46:21 1 Thessalonians chapter 4 verses 16-18, 46:24 he was making it very clear. 46:25 Lazarus, He said your name. 46:27 But next time He's just going to say, "Come forth, saints. " 46:30 He's going to send His angels to gather His saints. 46:32 Now why send the angels to gather people that 46:35 are already there? 46:38 A young man got baptized not too long ago. 46:40 I could just say his name because I praise God for him. 46:42 If he beats me up, that's alright. 46:43 I could survive it. 46:45 But this young man argued with us for years as he watched 46:48 House Calls program. 46:49 And he was running audio for us at 3ABN. 46:51 And, you know, one day he called me into his office and he said, 46:53 "You know, Pastor John, I'm done fighting. 46:55 I'm done arguing with you. 46:57 I can't argue with what you are saying anymore. 47:02 What do I need to do to join your church?" 47:03 Somebody say amen. Amen. 47:05 And here's what convinced him. 47:06 He said, "You know, when I thought about the topic of 47:08 death, it didn't make sense to go and come back and go again. " 47:11 And then he said, "Your church makes God look like 47:16 He knows what He's doing. " 47:17 Amen. 47:29 Do you know why? 47:30 Because we don't preach for money. 47:31 You know that. 47:33 I mean, you know that. 47:34 Adventist pastors are probably the poorest pastors on earth. 47:37 But we've got the greatest inheritance. 47:38 What do you say? Amen. 47:40 Because you can't buy your way to heaven. 47:41 You can have all those hotels but you can't buy 47:43 your way to heaven. 47:44 You've got to tell the truth. That's the way there. 47:46 You've got to uplift Jesus. That's the way there. 47:49 You've got to tell the truth. And here's the text. 47:51 When the Lord comes down, 1 Thessalonians 4 verse 16-18. 47:54 Are you ready? 48:16 Here's the comfort, brethren. 48:17 The comfort is that death is not the last chapter. 48:21 One more chapter to be written. 48:23 Those who died in Christ will not rise until Jesus descends. 48:26 Those who were dead and those who never died 48:29 meet Jesus at the same time. 48:32 Those who were dead and those who never died 48:35 will be caught up together. 48:37 That's what Paul says. 48:38 But what about, "To be absent from the body is to be 48:41 present with the Lord. " 48:42 I'm going to beat that one up like an angry dog. 48:48 Two ways that we can understand that. 48:50 Paul sometimes wrote to the church while he was 48:53 away from the church. 48:54 Here's the first verse, 1 Corinthians 5 and verse 3. 48:57 Here's what Paul says. 49:14 Paul says, "I'm not there. " 49:15 In other words, if it was today, he says, 49:17 "I'm sending you an email. 49:18 I'd like to be there, but here's my email. " 49:20 "I'm absent in body but I'm present in spirit. " 49:23 Paul didn't send a spirit to the Ephesians church 49:26 or the Corinthians church. 49:27 He said, "I'm not there. " 49:28 But here's the one that people like to build around. 49:30 2 Corinthians 5 verse 6-8. Are you ready? 49:52 First point, when you read that entire story, 49:55 the word death never appears once. 49:58 It's not even there. 50:00 You can't even assume it's there. 50:01 Here's what Paul is saying. 50:03 If we are content in this mortal body, we will never 50:08 be able to see the Lord because we cannot see God 50:11 in this mortal body. 50:13 While we are at home, that's the phrase, in this life 50:17 with all its troubles, we'll never look forward to the 50:20 day when we will be present with the Lord. 50:23 In order to be present with the Lord, this mortal body 50:26 has to be replaced. 50:28 Look at what else he says continuing in the very verse 50:31 right before that. 50:32 2 Corinthians 5 and verse 4. 50:35 Paul talked about the inevitability of getting rid 50:37 of this mortal body. 50:38 Not dying and going to heaven right away. 50:40 Here it is. 50:56 That's what he's meaning. 50:57 This mortal body will one day be swallowed up in life. 51:01 How is it going to be swallowed up? 51:02 Let me read it from the New Living Translation 51:04 second edition. 51:05 Same text, look at what it says. 51:24 Is that clear? 51:26 One day, these dead bodies are going to be swallowed up, 51:29 these mortal bodies are going to be swallowed up. 51:32 And I not telling the truth? By life. 51:34 And here's what else he says in Philippians 3 verse 20-21. 51:37 Here's what he means by that. 51:40 Are you ready? 51:57 That confirmation, that transformation 52:00 is not taking place at death. 52:01 When is it going to take place? 52:03 Our last scripture for the evening. 52:05 I didn't think I'd get through 35 slides. 52:08 But praise the Lord we've got a good man on the truck. 52:12 I praise God for good guys behind the camera. 52:15 1 Corinthians 15 verses 51-55. 52:18 The most powerful text about the resurrection. 52:20 That entire chapter of 1 Corinthians 15 52:22 is about death and the resurrection. 52:26 The most overlooked reason is in this verse. 52:28 The most overlooked reason why we can't go to heaven 52:31 when we die is in this verse. 52:33 Here we go. 52:57 Here it is, before I finish. 52:59 When the trumpet sounds, the change takes place. 53:02 The change doesn't take place when you die, 53:04 it takes place when the Lord is descending blowing that trumpet, 53:07 "Here I come. " 53:08 Then the change takes place. 53:10 Let's keep going. 53:45 Here's the two points that you must get from these scriptures. 53:47 It is impossible for mortal man to exist in the presence 53:51 of an immortal God until man is also immortal. 53:55 Secondly, we are not made immortal at death. 53:58 We are changed at the return of Jesus. 54:01 Now let me tell you why I like this sermon. 54:04 I've got two mothers that are resting in Jesus right now. 54:09 If they saw the hardship and the difficulty that I've been 54:12 going through since they died, heaven would not 54:15 be a place of joy. 54:16 It'd be a place of sadness. 54:19 When Momma Haynes died, she didn't know I left the church 54:22 and went out into the world and almost lost my life. 54:24 Partying and gambling and drinking and pool hustling. 54:29 And the only thing that kept me going was the words of Momma 54:32 in the back of my mind that she planted there when 54:35 I was a young man. 54:37 Momma doesn't know I left the church and came back. 54:39 And, praise God, heaven won't be a place of sadness 54:41 if she watched those steps in my life. 54:43 But it's not a place of sadness, It's going to be a place of joy. 54:45 What do you say? 54:46 It's going to be a place of surprises too. 54:48 You don't know who's going to make it. 54:49 You just better make up your mind to be there. 54:52 We can't decide by what we see who's going to be there 54:54 and who's not going to be there. 54:57 Momma Haynes died but I got back, I got back by God's grace. 55:01 I tell you, I've got a godly wife. 55:02 God send a love... 55:03 God sent somebody who loved Him more than she loved me. 55:09 And made sure I was back in the truth. 55:11 Now I'm telling the truth. 55:13 And you know what's so nice about that? 55:14 I know that Momma didn't see what's been 55:16 happening in my life. 55:18 I've got a second mother who I met when I was 55:21 almost 26 years old. 55:22 She gave me up as a baby. 55:23 Left me at a babysitter, at Momma Haynes house. 55:26 She left me where I could learn the truth so that one day 55:28 when I found her, I could tell her the truth. 55:30 Come on, say amen. Amen. 55:32 When she died in the Lord, we only spent 7 years together. 55:35 That's God's number, perfect relationship. 55:38 I only had one Mother's Day celebration with my mother, 55:41 that mother who gave me life. 55:42 That Filipino mother who gave me life. 55:44 We only spent one birthday together, 55:46 one Mother's Day together. 55:48 But I know that when Jesus comes, I've got at least 55:51 two more appointments. 55:55 Can we say glory to God? 55:56 I've got two more appointments. 55:59 I'm torn between whether I've got to be in the Virgin Islands 56:02 or if I've got to be in New York. 56:05 So I've got to make up my mind, I can't be in two 56:08 places at one time. 56:09 So I made up my mind I'm going to meet them in the air. 56:12 Amen. 56:20 And I give all the glory to Jesus. 56:22 Not because of some theological understanding 56:24 but because of the fact that He's my 56:25 resurrection and my life. 56:27 In Him I have life and in Him I have forgiveness. 56:29 In Him I have salvation. 56:31 In Him I've got hope to see them again. 56:34 I don't know about my dad's. 56:36 I'm praying that God worked something out before 56:38 they closed their eyes. 56:39 I don't know about that but I know that heaven's going to 56:41 be a place of surprises. 56:42 But I made up my mind, whether you go or not 56:44 I'm going to be there. 56:45 Somebody once said, "I'm going to cry but not forever. " 56:48 "I'm going to miss you but not forever. " 56:50 And every time my wife and I travel around the world 56:53 we say to people, "We may never see you again. 56:54 But if we see you again, let's make an appointment; 56:56 the third week by the tree of life. " 56:58 Because the first week belongs to Jesus. 57:02 And the second week, I've got to ask Solomon the question, 57:04 "What was on your mind? 57:08 Why on earth would you want to marry 700 women 57:12 when I spent my whole life trying to make one happy. " 57:16 So I say to folk, in the resurrection I'm going to look 57:20 like God intended for me to look. 57:23 I'm going to have a glorious body. 57:25 I'm not going to worry about coloring my hair anymore. 57:28 I don't need contacts. 57:30 Somebody say amen. Amen. 57:31 I don't have to worry about pains in my knees. 57:34 In the resurrection when God makes us all new, 57:37 we're going to be just like Jesus. 57:39 So brethren, don't fall for a lie because the best 57:42 is yet to come. 57:43 You want to be there, my brother? 57:45 You want to be there, my sister? 57:46 Hold on to the only One that can give you eternal life. 57:49 And when that day comes... 57:50 And it's coming and I believe it's on its way. 57:52 When that day comes and I hear that trumpet blow, 57:55 I'm going to be looking left and right. 57:56 St. Thomas, New York. St. Thomas, New York. 58:00 I'm going to look up and say, "Lo, this is my God. 58:02 I've waited for Him and He'll save me. " 58:04 And when we get to heaven, I'm going to see my mother 58:06 the way that God intends for her to look. 58:08 And Momma Haynes. 58:09 No more death, no more crying, no more suffering. 58:11 So those who are watching, keep on trusting Jesus 58:14 because, friends say it with me, "The best is yet to come. " |
Revised 2014-12-17