Participants: Pr. Jac Colon
Series Code: RN
Program Code: RN000015
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01:04 Pray together, Lord, once again we're here
01:09 in this place ready to open your word, wanting to hear 01:14 your voice, as we probe one of the deepest questions 01:22 that has ever found its way into the hearts and minds 01:27 of mankind. What happens when we die? 01:35 Lord, please make it clear. We ask in Jesus name. Amen. 01:49 It was June 14th in the year 2000 and the stage manager 01:54 Doug Fogel pointed to a man standing off on the side 01:59 in the shadows and introduced John Edward. 02:05 John Edward took center stage welcomed his guides 02:08 from the other side and then began to flawlessly relay in 02:15 an uncanny way information from the other side 02:19 to family members, the bereaved who were anxious 02:24 to hear any word from those who had departed. 02:26 He began to share information that only the deceased could 02:30 possibly have known. In fact, it was so powerful, 02:34 so smooth, that even the people who work for him, 02:39 even the stage hands were wondering is he for real 02:42 or are we a part some kind of plot to deceive the people. 02:54 John Edward appeared on the Larry king show 02:59 on Larry king live and Larry king introduced him, 03:03 he said John Edward you claim that you can talk 03:10 to the other side. Is John Edward for real? 03:18 Good question, John Edward claims people don't really 03:23 die they just move to the other side and we can learn 03:31 to communicate with them. Is John Edward for real? 03:42 Is John Edward really communicating with the 03:47 other side? The answer to that question absolutely, 03:54 he is. But is John Edward communicating with dead people 04:02 on the other side and that the answer to that question 04:08 is absolutely not. Then who is he communicating 04:16 with and we ought to know. How can I be so sure? How can 04:23 this man on television day after day after day 04:27 flawlessly relaying information in an uncannily 04:30 accurate way. How can I be so sure that John Edward 04:34 is a fraud? It's easy because of the word of God. 04:43 The answer can only be found in this book. 04:47 Jesus himself said in Revelation the first chapter, 04:56 Jesus said in Revelation chapter 1, 05:00 he said don't be afraid, in verse 17, I am the first 05:05 and the last, I am the living one, I was dead 05:09 and behold I am now alive forever and ever. And I 05:13 hold the keys of death and Hades, if anyone knows 05:17 what happens beyond the grave its Jesus! Amen. Amen. 05:23 And we can trust him, so let's ask Jesus the answer 05:30 to the question. What does happen when people die? 05:37 And I think Jesus would say well in order to 05:39 understand that you have to first of all know what is 05:43 man to begin with and we find the answer 05:47 to that question in Genesis, in Genesis chapter 2, 05:52 but I want you to notice while we are there in Genesis 05:54 just look over the 3rd chapter verse 4, 05:56 remember when Adam and Eve had sinned, Eve was under 06:00 the tree and the serpent was trying to get her to eat 06:02 the fruit, he said did God tell you if you eat the fruit 06:04 you'll die and Eve said yeah, God said if we eat 06:08 the fruit we'll die and Satan said in verse 4 06:12 you will not die. But your eyes will be opened, 06:17 you won't die maybe your body will but 06:20 your soul goes on living you won't die you'll be like God, 06:24 you won't die, you'll just move to the other side. 06:30 And people like John Edward, J. Z. Knight, spirit, mediums 06:34 and channels in today's world, Sylvia Browne 06:37 are repeating the same lie. It's nothing new, so what 06:41 is man? Who are we? In Genesis the second chapter, 06:48 verse 7, the Lord God formed the man from the dust 06:53 of the ground breathed into his nostrils the breath 06:57 of life and the man became a living being. The King 07:04 James version says he became a living soul. So, 07:10 what is man, God formed his body from the dust 07:14 of the ground, but he wasn't a man yet, it was just 07:19 a body, it wasn't until he breathed into that body 07:25 the breath of life that the man became a living soul. 07:30 So, what is a soul, a soul is the body plus the breath 07:35 of life. Notice it does not say that God put a soul 07:39 into the man. He said, he breathed into him the breath 07:47 of life and the body became a living soul. He didn't 07:52 give him a soul, he became a soul, a soul is what we are 07:58 it is not what we posses, in fact, even in Genesis 08:02 chapter 1 in many places, but I'll just look at the 08:05 30th verse with you for a second, let me back 08:07 track for a minute, the word here and the Bible 08:09 says that the man became a living soul, 08:12 the Hebrew word for soul is Nephesh. Now in order to 08:17 really understand this topic tonight you're gonna have 08:19 to go a little deeper than we've been going and you're 08:23 gonna have to learn a little bit of Hebrew. So, 08:25 the first word is the word for soul and it is Nephesh. 08:28 Can you say that for me tonight, how do say soul 08:31 in Hebrew? Nephesh. Nephesh, very good you got it. 08:35 Nephesh, so the man became a Nephesh here 08:39 he translates it as a living being that's a good 08:42 translation. In Genesis 12 when Abraham left 08:45 his father's house and went to the land that God 08:47 showed him. It says he took all of the Nephesh 08:51 in his house hold, he took all of the souls, 08:53 the King James says. Now he did not go into the 08:56 promised land with the bunch of ghosts. Those souls were 09:00 real people and that's what Nephesh is a living being. 09:04 Look at verse 30 chapter 1 of Genesis and it says 09:07 to all of the beasts of the earth, to all of the birds 09:10 of the air and to all of the Nephesh that move 09:14 on the ground. The exact same word, the man became a 09:18 living Nephesh and now he calls the beast of the earth 09:22 moving on the ground Nephesh and it only means 09:25 a living being. That's what the word means so, 09:31 what is man? Body, the breath of life, 09:34 he becomes a living soul. I am a soul, I do not have 09:41 a soul. I am a soul, you are a soul. The Bible 09:47 never talks about the soul as something that we possess, 09:49 it talks about the soul as what we are and it never 09:52 talks about the soul existing apart from the body. 09:57 In fact, a friend of mine who does the same thing I do, 10:02 but he is a lot bolder than I am, he does things that 10:04 I wouldn't have the courage to do and on this 10:06 particular night, the night before when he is 10:09 announcing it, he says when you come here tomorrow 10:13 night we are going to talk about what happens when 10:14 people die and I am going to show you a soul. 10:16 I am going to turn out all the lights and then 10:19 we are going to turn the spot light on and it's going 10:21 to be shining on a soul right here. Oh! Well, 10:24 the place is packed the next night you know everybody 10:26 want to see a soul, so he is in there preaching, he says 10:28 now it's time to show you a soul, all the lights out, 10:31 pitch dark and then the spot light comes on center stage 10:33 and there he is standing there. Smiling real big and 10:37 that's exactly right. I am a soul, you are a soul, 10:41 a living being, that's all the word means. So what 10:44 happens when we die? Turn now to Ecclesiastes, 10:48 Ecclesiastes chapter 12 and we find the answer in verse 7, 10:53 the dust returns to the ground that it came from 10:59 and the spirit returns to God who gave it. In other 11:06 words, at death we find the exact opposite of creation, 11:15 God formed the body from the dust, breathed into it 11:18 the breath of life, at death the breath of life of the 11:21 body goes to dust, the breath of life goes back to God. 11:25 Now the word spirit here and here's our second Hebrew 11:28 word for the night are you ready? How do you say soul 11:31 in Hebrew? Nephesh. Nephesh, very good and the word spirit 11:36 is translated from the Hebrew word Ruach. 11:41 Okay, so, how do you say spirit in Hebrew? Ruach. 11:45 No, not Ruak, it's Ruach, Ruach. Okay, the Ruach 11:54 goes back to God and the body goes to dust, just the 11:59 reverse of creation. So, what is it that goes back 12:03 to God the Ruach or the breath of life then, 12:11 if the body goes to dust and the breath of life goes 12:16 back to God then where are the dead. Now, I am going 12:24 to stop here for just a second and I'll give you 12:27 two rules that we need to follow tonight. 12:32 The first one, it's often dangerous to study the Bible 12:40 thinking that you already know all the answers. 12:45 Sometimes it's better to just pretend you don't know 12:49 anything and then read the Bible and let God speak 12:53 to you from the pages of his word, because if we 12:57 think we know the answers then it's very tempting to 13:01 read into the scripture what you want to hear. 13:07 So, let's start tonight, you know when you, 13:10 if you have a computer and you're write, about to write 13:12 a new document or a letter or something in your 13:14 word processor and you bring that word processor up, 13:17 what's there? Nothing, blank page, right. 13:22 So, let's start with a blank page on our word 13:24 processors and ask God what happens when we die, 13:27 we don't know, we don't know the answer, 13:29 let's just take it from the word of God, is that 13:32 fair enough. Is that safe? It's safe, second point, 13:36 you can take a text from the Bible and isolate it 13:43 from its context and make it say almost anything 13:47 you want it to say. That's one of the reason it's so 13:50 dangerous to come into the Bible with your own 13:52 preconceived ideas you can make it say almost anything, 13:56 it's like a fence post. If I would a set a fence post 13:59 up right here in the center of this platform and step 14:03 back then I could line that fence post up on the clock 14:06 on the back wall. But if I were standing over here 14:09 then I could line that fence post up on the door, 14:12 if I was standing on this side I could line the 14:14 fence post up on the camera man over there. 14:18 You see it depends on where I am standing that that 14:21 fence post is pointing towards or the same way 14:25 with any Bible text you can take one Bible text then 14:28 isolate it from its context and you can make it say 14:30 almost anything you want it to say, it just depends on 14:33 your point of view. But, if I were to put three or four 14:38 or five fence posts, all in a row then they're all pointing 14:42 in the same direction. So, tonight we are going 14:46 to start with a blank screen on our word processor, 14:48 we are going to pretend, we know nothing and let 14:50 God speak to us through his word and secondly we are 14:53 going to line up some fence posts, we are going to 14:55 look at all the texts in the Bible that deal with what 14:57 happened when people die and you're going to discover 14:59 they all point in the same direction and that is 15:02 to the lamb, to Jesus Christ. Alright, so let's begin, it's 15:08 clear so far that the body goes to dust; the breath 15:11 of life goes back to God who gave it. So where are 15:17 the dead, Jesus tells us? Can we trust him? Yes. If we 15:23 can't trust him. We can't trust anybody. Jesus said in 15:27 John the 5th chapter and the 28th verse. He said the time 15:31 is coming, when all who are in the grave will hear 15:37 my voice and come forth. Those who have done good to 15:41 the resurrection of life and those who have done evil to the 15:46 resurrection of damnation. Jesus said, all who are in 15:55 the grave will come forth. Now according to Jesus where 16:04 are the dead, they are in the grave. Now that may not 16:09 square away with what you've always thought, but remember 16:12 let's start from scratch, let's let Jesus tell us and 16:18 if we can't trust him where can we go. So according to 16:21 Jesus all who are in the grave will hear my voice 16:28 and they will come forth, it's not the end. They will 16:29 come forth, those who have done good to the resurrection 16:30 of life, those who've done evil to the resurrection 16:32 of damnation we'll talk about that tomorrow night. 16:35 But according to Jesus all are in a grave. Now the next 16:38 question would be what are they doing there? So let's 16:42 start in first, in Psalm chapter 146, in Psalm chapter 16:47 146. If Jesus is right and the dead are in the grave 16:51 then what are they doing there? Verse 3 and 4, do not 16:56 put your trust in princes, in mortal men, 16:59 who cannot save, when their Ruach or spirit departs they 17:06 return to the ground. Now notice, when their spirit 17:11 departs, where does it go? It goes back to God, 17:14 they return to the ground. So the spirit is not them 17:21 it's the breath of life, it's their life, but it's 17:23 not the person, they go back to the ground. Now he is 17:29 not done, when their spirit returns, they return 17:32 to the ground on that day their thoughts perish. 17:38 A question, if a man dies can he think? What does 17:43 the Bible say? Their thoughts perish on that day. That is 17:50 not complicated. Is it? It's not complicated at all. 17:55 Next one, Psalm 115, notice we are lining up our 17:59 fence post because Jesus said, the dead are in a grave 18:01 and now they are, their body, their breath of life goes 18:05 back to God and their thoughts perish. Next one, 18:08 115, verse 17, the dead do not praise the Lord nor do 18:13 any who go down into silence. Now that's easy to understand, 18:19 the dead do not praise the Lord. Tell me, if a 18:24 Christian dies, does he praise God. What does the 18:30 Bible say? The dead do not praise the Lord. Now, I know 18:35 somebody saying Pastor it's not what I always heard, 18:37 remember we are starting with a blank sheet and we are 18:41 letting the Bible tell us, we are letting God tell us, 18:43 we are letting Jesus tell us what's going on, so far 18:46 everyone of our fence posts are lining up, the body goes 18:49 to dust, the breath of life back to God, the dead are in 18:52 the grave, in the grave their thoughts perish on the 18:55 same day that they go there and now the dead do not praise 18:58 the Lord of course not, because they can't even think. 19:01 Their thoughts have perished, one more, saved the best 19:07 one till last, this one is crystal clear. I think they 19:11 are all crystal clear, but here is the Ecclesiastes 19:14 chapter 9, verse 5. The living know that they will die, 19:17 but the dead know nothing. Does a dead person know 19:23 anything, what does the Bible say? Nothing. In fact 19:28 in verse 6 their love, their hate and their jealousy have 19:30 long since vanished, verse 10 whatever your hand finds 19:34 to do, do it with all of your might, because in the grave, 19:39 where you are going, there is neither working, planning, 19:42 knowledge nor wisdom. So folks if you got something 19:47 to do, do it now, don't wait until after you die, because 19:52 there is no planning, there is no working, 19:54 there is no thinking, there is no doing, there is 19:56 no wisdom not even praising God. Now, again I know 20:04 this is a little different for some and it's not always 20:07 easy, in fact it was so difficult for the writer of 20:13 the living Bible, have any of you ever read the 20:16 living Bible. If you have one, go home and look up this 20:20 verse Ecclesiastes 9:5. I was reading it through right 20:24 after I was saved and I came back from Tahiti and 20:27 I was home and I read my living Bible all the way 20:29 through and when I was reading it through I read 20:32 that verse and noticed there was foot note there. So I 20:34 said hmm, let me see what that foot note says. I went 20:37 down there I read the foot note I was so stunned that 20:40 I wrote it here right in my Bible so I could share it 20:42 with you. This is what the author of the Living Bible 20:45 said about Ecclesiastes 9:5 the living know they would 20:48 die the dead know nothing, here is what he said. 20:51 This Verse is Solomon's own discouraged opinion and does 20:57 not reflect God's truth on this matter, isn't that 21:02 interesting. Now that's a new way to study the Bible. 21:09 That means that if we can read the Bible if we find 21:11 something in there we don't like oh, no big deal, 21:14 just tear the page out. That didn't come from God 21:17 that wasn't God's truth. But before you start tearing 21:22 pages out of your Bible, you have to answer another 21:25 question, how do you know which ones to leave in. 21:29 Just because you don't like something doesn't mean it's 21:32 not true, right. I think it's better if we find something 21:36 in the Bible that we don't like and it disagrees with 21:39 what we've already believed and I think it's better to 21:41 change what we believe. It's not always easy, 21:46 it wasn't obviously easy for him. But the Bible so far 21:52 is so clear that when we die we're in the grave, what are 21:55 we do in there? Nothing, no thinking, no wisdom, 21:59 no knowledge, no planning, no loving, not even praising 22:01 God. Jesus described it in John the 11th chapter. 22:09 Back to Jesus again we can trust him, he will never ever 22:13 lead us to stray, listen to what he says about what 22:16 happens when people die. In John chapter 11, he was 22:20 with his disciples and some friends came to him and said 22:22 hey your good friend Lazarus is sick and he is dying and 22:28 so on the way to Bethany to see Lazarus, Jesus told 22:32 the disciples in verse 11 of John 11 our friend Lazarus 22:36 has fallen asleep, but I am going there to wake him up. 22:42 The disciples replied Lord, if he sleeps then he will get 22:47 better and then Jesus, verse 13, Jesus had been 22:55 speaking of his death, but his disciples thought he 23:01 meant natural sleep. So then in verse 14 he told them 23:09 plainly, no, he said Lazarus is dead. Why did Jesus choose 23:22 the word sleep to describe death, because it's the best 23:29 word that he could think of to describe death? If the 23:34 body goes to dust, the breath of life goes back to God and 23:39 the dead are in the grave, no thinking, no wisdom, 23:42 no knowledge, no doing, no planning then sleep is a 23:46 perfect word to describe what happens when we die. 23:49 Sleep is a deep, deep, deep, deep warm cozy sleep or 23:55 death is a deep, deep, warm cozy sleep, that's according 24:01 to Jesus. Now I don't know about you, somebody said 24:06 I don't like that, too cold to me, sleeping in the ground. 24:11 Well I like to sleep, doesn't sound too bad to me but 24:16 whether we like it or not is not the question folks, it's 24:21 what Jesus says that matters isn't it. Death is like a 24:29 sleep, so you know what he did? He told them to roll 24:33 the stone away and they said, oh no, don't, don't, please 24:37 don't do that, he has been dead for four days and the 24:39 odor will offend people. Then Jesus said roll the 24:45 stone away and they did and then he stood there looking 24:53 in to that tomb and he said Lazarus come out and they 25:04 heard a wrestling sound inside the tomb and Lazarus 25:11 came out. Wow! What a story huh! And you know what's 25:19 interesting Lazarus didn't have any stories about what 25:23 it was like in heaven. There's nothing there. How bad 25:29 it was burning down there, nothing, not a word, because 25:34 he was asleep Jesus didn't stand there and say Lazarus, 25:40 well you've been in heaven long enough, Lazarus come down. 25:44 That would have been a nasty trick. No, four days 25:48 that's not long enough, I like it up here I don't 25:49 want to come down, too bad come down anyway. No, he 25:53 didn't said that, he didn't say Lazarus you have been 25:56 burning down there long enough in the fires come up, 26:00 nope, he stood there and spoke to a friend asleep in 26:04 the grave and said Lazarus come out and Lazarus heard 26:11 the voice of the life giver. Good news folks, there is 26:17 life after death but it comes through the resurrection at 26:22 the command of Jesus Christ. Deep, cozy, warm sleep, 26:31 I just like that word. It's interesting what we're saying 26:36 in a way it's not a lot different from what most of us 26:42 have been taught about death, you know when you die, 26:44 if you have been good you go up there, if you have been bad, 26:46 well, we don't talk about where they go. It's not a 26:53 lot different in one sense, if you are not aware of any 26:59 passing of any time then when a person dies in 27:06 their thinking, it's just like an instant blink of an 27:10 eye and they hear the voice of Jesus calling them to be 27:13 with him. See it's almost the same. I remember when 27:21 our boys were little and Dena would always let them 27:24 sit down in the front row while she was singing 27:27 every night and then after she finished singing, she 27:30 took 'em, brought them in the back and had a little 27:33 cot setup back there for them and put them to sleep and 27:36 they would always be sleeping. So by time we were done we 27:39 would go back there and pick them up and carry them 27:40 out to the car take them home put them in bed. One day 27:44 our older son woke up in the morning and he said, Mama, 27:51 why am I always waking up somewhere else. He went to 27:56 sleep in one place and woke up somewhere else and 28:00 that's exactly what it's going to be like. When we die, 28:04 we're asleep, deep, warm, cozy sleep and the next thing 28:10 you know, you're somewhere else in the presence of Jesus, 28:14 isn't that precious, isn't that special. That's how we 28:17 don't have to be afraid of death, it's nothing to be 28:21 afraid of. As long as your life is in the lamb. 28:28 How long do they stay there? First Corinthians, Chapter 15 28:32 and this is one of the favorites said every pastor 28:35 likes to use as a funeral text. First Corinthians 15:51, 28:40 listen I tell you a mystery; we'll not all sleep, but we 28:43 will all be changed. See Paul even liked to use the word 28:47 sleep to describe death. We won't all sleep but we 28:51 will all be changed. Now some of us are going to be alive 28:54 when Jesus comes and we'll never fall asleep but 28:57 we will all be changed, in a flash, in a moment, in a 29:00 twinkling of an eye at the last trumpet. Now watch this 29:05 at the last trumpet for the trumpet will sound and the 29:08 dead will be raised imperishable and we will be 29:13 changed for the perishable must cloth itself with the 29:16 imperishable. The mortal with immortality, when the 29:20 perishable has been clothed with the imperishable and 29:24 the mortal with immortality then the saying that is 29:28 written will come true. Death has been swallowed up 29:31 in victory. Oh death, where is your victory? Oh death, 29:35 where is your sting? There's your answer. 29:38 They are asleep in the grave until the last trumpet with 29:45 a loud command the Bible says, the trumpet will sound and 29:49 we will all be changed, we are now mortal subject to 29:55 die but we will become immortal no longer subject 29:59 to death and the dead in Christ will be raised up. 30:04 Oh! What a promise, Amen. Amen. And notice again, 30:07 every one of our fence posts are all pointing in exactly 30:11 the same direction. No problems here. Then I want 30:14 to turn to another funeral text, one that's used just 30:18 as often as the one in First Corinthians 15 and it's 30:20 always been a puzzle to me until I understood the truth 30:24 about death. This one is First Thessalonians Chapter 4, 30:29 verse 13, Brothers, we do not want you to be ignorant 30:33 about those who fall asleep or to grieve like the rest 30:37 of men, you know I've done a lot of funerals as a Pastor 30:41 and I have learned that it's easy to tell the difference 30:45 between a believer and a non-believer at a funeral. 30:50 We mourn, we cry, because we are going to miss our 30:54 loved ones, but non-believers different. There is a panic, 31:03 a depression and no hope of ever seeing him again. 31:08 We know it's going to be a little while and we will be 31:11 together again with them, but they have no hope and 31:14 so Paul is saying I don't want you to be ignorant about 31:17 those who fall asleep. You see, he used that word 31:20 sleep again or to grieve like the rest of the men, 31:23 don't grieve like them because we have hope, so what 31:25 does he tell us? Verse 15, he says according to the 31:29 Lord's own word we tell you that we who are still alive 31:34 and are left until the coming of the Lord, we will not 31:38 precede those who have fallen asleep and he says it 31:41 again see. We will not go to heaven before the ones 31:44 who have died, why not. Verse 16, for the Lord himself 31:48 will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with a 31:52 voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, 31:56 and the dead in Christ will rise up first, so where are 32:02 the dead in Christ? In the grave, just where he said 32:06 they were. The dead in Christ will rise up first after that, 32:11 we who are still alive and left will be caught up 32:15 together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord 32:18 in the air and so we will be with the Lord forever, 32:21 therefore encourage one another with these words. 32:28 Now that used to really be confusing to me, because 32:33 when I went to the funeral, the Pastor always said, 32:39 we are gathered here together because our dear brother is 32:44 now in heaven with Jesus. Well then why are we all 32:49 crying. I mean we ought to be saying, hey, praise the 32:53 Lord. At least he is out of all the suffering and misery 32:56 of this whole world, but he is in heaven with Jesus and 33:00 then you read this text. The dead in Christ will rise 33:03 at the sound of the trumpet, voice of the archangel and 33:05 our dear brother will rise up from the grave and I always 33:08 thought huh! If he is already there in heaven then how 33:13 does he rise up from the grave, have you ever 33:15 wondered about that. I've asked a few people they said, 33:19 Oh! Well, his spirit, his soul goes to heaven and he 33:23 comes back to get his body, but that isn't what it says. 33:26 It says that they are asleep and the Lord comes down 33:31 with a loud command and the dead in Christ rise first 33:34 after that. It's not he, he is asleep? You see 33:43 it makes more sense to believe what the Bible says, 33:47 encourage one another with these words at the 33:52 Resurrection Day when Jesus come. The dead in Christ 33:55 will be raised and together we'll be called up to meet 33:58 Jesus and we're going to talk more about that tomorrow. 34:03 So, how do we go to be with Jesus, either we're 34:07 changed or we're resurrected if we die? But together we 34:14 go to meet him. They don't go before us, we don't go 34:18 before them, we go together and it says and so we will 34:23 be with the Lord forever. 'And so' in Greek is Hutas, 34:26 and it means in this manner, in this way, how are we 34:29 gonna go to be with the Lord forever? At the last 34:31 trumpet, when the dead in Christ are raised and 34:34 together with them we are sent to meet Jesus and 34:36 in that way we will go to be with the Lord forever, 34:38 encourage one another with these words. Oh! But I always 34:41 got such encouragement by thinking about my grandma 34:43 in heaven with Jesus, encourage one another with 34:46 these words. Paul said, I desire to depart and be with 34:56 Christ and many think if that means that as soon as 35:01 he dies, he is going to go heaven and be with Jesus. 35:05 If that were true then we have a fence post that's 35:08 seriously out of line with all the rest of what the 35:10 Bible says. It doesn't say anything about when he goes. 35:16 He just says I want to depart and be with Christ. 35:24 Don't read into the text something that isn't there. 35:29 I will tell you I would like to depart this whole body 35:32 and be with Jesus too. I've had enough of this old 35:35 world folks and I would like to go right now. But still 35:41 too many people left that need to know the truth, 35:44 so we are going to be here for a little while longer. 35:48 Again what we are saying is not that much difference 35:50 in the mind of the person who dies the very next 35:53 thing they know they're in heaven with Jesus, 35:54 but for those of us who are left behind, the difference 35:57 is incredible, it's infinite, it could be eternal. Because 36:03 if you know that the living know they would die, but the 36:05 dead know nothing then you will never be deceived by 36:08 John Edwards or any other spirit medium. Amen. 36:13 A lady had lost a little girl, three years old, she died, 36:21 she choked to death. After the funeral she went home 36:27 and was just lying on the bed, not feeling like doing 36:30 much of anything as you can well imagine. She heard a 36:35 sound. She turned to look and she saw her little girl 36:40 standing right in the center of the room, same bright 36:44 yellow dress she had been buried in, arms outstretched, 36:47 eyes twinkling, Momma! What would you do? She said 36:58 it took every ounce of faith and will power that she could 37:04 muster to look at that little girl and say, "you are not 37:11 my daughter, you get out of here Satan" then she vanished 37:19 away into darkness. The living know that they will die, 37:24 but the dead know nothing. One of the most powerful 37:28 miracles of the beast in the Book of Revelation is the 37:31 miracle of spiritism, communicating with the 37:35 spirits and attempting to bring them back with messages 37:40 for you. I have had people tell me Pastor I am not 37:45 coming back anymore because my husband came back and 37:49 he told me the truth and I don't believe what 37:53 you're saying anymore and I say, "Good Luck." The 37:56 Bible says, the living know that they will die, but the 37:59 dead know nothing that couldn't be your husband. 38:01 It was my husband. I know it was my husband. 38:06 Folks we better be prepared now because I believe we are 38:10 going to see miracles like that or deceptive miracles 38:14 like that happening all over the place. It's already 38:17 started. The only safety is the safety of the word of God. 38:26 And by the way it just makes a lot more sense. Do you 38:35 believe that every Church member in every Church is a 38:42 saved Christian? You believe that. I don't believe that. 38:47 I believe we are saved by faith in Jesus, not by joining 38:51 a Church and if I understand the book of Revelation, 38:54 there are going to be a lot of people in churches that 38:56 are going to be left behind when Jesus comes, but tell me 39:03 have you ever been to a funeral and you heard the 39:07 Pastor say, dear brethren I am sorry to tell you today 39:13 that our dear departed brother is now burning down 39:17 there in hell. Have you ever heard that? Of course not. 39:22 Where do they all go? Up to heaven. Every single 39:26 church member that dies right to heaven, but you and 39:30 I know that not every Church member is saved, somebody 39:33 is getting duped here folks. How does a man know who 39:37 saved and lost. No man knows anyone else's heart except 39:42 their own. Isn't it better to just believe what God says, 39:46 our dear brother is now asleep in his grave, waiting 39:50 for the voice of the life giver to call him forth, 39:54 isn't it better to just believe what Jesus says, 39:56 knowing that his life is in the hand of God, 39:59 our life goes back to God. I can't think of any place. 40:02 I would rather have my life be than in the hands of God. 40:06 If I were to die, which I hope I don't do before he comes. 40:10 I want to be alive for that day, but should I die, I must 40:14 sleep until the Lord comes. And then what about the 40:23 husband and wife who get killed in a car crash. And the 40:26 wife was a saint and the husband wasn't and so she 40:29 goes up and he goes down. How much enjoyment and 40:32 bliss and happiness is there for her? Knowing her husband 40:36 is like they say, burning in the fire down there or what 40:44 about husband and wife who die together and then they 40:47 look down here and see their children fighting over who 40:50 gets the money and the house and. Oh! Isn't that perfect 40:54 bliss and happiness or watching their children 40:58 suffer, heart disease, cancer, AIDS, babies dying, is that 41:07 happiness? Isn't it better to just believe what God says. 41:13 The living know that they will die, the dead know 41:15 nothing, they're asleep in the grave until they hear the 41:18 voice of the life giver. But I know, I know, I know what 41:22 some of you are thinking right now at this moment. 41:24 Pastor, the thief on the cross died and Jesus 41:28 promised him he would go right to heaven. Somebody 41:31 was thinking that right, yup, well, what about that? 41:36 Let's take a look, we don't want to miss anything. 41:38 We want to line up all our fence post don't we? 41:41 So let's go to Luke the 23rd chapter, verse 42, you know 41:45 the story when Jesus died, there were three, two thieves 41:48 and Jesus was in the middle and one of them was just 41:51 cursing and swearing and the other one looked at Jesus. 41:54 He knew there was something about this man, his heart 41:55 was touched and he said to Jesus. He said, Jesus in 41:58 verse 42 of Luke 23, remember me when you come into 42:02 your kingdom and Jesus answered him. He said, 42:04 I tell you the truth today you will be with me 42:09 in paradise. Now you say pastor that's not what it 42:13 says. He told him I tell you the truth today you will be 42:18 with me in paradise. Well! It depends on when you take 42:23 a breath, doesn't it? It does I tell you the truth, breath 42:31 today you will be with me in paradise or I tell you the 42:35 truth today, take a breath. You'll be with me in paradise. 42:42 It depends on when you breathe. Now the question 42:46 is when did Jesus breathe? Well, if he said, I tell you 42:52 the truth, today you will be with me in paradise, we got 42:55 another fence post seriously out of line. But if he said 42:59 I tell you the truth today you will be with me paradise, 43:03 they all line up again. So I believe that he took his 43:06 breath after I tell you the truth today. You will be 43:10 with me in paradise and everything falls into place 43:13 besides that I know for a fact that Jesus did not go to 43:19 heaven the same day that he died. Now how do I know 43:24 that? I won't take the time to read the story, you know 43:26 it, it's in your printed copy, you can go home and read it 43:28 tonight, but it's a story in John 20, when Mary and 43:32 Martha went to the tomb on Sunday morning, you remember 43:34 that and they found the tomb empty and so they 43:39 were all discouraged saying, oh! What's happened? 43:40 They took my Lord away and we don't know where 43:42 he is, so they were going back and they saw Jesus. 43:45 What did Mary do when she saw Jesus? She ran 43:48 towards him with her arms out stretched to hug him 43:52 and greet him and what did Jesus said, don't touch me 43:56 Mary. Well, why not? Because I have not yet 44:01 ascended to the father. On Sunday, died Friday, 44:09 still had not yet ascended to the father, so he could 44:12 not have told the thief I tell you the truth, today 44:16 you will be with me in paradise because he hadn't 44:18 gone yet by Sunday. And now all of our texts, all of our 44:25 fence posts again are right in line. Well, there are 44:31 several more verses, passages I know some of 44:33 you are wondering about, see we have time to do 44:36 another one. Let's do the rich man in Lazarus. 44:39 You have heard the story of the rich man in Lazarus. 44:42 Let's take a look at this one. In Luke the 16th chapter, 44:46 the 19th verse, there was a rich man who was dressed 44:48 in purple and fine linen. He lived in luxury every day. 44:52 At his gate was laid a beggar named Lazarus. 44:56 He was covered with sores, longing to eat just what fell 44:59 from the rich man's table. Even the dogs came licked 45:02 his sores. Time came when the beggar died, I'm going 45:05 to use the King James translation here. The time 45:07 came when the beggar died and the angels carried him 45:11 to Abraham's bosom, notice not heaven. Abraham's bosom 45:22 and the rich man also died and he was buried. And 45:26 in hell, where he was in torment, he looked up and 45:29 he saw Abraham far away with Lazarus in his bosom. 45:34 And so he called to him and he said 'Father Abraham, 45:38 have pity on me send Lazarus to dip the tip of his 45:42 finger in the water and cool my tongue, because I am in 45:45 agony in this fire. And so many people want to use 45:52 this passage to prove that when we die we go 45:56 immediately to heaven or bad people down there. 46:02 But that raises a lot more problems than it could ever 46:05 answer questions. First of all it doesn't say he went to 46:11 heaven. Now if we're gonna to take this as a literal 46:15 description of death, then we have to take it all 46:18 literally. And so we would have to conclude that when 46:21 we die we all get shoved into Abraham's chest. 46:26 Got to getting pretty big by now, so they're all in 46:29 Abraham's bosom, not heaven. And then it says 46:35 not only that, but here's an even worse problem. They are 46:39 so close together that they can talk to one another. 46:43 Wow! Won't that be fun, hollering back and forth to 46:45 people who are in torment, burning? They can talk to 46:51 one another. And it even gets a lot worse than this. 46:54 He says tell Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger 46:59 in the water and put it on my tongue. Well that's 47:02 really close. And put it on my tongue, now they have 47:09 bodies, they have fingers, they have tongues, 47:12 they have eyes. I have never heard any one claim that 47:16 when we die we go bodily to heaven and bodily to hell. 47:21 Most people say well when you die your spirit goes, 47:23 your soul goes but not the body. If when you 47:27 die your breath of life, your spirit goes to God and the 47:31 body goes up then what died? Nothing and John Edwards 47:38 would be right, you just moved to a different place. 47:44 But far more serious than that if nothing dies then 47:46 Jesus didn't die. And you and I would be hopeless, 47:54 but he did die. He rested asleep in the grave and he 48:00 rose up in the first day of the week. So what's this 48:05 story all about? It's an amazing thing. 48:08 Some archaeologist had discovered some ancient 48:11 clay tablets, Babylonian tablets that existed 100s of 48:16 years before Christ. And this story was found on those 48:20 Babylonian tablets. It was a story that had been 48:25 circulating around and Jesus used the story to 48:30 illustrate a point. It was just an illustration 48:35 like a parable. And you can't take every detail of the 48:41 illustration of the parable to be the truth. If you did, 48:46 Jesus said the kingdom of heaven is like a fishnet, 48:49 we need to pull in the net well that would mean that 48:51 we'd had to jump into the ocean and wait for a 48:54 fisherman to pull us up in the net. That wasn't what he 48:57 was trying to say and we know that. So what was he 49:00 trying to illustrate here. We read on a little further 49:04 and Abraham said 'Son, remember in your lifetime 49:06 you received your good things, while Lazarus 49:09 received bad things, but now he is comforted here 49:12 and you are in agony and besides all of this, between 49:15 you and us is a great chasm that has been fixed, so that 49:20 those who want to go from here to you cannot nor can 49:23 anyone cross over. What's he trying to say the point of 49:26 the story is that once you die you're dead you can't 49:29 cross over; you can't get saved after you die. 49:32 It doesn't do any good to do a mass for people who have 49:35 died, they are not in purgatory. They're asleep 49:37 in the grave. You cannot cross over. There is a great 49:40 chasm between us and you. Secondly, if it so that 49:45 means if you're going to get right with God, you better 49:47 do it now before you die. And the second point. 49:52 He answered then I beg you, father, send Lazarus to my 49:55 father's house for I have five brothers. Let him warn 49:58 them, so that they will not also come to this place 50:01 of torment. Abraham said they have Moses and the prophets, 50:04 let them listen to them, in another words. Let them 50:06 listen to the word of God. God doesn't want us to 50:09 depend on miracles. He wants us to depend on his word. 50:14 And if they won't believe the word then they won't 50:16 believe the miracle. This is what we need to put our faith 50:19 and our hope in. The word of God. All the fence posts 50:28 line up, praise God, we don't want to die. No one wants 50:34 to die. But when we do? Jesus said it is a deep, 50:38 warm, cozy sleep. And the next thing you're gonna 50:42 hear is the voice of the life giver. The disciples had to 50:47 learn that lesson the hard way. Because when 50:51 they saw Jesus die on the cross they thought that all 50:54 hope was lost. It's kinda like when Napoleon was 51:01 storming with his armies across Europe, seemed as 51:05 though nothing would be able to stop him but the 51:10 British put all of their eggs into the basket of 51:12 Lord Wellington. Wellington was the only 51:16 hope they had. They send him down to Waterloo to 51:18 meet Napoleon. Now folks this was before the days of 51:21 CNN and Fox News. Nobody knew what was happening. They were 51:28 all eagerly awaiting for the ship to come back into the 51:33 English channel and let them know the result of the war. 51:37 If they beat Napoleon, if Wellington beat Napoleon 51:40 then they were fine. But if Wellington lost, if 51:45 Wellington was defeated, it was all over. And so every 51:51 day they were waiting and looking across the water to 51:53 see the ship coming, and finally they saw it. And as 51:56 they got close enough they saw the man on the deck 52:05 with his symbol four flag sending the signal. WELL, 52:06 Wellington, DE, defeated and then a fog came in and 52:18 that was all they saw. Wellington defeated, 52:25 all hope was lost. Now gloom spread across the 52:31 country. Then the fog lifted and message came again. 52:39 WEL, Wellington, DE, defeated, death Napoleon. 52:56 Wellington defeated Napoleon. And all of a 53:00 sudden the cloud lifted and the gloom turned into 53:04 rejoicing. Because Wellington had defeated 53:08 Napoleon. Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane. 53:16 How he went down to the garden to pray. He fell to 53:20 the ground and he prayed. Father, if there is any other 53:26 way let this cup pass from me. It just seemed so real 53:32 to me, it was like I was watching. And I realized, 53:39 hey, Jesus didn't want to go to the cross. He wanted it to 53:46 pass from him. Never the less he said. Not my will, 53:54 let your will be done. He didn't want to go. 54:01 Then the awful feeling came why did he go. He did it 54:08 because of me. And he did it for me. And then a few 54:14 more pages and it came to Calvary. Jesus betrayed, 54:27 dressed in the purple robe, mocked as the King of the 54:30 Jews, beaten till his back raw and bleeding cross 54:34 thrust on his shoulders carrying up the hill till he 54:38 couldn't go on anymore. Somebody had to carry it 54:40 for him. And he was doing all of that for me. What love, 54:50 what kind of a man he had to be. It just seemed so real, 54:58 as I read I just thought I was seeing it all. 55:04 They stretched his body out on those rough boards and 55:08 I could see the Roman soldiers just picking up the big 55:11 heavy hammers, the nails. Driving those nails through 55:15 his hands. The same hands that reached out and 55:21 touched, healed, loved. Now they were nailing 55:27 them to the old rugged cross, because of my sins. 55:35 It seemed so real, I could see the soldiers as they 55:39 lifted that cross, dropped it in the hole prepared for it. 55:45 Sickening thud, it's like I was standing right there. 55:54 Looking up at Jesus as he looked over the multitude 55:59 around him, but on that Friday evening there were 56:04 the disciples watching Jesus die on the cross, the only 56:09 hope they had. And the fog settled in. Jesus defeated, 56:21 was the only message they saw. But Sunday morning 56:27 the fog lifted didn't it. And they went to the empty 56:31 tomb the message came again. Jesus defeated death. 56:41 And the gloom turned into rejoicing and celebration 56:45 because he's alive. Imagine Peter the last words that 56:51 Jesus heard him speak were I don't know that cursed man. 56:56 The depression, the despair he must have felt and then 57:00 to hear the news that he's alive. How do you think 57:03 Peter felt? He's alive, he's alive, he's alive then I'm 57:10 forgiven, heaven's gates are open wide, he's alive. 57:19 Oh Lord, what else can we say he's alive, he's alive 57:25 and we're forgiven, heaven's gates are open 57:28 wide and because he lives we have hope. Oh Lord, we 57:33 thank you and praise you in Jesus name, Amen. |
Revised 2014-12-17