Participants: Lawrence Dorsey
Series Code: UR
Program Code: UR000005
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00:57 Greetings church family, and greetings to the viewers
01:03 who are watching from all over the world. 01:06 I'm Pastor Henoc Paulicin, pastor of the 01:09 Ambassador Seventh-day Adventist Church in 01:12 Lauderdale Lakes, Florida. 01:13 And on behalf of the Ambassador Church family, 01:17 we'd like to welcome you, and we're glad that you've chosen 01:21 to be a part of our church family for this night. 01:24 A few years ago I attended Andrews University, 01:28 and I met a gentlemen who was a minister 01:32 from another denomination. 01:34 He had become a member of the Seventh-day Adventist Church 01:39 and he told me that he had always believed that Revelation 01:45 was a book to be read and not understood. 01:48 But we know that this is not true. 01:51 God has given us the book of Revelation so that we may know 01:55 what is being held in store for us in the future. 02:00 And so, night after night, the man of God, 02:05 Pastor Lawrence Dorsey, has been expounding 02:08 from the book of Revelation. 02:09 And the theme that he has chosen is, Through the Eyes of John. 02:13 And so we await what God has in store for us as we go forward 02:20 in the future, knowing that Jesus is coming soon. Amen! 02:24 But let us invite the presence of God before we begin. 02:28 Bow your heads in prayer. 02:29 Our Father in heaven, we thank You for the 02:32 sure Word of prophecy. 02:33 We thank You that You have sent us a man who is willing 02:39 to be used by You. 02:41 We pray that our eyes may be open, and our hearts may be 02:45 opened to receive the Words that You have. 02:49 And we ask that souls may be saved here in this place, 02:54 and even throughout the world, as our viewers watch. 02:56 We give You all the glory for this, and we thank You. 03:00 This we ask in Jesus' name, Amen. 03:21 When I should feel so sad, why does my heart feel so glad? 03:31 Why does my soul feel so happy and gay? 03:41 When all around me burdens fall, but I'm not worried at all. 03:51 For if I pray King Jesus will roll all burdens away. 04:00 All away, all away, King Jesus will roll all burdens away, 04:15 if to Him you pray. 04:19 For He opens doors for me, doors I'm unable to see. 04:29 That's why I say, King Jesus will roll all burdens away. 04:39 Like a king on his throne, I'm never left all alone, 04:48 for I have a friend who walks with me each day. 04:58 And all that He asks me to do, is just keep His laws, 05:05 and live true. That's why I say, King Jesus will roll 05:12 all burdens away. All away, all away, King Jesus will roll 05:28 all burdens away if to Him we pray. 05:35 For He opens doors for me, doors I'm unable to see, 05:45 that's why I say, King Jesus will roll all burdens away. 05:59 Amen! Good evening everyone! Good evening! 06:05 King Jesus can roll our burdens away. 06:08 How many of you believe that? Amen! 06:10 Sometimes we're under such a heavy load, and we feel as 06:13 though we can't even look up, but if you can just call 06:17 on the name of Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, 06:21 and He will lift those burdens from our souls, and we will feel 06:24 the and we will feel the peace that comes only from Him, 06:27 and we will know that we can make it. 06:30 Can we make it, Elder Spence? 06:31 We can make it, praise God! 06:33 I don't know about you, but I've been enjoying this series 06:36 as a speaker, but as I read the Bible, and as a student of the 06:42 Bible, I get a greater love and desire to study it more. 06:48 And, folks, those of you who are in the Florida area, 06:51 we invite you to come down to the Ambassador Seventh-day 06:54 Adventist Church right here in Lauderdale Lakes, because it's a 06:58 beautiful edifice, and the people are so warm, 07:02 and we would just like to see you here with us. 07:05 Now we have something special we'd like you to do, 07:07 those of you who are at home tonight. 07:09 I've gotten calls from St. Kitts, from England, even 07:14 e- mails from Kenya, but we want to know who is really watching. 07:19 So we would like you to send us an email to livingwordtv@cs. com 07:28 and tell us where you're watching, and just give us your 07:31 reaction... However honest it must be. 07:33 It has to be honest. 07:34 ...to the services that are taking place here. 07:36 We look forward to reading those emails in the early part of our 07:40 service each night, to let the people know who is watching 07:44 and that you are having a good time in the Lord. 07:47 Can you do that? I know you can. 07:50 Shall we pray? Loving Father, again we are so thankful for 07:53 Your love and mercy towards us, and tonight as we open up the 07:57 Word again, looking through the eyes of John, and the things 08:01 that have been written for us for this time, we ask that Your 08:05 Holy Spirit will give us not only clarity, but understanding, 08:09 and that it will empower us to go through the 08:11 days that are ahead. 08:13 Thank You for loving us, and keeping us. 08:15 And bless not only the live congregation, but be with those 08:20 who are in their homes, and those who are watching via the 08:24 internet, in Jesus' name, Amen. 08:27 Tonight we're looking at, if it were numbered, a part 2 08:33 to last night's message. 08:35 For last night's message was, Glimpses of Glory, 08:39 Heaven Is a Real Place. 08:41 Now folks, if heaven is a real place, and we know that heaven 08:46 is real because God is real, we have to look at the other 08:49 side, or the other destination that some folks, 08:52 I hope none of you, will end up in. 08:55 Tonight's message is entitled, Hell, Is It Real or Is It Not? 09:04 So we look at this message determining if hell and death 09:10 are real realities. 09:12 The first thing we like to do is go to the book of Revelation. 09:17 Here we go, have your Bibles. 09:19 Those that are home pick up your Bibles. 09:21 We're looking at chapter 20, going to chapter 20 of the book 09:26 of Revelation, and we will see that both death and hell are 09:33 really there. But with the book of Revelation, 09:36 this book of revealing and unfolding, we will show us 09:40 the pure, true doctrine about death and hell. 09:45 Because people have that all mixed up. 09:48 And we said here in our early meetings, that the Bible is its 09:52 own expositor, and that it is profitable, 09:55 ladies and gentlemen, in 2 Timothy 3:16, 09:59 that all scripture is profitable for doctrine. 10:03 So when we look at it tonight, we're going to look at the 10:06 doctrine of death, and the doctrine of hell to see the 10:09 reality of it. Now turn with me quickly to chapter 20, 10:14 of the book of Revelation, beginning with verse 11. 10:20 Again, this is an eye witness account from God's servant. 11:21 So right here, ladies and gentlemen, we see from the very 11:24 beginning of this reading tonight, that death and hell 11:29 are real. Amen! We're reading it here in the book, the book of 11:34 Revelation that is for us, and our day, and our time. 11:38 It's telling us that John saw death and hell cast into 11:44 the lake of fire. Now, first of all, we have to understand this. 11:49 Death came to us as a conditional state. 11:54 It never had to exist. 11:57 If you would turn with me in your Bibles, 12:00 going back to the beginning. 12:02 And we saw last night that the tree of life was found in 12:06 Genesis, and we saw it was restored to us 12:09 in the book of Revelation. 12:10 Well, when we look at death being mentioned in chapter 12:15 20 of Revelation, death and hell being cast into the lake of fire 12:20 we see the beginning of the first mention of death 12:23 in chapter 2 of the book of Genesis, and we see that death 12:30 is a conditional state. 12:33 Genesis 2:15, And the Lord God took the man, and put him into 12:39 the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it. 12:42 And the Lord God commanded the man saying, Of every tree of the 12:45 garden thou mayest freely eat: verse 17, but of the tree 13:04 Conditional. Man did not have to die. 13:09 We did not have to fear death. 13:13 If our foreparents were obedient, we would have never 13:18 known what death was like. 13:21 Excuse me! Turning in your Bibles to the book of Romans. 13:26 What book did I say? 13:27 Romans chapter 5, Romans chapter 5. 13:32 We look at verse 12, and we hear this. It says: 13:50 Ladies and gentlemen, because of Adam and Eve's disobedience, 13:55 death was passed on to all of us. 13:59 But thank God, the story didn't end there. 14:04 We have a loving Savior. 14:06 You at home, you have a loving Savior who has 14:10 made a way for us. 14:11 If you would just go up a few verses, starting with verse 8 14:15 of chapter 5, of this book of Romans, it says: 14:33 That is the anger, and fury, and rage of God. 15:02 In other words, the atonement that came from Jesus Christ 15:05 gives us the ability to look past the death of this world, 15:10 and the penalty of sin, and to one day be able to live forever 15:15 in His very presence. 15:17 I look at that and I say, What a mighty God we serve! Amen! 15:24 The penalty for sin is death. 15:29 Romans 6:23, it tells us: 15:35 But, ladies and gentlemen, the upside of that verse tells us 15:39 that we have something sweet. 15:41 We have something that is everlasting. 15:43 We have the relationship with Jesus Christ, for it says, 15:55 So when we look at this thing, this thing called death, 15:58 we see that it is something that is real. 16:00 It was a conditional state. 16:02 It didn't have to happen, but it did. 16:04 And because it's here, it had to be dealt with. 16:08 Death had to be dealt with. 16:12 Someone had to pay the penalty for it, and Jesus is the One 16:16 that paid it all. Amen! 16:18 We ought to say, Thank You, Lord Jesus, for paying our debt. 16:21 Something we could never pay. 16:23 Now, what we need to understand, ladies and gentlemen, 16:27 is that what death really is, because there's 16:32 confusion about death. 16:34 Some people think death is life. 16:35 Why do you say that, Pastor? 16:36 Well, some people think that when you die, 16:39 you go on to a different existence. 16:41 Some people say, when you die you go 16:45 straight to hell and burn. 16:46 Others say, if you were a good person, when you die 16:50 you go directly to heaven. 16:52 So we have to let the Bible be its own expositor and show us, 16:56 and tell us, what death really is. 16:59 It's a conditional state that we have to deal with, 17:04 ladies and gentlemen. 17:05 We must understand what is that conditional state. 17:11 If you will turn with me in your Bibles again to the 17:14 Old Testament, to the wisest man that ever lived, 17:18 and we're talking about King Solomon. 17:20 In the book of Ecclesiastes, Ecclesiastes 9:5, he gives us 17:25 insight into the definition of death, or what it's really like. 17:30 It says in Ecclesiastes 9:5: 17:36 And we all know that, don't we? 17:38 That's why you have 22 locks on the door. Hello! 17:42 That's why the windows are nailed down in some places. 17:44 Come on! We know that we are going to die. 17:48 That's why when you cross the street, you look both ways. 17:52 Everywhere, except my home state now, California. 17:54 You see, in California, we have these lines painted there, 17:58 these white lines, that when you step in the law says 18:00 the cars have to stop. 18:01 But there are a lot of people that don't come from California, 18:04 and don't know the laws, so being a New Yorker still 18:07 in my heart, I make sure I look both ways before I 18:10 step between the lines. 18:11 The living know that we shall die. 18:16 It's coming! As we get older in life, and I'm getting older 18:21 in life. There was a time I wouldn't wear a hat 18:24 when it rained. I wouldn't wear galoshes. 18:25 I wouldn't wear a raincoat. 18:26 But now I put the scarf on and everything. 18:29 I want to hang around! 18:30 The living know that we shall die. 18:34 We don't do the things we used to do. 18:36 We become more conservative. 18:38 We know that time is running out. 18:40 There used to be a time that we used to fool ourselves and think 18:44 that middle age was 50. 18:47 They say, Oh yea, 50 is the new 30, and 70 is the new 50. 18:54 And we'd go on with that. 18:55 But folks, the Bible says that the days of a man are 18:57 three score and ten. 18:59 That's 70, and half of that, 35 is middle age. 19:03 Now I wouldn't say that to some ladies, brethren. 19:05 You'll find yourself in trouble. 19:06 But anyway, let's get back to the point, 19:09 let's get back to the point. It says: 19:13 We know it, and we want to live. 19:18 Uh oh, wait a minute! 19:20 It says the dead know not anything. 19:22 I'm not launching to a new lifestyle. 19:25 I'm not going to a next level. 19:27 I can't come back. 19:30 That's what it says. 19:44 In other words, when you die, ladies and gentlemen, 19:46 you fulfill Webster's definition of death. 19:51 Webster's says death is the ending of all life forms: 19:54 in human, in animals, and in plants. 19:58 You're dead! So you can't come back, brother, and see how she's 20:04 spending the insurance money. 20:05 You can't come back, sister, and see who we marry. 20:11 Now you might have had some clues of who he was going to 20:13 marry on your way out, but you can't come back to confirm it. 20:18 You can't do it. That's what the Bible says. 20:21 Old people might say all kinds of things, but the Bible says 20:24 But the living know that they shall die, but the dead 20:27 know not anything neither have they any more reward, 20:30 for the memory of them is forgotten, also their love, 20:33 and their hatred, and their envy is now perished, 20:35 neither have they anymore portion forever in anything 20:38 that is done under the sun. 20:39 No one can come back from the dead and tell you what you need 20:44 to do and give you advice. 20:46 Are you listening to me? 20:50 My Bible is telling me that if I was at a funeral, 20:57 that the person who was in the casket is not looking at 21:02 themselves in the casket. 21:03 You know, I've gotten so confused before I understood 21:08 the Bible, because if the person's in the casket 21:10 how could they be up there with Jesus? 21:12 And then the preacher says that they're there looking, 21:15 and smiling at us because it's such a good crowd. 21:18 My Bible tells me, and we have to believe the Bible more 21:24 than our five senses, ladies and gentlemen, because we have to 21:28 have faith to believe the Bible. 21:29 The Bible is something that is faith based. 21:34 But it's also firmer than the ground that we stand on. 21:39 It says the dead are dead, and they can't come back. 21:45 Now somebody might say, and I know, I've heard this before, 21:48 that you've seen somebody come back and you've heard something. 21:50 Well, you have to keep looking, and coming to the services 21:53 each night, and we'll get to that. 21:55 And we'll tell you what you really saw. 21:57 When I look at my Bible, and I see that I can't build a 22:04 doctrine on one text, I turn to Psalms 146 and I see verses 22:11 1 through 6, and it tells me more about this thing called 22:17 death to make it clearer to me. 22:19 It says in Psalms 146: 22:35 In other words, while you're alive you can do that. 22:51 Again, it's saying the same thing as the wise man. 22:54 Then it says: 23:08 In other words, happy is that person who has the Creator 23:12 and re-Creator as our Lord and Savior. Amen! 23:16 Now when I read this, and I compare it to what was said 23:19 in Ecclesiastics, it takes me back to when mankind 23:23 came into existence. 23:24 We said last night there were some things that God 23:28 just spoke into existence. 23:29 He spoke some things into existence, but when it came 23:33 down to man, He took His time and He made us personally. 23:38 Somebody ought to say Amen. Amen! 23:40 God took time and made us personally. 23:44 I come back to the book of Genesis. 23:46 I'm turning to chapter 2, and I see in verse 7 it says: 24:10 Oh ladies and gentlemen, are you understanding 24:12 what took place? God and His Son Jesus, and all the angels 24:17 were there, and the Holy Spirit was there. 24:19 And if you don't believe the Holy Spirit was there, 24:21 all you have to do is look at Genesis 1:2. 24:24 It says, And the Spirit of God moved across the 24:27 face of the waters. 24:28 They were all there. 24:29 And it says that God took time in this wonderful thing 24:35 of creation, and He knelt down and He formed and fashioned man. 24:42 He didn't make him look like a horse. 24:45 He didn't make him look like a chimpanzee. 24:48 He didn't make him look like a fish. 24:50 He says in the Bible that they were made in His image. Amen! 24:55 We look like God, church! Amen! 24:59 He took the time and fashioned us. 25:03 He stood that clay up, and that sculpture of clay, 25:11 He breathed into it the breath of life, 25:15 and man became a living soul. Amen! 25:20 David said, when we read Psalms 146, that when an animal dies, 25:25 and when a man dies, it says his breath goes from him. 25:28 It goes back into the air. 25:30 That thing that God gave him, that spark of life, 25:32 it leaves him, but it's not left by itself. 25:36 When we look at Genesis 2 it says that God breathed in 25:41 him, and he became a living soul, that that gives us 25:45 the equation that body and breath make a living soul. 25:53 So when people say, Oh, when you die your soul goes back 25:57 to heaven. That's why you're up in heaven. 25:58 It didn't say you went up there. 26:00 It says your breath goes back into the atmosphere. 26:03 You remember last night we saw that there are three heavens? 26:06 The first heaven is the atmospheric heaven. 26:09 The second one is the starry heaven. 26:10 The third one, ladies and gentlemen, is paradise, 26:13 where God is. It doesn't say anything about your breath, 26:18 or your soul being a live entity that takes you into direct 26:24 relationship with Christ. 26:26 It doesn't say that. 26:27 It doesn't say you go straight to heaven. 26:29 It says in Ecclesiastes, the dead know not anything. 26:32 You are there in the grave. 26:34 Body and breath make a living soul. 26:41 You know, when you're driving on 95, and you come off, and you 26:45 see the people on the freeway, and it's raining real hard, 26:48 and you see some person standing on the curb, and it's raining, 26:58 and you just make a mistake and you hit him with that splash. 27:03 And you say, that poor soul! 27:07 You're not talking about their breath. 27:09 You're talking about that person you feel guilty about splashing. 27:13 The person, the full person. 27:16 You see, when we look at the Bible, 27:17 and that's why I love the Bible. 27:19 I'm so glad that God gave it to us, that we can look at it, 27:22 and we can comprehend it. 27:24 We see in the Bible, and it is accentuated by Christ Himself. 27:29 It tells us that death is nothing more than a sleep. 27:33 You don't know what's going on around you when you're asleep. 27:37 Now tell the truth, do you? 27:39 Now if you're sleeping light you can wake up, 27:42 but if you're really sleeping in a deep sleep, that unconscious 27:46 state, you don't know what's happening around you. 27:50 Brothers, you don't know that Mommy's going to the wallet 27:56 and then going to the store. 27:58 You don't know what's happening around you, 28:01 what the kids are doing in their room. 28:03 You don't know what's happening around you, what your team 28:07 is doing, or what's going on in the rest of the world, 28:08 what's happening on the TV. 28:10 You don't know. You are in an unconscious state called sleep. 28:14 That's what death is! 28:16 Well, how can I just say that with authority? 28:19 I can say it with authority because Jesus said 28:23 it with authority. 28:24 Turn in your Bibles with me to the book of John, 28:30 John chapter 11, and we see a scene here that makes it so 28:36 clear for us. And the more we study the Bible, 28:40 the clearer these things will be to us, 28:42 and we will not be confused. John 11:1-5. 29:26 In other words, Jesus said it from the very beginning that 29:28 something spectacular was going to come out of this sickness. 29:31 Folks, you know what, that makes me feel good. 29:35 You see, the Bible, and I love this text, Romans 15:4, 29:40 Whatsoever things were written aforetime were written 29:43 for our learning, that we through patience and comfort 29:46 of the scriptures, might have hope. 29:48 When you study this book, and you internalize the things that 29:52 have transpired. When you hold onto the promises of this book, 29:55 and there are over three thousand promises 29:58 in the Word of God. 29:59 Folks looking at home, read your Bible. 30:01 There are promises that are there that will uplift you, 30:04 and keep you. It shows you events that have taken place 30:08 that will give you the faith to know that if God did it 30:11 for them, He can do it for you. Amen! 30:15 So when sickness comes sometimes, don't despair. 30:20 Don't become despondent. 30:22 God can use it for His glory. Amen! 30:25 The record goes on to say that he was sick, verse 3, 30:30 therefore his sisters sent unto Him saying, Lord, behold whom 30:34 Thou lovest is sick. 30:35 And when Jesus heard that He said, This sickness is not unto 30:39 death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of man might 30:42 be glorified thereby. 30:43 Now Jesus loved Martha, and her sister, and Lazarus. 30:48 He loved the whole family. 30:49 Verse 11 says that Jesus waited, well verse 6, it says, 30:55 And when he had heard, therefore, that he was sick, 30:57 He abode two days still in the same place where He was. 31:00 His disciples were worrying about that, but they figured 31:03 Jesus said that He was sick, that it would be okay. 31:05 And in verse 11 He says: 31:40 Now folks, I can imagine the disciples said, Wow, what's the 31:45 matter with Jesus? 31:46 He never, never talked that straight to us or that hard. 31:52 I mean He's the One that said He was asleep. 31:56 And now He's saying, Well, if He sleeps, Lord, He's going to do 31:58 well, because, you know, we know You have the power to take care 32:01 of any kind of sickness. 32:02 We've seen the miracles. 32:03 We've got the proof. 32:04 We've been there. But then Jesus said he's dead. 32:09 And verse 15 really puts them in a spin. 32:13 He says, And I am glad for your sakes that I was not there, 32:17 to the intent that ye may believe. 32:19 Nevertheless, let us go unto him. 32:22 And when He said that part I can imagine the disciples saying, 32:24 Oh, my goodness! What's happening? 32:30 You all know the story. 32:33 The record says that they came, verse 17, and Jesus found that 32:38 they had laid him in the grave for four days. 32:41 He had been in the grave for four days, ladies and gentlemen. 32:45 And it says that as He approached the city that Martha 32:49 came out when she heard that Jesus was coming, verse 20, 32:52 and she met Him. But Mary was still in the house. 32:55 And then said Martha unto Jesus, Lord if Thou had been here, 32:58 my brother had not died, but I know that even now,... 33:05 Hum. You see, that's faith. 33:09 Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of 33:12 things not seen. By faith the Christian sees themselves 33:17 in possession of the things that have been promised 33:20 to them. He that comes to God must believe that He is, 33:24 and He is the rewarder of them that diligently seek Him. 33:28 Hebrews 11:6. And her faith was of such that she knew who she 33:33 was dealing with, who she was talking to, who she was praying 33:37 to, and whose mercies she was at. 33:40 She knew that He could do something about this situation 33:45 because her faith had been enriched, and strengthened, 33:49 by what she had seen Jesus do in the past. 33:54 Jesus stopped the funeral when they were 33:57 going to the gravesite. 33:58 The folks were going up crying, and when they went home 34:04 they were rejoicing. 34:05 He raised up a little girl, put the mourners out of the house, 34:10 and she came up with the newness of life. 34:13 God is so good! So she knew He had the power. 34:18 She knew it! But now he's been in there four days, 34:20 and she's wondering, really, what is going to happen. 34:25 But remember, Jesus is in charge. 34:27 And what I like about this is Jesus give us these things 34:31 in His Bible that He might underscore other doctrines 34:37 of the Bible. You see, He did this for us to have a pattern 34:42 here and there, here a little, there a little, 34:43 precept upon precept, line upon line, to know that the dead are 34:48 not alive somewhere, but they are in the grave, 34:52 that they are sleeping, and that there will be, 34:57 ladies and gentlemen, a real resurrection. Amen! 35:01 You see some folks believe there's a resurrection. 35:04 Some people think that they are going to die and that's it. 35:07 I remember one Hollywood movie star who passed, and they said, 35:11 Well, I don't know if there's a God or not, but I'm going to 35:15 take some precautions. 35:16 What I want when I die is for you to just take me and burn me, 35:23 you know. Then after the cremation take my ashes 35:29 and sprinkle them out in the sea, in case there is a hell, 35:34 and in case there is a God. 35:37 He can't find me. But there's nowhere you can go 35:41 where our God can't find you. 35:43 We look at the Bible and it tells us in the book of Job, 35:48 the book of Job, chapter 19, he understood about the 35:52 resurrection back then. 35:54 Verse 25, he says: 36:04 And though after my skin worms destroy this body, 36:08 yet in my flesh shall I see God: whom I shall see for myself, 36:15 and mine eyes shall behold, and not another; 36:18 though my reins be consumed within me. 36:21 In other words, I know I'm going to die. 36:24 I know my body will be consumed, and will go back to dust. 36:28 Dust to dust, and ashes to ashes, but on that great 36:31 getting up morning my confidence is in Him to bring me together, 36:37 and I will see Him face to face because He promised. Amen! 36:43 That's the promise! 36:45 So you don't have to worry about if you're going to be cremated, 36:48 if you're buried, or any of those different ways, 36:50 or even if, God forbid, you were eaten by animals. 36:54 And we had so many of the martyrs who were destroyed 36:56 by lions, and all of those things, burned on the stake, 36:59 ashes just thrown to the wind. 37:01 Don't you worry my friends. 37:03 On the great getting up morning God will bring 37:06 His people together. Amen! 37:10 He Himself, Jesus, spoke about the resurrection. 37:14 Turn with me quickly to the book of John, John 5 again, 37:19 and we see these things written here just for our learning, 37:22 and our educating. 37:24 Looking at chapter 5, book of John, beginning with verse 25. 38:13 Now folks, hold it, hold it right here. 38:16 We said the reality of death, and then we talk about 38:19 the reality of hell. 38:21 Jesus just said that the day will come when His voice 38:26 shall pierce the graves, and the dead in Christ shall come up. 38:30 And He also said that there will be a second resurrection 38:33 that will go forth, and it will pierce the graves of all of the 38:37 wicked, and they will receive their just reward. 38:40 So, hey, that tell me, ladies and gentlemen, 38:43 that hell's not burning, or filled with people. 38:53 How many of us have heard so many times how God has sent 38:57 the wicked to hell. 38:59 Burning in hell for ever, and ever, and ever, and ever, 39:05 and ever, burning in hell. 39:06 If that were true, ladies and gentlemen, then the God that 39:10 we serve, we love, folks at home, He would not be the 39:14 merciful God that we know. Amen! 39:17 Because someone who lived a hundred years ago, 39:19 who killed one person, and somebody who killed 5, or 6, 39:26 or maybe 100, no matter what they have done today, 39:29 if you go to hell immediately when you die, then the judgment 39:36 or the execution of the sentence would never be equitable. Amen! 39:41 Because that person who was there a hundred years ago 39:43 would have been in the fire for a hundred years for what they 39:46 did for one crime, and then you come along. 39:49 You've done something worse, and you don't have. 39:52 They have 100 years on you. 39:55 That wouldn't be fair, now would it? No! 39:59 And then you're burning throughout all of eternity. 40:03 Let's come back here. 40:06 Let's, na na na, keep that in your mind, because we're going 40:08 to wind that down as we close up. 40:10 And that part's going to go fast. 40:11 But let's finish with this death thing. 40:13 So Jesus comes there. 40:15 You know the story. 40:16 He comes there. My Bible tells me in Luke, in John 11, 40:21 that as He asked them, Where did they lay him. 40:24 And they take Him to the point where they have laid Lazarus 40:29 and then in His majestic voice, in His power that is in Him, 40:34 because He is the very Son of God, He tells us that Jesus 40:39 said, Lazarus, come forth! 40:44 But before He did that, in verse 41 of chapter 11, it says: 40:49 Then they took away the stone from the place where the dead 40:52 was laid. And Jesus lifted up His eyes, and said, Father, I 40:56 thank Thee that thou has heard Me. 40:58 And I knew that Thou hearest Me always: but because of the 41:02 people which stand by I said it, 41:15 One preacher said that Jesus had to call Lazarus by name, 41:19 because if He didn't say that, then everybody 41:21 would have got up. 41:23 One day, huh, one day! It says: 41:39 Now folks, Lazarus lived a pretty good while 41:43 after that resurrection. 41:45 If he would have gone straight to glory, 41:48 Lazarus would have had a book. 41:49 And it might have been a book where he was 41:52 a little bit bitter. 41:53 Because after we've talked about the glories of heaven last 41:57 night, can you imagine, you die, you led a pretty good life. 42:00 You died, you go bingo, popped up to heaven, 42:04 and then the Lord calls you back? 42:06 Back down here to planet Earth? 42:09 Back down here to traffic, sickness, pain, disappointment, 42:16 seeing our loved ones die. 42:19 That would have been torture after being there for four days. 42:26 Hallalulah, for four days! 42:28 I'd say, Lord, I can't come. 42:30 But I hear you calling my name. 42:32 But I can't come now! 42:34 So when we look at this Biblically, 42:38 ladies and gentlemen, look at me. 42:40 When you look at this Biblically it makes sense that when you're 42:44 dead you're in the grave. 42:45 Jesus calls it sleep. 42:46 And, ladies and gentlemen, when you look at Jesus 42:49 when He died Himself on the cross of Calvary, 42:52 and you look at that in the book of John again, 42:55 turning to chapter 20, chapter 20, book of John, we see that 43:00 very early in the morning, looking at verse 1, chapter 20, 43:04 book of John, very early on that morning as the ladies went back 43:09 to the graveside, they wanted to do some things there. 43:12 John 20, let me just get it here for us so we can follow along. 43:16 John 20:1, The first day of the week cometh Mary Magdalene 43:22 early, when it was yet dark, unto the sepulcher, 43:25 and seeth the stone taken away from the sepulcher. 43:27 Then she runneth, and cometh to Simon Peter, and to the other 43:30 disciple, whom Jesus loved, and saith unto them, They have taken 43:34 away the Lord out of the sepulcher, and we know not 43:36 where they have laid him. 43:37 Peter therefore went forth, and that other disciple, 43:40 and came to the sepulcher. 43:41 So they ran both together: and the other disciple did outrun 43:45 Peter, and came first... 43:47 And they got there. 43:49 And it says in verse 7: 43:50 And the napkin, that was about his head, not lying with the 43:53 linen clothes, but wrapped together in a place by itself. 43:57 My Jesus is so neat that when He took those things off, 44:00 He just put them down. 44:01 A God of order, not of confusion. 44:06 We all know what happened that night, and we don't have 44:09 time to go into all of it, but just in a quick synopsis, 44:12 we know that the Father was satisfied with the sacrifice 44:15 of Jesus, and He told Gabriel, Go get My Son, and Gabriel came 44:19 with a speed faster than sound, faster than light. 44:22 He landed so hard that He caused an earthquake. 44:24 Those individuals who were standing around that were 44:26 supposed to keep Jesus in the grave, they fell down 44:29 like dead men. Then the angel ripped off the rock and threw 44:33 it out of the way. 44:34 And then Gabriel said with his most angelic voice, 44:37 Jesus, Thou Son of the Most High God, 44:40 Your Father calleth You! Amen! 44:43 And then Jesus comes forth from the grave saying, 44:48 I am the resurrection and the life, and I have the keys 44:52 of hell, and of death. Amen! 44:55 And He came out victorious. 44:58 If anybody deserved to go straight to heaven when he died, 45:01 it should have been Jesus. Amen! 45:03 No sin in Him! But He stayed there in the grave as an example 45:07 for us, and to underscore this, and ladies and gentlemen, 45:10 when you look at the Bible, and you see that this is true, 45:14 because when Mary was crying about Him, 45:16 and she wanted to see Him, and He was gone and she was 45:19 wondering what happened to Him, that they took Him away. 45:21 And she was weeping, and Jesus spoke to her. 45:24 And she said to him, Where have You taken Him? 45:27 Let me know and I will carry Him away, verse 15, the end part. 45:30 And Jesus said unto her, Mary, and she turned herself and said 45:34 to Him, Raboni, which is to say, Master, and Jesus said unto her, 45:37 Read these words, look at them, underline them. 45:40 He says, Touch me not for I have not... 45:54 In other words He didn't go there directly. 45:58 He did the same things that we must do as we face death. 46:06 And it's here in the book that we might have a 46:09 more sure word of prophecy. 46:12 So I look at that and I begin to smile, and I'm very happy 46:18 because my God has made it clear to me, and it's made it clear 46:22 to you to know that He did these things that we might understand 46:27 that death is but a sleep. 46:31 I turn to 1 Thessalonians. 46:36 And how many times have I read this at funerals. 46:41 For those individuals who have lost loved ones. 46:45 And, you know, I've been to some funerals that have been just so 46:49 sad, and so hard, where everybody was crying, 46:53 and there was no hope. 46:55 Folks I've been to other funerals where the people are 46:59 just so happy, because they know this person 47:03 lived a good life. 47:04 It says in 1 Thessalonians 4:14: 47:14 Again sleep. Peter and Paul understood it. 47:41 That means to soothe them, to reassure them, to calm them, 47:44 to give them the hope, cheer them, assure them, to let them 47:49 know that they will see their loved ones again. 47:53 Now folks, when we look at that and understand it, 47:56 we don't have a problem with death. 47:58 And when we look at what we talked about, 48:00 the two resurrections, which means people aren't in hell 48:03 burning now, and no one else is in heaven right now, 48:06 we need to understand that hell is a day in the future. 48:10 Turn with me quickly in your Bibles to the book of Malachi, 48:14 Malachi 4:1, and it tells us and 48:17 Malachi is the last book of the Old Testament. 48:21 It says this about hell. It says: 48:38 Now listen to the wording. 48:39 It says, It shall burn them up and shall leave them 48:43 neither root nor branch. 48:44 In other words there'll be nothing left; 48:47 burned them up, root or branch. 48:51 Satan is the root, and those that follow him 48:55 are the branches. 48:56 Matthew 25:41 tells us that hell was made for the 49:02 devil and his angels. 49:03 It was not made for one human being. 49:06 If you would turn with me to the book of Jude, one chapter, 49:12 book of Jude. It tells us in verse 6 that... 49:41 The word eternal fire. 49:44 Now that's where people get mixed up about hell 49:50 burning on forever. 49:51 It says eternal fire. 49:54 We saw in Malachi 4, it says, They shall be burned up. 49:58 When you go back to Malachi 4, Malachi 4, and you move 50:03 down a few verses, you will see that it tells us 50:06 something else about them who burn. 50:09 It says in verse 3, And you shall tread down the wicked; 50:13 for they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet 50:17 in the day that I shall do this, saith the Lord of hosts. 50:20 In other words, after, after hell fire burns the wicked up, 50:26 Satan and his angels, and all the human beings that choose 50:29 to go with him, the byproduct of that fire is ashes. 50:33 So, ladies and gentlemen, the ashes that will take place here 50:38 on planet Earth, will be when that lake of fire is ignited 50:43 that we read about in the very beginning of chapter 20 of the 50:47 book of Revelation. 50:48 It says in verse 9, And they went up on the breadth of the 50:52 earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, 50:54 and the beloved city: and fire came down from God out of 50:57 heaven, and devoured them. 50:59 And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire 51:03 and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, 51:05 and shall be tormented day and night forever and ever. 51:08 That forever and ever is until it's burned up! Amen! 51:14 Until it doesn't exist anymore. 51:16 Until it is reduced to ashes. 51:21 And we see the justice of God in doing what He does, 51:27 the way He does it for the salvation of mankind. 51:30 So my friends, tonight we've learned something. 51:35 We've learned that death is a sleep for the saints of God. 51:39 And even for those who are not a saint of God, they will sleep, 51:43 and they will be awakened at the second resurrection. 51:47 And there they will receive their punishment for not 51:52 allowing the love of Jesus Christ to save their souls, 51:57 that He has so freely given unto us. 52:00 But for you and I who love the Lord with all our hearts, 52:05 with all our souls, we have the blessed hope of knowing that 52:10 the King of kings, and the King of Glory is coming back for us. 52:13 Today my friends if you have some sickness at home, 52:18 and the doctors tell you you have so much time. 52:20 Well, doctors practice medicine, Jesus knows the end. 52:24 And I've seen folks that they said you have three weeks, 52:27 and I've seen them live 3 years, 30 years. Amen! 52:30 But even if you go, don't fret if you are in Jesus you shall 52:36 live again. Amen! 52:38 And you will be able to go to your grave with the peace 52:40 of mind that lets you know that because of the love of God, 52:45 because of the blood that was shed on Calvary, 52:48 you will rise again! Amen! 52:54 Go ahead, drive the nails in My hands. 53:03 Laugh at Me where you stand. 53:13 Go ahead, say it isn't Me. 53:19 Very soon you will see. 53:28 Cause I'll rise again. 53:37 Ain't no power on earth can hold Me down. 53:45 Yes, I'll rise again. 53:53 Death can't keep Me in the ground. 54:04 Go ahead and mock My name. 54:12 My love for you is still the same. 54:21 Go ahead, and say I'm dead and gone. 54:30 You will see that you were wrong, 54:36 cause I'll rise again. 54:45 Ain't no power on earth can hold Me down. 54:53 Yes, I'll rise again. 55:03 Death can't keep Me in the ground. 55:11 Go ahead and say I'm dead and gone. 55:19 You will see that you were wrong. 55:27 Go ahead and try to hide the sun, 55:35 but all will see that I'm the One. 55:43 Yes, I'll come again. 55:51 Oh, ain't no power on earth can hold Me back. 55:59 Yes, I'll come again. 56:09 Come to take My people back. 56:18 Come to take My people back. Amen! 56:27 Friends, don't fear death for God has conquered death. 56:33 In 1 Corinthians 15:26 says, And the last enemy 56:40 that shall die, it will be death. Praise God! 56:45 Because of the life of Jesus, we have life. 56:52 God bless you, and trust in His sweet, sweet Word. |
Revised 2014-12-17