1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:09,600 So that's one thing we do. So remember as you get your response card, if you have any questions, 2 00:00:09,600 --> 00:00:16,000 if you have any comments, if you have any prayer requests, please write those on there and we will 3 00:00:16,960 --> 00:00:25,440 look at, we'll draw that out again tomorrow night. And then we have a question from yesterday. 4 00:00:25,440 --> 00:00:30,960 Because last night we talked about the seventh day Sabbath and we saw that it was in Genesis 5 00:00:30,960 --> 00:00:37,120 and throughout Scripture. And the question was given, what about the feast days? Because the 6 00:00:37,120 --> 00:00:43,760 feast days in the Bible are also sometimes called Sabbaths. And we do see stories where Jesus 7 00:00:44,560 --> 00:00:51,360 kept the feast days, like Passover, He also kept the feast of lights, which isn't one of the original 8 00:00:51,360 --> 00:00:58,000 feast days, but is probably what we would modern day would call Hanukkah. But He keeps that in 9 00:00:58,000 --> 00:01:03,280 John. So what is going on with the feast days? Well, let's look at a couple of verses here. 10 00:01:03,280 --> 00:01:13,120 Let's go to Leviticus chapter 23. So Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus chapter 23 is where we see 11 00:01:13,120 --> 00:01:22,080 the majority of these feasts mentioned. Leviticus chapter 23. So this is when the children of Israel 12 00:01:22,080 --> 00:01:28,000 are making their way through the wilderness, going from Egypt, making their way to the promised land 13 00:01:28,000 --> 00:01:34,160 and God is giving them instructions in what they are supposed to do. And you can notice Leviticus 14 00:01:34,160 --> 00:01:43,760 23 and verse 3, it says, six days shall work be done, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of solemn 15 00:01:43,760 --> 00:01:50,720 rest, a holy convocation. You shall do no work on it. It is the Sabbath of the Lord in all your 16 00:01:50,720 --> 00:01:58,160 dwellings. So that is talking about that Sabbath that goes back to Genesis chapter 2, that's in 17 00:01:58,160 --> 00:02:04,240 Exodus 20, that seventh day Sabbath. Six days you shall work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath. 18 00:02:04,240 --> 00:02:11,120 The rest of this chapter, if your Bible has little subtitles like mine does, the next subtitle says 19 00:02:11,120 --> 00:02:17,840 the Passover and unleavened bread. And verse 4 begins and says, these are the feasts of the Lord, 20 00:02:17,840 --> 00:02:24,080 holy convocations which you shall proclaim in their appointed times. And then it gives the dates for 21 00:02:24,080 --> 00:02:30,880 Passover and unleavened bread and the feast of firstfruits and the feast of weeks, which in the 22 00:02:30,880 --> 00:02:36,720 New Testament became Pentecost, and then the feast of trumpets and the day of atonement and the 23 00:02:36,720 --> 00:02:44,560 feast of tabernacles and so forth. So all of these different feasts are listed there. But before that, 24 00:02:44,560 --> 00:02:50,320 it talks about the seventh day Sabbath. And two or three of these through this chapter are actually 25 00:02:50,320 --> 00:02:58,000 two or three of these feasts are referred to as a Sabbath day because it was a day of 26 00:02:58,000 --> 00:03:05,920 worship, it was a day of rest, it was a day of celebration for those people. Let's keep that in 27 00:03:05,920 --> 00:03:16,960 mind, but let's turn over to Ezekiel, Ezekiel chapter 45. So Isaiah chapter 45, 28 00:03:16,960 --> 00:03:28,720 so Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, and then Ezekiel, Ezekiel chapter 45. And verse 17, 29 00:03:28,720 --> 00:03:42,800 Ezekiel 45 and verse 17. It says in Ezekiel 45 verse 17, then it shall be the prince's part to 30 00:03:42,800 --> 00:03:50,320 give, and it lists off a bunch of things here, burnt offerings, grain offerings, drink offerings, 31 00:03:50,320 --> 00:03:56,320 and then it talks about the feast, the new moons, the Sabbaths, and at all the appointed seasons of 32 00:03:56,320 --> 00:04:01,520 the house of Israel. So again, it's talking about different feasts, different celebrations, 33 00:04:02,880 --> 00:04:09,120 and it's talking about, as it says in, he shall prepare the sin offering, the grain offering, 34 00:04:09,120 --> 00:04:14,480 the grain offering, the burnt offering, and the peace offerings, and then it says specifically 35 00:04:14,480 --> 00:04:21,120 for the house of Israel, for the house of Israel, it says right there. And let's look at one more 36 00:04:21,120 --> 00:04:27,120 here. Let's look at Colossians in the New Testament, Colossians chapter 2, because sometimes 37 00:04:27,120 --> 00:04:36,240 people have a question about this as well with this topic. Colossians chapter 2, Colossians chapter 2, 38 00:04:36,240 --> 00:04:44,640 and verse, we'll start in verse 16 here. Colossians 2 and verse 16. It says, 39 00:04:45,760 --> 00:04:52,880 so let no one judge you in food or in drink or regarding a festival or a new moon or Sabbath. 40 00:04:52,880 --> 00:05:00,240 It's those same list of things listed in the same order. And then notice verse 17. It says, 41 00:05:00,240 --> 00:05:10,080 which are a shadow of things to come, a shadow of things to come, but the substance is of Christ. 42 00:05:10,960 --> 00:05:18,240 And so those feast days, the Passover feast, all of those feasts that we 43 00:05:18,240 --> 00:05:25,680 relisted in Leviticus 23, those are a shadow of things to come. The substance is Jesus. Those 44 00:05:25,680 --> 00:05:32,720 are pointing to Jesus as the Messiah, different segments of his ministry, including his second 45 00:05:32,720 --> 00:05:39,840 coming. The seventh day Sabbath, is that a shadow of something to come? No, we saw last night, 46 00:05:39,840 --> 00:05:46,960 it's a memorial of something that happened. It's a memorial of God as our creator. It's looking back 47 00:05:46,960 --> 00:05:53,920 at what Jesus has done before there was a house of Israel, before there was any type of nationality 48 00:05:53,920 --> 00:06:01,840 or anything. And so those feasts pointed forward, looked forward to Jesus and his ministry. 49 00:06:01,840 --> 00:06:08,560 The seventh day Sabbath looks back to the creative power of God and the creative power of Jesus. So 50 00:06:08,560 --> 00:06:15,040 I hope that answers a little bit. If you have more questions about that, please write that down or 51 00:06:15,040 --> 00:06:20,560 ask me later or any other questions that you might have. And so there's one other thing that 52 00:06:20,560 --> 00:06:28,080 we need to do. Miss Katie asked me to do this because at our last session this morning, I 53 00:06:28,080 --> 00:06:34,960 mentioned how baptism is like marriage and I talked about my marriage and I had a picture, 54 00:06:35,520 --> 00:06:42,080 but our screens weren't working this morning. And so I wasn't able to show the picture. I did show 55 00:06:42,080 --> 00:06:48,240 Miss Katie, but she said, well, you should show it to everybody. So here is a picture from 15 years 56 00:06:48,240 --> 00:06:55,760 ago. Jolie and I, this was at a wedding chapel in Gatlinburg when we got married. And so that was 57 00:06:55,760 --> 00:07:03,200 requested to show tonight since we didn't get to show it this morning. So I'm a little bit thinner, 58 00:07:04,400 --> 00:07:11,360 no hair then, no hair now. So that part didn't change, but that was from then. 59 00:07:11,360 --> 00:07:17,600 So one other thing that we want to mention, as we shared last night, we talked about 60 00:07:18,160 --> 00:07:22,400 the Seventh-day Sabbath and for some people that was a new thing. That was something you hadn't 61 00:07:22,960 --> 00:07:29,120 learned, you hadn't heard before. And so we want to offer a free book. It's a book by Mark Finley. 62 00:07:29,120 --> 00:07:35,840 He used to be the speaker for a show called It Is Written. And he has written a book about the 63 00:07:35,840 --> 00:07:41,840 Sabbath and it's called When God Said Remember. If you would like to receive this book, then on 64 00:07:41,840 --> 00:07:48,720 your response card, just write on the front or the back, just write free book and we'll see how 65 00:07:48,720 --> 00:07:54,080 many we need to get and we'll make sure that we get that to you because it's a small book. 66 00:07:54,080 --> 00:08:00,320 It's easy to understand. It answers questions that people might have. And it even talks about 67 00:08:00,320 --> 00:08:06,480 the experience of what does it mean to keep the Sabbath? It doesn't matter. How can it impact 68 00:08:06,480 --> 00:08:13,680 my life in a grace-oriented, in a Christ-centered way? So if you would like that book, just write 69 00:08:13,680 --> 00:08:19,760 that on that response card and we'll make sure that we get that for you and have that for you. 70 00:08:19,760 --> 00:08:28,640 So I think that's all of the business that we need to mention. I do want to say one thing because 71 00:08:28,640 --> 00:08:34,560 we put this online and we put it on there, but if anyone is watching online right now and you have 72 00:08:34,560 --> 00:08:41,520 a question or would like a book, let us know. Write that question. Send us that question. Tell 73 00:08:41,520 --> 00:08:45,280 us you want the book and we'll make sure that you can get some of these materials as well. 74 00:08:46,000 --> 00:08:51,040 But with that in mind, let's bow our heads and we'll get started at this time. 75 00:08:51,920 --> 00:08:57,200 Dear God, we thank you so much for a beautiful Sabbath day that we have been able to do. 76 00:08:57,200 --> 00:09:05,120 We thank you that we could come back together again and join and open up your Word and be 77 00:09:05,120 --> 00:09:13,440 reminded of the incredible saving grace that Jesus has for us and the incredible gift of life 78 00:09:13,920 --> 00:09:20,320 and the gift of eternal life. Lord, just open up our hearts and minds to all that you would have 79 00:09:20,320 --> 00:09:27,920 us to learn. In your name we pray. Amen. So just one other thing I thought of. When do we meet next? 80 00:09:30,560 --> 00:09:36,640 Not Thursday. Oh, come on. Oh my goodness. When do we meet next? Let's try that again. 81 00:09:37,600 --> 00:09:45,680 Tomorrow night at seven and then Thursday. So one more of this weekend and then we'll take some days 82 00:09:45,680 --> 00:09:54,880 off. So we meet Sunday night at seven and then Thursday. So tonight's topic is Revelation's 83 00:09:54,880 --> 00:10:01,280 keys of death. I want to introduce you to a gentleman named George Van Tussle. He's an 84 00:10:01,280 --> 00:10:12,080 aerospace mechanic. He's an inventor and he's also a UF-ologist. What? A UF-ologist. He studies 85 00:10:12,080 --> 00:10:21,040 UFOs, unidentified flying objects, and in the 50s he moved out to the desert of California 86 00:10:21,600 --> 00:10:27,280 close to a place called Giant Rock and he would lead people out near this rock and they would 87 00:10:27,280 --> 00:10:35,840 meditate and do different things like that. And in 1953, George Van Tussle claimed that he was 88 00:10:35,840 --> 00:10:45,760 visited by a UFO, by a spacecraft from the planet Venus. He came and woke him up, invited him onto 89 00:10:45,760 --> 00:10:52,880 the spaceship and then while he was on that spaceship verbally and telepathically gave him 90 00:10:52,880 --> 00:11:00,800 instructions to create something called the integraton. The integraton. What in the world 91 00:11:00,800 --> 00:11:08,720 is the integraton? Well he described that this was a scientific and spiritual research that was to 92 00:11:09,760 --> 00:11:21,040 rejuvenate the cells to anti-aging, anti-death. Perhaps even time travel was involved and this 93 00:11:21,040 --> 00:11:27,840 invention was supposedly able to at the minimum extend life and perhaps even 94 00:11:27,840 --> 00:11:36,640 make humans to be able to defy death completely. Unfortunately the integraton was never fully 95 00:11:36,640 --> 00:11:42,400 completed due to the fact that when it was about to open in just a couple short weeks 96 00:11:42,400 --> 00:11:52,800 Mr. Van Tussle died. Prematurely his sudden death led to the end of that experiment, to the end of 97 00:11:52,800 --> 00:12:00,160 that scientific whatever you want to call that. It did not extend his life and the integraton is 98 00:12:00,160 --> 00:12:06,560 still there serving as a tourist attraction there if you want to visit it in California. 99 00:12:07,520 --> 00:12:15,600 Van Tussle like so many people was trying to go on a quest to discover eternal life 100 00:12:15,600 --> 00:12:22,000 and to avoid the clutches of death. But the good news is that as we study the Bible tonight, as we 101 00:12:22,000 --> 00:12:27,840 dig into prophecy and revelation we're going to see that the Bible gives us some clear answers 102 00:12:27,840 --> 00:12:34,080 about death and we're going to go to Revelation chapter 1 because this is a question that people 103 00:12:34,080 --> 00:12:40,320 have had throughout the years, throughout the centuries, throughout the millennia. What happens 104 00:12:40,320 --> 00:12:47,680 after life? What is death all about? And many many people throughout the years have tried different 105 00:12:47,680 --> 00:12:55,280 things to overcome that and to try to avoid death. But as they say there's two things that are certain 106 00:12:55,280 --> 00:13:03,920 in life, taxes is one and death is the other. So we're going to go to Revelation 1 and verse 18. 107 00:13:03,920 --> 00:13:11,120 As we dig into this opening chapter again of Revelation, this is the words of Jesus and in 108 00:13:11,120 --> 00:13:21,200 Revelation 1 18 we see that the Bible says, Jesus speaking here says, I am he who lives and was dead 109 00:13:21,760 --> 00:13:29,760 and behold I am alive forevermore. Amen. And I have the keys of Hades and the keys of the 110 00:13:29,760 --> 00:13:36,880 death. Jesus is saying this is not a topic that we have to be afraid of. This is not something 111 00:13:36,880 --> 00:13:45,680 that we need to worry about. God is saying this can be a scary thing but not for us. He says I 112 00:13:45,680 --> 00:13:54,400 lived, I died on the cross, I went to the grave and I overcame that. I resurrected, I came back, 113 00:13:54,400 --> 00:14:03,360 I had victory over death and now I hold the keys of death. And Jesus wants to share that with us. 114 00:14:03,360 --> 00:14:11,440 He wants to give us the answers to questions that we might have. And so as we look at this tonight, 115 00:14:11,440 --> 00:14:19,200 as we want to consider the end of life, I think an important thing is to first think about the 116 00:14:19,200 --> 00:14:24,640 formation of life, look at the beginning of life. So like we've done so many times, we're going to 117 00:14:24,640 --> 00:14:29,360 go from Revelation and we're going to go all the way back to the beginning, we're going to go 118 00:14:29,360 --> 00:14:36,160 to Genesis. And so we're going to go to Genesis chapter 3. Genesis chapter 3, we've read this 119 00:14:36,160 --> 00:14:43,520 passage before because we read about a war that started in heaven and it came down to the end of 120 00:14:43,520 --> 00:14:50,480 the earth. I think that was about the second night that we were together and that same story 121 00:14:50,480 --> 00:15:00,240 plays into this aspect. So Genesis chapter 3, we're going to start in verse 1. Genesis chapter 3 122 00:15:00,240 --> 00:15:07,200 and verse 1, it says, Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field, which the 123 00:15:07,200 --> 00:15:15,120 Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, Has God indeed said, You shall not eat of every tree 124 00:15:15,120 --> 00:15:21,440 of the garden? And the woman said to the serpent, We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden, 125 00:15:21,440 --> 00:15:27,840 but the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, You shall not eat it, 126 00:15:27,840 --> 00:15:33,440 nor shall you touch it, lest you touch it. And the woman said to the serpent, We may eat the fruit 127 00:15:33,440 --> 00:15:37,600 of the tree of the garden, but the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has 128 00:15:37,600 --> 00:15:46,400 said, You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you what? Lest you die. And then the serpent 129 00:15:46,400 --> 00:15:54,880 said to the woman, You will not surely die, for God knows that in the day you eat of it, your eyes 130 00:15:54,880 --> 00:16:03,360 will be opened and you will be like God knowing good and evil. So we have Adam and Eve here in a 131 00:16:03,360 --> 00:16:08,960 garden. For they were filming God going throw themselves near this tree of knowledge of good 132 00:16:08,960 --> 00:16:14,880 and evil, the one they were supposed to avoid. And there's the serpent there. And who 133 00:16:14,880 --> 00:16:22,400 is the serpent? Satan or the devil. The Bible clearly says that the serpent is the devil. And 134 00:16:22,400 --> 00:16:32,080 as Eve is there, Satan tries to twist things as Satan often does. And he starts off saying, 135 00:16:32,080 --> 00:16:38,720 eat of every tree of the garden? That's not what God said. God didn't say most of 136 00:16:38,720 --> 00:16:43,000 those trees they were able to eat from. How many were they not supposed to eat 137 00:16:43,000 --> 00:16:48,700 from? Only one. And the only thing that made that tree different is that God 138 00:16:48,700 --> 00:16:57,560 said don't eat from it. And so Eve, a mistake, she tries to argue with the 139 00:16:57,560 --> 00:17:03,720 devil. She tries to correct the serpent and she says no we may eat the fruit of 140 00:17:03,720 --> 00:17:08,800 the trees of the garden but the one in the middle of the garden God has said 141 00:17:08,800 --> 00:17:17,800 don't do it or we will die. Now God knew that when humankind chooses to disobey 142 00:17:17,800 --> 00:17:24,620 him that sin separates us from God, separates us from the life-giver and it 143 00:17:24,620 --> 00:17:31,100 sets us upon Satan's ground and it begins the process of death. Now they 144 00:17:31,100 --> 00:17:36,440 didn't die in that very moment in that very instant but that process of death 145 00:17:36,440 --> 00:17:43,680 begun at that time. And so while God says you will die the serpent says the very 146 00:17:43,680 --> 00:17:50,960 first lie that was ever told was a lie about life and death where the serpent 147 00:17:50,960 --> 00:17:57,720 said you will not surely die. And there's a lot of people that don't want to walk 148 00:17:57,720 --> 00:18:03,520 through a cemetery at night because they know those people are dead but they're 149 00:18:03,520 --> 00:18:09,480 not sure if they're they're surely dead or not. And so that's why it's important 150 00:18:09,480 --> 00:18:15,320 to understand this subject because the devil tells a lie about it. You will not 151 00:18:15,320 --> 00:18:20,960 surely die. Instead he says if you eat this fruit you're gonna you're gonna 152 00:18:20,960 --> 00:18:26,920 become like God. You're gonna become more wise. You're going to know good and evil. 153 00:18:26,920 --> 00:18:33,480 In fact the mysteries of the universe will be opened to you. God never intended 154 00:18:33,480 --> 00:18:40,840 for us to know evil. But this lie that Satan tells it precisely mirrors a 155 00:18:40,840 --> 00:18:47,160 spiritualism in the world today. Spiritualism says that when you die well 156 00:18:47,160 --> 00:18:53,400 you're not you're not really dead. You're just in another sphere another world of 157 00:18:53,400 --> 00:18:59,800 existence and that idea of spiritualism goes all the way back here to the Garden 158 00:18:59,800 --> 00:19:06,040 of Eden. And ever since then the devil has been trying to twist the truth that 159 00:19:06,040 --> 00:19:15,240 God has laid down in his word. We know that the wages of sin is is death. But 160 00:19:15,240 --> 00:19:21,400 Satan wants to say oh no you're not gonna surely die. Even something like 161 00:19:21,400 --> 00:19:28,520 that the wages of sin is death. But Jesus says I am the one that has the keys of 162 00:19:28,520 --> 00:19:34,640 death. And so we want to to untwist the devil's lie and we want to see God's 163 00:19:34,640 --> 00:19:42,080 truth. And as we do this tonight we have to start by explaining looking at a 164 00:19:42,080 --> 00:19:48,320 particular term. The term that we need to explain that we need to look at is the 165 00:19:48,320 --> 00:19:54,960 term immortal soul. Anybody ever heard that term before immortal soul? Yes we've 166 00:19:54,960 --> 00:20:03,080 heard of that. People talk about it. But it may surprise us that that term never 167 00:20:03,080 --> 00:20:13,160 ever ever never appears in the Bible. It's never there. There are 1500 1600 168 00:20:13,160 --> 00:20:21,040 times the word soul appears and it is never referred to as an immortal soul. In 169 00:20:21,040 --> 00:20:28,440 fact the only thing that is referred to as immortal in all of God is excuse me 170 00:20:28,440 --> 00:20:36,320 in all of the Bible is God himself. The soul humanity is never referred to as 171 00:20:36,320 --> 00:20:41,920 immortal. But like some of these other things that we've talked about this kind 172 00:20:41,920 --> 00:20:48,280 of crept in through some pagan philosophy during the Middle Ages. Now 173 00:20:48,280 --> 00:20:52,380 you can take out a concordance. You can look it up online. You can look up the 174 00:20:52,380 --> 00:20:59,240 word soul in Scripture and it will never ever be referred to as the immortal soul. 175 00:20:59,240 --> 00:21:06,160 Even though that is a term that we have heard so many times. So what is a soul? 176 00:21:06,160 --> 00:21:11,360 Well let's figure that out. Let's stay here in Genesis but let's go 177 00:21:11,360 --> 00:21:18,440 back to Genesis chapter 2. This story of creation here Genesis chapter 2 and 178 00:21:18,440 --> 00:21:23,840 verse 7 because if we want to understand death we've got to know for sure what 179 00:21:23,840 --> 00:21:30,840 life is the process of life. So we're gonna look at Genesis 2 and verse 7 and 180 00:21:30,840 --> 00:21:37,880 the Bible says the Lord God formed man out of the the dust of the ground and 181 00:21:37,880 --> 00:21:48,420 breathed into his nostrils the breath of life and man became a living soul. So we 182 00:21:48,420 --> 00:21:54,440 see that as God is involved in this creative act you can almost picture God 183 00:21:54,440 --> 00:22:03,360 with hands in the dirt, hands in the mud forming, creating Adam with his hands 184 00:22:03,360 --> 00:22:10,960 and then breathing into him the breath of life and it says man became a living 185 00:22:10,960 --> 00:22:18,240 soul. So a soul is not something that God put in to Adam and Eve. It's something 186 00:22:18,240 --> 00:22:27,320 that they are. Man became a living soul. So dust plus breath equals a soul and a 187 00:22:27,320 --> 00:22:34,960 soul is simply a living person, a living being. I don't have a soul. I am a soul. 188 00:22:34,960 --> 00:22:42,000 You don't have a soul. You are a soul and we sometimes use phrases like that if 189 00:22:42,000 --> 00:22:46,860 we see someone you know maybe down on their luck or they're going through 190 00:22:46,860 --> 00:22:53,640 some things in life we might say oh that poor soul. My son is a pilot. He's 191 00:22:53,640 --> 00:22:59,800 working to be a pilot. He's training and pilots and captains of ships they use 192 00:22:59,800 --> 00:23:06,880 the same phrase. They say something like we have 63 souls on board. That's not 193 00:23:06,880 --> 00:23:10,040 that doesn't mean in the back of the plane they have a bunch of you know 194 00:23:10,040 --> 00:23:16,840 Casper the friendly ghosts. It means they've got 63 people, 63 souls on board. 195 00:23:16,840 --> 00:23:25,280 So dust plus breath as we see here in Genesis 2 7 equals a soul equals a 196 00:23:25,280 --> 00:23:31,880 person. The soul is not something separate from the body. The soul is who 197 00:23:31,880 --> 00:23:39,400 we are. Like I said the soul that word is used 1600 times in the Bible and never 198 00:23:39,400 --> 00:23:46,720 once is it something that's inside. It's simply referring to individuals. Let's 199 00:23:46,720 --> 00:23:51,640 let's look at some. Don't worry we're not gonna look at 1600 but let's let's look 200 00:23:51,640 --> 00:23:59,280 at two here. Let's go to Genesis chapter 46. Genesis chapter 46 and verse 27 and 201 00:23:59,280 --> 00:24:05,320 in the King James Version it says and the sons of Joseph so this is talking 202 00:24:05,320 --> 00:24:12,160 about Joseph he had been sold as a slave into Egypt and God blessed him and he 203 00:24:12,160 --> 00:24:19,560 rose to a position of power. The sons of Joseph which were born him in Egypt were 204 00:24:19,560 --> 00:24:26,320 two souls and all the souls of the house of Jacob which came into Egypt were 205 00:24:26,320 --> 00:24:33,240 three score and ten or sixty and ten seventy people. So there were two souls 206 00:24:33,240 --> 00:24:41,520 that Joseph's wife gave birth to. Is that two little ghosts? Two little spooks? No 207 00:24:41,520 --> 00:24:48,720 it's two people. Two people is what that's referring to. She gave birth to 208 00:24:48,720 --> 00:24:53,720 two little baby boys. Let's go to the New Testament. Let's go to Acts chapter 2. 209 00:24:53,720 --> 00:25:00,960 Acts chapter 2. This is the story of one of those feast days that became the day 210 00:25:00,960 --> 00:25:06,200 of Pentecost as Peter and the other disciples were empowered by the Holy 211 00:25:06,200 --> 00:25:10,840 Spirit and they were were preaching in the power of God and notice what 212 00:25:10,840 --> 00:25:18,880 happened at the end of their sermon. Acts 2 and verse 41 it says the Bible says 213 00:25:18,880 --> 00:25:26,560 then those who gladly received his word were baptized and that day about 3,000 214 00:25:26,560 --> 00:25:32,160 souls were added to them. What an incredible day of the gospel that was 215 00:25:32,160 --> 00:25:39,000 as Peter finished that sermon the people said what must we do? Repent and be 216 00:25:39,000 --> 00:25:47,920 baptized and 3,000 people, 3,000 souls gave their hearts to Jesus and were 217 00:25:47,920 --> 00:25:57,440 baptized that day. Not Casper but 3,000 people because a soul is a person and 218 00:25:57,440 --> 00:26:05,720 that's why in Ezekiel 18 verse 20 it says the 219 00:26:05,720 --> 00:26:14,480 soul who sins shall die. So a soul is able to die because you and I are a soul. 220 00:26:14,480 --> 00:26:21,080 We don't have a soul. We are a soul and the wages of sin is death so the soul 221 00:26:21,080 --> 00:26:27,320 who sins will die. That's just what the Bible teaches. So we have to ask 222 00:26:27,320 --> 00:26:34,640 ourselves the question what happens when someone dies? Is there something 223 00:26:34,640 --> 00:26:41,000 that goes back? Is there something that returns? Well let's ask the 224 00:26:41,000 --> 00:26:46,560 wisest man who ever lived. Who is that in the Bible? Solomon. 225 00:26:46,560 --> 00:26:52,640 Let's go to the book of Ecclesiastes. So you've got Psalms, Proverbs, 226 00:26:52,640 --> 00:26:57,880 and Ecclesiastes. We haven't been there yet in our series. So Psalms, Proverbs, 227 00:26:57,880 --> 00:27:04,240 and then Ecclesiastes written by Solomon who was given great wisdom by God and 228 00:27:04,240 --> 00:27:10,440 we're going to go to Ecclesiastes chapter 12. Ecclesiastes chapter 12 the 229 00:27:10,440 --> 00:27:16,240 last chapter of the book and we're going to look at verse 7. This is one of the 230 00:27:16,240 --> 00:27:23,040 the wisdom books. It's got many different sayings and different tidbits of wisdom 231 00:27:23,040 --> 00:27:31,680 and in Ecclesiastes 12 7 the Bible says then the dust will return to the earth 232 00:27:31,680 --> 00:27:39,320 as it was and the spirit will return to God who gave it. Okay so this is what 233 00:27:39,320 --> 00:27:44,480 happens when somebody dies. The dust returns to the earth just like God 234 00:27:44,480 --> 00:27:50,080 created humanity from the dirt, from the mud, from the dust and it says the 235 00:27:50,080 --> 00:27:54,600 spirit will return to God who gave it and some would say oh there it is 236 00:27:54,600 --> 00:28:00,360 there's that immortal it's not a soul but the spirit but let's hold 237 00:28:00,360 --> 00:28:05,440 on here for just a second let's determine what this spirit is. Let's let 238 00:28:05,440 --> 00:28:12,040 the Bible interpret it for us because the body makes sense you know there's a 239 00:28:12,040 --> 00:28:17,840 the old children saying ashes to ashes and dust to dust and so when someone 240 00:28:17,840 --> 00:28:23,440 dies we know they return to dust that that comes from the Bible here the body 241 00:28:23,440 --> 00:28:30,600 returns to the elements but then what about this spirit? It says the spirit 242 00:28:30,600 --> 00:28:37,320 returns to God. What did what happened in Genesis 2 7? God formed the man from the 243 00:28:37,320 --> 00:28:42,840 dust of the ground and then what did he do? He breathed into him the breath of 244 00:28:42,840 --> 00:28:51,080 life. Now the Hebrew word for spirit is a word ruach and that word really means 245 00:28:51,080 --> 00:28:58,200 breath. You can you don't have to take my word for it. Let's look at a verse here 246 00:28:58,200 --> 00:29:07,120 let's look at Job chapter 27. Job chapter 27 and verse 3. Job chapter 27 247 00:29:07,120 --> 00:29:14,240 and verse 3 we see these two words are interchangeable here. It says all the 248 00:29:14,240 --> 00:29:23,840 while my my breath is in me and the Spirit of God is in my nostrils. Now is 249 00:29:23,840 --> 00:29:30,800 that the Holy Spirit hanging out in our nose? No no that's not what it's talking 250 00:29:30,800 --> 00:29:35,440 about. The Holy Spirit has has better places to be than than in our nose but 251 00:29:35,440 --> 00:29:40,760 it's that that same phrase that breath and the Spirit of God that spark of 252 00:29:40,760 --> 00:29:47,440 life that God breathed into him the breath of life and man became a living 253 00:29:47,440 --> 00:29:52,200 soul. This sounds a little bit strange but it makes sense when you think about 254 00:29:52,200 --> 00:30:02,960 it because when someone dies they stop breathing and that breath that spark of 255 00:30:02,960 --> 00:30:10,520 life goes back to God and so just a few verses of Scripture can kind of make 256 00:30:10,520 --> 00:30:18,120 that clear as we put these things together. So what happens to someone what 257 00:30:18,120 --> 00:30:23,880 happens to someone after they die? Is there life beyond the grave? Is there any 258 00:30:23,880 --> 00:30:30,360 consciousness? What's going on here? Let's stay in Ecclesiastes but let's go to 259 00:30:30,360 --> 00:30:37,200 Ecclesiastes chapter 9. Ecclesiastes chapter 9 because we'll see what Solomon 260 00:30:37,200 --> 00:30:44,840 says about this. Ecclesiastes chapter 9 we're gonna look at verse 5 starting 261 00:30:44,840 --> 00:30:51,320 Ecclesiastes 9 and verse 5. The Bible says for the living know that they will 262 00:30:51,320 --> 00:30:58,840 die but the dead know nothing and they have no more reward for the memory of 263 00:30:58,840 --> 00:31:05,760 them is forgotten also their love their hatred their envy have now perished 264 00:31:05,760 --> 00:31:11,960 nevermore will they have a share in anything under the Sun. Then it goes on 265 00:31:11,960 --> 00:31:17,280 in verse 10 and it says whatever your hand finds to do do it with all your 266 00:31:17,280 --> 00:31:24,240 might for there is no work or device or knowledge or wisdom in the grave where 267 00:31:24,240 --> 00:31:29,600 you are going. So let's kind of let's kind of summarize and look at what we 268 00:31:29,600 --> 00:31:36,120 saw. The living know they will die but the dead know nothing. The dead know nothing 269 00:31:36,120 --> 00:31:42,920 and then it says their memory is gone because of their unconsciousness that 270 00:31:42,920 --> 00:31:47,920 they don't have any memories anymore and we have to pause here for just a second 271 00:31:47,920 --> 00:31:53,980 because sometimes when people read this the memory of them is forgotten people 272 00:31:53,980 --> 00:31:59,840 will say well wait a second I'm not gonna forget my mother that passed away 273 00:31:59,840 --> 00:32:04,760 I'm not gonna forget my grandmother but that's not what it's talking about of 274 00:32:04,760 --> 00:32:10,560 course we are going to remember those people that we love those people that we 275 00:32:10,560 --> 00:32:15,760 care about it's saying that those who have passed away their memory their 276 00:32:15,760 --> 00:32:21,200 consciousness is is going to be peacefully sleeping in the grave they're 277 00:32:21,200 --> 00:32:27,400 no longer involved in the affairs of the world as as we see here so there our 278 00:32:27,400 --> 00:32:33,840 memory of them is not gone but their thoughts their memories are no longer 279 00:32:33,840 --> 00:32:39,560 because it says the living know that they will die but the dead know nothing 280 00:32:39,560 --> 00:32:44,800 and that's why it goes on and says their love their hatred their envy have 281 00:32:44,800 --> 00:32:50,440 perished we have precious people with us and we're going to continue to remember 282 00:32:50,440 --> 00:32:56,160 them and sometimes maybe you've been to a funeral as a pastor I've done numerous 283 00:32:56,160 --> 00:33:02,360 funerals over the years and the hardest ones are the ones where family members 284 00:33:02,360 --> 00:33:08,840 have have something that they haven't straightened out they have hard feelings 285 00:33:08,840 --> 00:33:14,400 about that person that passed away and they never said I love you they never 286 00:33:14,400 --> 00:33:20,280 said I'm sorry they never they withheld forgiveness or whatever it was and now 287 00:33:20,280 --> 00:33:25,240 it seems so silly that they didn't communicate that they avoided each other 288 00:33:25,240 --> 00:33:31,380 and now death has come and it's erased any possibility so I would just 289 00:33:31,380 --> 00:33:39,320 encourage you say you're sorry forgive someone make that call to that person 290 00:33:39,320 --> 00:33:43,400 that you haven't talked to in a while just be the bigger person because 291 00:33:43,400 --> 00:33:47,720 there's gonna come a time when you're not gonna be able to do that anymore so 292 00:33:47,720 --> 00:33:54,680 don't let death make that decision for you go ahead and say I love you give 293 00:33:54,680 --> 00:34:02,000 them a hug before it's too late life is too precious for us to be harboring ill 294 00:34:02,000 --> 00:34:08,480 feelings toward each other what does it say in verse 10 whatever your hand finds 295 00:34:08,480 --> 00:34:16,960 to do do it with all your might don't let little things offend you or get in 296 00:34:16,960 --> 00:34:22,920 the way make things right before death comes and puts a stop to even that 297 00:34:22,920 --> 00:34:27,880 capability of doing that because the truth is we don't know when our time 298 00:34:27,880 --> 00:34:33,440 will come we look forward to Jesus coming again very soon but we don't know 299 00:34:33,440 --> 00:34:37,640 what's gonna happen between between now and then so whatever your hand finds to 300 00:34:37,640 --> 00:34:45,640 do do it with all your might take your life seriously take your your spiritual 301 00:34:45,640 --> 00:34:52,320 life seriously take your walk with Jesus seriously whatever your hand finds to do 302 00:34:52,320 --> 00:34:57,480 do it with all your might there's a benefit to knowing the Jesus of the 303 00:34:57,480 --> 00:35:03,580 Bible because Jesus says I've got the keys I've got the keys of life I've got 304 00:35:03,580 --> 00:35:12,520 keys of death I've got victory over the grave so what does that mean for us well 305 00:35:12,520 --> 00:35:19,440 God gives us Jesus gives us a demonstration of what that victory over 306 00:35:19,440 --> 00:35:26,240 the grave looks like let's turn to John the gospel of John chapter 11 John 307 00:35:26,240 --> 00:35:32,680 chapter 11 you know Jesus as he ministered on this earth he had a lot of 308 00:35:32,680 --> 00:35:37,840 people that were but listen to him but then there was a whole lot of people 309 00:35:37,840 --> 00:35:41,880 that were out to get him and they wanted to do everything they could to 310 00:35:41,880 --> 00:35:48,360 entrap him to trick him and there was at least one place that Jesus could go to 311 00:35:48,360 --> 00:35:54,560 kind of escape from the the crowd escape from those who were after him and that 312 00:35:54,560 --> 00:36:00,200 was the home of three siblings two sisters and a brother Mary Martha and 313 00:36:00,200 --> 00:36:05,720 their brother Lazarus and the Bible says that in Bethany sometimes Jesus would be 314 00:36:05,720 --> 00:36:13,480 there with that family but something happened one day and Lazarus the brother 315 00:36:13,480 --> 00:36:19,360 became very sick he became ill now Jesus was in another part of the the country at 316 00:36:19,360 --> 00:36:26,040 that point in another part of the territory and so Mary and Martha sent 317 00:36:26,040 --> 00:36:32,920 word to Jesus if Jesus can heal the sick if he can cleanse the leper if he can 318 00:36:32,920 --> 00:36:38,480 make the lame to walk again then surely he will come and heal his friend our 319 00:36:38,480 --> 00:36:44,960 brother Lazarus and so they sent word to Jesus please come Lazarus is sick and 320 00:36:44,960 --> 00:36:52,720 what happened next astounded the disciples because Jesus got that 321 00:36:52,720 --> 00:37:01,120 message and then he he waited he didn't go he waited about two days and we'll 322 00:37:01,120 --> 00:37:09,260 pick up the story in John 11 and verse 11 John chapter 11 and verse 11 notice 323 00:37:09,260 --> 00:37:15,220 what the Bible says in John 11 and verse 11 that these things he said and after 324 00:37:15,220 --> 00:37:22,280 that he said to them our friend Lazarus sleeps but I go that I may wake him up 325 00:37:22,280 --> 00:37:28,880 so he tells the disciples Lazarus is what he's sleeping and the disciples 326 00:37:28,880 --> 00:37:33,840 think right that's that's great his disciples said Lord if he sleeps he'll 327 00:37:33,840 --> 00:37:39,200 get well when you or I are sick it's really nice to take a long nap and to 328 00:37:39,200 --> 00:37:44,200 get some some extra sleep if he sleeps he's gonna get well but notice what it 329 00:37:44,200 --> 00:37:50,000 says next however Jesus spoke of his death but they 330 00:37:50,000 --> 00:37:56,000 thought he was speaking about taking a rest and sleep and then Jesus said to 331 00:37:56,000 --> 00:38:06,200 them plainly verse 14 Lazarus is dead what word did Jesus use to describe 332 00:38:06,200 --> 00:38:14,240 this death he said that Lazarus was asleep and over and over in Scripture 333 00:38:14,240 --> 00:38:19,480 about 50 different times five zero fifty different times the Bible refers to 334 00:38:19,480 --> 00:38:28,240 death using that phrase that idea of sleep he was sleeping in the grave and 335 00:38:28,240 --> 00:38:34,600 then now two days later Jesus goes to Bethany and by the time he got there 336 00:38:34,600 --> 00:38:41,080 Lazarus had died and when Lazarus excuse me when Jesus went to the tomb the 337 00:38:41,080 --> 00:38:46,160 family was there that the friends were there the mourners were there and Jesus 338 00:38:46,160 --> 00:38:54,120 his heart touched Jesus's heart was broken and it's there we find the 339 00:38:54,120 --> 00:39:00,960 shortest verse in the Bible maybe you've memorized this verse for some time when 340 00:39:00,960 --> 00:39:07,440 a you know at some contest will recite a memory verse and you knew the shortest 341 00:39:07,440 --> 00:39:15,400 verse in the Bible John 11 35 where it says Jesus wept it's the shortest verse 342 00:39:15,400 --> 00:39:20,960 in the Bible but one of the most profound because it shows that the 343 00:39:20,960 --> 00:39:27,400 Jesus's heart was touched as Mary and Martha and the other people that were 344 00:39:27,400 --> 00:39:32,440 there as their hearts were broken by the death of their brother by the death of 345 00:39:32,440 --> 00:39:39,120 their friend Jesus is a sympathizing Savior and Jesus weeps along with them 346 00:39:39,120 --> 00:39:44,520 he saw the pain that they were going through and it broke his heart and he 347 00:39:44,520 --> 00:39:51,080 cried with them now Jesus knew in just a few moments little spoiler alert that 348 00:39:51,080 --> 00:39:55,680 Jesus is going to raise Lazarus from the dead he knew that was about to happen 349 00:39:55,680 --> 00:40:02,520 and yet he still wept because he saw the emotion and the people around him you 350 00:40:02,520 --> 00:40:08,400 think Jesus still weeps when he sees challenging things in our world when he 351 00:40:08,400 --> 00:40:15,440 sees hearts that are broken when he sees individuals that are crying because of a 352 00:40:15,440 --> 00:40:21,920 sad horrific thing that happened in their life but Jesus here decided to 353 00:40:21,920 --> 00:40:28,440 give them a picture of what it means for him to hold the keys of death he prays 354 00:40:28,440 --> 00:40:37,000 to to his father and we'll pick up the story in verse 43 John 11 and verse 43 355 00:40:37,000 --> 00:40:42,600 we see what happens here now when he had said these things he cried with a loud 356 00:40:42,600 --> 00:40:50,800 voice Lazarus come forth and he who had died came out bound hand and foot with 357 00:40:50,800 --> 00:40:57,040 grave clothes and his face wrapped with a cloth and then it goes on and says 358 00:40:57,040 --> 00:41:01,480 Jesus said to them loose him and let him go 359 00:41:01,480 --> 00:41:12,360 Jesus called out Lazarus come forth do you think there was a shock in the crowd 360 00:41:12,360 --> 00:41:19,400 what's he what's he talking about he's been dead four days he stinks it said 361 00:41:19,400 --> 00:41:24,880 earlier and there was probably a little bit of a pause there because Lazarus is 362 00:41:24,880 --> 00:41:29,600 still in the grave clothes it would take him a little while to to sit up to 363 00:41:29,600 --> 00:41:35,120 jump out to shuffle out it would take a few minutes and the people are like what 364 00:41:35,120 --> 00:41:41,240 is going on and then they could see him and Jesus said loose him and let him go 365 00:41:41,240 --> 00:41:47,280 take those grave clothes off of him as this miracle took place as Jesus the one 366 00:41:47,280 --> 00:41:54,560 with the keys of death speaks life into one who had been dead for multiple days 367 00:41:54,560 --> 00:42:02,200 and we can imagine an alternative ending if the Bible taught something else 368 00:42:02,200 --> 00:42:09,240 imagine they unwrap Lazarus his eyes are getting adjusted to the light and he's 369 00:42:09,240 --> 00:42:15,360 like where am I what happened and his sisters maybe Martha's like Lazarus you 370 00:42:15,360 --> 00:42:21,960 died you were dead for four days and and Jesus brought you back to life and with 371 00:42:21,960 --> 00:42:29,160 a with a look of anger on his face Lazarus could have said this is the 372 00:42:29,160 --> 00:42:34,720 fictional story Jesus why did you do that I was on the streets of gold I was 373 00:42:34,720 --> 00:42:39,800 singing in the heavenly choir why would you bring me back to this sinful world 374 00:42:39,800 --> 00:42:47,040 to this place of pain to this place of decay of all these different things but 375 00:42:47,040 --> 00:42:54,280 that's not what happened because Lazarus was sleeping Lazarus was resting in the 376 00:42:54,280 --> 00:43:01,440 grave and and the Bible says that we'll get our reward at the second coming if 377 00:43:01,440 --> 00:43:07,280 we if we went to heaven as soon as we die why does the Bible talk about a 378 00:43:07,280 --> 00:43:11,880 resurrection why does it talk about something else why would Jesus pull 379 00:43:11,880 --> 00:43:17,880 Lazarus from the glories of paradise and bring him back that would be that would 380 00:43:17,880 --> 00:43:23,720 be almost a dirty trick you could say but Lazarus is sleeping and that's why he 381 00:43:23,720 --> 00:43:30,160 had no story to tell and if you think about it sleep is a beautiful way to 382 00:43:30,160 --> 00:43:36,280 think about it because if you've had a long day or a long week and you lay your 383 00:43:36,280 --> 00:43:42,960 head down at night and you sleep how many hours six hours eight hours ten 384 00:43:42,960 --> 00:43:49,440 hours anybody get ten hours of sleep I hope that you do but but you those hours 385 00:43:49,440 --> 00:43:55,080 of sleep pass and the next thing you know the the alarms going off are the 386 00:43:55,080 --> 00:44:00,400 dogs jumping on you because it's time to take them out whatever it is and and you 387 00:44:00,400 --> 00:44:06,560 you wake up and you're like whoa is it is it time to get up already and seven 388 00:44:06,560 --> 00:44:11,920 hours have passed and you don't even realize it because you've been asleep 389 00:44:11,920 --> 00:44:18,080 you've been sleeping and that time passes by unnoticed and the Bible says 390 00:44:18,080 --> 00:44:24,000 that's what death is like the next thing that someone sees is is the face of 391 00:44:24,000 --> 00:44:29,920 Jesus and when someone is resting in the grave then sin can't hurt them anymore 392 00:44:29,920 --> 00:44:34,680 then a heartache can't hurt them anymore whether they've been in the grave for 393 00:44:34,680 --> 00:44:40,240 three years or three thousand years they won't know the difference the next thing 394 00:44:40,240 --> 00:44:45,280 they know is they see the face of Jesus Christ they see the the one who has the 395 00:44:45,280 --> 00:44:52,120 keys of death the one who is waking them from the grave and sometimes people say 396 00:44:52,120 --> 00:45:00,000 well pastor I don't I don't like that because you know I have loved ones who 397 00:45:00,000 --> 00:45:07,480 have passed away and I like to picture them in heaven this takes my my joy away 398 00:45:07,480 --> 00:45:15,600 but if we think about it how much joy would there be for my mom if she was in 399 00:45:15,600 --> 00:45:22,920 heaven and looking down and seeing mistakes that are made seeing people 400 00:45:22,920 --> 00:45:29,960 turning away from God seeing relationships broken seeing hearts 401 00:45:29,960 --> 00:45:35,080 broken over different things seeing grandchildren or children or a relative 402 00:45:35,080 --> 00:45:43,840 strain from the Lord seeing a nephew die at a young age when his mom is still 403 00:45:43,840 --> 00:45:49,040 weeping that's not that doesn't bring joy as you see heartache as you see all 404 00:45:49,040 --> 00:45:54,560 these different things but when someone is resting in the grave then they're 405 00:45:54,560 --> 00:46:00,080 resting in God's protection and the heartaches of this world and the sins 406 00:46:00,080 --> 00:46:06,800 of the world doesn't impact them anymore doesn't mess with them anymore and we 407 00:46:06,800 --> 00:46:13,820 get to all experience the glories of the second coming together well let's look 408 00:46:13,820 --> 00:46:18,000 at a verse we've looked at this before but let's go to 1st Thessalonians chapter 409 00:46:18,000 --> 00:46:25,720 4 there's 1st Thessalonians chapter 4 is an incredible promise about a day that I 410 00:46:25,720 --> 00:46:31,400 think is coming very soon 1st Thessalonians chapter 4 and verse 16 it's 411 00:46:31,400 --> 00:46:37,720 the Bible says for the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a shout with 412 00:46:37,720 --> 00:46:44,000 the voice of the Archangel with the trumpet of God and the dead in Christ 413 00:46:44,000 --> 00:46:49,560 will rise first the dead in Christ will rise first but then notice what happens 414 00:46:49,560 --> 00:46:56,680 then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up what's that next word 415 00:46:56,680 --> 00:47:03,400 together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air and thus we shall 416 00:47:03,400 --> 00:47:08,520 always be with the Lord what an incredible promise we get to be caught 417 00:47:08,520 --> 00:47:14,920 up together so that we can always be with the Lord and that's an incredible 418 00:47:14,920 --> 00:47:22,000 picture of that wake-up call that that wake-up trumpet that God is going to to 419 00:47:22,000 --> 00:47:28,160 pour out upon all who have passed away all who have died in him in fact 1st 420 00:47:28,160 --> 00:47:35,400 Corinthians 15 it says that the mortal will put on immortality at that 421 00:47:35,400 --> 00:47:42,640 resurrection at that last trumpet so you can almost picture that day the clouds 422 00:47:42,640 --> 00:47:50,520 the glory the trumpet the voice of the Archangel the the graves bursting open 423 00:47:50,520 --> 00:47:58,120 and think of reunions that will take place mothers brought to their their 424 00:47:58,120 --> 00:48:05,960 children who passed away too soon spouses being reunited siblings being 425 00:48:05,960 --> 00:48:11,920 reunited parents and grandparents grandchildren brothers and sisters 426 00:48:11,920 --> 00:48:18,160 together making their journey to the kingdom of heaven why Jesus is their 427 00:48:18,160 --> 00:48:24,280 Savior why because Jesus has the the victory over the grave Jesus has the 428 00:48:24,280 --> 00:48:31,320 keys of death what an incredible day that will be but we've got to talk about 429 00:48:31,320 --> 00:48:36,760 a couple other things here as incredible as that day is because sometimes people 430 00:48:36,760 --> 00:48:42,700 ask questions well what about you know I see a I read a book or I see a show 431 00:48:42,700 --> 00:48:49,000 about some sort of near-death experience or or someone who talks to somebody 432 00:48:49,000 --> 00:48:54,840 different things like that one thing we need to keep in mind is that when a body 433 00:48:54,840 --> 00:49:01,240 is going through some sort of serious trauma perhaps with with medication or 434 00:49:01,240 --> 00:49:06,800 is near death the mind can can do lots of different things I mean it can do 435 00:49:06,800 --> 00:49:11,880 that on a normal night how many of us have had a dream of something and we 436 00:49:11,880 --> 00:49:15,600 wake up the next day and we're like whoa that that monster was chasing after me 437 00:49:15,600 --> 00:49:21,600 and it was just a dream and that's just a normal day the mind can do the same 438 00:49:21,600 --> 00:49:28,180 thing when the body is hovering between life and death and then some would say 439 00:49:28,180 --> 00:49:34,620 well why why does this even matter well it's important because Jesus said that 440 00:49:34,620 --> 00:49:41,760 he has the keys of life the keys of death and we recognize that Jesus is 441 00:49:41,760 --> 00:49:48,720 all we need for salvation we're saved by grace we're not saved by works but every 442 00:49:48,720 --> 00:49:54,680 teaching every doctrine of the Bible is something that if we misunderstand it 443 00:49:54,680 --> 00:50:00,520 then we can misunderstand the character of God and so a particular doctrine may 444 00:50:00,520 --> 00:50:07,960 not save me but it can help me to stay on the right path with God and so 445 00:50:07,960 --> 00:50:14,000 sometimes in our society today we may see you know on television or on the 446 00:50:14,000 --> 00:50:22,000 internet or a phone number to call where you can talk to a medium or a psychic or 447 00:50:22,000 --> 00:50:27,680 someone who says oh I can communicate with someone on the other side I can 448 00:50:27,680 --> 00:50:34,200 talk to someone who has who has passed away and the occult or the supernatural 449 00:50:34,200 --> 00:50:41,920 have become a billion dollar business in the world so what do we make of that 450 00:50:41,920 --> 00:50:48,440 can someone claim to talk to someone who is dead and yet the Bible says the dead 451 00:50:48,440 --> 00:50:55,120 know nothing well let's look at a verse let's go to Isaiah chapter 47 Isaiah 452 00:50:55,120 --> 00:51:04,480 chapter 47 so Isaiah and then Jeremiah so kind of the middle of the Old 453 00:51:04,480 --> 00:51:10,360 Testament we're gonna go to Isaiah chapter 47 and God gives some very strong 454 00:51:10,360 --> 00:51:17,840 language about how to to deal how to think about people who are speaking to 455 00:51:17,840 --> 00:51:22,600 the dead or claiming to speak to the dead and he's actually uttering a rebuke 456 00:51:22,600 --> 00:51:28,920 here against Babylon and spiritualism goes all the way back to that kingdom of 457 00:51:28,920 --> 00:51:34,440 Babylon and even before as we saw it in in the Garden of Eden so let's read 458 00:51:34,440 --> 00:51:42,520 Isaiah 47 and we're gonna start in verse 12 Isaiah 47 and verse 12 notice what 459 00:51:42,520 --> 00:51:48,320 the Bible says stand now with your enchantments and the multitude of your 460 00:51:48,320 --> 00:51:53,760 sorceries in which you have labored from your youth perhaps you will be able to 461 00:51:53,760 --> 00:51:59,320 profit perhaps he will prevail you are wearied in the multitude of your 462 00:51:59,320 --> 00:52:05,320 councils let now the astrologers the stargazers and the monthly 463 00:52:05,320 --> 00:52:10,280 prognostic haters stand up and save you from what shall come upon you so they've 464 00:52:10,280 --> 00:52:14,640 been talking to these different groups and God says good luck let them let them 465 00:52:14,640 --> 00:52:21,720 help you and then it says behold they shall be as stubble and the fire shall 466 00:52:21,720 --> 00:52:27,260 burn them so they're trying to get help from these other people and God uses 467 00:52:27,260 --> 00:52:33,420 some pretty some pretty blatant language there he says see if they profit you see 468 00:52:33,420 --> 00:52:40,640 what kind of advice they give you and in verse 14 he's basically saying get away 469 00:52:40,640 --> 00:52:46,520 from them because theirs is a road that leads straight to the fires of 470 00:52:46,520 --> 00:52:52,520 destruction to the fires of hell that's how serious God is he's saying have 471 00:52:52,520 --> 00:52:59,320 nothing to do with this get away get as far away as possible because we've seen 472 00:52:59,320 --> 00:53:05,560 that the Bible says the living know they shall die but the dead know nothing so 473 00:53:05,560 --> 00:53:12,200 if people are communicating with someone on the on the other side someone who has 474 00:53:12,200 --> 00:53:19,900 died who are they really communicating with it's not my grandma it's not my 475 00:53:19,900 --> 00:53:26,600 mother because they're sleeping in the grave it's something else let's look at 476 00:53:26,600 --> 00:53:31,000 second Thessalonians second Thessalonians chapter 2 second 477 00:53:31,000 --> 00:53:37,000 Thessalonians chapter 2 notice what it says here in second Thessalonians chapter 478 00:53:37,000 --> 00:53:43,760 2 it says the coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan 479 00:53:43,760 --> 00:53:52,720 with all notice these words powers signs and lying wonders the devil can can do 480 00:53:52,720 --> 00:53:59,120 wonders the devil can do signs can do miracles how did the devil appear in the 481 00:53:59,120 --> 00:54:05,440 Garden of Eden he was a snake he was a talking snake he was a serpent so it 482 00:54:05,440 --> 00:54:11,800 appears that the devil can impersonate even a dead loved one because he knows 483 00:54:11,800 --> 00:54:16,720 how deceptive that would be if someone were to come and say you know what all 484 00:54:16,720 --> 00:54:20,840 that stuff in the Bible that's not really true that's not accurate don't 485 00:54:20,840 --> 00:54:25,680 follow any of that anymore I should know I've died I've gone to 486 00:54:25,680 --> 00:54:31,040 heaven let me tell you what what it's really all about that would be very 487 00:54:31,040 --> 00:54:37,800 deceptive if we saw someone who we cared about who we loved telling us to do away 488 00:54:37,800 --> 00:54:43,400 with what God teaches us so we need to make sure that we're we're trusting in 489 00:54:43,400 --> 00:54:50,040 what the Bible says because we see that the devil wants to deceive us for every 490 00:54:50,040 --> 00:54:57,200 truth that God has the devil has a counterfeit the devil has a deception I 491 00:54:57,200 --> 00:55:00,600 want to look at one more verse here because this is one that sometimes 492 00:55:00,600 --> 00:55:08,280 people have a question about we can see all these verses but but there may be a 493 00:55:08,280 --> 00:55:15,880 one that sometimes people wonder about and what about the question is what 494 00:55:15,880 --> 00:55:20,800 about the thief on the cross when Jesus died on the cross there were two thieves 495 00:55:20,800 --> 00:55:27,320 with him what did he say to that guy let's look in Luke chapter 23 496 00:55:27,320 --> 00:55:35,760 Luke chapter 23 Luke chapter 23 this is Jesus on the cross it's told in all of 497 00:55:35,760 --> 00:55:41,480 the Gospels but in Luke it tells the story of this conversation with this 498 00:55:41,480 --> 00:55:51,120 criminal on the cross notice what Jesus says in Luke 23 and verse 43 the Bible 499 00:55:51,120 --> 00:55:58,880 says and Jesus said assuredly I say to you today you will be with me in paradise 500 00:55:58,880 --> 00:56:05,080 okay well okay look that's he says today you're gonna be in paradise is that what 501 00:56:05,080 --> 00:56:11,040 it says that's what it looks like it says but let's consider something there's 502 00:56:11,040 --> 00:56:18,120 a problem here Jesus is not saying that okay today on on Good Friday when I die 503 00:56:18,120 --> 00:56:23,160 on the cross you're gonna be with me in paradise because if that's what he says 504 00:56:23,160 --> 00:56:27,720 then that contradicts what we just read about the living though they shall die 505 00:56:27,720 --> 00:56:33,720 and the dead no nothing we've seen that it talks about a sleep until a 506 00:56:33,720 --> 00:56:42,840 resurrection in the scripture the punctuation was not there initially in 507 00:56:42,840 --> 00:56:48,000 the Greek and the punctuation makes a huge difference let's look at an example 508 00:56:48,000 --> 00:56:54,400 here now this next slide I'm gonna put up this is for exhibits only this is not 509 00:56:54,400 --> 00:56:58,920 something that I believe I just want to I just want to be clear about that so 510 00:56:58,920 --> 00:57:05,040 this phrase says a woman without her man is nothing this is just for example's 511 00:57:05,040 --> 00:57:09,440 purpose I just want to make that clear it says a woman without her man is 512 00:57:09,440 --> 00:57:16,440 nothing but if we were to add a little punctuation notice what it says a woman 513 00:57:16,440 --> 00:57:24,320 without her man is nothing this is probably much more accurate here but 514 00:57:24,320 --> 00:57:31,400 just a couple points of punctuation change the entire meaning but let's look 515 00:57:31,400 --> 00:57:38,160 at one more here this next one you know a young child is hungry and they say 516 00:57:38,160 --> 00:57:44,720 let's eat grandma if you were to take out some punctuation there it changes 517 00:57:44,720 --> 00:57:50,720 the meaning totally let's eat grandma that meal suddenly is no longer grandma's 518 00:57:50,720 --> 00:57:56,360 you know famous mashed potatoes but it's something totally different the 519 00:57:56,360 --> 00:58:01,960 punctuation makes a big difference so what does that mean for this story that 520 00:58:01,960 --> 00:58:08,000 we're looking at in Luke chapter 23 as I said the the punctuation was not there 521 00:58:08,000 --> 00:58:12,440 initially so as they were in the medieval churches they were putting this 522 00:58:12,440 --> 00:58:18,920 in that prevailing idea is that when you die you go somewhere but let's just 523 00:58:18,920 --> 00:58:26,760 change that punctuation just a little bit and now it says and Jesus said to him 524 00:58:26,760 --> 00:58:36,880 assuredly I say to you today you will be with me in paradise and so Jesus in this 525 00:58:36,880 --> 00:58:44,080 time of turmoil as his life is draining from his body his life blood is draining 526 00:58:44,080 --> 00:58:49,320 from his body this criminal is about to die as well as he's also on a cross 527 00:58:49,320 --> 00:58:55,040 Jesus says to him I say to you today when it when all hope seems to be gone 528 00:58:55,040 --> 00:59:00,760 when when all hope seems to be lost I'm telling you today that you will be with 529 00:59:00,760 --> 00:59:06,880 me in paradise and that is in perfect harmony with the rest of the verses of 530 00:59:06,880 --> 00:59:13,120 the Bible in fact it could not be the other way because it wouldn't go with 531 00:59:13,120 --> 00:59:19,960 the story with the happenings of Jesus himself if you look over at John chapter 532 00:59:19,960 --> 00:59:27,320 20 John chapter 20 as as Mary comes to the tomb on that Sunday morning of the 533 00:59:27,320 --> 00:59:32,040 resurrection she sees someone she doesn't recognize who it is at first and 534 00:59:32,040 --> 00:59:37,600 then Jesus calls her name and she falls down and grabs hold of his feet and 535 00:59:37,600 --> 00:59:45,720 Jesus says to her do not cling to me for I have not yet ascended to my Father so 536 00:59:45,720 --> 00:59:49,800 he couldn't tell that criminal you're gonna be with me today in paradise 537 00:59:49,800 --> 00:59:56,520 because Jesus didn't even go to paradise Jesus slept in the grave Jesus slept in 538 00:59:56,520 --> 01:00:02,600 that tomb Jesus was not lying to Mary Jesus was not lying to the thief he said 539 01:00:02,600 --> 01:00:07,580 on this darkest day I'm gonna give you hope and I'm gonna tell you that you 540 01:00:07,580 --> 01:00:12,840 will be with me in paradise when I come in my kingdom when that trumpet blows 541 01:00:12,840 --> 01:00:19,360 you will be with me in paradise and now we can see that with the comma in the 542 01:00:19,360 --> 01:00:26,200 right place these verses all make sense and God knew that we could put these 543 01:00:26,200 --> 01:00:32,400 verses in scripture together and that we can trust in what God says and I want to 544 01:00:32,400 --> 01:00:39,080 leave with with this verse here in John 11 verse 25 as Jesus is there with Mary 545 01:00:39,080 --> 01:00:47,480 and Martha as he's brought about to bring Lazarus back Jesus says I am the 546 01:00:47,480 --> 01:00:55,720 resurrection and the life he who believes in me though he may die yet he 547 01:00:55,720 --> 01:01:00,680 shall live death is not something that we have to be afraid of because in this 548 01:01:00,680 --> 01:01:07,800 world we recognize that unless Jesus comes first death is coming but we see 549 01:01:07,800 --> 01:01:13,920 that Jesus paid the death penalty for us that Jesus laid down his life on the 550 01:01:13,920 --> 01:01:20,680 cross so that we can have his righteous life Jesus took my sins so that I can 551 01:01:20,680 --> 01:01:27,720 have his perfect life Jesus holds the keys of death and when we have Jesus 552 01:01:27,720 --> 01:01:36,080 then death is not anything to fear it's only a sleep it's only a sleep for a 553 01:01:36,080 --> 01:01:41,440 short time until Jesus comes again and if I want to have victory over the grave 554 01:01:41,440 --> 01:01:47,120 the way that I can do that is to have Jesus as my Savior and so as we've 555 01:01:47,120 --> 01:01:51,720 mentioned night by night it's up to you it's up to me to make sure am I 556 01:01:51,720 --> 01:01:58,120 accepting Jesus as my Lord and Savior am I willing to trust my life with him 557 01:01:58,120 --> 01:02:05,560 because he holds the key of death Jesus says I am the resurrection and the life 558 01:02:05,560 --> 01:02:12,480 let's bow our heads for prayer dear God a difficult subject we don't like to to 559 01:02:12,480 --> 01:02:17,200 think about death or talk about death and yet we can see that there's good news 560 01:02:17,200 --> 01:02:23,440 because we recognize that Jesus is the giver of life that Jesus is the Savior 561 01:02:23,440 --> 01:02:29,920 that Jesus holds the keys of death and we cannot wait for that trumpet to sound 562 01:02:29,920 --> 01:02:36,320 for that cloud to burst forth so that we can be caught up together to meet the 563 01:02:36,320 --> 01:02:41,600 Lord in the air and we can always be together with our loved ones together 564 01:02:41,600 --> 01:02:46,000 with our family together with all who have given their heart to you and Lord 565 01:02:46,000 --> 01:02:52,640 be with each one of us and may we just see your grace and see your power in our 566 01:02:52,640 --> 01:03:19,600 life in your name we pray amen