Participants:
Series Code: BTLP
Program Code: BTLP000103A
|
00:38 Hello and welcome to Behold the Lamb presents,
00:41 I'm Chris Shelton, your host, 00:42 and I want to thank you for joining us today. 00:45 Today's message is entitled Life After Death. 00:49 It is lesson number 11 00:50 in this wonderful Bible study guide 00:52 that's entitled 00:53 "Sharing God's Love Makes You Happier 00:56 What the Bible Says." 00:58 You know, with so many homes in America, 01:01 we have as many as three, four, five Bibles 01:04 or more just lying around our homes, 01:06 but people really never rarely pick them up. 01:10 We really don't know what's inside. 01:13 Is there life after death? 01:15 Are there hopes? 01:16 Has God left something in His Word just for you, 01:19 just for me? 01:21 You know, a couple of family members 01:23 have approached myself and my husband of late 01:26 dealing with a lot of stress. 01:28 They're stressed out because they keep thinking, 01:31 interesting, both of them, keep thinking about death. 01:35 They know that they're getting older, 01:37 and with all the questionable things 01:39 that are happening in our world today, 01:42 they both have said 01:43 that they just keep thinking about dying, 01:46 and they're not comfortable with that thought, not at all. 01:50 Can you have peace? Can you have a comfort? 01:54 Is there a hope of life after death? 01:57 Before we answer these questions today 01:59 with Pastor Kenny Shelton, 02:01 we're going to visit the 3ABN worship center 02:03 and listen to a song that is entitled, 02:06 "He Hideth My Soul," by Diane Anders. 02:28 A wonderful Savior 02:33 Is Jesus my Lord 02:37 A wonderful Savior to me 02:44 He hideth my soul 02:49 In the cleft of the rock 02:53 Where rivers of pleasure 02:57 I see 03:01 He hideth my soul 03:05 In the cleft of the rock 03:09 That shadows a dry, thirsty land 03:17 He hideth my life 03:22 In the depths of his love 03:26 And covers me there with his hand 03:34 And covers me there with his hand 03:54 A wonderful Savior 03:59 Is Jesus my Lord 04:03 He taketh my burden away 04:11 He hodelth me up 04:15 And I shall not be moved 04:19 He giveth me strength as my day 04:27 He hideth my soul 04:32 In the cleft of the rock 04:36 That shadows a dry, thirsty land 04:44 He hideth my life 04:49 In the depths of his love 04:53 And covers me there with his hand 05:01 And covers me there 05:05 With his hand 05:09 He hideth my soul 05:14 In the cleft of the rock 05:18 And covers me there with his hand 05:26 And He covers me there with his hand 05:48 Thank you for joining us once again 05:49 here at Behold the Lamb. 05:50 As you have already heard, 05:52 you know, there's some good news 05:53 and there's some good news as we study this subject here 05:55 for today is Life After Death. 05:58 So there's going to be some questions 05:59 as we're going to answer from the word of God, 06:01 but, you know, there's many, you don't have these answers. 06:04 And so we want to make sure we get these out to you 06:06 to give you something to think about, give you hope, 06:09 and give you encouragement today. 06:10 You are our encouragement too by the way at Behold the Lamb 06:13 because, you know, of your prayers 06:14 and your support, 06:16 the phone calls, and, you know, the orders, you know, 06:18 just everything that comes in, we praise God for that 06:21 and we praise the God for you, 06:22 continue to pray for this ministry 06:24 as we go around the world giving the gospel message, 06:28 you know, to everyone who hears, 06:30 the people who can watch it, 06:31 they can see it around the world. 06:33 That's exciting, isn't it? 06:35 And really, we're just simply filling 06:36 the gospel commission that has been given to us 06:39 to go into all the world and do what? 06:41 Preach the gospel, teach the gospel, so I mean, 06:44 sometimes I think that we forget 06:46 what awesome opportunity to be able to praise God 06:49 that we have this privilege 06:51 to be able to go into millions of homes that we know not up, 06:54 not until the Jesus shall come, but that's all right 06:57 'cause we know that people are there 06:58 and wanting to hear the message. 06:59 Once again, before we get into it, 07:01 we're going to pray. 07:03 We always pray and we're going to kneel up 07:04 here and I ask you, 07:06 well, you can at home, 07:07 many of you do 'cause you write us 07:08 and you tell us that you kneel with us and have prayer, 07:10 and I'm so thankful for that. 07:11 Those of you who may be going down your road, 07:12 you're listening to CD and so on and so forth, 07:15 you say, "I still pray, 07:16 I'm driving 07:18 but I'm still praying with you." 07:19 We really thank you for that, let's pray, shall we, 07:20 for the Holy Spirit? 07:23 Our Loving Father in heaven as we come before Thee, 07:25 we sense our need of a Savior, 07:28 we sense our need of power that we do not have, 07:30 a wisdom that we do not have, 07:32 understanding that we do not have. 07:35 The Word simply says we come into You 07:36 and You will give it to us, 07:37 and so we ask in faith believing. 07:39 Bless the Word as it goes out, touch every heart, every life. 07:42 Oh, Lord, we give You praise, give You honor, 07:44 and give You glory. 07:45 We thank You 07:47 that what we're talking about today, 07:48 life after death, is so very important. 07:52 Help us to understand it today, 07:53 and we thank You in Jesus' name, Amen. 07:59 So the question simply would be, 08:00 I'll put an is in the front of that question. 08:03 Is there... 08:04 just think with me 08:06 'cause I'm going to challenge you 08:07 with some questions. 08:08 Is there life after death? 08:10 Just think about that. 08:12 Is there something beyond the grave? 08:14 I hear a lot of people say, "No, there's not." 08:16 But is there something beyond the grave? 08:19 Can the question that what I'm asking, 08:21 can it be found in the Word of God? 08:24 Rather than just what men are saying, 08:25 can we go to the Word of God 08:27 and find out the truth on this subject? 08:29 Well, I believe we can. 08:30 And I believe that 08:32 it's going to be very, very clear 08:33 because we'll do line upon line 08:35 and precept upon precept 08:36 here a little and there a little. 08:39 But we must remember when we study this, 08:41 which might be simple for each one of you. 08:44 But it's not simple for millions 08:46 because many, I will say literally millions, 08:48 believe that there is not life after death. 08:52 They believe you come here, you live, you die, that's it. 08:55 Of course, there are many who believe that there is, 08:57 and so we need to take that in consideration. 09:00 Let's begin with a couple of surveys. 09:03 I think it's important that we begin with surveys 09:05 because, again, we're surveying not just, 09:08 you say, "Well, it's just people." 09:10 We're going to survey here 09:12 individuals, pastors, ministers, 09:16 and those who are going to seminaries 09:17 and going to be pastors, 09:19 and listen to what they have to say 09:21 when you ask some of these questions. 09:23 I thought it was very, very interesting. 09:24 Number one, 09:25 survey was taken here of 521 ministers 09:30 and laity 521, survey was taken. 09:34 These questions were asked. 09:35 This, by the way, 09:36 was at the National Convention Council of Churches... 09:41 the National Council of Churches 09:42 held in Miami, Florida. 09:44 So this was a big deal. 09:46 And so they just went around surveying and saying, 09:48 what do you think about this question 09:50 and that question, 09:52 let me give those to you right now. 09:53 So asking some pastors to say this, it says, 09:57 "A little more than half believe that Jesus is divine." 10:02 Only half of the pastors believe that Jesus is divine. 10:07 Did you get it? 10:08 These are out pastoring, these have churches, 10:11 but only about half of them said, 10:12 "Well, we believe that Jesus is divine." 10:15 That means the other half didn't believe He's divine. 10:17 Second question, they were asking, it says here, 10:21 "Only one fourth thought biblical miracles 10:25 literally happened." 10:27 How sad there are ministers, they say, 10:29 "Well, the Bible says there's miracles, 10:32 but we don't believe their literal miracles." 10:34 How sad? 10:35 That gives me hope, doesn't it to you? 10:37 That gives me encouragement to know 10:38 that God worked miracles back then, 10:40 He can work the same today because we need his miracle 10:43 working power. 10:45 How sad if you don't have that hope. 10:47 Third question, "One third declared" and says, 10:50 "that the devil definitely doesn't exist." 10:55 One third of the ministers say, 10:56 "Well, the devil definitely doesn't." 10:58 So that means there must have been several in the valid 11:00 decision thinking, "Well, I don't think he really does." 11:02 They just didn't come out as bold 11:04 as some of these pastors. 11:05 "We don't believe the devil exists." 11:07 Well, you're playing right into his hands, 11:08 you're in trouble. 11:10 He definitely does exist. 11:11 Number four, notice, only 62%... 11:15 This change is in another survey 11:16 in just a minute, 11:17 "62% look forward 11:19 with complete certainty to life after death." 11:23 Well, that sounded pretty good. 11:25 But really, if you think about it, 11:26 every pastor should look with certainty, right, 11:29 100% that there's life after death, 11:32 100% of the pastors says, obviously the devil does exist, 11:36 100% of them also say these miracles in the Bible 11:40 really happened, isn't that right? 11:42 And, you know, 100% I'll just say, 11:44 I believe that Jesus is what? 11:47 I believe He's divine. 11:48 Every one of them ought to say, these are men that's going out 11:51 into the congregation in the churches 11:53 spreading these lies and this poison. 11:55 Think about it. 11:56 That Jesus was not divine, how could He be my Savior. 12:01 Another survey, this was in a seminary, 12:06 you know, where people are going to be pastors. 12:08 Once we talked about were what, 12:10 these were already ministers out there working. 12:13 These individuals were going to the seminary 12:15 because they were going to be pastors very shortly, 12:18 and here's what they said, 12:20 this was printed up in the little magazine book 12:23 called "The Red Book Magazine" several years ago. 12:27 And it came out and said, you ought to know 12:29 what these people going to college to be ministers, 12:32 what they think. 12:34 On this survey, notice what it says here, 12:36 and they sent out they said the top pollster 12:38 or would somebody go out and knows how to poll people 12:41 to make sure they can, 12:42 you know, ask the questions and get the answers. 12:45 Here's what they said interesting, 12:46 "Of the ministers in training, 12:49 56% rejected the virgin birth 12:53 of Jesus Christ." 12:57 That's a lot. 12:58 Seventy one percent rejected 13:01 that there was life after death. 13:04 This was different, 71%, 13:07 that's almost three out of four, 13:08 isn't it, almost? 13:10 Rejected, imagine that, oh, life after death, 13:13 54% rejected the bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ. 13:17 How do they have hope? 13:20 We're looking here at hope. 13:21 We're looking at life after death. 13:23 And it certainly has to do with the resurrection 13:24 of Jesus Christ. 13:26 But more than half said, "Well, we don't even believe 13:27 that there was a resurrection of Christ." 13:29 Well, what do they believe? 13:31 What are they studying? 13:33 Notice this here, this will blow your socks 13:35 right off of your feet, notice, 13:36 "Ninety-eight percent rejected 13:39 that there would be a personal return 13:41 of Jesus Christ." 13:43 They're going to learn surely how to preach the Word of God 13:46 and learn what is true, 13:48 98% say we don't believe that He's coming back. 13:54 What's going on here? 13:55 One more just good food for thought here. 13:58 Here's one individual going again to the seminary here, 14:02 and he started out like this. 14:04 He said, "There is nothing..." 14:06 Say with me. 14:08 "There is nothing I can absolutely affirm." 14:13 You'll see where this comes into play in just a minute. 14:16 Asking him a question about doctrine and teaching 14:18 and different things, as studying the Bible, 14:20 he simply says, 14:21 "Man, I tell you, there's nothing 14:23 I can absolutely affirm." 14:25 A 25-year-old student said, 14:27 who was next week going to be awarded 14:29 the bachelor of divinity degree 14:32 from New York's Union Theological Seminary. 14:37 In a few weeks, he was going to graduate and he said, 14:40 "I can't find anything here. I can't find anything." 14:44 So we see the survey, 521 ministers, 14:48 62% said there is life after death. 14:52 And then the next survey said, notice this, 14:54 there was only 29% that said that they believed 14:57 in life after death. 14:59 Interesting. 15:00 And then one soon to be minister, 15:03 one soon to be that's going to go out 15:05 and be on the pulpit, 15:06 teaching supposedly God's people some truth, 15:09 he just simply said, 15:10 "There's nothing I can absolutely affirm 15:13 in Scripture." 15:15 What do you mean? 15:16 It takes when you're talking about here 15:18 or you're talking about a bachelor of divinity degree, 15:21 it takes anywhere from three to five years, 15:25 and some people will advertise 15:27 "Well, we can do in 18 months and some 2 years," 15:29 but just, you know, just on the general 3 minimum 15:32 and up to 5 years of studying here, 15:36 and he said he couldn't find anything. 15:38 What do you mean he couldn't find anything? 15:42 He couldn't find anything that he could affirm. 15:45 And you realize the courses that they take, 15:48 they take courses such as, and maybe they shouldn't, 15:50 some of them, philosophy. 15:52 We have to be careful about that 15:54 and make sure we gear that up with the Word of God, 15:57 philosophy. 15:58 And they take courses in Bible studies 16:02 during these three to five years, 16:04 they take theology. 16:06 They take ministry courses in ministry, 16:10 they take courses in Christianity. 16:13 They take courses in other people's religion, 16:17 other religions. 16:18 I can remember many years ago I was only maybe 16, 16:21 17 years old 16:22 and I worked at Demaretti Buick-Chrysler Plymouth dealer, 16:25 in West Frankfort after school, high school. 16:28 As soon as I get out, in 5 minutes, 16:30 be in line there and work there till they closed at night. 16:34 But I can remember there was a man there and he... 16:37 Some of you still know, Ron Cummings, 16:39 Pastor Ron Cummings. 16:40 He was going to take theology to be a pastor 16:42 and he became a pastor. 16:45 But he said to me, 16:46 since I got acquainted with you, 16:48 I thought it was very, very interesting 16:50 because I have to write a thesis, 16:52 I have to write on paper on other religions, 16:55 and I'm studying Seventh-day Adventist. 16:58 Interesting. 17:00 They study other religions. 17:04 But here, this poor fellow getting ready to graduate, 17:07 what happened? 17:08 He couldn't find anything 17:10 that he could affirm in Scripture. 17:12 Why would he even... 17:13 Why would he graduate? 17:15 Why would you want it... 17:16 Would you want him as your pastor? 17:18 I don't think, other words, he couldn't... 17:19 anything in scripture, he couldn't find. 17:21 See, that's just baffling my mind. 17:23 I want to go over it, and over it, 17:24 and over it 17:26 'cause I can't get it through my own mind 17:27 that he can affirm one thing in scripture. 17:29 I can affirm a lot of things in Scripture, can't you? 17:35 Life after death, 17:36 let's see what the Bible has to say, 17:38 we're looking at what man's talking about, 17:40 and you know what, so far, I'm discouraged. 17:43 Is anybody with me? 17:45 Little discouraged with some of those answers, 17:46 I'm really discouraged with these answers 17:49 because they will make sure the ones who have 17:51 these wrong answers will be trying to feed them 17:53 to the people all the time. 17:56 Let's see what the Word of God has to say 17:58 about life after death. 18:00 Let's look at Paul to begin with. 18:01 Remember Paul, Paul was coming to life's end. 18:06 He was getting ready to die. 18:09 And so interesting, 18:10 as he was coming to the end of his life, 18:12 even at the end of his life, 18:14 knowing what he was getting ready to go through, 18:16 he was setting an example. 18:18 How would Paul set an example? 18:21 Because as he was going to his death, 18:23 he had people who followed with him. 18:26 They wanted to walk with him and try to encourage him, 18:29 but they were discouraged and they were crying. 18:31 They were all upset 18:33 because what was getting ready to happen 18:34 to their beloved leader. 18:37 And so Paul then began to encourage them. 18:41 He was saying, "Don't get discouraged 18:43 because God has promised in his work, 18:45 there something after this life." 18:48 There's something... what? 18:50 After this life. 18:52 And they couldn't see for the tears and the sorrow 18:55 and we don't want to lose him, many times the way we do, 18:58 not wanting to lose loved ones. 19:01 And so Paul was repeating to them promises in scripture 19:06 that would comfort them and cheer them along the way. 19:09 But he said he wanted to make real sure 19:12 that they understood that these things 19:14 were going to happen, 19:15 especially those who would follow Jesus. 19:18 Jesus, in fact, 19:20 he said it himself win John 15:20. 19:22 He said, "If..." 19:24 notice this, "If they have persecuted me, 19:27 they will..." what? 19:29 "If they persecuted me," he said, 19:31 "they will persecute me." 19:33 Well, they persecuted Me, they're going to persecute you. 19:37 Man, let's... 19:39 but He's going to say, 19:40 don't get discouraged about that. 19:42 All the live godly in Christ Jesus 19:44 shall suffer persecution, 19:45 things are going to happen in this life. 19:47 But don't get discouraged 19:48 because there's a life hereafter. 19:50 This is what Scripture is teaching to us right now. 19:52 Jesus made it clear. 19:55 He began to assure them 19:57 and which we want to be assured today 19:58 that all the promises that God has made in His Word. 20:02 You know, he's going to say 20:04 they're all going to come to pass, 20:05 every one of them, he said. 20:08 He said there'll be difficult times, 20:09 rather may be difficult times hit you. 20:12 There may be things come upon you 20:13 that you can't believe, 20:15 trials and tribulations and temptations. 20:18 You may even come to a point 20:19 that you have to give up something 20:21 that you really like in this world. 20:24 He didn't say it was going to be easy, 20:26 He just said it's going to be, 20:27 but He said this, God is faithful. 20:29 Here's a man that's going to get killed. 20:32 He's going to His execution. 20:34 And he's looking around and says to them, 20:36 "Don't get discouraged, God is faithful." 20:39 How many of us would say that 20:40 if we were on our little last walk, 20:42 you see, to probably get our head chopped off, 20:44 whatever it might be, burn at the stake, 20:46 you know, whatever it might be, shot, whatever it might be, 20:48 but you're going to lose your life, 20:50 and he's looking around them and said, "God is faithful." 20:53 And how wonderful that would be, 20:54 we need to be saying this thing, God is faithful. 20:58 His Word is true. 21:00 One passage of Scripture in 2 Corinthians 1:20 21:03 is just an awesome, awesome passage. 21:06 2 Corinthians 1:20. 21:09 It starts out, "For all the promises of God," 21:11 do you like this? 21:13 How many of them? 21:14 "All the promises of God in him are..." 21:17 I noticed this, it says, "Are yea." 21:19 What do you mean yea? 21:21 Yea means yes, doesn't it? 21:22 All the promises of God are yes. 21:25 Did you get that? 21:27 They're all yes, 21:28 all the promises of God are truth. 21:31 We're talking about there in the Greek, 21:33 it says all of His promises are truth, 21:37 they're truly, you see, the truth. 21:40 And in Him, amen is what the passage he says. 21:43 And then I love Romans 4:21 says this. 21:47 Romans chapter 4:21. 21:49 I mean, this really magnifies things. 21:52 Notice what it says. 21:53 It says, "What He had promised, He is able also to perform." 22:00 See, this is what He's promised, see. 22:02 He's promised everlasting life, 22:04 He's promised something beyond the grave. 22:07 He's promised and He said, 22:08 "I'm going to keep that promise. 22:10 Everything that I promised to you, I can perform it." 22:13 I like somebody say that, don't you? 22:16 You're going to invest money and somebody's going to say 22:17 I can promise you, 22:19 you're going to get your money back plus, 22:20 come on now. 22:22 This is what we want to hear, 22:23 not you're going to lose everything. 22:25 We're going to think positive here. 22:28 And certainly, you know why we can think positive 22:30 because of James 1:17, 22:32 because the Bible says in James 1:17, 22:35 "With Him," with whom? 22:37 "With God, there's no variableness, 22:39 neither shadow of turning." 22:43 See, that's beautiful, so He's promised it, 22:45 He's not going to change his mind. 22:46 There's no variableness, 22:48 He doesn't get up on the wrong side of the bed 22:49 as it were. 22:51 He's not grouchy, He's not, you know... 22:53 "It's how I feel today, 22:54 so everybody's going to get it." 22:56 Aren't you glad you serve your God, 22:58 who said He loved everybody today, every day, same way, 23:00 all day, every day and never changes. 23:04 That's beautiful. No shadow of turning nothing. 23:08 Christ object lesson, page 148. 23:11 This goes along with some passage of scripture... 23:13 we talked. 23:14 You've heard about the rainbow, 23:16 the rainbow around God and around the throne of God. 23:20 There's a reason for that "Rainbow round about the throne 23:23 is an assurance that God is true 23:27 that in Him there is no variableness, 23:29 neither shadow of turning." 23:31 Aren't you glad about that? 23:33 You say, "Well, I'm not sure about the shadow," 23:34 we don't have time to go into all that. 23:36 Read Revelation 10:1 if you will 23:39 because there was a rainbow above his head 23:41 if you remember there. 23:43 Revelation 4:3 talks about the rainbow. 23:46 Ezekiel 1:26-28 23:51 talks about the rainbow. 23:52 So we're sure we're talking about that rainbow, 23:54 a promise that God makes to us notice. 23:58 Here's what the article goes on 23:59 Christ object lesson 148 says this, 24:02 see if it's not true. 24:04 It says, "We have sinned against him," right? 24:07 But remember, there's a rainbow around the what? 24:09 The throne. 24:11 It's an assurance that God is true, okay? 24:14 It's true 'cause what He says is true. 24:15 But we've all sinned. 24:17 We've come short of the glory of God. 24:18 But notice that 24:20 we are undeserving of His favor. 24:23 But when we come to Him, and we do what, 24:25 we confess our unworthiness and our sin, 24:30 "He has pledged himself," this is good news. 24:34 "He's pledged himself to give heed to our cry," 24:37 Lord, I need some help. 24:39 All you have to say is, "Lord I need some help," 24:41 we forget that day in and day out, 24:43 because the devil hits us little here, 24:46 the children may, you know, come against us, 24:48 the grandkids may come, 24:49 you know, you may go against yourself, 24:51 all kind of things going on, 24:52 we forget that He's only a prayer away, just one cry. 24:56 This is good news. 24:59 And then we have, as we cry to Him, 25:01 we have a high priest, aren't you glad? 25:03 Our high priest. 25:05 You know what it is? 25:06 When we cry to Him, "Lord, I need help," 25:08 He remembers every promise 25:09 that He's ever made to His people, 25:11 every one of them. 25:12 And He says, "I can perform those. 25:14 I can fulfill those." 25:15 And He says, "You've reminded Me 25:17 of what I promised to you, and I'm going to produce." 25:20 He's ever mindful, the article says, I love it. 25:23 He's ever mindful of His covenant. 25:26 If God makes a covenant with you, 25:28 you make a covenant with God, He's ever mindful every day, 25:31 regardless of how beat up you think you may be, 25:34 or I may be, everything in the world is going wrong, 25:38 God says He's faithful, isn't that wonderful? 25:41 He is faithful. 25:43 Paul said something like this in 2 Timothy 1:12. 25:47 I love this. I love this. 25:49 2 Timothy 1:12, the Bible says, 25:52 "I know and whom I have..." you know this. 25:55 "I know who I have..." what? 25:56 "I know and whom I have believed." 26:00 Then he goes on and says, "I'm persuaded." 26:02 So we need to be persuaded, do we not? 26:06 Not just I know, but I'm persuaded 26:09 in that I love Jesus Christ. 26:11 I'm persuaded that He's coming back, 26:13 I'm persuaded that there's life after death. 26:16 I'm persuaded there's something better going on here. 26:20 This says here, Paul said, "I'm persuaded that 26:22 he is able to keep that 26:24 which I have committed unto Him." 26:26 He's able to keep us safe, He's able to secure us. 26:30 You notice that? 26:31 He's going to watch us, 26:32 that's what we're talking about, keep us, 26:35 He's going to preserve us. 26:37 See, we're preserved every day by the grace of God, aren't we? 26:40 Other than that, we wouldn't be preserved, 26:42 the enemy would take you right on out. 26:44 He'd take me out if he had that opportunity. 26:46 But God is there to preserve us. Why? 26:49 Because we have committed ourselves to Him, 26:52 He's promised to take care of it. 26:53 We're looking at promises. 26:55 We're looking that, God said, 26:56 "I'm going to take care of you." 26:57 And if I said something, then I'm going to fulfill it," 26:59 so that's what we're leading up to this, we're going here. 27:02 Here is what Paul is saying overall. 27:04 Here he's saying, look here, "I'm looking beyond this world, 27:08 I'm marching now right to death, 27:11 I'm marching on to death, 27:13 but I'm looking beyond the death. 27:14 I'm looking beyond the sword right now. 27:16 I'm looking to another world." 27:18 Man, that's what we have to do even in this life. 27:21 We can't look at the mess 27:22 that sets before us in this world. 27:24 I've got to look beyond this world. 27:25 I've got to breathe beyond this world. 27:28 I have got to hope beyond this world. 27:30 I've got to have faith beyond this world 27:33 because there's nothing here. 27:36 And Paul made it very clear. 27:37 "I'm looking beyond. 27:38 I'm looking to my heavenly home. 27:41 Even though I'm just about to die, 27:42 I'm looking with great joy, and happiness, and expectation 27:47 of what lies ahead." 27:49 So Paul's telling us 27:50 there's something beyond the grave. 27:53 "There's something beyond it 27:54 because I'm not worried about when I die." 27:56 Wow. 28:00 Here soon to be martyred, you think that's not... 28:04 Try to... You can't... 28:05 I don't know, we can't put ourselves in his shoes 28:06 unless it's really there, 28:08 but try to think along 28:09 getting ready marching right now 28:11 to be martyred. 28:14 He doesn't worry about the pain, he doesn't say, 28:16 "Oh, I'm going to make it through that, 28:18 and what kind of a mess it has to be." 28:20 He's looking at... 28:21 He just sees a sword. 28:22 He's not worried about the sword. 28:24 So what? 28:25 Come on. 28:29 Not worried about the pain that he's talking about here, 28:32 but by faith, he looks 28:33 beyond this world to his eternal home, 28:36 isn't that it was all about? 28:37 And I guarantee you everyone that died and martyred, 28:41 you know, when time has passed, 28:42 you ever die for the cause of Christ, 28:45 I guarantee they declared this, 28:47 He is able to save to the uttermost. 28:50 He wasn't worried about that life 28:51 right then there because we're all going to die. 28:55 If Jesus doesn't come, we're going to all die. 28:59 We have to have this hope 29:00 that there's something beyond the grave. 29:03 That's what the Bible said, Hebrews 7:25, right? 29:06 Just read up, "He is able to save to the uttermost." 29:09 I praise God for that. 29:11 John then comes along and he agrees with Paul. 29:14 So we're seeing truth come together 29:16 being John says, this is it, Paul said, this is truth. 29:18 We're starting to get the truth here, 29:20 aren't we? 29:21 He writes in John 6:40. 29:24 John 6:40, and he said, "This is the will of Him." 29:29 I like the way it starts, "And this is..." what? 29:31 "The will of Him that sent me that everyone which..." 29:34 notice this, "Seeth the son," John 6:40. 29:37 And then you have to... not only... 29:38 So you say, "Well, I've seen Him. 29:40 I know He exists." 29:41 That's not enough. That's not enough. 29:43 I've heard people say, 29:45 "Well, I know there's a supreme being." 29:47 That's not enough. Are you still with me? 29:50 That's not... 29:51 It's not enough to say, "I know Jesus." 29:54 It's not enough to say, "I know He exists." 29:56 I've heard people say that, they don't go to church, 29:58 they don't claim anything. 30:00 They're living for the devil 30:01 and they say they're living for the devil. 30:02 But they say, "I believe that 30:04 there's maybe a higher power, something, but I don't know." 30:06 There's something beyond that. That's not enough. 30:08 Jesus said, "Anyone who sees," what? 30:12 Anyone who sees, "Believeth... Seeth the son, 30:15 and believeth on Him, may have everlasting life." 30:20 So you see, you understand, 30:21 you accept Him but then you believe, right? 30:24 Believe on Him. They have everlasting life. 30:26 Notice this, and now actually what John was saying, 30:28 and Jesus said, "Now I will raise him up at the last day." 30:33 If there's not life after death, 30:35 then why are we worried about raising up 30:37 after the last day or after Jesus comes, 30:39 there'd be no need, 30:41 whether if there's no life after death. 30:44 But Jesus proclaimed that. 30:46 He's talking about those who died, life after death. 30:51 Notice Paul here, 30:52 and this is what we have to center on is his life, 30:54 his hope, his dreams, everything was centered around 30:58 the second coming of Jesus and the resurrection. 31:02 I wonder if that's the way and maybe it is for us today. 31:07 I wonder if that's the way it is, 31:08 everything is centered around the second coming of Jesus 31:14 and spending eternity with Him. 31:17 I just wonder if that's going through our minds right now. 31:22 I wonder if we're so excited about 31:24 finally being able to meet Jesus, 31:27 the life giver. 31:29 Being able to put your arms around 31:30 and give Him a big hug and say thank You. 31:32 "Thank You 31:34 because you're the only reason I'm here, 31:35 because I'm not worthy to be here. 31:38 There's nothing I've ever done that makes me worthy, 31:40 can't earn it 31:41 but because of the blood of the Lamb. 31:44 First Selected Messages 300, 31:45 our time's winding down quickly. 31:48 First Selected Messages, 300, listen carefully. 31:52 "If through faith man becomes one with Christ, 31:55 he can win everlasting life." 31:58 There's condition, do you notice? 32:00 What do we need to become? Become one. 32:02 We need to become one with Christ. 32:05 That means we need to be like Christ. 32:07 Look at our life this week. 32:09 Look at your life yesterday, 32:10 or the day before, whatever it might be. 32:12 And this is all for us, self examination. 32:15 No one needs to be examining, judging no one else. 32:17 That's not our job or anyone else. 32:19 But just examine your own self. 32:21 Am I one with Christ? 32:23 Has my life shown that I'm one with Christ 32:26 when I handled this situation? 32:29 Has my life shown that I'm one with Christ when I said or did? 32:36 Everlasting life can be one if we are one with Christ. 32:40 Notice this, you've heard it or read before, 32:42 but all this is always touched my heart when I read, 32:45 "God loves those who are redeemed 32:47 through Christ." 32:49 If you are redeemed by the blood of the Lamb today, 32:52 if you are redeemed, right, 32:55 then God loves you, as he loves his own son. 32:57 That's amazing, man. You've got an end there. 33:01 You've got some pool. 33:05 Interesting, God loves those who are redeemed 33:07 through Christ, even as He loves His own son. 33:10 I couldn't figure that out for the longest time. 33:13 How can He love a mess like me like He loves his own son? 33:18 Oh, I can't figure it out. So, Lord, what is it? 33:21 What a thought. 33:22 How deep can it get to say when God loves us? 33:26 He loves us like He loves His own son 33:28 when we've been redeemed by His son. 33:34 Wow. What power? 33:37 What power is afforded to us than strength? 33:39 How God looks at you as He looked upon Jesus Christ. 33:44 That's all power, isn't it? 33:46 There's no defeat that way. 33:49 And I said to myself, "Well, can God love the sinner 33:53 as he loves his own son?" 33:55 And my answer has to be yes. 33:57 Yes, because not only Spirit of Prophecy says so 34:00 but the Bible says so. 34:02 You say, "Well, where might that be?" 34:03 Christ has said it. 34:05 He means exactly what he says. 34:07 This is what we're trying to prove, 34:08 life after death, 34:10 Christ means what He says, 34:11 He says there's life after death. 34:12 So there must be. 34:15 John 17:26, John 17:26, 34:19 the Bible becomes so clear to us. 34:21 Notice Jesus speaking, He said, "I have declared unto them 34:25 thy name," who's that? 34:27 Jesus said, "I've declared," who? 34:29 "I've declared to them thy name," God's name. 34:32 Notice this, 34:33 "And will declare it that the love," notice this, 34:36 "wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them, and I in them." 34:42 That tells you right then and there, 34:44 God loves us like He loves his own son because what? 34:47 Christ is living within, Christ is inside, 34:50 God loves us because Christ is in. 34:52 Man, that's beautiful. 34:54 Man, that's deep. 34:56 I'll never get to the bottom of that one. 35:00 God honors those who obey Him. 35:04 Obedience, obedience, obedience, 35:06 that's what it is in Scripture. 35:07 Over and over and over, and most of the... 35:09 the world says and other churches will say, 35:11 "We don't have to worry about being obedient. 35:13 We don't have to obey 35:14 all your legalistic, all your... 35:18 I mean, somebody needs to wake up 35:19 because scripture over and over and over 35:22 talks about, "We love Him, we want to obey Him." 35:26 You know, you can go passage after passage, 35:28 we won't do that because of our time, 35:30 but I think of the one that's in Jeremiah 7:23. 35:33 Jeremiah 7:23. 35:35 He said, "I want you to obey my," what? 35:37 You remember? "My voice and I will be," what? 35:41 "I'll be your God, and you will be my people." 35:46 Did you notice? 35:47 "Obey my voice, then I'll be your God, 35:51 then you'll be my people." 35:53 Not before while you're in disobedience. 35:56 You're not God's people, I'm not God's people, 35:58 as it were, a person, can't be unless I obey His voice. 36:08 And then He goes on to end of that verse, 36:09 He says, "And then I'll be with you." 36:12 That tells me He's not going to be with me 36:14 if I'm disobedient. 36:15 He can't be. 36:17 He'd still love me, he'd still be working in my behalf. 36:18 But He can't do 36:19 what he wants to do in my behalf 36:22 because I'm rebelling against Him. 36:24 You remember that in the book of Psalms 18:18-22. 36:30 Psalms 18:18-22, 36:33 David was saying something brilliant here. 36:36 Regardless of his life, and where he was at, 36:38 and when this happened, and that happened, 36:40 just listen to these words, they're amazing. 36:43 We all look in this life, we look for rewards. 36:47 We like think there's more than that, 36:48 we look at heaven, that's gonna be a reward. 36:50 We're thinking about it and we want... 36:51 we look on our car, we go buy something, 36:53 "Oh, I got 100 points in my rewards. 36:58 I'm gonna cash in my rewards, 37:01 my reward points." 37:04 Here's what David said, 37:06 he said, "The Lord rewarded me," 37:09 Psalms 18:20:22. 37:11 "The Lord rewarded me according to my righteousness." 37:15 Now if anybody knew about this, David knew it. 37:18 We don't have any, what? 37:19 Righteousness within of our own. 37:22 It's the righteousness of Christ, 37:23 we're rewarded 37:25 because we have the righteousness of Christ. 37:26 Because when God looks at us, He sees Jesus rather than us. 37:30 That's why he loves us. 37:31 Oh, this is wonderful when you think about it. 37:34 And then David went on and said, 37:36 "According to the cleanliness of my hands 37:39 both He recompensed me." 37:42 Notice this, why... 37:43 How did he get rewarded? 37:45 He said, "For I have kept the ways of the Lord, 37:49 I've not done wickedly, 37:52 not wickedly departed from my God. 37:56 For all His judgments were before me, 37:58 and I did not put away his statues from me." 38:02 His laws. 38:04 He said, "God rewarded me 38:05 because I did not put away His laws from me." 38:08 Statutes, laws, Ten Commandments. 38:11 People putting away, yeah, 38:12 the Ten Commandments out of the way and asked, 38:14 I think God's going to reward them, 38:15 he can't reward you in disobedience. 38:17 He can't reward me in disobedience. 38:21 Man, just look at it truthfully 38:22 and, you know, the mama said, 38:23 if the shoe fits wear it, if it don't, 38:25 then don't worry about it. 38:28 I've asked the question before, I asked it again. 38:30 When does a human... 38:32 Really as a human being, we're pretty much worthless. 38:34 What are we worth? 38:35 If we dissect the body and get rid of what we have, 38:37 $2 or $3 in it, brother, what we're made out of, 38:40 go back $2 or $3. 38:42 But when does a person really become a worth something? 38:45 When do I become valuable? 38:48 When do you become valuable? 38:50 Think about it. 38:52 We become valuable when we accept Jesus Christ 38:55 as our Lord and Savior. 38:57 What do you mean? 38:59 Without Christ, we're really not valuable at all. 39:02 When Christ comes in, we're very valuable 39:04 because all of heaven was given, right? 39:08 Through Jesus Christ, all of heaven was given. 39:11 Priceless gift was given for us. 39:14 And we invite Him to come in, we're priceless 39:18 because of who he is. 39:20 It's... 39:21 that's good news. 39:24 When we just simply accept that sacrifice, 39:27 we have light and we have life. 39:32 And then through faith, we become one with Christ. 39:35 Oh, isn't that wonderful? 39:37 And then we can win everlasting life. 39:40 Jesus said in John 6:35, moving along, 39:42 15 minutes or so, stay with me. 39:44 John 6:35 says this, this is so familiar. 39:48 "Jesus said, I am the bread of," what? 39:50 He said, "I am the bread of life. 39:52 He that cometh to me shall..." in no what? 39:54 You're not gonna get hungry. 39:56 "He that believeth on me shall never," what? 39:58 "Thirst," and it goes on. Jesus said, "Just come to Me." 40:02 This is what we need to be doing today. 40:04 The world has a problem after problem after problem. 40:07 We're going everywhere except toward Christ. 40:09 We're going away from Christ. 40:10 He said, "Come unto Me, I'm the bread of life. 40:13 Come and chew on me for a little bit, 40:15 come and taste and see if I'm not good. 40:18 And you'll never hunger again. 40:20 Come, and I'll give you something to drink, 40:21 you'll never thirst again." 40:23 But see, what we say we want all those things, but do we? 40:26 Do we really want these things? 40:28 Do we really want some kind of life after death? 40:30 Or we want to just believe that we're here and we die, 40:32 and that's it, and there's nothing else. 40:34 On John 6:35, Spirit of Prophecy, 40:38 Christ's Object Lesson makes this comment 40:40 on John 6:35, listen to this comment. 40:43 "We are to draw constantly from Him," 40:45 does that make sense? 40:47 "We draw constantly from Him, partaking of Him, 40:49 the living bread that came down from heaven. 40:52 If we keep the..." I love this. 40:54 "If we ever keep before the Lord." 40:57 Notice if we ever keep Him before us... 41:00 If we ever keep him before us, did we get that? 41:03 We say it enough, we're going to get it. 41:05 Here is the condition, 41:07 if we ever keep Jesus before us, 41:10 didn't say behind us, 41:11 didn't say to the right, didn't say to left. 41:13 If we ever keep Jesus before us, notice this, 41:16 "Allowing our hearts to go out 41:18 in thanksgiving and praise to Him, 41:20 we shall have a continued freshness 41:24 in our religious life." 41:25 You want your religious life 41:27 to be fresh or just old, stale, nothing. 41:29 I want it fresh, don't you? 41:32 Fresh bread, not day old bread, day old donuts, 41:34 whatever might be, I want it fresh. 41:36 But the only way I can keep my experience 41:38 rich and deep and fresh 41:40 is if I ever keep Him before me. 41:43 If you can tell in the Christian's life 41:44 when Jesus is not ever before them, 41:46 it's because they get stale. 41:49 They begin to do things they shouldn't be doing. 41:51 You know that. 41:52 We can't possibly get stale 41:54 if Jesus has ever before us and we're looking to him, 41:57 we're beholding the Lamb of God. 42:00 Many look to the world 42:02 to give them some kind of satisfaction 42:04 as you will know. 42:06 I tell you today, 42:07 they're looking in the wrong direction. 42:08 The world cannot give you anything 42:10 but some kind of temporary falsehood 42:12 that the enemy will drag it right out 42:14 from under your feet. 42:17 All that can satisfy the needs 42:20 of my life and of your life today, 42:22 the longing of the human soul. 42:24 See, there's something in the soul 42:26 that's longing for something different 42:27 or something in me that longs 42:28 for something different than what this world offers. 42:31 How about you? 42:33 Or something inside, 42:34 there's always longing for something different 42:36 than what's offered to us in this life. 42:40 I think that's a good... 42:41 that's good. 42:43 That's the Holy Spirit working, 42:44 and we're looking for something else. 42:45 We're looking for something outside of us. 42:47 We're looking for Christ. 42:50 Life after death. 42:54 As mentioned before, life after death, 42:56 many believe that's just it, you live you die 42:59 and then nothing beyond the grave. 43:00 But I'm telling you, the Bible says differently. 43:04 In Paul's day, you wonder why he wrote the way 43:06 he wrote some time. 43:08 But I'm figuring out more and more 43:09 as I read and study the Word of God, 43:11 he wrote because there was questions 43:13 that people had in his day. 43:16 And he was inspired by the Holy Spirit 43:17 to write these things down, 43:19 not only for them but for us today. 43:21 Some people believed in Paul's day, 43:24 they sure believed that 43:25 Christ was coming, in Paul's day. 43:27 I mean, they had this hope. 43:29 They had this fire burning inside their gut. 43:31 Are you still with me? 43:32 They had a burning inside their mind and heart. 43:34 Jesus is coming, Jesus is coming. 43:36 And then as time went on, 43:37 some slip in the grave, some died. 43:39 And then they began... 43:41 You know, there's other people, 43:43 they thought they were going to see Jesus coming, 43:44 we're not gonna be able to see Jesus coming. 43:48 It's impossible to see Jesus come, 43:50 this is what they thought. 43:52 If we die, then that's it. 43:55 We won't get to see Jesus 43:56 coming in the clouds with glory. 43:57 So Paul writes these encouraging words. 44:01 He says, "Regardless of whether you're alive 44:03 or whether you sleep, 44:05 when Jesus comes, 44:07 the righteous will be able to see Him 44:10 coming in the clouds." 44:11 Revelation 1:7, "Every eye shall see it. 44:14 Behold He cometh with clouds, every eye shall see Him." 44:17 You see these are the promises, there's something after death, 44:21 there's something here, something we can't, 44:23 oh, don't miss it. 44:25 Jesus comes in the clouds. 44:27 He said, "You're not going to miss it 44:30 if you're righteous and you're sleeping." 44:33 And so under inspiration, 44:36 Paul pinned these words that are so... 44:39 I said... 44:40 I think they read, I think more than maybe 44:42 in all the other verses. 44:43 In here, I'll try to find it right now. 44:45 1 Thessalonians chapter 4, 44:48 it's one of my favorite verses in scripture. 44:51 1Thessalonians 4:13-18. 44:55 I believe it's... Yeah, 3-18... 44:56 13-18. 44:58 These are beautiful, beautiful, beautiful verses. 45:01 It gives you hope that there's something, where? 45:03 Something beyond the grave. 45:05 There's hope here. 45:06 1 Thessalonians 4:13, 45:09 "But I would not have you to be ignorant, 45:11 brethren, concerning them which are," what? 45:13 "Asleep, that you sorrow not, 45:15 even as others who have no hope." 45:17 This is good. 45:19 "For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, 45:21 even so them also which sleep in Jesus 45:24 will God bring with him." 45:26 Verse 15. 45:28 "For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord 45:30 that we which are..." what? 45:32 "Alive and remain," notice this, 45:34 "Unto the coming of the Lord, shall not prevent them 45:37 which are asleep." 45:38 It says even though you're asleep in Jesus, 45:40 you're still gonna be raised up in time to be able to see Him 45:42 coming in the clouds of glory, 45:44 the people in Paul's day didn't know that, 45:46 he was comforting them, as in comfort to you. 45:49 Verse 16 says, 45:50 "For the Lord himself shall descend 45:52 from heaven with," what? 45:53 "With a shout, 45:54 and with the voice of the archangel, 45:56 and the trump of God, and the dead in Christ 45:57 shall rise first. 45:59 And then we which are," what? 46:01 "Alive and remain be caught up 46:03 together with him in the clouds, 46:04 to meet the Lord in the air, 46:06 so shall we ever be with the Lord. 46:09 Therefore, comfort one another with these words." 46:11 There's something beyond the grave here. 46:13 There's something going on here. 46:15 Even if we rest and we die, don't worry about that. 46:18 We want to make sure we're one with Christ 46:20 when we go into that grave. 46:21 We guarantee we're going to come up 46:23 so that we're not prevented. 46:24 So we'll see Him coming in the clouds of glory. 46:26 Why? Because we died in that hope. 46:28 We died with that encouragement. 46:30 We want to see Jesus coming in the clouds of glory. 46:32 We want to be caught up to meet Him in the air. 46:35 Oh, I tell you how wonderful that promise is. 46:38 The promise is sure. 46:40 The righteous will hear the trumpet sound. 46:43 They will respond. 46:45 They're going to put on immortality 46:47 at the coming of the Lord to meet Him in the air. 46:49 This, my friend, is life after death. 46:53 In fact, Jesus tells us, He's prepared a place for us 46:55 to live quickly. 46:57 Isn't that interesting? 46:58 If there be no life after death, 47:00 why would Jesus, 47:02 you know, inspire man to write down John 14:1-3? 47:06 You know, "Let not our hearts be troubled, right, 47:08 believe in God, believe also in Me. 47:10 In my Father's house," what, "are many mansions. 47:12 If it were not so, I would have told you." 47:13 He said, "I go to prepare a place for you." 47:15 Why would He go prepare a place if there's no life after death? 47:20 It'd prove the Bible to be a fallacy, wouldn't it? 47:22 A lie. 47:23 But He said, "No. 47:25 I prepared a place for you. Your name is over the door. 47:27 Man, don't miss it." 47:29 Do you think about that? 47:31 Your name is written, I believe, on the doorpost, 47:34 over the door. 47:35 It's your house. 47:37 "I prepared a place for us, especially for you. 47:39 Man, don't miss it." 47:42 Paul writes these words 47:43 of, certainly, encouragement. 47:47 And it encouraged me today, 47:49 it encouraged the people back then I'm sure. 47:54 "I'm coming back," 47:58 for us today. 47:59 We don't want to miss that, do we? 48:01 Jesus said in John 17:3, John 17:3. 48:06 He said, "This is," what, "this is life. 48:10 This is," what, 48:11 "this is life eternal 48:13 that they may know Thee 48:15 the only true God and Jesus Christ, 48:17 whom Thou hast sent." 48:22 Everything that Jesus ever said, 48:24 anything that Jesus ever did while He was here, 48:27 you know, there was a purpose. 48:30 What would that purpose be? 48:32 I believe He wanted to fasten the word truth 48:34 to each one of us. 48:36 He wanted us to know what is truth. 48:37 He wanted to put that truth 48:38 in the minds of every follower of His. 48:41 Why? So they might be saved. 48:44 He wants us to love the truth, and know the truth, 48:47 and then to follow the truth that we might be saved 48:50 because He told us, right, in Luke 19:10. 48:53 Did He not say? 48:55 He simply said He came to teach us 48:57 or He came to what? 48:58 "Seek and save those which were lost." 49:01 The whole purpose of Christ coming is to seek 49:03 and save those who are lost. 49:06 There's life after death. He's coming. 49:08 He's seeking us, right? 49:10 He said, "I've got something better for you." 49:13 We want to make sure that we, by faith, grab ahold of that. 49:15 Philippians 1:20-21 says this. 49:19 Philippians 1:20-21. 49:22 Five minutes or so, stay with me. 49:24 "So now also Christ shall be magnified in my body, 49:28 whether it be in life or by death." 49:30 Philippians 1:21, "For me to live," remember it's Paul, 49:32 "For me to live," what, 49:34 "is Christ and to die is gain." 49:37 He's saying there's got to be something after this life. 49:39 Did you get it? 49:40 There's something after it because even if I die, 49:42 it's going to be gain. 49:44 It's going to be better when Jesus comes. 49:47 How does a person magnify Christ? 49:53 How would you magnify Christ? 49:56 Wouldn't it be one way by simply 49:58 making the Lord great in the mind 50:01 and the eyes of other people? 50:03 Lifting up His name be, 50:05 you know, if I be lifted up from the earth, 50:06 making Him great to other people? 50:09 We magnify Him. 50:11 Paul's talking about, "I could magnify Him in life 50:12 and magnify Him even in death." 50:15 Says how is that in life? 50:18 By our witness, what we do, 50:21 our activities could magnify, 50:24 right, to tell about Jesus, goodness, 50:26 and His love and death by trusting in Jesus 50:29 and His promises of a future life, life after death. 50:34 And of course, we know that we leave our influence. 50:38 Even after we're gone, we're dead, and buried, 50:41 our influence lives on. 50:42 You know that. 50:44 A good godly life goes a long way. 50:46 The Bible says in Revelation 14:13, it simply says, 50:49 "And their works do follow them." 50:52 Revelation, what, 14:13. 50:54 "And their works do follow them." 50:58 Influence. 51:00 Paul said, "For me to live is Christ." 51:03 And I have to ask today, really, 51:05 for you to live or for me to live, is it Christ? 51:08 If not, why not? 51:11 Paul rested in assurance of having eternal life 51:14 because he said, "For me to live is Christ 51:16 or Christ living through me." 51:20 Think about it. 51:21 Those are awesome, powerful words. 51:25 He was so bound up in Christ. 51:27 And I invite you today to be bound up in Christ 51:31 of what we do and what we say, 51:34 our plans that we have, our hopes, 51:37 our thoughts, everything centered in what? 51:40 In Christ. 51:43 That's what Colossians 3:3-4 tells us. 51:45 Quickly. It says. 51:47 "For ye are dead..." Colossians 3:3-4. 51:49 "For ye are dead and your life is hid with Christ in God." 51:54 Colossians 3:4. 51:55 "When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, 51:58 then shall ye also appear with Him in glory." 52:00 There's life after what? Life after death. 52:03 He said because you're going to appear with Him, where? 52:05 In glory. 52:06 When He comes, praise God, 52:08 our life has to be hid in Christ. 52:11 We can be assured there's life after death. 52:14 Paul tells us about this. 52:15 We don't have time to go in through it. 52:17 You know, He's coming back. 52:19 We just need to get ready for that great day. 52:21 Paul, he talks about death, and remember, it's a mystery. 52:23 So I'm gonna show you a mystery, 52:25 which means simply a secret thing. 52:28 If we should die or if we fall asleep, 52:31 do we have the hope that heaven will be our home? 52:34 That might be the question for us today. 52:37 Are we prepared 52:39 for the finishing touch of immortality that will be given 52:43 to each and every one of us? 52:44 Are we really prepared for that day? 52:45 We think we are, we talk it, but are we really? 52:48 Just have a heart to heart between you and God. 52:51 Are you really, today, right now, today, 52:53 are we ready to meet the Lord in the air? 52:56 Read 1 Corinthians 15:51-55 when you have time. 53:00 Read 2 Corinthians 7:1. 53:03 And these give you such encouragement and such hope 53:06 because we all... 2 Corinthians 5:10 says, 53:08 "We all must appear 53:10 before the judgment seat of Christ." 53:13 I tell you this, my friends, wealth and position and title, 53:16 they're powerless to gain favor with God. 53:19 Let's not be today, in our last few seconds that we have, 53:23 let's not be as Paul was pleading. 53:26 Here was Paul in Acts 24 and 25, 53:29 Paul was pleading for Felix. 53:33 He was pleading for him to give his life to Christ. 53:37 And what did Felix say? 53:39 There was a Bible study going on, 53:40 there was something going on, the Holy Spirit was working. 53:43 And Paul was pleading for the life of Felix. 53:45 And Felix simply said what? 53:47 "When I have a more convenient 53:50 season, I'll call for you." 53:53 If you ever had that working with somebody in Bible study, 53:56 they'll say, "I can't make the decision right now. 53:58 But little later on, 53:59 next month, next week, next year, 54:00 I'll be able to do this right here." 54:02 Oh, friend, notice, convenient season is right now. 54:05 It's not later. 54:07 Notice, he said, "I'll call for you." 54:08 He never did call for him again. 54:11 He rejected his very last offer of mercy. 54:15 Never was he ever to receive another call from God. 54:18 That was his last call. God help us. 54:21 There's life after death, my friend, don't miss it. 54:24 Whatever you do, don't miss it. 54:26 It's not worth it. 54:28 We're going to have closing prayer 54:29 and we'll probably go out with prayer 54:31 with about 15 seconds left. 54:32 Let's pray for those who are making that decision right now. 54:34 Father in heaven, I thank You for Your word. 54:36 I thank You for the power that You afford to Your word. 54:38 Now for those who are making that decision, 54:40 right now, there is life after death. 54:43 And I want to make sure I see You 54:44 when You come in the clouds of glory. 54:45 And I thank You and praise You. In Jesus' name, amen. 54:50 Hello and welcome back, friends. 54:51 Oh, how I hope and pray that that has given you such peace, 54:56 such encouragement, such hope, and direction for your future. 55:00 We've got to get our Bibles out and we've got to dust them off 55:04 by taking time to study them on a daily basis. 55:08 And in closing, I want to share with you a story 55:12 about a personal friend that Jesus had 55:14 while He was living here on this earth. 55:16 And that's the story of Lazarus. 55:19 Let's read from the book of John 11:21-25. 55:24 "Then said Martha unto Jesus, 'Lord, if thou hadst been here, 55:28 my brother had not died. 55:30 But I know that even now, 55:33 whatsoever thou wilt ask of God, 55:35 God will give it thee.' 55:37 Jesus said unto her, 'Thy brother shall rise again.' 55:41 Martha saith unto him..." 55:43 Friends, you see, Martha knew her Bible. 55:46 She knew the scriptures. 55:47 She went on saying, 55:49 "I know that he shall rise again 55:51 in the resurrection at the last day. 55:53 Jesus said unto her, 55:55 'I am the resurrection and the life. 55:59 He that believeth in me, though he were dead, 56:03 yet shall he live.' 56:05 " Jesus is our life. 56:07 He's our hope. 56:08 He's our direction. He's our everything. 56:11 He's the breath that we breathe moment by moment, day by day. 56:16 He longs for us to believe and accept Him. 56:20 And in doing so, we may face death not in fear 56:24 but knowing that when our eyes open again, 56:26 our first sight will be that of seeing our Lord 56:29 and Savior Jesus Christ. 56:32 If you would like to have this Bible study 56:34 entitled Life After Death for your very own, 56:38 I want to give you that opportunity just now. 56:41 We are offering it to you 56:43 with this free Bible study guide for every single message 56:47 that you order in this 25-part series 56:50 for just the love gift of $8 or more. 56:53 All you need to do is contact us here in the United States 56:58 at Behold the Lamb Ministries. 57:00 And of course, if you choose 57:02 to have all 25 hours of study and why not, 57:06 we would love to send that to you as well 57:08 for a love gift of just $175 or more 57:13 along with 5 of these Bible study guides. 57:16 Some of you may be wondering, 57:17 "Why does she always say or more?" 57:19 It's because we cannot continue to bring you 57:22 these wonderful messages without your prayers 57:24 and without your financial support. 57:26 So won't you please contact us here 57:28 at Behold the Lamb Ministries at 618-942-5044 57:34 or you may write to Behold the Lamb Ministries 57:37 PO Box 2030, Herrin, Illinois, 62948. 57:42 Email us at 57:43 BeholdTheLambMinistries @Yahoo.com 57:46 or you may visit us on our website 57:48 at www.Behold TheLambMinistries.com. 57:52 Until next time, friends. 57:53 May our precious Lord continue to richly bless you and yours. |
Revised 2019-02-28