Participants:
Series Code: TDY
Program Code: TDY200021A
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00:02 I want to spend my life
00:08 Mending broken people 00:12 I want to spend my life 00:19 Removing pain 00:24 Lord, let my words 00:30 Heal a heart that hurts 00:35 I want to spend my life 00:40 Mending broken people 00:46 I want to spend my life 00:51 Mending broken people 01:09 Hello and welcome to 3ABN Today. 01:12 We appreciate so much that you've taken time 01:14 out of your busy day to join us. 01:16 We have a very, very special program 01:19 scheduled for you today for all of us 01:21 because we're gonna be talking 01:22 about a very, very important last day events type of topic. 01:27 And we'll get into that in just a few moments. 01:29 I wanna say thank you 01:31 for all of your love, prayers, and support 01:33 because without you we wouldn't be here 01:35 doing what we're doing being able to preach the gospel 01:37 to all the world. 01:40 Again, we have a very special topic today. 01:42 I'm gonna give you the title and you're gonna... 01:44 It's gonna sound funny I've said it several times 01:46 to Pastor Lomacang and he keeps saying, "What?" 01:49 You'll know why it's entitled this 01:50 in just a few moments, 01:52 but I've entitled today's "Serpentology." 01:54 Serpentology root word serpent, 01:57 there is a lie 01:59 that a serpent told in Scripture. 02:02 And we're gonna read about that today. 02:03 And the subject matter is going to be over obviously, 02:06 the topic of the state of the death. 02:08 Now you may be sitting at home saying right now, 02:10 you know what, I've heard this a million times. 02:12 I already know the truth about it, 02:14 but we're going to be taking a fresh look 02:17 at what the Bible has to say about this special topic 02:19 and why it's so important for us to be discussing it 02:22 and to know the truth about it here in the last days. 02:26 Before we dive deep into this topic, though, 02:28 I'm going to introduce these wonderful panel, 02:31 it's a panel of three, 02:33 but I think we can get the job done, right? 02:34 Okay. 02:35 To my right here we have Pastor John Lomacang. 02:37 It's a blessing to have you, Brother. 02:38 Good to be and it trenches with someone 02:40 who knows how to sharpen the word, 02:41 appreciate a lot. 02:42 Amen. Praise the Lord. 02:44 I'm gonna be excited to see what you have prepared for us 02:46 because when we take on these type of subjects, 02:48 you're like a machine gun 02:50 and I appreciate all that you have to bring to the table. 02:52 Soldier of the cross. Amen. 02:53 In a good way. In a good way. 02:55 Praise the Lord. 02:56 And, of course, to my left here, 02:58 I have my brother Dakota Day. 02:59 It's a blessing to have you. 03:01 It's a blessing to be here. 03:02 I appreciate the invitation. Amen. 03:03 You're with Amazing Facts Ministry 03:05 for those of may not know. 03:06 Dakota is an evangelist for Amazing Facts Ministry 03:10 and you travel full-time for the gospel 03:12 and it's a blessing to have you here 03:14 to join us on this program today. 03:15 That's right. That's right. 03:17 It's a blessing to be here at 3ABN, 03:18 with Amazing Facts most of the time, 03:20 so it's always a blessing 03:21 to see our brothers and sisters at 3ABN. 03:23 Amen. Praise the Lord. 03:24 Before we dive deep into our subject, 03:26 I'm gonna have you to say a prayer for us, okay? 03:27 Sure, yeah. Let's pray. 03:29 Father in heaven, we wanna thank You so much, 03:31 Lord, for waking us up this morning 03:33 and breathing Your breath of life 03:35 into us again, 03:36 that we would be able to, Lord, 03:37 to come together and study Your Word. 03:39 Lord, that we will not be deceived 03:40 by any kind of serpentology, 03:43 but Lord that we would have Your true theology, 03:45 Lord, the study of Your Word in our hearts in our minds. 03:48 So give us a spirit, Your spirit now as we pray 03:51 and as we study Your Word. 03:53 Lord, that we may be led and guided into all truth. 03:56 We ask this in Jesus' holy precious name, amen. 03:59 Amen. Praise the Lord. 04:01 I like what you said in your prayer there. 04:03 You know, that we may not be deceived 04:05 by serpentology, 04:07 but theology or by biblical theology, 04:10 because we want to know what the Bible actually says 04:14 about this topic 04:15 that we're gonna be talking about today. 04:16 And what kind of sparked me to entitle it Serpentology is 04:21 as you're gonna see in just a few moments, 04:22 we're gonna dive deep into this subject. 04:24 And we're gonna talk about the very first lie 04:26 that was ever recorded in Scripture 04:28 and told by a serpent and we know that serpent, 04:30 to be none other, as the Bible says, 04:33 "The devil himself." 04:34 And that lie you would say, you know what? 04:36 That's an old lie. 04:38 It's not that big of a deal anymore. 04:39 It was told nearly 7,000 years ago, 04:41 6,000 years ago, but you know what? 04:44 We still see that the effects of that lie, 04:47 the effects of that deception is still at work today, 04:51 probably stronger than ever before. 04:53 I wanna start reading and kind of open us up 04:55 and launches into this subject with a couple of texts, 04:58 one from the Bible 05:00 and one from a book called The Great Controversy. 05:02 Let's start first in Revelation 16:13-14. 05:06 And, of course, after I read these opening text, gentlemen, 05:08 I'm gonna pitch it to you. 05:09 And we're gonna dive deep into this. 05:11 Revelation 16:13-14, the Bible says, 05:14 and John is in vision, 05:15 and this comes within the context 05:17 of the seven last plagues that will come upon this earth, 05:21 but notice what the Bible says in beginning in verse 13, 05:23 it says, "And I saw 05:25 three unclean spirits like frogs 05:27 coming out of the mouth of the dragon, 05:28 out of the mouth of the beast, 05:30 and out of the mouth of the false prophet. 05:32 For they are spirits of demons, performing signs, 05:37 which go out to the kings of the earth 05:40 and to the whole world, 05:41 to gather them to the battle 05:43 of the great day of God Almighty." 05:46 So just as the spirit of the devil 05:48 was at work in the beginning, 05:49 we see that John saw in vision 05:51 very vividly for these last days, 05:53 that there are spirits of demons 05:55 still performing miracles, signs, and wonders 05:58 in these last days, 05:59 and trying to deceive 06:00 millions and millions of millions of people. 06:02 Now I'm gonna tie that with a text 06:05 that many of us have probably heard before, 06:07 someone might not. 06:08 This comes from The Great Controversy, 06:09 page 588. 06:11 And it's a very powerful statement. 06:12 Notice what this says. 06:14 It says, "Through the two great errors, 06:17 the immortality of the soul and Sunday sacredness, 06:22 Satan will bring the people under his deceptions. 06:25 While the former lays the foundation of spiritualism, 06:29 the latter creates a bond of sympathy with Rome. 06:33 The Protestants of the United States 06:34 will be foremost in stretching their hand 06:38 across the gulf to grasp the hand of spiritualism, 06:41 they will reach over the abyss to clasp hands 06:44 with the Roman power, 06:45 and under the influence of this threefold union, 06:49 this country will follow in the steps of Rome 06:52 and trampling on the rights of conscience." 06:54 Now there's a lot to unfold and unpack 06:56 from just that one text there, 06:58 but it's interesting that she says 07:00 under this threefold union 07:01 and she includes spiritualism, Pastor, 07:04 she includes spiritualism. 07:05 Spiritualism, of course is the belief of an afterlife, 07:08 the immortality of the soul 07:10 and beyond the point of death 07:12 in which persons can communicate 07:15 with spirits of dead people. 07:17 And we want to unpack this topic 07:19 because as we're about to show in just a few moments, 07:21 the devil told the first lie ever recorded in Scripture 07:24 in relation to death, 07:26 "You shall not surely die." 07:27 We'll reference that again, 07:29 but what really sparked my attention 07:30 to bring this topic about for us to discuss 07:33 is recently on the news, you start to see, 07:35 you know, some significant influential people have passed, 07:39 have died. 07:40 I'm thinking of in recent months, 07:43 you know, you're looking at Kobe Bryant, 07:44 the famous basketball star. 07:46 Now, you know, 07:47 Kobe Bryant was one of my favorite basketball players 07:49 growing up, but I remember my Facebook 07:51 and social media flooded, Pastor. 07:54 Me and Dakota both talked about this, 07:55 you know, Kobe Bryant's in heaven, 07:57 he's looking down, him and his daughters up there 07:58 and just concept that there's a life 08:02 beyond the point of death in this life. 08:04 I also think of, you know, 08:06 in recent times, Little Richard, 08:08 Little Richard passed. 08:10 And again, many people stating, 08:12 "Oh, he's in heaven looking down upon us. 08:14 That man is with the Lord today. 08:16 He's went home to be with the Lord." 08:17 And you hear these type of things, 08:19 and then, of course, in very recent time, 08:21 we've seen even the famous apologists, 08:24 Christian apologist Ravi Zacharias passing, 08:26 of course, I saw on my social media lit up, 08:28 this man has now went to be with the Lord. 08:30 And I know that people are making these faith 08:32 based statements, 08:34 but, Pastor, I wanna pitch it to, you guys, 08:35 'cause we're talking about the immortality of the soul. 08:38 What is the soul? What is the spirit? 08:40 Let's start there. 08:41 Is this biblical? 08:43 When we hear people say that someone has passed on 08:46 or they've went on to heaven to be with the Lord 08:48 and they're looking down upon us? 08:50 Is this biblical? 08:52 Does a soul go on to be with God in heaven 08:55 after they die? 08:57 And does their spirit go on to be with the Lord 08:59 after they die? 09:01 What is the soul? What is the spirit? 09:02 I'm gonna pitch it to, you guys. 09:04 Let's dive deep into this. 09:05 Well, part of the quandary comes out of the translation 09:08 that people often find 09:10 their doctrinal information from. 09:13 There's a Bible text in Genesis 2:7, 09:16 which I'll go to that first. 09:17 And the King James Version, 09:19 the New King James 09:20 and the New International Version, 09:22 they vary on the word soul being 09:25 is the next to transition used word being, 09:27 but the word soul has metamorphosized 09:31 into something 09:32 that the Bible never initialized it to be. 09:34 And there's a teaching, 09:36 you might look this up a very interesting study, 09:37 Neoplatonism. 09:40 This Neoplatonistic ideology was inserted into Christianity, 09:44 even before Christianity 09:46 inserted into the Greco-Roman Empire, 09:50 where the Jewish Church existed, 09:52 and even the Jews were affected by this belief. 09:55 One of the examples in Scripture we find 09:57 is in John 11, 09:58 where Jesus stayed away for four days 10:00 where instead of going immediately 10:02 to resurrect Lazarus, 10:04 He heard Lazarus was sicken, then He said to His disciples, 10:07 plainly, Lazarus is dead. 10:09 When He got there, Martha said, 10:10 "You know, if you had been here, 10:12 my brother would not have died." 10:13 Well, the question is, and many people don't ask, 10:15 why did Jesus stay away for four days? 10:18 Because the belief was 10:19 in the Neoplatonistic School of Theology 10:21 that the soul they believe 10:23 tried incessantly to get back into the body 10:26 for three days and if it didn't, 10:27 then the body would begin to decay. 10:29 That's why the Bible talked about Jesus 10:31 spending only three days and three nights in the jail. 10:34 And because He didn't see corruption, 10:36 that's when corruption began to kick in the fourth day. 10:39 And they will convince 10:40 that if the fourth day occurred, 10:42 and He wasn't raised, then, you know, 10:45 He's definitely not gonna get a chance 10:46 to come forward in the resurrection. 10:48 And that's why Jesus came forth and said, 10:50 "I am the resurrection and the life." 10:52 He said that in John 11 to Mary and to Martha, 10:54 almost specifically to Martha, 10:56 but Genesis 2:7 says, 10:58 and we have to look at what a soul is 10:59 to really establish the reality here. 11:02 Genesis 2:7, I'm reading the King James Version. 11:04 The Bible says, "And the Lord God 11:06 formed man of the dust of the ground, 11:08 and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, 11:11 and man became a living soul." 11:13 So notice the two combinations, we have the dust of the ground, 11:17 and then the dust of the ground 11:18 is the formation of the human body. 11:20 All of its cells and organs, 11:22 everything that's encapsulated as my good friend 11:24 who is a forensic pathologist, 11:28 who does autopsies, he says, "You know, 11:31 when you open up a person who has passed, 11:34 it's a gruesome thought, 11:36 and they begin to exam the reason why they died." 11:38 This is to see so many evidences 11:40 as to what could have caused the death. 11:42 But the body is there, but where is the soul? 11:47 So people ask the question. 11:49 Well, let's go ahead and eliminate the word soul. 11:51 And when you read Genesis 2:7 in the end 11:53 in the New King James version, 11:55 which version do you have, Dakota? 11:57 King James. Okay. King James. 11:59 Ryan? Yes. 12:00 So I have the New King James Version. 12:01 Okay, read that. 12:03 And it says, "And the Lord God formed man 12:04 of the dust of the ground, 12:05 and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, 12:07 and man became a living," instead of soul its mine says, 12:11 "being," a living being. 12:13 So the combination of the dust of the ground 12:14 plus the breath of life makes it very clear. 12:17 Now, Dakota, go to Job 27:3. 12:21 Job 27:3. Job 27:3. 12:25 Read that for me 12:27 because when the Lord breathed into Adam's nostrils, 12:31 Adam became a living soul. 12:32 He did something for Adam to become a living soul. 12:36 That's right. 12:37 Job 27:3 says, 12:39 "All the while my breath is in me, 12:41 and the spirit of God is in my nostrils." 12:43 Okay, how did he get there? 12:45 Because God breathed into his nostrils 12:49 the breath of life. 12:50 He put it that was the avenue to insert that spark of life. 12:54 Now I can't breathe into anybody's nostrils 12:56 and give them the breath of life. 12:58 You know, they might run if, you know, 13:01 I don't even go down that path 13:02 because it could be so gruesome, 13:03 but only God's breath can give us life. 13:07 So now let's look at the opposite of life. 13:09 Ecclesiastes 12:7. 13:11 Notice all these verses, Ecclesiastes 12:7, 13:15 and read this is... 13:18 It doesn't matter the translation. 13:20 Sure. But... 13:21 So Ecclesiastes 12:7 says, this is a popular one here, 13:26 "Then the dust will return to the earth as it was, 13:29 and the spirit will return to God who gave it." 13:32 Okay, now here, let's go ahead 13:34 and take this whole ideology together. 13:35 There you go. And say the spirit is the soul. 13:38 Well, that would mean 13:39 that Adam existed in heaven first 13:43 and he came down and got into this body. 13:46 And when the body died, Adam went back to heaven. 13:49 It doesn't say that, 13:50 it says the spirit returned to God's who gave. 13:52 The spirit returns to God who gave it. 13:55 Clearly, what is the spirit that returns? 13:57 Dakota made it clear, the breath of life. 14:00 God is the author, 14:01 the owner of the breath of life. 14:02 That's right. 14:04 So nothing returns to heaven, but lastly, Psalm 146:4, 14:09 Dakota read that for me? 14:10 Psalm 146:4. Psalm 146:4? 14:13 Yeah. 14:15 You know, while he's finding that, 14:16 I just have to say, 14:17 it's interesting that many people will say, 14:19 you know, when a person dies, 14:21 while their spirit went to be with Jesus, 14:23 and they're thinking of a ghost, 14:24 like a ghostly apparition of some sort, 14:26 somehow is liberated or separated from the body 14:29 at the point of death, 14:30 but what we're showing here is obviously, 14:32 biblically speaking, the Spirit of God, 14:35 according to the Bible, 14:36 is the breath of life that God gives, 14:38 not some ghostly person that lives within us, right? 14:41 And that comes from the word nephesh, you know, or pneuma. 14:45 You have those two words, the Greek and the Hebrew, 14:47 but now look at Psalm 146:4, 14:49 this settles the reality 14:51 as to what happens when a person dies. 14:53 Okay, read that. 14:55 It says, "His breath goeth forth, 14:56 he returneth to his earth, 14:58 in that very day his thoughts perish." 15:00 Okay, in that very day. 15:02 Now his version he's reading King James it says 15:04 his breath goes forth... 15:06 There you go. 15:07 New King James version 15:08 which is again a similar translation. 15:10 It says, "His spirit departs." That's right. 15:12 Okay. 15:13 So there's a correlation there, spirit and breath. 15:15 Same thing. That's right. 15:16 Whatever the... 15:17 And in the Hebrew 15:19 those are the same identical words. 15:20 So His spirit departs, but what happens? 15:24 He returns to his earth. Right. 15:27 In that very day his thoughts perish. 15:29 That's why paramedics when a person is near death, 15:32 keep them alive, put that oxygen, 15:34 make sure that his breath doesn't leave his body 15:37 because then everything ceases. 15:39 I have many more, but I'm gonna head and... 15:41 No, I think we've somewhat answered that. 15:43 Dakota, I wanna kick it to you now for this next question. 15:45 And if you have anything to say on what we just said, 15:47 you can sure add this. 15:49 I think we've answered this clearly already 15:51 as far as what the spirit is, 15:53 you know, obviously the breath of life. 15:54 You know what a soul is? 15:56 The soul is the combination of body plus breath. 15:58 There's no such thing really in the Bible 16:00 as a dead soul, 16:01 you know, there could only be one type of soul 16:03 and it's a living soul, 16:05 but I just wanted for the sake of this particular topic 16:09 we have to ask the question, is a soul immortal? 16:13 Because most people believe in this since 16:14 the soul is a person, a ghostly person, 16:17 an identification that lives within you, 16:19 does that soul live on forever we've kind of already answered, 16:23 but I wanna kind of nail that down, 16:24 I'm gonna pitch to Dakota and, Pastor, you can give... 16:26 Yeah, go ahead. 16:27 Just before you do that 16:28 because I wanna make a clarification, 16:30 I know you mean there's no such thing 16:31 as a dead soul 16:32 meaning a soul that separates from the body, 16:34 but the Bible does say in Ecclesiastes 18:4, 16:35 "The soul that sinneth, it shall die." 16:37 It shall die. Right. 16:38 And there's no such thing as an immortal soul. 16:39 Right. 16:41 So a dead soul, what I mean by that 16:42 was a dead soul in the sense 16:43 that a dead person continues to live on 16:45 as a dead, but yet living soul. 16:47 That's not biblical. 16:48 Okay. I got it. Absolutely. Absolutely. 16:50 So, Dakota, is the soul immortal? 16:53 What does the Bible have to say about this? 16:55 The Bible is very clear on this. 16:56 You read in 1 Timothy 6:15-16 17:01 that God alone has immortality, right? 17:04 And that again, that's 1 Timothy 6:15-16. 17:07 God alone has immortality. 17:08 So we did not receive immortality 17:11 until later which we'll get to that, 17:13 but that's at the Second Coming of Jesus, 17:15 but nevertheless, 17:17 as Pastor quoted Ezekiel 18:4, it says, 17:19 "The soul that sinneth, it shall die." Right. 17:21 "The wages of sin is death." Right. 17:24 Romans 6:23. 17:25 And oftentimes, when I'm studying with this 17:27 with someone that become confused 17:28 about death, 17:30 you know, they tend to think that when we die, 17:33 we really don't die, 17:35 our spirit or ghostly apparition 17:37 that God put inside of us float somewhere else. 17:39 And we've already dismantled that 17:40 and the understanding that when God made man 17:43 from the very beginning, He did not put inside of him, 17:46 a ghostly apparition, 17:47 and then that made Adam come to life, 17:49 but instead, He breathed into his nostrils, 17:51 and then man became a living soul. 17:53 So understanding that 17:55 we have to understand that life comes from God 17:57 and God alone. 17:59 And so when we die, "The wages of sin is death, " 18:01 according to Romans 6:23. 18:03 So we know that when we die, we actually do die. 18:07 And this is where your idea for the sermon title comes 18:09 Serpentology is because we know that that first lie 18:12 that we looked at 18:14 or that we're gonna look at even more in Genesis Chapter 3, 18:18 really originated with a devil 18:19 when he said that you shall not surely die. 18:21 Why don't we go there and read that, right, 18:22 just to set the foundation. 18:24 So Genesis 3, 18:25 and pastor gave us 18:26 a beautiful kind of historical basis 18:29 on where this idea of the immortal soul 18:32 or the immortality of the soul comes from the Neoplatonism, 18:35 but biblically speaking, who's the father of this lie? 18:41 This idea that we continue on. 18:42 So, Dakota, take us to Genesis 3, 18:44 and read those texts there? 18:45 Yeah. So let's go to Genesis 3 here. 18:47 Let's pick it up. 18:49 Let's just pick it up in verse 1. 18:50 Genesis 3:1, it says, 18:52 "Now the serpent was more subtle 18:53 than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. 18:55 And he said unto the woman, 'Yea, hath God said, 18:58 You shall not eat of every tree of the garden?' 19:00 And the woman said unto the serpent, 19:01 'We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden. 19:03 But of the fruit of the tree 19:05 which is in the midst of the garden, 19:06 God hath said, You shall not eat of it, 19:07 neither shall you touch it, lest ye die.'" 19:09 Okay. 19:10 So the result of eating and disobeying God 19:12 is death, right? 19:13 And then notice 19:14 what the serpent says in verse 4, 19:16 "The serpent said unto the woman, 19:17 'You shall not surely die.'" 19:19 Okay. So... 19:20 Serpentology. Serpentology. 19:21 Not biblical theology, but serpentology. 19:23 God says the wages of disobeying Me. 19:24 The wages of breaking My law is death, 19:27 I mean, it's clear as glass right there. 19:29 And then the serpent, 19:30 of course, being the deceiver that he is. 19:32 He says, "No, he's really lying to you, 19:34 you're not really gonna die. 19:36 You'll be like Him, 19:37 and you'll be able to live forever 19:39 and all of these things." 19:40 And so this serpentology, again, 19:43 originated in the Garden of Eden 19:44 with the devil, 19:46 and so many people today are still drinking 19:47 the wine of Babylon still drinking, 19:49 sipping back on grandma's old cough medicine 19:51 or I guess you could say, 19:54 and so many people were deceived by this 19:55 and I think that 19:57 and we'll get to the details on it in a bit, 19:58 but we're going to see that the ramifications 20:01 if you believe something like this, 20:03 the ramifications in the last days 20:05 that you can so easily be deceived by the devil, 20:08 by believing the first lie the devil ever told humanity. 20:11 Absolutely. 20:12 So the very purpose and reasoning 20:14 behind why it's important 20:16 that we take on such a topic, Pastor, 20:18 is the fact 20:19 that millions and millions and millions of Christians, 20:22 billions perhaps, 20:24 have come to this understanding, 20:26 or at least this traditional belief, 20:29 not from the Bible, 20:30 but the very idea that after death, 20:33 there's something else, 20:35 that there's life beyond 20:36 and the question we're simply addressing 20:38 and nailing down. 20:39 Obviously, we know the Bible teaches 20:40 that the soul is not immortal. 20:42 In fact, you referenced Ezekiel 18:4. 20:45 And what does that say again? 20:46 "The soul that sinneth, it shall die." 20:48 It shall die. 20:50 So one could say at this point 20:52 death is technically creation in reverse. 20:55 The best way to look at it. 20:56 That's the one interesting way to look at it. 20:58 Do you have any final thoughts 20:59 on this immortality of the soul? 21:00 Because I'm gonna go on to the question of the hour 21:02 in just a moment. 21:03 Okay, well, let's look at Genesis 3:19, 21:06 just so we could settle the issue of Adam 21:08 the very first man 21:09 because the Bible says Adam lived 930 years 21:12 and he died. 21:14 When he died, where did he go? There you go. 21:17 In Genesis 3:19... 21:19 Which is my next question. 21:20 Do we go anywhere when we die, right? 21:22 Like we've clearly communicated that 21:24 that's not possible, 21:25 but still, there's someone gonna watch at home 21:27 that says, "Wait a second, I still believe that, 21:29 you know, Grandma Sally's up there 21:30 looking down upon me. 21:32 She's with Jesus right now walking the streets of gold." 21:35 Let's nail this down. Do we go anywhere when we die? 21:37 Take a step. Let's see. 21:39 The Lord made it clear. 21:40 The Bible is so amazingly clear. 21:42 Look at Genesis 3:19. 21:44 "In the sweat of your face or brow, 21:46 you shall eat bread till you return to the ground." 21:52 To heaven, right? 21:54 So that shows that there was no soul 21:56 that came down, went to a body 21:57 and went back anywhere. 21:59 Nobody is in heaven now 22:00 except for the ones that the Bible mentions, 22:02 Elijah, Noah, and Enoch, see and, you know, 22:05 there's some suggestion 22:07 that the 24 elders were part of the resurrection, 22:10 that when Jesus, 22:11 but outside of those who the Bible clearly chooses 22:16 or speaks about, 22:17 it says clearly notice what the rest of the text says. 22:20 And this is why he returns to the ground. 22:22 "For out of it you were taken, for dust you are, 22:26 and to dust you shall return." 22:29 I mean, how can you be even any clearer than that. 22:32 The only other clarity you can get 22:33 is in the Book of Job. 22:35 Let's look at Job because Job Chapter 14, 22:37 Job Chapter 14, I mean, it's gonna ignite you, Ryan. 22:41 I'm gonna stand back 'cause he's gonna combust. 22:45 But look at Job Chapter 14, it's amazing passage, 22:48 it talks about this process of death 22:50 and I wanna slide into it 22:52 because Job just lays such a beautiful foundation. 22:57 And I'm gonna start with verse 7. 22:59 We don't often start with verse 7, 23:01 but verse 7 is significant. 23:03 "For there is hope for a tree, 23:06 if it is cut down, that it will sprout again, 23:11 and that its tender shoots will not cease. 23:15 Though its roots may grow old in the ground, 23:17 and a stump may die in the ground, 23:20 yet at the scent of water it will bud 23:22 and bring forth branches like a plant." 23:25 Now I always love that passage 23:27 because you know what it says, 23:28 the spiritual application before it gets into death. 23:30 It says, if we look at people and think that, you know, 23:34 they've been a sinner for so long, 23:36 they left the church 25, 30 years ago, 23:38 there's no way that they could come back. 23:40 The Lord says as long as the stump remains 23:42 in the ground 23:44 at the scent of water, who's the water? 23:45 Jesus. That's right, Jesus. 23:46 Have to give them to just Jesus 23:48 because the roots are still there. 23:50 What is the root does? It sniffs for water. 23:53 And the moment it finds it, it will bud again. 23:55 So that's hope for those that have been away from Lord 23:57 for many years, but here's the transition. 24:00 "But a man dies and is laid away, 24:03 indeed he breathes his last." 24:05 And look at the question. 24:07 "Where is he?" Dakota, pick it up. 24:10 Verse 11. 24:12 "As the waters fail from the sea, 24:14 and the flood decayeth and drieth up. 24:16 So man lieth down, 24:17 and riseth not till the heavens be no more, 24:21 they shall not awake, 24:22 nor be raised out of their sleep." 24:24 How long they're gonna be down there? 24:26 Till the heavens are no more. 24:27 That's right. That's heavens a new earth. 24:29 That's powerful. So the heavens are no more. 24:31 And keep going. And verse 13. 24:35 It says, "O that thou wouldest hide me in the grave, 24:38 that thou wouldest keep me secret, 24:40 until thy wrath be past, 24:42 that thou wouldest appoint me a set time, 24:45 and remember me!" 24:47 Okay, so keep me in that grave. 24:48 Job is the oldest book in the Bible, 24:50 older than Genesis. 24:52 Job, who was an upright man 24:54 knew exactly what was gonna happen 24:56 when you die. 24:57 Now, Ryan, pick it up in verse 14 24:59 because he continues adding to the clarity of what happens. 25:03 It said, I'm reading 25:04 from the New King James Version, 25:05 it says, "If a man dies, shall he live again? 25:08 All the days of my hard service I will wait, 25:11 till my change comes." 25:13 Okay. Verse 15. 25:15 "You shall call, and I will answer you. 25:17 You shall desire the work of Your hands." 25:19 Okay. 25:20 'For now You number my steps, but do not watch over my sin." 25:26 Right, Job is saying, "Hey, 25:27 as long as I'm alive 25:29 I'm waiting till my change comes." 25:30 When I die, I have to go to the grave, 25:32 wait till my change comes. 25:33 Just appoint me a set time and remember me. 25:35 And so often the thief on the cross didn't say, 25:39 I want to be with you in paradise today. 25:41 He said, "Remember me when you come in your kingdom." 25:44 The same remember me that the thief asked for 25:47 is the same remember me that Job ask. 25:49 When you come remember me. 25:51 So I could throw you... I could throw it back to you. 25:52 I think, I wanna give you just to clarify here. 25:56 You know, I think we've made this very clear, 25:57 but, you know, there's gonna be people 25:59 that's gonna read that text you just read earlier 26:00 in Genesis 3, and I think it was verse 19, 26:03 where it says, you know, unto the dust you shall return. 26:06 And I've had many Christians say, "Right, 26:08 the body will return, but the soul goes on." 26:11 And that's why we're hitting this up front. 26:14 And identifying biblically, what is a soul? 26:16 What is a spirit? 26:17 Because if you don't have that foundational understanding 26:20 of what the Bible teaches, 26:21 in reference to the soul and the spirit, 26:23 and if you think it's some ghost of some sort, 26:25 then you're gonna have a completely twisted 26:27 distorted understanding 26:28 of what the Bible teaches about death. 26:30 And as we have clearly studied so far, 26:31 we see that the soul 26:33 is the combination of body and breath. 26:34 It's a living being, we do not have a soul, 26:37 we do not possess a soul inside, we are a soul. 26:41 And, of course, a soul, a living being can die, 26:43 which is why it says the soul that sinneth, 26:45 Ezekiel 18:4, it shall die. 26:48 And the spirit, of course, 26:49 is none other than the breath of life, 26:50 which returns to the Lord. 26:52 I'm thinking 26:53 of another great example of this. 26:55 If indeed... 26:56 And I'm sure when you showed another biblical example here 26:58 and I'm gonna throw this to Dakota for him 26:59 to talk a little about this. 27:01 If we go to heaven when we die? 27:03 I'm just speaking hypothetically, 27:05 I would expect it 27:06 if I died right now went to heaven. 27:08 Again, this is an example. 27:10 I would expect to see a lot of people there. 27:13 One of those people 27:14 would probably be King David, right? 27:16 I would expect, the Bible says 27:18 that he's a man after God's own heart, right? 27:19 I mean, this is a man 27:20 that while he had troubles and trials, 27:22 and, you know, he was a sinner, 27:23 he was a man after God's own heart. 27:25 He asked for forgiveness. 27:26 The Lord transformed this man 27:28 before he expired on this earth. 27:31 So I would expect that of all people, 27:32 he would probably be in heaven, right? 27:34 Now it's interesting because if you fast forward 27:37 about 1,000 years or so, after David dies, 27:40 you're gonna come in the scripture 27:42 to the day of Pentecost. 27:43 Dakota, I want to, 27:45 want you to take us to Acts Chapter 2, 27:46 we're gonna read verses 29 and 34. 27:48 Let's unpack this here 27:50 because there's something revealed to us here 27:51 about King David. 27:53 Acts 2:29, 34. 27:55 Peter has been preaching. 27:56 Preaching, yeah, 27:58 he's been preaching his heart out 27:59 telling them about Jesus Christ. 28:00 And he basically gets to a part 28:02 where he's talking about the patriarch David. 28:04 And he says in verse 29, "Men and brethren, 28:05 let me freely speak unto you of the patriarch David, 28:07 that he is both dead and buried, 28:09 and his sepulcher is with us unto this day." 28:12 So he very clearly says here, he's dead, he's buried, 28:15 his tomb still remains with us. 28:16 And then notice verse 34. 28:18 When you go down, he says, 28:19 "For David is not ascended into the heavens." 28:22 So it's very clear here that when we die, 28:25 we don't go straight to heaven or straight to hell, 28:27 but we are in the grave, and we remain as Job says here, 28:31 I just wanted to cover this one here in Job 21:32. 28:33 It says, "Yet shall he be brought to the grave, 28:35 and shall remain in the tomb." 28:38 So when we die, 28:39 we're brought to the grave, we remain in the tomb, 28:40 and we await 28:42 the Second Coming of Jesus Christ, 28:43 as Christians as believers. 28:45 And I just wanna talk about another verse here. 28:46 We talked about do we go anywhere when we die? 28:49 I think understanding what Jesus had to say 28:51 about this is paramount because in John 5:28-29. 28:55 There we are. Jesus makes it very clear. 28:57 "Marvel not at this for the hour is coming, 28:59 which all that are in the graves 29:01 shall come forth." 29:02 So let's stop for a moment. 29:04 He's saying the hour is coming, 29:06 in which all that are in the graves 29:08 shall hear His voice, 29:09 means those that are in the graves, 29:11 and we're talking about 4,000 years has passed. 29:13 And so when Jesus 29:15 is actually speaking these words, 29:16 4000 years, a lot of people have died, 29:17 been in the graves. 29:19 He says the hour is coming 29:20 in which those that are in the graves, 29:21 He didn't say they were in heaven or hell. 29:23 He said, they shall come forth, 29:25 and they shall hear His voice, 29:26 means they haven't came forth and went anywhere yet, 29:28 and they haven't yet heard His voice. 29:30 And it goes on to say here, He says, "And shall come forth, 29:34 they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life, 29:36 and they that have done evil, 29:38 unto the resurrection of damnation." 29:39 So we see that Jesus made it very clear 29:42 those that are in the graves have not went forth 29:44 and they have not heard His voice, 29:46 but they will in the resurrection 29:48 that will take place at the Second Coming of Jesus, 29:50 those that have done good unto the resurrection of life, 29:52 and then later those that have done evil 29:54 unto the resurrection of damnation. 29:55 So if they're already in hell, and they're already in heaven, 29:58 why is there a resurrection? 30:00 Right. That's a good point. 30:02 And another text, Revelation 22:12. 30:08 Yes. There you go. That's right. 30:09 "Behold, I come quickly, and my reward is with Me, 30:13 to give to every man 30:14 according as his work shall be." 30:16 Now, I'm coming 30:19 and I'm bringing my reward with me. 30:21 Well, according to the common belief, 30:23 the reward was given at the time of death. 30:25 That's not the case. 30:27 The resurrection, you just talked 30:28 about the two resurrections 30:29 and what has happened in the Christian world, 30:31 death has become an alternate route. 30:33 Death has become an alternate route 30:36 as that game in Monopoly, 30:37 you know, you're not going to jail, 30:40 go pass and collect $200. 30:42 No, when you die you cannot go past the grave. 30:45 You go to the grave, the grave is my house. 30:48 Job made it clear that grave is my house. 30:50 That also takes care of the home going services. 30:53 The only home you go into the grave, 30:54 the grave is my house. 30:55 The Bible makes it very, very clear, 30:57 but I'm gonna show you another text. 30:59 We often go to Ezekiel 18:4, but go to Joshua 11:11. 31:03 Okay, all right. Joshua 11:11. 31:05 I want this specifically, I wanna have Dakota read this. 31:08 Joshua 11:11. 31:10 Because the King James Version is the version 31:12 that often uses the word soul repeatedly. 31:15 And a lot of times people tend to take them out of context. 31:18 And then, Ryan, I'm gonna have you 31:19 read Matthew 28:10. 31:21 Right, okay. 31:22 Because these are two verses that we have to clarify 31:25 because people read what it says, 31:27 but they make people read, 31:29 and they get settled with what they heard 31:31 rather than what it actually said. 31:33 So we're in Joshua, right? 31:35 Joshua 11:11. 31:36 Joshua 11:11 says, 31:38 "And they smote all the souls 31:40 that were therein with the edge of the sword, 31:43 utterly destroying them, 31:45 there was not any left to breathe, 31:48 and he burnt Hazor with fire." 31:51 Okay, notice what happened. 31:52 What happened to all the souls? 31:54 They were destroyed. 31:56 And not only were they destroyed 31:57 to be redundant, 31:59 nobody was left to breathe, all the souls. 32:02 This was a battle Israel, 32:04 and then the value of Hazor here. 32:06 They're talking about the end result 32:07 of this battle. 32:08 All the souls that went up against God, 32:11 what happened to them all? 32:12 They were all utterly destroyed, 32:15 and none of them are left to breathe. 32:17 Once again, evidence that the soul is not immortal 32:20 because all the souls died. 32:22 And by the way, the word soul there, 32:24 once again simply means all the humanity 32:26 that went against God, 32:27 every person that was in that battle died, 32:30 and none of them were left to breathe. 32:32 That's what happens when we die. 32:33 None of us are left to breathe, 32:35 but now what happens if a person dies 32:37 in a plane crash or somebody, 32:39 a tyrant says, 32:41 which was the case during the Holocaust? 32:43 Many people were, 32:45 it's a sad way to think about it. 32:47 They were killed in these fiery furnaces. 32:51 Look at Matthew 28. 32:52 Matthew 28, verse, what verse is it? 32:54 Matthew 28:10. 32:56 All right, Matthew 28:10 says here, 33:01 "Then Jesus said to them, 'Do not be afraid. 33:03 Go and tell My brethren to go to Galilee, 33:05 and there they will see Me.'" 33:07 Did I say Matthew 28:10? Okay, no, that's not the one. 33:10 Matthew 20. Matthew 20. 33:12 Go to Matthew 20. Okay, Matthew 20. 33:15 All right, I'm there. 33:16 Because, yeah, there now, okay. 33:19 And we're talking about the difference 33:21 between the soul and the body, here it is. 33:25 Have it right here in my notes. 33:27 Okay, here it is. 33:28 So when the Lord compares what happens when a person dies 33:32 in comparison to what happens when a person is alive. 33:36 The fear has been... 33:39 "Do not fear him 33:40 who is able to destroy the body, 33:43 but not able to destroy the soul. 33:46 Fear him who is able to destroy both body and soul in hell." 33:50 Okay, all right. Okay. 33:52 And so if body and soul 33:55 can be destroyed in hell, 33:59 then the body and the soul are not immortal. 34:03 That's right. That's right. 34:04 Absolutely. 34:05 And you said, you used the word destroy. 34:07 Right. 34:08 I mean, that means no longer exists. 34:10 So this, you're talking about Matthew 10:28? 34:11 Matthew 10:28. 34:12 You had them backwards, but that's right. 34:14 So the Bible says in Matthew 10:28, 34:15 "And do not fear those who kill the body 34:17 but cannot kill the soul. 34:19 But rather fear Him who is able to destroy 34:21 both soul and body in hell." 34:23 Right. And so you see the difference. 34:24 I had a dyslexic moment there, which happens periodically. 34:28 I got you. But notice what happened. 34:30 And so, a lot of people hear the first part, 34:32 don't fear 34:34 those who are able to destroy the body, 34:36 but not able to destroy the soul. 34:38 Let me tell you what the Bible means. 34:39 If somebody decides to incinerate you, 34:44 will you come forth in the resurrection? 34:47 Well, of course. Of course. 34:49 But now which death is there no return? 34:53 Go to Revelation 20:6. 34:56 Which death is there no return? 34:58 That's right. 34:59 And you know the answer. That's right. 35:00 It is the second death, Revelation 20:10, you said? 35:03 No, Revelation 20:6. Oh, verse 6. 35:07 Okay, Revelation 20:6, 35:09 "Blessed and holy is he who has part 35:11 in the first resurrection. 35:13 Over such the second death has no power, 35:16 but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, 35:18 and shall reign with Him a thousand years." 35:19 Okay, so notice what? 35:20 So when Jesus said to Martha, 35:22 he who liveth and believeth in Me shall never die. 35:25 That's another one of those texts that people say, 35:27 "See, he'll never die." 35:28 That's the second death. 35:29 And I just wanna bring it out. 35:31 So you're talking about the second death, 35:32 which is the ultimate destruction 35:33 of the wicked, the second death. 35:35 What is death by definition? 35:36 It is the absence of life. Thank you. 35:39 The absence of life, there's no life. 35:41 There's no life there. 35:43 So when Jesus said, "The wages of sin is death, 35:46 " through His servant Paul, 35:47 He was making it very clear that, 35:49 you know, and I oftentimes thought about this, that too. 35:52 You know, there's people that have doubted 35:54 Jesus' resurrection and His death, right? 35:57 Think about this. Think about this. 36:01 When we die, we don't really die, 36:03 we go somewhere else, then Jesus didn't really die. 36:06 Right. 36:07 Then we can't say that His sacrifice 36:09 was really that great of a sacrifice, 36:11 but if indeed He actually died, 36:14 that our Creator died for us, and paid the penalty for us. 36:19 Now there's an issue. 36:20 Now we can say, "Okay, wow, that's a sacrifice. 36:23 That's powerful." 36:25 Very legitimate. 36:26 So yeah, I think that's powerful. 36:27 I have to ask the question, though. 36:29 Hey, we don't run past what you just said. 36:30 Because this past, you know, it is powerful 36:31 because if Jesus never really died, 36:34 then the wages for sin were never paid. 36:36 That's right. Sure. 36:37 That's right. He never really died. 36:39 That's right. 36:40 The wages were never paid, 36:42 but if He did die, then the wages were paid. 36:44 We are redeemed. 36:46 But if He never died, we are yet not redeemed. 36:49 That's right. Very important point. 36:50 Amen. Praise God. 36:52 But, Pastor, there's gonna be someone... 36:53 Okay. 36:55 Having seen all this and read all this. 36:57 There's gonna be someone to say, yeah, 36:58 but I just sense it, 37:00 I know I believe that my dead loved one 37:04 is up there in heaven, 37:05 watching over me looking down upon me 37:08 and watching over me each and every day. 37:11 The text that comes to mind as I'm thinking of this as, 37:14 you know, many people have this idea 37:16 that past the point of death, 37:18 that people continue to have conscious thoughts, 37:20 you know, that they're able to compute 37:22 and understand what's around them 37:24 in spirit form. 37:25 We can't see them, 37:26 but they can see us 37:28 and they can watch over us, 37:29 you know, when the wind blows and the breeze, 37:30 it's just right or the light just strikes us just right. 37:32 And I'm not trying to be facetious or sarcastic. 37:34 These are real things that people in my family 37:37 and friends and people that I know all the time, 37:39 you know what? 37:40 I was in my house the other day, 37:42 and, you know, I sit down in Uncle Joe's old rocker, 37:45 you know, and Uncle Joe has been dead for 20 years, 37:46 but, man I just sensed the presence of Uncle Joe 37:49 and lo and behold, I looked down the hallway 37:51 and peeking out from behind the door 37:52 smiling and waving at me was Uncle Joe. 37:55 A couple of texts that come to my mind here, 37:57 Ecclesiastes Chapter 9. 37:58 We need to go there. 38:00 Dakota, why don't you go to Ecclesiastes Chapter 9, 38:02 and we're gonna unpack this. 38:03 And then, Pastor, you can, 38:05 I know you probably have some text of your own, 38:07 but I also wanna look at Job 7:9-10. 38:10 So Job 7:9-10, 38:12 and then we can add our own text here 38:13 to really solidify this. 38:15 So do people continue to have conscious thoughts 38:17 after death? 38:19 In other words, can grandma and grandpa 38:21 and all of my loved ones who have passed on, 38:23 are they really watching over me 38:24 because then that would communicate that, 38:26 you know, in some cases for some people 38:28 who are playing with Ouija boards 38:30 and all other kinds of, 38:31 you know, occult like practices. 38:33 There are people often they believe 38:35 they can communicate with their dead loved ones. 38:37 Dakota, let's show 38:39 that the Bible does not support this, 38:41 Ecclesiastes 9:5, 6, 10. 38:44 All right, let's read it. 38:45 It says, "For the living know that they shall die, 38:48 but the dead know not anything, 38:50 neither have they any more reward, 38:52 for the memory of them is forgotten. 38:54 Also their love, and their hatred, 38:55 and their envy is now perished, 38:57 neither have they any more portion 38:59 forever in any thing that is done under the sun." 39:02 And then notice verse 10. 39:03 This is, I think powerful verse 39:05 that very clarifies this, 39:07 "Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, 39:08 do it with thy might, 39:10 for there is no work, nor device, 39:13 nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave, 39:17 whether thou goest." 39:18 So that's pretty clear right there. 39:20 There's no work. There's no knowledge. 39:22 There's no, any kind of, you know, 39:24 thing computing with the dead 39:26 for them to be able to communicate, 39:27 have some kind of dialogue or conversation with us, 39:30 according to the Scripture. 39:32 Right. Absolutely. 39:33 And there's something else 39:35 I just wanted to bring out on this, 39:36 you know, a lot of people. 39:37 I shared this with a gentleman in Tennessee one day, 39:40 is good friend of mine. 39:41 He was my barber. 39:42 And he was just blown away. 39:44 I mean, I've never seen this before, 39:45 but then he finally came to me, he said, "Dakota, 39:47 I don't know that I can believe this." 39:48 He said, "Because what about all of the people 39:51 that believe in God now 39:53 because they've had these experiences?" 39:56 And he had a very valid question. 39:58 What about all these people that belief in God now 40:01 that had these experiences, but they've talked to, 40:03 you know, someone that's died or whatever. 40:05 And I thought about I said, 40:06 "Let me get back to you on that." 40:07 I thought about it and I prayed about it, 40:09 and then God just gave me this answer. 40:10 He said, "Well, 40:12 that's no different than all of these people 40:13 that believe in, you know, 40:15 that's Hindu that believe in reincarnation 40:17 and all these other things." 40:18 They believe they've talked to their dead loved ones too. 40:21 So that's supposed to reinforce their belief 40:23 just because they had some experience. 40:25 we as Christians would not want some Hindu 40:28 or Buddhist or someone that's maybe in Daoism 40:30 or whatever, 40:32 we wouldn't want them to believe in their experiences 40:34 over the Word of God. 40:36 We as a Christian would point them back 40:37 to the Word of God and say, 40:38 "No, no, no, 40:40 even though you may have experienced 40:41 something real." 40:42 We have to understand what the Bible tells... 40:44 That seems reverse. 40:45 Yeah, yeah, well, it could be real, 40:47 but not exactly what, 40:48 you know, the person that's speaking to 40:49 may not be it's not obviously that person, 40:51 you know, their loved one or whatever, 40:52 but this is why we're commanded in 1 John 4:1, 40:55 wanna try and test the spirits 40:57 to see whether they are of God or not. 41:00 And so yeah... And we test them by what? 41:01 We test them by the Word. 41:03 Word of God. That's right. 41:04 Sanctify them by thy truth. Amen. 41:05 Thy word is truth. 41:07 And then in Isaiah 8:20, 41:09 if they speak not according to this Word 41:11 is because there is no light in them. 41:13 We always need to go back to the Bible. 41:14 Pastor, chime in on this one. 41:16 Job 7:9-10, 41:19 "As the cloud disappears and vanishes away, 41:23 so he who goes down to the grave does not come up." 41:27 That's clear. 41:29 "He shall never return to his house, 41:31 nor shall his place know him anymore." 41:35 Okay, so based of that. That's clear. 41:37 If someone's sitting in Uncle Joe's rocker, 41:40 and they look down the hallway, 41:42 and what appears to be very clearly, 41:44 Uncle Joe smiling and waving 41:46 from the other end of the hallway. 41:48 What is it? How do you explain that, right? 41:50 I mean, so let's chime on that. 41:53 Now, I'll give it to you, but let's do two passages. 41:55 Psalm 115:17. There you go. 41:57 Oh, that's a good one. Psalm 115:17. 41:59 Yeah, I was going to bring that one out too, 42:00 but go head and go there. 42:02 The Bible is so clear, 42:03 that's the beautiful thing about it 42:04 is we have to get to the place 42:06 where we are willing to divorce 42:07 our perception for fact. 42:09 You know, you cannot ever, 42:11 you could never sentence a person 42:14 based on perception, fact. 42:16 Here's the evidence. 42:18 Psalm 115:17, 42:19 "The dead do not praise the Lord, 42:22 nor any who go down into silence." 42:25 Instead of up into praise, 42:27 down into silence, 42:28 instead of continuing to live 42:30 and look down through portals, 42:31 and this is the crazy thing about it. 42:35 When we are alive, if you go to the green room, 42:37 which is round that corner you couldn't even see in here, 42:40 but now that you die, 42:41 you could see through time and space 42:42 and where heaven is, 42:44 you got these divine binoculars 42:45 that you can get in some bodiliness form, 42:47 float around and check out. 42:49 Oh, what's he doing now? 42:50 That is the Neoplatonistic ideology, 42:52 but here's the other one. 42:54 Look at Leviticus 19. Okay. 42:56 Leviticus 19. 42:58 So the question is, who do they see? 43:00 Leviticus 19. 43:03 And then, Ryan, we're gonna go to... 43:07 So Leviticus 19, I may go down to verse... 43:12 Here I am. 43:14 Verse 31... 43:17 I'll probably start with verse 30. 43:20 You wanna read that, Ryan? 43:21 So I'm gonna begin. Let's do 31. 43:25 It says, "Give no regard to mediums 43:28 and familiar spirits, 43:30 do not seek after them, to be defiled by them. 43:34 I am the Lord your God." 43:36 Now watch this. 43:38 With that in mind, 43:39 familiar spirits 43:40 from which we get the word family. 43:42 That's right. 43:43 Some people say, no one could have known that, 43:45 but my uncle, 43:46 how long has the devil and his angels been around? 43:48 Oh, yeah, they know us better than we know us. 43:50 And is he not able to transform himself? 43:54 The Bible says that in 2 Corinthians, 43:56 Satan himself transforms himself. 43:58 He could transform himself into an angel of light. 44:01 His evil angels can transform themselves into uncle, 44:04 whomever or auntie whomever? 44:07 But now Isaiah 8, we always read verse 20, 44:10 but verse 19 is the context. 44:15 Isaiah 8:19. Okay. 44:18 And read that, Ryan. 44:20 Okay, Isaiah 8:19, 44:23 this is the New King James Version 44:24 says, 44:26 "And when they say to you, 44:27 'Seek those who are mediums and wizards, 44:31 who whisper and mutter, ' 44:33 should not a people seek their God? 44:35 Should they seek the dead on behalf of the living?" 44:39 Absolutely not. Don't do that. 44:42 You can't because the dead can't tell you anything. 44:44 The dead know not anything. That's right. 44:46 That's why the reason why the Lord put this here 44:48 is because that's what Saul's trap was. 44:52 He went to talk to Samuel, and this is an amazing. 44:54 Was Samuel a righteous prophet? 44:56 Of course, he was. 44:58 But when Samuel went to the Witch of Endor 45:00 and disguised himself the first step in apostasy 45:03 is disguising yourself, 45:04 whole another topic altogether. When Saul went there. 45:07 When Saul. Yeah. 45:08 You said Samuel went... When Saul, thank you. 45:10 When Saul went to the Witch of Endor 45:13 to see Samuel to bring them up or to see him Samuel came up. 45:19 Okay, he didn't come down. Right. 45:21 And the point is many people forget that it says 45:23 he perceived that it was Samuel. 45:26 So, Ryan, and so the spirit came up. 45:28 And what's funny about that story, 45:30 he never even saw Samuel. 45:32 No. He only listened. 45:33 He listened, listen. 45:35 He listened to the word of the wizard. 45:37 Of the witch. 45:38 And the witch knew 45:41 that what was happening was evil 45:42 because she said didn't Saul say that, 45:45 if this happens that will be killed. 45:49 Saul now in disguise is offering freedom 45:52 and safety to a witch. 45:54 Yeah. Yeah. 45:55 She just described Samuel to him, 45:58 and then he's like that's got to be him. 45:59 He perceived that it is Samuel based on the witches story 46:02 on what she was seeing. 46:04 That's right. 46:05 So doesn't look like your uncle. 46:07 I perceive that's my uncle. No, it's not your uncle. 46:09 If the same familiar evil spirits, 46:11 many false Christs and false prophets 46:13 shall show great signs and wonders 46:16 that's gonna deceive. 46:17 And that's why he said, try the spirits. 46:19 'Cause God doesn't work that way, 46:20 either you're dead waiting for the resurrection 46:22 or you're not. 46:23 That's right. Okay. 46:24 So that's what we've said, 46:26 you know, why are these things happening? 46:28 Why do people see these, 46:29 you know, familiar spirits, right? 46:32 It goes back to the texts that I read, 46:33 pastor even alluded to it, Revelation 16:13-14. 46:37 I saw three unclean spirits... 46:38 And by the way, this is speaking 46:40 of the last days. 46:41 My friends, if you're watching this 46:42 at home right now, 46:44 this is talking about the last days prior 46:45 to the Second Coming of Jesus. 46:47 So the devil told this lie in the beginning 46:49 and he's still telling it before Jesus returns. 46:52 Revelation 16:13-14, "And I saw 46:54 three unclean spirits like frogs 46:56 coming out of the mouth of the dragon, 46:57 out of the mouth of the beast, 46:59 and out of the mouth of the false prophet, 47:01 for they are spirits of demons." 47:03 Why, is that really Uncle Joe at end of the hallway? 47:06 No. What are they again? 47:07 "They are spirits of demons, performing signs, 47:10 which go out to the kings of the earth 47:12 and to the whole world, to gather them to battle 47:14 the great day of God Almighty." 47:16 I think we have solidified the fact 47:19 that we do not go to heaven when we die. 47:21 We do not receive immortality at the point of death, 47:24 but I have to ask the question, my brothers. 47:26 When are we given immortality? 47:29 Let's jump into the Scripture and show 47:30 when we kind of referenced already at the resurrection, 47:34 but let's read some texts and then let's solidify that. 47:36 1 Corinthians 15:51-53. Go ahead, Dakota. 47:39 1 Corinthians 15:51-53. 47:45 Yes. All right. 47:47 It says, "Behold, I shew you a mystery. 47:49 We shall not all sleep." 47:51 In other words, we're not all gonna be dead 47:53 at the Second Coming of Jesus. 47:54 Right. There's gonna be some alive. 47:56 There's gonna be some alive. 47:57 "We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed." 47:58 I don't know about you guys, 48:00 I'm looking forward to being changed. 48:01 Amen. 48:03 It says, "In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, 48:04 at the last trump." 48:05 So notice, the changing takes place at the last trump. 48:08 It says, "For the trumpet shall sound, 48:10 the dead shall be raised incorruptible, 48:12 and we shall be changed." 48:13 Again this all happens at the last trumpet. 48:16 "For this corruptible must put on incorruption, 48:18 and this mortal must put on immortality." 48:19 There you go. 48:21 That's when the immortality begins, 48:22 but the question I wanna pose is, 48:23 why do they believe this. 48:25 And this is crazy. 48:26 I wanna show you that the lie that the devil told back then, 48:29 was still alive believed in the days of the apostles. 48:32 This is the reason why this lie still lives. 48:34 2 Thessalonians 2:10-11. Oh, yes. 48:38 "And with all unrighteous deception 48:40 among those who perish," 48:42 here's the reason why, if you still say, 48:44 I don't believe it, 48:46 you're open to susceptibility to being deceived, 48:49 "because they did not receive the love of the truth, 48:54 that they might be saved." 48:55 You know, the word they're saved means spared. 48:57 That's the word they 48:59 that they might be spared from what? 49:00 From unrighteous deception. 49:02 "And for this reason 49:03 God will send them strong delusion, 49:05 that they should believe," what, Ryan? 49:07 A lie. No, no, look at the last word. 49:09 Well, it says that they might be, 49:10 it says they send them strong delusion... 49:12 That they might believe what? 49:14 That they should believe a lie or the lie. 49:16 The lie. Oh, the lie. 49:18 Okay. Okay. 49:19 That may be tiny, but it's huge. 49:21 Yeah, that's a good point. What lie? 49:23 The very lie that started this whole thing 49:26 is continuing in its trek, serpentology. 49:29 The lie that was told then is still being told. 49:32 The unrighteous deception that caught Eve 49:34 is the unrighteous deception 49:36 that catches everyone who rejects the truth. 49:38 You know what's powerful as we're sitting here 49:40 talking about this, 49:41 you're talking about those who reject 49:42 the love of the truth or have a love for the truth, 49:45 they reject the truth. 49:47 It's interesting, I think of that, 49:48 one of the questions 49:49 that come up often with this subject 49:51 is people always say, 49:52 but what about the rich man and Lazarus? 49:53 I know that 49:55 that's a whole another topic for the day, 49:56 but something in that parable and I wanna emphasize 49:58 that's a parable by the way, 50:00 something in that parable that catches my attention. 50:02 The rich man speaks to father Abraham. 50:05 And he says, "Hey, 50:07 just send them back from the dead, " right? 50:10 So that they can send Lazarus back from the dead 50:12 so he can warn my brothers, 50:13 so they don't have to come to this place. 50:15 And the father tells them, you know, no, you know, 50:19 I can't do that, right? 50:20 Because they're not even still gonna believe you 50:22 even if I send them back from the dead, 50:23 and he says, "Believe in the Word of the Lord." 50:25 And his response is, "No, Lord." 50:28 You go read that parable. 50:30 He says, "No, Lord." 50:31 But if you, see he's persisting it. 50:33 And there's people with that spirit, 50:34 that mentality, my friends, today. 50:36 We have to get back to Scripture. 50:37 We have to say, are we biblical Christians, 50:40 are we self-sins? 50:41 I know that's a Ryan Day word right there. 50:44 A self-sin. 50:45 Are we a Christian? Are we a self-sin? 50:47 Are we a follower of self? 50:49 You know, the Bible says, 50:50 there is a way which seemeth right into a man, 50:52 but then in the end there are the ways of death. 50:55 So are we perceiving and only wanting to believe 50:57 what we wanna believe 50:58 or are we going back on thus saith 51:00 the Lord and saying, 51:01 "Lord, I wanna believe whatever is in Your Word." 51:03 And that was the problem with this rich man. 51:05 He said, "No, 51:06 he didn't wanna believe the truth." 51:08 No, Lord, but only if you just send him 51:09 back from the dead. 51:10 He says, "Look, even if I send this brothers 51:12 back from the dead, 51:13 they're still not gonna believe." 51:14 And so we've got about a minute and 19 seconds here, 51:17 I also wanna touch on 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17. 51:20 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17. 51:24 1 Thessalonians, I'm right here, 4:16-17. 51:27 Notice what the Bible says. 51:28 It says, "For the Lord Himself would descend from heaven 51:31 with the shout, 51:32 with the voice of the archangel, 51:34 and with the trump of God. 51:36 And the dead in Christ will rise first." 51:39 And what's powerful about this? Check this. 51:42 After the dead in Christ will rise first, notice, 51:44 "Then we which are alive 51:46 and remain shall be caught up, " 51:47 after them? 51:49 No, together. 51:50 No, it says "Together with them in the clouds 51:51 to meet the Lord in the air. 51:53 And thus shall we always be with the Lord." 51:55 My friends, my dead loved ones, your dead loved ones. 51:58 They don't get to go to heaven before me and you. 52:01 We all get to go to heaven together. 52:03 And that's the beautifulness of this text 52:04 and all the texts 52:06 that we've been talking about here, 52:07 and we have about 25 seconds before we go 52:09 to a two-minute or when we go to a quick break, 52:11 and we're gonna come back for two minutes, 52:13 but I hope that you've learned something today. 52:14 This is a powerful truth. 52:16 We're looking at 52:17 what does the Bible teach us about death. 52:19 And I think we've clearly seen that today. 52:22 We're gonna take a short break, don't go anywhere. 52:24 We're gonna come back for some closing comments 52:26 in just a few moments. 52:28 But hey, grab your friends, 52:29 grab your family if they're not around, 52:31 and catch us with these last two seconds 52:32 'cause we're gonna tie this up together 52:34 in just a few moments. |
Revised 2020-07-07