Amazing Adventures

Whistling Through The Graveyard

Three Angels Broadcasting Network

Program transcript

Participants: Pr. Doug Batchelor

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Series Code: AA

Program Code: AA000008


00:05 In a world surrounded by darkness there is a voice
00:09 that whispers to every young heart, urging them
00:13 to find the treasure of truth. Those who follow
00:23 the path will discover eternal riches beyond
00:26 their wildest dreams. Join us now for an
00:29 amazing adventure, a journey for life with Jesus.
00:36 Good evening friends, welcome again to another
00:38 amazing adventure. We're so glad that you joined us.
00:42 This is night number 8 of this 10 part series.
00:46 Thanks for coming out tonight, anybody here for the first
00:49 time this evening. Sure enough, welcome. Well,
00:52 at this time I'm gonna invite those here to stand as we
00:59 sing our theme song. Let's stand together.
01:07 Life is an adventure following the king.
01:12 Everyday with Jesus makes us want to sing.
01:17 Walking in the spirit, he will lead the way.
01:23 With his word to guide us glowing deep inside us.
01:27 Nothing can divide us following the king.
01:34 Life is an adventure following the king.
01:38 Everyday with Jesus makes us want to sing.
01:43 Conquering with kindness everywhere we go.
01:48 Voices we are raising, Jesus we are praising.
01:54 Life is so amazing following the king.
01:59 Life is so amazing following the king.
02:06 Please remain standing for our scripture reading
02:09 and prayer. I'm going to invite our volunteers
02:11 to come forward. Tell us your name, how old you are
02:15 and what the scripture reading is tonight.
02:17 My name is Karamina and I am nine-years-old
02:20 and we are gonna be reading from First
02:22 Thessalonians 4:16. For the Lord himself will descend
02:26 from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an
02:28 archangel, and with the trumpet of God and
02:31 the dead in Christ will rise first.
02:34 Thank you very much. Our prayer has been
02:36 brought to us by, Michael tell us
02:39 how old you are? I'm 11.
02:41 Would you pray for us? Yes.
02:43 Let's bow our heads for prayer.
02:45 Dear, heavenly father, we thank you for this
02:48 wonderful day, please bless the message that is going
02:51 to be delivered to us. In Jesus name, Amen.
02:54 Amen, thank you very much, you may all be seated.
02:57 I'm going to invite Pastor Doug to come for our
02:59 Bible questions. Pastor Doug, we've got quite
03:01 a few video questions that have come in.
03:03 Alright And, so we'll start
03:04 with a video question. Evening friends.
03:07 My name is Steve, and I'm eight years old and
03:11 my question is, where is heaven now?
03:14 Where is heaven now? When you say the word heaven
03:16 in the Bible, it's used three ways. The Jews had
03:20 what they called the first heaven, which is the
03:23 atmosphere around the earth, that's the air you breathe,
03:26 where the birds fly and the clouds float, that's
03:28 called the first heaven. The second heaven is the
03:32 space where the sun and the moon and the stars are.
03:35 So, when we aim our telescope at the heavens
03:37 we're talking about the space. The third heaven,
03:40 the apostle Paul talks about that is paradise,
03:43 the dwelling place of God. We always pray and we think
03:47 up in heaven, but you know, depending on how the
03:51 world is turning, heaven may not be up,
03:53 it might be that way, it might be that way,
03:55 you never wanna say I wanna go down to heaven
03:57 because you always think about the other direction there.
04:00 But there is a place out in space called heaven were
04:03 God dwells, the constellation Orion is mentioned
04:07 a couple of times in the Bible, many Christian
04:08 astronomers think that its off through the corridors
04:12 of that Nebula and so we are not exactly sure,
04:16 but its out there and we're gonna talk about that during
04:19 our last study tomorrow night.
04:21 Pastor Doug, we've got a question that somebody
04:23 sent in, if the devil knows the Bible and that he will
04:27 be destroyed, why doesn't he just change his mind
04:29 and ask God to forgive him. Well, the devil had a long
04:33 time to change his mind, he had a big opportunity
04:36 and he was too proud and stubborn and, finally
04:40 the door of his probation closed.
04:42 You know, it's like in baseball you see three
04:45 strikes, you're out. God gave him many chances and there
04:47 are no more chances and he knows, it says in
04:50 Revelation chapter 12. The devil knows his time
04:53 is short, so instead of being kind or apologizing,
04:58 he is trying to be as destructive as he can be,
05:01 he is too proud, and he is too stubborn to apologize.
05:05 Oh! We have another video question, Pastor Doug.
05:08 My name is Rosie, I am 12 years old and
05:10 my question is, since God can do anything, why didn't
05:13 he save us without the death of Christ.
05:16 Since God can do anything, why can't he or how come
05:20 he can't save us without Jesus needing to die.
05:23 The fact the Jesus needed to die tells us how important
05:27 God's law is, and how deadly sin is. There was no other
05:32 way because God is a good God and he is a just God, there
05:36 is no other opportunity that he had. It's like a
05:39 story I heard one time about this Crown Prince.
05:42 He was a Prince, and he was a Prince in Arabia
05:44 and his father had a lot of wives. He had, they
05:46 called it a Harem or a Harem, and nobody was ever supposed
05:51 to look in to the chambers of the Harem where all the
05:54 women lived. But the Prince one day, if he did his eyes
05:57 were gonna be knocked out, if anybody went in and
06:01 and looked to in the Harem without the king's
06:03 permission, their eyes were plucked out. Well, the
06:05 Crown Prince said, I am the Crown Prince, I can do
06:07 whatever I want, so one day his son went marching off
06:11 into the quarters of the wives and everyone
06:13 said Oh! That's against the law of the king
06:16 and pretty soon word came to the king and the king said,
06:19 what shall I do? My law says nobody,
06:23 but he is my son, I love him, but I am a king,
06:27 so you know what the king did, he said in order
06:29 to be just, in order to be loving, he plucked out
06:32 one of his son's eyes and one of his own. So they
06:35 could still both see. See God was faced with this problem
06:39 that we broke his law, and the penalty was Sin is dead,
06:42 he said, I love you so much, I am gonna give you a chance,
06:44 I'll become a man, I'll come to earth and I will die
06:48 for you, if you trust in me, you'll get another chance,
06:53 and so there was no other way. Pastor Doug its getting
06:57 closed to the end of October and you can walk toward
07:01 the store and you see all the Halloween decorations,
07:04 so this person is asking people say that Halloween
07:06 is the devil's birthday, is it true? And why can't
07:10 we participate in Halloween activities?
07:13 You know, tonight our lesson's dealing with the
07:15 subject of death and some of the devils tricks.
07:19 And, I know the kids like dressing up and the idea of
07:22 candy in door-to-door can seem very appealing, but
07:25 if there is a holiday that Christians should avoid
07:29 I would think it's a holiday that has to do with the devil
07:31 and witches and scary things and death and so I don't
07:36 believe the Christians can support that, the history of
07:39 Halloween it's not from the Bible. A lot of it
07:41 has to do with the occult and things like that, but
07:47 you need to be careful. You know, Pastor Doug I heard
07:49 a story once about a little boy who had for many years
07:53 dressed up and gone out and trick or treated, but his
07:56 parents became Christian and they didn't think that that
07:58 was something that their son should do and so mother
08:02 explained to the little boy we are not going to be doing
08:03 this again and she was walking down the hall way
08:07 and her son came out from his bedroom dressed up
08:10 like the ghost. Now, she knew what was happening,
08:13 he was gonna go do trick or treating. Mother said,
08:16 no we don't do that anymore in the house and
08:18 the little boy thought for moment, scratched his head
08:20 and finally said, but mommy I am dressed up like
08:22 the Holy Ghost. Well, Pastor Doug I don't
08:26 think there is anything holy about Halloween.
08:29 That's good. We have our final question,
08:31 a video question. Okay.
08:34 My name is Diana, I am 11 years old,
08:36 I would like to know if the Holy Spirit can talk to you.
08:41 Can the Holy Spirit talk to you? You know, the
08:44 Holy Spirit talks to you all the time. Matter of fact,
08:46 I have got something, we just happen to have something,
08:49 a volunteer who maybe to go in the who has not been
08:52 up yet to the mystery chest. Judith, you haven't been
08:55 up to the mystery chest yet, alright come on,
08:57 look in there, look in the mystery chest, there will be
08:59 a bowl and in the bowl you might find something that
09:01 a person can listen with. Okay, go and reach and there
09:05 is big bowl with two big rubber things, they look
09:07 sort of like ears. Okay, now what was the question
09:19 can the Holy Spirit? Can the Holy Spirit
09:21 speak to us? My ears are so big, they
09:36 barely fit in here, all by themselves. Now, the reason
09:42 I did this, is for one thing, it keeps your attention,
09:45 the other reason I did it is because you got two kinds
09:48 of ears, you got the kinds of ears where you want to
09:51 hear the things you want to hear, and then
09:52 there is a spiritual ear and you can pray that God
09:56 will help enlarge your spiritual ears, so that you
09:59 can hear his voice. Did you know there is a scripture
10:01 that talks about this? In Revelation chapter 3,
10:05 verse 6, it says, he that has ears let him hear
10:11 what the spirit says to the church. Does God's
10:15 Spirit talk to us? Yeah, you know, problem is
10:18 down here on earth the Lord sees that we go
10:20 around like this and we don't hear what he is
10:23 saying to us. I'll let you have these, if you promise
10:28 not to play with them until after the program, okay
10:29 Okay. Thank you Judith.
10:31 Was that our last question. That was the last question
10:34 and we're gonna invite our amazing adventure singers
10:36 to come forward and they will be singing
10:39 for us, 'he will be exalted.'
10:54 The King of heaven at his rightful place on heaven's
11:03 throne, he went to Galilee, where he suffered all alone.
11:15 The king was humbled when he bore the sin of every man,
11:26 but one day awaits the lord is coming again.
11:35 He will be exalted to the highest place, every eye
11:47 shall see him and behold his place, to the mighty
11:58 throne of Jesus, Jesus, all the worship we will bring
12:08 and proclaim him lord of lords and king of kings.
12:23 The thunder crashes to pronounce Christ throne
12:30 upon the earth, the lightening rushes to proclaim
12:39 his master's word, though men reject him, Christ alone
12:49 shall reign supreme at last, all his enemies shall
12:59 wither like the grass. He will be exalted to the
13:11 highest place, every eye shall see him and behold
13:22 his place, to the mighty throne of Jesus, Jesus,
13:32 all the worship we will bring and proclaim him
13:40 lord of lords and king of kings, and
13:48 proclaim him lord of lords and
13:53 king of kings, king of kings, king of kings.
14:16 Beautiful, thank you so much, I have just been
14:19 very thrilled with the wonderful music that
14:22 Gratziela and her singers and Kelly had been providing
14:25 for us it's been a real blessing. Well, it's so
14:28 good to see each of you here with us in Richardson,
14:30 Texas and our friends who are watching. Oh!
14:33 It's exciting to hear all the emails and the notes and
14:36 the pictures that are coming in from all over the country,
14:39 all over the world, of people who are joining us on this
14:42 amazing adventure. Well, tonight we have a
14:45 special lesson that may seem a little bit spooky and its
14:49 dealing with the subject of Whistling through
14:52 the Graveyard. Now, you know, there is a cemetery in Paris,
15:00 and they are catacombs and these catacombs are filled
15:06 with the bones of about a 160,000 deceased Parisians.
15:12 What happened is during the 18th century. There,
15:16 at the cemeteries in Paris just got so overcrowded and
15:19 unsanitary that they finally needed to start burying
15:22 people underground and they had all of these old
15:25 mines underneath the city. A 190 miles of mines and
15:33 they disinterred, they dug up all the people from the
15:36 cemeteries and they put them down and they lined the
15:39 walls from mile after mile with bones and skulls,
15:43 they could have just throw them out, cause they didn't
15:44 want to be disrespectful so they buried them
15:46 under the city and people come from around
15:48 the world and they have got about Oh! 100,000 people
15:52 visit a year looking at all of these bones
15:56 in the catacombs. They only open about a mile
16:00 of the catacombs, because years ago one fellow wandered
16:03 off on his own and they didn't find him until
16:06 11 years later and he wasn't alive. That would be
16:12 terrible to get lost in that spooky place or to be down
16:14 there when the lights get turned off. You ever have
16:17 to walk through a cemetery at night does that make
16:20 you feel spooky. One time before I was a Christian,
16:25 I ran away from home when I was 13 years old and
16:28 I was by myself and I had to walk through a cemetery
16:32 at night, it was the shortest way to go to get the mount
16:35 where I was going and it kind of scared me
16:37 a little bit, I was looking around, I was just hoping
16:39 no one was gonna reach out of their grave
16:40 and grab me. Because you know, people are sometimes
16:44 scared of death and people are scared of cemeteries
16:49 and ghosts and things like that, but then I read
16:52 the Bible and I found out the truth about what happens
16:55 when you die and I realized we don't have to be scared.
16:59 Now, you think about it when you are young, you don't like
17:01 to think about it, but you're born and you grow up,
17:05 and then you pick your career and you grow old and if
17:09 you grow old enough what happens.
17:11 Oh! It's we don't even like to think about it,
17:13 but it's a fact, if you live long enough you die.
17:16 You know, you're living in a generation that
17:17 might not die. There are some who will be alive
17:22 when Jesus comes and they won't die, they'll be changed
17:26 and given a glorified body and go right to heaven,
17:30 there is a few people who haven't die, did you
17:32 know that, they lived and we're going to talk about
17:34 that tonight. Let's get to our lesson, we got a lot of
17:37 stuff to cover and I think you are gonna find this an
17:39 amazing adventure tonight. Question number one,
17:42 what really happens when you die and where do you go?
17:46 What does the Bible say? Well, to first understand
17:50 this we sort of need to backup a little bit and
17:52 explains how does God create people. It says in
17:55 Genesis chapter 2, verse 7. And, the Lord God formed
17:59 man from the dust of the ground and he breathed
18:03 into his nostrils the breath of life. The what?
18:08 Breath of life and man became a living soul.
18:12 So, God took the dust, the elements of the earth,
18:15 it was kind of like clay and he breathe the special
18:18 power of life that God has into his creatures.
18:21 All creatures breathe, did you know that, did you know
18:24 fish breathe, they use their gills, plants breathe,
18:29 worms breathe through their skin, everything
18:32 breathes and God breathed this breath of life
18:36 into Adam, he came alive. When something dies it's
18:40 like creation in reverse, you separate the breath
18:43 of life from the elements of the earth, the dust,
18:48 the clay and they die, they turn back to dust,
18:51 that's why it says in Ecclesiastes 12 when someone
18:54 dies the dust will return to the earth as it was, and the
18:58 spirit returns to God who gave it, that spirit there is
19:02 what confuses people. So let's go to
19:04 the next question. Number two, what is the
19:08 "Spirit" that returns to God when someone dies?
19:12 Some people think that, if you are saying and
19:15 you die, this little ghostly butterfly jumps out of you.
19:19 And, it flies off back to God, but the Bible doesn't
19:23 teach that, the Bible teaches that the spirit of all
19:25 creatures when they die return to God. Let me give
19:29 you proof, that word spirit means breath of life.
19:33 Job chapter 27, verse 23. The spirit of God is in my
19:38 nostrils, have you ever thought that you have got
19:42 a Spirit in your nose, the word Spirit there in the
19:46 Old Testament it's from the Hebrew word Ruach
19:49 and it means wind or breath, in Greek it's a word
19:53 Pneuma, Pneuma, men use pneumatic tools, that means
19:57 it's got air that drives it. Have you ever heard
19:59 someone getting sick and they getting pneumonia,
20:02 that's because that affects their breathing. And so it
20:05 says in the Bible that the Pneuma, the Ruach,
20:08 the breath of life returns to God who gave it.
20:11 It's not a little ghost. The Bible says, the body
20:14 without the Spirit is dead. And, so when a person dies
20:20 the Spirit returns to God. Now, let me see if we can
20:24 illustrate this. Well, let's go to question
20:26 number three first. If the "Spirit" is the breath of
20:30 life then what is a "soul?" Remember the Bible says
20:34 that when God first made man, we just read this in
20:37 Genesis chapter 2, verse 7. He formed him from the
20:40 dust of the ground and God breathed into to him
20:43 the breath of life into his nostrils and he became
20:47 a living soul or a living being. A soul is
20:52 what you have when you put together the dust
20:56 of the clay with the Spirit of God equals a soul.
21:00 If you separate the clay from the breath of life
21:04 that God gives, where does the soul go?
21:08 The soul doesn't, it's nothing anymore. Alright,
21:11 now I do need a volunteer at this point? I just need one.
21:16 Let me see here, young man have you had a chance yet?
21:19 Alright, come on up. Go ahead and reach there in the
21:22 mystery chest, you're gonna find, you'll some bread
21:25 and some cheese. See if you can find that, it might be
21:28 in a bowl in there and you can take that out. Oops, did
21:33 that get spook you a little bit. Go ahead you can
21:39 grab the bread and the cheese.
21:44 Now, I know that's a Halloween trick, but I'm
21:46 using it is part of my illustration tonight.
21:48 Alright now, what's that? Bread.
21:51 That's bread, you want to hold the bread, I could use
21:53 one more person here, here young lady come here,
21:57 can you unwrap that for me. We're gonna put this back
22:01 out of the way here for a second. Alright,
22:06 now what is that, what are you holding?
22:07 Bread. Whole wheat. I want you to
22:08 know, now what does she got, it's actually
22:11 veggie-cheese I just wanna go on record, we eat that
22:15 in our family, so we might use it, I had to buy
22:17 a whole pack. Alright you got that, so what do
22:20 you got there, you can call it cheese, that's okay,
22:22 what is it? Cheese.
22:23 Cheese, alright, what do you say when they take a picture.
22:26 "Cheese." Okay, now open up your bread,
22:30 you place the cheese there in the bread, close
22:33 the bread, now what is it. Sandwich.
22:35 Sandwich, how many agree, that is it, it's not much
22:38 of a sandwich. When you heat that up, what do you
22:40 call it? Well, he is holding it'd be a boy cheese right.
22:46 Okay, now open that bread backup, little easy
22:50 take the cheese out of there, okay, now what do you got,
22:54 you get a bread, where did the sandwich go,
22:59 it stops being a sandwich, when you separate the two,
23:02 you see what I am saying, it's no longer a sandwich,
23:04 it's not much of a sandwich, I mean if your mother said
23:06 I made you a sandwich and you open your lunch and go,
23:10 where is the sandwich mom? Right. You'd be pretty
23:13 disappointed or she said I made you a sandwich
23:16 and you open up your lunch and say, this my sandwich!
23:21 You gotta put the two of them together to have a
23:23 sandwich right. Alright, when you combine the Spirit
23:29 with the body you get a soul, when you separate them
23:32 it stops being a soul. If you want you can eat that
23:35 afterward, now that everybody has touched it.
23:38 I won't do that to you. Thank you, very much,
23:39 let's give them a hand. There is a point to that,
23:49 I'll explain it later. See the devil wants to scare
23:53 kids about death and you don't have to be scared,
23:56 when you understand what the Bible teaches.
23:58 Alright, question number four, do you say people go to
24:01 heaven right when they die? No.
24:04 You know, a lot of people believe, if you're good
24:07 and you die, you'll immediately go to heaven
24:10 and if you're bad and you die, where do you go?
24:14 Hell, lake of fire, you'll burn. That's terrible
24:17 to think about, but you know, the Bible doesn't
24:19 actually teach that. Let me prove it to you.
24:22 In Acts chapter 2, in the New Testament after
24:25 Jesus died and ascended to him, he is preaching
24:28 about the Apostle, the Apostle Peter is
24:31 preaching about King David. Now, good King David
24:34 who killed Goliath, you remember him, is he going
24:38 to be in heaven, sure he will. The Bible says,
24:40 he was a man after God's own heart. It says
24:43 men and brethren, Peter speaking. Let me freely
24:47 speak on to you about the patriarch David that he is
24:50 both dead and buried, and his grave, his tomb is
24:55 with us to this day. And, you read on, and
24:58 David say, Peter says in that sermon. For David did
25:02 not ascend into the heavens. Now notice this, Peter
25:06 says David is dead, buried and he is not ascended
25:09 to heaven. Well, where is he then? Says he is in
25:12 his tomb, but doesn't the Bible say to be absent
25:17 from the bodies to be present with the Lord, yes.
25:20 That's because as soon as a person dies they don't
25:24 know anything until the resurrection.
25:26 The next thing they are conscious of is waking up
25:30 for the resurrection and the judgment all takes
25:32 place in the future, people don't know go right to
25:35 heaven and hell before the judgment day
25:37 or before the resurrection. Question number five,
25:41 what do dead people know after they die?
25:45 Let's find out what the Bible says. In Ecclesiastes,
25:49 written by Solomon, that's King David's son.
25:52 He says, for the living know that they will die,
25:55 you can read those last words with me, but the
25:57 dead know nothing. Let's say that one more time,
26:02 but the dead know nothing. How much do they know?
26:07 "Nothing." Are they spying on you?
26:09 "No." Do they come back
26:11 to haunt you? "No."
26:13 Can they reach out of their grave and grab your ankle
26:15 when you're walking by? "No."
26:18 They don't anything, do you believe the Bible
26:21 or do you believe the scary TV programs.
26:23 "The Bible." Ecclesiastes 9 verse 10 says,
26:29 whatever your hand finds to do, whatever you do
26:31 with your hand, do it with all your might, do everything
26:34 with enthusiasm, for there is no work or device
26:38 or knowledge or wisdom in the grave where you're going.
26:44 People don't know anything, they have no wisdom,
26:46 they have got no device, that means they're not
26:47 doing anything. So, if you're gonna do something
26:50 with your life, you better do it while you're alive.
26:52 Cause if you're planning on getting busy after you die,
26:56 while you're in the grave you don't do anything.
26:59 Number six, is that clear to everybody and if so
27:02 many people are afraid of being haunted or spooked.
27:06 Question number six, can a dead person's "soul" or
27:10 "Spirit" come back and talk to the living? What does
27:14 the Bible say? Can they see what's happening
27:16 on this earth? Are they watching you, the dead
27:20 people up there? No, the Bible says, so man lies down,
27:27 and he rises not till the heavens be no more.
27:31 When a person dies, he is resting until the heavens
27:34 are no more, that's taking about when the heavens
27:36 depart as a scroll and Jesus comes. And, again
27:40 in Job chapter 7 verse 10, He shall never return
27:45 to his house. You know, if you're going to a house and
27:48 someone died in the house, Mrs. Bachelor and I we
27:52 bought the house we've been living in for the last
27:56 15 years and someone died in that house,
27:59 they died in their bed. Nice house, do you think
28:01 that scared me, do you think that spooked me,
28:04 have we ever gotten haunted, no, no it doesn't
28:08 matter one bit. And if you knew the truth people die
28:12 all kinds of places and if you're worried about
28:14 being haunted, don't think like that, the devil wants
28:18 to scare young people with these spooky stories.
28:21 The Bible says, we should have nothing to do with the
28:24 idea of talking to the dead or communicating
28:27 with the dead. When I was a young person, didn't grow
28:30 up a Christian. Sometimes in our family we would have
28:32 Seance, you know what that is?
28:35 Family member would get around and we'd light
28:37 a candle and we'd hold hands and we say Oh!
28:40 We are gonna try to talk to Abraham Lincoln
28:42 or somebody dead. Yeah, but that's very dangerous,
28:46 because sometimes the devil will pretend to be somebody
28:51 that is died to deceive the living. The Bible tells
28:55 us that the devil was very tricky and that's why
28:57 I want you to know that. Furthermore in the Bible,
28:59 it says Christians should have nothing to do with
29:02 witchcraft or sorcery. Leviticus 20, verse 27,
29:07 it says a man also or a woman, that has a
29:10 familiar spirit, that means they are talking to the
29:12 spirits of the dead or trying to. Or that is a
29:15 wizard like Harry Potter. Shall surely be put to?
29:22 "Death." Aha! God doesn't want
29:26 Christians to be dabbling with witchcraft or wizardry
29:29 or spirits or enchantments or drugs, a lot of things
29:34 that the world and the occult dabble with.
29:39 The Bible says, that the dead are dead. A matter
29:42 of fact, number seven, explains it a little
29:44 better to us. What is death like? How many of you will
29:50 believe what Jesus says. When people die
29:54 do they go flying around haunting folks?
29:56 "No." No, the Bible says that
30:00 they're sleeping. Let's listen to Jesus. John 11:11,
30:04 this is easy for you to remember. John 11:11
30:09 you can remember that. Jesus said after that
30:13 he said to them "Our friend Lazarus sleeps, but I go
30:17 that I might wake him up. Now Jesus had a friend named
30:21 Lazarus who was very sick and his friends said
30:24 you better go check on him, he said Lazarus is sleeping,
30:26 but I'm going to go wake him up and they said well
30:28 if he's sleeping and he is sick he will feel better.
30:30 Jesus said no, it says in John 11:14, he told them
30:34 plainly, Lazarus is dead. What word did Jesus use to
30:39 symbolically describe death. Sleep, he said death is like
30:44 sleep and then of course later Jesus rose Lazarus
30:47 from the dead. John 11, verse 43, now when he
30:51 had said these things, He cried with a loud voice,
30:55 "Lazarus, come forth!" Jesus went to the tomb
30:57 of Lazarus, they rolled away the stone, he said
31:00 Lazarus come forth and Lazarus came back to life.
31:03 But he had been dead for four days and Jesus
31:06 called it asleep. All through the Bible when people
31:09 died it says they slept. David died, he slept
31:14 with his fathers. Now, King David for instance,
31:18 he died about 3000 years ago but David went to sleep
31:23 does it seem like 3000 years to him. When David was
31:27 old and he got cold, the Bible says and he couldn't
31:31 stay warm and pretty soon he died, he closed his eyes,
31:36 he breathed out the last time and he stopped breathing
31:38 the breath of life left him, he was a great king,
31:41 they had a wonderful funeral, they put him in a grave,
31:45 but his body, what's happened to his body?
31:48 Body just dry out, once the spirit is gone the house
31:50 is empty there is nothing happening there.
31:53 And so, he doesn't know that. 3000 years have gone by,
31:59 if you're King David and all of a sudden you die
32:03 and you're saved, the next thing you know is you
32:05 hear a trumpet, and you wake up and you got a
32:08 new body and David is going to come out of the grave
32:11 and he is going to see Jesus, the next thing David knows
32:14 absent from body present with the Lord, 3000 years
32:17 have gone by, but he is not going to know it.
32:19 Many of you get sleepy during my meetings,
32:20 a little bit. I need a volunteer. Okay. Let's
32:26 see here, young man right here. Yeah, why don't
32:28 you come up here. You said, you get sleepy during
32:31 my meeting, a little bit maybe, see if you can find
32:33 some for tell and time there in the box, can you
32:39 pull that out. Okay, this is my personal watch here,
32:45 what's your name? Jason.
32:46 Jason What time does that say?
32:50 7.35. 7.35, okay. Why don't you
32:54 lay down right here just for a second if you don't mind,
32:58 and you can just take a nap okay.
33:00 Just relax. Okay, you can get up now, look how long
33:08 he's been sleeping what time does that say? Oh!
33:11 I went the wrong way, wait a second here.
33:17 Okay, what's that saying? Its 8.00.
33:21 You didn't know you've been sleeping a whole hour,
33:23 did you? How long did it feel to you? We've been
33:26 sitting here for an hour waiting for you to wake up,
33:29 do you feel better now? Stay awake for the rest
33:31 of the program. You can go sit down.
33:39 Thank you very much. Alright, how many of you,
33:45 have you ever had a hard day, you've been playing,
33:47 especially if you go swimming hard day at school,
33:49 did a lot of homework. You go to sleep and all
33:53 of a sudden, the next thing you know the alarms
33:54 ringing and you're up and you've been laying
33:56 there 7 hours but how long does it seem? Seven minutes,
34:00 five minutes, that's what it will be like, it's like a
34:03 dreamless sleep when a person dies. So even if
34:08 they died thousands of years ago, if you're
34:09 saved next thing you know is resurrection, if you're
34:12 lost the next thing you know it's the resurrection,
34:15 but it's the wrong resurrection. You want
34:17 to make sure you're in the right resurrection. So, how
34:20 many people are in heaven now? Oh! There is few.
34:25 Well, the Bible tells us there is some special
34:27 exceptions that God has made, any of you remember when
34:30 Jesus went up to this, they call it the glorious mount,
34:33 the mount of transfiguration, to who people from the
34:36 Old Testament appeared to Jesus, who knows what their
34:38 names were? What does it say, Moses and Elijah,
34:45 Moses and Elijah appeared to Jesus on the mountain.
34:48 How did Moses get to heaven? Book of Jude says that
34:51 Jesus resurrected him. How did Elijah get to heaven?
34:55 He didn't die. Elijah never died. Moses died and God
34:59 resurrected him. Elijah he when riding off to heaven
35:01 in a chariot with angels and horses of fire and then
35:05 there is at least one other person we know of in heaven
35:07 by name I heard someone say it, Enoch, walk with God
35:12 and he and God walked together all the time and
35:14 one day God said we're closer to the my house than
35:16 your house, let's just go home. And Enoch is in
35:19 heaven and he was the father of the oldest man
35:23 who ever died. Enoch's the oldest man who
35:27 ever lived, because he never did die.
35:30 Methuselah was his son and then when Jesus died
35:34 on the cross there was another resurrection.
35:37 The Bible says in Mathew 27:52, there was an
35:40 earthquake and many of the graves were opened,
35:44 and many bodies of the saints who had fallen
35:47 asleep were raised. And after the resurrection of Christ,
35:52 they later ascended to heaven with him. So there
35:53 was a special resurrection of some of them the prophets
35:57 and the faithful, maybe kings who had been faithful to God,
36:00 they came out of their graves sorted of as a trophy
36:03 that Jesus took back to heaven with him. So there
36:05 is a few people in heaven, but for the vast majority
36:08 when people die, what do they do? A dreamless sleep
36:13 until the resurrection of the Lord. So, if most people
36:18 aren't in heaven now, how many people are
36:20 burning in hell right now? "None."
36:23 None, because would God put somebody in hell and
36:26 burn them before their judgment. Can you
36:29 imagine God, someone dies and they go to hell and
36:31 they're suffering down there and then he pulls
36:33 him out and says okay now it's time to judge you,
36:35 yup you're guilty, put him back in hell. That God
36:37 doesn't operate like that. See the judgment, the Bible
36:41 says is still in the future, you can read here the book of
36:44 Job chapter 21, verse 30, talking about the wicked.
36:48 For the wicked are reserved for the day of doom, they
36:52 shall be brought out at the day of wrath.
36:54 The day of the Lord, the day of judgment,
36:56 the day of the doom, that would be the
36:57 resurrection of the wicked then they're brought forth
37:00 from the graves, they are judged and everyone's
37:03 punished according to what he deserves.
37:06 You know some people think that the wicked burn
37:08 forever and ever and ever in hell. Do you know Bible
37:11 doesn't teach that. Have any of you got a dog?
37:16 Has that dog ever misbehaved? "Yes."
37:20 Did you ever have to punish your dog?
37:21 "Yes." Would you ever burn your
37:24 dog forever and ever? "No."
37:27 You wouldn't do that to your dog, are you more
37:30 loving than God? "No."
37:33 This idea that God tortures the lost forever
37:36 and ever, that doesn't comes from the Bible. The Bible
37:39 says they are two choices, believe in God, everlasting
37:44 life and do not believe you perish, you've got life
37:48 or death. Jesus is offering you everlasting life.
37:51 The Bible says what's going to happen to the lost is the
37:54 same thing that happened to people in Sodom
37:56 and Gomorrah. Do you know the story of about
37:57 Sodom and Gomorrah? They are real wicked there
38:00 and the Bible says the Lord rained down out of
38:02 heaven fire and brimstone on the people in
38:05 Sodom and Gomorrah, for their sins and they
38:09 were burned with eternal fire, everlasting fire.
38:13 Are Sodom and Gomorrah still burning today?
38:15 "No." Were those cities
38:17 ever rebuilt? "No."
38:19 No, they were burned up. Matter of fact, I got
38:22 something pretty interesting to show you here.
38:28 Cameraman, I want to get a close up of this,
38:30 because I know you can barely see it, does anyone
38:32 know what that is? "A rock."
38:34 It's not a rock. "Salt."
38:37 Let me tell what it is. You can only find this
38:39 listen, listen. You can only find this one place
38:42 in the world, if you go down to the lowest part
38:45 in the world, which is by the dead sea and there by
38:48 the south part of the dead sea there is an area where
38:51 they believe Sodom and Gomorrah used to be,
38:53 these wicked cities and the Bible says God rained
38:56 down out of heaven fire and sulfur and brimstone
38:59 upon them. And there is a place where you kick around
39:02 in the ground and there is all this packed down ash
39:05 on the ground, the very place where they were
39:07 burned up, it is still there today and you can find
39:10 this sulfur balls in the ground that are left over,
39:14 for when God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah
39:16 someone who is down there brought this to me.
39:18 I've saved it for years and they've told me you just
39:21 put a match to it and it will still burn now, after
39:24 all these years, do you think we have to try that?
39:26 "Yeah." I need someone, I need
39:29 someone big and strong to help with this,
39:32 where did no, no, I see here. Alright, peace be still.
39:39 Okay hang on a second here. Alright, you can come
39:42 over here, I just, you got to hold this, I don't want
39:45 anyone get burned. Hold that right there by the knob,
39:49 I think you'll be alright and let me just you know,
39:53 we've had problems along the way, we've had problems
40:01 along the way with this thing, let's see if what can
40:04 get it to work. Hey, look at that, let's see if this
40:06 thing is still, now they told me it makes a terrible
40:10 stink, what's your name? Josh.
40:13 Is that burning Josh? Uh hm.
40:16 Can you sit, maybe camera needs a close up of that,
40:18 kids that is already on fire. It's blue fire, woo!
40:22 It burns, woo! Oops, sorry, it stinks. Oh,
40:25 it smells like rotten eggs. This is left over, you are
40:31 looking at actually left overs of Sodom and
40:34 Gomorrah, when those cities were destroyed. But that
40:38 thing that burned didn't it, but is it still burning.
40:40 "No." Sodom and Gomorrah are not
40:41 burning right now either are they? Thank you
40:43 very much Josh. Woo! It smells, it smells a little bit
40:51 up here right now. So, the Bible tells us that we
40:56 have one life, you know some people believe that
41:00 when you die that you are resurrected again as
41:03 somebody else and if you're good you come back and
41:07 you have a better life and if you're bad you come back
41:09 you might be an animal. They call it reincarnation.
41:13 Have you heard this before and I am not trying to be
41:16 unkind to other people's beliefs, I am just telling
41:18 the Bible says that, that just isn't true. You've got
41:21 one life and when you die the only resurrection is
41:25 going to be when you come back and you're saved
41:29 and you get your glorified body or you're judged
41:31 and you're lost. The idea that you just keep on
41:34 coming back is not what the Bible teaches. It says
41:38 here in Revelation chapter 20, that when Jesus
41:41 comes again, the wicked are destroyed by the
41:44 brightness of his coming. But the rest of the dead,
41:47 this is verse 5, the wicked they live not again
41:51 until the thousand years are finished. See the wicked
41:57 they're destroyed by the brightness of his coming.
41:58 The wicked who are dead they stay dead. But then
42:01 at the end of the one thousand years Revelation 21
42:04 tells us, I, John, saw the Holy City, the New Jerusalem
42:10 coming down from God out of heaven and when the
42:13 New Jerusalem comes down to the earth, all the
42:15 righteous who are in the city, we've been living
42:17 and reigning with Christ the righteous for a
42:19 thousand years, then he will bring forth the wicked,
42:22 they're raised for judgment and it says I saw
42:25 Revelation 20 verse 11, I saw a great white throne
42:29 and Him who sat on it, from whose face the earth
42:32 and the heaven fled away. And I saw the dead,
42:36 small and great, standing before God
42:39 and books were opened. What books do you
42:42 think those are? "The Bible."
42:44 The books of records of everything everybody
42:46 has done. Now God, we know his books may not be
42:50 kind of the old fashioned books that we're used to
42:52 today, I mean today we've got DVD and we get
42:55 video and all kinds of ways to record information.
42:57 God is using words that we understand, somehow God
43:01 has recorded everything that everybody has done
43:04 not only that, does the Lord know what you think?
43:07 "Yes." Does the Devil know
43:09 what you think? "No."
43:11 No, God knows your heart, the devil can guess
43:14 what you're thinking sometimes by the expression
43:16 on your face, but you know what your mom and dad
43:18 can also sometimes guess what you're thinking by the
43:21 expressions on your face, right. But only
43:24 God knows that. Bible says, God and God only
43:27 knows the thoughts of men's hearts and everybody
43:29 is going to be judged. And the Bible says another
43:32 book was opened, which is the Book of Life.
43:37 And the dead were judged according to their works.
43:40 That's why we need the Lord to change our hearts,
43:42 and anyone who is not found written in the Book of
43:45 Life was cast into the lake of fire. And some
43:50 people will die instantly, others will be punished
43:53 according to what they deserve, may suffer
43:55 a little longer, there is punishment for sin.
43:58 See Jesus not only died for your sins he suffered
44:02 and died, isn't that right? He didn't just say okay
44:05 I am going to die now, flip a switch and die. The Devil
44:08 tortured him, there is a penalty for sin and Jesus
44:11 took all of your suffering, he doesn't want
44:13 you to suffer. That's why it's important that we trust
44:17 him and believe in him. The Bible says in Psalms
44:19 37 verse 20, the wicked shall perish; do they
44:24 burn forever and ever? "No."
44:25 No, they perish into smoke, they will vanish away.
44:28 You saw we're just burning something with smoke,
44:30 it will vanish away. The day comes, Malachi
44:33 chapter 4 verse 1 and verse 3. The day is
44:37 coming that will burn like an oven, and all the proud
44:41 and all that do wickedly will be stubble, and the day
44:44 that comes will burn them up. That's a picture there
44:48 of the ancient city of Pompeii, I've been there
44:50 before, and a bunch of people were destroyed very quickly
44:53 by a volcano and their ashes are still there.
44:57 And you will tread down the wicked, for they will be
45:00 ashes under the soles of your feet. God's going to
45:03 create a new heavens and a new earth, but what
45:05 happens to the wicked, it's called the second,
45:08 what's that word up there on the screen?
45:09 "Second death." Now, a lot of people get
45:12 old and die the first death. You don't have to be afraid
45:14 of that, but if you've got Jesus, you don't have to
45:17 worry about the second death do you? That's what
45:19 the lost die. If you're only born once you die twice,
45:25 but if you're born twice. How many of you were
45:26 born once, let me just check I've asked this before?
45:29 You have all been born once that's why
45:30 you're here right. But how many of you've also been
45:33 born twice, you've been born again because you've
45:35 accepted to Jesus, if you're born twice, you may only
45:39 have to worry about one death, but you don't have to
45:41 worry about the second death, right. Number 8.
45:45 What was Satan's first lie on earth and how do we
45:49 know it was a lie Remember the devil wants
45:52 you to think that the wicked burn forever and ever
45:55 in hell, that we're immortal souls, that's not true.
45:59 The only way to have life is through Jesus.
46:01 Remember the devil said to Eve, the serpent said
46:04 to the woman, you will not surely die,
46:07 you won't really die, you will either live
46:08 forever in heaven or live forever in hell. That's a
46:11 doctrine that came from the devil, sad thing is
46:14 there is some dear people out there that
46:16 still believe that. The Bible says in Ezekiel 18 verse 4.
46:20 The soul that sins shall, they'll die. Souls?
46:26 I thought souls live forever and ever. Bible says the
46:29 soul that sins dies. The King of Kings, and
46:32 Lord of Lords Jesus is the only one who has immortality,
46:38 but you get the gift of immortality when Jesus comes.
46:41 The Bible says in First Corinthians 15, then this
46:45 mortal, a mortal means someone who gets old
46:47 and dies, will put on immortality. Now number 9.
46:51 This is very important. Can the devil perform
46:54 miracles? "Yes."
46:57 Yes, he can. How many of you remember. Well, first
47:00 of all, let me read you a scripture, Revelation 16
47:04 verse 14. It says they are spirits of devils
47:08 working miracles. Can the devil create illusions?
47:11 "Yes." How many remember when
47:13 Moses went before the Pharaoh and he threw
47:15 down his rod and it turned into a serpent, but the
47:20 magicians of the Pharaoh threw down their rods,
47:23 what did they do? They became snakes also, the devil can
47:26 impersonate the miracles of God, so that's why you
47:29 got to understand that the dead are dead. So, if
47:32 someone comes back and says I have come from the past,
47:34 I am the Apostle Peter, I've come to give you some
47:36 information and it doesn't go along with the Bible,
47:38 but I've got fresh information.
47:41 Is that from God or from the devil?
47:42 "The devil." So you got to know that.
47:44 Now, for Pastor Ross, you got that here.
47:47 Few kids have been watching every night as we
47:49 started our amazing adventure we wanted that
47:50 sense of drama, we'd have a fog machine, do you
47:53 have any water? I do.
47:55 Oh you got there. You, okay. You've been wondering
47:59 how that work huh! Let me see here, bring this,
48:04 drop that and put the water in the, put the water,
48:07 pour the water in there. That's what happens to
48:13 dry ice, even that's as good, you can put it in here.
48:15 Look at there. Well, that would really scare somebody
48:17 huh! It's a trick 'cause he is going to knock that over,
48:21 whoa! It's all over, you better get that out of there.
48:27 It's just a motion detector and batteries and a little
48:30 trick and plastic made in China and people get scared.
48:33 Now if we can create illusions like that,
48:36 what can the devil do? He can create illusions and
48:39 scare people and so many, that's good,
48:41 just don't drink that. That's why a lot of people
48:46 have been fooled by the devil's tricks in to
48:49 thinking that he's got some kind of special power
48:52 or they're fooled into believing that
48:53 they're spirits. Sometimes that the devil's fallen
48:57 angels will pretend to be the dead and they'll
49:02 deceive people. You know, one time there was a king
49:04 in the Bible, his name was Saul, he turned away
49:08 from God and then he got scared and he had to go
49:11 into a dangerous battle, he went and got a witch
49:14 and he asked the witch to bring someone back from
49:16 the dead to tell him what to do and this demon
49:20 impersonated the Prophet Samuel and totally
49:23 discouraged king Saul, Saul's army lost and Saul
49:28 finally killed himself. Obviously it's not a good
49:31 thing to believe in witches and listen to
49:35 spirits of the dead. And so, don't be
49:38 fooled by that, especially now here we are in the
49:42 boards of the Halloween time of year, people get all
49:45 wrapped up in the occult and those kind of things.
49:47 The Bible says in Revelation 21, speaking of
49:50 sorcery, those who consult the dead they will have their
49:53 part in the lake that's burns with fire and brimstone.
49:57 We can still smell a little bit of sulfur brimstone
50:00 right now can't we? That fire and brimstone which is the
50:05 second death, so I want to encourage you that
50:09 there are two choices, we got life and death.
50:12 You want to keep your eyes on Jesus, right friends.
50:14 Question number 10, when will the dead
50:17 live again? First Thessalonians 4, this was
50:19 our memory verse that we started with, for the Lord
50:23 himself will descend from with a shout, with the
50:26 voice of the archangel, and the trumpet of God
50:30 and the dead in Christ will rise. What does it mean
50:35 to be in Christ? If you give your life to God, Jesus
50:40 embraces you, you are in Christ.
50:43 You trust your life to him, you walk with him,
50:46 you talk to him. Remember, you have those
50:48 spiritual ears, you can listen to the voice of the
50:50 Holy Spirit and you belong to Jesus, you're then in Christ.
50:54 If you should die, do you need to be afraid?
50:57 If you're a Christian and you die, why would you be
50:59 afraid of death? Matter of fact, if you
51:01 are a Christian and you die, the next thing you know,
51:05 you wake up with a glorified body that will never feel
51:08 pain, that will never get sick, that will never
51:10 die again, and you live forever and ever in Paradise
51:13 and you get to take that journey
51:14 through the stars. So, for a Christian, why
51:17 would you be afraid of death? You read in the Bible
51:20 of some of God's patriarchs, Stephen, whey they told him
51:24 he was going to die, he was praying for others
51:27 he wasn't afraid. Peter, they were going to
51:28 execute him the next day, he went to sleep and slept
51:31 like a baby, he wasn't at all scared that's
51:33 Acts chapter 12. When God's prophets and
51:36 believers have faced death, they've been totally
51:39 unafraid because for them it's like SLEEP, what?
51:43 "Sleep." Are you guys afraid to go
51:45 to sleep at night? "No."
51:47 You shouldn't be, some of you don't want to go sleep
51:49 because you're afraid you're going to miss something.
51:52 But if you trust the Lord, you don't have to afraid,
51:54 when Jesus comes it says First Corinthians 15,
51:57 we will all be changed in a moment, in the twinkling
52:00 of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet
52:03 will sound and the dead will be raised,
52:05 incorruptible. That means with bodies that will never
52:08 grow old, never get sick again. The trumpet
52:11 will sound and we will be changed. For then this
52:14 mortal would put on immortality. So, what's
52:17 the key, boys and girls, friends who are watching,
52:19 what is the key to unlock death? The secret
52:24 is he who has the son, who is the son?
52:27 "Jesus." Jesus he has life and whoever
52:31 does not have the son, does not have life. You need
52:34 to have Jesus, the son of God. Do you
52:37 have Jesus, have you decided to follow him, have you asked
52:41 for a new heart? If you've not done it before, you can
52:43 do it again tonight. You don't have to be afraid
52:46 of death, you don't have to be afraid of the future,
52:48 because if you got Jesus, you got life. Let's all make
52:52 sure again tonight that we have Christ. Shall we pray
52:55 together and invite him to take our lives so we can
52:58 be in Christ. Father in heaven, we are so thankful
53:03 for your goodness, for the promises in your word
53:06 that help us to know the truth and to know that we
53:08 don't need to be afraid Lord. I pray that each of these
53:12 young people who are here and those who are watching
53:14 will know that you're with them where ever they go,
53:16 they don't need to be scared of ghosts or death,
53:20 because when they have you in their lives, they
53:22 have the gift of everlasting life and they can be joyful.
53:26 Help us Lord to keep our eyes on you, help us to keep
53:29 our ears open to the voice of the spirit and
53:32 to surrender our lives completely to
53:34 yours, to you as your property. Bless the remainder
53:37 of these meetings and pour out your Spirit.
53:39 We thank you and pray in Jesus name! Amen.
53:44 Well, God bless you friends and friends,
53:46 I want to tell you, who are watching remember,
53:49 we still have a very special program coming, we're going
53:52 to be live tomorrow morning. We hope you will continue
53:55 to gathered together at your groups, we'll be
53:57 studying the lesson, a journey through the sea.
54:00 So, please don't forget about that, join us then
54:02 and be praying for these meetings. God bless you.


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Revised 2014-12-17