Participants: Pr. David Klinedinst
Series Code: DPR
Program Code: DPR000012A
|
00:08 A few years ago the Howard Script News Service and Ohio University
00:12 conducted a survey on supernatural phenomena and 00:16 in this survey they asked people three questions. 00:20 Do you believe there are ghosts 00:24 and the appearance of dead people 48% said yes. 00:28 47% said no and 5% said 00:32 Don't Know question 2 00:36 DO you think books TV shows and movies 00:40 about monsters and the supernatural are harmless 00:44 or do you worry about their affect on people. 54% said 00:48 they are worried. 39% said no they are 00:52 harmless and 7% said they don't know 00:56 the third and final question of the survey said 01:00 DO you believe that people who claim to be withces or have 01:04 mystical powers are self-deluded or 01:08 do you think they could have mystical powers 01:12 63% said said no thier self-deluded. 01:16 28% said they could have powers and 01:20 9% said they don't know. 01:24 Now this survey was conducted about the same time that a movie called the 01:28 Blair Witch project hit the box office and it grossed about 01:32 100,000,000 dollars and in the last few decasdes 01:36 our culture has been obsessed with the supernatural 01:40 with the occult and whether or not there is life beyond the grave 01:44 tell from the way that people answered this survey that 01:48 people are scared and confused they do not actually 01:53 know what to believe about life beyond the grave 01:56 but the good news is the bible gives us the clear answer 02:01 to all three questions raised in this survey 02:05 so rather than trying to find the answer through tradition 02:09 we're just going to open up the word of God and let the Bible 02:13 speak for itself. So the first place we want to go is Revelation 02:17 chapter 1 and we're going to verse 18 this will be 02:21 our foundational text for this evening. " 02:37 He says that He is the one who was alive 02:41 and was dead and yet is alive forever. Jesus 02:45 is the one who has conquered death and gone through 02:49 the portals of the grave and as a result Jesus tells us 02:53 He is the one who holds the keys of death, he 02:57 had victory over the grave and he can give us the same. 03:01 So when it comes to all these questions about the supernatural Jesus 03:05 is basically saying don't be scared don't be worried 03:09 I have the answerrs to these questions and I 03:13 hold the keys of death. 03:17 Now if we want to understand life beyond the grave there 03:21 is a particular term that we have to come to grips with 03:25 and you should see that term on your TV screens now. 03:29 It is a term called the immortal soul. Now the popular 03:33 belief in many churches today is that when a person 03:37 dies tey ahve an immortal soul that comes out 03:41 of their body and floats back to heaven where God is 03:45 and that immortal soul is living and conscious 03:49 and you can look down from heavena nd see 03:53 everything happening with friends family adn the like 03:57 but the question we have to ask is not what 04:01 is popular, but what is true 04:05 what does the Bible actual say. And so I am gonna make a statement 04:09 here in the beginning that may come as a bit of a shock 04:13 did you know that you can search the Bible from Genesis to 04:17 Revelation and not once will you ever 04:21 find the term the immortal soul. 04:25 there is no such thing in the Bible 04:29 only God is described as being immortal 04:33 Now you will find the word soul used many times in fact 04:37 about 1600 times but never is the soul 04:41 described as being immortal or undying 04:45 now that may come as a shock to you but I would encourage you search 04:49 the Bible you will never find that term used 04:53 The Bible does not teach that we have an immortal soul that goes 04:57 flying away when we die? You say well where do we get that idea 05:01 it comes from pagan greek philosophy 05:05 and teachings that began tos lip into the church 05:09 somewhere around the time of the middle ages sow hat we need to do 05:13 is not worry about what pagan traditions from the past tell us 05:17 but allow the Bible to tell us what is 05:21 a soul. Is that soul immortal. 05:26 so to understand what happens when we die 05:30 we have to begin with looking at what happens in the beginning of life 05:34 so I want to take you all the way back to Genesis chapter 05:38 2 and verse 7 notice how God describes 05:42 the beginning of life for mankind. 05:46 Genesis 2:7 06:02 the Bible tells when 06:06 God formed the body of Adam that He formed that body from dust of the ground 06:10 and then he breathed into that lifeless body what 06:14 is called the breathe of life or the spark of live 06:18 that only God can give and when that happened man began 06:22 a living soul. Notice God did not 06:26 put a soul into a man as some separate 06:30 part of his being it says man became a 06:34 living soul because a soul is aperson 06:38 anyhting with the body or breathe of life in it is a 06:42 soul a soul is a living being is that clear? 06:46 In others words you don't have a soul 06:50 you are a soul because a soul is 06:54 a living person much the same we throw around this term 06:58 when we see soemone down on their luck we tend to say 07:02 oh that poor soul. We don't mean that there're some kind 07:06 of spirit that is floating around, we're talking about a person 07:10 so a soul is a person in fact notice 07:14 how Genesis 46:27 uses the word soul 07:18 The Bible says, 07:30 In other words Joseph's wife 07:34 gave birth to two souls. Now what did she give birth to 07:38 did she give birth to two spooks floating around? She gave birth 07:42 to two babies who had a body and the breath of life in them 07:46 she gave birth to two people becasue a soul 07:50 is a person. And as you continue to look through 07:54 many verse of scripture it is clear 07:58 that in Ezekiel 18:4 the Bible says the soul who sins 08:02 shall die in other words the person who sins and turns away 08:06 from God the end result of that is death 08:10 so we need to understand that according to the Bible a soul 08:14 is not a separate part of our being that goes flying away 08:18 when we die the soul is simply a living person 08:22 or a living being now with that 08:26 understanding it may raise a question in your mind. You may wonder 08:30 but isn't there something that goes back to God when we die? 08:34 and the answer is yes but it is not 08:38 the soul. The answer is found in the book of Ecclesiastes 08:43 chapter 12 and verse 7 I would like to invite 08:47 turn there. This was written by the wisest person 08:51 that ever lived, Solomon 08:55 and Solomon wrote about life and death 08:59 notice what he writes in Ecclesiastes 12:7 09:15 Let's pause here. We already know that 09:19 when a person dies and we bury the body after a period of tme 09:23 it basically disentrigates into dust 09:27 that is what the old poem says. Dust to dust, ashes to ashes. 09:31 But then it goes on to say that the spirit returns 09:35 to God who gave it and this is where we tend to mis-interpret 09:39 things and get all confused and we think oh the spirit 09:43 well that is the soul that keeps on living and I can look down on evertything 09:47 that happens on earth but the spirit is not 09:51 the soul. In fact that spirit is not even 09:54 a living conscious part of our body 09:58 when you look in the hebrew the word for spirit is simply 10:02 ruauch which means breath 10:06 remember what the bible said in Genesis it said that God breathed into 10:11 man's nostrils (waht?0 the breath of life 10:15 so this spirit that returns to God 10:19 is nothing more than the breath of life that God gave 10:23 man from the beginning and that makes perfect sense 10:27 with the whole of scripture and really if you've ever 10:31 been with someone when they died what do they 10:35 stop doing? They stop breathing 10:39 we say they have breathed their last because that spirit 10:43 or that breath of live goes back to God who gave 10:47 it in the beginning so the spirit is 10:51 the breath now having said that, that may 10:55 raise another question in your mind. and we may wonder well this spirit 10:59 that goes back to God if that is simply the breath of life 11:03 is there any living conscious part of us 11:07 that goes to heaven upon death? am i able 11:11 to look down upon family and friends and know what is going on 11:15 in this world? well let us allow the Bible to continue 11:19 to give us an answer. we are gonna stay in the book of Ecclesiastes 11:23 and we wanna go to chapter 9 and verse 5 11:47 I don't think I can explain it any better than the 11:51 way Solomon just put it. The living know they are going to die 11:55 you all know that is going to happen unless Jesus comes first 11:59 But in describing the dead the Bible says 12:03 the dead know nothing 12:07 absolutely nothing. Theya re not aware 12:11 of anyhting that is happening on this earth after they die 12:15 that is why verse 6 says their love their haterd 12:19 all their emotions are persihed becasue the Bible describes 12:23 them as simply resting or sleeping in the grave 12:27 until Jesus Comes. 12:31 Now having said that I want to address a very 12:35 serious subject. Because if the Bible says the dead 12:39 know nothing, that they simply rest or sleep 12:43 in the grave until the resurrection a question that may 12:47 arise in the minds of some are, 12:51 I have talked with my dead loved ones who passed away 12:55 I have seen them. They ahve appeared to me they looked like 12:59 my family, talked like them, I know it was them 13:03 and I know that every time I have ever preached this message 13:07 or done a seminar that talks about live after death There is always 13:11 someone who shares I have talked and seen my loved one 13:15 and I know that perhaps if you are watching on television 13:19 you may have had this experience as well. How do we 13:23 deal with this? If we have seen soemthing with our own eyes 13:27 but yet the Bible says the dead know nothing 13:31 they sleep and rest in the grave how do we make sense of that. 13:35 the thing we have to understand is the devil is a master 13:39 deceiver and is well able 13:43 to impersonate our dead loved ones in order to lead us astray 13:47 see the devil watche sour lives too he knows 13:51 our mannerisms, how we talk, 13:55 in some ways he knows how we think and it is not hard 13:59 for the devil to impersonate himself and changed himself into a human being 14:03 to look like a dead loved one 14:07 even though thtey act and talk like mom according to the Bible 14:11 that is not our dead loved one becasue the Bible says they simply 14:15 sleep in the grave and the dead know nothing 14:19 see when it comes to communicating with those who have passed away 14:23 through spiritualism or wizardry or any of the such 14:27 the Bible clearly tells us that is an abomination 14:31 and God says stay as far away from it as possible. 14:35 becasue really, if 14:39 you are seeing someone or communicating with someone and the bible 14:43 says that isnt your dead loved one who is it? 14:47 see the Bible knows that we are 14:51 playing with demonic forces that these are 14:55 evil angels seekinbg to impersonate loved ones and God says 14:59 stay away from that as possible 15:03 becasue our loved ones simply sleep in the grave until 15:07 Jesus comes. Sin can't hurt them anymore 15:11 they awake to the resurrection 15:15 now having said that I also want to address something 15:19 that isinv erse 10. Now verse 10 is not on the screne 15:23 and I wanna read it from the scriptures because there is a very important pronciple there 15:27 in Ecclesiastes chapter 9and verse 10 15:31 I want you to notice what Solomon writes the Bible says 15:35 whatever your hand finds to do 15:39 do it wiht all your might for there is no 15:43 work or device or knowledge or wisdom int he grave 15:47 where you are going. In other words God is encouraginf 15:52 us that if he has laid a decision on our heart we need to 15:56 make it today. If there is some path he wants us to follow 16:00 we need to follow it today. If there is some choice 16:04 that he is wanting us to make, God says take life seriously 16:08 because nobody is guaranteed tomorrow 16:12 you know how many funerals there have been where someone 16:16 has had to lean over a casket and becasue they 16:20 withheld forgiveness for years or held on 16:24 to a grudge or argued over the silliest things 16:28 wouldn't talk to a friend or loved one for years maybe 16:32 even decades and now death has come 16:36 prematurely adn that loved one was taken away and they were never 16:40 able to say im sorry.They were never able to say 16:44 again, I love you. 16:48 and theyre broken they weep over that casket 16:52 wishing they had not wasted so many years 16:56 arguing about the silliest stupidest things 17:00 friends if there is a relationship you need to make right, make it right 17:04 today. If there is someone tow hom you need to say I am sorry, 17:08 or someone to whom you need to remind them, I love you 17:12 do it today and make it right becasue the Bible says there is 17:16 no work or device or knowlede int he grave once 17:20 we die it is too late so God encourages us 17:24 take life seriously now because life 17:28 is a precious thing 17:32 that leads us to a few other questions. If indeed 17:36 the Bible describes death as a sleep 17:40 I want us to take a looka t the life of lazarus 17:44 when Jesus called him from the tomb because there is a lot we can learn 17:48 from this passage it is almos tlike Jesus gives us 17:52 a little microscopic picture of what is going to happen 17:56 on the day of the resurrection. Now here is the background. 18:00 Jesus was close friends with Mary Martha and Lazrus 18:04 and when Lazarus was deathly ill they called 18:08 for Jesus to come to Bethany and heal him yet Jesus 18:12 did something strange. He purposely 18:16 waited and he let Lazarus die 18:20 And just befroe he made the journey 18:24 to Bethany he had this discucssion with his disciples 18:28 John 11 verse 11 The Bible says 18:40 Do you notice the word Jesus used to describe death? 18:44 he called it a sleep. See, Jesus 18:48 himself says that death is simply a peaceful 18:52 sleep for some of us we may sleep for a few years 18:56 for some it may be a 100 years for other it may have been 1000 years 19:00 but on the day of the resurrection that is when jesus comes to wake 19:04 us up. Because in this story with Lazarus when 19:08 Jesus said to him come forth from the grave the bible describes 19:12 that he bounded out of the tomb still dressed in t 19:16 these grave clothes and he told the people to unloose him 19:20 but it is important understand what did not happen imagine this 19:24 imagine lazarus coming out of the tomb they unwrap these 19:28 grave clothes from him, he blinks his eyes and he wonders what hs happened 19:32 and mary and martha said Jesus raised you from the dead! 19:36 and Lazarus and turns to Jesus and said you raised me from the dead? 19:40 what did you do that for?! I was up in heaven walking 19:44 the streets of gold and singing wiht angels and talking with 19:48 the saints nad you had the audacity to bring me back to this sinful place? 19:52 Why! Does the Bible say that? 19:56 No. Did Lazarus hve any idea 20:00 or story to tell about being in heaven or hell 20:04 or anywhere else. Absolutely not 20:08 because he was simply sleeping in the grave 20:12 like Jesus said and Jesus came to wake him 20:16 up lazarus was not livining 20:20 or conscious in hea en or anywhere else he was not aware of what was happening 20:24 on this earth, he was peacefully resting in the grave and Jesus 20:28 woke him up that is how it will be 20:32 for you and I becasue when you think about it 20:37 if Lazarus really had been in heaven 20:41 and Jesus brought him back to this rotten earth that really 20:45 would have been a dirty trick wouldnt it 20:49 Lazarus was simply sleeping and if you and I should die before Jesus comes 20:53 we will peacefully rest in th grave 20:57 until the orning of the resurrection 21:01 now it may be having said this you may be thinking 21:05 wel pastor dave oh i wish I hadnt listened to this 21:09 message that takes my joy away. I have always thought of my 21:13 loved one being in heaven and looking down upon me and that 21:17 made me feel so good. i can understand that 21:21 truly i can but if we are honest in our thinking lets ask 21:25 ourselves a question. Do we believe that because 21:29 we think it would be beter for our loved one 21:33 or simply we thinkt hat makes us feel better 21:37 see God's way is always best sleeping in the grave is much 21:41 better than being living and conscious of what happens on this earth 21:45 can you imagine what that would be like for a loved one to look down from heaven 21:49 and to see all the pain and decisions 21:53 all the sorrow their family is going through or maybe a child 21:57 who is going down the wrong patha nd they cant do anything about it 22:01 in fact to illustrate this I want you to pretend 22:05 something. we are gonna use myself as an illustration okay? I want you to 22:09 pretend that tonight when the meeitng is over 22:13 and I am driving home I have a terrible accident and die 22:17 now i am not planning that let's just pretend 22:21 so I die and I go to heaven and i am looking down from heaven 22:25 and as I do so, I watch 22:29 as the officer at the scene goes to my home knocks on my door 22:33 and tells my wife that her husband is 22:37 dead and I watch 22:41 as my wife just collapses and sobs 22:45 uncontrollably knowing that she is anow 22:49 a widow. The next morning when my girls get up 22:53 to go to school Marquita pulls them inside and says youre not going to school 22:57 today you see daddy died last night 23:01 he isn't coming home anymore 23:05 and I watch my two little girls cry in pain 23:09 as they realize they don't have a daddy anymore 23:14 but I am watching from heaven the funeral takes place 23:18 I watch my 80 year old parents go to the funeral 23:21 their backs bent weeping becasue children arent supposed 23:26 to die before their parents as if 23:30 the funeral ends I continue watching 23:34 as Marquita reaches into the casket one last time 23:38 Grabs my cold clammy had said David I love 23:42 you. I don't know how I am going to make it without you 23:46 and I just watch her cry 23:50 I listen as my youngest girl walks out the door screaming saying 23:54 why doesn't daddy wake up why doesn't daddy answer me 23:58 and I am watching from heaven 24:02 time passes the greiving process is over 24:06 and now I watch 24:10 as another man begins to enter Marquitas life 24:14 I watch as he holds her hand 24:18 kisses her on the lips 24:22 I watch as she says I lvoe you to another man 24:26 words that were once reserved just for me 24:30 I watch as they get married 24:34 I watch my wife be intimate in bed witha nother man come on lets be real 24:38 time continues to pass 24:42 I listen to my girls call another man daddy 24:46 once me. I watch 24:50 as my pictures are slowly taken off the mantle 24:54 and replaed with somebody else's now I ask you 24:58 would I be happy? I would not 25:02 be happy at all. Thatis why God tells us 25:06 we rest and sleep in the grave until jesus comes 25:10 again. God's way is always best. Sin cannot 25:14 touch us anymore. in fact the Bible describes 25:18 what that day of reunion will be like and I want to focus on this 25:22 as our last verse today. 1 Thessalonians 4:16 25:26 The Bible Says, " 25:50 " Husbands and wives 25:54 united parents and children bother and sister, grandparents 25:58 and grandchildern and the bible describes 26:02 that together as one happy group we will all make 26:06 the journey to King of Heaven and walk through the gates 26:10 together it will be a shared experience 26:14 see that is the day we are waiting for. the day of the resurrection 26:18 when we all will be reunited 26:22 my friends if you desire to be reunited 26:26 with your loved ones agian if you desire to 26:30 experience eternal life and the kingdom of heaven 26:34 we are going to need Jesus Christ as our savior becasue 26:38 Jesus said he is the only one who has the keys of death 26:42 he is the only one that can give us victory over the grave 26:46 and he is the only one who can give us eternal life 26:50 that is why Jesus said, " 27:02 " There is a resurrection my friends a day 27:06 that we can look forward to and I wodner if tonight 27:10 we can make the decision to not only accept Hima s our savior 27:14 but that we would love him 27:18 and follow him with our hearts and minds 27:22 and soul. So that he too can give us the keys 27:26 of death and we can experience eternal life 27:30 through him. |
Revised 2015-11-23