Discover Prophecy

Revelation's Keys of Death

Three Angels Broadcasting Network

Program transcript

Participants: Pr. David Klinedinst

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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.


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Revised 2015-11-23