Participants: John Lomacang (Host), James Rafferty
Series Code: HCL
Program Code: HCL120009
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00:01 Hello friends, grab your Bible
00:02 and a friend and sit back 00:03 as we explore God's word together 00:05 on this edition of "House Calls". 00:22 Hello and welcome to another "House Calls" program. 00:25 As you can see we're so glad 00:26 that you've chosen to tune in today. 00:28 And turn adjust your television, 00:31 the guy sitting next to me is not John Stanton, 00:33 he's a little bit shorter but he is scriptural. 00:36 He is James. Today is the James and John show. 00:39 Good to have you here, James. Good to be here, John. 00:41 I tell you we're in the saddle together for the first time 00:44 and we want you to tune into the program, 00:46 actually you've already have tuned in. 00:48 Stay tuned in. Get your Bibles, get your pens, 00:50 if you're moving around, slow down right now, 00:53 because I think that the Lord has led you 00:54 to the best Bible program on television. 00:57 At least that's what we believe today. 00:59 And so we're gonna be answering 01:01 your questions your-we gonna be addressing your emails 01:04 and we gonna be talking about the topic 01:05 that's really hot right now, 01:08 the immortality of the soul, 01:09 that's the second part of our program. 01:12 But before we do anything, 01:13 we always begin our program with prayer. 01:15 So James, would you have prayer for us today? 01:17 Absolutely. Father, I just wanna thank you for audience, 01:21 thanking for the interest that you have given them 01:23 in the Bible, Your word. 01:25 Thank you that we can open it, 01:27 right now we can ask for Your Spirit to guide us. 01:29 We can look for Your blessing, 01:30 for Your leading and we can trust Your word. 01:33 We pray and ask for Your presence now 01:35 for each of us for those who are listening, 01:37 we ask it in Jesus name, amen. Amen. 01:40 Well, James, we haven't done a program together. 01:42 We talked about Bible together before, 01:44 but I'm so glad to have you here 01:45 because truly this is the scriptural program. 01:48 We're the sons of thunder. 01:49 Amen. James and John, 01:51 sons of thunder. It's James and John. 01:52 Brothers. Exactly. 01:54 So we're now fishers of men, 01:56 and you know, there are those of you 01:58 who are watching the program and listening today, 01:59 you always send your Bible questions in 02:01 and we always begin our program with Bible questions. 02:04 And if there's something that comes to your mind 02:06 that you want to sent to us, 02:08 you can send those to the email on the screen. 02:10 housecalls@3abn.org, that's housecalls@3abn.org. 02:15 Then we go to the website and download those emails 02:17 and try our best to get to them. 02:19 If we don't get to them today, don't lose courage, 02:22 continue to send them. But those of you, 02:23 who don't have computers, the address is, House Calls, 02:27 well actually 3ABN, P. O. Box 220, 02:31 West Frankfurt, Illinois, 62896. 02:34 And we do answer snail mail 02:36 even in this highly technological, 02:40 that's a big word, technological generation. 02:42 We still answer emails. Good. 02:45 And snail mails. 02:47 Well since you're my guest today. 02:48 I want to go ahead and have you pitch our first question 02:50 and what do we have for all. 02:52 Well this question comes from Randy Hunt. 02:54 Okay. And he's asking a question 02:56 about First John Chapter 3. Okay. 02:59 And that Chapter is found toward the Book of Revelation 03:02 which happens to be my favorite Book of the Bible. 03:04 So I thought this would be a good question to bring up 03:06 because it's really close to Revelation. 03:09 First John Chapter 3 and here is Randy Hunt's question. 03:13 "Hi, gentlemen, I cannot understand 03:15 how to reconcile this Chapter, First John Chapter 3 03:19 with the rest of scripture 03:21 in regard to the severity of sin in this Chapter. 03:25 It looks here that, any, like any sin is evidence 03:28 that you do not have the Holy Spirit in you. 03:31 Please help me to understand, Randy Hunt." 03:35 And I wonder what verse in particular is he referring to? 03:38 I think he's talking, yeah, but he, 03:40 I think primarily Randy is referring 03:42 to First John Chapter 3 and verse 9 03:44 and I'll read that verse. Okay. 03:46 It says, "Whoever is born of God" 03:48 and that's of course born of the Holy Spirit, 03:51 "does not commit sin, for his seed remaineth in him; 03:55 and he cannot sin because he is born of God." 03:58 So Randy's question is, it looks here as though 04:01 any sin is evidence that 04:02 you do not have the Holy Spirit in you. 04:04 If any man's born of God, he doesn't commit sin. 04:07 If he commits sin, yes, he doesn't remain in Him. 04:10 Pretty tough question, isn't it? 04:11 Yes, it's on the surface it sounds that way 04:14 but I know you have an answer for it. 04:16 Well the context of First John is really powerful. 04:19 First John Chapter 3 in context is speaking 04:22 about behold in love of God. 04:24 First John Chapter 3 verse 1, 04:26 "Behold, what manner of love 04:27 the Father hath bestowed upon us, 04:29 that we should be called the sons of God, 04:31 therefore the world knoweth us not, 04:33 because it knew him not." 04:35 In other words the context of this Chapter is speaking 04:38 about the born-again experience those who see 04:41 and fall in love with the heart of God. 04:43 Those who are filled with the love of Christ 04:46 and no longer live according to the world, 04:48 but they're now following Jesus. 04:50 They're living now according to this new life 04:52 that they have in Jesus Christ. 04:54 And then in verse 4 and I'm just skipping through, 04:57 just giving an outline here 04:58 and verse 4 talks about the definition of sin. 05:02 It says, "Whoever commit sin transgresses also the law, 05:07 for sin is the transgression of the law." 05:10 Jesus said it this way in John Chapter 14 and verse 15, 05:14 He says, "If you love Me, keep My commandments." 05:18 So the love of God 05:20 compels us to keep the commandments of God. 05:23 And according to First John Chapter 3 and verse 4, 05:26 sin is transgression of the law, 05:28 sin is transgression of the commandments of God. 05:31 Now in that context, you read verse 9, 05:34 whoever is born of God, 05:36 whoever is fall in love with God 05:37 and has turned away from walking with the world 05:40 and now he's walking after Jesus does not commit sin, 05:43 doesn't continue to transgress the law of God. 05:46 Because His, God seed remains in him and he cannot sin. 05:50 He cannot violate, he cannot steal, 05:52 he cannot lie, he cannot bear false witness, 05:54 he can't break the Sabbath, 05:55 he can't have other idols before him, 05:57 because he's fall in love with God. 05:59 He's turned away from the world. 06:01 He is given his heart to Jesus and he's a new creature. 06:04 It does not mean, however John, 06:06 it does not mean that we don't fail, 06:09 we don't fall short in the context of this. 06:11 We have First John Chapter 2, it says, 06:13 "If we sin, we have an advocate with the Father, 06:16 Jesus Christ the righteous." That's right. 06:17 The context of this is telling us 06:18 that we're living a new life. 06:20 That we see the principles of God's law 06:21 and we follow those principles. 06:23 But it's not telling us that we're flawless, 06:25 that we're perfect, that we're never going to fall 06:27 or need our advocate to intercede on our behalf again. 06:30 That's right, that's right. 06:31 As a matter of fact, if we look at verse 10, 06:33 this is a significant, I'm reading 06:35 the New King James version. 06:36 I think we both have one transit, we both have both, 06:38 King James and New King James. Yes. 06:40 So we balance it out together. 06:42 If we look at the verse 10 in the New King James version, 06:45 it says, "In this the children of God 06:49 and the children of the devil are manifest, 06:52 Whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, 06:57 nor is he who does not love his brother." 07:00 The suggestion here, or not the suggestion 07:02 but the context of that is practicing. 07:06 Isaiah 1 verse 16 to 18 says to us, 07:09 "Cease to do evil, learn to do good or learn to do well." 07:13 When a person comes into a relationship with Christ, 07:17 their practice is different, you know. 07:19 Yes. You never go to a doctor 07:20 that has ceased to practice. 07:22 If a doctor says, you know after 30 years 07:25 he still has a practice. 07:26 He still continues to renew the information 07:31 that's in the medical world, he's continuing to practice. 07:36 Baseball players, basketball players, 07:38 they have practice. And so in the very same way, 07:41 the Christian has to practice. 07:43 He practices righteousness. Right. 07:46 Paul talked about that practice 07:47 when he says, "Follow me or emulate me 07:50 or pattern your life after me only as I follow Christ." 07:54 and so what's happening here is 07:56 what's being suggested by John the apostle is 07:59 what do you practice? 08:01 If you're practicing the things of the world, 08:02 you cannot be filled by the Spirit of God. 08:06 If you're practicing unrighteousness, 08:09 how can you say that the seed of God is in you. 08:12 Because an orange tree will never produce an apple, 08:15 because the seed 08:16 cannot let it. Amen. 08:17 If an apple shows up on an orange tree, 08:19 somebody says, "Wait a minute! Has this tree, 08:22 has this branch been grafted into this tree?" 08:25 the fruit has to be subordinate to the seed. 08:29 And so what's being said here 08:30 about the seed of God remaining in us, 08:32 he says if you're practicing worldliness 08:35 I don't believe the seed of God is in you. 08:37 Because the seed of God is not going to make you 08:40 practice unrighteousness. Amen. 08:41 So this is what's happening here is not, 08:43 and I, and I thank you for saying that. 08:45 It's not saying that we're perfect. 08:48 Jude verse 24 says, "Unto him that is able to keep you 08:51 from falling." Amen. 08:52 But in this world if you sin 08:54 which before we get rid of this mortal flesh, 08:58 they're gonna be a lot of battles. 08:59 But the beauty of that is dying daily, 09:01 so that we could be strong in Christ. 09:03 So that's what John, in essence saying here, 09:05 he says, "I'm gonna be examining your seed" 09:07 and James, one thing that comes to mind as a pastor, 09:11 you know people say, "Don't judge me?" 09:15 Well there is an entire book called "Judges" 09:18 and then Paul the Apostle says, "Wait a minute, 09:20 don't you know that one day we're gonna judge angels" 09:22 and if we gonna judge angels, 09:24 can't we judge men in smaller matters, 09:27 but it's not condemning. So John is saying here, 09:32 don't condemn a person, but make sure that 09:35 as they practice, they're practicing righteousness. 09:37 And when they do practice righteousness, 09:38 we know that the seed of Christ remains in them. 09:41 And if the seed is there, 09:42 you get oranges on an orange tree, 09:44 if it's an apple tree you get apples. 09:46 Amen. But a good tree 09:48 cannot produce bad fruit 09:49 and a bad tree cannot produce good fruit. 09:51 So this is about the Christian walk. 09:53 And that's why he begins by saying 09:56 the law of the God is bestowed upon us, 09:58 that we should be called the children of God. 10:00 How can we be, why's that love so great 10:03 unless we need the Father's love? 10:06 What do you have to add to that? 10:07 I was gonna say that too. 10:08 We mentioned this, this was mentioned 10:10 but again the Chapters of these letters, 10:14 these books were never there when they were first written, 10:16 they were written just in a consecutive style. 10:19 Exactly. One after the other. 10:20 So the immediate context, 10:22 we talk about the immediate context of the Chapter 10:24 and what we mean by that is not just the Chapter, 10:26 but the entire letter. 10:28 And immediate context of this writing 10:30 is First John Chapter 1 verse 10, 10:35 if we say that we have not sinned, 10:37 we make him a liar and his word is not in us. 10:40 There is a tension in truth just like a battery. 10:42 It has a positive, and it has a negative. 10:44 There is a tension in truth 10:45 and if you unhook the negative from your battery 10:48 or the positive and leave the other hooked, it won't work. 10:50 The battery will not function. That's right. 10:52 And it's the same with the word of God. 10:54 The word of God is so beautiful 10:55 and so balance between justice and mercy. 10:57 So God is, first of all John is introducing 11:02 the Gospel of Jesus Christ before you get to First John 3 11:05 you get to First John Chapter 1 11:06 and First John Chapter 2 11:08 and these verses clearly indicate 11:09 that if we'll just confess our sins 11:11 and if we say we haven't sinned, we make him a liar 11:14 and His truth isn't us and if we do sin, 11:17 if we sin we have an advocate with the Father and not, 11:20 he's not only our advocate but he is a propitiation, 11:22 he's a sacrifice for the entire world. 11:25 And then as he flows out that into the next context, 11:27 he's saying now, remember, sin is transgression of the law 11:30 and if you're born again, 11:31 you don't continue to live a lifestyle 11:34 that is in transgression to the law of God. 11:35 That's right. He who abides in him ought, 11:38 himself also to walk as Jesus walked. 11:41 Amen. So it's all about our walk 11:42 and now remember 11:44 the walk is not the end of the destination, 11:45 the walk is the process in the destination, 11:48 moving in the direction of the character of Christ. 11:51 Thank you for that. Amen. 11:53 We have another question here. Margery, 11:56 wow! from Perth, 11:59 Western Australia. It's right there. 12:01 That's a long way. I hope you are awake 12:06 because this question is to respond, 12:10 this answer is to respond to your question. 12:11 He says, "While watching House Calls, 12:13 a few weeks ago, someone asked a question. 12:16 Who do we pray to? 12:19 You had a great answer from the Bible. 12:21 We pray to the Father in the name of a Son, 12:23 in the power of Holy Spirit. 12:25 I wasn't quick enough to get the text. 12:26 You quoted to support the answer. 12:29 Is it possible that you can email these to me 12:32 so I can share them with others 12:34 asking the same question?" What we're gonna do, 12:36 we'll not only email them 12:37 we're gonna also respond to them. 12:39 A prayer is a powerful medium, prayer is, 12:43 well let me put the story together. 12:45 I don't know if anybody could live without a cell phone. 12:48 At least I don't know if any adults without cell phones. 12:52 There is a-- Maybe you're gonna change that 12:53 I don't know of any teenagers without cell phones. 12:56 It's just the another girl. 12:57 I mean we are living in a world that's so connected. 13:00 It's funny we call this, what's the term social media. 13:04 Well, one person once said, 13:06 recently on a talk show he says, 13:08 this is the most dysfunctional social media generation. 13:13 Because I have seen, 13:15 it happened in my office, James. 13:17 Two young people sat together on the couch, 13:20 instead of turning and looking at each other, 13:22 they're texting back and forth Each other. 13:24 Each other. And what blew me away is 13:28 one said that did you get that text? 13:31 Yeah I got it. Did you get my answer? 13:33 I'm thinking just turn 13:34 and look at each other and communicate. 13:37 Amazing. It's amazing. 13:38 The Lord has established prayer 13:41 not for us to text Him but to communicate. 13:45 And one of the desires that Moses had 13:47 was to see the Lord's face 13:49 and he said, well I, you know, 13:51 if that happens you're not gonna live, 13:53 so I tell you what, you hide in the cliff to the rock 13:55 and I'll pass by, and when I pass by, just glimpse 13:58 and that glimpse was so powerful 14:00 that when Moses came down from the mountain, 14:03 his face had to be veiled. 14:05 But the way that we can come before the Father 14:08 and still not be consumed is through prayer. 14:12 And so I want to point out a few passages in the Bible, 14:15 some of those related to disciples asking Jesus, 14:18 "Would you teach us how to pray?" 14:20 and let's go to Luke 11 and verse 2 14:23 for one of the examples. 14:26 Jesus wasn't making this pray--and in some dominations 14:30 people just repeat these prayers 14:32 though this is the prayer, 14:35 this is a blue print of the prayer. 14:37 You know, some people say repeat after me, 14:38 our Father which art in heaven hallowed be thy name. 14:41 Well I know, because-- 14:42 I came out of one of those denominations. 14:43 Okay. I used to say 14:44 the Lord's Prayer every night. 14:46 Just by row, just over and over again and have married. 14:50 So I know exactly what you're talking about 14:52 but I didn't know Jesus and I didn't, 14:53 it didn't connect with me God, 14:55 it was just a formal, it was just a ceremony for me. 14:57 And sometimes even in our church, 14:59 you know people are ending their prayer 15:00 and then they'll say repeat after me, 15:01 our Father, which art in heaven, 15:02 I'll be the name and not a problem with that 15:06 but if you use that just as a point of repetition, 15:10 you sometimes fail to understand 15:12 what Jesus was saying. 15:14 He was saying there is a way, 15:15 so when the disciples said Lord, teach us how to pray? 15:18 He says so verse 2, He said to them, 15:21 when you pray say our Father in heaven 15:25 hallowed be your name, Your kingdom come, 15:27 You will be down on earth as it is in heaven 15:30 and He says when you pray acknowledge a few things. 15:34 First of all where's your father, 15:36 our Father, which art in heaven 15:38 but that wasn't the end of it, 15:39 because if that was only way that we pray 15:42 then we would not even consider 15:45 that the Holy Spirit is involved in our prayer. 15:47 We wouldn't consider the fact 15:49 that Jesus is very much involved in our prayer. 15:53 And so when you think about it, 15:54 I'm gonna go back to the, 15:57 I'll use the post office as an example. 15:59 You know, person mails a letter, 16:02 then that letter goes to the post office. 16:06 If it's in your local box, 16:08 the mail carrier comes by and picks it up 16:10 and drops the flag back down. 16:12 So from your hand 16:13 to your local mail box in front of your house, 16:15 at least that's how it's out here. 16:17 To the post office, somebody else handles that, 16:19 sorts it out sends to the zip code of its destination. 16:22 Then somebody gets into that post office, 16:24 handles it again, from post office 16:27 from your hand to the other person's hand, 16:29 many different measures to get it to its destination. 16:32 But sometimes, John, we'll sent a letter out, 16:35 and we'll forget to put the whole address 16:37 and the person said, you know, 16:38 I got your letter and you didn't put the zip code, 16:41 but you put the city 16:43 and the post office knew what you meant. 16:46 Sometimes you forget to finish the city name or scribble 16:49 but you put the zip code and they say wow, 16:51 it's got to be, well that's a small town, 62896, 16:55 well that's only was Frankfurt, 16:57 at least out here, that's the way it is. 16:59 Sometimes we pray that very same way. 17:02 We pray and we say, Oh! Well, I'm praying for this, 17:07 don't know how to, don't know how to exactly ask this, 17:11 but I'm gonna pray and then we go to the Book of Romans 17:14 and Paul so wonderfully says when you pray sometimes, 17:18 you don't even know what you're praying for. 17:19 I love that verse. So the spirit, 17:21 let's go to that text as a matter of fact, 17:24 Romans 8 verse 26. We always read Romans 8:28, 17:28 I mean everybody knows that one 17:30 and we know that all things 17:31 but the context of that is so beautiful. 17:33 Romans 8:26, "Likewise 17:36 the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses: 17:40 for we do not know what we should pray for as we ought: 17:44 but the Spirit himself 17:47 makes intercession for us with groanings 17:50 which cannot be uttered." 17:52 "Now he who searches the hearts knows 17:55 what the mind of the Spirit is, 17:57 because he makes intercession for the saints 17:59 according to the will of God." 18:01 In this passage you have-you have Christ 18:03 and you have the Holy Spirit. 18:05 He who knows the heart of the Spirit, 18:06 he who knows the heart of man, the Spirit 18:09 and I like the fact that he says with groanings 18:11 which cannot be uttered, that's another whole topic. 18:13 That topic could refute the fact 18:16 that we have to pray in tongues, 18:18 because the Spirit himself uses groanings 18:20 which cannot be uttered. 18:22 And so the Spirit hears and understands 18:25 what we want to say, reading our intents, 18:28 reading our hearts and brings that to Christ 18:30 and Christ brings that before the Father. 18:33 Because no man comes to the Father 18:34 except through Jesus Christ. Amen. 18:36 You want to add something to that? 18:37 Oh, I really love this prayer 18:40 that Jesus gives us an outline. 18:43 I've learned to love it 18:44 because it tells us not only how to approach God, 18:48 but it tells us that God wants to deliver us 18:51 from the evil in this world. That's right. 18:53 And when I interact with the Lord, 18:57 sometimes I do still fall into that old habit of just, 19:02 you know, not even remembering what I actually prayed 19:05 or what I actually asked for etc. 19:07 But when I remember what Jesus said, 19:08 when you pray, pray this way 19:10 and He goes to the prayer and He says, ask God 19:13 to deliver you from evil. That's right. 19:14 Ask God for His will to be done 19:16 on earth as it is in heaven, 19:18 and that many times awakens my heart, 19:22 my angst, my fervor, 19:24 my desire because a lot of times when I pray, 19:28 I'm concerned about my children, 19:30 I'm concerned about things 19:32 that are taking place in the world, 19:34 injustice is taking place. And it reminds me 19:37 that what is happening in this world 19:38 is not always God's will. That's right. 19:40 Pray that God's work will be done. 19:42 It reminds me that, that there's evil in this world 19:44 that God wants to deliver us from. 19:46 So not everything that's happening in this world 19:48 is part of God's plan. He is against evil. 19:52 I mean if God and evil were partners, 19:54 then the prayer to be delivered from evil 19:56 will be the prayer to be delivered from God. 19:58 That's right. So we're praying to be delivered from evil 20:00 and God wants to deliver us from evil. 20:02 So as I look at the prayer 20:03 and I look at the outline that Jesus gives us, 20:06 yeah, it reminds me of his hatred of evil 20:09 and his desire to, to return us to heaven 20:14 and to the way things operate in heaven 20:15 which is based on the law of love. That's right. 20:18 And so that, that prayer that he's established, 20:20 Luke records it, John, Matthew records it. 20:24 Ah, it, the pattern is beautiful, 20:26 I mean, can you say it's not beautiful 20:27 when Jesus established it? Amen. 20:29 It just will be-- well, 20:32 let's not go down that road. 20:34 However there are few other components to prayer 20:36 that we have to acknowledge. 20:38 There's a lot of times I hear people pray 20:39 and they mention their request, 20:42 but they don't put the address on it, okay. 20:45 They write the letter but they never address the envelope. 20:48 The address to the envelope is in Jesus name we pray. Amen. 20:52 Let's look at that in John Chapter 14, 20:54 verse 6, and verse 14. 20:57 Matter of fact, let me go 20:59 and put on my glasses, not that I need them. 21:02 Okay, I got to stop fooling myself, I do need them. 21:06 I've been working that one for a long time. 21:09 John 14 verse 6, Jesus says, 21:13 "I am the way, the truth and the life. 21:18 No one comes to the Father except through me." 21:23 and then down in verse 14, 21:24 "If you ask anything in my name, I will do it." 21:29 verse 13, "Whatever you ask in my name, 21:33 that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son." 21:38 You think of it now, what do you put on an ad, 21:41 what do you put in an envelope, 21:42 one of the first things you put on the envelope 21:44 when you're mailing a letter is what? Your name. 21:47 Yes. The person's name. 21:49 John Smith, James Rafferty, John Lomacang, 21:53 what's his address, see so when you pray your prayer, 21:57 don't forget to put the address on your prayer. Amen. 22:00 Jesus, in Jesus name I pray. 22:04 And He says okay now I know 22:06 what do you want me to do with that 22:07 and He brings it before the Father. 22:09 Amen. Yeah, that's beautiful. 22:12 When we look at the outline that God has given us, 22:15 it is a succinct and brief, 22:17 yet exhaustive outline that covers every aspect 22:21 of the need of the fallen human heart. 22:23 That's right. For intercession, 22:25 for connection and for the expression 22:29 of our frustration and anxieties. 22:31 Sometimes when I look at the Old Testament 22:35 and David, I think about some of the Psalms 22:37 that he wrote and some of the angst 22:40 and I'm going to use that word instead of anger. Okay. 22:43 That he expresses, you know, consume them. 22:45 Frustration. Yeah, consume them, 22:46 and even job, consume them, 22:49 destroy them, what's going on? 22:50 Why are you letting this happen? 22:52 And I believe that when Jesus mentions 22:55 these various aspects in this outline of prayer, 22:59 He's calling us to engage our hearts with God. That's right. 23:02 Many times we engage our hearts with other people, 23:06 with other human beings. 23:07 We let them have a peace of our minds 23:09 in a positive or negative way and we overwhelm them. 23:14 People, human beings can't always handle that, 23:16 even counselors can be overwhelmed, 23:18 but there is a God in heaven. 23:20 There's a heavenly counselor that we can never overwhelm 23:23 with our request, with our burdens, 23:26 with our anxieties, with our distress and our anger, 23:29 we can never overwhelm Him. That's right. 23:31 We can give him everything and He understands. 23:34 In fact, even when we manifest anger, 23:36 I love the verse and now in Ephesians 4 verse 27, 23:41 I want to just read that. Okay. 23:43 Quickly because it's so significant. 23:44 Turn with us to Ephesians 4:27. 23:46 Ephesians 4 and verse 27, 23:49 this verse, you know how it is John, 23:51 there are times when you have a verse 23:54 that you do not understand. 23:56 You read it, you read it, you read it and you just, 23:59 it just sits, you just don't get it. 24:01 And so what I do with those verse, 24:02 I put them on the shelf 24:04 and I believe that in time as Christian experience grows 24:07 and as we move on and we learn and we grow and we-- 24:10 we go through these different trials 24:12 or experiences that, that these text begin 24:16 to make sense to us, 24:17 you know maybe through other texts, 24:19 maybe through other experiences, 24:20 maybe through other people or messages 24:23 and this is one text that has made 24:24 a lot of sense to me just recently. Okay. 24:27 Ephesians 4:27, excuse me, 4:26, 24:30 here's what it says, "Be angry and sin not, 24:36 let not the sun go down upon your wrath." 24:40 And you might say what does that have to do with prayer? 24:43 What does that have to do with prayer? 24:44 "Be angry and sin not, 24:46 don't let the sun go down on your wrath." 24:48 Well right there, there's an indication, 24:49 don't let the sun go down on your wrath, 24:51 before you go to bed at night, 24:53 before you hit the pillow, before you go to sleep, 24:56 there is something that you may need 24:58 to communicate to get off your chest 25:00 and there's only one person you can communicate to, 25:03 that's really gonna be able to take care for you. 25:05 It's gonna be able to displace the anger 25:07 and give you the peace. 25:08 Now the reason I like this verse 25:09 is because it's so contradictory 25:12 and so difficult to understand and yet sometimes 25:15 when you come to verses like that, 25:17 once you understand them, they become so powerful, 25:20 the impact is so powerful. 25:21 "Be angry and sin not." That's right. 25:24 Now I always understood that anger is sin. 25:27 How can you be angry and not sin? 25:30 Well, there is a way, 25:31 when you connect that anger to God, 25:33 when you connect that anger to prayer, 25:35 when you, your anger is vented 25:37 as David did over and over again, 25:39 he was being mistreated by Saul unfairly, unjustly 25:43 and he vented on God. 25:45 And he said to God, consume him, 25:47 take him out, destroy him, destroy my enemies. 25:50 And sometimes we read those verse and we think, wow! 25:52 David, why are you saying that? There he's venting. 25:55 But we understand why he says it 25:57 when he meets up with Saul. 25:58 When David has the opportunity 26:00 to take Saul's life himself in the cave 26:03 and there were couple of opportunities 26:05 he was given, he doesn't touch him. 26:07 That's right. You know why? 26:08 Because he has given his anger to God 26:10 and he's not going to sin by touching the Lord's anointed. 26:13 He's gonna be angry and sin not. 26:15 He's not gonna let the sun go down in his wrath. 26:17 Very good point. He gives it to God, 26:19 he vents and God takes that anger 26:22 and displaces it with his peace and with his love. 26:25 And then he can say to Saul, 26:26 "I had a chance to kill you but I didn't." 26:28 And Saul would say, "You're more righteous that I am." 26:31 So I love this picture that we have. 26:33 That's a beautiful, that's a beautiful presentation. 26:35 Yeah, in the context of the Lord's prayer, 26:37 deliver us from evil, from what evil? 26:39 Well, from the evil I would have done. That's right. 26:41 You know the evil that David almost did with Nabal, 26:43 the evil that he wouldn't do with Saul, 26:45 delivers from that evil and like you will be done. 26:47 In other words, David says, in the end of his psalms, 26:50 in psalms he always says, "I'm praising you God, 26:52 I know you gonna take care of this." 26:53 He says to Saul, the Lord judge between me and you, 26:56 the Lord avenge me of you. That's right. 26:57 And then David is clear, so much so, 27:00 so much peace, so much love. 27:01 But when Saul finally dies, unlike our attitudes perhaps 27:05 toward the death of our enemies, 27:08 people that we don't like in this world, 27:10 who hate, you know, have harmed us, he weeps. 27:13 He weeps for Saul and that's the heart of God. 27:16 That's right. That's the heart of God. 27:17 And so the Lord's prayer gives us this outline 27:20 that Jesus gives to His disciples 27:22 that His disciples eventually embrace 27:25 and that causes Jesus on the cross 27:27 to weep for His enemies and His disciples to weep 27:29 for their enemies and ask by God's grace to weep for ours. 27:32 That--that's a beautiful way to look at that, 27:34 because a lot of times when we say, 27:36 even the verse that follows it, 27:38 there's an entire sermon itself "Nor give place to the devil." 27:41 When you-- when you don't allow 27:43 that wrath to be laid aside, 27:45 the devil is waiting to take his place. Yes. 27:47 And then the hand that would have been 27:49 the hand to heal the hurt becomes 27:52 the hand to exasperate the injury. 27:56 And so we say, well I can't wait and so we carry, 27:59 even amongst our own hearts as Christians sometimes 28:01 we carry in anger that has not been settled, 28:04 it has not been laid down when the sun went down. 28:07 Yes. And we carry that burden, 28:08 that, that is beautiful way of saying 28:11 that because David was able to clear his heart. Yes. 28:14 And there are those in, 28:15 if you listen carefully to what James just said, 28:18 they're those who are probably carrying burdens right now 28:20 and their names that may be flying 28:22 through your roller decks, it's an old fashioned word, 28:25 flying through your schedule. Your address book. 28:29 Your address book, that you can think of things 28:32 that you wanna do to get back at them, 28:33 but if you let that prayer of God the deliverance from evil. 28:38 Beautiful aspect of it, it's not just deliverance 28:40 from the evil that's around us, 28:42 but most specifically the evil that abides within us. 28:45 I appreciate that very much. 28:46 So that's a very great quotation to that. 28:49 Hopefully we answered your questions today. 28:51 We covered just about two or three of them. 28:53 But I know that in the upcoming programs, 28:55 we'll be able to get to some more of those. 28:56 If you have any more questions or comments, 28:58 you can send those to housecalls@3abn.org, 29:01 that's housecalls@3abn.org 29:04 and we always appreciate 29:05 what you do for the cause of God here 29:08 and also what you do for 3ABN, 29:10 keeping these programs going and growing 29:12 as you pray and support this network. 29:15 Our topic today is a powerful one. 29:17 It's about the immortality of the soul. 29:19 Now when we talk about the immortality of the soul, 29:23 this is broad as like saying 29:25 we're gonna talk about fruit today. 29:28 I mean what fruit? Pineapples, mangoes, 29:33 you know, durian from the Philippines, 29:35 what fruit? Broad, broad topic. 29:37 But James, the reason why I chose this topic today 29:40 is because Satan is not retire, 29:45 he's not retire, he is, okay, 29:46 he is never been on vacation. 29:48 No, never he is-- He's gonna, 29:49 he's gonna go on one, we can't wait. 29:51 Yeah, he's gonna make up for all those lost, 29:53 those lost days of vacation. 29:54 Exactly, all those vacation days accruing 29:57 and he's gonna have a massive, he's gonna go out in flames. 30:00 He's gonna just really lighted up. 30:04 He's gonna be under the sun. 30:06 Under the sun, I like that. 30:08 However this topic is continuing 30:10 to add fuel to the deception 30:13 that he laid in the Garden of Eden. 30:15 You will not surely die. 30:16 And there are books being written. 30:17 As a matter of fact I was in the airport, 30:20 we were picking up a friend, my wife and I 30:23 as they would say in Europe, collecting a friend, 30:26 you know, collecting a friend. 30:28 And I saw I went-- I crossed a couple of books 30:31 that shows me that people today are more desirous of reading 30:36 what somebody else wrote rather than what's already 30:39 written in the word of God about whether or not 30:42 we have an immortal soul. 30:45 And I have discovered and maybe you've seen this too 30:49 that there's a particular topic that almost has been omitted, 30:53 you don't hear sermons about it. 30:55 The resurrection, who talks about the resurrection? 30:58 The only time the resurrection comes into view is around 31:00 Easter weekend in most denominations. 31:04 But the resurrection has been deleted 31:05 or omitted from the Bible 31:06 and so nowadays as people die, go right to heaven. 31:11 Their heart stops on a gurney or on a surgical table 31:15 and they go to heaven. 31:17 Some of them say they've been there 31:19 for 90 minutes and they came back. 31:21 It's an adult or a little boy 31:23 and there are four books right now prominent, 31:25 I don't want people to read these books, 31:27 but there's one called "Heaven is for Real", 31:29 a story of a little boy who've said he'd, 31:33 he said he had gone to heaven. 31:35 A little boy's astounding story of his life, 31:38 of his trip to heaven and back. 31:41 That's one there and I saw that in the shelf and said wow, 31:43 and in another New York Times bestseller. 31:46 So to be a bestseller, 31:47 you got to be selling millions of books. 31:49 The boy who came back from heaven. 31:53 And another one, "My Time in Heaven", 31:57 the story of dying and coming back 32:00 and it shows the, shows the little signals there 32:05 that you get when you're on a, on a, 32:08 when your heart stops anyway. 32:10 And then the other one, "90 Minutes in Heaven". 32:13 And I thought what an appropriate time, 32:15 all these books are going out, 32:16 really planting seeds of untruth, 32:19 that its time to revisit God's word. It is. 32:21 And let Christians know, 32:22 Christians are buying these books. 32:25 So you hear phrases like, at every funeral I go to, 32:29 I was just so touched, just recently 32:31 I went to a funeral of another denomination 32:34 and they never said once that, that person was in heaven 32:37 and I was just absolutely, my heart was comforted 32:40 and I actually could say amen, 32:42 because I knew what they were saying was scriptural. 32:44 But for the most part, he's in heaven now, 32:47 he's looking down, he's in a better place, 32:49 he's with mama, you know, out of mind, 32:52 dying because I'll see grandma, all those terms. 32:55 And we have to use the Bible as our foundation. 32:58 You know it's amazing 32:59 when you think about this because this is, 33:06 there is a rush, Satan is making a rush 33:08 for the souls and the hearts and the minds of people 33:10 and he is doing it in a couple of books 33:12 you've mentioned, something really hit my mind, 33:15 and my heart there was he's using children, 33:18 he's using children's experiences. 33:20 And I mean what, how is it that, the people, adults, 33:26 would be unsympathetic toward a child? Right. 33:29 I remember hearing accounts of teachers 33:31 who in school clarified 33:33 and I didn't have this clarified 33:35 in my experience until I was eight or nine years old 33:38 that there is no such thing as Santa Claus, 33:40 there is no such thing, you know, as the Easter bunny. 33:43 And these teachers were reprimanded, 33:45 you know, for telling this 33:46 to third graders, and fourth graders. 33:48 In the true theory. Yes. 33:49 They were reprimanded and they have to go in there 33:51 and tell them that wasn't true 33:52 because these kids were devastated. 33:54 You just don't do that to kids, 33:55 you let kids believe these fairytales and of course, 34:00 you know, getting off 34:01 a little bit of the subject here, 34:04 letting them believing and raising children 34:06 to believe fairytales diminishes 34:09 their faith in the word of God. 34:11 That's right. Because it upends them, 34:13 they've trusted their parents, 34:14 they believe what the parent says, 34:16 and then when they get to be 10 or 11 or 12 34:17 or at least a teenager, 34:18 they realize it's untrue, it's wrong. And-- 34:21 In all of suddenly they wonder, well how many other things 34:23 that I have been told are not true. Exactly. 34:25 How many other things? 34:26 And there are so many similarities to Christmas 34:29 and the story of Christmas and the Bible, 34:31 in fact it's connected to the Bible. 34:33 So how can you raise children believing in these stories 34:37 that they end up thinking are fairytales 34:39 and have them hold on to their faith in the word of God. 34:42 And Jesus tells us too the faith of the little child 34:44 is powerful, it's, and they should become 34:46 as little children, they believe almost anything. 34:48 And so who's going to question, 34:50 you know, in these couple of books 34:51 you've mentioned that children are the forefront, 34:54 who is going to question? 34:55 Who is going to want to diminish 34:57 a story that's coming from a child? 34:59 I think they're gonna say, 35:01 who could say that, "Look at this little kid, 35:02 he's so tender, he is so innocent, 35:04 I don't think he's lying. 35:05 He had to have an honest experience" 35:07 and yes what many individuals also discount 35:11 the fact that Satan is the master of delusion. Yes. 35:15 We're living in a world of miracles. 35:16 We're living in the world where demons 35:17 are present in the minds of the young. 35:20 Just to give you an example, 35:22 years ago before I was a pastor, 35:26 this movie "Poltergeist" came out and-- 35:30 I remember that, I remember that. 35:33 And the key, and one of the key actress 35:35 and by the way many of the people 35:36 that were in that movie either went crazy or died-- 35:39 Right. Lot of people had died 35:40 that were acting in that movie. 35:42 There was a little girl sitting in front of a television, 35:45 and all of sudden one snowy white and black 35:48 and she'd say this two words, "they're here." 35:52 And I noticed, wait a minute, 35:54 there's a pattern in these movies, 35:55 little children being used to communicate this. 35:58 So the pattern hasn't changed. 36:00 Satan is using another child and people will say well, 36:03 how can you say that this 36:05 little boy's testimony is not correct? 36:10 Well, it's not about the little boy, 36:11 it's not about age at all. No. 36:14 It's about comparing what he said to the word of God. 36:17 So we're getting now to the point 36:18 where Satan is using instruments 36:20 that we're saying well, first of all, 36:22 how could that preacher not be telling the truth, 36:24 but now we know that all preachers don't tell the truth, 36:26 we finally came to that conclusion. So he says wow! 36:30 Now that preachers are now put down 36:32 to the level of a used car salesmen in some cases, 36:35 what other medium can I use? 36:36 So he goesto the innocent child 36:39 and uses them as a vessel to communicate things 36:42 that are not in harmony with the scriptures. 36:43 So that's why we need to go the Bible 36:45 and begin to lay the foundation 36:46 that what Satan said in the very beginning 36:49 is still going on to this very day. 36:52 I remember a little poem that was written on a tombstone 36:56 that young man was walking through a graveyard 36:59 and he read this tombstone and the epitaph 37:01 and it said something like, "Where you're now 37:04 so once was I and where I am, you soon will be. 37:07 Prepare yourself to follow me". Exactly. 37:10 And he took out some kind of marker crayon, 37:12 and he wrote on that, "To follow you 37:14 I'm not content until I know just where you went." 37:17 Exactly. Just where do you go when you die? 37:20 That's right. This is the question 37:21 that must be asked and it must be answered by the Bible. 37:25 That's right. And we have to go back to the very beginning. 37:28 We have to go back to the creation story 37:30 in the Book of Genesis and understand 37:32 how God created us in order to get the right answer, 37:36 the correct answer to this question. 37:37 Right, in other words, if you know where you've come from, 37:41 you know where you're headed. 37:43 I'm going back home. Or where do you live? 37:46 I live in New York, I live in Washington, 37:48 I live in Tennessee, you know we headed back to. 37:51 We've got to look at the origin of man 37:54 to find out the destiny of man. 37:56 Amen. That is in this life. 37:59 Now we know that when Jesus comes, 38:02 we'll go to heaven, those of us who are under the blood 38:05 of Christ and in His righteousness. 38:07 However death has been established 38:09 as an alternate route, like you don't have to wait 38:12 till Jesus comes, you can go the backdoor, 38:15 go to, you know backstage, 38:16 you don't have to get a ticket to go, 38:18 just you, you have to buy and let you in sooner. 38:21 And death has almost been made a friend rather than an enemy. 38:25 Really, I mean if you could, if, 38:27 this is not a pleasant idea 38:30 but if by death I could be in heaven tomorrow 38:32 why would I wanna be down here any longer, 38:34 this doesn't make any sense. Now there's a Bible verse 38:36 we need to touch on where Paul seems to indicate. Right. 38:39 That's he's thinking but if we examine that carefully, 38:42 we're going to see that Paul is not talking 38:44 about two stages there, he's talking about three. Right. 38:48 And so we'll look at that probably little bit later. 38:50 Genesis Chapter 2. Just start with Genesis 2. 38:52 Yeah, Genesis Chapter 2 creation story. 38:55 Now I like Genesis 2 because Genesis 2 38:57 is what we call repeat and enlarge. 38:59 It repeats the creation story and enlarges upon it. 39:02 It gives us details. Genesis 1 God simply says 39:05 "He made man in His image, He made man and woman 39:07 and He made them in His image." Right. 39:09 Genesis 2 tells us the details of how He created us. 39:12 In verse 7, "The Lord God formed man 39:15 of the dust of the ground and breathed 39:18 into his nostrils the breath of life, 39:20 and man became a living soul." 39:23 So a living soul is made up of two parts. 39:26 A living soul is made up of the dust 39:28 of the ground and the breath of life. 39:30 That's right. The dust of the ground 39:31 and the breath of life come together 39:33 and they make a living soul. 39:36 Now the next verse that we want to connect to this 39:38 is found in Genesis Chapter 2 verse 17, 39:43 God is instructing Adam and Eve, 39:45 He's giving them dominion over the earth 39:47 and he's telling about one thing 39:49 that is in the Garden of Eden that they're not to touch. 39:51 He says, "But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, 39:54 thou shalt not eat of it, for in the day that thou eat 39:57 thereof thou shalt surely die." 40:00 Okay, that's our second verse, we got the creation story, 40:03 the dust, the Spirit becoming a soul, 40:05 then we have this next verse, verse 17 says 40:08 if you eat of the tree of the knowledge of an evil 40:10 you will die. That's right. 40:11 Surely. Surely die. 40:13 And then we have our third verse 40:16 and this is in verse 4, this is the serpent 40:17 talking to Eve trying to get her to eat of the tree 40:20 that God forbid them to eat off. 40:22 And he says this, Genesis 3 verse 4, 40:25 "And the serpent said unto the woman, 40:27 "You shall not surely die."" John, this is the reason 40:31 why people get nervous in graveyards at midnight. 40:34 That's right. They know those people are dead 40:36 but they're not sure if they're surely dead. 40:39 That's right. I've said various times, 40:42 in the city of New York there are gates at cemeteries 40:45 and I will say I wonder why there's a gate? 40:47 People that are on the outside don't want to go in 40:49 and people of the inside are not coming out. 40:52 Out here there are no gates. 40:53 You know, remind you in the country 40:55 but I said if you wanna go to a place that's safe, 40:57 if you gonna have a picnic 40:58 and nobody's gonna bother you, go to a cemetery. 41:01 Read some of the tombstones, take your lunch, 41:02 sit down and lean back and you can have the quietest rest, 41:05 nobody is gonna bother you. 41:07 Now I'd people in my church say, 41:08 "No way, pastor, there is no way." 41:10 I mean what an Adventist have to say, 41:12 "There is no way. Are you nuts?" 41:14 And I'm thinking brother, what do you believe? 41:17 And it's amazing how time goes by, 41:19 yet some of these things have been planted in our formal 41:23 belief systems, still the residue is still there 41:26 to create it within our minds, this fear that somehow 41:30 the dead have something to do with the living. 41:34 Most of the angels are going to be in those positions, 41:37 in those places when Jesus comes the second time. 41:40 That's right. But now let's go to a passage 41:43 because we talk about where man came from? 41:46 The Lord God formed him from the dust of the ground, 41:48 breathe into his nostrils the breath of life, 41:50 man became a living soul. 41:51 And reiterating that man doesn't have a living soul, 41:55 man is a living soul. 41:57 That's simple little concept there 42:00 makes the difference between my soul left 42:04 and my soul didn't go anywhere. 42:06 It's vital, vital. His soul left. 42:09 There was one scientist that weighted 42:11 the body of a dead person and he say, 42:14 "you notice he's a little lighter now" 42:15 they did it by grams, little lighter now. 42:18 So that meant the soul left and they say, 42:20 you know, he breath his last breath that, 42:24 and they say the soul has left. 42:26 I saw a commercial a few years ago 42:28 where an attendant was sitting down 42:31 taking care of an older lady 42:33 and in this older lady's belief system, 42:34 she says in her country where she comes from, 42:37 she says when the person is ready to die, 42:40 they always ask for the window to be open, 42:42 so the soul could leave. 42:44 And so they showed in the commercial 42:45 the lady was lowering the window 42:47 and her friend or the nurse attendant, 42:49 because she gave her some medication, 42:51 she said not tonight. In other words, 42:53 your soul is not leaving tonight, 42:54 she closed the window. 42:56 And that subtle little commercial reiterates this idea 43:01 that it must be true, the soul is leaving. 43:03 So now what happens if that person dies, 43:06 is the soul locked in the room? 43:07 I mean, this is the concept. Right. 43:09 What is in fact, keeping that person alive? 43:11 Well let's go to the Book of Ecclesiastes, 43:13 I wanna show you reverse of this, 43:14 Ecclesiastes 12 and verse 7. 43:16 We saw the creation and remember 43:18 the dust of the ground and the breath of life. 43:22 Now we go to Ecclesiastes 12 43:23 and verse 7 to see the exact reverse of this. 43:26 Because when you see creation in reverse, 43:28 creation in reverse, or the creation of man 43:30 in reverse is simply the death of man. 43:32 And this is hard book to find John. 43:34 I mean, you got to go past the Psalms 43:36 which is the center of the Bible, 43:37 you got to go past the Proverbs 43:39 which follow the Psalms 43:40 and then you gonna find Ecclesiastes. Good. 43:42 And some of our viewers gonna have a hard time 43:44 finding that as we move through here. 43:45 I want to make sure that they can stick with us. Very good. 43:47 So Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, 43:50 Chapter what? Chapter 12. 43:52 Okay. And we gonna look at verse 7. 43:57 This passage, and by the way I remember this, 43:59 I read this one here when it says 44:00 remember the creator in the days of your youth. 44:03 Adults say well that has nothing to do with me. 44:05 Well, there actually I looked up 44:06 the actual language, it says, 44:08 "Remember the creator before you get any older." Okay. 44:12 And I thought, wow, and now that applies even to me, 44:14 because young people are not worrying 44:15 about those silver bowl being broken. 44:18 You know the hair missing, just go bowl, 44:20 and all the keepers of the gate are rattling. 44:24 So it's that what it's talking about? 44:25 Yeah, remember the creator before you get any older. 44:27 Yes and then the silver bowl? The silver bowl-- 44:30 when the hairs, this whole passage 44:32 is about the break down of the human body. 44:33 Okay. So we're talking about silver, 44:35 we're talking about grey hair. 44:36 Well the silver bowl, that the grey hair 44:38 when it's finally leaving, the bowl starts to show up. 44:40 Okay, got you. The bowl right there, the man's bowl. 44:43 Okay. I don't have one of those yet 44:44 so I was just wondering because-- 44:46 I don't have-- when the grinder, in verse 3, 44:48 "When the grinders cease because 44:49 they are few loosen teeth. 44:51 Oh, the grinders that are the teeth. 44:53 Yeah. Yeah, that's true. 44:54 "And when the doors are shut on the streets 44:56 and the sounds of the grinding is low, 44:58 when one rises up at the sound of a bird, 45:00 and all the daughters of music are brought low." 45:02 Hearing starts to leave. 45:03 Oh, got it. You see also 45:05 they are afraid of height. I've never understood this. 45:07 "Also they're afraid of height, and the terror in the way 45:09 when they almost all of sudden things that brought you joy, 45:12 now you fear for love." Okay. 45:13 And then finally it starts in verse 5 it says, 45:16 "The grasshopper is a burden, and desire fail." 45:19 There're some people say, 45:20 I wish God would just let me rest. 45:21 Yes, okay. "For man goes to his eternal home. 45:25 And the mourners go about the streets." 45:27 He finally is laid to rest. 45:29 "So remember the creator 45:30 before the silver cord is broken 45:32 or the golden bowl is loosened 45:33 or the pitcher shattered at the fountain, 45:37 or the wheel broken at the well." 45:40 But now verse 7. I haven't spent lot of time 45:42 in this but that's great, that's great. 45:44 And if you look at verse 1, it says, 45:45 "Before the difficulties come and years draw near, 45:48 when you say I have no pleasure in them." 45:50 That's in contrast to Chapter 11 verse 9 45:53 when it says, "Rejoice, O young man, in your youth, 45:55 And let your heart cheer you in all the days of your youth. 45:59 Walk in the ways of your own heart, 46:01 And in the sight of your own eyes. 46:03 But know that for all these God will bring you into judgment." 46:06 So in other words, word said, 46:08 rejoice, enjoy yourself. Yes, yes. 46:10 I can see the contrast. So you know there are some 46:11 people that are sitting in their houses, 46:13 they don't go anywhere, their legs can't move, 46:17 they have no pleasure in these days. Yes. 46:19 My grandma used to say it's a great life 46:20 if you don't weaken, if you weaken you hadn't. 46:24 And I remember she was bedridden 46:26 for quite a while before she passed. 46:28 And then final thing, the final aspect 46:30 of that is what was brought up by the wise man, 46:33 he says in verse 7, then let's go back 46:35 to the reverse of creation, man came from the dust. 46:39 "Then the dust will return to the earth as it was." Okay. 46:43 He's going back to where he came, 46:44 "And the spirit will return to God who gave it." 46:47 and that passage right there, well, who gave it? 46:50 The Lord breathes into man's nostrils 46:53 thus the breath of life, 46:55 the Spirit of God returns to God who gave it. 46:58 Now what I want you to notice where does man return? 47:04 Dust of the earth. To the dust of the earth. 47:05 Right. Because from dust, 47:06 you heard that in the funeral, from dust you are, 47:08 unto dust you shall return. 47:11 He goes back to his dust. But it doesn't say a man here, 47:14 it says then the dust returns to the earth. 47:17 And we're gonna go another passage and see the difference. 47:18 Yes. Isn't that amazing? 47:20 So what happens is if you don't understand what the dust is? 47:23 Right. Then you could say, 47:25 he's just going back into dust. Right. 47:27 So He formed man of the dust. Of the dust. 47:32 And breathing his nostrils the breath of life. 47:33 The Breath of life. And it become a living soul. 47:35 And so it's really important here to distinguish them 47:39 between the spirit that returns. That's right. 47:42 And the breath that was breezed, 47:45 the Hebrew here is 'Ruach' 47:48 which is used 117 times in the Bible 47:52 to denote wind or in 13 different occasions breath. 47:57 That's right. In other words, 47:58 the spirit here is not the soul. No. 48:00 The spirit here is the breath of life 48:02 that God breathe into man at his creation. That's right. 48:05 And so when the spirit, when the man dies, 48:08 the body goes back to the dust but the spirit goes back to, 48:11 the soul isn't going back to God. Exactly. 48:13 The spirit is going back to God. That's right. 48:15 So what happens with soul? 48:17 The soul ceases to exist. 48:20 The soul ceases to exist because the combination 48:23 of the two is what makes man a living soul. 48:26 If you look at some of the new translations, 48:28 it says man becomes a living being. 48:30 And so this, the reason why the soul 48:31 has become such a an ethereal word 48:36 is because you find that Neo-Platonism, 48:41 this teaching of the continuants of life. Okay. 48:45 This was a teaching that had permeated 48:48 even the New Testament church before the time of Christ. 48:50 Plato, the reason why it's called Neo-Platonism, 48:53 it's because there is the teaching 48:54 that the spirit, the soul 48:55 and the body are three separate entities. Okay. 48:58 Combined together to bring life to a man, 49:01 but when life ceases these separate entities 49:04 as they are being taught through Neo-Platonism 49:07 still maintain their standing. 49:09 So the body what happens, it returns back to the dust. 49:13 The spirit, what happens to it? 49:14 The mind of man ceases to function. 49:16 But the soul, he hangs around still. 49:18 And so this whole ideology was the reason 49:21 why Jesus stayed away for four days 49:23 when Lazarus was sick. Okay. 49:25 And He came and He said Lazarus is dead, 49:32 but this happened that the glory of God 49:34 may be revealed, may be manifest 49:36 and in the conversation between Martha, Mary and Jesus, 49:39 you know they all understood, 49:41 "I know my brother will rise again 49:43 in the resurrection at the last stage." 49:44 She understood the concept, she understood the teaching 49:46 of the resurrection, she did not omit that. 49:48 I think we should look at that, John, because-- 49:50 Down to Chapter 11. That's story is incredible. 49:53 Yes, every aspect of that was reiterating 49:55 the fact that man is not going anywhere. Yes. 49:59 And in out of harmony with these books 50:02 that are being written now-a-days, 50:04 well let's not jump ahead. 50:06 When Lazarus drove back to life, 50:07 he didn't say "I was in the middle 50:09 of the conversation with Elijah, 50:12 why would you bring me back down?" 50:14 He had no consciousness. 50:16 No record, and that's why I believe it's so intriguing 50:19 when you read the story in John Chapter 11. 50:24 The context of it is really interesting 50:27 because Jesus is receiving a message 50:31 from the home of Lazarus that "the one who he loves," 50:36 verse 3, "is sick." And they want the master 50:39 to come as you said he waits four days 50:41 and as Jesus continues to minister 50:44 with his disciples and seemingly ignores 50:48 the request seemingly and wait couple of days, 50:50 because the journey was two days to the house. 50:53 So then in verse 11, He says to his disciples, 50:58 "Our friend Lazarus sleeps, 51:02 but I'm going to awake him out of sleep." 51:04 That's right, exactly. Asleep, 51:05 asleep and disciples said to him, 51:07 "oh, if he's sleeping, he's doing well." 51:09 You know if you get sick, if you're tired, 51:11 if you're not feeling good, I'll go rest, you'll do well. 51:13 That's right. So the disciples were thinking 51:15 the way that, the way that they are taking 51:17 as Jesus is telling them that Lazarus is having a nap, 51:20 he's sleeping, he's resting. 51:22 How be it, verse 13, "Jesus spoke of his death" 51:27 He was, Jesus here is telling us 51:30 that death is like a sleep. That's right. 51:32 In the whole Bible, reiterates this over and over again, 51:37 death is like a sleep and our friend Lazarus 51:40 is sleeping but they didn't get it. 51:42 "So Jesus finally says to them plainly" 51:43 verse 14, "Lazarus is dead." 51:46 He's dead and he's been dead four days already 51:49 when Jesus gets there, so it's powerful 51:51 when you think about that because 51:52 when I think about sleep, like last night I got to bed late 51:54 'coz I'm on a two hour time change here, 51:56 it's hard for me to go to sleep early, 51:58 so I got to sleep late but when I woke up, 52:00 boom, I was later totally unaware 52:05 that several hours had passed by until 52:07 I woke up in the morning and that's the way sleep is. 52:10 When you go to sleep you're unaware of the time 52:13 that has passed, sure enough they rough nicely. 52:16 You're unaware the time is passing 52:17 and you wake up in the morning, 52:19 then many hours have gone by, several hours have gone by 52:22 that you're totally unconscious off. 52:24 That's right. That's why when you look at that context, 52:26 we go back to the Ecclesiastes 12 verse 7, 52:32 "Then shall the dust return to the earth 52:34 as it was, and then spirit returns to God who gave it." 52:37 David the Psalmist adds his portion to that 52:39 in Psalms 146 verse 4, "His spirit departs" 52:45 but now it gives you direction where the man goes. 52:48 "He returns to his earth. Okay. 52:52 In that very day his thoughts perish." 52:54 I--illustrate this for me. 52:55 I mean let's look at something 52:57 that illustrates this idea of two things 53:00 coming together to create something new 53:03 and then when they are parted, 53:04 that new thing that they've created is gone. 53:07 Okay, go ahead. I was thinking of a light. 53:10 Yeah, where I'm saying there's a little lamp 53:12 that I unplugged and moved to different location 53:16 and I'll think about the spirit as the power source, 53:18 the electricity, that's what why I'm plugging it into. 53:21 And then I think about the light bulb itself, 53:24 because there are several lights in this little apartment 53:27 I'm staying in that have no bulbs, 53:30 they'd just redone it 53:31 and had different lights here and there, 53:33 and I went to turn one on and it wouldn't turn on, 53:35 I thought maybe it's not plugged in, 53:36 but it was plugged out. I looked and there is no bulbs, 53:37 I look in, there is no bulbs. 53:38 You can have the power, but if you don't have a bulb, 53:40 if you don't have a body for that power to connect 53:44 to and be set up in such a way that illumines, 53:47 there aren't going to be light, so you have the power, 53:49 you have the body and when you turn the switch 53:52 and connect those two, you have light. 53:55 Now if you have, this illustration, 53:57 if you have the electricity representing the spirit 54:01 and the light bulb, you know, 54:03 fixed to the center representing the body 54:05 that would be a perfect illustration 54:07 what happens when you turn that power switch on, 54:09 you have light, the light is the soul. 54:11 That's right. The light is the soul. 54:13 And if you turn the power switch off, 54:14 if you disconnect the spirit, the electricity from the bulb, 54:18 the light no longer exists. That's right. 54:21 Where did it go? It resides in its source. 54:26 Yes. That's the key. 54:28 It resides in its source. 54:30 Now the bulb is not residing in the source, 54:34 the power is residing in the source. 54:37 And so when you think about that, 54:38 that's why he says, Psalms 146 verse 4, 54:43 "He returns to his earth, 54:45 in that very day his plans perish." 54:47 And so Job, before we wind up this part of the program, 54:51 Job adds his portion to that. 54:54 There's so often we leave out the Old Testament Bible writers 54:58 and these things are reiterated in the New Testament. 55:00 We'll look at Job 14 real quickly. 55:03 And he answers this so wonderfully in Job Chapter 14. 55:10 He starts in verse 7, he says, 55:12 "For there is hope for a tree, 55:15 if it is cut down, that it will sprout again, 55:18 and that its tender shoots will not cease." 55:21 But now, we're gonna go to verse 12 55:25 or verse 11 or verse 10, 55:29 "But man dies and is laid away, 55:32 indeed he breathes his last breath, and where is he? 55:35 As water disappears from the sea, 55:37 and the river becomes parched and dries up, 55:38 so man lies down and rises not 55:41 or does not rise till the heavens are no more, 55:44 they will not awake nor be raised from their sleep." 55:47 It's that word again, awake, 55:49 and there's a question, where is he? 55:50 What happened to the life? Right, where is he? 55:52 And so when you think about that, 55:54 he says, and look at verse 13, 55:56 "Oh, that You would hide me in the grave, 55:58 that You would conceal me until Your wrath is past." 56:01 So where's man being hidden? In the grave. 56:03 In the grave. Rest in peace. 56:05 Okay, we walk away from the cemetery, rest in peace. 56:08 Brother, if somebody follows you home, 56:10 I'm gonna just tell you right now on the word of God 56:12 that is not your mom, that's not your dad, 56:14 that's not your friend, that's an apparition. 56:17 If you go back home and you smell some fragrant 56:19 in the house that was sprayed on that corpse 56:21 when they were in the funeral pyre, 56:23 that Satan attempted to get in. Now before we end this, 56:26 could you turn to Job 27 verse 3 very quickly. 56:28 I want you to read that in the King James Version. 56:30 This is very powerful 56:31 because when God breathes into Adam's nostrils, 56:34 He put something there, read that verse. 56:37 Verse 3 of Job 27, "All the while my breath is in me, 56:41 and the spirit of God is in my nostrils." 56:44 Exactly what God it. Okay, yes. 56:46 See, He breathe into man's nostrils the breath of life, 56:49 the Spirit of God is in my nostril. 56:50 Now I can give you mouth to mouth to keep you alive, 56:54 but I can never give you life. 56:55 Yes, you can't give me the Spirit of God. 56:57 That's right. I can't put the Spirit of God in your body. 56:59 And so friends as you can see this is a very powerful topic. 57:02 We've just started this topic, 57:04 but the soul is the combination of the breath of God 57:10 and the dust of the earth 57:12 and there is nothing eternal about that. 57:14 You'll discover in our next broadcast 57:16 when we cover this topic in greater detail, 57:18 that right now we have the promise of immortality 57:20 but only God has immortality. Amen, amen. 57:23 And so James, good to have here today. 57:24 You can adjoin me for some future programs too, right? 57:26 Absolutely, love to do it. 57:27 Well friends, keep your Bibles near to you, 57:29 keep Christ in your heart until we see you again. 57:31 May the Lord continue to richly bless you. |
Revised 2014-12-17