Participants: John Lomacang (Host), John Stanton
Series Code: HCL
Program Code: HCL130018
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00:01 Hello friends, grab your Bible and a friend
00:03 and sit back as we explore God's word together 00:05 on this edition of House Calls. 00:21 Welcome to House Calls. 00:23 Thank you so much for remembering 00:25 what time we've come on 00:27 and inviting your family and your friends 00:28 to sit down and watch the program. 00:30 If you're joining us from the study group, 00:32 hey, get all your Bibles together, 00:33 your pens, your family and your friends 00:35 and enjoy us for the next hour 00:37 as we continue on the topic of the resurrection. 00:40 What does the Bible say about it, 00:41 but you might notice there is another person in this picture. 00:44 How are you doing, John? How are you doing, John? 00:47 Good to have you here. 00:49 Hey, how is it going up in the upper Northwest there for you? 00:51 It's going great. 00:53 Yeah, we're enjoying the Spokane Area. 00:56 It's been a blessing. That's good, that's good. 00:58 You're closer to California than you've been to north-- 01:00 Yeah, little closer back to where I grew up but-- 01:03 but a beautiful area. 01:05 I tell you it is, it is nice up there. 01:07 God's country. 01:08 You know, we say the same thing about Thompsonville. 01:10 They just have mountains over there 01:13 that are very beautiful. 01:14 We're not gonna spend a lot of time on that topic. 01:18 But we're glad that you've chosen to tune in 01:19 and we have questions, we have a Bible topic 01:23 that's really powerful one 01:26 that you don't want to miss today. 01:27 But before we do anything else, 01:29 we always like to have prayer. 01:30 And John, so would have pray for us? 01:31 I will. Dear Father, in heaven. 01:33 We invite Your presence to be here with us. 01:37 Send Your spirit to guide and direct our thoughts, 01:40 our hearts toward You. 01:42 And as we lean on Your word 01:44 as we read it and we study it today, 01:46 we just pray that You allow it to speak to us. 01:48 We know it already has life but Lord may become life to us, 01:52 we pray in Jesus' name, amen. 01:54 Amen. Thank you, John. 01:56 And for those of you who send questions to us, 01:58 we want to thank you in advance because many of you do that. 02:02 You send questions and comments 02:03 and we, we appreciate it all. 02:06 The internet is a powerful tool 02:08 when it's used for the glory of God 02:10 and this is one of the ways that it is. 02:12 So but if you have any questions 02:13 you want to send to us and submit them 02:15 to the House Calls program, 02:16 send those questions to the following email, 02:18 housecalls@3abn.org that'shousecalls@3abn.org. 02:23 And we'll download those questions 02:25 and get them and get them answered 02:27 as expeditiously as we possibly can. 02:31 But you know, since I have usually introduce this part, 02:34 I'm gonna have John 02:36 lead us into our first question for today. 02:39 Sure. This question is from Vernon. 02:41 And good question he says, 02:43 Revelation 21:9, implies the holy city, 02:47 the New Jerusalem is the bride of Christ. Okay. 02:50 But yet we read as a church 02:52 through else where in the scripture 02:54 that the church is the bride. 02:55 Please help. Okay. 02:58 And actually it's a fairly simple answer 02:59 I don't think we'd spend a lot of time 03:01 necessarily to answer this question. 03:03 Because the context of when John sees 03:07 the city coming down helps to clarify 03:10 or answer the question here, 03:11 because at the time John is seeing 03:15 the New Jerusalem come down 03:16 as a bride adorned for her husband, 03:19 the bride at that time pictured in this prophecy. 03:23 The people of God, the church is in the city 03:28 and what good is a city without people in it. 03:31 And so what you have 03:32 in John's vision here at this time 03:35 is a city that is already inhabited by the people of God. 03:39 And so throughout scripture 03:40 you find that the people of God 03:42 are referred to as a woman. 03:44 Referred to as a virgin 03:49 and then even the language of Paul 03:50 speaking about the husband of Christ 03:53 and all these things, 03:55 those things are all true as is true 03:57 that the New Jerusalem is seen as a bride. 04:00 But the reason it's seen as a bride 04:01 is because the people of God are in it. 04:04 This is after the 1000 years are over 04:06 they have reign with Christ 04:08 for that thousand year period in the New Jerusalem 04:10 and they're all seen come down out of heaven together. 04:14 And really wonderful, 04:16 the wonderful illustration here that this whole bride, 04:19 you said it entirely but I need to ask-- 04:22 You got to say something? 04:23 Come on. 04:25 Why, why the bride? 04:26 Why is the bride used in wonderful 04:28 both context in the Bible? 04:31 You know, when Paul gives this 04:34 beautiful picture of the church, 04:35 he refers to the church as when, 04:38 when the Lord fully remakes us in His image. 04:41 He says, not having spot or wrinkle 04:44 or any such thing, speaking about the purity. 04:48 And then Revelation talks about 04:50 the garment of the saints, pure and white and clean. 04:54 And all those, all those 04:56 allegorical pictures are associated with the bride. 05:00 But one of the, one of the wonderful ways 05:02 that Isaiah the prophet 05:04 uses an analogy of the church in Isaiah 61 05:10 where the Lord talks about, 05:11 "The spirit of the Lord is upon me 05:13 for He has anointed me" to preach the gospel 05:16 "the good tidings to the poor." 05:18 But look at verse 10 and that very outline. 05:21 The Lord talks about 05:23 how beautifully the church is going to be clothed 05:27 and this is the language that's being used. 05:30 Isaiah 61:10, 05:33 "I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, 05:36 My soul shall be joyful in my God, 05:39 For He has clothed me with the garments of salvation, 05:43 He has covered me with the robe of righteousness," 05:47 as a bride decks himself 05:50 "a bridegroom decks himself with the ornaments 05:53 and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels." 05:57 He uses the, the analogy of the wedding. 06:01 As, as an example of the church 06:06 and, and then finally in Revelation, 06:08 the Bible says, "The marriage of the Lamb has come 06:12 and His bride has made herself ready." 06:15 Paul how does she do that? 06:17 The bride garments are the righteousness of the saints. 06:22 So those analogies they are continue to add to it. 06:24 And John said it wonderfully. 06:25 What good is the city without people in it? 06:27 That's right, that's the goal. 06:29 The goal is clearly that. 06:31 That's Revelation not Revelation 06:33 but 1 Corinthians 15. 06:36 Look at that very quickly, 1 Corinthians 15 and verse-- 06:40 this, this topic actually 06:42 or this text fits into the resurrection, 06:45 but I want to go ahead and just give verse 24. 06:47 It says, 1 Corinthians 15:24, read that for us, John. 06:51 "Then comes the end, 06:52 when he delivers the kingdom to God, 06:54 the Father, when he puts an end to all rule 06:57 and all authority and power." 06:58 There you go. 06:59 The delivering of the kingdom would be 07:03 the furnishing of the saints into the city. 07:08 And so therefore that's would be 07:10 best refer to in an earthly term 07:12 as the reception is now taking place. 07:15 The dinner has been set, tables are ready, 07:18 all the best provision has been made 07:21 and the glorious church comes through the gates 07:25 into the beloved city the New Jerusalem 07:27 and that is the marriage supper of the Lamb. 07:31 And therefore the kingdom 07:33 and the bride are united together 07:35 and what a celebration that's gonna be. 07:38 Wow. Beautiful. 07:39 Okay, so let's see, 07:42 what do I have our here. I do appreciate all these. 07:45 Here is a very good one, very good one. 07:50 Also the devil, this is a continuation of a question. 07:54 And it says, also the devil is on earth during the millennium 08:00 and the earth is desolate nothing is alive. 08:03 Then the devil is loose for a season to deceive the nations. 08:07 What nations if the earth is desolate? 08:10 Wonderful question. 08:12 For that answer we'll go to Revelation 20. 08:14 You want to go there John, and read those 08:16 couple of passages first for me. 08:18 Because I have a couple of other once I want to share. 08:20 Let me just set the stage 08:21 as John is turning to Revelation 20. 08:24 Revelation 20, talks about the millennium. 08:28 It talks about the first resurrection, 08:30 the second resurrection and the 1000 years. 08:33 What happens between each of the resurrections? 08:35 So what I like you to do, John, 08:37 is walks through that for me 08:39 and pause along the way to give commentary. 08:41 I'd like to go ahead 08:43 and start with verse 1 of Revelation 20. 08:46 Okay. Okay. 08:47 Contextually we have verse-- 08:49 Chapter 19 of Revelation which is the second coming. 08:51 There you go. 'Cause we got to start there. 08:53 So the progression is the second coming of Jesus 08:56 and then at the second coming 08:57 we're in the heels of the second coming 08:59 these events occur that are found in Revelation 20. 09:02 "Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven 09:04 and having the key to the bottomless pit 09:07 and a great chain in his hand. 09:08 He laid hold of the dragon, that serpent of old, 09:11 who is called the Devil and Satan, 09:13 and bound him for a 1000 years, 09:15 and he cast him into the bottomless pit, 09:17 and shut him up, and set a seal on him, 09:19 so that he should deceive the nations no more 09:21 till the 1000 years were finished. 09:23 But after these things 09:24 he must be released for a little while. 09:29 And I saw thrones, and they sat on them, 09:31 and judgment was committed to them. 09:32 And I saw the souls of those 09:34 who had been beheaded for their witness to Jesus 09:37 and for the word of God, 09:38 who had not worshiped the beast or his image, 09:40 and had not received 09:42 his mark on their foreheads or on the hands. 09:44 And they lived and reigned with Christ for 1,000 years." 09:48 Millennium. 09:49 So let's pause just therefore 09:51 just the brief minute here on the heels 09:52 then of Christ's second coming, 09:54 we have this angel grabbing Satan and binding him 09:59 and shut him up setting a seal on him. 10:01 So he can't deceive the nations any longer. That's right. 10:04 What we read in the second coming 10:06 and language not only in Revelation 19 10:08 but elsewhere about the second coming is that 10:11 those who are wicked die in that event. That's right. 10:15 Because Jesus in the second coming, 10:17 is coming back to take His saints with Him, 10:19 that's found in John 14:1-3 10:21 and many other places. That's right. 10:23 And to resurrect those things 10:25 and we'll talk more about that 10:26 in our topic here a little bit later. 10:28 But with that happens 10:31 the death of those that are wicked 10:33 that are not waiting for Christ's return 10:35 and they're destroyed by what the Bible says, 10:37 the brightness of His presence. 10:41 And Saints go to heaven then 10:43 to reign with Christ for 1000 years. 10:46 But let me also add something 10:47 because you find the phrase. 10:49 And this is-- this is where 10:50 lot of the misunderstanding comes in 10:53 with the word or the phrase. 10:56 I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded, okay. 11:00 Lot of people think that the souls are separated 11:04 from those who have been beheaded. 11:06 You got to keep in mind, this is the first resurrection. 11:09 What-- what is John saying? 11:12 He's not seeing souls that will be headed, 11:14 he is not seeing the souls of the bodies 11:16 that will beheaded, 11:17 he is seeing them in the resurrection. 11:18 All those that where-- 11:20 all those that had been martyred I have--I see them. 11:24 Keep this in mind, the world souls there 11:26 is not the way that people teach it nowadays 11:28 because when the ark in the flood-- 11:32 the Bible says all the souls 11:35 who had the breath of life in them perished. 11:39 And the very same way today on, 11:41 on airplanes as well as on ships, 11:43 cruise ships they say how many souls on board? 11:46 Four thousand souls if is the-- 11:47 if is the one of the Freedom of the Seas, large ships, 11:51 4000 souls on board that's on the manifest. 11:54 So we infuse different meaning 11:56 into that word souls overtime. Exactly. 11:58 Right the word soul is not some separate entity 12:01 because when the Bible says in Ezekiel 18:4, 12:03 "The soul that sinneth it shall die." 12:06 It completely divorces the teaching 12:08 that a soul is some separate thing from the body. 12:10 Because how could an ethereal force die, 12:14 if it doesn't have anything to even actually cease to live. 12:18 So, so for a soul to die 12:20 it has to have a heart that stops, 12:22 a mind that cease functioning, 12:23 a body that actually is no longer 12:25 in any kind of operation whatsoever. 12:27 So it's not a separate thing, 12:29 that's you know, where that comes from 12:30 that is the whole concept that came from Greek mythology, 12:35 the separate-- the separate soul, 12:38 separate body, separate spirit. 12:40 Yeah, they said the actual soul was good, 12:42 the good part of man, 12:44 the body was the evil part of man. 12:46 And that upon death 12:48 the soul couldn't wait to depart from the wicked part 12:50 and to go back and be in heaven. 12:52 So that came right into Christian, 12:54 Christian understanding. 12:55 So when people read this passage 12:57 they right away think, oh, they are the souls. 12:59 What about the body? 13:01 Well, I saw the souls of those 13:03 who have been beheaded for the witness of their-- 13:05 and they-- what did they do? 13:08 They lived and reign with Christ for 1,000 years. 13:10 A soul reigned? How is a soul gonna reign? 13:13 The entire person is what John is saying in the resurrection. 13:17 Not only that in the second coming 13:19 which is Chapter 19 again, 13:22 we know that event is portrayed 13:24 in several passages that Paul writes about it. 13:28 Number one, 1 Corinthians 15, 13:30 where they are resurrecting and given bodies. That's right. 13:33 So the resurrection occurs at the second coming 13:35 and they're given bodies 13:36 this event is speaking of that souls must have bodies. 13:39 That's why the verse 5 is there. 13:41 Verse 5, John stopped at verse 4 13:43 just to give some explanation, 13:44 but if you continue thier very thought to verse 5, 13:47 John is gonna tell you exactly what event he is talking about. 13:49 "But the rest of the dead did not live again 13:53 until the thousand years were finished. 13:55 This is the first resurrection." 13:57 Right, the very description from verse 1 to 5, 14:00 he described the first resurrection. 14:02 What was resurrected? 14:03 The whole person was resurrected. 14:05 Not this convoluted teaching 14:07 nowadays that there's a soul hanging out 14:08 waiting for the body to come out of the ground. 14:10 The whole person was resurrected. 14:12 That's what he-- after the resurrection, 14:14 these souls live and reign with Christ 14:16 for 1,000 years. That's right. 14:17 Okay, now go to the very next part. 14:20 "Blessed and holy is who has part in the first resurrection. 14:24 Over such the second death has no power, 14:27 but they shall be priests of God and that is Christ, 14:29 and shall reign with Him 14:31 a thousand years." That's right. 14:33 "Now when the thousand years have expired, 14:36 Satan will be released from his prison 14:38 and will go out to deceive the nations 14:40 which are in the four corners of the earth, 14:42 Gog and Magog to gather them together to the battle 14:45 whose member is as the sand of the sea." 14:48 Now I'll just mention something here real quick here. 14:53 Question, how is it that he could not deceive the nations 14:58 when God put a seal on him and shut him up? Okay. 15:02 Some might say, well, the nations were there 15:06 and they just shut him up, so he couldn't speak to them. 15:09 But that's not really what the Bible is saying. No. 15:12 He couldn't deceive the nations 15:13 because the nations 15:14 as it says in verse 5 were dead. That's right. 15:20 In another words, 15:21 "But the rest of the dead did not live again 15:23 till the thousand years were finished." 15:24 They were not alive. 15:26 So he could not deceive them 15:27 because there was no one to deceive. 15:30 That's right. 15:31 And I'm reading on verse 9, 15:33 "Then they went up on the breadth of the earth 15:35 and surround at the camp of the saints 15:36 and of the beloved city. 15:38 And fire came down from God 15:40 out of heaven and devoured them. 15:42 The devil, who deceived them, 15:43 was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone 15:45 where the beast and the false prophet are. 15:48 And they will be tormented day and night forever and ever." 15:51 So let me go ahead and add the components in there. 15:53 And we're gonna take a little bit of time on this 15:54 because the question was, how could they deceive nations? 15:57 It's simple. 15:59 The righteous are where? In heaven. 16:01 The wicked have not yet been raised, 16:03 the rest of the dead 16:05 Revelation 20:6, did not live again 16:09 until the 1,000 years are finished. 16:11 So the wicked will be resurrected. Yeah. 16:13 But not until later on. 16:15 So, so how is Satan bound? 16:18 If you take that in a literal sense, 16:20 what could bind him? 16:21 If something could bind him, 16:23 we'll find it--we'll find out what is it in bind him now? 16:26 The only thing that can bind him, 16:27 as first Peter talks about this-- 16:29 this place called Tartarus. 16:30 He was delivered in chains of darkness, 16:34 the Bible says reserve unto the day of judgment. 16:36 So right now the only binding is 16:38 the Lord limits Satan as he did on the activity of Job. 16:43 He says, you can't, 16:44 no, no, I'm not letting you to take his life. 16:46 So if Satan can take our lives, do you think he'd do it? 16:48 He'd do it in a heartbeat. 16:50 So he is bound in that sense and the very same way 16:53 he'll be bound during the 1,000 years. 16:56 The righteous are in heaven, 16:57 the wicked have not been raised yet. 17:00 So who is on the earth? 17:01 Let me go and read the Bible to you. 17:03 Jeremiah 4:23. 17:05 And them I'm gonna read Jeremiah 25:33. 17:08 So what happens to this? Listen to this. 17:11 Jeremiah 4:23, "I beheld the earth, 17:15 and it was without form and void." 17:17 Just like it was in the creation. 17:19 "And the heavens they had no light, 17:21 I beheld in mountains and indeed they trembled 17:24 and all the hills moved back and forth. 17:27 I beheld and indeed there was no man." 17:32 This is the condition of the earth. 17:34 "And all the birds of the heavens had fled 17:37 I beheld and indeed 17:39 the fruitful land was a wilderness 17:42 and all the cities were broken down" how? 17:45 "At the presence of the Lord by His fierce anger." 17:49 That's the condition of the earth, no man. 17:51 Well, where are they? 17:53 In the grave, they haven't raised yet or in heaven. 17:55 They ascended when Jesus came back. 17:58 At the presence of the Lord 18:00 the righteous ascended to heaven. 18:02 1 Corinthians, 1 Thessalonians 4:16-18. 18:06 But then now let's get this, watch this. 18:09 "The whole land," verse 27, 18:12 "shall be desolate, yet I will not make a full end." 18:17 Why hasn't he made a full end yet? 18:18 Because there is a 1,000 years there. 18:20 The full end comes at the end of the 1,000 years. 18:24 The full end of what? 18:25 The full end of sin, the full end of death, 18:29 then comes the end, 18:31 the last enemy that will be destroyed is death. 18:34 So the full end hasn't come. 18:36 So what's, what's gonna be the condition? 18:39 Since there's no man, no man alive, 18:41 they were destroyed by the brightness 18:43 of the coming of the Lord, David the Psalmist says that. 18:45 They shall be slain by the brightness of His coming." 18:48 But now what's gonna happen with those who die? 18:51 What are they-- what's gonna go on with them? 18:53 Listen to this, Jeremiah 25:33, "And at that day," 19:00 the Lord's "coming of the Lord" 19:02 you see he says it in verse 31 leading down 19:05 "a noise will come from the ends of the earth." 19:07 Verse 31 of Jeremiah 25, 19:09 "For the Lord has a controversy with the nations, 19:12 He will plead His case with all flesh 19:14 and He will give those who are wicked 19:16 to the sword says the Lord." 19:18 That's what's gonna happen. 19:19 Verse 32, "Thus says the Lord of host, 19:22 'Behold disaster shall come forth 19:24 from nation to nation, and a great world 19:27 when shall be raised up 19:29 from the farthest parts of the earth." 19:31 This destruction that will weak the earth. 19:34 What's gonna happen now? 19:35 Let's get this. 19:36 Nobody is gonna be down here to be performing funerals. 19:40 Verification, the very next verse. 19:43 "And at that day the slain of the Lord shall be 19:46 from one end of the earth 19:49 even to the other end of the earth. 19:51 They shall not be lamented, 19:53 or gathered, or buried, 19:56 they shall become refuse on the ground." 20:00 Just imagine the picture. 20:02 There is no funeral parlors functioning then 20:04 because the funeral directors are the righteous 20:06 and is in heaven or wicked and he's been killed 20:08 by the brightness of the coming of the Lord. 20:10 So what happened to all those people 20:12 running the streets of the cities 20:13 and running through the villages of the towns 20:15 that are not righteous? 20:16 The brightness of the Lord destroys them 20:19 and they fall right where the destruction has left them 20:23 and they lay on the ground 20:24 and they are refuse on the ground. 20:26 So what happens? 20:28 That's the sense of the binding for the 1,000 years. 20:31 The devil, who God has a special destruction 20:34 waiting for will be destroyed at the end of the 1,000 years. 20:39 One of the reasons just a little point to add here, 20:41 one of the reasons why I think 20:43 so much confusion is there on this topic 20:46 is because a lot of those in the Christian faith 20:49 have kind of thrown out the Old Testament. Oh. 20:52 And the Old Testament speaks 20:54 just as much or more about the second coming of Jesus. 20:57 And even the third coming 20:59 with His saints in the New Jerusalem 21:02 than the New Testament does. 21:04 And when you throw out the Old Testament, 21:06 you don't have an anchor. 21:09 And you can use--you can read the New Testament 21:11 and you can try and hit it 21:13 and you can do a good job of it, 21:14 if you are open to really being led by 21:17 scripture and scripture alone, 21:18 but the real benefit is when you go back 21:21 to the writings of Isaiah and Jeremiah and Ezekiel 21:25 and all these that speak of that event. 21:29 Because they're very, very important 21:30 to get you that anchor, that root in this teaching. 21:34 And so--so this destruction of the devil 21:37 just to cap it off Ezekiel 28 just to cap it off. 21:39 I think I need to cap it off to show you the ultimate end. 21:42 Because John, go to Malachi, 21:44 I mean, you could follow me in Ezekiel but go to Malachi. 21:47 You know, where I'm going Malachi Chapter-- 21:48 You mean, another Old Testament Book. 21:50 The Bible-- you know when the Bible-- 21:52 this is funny, John, but. 21:55 When the Lord read from the word, 21:56 He read the Old Testament. 21:58 The apostles, disciples, they read the Old Testament. 22:01 So there was no New Testament 22:02 in the days of the apostles and the disciples. 22:05 There was no New Testament. 22:06 It's way down the road 22:07 that the New Testament was put together. 22:09 But they wrote the things in the New Testament 22:11 because of what they learned from the old. 22:13 There you ago. 22:14 And all the prophecies fulfilled about Christ 22:16 were from the Old Testament. 22:19 When He says, all scripture is given by inspiration of God, 22:23 when Paul said that, 22:24 he was talking about the Old Testament. 22:26 Anyway I think the point is made. 22:28 Okay, now speaking about Lucifer. 22:30 You're in Malachi, you know the place-- 22:31 Yeah, I'm, I'm ready to go. 22:32 Okay, great. 22:33 Now Lucifer who became this destroying angel who-- 22:37 who lost his state in heaven, 22:38 look at what his ultimate end is going to be. 22:40 And this is the lake of fire that we talk about 22:42 whoever has not written the Book of Life 22:44 will be cast into the lake of fire, 22:45 this the second death, Revelation 20. 22:48 Here it is, the Lord's speaks of him 22:50 He says, in Ezekiel 20:17, 22:53 your heart speaking of Satan, 22:55 speaking of Satan now who used to be Lucifer. 22:58 "Your heart was lifted up because of your beauty, 23:01 you corrupted your wisdom for the sake of your splendor. 23:04 I cast you to the ground, 23:06 I laid you before kings that they might gaze at you. 23:12 You defiled your sanctuaries 23:14 by the multitude of your iniquities." 23:17 And notice what he says, 23:18 "Therefore I brought fire from your midst, 23:23 it devoured you 23:25 and I turned you to ashes upon the earth 23:29 in the sight of all who saw you. 23:31 All who knew you among the peoples 23:34 are astonished at you, you have become a horror 23:37 and shall be no more forever." 23:40 That's Satan ultimate-- that Satan's ultimate end. 23:43 And here is the point, I'm gonna transition 23:45 and give John the next mantle. 23:46 If Satan is going to become ashes, 23:49 how will those who served him 23:50 burn for ever and ever and ever and ever and ever? 23:54 That's right. Satan is gonna be ashes. 23:56 Now read the ultimate end there. 23:58 This is from Malachi 4:1, 24:01 "For behold, the day is coming, burning like an oven," 24:04 and all the proud yes, 24:05 "all who do wickedly will be stubble. 24:09 And the day which is coming shall burn them up 24:11 says the Lord of host 24:12 that will leave them neither root nor branch. 24:15 But to you who fear My name the Son of Righteousness 24:19 shall arise with healing in His wings, 24:21 and you shall go out and grow fat like stall-fed calves. 24:25 You shall trample the wicked, 24:27 for they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet 24:30 on the day that I do this," says the Lord of hosts. 24:32 Okay, the devil is gonna be ashes 24:34 the wicked are gonna be ashes. 24:35 There will be no eternally burning hell. 24:37 The fires of hell will burn as long as it takes 24:42 to eradicate sin and sinners. 24:44 And this is description of the third return of Christ. 24:46 Exactly. After the 1,000 years. 24:47 After the 1,000 years, when Revelation 24:50 says it there clearly here it is. 24:53 Revelation 20, "They went up on the breadth of the earth." 24:57 Verse 9, and they this is the resurrection. 24:59 They went up the second resurrection. 25:02 "They went up on the breadth of the earth 25:03 and surrounded the camp of the saints 25:05 and the beloved city and fire came down from God 25:10 out of heaven and devoured them." 25:15 So when you ask the question, how did the saints-- 25:17 how did the city of the saints get to the, to be there? 25:20 It tells you clearly. 25:22 I saw new heaven and the holy city, 25:24 New Jerusalem descending from heaven, 25:26 coming out of heaven to the earth 25:28 prepared as a bride adorned for her husband, 25:30 there in Revelation. 25:31 It tells you, the city came down. 25:34 God established on earth His kingdom. 25:38 Established at the end of the 1,000 years, 25:41 end of the 1,000 years on the earth 25:43 and the devil seeing the city says 25:45 to all those who are finally resurrected 25:47 in the second resurrection, let's take the city 25:49 and fire comes down from God 25:51 out of heaven and devours them. 25:53 It's important to remember here 25:54 the prophecies of Revelation aren't sequential in everyway. 25:58 There are, there are pictures, 25:59 snapshots that are sequential in and of themselves, 26:03 but there are snapshots that God is showing you 26:06 of what will happen in the future. That's right. 26:08 So he, just because in Chapter 21 26:11 it shows that John, it says the John saw 26:13 the New Jerusalem coming down out of heaven, 26:16 doesn't mean that that 26:18 is not giving the time of that occurring 26:20 because in Chapter 20 26:22 at the end of that chapter the city is there. Right. 26:25 So in other words you can't just say 26:27 well, you know, it comes-- one comes after the other, 26:30 so one must happen after the other, it's not that simple. 26:33 Right and so the reason why Chapter 21 26:34 speaks about the descent of the cities 26:36 because it's dealing with all the details 26:38 concerning this city, the amount of gates, 26:40 the foundations, the names, the apostles, the disciples, 26:43 he has given you all the details about that city. 26:46 That's why that's the city chapter. 26:48 Revelation 20 is the judgment chapter. 26:51 That's the whole context of that. 26:52 In Revelation 22 26:53 is the new earth, new life chapter. 26:57 Praise God for that. 26:58 Wow, I think that was pretty clear, 27:00 so here is the answer. 27:02 Does the devil have eternal life? No. 27:04 Why? 27:06 Is he gonna be able to deceive the nations 27:07 at the end of the 1,000 years 27:08 because all those evil nations 27:10 are finally resurrected in the second resurrection. 27:14 John 5:29 "And shall come forth, 27:17 they that have done good, to the resurrection of life," 27:21 first one "and they that have done evil, 27:23 to the resurrection of condemnation." 27:25 Second one. We're looking forward by God's grace 27:29 and I think it's a perfect segue, John, 27:31 into our topic on the resurrection. 27:33 So thank you for your questions and your comments. 27:35 If you have anymore that you like to send to us, 27:38 you can submit those to us at our email 27:41 that's housecalls@3abn.org, housecalls@3abn.org. 27:48 And thank you so much for those questions. 27:52 We're gonna transition straight up today 27:54 into our topic today because we've laid some great foundation 27:57 on the topic of the resurrection. 28:00 See clearly making known 28:03 that--when a person dies-- I think 28:07 we just need to read one text. 28:08 When a person dies the place 28:11 that they end up is in the grave. 28:13 They don't end up in the kingdom. 28:19 Ecclesiastes 9:5-6. And the premise 28:22 of this here then is and we're not going into 28:27 the entire teaching of soul and body and all those things 28:31 the--the misconceptions there but the whole man, 28:36 so his body, mind everything about us that is in the grave. 28:42 There is no soul departing and going 28:44 to heaven separate from the grave. 28:46 Nowhere in the Bible is that found. 28:48 So that's the premise. 28:49 So when the Bible is speaking of resting in the grave 28:52 it means the whole person is there. 28:53 That's right. That's why we take them. 28:55 When the funeral is done, where do we go, to the cemetery? 28:59 So let's go ahead and jump at some. 29:01 Well, and that's what--the reason 29:02 I say that is that's why there is a need of the resurrection. 29:06 There would be no need for a resurrection 29:09 if everybody was already there. 29:12 And that's the key, that's the key point. 29:15 That's the key--have we noticed, have you noticed that all, 29:17 no matter what denomination some churches 29:19 have cemeteries in their backyard. 29:23 You know, where that person is? 29:24 In the cemetery. 29:27 Job says, if I wait, I apologize, 29:31 I got to take you to the Book of Job 29:32 real quickly and then we're gonna dive into it. 29:34 As you're going there, I just make a quick statement here. 29:37 Okay. Some recent, 29:39 fairly recent conclusions came out from some studies 29:42 and I think one of the things that the scientific community 29:45 really struggles with when it comes to Christians 29:47 is some of our--our false beliefs and this is one of them. 29:51 Oh, man. The scientific community 29:53 doesn't understand this idea of thinking without a brain. 29:58 It just doesn't work for them. 30:00 And so this--this idea of-- of some soul that somewhere 30:04 that they're in heaven and there is you know 30:06 and the bodies down here and the brain is dead 30:08 and the way the, the scientists and biologists 30:12 and those have come together to prove the absolute dependence 30:16 we have on the physical makeup of our brain to think, 30:20 confuses them with this idea that people 30:24 are in heaven already, how are they, 30:25 how are they thinking and doing and it doesn't make any sense. 30:28 No. And I think it doesn't make 30:31 any sense because it's not true. 30:34 We think because our brain is active. 30:36 We live because our, our heart is beating, 30:40 blood is pumping. 30:42 Without those functions, we don't live anymore. 30:45 That is the clearest can be and this teaching goes way back. 30:48 It's not, it is a--you mentioned it before a Greek philosophy 30:52 with these ideas, these traditions came into the church. 30:55 They are not biblical. 30:57 I'm glad you reminded me of that because 30:58 I was trying to draw my memory 31:00 to find out what the phrase is. 31:01 If you study this just many of you have access 31:05 to the internet, most of you do. 31:06 Type in this phrase, 31:08 neo-- not Neo paganism, 31:16 Neoplatonism, thank you Neoplatonism. 31:20 Look that up and you'll discover where this diabolical teaching 31:24 of the soul body and spirit being separate. 31:26 It was a teaching of Plato that very famous philosopher. 31:31 Neoplatonism it inhabited the church 31:35 even during the time of Christ, that's one of the reasons John 31:38 why Jesus stayed away for four days. 31:41 You know, a lot on people wonder, 31:43 why would He do that to a family that He loves so much? 31:45 Why would He hear that Lazarus's near death 31:48 and He would disappoint Mary and Martha 31:51 and stay away for four days? 31:52 Because under the Neoplatonistic teaching, 31:55 they believe that the soul-- this is with the teaching 31:58 that came out of Neoplatonism. 32:00 They believe that the soul made an attempt for three days 32:03 straight to get back into the body. 32:05 And if it was successful the person 32:07 will come back to life. 32:09 In order to debunk that teaching, 32:12 Jesus stayed away for how many days? Four. 32:15 He stayed away for four days, so when He got there and Martha 32:19 met Him on the way as He is coming close to the house 32:22 she said, Lord if you had been 32:25 here my brother would not have died. 32:28 And He said to her, all right, your brother will rise again. 32:33 And she said, I know my brother would rise again 32:37 in the resurrection at the last day. 32:40 Martha knew it. That's right. 32:43 She knew about the resurrection, 32:44 but for this family Jesus was gonna do something special. 32:47 Now the reality of it is even after He raised Lazarus, 32:51 Lazarus eventually died again. 32:53 And Lazarus is waiting 32:54 for the resurrection of the Lord. 32:56 But he said to Martha, "I am the resurrection and the life. 33:00 He who believes in me, 33:02 though he were dead, yet shall he live. 33:05 And he who lives and believes in Me shall never die." 33:07 Do you believe this? 33:09 Now get this, this is what he didn't say. 33:10 He didn't say, though he is dead, he does live. 33:14 Exactly. He will live. 33:16 That's right. Future tense. 33:17 And then when He said, :He who lives 33:19 and believes in Me shall never die." 33:20 He wasn't saying oh, ah, they don't really die. 33:23 He was saying, they are not gonna die in what way? 33:26 The second death. 33:28 Blessed and holy is he who has part 33:30 in the first resurrection over such the second death 33:33 has no power because the fact was Lazarus had died. 33:37 So this death that the Christian will be able 33:39 to evade is the second death. 33:42 But just very quickly Job 14, just to show you where we are 33:46 and then we're gonna dive right into 33:48 our first question on the resurrection. 33:50 Job 14:12 all right. 33:54 Well Job 14:10, "But man dies and is laid away, 33:59 indeed he breathes his last and where is he?" 34:04 That's a viable question. 34:05 Where is He? Is he in heaven, is he in--where is he? 34:08 Where is he, how clear can the question be? 34:11 And the answer comes up in verse 11. 34:13 Read that for us, John, just to change the tone. 34:15 "As water disappears from the sea, 34:18 And a river becomes parched and dries up, 34:21 So man lies down and does not rise. 34:23 Till the heavens are no more, 34:25 They will not awake Nor be roused from their sleep. 34:28 How long, they do not rise till the heavens are no more. 34:31 And then look at verse 13 now back to me. 34:34 "Oh, that you would hide me in the grave," 34:38 Job, a righteous man said. 34:40 That you will, "That you would conceal me 34:44 until Your wrath is past, that you would appoint me 34:48 a set time and remember me." 34:53 How long is he gonna stay there? 34:55 According to verse 14, he says I'm gonna stay 34:58 there until my change comes. So he says-- 35:01 And wrath, and wrath of God is passed. 35:02 Until the wrath of God is passed. 35:04 Hide me in the grave until your wrath is passed. 35:06 When is the wrath of God going to be revealed? 35:08 In the future, in the seven last plagues. 35:11 He says, when you are done with that, then I'll come out. 35:14 Yeah. That's the resurrection. 35:15 That the book end-- if you gonna take 35:17 two book end text passages take this one from Job 14 35:21 and take 1 Corinthians 15. 35:22 Beautiful. Take those two and read 35:24 those together and you will develop, 35:27 you begin to develop a real good solid foundation for death 35:31 lying in a grave resting resurrection. 35:36 So let's do this since we've been saying we're gonna do this. 35:38 Let's go to our first question. 35:42 I'm gonna just dive into it in John 20, 35:44 John, Matthew 27:63. 35:49 We want to clearly reestablish something that has been deleted. 35:53 Deleted, this word I've been used, I've been using. 35:56 This whole idea of a resurrection 35:58 has been deleted somewhere. 36:00 What message was delivered to Pilate after the death of Jesus? 36:04 Matthew 27:63, even verse 62 if you want to read 36:08 just to kind of get the context of it. 36:10 "On the next day, which followed the Day of Preparation," 36:14 so this is gonna be now on the Sabbath 36:17 "the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered 36:19 together to Pilate, saying, 'Sir, we remember, 36:22 while He was still alive, how that deceiver said, 36:25 "After three days I will rise.'" 36:28 Okay, now they-- even though they didn't like 36:31 Jesus they remembered that He said 36:34 after three days I will rise. 36:38 Now let me ask a question. 36:39 This-- this really you know 36:41 when we did this at our once in our Bible study, 36:45 people sat back and said I never heard 36:48 it that way before. 36:49 And here is the question. 36:51 Who is more worthy than Jesus to die 36:54 and go right to heaven? 36:56 Who is more worthy? 36:58 Nobody. Nobody. 36:59 Did He go right to heaven when he died? 37:01 No, He didn't. No, He didn't. 37:02 Because He himself said, go to Mark 9:31. 37:05 Look at Mark 9:31, they, even though 37:09 they didn't like Jesus they said I remember what He said. 37:13 He said that I will rise after three days which means 37:18 He didn't go directly to heaven. 37:20 Look at Mark 9:31 and this how Jesus 37:22 encouraged His disciples. 37:23 Look at what He said. 37:25 "He taught His disciples and said to them, 37:27 'The Son of Man is being betrayed into the hands of men, 37:30 and they will kill Him. 37:32 And after He is killed, He will rise the third day.'" 37:35 Okay, Jesus' own words encouraging 37:38 His disciples-- I know you heard 37:40 that I'm gonna be killed. 37:41 But let me encourage you, I will rise the third day. 37:45 And when He rose that conversation between him 37:49 and Mary in the garden, she thought He was 37:51 the gardener remember that? 37:53 She is about cling on to Him and He says, 37:55 do not cling to me, I have not yet ascended to my Father. 38:00 Yeah. That's the third day when He rose. 38:03 So He didn't die and go to heaven 38:04 and there is no one more worthy than Jesus to die 38:08 and go directly to heaven and even 38:10 He didn't because He taught the resurrection. 38:12 Which answers the question when some always say, 38:17 what about the thief on the cross? 38:18 He said, today you'll be with me in paradise. 38:21 Exactly. We know by Jesus' 38:23 own admission that He was never in paradise that day. 38:27 That's right. He was killed, 38:28 He laid in the grave and He rose three days later 38:31 only to tell Mary that He had not yet gone to paradise. 38:36 And--and people often ignore what the thief asked. 38:39 The thief then say, could I go to paradise 38:41 with You today? 38:42 The thief said, remember me when you come. 38:45 That's right. Into your kingdom. 38:47 He didn't say, remember when you leave. 38:49 He said remember me when you come. 38:51 He didn't say take me now? 38:53 He didn't-- it's amazing how people read 38:56 into the Bible what's not there. 38:57 Matter of fact, John, I want to--I want to digress 39:00 here just briefly and is not even digressing, 39:01 but it's actually going to the Bible 39:03 to see-- there are certain verses 39:04 in the Bible that is so powerful. 39:06 One of those is John 16:33, go there with me. 39:10 Read that John 16:33. 39:12 This is powerful, this is powerful in the sense 39:14 that the Lord said to His disciples, 39:18 they--where I'm going, you know, where I'm going 39:20 but you're not going with me. 39:22 Is it John--John 13:33. Yeah. 39:24 John 13:33. Look at what He said to His disciples. 39:29 This whole ideology that they're going right way 39:31 is not taught in Scripture. 39:33 Jesus never taught that in any 39:35 of His discourses to His disciples. 39:37 Look what He says in John 13:33. 39:40 Read it for us, John. 39:41 "Little children I shall be with you a little while longer, 39:44 you will seek Me and as I have said to the Jews 39:47 where I am going you cannot come. 39:49 So now I say to you." 39:52 So--so get it. What is He talking about? 39:54 He's talking about His glorification 39:55 because in verse 31 He says, "So, when he had gone out, 39:59 Jesus said, 'Now the Son of Man is glorified, 40:02 and God is glorified.'" 40:04 We'll look a little further, verse 36. 40:06 Okay. "Simon Peter said to Him, 40:08 'Lord, where are you going?' 40:10 Jesus answered him, 'Where I am going you cannot 40:13 follow Me now, but you shall follow Me afterward.'" 40:16 That's right. Afterward, well some say well, 40:20 that's after death. No. 40:21 But that's not what, what He's saying. 40:23 Because every else, everywhere else in the Bible 40:25 the afterward is not death. Exactly. 40:27 The afterward is when Jesus 40:29 comes back at the resurrection. 40:31 He said that again in John 8:22, 40:34 He made a soul abundantly clear. 40:35 John 8:22 is another passage here where it says, 40:41 "So the Jew said," we will kill "Will he kill Himself, 40:46 because He said, 'Where I go you cannot come?' 40:50 And He said to them, 'You are from beneath, 40:54 I am from above.'" 40:56 So what was He saying they cannot come, above. 40:59 He is making it very clear. 41:01 When He talked about where they cannot go, 41:03 He was saying they can't go above that's where He is from. 41:06 And so this whole ideology has been divorced. 41:08 And by the way, let me even add another component. 41:12 Not only was this teaching clear with the disciples 41:15 but this teaching was clear with the Old Testament 41:18 those who died in the Old Testament 41:20 and those who died in the New Testament. 41:22 What did they look forward to? 41:25 John go to, go to Hebrews 11. 41:28 What did they all look forward to? 41:29 They all had a desire to see something happened 41:31 and the Bible is so clear about what they look forward to. 41:34 Let's look at that, John, I mean Hebrews 11:35. 41:39 I want you to just read that one. 41:40 "Women received their dead raised to life again. 41:43 Others were tortured, not accepting deliverance, 41:45 that they might obtain a better resurrection." 41:48 Okay, now Hebrews 11 is the faith 41:50 book or the faith chapter, sorry. 41:52 Talk about all of the faithful 41:56 but what did they look forward to? 41:58 A better death? 42:00 What did they look forward to, John? 42:01 They looked forward to a better resurrection 42:04 which is clarified in verses 39 and 40. 42:06 Read it. "And all these, 42:08 having obtained a good testimony" 42:10 these are all the Matriarchs, Patriarchs having received 42:13 a good testimony through faith, did not receive the promise." 42:16 They died but they never received the promise. 42:19 That's right. "God having provided something 42:21 better for us, that they should not 42:23 be made perfect apart from us." 42:25 Okay, what's perfect mean? 42:27 Putting on your mortality. 42:28 What is perfect mean? 42:29 Putting on incorruptibleness. 42:30 They won't do it before we will. 42:33 The God having something better 42:36 that they will not be made perfect apart from us. 42:42 John the most-- the most joyous occasion 42:46 we can experience on this earth are reunions. 42:51 Reunions of family, of friends, of classmates, 42:54 those are the finest times I think 42:57 we can ever possibly have. 42:59 And Jesus has plan a great reunion in the sky. 43:03 That's right. And that reunion 43:04 is at the resurrection. 43:06 No one will have been to heaven yet, 43:08 everybody will with anticipation be either raised 43:12 from the grave or caught up in the air to meet them, 43:14 to meet Jesus in the air and we will all go 43:16 at the same time and during that time 43:19 as we are going that grand reunion will happen in the sky. 43:23 And--in fact there is one of the funeral sermons. 43:27 Oh, man. Tell us that I have 43:29 grand reunion. Grand reunion-- 43:30 And that's the-- I mean there is so much 43:32 in there about the resurrection being 43:34 the reunion with Christ and His saint 43:37 and the saints with the saints. 43:38 You know and it's so imperatively 43:40 necessary another thing that we will seek 43:42 to completely debunk is the idea of the rapture. 43:46 People don't die and go to heaven and the church 43:49 is not going to be swept away before the tribulation. 43:51 Another lie weaved during the Dark Ages. 43:54 Neoplatonism was the-- was the first one 43:57 about the soul spirit and body being separate 43:59 and the--and the gap theory formulate about 44:02 the Catholic Church during the Dark Ages was formulated 44:06 to teach what's now commonly 44:08 known today as the secret rapture. 44:09 But neither of those is true because listen to this, 44:12 Matthew 25 the second coming of Christ 44:16 the doctrine--another doctrine that's not been taught. 44:18 Because the rapture all these left behind books 44:21 have left behind everything, that's true. 44:23 Everything in these books the truth has been left behind 44:26 if I can say that way. 44:27 But look at Matthew 25:31-34. 44:31 This is when the gathering takes place. 44:33 The reason why they're waiting for the better--better 44:35 resurrection Hebrews 11:35, 39-40 44:39 is because they know that later on in the future 44:41 when the Lord comes that's when we're gonna 44:43 all possess the kingdom. 44:45 John, read Matthew 25:31-34. 44:50 "When the Son of Man comes in His glory, 44:52 and all the holy angels with Him, 44:55 then He will sit on the throne of His glory. 44:57 All the nations will be gathered before Him, 45:00 and He will separate them one from another, 45:02 as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats." 45:04 Okay, stop before we go to the verse. 45:06 All the nations, then the separation takes place. 45:11 What's the separation for? 45:12 Who's going, who's not going. Verse 33-34. 45:17 "And He will set the sheep on His right hand, 45:21 but the goats on his left. 45:23 Then the King will say to those on His right hand, 45:26 'Come, you blessed of My Father, 45:28 inherit the kingdom prepared 45:29 for you from the foundation of the world.'" 45:31 That's where Paul meant, inherit the kingdom, 45:34 1 Corinthians 15 then the kingdom 45:37 will be delivered of 1 Corinthians 15:23-24-25. 45:41 Then the kingdom will be delivered. 45:43 Then who is he saying to all those on His right hand 45:46 come and inherit the kingdom. 45:49 But this teaching that they inherit the kingdom at death 45:52 is not supported by the Bible. 45:53 This is the Lord coming back 45:55 with all the holy angels with Him, 45:57 all the nations gathered in front of Him. 46:00 They are ready for the gathering, the gathering. 46:03 And what's gonna happen to the other group? 46:05 They gonna be gathered in bundles to burn. 46:07 But the weed are gonna be gathered into his barns, 46:10 that's another doctrine John, that we have to hit the idea 46:13 that people are in hell burning now. 46:16 They're not in hell burning now. 46:18 Anymore than people are in heaven up 46:20 there dancing right now. 46:21 I got to give another text here. 46:22 I'm just on a roll today. 46:23 Well, one simple statement on that to is--is a text 46:27 we've already read twice. 46:28 We've gone to Revelation 20 and Revelation 20 says, 46:31 fire came down out of heaven and devoured them. 46:35 Creating the lake of fire and devouring 46:37 those that were thrown into a cast, 46:39 into the lake of fire. Right. 46:41 That is when it occurs fire 46:43 was-- it came down out of heaven. 46:45 Not fire at the center of the earth 46:47 or some other place kindled already. 46:50 And in fact if that was the case, 46:52 people would be burning-- if you accepted all these 46:55 false theories, people will be burning 46:57 now to then come before judgment 46:59 and thrown into another lake of fire to burn forever. 47:02 Doesn't make sense? It doesn't make any sense. 47:04 So fire is not kindled now, 47:07 fire will be kindled for the lake of fire 47:10 at the time that is needed. 47:11 And that's-- that's what Matthew 13 says, 47:15 speaking about the judgment 47:16 and we'll get to that in the moment. 47:18 I just want to just insert this text very quickly. 47:20 Psalms 115:17 get this, this is powerful. 47:24 Psalms 115:17, "The dead do not praise the Lord, 47:30 neither any who go down into silence." 47:34 Down into silence, down into silence, 47:37 read what happened to all 47:39 the patriarchs in the Old Testament. 47:41 The Bible say, the Bible says, 47:42 they died and was buried with their fathers. 47:46 In Jeremiah, in the Book of Judges it says, 47:48 speaking of a king who died it says, 47:50 he went the way of the dead 47:51 and they buried him with his fathers. 47:53 That's the whole thing. 47:55 The dead do not praise the Lord, 47:56 that's-- that what's being taught. 47:58 They're up there praising the Lord. 47:59 It says, neither any who go down into silence, get this. 48:02 They're gonna up into praise, they're going into silence. 48:05 One day we will all go up in the praise 48:07 and I think that somehow, John, people are hearing 48:10 that we say we're not going to go to heaven. 48:12 We all gonna go to heaven, we all gonna go together. 48:15 That's right. That's what the--that's 48:17 what the whole massive beautiful thing of the skies departing 48:20 as a scroll and angels descending to gather 48:23 God's elect from all over the earth. 48:24 And the trumpet sounding and the dead in Christ 48:27 being raised and we who are alive are caught up together 48:29 with them to meet the Lord. 48:30 That's what that's all about. 48:31 This grand gathering. Reunion. 48:34 Grand reunion. Yeah. 48:35 You know, one other thing to John, 48:38 just to gonna throw in here and its not exactly on topic 48:40 but it kind of leads into why there are some confusion here? 48:43 Is there is a method of Bible study 48:47 that has comeback into view today that was born long ago, 48:53 but really it's kind of coming to the forefront. 48:56 It is no longer the Protestants sola scriptura. 48:59 That's right. The Bible explains itself, 49:02 it defines itself and the Bible, and the Bible alone is the rule 49:08 of our authority and doctrine. 49:09 It is--what's called the higher critical method, 49:12 higher criticism which is a reading 49:16 the Bible as an allegory. 49:19 It's an allegorical teaching approach, 49:22 story approach to reading the Bible. 49:23 That's right. There's no literal taking 49:25 of scripture and comparing it with other literal pieces 49:28 of scripture and building a doctrine. 49:30 It is in essence built its doctrine already 49:34 and you're reading things allegorically to throw 49:36 into your model that's already preconceived and developed. 49:39 Wow, that's true. That's very true. 49:40 And so Christians today, many of them are reading 49:43 the Bible in this way. 49:45 It's not a study of comparing scripture 49:46 with scripture sola scriptura but is an allegorical. 49:52 What do we get out of this according 49:53 to what we already know, not what can 49:56 this teach us that we don't already know? 49:59 Right. The Bible is not seen 50:00 as the authority and that's what happened actually 50:03 during the Dark Ages, John, and I'm glad you open 50:05 that door because it's very important to understand 50:07 how we got to where we are today? 50:09 During the Dark Ages, the Church of Rome confiscated 50:13 and prohibited the use of the Bible by the common man. 50:16 And any Bible in existence were chained to the altars. 50:20 And the priests and the popes were the only ones having access 50:24 to that and they built this whole doctrine 50:26 during the Dark Ages, 50:28 that's why it was called the Dark Ages. 50:29 The Bible says, the word is a lamp 50:30 to our feet or light to our path. 50:32 Turned the light off, you are in darkness. 50:34 So that gives room for the entrance 50:36 of all these false teachings such as purgatory, 50:39 such as limbo, such as eternally burning hell 50:42 and those three teachings alone including indulgences 50:45 was the reasons why Martin Luther 50:47 those four teachings or four of the 95 reasons 50:50 why Martin Luther broke away from the Roman church 50:53 when he read the Bible himself. 50:55 The fifth one out of the 95 was that the Pope 50:59 was the sole authority and that we had to be saved 51:01 by words when in fact "The just shall live by faith." 51:04 A clarion teaching of Martin Luther got from 51:06 the Book of Hebrews also from the Book of Habakkuk, 51:10 "The just shall live by faith." 51:11 So you have that whole time period 51:13 when all these doctrines came into view and--and to show 51:17 you how these cathedrals became so monstrous, 51:20 these big monstrosities in Europe. 51:22 That's how they built that, they raised these cathedrals 51:25 on the moneys given to these churches. 51:29 Extracted. Extracted from these people. 51:31 How? Because if you taught me through 51:35 the teaching of purgatory that my mom 51:38 is in heaven for-- that my mom 51:39 is in this middle place for 30 days 51:41 and if I don't pay you to pray her into heaven 51:44 that she is gonna burn forever. 51:46 You can bet I'm gonna pray you if I have no other knowledge. 51:49 And that's how the church became wealthy 51:50 during the Dark Ages. 51:51 They received money, they extracted moneys 51:54 from the poor man, from the vagrant, 51:56 from the people that had no other understanding 51:58 and they built their massive cathedrals. 52:01 And they believed through purgatory that the adult 52:04 will die and go to hell and burn forever or be tormented forever. 52:07 And through the limbo teaching, that the baby 52:10 that was not baptized will be burning forever 52:12 in the fires of hell and with that belief, 52:14 the people out of fear and love for their loved ones said, 52:17 how much do I need to pay? 52:19 And they paid and these cathedrals were built. 52:21 And the sad part is John though that the teaching although 52:24 not in its total form and the teaching 52:27 is still this compulsory worship of God 52:31 is still there in churches today. Oh, yeah. 52:33 Because if you if-- if your motivation 52:36 for getting someone to accept Jesus 52:38 is to resist or avoid burning in hell forever. 52:41 That's right. That's not a pure motivation 52:44 for--for following Christ. No, not at all. 52:46 Our motive for following Jesus is our love for Him 52:49 and what He's done for us. Praise the Lord. 52:51 And in fact that's one of the-- article after article 52:54 I've read on this immortality of the soul versus 52:58 and what called annihilation. 53:00 If you don't believe a soul separate from the body 53:02 but is together goes in the grave 53:03 they call you an annihilationist. 53:04 Right. So one of the core things 53:07 is that if you accept that you eliminate the desire, 53:11 the need to follow Christ, and I'm thinking 53:14 are you kidding? Right. 53:16 The true motive for following anybody is not fear based 53:19 because it's not then love, 53:21 isn't the core of your motivation. 53:24 It's the love for Christ. That's right. 53:26 And so I think there's a greater amount of love 53:28 that comes in knowing that God that is not a torturer. 53:31 That's right. And that is the truth 53:34 of what God's word says but yet they hold to this because 53:37 they're afraid to let something go. 53:38 That has gained them lot of success 53:41 in the past and getting converts. 53:43 And that's the way the Church of Rome did accomplish things. 53:46 It's returning back to the tactic of fear. 53:50 In another words if God, if you don't believe that God's 53:52 gonna burn you for-- well, here it is. 53:54 And I think I'm gonna summarize. 53:57 You need to give your life to Christ because 53:58 if you don't you'll burn forever and ever and ever 54:00 and ever and ever and ever. 54:01 That doesn't motivate to love. 54:03 I've even seen people do videos where someone 54:05 stand up and they hold a flame under their hand 54:08 and they say now that hurt that much for that time, 54:13 imagine what would happen if your whole body 54:16 is on fire throughout eternity. 54:19 I attended one in Fairfield John, 54:22 back in our Fairfield days. Wow. 54:23 There was some church that was just down the street. 54:26 I don't know if you remember this. Just down the street from 54:28 the Fairfield church to the right. 54:29 Yeah, I remember that. A nondenominational church, 54:31 they had this whole play, and the play 54:33 was about the fires of hell. 54:34 I said, I've got to go see what they're teaching on this thing. 54:36 So I attended and this whole thing was a scare tactic 54:41 to bring people in to their church. 54:45 Showing out there what-- how horrible 54:48 this eternal burning was going to be 54:50 if they don't give their lives to Jesus 54:51 and I just-- is the wrong approach. 54:53 That's why when people ask me sometimes 54:54 I joke-- I don't jokingly say but to lead 54:56 into the fact that I'm the pastor. 54:58 Some people say what do you do? 54:59 I said to them, I sell life insurance 55:02 and fire insurance because Jesus is our fire insurance. 55:07 Jesus can deliver us from the destruction of the fires 55:10 that are going to come. 55:11 The purpose of these fires is not to turn Jesus 55:14 into an unsatisfiable tyrant but to eradicate sin 55:19 and sin from the-- sin and sinners 55:21 from the entire universe. 55:22 It's really destroying. It's a cleansing process, 55:24 not a tormenting process, but why has this been done. 55:27 Everything that Satan has lied to us about has the purpose 55:30 of it is to misrepresent the character of God. 55:33 That's a whole purpose of it. 55:34 Thus, a text that's so significant in the Bible. 55:37 Romans 6:23, "For the wages of sin is death, 55:42 but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." 55:47 Here is a very simple question and it sometimes 55:49 doesn't come on to you as the question. 55:51 Who receives the gift of eternal life? The righteous. 55:54 So then the righteous will be able to live eternally. 55:57 Do the wicked receive the gift of eternal life? 56:00 No. So how are the wicked going to burn eternally 56:04 if they can't live eternally. 56:07 But that's the whole reason why these teachings are taught, 56:10 so that you don't have to think about these things. 56:12 But if you think only the righteous receive 56:15 eternal life and not the wicked and there is no such thing 56:18 as an immortal soul. 56:19 Ezekiel 18:4, "The soul that sinneth that shall die." 56:23 That's the whole man. 56:24 Yeah, yeah powerful. 56:26 Well, John we're not gonna be able to finish this today. 56:28 We gonna have to do at another time 56:29 because this is so much here that I've--and as much 56:33 as I would like to rush through the topic 56:35 I can't do it because this topic is gonna be the reason 56:37 why many of you are freed 56:39 from the-- from the doctrine of fear 56:41 and from the untruths that are being taught 56:44 maybe even where you worship. 56:46 You love the Lord and that's why we want 56:47 to bring this to you so clearly. 56:49 The Lord is your Savior, that's why you need 56:52 to know what your Savior teaches. 56:53 Yeah and I think without this assurance 56:57 that we have in a loving God that cares for us. 57:00 That has our best interest and has this wonderful reunion 57:03 planned for us with our family, with our friends. 57:06 Without seeing that picture of God 57:07 in this true form, how can we love Him? 57:09 That's right. We can't love Him. 57:11 One day He is gonna make a House Call and this House Call 57:15 is not to say I'm here to burn your house down, 57:19 but I'm coming to take you home. 57:21 Study God's word, trust God's word, 57:24 not the opinions of men because when that day 57:27 comes our only desire for you, is that you be ready 57:30 to meet the Lord in peace. God bless you. |
Revised 2014-12-17