Pathway to Life

Hope Beyond The Grave

Three Angels Broadcasting Network

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Series Code: PTL

Program Code: PTL000009A


00:50 The Paradise Seventh-day Adventist Church
00:52 is delighted to welcome our 3ABN and Good News television
00:57 audience here to Phoenix, Arizona to the fifteen message
01:05 presentations on, Pathways to Life.
01:10 And it is our hope and prayer that each one
01:12 receives a blessing tonight.
01:14 It is meeting number nine, so we are actually
01:16 in the second half of the series.
01:21 3ABN has been here, Pastor Lomacang has been speaking
01:26 meeting after meeting after meeting,
01:28 giving just tremendous presentations
01:30 from the Word of God.
01:32 Which we're certain will be happening again
01:34 in this meeting number nine.
01:37 In each of the last eight presentations he has
01:41 brought some friends along, some musical friends along.
01:44 And he has done that again tonight as well.
01:45 We are glad that you, we are proud that you
01:50 will have a treat.
01:52 Pastor Lomacang will be singing with Stephanie Dawn
01:55 from Dawn of Hope ministries with Dan Thornton at the piano.
02:01 They will be singing a song together, and then
02:05 the pastor will be leading us in our presentation.
02:08 Before we ask them to come out and to begin the program,
02:11 let's begin with a word of prayer, shall we.
02:13 Heavenly Father, thank You again for a blessed day,
02:19 for another day of life,
02:21 for the privilege of being able to come together and
02:23 enjoy beautiful music, and then to be able to
02:28 think from the Word of God.
02:31 We pray that You bless us now as we
02:33 deal with another topic tonight.
02:37 And we thank You, for we've asked it in Jesus' name.
02:40 Amen.
02:55 Wonderful, merciful Savior,
03:01 precious Redeemer and Friend;
03:07 Who would have thought that a Lamb could
03:13 rescue the souls of men?
03:18 Oh, You rescue the souls of men.
03:29 Counselor, Comforter, Keeper,
03:34 Spirit we long to embrace;
03:40 You offer hope when our hearts have
03:46 hopelessly lost our way.
03:51 Oh, we've hopelessly lost our way.
03:58 You are the One that we praise,
04:04 You are the One we adore.
04:10 You give the healing and grace our
04:16 hearts always hunger for.
04:20 Oh, our hearts always hunger for.
04:31 Almighty, infinite Father,
04:37 faithfully loving Your own.
04:42 Here in our weakness You find us
04:48 falling before Your throne.
04:52 Oh, we're falling before Your throne.
05:00 You are the One that we praise,
05:05 You are the One we adore.
05:11 You give the healing and grace our
05:17 hearts always hunger for.
05:21 Oh, our hearts always hunger for.
05:29 You are the One that we praise,
05:34 You are the One we adore.
05:40 You give the healing and grace our
05:46 hearts always hunger for.
05:50 Oh, our hearts always hunger for.
06:12 - Can we say amen again? ~ Amen.
06:15 Thank you, Stephanie. Thank you, Dan.
06:19 Wonderful, merciful Savior.
06:21 Aren't you glad we serve a wonderful, merciful Savior?
06:27 Each night we have made an attempt each meeting
06:30 to present Jesus as wonderful, merciful Savior.
06:34 And tonight's topic, Hope Beyond the Grave,
06:38 is a topic that definitely needs to have Jesus
06:42 weaved all through it.
06:45 So tonight let's go to the Lord in prayer.
06:51 Our wonderful, merciful Savior, tonight as we
06:54 open Your Word, we pray that You will open our hearts.
06:59 Speak not only from Your Word, but Father, find us
07:04 at the intersection of our belief
07:07 and what Your Word teaches.
07:09 May it be clear, may the truth be seen,
07:13 may Jesus be revealed, may we embrace what You say.
07:20 But even more than what You say,
07:23 may we accept You as our Lord and our Savior.
07:26 In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
07:32 Recently Billy Graham passed away.
07:36 A giant in the Christian world.
07:40 Generations have been blessed by his ministry.
07:44 And Billy Graham was able to do, at the time of his ministry...
07:47 What a man of God.
07:49 A man that did not hesitate to uplift Jesus.
07:53 Growing up I remember so many of the times when he preached
07:56 they would preempt the regular broadcast
07:58 when Billy Graham had his crusades.
08:01 And he and Beverly Shea would always sing
08:04 that song, I'd Rather Have Jesus.
08:06 And what a man he was.
08:09 Throughout the years thousands, and probably millions,
08:12 have come to know Christ because of his ministry.
08:16 President after president, after president,
08:18 dignitaries, have been in the presence of Billy Graham.
08:22 And they have all said, "What a godly man."
08:25 I couldn't help but to watch the news very recently.
08:28 But the one thing that disturbed me, not about Billy Graham,
08:31 but about after he passed away is, so many people said,
08:35 "Billy Graham is in heaven now.
08:37 He's with his wife."
08:39 And although Billy Graham led so many people to accept Jesus,
08:42 I do believe this evening that Billy Graham
08:46 is going to be in the kingdom.
08:48 That's my firm conviction.
08:50 But I'm not the judge. I don't decide that.
08:52 But I do believe, based on the kind of life he lived,
08:54 that he had a relationship with Jesus Christ.
08:57 But I don't believe that he understood as clearly
09:00 as he should have the topic on what the Bible
09:03 teaches about death.
09:05 Notice his words.
09:06 This is a quotation from Billy Graham.
09:08 This is after his wife passed away, he said...
09:30 Now I believe he's going to see his wife,
09:32 but she's not in heaven, and neither is he.
09:35 According to the Word of God,
09:36 they are both resting until Jesus comes.
09:41 Let's go right to the Word of God and see the Bible verses.
09:44 It's important that we establish our foundation
09:46 on what the Word of God says, not on what society says,
09:51 not on what the television says.
09:53 You'll notice that sometimes you'll see on the news
09:56 as soon as someone famous dies, when Michael Jackson died
09:59 they said, "He's in heaven."
10:00 When Liberace died they said, "He's in heaven."
10:03 When Sammy Davis Jr. and Dean Martin and Frank Sinatra died,
10:07 "He's in heaven."
10:12 The righteous will eventually be in heaven.
10:15 But they will not be in heaven until Jesus comes.
10:19 Notice the Word of God, 1 Thessalonians 4:15-18.
10:28 That's the only place our foundation should be established
10:30 in our beliefs: by the word of the Lord.
10:41 That means, "asleep," that means nobody is going
10:44 before those who are in the grave.
10:46 If we're alive, we're not going before them.
10:48 The Bible continues.
11:12 Let me not run past this verse.
11:14 My mother who is resting in Jesus,
11:16 and my mother who gave me life who is resting in Jesus,
11:19 we are both going to meet the Lord together.
11:23 Caught up how? Together.
11:25 Say that. Caught up how? Together.
11:27 That's what the Bible says.
11:29 They're not going before me, and I'm not going before them.
11:32 We're going to be caught up together to meet the Lord.
11:34 Which means we haven't met Him yet.
11:36 They haven't met Him at death,
11:39 and we haven't met Him yet because we are still waiting
11:41 for the coming of the Lord.
11:42 And then the Bible says, "...with them in the clouds
11:44 to meet the Lord in the air."
11:58 When we tell people that their loved ones are not
12:02 in heaven now, it amazes me that so many people get upset.
12:06 And we're not saying they're not going to be in heaven,
12:09 we are saying they will be when Jesus comes back.
12:16 That's the only foundation we can establish this belief on.
12:20 When you think about it tonight, a lie told 6,000 years ago
12:24 is still believed today.
12:26 People believe that their dead relatives
12:28 can still contact them.
12:30 The danger with that is, when you open that door
12:32 you open the door to spiritualism, to demons.
12:37 They call them ghosts.
12:39 You have these people that are being paid professionally.
12:41 When I was growing up I was raised in the era
12:45 that spiritualists looked very creepy and weird.
12:49 But nowadays they look just as sharp as
12:51 anybody that's professional.
12:53 They say the Long Island medium, or whether man or woman,
12:58 they dress in such a way they make themselves look legitimate.
13:01 The only that way you can determine whether or not
13:03 somebody is legitimate is based on the Word of God.
13:05 Am I right?
13:06 Others believe that their dead relatives
13:08 are now their guardian angels.
13:10 My family, sometimes I look at Facebook and,
13:13 you know, my family are predominately Catholic,
13:16 they'll say, "Well, you know, mama is watching over me now."
13:19 No, the only one that can watch over us
13:21 is our holy angel or the Lord Jesus Christ Himself.
13:26 People don't die and become angels.
13:28 Some ask the dead for advice and believe that
13:31 the dead periodically visit.
13:33 Dangerous.
13:34 I've heard about people that said, "Well..."
13:36 A young man called me once from Florida, he said,
13:38 "My mother kept visiting me, but I'm afraid."
13:42 And I said, "Well is your mother...
13:44 Why are you afraid of your mother?"
13:45 He said, "She died."
13:47 And I told him what to do when he had that next visit.
13:49 He did it, and she never, ever...
13:50 That apparition, by the way.
13:52 It's not her.
13:54 But the Bible talks about familiar spirits.
13:57 Familiar, from which we get the word, family.
13:59 So the devil...
14:01 And then people say, "Well how can that not be my mother?
14:04 They know things that only my mother knows."
14:07 Come on, let's get real here.
14:09 The devil and his angels have been around since Satan
14:12 and his angels have been cast out of heaven.
14:15 And until we accept the fact that there is good
14:18 and there is evil, we will be setting ourselves
14:21 up for deception.
14:22 Others talk openly to their dead, waiting for answers.
14:25 Some people go to the graveside and they talk to the tombstones.
14:28 I am glad they're not getting answers.
14:34 But some of them say they are.
14:36 Some of them say they embraced their daughter.
14:40 A lady talked about the fact that her dead daughter
14:42 walked into the room and sat in her lap,
14:45 and they talked for hours.
14:47 A good friend of mine said, "I had a 45 minute
14:49 conversation with my mother."
14:51 And it was on Facebook. And I sent her a text.
14:53 You know, when I see opportunities like that,
14:55 I cannot hesitate to let people know what God's Word says.
14:57 Amen, somebody.
14:59 We should not be afraid to tell somebody who is being deceived
15:03 the beautiful truth of God's Word.
15:06 And so often we say, "Well, we don't want to offend them."
15:10 "Well..."
15:11 Now I'm not saying go to a funeral and pass out fliers
15:14 about what happens when you die.
15:16 Don't be insensitive.
15:17 But I'm saying, when we know that somebody is not
15:19 believing the truth, if we think about it,
15:21 if somebody is going in the wrong direction
15:23 would you stand back and say, "I don't want to offend them.
15:27 Let them get lost, and when they figure out they're lost
15:29 I'll tell them how to get to the right place."
15:30 No!
15:32 If we really care about somebody, we will tell them
15:34 the truth of God's Word lovingly.
15:37 But don't leave them in darkness.
15:39 Some people go to the cemetery and talk to the grave.
15:41 Some say that they died and floated above
15:44 their bodies before returning.
15:45 All these ways Satan is deceiving the world.
15:48 Others say they died and went to heaven
15:50 and returned with a message from God.
15:53 And often the devil uses little children,
15:55 innocent little children,
15:57 and he says, "I brought a message back from God."
16:00 And then he says, "Everybody dies and goes to heaven."
16:03 So we look at this nine year old little kid and we say,
16:06 "He wouldn't lie."
16:08 But let me tell you something.
16:11 Eve was deceived.
16:13 And she was perfect.
16:16 If the devil can deceive somebody who was perfect,
16:20 what chance does an inexperienced little child have
16:23 whose mind is not yet protected by what the Bible says?
16:29 Others say they died and went to heaven
16:31 and came back with a message.
16:32 Some claim to have the ability to conjure up
16:34 the spirits of the dead.
16:36 And some say they embrace their children after they have died.
16:39 Tonight we're going to find out how amazing it is
16:44 that a lie told 6,000 years ago is still alive today.
16:48 What is that lie?
16:49 Genesis tells us. Genesis 3:4
16:55 Here's the lie. What is it?
17:02 In other words, "You're going to die, but not surely."
17:06 Now think about it.
17:07 That's why people...
17:08 You know the safest place, by the way, the safest place
17:10 in Phoenix is the cemetery.
17:13 Did you know that?
17:14 How many of you would go and spend a night in the cemetery?
17:17 Raise your hand.
17:18 You know why? Because you don't really believe
17:20 that the dead are dead.
17:23 Take your wallet to the cemetery and put it on a
17:25 gravestone you choose, your car keys and everything,
17:29 and you'll go back tomorrow and I guarantee you
17:31 chances are greater that it will be still there
17:34 than if you left it at McDonald's.
17:37 You know why?
17:39 'Cause ain't no dead people going anywhere.
17:42 And when I see cemeteries with gates, I wonder
17:44 why they put up fences.
17:45 Nobody's leaving.
17:50 The point of the matter is, this lie told 6,000 years ago
17:54 is still believed today.
17:55 What we need to do is walk through God's Word together
17:57 and find out how the Lord created us.
18:01 When we look at creation, then we can look at creation
18:03 in reverse, which is death.
18:05 Let's begin with the Word of God.
18:07 Genesis 2:7
18:21 I want to emphasize this more than once because
18:23 sometimes saying it once doesn't penetrate.
18:26 when you've believed a certain way for so long.
18:28 Man became a living soul.
18:30 The Lord did not give him a living soul.
18:34 Look at the combination. Look at the combination.
18:37 The dust that God formed, then He breathed into
18:40 man's nostril the spirit, or the breath of life,
18:43 and that equals a living soul.
18:45 So dust plus the breath of God equals a living soul.
18:52 One without the other, there is no life.
18:55 Said another way...
18:57 Elements of earth plus breath from God equals a living being.
19:04 Man does not have a living soul.
19:07 Man is a living soul.
19:11 Man does not have a living soul.
19:13 Together. Man is a living soul.
19:16 Until the two are combined together,
19:19 we are just simply a pile of dust.
19:21 And when the breath of life that keeps us alive
19:24 which only can come from God,
19:27 in Him was life, and that life is unborrowed and underived.
19:32 We can't breathe into somebody's nostrils and give them life.
19:37 But we can keep the life going as we continue.
19:39 But in our breath is not the combination of the
19:43 life-giving power that belongs only to the Lord Jesus Christ.
19:47 So when we think about that, the living soul is a
19:50 combination of two things.
19:53 Until God puts His breath in us, there is absolutely no life.
19:57 Now, the dust plus the breath equals a living soul.
20:04 The dust minus the breath equals a what?
20:08 A dead soul.
20:10 Watch this.
20:12 Let's look at life in reverse.
20:14 Ecclesiastes 12:7
20:17 Speaking of death...
20:27 Many people read that text and say, "There we go.
20:30 The spirit is on its way to heaven."
20:32 According to this passage, that's correct.
20:35 But here is where the problem comes in.
20:38 When you don't understand what the word, spirit, there means.
20:41 That's where the challenge comes in.
20:43 Remember now, the dust returns to the earth as it was.
20:48 So man eventually decays, whether by cremation
20:51 or eventually, slowly, and gradually.
20:55 We all decay back to dust.
20:57 But the life-giving force goes back to where it came from.
21:01 Let's look at that for example.
21:02 The question is, what is the spirit that returns to God?
21:06 The Bible is clear on that also.
21:08 Notice what the Scriptures teach us.
21:11 Job 27:3
21:21 How did the spirit of God get into man's nostrils?
21:26 The Lord put it there.
21:27 He breathed into man's nostrils, Genesis 2:7,
21:31 the breath of life.
21:33 And Job is saying, "All the while that my breath is in me,
21:36 the spirit of God is in my nostrils."
21:39 The life-giving power that comes only from God.
21:42 Let's think about it this way.
21:43 Here's a light bulb.
21:45 All around our church we have light bulbs that are lit.
21:49 We're not in dark.
21:50 Now when the bulb dies, where does the light go?
21:54 Does that light go into another bulb and start glowing there?
21:57 No. When that bulb ceases to function,
22:00 you don't put that bulb in another lamp and then it works.
22:04 When a car battery dies, you don't put that car battery
22:06 in another car and then it works.
22:08 When a cat dies, you don't give it to the neighbor
22:11 and it comes back to life.
22:13 Dead means dead.
22:16 It doesn't mean life some place else.
22:19 Now let's look at Genesis 2:7 in the New King James Version.
22:23 Because the confusion has been, in the King James Version
22:27 people somehow...
22:28 And by the way, this came from Neoplatonism.
22:31 Look that up when you get a chance; Neoplatonism.
22:36 The belief that the body, soul, and spirit are separate entities
22:40 and each one of them can exist independent of the other.
22:43 This is the reason why, and I'll talk about it in just a moment,
22:45 this is the reason why Jesus stayed away for four days
22:49 before He came to resurrect Lazarus.
22:50 We'll get to that in just a moment.
22:52 The belief was, three days the soul tried
22:55 to get back into the body.
22:57 Plato, Neoplatonism.
23:00 So Jesus stayed away four days.
23:02 He wasn't late, but He was setting it up
23:04 so that He could destroy a theory that was not based
23:06 on the truth of His on word.
23:09 Let's look at Genesis 2:7 in another text.
23:12 The Bible makes it clear.
23:13 This woman is at the grave site.
23:15 She's not talking to anybody.
23:16 But the Word of God is clear.
23:17 Death is creation in reverse.
23:19 Let's look at that.
23:21 New King James Version.
23:32 When you go to the cemetery, when you go to the cemetery...
23:36 As is the case in, you know, I think it's Memorial Day
23:40 when people go.
23:41 Many people go to remember their loved ones.
23:43 But don't spend the time, you know, talking,
23:46 because nobody is listening.
23:47 It may be something that soothes you,
23:50 but you're not going to get an answer.
23:52 Because the dead don't know anything.
23:54 They are silent.
23:56 And the Bible makes this abundantly clear.
23:58 Let's continue looking at what the Bible says about souls.
24:01 Let's look at the example of what the Lord said to Adam
24:04 after Adam sinned.
24:05 Where was Adam going to go after he died?
24:17 That's where Adam was going. To the ground.
24:19 Adam was not going back to heaven
24:21 because Adam did not come from heaven.
24:24 When the word, returned, like when we're done,
24:28 we're going to return to Illinois
24:30 because that's where we came from.
24:31 When the Bible says, return, the spirit returns to God.
24:35 If you believe that a person died and went to heaven,
24:38 you also have to connect to that with the word, return,
24:41 you would have to believe that the people came from heaven,
24:44 then came to earth and lived,
24:45 then died and went back to heaven.
24:47 But that's not the case.
24:48 Man was created from the dust of the ground.
24:51 Man's origin is not in heaven.
24:53 One day we will be there.
24:55 But that's not where we came from.
24:56 Amen, somebody.
24:57 The Bible makes it very clear. Psalm 146:4
25:11 And I'm glad for that.
25:13 Because I was listening to a...
25:15 I was watching a court trial play itself out.
25:18 This was many years ago.
25:20 And I'll never forget the news captured a particular
25:22 portion of this court, you know the trial.
25:25 It was a lady that killed a man's wife.
25:28 And just before the trial is over, you know they convicted
25:30 the woman that committed the murder,
25:32 and the man had an opportunity to say, you know,
25:34 the family can say something before the sentencing.
25:38 So he said to the convicted lady who had taken his wife's life,
25:43 he said, "I can't wait till you die and go to heaven
25:47 so my wife can settle the score."
25:54 His belief made him think that when this woman, who was
25:58 set up for death row, was executed, that somehow
26:01 she's going to get to heaven and his wife is waiting there
26:04 and saying, "I can't wait until she comes to heaven.
26:05 Where is she?"
26:07 I mean, think about it.
26:09 We smile about that, but that's the foolishness
26:14 that has permeated the minds of so many.
26:16 So the moment somebody dies...
26:19 And then the other sad thing about it is when babies
26:21 unfortunately die, either in birth or some unusual way
26:24 in their home, people say, "God needed another angel."
26:29 They make God like some assassin.
26:32 Or when our loved one dies, "Well God needed another angel."
26:36 I remember one of my family members said,
26:37 "Well, God needed another person on His baseball team in heaven."
26:40 And I thought, "What!"
26:42 Where is this coming from?
26:45 Not from God's Word.
26:46 We've got to make sure everything
26:48 comes from God's Word.
26:49 Am I right?
26:50 The Bible makes it clear.
26:52 In the days of Noah, look what happened in the days of Noah.
26:54 Genesis 7:15
27:03 And also seven by seven. That's another story.
27:06 We'll talk about that tomorrow night.
27:08 What happened in Noah's day?
27:10 Those who were not in the ark, notice what the Bible says.
27:28 Now what happened?
27:29 The Bible makes it clear.
27:32 Luke 17:27
27:44 Now get this.
27:46 If people survive death, then those people that were destroyed
27:49 in the flood would still be alive.
27:54 But that's not what the Bible says.
27:56 The flood came and did what? Destroyed them all.
28:00 They ate, they drank, they married,
28:02 they were given in marriage.
28:03 But Jeremiah makes it clear about what happened.
28:06 That's actually Joshua.
28:07 Notice this, Joshua 11:11.
28:15 Speaking of a battle that Joshua referred to.
28:35 Now the reason this passage is vitally important
28:37 is because the word, soul, is here.
28:39 And a soul, if a soul died, if a soul was eternal
28:43 it couldn't die.
28:44 Am I right?
28:46 The word, immortal, means you cannot die.
28:50 But for the fact that the Bible says the souls were destroyed,
28:54 it means souls are not naturally immortal.
28:57 We don't have natural immortality.
29:00 Nobody has natural immortality.
29:02 That's why the Bible makes it very, very clear
29:04 in Ezekiel 18:4.
29:17 If a soul was immortal by nature,
29:21 then Adam would not have died.
29:23 But the Bible says Adam lived 930 years, and he died.
29:28 He died.
29:30 And you know, it's so vitally important.
29:31 I remember when my dad, the man who raised me,
29:35 really important, I was having a particular challenge
29:38 when I was a young man, and I wanted to buy a car.
29:43 You know, I was young, and when they first came out
29:46 I saw a Honda Accord, and I wanted this car really badly,
29:49 and I tried to convince my dad that I needed a brand new Honda.
29:52 That's what teenagers do.
29:54 "Dad, I need a brand new Honda."
29:56 He said, "You don't need a Honda.
29:58 I don't like Japanese cars."
29:59 So I said, "Dad, I need a brand new Buick."
30:02 I wanted to get a car out of that.
30:04 And he said, "No. No. Absolutely not."
30:11 One day he surprised me and gave me a $1000.
30:15 And I went out and got me a used Toyota Corona.
30:19 The car had cancer on both fenders.
30:21 All the salt on the streets had rotted it off.
30:25 And then I went away to school.
30:27 Eventually away to Oakwood college.
30:29 And when I was at school I needed some money for school.
30:33 And I called home and he said, "I'm not giving it to you."
30:36 But his wife that he had married, she said,
30:38 "I'll give you the $1000."
30:42 "Thank you very much."
30:43 I came home from school, got a job.
30:46 A few years later she met an unfortunate death.
30:49 And my dad said to me, "When are you going to
30:51 pay me back the $1000?"
30:54 I said, "Dad, she gave me the money.
30:57 And when people die, all debts are canceled."
31:02 Amen? He laughed.
31:04 I said, "Did you give it to me or did your wife?"
31:05 He said, "Well, she did."
31:07 I said, "Well, she's not asking for it.
31:09 All debts are canceled."
31:10 Amen for that.
31:13 Fingerhut one day called me when I was living in California.
31:16 My mom, after she passed away, Fingerhut called me and said,
31:18 "Is Rosario Maria Lomacang there?"
31:21 I said, "No."
31:22 They said, "Can we speak to her?"
31:23 I said, "No." They said, "Why not?"
31:25 I said, "She's in the cemetery in the Virgin Islands."
31:28 They said, "Do you have any way of contacting her?"
31:33 I'm not even kidding.
31:35 I said, "Did you just hear what I said?"
31:37 I said, "Do you think I'm going to fake my mother's death
31:40 just to avoid a bill?"
31:42 I said, "Let me tell you something.
31:43 She's in the Virgin Islands in St. Thomas in the cemetery.
31:47 You contact her.
31:49 But please do not call back here asking me any questions
31:52 about a bill for my mom.
31:53 I would not use my mother's death to avoid a bill."
31:55 Amen?
31:57 "Do have any way of contacting her?
31:59 In the resurrection we'll be talking then.
32:01 But until then, absolutely not.
32:04 The Bible makes it clear.
32:05 Notice how the Bible is clear.
32:07 And the reason why this passage is vitally important
32:09 is because the devil is about to fool the entire world,
32:14 the devil is about to pull off the greatest hoax
32:17 in human history, making people believe
32:19 that their dead loved ones are coming back with a message
32:23 that is in conflict with the Word of God.
32:27 When you see somebody that you recognize,
32:29 and you know the truth of God's Word,
32:31 you can say, "Get thee behind me, Satan."
32:33 And I guarantee you that apparition will be gone.
32:39 The Bible makes it clear. Ecclesiastes 9:10
33:01 That's why when I hear about these home going services,
33:04 the devil comes up with one lie after the other.
33:07 And he uses songs, "When I die, hallelujah,
33:10 by and by, I'll fly away."
33:12 And then songs like, "Going up yonder."
33:16 Going up yonder?
33:17 And they have these home going services.
33:19 They don't call them funeral services anymore.
33:21 They call them, home going.
33:23 The only home they're going to is in the cemetery locally.
33:27 Not going to heaven.
33:29 And you'll find out in just a moment why
33:30 people cannot go to heaven until Jesus comes.
33:34 When a person that claims to believe in the Bible...
33:36 And this is something else.
33:38 When a person that claims to believe in the Bible...
33:40 I'm going to slow this down.
33:41 When a person that claims to believe in the Bible
33:45 believes the same thing that a witch does,
33:47 a warlock does, a medium does, and a soothsayer does,
33:52 there's something wrong.
33:55 Because a soothsayer says, "I'll contact your loved one."
33:57 What's the difference between a Christian who says,
33:59 "My loved one communicates with me,"
34:01 and a witch who says, "I can contact them for you."
34:06 Something seriously wrong.
34:08 But the problem today is people are being taught
34:11 from the pulpits of America and the pulpits around the world.
34:14 But the Bible says very clearly,
34:17 they appear to be ministers of righteousness.
34:21 But Satan himself also transforms himself
34:24 into an angel of light.
34:25 Therefore, it is no great thing if his ministers also
34:29 appear as ministers of righteousness
34:31 whose end will be according to their works.
34:34 If the devil knew that all it takes is to put a person
34:37 in a suit or a robe and put him in a pulpit
34:39 to deceive you, that's exactly what he'll do.
34:42 And we think that because somebody is up here,
34:44 it's completely legitimate.
34:45 We say, "Well, he's an honest man."
34:47 Let me tell you something.
34:48 The only way that you can tell whether somebody is honest
34:50 is check out what they say by God's Word.
34:54 Quick story. I was in Oakland, California.
34:56 My wife and I, when we lived in California we were in Oakland.
34:59 Did not know where the bus station was, but somebody was
35:01 coming in to meet them.
35:02 We went to meet them at the bus station in Oakland.
35:04 And not knowing where it was, I flagged down a police officer
35:09 who was walking along the pavement.
35:10 I said, "Officer, where is the bus station?"
35:13 He said, "Now if you go down..." And he gave me directions.
35:16 Soon as he walked away, a transient just walking
35:20 on the streets kind of tattered up, he said,
35:22 "They ain't right directions."
35:25 He said, "Them directions ain't right."
35:28 I said, "They're not."
35:29 He said, "Naw, he don't know where it is.
35:31 I know where it is."
35:32 He said, "Now it ain't that way, it's that way."
35:35 I said, "How do you know?"
35:37 He said, "I go there every night."
35:40 Sometimes we think because they look legitimate,
35:42 they are legitimate.
35:45 The police officer looked completely legitimate.
35:48 That's why you've got to examine what a person says
35:50 by God's Word.
35:52 Don't take anything on face value.
35:56 Because Satan will appear as an angel of light.
36:00 And if that's all it takes to deceive you,
36:02 he'll do whatever he can.
36:04 And remember, the Bible says he has come down having great wrath
36:07 because he knows he has a short time.
36:09 And funerals; the two greatest lies ever told
36:12 that are repeated from pulpits of America...
36:14 And I've been on programs where we'd say what the Bible says
36:17 and pastors would get upset when these two topics come up.
36:21 When the Sabbath and the state of the dead come up.
36:24 Those are the two biggest lies ever told in Christianity
36:29 over and over and over again.
36:33 And they'll use little fragmented text in the Bible.
36:35 What I'm showing you, they won't ever repeat any of these text.
36:38 They'll use something like, "To be absent from the body
36:40 is to be present with the Lord."
36:42 The Bible doesn't say that.
36:43 The Bible says, "I would rather be absent from the body
36:46 and be present with the Lord."
36:48 The same Paul that talked about, he talked about the agony
36:51 of this life, the difficulty of this life.
36:54 And he says, "One day this temple, this body,
36:57 death will be swallowed up in victory."
37:01 Yes, one day we will be free from all the agony of this life.
37:04 Amen.
37:06 But not at the moment that you die you're not going to heaven.
37:09 You'll be laid to rest.
37:11 That's why they say, "Rest in peace."
37:13 Because that's what it is. All the trials of life are over.
37:16 David the psalmist makes this clear.
37:18 Notice what he says.
37:19 Psalm 115:17
37:22 Powerful.
37:30 When I go to funerals sometimes in different churches,
37:32 and you know, I go out of respect,
37:35 I sit there and I'm thinking,
37:37 "I am so glad I know what God's Word says."
37:39 Because you will leave out of there like, "Huh?"
37:44 One pastor said...
37:46 You know the song, "I Can Only Imagine"?
37:48 I can only imagine...
37:50 He said, "Dear sister don't have to imagine now.
37:53 She's in heaven in the presence of the Lord."
37:55 And then at the end he said, "We cannot wait till Jesus
37:58 comes and calls her forth from the grave."
38:00 And I'm thinking, "Which one is it?"
38:03 And you know the sad reality is, there are sincere Christians
38:05 who love the Lord, there are beautiful Christians
38:08 who love the Lord who don't check it out.
38:11 And what I found out is, in many of these churches
38:14 the reason why they don't check it out is because
38:16 it's become a mantra, a repetitious thing,
38:19 that somehow builds a groove,
38:21 and somehow because you believe it
38:22 they think it's true.
38:24 But because you believe it doesn't make it true.
38:25 You've got to check it out based on the Word of God.
38:27 Another point I must say is,
38:29 people often talk about their thoughts.
38:31 The Bible says they don't know anything.
38:33 They go down into silence.
38:35 If a person is on an operating table
38:38 and they're being sustained by a machine,
38:42 and they're not yet declared brain dead,
38:45 the brain is still functioning but the body is just
38:47 in a comatose state, unfortunate,
38:52 they don't know what's going on.
38:53 They have no concept of what's happening around them.
38:56 Now when they finally pass away, and the brain is now declared...
39:05 ...dead, no other way to say that,
39:08 do you think that they're conscious
39:09 about their surroundings?
39:12 Absolutely not.
39:13 Just like I woke up this morning.
39:15 Actually I went to bed this morning.
39:18 But when I go to bed every night, I have no idea
39:20 what happens during the night.
39:23 Because we are in a state of sleep
39:27 until we wake up, and then we say, "Hey, what happened?"
39:31 The Bible makes it very clear. The Bible makes it very clear.
39:36 "For the living know that they will die..."
39:38 The living have a functioning conscious mind
39:41 of what's going to happen next.
40:04 That's why when we think about the Bible story about Lazarus...
40:09 I told you, I laid the foundation a moment ago.
40:10 When Jesus finally showed up to Mary and Martha's house,
40:13 He said, "Take me where Lazarus is."
40:15 This story really opens many doors to help us to understand
40:18 what actually happened that day.
40:20 Once again revisiting the point I made earlier.
40:23 The Lord waited for four days because He wanted to
40:25 put to death the idea that the soul naturally is the reason
40:30 why men come back to life after three days.
40:34 Jesus showed up after four days.
40:37 And a couple of points I'll make right after this story,
40:39 but let's look at the account in the Bible.
40:41 John 11:11-14
40:43 Speaking about Lazarus, He was going to visit him.
41:00 Because that's what happens when people are sick.
41:02 They need rest.
41:18 Now why does the Bible say, sleep?
41:21 We'll find out in just a moment in Revelation.
41:23 For the saint that has gone to sleep in Christ,
41:29 they have not experienced the second death.
41:32 They're just resting, waiting for the voice of the Life-giver
41:36 to come and call them forth.
41:38 Martha understood very clearly when He talked to her
41:41 about her brother Lazarus.
41:42 In verse 23-24...
41:48 And notice how Martha understood when.
41:57 For the life of me, why do churches not teach
42:01 about the resurrection?
42:04 It's like the resurrection has been deleted,
42:07 or left out, or rejected.
42:10 Between death and the second coming of Jesus
42:14 there is a resurrection.
42:17 Everybody is coming out in the resurrection,
42:20 except those the Bible talks about.
42:21 Like Enoch walked with God, and was not.
42:24 Elijah was taken away in a chariot of fire.
42:26 And Moses died and was resurrected.
42:28 Outside of that, the Bible gives allusion to the 24 elders,
42:32 those who came forth when Jesus was crucified.
42:34 And they became the first fruits of those who had slept.
42:37 But people don't die and go to heaven right away.
42:39 Because there would be no reason for Jesus to come back.
42:42 He didn't say, and I'll re-iterate this later on,
42:45 He didn't say, "I'll see you when you get there."
42:48 He says, "I will come again to receive you."
42:52 And He said in John 13, when they asked,
42:55 "Lord, where are You going?" He said, "Where I'm going
42:59 you know, but you cannot come."
43:05 Look at the Scriptures.
43:06 John 5:28-29
43:08 And my prayer is, as I communicate this tonight,
43:10 my prayer is that your mind is open
43:13 to what the Word of God says.
43:14 Can somebody say amen?
43:16 Because you know, we can be recalcitrant
43:18 and set ourselves up for terrible deception
43:21 if our preference is, "Well, I don't care what the pastor says.
43:25 I know my mother is in heaven."
43:27 You could be passionate as you want, if you have no support
43:30 from God's Word your feelings do not create a truth
43:34 that does not exist and has no support in God's Word.
43:38 If you haven't understood it, say humbly,
43:41 "Lord, thank You for Your Word that makes sense."
43:44 But let us not set ourselves up for deception
43:47 just because we've believed that for a long time.
43:49 A lie will travel around the world while truth is
43:51 just putting its laces on.
43:54 Here's what the Bible says. John 5:28-29
44:24 Two resurrections.
44:26 Resurrection of life, Resurrection of condemnation.
44:30 And before that, we're going to talk the topic,
44:32 there's a judgment.
44:34 The reason why you don't die and go to heaven,
44:36 you'll hear this when we come to the topic of the judgment,
44:39 Jesus said in Revelation 22:12, "Behold, I come quickly
44:43 and my reward is with Me to give to everyone
44:47 according as his work."
44:48 We don't get the reward at death.
44:50 We all get the reward together when He comes again.
44:54 And let me re-iterate.
44:56 I'm not saying your loved one is not going to go to heaven.
44:58 I'm saying we're going to all go together.
45:00 Amen.
45:02 That's what the Bible is teaching.
45:03 It makes it even clearer.
45:05 Notice Revelation 20:6. That's why this word is there.
45:08 Revelation 20:6.
45:09 Remember, Jesus makes this very clear.
45:12 We're going to go back to the story in just a moment
45:14 about what He said to Martha.
45:15 But notice this.
45:22 The first resurrection is the resurrection of life.
45:37 And just a point, it comes in right here,
45:40 the reign of Christ is not going to be on earth.
45:43 It is going to be in heaven.
45:46 The first time Jesus came He walked the earth.
45:51 The second time He's coming,
45:53 He's coming to take us off the earth.
45:55 As Pastor C.D. Brooks said when he was preaching,
45:57 he said, "Our message is an evacuation message."
46:02 God bless him as he's resting in Christ.
46:04 Our message is an evacuation message.
46:06 Let's go and see why.
46:08 Look at this. A beautiful passage.
46:21 You got to remember that.
46:22 Now let's revisit the story of Martha and Jesus.
46:28 When Jesus went to the tomb...
46:42 - Though he may what? ~ Die.
46:43 Though he may what? Die.
46:45 So that means he may die.
46:48 "...he shall live."
46:56 Now let me make it clear.
46:58 First of all, it may seem to be contradictory
47:01 because He said, "Those who believe in Me,
47:02 though he may die," and in the King James, "yet shall he live."
47:07 That means we will die.
47:08 But we will live again.
47:10 But what does He mean, "Those who live and believe in Me
47:12 shall never die."
47:14 He's talking about the second death.
47:17 Here's the point.
47:19 Those who are born once will die twice.
47:24 But those who are born twice, that's born again,
47:28 may die once.
47:31 There's a death that everybody, as in Adam,
47:34 how many of us die?
47:36 All die. 1 Corinthians 15:22.
47:39 Everybody suffers a physical death
47:41 unless you are alive when Jesus comes.
47:43 Everybody ever born...
47:45 By the way, the mortality rate is 100%.
47:51 Let's go on and see what the Bible says.
47:53 That's why Job says this in Job 14:14.
48:06 What change is he talking about?
48:08 Let the Bible speak, the Word of God speak.
48:12 1 Corinthians 15:51-55
48:32 We'll be change at the what? The last trumpet.
48:34 Not when you die.
48:53 Meaning, we have the promise, but we have not
48:55 yet put on immortality.
48:58 We've got the promise, but we haven't put it on yet.
49:22 One day, the good news is, death will die.
49:29 The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.
49:32 But what about this immortality that people think we have?
49:34 The only one that has immortality right now is Jesus.
49:39 The Father, the Holy Spirit; the Godhead is immortal.
49:44 No human has natural immortality.
49:47 And the apostle Paul told that to his protégé Timothy.
49:50 Speaking of Jesus...
50:08 And what does he say? Amen.
50:10 Now let me make the point very clear here.
50:13 When people say they died and went toward the light,
50:18 it's not God.
50:19 Because the Bible says, "He dwells in the light
50:21 which no man can approach unto, whom no man has seen
50:25 nor can see."
50:27 Now the question is, why?
50:30 Can mortal man exist in the presence of an immortal God?
50:33 No.
50:35 Remember when Moses said, "Show me Your glory."
50:37 The Lord said, "You need to hide in a rock.
50:41 Because My glory will consume you.
50:43 When I pass by, just peek."
50:46 And just that one experience alone so ignited
50:50 the face of Moses that when he came down
50:55 they had to put a curtain over his face because
50:57 the glory of God, from just peeking,
50:59 ignited his life.
51:02 And truly, he let his light shine.
51:04 Amen?
51:05 You cannot exist, mortal man cannot exist
51:08 in the presence of an immortal God.
51:09 But let go on before our time runs out.
51:11 Job 14:10-13
51:20 A very legitimate question.
51:22 That's what we want to know.
51:52 Job was the most righteous man on earth.
52:07 The very same thing the thief on the cross said,
52:10 "Remember me when You come in Your kingdom."
52:14 "Remember me when You come."
52:16 Not, "I want to go to heaven with You today."
52:18 "Remember me when You come."
52:20 Job says, "Hide me until Your wrath is over, till it's past.
52:24 Hide me in the grave, put me there, until the wrath is over.
52:28 And when the time comes, remember me."
52:31 And Job, the Bible says there was no one on earth
52:34 more righteous than he.
52:37 But let's look at the patriarch David.
52:39 The patriarch David.
52:42 Acts 2:29-34
52:45 And my wife and I just finished reading about David
52:47 in 2 Chronicles and in 1 Kings now.
52:51 David was laid to rest.
52:52 And you know the rest of the story.
52:53 Solomon took his place. He mounted the throne.
52:57 He became the next king.
53:00 And we saw his tomb. That's right, honey.
53:02 We saw David's tomb.
53:13 We saw it.
53:15 And verse 34.
53:22 David did not ascend into the heavens.
53:26 I was preaching a sermon not too long ago.
53:31 And as I said to you, "too long ago," could mean
53:32 a year ago or five years ago for me,
53:34 because it all runs together so quickly.
53:37 And I was preaching a sermon at our 3ABN worship center.
53:41 And my mind was so focused on the coming of Jesus.
53:44 You know, there are some of you tonight
53:46 that have lost a loved one.
53:48 I met some people today at the door, we talked about
53:50 the topic we discussed, and some people said,
53:52 "I look forward, my husband is laying to rest,
53:55 my husband has been laid to rest."
53:56 And the lady with tears, she said, "I'm looking forward
53:59 to the day when we can be reunited."
54:02 She said, "I have not been remarried because
54:04 I only want one man.
54:06 And I'm looking forward to when Jesus comes
54:09 to reunite us together."
54:12 I was one of those fortunate children with
54:14 two fathers and two mothers.
54:17 A mother who gave me life,
54:19 who later I was able to lead to Jesus.
54:22 And a mother who led me to Jesus.
54:24 And they are both now resting in Jesus.
54:27 And the Bible says, "Precious in the sight of the Lord
54:30 is the death of His saints."
54:32 So I'm looking forward for Jesus to come.
54:35 I'm going to invite Stephanie and Dan to come.
54:37 I'm looking forward for the coming of Jesus.
54:41 I'm looking forward to the day when we can meet Him in peace.
54:44 I'm looking forward to the day where there will be no more
54:48 sorrow, no more death, no more crying, no more pain.
54:51 No more funeral parlors. Amen, somebody.
54:54 No more wakes, no more tears, no more sadness,
54:57 no more goodbyes, no more broken hearts,
55:00 no more children without their parents.
55:02 What a glorious day that's going to be.
55:03 That's why this is the promise of Jesus.
55:06 He said, in John 14:3, let's read this together...
55:20 Amen, somebody.
55:22 Dan and Stephanie, bless us tonight.
55:30 There's a land that is fairer than day,
55:37 and by faith we can see it afar;
55:43 for the Father waits over the way
55:51 to prepare us a dwelling place there.
55:58 In the sweet by and by,
56:04 we shall meet on that beautiful shore.
56:12 In the sweet by and by,
56:20 we shall meet on that beautiful shore.
56:27 Isn't that a wonderful message, friends?
56:31 A few years ago my wife lost her mother.
56:35 A little less than two years.
56:37 We're looking forward to that beautiful shore.
56:40 I've got friends that are resting in Jesus.
56:42 We're looking forward to that beautiful shore.
56:44 I'm looking forward to seeing Pastor C.D. Brooks
56:47 in the sweet by and by.
56:48 And all the saints that have gone ahead of me,
56:52 evangelists and pastors and teachers,
56:53 they all have gone ahead and they're resting
56:56 in their graves somewhere.
56:57 Elder E. E. Cleveland, a giant of a gospel preacher.
57:02 When his wife passed away,
57:03 he would visit her every day in the cemetery.
57:05 He said, "I'm looking forward to seeing my wife
57:07 in the resurrection."
57:09 And he's finally laid to rest.
57:10 In that land that is fairer than day.
57:13 One day we will meet in that sweet by and by.
57:18 My prayer for you tonight, as well as those of you
57:19 who are watching, that we will trust God's Word,
57:22 we will stand firmly on God's Word,
57:25 so that when Jesus comes we will be ready to meet Him
57:29 in that sweet by and by.
57:31 Is that your desire tonight.


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Revised 2018-10-01