And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world FOR A WITNESS unto all nations; and then shall the end come. (Mat 24:14, KJV)
“as a mighty witness” Mat 24:14
Everything in the world is in agitation. The signs of the times are ominous. Coming events cast their shadows before. The Spirit of God is withdrawing from the earth, and calamity follows calamity by sea and by land. There are tempests, earthquakes, fires, floods, murders of every grade. Who can read the future? Where is security? There is assurance in nothing that is human or earthly. Rapidly people everywhere are ranging themselves under the banner they have chosen. Restlessly are they waiting and watching the movements of their leaders. Everyone diligently follows what is called ‘the news. Or some political or religious figure. But in humanity no suitable answer or expectation can be found. When Jesus comes, there will only be two classes of people on the earth. There are those who are waiting and watching and working for our Lord’s appearing. Another class are falling into line under the generalship of the first great apostate. Few believe with heart and soul that we have a hell to shun and a heaven to win.
The second coming of Christ is the blessed hope of the church, the grand climax of the gospel. The Savior’s coming will be literal, personal, visible, and worldwide. When He returns, the righteous dead will be resurrected, and together with the righteous living will be glorified and taken to heaven, but the unrighteous will die. The almost complete fulfillment of most lines of prophecy, together with the present condition of the world, indicates that Christ’s coming is imminent. The time of that event has not been revealed, and we are therefore exhorted to be ready at all times.-Fundamental Beliefs, 25
Jesus said that before he returns, the “gospel of the kingdom” would be preached throughout the world AS A WITNESS. (Mat 24:14) This was the disciples’ mission—and as Christ-followers today, it is also our mission now. The final evidence of the end times is the universal proclamation of the gospel AS A WITNESS to every nation, kindred, tribe, tongue, and people. Jesus talked about the gospel and the opposition to the gospel a lot, especially in Mathew 24.
And as he sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world? (Mat 24:3)
It is very interesting to note here that when the disciples asked Jesus this question Jesus had one overarching concern to convey to them and He replied:
“Take heed that no person deceive you.” (Mat 24:4)
From just looking at the Bible text here it appears that Jesus is trying to warn us that the biggest concern in the time of the end will be deception. That seems to be quite logical. The first casualty in any war is truth and as reflected here in Mat 24 and elsewhere there is a nasty battle going on between God and Satan. Between good and evil. Jesus’ first concern in this battle is that we do not let “any human” deceive us. This can only mean that Jesus wants us to get our gospel from a divine source. This can only mean that no human can better tell us what is truth than Jesus can. Jesus did allude to this when He said things like
“Jesus answered, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. The only way to the Father is through me.” (John 14:6)
Jesus says he is the only way to God the Father. Some people may argue that this way is too narrow. In reality, it is wide enough for the whole world, if the world chooses to accept it. Instead of worrying about how limited it sounds to have only one way, we should be saying, “Thank you, God, for providing a sure way to get to you!” As the way, Jesus is our path to the Father. As the truth, he is the reality of all God’s promises. As the life, he joins his divine life to ours, both now and eternally. Jesus is, in truth, the only living way to the Father. Jesus. Living Hope.
During the final stages of the battle between good and evil, there is but one way to defeat the devil and His goals. We read about it in Rev 12:11
They won the victory over him because of the blood of the lamb and the word of their testimony. They didn’t love their life so much that they refused to give it up. (Rev 12:11, GW)
The Secret of Overcoming Sin
We become overcomers by helping others to overcome, by the blood of the Lamb and the word of our testimony. The keeping of the commandments of God will yield in us an obedient spirit, and the service that is the offspring of such a spirit, God can accept {7BC 974.4}
God’s people everywhere must have a personal testimony about “the blood of the Lamb” and what has happened in their life as a result of His shed blood. This verse tells us “they overcame the devil by the blood of the lamb and the Word of their testimony” about that shed blood. This is exactly why the apostle stated
That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched—this we proclaim concerning the Word of life. The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us. We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. (1 John 1:1-3)
What does a personal testimony look like, according to the Bible? We can view a very quick snapshot of the entire picture in the following
“…if any one is in Christ, that person is a new creature; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. (2 Cor 5:17)
The old nature, born of blood and the will of the flesh, cannot inherit the kingdom of God. The old ways, the hereditary tendencies, the former habits, must be given up; for grace is not inherited. The new birth consists in having new motives, new tastes, new tendencies. Those who are born again (John 3:3) unto a new life by the Holy Spirit, have become partakers of the divine nature, (2 Pet 1:4) and in all their habits and practices they will give evidence of their relationship to Christ. When people who claim to be Christians retain all their natural defects of character and disposition, in what does their position differ from that of the worldling? They do not appreciate the truth as a sanctifier, as a refiner. They have not been born again because nothing is really changed. The Bible is clear. if anyone is in Christ, ALL THINGS become new. (2 Cor 5:17)
Jesus gives people no encouragement to think that He will accept a patchwork character, made up mostly of self, with a little of Christ. This is the condition of the Laodicean church. At first there seems to be some of self and some of Christ. But soon it is all of self and none of Christ. The root of selfishness is revealed. It continues to grow, striking its roots deeper and deeper, till its branches are covered with objectionable fruit. And Jesus did say “You will know them by their fruits.” (Mat 7:20) Christ looks with pitying tenderness on all who have combination characters. Those with such a character have a connection with Christ so frail that it is essentially worthless.
Jesus said in John 12:32 that if he was lifted up he would draw all people unto Himself. This could only mean the cross. its the only thing we can call “everlasting.” And when we have a personal walk and experience with Jesus, we will have a personal testimony.
The sacrifice of Christ as an atonement for sin is the great truth around which all other truths cluster. In order to be rightly understood and appreciated, every truth in the Word of God, from Genesis to Revelation, must be studied in the light which streams from the cross of Calvary, and in connection with the wondrous, central truth of the Savior’s atonement. Those who study the Redeemer’s wonderful sacrifice grow in grace and knowledge.
Personal Testimony Work Sheet
1/ My Life Before I Accepted Christ:
Share this part of your testimony with people in order to identify with them:
“I needed help and I found it in Jesus.” (8T pg 321).
2/ How I Became A Christian:
Tell how it happened. if you were brought up in a Christian home, there was still some point at which you gave your life fully to Jesus. Your testimony may resolve around a particular answer to prayer or perhaps some victory in your life that has meant a lot to you; and that has made Jesus real to you:
“I found the Bible to be the Voice of God to my soul…” (8T pg 321)
3/ My Life Since I Became A Christian:
Tell how your personal life has changed. (not too personal). Talk about something that you now enjoy in your experience as a result of knowing Jesus.
“In Christ, the hunger of my soul has been satisfied…” (8T pg 321)
4/ In Summary:
of your Christian experience, try to use an appropriate Scripture verse that sums up your life, and that will be a precious Bible promise for whomever you may be giving your testimony to.
“So everyone may be able through their own experience to set their seal to this, that God is true.” (John 3:33, ARV).
“I believe in Jesus. Jesus is to me a divine Savior.” (8T pg 321).
Whoever accepts what he says has given proof that God speaks the truth. (John 3:33, ERV) If we are willing to do whatever God’s Word reveals to you, you will then know what is the truth. (John 7:17)
Looking in faith to the Redeemer, John had risen to the height of self-denial. He sought not to attract people to himself, but to lift their thoughts higher and still higher, until they should rest upon the Lamb of God. He himself had been only a voice, a cry in the wilderness. Now with joy he accepted silence and obscurity, that the eyes of all might be turned to the Light of life. {DA 179.4}
Those who are true to their calling as messengers for God will not seek honor for themselves. Love for self will be swallowed up in love for Christ. No rivalry will mar the precious cause of the gospel. They will recognize that it is their work to proclaim, as did John the Baptist, “Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.” John 1:29. They will lift up Jesus, (John 12:32) and with Him humanity will be lifted up. “Thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy; I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones.” Isa 57:15. {DA 179.5}
You may be sure that a personal testimony will result as you pray the following, giving your heart, your life, to Jesus:
Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin! For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me. Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you may be justified in your words and blameless in your judgment. Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me. Behold, you delight in truth in the inward being, and you teach me wisdom in the secret heart. Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones that you have broken rejoice. Hide your face from my sins, and blot out all my iniquities. Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from your presence, and take not your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and uphold me with a willing spirit. Then I will teach transgressors your ways, and sinners will return to you. (Psalms 51:1-13, ESV)
This is his commandment: to believe in his Son, the one named Jesus Christ, and to love each other as he commanded us.(1 John 3:23, GW)
lead me today, even here Lord
In the Bible, a person’s name stands for his or her character. It represents who he or she really is. We are to believe not only in Jesus’ words, but also in his very person as the Son of God. Moreover, to believe “in the name” means to pattern your life after Christ’s, to become more like him by uniting yourself with him. And if we are living like Christ, we will “love one another.”
I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love which Christ Jesus our Lord shows us. We can’t be separated by death or life, by angels or rulers, by anything in the present or anything in the future, by forces or powers in the world above or in the world below, or by anything else in creation. (Rom 8:38-39, GW)
With great clearness and power the apostle presented the doctrine of justification by faith in Christ. He hoped that other churches also might be helped by the instruction sent to the Christians at Rome; but how dimly could he foresee the far-reaching influence of his words! Through all the ages the great truth of justification by faith has stood as a mighty beacon to guide repentant sinners into the way of life. It was this light that scattered the darkness which enveloped Luther’s mind and revealed to him the power of the blood of Christ to cleanse from sin. The same light has guided thousands of sin-burdened souls to the true Source of pardon and peace. For the epistle to the church at Rome, every Christian has reason to thank God. {AA 373.3}
In this letter Paul gave free expression to his burden in behalf of the Jews. Ever since his conversion, he had longed to help his Jewish brethren to gain a clear understanding of the gospel message. “My heart’s desire and prayer to God for Israel is,” he declared, “that they might be saved.” {AA 374.1}
What we have received is not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may understand what God has freely given us. This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, explaining spiritual realities with Spirit-taught words. (1 Cor 2:12-13, NIV)
the loud cry (Luke 17:15)
Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out! (Rom 11:33)
It is the duty and privilege of all to use reason as far as our human, finite faculties can go; but there is a boundary where human resources must cease. There are many things that can never be reasoned out by the strongest intellect or discerned by the most penetrating mind. Neither philosophy nor science can determine the ways and works of God; the human mind cannot measure infinity. (Isa 55:8-9)
Jesus. Savior. Jesus Lord. Jesus. Immanuel is the fountain of all wisdom, of all truth, of all knowledge. There are very high accomplishments that people can reach in this life through the wisdom that God imparts; but there is an infinity beyond, that will be the study and the joy of the saints throughout eternal ages. We can now only linger upon the borders of that vast expanse, and let imagination take its flight. Finite man cannot fathom the deep things of God; for spiritual things are spiritually discerned. The human mind cannot comprehend the expansive wisdom and power of God
“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the LORD. “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. (Isa 55:8-9)
Jesus said “Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. (John 17:3.)
We Must Avoid Guesswork in our Quest for God
Human talent and human conjecture have tried by searching to find out God. But guesswork has always proved itself to be guesswork. Humanity cannot by searching find out God. This problem has not been given to human beings. All that any of us needs to know and can know of God now has already been revealed in His Word and in the life of His Son, the great Teacher.
they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint. (Isa 40:31, KJV)
wait on The Lord (Isa 40:31)
The eagle of the Alps is sometimes beaten down by the tempest into the narrow defiles of the mountains. Storm clouds shut in this mighty bird of the forest, their dark masses separating her from the sunny heights where she has made her home. Her efforts to escape seem fruitless. She dashes to and fro, beating the air with her strong wings, and waking the mountain echoes with her cries. At length, with a note of triumph, she darts upward, and, piercing the clouds, is once more in the clear sunlight, with the darkness and tempest far beneath. So we may be surrounded with difficulties, discouragement, and darkness. Falsehood, calamity, injustice, shut us in. There are clouds that we cannot dispel. We battle with circumstances in vain. There is one, and but one, way of escape. The mists and fogs cling to the earth; beyond the clouds God’s light is shining. Into the sunlight of His presence we may rise on the wings of faith. {Education 118.2}
Trusting in the Lord is the patient expectation that God will fulfill his promises in his Word and strengthen us to rise above life’s difficulties. Do you believe God loves you and wants the best for you? Can you relax, confident that his purposes are right? Are you convinced that he has the power to control all of life—and your life as well? Though your faith may be struggling or weak, accept his provisions and care for you. (Life Application Notes)
those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint. (isa 40:31, NIV)
Because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, Eph 2:5 made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus (Eph 2:4-6, NIV)
living waters
As God raised Christ from the dead, that He might bring life and immortality to light through the gospel, and thus save His people from their sins, so Christ has raised fallen human beings from spiritual death, quickening them with His life, filling their hearts with hope and joy.
Rivers of Living Water
On the last and greatest day of the festival, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink.
Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.” By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive. Up to that time the Spirit had not been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified. (John 7:37-39, NIV)
As a true spring is ever supplied with water from the great deep, with which it has communication, so shall the soul of the genuine believer be supplied with light, life, love, and liberty, and all the other graces of the indwelling Spirit, from the indwelling Christ. The Jews frequently compare the gifts and influences of the Holy Spirit to water in general – to rain, fountains, wells, rivers, etc., etc. The Scriptures abound in this metaphor. Psalms 36:8, Psalms 36:9; Isa 44:3, Isa 44:4; Joel 2:23.
The gospel is to be presented, not as a lifeless theory, but as a living force to change the life. God would have His servants bear testimony to the fact that through His grace men may possess Christlikeness of character and may rejoice in the assurance of His great love. He would have us bear testimony to the fact that He cannot be satisfied until all who will accept salvation are reclaimed and reinstated in their holy privileges as His sons and daughters. {MH 99.2}
Even those whose course has been most offensive to Him He freely accepts. When they repent, He imparts to them His divine Spirit, and sends them forth into the camp of the disloyal to proclaim His mercy. Souls that have been degraded into instruments of Satan are still, through the power of Christ, transformed into messengers of righteousness and are sent forth to tell how great things the Lord hath done for them and hath had compassion on them. {MH 99.3}
Day after day He taught the people, until the last, “that great day of the feast.” The morning of this day found the people wearied from the long season of festivity. Suddenly Jesus lifted up His voice, in tones that rang through the courts of the temple: {DA 453.3}
“If any man thirst, let him come unto Me, and drink. He that believeth on Me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.” The condition of the people made this appeal very forcible. They had been engaged in a continued scene of pomp and festivity, their eyes had been dazzled with light and color, and their ears regaled with the richest music; but there had been nothing in all this round of ceremonies to meet the wants of the spirit, nothing to satisfy the thirst of the soul for that which perishes not. Jesus invited them to come and drink of the fountain of life, of that which would be in them a well of water, springing up unto everlasting life. {DA 453.4}
The priest had that morning performed the ceremony which commemorated the smiting of the rock in the wilderness. That rock was a symbol of Him who by His death would cause living streams of salvation to flow to all who are athirst. Christ’s words were the water of life. There in the presence of the assembled multitude He set Himself apart to be smitten, that the water of life might flow to the world. In smiting Christ, Satan thought to destroy the Prince of life; but from the smitten rock there flowed living water. As Jesus thus spoke to the people, their hearts thrilled with a strange awe, and many were ready to exclaim, with the woman of Samaria, “Give me this water, that I thirst not.” Joh_4:15. {DA 454.1}
Jesus knew the wants of the soul. Pomp, riches, and honor cannot satisfy the heart. “If any man thirst, let him come unto Me.” The rich, the poor, the high, the low, are alike welcome. He promises to relieve the burdened mind, to comfort the sorrowing, and to give hope to the despondent. Many of those who heard Jesus were mourners over disappointed hopes, many were nourishing a secret grief, many were seeking to satisfy their restless longing with the things of the world and the praise of men; but when all was gained, they found that they had toiled only to reach a broken cistern, from which they could not quench their thirst. Amid the glitter of the joyous scene they stood, dissatisfied and sad. That sudden cry, “If any man thirst,” startled them from their sorrowful meditation, and as they listened to the words that followed, their minds kindled with a new hope. The Holy Spirit presented the symbol before them until they saw in it the offer of the priceless gift of salvation. {DA 454.2}
The cry of Christ to the thirsty soul is still going forth, and it appeals to us with even greater power than to those who heard it in the temple on that last day of the feast. The fountain is open for all. The weary and exhausted ones are offered the refreshing drink of eternal life. Jesus is still crying, “If any man thirst, let him come unto Me, and drink.” “Let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.” “Whosoever drinks of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.” Rev 22:17; John 4:14. {DA 454.3}
I will rescue you from your own people and from the Gentiles. I am sending you to them to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.’ (Acts 26:17-18)
forgiven
Have you ever been haunted by your past? Do you have regrets about things you did years ago? Does the guilt of some past sin trouble you? One could ask the question here
How many people have to deal in one way or another with the guilt of their past sins. With the guilt of a past lifestyle?
The Bible tells us that “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Rom 3:23)
Some sins seem bigger than others because their obvious consequences are much more serious. Murder, for example, seems to us to be worse than hatred, and adultery seems worse than pride. To others having certain orientations is the worst sin. We all tend to fancy ourselves as a good judge of who is a sinner. You know. Sinners judging sinners. “My sin is better than your sin.” But this does not mean that because we think that we only commit “little” sins that we deserve eternal life. The Bible is clear. All sins make us sinners, and all sins cut us off from our holy God. All sins, therefore, lead to death (because they disqualify us from living with God), regardless of how great or small they seem. We should never minimize “little” sins or overrate “big” sins. They all separate us from God.
The good news is that all sins can be forgiven.
What happens when we repress or try to cover up our guilt and to hide our sins? Deny our sins?
Blessed is the one whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered. Blessed is the one whose sin the LORD does not count against them and in whose spirit is no deceit. When I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. For day and night your hand was heavy on me; my strength was sapped as in the heat of summer. Then I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up my iniquity. I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the LORD.” And you forgave the guilt of my sin. (Psalms 32:1-5, NIV)
When David denied his sin and tried to ignore his feelings of guilt, he experienced great emotional anxiety, spiritual trauma, , and even physical pain.
We are all so blessed that the Bible doesn’t just stop at Romans 3:23 in saying that ‘everyone has sinned and fallen short.” While that is certainly true, it is not the end of the story. Note that
“all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.” (Rom 3:24)
And what happened when King David confessed his sins?
Blessed is the one whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered. Blessed is the one whose sin the LORD does not count against them and in whose spirit is no deceit. (Psalms 32:1-2, NIV)
You, Lord, are forgiving and good, abounding in love to all who call to you. Hear my prayer, LORD; listen to my cry for mercy. When I am in distress, I call to you, because you answer me. (Psalms 86:5-7, NIV)
How can we personally receive the peace and the pardon that Jesus so freely offers?
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. (1 John 1:9)
How does the Bible describe what it looks like to confess our sin? What should our attitude be towards sin once we have confessed it?
Who is a God like you, who pardons sin and forgives the transgression of the remnant of his inheritance? You do not stay angry forever but delight to show mercy. You will again have compassion on us; you will tread our sins underfoot and hurl all our iniquities into the depths of the sea. (Micah 7:18-19, NIV)
God delights to show his unfailing love! He does not forgive grudgingly but is glad when we repent, and he offers forgiveness to all who come back to him. Today you can confess your sins and receive his loving forgiveness. Don’t be too proud to accept God’s free offer.
as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us. (Psalms 103:12, NIV)
East and west can never meet. This is a symbolic portrait of God’s forgiveness: When he forgives our sin, he separates it from us and doesn’t even remember it. We need never wallow in the past, for God forgives and forgets. We tend to dredge up the ugly past, but God has wiped our record clean. If we are to follow God, we must model his forgiveness. When we forgive another, we must also forget the sin. Otherwise we have not truly forgiven.
No longer will they teach their neighbor, or say to one another, ‘Know the LORD,’ because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest,” declares the LORD. “For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.” (Jer 31:34, NIV)
In place of our inherited condemnation, shame, and guilt of sin, Jesus offers us “something better.”
“Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you.
(Mat 11:28-29, MSG)
“Come to me all of you who are tired from the heavy burden you have been forced to carry. I will give you rest. Accept my teaching. Learn from me. I am gentle and humble in spirit. And you will be able to get some rest. (Mat 11:28-29, ERV)
Jesus also promises
Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee. (Isa 26:3, KJV)
The greatest burdens for anyone to bear is guilt. And I think coming in second place right behind that would be doubt. The absolute heaviest load is the load of sin. The peace of Jesus can replace our load of sin.
When we accept Jesus, repent of our sins, ask for and receive the gift of salvation that Jesus offers, we still have to live in our world of heartache sorrow and tragedy. But one day soon Jesus will return as “The Prince of Peace” to finally bring everlasting peace for all of God’s people. While we live in this world’s turmoil and conflict, Jesus says “Let not your heart be troubled…I will come again. (John 14:1-3)
Remember always, God loves you and His promises are for you
I’m leaving you well and whole. That’s my parting gift to you. Peace. I don’t leave you the way you’re used to being left—feeling abandoned, bereft. So don’t be upset. Don’t be distraught. “You’ve heard me tell you, ‘I’m going away, and I’m coming back.’ If you loved me, you would be glad that I’m on my way to the Father because the Father is the goal and purpose of my life. (John 14:27-28, MSG)
For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.
(Jer 29:11-13, NIV)
My friends, Jesus is coming. Signs of the times are fast fulfilling. Bible prophecy is waiting for no one. There are not too many stages of prophecy that still need to be fulfilled. Jesus is inviting us all, today, to have His peace in our hearts and homes.
I wonder. Have we, the church, thought seriously about why Jesus has not come back yet? As I have pondered this question and studied my Bible on the matter, one thought keeps coming out loud and clear. It is found in Mat 24:14, KJV
And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.
Jesus said that before he returns, the Good News about the Kingdom, (the message of salvation) would be preached throughout the world AS A WITNESS to everyone. This was the disciples’ mission—and it is ours today. Jesus talked about the end times and final judgment to show his followers the urgency of spreading the Good News of salvation to everyone. And the good news is that Jesus wins. Satan loses.
In Mat 24:14, Jesus was very clear when He said “as a witness.” In other words, as a personal testimony on “what we have seen and heard and handled of the Word of life.” (1 John 1:1-3) So many of us have chose to just serve people with our beliefs, assert our doctrines, yet there is no testimony of a personal experience with Jesus. The Gospel, instead of being preached “as a witness” to people is being subverted to dry theory when all the while devoid of the character of Christ. As a witness,” means personal testimony
They triumphed over him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death. (Rev 12:11,1 John 1:1-3)
That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched—this we proclaim concerning the Word of life. The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us. We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. We write this to make our joy complete. (1 John 1:1-4)
Jesus advocated for us to experience life “more abundantly.” Thats why Jesus came down to earth! (John 10:10)
And when we share our testimony, the Bible is clear. A winning personal testimony “makes our joy complete.” (1 John 1:4)
As our opening text says: if there is no “personal witness” then its not the gospel that needs to be preached all over the world to everyone. No matter how many Bible verses we quote.
You, Lord, are forgiving and good, abounding in love to all who call to you. Hear my prayer, LORD; listen to my cry for mercy. When I am in distress, I call to you, because you answer me. (Psalms 86:5-7, NIV)
Not through controversy and discussion is the soul enlightened. We must look and live. Nicodemus received the lesson, and carried it with him. He searched the Scriptures in a new way, not for the discussion of a theory, but in order to receive life for the soul. He began to see the kingdom of heaven as he submitted himself to the leading of the Holy Spirit. {DA 175.2}
There are thousands today who need to learn the same truth that was taught to Nicodemus by the uplifted serpent. They depend on their obedience to the law of God to commend them to His favor. When they are bidden to look to Jesus, and believe that He saves them solely through His grace, they exclaim, “How can these things be?” {DA 175.3}
Like Nicodemus, we must be willing to enter into life in the same way as the chief of sinners. Than Christ, “there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.” Acts 4:12. Through faith we receive the grace of God; but faith is not our Savior. It earns nothing. It is the hand by which we lay hold upon Christ, and appropriate His merits, the remedy for sin. And we cannot even repent without the aid of the Spirit of God. The Scripture says of Christ, “Him hath God exalted with His right hand to be a Prince and a Saviour, for to give repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins.” Acts 5:31. Repentance comes from Christ as truly as does pardon. {DA 175.4}
How, then, are we to be saved? “As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness,” so the Son of man has been lifted up, and everyone who has been deceived and bitten by the serpent may look and live. “Behold the Lamb of God, which takes away the sin of the world.” John 1:29. The light shining from the cross reveals the love of God. His love is drawing us to Himself. If we do not resist this drawing, we shall be led to the foot of the cross in repentance for the sins that have crucified the Savior. Then the Spirit of God through faith produces a new life in the soul. The thoughts and desires are brought into obedience to the will of Christ. The heart, the mind, are created anew in the image of Him who works in us to subdue all things to Himself. Then the law of God is written in the mind and heart, and we can say with Christ, “I delight to do Thy will, O my God.” Psalm 40:8. {DA 175.5}
Blessed is the one whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered. Blessed is the one whose sin the LORD does not count against them and in whose spirit is no deceit. When I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. For day and night your hand was heavy on me; my strength was sapped as in the heat of summer. Then I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up my iniquity. I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the LORD.” And you forgave the guilt of my sin. (Psalms 32:1-5, NIV)
And that my friends is the gospel. There is forgiveness in Christ.
** Next week we will study what the Bible says about How To Give A Winning Personal Testimony.
For I am resolved to know nothing while I talk to you today except Jesus Christ and him crucified. (1 Cor 2:2)
he shewed me a pure river of water of life (Rev 22:1)
Christians today should be agreeable with the idea that there is one great central truth to be kept ever before the mind in the searching of the Scriptures:
Christ and Him crucified
Every other truth is invested with influence and power corresponding to its relation to this theme. It is only in the light of the cross that we can discern the exalted character of the law of God. The soul wracked by sin and fear can be blessed with life only through the work wrought out upon the cross by the Author and the Finisher of our salvation.
Have you ever wondered why Jesus had to die?
Was Jesus just some kind of martyr dying for a good cause? Why was the Sacrifice of Christ necessary? Was it to seek to appease an angry God? Why was it absolutely essential to our salvation? If Jesus had lived a perfect life but had never died on the cross, would our salvation be possible? The Bible answers to such questions are vital. Our eternal destiny depends upon answering them correctly.
Lets review what kind of attitude the Apostle Paul always expressed towards the cross of Christ. This is what Paul once said:
But it’s unthinkable that I could ever brag about anything except the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. By his cross my relationship to the world and its relationship to me have been crucified. (Gal 6:14, GW)
As Christians we glory not in our good works but in God’s infinte love, mercy, and grace.
Jesus told us clearly what the result of His death would be.
When Jesus had spoken these words, he lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you,(John 17:1, ESV)
Praise God. There are three reasons that the hour of Christ’s death would be the moment of His greatest glory.
a) For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Rom 6:23, NIV) b) Christ died for us when we were unable to help ourselves. We were living against God, but at just the right time Christ died for us.
(Rom 5:6, ERV) c) But Christ died for us while we were still sinners, and by this God showed how much he loves us.(Rom 5:8, ERV)
What then did Jesus redeem us from?
The law says we are under a curse for not always obeying it. But Christ took away that curse. He changed places with us and put himself under that curse. The Scriptures say, “Anyone who is hung on a tree is under a curse.” (Gal 3:13, ERV)
The curse of the law is simple for us to understand. It has nothing to do with the ten commandments somehow being cancelled by the death of Christ on the cross. Why would Jesus ever do away with His Father’s holy law? (Rom 7:12) Jesus vindicated the law of ten commandments, and held it up before all people as a rule of life. He showed that all of us are under the most solemn obligation to obey that law, which Christ came to make honorable. (Isa 42:21) The Bible teaches that Christ is the only one who can release people from the consequences of breaking the divine law; and that it is only by repentance for their past transgressions, faith in the atoning sacrifice of Christ, resulting in the life of obedience, that we can hope to experience the favor of God. The Bible says that Jesus came to “fulfill” the law, meaning to demonstrate to us how to keep it. (Mat 5:17)
“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.” (Mat 5:17, ESV)
The curse of the law is simply the separation from God that sometimes happens in our relationship with Him, when we choose to not accept Him. In the struggle between good and evil, Jesus took the moral responsibility for our sins. Jesus died the death that we deserve so that we can live the life that He deserves.
Here is how Paul describes the way that unbelievers view Christ’s death
The teaching about the cross seems foolish to those who are lost. But to us who are being saved it is the power of God. (1 Cor 1:18, ERV)
Isa describes it like this:
He was despised and rejected by mankind, a man of suffering, and familiar with pain. Like one from whom people hide their faces he was despised, and we held him in low esteem. Surely he took up our pain and bore our suffering, yet we considered him punished by God, stricken by him, and afflicted. (Isa 53:3-4, NIV)
To the unconverted heart, God dying for humanity makes absolutely no sense but nonsense. But to the converted heart, Christ’s death on the cross represents the most amazing demonstration of God’s love ever seen anywhere.
Some would ask “did Jesus sin?” Or “Did Jesus become sin?” The Bible tells us
God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. (2 Cor 5:21, NIV)
Jesus never once sinned. Jesus did take upon Himself the penalty, condemnation, shame, and results of our sin.
There are four gifts that Jesus offers each one of us through the cross:
And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us (1) wisdom from God, (2) righteousness (3) and sanctification (4) and redemption
(1 Cor 1:30, ESV)
In the cross, we discover God’s incredible love towards us. Jesus would have rather died eternally, if need be, than to have one of His children be lost. Jesus offers to all His righteousness. Through the revelation of His love on Calvary, and the presence of His Holy Educating Spirit in our hearts, Jesus daily prepares us for eternal redemption. For everlasting life.
What a hope! What a Savior! All we can do is to bow before Him and worship Him!
Paul continues to emphasize that the way to receive salvation is so simple that any person who wants to can understand it. Skill and wisdom do not get a person into God’s Kingdom—simple faith does. So no one can boast that personal achievements helped him or her secure eternal life. Salvation is totally from God through Jesus’ death. There is nothing we can do to earn our salvation; we need only to accept what Jesus has already done for us.
God is our source and the reason for our personal relationship with Christ. Our union and identification with Christ results in our having God’s wisdom (Col 2:3), being acceptable to God (2 Cor 5:21), being pure (1 Thes 4:3-7), and having the penalty for our sins paid by Jesus (Mark 10:45).
Do not depreciate or degrade yourself, but give yourself to Jesus today; Jesus will (like a nail in a sure place – Isa 22:23) find a place in this life for you and make your life worth living. Notice that God has put you into personal union with Christ Jesus. (John 1:12) Everything we need for life and godliness is in Him. We must make all that we can of our wonderful position and possessions.
Think of Christ’s humiliation. He took upon Himself fallen, suffering human nature, degraded and defiled by sin. He took our sorrows, bearing our grief and shame. He endured all the temptations wherewith man is beset. He united humanity with divinity: a divine spirit dwelt in a temple of flesh. He united Himself with the temple. “The Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us” (John 1:14) because by so doing He could identify with the sinful, sorrowing sons and daughters of Adam.
Will you take the time to pray
Ask Jesus in your heart to stay
Keeping you safe this very night
to wake your joy in morning light
You boast, “We have entered into a covenant with death, with the realm of the dead we have made an agreement. When an overwhelming scourge sweeps by, it cannot touch us, for we have made a lie our refuge and falsehood our hiding place.”Your covenant with death will be annulled; your agreement with the realm of the dead will not stand. When the overwhelming scourge sweeps by, you will be beaten down by it. (Isa 28:15,18)
living water of life
Can it be that people really have “a covenant with death?”
For the last two weeks we have been discussing from the Bible about what happens when we die? In Living Lies About Death #1, and Living Lies About Death #2 we discovered that “a living soul” is the whole person, not a separate entity, and that the only one who has immortality is God. No one else will be immortal until the second coming. (see 1 Thes 4:13-18)
Some of today’s preachers have gotten really carried away with the subject of death and what happens when we die. I have heard several preachers who have said things like
“The believer’s death day is really their best birthday – the time of their greatest triumph.”
“Of all the happy days, the death day will be the happiest of all. The day of our new birth. The day of our coming of age. The day of our conversion. The day of our entire sanctification. The day of our marriage. The day of honor. And all other days are nothing compared to the delightful death day which shall usher us into our Father’s House on high.”
Why is death such a happy event? Because, as Pastor Heslop who wrote the above tries to assure us, dead people are not dead. Even though the Bible says they are dead, he and many others keep saying “no they are not. “
Heslop further states:
“Death to the believer in Jesus Christ is but a doorway to a house not made with hands.” “Death is only the hand that snaps the fetters and emancipates the soul. Death is only the bridal peal calling the sanctified soul to its everlasting espousals. Death is the door opener into a city without sin, sorrow or suffering, A sunrise without a sunset.”
There Is No Death
There is no death. There are no dead. These words were found on the stone marker that identified the site of the original Fox Sister’s cottage in Hydesville, New York, in 1948. The obelisk at the later spiritualistic church in Rochester New York also contained the same falsehood: There is no death. There are no dead.
The Yearbook of Spiritualism for 1871 states:
“In strictness there is no death.”
What Are Modern Christians saying Now?
Jesus taught that death was simply a sleep. Jesus taught that death was a rest. There was an occasion where Jesus’ friend Lazarus had died. And Lazarus had become very, very sick before that. And Jesus got word that Lazarus was sick. Jesus waited before going. He waited a couple days, and by the time he got there, since there was a journey, he was in Galilee, and Lazarus was in Bethany. It was four days. This is a time that Jesus was four days late, and yet, as we now know, Jesus was right on time.
Why did Jesus wait like that? Why didn’t Jesus just go to Lazarus right away? Because he wanted to work a miracle that was greater than merely healing an illness. Jesus was going to work a miracle of raising Lazarus from the dead! After he had said this, he went on to tell them
Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep; but I am going there to wake him up.”
His disciples replied
“Lord, if he sleeps, he will get better.”
Jesus had of course been speaking of his death, but his disciples thought he meant natural sleep. So, then Jesus told them plainly
“Lazarus is dead, (John 11:11-14) Here, in John 11, they come to Jesus, and they say, Jesus, your friend Lazarus is sick. And Jesus says, our friend Lazarus sleeps, but I’m going to wake him up. Well, they thought, wait a minute. If Lazarus is sleeping, he’s going to get well. This is not to death. Our friend Lazarus is sleeping. They thought, this is good news, because if you’re sick and you sleep, maybe the fever breaks. Maybe the sickness is over. And then the Bible says
“However, Jesus spoke of his death, but they thought that he was speaking about taking rest in sleep.”
And then Jesus makes it plain.
“Jesus said to them, plainly, Lazarus is dead. So, they clearly understood.”
Now, how did Jesus treat death? What did Jesus say to his closest followers? Did he say to them, now, don’t worry at all about Lazarus, because, sure, he’s dead, but he has this immortal soul, and it’s gone up to heaven. Not at all. No such teaching in the Bible. And Jesus certainly didn’t believe that anyway. Jesus simply said, Lazarus is sleeping. And then Jesus said, Lazarus is what? Lazarus is dead.
So, Christ then went to the home of Mary and Martha. And as he talked to the sister of Lazarus, Jesus said to her, your brother’s going to rise again. And she said, oh, Lord, if you would have been here, he wouldn’t have died. And I know he’s going to rise again in the last day. This sister of Lazarus, who got her religion directly from Jesus, Mary said, I know he’s going to rise the last day in the resurrection. (the last day). Jesus looks at her and recognizes that she understands the truth about death. What did Martha believe about death? She believed that her faithful brother would rise in the resurrection. She did not believe that he was up in heaven looking down upon her. Mary learned her religion directly from Jesus. And she believed in the resurrection when? At the last day. All the great men and women of faith in the Old and New Testament believe that.
Remember what Paul said there writing to Timothy? He said, my life is being poured out and I wait the righteous judge who will have the crown of life for me in the last day. Paul believed that Christ was going to come again and that he, if he died in that Roman prison, that he would be resurrected in the last day. All believers know that. John believed it, exiled on the island of Patmos. Paul believed it. Mary believed it. Martha believed it. Jesus taught it.
Mary and Martha were crying, not because they thought Lazarus was up in heaven, but because of the pain and the agony of separation from him until the resurrection at the last day. Jesus says to her, I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me, though he may die, he shall live. In other words, even though that person dies, though they go into the grave, they are going to live again. They will be resurrected from the dead. That first death will not hold its victims. The grave will not keep its victims. That death is not a long night without a morning. The tomb is not simply a dark hole in the ground. So, Jesus said, if you believe, your brother is going to live again to demonstrate his power over death, to demonstrate his power over the grave, to demonstrate his ability over death. Jesus comes to that grave, and Jesus says, Lazarus, come forth.
And Lazarus comes out of the grave, rises to new life. He had been in that grave four days. Lazarus comes out of the tomb. New life, Jesus says to those who see him. Loose him and let him go. He was all bandaged up with the grave clothes. Life is pulsating through his body. There’s a new smile on his face. There’s a new sparkle in his eyes. There’s a new spring in his step. I can just imagine how he comes, and I can picture him as he embraces Christ.
If what some people believe is true, Jesus didn’t say, Lazarus, come down. Jesus said, Lazarus, come forth. If I were up in heaven for four days, rejoicing in glory, if I were fellowshipping with the angels, if I were eating from the tree of life, and Jesus said, come down, I would have yelled back from heaven if I were Lazarus. Nothing doing, Lord. I’m not coming. You just called the wrong name, Lord. You just called the wrong person. I’m already up here in glory. I’m rejoicing in the kingdom of God. I am not coming back. Why would I?
If anybody could have given a testimony about life after death, it would have been Lazarus. If he were up in glory, think of the books he could have written that would have been sold throughout the Middle East, throughout Jerusalem, on life after death. But Lazarus had nothing to say. Why not? Because he wasn’t in glory. He wasn’t in glory. He was resting, sleeping there in the tomb, resting like every believer will rest until the coming of Jesus, with no pain, no suffering, no heartache, no sorrow, no death, resting. The Bible says
“His sons come to honor, and he does not know it. They are brought low, and he does not perceive it.” (Job 14:21
Somebody says, I like to think of my mother up in heaven. I like to think of her looking down at me. It just gives me comfort. Would it be comfort for a mother up in heaven if her son was drafted off to war and the enemy captured him and tortured him and gouged out his eyes and gouged out his tongue and tortured him mercilessly? Could that mother be happy in heaven? But what about a mother up in heaven looking down and here’s her little five-year-old and he’s kicking a ball, and he kicks it on the street and the car screeches, doesn’t see the boy, crushes him and the boy’s a quadriplegic for the rest of his life? Would that mother up in heaven be happy? Or think of fathers in heaven seeing their daughters beaten brutally by some angry man?
Isn’t God’s plan so much better?
Our loved ones are not in heaven They don’t see children that have gone astray, gotten involved in drugs and alcohol. Our mothers and fathers are not up there in heaven looking down upon the conflicts and families and the wars on earth. How could they possibly be happy in heaven if they could look down on us and see all the horrible things happening? Even Jesus did not go to Heaven right away. When Jesus died, he was just keeping the Sabbath.
Our fathers and mothers are not up in heaven. Death is a state of perfect rest or sleep until the resurrection when Christ wakes you up and speaks saying now all the sorrow is over, now all the heartache is over, now all the disappointments are over. You see, my friend, God’s way is so much better. We are sheltered in his arms in that perfect sleep. Our true life, the record of our life is hidden with Christ in God. Others cannot always see it because only God can read the heart. Our all-powerful, infinite God knows our identity. It is in his hands. (Isa 49:16)
When we die, we don’t live. How can we live and die at the same time? THAT would just make the Bible out to be an idiotic lie because it says, “when you die you live.” How absurd is that? Are we bound to believing that kind of contradiction? Does God really contradict Himself like that?
The Scripture says that our bodies go to the earth. The life, the breath goes back to God. There is no conscious existence after death until the resurrection. We rest until the Christ comes. In the next moment, we see him coming down from the sky. The Bible says, Psalm 115:7
the dead do not what? The dead do not praise the Lord, nor any that go down into silence. If you went up to heaven when you died, you’d at least praise the Lord, right? Wouldn’t that be what you would be doing? But the Bible says, the dead praise not the Lord. Fifty-three times, death is called a sleep in the Bible. Sixteen hundred times, the Bible uses the word soul, never uses the phrase immortal soul. The Bible says, in that very day that a person dies, even their thoughts perish, Psalm 6:5
Psalm 115:17 the Bible says, the dead praise not the Lord.
Ecclesiastes 9: 5-6, the living know that they shall die, but the dead know not anything.
God’s plan is so much better than human tradition. The immortality of the soul comes in through Greek philosophy, and according to Revelation, will be preparing the world for an overwhelming deception. The Bible says that the works of the dead follow them. It says that those that die in Christ have works which follow them.
When a father or mother dies, and they’ve taught their children about the things of Jesus, those children have that inclination for Christ in their hearts, that inclination for Christ in their lives, and they have that desire to follow Christ. And the works of the parents still follow them, and one day, that child will, making choices to follow Christ, because of an influence of their parents, will be in heaven with Jesus and their parents to rejoice forever and ever. (Prov 26:3, Acts 16:31) God’s word is so clear about this subject of death.
But somebody says, wasn’t there the story of Jesus and the story of the thief on the cross who died, and didn’t the Bible indicate that he would be in heaven with Christ? Well, look, when you have text after text after text that talks about the second coming of Christ, when you have passage after passage in Scripture that talks about the return of Christ, you cannot take one Bible text out of context regarding the thief on the cross and throw out these many other clear texts on the coming of Christ that talk about the resurrection of the body.
Didn’t Jesus say, you will be with me in paradise today? Remember, Jesus is hanging on the cross. There’s a thief on the left, thief on the right. Then the thief says, if you’re the Son of God, come down from the cross. Jesus, hanging there with nails through his hands, with blood running down his wrists, with a crown of thorns upon his head, looks like he cannot save anybody. The other thief turns to Christ, and he says, Lord, remember me when you come into your kingdom. Thankfully, nobody has asked that question. Nobody has made that request. Nobody has made that appeal genuinely and sincerely and been turned away by Jesus. (John 6:37)
You’ll recall that Christ died on the cross on Friday. He rested in the tomb on Sabbath. He was resurrected from the dead-on Sunday. And you will also remember that Mary comes to him on Sunday morning, after the resurrection, falls at his feet. And what does Jesus say? John 20:15, Jesus said to her, Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking? She thinks he’s the gardener and says to him, Sir, if you’ve carried him away, if you’ve taken my Lord away, please tell me where he is. Tell me where you’ve laid him. And I’m going to take him away and give him a proper burial. And what does Jesus say to her?
Jesus says, Mary, Rabboni, which is to say teacher, don’t cling to me for I have not ascended to the Father. But go to my brethren saying, I am ascending, present tense right now, to your Father and my Father and your Father and my God and your God. What does Jesus say to Mary on Sunday? I have not yet ascended to the Father. How could Jesus have said to the thief on Friday that they would be together in paradise on that Friday if Christ had not ascended yet to the Father on the following Sunday morning? Certainly, Jesus did not ascend to Heaven on Friday. So, what was really going on there? Jesus is hanging on the cross. And what does he say? He says, I say unto you today, you will be with me in paradise. It all depends on where you put the comma in that passage. The comma or other punctuations are not inspired. If we put the comma after the word today, it’s clear. If we put it before, it’s a little fuzzy. It becomes a contradiction. If you quote the text this way “I say to you, today you’ll be with me in paradise,” then it appears that Jesus would be in paradise with the thief that day. On the Friday. But if we say, “I say to you today, comma, you will in the future be with me in paradise,” it makes so much more sense. You say, how do you know where to put the comma? Well, first, there were no commas in the original text. That did not come until the 1300s, much later. You don’t take a misplaced comma and throw out 53 texts that say the death is but a sleep, throw out all the texts that talk about the resurrection, and you don’t deny scripture when Jesus himself says that he did not ascend to the Father on that Sunday.
What did Jesus mean when he said that to the thief?
He said, I say to you today, this day that I’m dying on the cross, this day that there’s nails in my hands, this day that there’s a crown of thorns upon my head, this day that it doesn’t look like I can save anybody, I say to you this day, I make that declaration that I will be resurrected from the dead. I will ascend to the father. I will remember you. I will remember you when I come into heaven and paradise. And Jesus says that to you. When you say, Lord, remember me. Remember me in all my guilt. Remember me in all my shame. Remember me, Father. Remember me, dear Jesus. Touch my heart, O Holy Spirit. I feel convicted I must come to you.
Remember me, Jesus says. I accept you, my child. I’ll forgive you, my child. I’ll change your life, my child. You will be with me in paradise. You need not fear death because I have conquered the grave. 1 Corinthians 15:55
O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? But thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Jesus gives us victory over sin. Jesus gives us victory over the grave. Jesus gives us victory over death. 1 Thessalonians 4:16
the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ shall rise first. We which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so shall we ever be with the Lord.
Have you lost some loved one by death? Some father, some mother. You still miss your dad and your mom? My father has passed away. My wife has died. Many others that I have loved are now dead. I long for that day that Jesus will come. Have you lost some husband or wife? Some father or mother? Some sisters or brother? Some sons or daughter? They’re not lost. If they’re a believer in Christ, they are resting where they can never be lost. Their true life, the record of that life, their identity, is hid with Christ in God. They are resting from the pain, the heartache, the sorrow, the tears of life. They know no passage of time. Like that all day surgery I had years ago, the next thing they will know is the coming of Jesus Christ in the clouds of heaven. (Rev 1:7) And as Jesus comes, that little baby will be put in Mom’s arms again. Mom will reach up and hug your face again. You can look into the eyes of that child one day once again. That son or daughter, lost by death, will be reunited with you. One day that father or mother will embrace you again. One day Jesus Christ will come. And one day the sorrow and heartache of earth will be over.
Would you like to connect with Jesus right now? Will you consider asking Jesus to be both your Savior and your Lord? I’d like to say, Jesus, pass me not, O gentle Savior. Lord, I’m coming to you. Lord, I want to see my father again. I want to see my mother again. I want to see my son again, my daughter again. I want to see my spouse again. I want to be caught up in that glorious joy when Jesus comes and live forever with them through all eternity. Lord, I want to be in that resurrection so that I can see them again.
Here is the incredibly good news. Jesus will not pass you by. Savior, Savior, hear my humble cry. The thief on the cross, in his dying breath, said, Lord, remember me. Remember me when you come into your kingdom. And Jesus gave the thief on that very day the assurance of eternal life. When the thief woke up that morning, he had no idea that his whole life would be changed that day. When he trudged up Golgotha’s hill with Christ, he had no idea that his life would be changed that day. When they drove nails through his hands and he writhed in agony, he had no idea that his life would be changed that day. But in that moment, under the conviction of the Holy Spirit, God spoke to him, and he accepted the gift of eternal life.
Right now, God is speaking to you. Right now, God is talking to your life. Maybe you had no idea that you would be reading this article now, but God’s Holy Educating Spirit is speaking to you just now. You can accept Christ right now. Through an act of your will, you can say “Jesus, I am yours.”
That choice changed the thief’s life. That choice will change your life right now as we pray.
“…It came to pass that the brook dried up” (1 Kings 17:7).
Wow! Jesus calls ME Friend!
The education of my faith has long been incomplete. I could not for so long learn how that there is a providence in each loss, in every sorrow, in all things concerning me. A beautiful, providential ministry of failing, of stolen dreams, of broken heart and wrecked life, and of fading things. The special gift of emptiness. The material insecurities of my life make for its spiritual establishment in Christ alone. The dwindling stream by which Elijah sat and reflected here is a true picture of the life of each of us.
“…It came to pass that the brook dried up”– that is the history of our yesterday, and a prophecy of our tomorrows.
In some way or other we will have to learn the difference between trusting in the gift and trusting in the Giver. The gift may be really good for a while, but the Giver is the Eternal Love. “The everlasting arms.” (Deut 33:27)
The Brook Cherith where Elijah cringed in fear and despair was a difficult problem to Elijah until he got to Zarephath, and then it was all as clear as daylight. The prophet had realized God’s hard words are never His last words. The woe and the waste and the tears of life belong to the interlude and not to the finale.
Had Elijah been led straight to Zarephath he would have missed something that helped to make him a wiser prophet and a better man. Closer to God. Elijah lived by faith at Cherith. And whenever in your life and mine some spring of earthly and outward resource has dried up that we have been enjoyng. Leaning on. It has only been so that we might learn that our hope and help are in God alone, who made Heaven and earth.
Those in the highways are not to be neglected; neither are those in the hedges; and as we journey about from place to place and pass by house after house, we should often inquire, “Have the people who are living in these places heard the message? Has the truth of God’s Word been brought to their ears? Do they understand that the end of all things is at hand, and that the judgments of God are impending? Do they realize that every soul has been bought with an infinite price? As I meditate upon these things, my heart goes out in deep longing to see the truth carried in its simplicity to the homes of these people along the highways and places far removed from the crowded centers of population.It is our privilege to visit them and acquaint them with God’s love for them and with His wonderful provision for the salvation of their souls. {Ev 45.2}
This life is full of gracious opportunities, which you can improve in the exercise of your God-given abilities to bless others, and in so doing bless yourself, without considering self in the matter. Trivial circumstances oftentimes prove a decided blessing to the one who acts from principle and has formed the habit of doing right because it is right. Seek for a perfect character, and let all you do, whether seen and appreciated by human eyes or not, be done with an eye single to God’s glory, because you belong to God and He has redeemed you at the price of His own life. Be faithful in the least as well as in the greatest; learn to speak the truth, to act all times the truth. Let the heart be fully submitted to God. If controlled by His grace, you will do little deeds of kindness, take up the duties lying next to you, and bring all the sunshine into your life and character that it is possible to bring, scattering the gifts of love and blessing along the pathway of life. Your works will be far-reaching as eternity. Your lifework will be seen in heaven, and there it will live, through ceaseless ages, because it is found precious in the sight of God. Remember that what is worth doing at all is worth doing well. {ML 219.4}
This Sabbath Day I am celebrating that God’s love has been there “all along.” His Hand has been guiding me. Loving me. Taking care of me. Giving me people in my life to be His hands of blessing upon my soul. Our Lord is “mighty to save.”
Who is this coming from Edom, from Bozrah, with his garments stained crimson? Who is this, robed in splendor, striding forward in the greatness of his strength? “It is I, proclaiming victory, mighty to save.” (Isa 63:1)
Edom was a constant enemy of Israel despite its common ancestry in Isaac (Gen 25:23). Edom rejoiced at any trouble Israel faced. The imagery in this passage is of a watchman on the wall of Jerusalem, seeing Edom approaching and fearing that the Edomite king in his red garment is leading an attack. But it turns out to be the Lord, in bloodstained clothes, who has trampled and destroyed Edom.
And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God.(Rev 19:13)
John’s vision shifts again. Heaven opens, and Jesus appears—this time not as a Lamb but as a warrior on a white horse (symbolizing victory). Jesus came first as a Lamb to be a sacrifice for sin, but he will return as a conqueror and king to execute judgment (2 Thes 1:7-10). Jesus’ first coming brought forgiveness; his second will bring judgment. The battle lines have been drawn between God and evil, and the world is waiting for the King to ride onto the field.
Christ has given to the church a sacred charge. Every member should be a channel through which God can communicate to the world the treasures of His grace, the unsearchable riches of Christ. There is nothing that the Savior desires so much as agents who will represent to the world His Spirit and His character. There is nothing that the world needs so much as the manifestation through humanity of the Savior’s love. All heaven is waiting for men and women through whom God can reveal the power of Christianity. {AA 600.1}
If the church will put on the robe of Christ’s righteousness, withdrawing from all allegiance with the world, there is before her the dawn of a bright and glorious day. God’s promise to her will stand fast forever. He will make her an eternal excellency, a joy of many generations. Truth, passing by those who despise and reject it, will triumph. Although at times apparently retarded, its progress has never been checked. When the message of God meets with opposition, He gives it additional force, that it may exert greater influence. Endowed with divine energy, it will cut its way through the strongest barriers and triumph over every obstacle. {AA 601.1}
All Along (Written by Jennifer Lamountain Originally Performed by Jennifer Lamountain)
“Time just drifts away
and as I look back on the years
with memories of
happiness and bitter tears
Through it all there is
a common thread
that cannot be ignored
You were there teaching me to be
Your servant Lord
All along
Your hand has been guiding me
shaping my life to be a beautiful song
All along
You’ve led me through
things that you knew would
make me strong
Your love has been there all along
Every joy and pain
have a reason of their own
now I realize that I was not alone
The changing seasons of my life
were not left up to chance
Lord, I know You were working to fulfill Your plan
All along
Your hand has been guiding me
shaping my life to be a beautiful song
All along
You’ve led me through
things that You knew would
make me strong
Your love has been there all along
Tomorrow when I turn around
and I look back at today
I will understand Your
purpose and my thankful heart will say
All along
Your hand has been guiding me
shaping my life to be a beautiful song
All along
You’ve led me through
things that You knew would
make me strong
Your love has been there all along
Anyone who is among the living has hope—even a live dog is better off than a dead lion! For the living know that they will die, but the dead know nothing; they have no further reward, and even their name is forgotten. (Eccl 9:4-5, NIV)
resurrection power
Last week, in Living Lies About Death #1, we said that this week we will deal with what the Bible says about “immortality.”
To understand death, we really must understand this idea of immortality. Is the soul immortal, or is there a resurrection? If you have an immortal soul that wings its way to Heaven as soon as you die, why would you need a resurrection of the body? We must look at what does the Bible teach about immortality? Do we have it now? Will we have it in the future? Do we have an “immortal soul?” Is this thing called the soul immortal? What is the soul? And what about the resurrection that the Bible teaches about? Where can we find answers?
The truth of the matter is that yes, we can find answers. We find answers deeply embedded in Scripture. We find answers in the Word of God. The Bible helps us to understand the mystery of death.
In Rev 1:18 we read: ” And behold, I’m alive for evermore. Amen. And I have the keys of Hades and of death.
Christ was alive, crucified on the cross, went into the grave, rested on the seventh-day Sabbath, and was resurrected from the dead, on Sunday, the first day of the week. It was at that point that Jesus said, I’m going to my father.
Mary tried to cling to his feet and Jesus said,
“Touch me not, I’m ascending to the father.” (John 20:17)
So now we have the basic and Biblical idea idea of death, rest in the tomb over Sabbath, resurrection, Jesus ascending to heaven. But notice what Jesus says.
“I have the keys of Hades and death. Hades, the grave.” (Rev 1:18)
This is incredibly good news. Death is not some locked up tomb or prison in the earth. Jesus said, I have the keys. You need not fear death. Jesus already experienced death. And Jesus already conquered the grave. Death is a defeated foe. Every time Jesus faced death, Jesus won, and death lost. Every time Christ faced the grave, he came out victorious. And he demonstrated his power over the grave by raising from the dead many who had died in those days.
Christ has conquered the grave. Jesus went into the grave and came out. And because Jesus has the keys to the grave, death is an unlocked mystery through Jesus. The Bible teaches that one day Jesus will come again. One day the dead in Christ will be resurrected. Check out 1 Thessalonians 4:16. It talks about the coming of Jesus.
“The Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, with the trumpet of God. The dead in Christ will rise first.” If the dead in Christ “rise first” then how can it be possible that we go to Heaven as soon as we die?
We are told to not fear death because Jesus is coming again. (Rev 1:7) We can see our loved ones again!
When my late wife died of cancer in my arms, she had this hope. I read that passage to her daily in the days preceding her death.
What does the Bible teach about the idea of the immortal soul? Does the Bible teach that the soul is immortal? Let’s go back to the book of Genesis because if we understand how God created humanity in the beginning, we can also understand about what happens when we die.
Gen 2:7 informs us that there is no such thing as people having a soul. Having an immortal soul. And note what the Bible does not say. The Bible does not say that God put an immortal soul in human beings when they were created.
God formed us. God fashioned us. God shaped us out of what? The dust of the earth. “And man became a living soul.” God breathed his life-giving breath into man. We do not “have a soul.” We are a soul! God formed Adam out of the dust of the Earth and then God breathed into Adam’s nostrils the “breath of life.” And it was right after this that the Bible tells us “Man became a living soul.” We do not have a soul. We are a soul.
We could look at it this way.
Dust, that is, the dust of the earth is what God created mankind from, and God’s Spirit breathed into man “the breath of life” and thus created “a living soul.” In the Bible the soul is not something put into a human being that is immortal. A human being is a living soul. A mortal. Body plus “breath of life” = “living soul.” (Gen 2:7) The body plus the breath equals a living soul. In the Bible, when the word soul is used, it is used as something we are. I am the product of body and breath. I am a living soul, a living being, a living personality. A living soul means a living being or a living personality. In Scripture, a living being, a living soul, means a living person. We don’t “have a soul.” It is our whole being that is collectively called “a living soul” by God Himself. A living soul means an individual who’s thinking, functioning, and breathing.
Is the soul immortal? Can the soul ever die?
“Behold, all souls are mine. The soul of the Father as well as the soul of the Son is mine. The soul who sins shall die.” (Ezekiel 18:5)
The soul that sins shall what?
“DIE.”
How else could we read that passage? The same way we read Genesis 2:7 The person, the living being that sins is going to die. So, let’s go back to Genesis again. It tells us that God created man out of the dust of the ground, breathed into his nostrils the breath of life. And only then “Man became a living” what? A living soul or being or personality. A person. The soul who sins. What’s going to happen to them? They’re going to die. The word soul simply put can mean in the Bible
“a living being.”
An entire, or complete being. Not a separate entity of any kind.
Another name for soul in the Bible is person or life. Two-thirds of the time, the Bible uses the term soul. It’s for life. One-third is for person. Sometimes the Bible talks about the soul as something we are, the product of body and breath. Sometimes the Bible uses the term soul as something we have, two-thirds of the time, in fact. But it never once says that we have an immortal soul. We have life. Mortal life. because the soul that sins will die. No two ways about it. We have life. But in our current, mortal state we can lose it. The only way to attain unto immortality in this, our current state is the resurrection.
The Bible says in Matthew 16:25-26
For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it. What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul?
Whoever desires to save their what? Whoever desires to save their life, will lose it. But whoever loses their life for my sake will do what? They will find it. Then he goes on to say, Mat 16:26 “For what profit is it to anyone if they gain the whole world and lose their own what? Soul. Or what will a person give in exchange for their soul?
In the earlier verse, it talks about losing your life. Then this verse, it talks about losing your soul. It talks about preserving your life or preserving your soul. When the Bible talks about soul, it can be talking about life. About our mortal state.
When we die, our life is no more. The Bible never talks about soul in the sense of immortal soul. In fact, the Bible uses the term soul 1,600 times. Never once does it put the word immortal with the word soul. Never once does it link those two things together. Wouldn’t you think if human beings had an immortal soul, that at least it would be linked once together in Scripture? In the Bible, it is never linked together. Only God is immortal currently. Mortal means subject to death. Immortal means imperishable. The Bible never uses the terms immortal soul or the immortality of the soul. The Bible does, however, speak about Jesus as the One who alone, is immortal.
Now to the King Eternal, immortal, invisible, to God who alone is wise, be honor and glory forever and ever. (1 Tim 1:17)
Immortality is something that God has. Something that God is. Not us. At least, not yet.
Shall mortal man be more just than his maker? (Job 4:17)
We are mortal. Our impermanence is acutely felt every time a loved one dies. Jesus Himself died and was resurrected. Why wouldn’t the same happen to us? We seek for immortality. But we do not have it now in our current state. The Bible tells us when it will happen:
Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed—in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. (1 Cor 15:51-52)
We put on immortality when Christ comes. At His second coming. Because we are mortal. The Bible says clearly that “death is the LAST enemy to be destroyed.” (1 Cor 15:26)
As Humans. As mortals, we do seek for immortality. The Bible says that we put on immortality when Jesus comes again. We put it on when Christ comes. Currently, God alone has immortality.
Let’s look now at something in 1 Tim 6
In the sight of God, who gives life to everything, and of Christ Jesus, who while testifying before Pontius Pilate made the good confession, I charge you to keep this command without spot or blame until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, which God will bring about in his own time—God, the blessed and only Ruler, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone is immortal and who lives in unapproachable light, whom no one has seen or can see. To him be honor and might forever. Amen. (1 Tim 6:13-16)
Christians who know their Bible look for the day that we’ll be clothed with immortality when Jesus comes. According to the Bible, God alone is the only One that has immortality now.
The ancient Greeks believed that the soul was immortal and that it would leave the body at death. Also, this idea of the immortality of the soul can be traced back to the Babylonians, it can be traced back to the Egyptian culture. Many pagan cultures had this idea. But the Bible always teaches that the soul was not/is not something that was/is immortal.
Mortality. It’s something we are, the product of body and breath. All our parts and pieces, including our character, collectively are “a living soul.” God created humans out of the dust of the ground, breathed into their nostrils the breath of the spirit of life. We become a living being, a living soul. The soul represents our life. We die, we no longer breathe, that life is over. The Scriptures teach that death is but a rest, a sleep, until the resurrection, and that there is nothing like the immortality of the soul found in the Bible.
What Does New Age/Spiritualism Say?
Spiritualism teaches that the soul is immortal. If you accept the idea of the immortality of the soul, then that leaves you very open, very vulnerable to spiritualism. If we believe the first lie that when we die, we don’t really die, we lay ourselves wide open for the last day deceptions of the devil and his demons who will either impersonate dead loved ones or even impersonate Christ at His second coming. (2 Cor 11:14)
The Bible speaks of spiritualistic delusions in the last days of earth’s history. The devil is preparing men and women through a false understanding or a misunderstanding of death. The devil is preparing men and women through that very first lie in Eden about death with the idea of the immortal soul. The devil will use that specific idea about death to deceive us. The devil can use wrong ideas about death to lead us down the pathway of destruction.
The Bible says
“As the cloud disappears and vanishes away, so they who go down to the grave do not come up. (Job 7:9)
You see, spiritualism says that there’s an immortal soul that leaves the body at death, and that under the right conditions, that this supposed immortal soul, this being that has died, didn’t really die and can still communicate with the living. But the Bible says death is a sleep until the resurrection. Just like the cloud disappears and vanishes, so too, the person who goes down to the grave is not going to come up again until the second coming and the resurrection.
“The dead know not anything.” (Eccl 9:5)
If you are someone who has seen a loved one and talked to them after they have died, you must follow the examples of others who have had to say to these spirit visitants:
“I know you’re not my loved one. I know you’re a demon. In the name of Jesus Christ, be gone.”
As we understand what the Bible really teaches about death, as we understand what the Bible teaches about the immortal soul, God will protect us in the spiritual crises and deceptions of the ages that is almost upon us now. That’s why it’s so vital to understand these truths from the Bible.
Several people I have talked to have said it something like this:
“There is no death in the graveyard. I have frequent talks with the dead. I cannot doubt that people live after death, for I frequently talk with them.”
From the popular, modern magazine called Psychic Powers, page 93 we read:
“The world of mediumship offers a tantalizing promise: the ability to act as a conduit between the living and the deceased. The ability to relay conversations from beyond the grave suggests that life doesn’t truly end with death, a notion that provides many people with comfort. Mediums claim that spirits can provide many people with comfort. Mediums claim that spirits can provide information about their lives, death, and the afterlife, messages that the medium can then relay to their client.
There is no scientific evidence to support the existence of an ability to channel the dead, but we do have insight as to why hearing words from the spirit world presents itself as a true phenomenon that people would want to fervently embrace. It allows us to contemplate a reality where the bond we share with our loved ones can be a magical conduit for communication, which provides comfort and affirmation that love, and life continue beyond death’s door.”
Spiritualism is repeating the first lie in these last days and this very same first lie will be the last lie by which many are deceived in these end times that we are living in now.
Spiritualism is dependent on the idea of the immortal soul. The Bible warns us against spiritualism for several good reasons.
“Do not go to mediums or wizards for advice—they will only make you unclean. I am the LORD your God. (Lev 19:31)
The people will say, “Go to the fortune-tellers and wizards who mumble and chirp like birds. Ask them what to do.” But I say, “Shouldn’t people go to their God for help? Why go to the dead to get help for the living? You should follow the teachings and the agreement. I swear, if you follow those other things, there is no future for you. (Isa 8:19-20)
The Spirit clearly says that in the last times some will turn away from what we believe. They will obey spirits that tell lies. And they will follow the teachings of demons. (1 Tim 4:1)
Contrary to the teaching of the Bible, many people deny the bodily resurrection of Jesus. They reject the idea that for believers, death was being asleep until the second coming of Christ.
The Bible reveals the plans of God. The Bible unmasks the plans of Satan. The Bible teaches that death is like a sleep. The believer who dies is as secure as if they were sleeping in the arms of Jesus Christ. Safe in the arms of Jesus. That’s the message that Jesus gives to us in the Bible. More than 53 times in the Bible, death is mentioned as a sleep. 1 Corinthians 15: 51-52 says
Behold, I tell you a mystery. Jesus, through the apostle Paul, is going to tell us the mystery of death. He’s going to solve that mystery. We shall not all what? Sleep. But we shall be changed when? In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump, for the trumpet shall sound. If it was true that we just go to heaven right away when we die, then why on earth would we need a resurrection? Why would Jesus drag us down for a resurrection if we were already in heaven? Who would want to leave heaven if they were already there?
When we die, it’s just as secure as sleeping in the arms of Jesus. We die and we just rest. There’s no pain, there’s no suffering, and notice there’s no passing of time. It says, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye. When you fall asleep, what’s the next thing that you know? You wake up. You see Jesus, (Rev 1:7)
I once had a 13 1/2-hour surgery. When they put me to sleep, I lay on that operating table all day having all kinds of things happen to me and around me. But I was unaware of all of it. When I woke up it seemed as though only a few minutes had passed. I fell asleep and the next thing I knew, I was awake. That’s all death is. Nothing to be feared. If you’re a believer, we simply fall asleep and we rest. The next moment, the next instant, the next conscious thinking moment, we will see Christ coming. (Rev 1:7, Mark 14:62, Job 19:26-27)
In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye at the last trumpet, for the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. We are changed in a moment, in an instant. Changed from mortality to immortality, to receive these glorious new bodies in Christ. But this only happens at the second coming. On that resurrection morning.
When God created Adam, He placed his breath within him, not within an immortal soul. (Gen 2:7). The Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and he breathed into his nostrils the breath of life. Notice what God is breathing into him. It’s the breath of life. Adam was not immortal” before this. Man becomes a living soul. What is this breath that God breathes into him? You see, death is creation in reverse. Death is nothing more than creation in reverse.
“Then the dust will return to the earth when we die as it was and the spirit will return to God who gave it. (Eccl 12:7)
Notice how it doesn’t say the SOUL will return to God who gave it. This is where many people make a big mistake. They think the soul and the spirit are the same thing. They are not. They are two different words that mean two different things. The spirit is nothing more than the breath that God breathed into us initially. The Old Testament word for spirit is ruach, and it means breath. So, God breathes his breath or His spirit, His life force into us.
What goes back to God?
The power of God that he has given us to sustain life.
The spirit and the soul are two different things in the Bible. The soul is something that we are. We are the product of body and breath combined. Not separate entities. The soul has to do with our life. The spirit is the breath of God that sustains or gives us that life. Only when God breathed into it, we lived. When he breathed into that body, we lived. If he wouldn’t have breathed his life into it, we would not have lived. So, the breath of life, the spirit of life, the life-giving force, energy that God puts in us enables us to live. Every breath we take is dependent on the very life that God gives us. It is His breath of life, not our’s.
When we die, we go back to the earth. “Ashes to ashes, dust to dust.” The breath/spirit goes back to Him, and we await in sleep that resurrection day. The spirit or breath of life, the power of life, goes back to God. The Bible teaches that the breath and the spirit are the very same thing. They are one in Scripture. But the “soul” is something quite different.
The Bible teaches in Job 27:3 that often there’s something called in Hebrew parallelism. God says something in the first verse. He explains it in the latter part of that verse.
if I have life within me, the breath of God is in my nostrils, (Job 27:3)
Notice, all the while my breath is where? In me. And the spirit of God is where? In my nostrils. Its the same thing. Breath equals spirit, in this case.
Let’s suppose that the light bulb represents our body. So, this represents our body, or we’re created out of the dust of the ground. Let’s suppose the electricity represents the spirit or the breath. So, somebody turn on the light. Throw the switch. There we go. Thank you very much. Okay, so when the power comes through the power cord, representing the breath or spirit, to the light bulb, what happens? There is illumination. So, to have illumination, what do you need? Do you need just power and the cord? No. You need what? A light bulb. Do you have a light bulb? Do you have illumination? No. You need power. The spirit represents the power. The light bulb is represented by the body. Now, if you turn off the power, please turn off the power. Thank you. Okay, if you turn off the power, what happens? The electricity is back to the powerhouse. What happens to the bulb? It no longer has illumination.
When a person dies, the spirit goes to God, the body, represented by the light bulb, is buried in the earth, and the person’s true life is hidden with Christ in God. They no longer exist as a living soul. They no longer exist as a living being. As a “living soul.” That which goes back to God is not something that thinks. It’s not something that feels. It’s not something that we can call some conscious entity. Since the power to create life is with God, his spirit, which gave life, returns to God. Is there any consciousness in death? Any thought processes going on in death?
The Bible says, Psalm 146:4
When their spirit departs, they return to the ground; on that very day their plans come to nothing.
If there was some kind of immortal soul that went back to God, which the Bible doesn’t teach, what would happen to the thought processes? They would continue. But the Bible says the thought processes do what?
“His thoughts perish.”
Ecclesiastes, chapter 9:5-6 makes it so plain. Notice what it says. “Anyone who is among the living has hope—even a live dog is better off than a dead lion! For the living know that they will die, but the dead know nothing; they have no further reward, and even their name is forgotten. Their love, their hate and their jealousy have long since vanished; never again will they have a part in anything that happens under the sun.” (Eccl 9:4-6)
How much do the dead know? (nothing). The Bible says the dead know not anything. Their love, their hatred, their envy has now perished. If a person went immediately to heaven, they would have to have love to love God. They would, notice, if they went immediately to hell, they would have hatred or envy. But the Bible says the living know that they shall die. And that the dead knows how much? The dead don’t know anything. Every emotion is ceased. Why? Because they’re resting. Resting until Jesus comes. Resting until they receive their final reward. Resting until the resurrection of the righteous or the resurrection of the unrighteous. (Dan 12:2, Mat 25:46, Acts 24:15)
Death is asleep until Christ’s coming. The Bible writers mention this already over 50 different times. Let me give you some examples. Psalm 13:3,
Consider and hear me, David says, O Lord my God, enlighten mine eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death. What did David believe about death? He believed that it was asleep. King David believed that it was a rest until the coming of Christ. And we find this same idea throughout the entire Old and New Testaments.
Next week, In Living Lies About Death #3 we will examine what the Bible calls “A Covenant with Death,” and a few other favorite arguments from people who say “we shall not surely die.”
“It is appointed to everyone to die once,” and for those who are loyal to Jesus and only what His Word says, they will rise again. On the resurrection morning.
