"Immortality of the Soul or Resurrection of the Dead" - Pastor Stephen Bohr

shall we bow our heads for prayer father in heaven we thank you so much for the awesome privilege of being here today we thank you Father for your holy spirit and we ask that as we study this concluding message on the state of the Dead that your Holy Spirit will guide our thoughts and soften our hearts that we might be able to hear your voice I asked father that you will take away all preconceived ideas and you will help us to see truth as it is in Jesus and we thank you Father for hearing and answering our prayer for we ask it in Jesus name Amen the title of our study for today is immortality of the soul or resurrection of the Dead and a little bit later on I'm going to explain to you the reason why I gave this lecture this particular title I'd like to begin by inviting you to turn in your Bibles with me to Genesis chapter 1 and verse 5 and as you're looking for Genesis 1 and verse 5 allow me to say that the book of Genesis makes it very very clear that God created time and matter God is the originator of time and matter now notice Genesis chapter 1 and verse 5 where time is spoken of God creating time with respect to this earth it says there God called the light day and the darkness he called night saw the evening and the morning were the first day so you see God made the day of 24 hours the day that it's composed of the light portion which is called day and the dark portion which is called night God was the creator of time let's notice another text in Genesis chapter 1 where we are told that the different time measurements were created by God Genesis chapter 1 and verse 14 Genesis chapter 1 and verse 14 it says here then God said let there be lights in the firmament of the heavens to divide the day from the night and let them be for signs and seasons and for days and years so you'll notice that God created the time measurements days years seasons in other words time measurements were created by God God is the originator of time you're gonna see why I'm emphasizing this so strongly as we begin our study now there's another thing which is very clear in the first two chapters of Genesis and that is that God also was the creator of matters a matter material substance notice Genesis chapter 2 and verse 7 were speaking about the origin of man and by the way I could also read the verses where the creation of trees and where the creation of animals are mentioned those are things composed of material substance but I'm only going to read about man and woman Genesis 2 and verse 7 in the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life and man became a living being so what is man composed of dust who created man God created man so did God use matter to create man he most certainly did notice about the creation of woman in Genesis 2 verses 21 and 23 Genesis chapter 2 and verses 21 and 23 it says there and the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall on Adam and he slept and he took one of his ribs and closed up the notice flesh in its place then the rib which the Lord God had taken from man he made into a woman and he brought her to the man and Adam said this is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh she shall be called woman because she was taken out of man did Adam and Eve both have flesh and bones yes the Bible tells us that Adam was made of dust so a very important aspect of the story of creation in Genesis 1 is that God was the creator of both time and material substance now I want to read the conclusion of the creation story in Genesis 1 and verse 31 Genesis 1 and verse 31 you see god not only made time and matter but the Bible tells us that what God made was not only good but was very good notice Genesis 1 verse 31 then God saw everything that he had made and indeed it was what very good so the evening and the morning were the sixth day so let me ask you is time good obviously yes is matter good absolutely because God created both and we're told in the creation story that what God made during the six days of creation was not only good but very good time and manner are very good however God had said that in order for man to continue living in order for time not to deteriorate and degenerate matter it was necessary for man to continue eating from a tree that God put in the garden from the tree of life and we're also told that man could not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil let's read first of all about the tree of the knowledge of good and evil Genesis 2 verses 16 and 17 Genesis 2:16 and 17 and the Lord God commanded the man saying of every tree of the garden you may freely eat but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die the sentence was pronounced the very day that Adam and Eve ate from the tree God said the day you eat of it that day you will die so God placed a condition he said if you want to continue living forever you have to abstain from eating from the tree of knowledge of good and evil now the question is did Adam and Eve eat from the knowledge of tree of knowledge of good and evil of course we all know that they did let's read about it in Genesis chapter 3 and verse 6 Genesis 3 and verse 6 and most of this is review for us but we're setting the stage for something very important that you're going to notice in a few moments Genesis 3 verse 6 so and the woman saw that the tree was good for food that it was pleasant to the eyes and a tree desirable to make one wise she took of its fruit and ate she also gave to her husband with her and he what and he ain't let me ask you were they now under the sentence of death they most certainly were by the way they had to continue eating from the tree of life in our first lecture in this series we studied about the tree of life and we noticed that it wasn't enough for them to eat just once they had to continue eating from the tree on a regular basis because it was like a battery charger but the Bible tells us that when they ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil they were barred from eating of the Tree of Life and as a result the matter they had degenerated deteriorated got old got wrinkled and ultimately what happened to it it died notice Genesis chapter 2 and verses 22 to 24 and the importance of partaking of the Tree of Life in order to continue living a full and abundant life it says then the Lord God said Behold the man has become like one of us to know good and evil and now lest he put out his hand and take also of the tree of life and eat and live forever therefore the Lord God sent him out of the Garden of Eden to till the ground from which he was taken so he drove out the man and he placed cherubim at the east of the Garden of Eden and a flaming sword which turned every way to guard the way to the Tree of Life let me ask you then was man now going to degenerate and deteriorate it deteriorate until the moment of death because he ate from the forbidden tree and because he could not eat from the tree of life yes he was going to degenerate and he was going to die would that have happened if Adam and Eve had chosen not to eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil and if they continued eating from the tree of life no time would not have deteriorated matter matter would have continually have been regenerated and renewed by eating from the tree of life but the Bible tells us that because of sin now time acted upon matter and as time passed matter deteriorated wrinkled became sick and ultimately died notice Romans 5 and verse 12 tells us very clearly that the reason why death came into the world was because of sin it's not because time and matter were evil the reason why is because sin acted now upon time and matter and as a result degeneration came and ultimately death Romans 5 verse 12 says therefore just as one man sin entered the world and death through sin and thus death spread to all men because all what because all sinned and of course in the next chapter we find that famous verse for the wages of sin is what death now there's an undeniable fact of life as we know it in this world now and that is that with the passing of time matter deteriorates and begins to ruin in other words as time passes by the human body begins to wrinkle the human body gets old the human body gets sick and ultimately the human body what dies let me ask you was that the original plan of God absolutely not the original plan was that man should live forever and by eating from the tree of life matter would regenerate and rejuvenate on a consistent basis and man would be filled with joy and happiness forever that was God's plan but then sin came into the equation and because of sin this is very important because of sin time acts upon matter and matter deteriorates and degenerates now allow me to talk a little bit about the beliefs of the Greek philosophers philosophers such as Socrates and Plato you see the Greek philosophers had no special revelation from God they did not have the Bible but they were keen observers and they could see that with the passing of time the body wrinkled the body got sick the body got old and the body eventually died and they could see that time acting upon matter degenerated the material body and eventually led to death they also observe something else and that is that the body was the source of all types of evil passions as well as virtues you know they saw that the body would lead to all kinds of the basest crimes and the basest immorality and so basically the Greek philosophers concluded that time was evil and matter was evil and if somehow man could escape the realm of time into timelessness and man could escape the realm of matter to a realm where there is no matter as a result you would not have these conflicting base passions and of course time would not act upon matter and men would not get old and he would not die allow me to read you some statements from certain Greek philosophers so you can see the the the problem that they had the conflict that they had as they observed the behavior of man the bodily functions of man you know most of the sins our sins of the flesh so-called they could see these sins of the flesh they said it's because the body is evil and because time acts upon the body for example Ovid once said I see the better things and I agree with them but I follow the worse Seneca that great Roman writer said men love and hate their vices at the same time sounds similar to what the Apostle Paul said in Romans 7 and verse 19 where he says for the good that I would do I do not but the evil which I would not do that I do and then in Romans chapter 7 and verse 20 the Apostle Paul says now if I do what I would not it is no more I that do it but sin that dwelleth in me so they could see this controversy this conflict between virtue and vice and they said if we could get out of the realm of time and matter there would no longer be any vice because there would no longer be any body and there would be no longer time so their ideal was to escape time and to escape matter by the way the wisdom of Solomon also stated a perishable body weighs down the soul and this earthly tent burdens the thoughtful mind now how did the Greek philosophers resolve this problem how did they see men escaping the realm of time and the realm of matter to be able to enter a realm where there is no time and no matter and therefore no death they reached the conclusion that man had within himself an immortal soul that was timeless and that was not linked in any way with the body in fact they came to the conclusion that time was evil and that the material body was evil allow me to read you some statements from great thinkers who had this concept by the way the there was a Norfolk jingle back in ancient times that went like this soma Simha by the way that means in Greek the body is a Sepulchre the body is a tomb you know there was a jingle that they constantly used for example he picked at us a great philosopher said I am ashamed to have a body I am a poor soul shackled to a corpse Marcus are really yes said this disdain the flesh blood and bones and network twist its kind of nerves veins arteries he says I wish I didn't have any of these physical characteristics the great thinker and philosopher Plato said this no man can be a lover of wisdom and a lover of the body and finally final of Alexandre who was a Jew but he had become contaminated with the Greek way of thinking said the body is a prison and a corpse so they believed that the material body was evil and the time was evil and therefore somehow the soul could leave the body and enter in its true existence in a realm where there was no time and there was no matter therefore time would not act upon matter to cause death and all of these sins of the flesh would disappear because the guilty party was the flesh now you can imagine the frustration of the Apostle Paul discussing these things with the Greeks philosophers on Mars Hill way over there in Greece you could still visit the Areopagus where the Apostle Paul met with these Greek philosophers go with me to Acts chapter 17 and verse 18 Acts chapter 17 and verse 18 describes this encounter of the Apostle Paul with philosophers who were strikes and Epicureans it says there then certain epicurean and stoic philosophers encountered him and some said what does this by babbler want to say others said he seems to be a proclaimer of foreign gods because he preached to them Jesus and what Jesus and the resurrection there was no doctrine that would be more absurd and ridiculous in the mind of the Greek philosopher than the idea of the resurrection of the body who would ever want to keep the body was their concept in fact notice Acts chapter 17 and verse 32 acts 17 and verse 32 when the Apostle Paul finishes his discussion we're told and when they heard of the resurrection of the Dead what did they do some mocked while others said we will hear you again in this matter so where there was this conflict this controversy in the ancient world there was the biblical concept the time is good and matter is good there was the Greek concept that time is evil and matter is evil the biblical concept is that time and matter originally were created good by God but as a result of sin time degenerates matter and leads to death the Greek philosophers not having the Bible not having a clear concept of sin could not explain why time deteriorates matter and therefore they came up with this idea that man is inside himself an immortal soul and that when a person dies the soul flies out of the body into a sphere where there's no time no space therefore there is no evil there's not this controversy between virtues and vices between the sins of the flesh and holiness this idea is totally contrary to the biblical idea in fact if you go with me to John chapter 1 in verse 14 John chapter 1 and verse 14 you know you read this Greek to this verse to a Greek and he would say you're totally insane notice what it says there and the word who has been identified as God and the word was made what flesh have mercy flesh you've gotta be kidding me the philosophers would say that God to become flesh no you leave the flesh and then you got you become a God but not a God taking first flesh is evil and coming into time in the fullness of time the Messiah comes and he takes a fleshly body absurd they would say so it says and the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us and we beheld his glory the glory as of the only begotten of the Father full of grace and truth and then of course you have the description of Jesus after the resurrection notice Luke chapter 24 and verse 39 Luke chapter 24 and verse 39 Jesus says after the resurrection behold my hands and my feet that it is I myself handle me and see for a spirit hath not flesh and bones as he see that I have for a Greek philosopher that would be absurd you mean when he came out of the tomb he actually had a body of flesh and bones because their ideal was to escape the body it becomes worse first John chapter 4 and verse 3 first John four and verse three would be totally absurd to the Greek mind of that time it says in every spirit that does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh that Jesus Christ has come how in the flesh is not of God and this is the spirit of the Antichrist which you have heard was coming and is now already in the world now that's if you don't believe that the Christ came in the flesh you're a member of the Antichrist system is what John is saying which would be absurd to the Greek way of thinking it becomes even worse than that notice Romans chapter 8 and verse 3 Romans chapter 8 in verse 3 when Jesus came he didn't come in any old kind of holy flesh we're told there in Romans 8 and verse 3 for what the law could not in that it was weak through the flesh God did by sending his own son in the likeness of sinful flesh on account of sin he condemned sin how he condemned sin in the flesh so let me ask you in the biblical concept is flesh evil is matter evil no is time evil no why then this time act upon matter and degenerate matter it is because of what sin but if somehow you can get rid of sin you can get rid of this vicious cycle of time acting upon matter because you could once again eat from the tree of life I understanding what I'm saying the hope of the Christian is not in the immortality of the soul the hope of the Christian is in the resurrection of the dead in receiving a new body an immortal body an incorruptible body there still will be time there still will be matter but there will no longer be sin that's what the Greek philosophers could not understand in fact I want you to notice in Romans chapter 8 and verse 23 Romans chapter 8 and verse 23 the Apostle Paul speaks about the redemption of the body he says not only that but we also have who have the firstfruits of the Spirit even we ourselves groan within ourselves eagerly waiting for us all to be part the body and go to a timeless and matter less existence that's not when it says right it says we groan within ourselves eagerly waiting for the adoption for what for the redemption of the by the Greeks would say redemption of what of the body that material substance upon which time acts and it degenerates you see they could not understand they didn't have all of the revelation that the problem was not with time and matter the problem was with sin that leads time to generate matter and having no access to the Tree of Life matter could not be regenerated and renewed are you understanding what I'm saying now is there gonna be matter in the new heavens and the north absolutely go with me to Revelation 20 to purses 1 and 2 revelation 22 verses 1 and 2 speaking about the holy city it says and he showed me a pure river of water of life clear as crystal proceeding from the throne of God and of the lamb is there gonna be water there that's what it says in the middle of it Street and on either side of the river was the Tree of Life also they're gonna be trees there do which bore twelve fruits all there's gonna be fruit there also each tree yielding its fruit every one soy is there gonna be time there of course every month and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations now let's go to Isaiah 66 22 and 23 once again you're gonna find it there there will be matter and there will be time but it will be freed from what it will be freed from sin notice Isaiah 66 22 and 23 it says there for as the new heavens and the new earth which I will make shall remain before me says the Lord so shall your descendants and your name remain and it shall come to pass that from one new moon to another are there gonna be months there of course there are from one new moon to another and from one Sabbath to another is there going to be a week there absolutely and from Sabbath from one Sabbath to another is there gonna be matter there notice oh what flesh shall come to worship before me says the Lord and of course the Bible says that we will eat from the tree of life and our material substance will be renewed every time that we eat from the tree of life let's read about that moment of redemption of the body 1st Corinthians chapter 15 and verses 51 to 54 listen the the great hope of the Apostle Paul was not in having an immoral soul that would fly off at the moment of death the Apostle Paul debated with the Greek philosopher sip philosophers he did not agree with the ideas of the Greek philosophers in fact the Bible tells us that they mocked they couldn't understand how the Apostle Paul would say that the hope of the Christian was in the resurrection of the body it was not in an immortal soul that man would have within himself 1st Corinthians 15 and verse 51 before behold I tell you a mystery we shall not all sleep but we shall all be changed in a moment in the twinkling of an eye at the last trumpet for the trumpet will sound and the dead will be raised incorruptible and we shall be changed for this corruptible must put on incorruption and this mortal must put on immortality so when this corruptible has put on incorruption and this mortal has put on immortality then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written death is swallowed up in victory let's read also Philippines chapter 3 verses 20 and 21 where we're told that we are going to have a body similar to the body of Jesus we're going to be in the image and likeness of Jesus did Jesus have a real body when he resurrected did he have flesh and bones and blood he most certainly did and that we will have in the earth made new notice Philippians 3:20 and 21 for our citizenship is in heaven from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior the Lord Jesus Christ who will transform our lowly body then it may be conformed to his glorious body according to the working by which he is able even to subdue all things to himself and yet today many Christians Harbor the view of the Greek philosophers their hope at least to a degree is that if I should die at the moment of death I have another me inside of me that it's immortal that flies out of the body goes up heaven where Jesus is that is if I was righteous during my life and I accepted Jesus Christ as my savior and that soul lives up there independently of a body where did Christendom get such a doctrine from nowhere in the Bible you will never find in the Bible the expression immortal spirit you'll never find the expression immortal soul you'll never find that the soul or the spirit can be conscious after the moment of death it's just assumed because Greek philosophy brought into the Christian Church in the early centuries the idea that the soul of man is immortal it came in directly from Greek philosophy now let me share with you some serious implications if we believe that man has an immortal soul and I'm gonna go through these quickly first of all if we believe that man has an immortal soul that even God cannot destroy because they believe also that if a person was wicked during their lifetime they're gonna burn forever in the fires of hell so in other words they have immortality its immortality in misery but it's still immortality first serious implication of the idea of the immortality of the soul is that it gives the glory to man which belongs only to God you see the Bible makes it clear that only God has immortality you see the immortality of God is one of his in communicable attributes it belongs only to him according to the Bible just like his omniscience his omnipotence his omnipresence his immortality belongs to himself and to give it to man steals the glory that belongs from God to God and attributes that glory to man and the Bible tells us in Revelation 14 verse 7 that in the last days a message is going to be proclaimed says fear God and give glory to him for the hour of his judgment is come second serious implication the doctrine of the immortality of the soul makes God a liar and makes the devil a truth-teller you say no how's that God told Adam and Eve if you eat from this tree you will surely live forever in misery that's not what he said he said if you eat from this tree you will not only die it says you will surely die by the way in the Hebrew it says you will die by death I don't know if any other way of dying but what God is saying is you can take it to the bank if you eat from this tree you will die the devil comes and he says you will not surely die so who was telling the truth if you have an immortal soul the devil was telling the truth if when you die you go to the grave and then at the resurrection you go to heaven through life that Jesus gives you and you go to burn like we studied in our last lecture and eventually I reduced to ashes then God is proven true because you are not eternal you are not immortal within yourself so in other words this doctrine makes God a liar and it makes the devil a truth pillar implication number three if man has an immortal soul why would Jesus have to die to give me what I already have this is a very serious implication because if you have an immortal soul why would Jesus have to come to this earth to die to give you immortality if you already possess it are you understanding what I'm saying the doctrine of the immortality of the soul makes the death of Jesus on the cross unnecessary furthermore the doctrine of the immortality of the soul generally makes people feel like it's not that important to take care of your body because ultimately your body is just a prison for your real self which is your soul and therefore you have to take good care of your soul and what you do with your body doesn't make much difference because ultimately God is going to give you a new one anyway that flies in the face of what the Bible has to say it says know ye not that you are the temple of the holy spirit that your body is the temple of the holy spirit and whoever destroys the body temple god will destroy him for god's temple ye are you are holy because you're his temple if therefore you eat or you drink or whatever you do do all to what to the glory of God allow me to read you a statement from Ellen White this is found in the book councils on diet and foods page 73 she says this the body is the only medium through which the mind and the soul are developed for the upbuilding of character hence it is that the adversary of souls directs his temptations to the enfeebling and degrading of the physical powers his success here means the surrender to evil of the whole being the tendencies of our physical nature unless under the Dominion of a higher power will surely work ruin and death you see the brain is a physical organ it's the organ of the mind and whatever effects your body whatever affects your mind affects your ability to communicate with God it's not like your soul can live independently of your body and therefore I have to take care of my spiritual nature I have to take care of my spirit in my soul my body doesn't make that much difference the fact is that the only way that you can develop your spiritual nature is through the medium of the body but the immortality the soul gives the idea that it's the soul portion of man that's really important that we need to cultivate and we need to take care of fifth serious implication the doctrine of the immortality of the soul puts the hope of the second coming of Jesus on the back burner it D emphasizes the second coming of Jesus Christ you say why is that well folks let's just think of it if when I die my soul goes through a tunnel and comes out into a sphere of light where I'm in the presence of God why would I have to be so interested in Jesus coming back to this earth again you see many Christians have the hope that you know when I die I'm going to heaven soft when you die you go to heaven why would the hope of the Resurrection and the second coming of Jesus burn strong in your heart it D emphasizes the need and the importance and the gloriousness of the second coming and of the resurrection from the dead the last implication that I want to discuss is that the doctrine of the immortality of the soul opens the door of the church wide to the manifestations of spiritualism in fact the book of Revelation in chapter 18 verses 2 & 3 speaking about fallen Christendom in the last days says that Christendom has become the habitation of devils and evil spirits and that's speaking about Christendom in other words when you believe that the soul of man is immortal what would keep that soul that supposed soul from coming back to this world to try and communicate with those who are alive are you with me now you might not know this but there was a senator of Wisconsin who in 9 who in 1853 his name was NP Tallmadge he not only was a senator from Wisconsin he was also governor of the state for a while he was a spiritualist and he went in consulted a medium and the medium brought up someone by the name of Jhansi Calhoun and so senator talmadge asked him what is the purpose of all of these spiritualistic phenomena notice what the supposed spirit of Jhansi Calhoun said my friend often the question is asked what good can come from these manifestations that is from spiritualism I will respond it is to unite mankind in harmony and to convince skeptics skeptics of the immortality of the soul do you notice those two purposes to unite all of humanity in one and to convince skeptics of the immortality of the soul Arthur Conan Doyle the author of the famous Sherlock Holmes now once said this about spiritualism he said I believe that one of the ultimate results of this movement that spiritualism will be to unite Christianity upon a common basis so strong and indeed self-sufficient that the quibbles which separate the churches today will be seen in their true light and proportion and will be swept away or disregarded now I want to read you a statement by another author who wrote several years after this her name Ellen White this statement is found in the great controversy pages 5 88 and 89 you know what these spirits were revealing was true it is their intention to unite all of humanity in common and to convince skeptics that the soul of man is immortal notice what Ellen White had to say the line of distinction between professed Christians and the ungodly is now hardly distinguishable is that true absolutely church members love what the world loves and are ready to join with them and Satan determines to unite them in one body thus strengthen his cause by sweeping all into the ranks of spiritualism then she says papists who boast of miracles as a certain sign of the true church will be readily deceived by this wonder-working power and Protestants having cast away the shield of truth will also be deluded papists Protestants and worldlings that's another word for the secular will alike accept the form of godliness without the power and they will see in this union a growl a grand movement for the conversion of the world and the ushering in of the long-expected millennium let me ask you is this deception well on its way it most certainly is allow me to share with you some of the things that have been happening in the last couple of decades any of you ever read the book Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill you know I once read that book it has certain principles of how you can make yourself rich real quick you know and I thought wow this is great all these principles that he gives on how you can get rich and then one day I was reading an article in Life magazine and in that article it says that that book Think and Grow Rich was dictated to Napoleon Hill from the spirit world the same with the book Jonathan Livingston Seagull by Richard Bach a New Ager about the seagull trying to reach the heights you know and I thought this is a wonderful book about the need to persevere until you make it and then one day I was reading an article in Life magazine again and I discovered that Richard Bach said that this book Jonathan Livingston Seagull was dictated to him from the spirit world and then I read it again as a Wow how couldn't I see the spiritualism and the New Age theology in this book Benny Hinn I hate to mention the name but he's put himself on the record he claims to communicate with Kathryn Kuhlman a dead charismatic leader Pat Robertson has gone on the record saying that out-of-body experiences and near-death experiences are proof that man has an immortal soul the tremendous emphasis on angels coming back you know departed spirits coming back to this world as angels to take care of us and to communicate with us for example the program highway to heaven how about the movies Lord of the Rings Harry Potter The Sixth Sense I only mentioned some of them how about the supposed appearances all over the world of the Virgin Mary how about the astrology sections in bookstores they far outshine the sections on theology and philosophy how about the programs on televisions where psychics live claim to communicate with departed relatives how about New Age publications that have proliferated big time listen we not only anticipate that this is what was going to happen by what Sir Arthur Conan Doyle said and this supposed spirit of Calhoun said we can see it today with our own eyes the manifestation of spiritualism and churches who believe that the soul of man is immortal have left the doors of the church wide open for the spirits to come in and communicate false doctrine such as the idea that sunday is the true day of rest and believe me mark my word the day is coming when the supposed spirits of the Dead supposed I said are gonna come and they're gonna teach you that Sunday is the day we're supposed to keep and if you believe that the dead can come back and talk with the living if you believe that the soul of man is immortal you are wide open to accept that as truth when it totally contradicts what the scripture says modern spiritualism originated in 1848 with the Fox sisters in Rochester near Rochester New York Ellen White around that time wrote something amazing you see it was only something that took place there in New England at that time it had not proliferated worldwide Ellen White saw that this was going to become a worldwide movement allow me to read you a statement that we find in the book early writings page 88 she says this I saw the rapidity with which this delusion was spreading that is spiritualism a train of cars was showing me going with the speed of lightning the angel bade me look carefully I fixed my eyes upon the train it seemed that the whole world was on board that there could not be one left said the angel they are binding in bundles ready to burn then he showed me the conductor who appeared like a stately fair person whom all the passengers looked up to and reverenced I was perplexed boy if she was perplexed what hope is there for us I was perplexed and asked my attending angel who it was he said it is Satan he is the conductor in the form of an angel of light he has taken the world captive they are given over to strong delusions to believe a lie that they may be damned this agent the next highest in order to him is the engineer and the other of his agents are employed in different offices as he may need them and they are all going with lightning speed to perdition the prophet Isaiah said if they tell you go to the Wizards and to consult the dead who mutter and peep shall not God's people consult their God to the law and to the testimony if they speak not according to this it is because there is no light in them furthermore Ellen White in the book the great controversy page 552 describes the power of Satan to deceive through the medium of spiritualism the idea that the soul of man is immortal and therefore that soul that supposed soul can come back and communicate with the living don't you think that the devil is doing some type of a very rough counterfeit notice what Ellen White has to say here he has power to bring before men the appearance of their departed friends of course if he could transform itself into an angel of light why couldn't he transformed himself into a someone that looks like a departed friend piece of cake notice this he has power to bring before men the appearance of their departed friends the counterfeit is perfect do you know what a perfect counterfeit is its when the counterfeiters make a counterfeit hundred-dollar bill and even the government can't distinguish it from the genuine she says the counterfeit is perfect the familiar look the words the tone are reproduced with marvelous distinctness many are comforted with the assurance that their loved ones are enjoying the Bliss of heaven and without suspicion of danger they give ear to seducing spirits and doctrines of devils and then she gives this counsel in early writings page 87 about what we are supposed to do about it she says I saw that the Saints that's God's people I saw that the Saints must get a thorough understanding of present truths which they will be obliged to maintain from the scriptures they must understand the state of the dead that's why we're doing this series because Christians use these verses what about the thief on the cross what about the rich man and Lazarus what about absent from the body and present with the Lord what about the witch the Witch of Endor what about the souls under the altar what about the dead who stand before God what about the undying worm what about the unquenchable fire they bring up all of these texts we have to deal with these debts and we have to teach them from a biblical perspective she continues saying they must understand the state of the dead for the spirits of Devils will get appeared to them professing to be beloved friends and relatives who will declare to them that the Sabbath has been changed also other unscriptural doctrines they will do all in their power to excite sympathy and will work miracles before them to confirm what they declare that's the devil's plan but the beauty of it is that if you simply say the living know that they will die but the dead know not anything the door to the devil's spiritualistic manifestations is shut and closed because it is impossible that the dead should communicate with the living because the Bible says that their unconscious their sleeping until the moment of the resurrection now why did I call this lecture immortality of the soul or resurrection of the Dead several decades ago a New Testament scholar by the name of Oscar Kuhlman wrote a little booklet that bore this title saw I'm plagiarizing his title but I'm letting you know that I'm using it and in this little booklet Oscar Kuhlman shared with the scholarly world by the way highly respected scholar in the area of New Testament he wrote this booklet and in it he shared the Adventist view of the state of the Dead he says the adventist view is correct he didn't say the adventist view but he said this view of the state of the Dead is correct that the dead are dead they're sleeping until the moment of the resurrection and in his book he used an illustration he spoke about Socrates do you know how Socrates died he surrounded himself one evening with all of his disciples and he said to them you know I am now going to drink this hemlock I'm going to drink this cup of poison and when I drink this cup of poison I'm going to get rid of this old body that is subject to the deterioration of time that gets sick and gets old and when the body is laid aside my soul is going to leave and go into a timeless sphere where there is no matter where there is no time and I'm going to enter my real existence he says I wish that you would all be as courageous as I am about to be you see for Socrates death was a friend how different was the case of Jesus according to Oscar Gilman he trembled in the garden of gethsemane father if you can take away this cup from me let it be so nevertheless not my will be done but yours father Jesus did not want to die the Bible says that death is an enemy death is not a friend if you believe that when you die you go to heaven then death would actually be a friend some people say the Apostle Paul he wanted to die so he could be present with the Lord then death is not an enemy the Bible says that the last enemy to be destroyed will be what the last enemy to be destroyed will be death and so how different when Jesus surrounded himself with his disciples says I just wish I didn't have to go through with this I wish this cup could pass from me and as he hung on the cross he says my God my God why has thou forsaken me totally different than the perspective that Socrates had the night in which he drank the hemlock and poisoned himself supposedly to deliver his soul now the good news folks is that even if I should die and even if I should go to sleep the Bible says that if the spirit that resurrected Jesus dwells in me that same spirit that resurrected him from the dead will resurrect me from the dead as well and that is our hope notice Romans chapter 8 and verse 11 our last text Romans chapter 8 and verse 11 but if the spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his spirit who dwells in you so even now though we live in a body that corrupts a body that gets old a body that is subject to death the Bible says that if the spirit that dwelt in Jesus dwells in us we can gain the victory over the sins of the flesh through the Holy Spirit and if we should die the Bible says that our hope is found in Jesus Christ jesus said I am the resurrection and the life even if anyone should die yet shall he what yet shall he live and he doesn't say he shall live at the moment of death he says and I will raise him up when I will raise him up at the last day folks the hope of the Christian Church is not in the immortal of your soul it is in the resurrection of the Dead what a glorious day that will be when all of God's children will come far from the tomb when Jesus calls never to die again never to suffer again but to live eternally with Jesus in that land where joy will never end [Music]

Channel: Aaron

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Id: W5PDMUwkW2M

Length: 57min 2sec (3422 seconds)

Published: Tue May 07 2019