Are you ready to embark on a thought provoking journey of discovery? Curious to explore an alternative narrative that challenges the theory of evolution? What impact has the war in heaven had on our planet, and what are the implications for humanity? What can we learn from this epic battle that is unfolding between good and evil? Here is your opportunity to unlock a treasure trove of spiritual insights from the Bible that will answer these and many other pressing questions, illuminating the path to eternal life, which lies just a choice away. Here is Bill Gates presenting beyond the grave. I need to warn parents who have children that this topic has four parts that are not suitable for children to watch.
I will warn you, and you can then ask your children to close their eyes until I alert you that it is safe. Again. One will be a two minute segment, and that will be in about ten minutes time, and the other three segments are only 20 seconds long.
Death just might be one of the most misunderstood subjects today. For many people, the subject is shrouded in mystery and evokes dreaded feelings of fear, uncertainty, and even hopelessness. Others believe that their dead loved ones are not dead at all, but instead live with them or in other realms.
Still others are confused about the relationship between the body, spirit and soul. But does it really matter what we believe? Yes, it does, absolutely, because what we believe about the dead will have a profound effect on what happens to us in the end times. Therefore, there's no room for guessing.
Today's presentation will give us exactly what the creator God of the universe says on the subject. So get ready for a real eye opener. Question one, how did we get here in the first place? Well, God said in Genesis one, verse 26, let us make man in our image according to our likeness, and 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 soul.
Genesis two, verse seven. I'd like you to notice an important point. There were only two components in the making of mankind as a living soul, dust of the ground, plus the breath of life.
Question two says, what happens when we die? Ecclesiastes twelve, verse seven says, then shall the dust return to the earth as it was, and the spirit or breath of life shall return unto God who gave it. So notice another important point. The same two components given by God at the beginning of life are separated, thus making mankind into a dead soul instead of a living soul.
The spirit or breath of life of every person who dies, whether righteous or wicked, returns to God at death, whilst their bodies return to dust or ashes. Question three, what is the spirit that returns to God at death? Job 27, verse three. The spirit of God is in my nostrils and in the margin of most Bible just got there the breath which God gave him.
So the answer to the question is that the spirit that returns to God at death is the breath of life, or pneuma in the greek language from which we get the english words pneumonia and pneumatic from nowhere in all of God's book does the spirit have any life or wisdom or feeling after a person dies. As James two, verse 26 states, the body without the spirit is dead. And again in the margin, breath.
Question four. What is a soul? Genesis two, verse seven. And 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 soul.
So the answer to this important question is that a soul is a living being having character and personality. Always remember that a soul is simply a combination of two things, body plus the breath or spark of life. A living soul cannot exist unless body and breath are combined.
God's word teaches that we were not given a soul. Instead we became a living soul. And this is patently clear when we look at the headlines after the Titanic sunk in 1912.
Gigantic liner Titanic sinks 1500 lost of 2200 souls aboard. The word soul simply means lives. As the San Francisco Chronicle newspaper headline states, with the breath of God within us, we are a living soul.
And without the breath of life in us, we are a dead soul. God's word clearly states that we are souls. Question five.
Do souls die? Ezekiel 18, verse 20. The soul that sins it shall die as all souls have sinned during their lives. All souls die the first sleep of death, from which the saved ones will be resurrected by the true Jesus Christ at his true second coming.
Therefore, we all need the salvation process that God offers us if we want to be a part of the good resurrection and live forever. Even revelation 16, verse three, says every living soul died in the sea. So the answer to this question, can a soul die? Is yes, souls die according to God's word.
And that is because mankind is mortal, not immortal. Only God has immortality as one. Timothy six, verses 15 and 16 reveals the king of kings and Lord of lords, who only has immortality.
The pagan concept of an undying immortal soul goes against God's holy word found in the true Bible, which teaches that souls are subject to death. Question six, do good people go to heaven when they die? John five, verse 28. Marvel not at this, for the hour is coming in the which all that are in the grave shall hear his voice and shall come forth.
They that have done good under the resurrection of eternal life, and they that have done evil under the resurrection of eternal damnation. That is why people put rip on their beloved's tombstone. The people who knew God and his Bible knew that eternal life only comes later when the real Christ returns with 10,000 times 10,000 holy angels.
For these people, it was a comfort to put those words rip, meaning rest in peace on the tombstones. They knew that good people don't go to heaven at death. They go there at the second coming of Christ.
As acts two, verse 29 says, men and brethren, let me freely speak unto you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his grave is with us unto this day. Verse 34. For David is not ascended into the heavens.
And job 17, verse 13 says as follows, if I wait, the grave is mine house. I have made my bed in the darkness. So the answer to the question as to whether the saved people go to heaven when they die is a resounding no, they don't.
People do not go either to heaven or experience hellfire at death. Instead, they go to their graves to await their resurrection day. And do notice this.
It is the voice of Jesus who will call people from the grave. And because that is the case, can you see why it is vital that people choose to get to know and accept Jesus Christ as the creator God and their personal saviour if they are willing. For he's the only one who has the keys to the grave.
Here's a recent picture of King David's tomb. He is still there in the grave, where he awaits the resurrection day when Christ returns. Question seven, how much does one know or understand after death? Ecclesiastes nine, verse five says, the living know that they shall die, but the dead know not anything.
Neither have they any more a reward. Verse six. Also their love and their hatred and their envy is now perished.
Neither have they any more apportion forever in anything that is done under the sun. So whatsoever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might. For there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom in the grave where you go to.
So God is making it very clear, isn't he? And our next Bible verse in psalm 115, verse 17 makes it even clearer. The dead praise not the Lord, neither any that go down to silence. So if the dead were in heaven, then this verse would make no sense.
But it makes perfect sense if they are simply asleep in their graves. So God is saying in his holy scriptures that the dead know absolutely nothing. Question eight.
But can't the dead communicate with the living? And aren't they aware of what the living are doing? Before I show you what the Bible says about this question, I hasten to say that many, many people will say that the answer is yes. The dead can communicate with the living. And these people base the claim on having seen and heard with their own eyes and ears, their deceased loved ones.
The body appearance is a perfect resemblance to the deceased loved one, and the voice is an exact replica of the deceased voice. But it is a giant hoax perpetuated by God's enemy to support his claim made in the Garden of Eden, that you shall not die, and which is recorded in Genesis three, verse four. The reason that I can say it's a giant hoax is because of the infrared photographs that were taken some time ago.
Two BBC reporters filmed an actual seance using infrared cameras. It's quite amazing what those films revealed. They show how the spirits mould ectoplasm, which is an abundant white substance found within the human body into the shape of a loved one, and how the evil spirits create a voice box that produces the exact sounds of the deceased loved ones.
All done to try and prove that Satan, a created being's statement to eve that you shall not surely die is true. But it is not true, for it is completely contrary to what the creator God says throughout the holy scriptures. Don't miss that vital point, but let us see what God says about this next question.
Can the dead communicate with the living? Job 14, verse twelve. So man lies down and rises not till the heavens be no more. They shall not awake, nor be raised out of their sleep.
Verse 21, his sons come to honour, and he knows it not, and they are brought low, but he perceives it not of them. And God says in our next Bible verse, found in psalm 146, verse four, these words, his breath goes forth. He returns to the earth.
In that very day, his thoughts perish. In Genesis, God said that in the day Adam and Eve disobeyed God by eating of the fruit of the forbidden tree, they would begin to die. God's enemy, Satan, contradicted what God said by saying that they would not die, but instead would go on living and become as gods, knowing good and evil.
That was a true statement in that we do know good and evil. But it was also a lie, inasmuch that we can never become like the creator God. Though millions think it is possible that the dead are not really dead, God says the dead cannot communicate with the living in view of what God has already said that the dead cannot communicate with the living.
And in view of Satan's contradicting statement that said the opposite, then if we were to see a ghostly four monastery case, for example, we can say for certain it is a devilish hoax to perpetuate the devil's lies. Question nine. Jesus called the unconscious state of the dead as asleep in John eleven, verses eleven to 14.
How long will they sleep? Job 14, verse twelve. So man lies down and rises not till the heavens be no more. That was Old Testament.
But there's also a New Testament verse that explains that the heavens being no more is linked to the second coming of the real Jesus Christ, which means that we lie in our graves until the second coming of the true Jesus Christ. First Thessalonians 416 says, for the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with the trump of God. And here's the evidence.
And the dead and Christ shall rise first. Hallelujah. Therefore, the answer to our question, how long will the dead sleep? Is that they will sleep in the grave until the day of the Lord comes.
Therefore, they are in the graves until then and are totally unconscious, with no activity or knowledge of any kind. Question ten, what happens to the righteous dead at the second coming of Christ? Four New Testament Bible verses will answer this for us. One corinthians 15, verse 51.
Behold, I show you a mystery. We shall not all sleep. That's referring to the first sleep of death.
But we shall all be changed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump, not at death. For the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. And then look what happens.
Revelation 22, verse twelve. Behold, I come quickly, and my reward is with me to give every man according as his work shall be. Yes, Jesus brings fabulous rewards to give to his faithful saints.
Thus, the righteous dead will be raised to life and given immortality at Jesus Christ's second coming. So the answer to the question as to what happens to the righteous dead at the second coming is that they will be raised to immortal life and rewarded. They will be given new immortal bodies and be caught up to meet the Lord in the air.
Now think for a moment. There would be no purpose in a resurrection day and calling God's people out of their graves if they were already in heaven. Having gone there supposedly at death, would there question eleven, why did the devil lie to Eve about death? Could this subject be more important than many think? The answer is that it is one of the cornerstones of the devil's.
Kingdom. He has worked powerful miracles down through the ages, through people who claim to receive their power from the spirits of the dead. Jesus Christ gives us solemn warnings about miracles, sorcery and divination in the last days.
In the last days, Satan will again use sorcery, just as he did in Daniel's day, to deceive the world. Revelation 18 verse 23 confirms that Satan will use sorcery again. For by thy sorceries were all nations deceived.
So sorcery is a supernatural agency that claims to receive its power and wisdom from the spirits of the dead. But they are satanic deceptions. For the Bible shows us that Satan has posed as godly loved ones who have died, or saintly clergymen who are now dead, or Bible prophets and even disciples of Christ, as recorded in two corinthians eleven, verse 13.
So do devils really work miracles? Let us see what God's holy Bible tells us. Revelation 16, verse 14. For they are the spirits of devils working miracles.
And Matthew 24, verse 24. For there shall arise false christs and false prophets, and shall show great signs and wonders insomuch that if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect. So the answer is very clear.
Devils work incredibly convincing miracles, as our next two Bible verses also reveal. Revelation 13, verse 13. And he that is Satan does great wonders so that he makes fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men, and deceives them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles.
But Satan's masterpiece of deception is just ahead of us. What is it? Two corinthians eleven, verse 14. Satan and his angels will appear as angels of light.
But worse than that, Matthew 24, verse 24 tells us that there shall arise false Christ. So Satan will seek to counterfeit the second coming of Christ. And when the world sees its first real but supernatural being claiming to be God, the world's population will be totally deceived.
Unless they heed these warnings from God, but not realising that it is a bogus God, what do you imagine they will do? According to what the holy Bible says, they worship him. This is what he always wanted. And the world's deceived population will be only too quick to worship him and put him on a throne.
The universal feeling at that time will be that Christ and his angels are leading out in a fantastic worldwide revival. The entire emphasis will seem so spiritual and be so supernatural that only God's elect will not be deceived. This can mean only one conclusion.
We should not base our faith on miracles because not all miracle working is from God. The devil and evil angels also work miracles. Question 13 why will God's people not be deceived? Acts 17, verse eleven answers this question for us.
They received the word of God with the readiness of mind and searched the scriptures daily. Whether those things were so that habit was in perfect harmony with what Isaiah eight, verse 20 states. If they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.
So the answers to why God's elect will not be deceived is because God's people will know from their earnest study of his true holy bible that the dead are dead and not alive. They know that the spirits of the dead do not exist and that the mirages they may see are merely deceptions of the devil. Therefore, God's people will reject all miracle workers and teachers who claim to receive special light or work miracles by contacting the so called spirits of the dead.
Question 14 back in Moses day, what did God command should be done to people who taught that the dead were alive? Leviticus 20, verse 27 says, a man, also a woman that has a familiar spirit or that is a wizard, shall surely be put to death. They shall stone them with stones. At that time, Israel was a theocracy.
That is to say that God was governing the nation of Israel via Moses. So that shows how abominable it is to God. The teaching that the dead go on living.
It is abominable to God because those who teach that the dead actually go on living are putting the devil's lie that the dead go on living ahead of God's truth that the dead do not go on living. In effect, those who teach the devil's lie that the dead actually go on living, either bodily or in spirit form, have made the devil their God, whether they realise it or not. But they are believing the devil's lies and disbelieving God's true words on the subject.
But God says in the first of the ten Commandments, these words found in Exodus 20, verse three, you shall have no other gods before me. So the answer to our question what happened to the fortune tellers and wizards in Old Testament times? Is this. God insisted that those who consulted wizards or familiar spirits or consult the dead should be stoned to death.
So this shows how God regards the false teaching that the dead are alive. Question 15 will the righteous people who are raised in the first resurrection ever die again? The answer is no, they won't die again. As our following two Bible verses teach, Luke 20, verse 35, they which shall be accounted worthy to obtain that world.
That's referring to God's second kingdom of glory and the resurrection from the dead. Neither can they die anymore. And revelation 21, verse four tells us God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes, and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow nor crying.
Neither shall there be any more pain, for the former things are passed away. What a beautiful promise from God's word. So there'll be no more death, sorrow or crying after the resurrection of the saints.
And tragedy will never enter into God's new kingdom. Therefore, no one who has been saved to live in God's new kingdom of glory will ever die again. Question 16 is the teaching of reincarnation biblically based? The answer is found in ecclesiastes nine, verses five and six.
The living know that they shall die, but the dead know not anything. Neither have they any more. A reward for the memory of them is forgotten.
Verse six. Also their love and their hatred and their envy is now perished. Neither have they any more.
A portion forever in anything that is done under the sun. Almost half the people on earth believe in reincarnation, a teaching that the soul never dies, but is instead continually reborn in a different kind of body with each succeeding generation. But reincarnation is not a teaching from the creator God of the universe.
The Bible says in seven different places the following, that after death a person returns to dust. Psalm 104, verse 29 knows nothing. Ecclesiastes nine, verse five, possesses no mental powers.
Psalm 146, verse four has nothing to do with anything on earth. Ecclesiastes nine, verse six does not live. Two kings 20, verse one waits in the grave.
Job 17, verse 13, and continues not job 14, verses one and two. So what are the tricks or traps that Satan has invented to move people away from God's salvation plan? Well, we learned in question eleven that Satan invented the teaching that the dead are alive, which God says is not true. Reincarnation, channelling communication with spirits, spirit worship and the undying soul are all inventions of Satan with one aim, to convince people that when we die, we are not really dead at all.
And if Satan's false teaching succeeds, then think, who needs to have a personal relationship with God by Jesus Christ if entry into life after death is automatic? So this is a strong evidence that Satan is attacking Christ with this false teaching. What an evil plan Satan has devised. When people believe that the dead are alive, then the spirit of devils working miracles and posing as spirits of the dead will be able to have a field day by deceiving and leading them astray.
Virtually 100% of the time according to the creator God, reincarnation is impossible because of our next Bible text, Hebrews nine, verse 27. And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgement. So reincarnation is therefore a lie from the devil.
The erroneous teaching of reincarnation has the dead bypassing God's judgement day. Therefore that cannot be right. Also, reincarnation is impossible for another reason.
God says, all who have died, both good and evil, are in their graves awaiting the resurrection day. Are we thankful to God for the Bible which tells us the truth on the sensitive subject of death? We should be. Now, here is a powerful antidote to the deceptions of Satan.
Those who study their bibles and insist on scripture proof for all doctrines will not be led astray by Satan. And that is good news, isn't it? So now we're going to address some frequently asked questions that people have raised in the past. And I have taken a picture of a man from Google free images to represent a questioner.
So question one, didn't the thief on the cross go to paradise with Christ the day he died? No, he did not go there. We know that because of what is recorded in Luke 24, verse one, what day of the week did Jesus rise from the tomb? Luke says in Luke 24, verse one, it was the first day of the week. The first day of the week is Sunday.
But the thief and Jesus died on their crosses on the Friday, the 6th day of the week on the true calendars, or the fifth day of the week on the incorrect calendars. So Jesus was not saying to the thief on the cross that he would be in paradise on the Friday, because Jesus himself said to Mary two days later and recorded in John 20, verse 17, thee he had not yet ascended to the Father on the Sunday. This shows that Jesus did not go to heaven at death, and therefore neither did the thief.
Let us look at this more deeply. The problem centres around the punctuation mark. Punctuation marks are not from God, nor from the original writers of the Bible.
Punctuation marks came from the english translators much, much later, and they made a mistake. Here. Take note of where they placed the comma in Luke 23, verse 43.
It's in the wrong place because the comma should be after the word today and not before that word. So here we go. The comma in the wrong place.
And Jesus said unto him, verily, I say unto you, comma, wrong place today shall you be with me in paradise. Now look at it correctly. And Jesus said unto him, verily, I say unto you today, comma, in the correct place, you shall be with me in paradise.
So Jesus is saying to the thief, I'm telling you today, when it seems that I can save no one, when I myself am being crucified as a supposed criminal, I give you my assurance today that you will be with me in paradise. So Christ's kingdom is set up at his second coming, according to Matthew 25, verse 31, and all the righteous of all ages will enter into paradise at the same time, according to first Thessalonians four, verses 16 to 18. Not at different times when we die.
The only exception to that is when God chose to take enoch, Moses and Elijah to heaven in Old Testament times, plus the several people who came up at Christ's resurrection and who were seen during the next 40 days before Christ's ascension. In New Testament times, these also went with him as the first fruits to heaven. But the rest of us must wait until the second coming of Jesus.
Question two, doesn't the Bible speak of the undying immortal soul? No, the undying immortal soul is not mentioned in the Bible. The word immortal appears only once in the entire Bible, in one Timothy one, verse 17. Now unto the king, eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God be honour and glory forever and ever.
Amen. That Bible verse is the only place you will find the word immortal, and it refers to God, who alone is immortal. Mankind is mortal, which is why we die.
Question three. At death, the body returns to dust, and the spirit or the breath of life returns to God. But where does the soul go? To answer this question, I will use two illustrations.
Firstly, building a box. Now, if I want to build a box, I'll need nails and I'll need timber. And when I put the two components together, we end up with a box.
But if I change my mind and dismantle the box by separating the nails again from the timber, what do I end up with? I end up with a pile of nails and a pile of timber. So what happened to the box? Well, the box simply ceased to exist. Now to our second illustration.
When we turn on a light switch in our home, suddenly we have light. What made the light appear? A combination of two components, a bulb and electricity. But if I flick the switch off, I separate the two component parts, and suddenly we have no light.
Where did the light go to? It didn't go anywhere. It just ceased to exist, the same as with the box. And now to the point when God created man, he used two component parts, the dust of the ground and the breath of life, which is the spirit of God.
And man became a living soul. He was not given a soul. Let us read this again from Genesis two, verse seven.
And 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 soul. So, to answer the question, where does the soul go to at death? The answer is that the soul at death simply ceases to exist as a result of God separating the body from the breath of life, which is the spirit.
Remember, we were never given a soul. Instead, we became a living soul. There is no such thing as a disembodied soul.
Parents, this is the last one. I think from memory. It's only about 15 seconds.
I'll just wait while your children close their eyes. Instead, we have to contend with the bogus miracle appearances of what Satan wants us to believe are our deceased loved ones. It is a devious plan by Satan to deceive even the very elect.
Okay, parents, all's well now. There won't be any more from now on. So, to answer your question, where does the sole go? I will show you a chart I have made of the illustrations I've used.
Nails plus timber assembled equals a box. Nails separated from the timber. No box.
Number two, bulb plus electricity equals light. Bulb minus electricity, the light ceases to exist. And number three, dust plus the breath or the spirit.
I've got a living soul. Dust minus the breath or spirit, the soul ceases to exist. Question four.
Does the word soul ever mean anything other than a living being? Yes. It may also mean life itself or the mind or intellect. But no matter which meaning is intended, the soul is still a combination of two things, body and breath.
And therefore the soul, which is the personality and the character and life of the person, ceases to exist at death. Remember the Titanic? The newspaper said that 1500 souls perished at sea. Question five.
Can you explain John eleven? Verse 26, which says, and whosoever lives and believes in me shall never die? There are actually two answers to this question. Firstly, this verse does not refer to the first death, which all people, including christians, die as a result of Adam's sin. That is because the first death is simply the sleep of death, from which there will be a resurrection unto eternal life, but only for the saved saints at the second coming of Jesus Christ.
That still leaves the second death reserved solely for the unsaved people at Jesus Christ's third coming. And it is the second death, the lake of fire, that John 1126 is referring to the saints who were resurrected to eternal life by Jesus at the second coming are living in heaven. Thus they will never die again.
But those who were not resurrected at the second coming of Jesus awaken a thousand years later, they then acknowledge that they were wrong and not seeking the salvation God so freely offered them whilst they were alive. And speaking about the unbelievers, John eleven, verse 26, states, and whosoever lives and believes in me shall never die. Jesus is referring to the second death, but the fearful and unbelieving, and the abominable and murderers and hormongers and sorcerers and idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake of fire and brimstone, which is the second death.
And revelation 20, verse 14 also says, and death and hell, which is the grave, were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire, from which there will be no resurrection. So Matthew ten, verse 28 says, fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul.
Doesn't this prove that the soul is undying? No, it proves the opposite. The last half of the same verse says, but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. The word soul comes from several greek words that means the personality, the intelligence, the character and the life of the person.
And the context refers to the unrepentant sinner who rejects salvation and would therefore be totally destroyed for eternity by God. Both soul and body. No separate part of the unrepentant sinner would be left in existence.
Question seven, doesn't first Peter four, verse six say that the gospel was preached to dead people? No, it says the gospel was preached to those who are dead. They are dead now, but the gospel was preached to them while they were yet living. Question eight, what about the souls crying out from under the altar in revelation six, verses nine and ten, doesn't this show that souls do not die? That's a good question, isn't it? The answer is no.
This cry is figurative, as was the cry of Abel's blood mentioned in Genesis four, verse ten. No one for a moment thinks that Abel's blood spoke. The word soul.
Here means people or living beings who'd been slain for their faith being the martyrs. Furthermore, no one believes that souls who die are literally lying under an altar. That is purely figurative language.
Question nine, doesn't the Bible say in one Peter three, verses 18 to 20 that Christ went and preached to lost souls in hell between his crucifixion and resurrection? No. Verse 20 gives us the correct context. He did that in Noah's day.
Verse 18, states that the preaching was done by Christ, who has always existed to those spirits in prison, this being the disobedient ones living in Noah's day and whose lives were in bondage to Satan. They, like many today, were captured by Satan in the prison house of sin. And it was to those living people then who Christ was speaking to whilst they were alive and were yet still disobedient, just as he does today to those of us who are living now.
Question ten how am I to understand the teaching that after we die we go to a place called purgatory? Purgatory is not mentioned at all in the Bible. It is purely a creation of the Roman Catholic Church. Yet some people hold that the apostle Peter's writings support the doctrine of an immortal soul and of consciousness after death, because they say that Jesus descended into Hades and preached between his crucifixion and resurrection to disembodied spirits languishing in Hades being the figurative realm of the dead.
But the logic of this view demands that the spirits here referred to be in some sort of purgatory at the time Christ preached to them, and that the purpose of his preaching was to give them a second chance to be saved and thus escape this supposed place called purgatory. But whilst most Protestants believe wrongly that Peter here teaches the consciousness of man and death, the context also reveals that it was back in Noah's day, not in Peter's day. So Peter doesn't teach that people get a second chance at being saved at all.
Therefore, the protestant church leaders would be horrified to discover that their thinking lines up with the papal doctrine of purgatory and the equally unscriptural doctrine of a second chance after the first sleep of death. Notice what two corinthians six, verse two, says, behold, now is the accepted time. Now is the day of salvation.
The scriptures plainly teach that a man must accept salvation in this present life while he is still alive, if he is to accept it at all, and that his personal probation for being accepted into God's eternal kingdom of glory closes at death. We now need to spend a few moments highlighting why it is so important that we understand what the future is for those who accept God and his teachings now whilst they are alive. Revelation 21, verse two says, then I, john, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God.
And it is to this city Christ's friends will be taken to in order to reside in mansions that Jesus Christ is building for them. Here is a question for you to consider. Would we need a city to live in if when we died, we ceased to have a physical body, the answer is obviously no.
Therefore, as it is a real city, it'll be real bodies that live in that city. These homes we are destined to live in, if we choose to belong to God's family here on earth through baptism, will be fabulous indeed. So we will be real saints, continuing to live in a real city called New Jerusalem.
And we will walk on pathways made of transparent gold. As revelation 21, verse 21 reveals. I have seen all of the gold bullion owned by the New Zealand government.
It was yellow, not transparent because yellow gold has impurities in it. But the streets in heaven will be transparent gold with no impurities like glass. The bright lights of heaven will reflect the gorgeous colours radiating off the twelve different jewels embedded in the walls of the city.
But never forget, our potential residency there has only been made possible by Jesus Christ. Jesus is in heaven now, having provided a way of escaping the grave for those who become his friends. And after his resurrection.
But before he ascended to heaven, he proved to his disciples that he had a real physical body. Luke 24, verse 39. Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself.
Handle me and see. For a spirit has not flesh and bones as you see me have. And we also know that he comes back in a physical body.
How do we know that? In acts chapter one, verse eleven, we have two angels dressed in white who said these words to the gazing disciples as Jesus left them. You men of Galilee, why stand you up gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven shall so come in like manner as you have seen him go into heaven. So the angels were saying that just as Jesus left for heaven in a real body, so he will come back with a real body.
Now it is time to draw four conclusions. The first conclusion, there's a heaven to win and a hellfire to shun. Yet it is our choice that determines that personal destiny.
The prize for the saved ones is they receive rewards and eternal life. But the penalty for the unsaved ones is they receive punishment and eternal death. You don't have to be a rocket scientist to figure out what choice we should be making.
And the deceptive teachings of Satan, who teaches that a soul has no body, is designed to stop us from making that vital choice. Satan is a liar. Don't listen to his lies.
And also, if you thought you went to heaven automatically a death, then you would make no attempt to seek a personal connection with Jesus Christ. Now, Jesus Christ being the only one who can call you out of the grave. That is Satan's cunning goal to take you away from even considering Christ as your passport and visa to live in the perfect third heaven.
Conclusion number two will confirm this. Now, we need to note what Jesus said in the Bible about how we can be saved for eternal life. He said in John 14, verse six, these words, I am the way, the truth, and the life.
No man comes under the Father, but by me. The Bible in this verse teaches that Jesus is the only one who can give us eternal life, and that is because of three reasons. Christ was the creator, Christ is the Redeemer, and Christ is the coming king.
Firstly, Jesus was the creator God who made us and gives us the life support systems we need. Secondly, Jesus concealed his divinity in a human body, then lived a sinless life as a human, and then died as our substitute ransom for your sins and for mine. The innocent dying for the guilty so that we could be reconciled back to God.
He's the only one who has done that. As a result, he in his humanity was able to offer his sinless life as a sinless ransom to God the Father, who planned it and accepted this brilliant solution, and thus gave those of us who accept this precious gift a chance to be saved for eternity. It was an offer that no other person could offer because all other humans have sinned except Jesus in his humanity.
Thirdly, Christ has the keys of the grave, and no one else has those keys. As revelation one, verse 18, teaches, I am he that lives and was dead, and behold, I'm alive forevermore. Amen, and have the keys of hell, which is the grave and of death.
No other man made God or religious person has those keys that will open the graves of the dead. Only Jesus Christ has them. And those keys are the voice of Jesus Christ, who was also the creator God.
And he has a proven track record of calling the dead back to life. One example is bringing a man called Lazarus back to life. On the fourth day when decomposition had set in and all done in the presence of witnesses, Lazarus comes back to life at the voice of Jesus Christ and emerges from the grave where he had been all along.
But Jesus would not have done that if Lazarus was already in heaven. Don't miss that vital point. But the Bible says that at Christ's second coming, it is Christ's voice that awakens the remaining righteous dead souls.
None of the other religious leaders have that power because they are not the creator God. Conclusion number three means Buddha doesn't have the keys to the grave. Confucius doesn't have the keys to the grave.
Krishna doesn't have the keys to the grave. Matreya doesn't have the keys to the grave. The Mahdi doesn't have the keys to the grave.
All of these religious leaders may have been excellent at inspiring their people, but none of these religious leaders have the credentials that Jesus has, for they do not have the keys to the grave. Yet within their religions, God has many beautiful and godly people who the creator God wants to save. Conclusion four this is why our next Bible verse, which refers to Jesus Christ, makes it abundantly clear neither is there salvation in any other, for there's none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.
Acts four, verse twelve. You see, Jesus was more than a good man. Jesus was more than a prophet.
Jesus was God concealed in a normal human body who did not sin. How do I know that Jesus was God? Gabriel, the chief angel, told us in Matthew one, verse 23, behold, a virgin shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted, is God with us. So the baby born through Mary had two names, Jesus as a human baby and Emmanuel being God but concealed in that human baby.
Therefore, Jesus is the one we need to establish a personal relationship with because he is love personified and he is also God. He's the only one with the keys to the grave who can save us for eternal life. The secular and pagan world needs to give this matter serious thought if they want to receive and enjoy eternal life.
And if the evidence I presented convicts you of the truth about what is beyond the grave, why not decide to do something amazing today? Simply agree to start a free topical Bible reading with a view to getting to know the real creator God for yourself. Just cheque with the local 7th adventist church pastor or elder. You can do these topical studies either with topical paper guides or dvds or USB hard drives.
Or you can email me your request at the following email address for USB hard drives or dvd copies.
[email protected] I'll repeat that it is
[email protected]
that is my recommendation to us today. Remember, our destiny beyond the grave is dependent upon our relationship with Jesus Christ. For Jesus as the creator God is the only one who has the keys to the grave, and those keys are his own voice which calls the dead out of their graves.
Calling Lazarus back to life was witnessed by many people, and if you make the right decision, then Jesus Christ will call you out of your grave and give you eternal life if you remain faithful to him. May God bless us all and our loved ones today and forevermore. Amen.
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