16 Revelation's Keys of Death

Welcome/Announcements

Question 1: What does the Bible mean when it says to “do no work” on the Sabbath?

Work is a complex concept. Work is what you do for a living, its what you do to maintain your home. But work is also that thing the Bible says will not save you—you can’t work your way to heaven. I am confident that God intended us to think of the Sabbath as both a physical and a spiritual rest. We could try to do what the Pharisees did in classifying various activities as ”work,” in order to make sure we don’t do any Work, but I think that the Sabbath is more about what you DO and less about what you shouldn’t do.

So, with that in mind, I’d like to restate that question in the positive, “how do we keep the Sabbath holy?”

Here are five suggestions for keeping the Sabbath holy.

Spend time in Nature: In the beginning, when God blessed the Sabbath, He spent the first Sabbath with Adam and Eve in nature (Genesis 2). We can also find rest and refreshment when we set aside special time on Sabbath to spend in God’s second divine book—nature.

Worship together: During His time on earth, Jesus gave us His example of joining other believers in study and worship on the Sabbath. “As His custom was, He went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and stood up to read” (Luke 4:16). The apostle Paul encourages us to meet together often as we see the approach of Christ’s Second Coming (Hebrews 10:25).

Bring joy to others: Jesus also spent time on the Sabbath bringing joy and healing to others. Often His Sabbath miracles took place in the synagogue. We can follow His example by sharing music, an uplifting note or a personal visit, or even a phone call to a friend or neighbor in need of encouragement.

Spend time with family and friends: Sabbath is a day for relationships. The Sabbath commandment specifically includes everyone who is willing to take part in it. The Lord said, “Surely My Sabbaths you shall keep, for it is a sign between Me and you throughout your generations, that you may know that I am the Lord who sanctifies you” (Exodus 31:13). God intended for us to share the Sabbath with our children and grandchildren. Jesus often spent time on Sabbath with His disciples, visiting in their homes or out in nature (Matthew 8:14, 12:1). Sabbath allows us guilt-free time outside of our busy lives to build relationships with our families and friends. And if you read the book of Acts, you’ll notice a rich tradition of eating meals together on the Sabbath.

Worship alone: All of us need to reconnect with the Lord on a personal level. The Sabbath Psalm encourages us to take time for intimate worship and reflection. The psalmist writes “For You, Lord, have made me glad through Your work; I will triumph in the works of Your hands. O Lord, how great are Your works! Your thoughts are very deep” (Psalm 92:4, 5).

Giveaway

Upcoming Topics

Tonight, our subject is “Revelation’s Keys of Death.” It’s kind of a sober topic, but tonight, I think you’re going to see that even in the toughest of situations, God has a phenomenal plan. Death is the worst of news for the human race, but God has the ability to turn that around and make something good out of it.

Then we’ll be having a meeting tomorrow MORNING at 11 a.m. to look at “Secrets of Answered Prayer.” And this is no gimmick: there really ARE keys in the Bible that ensures that ALL of your prayers get answered, all the time. I’m sure many of you would be interested in learning about that.

Then tomorrow night, “God’s Strange Act.” We’re going to carefully examine one of the most misunderstood subjects in the Bible. We’re going to look at people who do NOT end up in the kingdom of God, and then we’ll look at something the older translations of the Bible call “God’s Strange Act.” It’s something that seems completely out of character for a loving God - and we’ll find out what He’s actually doing.

Then on Sunday, our subject is, “A Desolate Planet,” because some people DO make it into heaven. And you’re going to find out that the Bible has some really amazing details about where we’re headed, what it’s like and why the Bible seems to talk about a moment when our whole planet is broken down and almost completely vacant.

On Tuesday night, we’re going to do something a little bit different: How to Postpone Your Funeral. I’m going to show you something remarkable from the Bible that some Christians have noticed over the years - and those who adopt the principles we’re going to study have been proven - statistically - to live much longer than the rest of the population - up to TEN YEARS, in fact.

This is something you’re not going to want to miss, because not only do these people live LONGER, they also live BETTER. That’s on Tuesday night.

Then we’re going to look at Revelation’s “Return of the Woman.” If you remember Revelation 12, it says that the dragon becomes angry with the woman after Jesus returns to heaven, and she has to go into hiding for 1,260 days. If you were with us at our last meeting, that particular span of time should ring a few bells. On Wednesday night, we’re going to look at what happens AFTER those 1,260 days are finished. Where does the woman go? Where can you find her in the 21st century?

But tonight, our subject is: “Revelation’s Keys of Death.”

Tonight’s subject is going to cover some really sensitive territory -because our subject is death, and most of us in this room have been deeply hurt by death. Maybe you’ve lost somebody - somebody really close. Or maybe you’re actually facing death yourself.

If it hasn’t happened yet, I can guarantee that it WILL - because this is a painful reality that is common to all human beings. So when you’re studying death, it can be really hard to stay objective.

And to make matters worse: our world is full of stories. I’ve heard some people say we become angels when we die. Other people say our spirits wander around this world for a period of time before we go to heaven - we have to PROVE ourselves after we die.

Some people talk about LIMBO: a mysterious holding pattern for the spirits of the departed. And there’s reincarnation—did you know many Christians believe in reincarnation, not to mention Buddhists and Hindus. Many people Believe that their dead ancestors inhabit a place — a graveyard, a house, a church, a tree, rock or an animal. When some think of the afterlife they think of nirvana. Others believe that there is nothing after death—just darkness. There are thousands of different stories, and that can ALSO make it hard to stay objective.

I think we should just go to the Bible and see what it actually says. Here’s my promise tonight: there won’t be any Hallmark movies-of-the-week; there won’t be any popular mythology; we’re just going to study what the Bible says.

Because of course, if you just read the whole Book, God has an amazing way of making really good sense.

As we look at the Bible, we’re going to find a revelation from God. There are many ways that people find their truth, but the one true truth is found in the Bible. Your experience, science, history, intuition, reason—they are all subject to the revelation of the creator God. So, let’s start looking for our answers in the Bible.

But first, let’s pray.

Father in heaven, tonight as we approach what might be one of the most difficult subjects in the Bible, I want to ask that we would always sense Your presence nearby. We’re sick and tired of all the religious stories people tell, and we want to know what You think. So tonight, give me the ability to think clearly - and biblically. I want to be found faithful to the Word of God, and I’d like to know that there’s a smile on Your face when I’m finished, because I’ve been faithful. So I ask for Your blessing, in Jesus’ Name, Amen.

As we begin tonight, I thought I’d share a really useful Bible principle that can make your life much easier. It’s found in what many people believe to be the oldest book of the Bible, the book of Job:

John 12:12

Wisdom is with aged men, and with length of days, understanding.

The world around us idolizes youth. It says that young people should be the center of attention, and we spend a lot of money celebrating pop stars and TV celebrities.

But the Bible teaches that older people have a distinct advantage: they’ve done a little living - they’ve experienced a few things - and they have the wisdom that comes with age. It’s a principle that we used to know. Grandparents used to hold a revered place in most families, but now elders seem to be less and less relevant to the younger generations.

And it’s too bad, because if you would only listen to those who have gone before you, it could save you a lot of grief. When you’re getting ready to go to college, it pays to ask people who have been there: “What should I expect? What do you wish you had known BEFORE you went to college?”

It works for people who plan to get married: “What’s it like? What do you wish you’d known BEFORE you got married?”

It works for your career. It works for retirement. It works for every phase of life, except one:

When it comes to death and dying, who are you going to ask? It’s not like you can go to the graveyard and ask what it’s like. You’re not going to get any answers - and if you DID get an answer, you wouldn’t stick around.

So where do you go when it comes to death and dying?

Some people go to the psychics - the people who claim they can talk to people on the other side of the grave. But I can guarantee you this: the psychics are going to fail you. They failed Nebuchadnezzar, and they’re going to fail YOU.

Because - if we’re really honest about it - none of them have any PERSONAL experience. None of them have actually died. So they don’t really know what they’re talking about.

So where do you go? You want to go to Someone who’s been there - Someone who’s done it.

And that’s where the Bible has some really good news: there IS Someone who has actually died and come back from the grave. In the book of Revelation, Jesus says:

Revelation 1:18

I am He who lives, and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore. Amen. And I have the keys of Hades and of Death.

It turns out, there IS someone you can ask. Jesus understands the subject of death better than anyone else, because He’s actually done it. He’s been in the grave - and He’s come THROUGH the grave - and right now, Jesus is alive!

So, tonight, would you like to see what Jesus says?

The first thing the Bible tells us is how Jesus FEELS about the subject of death. At one point, He had to stand outside the grave of a really close friend, and the Bible says:

Jesus wept.

He knew the realities of death. He knows all about the pain of losing someone you love.

You see, God hasn’t isolated Himself from our problems - He has actually lived in this world, and He stood by the grave of someone He loved - and the Bible says He wept. And personally, I believe that Jesus wept in a very special way, because more than anybody else, He knew that the world was not supposed to be like this.

This isn’t the way He made us. He didn’t create us to die. So He stands at this grave - the grave of Lazarus - and He weeps for His ruined creation. And because He is God, He can see all the way from that moment down to YOUR life - and He can see every funeral - every single person you’ve lost - and He weeps.

Nobody feels the pain of death more keenly than God.

So, if you ask me, Jesus understands this subject better than anybody else. Tonight, Jesus’ opinion is the only One I’m interested in - because He’s the only One who really knows. I want to know what GOD knows about death.

And maybe the best place to begin is at the beginning. Before we actually look at how DEATH works, let’s go back and look at God’s original plan. Let’s see how life was SUPPOSED to work.

Here’s the original formula for life, in Genesis chapter 2.

Genesis 2:7

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.

Now, I hope you were paying attention, because there was an actual formula in that passage:

Dust, plus the breath of life, equals a living soul. And if you go and ask a biologist, they’ll tell you it’s true: you’re basically made from carbon. You’re related to the dirt in your backyard and the soot in your fireplace.

But God did something special with that dirt: He added the breath of life, and it became a living soul. This is a very important principle. We are NOT self-existant, we were given the gift of life. And the Bible says that it wasn’t just a gift at the beginning, it’s a continuing thing—God sustains our life. Hebrews 1:3 says that “He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power.”

And in the beginning, we were never supposed to die.

But the wages of sin is? Death. So unfortunately, you and I added death to the formula, and we changed it. So look at what happened:

After we sinned, God came into the garden and told us the formula would be reversed:

Genesis 3:19

For dust you are, and to dust you shall return.

What happens when we die? We go back to the dust.

There was a little boy who came running into the kitchen with a really urgent question. “Mommy! The preacher said in church this week that when we die, we go back to the dust. Is that really true?”

“Yes, it is! That’s what the Bible says. Why do you want to know?”

“Because I lost one of my Legos under the couch, and when I crawled under there, it looks like somebody’s either coming or going!”

For dust you are, and to dust you shall return. When we added the act of rebellion to God’s creation, it reversed the formula for life. Listen carefully to what the Bible says, because it gives a lot more detail:

In the book of Ecclesiastes, it describes death again.

Ecc 12:7

Then the dust will return to the earth as it was, and the spirit will return to God who gave it.

This is the reverse of the formula for life. The Bible says that when you die, the dust returns to the earth - and the “spirit” goes to God.

Now here’s what I want you to think about - and I want you to think about it very carefully - because this is where modern thinking gets just a little bit fuzzy. Sometimes, when we read the Bible, we forget that we are reading it with modern, western minds - and we forget that a passage like this was written thousands of years ago.

Have you ever read a book from a long time ago and gotten confused? Its not that you don’t understand the words—they are all the same words you know—but the author seems to be using them differently than you expect.

For example, you might read, “she was a nice little girl,” and then the author describes a girl that doesn’t seem to have all her wits about her. As though “nice” is derogatory. And that’s because it used to be. Nice used to mean, silly, foolish, or simple. Today we use the word to describe someone who is kind and friendly.

A modern investigative novel would use the word “clue” to suggest a bit of information that will help you uncover the truth later on. But if you were reading a book from a century ago and read the word “clue” it would probably be something like, “so grandmother picked up her knitting needles and clue and headed off to bed.” Clue used to mean, a ball of yarn.

With that in mind, let’s take a look at what that second part means. What, exactly, is the spirit that returns to God? Is that your non-physical presence? Is it a ghost?

Now, before you answer, I want you to listen to this curious statement from the book of Job - and I’m going to read it from the Old King James Bible, because some of the confusion on this subject stems from the fact that lots of Christians grew up using 400-year-old language to read the Bible.

Job 27:3

All the while my breath is in me, and the spirit of God is in my nostrils.

Where is the “spirit of God?” In Job’s nostrils. Now you tell me: how is THAT possible? Is Job really saying that he’s got a ghost up his nose?

Not at all. If you read the modern versions, they’ve corrected this: they say the “breath of God” is in his nostrils.

In the Bible, when you see the word “spirit,” sometimes it means a literal spirit being - like the Holy Spirit. But sometimes - even in modern versions - it simply refers to your breath.

The original Hebrew word is ruach - and it literally means WIND. Job is saying something we’ve already seen in other parts of the Bible: the “breath of God” is in his nostrils - because God is the ultimate source of his life.

Let me show you something else that’s really interesting.

Here’s the formula for death again, and this time, it adds something really interesting.

Psalm 146:3, 4

Put not your trust in princes, nor in the son of man, in whom there is no help. His breath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth; in that very day his thoughts perish.

Now again, that’s the Old King James Version. But in modern versions, it actually says “his SPIRIT goes forth,” and that’s because those two words are often interchangeable: spirit and breath.

But now I want you to notice something else - a brand-new detail. It also says that the day you die, your “thoughts perish.”

In some versions, it says your “plans perish,” and that’s basically the same thing. The Bible teaches that you quit thinking the moment you die, and you can’t make plans when you stop thinking.

And of course, that raises a very important question!

I’ve always heard that the very moment you die, you are immediately taken into the presence of God. (And to some extent, that’s true - at some point you WILL end up in the presence of God.) But if it happens right away - if you suddenly find yourself in heaven, the very moment you die, don’t you think you might have some thoughts?

Of course you would!

But the Bible says you stop thinking the moment you die.

How do we make sense out of that?

Here’s another question: if you suddenly found yourself in the presence of Jesus, don’t you think you’d worship Him? Of course you would - but listen to what the Bible says:

Psalm 115:17

The dead do not praise the Lord, nor any who go down into silence.

Follow me very carefully. The Bible teaches that the moment we die, we become silent. We do NOT praise the Lord. We don’t even have thoughts!

And I know: that’s not what most people think - but that IS what the Bible says, again and again! Look at this verse in Ecclesiastes:

Ecc 9:5, 6

For the living know that they will die; but the dead know nothing, and they have no more reward, for the memory of them is forgotten.

Also their love, their hatred, and their envy have now perished; nevermore will they have a share in anything done under the sun.

It says it again: when you die, you don’t know anything. And you don’t have anything to do with anything that takes place here on this earth.

This is how I KNOW the psychics are lying. They CAN’T talk to the dead - because the Bible says the dead have no share in what happens under the sun. They’re finished with this life.

Folks, there’s a very good reason the Bible forbids going to psychics!

Listen to what the Bible says:

This comes from the book of Job.

Job 7:9, 10

As the cloud disappears and vanishes away, so he who goes down to the grave does not come up. He shall never return to his house, nor shall his place know him anymore.

Follow this very carefully: the dead simply do not come back. They can’t haunt your house, which makes you wonder what some people out there are actually experiencing. They can’t speak to you - which makes you wonder who we’re really talking to when we play with a Ouija board.

It can’t be the dead - because GOD SAYS SO - and He says so in no uncertain terms.

So what actually happens the moment we die? Listen carefully to the words of Jesus:

Let’s go back the story where Lazarus dies, and I want you to pay very careful attention. At this point in the story, Jesus receives news that Lazarus is sick.

John 11:11, 12

These things He said, and after that He said to them, “Our friend Lazarus sleeps, but I go that I may wake him up.” Then His disciples said, “Lord, if he sleeps he will get well.”

However, Jesus spoke of his death, but they thought that He was speaking about taking rest in sleep. Then Jesus said to them plainly, “Lazarus is dead.”

Lazarus is what? Lazarus is dead!

So here’s a very simple question: to what does Jesus compare death?

He compares it to sleep. And the Bible does that more than 70 times. Why? Because that’s exactly what happens. The Bible says that when you die, you don’t know anything - and you’re silent - because for all intents and purposes, it’s exactly like you’re asleep.

And that’s the Bible picture: death is a sleep. And how long do you sleep? Listen to the way Jesus explains it to Martha in this same story:

John 11:23, 24

Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.” Martha said to Him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.”

There’s one thing that I know for sure: Martha had her theology straight. When did she expect her brother to live again? In the future - at the resurrection. And that’s something you and I have already read in the Bible:

1 Thess 4:15-18

For this we say to you by the Word of the Lod, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep.

Some might stop there and say, look, there’s evidence that the dead are already with Jesus. Those who are alive at the resurrection will not precede those who died. We won’t go up to heaven before them, so they must already be there.

But notice what the Bible says in the very next sentence:

1 Thess 4:15-18

For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first.

Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord.

Therefore comfort one another with these words.

What did it just say? We need to comfort each other with which words? “The dead will rise when Jesus comes.” That’s what the Bible teaches, and all the early Christians understood this.

Go back in history, and you’ll find that early Christians all called death a sleep.

Go and visit the catacombs in Rome, and you’ll notice something very interesting. There are really sad inscriptions on the pagan graves - stuff like “goodbye forever!” and “I guess we’ll never see you again!”

But the Christian graves are different. They’re all marked with words of hope. “Good night until the darkness passes.” “We’ll see you again in the morning.” The Christians knew that THEIR dead would rise again when Jesus returns.

And you’ll notice something else very interesting. The pagans tended to bury their dead all over the place, in individual graves. But early Christians often put all their dead in one tomb, so they could sleep together until Jesus comes.

Go and ask the historians - the earliest Christians would have been amazed by the way that you and I talk about death.

Go back and read Justin Martyr, who wrote about death in the second century. He was a Christian apologist, meaning he tried to communicate Christian teachings in a way pagans would understand. There’s a little book written by Justin Martyr that you can download online called “Fragments of the Resurrection.” He actually admired the pagan philosophers, but at one point he said, “the difference is this: they say we have an immortal soul that keeps on living after death, and OUR HOPE is in the resurrection.”

Now why in the world would he say that? It’s because THAT’S what the Bible teaches!

But wait a minute: doesn’t the Bible talk about our immortal soul?

Actually, it doesn’t. That comes as a bit of a surprise to people who go looking for it, but the Bible never, ever talks about an immortal soul. This is the only passage that talks about a naturally immortal BEING, and it’s talking about God:

1 Tim 6:15, 16

Who alone has immortality, dwelling in unapproachable light, whom no man has seen or can see, to whom be honor and everlasting power.

The Bible indicates that God is the only one who is immortal. He alone has life in himself. The rest of us derive life from God. We are alive because it is a gift from Him. You and I are not immortal. Without the life-breath of God, we die. We weren’t supposed to, but ever since we broke our connection with the immortal God, we’ve had an expiration date on our existence.

Let’s go back to Genesis - because I want to show you something that you may never have noticed:

Genesis 2:7

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.

Did you notice something? The Bible doesn’t say you HAVE a soul - the Bible says you ARE a soul.

So does that mean that a soul can actually die? Well . . . don’t take MY word for it - listen to the Bible:

Remember: the wages of sin is death.

Ezekiel 18:4

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.

When you die, you fall asleep. You simply rest until Jesus comes back.

The Bible makes this so easy to understand - if you just read the whole thing. In the book of Job, there’s a detailed list of what happens when a person dies. Follow this carefully:

Job 14:12-14

So man lies down and does not rise. Till the heavens are no more, they will not awake nor be roused from their sleep.

Oh, that you would hide me in the grave, that You would conceal me until Your wrath is past, that You would appoint me a set time, and remember me!

If a man dies, shall he live again? All the days of my hard service I will wait, till my change comes.

Now let’s analyze what Job just said:

First, he said that we sleep “until the heavens are no more.”

Then he said we are resurrected when the “wrath of God is past.”

And then he said we stay dead until our “change comes.”

So let me ask you: do we know when all this stuff actually happens? The answer is YES. The Bible makes it really clear:

Job said we sleep until the heavens are no more - and we know EXACTLY when that happens.

Revelation 6:14

Then the sky receded as a scroll when it is rolled up, and every mountain and island was moved out of its place.

Here’s another text:

2 Peter 3:10

But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise…

When do the heavens pass away? When Jesus comes again.

A lot of people have wondered: why does Jesus need to come and open all the graves if everybody is already in heaven? The answer is - they’re not!

The heavens pass away when Jesus returns. Now for Job’s second point:

We are resurrected when the “wrath of God is past.” We know THIS happens in connection with the Second Coming, too.

Revelation 15:1

Then I saw another sign in heaven, great and marvelous: seven angels having the seven last plagues, for in them the wrath of God is complete.

If only we had gathered all the information and just let God speak for Himself, this subject would be so easy to understand. But in the 21st century, we have stopped studying the Bible for truth. We read the best selling novels more than we read the Bible.

On to Job’s last point:

He said that we rest in our graves until our “change” comes. Do we know when THAT will happen? Yes, we do: at the last trumpet, when Jesus comes.

1 Cor 15:51-55

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.

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.” “O death, where is your sting? O death, where is your victory?”

There’s just no mistaking it: we are changed at the last trumpet - when Jesus comes. That’s the moment when we come out of our graves with REAL bodies - and a REAL existence. We don’t become ghosts - we become flesh-and-blood human beings.

In fact, the Bible teaches that you and I come out of the grave with the same kind of body Jesus had when HE came back from the grave. Listen to the words of Paul:

Philippians 3:20, 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

that it may be conformed to His glorious body, according to the working by which He is able even to subdue all things to Himself.

When you come back from the dead, you get a glorified body like Jesus. And that will be a real, flesh-and-blood, physical body. “Touch me and see,” Jesus said to his disciples. “I’m absolutely real.” And then - if you remember - He ate some food to prove it.

Now let me ask you this: if we were originally created with real bodies, and we were never supposed to die, and then we come back from the grave with real bodies … then why in the world would we ever need a ghost?

Why would God even CREATE a ghost in the first place? It doesn't make sense - and that’s because it’s just not true - it’s not what the Bible teaches.

OK - let’s go back to JOB and look at his timeline one more time:

Job 14:12-14

So man lies down and does not rise. Till the heavens are no more, they will not awake nor be roused from their sleep.

Oh, that You would hide me in the grave, that You would conceal me until Your wrath is past, that you would appoint me a set time, and remember me!

If a man dies, shall he live again? All the days of my hard service I will wait, Till my change comes.

The Bible picture is really very clear: we simply sleep until Jesus comes.

And really, if you think about this, it’s the most loving thing God could do. Imagine that you die and you go straight to heaven: and then you find out that your husband - or your wife - marries someone else. And that someone else is better-looking than you - and has more money than you!

And then imagine that the new spouse starts hitting your kids. What kind of heaven would THAT be? Or imagine that your family falls on hard times, and your kids hardly have enough to eat. How could you possibly enjoy heaven?

God knows that this world is a horrible place - so when you die, you’re done with it. He just lets you sleep. It’s the only thing that makes sense, and as the church started coming back out of the Dark Ages, some of our best thinkers started to see it:

This is how Martin Luther described the Bible’s position on death.

~Martin Luther

Scripture everywhere affords such consolation, which speaks of the death of the saints, as if they fell asleep and were gathered to their fathers...

and awaited the resurrection together with the saints who preceded them in death.

Thus after death the soul goes to its bedchamber and to its peace, and while sleeping it does not realize its sleep.

Martin Luther had it absolutely right. That’s exactly what the Bible says. This is what he said in another place:

We shall sleep until He comes and knocks on the little grave and says, “Dr Martin, get up!” Then I shall rise in a moment, and be happy with Him forever.

Let me ask you a question: when you go to bed at night, exhausted from a really long day, and you fall into a deep sleep - how long is it before morning comes, and your alarm clock is ringing?

You don’t even notice the passage of time. And that’s how the Bible describes death. You simply fall asleep - and it seems like a single heartbeat - and Jesus is there.

Now, I know that some of you are wondering:

How did we manage to get it so wrong?

That’s a really big question - and we could probably spend hours talking about it - but here’s the short answer: we borrowed our thinking from the pagans. And if you want to point the finger at one culture in particular, you’d have to point to the Greeks.

And the biggest name in Greek philosophy was Plato. Plato recognized that there’s something wrong with this world - he noticed that it’s full of imperfections. And then he went on to say the only way you can KNOW there are imperfections is if somehow, you have this idea of perfection.

So then the Greeks said: maybe there’s a perfect world out there, and the imperfect stuff we have in THIS world is just a bad copy of the real thing!

The next logical step? There are imperfections in your body - so somewhere out there, there must be a perfect YOU. And for the Greeks, the height of perfection was a non-physical existence - so PRESTO! The immortal soul was born.

But it comes from Plato, not from Jesus.

Unfortunately, in the early Christian church, we had some leaders who loved pagan philosophy, and in an effort to identify with the pagan cultures around them, they started to adopt their language and ultimately their ideas. This was especially true in North Africa, in the city of Alexandria. Early church fathers like Clement and Origen started to blend Christian theology with pagan philosophy.

Now, the ordinary Christians didn’t buy it. They knew what the Bible said. But in academic circles, it became fashionable to talk about your faith with the language and ideas of pagan philosophy. And of course, after Constantine converted the Roman Empire, all KINDS of pagan thought came into the church.

I guess the short version of the story is this: it happened because we compromised, and it didn’t come from the Bible.

Now, I know that some of you have a few more questions. What about the thief on the cross?

Let’s take a look at it.

Luke 23:42, 43

Then he said to Jesus, “Lord, remember me when you come into your kingdom.”

And Jesus said to him, “Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise.”

It looks like Jesus promised the thief that he would be in heaven that very day.

Or did He? I actually have a few question about that.

One problem with that interpretation is the fact that Jesus didn’t establish His kingdom that day. Daniel chapter 7 makes it very clear: Jesus gets His kingdom AFTER the judgment. Matthew 25:31 tells us that Jesus sits on the throne of His glory WHEN HE COMES BACK. So the kingdom clearly wasn’t established that day.

There’s another little problem. Jesus didn’t actually go to heaven that day, either. How do I know that? The Bible says so.

Look at the story that happens when Mary meets Jesus shortly after the resurrection, two days after Jesus died. She understandably runs up to Jesus and tries to cling to His feet. But notice what Jesus says:

John 20:17

Jesus said to her, “Do not cling to me, for I have not yet ascended to my father...”

Jesus is very clear that on the third day, He still hasn’t been to heaven. And there’s another little conundrum:

We’re pretty sure the thief didn’t go to heaven, either. How do we know that? John chapter 19 says that at the end of the day, they had to break the thieves’ legs. Why did they do that? From what I understand, sometimes, the Romans would lay the crosses on the ground over the Sabbath as a gesture of goodwill for the Jews. But then some of the victims would escape - so they broke their legs.

As the sun was about to set, that thief was still alive. But they never broke Jesus’ legs, because Jesus was already dead.

So we know that Jesus couldn’t possibly mean they’d both be in heaven that very same day! So what do we do with the thief on the cross? It’s really very simple:

Do you see this comma? That wasn’t there in the original manuscript. Bible translation is a very tough job. In some of the oldest original language manuscripts the words are all strung together without spaces, and there was no punctuation to tell where a sentence started or ended. It’s a science that scribes and translators have mastered over the years and we can be very confident with translations. However, its possible to get little details wrong here or there. That’s why its so important for us to compare scripture with scripture and not try to build a doctrine off one verse.

At some point, hundreds of years ago, translators simply put the punctuation where they thought it should go. And that’s where it has stayed, for the most part. And remember: the first English versions came from the medieval church, where the thinking on death was still very confused. The translators weren’t trying to be dishonest: they just added the punctuation where they thought it should go.

But move the comma over one word, and the verse suddenly harmonizes with the rest of the Bible.

“Assuredly I say to you today - COMMA - you will be with Me in Paradise!”

Jesus gave His word that day. He was telling the thief to bank on it. But it’s not going to happen until the resurrection.

A simple comma can really change the meaning of a sentence!

For example, look at this sentence: “Let’s eat, grandma!” That’s an invitation to dinner! But remove that simple comma, and suddenly grandma’s not at the table, she’s actually on the menu!

So what about that other verse - the one that says, “Absent from the body, present with the Lord”?

Here’s what it says:

2 Cor 5:8

We are confident, yes, well pleased rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord.

Now, doesn’t that prove that everything we’ve studied tonight is absolutely wrong? Not at all. Scripture never contradicts itself. You can’t throw away dozens and dozens of verses that say we sleep until the resurrection and build a theory on just this one.

But still, it DOES say that you are present with God the moment you die, doesn’t it? . . . Or does it? First of all, does it say WHEN this is going to happen? No, it doesn’t.

This verse HAS to agree with the other things Paul wrote - including the passage where he says we sleep until the trumpet blast - and it has to agree with this passage:

Paul is coming to the end of his life, and here’s what he says:

2 Tim 4:8

Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord; the righteous judge,

shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love His appearing.

Look at this carefully: Paul doesn’t expect a reward until the day of Jesus’ appearing.

So why does he say “absent from the body?” Well, if you read the whole chapter, the CONTEXT makes it obvious. Let’s go back to verse 1:

Follow along carefully. I’ve highlighted different parts of the passage in different colors so that you can follow his thinking, and I think you’re going to see a pattern.

2 Cor 5:1-8

For we know that if our earthly house, this tent, is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.

Notice how clear this is! Paul says if THIS body gets destroyed, he gets ANOTHER one in HEAVEN! It doesn’t say he becomes a ghost spirit - it actually says he gets another building - a body! If anything, it says he gets an upgrade from a flimsy tent to a much better building.

“For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed with our habitation which is from heaven,”

That’s talking about THIS body - our earthly tent.

“If indeed, having been clothed, we shall not be found naked.”

Again, he says he expects to have a body in heaven. There are two states in this passage. In red letters, he’s talking about his earthly body. In blue letters, he’s talking about the new body he gets at the resurrection.

And between those two bodies, Paul simply says he’s naked. He doesn’t have a body. But it doesn’t say he’s a ghost - that’s just not in the passage!

“For we who are in this tent groan, being burdened.” Again, that’s THIS tent - our earthly body. “Not because we want to be unclothed, but further clothed, that mortality may be swallowed up by life.”

What’s he saying? He wants his heavenly body - and so do I! And again, notice - he doesn’t say we’re unclothed in heaven - he doesn’t say we go to heaven without a body - he says that we are “further clothed.” We get a heavenly body.

Now He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who also has given us the Spirit as a guarantee.

So we are always confident, knowing that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord. For we walk by faith, not by sight.

What’s he saying? As long as we have this earthly body, we are absent from the Lord - and that’s absolutely true, because Jesus is in heaven, and you and I are here.

Now here comes the kicker:

“We are confident, yes, well pleased rather to be absent from the body”

this earthly body

“and to be present with the Lord”

with a heavenly body. That’s what the rest of the passage says!

The Bible is amazingly consistent - and Paul doesn’t say anything here that contradicts what 40 other writers said. It’s just that someone is trying to confuse the issue.

In the Garden of Eden, God said, “If you eat from that tree, you are going die.” But then the dragon came and whispered, “You will not SURELY die.”

He didn’t want us to believe it. He didn’t want us to understand how devastating sin really is. So he told us to doubt what God said. He told us the wages of sin isn’t REALLY death - and the human race has been listening ever since.

Maybe you have had an experience—a visit from a dead relative or a special moment of peace or intuition during loss. And because of your experience you’re tempted to doubt what God has said.

In Matthew 24 Jesus said that Satan would work to deceive the people of God by working signs and performing miracles. We’ve already talked about the danger of trusting our senses. If we are to know and understand truth, we must find it from God’s Word. He is the truth, He is the way, and He is the life. Any time our experience conflicts with the evidence in the Bible, we should trust the Bible, and reevaluate our experience based on the Bible’s truth.

The serpent wanted Eve to doubt, but God had told the truth. Death is our ENEMY - it is not our FRIEND.

What is death really like?

One day, Joanna got some really devastating news from her doctor. Her little boy, Michael, was going to die. That was hard to take, and she went into shock. He was only five years old!

Then one day, as she was still struggling to get her bearings, she realized that she hadn’t talked to Michael about what was going to happen. “Michael, honey - I’ll bet you’re wondering what’s going on.”

Michael was quiet for a moment, and then he asked, “Mommy, what’s it going to be like?”

Tell me: what would YOU tell that little boy? Would you make up a story? Or would you tell him the truth?

“Honey, you know when we go on a really long car ride and you fall asleep in the back seat?”

“Yes.”

“And you know how when you wake up, you’re not in the car anymore, because Daddy carried you up to your bed?”

“Yes.”

“That’s what it’s going to be like. You’re going to fall asleep, and the next thing you know, you’re going to be home with Jesus.”

And that’s what happens for all of us.

Prayer

Father, we’re thankful that even in the hardest of situations, You still have an answer, and we can bank on the fact that You are still a God of love. We recognize that we’ve made a mess of this world, but we marvel that You still want to reverse the tide of sin and even break the bonds of death. Tonight, we believe that Jesus rose from the dead, and because of that, we know that He will come again to take us back from the clutches of the grave.

Thank You for all You do for us. Tonight, we want to say that we trust You, and we cannot wait for Your return. We pray these things in the Name of Him who WAS dead, and is now alive forever - Jesus Christ, Amen.

Thanks for being here. Our next subject, which is tomorrow morning at 11 am is, “Secrets of Answered Prayer.”

Good night, and God bless.