God's Mercy Thru the Second Resurrection

Thank you for that special music. It's beautiful. It's nice to have some morning people here in the afternoon. So welcome! You're here for the sandwiches. All right, it's good. It's good to see you. Happy Sabbath, everyone! Happy Sabbath to everyone on the webcast, too, who are watching. Any guests we may have? You know, it's exciting coming to church because you never know what you're gonna hear about. You know, you can hear a good solid Christian living message. You can, you know, hear on how you can transform your life. And today I'd like to talk about something that is a basic fundamental belief that we all share. On September 5th, 1934, Betty Lou Smith was born. It's kind of a somewhat of a sad story. She was one of a handful of children. You know, just grew up in the middle of Illinois, middle of nowhere. She worked her life as a waitress and as a sales associate. Struggled quite a bit financially. She was married five times, widowed twice. She knew too well the cruelty of the world. In fact, it hardened her quite a bit. It hardened her so much that many of the relationships she had had started to fall away. Some people didn't want to have anything to do with her. You know, when I think about it, she really never learned to love. She didn't learn to love. Betty Lou Smith was my grandma. She wasn't very religious, though at times she knew that my family was religious. Deep down, she wanted to be, but she just didn't have it. There was something she just couldn't connect with God. She wanted to believe in something very much. I'd see her sometimes sitting on the edge of her seat Sunday mornings watching whatever religious program was on. Never beyond today. Last year when she was facing death, she was very fearful.

She had no idea what was about to happen to her. She had no idea. She had no idea what was next. What was next for her? She spent her last days fighting for her life on breathing machines. She had smoked since she was 14. She had congestive heart failure, COPD. She was struggling. At some point, she did finally have peace about it. I'm not sure what it was, but she still didn't know what was next for her. This past February, a cold, wintery day, we gathered up, dressed ourselves up. It must have been well below freezing that day. We gathered for her funeral service. In her 80th year of her life, one of the saddest things I can think about, no matter all the broken relationships she had, including marriages, friends, family, children, there were 12 people there to say goodbye at her funeral. Is that it? Is that it for her? Well, if we were an atheist group, we would say yes. What a sad life lived.

But that's not the end of the story. Traditional Christianity would say, well, she's in heaven or hell. And to be honest, and as respectfully as I can say, as hard as my grandma became, I wouldn't know which way she was going.

Now, if that's what I believed, what kind of uncertainty would that leave me with?

How would I go with the rest of my days not knowing someone who has a very integral in bringing me into this world, no idea where she ended up?

The Bible is very clear about what happens to a person after they die. It's not the end of the story for my grandma. Today, I'd like to share with you God's plan of salvation through his resurrections, specifically the second resurrection. So before we begin, we have to realize, well, what is death? As I said, we're going to go through some very fundamental scriptures, but it's these fundamental scriptures that really give us faith of the plan of salvation that God is working out for not just you and I, but the entire world.

Let's begin in Ecclesiastes.

I hope I think I just drank Nix.

He had took the right one, right?

Ecclesiastes 9, verse 5, For the living know that they will die, but the dead know nothing.

Let's skip down to verse 10. Ecclesiastes 9, 10.

He won't be working. He won't be thinking anything. He is simply ceasing to exist.

You know, at the end of Adam and Eve's time that they had in Eden, God laid out the future for them. They would no longer be having eternal life. And in Genesis 3, He told them, In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground, for out of it you are taken, for dust you are, and dust you shall return. That's what it is.

When our life is done, that's it. You just cease to be.

And people will say, well, what about heaven? And things like that. We know a few Scriptures. One of the strongest ones that I always lean to is Acts 2.34, when it says that not even David's in heaven. He's waiting. David is waiting. This is a man after God's own heart, and he is not there.

We know that a man does not go to heaven or hell. The Bible is very clear about that. And yet we're all deserving of punishment, aren't we? So some will say, well, what about the punishment that someone deserves? Doesn't God say something about that? Yes, He does. He says that. Punishment is very deserving for all of us. It says that all men have fallen short of the glory of God. But let's go to Romans 6, and we'll see a very clear scripture of what that punishment is. Romans 6. So we're building sort of the case here for God's plan in His resurrections, and specifically the second resurrection. Romans 6, verse 23, For the wages of sin is death. It's not ever-burning torture. It's death. It's the end. It's the ceasing to be. That's what the wages of sin are. It's ceasing to be. We see the dead know nothing. They have no thoughts. You don't take anything with you. That's just it. Well, some may think, well, that's just morbid and sad. But you know what? God's plan for salvation is very simple, and this is just part of it. Nothing happens to you. You don't immediately go somewhere? No. No, you don't. When you die, you don't go to heaven or hell. And to believe otherwise is really falling trapped to Satan's first lie. Well, you surely won't die if you eat that. You just go on somewhere else. You just go living somewhere else. That's the first lie, and it's still with us today. It's still with religion today. He just ceased to be. God's plan is very simple. And what we realize we have to do is we have to change our mindset on what death is. Well, how do you do that? It's this, like, final thing, isn't it? We have to change our mindset about the finality of death and see it like God does. He sees it much differently than you and I. Let's take a look and see how God sees death. Let's go to John 11.

We're going to go through some familiar scriptures today, but really pick out God's plan of salvation through His resurrections. There are two Lazarus's in the Bible. Lazarus says, Lazarus, there's two of those guys. One was in a parable, and this guy was really there. He's part of history. John 11. Let's start reading in verse 1.

We need you. We need you. He's sick. He's in a dire situation. Please come and see Him. When Jesus heard that, He said, verse 4, This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God may be glorified through it. And what does Jesus do? He doesn't go yet. Verse 6. So when He heard He was sick, He stayed two more days.

Shouldn't He have been rushing off to save this guy? He's been healing people left and right.

His perspective is a little different than ours.

Verse 11. These things He said, and after that He said to them, Our friend Lazarus sleeps, but I may go, but I may wake him up. And His disciples said, Lord, if He sleeps, He will get well. However, Jesus spoke of His death, but they thought He was speaking about taking a rest and sleep. And Jesus said to them plainly, Lazarus is dead. He is dead. Verse 21. Now Martha said to Jesus, Lord, if You had been here, my brother wouldn't have died.

He had tarried for two days. He wouldn't have died. But even now, I know that whatever you ask God, God will give you. And Jesus said to her, Your brother will rise again. And this is interesting what Martha says, because she says to Him, I know. I know He'll be raised again. He will rise again in the resurrection of the last day. She already has a fundamental understanding of the resurrection and the plan of God of salvation. She says, I know. He'll be raised in the last day. And Jesus said to her, I am the resurrection of life, and He who believes in me, though he may die, he shall live. Let's go down to verse 40. Jesus said to her, I did not say to you that if you would believe, you would see the glory of God.

Then He took away the stone from the place where the dead man was lying, and Jesus lifted up His eyes and said, Father, I thank you that you have heard me. And I know that you always hear me, but because of the people who are standing by, I say this, that they may believe that you sent me. He's getting ready to do something very powerful. Now, when He had said these things, He cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth!

You can just hear the authority coming from His voice. Jesus had absolute certainty that Lazarus would be coming forth. And He who died came bound hand and foot. What a sight! He's bound hand and foot in grave clothes, and His face wrapped with a cloth, and Jesus said to Him, Loose Him and let Him go.

Jesus just showed us the power that God has over death.

We read the Scriptures to grow in faith. Faith comes by hearing, hearing by the Word of God. This is one of those accounts right here. He has the power over death. Martha already knew about the resurrection at the Second Coming.

But here He said, I have the power over death when it needs to be shown. And one of the most eye-opening things that He says that can change your perspective on what death is, He's just sleeping. He's just asleep. It's absolutely nothing for me to go and wake this man up. It is simple for me to wake this man up. He's not lost. He's not gone forever. He's resting. He's asleep. It was nothing for God to raise a man from the dead, just as easy as it is for us to wake someone when they're sleeping. Jesus, through His ministry, He raised quite a few people, and I am absolutely certain that He did that for our faith, to grow in our faith. He wants you to know I can raise the dead. I've got this. When it comes to the last days, I've got this. Another exciting account of this is in Matthew 27. Let's go ahead and take a look at this. God's perspective of death is quite different than ours. He's just asleep, is what Jesus said. Matthew 27, verse 51. Then, behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two. This is right after Jesus has died on the cross. He had sacrificed Himself for us that we may live again. And this is what happens to show that we may live again. The earth quaked, and the rocks were split, and the graves were opened, and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep... Ah, there's that word again. They were just asleep. ...were raised. And coming out of the graves, after His resurrection, they went to the Holy City and appeared to many. I thought you were dead! You heard that in comedies, right? I thought that guy was dead. No, I'm not dead. I'm here. Well, yeah, I was dead. And now I'm here to show the glory of God before you. They were just asleep. And so that we can have stronger faith, they were raised again. Unfortunately, they died again. But they're just asleep. God will wake them back up when it's time. He wanted to show us the power of His plan, and for us to believe in the power of the resurrection.

Now, when someone dies, it is completely fine for us to mourn. We'll miss our loved ones in this life. But it's Scriptures like these that we can be rest assured that they will live again. The first resurrection that will happen at Jesus' return is the resurrection of the saints. And a thousand years after that, God is going to wake everybody else up, physically and spiritually. Let's take a look at just sort of the nuts and bolts of God's plan, alright? Are you with me? Let's go to Revelation 20. So now that we know what death is and what it is to God, God can just wake us up. Let's see what He's going to do, how it fits into His plan.

Revelation 20.

I need to get my contacts better.

This is the first resurrection here. Now, this is working and confusing because of the line at the end of the next verse. Because verse 5 says, That's everybody else. That's the second resurrection. So here we have clearly two resurrections. How it was always explained to me was in verse 5, you put a parenthesis at the beginning of the verse and right after the thousand years were finished. So you have a continuation of what's happened in the first resurrection there. But the first resurrection happens and then a thousand years later, God raises everybody else.

Now, how do we know that the second resurrection is a resurrection to physical life? How do we know it's different? How would you explain that to someone? Well, it says they're resurrected and the first one says that those people reign with Christ. So how is it different? Well, there's a very good prophet named Ezekiel that we'll go ahead and review that again. Ezekiel 37. We're getting into the understanding of the resurrections here. There is the resurrection to physical, art, and spiritual life. You can read about that in 1 Corinthians 15. Today we're talking specifically about the second resurrection, that to a physical life for those who had not been baptized and given the Holy Spirit.

Ezekiel 37. Now, we're just going to go ahead and go through these verses here. This is a very exciting chapter to read here. Verse 1, The hand of the Lord came upon me and brought me out in the spirit of the Lord, and set me down in the midst of the valley, and it was full of bones. So here we have a vision, a vision of Ezekiel. Then he caused me to pass by them all around, and behold, there were very many in the open valley, and indeed they were very dry. So they were there for quite a long time. And he said to me, Son of man, can these bones live? So I answered, and this is a great reply, God, you know. Yeah, you know God. You know the answer to that. I don't have to reply to that. You know. And again he said to me, Prophesy to these bones, and say to them, O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. Thus says the Lord, God, to these bones, Surely I will cause breath to enter you, and you shall live. And I will put sinews on you, and bring flesh upon you. Cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and you shall live. And you shall know that I am the Lord. So I prophesied, as I was commanded, As I prophesied, there was a noise, and suddenly a rattling, And the bones came together, bone to bone. Indeed, as I looked, the sinews and the flesh, What a vision he gets to see here. Coming on the skin covered over, but there was no breath in them. So he saw all the components of a human being coming back together. But there's no breath in them yet. So he just has the bodies there. Also he said to me, Prophesy to the breath, Prophesy, Son of Man, and say to the breath, Thus says the Lord, God, Come from the four winds, O breath, And breathe on these slain, that they may live. So I prophesied. And he commanded me, and the breath came into them, And they lived, and stood upon their feet, An exceedingly great army. Then he said to me, Son of Man, These bones are the whole house of Israel, And they indeed say, Our bones are dry, our hope is lost, And we ourselves are cut off. Therefore prophesy, and say to them, Behold, O my people, I will open your graves, Cause you to come up from your graves, And bring you into the land of Israel. Then you shall know, I am the Lord, You have opened your graves, O my people, and brought you up from your graves, And I will put my spirit in you. Ah, that's something different here. And you shall live, and I will place you in your own land, And you shall know, that I am the Lord, Have spoken and performed it, says the Lord. It's interesting here. This is specifically talking to Israel, But there are passages in the Bible that show that there will be other nations coming up in the judgment. Specifically, we can go to, for an example, is Matthew 11. We'll go there in just a second. But what's interesting about this is that He says, I will raise you up, and I will put my spirit in you. But he doesn't just put his spirit in anybody. Something has to happen. They have to repent. They have to accept the life that God has placed in front of them. So here, we're getting an indication. Many people will have a change of heart, And they will gain the spirit. Let's go to Matthew 11. It's not just Israel, though that was specifically talking to Israel. Let's see what it says in Matthew 11 here.

That was a resurrection to physical life that we saw. You may remember reading this in Matthew 11. Let's see here. Verse 20, Then He began to rebuke the cities, in which most of the mighty works had been done, because they did not repent. So Christ went out, did many wonderful miracles, and they didn't repent. So He says, Woe to you, Chorazan! Woe to you, Bessayetah! For the mighty works which were done, and you had been done entire and siding, they would have repented long ago, in sackcloth and ashes. But I say to you, it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon, in the day of judgment than for you.

And you, Capernaum, who are exalted to heaven, will be brought down to Hades, for if the mighty works which were done, and you had been done in Sodom, they would have remained to this day. But I say to you, that it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom, in the day of judgment, than for you.

So we see there is this time period of judgment, and he is saying, you know, these two groups, these cities were sinful that he's talking to here. Sodom and Gomorrah, we know what happened to them. It's going to be more tolerable for them, because in this time period of judgment, and they will have that time period of judgment. And it will be better for them. These were sinful cities that will get a chance, just like everyone else.

You see, what separates the Church of God from much of Christianity is that this is not the only day of salvation. We see Street Corner evangelists who are doing work that they feel in their heart is the truth, but when you open the pages of the Bible, this is not the only day for salvation. We know that God calls a small group of people, and He will open their mind to the truth at this time. We see that He is going to raise the dead, first the resurrected saints, and a thousand years later He's going to resurrect the rest of the world to a physical resurrection.

And we see, and we can be encouraged by the fact that many will receive the Holy Spirit, which is a down payment of becoming a spirit being as well. So here we are.

God has opened our mind to His truth. He's opened our mind to understanding what the plan of His salvation is. And there is a whole massive world out there of people who don't understand, who don't understand, who keep days that they feel in their heart should be is right but is not. And we read that in the pages of the Bible. Now, what should our outlook to this group be? How should we see the rest of the world?

You know, when I was growing up in the church, I would hear sayings like, oh, they celebrate Christmas, they're pagans. And that always sat wrong with me. I was always uncomfortable with that. Because really when it comes down to it, Satan is the deceiver, and he has deceived them. And God's plan of salvation is not for everyone in this world right now. They're misled, yes.

What does God say about His own people? Let's go to 1 Corinthians. We have a group of people, you know, in the world who are misled, who don't know the truth of God. But God's plan of salvation very much has them part of His plan.

And this is what God says about His own people. 1 Corinthians 1, verse 27. God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put the shame the wise. And God has chosen the weak things of the world to put the shame the things which are mighty and the base things of the world. And the things which are despised God has chosen the things which are not to bring nothing, the things that are, that no flesh glory in His presence.

Doesn't sound like we're better than anybody else. Doesn't sound like we can be looking down on anyone else. Just sounds like we should be grateful that God has opened up our minds in this age. Because He says it's not for our glory. He's shared His plan of salvation for His glory. Doesn't belong to us. He sacrificed Himself while we were still sinners. Not just the world. While we were sinners as well. So that's who we are. Let's not really feel good Christianity. We're the weak and the base. Satan is the one who deceived the rest of the world.

And we should remember that. Let's go back to Revelation as we finish tying up about the Second Resurrection. Revelation 20. Now we'll read in verse 11. Then I saw a great white throne, and Him who sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away, and there was found no place for them.

And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books. So what we have to understand here, this is the great white throne judgment, also what we refer to in the Second Resurrection. You know, the people will not just be raised and then said, okay, you did good, you're out, you did bad, or you know, I said the wrong way.

You did bad, you're out. You did good, you're okay. That's not the way God works. It is a judgment period, a time period. God will not just condemn someone who never knew his truth, who never knew his Sabbaths or his Holy Days, his feast days. He's going to give them an opportunity. He's going to open, he's going to, you know, Satan will be put away, and he will have an opportunity to learn and to repent. And as Ezekiel 37 eventually receive the Holy Spirit if they choose so. Now, since there is a, we see that there's a time of judgment, a judgment period, when is ours?

Ours is right now. The actions that you do today are being judged according to the books in your lap.

Those of you who have been baptized, this is your judgment period. So we take it seriously. Because one mistake, one unrepentant mistake, will be judged accordingly. We have to remember that. 1 Peter 4, 17, for a reference, we know that now is our time of judgment. All of us who have been baptized, that time is now. But what is exciting to know is that anyone who has died, who never knew Jesus, continents who never even heard of the name Jesus, you know, babies who were aborted, these things are not, their memory is not just gone. God has a plan for all of them. And he doesn't just condemn them to hell. We see that. A merciful God wouldn't do that. He gives them a time of judgment after they have a chance to be taught. And that's encouraging because if you think about it, in just like a mathematical way, currently about a third is maybe Christian. If God didn't have this plan of salvation set in motion, it would seem that Satan was winning, wouldn't it? If that's what you believed, it would seem that Satan was winning if God was only able to save a third. But that's not God's plan. First Timothy.

First Timothy 2. Start reading in verse 2. For kings and all who are in authority that may lead quiet and peaceful life and all godliness and reverence, for this is good and acceptable in the sight of God, our Savior, and God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. That's an exciting Scripture because he's not losing. It's all part of the plan. It's all part of the plan to be able to wake people up, physically and spiritually. The second resurrection is not a second chance. It's a first chance. It's a first chance. It's a time when God will finally intervene in the affairs of people's lives and say, enough is enough, you don't know how to do it, and now I'm going to show you. So his plan of resurrection starts with the saints raised the return of Jesus, and they will rule for a thousand years. Jesus will rule, and the saints with him. It's at that time God will show ultimate mercy after the thousand years and wake everyone else up. And he will give them a judgment period. And we can be encouraged by Ezekiel 37, seeing that many will choose that. They will choose that way of life. So as we're approaching the fall holy days, let's really be uplifted by the meaning of those days. It's only the God of history that can give us holy days of future events to celebrate, isn't it? We don't celebrate. We celebrate a few festival days that were marked in the past, and this coming up fall holy day season is exciting because we look to things in the future. I always look forward to the eighth day festival. It's always been one of my favorites. Because there's going to be many, I'll be excited to see again, and I'm sure you have the same feeling. You know what? I'm happy for my grandma. Because knowing that only 12 people were at her funeral, God hasn't forgotten her. He hasn't forgotten her. She will be raised, she'll be taught a new way of life, and she'll finally learn how to love. Our God is merciful, and one way of showing that mercy is through the resurrections and the second resurrection for those who never even have heard of Him. As Revelation calls this group, the rest of the dead, they will live again.