What Happens After Death?

Well, thank you, brethren. Thank you, Andy, for leading us in that hymn. Thank you, brethren. Thank you, Tina, for bringing the water up here. We see if you can remind her to bring some water up here, Joe, if you would. Happy Sabbath once again to everyone!

This last week, our beloved sister in Christ, Linda Wurzicki, died while she was in hospice care. She obviously knew she was dying. The last two times, B.J. and I visited her, she was unresponsive, but the time before that, we were able to carry on a little bit of a conversation with her. And she commented to us about the way that she looked. She made a statement that I probably don't look real good about now. And B.J. said, well, this is just your physical tent, and God's going to give you a new body and try to encourage her in that way. But she understood that she was dying, and she looked forward to the resurrection. What happens after death is a very intriguing discussion. It's one that most people don't know about because they just assume that the religions of this world, the major religions of this world that teach that one either goes to heaven immediately upon death, or if they were a bad person, they go to the great barbecue pit below, and for all eternity, they roast on an open fire. And most people believe that that is the destiny of humankind. It's interesting that Linda's father, Mr. Gilliland, was a Baptist preacher. And when he came to understand what the Bible truly teaches about what happens to us after death and what our reward is, that he stopped preaching Protestant theology and stopped being a Baptist preacher and came into the Church of God because of what he had learned. One of the greatest ancient mysteries that is continually perplexed humankind is the subject of death. All major and minor religions of this world have attempted to answer a couple of perplexing questions. One is, why do we die? Another one is, just what is death and what happens to us after we die? And there are ideas and concepts all across the board.

Some teach that after death, the human soul is immortal and immediately goes either to heavenly bliss or to a place of eternal torment in a raging hellfire. Many believe that all people are born with an immortal soul that remains conscious after death, and its immortal cannot die.

Others teach that upon death, the human soul is absorbed into a greater consciousness, and one loses their individuality as they are absorbed into a greater consciousness. Some teach that at death, we are reincarnated into another earthly creature, and if we were good, we become a reincarnation of a more desirable, elegant life form, and if we were bad, then we are reincarnated into a lower life form. Well, there are a lot of ideas out there, but where can we find the answers? There is a majestic being, we know him as God, who dogmatically claims to be the true God and the creator of this world and the creator of mankind and the universe, and the best way to find the answers to these questions is to go directly to this book, his instruction manual. If you were to buy a car, you will get a user's manual, so you know how to get the most out of that car. If you are to buy an appliance, you would get a user's manual, so you know how to take care of any maintenance needs of that appliance, like how often you change the filter, the water filter on the ice maker, and things of that nature. God does not leave humankind alone and rejected. He gave us an owner's manual, and the owner's manual is his word. We call it the scripture. So let's begin by going to the beginning, Genesis chapter 2, in verse 7, and understand that what God taught and what the Hebrews understood is very different from what the world assumes is the state that human beings are in after they die.

Again, Genesis chapter 2, in verse 7. And the Lord God formed man out of the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life. And man became a living being. That being is the Hebrew word nayfesh.

He went from being a dead nayfesh, one without animation, into one that was now living, one that could think and move, one that was literally going through the process of animation. Here's what the Believer's Study Bible says about this verse. This verse describes the transformation of the lifeless clay into a living being, the Hebrew being nayfesh, heya, meaning being with life. Continuing by the breath of the Almighty himself, the Hebrew word nayfesh is broad in meaning, and no one word in English captures it fully.

The more common translations are soul, life, and person. The same Hebrew phrase is used of other animate beings, and they refer to Genesis chapter 1 verse 20 and verses 24, where other mammals are called living nayfesh. So they also are living beings. Same Hebrew words. Continuing here with what the Believer's Study Bible says, formed is used of a potter who makes a vessel. Here, God is figuratively depicted as an artisan, meticulously shaping man. The man received life through the distinct act of divine in-breathing. Breath of life is the source of animation of all living creatures. These living beings are distinguished from plants, which were not considered alive by the Hebrews. The difference between man and animal is indicated by the way in which man received his life from the breath of the Lord. End of quote. So again, that's from the Believer's Study Bible notes. The first point, brethren, is this. Man became, because of the breath of God, a living nafesh. We experience death, and we do experience death, because it is the consequence of being created a physical, biological preacher. You know, God could have done it differently before he created Adam. He created angels. He could have made Adam spiritual.

He could have. But God's will was that Adam would have a certain shelf life, and that his descendants would have a certain lifespan, a shelf life. Now, Adam could have circumvented that if in the garden he would have chosen the right tree. If he would have chosen from the tree of life, then humanity would have gotten to a point in time where death would have no longer been necessary. But Adam chose from a different tree. He sinned. And throughout history, humanity continues because we are physical, biological creatures to be born, to live our lives, and at a certain point to die. Since we're physical, we slowly age and we eventually die, because our biological system, the body that God created and designed, breaks down and ceases to function. But this is no accident. It was actually part of God's plan from the beginning of creation. We're told in the book of Ecclesiastes that there is a time to be born and there is a time to die. Ecclesiastes chapter 3 and verse 2. Death is a natural part of the physical life cycle. Just look around in our world today. Look at nature outside. All physical processes are designed to eventually break down and cease to function. A number of months ago, we had spring and green things jumped out of the ground and plants began to grow. And they continued to grow in about summertime. They were at their peak and they're blooming and fruits are developing. And then time went on when the seasons began to change. And you remember when you saw the first few leaves about six weeks ago or so that were turning yellow or red and the decline began. And once again, this part of the world will basically go dormant and will go to sleep. The plants will go to sleep. And what you see on the outside, the green part of the plants and so on, will become dormant as they go to sleep. This is nature's life cycle. And this is what God had planned for human beings, including for you and I. But because God has called us and we understand His way of life, God offers us hope. And that hope is not in the belief that somehow we have an immortal soul and live forever, either in a good place or a very warm environment. The hope that He gives us is the resurrection from the dead into a new body that's immortal and no longer suffers from diseases and suffers from corruption. The simple truth is, and honest Protestant and Catholic scholars acknowledge this, the simple truth is the Hebrews did not believe in an immortal soul that continues to exist after death. You find it nowhere in the Old Testament Scripture. So I'd like to read to you something from the International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, just a paragraph. Here's what they say about this topic. Now, the International Standard Bible Encyclopedia is an encyclopedia designed by a group of Protestant scholars. They have no agenda. They're not part of our church.

They don't necessarily believe in our belief system. They're just people who study theology. Their whole lives. They dedicated to studying the Word of God and languages and theology and what people believe. And here's what they have to say. They say, quote, For we are influenced always more or less by the Greek Platonic idea. Now, the Platonic comes from Plato, who was a pagan, non-Christian, non-Jewish philosopher. That's who that's who Plato was. We are influenced always more or less by the Greek Platonic idea that the body dies, yet the soul is immortal. Such an idea is utterly contrary to the Israelite consciousness and is nowhere found in the Old Testament. The whole man dies when in death the spirit or soul goes out of a man, not only his body, but his soul also returns to a state of death and belongs to the netherworld. Therefore, the Old Testament can speak of the death of one's soul. End of quote. Again, they have no agenda. They're not part of the United Church of God. They are just honest, intellectual scholars who study the Bible, study the Old Testament, study languages, study historical cultures, and they're just telling it like it is. Here's another source I'd like to give you. This is from the Jewish Encyclopedia under the article Immortality of the Soul, Volume 6, pages 564 and 566. And here's what they say. Now, this is the Jewish Encyclopedia. I will take it for granted that Jews know what they believe. All right, I'll step out on faith and say they probably know what their belief system is and where it came from. Quote, The belief that the soul continues in existence after the dissolution of the body is speculation nowhere expressly taught in holy scriptures. The belief in the immortality of the soul came to the Jews from contact with Greek thought. And chiefly through the philosophy of Plato, its principal exponent, who was led to it through orphic and Eutestrian mysteries in which Babylonian and Egyptian views were strangely blended. End of quote. So what do they say in the Jewish Encyclopedia? They're talking about when they refer to scriptures the Old Testament. They're saying this is not an Old Testament concept. This is not an Old Testament understanding. The idea of the immortality of the soul was brought in through paganism and eventually it influenced later on Jewish thought.

And as we'll see, it influenced Christian belief as well. So the concept of the soul being immortal began not in scripture but actually in ancient Egypt and an ancient Babylon. Secular history clearly tells us that the immortality of the soul is an ancient pagan belief. It is not a Hebrew teaching. It is not an apostolic teaching, as we'll see from another source at the end of the Church about 350 AD, about 300 plus years after the Church was founded. For this reason, I'm not going to cover scriptures from the Old Testament today about the immortality of the soul. For the sake of time, I'm going to focus on the New Testament because I know how the human mind works. I just know people too well and the human mind says, oh yeah, well that was the Old Testament. But things changed when you got into the New Testament. So I'm going to say to you that the understanding that the soul does not have immortality is a given, as taught in the Old Testament. If you don't believe me, then believe the sources that I just read and there are dozens of others that say the same thing.

So I don't want to belabor that issue if the Bible at all teaches that someone goes to heaven when they die or that the soul is immortal. It must come from the New Testament because it certainly does not exist in the Old Testament. For this reason, again, I am not going to read a lot of Scripture from the Old Testament. I gave a sermon in April 2014 that's on our website. Their sermon was entitled, What Happens After Death? And in that sermon, I used a lot of Old Testament Scriptures that I'm leaving out today. So if you want to see more proof that the Old Testament never believed in the prophets and the patriarchs and God never thought of the immortality of the soul, you can listen to that sermon and get more information. What I want to focus on today is the New Testament. So let's begin by going to John chapter 3 and verse 10. As a young man, I grew up in the Methodist Church, and obviously I was taught that heaven is the reward of the saved. And if I was not a very good person, that I was going to go to another place. So when I came of age in my late teens and I began to study the Bible and study some of the sources I've read today, I can tell you I was absolutely stunned. I was shocked to find out what the Bible says about what happens after death. John chapter 3 and verse 10. This is interesting because Jesus is having a discussion here with Nicodemus. And Nicodemus began a discussion about being born again. And Jesus says this to him beginning in verse 10. Jesus answered and said to him, Are you a teacher of Israel and you do not know these things? Most assuredly I say to you, we speak what we know and testify what we have seen and you do not receive our witness. If I've told you earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you heavenly things? What Jesus is saying is if you don't grasp shallow earthly concepts, how can I give you the rich meat of spiritual things? And here's what he says very powerfully in verse 13. No one has ascended to heaven, but he who came down from heaven, that is the Son of Man who is in heaven. These are the very words of Jesus Christ himself. Do you think he was mistaken? I don't think so. I'm going to read this from the translation in the New International Version. No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven, the Son of Man. Jesus Christ is saying that neither individuals like Enoch or Abraham or Moses or Elijah or David or any of the prophets have ever gone into heaven. That's what he's saying. Why? Because they're sleeping in their graves, awaiting a resurrection from the dead. Let's see if Peter agreed with his Lord by what he said in a sermon on the very day of Pentecost in 31 AD. If you go to Acts 2 and verse 32 with me, let's see what he says. This was his sermon on the day of Pentecost when the Holy Spirit was given to the church. Maybe Peter has a different opinion. Or is it anybody's opinion?

Should we rather be interested in the truth of what the Bible tells us?

Peter says in Acts 2 and 32, This Jesus God has raised up, of which we are all witnesses, therefore being exalted to the right hand of God and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he poured out this which you now see in here. Verse 34, For David did not ascend into the heavens, but he says himself, he was never there, but he saw a vision, and here's what he wrote, The LORD said to my LORD, Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool. Therefore, let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified both the LORD and Christ. Again, I'm going to read verse 34 from the new International Version. It says, For David did not ascend to heaven, and yet he said, The LORD said to my LORD, Sit at my right hand. What Peter is saying is, David saw a vision, and in that vision he saw Jesus Christ talking to God the Father, that they were both God, they are both divine, and they are both residing in the heavens. He says, But David himself, he never went there. So he agrees with what Jesus Christ himself said. Why didn't David ascend into heaven? It's because he's asleep. He's awaiting the resurrection of the dead. Let's go to Romans 6, verse 23, and see a scripture that lays out two stark choices. The two stark choices are either eternal death or eternal life, nothing in between. This is Paul writing to the congregation of Rome, Romans 6, verse 23. He says, For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life and Jesus Christ our Lord. I want you to notice the latter half of this scripture. Eternal life is a gift.

If we already possessed immortal souls, which have consciousness after death, then we already have eternal life. It wouldn't be a gift. We wouldn't need it. If we already are immortal and our souls live on after we die, then big deal. What kind of gift is that? But the truth is that what Paul is telling the congregation is there is a stark contrast in the choice that one makes. Either eternal death in total unconsciousness being separated from God for eternity or the gift of eternal life. And that's the choice. Those are the two options that Paul discusses. Let's go to 1 Corinthians chapter 15 and verse 20. We know that 1 Corinthians is known as the resurrection chapter. Paul spends a lot of time in 1 Corinthians talking about the resurrection. And again, in honor of Linda today, I wanted to make sure that we all understand what she believed and what she knew, what she looked forward to, what she longed for, as her body just continued to decline and as the disease continued to take over her physical life.

1 Corinthians chapter 15 and verse 20. Paul writes to the congregation in Corinth, But now Christ is risen from the dead and has become the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since by man came death, by man also came the resurrection of the dead. For as an Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive. Now, with first thing to notice is Paul's analogy to describe death. He likens death to sleep. When you fall asleep, you're unconscious. When you fall asleep, you are unaware of the passing of time. If you've ever had a good night's sleep, you're tired, you conk out, and the next conscious thought you have is you wake up and eight hours have gone by. The world continued. Time went on. All kinds of things happened, but we were unaware of it because we were unconscious in our sleep. Now, we weren't unconscious like being dead, but we weren't aware. We weren't animated. We were not aware of the world around us. And that is why Paul uses this analogy of death to sleep. Beginning with Adam, who was a man, death came on all mankind. And what Paul is saying is by another man, capital M, referring to Jesus Christ, came the resurrection of the dead.

Paul is saying that all who have become followers of Jesus will indeed physically die because I'm a descendant of Adam physically. You're a descendant of Adam. As I mentioned earlier in the sermon, we are physical biological creatures. That was God's will. That is what God designed from the beginning. Adam could have circumvented that. He could have made things easy, but he chose not to by sinning and choosing from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil rather than from the tree of life. Our animated conscious life will end sometime, and it is likened to sleeping. But we can look forward to being made alive and again in a special resurrection reserved for the firstfruits that Paul is talking about here.

Let's see when that time is. Is it immediately after death? Let's see what Paul tells us, dropping down to verse 50, where he verses 50 through 54. Again, 1 Corinthians 15 is known and recognized as the resurrection chapter. Paul says in verse 50, This I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does corruption inherit incorruption.

Behold, I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep. So he says, I'm going to tell you something he says that is mysterious to most people. Why? Because they don't know what happens after death. That's why he says, and I'm going to let you in on what the mystery is. He says, we shall not all sleep. Notice again the analogy that death is like sleeping, but we shall be changed in the moment in the twinkling of an eye at the last trumpet. That is the literal trumpet blast spoken of in Revelation and other places when Jesus Christ returns to earth in what is known as his second coming.

Some people say to me, well, why do you continue to keep the Feast of... what is that Feast of Trumpets day in all of those other strange days that you keep? Well, one reason I keep the Feast of Trumpets, of course, is because Jesus Christ observed it. Paul taught it, and it taught it to his Gentile congregations. Paul personally observed it, and the day reminds me in the future when Jesus Christ will return to earth. That's why God gave his holy days to his people so that they understood his plan. So Paul says that this occurs at the last trumpet, for the trumpet will sound and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.

For this corruption must put on incorruption, this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible is put on incorruption and this mortal is put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying, death is swallowed up in victory. At least for us, for those who are the firstfruits, who are blessed to be part of the first resurrection, which is also referred to as the better resurrection. Why didn't Paul believe mankind has an immortal soul?

Why does he describe death as being asleep? Remember, Paul was a Hebrew, and even though he was born in the Gentile Greek world in Asia Minor, he learned at the feet of a man named Gamaliel, as is recorded in Acts 22 and verse 3. Gamaliel was a highly respected Pharisee who was also a member of the Sanhedrin.

He tutored Paul. Paul very well may have been trained to be a rabbi. So even though he grew up in the Greek world and he understood Greek philosophies and Greek religion, he understood what the truth was because by Gamaliel he was taught this, not Greek philosophy. He was taught what the Scriptures say, not what the opinions of men are.

Let's go now to 1 Corinthians chapter 2 and verse 9. 1 Corinthians chapter 2 and verse 9. Sometimes people ask, well, can we make a distinction between our physical bodies and that spirit that we have in us that makes us truly human, that encapsulates our thoughts, our dreams, everything we've ever learned, the character that we have developed, who and what we are? Can we make a distinction between the two of them? And the answer is, sure, we can.

As a matter of fact, Paul discusses that here in 1 Corinthians chapter 2 and verse 9.

He draws a distinction between the body and what he calls the spirit of the man. 1 Corinthians chapter 2 and verse 9. He says, But as it is written, I have not seen nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love him. But God has revealed them to us through his Spirit, for the Spirit surges all things, yea, the deep things of God. For what man knows the things of a man except the Spirit of man which is in him? Even so, no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God. So we do have an essence that is different than our mere physical bodies, and he refers to it here as the Spirit of the man. It encapsulates who and what we are. It's like a recording of our lives, all the experiences we ever heard, our talents that we developed, and all the things that make us a unique individual. And there's a Spirit in man that gives us God-like intellect, and it gives us the desire to look up into the stars and say, what's this all about? And it puts us on a level above other mammals that gives us an intellectual curiosity, gives us the ability to build civilizations and to do the things that humankind has done for thousands and thousands of years. But it is not immortal. Perhaps one of our modern technologies can help us to understand that. In our advanced modern age, most of us own personal computers, either a desktop or we might own a laptop. And we understand, if you're in the computers very much, that it takes two things to bring animation to that computer. It takes software and it takes hardware to make that computing possible. If you separate the hardware from a computer and it doesn't have an operating system, you know what it does when you try to turn it on? It freezes and stops and blinks at you. It says, I don't have an operating system. Duh!

Can't do anything. Well, you can talk to that piece of software all day long and you're not going to get very far. But when you take that software and you put it on the hardware, then it is able to become animated. And the combination of the software and hardware make a computer possible. Separated neither hardware nor software can function independently. The hardware is analogous to our physical body. That's our hardware. We are like mechanical biological machines. Lots of levers, lots of things going on in our bodies, muscles pulling and muscles contrasting and making it possible for us to move and to be who and what we are. And the software is like our spirit merging with our physical brains. And much like a sophisticated software program removed from computer hardware, that spirit in man upon death ceases to function when it's separated from the human physical soul upon death. It's not immortal. So what happens to it when we die? Let's go to Ecclesiastes chapter 2 and verse 7 and find out. Ecclesiastes chapter 2 and verse 7.

Ecclesiastes chapter 12 and verse 7. It says, then the dust will return to earth as it was, and the Spirit will return to God who gave it. So when we die, the Spirit in man, this Spirit, which gives us our intellect, our personality, our character, our individuality, it loses awareness and consciousness. It returns to God to be preserved and stored until a time of the resurrection. The point for us to understand is that the Spirit of man is not conscious after death. It's not an immortal soul. It does not live on with its own sense of consciousness and awareness when the body has died. It is God who gave to man our rational comprehension and ability of thought beyond mere animals. When we die, this attribute of God, which came from God, returns to God. He owns it. Let me express it this way. Before we were born, we had no sense of consciousness. Anybody ever have a sense of consciousness there before you were born? All right? God owns it. We had no sense of awareness or consciousness before birth.

He gives it to us, and upon death, He takes it back. And once again, like before birth, our consciousness and awareness ceases. It goes back to God, where it belongs to one who gave it, and He receives it back, unconscious, but ready to be put in a new body, to live forever for eternity, beginning at the return of Jesus Christ, according to the word of God. So let's ask the question, where did the common belief in the immortality of the soul originate? Where did it come from? Well, I would like to give you an idea. Again, there are hundreds of articles similar to this. I'm going to quote to you from the Encyclopedia Britannica under the article soul. Again, I want to remind you that the Encyclopedia Britannica is not a branch of the United Church of God. They have no personal agenda. They don't probably never heard of us. They don't know about our beliefs. They probably don't care about our beliefs. All they are are researchers, educators, and scholars who study theology and study history and write down what they find. Here's what it says. Quote, The early Hebrews apparently had a concept of the soul but did not separate it from the body, although later Jewish writers developed the idea of the soul further. Old Testament references to the soul are related to the concept of breath and establish no distinction between the ethereal, fancy word, it just basically means our soul, and the corporal, which basically means our body. You've got to realize that when you're reading anything from an encyclopedia, you're dealing with people who live by a philosophy. And their philosophy is they know more and more about less and less until they learn everything about nothing.

And to impress your other academics, you've got to use very big words because if you use simple words, anybody could understand what you're saying. So what they're saying here is that the Hebrews had no distinction between the soul and the body. Now let me pick up here back into this quote. Quote, Christian concepts of a body-soul dichotomy, which means two different parts, contradictory parts, originated with the ancient Greeks and were introduced in the Christian theology at the early date by Saint Gregory of Nyssa and Saint Augustine. End of quote.

So we see here that the modern concept of the immortality of the soul, admittedly, was not part of the beliefs of the early New Testament church. It was introduced by a man named Gregory of Nyssa, who happens to be a saint in the Catholic Church and also in the Andean Church, I think also in the Lutheran faith. He lived and wrote about 375 AD. So 300 plus years after the church was founded, it was introduced into Christianity. Now to give you an idea of what kind of change can happen in an organization in that period of time, please allow me to digress for a minute. The United States is approximately 230 years old since we established a constitution. And in 230 years, with a free media impress that has dogged our government, that has recorded everything going on, the nation that we have in 2014 in no way resembles the nation we had in 1780. The changes in our constitution, in our government, in the character of the people is phenomenal in that short period of time of 230 years.

Now if that's true of something like a nation of the United States in that short period of time, with a media that basically was free enough to report every change and to acknowledge everything that's going on, what do you think happened to religion in 300 plus years? In the darkened halls of churches, in philosophies that were meeting in ancient Rome from the East and from the Greek philosophy and from the previous Roman faith being blended in with Christian theology. If we don't understand and appreciate that in that 300-year period of time, what arose in no way was like the theology taught by the Apostle Paul. In that 300-year period of time, what happened between the Apostle Paul and what we find in 375 AD as individuals are introducing Greek philosophies like the immortality of the soul was profound. It was dramatic. It was unbelievable.

Another individual who played an important part in introducing the immortality of the soul to the Catholic Church at the time was Augustine, and he wrote around 390 AD. In New Testament history, the early church was influenced by Greek philosophers after that generation died, we call the apostolic generation, who were all of Hebrew roots. Paul could withstand this kind of teaching because he learned at the feet of Gamaliel. He understood what the Scripture said. Peter could resist that kind of influence because he was there with Jesus Christ. He knew what Jesus said about no man ascending to heaven. He knew what the traditions were of the Hebrew faith and understanding, but when that generation died, if you look at history, who were called the so-called apostolic fathers or early church fathers are all Greeks, not a Hebrew among them.

They brought in the religious heritage that they had been raised with, the philosophies that they had been taught as a child, and they merged those beliefs into, at that time, was one major church known as the Roman Catholic Church. So by 400 AD, the doctrine of the immortality of the soul became accepted, and it became established, and suddenly the tide was turned. If you don't believe this, you're a heretic. We will condemn you. We will persecute you. We'll close down your churches.

We will harass you. And that's what happens when people gain control and they gain power.

Now, why would people believe in the immortality of the soul? Why would they believe that upon death, if you're a good person, however they define good, that you go to heavenly bliss? Well, it's because it is very attractive to what people want. You know what people want?

What do people want in their lives? In every area of your life, I'll tell you what people want. They want instant gratification. People want money now. They want that girl now.

They want that big home now. They want that car they can't afford now. They all want instant gratification, and the belief that when you die, you instantly go to a place of paradise and bliss gives people what they want. It gives them an idea, a feeling of instant gratification.

But the question should not be, what do people think? What do Greek philosophies teach?

The question should be, what does the book say? And that's what we want to discuss today.

Let's take a look at some scriptures in the New Testament that confuse some people or are used to teach humankind or used to teach that humankind has an immortal soul. These are scriptures that I call looking for loopholes. Obviously, if you believe that people go to heaven when they die, if you want to believe that people have an immortal soul, you want to look for scriptures that support what you believe. Contrary to what it says in 1 Thessalonians, 1 Corinthians, that we read, Romans, what Jesus Christ said about no one ascends it, aside from all of that, pushing all that aside because that's not convenient, you want to look for loopholes, for things to justify your belief. So I thought we would take a look at a couple of the major ones today as we begin to conclude the sermon. Let's go to Matthew 10 and verse 24. Matthew 10 and verse 24.

Jesus said a disciple is not above his teacher nor a servant above his master.

It is enough for a disciple that he be like his teacher and a servant like his master. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebub, which was one of the things they called Jesus Christ, I might add, how much more will they call those of his household? Jesus saying they persecuted me, they're going to persecute you. Verse 26. Therefore, do not fear them, for there is nothing covered that will not be revealed and hidden that will not be known. Whatever I tell you in the dark, speak it in the light. Proudly proclaim what you believe and who you are. So whatever I tell you in the dark, speak it in the light.

And what you hear in the ear, preach on the housetops. And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul, but rather fear him who is able to destroy both body and soul in hell. Now, I've read where some people use this to imply that people have an immortal soul.

But rather, if you'll notice what Jesus is saying, he's saying the exact opposite. He's saying the soul is not immortal. It can be destroyed. The Greek word for body is summa, which means physical body. The Greek word for soul is suke, which means one's physical being, our minds, our consciousness. And what Jesus is saying here is that his followers shouldn't fear anyone in the world who can just merely kill our physical bodies. Why? Because the spirit in man that we have goes back to God, goes back to the one who gave it. He can create a new body for us, an immortal body, and he can give us eternal life and restore who and what we are in a much better edition or a much better version, if I can use that phrase. But I want you to notice who Jesus says we should fear. He says what we should fear is God's ability to destroy both in Gehenna. So he's saying the soul can be destroyed, isn't he? He's saying the body can be destroyed, isn't he? And of course, if King James says both the soul and the body in hell, that is the one that we should fear. This word hell is from the Greek word gehenna. There was a garbage dump outside of Jerusalem in the Valley of Hinnom, and people would take their garbage there, and the garbage, the trash, would just be burned. So it was burning up and burning up garbage all the time. And Jesus said that this is the kind of death that we should fear, being totally consumed into ash, both our body and our soul, the spirit that we have, rather than a mere man who can just destroy our physical bodies.

Let's now go to Luke 16, verse 19. If you'll turn there with me, some individuals use this parable in Luke 16 about Lazarus and the rich man that proved that one goes to heaven when they die, and one goes to an ever-burning hellfire if they're not good and they're bad. We have to understand that Jesus is using an allegory. He's using a fictitious story to teach the Pharisees that their love of money and their disdain for the poor had serious spiritual consequences, that their attitudes could cost them their eternal life, could cost them condemnation. That's the purpose of this story. You cannot establish doctrines through stories, allegories, parables, and metaphors. They're simply moral teaching stories so we can get a single point, and we should only glean from them what Jesus intended. For example, his parable of the Ten Virgins knocking on the door at the return of the bridegroom, he's not implying that when Jesus Christ returns there will only be ten believers. You see, it's an allegory. It's a parable. It's a story. You don't draw doctrinal beliefs from a parable, from a story. As a matter of fact, the New Century Bible says this in page 388. It says, quote, this is what it says, quote, this is a parable which makes use of certain Jewish thinking and is not intended to teach anything about the state of the dead, end of quote. So that's rule number one is you don't establish doctrine by stories, by allegories. The rich man here is obviously self-centered, and he's uncaring. Let's see what the story says. Luke chapter 16 verse 19. There was a certain rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and fared scrumptiously every day, but there was a certain beggar named Lazarus. Lazarus, by the way, means he whom God helps, full of sores, who laid at his gate, helped me. I'm hurting. I'm hungry. I'm diseased. Help me.

Desiring to be fed with the crumbs that fell from the rich man's table. Moreover, the dogs came and licked his sores. The dogs had more compassion on him than the rich man did. So it was when the beggar died and was carried by the angels to Abraham's bosom, the rich man also died and was buried. So again, the rich man is self-centered. He's uncaring about other human beings. The dogs had more compassion than Lazarus than the rich man had. He had flamey despair and to give Lazarus, but he was consumed by greed. His God was his wealth. That's why Jesus said in Matthew chapter 19 24, it's easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God. The Jews of Christ day believed that being rich and wealthy was a sign that God was on your side. They said, we must be doing okay because we're wealthy. Jesus said, no, you're just greedy. You're just self-absorbed. So in this story, Lazarus goes to Abraham's bosom.

Now, Abraham's bosom is what we call an idiom. An idiom is an expression with a non-literal meaning. It's often colorful, and it often has a unique meaning that cannot be understood outside the meanings of other words. I'll give you an expression in English. We say it's raining cats and dogs. That's an idiom. Duh? What does that mean? Well, we know it to me that it's just raining very hard, right? But we use the idiom. It's raining cats and dogs. This was a common Hebrew idiom. That meant being in an affectionate relationship with Abraham, being sealed as part of the promise given to Abraham, having the same reward that Abraham would have. Wikipedia says this about the phrase bosom of Abraham. Quote, this account corresponds closely with the documented first century AD Jewish beliefs that the dead were gathered into a general tearing place or waiting place made equivalent with the sheol or the grave, the pit of the Old Testament. So Abraham, we know it previously died thousands of years earlier before this story. And being in Abraham's bosom represents being in the temporary state of death but expecting to share in the future promises that Abraham was given, being there, being able to feast and being able to share joy in the Kingdom of God with Abraham. Lazarus was looking forward to the resurrection in the Kingdom of God. Verse 23, and being in torment in Hades, this is speaking of course as a rich man, he lifted up his eyes so he awakes to a physical resurrection and he saw Abraham afar off and Lazarus it is bosom. Now again, this is just a fictitious story and this is what we know of as the third resurrection. This man is condemned to hellfire in which he will be totally consumed and burned up and be ash. And according to this story, he looks up and he sees people who a thousand years earlier were part of the first resurrection and they're feasting and they're having joy together in the Kingdom of God. There's a one thousand year separation between the resurrection that Abraham is in and Lazarus is in, which is the better resurrection, and this resurrection that occurs after the thousand years, which is a condemnation. So in this parable, this rich man is entering the second death or lake of fire to be totally consumed. He looks up, he sees Abraham and Lazarus glorified above him and not comprehending that thousands of years have passed since he originally lived and that they are in a different resurrection at a different time. He makes a request that can't be fulfilled. Time is passed and opportunities are gone, creating a great gulf between the two that can can't be bridged. Let's pick it up here in verse 24. Then he cried out and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me and send Lazarus that he may dip the tip of his finger in water to cool my tongue. Have you ever been in a situation in which you experience sudden mental anguish? You know what happens? Your mouth gets very dry. I want you to notice, if he were in some eternal hellfire, he wouldn't ask for someone to dip their finger in cool water. He would have said, bring down a 55-gallon drum of water with you, right? Because I'm roasting down here. He doesn't say that. He says, have him dip his finger in water and cool my tongue. He has mental anguish. His mouth is dry. He is coming to his reward and his reward is to be totally consumed and burned up and become ash and to lose all consciousness, to lose all awareness of his life.

And he's in mental anguish. He says, for I am tormented. The Greek word is adenao, which means mental distress. I'm in mental distress in this flame. But Abraham said, son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things and likewise Lazarus evil things, but now he is comforted and you were tormented. And besides all this, between us and you, there is a great gulf fixed. It's been a thousand years since the resurrection that Abraham has been in and Lazarus. He says, so that those who want to pass from here to you cannot, nor can those from there pass to us. Then he said, I beg you therefore, father, that you would send him to my father's house. He doesn't realize that time has gone by. Why? Because he had been dead. He had been sleeping. And though thousands of years had passed since he died, and since his family lived and his family died and generations and generations of his descendants lived and died, he's not aware of it because he was sleeping and unaware of the passage of time. He says, verse 28, for I have five brothers that they may testify to them, lest they also come to this place of torment. And Abraham said to him, they have Moses and the prophets. Let them hear them.

And he said, no, father Abraham, but if one goes to them from the dead, they will repent. But he said to him, if they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rise from the dead. You know who rose from the dead? Jesus Christ. And his brothers probably didn't believe him either. So he's saying, there's nothing that we can do. You're totally unaware of time and of things that cannot be undone. Again, this is only a parable, and many use this story in an attempt to prove that heaven is the reward of the saved and an ever burning hell awaits those who do evil. But the simple teaching of Christ is that the rich man knew what Moses and the prophets stated about selfishly exploiting the poor and lacking mercy on others. It is too late to change your behavior after death. It is too late to develop character after you've died. The rich man will get the reward that he earned in this parable in this story. On the other hand, Lazarus lived and died a poor man, but he respected others and lived by God's law of love for our neighbor. He died with the faith and hope of a resurrection to life. Oh, and one other thing about this parable. The word heaven is used nowhere in this parable. So with that, let's take a look at just one more scripture, and then we will conclude our sermon today. 2 Timothy 4, verse 1. This is what Paul looked forward to. 2 Timothy 4, verse 1. Paul's here at the end of his life. He knows that he's not going to live very long. And this is what he wrote to the young evangelist, Timothy, whom he had mentored and prepared to take over upon his death. 2 Timothy 4, verse 1. He says, I have fought the good fight. I have finished the race. I have kept to the faith. Finally, there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will give to me on that day.

And what day is that? Let's finish. And not only to me, but also to all those who loved his appearing. That day is the second coming of Jesus Christ to this earth. Paul knew and understood that his reward would be preserved, but that he would give that reward when Jesus Christ comes to earth on that day. So, brethren, we're going to miss Linda. She was an important part of our spiritual family. We all loved her very much. We're going to even have some quilts hanging here as a constant memorial of the impact that she had on our congregation. God gave her a physical life as a training ground so that she could experience the joys and learn from the trials of life.

She will someday, soon, hopefully, be resurrected to eternal life as one of God's beloved children at the return of Jesus Christ. God will greatly magnify all the knowledge and the understanding and all the talent she developed and the things that she learned. They will all be magnified so that she can have a full measure in Jesus Christ and that she can serve and experience the joys of eternal life forever. She will have the privilege after Jesus Christ returns. If she comes back to the earth after meeting him in the air, she will have the privilege and a part in remaking the world that we live in. Step by step, thought by thought, brick by brick, she will help recreate this world from as it is today into the literal garden of God. May God hasten that day thy kingdom come.