Post by Les Brewer on Mar 13, 2012 9:32:47 GMT
Praise the Lord all you children of the Most High God,bless His Holy Name!
Hi to all and I pray that you are in good health.
I'd like to teach a little this morning on the topic of life after the death of the body,and the context of Scripture that I will use is found in Luke 16:19-31.It's the story of the rich man and Lazarus.You may be familiar with it.
Many cults teach their constituants that after the death of the body,there is no longer any conscieousness.They teach that you do not know anything in the grave,because they twist and distort a few Scriptures to their own destruction.The Bible is clear on the subject of consciousness after death of the body,and the story of the rich man and Lazarus is just one example that can be used to refute the error of soul sleep.
First and foremost,Jesus said there WAS a rich man and Lazarus,so it cannot be said that this is only a parable.The definition of Parable is:A simple story used to illustrate a moral,religious or literal truth.I once used this story found in Luke in an attempt to explain the truth of a literal burning place of torment for those who die lost.His response to the story was that it was a parable,in an effort to avoid the subject.When I asked him what the literal truth the parable was trying to teach us was,I received no answer.
If the story in Luke is not enough proof for you that there is life beyond the death of the body,then let's turn to the story of the transfiguration of Jesus,found in Matt.17:1-13.This story tells a great deal about a few subjects,one in particular is life beyond death of the body.Notice verse two says that Moses and Elijah appeared to them,talking with Him (Jesus).First,yes it was a vision,for Jesus said it was.But what was the vision of?We know that Elijah and one other person,Enoch who have yet to taste of physical death.However,let's look to Scripture to see what became of Moses the servant of God.Deuteronomy 34:4-8 tells us plainly that Moses the servant of God died,and God Himself buried Moses in the valley of Moab.No one knows where his grave is,most likely because mankind would want to construct a shrine to Moses and worship him instead of Jehovah.The point I wish to make is this:If the cults are correct in their teaching of soul sleep,they need to explain how it could be that Moses could talk to Jesus on the Mount of Transfiguration?!
Jesus spoke to the Sadducees in Matt.22:23-33 and said that God was not the God of the dead,but of the living.Abraham,Isaac and Jacob are still alive in the spiritual realm.Jesus taught in John chapter six and said more than once that those who believed in Him and ate of the true bread of heaven (Himself),would never die but have eternal life.Jesus was not speaking of canabalism as the cults would try to make you believe,but He was speaking of believing in Him for eternal life.
Paul the Apostle taught that he would soon be going to the chopping block to have his head removed from his shoulders.He told the Phillipians that he was hard pressed to decide what would befall him.He told the Phillipians that it was better to depart (die) and to be with Christ,than to stay in the body and contiue living and preaching.My question is this:If soul sleep is taught in Scripture,what was Paul talking about in Phil.1:23?How could Paul depart (die),and go be with Christ if soul sleep is true?Jesus is in heaven seated at the right hand of the Father,the grave is in the ground,not heaven.I think you see the confusion that the teaching of soul sleep breeds.
One more context of Scripture that refutes the false teaching of soul sleep can be found in Revelation 6:9.The souls of men who were slain for their testimony of the Lord are alive and not dead.It says that they cried with a loud voice,asking when God would avenge their deaths on those who dwell on the earth.These souls are said to be under the altar,not in the grave as the cults teach.Where is this altar located?In the ground or in heaven?
The teaching of soul sleep leads many to hell simply because the main teaching of soul sleep is that there will be a second chance to receive Jesus Christ later at the Great White Throne Judgement.Read the context in which the White Throne Judgement is set.There are only the lost at this Judgement,no beleivers are there!And nothing is said in regaurds to a second chance!
The devil would have many to believe that they will get another chance.Beloved,we are given all the opprotunities on this side of the grave to accept Jesus Christ,there will be no other chances after the death of the body (Heb.9:27).Since we do not know when we will depart from this life,doesn't it make good sense to receive the free gift of eternal life in Christ now,rather than to trust in something you have no control over?You may think that you have time to do this later,and maybe you do,but you really don't know do you?What you do with Jesus Christ in this life,determines what He does with you in the next.Please,do not take chances with your eternal soul.Hell is a terrible place to spend eternity knowing you could have escaped it in this life,simply by trusting Christ today.............In the Master's service,JW...
Hi to all and I pray that you are in good health.
I'd like to teach a little this morning on the topic of life after the death of the body,and the context of Scripture that I will use is found in Luke 16:19-31.It's the story of the rich man and Lazarus.You may be familiar with it.
Many cults teach their constituants that after the death of the body,there is no longer any conscieousness.They teach that you do not know anything in the grave,because they twist and distort a few Scriptures to their own destruction.The Bible is clear on the subject of consciousness after death of the body,and the story of the rich man and Lazarus is just one example that can be used to refute the error of soul sleep.
First and foremost,Jesus said there WAS a rich man and Lazarus,so it cannot be said that this is only a parable.The definition of Parable is:A simple story used to illustrate a moral,religious or literal truth.I once used this story found in Luke in an attempt to explain the truth of a literal burning place of torment for those who die lost.His response to the story was that it was a parable,in an effort to avoid the subject.When I asked him what the literal truth the parable was trying to teach us was,I received no answer.
If the story in Luke is not enough proof for you that there is life beyond the death of the body,then let's turn to the story of the transfiguration of Jesus,found in Matt.17:1-13.This story tells a great deal about a few subjects,one in particular is life beyond death of the body.Notice verse two says that Moses and Elijah appeared to them,talking with Him (Jesus).First,yes it was a vision,for Jesus said it was.But what was the vision of?We know that Elijah and one other person,Enoch who have yet to taste of physical death.However,let's look to Scripture to see what became of Moses the servant of God.Deuteronomy 34:4-8 tells us plainly that Moses the servant of God died,and God Himself buried Moses in the valley of Moab.No one knows where his grave is,most likely because mankind would want to construct a shrine to Moses and worship him instead of Jehovah.The point I wish to make is this:If the cults are correct in their teaching of soul sleep,they need to explain how it could be that Moses could talk to Jesus on the Mount of Transfiguration?!
Jesus spoke to the Sadducees in Matt.22:23-33 and said that God was not the God of the dead,but of the living.Abraham,Isaac and Jacob are still alive in the spiritual realm.Jesus taught in John chapter six and said more than once that those who believed in Him and ate of the true bread of heaven (Himself),would never die but have eternal life.Jesus was not speaking of canabalism as the cults would try to make you believe,but He was speaking of believing in Him for eternal life.
Paul the Apostle taught that he would soon be going to the chopping block to have his head removed from his shoulders.He told the Phillipians that he was hard pressed to decide what would befall him.He told the Phillipians that it was better to depart (die) and to be with Christ,than to stay in the body and contiue living and preaching.My question is this:If soul sleep is taught in Scripture,what was Paul talking about in Phil.1:23?How could Paul depart (die),and go be with Christ if soul sleep is true?Jesus is in heaven seated at the right hand of the Father,the grave is in the ground,not heaven.I think you see the confusion that the teaching of soul sleep breeds.
One more context of Scripture that refutes the false teaching of soul sleep can be found in Revelation 6:9.The souls of men who were slain for their testimony of the Lord are alive and not dead.It says that they cried with a loud voice,asking when God would avenge their deaths on those who dwell on the earth.These souls are said to be under the altar,not in the grave as the cults teach.Where is this altar located?In the ground or in heaven?
The teaching of soul sleep leads many to hell simply because the main teaching of soul sleep is that there will be a second chance to receive Jesus Christ later at the Great White Throne Judgement.Read the context in which the White Throne Judgement is set.There are only the lost at this Judgement,no beleivers are there!And nothing is said in regaurds to a second chance!
The devil would have many to believe that they will get another chance.Beloved,we are given all the opprotunities on this side of the grave to accept Jesus Christ,there will be no other chances after the death of the body (Heb.9:27).Since we do not know when we will depart from this life,doesn't it make good sense to receive the free gift of eternal life in Christ now,rather than to trust in something you have no control over?You may think that you have time to do this later,and maybe you do,but you really don't know do you?What you do with Jesus Christ in this life,determines what He does with you in the next.Please,do not take chances with your eternal soul.Hell is a terrible place to spend eternity knowing you could have escaped it in this life,simply by trusting Christ today.............In the Master's service,JW...
