Blessed are the Dead

Doug Batchelor: The Christians of the ancient Mediterranean world used catacombs, a network of subterranean chambers and galleries, for burial. But during times of persecution, the catacombs became places of refuge because burial grounds were guarded or sacrosanct by Roman law. When churches above ground were destroyed by imperial order, worshipers met in catacomb chapels. By AD 200, Christians had carved some 600 miles of tombs in the volcanic rock in and around Rome. Eventually, the catacombs expanded into honeycombs of galleries with staircases and multiple levels. Romans preferred cremation, but Christians followed the practice of interring the dead in catacombs, which they called coemeteria, or sleeping places, to suggest that, for a Christian, death is merely a sleep before the resurrection. Did you know that Jesus plainly taught that death is a sleep? In fact, all of scripture confirms that it is an unconscious sleep until the Resurrection at Christ's Return. So why is there so much confusion, even among Christians, over what happens when we die? And how can you protect yourself against some of the potentially dangerous delusions about death in the last days?

Doug: There is a jellyfish called the Turritopsis dohrnii. It's a species of jellyfish that's known as the "immortal jellyfish" because it's got this remarkable ability to regenerate its cells. Can you imagine that? And if it's injured, it kind of goes back to its embryonic state, and it's almost like it can control its own stem cells and regenerates. Now, they might get eaten by a turtle, but they don't die from old age. Scientists are spending, and even some millionaires are personally spending millions of dollars to find out what they can do to reverse the aging process.

People go through exercise regimes and take supplements and spend a lot of money trying to do all they can to prolong these lives because we know that if you live long enough, you'll die, with very few exceptions. Now, there are some exceptions in the Bible of people that did not die. "Enoch walked with God, and he was not, because God took him." And then you've got Elijah that did not die. He went to heaven in a chariot of fire. The angels caught him up. Now, you can read in Revelation 14--it talks about this subject. And this is in verse 13. It says, "Then I heard a voice from heaven saying, 'Write: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.' 'Yes,' says the Spirit, 'that they may rest from their labors, and their works follow them.'" So here it's talking about, "Blessed are those who die from now on, that they may rest." You read later that "those who worship the beast and its image have no rest day or night."

But what happens when you die? Do you go right to heaven? Do you go right to the other place? Do you go to purgatory or limbo or Abraham's bosom? There's a lot of confusion about what happens when you die. If you walk through the typical church graveyard, you're going to see all these tombstones, and you'll find there's even disagreement written on the tombstones. One tombstone will say, "RIP." You remember--what that means? Rest in peace. And they'll say, "Our dear mother is now resting in the arms of Jesus, awaiting the resurrection trump." Then you walk down two or three tombstones that say, "Our dear mother is now walking the golden street singing with the angels." And you go, "Is she resting or is she walking down the streets? What happens?"

What is the definition of "death" according to the Bible? It says in 2 Kings 20, verse 1, "You shall die, and NOT live." Dying is the opposite of living. Living is a consciousness of life and activity. Death is the absence of all that. You don't know anything. You're not doing anything. You're dead. Keep that in mind. Again, "The soul that sins," will do what? Will burn for ever and ever. It says, "The soul that sins will die." You know John 3:16? "For God so loved the world, He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life." What are the two options that Jesus gives us? Perish or everlasting life. Romans 6:23, "The wages of sin is an altered state," or "The wages of sin are death." The first one who lied about that was the devil when he told Adam and Eve, "You'll not really die." And that's been repeated in many pulpits around the world.

Number two, do the dead come back to converse with or haunt the living? Should Christians be afraid of ghosts? What does the Bible say? "The living," and this here is from Ecclesiastes 9, written by King Solomon. Ecclesiastes 9. I'll read verses 5, 6, and 10. "The living know that they'll die; but the dead know?" What's their IQ? Zero. They don't know anything. "They have no more reward in anything done under the sun," meaning this life. "Also their love, their hatred, their envy have now PERISHED; nevermore will they have a share in anything done under the sun." They don't come back and haunt. There is no work or device or knowledge or wisdom in the grave where you're going. Now, if those are--if that term's clear, please say amen.

What words could God use to say that the dead don't know anything that He did not use? And you could look at Psalm 146, verse 3 and 4. It says, "Put not your trust in princes, neither in the Son of Man, in whom there is no help. His breath goes forth; in that very day his thoughts perish." He doesn't think anything. All through the Bible, it says, "The dead do not praise the Lord."

Number three, what happens at death? The Bible makes it pretty clear. It says, and this is from Ecclesiastes 12, verse 7, "Then the dust will RETURN to the earth as it was, and the spirit will RETURN to God who gave it." Okay, you're thinking right there, "There you got it, Pastor Doug. The spirit returns to God." What is that spirit? What is that word "spirit?" Do you know it says, "God breathed into Adam the breath of life, and he became a living soul." That is the exact same word you see here in Ecclesiastes 12. It is the Hebrew word ruach, and it means wind, breath. God breathed into him.

When a person dies, the breath returns to God. Ecclesiastes here, he says, "Whether you're good or bad, dog or cat." It doesn't matter what it is, the breath of life returns to God who gave it. It's not talking about some ghost that flies off that's conscious. It's just saying the power of life. "The Lord God formed man out of the dust of the ground, and He breathed into his nostrils the breath of life." That is that word ruach, which means spirit. You have a similar word in Greek for that breath of life or that spirit. It's the word pneuma.

Now, when someone--the word "pneuma" means a wind. Any of you men ever worked with pneumatic tools? Now you got all these power batteries you clip on everything, we don't use pneumatic tools near as much. But that meant that they were driven by a compressor, air. And if you get the disease of the lungs, it's called pneumonia. Pneuma meant-- it's translated spirit, but it meant wind. And--because it was a breathing problem. So, it's the same word. It's just talking about the breath of life. It's not conscious. And when you die, you've got creation in reverse. The elements return to the earth. Probably worth $1.98 in calcium, magnesium, and who knows what. And the spirit returns to God who gave it.

Okay, number four, where do the dead go when they die? You're going to see why this is so important to understand in the last days. So where do they go? It tells you clearly. Job says in chapter 21, verse 32, it says, "Yet he will be," what? "Brought to the GRAVE, and will--vigil will be kept over the TOMB." I believe there's angels-- guardian angels that watch the spot where someone perishes, and they'll raise them back up, but they remain in the tomb. The devil is setting people up to think they're going to talk to the dead right away.

Do the dead ever come back to life? Well, yes, they do. It says in John chapter 5:28, Jesus is very clear, "The hour is coming in which all that are in the graves will hear His voice & come forth--those who have done good, the RESURRECTION of life, & those that have done evil, the RESURRECTION of damnation." How many Resurrections? Two. Paul tells us the dead in Christ rise first in 1 Thessalonians chapter 4. And so we need to know that there are two separate Resurrections, and yes, there is going to be life and there are going to be rewards, but it hasn't happened yet. The Bible tells us that Jesus Christ is the one that has the keys. You can read in Revelation 1:18, "I have the keys of Hades," the word "Hades" there means the grave, "and Death." Only Jesus can unlock the grave. The demons could not raise Samuel for King Saul to view. The devil does not have the power of resurrection. He can counterfeit it, but he doesn't have that power.

Number six, how does the Bible repeatedly refer to death? What terminology does it use? You look in John chapter 11. It says, "Our friend Lazarus," what? "SLEEPS, but I go that I might wake him up." The disciples said, "Oh, Lord, don't wake him up. If he's sleeping, that's good, he'll get better, he needs to rest." And Jesus, "No, you don't understand." Jesus spoke of his what? His death. They thought he was talking about speaking--taking rest in sleep. Then Jesus said to them plainly, "Lazarus is," what? He is dead. Dead, dead, dead. Lazarus had been dead four days, and when they said, "Roll away the stone," Martha protested and said, "Lord, you're sure this is a good idea? He's already begun to decompose, and it's going to smell very bad. This is not going to be pleasant." But the Bible says Jesus said, "I am the resurrection and the life. Trust Me." She said, "I know he'll rise in the Resurrection at the last day." Jesus said, "Trust Me." And they rolled away the stone, and Jesus said, "Lazarus, come forth." And I heard one commentator say, "If Jesus had not specified Lazarus, every grave in the world would have opened up." If the Word of God said, "Come forth," it would have all come forth. But He said, "Lazarus, come forth." And it says, "He who had died came out bound hand & foot," he had been embalmed with graveclothes, "& his face was wrapped about with a cloth. And Jesus said to them, 'Loose him, & let him go.'"

Now listen very carefully: there are about a dozen resurrections in the Bible. Elijah resurrected a boy. Elisha resurrected a boy. Jesus resurrected Moses, because Moses appears in heaven. The daughter of Jairus was resurrected. Peter resurrected Dorcas. Lazarus is resurrected. Paul resurrects Eutychus. Jesus resurrects the widow of Nain's son. And I'm probably leaving a couple out, but there's--I've counted--about a dozen resurrections in the Bible. Are you aware--now, if someone you know had been dead for two or three days in our world and the doctors declared them really dead, and they were even buried, and then they came out healthy and alive, every broadcaster in the country would want to talk to Lazarus, am I right? There would be every media crew that you could think of all clamoring for a space with a microphone shoved up in his face, and what would be the question? "What happened? What did you experience?"

How much does the Bible say these resurrected people said about what they knew at death? Nothing. Now, someone's going to ask me about the parable of the rich man and Lazarus. Maybe Pastor Ross and I'll talk about that. We'll follow up. Maybe we'll do that question. Nobody resurrected ever said a word about what it was like to be resurrected. Don't you think that's strange? Why? "The living know they'll die; the dead know not anything." 1 Thessalonians 4:14, "If we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who SLEEP in Jesus." And if you look in the book of Job 14, verse 12, "So man lies down and does not rise." Is that clear? "Till the heavens are no more." The Bible says, "When Jesus comes, the heavens will depart as a scroll." "Till the heavens are no more, nor will they awake nor be roused from their sleep." So, all the dead who have ever died are where? They're asleep.

Number seven, but isn't it true the soul is immortal? Is that what the Bible says? Listen to what the Bible says. It's like a dictionary definition in Ezekiel 18, verse 4, "The soul who sins will DIE." Death is the absence of life. And again, Job 4:17, "Can," what? "MORTAL man be more righteous than God?" Does man have immortality or is immortal? Can you show me a verse in the Bible that says you have an immortal soul? There is no verse. Matter of fact, the word "immortal" only appears one time in the Bible, and it's in connection with God. Listen to what the Bible says here in Matthew 10, verse 28: "Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him," that's capital H-I-M. That's God. "Who is able to do," what? "DESTROY both soul and body in hell." Now, there is a lake of fire. I believe in hell. "Every one man is rewarded according to his works." But what ultimately happens to the soul in hell? Destroy. God does not immortalize sinners. It's the devil that spreads that lie. Who has immortality, according to Paul, alone? 1 Timothy 6:15 and 16. "The King of kings, the Lord of lords, who ALONE has IMMORTALITY." Who has immortality alone? God. See, eternal life is a gift. You don't already have it. You get eternal life through faith. "Whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life." If you don't believe in Him, you're mortal. God told Adam and Eve, "If you disobey, you will surely die." Isn't that what it says?

Number eight, will human beings ever be given immortality? Yes, we were just talking about this. You can read here in 1 Thessalonians 4:16. Now, these verses I'm going to share with you--you've heard the expression "slam dunk"? There are some verses that are what I call a slam-dunk verse, meaning it's just without question. That it settles the issue. We got a couple of them coming here. 1 Thessalonians 4:16, "For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with a trumpet of God. And the DEAD in Christ will RISE first."

When do the dead rise? When the Lord descends from heaven. Has He descended from heaven with a shout yet? They have not risen yet. 1 Corinthians 15:52, "For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised INCORRUPTIBLE, and we will be changed." When does that happen? When the trumpet sounds, when the Lord descends. "For this corruptible," "corruptible" means these bodies that grow old and die and decompose. "This corruptible must put on INCORRUPTION," a body that is eternal, "and this mortal must put on IMMORTALITY."

Now, let me talk about this for just a moment. What kind of bodies do we get in the Resurrection? Are we ghosts? How many of you have seen, you know, some of the medieval pictures of people resurrected and they say, "You become an angel," and you become a naked little angel, and you play harps on clouds? And they think they're kind of half-spirit, half-real. When Jesus rose from the dead, was He real? What did He do to prove He was real? He said, "I'm tangible. Touch me. Feel me. A spirit does not have flesh and bone as you see that I have." And then on two occasions, He said, "I'm hungry. You got anything to eat?" And they said, "Well, we got some honeycomb and some fish." He said, "Oh, that sounds good." Another time He's by the lake, and He says, "Children, have you caught any food?" And He--they came in, He had breakfast cooking, and they brought some fish. He had some bread baking, and they brought the fish, and they had fish sandwiches or something. But He said He was real. Did God make Adam and Eve real? The devil messed things up.

God is going to complete His plan. He's going to do what he planned for this world. He's not going to let the devil mess it up. The Bible says we'll go forth, we'll plant vineyards and eat the fruit from them. We'll build houses and inhabit them. The children will play with the animals, if you read Isaiah 11. The Bible is very clear that the earth made new is going to be real, and God is going to resurrect us with these glorified, real bodies that have senses, except now we've got, you know, just five senses. In heaven, we'll have the sixth sense. Before we sinned, we could see angels. We've lost that perception. It's going to be restored. Do you know they're around us right now? Elisha knew that. His servant lost faith one day, and he said, "Lord, open his eyes." And his eyes were open. He saw the mountains were filled with chariots and horses of fire. There's a whole spiritual dimension around us now that we just don't perceive, but it's very real. "As in Adam," I'm giving you 1 Corinthians 15, verse 22. "As in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive."

Now he tells you when it's going to happen. "But each one in its own order: Christ the first fruits," Jesus was risen first, "afterward those who are Christ's at His coming." Can you say that with me? "Afterward those who are Christ's," when? "At His coming." When are they made alive? Jesus said, "Here's the order: at His coming." They're not made alive as soon as they die. They're sleeping a peaceful--they are R-I-P. Resting in peace. A lot of the early church fathers knew this. Martin Luther knew it. He said, "Jesus will come and knock on my grave and wake me up." And a lot of the others understood these things.

Number nine, so if the dead cannot converse with the living, what did the witch conjure up for King Saul? It says, "I saw three unclean spirits. They are the SPIRITS of DEMONS, performing signs." Jesus said in the last days, the devil is going to have signs that will be so convincing that if it were possible, even the very elect would be deceived. He said there'll be false christs and false prophets that will do many great wonders. These are wonderful, amazing things, but they're evil spirits. We should not be deceived by this. You know what it says in 1 Chronicles chapter 10, verse 13? You realize the story of King Saul is not only in 1 Samuel. It's also in 1 Chronicles. There's two parallel stories. Here's what it says: "So Saul died for his unfaithfulness which he had committed against the Lord, because he did not keep the Word of the Lord, and also because he consulted a medium for guidance." He went to a spiritist. It wasn't Samuel the prophet he talked to. It was the devil. And in the last days, people who think that you die and you go right to heaven or hell, they don't believe the Bible. But if they got grandma coming back and talking to them, if they got a spouse that died, they'll think, "Oh, I got a message." And they said, "Don't worry, Jesus didn't really mean that.

People have misunderstood what it says there in the Bible." And there's going to be deception that's going to go out. Evil spirits posing as the dead are going to be convincing people. And unless we know how to rebuke those spirits when they come to us, we're set up for a great deception.

Now, I've got to just say something before I close. I know there are people here, there are people watching, you have loved ones that have died, and you felt like you sense their presence. You've maybe felt like they tried to communicate or give you some kind of sign from the other side. I've lost some loved ones--my mother, my father, my brother, a son. And you've got your mind filled with memories and love and affection for this person. And sometimes you're going to have impressions, and that's normal that your mind would think that. I remember after my brother died, I used to always be able to pick up the phone and just call him. He's my older brother. And one day I picked up the phone to call him, and I'd forgot he had been dead for a year. I just forgot. And I thought--I felt, like, his presence. Well, it's just my memories, thinking about my brother. So don't let your mind play tricks on you. If you're going to go by anything, go by the Bible. Amen?

Number 10, why does Satan want us to believe that the demons are spirits of the dead? "For false christs and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders DECEIVE, if possible, even the very elect." And in the last days, these unclean spirits like frogs are going to come out of the mouth, the beast, and the false prophet, go forth to the leaders of the world, and convince them to go against this final battle against God's people. They're going to be led by evil spirits because they think that they're--they're going to come and appear to be Saint Mary or Joseph or Paul or Christopher. You know, there's some churches that prayed to dead saints. Are they really saints that are giving them impressions? Is it really Mary that's appearing? A lot of people misunderstand these things. Nowhere in the Bible does it say that she ascended to heaven, but some people stake their whole life on that. God told Adam and Eve, "In the day you eat thereof, you will surely die." The dead are waiting, good or bad, in the graves for the Resurrection. It was the devil who said, "You will not surely die." That means, "You will not really die."

So, the question is, who are we going to believe? Is anyone able to overcome Satan's last-day deceptions? Yes. Who? It says in Isaiah 8:19, "And when they say to you, 'Seek those that are mediums and wizards, who whisper and mutter,' should the people SEEK their God? Should they seek the dead on behalf of the living? To the law and the testimony! If they do not speak according to this WORD, it is because there is no LIGHT in them." Friends, it needs to be based upon the Word of God. Amen? And as long as we know Jesus and we're following Him, we will be safe.

Doug: One of the most confusing subjects in our world today is the big question: what happens when we die? It seems like everywhere you turn, someone out there has a different opinion about the afterlife, whether heaven, hell, purgatory, limbo, or eternal nonexistence. Well, are you tired of all the contradictory and confusing messages? Wouldn't you like to know what the Bible really says once and for all? To help answer all of your questions, "Amazing Facts" would like to send you a very special free gift. It's called "The Afterlife Mystery." This attractive full-color magazine provides simple but vital biblical facts to help you decode death, hell, and eternal life amid all of the confusing deceptions today. In a captivating, contemporary way, it presents powerful lessons about what happens when we die and, more importantly, how you can be ready for eternity. To get your free copy, call the phone number on the screen and ask for offer number 839 or visit the web address. And after you read this incredible resource, be sure and share it with a friend.

Doug: Do you long to experience the peace that can only come from our loving heavenly Father? Do you desire your heart to be clean and at rest? Jesus stands before you right now with His arms open wide to receive you. Why not ask Him into your life right now? Why not receive Him now as your personal Savior? Take that first step and say, "Yes, Lord, I choose You." He is ready and waiting to receive you.

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