{"id":18431,"date":"2018-03-25T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2018-03-25T05:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sugar-land-bible-church.local\/sermon\/daniel-056-resurrections-in-review\/"},"modified":"2018-03-25T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2018-03-25T05:00:00","slug":"daniel-056-resurrections-in-review","status":"publish","type":"sermon","link":"https:\/\/slbc.org\/es\/sermon\/daniel-056-resurrections-in-review\/","title":{"rendered":"Daniel 056 – Resurrections in Review"},"content":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"template":"","book":[72],"series_event":[467],"sermon_service_type":[472],"speaker":[6],"class_list":["post-18431","sermon","type-sermon","status-publish","hentry","book-daniel","series_event-daniel","sermon_service_type-main-service","speaker-dr-andy-woods","no-post-thumbnail"],"acf":{"sermon_title":"Daniel 056 - Resurrections in Review","sermon_date":"20180325","sermon_month":"3","sermon_year":"2018","sermon_notes":5602,"sermon_slides":5604,"sermon_mp3":5606,"sermon_id":"32518759154","series_or_event":467,"service_type":[472],"speaker":6,"books_of_the_bible":72,"chapter_and_verse":"12:2b","sermon_transcript":"Andy Woods\n\nResurrections in Review\n\n3-25-18\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Daniel 12:2b\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Lesson 56\n\nGood morning everybody.\u00a0 Happy Palm Sunday to everybody.\u00a0 I keep waiting for people to show up with their palms, I haven\u2019t seen anybody yet other than these right here, I\u2019ve got my palms out.\u00a0 And of course next week is Resurrection Sunday and as\u00a0 you know we go through the Bible verse by verse and I just find it very interesting that the Lord would have us in verse 2 today, which is probably your most graphic treatment of resurrection in the entire Old Testament.\u00a0 So let\u2019s open up our Bibles to the Book of Daniel, chapter 12 and verse 2.\u00a0 The title of our message this morning is Resurrections (plural, you mean there\u2019s more than one?\u00a0 Yes there is) Resurrections in Review.\n\nAnd as you know we\u2019ve been working our way through the\u00a0 Book of\u00a0 Daniel.\u00a0 Daniel, of course, is having, in these closing chapters, his final vision which he saw back in the sixth century.\u00a0 There was a lot of warfare involved in bringing this vision to Daniel but he finally received it and he begins to record his final vision beginning in chapter 11 going all the way through the end of chapter 12.\u00a0 And what a vision this is; all of the information that Daniel has received, information about empires of his own day, Persia to be followed by Greece, to be followed by the warfare within the Grecian Empire, to be followed by a really bad person that would come about 400 years after Daniel left the scene, Antiochus IV.\n\nAnd then how Daniel has sort of leaped forward into the distant future.\u00a0 Beginning around Daniel 11:35, verse 36, right in there, he begins to see information about the future antichrist who is still future even from our day.\u00a0 [Daniel 11:35, \u201cSome of those who have insight will fall, in order to refine, purge and make them pure until the end time; because it is still to come at the appointed time. [36] Then the king will do as he pleases, and he will exalt and magnify himself above every god and will speak monstrous things against the God of gods; and he will prosper until the indignation is finished, for that which is decreed will be done.\u201d]\n\nAnd then beginning in chapter 12 which we started last time we began to receive information from the Lord about the tribulation period yet future and the millennial kingdom to follow.\u00a0 You can take the information there in chapter 12 and you can divide it into \u00a0two.\u00a0 Number one, we have the description of the end times, that\u2019s in verses 1-4.\u00a0 And then that is followed by the duration of the end times, verses 5-13, a series of questions and answers that concern the end times.\n\nBut we are still there in chapter 12, verses 1-4 and we\u2019re getting a lot of information here about the duration of the end times.\u00a0 We\u2019ve seen, number 1, last week, verse 1, suffering, how suffering is in store for the nation of Israel yet future.\u00a0 We saw in verse 1 how the prince, Michael, would arise to protect Israel in the last days.\u00a0 And of course I did make a mistake last week and a few people brought this to my attention, which doesn\u2019t bother me at all, it certainly is not the first mistake I ever made nor will it be the last and I\u2019m glad you brought it to my attention because it shows me you\u2019re listening.\u00a0 Amen!\u00a0 But I did make a reference to Michael and I said this is the first time Michael, the prince, or the angel, is mentioned in the Book of Daniel.\u00a0 That, of course, is incorrect; we already ran into Michael back in Daniel 10, I believe it\u2019s around verse 13.\u00a0 The problem is it\u2019s been so long since we\u2019ve been in Daniel 10 to me it seemed like the first reference to Michael.\n\nBut the prince was followed by the pain or a description of the tribulation period and you can think about the Book of Revelation which is describing that same time period but in greater detail.\u00a0 And then the pain was followed by the perseverance, how God, through all of these things is going to preserve a believing remnant within Israel.\u00a0 They will come to faith and through that remnant God will fulfill His end time program.\u00a0 And then we moved from the suffering to the separation and this is the verse that we find ourselves is this morning, just one Sunday removed from\u2026 we call it Easter Sunday, probably better said Resurrection Sunday.\n\nNotice again verse 2, it says, \u201cMany of those who sleep in the dust of the ground will awake, these to everlasting life, but the others to disgrace and everlasting contempt.\u201d [Daniel 12:2] \u00a0And we began last time to introduce the concept of resurrection and we, as Christians, throw this word resurrection around all of the time.\u00a0 What exactly is a resurrection?\u00a0 What are we even talking about?\u00a0 Well, resurrection would be the opposite of death and briefly last time we talked about how when a person dies the material and the immaterial, the body and the part of you that\u2019s designed to live forever, called the soul, the two separate.\u00a0 The soul, as I\u2019ll talk about, after death does not go out of existence but rather that soul is awaiting for the opposite of death, death being a separation; that soul is waiting for a reunion.\u00a0 As that soul is placed back into their body but it\u2019s the body that God intended with the curse\u00a0 pulled out of it, what we call their resurrected body or their glorified body.\n\nThere are many, many references, at least sort of a little less clear than the one we read about here in verse 2, that talk about resurrection.\u00a0 We mentioned Job 19:25-27.\u00a0 We also mentioned Isaiah 26:19.\u00a0 The concept of resurrection is not new.\u00a0 [Job 19:25-27, \u201cAs for me, I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last He will take His stand on the earth. [26] Even after my skin is destroyed, yet from my flesh I shall see God;\u00a0 [27] Whom I myself shall behold, and whom my eyes will see and not another. My heart faints within me!\u00a0 [Isaiah 26:19, \u201cYour dead will live; Their corpses will rise. You who lie in the dust, awake and shout for joy, For your dew is as the dew of the dawn, And the earth will give birth to the departed spirits.\u201d]\n\nBut here for the first time we actually learn that not only will the righteous be resurrected but so will the unrighteous.\u00a0 Other Bible writers come alongside and repeat the same truth.\u00a0 We mentioned last time John 5:29, Acts 24:15.\u00a0 [John 5:29, \u201cand will come forth; those who did the good deeds to a resurrection of life, those who committed the evil deeds to a resurrection of judgment.\u201d\u00a0 Acts 24:15, \u201chaving a hope in God, which these men cherish themselves, that there shall certainly be a resurrection of both the righteous and the wicked.\u201d]\n\nAnd it\u2019s not until we get to\u00a0 the Book of Revelation that we discover that these two resurrections that Daniel is referring to here are separated by a thousand\u00a0 years.\u00a0 The thousand\u00a0 year kingdom of Christ, the resurrection for the righteous at the beginning of that thousand year reign of Christ and the resurrection of the unsaved taking place at the end of that thousand\u00a0 year reign of Christ.\u00a0 You might recall that we actually read together Revelation 20:4-6 which clearly talks about the two resurrections and their separation by a thousand\u00a0 years.\n\n[Revelation 20:4-6, \u201cThen I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was given to them. And I saw<\/em> the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony of Jesus and because of the word of God, and those who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received the mark on their forehead and on their hand; and they came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. [5] The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were completed. This is the first resurrection. [6] Blessed and holy is the one who has a part in the first resurrection; over these the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with Him for a thousand years.\u201d]\n\nAnd you say well\u00a0 how come Daniel doesn\u2019t tell\u00a0 us about the thousand\u00a0 year gap?\u00a0 As we\u2019ve been studying prophetic writings we observed that one of the things the Holy Spirit does is He will reveal two prophetic events in a back to back fashion without revealing the time period or the duration of the time period between those events.\u00a0 It\u2019s a lot like looking at two mountains in the distance; you sometimes see the furthest mountain raised slightly above the nearest mountain and\u00a0 you cannot see the valley between those mountains.\u00a0 In fact, if you become sensitive to this you\u2019ll see that your Bible does this all of the time.\u00a0 Isaiah 9:6, there\u2019s a gap of at least two thousand years or more.\u00a0 Isaiah 9:6 says, \u201cFor a child was born to us, a son will be given to us,\u201d that\u2019s the first coming of Christ, then the same verse goes on and says, \u201cthe government will be upon His shoulders, there will be no end of the increase of His government,\u201d etc.\u00a0 That\u2019s a reference to the second coming of Christ.\u00a0 And what the Holy Spirit did not reveal is the valley between those two prophetic references.\n\nSo to discover that there is a valley between those two prophetic references you have to\u00a0 consult other sections of the Bible, [can't understand word] Revelation and this is what we have to do with the Book of Daniel, chapter 2 and verse 2, we have to supplement it with the Book of Revelation and it\u2019s there we learn that these two resurrections, one for the righteous, one for the unrighteous are separated by the thousand year duration of Christ\u2019s earthly kingdom.\n\nNow one of the things we want to talk about here is this word \u201cforever.\u201d\u00a0 Let\u2019s read again Daniel 12, verse 2, notice the repetition of \u201cforever.\u201d\u00a0 \u201cMany of those will sleep in the dust of the ground and will awake, these to forever\u201d or some translations say \u201ceverlasting life but others to disgrace and\u201d second repetition of forever, \u201ceverlasting contempt.\u201d\u00a0 And it is a biblical reality that everyone in human history, Christian or not, believer or not, saved or unsaved, will be resurrected.\u00a0 The believer to experience eternal bliss with God in their glorified body,\u00a0 the unbeliever to experience eternal retribution.\n\nAs a very young Christian there were two doctrines that I tried to look at very carefully with the hope of getting rid of, explaining away.\u00a0 One of them was the whole concept of election versus free will.\u00a0 I never fully understood that if I\u2019m free to choose God why does the Bible keep saying God chose me?\u00a0 And after wrestling with that doctrine for several decades here\u2019s my answer.\u00a0 My answer is I don\u2019t know.\u00a0 I used to get very angry over things like that in the Bible that I just couldn\u2019t understand but you kind of reach a point where you begin to realize that His ways are higher than our ways.\u00a0 God really never asked my opinion about anything, quite frankly.\u00a0 He just reveals things and expects me, as His disciple, to believe what He has said.\u00a0 And if there are things like this in the Bible that I don\u2019t understand now it\u2019s not a matter of irritation, it\u2019s a matter of rejoicing because let me ask you a question: do you want a God that you can completely figure out?\u00a0 I mean, if you can completely figure out God then God is no greater than yourself.\u00a0 And we oftentimes try to make God in man\u2019s image.\u00a0 There are things in the Bible that are paradoxes, mysteries, which gives me further incentive to believe that this book obviously came from God, it came from a different time dimension.\u00a0 I\u2019m not sure man could have come up with this election versus free will idea.\n\nBut the second doctrine that always bothered me and it bothers me to this day is the doctrine of eternal retribution.\u00a0 If after all God is a God of love then how can He allow people to be tormented in conscious torment forever and ever and ever and ever.\u00a0 And there, like myself as a\u00a0 young Christian there are a great many attempts today within evangelical Christianity to dismiss this doctrine, to act like the Bible is not really saying what it\u2019s saying.\n\nNow not if but when the Jehovah\u2019s Witnesses show up at your door, Jehovah\u2019s Witnesses we understand as a non-biblical cult, not adhering to the tenants of biblical Christianity, they will try to convince you that hell is really not forever, they call it the common grave.\u00a0 And one of the tragedies that I\u2019ve noticed in my lifetime is this doctrine of the common grave, where you just disappear and you cease to exist as an unbeliever is now making its way into evangelical Christianity.\u00a0 There are many, many people that I could call your attention to that are flirting with this particular doctrine.\u00a0 It\u2019s called annihilationism.\u00a0 The unbelievers, we\u2019re told, don\u2019t go on in conscious torment forever and ever and ever, they just explode, sort of like how the death star exploded in Star Wars, they have a laser beam [can't understand word], the whole thing is destroyed and it\u2019s gone.\u00a0 I may be getting my Star Wars mixed up here, the death star did explode at the end, I remember that, but then the death star blew up another planet too, that\u2019s what I was thinking of, as if that matters at all.\u00a0 I\u2019m up here trying to preach and teach the Word of God and thinking about Star Wars\u2026.\n\nBut a lot of people have this vision that you just explode, if you\u2019re an unbeliever you cease to exist. That is called annihilationism.\u00a0 So the idea is man is created immortal but his immortality is stripped of him or her if they are Christ rejecters.\u00a0 Other people have a slightly different verbiage that they use, they call it conditional immortality.\u00a0 And all these views that you hear, they sound so scholarly, annihilationism, conditional immortality, and it\u2019s this idea that we are born not immortal but God gives us immortality at the point of faith in Christ, otherwise we remain mortal and can have our lifespans annihilated, we just disappear.\n\nAnd such views, I believe, contradict what your Bible says about anthropology, the doctrine of man.\u00a0 When God created man and woman He put something very unique in them called their status as image bearers.\u00a0 Image bearers of who?\u00a0 Image bearers of God.\u00a0 How long does God exist for?\u00a0 He exists forever. \u00a0How long do we exist for?\u00a0 We exist forever\u2026 now we\u2019re different than God, we haven\u2019t always been around but from the point of conception God has given us a certain status whereby from that point of conception we will continue to exist forever.\u00a0 Genesis 1:27 says, \u201cGod created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0 That\u2019s who we are by design.\u00a0 The Book of Ecclesiastes, chapter 3 and verse 11 says this of man, of this doctrine of anthropology, \u201cHe has also set eternity in their heart\u2026.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0 [Ecclesiastes 3:11, \u201cHe has made everything appropriate in its time. He has also set eternity in their heart, yet so that man will not find out the work which God has done from the beginning even to the end.\u201d]\n\nAll of these ideas that cause people to dismiss the idea of eternal retribution right out of the gate you know that they can\u2019t be correct because they contradict how God has fashioned man.\u00a0 Man, by definition, woman by definition, being higher than the animal kingdom itself, bears the image of God and as imager bearers of God we have tremendous capacities.\u00a0 One of the most powerful capacities we have is the capacity for choice.\u00a0 Why do I have an ability to accept God or reject God?\u00a0 It goes back to how God manufactured me as a member of Adam\u2019s race.\u00a0 I have the capacity to reject God.\u00a0 Think of that, think how awesome that is of a power.\u00a0 Or I have the capacity to trust God.\u00a0 God is not going to coerce Himself on me, He will draw me to Himself, He will convict me. But you see, at the end of the day I can reject even the ruling ministry of the Holy Spirit.\u00a0 What a power we have!\u00a0 And part of this ability or capacity in which we were made an image bearer involves our eternal existence.\u00a0 Whether we like it or not every human being on planet earth will exist and be alive somewhere a hundred years from now, a thousand years from now, a million years from now, and a billion years from now as long as we want the number to exist.\u00a0 Why is that?\u00a0 Because that\u2019s how we are designed.\n\nAnd you\u2019ll notice here what Daniel 12:2 says; it\u2019s very interesting concerning these two resurrections. \u201cMany of those who sleep in the dust of the ground will awake, these to everlasting life,\u201d that\u2019s the resurrection at the beginning of the millennium, it\u2019s the Hebrew word olam<\/em>, and notice what the rest of the verse says, \u201cbut the others to disgrace and everlasting\u201d that\u2019s the word olam<\/em> again in Hebrew repeated, \u201cothers to disgrace and everlasting contempt.\u201d\u00a0 So you ask people today, do you believe that heaven is forever, the kingdom is forever, eternal life is forever?\u00a0 Oh yeah, we believe that.\u00a0 Well why do you believe that?\u00a0 Well it says olam<\/em> as the qualifier.\u00a0 Then you say well do you believe that hell is forever?\u00a0 Oh no, we don\u2019t believe that. \u00a0You can\u2019t play that game linguistically because of the repetition of olam<\/em>; the same word used to describe eternal life is the same word used to describe eternal damnation.\n\nIt is interesting that olam<\/em> over in Psalm 90:2 is the same word used to describe God Himself who is forever.\u00a0 Psalm 90:2 says this: \u201cBefore the mountains were born or You gave birth to the earth and the world, Even from everlasting\u201d olam<\/em> \u201cto everlasting,\u201d olam<\/em> \u201cYou are God.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0 And you say to people well, do you believe that God is forever?\u00a0 Well, of course I believe that.\u00a0 Do you believe that heaven is forever, and eternal life is forever?\u00a0 Of course I believe that. Well do you believe that hell is forever?\u00a0 No, I don\u2019t believe that.\u00a0 Well how can you play that game when the identical words used to describe retribution are the exact same words used to describe the existence of God and the existence of eternal life.\n\nSee, the Bible is not going to give us, and believe me I\u2019ve tried, tried to find loopholes.\u00a0 The Bible is not going to give you any wriggle room for this!\u00a0 Now when we go over to Matthew 25:46 we see a parallel passage. It repeats the same idea but now it\u2019s not in the Hebrew Old Testament language, it\u2019s in the Greek, Koine Greek New Testament language.\u00a0 And this is what Jesus says in Matthew 25:46, \u201cThese will go away into eternal\u201d that\u2019s the Greek word ai\u014dnios<\/em>, \u201cThese will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.\u201d\n\nNow one of my seminary professors when I was taking some classes in California at Talbot Theological Seminary, a professor by the name of Dr. Alan W. Gomes makes a very basic but very important statement on this, concerning eternal punishment, because there\u2019s a lot of people out there saying well you just get annihilated.\u00a0 Well then how can punishment be eternal?\u00a0 Gomes writes this: \u201cA punishment\u201d and by the way, backing up for a minute, the Greek word for punishment there is [can't understand word] Gomes says, \u201cA punishment [such as torment] that is not to be felt is not a punishment.\u201d\n\nIn other words, the idea of punishment and ceasing to exist are two mutually exclusive concepts, especially when the punishment in the Scripture is called eternal punishment.\u00a0 Gomes says, \u201cIt is an odd use of language to speak of an insensate state (i.e., unfeeling), an inanimate object receiving punishment.\u2019\u00a0 Gomes says, \u201cTo say, \u2018I punished my car for not starting by slowly plucking out it\u2019s spark plug wires, one by one,\u2019 would invoke laughter, not serious consideration.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0 [Summer 1991). \u201cEvangelicals and the Annihilation of Hell\u201d (Part 2). \u00a0In the Christian Research Journal. Page 11.]\u00a0 You can\u2019t punish something that\u2019s not conscious.\u00a0 You certainly can\u2019t punish something eternally that\u2019s not conscious.\n\nSo the very concept of eternal punishment brings with it a conscious state of eternal retribution, or else it is not eternal punishment.\u00a0 And in the Matthew 25:46 passage\u00a0 you\u2019ll notice, just like in Daniel 12:2 a repetition of the word \u201ceternal.\u201d\u00a0 Now is there a higher authority than Jesus?\u00a0 In fact, if Jesus Himself hadn\u2019t said this we may not even believe it\u2019s true.\u00a0 You don\u2019t have a higher authority than Christ.\u00a0 And by the way, I think that\u2019s one of the reasons Christ spoke more about hell than He did heaven because if it came out of the mouth of somebody else we may not believe it.\u00a0 But this is coming out of the lips of the incarnate Son of God.\u00a0 Jesus Himself says, \u201cThese will go away into eternal\u201d ai\u014dnios<\/em> \u201cpunishment but the righteous into eternal\u201d ai\u014dnios<\/em> repeated, \u201cinto eternal life.\u201d\n\nSo again you ask folks, do you believe that heaven is forever?\u00a0 They say oh yeah!\u00a0 Do you believe that hell is eternal?\u00a0 No, I don\u2019t believe that; language doesn\u2019t allow that view.\u00a0 Whatever you believe about heaven in terms of its duration, whatever you believe about eternal life in terms of its duration by definition controls linguistically what you believe about eternal punishment.\u00a0 Now notice Romans 16:26, \u201cbut now is manifested, and by the Scriptures of the prophets, according to the commandment of the eternal God<\/u>,\u201d there\u2019s ai\u014dnios<\/em> again.\u00a0 Well, do you believe that God is forever?\u00a0 Yes, I believe that.\u00a0 Well do you believe that heaven is forever?\u00a0 Yes, I believe that.\u00a0 Well do you believe that hell is forever?\u00a0 No, I don\u2019t believe that.\u00a0 How can you play that game when (ai\u014dnios<\/em>) is used to describe all three, just like olam<\/em> is used to describe all three.\u00a0 Whatever\u00a0 your view of God in terms of duration, eternal life in terms of duration, has to also be your view of retribution in terms of duration.\u00a0 There is no wriggle room on this. \u00a0And everybody that is trying to find some kind of loophole in this is selling you a bill of goods.\n\nAnd the Bible goes on and it makes this even clearer; look what it says in Revelation 14:11, \u201cAnd the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever;\u201d now that\u2019s ai\u014dnios<\/em> twice; and \u201cthey have no rest day and night, those who worship the beast and his image, and whoever receives the mark of his name.\u201d\u00a0 It\u2019s as if everything we\u2019ve presented isn\u2019t enough the Bible says let me take you a step further and show you a passage where ai\u014dnios<\/em> is repeated twice in reference to hell.\n\nIt\u2019s interesting that in the Book of Revelation, chapter 19 and verse 20, at the end of the tribulation period with the Second Advent of Christ it says this: \u201cAnd the beast\u201d that\u2019s the antichrist, \u201cwas seized, and with him the false prophet who performed the signs in his presence, by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image; these two\u201d that would be antichrist and false prophet, actual human beings, literal people, \u201cwere thrown alive into the lake of fire which burns with brimstone.\u201d\n\nSo the two great enemies of God are defeated, they\u2019re thrown into the lake of fire and then what launches is the thousand\u00a0 year kingdom.\u00a0 Now look what it says at the end of the thousand year kingdom, after this thousand year kingdom had run its course.\u00a0 It says, \u201cThe devil who deceived them was thrown,\u201d now the Satan gets his turn in the lake of fire, \u201cThe devil who deceived them\u201d this is at the end of the thousand year kingdom because God has used Satan to\u2026 God uses Satan for His purposes, He\u2019s used Satan to provoke a rebellion at the end of the kingdom, now that that purpose is finished God is finished with Satan.\u00a0 \u201cThe devil who deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet\u201d what does it say, \u201care also;\u201d they\u2019re still in there, I mean a thousand years has passed and they\u2019re still in there, I mean, they didn\u2019t disintegrate, they didn\u2019t evaporate, they weren\u2019t annihilated, immortality wasn\u2019t stripped off of them, they\u2019re there in that same condition a thousand years later.\u00a0 Why is that?\u00a0 Because the beast and the false\u00a0 prophet are human beings and a human being by definition bears a certain status as an image-bearer, not the least of which is the immortality of the soul and as we will see in a moment the body itself.\u00a0 And if all of that weren\u2019t clear enough, it says, \u201cand they will be tormented day and night\u201d now look at this, \u201cforever and ever.\u201d [Revelation 20:10]\u00a0 There is ai\u014dnios<\/em> again, twice, just so we get the picture here.\n\nRevelation 4:9 says this: \u201cAnd when the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to Him who sits on the throne, to Him who lives forever and ever,\u201d how long is God going to exist?\u00a0 \u201cforever and ever.\u201d\u00a0 Well, do you believe hell is forever and ever?\u00a0 No, I don\u2019t believe that.\u00a0 Well how can you do that when ai\u014dnios<\/em> is twice used to describe God and hell?\n\nRevelation 11:15 says, \u201c\u2026\"The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ; and He will reign forever and ever,\u201d\u00a0 ai\u014dnios<\/em> twice.\u00a0\u00a0 You say is the kingdom forever?\u00a0 Yes, I believe that. Is hell forever?\u00a0\u00a0 No, I don\u2019t believe that.\u00a0 Well how can that be when the same two Greek words describe both?\u00a0 Revelation 4:10 says, \u201cthe twenty-four elders will fall down before Him who sits on the throne, and will worship Him who lives forever and ever\u2026.\u201d\u00a0 How long is God going to be worshiped for?\u00a0 Forever.\u00a0 Well, then you believe hell is forever too.\u00a0 No, I don\u2019t believe that.\u00a0 Well how can that be when the exact same words used to describe the eternal worship of God, in fact the eternal existence of God, in fact the eternal kingdom of God, are used to describe this concept of retribution.\n\nBelieve me folks, if I could think of a way out of this I probably would have by now.\u00a0 I don\u2019t like it any more than you do but the reality of the situation is you reach a point in\u00a0 your walk with Christ where you quit trying to take out your liquid paper and blot things out of the Bible you don\u2019t like and you submit to the authority of God.\u00a0 That\u2019s called discipleship.\u00a0 We are not here to sit in judgment on the Bible.\u00a0 Do we realize how arrogant it is to look at an omniscient, omnipresent, omnipotent God whose character is sinless and flawless, who has revealed Himself in this Book and we sit here with our liquid whiteout paper and we like this part but we don\u2019t like that part.\u00a0 What a laugh that is to God.\u00a0\u00a0 It\u2019s like an ant hill critiquing what we\u2019re having for lunch or something like that.\u00a0 It\u2019s just silly.\u00a0 And the arrogance of us, the arrogance even as 21st<\/sup> century Christians where we think we can do this to God\u2019s Word, frankly we ought to be ashamed of ourselves.\u00a0 We ought to submit to the character of God, the holiness of God, God I don\u2019t understand everything but you know what, at the end of the day You\u2019ve been around a lot longer than I have and You understand things that I don\u2019t understand.\n\nJesus Himself spoke of this, Matthew 18:8, \u201cIf your hand or your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it from you; it is better for you to enter life crippled or lame, than to have two hands or two feet and be cast into the eternal fire.\u201d Jesus Himself calls the fire eternal.\u00a0 Mark 9:43 says, \u201cIf your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life crippled, than, having your two hands, to go into hell, into the unquenchable fire.\u201d\u00a0 If it wasn\u2019t from the lips of Christ the reality of the situation is I probably wouldn\u2019t believe it but it\u2019s as clear as any doctrine you\u2019ll ever study in the Word of God.\n\nAnd here is why I\u2019m concerned about this; theology is like a seamless tapestry.\u00a0 Whatever you do in one area of theology at some point it\u2019s going to mess up another area because this is how God has designed His Word; it\u2019s like dominoes in a row.\u00a0 We\u2019ve got a lot of Christians today that want to play games with Genesis 1-11.\u00a0 I\u2019m not going to do that!\u00a0 The reason I\u2019m not going to do that is because it controls how you interpret other passages, particularly in the New Testament.\u00a0 Whatever you\u2019re doing in Genesis 1-11 is at some point going to affect your doctrine of the first Adam and the last Adam because it\u2019s all based on the fact that there was a real Adam.\u00a0 And if you\u2019re playing games with the doctrine of eternal retribution at some point those dominoes start to fall and I\u2019ll tell you one of the things that\u2019s on the chopping block is the doctrine of missiology, missions, evangelism.\u00a0 Missions and evangelism, what is taken out of them if the eternal retribution doctrine is eliminated is the whole urgency to shut down.\n\nI mean, why in the world would you spend so much of your life trying to translate the Bible from Hebrew or Greek, from your language into some language of some foreign country?\u00a0 Some area that we call the 1040 window where the gospel of Jesus Christ and the Scripture has never penetrated?\u00a0 Why be uptight about that?\u00a0 Why sacrifice to get that done?\u00a0\u00a0 Because of eternal retribution.\u00a0 We\u2019re trying to keep people out of hell.\u00a0 Folks, people are dying every day and they\u2019re going straight into hell.\u00a0 And it is our obligation as God\u2019s people to get to them the good news to reverse their condition.\u00a0 And here we are at Easter time celebrating what Jesus did for us, how the Second Member of the Trinity, God the Son, stepped out of eternity into time to pay a price we could never pay.\u00a0 Why would God do that if our circumstances weren\u2019t so unfavorable?\u00a0 I mean, why is the necessity, why is the gravity, why the sacrifice?\u00a0 We all know what Christ went through physically, emotionally, spiritually?\u00a0 Why do all that if something really bad was not lurking just around the corner.\n\nAnd I\u2019m afraid, in a sense, that the urgency of evangelism, the urgency of the death of Christ, the urgency of the resurrection of Christ, those are concepts that just don\u2019t make any sense any more\u00a0\u00a0 in a church that\u2019s rejected eternal retribution and has bought into some sort of idea that well, something bad could happen to you but it\u2019s really not that bad.\u00a0 May God help us to understand \u00a0this.\u00a0 May God help us to understand what we have been given in terms of information.\n\nSee, there\u2019s two resurrections here, Daniel 12:2, one unto life, one\u00a0 unto damnation.\u00a0 [Daniel 12:2, \u201cMany of those who sleep in the dust of the ground will awake, these to everlasting life, but the others to disgrace and everlasting contempt.\u201d]\u00a0 The whole point of evangelism and gospel presentation is to get people out of the latter category and get them into the former category.\u00a0 Everything else that we do as a church, everything else that we do on earth as God\u2019s people pales insignificance to that task.\u00a0 And I\u2019m listening to pastors teach and preach today and you know what they\u2019re talking about more than anything else?\u00a0 Health care, global warming, gun control, as if those things are really the problem.\u00a0 Have we lost sight of what the problem is?\u00a0 I mean, are we so far removed from God\u2019s truth and God\u2019s Word that we don\u2019t even see the urgency any more?\n\nAnd you say well, this is all some kind of church you\u2019ve got here.\u00a0 I don\u2019t know if I want to come back here next Sunday.\u00a0 Well, let\u2019s do a little good news, shall we?\u00a0 The resurrection of life, the resurrection unto damnation, two great resurrections.\u00a0 And you might be saying to yourself well, I\u2019ve heard all this stuff about the rapture, and all of that, where does that all fit in?\u00a0\u00a0 And I\u2019m glad you asked that question.\u00a0 Thank you for asking!\n\nNotice 1 Corinthians 15:20-23, resurrections in review, \u201cBut now\u201d Paul says in his resurrection chapter, \u201cBut now Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who are asleep. [21] For since by a man came<\/em> death, by a man also came<\/em> the resurrection of the dead. [22] For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive.\u201d] Down in verse 23, \u201cBut each in his own order: Christ the first fruits,\u201d what is Paul doing here?\u00a0 He is taking the resurrection unto life for the righteous, the first of the two that Daniel referred to and he\u2019s dividing it into parts.\u00a0 He\u2019s actually using an illustration that the Jewish mind could easily grasp because when he says \u201cfirstfruits\u201d he is borrowing imagery from Israel\u2019s harvest cycle.\u00a0 That\u2019s where \u201cfirstfruits\u201d comes from.\n\nAnd if you\u2019re a student of the Word of God, particularly the Old Testament Hebrew Bible you know that the Jews collected a harvest, not in one wave but in three.\u00a0 The first wave was firstfruits, Exodus 23 I believe that is, verse 16.\u00a0 [Exodus 23:16, \u201cAlso you shall observe the Feast of the Harvest of the first fruits of your labors from what you sow in the field; also the Feast of the Ingathering at the end of the year when you gather in the fruit of your labors from the field.\u201d]\u00a0 The firstfruits came in, everybody was happy because if that harvest is good what\u2019s going to happen with the rest of the harvest?\u00a0 It\u2019ll probably be good as well.\n\nNumber two is what is called the general harvest, Leviticus 23:10-12.\u00a0 [Leviticus 23:10-12, \u201c\u201cSpeak to the sons of Israel and say to them, \u2018When you enter the land which I am going to give to you and reap its harvest, then you shall bring in the sheaf of the first fruits of your harvest to the priest. [11] \u2018He shall wave the sheaf before the LORD for you to be accepted; on the day after the sabbath the priest shall wave it. [12] \u2018Now on the day when you wave the sheaf, you shall offer a male lamb one year old without defect for a burnt offering to the LORD.\u201d]\u00a0\u00a0 That\u2019s the big enchilada, or to use a Jewish analogy, the big shawarma<\/em> comes in at that point, the bulk of the harvest.\n\nAnd did you all know that there\u2019s a third harvest?\u00a0 Leviticus 19:9-10 called the cleanings.\u00a0 [Leviticus 19:9, \u201c'Now when you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap to the very corners of your field, nor shall you gather the gleanings of your harvest.\u00a0 [10] 'Nor shall you glean your vineyard, nor shall you gather the fallen fruit of your vineyard; you shall leave them for the needy and for the stranger. I am the LORD your God.\u201d]\u00a0 The Jews are specifically told don\u2019t harvest everything but to leave some for the poor.\u00a0 Now notice that God gave the poor dignity; He never gave them a handout, He allowed them to work just like anybody else for their harvest.\u00a0 And if you know your Bible well you know that the gleanings is a big deal because that\u2019s where God continued the Messianic line as Ruth met who?\u00a0 Boaz, at the gleanings.\n\nSo three harvests: firstfruits, general harvest, gleanings.\u00a0 Paul, the apostle, in describing resurrection uses the expression \u201cfirstfruits\u201d meaning the same three phases will occur with resurrection as the believer\u2019s soul is joined or reunited to their glorified body.\u00a0 Firstfruits is the resurrection of Jesus Christ because just like firstfruits in terms of a harvest, that\u2019s the initial sign that everything else is going to be okay.\u00a0 If Jesus rose bodily from the dead then everybody else in the chain will bodily rise from the dead as well.\n\nAnd I think this gets a lot of our Easter preaching we don\u2019t fully understand this.\u00a0\u00a0 Your typical message on the resurrection of Jesus Christ is it proves He\u2019s God.\u00a0 And that\u2019s all true but there\u2019s more to it than that.\u00a0 The resurrection of Jesus Christ furnishes our hope because we are in bodies which are decaying, falling apart, and what is my hope that I will be put in this body with the curse pulled out of it, the resurrection of Jesus Christ as firstfruits guarantees that to me.\n\nThen number two will come the general harvest, that\u2019s the rapture of the church.\u00a0 Every person that has ever trusted in Christ from the day of Pentecost to the rapture, dead or alive, are placed in their glorified bodies at the point of the rapture.\u00a0 And then what do you do with people in the Old Testament times who weren\u2019t part of the church?\u00a0 Noah, Abraham, Job, Daniel?\u00a0 Beyond that what do you do with people that are saved in the Book of Revelation after the church has been removed?\u00a0 They\u2019re not part of the church.\u00a0 God has an answer for them too; they\u2019re resurrected at the beginning of the thousand year kingdom, Revelation 20:4-5.\u00a0 [Revelation 20:4-5, \u201cThen I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was given to them. And I saw<\/em> the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony of Jesus and because of the word of God, and those who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received the mark on their forehead and on their hand; and they came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. [5] The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were completed. This is the first resurrection. [6] Blessed and holy is the one who has a part in the first resurrection; over these the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with Him for a thousand years.]\n\nDaniel 12:2 describes the resurrection of pre church age saints.\u00a0 Revelation 20:4-5 describes the resurrection of post church saints.\u00a0 [Daniel 12:2, \u201cMany of those who sleep in the dust of the ground will awake, these to everlasting life, but the others to disgrace and everlasting contempt.\u201d]\u00a0 Well, here\u2019s what the whole thing looks like; two resurrections, because Israel and the church are separate programs and because Paul was raised up by God to explain the church\u2019s program Paul just explained to us how the church\u2019s resurrection program fits into the blueprint of God.\u00a0 The resurrection unto life has three parts: Christ\u2019s resurrection which is firstfruits; general harvest which is the rapture, gleanings which is the resurrection that we read about in Revelation 20:4-5, for non-church age saints. Christ\u2019s resurrection, rapture for the church and then a resurrection for non-church age saints at the beginning of the thousand year kingdom.\n\nAnd then a thousand years pass and what we discover is a horrific resurrection at the end of those thousand years.\u00a0 It\u2019s all in Revelation 20:4-5, even verses 4-6, where all unsaved of all ages are summoned and their soul is placed in a glorified body as well.\u00a0 In fact , the Book of Revelation, chapter 20:13 I believe makes a reference to this.\u00a0 It says, \u201cAnd the sea gave up the dead which were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead which were in them; [and they were judged, every one of them according to their deeds.\u201d]\u00a0 These folks are coming out of a place called Hades, that\u2019s where their souls are, they\u2019re reunited in glorified bodies and they stand before the Lord for sentencing, and as their name is not found written in the Book they\u2019re judged by the books.\u00a0 What\u2019s in the book?\u00a0 The Book of life, the record of everyone that\u2019s trusted in Christ.\u00a0 What\u2019s in the books?\u00a0 I don\u2019t know, I would guess a record of sins to determine what exactly?\u00a0 Degree of punishment in hell, in a resurrected body throughout all eternity.\u00a0 Hell is hell but it\u2019s more hell for some people than others.\n\nAnd we would expect that, would we not, if God is a God of perfect justice?\u00a0 Why would Hitler be punished the same way as just a casual atheist?\u00a0\u00a0 And so you put all of these things together and you can see very clearly the whole resurrection program of God.\u00a0 Jesus launching the whole thing two thousand years ago on Easter or Resurrection Sunday guaranteeing everything else in the chain.\n\nYou say well, I need another analogy.\u00a0 Okay, glad you asked.\u00a0 Back to 1 Corinthians 15:23, look at this, He\u2019s given us the firstfruits analogy for the Jews, something they would understand from their own harvest cycle.\u00a0 Now what does Paul do in verse 23, the resurrection chapter, 1 Corinthians 15, \u201cBut each in his own order: Christ the first fruits,\u201d that\u2019s the Greek word tagma<\/em>, now a Gentile reading that\u2026 see a Jew reading about first fruits would think of the harvest cycle.\u00a0 A gentile reading that \u201ceach in his own order\u201d would think of a Roman parade because when the Romans conquered in Greco-Roman times they had a victory parade and this is the way the parade looked.\u00a0 Out in front was the conquering general.\u00a0 Following him was the lead officer; following him were the soldiers who had been victorious in battle and at the very back, sometimes in chains, sometimes in cages, came the captives, those that were defeated in battle.\n\nSo the conquering general out front would be who?\u00a0 Jesus Christ, His resurrection guaranteeing all the other resurrections.\u00a0 The lead officer would be the rapture of the church, that\u2019s our resurrection, when we receive our resurrected bodies.\u00a0 And then after that would be the soldiers victorious in the parade, that\u2019s the resurrection of non-church age saints, Revelation\u00a0\u00a0 20:4. [Revelation 20:4, \u201cThen I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was given to them. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony of Jesus and because of the word of God, and those who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received the mark on their forehead and on their hand; and they came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years.\u201d]\n\nAnd then a thousand years pass, and you have the captives.\u00a0 And what is that talking about?\u00a0 That\u2019s talking about Revelation 20:5 where unbelievers of all ages are resurrected only to stand before the Lord for sentencing.\u00a0 [Revelation 20:5, \u201cThe rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were completed. This is the first resurrection.\u201d]\u00a0 So once again, first Christ\u2019s resurrection, then rapture, then resurrection at the beginning of the millennium, and then resurrection at the end of the millennial kingdom.\n\nNow I know what you\u2019re thinking because when I was first exposed to this kind of thinking I thought to myself well if people are out there that have died that are waiting for their resurrected bodies, they\u2019re waiting for the soul to reunite with the body, where is the soul now?\u00a0 Have you ever asked yourself that question?\u00a0 I mean, where do they go?\u00a0 And this is an area that theologians call the intermediate state.\u00a0 There are many Christian denominations that will argue something called soul sleep.\u00a0 In other words, the soul just sort of takes a nap, it becomes sort of desensitized, it becomes unconscious and then it wakes up at the last minute to be resurrected\u2014the doctrine of soul sleep.\u00a0 An interesting teaching but beloved, I can\u2019t find a single shred of evidence in the Bible to support it.\u00a0 I do not believe there is such a doctrine as soul sleep.\u00a0 The soul, whether believer or unbeliever, is conscious in the intermediate stage prior to the resurrection.\n\nHow do I know that? I know that because of what the Apostle Paul said in 2 Corinthians 5:8, \u201cFor we are of good courage, I say and prefer rather to be absent from the body and to be at\u201d what? \u201chome with the Lord.\u201d\u00a0 Paul says if I had my way I would rather just die, I\u2019d rather the separation happen now because I know that my soul will go home. Where?\u00a0 In the presence of the Lord.\u00a0 Every Christian that has died in the last two thousand years of the church is at home with the Lord.\u00a0 There\u2019s no soul sleep concept there at all.\n\nIn fact, Paul, in Philippians 1:21-23 said, \u201cFor to me, to live is\u201d what? \u201cChrist and to die is gain. [22] But if I am<\/em> to live on<\/em> in the flesh, this will mean<\/em> fruitful labor for me; and I do not know which to choose. [23] But I am hard-pressed from both directions,<\/em> having the desire to depart and be with Christ, for that<\/em> is very much better.\u201d\u00a0 If I had my way I would just check out of here because I\u2019m going to a place that\u2019s much better.\u00a0\u00a0 Yeah, the Lord is using me now as I minister to the church, He\u2019s using me as an apostle, but if it wasn\u2019t for you people I wouldn\u2019t have to be here and I could go to be with the Lord.\u00a0 There\u2019s no soul sleep there at all; the soul goes right into the presence of God.\u00a0 I mean, my goodness, it doesn\u2019t even talk about a tunnel, you know, all these Sci-Fi\u2019s, you go through some tunnel with the light at the end, I don\u2019t even see a tunnel here.\u00a0 I almost want my money back, where\u2019s the tunnel.\u00a0 You just go right on home with the Lord, instantaneously upon death, where your soul awaits that future resurrection.\u00a0\u00a0 That\u2019s where the believers go.\n\nNow what about the pre-church age saints, where do they go?\u00a0 I believe, but what about post church age saints that die, where\u2019s Daniel, where\u2019s Noah, where are all these guys.\u00a0 In my humble opinion you have an explanation for that in Luke 16:19-31 where Jesus, this is coming out of the mouth of Christ, talks about a poor man who died and then the rich man woke up in Hades, found himself in Hades.\n\nAnd it talks about this, Luke 16:19-31.\u00a0 Now there was a rich man, and he habitually dressed in purple and fine linen, joyously living in splendor every day. [20] And a poor man named Lazarus was laid at his gate, covered with sores, [21] and longing to be fed with the crumbs<\/em> which were falling from the rich man\u2019s table; besides, even the dogs were coming and licking his sores. [22] Now the poor man died and was carried away by the angels to Abraham\u2019s bosom;\u201d that\u2019s where Old Testament saints go, \u201cand the rich man also died and was buried. [23] In Hades he\u201d rich man, \u201clifted up his eyes, being in torment, and saw Abraham far away and Lazarus in his bosom. [24] And he cried out and said, \u2018Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus so that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool off my tongue, for I am in agony in this flame.\u2019 [25] But Abraham said, \u2018Child, remember that during your life you received your good things, and likewise Lazarus bad things; but now he is being comforted here, and you are in agony. [26] \u2018And besides all this, between us and you there is a great chasm fixed, so that those who wish to come over from here to you will not be able, and that<\/em> none may cross over from there to us.\u2019 [27] And he said, \u2018Then I beg you, father, that you send him to my father\u2019s house\u2014[28] for I have five brothers\u2014in order that he may warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment.\u2019 [29] But Abraham said, \u2018They have Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them.\u2019 [30] But he said, \u2018No, father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent!\u2019 [31] But he said to him, \u2018If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be persuaded even if someone rises from the dead.\u2019\u201d\n\nI have run into theologian after theologian after theologian telling me don\u2019t worry about it, it\u2019s a parable.\u00a0 The interesting thing about this is when Jesus tells a parable He often says \u201clearn the parable of\u2026\u201d whatever parable He\u2019s talking about.\u00a0 He never says that here.\u00a0 Beyond that, I never have found personal names in any parable.\u00a0 What I see here are three personal names.\u00a0 Number 1, Lazarus; number 2, Abraham, number 3, Moses.\u00a0 You don\u2019t have personal names in parables like you do here.\u00a0 I believe\u2026 I wouldn\u2019t even believe this if Jesus hadn\u2019t spoke of it.\u00a0 Jesus is talking here about the intermediate state; He\u2019s talking exactly about where believers prior to the church age go, they go to this place of bliss called Abraham\u2019s bosom.\u00a0 And He\u2019s talking about exactly where unbelievers go awaiting their final resurrected body.\n\nNow there\u2019s sort of a debate amongst theologians, do you get a pre-body before you get the ultimate body?\u00a0 And I\u2019ve heard both sides of that and I really don\u2019t have a view on it necessarily.\u00a0 But what I do know is this: unbelievers go, in terms of soulish life, into a place of torment; they\u2019re obviously alive, they obviously have capacities to remember.\u00a0 I mean, this man is remembering back on his life, he\u2019s remembering his brothers.\u00a0 This is not annihilation, this is conscious torment of the unbeliever in Hades awaiting their final resurrection.\u00a0 And this is the chasm Revelation 20:13, that\u2019s opened up at the last resurrection, final resurrection, as believers are put in their glorified bodies.\u00a0 [Revelation 20:13, \u201cAnd the sea gave up the dead which were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead which were in them; and they were judged, every one of them according to their deeds.\u201d]\n\nSo no non church age believers, I believe, go to paradise that\u2019s described here in Luke 16:19-31.\u00a0 You say well where is paradise now?\u00a0 Is it the center of the earth, where is it.\u00a0 The only clue I really have is 2 Corinthians 12:4 where Paul says he \u201cwas caught up into\u201d what? \u201cParadise and heard inexpressible words, which a man is not permitted to speak.\u201d If I had to take a guess I would say that Paradise was somehow moved into the presence of God and that\u2019s where non church age believers are.\n\nBut what about unbelievers?\u00a0 Where do unbelievers of all ages go as they await their final judgment, their final resurrection, their guilty plea at the Great White Throne Judgment, and their transfer from Hades into the Lake of Fire, which Revelation 20:11-15 tells me about very clearly.\u00a0 [Revelation 20:11-15, \u201cThen I saw a great white throne and Him who sat upon it, from whose presence earth and heaven fled away, and no place was found for them. [12] And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and books were opened; and another book was opened, which is the book<\/em> of life; and the dead were judged from the things which were written in the books, according to their deeds. [13] And the sea gave up the dead which were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead which were in them; and they were judged, every one of them<\/em> according to their deeds. [14] Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. [15] And if anyone\u2019s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.\u201d]\n\nWhere are they now?\u00a0 They\u2019re in the place where this unbeliever was, in Hades.\u00a0 But one of these days, Revelation 20:13 and following the millennial kingdom will take place, \u201cAnd the sea gave up the dead which were in it, and death and Hades\u201d I think that\u2019s the same section or area that we read about in Luke 16, \u201cdeath and hades gave up the dead which were in them; and they were judged, every one of them<\/em> according to their deeds.\u201d\n\nYou see, the reality of the situation is the Bible has revealed to us the concept of resurrection, when the resurrection will occur, both for the believer and the unbeliever and it\u2019s even gone so far as to give us information about the intermediate state.\n\nYou say well, is there a sermon application in here somewhere?\u00a0 Well to me the sermon application is very easy\u2014which resurrection are you going to go in?\u00a0 I mean, our preference is that you would take the path of least resistance and trust in Christ right now and experience your resurrected body at the rapture of the church.\u00a0 If the rapture happens in the next second and if you\u2019re a believer in Christ you\u2019re in that resurrected body.\u00a0 If you die before the rapture happens as a believer you\u2019re in the presence of the Lord, not a place of torments, a place that\u2019s far better and you are reunited with your body but you\u2019re going to look a lot better, so will I.\u00a0 I mean, that would be my preference, for anybody within the sound of my voice.\n\nAnd yet the decision concerning which resurrection you\u2019re going to partake in, that one or going into this horrific intermediate state in torment consciously awaiting your summoning to be put in a glorified body only to be sentenced and transferred to the lake of fire at the Great White Throne Judgment\u2026 you can go that route. But whether you participate in one or the other is totally contingent upon whether a person trusts in God\u2019s provision, which is Jesus Christ.\u00a0 Which is what this week is all about, the suffering of Christ, who went through hell so I wouldn\u2019t have to go to hell.\u00a0 Isn\u2019t that a good deal?\n\nWell pastor, I want to hold out for something better.\u00a0 You\u2019re not going to get anything better than this folks!\u00a0 Talk about a deal, this is the ultimate art of the deal.\u00a0 And so our exhortation if the Spirit of God is in any way, shape or form convicting you as you listen to this to respond to the convicting ministry of the Holy Spirit, who will not believe for you, He will convict\u00a0 you to believe.\u00a0 And He is very good at being a nuisance and He will keep being a nuisance until your dying day because He loves you that much.\u00a0 He will keep convicting you over and over and over again of your need to do this.\u00a0 Why not do it right now? Why not do it in the privacy of\u00a0 your own mind and heart and thoughts?\u00a0 Why not trust in what Jesus did?\u00a0 Why would you gamble with your eternity.\u00a0 The Bible is very clear that today is the day of salvation.\u00a0 And the Book of James talks about people who say well tomorrow we\u2019ll do this or that, I\u2019ll go start a business and make this kind of prophet.\u00a0 And what does James say, you don\u2019t even know what you\u2019re life is going to be like tomorrow.\u00a0 Why would we be so foolish as to sort of postpone something when we\u2019re not even guaranteed our next heartbeat or our next breath.\u00a0 So trust in Christ now; trust in Him for your salvation so that you can participate at the great resurrection that He has for you.\n\nAnd you say well the next Lord\u2019s day we\u2019re still talking about this?\u00a0 Yeah, it\u2019ll be slightly different though.\u00a0 What exactly is going to happen immediately following the resurrection of the church at the rapture?\u00a0 What is going to happen?\u00a0 What can we expect to happen immediately following our resurrection?\u00a0 And we\u2019ll be using verse 3 to speak of that.\u00a0 Shall we pray.\n\nFather, we are so grateful that You love us so much that You\u2019d didn\u2019t just die and rise from the dead for us but You saw fit to spell out for us the future, a future we can\u2019t see.\u00a0 I ask, Father, that this week our hearts will be overwhelmed with thankfulness as we reflect upon Your death and Your resurrection so that our future can be very bright; we\u2019ll be rescued from something so horrific that most of us don\u2019t like to think about it and really don\u2019t understand it.\u00a0 So help us walk this out this week, with the Spirit of thankfulness for what You\u2019ve done as we reflect upon Your death and Your resurrection.\u00a0 We\u2019ll be careful to give You all the praise and the glory.\u00a0 We ask these things in Jesus\u2019 name, and God\u2019s people said\u2026 Amen!","series_sermon_number":""},"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t