Sermon

The Nature Of Man - Frank Brancato 11/1/15

Church of Christ - Bakersfield, Ca

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  1. Certainly want to welcome everyone that has come to be

  2. with us here. This morning.

  3. We have a wonderful crowd, we have a number of visitors that

  4. are here among us some even all the way from Georgia and we

  5. welcome you. And if you're a visitor here

  6. today, we would hope and pray you would feel as you are.

  7. And that is our honored guest and we welcome you every time

  8. that we have an opportunity to meet, I want to invite your

  9. attention to a passage found in first Thessalonians.

    1 Thessalonians 5 chapter mention

  10. Chapter 5 we want to read just one verse there in verse 23. 1st

  11. Thessalonians, chapter 5 and verse 23.

  12. Now may the God of Peace himself sanctify.

  13. You completely and may your whole spirit Spirit soul and

  14. body. Be preserved blameless at the

  15. coming of our Lord. Jesus Christ, Wednesday night.

  16. We've been studying in the book of 1st Corinthians and we're

  17. going through the book of 1st Corinthians chapter 15.

  18. Right now. We've spent a great deal of time

  19. on that chapter. One of the things that the great

  20. Apostle Paul is pointing out is there were many that were

  21. denying whether Christ ever rose from the dead and whether they

  22. would be a future resurrection of the dead and Paul points out

  23. that God is so powerful and he is so great.

  24. And he is so mighty that he is able to create a body that is

  25. fit for every environment. Paul said that the fish of the

  26. sea, they have a body, the fowl of the air, they have a body,

  27. the animals on the Earth, they have a body.

  28. You and I as man, we have a body, but he talks about the

  29. thing. That's going to be the Greatest

  30. thing of all. And that is that which is raised

  31. in glory or the body will have in heaven, one day.

  32. So I thought I'd talk on the nature of, man this morning,

  33. we'll talk about what we are now and the greatest blessings of

  34. all what the child of God will become the question, what is

  35. man? And what is his nature as a

  36. question that has baffled man throughout the ages?

  37. By experience and observation, we may learn many practical

  38. lessons about our physical organism and the working of our

  39. intellect and emotions, but such does not answer the question.

  40. What is man? And what is his nature

  41. psychology? Also in the much talked about

  42. psychoanalysis, May teach us much about the methods of the

  43. operation of man's Spirit but they cannot reveal to us what it

  44. is or from whence it came. And so we ask ourselves the

  45. question this morning. What is man and what is his

  46. nature? And when we do so we have to go

  47. all the way back to man's beginning.

  48. In Genesis chapter 2 and verse 7.

    Genesis 2 chapter mention

  49. The bible says, and the Lord God formed man of the Dust of the

  50. ground and breathed into his nostrils, the breath of life and

  51. Man became a living being. That's the new King James.

  52. The King James says, and Man became a living soul Other words

  53. in this great work. God did not merely just speak

  54. man into his existence. You know, God said, let there be

  55. this. And there was this, he said, let

  56. there be that in there was that. And when God created everything,

  57. in the days of the Bible describes that he did, he

  58. literally spoke everything into his existence.

  59. Now, we don't want to limit God because God could have spoke man

  60. into existence to but he didn't do that.

  61. He He honored The Man by creating him by his own personal

  62. act. Now, this passage Genesis 2 and

  63. 7 has to be understood in the context of other passages.

  64. To, for example, man has 3 parks in 1st Thessalonians chapter 5

  65. and verse 23. Paul said, now may the God of

  66. Peace himself sanctify, you completely and may your whole

  67. Spirit soul and body be preserved blameless at the

  68. coming of the Lord. Jesus Christ.

  69. Now in Genesis chapter 2 and verse 7, it only talks about two

    Genesis 2 chapter mention

  70. kinds of man or two parts of man, it talks about his body and

  71. it talks about his soul but interesting and 1st

  72. Thessalonians. 5:23. Paul says As there's another

  73. part of man. And that is the spirit.

  74. In other words, immediately and simultaneously when God created

  75. man in that way of body and soul, he also created man and

  76. gave him a spirit. And the Bible says, a spirit

  77. within him Zechariah Chapter 12 and verse 1, the burden of the

    Zechariah 12 chapter mention

  78. word of the Lord against Israel, thus says the Lord who stretches

  79. out the heavens. Is lays the foundation of the

  80. earth, and forms the spirit of man within him.

  81. Now, you know, interestingly when we go back to Genesis

    Genesis 2 chapter mention

  82. chapter 2 and verse 7, there's a word that we have to clarify and

  83. Genesis chapter 2 and verse 7. It's the word breath.

    Genesis 2 chapter mention

  84. I've tried to picture in my mind's eye.

  85. How it was that God breathed into his nostrils, the Breath of

  86. Life. The Bible knows says that he

  87. did. And the word breath can be

  88. translated from the word. It is a Hebrew word shama and it

  89. means this a puff wind angry or vital breath.

  90. It can also be translated as divine inspiration.

  91. That's very familiar passage in the New Testament.

  92. Second Timothy 3:16 and 17. Where the Bible says that all

    2 Timothy 3:16

  93. scripture is given by inspiration of God and we know

  94. what that means. We know that inspiration there

  95. means to breathe out or god-breathed.

  96. So it's a generic term that's used in a number of places in

  97. the Bible, it's also translated, according to mr.

  98. Strong intellectually, or concrete or an animal.

  99. All right. So, what's the point?

  100. The point is, if the breath that God gave man, is the same breath

  101. that an animal has what distinguishes, a man.

  102. A human being from an animal. That is the spirit that is

  103. within him. One scholar, said it this way,

  104. he said the spirit of God or the spirit that Matt gets from God,

  105. that man gets from God is what makes us different from all

  106. other living beings so God created the spirit within him

  107. keeping that in mind. What do we know about the nature

  108. of man? First of all, we know that the

  109. body without the spirit is dead. You know, that is so well, known

  110. and understood that James divinely inspired by the Holy

  111. Spirit and James to, and 26 said this for as the body, without

  112. the spirit is dead. Everybody understands that the

  113. body without the spirit is dead. When the spirit leaves the body,

  114. the body is dead, it is gone. There's nothing left, there's no

  115. life force inside. And James would say everybody

  116. understands as the body without the spirit is dead.

  117. So faith without works is dead. Also another words, if we don't

  118. demonstrate our faith by are obedient works that our faith is

  119. a dead faith. But he uses the analogy or the

  120. example of the body, without the spirit is dead.

  121. What else do we know? This is wonderful.

  122. We've made in the image of God. Do you ever think you weren't

  123. special? Do you ever think that you had

  124. no responsibilities? There is nothing about you.

  125. That was any good. Some people feel that way about

  126. themselves. I want you to understand, you

  127. are special because you've been made in the image of God.

  128. Now, what does that mean? We're going to talk about what

  129. that means. First of all, Genesis 1:26.

    Genesis 1:26

  130. It says God said, let us make man in our image, after our

  131. likeness Now the US and they are, they're included, Jesus

  132. Christ and it also included the Holy Spirit.

  133. And I want to make a point about that because don't ever let

  134. anyone in the religious world tell you different.

  135. Jesus Christ was not a created being Some people believe that

  136. that God created Jesus. No, he did not.

  137. I don't know when the beginning was and I really don't care

  138. where the beginning was and I really don't care that.

  139. I can't explain this. All I do know, is in the

  140. beginning, God created the heavens and the Earth.

  141. And when all of that was happening, we find that God

  142. created man and in Genesis 1:26, God said, let us God, Jesus

    Genesis 1:26

  143. Christ and the Holy Spirit. Parrot, Our God, Jesus Christ in

  144. the holy spirit. Let us make man in our image,

  145. according to our likeness. Let them have dominion over the

  146. fish of the sea over the birds of the air and over the cattle

  147. and over all the Earth and over every creeping thing that creeps

  148. on the earth, Jesus was there to.

  149. Now being in the image of God does not refer to our physical

  150. bodies. I read something this week.

  151. Listen. It was written by a materialist.

  152. And a materialist said that man is no more than an image shaped

  153. out of clay with air breathed into him.

  154. Therefore, if you want to have something in God's image, all

  155. you have to do is have a statue. What does it mean to be in the

  156. image or the likeness of God? First of all, acts 17 and 29 to

  157. the materialist? It says, for as much then as we

  158. are The Offspring of God. We ought not to think that the

  159. godhead is like gold or silver or stone Graven by Art and man's

  160. device. when you talk about being in the image of God, it

  161. has nothing to do with physical appearance at all.

  162. People have all manner of statues and whatnots.

  163. We're going to talk about what God is and just a minute, but

  164. he's not that and neither is man.

  165. We're in the image of our creator.

  166. What are the points of likeness between God and ourselves?

  167. Number one intellect The spirit knows.

  168. Now, I'm going to tell you something.

  169. The Bible says, much that our thoughts are not God's thoughts,

  170. our ways are not God's ways as the heavens are higher than the

  171. earth. So are God's thoughts than our

  172. thoughts, and God's ways than our ways.

  173. We understand that But understand this too that if we

  174. are made in the image of God, there has to be points of

  175. likeness between ourselves and our creator, one of which is

  176. intellect and no animal, no other created thing in the

  177. world. Has that kind of intellect.

  178. What does the Bible say? The Bible says that the spirit

  179. knows First, Corinthians, 2 and 11 for what man knows the things

  180. of man, except the spirit of man, which is in him.

  181. Him even so no one knows the things of God, except the spirit

  182. of God. Isn't that great?

  183. Look at this. Nobody knows me more than my

  184. spirit. My human Spirit, the part of my

  185. intellect. I'm going to tell you something.

  186. You can fake and fool everybody in the world.

  187. But when you look in the mirror, you can't fake him out. when you

  188. look in the mirror and you look at your life, you can't fake

  189. that guy. That guy knows.

  190. And sometimes we don't like what we see when I look in the

  191. mirror. I may not like what I see

  192. sometimes. I'm not talking about physical

  193. appearance. How about examining your life so

  194. when you examine your life, understand this your spirit

  195. knows. Is that the point of likeness

  196. with God intellect? And no one knows.

  197. God except the spirit of God. No one knows.

  198. God more than the spirit of God. One of the great things about

  199. the Bible. One of the great things about

  200. the Bible. One of the great things about

  201. being a child of God. Is that the word of God God's

  202. revelation to man is such that we can understand it, because it

  203. appeals to our intellect. When the Bible tells me exactly

  204. what I must do to be saved, I can understand what I must do to

  205. be saved. I could read from the word of

  206. God, and it tells me what I need to do in my life.

  207. The kind of life, I need to live the way that I need to worship

  208. God. All of those things is in the

  209. Bible and it appeals to our intellect.

  210. How do I know that Ephesians 4, and 23 and be renewed in the

  211. spirit of what in the spirit of your mind?

  212. Romans chapter 12 and be not conformed to this world, but be

    Romans 12 chapter mention

  213. transformed by, what the renewing of your mind.

  214. Don't you see? Everything in the word of God,

  215. appeals to our intellect and the spirit knows.

  216. No other creation can do that. No other part of creation can

  217. have that. What else?

  218. What else? Emotion.

  219. The spirit does two things by way of emotion, it Grieves.

  220. And it rejoices In Daniel 7 and 15.

  221. I Daniel listen to his testimony here, I Daniel was grieved in my

  222. spirit within my body and the visions of my head troubled me,

  223. have you ever grieved kind of sounds a little bit like Daniel

  224. 7 and 15 when you grieve? You know, there's a whole

  225. process to grieving, I don't know everything there is to know

  226. about grieving or the whole process but there's a process.

  227. They say, sometimes when things are tragically taken from us or

  228. people that we dearly love our tragically taken from us and we

  229. couldn't plan for it and we couldn't get ready for it.

  230. And something happens, terribly and tragically, the first thing

  231. that enters into the picture, the first part of the grieving

  232. process is the period of shock. And sometimes people that are in

  233. Shock, they show, no emotion at all.

  234. But then something happens. reality sets, in here comes the

  235. sadness. And here comes the tears.

  236. You know, what else comes? Anger.

  237. That's next. I want to share something with

  238. you when I was a freshman in college, my best friend in high

  239. school was killed. He had gone off to the Marines

  240. and I went on to college and he got sick.

  241. And he got a terrible fever. Get spinal meningitis.

  242. And the fever went up to like 106 and climbing, And he died.

  243. And I got a phone call. And from some friends said, he

  244. died. It was very sad.

  245. That was my best friend in high school.

  246. Didn't see that coming at all. Play football with him and

  247. toughest kid, I ever knew toughest kid great kid.

  248. What does funeral? And went through the grieving

  249. process, but I remember this. Several weeks afterwards.

  250. My Dad pulled me aside and said you are absolutely behaving.

  251. Awfully what do you still mad at?

  252. What are you so angry for? It was kind of uncharacteristic.

  253. And then I realized wait a minute and he helped me to

  254. realize that's part of the grieving process.

  255. I was angry that I lost my best friend.

  256. Did you know that that's a point of likeness?

  257. Grieving that you have with God. You know what the Bible says

  258. grieve? Not the Holy Spirit. the Holy

  259. Spirit can grieve it says, but also not only that the spirit

  260. rejoices, I love that Luke one in seven and my spirit has

  261. rejoiced in God my savior I don't know how it is with

  262. animals but I know this. I got a point of like this with

  263. God by way of intellect, by way of emotion and that emotion is

  264. either grieving or rejoicing but there's more what else?

  265. The spirit Wills. You know, that's something that

  266. you have that. No animal has is determined will

  267. I was talking to somebody not long ago when they're talking

  268. about how we have will and God's determined will and what does

  269. God want for our life, and going through all of that?

  270. But really the point is this God could have created us.

  271. He could have created us without Free Will and he could have

  272. created a whole bunch of robots that would just follow him

  273. anyway that he wanted. But that's not in the image of

  274. God, is it? No.

  275. Because to be in the image of God, you have to have will Jesus

  276. said in Matthew 26 and 41. When those disciples were in The

  277. Garden of Gethsemane he said Watch and Pray.

  278. Watch and pray that you entered lest you enter into temptation

  279. the spirit. Indeed is willing but the flesh

  280. is weak. First John, chapter 5 in verses

    1 John 5 chapter mention

  281. 14 and 15. It says, if we ask anything of

  282. God, according to his will, He hears us.

  283. That word means answer us. You know, we pray to God.

  284. For God's will, to be done. But did you know?

  285. That you have the same kind of will.

  286. And when you're talking about your own self and your own life

  287. you have the same. Will you have the same choices

  288. to make in your life and you have the ability to do that?

  289. You have the power to do that because you have the will that's

  290. a point of likeness that man has with God.

  291. Intelligence is not an attribute of the body.

  292. And as I said, the image that were talking about is not

  293. physical likeness, but it is intellectual and spiritual

  294. likeness. Now, here's the difference.

  295. God possesses all of this. In an infinite degree.

  296. So don't think the word on the same level of God.

  297. Just In His Image. According to his likeness, God

  298. has all that in an infinite degree.

  299. Me. I've got it in a finite degree.

  300. And that's why we cannot ever say that we know as much as God

  301. and more than God because we can't and there's times when we

  302. submit our will to God's Will and that's through faith.

  303. You submit your will to God's Will and please you've heard me

  304. say before me say it again. Praying according to God's will

  305. is not bending. God's will toward hours.

  306. If you really pray with that provision, you are saying, I'm

  307. going to bend my will toward yours.

  308. He's got it in an infinite degree.

  309. We've got it in a finite degree. All right.

  310. What is God? Now I know God is not a what?

  311. It's a huge, he's a hoot but I talked about the nature of man.

  312. What is man? So from that standpoint, I want

  313. to talk about the nature of God. What is God?

  314. well, first of all, in John 4:24 when Jesus was talking to the

    John 4:24

  315. Samaritan woman, he said God is a spirit He's a spirit and those

  316. who worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth.

  317. What else do we know? The spirit does not have Flesh

  318. and Bones. Do you remember when Jesus rose

  319. from the dead and Luke 24? Now, picture this, he rose from

  320. the dead in Luke 24. And the Bible says, it was early

  321. on a Sunday morning, first day of the week.

  322. And those two disciples were on the road to the little village

  323. of Emmaus and Jesus appears before them.

  324. They don't know who he is. They look at him and they don't

  325. understand his form. They don't know if this was

  326. really Jesus and commentators will write all manner of things

  327. as to why they didn't recognize him.

  328. I'm not going to that at all. I'm just saying this and didn't

  329. recognize him. But then when they invited Jesus

  330. into their home, he made himself known unto them in the breaking

  331. of bread. Then what happened?

  332. Then he goes back were all the other disciples were and this is

  333. what happens. Watch this verse 36 to 39.

  334. Now, as they said these things, Jesus himself stood, in the

  335. midst of them and said, peace to you.

  336. But they were terrified and frightened and suppose that they

  337. had seen a spirit and he said to them.

  338. Why are you troubled? And why do doubts, arise in your

  339. hearts, behold my hands and my feet that it is, I myself handle

  340. me and see for a spirit does not have Flesh and Bones.

  341. As you see, I have He was raised from the dead in a bodily form,

  342. a human form. So sure, certain he had Nail

  343. scars in his hands and feet. Certainly, he did you know why?

  344. Because he wasn't any spiritual condition, he was in a physical

  345. condition, he was raised from the dead bodily and physically

  346. and spent 40 days with those disciples before he ascended

  347. into heaven. What else?

  348. Man is both are all three man is Body, Soul and Spirit.

  349. The question is at death, The spirit returns to God.

  350. To remember this there are three parts to a man in Ecclesiastes,

  351. 12:7, the dust will return to the Earth as it was and the

  352. spirit will return to God who gave it.

  353. So at the point of death, the spirit goes back to God. by the

  354. way, when Jesus, in Luke 23 and 47, when he was on the cross,

  355. And he finally said, when he realized that the last bit of

  356. Prophecy was finally fulfilled. He said there was one more

  357. thing. The Bible says there was one

  358. last thing. He said he I got to say I thirst

  359. so they could take that sponge on hyssop and dip it in that

  360. sour wine or vinegar and put it to his mouth so it would fulfill

  361. the final scripture when that happened.

  362. He said it is finished to his father and then he said this

  363. father into your hands. I I commit my spirit.

  364. Did all of Jesus go where his father was?

  365. No. Just one part.

  366. Just the spirit, the spirit went back to God.

  367. Why? Because Ecclesiastes tells us

  368. the wise man of old tells us that when you die, the spirit

  369. will go back to God who gave it. Remember x 7 and 59, they're

  370. about to Stone Stephen to death. What an amazing picture we have

  371. in our minds eye and the Bible says he looked up and he saw

  372. Jesus standing on the right hand of God and you know what?

  373. That was all. She wrote, they couldn't stand

  374. it, they took him and they took him outside and they stoned him

  375. to death. And before he died, he said,

  376. Lord Jesus. Receive my spirit.

  377. Because that's where one part goes.

  378. Now, when Jesus was crucified other things happen, we'll get

  379. to that in a minute. But as we summarize the

  380. passages, we talked about the spirit goes back to God who gave

  381. it at death. And in 1st Thessalonians,

  382. chapter 4 and verse 14. The Bible says, for if we

  383. believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also, which

  384. sleep in Jesus, will God bring with him.

  385. So what about the body? What about the body?

  386. The body goes back to the dust of the ground, the first part of

  387. the queasy asked he's 12 and 7 tells us that.

  388. So, what's the body? What's the body?

  389. The body is the place where the real man lives.

  390. The place where the real man lives, second.

    2 Peter 1:13–15

  391. Peter 1:13 through 15. Yes, I think it's right.

  392. As long as I am in this tent. That's what your body is.

  393. It's a tenth. The King James says, a

  394. tabernacle What to stir you up by reminding you knowing that

  395. shortly, I must put off this tent just as our Lord Jesus

  396. Christ showing that showed me, moreover I will be careful to

  397. ensure that you always have a reminder of these things after

  398. my decease and at the deceased, he's going to put off his tent.

  399. What else is going to happen? Spirits going to go back to God,

  400. who gave it? That's two parts.

  401. That's two parts but I'll tell you something.

  402. The greatest thing of all When the body is buried.

  403. When the spirit goes back to God, who gave it time goes by,

  404. we'll get to that in a minute. But at the resurrection, we are

  405. going to get a new resurrected body.

  406. A new Resurrection body. Second Corinthians 5.

  407. Beginning in verse 1, listen to this.

  408. For we know that if our Earthly house, that's the Flesh of this

  409. Tabernacle. That's the body were dissolved.

  410. We have a building of God, a house not made with hands

  411. Eternal in the heavens. What are we going to get?

  412. We're going to get a house. We're going to get a dwelling

  413. place for one part of us for. If we groan earnestly Desiring

  414. to be clothed with, with our house, which is from Heaven.

  415. That's the new resurrected body if so, Be that being clothed.

  416. We shall not be found naked for, we that are in the Tabernacle.

  417. Do groan being burdened, not for that would be unclothed, but

  418. clothed upon that. Mortality might be swallowed up

  419. of life now. We're going to get something

  420. that's greater. Remember when I said that Paul

  421. said that God is powerful enough to give you a body that is right

  422. for every dwelling place, it's fit for that.

  423. The physical body that we have in this life is fit for this

  424. life. At death, the body goes back to

  425. the dust of the ground. The Bible says the spirit, and

  426. that's also good part of us, that's connected to our

  427. intellect. The spirit goes back to God who

  428. gave it. And at the point of the

  429. Resurrection way at the Judgment Day, when the Lord comes back,

  430. we're going to get a another body. let me just say this

  431. Psalms 90 and 10 very often, quoted Passage the days of our

  432. years are threescore years and ten that 70.

  433. If by reason of strength, they may be fourscore yet is their

  434. strength, labor and sorrow for it is soon.

  435. Cut off and we fly away. Now, what part of man's flying

  436. away, it's not the body. Why didn't fly away?

  437. It's the spirit that goes back to God, who gave it?

  438. Our bodies don't do that. So in summary quickly the body

  439. goes back to the dust of the ground, the spirit goes back to

  440. God who gave it. But now I want to talk about the

  441. most important part of you. And the reason that's the most

  442. important part of you, is because it's the part of you

  443. that never ever ever dies. It is the part of you that is

  444. eternal. That is something that we need

  445. to take heed. Because what we do in this body,

  446. in this flesh, determines where this part the soul That Never

  447. Dies. That is eternal.

  448. It will tell us where that's soul.

  449. Is going to go, it determines that You cannot kill the soul

  450. fact, Matthew 10, and 28 says, this and fear, not them.

  451. Which kill the body but are not able to kill the soul but rather

  452. fear him which is able to destroy both soul and Body.

  453. In hell, you know, Paul had a fact, the King James says, he

  454. had a straight. He was in betwixt in between

  455. Paul had a desire to be with the Lord.

  456. He had a desire to be away from this world.

  457. But even in the midst of all the persecution and all the things

  458. he went through, you know, he said, he said to live, is Christ

  459. to die, is gain. What did he mean by that?

  460. He said to live is for the glory of Christ.

  461. In other words, if I still live and I still preach the word of

  462. God, then it's to the benefit of Christ and his church.

  463. But for me, it's going to go. He was saying, I know where I'm

  464. going. And he said, for me, it's game.

  465. He says, but if I live in the flesh, this is the fruit of my

  466. labor. Yet what I choose.

  467. I know not. For I am in a strait betwixt two

  468. having a desire to depart and to be with Christ Which is far

  469. better nevertheless to abide in the flesh is more needful for

  470. you. Soul is eternal.

  471. Second Corinthians Chapter 4 verses 16 to 18.

    2 Corinthians 4:16–18

  472. It says for which cause we faint not but though our outward man

  473. perish, yet our inward man is renewed day by day.

  474. All of us that are aging. And I mean, all of us that are

  475. aging You know, one of the great realities of that.

  476. Is every day. Our outward man perishes.

  477. Little by little little at a time.

  478. Our outward man perishes. And there's what they call,

  479. Father time and you can't sidestep father time.

  480. I'll be 50 next year and I know that father times Comin.

  481. There's some folks in here that are whole lot older than that.

  482. Father time is coming. If you live that long, the

  483. outward man perishes but the Bible says, the inward man is

  484. renewed day by day. And the only way that your new

  485. your inward man is renewed day by day, is through the

  486. scriptures and service to God the inward man.

  487. You know, in the Bible says bodily bodily exercise.

  488. Profiteth little I heard somebody say one time, see you

  489. don't have to exercise. Even the Bible says it profits

  490. little That's not what he meant. That's not what he meant at all.

  491. What he means is the benefit from the exercise is limited to

  492. a portion of your life, the benefit.

  493. Because once you die, you have no benefit from the exercise.

  494. You did in your life. But spiritual exercise.

  495. It has a benefit. For eternity.

  496. Because it depends on where you're going to spend it in that

  497. great. So where does somebody go when

  498. they die? First of all, understand the

  499. terms here? Hades is defined as the place of

  500. disembodied Spirits. Never remember this.

  501. What did Jesus do? Jesus was on the cross.

  502. He says, father into your hands. I commit my spirit.

  503. That's the spirit part of Jesus. What did he say before that?

  504. He told this man on the cross. He says, today you're going to

  505. be with me in Paradise, so, the spirit went to God, the soul

  506. went to paradise and we know that Joseph of Arimathea came.

  507. Begged, the body of Jesus and put his body after he, and

  508. Nicodemus, put 100 pounds of spices on the body of Jesus, and

  509. they put him in the grave. Three parts.

  510. Do you know you got three parts, too?

  511. and when you die, your spirit will go back to God, who gave

  512. it. Your soul will go to Hades.

  513. That is one of these two places. You remember, in Matthew chapter

    Matthew 12 chapter mention

  514. 12, they said to the Lord, they said, basically give us a magic

  515. trick. Show us a sign.

  516. And he said, the only thing I'm going to show you.

  517. The only sign you're going to get is the sign of the prophet.

  518. Jonah for as Jonah was three days and three nights in the

  519. whales belly or the belly of that, great fish.

  520. So shall the son of man be three days and three nights in the

  521. heart of the Earth. Jesus went to Paradise.

  522. What else we talked about this Wednesday?

  523. What else when he went to Paradise?

  524. It was prophetically stated though that Jesus Christ, he

  525. would not remain in Hades. Paradise.

  526. And his flesh, it says the psalmist David would not see

  527. corruption. Meaning would not Decay.

  528. He was raised on the third day. Fulfilling prophecy.

  529. Now. When Jesus was on the cross and

  530. he told the thief. The thief says, remember me when

  531. you come into your kingdom and Jesus says today, you will be

  532. with me in Paradise. There's a whole lot of talk

  533. about whether or not Jesus actually saved.

  534. The man. Well certainly he saved the man,

  535. and somebody might say, well, wait a minute, he wasn't

  536. baptized for the remission of sins.

  537. He didn't have to be because Jesus lived under the Old Law

  538. and the requirement of baptism for the remission of sins did

  539. not happen until acts to when the church was established.

  540. Secondly, you can't contact the blood of Jesus before he shed

  541. his blood. So Jesus say the man.

  542. Sure, he did. How do I know that the

  543. definition of the word Paradise is the Abode of The Souls of the

  544. righteous iums are said, this persons who are assigned to.

  545. This place will always be among those who are comforted or

  546. saved. And Jesus said that this is the

  547. place that they were going on that day.

  548. So therefore he was saved. Now, we can't talk about

  549. paradise and tart tourist without talking about the rich,

  550. man and Lazarus. Because that's the place in the

  551. Bible that talks about both places and two different people

  552. going, one to each place. The Bible says that Jesus

  553. pictures, a man that was a rich man that had all the good things

  554. in life. There was a beggar named

  555. Lazarus. He got the crumbs at the Kings

  556. Table. You get nothing.

  557. Bible says, they're both going to die.

  558. The rich man. It says he died and was buried.

  559. Not Lazarus. You don't have to Lazarus when

  560. he died. He was carried by the angels to

  561. Abraham's bosom. I don't know about you.

  562. I like what Joe hisle said about 15 years ago.

  563. One time I heard him say this, he said I can't help but think

  564. If there's an angel, when I cross over somehow some way and

  565. I'm not going to be afraid when I draw my final breath and my

  566. spirit goes back to God who gave it.

  567. There's going to be someone there, there's going to be

  568. someone there. That'll help me across the

  569. chilly Waters of Jordan. The chilly Waters of death and I

  570. will not be afraid in that great.

  571. Lazarus, had a terrible life. Maybe you've had great

  572. challenges in your life. I'ma tell you.

  573. He had a lousy life. But you know what Bible says, he

  574. was taken to Abraham's bosom. Now, Abraham's bosom is a phrase

  575. that was among the Jews to signify the paradise of God.

  576. Now, some people argue what, wait a minute and we kind of

  577. talked about this Wednesday a little bit.

  578. But when the rich man looked across the Great Gulf that was

  579. fixed between paradise and Tartarus.

  580. The rich man saw Lazarus and Abraham's bosom.

  581. He said, send Lazarus that he might dip his finger in water

  582. and touch it to my tongue. For I perish with this terrible,

  583. terrible thirst. He looked up and tormented said

  584. so the question is, what were his eyes and what were his

  585. tongue? And I made the statement a

  586. couple weeks ago, not these eyes.

  587. These eyes were in the ground and not this tongue.

  588. This tongue was in the ground because that was in the body.

  589. But listen, the only part of a human being that has feeling is

  590. the Inner Man. That's right.

  591. When the body and the Soul are united, thus all exercises

  592. itself through the body as a vehicle, because the body itself

  593. has no feeling, let me prove that to you.

  594. If you ever had a surgery they put you under anesthetic and

  595. they put you out and you are unconscious.

  596. They don't give you any for the pain while you're unconscious.

  597. They give you something for the pain.

  598. When you are conscious afterwards and man you want

  599. that, pain killer Not when they're out.

  600. You know why the body feels nothing without the Inner Man?

  601. The body feels nothing without the spirit.

  602. If the body could feel that people under anesthetic would

  603. wince in pain from the surgery, they're going through and people

  604. that have died. The body would also winced in

  605. pain when they would have all manner of things done to them,

  606. but it doesn't. So what I'm saying is I'm saying

  607. when this man this rich man was in Tartarus in torment, he could

  608. be in torment. Why?

  609. Because what feels is the Inner Man.

  610. That's what has feeling. Something else though.

  611. We learn something else about the intermediate State verse 25

  612. of that text. It's an indication that those

  613. that are in the intermediate state will be able to recall

  614. experiences on Earth. Verse 26 says, that there is a

  615. great Gulf. An open Chasm says mr.

  616. Thayer a great interval. You can't pass over.

  617. Verses 27 through 31, listen to this, it indicates that no

  618. communication ever took place between men on Earth and men

  619. that have died. But one more thing.

  620. Even those that have been permitted to rise from the dead

  621. in the scriptures and there are many occasions, we could talk

  622. about of someone that was raised from the dead.

  623. Have you ever stopped to consider this?

  624. There's not one passage not one Speck of evidence that shows

  625. that they brought information from the other world into this

  626. world. So anybody that says they died

  627. went away, got information and came back to life.

  628. I don't know what they got. But they didn't get that.

  629. They didn't go to another world, get information died, go to

  630. another world to come back. The only one that had

  631. information. Was Paul.

  632. He was given a view up into the third heaven and what does he

  633. say? He saw things and he heard

  634. things that a man should not hear or see.

  635. What? Paul get?

  636. He got a thorn in the flesh. A messenger of Satan to Buffett

  637. him. Keep his feet on the ground.

  638. It was so awfully said, please remove it.

  639. You know what God Said? No with the Lord said.

  640. Nope. My grace is sufficient for you.

  641. so, at the end of, at the end of time and judgment, Those that

  642. are in Paradise will be saved. Those aren't our tourists will

  643. be lost, but I just want to talk about one final thing about the

  644. say that some very encouraging things.

  645. The saved are going to get. Or receive a resurrected body.

  646. Remember what we said in Hades which is Paradise and Arcturus

  647. that is defined by failure as the land of disembodied spirits.

  648. That's a spirit without the body.

  649. So that tells me that my soul is in a place that is saved in

  650. Paradise prayerfully, that happens.

  651. That's where I want to go. Dedicating my life to it, you

  652. too, right? That's where I want to go.

  653. But at the resurrection something's going to happen.

  654. Great watch this, Ephesians our Hebrews 9:27 and 28 and as it is

    Hebrews 9:27

  655. appointed for men to die. How many times?

  656. Wants. But after this, the Judgment so

  657. Christ was offered once to Bear the sins of many to those who

  658. eagerly wait for him, he will appear a second time apart for

  659. sin for salvation. So that's talking about the

  660. Judgment, the resurrection. Look at First Corinthians, 15

  661. and 42. So also is the resurrection of

  662. the Dead. The body is sown in corruption.

  663. That's the physical body. It's raised in incorruption,

  664. that body is a spiritual body. It is sown in dishonor, it is

  665. raised in glory. It is sown in weakness.

  666. It is raised in power. Power.

  667. The phrase raised in glory. According to mr.

  668. Thayer means this to gain a more excellent body.

  669. That tells me that at the resurrection, I'm going to get

  670. an excellent body. And that excellent body is going

  671. to be fit for the environment of Heaven in that great.

  672. What's it going to be like first John, three?

  673. Two and three. He loved it.

  674. Now, we are the children of God. And it has not yet been revealed

  675. what we shall be. But we know that when he is

  676. revealed that the Judgment, we shall be like him for.

  677. We shall see him as he is. so, for all those, that doubt the

  678. resurrection, Why the world would you want to do that?

  679. I've been sick for. You've been sick before.

  680. He felt things wrong with you. I'm going to tell you something.

  681. The resurrected body won't need a wheelchair.

  682. It won't need crutches. It won't need any other AIDS at

  683. all. Were created in the image of

  684. God. The image of our creator.

  685. You know what's even greater. Whatever that body is that we

  686. don't have yet, that we're going to get at the Judgment at the

  687. resurrection. It's going to be like Christ.

  688. That's great stuff. And it's a place in heaven where

  689. there is no need for any artificial life.

  690. Why? Because the Lord is the light.

  691. if we're going to ever be with the Lord, we thank you for

  692. listening to our podcast, put on by the Church of Christ at 22:15

  693. plans. Road in Bakersfield, if you

  694. would like any additional information, or you would like

  695. to receive a free Bible correspondence, course by mail.

  696. Please email us at info at her Church of Christ

  697. Bakersfield.com. Our service times are on Sundays

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  699. Please make plans to join us. We would love for you to be our

  700. honored guest.