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"GOODBYE, WORLD, GOODBYE"
#4
SLEEPING ON A MARS MISSION
He's probably the classic "bad-boy" computer
of all time, and his name was HAL. He was the huge, sinister brain behind
the space adventure, 2001: A Space Odyssey, and maybe you remember that
quiet silky voice, where he kept saying, "I have the utmost confidence
in this mission, Dave." "I'm shutting down your oxygen, Dave."
"Why are you unplugging my memory bank, Dave?"
Well, with all due respect to the futuristic visions of Arthur Clarke
and Stanley Kubrick, WE ARE THERE! We're in the year 2001 at this very
moment, and things haven't gone exactly as they've planned, although our
computers (much smaller now, thankfully) are still misbehaving as much
as ever. But at least they're not killing people, as HAL did in that old
science-fiction classic. Maybe you recall how there were a number of astronauts
on board this manned mission to a distant planet. And because the trip
was going to take so many years, they put three men on board in an unconscious
state of deep sleep. Their heartbeats were slowed down to about two per
minute, breathing, all automatically controlled, at one or two per minute,
etc. The idea being that when the mission arrived at Mars after so many
years, these men would feel like the trip had just taken a few seconds.
And they'd be resurrected, ready to go, without suffering any ill effects
from the long sleep.
And I guess that's why we bring up the illustration today. Because as
we read our Bibles, and wrestle with one verse saying this, and another
verse saying something else, both penned by the Apostle Paul, it's a struggle
to find the consistent Bible truth.
In Philippians 1:23, Paul writes almost longingly about the fact that
if he were to die right now, he would then depart and be with Christ.
And who among us wouldn't want to do that? That option is "better
by far" by Paul's own testimony, except for his unselfish determination
as a Christian missionary to stay and serve his fellow man.
However, whenever this same godly, inspired prophet of the Lord writes
about the doctrine of the resurrection, as he does eloquently in First
Thessalonians four, for example, he puts emphasis on the fact that the
dead in Christ aren't going to rise until the second coming of Jesus.
Over in First Corinthians 15, we find the same thing. Verses 22 and 23:
"For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all WILL
be made alive. But each in his own turn: Christ, the firstfruits; then,
WHEN HE COMES, those who belong to Him."
Verse 26:
"The LAST enemy to be destroyed is death."
Verses 51 and 52:
"Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will
all be changed - in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, AT THE LAST TRUMPET.
For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and
we will be changed."
So we have a difficult Bible question. If a person goes
to heaven right at the minute when they die, as in "depart and be
with Christ," then why does this same man, Paul, write over and over
about the resurrection, and people coming up out of their graves, not
now, but later when Jesus comes again? How can the same person be in two
places at once?
Well, let me share with you the common answer to that, and then a possible
explanation. Many faithful and good Christians, undoubtedly the majority
of them, understand the Bible to teach that when a believer dies, his
or her SOUL, as an immortal entity, immediately goes to be with Christ.
And Paul's expression, over in Second Corinthians five, "absent from
the body and present with the Lord" appears to give support to that
concept; I won't deny that for a moment. Continuing then, this proposed
teaching asserts that when Christ comes again the second time, that immortal
soul, that disembodied spirit, comes down and is at that time reunited
with the resurrected BODY. So a Christian who dies could "depart
and be with Christ" just as a spiritual entity, a soul, and then
when Jesus returns again, receive his or her resurrected, glorified body.
And that's how these two conflicting ideas could be reconciled.
Well, friend, I have respect for friends and scholars and fellow ministers
who hold to this position. As I mentioned yesterday, here at the Voice
of Prophecy, we take a different position, and I hope you'll stay with
me as I tell you why. In any case, I hope we can keep studying together
beyond today's discussion, because one thing is sure: our salvation doesn't
rest on resurrection doctrines, but on the resurrected Jesus Christ. Isn't
that right?
Anyway, I'd like to share with you two points. There's a word in First
Thessalonians four which is absolutely vital to this discussion. Chapter
four, verse 17. Paul's already referred to that great moment when the
dead are raised up.
"After that," he adds, "we who are still
alive and are left will be caught up WITH THEM in the clouds TO MEET the
Lord in the air."
And he says with great conviction here that those who
have died are going to meet Jesus, the Lifegiver, on that day. Not the
moment they die. Not as a disembodied soul of some kind. No, they, along
with those of us who are still alive, will MEET Jesus at that very moment,
on Resurrection Morning. Now let's all agree that it is meaningless to
talk about those people, our departed loved ones, meeting Jesus on that
day if they've already been with Him in heaven for years or decades or
centuries. "What do you mean, 'meet Him'?" they would protest.
"We've been with Him all along!"
Here's point number two regarding the possibility that ghostlike souls
up in heaven would come down and meet up with their resurrected bodies
at that moment. We have to face up to the fact that the Apostle Paul never
once, not a single time, says or suggests or even hints that something
like that would ever occur. A soul reuniting with a body? He just never
once refers to that happening. In fact, the clear testimony of his own
writing, right here, and in First Corinthians 15 and elsewhere, is exactly
the opposite: that the dead PERSON will rise up on that day to meet the
Lifegiver. The final verses in First Corinthians 15 plainly say that mortal
people will receive immortality THEN. The perishable will be raised IMperishable
THEN. Death will be swallowed up in victory THEN.
Over in Second Timothy four, Paul, who is now very near death, writes
about "I have fought a good fight, I have finished the race,"
and so forth. And then he rejoices that God has for him a crown of righteousness
which Jesus WILL GIVE to him. But when? "On that day." Clearly
referring to the Second Coming.
Now, friend, let me ask what I hope is a completely hypothetical question.
Suppose you were to die this very year. We certainly hope not, but just
suppose. But you die with your faith in Jesus Christ, our solid Rock.
Your salvation is absolutely secure. And let's also suppose that Jesus
doesn't return for another 50 years. However, as the Bible clearly teaches,
the state of man in death is exactly like the deepest of sleeps. You're
like those three astronauts on board that Space Odyssey rocket, in deep,
dreamless hibernation. Fifty years go by as though they were less than
two seconds. A mathematical "point," as one theologian puts
it. You close your eyes and then, seemingly instantly, you open them up
again. Question: Wouldn't it be appropriate for you to say, in your dying
moment, "Goodbye - I'm departing to be with Christ." Because
you'd KNOW that in your next conscious moment, in two seconds, you were
going to hear that trumpet blow and see the wonderful face of your Redeemer.
You see, according to that concept, which is absolutely biblical - even
Jesus called death a sleep - Paul's teachings are beautifully consistent.
I have a good Adventist seminary friend, Dr. Jack Blanco, who has carefully
studied this doctrine, and then wrote a wonderful Bible paraphrase edition
to reflect this great truth. Here's how he renders Philippians 1:23:
"So I've been wrestling with mixed emotions. On
one hand, I would prefer to be sentenced to death and in the next moment
of consciousness see Christ, which would be much better than staying here
in this old world."
And let me propose one more thought question. Did you know that the Bible
not once talks about you and me having immortal souls? Not once. In fact,
Paul, right here in First Timothy six, writes about God, the King of kings,
"who ALONE is immortal." Jesus told people how His Father was
fully capable of destroying a person in hell, body AND soul. That's Matthew
10:28. And I've already mentioned that we who are mortal will finally
PUT ON immortality when Jesus comes to claim us.
Maybe you're asking this question: what's the difference? You die and
instantly go to heaven and see Jesus, or you die and it SEEMS like instantly
when you see Jesus. For all Christians, then, heaven seems to come instantly,
so what's the difference what you believe? No difference, really, except
that with one model you get included the doctrine of an immortal soul.
Now, the New Age movement is here and thriving today because of a belief
in the immortal soul. The Hindu religion and other eastern deceptions
are with us because they believe in reincarnation and the immortal soul.
Psychics and those who operate séances and other demonic activities
are in business because of the belief in an immortal soul. Marshall Herff
Applewhite and his Heaven's Gate cult took their poison-laced applesauce
snacks because they believed in an immortal soul. That's the difference,
and it's not a small one.
Well, friend, sometimes we call this "one reporter's opinion."
If your view is different, that actually kind of excites me, because it
means you're a faithful Bible student . . . or else you wouldn't even
HAVE a view. And again, we find our safety in what Paul says over and
over in all these Bible passages:
"For to me, to LIVE is Christ."
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