11/04/07 – 44LAW - “The Rich Man and Lazarus and What Happens to Us at Death“– Part 2
 
Victory Ministries International presents:
Awesome Truths and Amazing Facts
Treasures of awesome truths from God’s Word
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Hello!  This is Richard Vaughn

Today’s message is “The Rich Man and Lazarus and What Happens to Us at Death” Part 2

Before we begin, let us seek God’s guidance, “Heavenly Father, as we continue to study this most important subject regarding the real truth about the parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus and the state of the dead, I pray that You bless those listening today with the guidance of the Holy Spirit, so that we may understand how Satan has deceived the Christian world into believing that this parable somehow teaches what happens to us when we die. We pray for wisdom, knowledge and understanding so that we may live in the center of Your revealed will, as we ask in Jesus Name, Amen.”

Right now, I continue to keep my pledge, to cry aloud and spare not, to lift up my voice like a trumpet and to show God’s people where they are transgressing God’s law.
Last week we began studying what happens to us when we die and the fact that most of Christendom believes that when you die you go straight to heaven or hell, and they cite the parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus as proof. Well that is one of Satan’s monster lies and we are proving with scripture what the real truth is. We will continue this study with our next question.

Question #3: How long will the dead sleep? Job 14:12 “So man lieth down, and riseth not: till the heavens be no more, they shall not awake, nor be raised out of their sleep.” 
The heavens have not passed away yet, but that will happen one day according to 2 Peter 3:10 “But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise…” 

Question #4: What happens to the righteous dead at the second coming of Jesus? Revelation 22:12 “And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be.” Judgment ended with the declaration from heaven in Rev. 22:11. So when Jesus comes He then gives eternal life to the saved and the lost receive their reward. No one, except for Enoch, Elijah, Moses and the specially resurrected ones at Jesus’ resurrection, gets a reward until the heavenly judgment has concluded and Jesus brings that reward at His second coming. Is that clear? This is God speaking through His Word.

Now read 1 Thessalonians 4:16, 17 “For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.” 
And once again 1 Corinthians 15:51-53 “Behold, I show you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed,  In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.  For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.”  

Now that is the real truth. We are mortal beings, subject to death, and when we do die, we have no conscious existence anywhere, and will not have another conscious thought until we are resurrected from the sleep of death when Jesus comes the second time, or 1,000 years later in the resurrection of the lost. If you cannot accept God’s truth on this subject, then you must believe Satan’s lie and therefore by default you are a liar.

The lie Satan told Eve was that “Ye shalt not surely die.” Gen. 3:4. Which was in contradiction to what God stated in Genesis 2:17, “…in the day that thou eatest thereof, thou shalt surely die.” The question is WHY did the devil lie to Eve about death? The subject is more important than many think. It is one of the cornerstones of Satan’s kingdom. He has worked many powerful deceptive miracles for thousands of years through people who claim to receive their power from spirits of the dead. 
Examples would be: the magicians of Egypt in Exodus 7:11; The witch at Endor, in 1 Samuel 28:3-5; the Sorcerers in Daniel 2:2; And a certain damsel in Acts 16:16-18. 

We are warned in Revelation 18:23 that Satan will again use sorcery to deceive the world, as it reads, “…for by thy sorceries were all nations deceived.” 
Dear reader sorcery is a supernatural agency that claims to receive its power from the spirits of the dead. Have nothing to do with fortune-tellers, psychics and mediums, for they are plugged into the occult of Satan. Christians sorely displease God with such association. Satan and his angels can appear as a deceased loved one, looking like and talking like that deceased individual. And with that deception they can deceive the person who actually talked to the one they thought was a loved one. Satan and his angels can actually appear as apostles or apparent angels of God. 1 Corinthians 11:13, 14 “…transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light.”

Question #5: Do devils really work miracles? Again we turn to God’s word for the truth. Revelation 16:14 “For they are the spirits of devils, working miracles…” 
Jesus even warned in Matthew 24:24 “For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall show great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.” Yes they do work miracles, incredibly convincing miracles, Revelation 13:13,14 “And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men, And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do…”
Satan will even personate Christ Himself and there will be a universal feeling that it is really Jesus leading out in a fantastic worldwide revival. The entire emphasis will be so spiritual and so supernatural that only God’s elect will not be deceived.

Question #6:  Why will God’s elect not be deceived? Acts 17:11 “…they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so.” They weren’t going by feelings.
And in Isaiah 8:20 “To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.” 

The time is coming when no Christian will be able to trust their senses. For almost six thousand years Satan has been making a study of mankind and no person with a finite mind is any match for his tricks. 

Here we are living in the last sliver of time, with probation soon to end, just as it did in Noah’s day. People are busy, and caught up in so many diversions, that they no longer have time to read God’s Word. Our only safety is in diligent Bible study and a correct understanding of God’s Word. People will know from earnest study of His book, that the dead are dead, not alive. Therefore, God’s people will reject all miracle workers and teachers who claim to receive special “light” or work miracles by contacting the dead. And God’s people will reject as dangerous and false, all teachings that claim the dead are alive in any form anywhere.

In Moses’ day God showed how He regarded those who claimed to be able to contact the dead (familiar spirits). Leviticus 20:27 “A man also or woman that hath a familiar spirit, or that is a wizard, shall surely be put to death: they shall stone them with stones”.

Question #7: Will the righteous people who are raised in the resurrection ever die again? Luke 20:35, 36 “But they which shall be accounted worthy to obtain that world, and the resurrection from the dead,… Neither can they die any more.” 

And in Revelation 21:4 “And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.”

Did you know that half the people on earth believe in reincarnation. But on the basis of what we have already read, God’s Word puts that lie to eternal sleep. 

Now we need to answer some additional thought questions on this most important subject. From our studies on this subject last week and today, we learned after death a person: #1. Returns to dust (Psalm 104:29); #2. knows nothing (Eccl. 9:5); #3. possesses no mental powers (Psalm 146:10); #4. has nothing to do with anything on earth (Eccl. 9:6); #5. does not live (2 Kings 20:1); #6. awaits for the resurrection, in a sleep state, in the grave (Job 17:13); and #7. continues not (Job 14:1,2).

We learned that Satan invented the teaching that the dead are alive. Those who do believe that, are susceptible to believe in reincarnation, channeling, communication with spirits, spirit worship, and the undying soul; which are all inventions of Satan to convince people that when you die you are not really dead. They will be deceived 100% of the time.

Today and next week, we will review some interesting thought questions regarding the state of the dead. 
Question #1: Didn’t the thief on the cross go to paradise with Christ on Friday, the day He died? Answer: No. In fact, on Sunday morning Jesus said to Mary, “Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father” John 20:17. 
This is a good time to point out that the Scriptures are inspired, but punctuation is not. It was added for clarification, but there are obvious errors. For example in Luke 23:43 it reads, “And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, (comma) Today shalt thou be with me in paradise.” But the thief did not die that day and Jesus had not ascended that day. Therefore the correct rendering would be, “And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee today, (comma) thou shalt be with me in paradise.”  
Well time is up for this week. Next week we will continue our study of “The Rich Man and Lazarus and What Happens to Us at Death” – Part 3
If you would like to worship with seventh day Sabbath-keepers, come to the Victory Everlasting Gospel Church at our new location at the Hampton Inn Conference suite in South Hill, VA at the exit 12 interchange of Interstate 85. We meet at 9:30 am each Saturday the Lord’s Day and will be meeting there until out new building has been completed. Look, if you have been listening to these broadcasts for any length of time, you know Saturday is God’s Sabbath and He’s calling you to start keeping it holy. Why not begin this week?
Until next week, Jesus said in John 5:39, “Search the Scriptures, for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me”. Even so, come Lord Jesus.