Transcript of a published Bible study by Marrell Cornwell, transcribed from YouTube. An attributed primary source — not Acts 2:38 Life doctrine text.
Summary · Transcript · Scripture Index · Download transcript (.txt)
Summary
Summary prepared by Acts 2:38 Life from the transcript below — the preacher’s words follow in full.
Opening prayer (capture begins mid-prayer; the opening reading is not in the recording)
- The capture as deployed begins mid-prayer: the sermon's opening segment — the opening prayer and the standing reading of the lesson's text — is not in the recording (the packet's own verbatim count runs 627 words longer). He opens in prayer on the theme of Christ’s will: he does not want to be without the Holy Ghost, left to him in the will, and it was God’s will that none perish and that the Holy Ghost be poured out on all flesh.
Review of the last lesson: the church established and the seven moves of God in Acts (1:28–15:17)
- The book of Acts divides at chapter 19: the first part gives seven moves of God that can happen in any local church, and the rest is the biography of the Apostle Paul. The review opens on the promise of power and the first move, the outpouring at Pentecost — his probating of the will teaching: a testament is of no force while the testator lives, and on Pentecost Christ probated his will by pouring out his Spirit; the dinner-table story of his own small children dividing his estate while he sat alive at the table makes the point. Peter's first sermon is retold, the crowd's question — men and brethren, what shall we do — and Peter's quoted answer: repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins. The remaining moves are named in turn — the miracle move, the judgment move (Ananias and Sapphira, preached on at length: God knows how to cleanse his church, and multitudes were swept in after the cleansing), the persecution move, the angelic move, the vision move, and the doctrinal move.
Scriptures: Acts 2:38; Hebrews 9:27
The three questions of the home Bible studies (15:17–18:35)
- He has taught home Bible studies for some 35 years — in excess of 15,000 by his records — and the questions that come up in almost every study are the same three: what is death and what happens when a man dies; what happens at judgment; and is there really a hell. The next three lessons take the three questions in turn, and tonight, if the class permits, he will explain in detail what happens when a man dies.
Funerals, David Cook, and facing his own death (18:35–23:56)
- Tomorrow will be 32 years that he has been in Wichita, and he has buried so many of the church's precious people that at funerals he has often felt he should be sitting with the family. Among the closest was David Cook, who was at the church every morning at 5:00 for more than 25 years as his personal prayer partner; no one has taken David's place. This past January was his 42nd year of preaching; tonight he is 59 years old, soon 60, and more comfortable with his life than he was at 30. A hospital episode in which his heart stopped for almost a minute — they thumped him back to life — took away his fear of death; it is the hurting he does not like.
Death enters the world (23:56–27:06)
- God took the man and put him into the garden to dress and keep it, commanding him to eat freely of every tree but one: of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, in the day thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die — a warning Adam and Eve could not comprehend, never having seen death. After the fall they met the death of an innocent animal in the coats of skins; then Cain talked with Abel in the field and rose up and slew him, and they faced the death of a human being — the Lord's question, where is Abel thy brother, and the voice of his brother's blood crying from the ground.
Scriptures: Genesis 2:15-17; Genesis 3:21; Genesis 4:8-10
Defining physical death (27:06–30:47)
- Death has to be defined two ways, physical and spiritual. Webster defines physical death as the permanent cessation of all vital functions. The legal standard has moved with technology: once a stopped pulse and respiration sufficed, but life support and medication can restart a heart, and after the Karen Quinlan case the courts settled death as the cessation of electrical impulses in the brain — now two EEGs, 24 hours apart, both flatlined, and the machines may be unplugged without court or family permission. He is not judging it right or wrong; that is what legal death is.
Spiritual death defined: the inner man leaves the house (30:47–33:57)
- The definition of death on the spiritual side is the separation of the inner man from the outer man: for as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also. The real you lives in the body as in a house — some a mansion, some a shack — and God would strengthen the inner man by his Spirit and renew him day by day. The outer man can be afflicted, but the inner man cannot be touched; he has seen people at St Jude's in Memphis whose bodies were devastated and who were full of joy, because they lived by the inner person.
Scriptures: James 2:26; Ephesians 3:16
"Gave up the ghost" (33:57–34:59)
- Three directed readings make the same point: Abraham gave up the ghost and died in a good old age, full of years, and was gathered to his people; Ishmael, at 137 years, gave up the ghost and died and was gathered to his people; Isaac gave up the ghost and died, old and full of days. The exact same words stand eleven times in the Old Testament: at physical death there is a separation of the physical man from the inner man.
Scriptures: Genesis 25:8; Genesis 25:17; Genesis 35:29
"I left my body" (34:59–36:29)
- Dr Maurice Rollins wrote a book, Beyond Death's Door, from his medical practice: patients who died in his presence and were brought back could often tell him exactly what he did while they were unconscious — "I left my body" — and that is scriptural, because the inner man is going to leave the outer man. The physical man is not you; it is only the house you live in. Paint it and decorate it as you will, it grows old and corruptible, but the inner man will never grow old and never die.
Spiritual death is separation from God (36:29–40:07)
- Spiritual death is defined as the separation of man from God, and it is much worse than physical death: at physical death the inner man leaves the outer man, but at spiritual death the whole man is forever separated from God — the one thing he fears. Behold, the Lord's hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; but your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you. Not just big sins — all sin separates. But Jesus paid the price for our sins so we would not be forever separated: he has quickened those who were dead in trespasses and sins, and his blood removes iniquities and reunites a man with God.
Scriptures: Isaiah 59:1-2; Ephesians 2:1
Passed from death unto life (40:07–42:39)
- We know that we have passed from death unto life. A man can be a walking dead man — separated from God, unable to feel or find his way — and when Jesus removes his sins he passes from death unto life. Romans 6 is read at length: what shall we say then, shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? God forbid. As many as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death, buried with him by baptism into death, and raised to walk in newness of life; planted in the likeness of his death and of his resurrection; the old man crucified, the body of sin destroyed; he that is dead is freed from sin, and those dead with Christ will live with him.
Scriptures: 1 John 3:14; Romans 6:1-8
The saved man's death: the body returns to the grave (42:39–45:22)
- In dealing with death there are only two types of people who die — the saved and the unsaved, the redeemed and the unredeemed. Saved people also suffer physical death, and for the saved man the first thing is that the body returns to the grave. Burial itself is not the command: it does not matter whether a man is buried in a casket or a linen cloth, cremated, swallowed by a whale, eaten, or fallen into a volcano; New Testament Christians were buried, but some were fed to the lions and some burned at the stake. Ashes may be brought in and a memorial held just as with a casket, because the person is not in the casket — only the house he lived in. His own wish to be buried, so his wife will come to his grave every day rather than marry some other hairy-legged boy, is told as a joke at his own expense.
Stephen, the first Christian death (45:22–47:57)
- The detailed account of the first Christian who died is read: when they heard these things they were cut to the heart and gnashed on him with their teeth, but he, full of the Holy Ghost, looked up steadfastly into heaven and saw the glory of God and Jesus standing on the right hand of God; they stopped their ears, cast him out of the city, and stoned him, the witnesses laying their clothes at the feet of a young man named Saul; and Stephen, calling upon God, said, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit, knelt and cried that this sin not be laid to their charge, and fell asleep. All they could do was stone him physically: his spirit left his body into the presence of Christ. Devout men carried Stephen to his burial and made great lamentation over him — but they buried only the house he lived in.
Scriptures: Acts 7:54-60; Acts 8:1-2
Paul: to die is gain (47:57–51:14)
- Philippians 1 is read and expounded for a better explanation. Paul's earnest expectation is that Christ will be magnified in his body, whether by life or by death: for to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. Paul was in miserable shape — scourged, stoned, left for dead, half blind, always in pain — and his reason for living was that God got gain out of his life; yet he is in a strait between two, having a desire to depart and be with Christ, which is far better, while abiding in the flesh is more needful for the church, and God let him suffer on because his ministry was needed. The passage is also a great case against suicide: nobody suffered more than Paul, but a man has no right to take his own life; only God has authority over life and death.
Scriptures: Philippians 1:20-25
The rapture: body and soul reunited (51:14–54:51)
- At the chapter on the rapture of the church: the Lord splits the eastern sky, the trumpet of God sounds, the dead in Christ rise first, and those alive and remaining are caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air — and so shall we ever be with the Lord. What is in the grave is the body, and the grave is not necessarily the cemetery: it may be a whale's or shark's belly, a volcano, the back side of a mountain, bones already decayed, ashes to ashes and dust to dust — and God will bring the body out wherever it is. The resurrection body will be remodeled — he jokes that he will have all his hair, weigh 180 pounds, with a 32 waist and no cavities. The soul that has gone on to be with Jesus comes back with him, and body and soul, reunited, stand at the judgment seat of Christ to receive the rewards done in the body. Wherefore comfort one another with these words.
Scriptures: 1 Thessalonians 4
The resurrection body (54:51–56:16)
- First Corinthians 15 says the same thing and is read: as we have borne the image of the earthly, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly; flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, neither does corruption inherit incorruption; 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; this corruptible must put on incorruption and this mortal immortality; then death is swallowed up in victory — O death, where is thy sting, O grave, where is thy victory; but thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Studying it makes him more thankful that he knows who Jesus is.
Scriptures: 1 Corinthians 15:49-57
The unsaved man's death (56:16–59:37)
- Now the other side, after a short review of the saved man — body to the grave, soul immediately into the presence of Christ, body called out at the rapture and reunited. When the unsaved man dies his body is also buried, but his soul goes immediately to hell. A preacher has no right to preach a man into heaven or into hell; God knows the difference, and funeral praise — he was a good father, a hunter, a fisherman, a Sunday bowler and golfer — changes nothing, told with the story of the golfer who took his hat off as a hearse passed: "I'm not — I was married to her for 35 years." He has no problem preaching the funeral of someone he knows was born again, but it is very difficult to preach the funeral of somebody he knows did not make it; he is not the judge, and a sermon will not move a man either way — you determine in this life where you are going to go.
The rich man and Lazarus (59:37–1:02:03)
- Luke 16 is read: there was a certain rich man, clothed in purple and fine linen, who fared sumptuously every day; and a certain beggar named Lazarus laid at his gate full of sores, desiring the crumbs from the rich man's table, the dogs licking his sores. The beggar died and was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom; the rich man also died and was buried, and in hell he lifted up his eyes, being in torments, and saw Abraham afar off and Lazarus in his bosom. He breaks off to insist this is not a parable but a reality — Jesus used the words "a certain rich man" — though the story and the truth are the same either way, and resumes the reading: Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am tormented in this flame; but Abraham said, Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things — but now he is comforted, and thou art tormented. That is the difference between a saved man and an unsaved man: an eternity in comfort, or an eternity in torments — which is why Jesus paid the supreme penalty to redeem us.
Scriptures: Luke 16:19-25
The resurrection of damnation and the great white throne (1:02:03–1:04:26)
- The unsaved body will also come out of the grave to be reunited with its soul. Marvel not at this: the hour is coming in which all that are in the graves will hear his voice and come forth — they that have done good to the resurrection of life, and they that have done evil to the resurrection of damnation; these are the words of Christ himself. Revelation 20 is read: I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God, the books opened and another book opened, which is the book of life, and the dead judged out of the things written in the books, according to their works; the sea gave up the dead in it, and death and hell delivered up the dead in them; and death and hell were cast into the lake of fire — this is the second death. It is appointed to die only once, but a man decides for himself whether he will die the second time; and whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.
Scriptures: John 5:28-29; Revelation 20:11-15
Our children at the rapture, and the close (1:04:26–1:09:14)
- Standing, he calls the message a sober one and answers a question he is asked all the time: if you are a saved mother or father and the rapture comes, your children are under the umbrella of authority of the mom and dad, and if one parent is saved the children go with you; if neither is saved, the children will be left behind with you — incentive enough to say, Lord, I cannot live a selfish life; I am responsible for those under me. The closing prayer thanks God for the day the trumpet will blow and body and soul will forever be with the Lord, and for the offering on Calvary's cross, the spear, the crown of thorns, and the 39 stripes. He thanks the class for its patience: he has just taught lesson 17, but to many of them it is really lesson one — the Lord loves you, and died on that cross for you. With heads bowed he invites: there is salvation in no other; Christ is the resurrection and the life; hands are raised by those who need God, those who would be baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, and those asking prayer through the week as they decide; all are asked to pray with him between now and Sunday and to greet one another in Jesus' name. The recording ends mid-sentence in his offer of copies of the lesson.
Scripture index: Hebrews 9:27; Acts 2:38; Genesis 2:15-17; Genesis 3:21; Genesis 4:8-10; James 2:26; Ephesians 3:16; Genesis 25:8; Genesis 25:17; Genesis 35:29; Isaiah 59:1-2; Ephesians 2:1; 1 John 3:14; Romans 6:1-8; Acts 7:54-60; Acts 8:1-2; Philippians 1:20-25; 1 Thessalonians 4; 1 Corinthians 15:49-57; Luke 16:19-25; John 5:28-29; Revelation 20:11-15.
Transcript
the Holy Ghost I don't want to be without the Holy Ghost it was left to me in his will praise God it was his will that none perish it was his will that the Holy Ghost be poured out upon All Flesh and I love my inheritance oh Hallelujah we was sitting at the dinner table one night my wife and I and my children and we had some special guest over and and and my kids were very small and and and they got very morbid they got to talk about what they was going to inherit when I died and here I was right there alive and they were talking about Dad I want you to leave me this I want you to leave me that I get this I get that and I just reminded them I'm still alive and if you keep talking about it I got the power to Rite that will and write you out of that will but can I tell you that Jesus Christ talked about his will when he walked on this Earth and he said you shall receive power praise God that was part of his will and when he probated that will on the first Pentecost after his resurrection we got exactly what he said we were going to get praise God look folks you got to live Victorious you're not listening to me you got to live Victorious lift up your head lift up your eyes walk around with a smile on your face can I have an amen your problems are not going to last forever amen and then the first New Testament sermon was preached by the Apostle Peter in Acts chapter 2 that sermon contained the death burial and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ and then the question was asked men and Brethren what shall we do and because of that question Peter quoted acts 238 repent and be baptized every one of you you want to be a part of this will you want your name in his will repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of your sins for the payment in full for your debt payment can I have it amen folks you don't know what I used to be and praise God you'll never know what I used to be because I'm not going to tell you and I'm not going to tell you those names that who I know and I'm going to tell you what Jesus doesn't know what I used to be because he cast my sins into a sea of forgetfulness praise God and I'm not what I used to be I have been born again praise God the old man was buried with Christ baptism I Rose to walk in the newness of life and I'm not the same person I used to be can I have an amen and then the the second the second move of God was the miracle move of God in Acts chapter 3 in the in the first move of God at Pentecost 3,120 people got saved in the miracle Revival of that acts three or the miracle move that were one man healed and 5,000 got the Holy Ghost and then in Acts chapter 5 there was the Judgment move now we don't like to talk about this for a fact I never hear anybody preach on it except me I've got book after book sermon after sermon tape after tape DVD after DVD and you never hear anybody talk about God's judgment that fail in the New Testament Church but did you know what God wants his church to be in order right God wants his church to be holy like he is holy God wants this church to be victorious like he is Victorious glorious can I have an amen and God actually poured out the spirit of judgment in the New Testament
in Acts chapter 5 when ananas and Safara fell dead at the apostles feet and can I tell you that if it happened today I'm out of here praise God it it would scare me to to death it scared them and a lot of people ran out of the church a lot of people quit the church oh you say oh I hope it don't happen here I don't want nobody to leave the church don't worry about it this is God's church and God knows how to cleanse the church can I have an amen I said God knows how to clean the church and the hypocrite and The Sinner that had joined the church when ananas and Zyra fell dead in front of the pull pit they got up and ran out and left the church but can I tell you what multitudes were swept into the kingdom of God when God cleansed the church praise God every Church in America needs a good cleansing can I tell you what this church needs to be cleansed boy I didn't get no amen out of that one it's not going to hurt me for God to cleanse his church because when God cleanses the church I want you to know that he sweeps thousands and multitudes into the kingdom of God can I have an amen and the church after the the cleansing became larger than it was before the cleansing somebody ought to be saying amen praise God I want my children to raise in a church that God can cleanse I want my grandchildren in a church that has a cleansing every once in a while and so there was the judgement Revival multitudes came in in that Revival and then there was the persecution move of God in Acts chapter 8 and when stepen was stoned to death at the persecution a Samaritan people got saved during that time of persecution can I have a witness somebody then in Acts chapter 10 there was the Angelic moving of the spirit with the angel went to a Cornelius a gentile Soldier and he went to Simon Peter a a preacher on the rooftop and the angel got the preacher and The Sinner together can I have a witness that is what is going on in wit right now there are angels of God all around us they are working on our behalf I said the angels are working on our behalf and they're getting The Sinner and the saint together they're getting the preacher and The Sinner together why because God wants the sinner to have contact with a child of God so they can be saved the sinner is never going to be saved until somebody tells him about the death burial and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ Hallelujah I don't have time to even talk about the Miracles that God has done just this week when when the angel talked to a preacher and the angel talked to a siner and they had a headon collision in the grocery store and the first thing you know a Bible study came out of it and somebody's going to be saved praise God the angels are working in wiah right now even while I'm speaking praise God you don't accidentally get saved God goes looking for you and then there was the vision moving of the spirit the Apostle Paul had a vision of a man saying come over and help us and and from the the the Angelic move a gentile nation was saved when Paul had the vision an entire continent was saved do you see the progression 3,120 5,000 multitudes of people a nation a continent and then in Acts 19
the doctrinal move of God and in Acts 19 the whole world was subject to being saved praise God and so we have studied the seven different moves of God in that early New Testament Church I have been teaching Bible study and in particularly home Bible study for something like 35 years please don't quote me on this but if my records are right in the last 35 years I have taught in excess I'm not going to give you an exact number but I'm going to tell you I have taught in excess of 15,000 Bible studies in people's homes for a fact I learned more about the Bible teaching you the Bible than I could have ever learned in seminary in almost every Bible study every family that I have ever taught there are some questions that come up in every study and the most asked question in those Bible studies are these three what is death what happens when a man dies where does a man go when he dies the second question is similar to the first one they want to know where we go at judgment what happens at judgment we talk about the day of judgment or the Judgment Day and and everybody has heard about Judgment Day and and nobody has ever given them a proper answer nobody has ever given them a proper answer as to what is death what happens when man dies how does he go to heaven what happens in the body and it's a question that our children have everybody would really like to know exactly what's going to happen when they die and then the question always comes up is there really a hail so in the next three lessons I'm going to be teaching on the three questions what is death what is judgment and what is hell and tonight if you'll permit me I want to take a few minutes and explain in detail what happens when a man dies amen we've already read the the scripture that it is appointed unto men once to die I think that is very self-explanatory even I read the scripture where Christ was once offered to Bear the sins of many even Christ died and I don't know of anybody in my past that has not met that appointment in my lifetime I have buried Two Sisters I have buried two brothers I have buried a mother and a father my grandp parents I have a number of aunts and uncles that have passed on I have been to the graveyard many times and to be honest with you I praise God that I have had The Misfortune of having to go the graveyard for myself with my loved ones it helped me understand what you go through when you have to go to the graveyard with someone that you love and in the 32 years actually tomorrow will be 32 years that I have been in Witchita I have buried so many people that it brings tears to my eyes to think of all the precious precious people that I've had to bury some people think that the preacher is immune to emotion but many times as I have ministered at funerals I have often felt like I should be sitting with the family and in seminaries and Bible colleges they teach you that when you preach a funeral you should not show emotions because you may cause A disruption and I just cannot do it that way because it is an emotional event when we have to go to the cemetery and we have to conduct the memorial service of the loved
one this year has been particularly difficult on me and last year because I have buried some of the very closest people that I've ever been to from this church people that have been with me 32 years people that have supported me and and labored with me and prayed with me and now I look around and I realize that I've lost prayer warriors I had one man in particularly that was at this church every morning for a fact for more than 25 years he was at this church every morning at 5:00 and he prayed and he was a personal prayer partner of mine had a man in our church his name was David Cook David Cook took up the task comeing to this church every morning morning at 5:00 and every day he was at this church this man went through this building program with me prayed for me every day of his life he prayed for me and when I buried him I had such a sense of loss and and to this day I still don't have anybody that has taken David's a Cook's place and I miss that very much but death is an appointment that no matter how important you are or how unimportant you are we all are going to meet one day that appointment and I think that it is possible and I think we ought to have the right attitude in life about the end of our life I I've been I've been preaching 40 uh2 years this past January was my 42nd year of preaching and I was a very young preacher didn't understand death didn't think about death very often and tonight I'm 59 years old I'll soon be 60 and I am more comfortable with my life at 60 or almost 60 than I was ever comfortable in my life when I was 30 now that may sound strange and and when I think about the fact that that my Ministry is nearing its end my life is approaching the end I am more comfortable I am more satisfied I I'm I'm I'm more comfortable with the way I'm living than I've ever been in my entire life and I one time I was at the hospital and they thought I was having a heart attack and they rushed me into the trauma unit they gave me morphine and Nitro and Demerol all at the same time and I don't know if they intended it or not but my heart quit beating and they did not catch it for almost 45 seconds almost a minute my heart had quit beating and the doctor thumped me called it thumping Me Back To Life they almost broke my collar my my chest bone when they had to bring me back to life and I had a strange sensation in that death and and and I I lost all sense of pain and there was a spirit of bliss and I think that experience took away the fear of death from me and I don't mind dying it's the hurting that I don't like and I said all that to say this the older I get the more I want to be comfortable I want to be able to talk about it I want to be able to share with my family to not be afraid and I think it's important the more we understand what's going to happen when we die I think the more comfortable we are with that praise God let's listen to the words of the almighty God when he was speaking to Adam in the beginning and the Lord God took the man in Genesis 2 verse1 15 the Lord God took the man and put him into the Garden of Eden to dress and to keep it and the Lord God commanded the man saying of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat but of the tree of the knowledge of Good and Evil Thou shalt not eat of it for in the day that thou eatest thereof Thou shalt surely die and so death was introduced to mankind before death ever ruled in this world now Adam and Eve had no comprehension of death they had never seen anybody die no one or anything had ever died in their presence before and so when the Lord said if you eat this tree you're going to die they did not fully comprehend what the Lord was trying to tell them because they had no comprehension of death at all now God intended that to be a warning he
intended that to keep them from eating the tree but if you don't know what death is and you have no comprehension of death what is the what deterrent is that if the Lord says if you eat you're going to die because they had no they had no feeling of death praise God and then verse 21 of course we understand that man did eat that tree and so death passed upon all men and so the Lord said unto Adam in verse 2 21 of chapter 3 Genesis 3:21 unto Adam also and his wife did the Lord God make coats of skins and cloth and so for the first time in their entire life they met death of an innocent animal and you know I deer hunt and I shoot a deer I have no remorse for for shooting a deer or harvesting a deer and sometimes I get sad if his horns are not big enough and but it was an innocent animal it was a lamb and and they still did not comprehend death but then when the death of the first human being came around in Genesis chapter 4 and verse 8 Cain Tau with Abel his brother and it came to pass when they were in the field that Cain rose up against Abel his brother and slew him Abel excuse me Cain killed his brother and the Lord said the king where is Abel thy brother he said I know not am I My Brother's Keeper and he said what hast thou done the voice of thy brother's blood crith unto me from the ground and to understand this this happening they came face to face with the ugliness of death and for the first time in their entire life they had they had to look upon the death of a brother a son another human being and and that was quite a shock to them and then they understood the punishment that comes when someone dies now to understand death I think first of all we need to have a definition or we need to Define death and and as we Define death I have to have two different definitions because there are two kinds of death there's physical death and number two there is a spiritual death now let me let me see if I can Define physical death how do we Define physical death Webster defines death as the permanent sensation of all vital functions the end of life are brain dead now the standard for physical death has changed as technology has changed at one time you could be pronounced dead when there was a sensation of your pulse and your respiration in other words when your heart quit beating and you quit breathing you could be legally pronounced dead but but with sophisticated life support systems and with the Advent of medications for fact I have been there when somebody quit breathing and their heart quit beating and the doctor gave them an injection of some kind of powerful drug that made their heart start start beating again and of course they used artificial resuscitation and they use they Ed life support and and so consequently when you got put on life support they could not bury you they could not declare you dead because your heart was still beating and and and you were breathing praise God through the use of of these machines praise God and then came along a Woman by the name of Karen quinland Karen quinland had a drastic head injury and they put her on life support and her parents went to the court to to so that they could cause her to be unplugged and let nature take its course and they had done brain wave or eegs on her and found out that her brain wave had flatlined or straight lined and there was no electrical activity in the brain and because of the the Karen quinland case the courts finally ruled that death is the sensation of electrical impulses in the brain and regardless of whether your hearts beating or your lungs are breathing they can remove all life support and all medications from you and all feeding tubes and let nature take its course because now death is defined a straight line on an EEG and now they don't do just one EEG but they do an EEG on you and if there's no electrical activity they wait 24 more hours and they do the
second EEG and if the second EEG is flatlined then the doctors have they don't have to ask your permission they don't have to go to court anymore but they can simply unplug the machines and the doctors can declare you dead now I'm not I'm not here to judge whether that's right or wrong I'm just telling you what lead legal death is now is a sensation of brain activity I know that there have been those that have been declared dead but their heart still beats and they're and they still breathe and I understand all that but that is what physical death is it is the end of life amen and look at look at James chapter 2 and verse 26 now when it comes to the spiritual part of this thing the definition of death is the separation of the Inner Man from the outer man now what do I mean by that it's the same thing when when the brain is dead rest assured you're vacated Place amen there is an inner person living within this body now some of us down here live in a mansion some of us live live in a shack some of us never mind praise God some of us live in a large house some of us live in a small house praise God in in in life small is great Hallelujah but there is the the real you lives in this body this body is nothing it is only the house that you live in can I have an amen and look at James chapter 2 and verse number 26 for as the body without the spirit is dead so faith without works is dead also so the body if the soul vacates the body if there's a separation of the Inner Man from the outer man that is defined in spiritual walk as being dead praise God Ephesians chapter 3 and verse number 16 that he would Grant you according to the riches of his glory to be strengthened by might by his spirit in the Inner Man praise God I know that the our flesh suffers many things and and if you're not careful you'll live only by your flesh God doesn't want you to live only by your flesh but he wants the inner man to be renewed Day by day that's why you can smile when you're in pain that's why you can have joy when things are going wrong they may be able to afflict the outer man but the inner man they canot touch amen I've seen people who have been are are crippled and I've been to St Jude's in Memphis to the Children's Hospital and I've been to a places where there's great suffering and cancer ws and I I I've seen people that had their right mind and and their bodies were devastated but yet they were full of joy can I have an amen they have great attitudes because they have learned to live by the inner person and not the outer person woe be unto us if if if we always live by our flesh praise God Oh I thought I'd get a resounding amen out of that amen anyway praise God now look at Genesis 258 2517 and 3529 look at verse 8 Abraham gave up The Ghost and died in a good old age an old man full of years and was gathered to his people 25:17 these are the years of the life of Ishmael 137 years he gave up The Ghost and died and was gathered to his people verse 29 of chapter 35 Isaac gave up The Ghost and died and was gathered to his people being old and full of days and 11 times in the Old Testament we read the exact same thing so at physical death when there's a sensation of brain activity when the heart quits beating and the lungs quit breathing there is a separation of the physical man from the inner man Dr Maurice Rollins wrote a book called Beyond death's door he had a number of
experiences in his medical practice of people that died in his presence and and and he was able to bring them back again and and many times they told him of experiences and and and many times they told him exactly what the doctor did when the man was unconscious and they would say something like this I left my body that is scriptural folks because the inner man is going to leave the outer man amen the physical man is not you it's only the house that you live in oh praise God and no matter how much you paint it it's still still going to get old no matter how much you decorate it it's still going to be corruptible someday but there is an inner man that's never going to grow old it's never going to die praise God and so when the physical man dies the real you the Inner Man leaves that body praise God there's a separation praise God now spiritual death is def finded as separation of man from God the separation of man the inner and the outer man is going to be separated from God and and and to be honest with you spiritual death is much worse than physical death amen at physical death the spirit of the Inner Man leaves the outer man but at spiritual death the man Inner Man and outer man is forever separated from God if there's one thing I know in all of my years of living for God the only thing I fear is not separating from this body but the fact that someday I could be sep separated forever from the presence of God I can think of nothing more horrible anywhere or any place than to be forever separated from God look at Isaiah 59 and verse 1 so behold the Lord's hand is not shortened that it cannot save neither his ear heavy that it cannot hear but your iniquities Isaiah 59:2 your iniquities have separated you and your God and your sins have hid his face from you that he will not hear and so we understand that there's only one thing that can forever separate you from God and that is your iniquities or your sins that's why sin is so terrible now not just big sins little sins all sin because the Bible says your sins will separate you from God but Jesus Paid the price for our sins that we would not be forever separated from God ver Ephesians chapter 2 and verse one and you hath he quickened or Made Alive who were dead in trespasses pass es and in sins you see the Lord is the only one that can make you alive when you are spiritually dead when you are separated from God the blood of Jesus Christ will remove your sins and your iniquities and resurrect you to life with Christ how many understood what I just said can you say praise the Lord to that folks Jesus didn't just come and die on the cross that we might have Easter Sunday he came on that cross for a purpose that because you were dead in trespasses and sins because you were separated from God and you could not find God he came and shed his blood and paid the price for your sins and reunited you with our lord God almighty praise God God Hallelujah the world does not understand that the atheist does not understand that but thank God the child of God
understands exactly what happened praise God sin separates you from God Amen look at 1 John chter 3 and verse4 1 John 3:14 we know that we have passed from death unto life amen you can be walking around and be spiritually dead amen you can be a walking dead man you're separated from God don't know your way can't feel your way can't find your way but when Jesus knocked at your door and he removes your sins you pass oh Hallelujah I'm sorry folks I feel happy you pass from Death unto life doesn't that excite you amen look at Romans chapter 6 and verse one what shall we say then shall we continue in sin that Grace May abound God forbid how shall we that are dead to sin live any longer there in know you not as many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ we're baptized into his death therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the father even so we also should walk in the newness of Life Hallelujah that is so exciting that we can can walk not as dead men but we walk because we have been buried with Christ we can walk in the newness not just in life but in the newness of life for if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death we shall also be in the likeness of his resurrection knowing this that our old man is crucified with him that the body of sin might be destroyed that henceforth we should not serve sin for he that is dead is free from sin now if we be Dead with Christ we believe that we also shall live with him praise God everybody said amen am now in dealing with the subject of death we must look at the two types of people that die there are only two types of people that die that's the saved person and the unsaved person that's the only two kind of people that can die you're either going to die saved or you're going to die unsaved let me let me rephrase that either you're going to die a redeemed man or you're going to die an unredeemed man now let's talk about the sav man I like the save man because that describes me saved people also must suffer physical death and and I know that that we lament and we sorrow over those that die but if you're a saved person what happens when you die number one the body returns to the grave now I get asked all the time should a saved person be buried and I say this for my personal self I want to be buried because I want my wife to come to my grave every day and visit me so she won't marry some other hairy-legged boy now I'm just I'm just I'm just having a little fun here okay it doesn't matter whether you're buried whether you're in a casket are you're in a linen cloth or you're you're cremated or whether you drank or a whale swallows you or you get eat up or you fall in a volcano it does not matter the Christian thing was most Christians in the old of the New Testament they were buried but some were fed to the Lions and some died at at the stake burned to death so the Bible doesn't tell us that we have to be buried in a casket and if you want to bring your ashes in and S from here we'll have your memorial service just like if your casket was here because I know and you know that when we bring that casket down here you are not
there only the house you lived in was there how many understands that that body is not us it is only the house that we used to live in amen now look at Acts chapter 7 and verse 54 and we're going to talk about what happened when the first Christian died we have a detailed account of the first Christian that ever died in Acts chapter 7 and verse 54 when they heard these things they were cut to heart and they gathered on they nashed on him with their teeth but he being full of the Holy Ghost host looked up steadfastly into heaven and saw the glory of God and Jesus standing on the right hand of God and he said behold I see the heavens open and the son of man standing on the right hand of God they cried out with a loud voice stopped their ears ran upon him with one Accord cast him out of the city and they stoned him and the witnesses laid down their clothes at a young man's feet whose name was Saul and they stoned Sten calling upon God and saying Lord Jesus receive what did he say receive my spirit amen and he kneel down cried with a loud voice L Lord lay not this in of the charge and when he had thus said he fell asleep and so we know that that the that first Christian died a terrible physical death but all they could do was Stone him physically because as soon as he went to sleep his Spirit left his body and went back into the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ amen look at acts 8 verse1 2 and Saul was consenting unto his death and at that time there was a great persecution against the church was at Jerusalem they were scattered abroad through the region of Judea Samaria except the Apostle and devout men carried Steven to his burial and made great lamentation over him so we know that the Christian he died a terrible death he was stoned to death they had a funeral for him they took him to the graveyard and they buried him but we have the Revelation from the scripture that that we did not bury stepen we only buried the house he lived in because his spirit Spirit went immediately to be in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ look at Philippians chapter 1 and verse 20 and it giv us a better explanation look at Phil Philippians chapter 1 verse2 according to my Earnest expectation and my hope that in nothing I shall be ashamed but that with all boldness as always so now also Christ shall be magnified in my body whether it be by life or by death for to me to live is Christ in other words he's saying if I live Christ gets glory and to die is gain for me in other words Paul was being so persecuted he was in so much pain in his body he said three times received I 40 Stripes save one I was stoned twice I have been left for dead I spent a night in a day in the Deep I mean Paul was in miserable shape physically he was Hunchback 4 foot 11 half blind and always in pain but he said the reason I'm alive is because God gets gain out of my life but to me to die would be a great gain look at verse 22 but if I live in the flesh this is the fruit of my labor yet what I choose I know not I have I have no choice for I am in a straight between two having a desire to depart and to be with Christ he was saying I know that if I die the moment I die I'm going to be with Christ Which is far better for me nevertheless to abide in the flesh FH is more needful for you the Lord would not let him die because he was needed in the
church to teach the Saints and God let him suffer in his flesh in pain in his flesh because his words and his writing and his ministry was so needed in the church all the time Paul was saying Lord please let me die I've got I've got to get out of this pain I want to be with you and I might also add that is a great case against the committing of suicide nobody was suffering any more than Paul suffered but Paul understood I can't take my own life I have no right to take my life my life Belongs to the Lord Jesus Christ and you have no right to take your life only God has the authority over life and over death so we can't use use pain and suffering as an excuse to terminate Our Lives can I have it amen now having this confidence I know that I shall abide and continue with you for all furance and joy of Faith praise God now look at 1 Thessalonians chapter 4 at the Rapture of the church listen carefully at the Rapture of the church do you know what the Rapture is that's when the Lord splits the Eastern sky and the trumpet of God sounds 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 but did you know something very strange is going to happen at the Rapture number one when that trumpet sounds all they're in the grave what's in the grave our bodies now the grave does not necessarily mean the cemetery it may be in a whale's belly a shark's belly a volcano on the back side of a mountain bones that have already decayed wherever you're at whatever you are ashes to ashes dust to dust but God is going to bring your body out of that grave wherever you are amen Hallelujah I'm going to have all of my hair I'm going to weigh 180 lbs I'm going to have a 32 waist a size eight and A2 shoe smaller ears better eyesight no cavities in my teeth praise God I'm going to have a new body there's going to be a resurrection of the body at the sound of that trumpet and we come out of that grave guess what ladies and gentlemen the soul that has gone on to be with Jesus is going to come back with him and our soul and our body is going to be reunited and Body and Soul we are going to stand at the Judgment seat of Christ and receive the rewards done in this body Hallelujah but can I tell you what the body in the grave is going to go through a Remodeling and to look at some of you it's going to take God a lot of remodeling does that does that excit like you to know that even though you go to the Grave your body deteriorates God is going to bring every cell back together every molecule back together and you're going to come out of that grave a brand new body and you're going to be reunited with your spirit praise God can I have an amen it does not yet appear what we shall be but we know that when he shall appear we shall we shall see him as he is can I have an amen amen and just like Jesus came out of that grave because the spirit of Christ went back into him and raised him up and and that's the same thing going to happen at the Rapture at the resurrection praise God our body and our soul are going to be reunited and so shall we ever be with the Lord wherefore Comfort one another with these words amen 1 Corinthians 15 and verse 49 says the same thing verse 49 as we have borne the image of the Earthly we shall also bear the image of the Heavenly this
I say Brethren flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God neither does corruption inherit incorruption behold I show you a mystery we shall not all sleep or remain dead but we shall all be changed we shall all be remodeled we shall all be brought out of that grave in the moment in the twinkling of the eye at the last trumpet for the trumpet shall sound and the dead shall be raised in corruptible and we shall be changed this corruptible must put on incorruption this Mortal shall put on immortality and so when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption and this moral shall have put on immortality then shall be brought to pass of the saying that is written death is swallow up in Victory oh death where is thy sting oh grave where is thy Victory The Sting of death the sin the strength of sin of the law but thanks be to God who giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ folks when I study this it makes me more thankful that I know who Jesus is now what about the unsaved man now let's review just a moment the saved man he dies his body goes to the Grave his soul goes immediately to be in the presence of Christ his body stays in the grave his soul is in heaven dancing on streets of gold at the Rapture the Lord brings us back he calls our body out of the Grave we are reunited with our body and so shall we ever be with the Lord now the unsaved man what happens to the UN unsaved man when the unsaved man dies his body is also buried amen but his soul goes immediately to hell when the preacher preaches you into heaven he has no right when he preaches you into hell he has no right but God knows the difference between a saved man and an unsaved man amen I thank God for lying preachers because they Comfort people when they know somebody's died and gone to hell they talk about how good he was and he's a one a father and a good Hunter like to fish play golf like to go bowling on Sunday morning he was such a wonderful bowler and when he wasn't bowling on Sunday morning he had a golf buddy and him and his partner went golfing remind me of a story a guy went golfing one Sunday morning and him partner was supp to tea off on the night hole and an ambulance a hearse was going to down the street he pulled his hat off put over his heart as the ambulance the hearse went by and the guy said I didn't know you was religious oh he said I'm not he said I was married to her for 35 years you see preacher doesn't know whether you're saved or lost now I think I know and I can do a great guess and I have no problems preaching funerals of people that I know have been born again live for God but I tell you it's a very difficult thing to preach a funeral of somebody that you know did not make it but I am not the judge if I preach you into heaven and you went to hell my sermon won't get you out of hell if I preach you into heaven and you went to hell my sermon not going to get you back to Heaven you determine in this life where you're going to go amen Luke 16 and verse 19 and I'm almost finished there was a certain rich man which was clothed in purple and fine linen he fared sumptuously every day there was a certain beggar named Lazarus which laid at his gate full of sores and Desiring to be fed with a crumb which fell from the rich man's table moreover the dogs came and licked his sores it came to pass that the beggar died and
was carried by Angels into Abraham's bosom the rich man also died and was buried and in hell he lifted up his eyes being in torments and seeing Abraham a far off and Lazarus in his bosom now the beggar died he was buried angels carried him to Paradise the rich man he died was buried but immediately he lift up his eyes in hell now some say this is a parable but I beg you pardon because Jesus used the adjectives a certain rich man a certain rich man I don't believe this was a parable I believe it was a reality now if you choose to be a parable that's fine the story and the truth is still the same it doesn't change the story whether it's a parable or a reality can I have an amen and in hell he lifted up his eyes being in torments and seeth Abraham a far off and Lazarus in the bosom and he cried said Father Abraham have mercy on me and send Lazarus that him he Di tip his finger in water and cool my tongue for I am tormented in this flame but Abraham said Son remember that thou in thy lifetime receivest thy good things and likewise Lazarus evil things but now he is comforted and thou art tormented that's the difference between a saved man and an unsaved man are you going to spend an eternity in Comfort are you going to spend an eternity in torments that's why Jesus Paid the Supreme penalty and that is death of his own life and the shedding of his own blood to redeem us to keep us from going to torment amen the Lord knows the Sav from the lost now the body of the unsaved shall come out of the Grave to be reunited with his soul of the unsaved look at John 5 verse 28 Marvel not at this the hour is coming in the which all about say all all that are in the graves shall hear his voice and shall come forth they that have done good under the resurrection of life and they that have done Evil under the resurrection of damnation how can you not believe in hell if you believe in the Lord Jesus Christ because these are the words of Christ himself Revelations 20 and: 11 and I saw a great white throne and him that sat on it from whose face the Earth and Heaven fled away and there was no place for them and I saw the dead now these are the unsaved small and great stand before God the books were open another book was open which is The Book of Life and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books according to their works and the Sea gave up the dead which were in it and death that's the body body and Hell the soul delivered up the dead which were in them and they would judge every man according to their works and death that's the body and hell that's the soul were cast into the Lake of Fire and this is the second death it's appointed for you only to die one time but you decide whether or not you will die the second time because if you refuse him that speaks from Heaven Jesus Christ is the only way to Salvation whoever was not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the Lake of Fire would you stand with me please I realize this is a sober message it's a very sober message I get asked all the time what about our children when the Rapture comes let me share this with you if you are a saved person a saved mother or a saved father and the Rapture comes your children are under the umbrella of authority of the mom and dad if one of you are saved the children are going to go with you but if you're not saved if Mom or Dad either one is not saved when the Rapture
comes your children will be left behind with you I think that that ought to be enough incentive for us to say Lord I cannot live a selfish life here my children and those under me I am responsible for Jesus Christ Made A Way for you and your family to be saved shall we bow for prayer almighty God I thank you tonight for your presence I thank you for the truth of your word I thank you Lord that there will come a day that even though we may die and F A Grave that you're going to come and blow that trumpet and our body is going to come out of that grave our soul is going to be reunited with us and Body and Soul we shall forever be with our Lord Jesus Christ I thank you I thank you for your offering on calvary's Cross I thank you for that Hill called galtha I thank you Lord for the spear that went through your side I thank you Lord for the crown of thorns that you bore on your head I thank you for for the the 39 Stripes that they put on your body for Lord without that I would forever be lost and I want to give thanks for salvation in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ and everybody said amen would your head bow for just another moment I want to thank you for being patient with me tonight and I realize that I've just taught lesson 17 but really it's not lesson 17 to many of you is lesson one the lord loves you he loves you so much that he died on that cross for you amen neither is there salvation in any other the Lord made it very clear I am the resurrection I am the life I'm the only one that can save you our heads are bowed tonight our eyes are closed if you need God in your life would you lift your hand right now and say Pastor I need God in my life amen amen thank you thank you thank you if you have never been baptized into Christ let me encourage you believe that he died on that cross believe that he was buried in that grave and believe that he came out of that grave for you if you're here tonight you'd like to be baptized in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ if there anyone here would you lift your hand say Pastor I need to be baptized amen you lift your hand if there's someone here that maybe you don't want to be baptized tonight but you're contemplating it and you know you need to be and you want me to pray for you this week would you lift your hand and say Pastor would you pray for me as I try to make a decision yes yes yes yes yes yes amen father I thank you for your presence tonight would you bless each one that's gathered in this room in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ everybody said amen how many will pray with me between now and Sunday would you raise your hand God bless you please greet one another in Jesus name again I want to thank you for your patience amen if you'd like to have a copy if you like
Scripture references as spoken: Hebrews 9:27; Acts 2:38; Genesis 2:15-17; Genesis 3:21; Genesis 4:8-10; James 2:26; Ephesians 3:16; Genesis 25:8; Genesis 25:17; Genesis 35:29; Isaiah 59:1-2; Ephesians 2:1; 1 John 3:14; Romans 6:1-8; Acts 7:54-60; Acts 8:1-2; Philippians 1:20-25; 1 Thessalonians 4; 1 Corinthians 15:49-57; Luke 16:19-25; John 5:28-29; Revelation 20:11-15.