Death & the Intermediate State

Well, good evening, I I know that some of you are new to our Wednesday night services, so I want to welcome you and as Brother Andy has already mentioned we divide the time on Wednesday night brother Andy gives a devotion in the Psalms and then I give the theology lesson and for the last two years we have been going through a Lengthy study on Systematic theology you'll notice on your handout.

It says overview of Christian theology and doctrine section 10 that is because we have gone through nine Previous sections we started with theology proper Christology pneumatology Hamar theology anthropology eschatology Soteriology even angel ology we went through several different studies of discipline over the last few years and we find ourselves tonight beginning the final of these lectures And this is on the study of eschatology Eschatology is the study of last things and you will notice I have given you six headings Now in a perfect world that would mean we would have six classes This would be a six-week study, but for those of you who know me You know that there will probably be a few of these that go longer than one week So this may end up being more like an eight-week study of eschatology And if you are a part of the Academy Sovereign Grace Academy I want to I want to give you just a quick reminder that in the Academy our last semester.

We did a Survey of the New Testament and our next semester.

We're doing a survey of Bible doctrine So you're going to get quite a bit of? Overlap miss Jackie miss Daisy.

I know you're in the class There's quite a bit of overlap especially in regard to This because we did some of this when we looked at Revelation and our survey of the New Testament But it's always good to be reminded of things that you've already heard and some of that Some of that was quite deep.

So it might be good to hear it more than once But the section headings for the next six weeks are as follows tonight.

We are going to look at personal versus universal eschatology Next week if we get through tonight's lesson, we will do the resurrection of the body Part three is perspectives on revelation and the Millennium That's when I fully suspect will take more than one week probably should have made that part three in part four But we'll see how it goes Part four is orthodox preterism.

If you are not familiar with preterism, that is the particular Eschatological position that I hold to and that I teach so that is my week to share with you why I hold to it and why there are those who would differ and My willingness to say that I do not believe that I have it all figured out.

Neither.

Do I hold to it dogmatically? I am willing to Admit that on the subject of eschatology.

There are many questions to which I do not have all the answers So keep that in mind part four really is just my explanation of why I hold to the position I hold Part five we will ask the question.

Is hell real? Because eschatology does not just deal with the last days on this earth, but it deals with what happens in Eternity and so we're going to look at the question of hell and then finally part six My favorite lesson will conclude not only this series, but will conclude the entire Two years of study with a look at the new heavens and the new earth So I'm looking forward to the next several weeks of study If you open your Bible with me, we will begin tonight in Hebrews chapter 9 and verse 27 Now we will in a moment discuss the context of Hebrews 9 27, but just for now we're going to read it to introduce tonight's lesson in Hebrews chapter 9 We have verse 27 this particular verse.

I love to use in evangelism.

I even have cards printed with this verse My business card has this verse printed on it And I have cards that look like the doctor's visits cards Do you know the appointments card you have an appointment and under time date and time it says Hebrews 9 27 Because Hebrews 9 27 says this just as it is appointed for man to die once and after that comes judgment This passage is a tremendous reminder of the reality of not only of death but of judgment So let us begin our conversation of the last things most people when they study the subject of eschatology Want to talk about the return of Christ the interpretation of Revelation and Understanding the Millennium and all of the various millennial positions.

Are you pre-millennial post-millennial amillennial or Some other branch of the millennial position and in fact, I would imagine that some of you came tonight perhaps Excited to talk about eschatology hoping that we would dive right into those subjects Anytime somebody wants to talk about eschatology.

It's almost always a millennial question or a question about Revelation but a huge part of eschatology that is often overlooked and I think dreadfully so is the fact that Eschatology first and foremost deals with the personal more or more so than the universal Because when we talk about eschatology Millennium we talk about eschatology Revelation we talk about eschatology about what's going to happen in the end time.

We're talking about universal eschatology But when we talk about eschatology on a personal level We have to be reminded that we are all living in our own personal in time Within a hundred years you will all be dead within a hundred years.

None of us will be alive And so we are all living in the end times at least on a personal level If Jesus tarry's 300 more years We'll only know it in heaven If Jesus tarry's another thousand years, we'll only know it in heaven But all of us have a personal end Which is coming some of us may be more rapidly than others.

We don't know And when somebody asks me pastor, do you believe we are in the end times? I always answer the same way.

Yes, you are.

Are we in the end times? Yes, you are Because you are in your end times Now one could argue the eschaton or the end times began when Christ ascended into heaven Because when he ascended into heaven The disciples stood and watched him go away and two men beside them angels We believe said to them that Jesus will return in the same way as he has left he will come back he will descend as he has ascended and so the Eschaton began when Christ ascended into heaven We don't know when he's going to return the Bible says watch for you No, not when the master of the house comes we are to be always ready for his arrival Always ready for his second coming But in reality Many of us may not see it We may see our own personal eschaton Before Jesus returns.

In fact, I think that's one of the reasons and this is a opinion you could certainly differ with me I think this is one of the reasons why every generation thinks their generation is it? Every generation especially in the last 200 years Every generation has felt like their generation was the final generation And I think the reason for that is because there's something within us that sort of feels like well I'm gonna end so everything ought to end.

I Mean, I'm the end of all things anyway in my own mind You know the man's pride sort of runs away with him and he says I'm the end of all things So it ought to end with me Certainly couldn't get any better and I know it couldn't get any worse Smile a little I know it's late.

It's a weeknight get to work tomorrow still smile.

The point is There was a huge expansion of eschatological study and positions that happened in the 1800s and a lot of Adventist movements began in the 1800s Adventist meaning the the coming or the arrival of Jesus and So you have like the Jehovah Witnesses that started as an Adventist movement The Seventh-day Adventist started back in the 1800s and a lot of these movements began because they started to really feel like this was it you know, maybe it was the it was the Creation of America as the New Jerusalem, or maybe it was the the Civil War bringing about a brother killing brother situation there was all these reasons people felt like this has to be the end and of course we come to the 1900s and there is the return of the Jews to Jerusalem and to Israel and oh, that's an amazing historical moment And so that has to be the the the thing that's going to start it, right? Oh, and then there's the dropping of the atom bomb This is the war to end all wars right every generation see something right now today the capital of the United States was stormed by Protesters shots rang out and men who were rioting stood in the place behind the desk where the vice president stands in Defiance of what they believe to be an Erroneous election decision Now whether or not you Commiserate with the feelings of those men does that not strike you to the heart that that's what's happening right now Isn't it somewhat ironic or maybe we might say providential that I'm teaching eschatology On the day that that happened Do you ever think you would see? pictures I have pictures on my phone of Rioters standing in the halls of Congress So certainly all of us could look at our lives and see things happening the advent of technology the advent of the ability to Place chips inside of our bodies which are able to not only tell how our health is but to tell where we are pinpointed from space What a frightening thought and yet a reality these are all things that cause people to Fantasize is this the end And again, yeah It's the end one way or the other Either Jesus is going to return or you're going to die But the end is here.

I'm 40 years old and I imagine Some of you say oh, you're so young.

Well, I Don't feel it But also I know this I imagine I Probably have more life behind me than I have in front of me unless I live to be a very Older man, and I don't know if I'll live past 80, but if I live past 80 That's the only way I will have more life ahead of me Than I have behind me and I think about it went by awful fast.

I remember five years old dressing up like Superman jumping off the I didn't say it was five days ago.

I said when I was five years old Superman just happens to be a joke with me, but I remember being a child Remember being a teenager.

I just moved back to my hometown I'm having all of these memories come back as I drive down roads that I haven't driven in years Back roads my I took my wife out the other day down River Road out to the intermediate school and down cutoff Road Used to be dirt so every 16 year old when he got his first car used to drive down cutoff Road really fast and Dangerously, which is wrong.

It's a sin if you're watching don't do that But we did it it was and I was that was yesterday No, it was 25 years ago How quickly will the next 25 you remember when your children were born now, they're adults Getting married right having their own babies So when we think of personal eschatology, it's very real and it's coming quickly David Costin in a sermon entitled.

Are you ready to face the music? He gives this riddle and I'm going to read this riddle to you There is a preacher of the old school, but he speaks as boldly as ever He's not popular though the world is his parish and he travels every part of the globe and speaks in every language he visits the poor calls upon the rich preaches to people of every religion and no religion and The subject of his sermon is always the same.

He is an eloquent preacher Often stirring feelings which no other preacher could in good and bringing tears to eyes that never weep His arguments none are able to refute nor is there any heart that has Remained unmoved by the force of his appeals He shatters life with his message and most people hate him and everyone fears him What is the name of this preacher his name is death? Every tombstone is his pulpit every newspaper prints its text and someday Every one of us will be his sermon now Realize that is probably not what you wanted to talk about tonight and you know, many people never talk about it.

I perform dozens of funerals every year and I'm never surprised to hear Well, this family member wouldn't come because they don't come to funerals they don't like to think about death or they won't go with us to the cemetery because They don't want to see the casket and they don't want to see the gravestone They don't want to be reminded of death yet if we were honest death is something we all ponder we We're all filled with questions regarding death.

We ask what will it be like? When will it happen? Will there be an escape? We know the answer is no unless Jesus returns Death is the one sure and certain inevitability.

It even beats taxes and We are surrounded by reminders of the certainty of death according to ecology.com 151,600 people die every day that equates to six thousand three hundred and sixteen people every hour 105 people every minute two people every second.

How long have I been talking? Hundreds of people have died Death is the greatest statistic ten out of ten died death is indiscriminate It comes to the rich and to the poor it reaches the highest penthouse and then down to the lowest dungeon Royal doors cannot block its entrance and wealth cannot bribe it away Bill Gates will die as sure as The poorest man on skid row and this brings us to our text tonight because that's what our text says It says in verse 27 of Hebrews 9 as and just as it is appointed for man to die Once and what's interesting is once is the focus of that verse if you look at the context of Romans or excuse me? Hebrews 9 It's it's the context of it is Jesus not offering himself Repeatedly, you know under the Old Covenant Sacrifices were made Repeatedly some were made daily some were made monthly some were made annually there were these sacrifices that were made But Jesus's sacrifice was not made Repetitiously, this is one of the errors of Roman Catholicism Roman Catholics believe that every time the mass is Presented that is a representation of the sacrifice of Christ Christ ultimately is being sacrificed anew or afresh for the forgiveness of sins But it's an unnecessary thing because the sacrifice of Christ need be performed only once and This sacrifice is a once for all atonement once for all time never needing repeating So read beginning at verse 25 It says nor was it to offer himself Repeatedly as the high priest enters the holy places every year with blood not his own For then he would have to suffer repeatedly since the foundation of the world But as it is he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages To put away sin by the sacrifice of himself by the way into the ages that reminds us that when Christ came and died That began the end of the ages that began the eschaton Notice that and then in verse 27 and just as it is appointed For man to die once and after that comes judgment So Christ having been offered once to bear the sins of many will appear a second time not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him, so the The the verse 27 which often we memorize and think about actually is not the the point Verse 27 is besides the point verse 27 is simply a truism That shouldn't be forgotten, but really isn't the focus the focus is Christ came to die once and His sacrifice was only meant to be once just as man only dies once Christ only had to die once Just as man only dies once Christ only has to give his sacrifice Once that's the analogy.

That's the point that's being made but what's interesting about verse 27 is It tells us that when man dies that one time After that there is also another certainty judgment You will die and after that you will face God you will die and you will be judged I Tell a quick story when I was when I was unsaved.

I Was working at a security I was working for a security company at a building downtown and And Jennifer at that time she and I were still dating and I would work the graveyard shift 11 to 7 at night and She would sometimes come up and sit with me in the security office And we'd she'd bring me food or whatever and she'd sit there and we would talk and I remember very specifically one night Explaining to her about death and judgment and I wasn't saved And I grew up in church and I understood the realities of death and judgment, but I wasn't saved and She actually got saved before I did God used the the words of a Unsaved young man to save her and then later God saved me But it was the reality of death and judgment that that got her attention Because she'd grown up not going to church.

She'd grown up not hearing these things And it was the reminder of death and judgment that got her thinking and it was several weeks later that she got saved But it wasn't that night that she didn't fall down that night and get saved But it was it was that that began the wheels turning to remind us that death is certain and just as certain is judgment now Something to consider is that when we die There is a time period Between our death and The second coming of Christ and on the board.

I just want to make a very rudimentary chart so If you imagine this is a timeline and we'll say this is the timeline of death the next Event would be Resurrection now Next week we are going to focus on resurrection Because I I really enjoy looking at 1st Corinthians 15 1st Corinthians 15 gives Paul's great exposition of what happens at the resurrection of the body But there is a period of time between death and resurrection Where there is some debate as to what happens to the soul Because we are as I hope you would agree we are a constituted being a made up of not just the physical, but we are both physical and Spiritual or what we might say is material and immaterial There is the physical part of us when Adam was made He was made of the dust of the ground and he wasn't alive until when? When God breathed into his nostrils the breath of life and he became a living soul At that moment he was alive.

So Adam was constituted both materially and immaterially he was constituted body and soul now, there's an argument also within theology of Whether it's body soul and spirit or whether the soul and spirit are used interchangeably That's the argument between what is called the bipartite and tripartite view of man or division of man when we did Anthropology I taught on that so I don't want to revisit that but the point simply is to say there's no debating that there is a physical and a spiritual or soulish dimension of man and we know that at death the physical goes into the ground and Becomes one again with the dust of the ground as the Bible says from at from dust You have been made and to dust you shall return you all remember that What is it the English? Prayer book ashes to ashes dust to dust the other the traditional reading of the prayer that came out of the The the book of common prayer where it was typically read in funerals ashes to ashes and dust to dust taken from the scriptures So we know that we believe that when we die the physical goes into the ground but as we will see next week the physical doesn't stay in the ground one day the physical will be changed and renewed and We will have a physical reality in the new heavens in the new earth.

That's an important thing because some people believe we stay Ethereal spiritual beings forever.

The Bible doesn't teach that the Bible teaches a physical resurrection Okay, so that is that's this part So what goes what is planted Paul says like a seed will one day be raised to new life But what happens in the in-between that's what I want to deal with for the rest of our time tonight We don't have a whole lot of time, but hopefully we'll have enough time to do this We're going to talk about what we would what typically theologians refer to as the intermediate state the intermediate state the intermediate state refers to that Time between your death and resurrection and here's the thing if you're alive when Jesus comes you don't got to worry about it If you're alive when Jesus comes it's life to life just go from one to the next We see this in 1st Thessalonians 4, right? Says the dead in Christ will rise first and those who are alive will be caught up together with him in the clouds that way We will always be with the Lord, right? I believe at that moment.

We will receive our glorified bodies.

Wouldn't it be great if that were today? The only thing the only thing That makes me want Jesus to Terry is my unsaved loved ones That's it Other than that, I've come Lord Jesus You know, but even then as a as a person who believes in God's electing grace I I know he won't come too early and he won't come a second too late But I do my heart hurts for those who will be unsaved at his coming So I have to be honest about that But in the intermediate state you'll notice on your handout.

I've given you two positions that are historically argued Regarding the intermediate state.

The first is referred to as soul sleep and The second is What I what I have dubbed continued consciousness Only because I haven't really found a better way of saying it Soul sleep has a very fancy name psychopenicia, which it just is a fancy way of saying soul sleep and This proposes the idea that at death the body is dead and the soul is also dead Now some would say the soul sleeps That's where the term soul sleep comes from.

But the idea is that your body and soul are not Constituted two parts, but your body and soul are constituted as one part.

Therefore when your body dies the soul also Dies and goes into the ground now Here's the thing about it I It is it is not Something that has been held by Orthodox Christians.

You can you can go back into historic Christianity you can look at historic theology.

You don't find it in Mainline and I know that's sometimes Argumented well what constitutes mainland you don't find it in the majority of Christian belief, but you do find it on the Outskirts of Christian belief and oftentimes you find it a lot in the heretical Movements, does anybody know right offhand? What what movement today would espouse soul sleep? Yeah, well the Seventh-day Adventists Seventh-day Adventists believe in soul sleep They also believe in a very odd view of judgment They have what's called the investigative judgment, which they believe began in the early 1900s Where Christ is now investigating our lives to see if we are worthy of salvation, which is a wrong view of grace and works Seventh-day Adventism Seventh-day Adventism is Oftentimes people think of it as just another denomination.

They have a lot of very false views particularly their views of Ellen G White as a Prophetess and her teachings which were very unbiblical but yes that they would they would hold to soul sleep as Would the Jehovah Witnesses that was the one I was thinking of only because if you ever have a Jehovah Witness come to your door and You know that happens from time to time If you ever bring up, you know when I if you ever say to them when I die I'm going to go to heaven and be with Jesus.

They'll say no when you die you go on the ground They're very persnickety about wanting to correct that particular thing making that a point of Argument and they'll say well see here The Bible says you're asleep see here that and they use the word where the Bible refers to those who are asleep You know first Thessalonians 4 and other various places referred to those who die as being asleep and they make the argument Yes, when you die, your soul is in the ground essentially and Here's the thing about it as much as I disagree with it I don't think that's damnable heresy.

I just think it's wrong.

I think it I think it's I I do think it's heretical.

I think it's more what we would call heterodoxy.

I think it falls in the realm of It wouldn't you wouldn't be damned for believing such a thing, but I don't think it's correct And I think if it were taught here, we would correct it.

We would say no, that's not what we believe and teach but If somebody believed it, I don't think it would it's not the same as denying the Trinity or denying the deity of Christ or denying Justification by faith alone because this is an area where people I think can have a disagreement and it wouldn't be wouldn't be the end of their their tenure as believers, but The idea that they have is that when you die you go to sleep and the next thing you know Is you're resurrected so, you know, like when you go to sleep at night You fall asleep at 10 o'clock and you wake up at 7 o'clock or whatever It's instant for you lest you're like me and you have the most weird vivid dreams Sometimes I feel like I dream a whole life Like I'll wake up to more tired than I went to bed I'm so stressed out over the dreams, but you know what? I mean though you close your eyes at night 10 o'clock you wake up at 7 o'clock and it's it's an instant moment so for those who would argue for soul-sleep, they would argue that even though it is a Long period of time however long we don't know but for you It would be instant you close your eyes and you would open your eyes and you'd be in the resurrected body So that's their that's their point is even though it's a long time.

You won't know it because you'll be dead so That's that's their argument.

I'm not arguing for them I'm simply I try to present when I disagree with somebody I try to present it the best way possible So as at least to not misrepresent those who I disagree with There this has never been the view of Orthodox Christianity.

I think I say that in your notes, right? Isn't don't your notes reference the fact that this okay? Just just so you I like to put that in there even though I'm giving it to you I'm not giving it to you as an option I'm simply saying this is one view that people hold to but this is not Typically held by Orthodox believer and certainly not held by us The Orthodox position is what is typically referred to as Continued consciousness at least by me continued consciousness of the soul That is to say when the body dies bodies in the ground the soul is conscious and alive and aware with the Lord Until the resurrection of the body where the soul is rejoined to the body for the resurrection and This does make a clear distinction between the material and immaterial part of man Remember I said for those who hold to soul sleep They don't make a strong distinction between the material and the immaterial they basically say it's they're sort of sandwiched the two together But we would say there is a strong distinction between the physical and the spiritual or the material and the immaterial and The passages we would look to I'm going to give you several First begin in the Gospels with the Gospel of Luke chapter 23 verse 43 Jesus is on the cross and the man Who is on the men who are on the cross with him began the day reviling him? But at some point in the day one of those men repents of his foolish Reviling and he turns to Christ and he says Remember me when you enter your kingdom and what does Jesus say? Today Thou shalt be with me in paradise Today you will be with me in paradise an interesting statement from our Lord because if Jesus is wrong Then that provides us with an entirely new set of problems because now we have to question the the deity and and and omniscience of our Lord but also Some have said well Jesus isn't saying today.

You'll be with me in paradise.

What he's saying is I say to you today You will be with me in paradise.

In fact, that's the argument of the seventh-day Adventist.

I've heard them make that argument They say the problem is not with what Jesus said.

The problem is where we place the comma you see we say today You will be with me in paradise But they say no I say to you today Comma, you will be with me in paradise There's a Greek word for that What is it? It's baloney is baloney.

What'd you say? Did you say baloney? Oh, yeah, that's my Greek word That's my favorite Greek word.

That's that it just don't that don't fly.

It doesn't work linguistically and I'll tell you this it also doesn't work practically The phrase I say to you today is superfluous and Unnecessary and when Jesus was on the cross He wasn't saying anything superfluous or unnecessary because every phrase he uttered Was in agony as he had to force his self up on his on the nail in his foot So as to be able to relieve the pressure on his abdomen so that he could breathe in and speak He only said seven things from the cross that we know of and one of them is today You will be with me in paradise the idea that he would add the superfluous.

I say to you today and Not have a reason to say today is to me Just a misunderstanding of the practicality of such language.

So I don't I don't I don't accept that as a as a Answer, I think Jesus is telling this man when you die, you're going to be with me And I think that same promises is to all believers.

I think today if I were to die, I would be with the Lord when the next one is in Acts chapter 7 verse 59 when Stephen is being stoned to death the first one to die for his faith in the Lord Jesus Christ He looks into heaven and he sees the Lord standing At the right hand of the Father and what does he say Lord? Jesus Receive my spirit Now we could say well, he was just ignorant He didn't know his spirit was going to go on the ground and sit for 2,000 years plus.

I Think that would be a misunderstanding I think Stephen was a pretty good theologian and I think Stephen understood that he was about to close his eyes here and Open his eyes in glory and be with the Lord Revelation chapter 6 one of my favorite passages to point to is verses 9 and 10 now this one takes a minute I know we're out of time.

So I'll I'll make it quick Revelation chapter 6 verse 9 Says when the fifth seal was opened I saw under the altar the souls of those who'd been slain for the word of God and For the witness they had born they cried out with a loud voice.

Oh Lord Sovereign holy and true how long before you will judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth? So what do we see here? Now one could say this is Revelation.

It's signs and symbols.

But what does it say? It says that in heaven those who have been martyred for their faith.

Not only know how they died But they are self-aware enough to cry out for Vengeance some people say when you go to heaven you lose all memory.

I Don't think that's true 2nd Corinthians 5 8 we are confident Willing rather to be absent from the body and present with the Lord.

That's pretty Obvious what does it mean to be absent from the body? It means the spirit has left the body In fact, James 2 26 says that the body without the spirit is dead That's how he defines death the body without the spirit.

Where's the spirit Paul tells us 2nd Corinthians 5 8 with the Lord and finally Luke 16 going back to the Gospels Jesus gives an account of the death of two men One might argue it's a parable I tend to not believe it's a parable, but I'm willing to be I'm willing to say I don't know for certain But Luke 16 verses 19 to 31 We have the account of the rich man and Lazarus both both of them who died.

This is not the Lazarus who was Who was? resurrected by Jesus This is a poor beggar named Lazarus Lazarus.

Obviously a very common name and It says in Luke 16 that when the when the poor beggar died His soul was carried by the angels to Abraham's bosom but when the rich man died, he closed his eyes and Opened them in the fires of Hades Which I've always pointed to that and I've said what's interesting is the distinction between the death of the righteous and the death of the wicked the righteous has an escort a Comforting escort But the wicked closes his eyes and death and opens them unescorted into the fires of Hades or Hades What a reality and again someone might say well, that's just a parable even if it be just a parable What does it tell us about death? Tells us that death we don't just go into the ground But we are either with the Lord or We are in torment There's nothing in this world which causes more questions inspires more contemplation and encourages more self-evaluation Than does the cold specter of death? But for those who are in Christ, there is the comfort in knowing that death Will do nothing more than bring us into the presence of our Savior When I was a child, I remember falling asleep in the car and waking up in my bed Sometime My father picked me up from the car and took me into my bed And I think that that is a similar picture of what death will be like one day I will close my eyes in this world.

If Jesus tarries, I will close my eyes here and I will wake up with him safe Comforted and at peace and that is the promise that he gives to all who believe in him Let's pray Father in heaven.

I thank you for this opportunity to be together tonight I thank you that we have no fear in death because you oh God have sent your son to conquer death and We can now say Oh death.

Where is your victory? Oh death? Where is your sting and Lord? I pray that You would bless us With confidence that no matter what comes no matter what happens with our nation.

No matter what happens with our world No matter what happens in our town or even in our home That you Oh God remain sovereign and you Oh God have planned our life and even our death and We have no reason to fear Lord we thank you.

We praise you would give you all glory in Christ's name.