So turn with me to I Corinthians 15, just drop down to verse 51.
I Corinthians 15:51
"Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not sleep, (to die physically) but we shall all be changed."
How are we o be changed? Here's one thought how about if we all through His divine presence are become as He was as seen by the disciples on the Mt. Is this possible do you think? This would be a later day rain of sorts and is keeping with the revelation of scripture and Faith's Hope.
Now let's take time to also read the one over in I Thessalonians.
I Thessalonians 4:13
"But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as other which have not hope."
And all Paul is talking about are believers who have died. Their spirit has remained asleep and continues in that state. Now there are cults who have taken that to mean that when a believer dies he goes into an unconscious state, and some cults even feel that the soul stays with that body in the grave, and it is merely asleep. Listen the soul nor the awakened, quickened spirit of man never sleeps! The soul of a lost person, as we're going to see here, goes immediately to Hell.
People just don't like to hear that expression anymore, but you see we're not afraid of it. We've always said that if people don't like the way we share our life experiences by what we teach, then they can push the off button or delete. Now we're sure the Lord doesn't want it that way, but they've got that option, so it doesn't scare us that we may lose a retirement if we can't keep doing what we're doing like it would other proclaimers, preachers and teachers who are depending on a denomination retirement pension. The Lord never told me to build a house or church from which to proclaim His Truth and this Gospel is His Truth. He just said in effect to be instant in season and out of season and to take no thought as to what to say for He would give me the words or put them in my mouth. And without any planed course of direction this is how we've lived now since 1985. So we're going to teach it just like the Bible puts it, and if people don't like it, then that's tough. The lost person is going to go to Hell with all unbelievers! Now this just put me in mind of another thing which I need to get off my chest and it has to do with evil spirits or demons. We as receptive believers have through the ontological essence of the Spirit of Christ no fear of them as they are under our feet. They run to hide when the presence of their LORD is in the room or anywhere near by. In fact when we're walking through a store or in a crowd most of them will go in another direction because they love the darkness of sin more than the Truth of Life in the Light of God.
All right, the soul and spirit never sleeps, and for many the spirit is never awakened or quickened but what about the body? We can refer to it as being asleep because what's going to happen one day? It's going to be resurrected, it's going to be woke up, it's going to be changed. Changed from a corruptible body to an incorruptible one.
When this old body is put in the grave, matters not whether its cremated or blown apart or left whole, and it's really asleep. But before it knows it the time has gone by, what's going to happen? The Lord's going shout, and the trumpet of God is going to sound, and this body is going to be raised from the dead, and will be awakened or changed in a split second, an atomic second. But always remember, "the soul and spirit never sleeps". OK so let's deal with the lost person first and then we'll come back and look at the believer.
So the lost person's body dies, his old sin nature, which has never gotten right with God, goes out into eternity, to Hell, the place that is waiting for the resurrection of the lost person. Now let me take you back to Ephesians chapter 2 for a moment and then we'll go to Matthew.
Ephesians 2:2-3
"Wherein (that is in trespasses and sins) in time past ye (believers) walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, (Satan) the spirit (small s so it's not the Holy Spirit) that now worketh in the children of disobedience (the lawless, wicked, as they don't walk by Faith): Among whom also we (including ourselves, our former way of life) all had our conversation (former manner of living) in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh, and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others."
Now turn with me to Matthew chapter 7. These are verses that we don't hear much any more. Most teachers and preachers just skip over them. When were young, we heard this quite often. We haven't heard about this for a long time, but these verses are still in the Book. And on top of that this is what the Lord said Himself.
Matthew 7:13-14
"Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, (not eternal life, but rather eternal condemnation) and many there be which go in thereat: (why do many take the broad way? because its easy and lined with deceptive sweetness's or pleasures) Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life,(eternal life) and few there be that find it."
Years ago we had a fellow who was a salesman for one of the dealership I was responsible to, he was a member of one of the largest religious systems in the world, and he was trying to implore me to become a part of his religious system. And I said to him, now wait a minute, my Bible tells me that based on numbers alone you're going in the wrong direction, and we don't want to be part of it. He said, "What do you mean?" I said, "Have you ever heard about the verse in the Bible that says, "broad is the way, and many go in thereat, but narrow is the way that leads to eternal life, and few there be that find it." I said, "Tell me something, does your particular religion qualify for many, or few?" He said, "Well we're many." I said, "Then according to that where are you?" He said, "On the way to destruction?" with that said I said, "You named it."
Because you see all through history has God never had the "many?" NO! Never! That's a doctrine that can be followed all the way from Genesis to Revelation, and we call it the "Doctrine of the remnant." Now those women who go to the fabric shops, what do you like to find? A remnant. It's just a little bit left of the whole bolt. Well you see that's what God has kept all the way through human history, is that little remnant. Once it got so small He could hardly see it, like at the end of the first 1600 years of human history, we had the event of the flood. How many were saved from the flood? 8 out of probably 4,000,000,000. Yes, 4 million people is the possible number of lost souls with on told numbers of fallen angels, some of which had intercourse with women who are now demons. Invisible to our naked eyes.
Then we come to the next graphic description and that is when Elijah was confronting the prophets of Baal up there on Mount Carmel. And Elijah ran scared from Queen Jezebel clear down to the south end of the Sinai peninsula. He hid under a Juniper tree, and what was his graphic statement? "Lord I'm the only one left." But what did God say? "Elijah 'I have 7000 who have not bowed their knee to Baal'." In other words these 7000 were still believers. Now that sounds pretty good, but you see Israel has always had a population coming out of Egypt running between 7-10 million. Do you know what percentage 7000 is out of 7 million? It's not 1% but is .01 of 1%. Not 1/10th, but rather it's one, one hundredth of one percent. It's a pretty small remnant isn't it? And it's always been that way, and it's that way today. We're getting down to a smaller and smaller percentage everyday. But is God surprised? Why of course not, because it's always been that way. So this is what Jesus meant when He said this is Matthew chapter 7 and verse 13.
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