September 22, 2013
Morning Service

We have been discussing what we teach.  As I have said many times, I can only teach what I feel God has given me to understand to teach.  So far we have discussed;

1.       The Bible is our rule of faith, and sets forth our standard of living.

2.      The Church that Jesus said He would build is the pillar and ground of truth.

3.      We looked at what we teach to obtain eternal life, which is the gift of God, by accepting, and believing the atoning work on Calvary of Jesus of Nazareth, the Christ, the very Son of God.

4.      Then we looked at our weekly pattern of worship.

Today we will look at what we teach concerning the immortality of the soul.  #5.  We do not teach the immortality of the soul, because it is not taught in the Bible.  Let’s look at a few Scriptures. 

·         Let me say again, I can only teach what God has allowed me to understand from the Bible.  Others that teach it differently won’t answer to me, but to God, just as I will answer to God for what I teach. 

·         What I find in the Bible is love, mercy, grace, forgiveness, that’s the gospel I teach.  There will be punishment for the wicked, and rewards for the faithful.  We should see this today.  In Isaiah, God said, “come, let us reason together.”   

In the beginning:

·         Gen 2:7  And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.

·         As we can see, if the soul is immortal, then God would have just brought it to life, but He didn’t He created a human being, and these ingredients is what He used;  the dust of the ground for his body, and the breath of God, for life, and then man became a living soul.  Man was not in existence before this.  This is what the Bible gives us.

Then listen to what is said concerning man in garden of Eden after they sinned;

Gen 3:9-19  And the LORD God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou?  (10)  And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself.  (11)  And he said, Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat?  (12)  And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat.  (13)  And the LORD God said unto the woman, What is this that thou hast done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat.  (14)  And the LORD God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life:  (15)  And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.  (16)  Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.  (17)  And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life;  (18)  Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field;  (19)  In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.

·         Gen 3:22  And the LORD God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever:

So this tells me that man does not have eternal life abiding in him.  Listen to Ezekiel when he says;

·         Eze 18:20  The soul that sinneth, it shall die. The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son: the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him.

Some would argue that it means spiritual death.  But it doesn’t say that, does it? 

·         Jesus speaking;  Mat 10:28  And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.

We do believe that the righteous, or the obedient shall inherit eternal life.

·         Mat 25:34  Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:

·         Mat 25:46  And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.

·         Then the Apostle Paul;  Rom 6:23  For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. 

Eternal life is a free gift from God, upon receiving Jesus Christ as your personal savior.  When you obey the Gospel, the Holy Spirit comes into your life, and that is what produces eternal life in the believer. 

You see it’s not that everyone already has eternal life, and it’s just a matter of where you will spend eternity.  Eternal life is what God, through the Holy Spirit, gives to the one who believes, and calls on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Eternal life for the believer, and eternal death, which is the second death, for the wicked.

·         Rev 20:12-15  And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, 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.  (13)  And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works.  (14)  And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.  (15)  And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.

·         Rev 21:7-8  He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son.  (8)  But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.

 

Solomon, in his book of Ecc. Says this concerning death;

Solomon describes the end of life in chapter 12, and concludes the whole matter.

Ecc 12:7  Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it.

Then he says;

Ecc 12:12-14  And further, by these, my son, be admonished: of making many books there is no end; and much study is a weariness of the flesh.  (13)  Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.  (14)  For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.

 

Almighty God, our Heavenly Father.  Help us to understand that You are a merciful God, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance, and the acceptance of Your Son Jesus Christ.  Amen.