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Hone
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Patrick Henry
Amendment III
No Soldier shall, in time of peace be quartered in any house,
without the consent of the Owner, nor in time of war, but in a manner to
be prescribed by law.
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WHAT IS DEATH
-By Evangelist Lester Roloff
1914-1982
On the way over to Hebrews, chapter nine, I’d have you make a brief
stop in chapter four:
“Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into
the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession. For
we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of
our infirmities; but was in all points tempted as we are yet without
sin. Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may
obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.”HE.4: 14-16.
Now to the seventh chapter to see what kind of priest we have: “For
such an high priest became us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled,
separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens; Who needeth not
daily, as those high priest, to offer up sacrifice, first for his own
sins, and then for the people’s; for this he did once, when he offered
up himself” 7:26,27.
Now that priest is the kind I believe in going to. He must be holy,
harmless, undefiled, separated from sinners and made higher than the
heavens. Show me one like that now, and I’ll beat it straight to him.
Who is that? Jesus.
Chapter 8, verse 1: “Now of the things, which we have spoken this is
the sum…,” the total right here. What is he going to say about the
priest? He used one little word to describe Him: “We have SUCH an high
priest.”
A man came to tell me this morning, “I am through with my religion.
I’ve traded that off for Jesus.” That’s the greatest swap anyone will
ever make. Anything that will keep you from honoring Jesus and believing
in Him, swap it off!
You Mormons. Methodist, Episcopalians, Catholics, Baptist and
others, if you are in trouble, settle for nothing less than Christ and
the new birth, because that will make you a new creature.
We are ready now for the main text, Hebrews 9. We have an
appointment to keep. Everybody WILL keep this appointment: “And as it is
appointed unto men once to die…” HE.9: 27. But He didn’t stop there.
After that, we have to settle up. After that, we have to give an
account, meet the record.
“And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after that the
judgment: So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto
them that look for him shall he appear the second time, without sin unto
salvation” HE.9: 27,28.
Job raised the question, “If a man die, shall he live again?” When a
man gives up the ghost, what is his present address?
This morning I mentioned that fear usually takes on one of these
particular aspects.
Some people are afraid of life, afraid of what is going to happen;
therefore the many suicides. They have never learned to live. People are
afraid of what tomorrow holds, afraid of what they did yesterday, afraid
to finish out today.
Then I suppose more people are afraid of the grim reaper than of
anything else. Oh, that’s why most people never want to think about
dying. “Don’t mention dying to me. Let it slip up on me, and I’ll meet
it when it comes.”
Brother, everybody needs to be prepared to die. Most people are
afraid of death, yet death is but the graduation of life. Death is sort
of an underpass to glory. Slipping out into eternity is God’s way of
graduating you.
There are a lot of false notions about death. You hear, “Well. I
don’t think man has a thing to do with the length of his life. I mean,
what is to be will be, whether it ever happens or not.” Well, I do have
something to do with it.
People are afraid, afraid of life, afraid of death.
Then they fear what will come after death. People are afraid of
death because they are afraid that they must meet something beyond the
grave. There certainly is something beyond the grave.
Now then, what is death? everlasting punishment, damnation, God’s
wrath, destruction, perishing, and the second death.
One verse will give you hope, 2 Co.1: 10, but notice in verse 9 that
everybody is sentenced to death:”…we had the sentence of death in
ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God, which
raiseth the dead.” Now verse 10, “Who delivered us from so great a death
(past tense), and doth deliver (right now): in whom we trust that he
will deliver us (deliverance from death).”
No Christian ever dies permanently. You can’t kill eternal life. I
don’t believe in soul-sleep, where out in the cemetery we lie around for
fifty or a thousand years. I believe we are alive. When my spirit leaves
my body, it goes home. A lot of these new doctrines are but forms of
cults.
What is the next stop after death? “And as it is appointed unto men
once to die, but after this the judgment.” The Bible says everyone shall
give an account. We must all stand at the judgment.
There are two judgments, according to the Bible. One will be, in a
sense, the judgment for Christians. Actually, there won’t be a real
judgment, because “There is therefore now no condemnation (i.e.
judgment) to them which are in Christ Jesus” RO.8:1. If you are a member
of the “in crowd” spiritually, there will be no judgment. You will not
stand there scared to death and trembling; you will be there only for
your rewards. But sinners must stand at the great White Throne Judgment
to have their record read and know that God is doing right.
Folks this is the only book you can trust to tell you about life,
death and what happens after death. This is the only book that is
authoritative. If you believe the Book, you can get all your questions
answered, your problems solved, your doubts dissolved.
I am thinking of two men who died. The Bible says, “Abraham believed
God, and it was accounted unto him for righteousness” RO.4: 3. Abraham
was a man of faith, but he died.
A poor man lay at a rich man’s gate. According to the book of Luke,
and the dogs came and licked his sores. They were his doctors. There is
healing in the saliva of a dog, and that was the best this poor man
could get. He didn’t have hospitalization; he couldn’t get medical help,
so his best friends, the dogs, licked his sores.
That story is similar to Job in the ash pile, with boils all over
him. There is antiseptic value in ashes, so probably he would take the
broken, sterilized pottery, lance his big risings, mash them out, then
take a handful of ashes and put them on the boils. At least the ash pile
was the best doctor he had. His friends didn’t help him. They didn’t
bring “Dr. Somebody” out to see him. He didn’t have any doctors.
Abraham died and had gone to be with the Lord. The poor man died and
went to Abraham’s bosom. In other words, he went into the heart of
faith. He went to the place where Abraham was.
When the rich man died, “in hell he lifted up his eyes”, the unknown
doctrine for this wild generation.
Some people don’t believe in Hell. You know why the average person
doesn’t believe in Hell? He knows if there is one, he is going there,
and he just doesn’t want to think about it. If you preach the doctrine
of Hell, people say, “Man, that’s horrible! I don’t know why anybody
would want to go to a church like that.” Would you rather find out about
Hell and turn from it now, or have nobody tell you and you land there
forever, then wonder, why didn’t that preacher tell me? I went to church
Sunday after Sunday?
The rich man called Abraham “Father”, “Father Abraham, have mercy on
me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water,
and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame’ Lk.16: 24.
I didn’t invent hell. No Christian invented Hell. No preacher
invented Hell. Hell is the devil’s home, and if you live for him, walk
with him, you will go home with him one of these days. Don’t blame God
for such a doom No one in this building ought to think about going to
Hell when I offer you the straight road to Heaven.
He raised the question, “Would you send Lazarus?”
Abraham said, no sir. There’s between me and you a great gulf fixed,
He said, There’s no traffic, no plane, no train, no way for somebody to
come from where I am to where you are.
The second request he made was this, Father Abraham, I’m not arguing
with you about that. It looks like I am here to stay. But could you do
something about my five brothers? Would you send somebody to warn them,
that they come not to this place?
Abraham said. Son, remember. You had your good things on earth. The
poor man had his bad things. Now your brothers have Moses and the
prophets. We have more than that now. We have Moses and the prophets,
the New Testament, the Holy Spirit and Gospel preachers. What more do
you need, dear friend, in order to get saved?
The rich man said, they may not hear him, but if you would send
somebody from where you are to where they are, they would believe; they
would repent. You have to believe in order to be saved.
You know why he went to Hell? He never got saved. He never said,
“Lord, I’m sorry. I’ve sinned, and I want YOU to forgive me for my sin.
Where do people go when they die? They go either to Heaven or to
Hell.
Now let us look at death for the Christian. Are we to be afraid of
it? Nobody is going to bypass it. I know the Bible says, “It is
appointed unto men once to die,” but I believe if the rapture takes
place, we won’t have to take time to die. The ones who are dead
will 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. Wherefore comfort one another with these
words” 1 Thess.4: 17,18.
It will be a brand new experience. I’ve never been raptured, but I
will be.
Unsaved friend, if you want to go with us, trust Jesus right now and
let Him come into your life.
What is death for the Christian? Just going to sleep. It is peace.
Then the crown of life comes after death. Christians have no need to be
afraid.
Both Moses and Elijah came back from the dead in good shape. You
say, are we going to recognize our loved ones?
May I ask you a question? Will we know less in Heaven than we know
down here? If my mother came walking in at that door, I would recognize
her. If my daddy came in, I would know him.
Now, when this imperfect body fades away and is laid to rest, with a
new body and a new mind, when I meet my mother and daddy, I will know
them. I have a little sister named Thelma; I’ll recognize her. Yes, we
will recognize one another in Heaven. Our experiences will be very
blessed and sweet and wonderful when we get to Heaven.
The question is this: Are you ready?
You say, “Brother Roloff, quickly tell me how to get ready to meet
the Saviour.”
Confess that you are a sinner, because all have sinned, and there is
not one thing you can do about it. You are lost forever. You are
helpless. You are dead in trespasses and sin. Not the church not Mother
nor Dad nor the priest, nor Brother Roloff nor the baptismal waters nor
good works can save you. You can’t do a thing about it. Then just make a
confession; just admit that Jesus Christ died for your sins according to
the Scriptures. Just take the Bible plan that says, “…Now is the
accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation” 2CO.6: 2. Then trust
Him and say, ‘Come into my heart, Lord Jesus, and save me.”
I’ll promise you that if the rapture takes place five minutes from
now, you will be ready for it and be in it, it makes no difference how
old you are or how young you are; if you are old enough to realize
you’re a sinner and need Jesus and will trust Him, you can be saved.
People say, “Look what you’ve missed.” I know. I’ve missed being a
drunkard. I’ve missed being a dope-head. I’ve missed dying before I
reached threescore years. I missed the devil’s alphabet and his
language. I’ve missed the sorrow, the heartache, and the loneliness of a
broken home. There are a heap of things I’ve missed, and I appreciate
missing them.
I’ve been thinking about a little song. Maybe the choir would help
me to sing it.
· He cleansed me the
spotted leper,
He opened
blinded eyes;
He walked on troubled waters,
Astounded
passers by,
Forgave the sinful woman,
Raised
Lazarus from the dead,
Took bread from one small
basket’
And then
thousands fed.
· He’s the Oak, and I am
the ivy.
He’s the potter; I’m the clay.
He’s the Oil’ I’m just the vessel,
I’m the traveler; He’s the Way.
I’m the flower; He’s the Fragrance,
I’m the lamp, but He’s the
flame
He’s the words I sing to music;
I’m the bride who claims His
Name.
· Sweet Jesus, sweet
Jesus, what a
Wonder you are.
You’re brighter than the
morning
Star,
You’re fairer, much fairer
Than the lily that grows by the
Wayside;
Precious: more precious than
gold.
Would you come now to the altar? Come and say to Jesus, “You are
sweet to my life.” Tell Him that you love Him tonight and that you are
going to walk with Him and serve Him.
FROM THE EDITOR:
Millions have done what Brother Roloff has said. They have confessed
that they are sinners and they claim His promise to come. Million have
been deceived by this invitation.
How different then what Peter said on the day of Pentecost, when he
was asked what they must do to be saved, Peter gave them the right
answer, “REPENT.” No one was ever saved that did not first “REPENT.” It
is hard for me to understand why preachers leave this vital part out of
the invitation. Are they afraid that no one will come to the altar, if
they know they must “REPENT?”
John the Baptist refused to baptize anyone, unless he was sure they
had “REPENTED.” I don’t know how God will deal with the preachers that
do not insist that people “REPENT,” before they can be baptized.
If the Lord has convicted you of your sins by reading this message,
then you must “REPENT”, or perish.
What, you may say, does it mean to “REPENT?” To repent is to change
your mind about God and His holy laws. To “REPENT”, you must be willing
to turn from ALL your wicked way, and walk in the footsteps of Jesus
Christ. It must be the desire of your heart to live a holy life. You
must hate sins as God hates sin. Unless you hate the old life and want
to live a holy life, you have not repented, you are not saved, and you
are still in your sins. Unless you hate your sins as much as God hates
them, you are not ready to “REPENT.”
If you are not ready to “REPENT”, here is what you can do,
Get on your knees before God, and ask Him to reveal Himself to you.
Then get out the Gospel of John and read it. Each time before you start
reading, stop and ask God to reveal Himself to you. The Gospel of John
was written to show that Christ is the Saviour of the world, “But these
are written, that YE MIGHT BELIEVE THAT JESUS IS THE CHRIST, the Son of
God; and that believing ye might have life through his name” JN.20: 31.
Set a goal to pray each day, and read the Gospel over-and-over until God
reveals to you that Christ is Lord. Then when, in your heart, you know
He is Almighty God, the Saviour of the world, you will want to “REPENT”,
and throw yourself at His feet in “REPENTANCE.”
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