The below is from a sermon preached by Rev. John Church.
01 -- WHERE WILL YOU SPEND ETERNITY?
Lesson: Luke 16:19-81
"There was a certain rich man, which was clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day: And there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, which was laid at his gate, full of sores, And desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man's table: moreover the dogs came" and licked his sores. And it came to pass that 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 seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. And he cried and said, 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. 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. And beside all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed: so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot; neither can they pass to us, that would come from thence. Then he said, I pray thee therefore, father, that thou wouldest send him to my father's house: For I have five brethren; that he may testify unto them, lest they also come into this place of torment. Abraham saith unto him, they have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them. And he said, Nay, father Abraham: but if one went unto them from the dead, they will repent. And he said unto him, If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead."
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As a scriptural basis for this message I want to read three brief statements that fell from the lips of the Son of God. I would like for you to remember that these are not the words of some mere man, but they are the words of the Son of God. He speaks with an authority with which no other man can ever speak. His words are final on any subject. These three statements are:
Matthew 25:41. "Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels."
Matthew 25:46. "And these shall go away into everlasting punishment; but the righteous into life eternal." ('The same word that is translated in one place, everlasting, is translated in the other place, eternal.)
John 14:2-3. "In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also."
In traveling over the highways of our land we see many kinds of billboards and signs. Most of them are advertising some commercial product. However, there is a group of people that have taken it upon themselves to place some religious signs along the highways. Quite often you will see signs with some such message as this: "Jesus saves." "The blood of Jesus Christ, His Son, cleanseth us from all sin." "Jesus is soon coming." "Prepare to meet thy God." Many times you will meet this question: "Where will you spend is used in a threefold sense in the Bible. In some instances it means the Holy Spirit. In other instances it means the spirit or attitude that is manifested under certain circumstances. However, there are many other instances in which it is used, and it clearly indicates that it refers to the spirit nature that was imparted to man. It is a nature that all men have regardless of their relationship to God. They are spirit beings. I do not have time nor space to give all of these instances in which this term is used, but I do feel that it would be worth our while to call your attention to some of them, for there is a great basic truth involved at this point. I list some of these passages where the word is used in speaking of the spirit nature of "man. In the Hebrew there are two different words used in speaking of this nature. One of them is the word neshamsh, and it means breath or spirit. I call your attention to two passages where this word is used. One is Job 26:4: "To whom hast thou uttered words? and whose spirit came from thee?" Here Job is declaring that his spirit nature came from God. The second is: Prov. 20:27: "The spirit of man is the candle of the Lord." (The marginal reading is: "The spirit of man is the lamp of the Lord.") Both of these passages clearly indicate that man has a spirit nature that came direct from God.
The other Hebrew word that is translated spirit is the word Ruach, and it means 'wind or breath. It is the equivalent of the Greek word pneuma, that is used in the New Testament. This word, Ruach, is used many times in the Old 'Testament and in various ways. However, there are a number of instances in which it means the spirit nature of man, that was given by the Lord at creation. I will call your attention to some of them.
Job 27:3: "All the while my breath (or spirit) is in me, and the spirit (or breath) of God is in my nostrils."
Job 32:8: "But there is a spirit in man: and the inspiration of the Almighty giveth them understanding."
Job 33:4: "The Spirit of God hath made me, and the breath of the Almighty hath given me life.'" Psalms 31:5: "Into thine hand I commit my spirit."
Proverbs 16:32: "He that ruleth his spirit is better than he that taketh a city."
Ecclesiastes 8:8: "There is no man that hath power over the spirit to retain the spirit."
Ecclesiastes 12::7: "Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it."
Isaiah 26:9: "With my soul have I desired thee in the night; yea, with my spirit within me will I seek thee early. (Notice that the prophet mentions both the soul and spirit.)
Isaiah 38:6: "O Lord, by these things men live, and in all these things is the life of my spirit."
Zachariah 12:1: "The burden of the word of the Lord for Israel, saith the Lord, which stretcheth forth the heavens, and layeth the foundation of the earth, and formeth the spirit of man within him."
There are many other such passages that might be quoted from the Old Testament, but these are sufficient to prove that man has a spirit nature in him that came direct from God. He has this nature regardless of whether he is a Christian or not. It was given to him at creation.
In the New Testament we find the same great truth brought out many times. In the New Testament the Greek word, pneuma, is used and it means breath in its classical sense, but in the New Testament it means spirit.. Many times it is used in speaking of the Holy Spirit, but in many instances" it is used in referring to the spirit nature of man. I cite a few cases to prove the point.
Mark 14:38: "The spirit truly is ready, but the flesh is weak."
Luke 23:46: "Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit and having said thus he gave up the ghost." (When the spirit left the body the body was dead).
Acts 7:59: "And they stoned Stephen, calling upon God, and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit. (Stephen did not believe in soul sleep. He expected to go to be with Jesus at that time.
Paul had the same idea when he said, "Having a desire to depart and to be with Christ, which is far better." Philippians 1:23, 24).
Romans 8:16: "The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit," etc.
1 Cor. 2:11: "For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God." (Note the two spirits mentioned here. One is the Holy Spirit of God, the other is the spirit of man.)
1 Cor. 6:20: "For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's."
1 Cor. 7:34: "The unmarried woman careth for the things of the Lord, that she may be holy both in body and in spirit."
1 Cor. 14:14: "For if I pray in an unknown tongue, my spirit prayeth, but my understanding is unfruitful."
2 Cor. 7:1: "Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of the Lord."
1 Thess. 5:23: "And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ."
Hebrews 4:12: "For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit." etc. (Now, if the soul and spirit are one and
the same thing then they could never be divided. They are bound to be two distinct things, or they could never be divided).
Hebrews 12:23: "To the general assembly and the church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect," (It is the spirit that goes to heaven at death.)
James 2:26: "For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also." (Notice that James says that when the spirit leaves the body, then the body is dead. It is the spirit that gives life to the body.)
Now these many passages of Scripture clearly indicate that man is more than a physical being. It clearly indicates that man has something more than animal life. Man is a spirit being. God breathed into him the breath of life and he became a living soul. He has in him a spirit nature that came from God. This spirit nature can no more be annihilated or destroyed than God can be destroyed. When we are born of the Spirit of God our spirit nature is quickened and we receive eternal life. However, we have had spirit life all the time just as we have had animal life. This is a great truth that many people have overlooked, and because of that much error has arisen. The spirit nature of man can no more be destroyed 'in the sense of annihilation than you can destroy God. All men have this spirit nature, both saint and sinner.
In fact, this idea of the complete destruction or annihilation of the lost is unsound both from the standpoint of science and the Bible.
Scientists are telling us that you cannot completely destroy matter in the sense of doing away with it. You may change its form, but you cannot annihilate it. You may burn this desk behind which I stand, but immediately it becomes ashes and gases, and the gases arise into the air to be breathed in by the leaves of other trees to make more lumber, and the ashes go into the earth to add to the fertility of the soil to grow other trees. According to the findings of science there is not one single atom of matter that has ever passed out of existence. It may have changed its form many times but it still exists somewhere in this universe.
If this is true of matter then it is a thousand times more true of the spirit nature of man. You cannot destroy spirit or personality. You may mutilate this body of mine but when you have done that you have not even touched the real John Church the lives in this temple of clay. I am not a body. I have a body. I am a spirit being. You are a spirit being and your spirit will always exist somewhere. As long as God lives your spirit will survive. You can no more destroy your spirit nature than you can destroy God. Therefore, you and I will spend eternity somewhere.
Not only does the Bible teach that we are spirit beings, but the Bible also teaches that everyone of us is going to be resurrected from the grave. The wicked will be resurrected as well as the just. The lost will have resurrected bodies as well as the saved. In Luke 20:36, Jesus in speaking of people that shall be resurrected, says, "Neither can they die anymore: for they are equal unto the angel." Of course He is speaking here primarily of the righteous dead that shall rise, but Jesus also speaks of the resurrection of the wicked, or unrighteous dead, and He gives no indication that there will be any difference in the kind of bodies that al| men shall have. All the Bible evidence, that we have us to the resurrection of the bodies of all men, would certainly indicate that those bodies will be immortal and indestructible. Paul in 1st Corinthians, the fifteenth chapter, says, "For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive." Paul also teaches that there is a spiritual body just as there is a physical body. He says that this corruptible must put on incorruption and this mortal must put on immortality, Jesus spoke of having both soul and body cast into hell. Certainly these things would indicate that lost men cannot be annihilated.
Jesus clearly teaches that not only will the righteous people be resurrected, but he declares that the wicked will also have resurrected bodies. In John 5:28-29, he says, "Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil unto the resurrection of damnation."
Now, since these things are true, and they are true, then you can see the vital importance of that question: Where will you spend eternity? For we are all going to spend eternity somewhere. According to the Bible there are only two places to which we may go after the judgment, one of them is heaven and the other is hell. Jesus offers us eternal life and the devil offers us eternal punishment, if we follow him. It is up to us to choose which we will take.
In the New Testament where Jesus speaks of everlasting fire and everlasting punishment, He uses identically the same word that He uses in speaking of everlasting or eternal life. In fact, the Greek worst, aionios, is used in both of these passages that we have used from Matthew's Gospel, and it is identically the same word that is used in speaking of eternal life or everlasting life. It is also the same word that is used in Romans 16:26, where it speaks of the commandment of the everlasting (aionios) God. Now, if God is going to live forever and if eternal life will never come to an end, then the punishment of the wicked will never come to an end. To teach otherwise is to deny the plain teaching of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, and to make him a liar. This is not some theory of mine or of some other man, but it is the clear declaration of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. You will either have to repudiate the Bible or accept this teaching, for Jesus Christ taught it and He ought to know what Fie is talking about. When He spoke of the Father's house and the many mansions that are there He said, "If it were not so I would have told you." In other words, I would not deceive you. I would not lead you to believe anything that was not true, and I would disabuse your mind of any erroneous idea along this line. If that was true about heaven then it is certainly true about hell. Jesus is the truth. He cannot lie. Other men may be deceived or may teach error, but Jesus came to teach the truth and to lead us into all truth. No one will ever go wrong in following His teaching and leadership. You may accept the puny reasoning of some mere man, but as for me I will stick by the plain teaching of Jesus Christ. I believe He knew more about this subject than any no-hell-ite in this world today. His word is final. When He says everlasting fire, then I accept that as final. When He says it is everlasting punishment, then that is enough for me. You may quibble and question, but the matter is settled for me.
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