Philippians 3:17-4:1.  Join in imitating me, and mark those who so live as your examples.  For many, of whom I have often told you about and now tell you even with tears, live as enemies of their Savior’s execution stake.  Their end is destruction for their Elohim is their belly and they glory in their shame with minds set on earthly things.  But isn’t our commonwealth in glory?  And don’t we await a Savior who will change our poor bodies to be just like his glorious body, by his dominating power?  My friends, whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, stand firm in Yahshua, our beloved and our salvation (Philippians 3:17-4:1).

 

Message Check-off:

[  ] Who were Yahshua's undertakers? 

[  ]  According to The Passion, what became of Yahshua's physical body in the tomb?        

[  ] NDE = Near Death Experiences – visions, hallucinations, drug side-effects, demonic experience

[  ] John 5:19 and following, Yahshua said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you . . .”

[  ] First Class: no death, no grave, no judgment, thus no resurrection necessary: John 5:24 “He who hears my word and believes him who sent me, has eternal life; he does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life” (the spiritual body like Messiah).

[  ] Philippians 3:21. Messiah will change our lowly bodies to be like his glorious body . . .

[  ] Revelation 20:12 The dead were judged ... according to their works . . .

[  ] Second Class: Death, resurrection to life in the flesh, to live on earth remade: John 5:28.  “Do not marvel at this; for the hour is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice 29. and come forth, those who have done good, to the resurrection of life . . .”  (These will live to be taught by the First Class on earth during the Millennium.)

[  ] Third Class: Death, resurrection to life in the flesh, to be immediately judged:  John 5:29 “. . . and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of judgment.”  The epitome of judgment is the Lake of Fire.

[  ] Very few in this entire nation will get in the second-class door.  Why?

[  ]  Philippians 3:17 Join in imitating me, and mark those who so live as your examples . . . 

---

A Dead Man

   One morning, a man found himself lying on a gurney in a hospital laboratory.  Large, unfamiliar machines and probes surrounded him, and there was a white-robed attendant shuffling around the room.  The man was very groggy.  He wasn’t sure what was going on or how he got there.  A doctor in blue approached the gurney and said to the man, “We’ve given you a sedative so you’ll feel no pain during the procedure.  However, if you can stay awake, you may watch the progress of your test on the video screen up above.”  The man on the gurney replied, “Sir, I can’t see the screen very well.  Everything’s blurry.”  Then the man fell asleep.

   A short while later, he awoke and said to the doctor, “Could you adjust that screen so I can see it better?”  The doctor replied, “Too late – your test’s all over.  You can go back to sleep now if you want.”  But this time the man stayed awake as the doctor left the room.  Soon the man could hear his wife talking to the doctor in the next room.  “Is he going to be all right?” she asked.  “Well, he has blockages in several arteries around the heart.  His condition’s very serious,” replied the doctor.  “Will he live?” asked the wife.  The doctor’s face was ashen, “He’ll live maybe a week -- or a month; it’s hard to tell.  Another blood clot could get trapped at any time.”  The wife wept some, and the man heard it all.

   Through the groggy haze of Demerol, it took awhile for the doctor’s words to sink into the man’s mind.  Even in their sinking, the words didn’t sink deep.  “One week to live,” thought the man – “one week!”  Inappropriately, he laughed a little.  “I have a week to live, more or less.  Then I’ll die.  I wonder what it’s like to die?  I guess I’ll find out.”  Later, when the Demerol wore off, the man’s musings became serious inquiries as he tried to muster up a little faith or at least remember what Yahshua said about death. 

   He remembered what he’d been taught in school, that when a person dies, nothing lives on –the body eventually decomposes, returns to the earth and becomes dust.  He also remembered what the TV preacher said – that people don’t actually die – they either live up in heaven or burn in flames of torment forever.  He remembered what a lady said in a casual conversation about the afterlife, that all people go to heaven when they die because they’ve already experienced enough hell on earth.  He remembered his Catholic friend telling him that his dead mother was in purgatory and, could we help pray her out of there and into heaven?

   When the doomed man was taken into a regular room, he immediately requested a Gideon New Testament from the nurse.  He knew that the effects of the drug would soon wear off so that he could focus on the holy book.   He figured that the only one who could be trusted on the subject of death was someone who’d died already and came back to tell about it.  The only person he knew of who’d done it was Yahshua. 

   Today I want to show you what this man found in Yahshua's words that gave him comfort.  I can tell you of a certainty because I am that man.

 

Yahshua's Resurrection

   One of the great mysteries of the ages is the death and resurrection of Yahshua.  There are many theories that Yahshua cheated death: for instance, some say the disciples put drugs on the sponge he drank from so that he’d appear dead long enough for rescue and resuscitation.  One seminary professor (Norm Perrin) claimed the resurrection of Yahshua to be a myth.  When a student asked what became of Yahshua's body, the professor boldly proclaimed, “It was eaten by dogs.” 

   However, there’s too much evidence to nullify the Gospel account of Yahshua's life, death and resurrection; even in secular sources of history.  Yahshua's pre-crucifixion punishment was so severe that his body died on that stake long before the others who were nailed up with him.  The fact that at least five hundred people met him alive long after he was pronounced dead by Rome is a stunning witness to his return (1 Corinthians 15:1-8).  Furthermore, Yahshua was a very famous man.  Famous men, even infamous men, are interred reverently, even after execution.  But where’s Yahshua's body interred?  Where’s his grave?  His undertakers, Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathaea, were responsible men.  His family loved him and would see to him.  If his body lay at rest, we’d certainly know where.

 

The Passion

   The motion picture The Passion of the Messiah is a very factual account of Yahshua's torture before being crucified.  Some say the movie’s too violent.  But, as a pastor said last Sunday, the punishment meted out by the Romans in the movie wasn’t even near as violent as that described in the Scripture, which tells us that Yahshua was so badly beaten he wasn’t even recognizable (Isaiah 52:14).  The fact is, Yahshua was tortured by the Romans and nailed high on a stake to die.  There, his body quickly expired.  Within three days, that same body dematerialized leaving the glorious spiritual body recognized by many as the Yahshua they knew.  And at the present, he’s still making his mark in the history of the world, because he’s still alive.  The popularity of The Passion of the Messiah proves my point.

 

Near Death Fallacies

   We hear fantastical stories of people who say they came back from the dead.  Doctors have recorded incredible hallucinations of those who claim to have been dead; but scientists have also proved that lack of oxygen in a near-death situation can trigger the brain to manufacture all kinds of hallucinogenic drugs (enkephalins and endorphins).  I believe that near death experiences (NDAs) are visions, hallucinations, or the memories of demons reentering when someone’s resuscitated.  Yahshua's flesh was certifiably dead not for a few moments, minutes or even hours, but for three days and three nights, Wednesday through Saturday.  His observations about death aren’t illusions or hallucinations, but factual!

 

A Description of Life, Death and Judgment

   Though we may not be able to comprehend a literal description of the afterlife (for, after all, we are confined to six senses), Yahshua does give us descriptions we can understand.  Look to his words recorded in John 5:19-25.  {Let us stand for the reading of the Gospel}:

   19. Yahshua said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing; for whatever he does, that the Son does likewise.  20.  For the Father loves the Son, and shows him all that he himself is doing; and greater works than these will he show him, that you may marvel.   21.  For as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to whom he will.  22.  The Father judges no one, but has given all judgment to the Son, 23.  that all may honor the Son, even as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him.  

   24.  “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears my word and believes him who sent me, has eternal life; he does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life.   25.  Truly, truly, I say to you, the hour is coming, and now is, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of Elohim, and those who hear will live.   26.  For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself,   27.  and has given him authority to execute judgment, because he is the Son of man.  

   28.  “Do not marvel at this; for the hour is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice   29.  and come forth, those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of judgment.” 

   Yahshua is saying is that his Father Yahweh has granted him the power to prevent death.  Now a person may never die at all.  But Yahshua isn’t going to take his responsibility lightly or use it in a fickle manner to banish death for everyone.  Yet he will choose those who will never die; he will choose those who will die but will come back to life on the last day; and he will choose those who will die and come back to life to die again, a second death.

   And Yahshua will be the judge of it all – the master of life, death and judgment.  This is what he means when he says in John 14:6, “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.”  He’s talking about judgment.  Yahshua has the power to save anyone he wants, no matter whether an individual knows him or not.  He says, “The Son will give life to whomever he chooses” (John 5:21).  {Say it again.} If the judgments he made on earth are any indication of his latter-day justice, Yahshua will judge equitably when the time arrives. 

   Consider the lame man at the Pool of Bethzatha.  This man knew nothing about Yahshua, yet Yahshua raised him up.  Consider the adulterous woman in John 8: he saved her life when the strictest law would have her stoned.  What about his murderers?  “Forgive them for they don’t know what they do.”   Yahshua doesn’t judge as we do; he’s far wiser than us.  If we would judge rightly, we’d first judge ourselves. 

   Now consider how Yahshua judges:  He clearly defines three classes of judgment in John 5:19-25:

 

The First Class: No Death At All

   The First Class is composed of those who have eternal life now without ever standing in any judgment or experiencing any death.  Look: “He who hears my word and believes him who sent me, has eternal life; he does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life.”  What could be plainer?  The first class are never judged and never die – listen! – they’ve passed from death to life before tasting death.  First classers need never fear fatal disease or trauma because, when it comes, they’ll never know what happened – they’ll simply pass from life to life.  The man may be sick unto death in bed one minute and be completely well the next, living eternally to fulfill his highest calling.  There’re two conditions that Yahshua puts on the “no death” class: 

1)     You must hear his word.  When he says, “hear it,” he means also, “do it.”  You must learn about Yahshua, meet him personally, have faith in him, and do his will to the best of your ability, however good that is.  You give him you death and he’ll make it into life.

2)     You must believe in Yahweh who sent him, and that belief includes obeying the Almighty’s dictates.  For Yahweh sent not his son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved.  And you may be saved by hearing, believing and doing, to the best of your ability, no slackers allowed.

   In another place, Yahshua says, “You must be born from above.”  Indeed, it’s not the natural thing for the natural man to do – that is – follow the teachings of the Father and Son to inherit eternal life.  It takes a radical change to enter the class of the “non-diers.”  But in the day that you receive your death sentence as I did, it’s a comforting thing to know beforehand that a death sentence has no power over you whatsoever.  Fear is dissolved in faith; mine was, and so will yours be.

 

What Becomes of First Classers?

   So what happens to “First Class People” when the flesh disintegrates?   Paul the Apostle of Tarsus, who also received a death sentence, tells us

“that the Sovereign Yahshua Messiah will change our lowly bodies to be like his glorious body, by the power which enables him even to subject all things to himself” (Philippians 3:21). 

When we’re born from above, it’s this glorious body that’s born within us, that matures within us, as time, teaching and obedience go forward; and it’s this glorious body that’s finally set free when the flesh of pain ceases to function and crumbles away. 

   Yahshua says that glorious bodies, when liberated from flesh, will have the same properties as angelic bodies: able to materialize at will in order to complete the great commission; that is, to build a paradise anew and to build a humanity fit for it.  That’s the occupation of the First Classers – rebuilding.  Paul tells us that the old, polluted creation is crying out for the coming of these glorious rebuilders. 

   I hope you seek “First Class” glorification and are freed from your fear of death.  I hope you’ll be born again so you may never die.  No need to worry about loved ones left behind.  The Holy Spirit will take care of them for a time, then you’ll see to them yourself soon after.  Hear his words and believe in the one who sent him, and you’ll never die at all.  Instead, you’ll shout, “O death, where is your sting? O grave, where is your victory?” (1 Corinthians 15:55).  “The victory is mine!  Mine!  Mine!”

 

Of the Dead

   Yahshua next tells us that all those who aren’t part of the “First Class Resurrection” will die and go to the grave, into the sea, upon the trash heap, or wherever their bodies are discarded, and they will be no more.  That’s what death means, doesn’t it?  The dictionary says, “Termination of life.”  The dead of the second class don’t appear as ghosts or wander around the earth or move tables at séances.  Souls are not eternal, as some teach, but mortal, as Yahshua teaches (Matthew 10:28).  The dead are dead – they’re simply no more except in memory.  However, Yahshua promised that, “the hour is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear My voice and come forth” (John 5:28,29).  Though the First Classers will already be glorified in spiritual bodies, those who’ve died will be resurrected to the flesh that they left.  Remember 

Revelation 20:12?  And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before Elohim; 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.

   Yahshua says that all people that ever lived and died will be dredged up out of the non-existence of death and re-enfleshed for judgment found in a ledger of their deeds while living.  Some say that the resurrected will be as though they were twenty-five again.  Wouldn’t that be great? 

   How would such a wholesale resurrection of billions be possible?  It seems crazy until you consider the historical announcement made February 12, 2004: “Scientists Cloned Human Embryos.”  In South Korea, scientists took the DNA of a living person and made human embryos out of it, which, if implanted in a womb and carried to term, would’ve produced perfect replicas of the donor. 

   We understand an embryo to be a human child.  I don’t want to get into the morality of this procedure; I just want to point out that men have created babies from a piece of a man.  If humans, who have so little wisdom, can create babies, isn’t it reasonable to believe that the Creator of the cosmos could recreate everyone who lived?  Of course he could.  And Yahshua says he will.  Those who’ve died not following Yahshua will be brought to life again. 

   The DNA of everyone that ever lived from Adam on exists somewhere in earth or heaven.  How many fingernails do you think Buddha left on the roads of India?  Even a fallen hair’s full of DNA – the building block of personhood.  Think of that!  Yahweh knows how many hairs have fallen, and exactly where they’ve fallen to and from whom.  He can easily rebuild a woman from a hair as a rib.  All the dead, says Yahshua, will be remade on the last day of the Feast of Tabernacles (John 6:39, 7:37), a symbol of the Millennium – the thousand-year reign of Messiah on earth.

 

The Second Class: Death and Resurrection

   Then, in that thousand years, will be the day of separation and judgment, for a day is as a thousand years in Yahweh’s site.  Look to John 5:28,29 once again: Yahshua tells us that,

“the hour is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear [My] voice and come forth; those who have done good, to the resurrection of life...”  

   We have been erroneously taught that all who aren’t saved never really died; they’re even now living in the eternal torment of hell.  Can you see from Yahshua's own words here that many good-doers who don’t know Yahshua are raised from death to life?   The kind of life isn’t the angelic, glorified life of the believer.  It’s not the first class kind of life.  This is life in the flesh again on the earth.  These who have died are put back into the sea of life as they knew life before they died.

   I’ve been asked time and again about the fate of the dead who never heard of Yahshua, never had the Gospel preached to them, never had an opportunity to decide.  Billions have lived and died without the opportunity.  When Yahweh created humanity, he gave us free will and a sense of right and wrong.  Every person who ever lived could make choices for good rather than evil, whether they’ve heard of Yahshua or not. 

   Look around today – of Elohimless people are serving pointless religions and false Elohims.  Yet, as human beings, they still have the innate ability to choose what is right in the site of Yahweh then do what is right in any decision-making.  People must make choices either for good or for evil every day, every choice.  Despite one’s religion or culture, a person may choose the good freely.

   I’ve been asked whether the Buddha or Ghandi or Princess Di or Rabbi Eckstein, people who did much good in their lives but were not Messiahians, are burning in hell’s torments at this moment.  The answer, according to Yahshua, is no, they’re not.  These people are dead, terminated, gone until the resurrection, when they will regain their flesh and spring back upon the earth. 

   Billions may receive new life at this Second Class resurrection – why? – so these good people may come to know Yahweh and his king, Yahshua, be taught the truth, and be given an honest chance to accept it.  This is what Yahshua teaches, as plain as the nose on your face.  The Millennium saints, the glorified First Classers like maybe you and me, will teach them.  That’ll be our mission – to take the cream of the human crop and introduce them to King Yahshua ben David and teach them His ways in the Millennium.  No harps and clouds for us, friend; we’re going to testify to those who made deliberate life choices for the good and now have the opportunity to know that which is not only good, but perfect.

 

The Third Class: Death and Justice

   Finally, in that hospital bed, I read of a third class to be resurrected.  Look again to John 5:28,29:

“for the hour is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice and come forth, those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of judgment.” 

   This third class consists of those who’ve followed their inclination to evil.  They may’ve heard the call to accept the Yahshua-life, but turned away, disgusted.  And they may not have.  Among these are the hypocrites who will cry, “Lord, Lord,” for show, but lived in luxury at the expense of others.  Here are terrorists, warmongers, commandment-breakers, infidels, Pharisees, cult leaders, killers, cannibals, wolves, wandering stars, wife-beaters, homosexuals, whoremongers, pornographers, liars and idolaters.  Their lives counted for more intentional harm than help, more calculated evil than good, more purposeful hindrance than benefit.  They’re cursers of Elohimly things, and accursed by their own words. 

   Yet, despite their evil, they’ll still judged equitably.  Their cases are reviewed in detail to determine if anything can be salvaged.  All the facts are on the table.  They’ll be tested to see if they’re teachable or “reformable” – if they’re fit for the second life or the second death.  If for the former, they’ll pay for their crimes and endure severe punishment and maybe reformation.  But most will receive the second death sentence; that is, they’ll be burned to a cinder in the devil’s lake of fire.  Their newly resurrected bodies, so comfortable and strong, will be immolated in an instant, and they’ll cease to exist even in the memory banks of the happy Millennial residents of the peaceful Kingdom.

 

Your Choice

    You might get the idea there’s hope for you even if you’ve rejected Yahshua. Now you think you’ll be judged for your good deeds and end up in the Second Class, living the high life, having paid your way back.  But I’ve got bad news for you.  Few in this entire nation will live in the second-class by good works.  Why not?  Because everyone here has received the opportunity to accept the Father’s offer of life.  The second class of life is for those who’ve never heard.  And that ain’t you.

   Once you’ve rejected the Yahshua-life, there’s only road left; take your chances in the white throne judgment – in the third class section.  You’ll die and maybe a century or two will pass, then you’ll wake up before the judgment bar to hear your deeds recounted – and your good deeds will be as filthy rags. 

   But while you’re listening, you’ll marvel at just how great you feel in your new body, and how eager you are to get back to your Elohimless haunt to show everybody you made it.  Yeah, man.  You’re feeling lucky today.  But when the book is consulted, your name will not be found.  Angels will escort your glorious new body, along with all you are and everything you have, to the razor-sharp plank extending over the burning lake of fire.  On that day, having raised all the heck you could in your first life, you’ll remember this message and cry out, “Why, oh why didn’t I heed that ugly little preacher?   Why did I choose the evil instead of the good, death instead of life!  What a fool I’ve been!  Ooooh!  Oooooh!”  {long pause}

 

Yet Today

   This is the story that I read from the sacred page in my hospital bed, awaiting the word of death or life.  What happens when you die?  Now you know.  You may feel uneasy, but what I read gave me hope.  I don’t fear death as I once did, terrified at the prospect of going down, down, down into the fiery lake.  Rather, I live to testify to you in hopes that you’ll

“join in imitating me, and mark those who so live as your examples.  For many, of whom I tell you even with tears, live as enemies of their Savior’s execution stake.  Their end is destruction for they glory in their shame with minds set on earthly things.  But isn’t our commonwealth in glory?  And don’t we await a Savior who will change our poor bodies to be just like his glorious body, by his dominating power?  My friends, whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, stand firm in Yahshua, our beloved and our salvation (Philippians 3:17-4:1).