Transcript Desire of Ages

The Legend of
Samarra
Alan Seeger
“I Have a
Rendezvous with
Death”
John 11:1-3, 5
“Now a certain man was sick,
Lazarus of Bethany, the town of
Mary and her sister Martha. It was
that Mary who anointed the Lord
with fragrant oil and wiped His feet
with her hair, whose brother
Lazarus was sick.
John 11:1-3, 5
Therefore the sisters sent to Him,
saying, ‘Lord, behold, he whom You
love is sick.’ . . . Now Jesus loved
Martha and her sister and Lazarus.”
v 3 —“The one You
love is sick.”
“The one You love is
sick.”
John 11:6
“So, when He heard that he was
sick, He stayed two more days in
the place where He was.”
Desire of Ages
“God never leads His children
otherwise than they would choose
to be led, if they could see the end
from the beginning, and discern the
glory of the purpose they are
fulfilling.”
(224)
Desire of Ages
“To all who are reaching out to feel
the guiding hand of God, the
moment of greatest discouragement
is the time when divine help is
nearest. They will look back with
thankfulness upon the darkest part
(528)
of their way.”
John 11:11-12
“And after that He said to them, ‘Our
friend Lazarus sleeps, but I go that I
may wake him up.’ Then His
disciples said, ‘Lord, if he sleeps he
will get well.’”
John 11:13, 14
“However, Jesus spoke of his death,
but they thought that He was
speaking about taking rest in sleep.
Then Jesus said to them plainly,
‘Lazarus is dead.’”
v 11-14—“Lazarus is
sleeping . . . Lazarus is
dead.”
A Soul Can Die
Ezekiel 18:20—“The soul [nephesh]
who sins shall die.”
A Soul Can Die
Numbers 23:10—“‘Let me
[napheshi—“my soul”] die the death
of the righteous, and let my end by
like his!”
A Soul Can Die
Numbers 35:30—“Whoever kills a
person [nephesh—“a soul”] shall be
put to death.”
The Bible declares that the
soul can die.
1 Timothy 1:17; 6:15-16
“Now to the King eternal, immortal,
invisible, to God who alone is wise,
be honor and glory forever and
ever. . . .
1 Timothy 1:17; 6:15-16
who alone has immortality, dwelling
in unapproachable light, whom no
man has seen or can see, to whom
be honor and everlasting power.”
Genesis 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
being [soul–nephesh].”
Boards + Nails = Box
“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.”
“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.”
DUST + BREATH = SOUL
It simply ceases to exist.
Ecclesiastes 12:7
“Then the dust will return to the
earth as it was, and the spirit will
return to God who gave it.”
Job 27:3
“As long as my breath is in me, and
the spirit of God in my nostrils.”
When a man or a woman dies, the
body turns back to dust and the
breath of life returns to God who
gave it in the first place.
“Lazarus is asleep—he is
dead.”
Luke 16:19-24
“There was a certain rich man who
was clothed in purple and fine linen
and fared sumptuously every day.
But there was a certain beggar
named Lazarus, full of sores, who
was laid at his gate,
Luke 16:19-24
desiring to be fed with the crumbs
which fell from the rich man's table.
Moreover the dogs came and licked
his sores. So it was that the beggar
died, and was carried by the angels
to Abraham's bosom.
Luke 16:19-24
The rich man also died and was
buried. And being in torments in
Hades, he lifted up his eyes and
saw Abraham afar off, and Lazarus
in his bosom.
Luke 16:19-24
Then 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.’”
Dilemmas
#1—Heaven is Abraham’s bosom.
Dilemmas
#1—Heaven is Abraham’s bosom.
#2—Heaven and hell are within
shouting distance.
Dilemmas
#1—Heaven is Abraham’s bosom.
#2—Heaven and hell are within
shouting distance.
#3—Relief in hell is a single drop of
water.
Luke 16:25
“But Abraham said, ‘Son, remember
that in your lifetime you received
your good things, and likewise
Lazarus evil things; but now he is
comforted and you are tormented.’”
Luke 16:31
“But he said to him, ‘If they do not
hear Moses and the prophets,
neither will they be persuaded
though one rise from the dead.’”
“Lazarus is asleep—he is
dead.”
Luke 23:39-43
“Then one of the criminals who
were hanged blasphemed Him,
saying, ‘If You are the Christ, save
Yourself and us.’ But the other,
answering, rebuked him, saying,
‘Do you not even fear God,
Luke 23:39-43
seeing you are under the same
condemnation? And we indeed
justly, for we receive the due reward
of our deeds; but this Man has done
nothing wrong.‘
Luke 23:39-43
Then he said to Jesus, ‘Lord,
remember me when You come into
Your kingdom.’ And Jesus said to
him, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, today
you will be with Me in Paradise.’”
John 20:15-17
“Jesus said to her, ‘Woman, why
are you weeping? Whom are you
seeking?’ She, supposing Him to be
the gardener, said to Him, ‘Sir, if
You have carried Him away, tell me
where You have laid Him, and I will
take Him away.’
John 20:15-17
Jesus said to her, ‘Mary!’ She
turned and said to Him, ‘Rabboni!’
(which is to say, Teacher). Jesus
said to her, ‘Do not cling to Me, for I
have not yet ascended to My
Father; but go to My brethren and
say to them,
John 20:15-17
“I am ascending to My Father and
your Father, and to My God and
your God.”’”
assuredlyIsaytoyouto
dayyouwillbewithmein
paradise
Assuredly I say to you, today you
will be with Me in Paradise.
Assuredly I say to you today, you
will be with Me in Paradise.
Woman, without her, man is a
beast!
Woman, without her man, is a
beast!
“Assuredly I say to you today,
you will be with Me in
Paradise.”
“In the dialogue [on
the day of his
execution] Socrates
repeatedly declares
death to be ‘the
separation of the soul
from the body’ in
which it is
encased. . . .
‘The soul whose
inseparable attribute
is life, will never admit
of life’s opposite,
death. Thus the soul
is shown to be
immortal, and since
immortal,
indestructible. . . .
Death is merely the
separation of soul and
body.’”
(Bacchiocchi, Popular Beliefs 48)
The Bible rejects Greek dualism
between evil body and good soul
and describes us as holistic beings
created by God.
The words “soul” and “spirit” are
used over 1700 times in the Bible
and not once is the adjective
“immortal” attached.
Genesis 3:4, 5
“Then the serpent said to the
woman, ‘You will not surely die. For
God knows that in the day you eat
of it your eyes will be opened, and
you will be like God, knowing good
and evil.’”
“You will not die.”
“Lazarus is asleep—he is
dead.”
Job 7:21 (KJV)
“For now shall I sleep in the dust;
and thou shalt seek me in the
morning, but I shall not be.”
Deuteronomy 31:16
(RSV)
“And the LORD said to Moses,
‘Behold, you are about to sleep with
your fathers.’”
Ecclesiastes 9:5
“For the living know that they will
die; but the dead know nothing.”
Acts 2:29, 34
“‘Let me speak freely to you of the
patriarch David, that he is both dead
and buried, and his tomb is with us
to this day. . . . For David did not
ascend into the heavens.’”
“Lazarus is asleep—he is
dead.”
Daniel 12:2
“And many of those who sleep in
the dust of the earth shall awake,
some to everlasting life and some to
shame and everlasting contempt.”
I Thessalonians 4:15-18
“For this we say to you by the word
of the Lord, that we who are alive
and remain until the coming of the
Lord will by no means precede
those who are asleep.
I Thessalonians 4:15-18
For the Lord Himself will descend
from heaven with a shout, with the
voice of an archangel, and with the
trumpet of God. And the dead in
Christ will rise first.
I Thessalonians 4:15-18
Then we who are alive and remain
shall be caught up together with
them in the clouds to meet the Lord
in the air. And thus we shall always
be with the Lord. Therefore comfort
one another with these words.”
John 11:20-26, 32-33
“Then Martha, as soon as she
heard that Jesus was coming, went
and met Him, but Mary was sitting
in the house. Then Martha said to
Jesus, ‘Lord, if You had been here,
my brother would not have died.
John 11:20-26, 32-33
But even now I know that whatever
You ask of God, God will give You.’
Jesus said to her, ‘Your brother will
rise again.’ Martha said to Him, ‘I
know that he will rise again in the
resurrection at the last day.’
John 11:20-26, 32-33
Jesus said to her, ‘I am the
resurrection and the life. He who
believes in Me, though he may die,
he shall live. And whoever lives and
believes in Me shall never die. Do
you believe this?’
John 11:20-26, 32-33
. . . And He said, ‘Where have you
laid him?’ They said to Him, ‘Lord,
come and see.’ Jesus wept.”
William Blake
“Till our grief is fled and
gone,
He doth sit by us and
moan.”
John 11:38-44
“Then Jesus, again groaning in
Himself, came to the tomb. It was a
cave, and a stone lay against it.
Jesus said, ‘Take away the stone.’
Martha, the sister of him who was
dead, said to Him, ‘Lord, by this
time there is a stench,
John 11:38-44
for he has been dead four days.’
Jesus said to her, ‘Did I not say to
you that if you would believe you
would see the glory of God?’ Then
they took away the stone from the
place where the dead man was
lying.
John 11:38-44
And Jesus lifted up His eyes and
said, ‘Father, I thank You that You
have heard Me. And I know that
You always hear Me, but because
of the people who are standing by I
said this, that they may believe that
You sent Me.’
John 11:38-44
Now when He had said these
things, He cried with a loud voice,
‘Lazarus, come forth!’ And he who
had died came out bound hand and
foot with graveclothes, and his face
was wrapped with a cloth.
John 11:38-44
Jesus said to them, ‘Loose him, and
let him go.’”
“For I am the Resurrection and the
Life—those who believe in me,
though they die, yet shall they
live.”
I John 5:12
“He who has the Son has life; he
who does not have the Son of God
does not have life
Don’t miss tomorrow
morning’s lecture
“Buried Alive!”