Episode Transcript
[00:00:01] Welcome to Sharing the good news. My name is Dominic. I'm your host. And today I wanted to give a brief overview of a very important question that we all need to ask ourselves. And I want to read to you some things that God has told us concerning this subject.
[00:00:18] How do you know what happens after death?
[00:00:21] Well, there's no way for you to know because you haven't died, you haven't seen it.
[00:00:26] So the only way that we can know what actually happens after death is to be told the truth of these things by somebody who has the knowledge.
[00:00:36] Who has that knowledge. Science can't provide that answer. There's no human on the earth today that can provide that answer. But thankfully, God sent his son from heaven, Jesus Christ, and he has revealed to us the things that are going to happen after we leave this earth.
[00:00:54] God tells us that when he made you, he gave you a spirit. And that spirit is going to live on after death.
[00:01:01] And the scripture that I want to start off today reading is when you hear this is going to show you why we really need to know what the Bible says. The scripture I want to start off reading today is going to be Revelation, chapter 20.
[00:01:16] And it says here, I'm going to read verse 12.
[00:01:21] It says, 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.
[00:01:40] So what's happening here is that God is revealing to the apostle John what is going to happen in a time to come.
[00:01:49] He's revealing to John that the day is going to come where everybody, small and great doesn't matter if you are the president, doesn't matter if you are homeless, it doesn't matter if you're wealthy, if you're. None of that matters. Everybody is going to stand before the judgment seat, and they're all going to be judged off of the same standard. There will be no preferences. There will be no, you know, getting special treatment. He says here, this day is going to come. And so what he saw in this vision is God revealing to him the future. He saw that a day is coming where everybody is going to stand before the judgment seat. And then what he says is that what he saw was these books are going to be open. That's the books of the Bible. And then he saw another book. This book he said, is called the Book of Life.
[00:02:38] And then he says as the vision goes on, that all the people that are standing here before the judgment, they're being judged based on the things that were written in the books according to their works.
[00:02:51] So what God has revealed to us is this simple truth. Number one, there is life after death.
[00:02:58] Number two, he tells us what to expect because God wants everybody to be saved. That's his goal. So God is not holding secrets from us. He's not, you know, trying to hide the things that we need to know. He's told us very plain and simple.
[00:03:16] I'm gonna judge you based on the things that are written inside the books, okay? That's what we have contained in our Bible is all of these books.
[00:03:26] And I'm gonna judge you according to your works.
[00:03:31] So if you have this knowledge, then what it should tell you is I need to make sure, number one, I know what's in these books.
[00:03:41] I want to make sure I know.
[00:03:44] What am I supposed to do? What does God tell me? And then I want to make sure that when I learn the things that are written in the books, that I'm actually doing them because it doesn't profit me to learn the scriptures and to. To know what the scriptures say, but not do them.
[00:04:03] Because on the judgment day, God is telling us, I'm going to judge you according to your works. I'm going to judge you according to what you did. You can't stand before God. And it's like, God, I knew that, you know, I wasn't supposed to steal, but, you know, I just. I really wanted those things, so I stole them anyways, right? Like, that's not going to fly.
[00:04:22] So the beginning, as you understand the Bible, the Bible has so many things that are contained in it. But one simple point that I want to make right now is the Bible reveals to us what is going to come for the purpose of us making ourselves ready.
[00:04:40] If you know what's going to come in the future, then what you should do is prepare yourself for that. So if I were to tell you, hey, you know what, There's a storm coming and there's a flood, a flood is coming, and here's what you need to do to get prepared, right? Well, what you should do is do what you what, whatever is required to be prepared so that when that when that storm comes, you're safe.
[00:05:06] And the last thing that God wants for you and the last thing that you should want for yourself is to stand before the judgment seat on that day and not. Not be ready, be found in a condition where God looks upon you and says, how come, how come you didn't do all these things? I told you to do. Let me give you an example of something that Christ taught which is very, very important to note, because in the very beginning, as of Christ's ministry, as we have the Sermon on the Mount, okay, as it's. As it's called.
[00:05:39] And I want to read to you in Matthew, chapter seven, something that Christ reveals as he begins to bring his sermon to a close, right?
[00:05:50] He says in verse 21, Matthew, chapter 7, verse 21, not everyone that saith unto me, lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven, but he that doeth the will of my Father, which is in heaven.
[00:06:05] Okay, that's. That's pretty important to know, because a lot of people think they're going to enter into heaven just because they believe and they call on the name of the Lord. But he's saying, no, not everyone that does that is going to enter in. So he goes on, verse 22.
[00:06:20] Many will say to me in that day, lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? And in thy name have cast out devils in thy name done many wonderful works.
[00:06:32] And then Christ says, you know what you're going to hear. And then I will profess unto them, I never knew you. Depart from me, ye that work iniquity.
[00:06:43] So the simple truth that Christ is revealing is that it doesn't matter what good you do.
[00:06:50] The good that you do does not undo the bad that you do.
[00:06:55] And if you're a worker of iniquity, somebody who is actively going out there and not repenting and engaging in sinful things, he says, you can. You can all day long talk about me, say things in my name. But you know what? When the day of judgment comes, I'm going to say, I don't know who you are. You're not somebody who has walked in my footsteps. You're not somebody who has followed my teachings.
[00:07:22] Christ has revealed these things to us because he wants us to be prepared.
[00:07:27] And so the point that I want to leave us with for consideration today, a very short overview, is there is a time to come where we will be judged, and we're going to be judged by what is found contained here in the word of God. And Christ is saying, you can't just call me Lord and that be sufficient. No, you have to be obedient. You can't be a worker of iniquity.
[00:07:51] So take that into consideration, and let's build upon this. And as we begin to go through and look at more of the things that Christ taught, let's really take into consideration this truth that I need to be ready. When that day comes, I want to be ready. And how do I know if I'm ready? What does that look like? That's a very important question, and it's a question that we're going to answer as we go through this podcast. So stick around. Send me an email sharing the good news34gmail.com if you have a specific question that you would like answered, send me an email. We'd love to answer it and continue to follow along as we go through these things and reach out so that we can talk. Hope you have a great day.
