Jesus: Know Him and Live, Part 3

What Does God Say About Government? A Biblical Worldview of Government. Dr. Michael Youssef answers your most pressing questions, drawing upon 50 years of Bible teaching and his unique background as a cultural anthropologist. Unpack what the Bible says about politics, the role of government, and more in this nonpartisan resource.

Visit ltw.org today and download your free digital copy of A Biblical Worldview of Government and be scripturally informed in this election season. Dr. Michael Youssef with a question to begin this episode of Leading the Way. The question is, where will I spend eternity? Don't ever rest until you answer the question. Where I'll be a hundred years from now?

Where am I going to end up when I close my eyes in death? No, you don't have to be vague about it. You don't have to be uncertain about it. You can be absolutely sure now because you have God's Word on us. If you're not sure today, you can't be.

Most use a mobile app to guide them to or through an unfamiliar place or an address. But what about your eternal address? Sadly, many have no guidance in finding their eternal destination either. But after today, I think you will know for sure. Today on Leading the Way, Dr. Michael Youssef offers a challenge for you to confirm your eternal address.

Listen as he begins. There has been a rash of books written by people who supposedly died and came back again. And when they died, there's a common theme between all of them that they all saw light. Some of them said that they saw somebody who is reputedly to be Jesus. But then when you listen to what they say this supposedly Jesus said to them is contrary to everything that he did and said and taught throughout his earthly life. Hundreds of eyewitnesses have heard him say, teach, and do things that runs contrary to what these folks who supposedly have died and came back to tell us. For example, Jesus said, I am the only way to heaven. No one can come to the Father but by me. But some of them say that this person that they saw, they think is Jesus, said to them, no, no, no, no.

That's not really important. All the ways lead to me. Sounds like Satan to me, don't you? But this to say nothing about this incredible number of so-called channelers that are spreading all over the television screens and they supposedly can contact the dead. And when these channelers contact the dead, they always tell their loved ones here on earth, oh, they are in a wonderful place.

Every one of them, they're all in a great place in every case. For the uninformed and the unsuspecting, this may be comforting. And from the human point of view, I understand it.

I really do from the human point of view. But when it comes to life after death, when it comes to the other side of the curtain of eternity, when it comes to what happens after we die, you have to decide whom you're going to believe. Are you going to believe the creator of the universe, the one who placed all of the galaxies in their orbits, the one who died for you, the one who redeemed your soul and rose again from the dead after three days, not three minutes, or someone or someone who's trying to make few bucks selling a book or getting their 15 minutes of fame.

You have to make that decision. Who are you going to believe? Jesus was there before the creation of the earth. And Jesus pulls the curtain to let us know what happens after we die.

He shows us exactly what takes place immediately as soon as we close our eyes in death. Luke chapter 16, here Jesus tells us about two people, two real people. They both have died. They did not both go to the same place. They went to two different places. One went to a place of agony and torment. The other went to a place of unspeakable joy.

But that's not all. Jesus is telling us that after death it is impossible to switch places. After death it is impossible to go from one destination to the other. After death it is too late. And therefore the time to decide where you're going to spend your eternity is now. The time you decide where you're going to be a hundred years from now is today. The time to plan your eternal future is now. And that is why the scripture is very urgent and pleading with people today.

Today if you hear his voice harden not your heart because there's such a thing as it's too late. Why? Because once we cross over once we cross over the other side that's it.

Don't take my word for it. Listen to what Jesus said. And he tells us about these two real people. One who lived for self and the other one did not. The one who lived for self he cared for no one else but himself. He pleased no one else but self. He served his own desires and his whims. He was filled with his own opinions.

He refused to hear the truth. He thought that he could save himself and he ended up spending eternity in hell. The other one named Lazarus, a common name at that time in Israel, Lazarus dies. But during his life he put his faith in God. He placed his whole trust in God. He fixed his hope on God.

He sought to please God. And when he died the Bible said the angels carried him. Now in the Old Testament you have to understand before the death and the resurrection of Jesus Christ before he defeated death in the grave the Old Testament taught that everyone who dies go to two different places, two regions of the same place. The Bible calls that Hades.

I'm going to explain that to the minute. Those who were believers, that's Old Testament believers, the Jewish believers, they went to what the Jews would call the bosom of Abraham. Some of the modern translation took that word bosom out but that's really a literal translation. They went to the bosom of Abraham. Why Abraham? Because Abraham is the father of faith. He is the father of everyone in the Old Testament who put their faith in God.

They were saved by faith not by law. But there's something very important here I don't want you to miss. Please don't miss it.

Don't miss it. Because some people when they read this passage they think that the reason this rich man ended up in hell because he was rich. That is not the emphasis of the text here. The emphasis that Jesus was placing is on the fact that the man lived for self.

That's the difference. The Bible never condemns wealth. The Bible condemns the wrong use of wealth. Abraham for example was probably the richest man at that time on the earth but he did not worship his money. He lived by faith. He put the hope in Yahweh.

He knew the he knew that Yahweh was going to send his son the Messiah and he anchored his hope on that. And that is why in the Old Testament paradise is described as I said as the bosom of Abraham because Abraham is the man who believed God before the law of Moses came. I'm sure some of you are asking what is this Hades that the Bible talks about. Hades is a place where people went to prior to the death and the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ.

And that is why the apostle Peter in his epistle tells us that when Jesus died on that cross and then he was buried in the tomb he really went to Hades and there he declared his lordship over the dead and he took those believers who were waiting for him straight into heaven with him. But Hades according to the Old Testament is divided into two regions. There is a gap between them. There is a chasm between them.

One called as I said the bosom of Abraham the other one is a place of torment and suffering. Please don't miss what I'm going to tell you. Don't miss this.

Don't miss this. Your eternity could be hanging on it. Both men were conscious after death. Both men the believer and the non-believers they both were conscious. They both had memories of their earthly life.

They both were able to speak. One was experiencing great joy and the other one was experiencing torment. Verse 24 of Luke 16. The non-believer said to Abraham from the other side of the chasm father Abraham have pity on me and send Lazarus. Lazarus? The one that you ignored him all your life? The one you had no time for? The one you despised and lived for self? Yes.

Have him dip his finger in water to cool my tongue because I'm in agony in this fire. Beloved the Bible teaches that after death the believer is going to receive a glorified body. 1 Corinthians 15 54. That we will be closed by resurrected bodies. The book of Revelation where John was given the privilege to go into the very portals of heaven he saw real people.

Real people in resurrected glorified body. The bottom line that Jesus wants every one of us to know is telling us about these two people. The reason he's telling us about them is he wants us to know that there are only two places no third and that those two places stand in contrast of one another. These two places are opposites each other and the question is everyone must be asking where will I spend eternity? Don't ever rest until you answer the question. The question is where will I spend my forever? Where I'll be 100 years from now? Which of the two places am I going to go to?

Where am I going to end up when I close my eyes in death? No you don't have to be vague about it. You don't have to be uncertain about it. You can be absolutely sure now because you have God's Word on us.

If you're not sure today you can be. Where will you spend eternity? The place of unending condemnation or the place of joy unspeakable? Listen I have dedicated my life to tell people the truth about Jesus. Not about the denomination but about Jesus. For no one can take you to heaven except Jesus.

He's the only one who can take you to heaven. None and no one and nothing can take you to heaven except Jesus. No amount of good work will ever get you there. No amount of wishful thinking will get you there. No amount of religious activities will get you there.

No amount of goodwill will get you there. Only Jesus the Christ who can take you from one side of eternity to the other. Now I'm inviting you to come to him and be rescued. Come to him and be saved. Come to him and be assured of eternal life in heaven with him. That is the very core of the Christian faith. Will you respond?

Will you respond? The other alternative spending eternity forever in regret and self-beating like this man. He did not want to place his faith in God alone and therefore he was not only mentally, emotionally, and physically in agony. He was worried sick about his family that he left behind on the earth.

That was even more painful than what he was experiencing. He was in agony over what happens to his beloved family that he left behind. Obviously his family were as godless as he was and so in the midst of his pain he comes to the realization I don't want him to come here.

I don't want him to experience what I'm experiencing. After a few seconds in hell he wanted someone to tell his family the truth. By contrast when the believer dies he goes immediately to the presence of Jesus. A place where there's no pain, no suffering, no regret, no torment, no condemnation, and there are no tears.

Only rejoicing and praising and worshiping and adoring the son of God who made it possible for them to be there in heaven. Why? Because beloved listen to me.

Please listen to me. There is no waiting place. There is no place where you can change destination after you die. There is no soul sleep. There is no purgatory. None of that is in the scripture. There's no second chance and that is why the Bible urges everyone who have never committed their life to Jesus Christ, never received the gift of salvation, eternal life, come now while you can. You say Michael how do you know that? How do you know that it's a checking out and a checking in immediately.

No change of destination. I'll tell you exactly how I know from what God said. Not what I think what God said. Jesus hanging on the cross and the made name next to him repents of his sins and Jesus said today you're going to be with me in paradise.

Immediately when you close your eyes in death you're going to be with me. Not only that the book of Acts tells us hundreds of people watching as Stephen one of the deacons of the first church was being stoned to death and all these people watching as he began to die from the stoning and he looks up to heaven and he says I see Jesus standing to receive me. But not only that Philippians 1 23 tells us that to depart this life is a presence with Christ. Second Corinthians 5a tells us absence from the body is presence with the Lord in heaven. And Jesus tells us that this self-centered man this man who tried to save himself was able to talk and he called out to Abraham on the other side of the divide.

He was able to feel his tongue as it were on fire and he was able to hear Abraham speak back to him and Jesus is saying to you and to me and to everyone who would listen. Jesus is saying this every one of us will live forever. Every person who's alive today will live forever. The believers will experience joy while the non-believers will experience sorrow. The believers will experience rest while the non-believer will be experiencing ongoing pain and suffering. The believers will experience fellowship while the non-believers will be in a place of utter loneliness. The believers will experience deeper love but then non-believers Believers will be experiencing deeper hate. The believers will be experiencing comfort, while the others will be experiencing agony. The believers will be experiencing glory, while the nonbelievers will be experiencing shame.

The believers will be experiencing honor, while the nonbelievers will be experiencing guilt. But just in case someone here hasn't got it yet, let me put it to you which summarizes the entire Bible. Here's what Jesus is saying, I left the glories of heaven, came to earth so that I might take to heaven with me everyone who put their faith in me. I lay down my glorified body and came to earth so that I might give everyone who put their trust in me, who received me as Savior and Lord a glorified body.

I am God of very God but became man so that I might give all my children divine nature. I am perfect and sinless but came to take your sin and your punishment over my body, my sinless and holy body. I paid it all.

I paid it all. All you need to do is to come and receive. Will you come to him today? Will you come to him today?

But there's something else here that is very important I don't want you to miss it. This man who lived for self, he had no time for God, no time for others, only for self. When he ended up in hell, never one time would you hear him say, that's not fair.

Why does this happen to me? No, no. He becomes so self-aware on the other side of eternity that he knew he received his just and fair judgment. He knew that he received the consequences of rejecting God's hand of salvation.

He never blamed God, never blamed others, not one time did you find it there. But he becomes worried sick of his family. So what does this man do? He pleads with Abraham. He pleads with him. He said, if Lazarus would rise from the dead and preach the truth to my family, they will repent and they will believe and they will not come to this place. Please, please my friend, don't miss Abraham's answer. He said, even if someone rise from the dead, they will not believe.

What does he mean by that? When he's saying Moses isn't a prophet, he's what he's saying. He said, if they're not going to believe the Bible, if they're not going to believe God's word, even if Lazarus rises from the dead, they're not going to believe. If people don't believe the resurrected Jesus, if people refuse to put their faith in the resurrected Jesus, if people ignore the invitation of the resurrected Jesus, they might get mesmerized by miracles and supernatural, but they will not repent. What about you?

What about you? Are you ready to believe the words of the resurrected Jesus? Are you ready to accept his invitation? Are you ready to come to him and say, I've come to the end of myself.

I cannot save myself. I come to you seeking your forgiveness. Listen to what Jesus said, when somebody does that, somebody says that, the promise of Jesus will never reject you, never, never, never, never reject you. In fact, he said, those whom the father's given me, I lose none. You are in the grasp of his hand from that moment on. Have you accepted Jesus' invitation?

If not, now is the time. You're listening to Leading the Way with Dr. Michael Youssef, and if you would like to speak with someone about what you heard today, consider talking with a Leading the Way pastor or counselor. Start your conversation at ltw.org slash Jesus. You know, Dr. Youssef, led by the Holy Spirit, recently began a ministry campaign he's calling the Open Door Campaign. Leading the Way is embarking on a bold new vision to passionately proclaim the uncompromising truth of Christ in three strategic areas where the need is greatest and the doors are open. In North America, where only 4% of adults have a biblical worldview, we will deliver solid biblical teaching through every media platform available. We will continue to pray for a spiritual awakening in the Western Church, asking the Lord to mobilize believers to stand firm for uncompromised biblical truth in their homes, churches, and communities.

The Middle East is open and home to 68% of the world's unreached people groups. We will proclaim the gospel in areas with the most need through our KingdomSat TV channel, outreach events, audio, printed and digital content, and our strategically positioned field teams. We must take the gospel to those who have never heard it. Forty-two percent of the world's population lives in remote villages without gospel truth.

Technology and language barriers have cut them off from the message. Your support will help us reach these isolated areas. Join Dr. Youssef in this bold new five-year mission to passionately proclaim uncompromising truth. It's the Open Door Campaign. Learn more and stand with Dr. Youssef when you call 866-626-4356 or go online ltw.org. This program is furnished by Leading the Way with Dr. Michael Youssef, passionately proclaiming uncompromising truth.