Greg Laurie - The Unseen Entities (Angels, Demons, and the Afterlife)

TOPICS: Unseen Realm, Angels, Demons, Afterlife

There’s a story in the Old Testament about Elisha and his servant Gehazi. They were surrounded by enemy forces, and Gehazi was starting to freak out. Actually, Elisha had fallen asleep; he was so confident in the Lord. So Gehazi wakes him up and says, «Master, we’re going to die! What are we going to do?» Elisha, wiping the sleep from his eyes, says, «Don’t fear, because those that are with us are more than those that are with them.» Then Elisha prays, «Lord, open his eyes that he may see.» Suddenly, Gehazi got a glimpse into the invisible world, and he saw the angels of the Lord surrounding them. Imagine if we could see that right now. I think it would freak us out a little bit if we could see it, but it is so real. We have angels around us. So you say, «How do you know, Greg?» Because the Bible says the angel of the Lord surrounds those that fear him. There are a bunch of people in this room and watching who fear the Lord right now, so there are angels among us as well.

Number two: there are not only a lot of angels, but their ranks are well-organized. It’s not unlike the military, where you have various rankings. It’s the same in the angelic world; not only among the holy angels but also among the fallen ones. In fact, 1 Peter 3:22 tells us that Christ has gone into heaven, and on his right hand, there are angels, authorities, and powers. There are three rankings right there: angels, authorities, and powers.

Number three: we found that two of the angels, at least, are identified by name. That would be the super angel, the mega angel, the man himself, Michael the archangel, who has played a unique role throughout history and will also be active in the end-time events. Then there’s Gabriel, who is given the unique privilege of announcing the birth of the Messiah to both Joseph and Mary.

Now, what have the angels come to do? Point number four: the angels sometimes reveal the purposes of God to us. You remember that there were three angels dispatched to tell Abraham about the judgment of Sodom and Gomorrah. An angel was dispatched to Zechariah to tell him he would be the father of John the Baptist. Now, I would suggest to you that you may have been spoken to before by an angel, but you probably didn’t know it. Because here’s another thing about angels: they are God’s secret agents. They operate undercover. They are involved in what we would call special ops, right? You see, they are dispatched to a given place to do a certain task, not unlike the Navy Seals, the Army Rangers, the Green Berets, or the Delta Force special forces that are called to accomplish something. You don’t know when they went in, you don’t know when they left, and you don’t even necessarily know what they did exactly. You just know the job was done. That’s how angels work; they operate undercover doing the work of God. So sometimes they reveal the purposes of God.

Also, angels help us come to salvation and occasionally guide us. An angel played a role in the conversion of Cornelius. There may have been times when an angel has actually spoken to you to go do a certain thing, but you didn’t necessarily know it was an angel. Case in point: an angel told Philip to go out to the desert. Maybe an angel has spoken to you as well.

Number six: the angels protect us. Psalm 34:7 says, «The angel of the Lord guards all who fear him, and he rescues them.» So when you’ve had those close calls in life and you wonder how you got through it, no doubt it was your angel doing the work that God had called him to do. But what about when an accident happens? What about when a Christian dies? Does that mean that somehow the angel failed in his mission? The answer is no. God is the one that determines the date of our death and the date of our birth. In the same way, the angel’s job is to protect us until our time of departure comes, and then the angel’s role changes. They are there to escort us to heaven. You remember that after Lazarus died, in the story of Lazarus and the rich man, the Bible says he was carried by angels to Abraham’s bosom. So there is an angelic escort waiting for you when your time to go to heaven comes.

So where did demons come from? Short answer: demons are fallen angels. Again, demons are fallen angels. As hard as it is for us to believe, there was a rebellion in the angelic world, with many of the angels turning against God and becoming evil. Over in Jude, chapter 6, we read that the angels did not keep their own position but left their proper dwelling. They rebelled against God, and that rebellion was led by another high-ranking angel by the name of Lucifer. More on him in a moment. But Lucifer is the one that led the rebellion of one-third of the angels against God. There are multiple references to this in the Bible. We read of Beelzebub and his demons in Matthew 12:24. We read of the devil and his angels. We read of the dragon and his angels in Revelation 12:7. And, of course, Jesus said hell is created for the devil and his angels.

So what is the objective of a demon? What does a demon come to do? The objective of demons seems to be twofold. Number one, they are here to, excuse me, hinder the purposes of God and extend the power of Satan. You know, the Bible describes the devil as a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. Like a hungry beast of prey, he’s looking for his next meal. He’s ready to pounce. He’s always busy with his well-organized network of demon powers, helping him to accomplish his purposes. And what is the purpose of the devil? A lot of things could be said, but let me sum it up this way. In the words of Jesus, he said, «The thief,» speaking of Satan, «has come only to steal, kill, and destroy.» That’s his endgame. He may come with some enticing temptation. He may come with something that dazzles you, that might even have an element of enjoyment in it in the beginning, but the endgame, the ultimate result, is to steal, kill, and destroy.

A closing thought about the devil and his demons and his strategy: I’m sure you’ve all heard of C.S. Lewis. If you haven’t, you ought to read the books he’s written. A very prolific, incredible author, and he had an amazing imagination. Of course, he wrote the Chronicles of Narnia and other books that have been used by God to bring people to faith. But Lewis wrote a very unusual book called The Screwtape Letters. And basically this is a book where C.S. Lewis tried to put himself in the shoes of the devil and the demons and the strategies they use to deceive people.

So here’s what Lewis writes in The Screwtape Letters, and I quote: «There is a legend about Satan and his imps-that would be his demons-planning their strategy for attacking the world that’s hearing the message of salvation. One of the demons says to the devil, 'I’ve got the plan, master. When I get on earth, I’ll take charge of people’s thinking, and I’ll tell them there’s no heaven.' The devil says, 'They' ll never believe that. The book of truth is full of messages about the hope of heaven through sins forgiven. They won’t believe that. They know there’s a glory yet future.'

Another demon on the other side of the room says, 'I’ve got the plan. I’ll tell them there’s no hell.' 'No good, ' the devil says. 'Jesus, while he was on this earth, talked more about hell than heaven. They know in their heart that the wrong will have to be taken care of in some way.' Then one brilliant little imp stood up and said, 'Then I know the answer. I’ll tell them there’s no hurry.' Lewis concludes, 'And he’s the one Satan chose.' Right? There’s no hurry. The devil comes and says, 'There’s no hurry. You’ve got all the time in the world, man. Live it up. Sow your wild oats. Do whatever you want with whomever you want and just have a great time. And you know when you’re really old, you can turn to God, ' knowing that the odds of that happening are pretty low because you might become so hardened in your sin you won’t want to turn to God when you’re older. There’s no hurry! But there is a hurry because the Bible says today is a day of salvation. The devil says tomorrow; the Holy Spirit says now, today.

You might ask the question, well can people be demon-possessed today? Sure, they can. Yeah, absolutely. Okay, then you might ask the question: can Christians be demon-possessed? Answer: no, they can’t be. And I’ll tell you why. When you put your faith in Jesus Christ, a sign is effectively hung around your neck that says, „Under new management.“ Okay? You belong to the Lord now. And Jesus is not into a timeshare program. Isn’t that nice to know? It’s not like he says, „Okay, now I’ve got Greg for six months, and devil, you can have him for the next six months.“ No! The Lord comes in; he’s the sole resident in this heart and life.

Okay, but can the devil affect us from the outside? Can demons, for instance, tempt us? Can demons oppress us? Can demons buffet us? Answer: yes, they can. Even the Apostle Paul, after he had his vision of seeing the Lord in glory, said, „But there was sent a messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure,“ allowed by God and orchestrated by Satan. By the way, that word „buffet“ means to hit in the face. So Paul’s saying, „Yeah, I’ve come under some demon attack.“ But here’s the good news: God will never give you more than you can handle. So he may allow the devil to tempt you or harass you in some way, but he won’t give you more than you can take.

So you say, „Well, you know what? If you’re not a Christian, well, the devil can take you over completely. It could even get to this state. So don’t open your heart up to that. Don’t play that crazy game because you’re vulnerable.“ How are you going to keep the devil away? „I’ll just pull up my crucifix.“ Satan doesn’t care about your crucifix. „Oh, I’ll wear garlic around my neck. That’ll keep your friends away.“ It won’t keep the devil away. The only power that Satan respects is the power of Jesus Christ. And when Jesus Christ is living in your life, you don’t have to be afraid. So when the devil comes knocking, you just say, „Lord, would you mind getting that?“ Oh, but if Christ is not in your life, you’re vulnerable. He could take, Satan could take control of you, and it’s a scary thing. But you don’t have to be afraid if you’ve asked Jesus to come into your life.

You know, I think when you lose a loved one unexpectedly, or even expectedly, you know you have no way to mentally prepare for what that’s like. And uh, you know, I know a person who just lost a loved one, and they were doing really well in the immediate aftermath. I thought, you know, hard days are coming for me because the reality sets in, and that person’s no longer there. Even if you knew they were going to die, even if they were on their deathbed, when they’re finally gone, it’s so hard. And the result of this is sometimes people try to have communication with people on the other side. Uh, you’ll even hear things said like, „Well, I know my loved one is still with me. I sense their presence,“ or even something like, „They speak to me, and they guide me.“ Why is this a dangerous thing for anyone to do, much less a Christian?

Yeah, you can’t reach your loved one. The loved one is beyond your reach. If you reach anybody, it certainly won’t be your loved one there. Uh, once a person is dead, they’re in the unseen realm, and they cannot come back. They don’t come back and haunt; they don’t come back and communicate. Not at all. And the Bible gives the strongest of warnings in Deuteronomy 18: „Don’t learn the way of the heathen,“ which they try to do is communicate with the dead, because we won’t-We will talk to somebody, but it certainly won’t be that dead relative we’re talking to. They can’t tell us what’s going on because the Lord Jesus has given us enough. In fact, Greg, 2 Corinthians 12: Paul was, you know, caught up into heaven. He wasn’t allowed to say anything. He said he doesn’t even know if he’s in the body or out of the body.

So we better be very careful about trying to do something like that. Is it presumptuous to expect that God could and would heal us? So let’s address our first question: Why do people get sick in the first place? Here’s the big answer: sickness and even death itself were never part of God’s original plan. If our original parents had just stayed away from that stinking tree, we would have never aged, we would have never died, and I would have had hair! No, but because sin entered the human race, we were barred from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, which would cause us to live forever.

There’s the aging process. There’s illness. There’s sickness. There’s tragedy and all the rest of it. Romans 5:12 says, „Sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all have sinned.“ Now I’m not saying that sickness is a result of someone’s personal sin specifically, because I believe sickness is a result of sin in general. Having said that, it should be pointed out that some sickness, rather, is a result of personal sin. Uh, earlier in Matthew chapter 8, Jesus heals a paralytic man in Capernaum and said, „Son, your sins are forgiven,“ which would indicate in this man’s case at least, that perhaps his paralysis was linked to personal sin. That is not to say that all or even most sickness is connected to personal sin, but it is to say that some is.

Uh, to another man that was healed in Bethesda, Jesus said, „You’re made well; stop sinning or something worse may happen to you.“ So it is possible God can allow a sickness in your life or an illness. Why? Well, maybe he wants to get your attention. Maybe you don’t listen so well. And as the psalmist said, „Before I was afflicted, I went astray, but now I have kept your word.“ So it is something, of course, to consider. But then again, there are many times God will allow illness in the life of a man or a woman that is walking very closely with God, and that illness has nothing to do with their sinfulness. In fact, the reality is it’s because of their godliness that they’ve been afflicted. You say, „Well, I don’t get that. Why would God allow someone who was walking with them to go through hardship?“

Well, here’s one answer: The Apostle Paul had the glorious experience of being caught up and seeing the Lord in heaven. But then he was given a thorn in the flesh. Remember? And he wrote about it in 2 Corinthians 12. And he said, „To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to torment me. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away.“ And God said, „My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.“

Paul goes on, „So I’m going to boast about my weaknesses so Christ’s power may rest on me. I delight in weakness, in insult, in hardship, in persecution, and difficulty; for when I am weak, then I am strong.“ Maybe you have a thorn in your flesh. And by that, I mean there’s something that keeps you deflated. It keeps you humble. It keeps you dependent upon God. So there are a lot of reasons we can cite, but God does allow sickness. Now the question is: Does God heal sickness? And the answer is: Well, yes, he does. Does God heal all sickness? No, unfortunately, he does not. But there is a promise of healing in scripture.

Uh, Isaiah 53 says, „He took our infirmities and carried our sorrows. We considered him stricken by God and afflicted, but he was pierced for our transgressions. He was crushed for our iniquities. The punishment for our peace was upon him, and by his wounds, we are healed.“ And then in 1 Peter 2:24, he says, „By his wounds, you were healed.“ And the word „healed“ that Peter uses is a verb that always speaks of physical healing. So there is healing available. Now here’s what is holding a lot of people back from being healed. It’s so simple, it’s crazy. The Bible says you have not because you ask not. I suggest to some of you that the reason you may not have what God wants you to have is because you have simply not asked for it. Really? Well, I have a financial crisis. Really? Have you prayed about it? Have you gone to the Lord and said, „Hey, Lord, I’m in a financial crisis. Could you provide for me? Lord, I need a job. Would you provide one for me? Lord, I’m ill. Would you heal me? Lord, I don’t know what to do. Would you speak to me?“

This is totally appropriate and something every believer should do. It may be that you have not because you ask not. And clearly, in the case of both Jairus and the woman, they got what they needed because they asked. Now, I’m not giving the credit to them; Jesus did it. However, they did act out and pray about it. You see, here’s something to consider, uh, when we think about healing. Because some will say, „You know, if you’re not healed, it’s because you have a lack of faith. Just speak it into existence, and believe it’s true, and it will be true to you. And if you have a negative thought or say a negative word, then you’ll lose your healing.“ That’s nonsense! Okay? Because it isn’t always about your faith because sometimes you’re going to lack faith.

I mean, sometimes you’re healed because you apply your faith. And in this story, we see that in the case of the woman with the issue of blood. But then sometimes it’s the faith of someone else; because in the story, we also see it was the faith of Jairus for his daughter. Alright? And also, we see in some cases, it’s just the Lord intervening and doing it all by himself without anyone’s faith. How much faith did anyone have the day that Lazarus was raised from the dead? Mary and Martha, his close disciples, were freaking out, accusing Jesus of letting them down. Everyone else was devastated.

So it looks to me like that was just Jesus acting sovereignly and deciding to bring his buddy back from the other side. My point is simply this: God is in control. God is sovereign, and he will do what he wants to do when he wants to do it. But we have our part as well. So here’s what you need to do with as much faith as you have. Just pray, „Lord, I believe.“ And then you can even add, „Help my unbelief.“ Well, that’s in the Bible! That’s what a guy said to Jesus: „Lord, I believe. Help my unbelief.“ And Jesus responded to that man’s prayer, and he’ll respond to yours as well. So call out to him. Jeremiah 33:3 says, „God speaking: Call to me, and I will answer you and I’ll show you great and mighty things which you do not know.“

Are you in a personal crisis right now? Reach out and touch him. Maybe it’s something else. It’s not a child that’s dying, but it’s a marriage that’s failing, or it’s some other problem you’re facing. Reach out to the Lord. Number two: The story is not finished yet. The story is not finished yet. God always finishes what he begins. As I said, he’s the author and finisher of our faith. Number three: If we trust in Jesus, our stories will all have happy endings. If we trust in Jesus, our stories will all have happy endings. I know some of you are thinking, „Hello, Greg. Earth to Greg. Reality check. What about the person who was not healed? What if the child is not brought back to life?“

Well, life this side of eternity is very hard. But on the other side, in heaven, when we have the whole story, we’ll realize it did have a happy ending. Maybe not on earth, but certainly in heaven. Paul said in 1 Corinthians 13, „Right now, I see through a glass darkly, but then I will see face to face, and I will know as I am known.“ So we need to come to Jesus. You see, here’s the thing with Jairus. He felt the reality of what was happening, and he knew he had to get help for his daughter. Listen, here’s the thing that we need to remember: Jairus’s daughter was raised from the dead. Guess what? She died again.

The woman who was healed of this 12-year infirmity, she died too. And Lazarus, who was raised from the dead, he died. I think the only thing more depressing than dying would be dying, being raised from the dead, and dying again. Yeah! So here’s my point: I’m not trying to be depressing; I’m just trying to say it’s a good thing when we know that death could come at any moment. Not as a morbid thought, but as a liberating thought. Because only those who are prepared to die are really ready to live.

So we realize that this day is given to me from God. No matter if I’ve heard bad news from a doctor or good news from a doctor, this life is from God. It’s not mine; I don’t possess it. I live it for his glory each day. And as Paul said, to live is Christ, and to die is gain. So if I have many more years, praise the Lord, I’ll use those for his glory. If I have a few more years, well, I’ll use those for his glory. And if this is my last day, then to the best of my ability, I’ll live this for his glory. Because no matter what, if you’re healed or you’re not healed, if you die and are raised, and you’re going to still die again, because life comes to an end, but eternity is forever. And for the believer, death is not the end; it’s a transition from earth to heaven.

That’s really what it is, and it’s a glorious thing. And Jesus died on a cross and suffered in our place so we don’t have to be afraid to die. The book of Revelation can feel mysterious, even overwhelming. But it wasn’t written to confuse us; it was written to give hope, assurance, and a clear view of what’s to come. For a limited time, you can receive the Revelation Answer Book by prophecy expert Mark Hitchcock when you support Harvest Ministries with a gift of any amount. In this clear and concise resource, Dr. Hitchcock answers some of the most common questions believers have about the end times. Who are the 144,000 in Revelation 7? Are the judgments we read about literal or symbolic? What is the mark of the beast?

If you’ve ever struggled to make sense of the final book of the Bible, this resource will help you find solid, scripture-based answers and the peace that comes from knowing God is in control of the future. Support the gospel work of Harvest Ministries, and request your copy of the Revelation Answer Book today at harvest.org /donate. There are two destinations beyond the grave: heaven and hell. There’s no purgatory; there’s no stopovers. You go straight into the presence of the Lord. Isn’t that good to know? Right into God’s presence! The moment you close your eyes on earth, you open them in heaven. When you take your last breath on earth, you take your first breath in heaven. It’s so fast; you could hardly even measure it. Paul writes in Philippians 1:23, „I’m hard-pressed between the two. I have a desire to depart and be with Christ, which is far better, but it’s important for me to stay here with you.“

Why is heaven better than earth? Well, number one, because I’m moving from a tent to a mansion. How many of you remember the TV show The Beverly Hillbillies? Raise your hand. You’re all really old! But uh, perfect illustration of what will happen to us: Jed moved from his ramshackle old shack in the woods to a mansion. And we’re going to move from this broken down shack of a body to a mansion that’s far better than Beverly Hills. Right? Heaven is better than earth because all of my questions will be answered. We all have questions in life; I do. I’ll admit things that have happened to me in life that didn’t really make sense. Some of those things have been sorted out as I’ve gotten older.

I’ll look back and say, „Oh, now I understand maybe why God allowed that, because this came out of it, and this other thing came out of it.“ But then there are other things that have happened to me that make no sense to me at all. But we have serious questions we want to ask God. And we’ll know one day! We’ll know! 1 Corinthians 13:12 says, „Now we see things imperfectly, like puzzling reflections in a mirror. But then we will see everything with perfect clarity. All that I know now is partial and incomplete, but then I will know everything completely, just as God knows me completely.“ But the greatest thing of all-the reason that heaven is better than earth-is not just because I’m upgrading my dwelling place, not just because my questions will be answered, but I’ll be with Christ!

I’ll be with Christ! That’s it! Again, as Paul says, „I want to desire and be with Christ, which is far better.“ So what is heaven like? Short answer: amazing, awesome, better than anything you ever imagined! It’s beyond your wildest dreams! But let’s start with this. We need to be reminded that heaven is an actual place. Jesus said in John 14, „I’ve gone to prepare a place for you.“ Are people who have gone on before us believers in the Lord looking down on us right now or looking down on us at any time? What do people in heaven know about what is happening here on earth?

I think a good passage to turn to for that is Revelation chapter 6, where you have the martyrs in heaven. They’ve died, they’ve gone home to be with the Lord; they’re with Jesus in the present heaven. You look in Revelation 6, verse 9: „I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God and the testimony they had maintained.“ Now here’s what they do: This is what life is like for them in the present heaven. They called out in a loud voice, „How long, sovereign Lord, holy and true, until you judge the inhabitants of the earth and avenge our blood?“

Well, first of all, clearly they remember their life on earth. And some people say, „Well, if we could remember anything of our life on earth in heaven, surely we couldn’t remember the bad things.“ How much worse does it get than having been murdered? And they remember that they were murdered. But see, the key to heaven is not ignorance; it’s perspective on their lives. So they remember that they- their lives on earth. They remember the bad things, actually, that even happened to them. But now they see them through redemptive eyes. And they’re also aware that God has not yet brought judgment upon their persecutors. They’re not asking, „Lord, have you brought judgment?“ They’re saying, „When will you bring judgment?“

So they know that he hasn’t yet. How do they know that? Because they’re seeing, at least to a degree, at least they’re aware of what’s going on down on earth, and then they’re told that they had to wait a little longer. Remember, they’re saying, „How long, oh Lord?“ Wait a little longer! People say, „Well, is there time in heaven?“ Very clearly, there is here. And then he says, „When the last martyr dies, that’s basically when he’s going to return.“ But you look at Luke chapter 15, where Jesus says there’s rejoicing in the presence of the angels when a sinner repents. It doesn’t say the angels rejoice. It could easily say the angels rejoice. It doesn’t say that. I’m sure they do rejoice, but it’s saying there’s rejoicing in the presence of the angels when a sinner on earth repents.

So how do they know that the sinner on earth has repented? They have to know about it in order to rejoice. Who are those people in the presence of the angels? I think it’s the people of God. It’s the part of the body of Christ that’s already gone home. They may have prayed for years for that person. They see that that person repented. There’s rejoicing in the very presence of the angels where the people of God are when someone down on earth repents. So people in heaven are aware of what is happening on earth. As you’ve pointed out, one verse that’s often quoted is, you know, „we’re surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses.“ Let’s run the race with endurance that’s set before us.

And some would interpret that as saying, „Well, these are the people that have just gone before us and have sort of set the example,“ which is true, of course. Hebrews 11 precedes Hebrews 12, and that’s the hall of faith of all the great heroes of the Bible. But then again, surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses, some wonder-is that, you know, I don’t know if it’s heavenly grandstands but certainly some form of viewing or watching from a heavenly perspective, you know, seeing it from that view.

The Bible uses different words or pictures to describe heaven. It’s described as a paradise. You remember when Jesus was hanging on the cross? It was a thief crucified next to him who said to Jesus, „Lord, remember me when you come into your kingdom.“ And Jesus said, „Truly, truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise.“ Yeah, paradise! So he was reminding that man of the glory ahead. Paul writes of his own experience where he died and went to heaven in 2 Corinthians 12 and he says, „I know a man fourteen years ago was seized by Christ and swept into ecstasy to the heights of heaven. I know that this man was hijacked into paradise, and he heard the unspeakable spoken but was forbidden to tell what he heard.“ So it’s paradise! But then the Bible describes heaven as a city.

It doesn’t say it’s like a city; it says it is a city. Hebrews 13:14 says, „We’re looking for a city that is to come.“ Hebrews 11:10 tells us that this city has God as both the architect and the builder. It’ll be like a perfect city. So we’re going to be enjoying ourselves in heaven. Is that so hard to understand? Will we go to concerts in heaven? Well, there’s a lot of godly men and women that did concerts on earth that maybe we’ll do them in heaven. Maybe you’ll be out with some friends and someone says, „We’re going to go see Handel’s Messiah tonight.“ In fact, Handel will be there directing it.

Think of it as a real place with real people where you do real things. It’s a happy place. I think that’s hard for some people to understand, but heaven is a happy place. The Bible says in his presence there is fullness of joy, and at his right hand, there are pleasures forevermore. The Bible says there’s joy in heaven over one sinner that repents. That’s heaven! Quick glimpse of heaven! And God will give us new bodies that will never wear out or age. One of my granddaughters asked me a while ago, „Papa, why do we have to die? Why can’t we just float up to heaven?“ I thought, „That’s a good question, isn’t it?“

The answer is: because our first parent, parents, sinned-Adam and Eve. Sin entered the world, and it infected the whole planet. But Jesus died on the cross for our sin and rose again from the dead. And we no longer have to be afraid because he said, „I’m the resurrection and the life! He that believes in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live. And whosoever lives and believes in me shall never die.“ In his biography on Steve Jobs, who created Apple and created a lot of the technology that we’re using today, especially the iPhone, the author Walter Isaacson asked Steve Jobs whether or not he believed in God. Jobs said throughout his life, there were seasons when he did believe in God, and then there were times when he did not. But now, as he was facing the prospect of his own death, he found himself believing in God more and more.

So the author of the book, Isaacson, asked Steve Jobs, „Why? Why do you believe this more and more?“ Steve replied, „Because I can’t accept that the body just turns off one day, and then it’s all over and you’re gone forever.“ Then Jobs added these words, „Incidentally, that’s why we never put on/off switches on Apple products,“ because Jobs didn’t like the idea of just flipping a switch and turning something off. Isn’t that interesting? That’s how a lot of people view death-you just flip a switch, and lights out! Party’s over, the end. Well, that’s actually not true at all. Uh, we are eternal people. If we’re a believer or a non-believer, we have a soul that lives on in the afterlife. Yes, the body goes into the ground. Yes, the body ceases to function, but the soul lives on.

Most Americans believe in an afterlife: 84%-82% of Americans believe in heaven, 70% believe in hell. That always makes me laugh that fewer people believe in hell than believe in heaven. But both are found in the Bible. One thing is clear: We’ll all die and enter the afterlife. Because Ecclesiastes 3 says, „There’s a time for every purpose under heaven, a time to be born and a time to die.“ Hebrews 9:27 says, „It’s appointed unto a man once to die, and then comes the judgment.“

So let’s read now the words of Jesus about the afterlife here in John 5. I’m going to read verses 25-29. Jesus says, „I assure you, the time is coming; indeed, it is here now when the dead will hear my voice, the voice of the Son of God, and those who listen will live. The Father has life in himself, and he has granted that same life-giving power to the Son and has given him authority to judge everyone because he is the Son of Man. Don’t be surprised! Indeed, the time is coming when all the dead in their graves will hear the voice of God’s Son, and they’ll rise again. Those who have done good will rise to experience eternal life, and those who have continued in evil will rise to experience judgment.“

We’ll stop there. Three big truths pop out of these verses. Number one: There is a final judgment. Number two: there are two destinations beyond the grave. And number three: the destination we enter into depends on our relationship with God. Let’s start with point number one: There is a final judgment. In Acts 17:30, Peter says, „In these times of ignorance, God has overlooked. But now he commands all men everywhere to repent because he has appointed a day in which he will judge the world in righteousness.“

So the fact that there is a future judgment reminds us that God is fair because life is filled with injustices, isn’t it? You just read a news feed, and the horrible things that happen every single day break your heart. People seem to get away with the worst crimes imaginable, and we think, „How can that happen?“ Well, they’re not going to get away with it. They may escape the long arm of the law, but they will not escape the long arm of the Lord. And God is in control, and he keeps very accurate records. Colossians 3:25 says, „The wrongdoer will be paid back for the wrong he has done, and there is no partiality.“

Listen to this: Every wrong in the universe will ultimately be paid for. It will either be paid for by Jesus Christ when he died on the cross and the offender repents and puts their faith in him, or it will be paid for by the offender at the final judgment for those who do not put their faith in Jesus for salvation. Here’s what Jesus says: John 5:28, „The time is coming when the dead in their graves will hear the voice of God’s Son; they’ll rise again. Those who have done good will rise to experience eternal life, and those who have continued in evil will rise to experience judgment.“

Point number five: only non-believers will stand at the great white throne judgment. So death and Hades deliver up the dead that were in them. So the non-believer goes to this place of Hades-this difficult section, torment section, if you will-and now they come to the great white throne judgment. And you’re judged from the books, plural. What are these books? No one knows. So I’ll just make a bunch of stuff up. No, not really. This is based on other scriptures. Maybe one of those books is a book of God’s law, you know, the commandments of God that we’ve broken. Imagine if every time you broke a commandment, it was recorded in a book. That’d be a big book, right?

And the Bible says God gave us the law that every mouth would be stopped and all the world would be guilty before God. Maybe one of those books is a record of every time you heard the gospel and rejected it. Because some people would probably say, „Hold on now! I never heard this! I never heard someone say I needed to believe in Jesus!“ Well, actually, you did! And here’s a record of all those times you heard it throughout your childhood, and you rejected it. I don’t know with any certainty. But then, if you’re not found written in the book of life, you’re cast into the lake of fire. If you’re a Christian, your name is written in the book of life.

Now, just as there is a distorted view of heaven, there is also a distorted view of hell. „Oh, hell’s going to be a big party. We’ll be there. We’ll party with all of our friends.“ No, hell is not going to be a big party unless you like to have parties in a blast furnace. Hell is a real place, and the Bible speaks of it using different pictures of outer darkness and flames. And this is something that is a horrible thing to consider. And it is worth noting that Jesus spoke of hell more than all the other preachers of the Bible put together.

We might say, „Wow, why would he do that? I thought Jesus was loving.“ Well, yeah, that he speaks about it because he’s loving. He alone has seen it; he knows what hell looks like. And God doesn’t want any person to spend eternity separated from him in this place called hell. Just as surely as heaven is a real place for real people, hell too is a real place for real people. In Luke 16, Jesus gives us a behind-the-scenes look at hell. He tells the story of two men who died the same day. One was named Lazarus, and he was a beggar, and he was impoverished, and he was starving to death, and he spent his time outside of the palatial estate of a very wealthy man who flaunted his wealth. And one day they both died.

And according to Jesus, Lazarus went into Abraham’s bosom. He went into this place of comfort. And the rich man went into a place of fire and judgment. Now, understand the rich man didn’t go to hell because he was a rich man. He went there because he had no place for God in this life. He worshipped his possessions instead of the Lord. And there he was suffering, and he was conscious. Now, I know the question that comes to our mind immediately is, „How could a God of love send people to hell?“ Is that not an inconsistency on the part of God? No, not at all. He, again, as I said earlier, did not create hell for people. He created it for Satan.

Listen to this: If a person ends up in hell, they’re getting what they actually wanted. One person put it this way, and I quote: „People only get in the afterlife what they most wanted: either to have God as Savior and Master or to be their own saviors and masters.“ Hell is simply one’s freely chosen path, going on forever. C.S. Lewis put it this way, and I quote: „There are only two kinds of people in the end: those who say to God, 'Thy will be done, ' and those to whom God says in the end, 'Thy will be done.' All who are in hell choose it. Without that self-choice, there could be no hell.“

So literally, if a person ends up in this place called hell, they have no one to blame but themselves. They have to effectively climb over Jesus to get there. He’s done everything he can to get you into heaven. He’s died on the cross; he suffered and died in your place. He paid the price for the sins we’ve committed. He literally faced hell on earth so we could be with him in heaven. He entered the darkness so we could walk in the light, so it’s our choice if we end up there.

Now the big question: will I go to heaven? Well, that’s up to you. Really? Oh yeah! The invitations in the Bible are clear: God wants you in heaven. Whosoever will, let him come! Whoever is thirsty, let him come and drink of the water of life freely! Invitation after invitation: Jesus says, „Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.“ Revelation says, „And the Spirit and the bride say, 'Come! Let him that is thirsty come! '“ Come! Come! Come!

The Lord says to us, but we don’t have to come. We don’t have to go to him. We can say no, and then that will determine where we will spend the afterlife. You need to admit you’re a sinner and ask Christ to come into your life, and he will forgive you of your sin, and you can know you will go to heaven. There is coming a world leader on the scene who’s going to be, for lack of a better description, a fake Christ, a phony Jesus. He’s called the Antichrist. Jesus said in the last days there will come those that will say, „I am Christ.“ And that’s exactly what this man will do. But he’s a pretender. And we all know his number, don’t we? It’s 666.

More people probably know that number from the Bible than John 3:16, which says, „For God so loved the world he gave his only begotten Son that whoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life.“ But we don’t know that! But we know 666! We get nervous about that number. If it’s in your social security number, maybe you want to change it. If they give you a new phone number and it has 666, I don’t know if I want that number! We know that number is connected to evil. We know that it points to something ominous. And indeed, it does.

The Bible teaches that there is coming this charismatic world leader, the Antichrist, who will introduce a cashless society requiring everyone to take a mark. No one will be able to buy or sell or engage in any kind of commerce without the mark of the beast. And by the way, this may be one of the most intriguing issues in all of the Bible. There’s been more speculation, more sensationalism, and more silliness about this topic than any of the other last days' events. Now, maybe 10 years ago, if I was teaching on this, I would illustrate with some things I read in the news about how close we are to this mark. But I don’t even need to do that anymore, do I? We all know that the tech is pretty much here where we could be identified by a mark.

We read of microchips being implanted in pets, and now, in some cases, even in humans. I just saw a video for a well-known website where they’re saying you don’t need a wallet anymore; you can just scan your hand or wave your hand and make your purchase. I hear that Elon Musk, the creator of Tesla and SpaceX, has implanted a little chip into the brain of a chimpanzee, and I saw a chimpanzee playing a video game with this artificial intelligence added. So clearly, we can see this tech is already here!

Okay, so let’s read that passage that refers to the mark of the beast. Revelation 13:16 says, „He causes all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hand or on their foreheads. And no one can buy or sell except one who has the mark or the name of the beast or the number of his name.“ Here is wisdom: Let him that has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man, and his number is 666.

So the Lord has told us this is coming. We know it will, but we don’t know when it will happen exactly. You know, there’s a lot of speculations, and I mentioned recently conspiracy theories that people come up with about the Antichrist, trying to identify him, which is a bad idea, and it’s futile to try to figure out what the mark of the beast might be. Now, because of the coronavirus, we have the vaccines that are available to the public. And on more than one occasion, I’ve read articles about is the vaccine the mark of the beast? If you take the vaccine, are you indeed taking the mark of the beast? So I’m going to answer that right now to the best of my ability. The answer is no! It is not the mark of the beast!

Uh, no one’s going to take the mark of the beast accidentally, because, in fact, as we study scripture, we realize it’s not just taking the mark on your right hand or forehead; it’s a pledge of allegiance to the Antichrist himself. No one is going to take it by accident. And by the way, the Antichrist will not be revealed until the rapture of the church. So if you know who the Antichrist is and you think you know what the mark of the beast is, congratulations! You missed the rapture! Now, I’m being facetious, of course, because we don’t know.

So the point is it’s pointless to try to identify the Antichrist or even the mark that he will use. Let me summarize: The mark of the beast is future, not past or even present. Yet the mark is a visible, literal brand of sorts. The mark will be given as a sign of devotion to Antichrist and as a passport to commerce. And here’s the thing: you’ll know it when you’re getting it! There’s even an angel that is going to fly through the heavens warning people to not take the mark. So no one is going to do it again by accident. So don’t freak out if you go to Disneyland and they put a stamp on your right hand! It’s okay! You have not taken the mark of the beast!

But when this mark is employed during the great tribulation period that lasts for seven years, there’s going to be a one-world government, a new global economy ruled by one man. You’ll have a choice during the tribulation period. You can either take the mark and worship the Antichrist or starve! Basically, no mark, no merchandise; no seal, no sales! Now we’re looking at the four horsemen of the apocalypse. Revelation 6:1: „And now I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals. I heard one of the four living creatures saying with a voice like thunder, 'Come and see! ' And I looked, and behold, a white horse, and he that sat on it had a bow and a crown was given to him, and he went out conquering and to conquer.“

And when he opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature say, „Come and see!“ Another horse, fiery red, went out, and it was granted to the one who sat on it to take peace from the earth and that people should kill one another. And there was given to him a great sword. And when he opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, „Come and see!“ And behold, a black horse, and he that sat on it had a pair of scales in his hand. Now notice, this is all happening after these things. That’s how Revelation 4 began. After these things-after what things? After the things of the church.

We looked at the words of Jesus in the seven love letters of Christ to his church in Revelation chapters 2 to 3. When we come to chapter 4, now we’re in heaven, and also in chapter 5. So this is all happening after the church is removed. This is important because the first horseman of the apocalypse is none other than the Antichrist. This is Antichrist inaugurating the tribulation period. Now some get confused and think maybe this is a reference to Jesus Christ because he rides a white horse, and we know the good guy always rides the white horse, right? In the old westerns, the good guy had the white hat.

Well, it’s true that Jesus comes on a white horse, but this rider is not the same as the description of Christ in Revelation 19. Revelation 19, which is describing Jesus returning, says, „I saw heaven open, and before me was a white horse whose rider is called Faithful and True. With justice, he judges and wages war. And on his head are many crowns.“ So here comes Jesus on Air 1 returning to planet Earth. This is different from what we’re reading about here in Revelation 6. This is not Jesus Christ; this is Antichrist masquerading as the Messiah.

Antichrist wears a crown. In contrast, Jesus wears many crowns. Remember, Jesus said one of the signs of the last days will be many will come in my name saying, „I am Christ.“ So here is Antichrist. Now, the prefix „anti“ can be translated instead of, as well as against. So we might ask the question: is Antichrist this coming world leader against Christ, or is he offering himself instead of Christ? Answer: both! And if you contrast the white horse and rider in Revelation 19 with the rider here in Revelation 6, there are a lot of important differences.

The Antichrist in what we just read here carries a bow without arrows. Jesus Christ has a mighty sword. Antichrist wears a victor’s crown-singular. Jesus Christ wears many crowns. Antichrist initiates war; Jesus comes with his armies at the battle of Armageddon and ends war. Antichrist inaugurates the great tribulation period. Jesus Christ ends the great tribulation period.

Now, just as mysterious as the word apocalypse is, the word Antichrist. Who is this person? Is it an actual human being? Answer: yes! He has many aliases. In the Bible, he’s called the man of sin, the son of perdition, the little horn, the wicked one, the prince who is to come, the one who makes desolate, and of course, the beast. But we pretty much know him as the Antichrist. He’s not who you may expect. He’s going to be suave! He’s going to be intelligent, engaging, magnetic, and charismatic! But it’s all a mask, hiding who he really is: the most evil man who ever lived.

If Satan were to have a son, this is him! The only man that could even compare to the Antichrist would be Judas Iscariot. The Bible even tells us that Satan entered Judas’s heart. But there are over a hundred passages in the Bible that detail the origin, nationality, career, character, kingdom, and the final doom of the Antichrist. Now, sometimes the question is asked, „Is the Antichrist alive right now?“ Uh, no one can say with any certainty. In a Newsweek poll that was done, 19% of Americans said they believe Antichrist is on earth right now.

In a U.S. News and World Report article, 49% of Americans said they believe that there will be an Antichrist sometime in the future. But we don’t know. We don’t know if he’s alive now. But let me say this: he could be! We know that when he emerges on the scene, he’ll come at economically hard times. He’ll do what no other president, prime minister, king, or world leader has ever done. He’ll bring economic stability and global peace. He’ll be hailed as the greatest peacemaker that ever lived.

And this is going to be interesting because the Bible says in Daniel 8:25, „Through peace he will deceive many.“ We all long for global peace. We want there to be no war. Here comes a man inaugurating the tribulation period with peaceful solutions, with economic solutions. We don’t even know how evil he is until a little bit later in the tribulation period. Now we come to horse number two. We can call him the war horse. Revelation 6:3: „He opened the second seal. I heard the second living creature saying, 'Come and see! '“ Another horse, fiery red, went out, and it was granted to the one who sat on it to take peace from the earth and that people should kill one another.

And there was given to him a great sword. So now Antichrist is showing his true colors. First, he comes off like a good guy, riding on a white horse, wearing a crown, bringing peace. But now we see his real agenda: a red horse. Fiery red would be a literal translation. Remember, later in Revelation 12:3, we read a description of Satan as being a great fiery red dragon. And that reminds us that Satan is behind the wars and struggles on this planet. Jesus said of Satan, he comes to steal, kill, and destroy. But again, notice the difference between Jesus Christ and Antichrist.

At the coming of Jesus Christ, we have peace on earth! That was the announcement to the shepherds keeping watch over their flocks by night: „Glory to God in the highest, and peace on earth among men with whom God is well pleased.“ But Antichrist comes along to take peace from the earth. Uh, we read that he has a sword, and the Greek word here for sword speaks of the short stabbing sword that a Roman soldier would use in close combat. It was also used as a weapon by assassins. It speaks of something that is sudden and unexpected. Again, he comes first as a man of peace, but actually, he’s a man of war.

And now, he’s going to bring the misery and havoc that is part of his plan. Following the white horse and the red horse, we have the pale horse and the black horse. Death, plagues, and misery follow. This is the great tribulation period! The first half of it-the first three and a half years-begins peacefully. The second half of it, Antichrist pursues his agenda, and the judgment of God ultimately falls on the planet. By the way, God takes no pleasure in bringing judgment.

And that’s why, even during the tribulation period, the Lord gives opportunity for people to repent. We read that he sends his angel in the heavens, preaching the everlasting gospel. Maybe God has spoken to your heart, and you have seen your need for Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is the Son of God who came from heaven to this earth. He was born in a manger. He died on a cross. He rose again from the dead. Why? Because he loves you and he wants a relationship with you.

Listen, I’m not talking about religion. I don’t want to be a religious person. I don’t think you want to be one either. I’m talking about a relationship with God. Jesus, who died and rose again, stands at the door of your life, and he knocks. And he says if you’ll hear his voice and open the door, he will come in. Question: have you asked Jesus Christ to come live inside of you? You might say, „Well, I think so. I’m not sure.“ Hey, if someone moved into your house in the middle of the night, do you think you would be aware of it? I’m sure you would! And in the same way, if Christ has come to live inside of you, you will know. And if you don’t know, maybe he has not come in yet. He’s just a prayer away.

All you need to do is say, „Jesus, I want this relationship with you. I want you to forgive me of my sin. I want to go to heaven when I die.“ Would you like to do that? Would you like Christ to come into your life? If so, why don’t you just pray this simple prayer with me? You can pray it out loud, or you can pray it in the quietness of your heart. But this is a prayer where you’re asking Jesus Christ to be your savior and Lord. Pray this with me now: „Lord Jesus, I know that I’m a sinner, but I know that you’re the Savior who died on the cross for my sin and rose again from the dead. Now come into my life; I choose to follow you from this moment forward. Thank you for hearing this prayer and answering this prayer in Jesus' name. Amen.“