"If someone dies, will they live again?"

Three Basic Views
1. Oblivion - there's nothing more after this life. But Near Death Experiences (NDE's) are challenging this view.
2. Reincarnation - a view held mainly in the eastern world.
3. Afterlife - there is something beyond the grave, that our lives do not end when our bodies die. This is also at the heart of the biblical message.

Will All People Die? The answer is "No!" The Bible teaches in 1 Corinthians 15:51-52 that there will be one generation that does not, the one alive when Jesus returns. The Bible teaches a resurrection.

What happens when I die? A personal look using the Bible's Testimony:
1. Life - God is the author of life. Genesis 2:7, Ecclesiastes 3:11
2. Death - is a reality because of sin. Genesis 3:19, Romans 5:12
3. Paradise - with Christ when we die. Luke 23:43, Philippians 1:23. But this is not our destiny.
4. Raised - The dead will be raised. Our destiny and future is to be bodily raised with new bodies that are glorified. 1 Corinthians 15:22, 1 Thessalonians 4:16
5. Judgement - For unbelievers it is a time of judgement, for believers their sins were judged at the Christ so that we do not need to suffer the punishment for our sins. For believers the judgement is a time of reward. 2 Corinthians 5:10, Hebrew 9:27 A believer's life is to be lived as a thank you note to God.
6. Forever - believers will live forever in a new heaven and a new earth in new bodies with no pain, death or suffering. 2 Peter 3:13, Revelation 21:4. Our destiny is to live forever! That is why it is so important that we receive what God offers us: salvation, life, forgiveness, and assurance through faith in Jesus who died for us, rose from the grave and will return at the end of time.

For believers, death is not to be feared with dread, it is instead an assurance that there is more and that the best is yet to come. John 11:25 "Jesus said to her, 'I'm the resurrection and the life. The one who believe in me will live, even through they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?'"

Do you believe what Jesus said to Martha? Will you respond to the gift God desires to bring to everyone, life forever with Him? He desires all to be saved through knowledge in the Lord Jesus Christ.

1. Sin - all have sinned and need a Savior and need to repent
2. Sorrow - realize we have sinned against a holy God, our Creator, and desire to repent. God is good and gracious and desires all repent and admit we are sinners responding with sorrow and trusting our Savior
3. Savior - the only One who can deliver us from death and the grave and a horrible future. He is the only who can give meaning to life today and meaning forever. We have a future beyond the grave.

What happens when I die? Jesus' response to that question is, "I am the resurrection and the life, do you believe this?"

Follow up questions to consider:
⁃ How would you answer the question; "What happens when I die?"
⁃ Do you believe the Bible's testimony about life beyond the grave? Why or why not
⁃ Are you trusting the Lord Jesus for your eternal destiny?

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Today's class looks at Opposition both then and now:

Internal + External Opposition

Complaints + Lies

Internal Opposition - Acts 6:1-7

Acts 6:1 tells us "In those days when the number of disciples was increasing, the Hellenistic Jews among them complained against the Hebraic Jews because their widows were being overlooked in the daily distribution of food."

The backgrounds and cultures and languages of these two groups of Jews was different. Hellenistic Jews spoke Greek, Hebraic Jews spoke Hebrew and some of the Greek speaking jews' widows were not receiving the daily distribution of food and thus there is dissension.

Acts 6:2-6 The Twelve gathered all the disciples together to come up with a solution. They chose 7 men (all Hellenistic) who were filled with the Spirit and wisdom to be responsible for this issue, that was the 12 could continue to be devoted to prayer and preaching of the word. Stephen, and 6 others were chosen. The Twelve blessed them to carry out the work.

Acts 6:7 we read that the word of God spread and the number of disciples in Jerusalem increased rapidly and that a large numbers of priests also became devote followers of Jesus.

Complaints Then + Now:

• Don't ignore complaints
• Don't get defensive
• Do address the issues
• Do act wisely

External Opposition - Acts 6:8-15

Acts 6:8 tells us that Stephen was a man full of God's grace and power and he performed great wonders and signs among the people. We see it is not just the disciples performing wonders and signs. We do not know what those wonders were, but we know they were "great."

Stephen becomes popular and with the popularity comes persecution. Acts 6:9 we read the opposition arose, and members of the Synagogue of the Freedmen - Jews of Cyrene, Alexandria, Cilicia and Asia began to argue with Stephen. The "freedmen" had formerly been slaves but were now freed and also Roman citizens. In verse 10 we read that they could not stand up against the wisdom the Spirit gave Stephen as he spoke.

Verse 11 tells us what they then did - they persuaded some men to lie about Stephen and to say they heard him speak blasphemously against Moses and God." It was not true, it was a lie. Acts 6:12 tells how they seized Stephen and brought him before the Sanhedrin. The tension is growing and anger is ratcheting up.

Acts 6: 13-14 continues with the false witnesses against Stephen and their lies and in verse 15 we read that as they all looked at him in the trial with the Sanhedrin they saw that Stephen's face was like the face of an Angel.

Lies Then + Now:

• Don't be surprised when it happens
• Don't yield to the enemy
• Do trust the Lord Jesus even in the face of lies
• Do rely on the Holy Spirit

Next we will study the rest of Stephen's story.

This week's READING ASSIGNMENT:

Acts chapter 6-7 (read and reflect on these two chapters together) also read John 8:44 to see where lies originate.

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The prophetic words in Daniel 9, written down hundreds of years before the birth of Jesus, were fulfilled in dramatic ways in the First Century A.D. They should strengthen us and remind us that God is in control, and that He always fulfills His word!