The Undercover Adventist: November 2022

Monday, November 28, 2022

Is Purgatory Real?

The Saints in Purgatory

Are there really people who are not good enough, nor wicked enough, but are in some sort of limbo as to their final reward from Jesus?

We would then have to believe that there is some world or place where these people are being held. To what end? So they can make up their minds sitting around for hundreds of years? Can the living pray them into heaven?

Those last two questions should be quickl
y answered by Christians. We are given one life, then the judgement.

Hebrews 9:27–28 (NKJV): "And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment, so Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many. To those who eagerly wait for Him He will appear a second time, apart from sin, for salvation."

There is absolutely not a single verse in The Bible that says anyone has a second chance after death. There is not a single verse in The Bible that says the living can pray a dead person into heaven. There is not one verse anywhere in The Bible that says we can suffer for our dead loved ones to get them saved.

It would take a very long time to list and quote every verse, however, that says the dead know nothing and the wicked are destroyed at the Second Coming.

The wicked, those who have rejected the salvation of Jesus, have only one reward waiting: Eternal death.

Unfortunately, there are those in high religious places that deceive many with these false teaching. Even asking for money to help the process along.

Every Christian who reads The Bible should be able to discern the truth on these matters.

You cannot buy your way into heaven.

You cannot buy a loved one into heaven.

You cannot pray a dead person into heaven.

You cannot do any deed to make a dead person worthy of heaven.

Once a person dies, there is nothing left for any human, dead or alive, to do for that dead person. Their fate rests with Jesus.

If we look back on the parable of The Rich Man and Lazarus, even if you try and use that to come up with some type of pergatory, remember what Abraham said in that story: The fate of a person that dies is sealed. There is no second chance.

Friday, November 25, 2022

Sabbath School Lesson 10: The Fires of Hell

On Death, Dying, and the Future Hope

Sabbath School Lesson 10

The Fires of Hell

You may use this for presenting and studying the current Sabbath School Lesson.

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> Download the notes for this lesson's video here.

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> Download current Sabbath School lesson here.

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Monday, November 21, 2022

The Love of Money

Friday, November 18, 2022

Table Mountain Rocky Coast: Psalm 74:13

Thursday, November 17, 2022

The Thief on the Cross: Did He Go Straight to Heaven?

The Thief on the Cross

Luke 23:43 (NKJV): "And Jesus said to him, “Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise.” "

It appears that Jesus told the thief on the cross who was repentant that he would meet Jesus, today, in Paradise.

Is that really what that verse is telling us? Again, as in the previous example, we must study this carefully.

We could look at punctuation, but this commentary will not do that. Why? Because there was no modern punctuation in The Bible's original writings. So playing around with punctuation can only lead others to not trust The Bible translations.

After all, if we can put a comma in a verse we don't like, what gives us the right to tell another that they cannot do the same thing in return to us?

Our best choice is to come to an honest, logical conclusion.

In Luke 20:37 (NKJV), Jesus says this:

"But even Moses showed in the burning bush passage that the dead are raised, when he called the Lord ‘the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.’ "

Let's now look at another quote from Jesus in Matthew 22:32 (NKJV):

" ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’... God is not the God of the dead, but of the living.”

The Bible makes it clear that those three men were buried and rested with their forefathers. But Jesus considers them alive. When a righteous person dies, they are not "dead" to Jesus. Only sleeping.

God only gives living promises. Jesus is the living water. Anyone and anything in the KIngdom of God is not dead, but living. God has never made a dead promise. Even if that promise is thousands of years old, it is alive and well.

Galatians 3:29 (NKJV): "And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise."

The minute we belong to Jesus, we become citizens of the Kingdom of God. This kingdom is not full of dead people. We are alive in Christ.

Jesus could only be telling the thief next to Him that his salvation was at hand, and today he will indeed be part of that living promise.

That promise is to be with Jesus....in Paradise. When Jesus made that statement He was also telling us that He had full faith in God the Father to be resurrected. His mission was accomplished. Jesus emphatically implies that the thief will join Him in that living, eternal kingdom....on this day!

We have another thought, although it is part of the next day's lesson. When we die in Christ, and are awoken for the resurrection, it will seem as if no time has passed. It will be as if death and resurrection happened at the very same time. In essence, when we die, immediately to us, we will be in, "Paradise."

The majority of Christians believe that Jesus spent 3 days in the grave after dying on the cross. So the only logical conclusion would be that Jesus was not talking about physically being with anyone in Paradise on the very day He died.

Lazarus and The Rich Man: The Parable Explained

The Rich Man and Lazarus

The parable of the rich man and Lazarus can be found in Luke 16:19-31. Many use this for teaching what happens after you die.

Lazarus is a poor begger who is filled with sores, longing for even crumbs from the rich man. But the rich man does nothing to help him. They both die. Lazarus goes to the bosom of Abraham, the rich man to Hades. The rich man sees Abraham and Lazarus, and asks if Lazarus could bring cool water for his tongue to ease his agony. Abraham tells him that cannot happen. Then the rich man asks for Lazarus to go and tell his family about this peril so they believe. Abraham answers that they all had a chance to believe the prophets. Not even someone coming back to life will convince them.

What is this story really teaching? The afterlife? Many believe so. But let's look at things both sides agree on. In the afterlife in this story, the doomed are conversing with the righteous. Is that in The Bible? No. They most assuredly will not be interacting with each other. Not only that, but the overseer, Abraham, is also talking to those who were unsaved. This also is 100% not Biblical truth. This is proof that this story cannot be any real teaching of what happens when you die.

So what is the point? Jesus wanted to show others in a very stark manner how people should treat others in this life. Jesus served the poor, the sick, widows, the lame, blind, tax collectors, and others in need. He ministered to them. He fed them. He healed them. The way He treated them was to show us how to love our neighbor.

That is the moral of the story. If you do not treat others right, the Kingdom of God will not be for you.

We should remember that Jesus had to talk in ways His audience would understand. The Sadducees did not believe in a resurrection. They believed exactly what this story told. They believed that the dead were transported to Sheol, where the wicked and the blessed were taken to different compartments. Hence, the people in this story are interacting. But these are false teachings that most, if not all, Christians would not believe.

The conclusion is certain. This is not a story to teach what happens when one dies. It is for us to be warned on how to treat others. An aside thought is also about disbelief. We will will all have a chance to believe. Once we die, our choice cannot be changed.