Leonard V Johnson
Greetings Everyone! Including our dear friends in the atoll of Funafuti (I think that's how it's pronounced); in Nebraska here in the States; in Des Moines, Iowa; and all around the world. Thank you. Thank you for being here with us for this weekly taping of the Church of Jesus Christ Online Ministries. I'm Leonard V. Johnson.
Friends, all around this world people are deathly afraid of death and absolutely do not know what is going to happen after death. Many say, “Well, you’ve never experienced death, so how do you know!?” And they wonder – am I really going to go to heaven and get wings!? What am I going to do up there!? Will it truly be like in the movie Down to Earth featuring the vulgar American comedian/actor Chris Rock who is basically reincarnated into a white rich businessman freshly drowned in his tub by his wife!? “What’s next!?” many ask. “Am I just gonna exist – is my immortal soul going to continue!?” I can’t think of anything worse than being an eternal being living forever with nothing to do. How boring will that be!?
Now, in TRUTH, we know that there is going to be a job for each of us – yet we don’t know what those jobs will entail But it’s not to just exist for the rest of eternity as a reward for being what my brother called ‘the best person you could be.’ And if most people would just sit and contemplate this, meditate, this very thing for a moment, it wouldn’t make any sense to them either. And maybe it would get them curious about just what God’s living word truly says concerning death and what happens after death.
Now, in this sermon, I won’t get into any long discussion concerning just what happens after one dies – except for this one subject – the glorious resurrection. The apostle Paul had made a statement that so many of the churches of this world use to justify their doctrine that when one dies they go to heaven. And I’d like to begin here with this Scripture.
Turn with me if you will in your Bible to the Book of Philippians, chapter 1 – to show you that that is not what he meant here at all.
Again these worldly churches – including the Muslim religion – believe in an afterlife of things such as Great Pleasure, the 72 Virgins, and the like. And I imagine that’s better than just floating around on a cloud playing a musical harp and doing nothing else for all eternity. But, this world’s churches – for the most part – teach that this so-called immortal soul, which we are supposed to have within us, just continues on. Yet these same churches – including Islamic mosques – teach that Jesus Christ is going to return to this earth.
One of the largest denominations of so-called Christians in the world teaches that you don’t have to be baptized in order to be saved. However, the very words of Jesus Christ in His living word say, “’ He who believes and is baptized will be saved; …’” and that's in Mark chapter 16, verse 16. So, this is how truly illogical these religious denominations have become – with ever-greater worldly evangelists supposedly knowing what God’s word says! Yes indeed, Jesus Christ is returning to the earth – but no one is going to be in the upper heavenly realms – what is called the Third Heaven in Scripture – before He comes and returns with Him. We will be meeting Him in the atmosphere.
Let's look here at verse 23 - “For I am hard-pressed between the two, having a desire to depart and be with Christ, which is far better. 24) Nevertheless to remain in the flesh is more needful for you.” –
So, what the apostle Paul is saying is – ‘I’ve got two separate desires: one is I want to be with Christ and the other is that I’m needed here on the earth still to help and edify the Church.’ So, he’s torn between the two. Well, these worldly churches will take this passage and say, ‘to depart and be with Christ means – “See, he said he was going to depart and be with Christ!”’ And, he is saying this – but not in the context which they believe and teach. Because he would not only be contradicting our LORD God Jesus Christ but himself.
Resurrection from the dead – A MOST IMPORTANT TRUTH
Let's now turn in our Bibles to the Book of Acts chapter 17. The resurrection of the dead is discussed here. Now, the resurrection was a very contentious topic at that time – and it still is even today. If you were to speak to one of these worldly ministers – and I actually have spoken of this topic with many – and ask, “Well, what about the resurrection!? We are going to die and then will be resurrected.” They tend to believe this – to an extent. But not the way Jesus Christ teaches it in His living word – the Holy Bible. But if you tell them that they’re NOT going to go to heaven, instead they will be resurrected – they, for the most part, shut you down. Or, some say what my own wife has said to me, “You don’t know that!” Or, rather, they’ll say exactly what they’ve been taught – “When you die you go to heaven, and then Christ is going to bring you back down to earth for the rapture …”
Rapture!? Now, why do people go to heaven before being ‘raptured’!? Can they explain it!? No – for the most part – they can’t. Remember what our Lord and Savior said when the Pharisees sought a sign from heaven, asking Him for a sign – ‘prove to us that you are the Son of God.’ He responded, “’ Why does this generation seek a sign? Assuredly, I say to you, no sign shall be given to this generation’”
He says, ‘You are an evil and adulterous generation’ – a generation which fornicates with false gods! And this generation today continues this fornication with false gods! And, He goes on to say, there won’t be any sign given “’ except the sign of the prophet Jonah. For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth’” – Matthew 12:39-40 NKJV. So, they would just have to wait and see – and if they chose not to believe that He was resurrected then that’s alright too – paraphrasing Jesus Christ. He knew as the Lord and Savior – as the very Creator – He would be responsible for everyone on this earth who will be resurrected – knowing that they would be resurrected in their own order – cf. 1 Corinthians 15:23.
Friends, eventually, everyone on this planet, and everyone who has ever lived is going to be resurrected. And Jesus Christ, of course, knew that!
When I had attended my wife’s grandmother’s funeral in Venice, Florida back in 2011 which had a Baptist background – not only did the attending minister announce that she is looking down at us from heaven while we were at her funeral but also said that when Christ resurrected Lazarus, he actually didn’t want to come back down here – “he was already gone to the feet of the Lord” – but Christ forced him back down to the earth! I sat there and thought of how illogical that statement really was. Why would Jesus Christ – if He knew and believed that everyone goes to heaven – use Lazarus as an example of dragging someone back to this earth as evidence to ‘prove’ who He was!? Well, Jesus knew that His friend Lazarus was going to die – and I don’t want to go into this here – but go and read this amazing story.
Now, Minister Michael C. Garrett's free no-obligation online PDF booklet, "The Confusion About Death!" is available to read and study. And in the online booklet, he talks about Lazarus. I'll be sure to leave a link for you down in the information section of this sermon. Be sure to go and read this very in-depth and God-inspired online booklet today. We here at the Church of Jesus Christ Online Ministries and our affiliated churches - like the apostle Paul, don't want you to be ignorant of those who fall asleep.
So, the TRUTH about the resurrection is so very IMPORTANT! It’s important to us in the Church of God because it’s where our hope lies. And the very fact that Jesus Christ is who He said He is – and that He is going to resurrect and change us, either if we’re dead or still alive, into wholly Spirit beings.
So, here in the Book of Acts chapter 17, let's begin here in verse 1 - “Now when they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a synagogue of the Jews.” –
The apostle Paul taught in synagogues – which was the public forum. And it wasn’t just for the Jewish people, many Gentiles would come into the synagogues and sit and listen. This is how they spread the Word of God, the Truth of God, and the Plan of God – the gospel. And I'm certain that if the apostle Paul had a computer and the internet, he would be utilizing that door that our Lord Jesus has opened for us.
Friends, they NEVER went door-to-door. Like our friends the Jehovah's Witnesses. After the service was over many would come up to him and say – ‘I really like what you had to say and I would like to hear more. Will you come to my home, have dinner and stay the night.’ That’s what the apostles were doing at that time. Jesus said to them – ‘Don’t have any worries. You go out and tell them what I say and they will take care of you. Because those that are being called will hear it and will want to hear more and will want to take care of you.’
And on that note: Again my dear friends, if anyone is watching that lives in the West Coast of Florida - Tampa Bay Area - and would like to gather together for the holy Sabbaths and the LORD our God's feasts, please drop us a line here at pastorleonard1@yahoo.com. I would love to gather together will like-minded brethren. Or, if you're in the area visiting and you'd like to get together for Sabbath services, also drop us a line here at pastorleonard1@yahoo.com.
Verse 2 – “Then Paul, as his custom was, went in to them, and for three Sabbaths reasoned with them from the Scriptures, 3) explaining and demonstrating that the Christ had to suffer and rise again from the dead, and saying, ‘This Jesus whom I preach to you is the Christ.’”
And you’ll notice here, that there’s a repeated theme about the resurrection. Because that’s the most important thing in which he needed to teach, no one had ever heard that – for the most part.
Let’s go on down to verse 15 – So those who conducted Paul brought him to Athens; and receiving a command for Silas and Timothy to come to him with all speed, they departed.”
Now, there were a lot of Jews who hated the apostle Paul and wanted to get rid of him because of what he was doing – spreading the word concerning Jesus Christ whom they had already hated. Mainly because He had taken much of the people’s attention away from them and saying such things as – ‘they had made the Law of God burdensome, made the Sabbath burdensome for you.’ They didn’t like hearing that – because it took money out of their pockets.
Verse 18 – “Then certain Epicurean and Stoic philosophers encountered him. And some said, ‘What does this babbler want to say?’ Others said, ‘He seems to be a proclaimer of foreign gods,’ because he preached to them Jesus and the resurrection.” – he preached to them ‘Jesus and the resurrection’!
Verse 19 – “And they took him and brought him to the Areopagus, saying, ‘May we know of which this new doctrine is of which you speak?’” – this new doctrine of the resurrection – ‘we’ve never heard this!’
Verse 22 – “Then Paul stood in the midst of the Areopagus and said, ‘Men of Athens, I perceive that in all things you are very religious; 23) for as I was passing through and considering the objects of your worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: TO THE UNKNOWN GOD.’”
See, they believed that there was SOMETHING - they had an innumerable amount of false gods and goddesses that they worshiped – which also made all the gods which they worshiped. Whether it was Zeus or his father Cronus – or even another. Because, logically, they couldn’t figure out who came before Aether, or Uranus and Gaia – their great primordial deities – if you want to go up that far. So, here in Athens, they had an altar to a deity they didn’t know anything about – in which he says to them –
“ … Therefore, the One whom you worship without knowing, Him I proclaim to you: 24) God, who made the world and everything in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands. 25) Nor is He worshiped with men’s hands, as though He needed anything, since He gives to all life, breath, and all things. 26) And He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined their preappointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings, 27) so that they should seek the Lord, in the hope that they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us.” –
So you see, he’s laying them A FOUNDATION. ‘This is a God who is alive and real and He is all around us. He created everything. And, He doesn’t live in those stone temples, and He is not represented by those stone statues.’
Verse 28 – “For in Him we live and move and have our being, as also some of your own poets have said, ‘For we are also His offspring.’” – as he was quoting Greek poets who were writing praises to Zeus – applying it here to the very Creator of all things.
Verse 29 – “’ Therefore, since we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Divine Nature is like gold or silver or stone, something shaped by art and man’s devising. 30) Truly, these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent.’”
So, Almighty God and Jesus Christ have tolerated all this ignorance for quite some time, but it had gotten to the time where everybody needs to realize that God has had enough – and as the apostle, Paul says quoting Isaiah, “’ Awake, you who sleep, Arise from the dead, And Christ will give you light’” – Ephesians 5:14 NKJV.
Verse 31 – “’ because He has appointed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by the Man [Jesus Christ] whom He has ordained. He has given assurance of this to all by raising Him from the dead.’”
Verse 32 – “And when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked while others said, ‘We will hear you again on this matter.’” – maybe they’re the ones which were being called!? The ones who were interested. They heard this testimony and it was sweeter – to them – than honey – cf. Psalm 19:10. The others scoffed, ‘You idiot! You speak of a God who can bring a man back from the dead!?’
If you would, let's turn to chapter 23 of the Book of Acts
Here is another dispute between the apostle Paul and the Jews.
Beginning in verse 1 - “Then Paul, looking earnestly at the council [the Jewish Sanhedrin], said, ‘Men and brethren, I have lived in all good conscience before God until this day.’ 2) And the high priest Ananias commanded those who stood by him to strike him on the mouth. 3) Then Paul said to him, ‘God will strike you, you white-washed wall! For you sit to judge me according to the law, and do you command me to be struck contrary to the law?’”
Verse 4 – “And those who stood by said, ‘Do you revile God’s high priest?’ 5) Then Paul said, ‘I did not know, brethren, that he was the high priest; for it is written, ‘You shall not speak evil of a ruler of your people.’”
Verse 6 – “But when Paul perceived that one part were Sadducees and the other Pharisees, he cried out in the council, ‘Men and brethren, I am a Pharisee, the son of a Pharisee; concerning the hope and resurrection of the dead I am being judged!’” – the Pharisees believed in the resurrection and the Sadducees did not. And Paul knew how to use this advantageously.
Verse 7 – “And when he had said this, a dissension arose between the Pharisees and the Sadducees; and the assembly was divided.”
Now, turn with me to Acts, chapter 24, beginning in verse 9. Again, Paul is being accused of heresies.
“And the Jews also assented, maintaining that these things were so. 10) Then Paul, after the governor [Marcus Antonius Felix – the Roman procurator of Judea A.D. 52-60] had nodded to him to speak, answered: ‘Inasmuch as I know that you have been for many years a judge of this nation, I do the more cheerfully answer for myself, 11) because you may ascertain that it is no more than twelve days since I went up to Jerusalem to worship. 12) And they neither found me in the temple disputing with anyone nor inciting the crowd, either in the synagogues or in the city. 13) Nor can they prove the things of which they now accuse me.’” – they were accusing him of being a trouble maker stirring the people up against the Roman government. Often times this is how Satan the devil operates – he gets people to lie about you so that people will hate you. And that’s what they’re doing here with the apostle Paul.
Verse 14 – “’ But this I confess to you, that according to the Way which they call a sect [or heresy or cult], so I worship the God of my fathers, believing all things which are written in the Law and in the Prophets.’” – so, he’s saying, ‘What I’m telling you is in the Law and the Prophets.’ There were a lot of people who didn’t know that – because they didn’t have a physical Bible in their hands. The only way they heard the Law and the Prophets was to go into the synagogue and have it read to them. Very similar to what a former Catholic nun had to say, “We never read the Bible together outside what we had to do for morning prayers when reciting the Psalms, but even that wasn't in the Bible. The Psalms were in a book by itself. We did a lot of praying to the saints when we didn't have our time in the basement. We would often make,” Oh, what's it called? - “Novenas and kneel by the statute when doing so.”
Now, how easy is it for someone to deceive you if the only written word is in the hands of one person or a group of people!? And if they want to add something or delete something that is not in the original manuscript – it’s fairly easy, isn’t it!? How are you going to know if they speak the truth!? Indeed, if you’ve heard the truth and then have had it read incorrectly – you can say, “Wait a moment! That’s not the way I heard it before!” – cf. 2 Corinthians 11:4; Galatians 1:8-9; 2 John 1:10. Even today a lot of people are deceived this way. This reminds me of a book that my dear sister sent me that I've read, SHOCKED BY THE BIBLE by Author Joe Kovacs. In a section entitled "When Does A Day Begin?" The author contends that a day begins at sunrise – not from sunset to sunset.
Yet, the truth be told, the BIBLE DEFINITION of the expression, “THE THIRD DAY” – as in our Lord Jesus Christ had been ‘three days and three nights in the heart of the earth’ is: “God called the light Day, and the darkness He called Night. So the evening (darkness) and the morning (light) were THE FIRST DAY ... And so on and so on. Any good encyclopedia shows us that it was always custom to end and begin days at sunset - until a few hundred years after Christ. In his book he wrote, “"While it may not be a crucial matter for a person's individual salvation, …" it is! Jesus said, “’ You believe in God, believe also in Me’” – which also means BELIEVE WHAT HE SAYS!
“’ except the sign of the prophet Jonah. For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth’”
72 hours! AGAIN, BELIEVE WHAT HE SAYS!!
Now, when I had gone to school – from the years 1974 to 1985 – I was taught American History. I was taught about the Constitution of the United States and the Bill of Rights. I was also taught about the American Civil War – from the perspective of both the South and the North. Today, and I know this for a fact – our children in America are being taught Islamic History. Not long ago I was searching through the television channels and came across a program that piqued my interest - it's called 20th Century Timeline.
The programs take you through the 1900s. The more I watched the more I began to hear a prejudice within the programs against the government of the United States of America! So, Satan the devil will often use a one-sided view of history, and condescending attitudes to fuel hate! So, how easy is it to be deceived by what God’s living word says if you’ve never comprehensively and thoroughly studied His words – and you just take the word of someone!? Satan will remove people from the truth first and then he begins his deception.
Let's move on to verse 15 here. We're still in the Book of Acts chapter 24.
“I have hope in God, which they themselves also accept, that there will be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and the unjust.’” – two resurrections are what he’s referring to. The ‘just’ within the first, and the ‘unjust’ in the second to be judged in the ‘Great White Throne Judgment” – cf. Revelation 20:11-13.
Let's move on down to verse 21.
’ unless it is for this one statement which I cried out, standing among them, ‘Concerning the resurrection of the dead I am being judged by you this day.’” – so all of this trouble concerning the apostle Paul here is because of the resurrection. He probably could have stood up there and read from the Law and the Prophets all day long and they wouldn’t have had a problem with it – but when He started throwing in this Jesus Christ person raising everyone from the dead, they wouldn’t stand for that. And, the churches of this world – today – will feel the same way! They can’t handle it, and they will not accept it! Isn’t that odd!? They agree on ‘thou shalt not murder,’ and they even acknowledge the fourth commandment – ‘remember the Sabbath day’ applying it to Sunday or even another day. So, they agree that there is a Sabbath day, but if you speak about Jesus Christ returning and raising everyone from the dead for judgment – they will refuse to accept that! “No,” they adamantly state, “It’s heaven! Don’t you know that!?”
The Promise of the Resurrection
Let’s move on to chapter 26 of the Book of Acts.
The apostle Paul had been given an opportunity to plead his case at Caesarea. Yes, that's how it's pronounced, Caesarea Maritima before King Herod Agrippa II and his sister Bernice.
Notice verse 1 - “Then Agrippa said to Paul, ‘You are permitted to speak for yourself.’” Isn't that nice!? “I think my self happy, King Agripps, because today I shall answer for myself before you concerning all things of which I am accused by the Jews, especially because you are expert in all customs and questions which have to do with the Jews. Therefore I beg you to hear me patiently.”
Verse 4 - “My manner of life from my youth, which was spent from the beginning among my own nation at Jerusalem, a;; the Jews know. [they know of who I am] They knew me from the first, if they were willing to testify, that according to the strictest sect of our religion I lives a Pharisee. [He lived as a Pharisee].”
‘And now I stand and am judged for the hope of the promise made by God to our fathers. 7) To this promise our twelve tribes, earnestly serving God night and day, hope to attain. For this hope’s sake, King Agrippa, I am accused by the Jews. 8) Why should it be thought incredible by you that God raises the dead?’”
Indeed, as our Lord and Savior says “’ Do not marvel at this; for the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear His voice and come forth – those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation [‘to judgment’]’” – two separate resurrections. ‘those who have done good’ – the first. And, ‘those who have done evil’ – the second.
And I recall that my sister and I just recently spoke of this over the phone. Sister, there are only two resurrections spoken of in God's living word - NOT THREE!
So, after telling the king the story of how he was directly called by Jesus Christ, he said - let's go over here to verse 19 -
verse 19 – “’ Therefore, King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision, 20) but declared first to those in Damascus and in Jerusalem, and throughout all the region of Judea, and then to the Gentiles, that they should repent, turn to God, and do works befitting repentance. 21) For these reasons the Jews seized me in the temple and tried to kill me. 22) Therefore, having obtained help from God, to this day I stand, witnessing both to small and great, saying no other things than those which the prophets and Moses said would come – 23) that the Christ would suffer, …’”
“ …’ that He would be the first to rise from the dead, and would proclaim light [the New Covenant] to the Jewish people and to the Gentiles.’”
So, the whole of the accusations against the apostle Paul was concerning the TRUTH – and he adamantly stated, ‘I haven’t taught anything that’s not written in the Law and the Prophets.’
Let’s turn over to the Old Testament – to the Book of Daniel, chapter 12. Let’s go over some of these passages which speak of the resurrection and this promise.
Beginning in Verse 1 -
“’ At that time Michael shall stand up, The great prince who stands watch over the sons of your people; And there shall be a time of trouble, Such as never was since there was a nation, Even to that time. And at that time your people shall be delivered [the physical people of the house of Israel], Everyone who is found written in the Book [the Book of Life]. 2) And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, Some to everlasting life, Some to shame and everlasting contempt.”
Now, we’ve all heard the stories – that if you say that people are “sleeping” when they’re dead, they will answer, “you’re just talking about soul sleeping.” Well, one needs to properly understand what a soul is. In this sermon, I won’t go into great depth concerning the soul – except to say – that man “became a living soul,” according to the original Genesis 2:7 KJV. Notice the passage doesn’t say that man has a soul – but rather he is a soul. The original Hebrew word for "soul" is nepeš – meaning, “living breathing creature.” And this includes both animal and human beings – cf. Genesis 1:20-21, 24; 2:19; 9:10, 12, 15 KJV.
King Solomon – the wisest person of his day – wrote, “For the living know that they will die; But the dead know nothing, And they have no more reward, For the memory of them is forgotten” – Ecclesiastes 9:5 NKJV. The son of King David knew this. He knew that man returns to the ‘dust of the ground.’ To the very elements of the soil upon death – “’ What profit is there in my blood, When I go down to the pit [ Hebrew - šaḥat, meaning grave]? Will the dust praise You? Will it declare Your truth?’” – Psalm 30:9 NKJV.
So, God’s living eternal Word shows that when a human dies – they are no longer conscious. They have no thoughts, no memory, no awareness of the passage of time; no pain, no worry.
The prophet Job wrote – through the inspiration of God’s Spirit – “But there is a spirit in man, And the breath of the Almighty gives him understanding” – Job 32:8 NKJV.
And here is a truism that truly makes ABORTION MURDER! And I realize that this still is a controversial subject - which it shouldn't be. The Lord our God commands, NO MURDER - then we are to commit no murder of any kind - physically or spiritually - including murdering an innocent potential child of God within the womb. But, here is a truism -
This human spirit enters the human embryo at conception. The spirit is like the “hard drive on a computer” – it stores information. The spirit essence is NOT an immortal soul or an eternal spirit. The spirit in man is NOT the man. It is something in the man. It has no life of itself, for the life of man is in the air he breathes, and in the blood that circulates through his body (Genesis 2:7; Leviticus 17:11). It does not of itself see or hear. And at death, it has no consciousness of itself, for it sleeps (1 Corinthians 11:30; 1 Corinthians 15:51; 1 Thessalonians 4:14). Like a tape recorder, it forms a permanent record of the qualities of mind and character built by a man during his lifetime. And much like a used tape is stored lifelessly on a shelf till activated in a recorder, so also does the spirit of man “return to God who gave it” after death, until the resurrection when life is again given to a person (Ecclesiastes 12:7).
Anyway – let’s move on.
What did the apostle Paul mean when he wrote, in the Book of Philippians chapter 1 ‘I am hard-pressed between the two’? One is to die and ‘depart and be with Christ,’ and the other is to stay and ‘remain in the flesh’ and serve and help the churches.
Turn over now to the Book of 2nd Corinthians, chapter 5, verse 1 –
“For we know that if our earthly house, this tent, is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. 2) For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed with our habitation which is from heaven, 3) if indeed, having been clothed, we shall not be found naked. 4) For we who are in this tent groan, being burdened, not because we want to be unclothed, but further clothed, that mortality may be swallowed up by life [eternal life].”
So, this ‘tent’ or ‘tabernacle’ which we want to put on is from heaven – not in heaven. And, what is from heaven!? God’s Holy Spirit. God the Father and Jesus Christ reside in the upper heavenly realms – the Third Heaven – and They are the Holy Spirit. Have you ever heard that before!? The Holy Spirit is NOT A TRINITY!
Some churches actually teach that the Father and the Son are the SAME being. God’s living word doesn’t teach this! – THEY ARE THE HOLY SPIRIT. And man was created to have a relationship with God. Again, I don’t want to go into depth here in this sermon – but there is a HUGE divide between an animal brain and a human mind. And one thing that evolution cannot explain is the total difference between the animal brain equipped with instinct, and the human mind with creative reasoning and powers of intellect – devoid of what is believed in the strictest sense far beyond the medulla oblongata – which has shown to perform a primary role in the processing of memory, decision-making and emotional responses (including fear, anxiety, and aggression). There are some animals with brains larger than man’s brain – with similar cerebral cortex complexity – but with none of the powers of intellect, reasoning, and creativity. Human beings ARE UNIQUE TO ANIMALS.
What are some of these unique characteristics!?
Humor – there is no other creature that is able to appreciate, create, and express humor.
The appreciation of beauty.
Self-consciousness – being aware of oneself. Beyond a simple recognition (as in the Mirror Test).
Also, the Awareness of death.
Understanding time.
The Complexity of language.
Even asking - the MEANING of life.
The lack of harmony with nature. Here's another one. Mankind has been disrupting the natural balance of nature – such as deforestation, the changing of rivers, over mining for resources, such as overfishing our seas.
Free Moral Agency.
Capacity for wisdom.
A Desire to worship. There are no animals with a desire to worship.
And it’s ‘the spirit within man’ that allows these unique characteristics which also allows us to have a relationship with God and to understand just who God the Father and Jesus Christ are. Because we couldn’t understand without it. It’s His Holy Spirit which is what He is giving us from heaven.
I’d like to end here with the very words of Jesus Christ in the Book of Revelation, chapter 22, and verse 12 –
“’ And behold, I AM coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to give to EVERY ONE according to his work.’”
Friends, He’s coming soon – God willing - and it certainly appears that it shouldn’t be much longer, because if this world continues going the way that it is – the absolute insanity we are witnessing in our societies and governments; things which are happening which defies any logic– it can’t be that much longer. So brethren hang tough – you’ll make it.
God bless you all. And we love you here at the Church of Jesus Christ Online Ministries and our affiliated churches. We pray for you all and hope that you continue to pray for us here. So, until next week, this is Leonard V. Johnson saying, "Goodbye for now."
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