Sermons

 

The other day the Lord told me (from Acts 18:9 and 10) ..."Do not be afraid any longer, but go on speaking and do not be silent; for I am with you, and no man will attack you in order to harm you...

 

They went down alive to Sheol, with all their possessions, and perished from the midst of the assembly

 

Numbers 16:28-33 Moses said, "By this you shall know that the LORD has sent me to do all these deeds; for this is not my doing. 29"If these men die the death of all men or if they suffer the fate of all men, then the LORD has not sent me. 30"But if the LORD brings about an entirely new thing and the ground opens its mouth and swallows them up with all that is theirs, and they descend alive into Sheol, then you will understand that these men have spurned the LORD." 31As he finished speaking all these words, the ground that was under them split open; 32and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up, and their households, and all the men who belonged to Korah with their possessions. 33So they and all that belonged to them went down alive to Sheol; and the earth closed over them, and they perished from the midst of the assembly.

Mark 8:36 "For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world, and forfeit his soul? That’s what happened here in Numbers 16:1-40

Proverbs 9:18   But he does not know that the dead are there, (see Proverbs 9:13-18)

                          That her guests are in the depths of Sheol.

 

Matthew 13:9 “He who has ears, let him hear.”  Psalm 23 The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want...

It does not have to be riches that you exchange your soul for. It can be anything. Will you give up your soul for pride? Will you give up your soul for power or fame? Is this what makes you rebel against the Lord God?

 

A New Thing: "By this you shall know that the LORD has sent me to do all these deeds; for this is not my doing. 29 "If these men die the death of all men or if they suffer the fate of all men, then the LORD has not sent me. 30 "But if the LORD brings about an entirely new thing and the ground opens its mouth and swallows them up with all that is theirs, and they descend alive into Sheol, then you will understand that these men have spurned the LORD." ...32 and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up, and their households, and all the men who belonged to Korah with their possessions. 33 So they and all that belonged to them went down alive to Sheol; and the earth closed over them, and they perished from the midst of the assembly.

There is a new fate here for man, not experienced up until this point. At this point in the Old Testament it is experienced just as it is written. The physical ground opened up and these people physically and spiritually perished. After that it is a plane of existence where those who in their hearts want noting to do with the Lord go, while still alive, as shown in Proverbs.

 

Proverbs 1:12  12 Let us swallow them alive like Sheol, Even whole, as those who go down to the pit;

 

Here in Proverbs 9:18 “But he does not know that the dead are there, That her guests are in the depths of Sheol.” we see that the dead are there, present tense. And, that they are, present tense, in the depths of Sheol.  These are not ghosts. These are people that are at this woman’s place (her home or wherever she casts her evil nets) and they are physically alive but spiritually dead. These are not like people who have juts not heard of the Lord, and can be born again (in this present day), these people have, in their spirit, gone down to a spiritual place where there is no coming back from, because they are in Sheol. Job 7:9 "When a cloud vanishes, it is gone, So he who goes down to Sheol does not come up.

 

Modern Day: Things were a bit different in Old Testament times than they are on this side of Calvary. But in the same way we can, in our own lives, experience an Exodus, a wilderness wandering and taking possession of the land God has sworn to give us. Unbelievers that will not repent and turn to the Lord will, in like manner, experience the Old Testament truths in their lives, but to their own demise. That is what happens in this verse today for unbelievers when they cross that line. They were only physically in the assembly, never with their heart and soul. They did not believe, they only wanted for themselves.

 

Not your typical death is it?  You say, “well this does not happen now.” Are you sure? Now there is no way that you can experience Sheol and come back (Job 7:9). Now the Valley of the Shadow of Death is different. It can be experienced. If Sheol contains death and there is a Valley of the Shadow of Death (where only believers visit), perhaps those who have been there have seen the shadow of Sheol? Perhaps there are people who know a bit about Sheol without having gone there because of the proximity of the Valley of the Shadow of Death to Sheol. Something to ponder. Perhaps some of these people become preachers.

 

Ever known anyone who used to go to church and you never thought he was genuine and now years and years have gone by and now he seems to have traded his soul for what this world can offer? Someone who you think might have just crossed some kind of invisible line and that’s it for him? He sold his soul? He went to far and his own devices swallowed him up, and it’s as if he went down into some other plane of existence though he is still alive with all his possessions? Sounding familiar?

 

Well I believe that’s exactly what Numbers 16:1-40 shows us. There were men who never loved the Lord, they just played church. They wanted power and prestige and they rebelled against God and His ministers to get it. If they were in the outside world we would call them worldly and they were worldly but you cannot be worldly in the midst of the assembly. You cannot play church in church forever. One day things will end. What used to be will dramatically change and that's it for you. It’s over. But it does not have to be that way. Repent and believe.

 

Repent and Believe: If you are an unbeliever you can die a spiritual death years before your body gets cold. You can go down to Sheol and be among those that have lost their souls. You can exist on that hellish plane of existence and drive your car back and forth to work and pile money away in your bank and be cut off forever from heaven. Or, you can repent and believe in Jesus Christ.

 

Romans 10:13  for “WHOEVER WILL CALL UPON THE NAME OF THE LORD will be saved.”

 

John 14:6 Jesus said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.

 

Acts 4:12 "And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved."

 

Mark 1:15  and saying, "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel."

 

Luke 13:3 "I tell you, no, but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.

 

Romans 10:9-10  9 that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; 10 for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.

 

Accept Jesus as Lord

 

 

 

If you’re not saved, Come to Jesus!