The grace of God is like a big Boeing 777 flying to your home from some exotic location. First, it brings to us our most precious loved one – Jesus, the Son of God. And down in the cargo hold there is a box of treasures with two names on it – Christ’s and yours. There is a letter addressed to you, including a huge cashier’s check in your name. And there is a passport and invitation summoning you to the greatest event on any calendar.
ln other words the gospel of God’s grace brings the sinner face to face with the Saviour and His salvation. “Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel… For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures.” The gospel brings us our orders and our incentive for godly living. And it also brings us the promise of God – the return of Christ and our translation to be with him. As I said this morning, Christians are people who should be “looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ.”
Where would we be without that hope? Hope is one of the things which keeps us alive. Last week there was a man released from prison after more than a decade of incarceration. He was released because DNA testing proved he didn’t commit the crime for which he was charged. What kept that man alive for ten plus years was a hope that someone would prove his innocence. And how can the sufferer endure his pain if not for the fact that there is incomparable glory coming? There might also be a cure just a few months down the road, but that is a different kind of hope. How much easier for the persecuted servant of God to continue in His service, knowing of the righteous crown which is laid up for him. What can encourage those whose loved ones have passed away if not for the fact that “the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise”? As Paul said, “If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable.”
When Satan can rob the saints of this hope, some of the weaker may just want to quit the Lord’s service. So, for that reason the Wicked One has always had his hope-thieves lurking in the shadows. There were the Sadducees who denied that there is any resurrection – Luke 20:27. There were the Epicurians and Stoics – who mocked the preaching of the resurrection – Acts 17:32. The heretics Hymenaus and Philetus said that the resurrection was passed – ll Timothy 2:17. There were trouble-makers in the Thessalonican church – denying that the dead participate in the translation. Satan has always had an battalion of warriors ready to attack every Christian army put on the field. And one his targets has been the resurrection and hope of the Saint.
This evening, let’s consider one of Satan’s end-time versions of the resurrection – REINCARNATION.
You may be thinking that this is the waste of a church service. “So what if a few fools believe in reincarnation, I don’t – and I never will. If someone wants to accept that kind of rubbish, it doesn’t change the fact that I shall be either translated directly from earthly life into Heavenly life, or I will be resurrected from the grave. That other man’s heresy or unbelief has nothing to do with me.” But did you know that the other man’s acceptance of reincarnation may be a fulfilment of prophecy? Furthermore, his false hope may be used in misleading and destroying the heart of your grandchild. The presence of this Satanic idea in the world does affect you and me.
Nearly every false religion believes in some kind of visitation from deity. And within Christendom, all, except for its outer fringes, believe in some sort of return of Christ. But most people don’t often consider the method of that return – despite its clear Biblical revelation. For example, most don’t realize that Christ will appear in the air with ten thousands of His saints. They know little of “the translation” – the so-called “rapture” of the saints. We are told that the SAME Jesus who ascended into Heaven will return to earth, not a different Jesus. It will be in the same body which He had here upon earth, except that it will be glorified. Just as Thomas was encouraged to examine the wounds of the Saviour after the resurrection, we may have the same opportunity when He returns – but examination won’t be necessary. What if Christ Jesus walked into your living room this evening – how would you know that it is He? You might want to see some power, some scars, hear His teachings, see some form of identification. But Satan could have an easy time duplicating most of these, including the scars of the Lord. And yet, the false Christ of the last days might not need scars, if he could convince us that reincarnation is the same thing as resurrection.
People are being prepared for a false Christ who may not need to be in the same body. People are being brainwashed today into the idea that THEY can be reincarnated. And reincarnation can include spiritual improvement even unto perfection. Early last year, the NBC Evening News presented a story about a boy from the Midwest who claims he is the reincarnation of a man who died more than 50 years ago. The presentation included an interview with Dr. Jim Tucker, associate professor of psychiatry and neuro-behavioral sciences at the University of Virginia. This “scientist” has studied the cases of children, usually between the ages of 2 and 6 years old, who say they remember some pervious life they once lived. So here is a national news service, which would never mislead the American public, and a University professor with a PhD, suggesting that reincarnation is worth studying. The news feature didn’t actually declare themselves on the Satanic side, but they left that impression. And the more often this sort of thing is done, the more Americans will start turning further into darkness. Nearly a billion Hindus are firmly convinced of reincarnation, and so are 500 million Buddhists and tens of millions of New Age Religionists – many right here in America. Can all these people be wrong? Well, yes they can be wrong. But unthinking people may blink their eyes and open their ears when 1.5 billion people all say the same thing – even if it is wrong.
Reincarnation is sometimes called “rebirthing” because a person is said to be born-again into a new body. “Born again” – isn’t that a common term among shallow-thinking neo-evangelicals? The lie of reincarnation is playing into the hands of the Anti-christ, because this way he won’t have to come in the air, with every eye beholding him – he can be born like all other men. If he just has enough demonic power to work a few miracles, he could be accepted as Christ Himself. He will not have to prove that he is the same Jesus of two thousand years ago. All he has to do is convince confused people that he is Christ – reincarnated.
Various branches of Christendom playing right into Satan’s hands by demanding that we look for miracles. But the Bible doesn’t tell us to look for miracles; in fact it teaches just the opposite. We are to judge the spirits and their preachers through Holy Spirit discernment and scripture. Did John the Baptist work miracles? He did not, yet he was, for a time, the greatest servant of God on earth. And remember also, that the Bible seems to indicate that Satan’s Anti-Christ will give the appearance of being dead and then return to life. Reincarnation may be the means of convincing gullible humanity of that miracle too. The spiritually weak find it impossible to believe in the resurrection, but they can accept reincarnation.
In 1982 George Gallop took a survey about reincarnation and found that 23% of Americans believed it to be true. More recently Pew Forum made another survey and discovered that the percentages remained the same. But they also learned that 24% of Americans who call themselves “Christians” hold to reincarnation. Apparently those “Christians” are not Bible-believers, because the Bible declares – “it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment.” The Bible declares that we did not exist until we were conceived, and then we were born; we live less than a hundred years; we die; and our souls pass either into the presence or the absence of God. There is no Biblical hint of anyone returning to an earthly life in the body of some new person.
The word we use – “reincarnation” – originates in Latin and literally means “entering the flesh again.” The idea is that an imperishable principle (the soul) exists in every human being and comes back to earth after death in a new form. In its heathen roots, the doctrine is that the fate of every person in this life – and in future lives – is determined by the consequences of good or bad actions in the past or present – “karma.” Isn’t that another word more and more common lately? There is a Satanic reason for it. These people say salvation is attained through many lifetimes of learning and growing God-consciousness. With bad karma, people suffer loss of stature, and because of good karma they grow and improve. In essence people can spiritually evolve. Evolution is a key ingredient in the religions of the last days – in just about every aspect of society. Anyway, eventually, though many reincarnations, people finally break through, joining others in godhood. This takes us right back to Satan and Eve in the garden.
I went to the library and looked over the book titles related to reincarnation. I didn’t see a single book in the library which was written in opposition to the idea. Out of several there I picked up one called “Past Lives Therapy.” “Past Lives Therapy” – written in by reincarnation believers states: “It is impossible to prove reincarnation.” That may be the only true statement in the entire book. The writers were a pair of PhD’s in psychology and psychiatry. I think that they had been sniffing too much formaldehyde. They wrote their book in a pseudo-scientific jargon to impress the unwary. And they appear to be as convinced as anyone of the reality of reincarnation, and yet they say that it is impossible to prove. They accept their ancient New-age religion by faith – a false faith.
But some people DO try to prove it – through hypnosis. In hypnosis a person is encouraged to empty himself of all personal self-control. Listen to those hypnotists at the fair. In that emptied state, the hypnotee, permits others to control his mind, body and spirit. That is why those silly fair-goers are made to do some really silly things. But those people make themselves available to ideas, thoughts and even to beings beyond the hypnotist. They are made easy prey for demons. No one, especially the Christian, should ever permit himself to be hypnotized. It is an open invitation to spiritual disaster, no matter what the practitioner tries to say. Anyway, some “scientists” claim to have taken people back into former lives through hypnosis. Sometimes their subjects can describe what it was like in the womb of their mothers. They can describe former lives in other races, sexes, continents and eras – like that little boy on NBC. Those who are seeking proof for reincarnation and those who are gullible, point to these cases as that proof. BUT – why is it that the courts of most states refuse to admit testimony obtained under hypnosis? It is because the practitioner can lead his victim into saying what he wants him to say.
The Bible clearly rejects the idea of reincarnation.
Paul reminded Timothy, “Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils.” This is one of those Satanic doctrines, which are becoming more prevalent as we near the end of time. It is one of the proofs that we are in the last days. But the game of Bible twister is very popular these days. The heretic may say, “John the Baptist was the reincarnated Elijah.” But neither John nor Jesus say such a thing, and the Bible doesn’t hint of it. And besides, Elijah did not die, so even if he did reappear it wouldn’t be reincarnation. Furthermore, if John was the resurrected Elijah, why was it not John on the Mount of Transfiguration instead of the Old Testament prophet?
What does Luke 16:19-24 suggest? Was the rich man reincarnated as a frog or a dog? No, he died, lifting up his eyes in torment. Was Lazarus reincarnated? No, he began a new life in paradise with Abraham. And Abraham had not been reincarnated after two thousand years either. Daniel 12:2 describes resurrection, not reincarnation – “Many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.” This is a physical resurrection – not any kind of reincarnation to another life on earth. Where is reincarnation in Revelation 20 – “And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.”
You and I are eternal souls, dwelling in dying bodies, soon to be planted in the dust. That soul of you will spend eternity in either a place of God’s blessedness or God’s judgment. At some time, appointed by God, the only body you’ve ever had, or ever will have, shall be raised from the grave to be rejoined to you – the soul. At the reunion of body and soul, you in your entirety shall stand before Christ. You have only one earthly life to live, and if you spend it without Jesus Christ as your redeemer and Lord, you shall face eternity in the Lake of Fire. There are no second chances in Hell or Purgatory. And there is no second chances on earth involving some sort of reincarnation. It is just that simple.
But God’s spiritual enemy – our spiritual enemy – wants to muddy the waters, complicating our thinking. He asks, “Yea, hath God said?” The answer is – Yes, God has said lots of things. He has said, “Except ye repent, ye shall all likewise (eternally) perish.” But He has also said “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved.”