3 Resurrections Part 3 Soul and Spirit Resurrection Kathryn Kuhlman

We have been having a wonderful time together in these heart -to -heart talks regarding the resurrection. And those of you who have been following me in these broadcasts, remember that I made a very definite statement that the Word of God teaches three kinds of resurrections. The first, a national resurrection. which refers to Israel. Then the spiritual resurrection. And that was the resurrection that we discussed in our little heart -to -heart talk the last time I was in your home. That resurrection that happens every day in somebody's life happens to that one who accepts Jesus Christ as his Savior. that spiritual resurrection here and now. Oh, that resurrection is marvelous. And that was the resurrection that is referred to in the fifth chapter of John when Jesus himself said, Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word and believeth on him that sent me hath... Everlasting life. That means here and now. You don't wait to receive your everlasting life after the grave. No. Hath now. The very moment that you accept Christ as your Savior. Hath everlasting life that instant. And shall not. come into condemnation, but is passed from death unto life. Oh, isn't that glorious? Every person who's been regenerated, every person who's had that born -again experience, whether they be Jew or Gentile, whether they be Catholic or Protestant, whoever that one is, Every born -again person has had a spiritual resurrection and hath passed from death unto life. Every time a soul is born again, there is a passing from death unto life, a spiritual resurrection. Now then, having finished, the national resurrection regarding Israel, having finished the spiritual resurrection, which concerns the passing from death unto life, we are going now into the material resurrection. And I shall begin my next heart -to -heart talk And exactly the very place where I will have to leave you today. Now, see something. When we come to this spiritual resurrection, this is regarding the dead body. Now, the spirit of man does not die. Do not think for one split second that the spirit or the soul of any man dies. It does not. At no time does the spirit die. When death comes to the body, the spirit goes back to God who gave it. If right now, even while I'm speaking to you, this split second, my whole heart would take its last beat. In that split second, As I'm sitting here on this chair before this microphone speaking to you, my body would topple from the chair and probably fall to the floor. But in that split second, quicker than you can blink your eye, my soul and my spirit would leave the body and would go back to God who gave it. In other words, Two -thirds of me would go, and only one -third would remain. That's all. For man is the trinity, body, soul, and spirit. The body goes back to the earth from whence it came. For man is a strange combination of the temporal and the eternal. The body is the temporal, but the soul and the spirit is eternal. Forever and forever and forever. And death never touches the spirit. It never touches the soul of man. You'd be amazed how many letters I receive regarding cremation. And I somehow have a feeling that when these folk write to me and speak of cremation, I often wonder if because of their insecurity, because of the fear of what may happen after death, they want their body to be cremated, to be dead sure, as sure as is humanly possible, that they are absolutely dead when they die, and that is the end of all things. There is no such thing as annihilation when it comes to the soul and the spirit of man. Your body can be cremated. Your body can return to ashes. And a physical body will return to the dust of the earth from whence it came. But no fire, no water, no power. will ever be able to destroy the soul and the spirit. For when death comes to the body, the soul and the spirit returns to God, goes back to God who gave it. Before I go deeper into this discussion regarding the resurrection of the body, I must make this very clear. And you must have a definite understanding as to what happens when death comes. How often I have seen folks stand before an open casket and weep. Oh, beloved, I have done likewise. We're human. Oh, beloved, how often I too have stood there with the tears raining down my face. But because of that glorious hope that you and I have in the Lord, because of my confidence in Him, I know that that one whose body is lying in the casket is not there. That's only the physical body. That's all. That body will go back to the earth. That body is only temporal. I'm not really looking upon that one who's lying there in that casket. Sure, I can recognize those features. I recognize the body. But the real person is not there. The soul and the person, that which gives personality. That which makes you separate and apart from everyone else, that which makes you, you, is gone. It is not there. I shall never forget when that became such a reality to my heart. I'll never forget it. Sure, I had preached on the resurrection. I had preached many a sermon on the resurrection. There was never an Easter. of what I had preached on the resurrection of the body, but it never became real to me until that day in that little Baptist church, Concordia, Missouri, when the church was emptied and no one was left but just Mama, my brother, my two sisters. the mortician, the preacher. Just before the lid was closed for the last time, I had an experience that I have never had since, and it was my first, when I reached over and laid my hand on Papa's shoulder, the shoulder on which I had laid my head. ever since childhood. And that I laid my head on that shoulder I had told him all my sorrows and all my troubles, all my woes. On that shoulder I felt comfort. No matter how terrific my toothache was or my earache, no sweet oil in that ear ever did for that earache what Papa's shoulder would do. No dentist ever gave relief to a child's aching tooth that my papa's shoulder would give to mine as I laid my face on that shoulder. No one ever received comfort from any human being as the comfort that I have received by just laying my head on papa's shoulder. In that moment, I laid my hand on that shoulder. But in that split second, I knew that was not Papa. Papa was not there. Sure that was his body. Sure, the world said, that's Joe Kuhlman. But my Papa. had left that body. My papa, the spirit, the soul of my papa, had gone all the way from earth to glory. As I stood there, that open grave, and saw them partially lower that casket in that little cemetery a mile and a quarter from town, I knew that was only the shell. No grave could hold my papa. No. When I lay those wreaths of flowers on that grave, I know that my papa is not there. He's very much alive. He's living. My papa and my mama are together. Dead? No. This isn't death. It's glory. It isn't grief. It's having one's last tear wiped away. Oh, beloved, it's the end to praying. It's speaking face to face with loved ones. It's meeting loved ones again. Beloved, it's the end of pleading. It's the end of pain. It's the end of sorrow. We'll not even have the memory of suffering. Beloved, it's even the end of faith. I think of that so often. In that moment, There'll no longer be such a thing as faith. You and I live by faith now. By faith, we must accept these things. By faith, we see him. I love him. I've given my life for him. But I have never seen him. I have talked with him. I have known his glorious presence more real to me than any human being that I have ever met in my life. And yet, I have never seen him. It's a life, it's a walk of faith. But in that day when my old heart takes its last beat, That day when they say death has come to the preacher lady. I will have preached my last sermon on faith. I will have taken that last step of faith. I will no longer even speak the word faith. For that which has been faith all of my life will have become death. A reality. Oh, to me, that's marvelous. That's real. That's that glorious resurrection. That's what it's all about. And then in that moment, remember something. My redemption will have been perfected. But you see, Miss Kuhlman, you're born again. You're a Christian now. I know. I know. But my redemption will not be perfected until that day when I stand in His glorious presence. That day when it is no longer a life, a walk of faith. That day. When I see Him face to face, in that moment, my redemption will have been perfected. Again, I say, I wouldn't exchange that glorious hope and that truth for a title deed to the whole world. God bless you.