Are the dead dead?

 

 Matthew 22:31-33

English Standard Version

31 And as for the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was said to you by God: 32 ‘I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? He is not God of the dead, but of the living.” 33 And when the crowd heard it, they were astonished at his (Jesus's) teaching.

Jesus teaches that those who know God live on through out eternity even when we consider them to be dead. 

 

John 11:25-26

English Standard Version

25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, 26 and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?”

 

In other words, we who know Jesus don't actually die.   The Bible teaches that only our bodies die. 

 

James 2:26

English Standard Version

...the body apart from the spirit is dead...

But those who have died and know Christ have never been more alive.  People on earth whose bodies are alive may actually be spiritually dead.   

If they are spiritually separated from God's Holy Spirit they spiritually dead.  

When the human spirit leaves the human body that body becomes dead.  When the human spirit is separated from God's Holy Spirit, they are spiritually dead right here while alive on earth. If you physically die in that condition, that condition becomes eternal, but it doesn't have to be. 

Romans 10:13

English Standard Version

13 For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord (Jesus) will be saved.”

Jesus can hear you.  Call out for His help right now as Lord (or Boss of your life) in faith, and He promises to help you.  Turn your life completely over to Him.  That makes all the difference.  He can make you Spiritually alive!  His death for us removes the separation between our spirit and God's Holy Spirit!

Romans 8:1-11

English Standard Version

 

8 There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. 

2 For the law of the Spirit of life has set you] free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. 

3 For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, 

4 in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. 

5 For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. 

6 For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. 

7 For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God's law; indeed, it cannot. 

8 Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.

9 You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. 

10 But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness.

 11 If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.   

Do the death communicate with us?

In Luke 16:19-30, Jesus told about an unnamed rich man, and a poor man named Lazarus.  The rich man had everything, and the poor man had nothing.  

When the rich man died, he went to Hades and the poor man went to a much better place where Abraham was.  The rich man was in a burning waterless place, and he could actually see Abraham and Lazarus in their place of comfort, and they could even talk to each other.  

The rich man mentions his brothers on earth to Abraham wanted Lazarus to be resurrected so that he could warn them about his fate.  

In this story, we learn that the people who have previously died before us can not talk to us.  They are aware of us, and are concerned about our welfare.  Even those in hell.  Our choices that we make here have eternal consequences.  

 

Luke 16:19-30

English Standard Version

19 “There was a rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day. 20 And at his gate was laid a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, 21 who desired to be fed with what fell from the rich man's table. Moreover, even the dogs came and licked his sores. 22 The poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham's side. The rich man also died and was buried, 23 and in Hades, being in torment, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham far off and Lazarus at his side. 24 And he called out, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus to dip the end of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am in anguish in this flame.’ 25 But Abraham said, ‘Child, remember that you in your lifetime received your good things, and Lazarus in like manner bad things; but now he is comforted here, and you are in anguish. 26 And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, in order that those who would pass from here to you may not be able, and none may cross from there to us.’ 27 And he said, ‘Then I beg you, father, to send him to my father's house— 28 for I have five brothers—so that he may warn them, lest they also come into this place of torment.’ 29 But Abraham said, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them.’ 30 And he said, ‘No, father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent.’

Are the dead watching?

Hebrews 12:1

English Standard Version

 

Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us...

In this verse in Hebrews, the writer is comparing our lives here on earth to an Olympic race with those who are in heaven to the fans in the stands cheering us on. We who are here are earth are like the runners in that race.  

He is saying that our love ones in heaven can witness what we do and say on earth.  Just because we can't see them.  We just assume that they can't see us, but this passage contradicts this thought. 

This passage doesn't say that they can communicate with us, or we should pray and ask them favors.

Don't make the mistake of believing that the people in heaven aren't watching.

Out of the Cave

 1 Kings 19:5-8

New International Version

5 Then he(Elijah) lay down under the bush and fell asleep.

All at once an angel touched him and said, “Get up and eat.” 

6 He looked around, and there by his head was some bread baked over hot coals, and a jar of water. He ate and drank and then lay down again.

7 The angel of the Lord came back a second time and touched him and said, “Get up and eat, for the journey is too much for you.” 

8 So he got up and ate and drank. Strengthened by that food, he traveled forty days and forty nights until he reached Horeb, the mountain of God.

 

We need to step into...

1. a needed recovery.

If we don't prioritize our lives, someone else will. 

Psalm 90:12

Living Bible

Teach us to number our days and recognize how few they are; help us to spend them as we should.

 

1 Kings 19:9-12

New International Version

9 There he (Elijah) went into a cave and spent the night.

 

And the word of the Lord came to him: “What are you doing here, Elijah?”

10 He replied, “I have been very zealous for the Lord God Almighty. The Israelites have rejected your covenant, torn down your altars, and put your prophets to death with the sword. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me too.”

11 The Lord said, “Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by.”

Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. 

12 After the earthquake came a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper.

2. a God encounter.  

We look for the dynamic, but God is in the intimate. 

 

Psalm 46:10

New International Version

¹⁰ He says, “Be still, and know that I am God;
    I will be exalted among the nations,

    I will be exalted in the earth.”

 

If you can't find God, He'll find you if you'll just worship Him. 

 

John 4:23

New International Version

23 Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks.

 

Psalm 73:16-17

New International Version

¹⁶ When I tried to understand all this,
    it troubled me deeply
¹⁷ till I entered the sanctuary of God;
    then I understood their final destiny.

 

1 Kings 19:13-14

New International Version

13 When Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave.

Then a voice said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”

14 He replied, “I have been very zealous for the Lord God Almighty. The Israelites have rejected your covenant, torn down your altars, and put your prophets to death with the sword. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me too.”

 

3. a true identity.  

You face identifies who you are.  

No one can make you feel inferior without your consent. (Eleanor Roosevelt). 

 

4.  a new assignment. 

1 Kings 19:15-18

New International Version

15 The Lord said to him, “Go back the way you came, and go to the Desert of Damascus. When you get there, anoint Hazael king over Aram. 

16 Also, anoint Jehu son of Nimshi king over Israel, and anoint Elisha son of Shaphat from Abel Meholah to succeed you as prophet. 

17 Jehu will put to death any who escape the sword of Hazael, and Elisha will put to death any who escape the sword of Jehu. 

18 Yet I reserve seven thousand in Israel—all whose knees have not bowed down to Baal and whose mouths have not kissed him.” 

 

Proverbs 29:18

New International Version

¹⁸ Where there is no revelation, people cast off restraint;

    but blessed is the one who heeds wisdom’s instruction.

 

5.  a relational strength.

 

1 Kings 19:19

New International Version

 

19 So Elijah went from there and found Elisha son of Shaphat. He was plowing with twelve yoke of oxen, and he himself was driving the twelfth pair. Elijah went up to him and threw his cloak around him. 

Look carefully at your closest associations in your life for that is where you are headed. 

The Process in Prayer

 

Prayer does not move God toward us.  Prayer moves us toward God.  

God is in a place, and we are approaching Him.  It is a process to intimacy.   

Prayer is the process into the presence of God. 

 

Let's use the pattern of the Tabernacle that God gave to Moses in the Old Testament to illustrate the process of entering into God's presence.  

1. The Tabernacle had an exterior court.  

It was open with no ceiling.  The Bible says that we are to enter God's presence with praise and thanksgiving. 

We thank God for what He has done.  We praise Him for who He is.  

 

Psalm 100:4

English Standard Version

⁴ Enter his gates with thanksgiving,
    and his courts with praise!
    Give thanks to him; bless his name!

We can't approach God with unconfessed sin.  The blood of Jesus takes away our sin.  

 

2. The Brazen altar was next. The Brazen altar's purpose was to sacrifice a substitute for our sins.  

The substitute dies, so that we can live.  Jesus is our sacrifice for our sins.  The cross represents the brazen altar.     

 

1 John 2:2

He (Jesus) is God’s way of dealing with our sins, not only ours but the sins of the whole world. 

 

 

Isaiah 53:5

English Standard Version

⁵ But he was pierced for our transgressions;
    he was crushed for our iniquities;
upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace,
    and with his wounds we are healed.

 

Transgression is to go too far. We all have gone too far.  Jesus was pierced with a spear in His side.  He gives us freedom in our hearts from going too far. 

Iniquity refers to the wayward condition of our hearts.  Jesus's body was whipped for us.   He changes the wayward condition of our hearts.    

Peace refers to the restoration of our thoughts.  Jesus wore a crown of thorns for us.  He gives us freedom in our thoughts and thus provides peace.  

 

Wounds refers to the healing of our past.  Jesus's hands were wounded by nails.  He gives us freedom from our past.   

 

3. The next piece of furniture in the Tabernacle was the Laver.  

It is were the worshipper was cleansed.  We are to offer up every part of ourselves to God.  

 

1 John 1:9

English Standard Version

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

4.  Next in the Tabernacle was the Candlestick.  It represents the Holy Spirit.  We are to invite the Holy Spirit to work in our lives.  

Zechariah 4:6

English Standard Version

 Then he said to me, “This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel: Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the Lord of hosts.

Isaiah 11:2

English Standard Version

And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him,
    the Spirit of wisdom and understanding,
    the Spirit of counsel and might,
    the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.

 

Isaiah 11:2

English Standard Version

And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him,
    the Spirit of wisdom and understanding,
    the Spirit of counsel and might,
    the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.

 

1 Corinthians 14:1

English Standard Version

 

Pursue love, and earnestly desire the spiritual gifts, especially that you may prophesy.

 

5. Next, came the Table of Shewbread. It represents God's Word.  We are to claim the promises of God. 

 

Deuteronomy 8:3

And he humbled you and let you hunger and fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that he might make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.

 

6.  Next, was the Altar of Incense which represents worship.  

 

Psalm 29:2

English Standard Version

Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name;

    worship the Lord in the splendor of holiness

 

7. Finally, was the Holy of Holies.  It was where the Ark was.  It represents the intimate presence of God where we pray for other people.  

 

1 Timothy 2:1

English Standard Version

 

First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people....