THE SOULS AND BODIES OF THE DEAD “Will you show wonders to the dead? Shall the dead arise and praise you? Shall your lovingkindness (mercy) be declared in the grave? Or your faithfulness in destruction? Shall your wonders be known in the dark? And your righteousness in the land of forgetfulness?” (Psalms 88:10-12) When I say the dead, I could mean dead souls and I could mean dead bodies: Remember I said, dead souls are cast into hell fire; but living souls are taken to heaven. So life is the pathway to the kingdom of heaven – we pass from death into life when we love our brethren (1 John 3:14). 1. There are dead bodies with dead souls; 2. There are dead bodies with living souls. All the dead shall rise again, but not all the dead shall rise to life: Living souls with their dead bodies shall rise to life or experience resurrection of life, but dead souls with their dead bodies shall rise to Judgment and to condemnation. Therefore, apart from raising dead people to life again by the Miracle of Jesus Christ (giving second chance), there are two kinds of resurrection: 1. Resurrection of life – This is called putting on Immortality (Immortality means the body of Christ): This resurrection of life is called “First Resurrection”: As it is written, “But the rest of the dead did not live again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is he that has part in the first resurrection: on such the second death has no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.” (Revelation 20:5-6) 2. Resurrection of damnation – This is when dust which had returned to dust, comes out of the dust they returned to assume their body form again for purpose of Judgment, while the earth that held their dust, the seas the held their remains, the death and hell that held their remains or souls, vomit all they held and the man returns back to stand before God in Judgment; but the earth, sea, death, and hell that held them in mortality shall be no more because of the Second death called the Lake of Fire and Brimestones (Revelation 20:12-15) – Also known as Consuming Fire, Everlasting Burnings (Isaiah 33:14) Therefore, in Revelation 20, two resurrections were articulated: The one closer to the beginning of the chapter in verses 5-6 called the First Resurrection and then the one closer to the end of the chapter in verses 12-13 called the Resurrection of the Rest of the dead and their remains. These two kinds of resurrections are contained in one verse of the scripture: As it is written, “And shall come forth; they that have done good, to the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, to the resurrection of damnation.” (John 5:29). Therefore, Second death is not just hell, but the resurrection of damnation. In the first Resurrection, those living souls with dead bodies shall rise with the body of Jesus Christ called “Immortality”: As it is written, “Your dead men shall live, and together with my dead body shall they arise. Awake and sing, you that dwell in dust: for your dew is as the dew of herbs, and the earth shall cast out the dead.” (Isaiah 26:19). Therefore, First Resurrection or the Resurrection of Life simply means any resurrection in which the dead puts on the body of Christ over his own mortal body. That body of Christ which the saints in him puts on is called “Immortality or Incorruption” (1 Corinthians 15:53): As it is written, “He shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like to his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things to himself.” (Philippians 3:21) So there is change of body for those who will experience resurrection of life: They will not be using flesh and blood (for flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God), rather they will be using image body of Christ Jesus (which is immortality): As it is written, “And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly. Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption.” (1 Corinthians 15:49-50) A seed that is sown to the ground first dies and then comes up with an entirely new body, not the same body that was sown into the ground (1 Corinthians 15:36-38): Even so is the resurrection of Life, apart from the last resurrection of damnation. However, the change of body is not by putting off this one, but by putting on the Immortal Body of Christ on this one: “Put-on” instead of “Put-off”: As it is written, “For we that are in this tabernacle do groan, being burdened: not for that we would be unclothed, but clothed upon, that mortality might be swallowed up of life.” (2 Corinthians 5:4) However, for my friends who are asking God to have mercy for the souls of the dead and grant them rest, I wish to share with you what those souls of the dead are asking God to do for you: We now know what you are asking God to do for them, but what are they asking God to do for you that is still on earth? 1. A dead soul of the dead (the rich man in hell) was asking his god (he called Abraham his Father and regarded him as his god in the grave), to send Lazarus from the dead to preach to his brethren and loved ones to repent, lest they end up in the place where he was (Luke 16:27-31) – You should notice the response he got. 2. Living souls of the dead under the altar were asking God to avenge their blood and judge all those living on earth (Revelation 6:9-11) – You should notice the response they got. Now I ask you who have being praying for the souls of dead, which among these two categories of the souls of the dead I listed, are you interceding for on November 2nd? You must therefore, differentiate both.
Posted on: Fri, 15 Nov 2013 06:53:50 +0000
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