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Job 32:8 But there is a spirit in man:
and the inspiration of the Almighty
giveth them understanding.
The Word of God is full of profound
proclamations, and the above is one such announcement.
It is far more than a declaration of the obvious, that
is that every man breathes.
In this single sentence we see a statement: But
there is a spirit in man,
And linked to it, because that is what the word ‘and’ does, it
states that understanding comes
from the Almighty. These are not just two disjointed
thoughts randomly put together.
We can see that it is impossible to understand the
first part of the sentence without
the gift in the last part of the sentence, ‘understanding
from the Almighty’.
This principle goes through the entire word of God.
We need understanding from the Eternal.
There is much confusion regarding the spirit in man.
Many say that there is no such thing, and all that is
in man, is the breath.
Many who accept that there is a spirit in man see it
as a vague nebulous sort of blob of spirit,
whatever that might be.
To support the argument that the spirit is simply the
breath in man,
it is normal to go to the Hebrew and Greek to support this idea.
The reality is that there is an actual spirit in man
as well as the breath,
which we breathe to keep us alive.
The problem with accepting that there is a spirit in
man is that it turns the theology
of most believers upside down, and this means that a
complete rethink of their belief system
becomes necessary.
Christ is not and has never been concerned
with our theology.
He is never going to change so that His
word can agree with our theology.
We can tell what the spirit in man looks like if we
can see it.
It is an exact copy of the man made of spirit, and
without flesh and bones.
It has the same feelings, emotions, memory,
understanding and experiences as the living person has.
Luke 24:39 Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I
myself: handle me, and see;
for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye
see me have.
If we consider Job 32:8 mentioned
above, it is very much more specific than saying man breathes air.
It is as if we said there is a heart in man, or any
other part of a man.
Paul says:
1 Corinthians 2:11 For what man knoweth
the things of a man,
save the spirit of man which is in him?
even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the
Spirit of God.
This means that the spirit in man
has the ability to know things.
The breath of man has no
intellectual capacity whatsoever.
In addition, if in the man there is
also the Spirit of God, then that man
also has a channel of communication
with the Eternal God,
therefore he can be led to
understand the things of God.
This means that the human spirit in
man enables us to understand physical things,
but not the things of God.
It takes the addition of the Spirit
of God, which dwells in the human spirit,
to understand the things of God,
because it requires spirit to communicate with Spirit,
as the last part of the verse
declares.
It is for this reason that it is an
utter waste of time trying to convince anyone whose mind
has not been opened by the Eternal
God, to anything that is of a spiritual nature.
It is absolute nonsense to suggest
that spiritual problems can be resolved with physical solutions.
It simply does not work that way.
We have to face up to the reality
of the spiritual world,
and not pretend that it does not
exist.
There are many things which are
beyond our comprehension, and we have to admit
that there are things which are
still a mystery to us.
The bible states one such mystery.
The Godhead is a mystery.
Colossians 2:2 That their hearts might be comforted, being
knit together in love,
and unto all riches of the full assurance of
understanding, to the acknowledgement of the mystery of God,
and of the Father,
and of Christ;
When the Eternal wanted something
done, often we are told that He stirred up the spirit of those
he wanted to act for Him.
He was not stirring up their
breath.
Think about it.
How can you stir up the breath in a
person?
Here are a couple of examples when
the Eternal stirred up the spirit of people,
one in the Old Testament and one in
the New Testament.
Ezra 1:1
Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia,
that the word of the LORD by the mouth
of Jeremiah might be fulfilled,
the LORD stirred up the spirit of
Cyrus king of Persia,
that he made a proclamation
throughout all his kingdom, and put it also in writing, saying,
Acts 17:16 Now while Paul waited
for them at Athens, his spirit was stirred in him,
when he saw the city wholly given to idolatry.
These scriptures mean exactly what
they say.
There are many other similar
verses.
We can see the composite man is
made up of three main parts.
1 Thessalonians 5:23 And the very God of peace sanctify you
wholly;
and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be
preserved blameless
unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Here we see them listed in order of significance,
spirit
soul
body.
Let us consider if it makes any sense at all to
replace the word spirit with breath.
…. I pray God your whole breath be preserved
blameless.
Does that make sense?
The conjunction ‘and’ means
that
the spirit be preserved
blameless
the soul be preserved
blameless
the body be preserved
blameless.
1 Samuel 1:15 And Hannah answered and said, No, my lord,
I am a woman of a sorrowful spirit: I have
drunk neither wine nor strong drink,
but have poured out my soul before
the LORD.
Was Hannah’s breath sorrowful ? of course not.
When you are saddened by the death of a loved one, it
is not your breath that is sad,
it is your spirit.
It is not an emotion either.
It is in the depths of your being that you are
distraught.
That is your spirit.
Job knew exactly what that was all about.
Job 7:11 Therefore I will not refrain my mouth; I
will speak in the anguish of my spirit;
I will complain in the bitterness of my soul.
There was nothing wrong with Job’s breath but there was great sadness in his spirit.
We can see from the above verse that Job was fully
aware not only that he had a spirit,
but he knew the difference between his spirit and his
soul.
Christ
knew what it was all about.
John 11:33 When Jesus therefore
saw her weeping,
and the Jews also weeping which came with her, he groaned
in the spirit, and was troubled,
John 11:33 ¶ When Jesus therefore saw her weeping,
and the Jews also weeping which came with her, he
groaned in the spirit, and was troubled,
Proverbs 18:14 The spirit of a man will sustain his infirmity; but a wounded spirit who can bear?
This shows further facets of the spirit in man.
When one is physically sick, the strength of the
spirit will help him to deal with this trial,
but when one feels defeated in the spirit, it is a
much harder thing with which to cope.
It is really only with the aid of the Holy Spirit that
we could come out of such a situation.
It is a very short step for someone who feels useless
and a failure to contemplate suicide.
In the confrontation between Korah and Moses and Aaron we read the following:
Numbers 16:20 And the LORD spake unto Moses and unto Aaron,
saying,
21 Separate yourselves from among this congregation, that I may
consume them in a moment.
22 And they fell upon their faces, and said, O God, the God
of the spirits of all flesh,
shall one man sin, and wilt thou be wroth with all the
congregation?
We can see from this that what Moses was referring to
be far more critical than breath.
The Eternal made the
spirits of all flesh.
There is a difference between soul and spirit.
Hebrews 4:12 For the word of God is quick, and
powerful,
and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to
the dividing asunder of soul and spirit,
and of the joints and marrow, and is a
discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.
Let us look at some related
background information before considering
one greatly contentious scripture.
Before we analyze the scripture, we
have to ask the question
what is the difference between a
fallen angel and a demon?
What is certain is that they are
not the same.
An angel is an individual spirit
being created by the Eternal.
An angel does not require another
body in order to function.
It exists quite happily as a being
in its own right.
It is true that an angel can appear
as another entity.
Satan and his ministers do that all
the time.
2 Corinthians 11:14
And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light.
15 Therefore it
is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers
of righteousness; whose end shall be
according to their works.
Demons have no body of their own.
They require a body in which to
function.
Not a dead body.
If necessary, they would even enter
the bodies of animals.
Mark 5:8
For he said unto him, Come out of the man, thou unclean spirit.
9 And he asked
him, What is thy name? And he answered, saying,
My name is Legion: for we are many.
10 And he
besought him much that he would not send them away out of the country.
11 Now there was
there nigh unto the mountains a great herd of swine feeding.
12 And all the devils besought him, saying,
Send us into the swine,
that we may enter into them.
13 And forthwith
Jesus gave them leave. And the unclean spirits went out,
and entered into the swine: and the
herd ran violently down a steep place into the sea,
(they were about two thousand;) and
were choked in the sea.
14 And they that
fed the swine fled, and told it in the city, and in the country.
And they went out to see what it
was that was done.
When the host, which is the place
where a demon resides, dies,
or when they are removed from their
host,
they promptly set about seeking out
a new dwelling place.
Being spirit they do not die, and
up to now they are not as yet destroyed.
Matthew 12:43 When the unclean spirit is gone out of a
man, he
walketh through dry places,
seeking rest, and findeth none.
44 Then he saith, I will return
into my house from whence I came out;
and when he is come, he findeth it
empty, swept, and garnished.
45 Then goeth
he, and taketh with himself seven other spirits more wicked than himself,
and they enter in and dwell there:
and the last state of that man is worse than the first.
Even so shall it be also unto this
wicked generation.
Demons are bastard spirits that are
neither angel or human.
They are the spirits of the
offspring of the Fallen angels and women.
You can find this in great detail
in the book of Enoch.
It is not one of the apocryphal
books.
We can mention that the book of Jasher
is also mentioned twice in the bible, Joshua 10:13,
and 2
Samuel 1:18 (Also
he bade them teach the children of Judah the use of the bow:
behold, it is written in the book of Jasher.)
However, the book of Jasher does
not appear in the bible.
There are many other such books
mentioned, but not included in the bible.
You can download it here The Book of
Jasher
Of course we can expect these
translations to have been played with just as the
New Versions of the Bible have been
corrupted.
1 Samuel 28:3
Now Samuel
was dead,
and all Israel had lamented him,
and buried him in Ramah, even in
his own city.
And Saul had put away those that
had familiar spirits, and the wizards, out of the land.
Most refer to this report as the
witch of Endor.
Many claim that Saul saw a demon
masquerading around as Samuel.
1 Samuel 28:8
And Saul disguised himself, and put on other raiment, and he went, and
two men with him, and they came to the woman by night: and he said, I pray
thee, divine unto me by the familiar spirit, and bring me him up, whom I shall
name unto thee.
Here we see Saul going to consult
with a woman who was unlawfully working with the fallen spirit world. This is called necromancy and
is strictly forbidden in the Bible.
We could expect that she would be
contacting demons and fallen angels.
We also should bear in mind that
many of the people who claim to do these things
are fraudsters.
9 And the woman said
unto him, Behold, thou knowest what Saul hath done, how he hath cut off those
that have familiar spirits, and the wizards, out of the land: wherefore then
layest thou a snare for my life, to cause me to die?
The woman tries to ensure that
she would come to no harm by her activity.
10 And Saul
sware to her by the LORD, saying, As the LORD liveth, there shall no punishment
happen to thee for this thing.
Saul agrees.
11 Then said the
woman, Whom shall I bring up unto thee? And he said, Bring me up Samuel.
Saul makes his request to bring
up Samuel.
His request was technically
correct.
He did not ask her to bring down
Samuel from heaven, because Samuel, great prophet thou he was, was not in
heaven at all.
John 3:13 And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but
he that came down from heaven,
even the Son of man which is in heaven.
He was in hades, which is under
the earth not in heaven.
This is explained later.
12 And when the
woman saw Samuel, she cried with a loud voice: and the woman spake to Saul,
saying, Why hast thou deceived me? for thou art Saul.
Then something absolutely out of
the ordinary happened,
which the woman did not expect in
the slightest.
Samuel appeared.
She panicked, as you would
expect.
Think what you would do if you were
speaking about someone recently deceased and you said
I wish they were here, and bang,
they appeared in front of your very face.
It would require a huge dose of
smelling salts and cold water to bring your around.
13 And the king
said unto her, Be not afraid: for what sawest thou? And the woman said unto
Saul, I saw gods ascending out of the earth.
14 And he said
unto her, What form is he of? And she said, An old man cometh up;
and he is covered with a mantle.
And Saul perceived that it was Samuel, and he stooped with his face to the
ground, and bowed himself.
At this point Saul had not seen
Samuel himself, but the description that the woman gave
let him know that it was Samuel.
Perceived does not necessarily
mean that he himself saw although it could mean that.
He also would have been very
scared and would more than likely not have wanted to see
in any case. This is not T.V. or
the movies, this is a scary reality.
15 And Samuel said to Saul, Why hast thou
disquieted me, to bring me up? And Saul answered, I am sore distressed; for the
Philistines make war against me, and God is departed from me, and answereth me
no more, neither by prophets, nor by dreams: therefore I have called thee, that
thou mayest make known unto me what I shall do.
Can you imagine the state that
Saul was in when he heard Samuel speak to him.
A voice that he well knew and one
that had reprimanded him in the recent past?
In the book of first Samuel, you
will find the phrase 23 times, Samuel said.
This is the last time you find
it.
There is no suggestion whatsoever
that it was not the same Samuel as the other 22 times.
It does not say the spirit
masquerading as Samuel said., but Samuel said.
The first thing that Samuel
wanted to know was why have you disturbed me.
In other words I was quite happy
where I was in paradise, the pleasant part of Hades.
Saul then made his complaint and
request.
16 Then said Samuel, Wherefore then dost
thou ask of me, seeing the LORD is departed from thee, and is become thine
enemy?
The phrase then said Samuel
appears three times in 1 Samuel, this is the last time.
Now a characteristic of Satan and his servants
is that they lie.
John 8:44 Ye are of your
father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do.
He was a murderer from the beginning,
and abode not in the truth,
because there is no truth in him. When he
speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own:
for he is a liar, and the father
of it.
But we see Samuel saying the
absolute truth.
He was continuing the exact same
role as a prophet when he was alive.
This seems to be a unique
situation in which God intervened to teach Saul a lesson.
It is not a big problem for God
to make Samuel turn up.
After all He is the Eternal God.
17 And the LORD
hath done to him, as he spake by me: for the LORD hath rent the kingdom out of
thine hand, and given it to thy neighbour, even to David:
18 Because thou
obeyedst not the voice of the LORD, nor executedst his fierce wrath upon
Amalek, therefore hath the LORD done this thing unto thee this day.
19 Moreover the LORD will also deliver Israel with thee into the hand
of the Philistines:
and to morrow shalt thou and thy sons be
with me:
the LORD also shall deliver the host of Israel into the hand of the Philistines.
We can know whether a prophet is
true or false if what he says comes to pass.
If it was a demon or a fallen
angel we could expect the prophecy that he and his children
were going to die the next day,
to fail.
Deuteronomy 18:22 When a prophet speaketh in the name of the
LORD,
if the thing follow not, nor come to pass, that is
the thing which the LORD hath not spoken,
but the prophet hath spoken it presumptuously:
thou shalt not be afraid of him.
The fact is that exactly what Samuel
said came to pass, they all died on the same day.
1 Samuel 31:6 So Saul died, and his three sons, and his
armourbearer,
and all his men, that same
day together.
Saul was told, not that his breath, and that of his
sons was going to be with the breath
of Samuel the very next day.
He was told you and your sons will be with
me.
Their dead bodies would be in the grave or
battle field until buried, but their spirits
would be with Samuel in hades.
For those who say that there is no
spirit in man, this becomes an insurmountable problem.
If you accept that there is a
spirit in man then there is no problem at all.
The Roman Catholic Church teaches
that there is such a place as Purgatory and Limbo.
They teach that souls can be prayed
out of these places, of course for money.
They teach that in purgatory and
limbo to a greater and lesser degree, those there
are purified by a sort of slow
cooking, or severe roasting, I suppose.
This false teaching is nowhere
found in the bible.
But it is a very lucrative
money-spinner.
Hades is simply the holding place of
the spirits of the dead as they await the resurrection.
It is simply a lie to claim that
Satan is in charge of Hades, which we refer to in English as hell. How can
Satan ever be put in charge of the pleasant part of hades, paradise, where
the spirits of the righteous are?
Such a suggestion is not only wrong, but totally absurd.
Satan, himself is not in hell,
therefore how could he be in charge there?
Fallen angels and demons are not in
hades.
Satan spends his time going to and
fro upon the earth and not in a peaceful manner either.
Job 1:7
And the LORD said unto Satan, Whence comest thou? Then Satan answered the LORD, and
said, From
going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it.
He is the god of this world, seeking
to destroy all whom he can.
2 Corinthians 4:4
In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not,
lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God,
should shine unto them.
Revelation 12:12 Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, and ye
that dwell in them.
Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! for
the devil is come down unto you,
having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath
but a short time.
1 Peter 5:8 Be sober, be vigilant; because your
adversary the devil, as a roaring lion,
walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:
A final note on this section:
Fallen angels who have been locked up because of their
rebellion are in a separate place called
Tartaros, which in English is also translated hell,
but distinct from hades.
They are held captive in Tartaros.
They do not mix with the spirits of either the
righteous or unrighteous dead.
2 Peter 2:4 For if God spared not the angels that
sinned, but cast them down to hell, (Tartaros)
and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be
reserved unto judgment;
The second passage of scripture, which creates many
problems, is the report of Lazarus and the rich man.
Before explaining that, we need to have a look at what
was the purpose of parables
and to whom they were spoken.
Christ used parables to specifically hide the meaning
of what he was saying to the crowds
who were listening to him.
Matthew 13:13 Therefore speak I to them in
parables: because they seeing see not;
and hearing they hear not, neither do they
understand.
14 And in
them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which saith, By hearing ye shall
hear,
and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and
shall not perceive:
When he spoke parables to the
multitudes, he then explained the meaning to his disciples.
He further explained why he used
parables
Matthew 13:10
And the disciples came, and said unto him,
Why speakest thou unto them in
parables?
11 He answered and
said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not
given.
In Luke chapter 16 the first words we read are:
Luke 16:1
And he
said also unto his disciples, There was a certain rich……
We see
that Christ was speaking to his disciples.
The
beginning of Luke Chapter 16 deals
with the parable of the unjust steward.
Most
agree that the unjust steward report is a parable.
As it was
a parable Christ would explain the meaning to His disciples.
As with
all the parables, it is easy to think that we understand them,
and often
we do not see what is complicated about them at all, but a careful reading will
show that there are far from simple.
Having
expounded the parable, we see that Christ then explained the meaning to his
disciples.
There
were Pharisees listening although he was addressing the disciples.
The point
I am trying to stress is that he was going to explain the meaning to his
disciples
not the
others who were there, but as they were listening in,
they
heard the explanation and then they were most upset.
In one
sense they should not have been listening in as Christ was not speaking to
them.
For the
disciples parables were to be understood, but the intention was that the
explanation was hidden from all others who heard them.
Christ
then continues with his teaching to his disciples and he gives the report about
Lazarus
and the
rich man.
Most like
to claim that this is a parable.
It is not
and cannot be such.
There are
several reasons.
First
of all it does not claim to be a parable.
Secondly
Christ actually names, names, and that does not happen in parables.
He is
very definite about the fate of specific people.
Thirdly
there is no explanation of the report.
This by
its very nature demands understanding.
But there
was no hidden meaning that required explanation.
We have
no knowledge if the Pharisees stayed around to hear anymore after they
heard the
parable of the unjust steward which greatly annoyed them.
If you
consider how contentious this report is to many today, we can expect that
it would
have been received in a very similar manner. They would have been incredulous.
If any
Pharisees remained to hear it, they would probably just have walked away
shaking
their
heads, thinking, this is mad, and absurd.
When you
continue on to Luke chapter 17, we see
that Christ continues to address his disciples.We see Him explaining what He is
saying.
So we can
see that from the whole context Christ was speaking to his disciples.
Regarding
Lazarus and the Rich man,
It is
also possible that the people could relate to that situation very well
and they
might even have known of the beggar called Lazarus.
In what
are really small communities, this is very possible.
This is
only conjecture on my part.
This is the
full report with comments interspersed.
Luke 16:9 There was a certain rich man, which was
clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day:
20 And there was a certain beggar named Lazarus,
which was laid at his gate, full of sores,
21
And desiring to be fed with the crumbs
which fell from the rich man’s table: moreover the dogs came and licked his
sores.
We see
the two different lifestyle of two people, a rich man and a poor man.
22 And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and
was carried by the angels into Abraham’s bosom: the rich man also died, and was
buried;
Both
men die, the rich man would have his elaborate burial.
The
poor man would probably have ended up on the refuse dump to be burnt with the
rubbish.
23 And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in
torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.
In death
their situations were reversed.
Note the
rich man sees Abraham, the father of the faithful, not God.
We have
just read that they both had died and we know that their bodies were disposed
of on
the earth.
We are
told that they both are in hell.
Yet we
are told that the rich man was in torment and that he could see Lazarus in
Abraham’s bosom in a place of comfort.
So the
Rich man was in a part of hell that was a place of torment and the Lazarus, the
poor man was in a place of comfort.
Luke 10:15 And thou, Capernaum, which art exalted to
heaven, shalt be thrust down to hell.
We can
see that hell is ‘down’ not just from the various commentaries but also from
what
Christ said.
24 And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have
mercy on me, and send Lazarus,
that he
may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue;
for I am
tormented in this flame.
Like anyone
in torment, he was prepared to try anything to ease his pain.
He
thought that even a drop of water would help. This was utter desperation.
Logic
and reason does not enter the equation.
We do
exactly the same today.
We
undergo the most horrific treatments in the hope that we will be cured before
we are killed by the treatment. Sadly
most times we are killed before we are cured
This
whole episode shows that spirits of people are recognizable.
The
rich man some how recognized Abraham.
Many
people who have had visions say the same thing.
They
see people, and they just knew who they were.
I hope
that no one is going to say that dreams and visions do not happen today, Acts 2:17 because they do, however, not at the tremendous frequency which some
claim.
25 But Abraham said, Son, remember that thou in
thy lifetime receivedst thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things: but
now he is comforted, and thou art tormented.
Abraham
then reminds the rich man of his past and the past of Lazarus.
26 And beside all this, between us and you there
is a great gulf fixed: so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot;
neither can they pass to us, that would come from thence.
Abraham
then continues to explain the impossibility of the request.
In the
book of Enoch we are told that there is a threefold barrier that prevents them
from
doing anything but the communication which they were having.
Luke 16:27 Then he said, I pray thee therefore, father,
that thou wouldest send him
to my
father’s house:
The rich
man then made an interesting request.
Spirits
of men were very real to him.
After
all Lazarus and the Rich man though dead, their human spirits existed.
He did
not ask that he, as human spirit be sent himself,
but rather
that Lazarus as human spirit would be sent to warn his family.
The
rich man was desperately concerned that his family would not end up like he
did,
in a
place of torment.
28 For I have five brethren; that he may
testify unto them, lest they also come into this place of torment.
Abraham
told him the reality and that was that they would not listen even if someone
came
from the dead. He was told that people did not even believe the inspired word
of the
Old Covenant, and neither would they believe one who came from the dead,
and
that included Christ as we know.
29 Abraham saith unto him, They have Moses and
the prophets; let them hear them.
30 And he said, Nay, father Abraham: but if one
went unto them from the dead,
they will
repent.
31 And he said unto him, If they hear not Moses
and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the
dead.
In this
report we saw:
Lazarus
and the rich man
saw each other
recognised each other
spoke to each other
heard each other.
Lazarus enjoyed comfort
The rich man suffered pain
They could both reason and think.
The spirit in man has not only all the physical details of the man, but
also his entire life's experiences, thoughts, feelings.
Here
are some additional verses which show aspects of the spirit in man.
We see
that the spirit can be haughty, humble, or broken.
Proverbs 16:18 Pride goeth before destruction, and
an haughty spirit before a fall.
Proverbs 16:19 Better it is to be of an humble spirit with the
lowly,
than to divide the spoil with the proud.
Proverbs 17:22 A merry heart doeth good like a
medicine: but a broken spirit drieth the bones.
Even more
importantly we see that we have to rule our spirit.
We do not
have to rule our breath.
Proverbs 16:32 He that is slow to anger is
better than the mighty;
and he that ruleth his spirit than he
that taketh a city.
There are
literally millions of people, who have had what is called near death
experiences,
when they
died, and were brought back to life, that is their spirit returned to their
bodies.
We cannot
dismiss all of them as frauds.
Some say
they have been to a pleasant place, others to a place of great horror.
These are
ordinary people who were not necessarily religious at all but the experience
profoundly
affected them.
Also
millions of people have had their spirit leave their bodies.
Again
these were not necessarily religious people or people who practiced witchcraft,
or any
such thing.
I know
that this can be brought about by severe physical trauma.
I am not
saying that it always happens.
I am
saying that it can happen.
My Uncle
George who is still alive at 94 March 2006, was one such case.
He had an
accident, many years ago, at a time when he never went to a church
or had any
particular religious beliefs, as far as I know.
As a
Cabinet Maker of fine furniture, he cut off the end of one of his fingers,
with an
electric power bench saw, the saw still exists today.
The next
thing he said that he knew was that he was looking down at his body,
and
seeing everything that was being done to save him from bleeding to death.
He never
speaks about it at all. He is an honest an unassuming person who would never
make such
a thing up.
He has no
explanation, he only says that it happened, that is all.
We could
also consider that if the spirit in man was simply his breath,
we could
keep people alive indefinitely on ventilators.
It does
not work that way.
When the
spirit of a man leaves the man, the person dies.
Artificial
resuscitation and electric shocks cannot bring someone,
who is
truly dead, back to life.
Hebrews 9:27 And as it is appointed unto men once to die,
but after this the judgment:
This
verse says that you die and then you are judged.
One act
follows another.
We know
that the dead is in the grave and knows nothing.
Any of us
who has seen a corpse is fully aware of this.
Ecclesiastes 9:5 For the living know that they shall die:
but the dead know not any thing, neither
have they any more a reward;
for the memory of them is forgotten.
But as it
is written after we die that is followed by judgment.
What is
judged?
It cannot
be the body, as it is in a grave.
It is the
spirit of man that is judged.
This is
not the final white throne judgment as it is called.
No rewards
are handed out.
No
glorified spirit bodies are given.
No
positions of authority as kings and priests are conferred.
It is
simply the allocation to hell, that is either the part of comfort called
paradise,
or the
other part of suffering and torment.
There is
another related and important scripture:
Hebrews
12:23 To the general assembly and
church of the firstborn,
which are written in
heaven, and to God the Judge of all,
and to the spirits of just men made perfect,
The first
part of the verse tells us that records are compiled in heaven
for the
general assembly and the church of the firstborn, not that they
are in
heaven. In fact the previous verse shows that the writer of Hebrews
was
speaking to people who were very much alive.
Hebrews 12:22 But ye are
come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God,
the
heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels,
The rest
of the verse speaks of the fact that God is the Judge of all,
and also
addressed, were ‘the spirits of just men made perfect’.
The
grammar of this phrase tells us that the subject ‘the spirits’, were made
perfect.
The
qualifying phrase tells us which spirits, they are ‘the
spirits of just men’.
We can
see that it was not men that were made perfect, but their spirits.
Our
breath cannot be made perfect.
Our
bodies can never be perfect.
Many of
us have all sort of things wrong with us, often we might even feel that we have
more
wrong with us than right!
Matthew 5:48 Ye therefore shall be perfect, as your
heavenly Father is perfect.
Our
spirits, however, can be perfected and changed as the Eternal does His work in
us.
It takes
a lifetime, and we should never be arrogant, and claim that we, or others
are
perfect. We have to strive for perfection, but it is a spiritual matter which
is
brought about by transformation of the Holy Spirit.
We need
to understand that we, as it were, inherited damaged spirits from Adam’s sin.
Romans 5:12 Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the
world, and death by sin;
and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:
If we do
not want to accept that, we still have the fact that All have sinned.
Romans 3:23 For all have sinned, and come
short of the glory of God;
Whichever way we go, our bodies and our spirits have
been affected by sin.
Fortunately
we have been given new undamaged spirit so that we can receive
the
perfect Holy Spirit in our new spirits.
Ezekiel 36:26 A new heart also will I give you, and a
new spirit will I put within you:
and I will take away the stony heart out of your
flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh.
27 And I
will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my
statutes,
and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them.
We have
not been given a new breath.
It is
only by the impartation of the Holy Spirit can the process of perfection be
carried out, but first that requires a new spirit.
Our
attitude should be:
Luke 17:10 Even so ye also, when ye shall have done all
the things that are commanded you,
say, We are unprofitable servants; we have
done that which it was our duty to do.
Hebrews 12:23
tells us that it is possible for the spirits of just men to be made perfect.
This is a
staggering thing, and I know that I have a very long way to go
before
that can be said of me.
The
spirit in man is very real, and it is certainly much more permanent than our
physical bodies. We have to be very careful with our human spirit because it resides
in our body and it is the dwelling place of the Eternal God.
1 Corinthians 3:16 Know ye not that ye are a
temple of God,
and that the Spirit
of God dwelleth in you?
John 17:23 I in them, and thou in me, that they may be
made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and
hast loved them, as thou hast loved me.
There is
a spirit in man and it makes us one with the Eternal God.
What a
privilege, blessing and undeserved honour.
The only way out of this dilemma is Jesus Christ.
He is the only way of escape.
Praise the Lord.
Come soon Lord Jesus.
Amen.
