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The Bible says in John 11: 25,26
Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live:
And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this?
The Roman soldiers would many a time without proper reason subject the people to bondage. In the same way the king of this world would suddenly try to come into our lives to destroy us and put us through various difficulties, sorrows and to put us in darkness. But the Lord says in the above verses that He is the giver of life. There is no eternal life without the Lord Jesus in our lives. When He is with us then we can receive a life of peace. Else how the Romans came and beat up the Lords people and put them through trouble, in the same way the king of this world will take hold of us. So to receive peace the Lord must be there in our lives.
A story
There is a story told of a man who was an expert at catching rats. He would attract the rats by playing on his flute. Hearing the sound of the flute all the rats would go after him. He would continue playing the flute as he entered the water and the rats also would go into the water with him and be drowned. Hearing about him the people in a particular village called him to get rid of the rats and agreed to pay him a large sum of money. On the particular day the man came and played on the flute and all the rats came out to him and he took them to the nearby lake and they were all destroyed. He came back for the thousand rupees that the people had promised. Now the people were reluctant to pay him the money as they thought that the sum was too large, as he had finished the work in a very short time. The people argued with him and did not pay him the thousand rupees. This man once again started to play on his flute and all the little children left their houses and started to follow him. They followed him into a thick dark jungle and just disappeared out of sight.
In the same way the king of this world will work little by little in this manner, will deceive us, give us a desire and finally make us to fall into bondage. This is the work of darkness. The work of the devil who is the king of this world. But our God who is Almighty speaks to us as written in Jn 11:25,26. Our God is able to bring back to life those dead in sin, in faith and those who have forgotten His name.
In the town of Nain a widow had lost her only son. Now this family would have been a praying family. The Word says that those who are dead will also live. The mother was crying as she walked along with the funeral procession, but her eyes were on the Lord. The people would have been talking about her saying ' who knows what sin she has committed, as her son has died'. But amidst her sorrow her eyes fell upon the Lord Jesus.
Let us read Rev 1:17,18 to know how our God is.
And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead. And he laid his right hand upon me, saying unto me, Fear not; I am the first and the last:
I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death.
So our eyes should always be on the Living God. In that land there was no one to help her, speak a word of comfort or give the son life. All the people would have been accusing her because of her sons death. She lifted her eyes and looked at the Living God - the giver of life.
Nothing happens in this world without the knowledge of the Lord as everything is under His control. Whom to send to heaven, whom to send to hell and whom to give life and whose life to take the Living God knows it all. So even today our desire should not be upon the world which always pulls us into bondage. As mentioned in the story of the man who first took the rats and then because of a little argument, also took the children from every home. This is the work of the devil of this world. But our God has come to give us life and joy. He came to understand our lacking and to give His life for us.
As mentioned in Jn 11:25,26 He can give life to those who have not believed on Him but have gone after the world, and into the bondage of the devil. He is going to save those who are with Him even in the future. Till the end He is our living God who will hear our cry. May be till yesterday we were dead in our sins. The thief on the cross was a sinner but the Lord gave a new life to him who was dead in the spirit.
WE HAVE TO CLING ON TO JESUS
We are alive today and have known the truth but tomorrow we do not know what will happen in our lives. Even we who are alive, to be in the Lord we need Jesus Christ every day in our lives. It is not that today if we are believing in the Lord that tomorrow the king of this world cannot steal us. Even if the king of this world will steal you, even then the Lord is able to bring you back to life once again. He is also able to deliver you from the devil when he is planning to steal you tomorrow. Because we are washed with His blood, covered with His Spirit and know the Word. Let us not think that the prince of this world cannot come against us. He will see our weakness, our sorrow and our difficulties and will come against us.
The Lord will give life to them who are dead and He is also able to save those who are alive and believing on Him. He is the King of Kings and has all authority in His hands. He has the keys of death and hades. No one else has got this authority. The Lord has given the authority to the chosen people to raise the dead. To raise those who are dead in bondage, who have fallen in sin and have been caught up in the hands of the devil and are dead. We can read this in Matt 10:8
Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils: freely ye have received, freely give.
The Lord has given His chosen people the authority to raise the dead. The Lord understood the sorrow and the faith of the mother. Will not the Lord wipe away the tears of the mother ? Definitely He will wipe away her tears. He never gives sorrow to those who believe on Him. We should always remember this. When we forget His Word, His works and when we forget Him, the prince of this world will take us into darkness. We fall into his hands and face a spiritual death. Even today the Lord says to give such people life. We see that the Lord raised the dead man. Our God is alive even today. What ever may be the sin you are caught up in , or may be you are caught up in the trap of the prince of this world, or have fallen in the desires of this world. The Living God is Almighty to give you life even today as He has all authority in His hands.
Adam and eve did not obey the Lord. They ate the fruit which the Lord had commanded them not to eat. The Lord had told them that if they ate of that fruit they would die.
We see that they had a spiritual death but physically they were alive. Adam physically died at the age of 930 as written in Gen 5:5.
And all the days that Adam lived were nine hundred and thirty years: and he died.
The Lord always referred to spiritual death. We should not have a spiritual death. The day Adam disobeyed the Lord he started to die. It is not important how many years we live, but it is important how we have lived our lives. The Lord can raise up those who are dead and also we who are alive in Christ have to check our lives and know how we are living our lives. In the eyes of the Lord we have to live a spiritual life. By His love, His name, His Spirit and being in His Word it is important that we live a good life. We should ask the Lord to remove every sorrow from our lives and ask for His will to be done every day in our lives. We should ask the Lord to prepare us to praise Him, to have faith on Him, to obey Him and to live according to His Word. We should pray to the Lord that no plan of the prince of this world should separate us from God. Then each day He will protect us from falling away from Him.
SPIRITUAL DEATH AND PHYSICAL DEATH
In one instance the father of a disciple had died and he asked for time to go and bury his father. Let us read the Lords reply in Matt 8:21,22
And another of his disciples said unto him, Lord, suffer me first to go and bury my father.
But Jesus said unto him, Follow me; and let the dead bury their dead.
The Lord referred to the spiritual death and not the physical death of the man. The Lord told the man alive in the spirit to follow Him, and to let the dead in spirit bury the dead. There are many people in this world but all are not living for the Lord. They are physically alive but dead in the spirit. So the Lord tells them who are physically alive but dead in the spirit to bury the dead. The disciple was alive in the spirit and was filled with the Spirit. The Lord told him to follow the Living God. That Living God is with us even today. This Living God was now looking at the mother in Nain. Nothing is hidden from His eyes. We can deceive the world but we can never deceive the Lord. He sees deep inside our hearts. In the eyes of the Lord the family of the disciple is spiritually dead, but the widow of Nain received love from the Lord. The Lord told her not to cry.
In another instance in Mark 5:41 what did the Lord do when a girl had died.
And he took the damsel by the hand, and said unto her, Talitha cumi; which is, being interpreted, Damsel, I say unto thee, arise.
Here the Lord is giving life to a person who is physically dead. For those who are spiritually dead the Lord says let the spiritually dead bury the dead. Every believer should know and examine himself to know if he is spiritually alive. We should always live in the Spirit and in His love. The Lord did not leave the disciple to bury the spiritually dead people of his house. The Lord did not see the girl as dead but only sleeping.
Lazarus was dead and the Lord shed tears. The Lord understands our sorrows as He also came in the form of a man. He understands our sorrows, our desires, our weakness and everything. Nothing is hidden from His eyes. There is nothing that He cannot do. He has the keys of hades and of death. Whichever pit we are in, He knows how to lift us up. So always our speech and our thoughts should be pleasing to our Lord. Then we can always have a good and loving relationship with the Lord. The disciple whom the Lord told to leave the dead and to follow Him would have certainly followed the Lord and he has been mentioned in the Bible. So for our names to appear in the Lords book we should go after the Lord every day in our lives.
Let us read Jn 11:35
Jesus wept.
After the death of Lazarus every one was sorrowful. The Lord saw the situation and as a human he also wept.
The Bible says in Rom 12:15
Rejoice with them that do rejoice, and weep with them that weep.
The Lord always was with the family of Lazarus whenever He went to bethany. Those were times of joy, but now it was a time of sorrow so in a human way the Lord also shed tears. The Lord Jesus obeyed the Father in all things and fulfilled the Word. Even though the Lord knew that He would raise Lazarus from the dead still he saw their sorrow and wept with the people. We read about the spiritually dead people in Haggai 2:13
Then said Haggai, If one that is unclean by a dead body touch any of these, shall it be unclean? And the priests answered and said, It shall be unclean.
In the olden times in our village when people died and after the burial they would take bath and only then come into their houses. But we see that the living God who gave life for the people touched the bier. The Word says that anyone who touched the dead body would be unclean.
The Bible also says in Ezek 44:25
And they shall come at no dead person to defile themselves: but for father, or for mother, or for son, or for daughter, for brother, or for sister that hath had no husband, they may defile themselves.
As the Lord touched the bier the four people carrying the body stopped. The Lord saw the mother crying and heard the people speaking ill about her. Amidst this the Lord went and touched the dead body. The Word above states that for father, mother, son, daughter, brother, or for sister that hath had no husband the person will not be defiled. Now if we consider our Church then God is our Father. We also become the Lords brothers and sisters. We see in the scriptures how the the people came and told the Lord that His mother, brothers and sisters had come to meet Him. The Lord said that those who kept His commandments are His mother, brothers and sisters. So according to this scripture when such people are touched we are not becoming unclean.
When we touch the outsiders then we are becoming unclean. We who are spiritually alive when we touch the dead we will not become unclean. If an idol worshipper falls on the wayside and when we touch him then we become unclean. That is the reason the Lord said let the dead bury the dead and the Lord asked the disciple to follow Him and not to become unclean and die.
THE FOUR EVILS
The Lord saw the tears of the widow and came and touched the funeral bier. The four people who were carrying the dead body stopped. Now who are these four people carrying the dead body. Who are these four who have made this man a dead body. Let us read about this four people. The first person in found in Rom 6:23
For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
One of the four to lead us to death is sin. Sin makes us unclean before God. The second is found in Rom 8:6-13
For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.
Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.
So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God.
But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.
And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness.
But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you.
Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh.
For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live.
The second person is found in Rom 8:8 which is the flesh.
So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God.
The third person can be found in 2 Cor 7:10. If the person has this nature in him then he is dead though he is alive.
For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death.
This third is worldly sorrow which makes us a lazy person, always complaining and being with a cast down countenance. These are the different ways in which a man can be spiritually dead. The fourth we can see in James 1:15
Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.
The fourth is lust. The lust of the eyes and of the flesh. The Lord had commanded not to eat of the fruit else they would die. The fruit looked pleasant to the eye and the result of eating the fruit sounded good. They ate of it and had a spiritual death. These are the four persons carrying the dead body. It was the King of Kings the great saviour who touched the dead man and he received life. This God is living even today.
ARE WE ALIVE OR DEAD
Today in what way have we become dead. Is it because of sin, or because of the flesh. In what way are we dead today ? Today also He is alive to save us. The Bible says in Ps 1:1-3 not to stand or sit with such people. They are people who live in the flesh and being with them will result in us dying in the spirit. There is no meaning nor any benefit in such a life.
Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.
But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night.
To be saved from the unclean we have to meditate on His Word day and night. Then we can be saved from these four evils that will try to make us into a living corpse. When they come into our lives then they will make us a dead being. We are dead in the eyes of the Lord. The person may live for many years but in the eyes of the Lord that person is dead. So to live a life for the Lord we have to be delivered from these four evils. The Lord came and overcame these four evils. The four people stopped and the Lord touched the dead person and the life returned. That same living God is speaking to all of us in Jn 11:25,26
Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live:
And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this?
Our God does not lie and whatever He says He does it. Even today we have to believe what the Lord is telling us. We should know His Words, His Works and all His ways. He should become our True Friend then every minute He will show us what is good, and we can be saved in every situation.
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