WHY SEEK YE THE LIVING AMONG THE DEAD?

(Part 2)

#00.129

COMMUNING WITH THE DEAD

We saw in our previous study how people will dig and sift through tons of religion relics, hoping to find some sort of life in yesteryear's truths. Their quest to find the keys to the secrets of God are honorable enough; but their source of digging is often misdirected. Therefore, with their unearthed mountain of ancient artifacts, there is little life to be had. Knowledge is abundant, but life is scarce.

It is not uncommon for those seeking knowledge to fall prey to lifeless arenas where they wander throughout the catacombs of faith. The testimonies and histories of those great patriarchs who died in faith can be exciting; but even they failed to find that which would snatch them into God's gracious glory.

Most of us at one time or another were Bible archeologists. We dug in the dust of dead bones with hopes of finding some fragment of life. However, we often missed a simple truth that -- the patriarchs died in faith, NOT having received the promise of Life. With them having not received the promise, we should not look to them for it. Each of them were great men and women of faith, and their testimonies go unprecedented, yet they do not have that which enables a person live.

It is good to search the scriptures and learn about the lives of those in our important past, and to have our faith strengthened by their testimonies. But let us not lift them to the status of life-givers. Only Christ can be that.

Religious cemeteries are likewise arenas where people go in hopes of finding life, and we have all been there. We have traversed the world, traveled hither and yon, spending countless hours, days, months, even years huddled in concentrated effort, studying and attempting to unravel the mysteries of life. No one has yet to find it in those places, and they never will, not until their eyes focus upon the One to whom the scriptures point.

Seminaries bulge at the seams with students who once had a spark of light; but the rule and rote of the regime, as many came to know, can snuff it out, leaving not much more than a flicker. Their Godly zeal is often replaced with religious fervor, which can be mistaken as the anointing. Techniques, professionalism, and rituals move in where Christ's living reality once abode. The call of the Spirit upon their lives yielded to man's mapped route of their specific denomination. Where they were free as the wind, men's bit and bridle became their harness. Rather than finding the path in the heavens where eagles soar, countless numbers are strapped with a systematic way of doing things. With those hindrances, they plod along with the masses down familiar, well-beaten, ever-widening broadways.

It is not the norm to find life in cemeteries. Death is the common factor and product in those places; for death is always the fruit of death. Death can no more produce life than darkness can generate light. The life of Christ cannot be shackled with the manacles of man and expected it to flourish. It's a basic fact that man's programs cannot harness Life. It is so easily understood that a child would not err therein; but many have fallen prey to it.

Let me encourage all who read these few words to cease from looking to the craft of man with hopes of bettering himself. Neither follow after personalities who lack the substance of life. We must know from where they come, whether they are the oracles of God or they are whited sepulchers, as Jesus called the church leaders in that day. If they are whited sepulchers, they are by default full of dead men's bones.

We know ministers who can spin religious yarns a mile long and as crooked as serpents' trails. Like white-washed sepulchers, they receive the dead into themselves. They feast upon the dead letter of the word, and wrap it with the grave-clothes of their graven religion. And the people who follow them seem to be oblivious of the spirit by which they speak. Even though this is clearly a fact, we rejoice in knowing there are teaming thousands who refuse to entertain such theatrics. They will settle for nothing but the truth, and will no longer be led by anything but the Spirit and Word of Life. They simply will not sit quietly and feed upon death any longer. Praise God!

With the heavens opening with the silent rays of the Son, who could go back to the catacombs of faith, cemeteries of religion, or whited sepulchers full of dead men's bones? Attempting to find life in those places is nothing more than communing with the dead, and I must say, such is not the communion of the Lord. Not by any stretch of the imagination is it the Lord's table. He doesn't serve a dead plate.

We have been hearing that a few Kingdom ministers are encouraging those who left Babylon, that they should return and minister the truth to those held captive therein. First, the thought which comes to mind is that the voice of the Spirit in the Book of Revelation says to come out of her, and I do not recall a place where it says to return.

Second, unless there is a season for it that we are not aware of, and until that season arrives, you will have as much success by going to a graveyard and raising the dead. You might want to try that first before you attempt to raise the dead in religious cemeteries.

For myself, I cannot go into those places, but if I hear the voice of my Father telling me to go, with joy I will go. For that matter, those who say we should be going into the churches, it could very well be that they are being sent, and I rejoice that they are answering the call. If they are sent of God, that is what they should do, and their fruit will certainly bear it out. At the moment we don't see much fruit; but there may be an abundance that I am not aware of. Nevertheless, even if their directive is straight from the throne, I can't abide by the same word if I am not hearing it from the Spirit myself.

Moreover, if you are sent into the churches, I believe it will be as it was with Jesus when He was sent with the twelve into the Gadarenes. That was where He delivered the man with 2000 demons. You will likewise go and quickly deliver the word of authority and power and free the prisoners chained in darkness.

For one, I can't see myself humbly sitting in a locked cell and tethered alongside all the others, just waiting for an opportunity to share a morsel here and there, and this would only be as the gate-keeper gave me permission to do so. Those days of sitting among the tombs are over for me, and I pray they are for you as well.

There is one thing I am sure of, if we are told to return I am persuaded it will be with the force of God that will cause such a mighty exodus that the gate-keepers who try to hold the tide will be trampled. If we go back, we will certainly have the authority to use the keys of death and hell to set the captives free.

Unless I am missing something, sitting under grueling, dead-letter sermons and rituals should not be our portion, not by any means. That is not the meat for the Sons of God. When Jesus went into the temple, even at the age of twelve years, He did not sit under the authority of the Pharisees -- they sat under His authority. Therefore, my recommendations would be this -- forget the notion of dolefully returning into the captivity of death, and never again give yourselves to that which is not a living word. Do not grieve the Spirit nor vex your souls by sitting on graves reading tombstones.

However, if you happen to be called by the Spirit to return, I will say this -- go in like a piercing arrow, a lightning bolt, a fire-storm, an earthquake. Turn worlds upside down. Thunder from the heavens and free the people. Otherwise, you will be a prisoner like the rest, and die a slow, miserable death.

IS THE OLD MAN DEAD?

It may be clear to most that, for the most part, death has taken over organized religion. And with so many leaders ministering the letter of death, it can be said that the people are communing with the dead. We may feel privileged that we are not guilty of the same. Come on now! You don't think I would let ourselves off so easy, do you? If you know me, you know I have not been sent to cuddle and pacify those who read The Pathfinder, so I won't start today.

You see, there is another way many commune with the dead, and this is in the ranks of Kingdom truths. It may be hard to imagine such a thing, but it is so. Before I explain, let me ask: what would you call it if your friend continually talked to a person who had been dead for several years? Or what would you say if your friend blamed most of his problems on this dead man by saying that he keeps coming back and to haunt him?

It is simple. You would say that he was communing with the dead. You would also say that he must be very superstitious if he thinks his problems are the result of a dead man coming back from the grave to torment him. Permit me to candidly tell you that such goes on all the time, and this is in practically every rank of religion. What's more unsettling is that we commonly hear it coming from Kingdom people as well. How could this be? With what dead man could Kingdom folk possibly be communing, especially since our communion is with the living and not the dead, namely, Christ? It is the Old Man, of course!

Communing with the dead would be calling attention to and speaking of the Old Man, Adam, who is supposed to be dead⁽¹⁾. It is giving him a place in one's mind, speech, and daily affairs. Contrary to what the written word says about it, a large number in the body of Christ do not believe the Old Man is dead; therefore, they are in a constant battle trying to kill him. They attempt to put him to death at every turn and event of their lives. Perhaps those doing this have not laid it to thought that if they could actually kill him -- they would be guilty of murder, or at best, suicide. Either way the commandment says, "Thou shalt not kill."

Frankly, whether it is the Old Man or the New Man -- we cannot crucify either. That is something which is done by other hands, not our own. We hear so many saying how we have to crucify the old man and the flesh. But did you know, such a thought is not found in the Bible? It is not scriptural. The best we can scripturally do along those lines is to mortify the deeds of the body; but we do not and cannot crucify someone who is dead, and furthermore, we are not called to crucify the flesh!

We read that "...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" (Rom 8:13). We are by all means to submit ourselves to the Spirit and put an end to the deeds of the flesh; but there is no place where we are told to crucify the flesh, the old man, Adam, or anything else.

Paul said to reckon yourselves dead, which is much different than the act of crucifixion. In other words, take inventory of an accomplished fact, review it in the depth of your being, and know beyond a shadow of doubt that your old man is dead.

I realize that reckoning yourselves dead is sometimes difficult to do, especially when the lusts and passions of the flesh are inflamed and staring you in the face. Nevertheless, he made the point clear: "For if we have been planted together in the likeness of His death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection: Knowing this, that OUR OLD MAN IS CRUCIFIED WITH HIM, that the body of sin might be ⁽²⁾destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. For he that IS DEAD is freed from sin. Now if we BE DEAD with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him: Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over Him. For in that He died, He died unto sin once: but in that He liveth, He liveth unto God. Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be DEAD indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord. Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof. Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are ALIVE FROM THE DEAD, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God. For sin shall not have dominion over you: ⁽³⁾for ye are not under the law, but under ⁽⁴⁾grace" (Rom 6:5-14)

Of a truth, brethren, the reason sin has no dominion over you is because your old man is dead and you are alive in Christ! If you have an impulse to sin, it is not the old man raising his ugly head from the grave trying to satisfy the lusts of his flesh. That man is dead and has no living flesh; but you are alive in Christ and are clothed with flesh. Therefore, if you are tempted to sin, you do not come under the dominion of the temptation of your clothing; for you are alive in Christ, and it is the liveliness of Christ which makes you victorious when the flesh pulls in its earthy direction.

When you mortify the deeds of the body, you put an end of the temptation by overpowering it with the life of Christ within. Jesus is the King, and what you wear, the trappings of dust, the earth, will have no dominion over He who sits upon the throne, of whom you are one. You will have dominion over it. The flesh will be the footstool of the Spirit, and will do the bidding of the High calling of God, and our bodies will serve their destined purpose until they are swallowed up of the new body, the New Man, which you are.

DEMON POSSESSION

Although the point should be settled by now, let me be forthright and ask those who are still holding to the old mind-set. Do you really have two men living and warring in you, such as, the Old Man and the New Man -- namely -- Adam and Jesus? Let me also ask if have you been born from above, and do you have the Spirit of Jesus Christ, the Last Adam abiding in you? With that, do you also insist that you have the First Adam cohabiting with you? If so, does that Old Man of Adam continue to rise from the grave and do battle with the New Man of Christ? And tell me, is your troubled soul the battlefield of an ongoing war between the two? If you've answered yes to these questions, hopefully the next time you are asked, the answer will be a resounding NO! Although the populace of the church has been programed to believe that Adam is still well and alive in the soul of their earth, the Sons of God should know better -- for he is not!

Let us be reminded, as Romans 6:6 is very clear, that the Old Man is crucified. Crucified means dead, and the dead has no power at all with which to resurrect itself. The dead cannot raise the dead. There is absolutely no life in the dead. Dead is dead, and death simply cannot give life to itself or anyone else. Before anything dead can live, it must receive life from another source. The Old Man would have to have life to give life to himself, which he simply does not have. Death can no more generate life than darkness can shine with light.

If you have someone living in your members other than Christ, it gives me reason to be concerned. For that would indicate to me that you may be demon possessed.

However, I suspect what you are calling the Old Man is, in fact, the flesh of your mortal body, which by its very nature happens to have the passions of the first Adam; but that is not the Old Man rising every now and again from the dead to exercise his passions in you. I do not know where such a belief originated; yet it is commonly accepted as truth in the church and Kingdom people alike. Furthermore, this is without a shred of evidence, not one scripture exists to support it.

If you truly have an entity other than Christ dwelling in your house, then you have company, and if you have company, who is it? It is not the Old Man; therefore, you may have someone who once roamed in outer darkness, and by invitation, moved into your inner darkness. Such house-guests generally become very possessive and demanding. Call it Adam if you please; but the Bible calls them ⁽⁵⁾devils.

Dear friend, it is one or the other, the flesh (the mortal body and its passions) by which you are clothed, or it is a demon. If is a demon, it is then clothed by you. You become its vesture. Whichever is the case, I can tell you one thing, it is not Adam! He is dead! And that dead man cannot possess souls. He has no power or wit to do so. Therefore, cease from trying to call him back from the grave. Never attempt to commune with him again; for necromancy is not becoming of the living.

To be reminded, we know that "If any man be IN Christ, he is a NEW creation, OLD things are PASSED AWAY, behold ALL things are become NEW." If that is true, and it is, I would encourage all who read these words to forget about communing with that which by the Spirit Paul declared to be dead. Let us forever cease from necromancy.

Your habitual way of thinking may war against this by telling you a very contrary story; but don't give such misconceptions a place in your mind. They should never rob you of your position in Christ. If you are continually warring with the ghost of Adam, you will never know who you are in the reality of Christ. Dual personalities, double-mindedness, causes too much instability to walk circumspectly in the Kingdom.

We have heard it said, and at times with pride, by those who are supposed to be walking in the heavens, saying, "Nobody is perfect. We are all human. Furthermore, my short fuse comes from having a lot of Irish (which happens to be my own dead ancestry) flowing through my veins." Or "I am one quarter Indian, therefore, it is my natural tendency to have a hot temper. That's just the way I am. I was born with it. It's in my genes, and I can't help it." What a cop-out! Laying the blame on their natural heritage, or on simply being human, as if Adam is still alive.

If you are not perfect, then are you saying Christ is not perfect, of whom you are born and are one? You could accurately say that you are in a certain stage of growth, such as a green peach before the time of harvest. However, a peach is perfect throughout its entire existence. It is a perfect bud, bloom, green peach, and finally a ripe peach; but to unscripturally say you are a sinner saved by grace would be like the green peach saying, "Since I am not sweet, I am therefore, a lemon."

There is not one thing in the universe which is something different than what it is created to be. The new creation that you are can never be that which was once housed in your old frames no matter how convincing the outer shell of flesh may appear.

Brethren, once you are a new creation, old things have passed away. It doesn't matter that you are still clothed with the garments of that Old Man. Get real, that is not who you are, and your clothes have no dominion over you. Or do they? Are you a king in the Kingdom of God, or are you a slave to what you wear? You are a king, this I know, and you should not be calling your clothing a being, such as -- the Old Man.

I believe it is time for our identification to be with the living and not with that which God has pronounced dead. No true Son of God would think of having a seance or consult a spiritual medium to call up the dead. Then let us not do it with the Old Man of sin either, so the body of sin might be ⁽⁶⁾destroyed!

Moreover, let us be as Paul when he wrote: "Brethren...this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. Let us therefore, as many as be perfect, be thus minded: and if in any thing ye be otherwise minded, God shall reveal even this unto you" (Phil 3:13-15).

Are you perfect? Ah, you still don't know, for you don't feel perfect, do you? And truthfully, neither do I at times, especially not when my present physical state of being is considered, or when my attitude falls short of God's glory. And I know I leave a sour taste in the mouths of some of the saints of God; for that is the way of (perfect) green peaches.