WESHALLNOTALLSLEEP - Love of the Truth Bible Studies

Love of the Truth Bible Studies

Teaching the things pertaining to the Kingdom of God

We Shall Not All Sleep

“Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?” 1Cor. 15:51-55

When we speak of sleep, most people think of taking a sleep of rest for the body. 　We are told that our bodies do need at least eight hours of rest in sleep every night. 　　I like to take a nap when I come in from work in the afternoon, and if I rest for about a half hour or so, I get up feeling rested. 　But, the “sleep” that we refer to in our title for this publication is not the sleep that we take to rest these physical bodies. 　 The “sleep” referred to in the scripture is not only speaking concerning the cessation of our physical life here on earth, but has a far deeper meaning of being spiritually unresponsive to God Who is Spirit. 　

　　Now, as we consider the thought of death, we understand that when we were born into this body of flesh and blood, we entered into the world already dead! 　“Dead in trespasses and sins.” 　Eph. 2:1. 　It is only when the Lord “quickens” us by His Spirit that we are given life, or awakened and become spiritually responsive to God. 　　　 Let it be understood that what is generally called death, is but the end result of the dying process that we entered into when we were born into this mortal state of being. 　 Actually, we were already dead, but we thought we were alive! 　But the biological life that we had was permeated with the cursed disease called death, and eventually that disease took its toll on us and brought us to the grave.

　　This is what our Heavenly Father does when He “quickens” us by His Spirit. 　　Our born-again experience is when God regenerates our spirit, and then as the regeneration process continues He raises us up into a whole New Creation, or state of being if you will. 　That new state of being is IN Christ Jesus! 　 We who were once dead in trespasses and sins, He quickened us, or “Raised us up together, and made us to sit together in heavenly places IN Christ Jesus.” 　Eph. 2:6.

Our being ‘raised up together with Christ Jesus, and being made to sit together with Him’ is NOT something that is suppose to take place during some future time, for this has already taken place within us when God “quickened” us out of trespasses and sins! 　　We were raised up out of the realm of 　the sleep of death, into the realm of eternal life and light in Christ Jesus. 　 Before that time, our spirit which is the “deep” of our being, was then filled with darkness, and God said; “Let there be Light! 　And there was Light.” 　　The Light of God is in the Person of His Son, Jesus Christ the Word of God… 　“the Light of the world.” 　At that time we became one in God’s New Creation IN Christ Jesus!

We were translated, transferred, or transported if you will, out of the kingdom of darkness into the Kingdom of Light. Colossians 1:13. We were delivered from the “power of darkness,” or the authority of darkness into the power, and authority of the Kingdom of Light. We were delivered from that whole realm which is opposed and opposite of Light. That kingdom of death, which is opposite of the Kingdom of Life.

There was a time when the power and authority of death operated within us because of sin, but NOW God has delivered us from (out of) that realm. NOW we abide in the Kingdom of Light, the Kingdom of Life, and the power and authority that is working within us is His Life! Hallelujah!

When we were under the power and operation of death, we were continually de-generating under its influence, until ultimately we ceased to exist on this earthly plane of existence. Death became the end result, destroying us from, at least in the physical realm. But death reigns not only in this physical realm but also in the heavenly realms of our being as well. It is only when death is overcome in our heavenly realms that will it can be defeated in the physical realm, until it ultimately has no more power over us at all. And all realms of death was conquered for us in Christ Jesus! “But is now made manifest by the appearing of our Savior Jesus Christ, who hath abolished death, and hath brought life and immortality to light through the gospel:” 2 Tim. 1:10.

When Adam and Eve partook of the forbidden tree of the knowledge of good and evil, something happened within them. Death entered into their heavenly realms. Their spirit lost it’s living essence of the abiding Presence of the Light and Glory of God, and darkness now filled the deep of their being! Their “candle” had been extinguished, or put out. Their sin (disobedience) transfered them under the power and authority of darkness and death. That is the kingdom from which God delivered us when He translated us into the Kingdom of His dear Son!

We were once dead in trespasses and sins, the power of death worked its work within us. Ever part of our being resided in the realm of death; spirit, soul and body. The power of death worked in every fiber of our being, and that program of death worked toward the ultimate end in total destruction of our whole being. Since death started in the beginning in Adam and Eve from within their spirit, it also begin to work its way outwardly until it ultimately destroyed their body. When they disobeyed God, and sin entered into their being, their state of being became mortal and death ruled in their bodies. Before that time, their bodies was in a state of sinlessness and innocense. It was their sin (missing the mark) that caused them to die and enter into the realm, or state of mortality.

The victory that our Lord secured for us, was the victory of overcoming the power of death for the whole man, spirit, soul and body. Since death could not invade His spirit, nor His soul, nor His body, HE GAVE HIMSELF into the realm of death, that through death He might destroy him that had the power of death. Our precious Lord and Saviour gave His Life, no one took it from Him! His Holy and Pure Life was the Life of God. He was made a sin offering for us. If anyone could have killed Him, or taken His Life from Him, then surely God Himself could have been killed. But, rather than having His life taken from Him, He laid it down, He gave it into the realm of death! The whole realm of darkness and death was now permeated and filled up with the divine Light and Life of God! Oh Hallelujah!

What does that mean?! It means that through Him, the whole realm and region of death and darkness has forever been defeated! Light has overcame the darkness, Life has overcame death. He even teaches us to overcome evil with good, and that is exactly what He did! He overcame all the realms and dimensions of darkness and death by filling them up with His pure and holy Light and Life! Everything that once was programmed and destined to end in death has now been RE-programmed, even RE-generated with the power and authority of Christ’s Life unto holiness!

The power and authority that is at work in us today is the Christ Life, the power of God unto Life! Jesus Christ The Resurrection and The Life now resides within us in the realm of our reborn, regenerated spirit, and it is His Resurrection Life that is now working within us, working from the inside of us outward into our mortal body, until everything about us which is mortal shall be swallowed up into that which is immortal from within! Oh Hallelujah! Yes! A new program is at work in us! It is not going to start in us some day in the bye and bye, it has started in us NOW! The power of His resurrection Life is coming right out of you and I from within us in the Christ Who lives and abides there! Look for Him! Expect Him! For He is coming! He is even now making His appearing!

There are millions of people who are constantly looking outwardly, into the outward heavens hoping for the coming of the Lord, while all the time He is coming from within them! Their eyes and attention needs a re-focusing, a new perspective must come to them so that they can behold the Christ Who abides within them.

NO! We shall not ALL sleep, but we shall be “changed!” That last and final change (Grk: allasso, Strong’s # . 236 to change, to exchange one thing for another, to transform.), shall come as we find our “conversation (citizenship) is in heaven; from whence we also LOOK for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ: Who shall change (Grk: metaschematizo Strong’s # . 3345 to change the figure of, to transform), our vile (humiliated) body, that it may be fashioned like unto His glorious body, according to the working whereby He is able even to subdue all things unto (into) Himself.” Philippians 3:20-21. Yes! Our “looking” for Him is FROM heaven, from the realm of Spirit where our true citizenship is!

There is a new program written, a new schematic written within our being! It is being written in us by the abiding Presence of the Christ of God! He is that New Program, He is that New Schematic that is written within us. And it is His working whereby He is able even to subdue all things back into Himself! Oh, Hallelujah! That includes our whole being spirit, soul and body. We have been redeemed (purchased) from the curse of sin and death, He has redeemed us! His redemption begin in us when He took up residence within us in our spirit. He started His work of regeneration within us, and He will not stop until that work is completed.

No! we shall not all sleep. We shall not all succumb to the process of death which once worked in us, for Christ now lives within us. His work of redemption is going on in us in the realm of our soul (mind, will, emotions etc), until our soul is completely brought up out of the power and authority of sin and death and restored back into harmony and union with our regenerated spirit in the spirit of Christ! Our mind must be renewed! Transformed from the way and course of the world in which it has taken, and returned back into the way and path of Life! We are told to bring every thought into obedience to Christ, or the Christ mind that must be restored and operating in us! We are to cast down any imagination, and any thought that is opposed to the mind of Christ that is being formed within us. His mind is in us, and we are to recognize His mind and begin to function and operate in that mind. “Let this mind be in you!” When His mind is fully formed within us, and we begin to live out of that mind, instead of our wayward soulical (carnal) mind there is only one thing that is left, which will be the transformation of our bodies! That time is drawing nearer by the hour, even minute by minute, until in that final moment, in the twinkling of an eye (in the re-focusing of our eye), our change shall come! For He shall appear and we shall be “changed!”

When this change shall come, there will come forth such a glorious restoration ministry this world has never witnessed. For this change shall herald the coming of the Sons of God! The Melchesidek priesthood ministry shall have come to earth. The Feast of Tabernacles will begin for all of creation. The year of Jubilee will begin on the earth, and for all creation! A new world will come (Hebrews 6:5), in supernatural powers which defies all natural explanations, being manifested and witnessed through the many-membered Son of God.

It is with great expectation and anticipation that we await that moment! Our inner man of spirit within is growing stronger and stronger In Him, and the outer realm of the old man is growing weaker and weaker, and soon the outer realm shall be totally swallowed up into Him Who is able to subdue all things unto (into) Himself!

We are looking upward in spirit into His Face and we are beginning to see Him as He IS, and as we see Him as He IS, we are being “changed” into His own image from glory to glory. What a glorious Day (His Day) we are beholding. What a wonderful New World we are entering into in Him! For we are hearing “a great Voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle (habitation) of God is with men, and He shall dwell with them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself shall be with them, and be their God. And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.” Revelation 21:3-4.

Dale Luttrell

10-12-02

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