In my years of ministry since 1957, the numbers of funerals that I have attended and conducted are relatively few. But unto this day I am bemused by the practice of the clergy in such matters. Sometimes, walking ahead of the casket, or standing at the grave site, the clergyman repeats how man was taken from the dust and unto dust he must return.

To me, the irony has always been the fact that to proceed with the funeral service and internment is to contradict what Jesus said, and to render it null and void. Perhaps we should only quote the first part of the verse that involved Lazarus with nothing for us to prove. A legitimate question is this: Do biblical truths apply to people living in their individual time frames?

As I have said time and again, in understanding the scriptures, we must determine who said what, when, to whom, and under what circumstances were they spoken. Let us consider the case of Job when he said naked I come out of my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return; the Lord gives and the Lord takes away. This must be the most conclusive statement that one can make, but Job had a good reason and here it is.

Let us walk back in time to Job’s own days and learn about the man himself. He knew nothing about Jesus being the resurrection. No man came by like Paul to teach him that this mortal shall put on immortality. Job did not even know that God had given Satan the run of the place, even to attacking Job’s own body. He saw his world crumbling around him, and those he loved so much are swallowed up in death in a matter of hours.

His only conclusion was that man born of a woman is of a few days, full of trouble. That is what he saw and understood from his vantage point. You and I can look at the same set of circumstances, and from our vantage point we can shout victory saying, "Greater is he that is within you, than he that is in the world. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.

We can even say that the gifts and calling of God are without repentance; meaning that the gifts and the callings that he has placed upon our shoulders will never be taken or recalled by the Lord. But although Job lived in a far off period of time before Calvary and before the Messiah walked the dusty roads from Nazareth to Galilee to Capernaum, Bethsaida and Jerusalem

It was as if God reached down his hand and moved the curtains aside just enough for Job to peek into thousands of years after his days are expired. What I love about Job’s declaration is that time had no consequence in the matter. While the years came and went by in their proper order, Job determined that the reality of him seeing his redeemer and God in his flesh stood far above and beyond the ravages of time.

I am not sure that Job knew the dynamics of which he spoke, because as a preacher, several times I made statements that I never knew before. Sometimes I remarked; "This is the first time I have made that statement and it sounds so good to me, I must have a second take."

It should no longer apply to you either, if you are in Christ and is indeed, a new creation. It is true that Job never offended in his words or in his faith in God; but as a man, he spoke what he felt and how he understood it, without setting it forth as some sort of divine revelation. His ideas of death and the state of the dead are classic examples.

But the sad part of this commentary is that his reaction to the news that he had just lost his sons and daughters has become the standard and key word at funerals. So does the words of Christ spoken against death; and it is amazing that what was spoken against death, is now being celebrated as being "for death" or at least, accepting it as inevitable for the Church of the living God.

We learn from Acts 7: 38 that Israel of old was called "the church in the wilderness". It is also proven that Israel being called a peculiar people, a holy nation, a royal priesthood, was only a type of God’s people today, and is the status of every true member of the collective body of Christ.

So based upon these truths, it is a mistake to ascribe the Old Testament promises made to Israel, as solely belonging to the Jewish people mainly in Palestine but including Jews around the world. For instance, our mother is Jerusalem that is from above, and the same passage of scripture explained that Jerusalem from below is in bondage with her children. See Galatians 4:25, 26.

Thus, we are highlighting a clarion call made by an ancient prophet for God’s people [Zion] to awake and put on her strength, and to shake herself from the dust, to arise and sit down; that is to sit down in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. We are to put on our beautiful garments, called the garments of salvation by the same prophet in another place.

We are told that as a man thinks in his heart, so is he. But to be practical about life’s issues, simply consider this; whether it is health, wealth, prosperity, and living the good life, or even in failing miserably to become someone of value and great aspirations, all of the above is based upon our thoughts or our mindset. We emphasized the fact in an earlier chapter that we can only be transformed by the renewing of the mind.

By the same token, to be conformed to the image of the "Pattern Son" also requires a change of our mindset. Millions of books have been sold such as those written by Norman Vincent Peale and Doctor Robert Schuler pastor of the Glass Cathedral in Orange County, California. They and many inspirational speakers have been featured on television programs and their work is usually featured in the new media.

But there is an element of truth in that simple statement, because God told Abraham that all the land that he saw God would give it to him. As a general rule all that your eyes can see and your mind can accept can become reality. To be realistic, some things take longer than others. Some things require a more vigorous process than others; but as one politician said at a political convention, "Keep hope alive!"

We are saved by hope for what we hope for, we patiently wait for it. In no simple term Israel (The Church) was called to awake and put on her strength, and her beautiful garments. The poignant message to Jerusalem was for her to shake herself from the dust, for her to arise and sit down, and to loose herself from the bands of her neck.

It is clear and plain as the nose on your face that mankind has been held captive in shackles by our covenant with death. Seemingly, the message of death continues to permeate all those sitting in the pews every Sunday, and those tuning in to watch their favorite televangelists. Sometimes the message is about healing [but never living] and about prosperity.

I have heard preachers say; "I could die before this message is over" and to that statement I silently ask, "If that is the case, why bother to begin the sermon?" Slice the pie any way you wish, but the truth is always about us dying. The prophet was emphatic that we should shake ourselves from the dust.

This scripture leaves nothing for death to feast upon. It offers a total realm of transformation that is a part of the inheritance of God’s redeemed people. As lethargy and apostasy slowly crept into the early church, man’s sleaziness and his willingness to gravitate to ungodly concepts and practices, Jesus looked upon a wayward church and sent her a stark message that called for quick and effective changes if she is to survive.

This again, can be likened to what we usually call "body felt salvation" meaning that we wear the divine light upon us much like an armor hanging from the shoulders of a soldier. For a brief moment on a mountain side, the veil was drawn back, their eyes were opened and the disciples saw Christ in resplendent glory—a glory that he always possessed, but was obscured to the naked eye. It is no wonder that as he walked the streets, spirits called out saying, "we know thee whom thou art."

Let us take another look at the glorious morning on the day of Pentecost when at least one hundred and twenty souls packed in the upper room had an unspeakable and unexplainable experience. Here again we will see the use of the word "upon."

It means that each person could see the cloven tongues in the form of literal fire. It was close enough to real fire, for Luke in his account to describe the phenomenon as fire.

Feel free to share these writings with others and please be reminded that all gifts to this ministry must be made payable to Royce Kennedy as required by the bank. The Spirit is life and light to us; and death cannot co-exist with life! They are totally incompatible and contrary one to the other. The Spirit of life in Christ has made free from the law of sin and death! Hallelujah