Appreciation of these words and their real meaning will be greatly enriched, after we consider with understanding the real nature of our human existence according to the truth of scripture and not any man made imaginings, superstition, speculation or even blind faith. God does not ask us to believe on the basis of trust alone. He presents the facts of His life and purpose to us with intelligence and wisdom and true longsuffering. He asks the participation of our own thoughts, questions and feelings in a holy dialogue with Himself, all in the hope of revealing the deep and hidden things of His glorious Kingdom and power. To grasp the pure truth of immortality and experience its real hope, we must extract the true teaching of Scripture from superstition legend, false doctrines and fairy tales that seek to place us in imaginary heavens or realms of cosmic consciousness and advanced life forms. Immortality is NOT a fairytale. In fact, you might say immortality is a very NATURAL state of being. It is the exact opposite state to our condition right now, which is MORTAL and subject to degeneration and death. In essence if you could live without dying you would be immortal. However, the usage of this word in Scripture is associated every time, but twice, with INCORRUPTION. Thus, the Spirit is saying we must be without the ability to be corrupted before the reality of eternal life is realized. Before we can ascend the mountain of hope and transformation, we must like Christ descend into the hopeless state of Adamic existence. It is written:

Ephesians 4:9,"Now that he ascended, what is it but that he also descended first into the lower parts of the earth?"

THE STATE OF MORTALITY AND DEATH

What is death? The destructive power of non-existence. Death is an absolute and final end. Death is the opposite to life. It is no life. Death is not a transition to another life. Death is not life in another form. To be dead is to have NO life whatsoever of any kind at all - period. Death was the consequence of Adam's choice and God's plan. in the written account in Genesis, God's word to Adam can be understood more clearly this way. That in the day he ate of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. in that very day he would begin dying to die. To be completely and utterly dead would be the only fruit to this action. The WAGE of sin is death. To die is to expire or breathe out the last breath. To die is to cease to exist. Mortality is a condition that is subject to the dying process until dead.

Romans 5:14, "Nevertheless; DEATH reigned from Adam ..."

There are perhaps an infinite number of teachings from every quarter of the world that declare man's soul is an immortal substance. That at death the Soul goes back to its former state of existence while the body itself dies and corrupts. There are many variations of this idea too, too numerous to even begin explaining. The point is none of them are true. There is only the faintest glimmer of truth in any of these ideas of religion at all.

One of the reasons for so much speculation is because the unknown factor of death allows a great and wide gap for people to imagine just about anything. Among the many stories that circulate in our society today supposedly proving life after death is usually about someone who has either died in an accident or upon an operating table and they have left their bodies and some travel down a tunnel of light. Then returned back to their body when a voice spoke or they themselves seemed to have snapped back to life. Of course, this experience was only real to them and that's alright. However, the facts will one day show that at that time they were not fully dead at all. Whenever we are dying to the natural world, the spiritual world will reveal itself. But you still must be alive to know it in yourself.

Psalm 146:3-4, "Put not your trust in princes, nor in the son of man, in whom there is no help. (4) His breath goeth forth, he returneth to the earth; in that very day his thoughts perish."

Ecclesiastes 9:4-5, "..for a living dog is better than a dead lion. (5) For the living KNOW that they shall die: but the dead KNOW not anything..."

All humanity and every culture of mankind desires to know what lies beyond the grave. Were there to be some simple answer to these questions of existence, I am sure everyone would avail themselves of the knowledge. There is in fact practically nothing man would not do to either know what exists after death or simply know the secret of eternal life. I can only speak for myself but I can remember thinking deeply about this from the time I was a very young boy. I have personally always been somewhat perplexed by the creation and our existence and by death. To this day I am still questing the answers to the true meaning of life. The misunderstandings about this subject are created continuously in each age by the mix of superstitions with natural science and hopeful thinking. Death is an enemy. Death is the reason for all suffering that exists in our lives. The evidence of death is manifested in our daily lives and seen all around us in society as mistrust, rage, violence, murder, hate, jealousy and foolish sin. Death is behind the social and moral breakdowns that lead to further violence, bloodshed and the grief of many families. Death has always has been the issue behind the travail of God's servants. The shadow of death was often the means of processing their lives.

II Corinthians 1:9-11 "But we had the sentence of death IN ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God which raiseth the dead: Who delivered us from so great a death, and doth deliver: in whom we trust that he will yet deliver us..."

Psalm 23:4, "Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me."

Job 14:14, "If a man die, shall he live again? All the days of my appointed time (his life) will I wait till my change come."

Isaiah 38:18-19, "For the grave cannot praise thee, death can not celebrate thee.. (19) The living, the living, he shall praise thee..."

The death state is often described by the word SLEEP. This key word of the Spirit shall also open a door of escape as well.

Psalm 13:3, "Consider and hear me, O Lord my God: lighten mine eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death."

John 11:11, "...Our friend Lazarus sleepeth; but I go, that I may awake him out of sleep."

When the disciples of Jesus misunderstood what he meant concerning Lazarus, Jesus said unto them, "Lazarus is dead". (John 11:14).

St. Paul also in his epistles, revealed by the Spirit, shows that death, at best, can be likened to a sleep.

I Thessalonians 4:13, "But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are ASLEEP..."

I Thessalonians 4:15, "...even so them also which SLEEP in Jesus will God bring with him."

It is significant that every day in our natural life we demonstrate this dimension of death, by sleeping. In the morning we awake refreshed to a new day. So shall it be for those who have placed their trust in Christ Jesus. For a mighty word of awakening is upon us and generating power through our lives today.

BEHOLD! I SHOW YOU A MYSTERY:WE SHALL NOT ALL SLEEP.

Death has reigned since the beginning and multitudes have died and many will yet die, but WE SHALL NOT ALL SLEEP. This is a great mystery. We are being initiated into the sacred secret of life, it is the secret of the Living GOD. It is being revealed among those who have received Christ, the substance of all LIFE.

Psalm 25:14, "The secret of the Lord is with them that fear him..."

Revelation 7:2, 4,"And I saw another angel ascending from the east having the seal of the Living God...(4)) And I heard the number of them which were sealed..."

Ephesians 5:14, "Wherefore he saith, Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light."

We are being awakened out from sleep and death. This is the mystery of God Himself appearing in His saints. We shall be made different and take upon ourselves a new nature. It is written: I Corinthians 15:53, "This mortal MUST PUT ON IMMORTALITY..."

Then shall come to pass what is written:
I Corinthians 15:54, "Death is swallowed up in victory..."

Many are being drawn to this change. The trumpet of the seventh angel is sounding and will continue to sound until the word has accomplished its purpose. St.Paul taught that we are to seek for and put on immortality through the spiritual process of metamorphosis.

I Timothy 6:16, "Who only hath immortality, dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto..."

Romans 2:7, "...seek for glory and honour and immortality, eternal life:"

WE SHALL NOT ALL SLEEP, BUT WE SHALL ALL BE CHANGED.

IMMORTALITY IS THE PROMISED LAND. It is the actual state of being in Christ. His human form being made by the Word of God is exactly how our mortal nature is being transformed.

II Corinthians 5:2, 4, "For in this we groan...that mortality might be swallowed up of life."

II Corinthians 5:5, "Now he that hath wrought us for the selfsame thing is God, who also hath given unto us the earnest of the Spirit."

The earnest presence of the Spirit is the substance you receive and know that you have been purposed for immortality. If you have received the experience of the Spirit (Acts 19:2) within you, then you have been called to put on immortality. This process is ongoing and continuous until you gain the knowledge and the powers of Spirit within you and Christ's nature becomes manifested. This is metamorphosis, the transformation from Adam into Christ, from a living soul to a life-giving spirit, from weakness and dishonour to glory, honour and power, from DEATH TO LIFE." THIS MORTAL MUST PUT ON IMMORTALITY."

*For more information on this topic simply E-mail Peter Demetris at: pastorpeterd@comcast.net