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Post by newstartnow on Oct 5, 2009 8:54:54 GMT -5
Can our dead relatives visit us in dreams? Are dead christians able to pray for the living?
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Post by LDM on Oct 5, 2009 19:16:25 GMT -5
Not according to the Scriptures.
There are familiar spirits which can visit people in dreams, but those are not the individuals themselves.
In the parable of Lazarus and the rich man, this possibility that God would send someone from the dead to visit the living is dismissed. The one we are given to listen to is Jesus Christ. We should not need another.
Hebrews 12:1 does tell us that the saints gone on before represent a "cloud of witnesses", but there is no indication that they are interacting with the living in this world nor that they pray for them.
In all things, we are directed to place our attention to Jesus Christ. I would say that whether they pray for us or not is almost of no significance. We are not told by God to seek their prayers or to seek interaction with the deceased at all. In fact, it is forbidden.
In I Corinthians 4:5, Paul tells us to judge nothing before the time. We will not know who made it to Heaven until we are there ourselves. I hear all the time from people who say that the deceased has visited them in dreams, letting them know that they are in Heaven. According to the Bible, these are false and familiar spirits.
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Post by jesusservant on Oct 8, 2009 5:15:44 GMT -5
Ok am confused about an issue, so when we die, where do our souls go? Heaven and hell do exist but is anyone there yet bcos ive heard of ppl who have been to hell and others who've had visions of being in heaven. So am abit confused cos wen someone dies, we say they're in heaven looking down upon us but if they havent been judged yet, how can they be in heaven and ive also heard about the abyss for the ones who didnt accept Christ which is a softer version of hell. LDM would u know about this? Oh n also ive mentioned the non-believers and Christians but what bout the ones who never heard about Christ while on earth, i know there's a period they'll have to choose but where r they now before that time?
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Post by LDM on Oct 9, 2009 6:49:08 GMT -5
Hi Jesus' Servant,
I cannot do your comments justice in the short amount of time I have as I am going away for a few days. But I will respond upon my return next week if no one else does do in the meantime.
God Bless!
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Post by LDM on Oct 9, 2009 14:13:55 GMT -5
OK Jesus' Servant, I have a moment where I am checking in here. I still promise to review and answer more fully when I get back home on Monday.
For now, remember that time is something God created. He is above and outside of time. So, while we have to wait for things to unfold within time and space - and we often see things in that light 0 it is not the same for God. He is in the past, present, and future all at once.
Paul said that to be absent from the Body is to be present with the Lord (II Corinthians 5:8). So, there does not seem to be any "waiting" or delay. Again, I think this is because God is not subject to time. Time is a convention given for us, not Him.
Also, consider the following:
"And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment" Hebrews 9:27
Again, no indication of any intermediary step. We die, then we are judged.
I also don't know about any softer version of Hell. Can you give more info on that?
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Post by LDM on Oct 12, 2009 7:46:20 GMT -5
I believe that when you die, your soul goes where it is supposed to, either to Heaven or Hell.
The short of it is that God is God. We may not have all the answers or know how it is all done, but I believe His Word when He says that man is without excuse. No person leaves this earth without having had an opportunity to know God and be reconciled unto Him.
I don't know what you mean about a "period where they will have to choose." I believe that period is in fact the time that they are alive in this earth. This is when we make our choices. After this life is over, we are judged based on those choices. I do not believe the Scriptures support a view that we are given one more chance to choose after death.
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Post by jesusservant on Oct 13, 2009 4:52:17 GMT -5
ok i think the abyss is just another word for hell in some other versions of the bible but there's also this thing about purgatory which am also not sure of but i dont think protestants agree with the notion of a place where you can be forgiven after death through purification. Am not going by scripture on this but to me, it seems there's people out there, say in the bush or just humans who've never heard Jesus Christ and salvation. Isn't the 144,000 who'll be chosen by God be there to proclaim the "eternal gospel" to every nation, tribe, language and people on Earth?
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Post by LDM on Oct 13, 2009 6:41:35 GMT -5
Yes, some translations call Hell the abyss. I didn't know if you were referencing something outside of Hell.
I wouldn't get tied up in what Protestants or Catholics believe. God has given us His word as a standard of truth through which we can see what is right or wrong doctrinally. There is no Scriptural support for the idea of purgatory...not even in the Apocrypha books that are included in the RCC bible. It is purely a tradition of man.
More specifically, it is a means by which the RCC could collect money from the people. The RCC claims that by paying them money for prayers, you can shorten your deceased loved one's time in purgatory.
I try not to worry about things over which I have no responsibility. If He says in His word that man is without excuse in knowing Him, then I take it that man is without excuse. Consider also the following:
"(For not the hearers of the law are just before God, but the doers of the law shall be justified. For when the Gentiles, which have not the law, do by nature the things contained in the law, these, having not the law, are a law unto themselves: Which shew the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts the mean while accusing or else excusing one another;)" Romans 2:13-15
God is love and He is more than fair. It is His desire for all to be saved. Once we know the character of God, we can trust Him; and that also means trusting how He handles situations which we may not understand.
The Gospel has been preached throughout the known world since Jesus gave His disciples the Great Commission. I believe the 144,000 are those chosen out of the physical loins of the nation of Israel to minister to the Jews who will be converted to Jesus Christ during last part of the tribulation. Once God has dealt with the Christian church, He turns his attention back ti Israel to deal with the Jews. It is not that people will not be able to hear about Jesus until that time.
Our focus now as Christians is to also do likewise. To live for Him by letting Him live through us so that we can be a witness in word and deed.
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