The Limitless Power of God

[PASTOR AUSTIN A ADEWUNMI]

1. Anyone who has ever made an attempt to pray for the dead to be raised will be faced with many challenging questions on the possibility of such prayers coming to pass.

More questions will play up on your mind when you are praying for someone who had died for over four days or for several weeks and has been embalmed and put in a morgue at a funeral home awaiting burial to be raised to life by the power of God.

Can God raise the dead?

If God can raise the dead...can He raise the dead that has been embalmed and kept in a morgue for weeks?

The account of the raising of Lazarus from the dead establishes the fact that the dead that has died for four (4) days and has been embalmed can be raised by the Power of God.

Can God raise the dead that has died for weeks, months and years?

If He can is there a scripture in the Bible that can point to that fact?

I have asked myself these questions repeatedly and have had people ask me the same questions.

I ended up asking the Lord these same questions and here is a revelation He showed me in His Word to answer the question on our minds.

The Lord referred me to an account recorded in the Bible at calvary...when Jesus gave up the Ghost on the cross:

Matthew 27:50-53 (New American Standard Bible)

50 And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice, and yielded up His spirit.
51 And behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom; and the earth shook and the rocks were split.
52 The tombs were opened, and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised;
53 and coming out of the tombs after His resurrection they entered the holy city and appeared to many.

Matthew 27:50-53 (Amplified Bible)

50 And Jesus cried again with a loud voice and gave up His spirit.
51 And at once the curtain of the sanctuary of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom; the earth shook and the rocks were split.
52 The tombs were opened and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep in death were raised [to life];
53 And coming out of the tombs after His resurrection, they went into the holy city and appeared to many people.

Matthew 27:50-53 (The Message)

50 But Jesus, again crying out loudly, breathed his last.
51-53 At that moment, the Temple curtain was ripped in two, top to bottom. There was an earthquake, and rocks were split in pieces. What's more, tombs were opened up, and many bodies of believers asleep in their graves were raised. (After Jesus' resurrection, they left the tombs, entered the holy city, and appeared to many.)

In this account from several translations of the Bible, we note that as the Lord gave up the Ghost or His spirit and died, four significant things happened:

(a)the curtain in the temple was ripped in two, top to bottom
(b)There was an earthquake, and rocks were split in pieces
(c) Whats more, tombs were opened up, and many bodies of believers asleep (dead) in their graves were raised.
(d) (After Jesus' resurrection, they left the tombs, entered the holy city, and appeared to many.)

An event of interest is the opening of the tombs and the raising of the bodies of believers of the old testament from their graves who later entered Jerusalem after Jesus' resurrection on the third day and appeared to many people.

There is a truth we can miss here if we are in a hurry to read these scriptures.

Please note that these old testament believers were raised from the dead after Jesus died...on the first day ...immediately after He gave up the Ghost.

Evidently they did not enter the holy city (Jerusalem) immediately after they were raised from the dead until the third day after Jesus' resurrection.

They left their tombs, entered the holy city, and appeared to many on the third day.

These people have been raised from the dead and had stayed alive for three days until Jesus was resurrected before they entered Jerusalem and appeared to many people. Glory to God!

As I saw this revelation, the Lord asked me a very important question that is the key to answering the same questions I have asked myself.

His question to me was this:

"For How long were these old testament saints dead and buried before the power of God raised them from the dead?"

I did not have a specific answer to that question as regards to the exact number of years these people have died before being raised by God's power on the day that Jesus died.

However what is obvious is the fact that they must have died for several years and have been buried in their tombs before the power of God raised them up on that day. Alleluia.

They were not raised to immortality. They were raised as Lazarus was raised.

Lazarus must have died maybe years after Jesus had raised him from the dead.

I believe these old testament saints who were raised from the dead also died again after several days or even years after God's power had raised them up from the dead when Jesus gave up the Ghost.

It is a clear fact that they were raised up and remained alive for at least three days before they died again.

It was on the third day after they had been raised up from the dead...at the time of our Lord's resurrection that they entered Jerusalem and appeared to many people.

We do not know what became of these old testament saints after they entered Jerusalem and appeared to many people. The scripture is silent about what became of them.

I believe these people lived beyond three days and eventually died again.

Here is a point we should not miss: The same power of God that raised these old testament saints who had died for years and have been buried can raise anybody in our time that has died for 4 days or 4 months or any period of time. God's power is LIMITLESS in nature. Be blessed!