Intense Ministries Articles
Death by C.J. Wells, M.D.
March 2000
We are a society of people who have been deceived into morbid ideas regarding death. Our funerals are essentially pagan and we are being sold a bill of goods depicting our last rites as costly necessities. Man is in reality a tripartite being -- a body, a soul and a spirit. The body serves as a house for the soul and spirit. The body is only temporary in its earth forms and at the resurrection it becomes glorified or eternal with God�s presence.
We have magnified the earthly body above its intended function and have not given enough thought to our heavenly body and home. The soul is comprised of the mind, will, emotions and personality. The spirit is the main guiding force within us. When we are born again, the Holy Spirit then comes into us to direct our lives. The Holy Spirit desires to engineer major changes within us so He can be in control and not our spirit. In fact, we are told via Scriptures that we are to seek to die unto ourselves. This is a concept that many of us have taken nonchalantly. In our busy world we have allowed urgent things to take us over not leaving time for the things of God.
I have been a very organized and goal-oriented person all of my 67 years. These characteristics have been very dominant in my schooling, boy scouting activities, family, church and medical practice. When I experienced the baptism in the Holy Spirit in 1975, there was a great upheaval and change in my life to say the least. I had received a new capacity to love and to understand the meaning of life. The Bible came alive with new meaning and God�s presence was very real to me with power and insight into spiritual things.
Among other things, two stumbling blocks remained in my life -- self love and self will! In 1997 I was found to be in the terminal stage of multiple myeloma, a cancer involving the plasma cells of my bone marrow. In 1998 I had to terminate my practice of medicine after 41 years. Twelve bones had been broken and I had lost over five inches in height. My thoughts were turned toward death and eternal things. My oncologist had told me that I had no more than eight months to live.
I realized that death of the body is the most perfect healing for a Christian. It is a great comfort to know that to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. Many healing verses were located, studied and spoken daily. After three near-death experiences, the course of the cancer was turned around by the power of God.
The message of total surrender to God finally got through to me. This message is summarized in Galatians 2:20, �I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me, and delivered Himself up for me.
I am now convinced that the only way to a normal Christian life is to die to self and allow the Holy Spirit to guide me in God�s way. He has ordained the course of our lives and the work that we should do even before the foundation of the world was laid. Since Adam and Eve ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, we have set our own goals and determined our own way in this world. We have fallen into the trap of humanism and materialism.
The way out of this wrongful life is to repent and really allow God to show us the way He has predetermined for us. Total commitment to Jesus Christ is a process of allowing Him to reveal to us what needs to be changed in our lives and allow Him to do it! Many good things are done by Christians in the name of Jesus that are really hindrances to the move of the Kingdom of God on earth.
We must commit our way to Him and hide ourselves in Jesus, as we become more and more like Him. Physical death moves us immediately into Him. Spiritual death to self is a slower process, and it is needful to give up self-will and walk in the abundant life He has provided for us.
He is teaching me that it is good for me that I have been afflicted that I may learn His statutes (Ps 119:71). His laws and His ways are so fulfilling, and we miss the good part if we do not hide ourselves in Him. We often allow the desire for money or things, the search for power or the quest for prestige to rob us of the better part of God�s best for us. Pride frequently blocks our reception to the intimate, hidden secrets of the Father. He is patiently waiting for us to come to the end of our searching here on earth and to look to heaven where our true citizenship lies. Let us all start now to reap the benefits of a life hidden in Him. The short-term goals of this world are so temporary compared to eternity. Take inventory of yourself, put away pride and receive the peace that comes only when you experience death to your former ways and goals.
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Last updated: Sunday, December 03, 2000 2:18:26 PM by AWS
