2 Samuel 12:16,18-23: “David therefore besought God for the child; and David fasted, and went in, and lay all night upon the earth. And it came to pass on the seventh day, that the child died. And the servants of David feared to tell him that the child was dead: for they said, Behold, while the child was yet alive, we spake unto him, and he would not hearken unto our voice: how will he then vex himself, if we tell him that the child is dead? But when David saw that his servants whispered, David perceived that the child was dead: therefore David said unto his servants, Is the child dead? And they said, He is dead. Then David arose from the earth, and washed, and anointed himself, and changed his apparel, and came into the house of the Lord, and worshipped: then he came to his own house; and when he required, they set bread before him, and he did eat. Then said his servants unto him, What thing is this that thou hast done? thou didst fast and weep for the child, while it was alive; but when the child was dead, thou didst rise and eat bread. And he said, While the child was yet alive, I fasted and wept: for I said, Who can tell whether God will be gracious to me, that the child may live? But now he is dead, wherefore should I fast? can I bring him back again? I shall go to him, but he shall not return to me.”
This example of King David ceasing to petition God for the recovery of his child when he knew the child had died is not only an instance of common sense, but it also teaches us a clear Scriptural truth.
It is common sense because when someone dies then we know they aren’t going to get any better and the clear Scriptural truth is that after we die we go straight to heaven or hell, depending on whether we had placed our faith and trust in Christ for salvation and had our sins washed away.
David states of his child that “I shall go to him, but he shall not return to me”.
There was no question in the mind of the man who we are told was a man after God’s own heart that there was no value in praying for his son once he died.
Yet the Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby, or more aptly the Arch-apostate of Canterbury Justin Welby, stated brazenly on his facebook page that he was doing just that – offering prayers for the dead.
On Saturday, 4 April, the old Arch-apostate posted on Facebook the following: “Tonight I am praying for those who have died. Loving God, may they know the comfort of your presence.”
Such an act is nothing but a wretched Romanist superstition with absolutely no grounding in the canon of Holy Scripture.
There is no merit in prayers for the dead. If a person is saved when they die they go to heaven and, sadly, if they aren’t saved they are lost for all eternity in that awful place called hell.
This is spelled out clearly for us again by the Saviour, who, to put it mildly, knows an awful lot more about eternity than the Arch-apostate of Canterbury Justin Welby, in Luke 16.
Recounting the story of the rich man and Lazarus, Jesus tells us in Luke 16:22-26: “And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham’s bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried; And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame. But Abraham said, Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things: but now he is comforted, and thou art tormented. And beside all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed: so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot; neither can they pass to us, that would come from thence.”
The rich man woke up in hell when he died, he didn’t lie in a state of nothingness for a while, he didn’t go to purgatory as the Romish lies would say, he didn’t have a chance of getting from hell to heaven – “they which would pass from hence to you cannot, neither can they pass to us, that would come from thence”.
There is no benefit whatsoever in praying for the dead, nothing could save the rich man from his eternal destination.
Arch-apostate of Canterbury Justin Welby would do well to read these passages and appreciate the blasphemy of what he is doing, and then, in sorrow and distress, cry to God for mercy and for Him to save his soul from a lost eternity like that rich man.
The second part of Arch-apostate Justin Welby’s disgraceful comment on Facebook continues the blasphemy and takes the form of a prayer, when he says: “Loving God, may they know the comfort of your presence”.
As we have previously alluded to, those who have passed from this life into eternity cannot know the comfort of God’s presence unless they were saved when they died.
If they are in God’s presence then they are assured of much, much more than just comfort.
Psalm 16:11 tells us: “Thou wilt shew me the path of life: in thy presence is fulness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore.”
God’s presence gives us “fulness of joy”, or an abundance of joy, a complete and utter satisfaction and delight, indeed a joy that passes all earthly understanding is the reward of those who “love his appearing”.
We don’t need to pray that those who have left their mortal frames on earth and have “put on immortality” (1 Corinthians 15:53) would be comforted, we know they are in the presence of God, experiencing that “fulness of joy” and “pleasures for evermore”.
This is a wonderful assurance for the believer and for Arch-apostate of Canterbury Justin Welby to seek to denigrate the wonderful inheritance we have in Christ is nothing short of despicable.
Equally, it is vain and pointless to pray for those dead who have denied Christ in their life as they are in hell for evermore.
Arch-apostate of Canterbury Justin Welby says he is offering prayers for “those who have died”, he didn’t try to make any distinction, not that he should have been praying for anyone who was dead anyway.
An unsaved individual, we are told in Luke 16, is separated from the saints of God by a “great gulf”.
This gulf, we are told, is “fixed”, it cannot move, and furthermore, it is final – “neither can they pass to us, that would come from thence”.
There is no way back for the person who dies in their sins – their eternal destination is sealed, there are no second chances.
That is why, dear reader, it is so important that we are ready to die.
2 Corinthians 6:2 reminds us that “now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation”.
God tells us in Genesis 6:3 that “My spirit shall not always strive with man”.
If God is speaking to you, don’t ignore Him, He may never speak to you again.
When we die our fate is sealed and no amount of prayers from Justin Welby or any other allegedly Protestant apostate or any earnest but blinded Romanist will avail us anything.
Come to Christ today for salvation, repent of your sins, and spend all eternity in His presence, experiencing that wonderful “fulness of joy”.