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XI.
Life Only In Christ
Chapter 112
:
The Intermediate State
1. By what figure does
the Bible represent death?
"But I would not have you to be
ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are
asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others
which have no hope." 1 Thess. 4:13. See also 1
Cor. 15:18,20; John 11:11-14.
NOTE.-In sound sleep one is wholly lost to
consciousness; time goes by unmeasured; and
the mental functions which are active during
consciousness are suspended for the time
being.
2. Where do the dead
sleep?
"And many of them that sleep in
the dust of the earth shall awake." Dan.
12:2. See also Eccl. 3:20; 9:10.
3. How long will they
sleep there?
"So man lieth down, and riseth not:
till the heavens be no more, they shall
not awake, nor be raised out of their sleep."
Job 14:12.
4. For what did Job say
he would wait after death?
"If a man die, shall he live again?
all the days of my appointed time will I wait,
till my change come." Verse 14.
5. Where did he say he
would wait?
"If I wait, the grave is mine
house: I have made my bed in the darkness."
Job 17:13.
6. While in this
condition, how much does one know about those he
has left behind?
"His sons come to honor, and he
knoweth it not; and they are brought low,
but he perceiveth it not of them." Job
14:21.
7. What becomes of
man's thoughts at death?
"His breath goeth forth, he returneth
to his earth; in that
very day his thoughts perish." Ps. 146:4.
8. Do the dead know
anything?
"For the living know that they shall
die: but the dead know not anything,
neither have they any more a reward; for the
memory of them is forgotten." Eccl. 9:5.
9. Do they take any
part in earthly things?
"Also their love, and their
hatred, and their envy, is now
perished; neither have they any more a portion
forever in anything that is done under the sun."
Verse 6.
NOTE.-If one continued in consciousness
after death, he would know of the promotion
or dishonor of his sons. But Job says he
does not know this. Not only so, but in
death one loses all the attributes of mind,-
love, hatred, envy, etc. Thus it is plain
that his thoughts have perished, and that he
can have nothing more to do with the things
of this world. But if, as taught and held by
some, man's powers of thought continue after
death, he lives; and if he lives, he
must be somewhere. Where is he? Is he in
heaven, or in hell? If he goes to either
place at death, what then is the need of a
future judgment, or of a resurrection, or of
the second coming of Christ? If the judgment
does not take place at death, but men go to
their reward at death, then their rewards
precede their awards, and there would arise
the possibility that some have at death gone
to the wrong place, and must needs be sent
to the other, after having been in bliss or
torment for ages, perhaps.
10. What does the
psalmist say about the dead praising God?
"The dead praise not the Lord,
neither any that go down into silence." Ps.
115:17.
11. How much does one
know of God when dead?
"For in death there is no
remembrance of Thee." Ps. 6:5.
NOTE.-There is not even a remembrance of
God. As already seen, the Bible everywhere
represents the dead as asleep. If
they were in heaven or in hell, would it be
fitting to represent them thus? Was Lazarus,
whom Jesus loved, in heaven when the Saviour
said, "Our friend Lazarus sleepeth"?
John 11:11. If so, calling him to life was
really robbing him of the bliss of heaven
that rightly belonged to him. The parable of
the rich man and Lazarus, recorded in Luke
16, was given to teach, not consciousness in
death, but that in the judgment riches will
avail nothing unless rightly and
beneficently used, and that poverty will not
keep one out of heaven.
12. But are not the
righteous dead in heaven?
"For David is not ascended into
the heavens." Acts 2:34.
13. What must take
place before the dead can praise God?
"Thy dead men shall live, together
with My dead body shall they arise. Awake and
sing, ye that dwell in dust: for thy dew is
as the dew of herbs, and the earth shall cast
out the dead." Isa. 26:19.
14. When did David say
he would be satisfied?
"As for me, I will behold Thy face in
righteousness: I shall be satisfied, when I
awake, with Thy likeness." Ps. 17:15.
15. Were there to be no
resurrection of the dead, what would be the
condition of those fallen asleep in Christ?
"For if the dead rise not, then is
not Christ raised: and if Christ be not raised,
your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins.
Then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ
are perished." 1 Cor. 15:16-18.
16. When is the
resurrection of the righteous to take place?
"For the Lord Himself shall
descend from heaven with a shout, with the
voice of the Archangel, and with the trump of
God: and the dead in Christ shall rise
first." 1 Thess. 4:16.
NOTES.-If, as stated in Eccl. 9:5, the dead
know not anything, then they have no
knowledge of the lapse of time. "Six
thousand years in the grave to a dead man is
no more than a wink of the eye to the
living." To them, consciousness, our only
means of measuring time, is gone; and it
will seem to them when they awake that
absolutely no time has elapsed. And herein
lies a most comforting thought in the Bible
doctrine of the sleep of the dead, that in
death there is no consciousness of the
passing of time. To those who sleep in
Jesus, their sleep, whether long or short,
whether one year, one thousand years or six
thousand years, will be but as if the moment
of sad parting were followed instantly by
the glad reunion in the presence of Jesus at
His glorious appearing and the resurrection
of the just.
It ought also to be a comforting thought to
those whose lives have been filled with
anxiety and grief for deceased loved ones
who persisted in sin, to know that they are
not now suffering in torments, but, with all
the rest of the dead are quietly sleeping in
their graves. Job 3:17.
Again, it would mar the felicity of one's
enjoyment in heaven could he look upon earth
and see his friends and relatives suffering
from persecution, want, cold, or hunger, or
sorrowing for the dead. God's way is
best,-that all sentient life, animation,
activity, thought, and consciousness should
cease at death, and that all should wait
till the resurrection for their future life
and eternal reward. See Heb. 11:31,40.
SLEEP on, beloved! sleep, and take thy rest;
Lay down thy head upon thy Saviour's breast.
We love thee well, but Jesus loves thee best-
Good night. |
