Life and Immortality: Man’s Condition in Death
LIFE AND IMMORTALITY. No. 8.
Man's Condition in Death.
ALL life is from God. Life unperverted is eternal. Its perversion is sin; and "sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death." "All have sinned and come short of the glory of God." All men are, therefore, doomed to death; for "it is appointed unto men once to die." But many who die, die in the righteousness of God by faith in Jesus Christ. Many others—for "broad is the road"—die in their sins, hating God, and loving only self. Does the former class go direct to their reward in heaven? Does the latter go direct to punishment, or misery? Is there a middle state, called "purgatory," for some? Or do all lie in silent, unconscious sleep till the resurrection? These are important, vital questions, which can be settled only by the Word of God. That man is alive when he is dead, that he is even more conscious and intelligent than when he walked the earth, are the foundation-stones of "Modern Spiritualism" (more properly Spiritism), and of the doctrines of transmigration of souls, purgatory, eternal misery, saint-worship, hero-worship, and of every heathen polytheism in the world. The question can not be decided by science, which rests upon demonstration. It is a question of simple faith in the Word of God and the reasonableness of His whole plan concerning man. It is also the testimony of our own normal senses. We see our neighbor about us in the full bloom of health. We see old age creep upon him. We note the failure of his physical and mental powers. He reaches his second childhood. He becomes so feeble that he seeks his last bed. He lies down, and dies. Friends and neighbors sympathize; sons and daughters mourn; and a loved companion, with grief beyond expression, bows her trembling form at the bedside of death. Through all the years of life he has been wont to respond quickly to her call, but now she calls in vain. The mute lips give no response, the eye returns no answering glance, the fixed features no sign of consciousness; he is dead, and, so far as human power is concerned, dead forevermore. Now did not the real man die? Was it not the real man that the Lord addressed when He said, "Dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return"? Was it not the real man that sinned? Or did the poor flesh alone meet the result of sin, while the real man entered into a higher state of existence? According to the Scripture, man, the whole man, died. Now the doctrine that man lives and is conscious when he is dead, is diametrically opposed to three great Bible facts—if the doctrine be true, making them of none effect. These are, (1) the judgment, (2) the resurrection, (3) the second coming of Christ. 1. The Judgment.—The Scriptures teach that in the future there will be a general judgment, when the cases of all who have ever lived, with the influence they have exerted during all time, will be brought before the great Judge of all. Here are a few plain texts upon this point:— "For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil." Eccl. 12:14. "For we must all appear before the judgment-seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad." 2 Cor. 5:10. "But why dost thou judge thy brother? . . . for we shall all stand before the judgment-seat of Christ. . . . Every one of us shall give account of himself to God." Rom. 14:10-12. Furthermore, this judgment will take place at a certain time, a definite season, in connection with Christ's second coming, as the following passages will clearly show:— "Because He hath appointed a day, in the which He will judge the world in righteousness by that Man whom He hath ordained, whereof He hath given assurance unto all men, in that He hath raised Him from the dead." Acts 17:31. "God shall judge the righteous and the wicked; for there is a time there for every purpose and every work." Eccl. 3:17. "Who shall judge the quick and the dead at His appearing and His kingdom." 2 Tim. 4:1. "Our God shall come, and shall not keep silence; a fire shall devour before Him, and it shall be very tempestuous round about Him. He shall call to the heavens from above, and to the earth, that He may judge His people." Ps. 50:3, 4. "For He cometh to judge the earth; He shall judge the world with righteousness, and the people with His truth." Ps. 96:13. These and many other scriptures clearly show that the judgment of all is reserved till the last, and will not be executed till Christ shall come again. But if the righteous and sinner go to their reward at death, then are they judged already, and of what use is the great judgment day? Or is it possible that some have been cast into hell who should have gone to heaven, and vice versa, and that the judgment is necessary to determine this? God does not work in such haphazard way. Nothing that He does now makes unnecessary the judgment. The judgment will determine the destiny of all, and will vindicate God's character. 2. The Resurrection.—The future life of him who dies is, in the Bible, made to depend upon the resurrection; and the resurrection does not take place until the last day. In fact, there is no hope held out even for the righteous who die, save in the resurrection of Christ Jesus, and the resurrection of those who believe through Him when He comes. Here are some of the texts which teach this:7 "But we would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them that are fallen asleep; that ye sorrow not, even as the rest, which have no hope. . . . 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. . . . Wherefore comfort one another with these words." 1 Thess. 4:13-18. See, also, R.V. "For there is hope of a tree, if it be cut down, that it will sprout again, and that the tender branch thereof will not cease. Tho the root thereof wax old in the earth, and the stock thereof die in the ground; yet through the scent of water it will bud, and bring forth boughs like a plant. But man dieth, and wasteth away, yea, man giveth up the ghost, and where is he? As the waters fail from the sea, and the flood decayeth and drieth up; so man lieth down, and riseth not; till the heavens be no more, they shall not awake, nor be raised out of their sleep. O that Thou wouldest hide me in the grave, that Thou wouldest keep me secret, until Thy wrath be past, that Thou wouldest appoint me a set time, and remember me! If a man die, shall he live again? all the days of my appointed time will I wait, till my change come. Thou shalt call, and I will answer Thee: Thou wilt have a desire to the work of Thine hands." Job 14:7-15. "But if there be no resurrection of the dead, then is Christ not risen; and if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain. . . . For if the dead rise not, then is not Christ raised. . . . Then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished." 1 Cor. 15:13-18. But all of this stress laid upon the resurrection is out of place if the real man does not die but consciously lives on, despite the dissolution of the body. The old Idumean patriarch, with whom God talked, made a great mistake in comforting himself with the hope of God's call from the grave. David, through whose inspired utterances God has comforted the world, was foolish to look forward to the time of satisfaction when he should awake with Christ's likeness (Ps. 17:15; Phil. 3:21), if he went to his reward at death. And if he went to his reward at death, Peter was mistaken when he said one thousand years later, Spirit-filled tho he was, "David is not ascended into the heavens." Acts 2:34. And Paul was mistaken in declaring that if there was no resurrection from the dead, those fallen asleep in Christ were perished. The hope of the dead—the Bible hope, the only hope—is the resurrection through Christ Jesus. 3. The Second Coming of Christ.—The hope of the world culminates in the second coming of Christ. It is "the blessed hope." It is the time when Christ takes His own kingdom, raises the righteous dead, changes to immortality the righteous living, and rewards the good of all the ages. Listen to a few of the many inspired utterances of patriarch, prophet, apostle, and Divine Teacher:— "For I know that my Redeemer liveth, and that He shall stand at the latter day upon the earth; and tho after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God; whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and not a stranger." Job 19:25-27, margin. "Our God shall come. . . . And the heavens shall declare His righteousness; for God is judge Himself." Ps. 50:3-6. "And it shall be said in that day, Lo, this is our God; we have waited for Him, and He will save us; this is the Lord; we have waited for Him, we will be glad and rejoice in His salvation." Isa. 25:9. "For the Son of man shall come in the glory of His Father with His angels; and then He shall reward every man according to His works." Matt. 16:27. "When the Son of man shall come in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then shall He sit upon the throne of His glory." See Matt. 25:31-46. "We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump; for the trumpet shall sound [1 Thess. 4:13-16, see above], and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. . . . Then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?" 1 Cor. 15:51-55. "Behold, He cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see Him." Rev. 1:7. "And, behold, I come quickly; and My reward is with Me, to give every man according as his work shall be." Rev. 22:12. And this coming Paul tells us is "the blessed hope." Titus 2:13. But all these great facts and precious assurances are made of none effect by the theory of the conscious state of the dead and that man goes to his reward at death. If this theory be true, of what use is the judgment of which God warns us? If this theory be true, of what use the resurrection, which the apostle presents before those who had lost friends, as the ground of true comfort and hope? If men are rewarded at death and enter a higher life than they enjoyed in the body, why the resurrection and a renewed body? If men receive their reward when they die, of what use is the second coming of our Lord, of which coming patriarchs and prophets and saints in all ages have sung? But the judgment, the resurrection, the glorious coming of Christ, with its eternal rewards of merit, are facts, and the natural inherent immortality of man is among the falsehoods and spurious counterfeits of Satan, even tho believed by good men. The positive Biblical testimony of the condition of man in death we will leave till another number.