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The Dead

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Pacific Press Publishing Company · Mountain View, California · Apr 29, 1908

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 34, No. 18.

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The Dead.

By Arthur L. Manous

Concerning whom should we not be ignorant?
"I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning THEM WHICH ARE ASLEEP." 1 Thess. 4: 13.
When a man dies what becomes of his thoughts?
"In that very day his thoughts PERISH." See Ps. 146: 3, 4.
Do the dead have any memory or know anything?
"The dead know not anything, . . . for the memory of them is forgotten." See Eccl. 9: 5.
Can dead men love or hate?
"Their love, and their hatred, and their envy, is now PERISHED." Eccl. 9: 6.
Is there any knowledge in the grave?
"There is no work, nor device, nor KNOWLEDGE, nor wisdom, in the grave, whither thou goest." Eccl. 9: 10.
Can a man hope for the truth after death?
"The grave can not praise Thee, death can not celebrate Thee: they that go down into the pit can not hope for Thy TRUTH." Isa. 38: 18.
Who only shall praise the Lord and make known His truth?
"The LIVING, the LIVING, he shall praise Thee, as I do this day: the father to the children shall make known Thy truth." Isa. 38: 19.
Can any in the grave remember and give God thanks for anything?
"In death there is NO REMEMBRANCE OF THEE: in the grave who shall give Thee thanks?" Ps. 6: 5.
Do the dead praise the Lord?
"The dead praise NOT the Lord, neither any that go down into silence." Ps. 115: 17.
Do the righteous go to heaven at death?
"Men and brethren, let me freely speak unto you of the patriarch David, that he is both DEAD and BURIED, and his sepulcher is with us unto this day." "For David is NOT ascended into the heavens." See Acts 2: 29, 34.
When will the dead be awakened and "raised out of their sleep"?
"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.
Where do the dead wait "till the heavens be no more"?
"If I wait, the GRAVE is mine house: I have made my bed in the darkness. . . . Our rest together is in the dust." See Job 14: 13; 17: 13-16; 3: 11-19.
How long will the dead wait in the grave?
"All the days of my appointed time will I wait, TILL MY CHANGE COME." Job 14: 14.
When will the "change come" for all the righteous?
"We shall not all sleep [die], but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, AT THE LAST TRUMP: for the trumpet shall sound, and the [righteous] DEAD SHALL BE RAISED INCORRUPTIBLE, and we shall be changed." That is, we "that are Christ's AT HIS COMING." See 1 Cor. 15: 51-54, 23.
With what words should we "comfort one another" concerning the dead?
"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. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, EVEN SO them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with Him [from the grave, Heb. 13: 20; Rom. 8: 11]. For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent [precede, R. V.] them which are asleep. 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: then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. WHEREFORE COMFORT ONE ANOTHER WITH THESE WORDS." 1 Thess. 4: 13-18.
ARTHUR L. MANOUS.