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Christ has risen, that David can at last sit at the right hand of God.
Paul declares: “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
Corinthians 15:16-18.] If for four thousand years the righteous had gone directly to Heaven at death, how could they be said to perish,
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even though there should never be a resurrection?
When about to leave his disciples, Jesus did not tell them that
they would soon come to him. “I go to prepare a place for you,” he
said. “And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and
receive you unto myself.” [John 14:2, 3.] And Paul tells us, further, that “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.” And he adds,
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“Comfort one another with these words.” [1 Thessalonians 4:16-18.]
How wide the contrast between these words of comfort and those
of the minister previously quoted. The latter consoled the bereaved
friends with the assurance, that, however sinful the dead might have
been, he was received among the angels as soon as he breathed out
his life here. Paul points his brethren to the future coming of the
Lord, when the fetters of the tomb shall be broken, and the “dead in
Christ” shall be raised to eternal life.
Before any can enter the mansions of the blest, their cases must
be investigated, and their characters and their deeds must pass in
review before God. All are to be judged according to the things
written in the books, and to be rewarded as their works have been.
This Judgment does not take place at death. Mark the words of Paul:
“He hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in
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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.] Here the apostle plainly stated that a specified time, then future, had been fixed upon for the Judgment of the world.
Jude refers to the same period: “The angels which kept not
their first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in
everlasting chains under darkness unto the Judgment of the great
day.” And again he quotes the words of Enoch: “Behold, the Lord
cometh with ten thousands of his saints, to execute judgment upon
all.” [Jude 6, 14, 15.] John declares that he “saw the dead, small and great, stand before God, and the books were opened;” “and the dead
were judged out of those things which were written in the books.”
[Revelation 20:12.]
But if the dead are already enjoying the bliss of Heaven or
writhing in the flames of hell, what need of a future Judgment?
The teachings of God’s word on these important points are neither
obscure nor contradictory; they may be understood by common
minds. But what candid mind can see either wisdom or justice in
the current theory? Will the righteous, after the investigation of their
cases at the Judgment, receive the commendation, “Well done, good
and faithful servant, enter thou into the joy of thy Lord,” when they
have been dwelling in his presence, perhaps for long ages? Are the
wicked summoned from the place of torment to receive the sentence
from the Judge of all the earth, “Depart, ye cursed, into everlasting
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fire”? Oh, solemn mockery! shameful impeachment of the wisdom
and justice of God!
Nowhere in the Sacred Scriptures is found the statement that
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the righteous go to their reward or the wicked to their punishment
at death. The patriarchs and prophets have left no such assurance.
Christ and his apostles have given no hint of it. The Bible clearly
teaches that the dead do not go immediately to Heaven. They are
represented as sleeping until the resurrection. In the very day that
the silver cord is loosed and the golden bowl broken, man’s thoughts
perish. They that go down to the grave are in silence. They know
no more of anything that is done under the sun. Blessed rest for the
weary righteous! Time, be it long or short, is but a moment to them.
They sleep, they are awakened by the trump of God to a glorious
immortality. As they are called forth from their deep slumber, they
begin to think just where they ceased. The last sensation was the
pang of death, the last thought that they were falling beneath the
power of the grave. When they arise from the tomb, their first glad
thought will be echoed in the triumphal shout, “O death, where is
thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?”
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Chapter 29—Spiritualism
The doctrine of natural immortality has prepared the way for
modern Spiritualism. If the dead are admitted to the presence of
God and holy angels, and privileged with knowledge far exceeding
what they before possessed, why should they not return to the earth
to enlighten and instruct the living? How can those who believe in
man’s consciousness in death reject what comes to them as divine
light communicated by glorified spirits? Here is a cha
as sacred, through which Satan works for the accomplishment of
his purposes. The fallen angels who do his bidding appear as mes-
sengers from the spirit world. While professing to bring the living
into communication with the dead, Satan exercises his bewitching
influence upon their minds.
He has power even to bring before men the appearance of their
departed friends. The counterfeit is perfect; the familiar look, the
words, the tone, are reproduced with marvelous distinctness. Many
are comforted with the assurance that their loved ones are enjoying
the bliss of Heaven; and without suspicion of danger, they give ear
to seducing spirits and doctrines of devils.
When they have been led to believe that the dead actually return
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to communicate with them, Satan causes those to appear who went
into the grave unprepared. They claim to be happy in Heaven,
and even to occupy exalted positions there; and thus the error is
widely taught, that no difference is made between the righteous
and the wicked. The pretended visitants from the world of spirits
sometimes utter cautions and warnings which prove to be correct.
Then, as confidence is gained, they present doctrines which directly
undermine faith in the Scriptures. With an appearance of deep
interest in the well-being of their friends on earth, they insinuate
the most dangerous errors. The fact that they state some truths, and