The Caucasian. (Shreveport, La.) 1900-192?, 1909-02-28
merely asked the opinions of men and
have not sc1le II tie Word Of the Lord.
WHAT SAY the SCRIPTURES RESPECT
ING THE DEAD?

WHAT SAY the SCRIPT RES RESPECT
| ING THE DEAD?
| Wlll surprise vuli, feel sure when
bring TO yoilr attention now the clear,
| plain, reasonable. Just. lo> ing and wise
| program of Our heavenly Father. Our
Lord Jesus said. Love your enemies.
bless them that curse YOU, do good
t" them that i.a.r YOU. and pray for
! them which dies, ilafully use you. -
! Matt 5:;i.} III thine enemy hunger,
feed him; if he thirst. give him drink -
| (Rom - "a. IN view Of this. how strange
| to think that he would torture his en-
enieS and that cternally; and not only SO,
but torture also those who are not
specially his encines-tLe ignorant, the
hcathcn-all who do not become saints
| under present adverse conditions.
In Eden it was God who declared
t" our first parents. "Ye shall surely
die. 1t was Satan who declared, 80 e
shall surely not die" Notice that the
heathens. as we'll as the Christians, have
accepted Satan's lie and correspondence
rejected Gods Truth Do they not all
agree with the serpent's statement, "Ie
shall not surely die" Do they not all
claim that the dead are alive-mucll
more alive than before they died? This,
dear friends, has been our common point
OF mistake. We have followed the wrong
teacher; the one of whom our Lord said,
He abode not in the TRUTH and that
he Is the father of lies-John S:44.
The Scriptures agree from first to
last that the dead know not anything
ttccl. go, and that their sons come to
honor ana they know it not: they come
to dlshcnor and they perceive it not OF
them. COB II p J 1t is the Scriptures
that tell lis where the dead are and their
condition: that they are neither expert
enclns JOY nor sorrow, pleasure nor suf-
ferlng: that they will have no knowledge
OF anything done under the sun until
their awakening in the Resurrection.
remind you of the wise mans words,
Do with thy might what thy hand
findeth to do. for there is neither wisdom
nor knowledge nor device in (sheoD the
grave. whittier thou goest." (Eccl.
9lO) | remind you that both in the Old
Testament and in the New Testament it
IS written of both the good and the bad
that they fall asleep in death. l remind
you that the Apostle speaks of those who
Sleep in Jesus and of those who have
"fallen asleep in Christ; who, he de-
clares. are persisted, if there be no resur-
rection of the dead. Could they perish in
heaven or IN PuFgatory or in a hell OF
torment? Assuredly no one so teaches.
They are already in a persisted condition
in the tomb; and the perishing would be
absolute, complete. unless q resurrection
be provided for their deliverance from
the power of death. Hence we read. God
50 loved the world that he gave his only
begotten Son, that whatsoever believeth
on him should not perish. but have
eternal life John 3:l6
DEATH. NOT TORMENT. TINE PENALTY.
Note well the mistake made in as
summg eternal torment the wages Of !
original sin. when the Scriptures ex-
plicitly declare that the Wages of sin is
death not eternal torment. from.
6:23) We search the Genesis account Of |
mans fall and the sentence imposed, but |
lind no suggestion Of a future punish
ment, but merely a death penalty. |
it the second time the Lord |
said, Dust thou art, and unto dust shalt |
thou return" Gen. 3l9) But he said |
not a word respecting devils, fire and
torment How, then, did the Adversary |
deceive our fathers during the dark
ages" with his errors, which the Apostle
styles doctrines of devils?" Note the |
act that none Of the prophecies mentions
my other than death penalty for sin |
Note that the New Testament likewise |
declares the same St. Paul. WAC wrote
more than one-half of the New Testa-
nent, and who assures us that he. did not |
shun to declare the whole counsel Of
God" acts 2O27). says not word about
ormcnt On the contrary. discussing |
his very matter of sin and its penalty. |
le SAYS, Wherefore, as by one man sin
entered into the world. and death by sin;
md so death passed upon all men, for
hat all have sinned" (Rom. 5:l2.) |
Note that it was not eternal torment that
passed upon one man nor upon all men,
gut death If some one suggests that
Heath would not be sufficient penalty
or sin. all we would need to do would be
% point him to the facts and thus prove
lis suggestions illogical. For the sin of |
Adam lost his paradisaic
eternal life and Divine fellow
ship, and instead got sickness. pain. sor-
-ow, death Additionally all of his pos
.erity, reasonably estimated 1T twenty |
millions. disinherited so far as |
The blessings are concerned. have in |
1erjted Weaknesses, mental, moral and |
and are. as the Apostle declares,
"A groaning creation. Rom S:22.
Reviewing the situation. and remem-
pering that all the sickness, sorrow, pain. |
1eath, mental and moral decrepitude,
result from father Adams transgression,
what sane man would say that the pen
altv has been insufficient and that justice |
could. does further demand that these
men shall, at death, be hurried to a hell
Of endless woe. trouble-tormented by |
demons to all eternity? Dear friends, the
person who thus reasons indicates to you
and to me that he either never had the
power to reason, or that he has lost itr
Our race would have been without hope
of future existence, just as agnosticism
claims, had it not been for Divine COM
passion and the work of redemption
Notice again why our Lord died for our
and see in that another evil
dence for the penalty. If the penalty
against us had been eternal torment, our
redemption from it would have cost our
Lord that price He would have been
obliged to suffer eternal torment, the just
al