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Where Are The Dead?

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Post  walkinginJesus Wed 20 Aug 2008, 8:15 pm

"Men and brethren, let me freely speak to you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his sepulchre is with us unto this day. For David is not ascended into the heavens." (Acts 2:29, 34)

"And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man." -- John 3:13
These false doctrines have prevailed amongst the heathen for many, many centuries, but they gained an ascendancy in the church of Christ during the "dark ages" and had much to do with producing the darkness thereof. If our forefathers had believed God's testimony, "Thou shalt surely die" (Gen. 2:17), there would have been no room for the introduction of prayers for the dead, masses for their sins, frightful thoughts respecting their torture. The scriptures agree from first to last that "the dead know not anything" (Ecc. 9:5) and that "His sons come to honour, and he knoweth it not; and they are brought low, but he perceiveth it not of them" (Job 14:21). It is the scriptures that tell us where the dead are and their condition; that they are experiencing neither joy nor sorrow, pleasure nor suffering; that they will have no knowledge of anything done under the sun until their awakening in the resurrection. Remember the wise man's words, "Do with thy might what thy hand findeth to do, for there is neither wisdom nor knowledge nor device in (sheol) the grave, whither thou goest." (Ecc. 9:10) Both in the Old Testament and in the New Testament it is written of both the good and the bad that they fell asleep in death. The apostle speaks of those who "sleep in Jesus," (1 Thes. 4:14) and of those who have "fallen asleep in Christ" (1 Cor. 15:18) who, he declares, are perished, if there be no resurrection of the dead. Could they perish in heaven or in purgatory or in a hell of torment? Assuredly no one so teaches. They are already in a perished condition in the tomb; and the perishing would be absolute, complete, unless a resurrection be provided for their deliverance from the power of death. Hence we read, "God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life."

In a word, then, the Bible teaching is that man was made superior to all the brute creation -- in the image and likeness of his Creator; that he possessed life in a perfect degree in Eden and might have retained it by full obedience. But in his trial, his testing, he failed and came under the death sentence. "In the day that thou eatest thereof, dying thou shalt die." (Gen. 2:17) There the dying began, which, after nine hundred and thirty years, brought father Adam to the tomb and involved all of his children in his weaknesses and death sentence. He died in the very day, which the Apostle Peter explains was not a twenty-four hour day but a thousand-year day, saying, "One day is with the Lord as a thousand years." (2 Peter 3:8) During six of these great days the death sentence has brought man down in some respects to the level of the brute and left him without hope of future life, except as God might take compassion upon him and bring him some relief. This was hinted at in the statement that the seed of the woman should bruise the serpent's head. It was yet further elaborated to Abraham saying, "In thee and in thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed." -- Gen. 28:14.
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Post  thirsty Thu 21 Aug 2008, 2:20 pm

Many people grow up with this misconception. It probably stems from parents seeking an easy way to explain the afterlife to children, but it is incorrect. [quote]For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him:
(Colossians 1:16)[quote]Tells us that Christ created the angels, and that He created them as angels. Elsewhere in the Bible distinctions are made between man and angels supporting their being separate distinct creations.
But ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels,
Heb 12:23 To the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect, (Hebrews 12:22,23)
Seems clearly to distinguish between "thousands and thousands of angels in joyful assembly" and "the spirits of righteous men made perfect."[quote]Know ye not that we shall judge angels? how much more things that pertain to this life? (1 Corinthians 6:3)Tells us there will be a time (in the afterlife) when man will judge the angels. It also seems that 1 Corinthians 13:1 makes a distinction between humans and angels.
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