"For the living know that they shall die: but the dead know not any thing, neither have they any more a reward; for the memory of them is forgotten." Eccl. 9:5 "His breath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth; in that very day his thoughts perish." Ps 146:4 "For in death there is no remembrance of thee: in the grave who shall give thee thanks?" Ps 6:5 "The dead praise not the LORD, neither any that go down into silence." Ps 115:17 "For the grave cannot praise thee, death can not celebrate thee: they that go down into the pit cannot hope for thy truth." Isa 38:18 "For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. 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 them which are asleep." 1 These 4:15-16 Jesus compares death to sleep. John 11:11-14
“God is love.” “He giveth His beloved sleep.” To them the long night of waiting until the morning of the resurrection is but a moment; and even to those who remain the time of waiting will not be long, for Jesus is coming soon to gather His loved ones home. As our beloved sister herself declared to those about her one Sabbath day during her sickness, “We shall all be home very soon now.”
Jesus is Coming soon to deliver the faithful that sleep in the grave from the grip of death.
{LS 449.3}
“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. 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 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. ” 1Thess 4:13-18
State of Dead Bible Texts
Life After Death by Earling Calkins
Martin Luther and William Tyndale on State of the Dead
The Other Side of Death by Carlyle Haynes
When a Man Dies by Carlyle B. Haynes
The State of the Dead by John Milton
The Mystery of the Resurrection & the Sated of the Dead by Vinnie Giambone
It is fondly supposed that heathen superstitions have disappeared before the civilization of the twentieth century. But the word of God and the stern testimony of facts declare that sorcery is practiced in this age as verily as in the days of the old-time magicians. The ancient system of magic is, in reality, the same as what is now known as modern spiritualism. Satan is finding access to thousands of minds by presenting himself under the guise of departed friends. The Scriptures declare that “the dead know not anything.” Ecclesiastes 9:5. Their thoughts, their love, their hatred, have perished. The dead do not hold communion with the living. But true to his early cunning, Satan employs this device in order to gain control of minds. {CCh 331.1}
Through spiritualism many of the sick, the bereaved, the curious, are communicating with evil spirits. All who venture to do this are on dangerous ground. The word of truth declares how God regards them. In ancient times He pronounced a stern judgment on a king who had sent for counsel to a heathen oracle: “Is it not because there is not a God in Israel, that ye go to inquire of Baal-zebub the god of Ekron? Now therefore thus saith the Lord, Thou shalt not come down from that bed on which thou art gone up, but shalt surely die.” 2 Kings 1:3, 4. The magicians of heathen times have their counterpart in the spiritualistic mediums, the clairvoyants, and the fortune-tellers of today. The mystic voices that spoke at Endor and at Ephesus are still by their lying words misleading the children of men. Could the veil be lifted from before our eyes, we should see evil angels employing all their arts to deceive and to destroy. Wherever an influence is exerted to cause men to forget God, there Satan is exercising his bewitching power. When men yield to his influence, ere they are aware the mind is bewildered and the soul polluted. The apostle’s admonition to the Ephesian church should be heeded by the people of God today: “Have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them.” Ephesians 5:11.592 {CCh 331.2}
PIONEER WRITINGS:
Here and Hereafter by Uriah Smith
Immortality and Eternal Life by M. L. Andreason
Is there Immortality in Sin and Suffering? by George Storrs
The Rich Man and Lazarus by J. N. Andrews
“It was on Sabbath day, February 13, 1915, that Mrs. White met with the accident that confined her to her couch thereafter and hastened her death. As she was entering her study from the hallway, about noon, she apparently tripped, and fell. Her niece, Miss May Walling, who for a time had been acting as her nurse, was close by in the hallway, and hastened to her assistance. As efforts to help her to her feet proved unavailing, Miss Walling raised her into a chair, drew the chair through the hallway into the bedroom, and finally got her onto the bed, and summoned a physician from the St. Helena Sanitarium. {LS 442.3}
A preliminary examination by Dr. G. E. Klingerman was followed by a more thorough examination by means of the X-ray, and this revealed unmistakably an intracapsular fracture of the left femur. It was of course impossible to determine when the break in the bone had taken place,—whether before the fall, thus causing Mrs. White to drop to the floor, or as the result of the fall. {LS 442.4}
“The restlessness of the next few days and nights was accompanied with very little pain. In fact, from the very first, the Lord mercifully spared His aged servant the severe pain that ordinarily comes with such injuries. The usual symptoms of shock, also, were absent. The respiration, the temperature, and the circulation were nearly normal. Dr. Klingerman, and Dr. B. F. Jones, his associate, did all that medical science could suggest to make their patient comfortable; but at her advanced age they could hold out but little prospect of ultimate recovery. {LS 443.1}
‘All through the weeks and months of her last sickness, Mrs. White was buoyed up by the same faith and hope and trust that had characterized her life experience in the days of her vigor. Her personal testimony was uniformly cheerful and her courage strong. She felt that her times were in the hand of God, and that His presence was with her continually. Not long after she was rendered helpless by the accident, she testified of her Saviour, “Jesus is my blessed Redeemer, and I love Him with my whole being.” And again: “I see light in His light. I have joy in His joy, and peace in His peace. I see mercy in His mercy, and love in His love.” To Miss Sara McEnterfer, for many years her secretary, she said, “If only I can see my Saviour face to face, I shall be fully satisfied.” {LS 443.2}
“In an interview with another she said: “My courage is grounded in my Saviour. My work is nearly ended. Looking over the past, I do not feel the least mite of despondency or discouragement. I feel so grateful that the Lord has withheld me from despair and discouragement, and that I can still hold the banner. I know Him whom I love, and in whom my soul trusteth.” {LS 443.3}
“Referring to the prospect of death, she declared: “I feel, the sooner the better; all the time that is how I feel—the sooner the better. I have not a discouraging thought, nor sadness…. I have nothing to complain of. Let the Lord take His way and do His work with me, so that I am refined and purified; and that is all I desire. I know my work is done; it is of no use to say anything else. I shall rejoice, when my time comes, that I am permitted to lie down to rest in peace. I have no desire that my life shall be prolonged.” {LS 444.1}
“Following a prayer by the one who was making these notes of her conversation, she prayed: {LS 444.2}
“Heavenly Father, I come to Thee, weak, like a broken reed, yet by the Holy Spirit’s vindication of righteousness and truth that shall prevail. I thank Thee, Lord, I thank Thee, and I will not draw away from anything that Thou wouldst give me to bear. Let Thy light, let Thy joy and grace, be upon me in my last hours, that I may glorify Thee, is my great desire; and this is all that I shall ask of Thee. Amen.” {LS 444.3}
“This humble, trustful prayer by one who long had been a chosen vessel in the Master’s service, was fully answered. Hers was the comfort that causes a child of the great Father of light and love to fear no evil, even while passing through the valley of the shadow of death. One Sabbath day, only a few short weeks before she breathed her last, she said to her son: {LS 444.4}
“I am very weak. I am sure that this is my last sickness. I am not worried at the thought of dying. I feel comforted all the time, that the Lord is near me. I am not anxious. The preciousness of the Saviour has been so plain to me. He has been a friend. He has kept me in sickness and in health. {LS 444.5}
“I do not worry about the work I have done. I have done the best I could. I do not think that I shall be lingering long. I do not expect much suffering. I am thankful that we have the comforts of life in time of sickness. Do not worry. I go only a little before the others.” {LS 445.1}
“The comfortable office room on the second story of Mrs. White’s home was the most favorable place for patient and nurses, and here it was that she lay the most of the time, surrounded by the familiar objects of the more active life to which she had so long been accustomed. The room was light and airy. In one corner a large bay window flooded a portion of the chamber with sunshine. Here stood her old writing chair. This was transformed into a reclining chair, into which she was lifted nearly every day after the first week or two of illness had passed by. The view from this sunny corner was pleasing and varied, and she greatly enjoyed the changing beauties of springtime and early summer. {LS 445.2}
“Close beside her chair, on a table, were kept several of the books she had written. These she would often handle and look over, seeming to delight in having them near. Like an affectionate mother with her children, so was she with these books during her last sickness. Several times, when visited, she was found holding two or three of them in her lap. “I appreciate these books as I never did before,” she at one time remarked. “They are truth, and they are righteousness, and they are an everlasting testimony that God is true.” She rejoiced in the thought that when she could no longer speak to the people, her books would speak for her. {LS 445.3}
“At times when her strength permitted, she was taken in a wheel chair to a sunny veranda on the upper floor. From this little balcony, embowered with beautiful climbing roses, the panorama of orchard and vineyard, of mountains and valleys, afforded continual pleasure. {LS 446.1}
“Again and again, during the earlier weeks of her illness, her voice was lifted in song. The words oftenest chosen were: {LS 446.2}
“We have heard from the bright, the holy land,
We have heard, and our hearts are glad;
For we were a lonely pilgrim band,
And weary, and worn, and sad.
They tell us the pilgrims have a dwelling there—
No longer are homeless ones;
And we know that the goodly land is fair,
Where life’s pure river runs…. {LS 446.3}
“We’ll be there, we’ll be there, in a little while,
We’ll join the pure and the blest;
We’ll have the palm, the robe, the crown,
And forever be at rest.” {LS 446.4}
We Have Heard
1. We have heard from the bright, the holy land;
We have heard, and our hearts are glad;
For we were a lonely pilgrim band,
And weary, and worn, and sad.
They tell us the saints have a dwelling there—
No longer are homeless ones;
And we know that the goodly land is fair,
Where life’s pure river runs.
Where life’s pure river runs.
2. They say green fields are waving there,
That never a blight shall know;
And the deserts wild are blooming fair,
And the roses of Sharon grow.
There are lovely birds in the bowers green,
Their songs are blithe and sweet;
And their warblings, gushing ever new,
The angels’ harpings greet.
The angels’ harpings greet.
3. We have heard of the palms, the robes, the crowns,
And the silvery band in white.
Of the city fair, with pearly gates,
All radiant with light.
We have heard of the angels there, and saints,
With their harps of gold, how they sing;
Of the mount with the fruitful tree of life,
Of the leaves that healing bring.
Of the leaves that healing bring.
4. The King of that country, He is fair,
He’s the joy and light of the place;
In His beauty we shall behold Him there,
And bask in His smiling face.
We’ll be there, we’ll be there in a little while,
We’ll join the pure and the blest;
We’ll have the palm, the robe, the crown,
And forever be at rest.
And forever be at rest.