Thomas Williams

“ The spectacle presented by human life past and present is a world shrouded in the gloom of death, with its vast millions being carried down as by an ever-restless and resistless stream into the dark depths of the dismal grave. When the apostle Paul speaks of the "mortal" he means the man, recognizing nothing as the man except that being which is "out of the earth, earthy," animated by the breath of life. ”

“ But Nature protests against this and cries out, "Death is a self-evident fact. I am stricken with the poisonous fangs of death. I am sick, I am pained, I am dying. Had I all that the world contains how willingly I would give it to save myself from death. ‘All that a man hath will he give for his life.’" It persistently refuses to be silenced by the sanctimonious rebukes and frowns of the ministers of Satan feigning to be angels of light; and knowing from experience and observation apart from revelation that it is right, it confidently answers back, declaring, "Death is a fact." ”

“ Not only do these testimonies show that the resurrection is an essential part of the gospel, that salvation depends upon it, but they contain irresistible proofs that death ends the present life and holds man helpless and unconscious in its grasp, and that no future life can be reached by the dead except through resurrection. It is "in the resurrection that we are to be made like the angels to die no more." It is in the resurrection that the just are to be recompensed. It is in the resurrection that the righteous are to come forth to eternal life and the wicked to condemnation. ”

“ He answers, "For the grave cannot praise thee, death cannot celebrate thee; they that go down to the pit cannot hope for thy truth." Thus we see that death is death and not life; that death begins where life ends, and that instead of deluding ourselves that death is an escape from a world of woe to a world of bliss, we must face the grim monster as an enemy from whose relentless grasp we can find escape in Him only who is the resurrection and the life; for "by man came death; by man came also the resurrection from the dead" (I. Cor. 15: 21) . ”

“ If it is too glaringly false to say "there is no death," the serpent’s subtlety is not to be daunted by Nature’s protests nor to be defeated by positive facts. Its inventive powers of deception try other tactics, cunningly admitting that death is a fact, but claiming that the dread fact is a blessing; with which delusion it attempts to captivate the feeble mind when overwhelmed with that grief and sadness that death inflicts upon the bereaved. ”

“ You may talk and talk to the grief-stricken one who bends over the corpse in the coffin about death being a transition from a world of woe to a world of weal, and the distressed one may try to cherish the thought and proclaim belief, but the tears cease not to flow, the pain and anguish written upon every feature of the mourner refuse to give place to joy and gladness. ”

“ Abraham, Isaac and Jacob are dead; God is their God, and He is not the God of the dead, but of the living; therefore they must have a resurrection to life from the dead. They "live unto him" now, because it is His purpose to raise them to life. As a matter of fact they are dead; and it is because they are dead that resurrection is necessary to make them alive; and God’s purpose to raise them is irresistibly proven by His words, "I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob." ”

“ You are wrong in the start, Paul; the dead are not dead, only their bodies. "They that have fallen asleep in Christ" are not asleep, they are awake in the happiness and bliss of heaven, and when we die we shall go to them. Therefore you attach too much importance to resurrection, we can do without it; for death to us is what resurrection is to you. Let them deny the resurrection and our faith is not vain; neither are we "miserable," for our faith is not dependent upon resurrection; it is that we shall be happy in heaven as soon as we die ”

“ No theory of resurrection would fit this disembodied existence as well as the ascension of the soul out of the body into heaven, and if the words of scripture could be manipulated to suit this invention the body might just as well, indeed much more conveniently, be left to moulder eternally in the dust. Having shown that disembodied existence is a myth it will be readily seen that to invent such theories of resurrection is only to add myth to myth. ”

“ This is the logical sequence of the false and delusive theory that man is an immortal spirit entity dwelling in the body till death liberates him. If man is an entity capable of conscious existence separate from the body, and if as soon as death takes place every good man enters a state of happiness, and if death must take place before he can enter such a state, it follows that death is indeed man’s very best friend, and the poet might well say: "I’ll praise my Maker with my breath And when my voice is lost in death Praise shall my nobler powers employ." ”

“ Yet, if the popular theory of heaven-going at death for the righteous be true, Paul’s argument is absolutely destitute of force, truthfully or logically. This arises from the fact that the apostle on the one hand starts out with the postulate that the dead are dead and not alive, and that if they ever live again it must be by resurrection. On the other hand the advocate of the popular tradition starts out with the assumption that the dead are not dead, only their bodies, and that they are better off since they died than they were before. ”

“ It is not that good men are rewarded in heaven and wicked men punished in hell from the time of their death till the time of resurrection and then judged, the foolishness of which would be too great for even a fallible human judge, to say nothing of Him who is great and wise and good and whose ways are the perfection of order. We do not depend, however, upon facts and reason only, nor upon scripture testimony that may be regarded as inferential. The Word of God is quick and powerful in proclaiming to us what death is, the state of man in death and his hopelessness apart from resurrection. ”

“ Having been first led into the snare of the popular delusion that man is a spirit that can fly to realms of bliss in a disembodied state, many easily become victims of this falsehood and drink deep draughts of the intoxicating cup of the strong delusion. "Console as you will, they receive it As a well-meant alms of breath; But not all the preaching since Eden Has made death other than death." If death is a call to the "arms of Jesus," why did he weep over Lazarus’ death, and why must he reign till death as the last enemy is destroyed? ”

“ Exclude resurrection from the gospel and it will be no gospel to man in the plight in which scripture and facts prove him to be. Spiritualize the resurrection and you might as well deny it altogether; for what is the use of a "spiritual resurrection" as a means of reaching the literal fact of death, and dissolution in the dust? Death, as we have seen, is terribly literal, and a resurrection that does not deal with the fact of death as it really is, is a delusion and a snare. The cure must reach the disease ”

“ Jesus saith unto them, Loose him and let him go." Surely there is no room here for the popular theory of the consciousness of man in death. "WHOSOEVER LIVETH AND BELIEVETH IN ME, SHALL NEVER DIE" With an air of triumph the question is asked, What will you do with the words, "He that liveth and believeth in me shall never die?" Our answer is, Believe these words just as fully as those that immediately precede them, namely, "He that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live." Lazarus had believed and he was dead; yet he should live. Jesus had said plainly, "Lazarus is dead." ”

“ We have already shown that a faith pleasing to God is based upon His promises. It was confidence that what God "had promised He was able to perform" that constituted a faith intelligent and strong enough to stand such a rigid test as Abraham was subjected to. Belief that God would restore his son to life was the faith that inspired Abraham and prevented him from "staggering at the promises of God." The promises that had begotten this great faith were as follows: "For all the land which thou seest to thee will I give it and to thy seed forever. ”

“ Surely if the apostle regarded the body as a mere receptacle for the soul, which the soul could dispense with and be blissful without, his language concerning the redemption of the body was extremely extravagant. It is only by recognizing that he viewed man as a body and not capable of disembodiment that the force and eloquence of his language can be understood. ”

“ Let it not be forgotten that "the dead know not anything;" for if the reality of death is not kept in view the absolute necessity of resurrection in these cases will not be seen. If as is popularly claimed, David did not die, only forsook his body and went to heaven in a disembodied state, it would be difficult to see why he exulted in hope of resurrection, and declared that he would be satisfied when he would "awake." ”

“ THE RESURRECTION OF LAZARUS In John 11 we have an account of a case of a once happy little family stricken with sorrow by the visitation of man’s great enemy, death. A beloved brother had died, and two loving and devoted sisters were left to mourn his loss. Here is the scene that death, cruel death, always brings to view wherever its cold withering hand clutches. ”

“ So far as death is concerned, there is no difference in its results in man and animal; all die alike, the difference being in man’s relation to resurrection. Hence Solomon’s inspired words declare: "I said in mine heart concerning the estate of the sons of men, that God might manifest them, that they might see that they themselves are beasts. For that which befalleth the sons of men befalleth beasts; even one thing befalleth them; as the one dieth; so dieth the other; yea, they have all one breath; so that a man (in death) hath no pre-eminence above a beast; for all is vanity. ”

“ Of "natural bodies," "living souls" he says "We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye at the last trump" (verse 52) . Redemption with him was redemption of the body--the man, without the remotest hint of a soul or spirit entity separate from the body. "This mortal," he says, "must put on immortality, and this corruptible must put on incorruption;" and this is the triumph of the plan of salvation--the swallowing up of death (by resurrection) in victory. ”

“ Let the Saviour say plainly "Lazarus is dead," and "Thy brother shall rise again," and let the serpent and popular preacher hear him and they will charge him with being a materialist, believing that the man is dead and unconscious, depending upon rising again for life. Let them stand by when Jesus calls Lazarus back to life as an act of kindness, and they will charge him with an act of cruelty; because to them it is calling a man back from bliss to re-enter a life of woe. ”

“ Redemption is nothing without resurrection. Resurrection is a necessary part of redemption. Therefore the offering of Isaac was a type fully showing forth redemption in its various aspects and especially foreshadowing resurrection. In it the great love of God is seen, the willing resignation of the Son to the Father’s requirements; the necessity of offering for sin; the fact that God only could provide the sacrifice; that death by shedding of blood must take place and that resurrection would surely follow ”

“ Thus a false theory nullifies the Word of God; and the fact that it does is sufficient to expose its fallacy and render it worthy of condemnation by all who are willing to "let God be true though all men are liars." ”

“ Physically she is alive and therefore is not dead; morally she is dead and therefore is not alive. The most ordinary powers of discrimination are all that are needed in reading such words, and if it were not for a blind zeal to sustain a dogma no trouble would be experienced. The word death would be seen to be a necessary word in our vocabulary to express the opposite thought to that represented by the word life. WHAT IS DEATH? There is no use trying to evade the force of facts and scripture teaching on the question of what is death. We are all subject to its universal power ”