Awesome Truths and Amazing Facts
Richard Vaughn

Today: Are the Dead Really Dead? Part 4
From our studies on this subject over the last three weeks, we learned after death a person: 1. Returns to dust (Psalm 104:29); knows nothing (Eccl. 9:5); possesses no mental powers (Psalm 146:10); has nothing to do with anything on earth (Eccl. 9:6); does not live (2 Kings 20:1); waits in the grave (Job 17:13); and continues not (Job 14:1,2).
We learned that Satan invented the teaching that the dead are alive. Those who do believe that, are susceptible to believe in reincarnation, channeling, communication with spirits, spirit worship, and the undying soul; which are all inventions of Satan to convince people that when you die you are not really dead. They will be deceived 100% of the time.
Today we will review some thought questions regarding the state of the dead. 
Question: Didn’t the thief on the cross go to paradise with Christ on Friday, the day He died? Answer: No. In fact, on Sunday morning Jesus said to Mary, “Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father” John 20:17. 
This is a good time to point out that the scriptures are inspired, but punctuation is not. It was added for clarification, but there are obvious errors. For example in Luke 23:43 it reads, “And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, To day shalt thou be with me in paradise.”  The thief did not die that day and Jesus had not ascended. Therefore the correct rendering would be, “And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee today, thou shalt be with me in paradise.”  
Question: Does the Bible speak of the “undying”, “immortal” soul? Answer: No. In fact the word “immortal” is found once in the Bible, and it is in reference to God. 1 Timothy 1:17 “Now unto the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God”
Question: At death, the body returns to dust and the spirit (breath) returns to God. Where does the soul go? Answer: It goes nowhere as we have seen in the many scriptures given in the last three weeks. Two things must be combined to make a soul, body plus breath. There is no such thing as a disembodied soul. 
Question: Can you explain John 11:26 “And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die.” Answer: This does not refer to the first death, which all people die. See Hebrews 9:27 “And as it is appointed unto men once to die”. Rather it refers to the “second death” which only the wicked die and from which there is no resurrection. Revelation 21:8 “But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.”  
Many Christians are able to quote John 3:16, but few realize that it clearly shows only the saved will live for ever and the unsaved will die and be no more. Look at it closely, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” The believers will not perish, but they will live forever. Conversely the unsaved will not have everlasting life for they perish in the second death. They will be as though they had never been.
Question: Doesn’t 1 Peter 4:6 say the gospel was preached to dead people? “For this cause was the gospel preached also to them that are dead” Answer: No, it says the gospel “was” preached to those who “are” dead. They are dead now, but the gospel was preached to them while they were yet living.
Matthew 10:28 says “And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul:” Doesn’t this prove the soul is undying? Answer: No, it proves the opposite. The last half of the same verse proves that souls do die. “but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.”
Question: What about the souls crying out from under the altar in Revelation 6:9,10? “I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held: And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?
Answer: No. This cry was figurative as was Abel’s blood (Genesis 4:10). The word souls used here means people who had been slain for their faith. They are in their graves in the sleep of death and will have no conscious state until the resurrection. It will seem but a moment from the time they closed their eyes in death, until they come forth from their graves, even though it may have been thousands of years.
In these 4 articles, we have made the Bible position on death crystal clear. No human fables, just the truth from God’s word. Next week we will explore another cornerstone lie of Satan regarding hell. 
Next Week: “Hell. Are people there and is it burning now?” Part 1