Verse of the Day…
They who have been “counted worthy” of the resurrection of life are “blessed and holy.” “Over such the second death has no power.” (Luke 20:35; Revelation 20:6.) But those who have not received
pardon through repentance and faith must receive “the wages of sin,”
punishment “according to their works,” which ends in the “second
death.”
Since it is impossible for God to save sinners in their sins, He
deprives them of their existence, which their transgressions have
forfeited and of which they have proven themselves unworthy. “Yet
a little while and the wicked shall be no more; indeed, you will look
carefully for his place, but it shall be no more.” “They shall be as though they had never been.” (Psalm 37:10; Obadiah 16.) They sink
into hopeless, eternal oblivion.
And so God will make an end of sin. “You have destroyed the
wicked; You have blotted out their name forever and ever. O enemy,
destructions are finished forever!” (Psalm 9:5, 6). In the Book of
Revelation, John hears a universal anthem of praise without one
note of discord. No lost souls blaspheme God as they writhe in
never-ending torment. No wretched beings in hell will mingle their
shrieks with the songs of the saved.
The error of natural immortality is the basis for the doctrine
of consciousness in death. Like eternal torment, this doctrine is
opposed to Scripture, to reason, and to our feelings of humanity.
According to popular belief, the redeemed in heaven know everything
that takes place on earth. But how could the dead be happy
in knowing the troubles of the living, in seeing them endure the
sorrows, disappointments, and anguish of life? And how revolting is
the belief that as soon as the breath leaves the body, the soul of the
unrepentant is sent to the flames of hell!
What do the Scriptures say? Humanity is not conscious in death:
“When their breath departs, they return to the earth; on that very
day their plans perish.” “The living know that they will die; but the
dead know nothing…. Their love, their hatred, and their envy have
now perished; nevermore will they have a share in anything done
under the sun.” “Sheol [the grave] cannot thank You, death cannot
praise You; those who go down to the pit cannot hope for Your truth. The living, the living man, he shall praise You, as I do this day.”
“In death there is no remembrance of You; in the grave who will
give You thanks?” (Psalm 146:4, NRSV; Ecclesiastes 9:5, 6; Isaiah
38:18, 19; Psalm 6:5.)
On the day of Pentecost Peter declared that David “is both dead
and buried, and his tomb is with us to this day…. For David did
not ascend into the heavens” (Acts 2:29, 34). The fact that David
remains in the grave until the resurrection proves that the righteous
do not go to heaven when they die.
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Source: Ellen G. White, The Great Hope, pp. 35-36