Where are the Dead?

We've established that the doctrine of the trinity has its roots in prehistoric paganism and that worshipping a man as God is idolatry. If the pope and the jesuits are idolaters who worship a man as God, then do they perhaps know their bible when it comes to what happens when you die? I mean, the vatican has made fortunes taking money from grieving families to spring dead souls from purgatory, so surely they must know their bible in this field.

Just about every religion on earth teaches that when you die you go to some kind of paradise, or some kind of hell, or somewhere in between, but is that what happens? The word is clear on this subject.

Psalm 6:5
For in death there is no remembrance of thee: in the grave who shall give thee thanks?

It says that there is no remembrance of anyone who has died. This verse is talking about the remembrance, the memories, the thoughts and consciousness of those who have died. After someone has died they cannot remember God, and nor can they thank him for anything.

My grandfather died many years ago and I still remember him. I still remember how he took his false teeth out, pulled funny faces and made me laugh. He doesn't remember me. It is his thoughts, his remembrance, his consciousness that has died, and it went the moment he took his last breath.

Psalm 146:4
His breath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth; in that very day his thoughts perish.

When you take your last breath, your life has gone and at that moment your thoughts are no more. You have no more consciousness, which means absolutely no thoughts or emotions. That is logical because you are dead, and dead, by definition, means dead, it does not mean alive.

Ecclesiastes 9:5,6,10
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 [their memory, their thoughts are gone].

Also their love, and their hatred, and their envy, is now perished; neither have they any more a portion for ever in any thing that is done under the sun.

Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave, whither thou goest.

This supports the truth of Psalm 146:4 - there is absolutely nothing awaiting anyone in the grave other than death, a state of nothingness.

Psalm 30:9
What profit is there in my blood, when I go down to the pit? Shall the dust praise thee? shall it declare thy truth?

Forget about going to be with God and enjoying a party in heaven when you die. The dead go into the grave, they do not party in heaven.

Psalm 115:17
The dead praise not the LORD, neither any that go down into silence.

People who believe they live immediately after they die, or go to be with Jesus, or get showered with virgins, or go to some feasting hall for warriors, have been deceived. Those who teach that when you die you go to heaven, to hell, or to purgatory, either have no understanding of the scriptures or they are liars. If you go to a church or a religion that teaches this stuff, you are being taught nonsense.

Isaiah 38:18
For the grave cannot praise thee, death can not celebrate thee: they that go down into the pit cannot hope for thy truth.

So what happens to all these dead people? Is there any point to life other than just living it while it lasts? Job gives us a clue.

Job 14:10-12
But man dieth, and wasteth away: yea, man giveth up the ghost, and where is he?

As the waters fail from the sea, and the flood decayeth and drieth up:

So man lieth down, and riseth not: till the heavens be no more, they shall not awake, nor be raised out of their sleep.

Until the heavens be no more is a reference to a point in time which is still future, when the dead shall be raised from what the word often refers to euphemistically as 'sleep'. David also knew of a day coming in the future when he would be raised from death.

Psalm 16:9-11
Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoiceth: my flesh also shall rest in hope.

For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell [in the grave]; neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.

Thou wilt shew me the path of life: in thy presence is fulness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore.

Curiously, the word translated hell in the bible is from the Greek word hades, which simply refers to the state of death. Everyone who dies goes to hades, to hell. Hell is nothing more than the continuing state of death. Everyone who dies goes to hell, whether christian or not. David knew he was going to hell when he died. Hell is not a place where bad people go to be tormented in another life, it is where all people go when they die. Even Jesus Christ went to hell when he died.

The word is clear that the dead being raised from death is an event that happens in the future. In the meantime, everyone who has died is dead and will remain so until that point in the future when they will be raised.

1 Thessalonians 4:14
For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him.

This is referring to a future event when Jesus Christ returns to gather the church of God. The word sleep is a euphemism referring to death, a figure of speech employed to soften the harsh reality of death. The word calls death an enemy, and also tells us that the last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.

1 Corinthians 15:26
The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.

So when do those who have died with holy spirit rise from the dead? Keep reading!

1 Thessalonians 4:15
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 [precede] them which are asleep.

What does it mean when it says those of us who are alive and remain shall not prevent them which are asleep? That makes no sense. If we understand this verse in light of our modern understanding of the word prevent we can come to all kinds of silly conclusions. Why on earth would we want to stop our brothers and sisters in Christ who have died from getting into heaven in the first place? Why would God tell us we can't prevent that? Makes no sense.

The word prevent is an archaic usage of our modern word precede, and this brings us to a very important key to the bible's interpretation - a word or words must be understood in light of their biblical usage (what the words meant when they were written). In 1611 when this was translated the word prevent meant to precede, to go before. Here is a dictionary definition.

Main Entry: pre-vent
Pronunciation: \pri-vent\
Function: verb
Etymology: Middle English, to anticipate, from Latin praeventus, past participle of praevenire to come before, anticipate, forestall, from prae- + venire to come.
Date: 15th century
Archaic a: to be in readiness for (as an occasion) b: to meet or satisfy in advance c: to act ahead of d: to go or arrive before.

Now the verse makes sense. The word prevent means precede, to go ahead of, to arrive before. Its meaning has changed since 1611, but we must understand the word according to its biblical usage, not what it means now. Other scriptures will now make more sense too. Look at this usage from psalm 119.

Psalm 119:147
I prevented the dawning of the morning, and cried: I hoped in thy word.

Are we to imagine that David prevented the sun from coming up? How ridiculous! David preceded the sun coming up - in other words he got up very early while it was yet dark so he could get into the bible. He loved the word of God so much, he set his alarm clock an hour or two earlier just so he could get up and study the bible before getting into his day. Back to Thessalonians.

We that are alive and remain when Jesus Christ comes back will not precede those who have died. In other words, the dead in Christ will be raised from the dead before those of us who are still alive are changed. That is precisely what the bible says in the next two verses.

1 Thessalonians 4:16,17
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.

Now ask yourself, if when you die you go to heaven, why would Jesus Christ have to come back to earth for you? If you are already alive, how could God raise you from the dead? If you were alive, there would be no need to raise you from the dead because you would already be alive. The teaching that when you die you don't really die has no scriptural basis. In this context, it is intriguing to recall the first lie ever recorded in the bible, way back in Genesis.

Genesis 3:1-4
Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?

And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden:

But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.

And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:

There you go - the first lie in the bible is that when you die you don't really die. God said they would die, the devil told Eve she would not die. This is still the biggest lie in the world today. All religions teach that when you die you go to some place called heaven, or you go to some burning hell, or to some place in between called limbo or purgatory. It is all lies. When people die, they are dead, they do not go anywhere except into a grave. Anyone who teaches otherwise has no knowledge of scripture or they are liars.

This means, of course, that you cannot buy anyone out of purgatory and get them into heaven, because there is no such place as purgatory and everyone who has died is dead. The Roman Catholic church, therefore, is engaged in serious criminal fraud when it offers to release souls from purgatory in exchange for sums of money.

In the context of swindling grieving families and widows, consider these extracts from secret instructions issued to jesuits.

Chapter VI: Of proper methods for inducing rich widows to be liberal to our Society.

I. For the managing of this affair, let such members only be chosen as are advanced in age, of a lively complexion and agreeable conversation; let these frequently visit such widows, and the minute they begin to show any affection towards our order, then is the time to lay before them the good works and merits of the society. If they seem kindly to give ear to this, and begin to visit our churches, we must by all means take care to provide them confessors by whom they may be well admonished, especially to a constant perseverance in their state of widowhood, and this, by enumerating and praising the advantages and felicity of a single life: and let them pawn their faiths, and themselves too, as a security that a firm continuance in such a pious resolution will infallibly purchase an eternal merit, and prove a most effectual means of escaping the otherwise certain pains of purgatory.

IV. Care must be taken to remove such servants particularly as do not keep a good understanding with the Society; but let this be done by little and little; and when we have managed to work them out, let such be recommended as already are, or willingly would become our creatures; thus shall we dive into every secret, and have a finger in every affair transacted in the family.

Chapter VII: How such widows are to be secured, and in what manner their effects are to be disposed of.

I. They are perpetually to be pressed to a perseverance in their devotion and good works, in such manner, that no week pass in which they do not, of their own accord, lay somewhat apart out of their abundance for the honour of Christ, the blessed Virgin, or their patron saint; and let them dispose of it in relief of the poor, or in beautifying of churches, till they are entirely stripped of their superfluous stores and unnecessary riches.

XIII. Let the confessors take diligent care to prevent such widows as are their penitents, from visiting ecclesiastics of other orders, or entering into familiarity with them, under any pretence whatsoever; for which end, let them, at proper opportunities, cry up the Society as infinitely superior to all other orders; of the greatest service in the church of God, and of greater authority with the Pope, and all princes; and that it is the most perfect in itself, in that it discards all persons offensive or unqualified, from its community, and therefore is purified from that scum and dregs with which these monks are infected, who, generally speaking, are a set of men unlearned, stupid, and slothful, negligent of their duty, and slaves to their bellies.

XIV. Let the confessors propose to them, and endeavour to persuade them to pay small pensions and contributions towards the yearly support of colleges and professed houses, but especially of the professed house at Rome; not let them forget the ornaments of churches, tapers, wine, and things necessary in the celebration of the sacrifice of mass.

XV. If any widow does in her life-time make over her whole estate to the Society; whenever opportunity offers, but especially when she is seized with sickness, or in danger of life, let some take care to represent to her the poverty of the greatest number of our colleges, whereof many just erected have hardly as yet any foundation; engage her, by a winning behaviour and inducing arguments, to such a liberality as (you must persuade her) will lay a certain foundation for her eternal happiness.

XVI. The same art must be used with princes and other benefactors; for they must be wrought up to a belief, that these are the only acts which will perpetuate their memories in this world, and secure them eternal glory in the next.

This practice of mercilessly robbing widows was prevalent in Jesus Christ's time and he warned the people of his day about it, just as I'm doing today in the 21st Century.

Matthew 23:14
Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye devour widows' houses, and for a pretence make long prayer: therefore ye shall receive the greater damnation.

Look, when you die, you are dead and you remain dead until some point in the future when Jesus Christ comes back either to gather the church or at the resurrections of the just and the unjust. Those who are born again in this administration are part of the church of God and will be gathered when Jesus Christ returns, those who are not will be part of the resurrections of the just and the unjust at a later date. We will deal with this in much more detail later in the class. Regarding the gathering of the church, the word has this to say:

1 Thessalonians 4:16,17
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.

The return of Christ for the church will happen. We do not know when, but it will happen. It could be today, it could be tomorrow, it could be next century, we don't know. Until then, everyone who has died will remain dead, without consciousness, thought, memory, emotion or anything.

1 Corinthians 15:51-54
Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed,

In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.

For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.

So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory.

If this is news to you, your immediate reaction may be one of sorrow on realising loved ones you thought were in heaven are actually dead. Folks often claim that believing their dead husbands and wives and fathers and mothers and children are alive gives them comfort. I know people who have conversations with dead people, convinced they are listening. I'm sorry if the world has lied to you, but either the word is true or it isn't.

Thessalonians shows that genuine comfort in death is knowing you and your loved ones will be raised at some point in the future, and that you will spend eternity together. When a person who is born again dies, someone who has body, soul and spirit, their next waking thought will be the return of Jesus Christ as documented in Thessalonians. Centuries may pass, but because they were dead it will seem to them as but a moment, as if awakening from sleep, with no concept of the time that has passed. When we take our last breath, the next moment for us, in a real sense, will be the return. If I live for another twenty years, then for me the return of the Lord Jesus Christ is no longer than twenty years away. He may return sooner, of course, but the time I have remaining on earth is all the time I have to wait until the return. When I take my last breath and die, the very next moment for me will be the return, even though I may have been dead for centuries. The same is true for you if you have holy spirit. I find it very comforting to know I'll be together with everyone I love at the return of Jesus Christ.

1 Thessalonians 4:16-18
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.

Now, about this first lie recorded in Genesis chapter 3:

Genesis 3:4
And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:

The first usage of a word or phrase or usage of words in the bible always has special meaning. First usage holds significant and foundational truth. This is the first lie recorded in the bible and its importance cannot be overstated. Without understanding this lie and its implications, life is an extremely dangerous place.

For example, the vatican has literally hundreds and hundreds of saints in heaven to which you can pray. God is too busy to answer everyone's prayers they tell you, so these saints are there to take your prayers to God. For a start, the true God is all-knowing, all-powerful, and everywhere present. He is quite capable of hearing your prayers without the need of some rotten dead corpse to help him out. If your god is too busy to hear your prayers, perhaps it's time to find yourself another one. If the dead are dead, as the bible teaches, then these so-called saints are not up there anyway. Check this out regarding saints:

Ephesians 1:1,2
Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, to the saints which are at Ephesus, and to the faithful in Christ Jesus:

Grace be to you, and peace, from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ.

These verses are indeed addressed to saints, but these saints were alive at the time Ephesians was written. Biblically, saints are alive people, not dead people. No dead people are alive apart from the Lord Jesus Christ whom God raised from the dead three days and three nights after his crucifixion and murder. Everyone else who has died is dead and will remain so until Jesus Christ comes back. Therefore, the vatican and the jesuits are lying when they say the dead are alive now and are up there in heaven watching over you and you can pray to them. It is all fairy tales.

It should come as no surprise then, that just as with the doctrine of the trinity, there are a number of scriptures in the bible that are twisted to teach that the dead are alive. We will take a little time to look at a few of them.

Psalm 116 contains a verse that is often recited at funerals to teach that God is overjoyed because he has killed someone and now has another dead person in heaven with him.

Psalm 116:15
Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints.

If God killed people and it was God's will for people to die, then why did Jesus Christ not go around killing people? Jesus Christ always did God's will, right? So if it was God's will for people to be sick and die, wouldn't Jesus Christ have carried out that will and gone around making people sick so they would die? If God wanted sick people and God wanted dead people, then who did Jesus Christ think he was going around healing them? Jesus Christ always did his Father's will, so healing people must be God's will. The teaching that God kills people and makes them sick is so unscriptural it is astounding that people can be so blind as to believe it. If God kills people and makes them sick, then why bring the devil into it? What is he doing if God does all the nasty things in life? Quite the contrary, it is the devil who kills people and makes them sick.

Acts 10:38
How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with him.

So how do we explain Psalm 116:15? There is nothing to explain. If something is precious, it is valuable, it is costly. A rare diamond is precious because it is extremely costly. Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints, means costly in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints. It costs God when his people die. Our deaths cost him dearly.

There is no good side to the god of this world. At one time Lucifer was full of beauty and wisdom, and was perfect in all his ways, but that has all changed. He has no mercy. He has no compassion. Deceiving folks into believing that God is doing all the nasty things to them when it is the devil himself doing them keeps him hidden and happy. One can readily see why God had the book of Job written first so we would know it was the devil doing all the nasty stuff in life. If we do not know this and believe God makes us sick and kills us, our spiritual integrity is at great risk. The lie that the dead are not dead is pivotal to the god of this world's deceptions. Without this lie, his power to steal, kill, and destroy is greatly diminished.

Another scripture misused in this regards is the translation of Enoch.

Hebrews 11:5
By faith [believing] Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and was not found, because God had translated him: for before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God.

Without getting into a lengthy debate, very simply, this verse does not say Enoch did not die, it says he never saw death. Had God meant Enoch did not die, the verse would read: By faith Enoch was translated that he should not die. The word see in the Greek, is eidon, which means to look at with actual perception with one's eyes. Enoch never saw death, he never saw anyone die. However, he himself died. How do I know? The word says so a few verses later.

Hebrews 11:13
These all died in faith [including Enoch], not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.

There are a few other scriptures used to teach that the dead are alive and there is a place called purgatory, such as the parable of the rich man and Lazarus. A parable is a story, a fiction, a make believe fable to illustrate a point, that's all. There never was any dead rich man in real life living in some burning hell begging for some dude called Lazarus to come quench his thirst. They were merely fictional characters in a parable, a story Jesus Christ made up. Does that require any further explanation? Look, just because Captain Kirk visited some alien world and met Klingons does not mean that Klingons exist. They are make believe, fictional characters that live in a make believe world. Parables were merely stories Jesus Christ made up to illustrate a specific truth. You cannot make a literal doctrine out of a fiction. Well, the vatican does so it can defraud grieving families and take their money.

Regarding spiritualism, if the bible is right, and it is, then the dead people mediums and spiritualists call up in their séances and meetings are not what they purport to be. In real life, folks do actually hear voices of dead people at these séances, and they recognise these voices, so what's the answer?

Jane Fletcher has lost her husband and she is grieving. She is missing him terribly. Someone tells her he's really alive and she could talk to him at a spiritualist's meeting, at a séance. Along she goes and she hears his voice and he tells her things, little secret things it would be impossible for anyone else to know. She rejoices because in her heart she knows her husband is alive and enjoying the afterlife. It brings her comfort and hope for the future. Or so the spiritualists would have us believe. If the dead are dead, who or what was this woman talking to, and how did it know the little intimate secrets she and her husband shared?

The discerning of spirits field is without doubt the largest field of human understanding imaginable. The devil spirit kingdom is breathtakingly immense and diverse, stunningly powerful and unbelievably deceptive. To have any chance of understanding the spiritual depth to life we must take the word of God as our standard for truth and work everything else from that premise. The dead are dead, it is that simple. Whoever or whatever it was that talked to Jane Fletcher, it was not her husband. So what was it?

Devil spirits have jobs to do and the bible teaches us much about it. Some devil spirits work well in politics and power. Some are good at depressing and oppressing folks, driving them to despair and suicide. Others are adept at working in religious circles, deceiving those who seek to know the truth, deafening their ears so they neglect the word, blinding them and leading them into ditches.

Another job spirits have is to watch people. The bible refers to these particular devil spirits as familiar spirits. Their job is to watch people, to become familiar with them. They watch people all their lives from the moment they are born until the moment they die. Then they move onto another person. They do this century after century, building vast archives of knowledge about people. They become familiar with people, which is why they are called in the bible familiar spirits. Incidentally, these are the same devil spirits behind the lie of reincarnation.

Jane Fletcher goes to the spiritualist meeting. The medium asks a few questions. The devil spirits possessing the medium get information. They then find the spirit that is familiar with her dead husband and it is summoned. Jane has a chat with this devil spirit, which is quite capable of impersonating her dead husband's voice through the medium, and it tells her all the little secrets they shared. These spirits can mimic the actual voices of dead people while they speak out through the mediums they possess. It is a puerile trick, but it is effective.

The record of Saul and the witch of Endor is another scriptural record used to teach that the dead are alive. However, the bible doesn't teach that the dead are alive, it teaches that the dead are dead. So who was Saul talking to at that séance with the witch of Endor? The bible doesn't say it was Samuel, the bible says that Saul perceived it to be Samuel.

1 Samuel 28:7,12-14
Then said Saul unto his servants, Seek me a woman that hath a familiar spirit, that I may go to her, and enquire of her. And his servants said to him, Behold, there is a woman that hath a familiar spirit at Endor.

And when the woman saw Samuel, she cried with a loud voice: and the woman spake to Saul, saying, Why hast thou deceived me? for thou art Saul.

And the king said unto her, Be not afraid: for what sawest thou? And the woman said unto Saul, I saw gods ascending out of the earth.

And he said unto her, What form is he of? And she said, An old man cometh up; and he is covered with a mantle. And Saul perceived that it was Samuel, and he stooped with his face to the ground, and bowed himself.

It wasn't Samuel because Samuel was dead, it was a devil spirit impersonating him. Unlike David, Saul obviously didn't get up early to study his bible every morning or he would have known this. Consequently he had a head full of spiritualistic horseshit which led to his death.

The whole realm of witchcraft and spiritualism is built upon the lie that the dead are not dead, that they are alive. But why? Why would devil spirits go to such lengths? Whatever their motives are, it is to steal, to kill, and to destroy. Was this lie effective against Eve? Oh yes, do not underestimate its power.

To further illustrate, two young women once explained how they went to a spiritualist meeting in the Philippines. Over 70 people attended this meeting. The medium's particular emphasis that day was faith healing. Everyone was there to get healing. However, the medium refused to minister to these two women. Everyone else was ministered to and they were all healed. The two women left, without being healed. Later, they learned about spiritualism from the biblical perspective. Out of curiosity, they tracked down every person who had been ministered to at that meeting in the Philippines and were stunned to discover that every single one of them was dead. This is a true story. Little children, keep yourselves from idols, keep yourselves from tarot cards, fortune tellers, hypnosis, magic, horoscopes, psychics, witches and all the rest of the devil's horseshit for it will take your life.

Witchcraft is a spiritual trap, a snare, a baited hook dangled to take your life. The bible has to be our only standard for truth if we are to live powerful, abundant lives. Once we are redeemed from the power of the god of this world, he no longer has jurisdiction over us. We can learn to walk in power and deliver people from his deceptions and cruelty.

1 John 4:4
Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world.

Just as with the trinity, the teaching that the dead are alive entrenches vatican doctrine, as well as all other religions, clearly within the realms of paganism and witchcraft. Their doctrine is unscriptural, their beliefs pagan. The jesuits may cloak themselves in religious robes and claim they know what is best for the world, but in truth, they serve their god Lucifer. Rather than bringing us peace on earth, they are destroying it on behalf of their god. The end justifies the means only when it is the god of this world issuing the orders. So the next time you hear the pope praying for world peace, smile warmly as you realise that what he is really praying for is your extermination.

If this all seems a little overpowering, remember that light dispels darkness. Switch on a light and there is no darkness. Darkness cannot exist in light. It is that easy to dispel darkness. How you turn on spiritual light in your life begins with opening your bible and reading. Or is television or something else more important to you? Whether you live in darkness or whether you live in light is a choice you make.

Chapter 28 - Predestination