f /
Ufe After Death
OR
What Do the Dead Know?

A SERMON

BY
Eld. Eugene Louis St. Claire, D. D.

Evangelist and Lecturer

'*

of the

Free Will Baptist Church

Glennville, Georgia

1914 F*rlce 1O cents

What Do the Dead Know?
A SERMON
BY
EUGENE LOUIS ST. CLAIRE, D. D.
What do the dead know. Man is not, nor has he ever been, satisfied" with that which he knows. He has always sought after the unknown and it is to this spirit of inquiry that man owes "His Greatness." We love mystery, the supernat ural. The more difficult a thing is to understand, the more determined man is to solve it.
The question we have for our consideration, "What do the dead know," is as old as man's history. Sages, philosophers, the wise of all ages have sought to solve it. The Egyptians, Assyrians, the Greeks and Romans all these mighty civilzations have sought to solve this problem, heavy with age.
It remained for the man Christ Jesus and the Holy Spirit to solve this question. And although the New Testament is plain in its teaching on this question, the majority of Chris tians are still in darkness and do not understand. One cause of this is, because man does not understand, has not fully comprehended his dual existance.
Man has failed fully to realize that he is spirit and matter; that he is soul and body; that one was given; that one exists in the other; that one is immortal and the other, mortal; that one is indestructible and the other destructibl body made of dust, earth. In this body
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soul, God given God bestowed. God made the body, but gave the soul. ' The body dies, goes back to dust, but the spirit goes back to God who gave it. God made the animal king dom, they lived, fulfilled the purpose for which they were created.
But He made man differently. He made man in His own image and when He had made the body of dust, He then breathed into the body He made His image. He first made a house body, and when He had formed the body to suit, He breathed into the body house, the spirit, soul, for which the body was made "breath of life." Not air, atmosphere; all animals breath air, atmosphere. They could not exist without it. He breathed into the body something more than air. A Spirit, a psychic, a soul, life, not animal life, but a spiritual life, a something as incomprehensible as God is incomprehen sible. A something that lives, will always live capable, sensitive, susceptible, immortal, "death proof".
Now comes the question, does this spirit, soul, psychic know anything after it leaves its earthly home, the body? Does this God given spirit know, feel, see, think after it leaves the body?
"No! the dead know nothing," one replies. "There is no voice nor cunning in the grave." "Then shall this tongue cease to praise, then shall this hand forget her cunning," quotes others, from the Bible. But let us stop to consider these quotations. Were they not spoken of, and had only reference to the body? Cunning, craft, skill, art, belongs to these natural hands, not to the spiritual. They belong to this world, not to Heaven. Then it is true this earthly tongue, will cease to praise, and these earthly hands will cease to work, and forget their skill. Why? Because they have ful filled their mission. "Dust thou art, to dust then shall thou return."

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Of course this earthly created body will forget. Our bod ies, like the bodies of other animals, will even forget their existance, quite natural, reasonable, sensible. Clay, dust, cannot remember. But the real man, the real life; the life, spirit, that God gave. What about it? Does this God given thing spirit, soul, lose its consciousness, feeling, sensibility?
Do the dead know anything? Is a man no more than a brute? The loved ones we have buried, are they lost, passed away into nothingness? Did the spirit of those we loved, and still love, escape and become lost in the trackless ether? And the bodies that once they lived in become brother to 'the lifeless clay'? Does our existance end in death? Oh! happy death, if this is so, why dread it when it brings annihilation? Glorious death, if to die is to be no more.
"Hail! thoit death, priceless boon." But alas! something within a man tells him death is not all. The very fact, that man tries to solve this question, proves, that he does not believe in non-existance after death. Christian and heathen, civilized and uncivilized, learned and unlearned, alike believe in a future existance. Why? It it the image of God in man longing, crying after its progenitor, God himself. God is not the Father of our bodies. He made them. No more is He the father of our bodies than the carpenter is the father of the house he builds. But God is the father of our spirits, for He is the father of spirits. He' made our bodies. He gave our spirits. God is a spirit. "Like begets like." He begot our Spirits, but manufactured, made, our bodies. Does God lose consciousness? How absurd the question. Then will these spirits made in His likeness and image ever lose conscious ness? How absurd to think so. God is indestructible. So also are the children, spirit children. Not baby children, in destructible. God cannot be destroyed, neither can His children. God is always conscious, so, also are His spirit

children. God feels, sees, loves, hates, so, also does His spirit children, breathed into earthly bodies, to dwell for a season.
"Like begets like" is a law of nature, therefore a law of God. Now God is pure and Holy, so, also was the spirit child that He breathed into Adam, the body He had made for the indwelling of the spirit, soul, that he begat.
But the son spirit disobeyed; it was not the body that sinned, bodies do not sin; but it was the spirit or soul that sinned. God gives no laws or commands to our bodies, but He gave laws to our spirits "the soul that sinneth, it shall die." The soul or spirit is responsible to God, not the body, house. When Adam fell, it was not the body that fell, but the soul. The body became impure, because an impure soul, an unholy spirit, dwelt in it. As the temple of old became , impure, because unlawful sacrifices were offered, in it just so, our bodies, sinless in themselves, became impure, because an impure spirit, once Holy like God, dwelt in it.
Now we know that animals do not sin, neither does the animal nature of man. Our bodies are subject to disease, death, but not our spirits. "Flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of heaven;" spirits can. Bodies, our bodies receive their punishment in this life for violating the laws of nature; so do all animals and there is no more of them. But our spirits, God's children receive either their rewards or punishments in the life to come, when we go home to give an account of the needs we have done while living in the body.
A father sends his son off to attend to his business. After a long time, the son returns to his father and accounts for the business he was sent to accomplish. So, also, our heavenly Father has sent us, his sons and daughters into our bodies, into this world to attend to his business, and that business is to so live and act as to glorify him. After a while he will call us home to give an account of our stewardship.

But to the question, do the dead know anything? I have in a way answered this question. But for the sake of those who have not read God's word, and have not reasoned out these things, let us go on a little farther. We have two word pictures of the future life, in the New Testament. Let us analyze these descriptions.
One is "the j-ich man in hell." He lifted up his eyes. "That is only a parable." Who said it was? How do you know it is not true? Again, is not a parable a "striking illustration of the truth?" Use your dictionary. "It does not mean hell, it means the grave." Be it so; then what an awful condition the dead are in. It really and truely describes the condition of the disobedient children of God. The object of the para ble is not to describe the condition of one lost soul, but of all lost souls. "In bell, lifted up his eyes." Saw the beg gar, knew 'him. Ah! the dead do know. Saw, had eyes, recognized the beggar. He could feel, "tormented of these flames," and he could feel, "cool my tongue." "Water," not natural water, nay, spiritual water, the water of salva tion, living water.
Do the dead know anything? They can see, hear, feel, taste. They have memory, and the power of recollection. Suppose it to be "a parable." Then it only describes the fur ther state of the disobedient children of God. And our Lord, in a graphic description, foretells the wicked of their future state after death. If it is a parable, is the fact contained in it less true? Parables are not fables nor allegories; look up the difference.
But let us leave this description and search further. Rev. 6th chap. " When he had opened the fifth seal, I saw the souls of those who were slain for the witness of Jesus." Note this." John saw the souls of those who were killed for Christ's sake. "Saw them neath the altar." What alter?

Th'e great alter before His throne in heaven, upon which are

offered the prayers of His saints. "Neath the alter." Para

dise. "And they cried out, Oh Lord, how long before Thou

wilt avenge our blood upon them that dwell upon the earth?"

Now let us notice this scripture. First they could talk, "Oh,

Lord, how long." Second, they had memory. They knew

what they had suffered for Christ's sake, and they were ask

ing the Christ how long before He would punish their perse

cutors. They knew they had been slain, suffered. They had

recollection, memory.

White robes were given unto them. They were told to tarry,

rest a little longer. Ah! they could understand, they could

feel, they could enjoy. They were told to rest, because they

were capable of enjoying rest. White robes were given to

them, because they could appreciate them. "They were told

to rest a little longei until their brethren, who dwell upon

the earth, come up through like tribulations." Their ques

tion was answered, so they understood.

This is not a parable, it is a straight declarative statement.

It teaches us the condition of God's obedient children after

death. It is given, to teach us that the soul is ever conscious,

keenly so, of its existence and surroundings. Our spiritual

natures partakes of the nature and essence of our spiritual

father, God.

Our bodies are of the earth, earthly. Our spirits are of

God, and partake of his spiritual nature. God is indes

tructible, since he is a spirit, and as our spirits are of his

nature, they are indestructible. Hence, the joys of. the

righteous are everlasting, and the punishment of the wicked

is everlasting.

Our bodies must go back to dust. Our spirits must go back

to God, who gave them. As there are good and bad souls,

-.. souls that will repent, and souls that will not repent, it nat-

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urally follows that there must, of necessity be two places for these souls, separate and distinct from each other. It is not reasonable to suppose that an obedient child will fare alike with the disobedient child. If this were not true there would be no distinction, no difference between obedience and dis obedience.
Now "all souls have sinned." Then there is no difference. God's remedy for sin is Christ, if the reward of those who accept Christ is eternal life, a life that never ends. It must follow in the very nature of things, that the punishment of those who do not accept Christ, must be just as long as the reward of the righteous. Then it follows that if the soul is conscious while in the body, the death of the body does not mean the death of the soul, nor does the death of the body destroy the consciousness of the soul.
Hence, if the consciousness of the soul is not destroyed when the body dies, it matters not what the future condition of the soul may be. It retains its consciousness right on, so long as it exists.
So, the dead know more than we know, feel more than we feel, see more than we see, and hear more than we hear. If this were not so, we would know less after death than we know today or in this life. But we know more after death, because we will have solved, and know what is impossible for us to solve and know now.
Life is a dream, but death is reality for then "we shall know as we are known." Now I know in part, but then, shall I know as I am known.
The rich man saw the beggar rest comforted. But note this, the beggar did not see the rich man in his torments. The dead do know know more than they ever knew before.
Beloved, it is for us to make our future lives happy OJT miserable Men destroy hell because of their

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there. After death, it is only a terror or a borrow to those who have not felt that God has accepted them. Hell has no terrors or horrors for those who love God and obey Him. Hell is only hell for the evil doer.
Yes the dead know, will ever know, and heaven will be heaven because we will know, and ever know, more and more as eternity rolls, and the glory of God will only be appreciated as eternity rolls. And other glories appear, only to disappear for other glories yet to follow.
It will take all of eternity to reveal God and His glories to us. It will take all of eternity for us to understand God, His glories and His greatness.
Heaven, the eternal life, will be a progressive life. Oh! the depth of His love, His wisdom and His mercy. How greatly is our Father, God, manifest in His material creation, the uni verse. What wonders we are surrounded with. But Oh! what must be that wonderous abode that eternal abode of God and His children..
Reader you know something of sin and its awful conse quences, hence, do not deceive yourself, you will know more after death.
Humble Christian, yon think you know something of God's love, grace and mercy here, but you know nothing as yet. So live and so act that when your summons comes to go, that you will be ready to enter into this great experience.
"God is love" love is the fulfilling of the law. Fill the law. God is love, then to love is God-like. Be not deceived, "the soul can never die, will always know, know more and more. The soul can never die until it folds its drooping wings upon the tombstone of God.

Rev. E. L. St. Clalpe