Mortal or Immortal? Which?

THE RESURRECTION

There are various views extant of this event, and various theories relative to the time and manner of its accomplishment. But we speak of that literal resurrection which the Bible assures us shall take place, and that, too, at the last day. It is the resurrection of those that sleep in their graves. The Saviour himself declares, “The hour is coming in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice and shall come forth.” John 5:28, 29. It is an event which is yet future. Paul said, when disputing with Tertullus before the governor, I “have hope toward God, which they themselves also allow, that there shall be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and unjust.” Acts 24:15. And he tells us in chap 26:7, that unto that promise the twelve tribes hope to come. He also reasoned of a judgment to come, chap 24:25, and declares that God hath appointed a day for this very purpose. Chap 17:31. MOI 75.1

These two great events, therefore, the resurrection and a general judgment, being fixed facts, according to the plain declarations of the Bible, the important inquiry arises, What need is there of a resurrection, if the man proper ceases not to exist at death, but lives on in a more enlarged and perfect sphere of consciousness and activity? If the body is but a trammel, a clog, to the operations of the soul, what need that it should come back and gather up its scattered particles from the silent tomb? Says Wm. Tyndale, while defending the doctrine of Martin Luther, that the dead sleep, “In putting departed souls in Heaven, hell, and purgatory, you destroy the argument wherewith Christ and Paul prove the resurrection.... If the souls be in Heaven, tell me why they be not in as good case as the angels be? and then what cause is there of the resurrection?” Most just and pertinent question; one which places the tendency of the popular doctrine in its true light; for, indeed, what cause is there of the resurrection in such a case as that? MOI 76.1

Again: What propriety can there be in a general judgment at the last day, if those who pass from this state of existence, enter immediately at death into happiness or misery accordingly as their characters have been good or bad? Is there possibility of mistake in the decision passed upon men at death? and is it perhaps the case that some have been unjustly tormented in hell, and others unworthily basking in the bliss of Heaven for ages past, so that there must needs be a general assize on the whole human race, to correct these momentous errors of former decisions? Such a view reflects on the character of the divine government. Thus the popular teaching renders two cardinal events in the Bible plan of salvation, altogether useless and unnecessary; and any view, which leads us to conclusions so serious in their nature, we respectfully submit, should be held with modesty and received with caution. MOI 76.2

The resurrection is the great event for which the sacred writers looked and longed. It was the hope of the patient Job: “I know that my Redeemer liveth,” exclaims he in the assurance of faith, “and that he will stand at the latter day upon the earth. And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God.” Job 19:24, 26. This was the satisfactory hope of the psalmist David: “As for me,” he says, “I will behold Thy face in righteousness: I shall be satisfied when I awake with thy likeness.” Psalm 17:15. To the same theme Isaiah tuned the lyre, and this was the burden of his joyful song: “Thy dead men shall live, together with my dead body shall they arise. Awake and sing, ye that dwell in dust; for thy dew is as the dew of herbs, and the earth shall cast out the dead.” Isaiah 26:19. It was the hope of the apostle Paul through all his manifold sufferings and toil. For this he could take up any cross and sacrifice any temporal good. And if he could esteem his afflictions, his troubles on every side, his perplexities, persecutions, stripes, imprisonments and perils; - if he could esteem all these but light afflictions, yea, if he could utterly lose sight of them, it was in view of the “glory which shall be revealed in us,” “knowing,” says he, “that he which raised up the Lord Jesus, shall raise up us also by Jesus, and shall present us with you.” 2 Corinthians 4:14. He could count all things loss, if by any means he might attain to a resurrection [exanastasis] out from among the dead. Philippians 3:8-11. MOI 77.1

And well might prophets and apostles look forward with joyful anticipation to this glorious event; for it is when this takes place, and not before, that they are to receive their reward. Notice particularly this point. Mark the time which the Bible designates as the time of reward to the righteous and of punishment to the wicked. You will find it to be not at death; but at the resurrection. Thus the Saviour teaches: “But when thou makest a feast, call the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind; and thou shalt be blessed; for they cannot recompense thee; for thou shalt be recompensed,” not at death, but, “at the resurrection of the just.” Luke 14:13, 14. MOI 78.1

Mark also the language by which the Lord would restrain that voice of weeping which was heard in Ramah. When Herod sent forth and slew all the children in Bethlehem from two years old and under, in hopes thereby to put to death the infant Saviour, then was fulfilled, says Matthew, what was spoken by the prophet, “In Ramah there was a voice heard, lamentation, and weeping, and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children, and would not be comforted, because they were not.” But what said the Lord to Rachel? See the original prophecy, Jeremiah 31:15-17: “Thus saith the Lord, refrain thy voice from weeping, and thine eyes from tears; for thy work shall be rewarded, saith the Lord; and they shall come again from the land of the enemy. And there is hope in thine end, saith the Lord, that thy children shall come again to their own border.” Not thus would the mourning Rachels of the 19th century be comforted by the professed shepherds of the flock of Christ. They would tell them, Refrain thy voice from weeping; for thy sons are now angel cherubs chanting glad anthems round the throne of the Eternal. But the Lord points the mourners in Ramah forward to the resurrection for their hope; and though till that time their children “were not,” or were out of existence, in the land if death, the great enemy of our race, yet, says the Lord, they shall come again from the land of the enemy, they shall return again to their own border, and thy work shall be rewarded; and he bids them refrain their voices from weeping, their eyes from tears, and their hearts from sorrow, in view of that glorious event. MOI 78.2

The apostles represent the day of Christ’s coming and the resurrection as the time when the saints will receive their crowns of glory. Says Peter, “And when the chief Shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away.” 1 Peter 5:4. And Paul says that there is laid up for him a crown of righteousness, and not for him only, but for all those also that love his appearing, and which shall be given him in that day [the day of Christ’s appearing]. These holy apostles were not expecting their crowns of reward sooner than this. MOI 79.1

This is more directly stated in 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18. “For I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren,” says Paul, “concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not even as others which have no hope.” In what respect would he not have us ignorant concerning them? Of their present condition, of course, and their future destiny. As to their present condition, the text bears upon the very face of it, the declaration that they are asleep; and as to their future destiny, he tells us that they shall not always remain asleep; but “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.” Ah, there is the grand fulcrum of their hope - the coming of Christ and the resurrection of the dead. And Paul continues, “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.” Whoever believes this testimony, must dissent from the commonly received opinion; for the apostle plainly declares that it is by this means, viz., a resurrection and being caught up, that we go to be with the Lord, and not by going to Heaven, as a conscious spirit or soul at death. Mark it! The Lord shall come, the dead shall be raised, we shall all be caught up, and so shall we ever be with the Lord. And Paul continues, “Wherefore comfort one another with these words.” Here the apostle gives us plain instruction in view of death and those who have fallen therein. He points out our true hope in such cases, and tells us by what words we should comfort one another. But how many think you, reader, would strive at the present day to comfort their mourning friends with such words as these? How many out of any one hundred popular ministers which you might select in the land, would make the least allusion to such a train of argument, if called to officiate in the last service of respect which we here pay to the departed? Not many, we think. Would not the voice of their consolation consist rather of such language as the following - language used by the Rev. Mr. Cowen, Presbyterian minister, at the funeral occasion of the Hon. Mr. Benton, of St. Louis:- MOI 79.2

“Dear friends, your loss is his infinite gain. He is now perfectly and forever free from sorrow, toil and pain. His sun has risen to set no more. His day has dawned never to be succeeded by another night. The last storm has spent its fury upon him. The sea of life he has crossed, and is now safely moored in the haven of eternal rest. His bliss is complete. His coronation day is passed. A crown of glory is his. He has been attired from Heaven’s wardrobe. He is clothed in peerless, spotless white. He has joined the choir of the redeemed. He has attuned his voice to the sweet music of the skies. MOI 80.1

“‘Hark! the thrilling symphonies Seem, methinks, to seize us.’” MOI 81.1

The reader can but mark, at least, the contrast which exists between the language of the Bible and that of popular theology, when speaking respectively upon this subject. MOI 81.2

But further: Future existence itself is made to depend on the resurrection. The teaching of the Bible everywhere is - No resurrection, no future life. “This is the Father’s will which sent me,” says Jesus, “that of all which he hath given me, I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day.” John 6:39. The import of this scripture unquestionably is, that if he did not raise it up at the last day, it was lost. MOI 81.3

But the reader is requested to notice particularly the reasoning of Paul in 1 Corinthians 15. So pointed is his testimony that we can do no better than to transcribe a few verses entire. Verses 12-23. “Now if Christ be preached that he rose from the dead, how say some among you that there is no resurrection of the dead? But if there be no resurrection of the dead, then is Christ not risen: and if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain. Yea, and we are found false witnesses of God; because we have testified of God that he raised up Christ: whom he raised not up, if so be that the dead rise not. For if the dead rise not, then is not Christ raised: and if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins. Then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished. If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable. But now is Christ from the dead, and become the first-fruits of them that slept. For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. But every man in his own order: Christ the first-fruits; afterward they that are Christ’s at his coming.” MOI 81.4

Several points are clearly set forth in this testimony of Paul’s. He declares that if there is no resurrection of the dead, Christ is not risen; and if Christ is not risen, then they which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished! Could he speak thus of those whose vigorous, conscious and immortal spirits were living right on despite the hour of death, and all the more vital and conscious on account of that event? Are such perished unless the scattered particles of the inanimate body be gathered up again? Far from it. Then we must conclude that such is not the condition of man; that there is no part of him which survives in a conscious state when he goes down into the grave; for the apostle declared that unless he comes forth again from the grave, he is perished, that is the end of him, he is irrecoverably and forever gone. MOI 82.1

The apostle carries out the same idea further along, when he declares that all his efforts, self-denial, labors and sufferings, are all in vain, if the dead rise not. “What advantageth it me,” says he, “if the dead rise not?” And in this case he intimates that we may as well make the best of an unfortunate condition, and eat and drink, for tomorrow we die! How, as with a thunderbolt from Heaven, is the popular theory scathed and shivered by this reasoning of the great apostle! MOI 82.2

But he does not leave us to this alternative; for Christ has arisen, he declares. Glorious fact! and glorious pledge of the resurrection of the saints! There is then a resurrection to come. The race shall again be made alive. “As in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. But every man in his own order: Christ the first-fruits, afterward they that are Christ’s at his coming.” MOI 82.3

When our Saviour was about to leave his sorrowful disciples, he told them that he was going to prepare a place for them: he informed them moreover of his design that they should ultimately be with himself. But how was this to be accomplished? Was it through death, by which a deathless spirit would be released to soar away to meet its Saviour? No: but, says he, I will come again and receive you to myself, that where I am there ye may be also. Should any say that this coming of the Saviour is at death, we reply, that the disciples of our Lord did not so understand it. See John 21:22, 23. Jesus incidentally remarked concerning one of his followers, “If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee? follow thou me;” and the saying went immediately abroad among the disciples, on the strength of these words, that that disciple should not die. MOI 83.1

The eminent and pious Joseph Alleine also testifies: “But we shall lift up our heads because the day of our redemption draweth nigh. This is the day I look for, and wait for, and have laid up all my hopes in. If the Lord return not, I profess myself undone; my preaching is vain, and my suffering is vain. The thing you see is established, and every circumstance is determined. How sweet are the words that dropped from the precious lips of our departing Lord! What generous cordials hath he left us in his parting sermon and his last prayer! And yet of all the rest these are the sweetest: ‘I will come again and receive you unto myself’ that where I am there ye may be also. What need you any further witness?” MOI 83.2

By this view the coming of Christ and the resurrection of the dead are allowed to hold that place of pre-eminent importance and glory which the Scriptures everywhere ascribe to them. And whatever theory would make it otherwise, thereby gives prima facie evidence of being radically defective. The coming of Christ and the resurrection of the dead! The stupendous and all-consummating crisis of this world’s history! Lose not sight of them; rob them not of their importance. Alas that men should so far depart from that form of doctrine delivered unto them in the holy oracles, as to close these the glorious and only portals of immortality, and endeavor to get men into Heaven “some other way.” MOI 83.3

We come now to the third and last division of our subject, which is, MOI 84.1