The Present Truth, vol. 4
March 1, 1888
“The Resurrection” The Present Truth 4, 5.
E. J. Waggoner
We have seen that the object of our Lord’s second coming is to take his people to himself. And it has also been shown that Christ coming is not at the death of the saints, but that the only coming spoken of is a literal, personal coming in power and glory. From John 14:1-3 we draw the necessary conclusions that if is coming (yet in the future) is for the express purpose of taking his people to himself, then none of his people can be with him until he comes. This fact is plainly stated by Paul in the eleventh of Hebrews. After having given a list “of the faithful ones of whom the world was not worthy,”-those who “through faith subdued kingdoms, brought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouth of lions, quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong” (verses 33, 34),-as well as those who “had trial of cruel mockings and scourgings, yea, moreover, of bonds and imprisonment,” the apostle concludes thus: “And these all, having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise; God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect.” Verses 39, 40. This is an explicit statement that even the martyrs of old must wait for their reward until we who are alive receive ours. PTUK March 1, 1888, page 66.1
And this is exactly what our Saviour said. As he was one day eating in the House of a Pharisee, he took occasion to give some instruction concerning hospitality. Said he: “When thou makest a dinner or a supper, call not thy friends, nor thy brethren, neither thy kinsmen, nor thy rich neighbours; lest they also bid thee again, and a recompense be made thee. 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 at the resurrection of the just.” Luke 14:12-14. PTUK March 1, 1888, page 66.2
There is to be but one reward given. Of those who looked for a return for their charities in this life, who gave alms to be seen of men, the Lord said, “They have their reward.” Matthew 6:1, 2. The applause of men, or an equivalent for the gift, is all they need expect; but those who live lives of unselfishness shall receive an everlasting recompense “at the resurrection of the just.” The words of Christ, “Behold, I come quickly, and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be” (Revelation 22:12), show that the resurrection, when the reward is given, is at the coming of Christ. And so again we have found that the righteous receive no reward till Jesus comes. PTUK March 1, 1888, page 66.3
The proposition, already approved, is sustained by many other plain declarations of Scripture. Let us once more refer to Paul’s words to the Thessalonians: “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.” 1 Thessalonians 4:16, 17. PTUK March 1, 1888, page 66.4
Nothing can be plainer than this; the apostle has carefully guarded against any possibility of mistake. It is “the Lord himself” who comes. He comes, not secretly, but with “a shout,” and “with the trump of God,” whose reverberations shake the earth. That mighty blast awakens the millions of sleeping saints,-those who have died in faith, not having received the promise,-and they rise. This is the first thing accomplished. Then the living ones,-those who “remain until the coming of the Lord,”-are caught up “together with them” (those who have just been raised from the dead) in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air. This work of gathering the saints together is performed by the angels at the bidding of Christ see Matthew 24:30, 31. PTUK March 1, 1888, page 66.5
“And so,” the apostle says, “shall we ever be with the Lord.” The word “so” means “in this manner,” “by this means.” How is it, then, that we go to be with the Lord? By the resurrection of the dead, and the translation of the living. There is no other way brought to view in the Bible, by which we can be with the Lord. PTUK March 1, 1888, page 66.6
The doctrine of the resurrection of the dead is not a product of the New Testament alone. When Abraham was called upon to offer up Isaac, he obeyed, “accounting that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead.” Hebrews 11:19. When Job was suffering not only physical torture, but the anguish of being deserted and despised by all his friends and acquaintances, his faith in the coming of the Lord and the resurrection of the dead still sustained him. From his lips came this sublime utterance: “For I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall 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.” PTUK March 1, 1888, page 66.7
Isaiah, in prophetic vision looking down the ages and beholding the troubles of the church, utters these consoling words: “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. Hosea, favoured with a similar view, speaks as in Christ’s stead, and says of the people of God: “I will ransom them from the power of the grave; I will redeem them from death; O death, I will be thy plagues; O grave, I will be thy destruction.” Hosea 13:14. PTUK March 1, 1888, page 66.8
We have space in this article for only one more quotation. The prophet David, putting himself in the place of the church, and considering the persecution which it must endure “from men of the world, which have their portion in this life,” anticipates the words of Paul in the eleventh of Hebrews, and says: “As for me, I will behold thy face in righteousness; I shall be satisfied when I awake with thy likeness.” Psalm 17:15. When will the saints be in the likeness of Christ? The beloved disciple says: “We know that when he shall appear, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.” John 3:2. David, therefore, it did not look for satisfaction until the Lord’s coming; but if he could have gone to heaven at death, that certainly would have satisfied him. PTUK March 1, 1888, page 67.1
The following comments on Psalm 17:15, by Dr. Barnes, will be read with interest:- PTUK March 1, 1888, page 67.2
“‘I shall be satisfied.’ while they are satisfied with this world, I shall be satisfied only when I awake in the likeness of my God. Nothing can meet the wants of my nature; nothing can satisfy the aspirations of my soul, until that occurs. ‘When I awake.’ This is language which would be employed only by one who believed in the resurrection of the dead, and who was accustomed to speak of death as a sleep-a calm repose in the hope of a waking to a new life.... The obvious interpretation of the passage, therefore, so far as its sense can be determined from the connection, is to refer it to the awaking in the morning of the resurrection; and there is nothing in the language itself, or in the known sentiments of the psalmist, to forbid this interpretation.... ‘With thy likeness.’ Or, in thy likeness; that is, resembling thee.... I regard this passage, therefore, as one of the incidental proofs scattered through the Old Testament, which showed that the sacred writers under that dispensation believed in the doctrine of the resurrection of the dead; that their language was often based on the knowledge and belief of that doctrine, even when they did not expressly affirm it, and that in times of trouble, and under the consciousness of sin, they sought their highest consolation, as the people of God do now, from the hope and the expectation that the righteous dead will rise again, and that in a world free from trouble, from sin, and from death, they would live for ever in the presence of God, and find their supreme happiness in being made wholly like him.” PTUK March 1, 1888, page 67.3
E. J. WAGGONER.