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XI.
Life Only In Christ
Chapter 113
:
The Two Resurrections
1. WHAT comes to all
men as the result of the fall?
"In Adam all die." 1 Cor.
15:22. See also Rom. 5:12.
2. Where do all go at
death?
"All go unto one place; all
are of the dust, and all turn to dust
again." Eccl. 3:20.
3. In what condition is
man while in the grave? "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." Eccl. 9:10.
NOTE.-That is, man, when dead, has no use of
the powers of mind or body. He cannot,
therefore, while in the grave, praise God,
or even think of Him (Ps. 6:5); for in the
day he dies his thoughts perish. Ps.
146:2-4. See preceding reading.
4. What has been
promised in order that man may be redeemed from
this condition?
"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.
5. Through whom will
come this redemption from the grave?
"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." 1 Cor. 15:21,22.
6. What would have been
the result to the dead had not Christ procured
their release from the grave?
"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." Verses 16-18.
7. Why did God give His
only begotten Son to the world?
"For God so loved the world, that He
gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever
believeth in Him should not perish, but have
everlasting life." John 3:16.
8. What did the
Sadducees in Christ's time deny?
"Then came to Him certain of the
Sadducees, which deny that there is any
resurrection." Luke 20:27.
9. How did Christ, from
the Old Testament Scriptures, prove the
resurrection?
"Now that the dead are raised, even
Moses showed at the
bush, when he calleth the Lord the God of
Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of
Jacob. For He is not a God of the dead, but of
the living: for all live unto Him." Verses
37,38.
NOTE.-That is, in view of the resurrection-
of the fact that there is to be a
resurrection- all live unto God. In His
purpose, all are alive. It is in this sense
that Paul speaks of God as the one "who
quickeneth the dead, and calleth those
things which be not as though they were."
Rom. 4:17.
10. Under what
illustration from nature are the resurrection
and the final salvation of the righteous taught?
"That which thou sowest is not
quickened, ~xcept it die." 1 Cor. 15:36.
"Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn
of wheat fall into the ground and die, it
abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth
much fruit." John 12:24.
NOTES.-The seed dies to spring forth into
new life. In this we are taught the lesson
of the resurrection. All who love God will
spring forth to life, and live again through
endless ages in the earth made new.
The Open Grave.- The truth of the
resurrection has been forcibly illustrated
by the following incident: In the city of
Hanover, Germany, is a grave known as "The
open grave." It is that of a woman, an
infidel German princess, who died over one
hundred years ago, and who, on her
death-bed, gave orders that her grave should
be covered with a great marble slab,
weighing perhaps a ton, surmounting solid
blocks of stone firmly bound together with
clasps of iron, with this inscription placed
on the lowermost stone of the tomb: "This
grave purchased for eternity, must never be
opened." But no human device can thwart the
plans of God, or hinder the workings of life
from Him. It happened, providentially no
doubt, that a birch-tree seed was buried
with the princess. Soon it began to sprout.
Its tiny shoot, soft and pliable at first,
found its way up through the ponderous
stones of the massive masonry. Slowly and
imperceptibly, but with irresistible power,
it grew, until at last it burst the bands of
iron asunder, and opened this
never-to-be-opened grave, leaving not a
single stone in its original position. What
a rebuke to infidelity! and what a mute but
striking promise that, erelong, in God's own
time, all graves shall be opened, and the
sleeping ones awake from their dusty beds!
11. Where are the dead
when they hear the voice of Christ calling them
to life?
"Marvel not at this: for 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.
12. How many distinct
classes will have a resurrection?
"There shall be a resurrection of the
dead, both of the just and unjust."
Acts 24:15.
13. By what terms did
Christ refer to the two resurrections?
"All that are in the graves shall
hear His voice, and shall come forth; they that
have done good, unto the resurrection of
life; and they that have done evil, unto
the resurrection of damnation." John
5:28,29.
14. When will the
resurrection of the just occur?
"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." 1 Thess. 4:16. See also 1 Cor.
15:23.
15. When are the
righteous to be recompensed?
"For thou shalt be recompensed at
the resurrection of the just." Luke 14:14.
16. In what condition
did David expect to rise?
"As far me, I will behold Thy face in
righteousness: I shall be satisfied, when I
awake, with Thy likeness." Ps. 17:15.
17. What great contrast
will be seen between the present body and the
one to be put on in the resurrection?
"So also is the resurrection of the
dead. It is sown in
corruption; it is raised in
incorruption: it is sown in dishonor;
it is raised in glory; it is sown in
weakness; it is raised in power; it
is sown a natural body; it is raised a
spiritual body." 1 Cor. 15:42-44.
18. After whose body
will these resurrected ones be fashioned?
"We look for the Saviour, the Lord
Jesus Christ: who shall change our vile body,
that it may be fashioned like unto His
glorious body." Phil. 3:20,21.
19. What will the
righteous do upon rising from the grave?
"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." Isa. 26:19.
20. In what words will
their triumph over death and the grave be
expressed? ,
"O death, where is thy sting? O
grave, where is thy victory?" 1 Cor. 15:55.
21. How long will they
live?
"Neither can they die any more:
for they are equal unto the angels; and are the
children of God, being the children of the
resurrection." Luke 20:36.
22. How long do the
other class wait after the first resurection
before they are raised?
"And they [the righteous] lived and
reigned with Christ a thousand years. But the
rest of the dead lived not again until the
thousand years were finished." Rev. 20:4,5.
23. What is to be their
fate?
"And fire came down from God out of
heaven, and devoured them." Verse 9.
24. Who are to share
this fate?
"But the fearful, and
unbelieving, and the abominable, and
murderers, and whoremongers, and
sorcerers, and idolaters, and
all liars, shall have their part in the lake
which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is
the second death." Rev. 21:8.
25. What is the last
enemy to be destroyed?
"The last enemy that shall be
destroyed is death." 1 Cor. 15:26. See
Rev. 20:13,14.
26. How will the
righteous ever afterward appear?
"Then shall the righteous shine
forth as the sun in the kingdom of their
Father, Who hath ears to hear, let him hear."
Matt. 13:43. |
