The Scripture Doctrine of a Future Life

BUT we have only commenced with the evidence. David says: "I will behold thy face in righteousness; I shall be satisfied when I awake with thy likeness." Ps. 17:15. When did he expect to see God's face? With Job, at the resurrection, when he should awake. Put Peter's testimony with this: "For David is not ascended into the heavens." Acts 2:34. No, he is waiting as Job is, in the sepulcher. Acts 2:29. He is to awake in the likeness of his Lord. We draw another idea from this. When is that to be? Paul says it is at the second advent of Christ; "For our conversation is in heaven; from whence also 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.

It is when the Saviour shall come that David will arise with a body fashioned like Christ's, in the likeness of his Lord. So John says: "We know that when he shall appear we shall be like him." 1 John 3:2. What harmony there is in the word of God! Everywhere we look, we find the inspired writers pointing to the resurrection as the grand period that shall confirm all the promises of God.

Some that deny the resurrection of the body claim that the resurrection spoken of in the Bible is simply the rising of the spirit to a higher life at the death of the body. To this senseless, not to say unscriptural, position are some driven, who, believing in the natural immortality of the soul, find no necessity for the resurrection of the body. But such a change as that would not be a resurrection. Webster's definition of the word is: "1. A rising again; the resumption of vigor; 2. Especially the rising again from the dead; the resumption of life." Now it is self evident that nothing can rise again that was not fallen; nothing can resume its vigor that has not lost it, and nothing can resume its life that has not been dead. According to the view referred to, the soul does not die; therefore it is absurd to talk of its resurrection. A resurrection, therefore, cannot take place at death; nor can it mean simply a change from one condition of life to another. It is the body of the man that dies, that is to be raised from the dead. Isaiah says: "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.

Language could not be more to the point. The very man that goes down into dust and rests among the worms shall hear, shall awake, shall answer, come forth, and sing. That will be a song of triumph that no one can sing unless he has been held in the prison house of death—the grave. It will run thus, "Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is thy sting! O grave, where is thy victory?" 1 Cor. 15:54, 55.

The Lord gave the prophet Ezekiel a very vivid picture of the resurrection. He showed him a valley full of dead men's bones, very dry. The Lord told him to prophesy unto them that they should live; and immediately they did live. Bones came together, sinews, and flesh came upon them, the breath of life from the four winds came into these bodies, and they lived. Then the Lord said unto him, "These bones are the whole house of Israel. . . . Behold, O my people, I will open your graves, and cause you to come up out of your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel." See Eze. 37. The hope of Israel, that which is the gateway to the promised land, indeed, is the resurrection from the dead. Daniel speaks of it thus: "And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake." Dan. 12:2. At that time, not at death, they go to their reward; for he adds in the same verse, "some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt." This shows that the wicked have not been in punishment, nor the righteous in the enjoyment of their reward till they awake in the resurrection. Then "they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars forever and ever." Verse 3. Then at the end of the world, when the angels have gathered together the saints, Matt. 24:3, when they have cast out the wicked, "then" and not before, "shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father." Matt. 13: 37-43. According to the so-called orthodox view, the righteous are shining forth now in the kingdom of their Father, but Daniel and Jesus both state that that will be after the resurrection and gathering of all the saints.

Let us look for a few moments at the teachings of him that spake as never man spake. When are the righteous to be rewarded, according to his testimony? at death or at the resurrection? "For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels; and then he shall reward every man according to his works." Matt. 16:27.

What takes place when the Son of man comes with his angels? The dead are raised; and then shall they be rewarded. This text utterly disproves the doctrine that men go to their reward at death, and shows conclusively that "every man" must wait till the second advent of Christ for his inheritance. The same thing is again stated in another place. "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; 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.

When do the righteous enter upon eternal life? Christ says it is at the resurrection, and when the wicked dead are raised, then, it is that they receive their sentence of damnation and are punished.

So opportune is the testimony of Job on this latter point that we introduce it here. He says: "One dieth in his full strength, being wholly at ease and quiet. . . . And another dieth in the bitterness of his soul. . . . They shall lie down alike in the dust, and the worms-shall cover them." Job 21:23-26.

Thus he speaks of the death of two classes, and leaves them alike in the dust. Then the question is raised, "Where are the dwelling places of the wicked?" and Job answers it by saying, "For ye say, Where is the house of the prince and where are the dwelling places of the wicked?" Have ye not asked them that go by the way and do ye not know their tokens, that the wicked is reserved to the day of destruction? they shall be brought forth to the day of wrath." Job 21:28-30.

Do ye not know their tokens? that is, you have asked where the wicked are; now do you not see the tokens of the dead; the tombstones, as ye pass, by the way? There they are, waiting in the dust till the day of destruction. Then they shall be brought forth to the day of wrath. It is useless to say that this has no reference to the soul, but simply to the body; for no such distinction is made here. But suppose that such is the case. Then this poor, senseless body, which is the irresponsible agent or organ of the soul, and which cannot think or feel, is to be brought forth to be punished at the day of wrath, for it is that which is buried in the grave that is thus brought forth; while the soul, the real, thinking, responsible man, the real culprit, goes free! Not a word is said about it. Is that sensible? It would be like hanging the knife and letting the assassin go. Away with this liberty to make the Bible mean a thousand things it does not say. What it says is sensible, and all parts agree. The testimony of Job in harmony with that of the Saviour places the punishment of the wicked beyond the resurrection.

Returning to the teachings of Christ, we accompany him to the grave of Lazarus. While on his way there, Martha met him, and said, "Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died." "Jesus saith unto her. Thy brother shall rise again. Martha saith unto him, I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day." John 11:21, 23, 24. This shows what the hope of Martha was. Her brother was dead, but she expected to meet him again, not at death, but when he should rise again in the resurrection at the last day. Jesus assured her that it was he that should raise the dead, even at the resurrection day. Verse 25. Then they proceed to the grave. Did Christ then look up to Heaven and call Lazarus down from the paradise of God, again to enter the body which he had lately put off? No. The grave "was a cave and a stone lay upon it. Jesus said, Take ye away the stone." Verses 38, 39. Then after offering thanks to his Father, "he cried with a loud voice. Lazarus come forth." And he that was dead came forth. Verses 43, 44. Yes; he that was dead came forth; Lazarus came forth from the grave. That is a sample of the resurrection of the great day to come.

Now let us notice what Paul says of the resurrection. At the outset we hear him state that he has hope toward God "that there shall be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and the unjust." Acts 24:15. For preaching that doctrine he was imprisoned, and kept bound with a chain for more than two years. Acts 24:27; 28:20. To King Agrippa he said, "And now I stand and am judged for the hope of the promise made of God unto our fathers." Acts 26:6. What was that hope? It was the hope of the resurrection, for he continues, "Why should it be thought a thing incredible with you, that God should raise the dead?" Verse 8. He had been preaching the resurrection of Christ. Acts 25:19; 26:23. On this he predicted, as we shall soon see, the resurrection of all men and the salvation of the righteous. Of such importance is the doctrine that he calls it the "hope of Israel." Acts 28:20. And it is the hope of the true Israel of God today.

People love to read of the devotion of Paul, and of the undaunted courage with which he bore his testimony at the loss of the earthly honor he had among his people, and at the peril of his life. Five times did he receive thirty-nine lashes on the bare back; three times was he beaten with rods; once he was stoned till they thought he was dead; he was in peril by sea and land, among strangers and at home; "in weariness and painfulness, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness." 2 Cor. 11:23-37. What sustained him amidst all this? What was his hope? Was it that he might go to Heaven at death? No; hear what he says: "For whom [Christ] I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, . . . that I may know him, and the power of his resurrection. . . . If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead." Phil. 3:8-11.

Paul's hope was in the resurrection of the dead. It was his faith in that which comforted him in all his sufferings. Accordingly he offers the same hope as a comfort to all who believe in the resurrection of Christ. He says: "For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. [That is, bring them from the dead as he did Jesus.] 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." 1 Thess. 4:14, 16-18.

What more comforting words than these could be spoken? When the blessed Redeemer shall come again, all of every kindred, nation, tongue, and people, and of every age, who sleep in Jesus, shall be raised from the dead just as Christ was raised from Joseph's new tomb; and meeting in one grand, innumerable, happy, immortal, and victorious throng, parents and children husbands and wives, brothers and sisters, and friends long separated, shall be escorted together to the mansions Jesus is now preparing for those that love him. And when, at the command of the King of kings, the pearly portals shall stand ajar, and he shall bid them "enter in through the gates into the city," may the reader and the writer of these lines be so unspeakably happy as to have a place in the ranks of that redeemed and glorified host.

Before passing these words of Paul, we call attention to the fact that he gives infinite importance to the resurrection. His language is a plain statement that at the second advent of Christ, all the saints of God, who have died, are to be found in the grave; that they are to be called out of the grave, and with the living righteous, taken up by the angels of God to meet the Lord in the air. Such language as this is utterly opposed to the idea that men go to Heaven at death. The resurrection must occur, or death is an endless sleep. And this is most directly proved by the language of Paul to the Corinthians. Speaking of the resurrection, he says: "For if the dead rise not, then is not Christ raised: And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; . . . Then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished." 1 Cor. 15:16-18.

Paul says, If the dead do not rise, if there be no resurrection of the dead, then they which are fallen asleep in Jesus are perished. The salvation of the people of God depends on the resurrection of the dead.

Now let us take a case to illustrate. Our opponents say that the righteous go immediately to Heaven, and enter into the joys that await them there. Then Abel has been there about six thousand years. Should the resurrection be put off six thousand years longer, it would be no less to him; and should it never take place, he would indeed be just as well off as in the other case. Then he would not have perished if the dead do not rise. Therefore Paul's language must be untrue, or that doctrine of going to Heaven at death false. Now suppose that Abel is sleeping in the grave. If the resurrection be delayed six thousand years longer, for six thousand years will he continue to lie unconscious in the dust. Should the resurrection never take place, he never would rise, he is perished indeed. If the dead rise not "then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished." To any candid truth-seeker, this one plain text will be found sufficient to settle the whole controversy. What then, shall be said of those who shall continue to oppose with the flickering rushlight of superstition and tradition the brilliant rays that emanate from the whole united word of God, declaring that man is mortal, the dead know not anything, they wait in the grave, and shall hear the voice of the Son of God at the resurrection day, when the saints of God shall come forth unto life eternal.

We behold our friends die. They waste away under the hand of disease. Pale and emaciated, they at last surrender to the enemy of the race. I know the hymn says: "Death is the gate to endless joy" in which case it would be our best friend; but the Bible calls it an "enemy," and says, that it at last shall be destroyed itself. 1 Cor. 15:26. Every man, woman, and child, meets it as enemy, fighting against its encroachments with all the energy of their being. But death conquers. We lay our loved ones down in its embrace, and they moulder into dust. "It is sown in corruption," says Paul; "It is sown in dishonor," "in weakness," "a natural body." But he does not stop there. "It," the same person that is buried, "It is raised in incorruption," "in glory," "in power," "it is raised a spiritual body." Verses 42-44. And then he says, "The trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we [those who are alive at the coming of Christ] shall be changed... For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality." Verses 52, 53. That is the time when the song of triumph will be raised, "Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?" Verse 54, 55.

To us the Bible doctrine of immortality through Christ alone, and the thought that all the redeemed are going to Heaien in one grand company when Jesus comes, has more beauty and intrinsic loveliness by far than the poetic view of being wafted to glory singly at death, a mere phantom floating away "beyond the bounds of time and space." Like our adorable Redeemer's glorified, spiritual body, we expect the bodies of his saints to consist of real flesh and bones; Luke 24:39, and that their final abode will be no less than the "heritage of Jacob," Isa. 58:14, the solid new earth. 2 Pet. 3:13; Isa. 66:22; Matt. 5:5.