4-26-14. Resurrection of the Just
COMPILED BY: FILLMER HEVENER, ED.D.
As Vice President, George Bush represented the U.S. at the funeral of former Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev. Bush was deeply moved by a silent protest carried out by Brezhnev's widow. She stood motionless by the coffin until seconds before it was closed. Then, just as the soldiers touched the lid, Brezhnev's wife performed an act of great courage and hope, a gesture that must surely rank as one of the most profound acts of civil disobedience ever committed: She reached down and made the sign of the cross on her husband's chest. There in the citadel of secular, atheistic power, the wife of the man who had run it all hoped that her husband was wrong. She hoped that there was another life, and that that life was best represented by Jesus who died on the cross, and that the same Jesus might yet have mercy on her husband.
Job clearly expressed his understanding of how, despite his body being eaten by worms in the grave, he would, in a bodily form, receive his reward: "My redeemer liveth, and...shall stand at the latter day upon the earth: and though after my skin worms destroy this body ("after my skin is destroyed", R.A.V.), yet in my flesh (or bodily form) shall I see God: whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and not another: though my reins be consumed within me" (Job 19:25-27). Isaiah's hope was THE SAME: "My dead body shall...arise" (Isa. 26:19).
MATT. 24:3—ONWARD: SIGNS OF END OF WORLD AND CHRIST’S SECOND COMING (AS LIGHTNING FLASHES FROM THE EAST TO THE WEST, HE SHALL BE SEEN.)
Name the principal result of man's fall.
"Wherefore as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned." Rom. 5:12. 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." Ecc. 9:10. (DEAD KNOW NOT ANYTHING, ECCL 9:5,6.)
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.
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. (John 5: 26-29).
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.
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.
How long do the others wait after the first resurrection?
"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. This is the first resurrection." Rev. 20:4, 5.
When are the righteous recompensed?
"For thou shalt be recompensed at the resurrection of the just." Luke 14:14.
In what condition did David expect to rise?
"As for me, I will behold Thy face in righteousness: I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with Thy likeness." Ps. 17:15.
What great contrast will be seen between the present body, and the one to be put on at 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 in a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body." 1 Cor. 15:42-44.
After whose body will the 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.
How long will they be permitted to 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.
What will become of those who are unworthy of a part in the first resurrection?
"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.
What will then take place?
"The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death." 1 Cor. 15:26.
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.
CONCLUSION: EARS= LET US HEAR THE MESSAGE OF HOPE OF ETERNAL LIFE THROUGH JESUS CHRIST, OUR LORD, MASTER , AND SAVIOR.
LIFE SHALL PREVAIL OVER DEATH!!
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PRAY