The events which according to the common doctrine of the Church are to attend the second coming of Christ, are first, the general resurrection of the dead; second, the final judgment; third, " the end of the world ; " and fourth, the consummation of the kingdom of Christ.
§ 1. The General Resurrection. That there is to be a general resurrection of the just and of the unjust, is not, among Christians, a matter of doubt. Already in the book of Daniel xii. 2, it is said, " Many of them that sle^p in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt. And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament ; and they that turn many to righteousness, as stars for ever and ever." This prediction our Lord repeats without any limitation. " Mar- vel 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 v. 28, 29.) Again : " When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory : and before him shall be gathered all nations." (Matt, xxv. 31, 32.) Paul, in his speech before Felix (Acts xxiv. 15), avowed it as his own faith and that of his fathers that " there shall be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and unjust." John (Rev. xx. 12, 13) says : " I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God ; and the books were opened : and another book was opened, which is the book of life : and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it ; and death and hell gave up the dead which were in them."
838 PART IV. Ch. IV. — THE SECOND ADVENT.
The Time of this General Resurrection.
The uniform representation of Scripture on this subject is that this general resurrection is to take place " at the last day," or, at the second coming of Christ. The same form of expression is used to designate the time when the people of Christ are to rise, and the time when the general resurrection is to occur. The Bible, if the doubtful passage Revelation xx. 4-6 be excepted, never speaks of any other than one resurrection. The dead, ac- cording to the Scriptures, are to rise together, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt. When Christ comes, all who are in their graves shall come forth, some to the resurrection of life, and others to the resurrection of damnation. When in 1 Thessalonians iv. 16, it is said, " The dead in Christ shall rise first," it does not mean that there are to be two resur- rections, one of those who are in Christ, and the other of those who are not in Him. The Apostle is speaking of a different subject. He comforts the Thessalonians with the assurance, that their friends who sleep in Jesus shall not miss their part in the glories of the second advent. Those then alive should not pre- vent, i. e., precede, those who were asleep ; but, the dead in Christ should rise before those then living should be changed ; and then both should be caught up to meet the Lord in the air. The parallel passage is in 1 Corinthians xv. 51, 52, " We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twink- ling of an eye, at the last trump : for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed."
In 1 Corinthians xv. 23, 24, the Apostle, when speaking of the resurrection, says : " Every man in his own order : Christ the first fruits ; afterward they that are Christ's at his coming. Then cometh the end." This passage is often understood to teach that the resurrection takes place in the following order : (1.) That of Christ. (2.) That of his people. (3.) Then that of the rest of mankind. And as the resurrection of Christ and that of his peo- ple are separated by a long interval ; so the resurrection of the people of God and the general resurrection may also be separated by an interval of greater or less duration. This interpretation supposes that the word " end," as here used, means the end of the resurrection. To this, however, it may be objected, (1.) That it is opposed to the constant " usus loquendi " of the New Testa- ment. The " end," when thus used, always elsewhere means the end of the world. In 1 Peter iv. 7, it is said : " The end of all