The Pulpit Commentary — Revelation — Section 441

, Vera. ll~15.-ne ~ur,drum the dead. This :peragraph is an amazingly ~m~ pelliled ell!:hatology. We h~ . ~ y l!tudied.the Soripture teaphing on "the 4ay 0£ whw.b .will m9,rk that day. Qne ,of. t• $bil, Lord • which it. opens :up ,to Ullo We ,have. now .to look, at .the dread incident, is iudicated by f.hlt words, " I. 88 w the deaq. the great and the small, !1tandi,01fbefAr&the throne. • ~ • And:theseagave.up th,e~ which wer41,ih it; ud., daM;h. and,J:Jadi'S, giiv.e uptliA !l.8!14 that W,ere in them.":, We wiU, with · these ,words ·Mc: 9ur . ~tr&.point, survey the. QOO.trine. .. in the light, ~ ~ paeral teilor oU3eripture. . . 1 , , , . • . . • . , . l., A.'1', 'l'U OOJ(INQ QJH>QII liQilD JB!JV8 CHIUST TBBB& WiU,,I., ,BB A GBNEBAL. IUCilJ.,., U9fIPH ~·.fflB DBAD; . 'J'ber• is nothing in Scripture toJead to the co1;1clu11ion ihaUhere,•will be two bodily.{GBorrec~oos. , .'l'hose which &fil mainly supposed to teach it d<1 not. Otkent teach precisely ,!;he eontrary, 1. The,re are two passages which are .uioog the,pr.incipal,on81\ that are adi}uced for the doc~rine of two bodily res~rectiona, ,one -Of the- l!&ints, ,and afterwards of the wicked. (1) The :6.rst is 11h. xx. 3., '.l'his we •have .d~t.with in the homily on ver. 4. (2) The other is 1 Thess. iv. 16,· whi,i;:h is looked,at by some as If iHaughUhat the qead in Christ should rise first, and the, delMl ,OUt'Of Christ afterwards. But the antiihesis ia not between the dead fa Uhrid and ether ®ad. bui between the tleaa jn, Ch~t and those who al'Q living at the coming of the :Lord. .First. t.he dead ; tJ.en we w•o are alive. 2. Other passages leave duitinctly ~ the mind the impression or _one ,re11urreotion, not of two; e.g. John v. 28; Mau. ~v. 41; Acts xxiv. 15; l)an. xii. 2. We are pointed to one day or time, whether Scripture spooks of the righteous, or or the wicked, or of both. (1) Of the righteoua ' ,(2 Th8811.. i. 10; Heb. ix. 28; 1 John iL 28, 29; iv.17; Phil. i. 10; iii. 20, 2L). (2) ,()f the wicked (Rom. iL 6; 2 Pet. iii. 7, 13). (3) Of both (Matt. vii. 21-28 i x. 32, 1 Let the student study earefnll1 (in the origin11>,) :::u.. li. 6; Pa. cxl-,. 13: Eph. iii. 21; Bob. vii HJ Ila; xiii. 30, 42, 43; xvi. 27; uv.; Acts xviL 3l; Rom. ii 6, 16; xiv. 10; 1 Cor. ·, iii. 1.2-15; 2 Thcss. i. 7-10). It is scarcely t.oo much_ to say that it is Jm,posaible to explain all these pas.sages except on the suppoaition that there is to· 1>e • resnrrectlon ' of the dead, both of the just and of ~e qnjust.. There is, h&wever, anuther pa,lti8ge, whlch, if possible, is more deoisive .still, vJz. John !i~.1!.?.i 49,..~4.JH. Here it. is four, • thnes state:d that. the riisurrection of the believefS sliail take plllC!l ai the last ~ . 'l'!hich conld not be if t~t of the wicked were separated:from it. and appoinwd fur a later. period. _ '.QJ.ere will be one resurrection from tjie dead. _ . _1: IL W,B~T WILL TRB ~URBEQTION BK? Granted that it will be of all ,l.he,.del\d. ('John v. 28): what is meant by it? We reply-I, wiJl bt a rUt1Tr6Ctioa o f ~ :t. The bodies r,f the righteous will rise (Phil Ui. 21; 1 Cor. xv. 43; Rom. vUi. 11, 23). 2. The bodies of the wicked will rise (John v. 29; Acts :xxiv. 15; Matt.,v, ~9. 30t Mark ix. 43-47; Matt. i. 28; 2 Cor. v. 10, Greek), 'l'he da.!l will rue with~ whic,h will be according to character, and which will contain. within themlll!lves ~riilioit for joy or woo. Query: llave we any due in Scripture as. t.Q .Lhe relation whieh exi$1 between the body that is laid in the grave and that which will rise from it.? ,We reply-Not any direct clue; but we have a very clear statement of an apostle in l_ Gor. xv. 36--38, concerning four well-,known prineiples ~nd methods. of God in the natutnt worlil; and if we.. apply these, as.he wouhlhave us do, to the doctrine in hand, w~ B;ha.ll Jind. many difficulties cleared out of tbe way. 'l'he. four facts are these, (1) 'rhe111 canl,e no rising without a pr_evious sowing and decay. (2) 'l'he hody that is sown is. ~ the boqy that shall be. (3) Yet to every sted there is its own. body. (~) 'l'he r~la.tion between the ,two ~ a secret in t~ mind of God. "God giveth it a body IUI it bath pleased him." If these are home in mind and carried out t.o their legitima:~ iseue, they will leave us DO cUfficulty in the matter save the one, thal we do not hu,u, ~~ef~~' . - Ill How WJLL T,llB REBUBUOTION BE KFFEOTED? 1. lly the power.of God (Matt.. xxii. 21.1). 2. By the autl\ority,ofthe Lqrd Jesus Christ (John v. 28, 29; .Phil. iii._21), 3. :Sy the energy of ~e Holy Ghost (Rom. viii ~1). 4. Angt'ls will be the artenrlmJt{I' and.'insJruments (Matt". xiii. 3~41; 1 'l'hess,_· iv. 16). .If we here do little more thiw. quote Scrip_ t~e, it :is because that is all-that we can do•. We kn6w. nothi.ng more aboqt( the rei;prrection than we are told by our Lord, and hu apostles. We cannot Jorg~ that Jhe Redeemer, in his xp.einOlllble reply to the Sa.dducee1r in which he, &bowed tbeDJ< tp.at tl)eir blund~ring over _the dootrine arose from i~norance of Scripture; alBP poin~ out in what the real glory of the . resurrection COllSlllts, vjz, not in .the repfQducing of_ like drsh Jlnd blood, nor in the repetition of an earthly life, but in the raisiog1 of the, entire man to a life of nobler energy, in which it would be possible for him to nalb=- the full meaning r,f th~ words, "I am the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and -Of .j400b,!' He who W'8 their God would .be· to them all that a Goq .could be, and wquld rai,ei them up an4. p~t, the~. to himself in all the perfeotion of • e;omplete and gloru).~ man~ood, . . . .r IV. 01'1 WlUT GROOW) ~y OUB BELIE1!' DI THB RBSUBRIICTlOli SECURELY REST?. There is one'groiind wbjch_iB s,wticient in itself, viz. the testimony o/ Jeau, Ohnat - · his aposfles. Well awa{e are WI! that this is an age of revolt from authority. Or, rather, it is supposed to be 80. And men thiuk that they r~quire clear proof from; actual experiment befor~ they believe, But a little close examination wiU ,lispol8 of this $ll-la.udatory theoty. · ·For first, if the proof of z be direct and personal, l,S11ed on his own trial, to him .the issue is knowledge, not faith. And aooon,1, uni- his own proof cap be rt.ipeated or actually is repeated by others, tmiy must accept a.nother'11 find.ing on faith in him. And 80 it is in the entire scientific realm. There is no man of scienee that does not ow~ to the e~periruents of others ninei.y-nine huudredths of all h~ knowledge. In other words, the great bulk of scientific knowledge rests on the autb{)- rity of others. 'l'here are 'three kinds of authority which will stand as long as the race lasts. (1) That of MJ"sona.l proprietorship. (2) That of adequate knowledge. (3) 'fhat of intrinsic and self-evident trut,h or worth. With regard to the r..surrection. The Lord Jesus Chri~ as Lord of all, has authority of the first-uamed order. Hill apostles, as taught by t4e Holy Ghost, have authority of the st-cond order. Hence the q1testion between faith and unhelii,f regarding Lhe resurrectiou cca11ea to be one of the surrender vf authority ad a iruuuJ of faith, aaJ. hecomw; merely one of Lhe tr&n11flll' -188 THB REVEtATION OF ST. JOHN THE J>1VINE. [on~ rl. 1-lff.