Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit
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THE FIRST RESURRECTION
PART OF A SERMON DELIVERED ON SUNDAY MORNING, MAY 6TH,
1861, BY THE
Rev. C. H. SPURGEON
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And
I saw thrones, and they sat upon then, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw
the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word
of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had
received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they 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. Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection; on
such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of
Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years. - Rev 20: 4, 5, 6.
And
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.
Rev. 20: 12.
You will bear me witness, my
friends, that it is exceedingly seldom I ever intrude into the mysteries of the
future with regard either to the second advent, the millennial reign, or the
first and second resurrection. As often
as we come across it in our expositions, we do not turn aside from the point,
but if guilty at all on this point, it
is rather in being too silent than saying too much. And now, in bringing forward this question
this morning, I would say, I do not do it to amuse your curiosity by novelty,
or that I may pretend to have the true key of the prophecies which are as yet
unfulfilled. I scarcely think it would
be justifiable for me to spend my time upon prophetic studies for which I have
not the necessary talent, nor is it the vocation to which my Master has
ordained me. I think some ministers
would do far more for the profit of Gods people, if they would preach more
about the first advent and less about the second. But I have chosen this topic because I
believe it has practical bearings, and may be made useful, instructive, and
rousing to us all. I find that the most
earnest of the Puritanic preachers did not forbear to dwell upon this
mysterious subject. I turn to Charnock; and in his disquisition upon
the Immutability of God, he does not hesitate to speak of the conflagration of
the world, of the millennial reign, and the new heavens and new earth. I turn to Richard Baxter, a man who above all other men loved the souls of
men; who more perhaps than any man, with the exception of the apostle Paul,
travailed in birth for souls; and I find
him making a barbed arrow out of the doctrine of the coming of the Lord, and thrusting this great truth into the
very heart and conscience of unbelievers [i.e., A-Millennialists], as though it were heavens own sword. And John
Bunyan too - plain, honest John - he who preached so simply that a child
could comprehend him, and was certainly never guilty of having written upon his
forehead the word Mystery, he, too, speaks of the advent of Christ, and of the
glories which shall follow, and uses this doctrine as a stimulus to the saints,
and as a warning to the ungodly [amongst them]. I do
not think therefore I need tremble very
much if the charge should be brought against me of bringing before you an
unprofitable subject. It shall
profit if God shall bless the word; and if it be Gods word we may expect his
blessing if we preach it all, but he will withdraw it if we refrain from
teaching any part of his council because in our pretended wisdom we fancy that
it would not have practical effect.
Now, my dear friends, in
introducing again these texts to you, I shall just remark that in the first
text which relates to the people of God, we have three great privileges; and in the second text, which relates
to the ungodly who are not in covenant with Christ, we have three great and
terrible things which may soon be
perceived.
1. First of all, we will take
the first text with its THREE
PRIVILEGES. Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such
the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ,
and shall reign with him a thousand
years.
Before I proceed to enter into these privileges, I
must remark that two modes of understanding this verse have been proposed, both
of which I think are untenable. I have
been reading carefully through Albert
Barnes. He gives it, as his opinion,
that the first resurrection here spoken of is a resurrection of
principles, ‑ a resurrection of the patience, the undaunted courage,
the holy boldness and constancy of the ancient martyrs. He says these great principles have been
forgotten, and, as it were, buried; and that during the spiritual reign of Christ which is to come, these great principles will have a resurrection. Now, I appeal to you, would you, in reading
that passage, think this to be the meaning?
Would any man believe that to be its meaning, if he had not some thesis
to defend? The fact is, we sometimes
read Scripture, thinking of what it
ought to say, rather than what it does say.
I do not hesitate to affirm that any simple-minded person, who was
intent upon discovering the mind of the Spirit, and not upon finding a method
by which the words could be compelled to express his own mind, would say that the resurrection of principles, or the
resurrection of doctrines, does not give the fair meaning of the words here
stated. Brethren, cannot you perceive
at a glance that this is the resurrection of
men? And is it not a literal
resurrection, too? Does it not say, I saw the souls of
them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus? Is it not written, The rest of the dead lived not? Does this mean the rest of the dead
principles? the rest of the dead doctrines?
You cannot so translate it. It is
- we have no doubt whatever - a literal
resurrection of the saints of God, and not of principles nor of
doctrines. But another interpretation
has been proposed. I once had the
misfortune to listen to an excellent friend of mine who was preaching upon this
very text, and I must confess, I did not attend with very great patience to his
exposition. He said it meant, blessed
and holy is he who has been born again, who has been regenerated,
and so has had a resurrection from dead works by the resurrection of the Lord
Jesus Christ. All the while he was
preaching, I could not help wishing that I could propose to him the difficulty,
how he would make this metaphorical
interpretation agree with the literal fact, that the rest of the dead lived not
till the thousand years were finished?
For, if the first resurrection
here spoken of is a metaphorical, or spiritual, or typical resurrection, why
the next where it speaks of the resurrection of the dead must be spiritual, and
mystical, and metaphorical too. Now,
no one would agree to this. You know,
when you read a chapter, you are not to say, This
part is a symbol, and is to be read so, and the next part is to be read
literally. Brethren, the Holy
Ghost does not jumble metaphors and facts together. A typical book has plain indications that it
is so intended, and when you come upon a literal passage in a typical chapter,
it is always attached to a something else which is distinctly literal, so that
you cannot, without violence to common sense, make a typical meaning out of
it. The fact is, in reading this passage
with an unbiased judgment having no purpose whatever to serve, having no theory
to defend, - and I confess I have none, for I know but very little about
mysteries to come, - I could not help seeing there are two literal resurrections here spoken of, one of
the spirits [souls and bodies] of the just, and the other of the [souls and] bodies of
the wicked; one of the saints who sleep in Jesus, whom God shall bring with
him, and another of those who live and die impenitent, who perish in their
sins.
But this by way of preface to this first text. Let me now proceed. There are three
privileges in the text.
1. Now as to the first
privilege, the priority of resurrection. I think Scripture is exceedingly plain and
explicit upon this point. You have
perhaps imagined that all men will rise at the same moment; that the trump of
the archangel will break open every grave at the same instant, and sound in the
ear of every sleeper at the identical moment.
Such I do not think is the testimony of the Word of God. I think the Word of God teaches, and teaches
indisputably, that the [worthy] saints shall rise first. And be the interval of time whatever it may,
whether the thousand years are literal years, or a very long period of time, I
am not now about to determine; I have nothing to do except with the fact that
there are two resurrections, a
resurrection of the just, and afterwards of the unjust, - a time when the
saints of God shall rise, an aftertime when the wicked shall rise to the
resurrection of damnation. I shall now
refer you to one or two passages in Scripture, and you will use your Bibles and
follow me. First, let us look at the
words of the apostle in that chapter which we use generally as a burial
service, the first epistle to the Corinthians, 15:
20:- But now is Christ risen from the dead, and
become the firstfruits of them that slept.
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. But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christs at his coming.
Then cometh the end, when he shall
have delivered up the kingdom to God,
even the Father; when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and
power. There has been an
interval of two thousand years between Christ the
firstfruits and the afterward they that are Christs at his coming. Why
not then a thousand years between that first resurrection and the end?
Here is a resurrection of those who are Christs, and of them only. As for the wicked, one would scarce know that
they would rise at all from this passage, if it were not for the general
statement, All shall be made
alive, and even this may not be so comprehensive as at first sight
it seems. It is enough for me that there is here a particular and exclusive resurrection of those who are
Christs. Turn to another passage, which
is perhaps plainer still; the first epistle
to the Thessalonians, 4: 13:- But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning
them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no
hope. For if we believe that Jesus died
and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with
him. For this we say unto you by the
word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the
Lord shall not prevent, - or have a preference beyond them which are asleep.
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. Here is nothing
said whatever about the resurrection of the wicked: it is only stated that the
dead in Christ shall rise first. Our
apostle is evidently speaking of a first resurrection; and since we know that a
first resurrection implies a second, and since
we know that the wicked* dead are to rise as
well as the righteous dead, we draw the inference that the wicked dead shall
rise at the second resurrection, after the interval between the two
resurrections shall have been accomplished.
Turn to Philippians 3., verses 8 and 11,
and compare the two. Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the
excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered
the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ. That I may know him,
and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being
made conformable unto his death; If by any means I might attain unto the [out] resurrection [out]* of the dead. What does he mean here? Everyone will rise, no orthodox Christian
doubts that. The doctrine of a general
resurrection is received by all the Christian Church. What
then, is this resurrection after which Paul was exerting himself, if by any
means he might attain unto it?
It could not be the general resurrection; he would attain unto that live
as he list. It must have been some
superior resurrection of which only those shall be partakers who have known
Christ and the power of his resurrection, having been made conformable unto his
death. I think you cannot interpret this
passage, or give it any force of meaning, without you admit that there is to be
a prior resurrection of the just before
the resurrection of the unjust. If
you will turn to a passage in Luke 20::35,
which probably is fresh upon your memories. you will find there something which
I will venture to call a clear proof of
a special resurrection. The
Sadducees had proposed a difficulty as to the relationship of men and women in
the future state, and Jesus here says, But they which
shall be accounted worthy to
obtain that world [age], and the resurrection
[out]* from the dead neither marry, nor are given in marriage: 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.
Now, brethren, there is some
worthiness necessary for this resurrection.
Do you not perceive it? There is
some distinction involved in being called the children of the
resurrection. Now, again I say, you do
not doubt but that all shall rise. In
that sense, then, every man would be one of the children of the resurrection;
in that sense, no worthiness would be required for resurrection at all. There
must be, then, a resurrection for which worthiness is needed, a
resurrection which shall be a distinguished privilege, which being obtained,
shall confer upon its possessor the distinguished and honourable title of a child of [the] resurrection.
It seems to me that this is plain enough, and can be put beyond all
dispute. In chapter
14. of the same gospel, in verse 14,
you have a promise made to those who, when they make a feast, do not do it with
the intention of getting anything in return.
When thou makest a feast, call the poor, the
maimed, the lame, the blind: and thou shalt be blessed; for they cannot
recompense thee: for thou shalt be recompensed
at the resurrection of the just. I would not insist upon it that this would
prove that the just rose at a different time; but still there is to be a
resurrection of the unjust; and the time of recompense for the righteous is to
be the resurrection of the just, which is spoken of as being a particular
period. He might just as well have said,
Thou shalt be recompensed at the general resurrection. There was no need to have said, At the resurrection of the just, if the two are to
happen at the same time. The words of the just are superfluous in the passage, unless they do refer to some era
distinguished and distinct from the resurrection of the unjust. I will not say that this is any clear proof,
but still, all these things put together, with other passages I might quote if
time did not fail me, would, I think, establish upon a Scriptural basis the
doctrine of the two resurrections. But I
would refer to one more, which seems to me to be exceedingly clear, in John 6: 39,40,44, 54. In these verses the Saviour four times over
speaks of his own believing people,
and promises them a resurrection. I will raise him up at
the last day. Now, is there
any joy or beauty in this, to the people of God in particular, unless there be
a speciality in it for them? It is the
lot of all to rise, and yet we have here a privilege for the elect! Surely, brethren, there is a different
resurrection [for us, the redeemed of God, to attain unto]. Besides, there is yet a passage which now
springs to my memory in the Hebrews, where the apostle, speaking of the trials of the godly, and their noble endurance, speaks of them
as, not accepting deliverance that they might obtain a better resurrection. The
betterness was not in the after results of the resurrection, but in the
resurrection itself. How, then,
could it be a better resurrection, unless there be some distinction between the resurrection of the saint and the
resurrection of the sinner? Let the one
be a resurrection of splendour; let the other be a resurrection of gloom and
horror, and let there be a marked division between the two, that as it was in
the beginning, it may be even to the end, the Lord hath put a difference
between him that feareth God and him that feareth him not.
I am well aware that I have not been able to put the
argument so well but that any antagonist may cavil at it; but I have been
preaching to my own congregation rather than fighting with opponents, and I
hope you will take these passages and weigh them for yourselves, and if they do
not teach you that the dead in Christ shall rise first, do not believe me if I
say they do. If you cannot perceive the
fact yourself, if the Holy Spirit show it not unto you, why then read the
passage again, and then find if you can another and a better meaning. I have no purpose to serve except to make the
Scripture as plain to you as possible; and I say it yet again I have not the
shadow of a doubt in my own soul that these passages do teach us that there
shall first of all be a resurrection concerning which it shall be said, Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first
resurrection; on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests
of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.
2. I now pass to the second privilage here
promised to the godly. The second death
on them hath no power. This, too, is a
literal death; none the less literal because its main terror is spiritual, for
a spiritual death is as literal as a carnal death. The death which shall come upon the ungodly
without exception can never touch the righteous. Oh, brethren, this is the best of all. As for the first resurrection, if Christ hath
granted that to his people there must be something glorious in it if we cannot
perceive it. It
doth not yet appear what we shall be, but we know when he shall appear we shall
be like him. I think the glories of the first
resurrection belong to the glories which shall be revealed in us rather than
the glories that are revealed to us.
What shall be the majesty of that form in which we shall rise, what the distinguished
happiness we shall then enjoy, we can but guess at a distance, we cannot know
it to the full. But on this point we can
understand what Scripture states, and understand this much well, that
damnation, the second death, shall have no power on those who rise at the first
resurrection. How should it? How can damnation fall on any but those who
are sinners and are guilty of sin? But
the saints are not guilty of sin.* They have sinned like others, and they were
by nature the children of wrath even as others.
But their sin has been lifted from them: it was laid upon the
scapegoats head of old. He, the eternal
Substitute, even our Lord Jesus, carried all their guilt and their iniquity
into the wilderness of forgetfulness, where it shall never be found against
them for ever. They wear the Saviours
righteousness, even as they have been washed in his blood; and what wrath can
lie on the man who is not only guiltless through the blood, but is meritorious
through imputed righteousness! Oh, arm
of justice, thou art nerveless to smite the blood-washed! Oh, ye flames of hell, how could even so much
as a breath of your heat pass upon the man who is safe covered in the Saviours
wounds! How is it possible for you, O
Deaths, Destructions, Horrors, Glooms, Plagues, and Terrors, so much as to flit
like a cloud over the serene sky of the spirit which has found peace with God
through the blood of Christ! No,
brethren,
Bold
shall I stand in that great day;
For who aught to
my charge shall lay?
While, through
thy blood, absolved I am
From sins
tremendous curse and shame.*
There shall be a second death; but over us it shall
have no power Do you understand the beauty of the picture? As if we might walk through the flames of
hell and they should have no power to
devour us any more than when the holy children paced with ease over the hot
coals of Nebuchadnezzars seven times heated furnace. Death may bend his bow and fit the arrow to
the string. But we laugh at thee, 0 Death! and thee, 0 hell, we will despise!
for over both of you, ye enemies of man, we shall be more than conquerors
through him that hath loved us. We shall
stand invulnerable and invincible, defying and laughing to scorn our every foe. And all this because we are washed from sin
and covered with a spotless righteousness.
But there is another reason why the second death can
have no power on the believer; because when the prince of this world cometh
against us then, we shall be able to say what our Master did, He hath nothing in me. When we shall rise again we shall be freed
from all corruption: no evil tendencies shall remain in us. I will cleanse their blood that I have not cleansed: for the
Lord dwelleth In Zion. Without spot or wrinkle, or any such thing, without
even the shadow of a spot which the eye of omniscience could discover, we shall
be as pure as Adam before his fall, as holy as the Immaculate manhood when it
first came from the divine hand. We
shall be better than Adam for Adam might sin, but we shall be so established in
goodness, in truth, and in righteousness, that we shall not even be tempted
again, much less shall we have any fear of falling. We shall stand spotless and faultless at the last great day.* Brethren, lift up your heads. Contending with
sin, cast down with doubts, lift up your heads, and wipe the tears from your
eyes. There are days coming, the like of
which angels have not seen, but you shall see them. There are times coming when your spirits
shall no more fear the chain, nor shall ye even remember the wormwood and the
gall.
What,
though your inbred sins require
Your flesh to see
the dust:
Yet as the Lord
your Saviour rose
So all his followers must.
And when they rise they shall leave the old Adam behind them. Blessed day!
One of the most blessed parts of heaven - of heaven above or of heaven
below - will be freedom from the tendency to sin, a total death to that old
nature which has been our plague and woe.
[* NOTE. 1.
Is it correct to say, The saints are not guilty
if sin? I think not! But, surely, we should always strive to be
not be guilty of deliberate sin, for it
is written: If we deliberately [wilfully] keep on sinning after we
have received the knowledge of the truth, no
sacrifice for sins is left, but a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging
fire that will consume the enemies of God.
Anyone who rejected the law of Moses died without mercy on the testimony
of two or three witnesses. How much more
severely do you think a man deserves to
be punished who has trampled the Son of God under foot, who has treated as an
unholy thing the blood of the covenant that sanctified him, and who has
insulted the Spirit of grace? For we
know him who said, It is mine to avenge; I will repay, and again, The Lord will judge his people:
(Heb. 10: 26-31, N.I.V.). Blessed and holy
is he that hath part in the first resurrection.
Who wilfully allows himself
in sins, and is not humbled and ashamed because of them, wrote J. C.
Ryle, CANNOT BE CALLED HOLY. I dare not call anyone
holy who makes a habit of wilfully neglecting known duties,
and wilfully
doing WHAT HE KNOWS GOD HAS COMMANDED
HIM TO DO.
2. The words at the last day,
would appear to point to a time after the Millennial Age, when the thousand years are over; and the dead, great and small are judged and when death and Hades give up the dead that were in them;
and those whose names are not found in the Book of life, are thrown into the
lake of fire: (Rev. 20: 7, 12, 13-15,
N.I.V.)
The extra ordinary emphasis
laid on the Martyrs should have warned the Church that co-royalty with Christ in the Age to Come as distinct from the eternal kingdom beyond is by no means so
comprehensive of all the redeemed as has been supposed. He that overcometh, and he that keepeth my works unto the end, to him
will I give authority over the nations; and he shall rule them with a rod of iron. (Rev. 2: 26.)]
3.
There is yet a third privilage in the text, upon which I shall speak but
briefly. I believe this to be also one of
the glories that shall be revealed. The
third privilege of the text is, They shall reign with him a thousand years. Here is another point upon which there has
been a long and very vigorous contention.
It was believed in the early Church, I do not know whether there is any
Scriptural foundation for the precise date they fixed, that the seventh
thousand years of the worlds history would be a sabbath; that as there were
six days of toil in the week, and the seventh was a day of rest, so the world
would have six thousand years of toll and sorrow. and the seventh thousand
would be a thousand years of rest. I say
I do not know that there is any Scripture for that*;
I do not know that there is none against it.
I believe the Lord himself shall come but of that day and of that hour knoweth no
man, no not even the angels of God.
And I think it is idle to attempt to fix even the year or even the
century when Christ shall come. Our
business isv to expect him always, and to be always looking for his appearing,
watching for his coming; that whether he come at cock-crow, or midnight, or at
morning watch, we may be ready to go in
with the wise virgins into the marriage feast, and to rejoice with our
beloved. If there have been any dates
given, I am not able at present to find them out. All these dates and mysteries I can leave to
much more learned men, and men who give their whole time to it. The book of Revelation needs another expounder
besides those who have loaded our shelves until they groan, for they have
generally made confusion worse confounded.
Their expositions have been rather an
obvelation than a revelation; they have rather darkened counsel by
words without knowledge than made the dark things plain. I am prepared to go about as far as my predecessor,
Dr. Gill, went; as far as the old
fathers of the Church went; as far as Baxter
and Bunyan would have gone, but to
go no further than that. Yet I think we
may say this morning, there is in the text a distinct promise that the saints
are to reign withChrist a thousand years; and I believe they are to reign with
him upon this earth. There are some
passages which I think obtain a singular fulness of meaning if this be
true. Turn to Psalm
37: 10, 11. It is that Psalm
where David has been fretting himself, because of the evil doers, and their
prosperity upon the earth. He says, For yet a little while, and the wicked shall not be: yea,
thou shall diligently consider his place, and it shall not be. But the meek shall inherit the earth; and
shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace. You can interpret that to mean that the meek
man shall enjoy much more of this worlds goods than the sinner, and that he
shall have abundance of peace. But I
think you have given it a lean meaning, a very lean meaning indeed. If it be true that these meek ones shall yet
possess this very earth, and that here, in the abundance of peace through the
Messiahs reign, they shall rejoice in it, I think you have found a fuller meaning,
and one which has a God-like meaning. So
it is thatr Gods promises always have a wider meaning than we can conceive;
now, in this case, if it only mean that the meek are to have what they gain in
this life, which is very little indeed, if they are only to have what they
enjoy here upon earth, which is so little, that I think if in this life only
they have hope, they are of men the most miserable - if it only mean that, then
the promise means less than we might conceive it to mean; but if it mean that
they shall have glory even here, then you have given to it one of the widest
meanings you can conceive, a meaning like the meanings usually given to the
promises of God - wide, large, extensive, and worthy of himself.
[* NOTE. See Heb. 4: 8: For if Joshua
had given them rest, God would not have
spoken later about another day. There
remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God.
Let us therefore make every effort to enter that rest, so
that no-one will fall by following their (
Brethren, the meek do not
inherit the earth to any great degree at present, and we look for this in another age.
Let me quote the language of Christ, lest you should think this message
peculiar to the Old Testament dispensation, Blessed
are the meek, for they
shall inherit the earth. How? where? when?* Not now certainly, not in Christs days, not
in apostolic times by any means. What
did the meek inherit, brethren? Faggot,
flames, racks, pincers, dingeon. Their
inheritance, indeed, was nothing. They
were destitute, afflicted, tormented; they wandered about in sheepskins and
goatskins; and if the meek are ever to inherit the earth, certainly it must be in some age to come, for they have never inherited it yet. Turn again to a passage in Revelation 5: 9, 10 :‑ And they sung a new song. It is the very song we sang this morning, and
it runs thus, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou
wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and
tongue, and people, and nation; and hast made us unto our God kings and
priests; and we shall reign on
the earth. Whether any one
disputes the genuineness of these words, I do not know; but if they mean
anything at all, if the Holy Spirit meant to set forth any meaning, surely it
must have been that the people of Christ
shall reign upon the earth. Besides,
remember our Saviours words in Matthew 19: 28,
where in answer to a question which had been put by Peter as to what his saints
should have as the result of their losses for his sake, he said unto them, Vertly I say unto you
that ye which have followed me, in the regeneration when the Son of man
shall sit in the throne of his glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones,
judging the twelve tribes of Israel. And
every one that hath forsaken houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or
mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my names sake, shall receive an
hundredfold, and shall lnherit everlasting life. It seems that Christ here is to come in the
regeneration, when in a new-born world there shall be joys fitted for the
new-born spirits [souls];
and then there shall be plendours and glories for the apostles first, and for
all those who by any means have suffered any losses for Christ Jesus. You find such passages as these in the Word
of God, The
Lord of hosts shall reign in
Nor
doth it yet appear
How great we must
be made;
But when we see our Saviour here,
We shall be like
our Head.
A hope so much divine
May
trials well endure,
May purge our souls from sense and sin
As Christ the Lord is pure.
But to gather up what I have
said, and to make one other observation.
This doctrine which I have preached just now is not an unpractical
one. For throughout the New Testament,
whenever the apostle wants to stir up
men to patience, to labour, to hope, to endurance, to holiness, he generally says something about the
advent of Christ. Be patrient, brethren, says he, for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh. Let your moderation
be known unto all men, the Lord is at hand. Judge nothing before
the time, till the Lord come. When the great Shepherd shall appear, ye also shall appear
with him in glory. Brethren, I
think we shall do wrong if we make too much of this; but we shall do equally wrong if we make too little of it. Let us give it a fair place in our thoughts,
and especially let those of us who fear God and believe in Jesus take this to
be a window through which we can look, when the house is dark and our home is
full of misery, let us look to the time
when we shall rise among the first, following Christ the firstfruits, when we shall reign with Christ,
sharing in his glories, and when we
shall know that the second death over us hath no power.
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FOOTNOTES
1. Keep in mind: The Holy Spirit prepares us for the coming of the Lord, and
to be among the first fruits at His appearing.
There is a remarkable expression in Romans
8: 23, which has a deeper meaning than appears
on the surface Ourselves which have the first
fruits of the Spirit. It means that the Holy Spirit is preparing a
first company of holy and consecrated hearts for the coming of the Lord and the
gathering of His saints, and that these will be followed later by the larger
company of all the saved. There is a
first resurrection, in which the blessed and holy shall have part, and for this
He is preparing all who are willing to receive Him in His fulness. Transcendent honour! Unspeakable privilage! May
God enable us to have a part in this blessed hope!
- A. B. SIMPSON, D.D.
2. Each of these examples is an ex
anastasis, while in Philippians (3: 11) it is an exanastasis.. The space
after the x is the only difference, and this is not in the original.
Acts 26: 23. If He, the first of a
resurrection
from among the dead.
Heb. 11: 35. Women obtained their
dead by
resurrection.
The
same sense is conveyed when the connective ek, OUT, follows the word, as in these passages:-
Luke 20: 35. Those deemed worthy
to attain to that age and the resurrection from among the
dead.
Acts 4: 2. Announcing in Jesus
the resurrection
from among the dead.
1 Pet. 1: 3. Through the
resurrection of Jesus Christ from among the dead.
3. The great command, even to Apostles, is Seek ye FIRST the Kingdom of God (Matt. 6: 33), for all our regenerate life is to be the pursuit of a [millennial] glory beyond the grave; and no man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back,
is FIT [ready, prepared, ripe] for the kingdom
of God (Luke
9: 62), since fitness for the coming Kingdom springs, not from conversion only, but from
a face which, having fled from Sodom, never looks back. (Panton.)]
4. How where when? During the the Millennium of course, for The wicked will not inherit the
If we know nothing of holiness we may flatter ourselves as
we plwase. But we have not
got
the Holy Spirit dwelling in us: we are DEAD, and must be brought to life AGAIN: we are LOST and
must be found. J. C. Ryle. You say, I am rich;
I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing. But you do not realize, says the
Spirit to the churches, that you are wretched,
pitiful, poor, blind and naked.
So be
earnest, and repent.
To him who
overcomes, I will give the right to sit with me on my throne, just as I
overcame and sat down with my Father on his throne. (Rev.
3: 17, 19, 21, N.I.V.)
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