THE RESURRECTING OF THE DEAD By Elder G. T.

Haywood

That there is a resurrection of the dead is a thing acknowledged by all Christendom. Even the Pharisees of old firmly believed in a resurrection of the dead, but in spite of the evidence in the Old Testament confirming the fact there arose a sect, called Sadducees, who rejected the doctrine and drew with them a large number of followers. God, through His great foreknowledge, displays light on the resurrection when He said, "Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit trees yielding upon the earth." Every tree, every plant, or anything in the vegetable life speaks of a resurrection. Every "corn of wheat," that "falls into the ground and die" and brings forth fruit, declares that there is a resurrection from the dead. (John 12:24.) The very fowls of the air, flowers of the field, the trees of the forest that flourish during the balmy days of spring and the summer's sun and finally falling away at the blast of winter's chilling breath, after lying silently in their snow covered grave of time, come forth from their tombs of confinement with an inaudible shout, filling the atmosphere with their fragrance, echoing and re-echoing over the hills and through the valleys, declaring that the "winter is past * * * and the time of the singing of the birds has come," speaks in words clear and plain that there is, beyond a doubt, a resurrection of the dead! To Adam it was said, "In the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die." The woman was deceived and did eat. Adam transgressed, and sin entered into the world and death by sin. Death was passed upon all men. But when God said, "I will put enmity between thee (the serpent) and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; IT SHALL BRUISE THY HEAD, and thou shalt bruise his heel," He then and there declared that there would be a resurrection from the dead! Though Cain slew his righteous brother Abel God brought forth another in his stead - to prolong the seed of the righteous. In this also is to be seen that there is a resurrection of the dead. At the going down of the sun the plowman stalks wearily toward his home; the cattle come in from the pasture and linger about in the barnyard; the fowls, with stretched out - necks, pick out their resting place for the night; the evening bell is heard and darkness falls, leaving nothing but a flickering lamp from an unshaded window in the

distance to - tell that life is there. Finally even this is gone, and the last pilgrim of the day lies motionless upon his couch, and silence - deathlike silence - is settled over all the land. Night - silent night - buries all nature in its "shadow of the valley of death." Then - the silence is broken. The midnight hour, the cock-crowing, the rising of the morning star precedes the dawning of the day. At the first steak of dawn life begins to be manifested, and as the sun bursts forth from the womb of morning it breaks the power of slumber and brings its yawning millions from the regions of the solitudes of night to the activities of the day. All this portrays, incessantly, that there is a resurrection of the dead. One of the most beautiful, natural illustrations, or confirmations, of the resurrection of the dead is seen in the life of a caterpillar. Nobody loves a caterpillar. He is perfectly harmless, yet his very presence is detestable. There is no beauty in him that any should desire him. Thus it is with the children of God. They are despised and rejected of men. But "Fear not, thou worm Jacob," add comfort in their hours of afflictions For the caterpillar there is hope. He goes his way and is finally found hidden away in - a mysterious, grave-like confinement, called a cocoon. In this he remains until he is awakened by the spirit of spring, and comes forth from his grave in the form of a beautiful butterfly, flitting hither and thither, sipping the sweetness of the flowers and enjoying the balmy atmosphere that weeps over the fields and plains. So shall be the resurrection of the dead. Abel, through faith, obtained witness that his works were righteous. Seth caused his posterity to begin calling upon the name of the Lord. Enoch walked with God and was translated. Methusalem outlived any man upon the earth. Noah was perfect in his generation, and condemned the world, and became there heir of righteousness, which is by faith. Nimrod was a mighty hunter before the Lord, and founded the first empire. But of all the men that lived before him there was none whose name thrills the human heart with hope like that of Abraham. He was evidently the first man to believe that God would raise one from the dead. Though there is no record that any such thing had ever occurred before his day, yet when he was called upon to offer up his "only begotten son he obeyed, believing that there would be a resurrection of the dead (Heb.11:17-19) The secret of the resurrection was hidden from men. In ancient times it was unknown. Job enquired, "If a man dies, shall he live again?" He held out hope for a tree, that if it should be cut down, it would sprout again, and that the tender branches would not cease. Even if the root thereof wax old in the

earth, and the stock thereof die in the ground; yet through the scent of water it will bud, and bring forth boughs like a plant. But as for man his verdict was thus: But man dieth, and wasteth away: yea, man giveth up the ghost, and WHERE IS HE? As - the waters fail from the sea, and the floods decayeth and drieth up: so man lieth down, and riseth not: till the heavens be no more, they shall not awake, nor be raised out of their sleep." His misery was so intense that he desired the grave for a relief. And then come the reflection, "If a man die, shall be live again - all the days of my appointed time will I wait until my change come." (Job 14:7-14.) The whole world groped in darkness, and to them, a man passing from this life was gone, to never return. Solomon, in all his wisdom, was perplexed over this hidden mystery of his day, and said, "That which befalleth the sons of men befalleth beasts; even one thing befalleth them: as one dieth, so dieth the other; - man hath no preeminence above a beast. * * * All go to one place; all return to dust again. Who knoweth the spirit of man that goeth upward, and the spirit of beasts that goeth downward to earth." (Ecc. 3:18-21.) In those days resurrection unto life was a thing hard to be believed. Though the Pharisees firmly believed it, that is, from a doctrinal point of view, yet in their hearts it was inconceivable, The Sadducees withdrew from the common belief, and declared that there was no resurrection. The people were divided over the matter, and strife and dissension ensued until the time came when "life and immortality were brought to light through the Gospel." Jesus not only taught that there would be a resurrection (John 5:25-29; Luke 10:27-38,) but demonstrated it through the resurrection of Jarius' daughter (Luke 8:41,42,49-55) the widow's son of Nain (Luke 7:11-15) and the resurrection of Lazarus (John 11:1-45.) And not only so, but declares, "I AM THE RESURRECTION and the LIFE." To prove his sayings and the words of the prophets (Isa. 26:19; Dan. 14:2, 3; Hos, 13:14; Job 19:25-27) He laid down His life, and arose again on the third day and after His resurrection many of the saints that slept arose and came out of their graves and went into the city of Jerusalem to prove that there is a resurrection of the dead. Though many denied the fact, yet it became the central factor in the Christian religion, and the keystone to salvation. The apostles preached and taught it without fear or favor. (Acts 4:1, 2; 17:18, 31, 32; 23:6, 8; 24:15 21; 26:6-8; 1 Cor. 6:14; 15:12-57; 2 Cor. 4:14; 5:1-5; Phil. 3:11, 21; Rev. 20:5, 6; 1 Thess. 4:13-17.) Although the truth was established in the church, yet there came a time when men arose who denied that there was a future resurrection of the dead, of whom it was said that they had erred (2 Tim. 2 :17, 18,) and their doctrine overthrew the faith of some. So to prove how erroneous the doctrine was the Apostle Paul so hinges the future resurrection of the saints with the resurrection of

Christ that if he deny the resurrection of the dead we deny the fact that Christ was raised from the dead, and thereby overthrowing the whole plan of salvation, saying, "Now if Christ be preached that He rose from the dead how say some among you that there is no resurrection of the dead? But if - there be no resurrection of the dead, then is Christ not risen; And if Christ be not risen, then our preaching is vain, and your faith is also vain. Yea, and we are found false witnesses of God; because we have testified that He raised up Christ; whom He raised not up, if so be that the dead rise not. "For if the dead rise not, then is Christ not raised: And if Christ be not raised your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins. Then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished." (And this is just what we are hearing taught by those who say there is no resurrection; that those who die a physical death are perished because there is no resurrection. God help the people to awaken to the truth!) "If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable. But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the first fruits (a sample) 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 first fruits; afterward they that are Christ's at His coming." (See 1 Cor. 15:1-23.) If we deny the resurrection of the dead, we must also deny the personal COMING of Christ in order to harmonize our theory, and this is also done, and yet the blinded people see it not. Because some cannot understand just how it shall be, and with what kind of a body they would have should they be resurrected, they have sought to ridicule all who believe in the personal coming of our Lord and the resurrection of the dead. But the word of God is plain in its description as to the kind of body with which the dead in Christ shall rise. The apostle declares, "Thou sowest not that body that shall be, * * But God giveth it a body as it hath pleased Him, and - to every seed his own body. * * * There are bodies celestial, and bodies terrestrial; but the glory of the terrestrial is another. * * * For one star differeth from another in glory. So also is the resurrection of the dead * * * It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. * * The first Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam (Christ) was made a quickening spirit. * * The first man is of the earth earthy; the second man is the Lord from heaven. * * * As we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly. We shall not all sleep (die), but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last: trump; for the trump shall sound, and the dead shall be raised

incorruptible, and we shall be changed." The, and only then, shall "Death be swallowed up in victory." (I Cor. 15:32-58.) Thank God, that the day is soon coming when the great transaction will be done! And "all the days of my appointed time will I wait till my change come." For "our conversation is in heaven, from whence we also look for the Saviour the Lord Jesus Christ: Who shall change our vile body, that may be fashioned like unto His glorious body." (Phil. 3:20, 21.) "Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be; but we know that when he shall appear we shall be like Him; for we shall see Him as He is." (1 John 3:1-3.) What day of rejoicing that will be! How can one be made to deny so glorious an event? There is a resurrection of the dead. I AM THE RESURRECTION AND THE LIFE: he that believeth in me, though he were DEAD, yet shall he live: And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die." FIRST AND SECOND RESURRECTION That there is a first and second resurrection of the dead the scriptures plainly declare. But who shall be partakers thereof, especially the first resurrection, is a thing that has not been clearly explained. We have generally understood the first resurrection to be those who are saved, and the second resurrection to be composed of the wicked, or unsaved. Then again there is a teaching that there is but one literal resurrection of the dead and at that time Jesus will sit on the throne of His glory and separate the "righteous from the wicked" as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats." This though is derived from Matt. 25:31, 32. Revelation 20:4-6, says "Blessed and Holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection," and "the rest of the dead live not again until the thousand years were finished." And these words are true and faithful. Rev. 19:9;22:6. According to the foregoing passages there is a thousand years between the first and second resurrections. This being true, who then are the "righteous that are separated from the wicked as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats?" Difference Between the Righteous and Holy. If we will notice Rev. 20:6 we will see that they who take part in the first resurrection are "blessed and holy." We only have to look closely into the Word of God to find that there is difference between the righteous and the holy. He that is righteous, let him be righteous still; and he that is holy, let him be holy still - Rev. 22:11. In Hebrew the word "holy" is "kodesh" which means a sacred place, or thing, consecrated (thing); dedicated (thing) holiness, a saint, a

sanctuary; while the word righteous is "tsaddeek," which means just, lawful, righteous (man) or to make right in a moral sense, to clear one's self, to justify self. From this we can see that righteousness is moral actions, while holiness is a consecrated state. Holy people are those whose lives are consecrated to God by the Holy Spirit's indwelling. The prophets were called "holy" because of the Holy Ghost that is upon them and in them. - 2 Pet. 1:21; Eph. 3:5. Holiness can only be claimed by those who are filled with the Holy spirit. Prophets,: priests, kings and special chosen people before Christ were called "holy" but the others who walked in obedience to the law were called righteous men. - Matt. 13:17. It was Moses who said about 1490 years before Christ, "Would God that all of the Lord's people were prophets, and that the Lord could put His (holy) Spirit upon them." Num. 11:29. In Joel 2:28, we find God promising to fulfill Moses' desires. If they were all to; be prophets (Rev. 19:10) and filled with the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:16, 17,) that it could be seen that in the new dispensation (of grace) God's people were not only be righteous, but holy also. - (Isa. 62:12; Luke 1:74, 75.) From the above mentioned scriptures it can be clearly seen that there is a difference between the holy and the righteous. Holiness is found in the Holy Spirit-filled life. - (See 1 Thess. 4:7,8). There are many who are called holy who are only righteous, because they have not been partakers of the Holy Ghost. There is a true holiness. (Eph. 4:24) It is the Holy Spirit-filled people who shall take part in the first resurrection. The "blessed" are those who "die in the Lord" during the tribulation period and are "called to the marriage supper of the lamb." - Rev. 14:13; 19:9; 20:6 Seven Sections of the First Resurrection. There are few people who have noticed that the first resurrection is divided into sections, or orders. The following are the seven orders in, which the Scriptures indicate that it takes place: 1. The first resurrection began with the resurrection of Christ. 2. The saints which arose after his resurrection (Matt. 27:52, 53) was another "order" or section of the first resurrection (1 Cor. 15:23.) 3. During the gospel age the mystical resurrection is "being buried with him by baptism into his death." Rom. 6:4, 5) 4. The resurrection of the dead and the changing of those that are "alive and remain is to take place when the Lord appears - Cor. 15:51, 52; 1 Thess. 4:13-17. The last "orders" of the first resurrection take place during the great tribulation period. 5. There seems to be palm bearers in one section. - Rev. 7:9-17. 6. The Man-child appears in one "order" consisting of the 144,000 who are seen on Mt. Zion after the Man-child is caught up to the throne of God. - Rev. 12:5; 14:1, 2. 7. The final order consists of all those "who were beheaded for

he 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 forehead, or in their hands." Rev. 20:4. From this there appears to be seven sections to the first resurrection, "but every man in his own order. Christ the first fruits; afterwards, they that are Christ's at his coming." This is the first resurrection. The Second Resurrection. According to the inspired word of God the resurrection of the "blessed and Holy" is completed a thousand years before the second resurrection. It is from this point that we are obliged to note the difference between partakers of the two resurrections. After the thousand years expire "the rest of the dead" (those who did not come forth in the first resurrection) both righteous and wicked, live again and are made to stand before God. It is then that Jesus separates them as a shepherd divideth the sheep from the goat according to Matt. 25:31-46. In this resurrection is included all the righteous men of all ages who walked in all the light that they were given. It is my candid opinion that all heathen, Israelites, Christian professors who have never heard the true gospel of Christ and those who die during the millennium, walking in the light of their times will be given eternal life at the last resurrection. Many righteous people have died without the Holy Ghost and the question has been asked: "Where will they come in?" They shall be given eternal life in the last day. They shall inherit the New Earth where life eternal reigns because "there shall be no more death. If we desire to take part in the first resurrection we must be filled with the same Holy Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead. It is the church of the First-born that takes part in the first resurrection. To enter into that Church, which is his body, we must be baptized into it by both water and the Spirit. (See John 3:5; Rom. 6:3-5; 1 Cor. 12:12, 13; Gal. 3:26-28. The time for the first resurrection is at hand. Are you preparing to meet the Bridegroom? You must get oil within your vessels and have your lamps trimmed and burning. Soon shall we hear the midnight cry - "BEHOLD, THE BRIDEGROOM COMETH." THE SEAL OF GOD In the book of Ezekiel, the ninth chapter, the prophet sets forth a vision of the preservation of the righteous, and the destruction, or the punishment of the ungodly for their abominable deeds.

The man "clothed in linen" with the writer's inkhorn by his side, is told to "Go through the midst of the city, * * and set a mark upon the forehead of the men that sigh and that cry for all the abominations that be done in the midst thereof." And to those who had the "slaughter weapons" in their hands, it is said, "Go after him through the city, and smite: let not your eyes spare, neither have pity: slay utterly old and young, both maids, and little children, and women but come not near any man upon whom is the mark; and begin at My sanctuary." The sanctuary is the house of God, and "the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God." The vision of John on the Isle of Patmos is evidently a confirmation of that which the prophet Ezekiel foresaw. In this apocalyptic vision it is said that an angel ascending from the east "having the seal of the living God," cried with a loud voice to the four angels to whom it was given to hurt the earth, and the sea, saying, "Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads." Not only were one-hundred and forty four thousand Israelites sealed, but there was a "great multitude which no man could number, of all nations, kindreds, people, and tongues." After this when the judgments are loosed upon the people the plagues are commanded "not to hurt the grass of the earth, neither any green thing neither any tree; but those men which have NOT the seal of God in their foreheads." (See Rev. 7 and 9.) It is from these scriptures that we are assured that God has a manner of protection and "a way of escape" for His people in these days of trouble and unrest that are abroad in the world. Since there is a double witness (Ezekiel and John) to the fact that God has a "mark" by which the righteous are to be protected in the day of wrath and slaughter, it is to the interest of every true child of God to know what this seal is, and what to do to obtain it. We are convinced that it can be found in the word of God if men will only receive it. The Apostle Paul in writing to the saints at Ephesus says, "AFTER that ye believed, ye were SEALED with that Holy Spirit of promise." And again, "And grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are SEALED unto the day of Redemption." (Eph. 1:13; 4:30.) The scriptures tell us plainly that the "Holy Spirit of God (promise)" is the SEAL of God. What could be clearer than this? "But," says one, "how are we to know when we get the seal?" Another might say, "Maybe we have the seal already!" There need be no ignorance here. If we will believe the record: in the word of God, this also is made clear and plain. In the nineteenth chapter of Acts of the Apostles we have a clear record as to just how the saints at Ephesus were sealed. Turn to that chapter, brother, sister, and read

it for yourself. They were "baptized in water in Jesus name" and afterwards Paul laid his hands on them, and they were filled with the Holy Ghost. HAVE YOU EVER HAD AN EXPERIENCE LIKE THIS? If not, then you are not sealed. Why halt between two opinions. If the word of God be true, why not obey it? The Day of redemption is near at hand. (Luke 21:24-28.) Flee my brother. The name of the Lord is a strong tower; the righteous run into it and are safe. Go somewhere and ask the preacher to "baptize you in Jesus' Name" and you SHALL receive the Holy Ghost. (See Acts 2:38.)