Our Eternal Reward When Christ Returns.

'On the nature of the resurrection we are willing to submit the foregoing to every candid, reverent reader of the pages of divine inspiration. On the importance of the resurrection we must give a few testimonies. When Jesus was instructing his disciples concerning their duty to the poor, he said:

“For they cannot recompense thee; for thou shalt be recompensed at the resurrection of the just.” Luke 14:14.

Let it be remembered that the resurrection takes place when the Lord Jesus comes the second time; it cannot take place before, and if he should never come there would then be no resurrection of the dead.

And, therefore, any text which introduces the resurrection of the just, of necessity introduces also the coming of Christ.

And, in like manner, any text which speaks of the coming of Christ, introduces to our minds the resurrection of the just, as they are inseparably connected.

See the following decisive proof: “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. Wherefore, comfort one another with these words.” 1 Thess. 4:16-18.

Notice the points introduced in connection:—

1. The Lord himself shall come; it will be a personal, actual coming.

2. The voice of the archangel (the Son of God, compare John 5:27-29), and the trump of God will be heard.

Joh 5:27  And hath given him authority to execute judgment also, because he is the Son of man. 

Joh 5:28  Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, 

Joh 5:29  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. 

3. The dead in Christ shall rise.

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4. The living saints will be caught up with them, translated, to meet the Lord.

5. So—in this manner—shall be ever be with the Lord.

6. These are words of comfort to the saints.

In Luke 14:14 are the words of Jesus that we shall be recompensed at the resurrection of the just. In this last text we learn in what manner, and under what circumstances, the reward will be given.

Closely related to this, in its several circumstances, is the instruction given in 1 Cor. 15. The whole chapter is an argument on the resurrection, but especially verses 42-54, which speak directly of the resurrection of the righteous.

1Co 15:1  Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; 

1Co 15:2  By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. 

1Co 15:3  For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; 

1Co 15:4  And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures: 

1Co 15:5  And that he was seen of Cephas, then of the twelve: 

1Co 15:6  After that, he was seen of above five hundred brethren at once; of whom the greater part remain unto this present, but some are fallen asleep. 

1Co 15:7  After that, he was seen of James; then of all the apostles. 

1Co 15:8  And last of all he was seen of me also, as of one born out of due time. 

1Co 15:9  For I am the least of the apostles, that am not meet to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. 

1Co 15:10  But by the grace of God I am what I am: and his grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain; but I laboured more abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me. 

1Co 15:11  Therefore whether it were I or they, so we preach, and so ye believed. 

1Co 15:12  Now if Christ be preached that he rose from the dead, how say some among you that there is no resurrection of the dead? 

1Co 15:13  But if there be no resurrection of the dead, then is Christ not risen: 

1Co 15:14  And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain. 

1Co 15:15  Yea, and we are found false witnesses of God; because we have testified of God that he raised up Christ: whom he raised not up, if so be that the dead rise not. 

1Co 15:16  For if the dead rise not, then is not Christ raised: 

1Co 15:17  And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins. 

1Co 15:18  Then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished. 

1Co 15:19  If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable. 

1Co 15:20  But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept. 

1Co 15:21  For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. 

1Co 15:22  For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. 

1Co 15:23  But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ's at his coming. 

1Co 15:24  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. 

1Co 15:25  For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet. 

1Co 15:26  The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death. 

1Co 15:27  For he hath put all things under his feet. But when he saith all things are put under him, it is manifest that he is excepted, which did put all things under him. 

1Co 15:28  And when all things shall be subdued unto him, then shall the Son also himself be subject unto him that put all things under him, that God may be all in all. 

1Co 15:29  Else what shall they do which are baptized for the dead, if the dead rise not at all? why are they then baptized for the dead? 

1Co 15:30  And why stand we in jeopardy every hour? 

1Co 15:31  I protest by your rejoicing which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily. 

1Co 15:32  If after the manner of men I have fought with beasts at Ephesus, what advantageth it me, if the dead rise not? let us eat and drink; for to morrow we die. 

1Co 15:33  Be not deceived: evil communications corrupt good manners. 

1Co 15:34  Awake to righteousness, and sin not; for some have not the knowledge of God: I speak this to your shame. 

1Co 15:35  But some man will say, How are the dead raised up? and with what body do they come? 

1Co 15:36  Thou fool, that which thou sowest is not quickened, except it die: 

1Co 15:37  And that which thou sowest, thou sowest not that body that shall be, but bare grain, it may chance of wheat, or of some other grain: 

1Co 15:38  But God giveth it a body as it hath pleased him, and to every seed his own body. 

1Co 15:39  All flesh is not the same flesh: but there is one kind of flesh of men, another flesh of beasts, another of fishes, and another of birds. 

1Co 15:40  There are also celestial bodies, and bodies terrestrial: but the glory of the celestial is one, and the glory of the terrestrial is another. 

1Co 15:41  There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars: for one star differeth from another star in glory. 

1Co 15:42  So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption: 

1Co 15:43  It is sown in dishonour; it is raised in glory: it is sown in weakness; it is raised in power: 

1Co 15:44  It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body. 

1Co 15:45  And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit. 

1Co 15:46  Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual. 

1Co 15:47  The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord from heaven. 

1Co 15:48  As is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy: and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly. 

1Co 15:49  And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly. 

1Co 15:50  Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption. 

1Co 15:51  Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, 

1Co 15:52  In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. 

1Co 15:53  For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. 

1Co 15:54  So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. 

1Co 15:55  O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? 

1Co 15:56  The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law. 

1Co 15:57  But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. 

1Co 15:58  Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord. 

1. They shall be raised in glory.

2. We shall not all sleep; some will be translated.

3. The trumpet shall sound; the last trump.

4. We shall put on immortality, or, death will be swallowed up in victory.

The coming of Jesus is not spoken of, but it is well understood, for not one of these events can transpire before he comes. And so the following: “When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory.” Col. 3:4.

We shall appear with him in glory at that time, because the saints are “raised in glory,” immortalized, at that time. Another apostle testifies to the same thing. “We know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.” 1 John 3:2.

“And when the chief Shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away.” 1 Peter 5:4.

This is a parallel text, and one of great clearness and force. And yet several times more we find the Son of God pointing to the advent and, of course, to the resurrection of the just, as the time of conferring the reward.

“For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father, with his angels; and then he shall reward every man according to his works.” Matt. 16:27.

“Behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be.” Rev. 22:12.

See also Matt. 25:31-34.

Mat 25:31  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: 

Mat 25:32  And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats: 

Mat 25:33  And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left. 

Mat 25:34  Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world

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The infinite importance of this subject to the saints, as the time when and the means whereby they shall be glorified, fully justifies the apostle Paul in calling it “the blessed hope.” “Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ.” Titus 2:13.

More literally: “And appearing of the glory of the great God, and our Saviour Jesus Christ.” Compare Matt. 16:27, quoted above.

Mat 16:27  For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels; and then he shall reward every man according to his works. 

 We cannot forbear quoting a few words from the comments ofDr. Clarke on 1 Cor. 15. On verse 32 he says:— “What the apostle says here, is a regular and legitimate conclusion from the doctrine that there is no resurrection; for if there be no resurrection, then there can be no judgment; no future state of rewards and punishments; why, therefore, should we bear crosses, and keep ourselves under continual discipline! Let us eat and drink, take all the pleasure we can, for to-morrow we die; and there is an end of us forever.”

 Very few theological writers of the present time, recognized as eminent and orthodox, would use the language here used by Dr. Adam Clarke. A great change has come over the minds of the Christian world, on this subject. Dr. Clarke said that, in his day, early in the present century, the faith and preaching of the church differed much, on this subject, from that of the apostles and the early church. And in no part of the Christian era has the popular sentiment, concerning the nature and importance of the resurrection, changed as fast as from Dr. Clarke’s time to the present. The following are his words:— One remark I cannot help making; the doctrine of the resurrection appears to have been thought of much more consequence among the primitive Christians than it is now! How is this? The apostles were continually insisting on it, and exciting the followers of God to diligence, obedience, and cheerfulness, through it. And their successors in the present day seldom mention it! So apostles preached; and so primitive Christians believed; so we preach, and so our hearers, believe. There is not a doctrine in the gospel on which more stress is laid; and there is not a doctrine in the present system of preaching which is treated with more neglect!”

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The doctor inquires, “How is this?” It is not difficult to give the reason: the church has accepted a substitute for the coming of Christ and the resurrection.

The Bible says that immortality is brought to light by Christ in the gospel. The schools of Christian theology teach that it was most forcibly brought to light by Plato—shown to be inherent in the nature of man. The Bible says we are to seek for immortality. “What a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for?” Why seek for that which we already possess?

The Bible says we shall put on immortality at the resurrection. Theology teaches that, if there is any bar to the fullness of our immortality, it is removed by death!

by means of which we are ushered into a state of immortal joy.

The Bible says we shall appear in glory when Christ, our Life, appears. But theology teaches that we are glorified by death, which opens the pearly gates to the soul set free from the clogs of our physical natures.

The contrast may be carried much farther, but none who read the Bible can fail to see it. And to show that our presentation of the contrast is strictly just, we quote the following paragraph from one of the most influential religious papers in the United States. It was part of a comment on 1 Thess. 4:13-18, which teaches us to comfort one another with the facts that the Lord is coming, the dead in Christ will be raised, and the living saints will be translated. Thus it speaks:—

(((Truth))))“For all practical purposes of comfort the doctrine of the blessed immortality of the righteous, the immortality of the soul, takes the place for us of any doubtful doctrine of the Lord’s second coming.

(((Lies))))At our death the Lord comes for us. That is what we are to wait and watch for. The dead are already passed into glory. They do not wait for the trump for their judgment and blessedness.”

How can the church highly appreciate the coming of Christ and the resurrection of the dead, while holding to such views?

The inquiry maybe raised, If the immortality of the soul and glorification at death “takes the place for us” of the advent and the resurrection, why did it not take their place for Paul and his brethren?

Has “that blessed hope” really been displaced for another in the gospel plan, or is the church proving recreant to the truths of divine inspiration? This is a matter of the highest importance; it concerns our loyalty to

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The truth of the Most High, and the honor of our Saviour, whose plans and appointments are being disparaged before the world. Life is the greatest gift that can be conferred upon a creature. All enjoyments, all hopes, all possibilities, are centered in life. The loss of life is the aggregate, the sum total, of all losses. Man may lose many things in life; when life is lost, he has no more to lose. Death is the extreme penalty of law. It is the penalty of the transgression of God’s law. This penalty—this loss of all—man incurred by disobedience to his Maker. Jesus, the Son of God, came to seek and to save that which is lost; he came to open a way whereby man might escape death and have everlasting life. He is the great Restorer to life; he is “our Life.” Col. 3:4. “God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.” 1 John 5:11.

(To be continued)

(Excerpt from-) THE ATONEMENT PART SECOND:

THE ATONEMENT AS REVEALED IN THE BIBLE

 (1884)

BY   ELDER J. H. WAGGONER

The Trumpet Shall Sound and the Dead Shall Be Raised.

'We might go farther and prove by the Scriptures that neither believers nor unbelievers, Jews nor Greeks, had any idea of such a mythical resurrection as is now taught by men of various faiths in these days.

But it is not at all necessary, for if a bodily or physical resurrection is not proved by the points here noticed, then language cannot be framed to teach it. We now notice,

3. That Jesus, in his resurrection, was “the first-fruits of them that slept.” 1 Cor. 15:20. This language is significant of kind as well as of order. We have seen that, in the New Testament, in the case of the Saviour, his resurrection was of a material body.

It is also said that the bodies of many saints left the graves at the time of his resurrection.

Mat 27:52  And the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose, 

Mat 27:53  And came out of the graves after his resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many.

And this is an assurance that the resurrection of all the saints will be that of the body also.

(((MY THOUGHTS interjected here not Waggoner's.

The graves were opened- Jesus had just died on the cross and suddenly, inexplicably graves were opened. Stop for a moment and think about that. This isn't something lightly to pass over. We've seen movies where people have dug themselves out of shallow graves, newly buried, thought dead but are not dead, people. We've seen movies of zombies, still dead people digging themselves out of graves. We've seen other fictionalized shows with people magically rising from the dead. The key word there is FICTIONALIZED acts of resurrection. These fictionalized acts are very dramatic (or supposed to be) because they are indicating something unnatural. Now jump to reality and imagine you were living back when Jesus died. You are going back in HISTORY not entered a fairy tale. There you are, one of your loved ones has been dead for years and buried in a grave you've often visited. Then on the day of Jesus' death their grave is MIRACULOUSLY opened up, an unseen force at work dispersed the dirt, moved the stones, and then up out of the ground, and off of the stone your long decayed and gone back to dust loved one is suddenly transformed into life once more. The dust reformed instantly into flesh, blood and bone. Walking from their burial place this resurrected in the flesh loved one goes and appears to many. THE MIRACLE of it all! This has NEVER happened before. Yes, Lazarus and others were brought back from the dead during Jesus' ministry, but not those long dead in the graves, not many at one time, not on such a miraculous scale as this momentous occasion. The dead brought to life upon the death of Jesus!  And yes, this is something that we need to contemplate, because up until this point those saints that were dead were NOT living! How ludicrous to even imagine for a single moment that they were in a living spirit form enjoying their life with God in heaven without any limitation of a body, only to be thrust back into flesh and bone to live out the agonies of life all over again. I can't imagine that for a moment, I just can't.  I can imagine and even comprehend a saint sleeping in death without any awareness, without any knowledge of life on going after they died, being woken from that sleep. There would be no new spirit life they were taken from.  Did these people, like Jesus after His resurrection (not immediately but after a short period of times) rise to heaven in their bodily forms? Or did they again live out their lives here on earth and die again? We don't know, we aren't told. Either way, the miraculous happened, the dead were resurrected in a way they'd never been before and why? Why such a miracle? What was it for? It was for those then and us now to comprehend the resurrection on a much deeper level. It was/is for those who doubt a resurrection at all, and it was/is for those who doubted Jesus' ministry to no longer have doubts.  The dead WILL rise. All those who are Jesus', all those who are His saints will be resurrected from death when He returns for them. Those are His words, the words of the Holy Spirit, the words of God. They are TRUTH. We must not be deceived!))))

'We say the first-fruits indicates kind as well as order. The first-fruits of any product was paid from that product, and not from something else. A sheaf of barley would not be the first-fruits of a field of wheat. A measure of wheat would not be the first-fruits of an olive orchard. Such a reckoning or rendering of first-fruits would be considered only absurd. But that would be no more absurd than to make the resurrection of Jesus from a physical death and a burial in the grave, the first-fruits of immortal souls, which never died and could not die!

No greater incongruity could be presented. Surely, they who teach such fanciful theories cannot have well considered the result of their action. “They know not what they do.” Nothing but the literal resurrection of physical or material bodies will answer to the first-fruits presented in the resurrection of our Saviour.

4. We will briefly present some direct proofs of the resurrection; we shall select such as have a bearing on its nature. (1) “Thou wilt not leave my soul in hell; neither wilt thou suffer thy holy one to see corruption.” Ps. 16:10. This is one of the last texts which would be selected by those who spiritualize the Scriptures, to prove the resurrection of the body; but to that it refers, for inspiration says it is a prophecy of the resurrection of Christ “according to the flesh.” Acts 2:30, 31.

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(2) “Thy dead men shall live, together with my dead body shall they arise. Awake and sing, ye that dwell in dust; for thy dew is as the dew of herbs, and the earth shall cast out the dead.” Isa. 26:19.

(3) “Thus saith the Lord, Refrain thy voice from weeping, and thine eyes from tears; for thy work shall be rewarded, saith the Lord; and they shall come again from the land of the enemy.” Jer. 31:16.

We learn from Matt. 2:16-18 that this language was spoken to those mothers whose little children were slain by Herod. Death is the enemy (1 Cor. 15:26) from whose land they will be brought.

1Co 15:26  The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death. 

 (4) “Thus saith the Lord God: Behold, O my people, I will open your graves, and cause you to come up out of your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel.” Eze. 37:12. The vision of the valley of dry bones is often spoken of as a prophecy of a spiritual reviving. But the words quoted above are from the Lord’s explanation of the vision; and no one should presume to explain the Lord’s explanation. It is plain, and in harmony with the other scriptures.

 (5) “And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.” Dan. 12:2.

(6)“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.” Hos. 13:14.

(7) “But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you.” Rom. 8:11.

(8) “For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the first-fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.” Rom. 8:22, 23.

(9) “We shall not ail sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall

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be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.” 1 Cor. 15:51-53.

If every word shall be established in the mouth of two or three witnesses, there is no need that this line of proof should be carried any farther. Not one of these declarations can fail, for “the Scriptures cannot be broken.” And we rejoice in the assurance. We do indeed “groan within ourselves;” our sicknesses and pains are evidences of our mortality. We long for the day when this mortal shall put on immortality; when death shall be swallowed up in victory; when redemption’s work for the suffering saints shall be complete.

(To be continued)

(Excerpt from-) THE ATONEMENT PART SECOND:

THE ATONEMENT AS REVEALED IN THE BIBLE

 (1884)

BY   ELDER J. H. WAGGONER

Jesus Physically Rose From the Grave- Three Days After Death.

'This is an important point, for the breadth of the work of redemption is involved in it. The redemption must be as extensive as the loss; otherwise it would not be complete.

If the loss involved the death of the physical nature of man, then redemption must take hold of his physical nature. And this we shall see that it does. We consider then, 1. Christ, our substitutionary sacrifice, died a physical death. This is certainly a good reason for believing that the gospel takes hold of physical relations. We cannot see how otherwise the method or nature of the sacrifice can be accounted for. 2. After death and burial, and remaining in the grave the time allotted by prophecy, he had a physical resurrection. Some have even gone so far as to deny this. Concerning the resurrection the following words are copied from a sermon preached in an  orthodox church:— “The resurrection is typical of the life of the soul; the figure of a spiritual body teaches, not the resurrection of the material body, but the immortality of the soul.” This is the view held by many teachers who are considered orthodox. In harmony with this, a writer, who was a Spiritualist, and professed to be a believer of the Bible, expressed his faith as follows:—

- 191 - J. H. Waggoner

“At death the real man, that is to say his soul and spirit, rise from or out of his dead body; that in the New Testament this is denominated anastasis, or the resurrection.” These quotations are made that the reader may see the necessity of the argument we frame on the literal or physical resurrection of Christ. All who hold to such views place the “resurrection” or rising of the immortal spirit at the time of the death of the body. But the resurrection of Christ did not at all correspond to such a view.

 a. The resurrection of Christ was not the rising of his spirit out of his body; for he did not rise until the third day after his death. And they will hardly contend that his spirit did not leave his body until he had been dead three days! yet they must to be consistent with that theory.

 b. That which arose was placed under the guardianship of Roman soldiers. But no one can believe that after Jesus had been some hours dead, the soldiers were put on guard to prevent the escape of his spirit, and thence the report of his resurrection.

 c. His enemies denied his resurrection, and reported that his disciples had stolen him. Did they mean to deny that his spirit left his body, and to affirm that his disciples came and stole away his spirit while they slept?

d. The angel said to those who came to the sepulcher: “He is not here; for he is risen, as he said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay.” Matt. 28:6. e. When his followers went to the sepulcher, after his resurrection, they “found not the body of the Lord Jesus.” Luke 24:3.

f. When he met with his disciples after his resurrection, he told them to handle him, to examine the wounds in his hands, and feet, and side, and see that it was he himself; and he took food and did eat before them. Luke 24:36-43.

g. In his sermon on the day of Pentecost, Peter proved the resurrection of Christ by the promise of God to David, that of the fruit of his loins according to the flesh, he would raise up Christ to sit on his throne.” Acts 2:30, 31. This is positive proof of a bodily resurrection.

The Atonement - 192

We might go farther and prove by the Scriptures that neither believers nor unbelievers, Jews nor Greeks, had any idea of such a mythical resurrection as is now taught by men of various faiths in these days. But it is not at all necessary, for if a bodily or physical resurrection is not proved by the points here noticed, then language cannot be framed to teach it.

(To be continued)

(Excerpt from-) THE ATONEMENT PART SECOND:

THE ATONEMENT AS REVEALED IN THE BIBLE

 (1884)

BY   ELDER J. H. WAGGONER

No Eternal Misery.

'But still another difficulty is presented to us by giving an extraordinary definition to death; it is said to mean eternal misery.

But on examination of this, the difficulty will be entirely on the side of those who present it. If, however, the definition is correct, there is an insurmountable difficulty, involving the whole doctrine of the atonement, and making it utterly impossible for God to be just, and also the justifier of him that believeth in Jesus.

First, then, if the signification of death is “eternal misery,” Christ never died at all; and then all the scriptures that say he died are untrue; and thus the atonement would be proved impossible, and further consideration of it would be useless. But admitting the Scripture testimony, that the wages of sin is death, and that Christ died for sin, and we have the scriptural view of the term death, utterly forbidding such an unnatural and forced construction of a plain declaration.

Secondly. If the correct definition of death is eternal misery, the relative terms, first and second, as applied to death before and after the resurrection, are used absurdly. For how can there be a first and second eternal misery? Sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and death passed upon all men. Ro. 5:12 But the very fact that man may be resurrected, released from death, as the Scriptures teach, clearly proves that the Scripture use of the term death is entirely different from the “theological use,” as given above.

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And, thirdly, If death means eternal misery, then that is the penalty of the law; but Christ did not suffer it, and the redeemed will not suffer it, so it follows that justice is never vindicated by the infliction of the penalty, either upon them or a substitute; and thus justice is suspended, not satisfied; and Christ’s death (if it could with any reason be called so) is not truly vicarious. As before considered, justice demands the infliction of the penalty of a just law; and as God is unchangeable and infinitely just, the penalty will surely be inflicted upon the transgressor or his substitute. But the above view makes it impossible.

According to that, mercy does not harmonize with justice, but supersedes it, and God’s justice is not manifest in justifying the believer. The sum of the matter is this: that if the penalty be eternal misery, then all that have sinned must suffer it, and be eternally miserable, or else the demands of the law are never honored.

But the first would result in universal damnation, and the other would degrade the Government of God, and contradict both reason and the Scriptures. This definition of death has been adopted of necessity to conform to the popular idea of the inherent immortality of man; yet it involves a contradiction in those who hold it. For it is claimed that the wicked are immortal and cannot cease to exist, and therefore the death threatened in the Scriptures is something besides cessation of existence, namely, misery.

But immortality signifies exemption from death; and if the Scriptural meaning of death is misery, and the wicked are immortal, or exempt from death, they are, of course, exempt from misery! The advocates of this theory do not mean to be Universalists, but their position necessarily leads to that result. It was well said by that great Christian philosopher, John Locke, that “it seems a strange way of understanding law, which requires the plainest and most direct terms, that by death should be meant eternal life in misery.” Life and death are opposites; the first is promised to the justified, the second is threatened and inflicted upon the unjust. But life and misery are not opposites; misery is a condition of life. In everything but “theology” such a perversion of language would not be tolerated, as to make eternal misery and death, or even misery and death, synonymous. Were I to report that a man was dead because I

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knew him to be suffering in much misery, it would be looked upon as trifling—solemn mockery. With a cessation of life every condition of life must cease.

(To be continued)

*******
(((MY THOUGHTS-  Logically, if I tell someone I will take the punishment for a crime for them, I am then expected to take that punishment. If they are supposed to be jailed for five years then I agree to be jailed for five years in order to meet the terms of that punishment.  If I say I'm going to take the punishment for that crime and then expect to be released from that punishment for no other reason than I'm not that original criminal, then who is punished for the crime? The crime has still been committed, the penalty still given, and for justice to be served honorably the penalty needs to be paid. If there is no pardon for that penalty by an authority much higher, if a price HAS to be paid for the crime and it simply cannot under any circumstances be written off, forgotten, done away with by mere words- then who has to pay it- the criminal or the substitute for the criminal. The substitute cannot be given an easier sentence than the original criminal if the price is to be paid. THIS IS LOGICAL.

IF the punishment(penalty) for the crime is truly endless suffering without any end… then the substitute would have to endlessly suffer without any end. There is no other way for the substitute to pay the price.

However, if the punishment is a cessation of life, and the extreme punishment is total separation from the source of life, a non-existent state then this could be experienced by a perfect substitute.

Cessation of life. NO awareness of living in any form. NO cognizant thought at all whatsoever. NO way to hope in that dark nothingness, because hope requires a thought. A deep sleep in which the sleeper knows absolutely nothing at all except the moment they awaken, if they awaken.

The Bible tells us that CHRIST became our substitute in suffering for us, He paid with the most intense pain imaginable beyond the mere physicality of pain. He paid with the knowledge of being forsaken. The darkness of no life, of no possibility of life loomed before Christ as He suffered the agonies of death.

IF...and this is a huge IF Christ had no doubt, IF He had no thought of being forsaken He would NOT have uttered the words--

Mat_27:46  And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is to say, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?

There would have been NO words like that uttered at all if He had complete and full belief in life after death, why would there have been? Of what was He saying His Father had forsaken Him if just moments away Jesus knew He would instantly live again in a new spirit form- because that's what so many believe death is- life again and NOT the cessation from life, from knowing, from awareness, from being.

Jesus KNEW that death would mean cessation of all thought, of all living, of all knowledge. Jesus KNEW that ultimately when the final penalty of sin is enacted it would be the non-existence of all sin, of all unrepentant sinners. Jesus came FACE to FACE with non-existence.  

IF JESUS suffered this, why do so many believe that they are exempt from truly dying? 

They may say because Jesus did it for them, they don't have to. But Jesus never said any of that… in fact we can read where we have to WAIT in our graves until resurrection DAY, until the last trump sounds and Christ returns. But still… people refuse to believe in the truth, preferring lies concocted by Satan to subvert the truth and deceive many into eternal death. 

We will die- cease all living.

We will be raised either to eternal life or to our punishment, and eternal death (total non-existence).

There is a first resurrection and there is a second resurrection.

THIS is Biblical.

God help us to ONLY believe in HIS TRUTH!

End of my thought.))))

(Excerpt from-) THE ATONEMENT PART SECOND:

THE ATONEMENT AS REVEALED IN THE BIBLE

 (1884)

BY   ELDER J. H. WAGGONER

Recovering Man From the Consequences of Sin.

'1. THE REDEMPTION OF MAN

Man was made of the dust of the ground, and placed on probation for endless life.

He was told that if he disobeyed his Creator he should die. Of course if he obeyed he would live—live forever.

But he disobeyed; he took the fearful risk, and did that which his Creator told him, in the most explicit terms, he should not do. In this transaction man subjected himself to two great losses: 1. He lost his innocence, which was essential to his happiness; 2. He lost his life—his very being.

The plan of salvation and redemption embraced a work of recovery or restoration. Not, however, merely to bring man back to the position which he occupied when he was created and placed in the garden of Eden; but, to place him where God originally designed that he should stand when he had passed his probationary state.

In probation he was subject to temptation; free to fall. In his final state he will be placed beyond the reach of temptation, fixed in his integrity, no longer in danger of falling; no more exposed to the liability to die. We cannot imagine that the gospel of Christ will do less for man than was embraced in the original purpose of his Maker. The method of restoring man to a state of innocence and of complete happiness we have fully considered in remarks on

- 189 - J. H. Waggoner

Justification, and on the Atonement itself. This embraces the forgiveness of sin, and the renewal of his moral nature; a transformation of his will and affections. This is a recovery from the first of the losses which he sustained in his departure from the path of right. The second loss was entirely different in its nature. It took hold on man’s physical being, and reduced him to his original elements; it returned him to the dust of the ground. By this we would not be understood as saying that either man’s moral or physical nature can be seriously affected without affecting the other. When man perverts his moral powers he degrades his physical system, and subjects it to untold evils. All the suffering that exists and that ever has existed in the world, had its spring in that source. And, when man abuses his physical system he weakens his moral powers. These propositions will not be denied. But it is equally undeniable that that which directly affects one may only indirectly affect the other. A man may pervert his ways, and despise his Maker, and sear his conscience, and yet live many years; though the end of these things is death. And justification from sin may be received, with a purified conscience and a renewed heart, while yet the physical system is subject to decay and death; though continuance in that justified state—perseverance in the right—certainly leads to eternal life.

It is true that the first step toward recovering man from the consequences of the fall, looks forward to the complete recovery in all things; but there are progressive steps in the work; one is taken before another. For reasons purely theoretical, many in this age deny that death—the death of the physical man—is the result of sin. They say that the man which was made of the dust of the earth would have died if he had never sinned; that, being made of perishable material, he must have perished, from the very nature of his being. But this statement is defective and erroneous. (1) The material universe, the earth, is not necessarily perishable. It may undergo great changes, but we cannot believe it was ever made in vain, or to go out of existence. When it was created it was pronounced very good, and over it “the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy.” Nor is there any evidence that man, who is

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“fearfully and wonderfully made,” would have perished if he had not sinned. At the best it is only a bare assumption, and not sustained by reason. But,(2) It is directly contrary to the word of Jehovah himself, who said, as a sentence upon the sin of man, because he had partaken of the tree of which he was forbidden to eat, the earth from which he was taken, over which he was given the dominion, should be cursed, and he should return unto it. And, to carry out this sentence, man was shut out from the tree of life, lest he put forth his hand and take and eat (a purely physical act), and live forever. If we regard the word of the Lord we must admit that death, the death of the whole man, was the result of his disobedience. And no other death but a literal or physical death was threatened or could be inflicted. For, as we have already considered, spiritual death is not an infliction, but a crime; it is not a penalty, but it incurs a penalty. See page 67.'

*******
From page 67,68

'It is assumed that death, the penalty of transgression, is three-fold in its nature, consisting of temporal, spiritual, and eternal death. If this assumption were true, we should at once give up the Atonement as a thing impossible. Yet it has been advanced by men of eminence, and incorporated into works recognized as standard. Let us examine it. 1. The death of man is temporal only by reason of a resurrection. But the resurrection belongs to the work of Christ, and as his work was not necessary or a subject of promise till after the transgression, it cannot have any place in the announcement of the penalty.

When death was threatened to Adam, it was not said that he should die temporally, spiritually, and eternally; nor that he should die a first or second death; nor the death that never dies; but that he should surely die. It was death—simply death. Had not a promise been given afterward, of “the seed” to bruise the serpent’s head, it would necessarily have been eternal death. But Christ, introducing a resurrection for Adam and his race, causes it to be temporal. But since this time, this death, temporal, has not been the penalty for personal transgression. This is evident for two reasons: (1) Infants die who never have transgressed; and (2) In the Judgment we stand to answer for our deeds, and the second death is inflicted for

- 67 - J. H. Waggoner

personal sin. But on those who are holy, “the second death hath no power;”

Rev_20:6  Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power

the penalty does not reach them. So it appears the death we now die is occasioned by Adam’s transgression, and is rendered temporal by the second Adam, and comes indiscriminately upon all classes and ages, thus precluding the idea that it is now a penalty, except as connected with that first transgression, in which we are involved only by representation. 2. Spiritual death cannot be a penalty at all. A penalty is an infliction to meet the ends of justice. But spiritual death is a state of sin, or absence of holiness; and to say that God inflicts unholiness upon man is not only absurd, but monstrous. That is confounding the crime with it punishment. God does not make man wicked or sinful as an infliction; but man makes himself wicked by his own actions, and God punishes him with death for his wickedness. Again, there will be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and the unjust; for as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. Now if the penalty upon Adam included spiritual death, the resurrection through the second Adam would be to spiritual life, or holiness; and if all were restored to spiritual life through Christ, there would be none to fall under the second death, for it falls not on the “blessed and holy.” The text above quoted, 1Cor.15:22,“For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive,” has been “spiritualized” so much that it has been fairly conceded to the Universalists by many who call themselves orthodox. But it does not at all favor Universalism unless it is perverted, and made to conflict with other scriptures. Jesus says, all that are in the graves shall hear the voice of the Son of man, and come forth; they that have done good to the resurrection of life, and they that have done evil to the resurrection of damnation. The text in question (1 Cor. 15:22) says no more than this, that all that have died shall have a resurrection; but if some are unjust, and have a resurrection to damnation, that affords no help to Universalism. But if death here means spiritual death (as we say it does not), then the Universalists must have the truth; for to be made alive from spiritual death is to be made spiritually alive, which is none other than a state of holiness. This conflicts with the words of

The Atonement - 68

Christ just quoted, of a resurrection to damnation. Death is simply the absence of life; all die and go into the grave, and all are raised again from the grave, without respect to their character or condition. There will be a resurrection of the just and of the unjust; one class to eternal life, the other to the second death. The death of Adam became temporal by reason of a resurrection, so we may say that the infliction for personal sins, the second death, is eternal, because no resurrection will succeed it. Thus, it appears plain that from the beginning death was the penalty of the law of God, circumstances determining the duration of it. This view, which is in strict harmony with the Bible, really removes all difficulty in regard to Christ having suffered the penalty due to sin.

(To be continued)

(Excerpt from-) THE ATONEMENT PART SECOND:

THE ATONEMENT AS REVEALED IN THE BIBLE

 (1884)

BY   ELDER J. H. WAGGONER

Salvation AND Redemption.

'CHAPTER XI.

REDEMPTION'

'However closely salvation and redemption may be related in the gospel plan, there is a difference between the two.

Salvation is a saving or keeping from, and redemption is bringing back from.

The great salvation through Christ is from death—the second death.

The great redemption is from mortality and death—the first death.

The Lord promised to redeem his people from death and the grave. Hos. 13:14.

Hos 13:14  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: repentance shall be hid from mine eyes.

But that will not apply, strictly speaking, to Enoch and Elijah, as they were saved from death; from going into the grave. But their redemption from mortality—from that condition which brings mankind to the grave—was the same as that of others. It is true that both these words have a different application from that here noted; as, we are saved from sin, and redeemed from our vain conversation. But such application does not disprove the statement made in regard to the difference of the terms, and of their general application.

The apostle Paul says that we, who have the first-fruits of the Spirit, are groaning for redemption. Rom. 8:23.

Rom 8:23  And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body. 

And Jesus instructs us, when we see the signs of his coming, to look up, and lift up our heads; for our redemption draws nigh. Luke 21:28.

Luk 21:28  And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh. 

By this we see that the work of redeeming love is not yet done for the saints of God.

The grave yet holds in its cold embrace myriads of faithful ones, who died in hope. They rested in the promise of God through Christ, and could say with Job, “I know that my Redeemer liveth;” and with him they looked forward to the “better resurrection.”

Of the ancient worthies, now sleeping, Paul said: “These all, having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise; God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect.” Heb. 11:35, 39, 40.

They are resting and waiting for the redemption for which we are waiting and groaning. And the same apostle informs us that “the first-fruits of the Spirit” which we have received, is also an assurance, “the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession.” Eph. 1:14.

When man fell,—when sentence was pronounced upon him,

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his possession shared with him the curse. At the first he was given dominion over the earth; but the Lord said: “Cursed is the ground for thy sake.” And when the seed of the woman undertook to bruise the serpent’s head, he not only purchased man with his blood, but he purchased his possession also, and with him it remains to be redeemed.

Satan may mar the work of God, but he cannot thwart his purpose.

God’s work will finally be perfected, and the work of the devil will be destroyed. 1 John 3:8.

1Jn 3:8  He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil. 

Thus the future work of redemption has two great objects to accomplish. And, as before said, they who say the work of redemption is finished; who deny the great work yet to be accomplished, rob the Redeemer of the glory of his work. It remains for us to examine that work in respect to both these objects. And,

1. THE REDEMPTION OF MAN

(To be continued)

(Excerpt from-) THE ATONEMENT PART SECOND:

THE ATONEMENT AS REVEALED IN THE BIBLE

 (1884)

BY   ELDER J. H. WAGGONER

Not In This World, But In the World to Come.

'And this is proof that the reign of the saints over the whole earth—under the whole heaven—is not in this present state. “In the world ye shall have tribulation.” John 16:33.

Joh 16:33  These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world. 

The wheat and the tares will grow together until the harvest, which is the end of the world, or of this age. Matt. 13:36-42.

Mat 13:36  Then Jesus sent the multitude away, and went into the house: and his disciples came unto him, saying, Declare unto us the parable of the tares of the field. 

Mat 13:37  He answered and said unto them, He that soweth the good seed is the Son of man; 

Mat 13:38  The field is the world; the good seed are the children of the kingdom; but the tares are the children of the wicked one; 

Mat 13:39  The enemy that sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the world; and the reapers are the angels. 

Mat 13:40  As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire; so shall it be in the end of this world. 

Mat 13:41  The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity; 

Mat 13:42  And shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth. 

The “little horn” will practice and prosper and prevail until judgment is given to the saints of the Most High. Dan. 7:21, 22.

Dan 7:21  I beheld, and the same horn made war with the saints, and prevailed against them; 

Dan 7:22  Until the Ancient of days came, and judgment was given to the saints of the most High; and the time came that the saints possessed the kingdom.

“That man of sin,” the wicked one, will exalt himself until he is destroyed by the brightness of Christ’s coming. 2 Thess. 2:1-8.

2Th 2:1  Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him, 

2Th 2:2  That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand. 

2Th 2:3  Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; 

2Th 2:4  Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God. 

2Th 2:5  Remember ye not, that, when I was yet with you, I told you these things? 

2Th 2:6  And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time. 

2Th 2:7  For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way. 

2Th 2:8  And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming: 

These, and many other scriptures to the same intent which might be quoted, prove conclusively that in this world—in this present state—the wicked will enjoy their triumph; and the saints must still remain in expectation of theirs; they are but “heirs of the kingdom which God hath promised to them that love him. ”James 2:5.

Jas 2:5  Hearken, my beloved brethren, Hath not God chosen the poor of this world rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which he hath promised to them that love him? 

There can be no “abundance of peace” for the meek, while the tares grow with the wheat, which will be until the harvest, or the end of the world; while that man of sin opposes and exalts himself against God, which will be until Christ’s coming. Not in this world, but in the world to come, will the saints reign, and the will of God be done on earth as it is done in Heaven. Well has the poet said:— “There is a land, a better land than this; There’s my home, there’s my home.”

There is not the shade of a contradiction between the two statements, that the saints shall have tribulation in this world, and, the meek shall inherit the earth. If the earth were always to be in its present state and condition, where the wicked prosper and the righteous are oppressed, then it would not be possible that the meek should inherit the earth and delight themselves in the abundance of peace. But the earth is not always to remain under the curse. The

The Atonement - 186

thorn and the thistle shall not always mar the face of the dominion which was given to man at first, and which man shall eventually inherit forever. God’s original purpose will be accomplished; his counsel shall stand. The work of the Captain of our salvation was not ended when he died upon the cross; when his soul was made an offering for sin. Isa. 53:10.

Isa 53:10  Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in his hand. 

His work will not yet be finished when he has cleansed the sanctuary by the sprinkling of his blood upon the mercy-seat. The Atonement has in view the fullness of the glory of redemption. It is necessary to understand what is included in the work of redemption, in order to understand what the blood of Christ has purchased for us; what his Atonement accomplishes for man; and what are the riches of the glory of his kingdom. This glory is greatly obscured by reason of limited views of the design of the Atonement, and of the work of redemption. “The greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven,” which “shall be given to the people of the saints of the Most High,” will not be realized until the work of redemption is fully completed, or until the “restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began.” Acts 3:21. And especially do they limit the Saviour’s work, and rob him of his glory who claim—and many do—that the work of redemption is already completed. It is necessary that we give this subject our careful attention.

(To be continued)

(Excerpt from-) THE ATONEMENT PART SECOND:

THE ATONEMENT AS REVEALED IN THE BIBLE

 (1884)

BY   ELDER J. H. WAGGONER