DEATH - RESURRECTIONS #4

THE RESURRECTIONS

The SECOND Resurrection

From the Ambassador College study paper of 1973/74

     FORMER Prime Minister Winston Churchill once said before the

American Congress: "He must indeed have a blind soul who cannot

see that some great purpose and design is being worked out here

below."

     What is that purpose which the Creator is working out on

this earth among mere mortals?

     We have seen in previous articles in this series that man's

only hope is the resurrection. Also, we saw biblical proof that

man is mortal - not immortal - and that he can only receive

immortality as a gift from God by a resurrection from the dead.

     Furthermore, we saw that the Bible clearly reveals there is

to be MORE than ONE resurrection. There is an orderly plan

whereby different ones are to be resurrected at different times

"But every man [will be resurrected] in his own order..." 1 Cor.

15:23). There will be a proper "order' of succession of

resurrections.

     The true faithful Christians will be the first raised to

life, and the will be resurrected to immortality at the second

coming of Christ (see 1 Cor.15:49-53: 1 Thes.4:14-17).

Resurrection of the Unjust

     But what about all those who are not resurrected at the

second coming of Jesus? Will they remain forever dead or will 

God also resurrect them all at later date? And will they be raised

back to life merely to be flung into the lake of fire? What about

all the unsaved multitudes reared under Communistic atheism, 

who have no Bibles, and have never heard the name of Christ 

or understood the gospel?

     Some say these multitudes will have a second chance. But

have they really ever had a FIRST chance to know Jesus Christ 

as Saviour?

     Revelation 20:5 begins to give the answer. "But the rest of

the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished.

This is the first resurrection."

     The expression "this is the first resurrection" refers back

to those in verse four who are raised to immortality at Christ's

coming to become rulers with Him as kings and priests on the

earth during the millennium.

     Many have made the mistake of thinking there will be only

one resurrection - when both wicked and righteous will rise in

judgment to be either rewarded or punished. But Revelation 20:5

plainly brands this an error. As a matter of fact, nowhere does

the Bible say that God will resurrect all the dead in the same

resurrection.

     True, the Apostle Paul affirmed "that there shall be a

resurrection of the dead, both of the just and unjust" (Acts

24:15).

     And Jesus Christ said: "... For the hour is coming, in the

which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, and shall

come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection 

of LIFE [eternal]; and they that have done evil, unto the

resurrection of damnation [or, better translated, judgment]"

(John 5:28,29).

     But let us not fall into the common error of assuming that

Paul and Christ meant the "just" and the "unjust" would be

resurrected at the same time.

     We have seen that the Apostle John wrote of a "first

resurrection" and a "second resurrection." So where does that

leave us?

     Since all the "just" or righteous dead are resurrected at

the second coming of Christ, leaving the "unjust" dead in their

graves, are all these unjust dead eternally, lost without any

hope of ever having an opportunity to live again and obtain

immortality?

A Resurrection of Mortals

     Are the unjust ones merely to be resurrected so God can

fling them into the lake of fire to be burned up'! What did

Christ mean when He said that "they that have done evil will 

be resurrected], unto the resurrection of judgment"? (John 5:29).

     Who are the "unjust" ones mentioned by Paul in Acts 24:15?

Are those who died in sin really fully accountable for their

actions in their "first life"? Have they ever had a chance for

eternal salvation?

     Astounding as it may seem to people who do not really know

the scriptural teaching regarding the resurrections, countless

billions are yet to be brought back to a mortal life to have

their "first chance" to receive salvation.

     Think for a moment. Could the untold billions who have lived

and died possibly have received salvation? Have the vast majority

ever had a chance to understand the Bible? Have they, then,

really rejected salvation? No! Many individuals have lived their

entire lifetimes without ever seeing a Bible or even hearing the

name of Jesus Christ.

     Are they forever doomed simply because they did not have the

Word of God, and did not know that Christ is the Saviour of all

mankind? What nonsense!

What Constitutes a "Chance"? 

     Could countless billions of Hindus, Buddhists,

Confucianists, Taoists, animists and others who have not known

about Christ and salvation be held guilty or accountable to God

for not having received that vital knowledge?     

     Or is it possible that they could receive salvation through

some other person, or by a different way? The Apostle Peter

emphatically answers: "Neither is there salvation in any other..,

for there is none other name under heaven given among men,

whereby we must be saved" (Acts 6:12).

     Human beings can only be saved if and when they learn of

Jesus Christ as their Saviour who died for them, and then accept

that supreme sacrifice in payment for their personal sins.

     Christ said: "I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he

shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture" (John

10:9). He made it abundantly clear that anyone who "entereth not

by the door [Christ] into the sheepfold, but climbeth up some

other way, the same is a thief and a robber" (verse 1).

     There is no other "door" by which we can enter the Kingdom

of God. 

Can You Have a Second Chance? 

     Someone will ask: "Do you mean to say that God will

resurrect men back to a mortal life, and give them a second

chance?" No, this is not what the Bible teaches at all.

     But the scriptures plainly reveal that the time is coming

when God will raise the "unjust" dead - those who through no

fault of their own were deceived and never understood the way 

of salvation - and will at that time reveal His plan of salvation   

to them.

     Don't forget this basic truth: It is "impossible for God to

lie" (Heb.6:18). And "the scripture cannot be broken" (John

10:35): therefore, whatever God promises in His Word, He will do.

God's Word plainly says: "The Lord is not slack concerning his

promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to

usward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should

come to repentance" (2 Pet.3:9).

     It is not God's will that heathen animists, pagan idolators or 

other sincere people who may practice a false religion, should

perish. A loving Creator wills that "all should come to repentance" - 

in His own time and way.

     The Apostle Paul was also inspired to write that God our

Saviour "will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the

knowledge of the truth" (I Tim.2:4). He then went on to show that

"there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man

Christ Jesus; who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified

in due time" (verses 5,6).

     It is God's responsibility to grant people the knowledge of

the truth. The vast majority who have ever lived and died were,

through no fault of their own, deprived of this knowledge which

would have made salvation possible in their first life-time. 

It therefore becomes imperative that God give them their first real

chance to hear, understand and follow God's way of salvation. But

how? By raising them from the dead to renewed physical life in a

second resurrection.

     But millions of Christians erroneously believe that when one

dies in sin he is lost forever. Many feel under a burden to see

that Christ is preached to the heathen in Africa, Asia and other

parts of the earth because they think that if these pagans die in

sin, they will miss out on salvation forever.

     One scripture oft quoted to prove that a person who dies in

sin is forever doomed is Ecclesiastes 11:3 "...If the tree fall

toward the south, or toward the north, in the place where the

tree falleth, there it shall be." This scripture, referring in

context to certain instructions Solomon was giving with regard 

to the importance of making the most out of an uncertain and

relatively short human lifetime, has nothing to do with any

resurrection. Solomon does not say that if one, through no fault

of his own, dies in sin, be will never have a chance to repent

and receive salvation.

What Is Judgment? 

     In John 5:29, Jesus Christ spoke of "the resurrection of

damnation." Nearly all modern translations correctly render this

last word as "judgment" rather than "damnation."

     But what does it mean to be resurrected to judgment? Most

Christians woefully misunderstand. They think of "judgment as

only a time when a sentence is passed - rewarding the righteous

or condemning the guilty. But that is a false concept.

     Notice what the Apostle Peter wrote: "For the time

[beginning nearly 2,000 years ago] is come that judgment must

begin at the house of God ..." (I Pet.4:17). What did he mean? 

He did not just mean condemnation had begun at God's house, 

the Church.

     Rather he referred to the fact that God is now judging

Christians. We are now having our chance, and we will never have

another. "How shall we escape, if we neglect so great

salvation..." (Heb.2:3.) See also Hebrews 6:4-6; 10:26-29. God

holds every Christian strictly accountable for his actions. He is

now judging every believer according to His Word. But the vast

majority of mankind, to this very day, do not understand or

believe the truth of God. They have been deceived by the devil

(Rev.12:9). And it is God's responsibility to someday see that

these deceived billions become undeceived and are given their

chance for salvation - for He is not willing that any perish!

     When Christ said some would come forth in a resurrection to

"judgment," he meant they would be raised up from their graves to

a time when they would learn the truth and have their opportunity

to walk in it. Then God will render a decision - a verdict - for

each, on the basis of how they do.

     

Judgment of Unjust Sodom

     Some are amazed to learn that Jesus made a number of

statements in which he said that the peoples of Sodom, Go-

morrah, Tyre, Sidon, Nineveh am those living in Christ's day will

all rise up in the judgment together. Mercy will be shown to all,

but the Gentile cities will find their judgment period more

bearable than those who personally heard the teachings of Jesus

Christ and yet rejected Him and His gospel.

     Christ solemnly affirmed: "Verily I say unto you, it shall

be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah in the day

of judgment, than for that city [which rejected His teachings]"

(Matt.10:15).

     To those cities who saw His miracles. Christ said, "But I

say unto you [people of Bethsaida and Chorazin], It shall be more

tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the day of judgment, than for

you" (Matt.11:21,22).

     Then Jesus warned Capernaum that if the mighty works done 

by Him in that city had been done in Sodom, Sodom would have 

existed to that very day. "But I say unto you, That it shall be more

tolerable for the land of Sodom, in the day of judgment, than for

thee" (verse 24).

     Furthermore, Christ made a similar pronouncement regarding

Nineveh: "The men of Nineveh shall rise in judgment with this

generation, and shall condemn it: because they repented at the

preaching of Jonas; and, behold, a greater than Jonas is here"

(Matt.12:41).

     Jesus then explained that "The queen of the south [Queen of

Sheba] shall rise up in the judgment with this generation, and

shall condemn it; for she came from the uttermost parts of the

earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and behold, a greater than

Solomon is here" (verse 42).

     What did Jesus mean? Just this: The Queen of Sheba, the

peoples of Nineveh, Tyre, Sidon, Sodom and Gomorrah will find

repentance easier in their "day of judgment" than will those who

rejected Christ and His gospel message.

Resurrected Israel's Judgment

     Jesus Christ was not preaching a "new doctrine" when He

spoke of the resurrection of the peoples of Sodom and Gomorrah.

It was clearly indicated, if the people only had eyes to see, in

the 16th chapter of the book of Ezekiel.

     Much of the chapter relates to the people of Jerusalem

(verse 2). It details their abominations, calling Samaria the

"elder sister" of Jerusalem, and Sodom her "younger sister"

(verse 46). Then God points out that the sins the people of

Jerusalem had committed were more abominable than those 

of her sisters - Sodom and Samaria.

     Finally, Ezekiel prophesies of the time when the Sodomites,

Samaritans and the people of Jerusalem will all be brought up out

o£ their captivity in death and will finally receive salvation.

"When I shall bring again their captivity, the captivity of Sodom

and her daughters, and the captivity of Samaria and her

daughters, then will I bring again the captivity of thy captives

in the midst of them" (verse 53). The peoples of Sodom and

Gomorrah have been held captive in the grave for nearly four

thousand years. But through Christ's death and resurrection all

of those held captive in the grave will be released.

     "... When he [Christ ascended up on high [at His

resurrection], he led captivity [death] captive..." (Eph.4:8).

Christ was held captive in the grave for three days and nights,

but at His resurrection He "led captivity captive." He will do

the same for all mankind in due time by resurrecting "all that

are in the graves."

     When God resurrects the peoples of ancient Sodom, Samaria

and Jerusalem, they will "return to their former estate"--meaning

that God will place them in the land where they once lived (Ezek.

16:55).

     Ezekiel also prophesied elsewhere of a coming resurrection

of all the dead Israelites of past centuries.

     The prophet first sees them as long dead in a "valley of dry

bones" (Ezek.37:1-10). "Then he [God] said unto me, Son of man,

these bones are the whole house of Israel.... Behold, O my

people, I will I open your graves, and cause you to come up out

of your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel. And ye

shall know that I am the Lord, when I have opened your graves, 

O my people, and brought you out of your graves" (verses 11-13).

     Then God promises He will put His Spirit in them (giving

them the prerequisite for salvation) and will place them in their

"own land" (verse 14).

Mercy Upon All

     Even the Apostle Paul prophesied of a coming resurrection

for carnal Israel.

     Paul wrote: "God hath not cast away his people [Israel]

which he foreknew" (Rom.11:2).

     Paul explains that the majority of Israel are spiritually

blinded (verse 7). And who is responsible? "... God hath given

them the spirit of slumber, eyes that they should not see, and

ears that they should not hear..." (verse 8). Why? "For if the

casting away of them be the reconciling of the world" - it makes

possible the salvation of the Gentiles! - "What shall the

receiving of them be, but life from the dead?" (Verse 15.) 

Yes, they are to be raised from the dead and given life by the

God who loves them and all humanity.

     Paul calls this a mystery "...blindness in part is happened

to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in. And so

all Israel shall be saved ..." (verses 25,26).

     What Paul is saying is simply this: God has determined to

call and choose only a limited number from Israel in this age. 

He is not trying to save all Israel now! He therefore calls those

Israelites whom He wills, but allows the rest to remain blinded

so that He can call a number of Gentiles to fulfill His purpose.

"For as ye [Gentiles] in times past have not believed God, yet

have now obtained mercy through their [Israel's] unbelief: Even

so have these [unbelieving Israelites] also now not believed,

that through your mercy they also may obtain mercy. For God 

hath concluded them all in unbelief, that he might have mercy 

upon all" (verses 30-32).

     When the Apostle Paul understood the mystery of God's great

masterplan, he was filled with praise: "O the depth of the riches

both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable

are his judgments, and his ways past finding out!" (Verse 33).

     God is not trying to save the whole world now! Rather, He

has allowed Satan to deceive the world with his false teaching

(Rev.12:9). He must prove to Satan and to man that Satan's way

produces bad results?

Great White Throne Judgment. 

     Just what is the Great White Throne Judgment? "The

resurrection of the righteous will take place at the coming of

Christ (I Thes.4:13-19; 1 Cor.15:53), [the resurrection] of the

unsaved at the Great White Throne Judgment after the Kingdom 

Age (Rev.20:11-15)." (Unger's Bible Dictionary, 1966 ed., article,

"Resurrection.")

     God is great, merciful, loving, not willing that any should

perish. He wills that all come to the knowledge of the truth and

to true repentance. But He knows it is better that most people

come to this knowledge of the truth in a better world than ours.

That is why these people will be raised up in the second resurrection - 

a resurrection to a mortal, fleshly, earthly existence.

     Here is how it is depicted in the 20th chapter of Revelation. 

"And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it.... 

And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God ..."

(Rev.20:11,12).

     "The books [Greek, biblos - books or Bible) were opened"

(verse 12). This means that those raised up at that time will

have the books of the Bible opened to their knowledge and

understanding. And also the "book of life" will be open so their

names can be written in it when each repents of his sins, accepts

Christ as personal Saviour, and receives God's Holy Spirit. Then

they will be judged "according to their works" (verse 12).

     Thus we see the "rest of the dead" raised to life, standing

before God to be judged - but not to be condemned, as so many

falsely assume. God will then judge those "unjust" dead, who are

at that time raised to life, just as He now judges His own house

- His Church (1 Pet.4:17). The book of life will be opened so

they can all receive eternal life, if they will!

     How thrilling to understand God's master plan which He is

working out here below among mortal men.     

                              ...............

To be continued with "The Third Resurrection"

Entered on my Website February 2008

Note:

When one understands the truth about the second resurrection, one

wants to shout with praise and thanksgiving to the Lord, for truly 

how PATIENT and LOVING and MERCIFUL He is! Yes, He 

really does DESIRE that all will have an open and equal and fair 

chance to be CALLED to salvation. He really does want all the 

millions, nay, BILLIONS, those having lived and died, from babies 

to the elderly, who never understood the Bible, or never heard the 

name of Jesus. 

I tell you friends the Roman Catholic world and the Protestant

world, HAS NEVER TAUGHT OR UNDERSTOOD this 

WONDERFUL TRUTH of the SECOND resurrection. Even many 

of the 7th Day Sabbath observing churches DO NOT KNOW OR 

TEACH THIS TRUTH!

There were many truths of the Bible preached and taught by the

OLD Radio Church of God (later to be called the Worldwide Church

of God) under Herbert W. Armstrong. That man and his organization

may have gone off the tracks, and became a one man cult, before

he died, but the fact is, SOME great and splendid truths did come

from that organization. The truth of the SECOND resurrection is

ONE of those truths. Few ministers or church organizations have

ever understood it. 

Let us praise the Almighty that He has in the last century 

made sure that this truth has been a part of the restitution of all

things. God's truths are marching on, the restitution of all

things is is taking place. You can be a part of it all, you have

the blessing of being able to find the truths of God on my

Website.

Act upon what you are being led to find, LIVE it! Then YOU can 

be a part of the FIRST resurrection and be in the Family of God to

teach millions of others about the Bible, about Jesus as Savior,

about the way to salvation. Truly that is the blessing of blessings.

Keith Hunt