Untitled article by Dudley Marvin Canright

The Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Third-day, October 22, 1867

THE RESURRECTION OF THE WICKED DEAD.

By Dudley Marvin Canright

BY ELD. D. M. CANRIGHT.

TEXT.— Prov. xi, 21. “Though hand join in hand, the wicked shall not be unpunished.”

No doctrine seems to be more plainly revealed in the Bible than that the wicked will all be punished. That though they may sin in this world with impunity, and go down to the grave in peace, yet there is a day of reckoning coming for them, in which they will have to give an account for their conduct here, and be punished for their sins. This has been the faith of the church in all ages; yet to-day there is a class of people rising who deny all this, and claim that a wicked man once dead will never live again. They deny the resurrection of the wicked; but we firmly believe that the wicked will be raised at the second resurrection. In support of this we present, and shall endeavor to prove, the following propositions.

I. God will adequately punish every sin. Rom. ii, 8, 9. “But unto them that are contentious, and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, [God will render] indignation and wrath, tribulation and anguish, upon every soul of man that doeth evil, of the Jew first, and also of the Gentile.” According to this, every soul of man that doeth evil shall receive tribulation and anguish for that evil. Not one soul shall go unpunished. My text declares the same thing, “Though hand join in hand, the wicked shall not be unpunished.”

II. God does not punish the wicked in this life. There are exceptions to this proposition to be sure; but it holds good as a general rule, and we are fully sustained by the Bible in this statement. Ps. lxxiii, 3–12. “For I was envious at the foolish when I saw the prosperity of the wicked; for there are no bands in their death; but their strength is firm. They are not in trouble as other men; neither are they plagued like other men. Therefore pride compasseth them about as a chain; violence covereth them as a garment. Their eyes stand out with fatness; they have more than heart could wish. They are corrupt, and speak wickedly concerning oppression. They speak loftily. They set their mouth against the heavens, and their tongue walketh through the earth. Therefore his people return hither, and waters of a full cup are wrung out to them. And they say, How doth God know? and is there knowledge in the most High. Behold, these are the ungodly, who prosper in the world; they increase in riches.”

Here is a description of the wicked in this world. Their eyes stand out with fatness, they have more than heart could wish. They speak against God, and yet are prospered on every hand. David, a righteous man, when considering their prosperity, says, “I was envious at them when I saw it.” It was not the righteous who were thus prospered, but the men who did not fear God. This does not look much as though the wicked were punished in this life. Facts of every-day occurrence show that the Psalmist was right in his statement in regard to them. All around us, we see wicked men, lying men, cheating men, men who oppress the widow and the fatherless, grind the face of the poor, devour their neighbors; men who neither fear God nor regard man. We see these men making money, amassing wealth, riding in fine carriages, building nice houses, and having all the comforts of life. They are looked up to, praised and flattered. They live to old age, and die amidst peace and plenty. Now where is their punishment? They have not had it.

Here is another man by his side. He is an honest and industrious man, he always speaks the truth. He injures no man in word or deed. He fears God and loves his neighbor. How is it with him? Often he is despised and oppressed. His rights are disregarded and trampled upon. His virtue is made a crime. He finds it true that “he that departeth from evil, maketh himself a prey.” These are facts with which every one is familiar. Hence we say that God does not punish the wicked in this life.

This is still further confirmed by the following testimony from Job xxi, 7–15. “Wherefore do the wicked live, become old, yea, are mighty in power? Their seed is established in their sight with them, and their offspring before their eyes. Their houses are safe from fear, neither is the rod of God upon them. They send forth their little ones like a flock, and their children dance. They take the timbrel and harp, and rejoice at the sound of the organ. They spend their days in wealth, and in a moment go down to the grave. Therefore they say unto God, Depart from us; for we desire not the knowledge of thy ways.”

This is what Job thought of the wicked in this world. David gives a like description of them. Ps. xvii, 14, 15. “Deliver me from men which are thy hand, O Lord, from men of the world, which have their portion in this life, and whose belly thou fillest with thy hid treasure. They are full of children, and leave the rest of their substance to their babes. As for me, I will behold thy face in righteousness. I shall be satisfied when I awake in thy likeness.” Thus David says that the men of this world have their portion in this life; the ungodly are the ones who prosper in this world. As for the righteous, they will be satisfied when they awake in the morning of the resurrection.

III. But God keeps books of accounts. Rev. xx, 12. “And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God, and the books were opened, and another book was opened, which is the book of life, and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.” This language cannot be misunderstood. God keeps books of account with man. All their deeds are written down in them. In the future those books will be opened and these accounts will be adjusted. This fact is referred to in many places all through the Bible. Jer. ii, 22. “For though thou wash thee with nitre, and take thee much soap, yet thine iniquity is marked before me, saith the Lord God.” Yes, it is marked before God in his books of account. Isa. lxv, 6, 7. Speaking of the sins of the wicked, the Lord says, “Behold, it is written before me. I will not keep silence, but will recompense, even recompense into your bosom, your iniquities, and the iniquities of your fathers together, saith the Lord, which have burned incense upon the mountains, and blasphemed me upon the hills; therefore will I measure their former work into their bosom.” They think that their sin is not noticed, because their sin is not punished at present; but God says it is written before him to be punished in the future. Psa. l. 20–22. “Thou sittest and speakest against thy brother; thou slanderest thine own mother’s son. These things hast thou done, and I kept silence; thou thoughtest that I was altogether such an one as thyself; but I will reprove thee, and set them in order before thine eyes.” This is enough to establish this point.

IV. God will not punish the wicked till the day of judgment. 2 Pet. ii, 9. “The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptation, and to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished.” By this we see that the wicked are reserved to the day of judgment to be punished. Then of course they are not punished before that time. Job xxi, 28–32. “Have ye not asked them that go by the way? and do not ye know their tokens, that the wicked is reserved to the day of destruction? They shall be brought forth to the day of wrath.” Job agrees with Peter, that the wicked are kept in reserve to the day of destruction or judgment. Then Job says that they are to

be brought forth. Where are they kept in reserve? “Who shall declare his way to his face, and who shall repay him what he hath done? Yet shall he be brought forth to the grave, and shall remain in the tomb.” This cannot be true if there is no resurrection of the wicked. If they are brought forth to be punished at the day of judgment, they must have a resurrection.

V. There will be a final judgment for all. Rom. xiv, 10, 11. “But why dost thou judge thy brother? or why dost thou set at nought thy brother? for we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. For it is written, As I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God. So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God.” This testimony shows that all—every one—shall stand before God in the judgment to give an account of himself. 2 Cor. v, 10, 11. “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad. Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men.” This text sets forth the same fact, that there is a day coming in which every one will have to appear before Christ at the judgment. In view of this solemn fact, Paul says, “Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men.”

Matt. xxv, 31, 32. “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, 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.” Then he tells them on the right, to go into the kingdom prepared for them, for he was hungry, thirsty, naked, and sick, and they ministered unto him. But he tells them on the left hand to depart into everlasting fire, because they did none of these things to him, when they saw him in need. Now if there be no future judgment for sinners, no resurrection for the wicked, this passage can never be fulfilled. Eccl. xi, 9. “Rejoice, O young man, in thy youth; and let thy heart cheer thee in the days of thy youth, and walk in the ways of thine heart, and in the sight of thine eyes; but know thou, that for all these things God will bring thee into judgment.” This cannot be true if there be no resurrection for the wicked; for then how could they ever be brought into judgment? Chap. xii, 13, 14. “Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter. Fear God, and keep his commandments; for this is the whole duty of man. For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.” The wise man exhorts all to fear God and obey him, from the consideration that he will bring everything into judgment—the evil as well as the good. This most clearly points to a future day of judgment, in which the wicked will be punished for their deeds. The non-resurrection doctrine denies all this, and says to the sinner, This is not so.

In Rom. ii, Paul says that God will render to every man according to his deeds; to them who by patient continuance in well-doing seek for glory and honor, and immortality, eternal life. When will God do this to the righteous? We all believe that it will be at their resurrection, at the day of judgment. Having stated this, he now says what God will then do with the wicked. “But unto them that are contentious and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness [God will render] indignation and wrath, tribulation and anguish, upon every soul of man that doeth evil, of the Jew first, and also of the Gentile.” Then in the future, indignation and wrath, and tribulation are to be visited upon every soul of man that doeth evil. We have already seen that the wicked do not receive tribulation and anguish in this life, therefore they must receive it in the future.

VI. At the day of judgment the books will be opened. Daniel describes the Ancient of Days sitting in judgment, and says, “The judgment was set and the books were opened.” Dan. vii, 10. In Rev. xx, 11, 12, we read, “And I saw a great white throne, and Him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them; and I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God, and the books were opened; and another book was opened, which is the book of life, and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.” Here we see that the accounts which are kept daily with the wicked during their life will be opened and examined at the judgment, and they will be rewarded according to what is written in the books. None of this can be true if there be no resurrection of the wicked.

VII. Then the wicked will be sent into fire. “And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them, and they were judged every man according to their works. And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.” Verses 13–15. Thus we see that the examining of the deeds of the wicked results in their being cast into the lake of fire. In Matt. xxv, we learn that when the Son of man shall come, and shall sit upon his throne, he will say to all the wicked, “Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the Devil and his angels.” The same fact is taught in the parable of the tares and wheat, in Matt. xiii. The tares and the wheat were to grow together until the harvest. Then they would be separated, the wheat being gathered into the barn and the tares being burned in the fire. Jesus expounds this parable thus: “He that soweth the good seed is the Son of man. The field is the world; the good seed are the children of the kingdom; but the tares are the children of the wicked one; the enemy that sowed them is the Devil; the harvest is the end of the world, and the reapers are the angels. As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire, so shall it be in the end of the world. 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, and shall cast them into a furnace of fire; and there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.” Verses 37–42. It would seem that the meaning of this parable is unmistakable, because it is so simple, and clearly explained by Jesus. At the end of the world the wicked are to be cast into a lake of fire, which causes wailing and gnashing of teeth.

VIII. The Bible threatens pain, ending in death. It is not simply death, extinction of life, that is threatened, but pain and anguish of soul, which will terminate in death. Pain is an important part of the penalty threatened the sinner. If this be so, the main argument of the Non-resurrectionists is overthrown. They claim that simply death is the penalty for sin. We can refer the reader to Rom. ii, 5–9. Glory and immortality is promised to the righteous, but indignation and wrath, tribulation, and anguish is promised to the wicked. In Mark ix, 43–48, Jesus says thus, “And if thy hand offend thee, cut it off; it is better for thee to enter into life maimed than having two hands to go into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched; where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched.” Jesus was not afraid to talk of hell-fire into which the wicked will be cast. This does not occur in this life, therefore it must be in the future. The parable of the rich man and Lazarus plainly teaches the punishment of the wicked after death. It does not teach the consciousness of the dead, as it applies after their resurrection from the dead, because we have seen that the wicked are not punished till after the day of judgment. “The rich man also died and was buried, and in hell he lifted up his eyes, being in torment, and seeth Abraham afar off and Lazarus in his bosom; and he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me and send Lazarus that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am tormented in this flame. But Abraham said, Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedest thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things, but now he is comforted, and thou art tormented.” Luke xvi, 22–25. This seems to be very plain,—the rich man dies, is buried, and the next we hear of him he is in hell being tormented in the flames of fire. This is just what Jesus warned sinners to avoid. He asks for help from Lazarus, but Abraham tells him that in his life-time he has received his good things; but Lazarus evil. Now, says Abra- ham, Lazarus is comforted and thou art tormented. This shows, 1. That wicked men have the good things of this world. 2. That the righteous now have the evil things of this world. 3. That in the world to come this order will be exactly reversed, the righteous will then be comforted, while at the same time the wicked will be tormented. This does away entirely with the non-resurrection theory.

IX. The Bible shows plainly two probations and two deaths. In Gen. ii, 16, 17, the Lord says to man thus: “Of every tree of the garden thou mayest eat freely, but of the tree of knowledge of good and evil thou shalt not eat; for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.” Here man had life and death placed before him. By obedience he would live; by disobedience he would die. He was on probation, to determine which of the two he was worthy of, life or death. He disobeyed—lost his probation and his life; and hence God said to him, “Unto dust shalt thou return.” In commenting on this, Paul says, “Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin, and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned.” Rom. v, 12. And thus all will agree that man was placed on probation, but lost that probation. The penalty of this was death. Hence, all the race of Adam have to die, whether they personally sin or not. After this, God gave man another chance for life, placed him on a second probation. Deut. xxx, 15. “I call Heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; wherefore choose life that both thee and thy seed may live.” Here God says that all men have life and death set before them, and exhorts them to choose which they will have. This corresponds with the whole teachings of the Bible, that man is now on probation the second time. Now if he fails of this probation what will be the result? If the loss of the first probation brought the first death, will not the failure in the second probation bring the second death? We should certainly conclude that it would, and the Bible sustains this conclusion. “He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death.” “Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection; on such the second death hath no power.” “And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.” Rev. ii, 11; xx, 6, 14. Here two deaths are plainly taught in the word of God. How can this be, if men never die but one death? It will take a great deal of vain philosophy to reason away these plain declarations of the word of God. All the labor and misery, the suffering and death that men experience in this life, comes as a penalty of the first transgression, and not in consequence of mere personal sins. Gen. iii, 17–19. “And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it, cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life; thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee, and thou shalt eat the herb of the field; in the sweat of thy face thou shalt eat bread till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken; for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.” To this point we call particular attention. All the suffering and death of this life comes as the penalty of the first transgression, and not for the sins which men commit now. The innocent and the guilty suffer and die alike. Hence, if there be no future punishment for the wicked, all the sins that are committed in this life will go unpunished. But God has said that though hand join in hand, the wicked shall not be unpunished. Eze. xviii, 30: “When a righteous man turneth away from his righteousness, and committeth iniquity, and dieth in them, for his iniquity that he hath done shall he die.” Here it is said that after he is dead he shall die for his iniquity. This cannot be true if they rise not from the dead.

X. The Bible plainly states the resurrection of the wicked. Jno. v, 28, 29: “Marvel not at this; 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, and they that have done evil unto the resurrection of damnation.” I see not how language could be plainer than this.

“All that are in the graves shall hear his voice, and shall come forth,” not only they that have done good, but they that have done evil. A theory which compels its advocates to contradict so plain a declaration as this, must be a gross error. What would common people conclude from this passage? It would manifestly be that the wicked would certainly be raised. It exhausts all the ingenuity and skill of the advocates of the non-resurrection of the wicked to get up even a plausible explanation of it. Acts xxiv, 15: Says Paul, “I have hope toward God which they themselves also allow, that there shall be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and unjust.” Here is another unequivocal declaration that the wicked will be raised from the dead. Dan. xii, 2: “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.” Here it is stated that some who are sleeping in the dust shall awake to contempt. This can be none other than the wicked. Rev. xx, 4–6: “And they (the righteous) lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years. But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection; on such the second death hath no power,” &c. Here, after stating the resurrection of the righteous, it says that the rest of the dead lived not again till the thousand years were finished. Thus, by the very strongest implications it says that the wicked, or the rest of the dead, will live again when the thousand years are expired. This ought to be sufficient to settle the question. It must be a very bad theory that needs to avoid all these plain declarations.

XI. The Bible teaches that the saints will be raised first, which explains many of the chief arguments for the non-resurrection of the wicked. Rev. xx, 4, 5, plainly states that the wicked will not be raised until a thousand years after the resurrection of the righteous. “They (the righteous) lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years; but the rest of the dead lived not again till the thousand years were finished.” According to this testimony, the righteous will be raised one thousand years before the wicked are raised. In Heb. xi, 35, Paul says that the worthies suffered as they did “that they might obtain a better resurrection.” This shows that there are two resurrections. How can there be a better resurrection if the wicked are never raised? A better resurrection implies that there will be more than one, and that it will be better to have a part in one than in the other. In Luke xiv, 14, Jesus says, “that the righteous shall be recompensed at the resurrection of the just.” This also implies that there will be some other resurrection besides that of the just. It agrees exactly with Paul’s declaration that there shall be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and the unjust. This explains such declarations as Prov. xxi, 16: “A man that wandereth out of the way of understanding shall remain in the congregation of the dead.” So other arguments on the fifteenth chapter of 1 Corinthians and other passages, are answered by the same fact.

XII. It plainly teaches that there will be degrees in the punishment of the wicked. “Every man shall be rewarded according to his deeds.” Certainly the wicked deeds of some have far surpassed those of others. It is not simply death that is threatened to the wicked. Luke xii, 47, 48: “And that servant which knew his Lord’s will and prepared not himself, neither did according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes. But he that knew not, and did commit things worthy of stripes, shall be beaten with few stripes,” &c. If this be true, then simply death, which all have to experience alike, will not answer to what God has promised to the wicked.

XIII. The promise of life to the righteous and the denial of it to the wicked relates to eternal life. John iii, 36: “He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life; and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.” The non-resurrectionists think that this favors their theory, because it says that the wicked shall not see life; but when we remember that it is everlasting life which is spoken of, we see that it does not help their cases any. He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life; he that believeth not the Son shall not see life. What life? The life spoken of, which is everlasting life. This the wicked will never have.

XIV. Men have had Adamic life restored to them. Non-resurrectionists claim that whoever is raised from the dead must have eternal life; hence, they say that if the wicked are ever raised, they will live forever. To this we answer, that many persons have been raised from the dead to a mortal life, as in the case of Lazarus, the widow’s son, and many others. If God could raise these from the dead to a mortal life, he can raise others. So, their objection is not a good one. From these considerations I am led to believe, with Paul, that there shall be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and the unjust. Amen.