The Coming of a Literal Christ.
By Editor
THE subject of the Judgment is a most solemn subject. In it every human being has an interest. It does not matter that some say that they do not feel any interest in it. We cannot throw off responsibility by refusing to acknowledge our responsibility, or by stifling our convictions. The Judgment is a matter which is governed by authority, by law, and not by feelings. God is declared to be "the Judge of all." Heb. 12:23. No one can escape his eye; no act is concealed from his view. Heb. 4:12, 13; Eccl. 12:13, 14. A thief and murderer may reject all the blessings which the Government guarantees to good citizens, but he cannot reject the penalty which the court pronounces upon his disobedience. At that time his option ceases. His choice and action determine how he shall stand in the Judgment; but when he comes to stand in the Judgment, he has no choice in the matter. How important that a wise choice be made while probation lingers, while the privilege of choice is kindly extended. There is a Judgment appointed. Paul says: "It is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the Judgment." Heb. 9:27. And the time of the Judgment is appointed. "Because he hath appointed a day in the which he will judge the world." Acts 17:31. The saints will have a part to act in the Judgment of the world. "Do ye not know that the saints shall judge the world?" 1 Cor. 6:2. And that time is closely connected with the second coming of Christ. "Judge nothing before the time, until the Lord come, who both will bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and will make manifest the counsels of the hearts." 1 Cor. 4:5. And Peter, speaking of the coming of Christ, says that as the world was once overflowed with water, and perished in the flood, even so "the heavens and the earth which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of Judgment and perdition of ungodly men." 2 Peter 3:7. This fire is not mythical, or allegorical, or spiritual; but it is a fire by reason of which "the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up." Verse 10. The flood was literal; by the prevailing of the waters both men and beasts and fowls perished. Only Noah and his family were saved in the ark which rode upon the waters. As men perished in the waters, so will they perish by fire in that day of Judgment and perdition of ungodly men. If the literality of such language as this, and such facts as these, be denied, we cannot understand how it is possible for God to make a specific and certain revelation to man. Rewards are given in the day of Judgment. "The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations, and to reserve the unjust unto the day of Judgment to be punished." 2 Peter 2:9. Again: "And the nations were angry, and thy wrath is come, and the time of the dead, that they should be judged, and that thou shouldst give reward unto thy servants the prophets, and to the saints, and them that fear thy name, small and great; and shouldst destroy them that corrupt the earth." Rev. 11:18. Here, again, we say we do not at all care what meanings a lively imagination can attach to these texts by distorting their language. Our inquiry is: What is their actual meaning? What meaning will best harmonize the Scriptures, and make these texts harmonize with all the other Scriptures? Taking the prophecies of the first advent, and tracing their literal fulfillment, and following down the chain through these prophecies, do not reason, and sense, and reverence for the word of God, demand that we give a literal meaning to this language, and look for its literal fulfillment? But if these words are not literal, and do not mean what they say; if the "same Jesus" whom the disciples saw ascend bodily up to the heavens, will not come again in like manner as they saw him go away; if the "Lord himself" will not descend with a shout, and the voice of the archangel and the trump of God will not be heard; if they who sleep in Christ will not rise; and if we that are alive and remain unto that time will not be caught up together with them to meet the Lord in the air, then what is our comfort and hope in the Scriptures? What is our consolation concerning them that sleep in Christ? Where is our hope of reward and of the crown of glory? And again, if there is not a day of Judgment (as there certainly is not if the Lord is never to come), and if the day of the Lord never comes in which the elements shall be melted by fire, then is there, or will there ever be, any such time as a day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men? Will the unjust ever be punished? Is not Universalism true? And may we not make the Bible mean just what we please, without any regard to the mind of the Spirit by whom it was dictated? Can we depend upon anything with any certainty? And is not Ingersoll as nearly right as anybody in his views of the Scriptures? Reader, we feel very deeply interested in these questions. As we said before, we write for the sake of the word of God, for the honor of his revelation to us. We may toy with the words of man; we may make light of the Constitution of our Government, and pervert the language of the statutes of our States, and it will be a small matter. But let us tremble at the word of Jehovah, remembering that he has magnified his word above all his name (Ps. 138:2), and he is very jealous for his truth. But there is yet a most important line of truth to be examined. It seems to us that enough has been presented to convince every one who has any respect for the Bible as a revelation from God. But we wish to show how strongly fortified is our faith in the second advent; and we wish to show to any who may yet doubt, how weighty are the consequences which follow the misconstruction of these scriptures. The doctrine which we have yet to consider is that of the resurrection. We have already noticed the words of Paul to the Thessalonians, that when the Lord himself descends, and the voice of the archangel is heard, the dead in Christ shall rise. And therefore, if the Lord himself does not come, the dead in Christ will not rise. This is true beyond the possibility of dispute. We are aware that we shall be met right here with the avowal of not a few, that they do not believe the dead ever will rise; that there is an immortal part of man which will never die, and that the mortal part which dies will never come up from the grave. And we call attention to a fact which ought to startle every doubter of the literal fulfillment of these prophecies, that the theory which denies the literal fulfillment of these scriptures, not only perverts the divine word and destroys its obvious meaning, and intention, but its advocates will deny a plain statement with the most amazing coolness. There is nothing in all the Bible more plainly and positively stated than that the dead will live again—come forth from the grave. And yet there are thousands of professed believers in the Bible who disavow faith in the resurrection of the dead with a manner of assurance as if it was given them to set aside the word of Jehovah at their own will and pleasure. And they are not at all ashamed to reverse the word of the Lord, and to boldly proclaim that what it says shall be, will never come to pass. That which is said "by the word of the Lord" will never be fulfilled; but that which is conjectured, is imagined, which is purely a matter of speculation, is held as sufficient ground of faith and hope! Will not God, who says his counsel shall stand, visit them for such presumption? There is one fact, however, which very few who in any way profess to be Christians, will deny. It is that Christ rose from the dead. And his was a literal or physical resurrection, that is, a resurrection of the person, or body, which died. He was crucified, dead, buried, and left the tomb; and after his resurrection, they saw him, handled him, saw the prints of the nails in his hands and his feet, and the print of the spear in his side, and he ate and drank with them to give them the fullest assurance of his resurrection. And if this truth of his resurrection be denied, where then is the gospel? His resurrection is the example and pledge of our resurrection. But let us hear the word of the Most High on this subject. Ps. 16:10: "Thou wilt not leave my soul in hell [sheol, hades], neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption." In Acts 2 we are informed that this was a prophecy of the resurrection of Christ, who was raised up "according to the flesh," in fulfillment of this word. It was a bodily resurrection. Isa. 26:19: "Thy dead men shall live, together with my dead body shall they arise. Awake and sing, ye that dwell in the dust; for thy dew is as the dew of herbs, and the earth shall cast out the dead." Here the prophecy of the resurrection of the bodies of dead men is much more explicit than was that of the resurrection of Christ; yet that was fulfilled literally, and so must this scripture be fulfilled. Jer. 31:15-17. In Matt. 2 we learn that this was a prophecy of the slaying of the little children in Bethlehem, the first martyrs for Jesus. They were cut off; they were not. But the Lord said: "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. And there is hope in thine end, saith the Lord, that thy children shall come again to their own border." Paul says that death is the last enemy, and that it shall be destroyed. 1 Cor. 15:26. The children were dead—in the land of the enemy, from which they shall come again. And this can only be by a resurrection. But if it be averred that they went to Heaven, whence they will be brought at some time, then it must be admitted that Heaven is the land of the enemy! But admit the truth of the future resurrection of the dead, and there is no necessity to thus revile the tabernacle of the Most High. See Rev. 13:6. Eze. 37:12-14: "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. And ye shall know that I am the Lord, when I have opened your graves, O my people, and brought you up out of your graves, and shall put my spirit in you, and ye shall live, and I shall place you in your own land." We have before noticed this text, and shown why it is literal language. It is the Lord's own explanation of the vision of the prophet, and therefore must mean just what it says. Dan. 12:2: "And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake." This is precisely87parallel to the words of Isa. 26:19. There is no mistaking the language. 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." This is a part of the testimony of the Old Testament on the subject of the resurrection of the dead; of dead men, even dead bodies of those sleeping in the dust of the earth. When we consider that the resurrection of Christ was literal, and that his resurrection is the pledge and assurance of ours, these words of the Lord by his holy prophets ought to be convincing—sufficiently so—to every one who professes any regard for the "sure word of prophecy," or any reverence for our heavenly Father, who makes known to man the counsel of his will.