The Resurrection at Christ's Coming by Mrs. L. D. Avery-Stuttle

Pacific Press Publishing Association · Mountain View, California · Oct 15, 1912

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 39, No. 40.

The Resurrection at Christ's Coming

By Mrs. L. D. Avery-Stuttle

THE day of the resurrection! My heart leaps for joy as I write the words. And yet I do not half comprehend them.

To think that this sin-sick, care-burdened, commonplace old earth shall soon be the scene of the most transcendent and awe-inspiring miracle that has ever been wrought by Omnipotence in all the eternal ages!

There is no mistake about it.

For six thousand weary years our sobbing world has been the camping ground of the forces of evil. Righteousness and sin have met in deadly conflict, and this weary earth has long been the battle-field. Her bosom is red and reeking with the blood of the martyrs of God, and her mournful cry has reached the heaven of heavens.

Ever since the days of righteous Abel, old earth has been opening her arms to receive her children back to dust, until she has become one mighty graveyard.

And this is not all. As if earth were not large enough for a burial-ground for her unnumbered millions, gray ocean has hidden many of the dead, in his unfathomed caves.

And the time hastens when these sleeping multitudes of earth and sea must all hear the voice of the Archangel and the trump of God, and come forth.

Will the Dead Live Again?

But this subject is too mighty for me to attempt to hazard any opinions of my own upon it. My brain reels as I contemplate it. I close my eyes and try to form a picture of it. I stretch my imagination to its utmost.

It is vain. I only know that it is true—that the dead shall live again.

O, the glory of it! The sublimity of it! The dazzling splendor of it! And best of all, the certainty of it! How do I know?—I know it by the pledged word of Him by whose mighty power this transcendent miracle is to be wrought,—the word of Him who once slept in Joseph's new sepulcher, and who holds the keys of death and the grave: "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."

There were some who listened to these words mysterious and wonderful, who scoffed at the Mighty One who uttered them. The Sadducee could not comprehend their tremendous import.

Will the Body Be Resurrected?

"What! A resurrection of the body which has been moldering in the grave for centuries? Impossible! We can not understand the philosophy of such reasoning. We can not demonstrate it. Our learning is great, our philosophy profound, hence we believe this to be a delusion—an impossibility."

Thus declared the Sadducees, pompous and learned. These have passed away; but their posterity still survive. And there are enough twentieth century Sadducees to fill the "seat of the scornful" both in the church and in the world.

"But," says one, "I think that the resurrection spoken of in the Bible is simply a spiritual resurrection." "Yes," says another, "if we undertake to give these subjects a material interpretation, we quite spoil the beauty of the thought. The great Russian writer, Count Tolstoy, grasped the idea, we think, in his book 'The Resurrection.' The idea is, that there is something good in each of us, no matter how deeply buried up in sin; and when that good comes to the surface—why, then we may be said to have a resurrection. Do you not agree with me?"

But, my friend, it is of small moment whether I agree or not. Your opinion is as good as mine. But what says inspiration?

Isaiah's View of the Resurrection

The prophet Isaiah's idea of the resurrection seems to me to be intensely materialistic and real. We must hasten to call him to the witness-stand. The prophet-poet scarcely waits to take his position, before bursting forth in rapturous, awe-inspiring strains. The Spirit of the Almighty moves his voice, and makes his lips eloquent. We listen reverently:

"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."

The Apostle Paul and the Resurrection

"This seems to be plain enough," you say, "but I much prefer evidence from the New Testament, for I am not a Jew, and—"

Then perhaps it would be best to listen to the testimony of the great apostle to the Gentiles. He is about to suffer martyrdom for the truth of God.

Let us question him:

You are about to die, Paul. Have you any hope of life hereafter?

At once a look of unspeakable triumph lights up the face of the inspired witness.

I am indeed "looking for that blessed hope."

But what is that hope, Paul?

"The glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ."

But, Paul, do you forget that you must very soon meet death—that the cruel ax of the executioner will soon drip with your blood? Now tell us plainly, what has the coming of Christ to do with your reward?

"I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness—"

Yes, Paul. When will it be given you? At death? From the block of the executioner, will you ascend at once to your coronation? With Spirit-anointed ears let us listen to the reply:

"A crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love His appearing."

"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, . . . and so shall we ever be with the Lord."

Then is the coming of Christ and the resurrection from the dead, to be our comfort, Paul, as well as yours?

"Wherefore comfort one another with these words."

But yet, O great apostle, let me ask you again: Do you not attach undue importance to the coming of Christ and the resurrection? May not our loved ones who sleep in Jesus be saved without this? In other words, are they not now already happy and in heaven?

At this question methinks I see the mighty orator of Mars Hill, whose burning eloquence so affected the men of Athens, rise to his feet and exclaim in a voice of earnest conviction:

"If the dead rise not, then is not Christ raised. . . . Then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished."

But tell me, O man of God, how can the dust live? With what body will those be clothed who have slept for a thousand years?

As if anticipating my question, the impressive answer comes ringing down the ages:

"But some man will say, How are the dead raised up? and with what body do they come? Thou fool, that which thou sowest is not quickened, except it die. . . . God giveth it a body as it hath pleased Him. . . . So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption. . . . For the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this . . . mortal must put on immortality. . . . Then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?"

Give me but one more answer, O man of God. We are accustomed to hearing death spoken of as a friend, and "the gate to endless joy." Is this not true?

"The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death."

Tell us only once more very plainly, O Paul, what is your hope?

"Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ."

Amen.