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The Resurrection of the Dead
A Sermon Delivered on Sabbath Morning, February 17, 1856, by the
REV. C.H. SPURGEON
At New Park Street Chapel, Southwark
"There shall be a resurrection of the dead, both the of the just and unjust."Acts 24:15.
Reflecting the other day upon the sad state of the
churches at the present moment, I was led to look back to apostolic times, and to consider
wherein the preaching of the present day differed from the preaching of the apostles. I
remarked the vast difference in their style from the set and formal oratory of the present
age. I remarked that the apostles did not take a text when they preached, nor did they
confine themselves to one subject, much less to any place of worship, but I find that they
stood up in any place and declared from the fulness of their heart what they knew of Jesus
Christ. But the main difference I observed was in the subjects of their preaching.
Surprised I was when I discovered that the very staple of the preaching of the apostles
was the resurrection of the dead. I found myself to have been preaching the doctrine of
the grace of God, to have been upholding free election, to have been leading the people of
God as well as I was enabled into the deep things of his word; but I was surprised to find
that I had not been copying the apostolic fashion half as nearly as I might have done. The
apostles when they preached always testified concerning the resurrection of Jesus, and the
consequent resurrection of the dead. It appears that the Alpha and the Omega of their
gospel was the testimony that Jesus Christ died and rose again from the dead according to
the Scriptures. When they chose another apostle in the room of Judas, who had become
apostate, Acts I.22, they said, "One must be ordained to be a witness with us of his
resurrection;" so that the very office of an apostle was to be a witness of the
resurrection. And well did they fulfil their office. When Peter stood up before the
multitude, he declared unto them that "David spoke of the resurrection of
Christ." When Peter and John were taken before the council, the great cause of their
arrest was that the rulers were grieved :because they taught the people and preached
through Jesus the resurrection from the dead." Acts iv. 2. When they were set free,
after having been examined, it is said, "With great power gave the apostles witness
of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus: and great grace was upon them all." Acts iv.
33. It was this which stirred the curiosity of the Athenians when Paul preached among
them, "They said, he seemeth to be a setter forth of strange gods, because he
preached unto them Jesus and the resurrection of the dead." And this moved the
laughter of the Areopagites, for when he spoke of the resurrection of the dead, "Some
mocked, and others said, we will hear thee again of this matter." Truly did Paul say,
when he stood before the council of the Pharisees and Sadducees, "Concerning the
resurrection of the dead I am called in question." And equally truly did he
constantly assert, "IF Christ be not risen from the dead, then is our preaching vain,
and your faith is vain, and ye are yet in your sins." The resurrection of Jesus and
the resurrection of the righteous is a doctrine which we believe, but which we too seldom
preach or care to read about. Though I have inquired of several booksellers for a book
specially upon the subject of the resurrection, I have not yet been able to purchase one
of any sort whatever; and when I turned to Dr. Owen's works, which are a most invaluable
storehouse of divine knowledge, containing much that is valuable on almost every subject;
I could find, even there, scarcely more than the slightest mention of the resurrection. It
has been set down as a well known truth, and therefore has never been discussed. Heresies
have not risen up respecting it; it would almost have been a mercy if there had been, for
whenever a truth is contested by heretics, the orthodox fight strongly for it, and the
pulpit resounds with it every day. I am persuaded, however, that there is much power in
this doctrine; and if I preach it this morning you will see that God will own the
apostolic preaching, and there will be conversions. I intend putting it to the test now,
to see whether there be not something which we cannot perceive at present in the
resurrection of the dead, which is capable of moving the hearts of men and bringing them
into subjection to the gospel of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.
There are very few Christians who believe the resurrection of the dead. You
may be surprised to hear that, but I should not wonder if I discovered that you yourself
have doubts on the subject. By the resurrection of the dead is meant something very
different from the immortality of the soul: that, every Christian believes, and therein is
only on a level with the heathen, who believes it too. The light of nature is sufficient
to tell us that the soul is immortal, so that the infidel who doubts it is a worse fool
even than a heathen, for he, before Revelation was given, had discovered itthere are
some faint glimmerings in men of reason which teach that the soul is something so
wonderful that it must endure forever. But the resurrection of the dead is quite another
doctrine, dealing not with the soul, but with the body. The doctrine is that this actual
body in which I now exist is to live with my soul; that not only is the "vital spark
of heavenly flame" to burn in heaven, but the very censer in which the incense of my
life doth smoke is holy unto the Lord, and is to be preserved for ever. The spirit, every
one confesses, is eternal; but how many there are who deny that the bodies of men will
actually start up from their graves at the great day? Many of you believe you will have a
body in heaven, but you think it will be an airy fantastic body, instead of believing that
it will be a body like to thisflesh and blood (although not the same kind of flesh,
for all flesh is not the same flesh), a solid, substantial body, even such as we have
here. And there are yet fewer of you who believe that the wicked will have bodies in hell;
for it is gaining ground everywhere that there are to be no positive torments for the
damned in hell to affect their bodies, but that it is to be metaphorical fire,
metaphorical brimstone, metaphorical chains, metaphorical torture. But if ye were
Christians as ye profess to be, ye would believe that every mortal man who ever existed
shall not only live by the immortality of his soul, but his body shall live again,
that the very flesh in which he now walks the earth is as eternal as the soul, and shall
exist for ever. That is the peculiar doctrine of Christianity. The heathens never guessed
or imagined such a thing; and consequently when Paul spoke of the resurrection of the
dead, "Some mocked," which proves that they understood him to speak of the
resurrection of the body, for they would not have mocked had he only spoken of the
immortality of the soul, that having been already proclaimed by Plato and Socrates, and
received with reverence.
We are now about to preach that there shall be a resurrection of the dead,
both of the just and unjust. We shall consider first the resurrection of the just;
and secondly, the resurrection of the unjust.
I. There shall be A RESURRECTION OF THE JUST.
The first proof I will offer of this, is, that it has been the constant
and unvarying faith of the saints from the earliest periods of time. Abraham believed
the resurrection of the dead, for it is said in the Epistle to the Hebrews, chapter 11
verse 19, that he "accounted that God was able to raise up Isaac even from the dead;
from whence also he received him in a figure." I have no doubt that Joseph believed
in the resurrection, for he gave commandment concerning his bones; and surely he would not
have been so careful of his body if he had not believed that it should be raised from the
dead. The Patriarch Job was a firm believer in it, for he said in that oft repeated text,
Job. xix. 25, 26: "For I know that my Redeemer liveth; and that he shall stand at the
latter-day upon the earth: and though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my
flesh shall I see God." David believed it beyond the shadow of a doubt, for he sang
of Christ, "Thou wilt not leave my soul in hell, neither wilt thou suffer thine holy
one to see corruption." Daniel believed it, for he said, that "Many who sleep in
the dust shall rise, some to everlasting life, and some to everlasting contempt."
Souls do not sleep in the dust; bodies do. It will do you good to turn to one or two
passages and see what these holy men thought. For instance, in Isaiah, ch. xxvi. 19, you
read: "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." We will offer no explanation. The text is positive and
sure. Let another prophet speakHosea, ch. vi. verses 1 and 2: "Come and let us
return unto the Lord: for he hath torn, and he will heal us; he hath smitten and he will
bind us up. After two days he will revive us; in the third day he will raise us up, and we
shall live in his sight." Although this does not declare the resurrection, yet it
uses it as a figure which it would not do were it not regarded as a settled truth. It is
declared by Paul, also, in Hebrews xi. 35, that such was the constant faith of the
martyrs; for he says, "Others were tortured, not accepting deliverance, that they
might obtain a better resurrection." All those holy men and women, who, during the
time of the Maccabees, stood fast by their faith, and endured the fire and sword, and
tortures unutterable, believed in the resurrection, and that resurrection stimulated them
to give their bodies to the flames, not caring even for death, but believing that thereby
they should attain to a blessed resurrection. But our Saviour brought the resurrection to
light in the most excellent manner, for he explicitly and frequently declared it.
"Marvel not," said he, "at what I have said unto you. Behold the hour
cometh when they that are in their graves shall hear the voice of God." "The
hour is coming when he will call the dead to judgment, and they shall stand before his
throne." Indeed, throughout his preaching, there was one continued flow of firm
belief, and a public and positive declaration of the resurrection of the dead. I will not
trouble you with any passages from the writings of the Apostles; they abound therewith. In
fact, Holy Scripture is so full of this doctrine that I marvel, brethren, that we should
so soon have departed from the stedfastness of our faith, and that it should be believed
in many churches that the actual bodies of the saints will not live again, and especially
that the bodies of the wicked will not have a future existence. We maintain as our text
doth, that "there shall be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and
unjust."
A second proof, we think, we find in the translation of Enoch and Elijah
to heaven. We read of two men who went to heaven in their bodies. Enoch "was not;
for God took him;" and Elijah was carried to heaven in a chariot of fire. Neither of
these men left his ashes in the grave: neither left his body to be consumed by the worm,
but both of them in their mortal frames (changed and glorified doubtless) ascended up on
high. Now, those two were the pledge to us that all of us shall rise in the same manner.
Would it be likely that two bright spirits would sit in heaven clothed in flesh, while the
rest of us were unclothed? Would it be at all reasonable that Enoch and Elijah should be
the only saints who should have their bodies in heaven, and that we should be there only
in our soulspoor souls! longing to have our bodies again. No; our faith tells us
that these two men having safely gone to heaven, as John Bunyan hath it, by a bridge that
no one else trod, by which they were not under the necessity to wade the river, we shall
also rise from the flood, and our flesh shall not for ever dwell with corruption.
There is a remarkable passage in Jude, where it speaks of Michael the
Archangel contending with the devil about the body of Moses, and using no "railing
accusation." Now, this refers to the great doctrine of angels watching over the
bones of the saints. Certainly, it tells us that the body of Moses was watched over by
a great archangel; the devil thought to disturb that body, but Michael contended with him
about it. Now would there be a contention about that body if it had been of no value?
Would Michael contend for that which was only to be the food of worms? Would he wrestle
with the enemy for that which was to be scattered to the four winds of heaven, never to be
united again into a new and goodlier fabric? No; assuredly not. From this we learn that an
angel watches over every tomb. It is no fiction, when on the marble we carve the cherubs
with their wings. There are cherubs with outstretched wings over the head of the
grave-stones of all the righteous; ay, and where "the rude forefathers of the hamlet
sleep," in some nook o'ergrown by nettles, there an angel standeth night and day to
watch each bone and guard each atom, that at the resurrection those bodies, with more
glory than they had on earth, may start up to dwell for ever with the Lord. The
guardianship of the bodies of the saints by angels proves that they shall rise again from
the dead.
Yet, further, the resurrections that have already taken place give us
hope and confidence that there shall be a resurrection of all saints. Do you not remember
that it is written, when Jesus rose from the dead many of the saints that were in their
graves arose, and came into the city, and appeared unto many? Have ye not heard that
Lazarus, though he had been dead three days, came from the grave at the word of Jesus?
Have you never read how the daughter of Jarius awoke from the sleep of death when he said,
"Talitha cumi?" Have you never seen him at the gates of Nain, bidding
that widow's son rise from the bier? Have you forgotten that Dorcas who made garments for
the poor, sat up and saw Peter after she had been dead? And do you not remember Eutychus
who fell from the third loft and was taken up dead, but who, at the prayer of Paul, was
raised again? Or, does not your memory roll back to the time when hoary Elijah stretched
himself upon the dead child, and the child breathed, and sneezed seven times, and his soul
came to him? Or have you not read that when they buried a man, as soon as he touched the
prophet's bones he rose again to life? These are pledges of the resurrection; a few
specimens, a few chance gems flung into the world to tell us how full God's hand is of
resurrection jewels. He hath given us proof that he is able to raise the dead by the
resurrection of a few, who afterwards were seen on earth by infallible witnesses.
We must now, however, leave these things, and refer you once more to the
Holy Spirit by way of confirming the doctrine that the saints' bodies shall rise again.
The chapter in which you will find one great proof is in the First Epistle to the
Corinthians, vi. 13: "Now the body is not for fornication, but for the Lord; and the
Lord for the body." The body, then, is the Lord's. Christ died not only to
save my soul, but to save my body. It is said he "came to seek and to save that which
was lost." When Adam sinned he lost his body, and he lost his soul too; he was a lost
man, lost altogether. And when Christ came to save his people, he came to save their
bodies and their souls. "Now the body is not for fornication, but for the Lord."
Is this body for the Lord, and shall death devour it? Is this body for the Lord, and shall
winds scatter its particles far away where they never shall discover their fellows? No!
the body is for the Lord, and the Lord shall have it. "And God hath both raised up
the Lord, and will also raise us by his own power." Now look at the next verse:
"Know ye not that your bodies are the members of Christ." Not merely is
the soul a part of Christunited to Christ, but the body is also. These hands, these
feet, these eyes, are members of Christ, if I be a child of God. I am one with him, not
merely as to my mind, but one with him as to this outward frame. The very body is taken
into union. The golden chain which binds Christ to his people goes round the body and soul
too. Did not the apostle say "they two shall be one flesh. This is a great
mystery; but I speak concerning Christ and the Church?"Ephesians v. 31, 32.
"They are one flesh;" and Christ's people are not only one with him in spirit,
but they are "one flesh" too. The flesh of man is united with the flesh of the
God-man; and our bodies are members of Jesus Christ. Well, while the head lives the body
cannot die; and while Jesus lives the members cannot perish. Further the Apostle says, in
the 19th verse, "Know yet not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost
which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a
price." This body he says, is the temple of the Holy Ghost; and where the Holy Ghost
dwells in a body, he not only sanctifies it, but renders it eternal. The temple of the
Holy Ghost is as eternal as the Holy Ghost. You may demolish other temples and their gods
too, but the Holy Ghost cannot die, nor "can his temple perish." Shall this body
which has once had the Holy Ghost in it be always food for worms? Shall it never be seen
more, but be like the dry bones of the valley? No; the dry bones shall live, and the
temple of the Holy Ghost shall be built up again. Though the legs, the pillars, of that
temple fallthough the eyes, the windows of it be darkened, and those that look out
of them see no more, yet God shall re-build this fabric, re-light the eyes, and restore
its pillars and regild it with beauty, yea, "this mortal shall put on immortality,
and this corruptible put on incorruption.
But the master argument with which we close our proof is that Christ rose
from the dead, and verily his people shall. The chapter which we read at the
commencement of the service is proof to a demonstration that if Christ rose from the dead
all his people must; that if there be no resurrection, then is Christ not risen. But I
will not long dwell on this proof, because I know you all feel its power, and there is no
need for me to bring it out clearly. As Christ actually rose from the deadflesh and
blood, so shall we. Christ was not a spirit when he rose from the dead; his body could be
touched. Did not Thomas put his hand into his side? and did not Christ say, "Handle
me, and see. A spirit hath not flesh and bones as ye see me have." And if we are to
rise as Christ didand we are taught sothen we shall rise in our
bodiesnot spirits, not fine aerial things, made of I know not whatsome very
refined and elastic substance; but "as the Lord our Saviour rose, so all his
followers must." We shall rise in our flesh, "though all flesh is not the same
flesh;" we shall rise in our bodies, though all bodies are not the same bodies; and
we shall rise in glory, though all glories are not the same glories. "There is one
flesh of man and another of beasts;" and there is one flesh of this body, and another
flesh of the heavenly body. There is one body for the soul here, and another body for the
spirit up there; and yet it shall be the same body that will rise again from the
gravethe same I say in identity, though not in glory or in adaptation.
I come now to some practical thoughts from this doctrine before I go to the
other. My brethren, what thoughts of comfort there are in this doctrine, that the dead
shall rise again. Some of us have this week been standing by the grave; and one of our
brethren, who long served his Master in our midst, was placed in the tomb. He was a man
valiant for truth, indefatigable in labour, self-denying in duty, and always prepared to
follow his Lord (Mr. Turner, of Lamb and Flag School), and to the utmost of his ability,
serviceable to the church. Now, there were tears shed there: do you know what they were
about? There was not a solitary tear shed about his soul. The doctrine of the immortality
of the soul was not required to give us comfort, for we knew it well, we were perfectly
assured that he had ascended to heaven. The burial service used in the Church of England
most wisely offers us no comfort concerning the soul of the departed believer, since that
is in bliss, but it cheers us by reminding us of the promised resurrection for the body;
and when I speak concerning the dead, it is not to give comfort as to the soul, but as to
the body. And this doctrine of the resurrection has comfort for the mourners in regard to
the buried mortality. You do not weep because your father, brother, wife, husband, has
ascended to heavenyou would be cruel to weep about that. None of you weep because
your dear mother is before the throne; but you weep because her body is in the grave,
because those eyes can no more smile on you, because those hands cannot caress you,
because those sweet lips cannot speak melodious notes of affection. You weep because the
body is cold, and dead, and clay-like; for the soul you do not weep. But I have comfort
for you. That very body will rise again; that eye will flash with genius again; that hand
will be held out in affection once more. Believe me, I am speaking no fiction. That very
hand, that positive hand, those cold, clay-like arms that hung down by the side and fell
when you uplifted them, shall hold a harp one day; and those poor fingers, now icy and
hard, shall be swept along the living strings of golden harps in heaven. Yea, you shall
see that body once more.
"Their inbred sins require
Their flesh to see the dust,
But as the Lord their Saviour rose,
So all his followers must."
Will not that remove your tears. "He is
not dead, but sleepeth." He is not lost, he is "seed sown against harvest time
to ripen." His body is resting a little while, bathing itself in spices, that it may
be fit for the embraces of its Lord.
And here is comfort for you too, you poor sufferers, who suffer in your
bodies. Some of you are almost martyrs with aches of one kind and anotherlumbagoes,
gouts, rheumatisms, and all sorts of sad afflictions that flesh is heir to. Scarcely a day
passes but you are tormented with some suffering or other; and if you were silly enough to
be always doctoring yourselves, you might always be having the doctor in your home. Here
is comfort for you. That poor old rickety body of yours will live again without its pains,
without its agonies; that poor shaky frame will be repaid all it has suffered. Ah! poor
negro slave, every scar upon your back shall have a stripe of honor in heaven. Ah! poor
martyr, the crackling of thy bones in the fire shall earn thee sonnets in glory; all thy
sufferings shall be well repaid by the happiness thou shalt experience there. Don't fear
to suffer in your frame, because your frame will one day share in your delights. Every
nerve will thrill with delight, every muscle move with bliss; your eyes will flash with
the fire of eternity; your heart will beat and pulsate with immortal blessedness; your
frame shall be the channel of beatitude; the body which is now often a cup of wormwood
will be a vessel of honey; this body which is often a comb out of which gall distilleth,
shall be a honeycomb of blessedness to you. Comfort yourselves then, ye sufferers, weary
languishers upon the bed: fear not, your bodies shall live.
But I want to draw a word of instruction from the text, concerning
the doctrine of recognition. Many have puzzled themselves a to whether they will know
their friends in heaven. Well now, if the bodies are to rise from the dead, I see no
reason why we should not know them. I think I should know some of my brethren, even by
their spirits, for I know their character so well, having talked with them of the things
of Jesus, and being well acquainted with the most prominent parts of their character. But
I shall see their bodies too. I always thought that a quietus to the question, which the
wife of old John Ryland asked. "Do you think," she said, "you will know me
in heaven?" "Why," said he, "I know you here; and do you think I shall
be a bigger fool in heaven than I am on earth?" The question is beyond dispute. We
shall live in heaven with bodies, and that decides the matter. We shall know each other in
heaven; you may take that as a positive fact, and not mere fancy.
But now a word of warning, and then I have done with this part of the
subject. If your bodies are to dwell in heaven, I beseech you take care of them. I do not
mean, take care of what you eat and rink, and wherewithal you shall be clothed; but I
mean, take care that you do not let your bodies be polluted by sin. If this throat is to
warble for ever with songs of glory, let not words of lust defile it. If these eyes are to
see the king in his beauty, even let this be your prayer, "Turn off my eyes from
beholding vanities." If these hands are to hold a palm branch, oh, let them never
take a bribe, let them never seek after evil. If these feet are to walk the golden
streets, let them not be swift after mischief. If this tongue is for ever to talk of all
he said and did, ah! let it not utter light and frothy things. And if this heart is to
pulsate for ever with bliss, I beseech you give it not unto strangers; neither let it
wander after evil. If this body is to live for ever, what care we ought to take of it; for
our bodies are temples of the Holy Ghost, and they are members of the Lord Jesus.
Now, will you believe this doctrine or not? If you will not, you are
excommunicate from the faith. This is the faith of the Gospel; and if you do not believe
it you have not yet received the Gospel. "For if the dead rise not, then your faith
is vain, and ye are yet in your sins." The dead in Christ shall rise, and they
shall rise first.
II. But now we come to the RESURRECTION OF THE WICKED. Will the wicked rise
too? Here is a point of controversy. I shall have some hard things to say now: I may
detain you long, but I beg you, nevertheless, hearken to me. Yea, the wicked shall rise.
The first proof is given in the 2nd Epistle to the Corinthians, ch. v. 10.
"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." Now, since we are all to appear, the wicked must appear, and they will receive
the deeds done in the body. Since the body sins, it is only natural that the body should
be punished. It would be unjust to punish the soul and not the body, for the body has had
as much to do with sin as ever the soul has had. But wherever I go now, I hear it said,
"The ministers in old times were wont to say there was fire in hell for our bodies,
but it is not so; it is metaphorical fire, fancied fire." Ah! it is not so. Ye shall
receive the things done in your body. Though your souls shall be punished, your bodies
will be punished as well. Ye who are sensual and devilish, do not care about your souls
being punished, because you never think about your souls; but if I tell you of bodily
punishment you will think of it far more. Christ may have said that the soul should be
punished; but he far more frequently described the body in misery in order to impress his
hearers, for he knew that they were sensual and devilish, and that nothing that did not
affect the body would touch them in the least. "We must all appear before the
judgment seat of Christ, to receive the things done in the body according to what we have
done, whether it be good or evil."
But this is not the only text to prove the doctrine, I will give you a
better oneMatt. v. 29. "If thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it
from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not
that thy whole body should be cast into hell."not "thy whole soul,"
but "thy whole body." Man, this does not say that thy soul shall be in
hellthat is affirmed many timesbut it positively declares that thy body
shall. That same body which is now standing in the aisle, or sitting in the pew, if thou
diest without Christ, shall burn for ever in the flames of hell. It is not a fancy of man,
but a truth that thy actual flesh and blood, and those very bones shall suffer: "thy
whole body shall be cast into hell."
But lest that one proof should not suffice thee, hear another out of the
same gospelchapter 10:28. "Fear not them which kill the body, but are not able
to kill the soul; but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body
in hell." Hell will be the place for bodies as well as for souls. As I have remarked,
wherever Christ speaks of hell and of the lost state of the wicked, he always speaks of
their bodies; you scarcely find him saying anything about their souls. He says,
"Where their worm dieth not," which is a figure of physical sufferingthe
worm torturing for ever the inmost heart, like a cancer within the very soul. He speaks of
the "fire that never shall be quenched." Now, do not begin telling me that this
is metaphorical fire: who cares for that? If a man were to threaten to give me a
metaphorical blow on the head, I should care very little about it; he would be welcome to
give me as many as he pleased. And what say the wicked? "We do not care about
metaphorical fires." But they are real, siryes, as real as yourself.
There is a real fire in hell, as truly as you have now a real bodya fire exactly
like that which we have on earth in everything except thisthat it will not consume,
though it will torture you. You have seen the asbestos lying in the fire red hot, but when
you take it out it is unconsumed. So your body will be prepared by God in such a way that
it will burn for ever without being consumed; it will lie, not as you consider, in a
metaphorical fire, but in actual flame. Did our Saviour mean fictions when he said he
would cast body and soul into hell? What should there be a pit for if there were no
bodies? Why fire, why chains, if there were to be no bodies? Can fire touch the soul? Can
pits shut in spirits? Can chains fetter souls? No; pits and fire and chains are for
bodies, and bodies shall be there. Thou wilt sleep in the dust a little while. When thou
diest thy soul will be tormented alonethat will be a hell for itbut at the day
of judgment thy body will join thy soul, and then thou wilt have twin hells, body and soul
shall be together, each brimfull of pain, thy soul sweating in its inmost pore drops of
blood, and thy body from head to foot suffused with agony; conscience, judgment, memory,
all tortured, but morethy head tormented with racking pains, thine eyes starting
from their sockets with sights of blood and woe; thine ears tormented with
"Sullen moans and hollow groans.
And shrieks of tortured ghosts."
Thine heart beating high with fever; thy
pulse rattling at an enormous rate in agony; thy limbs crackling like the martyrs in the
fire, and yet unburnt; thyself, put in a vessel of hot oil, pained, yet coming out
undestroyed; all thy veins becoming a road for the hot feet of pain to travel on; every
nerve a string on which the devil shall ever play his diabolical tune of Hell's
Unutterable Lament; thy soul for ever and ever aching, and thy body palpitating in unison
with thy soul. Fictions, sir! Again, I say, they are no fictions, and as God liveth, but
solid, stern truth. If God be true, and this Bible be true, what I have said is the truth,
and you will find it one day to be so.
But now I must have a little reasoning with the ungodly on one or two
points. First, I will reason with such of you as are very proud of your comely bodies, and
array yourselves in goodly ornaments, and make yourselves glorious in your apparel. There
are some of you who have no time for prayer, but you have time enough for your toilet; you
have no time for the prayer-meeting, but you have time enough to be brushing your hair to
all eternity; you have no time to bend your knee, but plenty of time to make yourselves
look smart and grand. Ah! fine lady, thou who takest care of thy goodly fashioned face,
remember what was said by one of old when he held up the skull:
"Tell her, though she paint herself
an inch thick,
To this complexion she must come at last."
And something more than that: that fair face
shall be scarred with the claws of fiends, and that fine body shall be only the medium for
torment. Ah! dress thyself proud gentleman for the worm; anoint thyself for the crawling
creatures of the grave; and worse, come thou to hell with powdered haira gentleman
in hell; come thou down to the pit in goodly apparel; my lord, come there, to find
yourself no higher than others, except it be higher in torture, and plunged deeper in
flames. Ay, it ill becomes us to waste so much time upon the trifling things here, when
there is so much to be done, and so little time for doing it, in the saving of men's
souls. O God, our God, deliver men from feasting and pampering their bodies when they are
only fattening them for the slaughter, and feeding them to be devoured in the flame.
Again, hear me when I say to you who are gratifying your lusts-do you know
that those bodies, the lusts of which you gratify here, will be in hell, and that you will
have the same lusts in hell that you have here? The debauchee hastes to indulge his body
in what he desirescan he do that in hell? Can he find a place there where he shall
gratify his lust and find indulgence for his foul desire? The drunkard here can pour down
his throat the intoxicating and deadly draught; but where will he find the liquor to drink
in hell, when his drunkenness will be as hot upon him as it is here! Ay, where will he
find so much as a drop of water to cool his parched tongue? The man who loves gluttony
here will be a glutton there; but where will be the food to satisfy him, when he may hold
his finger up and see the loaves go away from him, and the fruits refuse his grasp. Oh! to
have your passions and yet not to satisfy them! To shut a drunkard up in his cell, and
give him nothing to drink! He would dash himself against the wall to get the liquor, but
there is none for him. What wilt thou do in hell, O drunkard, with that thirst in thy
throat, and having nought but flames to swallow, which increase thy woe? And what wilt
thou do, O rake, when still thou wouldst be seducing others, but there are none with whom
thou canst sin? Do I speak plainly? Did not Christ do so? If men will sin, they shall find
men who are not ashamed to reprove them. Ah! to have a body in hell, with all its lusts,
but not the power to satisfy them! How horrible that hell will be!
But hear me yet again. Oh! poor sinner, if I saw thee going into the
inquisitor's den to be tormented, would I not beg of thee to stop ere thou shouldst put
thy foot upon the threshold? And now I am talking to you of things that are real. If I
were standing on a stage this morning, and were acting these things as fancies, I would
make you weep: I would make the godly weep to think that so many should be damned, and I
would make the ungodly weep to think that they should be damned. But when I speak of
realities, they do not move you half as much as fictions would, and ye sit just as ye did
ere the service had commenced. But hear me while I again affirm God's truth. I tell thee
sinner, that those eyes that now look on lust shall look on miseries that shall vex and
torment thee. Those ears which now thou lendest to hear the song of blasphemy, shall hear
moans, and groans, and horrid sounds, such as only the damned know. That very throat down
which thou pourest drink shall be filled with fire. Those very lips and arms of thine will
be tortured all at once. Why, if thou hast a headache thou wilt run to thy physician; but
what wilt thou do when thy head, and heart, and hands, and feet ache all at once? If thou
hast but a pain in thy reins, thou wilt search out medicines to heal thee; but what wilt
thou do when gout, and rheum, and vertigo, and all else that is vile attack thy body at
once? How wilt thou bear thyself when thou shalt be loathsome with every kind of disease,
leprous, palsied, black, rotten, thy bones aching, thy marrow quivering, every limb thou
hast filled with pain; thy body a temple of demons, and a channel of miseries. And will ye
march blindly on? As the ox goeth to the slaughter, and the sheep licketh the butcher's
knife, so is it with many of you. Sirs, you are living without Christ, many of you; you
are self-righteous and ungodly. One of you is going out this afternoon to take his day's
pleasure; another is a fornicator in secret; another can cheat his neighbour; another can
now and then curse God; another comes to this chapel, but in secret he is a drunkard;
another prates about godliness, and God wots he is a wretched hypocrite. What will ye do
in that day when ye stand before your Maker? It is a little thing to have your minister
upbraid you know; it is a small thing to be judged of man's judgment; what will ye do when
God shall thunder out not your accusation, but your condemnation, "Depart ye cursed,
into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels?" Ah! sensual ones, I
knew I should never move you will I spoke about torments for your souls. Do I move you
now? Ah no! Many of you will go away and laugh, and call me, as I remember once being
called before, "a hell-fire parson." Well, go; but you will see the hell-fire
preacher one day in heaven, perhaps, and you yourselves will be cast out; and looking down
thence with reproving glance, it may be, I shall remind you that you heard the word, and
listened not to it. Ah! men, it is a light thing to hear it; it will be hard enough to
bear it. You listen to me now unmoved; it will be harder work when death gets hold of you
and you lie roasting in the fire. Now you despise Christ; you will not despise him them.
Now ye can waste your Sabbaths; then ye would give a thousand worlds for a Sabbath if ye
could but have it in hell. Now ye can scoff and jeer; there will be no scoffing or jeering
then: you will be shrieking, howling, wailing for mercy; but
"There are no acts of pardon passed
In the cold grave to which we haste;
But darkness, death, and long despair,
Reign in eternal silence there."
O my hearers! the wrath to come! the wrath to come! the wrath to come. Who among you can dwell with devouring fire? Who among you can dwell with everlasting burnings? Can you, sir? can you? Can you abide the flame for ever? "Oh, no," sayest thou, "what can I do to be saved?" Hear thou what Christ hath to say, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved." "He that believeth, and is baptized, shall be saved; he that believeth not shall be damned." "Come, now let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool."
1 Corinthians 15
There were people in the Apostles' days who
had an idea that there was no resurrection. Paul endeavours torefute the idea, and teaches
the Corinthians that there was a resurrection from the dead. From the 1st to the 11th
verse he proves the resurrection of Jesus Christ, and upon that grounds the doctrine of
the resurrection of the just.
"Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached
unto you, which also ye received, and wherein ye stand:
"By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached
unto you, unless ye have believed in vain."
Now, we expect to hear a whole list of doctrines when the apostle says
"I declare unto you the gospel;" but instead of that, he simply tells us of the
resurrection of Jesus, for that is the very marrow of the gospel, the foundation of
itthat Jesus Christ died and rose again the third day, according to the Scriptures.
"For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received,
how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures."
"And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day
according to the scriptures."
That is the whole of the gospel. He who perfectly understands that,
understands the first principles; he has commenced aright. This is the starting point if
we wish to learn the truth, "that Christ died for our sins according to the
Scriptures; and that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the
Scriptures."
"And that he was seen of Cephas, then of the twelve.
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.
After that he was seen of James; then of all the apostles.
And last of all he was seen of me also, as of one born out of due
time."
The resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead is one of the best attested
facts on record. There were so many witnesses to behold it, that if we do in the least
degree receive the credibility of men's testimonies, we cannot and we dare not doubt that
Jesus rose from the dead. It is all very easy for infidels to say that these persons were
deceived, but it is equally foolish, for these persons could not every one of them have
been so positively deceived as to say that they had seen this man, whom they knew to have
been dead, afterwards alive; they could not all, surely, have agreed together to help on
this imposture: if they did, it is the most marvellous thing we have on record, that not
one of them ever broke faith with the others, but that the whole mass of them remained
firm. We believe it to be quite impossible that so many rogues should have agreed for
ever. They were men who had nothing to gain by it; they subjected themselves to
persecution by affirming the very fact; they were ready to die for it, and did die for it.
Five hundred or a thousand persons who had seen him at different times, declared that they
did see him, and that he rose from the dead; the fact of his death having been attested
beforehand. How, then, dare any man say that the Christian religion is not true, when we
know for a certainty that Christ died and rose again from the dead? And knowing that, who
shall deny the divinity of the Saviour? Who shall say that he is not mighty to save? Our
faith hath a solid basis, for it hath all these witnesses on which to rest, and the more
sure witness of the Holy Spirit witnessing in our hearts. "And last of all,"
says the apostle, "he was seen of me also, as of one born out of due time: for I am
the least of the apostles." We should not have thought Paul proud if he had said,
"I am the greatest of the apostles," for he occupies the largest portion of the
sacred Scriptures with his writings; and he preached more abundantly than they all. There
was not one who could exceed Paul, or even come near him in his arduous labours; yet he
says,
"For I am the least of the apostles, that am not meet to be called
an apostle, because I persecuted the Church of God."
When he looked upon the mercies that God gave to him he always recollected
how little he deserved; and when he found himself preaching, oh! with what pathos did he
preach to the ungodly, for he could always close up:"But I obtained mercy, that
in me first Christ might show forth all long-suffering as a pattern to them that
believe." Have I a persecutor here? Let him know that his sin is a most damnable sin
that will sink him lower into hell than any other; but even for him there is mercy, and
abundant pardon; for Paul says he obtained mercy even though he persecuted the church of
God.
"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."
"Therefore whether it were I or they, so we preach, and so ye
believed."
"But by the grace of God I am what I am." That is about as far as
most of us can get; we shall never get any further. "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." Then he stops himself: "Yet, not I, but the grace of
God which was with me." We should always take care that we do not take any of our
good works to ourselves: they are the effects of grace within us. If we once get putting
the crown on our own heads we shall soon have heavy heads for our trouble; but if we put
them all on the head of Jesus, he will honour us if we honour him.
Having thus proved the resurrection of Christ, he goes on:
"Now if Christ be preached that he rose from the dead, how say some
among you that there is no resurrection of the dead?
"But if there be no resurrection of the dead, then is Christ not
risen!
"And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your
faith is also vain.
"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.
"For if the dead rise not, then is not Christ raised:
"And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your
sins:",
Perhaps it does not strike you at first sight that there is an indissoluble
connection between the resurrection of Christ and that of all his people; perhaps you do
not see the marrow of the argument. The apostle says, "If the dead do not rise, then
Christ did not rise; and if Christ did rise, then all the dead will rise." Do you see
how it is? Why, because Christ and human nature are now so linked together that what
Christ did, he did as the representative of all his people. When Adam sinned, the world
sinned, and the world died. "As in Adam all die, so in Christ shall all be made
alive." Christ could not rise except as the representative of his people; and
"if Christ rose," says Paul, "then his people will rise; and if he did not
rise then we shall not rise, because we are one with him; and if we do not rise Christ did
not rise, because we are one with him." See here a connection which cannot be
broken,that if Christ rose, then must the dead rise also. This brings another
argument
"Then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are
perished."
How do you like that thought?
"If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most
miserable."
For they were then persecuted, cast to the wild beasts, shut up in prison;
and if this life were all, what would be the value of the Christian religion? If would
only make men miserable.
"But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the first-fruits
of them that slept.
"For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of
the dead.
"For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made
alive."
It is no use for the Arminian to strain this, and say that it proves that
every one receives grace through Christ. It says no such thing; it simply says,
"die" and "live." Everybody shall live at the resurrection.
"But every man in his own order: Christ the first-fruits: afterward
they that are Christ's at his coming.
"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.
"For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet.
"The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death."
Here the great proof flashes outif death is to be destroyed, then
there must be a resurrection, for death cannot be destroyed until the very bones of the
saints are delivered from the strongholds of the enemy.
"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.
"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."
We are not to suppose, when we read that Jesus Christ will deliver up his
kingdom to God, even to his Father, that he will therefore cease to be God or cease to be
a King. Understand this; God the Father gave to the Son a Mediatorial Kingdom as Man-God;
but the Father was just as much God when he had given him that kingdom; it was his own
special kingdom which he, as the Man-God Mediator was to take, and God the Father lost no
glory by giving it to him. When Christ shall have worked out all his Mediatorial purposes,
when he shall have finished the salvation of all his elect, he will lay the crown of his
Mediatorial Kingdom at the feet of God, and, as the Man-Mediator, he too will be subject
unto the great Jehovah, the Three-one; then there will be no Mediator any longer, since
there will be no necessity for any mediation, but we shall all be gathered in one, even
the things that are on earth and the things that are in heavenone in Christ Jesus.
Then Christ will have his kingdom as God, but as Mediator he will have no kingdom. It is a
destruction of office, not of person, nor yet of honor; it is a laying aside of his
official capacity, not in any degree a diminution of his glory and honor.
"Else what shall they do who are baptized for the dead, if the dead
rise not at all? why are they then baptized for the dead?"
This text has had thirty or forty explanations. Doddridge and a great many
more think it refers to the practice, when a martyr died, for another person to come
forward and fill the offices which he held, and so to be "baptized for the
dead;" but the meaning I like best is: What shall they do who are baptized with the
certainty that they are not baptized to live a long while, but that immediately after
baptism they will be dragged away to diebaptized in the very teeth of death? For as
soon as any one was baptised, the Romans would be looking after him, to drag him away to
death. Thus they were many of them baptised as if they were being washed for their burial,
and dedicating themselves to the grave. They came forward and said, "O Lord, I give
myself unto thy servicenot to serve thee here below, for that the enemy will not let
me do, but since I must die, I will be baptized and brave it all; I will be baptized even
for death itself." Well, what shall these do who are baptized in the certain prospect
of death if the dead rise not? "Why are they then baptized for the dead?"
"And why stand in jeopardy every hour?
"I protest by your rejoicing which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord,
I die daily.
"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."
It does not say that Paul did fight with beasts at Ephesus; but a great many
others did. It was a common practice to put Christians to the lions, giving them a short
sword, and bidding them fight for their lives; and sometimes, strengthened by God, they
fought manfully, and come off alive. But "if," says Paul, "I have fought
with beasts at Ephesus, what advantageth it me, if the dead rise not?" I might as
well give up my religion; then I could lie down and be at peace. "Let us eat and
drink; for to morrow we die." Oh! wicked Paul! to quote from a heathen poet! How
disgraceful. If I were to repeat a verse, and it looked as if Shakespere or any profane
author ever wrote such a thing, how criminal! say you. But I like good things wherever I
find them. I have often quoted from the devil, and I dare say I shall often quote from his
people. Paul quoted this from Meander, and another heathen poet, who wrote far worse
things than have been written by modern poets, and if any of us who may have stored our
minds with the contents of books we wish we had never read, and if there be some choice
gems in them which may be used for the service of God, by his help we will so use them.
"Be not deceived: evil communications corrupt good manners.
"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."
Christ is coming, and he will find some alive on the earth, and those who
are alive will not die. Paul was so full of the Second Coming, that he says: "We
shall not all sleep." He did not know but what Christ might come while he was writing
the letter. And we are so earnestly looking for Christ, that we too are constrained to
say, "We shall not all 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 be changed."
"For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and 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?
"The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law.
"But thanks be to God which giveth us the victory through our Lord
Jesus Christ."
What a shame it is, when we sometimes attend a funeral and hear that
magnificent portion of Scripture read over by a chaplain without heart, or soul, or
lifethe quicker he can get through the service the better. Oh that such noble words
should be so awfully spoiled by men who know nothing about them!
"Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always
abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labor is not in vain in
the Lord."
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