Delaware Republican. (Wilmington, Del.) 1843-1874, 1873-12-25
Published 6y RtqttS
just and Unjust.
ny sTRw ART CARLISLE.

Just and Unjust.
pY STEWART CARLISLE.
"And have hope toward tod, which they
themselves also allow, that there shall be res
direction u the dead, both of the Just and I'M
JUST Acts xiv. Is.
THIS passage Is generally supposed to teach
that all nen Will have a resurrection 10 life,
and be the subject Of future Judgment, and
many persons quote ii as the belief and teach
ing OF the great apostle TO the Geniilas; but Is
this soS Does the apostle affirm this as his be
lief, or onlv AS the opinion Of his accIisers.
Was IL he or they that aRo,ged this? Is the res
direction OF the wicked dead to life of uneud-
ing torture, an element Of the Christ ian 5
hopep Could this have been any part OF Paul's
hope? Would he be likely 10 call such Il hope, a
"blessed hupep' Can he who hath no pleasure
in the death vi The wicked. bid the Christian
hope for his revival into life, and eternal torment
IN tl,e world to Gomez No, surely not, then
this constituted 10 part OF Pauls hope, no
matter who affirmed OF allowed il.
What, then, was Paul's hope? We answer it
was "lhe hope OF the promise made of God I'M
10 our fathers" and "these (tbe fathers) all
died in faith. not having received the proni-
ses."
Then Pad hope was that of 'seoming unto
The promise and for this 'hope's sake, lie was
accused Of the Jews But before the promise
that which they saw altar of and embraced, -
The prophetic announcement Of Hosea must be-
come an accomplished fact and he who was be-
lore Abraham, The hr,t-born from the dead,
must 'rai'snin Them from The dead, must ran
sem them fUin the power uf the grave, aud re-
deem them from death; consequently the 1 rom.
Ise, made OF God unto our fatherslilyolyed the in
resurrection FROM the dead; and this Tesnrrec.
lion, thus involved becomes the basis of all hope
and II was for this hope, Paul says, ~ am call
ed in question:
Now,Jcsus taught that ''they which shall I've ac-
counted worlhg 10 obtain that world Cor age 10
come, and the resurrection out from among me
dedd ones, can not die any more, and are
the children of God, being the children of the
resurrection" This makes the resurrection
necessary, and eternal life the result.
Now, We understand that eternal life is the
subject OF prom!s', and, such, it is the object
of hope; and while '.the righteous hath hope
in bis death, the wicked are without God,
and have no hope in the world" And Paul
Won have christians, when their loved ones
sleep IN death, "sorrON not as others, which
have no hope but choking for that blessed
hope" even the resurrection and eternal life
PauFs hope, then, did not embrace the RELIEVING
OF the wicked dead, lle had Just Informed
them that he believed all things which are
written in the law, aud in the prophets, and
had hope toward God
~ tiie law anu lht PlOphttS leieli lHt re-
living OF the wicked dead? Isaiah XVI. Ia
They are dead, they shall not live" Obadiah
~. They shall be- as though they had not been
Would prophets write in this way, ana Paul BE-
he7e all they had written, and still hope or be-
lleve that the wicked would live again? Would
lie teach, substantially, What prophets wrote
when he says "lhe vi ages of sin IS death, bnl
Ihe GIT OF God is eternal life through Jesr,
Christ our T.ord!' Had not tod soemnly de-
etared by the prophet Ezekiel, 1.-The soul that
snneth it shall dirY" and was hot Paul refer
atlng the same ruth when he dec AIRED thu
wages of sin TO be DEATH /, not the gilt of llod
The idlhllmenl Of his promise 10 the fathers ,ant
is 1t not the CHRISTIANS hope?" and does he
lot patiently wait for IL Does he not hone fol
This eternal life, which God HAT can moi Ii,
"1ath promised before the world (u- age) be
gam Then we Affirm that the re- living of tn,
wicked dead constituted no part Of Panl's hop,
or belief.
wen, then, says an inquirer, what did h,
iueah' we answer, he meant To take advan
age oi lile beloi 0f his accnsers and show tia
in their belief of 4 resurrection. they must ais,
allow his hope.
Did he not create 4 division before, betwea,
The Sadducees and rharsres, and enlist IA,
sylnpathles oil the latter in his behalf, when h,
declared himselIa pharisee, and the son of .
pharisee, and asserted Ills belief III the resur
iection OF the dead, as the hope ofhis people
Olu he not also say, "Aier lhe way which
ltsey cali heresy, SO worship The tod OF IN
Iathers5" and ifhs belief in a resurrection wa
the same As theiIs, where Was his hrTrsyp 10
be denied all other charges save this one tina
ne "crleu standing ahlunE them touching I'M
resurrection ct the dead, aud Tor this he wa
called IN question: Now suppose they did be
lieVe ~ ID resurrection of the lust and unjust
anu hr oil the Just only, how could they ayoi,
allowing his hope? DID lie not proy, hi,nsal
xii tt.,,b -.
wisdom Of the serpent, aud YET til" harmless
LESS OF dove Paul was a wise master builder
ana lie understood well al his ADVANTAGES ant
knew now TO turn them To a good account Hi
speech on Mars Hill is proof enough of this -
NOW Is II not passing strange. that this maj
VINO nau seen CHRIST, 'as one born out of DIN,
lime who "receiyed his gospel not from man
neither was taught ii but by the revelation O
Jesus Christ, - should make the doctrine OF Ia,
resurrection OF such vast IMPORTANCE, that with
Out Is,they also, which are fallen asleep nCnIis
lre perlshed,' while modern teachers in MS fha
death is the gate 10 endless ioy9 and TO carr,
out their notions consistently, IL must also b,
me gate 10 endless woe, But thi, was no pan
OF Pauls theology. jrsits was fiis,h from th,
dead, and became The hrsl fruits Of them iL,,
slep', and as many IL are ''plahtrd ia the lih,
Hess oil his death shall be also il the likanrS. al
Ills resurrection H. Is the pIrtirr and DAT.
ierii, the sample shrf ot The harvest a, hi, con,
iug.
mere u no promise, no pattern uu SAMPLE
smear OF The iaies, except II be the itl- oil s.r
dom and GomOrIah. Condemned With Al, tlar.
cal overthrow and ".urnel To ashes" ms /,
"a sample Of those that after should hive nm.
sodly - burned up root and branch and ash
IS under the soles OF the saints feet; so saws
Inc Lord God Almighty, ami We do well 10
lake heed 10 his words.
But let us take Ianl's testimony in regard to
bis personal experience in The matter Such was
Dis devotion Ia Christianity that whatever
might have been hi, advantages as a Jew, eth.
er by birth or education ,hecounted all but dung
that he might win Christ; that hr might know
Elm aud the power of his resurrection, and
the Fellowship Of his sutterngs, being made con-
iormable ualo hs'uicath if by any means he
might attain unto the resurrection Of the dead y
Strange language this, from man who beliey-
ed In universal resurrection II such had
been his belief lac would have known tha, he
could moi by any means avoid ATTAINING unto A
resurrection, bii lac knew that the dead would