Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1882-01-27


begotten us again unto a lively hope by the
resurrection Of Jesus Christ from the dead q"
"But If the spirit OF him that raised up Jesus
from the dead dwell in you, he that raised
up Christ from the dead shall also quicken
your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth
In you" knowing that he which raised up
the Lord Jesus shall raise up us also by Jesus,
and shall present us with you" "Who hath
abolished death, and brought life and immor-
tality to light through the gospel" For since
by man ADAM came death, by man (Christ
! Jesus) came also the resurrection of the dead ="
These passages Of Scripture show the ne
| cessary connection between the resurrection
Of Christ and the resurrection Of his follow
ers; that his is the pledge, proof and hope
Of theirs. The first fruits are the proof of a
harvest so the resurrection of Christ is the
surety of the resurrection Of the righteous.
! The redemption of those who believe in
| Christ implies the salvation of their entire
being, soul and body. The salvation of the
| body is as much concerned in the salvation
Of man as the salvation Of the soul. The sal
vation Of one implies the salvation of the 9TH
er the loss Of one implies the loss of the
other. The body is said to be the habitation
OF the Spirit Of God, and divine service is re-
| quired Of the body as well as Of the soul.
"Whatl know ye not that your body is the
temple Of the Holy Ghost which is in you,
/
own? For ye are bought with price there
fore glorify God in your body, and in your
spirit, which are Gods" Again, present
| your bodies living sacrifice, holy, accepta-
BILE unto God, which is your reasonable ser
vice" Here, sgain, the sacrifice and service
Of the whole man are required Christ assum-
ed our nature, suffered and died in the flesh,
that he might be the Redeemer Of both soul
and body and thus ft them for his habita-
al. 4 l. IL.
dom. Therefore all true believers in Christ
sustain a very intimate relation to him as the
Saviour Of soul and body. And. since the
! human nature of our God rose from the grave,
| what is 1t but the earnest of the resurrection
OF his followers? Listen to the apostle
| "Now the body is not for fornication, but for
the Lord, and the Lord for the body Aud
God hath both raised up the Lord, and will
also raise up us by his own power. Know ye
not that your bodies are the members of
| 2" Our bodies shall not, therefore, be
lost forever in the grave. 1t is maintained
| by some that our bodies will become spirits
consequently, the mortal, material body
| lost forever in the grave. But it is worthy of
remark that the apostle does not teach that
! our bodies will become spirits, but spiritual
| bodies. 1t is sown a natural body, il is rails
ed a spiritual body. The resurrection body
win constitute an important part of the ind.
vdual in the life TO come Man is incom-
plete without his body. We are told the
graves we're opened, and many Of the saints
which slept arose and came out of the graves
after Christs resurrection, and went into the
holy city aud appeared unto many. This fact
further substantiates the resurrection OF the
saints, consequent upon the resurrection of
Christ The fact of our own resurrection
rests on the fact Of Christs resurrection. His
confirms ours; so that ''the resurrection of
the bodies of men is founded on the same
evidence as the resurrection of the body of
Jesus" The same evidence which substan-
tiates the resurrection of Christ substantiates
the resurrection of men. 1t is not deduced
from reason. The fact of the resurrection
does not rest on the sandy foundation of
weak and erring, uncertain human reason,
nor on anything in nature, but on the testi-
mony Of Jesus. 1t is purely and exclusively
doctrine of revelation; to overthrow the
doctrine Of the resurrection, therefore, reve-
lation itself must be overthrown.
The resurrection OF Christ is not only the
pledge, but also the pattern, Of his saints:
For our conversation is in heaven; from
whence also we look for the Saviour, the
Lord Jesus Christ who shall change our vile
body, that it may be fashioned like unto his
glorious body" Peter, James and John had
view Of the glorified body, on the mount of
TRANSPORTATION when the Divinity shone
through the Humanity His face did shine
as the sun, and his raiment was white as the
light" At the resurrection the saints shall
rise in the likeness Of Chrisrs glorihed hu-
manity, and soul and body, reunited, shall
bear the glorious image of Jesus Christ. How
exalted will be the state Of the body when di-
vested OF its gross materials; whep refined
and purified, raised spiritual and immortal
in interruption, beauty, power and glory,
and, TO crown the whole fashioned like unto
His glorious body Then shall the right
eous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom
of their Father"
As the result of Christ's resurrection all shall
rise, just and unjust, spiritual and immortal.
But the difference in quality between the bod
les of the righteous and those of the wicked
will be infinite, corresponding, probably,
with their respective moral characters. 1t is
the express doctrine of revelation that "some
shall awake to everlasting life, and some to
shame and everlasting contempt" Tanta-
mount to this is the affirmation of our Lord
THE hour is coming in which all that are in
their graves shall hear his voice, and shall
come forth they that have done good to the
resurrection of life, and they that have done
evil to the resurrection of damnation." "For
as in Adam all die"-become mortal-''even
so in Christ shall all be made alve"-become
immortal. 1t is added but every man in his
own order !" "Christ the first fruits after
ward they that are Christs at his coming"
Here the great distinction is made and clear
ly seen. 1t is nowhere said of the wicked, in
the word of God, that their bodies shall be
fashioned like unto Christs glorious body
but this is strongly affirmed of the righteous
in contradistinction to the bodies Of the un-
righteous.
The next thing TO which we invite atten-
tion is the resurrection of the identical body
As proof of the resurrection of the same body
in substance, take the resurrection of Christ.
II was the literal body of our Lord that rose
from the grave. 1t was the same body that
was crucifed, pierced by the soldiers spear,
and laid in the tomb; the same body he
showed TO his disciples after his resurrection,
with the wounds it had received on the cross,
and into which Thomas thrust his hand and
the same body into which he received food.
This same body rose, and the resurrection of
Christ is the pledge, proof and pattern of his
followers. The identical body will therefore
rise. The body of our Lord underwent a
change, was glorihed, made glorious and his
glorious body is the model of his saints. The
substance of the body will be greatly changed
at the resurrection. "How are the dead rails
ed up ? and with what body do they Gomez"
What will be the state of the resurrection
body, in what the precise identity of the
body will consist, we are informed only in
part According to Scripture, it shall be
changed from natural to spiritual, from cor
ruption to interruption, from weakness to
power, from dishonor TO glory, from vile to
glorious. II will undoubtedly retain its hu-
man form. The gross materials of the body
will then be thrown off, so that it shall be
subject no more to disease decay and death,
for "hesh and blood cannot inherit the king
dom of God" 1t will be the same in sub
stance, but different in its nature, its organi-
zation, support, and appetite. 1t will be freed
from deformites, defects and inhrmities the
same body, and yet another the same body
in refined and glorihed state. AS TO the
point in question, it matters not what change
the body may undergo for the thing under
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