Forest City press. (Forest City, Potter County, D.T. [S.D.]) 1883-19??, 1912-05-16

@ Pauls words That
lNAS1CRG4llSSElln without Gods pur-
pose of a resurrec-
ton those who
have fallen asleep in death would have
persisted as brutes. We followed with the
Apostles the assurances that Christ did
rise from the dead and become the First
fruits OF all who have gone into the sleep
of death.
You will recall that on last Lords day
also we demonstrated from the Scriptures
th:t II is not the body. hut the soul, that
is promised a esurrectiOn-that 1T was
our Lords soul that went to sleol. to
hades. to the death state. and that God
raised Him from death on the third day.
We noted a difficulty INTO which all
'hfistendom was plunged by the unscrip-
lu'tl theory that ii is the body that is to
he resurrerted. We now continue To
search and note further difficulties into
which this error plunged us.
What Went to Heaven?
The ordinary thought i'm Christian minds
in respect to Jesus death and resulrec-
tion is that when He seemed To die, He
I'D not die: that He, the being, the soul,
could not die; that. instead, He went to
heaven. and then on the third day came
back TO get the body which had been
crleiiied: that He took 1T to heaven 40
days later; thai He has had that body
ever since. and that He will have it to all
eternity married with the print of the
nails In His hands and feet, the thorns
upon His brow and the spear mark in
His side. What Il CHASTITY thought. How
strange that We should ever have been
misled into SO unscrlptural a theory.
Our Methodist friends have not yet
changed their statement of the matter,
namely. He assembled up on high, taking
His feshly body with Him. and all that
appertained thereto. and sat down on the
right hand of God" This medieval state
ment correctly admits that the feshly
body was not the Lords, hut that He.
the soul, took it with Him. rs luggage.
The statement, And all that appertained
thereto presumably would refer to our
Lords sandals. walking stick and such
clothing Az the soldiers did not divide
amongst them at the time of His cruel
fixion-if indeed He had any other.
All this is of a. piece with the theory
that the saints when they die 20 to heav-
en- and then later come back and get
their bodies land all things appertaining
thereto'-the inconvenience, presumably.
that they have been rid of for centuries.
How many trunk loads of things apper-
tanning thereto may be taken by some
is not stated.
What Say the Scriptures?
The bible presentation of this subject
is every way reasonable, consistent and
harmonious. st. Paul points out that
There is a natural body and there is a
spirit body He does not mean. and he
does not say, that the spirit body is a
human body glorifed. Quite to the con-
trary. He declares that ''fle.h and blood
cannot inherit the Kingdom of God"-no
matter how gloritied it might be. A hui
man being would he NO totally different
from \ spirit heing that. as st. Paul says.
..lt Iofh nOt vet 0r1near what we shall
be"-in our resurrection change-and the
scriptures do not even attempt to give an
explanation.
The bible merely declares that as We
now bear the image of the earthly tAdam.
we shall, by the glorious resurrection
and likeness Of the second Adam. our
glorious Lord: I'VE shall he like Him,
we must change from flesh and blood con
ditions to spirit conditions by resurrec-
ton power. in order that we may see
Him as He is; Surely this proves that that
was-"in the days of His fesh.'-Hebrewa,
y. z. ST. Paul q Corinthians XIV, 80, illus
trates by saying that we know of many
kinds of organisms on the earthly or flesh.
~ plane-one fiesh of men. another Of
beasts. another of birds and another of
fish. But, however different the organ
heavenly plane, the spirit plane. there are
varieties of Organising, hut they are all
spirit.
He Appeared and Disappeared.
Two lines Of difficulties now present
themselves. n Of which can be an
swered. and the other cannot. The unan-
swerahle difficulty is where a natural.
minded man undertake TO reason the suh-
ject out. st. Paul explains this, saying:
The natural mar receiveth not the
things of the Spirit of God. neither can
he know them. because they are spirit
ually discerned."
The Apostle proceeds Oversees $500 to
tell us. that all men are natural men. ex-
cept such as rave been begotten by the
Holy Spirit. All natural men will, I'm Their
resurrection. receive earthly or human
bodies. while all spiritual ones. New Crea-
Those of my hearers. therefore, who
have never accepted Christ and made q
fun conservation of their all to follow in
His footsteps may know that they have
not been begotten OF the Spirit. These,
therefore, i will ask to consider, what ]
say and hold it, if they please, tentatively,
until such time. in Gods providence, as
they may he begotten of the Spirit. An
other class who have difficulty are spirit
begOtten ones who have been e%ntangled
by the declaration of the creeds respecting
the resurrection of the body.
Coming to the point of what is to he
peaied in a body Of flesh, and showed the
disciples the print of the nails and the
hofa made by the spear. hut we. perhaps,
failed to note that only twice did He thus
appear. and hut for a few moments each
time. His other six or seven appear
ances during that 70 days were also very
brief, and in various bOdies-Once as a