Daily capital journal. (Salem, Oregon) 1903-1919, 1912-08-03


participate in this First Resurrection
will be the elect overcomers Of this
Age, and they will be the Royal Priests,
or Priestly Kings, Of the next Age, In
which the world will be dealt with
and, so far as willing, uplifted from
sin and death. He says, BLESSED and
holy are all they that have part in the
First Resurrection; on such the Second
Death hath no power; they shall be
priests unto God, and unto Christ, and
shall reign with Him n thousand
years. ,"--Revelation Xxx, 6.
The word in this text rendered first
signifies chief, foremost, superior. 1t
will indeed be FIRST In order Of time,
too; but the particular thought is that
1t is superior. Its superiority rests in
the fact that all who share In its bless
ings will not only attain life, full, per-
feet and everlasting, but additionally
they will receive life on the highest
plane, being made partakers Of the
divine nature, by the Change" which
this resurrection will bring to them
II Peter 1, 4.
The sharers Of this resurrection will
not only receive everlasting life, but
more, they will thereby be made death
proOf-immortal In the Bible sense, in
which 1t is declared that God alone
hath Immortality. God has also given
Immortality to our Redeemer in His
resurrection, and has promised the
same to the elect Church, the Bride,
the Lambs Wife, in this First Resur-
rection. Aside from these, so far as
the Bible teaches, this special kind Of
Immortality goes to no other creatures
in the Universe.
Even angels, both the holy and the
fallen, possess only the ordinary i'm
mortality known as everlasting life
an Immortality or deathlessness de-
pendent upon the Divine pleasure and
supported by necessary elements of
Divine provision. The Church, on the
contrary, sharing in this Chief Resur-
rection, will possess inherency of life,
the same kind Of Immortality possess
ed by Jehovah Himself.
From the context it will be seen that
none will participate in this Chief Res
direction except such as shall success
fully pass their trial and be accounted
worthy of joint-heirship with Messiah
in His glorious Kingdom, for it is dis
tinctly stated that they are to "reign
with Him thousand years."
Sharing His Resurrection"
From what we have seen 1t must be
evident to all of us that to gain o
share In this Chief Resurrection is tc
gain the great Prize held out before
us In the Gospel Age-the Prize which
our Lord referred to as the "Pearl oi
great price," for which a man would
be well justified In selling all that he
has that he might purchase 1t.
1t will be admitted on all hands thai
the great Apostle Paul is represented
amongst the loyal ones who sacrificed
every earthly interest, aim, hope ant
ambition that he might attain thu
Kingdom blessings and joint-heirshiI
with Christ. We are therefore deeply
interested in st. Paups words respect
ing his hope, his sacrifice and his an
ticipation of attaining a share in thii
better resurrection, which he stylei
Ellis Resurrection"-namely, the resur
rection of Christ
The Scriptures continually maintain
the thought that Jesus is the "Head O.
the Church which is His Body" ant
that these sanity Elect constitute thu
members Of His Body. Carrying ou
this figure, the whole Body, all tn
members, should share In the SAM
resurrection as that experienced by th'
Head-the Redeemer. And to this tn
facts agree. More than eighteen cen
turtles ago our Lord Jesus was raise'
from the dead by the Fathers power.
st. Paul declares that because Of HI
obedience in carrying out the Diyin
Program as our Redeemer-eyen unit
death Therefore God hath highly ex
alted Him, and hath given hima nam
[honor, stationl above every name lex
cept His own--He is excepted, that a
the name Of Jesus every knee shoul'
bow, both of things In heaven AM
things on the earth" philippians II, |
1O) To this end we must all b
changed from earthly to heavenly ma
ture, because "Flesh and blood car
not inherit the Kingdom"
It seems long time indeed betwee
our Lords resurrection and the resul
rection Of His Mystical Body, tn
Church class (Col 1, 1s, 24), but the p'
riod is long only from our limited huma
standpoint-not long from the Ditin
standpoint, in which thousand year
are as one day. QI Peter Ill, 81 Ii
who brought again from the dead ou
Lord Jesus, that Great Shepherd of tn
sheep, will bring us also from tn
deadl by Him." and with Him. o
members Of His Body.
1t is to this that ST. Paul refers 50!
ing, l count all [earthlyl things but
| loss, - that | may win Christ lwi
membership in His glorihed Body
the Kingdom classl, that ! migl
know Him and the power Of His resH
rection THAT | might experience th'
great power of God which in the 4
deemer's case lifted Him not only o'
Of death, but to the very highest plaI
of existence. the divine nature, wit
its glory, honor and Immortality. -
being made conformable unto Fl
death, that | might share also in II