Bible Readings for the Home Circle Part 145

Sleep on, beloved! sleep, and take thy rest; Lay down thy head upon thy Saviour's breast.

We love thee well, but Jesus loves thee best- Good night.

The Two Resurrections

[Ill.u.s.tration.]

Christ's Second Coming. Descent Of The Holy City.

1. What comes to all men as the result of the fall?

"In Adam _all die_." 1 Cor. 15:22. See also Rom. 5:12.

2. Where do all go at death?

"All go unto _one place_; all are of _the dust_, and _all turn to dust again_." Eccl. 3:20.

3. In what condition is man while in the grave?

"Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might; for _there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave, whither thou goest_." Eccl. 9:10.

NOTE.-That is, man, when dead, has no use of the powers of mind or body. He cannot, therefore, while in the grave, praise G.o.d, or even think of Him (Ps. 6:5); for in the day he dies his thoughts perish. Ps. 146:2-4. See preceding reading.

4. What has been promised in order that man may be redeemed from this condition?

"_I will ransom them from the power of the grave; I will redeem them from death_: O death, I will be thy plagues; O grave, I will be thy destruction." Hosea 13:14.

5. Through whom will come this redemption from the grave?

"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_." 1 Cor. 15:21, 22.

6. What would have been the result to the dead had not Christ procured their release from the grave?

"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. Then _they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished_." Verses 16-18.

7. Why did G.o.d give His only begotten Son to the world?

"For G.o.d so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, _that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish_, but have everlasting life."

John 3:16.

8. What did the Sadducees in Christ's time deny?

"Then came to Him certain of the Sadducees, _which deny that there is any resurrection_." Luke 20:27.

9. How did Christ, from the Old Testament Scriptures, prove the resurrection?

"Now that the dead are raised, even Moses showed at the bush, when he calleth the Lord the G.o.d of Abraham, and the G.o.d of Isaac, and the G.o.d of Jacob. For He is not a G.o.d of the dead, but of the living: for all live unto Him." Verses 37, 38.

NOTE.-That is, in view of the resurrection-of the fact that there is to be a resurrection-all live unto G.o.d. In His purpose, all are alive. It is in this sense that Paul speaks of G.o.d as the one "who quickeneth the dead, and _calleth those things which be not as though they were_." Rom. 4:17.

10. Under what ill.u.s.tration from nature are the resurrection and the final salvation of the righteous taught?

"_That which thou sowest_ is not quickened, except it die." 1 Cor. 15:36.

"Verily, verily, I say unto you, _Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die_, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit." John 12:24.

NOTES.-The seed dies to spring forth into new life. In this we are taught the lesson of the resurrection. All who love G.o.d will spring forth to life, and live again through endless ages in the earth made new.

_The Open Grave._-The truth of the resurrection has been forcibly ill.u.s.trated by the following incident: In the city of Hanover, Germany, is a grave known as "The open grave." It is that of a woman, an infidel German princess, who died over one hundred years ago, and who, on her death-bed, gave orders that her grave should be covered with a great marble slab, weighing perhaps a ton, surmounting solid blocks of stone firmly bound together with clasps of iron, with this inscription placed on the lowermost stone of the tomb: "This grave purchased for eternity, must never be opened." But no human device can thwart the plans of G.o.d, or hinder the workings of life from Him. It happened, providentially no doubt, that a birch-tree seed was buried with the princess.

Soon it began to sprout. Its tiny shoot, soft and pliable at first, found its way up through the ponderous stones of the ma.s.sive masonry. Slowly and imperceptibly, but with irresistible power, it grew, until at last it burst the bands of iron asunder, and opened this never-to-be-opened grave, leaving not a single stone in its original position. See ill.u.s.tration on page 498. What a rebuke to infidelity! and what a mute but striking promise that, erelong, in G.o.d's own time, all graves shall be opened, and the sleeping ones awake from their dusty beds!

[Ill.u.s.tration.]

The Raising Of Lazarus. "I am the Resurrection, and the Life." John 11:25.

11. Where are the dead when they hear the voice of Christ calling them to life?

"Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are _in the graves_ shall hear His voice, and shall come forth." John 5:28, 29.

12. How many distinct cla.s.ses will have a resurrection?

"There shall be a resurrection of the dead, both of the _just_ and _unjust_." Acts 24:15.

13. By what terms did Christ refer to the two resurrections?

"All that are in the graves shall hear His voice, and shall come forth; they that have done good, unto _the resurrection of life_; and they that have done evil, unto _the resurrection of d.a.m.nation_." John 5:28, 29.

14. When will the resurrection of the just occur?

"For _the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout_, with the voice of the Archangel, and with the trump of G.o.d: _and the dead in Christ shall rise first_." 1 Thess. 4:16. See also 1 Cor. 15:23.

15. When are the righteous to be recompensed?

"For thou shalt be recompensed _at the resurrection of the just_." Luke 14:14.

16. In what condition did David expect to rise?