Chapter X. The “Mystery of Godliness”

and the

‘’Mystery of Iniquity”

Among the “Mysteries of God” revealed in the Scriptures there stand forth two great Personages, one called the “Mystery of Godliness,” the other the “Mystery of Iniquity,” or Christ and Antichrist.

I. THE MYSTERY OF GODLINESS

“And without controversy great is the ‘MYSTERY OF GODLINESS: GOD was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory.” 1 Timothy 3:16.

            The study of the “Life and Work of Christ” is confined by most Bible students to His “Earthly Life,” that is to the “Days of His Flesh.” But we must not forget that Jesus was the “ETERNAL CHRIST.” His work of Atonement on the Cross was but one phase of His work, which began in the Creation of the Universe and will continue for all eternity. The “Greater Life and Work of Christ” is a circle of which the circumference is “Eternity” and the centre is “CALVARY.” Jesus said of Himself—“I am ‘Alpha’ and ‘Omega’ the ‘BEGINNING,’ and the ‘ENDING,’ the ‘FIRST’ and the ‘LAST,’ which IS, and which WAS, and which is TO COME, the ALMIGHTY.” Revelation 1:8, Revelation 1:11. See the Chart – “The Greater Life and Work of Christ”. Jesus thus identifies Himself with God, and confirms His earthly statement—“I and my Father are ONE.” John 10:30. John tells us that – “THE WORD was made ‘Flesh,’ and dwelt among us, and we beheld His GLORY (on the Mount of Transfiguration), the GLORY as of the ONLY BEGOTTEN OF THE FATHER.” John 1:14.

            And in His prayer in the “upper room” before going out to Gethsemane Jesus prayed – “And now, O Father, glorify Thou me with Thine own self with the GLORY which I had with Thee BEFORE THE WORLD WAS.” John 17:5. Thus we see that Jesus existed before the World was and is the ETERNAL CHRIST*.  (*For a full description of “The Greater Life and Work of Christ,” see the chapter on “The Dispensational Work of Christ,” in my larger work on “Dispensational Truth.”)

THE SELF-EMPTYING OF CHRIST

            While Jesus in Old Testament times clothed Himself in human flesh and appeared as a man to men, as He did to Abraham and Jacob (Genesis 18:1-8, Genesis 32:24-32), He did not divest Himself of His Deity, or empty Himself of His Glory. But when the time came to redeem men from the curse of sin it was necessary for Christ to lay aside His heavenly glory and become a MAN. Of that Acts the Apostle Paul says –

⁵ Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: ⁶ Who, being in the FORM OF GOD, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: ⁷ BUT MADE HIMSELF OF NO REPUTATION, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: Philippians 2:5-7 [Larkin’s quote from the Revised (per) Version has been removed.]

            Of what did Christ empty Himself when He became a man? He emptied Himself of the “FORM OF GOD.” This “Form” consisted of the “GLORIOUS PERSONAL BODILY FORM” of the Godhead, revealed but for a moment on the Mount of Transfiguration. Matthew 17:1-2. It was the restoration of this “Glory” that Christ prayed for in the “upper room” before going out to Gethsemane. John 17:5. This emptying took place in Heaven in the presence of the angelic hosts. As a monarch Christ descended from the Throne, relinquished His Royal Power and Office, laid aside His crown and robes of state, and arrayed himself in the garment of a SERVANT, and by so doing He subjected Himself to the limitations of a servant.

            That was one of the “Great Days” in the life of the Son of God. In fact it was the “Greatest Day,” for without that “Day of Self-Emptying” the “Day of Crucifixion” and the “Day of Resurrection,” and all the other “Great Days” could not have been possible.

            From this it is clear that the Birth of Christ is not to be understood as an ordinary human birth; which is the birth of a being that had no previous existence, and that had no choice as to its being born. There were only two ways Christ could become “flesh” and dwell among us, one was to be born, as the Scriptures say He was born, of a virgin; the other was to incarnate Himself in some man, some grand character like Samuel or Daniel, but that would be to incarnate Himself in SINFUL HUMAN NATURE. For Christ to have made for Himself a human body in which to dwell during His earthly life would not have fulfilled the Scriptures as to the Messiah being born of the “Seed of David,” and of a Virgin (Isaiah 7:14); nor would He then have been subject to the limitations of humanity with all its frailties and weaknesses. The nature of the case demanded a “Virgin Birth.”

            If it be said that the Virgin Mary with an inherited taint of sin in her nature could not bring forth a pure offspring, it must not be forgotten that that which was conceived in her was of the Holy Ghost, and Mary was so informed by the Angel Gabriel.

“The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of THE HIGHEST shall overshadow thee; therefore also that ‘Holy Thing’ which shall be born of thee shall be called the SON OF GOD.” Luke 1:35.

            From this we see that the embryo that was deposited in the womb of the Virgin by the Holy Ghost contained no taint of sin, and that Mary’s womb was simply the vehicle for the formation of the human body of Christ into which the “Spirit of Christ” entered at birth and thus was formed the GOD-MAN.

            Four times in his Gospel John calls Jesus the “Only Begotten Son of God.” This does not refer to His Eternal origin, for He was co-existent with the Father, but refers to His Virgin Birth. God never begat another son as Jesus was begotten, so He was the only begotten “Son of God.” The Apostle Paul in Colossians 1:14-15, speaks of Jesus as the “Image of the Invisible God, the FIRSTBORN OF EVERY CREATURE.” This cannot mean that Jesus is only a “Creature,” for in the next verse Jesus is described as the Creator of all things. The probable explanation is that as Jesus became by His human birth – “God Manifest in the FLESH,” (1 Timothy 3:16), thus becoming to men the “IMAGE of the Invisible God,” that He thus became the “Firstborn” of the NEW CREATION of God, of which race the “Second” or “Last Adam” (Christ) is the HEAD. 1 Corinthians 15:45, 2 Corinthians 5:17. It is noteworthy that Jesus is not called the “Son OF GOD, or the “Son OF MAN,” in the Scriptures before His Incarnation with but two exceptions, and both of these occur in the Book of Daniel, and look forward to His redemptive work at the close of this Dispensation. Daniel 3:25, Daniel 7:13.

            The claim that Joseph was the natural father of Jesus is disclaimed by Scripture, for we are told that when they were only espoused, “before they came together,” and Joseph learned that Mary was pregnant, he proposed to “put her away” (divorce her), but being told in a dream that she was in that condition by the Holy Ghost, Joseph, to protect her character, married her, but “knew her not” until she had brought forth her firstborn son. Matthew 1:18-25. But the Scriptures go farther than that to safeguard the Virgin Birth of Jesus. In Matthew’s Gospel we have the genealogical table of Joseph’s ancestry tracing him back to Abraham. In Luke’s Gospel we have the genealogical ancestry of Mary tracing her back to Adam. See the Chart on the “Virgin Birth”. That there are similar names in the two tables presents no difficulty as such a thing is common in tracing any long line of descent. The statement in Matthew that “Jacob begat Joseph, the husband of Mary,” and the statement in Luke that “Joseph was (as supposed) the Son of Heli” are easily reconciled, for Joseph could not be the son of both Jacob and Heli. The fact that the translators of the King James version use the word “supposed,” and that the word “son” is in italics (which indicates that it is not in the original but is placed there to make sense) shows that some other word could be inserted that would make sense, and that word is “son-in-law,” and so it should read, “Joseph which was the ‘son-in-law’ of Heli.” This makes the genealogy of Luke that of Mary, for two genealogies so clearly unlike could not both be the genealogy of Joseph.

            Now Jesus was to be a “Son of David,” and the chart traces the lineage of Joseph through Solomon back to David, and the lineage of Mary through Nathan back to David. Solomon, as we know, succeeded his father as king, but Nathan was older than Solomon and on that ground might have contested Solomon’s right of succession, though we are not told that he did. Nevertheless Solomon’s title had the shadow of Nathan’s claim upon it, and that there should be no cloud upon Jesus’ title to the “Throne of David,” God ordained that Mary, the mother of Jesus, should be a direct descendant of David through Nathan, the “legal heir” to the throne. But Jesus had no right to David’s throne through Mary, for she was not in the “Kingly Line” of descent through Solomon. How then was Jesus’ right to David’s Throne to be brought about? Only by marriage. Here we see the wonderful way in which God safeguarded the “Virgin Birth” of Jesus. He saw to it that Mary married (after conception) a man who could not be the NATURAL father of Jesus because of a taint or defect in his ancestry, for while Joseph was a lineal descendant of David through the “Royal Line” of Solomon, there was one Jechonias (Matthew 1:11-12), called in Jeremiah 22:24-30. Coniah, of whom God had said that – “No man of his SEED shall prosper, sitting upon the ‘Throne of David’ and ruling any more in Judah.” So we see that Joseph could not be the “natural” father of Jesus, for no descendant of his could sit on the throne of David and prosper. This forever sets at rest the claim that Joseph was the natural father of Jesus, and establishes the fact of His “Virgin Birth.” The marriage of Joseph and Mary before the birth of Jesus made Him the adopted son and “legal heir” of Joseph. The title, unaffected by the curse pronounced upon Coniah, was thus conveyed to Jesus, in whom there centres through both Nathan and Solomon exclusive right to the Throne of David.

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When the time came for Jesus to be born God put it into the heart of the Roman Emperor Caesar Augustus to call for an enrollment. This made it necessary for Joseph and Mary to go to Bethlehem. They could not have been enrolled unless their names were on the Register, and that they were enrolled proves that they could at that time trace their ancestry back to King David. Luke 2:1-5; It was doubtless from this register that Matthew and Luke got their genealogy. If the claim of Jesus to the “Throne of David” had not been known in Jerusalem to be absolutely without flaw, the Jews would have denounced Him as an imposter and pretender. Up to the time of Jesus’ rejection as King all genealogical records were preserved in the Temple, but when Titus in A. D. 70 destroyed the city and the Temple, those records were destroyed, and the genealogical tables of Matthew and Luke alone remain to give us the lineal descent of Jesus from King David. Therefore the only living man who today can establish an unbroken genealogy directly and incontrovertibly from King David is the MAN CHRIST JESUS. 1 Timothy 2:5.

            The Scriptures not only clearly teach that Jesus was a MAN (John 8:40, Acts 2:22, 1 Timothy 2:5), and also was GOD (John 1:1, Titus 2:13, Colossians 2:19), but that these “Two Natures” were united in a single Personality, and that in a VITAL and INSEPARABLE UNION. As a man Jesus possessed a material body with all its functions. He hungered, thirsted, slept, loved, feared, groaned, wept, prayed, had compassion, suffered, and as to His body died. As God Jesus performed the works of God.

            While the union of these two natures took place at the birth of Jesus, that does not imply that there was a complete consciousness of that union in the mind of Jesus at the time of His birth, for we read that as a child He “increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man.” Luke 2:52. It was probably not until He was twelve years of age, on His first visit to the Temple, that the Holy Spirit revealed to Him that He must be about His Father’s business. Luke 2:49. At His baptism, when the Holy Spirit, like a dove, rested upon Him, He seems to have come to the full consciousness of His Deity, and yet there were limitations to his knowledge, the self-imposed limitations of a servant, for while a servant may know much he is not supposed to know as much as his master.

            While the Divine nature in Jesus kept Him from sinning and preserved Him from intellectual errors, His human nature made Him susceptible to the weaknesses and limitations of the flesh. And as the spirit of man in its union with the body suffers with the body, so Jesus the “God-Man” suffered in the flesh, and the agonies of Gethsemane and Calvary were real and agonizing to Him.

            When Jesus surrendered His Spirit to the Father on the Cross, the union between the “Divine” and “human” in Jesus was not dissolved. Jesus did not go back to heaven as He came to the earth bodiless. He took His resurrected HUMAN BODY with Him, and we now have in Heaven the MAN Christ Jesus. “For there is one God, and one ‘Mediator’ between God and men, the MAN Christ Jesus.” 1 Timothy 2:5. A man can mediate between two men, but he cannot mediate between a man and y horse, because he has not the nature of both a man and a horse. So the Son of God could not mediate between God and man until He became the “GOD-MAN,” that is, had the nature of both God and man, and this necessitated that He not only become a man, but that He take His human nature back with Him to Heaven.

            While the only account we have of the “Virgin Birth” of Christ is found in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke, this does not militate against its truthfulness. Mark had no occasion to mention it as he confines himself to the public ministry of Christ. John’s Gospel was written 60 years after Christ’s death and resurrection, and the “Virgin Birth” of Jesus was then well known, and John simply alludes to it in the words – “He was made flesh, and dwelt among us.” If, however, we translate the first three words of John 1:13, which read – “Which were born” to “Who was born,” as some of the Church Fathers claim they should be rendered, the verse would read – “Who (Jesus) was born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God,” which would be a clear statement of the Virgin Birth as it denies a human parentage, and declares that Jesus was born of God. As to the silence of Paul, like John, he takes it for granted that the fact of the “Virgin Birth” was then well known, and simply alluded to it in the words – “He took the form of a servant and was made in the likeness of men.” Philippians 2:7. If we accept Luke’s Gospel, as Paul’s Gospel, and Luke was a companion of Paul, then Luke’s account of the “Virgin Birth” is in a sense Paul’s. In Galatians 4:4, Paul says – “When the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth His Son, MADE OF A WOMAN.” Why did he say that if he had not reference to the prophetic statement the “Seed of The Woman” of Genesis 3:15? If Joseph and Mary, who were sinners by nature and practice, could have given birth to a sinless being like Christ, then a greater miracle than the “Virgin Birth” took place. If Jesus was born as other human beings are born, He would not only have been a sinner, He would have been subject to death. But death had no claim on Him. He voluntarily surrendered His life on the Cross, and could not be “holden of death,” but rose of His own power from the grave. When Jesus at the age of twelve said to His mother—“Wist ye not that I must be about MY Father’s Business,” was there not an allusion to His “Virgin Birth,” implying that God, not Joseph, was His Father? [This whole paragraph by Larkin, though driven by good motives, is unnecessary since we already have at least two witnesses of the VIRGIN BIRTH in the New Testament and one prophecy of the virgin birth in the Old Testament from Isaiah 7:14 cited in Matthew 1:23 and Luke 1:27.]

            When the fact of the “Virgin Birth” of Christ first became publicly known we are not told. It was not made known during his lifetime. The secret was known only to Mary and Joseph, and probably Elizabeth. It would never have done to have told it before Christ’s Ascension, as it would have reflected on Mary’s chastity and on Jesus’ legitimacy. So after the death of Joseph and Elizabeth, Mary “hid all those things in her heart.” But when the Deity of Christ as He hung on the Cross was witnessed to by the darkness, and earthquake, and rent veil of the Temple, and the opening of tombs, and was further evidenced by His resurrection from the dead, such a supernatural going, demanded just such a supernatural coming as that of the “Virgin Birth.” As Luke gives us the detailed description of the “Virgin Birth,” and he was a physician, the probability is that Mary, feeling that the time had come to disclose the miraculous manner of Christ’s birth, one day after Christ’s Ascension told Luke all about it and he recorded it in his Gospel, and thus it became a part of the life story of Christ, from which Matthew got his account.

            As the “God-Man,” Christ’s mind was as lucid as the light. With Christ there never was any confusion nor hesitation in answering questions. He taught the profoundest truths in the simplest manner. He spake of things and events in which he was a participant before He came into the world, and prophesied of things that would take place after His departure and in which He would participate. He never took counsel of others. The wisdom of the ages seemed centered in Him. He exhausted every subject He touched with a single sentence, and His parables are beyond improvement. He never conjectured or supposed, and ..never asked questions for information but simply to fix attention on what He was about to do. He not only knew men, He knew their character and read their thoughts. Other Bible characters confess faults and sins, Jesus never. He uniformly expressed a distinct sense of faultlessness and perfection. He never once reproached Himself, or regretted anything He had ever done or said, or indicated that He had taken a wrong step or neglected an opportunity or that anything could have been done or said better than He had done or said it. He said – “I do always those things which please the Father.” He never apologized or excused Himself. He asked the Disciples to watch with Him, but never to pray for Him. He never used plural personal pronouns in His prayers. He always said “I” and “Me,” and “these” and “them,” never “We” and “Us.”

            He claimed equality with God, that He was the Messiah, that He had power to forgive sins, and that He could give rest. He demanded first place, and said that no one could come to the Father only through Him. He said “I am the ‘Bread of Life;’” “I am the ‘Light of the World;’” “I am the ‘Way,’ the ‘Truth,’ the ‘Life;’” “I am the ‘Water of Life;’ “ ”I am the ‘Resurrection and the Life;’” “before Abraham was I Am.” If Jesus was not the Son of God He was the greatest “Egotist” the world has ever seen, aye! He was more, He was a bad man, an imposter, a perjurer, a blasphemer, and unworthy of acceptance or belief.

            He was not a Physician. He never employed a splint, tied an artery, used a knife, nor gave a prescription, yet he cured the sick, cleansed the lepers, caused the blind to see and the deaf to hear, and the dead could not remain dead in his presence. He was not an Author. He never wrote, as far as we know, but a single line and that in the sand that the wind obliterated; but the Gospel He preached made such an impression upon the minds of His disciples that they put it into written form in which ,’t has survived down the centuries, and is to be found in the best literature of the world. He was not an Orator, as the world speaks of oratory, but He spake as never man spake, and the common people heard Him gladly. He was a master of every form of human speech, and His parabolic form of speech has never been excelled. He was not a Poet and yet His life has inspired the world’s greatest poets and given us our sublimest hymns and anthems. He was not a Musician, but to Him the great musical composers of the world owe their inspiration. He was not an Artist, but without Him the great Masterpieces of Art would never have appeared on canvas. He was not an Architect, only an humble Galilean carpenter, a maker of wooden ploughs and ox-yokes, but the most beautiful and artistic buildings in the world were designed to commemorate His memory and dedicated to His worship and service.

Who was this man? This man whose coming into the world changed the world’s reckoning of the years, and gave to Christendom the festive seasons of Christmas and Easter? Was He a Fanatic? Was He a Lunatic? Was He a Dreamer? There never was another man like Him. No writer could ever invent such a character. Who was He then? He was a FOREIGNER. He was not of the type of men that this world produces. He came from some other realm. He came to make us a “Kinsman,” and having done that He went back to His own country again taking our nature with Him. The

supernatural manner of His coming demanded the supernatural manner of His going. He was what He claimed to be the “Mystery of Godliness”—GOD MANIFEST IN THE FLESH.

II. THE MYSTERY OF INIQUITY.

Jesus said to the Jews – “I am come in my Father’s name, and ye receive me not; if ANOTHER shall come in his own name, him ye will receive.” John 5:43. Who is this “OTHER” who is to come? In both the Old and New Testament we are told of a “Mysterious and Terrible Personage” who shall be revealed in the “Last Times.” He is described under different names and aliases. In the Old Testament he is called the “ASSYRIAN” (Isaiah 10:5, Isaiah 10:12, Isaiah 10:24; Isaiah 30:27-33); “LUCIFER” (Isaiah 14:12); the “LITTLE HORN” (Daniel 7:8; Daniel 8:9); a “King of FIERCE COUNTENANCE” (Daniel 8:23); the “PRINCE THAT SHALL COME” (Daniel 9:26); the “WILFUL KING.” Daniel 11:36. In the New Testament he is called the “MAN OF SIN,” the “SON OF PERDITION,” the “MYSTERY OF INIQUITY,” “THAT- WICKED” (2 Thessalonians 2:3-8); the “ANTICHRIST” (1 John 2:18); the “BEAST.” Revelation 13:1-8 *. (* For a full description of the Antichrist, see the chapter on the Antichrst in my larger book, Dispensational Truth.”)

            The difference between Christ and Antichrist is clearly brought out in the following contrasts.

            1.         Christ came from Above. John 6:38.

Antichrist ascends from The Pit. Revelation 11:7.

            2.         Christ came in His Father’s name. John 5 : 43.

Antichrist comes in his Own name. John 5:43.

            3.         Christ Humbled Himself. Philippians 2:8.

Antichrist Exalts himself. 2 Thessalonians 2:4.

            4.         Christ Despised. Isaiah 53:3 ; Luke 23:18.

Antichrist Admired. Revelation 13:3, Revelation 13:4.

            5.         Christ Exalted. Philippians 2:9.

Antichrist Cast Down to Hell. Isaiah 14-15; Revelation 19:20.

            6.         Christ to do His Father’s will. John 6:38.

Antichrist to do his Own will. Daniel 11:36.

            7.         Christ came to Save. Luke 19:10.

Antichrist comes to Destroy. Daniel 8:24.

            8.         Christ is the Good Shepherd. John 10:14-15.

Antichrist is the Idol (evil) Shepherd. Zechariah 11:16, Zechariah 11:17.

            9.         Christ is the “True Vine.” John 15:1.

Antichrist is the “Vine of the Earth.” Revelation 14:18.

            10.       Christ is the “Truth.” John 14:6.

Antichrist is the “Lie.” 2 Thessalonians 2:11.

            11.       Christ is the “Holy One.” Mark 1:24.

Antichrist is the “Lawless One.” 2 Thessalonians 2:8 .

            12.       Christ is the “Man of Sorrows.” Isaiah 53:3.

Antichrist is the “Man of Sin.” 2 Thessalonians 2:3.

            13.       Christ is the “Son of God.” Luke 1:35.

Antichrist is the “Son of Perdition.” 2 Thessalonians 2:3.

            14.       Christ, “The Mystery of Godliness,” is God manifest in the flesh. 1 Timothy 3:16.

Antichrist, “The Mystery of Iniquity,” will be Satan manifest in the flesh. 2 Thessalonians 2:7.

            Let us examine Paul’s description of the Antichrist.

“Let no man deceive you by any means; for ‘that Day’ (the Day of the Lord) shall not come,

except there come a ‘falling away first,’ and that

‘MAN OF SIN’

be revealed, the

‘SON OF PERDITION;’

who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the ‘Temple of God’ (the rebuilt Temple at Jerusalem), showing himself that he is God. . . . For the

‘MYSTERY OF INIQUITY’

doth already work (in Paul’s day): only He (the Holy Spirit) who now letteth will let (restrain), until He be taken out of the way. And then shall

THAT WICKED’

be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit (breath) of His mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of His Coming: even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, and with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because’ they received not the love of the truth (Christ), that they might be saved.” 2 Thessalonians 2:3-10.

            In this passage of Scripture Paul gives the Antichrist four different names, the “Man of Sin,” the “Son of Perdition,” the “Mystery of Iniquity,” and “That Wicked.” The name that the Apostle Paul gives the Antichrist – the “SON OF PERDITION,” is not without significance. The Apostle also calls the Antichrist in this passage the “MYSTERY OF INIQUITY.” What does that mean? In 1 Timothy 3:16, Christ is spoken of as the “MYSTERY OF GODLINESS.” That is, that He was GOD MANIFEST IN THE FLESH. How did He become “manifest in the flesh?” By being born of the Virgin Mary by the Holy Spirit. Thus it was that Jesus became the “SON OF GOD.” Luke 1:35. Now as iniquity is the opposite of Godliness, then the “MYSTERY OF INIQUITY” must be the opposite of the “MYSTERY OF GODLINESS.” That is, if Christ is the “MYSTERY OF GODLINESS,” Antichrist must be the “MYSTERY OF INIQUITY,” and as Christ was the “SON OF GOD,” then Antichrist must be the “SON OF PERDITION,” that is of SATAN. And as Christ was born of a virgin by the Holy Spirit, so Antichrist will be born of a WOMAN (not necessarily a virgin) by Satan. This is no new view for it has been held by many of God’s spiritually minded children since the days of the Apostle John, and there is warrant for it in the Scriptures. In Genesis 3:15, God said to the Serpent (Satan), “I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between ‘THY SEED’ and ‘HER SEED.’” Now the Woman’s SEED was CHRIST, then the Serpent’s SEED must be ANTICHRIST. In John 8:44 Jesus said to the Jews – “Ye are of your father THE DEVIL . . . When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own; for he is a liar, and the father of IT.” [We removed some comments here by Larkin correcting the text of the King James Bible.]When the Devil speaks of “THE LIE,” he is speaking of his own (child), for he is a liar, and the FATHER OF “IT” – “THE LIE.” And it is worthy of note that in the verse (vs. 11) that follows the passage we are considering that the Apostle says: – “And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion that they should believe a lie.” Here again the definite article is found in the Greek, and it should read “The LIE,” the “SON OF PERDITION,” the ANTICHRIST.

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The character of the “Mystery of Iniquity”—THE ANTICHRIST, was revealed to Daniel. Daniel saw a “LITTLE HORN” (the Antichrist) come up among the “Ten Horns” on the head of the “Fourth Wild Beast,” that had “eyes like the eyes of a man, and a mouth speaking great things.” Daniel 7:7-8. Daniel was told that this “Little Horn” was a king that should arise and that he would be a “person” of remarkable intelligence and great oratorical powers, having a “mouth speaking great things.” That he would be audacious, arrogant, imperious, and persecuting, and change “times and laws,” and that the “Saints of the Most High” (Daniel’s own people, the Jews) would be given into his hands for a “Time,” and “Times,” and the “Dividing of Time,” or Zy2years, after which his dominion would be taken away from him. Daniel 7:23-26. In the next chapter Daniel has another vision of this “Little Horn,” as it appeared on one of the “four horns” of the “He Goat.” This “Little Horn” waxed exceedingly great, and Daniel was told that in the “latter time” of the “Fourth World Kingdom” (the revived Roman Empire, yet future), that a “King of Fierce Countenance,” and understanding dark sentences shall stand up, but not in his own power (he shall be indwelt by Satan): and he shall destroy wonderfully, and shall prosper, and practice, and shall destroy the mighty and the Holy People (the Jews), and through his policy also he shall cause craft to prosper in his hand (no one shall be able to buy without the “Mark of the Beast,” Revelation 13:17) ; and he shall magnify himself in his heart (2 Thessalonians 2:3-4), and by peace shall destroy many; he shall also stand up against the “Prince of Princes” (Christ), “but he .shall be broken without hand.” Daniel 8:23-25.

            The “Mystery of Iniquity” will be Satan’s “SUPERMAN.” As to ability he will be a “composite man,” embracing the powers of Nebuchadnezzar, Xerxes, Alexander the Great, and Caesar Augustus. He will have the marvellous gift of attracting unregenerate men, and the irresistible fascination of his personality, his versatile attainments, superhuman wisdom, great administrative and executive ability, along with his powers as a consummate flatterer, a brilliant diplomatist, a superb strategist, will make him the most conspicuous and prominent of men. All these gifts will be conferred on him by Satan, whose tool he will be. He will pose as a great humanitarian, the friend of men, and the especial friend of the Jewish race, whom he will persuade that he has come to usher in the “Golden Age” as pictured by the prophets, and who will receive him as their Messiah. He will intoxicate men with a strong delusion and his never-varying success. And when he shall be slain and rise again from the dead (Revelation 13:3), in imitation of the resurrection of Christ, he will have lost none of these powers, but will be in addition the embodiment of all kinds of wickedness and blasphemy.

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 There has never as yet appeared on this earth a person who answers the description given above. Such a character is almost inconceivable. No writer would have invented such a character. He shall reign for seven years, at the end of which time the Lord Jesus Christ shall return to the earth and destrov the allied armies of Antichrist, and he shall be cast with the False Prophet alive into the Lake of Fire. Revelation 19:19-20. Thus will end the “Mystery of Iniquity”– THE ANTICHRIST.

Chapter XI. Resurrection of Jesus

            The Resurrection of Jesus is the foundation fact on which Christianity is built. “If Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins.” 1 Corinthians 15:17. The proof of jesus’ “Deity” depended on His Resurrection from the dead. Five different times He declared that He would be crucified and buried and on the third day would rise from the dead. Matthew 12:39-40; Matthew 20:17-19; Matthew 26:30-32; Luke 18:31-33; John 2:19-22. If He had not risen we would not have known whether He was what He claimed to be or not, but the Apostle Paul says He was “declared (demonstrated) to be the SON OF GOD ... by the RESURRECTION FROM THE DEAD.” Romans 1:4. Jesus came to take the sinner’s place and satisfy the Law. If Jesus had not risen from the dead we should not have known whether this had been done. When the criminal has served out his full time he cannot be held in confinement a moment longer. According to the Scriptures Jesus’ sentence was that He should remain in the grave three days, when the time was up no power in heaven, earth, or hell could hold Him there a minute longer. This is clearly brought out in Acts 2:24—“Whom God raised up from the dead, having loosed the pains (power) of death because it was not possible that He should be HOLDEN OF IT.” The Psalmist said of Jesus – “Thou wilt not suffer Thine ‘Holy One’ to see CORRUPTION.” Psalm 16:10. Acts 2:29-32. Therefore Jesus had to rise before the fourth day when corruption is supposed to set in. The Resurrection of Jesus is proof that “DEATH” has been conquered. When Jesus appeared to John on the Isle of Patmos He declared – “I am He that liveth, and was dead; and behold,Iam alive for evermore, Amen: and have the KEYS of ‘Hell’ (Hades, the Underworld) and of ‘Death’ (the Grave).” Revelation 1:18. We can picture “Death” saying to Captain Sepulchre, “Hold on to that man in Joseph’s Tomb until ‘corruption’ shall have seized upon Him, for if He comes out He will make a breach in the walls of ‘Hades’ (the Underworld) through which all the prisoners of ‘Hades’ will escape.” But it was not “Death” that had taken Christ captive. Christ simply pursued “Death” into his own dominions, and then conquering him came forth leading captivity captive, and crying “I am the RESURRECTION and the LIFE.” John 11:25. When Jesus rose from the dead He – “ABOLISHED DEATH, and brought ‘Life’ and ‘Immortality’ to light.” 2 Timothy 1:10. That is, He took from Death its terrors, and made provision by which we shall be freed from the bonds of Death by the resurrection of our bodies, so that ultimately there will be no more Death. Revelation 21:4. Therefore because the Tomb could not hold Jesus it shall not be able to hold us, for – “If the Spirit of Him who raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in us, He that raised up Christ from the dead shall quicken our mortal bodies by His Spirit that dwelleth in us.” Romans 8:11. That is raise us from the dead.

THE FACT OF THE RESURRECTION OF JESUS

            There can be no question as to Jesus’ death on the Cross. All four Evangelists tell us that Jesus “yielded up His spirit.” Death did not conquer Him. He yielded up His life of His own accord. He said “I have power to lay down my life andIhave power to take it again.” John 10:17-18. The Roman soldiers did not break the limbs of Jesus because they saw He was dead. John 19:33. And the Centurion testified to Pilate that Jesus was dead. Mark 15:43-45. If Jesus had not yielded up His life on the Cross the “spear thrust” would have killed him, for we read that when the soldier thrust his spear into Jesus’ side there came forth water and blood, showing that the spear had pierced His heart. John 19:34. If Jesus had not actually died on the Cross but only swooned away He would have been smothered to death by the napkin that was wrapped about His head. Every precaution was taken not only to see that Jesus was dead, but that His body should not be secretly removed from the Tomb. The Tomb was sealed and a guard of Roman soldiers placed to watch it. Matthew 27:62-66. But there were other “Watchers” than the Roman soldiers. Unseen angels kept watch over the resting place of the Son of God. Thus past Friday night, Saturday, Saturday night, but as the sky began to purple in the east on that first Easter Morn there was a great earthquake and an angel descended from Heaven and rolled away the stone from the door of the Sepulchre, and so dazzling was his appearance that the Roman guard became as dead men. Matthew 28:2-4. Whether the angel rolled away the stone to let Jesus out, or simply to reveal the fact that the Tomb ‘ was empty, we are not told, but the empty Tomb of Joseph of Arimathea bore witness to the fact that Jesus had risen as He said He would.

            There were many witnesses who saw Jesus die on the Cross, but there was not an eye-witness to His Resurrection. That is, no one actually saw Him come out of the Sepulchre. The Roman soldiers did not see him come forth for they were as dead men during the rolling away of the stone and for some time afterward. The story that the Elders put in their mouth, that His Disciples came by night and stole Him away while they slept (Matthew 28:11-15), was to discredit the Disciples if they should claim that Jesus had risen, and is absurd upon its face, for it was death for a Roman soldier to sleep on duty, and if they were all asleep how could they know whether Jesus’ body was stolen or arose, and if stolen who stole it? It would have been noisy work breaking the seal and rolling back the stone and would have aroused the soldiers if asleep. More, it was a bright moonlight night, and many pilgrims who had come to the Passover Feast were camped about the city, and it would have been difficult to have carried away the body of Jesus without being seen. If the chief priests had really believed that Jesus’ body had been stolen, they would have offered a reward for its recovery, for the recovery of the body would have set at rest for all time the question of Jesus’ resurrection. But they did not, thus proving that they believed a miracle had taken place.

            But the most remarkable testimony to the physical resurrection of the body of Jesus is found in the statemerit of the Apostle John, that when he and Peter came to the empty tomb and went in and examined it, they found the linen cloths, in which the body of Jesus had been wrapped, lying on the stone slab on which it had been laid, “and the napkin that was about His head not lying with the linen cloths, but wrapped together in a place by itself.” John 20:6-7. That is, the grave clothes of Jesus were not taken away from the Sepulchre, nor tossed to one side as if discarded, but like a hollow cocoon, stiffened by the emblaming material, they were left lying on the stone slab, and the napkin was lying by itself, just the distance of the head from the body, revealing the fact that when Jesus arose He just slipped out of His burial clothes as a locust sheds his skin, and left His clothes behind as a silent witness that His body was not stolen, for if His body had been stolen the thieves would not have tarried to remove His grave clothes, and if for any reason they did, they would not have left them in order, but would have thrown them down anywhere and anyhow.

            We have still further evidence that the disciples did not steal the body in the fact that they were so hard to convince that Jesus had really risen from the dead. To us it is a mystery that every one of the disciples was not at the Sepulchre on the morning of the third day to see their Master rise. He had told them so often that He was to be crucified and rise again the third day, but they either forgot it in their sorrow or disbelieved it, for of all His disciples only a few women went to the Sepulchre that morning, and they went not expecting to see Him rise, but to further embalm His body, and they seemed not to have known that a guard had been placed at the Sepulchre for they wondered who would roll away the stone that they might reach the body of Jesus. Mark 16:1-3. We see now the wisdom of their unbelief. If the disciples had hung around the Sepulchre it would have added plausibility to the charge that thev had stolen His body, but their very absence and unbelief disprove the charge.

            But while no one actually saw Jesus rise from the dead, there were many witnesses who saw Him after His Resurrection, and that not weeks and months after, but the very day He arose. If He had not been really dead when He was laid in the Sepulchre and revived, and in some way escaped from the Tomb there would have been the pitiable spectacle of His dragging himself about a physical wreck, with wounds in His hands and feet and side. But Jesus when He appeared to His disciples was in robust health, and able to walk half a dozen miles to Emmaus with two of His disciples on the afternoon of the day He arose. The miracle of Christ’s Resurrection was twofold, restoration to LIFE, and restoration to HEALTH.

            On the day of His Resurrection Jesus appeared to His disciples five times. First to Mary Magdalene (John 20:11-18), then to the women (Matthew 28:9-10), then to Peter (Luke 24:34), then in the late afternoon to the two disciples on the road to Emmaus (Luke 24:13-35), and then in the evening to a number of the disciples in the “Upper Room.” John 20:19 (Luke 24:36-48). A week later, in the same room, He again appeared to His disciples, Thomas being present. John 20:24-29. Later He appeared to seven disciples on the shore of the Sea of Galilee (John 21:1-25), then to the “Eleven” on a mountain in Galilee (Matthew 28:16-20; Mark 16:14-18), then to 500 brethren at once (1 Corinthians 15:6), then to James (1 Corinthians 15:7), and then, forty days after His Resurrection, He ascended to Heaven in the presence of His Disciples from the Mount of Olives. Luke 24:50-53. Paul tells us in his letter to the Corinthians (1 Corinthians 15:6), written 27 years after the Resurrection, that of 500 witnesses that saw Him at one time, the greater part were still alive. It stands to reason that all these persons could not have been deceived, and if there had been collusion among them to perpetrate a fraud, it is improbable to suppose that all of them could have kept the secret or that it would not have leaked out in some way.

            But someone may ask – “Why did not Jesus appear to His enemies, as well as to His disciples?” That is, to the Chief Priests, and to Pilate. He did not appear to them because He told the Jews that they should not see Him again until they should say—“Blessed is He that cometh in the name of the Lord” (Matthew 23:37-39), and that will not be until the Revelation Stage of His Second Coming, when they shall again look upon Him whom they pierced. But the fact is He did appear to one of his greatest enemies—“Saul of Tarsus,” who has confirmed in his wonderful chapter on the Resurrection, the 15th of First Corinthians, that Jesus did rise from the dead.

            Sixty-six years after His Resurrection Jesus appeared to the Apostle John on the Isle of Patmos, and thus we have from the testimony of these many witnesses, indisputable evidence as to the Resurrection of Jesus. This testimony comes from His enemies as well as His friends, and the appearances were not made in secret, but in the open where fraud was impossible. As further proof that Jesus did not revive, but actually rose from the dead, we have the fact that He did not die again but ASCENDED TO HEAVEN IN THE PRESENCE OF HIS DISCIPLES.

            For over eighteen centuries that “idle tale” of the Roman soldiers, that the Disciples of Jesus stole His body, has been the only explanation of the miraculous fact that on Sunday morning, April 9, A. D. 30, the virgin Sepulchre of Joseph of Arimathea was found TENANTLESS. The most astute legal minds of the centuries have weighed the evidence for the Resurrection of Jesus and pronounced it to be flawless.

            There is no discrepancy between John and the other evangelists as to the visit of the women to the Sepulchre. Mary with the other women, at dawn, started to the Sepulchre. They found the stone rolled away and the Sepulchre empty. Mary left the other women and hastened back to tell the Disciples. After she had gone the other women entered the Sepulchre when they saw a young man in white who told them that Jesus was risen, and commanded them to go and tell His Disciples. Mark 16:4-7. They at once left the Sepulchre to look for the Disciples. Meanwhile Mary met Peter and John who left her and ran to the Sepulchre, which, after hurriedly investigating, they left and returned to Jerusalem. John 20:3-10. Mary returned to the Sepulchre after Peter and John had left, and finding herself alone began to weep. Jesus appeared to her and called her by name. At once she recognized the Master and wanted to touch Him, but Jesus said – “Touch me not; forIam not yet ascended to my Father.” He then commanded her to go and tell the brethren, and then He disappeared. Mary at once left the Sepulchre to do the Master’s bidding. Shortly after, Jesus met the other women on their way to tell the Disciples. To them He said – “All Hail,” and they fell at His feet, upon which they laid their hands, and worshipped Him. Matthew 28:9-10. At once the question arises why did Jesus forbid Mary to touch Him, and shortly after permitted the women to do so? The only possible answer is that in the meantime, with the swiftness of light, Jesus had ascended to the Father and returned. On the “Day of Atonement,” after the High Priest had offered on the Altar the “Blood of the Atonement,” if any one touched him before He could carry the “blood” into the Most Holy Place and make Atonement, the Offering was of no avail. So Jesus having offered His own blood on the Altar of the Cross, for Mary to have touched Him before He ascended to the Most Holy Place on high and offered His blood there would have vitiated the work of the Cross.

            The fact that the women held Jesus by the feet, that that afternoon He walked for miles and talked with two of His disciples, that in the evening he ate a piece of broiled fish and a honeycomb, that a week later He told Thomas to thrust his hand in His side, and that some time later He breakfasted with His Disciples on the shore of the Sea of Galilee, all prove that Jesus’ Resurrection body was not a phantom, but had a physical form and could perform the functions of a human body, and while it was not a glorified body like He had on the Mount of Transfiguration, it had the power to enter a closed room, and to appear and disappear at will, and remain unrecognized until He disclosed Himself by the tone of His voice. This gives us a hint of what our resurrection bodies will be like, as far as their capabilities and powers are concerned, when it will be necessary during the “Age to Come” for us to visit the earth on missions of love and service.

            The Resurrection of Jesus changed the whole attitude of the disciples toward Him, and completely revolutionized their lives and became the central theme of their preaching. The “Standard of God’s Power” in the Old Testament was the “EXODUS.” The “Standard of God’s Power” in the New Testament is the “RESURRECTION OF JESUS.” It was the culmination of all of Jesus’ miracles. As God He laid down His life on the Cross, and as God He rose from the dead. Why then should we think it incredible that GOD should raise the dead ? Acts 26:8.

            As a testimony to the fact that Jesus rose from the dead we have the observance of the “First Day of the Week” or the “Lord’s Day,” and the ordinance of baptism. The command to observe the Sabbath was given to Israel exclusively. It was not given to the Gentiles. It was given to Israel as the “Sign” of the “Mosaic Covenant.” “Verily my Sabbaths ye shall keep; for it is a SIGN between me and you throughout your generations.” Exodus 31:13. Ezekiel 20:12, Ezekiel 20:19-21. The Sabbath Day then belongs to the Jews alone and is not binding on the Gentiles (the world), or on the Church (Christians).. Nowhere in the Bible do you find God finding fault with a nation or people, except the Jewish nation, for not observing the Sabbath. As a Jewish ordinance it has never been abrogated, changed, or transferred to any other day of the week, or to any other people. It is now in abeyance as foretold in “Hosea 2:11 it would be. It is resumed when the Jews are nationally restored to their own land. Isaiah 66:23. Ezekiel 44:24; Ezekiel 46:1-3. The fact then that the Christian Church observes the “First Day of the Week,” the day on which Jesus rose from the dead, as a day of rest and worship is a proof of the Resurrection of Jesus. As to the relation of Baptism to the Resurrection of Jesus, see the Chapter on “Regeneration and Baptism.”

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Chapter XII. The Resurrections

            The Scriptures speak of three kinds of resurrection. 1. NATIONAL. This refers to Israel who are now nationally dead and buried in the “Graveyard of the Nations,” but who are to be revived and restored to their own land. Hosea 6:1-2. See the Chapter on “The Jews”. 2. SPIRITUAL. This refers to those who are spiritually dead in “Trespasses and Sins.” Ephesians 2:1-6. Ephesians 5:14. Romans 6:11. This is a “Present Resurrection” and is going on continually. Every time a soul is “born again” there is a passing from “death” unto “life,” a “Spiritual Resurrection.” John 5:24. John 5:3. PHYSICAL. This is of the dead body. The “Spirit” of man does not die, it goes back to God who gave it. All that goes into the grave is the body, and all that can come out of the grave is the body. See the Chapter on the “Spirit World.”

THE RESURRECTION OF THE BODY

            Jesus clearly and distinctly taught a resurrection “from the grave.”

“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; they that have done good unto the ‘Resurrection of LIFE,’ and they that have done evil unto the ‘Resurrection of DAMNATION.’” John 5 : 28, 29.

Here Jesus teaches the resurrection of both the “Righteous” and the “Wicked.” The Apostle Paul taught the same thing.

“And have hope toward God, which they themselves also allow, that there shall be a resurrection of the Dead, both of the Just (justified), and of the Unjust (unjustified).” Acts 24:15.

“For as in Adam all die (physically), even so in Christ shall all be made alive (physically).” 1 Corinthians 15:22.

            That the Apostle means “physical” death, and “physical” resurrection here, is clear, for it is the body, and not the spirit that he is discoursing about, and so the Universalist has no “proof text” here for the doctrine of “Universal Salvation.”

            These passages clearly teach that there is to be a resurrection of “all the dead,” and if we did not look any further, we would be led to believe that the Righteous and the Wicked are not only to rise, but that they are to rise at the “same time.” But when we turn to the Book of Revelation we find that the Righteous are to rise “before” the Wicked, and not simply precede them, but there is a space of a 1000 years between the two Resurrections. Revelation 20:4-5.

“And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them.”

            This refers to the saints of the First Resurrection, who, represented by the “Four and Twenty Elders” of Revelation 4:4, are seen seated on thrones surrounding the Throne of God.

“And I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the Word of God, and which had not worshipped The Beast, neither His Image, neither had received His Mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they LIVED and Reigned With Christ a THOUSAND YEARS.”

            These are the “Tribulation Saints.” John first saw them in their “martyred” condition (as souls), then he saw them rise from the dead (they lived again), and they, with the First Resurrection Saints, reigned with Christ a Thousand Years.

“But the rest of the dead (the wicked), lived not again until the ‘Thousand Years’ were finished.”

            The rest of the verse – “This is the ‘First Resurrection,’ “ refers not to the “rest of the dead,” but to those in verse 4, who lived and reigned with Christ for a 1000 years, for:

“Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the First Resurrection, on such the Second Death (the doom of the Wicked, Revelation 20:14, Revelation 20:15), hath no power, but they shall be Priests of God and of Christ, and shall Reign With Him a THOUSAND YEARS.” Revelation 20:6.

            That the Dead are to rise in different bands or cohorts, with an “interval of time” between, is beautifully brought out in 1 Corinthians 15:22-24.

“For as in Adam all die (physically), even so in Christ shall all be made alive (physically). But every man in his own order.”

The word translated “order” is a military expression, and means a band, cohort, brigade or division of an army. Paul then gives the order:

1. “Christ the First Fruits.”

2. “Afterward they that Are Christ’s At His Coming.”

3. “Then cometh The End.”

            Now we know that between “Christ the First Fruits,” and they that “are Christ’s at His Coming,” there has already been nearly 1900 years, and as we have seen there will be 1000 years between the resurrection of those that “are Christ’s at His Coming” and the “Wicked dead,” therefore there is not to be a simultaneous resurrection of the Righteous and the Wicked. Already there has been an “OUT Resurrection” from “among the dead.” When Jesus expired on the Cross “the earth did quake, and the rocks rent; and the graves were opened; and many BODIES OF THE SAINTS which slept AROSE, and came out of their graves AFTER HIS RESURRECTION (they could not precede Him), and WENT INTO THE HOLY CITY (Jerusalem), AND APPEARED TO MANY.” Matthew 27:50-53. They with Jesus made up the “FIRST FRUITS,” and they are now in their resurrection bodies with Him in glory. See Chart.

            It has been objected that the passage in Revelation 20:4-5, is the “only” place in the Bible where a “length of time” is given between the resurrection of the Righteous and the Wicked, and that it is not fair to base such an important fact upon a single statement found in such a symbolic Book. But we do not have to depend on Revelation 20:4-6 to prove that there is to be an “out” Resurrection “from among the dead.” There are a number of passages referring to the resurrection of the dead that are unexplainable only on the supposition that there is a “time space” between the resurrection of the Righteous and the Wicked.

            In the reply that Jesus made to the Sudducees in answer to their question as to whose wife the woman would be in the next world who had had seven husbands in this, He said –  

“They which shall be accounted worthy to obtain that world (Age), and the resurrection from the dead, neither marry, nor are given in marriage; neither can they die any more (Second Death) ; for they are equal unto the angels; and are the ‘Children of God’ being the children of THE (out) Resurrection.” Luke 20:35-36.

            This is a very important statement. The use of the Greek word “Aion,” translated “world,” which means “Age,” shows that Jesus is speaking of a “class of dead” who are to be raised “before” the next or “Millennial Age,” and that those thus raised can “die no more,” there is no “Second Death” for them. Why? Because they are “equal unto the angels” and are the “Children of God,” having been “born again,” and are the “Children of THE Resurrection,” the “Out FROM AMONG The Dead” or FIRST RESURRECTION, for only the “Children” of the “First Resurrection” shall live again “before” the Millennium.

            In Luke 14:14 Jesus speaks of a “special” resurrection that He calls the Resurrection of the “JUST.” This is an “Out Resurrection” from “among the dead,” and ‘ is only for the “Justified,” and must refer to the “First” Resurrection.

            The writer to the Hebrews (Hebrews 11:35) speaks of a “better” Resurrection, and it is a significant fact that the Apostles preached through Jesus the Resurrection “from the dead.” Not the Resurrection “of” the dead, that they always believed, but the Resurrection “from among” the dead, that was a “New Doctrine.”

            There is no question but that Paul believed in the resurrection “of” the dead, and that he expected to rise “some time,” but in his letter to the Philippians (3:11) he expresses the hope that he might “attain unto ‘THE’ resurrection of the dead.” Paul must therefore have had in mind some “special” Resurrection. What Paul meant is clear when we turn to 1 Thessalonians 4:15-17, where he speaks of the resurrection of the “dead in Christ” and “translation of the living saints,” at the Second Coming of the Lord, and as Christ is to come back to usher in the Millennium, then that event must “precede” the Millennium, and be an “Out Resurrection from among the dead,” for the “rest of the dead” live not again until the 1000 years “are finished.”

            But the resurrection of the Righteous and the Wicked is not only to be different as to “time” but as to CHARACTER. They that have done “good” (the Righteous) shall rise unto the “Resurrection of LIFE,” while they that have done “evil” (the Wicked) shall rise unto the “Resurrection of DAMNATION.” John 5:28-29. And we read in Revelation 20:12-15, that those who are raised at the Second Resurrection, or the “Resurrection of Damnation,” must appear at the “GREAT WHITE THRONE JUDGMENT,” and that their names shall not be found written in the “Book of Life,” and they shall be cast into the “Lake of Fire,” which is the “SECOND DEATH.

THE MANNER OF THE RESURRECTION

            It is claimed by many that the departure of the Soul and Spirit from the body at death is what is meant by the Resurrection. But that cannot be so for the dead (the body) are to rise from their “GRAVES.” John 5:28-29.

            The objection to the resurrection of the body is based on the supposition that bodies that have been eaten by animals, blown to atoms, or destroyed by fire or quicklime cannot be restored. But nothing is impossible with GOD. Luke 1:37. Acts 26:8. Paul reveals the manner of the Resurrection in 1 Corinthians 15:35-54. It is called –  

THE GERM THEORY.

            That is, that in every human body there is a “LIVING GERM” that is indestructible, and though the body turn to dust that “Living Germ” will continue to exist in the grave, or wherever it may have been deposited, and like the seed in the ground will spring into “immortal life” when the time for the resurrection of the body shall come.

            But while the resurrection body shall be alike in kind, it will be different in character and possess different qualities. This Paul declares when he says that “All ‘flesh’ is not the same flesh; but there is one kind of flesh of ‘men,’ another flesh of ‘beast,’ another of ‘fishes,’ and another of birds.’” That is, the flesh of God’s creatures is adapted to their environment. “Fish flesh” cannot fly in the air, nor “Bird flesh” swim in the sea. So there are bodies “terrestrial” and bodies “celestial.” The human body as it is now constituted could not exist in Heaven. There must be a change, and this change is brought about by the resurrection. This change Paul portrays. He says –  

“So also is the Resurrection of the Dead. It is sown in corruption: it is raised in incorruption; it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in Glory; it is sown in weakness; it is raised in Power; it is sown a Natural body; it is raised a Spiritual body.” 1 Corinthians 15:42-44.

            This does not mean that it will have no “substance.” We cannot conceive of a “body” that is to have the faculties of the “Spirit Body” not having “form” and “substance.” Christ’s resurrection body is a “sample” of what ours is to be. While it is true that His body did not see “corruption” and He rose in the “same body” that was laid in the grave; while it was the same in “identity,” it was different in “character.” While the “nail prints” and ‘spear wound” were visible it could pass through closed doors, and appear and disappear at will. It had “flesh” and “bones” (Luke 24:39-43), but not “blood,” for “flesh and blood” cannot enter the Kingdom of God (1 Corinthians 15:50), for “blood” is that which causes “corruption.” To preserve a body it must be drained of blood, or the blood chemically preserved by an embalming fluid. As the sacrifice was to be bled, so Jesus left His blood on the earth.

            As our resurrection bodies will have visible “form” and “shape” it stands to reason that they will have a framework of “flesh” and “bones,” but it will be “flesh” and “bones” adapted to its new environment. We must not forget that Enoch and Elijah went up in their “bodies.” Presumably their bodies were “glorified” in the transit, but they were not “disembodied,” and if they have use for a “body” in Heaven why not we? Is it reasonable to suppose that only those two saints shall be in Heaven in their bodies? Why did Michael the Archangel contend with the Devil over the “body” of Moses, if Moses had no further need of it? Did not he and Elijah have use for their bodies when they appeared on the Mt. of Transfiguration with Jesus? And if they were “the” two men that stood by in “white apparel” when Jesus ascended (Acts 1:9-11), and are to be the “Two Witnesses” of Revelation 11:3-6, we see that as they are the “type” of the Resurrected and Translated Saints, that the Saints at the Rapture will have “bodies” like Moses and Elijah now have.

            The Resurrection of Christ with those who arose with Him was the “First Fruits,” the Resurrection of the “Righteous” is the “Harvest,” of the “Tribulation” Saints the “Gleanings,” and the “Wicked” are the “Tares.”

It has been objected that if all the dead that have ever lived on this earth were to be raised at one time there would not be standing room. But as we have seen they are not to be all raised at the same time, for the Righteous shall rise and be taken off the earth a 1000 years before the Wicked. But suppose they were. The present population of the world is 1,700,000,000. A generation is generally counted as 33 years. Suppose for argument there had been 1,700,000,000 on the earth in Adam’s day, and that that many had died every 33 years since, that would make the dead up to 1900 A. D., 4000 B.C. years + 1900 A.D. years = 5900 years ÷ 33 = 178 generations of 1,700,000,000 people each = 302,600,000,000 dead, who if they were raised and were each given a square yard to stand on, could stand on less than onehalf of the state of Texas.