Death & the Two Resurrections and the
Judgment
Kenneth M. Hoeck ~ Truth On The Web Ministries 2000
We all pass from life at one point or another. There are many beliefs as
to what happens after death. Yet for one who would call themself a 'Christian',
that is, a believer in the teachings of Jesus and the bible, there should
be only one belief - and that is belief and hope in what the bible itself
teaches.
What happens when we die? Is there an 'afterlife'? What is this talk of a
'resurrection'? and this other subject of a 'judgement'? What does the bible
teach? The only true answer can come from God's own word so let us reflect
upon some scripture.
DEATH
The
Bible likens Death to
"SLEEP"
Deu 31:16 And the LORD said
unto Moses, Behold, thou shalt sleep with thy fathers; and
this people will rise up, and go a whoring after the gods of the strangers
of the land, whither they go [to be] among them, and will forsake me, and
break my covenant which I have made with them.
]
2Sa 7:12 And when thy days be fulfilled,
and thou shalt sleep with thy fathers, I will set up thy seed
after thee, which shall proceed out of thy bowels, and I will establish his
kingdom.
Psa 13:3 Consider [and] hear me, O LORD my God: lighten mine eyes, lest I
sleep the [sleep of] death;
Death is likened to a deep sleep - one where you don't dream or
anything.
Ecc 9:1 For all this I considered in my heart
even to declare all this, that the righteous, and the wise, and their works,
[are] in the hand of God: no man knoweth either love or hatred [by] all [that
is] before them. 2 All [things come] alike to all: [there is] one event
to the righteous, and to the wicked; to the good and to the clean,
and to the unclean; to him that sacrificeth, and to him that sacrificeth
not: as [is] the good, so [is] the sinner; [and] he that sweareth, as [he]
that feareth an oath. 3 This [is] an evil among all [things] that are done
under the sun, that [there is] one event unto all: yea, also
the heart of the sons of men is full of evil, and madness [is] in their heart
while they live, and after that [they go] to the dead. 4 For
to him that is joined to all the living there is hope: for a living dog is
better than a dead lion. 5 For the living know that they shall die: but
the dead know not any thing, neither have they any more a reward;
for the memory of them is forgotten. [they don't remember anthing]
6 Also their love, and their hatred, and their envy, is now perished; neither
have they any more a portion for ever in any [thing] that is done under the
sun. 7 Go thy way, eat thy bread with joy, and drink thy wine with a
merry heart; for God now accepteth thy works. 8 Let thy garments be always
white; and let thy head lack no ointment.
Job 7:21 And why dost thou not pardon my transgression, and take away mine
iniquity? for now shall I sleep in the dust; and thou shalt
seek me in the morning, but I [shall] not [be].
Job 14:10 But man dieth, and wasteth away: yea, man giveth up the
ghost, and where [is] he? 11 [As] the waters fail from the sea, and the
flood decayeth and drieth up: 12 So man lieth down, and riseth not: till
the heavens [be] no more, they shall not awake, nor be raised out of
their sleep. 13 O that thou wouldest hide me in the grave,
that thou wouldest keep me secret, until thy wrath be past, that thou
wouldest appoint me a set time, and remember me! 14 If a man die,
shall he live [again]? all the days of my appointed time will I wait, till
my change come. 15 Thou shalt call, and I will answer
thee: thou wilt have a desire to the work of thine
hands.
ABOUT THE RESURRECTION
OF THE DEAD
(it is to give us great
hope)
1Cr 15:12 Now if Christ be preached that
he rose from the dead, how say some among you that there is no resurrection
of the dead? 13 But if there be no resurrection of the dead, then is
Christ not risen: 14 And if Christ be not risen, then [is] our preaching
vain, and your faith [is] also vain. 15 Yea, and we are found false witnesses
of God; because we have testified of God that he raised up Christ: whom he
raised not up, if so be that the dead rise not. 16 For if the dead rise not,
then is not Christ raised: 17 And if Christ be not raised, your faith [is]
vain; ye are yet in your sins. 18 Then they also which are fallen asleep
in Christ are perished. 19 If in this life only we have hope in Christ,
we are of all men most miserable. 20 But now is Christ risen from the
dead, [and] become the firstfruits of them that slept. 21 For since
by man [came] death, by man [came] also the resurrection of the dead. 22
For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made
alive. 23 But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits;
afterward they that are Christ's at his coming. 24 Then [cometh]
the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father;
when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power. 25 For
he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet. 26 The
last enemy [that] shall be destroyed [is] death. 27 For he hath
put all things under his feet. But when he saith all things are put under
[him, it is] manifest that he is excepted, which did put all things under
him. 28 And when all things shall be subdued unto him, then shall the Son
also himself be subject unto him that put all things under him, that God
may be all in all. ... 34 Awake to righteousness, and sin not;
for some have not the knowledge of God: I speak [this] to your shame. .
1Corinthians 15:34 Awake to righteousness, and sin not; for some have not
the knowledge of God: I speak [this] to your shame. 35 But some [man]
will say, How are the dead raised up? and with what body do they come?
36[Thou] fool, that which thou sowest is not quickened, except it
die: 37And that which thou sowest, thou sowest not that body that shall be,
but bare grain, it may chance of wheat, or of some other [grain]: 38 But
God giveth it a body as it hath pleased him, and to every seed his own body.
39 All flesh [is] not the same flesh: but [there is] one [kind of] flesh
of men, another flesh of beasts, another of fishes, [and] another of birds.
40 [There are] also celestial bodies, and bodies terrestrial: but the glory
of the celestial [is] one, and the [glory] of the terrestrial [is] another.
41 [There is] one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another
glory of the stars: for [one] star differeth from [another] star in glory.
42 So also [is] the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption; it
is raised in incorruption: 43 It is sown in dishonour; it is raised in glory:
it is sown in weakness; it is raised in power: 44 It is sown a natural body;
it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there
is a spiritual body. 45 And so it is written, The first man Adam was
made a living soul; the last Adam [was made] a quickening spirit. 46 Howbeit
that [was] not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward
that which is spiritual. 47 The first man [is] of the earth, earthy: the
second man [is] the Lord from heaven. 48 As [is] the earthy, such [are] they
also that are earthy: and as [is] the heavenly, such [are] they also that
are heavenly. 49 And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we
shall also bear the image of the heavenly. 50 Now this I say, brethren,
that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption
inherit incorruption.
Luke 20:35 But they which shall be accounted worthy to obtain that world,
and the resurrection from the dead, neither marry, nor are given
in marriage: 36 Neither can they die any more: for they are
equal unto the angels; and are the children of God, being the children
of the resurrection. 37 Now that the dead are raised, even Moses
shewed at the bush, when he calleth the Lord the God of Abraham, and the
God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. 38 For he is not a God of the dead,
but of the living: for all live unto him.
Phillipians 3:10 That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection,
and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death;
11 If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the
dead.
John 11:21 Then said Martha unto Jesus, Lord, if thou hadst been
here, my brother had not died. 22 But I know, that even now, whatsoever thou
wilt ask of God, God will give [it] thee. 23 Jesus saith unto her,
Thy brother shall rise again. 24 Martha saith unto him, I know
that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day. 25
Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth
in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: 26 And whosoever
liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this? 27 She
saith unto him, Yea, Lord: I believe that thou art the Christ, the Son of
God, which should come into the world.
THE FIRST RESURRECTION
(for those who try to obey God and keep the
commandments and precepts of Jesus
Christ)
1Thessalonians 4:13 But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren,
concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others
which have no hope. 14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again,
even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him.
15 For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which
are alive [and] remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent
[precede] them
which are asleep. 16 For the Lord himself shall descend
from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump
of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: 17 Then we which are
alive [and] remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to
meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. 18
Wherefore comfort one another with these words.
1Corinthinans 15:51 Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all
sleep, but we shall all be changed, 52 In a moment, in the
twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound,
and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.
53For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal [must] put
on immortality. 54 So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption,
and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass
the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. 55 O death,
where [is] thy sting? O grave, where [is] thy victory? 56 The sting of death
[is] sin; and the strength of sin [is] the law. 57 But thanks [be] to God,
which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. 58 Therefore,
my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the
work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in
the Lord.
Revelation 20:1 And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key
of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. 2 And he laid hold on
the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him
a thousand years, :3 And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut
him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more,
till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must
be loosed a little season. 4 And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and
judgment was given unto them: 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. 5 But the rest of the dead lived not again
until the thousand years were finished. This [is] the first resurrection.
Revelation 20:6 Blessed and holy [is] he that hath part in the first
resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but
they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a
thousand years.
THE SECOND RESURRECTION
(For
everyone else whoever lived that was not in the first
resurrection.)
Daniel 12:1 And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince which
standeth for the children of thy people: and there shall be a time of trouble,
such as never was since there was a nation [even] to that same time: and
at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found
written in the book. 2 And many of them that sleep in the dust of the
earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame [and] everlasting
contempt. 3 And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness
of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for
ever and ever.
THE JUDGMENT
(concerning the resurrection of the just and
unjust)
Eccliastes 3:16 And moreover I saw under the
sun the place of judgment, [that] wickedness [was] there; and the place
of righteousness, [that] iniquity [was] there. 17 I said in mine heart,
God shall judge the righteous and the wicked: for [there is]
a time there for every purpose and for every work. 18 I said in mine heart
concerning the estate of the sons of men, that God might manifest them, and
that they might see that they themselves are beasts. 19 For that which befalleth
the sons of men befalleth beasts; even one thing befalleth them: as the one
dieth, so dieth the other; yea, they have all one breath; so that a man hath
no preeminence above a beast: for all [is] vanity. 20 All go unto one
place; all are of the dust, and all turn to dust again. 21 Who knoweth
the spirit of man that goeth upward, and the spirit of the beast that goeth
downward to the earth?
Luke 14:11 For whosoever exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that
humbleth himself shall be exalted. 12Then said he also to him that bade
him, When thou makest a dinner or a supper, call not thy friends, nor thy
brethren, neither thy kinsmen, nor [thy] rich neighbours; lest they also
bid thee again, and a recompence be made thee. 13 But when thou makest a
feast, call the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind: 14 And thou shalt
be blessed; for they cannot recompense thee: for thou shalt be recompensed
at the resurrection of the just.
John 5:21 For as the Father raiseth up the dead, and quickeneth [them]; even
so the Son quickeneth whom he will. 22 For the Father judgeth no man, but
hath committed all judgment unto the Son: 23 That all [men]
should honour the Son, even as they honour the Father. He that honoureth
not the Son honoureth not the Father which hath sent him. 24 Verily, verily,
I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent
me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed
from death unto life. 25 Verily, verily, I say unto you, The hour is
coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God:
and they that hear shall live. 26 For as the Father hath life in
himself; so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself; 27 And hath
given him authority to execute judgment also, because he is
the Son of man. 28 Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which
all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, 29 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.
Re 20:11 ¶ And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from
whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place
for them. 12 And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the
books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life:
and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in
the books, according to their works. 13 And the sea gave up
the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which
were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works.
14 And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second
death. 15 And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast
into the lake of fire.
POST-JUDGMENT
Re 21:1 ¶ And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for
the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more
sea. 2 And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God
out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 3 And I heard
a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with
men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself
shall be with them, and be their God. 4 And God shall wipe away all
tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow,
nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things
are passed away. 5 And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make
all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and
faithful. 6 And he said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning
and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the
water of life freely. 7 He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and
I will be his God, and he shall be my son.
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General scriptures concerning resurrections
Job 14:12-15; 19:25-27; Psa 16:9,10; 17:15; 49:15; Isa 25:8; 26:19; Eze 37:1-14;
Dan 12:2,3,13; Hsa 13:14; Mat 22:23-32; 24:31; 25:1-13; 27:52,53; Mar 12:18-27;
Luk 14:14; 20:27-38; Jhn 5:21,25,28,29; 6:39,40,44,54; 11:23-25; 14:19; Act
2:26-31; 4:1,2; 17:18,32; 23:6,8; 24:14,15; 26:6-8; Rom 4:16-21;
8:10,11,19,21-23; 1Cr 6:14; 15:12-32,35-57; 2Cr 4:14; 5:1-5; Phl 3:10,11,21;
1Th 4:14,16; 2Ti 1:10; 2:18; Hbr 6:2; 11:19,35; Rev 1:18; 20:4-6,13
CLOSING PSALMS OF
HOPE
Psalm 119:114 ¶ Thou art my hiding place and my shield: I hope in
thy word. 115 ¶ Depart from me, ye evildoers: for I will keep the
commandments of my God. 116 ¶ Uphold me according unto thy word,
that I may live: and let me not be ashamed of my hope.
Psalm 23:1 ¶ -A Psalm of
David.-> The LORD is my shepherd; I shall
not
want.[ I shall not fail or decrease]
2 He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside
the still waters.
[symbolic of death &
rest] 3 He restoreth my
soul: [my life shall return]
he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake.
4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of
death [the
grave], I will fear no evil: for thou art with me;
thy rod and thy staff they comfort me. 5 Thou preparest a table
before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil;
my cup runneth over. 6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow
me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD
for ever.
