“The Resurrection of the Just.” The Evening and the Morning

“The Resurrection of the Just.” The Evening and the Morning Star (Independence, Missouri) 1, no. 7 (December 1832): [49–51].
THE RESURRECTION OF THE JUST.
THE resurrection of the just, though one of the greatest promises of the Lord, in the gospel, is, we think, less understood, by the world at large, than many other things revealed to man, by his holy prophets. At present, excepting the church of Christ, which the world calls Mormonites, we do not know of a single sect that holds to, or has faith in the resurrection of the just in the flesh; or, in other words, a church or society that mean and hope, by obeying the commands of God in all things; by repentance and baptism for the remission of sins, to receive the gift of the Holy Ghost by the laying on of the hands; hold out faithful to the end, and after death, rise, when the Redeemer comes in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory, and live in the flesh, on earth, and reign with him a thousand years. It is a solemn fact that the right meaning of scripture, has been perverted, and the light of the gospel darkened, by the wisdom or cunning of man. Enoch, who walked with God, and built up Zion, in the latter part of the first thousand years of this world, preached the resurrection, and confirmed the doctrine by being translated, with Zion, to the bosom of God. The promise of the resurrection, to Enoch, as published in the third number of the Star, is: As I live, even so will I come in the last days, in the days of wickedness and vengeance, to fulfil the oath which I have made unto you, concerning the children of Noah: and the day shall come that the earth shall rest, but before that day the heavens shall be darkened, and a veil of darkness shall cover the earth; and the heavens shall shake, and also the earth; and great tribulations shall be among the children of men, but my people will I preserve; and righteousness will I send down out of heaven; and truth will I send forth out of the earth to bear testimony of mine only Begotten; his resurrection from the dead; yea, and also the resurrection of all men: and righteousness and truth will I cause to sweep the earth as with a flood, to gather out mine own elect from the four quarters of the earth, unto a place which I shall prepare, an holy city, that my people may gird up their loins, and be looking forth for the time of my coming; for there shall be my tabernacle, and it shall be called ZION, a new Jerusalem. And the Lord said unto Enoch, Then shalt thou and all thy city meet them there, and we will receive them into our bosom, and they shall see us, and we will fall upon their necks, and they shall fall upon our necks, and we will kiss each other, and there shall be mine abode, and it shall be Zion which shall come forth out of all the creations which I have made; and for the space of a thousand years shall the earth rest. This promise to Enoch, and many others to others, have been withheld from man, for many generations, on account of wickedness, and for want of faith;—Still the bible has ever contained the blessed promise, though not as plain as the Lord has revealed in these last days. In fact the redemption of the bodies of the righteous, is one of the glorious mysteries of the Lord, unfolded unto them in the gospel: that they, by obeying the commandments of the Lord, in all things, may live again in the flesh, on earth. Thus Job, who was a man perfect and upright, and one that feared God and eschewed evil, came so near to his privilege that he knew that these things are so, and exclaimed: I know that my Redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth.—And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God: whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and not another; though my reigns be consumed within me. But ye should say, Why persecute we him, seeing the root of the matter is found in me? Be ye afraid of the words: for wrath bringeth the punishments of the sword, that ye may know there is a judgment. This is a positive declaration, and leaves no room for doubt or cavil. It is to the point: I shall see God in the flesh, for myself and not for another, and that, too, in the last days, when he shall stand upon the earth. No wonder the two men that stood by when the Savior ascended up to heaven, after the crucifixion, could say: ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner, as ye have seen him go into heaven. Truly, he went in a cloud and shall come in a cloud; he went in the flesh and shall come in the flesh: For, as saith the Lord, But before the arm of the Lord shall fall an angel shall sound his trump, and the saints that have slept, shall come forth to meet me in the cloud. Wherefore if ye have slept in peace blessed are you, for as you now behold me and know that I am, even so shall ye come unto me and your souls shall live, and your redemption shall be perfected, and the saints shall come forth from the four quarters of the earth. And the language of the Psalmist is very plain on this subject: The righteous shall inherit the land. David rested on this promise when he said:—One thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to inquire in his temple. Let it be remembered that David desired this thing, before the temple of Solomon was built: Knowing as he says in the 71st Psalm, Thou, which hast shewed me great and sore troubles shalt quicken me again, and shall bring me up again from the depths of the earth. The prophets knew what the resurrection meant, having had the eyes of their understandings opened, in some instances, by the power of God, to behold the just rise from the dust, at the morning of the resurrection to meet Christ in the air: and live again in the flesh, on earth, a thousand years, while satan is bound. The apostles preached this doctrine with great power, showing that Christ had actually risen from the tomb, in the flesh, as a sample of what should follow.—The 15th Chapter of first Corinthians, contains many important things on the resurrection of the just, at the second coming of the Savior as well as hints and instructions, on the resurrection of all: Paul says: Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; by which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. For I delivered unto you first of all, that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; and that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures: And that he was seen of Cephas, then of the twelve: After that, he was seen of above five hundred brethren at once; of whom the greater part remain unto this present, but some are fallen asleep. After that, he was seen of James; then of all the apostles. And last of all he was seen of me also, as one born out of due time. For I am the least of the apostles, that am not meet to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am: and his grace which was bestowed upon me, was not in vain; but I labored more abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the grace of God which was in me. Therefore whether it were I or they, so we preach, and so ye believed. Now if Christ be preached that he rose from the dead, how say some among you that there is no resurrection of the dead? But if there be no resurrection of the dead, then is Christ not risen. And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain. 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. 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. If in this life only, we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable. But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the first fruits of them that slept. 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. But every man in his own order: Christ the first fruits; afterward they that are Christ’s at his coming. Again: after Zion was taken up to heaven; yea, after the world had been, as it were, baptized for its former sins, the Lord revealed himself to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, wherefore, the children of Jacob, or Israel, as the Lord named him, became the elect nation to receive the Savior, and heirs of the promise, to rise in the first resurrection, and live again, in the flesh, on earth, if they walked in all the commandments of the Lord blameless: and there is something great promised to that nation, yet, notwithstanding it was scattered abroad for transgressing the commandment. It is the powerful word of the Lord, by the mouth of Ezekiel, which brings flesh upon the dry bones of Israel, and they are alive again. Ezekiel says:—The hand of the Lord was upon me, and carried me out in the Spirit of the Lord, and set me down in the midst of the valley which was full of bones, and caused me to pass by them round about, and behold, there were very many in the open valley; and, lo, they were very dry. And he said unto me, Son of man, can these bones live? and I answered, O Lord God, thou knowest. Again he said unto me, prophesy upon these bones, and say unto them, O ye dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. Thus saith the Lord God unto these bones; Behold, I will cause breath to enter into you, and ye shall live: and I will lay sinews upon you, and will bring up flesh upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and ye shall live, and ye shall know that I am the Lord. So I prophesied as I was commanded: and as I prophesied, there was a noise, and behold a shaking, and the bones came together, bone to his bone. And when I beheld, lo, the sinews and the flesh came up upon them, and the skin covered them above: but there was no breath in them.—Then said he unto me, Prophesy unto the wind, prophesy, son of man, and say to the wind, thus saith the Lord God; Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live. So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood up upon their feet, and exceeding great army. Then he said unto me, Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel: behold, they say, Our bones are dried, and our hope is lost: we are cut off for our parts. Therefore prophesy and say unto them, thus saith the Lord God; Behold, O my people, I will open your graves, and cause you to come up out of your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel. And ye shall know that I am the Lord, when I have opened your graves, O my people, and brought you up out of your graves, and shall put my Spirit in you, and ye shall live, and I shall place you in your own land: then shall ye know that I the Lord have spoken it, and performed it, saith the Lord. This [p]romise alone, to the house of Israel, is enough to establish the resurrection of the righteous, in the flesh; and the remainder of the chapter goes to confirm it, so that Israel may dwell in the land of his fathers; but to make the matter plainer, let us quote Paul’s words to the Thessalonians: 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. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. 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 them which are asleep. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the arch-angel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: then we which are [49] 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.