Resurrection–Christ The First Fruits

Resurrection–Christ The First Fruits
RESURRECTION–CHRIST THE FIRST FRUITS
A SERMON DELIVERED ON SUNDAY MORNING, APRIL 20, 1862, BY REV. C. H.
SPURGEON, AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON.
"But now is Christ risen from the dead and become the first fruits of
them that slept."
1 Corinthians 15:20.
THE fact of Christ's resurrection is exceedingly well attested. It was
necessary that it should be beyond dispute, since it lies at the very
basis of our holy faith. It is consoling to think that it is so. For
thus our foundation stands most secure. Our Lord was careful to show
Himself after His resurrection to those who, having known Him before
His decease, would be able to answer for the identity of His Person.
Had He merely showed Himself to strangers who had not known Him before,
they might have been able to say that they had seen such an one, but
they could not have affirmed that He was the same person who had been
buried.
But showing Himself to men like Thomas, and bidding them put their
fingers into the print of the nails, and thrust their hand into His
side, He gave to men the most absolute proofs of His resurrection and
received from the most competent witnesses the most assured evidence
that no deception had been practiced. "Handle Me and see that it is I,
Myself," was a challenge of identity all the more conclusive because it
was addressed to the men who had known Him intimately during the whole
period of His ministry.
The witnesses were men who had nothing to gain by giving their
evidence, but everything to lose–they were unlearned men, utterly
unfitted to found or promulgate an impostor. Their evidence was so
clearly borne out by the absence of the Body of Christ from the tomb
that it was found necessary to invent an impossible story in order to
account for that absence. The eye-witnesses were just the right men,
such as prudence would select if we had now to hand down such a
transaction to future faith and history. Our Lord, to put the matter
beyond controversy, took care to appear many times and to numerous
companies.
Our Apostle gives a summary of those appearances which had most fully
come under his own notice. "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 of one born out of due time" (1 Cor.
15:5-8). From the Evangelistic reports we are led to believe that
Christ appeared no less than twelve times to His disciples. For some of
these instances which the Apostle Paul mentions under one head, may
include two or three appearances.
As, for instance, "then of the twelve" may denote His two visits to the
Apostles. For you remember He first appeared to them when Thomas was
absent and afterwards when Thomas was present. Isaac Ambrose gives a
summary of these appearances to this effect. He showed himself to Mary
Magdalene by herself, then to all the Marys, next to Simon Peter,
alone, afterwards to the two disciples journeying to Emmaus. To the ten
Apostles when the doors were shut. To all the disciples when Thomas was
with them. To Peter, John and others while fishing in the lake of
Tiberias.
To five hundred Brethren at once. To James, the Lord's brother. To the
eleven disciples in Galilee. To all the Apostles and disciples at
Olivet before His ascension. And lastly to the Apostle Paul on the road
to Damascus. There may even have been more than these, for we have no
proof that all His appearances are on record. Enough, however, we have,
and more would answer no useful end.
So clear is the evidence of Christ's resurrection, that when Gilbert
West–a celebrated infidel–selected this subject as the point of
attack, sitting down to weigh the evidence and to digest the whole
matter, although filled with prejudice, he was so startled with the
abundant witness to the truth of this fact, that he expressed himself a
convert and has left as a heritage for coming generations a most
valuable treatise, entitled, "Observations on the Resurrection of
Christ." He laid down certain laws of evidence to begin with, and then
went to the matter as though he had been a lawyer examining the pros
and cons of any matter in dispute. And this, which is the fundamental
doctrine of our faith, seemed to him so exceedingly clear that he
renounced his unbelief and became a professor of Christianity!
Does it not strike you that very many events of the greatest importance
recorded in history and commonly believed, could not in the nature of
things have been witnessed by one-tenth as many as the resurrection of
Christ? The signing of famous treaties affecting nations–the births of
princes–the remarks of cabinet ministers–the projects of
conspirators–and the deeds of assassins–any and all of these have
been made turning points in history, and are never questioned as facts.
And yet few could have been present to witness them. I venture to
assert that even the most recent political event, which has caused so
much sorrow to our whole nation–the death of the lamented Prince
Albert–had not nearly so many witnesses as the resurrection of Christ.
If it came to a matter of dispute, it were far easier to prove that
Christ is risen, than to prove that the Prince is dead. If it came to
the counting of the witnesses who saw the Prince die and could attest
the identity of the body now resting in the royal vault with that which
they saw fever-stricken in the bed-chamber–it strikes me they would
turn out to be far fewer than those who saw the Lord after He had risen
and were persuaded that it was Jesus of Nazareth who was crucified and
had burst the bonds of death. If this fact is to be denied, there is an
end to all witness and we say deliberately what David said in
haste–"All men are liars."
And from this day forth every man must become so skeptical of his
neighbor, that he will never believe anything which he has not himself
seen. The next step will be to doubt the evidence of his own senses. To
what further follies men may then rush, I will not venture to predict!
We believe that the very best attested fact in all history is the
resurrection of Christ. Historical doubts concerning the existence of
Napoleon Bonaparte, or the stabbing of Julius Caesar, or the Norman
Conquest, would be quite as reasonable as doubts concerning the
resurrection of the Lord Jesus.
None of these matters have such witnesses as those who testify of
Him–witnesses who were manifestly truthful, since they suffered for
their testimony and most of them died ignominious and painful deaths as
the results of their belief. We have more and better evidence for this
fact than for anything else which is written in history, either sacred
or profane. Oh, how should we rejoice, we who hang our salvation wholly
upon Christ, that beyond a doubt it is established that, "now is Christ
risen from the dead."
But you may ask the question at the outset, "Why is it that the
resurrection of Christ is of so much importance?" Upon it we have said
that the whole system of Christianity rests. For, "If Christ is not
risen, then is our preaching vain and your faith is also vain. You are
yet in your sins" (1 Cor. 15:14, 17). The Divinity of Christ finds its
surest proof in His resurrection, since the Apostle tells us in the
first chapter of Romans, at the fourth verse, that Christ was,
"Declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of
holiness, by the resurrection from the dead."
It would not be unreasonable to doubt His Deity if He had not risen.
Moreover, Christ's sovereignty also depends upon His resurrection for
Scripture affirms–"To this end Christ both died and rose and revived,
that He might be Lord, both of the dead and living" (Rom. 14:9). Again,
our justification, that choice blessing of the Covenant, hangs upon
Christ's resurrection. "He was delivered for our offenses and was
raised again for our justification" (Rom. 4:25). No, more–our very
regeneration depends upon His resurrection, for Peter, speaking by the
Holy Spirit, exclaims, "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus
Christ, which according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again
unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead"
(1 Peter 1:3).
And most certainly our ultimate resurrection rests here. For, "If the
Spirit of Him that raised up Jesus from the dead, dwells in you, He
that raised up Christ from the dead, shall also quicken your mortal
bodies by His Spirit that dwells in you" (Rom. 8:11). If Christ is not
risen, then shall we not rise. But if He is risen, then they who are
asleep in Christ have not perished, but in their flesh shall surely
behold their God. It would not be difficult to enlarge this catalog.
The fact is that the silver thread of resurrection runs through all the
blessings, from regeneration onward to our eternal glory, and binds
them together.
It is time to pass on and come more fully to the text. "But now is
Christ risen from the dead and become the first fruits of them that
slept." Let me draw your attention, first of all, to the pictures here
given of the death of the saints. Further, we shall observe the
singular relationship which exists between Christ's resurrection and
the resurrection of the saints. And before we leave the subject, we
shall suggest certain practical considerations arising from the
doctrine before us.
I. First of all, then, THE TEXT GIVES A VIEW OF DEATH VERY COMMOM IN
SCRIPTURE, BUT NOT SUFFICIENTLY ACCEPTED AMONG US.
The representations of the text, I take it, are twofold. Death is here
compared to a sleep–"The first fruits of them that slept." But
moreover, you will plainly perceive it is compared also to a sowing.
For Christ is pictured as being "the first fruits." Now, to a harvest
there must have been a sowing. If the resurrection of Christ is the
first fruits, then the resurrection of the elect must be looked upon as
a harvest, and death would, therefore, be symbolized by a sowing.
1. First, then, we have before us the picture so commonly employed in
Scripture of death as a sleep. We must not make a mistake by imagining
that the soul sleeps. Such a heresy was once received by a large number
of persons–it has long ago been rejected as being inconsistent–as
well as with natural as with revealed religion. The soul undergoes no
purgatorial purification or preparative slumber in the limbo of the
fathers. Beyond a doubt, "Today shall you be with Me in Paradise," is
the whisper of Christ to every dying saint. They sleep in Jesus but
their souls sleep not. They are before the Throne of God, praising Him
day and night in His temple–singing hallelujahs to Him who has washed
them from their sins in His blood. It is the body that sleeps in its
lonely bed of earth, beneath the coverlet of grass, with the cold clay
for its pillow.
But what is this sleep? We all know that the surface idea connected
with sleep is that of resting. That is doubtless just the thought which
the Spirit of God would convey to us. The eyes of the sleeper ache no
more with the glare of light or with the rush of tears. His ears are
teased no more with the noise of strife or the murmur of suffering. His
hands are no more weakened by long protracted effort and painful
weariness. His feet are no more blistered with journeying to and fro
along a rugged road. There is rest for aching heads, and strained
muscles, and overtaxed nerves, and loosened joints, and panting lungs
and heavy hearts, in the sweet repose of sleep.
On yonder couch, however hard, the laborer shakes off his toil, the
merchant his care, the thinker his difficulties and the sufferer his
pains. Sleep makes each night a Sunday for the day. Sleeps shuts, too,
the door of the soul and bids all intruders tarry for awhile, that the
royal life within may enter into its summer garden of ease. From the
sweat of his brow man is delivered by sleep, and the thorn and thistle
of the curse cease to tear his flesh. So is it with the body while it
sleeps in the tomb. The weary are at rest. The servant is as much at
ease as his lord. The galley slave no more tugs the oar, the salve
forgets the whip.
No more the worker leans on his spade, no more the thinker props his
pensive head. The wheel stands still, the shuttle is not in motion, the
hand which turned the one and the fingers which threw the other are
quiet. The body and all its members find the tomb a couch of sufficient
length and breadth. The coffin shuts out all disturbance, labor, or
effort. The toil-worn Believer quietly sleeps, as does the child weary
with its play, when it shuts its eyes and slumbers on its mother's
breast. Oh, happy they who die in the Lord! They rest from their labors
and their works do follow them. We would not shun toil, for though it
is in itself a curse, it is, when sanctified, a blessing.
Yet toil for toil's sake we would not choose, and when God's work is
done we are too glad to think that our work is done, too. The mighty
Husbandman, when we have fulfilled our day, shall bid His servants rest
upon the best of beds, for the clods of the valley shall be sweet to
them. Their repose shall never be broken until He shall rouse them up
to give them their full reward. Guarded by angels, curtained by eternal
mysteries, resting on the lap of mother earth, you shall sleep on–you
inheritors of glory–till the fullness of time shall bring you the
fullness of redemption.
Moreover, we look upon sleep as a season of forgetfulness and in this,
too, it images death. "Their memory and their love are lost." They are
"alike, unknowing and unknown." Their sons come to honor and they know
it not. Or their seed degenerates but it causes them no grief. Let
armies march over their tombs–their tramp shall disturb them no more
than the crawling of a worm. Let the vault of Heaven blaze with the
flaming bolts of God, let the earth shake at the awful voice of the
thunder, let the cedars be broken, let the rocks be shivered, let the
sea roar–there, under their green hillocks they slumber as peacefully
as though it were a soft summer evening when the hum of a bee or the
flitting of a fly were the only sounds. The dead may be remembered by
their kinsfolk. But they remember not. They have forgotten the joys and
the sorrows, the peace and the strife, the defeats and the victories of
time.
The soul forgets not. And we have no reason to believe that the
glorified are ignorant of what is going on below. We have far more
presumptive evidence that they "know even as they are known"–that they
still have communion with the living Church on earth and that the
Church victorious is not sundered from the Church militant in point of
knowledge.
But as to their bodies, what do their bodies know? What does the human
organism now understand? Take up the skull– see if there is memory
there. Look at the place where once the heart was, and see if there is
any trace of present emotion. Gather into your hands the bones–see if
they are still obedient to muscles which could be moved at will as
passing events might affect the mind. Try to discover any live coals
amid your heap of ashes–a heart still quivering with delight, or an
eye moistened by a sorrow. These dry bones are forgetful,
indeed–steeped in forgetfulness, these decayed skeletons know nothing.
But yet once more–sleep has its intent and purpose. We do not close
our eyes without aim and open them again without benefit. The old
cauldron of Seder has its full meaning in sleep. In the old tradition
we read of Medea the enchantress casting the limbs of old men into her
cauldron that they might come forth young again. Sleep does all this in
its fashion. We are old enough oftentimes, after hours of thinking and
of labor–but we sleep and we wake refreshed–as though we were
beginning a new life. The sun begins a new day when he rises from the
eastern sea. And we begin a new life of renewed vigor when we rise from
the couch of quiet rest.
"Tired nature's sweet restorer, balmy sleep."
Now, such is the effect of the body's visit to its grave. The righteous
are put into their graves all weary and worn. But such they will not
rise. They go there with the furrowed brow, the hollowed cheek, the
wrinkled skin–they shall wake up in beauty and glory. The old man
totters there, leaning on his staff. The palsied comes there, trembling
all the way. The halt, the lame, the withered, the blind journey in
doleful pilgrimage to the common dormitory. But they shall not rise
decrepit, deformed, or diseased, but strong, vigorous, active,
glorious, immortal! The shriveled seed, so destitute of form and
comeliness, shall rise from the dust a beauteous flower.
A green blade all fresh and young shall spring up where before there
was the dried decayed grain. Well said the holy martyrs, when their
limbs were being torn away–"We cheerfully resign these members to the
God who gave them to us." Our members are not ours to hold or lose, no
torment can rob us of them in reality. For when we wake up in Christ's
likeness it will not be as halt or lame, but full of strength and
vigor–more comely than earthly sons of men. The winter of the grave
shall soon give way to the spring of resurrection and the summer of
glory. Blessed is death, since it answers all the ends of medicine to
this mortal frame and through the Divine power disrobes us of the
leprous rags of flesh, to clothe us with the wedding garment of
incorruption!
One reflection must not escape our notice–this is not a dreamy
slumber. The sleep of some men is much more wearying than refreshing.
Unbidden thoughts steal away the couch from under them and throw them
on the rack. The involuntary action of the mind prevents us at times
from taking rest in sleep. But not so with the dear departed. In that
sleep of death no dreams can come, nor do they feel a terror in
undressing for that last bed, for no phantoms, visions, or terrors by
night shall vex their peace. Their bodies rest in the most profound
slumber. It is sleep, indeed, such as the Lord gives, for, "So He gives
His Beloved sleep."
Nor ought we ever to look upon it as a hopeless sleep. We have seen
persons sleep who have been long emaciated by sickness, and we have
said, "That eye will never open again. He will sleep himself from time
into eternity." We have felt that the sleep was the prelude of the
eternal slumber, and might probably melt into it. But it is not so
here. They sleep a healthy sleep–not thrown over them by death-bearing
drugs, nor fell disease. They sleep to wake and not to die the second
death. They sleep to wake–to wake in joyous fellowship, when the
Redeemer stands in the latter day upon the earth. Sleep on, then, you
servants of the Lord, for if you sleep, you shall do well. Indeed,
concerning these departed ones we may well speak of taking rest in
sleep.
Dear Friends, ought not this view of death as a sleep, prevent our
looking upon it in so repulsive a light? I know we like not to look at
dead bodies–we are afraid to touch them. Some foolish people do not
like to remain in the same house with a corpse, at least alone, or at
night. There is a certain horror connected with the ruins of our
earthly house. Did you ever feel horror at a sleeping child? Do you
feel any sort of dread of your sleeping mother, or your slumbering
husband or wife? Have you felt anything dreadful to draw back the
curtain of the little cot and to gaze upon the sweet young face when
the eyes are closed in happy sleep? Oh, why, then, should you think it
dreadful to look upon the sleeping Believer's brow?
True, there are marks of decay which are not pleasant to nature. But
are they not the footprints of the retreating enemy and signs that the
corruptible is passing away to make room for incorruption? Do not those
very marks which mar the form indicate that the ragged smoke-blacked
tent of Kedar is being pulled down so that the curtains of Solomon may
glitter in their place, and that the soul may dwell there as in a fair
pavilion? Oh, look not upon the departed as though they were dead, but
speak of them as Christ did of His friend–"Our friend Lazarus sleeps."
Let the ears of your faith hear the Master say, "And I come that I may
awake him out of his sleep." Let not the grave seem more abhorrent to
you than your bedchamber.
Let there be, by no means, such a view of the death of the redeemed as
to wish them back again. Would you wish, when your friend has long been
in excruciating pain, and at last falls into sleep, to shake him in his
bed, to awake him, to tell him some idle tale? No. You have been
watching for hours and you have said, "Oh, that he could have a little
sleep! Doctor! Can you not give some sleep to this poor tortured
frame?" And at last you have said, "Thank God, his eyelids drop. Speak
softly. Tread lightly. He sleeps!" And you have been afraid even to let
your foot fall upon the ground, lest you should awaken him.
And what? After all the pain, the suffering, the temptation and the
trial of your friends, do you wish to awake them? Rather I think you
should say, "I charge you, O you daughters of Jerusalem, that you ask
not that he should be stirred up or awakened until Jesus please. Let
him sleep on while the night lasts, and then, at the trump of the
archangel, and the voice of God, he shall wake in the morning when the
sun has risen upon the earth!
2. The text affords us, however, a second figure. Death is compared to
a sowing. The black mold has been plowed, certain dry-looking seeds are
put into a basket and the husbandman takes his walk and with both hands
he scatters right and left, broad-cast, his handfuls of seeds. Where
have they gone? They have fallen into the crevices of the earth. The
clods will soon be raked over them and they will disappear. So is it
with us. Our bodies, here, are like those dry grains of wheat. There is
nothing very comely in a grain of wheat, nor yet in our bodies. Indeed,
Paul calls them "these vile bodies." Death comes–we call him a
reaper–mark, I call him a sower–and he takes these bodies of ours and
sows us broadcast in the ground.
Go to the cemetery and see his fields. Mark how thickly he has sown his
furrows! How closely he has drilled the rows! What headlands has he
left! We say, they are there buried. I say, they are sown. They are
dead, say we–No, say I–they are put into the earth–but they shall
not abide there forever. In some sense these holy bodies of the just
are dead, "For that which you sow is not quickened except it die," but
it is not a death unto death. It is, rather, a death leading unto life.
That molding body is no more dead than yonder decaying seed which you
have just now disturbed in its bed of earth. It shall soon spring up
again and you shall see a harvest.
We do lose sight, it is true, of those who have gone from us, for there
must be a burial, how else can the seed grow? Truly it is never a
pleasant sound, that rattle of the clay upon the coffin lid. "Earth to
earth, dust to dust, ashes to ashes," Nor to the farmer, for it's own
sake, would it be a very pleasant thing to put his grain into the dull
cold earth. Yet I know of no farmer who ever wept when he sowed his
seed. We have not heard the husbandmen groan and sigh when they scatter
their baskets of seed corn. Rather, we have heard them cheerily singing
the song of mirth and have heard them anticipate the reaper's joy, when
they have trod the furrows.
Have you seen them robed in black, or wearing the dull weeds of
mourning, while they tread the brown ridges of the fertile earth? We
grant you, that in itself considered, it were no wise or gladsome thing
to bury precious grain amid dead clods of earth. But viewed in the
light of harvest, since there must be a burial, and after the burial a
rottenness and a decay–both of these lose all traces of sorrow and
become prophets of joy. The body must become worms' meat. It must
crumble back to its former elements, for "dust you are and unto dust
shall you return," but this is no more our sorrow, for–"In Christ
shall all be made alive."
Nor will we even mourn because of the stench and rottenness of death.
The life germ in the grain of wheat must begin to feed on the food laid
up in store for it–a kind of decay must seem to take place. But I know
no farmer ever weeps because the seed which he has put into the ground
has swollen and lost its former size and shape. He never mourns if he
is told the seed he has put into the ground is undergoing the death
that is necessary for its future growth. No, he rejoices in patient
hope. Therefore, you Worms, should you force me to weep? And why,
Corruption, should you make me sigh? Rather will I call you my Brothers
and my Mother, for your kindly glooms are but part of the road to
immortality.
After sowing and decay, comes a springing up and the farmer soon
perceives, in a few short weeks, the little green blade–the son of the
buried life. So with the dead. There is soon to come, and how soon we
do not know–the spring- ing up. We shall thus perceive that they were
not lost but only committed to the grave, in readiness for "the
redemp-tion"–put there that our souls might, when reunited, receive
them in a better and nobler form.
Dear Friends, if such is death–if it is but a sowing, let us have done
with all faithless, hopeless, graceless sorrow. "The granary is empty,"
says the farmer. Yes, but he does not sigh over it. For the seed is put
into the ground, in order that the granary may be filled again. "Our
family circle has been broken," you say. Yes, but only broken that it
may be formed again. You have lost a dear friend–yes, but only lost
that friend that you may find him again, and find more than you lost.
They are not lost. They are sown. And as "light is sown for the
righteous," so are the righteous sown for light. The stars are setting
here to rise in other skies to set no more. We are quenched like
torches only to be lit once more with all the brilliance of the sun.
II. We will not tarry longer on this point but rapidly carry you to the
second–THE CONNECTION BETWEEN THE RESURRECTION OF CHRIST AND THAT OF
BELIEVERS.
The text tells us that Christ is "the first fruits of them that slept."
Some professors take very great delight in the hope that they may be
"alive and remain," at the coming of Christ and so may never die. I
confess I greatly rejoice in the hope that Christ will come. But the
prospect of never dying has no sort of charms for me, for methinks
those who never die lose a great privilege. At least, to our
comprehension it seems so, for Christ is "the first fruits of them that
slept." Oh, then, it is a blessed thing to sleep, that Christ may be to
us in the relationship of first fruits. They who never die can hardly
know so much of fellowship with Christ in His death as those who fall
asleep in Jesus.
Whereas you and I, who feel the pin's prick of the dart of death, will
be able to say in eternity, "I, too, passed through the grave. He was
with me passing through the valley of the shadow of death. I, in my own
proper person, knew a death and a resurrection, too, even as did my
Lord, which you who never died can only understand by hearsay and
report." Oh, happy they who die! They that are alive and remain shall
not precede them in any privilege or honor.
But what is meant by Christ being "the first fruits?" You will remember
that there was a feast of the Jews called the feast of first fruits.
This was when the first sheaf was brought out from the harvest as a
token of the whole. It was, first of all, heaved upward as a
heave-offering, and then waved to and fro as a wave-offering. It was,
thus, dedicated to God in testimony of the gratitude of the holders of
the soil for the harvest which the Lord had given. Now, this happened
on the first day of the week. You will remember that the Passover was
celebrated first. Then came a Sabbath Day. Then after that came the
feast of first fruits.
So Christ died on the Passover. He, as the slaughtered Lamb of God, of
God's Passover, died exactly at the Passover season. The next day was
the Sabbatical rest–Christ's Body, therefore, tarried in the grave.
Then early in the morning of the first day, before it was yet light,
while yet the sun was rising upon the earth, Christ rose–on the
morning of the feast of the first fruits. And so He is revealed as the
blessed wave sheaf preceding and consecrating the whole harvest.
But the uninstructed Believer asks me to explain at greater length.
Beloved, remember then, that Christ was the first that rose from the
dead in order of time. You will mention to me Enoch and Elijah. We
answer that they never died but were translated that they should not
see death. You will remind me of the widow's son who was raised by
Elijah and the young man restored by Elisha. Yes, but these are not
cases in point. They were raised but they died again. All the instances
in the Old Testament are only temporary restorations and so also those
in the New. In no instance, save in that of Lazarus, were any of them
buried at all, so that none of them came out of their graves.
And even in the case of Lazarus, he lived but to die. He had a furlough
from the tomb. But at the expiration of the due time, his body was
yielded to the appointed keeper. Christ was the first who really rose
no more to die. He leads the vanguard through the dark, and his brow
first salutes the light of the plains of Heaven beyond the gloom. Men
admire the man who is first to discover a new country. The name of
Columbus shall ring in the ears of ages, because he first crossed the
stormy sea to win another world. The name of the man who climbed the
mountains and first saw the broad Pacific with exceeding great joy, is
well remembered. Oh, then, sing it in songs, sound it with voice of
trumpet to the ends of the earth–Christ is the first who returned from
the jaws of death to tell of immortality and light!
He is also first in point of cause. For as He comes back from the
grave, He brings all His followers behind Him in one glorious train. We
read of Hercules in the old mythology descending into Hades and
bringing up his friend. Verily went Christ there and He gave no sop to
Cerberus but cut off his head. Like a sun He suddenly flashed upon the
night of death and scattered its darkness. Like Samson in Gaza, He tore
up the gates of death and carried away the bars of the grave. Like
David, He delivered His flock out of the jaws of the lion and took the
monster by the beard and slew him.
Like Abraham, He resumed triumphantly from the slaughter of the kings.
Like Moses, He led His Israel out of the house of bondage. With ten
thousand times ten thousand He came forth with a high hand and an
outstretched arm. Who is this that comes up from the land of
darkness–from the gates of the grave? Who is this that drags behind
Him captive the grim prince of the realms of death shade? Who is this,
so strong, so mighty, that adamantine walls give way before Him and
gates of brass are broken in two?
It is He! It is He! It is the same conqueror who came from Edom, with
dyed garments from Bozrah. The victory on the Cross is succeeded by a
victory in the tomb. He who won Heaven for earth when He died, wins
Heaven for the dead when He descends into the grave. Sound His praises!
Proclaim His victories! Let Heaven itself take up the strain, He has
"led captivity captive," rifled the grave and robbed death of his
sting. He is the death of death and Hell's destruction.
But then, again, He is first in point of pledge. The first fruits were
a pledge of the harvest. "From where, O husbandman, from where have you
brought yonder sheaf?" "I gathered it," says he, "from the fields that
are waving with plenty." "Verily," says the priest," the harvest is
plenteous this year, and full, and many are the ears, for this sheaf
bears good witness." From where, O power Divine, did You bring this
glorious sheaf, this Body of our Lord, so bright and glorious? From
where did You bring it, O Spirit of the Lord? Is there a harvest of
many shocks of corn such as this? "Yes, verily," says the Teacher;
"this is but One among many, the First Born among many Brethren."
We know right well that there must be a glorious harvest of
resurrection forms and immortal bodies, since Jesus Christ, clothed in
immortality and light, walks among the sons of men, the pledge of all
the rest.
He was, again, the first fruits, not only as a pledge but as the
representative of the whole. When the first fruit sheaf had been waved
before God, it was considered that all the harvest had been brought
into the sanctuary. It was all dedicated, all consecrated, from that
very hour. So when Christ rose as a heave offering from the sepulcher
and when He went about among the people as a wave offering, moving
among His disciples, He consecrated the whole harvest. All the
righteous dead were virtually risen in Him. All the chosen members of
His body had a resurrection when their Head appeared as "risen indeed."
And moreover, they were all dedicated and consecrated to God, by His
dedication as the first fruits to the Most High.
Triumph, you children of God, triumph in this. You are risen in Christ
today! We see not the saints as yet ascended– rather, we see their
bones dried in the valley, and we ask, "Can these dry bones live?" But
we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the
suffering of death. And we know that He is risen, and sits at the right
hand of the Father! And by faith we perceive that as our Covenant Head
He has raised us up together and made us sit together in heavenly
places even in Him–for He is the Head over all things to His Church,
which is His Body, the fullness of Him that fills all in all. Never
doubt, Believer, of your resurrection, since the second Adam was loosed
from the bands of the tomb.
III. And now, lastly, we will close by noticing THE INFLUENCE OF THE
WHOLE DOCTRINE OF THE RESURRECTION AND CHRIST'S CONNECTION WITH IT UPON
OUR OWN SPIRITS.
First, let us look well to the holiness of our bodies. "Know you not
that your bodies are the temples of the Holy Spirit? If any man defile
the temple of God, him will God destroy." We do not believe in
consecrated Churches. We think it altogether absurd to talk of holy
bricks and mortar. But we do know by Scriptural authority that the body
is holy–that the body of the saint is as really holy as men pretend
that Churches and temples may be.
Now, Brethren, if our eyes look upon vanity, we have defiled the
windows of God's house. If our tongues speak that which is evil, have
we not desecrated the gates of the temple of the Lord? Let us see to it
that our feet carry us nowhere but where our Master can go with us,
lest the pillars of our house become our destruction, like the pillars
of the Philistine temple of old. Let us mind that our hands be
outstretched for nothing but that which is pure and lovely, lest like
Belshazzar we profane the vessels of the Lord's temple.
They who pamper the body, they who look to its adornment, they who
regard its physical health more than its moral purity, forget the
higher end of their being. For what is beauty after all? What is the
comeliness which human skill can give? See that skull? "Go, take that
to my lady's chamber and tell her, though she paint herself an inch
thick, to that complexion must she come at last." And say to all who
think so much of comeliness and goodliness–That deadly brown which
worms and earth shall bring upon us–that is the natural complexion of
man–and to that the fairest must be bronzed at last.
But there is another way of minding your complexion–by seeing that
your cheeks never need be reddened with shame, that your hands are
never black with evil deeds–that your flesh is not soiled by
lasciviousness, or contact with that which is evil. "Will you take the
members of Christ and make them members of an harlot?" says the Apostle
Paul, when he bids men see to it that their bodies are chaste and pure.
Know you not that your very flesh, if you are Christians, has been
bought with Christ's blood, and that precious is your very dust in His
sight?
Mind you, O mind you, that the slime of the serpent come not here, and
that you defile not the members of your body, lest the Lord abhor you
and cast you out from His Presence, as things He cares not for, being
none of His. Let us look at things in this light, and so, by the Holy
Spirit, escape from sin. What? Shall these eyes that are one day to,
"See the king in His beauty," be delighted with vanity? Shall these
lips that are to be tuned to melodious sonnets, "sung by flaming
tongues above," talk that which is light and frivolous and ministers
not unto edification? What? Shall these fingers that are to strike the
golden harps be given up to work unrighteousness with greediness?
No, as we are to be fellows with the angels and more glorious than
they. And as these bodies are to be made like unto Christ's Body, let
us keep them pure, washed with clean water by His Spirit, renewed and
preserved, that we go not astray unto sin.
But, secondly, another thought arises here. Are we among those for whom
Christ thus stood as first fruits? For Christ is to rise first. And as
the first fruits, "afterwards they that are Christ's, at His coming."
Then when do the wicked rise? There are two resurrections. And "blessed
and holy is he that has part in the first resurrection; on such the
second death has no power." When the Lord shall come from Heaven, with
the trump of the archangel, and the voice of God, then the dead in
Christ shall suddenly start from their sleep and shall be offered to
God as the great harvest, the great Pentecost, of which Christ's
resurrection was the first fruits.
What, then, shall become of the wicked? They shall continue rotting in
their graves. The worm shall feed upon them. They shall be ashes
beneath the feet of the saints. The righteous shall tread this earth,
and on the scene of their conflict, enjoy a thousand years of triumph
with Christ. In the latter day Christ's feet shall stand upon Mount
Olivet. His people shall bow around Him, and shall reign with Him
triumphant over the creature that was once subject to vanity. Beneath
their feet shall be the dead bodies of their ungodly persecutors and
deep down in their graves shall rot those infamous kings and princes
and those careless crowds and nations who knew not Jehovah, and would
not be obedient unto His Son.
They said, "Let us break His bands asunder. Let us cast His cords from
us." And now where are they? "Death has dominion over them in the
morning, and the righteous triumph over them, while they lie
ignominiously like those who fall in battle, a portion for foxes." But
what then? When the splendors of the millennial age are over, then
comes the end. The king shall ascend the Judgment Seat. He who came to
reign with His people, shall suddenly, sitting upon His Throne, bid His
angel proclaim the last assize. Then, unwillingly shall souls tormented
in Hell come back from Tophet to be reunited with their equally guilty
bodies, and He who is able to destroy both body and soul in Hell, shall
say, "Gather them together in bundles to burn them."
He shall pronounce their sentence, "Depart, you cursed, into
everlasting fire in Hell, prepared for the devil and his angels." Oh,
that you and I may be among the harvest and not the vintage. There are
two ingatherings mentioned, you remember, in the Revelation. The
harvest is the gathering in of the righteous. They are carefully housed
in God's barn. The vintage is the gathering of the wicked. They are
cast into the winepress of the wrath of Almighty God, "and they are
trod under foot till their blood runs forth up to the horses' bridles."
Now, how am I to know whether I belong to that portion of which Christ
is the first fruits? Why, thus–If Christ rose for me and if I rose in
Him, then I died in Him. Oh, Soul, do you believe that Christ died for
you? Have you a part in His passion? Do you hope in His agonies? Do you
rest on His Cross? If so, He that died for you rose for you, too, and
you are a part of that holy lump of which Christ was the holy offering.
Have you died with Christ yourself? Are you dead to the world? Do you
hate the things that you did once love? Are you weaned from your old
pleasures? Do you seek for something higher and better?
Ah, then, if you have died with Him, you are risen with Him. Say, now,
do you desire to be one with Christ? For if you are one with Him in
heart, you shall be one with Him in all His trophies and His glories.
Do you say, "No. I care not for Christ"? Soul! Soul! If you die in that
mind you shall have no part in the first resurrection. But when the
wicked rise, then shall you, "Awaken to shame and everlasting
contempt."
But and if you say in your heart this morning, "I believe that Jesus
Christ rose from the dead according to the Scriptures. I put my sole
and only trust in Him. He is to me all my salvation and all my desire,"
go your way. You shall "stand in your lot at the end of the days." You
shall have your portion among them that are sanctified. You shall
rejoice together with Him and sit down at His marriage banquet forever.
God add His own blessing, for Jesus' sake. Amen.