A GENTLEMAN once asked a friend of mine, "what is your religion?" and he replied, "Death and resurrection." "Death and resurrection," the gentleman said; “that is a strange way of putting it; what do you mean by it? “So my friend explained what was meant.
This death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, my reader, is the very groundwork of all our blessing. Man can have no blessing apart from it. In God's Word there are two deaths and two resurrections mentioned, as well as two lives and two judgments.
Let us, with God's help, examine them a little, to see how we stand with regard to them. But before seeking to raise any conscience or heart question, it may be well to state, in short, what they are.
The first life, is what everyone has as born into this world. The second life, is what all get who receive the full benefit of the death and resurrection of Christ (John 6:47; 1 John 5:12).
The first death, is that which is the first consequence of sin. "The wages of sin is death" (Rom. 6:23). The second death, is "the lake of fire” (Rev. 20:14, 15).
The first resurrection, is the raising of all true believers when the Lord comes to take them to be forever with Himself (1 Thess. 4:16; Rev. 20:6).
The second resurrection, is the raising of all unbelievers for eternal punishment (Rev. 20:5).
The first judgment, is what is called in Scripture “the judgment seat of Christ," before which all saints will have to appear to be manifested, but not judged (2 Cor. 5:10; John 5:24). The second judgment, is "the great white throne," before which all the unsaved must stand to hear their eternal doom and enter into it (Rev. 20:11-13).
A little now as to detail, but not for the mere intelligence, nor to gratify the curiosity, but, let us trust, for eternal blessing.
God breathed into man's nostrils and he became a living soul, to live forever. This was never done to the beasts of the field. But, alas! sin entered, as we know to our sorrow; "All have sinned, and come short of the glory of God "(Rom. 3:23)." As in Adam all die " (1 Cor. 15:22). Do you believe it, my dear, unsaved reader? All need the second life.
How is it to be possessed? is the simple question.
“Not by works of righteousness which we have done “(Titus 3:5). None could reach the tree of life; it was too well guarded by that flaming sword (Gen. 3:24). “By grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God; not of works, lest any man should boast” (Eph. 2:8). When Nicodemus came to Jesus, He said to him, "Ye must be born again” (John 3:7); even to a man of the Pharisees, ruler of the Jews, and teacher of Israel, the unchangeable word was, “YE MUST BE BORN AGAIN." Nicodemus could not understand it, of course not, because he began to apply his reason and intelligence, which only hindered him, and this is not infrequently the case in our day. Then proceeded, with such grace, from the mouth of the Blessed Lord, that most magnificent scripture for faith to rest upon, " As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up; that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life " (John 3:14, 15); and from what we read of him afterward in the same gospel, there is no doubt Nicodemus got this eternal life. Having taken his place as a perishing sinner, he believed upon his Savior, and passed from death unto life. Have you, my friend? Oh, do not evade the point! Have you been born again? Have you received life number two? “He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life” (1 John 5:12). Jesus said, “He that believeth on me hath everlasting life "(John 6:47); and," I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish " (John 10:28).
Think, dear soul, of what it cost the Lord Jesus Christ to procure this life. He had to go down into death to where the sinner is. “The wages of sin is death." Who can say he has not earned those wages. But who can further say, " Christ, on the cross (He who was made sin, who knew no sin, 2 Cor. 5:21), received those wages due to me"?
“Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone; but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit” (John 12:24). This leads to the two deaths. What is called death to a believer, is simply “to depart, and to be with Christ; which is far better "(Philip. 1:23); "To be absent from the: body, and to be present with the Lord " (2 Cor. 5:8); and the body put into the grave till the first resurrection. To all who have the second life, death has lost its sting,-"the sting of death is sin” (1 Cor. 15:56); and sin having been judged at the cross, is condemned; and the believer has nothing to fear (Rom. 8:2, 15).
But what about unbelievers? those who shall die in their sins (John 8:24), refusing grace, neglecting the great salvation, and not accepting the gift of God, which is eternal life,-the second life.
Were you to die unsaved, your soul would go to the place of departed spirits, to await the second resurrection, the second judgment, and the second death.
The second death is the lake of fire, which believers are free from, and which unbelievers only receive,—a place, mind, prepared for the devil and his angels, and not for man. “Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power" (Rev. 20:6).
The second death has only power over those who have part in the second resurrection, which takes place over a thousand years after the first resurrection.
The judgment seat of Christ is the place where all believers will have to side with God about all that takes place on earth.
How careful, therefore, the Lord's people should be as to how they walk through the scene where they are left as His witnesses, so as to have as few regrets as possible when manifested before that judgment seat! The judgment of the great white throne is quite another thing, and not at the same time. It is there the unsaved sinner, with all his awful sins upon him, will have to stand, without a friend, to hear the dread knell, "Depart;" when, for the first time, perhaps, he sees how holy God is—a holiness so much despised in this day of His grace and long suffering mercy.
“As it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment" (Heb. 9:27), then how is it to be, friend? " The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith which we preach; that if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation" (Rom. 10:8-10).
Jesus it is who said, " I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though lie were dead, yet shall he live: and whosoever liveth, and believeth in me, shall never die. Believest thou this?" (John 11:25, 26.) If you believe Him, dear soul, you can say, with my friend, “Death and resurrection is my religion.”
Be encouraged to make sure of eternal life in this the day of salvation; to get part in the first resurrection, to get out of the power of the second death, to get judgment forever behind your back, and to dwell in eternal glory. Be warned against trifling with these golden opportunities, the last of which may be close upon your heels; against leaving this world with only one life; against letting the second death have power over you; against being in the second resurrection and the second judgment.
Think, once more, of the love that has provided such a salvation; and do not forget the holiness that will never permit you to escape damnation if you reject it. Then, do be encouraged, and do be warned, for Christ's sake.
J. N.