When is the resurrection of the righteous to take place?
Answer
"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." 1 Thess. 4: 16.
NOTES - If, as stated in Eccl. 9: 5, the dead know not anything, then they have no knowledge of
the lapse of time. "Six thousand years in the grave to a dead man is no more than a wink of the eye to the
living." To them, consciousness, our only means of measuring time, is gone; and it will seem to them when
they awake that absolutely no time has elapsed. And herein lies a most comforting thought in the Bible
doctrine of the sleep of the dead, that in death there is no consciousness of the passing of time. To those
who sleep in Jesus, their sleep, whether long or short, whether one year, one thousand years, or six
thousand years, will be but as if the moment of sad parting were followed instantly by the glad reunion in
the presence of Jesus at His glorious appearing and the resurrection of the just.
It ought also to be a comforting thought to those whose lives have been filled with anxiety and
grief for deceased loved ones who persisted in sin, to know that they are not now suffering in torments,
but, with all the rest of the dead, are quietly sleeping in their graves. Job 3: 17.
Again, it would mar the felicity of one's enjoyment in heaven could he look upon earth and see his
friends and relatives suffering from persecution, want, cold, or hunger, or sorrowing for the dead. God's
way is best-that all sentient life, animation, activity, thought, and consciousness should cease at death, and
that all should wait till the resurrection for their future life and eternal reward. See Heb. 11:39-40.
To whom will the gates of the heavenly city finally be opened?
What is the nature of the moral law?
8. When did the Gentiles request that Paul should repeat the sermon he had preached at Antioch on the Sabbath?
What will He say to those on His right hand?
Who notes the groans of the prisoner?
To whom must one belong in order to be Abraham's seed?
What precious promise has God made to His children?
Questions & Answers are from the book Bible Readings for the Home Circle