Sermon 391 | The First Resurrection

"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."—Revelation 20:12.

You will bear me witness, my Friends, that it is exceedingly seldom I ever intrude into the mysteries of the future with regard either to the Second Advent, the millennial reign, or the First and Second Resurrection. As often as we come across it in our expositions, we do not turn aside from the point, but if guilty at all on this point, it is rather in being too silent than saying too much. And now, in bringing forward this question this morning, I would say I do not do it to amuse your curiosity by novelty, or that I may pretend to have the true key of the prophecies which are as yet unfulfilled. I scarcely think it would be justifiable for me to spend my time upon prophetic studies for which I have not the necessary talent, nor is it the vocation to which my Master has ordained me. I think some ministers would do far more for the profit of God's people if they would preach more about the First Advent and less about the Second. But I have chosen this topic because I believe it has practical bearings, and may be made useful, instructive, and awakening to us all. I find that the most earnest of the Puritan preachers did not forbear to dwell upon this mysterious subject. I turn to Charnock; and in his disquisition upon the Immutability of God, he does not hesitate to speak of the conflagration of the world, of the millennial reign, and the new heavens and new earth. I turn to Richard Baxter, a man who above all other men loved the souls of men; who more, perhaps, than any man with the exception of the Apostle Paul, travailed in birth for souls; and I find him making a barbed arrow out of the Doctrine of the coming of the Lord, and thrusting this great Truth into the very heart and conscience of unbelievers, as though it were Heaven's own sword! And John Bunyan too—plain, honest John—he who preached so simply that a child could comprehend him, and was certainly never guilty of having written upon his forehead the word, "Mystery"—he, too, speaks of the Advent of Christ, and of the glories which shall follow; and uses this Doctrine as a stimulus to the saints, and as a warning to the ungodly. I do not think therefore I need tremble very much if the charge should be brought against me of bringing before you an unprofitable subject. It shall profit if God shall bless the word; and if it is God's Word, we may expect His blessing if we preach it all, but He will withdraw it if we refrain from teaching any part of His Word because in our pretended wisdom we fancy that it would not have practical effect!

Now, my dear Friends, in introducing again these texts to you, I shall just remark that in the first text which relates to the people of God, we have three great privileges. And in the second text, which relates to the ungodly who are not in covenant with Christ, we have three great and terrible things which may soon be perceived.

First of all, we will take the first text with its THREE PRIVILEGES. "Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection; on such the second death has no power, but they shall be priests of God, and of Christ and shall reign with Him a thousand years."

Before I proceed to enter into these privileges, I must remark that two modes of understanding this verse have been proposed, both of which I think are untenable. I have been reading carefully through Albert Barnes. In his opinion, the First Resurrection here spoken of is a resurrection of principles—a resurrection of the patience, the undaunted courage, the holy boldness, and constancy of the ancient martyrs. He says these great principles have been forgotten, and, as it were, buried; and that during the spiritual reign of Christ which is to come, these great principles will have a resurrection. Now, I appeal to you, would you, in reading that passage, think this to be the meaning? Would any man believe that to be its meaning, if he had not some thesis to defend? The fact is, we sometimes read Scripture thinking of what it oughtto say, rather than what it does say. I do not hesitate to affirm that any simple-minded person who was intent upon discovering the mind of the Spirit, and not upon finding a method by which the words could be compelled to express his own mind, would say that the resurrection of principles, or the resurrection of doctrines, does not give the fair meaning of the words here stated! Brothers and Sisters, cannot you perceive at a glance that this is the resurrection of men? And is it not a literal resurrection, too? Does it not say, "I saw the souls of them who were beheaded for the witness of Jesus"? Is it not written, "The rest of the dead lived not?" Does this mean the rest of the dead principles The rest of the dead doctrines You cannot so translate it! It is—we have no doubt whatever—a literal resurrection of the saints of God, and not of principles nor of doctrines.

But another interpretation has been proposed. I once had the misfortune to listen to an excellent friend of mine who was preaching upon this very text, and I must confess I did not attend with very great patience to his exposition. He said it meant blessed and holy is he who has been born-again, who has been regenerated, and so has had a resurrection from dead works by the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. All the while he was preaching, I could not help but wish that I could propose to him the difficulty to make this metaphorical interpretation agree with the literal fact—that the rest of the dead lived not till the thousand years were finished! For if the First Resurrection here spoken of is a metaphorical, or spiritual, or typical resurrection—why the next, where it speaks of the resurrection of the dead, must be spiritual, and mystical, and metaphorical too! Now, no one would agree with this. When you read a Chapter, you are not to say, "This part is a symbol, and is to be read so, and the next part is to be read literally." Brothers and Sisters, the Holy Spirit does not jumble metaphors and facts together! A typical Book has plain indications that it is so intended, and when you come upon a literal passage in a typical Chapter, it is always attached to something else which is distinctly literal so that you cannot, without violence to common sense, make a typical meaning out of it! The fact is, in reading this passage with an unbiased judgment—having no purpose whatever to serve, having no theory to defend—and I confess I have none, for I know but very little about mysteries to come—I could not help seeing there are two literal resurrections here spoken of—one of the spirits of the just, and the other of the bodies of the wicked; one of the saints who sleep in Jesus, whom God shall bring with Him, and another of those who live and die impenitent, who perish in their sins.

But this by way of preface to this first text. Let me now proceed. There are three privileges in the text.

Now as to the first privilege, the priority of resurrection. I think Scripture is exceedingly plain and explicit upon this point. You have perhaps imagined that all men will rise at the same moment—that the trumpet of the archangel will break open every grave at the same instant, and sound in the ear of every sleeper at the identical moment. Such I do not think is the testimony of the Word of God! I think the Word of God teaches, and teaches indisputably, that the saints shall rise first. And be the interval of time whatever it may, whether the thousand years are literal years, or a very long period of time, I am not now about to determine! I have nothing to do except with the fact that there are two resurrections, a resurrection of the just, and afterwards of the unjust—a time when the saints of God shall rise, and a later time when the wicked shall rise to the resurrection of damnation. I shall now refer you to one or two passages in Scripture, and you will use your Bibles and follow me. First, let us look at the words of the Apostle in that Chapter which we use generally as a burial service, the First Epistle to the Corinthians, 15:20-24: "But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the first fruits of them who 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 who are Christ's at His coming. Then comes 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." There has been an interval of two thousand years between "Christ the first fruits," and the "afterward they who are Christ's at His coming." Why not then a thousand years between that First Resurrection and "the end"? Here is a resurrection of those who are Christ's, and of them only. As for the wicked, one would scarcely know that they would rise at all from this passage, if it were not for the general statement, "All shall be made alive." And even this may not be so comprehensive as at first sight it seems. It is enough for me that there is here a particular and exclusive resurrection of those who are Christ's.

Turn to another passage, which is perhaps still more plain, the First Epistle to the Thessalonians, 4:13-17— "But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep, that you sorrow not, even as others who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died, and rose again, even so they also who sleep in Jesus will God bring with Him. For this we say unto you by the Word of the Lord, that we who are alive, and remain unto the coming of the Lord, shall not prevent"—or have a preference beyond—"those who are asleep. For the Lord Himself shall descend from Heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: then we who 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." Here is nothing said whatever about the resurrection of the wicked—it is only stated that the dead in Christ shall rise first. Our Apostle is evidently speaking of a first resurrection; and since we know that a first resurrection implies a second, and since we know that the wicked dead are to rise as well as the righteous dead, we draft the inference that the wicked dead shall rise at the Second Resurrection, after the interval between the two resurrections shall have been accomplished.

Turn to Philippians 3, verses 8 and 10-11 and compare them. "Yes doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ." "That I may know Him, and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being made conformable unto His death, if by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead." What does he mean there? Everyone will rise, no orthodox Christian doubts that! The Doctrine of a General Resurrection is received by all the Christian Church. What, then, is this resurrection after which Paul was exerting himself, if by any means he might attain unto it? It could not be the general resurrection; he would attain unto that, live as he wish! It must have been some superior resurrection of which only those shall be partakers who have known Christ and the power of His resurrection, having been made conformable unto His death. I think you cannot interpret this passage or give it any force of meaning, unless you admit that there is to be a prior resurrection of the just before the resurrection of the unjust. If you will turn to a passage in Luke 20:35-36, which probably is fresh upon your memories, you will find there something which I will venture to call a clear proof of a special resurrection! The Sadducees had proposed a difficulty as to the relationship of men and women in the future state and Jesus here says, "But they who shall be accounted worthy to obtain that world, and the resurrection from the dead, neither marry, nor are given in marriage: 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." Now, Brothers and Sisters, there is some worthiness necessary for this resurrection! Do you not perceive it? There is some distinction involved in being called the children of the resurrection. Now, again I say, you do not doubt but that all shall rise. In that sense, then, every man would be one of the children of the resurrection. In thatsense, no worthiness would be required for resurrection at all! There must be, then, a resurrection for which worthiness is needed, a resurrection which shall be a distinguished privilege, which, being obtained, shall confer upon its possessor the distinguished and honorable title of a "child of the resurrection." It seems to me that this is plain enough and can be put beyond all dispute.

In Chapter 14 of the same Gospel, in verse 13-14, you have a promise made to those who, when they make a feast, do not do it with the intention of getting anything in return. "When you make a feast, call the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind, and you shall be blessed, for they cannot recompense you; for you shall be recompensed at the resurrection of the just." I would not insist upon it, that this would prove that the just rose at a different time; but still there is to be a resurrection of the just, and on the other hand, there is to be a resurrection of the unjust; and the time of recompense for the righteous is to be the resurrection of the just, which is spoken of as being a particular period. He might just as well have said, "You shall be recompensed at the general resurrection." There was no need to have said, "At the resurrection of the just," if the two are to happen at the same time! The words "of the just" are superfluous in the passage unless they do refer to some era distinguished and distinct from the resurrection of the unjust. I will not say that this is any clear proof, but still, all these things put together, with other passages I might quote if time did not fail me, would, I think, establish upon a Scriptural basis the doctrine of the two resurrections. But I would refer to one more, which seems to me to be exceedingly clear, in John 6:39, 40, 44, 54. In these verses the Savior four times over speaks of His own believing people, and promises them a resurrection. "I will raise him up at the last day." Now, is there any joy or beauty in this, to the people of God in particular, unless there is a specialty in it for them? It is the lot of all to rise, and yet we have here a privilege for the elect! Surely, Brothers and Sisters, there is a different resurrection. Besides, there is yet a passage which now springs to my memory in Hebrews 11:35, where the Apostle, speaking of the trials of the godly, and their noble endurance, speaks of them as, "not accepting deliverance, that they might obtain a better resurrection." The betterness was not in the later results of resurrection, but in the resurrection itself. How, then, could it be a better resurrection, unless there is some distinction between the resurrection of the saint, and the resurrection of the sinner? Let the one be a resurrection of splendor—let the other be a resurrection of gloom and horror—and let there be a marked division between the two, that as it was in the beginning it may be even to the end, the Lord has put a difference between him who fears God, and him who fears Him not.

I am well aware that I have not been able to put the argument so well but that any antagonist may cavil at it. But I have been preaching to my own congregation rather than fighting with opponents, and I hope you will take these passages and weigh them for yourselves. If they do not teach you that the dead in Christ shall rise first, do not believe me if I say they do. If you cannot perceive the fact yourself, if the Holy Spirit does not show it to you, why then, read the passage again, and then find if you can find another and a better meaning. I have no purpose to serve except to make the Scripture as plain to you as possible. And I say it yet again—I have not a shadow of a doubt in my own soul that these passages do teach us that there shall first of all be a resurrection concerning which it shall be said, "Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection, on such the second death has no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with Him a thousand years."

I now pass on to the second privilege here promised to the godly. The second death on them has no power This, too, is a literal death—none the less literal because its main terror is spiritual—for a spiritual death is as literal as a carnal death! The death which shall come upon the ungodly without exception can never touch the righteous. Oh, Brothers and Sisters, this is the best of all! As for the first resurrection, if Christ has granted that to His people, there must be something glorious in it if we cannot perceive it. "It does not yet appear what we shall be, but we know when He shall appear, we shall be like Hm." I think the glories of the first resurrection belong to the glories which shall be revealed in us rather than the glories that are revealed to us. What shall be the majesty of that form in which we shall rise? What is the distinguished happiness we shall then enjoy? We can but guess at a distance—we cannot know it fully. But on this point we can understand what Scripture states, and understand this much well—that damnation, the second death— shall have no power on those who rise at the first resurrection! How could it? How can damnation fall on any but those who are sinners and are guilty of sin? And the saints are not guilty of sin. They have sinned like others, and they were by nature the children of wrath even as others. But their sin has been lifted from them—it was laid upon the Scapegoats' head of old! He, the Eternal Substitute, even our Lord Jesus, carried all their guilt and their iniquity into the wilderness of forgetfulness where it shall never be found against them forever! They wear the Savior's righteousness, even as they have been washed in His blood; and what wrath can lie on the man who is not only guiltless through the blood, but is meritorious through Imputed Righteousness? Oh, arm of Justice, you are nerveless to smite the blood-washed! Oh, you flames of Hell, how could even so much as the breath of your heat pass upon the man who is safely covered in the Savior's wounds? How is it possible for you, O Deaths, Destructions, Horrors, Glooms, Plagues, and Terrors, so much as to flit like a cloud over the serene sky of the spirit which has found peace with God through the blood of Christ? No, Brothers and Sisters—

"Bold shall I stand in that great day! For who anything to my charge shall lay? While, through Your blood, absolved I am From sin's tremendous curse and shame."

There shall be a second death; but over us it shall have no power. Do you understand the beauty of the picture? As if we might walk through the flames of Hell, and they should have no power t o devour us any more than when the holy children paced with ease over the hot coals of Nebuchadnezzar's seven-times heated furnace! Death may bend his bow and fit the arrow to the string—but we laugh at you, O Death! And you, O Hell, we will despise, for over both of you, enemies of man, we shall be more than conquerors through Him who has loved us! We shall stand invulnerable and invincible, defying and laughing to scorn our every foe. And all this because we are washed from sin, and covered with a spotless righteousness!

But there is another reason why the second death can have no power on the Believer; because when the prince of this world comes against us, we shall be able to say what our Master did, "He has nothing in Me." When we shall rise again, we shall be freed from all corruption—no evil tendencies shall remain in us. "I will cleanse their blood that I have not cleansed; for the Lord dwells in Zion." "Without spot or wrinkle, or any such thing"—without even the shadow of a spot which the eyes of Omniscience could discover, we shall be as pure as Adam before his fall, as holy as the immaculate manhood when it first came from the Divine Hand! We shall be better than Adam, for Adam might sin, but we shall be so established in goodness, in truth, and in righteousness, that we shall not even be tempted again, much less shall we have any fear of falling! We shall stand spotless and faultless at the Last Great Day. Brothers and Sisters, lift up your heads— contending with sin, cast down with doubts—lift up your heads and wipe the tears from your eyes! There are days coming, the like of which angels have not seen—but you shall see them! There are times coming when your spirits shall no more fear the chain, nor shall you even remember the wormwood and the gall—

"What, though your inbred sins require Your flesh to see the dust— Yet as the Lord your Savior rose So all His followers must!"

And when they rise they shall leave the old Adam behind them. Blessed day! One of the most blessed parts of Heaven—of Heaven above or of Heaven below—will be freedom from the tendency to sin—a total death to that old nature which has been our plague and woe!

There is yet a third privilege in the text, upon which I shall speak but briefly. I believe this to be also one of the glories that shall be revealed. The third privilege of the text is, "They shall reign with Him a thousand years.''" Here is another point upon which there has been a long and very vigorous contention. It was believed in the early Church—I do not know whether there is any Scriptural foundation for the precise date they fixed—that the seventh thousand years of the world's history would be a Sabbath; that as there were six days of toil in the week, and the seventh was a day of rest, so the world would have six thousand years of toil and sorrow, and the seventh thousand would be a thousand years of rest. I say I do not know that there is any Scripture for that; I do know that there is none against it. I believe the Lord Himself shall come, "but of that day, and of that hour knows no man, no not even the angels of God." And I think it is idle to attempt to fix the year or even the century when Christ shall come! Our business is to always expect Him, to be always looking for His appearing, watching for His coming; that whether He comes at cock-crow, or midnight, or at morning watch, we need be ready to go in with the wise virgins into the marriage feast, and to rejoice with our Beloved! If there have been any dates given, I am not able at present to find them. All these dates and mysteries I can leave to much more learned men, and men who give their whole time to it. The book of Revelation needs another expounder besides those who have loaded our shelves until they groan, for they have generally made confusion worse confounded! Their expositions have been rather "an obviation" than a revelation; they have rather darkened counsel by words without knowledge, than made the dark things plain. I am prepared to go about as far as my predecessor Dr. Gill went—as far as the old fathers of the Church went, as far as Baxter and Bunyan would have gone—but to go no further than that! Yet I think we may say this morning, there it in our text a distinct promise that the saints are to reign with Christ a thousand years, and I believe they are to reign with Him upon this earth.

There are some passages which I think obtain a singular fullness of meaning if this is true. Turn to Psalm 37:10, 11. It is that Psalm where David has been fretting himself, because of the evildoers and their prosperity upon the earth. He says, "For yet a little while, and the wicked shall not be: yes, you shall diligently consider his place and it shall not be. But the meek shall inherit the earth; and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace." You can interpret that to mean that the meek man shall enjoy much more of this world's goods than the sinner, and that he shall have abundance of peace. But I think you have given it a lean meaning, a very lean meaning, indeed. If it is true that these meek ones shall yet possess this very earth, and that here, in the abundance of peace through the Messiah's reign, they shall rejoice in it, I think you have found a fuller meaning, and one which has a God-like meaning. So it is that God's promises always have a wider meaning than we can conceive; now, in this case, if it only means that the meek are to have what they gain in this life, which is very little, indeed; if they are only to have what they enjoy here upon earth, which is so little, that I think if in this life only they have hope, they are of men the most miserable! If it only means that, then the promise means less than we might conceive it to mean! But if it means that they shall have glory even here, then you have given to it one of the widest meanings you can conceive—a meaning like the meanings usually given to the promises of God—wide, large, extensive, and worthy of Himself! Brothers and Sisters, the meek do not inherit the earth to any great degree at present, and we look for this in another age. Let me quote the language of Christ, lest you should think this passage peculiar to the Old Testament dispensation, "Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth." How? Where? When? Not now, certainly, not in Christ's days, not in Apostolic times by any means. What did the meek inherit, Brothers and Sisters? The stake, flames, racks, pincers, dungeons. Their inheritance indeed, was nothing! They were destitute, addicted, tormented. They wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins, and if the meek are ever to inherit the earth, certainly it must be in some age to come, for they have never inherited it yet!

Turn again to a passage in Revelation 5:9, 10—"And they sung a new song." It is the very song we sang this morning, and it runs thus, "You are worthy to take the Book, and to open the seals thereof: for You were slain and have redeemed us to God by Your blood out of every kindred and tongue, and people and nation; and have made us unto our God, kings and priests—and we shall reign on the earth." Whether anyone disputes the genuineness of these words, I do not know; but if they mean anything at all—if the Holy Spirit meant to set forth any meaning—surely it must have been that the people of Christ shall reign on the earth. Besides, remember our Savior's words in Matthew 19:28-29, where in answer to a question which had been put by Peter as to what His saints should have as the result of their losses for His sake, He said unto them, "Verily I say unto you, that you which have followed Me, in the regeneration when the Son of Man shall sit in the Throne of His Glory, you also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. And everyone who has forsaken houses, or brothers, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for My name's sake, shall receive an hundredfold, and shall inherit everlasting life." It seems that Christ here is to come in the regeneration, when in a newborn world there shall be joys fitted for the newborn spirits—and then there shall be splendors and glories for the Apostles first, and for all those who by any means have suffered any losses for Christ Jesus. You find such passages as these in the Word of God, "The Lord of Hosts shall reign in Mount Zion, and in Jerusalem, and before His ancients gloriously." You find another like this in Zachariah, "My God shall come with the multitude of His saints." Indeed, I could not now take up your time by quoting many passages in which it seems to me that nothing but the triumph on the very spot where they have fought the battle, nothing but the glory in the very place where they have had the tug of war, will meet the meaning of God's Word. I do look forward to this with joy, that though I may sleep in Christ before my Master comes, and I know not whether that shall be or not, yet I shall rise at the day of His appearing, and shall be recompensed at the resurrection of the just if I have truly and faithfully served Him; and that recompense shall be to be made like unto Him, and to partake of His glories before the eyes of men, and to reign with Him during the thousand years! Dr. Watts, I believe, understood that Christ is to come literally, for he says—

"Nor does it yet appear How great we must be made; But when we see our Savior here, We shall be like our Head! A hope so much divine May trials well endure, May purge our souls from sense and sin As Christ the Lord is pure."

Pero recojamos lo que he dicho y hagamos otra observación. Esta Doctrina que acabo de predicar no deja de ser práctica. Porque en todo el Nuevo Testamento, siempre que el Apóstol quiere estimular a los hombres a la paciencia, al trabajo, a la esperanza, a la paciencia y a la santidad, generalmente dice algo sobre el Advenimiento de Cristo. "Tened paciencia, hermanos", dice, "porque la venida del Señor se acerca". "Vuestra moderación sea notoria de todos los hombres, el Señor está cerca". "No juzguéis nada antes de tiempo, hasta que venga el Señor". "Cuando aparezca el gran Pastor, vosotros también apareceréis con él en gloria". Hermanos y hermanas, creo que haremos mal si le damos demasiada importancia a esto; ¡Pero haremos el mismo mal si le damos poca importancia! Demosle un lugar justo en nuestros pensamientos y, especialmente, aquellos de nosotros que tememos

Dios, y cree en Jesús, toma esto como una ventana a través de la cual podemos mirar cuando la casa está a oscuras y nuestro hogar está lleno de miseria. Miremos hacia el tiempo en que resucitaremos entre los primeros, siguiendo a Cristo, las Primicias, cuando reinaremos con Cristo, compartiendo sus glorias, y cuando sabremos que la muerte segunda no tiene poder sobre nosotros.

Pasaré ahora brevemente a la segunda parte del discurso. A los impíos TRES COSAS EN SIMPLICIDAD.

Pecador, nos has oído hablar de la resurrección de los justos. Para vosotros la palabra "resurrección" no tiene música. No hay ningún destello de alegría en tu espíritu cuando escuchas que los muertos resucitarán. ¡Pero oh, te ruego que me prestes tus oídos mientras te aseguro en el nombre de Dios que te levantarás! No sólo tu alma vivirá (tal vez te hayas vuelto tan brutal que olvidas que tienes un alma), ¡sino que tu cuerpo mismo vivirá! ¡Esos ojos que han estado llenos de lujuria verán visiones de horror! ¡Aquellos oídos que han escuchado las tentaciones del Maligno, oirán los truenos del Día del Juicio! ¡Esos mismos pies que os llevaron al teatro intentarán, pero fracasarán por completo, sosteneros cuando Cristo se siente a juzgar! ¡No penséis que cuando vuestro cuerpo sea enterrado en la tierra, ya lo habréis acabado! Ha sido cómplice de tu alma en el pecado; ¡Participará con tu alma en el castigo! ¡Él es capaz de arrojar cuerpo y alma al infierno! Los paganos creen en la inmortalidad del alma. Por lo tanto, no necesitamos demostrar lo que un pagano podría concebir. Es la Doctrina de la Resurrección del cuerpo la que es peculiar del cristianismo. Sé que no estás preparado para desechar la Revelación de Dios. Recibes ese Libro como el Libro de Dios, y me dice que los muertos, tanto los pequeños como los grandes, resucitarán. ¡Cuando suene la trompeta del arcángel, todos los antiguos habitantes del mundo antes del Diluvio surgirán del océano! Los palacios enterrados, las casas hundidas, todos abandonarán la multitud que una vez se casó y fue dada en matrimonio hasta que Noé entró en el arca. ¡De las grandes profundidades del mar insondable surgirán miles y miles de cuerpos de hombres y mujeres que han dormido durante estos tres y cuatro mil años! También cada cementerio donde los hombres han sido enterrados silenciosamente con ritos cristianos, pero aún no eran cristianos, entregará a sus muertos. El campo de batalla producirá una gran cosecha, una cosecha que fue sembrada con sangre, que se recogerá en tempestad. ¡Todo lugar donde el hombre ha vivido y donde el hombre ha muerto verá a los moribundos revividos una vez más, y la carne y la sangre una vez más tendrán vida! Pero lo principal para ti es que estarás allí. Viviendo y muriendo como eres ahora, impío e inconverso, la maldición más terrible que podría caer sobre ti, con excepción de la condenación de tu alma, ¡es la resurrección segura de tu cuerpo!

Ve ahora y píntalo si quieres, y busca una belleza que el gusano detesta. Ve y mima tu cuerpo: bebe lo dulce y come la grasa. Vayan y deléitese y disfruten con tranquilidad. Oh, señor, bien pueden mimar sus cuerpos, porque hay poco tiempo para que su cuerpo se regocije; y cuando termine ese corto tiempo, beberás otro vino: ¡los restos de la copa de la ira de Dios que los impíos apurarán hasta la última gota! Satisface tus oídos con música ahora: ¡pronto no oirás nada más que los aullidos de los condenados! Sigue tu camino: come, bebe y regocíjate; pero por todo esto, el Señor te traerá a juicio, siete veces por todos tus placeres pecaminosos; sí, setenta veces siete, por todos tus gozos de lujuria y maldad, y el crimen, el Señor se vengará de ti en el día grande y terrible de Su ira. Pecador, piensa en esto, y cuando peques, ¡piensa en la resurrección!

Pero después de la resurrección, según el texto, viene el juicio. Has maldecido a Dios. El juramento se extinguió. No, señor, no fue así: ¡se imprimió en el gran Libro de la memoria de Dios! Has entrado en la cámara del desenfreno o en el salón de la infidelidad; habéis caminado por los guisos de mugre, y por el hedor y la inmundicia del burdel; has vagado en el pecado y te has sumergido en él, pensando que todo moriría con el día, que así como la noche cubre las visiones del día, así la noche de la muerte debe cubrir las obras del día de tu vida. ¡No es así! Se abrirán los libros. ¡Creo ver tus mejillas pálidas, cerrando los ojos porque no te atreves a mirar al Juez cuando abre esa página donde está tu historia! ¡Escucho a ese pecador, el más audaz entre todos ustedes! Él está llorando: "Rocas, caed sobre mí". Allí están, sublimes y pavorosas, aquellas rocas de granito; preferiría ser aplastado que permanecer allí ante los Ojos vengadores; pero las montañas no se aflojarán, sus entrañas de pedernal no sienten punzadas de simpatía, ¡no se moverán! ¡Estás de pie mientras los Ojos ardientes te miran de principio a fin, y la temible Voz lee una y otra vez cada uno de tus actos, palabras y pensamientos! Os veo mientras se leen los crímenes vergonzosos, y los hombres y los ángeles oyen. ¡Veo vuestro horror cuando un hecho sin nombre se cuenta en términos explícitos, que nadie puede malinterpretar! Oigo tus pensamientos sacados a la luz: esa lujuria, ese asesinato que estaba en el pensamiento, pero que nunca se convirtió en acto. Y todo este tiempo estáis asombrados como Belsasar cuando vio la escritura en la pared, y sus lomos estaban flojos, y tuvo mucho miedo. Así será con vosotros; y una y otra vez lanzarás ese terrible grito: "¡Escóndenos! ¡Escóndenos del rostro de Aquel que está sentado en el Trono, y de la ira del Cordero!"

Pero luego llega el final, el último de todos. Después de la muerte el juicio; después del juicio la condenación. Si es algo terrible volver a vivir; Si es algo aún más terrible pasar el primer día de esa vida en el gran tribunal de Dios, ¡cuánto más terrible será cuando se pronuncie la sentencia y comience el terror del castigo! Creemos que las almas de los malvados ya están atormentadas, ¡pero este juicio arrojará tanto el cuerpo como el alma al Lago de Fuego! Hombres y mujeres, ustedes que no temen a Dios y no tienen fe en Jesús, ¡no puedo imaginarles la condenación! Al otro lado déjame correr una cortina. Pero aunque no debemos imaginarlo, ruego que se dé cuenta. Cuando Martin pinta algunos de sus cuadros sublimes, generalmente realza el efecto con masas de oscuridad. Seguramente ésta es la manera en que Dios ha pintado el infierno: ¡más bien con masas de oscuridad que con una luz definida! Esto es lo que sabemos: el infierno es un lugar de ausencia de Dios, un lugar para el desarrollo del pecado, donde toda pasión es desenfrenada, toda lujuria desenfrenada; un lugar donde Dios castiga noche y día a los que pecan de noche y de día, un lugar donde nunca hay sueño, ni descanso ni esperanza, un lugar donde se niega una gota de agua, ¡aunque la sed queme la lengua! Es un lugar donde el placer nunca respiró, donde la luz nunca amaneció, donde nunca se escuchó nada parecido al consuelo, un lugar donde se niega el Evangelio, donde la misericordia baja sus alas y muere. El infierno es un lugar donde reina la venganza, y sacude la cabeza y blande su espada, un lugar de furia y de incendio, un lugar que la imaginación no ha imaginado. Que Dios conceda que sea un lugar que nunca verás y cuyo pavor nunca sentirás. Pecador, en lugar de predicártelo, déjame pedirte que huyas de ello. Muere, pecador, y huir del infierno se vuelve imposible: ¡estás perdido eternamente! Oh, mientras aún estés en terreno de oración, te lo ruego, piensa por tu parte. "Como no recordaba su último final, cayó terriblemente". Que no se diga así de vosotros. ¡Pensar! ¡Pensar! Esta advertencia puede ser la última que escuche. Es posible que nunca más se le permita volver a un lugar de culto. Quizás, mientras estás sentado aquí, las últimas arenas están cayendo del reloj de arena, y entonces ya no se puede dar más advertencia, ¡porque la redención y el escape te serán imposibles!

Alma, levanto ahora ante ti a Cristo Crucificado: "Todo aquel que cree en él no perecerá jamás, sino que tendrá vida eterna". ¡Así como Moisés levantó la serpiente en el desierto, así esta mañana el Hijo del Hombre es levantado! Pecador, mira sus heridas. Mira Su cabeza coronada de espinas. Mira los clavos de sus manos y de sus pies. ¿Lo percibes? Escuche mientras Él clama: "¿Por qué me has desamparado?" Escuche nuevamente mientras Él dice: "¡Consumado es! ¡Consumado es!" ¡Se acabó la salvación! Y ahora, la salvación os es predicada gratuitamente. ¡Cree en Cristo y serás salvo! Confía en Él y todos los horrores del futuro no tendrán poder sobre ti; ¡pero los esplendores de esta profecía se cumplirán, sean los que sean! ¡Oh, que esta mañana algunos de ustedes puedan confiar en mi Maestro por primera vez en sus vidas! Y hecho esto, no necesitas preguntar con curiosidad cuál será el futuro, sino que puedes sentarte con calma y decir: "Ven cuando quieras, mi alma está sobre la Roca Eterna. No teme ningún mal; no teme ninguna tempestad; desafía todo dolor. ¡Ven pronto! ¡Ven pronto! Aun así, ven pronto, Señor Jesús".