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 RAPPROCHEMENT ESCHATOLOGY

-THE ARGUMENT-

Part five            

THE GENERAL RESURRECTION

JOHN 5:28, 29 “²⁸Marvel not at this: for the hour comes, in which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, ²⁹and shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life (zoe); and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of judgment.”  Ref. Dan.12:2; Acts.24:15

This passage from John, by substituting “in which” for “and now is”, shifts our attention and thoughts from the present to the future.  These passages are clearly speaking about the final resurrection, where only the dead are being resurrected; “all that are in the graves”.  It is because of the complete absence of any living beings here in this primary passage, that makes this resurrection distinct from the resurrection sighted in First Corinthians fifteen and First Thessalonians four; as well as Matthew twenty-four and Mark thirteen.  Then as we search further into the differences between Christ’s resurrection of the living and the general resurrection of the dead, we may discover the clear evidence of this distinction right here in this revealing passage.  That is, when these graves are opened, we see that there are only two classes being resurrected: “they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life (zoe)” [These are the righteous dead who come to life in their resurrected bodies.  This is the same group as those identified as “the rest of the dead” in Rev.20:5: They once again begin to live (anazao).], and “they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of judgment.”  But before this resurrection takes place here on earth, each and every one of these afore-mentioned individuals is most assuredly DEAD. 

This is precisely where this absolute distinction between these two different resurrections rests:

First, Christ’s resurrection is a resurrection of only the LIVING.

Second, this final general resurrection is a resurrection of only the DEAD. 

So as we look for additional proof from the book of Revelation and the gospel of Matthew, we do in fact see a resurrection being described that does involve only the dead.  We must also be mindful that only the goats—only those resurrected from Death and Hades were predestined to be cast into the lake of fire: Which is the second death.  The standing rule was this—if any one of these resurrected from the dead was not found written in the Book of Life, that one was to be cast into the lake that burns with fire and brimstone.

Not understanding these two distinctly different resurrections is the main cause of much of today’s Eschatological confusion. <**>

Matthew 25:31-46 “³¹But when the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the angels with him, then shall he sit on the throne of his glory: ³²and before him shall be gathered all the nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats; ³³and he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left. ³⁴Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, you blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: ³⁵for I was hungry, and you gave me to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave me drink; I was a stranger, and you took me in; ³⁶naked, and you clothed me; I was sick, and you visited me; I was in prison, and you came unto me. ³⁷Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when did we see you hungry, and fed you? or athirst, and gave you drink? ³⁸And when did we see you as a stranger, and took you in? Or naked, and clothed you? ³⁹And when did we see you sick, or in prison, and came unto you? ⁴⁰And the King shall answer and say unto them, Truly I say unto you, Inasmuch as you did it unto one of the least of these my brethren, you did it unto me.

⁴¹Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire which is prepared for the devil and his angels: ⁴²for I was hungry, and you did not give me to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave me no drink; ⁴³I was a stranger, and you took me not in; naked, and you clothed me not; sick, and in prison, and you visited me not. ⁴⁴Then shall they also answer, saying, Lord, when saw we you hungry, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto you? ⁴⁵Then shall he answer them, saying, Truly I say unto you, Inasmuch as you did it not unto one of the least of these, you did it not unto me. ⁴⁶And these shall go away into eternal punishment: but the righteous into eternal life.” 

This passage confirms the general resurrection scene that we previously saw pictured in John 5:28 and 29.  The rewards pictured here are eternal in every respect: This is the resurrection to eternal life, and the resurrection to eternal punishment.

 We might also notice here, that the Kingdom that is to be inherited by these sheep, these blessed ones, is already in existence when these sheep are brought before the King.  Now for the Kingdom to be pre-existent here, the Invisible priesthood of Christ—whose members collectively constitute the Kingdom [1Cor.15:24], would have had to have been previously resurrected.

Then the parallel passage is found in Rev 20:11-15

“¹¹And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat upon it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them. ¹²And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne; and books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of the things which were written in the books, according to their works. ¹³And the sea gave up the dead that were in it; and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. ¹⁴And death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death, even the lake of fire. ¹⁵And if any was not found written in the book of life, he was cast into the lake of fire.”  Ref.Rev.11:17-18

Here again, we see a picture of the general resurrection and judgment: Which, once again, has only the DEAD dead in view.  When comparing Mat.25: with Rev.20: we might equate “the dead, small and great” with “the sheep”, and “death and Hades” with “the goats”.  Only “death and Hades”/ or “the goats” were destined to eternal punishment—the lake of fire.  That is, if any one of the resurrected dead was not found written in the book of life, that individual was cast into the lake of fire: That same lake that burns with fire and brimstone—which is the second death.

Calvin’s Commentary on the gospel of John: pp.208-210

John 5:28, 29  Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation.

Once again, this passage is speaking specifically about only the dead; all that are in the graves shall hear his voice.  The time frame for this pictured event is at some point still in the future.  It is very revealing that God makes this second announcement to all that are in the graves (to the dead).  The call that we have here is distinctly different from the call that we saw just a few verses earlier.  The call of verse 25 included only those who heard, while the call here in verses 28 and 29 is all inclusive of the dead.  This call would also clearly define the general resurrection of the last day.

Calvin writes-“28. Wonder not at this.  We may be apt to think that he reasons inconclusively, in drawing from the last resurrection a confirmation of what he had said; for it is not an instance of greater power to raise up bodies than to raise up minds.” 

Here, John Calvin sees this sharp distinction between the quickening Spirit of Christ for those who heard His call in v.25, and His power to raise all of the dead here in vv.28 and 29.

Calvin continues-“I reply, it is not from the fact itself that he makes a comparison between the greater and the less, but from the opinion of men; for, being carnal, they admire nothing but what is outward and visible.  Hence it arises that they pass by the resurrection of the soul with little concern, while the resurrection of the body excites in them greater admiration.  Another affect produced by this gross stupidity of ours is, that those things which are perceived by the eyes have a more powerful influence in producing faith than those which can be received by faith alone.  As he mentions the last day, that limitation—and now is—is not again added, but he simply declares that the time will one day arrive.”

“But another objection springs up; for though Christians expect the resurrection of bodies, yet they cannot rely on their knowledge of it, so as to conclude that souls are now rescued from death, because bodies will one day rise out of the graves.  And among ungodly men, what would be reckoned more ridiculous than to prove a thing unknown (to use a common phrase) by a thing less known?  I reply, Christ here boasts of his power over the reprobate, so as to testify that the Father has committed to him the full restoration of all things; as if he had said, ‘What I now tell you that I have commenced, I will one day finish before your eyes.’  And, indeed, when Christ now, by the voice of his Gospel, quickens souls which had been sunk in perdition, it is a sort of preparation for the last resurrection.  Again, as he includes the whole human race, he immediately makes a distinction between the elect and the reprobate.  This division shows that the reprobate, as they are now summoned by the voice of Christ to come to judgment, will also, by the same voice, be dragged and brought to appear at his tribunal.” 

It would be nice to understand what Calvin meant when he said “he immediately makes a distinction between the elect and the reprobate.”  He seems to be speaking about the simple construction of the passage, and there is no certainty that he saw the parenthetical quality here in John 5:.  Matter of fact, from observing many of his conclusions, there is a high probability that he did not recognize any separate consideration for God’s hidden elect priesthood.

Calvin-“Shall hear his voice.  The voice of the Son means the sound of a trumpet, which will sound at the command by the power of Christ, (Mat.24:31; 1Cor.15:52.)  For though an angel will be a herald or forerunner, (1Thes.4:16,) this does not hinder what is done by the authority of the Judge, and as it were in his own person, from being ascribed to himself.”

The proof passages sighted by John Calvin in this segment, for—“Shall hear his voice”, are very questionable supports indeed for the general resurrection of the last day.  Each and every one of these passages that has specifically indicated a trumpet sound, has only His elect (the invisible elect priesthood from God’s whole reconciliation) in view.  All those pictured in 1Cor.15:23 and 24, 1Thes.4:16-18, Mat.24:31, along with Mk.13:27, are pictures of only the translated living elect and the resurrected living dead elect [only those elect ones who are “in Christ”]: That is, the invisible elect priests /or saints from this dispensation who have passed on to their heavenly station—the living dead, and the invisible elect saints who would still be living on earth at the time of our Lord’s appearance.  Keep this important fact in mind, there is this special qualifier for any inclusion in these sighted passages from 1Cor.15 and 1Thes.4: That qualifier is to be in Christ.

Taking a similar approach, can we actually define the call of the gospel that we see in Jn.5:25 as “the sound of a trumpet”?  Really, do we understand the call of the gospel that we see in Jn.5:25 as “the sound of a trumpet”?  I think not!  Now if Jn.5:25 had no trumpet specifically indicated with the sound of the voice of the Son of God, why would we try to define verse 28 any differently?

No specific trumpet!  As in the Mat.25:31-46 and Rev.20:11-15—pictures of the final resurrection and judgment, no specific trumpets were indicated by these passages or evident in these passages. 

Necessity mandates this specificity with regard to this trumpet sound.  I am not saying that the sound of His voice could not be represented by the sound of a trumpet, but I am saying that the Scriptures do not specifically indicate the trumpet sound at this final call that we see pictured in Jn.5:28-29, Mat.25:31-46, and Rev.20:11-15.  To combine passages that refer to the resurrection of the living dead with passages concerning the resurrection of only the dead is not a proper pursuit of truth.

Pictured sequence of future events:

Rev 11:17-18 “¹⁷saying, We give you thanks, O God, the Almighty, who is and who was; (1)because you have taken your great power, and did reign. ¹⁸And (2)the nations were angry, and (3)your wrath came, and (4)the time of the dead to be judged, and (5)the time to give their reward to your servants the prophets, and to the saints, and to them that fear your name, the small and the great; and (6)to destroy them that destroy the earth.”  (5) There is an interesting aspect to this listing of those who were to be rewarded.  That aspect is the absence of any APOSTLES.  Is this an oversight?  No!  It is because these servants who are being resurrected here, are all of God’s institutional corporate peoples—inclusive of all of His visible peoples from the Old Testament as well as His visible peoples from the New Testament—these are the sheep of Mat.25. 

Ref. Hebrews 11:13

“¹³These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.” 

Hebrews 11:39 and 40 “³⁹And these all, having had witness borne to them through their faith, received not the promise, ⁴⁰God having provided some better thing concerning us, that apart from us they should not be made perfect.” 

These passages from Hebrews make a clear distinction between the Old Testament peoples of God and us.  In this case, the invisible elect priesthood from this dispensation of grace.  It would seem that all of these visible peoples of God who have died while in the service of God, have been placed in a position of waiting; Abraham’s bosom [Lu.16:22].  This interim place of their waiting might be called—soul rest, because the perfection that they are waiting for is surly their resurrected bodies.  This waiting is necessary here, because their perfection—their resurrected bodies are predicated on the existence of the completed Kingdom and their presence in the subsequent resurrection of the dead.  That is, the holy priesthood must be perfected before they can be perfected. Ref.Rom.8:18-21  We should also look at the meaning of “God having provided some better thing for us.”  This meaning is pointing to all of the New Testament promises that God has made just to us: Which is essentially our gracious justification and our gracious sanctification—as well as all of the Spiritual promises that we have been discussing here in these notes.

John Calvin seems to confirm these same facts:

39. “I know that Chrysostom and others have given a different explanation, but the context clearly shews, that what is intended here is the difference in the grace which God bestowed on the faithful under the Law, and that which he bestows on us now.  For since a more abundant grace is poured on us, it would be very strange that we should have less faith in us.  He then says that those fathers who were endued with so remarkable a faith, had not yet so strong reasons for believing as we have.” 

“The sentiment seems to be this,—`The ancient saints believed God’s promise, respecting an eternal inheritance after the resurrection: they died in hope of this, they have not yet obtained it, and for this reason, because God had designed to fulfill to us what he had also promised to them, even the coming of a Redeemer; it was necessary that this more excellent thing than what had in this world been vouchsafed to them, should take place, as on it depended everything connected with the promise of the heavenly city; so that without the more excellent thing fulfilled to us, their perfect state, in body as well as in soul, was not to be attained.’

Calvin’s Commentary of Hebrews footnote 1 p.309

          Simply put, without the prior gathering of God’s hidden elect priesthood into heaven, there would be no Kingdom and no City of God for them to inherit.

When will the invisible priesthood be gathered?  (1)

Rev 10:7 “⁷but in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he is about to sound, then is finished the mystery of God, according to the good tidings which he declared to his servants the prophets.” 

Luke 21:28 “²⁸But when these things begin to come to pass, look up, and lift up your heads; because your redemption draws near.” 

Romans 8:18 -¹⁸For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that shall be revealed in us.

Romans 8:18-21 is surly referring to the glory of the resurrected elect priesthood—the glorified body of Christ—the Kingdom of God.

And Rev 11:15 “¹⁵And the seventh angel sounded; and there followed great voices in heaven, and they said, The kingdoms of the world is become the kingdoms of our God, and of his Christ: and he shall reign for ever and ever.”  v.19—And there were lightnings, and voices...

This event here in Rev.11:15 marks the gathering UP of God’s hidden elect priesthood at the end of “THE YEAR OF GOD’S FAVOR”, and will usher in “THE DAY OF GOD” as well: The duration of which, according to our system of time, is unknown.  At this point in God’s table of time, all the inhabitants of the whole earth will know that our God is GOD.            Amen.

***To speculate as to the meaning of a passage, can be very detrimental to our receiving its simplest meaning.

 We should also come to these conclusions:

THE HEIDELBERG CATECHISM—LORD’S DAY 17.  Answer this question, how does the fact that on “the third day He rose again from the dead” also benefit us?

First, by His resurrection Jesus has overcome death, so that He might make us share in the righteousness that He won for us by His death.

Second, by His power of regeneration, we too are already now resurrected to a new life.  

By their definition here, this is what being "born again" really means.  Some see it as the resurrection of the soul.