RESURRECTION TO LIFE AND TO JUDGMENT
‘There shall be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and unjust.’
These words spoken by St. Paul in presence of Felix, who probably noted reference to ‘unjust.’ He was a bad man, and possibility of retribution made him tremble.
Men nowadays do not tremble when they hear of resurrection of unjust; but there are some who, when on Holy Days like Easter the truth is brought home to them, are conscious of questions rising up in soul.
The Lord leaves us in no doubt; the resurrection of the just will be to life, of unjust not to damnation but to judgment, to a first examination upon which the final decision irreversibly turns.
I. The resurrection of life.—What is it? The unjust make a resurrection of life in a special sense—a resurrection of judgment. How will it be with the righteous? Our Lord’s words are plain: ‘He that heareth My Word … cometh not into judgment:’ and ‘He that beliveth … is not judged.’ Some, therefore, will be so blest that for them, when the Lord comes to judge, there will be no judgment. Is this in accord with tenor of Holy Scripture? Yes, there is undoubtedly proof of a first resurrection, and that they who are worthy of it will reign with Christ during the mystic thousand years. These are they who come not into judgment.
II. What is the spiritual character of those chosen ones? Here Christ has revealed it in passages above quoted—‘He that believeth.’ But if such be the power of faith, what of the lower powers of belief? We must leave it with Him, knowing that even weak faith in Him will never be counted as though it were not.
III. On faith in Jesus Christ—Incarnate, Crucified, Risen—depends all our future, here and hereafter.
—Bishop Ellicott.
Illustration
‘The Resurrection of Christ is no isolated fact. It is not only an answer to the craving the human heart; it is the key to all history, the interpretation of the growing purpose of life.’