THE KI NG' S BUS I NES S
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AND BLOOD (1 Cor. 15 :50 ) for th ere will be In it no more waste, and no need of repair. It will be a sp iritu al body, like unto th a t of our Lord (1 Cor. 1 5 :4 4 ). In H is resurrection, He had flesh and bone (Lk. 24 :39 ; Jno. 2 0 :2 7 ). It was a rea l body, capable of being handled yet able to pass through m aterials (Jno. 2 0 :1 9 ). The connection between C h rist’s resu rrection and th a t of th e saints, is far too little realized. If th e re be no resu rrection of the dead, th en is Christ no t risen. Then the bodies of those wh6 have fallen asleep in Christ are perished (1 Cor. 15 :13 -18 ). The saint can only be fully satisfied when he awakes in C h rist’s likeness (Psa. 17 :15 ) in a glorious resurrection BODY. (1 Jno. 3 :2 ). This was the desire of th e saints in Old Testam ent tim es (Job 19:25, 26; Isa. 26:19; Psa. 16:10; Dan. 1 2 :2 ). It was the teach ing of our Lord Jesu s (Jno. 5:28, 29). He was not only “ th e life,” b u t THE RESURRECTION (Jno. 1 1 :25 ). Jesus on ea rth is th e example we are to fol low, b u t Jesus RISEN is the stand ard to which we are to be conformed. As in th e case of our Lord Jesus, th e resu r rection body will have id en tity w ith th e old body. I t will be as th e b eau ti ful p lan t coming ou t of th e ro tte d seed. Id en tity is no t necessarily absolute sameness of substance. We are the identical persons we were seven years ago, y et we are changed as to th e actual atom s in our bodies. There will be g rea ter changes in the resurrection body, yet id en tity will remain. “Then we shall know, even as we are known” (1 Cor. 1 3 :12 ). The In term ed iate S tate There is no g rea t w eight of Scrip tu re bearing on th e in term ed iate condi tion, o ther th a n to m ake it clear th a t it is a state of unalloyed happiness and bliss (See Lk. 16:19-31; 23:39-43; John 13 :36 ; Acts 7 :59 ; 1 Cor. 12:1-4; Phil. 1:21-23; 1 Thes. 4:13-18; Rev. 1 4 :1 3 ). The sp irits of th e departed
are not roam ing about in space; they do not communicate w ith the living. It is clear th a t th is is not th e completed condition, and in th is sense, th e dead cannot be said to be in heaven— the th ird heaven— th e place where God dwells and w here Christ officially acts as G reat H igh P riest (Heb. 9 :2 4 ). They are in a heavenly place, P aradise, as suggested by Lk. 23:43. The word means “ pleasure p a rk ” (See Rev. 2 :7 ). This seems to answer also to “Abra ham ’s bosom” (Lk. 16 :23 ) which was a place of repose, ecstacy and conscious ness. Some gath er from th e term used of th e death of th e believer, “ asleep in Jesu s,” th a t they are unconscious, bu t th is idea will be found to be contra dicted by S cripture incidents. Sleep as used in th is connection, refers only to th e body. A fter C h rist’s glorious coming for His saints, when these sp irits have been clothed in glorified bodies, they shall have free adm ittance to all th e glories of the F a th e r’s house, and then the prayer of Jesus (Jno. 17 :24 ) will be fully answered. The “mansions” which Christ has gone to prepare for His own, will be throw n open on th a t g rea t tr i umphal day, when he shall “ come again to receive us unto H im self” (Jno. 14: 3, 4). As Crysostom says: “When we pluck down a house w ith in te n t to rebuild it, we w arn the inh ab itan ts out of it, lest they should be soiled w ith the dust and lubbish, ' and for a tim e provide some other place for th em ; b u t when we have newly dressed up th e house, then we bring them back to a b etter h ab ita tion. Thus God, when he overtu rneth th is ro tten room of our flesh, calleth out th e sp irit for a little tim e and lodgeth it w ith H imself in some com er of His Kingdom, rep aireth th e imper fections of our bodies ag ain st the resu r rection and then, having made them beautiful, yea, glorious and in co rrup t ible, He doth p u t our sp irits back again into th e ir acquainted mansions.” Child of God, have you ever though t
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