many of these people who came out of the grave after Christ's resur rection. What is the proper chron ology?" A. It is interesting to consider these graves that were opened and the bodies of the saints which slept being raised. Matthew 28 as well as I Corinthians 15, give us chron ologically what happened after the crucifixion. Verse 53 simply inserts a little prepositional phrase, or a parenthesis, as to what happened to those people. Notice how care ful Scripture is in telling us that they caem out of the graves after His resurrection. This is to preserve the fact that Christ was the first- fruits. You might ask about Elijah and Elisha in their wonderful works of bringing men back from the dead. In the strict sense these, in cluding Lazarus, were not resur rected since they had to go back to the grave in eventual physical death. All they experienced was a ressusitation or a renewal of life, yet still on the same human plane. Q. Kenmore, Wash. "In the last trumpet of I Corinthians 15:53, is this the Is ame as the seventh trum pet of Revelation? If it is the same, does it mean that Christians will have to go through at least a part of the Tribulation before the Rap ture occurs?" A. This view is held by a number of people. We do not believe, however, that it has any relation to the seventh trumpet of Revelation. The trumpet was used in Old Tes tament times to announce some thing of very significant nature. That is what is referred to in I Cor inthians 15. It was simply the last trumpet to sound before certain events were going to take place.
Q. Los Angeles, Calif. "I Corinthi ans 15:12 states that some in the church at Corinth were teaching that there was no resurrection of the dead. Was this false doctrine limited to this particular area? Also what does the phrase 'Christ our first-fruits' mean?" A. The matter at issue was whether there could be any resurrection of a human body at any time. You see, Creek philosophy held to no such thing as a resurrection. With masterful skill, under the direction of the Holy Spirit, Paul shows how many different implications there would be, all serious to our faith, if the Lord Jessu had not come forth from the dead. So this false doctrine was not limited to the church at Corinth. It was part and parcel of the Greek world of phil osophy. It did not originate in the church but these Creek people at Corinth brought it in from their pagan background. "Christ became the first-fruits of them that slept" means simply that our Lord is the first evidence of those who will come from the grave in resurrection bodies. A seed is sown in the ground. After a time, it comes forth. The body of the Saviour was put into the ground. After due time He arose from the dead. The next in this order will be all those who are Christ's (vs. 23). Philippians 3:21 gives us another picture of this glorious event to which all believers should be looking forward. That is something worth shouting about! Q. San Francisco, Calif. "In Mat thew 27 we have the accounts of the crucifixion of the Lord Jesus Christ. Verses 51-54 gives a time block related to the event. Yet, verse 53 places the resurrection of
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