The Three Resurrections

7-17-17. My dad would have been 77. That's a lot of 7s. Unfortunately, my dad didn't make it to his 77th birthday. He died more than 30 years ago.

And after my dad died, I really struggled a great deal with what it meant to lose your dad when he's 46 and I was 21. We've obviously just been through that experience with Mr. Roram, and obviously this afternoon we're going to have a memorial for Von Beboen. Death seems to plague us, doesn't it? In fact, the Bible talks about the great enemy of death. And very likely we've all experienced the pain of death somewhere with a family member and a loved one. And we hear stories about what happens after death. I say stories because many times they are stories. Kind of feel-good stories about people looking down on us, being able to pray to those people who are in heaven looking down on us.

Interestingly, that's sort of an ancestor worship concept that you see in Buddhism. It shows up in Catholicism as well. And the reason that these stories arise is because we have an incredible need to know what happens. And in fact, there are constantly programs on this. There was a program many years ago on fresh air interviewing a man who studies all these things about white lights and people who have heart attacks and are dead and they see a white light and then they come back. And there's all sorts of this, like, what actually happens after death. I think I shared the story of a very tragic accident that occurred to a colleague at work. He was vacationing in Mexico with his family and his beautiful, lovely daughter was trampled to death by a horse. And that funeral was probably one of the most difficult funerals that I've gone to. It was in the Catholic Church there in Los Gatos and it was a very, very moving service. But it was a very confusing service because at one point she was in heaven and another point she was going to be resurrected. And I wasn't sure what the minister thought and I didn't have a chance to ask him, so it's probably not fair to bring that up. And maybe he knew what he was talking about, but I didn't know what he was talking about. I don't know how somebody can be in heaven and also be resurrected later. It just doesn't make sense to me. And so with this in mind and all these things that are happening, I felt it was important to review our doctrine on the resurrections. Interestingly enough, my wife pointed out that, as you know, we're having a Fundamentals of Belief series of Bible studies once a month. And the doctrine of the resurrections was one that was upcoming and it was to be given by Mark Roram. So this will be similar to that.

This is a sermon and it says in Scripture that all of the Word of God, all Scripture, is good for doctrine. And so this is going to be more of a doctrinal review. It is a little dry because we're going to be going through specific doctrinal points, but I don't want anyone to lose the impact that what we're talking about is fundamentally our hope. It's our hope and it isn't a story.

It isn't something that's made up to make us feel better. It is truly something that we can count on and we can rely on. The doctrine of the resurrection is a fundamental belief. Let's turn to Hebrews 6 and we'll see that Paul names it as a fundamental doctrine. Hebrews 6 in verse 1. Paul writes a list of those fundamental doctrines that all church members should understand and be conversant with.

He says in Hebrews 6 verse 1, Therefore, leaving the discussion of the elementary principles of Christ, let us go on to perfection, not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith towards God. And then in verse 2, he goes through of the doctrine of baptisms, of laying on of hands, of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment. And this we will do if God permits. So it is a fundamental doctrine of the church, a doctrine which we should be completely conversant in. We should understand very clearly these doctrines. We understand from reading 1 Corinthians 15 verse 22. Let's look at that for a moment. 1 Corinthians 15, 22, that when we speak of resurrections, we mean it specifically as plural. And we'll talk about why it must be plural. 1 Corinthians 15 verse 22, For as an Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive. But each one in his own order, there is an order to how people will be made alive.

Each one in his own order. Christ, who is the first to be resurrected from the dead. Afterwards, those who are Christ at his coming, the first resurrection, then comes the end when he delivers the kingdom of God, excuse me, when he delivers the kingdom to God, the Father, when he puts an end to all rule and all authority and power. And we'll talk about what that means in terms of a resurrection at that point. You know, when Paul had an opportunity to share his faith, as I've shared with you before, to government officials, to religious officials, and to those in God's church, he had an opportunity to tell people that they were going to heaven, and he didn't, because that is a false doctrine. He told them about the resurrection. Look in Acts 24 verse 15, just to remind ourselves of this, that this is a message that has been consistent from for thousands of years. Acts 24 verse 15, I have hope in God, which they themselves also accept, that there will be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and the unjust. This is what Paul said to everyone who would listen. He had hope in a resurrection, and you can't be in heaven at the same time you're resurrected. It doesn't work. When you die, you go into the ground, and we'll talk about that, and then there will be a hope of a resurrection. So today we'll review the scriptural basis for the church's teaching regarding three separate and distinct resurrections. And in the follow-up message, because I want to lay the foundation with this message, I want to examine specific situations of the Bible that some cite to show that we do go to heaven. And we'll talk about Elijah, and we'll talk about the apparition that Saul saw, thinking it was same, or things like that. I hope this review will be encouraging and grounding for each of us as we consider how short our lives are. So let's review a couple of scriptures on the fact that we don't go to heaven, and that no one but Jesus Christ has been resurrected, and then we'll go through some of the principles. You're in Acts 24, so just take one page over, at least in my Bible anyway, to Acts 26, 22. Acts 26, 22. Again, this would have been a great time for Paul to share the doctrine of heaven, which he didn't. Acts 26 and verse 22, Paul says, Therefore, having obtained help from God, to this day I stand, witnessing both to the small and great, saying no other things than those which the prophets and Moses said would come, that the Christ would suffer, that he would be the first to rise from the dead, and would proclaim light to the Jewish people and to the Gentiles. Elijah was not resurrected and did not go to heaven. People before Jesus Christ did not go to heaven. He was the first to be resurrected. Let's look over in Colossians 1, verse 18. And so this obviously presents a problem because we know that there's about 6,000 years of recorded human history, and a lot of people died in the four or so thousand years before Christ died. And so you have a problem. What do you do with all those people if Christ was the first to be resurrected? Colossians 1, verse 18. And he is the head of the body, speaking of Christ, the church, who is the beginning, the first born from the dead, that in all things he may have the preeminence. We won't take the time to turn there, but you can reference Revelation 1, verse 5, where he is also called the first born from the dead. Now, does anyone go to heaven? There's a memory verse on this. You should memorize it. It's John 3.13. Let's go over there. John 3.13. If anybody starts to tell you that they go to heaven, this is a great one. John 3.13. This is what's called a difficult scripture for the Protestants.

We have difficult scriptures. They have difficult scriptures. This is a difficult scripture. 3.13. No one has ascended to heaven, but he who came down from heaven, that is, the Son of man who is in heaven. No one has gone to heaven except Christ. And obviously, he was there, and he came down, and he would go back. If you go over to Acts 2, verse 29.

So, no man has ascended to heaven. John 3.13. We should all know that scripture.

Acts 2, verse 29 says, Men and brethren, let me speak freely to you of the patriarch David, he is both dead and buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. David did not go to heaven. David was dead and buried, and he spoke plainly of the fact that David was still there, his bones turning to dust, I'm sure, by that point. And if you go down just a few verses, it says in verse 34, to just make sure that everyone's clear on this, it says, For David did not ascend into the heavens, but he says himself, The LORD said to my LORD, Sit at my right hand, till I make your enemies your footstool. In other words, he will ascend to heaven at some point in the resurrection, but at that point, he had not. So if David didn't go to heaven, you're not going to heaven either.

So I won't take the time to go through more of those. I think that's hopefully clear.

So Christ was the firstborn from the dead. He was resurrected, and because of his resurrection, we have hope. And I'll talk a little bit more about that during the memorial. So let's go through the first resurrection. So why don't we go to the first slide here?

Get that over. There we go. I thought this would help. You can keep these points. What I'm going to do is I'm going to go through the characteristics of the first resurrection, the second resurrection, and the third resurrection. And I'm going to keep those points up there so they can be kind of reminding you of our outlines. That's essentially what we're going to go through. I've got six points in terms of the characteristics of the first resurrection, which hopefully you can see over there. So what are the characteristics of the first resurrection?

So let's start by reading Revelation 20, verse 6. Actually, before we get into characteristics, let's make sure we know why it's named the first resurrection, because we don't want to just throw these terms around loosely. When we talk about a first resurrection, did I make up that term? What does that mean? Revelation 20, verse 6 says, Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection.

Okay, so the Bible specifically names this resurrection as the first resurrection.

Now, if it's named as the first resurrection, there is a presumption that there is a second, or maybe other, resurrection. For example, during the First World War, people did not call the First World War the First World War, because they didn't know there was going to be a second at that point. They called it the Great War, the war from 1914 to 1918. Interestingly enough, President Trump was in France yesterday celebrating the 100th anniversary of the entry of the United States into the Great War. That's what it was called. It was only later that they renamed it the First World War, because there had been a second World War. So the fact that something's called first certainly implies something second. But we don't have to infer. We can actually see this also in Hebrews 11. Let's go to Hebrews 11, verse 32.

Hebrews 11.

In verse 32 to 35, we read about the hope of the resurrection. This is really actually a very interesting verse. For what more shall I say for the time would fail me to tell you of Gideon, and Berwick, and Samson? Interesting Samson. That's a very interesting study, Samson. And Jephthah, and also of David, and Samuel, and the prophets. Now we hear about David. This is what's going to happen to David.

So, if there's only one, you can't have something better. So there are more than one resurrection.

So what we're going to talk about right now is the first resurrection. The first characteristic of the first resurrection is that it takes place at the second coming of Christ. So let's look over in Matthew 24, verse 29. Matthew 24, verse 29. It takes place at the second coming of Christ at the sound of the seventh trumpet. Matthew 24, and in verse 29. We're going to be turning to a lot of scriptures today. I'll try and make them as efficient as I can. Matthew 24, verse 29 says, Just so we're clear on that, go to Revelation 20 once more, and we'll just read the follow-up. This is, again, John writing under inspiration. Of course, John was with Christ, so he would have heard that spoken.

Revelation 20, in verse 4, And I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was committed to them. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their witness to Jesus, and for the word of God, who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received his mark in their forehead, or on their hands, and they lived and reigned with Christ for a thousand years.

Now, the they, actually I should mention this, this is one of those sermons where I would love to have a Bible chat afterwards. Unfortunately, we don't have time for that. So what I'm hoping to do is, in two weeks when I'm back, and I kind of do a follow-up to this, we can have a Bible chat afterwards, because the they here is a very interesting discussion about who this means. Is they just the people who are martyred, or is they us? I'm going to tell you it's us. I'll leave it at that, and we'll talk about that a little bit more next time. And then there's a parenthetical thought, but the rest of the dead did not live again until the thousand years were finished. We'll hit that in the second resurrection. This is the first resurrection. So this first resurrection is speaking about the they who will reign and live with Christ for a thousand years, all those who were martyred, all those who were faithful in this life, who were called at this time. This is that first resurrection. So this is one of the first characteristics. The second one is a resurrection to immortality. This is very important. This is a resurrection to immortality. Look over in Luke 20 verse 34.

Luke 20 and verse 34. This is a distinction to the second resurrection, which we'll see. Luke 20 verse 34 says, And Jesus answered and said to them, The sons of this age marry and are given in marriage. But those who are counted worthy to obtain that age, that is, this coming kingdom, counted worthy to obtain that age, and the resurrection from the dead, neither marry nor are given in marriage. So these people are not flesh and blood. These people are not mortals, as we are now, nor can they die anymore. For they are equal to the angels and are sons of God being sons of the resurrection. These people are resurrected to immortality. They are resurrected to a status equal with the angels. And as we understand, we will be like God, as it says in as John writes in 1 John 3. We don't know what we shall be, but we know we shall be like God, for we shall see Him as He is. A similar characteristic, but I think important to delineate physical bodies will be changed to spirit. Look over in Philippians 3 verse 20.

Philippians 3 and verse 20. You can see here that it describes this change that's going to occur.

And of course, this is what's most exciting as we read prayer requests, as we age, and these things happen to us. You know, we read about Verona, we read about Teresa. Obviously, all of us are subject to this physical body and its limitations. And so in Philippians 3 and verse 20, it says, For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body, that it may be conformed to His glorious body, according to the working by which He is able even to subdue all things to Himself. We will be given this fantastic new body. You know, for men, you know, the six-pack, right? We've got this beautiful body, right? You see these people, sometimes you see these people on TV and you're like, how did that happen? How can people look like that? Well, you know, God created beauty, and He's going to give us all these beautiful, glorious bodies. Now, obviously, I'm making a little bit of a joke.

We don't know that we're going to have a six-pack, and I don't want to be quoted that way, right?

But the fact is we're not going to be subject to this same condition where, you know, anything can happen, right? We are flesh and blood and subject to all sorts of problems. The fourth characteristic is that only the dead in Christ and those in Christ who are alive at His coming are in the first resurrection. So those who have died, having been called and accepted the calling of Jesus Christ, having received the Holy Spirit, are going to be in this resurrection. We see that in 1 Thessalonians 4. We read that very often, but let's make sure that we see that.

1 Thessalonians 4, verse 13. This will be important because we're going to make distinctions with the second and third resurrection here in a bit. 1 Thessalonians 4, verse 13. It says, But I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep, lest you sorrow as others who have no hope. We read this at funerals. We read this at a time when we're suffering. If we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus. For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep. For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will 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 thus we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words. We in this room are striving to be in the first resurrection, striving in the sense that we have received the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. We have the opportunity to understand His will. We are being judged now, and as we follow that call, we look forward to this glorious day. The fifth characteristic is the second death has no power over those in the first resurrection. We see this in Revelation 2 verse 11. Revelation 2 verse 11.

Writing to the church in Smyrna, and he writes, John writes extensively about this, but he is very specific in regard to Smyrna. He says, He who overcomes, verse 11, he who has an ear let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. He who overcomes shall not be hurt by the second death.

The second death has no power whatsoever. And we, if you just turn over to Revelation 20 verse 6, I didn't read that, I stopped short, but that also says that there, Revelation 20 verse 6, it says, blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection, over such the second death has no power. For they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years. That second death, which is the true death that we should fear, not death from this life, but the true second death, which we'll talk about, is truly what is to be feared. And those in the first resurrection have no fear of the second death.

They have been judged. And finally, those in this resurrection are called firstfruits.

We'll go over in Romans 8 verse 22. Romans 8 and verse 22. There's many references here in firstfruits. We talk a lot about firstfruits, but just so we have one in our notes here, Revelation 8 verse 22. For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birthpangs together until now, waiting, waiting for the return of Jesus Christ, waiting for the resurrection, the first resurrection. And not only they, but we also who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves, groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for the adoption, that is this resurrection, and the redemption of the body. So we are firstfruits, and we await the redemption of this body. So these are the characteristics of those who are in the first resurrection. I think we study a lot about this. We talk a lot about this on the Feast of Trumpets. We talk about this through the plan of salvation. This is what we're all striving for. So let's go on to the second resurrection. We go to the next slide. Second resurrection. What are the characteristics of those who are in the second resurrection? Let's go back to Revelation 20 and verse 4. So the first thing that we should note here is, what's the name of this resurrection in the Bible? So Revelation 20 verse 4 gives us a name. We'll read verse 4. Actually, we read verse 4 already, so I'm just going to go to verse 5. It says, but the rest of the dead did not live again until the thousand years were finished. So the biblical term for this resurrection is the rest of the dead resurrection. That's what it's called in the Bible, the rest of the dead. Now we call it the second resurrection because we have a first, and so it's a convenient way of keeping track.

The biblical term is the rest of the dead. So this is the rest of the dead resurrection, and this rest of the dead resurrection takes place at the end of the thousand years. So this is the first characteristic of the second resurrection. This does not return, this does not take place at the return of Christ. It happens a thousand years later, so there's a very distinct circumstance going on here.

The other thing that's important as we go into the characteristics is this is a resurrection to mortal life. It's not a resurrection to spirit life. This is a resurrection to mortality. Let's look over in Ezekiel 37, and we'll see an example. We'll call it an example because this is an example of the nation of Israel that will be part of the second resurrection, Ezekiel 37. And we don't have the time to read through all of Ezekiel 37. I encourage you to review it. I'm going to hit just a few highlights. Verse 5, Thus says the Lord God to these bones, there's this valley of bones, right?

All these bones, thousands upon thousands, perhaps millions of people and their bones scattered. And if you've ever come across human bones, it's a little disconcerting. When I was in Syria, we were excavating and we came across two people who had died in a fire. And their skull was there with all their teeth and their bodies, right? What was left of their bones? These people had been killed in a fire, very likely, five thousand years before. And all their bones were there, all preserved. You could see their teeth, you could see the cavities and all the things, right?

I mean, it's there. It's very disconcerting. So you have this valley of all these bones. And it says, Thus says the Lord God to these bones, Surely I will cause breath to enter into you and you shall live. I will put sinews on you and bring flesh upon you, cover you with skin and put breath in you and you shall live. And then you shall know that I am the Lord God.

Look down in verse nine now. Then he said to me, prophesied to the breath, prophesied, son of man, and say to the breath, Thus says the Lord God, Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain that they may live. And so I prophesied as he commanded me, and breath came into them, and they lived and stood upon their feet in exceedingly great army.

And then he said to them, Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. They indeed say, Our bones are dry, our hope is lost, and we ourselves are cut off. And we'll talk about how Israel was cut off. Therefore prophesied and say to them, Thus says the Lord God, Behold, O my people, I will open your graves and cause you to come up from your graves and bring you into the land of Israel.

And then you shall know that I am the Lord when I have opened your graves, O my people, and brought you up from your graves. And then he says something interesting. I will put my spirit in you, and you shall live, and I will place you in your own land, and then you shall know that I, the Lord, have spoken it and performed it, says the Lord. These are people who were cut off, and they died.

And now they're resurrected with flesh and breath, just like God breathed into Adam the breath of life. They're human beings. They're physical. They have flesh and breath. And now God is going to work with them. He's going to now give them his spirit. And this is speaking to the house of Israel, but we understand that this is just a type of that second resurrection.

All mankind will be resurrected, and this is just describing the Israelites who will be resurrected at that time. And this gets to the third characteristic, which is God will give those in this resurrection the opportunity to receive the Holy Spirit and receive eternal life, again, if they follow his way. And we see here in verse 14 that he's going to put his spirit into these people, but we can see if we just back up to chapter 36 in verse 26, we see this described a little more fully.

Again, I'm on the third characteristic, which is that those in this resurrection will have the opportunity to receive God's Holy Spirit and eventually receive eternal life. It says in verse 26, this is 36, 26, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you. I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put my spirit within you and cause you to walk in my statutes and you will keep my judgments and do them. So this is an opportunity for Israel and for all mankind to have access to God, to have access to his Holy Spirit.

I talked about the two trees and clearly the tree of life was guarded and cut off from the majority of human beings. Now, in this second resurrection, that Holy Spirit is freely given, as is described at the end of Revelation. In Revelation 22, where it speaks of the tree of life. Now, why were they cut off?

Look over in Deuteronomy 29. We can see in Deuteronomy 29 in verse 1 through 4 that the Lord himself acted upon this. Paul will bring this out a little bit more, but if you look in Deuteronomy 29 verse 1 through 4, we'll see what God says about Israel. Deuteronomy 29 verse 1, these are the words of the covenant which the Lord commanded Moses to make with the children of Israel in the land of Moab, besides the covenant which he made with them in Horeb.

Now Moses called all Israel and said to them, You have seen all the Lord did before your eyes in the land of Egypt, to Pharaoh and to all his servants and to all his land. The great trials which your eyes have seen, the signs and these great wonders. Verse 4, interesting, yet the Lord has not given you a heart to perceive and eyes to see and ears to hear to this very day.

They couldn't truly grasp what God was doing. They did not have God's Holy Spirit.

And we understand from John 6, 44, that no one can come to Christ unless the Father who sent him draws him. You see, we have a problem because thousands, millions, potentially billions of people lived and died before Jesus Christ ever came. And something has to happen to them. How can they have salvation? Because this is their first opportunity, point four. They will have a second mortal life and they will have their first opportunity for salvation. Look over in Acts 4 verse 12.

This is a real problem for Protestant teaching. This is another one of those difficult scriptures.

Acts 4 and verse 12, and I think I've read to you the Catholic position on this, which is that God in his mercy knows what he's doing and it is a great mystery which cannot be understand and will be revealed in time. That's essentially the Catholic position. Other people come up with all sorts of weird interpretations about the three days that Jesus was dead. He actually was transported back in time. And all the people of Noah's generation were resurrected and he preached to them in hell and they were converted and therefore they will have a chance for salvation. The Mormons have a doctrine of baptizing for the dead. So what they do is they work very, very hard to find everybody in your genealogy and then you have a baptism after the fact. So you are able to save your relatives by baptizing them. There's all sorts of these sort of strange ideas of how you get around the fact of Acts 4 verse 12, which says, "...nor is there salvation in any other. For there is no other name under heaven given among men, by which we must be saved." We can only be saved through Jesus Christ. And so you have to create all these weird scenarios to get around this for all those people that lived and died before he was even human. And then after he was human, you have to figure out what to do with all those people in China and India and Africa that lived and died and never heard his name. So this is the second resurrection that truly gives these people an opportunity, a first opportunity, a second physical life, but a first opportunity. Go to John 5 verse 28.

John 5 verse 28 and 29. We can see a second resurrection described here.

John 5 verse 28 and 29. It says, "...do not marvel at this, for the hours coming in which all who are in the graves will hear his voice." Okay, so we're not talking about the dead in Christ, although a portion of this does. He's going to get into this and come forth, "...those who have done good to the resurrection of life and those who have done evil to the resurrection of condemnation." So yes, some who are in the graves, who have died in Christ, will hear his voice and be resurrected in the first resurrection. But the majority of people are not in that situation. The majority of these people will rise to a resurrection of, it says here, condemnation. Now condemnation is the translation in the King James Version. This is the Greek word, cresis, c-r-i-s-i-s, cresis. And it is a word that is defined as the process of investigation. That's from Vines Expositor's Dictionary of Biblical Words, the process of investigation. So they are resurrected to a resurrection of a process of investigation.

Cresis is also held in contrast to crema, which is a sentence pronounced or a verdict.

Now, again, this is from Vines. Now, the translators of the King James chose to use the word condemnation, but other translations use the word judgment, because that is truly what this is. It is a resurrection to judgment. So if you look at parallel verses in other translations, you'll see the word judgment. So you have a resurrection to life, which is that first resurrection, and you have a resurrection to judgment or cresis or process of investigation, which is this second resurrection that we're describing. And this process of investigation can lead to life or it can lead to death. It is a judgment. The New American Standard Bible uses the word judgment. The Revised Standard Version uses judgment. The New Living Translation uses judgment. Many other verses use the word judgment. If you look over in Hebrews 9 verse 27, Hebrews 9 and verse 27, it says here, it is appointed for man to die once.

But after this, the cresis, the judgment. It's the same Greek word that we saw over in John 5 verse 29. And this time they use the word judgment. It's the same Greek word.

Now, there is a judgment, and Christ talks about a judgment. If you look over in Matthew 10 verse 5, again, we have more difficult verses for mainstream Christianity to deal with. Matthew 10, then Matthew 10 verse 15, Assuredly I say to you, it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment than for the city. So, that city. So, this is the day of judgment. We're not talking about the first resurrection. We're talking about the second resurrection. How can this be more tolerable? If you're in mainstream Christianity, you're like, okay, how can it be more tolerable? You're saying that the people of Sodom and Gomorrah were better? Or worse? How can this be? Well, you see, everyone is going to have an opportunity to understand what Christ is doing, to understand what God's plan is. And what he's saying here is that these people here, you know, they may not even make it into the second resurrection. We'll talk about the third resurrection. He could go that far, or it could just be these people have such hardened hearts. It's going to be so hard for them to unlearn what they've learned. Whereas these people in Sodom and Gomorrah, you know, they were just deceived, confused. Once they have the truth revealed to them, they're going to turn around like that. So those are two kind of understandings. These people may not even make it into the second resurrection, into this judgment that's being described. Or if they are in the second resurrection, their hearts may be so hardened that it will be very, very difficult for them to truly understand what God was doing. If you look over in Matthew 12, verse 41, it says, The men of Nineveh will rise in the judgment with this generation and condemn it, because they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and deed a greater than Jonah is here. The queen of the south will rise up in the judgment with this generation and condemn it. For she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and indeed a greater than Solomon is here. You see, these people, the men of Nineveh, queen of Sheba, were they really called? No. They really weren't called. They didn't have access to God's Holy Spirit. They repented in the sense of the things that they were doing, but that doesn't mean that they necessarily understood God's plan. They were going to rise up in the judgment, and they are going to be given an opportunity to truly understand God's law. And they're going to condemn that generation and say, you had Christ preaching right there, and you couldn't hear it. So, they are going to be given the first opportunity, then, to understand God's way. Now, what is this judgment? So, if you go over to Revelation 20, we're going to continue in verse 7. Revelation 20 in verse 7. We read 4, 5, and 6. Now, let's continue. Because Revelation 20, verse 7, talks about this judgment.

Now, when the thousand years had expired, Satan will be released from prison, and will go out to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle, whose number is as the sand of the sea. Revelation 20, verse 9. Now, they went up on the breadth of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints, and the beloved city, and the fire came down from God out of heaven and devoured them. And the devil who deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and they will be tormented day and night forever. And notice verse 11. Then I saw a great white throne, and him who sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away, and there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and books were opened. This is this judgment that we're talking about. They are standing before this great white throne to be judged, and books were opened. And if you skip down a little bit, it says, they will be judged according to their works by the things which were written in the books. So this great judgment before God is going to be a judgment based upon things that are written in the books. And we've talked about this before. What are these books? Well, these books are the books of the Bible. How do we know these are the books of the Bible? Look over in Daniel 7 verse 9 and 10. Daniel 7 verse 9 and 10.

This describes a parallel account of this great event, and it also makes reference to books being opened here as well. Daniel 7 verses 9 and 10. I watched till thrones were put in place, and the ancient of days was seated. This is that judgment. His garment was white as snow, and the hair of his head was like pure wool. His throne was a fiery flame in its wheels of burning fire. This is a pretty scary thing. A fiery steam issued and came forth from him. A thousand thousands ministered to him. Ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him. The court was seated, and the books were opened. Again, these are the books of the Bible. Now, this word books here is the Hebrew word Sifar. It's Strong's word 5609, if you're making that note, and it refers to a book or a scroll.

And there are five usages of this word in the Old Testament. One is in Ezra 6 verse 18, which we won't turn to, but you can make that note. Ezra 6 verse 18. This same word is used to refer to the book of Moses, and that's why we believe that these are the books of the Bible, because it's the same book that is that's used. The four other listings are referring to archives or a list of right and wrong. But the problem is that if you go down the path of saying, well, these books are a list of everything good and bad that people did, and they're going to be judged, now you're in condemnation. So you're going to bring up a one-hour-old infant, and you're going to say, okay, one-hour-old infant, let's look at all the things that you did right or wrong, and we're going to make a decision about you. That doesn't make sense. Or you're going to bring up a man who never heard the name of Jesus Christ, who had a terrible existence, you know, abused, maybe made a child soldier, murdered, you know, tens and dozens of people, and you're going to do this list and say, you murdered a lot of people. Okay, judgment be upon you. This is a just and merciful God would not do this.

So these books that are referring to are the books of the Bible. We can also see this in Jeremiah 9, excuse me, Daniel 9. Daniel 9, just two pages over. Daniel 9 verse 2, it says here, in the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, understood by the books the number of the years specified by the word of the Lord given through the prophet Jeremiah. This word books is a very, very similar word called Sefer. This is Strong's word 5612, and this is referring to the book of Jeremiah itself. It's a very, very similar word to 5609, and so he understood by the books as it says here. So this is another usage of the term books, and this is a very specific reference to the book of Jeremiah. So we have Daniel 7, we have Daniel 9, what makes it clear that these are the books. Now, this cannot be the first resurrection because, remember, the first resurrection has already taken place. And in the first resurrection, people have been judged already because they have been given the knowledge of God. In fact, we can see this in 1 Peter 4 verse 17. 1 Peter 4 verse 17 describes a time of judgment, but it's describing the time of judgment for people who understand God's law today. It says, for the time has come for the judgment, and this is the word crema, which is this similar concept, to begin at the house of God. And if it begins with us first, what will the end of those who do not obey the gospel of God be?

So judgment has already taken place for those who died in Christ, for those who were in the first resurrection. So this is now a judgment that is for those who have not had their opportunity.

So now let's go back to Revelation 20 and continue in verse 12 and see this time of judgment. So people are going to be judged based upon the books. That is, they're going to be taught the word of God. They're going to be told this is the way to live, walk you in it, and they're going to be judged as to whether or not they follow God's law, and they respond to his call. And we can see then in verse 12, we'll read the whole thing. And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and the books were opened.

And another book was opened, which is the book of life. So the book of life is now opened.

And again, this is why it is impossible to consider that this is a judgment, or excuse me, a resurrection to condemnation. Again, John 5 verse 29, because if it was a resurrection to condemnation, there's no reason to open a book of life. So you resurrect this hour-old child. You resurrect this person who has murdered dozens of people. And then you open this book of life and you say, ain't going to make it in there. Sorry about that. Okay, you're dead. No, this is bizarre. Why would you raise people to condemn them and hold this book of life in front of them? And when they never had that opportunity. Now, this book of life is opened because this is an opportunity then that these people will have to be written in the book of life. They will have an opportunity to be written in the book of life. That doesn't mean that they automatically will be in there, just like us. We're not automatically in there. But it is now available to them. That's what verse 12 is saying. The book of life is available to them. And the dead were judged according to their works by the things which are written in the books.

And they were judged to be written in the book of life or not written in the book of life. And so the book of life is available and open to these people.

Finally, on the second resurrection, let's look at Romans 11 briefly. Romans 11 is a great discussion of Israel and how Israel was cut off and how Israel will have an opportunity for salvation. And this is where they truly do have that that chance.

Looking at Romans 11, let's start in verse 1. I say then, has God cast away His people?

He's following on the end of Romans 10 verse 21 where it says, but to Israel He says, this is Romans 10 verse 21, all day long I have stretched out my hands to a disobedient and contrary people.

These people were just were they were rejecting God. And so Paul is answering the question here, is God cast away these people? And he answers, certainly not.

And in verse 2, God has not cast away His people, whom He foreknow, or do you not know what the Scripture says to Elijah that he pleads with God against Israel, saying, Lord, they have killed your prophets and torn down your altars, and I alone am left and they seek my life. And then it says in verse 5, even so then at this present time, there is a remnant according to the election of grace.

But if by grace, then it is no longer of works and otherwise grace is no longer grace.

And then if you continue then in verse 7, what then? Israel has not obtained what it seeks, but the elect have obtained it and the rest were hardened. That is to say, Israel has been rejected, but the elect today, those the spiritual Israel, have salvation. Does that mean God has thrown away and cast away His people? Israel, the physical nation that have rejected God and killed the prophets and all these people? Is God not faithful to give them an opportunity? The answer is yes, He has. Verse 11, I say then, they have stumbled that they should fail, certainly not, but though, but through their fall to provoke them to jealousy, salvation has come to the Gentiles. Salvation is made available to all people. Verse 25, For I do not desire, brethren, that you should be ignorant of this mystery, lest you should be wise in your own opinion, that hardening in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come. And so all Israel will be saved as written, the deliverer will come out of Zion, and he will turn away ungodliness from Jacob. Verse 28, Concerning the gospel, they are enemies for your sake, but concerning the election, they are beloved for the sake of the fathers. You see, the Jews were persecuting God's people. And if you're being persecuted, you're like, God, take care of these people. And God says, you know what? I am going to take care of them, and they are persecuting you, but they will have their chance. And that's how we need to think about people who are not called at this time who are persecuting us. They will have their chance. God knows what's going on. God's people were being persecuted at that time by the Jews around them, but those people at some point would have their opportunity for salvation. Verse 30, For as you were once disobedient to God, yet have now obtained mercy through their disobedience. Even so, these also have now been disobedient, that through the mercy shown to you, they also may obtain mercy. They will have their opportunity. Now, there's a question about how long this judgment lasts. I don't have time to go into that today. There's a whole discussion around a hundred-year period and so forth, but the fact is this is the second resurrection, and these are the characteristics. Now, let's talk about the third resurrection. So, let's go back to Revelation 20 and continue this story here. So, the term third resurrection is not in the Bible.

So, if we want to name this resurrection biblically, we would call this, I put it up there, the sea and death and Hades delivered up resurrection.

Okay, that's what we're going to... that's what the Bible calls it. Verse 13, the sea gave up... this is Revelation 20 verse 13, the sea gave up the dead who were in it, and death and Hades delivered up the dead who were in them. So, this is the sea and death and Hades delivered up resurrection.

Now, we have the first resurrection, which is named and is comprised of the first fruits and the dead in Christ. We have the second resurrection, which is named the rest of the dead resurrection for those who were not drawn to God, according to John 644, who did not have an opportunity to understand or even hear the name of Jesus Christ and who lived and died. And now, we have a third category of individuals, and this category, and we see up here the characteristics, this is for those who did have an opportunity to receive God's Spirit, but yet rejected it. And the first characteristic of this resurrection is this is a resurrection to death. Okay, this is not a resurrection to immortality. It's not a resurrection to physical life. It's a resurrection to death. And we see this here. It says, then death and Hades, excuse me, gave up and they were judged, each one according to his works. Let me read the whole thing again. The sea gave up the dead, who were in it, and death and Hades delivered up the dead, who were in them, and they were judged, each one according to his works. So they were judged according to their works, and in this case, their works were evil. Look over in Matthew 25 verse 31, and I should say they were evil in the sense that they had an opportunity to understand good and evil. They had an opportunity to receive God's Holy Spirit, and they rejected it. Matthew 25 verse 31 speaks of this resurrection.

Matthew 25 verse 31 to 32. And this is the scary resurrection, because this is a resurrection that we can yet still be part of if we turn aside from what we have been taught.

Matthew 25 verse 31. When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory. All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from his goats.

I look down at verse 46. Actually, He tells a parable here about people and how they live their life. Verse 46 says, And these will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into everlasting life. Christ describes something called everlasting punishment.

That's what's being described. The second resurrection, as we've described, is not a resurrection about everlasting punishment. It's a resurrection about a creasis, a process of investigation, with the book of life open. In verse 14 of Revelation 20, we see no reference to the book of life. The book of life is not present. There is not an opportunity to be in the book of life. These people already had their opportunity. This is a resurrection to everlasting punishment.

Now, the second characteristic is that the unrepentant wicked are in this resurrection, and they will be burned up. If you look over in Hebrews 6, verse 4, Hebrews 6, and in verse 4, we read about this very, very serious circumstance.

Hebrews 6, and verse 4, There is no way that they have access to Jesus Christ a second time. There is no way that they have access to Him. This is a scary, scary thing. Verse 7, These people, just like these dry branches, serve no purpose anymore.

And their only purpose, really, is to be burned, to be destroyed and utterly put away.

If you turn over a couple verses, a couple pages, excuse me, to Acts 10, verse 26, we also see this described. Hebrews 10, verse 26. Hebrews 10, verse 26.

For if we sin willfully, after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins. Christ will not be sacrificed a second time for us.

But a certain, fearful expectation of judgment. This is that judgment that's described in Revelation 20, verse 14.

And fiery indignation which will devour the adversaries. This is what will happen. A fiery indignation.

Anyone, verse 28, who has rejected Moses' law dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses.

Of how much worse punishment do you suppose will he be thought worthy, who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, counted the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, a common thing, and insulted the Spirit of grace.

That's what we do when we turn aside after we have received God's calling and His Spirit. We have insulted the Spirit of grace. We have called Christ's blood common, something to be discarded, something that is of no consequence.

Those who rejected God's Holy Spirit and sought the Spirit of grace before Christ returns will not have a second opportunity. There is no reason for them to be in the second resurrection, because the second resurrection is about a time of judgment. It's a time when the book of life is open and the books are there before people.

They will not be raised to a physical life to be held in some prison cell.

What would you do? You're going to raise them in the second resurrection to some physical life, and then you're going to say, well, you had your chance. We already know what you did with it. So you're going to go ahead and sit here in prison in some physical life, and then at the end of that time, we're going to throw you in the lake of fire.

That would be very cruel. These people who have lived and died up to this point, who have rejected God, will be raised in this third resurrection to be told, you knew what you did.

You had the information. You knew what the book said about the sacrifice of Christ, and you trampled it underfoot. You are condemned to eternal punishment. And that's it.

End of story. That is the third resurrection. This will be a time of some rejudgment.

There's no more discussion. There's no more evidence presented. The judgment has been made, and now it is time to pronounce it. If you look over in 2 Peter 3, verse 7.

2 Peter 3 and verse 7.

But the heavens and the earth, which now exist, are kept in store, or in some translations, preserved by the same word, reserved for fire until the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men. You see, there are some people who have lived and died who are reserved for this third resurrection. For perdition, as it says, for these ungodly men. The third characteristic is this is the second death. The second death. Let's go back to Revelation 20.

This is the ultimate. This is what Christ speaks about. Again, for sake of time, I didn't go through all of those references. There's a lot of them. Revelation 20, verse 14.

Then death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.

This is the second death. There's no coming back from the second death.

Now, it's interesting that death and Hades are described here. Death and Hades are two inanimate objects. These are not people. These are things we're talking about.

In the case of Hades, Hades is one of the words for hell in the Bible. It's the grave.

So the grave is describing where David was. David was in hell. He was in Hades. We read that.

He was in the tomb. The grave is this temporary place where we reside prior to being judged.

In the case of the first resurrection, where we've already been judged prior to being raised in the first resurrection, this resting place will be thrown into the lake of fire. That is, there's no more reason for people to have a resting place. It serves no purpose. And death itself now has been defeated because the first, second, and third resurrections have all been accomplished. So death no longer serves any purpose. There is no death that will exist at that point. Death will be destroyed. Death itself will be destroyed in the lake of fire. And all mankind at this point has been judged. And now we move into another phase of God's plan, which I won't go into at this point.

So in summary, we see a first resurrection named and then a sequence of events which describe two additional resurrections for individuals not part of the first resurrection. The first resurrection is only for the dead in Christ. It is a resurrection to immortality. The wicked are not in this resurrection. And those who never had an opportunity for salvation are not in this resurrection.

There is another resurrection called the rest of the dead to mortal life. And we see an example of that in Ezekiel. It cannot be the first resurrection since God offers his Holy Spirit to these people. And God's Holy Spirit has already been offered to those in the first resurrection. And they will have an opportunity to receive salvation.

And there is a final resurrection. The only time the wicked can come up in a resurrection is in this separate time. Again, if they were to come up in the rest of the dead resurrection, they would be condemned to live some period of time as a mortal human being in some sort of, you know, state of suspended animation or something until such time as they would be thrown into the lake of fire. This resurrection is for the purpose of a final judgment on the wicked who will be destroyed.

These are the three resurrections. Christ gives us an opportunity to be part of this first resurrection. And we celebrate those who have died in the faith, as we will this afternoon. Those who have remained holy to the end through allowing Jesus Christ to dwell in them and to make them holy. I pray that we can all be part of this better resurrection and that for those who persecute us today, for those who do not understand God's truth, that they too will have an opportunity and that we should recognize that God is merciful and will be merciful to them. I hope this is helpful. I hope this is inspiring. When time is a difficulty and trouble, it doesn't change the sorrow and grief that we feel. It doesn't remove our human emotions. But at least we can be grounded in these fundamental truths. Not stories, but truths from the Bible.