Resurrectionist

“ But the image of the heavenly is the resurrection from the dead, and incorruption, in order that “as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we also should walk in newness of life.” ”

“ The subject of the resurrection is one that we all are very much interested in; it is something which concerns all mankind, more or less, but especially the Latter-day Saints who are now living on the earth. We all see that our brethren and sisters, as well as the wicked, are passing away, leaving us; they are called upon to lay aside these bodies, which are deposited in the grave. They are passing off by scores, by hundreds and by thousands, and we expect to follow them, that is the most of us. Perhaps some may live until the coming of the Son of Man, or the sounding of the first trump ”

“ As there is a twofold death,—the death of the soul, and the death of the body—so there is a double resurrection, the resurrection of the soul from the power of sin, and the resurrection of the body from the grave. As the first death is that which is spiritual, then that which is bodily, so the first resurrection is of the spirit, then the second of the body, and these two have a connexion together, therefore saith the apostle John, “Blessed are they who have part in the first resurrection, for on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests to God,” &c. ”

“ Everywhere, even among the most uncivilized nations, we find the hope that the sleep of the grave will not last forever, but that the day of awakening will dawn.
But we, as Christians, have no mere vague presentiments concerning this resurrection and recognition, but the most complete assurance. For Jesus Christ, who is Himself the Eternal Truth, says, in clear and solemn accents: "I am the resurrection and the life; he that believeth in Me, although he be dead, shall live." ”

“ And to the Galatians—“Paul, an Apostle, not of men, neither by man, but by Jesus Christ, and God the Father who raised him from the dead” (Gal. i. 1) ; And to the Corinthians—“Now if Christ be preached that he rose from the dead, how say some among you that there is no resurrection of the dead!” “But if there be no resurrection of the dead, then is Christ not risen;” “And if Christ [85] be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain;” ”

“ The resurrection of mortal bodies, on earth, began with Jesus, who on the third day rose from the grave, and after his sojourn among the children of men, took his body with him into heaven. This was the first fruit of the resurrection, made possible by the atonement of the Christ. Since that time, the resurrection of man may have continued, and no doubt will continue, in the future; for many spirits have laid down their earthly bodies, and all must be raised from the grave. In the resurrection, order and law will prevail, and the just deserts of men will be kept in mind. ”

“ If they who came out of great tribulation are arrayed in white robes among the righteous, we may look for some special sign of glory and joy in those who receive their bodies, not from the sheltering grave, but from the sea, and from the very frame of nature, into which their bodily organization will, in one way and another, have been incorporated. O the unspeakable wonders and raptures connected with the resurrection, both as it relates to our own experience, and to the illustrations which the resurrection will afford, of the divine wisdom and power. ”

“ VI. Of the Resurrection. The resurrection is not merely a physical but a moral and spiritual change. It is not only clothing the soul with an incorruptible body, but it is an anastasis, a raising up, an exaltation of the whole being into the power and glory of the heavenly; for, “as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly.” It is a change, they say, by which we become as the angels, and “are children of God, being (or, because we are) children of the resurrection.” It must, therefore, be something more than clothing the soul in a spiritual body. ”

“ And I have no doubt in my own mind, that when the resurrection shall come, when God shall speak, and we shall answer, it will be just as natural to bring up our bodies in the morning of the resurrection as it was for us to lay them down. Why, we do not understand how it is that they crumble away. Can you explain the death process, when an individual is taken hold of by some mysterious power, and the life goes. ”

“ The Lord killeth and maketh alive, he bringeth down to the grave, and bringeth up. I know that death and life are sometimes taken for good and evil; but why should deliverance from the miseries of this present life be represented by the metaphor of a resurrection, and this attributed to the almighty power of God, 341if the doctrine of the resurrection was reckoned by the church at that time, no other than a fiction or chimera, as it must be supposed to be if they had no idea of it, as not having received it by divine revelation? ”

“ Now the much-desired tabernacle of the soul is fallen, and sunk down into “the dust of the earth.” [33] For it is not that which is not dead, but that which is dead, that is laid down. But it is the flesh which dies; the soul is immortal. So, then, if the soul be immortal, and the body be the corpse, those who say that there is a resurrection, but not of the flesh, deny any resurrection ”

“ At death they send all who please them to endless bliss in heaven; but their enemies to eternal torments in hell. Thus, logically, resurrection, either to a blessed existence, or to punishment, is denied; for if rewards and punishment are awarded at death, and have been enjoyed and suffered incorporeally for thousands of years, resurrection, as scripturally taught, is a needless superfluity, a mere incumbrance upon faith, and uselessly perplexing to the minds of men. ”

“ I do not know whether or not the spirits of the wicked and the righteous are resurrected all at once. It is enough to say that those who have died, from the time of Adam to the resurrection of Christ, will be resurrected before those who live after Christ's resurrection. ”

“ At about twelve years of age I read of the first resurrection, as described by John the Apostle, in the 20th chapter of his Revelation; how they, martyrs of Jesus, and those who kept His commandments would live and reign with Christ a thousand years, while the rest of the dead lived not again till the thousand years were ended. ”

“ That, tho' the Chief Priests and Sealers of the Stone of the Sepulchre were not present, as I say they ought to have been, to behold the Miracle; yet his Resurrection was afterwards made as manifest to them, as if they had been there present.
3. That if Jesus did not really arise from the dead, the Belief of his Resurrection could never have been so propagated at first, nor would have been retain'd in the World for so many Ages since. ”

“ With the Lord's appearing a general resurrection of the righteous dead shall be effected, and many then in the flesh shall be changed from the mortal to the immortal state without the intervening experience of prolonged disembodiment or the sleep of the grave. ”

“ These speculators no doubt saw that too much importance is attached in the Scriptures to the resurrection to allow of its application to the body as a mere tabernacle for the soul which was only a burden during natural life, and which to be rid of is the unhampered and unburdened liberty of the soul to bask in bliss. ”

“ Our bodies are now mortal. In the resurrection there will be a reunion of the spirits and bodies, and they will walk, talk, eat, drink, and enjoy. Those who have passed these ordeals are society for angels—for the Gods, and are the ones who will come into the Temple of the Lord that is to be built in the latter days, when saviours shall come up upon Mount Zion, and will say, "Here, my children, I want this and this done. ”

“ But let us also rejoice at the thought of our own resurrection. True, it shall not take place immediately after death, but it is therefore not the less certain, and it depends on us to make it glorious and blessed. ”

“ There are many other things I would like to touch upon in regard the resurrection. We often reflect in our minds upon the capacity and power we shall have after the resurrection, when we are quickened by the celestial spirit? ”

“ Secondly, that we might know that he in whom we have plac'd the Safety of our Resurrection is immortal, and shall never die. Lastly, that we being dead in Sins by Repentance, and buried together with him by Baptism, should by his Grace be raised up again to Newness of Life. ”

“ The essential fact in the resurrection is, that Christ rose, through death, to a higher state. The essential doctrine of the resurrection is, that death is the transition from a lower to a higher condition in all who have the life which makes them capable of it. ”