[1156] Note the fact that Moroni, the last of the Nephite prophets, who died in the first quarter of the fifth century A.D., appeared as a resurrected being to Joseph Smith in 1823 (see pp.
10-12).
=24. The First Resurrection.--Christ"s Resurrection, and that immediately following.=--The facts of Christ"s resurrection from the dead are attested by such an array of scriptural proofs that no doubt of the reality finds place in the mind of any believer in the inspired records. To the women who came early to the sepulchre, the angel, who had rolled the stone from the door of the tomb, spoke, saying:--"He is not here, for he is risen, as he said."[1157] Afterward the resurrected Lord showed Himself to many[1158] during the forty days"
interval between His resurrection and ascension.[1159] Subsequent to the ascension He manifested Himself to the Nephites on the western hemisphere, as already noted in another connection.[1160] The apostles, as we shall see, ceased not to testify of the genuineness of their Lord"s resurrection, nor did they fail to proclaim the resurrections of the future.
[1157] Matt. xxviii, 6. See "Jesus the Christ." ch. x.x.xvii.
[1158] Matt. xxviii, 9, 16; Mark xvi, 14; Luke xxiv, 13-31, 34; John xx, 14-17, 19, 26; xxi, 1-4; I Cor. xv, 5-8.
[1159] Luke xxiv, 49-51; Acts i, 1-11.
[1160] See page 37.
=25.= Christ, "the first-fruits of them that slept,"[1161] was the first among men to come forth from the grave in an immortalized body; but we read that, soon after His resurrection, many of the Saints were brought from their tombs:--"And the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose, and came out of the graves after his resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many."[1162]
[1161] I Cor. xv, 20, 23; see also Acts xxvi, 23; Col. i, 18; Rev.
i, 5.
[1162] Matt. xxvii, 52-53.
=26.= Alma, the Nephite prophet, whose writings antedate by nearly a century the birth of Christ, clearly understood that there would be no resurrection prior to that of the Redeemer, for he said:--"Behold I say unto you, that there is no resurrection; or, I would say, in other words, that this mortal does not put on immortality; this corruption does not put on incorruption, until after the coming of Christ."[1163]
And furthermore, he foresaw a general resurrection in connection with Christ"s coming forth from the dead, as the context of the foregoing quotation clearly proves.[1164] Inspired men among the Nephites spoke of the death and resurrection of Christ[1165] even during the time of His actual ministry in the flesh; and their teachings were speedily confirmed by the appearance of the risen Lord among them,[1166] as had been foretold by their earlier prophets.[1167]
[1163] Alma xl, 2.
[1164] The same. Paragraph 16.
[1165] III Nephi vi, 20.
[1166] III Nephi xi.
[1167] I Nephi xii, 6; II Nephi xxvi, 1, 9; Alma xvi, 20; III Nephi xi. 12.
=27.= In the latter-days, the Lord has again manifested Himself, declaring the facts of His death and resurrection:--"For behold, the Lord your Redeemer suffered death in the flesh; wherefore he suffered the pain of all men, that all men might repent and come unto him. And he hath risen again from the dead, that he might bring all men unto him on conditions of repentance."[1168]
[1168] Doc. and Cov. xviii, 11-12.
=28. Resurrection at the Time of Christ"s Second Coming.=--Immediately, after the departure of Christ from the earth, the apostles, upon whom then devolved the direct responsibility of the Church, were found preaching the doctrine of a future and universal resurrection. This teaching appears to have formed a very prominent feature of their instructions; for it was made a special cause of complaint by the Sadducees, who a.s.sailed the apostles, even within the sacred confines of the temple, the accusers "being grieved that they [the apostles] taught the people, and preached through Jesus the resurrection from the dead."[1169] Paul gave offense by the zeal with which he preached the resurrection which was to come; as witness his contention with certain philosophers of the Epicureans and of the Stoics; in the course of which some said:--"What will this babbler say? other some, He seemeth to be a setter forth of strange G.o.ds: because he preached unto them Jesus, and the resurrection."[1170] The discussion was continued at Areopagus, or Mars" Hill, where Paul preached the gospel of the true and living G.o.d, including the tenets of the resurrection. "And when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked; and others said, We will hear thee again of this matter."[1171] He declared the same truth to Felix, the governor of Judea;[1172] and when brought in bonds before Agrippa, the king, he asked, as if dealing with one of the princ.i.p.al accusations against him, "Why should it be thought a thing incredible with you, that G.o.d should raise the dead?"[1173]
[1169] Acts iv, 2; see also Matt. xxii, 23, 31-32, and Acts xxiii, 8.
[1170] Acts xvii, 18.
[1171] Verse 32.
[1172] Acts xxiv, 15.
[1173] Acts xxvi, 8.
=29.= The resurrection appears to have been a favorite theme with Paul; in his epistles to the Saints, he gives it a prominent place.[1174] From him, also, we learn that an order of precedence is to be observed in the resurrection:--"But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the first-fruits of them that slept. For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. But every man in his own order: Christ the first-fruits; afterward they that are Christ"s at his coming."[1175]
[1174] Rom. vi, 5; viii, 11; I Cor. xv; II Cor. iv, 14; Phil. iii, 21; Col. iii, 4; I Thess. iv, 14; Heb. vi, 2.
[1175] I Cor. xv, 20-23; the entire chapter should be studied.
=30.= It is expressly declared that many graves shall yield up their dead at the time of Christ"s advent in glory, and the just who have slept, together with many who have not died, will be caught up to meet the Lord. Paul thus wrote to the Saints in Thessalonica:--"Even so them also which sleep in Jesus will G.o.d bring with him.... For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of G.o.d: and the dead in Christ shall rise first. Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air."[1176]
[1176] I Thess. iv, 14-17.
=31.= To the three Nephite disciples, who had asked the blessing of John the beloved apostle, Christ said:--"And ye shall never endure the pains of death; but when I shall come in my glory, ye shall be changed in the twinkling of an eye from mortality to immortality."[1177]
[1177] III Nephi xxviii, 8.
=32.= Through the medium of latter-day revelation, the Lord has said:--"Behold I will come, and they shall see me in the clouds of heaven, clothed with power and great glory, with all the holy angels; and he that watches not for me shall be cut off. But before the arm of the Lord shall fall, an angel shall sound his trump, and the Saints that have slept shall come forth to meet me in the cloud."[1178] Of the many signs and wonders which shall attend the Lord"s glorious coming we have this partial description:--"And the face of the Lord shall be unveiled: and the saints that are upon the earth, who are alive, shall be quickened, and be caught up to meet him. And they who have slept in their graves shall come forth; for their graves shall be opened, and they also shall be caught up to meet him in the midst of the pillar of heaven. They are Christ"s, the first-fruits; they who shall descend with him first, and they who are on the earth and in their graves, who are first caught up to meet him."[1179]
[1178] Doc. and Cov. xlv, 44-45.
[1179] Doc. and Cov. lx.x.xviii, 95-98.
=33.= Such are some of the glories to attend the first resurrection; in which only the righteous are to have part. But the company of the righteous will include all who have faithfully lived according to the laws of G.o.d as made known to them; children who have died in their innocence; and even the just among the heathen nations who have lived in comparative darkness while groping for light, and who have died in ignorance.[1180] This doctrine is made plain by modern revelation:--"And then shall the heathen nations be redeemed, and they that knew no law shall have part in the first resurrection."[1181] The Millennium then is to be inaugurated by a glorious deliverance of the just from the power of death; and of this company of the redeemed it is written:--"Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection; on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of G.o.d and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years."[1182]
[1180] See Note 4.
[1181] Doc. and Cov. xlv, 54; see also Ezek. x.x.xvi, 23-24; x.x.xvii, 28; x.x.xix, 7, 21, 23.
[1182] Rev. xx, 6.
=34. The Final Resurrection.=--"But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished."[1183] So said the Revelator after having described the glorious blessings of the just, who are given part in the first resurrection. The unworthy will be called to the judgment of condemnation, when the regenerated world is ready to be presented to the Father.[1184]
[1183] Rev. xx, 5.
[1184] See Note 5.
=35.= The contrast between those whose part in the first resurrection is a.s.sured, and those whose doom it is to wait until the time of final judgment, is a strong one, and in no case do the scriptures lighten it. We are told that it is proper for us to weep over bereavement by death, "and more especially for those that have not hope of a glorious resurrection."[1185] In the present day, the voice of the Mighty One is heard in solemn warning:--"Hearken ye, for, behold, the great day of the Lord is nigh at hand. For the day cometh that the Lord shall utter his voice out of heaven; the heavens shall shake, and the earth shall tremble, and the trump of G.o.d shall sound both long and loud, and shall say to the sleeping nations, Ye saints arise and live; ye sinners stay and sleep until I shall call again."[1186]
[1185] Doc. and Cov. xlii, 45.
[1186] Doc. and Cov. xliii, 17-18.
=36.= The vision of the final scene is thus described by John:--"And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before G.o.d; and the books were opened; and another book was opened, which is the book of life; and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and h.e.l.l delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works."[1187]
This stage marks the completion of the work of resurrection. As the scriptures conclusively prove, the resurrection will be universal; while it is true that the dead will be brought forth in order, each as he is prepared for the first or the final stage, yet everyone who has tabernacled in the flesh will again a.s.sume his body and with such be judged.
[1187] Rev. xx, 12-13.
=37.= The Book of Mormon is explicit in the description of the literal and universal resurrection:--"Now, there is a death which is called a temporal death; and the death of Christ shall loose the bands of this temporal death, that all shall be raised from this temporal death; The spirit and the body shall be re-united again in its perfect form; both limb and joint shall be restored to its proper frame, even as we now are at this time, and we shall be brought to stand before G.o.d, knowing even as we know now, and have a bright recollection of all our guilt.
Now this restoration shall come to all, both old and young, both bond and free, both male and female, both the wicked and the righteous; and even there shall not so much as a hair of their heads be lost; but all things shall be restored to its perfect frame, as it is now, or in the body, and shall be brought and be arraigned before the bar of Christ the Son, and G.o.d the Father, and the Holy Spirit, which is one eternal G.o.d, to be judged according to their works, whether they be good or whether they be evil. Now, behold, I have spoken unto you, concerning the death of the mortal body, and also concerning the resurrection of the mortal body. I say unto you that this mortal body is raised to an immortal body; that is from death; even from the first death unto life."[1188]
[1188] Alma xi, 42-45.