The Apostle Peter Died
Peter was one of the leading apostles in the New Testament Church! He was one of the Original Twelve disciples — handpicked by Christ.
Peter KNEW he was going to die!
He said in II Peter 1:13-15: "Yea, I think it meet, as long as I am in this tabernacle, to stir you up by putting you in remembrance; knowing that shortly I must put off this my tabernacle, even as our Lord Jesus Christ hath shewed me.
"Moreover I will endeavor that ye may be able AFTER MY DECEASE to have these things always in remembrance."
So Peter died.
Yet, he wrote the book on HOPE.
Peter hoped for the resurrection and the Kingdom of God. But he certainly didn't expect to receive it then. Peter himself said that Christians would not find the praise and honor they sought until the APPEARING of Jesus Christ! He clearly stated in Acts, as we saw, that David was NOT in heaven — but dead and buried.
Yet, God allowed Peter — one of the most important men in God's Church to DIE!
The Apostle Paul Died
The Apostle Paul wrote 14 books of the Bible. He was the Apostle to the Gentiles, held a very important spiritual office, had worked diligently and hard for many years, and appears to have been one of the most truly spiritual men who ever lived.
He was stoned, shipwrecked, put in prison. Paul was certainly tried in every conceivable way.
But he died.
He said: "For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my DEPARTURE is at hand.
"I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me AT THAT DAY" (II Timothy 4:6-8).
The Apostle Paul isn't in "heaven." He said he won't get his reward until that day — the day Christ returns!
Christ said, in Revelation 22:12, "MY REWARD IS WITH ME"!
But Christ isn't here yet. The Apostle Paul is still dead and buried.
And did you notice?
The Apostles Peter and Paul viewed DEATH rather objectively. Although it was a sobering experience, the Apostle Paul almost WELCOMED IT! He said in Philippians 1:21, "For to me to live is Christ, and to DIE IS GAIN"!
When Stephen was martyred, he simply said, "Lay not this sin to their charge"! (Acts 7:60)
Why?
Why in the face of DEATH were these men calm? What is it that they knew about DEATH that didn't frighten them?
People of God Allowed to Die
James and John the Baptist were murdered. God allowed it!
Elisha, who raised the dead to life, and was the greatest servant of God in his day became SICK and died!
You can read it in II Kings 13:14, "Now Elisha was fallen sick of his sickness whereof he died."
But, "maybe Elisha lost faith" — you say?
Not at all!
Notice, verse 21. "And it came to pass, as they were burying a man, that, behold, they spied a band of men; and they cast the man into the sepulcher of Elisha: and when the man was let down, and touched the bones of Elisha, HE REVIVED, and stood up on his feet."
God inspired that!
He wanted to get across a great principle!
That is, God's servants — the greatest of them — DO DIE! But God wanted to be sure no one REASONED that perhaps Elisha had lost faith. So He inspired this account to occur after Elisha's death.
Here was proof that Elisha had NOT lost faith; God had NOT forsaken him.
It merely came time for Elisha to die. He had served his purpose on this earth. Elisha became sick and God simply allowed him to die. God took him from the evil to come.
God allowed the WIFE of Ezekiel to die. Ezekiel was one of the most powerful servants of God on the face of the earth. He had actually seen the THRONE OF GOD in vision. God revealed some of the most detailed and important prophecies ever given to man through Ezekiel.
But God allowed his WIFE to die. And it can be demonstrated that Ezekiel had not yet lived to be fifty — and certainly his wife had not lived her "three score and ten."
But God allowed her to die. The account is found in Ezekiel 24:16-18.
"Son of man, behold, I take away from thee the desire of your eyes [his wife] with a stroke: yet neither shalt thou mourn nor weep, neither shall thy tears run down.
"Forbear to cry, make no mourning for the dead, bind the tire of thine head upon thee, and put on thy shoes upon thy feet, and cover not thy lips, and eat not the bread of men.
"So I spake unto the people in the morning: and at even MY WIFE DIED; and I did in the morning as I was commanded."
The next few verses explain what her death was to signify to the people at the time. But the point is she DIED.
Any LIFE After Death?
Remember what Job was inspired to say? "O that thou wouldest hide me in the grave, that thou wouldest keep me secret, until thy wrath be past, that thou wouldest appoint me a set time, and remember me! If a man die, shall he live again? All the days of my appointed time will I wait, TILL MY CHANGE come" (Job 14:13, 14).
Job knew about the resurrection of the dead. And so does anyone who knows the promises of God! Your Bible speaks in both Old and New Testaments of a RESURRECTION of the dead — a RECREATION OF LIFE!
Daniel was inspired to write, "And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt" (Daniel 12:2).
Later, Christ quoted these same words. Read John 5:21 through verse 29! Jesus said: "For as the Father raiseth up the dead . . . even so the Son quickeneth [makes alive] whom He will . . . Verily, verily, I say unto you, the hour is coming, and now is, when the DEAD shall hear the voice of the Son of God: and they that hear shall LIVE . . . Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear His voice, and shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life, and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation" (judgment; margin).
Christ spoke of MORE than one resurrection!
Notice the proof. Turn to Revelation, chapter 20. Now read verses 4 and 5. "And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them [Greek word: psuche — meaning same as nephesh in the Hebrew] that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years"!
And the "souls" John saw in this vision were DEAD! Notice the proof. "But the REST OF THE DEAD lived not again until the thousand years were finished"! (Revelation 20:5)
John saw a vision concerning the resurrection of the JUST! Christ promises RULERSHIP with Him to those who overcome (Rev. 2:26, 3:21) which He will give AT HIS RETURN (I Cor. 15:23; Phil. 3:20, 21).
The RESURRECTION OF THE DEAD was the whole hope — the heart and center of the MESSAGE of the early Church! Notice how it completely DOMINATES the sermons of Peter and Paul in early Church history. Read ALL of the following verses in context in your own Bible! . . . have crucified and slain: Whom God hath RAISED UP . . ." (Acts 2:23, 24). "This Jesus hath God raised up, whereof we all are witnesses . . . For David IS NOT ASCENDED INTO THE HEAVENS: but he saith himself [proving David, too, expected to WAIT TILL A CHANGE CAME, THROUGH A RESURRECTION!], The Lord said unto my Lord, 'Sit thou on my right hand, UNTIL I make thy foes thy footstool' " (Acts 2:32-35).
Peter continually emphasized CHRIST'S resurrection as proof of the future resurrection of ALL mankind! "And killed the Prince of life, whom God hath raised from the dead . . ." (Acts 3:15). "Unto you first God, having raised up His Son Jesus . . ." (Acts 3:26). ". . . the Sadducees came upon them, being grieved that they taught the people, and preached through Jesus the RESURRECTION FROM THE DEAD!" (Acts 4:1-2)
Notice! Peter preached the RESURRECTION! He said NOTHING about the completely PAGAN doctrine of any supposed "immortal soul" or going to "hell" or "heaven" when one dies!
Rather, he emphasized how even David, a man after God's own heart, was DEAD AND BURIED (Acts 2:29) and showed the believers that David HAD NOT GONE TO HEAVEN (Acts 2:34), but was waiting in his GRAVE, just as the Bible says, until a RESURRECTION of the just!
Meaning of Life
Paul was inspired to write ONE WHOLE CHAPTER on the subject of the resurrection! You need to study the whole 15th chapter of I Corinthians!
Notice how Paul was directed by God's Holy Spirit to answer the "let's suppose" and "what if?" kind of questions people would ask!
"But some man will say, 'How are the dead raised up? and with WHAT BODY do they come?'" (I Cor. 15:35)
And true to that prediction — people ask: "Yes, but WHAT ABOUT THOSE 'VAPORIZED' AT HIROSHIMA AND NAGASAKI?" People want to know about men buried at sea, eaten by sharks. And what about those CREMATED?
All right — WHAT ABOUT THEM?
Is it "DIFFICULT" for God because the same BODY no longer remains?
Ridiculous! And that's exactly what Christ inspired Paul to write about such questions. "Thou FOOL — that which thou sowest is not quickened, except it DIE . . . so also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption; it is raised IN corruption . . . it is sown a NATURAL body; it is raised a SPIRITUAL BODY!" (I Cor. 15:36-44)
Just as Job said, there is a complete CHANGE at the resurrection. The resurrected being is given spirit life — not an old, disease-ridden, maimed or mangled, shot or burnt, hideously deformed or wasted HUMAN, PHYSICAL, BODY!
"WE SHALL BE CHANGED!" said Paul! (I Cor. 15:52)
Hope of DEAD
Can you see? Your Creator says DEATH IS DEATH — just as you KNOW it is — and that a resurrection FROM the dead is the whole hope of a Christian! That's why Paul asks, "Else what shall they do which are baptized for (Greek: Huper meaning FOR THE HOPE OF) the dead, if the dead rise not at all? Why are they then baptized FOR THE HOPE OF (margin) the dead? And why stand we in jeopardy every hour?" (I Cor. 15:29-30)
The HOPE OF THE DEAD is a RESURRECTION FROM the dead! Baptism SYMBOLIZES that resurrection!
"Therefore we are buried [by being immersed completely in water — symbolizing BURIAL) with Him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been planted together in the likeness of His death, we shall be also in the likeness of HIS RESURRECTION!" (Romans 6:4-5)
Your God shows you that those who have truly been CONVERTED, who have utterly surrendered to Him — who have GIVEN up their carnal arguments, their resentment and hostility toward God and His Word, and who have begun to really LIVE by God's Word, will be in the RESURRECTION of the just!
Paul said this was the DRIVING AMBITION in his life!
". . . And I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus . . . that I may know Him, and the power of His resurrection . . . if by any means I might attain unto the RESURRECTION OF THE DEAD!" (Phil. 3:8-11)
But what about those who have NOT been converted? What if someone dies who never really knew the truth? What about the MILLIONS upon MILLIONS of Asians, Africans, and members of all races right down through history who NEVER EVEN HEARD THE NAME of Christ, let alone had an opportunity to hear and study His WORD? What becomes of THEM?