THE SECOND DEATH

4. The answer to the question `when?'

Let us put this statement to the test.

1. Every man in his own order.

The amplification occupies verses 37-44. The words `celestial bodies' and `terrestrial bodies' and the differing

glory of the sun, moon and stars, all bear upon the fact that in the resurrection every man will be in his own rank or

2. Adam and Christ.

In this amplification, which occupies verses 45-49, the relation of Adam to Christ and the resurrection is brought

out in the following passages:

`The first man Adam

a living soul'.

`The last Adam

a life-giving spirit' (R.V.).

`The first man

of the earth'.

`The second man

the Lord from heaven'.

`The image of the earthy'.

`The image of the heavenly'.

The next item is that of the destruction of the last enemy. Do you not feel that, with this evident amplification of

the subject, those who introduce into this passage the second death are the ones who are obliged to do so by the

exigencies of their own unscriptural theories?

A. -- I must confess that the evidence seems all against any other death in 1 Corinthians 15 than that connected with

Adam. Please proceed, as I want to see what the amplification is of the destruction of the last enemy.

B. -- (Reads 1 Corinthians 15:51-57):

`Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed,

In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be

raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.

For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.

So when the corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall

be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory.

O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?

The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory

through our Lord Jesus Christ'.

This is Paul's inspired commentary upon the destruction of the last enemy. Can this passage by any possibility

refer to the second death?

A. -- I cannot tell you.

B. -- `We shall not all sleep'. What place is there in that for the second death? It is ruled out. `At the last trump';

`We shall be changed'; `This mortal must put on immortality'. Not one of these statements can be made to fit the

second death. Further, the amplification of the time period is included in the verses just read.

A. -- I begin to feel that there is not much of my position left, but there is one argument you have not met, viz., that

the destruction of the last enemy takes place `at the consummation of the ages'.

B. -- I look in both the English, and the Greek Original, but I do not see such a passage.

A. -- I am sure it is there, for I have quoted it many times when proving the resurrection from the second death.

(Looks for the passage, but fails to find it).