statement--"he that believeth in Me, though he were dead, yet shall he live". Surely

there must be something more behind the second statement?--and we believe there is. If

we translate it literally it reads: "and everyone living and believing into Me by no means

shall die unto the age". What does it mean `shall not die unto the age'? There was

another occasion when the Lord made a similar statement--and similarly of disputed

significance: six days before the Transfiguration He said "Verily I say unto you, There

be some standing here, which shall not taste of death, till they see the Son of man coming

in His kingdom" (Matt. 16: 28). But the little Greek word an has not been translated,

and indeed is more easily paraphrased than translated--"till they may see the Son of man

coming". They would live long enough to see the Kingdom dawn, if . . . . . The Greek an

signifies a contingency. Had the Jews received the Lord Jesus as Christ--the Messiah--

it could have taken place within the lifetime of those `standing here'. The same word an

also occurs in John 11: 25, where it appears with kai (and, or even) as kan: an element

of contingency is present. The Concordant Version renders it: "He who is believing into

Me, even if he should be dying, will be living. And everyone who is living and believing

into Me may by no means be dying for the eon". The element of doubt is found in `even

if he should be dying', the contingency being the coming of the eon or age of the

Kingdom. To paraphrase: "Whoever is believing in Me, even if he should die before the

coming of the age, shall live. And everyone who is alive and believes in Me shall by no

means die before the coming of the age". Death, while not totally excluded, was viewed

by the Lord as a fairly remote possibility. If the church today has the same `ministry of

healing' as that entrusted to the Lord's apostles and disciples, and evidently envisaged by

the Lord in His words to Martha, why are there not those alive today who were then

`living and believing' in Him?

When John the Baptist sent to enquire whether the Lord Jesus was indeed `He that

should come' (Matt. 11: 2-6), the reply sent back to him was that `the blind receive their

sight, and the lame walk, the lepers are healed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up,

and the poor have the gospel preached unto them' (verse 5). These were the evidences

that the Messiah was present, that the King had come, and included the raising of the

dead. Throughout the Book of Acts we find these evidences are still present--including

the raising of the dead. Tabitha (or Dorcas) was raised (Acts 9: 36-43); Eutychus, `who

fell down from the third loft' during Paul's "long preaching", "and was taken up dead"

was brought alive (Actsxx. 9-12). It is true that there are also records of deaths which

were not followed by resurrection: the martyrs James and Stephen, Ananias and Sapphira

who `lied to the Holy Ghost'. But these would seem to be special cases, the former to

receive "the martyr's crown', the latter to be saved ` as by fire'. In I Cor. 15: Paul tells

of those to whom the Lord appeared after His resurrection, and in verse 6 says "After

that, He was seen of above five hundred brethren at once; of whom the greater part

remain unto this present, but some are fallen asleep". At first sight this appears to be the

normal toll by death to be expected; but the word translated `some' is the Greek tines--

`certain ones'. The same word is used by Paul in his second epistle to the Corinthians--

3: 1--"Need we", he says, "as certain ones, epistles of commendation?" implying that

the `some others' (as the A.V. puts it) were known to the Corinthians. Of the five

hundred brethren to whom the Lord had appeared certain ones had fallen asleep, but the

majority were still alive. As for the sick, not only did the `prayer of faith save the sick'