The Ohio Independent Baptist, April 1966

VOL. 38, NO. 6 The Ohio APRIL, 1966 Independent Baptist DEATH'S URRE AFTERMATH By Ben C. Jennings Ea ter A. D . 33 was a great day. hrist' resurrectio n was the key-note me age of the first di ciple . Every public sermo n in the Book of Act refers to it. They went everywhere proclaimi ng the resurrection message and th at message turned the world up-side down. The thought of re urr ectio n and immortali ty is a glor ious thought, but ~ here there is no death there can be no resu rrection. The ancient Romans though t of resu rrection in nature as easonal\ believi ng that natu re died every F all and rose again every pring. The glorious resur rection of Christ was preceded by th at terrib le Friday of darkness and death. Earth's darkest day and ear th,s brigh test day were just three day apa rt . But the darkness had to precede the light . Death had to precede life. Dr. Hugh J. cho nfield , the Jewish scholar of E ngland. wrote of the death and resur- rectio n o f hri st in hi b lasphemou book 'TH PAS OV R PLOT' in \vhi ch he say that "Chri <; t's death wa an organized con piracy of wh ich hrist was the ch ief in ti gator . It wa the fr ightenin g logic of a sick mind. ' ' o but it was Omniscience correctl y ' p red icting the di abolical deeds of demo n pos essed n1en , and it was 0111nipotence telling what God will do when n1an does his worst. hri st sa id ~ I Jt') troy th i tcn1ple and in three d<.1 1 wil] rai e it up aga in.' ' True of bel iever an e pr ces of dea th t,ef re re urrect ion i t rue of tl1e lJel icv r al o. <401 if v,.,, 11, , , bee11 pl a11tcd tog tl1 r in t l1c ]i l· nc o t l l i t1 att1 , \\ e l1all l e a] ir1 the lik ne of r urr ti n.' ' 1 0 111a1 :5. s, u \\'l o J1a , di c) \\ itl1 J l i111 air · d , J,a,'c; u1 rection life, r,d -. v.111 ]1a, 1 u11 t1 n i>l die ,vl1 11 } • , e aga111 . TH OHtO I DEP ND N BAP IS rl 'here j anothe r ver y in1port anl pha e of re urrection whi ch hould be mentio ned . It i the resurrection of this world system. Because the creature (creation) itself also sh all be deli\'ered from the bond age of cor– rupt ion.. ." Roman 8:21. Yes, thi \Vorld y tern ( this ko mo ) is to be resurrected . But what wa true of Christ' resurrection, that it h ad to be preceded by death must also be true of thi world ystem . And what is true of the believer, that death to elf 1nu t precede r e urrection in Chri t Ben C. Jennings mu t a l o be true of this ~ orld y - ten1 . 1 h1~ ko n10 n1t1s t d ie bcf ore there can be any re'>ttr rec tio n life. And that i \>\ hat 1 haJ)pcni ng 1n the ~,orld today. hi s orld 5y<;tem 1 1n its death throe . It i ~t1 ti ggting to live, httt is dying. All tl1c t1nre">t , the dc111o nstratio11s the ttphcav, J., _ the rio ting, the tt1rn101l, is s 1111Jto 111a ti c of a d)'ing S),'St 01 tf)' i11g fO (jv.:.. r he \\'Orld ' doct )l's h ,l\' ad111i11is tcr d all tl1cir scientifi c a11d 111 dical f r 111ttl ,1L '1 }1 , , ha,, h at1 t ct tl1 ir ski ll ant.I at ., tl1 ir 11 itetl a tio11's ' JI t)ital" tl1 )' arc ,1d 111i ni 1 r i11g tl1 l, ts dati\' 1l> a (1 i 11g \V<. r id , t 111. ,. 11 • r ,1 l Sc i 1 ,, i , s t1 L1ggl111g , tt 1111Jt (\ help a dying y ten1 tay a live a lit tle longe r . The vast entertai nment world is trying to keep the populace oc– cupied with thrill while their teeth chatter wi th death chill . Thi is proven by their murdering and sui– cide . The r i e and d i pl ay of ex i another sign that death i near. The 1ld man i taking h i la t fl ing'. The ame attempt wa made by the world– ly-minded when King David wa dy– ing. The in-mad crowd thought that a young dam el would revive the old fellow. They ought throughout I rael a nd brought Abishag the hunammite that ' he might cheri h him" and 'lie in hi bo om." But the ca e wa hopele . The Lord ay in I K ing 1. ' He gat no heat. " David wa through . Then Adonijah , the elf-appointed . elf-e alting on of David u urped au thori t), and tried t take the throne, bu t wa lain by olo n1on the wi e one. o it wi ll be \.\ hen ot1r ol mon take hi power and lay the elf– exalti ng anti- hri t Vv ho i oon to appear on the cene. Frightening to behold The death f thi ,, rld ' ) ten1 ts frigh tening to b hold . It i on1pati– ble \ ith the pirit of the age. Ri ot . rebellion and rev lt1ti n ar char– acteri tic of thi c.i ing ~) ten1 V hen the nati on l ~r·1 I d 1ed, it \,\, i\ ,1 qt1iet ,1nci \lO\\, death. · \ er thing in that d ,1v \\ a \ lO\.\ . fr a et. 0111- 111erc a11 c.l e\ e11 \\ art are \\ ent at a ~ nai rs p,tce 1,:- cept f 1 a hr 1 f ·trt1gglc and ti ght tor lite a t che , er\ t1n1 o( l ·ra r dea th. she died qt11 tt,, and s lO\\' l ,ct .. 1 per aot.l of ht111d1cd" t,t \ears, ltct.i t p11 tlt1al let harg)' 1nll c111~111itL Sh <.tic i lik ,1 1 ~11er, th~ J>rctl 111i 11a t k1lle1 of that '-la . ll tl t \11 this lg\! ti that \\a\ '! rl hi~ is th j t ag . 1 \)' \\' 11t1t 4 pc t t his a g c t ) t.l it , I i kc: t 11 1 rt 111 k a r t, , itl1 lit liri\1111 trl:111 11 - ,, itl1 all f ( ontinu d on p ge 1 ) APRIL, 1966 PAGE 3