Called to Reach a Higher Standard
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fallen asleep. After that, He was seen of James; then of all the apostles.
And last of all He was seen of me also.”
With convincing power the apostle set forth the great truth of the
resurrection. “If there be no resurrection of the dead,” he argued, “then
is Christ not risen: and if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching
vain, and your faith is also vain. Yea, and we are found false witnesses
of God; because we have testified of God that He raised up Christ:
whom He raised not up, if so be that the dead rise not. For if the dead
rise not, then is not Christ raised: and if Christ be not raised, your faith
is vain; ye are yet in your sins. Then they also which are fallen asleep
in Christ are perished. If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we
are of all men most miserable. But now is Christ risen from the dead,
and become the first fruits of them that slept.”
The apostle carried the minds of the Corinthian brethren forward
to the triumphs of the resurrection morn, when all the sleeping saints
are to be raised, henceforth to live forever with their Lord. “Behold,”
the apostle declared, “I show 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
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on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when
this 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? ... Thanks be to God, which
giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”
Glorious is the triumph awaiting the faithful. The apostle, realizing
the possibilities before the Corinthian believers, sought to set before
them that which uplifts from the selfish and the sensual, and glorifies
life with the hope of immortality. Earnestly he exhorted them to be
true to their high calling in Christ. “My beloved brethren,” he pleaded,
“be ye steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the
Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.”
Thus the apostle, in the most decided and impressive manner,
endeavored to correct the false and dangerous ideas and practices that
were prevailing in the Corinthian church. He spoke plainly, yet in love
for their souls. In his warnings and reproofs, light from the throne