TEXT OF ADDRESS BY V.T. HOUTEFF, MINISTER OF D. SEVENTH-DAY ADVENTISTS SABBATH, MARCH 20, 1948 MT. CARMEL CHAPEL WACO, TEXAS ,

For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with Him. For this we say unto you by the Word of the Lord that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. For the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout with the voice of the archangel and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words. 1 Thess. 4:14-18. -2TG32 12.1

Here we see that those who come up in the first resurrection shall not only live again but shall die no more. -2TG32 12.2

Now to find our answer to the question What shall man be like if he lives again? We shall first turn to the book of Genesis: -2TG32 12.3

Gen. 2:7 — And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life and man became a living soul. -2TG32 12.4

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In this scripture we are told that God formed man out of the dust of the ground. Then the breath of life was breathed into his nostrils and thus he became a living soul that the breath and the body together are what make the soul. The process of development is the same as is the process of ice making — low temperature and water make ice just as the body and the breath make the soul. Hence when the breath leaves the body man no longer is a living soul — no no more than the ice is ice after it goes back to water. Man obviously has no existing soul after the breath leaves his body for the body and the breath together make the soul. -2TG32 13.1

I know says the wise man that whatsoever God doeth it shall be for ever: nothing can be put to it nor any thing taken from it: and God doeth it that men should fear before him. Eccl. 3:14. -2TG32 13.2

Eccl. 9:5, 6 — For the living know that they shall die: but the dead know not any thing neither have they any more a reward for the memory of them is forgotten. Also their love and their hatred and their envy is now perished neither have they any more a portion for ever in any thing that is done under the sun. -2TG32 13.3

Eccl. 3:18-21 — I said in mine heart concerning the estate of the sons of men that God might manifest them and that they might see that they themselves are beasts. For that which befalleth the sons of men befalleth beasts even one thing befalleth them: as the one dieth so dieth the other yea they have all one breath so that a man hath no preeminence above a beast: for all is vanity. All go unto one place all are of the dust and all turn to dust again. Who knoweth the spirit of man that goeth upward and the spirit of the beast that goeth downward to the earth? -2TG32 13.4

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Inspiration you see first tells us how man was created and what he is like then It asks point-blank: Who knoweth the spirit of man that goeth upward and the spirit of the beast that goeth downward to the earth? — The only answer that can be given is that no one knows but God. And since He has told us that the body and soul together not apart make the soul then it is plain that a dead man has no soul that the body returns to dust and the breath returns to breath to wind. Moreover whatever befalls the beast the same befalls the man. They both have one breath declares Inspiration and the one has no preeminence above the other. -2TG32 14.1

This is what God says about the soul and we should believe Him rather than fool ourselves with uninspired theories of men who presumptuously say that the soul never dies although God says The soul that sinneth it shall die. Ezek. 18:4. Hence when man dies his soul vanishes as does ice when the temperature rises above freezing. -2TG32 14.2

Next to find what man will look like when he is made to live again a sinless life we should see what man looked like before he sinned: -2TG32 14.3

Gen. 3:6-8 — And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food and that it was pleasant to the eyes and a tree to be desired to make one wise she took of the fruit thereof and did eat and gave also unto her husband with her and he did eat. And the eyes of them both were opened and they knew that they were naked and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves aprons. And they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God amongst the trees of the garden. -2TG32 14.4

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Immediately after Adam and Eve had eaten of the forbidden fruit a surprising change took place. They at once perceived that the light of life and beauty with which they had been clothed vanished away and they saw themselves naked ugly and shameful to the eye. Consequently they tried to cover themselves with leaves and to hide away among the trees. The leaf-covering though was not adequate and therefore the Lord made them coats of skins. -2TG32 15.1

What shall man be like if he lives again? — Certainly not less than he was in the beginning for all that was lost is to be restored. Neither is he to be improved upon for everything the Lord made He Himself pronounced very good. Gen. 1:31. And so if a man lives again he shall be exactly what Adam was before he sinned. -2TG32 15.2

Now for the answer to the question How shall he live again? we shall turn to Ezekiel– -2TG32 15.3

Ezekiel 37:1-10 — The hand of the Lord was upon me and carried me out in the Spirit of the Lord and set me down in the midst of the valley which was full of bones and caused me to pass by them round about: and behold there were very many in the open valley and lo they were very dry. And He said unto me Son of man can these bones live? And I answered O Lord God Thou knowest. Again He said unto me Prophesy upon these bones and say unto them O ye dry bones hear the Word of the Lord. Thus saith the Lord God unto these bones Behold I will cause breath to enter into you and ye shall live: and I will lay sinews upon you and will bring up flesh upon you and cover you with skin and put breath in you and ye shall live and ye shall know that I am the Lord. -2TG32 15.4

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So I prophesied as I was commanded: and as I prophesied there was a noise and behold a shaking and the bones came together bone to his bone. And when I beheld lo the sinews and the flesh came up upon them and the skin covered them above: but there was no breath in them. Then said He unto me Prophesy unto the wind prophesy son of man and say to the wind Thus saith the Lord God Come from the four winds O breath and breathe upon these slain that they may live. So I prophesied as He commanded me and the breath came into them and they lived and stood up upon their feet an exceeding great army. -2TG32 16.1

Here we learn that the process of resurrection is the same as the process of creation: first the frame of the man then the organism the flesh the skin and last the breath and again he becomes a living soul. Mans soul or spirit you see is not called down from heaven or up from hell. In fact not a soul at all but wind from the four corners of the earth fills his lungs at the command of God and thus he again becomes a living soul. Then too the material of which man was composed originally of the same shall he be made again for bone to bone come together. When he is thus re-created or resurrected though he must retain the knowledge and memory which he had at his death otherwise the man that is raised would not be the man that died and if such be not his case then the experience gained in this life would be lost. -2TG32 16.2

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The next point of interest would be to note why there are two resurrections a thousand years apart (Rev. 20:5, 6). Let us turn to Romans: -2TG32 17.1

Rom. 8:10, 11 — And if Christ be in you the body is dead because of sin but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. But if the Spirit of Him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you He that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by His Spirit that dwelleth in you. -2TG32 17.2

Those who die with the Spirit of Christ in them are the ones who come up in the resurrection of the just. But those in whom the Spirit of Christ does not dwell are to come up in the resurrection of the unjust a thousand years after the resurrection of the just. -2TG32 17.3

Rev. 20:6 — Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power but they shall be priests of God and of Christ and shall reign with Him a thousand years. -2TG32 17.4

If these verses mean what they say concerning the righteous then concerning the wicked they actually say: -2TG32 17.5

Cursed and unholy is he that hath no part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath power they shall not be priests of God and of Christ and shall not reign with Him during the thousand years. -2TG32 17.6

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If we accept Gods Word as Inspiration gives It to us and if we are doers of His Word we shall live again and be the perfect image of God as were Adam and Eve. We shall indeed return to the Garden of Eden. The garden too shall again flourish as before and the tree of life shall bear its fruit every month. And so you see man shall thus live again and thus live forever. -2TG32 18.1

And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes and there shall be no more death neither sorrow nor crying neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away. And He that sat upon the throne said Behold I make all things new. And He said unto me Write: for these words are true and faithful. And He said unto me It is done. I am Alpha and Omega the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely. He that overcometh shall inherit all things and I will be his God and he shall be My son. Rev. 21:4-7. -2TG32 18.2

But when that which is perfect is come then that which is in part shall be done away. When I was a child I spake as a child I understood as a child I thought as a child: but when I became a man I put away childish things. For now we see through a glass darkly but then face to face: now I know in part but then shall I know even as also I am known. And now abideth faith hope charity these three but the greatest of these is charity. 1 Cor. 13:10-13. -2TG32 18.3

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