Advise To Young Preachers On Sermon Building

 For you young preacher out there, this may be of some help in your sermon preparation:

Concerning sermon building I might share a few pointers:

The following is the method that works for me and the one I teach all my students:

1. Prayer: Spend time in prayer seeking God for the topic of the sermon. Pray until you are in the Spirit and what you feel inspired about at that time is a good indicator of your subject.

2. Study your subject. Do not be afraid to use other books with your Bible.

3. Brainstorm: Take a piece of paper and began listing everything that comes to your mind on your topic: Scriptures, sayings you have heard, illustrations you can think of, etc. It does not matter their order. Fill the page of paper with your random ideas.

4. Organize: Take another sheet of paper and begin organizing your random thoughts from your "brainstorming" piece of paper in the order the Spirit leads you to present them.

5. When you can, take your text (the Scripture you use to introduce your subject and the one you want your hearers to remember) from the New Testament; your illustrations can come from the Old or New Testaments. Keep your sermon as Bible centered as possible. Too many illustrations or references to extra-biblical material is not encouraged.

6. Your outline should be very simple:
Introduction: Tell them what you are gong to do
Body of the Sermon: Do what you told them you were going to do,
Summary (or conclusion): Tell them what you did.

Most beginning preachers get into the habit of testifying before they preach, Avoid that at all cost. Better a ten minute sermon than 30 minutes of babbling. So the following mantra is helpful:

"Get up, speak up, and shut up!"

Apostolically Speaking

☩ Jerry L Hayes

The Son of God, Post Ascension

By: Bishop Jerry L Hayes

View the video at this link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5dW8ZSmYS6I&t=4s

The Incarnation of the Creator God is a biblical, as well as an historical, fact. Christ was born of the virgin Mary in the town of Bethlehem during the reign of Caesar Augustus when Cyrenius was governor of Syria.

The term incarnation is a theological term meaning to be enfleshed. The biblical doctrine is articulated clearly in the Gospel of John 1:1,14. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. … And the Word  made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.” 

One can only stand in wonderment at the love that would bring the God of the universe into our world as a mere man. We had fallen out of fellowship with our Creator through the disobedience of Adam, the federal head of mankind. Because of our sin we, as a race, could not climb up to God, so He came down to us in the person of Jesus Christ of Nazareth. John, again, has his finger on the pulse of the matter when he wrote: “No man hath seen God at any time, the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him” John 1:18. The invisible God, Who is Spirit, became visible in Mary’s Baby. In Jesus the Creator was wedded with His creation (man). 

How did this occur?

Mary did not receive an implantation into her womb; the Scripture is clear that she experienced a true conception (Matt 1:28). That is, she conceived the Son of God, who was by the very necessity of the event both God and man. Paul, the apostle, writes it this way: “Concerning his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, which was made of the seed of David according to the flesh;  And declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead:” Romans 1:3-4. 

From Romans 1:3-4 we are told two fundamental truths: Jesus was born “according the flesh” and “according the the spirit”. According to the “flesh” He was the son of David; according to the “Spirit” He was the Son of God. These two aspects of Christ, the theologians call the Dual Nature or the Hypostatic Union. In the Incarnation the Deity assumed a human being with a rational soul. This “son of David” became God’s humanity in that it was assumed by God. To assert that Jesus was God is true, but not the whole truth. To assert that Jesus was human is true, but not the whole truth. That Jesus was both God and human in one person is the whole truth. We say, then, that in the one person of Jesus we have both the Assumer and the assumed. The name “Christ” is, indeed, an appropriate name, in that it means “The Anointed One”. Here, then, is the son of David (namely, the human) anointed with and by the Holy Spirit in an incarnation(al) way. Thus, Jesus is the Anointer and the anointed. This “whole truth” concerning Jesus is not just rhetorical; it was demonstrated throughout His earthly ministry by such statements as “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up” (John 2:19). He clearly spoke of the human temple of His body. He said “‘I’ will raise it up”. The “I” is a Self apart from His human spirit. It is acknowledged that a mere human could never facilitate self-resurrection. This particular Jesus passage demonstrates, in living color, the reality of the Hypostatic Union.

The reality of the Hypostatic Union during the earthly life of Jesus is surely beyond debate. The question is asked, however, Does the Hypostatic Union remain a reality after Jesus’ ascension into Heaven?

This Same Jesus

The shocked, and perhaps bewildered, disciples stood peering into the sky as Christ ascended; the angels comforted them with these words: “Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven” (Acts 1:11). 

We should begin at the ascension to find our answer to the question: Does the Hypostatic Union remain a reality after Jesus’ ascension into Heaven?

The angels proclaimed that the “same Jesus” that the disciples saw go away would come again. So, the question is asked, Was the Jesus that the disciples saw ascend one composite person consisting of two hypostases (here, I use the word hypostasis in the sense of essence or nature): God and human? The Assumer and the assumed? The Anointer and the anointed? The answers can only be, Yes, because of Jesus’ words from John 2:19, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up”. Thus, the ontological Jesus that died was the ontological Jesus that resurrected. The humanity that was destroyed on the cross was the humanity that the “I” (of John 2:19) resurrected. So, then, the Jesus that ascended was the Resurrector and the resurrected, as well as the Assumer and the assumed and the Anointer and the anointed. 

The humanity of Jesus was real after the resurrection. It was true that He was raised in a spiritual body—it could travel at the speed of thought, it could pass through a solid wall—yet, He ate real food, and could be touched by another person. Evidence that He maintained His humanity after the resurrection are His words to Mary: “…go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God” (John 20:17). This could have only been spoken by the human Christ, the son of David. 

It is this Jesus that ascended and “this same” Jesus that is returning.

In The Meantime

Only here do we get to the thesis of this writing: Since the Hypostatic Union was a reality of Christ at the ascension, and will be the reality of the Christ at the Second Coming, it must be even so presently.

The New Testament writers sometimes reference Christ simply as the Son of God as He is in Himself, that is to say, making no differentiation between His two natures as God and man. However, at other times the terms Son of God and Son of Man are cognomens that are meant to distinguish the deity of Christ (Son of God) from His humanity (Son of Man). For the remainder of this writing I will so use said terms. (Also, I will follow the custom of capitalizing the word Man since it is a reference to Christ.)

To deny the existence of the Son of Man in Heaven (i.e. human nature) during the Church Age is a very poor theology that is not worthy of the name Christian. Such a denial flies in the face of clear and profound biblical passages to the contrary. Such a doctrine would surprise the Apostle Paul who taught that “…there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus;” (1 Tim 2:5). (Bolding mine.) He did not say there was, or there will be, he said “there IS”. As long as the human family is in need of a mediator the Son of Man will be required to intercede on our behalf. Think on this: Believers are promised perfect bodies in the resurrection (1 Cor. 15:42). However, Christ (the first-fruit of the resurrection) arose with His scars intact. Those selfsame wounds plead the sinner’s case before the Ancient of Days. The writer to the Hebrews writes of Speaking Blood that speaks better things than did Able’s blood. He said it this way. “… ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels, To the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect, And to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel” (Heb. 12:22-24) (Bolding mine.) The blood of Able cried for revenge, the blood of Christ cries for mercy. God forbid the Son of Man be silent before the Judge of the universe concerning the frailty of the human condition.

To deny the existence of the Son of Man in Heaven is to deny the work of our great High Priest. Again, it is the writer to the Hebrews that sets before us, in words that are undeniable, the reality of the high priesthood of Christ which is only possible as He is the Son of Man. Here is what we read from his pen: “Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession.” (Heb 4:14). (Bolding mine.) The high priest is the one who goes before God on behalf of the people. He is not God, but goes before God to mediate in behalf of others. That it is the Son of Man that is, in verse 14, called the Son of God is seen from verse 15 were this High Priest is said to be tempted in all points as are the people He represents before God. Now. We know that God is not tempted (Jas. 1:13); therefore, this High Priest is the Son of Man (the humanity of Christ). 

Notice that this Son of Man has passed into the heavens (Heb. 4:14, Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession.);  This has post-ascension in view. If that is not enough, our writer states: “This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which enters the Presence behind the veil, where the forerunner has entered for us, even Jesus, having become High Priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.” (Heb 6:19-20, NKJV) This has post-ascension in view. And again: “Now this is the main point of the things we are saying: We have such a High Priest, who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens,” (Heb 8:1, NKJV). This has post-ascension in view. And again: “For Christ has not entered the holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us;” (Heb 9:24, NKJV) This has post-ascension in view.

It should be obvious by now that the office of High Priest is held by the human Christ, but if more evidence is required we need look no further than Hebrews chapter 5. The High Priest who has “passed into the heavens” “to appear in the presence of God for us” is described in language that can only be attributed to the human Christ. See, for example  verses 1-10.

1. For every high priest taken from among men is ordained for men in things pertaining to God, that he may offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins:

2 Who can have compassion on the ignorant, and on them that are out of the way; for that he himself also is compassed with infirmity.

3 And by reason hereof he ought, as for the people, so also for himself, to offer for sins.

4 And no man taketh this honour unto himself, but he that is called of God, as was Aaron.

5 So also Christ glorified not himself to be made an high priest; but he that said unto him, Thou art my Son, to day have I begotten thee.

6 As he saith also in another place, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec.

7 Who in the days of his flesh, when he had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save him from death, and was heard in that he feared;

8 Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered;

9 And being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him;

10 Called of God an high priest after the order of Melchisedec.

“So also Christ” v 5

When the writer says “So also Christ…” he has reference to all that has come before. 

• I.e.: (v1) “For every high priest taken from among men is ordained for men in things pertaining to God, that he may offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins:”. “So also Christ.” This is further expounded in 8:3, “For every high priest is ordained to offer gifts and sacrifices: wherefore it is of necessity that this man” (Jesus) “have somewhat also to offer.” Thus Jesus, as the High Priest, was taken from among men just as was the high priest of the Old Covenant.
• I.e.: (v2) “Who can have compassion on the ignorant, and on them that are out of the way; for that he himself also is compassed with infirmity.”  “So also Christ.” Our writer has already addressed this point at 4:15,  where he wrote in true Pauline fashion: “For we have not a high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.” Thus, Jesus, as the High Priest Who has passed into the heavens (see 4:14), can sympathize with our infirmities for He experienced the same in his humanity, yet, without any personal sin. 
• I.e.: (3) “And by reason hereof he ought, as for the people, so also for himself, to offer for sins.” “So also Christ.” Again, our writer to the Hebrews reiterates this point in 7:27, “Who” (Jesus) “needeth not daily, as those high priests, to offer up sacrifice, first for his own sins, and then for the people's: for this he did once, when he offered up himself.” While it is clear (and I must make this very clear) that Jesus never sinned, He was without any personal sin of any kind (2 Cor. 5:21; Heb 4:15; 1 Pt 2:22), and yet “He” (God) “hath made him to be sin for us…” (2 Cor. 5:21).  He who never sinned, became sin itself. The Greek phrase “αμαρτιαν εποιησεν” is “made sin”. “God ‘treated as sin’ the one ‘who knew no sin.’” (Robertson)  On Him was placed the iniquity of all men (Is 53:5; John 1:29; 1 Pt 2:24). The sin of the entire world became his sin, then He died for that sin, thereby paying the sin debt for all mankind. So, then, there is a particular since in which our High Priest died for “His own sin” in as much as he took on the sin of the world. All sins were imputed unto Him, thereby, becoming His own. He owned them. If we can grasp this we may move closer to feeling the pain of His words, “My God, my God, why did you forsake me?” (Mt 27:46). Our High Priest did that but once, wherein the high priest of the Old Convent, of necessity (because of his sinfulness), repeated it often.
• I.e.: (4) “And no man taketh this honour unto himself, but he that is called of God, as was Aaron.” “So also Christ.” Here we see v 5 & =6: “So also Christ glorified not himself to be made an high priest; but he that said unto him, Thou art my Son, to day have I begotten thee. As he saith also in another place, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec.”

Begotten From The Grave

The writer to the Hebrews couples the priesthood of Melchisedec with the

Messianic statement from Psalms 2:7, “Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee.” It is certain that Paul applied this prophecy to the resurrection of Jesus from the dead (Acts 13:32-34, And we declare unto you glad tidings, how that the promise which was made unto the fathers, 33 God hath fulfilled the same unto us their children, in that he hath raised up Jesus again; as it is also written in the second psalm, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee. 34 And as concerning that he raised him up from the dead, now no more to return to corruption, he said on this wise, I will give you the sure mercies of David.). Some (such as Charles C Ryrie) apply v33 to the incarnation, but when read in its context with vv32 and 34 that position can hardly be maintained. Such a claim could be made from v33 alone, but when verses 32 and 34ff are consulted, the meaning should be clear: It is a reference to the resurrection of Jesus from the dead. By coupling this Messianic text referencing the resurrection of the Messiah with the commissioning of the High Priest in the order of Melchisedec the High Priesthood of the Son is established as post resurrection and ascension.

The Garden Crucible (v7)

In verse 7 our writer introduces the crucible through which the Son of Man passed that lead to His human perfection (v9). Verse 7 state: “… he … offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto him” (the Father) “that was able to save him from death, and was heard in that he feared” (was reverently submissive). Surely it is clear that the Son of Man is in view here; this could be said of neither the God the Son of the Trinitarians, nor the Son of God Mode of the Autotheos of the Modalists. 

It is the Garden Paryer of Christ that is being referenced by this text of Hebrews. Jesus prayed (with strong crying and tears), “Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done” (Luke 22:42). His sweat, we are told by Luke, was as great drops of blood falling to the ground. Medical science tells us that one may reach such anguish of mind that the blood corpuscles close to the surface of the skin dilate and burst dyeing the sweat red. Such was the anguish of the human Christ. This was human agony at its greatest.

A Learning And Suffering Christ

That Jesus “learned” and “suffered” is testament to His humanity. God is omniscient and impassibile. A learning Omniscient is an oxymoron. The Son of Man learned obedience; the text so states: “yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered;” (v8). Two things: it is impossible for the Omniscient to learn and for the Impassibile to suffer. (We know from Scripture that God does not change [Mal 3:6; Jas 1:17]; he is immutable. Impassibility, then, is the natural corollary to God’s unchanging nature.) Thus, a learning suffering High priest is a human High Priest.

A Perfected Christ

Verse 9 states: “And being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him;” In that the Son of Man was “made” perfect implies that He was not perfect at some point. Now, this cannot be said of God, only of man. Thus, through a process of becoming has Christ became “the author of eternal salvation.”

The Call

Just as no man takes it upon himself to be the high priest, but only the one who is properly called to be so (v4). Likewise Jesus did not aspire for Himself so to be, but was called (v10) after He learned obedience through suffering (8) and was made perfect (v9).

Effects of the Glorification

The Lord Jesus, right before His crucifixion, prayed to the Father, “Father, the hour is come; glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee:” (John 17:1). In answer to His prayer that the Father would glorify Him, the Father resurrected the Lord Jesus from the dead. Therefore, the significance of Christ’s glorification is related to His death and resurrection. In fact, we may say that Christ’s resurrection IS His glorification (Acts 3:13a; John 13:31-32; Luke 24:26).

On the day of the Lord’s resurrection, two of the Lord’s disciples were walking from Jerusalem toward Emmaus, disappointed, discouraged, and confused by the events surrounding His death. As they walked, the resurrected Lord, Himself, joined them and questioned them about the things they were saying. After the disciples explained to Him the reason for their sorrow and perplexity, He said to them, “O foolish and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken! Was it not necessary for the Christ to suffer these things and enter into His glory?” (Luke 24:25-26). For Christ to enter into His glory was for Him to enter into His resurrection.

At the time of the glorification some things concerning the humanity of Christ were altered. For example he could pass through solid walls, he could travel at the speed of thought. These are things we see from the Gospels before the ascension. After the ascension the Son of Man is presented as on the right hand of God. Paul describes this as “dwelling in light unapproachable” (1 Tim 6:16). 

One major and glorious difference in the Son of Man post-ascension (post glorification) is His omnipresence. God outside of the Incarnation was/is omnipresent, but the person of Christ that consisted of God and man was confined to one location at a time during His earthly life. The is not the case any longer. The omnipresence of Christ includes His humanity as well as His deity. The proof of this is the real presence of the body and blood of the Son of Man in the holy Eucharist all around the world at every present moment. Lest one doubt this reality, read carefully the Apostle Paul’s words: “Is the cup of blessing which we bless not a sharing in the blood of Christ? Is the bread which we break not a sharing in the body of Christ?”(1 Cor. 10:16, NASB) Moreover, there is the Spirit of the Son that enters the hearts of believers “crying, Abba, Father” (Gal. 4:6). Therefore, both the body (1 Cor. 10:16) and the Spirit (Gal.4:6) of the Son of Man are made omnipresent through the glorification of the human Christ.

Amen

Be sure to continue reading the Dual Nature in chapters 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 at the links provided here: 

Chapter One: Introduction to the Fact
http://bishopjerrylhayes.blogspot.com/2012/09/the-dual-nature-of-jesus-of-nazareth.html

Chapter Two: Jesus is Yahweh Godhttp://bishopjerrylhayes.blogspot.com/2019/06/the-dual-nature-of-christ-chapter-two.html

Chapter Three: Jesus is Human
http://bishopjerrylhayes.blogspot.com/2019/06/the-dual-nature-of-christ-chapter-three.html

Chapter Four: Distinctions Between the Two Natures
http://bishopjerrylhayes.blogspot.com/2019/06/the-dual-nature-of-christ-chapter-four.html

Chapter Five: The Test of Deity
http://bishopjerrylhayes.blogspot.com/2019/06/the-dual-nature-of-christ-chapter-five.html

Captain Asa Nelson (Black Hawk) Hays and the 7th Tennessee Cavalry USA

 by Bp Jerry L Hayes

On the Darden to Parsons Road there was a spring on Henry Elliott's property where those who travel that way often stopped to water their horses. As Captain Black Hawk approached the spring, while traveling from Darden to his home in Decatur county, his horse startled just before the shotgun blast thundered from the bushes. Black Hawk was knocked from his horse by the blast.

Here, I begin a short synopsis of Captain Black Hawk Hayes of the 7th  Tennessee Cavalry, Company C, USA. I will tell this concise version of his story in a straightforward manner without giving many details that most would consider necessary. Also, the sources referenced for this history will be given at the very end of this writing. Most of what you will read here is well documented in the annals of Henderson and Decatur counties (as well as our nation’s) history. Where I do rely on oral history, I consider that oral tradition to be reliable and corrective to conflicting accounts one may read in other sources. I make this claim in that I am his great grandson and the accounts were told in my hearing by my grandfather (Addie Powhatan Hayes)– Black Hawk’s son. Oral history often becomes polluted in the retelling down through the generations, but my accounts are but one generation removed from the events and, therefore less likely to have been altered. 

Origins

Black Hawk Hays was born Asa Nelson Hays in Roane County, Tennessee (August 4, 1818) to Samuel Ellett (Elliott) Hays and Martha Davis Hays who were married in Roane County on March 4,1807. Their children were: Martha Jane (Patsy), James, Joseph, Cynthia, Samuel, Elizabeth, Asa Nelson, Elisha, and Eliza Jane. According to family oral history and military records Samuel Elliott Hays served in the Tennessee militia and was killed in the fighting with the Creek Indians (Asa would later fight this furious tribe in Alabama and Florida.). After the death of Samuel, Martha (with several other families, including her brother Asa Nelson Davis) moved the family to West Tennessee sometime in the 1820’s.

The Name “Black Hawk” and the Black Hawk Indian War

Soon after relocating to West Tennessee Asa accompanied an older brother into Missouri to assist in settling his sister and her husband there. At some point, while in Missouri, the Sauk Indians raided from Iowa Territory down into that state. Family oral history records that Asa was captured and taken into the Iowa Territory, and spent several years with that band of Indians as a slave. The Sauk had previously been driven out of their home in western Illinois. In 1832, under the leadership of a great war chief named Black Hawk, the Sauk mounted a campaign to regain their home in Illinois (Apr 6, 1832 – Aug 27, 1832); Asa was brought into Illinois with the attacking Sauk. 

During the campaign there was an athletic competition within the Indian camp. It seems that the Indians prized themselves on hand to hand combat and wrestling was a chief component. By this time Asa was 14 years old and stood 6 foot and 6 inches tall. The hardness of his life among the Sauk had built his frame out to that of a man. Chief Black Hawk encouraged him to enter the contest with a promise that if he won against their champion wrestler he would be granted his freedom. Asa agreed. The match was held and Asa did in fact defeat the Sauk. Being true to his word Chief Black Hawk granted Asa his freedom. It is reported that as he was leaving the Indian encampment, the wrestler he defeated ambushed him along the trail and shot him through with an arrow. Asa was wounded several times during his life, this seems to have been the first occasion. However, the wound not being death threatening, he made his way to the nearest Illinois militia and reported to its commanding officer who happened to be the man who would become America's 16th president, Abraham Lincoln. 

After relating his story to Lincoln, according to oral history, it was Abraham Lincoln who gave him the name of Black Hawk. It was Lincoln who presented to the young Asa, forever afterward to be known as Black Hawk, his first razor; stating, “Anyone who can fight a Sauk warrior hand to hand and win is grown enough to start shaving.” (In my youth I personally saw and handled this very straight razor. After my grandparents passed, items like this got into the hands of family members that did not cherish them and they became lost to time.)

The Seminole Indian War

The year 1836 finds Asa (Black Hawk) Hays back in Henderson County, Tennessee; and on June 18 of that year, in Madison County, he enlists in the Seminole Indian War. The soldiers from this enlistment were called the Madison County Grays. They were under the command of Captain McMahon. After meeting up with other companies of Tennesseans the soldiers moved into Alabama and settled a Creek Indian uprising there, then on to Florida where they engaged with the Seminoles who were mainly Creek Indians that had escaped the Indian removal act of President Andrew Jackson (1830). Both in Alabama and here, Black Hawk would be engaging in combat against the tribe of Indians that had, years earlier, killed his father. 

Space does not permit a detailed account of this campaign. We will however mention the battle near Lake Panasoffkee that ensued after the Seminoles were finally cornered (November 17, 1836). The soldiers from Tennessee, having their patients worn thin through chasing the Indians across the swampy lands of Florida, once they finally had them in their sites, could not retain their enthusiasm and ran ahead of the main column and engaged the main body of Indians without proper support. Hand-to-hand fighting ensued and in the melee Black Hawk was shot but eventually managed to kill the Indian that had shot him. The on-site medical attention consisted of a silk handkerchief treated with medication drawn through the wound from his front to his back were the ball had passed clear through his body. When the wounded were finally evacuated to New Orleans and received proper medical attention, and after a time of convalescence, Black Hawk was discharged with an honorable discharge and returned to his home in Henderson County where he was received as a war hero. He was eighteen years of age.

Domestic Life

Asa Black Hawk Hays married Abagail Shipman in 1837 or 8, who bore him seven children: Martha Charlotte (Lottie), Isaac Martin Columbus, Samuel Leon, Alsie Jane, Nancy Paralee, Sarah Elizabeth, and Eliza Ann. There was an eighth child named William that lived with Asa and Abagail who bore the Hays name but is not believed to have been Abigail’s son. (William would fight with his father in the Civil War and die in Andersonville Prison.) After Abagail’s death (November 17, 1876) Black Hawk would marry the second time to Martha Ann Vernon Martin who bore him three other children: James Potan, Addie Powhatan (my grandfather), and Beda Iola. There were other women who bore Black Hawk children whom he acknowledged and supported: a Miss Thomas by whom he sired Asa N Thomas (who later changed his name to Asa N. Hays) and William Hayes (mentioned above) who lived with his father and Abagail; Martha Shoemaker, by whom he sired Mattie Pearl (Mattie’s mother died soon after her birth and she came to live with her father and Abagail. Mattie continued to live with her father even after his marriage to Martha Vernon Martin.); Rachael Davis, by whom he sired George, Thomas, Clint, and James (these four sons took their mother’s name of Davis.) Family oral history has it that Black Hawk fathered a total of 66 children in Henderson, Decatur and Perry Counties and that in the fall of each year he would load wagons full of food staples and winter clothing and distribute the supples to the several homes.

By 1840 Asa and Abagial have two children. About 1850 the family moves east of the Tennessee River into Perry County where Black Hawk received two tracks of land of 80 acres each, as payment for his service in the Seminole War in Florida. By 1860 the family had moved back to Henderson County where Black Hawk increased his land holding considerably. He and Abagial now have seven children together, but there were nine children in the Hays household. After the War, Black Hawk welcomed nephews and nieces into his home as his own children.

The Civil War Years

When war broke out between the states over states rights with the issue of slavery being at its core (April 12, 1861), President Abraham Lincoln sent Harve Roach to visit his friend from the Black Hawk Indian War and solicit his help in holding West Tennessee for the Union. The state of Tennessee had seceded from the Union earlier that year (June 8, 1861). One Sunday afternoon in September of 1861 Mr. Roach appeared at the house of Black Hawk Hays. 

Black Hawk, invested his total energy and influence into the mission and escorted Harve Roach throughout the counties of eastern West Tennessee enlisting the support of the people from this area for the Union’s cause. This proved to be a dangerous undertaking in the course of which Mr. Roach was shot in the back. After he spent some time in the Scotts Hill area recovering from his wound, Black Hawk escorted him out of Tennessee to safety in Union occupied territory. 

Confederate soldiers came to the Lexington Court House to remove the Union flag. In the course of events a crowd gathered on the SW corner of the court square. Black Hawk and some friends were in a mercantile (some say a saloon) that was across the street from the Court House. When they saw what was taking place they rushed to surround the Union flag. With drawn  knives they protect the flag of their nation. The flag was not removed that day. 

Asa Black Hawk Hays was by far the most influencing force in Henderson and surrounding counties for the preservation of the Union. It is recorded that he personally took over 150 local citizens to Paducah Kentucky to enlist in the union army because there was no enlisting post in Henderson County. While that may have been true in the early months of the war, by August 28, 1862 Mid-West Tennessee had become so pro-Union that enlisting stations were in Lexington and Jackson (Henderson and Madison Counties). The lion’s share of the 7th Tennessee Cavalry (especially Company C) mustered into service at these two locations.

Black Hawk enlisted August 28, 1862 in Lexington, as did many of his family and friends. There seems to have been a second mustering in Jackson on September 5, 1862. When the 7th Tennessee Cavalry was formed Black Hawk Hays became Captain Black Hawk Hays of company C. Company C’s mission seems to have been protecting the railroads from the Confederates so that union troops and supplies could move unhindered. This proved to be a major challenge with the Confederate General, Bedford Forest, operating throughout West Tennessee. The main mission of General Forest’s West Tennessee Raid was to disrupt Union troop and supply movement by destroying the railroads. Certainly this brought Captain Black Hawk Hays’ company C in contact with Forest on more than one occasion.

Battles

The 7th Tennessee's Company C was particularly involved in the battles of Lexington, Trenton, Parker's Cross Roads, and Union City. In the battle of Lexington the union forces were overmatched by the Confederates (Union 670 men vs Confederate 2,500 men). As a consequence, many Union soldiers were captured as well as armaments. Captain Black Hawk’s Company C was given a position to hold that was overran by the enemy. Due to his courage and leadership he saved his company from being captured. After the Battle of Lexington Captain Hays was court-martialed for not holding his position, even though it would have meant certain capture of himself and his men. The court-marshal found his actions wholly proper and he remained in charge of his company. At Union City during March of 1864 the 7th Tennessee was commanded by Col. Hawkins to surrender. Many of his officers were in tears. Captain Black Hawk Hays refused to obey the command stating that if they could hold out for just a few hours he was sure help was on the way. He relented when he was threatened with execution. Upon being ordered at gun point to surrender he broke his sword and threw it into a well rather than surrender it to the enemy.

After the war a hearing was conducted in Washington concerning this surrender.  Hindsight being what it is, it was determined that the surrender at Union City was wholly unnecessary. Captain Hays was right.

The men of the 7th Tennessee USA were marched to Andersonville Prison in Georgia.There were reports of the officers removing their coats and other insignia of rank in order to not be separated from their men. This may not be true, but would be totally understandable since many companies were like Company C: Captain Black Hawk had in his company a brother, sons, nephews and cousins many; all of whom he felt personally responsible.

Andersonville Prison was a nightmare of a place. By this time the Union had stopped the prisoner exchange program and the Confederate prisons became over crowed, but Andersonville most of all. This place was the most notorious POW camp holding Union Army soldiers. The prison’s population peaked at 32,899 inmates and had an overall mortality rate of 40 percent (when counting those who died later as a result of their experiences at this place). The commandant of this prison (Henry Wriz) was the only person from the Civil War to be charged with war crimes. Captain Hays’ son, William, as well as many men of Company C, died at Andersonville.

Post War Activities

After the war when Captain Black Hawk returned to civilian life he continued to exert positive influence throughout the counties of eastern West Tennessee. He became a leading advocate for aid to the widows of the war: both Union and Confederate. A newspaper from Middle Tennessee, the Nashville Banner, reported on a speech he gave in Lexington (Henderson County) advocating for the rights of ex-Confederate soldier’s to vote in any election. Thus, he added his voice of healing to the efforts of the reuniting of the nation. That the media of such a distance from Henderson County recorded this event is a witness to this man's respect and influence. On the grounds of the municipal building at Parsons Tennessee (Decatur County) there stands, to this day, a plaque with a quotation from Captain Asa Nelson (Black Hawk) Hays immortalizing his philosophy concerning the war and of life itself.

The story is well known of a mission undertaken by Captain Black Hawk Hays at the behest of President Ulysses S Grant to the Sauk/Fox Indian Nation (sometime between March 4, 1869 – March 4, 1877). This assignment would have taken Captain Black Hawk to the Indian Territory in present-day Oklahoma. There is no doubt that he was chosen for this expedition because of his time spent with that particular Indian Nation and the respect he had earned while with them. The Sauk/Fox were Algonquin Indians and the sons born to Captain Black Hawk and Martha Vernon Martin Hays were given Algonquin names (Potan and Powhatan). This would have been after his commission to those Indians. This, in my opinion, would be the only reason for the Algonquin names for his sons at this date when no such names appear in his first set of children by Abagail Shipman. Potan and Powhatan must have been Sauk/Fox men with whom Captain Black Hawk Hays was very fond.

A Casualty Of War After All 

Here, I will pick up the narrative from the first paragraph of this article. 

Captain Black Hawk was in the town of Darden (Henderson County) to transact some business. While there he ran into Henry Elliott with whom he got into a fight as a result of Captain Black Hawk’s position in the late war. As would be supposed, this war between the states had divided friends and family. Henry Elliott cursed Captain Black Hawk by saying "Damn the blue coat and the man who wears it”. With that being said a fist fight broke out of which Captain Blackhawk got the best of Mr. Elliott. As Mr. Elliott left the scene of the fight he called back over his shoulder, "You have to cross my land to get home and I will kill you”. 

True to his threat Elliott set an ambush at the spring of water, that was on his property, by the roadway. As Captain Black Hawk approached, Elliott shoot him in the chest with a shotgun. Captain Hays was knocked from his horse, but was not killed. Henry Elliott was not heard of again. Oral history has it that he went into hiding but was betrayed by a girl friend who was a Maness and had close connection with the Hays family. This history states that Henry Elliott was captured by the Hays men and hung. (Here, I will give my source for this narrative: As a child, and even as  young man, I would sit on the front porch of a local Darden barber named Samuel Elliott [the grandson of Henry Elliott] and listen to Samuel and my father, Carlie Hayes, [the grandson of Captain Black Hawk Hays] tell this story over and over again. Over the years of my life I have looked back on these hair-cutting sessions with fond memories. It spoke to me of how people can, and should, heal. Asa Nelson [Black Hawk] Hays did die from this shotgun blast a few months later. So, here, on Samuel Elliott’s front porch the grandson of the murdered and the grandson of the murderer were caring on commerce, but more than that, they were friends.) 

Obituary Of A Legend 

Obituary from Henderson County Newspaper - April 16, 1887

“WEST TENNESSEE WHIG BLACK HAWK DEAD” 

“Captain Asa N Hays, who is better known by the name of Black Hawk Hays, is dead. He died recently in Decatur County where he had resided for a number of years. He was for a long time a citizen of this county and acquired the name of Black Hawk Hays by reasons of his bravery in the Indian wars. In a battle with them he was shot through and through by an Indian brave, recovered from his wounds and was ever afterwards called Black Hawk in honor of his bravery and courage in fighting that war like tribe of fiery savages. He was also a Federal Captain in the late war, and at the  date of his death he was drawing a pension granted to him by a grateful country on account of wounds received in the Indian wars. Captain Hays was in many respects a remarkable man. He was brave and generous and full of energy, and had he possess the advantage of an education, he doubtless would have reached with some of the most illustrious men of his day. But now his warfare is over and the old soldier sleeps his last sleep.”

Sources

• *Headstone in Bear Creek Cemetery, Decatur TN
• 1850 Census
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• Civil War Pension
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BODY, SOUL AND SPIRIT IN THE RESURRECTION

It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body. And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit. —1 Corinthians 15:44-45

In previous essays we have discussed the soul in its separated state from the body. Demonstrated from sacred Scripture, we discovered that the soul of man continues as a functional entity apart from its body because it is the locus of personal identity. It is pointed out that I employed the possessive pronoun (“its”) in our first sentence when referencing the soul’s physical part. Just as the soul and the body came into existence together in the event of procreation, so will both continue together throughout eternity. The body belongs to the soul and the soul to it. The separation at death of the corruptible and incorruptible is not a permanent condition of affairs—it is only temporary. Physical death is not the period at the end of the statement of the life of the body; it is only a comma. A momentary pause in the union of visible with invisible.  

The question has often been asked: “If the soul is judged redeemed and conscious and with Christ in Heaven, what need is there for a resurrection of the body?” This writing will dedicate itself to answering that question.

We will proceed on our mission by examining the teaching of Paul the Apostle (A.D. 55) 

Apostle Paul

A complete study of the resurrection would require an entire book many times the size of this present work, to say nothing of the limitations of this one chapter on the subject. So, I acknowledge from the start there will be much more left unsaid than said. So, to keep our observations tightly focused we will limit ourselves to but one chapter of Paul’s first epistle to the Corinthians. Let us, then, examine 1 Corinthians chapter 15. For this exercise you should have your Bible in hand to reference each set of verses.

Resurrection Essential to the Gospel vv1-11

The Apostle begins his treatment of the resurrection with an introduction to the gospel (v1) and the pivotal position the resurrection of the physical body holds in that gospel (v4). The Christians are reminded that they have believed the gospel (v1) and that their continued salvation depended on keeping that gospel in the forefront of their minds (v2). So, then, the gospel was/is a knowledge, and the acceptance of that knowledge as truth. The “knowledge” that constitutes the gospel is the death, burial and resurrection of Christ Jesus (vv3-4), and how that “knowledge” births faith in the hearts of men. The importance of the “resurrection” aspect of the gospel is emphasized by Paul not only here, but also when writing to the Romans: “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved” (Romans 10-9). The resurrection of Christ from the dead is so important to the gospel that there is no salvation outside of its acceptance as reality. 

Paul reminds the Corinthians of those to whom Christ showed Himself alive after the resurrection (vv5-8). This was not done in a corner. It was not a secret event that lived only in the imaginations of the disciples. The Apostle was not asking people to believe empty words, he was asking them to believe the empty tomb! 

In Paul’s list of witnesses he mentions over five hundred brethren who saw Him at one time (v6), the Corinthians are reminded that the most part were still alive twenty five years after the event. Here, Paul introduces an appearance of Christ to Peter that is not recorded, and nowhere else mentioned in holy Scripture (v5). Besides the twelve apostles Jesus showed Himself to James and the unnamed five hundred and also to Paul last of all. Paul lists the witnesses and emphasizes that most remain alive, in order to establish the validity of the message. 

Resurrection Essential to the Faith vv12-19

Paul, here, teaches the resurrection of the dead as necessary for the Christian Faith (vv16-17). If there is no resurrection, as the Greeks and many of the Jews, and it seems even some Christians (v12), believed, then Christ has not resurrected (v13). If Christ be not resurrected then an awful state of affairs exists. First, all who are testifying of the resurrection of Christ are either deceived or worse, lying (v15). If Christ is not resurrected, but still dead, then there is no reason to believe in a future resurrection of believers. If the naysayers are correct then this life is all there is and everyone should live for the day, eat, drink and be merry for tomorrow we die. If there is no resurrection, the preaching of the apostles and their surrogates is vain (v14) and they are made fools in light of the suffering they all have experienced for the gospel’s sake. But what is worse, the faith of the believers is all in vain and all who have died hoping for the resurrection of the body are perished (v18). Paul writes in v19, εἰ ἐν τῇ ζωῇ ταύτῃ ἐν Χριστῷ ἠλπικότες ἐσμὲν μόνον, ἐλεεινότεροι πάντων ἀνθρώπων ἐσμέν. Translation: “If we have hoped in Christ in this life only, we are of all men most to be pitied” (NASB).

Even as Paul preached, baptized and established churches throughout the Roman Empire some Christians, so called, were doubting, or outright denying, the resurrection. These doubters were causing much consternation over the death of believers. Many (perhaps, most) were expecting the parousia during the lifetime of that first generation of Christians. When believers began to die, and Jesus had not returned, some were fearful that the dead had simply perished in spite of their faith in Christ. This concern caused the Apostle to write: “But we do not want you to be uninformed, brethren, about those who are asleep, so that you will not grieve as do the rest who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus. For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words.” —1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 NASB

Christ’s Resurrection Guarantees Ours vv20-28

In this section of the epistle Paul demonstrates that the resurrection of Jesus was evidence that there would be a general resurrection of the dead (v20, 23). Adam is introduced as being the cause of the death of the body, Christ as the cause for the undoing of that death by assuring the resurrection (v22). We should notice that Paul writes, “For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.” The Greek  πάντες (pantes) is: all, everyone. So, because of Adam all die the physical death whether or not they are good or evil—all die. Conversely, because of Christ all “shall be made alive” whether or not they are righteous or unrighteous: all live. Jesus explained it this way, “Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation” (John 5:28-29). 

Jesus is spoken of as the “firstfruits” (v23).  The “firstfruits” of any harvest gives a promise of the general harvest; it is even so with the resurrection of Christ. The resurrection of Jesus was the watershed of everlasting hope. To the church at Colossae, Paul writes concerning Christ and His resurrection: “And He… is the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence” (Col. 1:18). Others had risen from the dead, to only return to the grave. Jesus of Nazareth was the “firstborn” to everlasting life. The ultimate victory of the Messianic King is the total destruction of the “last enemy:”i.e.“death” (v26). The Messiah’s resurrection was the presaging of that total victory. Daniel’s “Son of Man” (Daniel 7:13ff), by virtue of His resurrection has been given the “preeminence” (Col. 1:18) until “he hath put all things under his feet …And when all things shall be subdued unto him, then shall the Son [of man] also himself be subject unto him that put all things under him, that God may be all in all” (vv27-28).

The Nature of the Resurrection Body vv29-49

Before our author addresses the actual nature of the resurrected body he revisits the consequences of no resurrection and the futility of the Christian experience in the face of such a possibility (vv29-32). To support his argument for the resurrection, the Apostle Paul mentions those who practiced water baptism in behalf of dead persons (v29). His argument was simple: If the dead do not resurrect, why were some being water baptized for them? This practice shows the relationship the apostolic church understood to exist between water baptism and the promise of a resurrection (see Romans 6:4-5): thus, the importance placed on the resurrection. Note: The Greek of this passage makes it clear that water baptism was practiced in behalf of dead persons; e.g. the text from which the King James Version is translated reads, “huper ton nekron”: “for the sake of the dead ones.” GLTTrAW  reads, “hyper auton”:  for the sake of them. Both readings are the genitive plural form; therefore, cannot be referencing Christ as the “dead party” for which the believers were being baptized. The “dead ones” seem to be referencing those who died in faith before being water baptized. 

In verses 31 & 32 Paul points out that he resigns himself to die every day, and that he puts himself in jeopardy of physical death daily, even to the point of fighting with wild beasts at Ephesus; if  there is no resurrection from the dead there is no benefit to the risk he joyfully subjects himself. “Let us eat and drink; for to morrow we die,”:  from a line in the Thais of Menander. But, “Be not deceived: evil communications corrupt good manners.” (v33). The line from Menander, Paul considers bad advice. In view of the resurrection and of the judgement the resurrection announces, the Corinthians are urged to “awake to righteousness, and sin not” (v34).  Some at Corinth (some who profess Christ) do not have the “knowledge of God” (v34).  Clearly, Paul is referencing the knowledge of the gospel of which the resurrection is foundational. 

Some of those whom the Apostle is shaming asked the question (in derision), “How are the dead raised up? and with what body do they come?” (v35). Giving such ones no quarter, our author retorts with a stinging, “Thou fool …” Then proceeding with an illustration from nature, Paul points out that no grain puts forth life until it first dies. His intent is clear. The body must die before it can come to life again (v36). The horticultural message understood by all is that the farmer does not sow the plant that shall be, but the bare seed (v37). Even so, the body that is planted in the grave is not the body that will come forth into new life. The bare seed that is planted produces a plant with shape and foliage totally unlike, in appearance, that which went into the ground. The seed produces after its own kind (v38). Every seed its own body, whether it be wheat or some other grain. The Apostle is clearly wanting his readers to understand that all will not be the same in the resurrection. Whatever, type of body the resurrection produces will be determined by the nature of the seed planted (v38). 

There are earthly bodies and heavenly bodies. Paul writes it this way, “There are also celestial bodies, and bodies terrestrial: but the glory of the celestial is one, and the glory of the terrestrial is another.”(v40). Then to make clear his meaning he writes, “So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption [the terrestrial]; it is raised in incorruption [the celestial]:” (v42). Not to be overlooked are Paul’s comments on the celestial bodies: “There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars: for one star differeth from another star in glory.” (v41). After demonstrating the differences between the corruptible body of flesh and the incorruptible body of the resurrection, our author goes further and declares different types of “glory” for the incorruptible bodies of the resurrection (v41). The Apostle explained this in another place: The works of the Christian will be tried to determine if they are works of gold, silver, precious stones or of hay, wood and stubble. If the works have been inferior, the rewards will be lost but the disciple will be saved. So, then, the nature of the believers resurrection, as to what glory they will come forth depends on the life lived in the former existence. The author of Hebrews tells of those who did not accept deliverance from torture (when they could have), so that they might have a better resurrection. One may extrapolate from this that the same is true with those that come forth to the resurrection of the damned (John 5:29). 

In vv44-49 we are made to understand the difference between the natural body and the spiritual body. The natural body is the body we have been born with and in which we have lived our natural lives. It has been subject to the ravishes of time, sickness and physical injury. The spiritual body is the resurrection body. It is called “spiritual” not because it is incorporeal but because it is from the spirit realm. Our author explains, “It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body.  And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit” (1 Cor. 15:44-45). The first Adam (the first man) and Christ are compared. The first Adam was made alive in the flesh, the last Adam (i.e. Jesus Christ) was made a life giving Spirit. Now, you will permit me to illustrate that this has the body Jesus was resurrected with in view. It was a spiritual body. Yet, it was not incorporeal: it was corporal. Jesus demonstrated this when he said, “Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have.” (Luke 24:39). To prove He was flesh, and not a ghost, He ate with His disciples (Luke 24:42-43) after His resurrection. The Angel proclaimed that this “same Jesus … shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven” (Acts 1:11). John writes in his first epistle, “Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.” (1 John 3:2). So, then we have some insight into the nature of the resurrected body: it will be like the body of Christ after His resurrection. It was corporal, yet glorified. Jesus traveled at the speed of thought, he could and did pass through solid matter, he could and did eat natural food with His disciples and He could and was touched and handled by natural men. 

In a second letter to the Corinthians, Paul writes of the body that will be in the resurrection with great longing. He writes thusly: 

“For we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands. Meanwhile we groan, longing to be clothed instead with our heavenly dwelling, because when we are clothed, we will not be found naked. For while we are in this tent, we groan and are burdened, because we do not wish to be unclothed but to be clothed instead with our heavenly dwelling, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. Now the one who has fashioned us for this very purpose is God, who has given us the Spirit as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.

 “Therefore we are always confident and know that as long as we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord.  For we live by faith, not by sight. We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord. So we make it our goal to please him, whether we are at home in the body or away from it. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each of us may receive what is due us for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.” —2 Corinthians 5:1-10 NIV

Victorious Resurrection vv50-58

When Paul writes in v50 that “flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption” he has the physical earthly body in view with its physical life source of “blood”. Jesus stated clearly that He was flesh and bone. In the resurrection He was made a life giving spirit; e.g. blood was replaced by Spirit. So it is in the general resurrection. The Holy Spirit of God will quicken (make alive) our mortal bodies and work the required change to a spiritual body fitted for eternity. Our natural bodies are corruptible only because they are made of material that is of the earth: earthly stuff. In the resurrection our bodies will be made from material that is from heaven: heavenly stuff.  It is this “change” Paul intends when he writes in vv51 & 52, “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.” We are told that our corruption will put on incorruption and our mortal will put on immortality. This references the body, not the soul. The soul is already immortal, here, the soul is getting equipped with a body to match itself. This language is language of the “change.” 

“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? 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. Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.”  —Paul the Apostle

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Why Is The Resurrection Required

So far, in this writing, we have been considering the Apostle Paul’s thoughts on the resurrection and its importance to the Christian religion. At this point I would like to consider the often asked question by those who embrace “soul sleep.” The segment of Christians (and I am generous with the cognomen) who do not believe in the substance dualism of man, and therefore, advocate soul sleep, or, even more drastic—soul death (these people and groups are generally considered to be Christian Mortalists: because they do not believe in the immortality of the soul of man), are fond of asking the question: “If the soul is judged redeemed, is conscious and with Christ in Heaven, what need is there for a resurrection of the body?” 

“In no wise are the bodies themselves to be spurned. (...) For these pertain not to ornament or aid which is applied from without, but to the very nature of man.” —Augustine of Hippo

As the Christian Faith is presented in holy Scripture, there are two main reasons why the soul MUST be reunited with its body. Reason number one is the Judgement, reason number two is the Administration of the Eternal Kingdom.

I. Resurrection Required For The Judgement

For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad. —2 Corinthians 5:10

Let us begin this section on the “judgement” with an observation that the Bible places the resurrection of the body at a point in time before the judgement. 

Do not think for one moment that because the wicked dead go to a place of torment upon the death of the body, and the righteous to Paradise at the very moment of death (as is demonstrated in the Lazarus and Dives narrative, and a multitude of other texts), that there will be no final judgement: for, indeed, there will be. While it is true that a sort of determination is made, by the Great Judge of the Universe, at the point of the death of each individual as to his or her eternal destiny, there will be a formalizing of that determination at the Great White Throne Judgement, when each person will stand before God in his or her resurrected body to receive the official verdict. How then, one may ask, are “the spirits of just men made perfect”  before such a judgement takes place? The Bible answer to that is: God knows the end from the beginning, and calls those things that are not yet, as though they are. Why then, the judgement seat? Is it just so much heavenly theater? Not at all. The Judgement is required, because God’s righteousness will not be imputed and His acts will be justified before the throngs of this world and that one; everyones’ deeds will be revealed, and all will proclaim that the God of the universe is just. 

But, apart from the justification of the Judge, another purpose for the formal judgement to take place AFTER the resurrection is found in the “substance dualism” of mankind.  Man is body and soul, and we agree with Augustine: The body does not simply pertain “to ornament or aid which is applied from without, but to the very nature of man.” When Paul writes about the judgment, he states clearly: “that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad” (2 Corinthians 5:10). Notice: “the things done in his body.”  The “body” then, being a necessary part of the nature of man, must participate in man’s judgement whether good or bad: because the “body” had a part in the deeds, whether good or bad.

The first treatises ever written on the resurrection of the body in Christian literature was by Athenagoras of Athens (ca. A.D. 177). We will pick up the Athenian’s arguments for the resurrection at chapter XVIII of his book on “The Resurrection of the Dead.” I will share this without comment, but I ask the reader to notice his emphasis on “substance dualism” and the absolute need for there to be a body and a soul present at the judgement for there to be equity in the verdict.

Athenagoras the Athenian, Chapter XVIII—But if each of these things belongs to man by nature, and he requires food for his life, and requires posterity for the continuance of the race, and requires a judgment in order that food and posterity may be according to law, it of course follows, since food and posterity refer to both together, that the judgment must be referred to them too (by both together I mean man, consisting of soul and body), and that such man becomes accountable for all his actions, and receives for them either reward or punishment. Now, if the righteous judgment awards to both together its retribution for the deeds wrought; and if it is not proper that either the soul alone should receive the wages of the deeds wrought in union with the body (for this of itself has no inclination to the faults which are committed in connection with the pleasure or food and culture of the body), or that the body alone should (for this of itself is incapable of distinguishing law and justice), but man, composed of these, is subjected to trial for each of the deeds wrought by him; and if reason does not find this happening either in this life (for the award according to merit finds no place in the present existence, since many atheists and persons who practice every iniquity and wickedness live on to the last, unvisited by calamity, whilst, on the contrary, those who have manifestly lived an exemplary life in respect of every Virtue, live in pain, in insult, in calumny and outrage, and suffering of all kinds) or after death (for both together no longer exist, the soul being separated from the body, and the body itself being resolved again into the materials out of which it was composed, and no longer retaining anything of its former structure or form, much less the remembrance of its actions): the result of all this is very plain to every one,—namely, that, in the language of the apostle, “this corruptible (and dissoluble) must put on incorruption,” in order that those who were dead, having been made alive by the resurrection, and the parts that were separated and entirely dissolved having been again united, each one may, in accordance with justice, receive what he has done by the body, whether it be good or bad.

Athenagoras the Athenian, Chapter XX.—Man Must Be Possessed Both of a Body and Soul Hereafter, that the Judgment Passed Upon Him May Be Just. For either death is the entire extinction of life, the soul being dissolved and corrupted along with the body, or the soul remains by itself, incapable of dissolution, of dispersion, of corruption, whilst the body is corrupted and dissolved, retaining no longer any remembrance of past actions, nor sense of what it experienced in connection with the soul. If the life of men is to be utterly extinguished, it is manifest there will be no care for men who are not living, no judgment respecting those who have lived in virtue or in vice; but there will rush in again upon us whatever belongs to a lawless life, and the swarm of absurdities which follow from it, and that which is the summit of this lawlessness—atheism. But if the body were to be corrupted, and each of the dissolved particles to pass to its kindred element, yet the soul to remain by itself as immortal, neither on this supposition would any judgment on the soul take place, since there would be an absence of equity: for it is unlawful to suspect that any judgment can proceed out of God and from God which is wanting in equity. Yet equity is wanting to the judgment, if the being is not preserved in existence who practised righteousness or lawlessness: for that which practised each of the things in life on which the judgment is passed was man, not soul by itself. To sum up all in a word, this view will in no case consist with equity.

Athenagoras the Athenian, Chapter XXII.—Continuation of the Argument. In addition to what has been said, is it not absurd that, while we cannot even have the notion of virtue and vice as existing separately in the soul (for we recognise the virtues as man's virtues, even as in like manner vice, their opposite, as not belonging to the soul in separation from the body, and existing by itself), yet that the reward or punishment for these should be assigned to the soul alone? How can any one have even the notion of courage or fortitude as existing in the soul alone, when it has no fear of death, or wounds, or maiming, or loss, or maltreatment, or of the pain connected with these, or the suffering resulting from them?

Athenagoras the Athenian, Chapter XXV.—Argument Continued and Concluded. Nor again is it the happiness of soul separated from body: for we are not inquiring about the life or final cause of either of the parts of which man consists, but of the being who is composed of both; for such is every man who has a share in this present existence, and there must be some appropriate end proposed for this life. But if it is the end of both parts together, and this can be discovered neither while they are still living in the present state of existence through the numerous causes already mentioned, nor yet when the soul is in a state of separation, because the man cannot be said to exist when the body is dissolved, and indeed entirely scattered abroad, even though the soul continue by itself—it is absolutely necessary that the end of a man's being should appear in some reconstitution of the two together, and of the same living being. And as this follows of necessity, there must by all means be a resurrection of the bodies which are dead, or even entirely dissolved, and the same men must be formed anew, since the law of nature ordains the end not absolutely, nor as the end of any men whatsoever, but of the same men who passed through the previous life; but it is impossible for the same men to be reconstituted unless the same bodies are restored to the same souls. But that the same soul should obtain the same body is impossible in any other way, and possible only by the resurrection; for if this takes place, an end befitting the nature of men follows also. And we shall make no mistake in saying, that the final cause of an intelligent life and rational judgment, is to be occupied uninterruptedly with those objects to which the natural reason is chiefly and primarily adapted, and to delight unceasingly in the contemplation of Him who is, and of His decrees, notwithstanding that the majority of men, because they are affected too passionately and too violently by things below, pass through life without attaining this object. For the large number of those who fail of the end that belongs to them does not make void the common lot, since the examination relates to individuals, and the reward or punishment of lives ill or well spent is proportioned to the merit of each.

II. Resurrection Required For The Administration of the Eternal Kingdom

In the last section of this writing we have seen how the Judgement requires the reuniting of the soul and body, for there to be equity in God’s verdicts. Thus, we see why God requires the body to be present. In this section we will ask and answer the question: What does the immortal soul need with a body? 

The answer to the question, What does the immortal soul need with a body? is manifest when we understand the following things to be true. First, man is Yahweh’s crowning creation, made in His likeness and image. Second, man is the federal head of all creation. Third, although man was marred in the fall, he was redeemed at Calvary. Fourth, God’s creation is a universe of matter. Fifth, as the federal head of God’s creation, redeemed man will co-rule, along with Christ, a physically corporal universe in a physically corporal (albeit, a glorified) body.

In Revelation, chapter 21, John shows his readers an image of Heaven coming down onto the earth. He writes of that future event in this manner: “And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea. And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God. 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.”  Apostle John, Revelation 21:1-5

Biblically, we may, and should, speak of the present Heaven and the future Heaven. The present heaven is Paradise (called by Jesus “Abraham’s Bosom”) which has been relocated from the underworld to the place where Jesus now is. (Those who advocate for “soul sleep” argue that the souls of the righteous dead could not be alive and conscious of the living because our lives would, many times,  cause them sorrow. They reason that that could never happen, because there are no tears in Heaven. To this objection to the consciousness of the soul presently, we would point out that the promise of no more tears is only for the future Heaven, not the present one.) The future Heaven is yet to come, when God creates a new earth and a new Heaven. An important purpose, and need, for the resurrection is to unite the soul with a glorified body that will function in that new Heaven and new earth — the perfect age. Think with me on this for just a moment: God and His hosts of angels are spirit beings inhabiting the spiritual dimension of a physical universe. The present Heaven is in that spiritual dimension, as are the souls of the righteous departed. However, God, in His wisdom, created the physical universe out of matter (which He brought forth from nothing). Although the universe is made from matter and the “second law of thermodynamics” states that all matter is in a state of decay, God has decreed that His universe be eternal. So, to underline the point: although the “second law of thermo-dynamics” states that all matter is in a state of decay, the Creator God has created an eternal universe by fiat. His will is that His Kingdom spread throughout His universe and increase eternally. When writing about that eternally expanding Kingdom the prophet Isaiah wrote: 

“Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this.” —Isaiah 9:7

Now, there is a difference in the Messiah’s Kingdom continuing for ever and increasing for ever. The Bible declares the Kingdom will INCREASE eternally. Three things are required in this eternally expanding “government”: the governor (Messiah Jesus), the governed (mortal people who continue to procreated) and territory for the governed to occupy. The Messiah is eternal, but for the governed and their territory to INCREASE eternally there must be a numerical expansion of the governed (this will not be provided by the redeemed saints who, in their glorified state, will not be procreating) and a geographical expansion beyond planet earth. The Bible is clear, then, that the multitude of stars and their solar systems are awaiting the human race to arrive under the governance of the Messiah. If one questions how a universe can be eternal when our science tells us it is in a state of constant decay, the bible gives the answer: “The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this.” 

Jesus gives us the foundation information of this eternal Kingdom made up of mortal men, when, in Matthew, He speaks of the sheep and goat nations. When the Messiah returns to the earth, we are told, He will herd the nations into a corral for branding. There, He separates the “nations” into sheep nations and goat nations. The sheep nations will enter into His eternal Kingdom and the goat nations will not. Jesus explains it this way: 

“When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory: And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats: And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left. Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: … Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:” —Matthew 25:31-34, 41

With all the above being true, the reason for the resurrection is manifestly clear: The redeemed who will rule and reign with Christ over the sheep nations, in His eternally expanding Kingdom, are to have bodies of glorified matter, like the body with which Jesus resurrected, in order to function properly in a universe made up of matter. What that function will be we can only guess, for the Bible’s purpose is not to give us a detailed schematic for the perfect eternal age to come.

Pre-Christian pagan philosophers had imagined the immortality of the soul, but never, in the most lucid moments of their inspiration, did they dream the body would get up and join it.

Amen

Apostolically Speaking,

☩☩David Ignatius

Read more epistles from the Bishop on the subject of The Intermediate State of the Soul at the links provided here:

The Intermediate State of the soul, Part One; An Examination of Soul Sleep, aka Christian Mortalism
https://bishopjerrylhayes.blogspot.com/2019/09/the-intermediate-state-of-soul-part-one.html

Substance Dualism and the Immortal Soul
http://bishopjerrylhayes.blogspot.com/2019/10/substance-dualism-and-immortal-soul.html

Intermediate State of the Soul (Substance Dualism and the Immortal Soul #2)
http://bishopjerrylhayes.blogspot.com/2019/10/the-intermediate-state-substance.html

Intermediate State of the Soul (Substance Dualism and the Immortal Soul #3)
http://bishopjerrylhayes.blogspot.com/2019/10/the-intermediate-state-substance_15.html

Intermediate State of the Soul (Substance Dualism and the Immortal Soul #4) Jesus Preaches to Spirits in Prison

http://bishopjerrylhayes.blogspot.com/2019/10/the-intermediate-state-substance_16.html

Intermediate State of the Soul #5 (The Theology of Paul the Apostle)
https://bishopjerrylhayes.blogspot.com/2019/10/the-intermediate-state-theology-of-paul.html

Intermediate State of the Soul #6 (The Rich Man Is Conscious In Hell)
https://bishopjerrylhayes.blogspot.com/2019/10/intermediate-state-of-soul-rich-man-is.html

This essay is excerpted from the Bishop's book "Biblical Anthropology."
Biblical Anthropology is a study in what the Bible teaches concerning the origin, nature (ontology), history and destiny of mankind. Reviewed in this work is the debate over whether or not the human being is bipartite—such as only body and soul, or tripartite—such as body, soul and spirit. Biblical Anthropology addresses the question of whether or not the soul is mortal or immortal; that is, does the soul have existence apart from the body.  What, exactly happens at death? Will there be a resurrection of the body, and if so what nature will the resurrected body take?  These are important questions addressed in this book. Bishop Jerry L Hayes presents a very orthodox view of Christian biblical anthropology which relies heavily on holy Scripture with a generous sprinkling of quotes from the ancient churchmen such as Athenagoras, Tertullian, and Augustine to name a few. 
Order your personal copy of this classic work on biblical anthropology by clicking the link provided here:
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