The Third Resurrection: What Is Its Value?
'Ready Answer' by StaffWhat purpose does the Third Resurrection serve? Is it just so God can punish the incorrigible? Does it play a part in OUR salvation?
Basic Doctrines: The First Resurrection
Bible Study by Martin G. CollinsThe doctrine of resurrection is a chief teachings of Christianity. For those called and chosen in this age, the first resurrection is especially vital.
Resurrection AD 31
'Ready Answer' by StaffMatthew 27:52 informs us that more than one resurrection occurred during Passover week in AD 31. Here is what we can glean from the Bible about this miracle.
Basic Doctrines: The Second Resurrection
Bible Study by Martin G. CollinsFor the billions of people who have never known the truth, the second resurrection offers them an opportunity for future salvation.
The Miracles of Jesus Christ: Resurrecting Jairus' Daughter
Bible Study by Martin G. CollinsThe resurrection of Jairus' daughter is one of Jesus' greatest miracles. Here Christ's curious actions in raising the girl from premature death are explained.
The Resurrection: A Central Pillar
Sermon by Richard T. RitenbaughChrist's resurrection is of paramount importance to us, because Jesus alone has the keys to our own resurrection and eternal life as firstfruits.
The Resurrection From the Dead
Sermon by John W. RitenbaughOur lives revolve around the hope of a resurrection from the dead. Hope, deriving from Christ's resurrection, gives faith and love impetus and energy.
Raising Our Conception of the Resurrection
CGG Weekly by Richard T. RitenbaughWe must be careful not to be satisfied with the basic truth that Jesus was resurrected, for if we do, we miss the magnificence and significance of the event.
Christ's Responsibility, Resurrections, and All in All
Sermon by John W. RitenbaughChrist's resurrection was bodily. He will destroy death before returning control back to the Father, at which time the entire creation would be all in all.
Consequences of Resurrection and Ascension
Sermon by Richard T. RitenbaughNeither Christmas or Easter appear in the Feasts of the Lord, but we find plenty of emphasis on the resurrection and ascension of Christ in the Holy Days.
Comfort One Another With These Words
CGG Weekly by Martin G. CollinsThe death of someone close hits us hard, but God provides comfort, often through others. We need to comfort the grieving with the hope about the resurrection.
From Dust to Dust
CGG Weekly by John ReissThe frailty and brevity of this life are bitter truths, but they are realities that we must confront. Yet there is life beyond the grave, as Scripture shows.
Death Is Not the End (Part Four)
CGG Weekly by Richard T. RitenbaughWhile various religions and some philosophies suggest an afterlife of some sort, the fear of the unknown transforms death into a foreboding Grim Reaper.
Ecclesiastes Resumed (Part Thirty-Four): Ecclesiastes 9:2-12
Feast of Tabernacles Sermon by Richard T. RitenbaughAlthough some try to make their lives easier by compromising, Solomon warns that all evil leads to death, and that doing evil in any circumstance is insane.
Death Is Not the End (Part Five)
CGG Weekly by Richard T. RitenbaughTwo of history's wisest men, Job and Solomon, contemplated the possibilities of an afterlife, and both concluded that something better awaited us after death.
Taking It Through the Grave
Article by William R. GrayWe have to live life with the thought that some things will stick with us through the grave. We will take nothing out of this life except our character.
God's Plan and the False Immortal Soul Doctrine
'Ready Answer' by Craig SablichWorldly Christianity's Doctrine of the Immortal Soul, unsupported in Scripture, fails the litmus test of God's Plan, in which eternal life is God's gift.
Should a Christian Pray for the Dead (Ecclesiastes 9:5)?
Bible Questions & AnswersPrayers for the dead are useless. The idea is based on the false teaching that man has an immortal soul. The Bible says that the soul itself can die.
God of the Living (2019)
Sermonette by Richard T. RitenbaughChrist's comment in Matthew 22:32 about "the God ... of the living" gives absolutely no mention about a place of the afterlife, but only a condition.
Parable of Lazarus and the Rich Man (Part Two)
Bible Study by Martin G. CollinsJesus' parable preaches the gospel of the Kingdom by revealing salvation, the resurrection to eternal life, and inheritance of His Kingdom on the earth.
Time and Life
'Ready Answer' by Richard T. RitenbaughThe way men and God look at time and life are very different. But if we come to understand God's perspective, we have a greater chance of living His way!
Death Is Not the End (Part Two)
CGG Weekly by Richard T. RitenbaughJesus Christ's approach to death should guide our view of death. He considered His death a work of God, not to be regarded with fear or hostility.
Heaven Must Wait
Sermon/Bible Study by Richard T. RitenbaughGoing to heaven is not scriptural. The soul is not immortal; it is equivalent to life. Mankind does not have a soul; he is a soul, subject to death.
Was Jesus Dead?
Herbert W. Armstrong BookletCan God die? Was Jesus really dead, or did only His body die? Was Jesus the Divine One alive during the three days and three nights a body was in the tomb?
Trumpets and Hope
Sermon by Richard T. RitenbaughOur hope is founded on Jesus rising from the dead. If there is no resurrection, our faith is worthless; if Christ did not rise, we are still under condemnation.
The Final Harvest
'Personal' from John W. RitenbaughAre millions lost because they never heard the name of Christ? What about infants who died? Are the doors forever shut on those born into false religion?
We Shall Be God
Sermon/Bible Study by John W. Ritenbaugh (1932-2023)Though it may sound pretentious or even blasphemous, God's Word shows that we will become literal offspring of the Eternal God, sharing His name and nature.
Be There!
Article by Mike FordMany have friends and relatives who will rise in the second resurrection, but what a shame it would be if we were not there to greet them!
Christ's Death and the Immortality of the Soul
Sermon by John W. RitenbaughThe dangerous false belief of inherent immortal life has led to an acceleration of sin and the danger of eternal oblivion. Only God can give eternal life.
Does Paul Condone Baptism for the Dead (I Corinthians 15:29)?
Bible Questions & AnswersThe New Testament Church did not follow this practice, and the apostle Paul did not teach it. This custom was introduced by Marcion, who created his own religion.
Disproving Hell
Sermon/Bible Study by Richard T. RitenbaughMost of Protestant and Catholic theology is immersed in pagan concepts of hell, reinforced by Dante's Inferno. Here is what the Bible says, without tradition.
What Happened to the Thief on the Cross? (Part Three)
CGG Weekly by David C. GrabbeIf the thief on the cross went to heaven the day that he was crucified, He would he have gone there without Jesus Christ, who was not in Paradise that day!
Lazarus and the Rich Man
Sermon/Bible Study by Richard T. RitenbaughThe Parable of Lazarus and the Rich Man is often held up as proof of the torments of an ever-burning hell. However, the rest of Scripture gives a clearer picture.
God of the Living
Sermonette by Clyde FinkleaJesus proclaimed that God was not the God of the dead but the living, identifying Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, who were physically dead and in their graves.
Is Heaven the Reward of the Saved?
'Ready Answer' by StaffMost of Christianity believes humans go to heaven or hell after death. This belief does not originate in the Bible, which reveals a very different destiny.
Death: The End of the Beginning
Feast of Tabernacles Sermon by Richard T. RitenbaughLooking at death as 'gain,' Jesus Christ and Paul calmly looked upon death as a natural part of life, as a transition to a better life in the resurrection.
The Judgments
Feast of Tabernacles Sermon by John W. RitenbaughMultiple billions of people have lived and died without even hearing the name of Jesus Christ. But God has distinct periods of judgment and resurrection.
The Third Day (Part One)
Feast of Tabernacles Sermon by Richard T. RitenbaughBiblically, the third day carries much historic and prophetic significance.
The Miracles of Jesus Christ: Raising a Widow's Son
Bible Study by Martin G. CollinsThe gospels present Jesus performing three resurrections, one of which is the raising of the widow's son. The episode shows the depth of Christ's compassion.
Whatever Happened to Gnosticism? Part Three: Satan's Three Heresies
Article by David C. GrabbeWhen Satan confronted Adam and Eve, he fed them three heresies that Gnosticism incorporated into its parasitic philosophy and way of life.
Acts (Part Twenty-Five)
Sermon/Bible Study by John W. RitenbaughHad Paul not appealed to Caesar, Agrippa (moved by Paul's testimony and convinced of his innocence) would have set him free. But God had other plans.
The Eighth Day (2019)
Sermonette by David C. GrabbeThe Eight Day (or Last Great Day) has little written about it, but the patterns of Scripture reveal much about the abundance of this holy day.
He Lives, We Live
Sermon by Richard T. RitenbaughRedemption is useless to mortal beings without God's gift of eternal life (I Corinthians 15:19), which God made possible through Christ's resurrection.
From Pilgrims to Pillars (Part Two)
Feast of Tabernacles Sermon by David F. MaasThe intensity of the heat in both the refiner's furnace and the potter's kiln resembles the fiery trials we must endure for the Refiner to remove the dross.
The Wavesheaf Offering
'Personal' from John W. RitenbaughMost know little about the wavesheaf offering, even though it represents one of the most significant acts: the resurrection and ascension of Christ!
John (Part Eighteen)
Sermon/Bible Study by John W. RitenbaughTrust in God's ability to resurrect can neutralize the most basic debilitating fear—the fear of death. Christ assures us that death is not the end.
Are You Alive to God?
Sermon by Martin G. CollinsEphesians 2 says Christians were spiritually dead. Thankfully, God resurrected us from the grave through the substitutionary sacrifice of Christ.
Four Views of Christ (Part 7)
Sermon by John W. RitenbaughOur lives parallel what Christ experienced: crucifixion, burial, resurrection, and glorification. The death of self must precede resurrection and glory.