The Different Ranks in Resurrection - Part C

We are to find our refreshment from the Holy Spirit now. Jesus said, "Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled." Many children of God go throughout their earthly existence without the infilling of the Holy Spirit. He is said to be the "Refreshing" - Isaiah 28:12. We are to drink of this one Spirit now - I Corinthians 12:13. Some people wonder why their lives seem so dry and useless. It is because they do not allow the Holy Spirit to come into their bodies and fill them.

There is a hint of their experiences through some of the tribulation days. "Neither shall the sun light on them, nor any heat." This is one of the judgments of that period of time. The sun will shine brighter and hotter than ever before, and scorch men with its heat. This also speaks of judgment in general. The fires of righteous judgment will fall upon the rebellious earth, and these saints will be caught in its burning. It was not God's original purpose that they were left on earth; but, when they failed to lay hold of the promises of God, they missed the first trumpet sound. They were not faithful when it counted. They did not fully overcome when they could have. They did not stand for all the Truth, but denied that it could be so.
We also read that the Lamb "shall feed them." Only babies have to be fed. These saints are not able to get their own nourishment from the Word. They must always be taught by others. They never sit down and meditate upon the Word for themselves. They never receive any nugget of Truth by their own digging. They are content to let others read for them.

"God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes." They seem to have had sorrow all their lives. They did not know how to get the victory over the cares and the woes of their earthly sojourn. We are taught in the Scriptures that Christ is our Source of strength and joy now. When we are in trouble, we go to the Lord and He takes away the pain and suffering and gives us victory. Even though we may remain in the trial, He gives us a song of joy and victory and we do not mind the trial. We do not have to wait until we reach Heaven, to know the sweetness of having Him wipe away our tears. We learn now, how compassionate He is throughout our lives. There are some today who are always crying on someone else's shoulders. They can never seem to appropriate God's grace for themselves. When they suffer, everyone else knows about it. The real overcomer can be in great trial and yet, in the presence of others, happy and carefree. This is victory.
Oh, that we would read and meditate upon the Scriptures! There is so much more than what appears on the surface. We know only in part now, but what we have learned fills us with unspeakable joy. What will it be when we know Him in His fullness and reality! Let us read the Word and ask the Holy Spirit to reveal the Truth to our hearts. It is not too much to ask. We are not afraid to go to the minister and ask him what something means. Why not ask the Holy Spirit, as you would your preacher or teacher? Talk to Him personally, out loud if you can; and then let Him speak through the Word. He will always and only speak through the Scriptures.

"And I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God: and he cried with a loud voice to the four angels, to whom it was given to hurt the earth and the sea, saying, hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads. And I heard the number of them which were sealed: and there were sealed a hundred and forty and four thousand of all the tribes of the Children of Israel" - Revelation 7:2-4.

We come now to the third group of saints in resurrection. As we wrote before, this group is quite distinct from the other two. In verses two to eight, we note that they are scaled as a group. First of all, let us determine what is the Scriptural meaning of the word "sealed." "The seal of the living God" (verse two) means an emblem of ownership and security, and also carries the thought of destination. By reading Ephesians 1:13,14 we learn that the seal of God is the Holy Spirit - "In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the Word of Truth, the Gospel of your salvation: in whom also, after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise, which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of His glory."

Let us also note in this connection, the wording of Ephesians 1:13, as to when we are sealed. It is "AFTER THAT YE BELIEVED." In Ephesians 4:30 we read, "And grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption." Here is the thought of not only security and ownership, but also of destination. When we are filled with the Holy Spirit we receive the seal of God, and it is definite and sure that we belong to God. This ownership is eternal, and will never be revoked. We are "sealed unto the day of redemption," or until the time when we are glorified in Heaven. A person may profess to be a Christian, but not possess the Life of Christ; but, when a believer receives the Holy Spirit into his body, it is proof that he belongs to the Lord. The Holy Spirit is a Gift to believers only, and cannot be received by the world or sinners.

We have learned then that the 144,000 are sealed, or have received the Holy Spirit. You may ask, "When were they sealed?" We will answer this in detail later. We do learn from these verses that they were all sealed before the great day of wrath which is coming on the earth. The winds of judgment are held back from the earth until all the sealing is done.

Another fact which we learn is that these people are distinctly of the house of Israel. They include twelve thousand from each tribe of Israel; and we can take it for granted that this is a literal number. When God writes of Israel as to number and date, it is always exact. In their history, God would tell them to do something or to observe a certain feast upon a certain date. When we read of the Church which is made up of both Jew and Gentile, the language is often symbolic. We believe that this is because the Truth given to the Church was a mystery until revealed to the Apostle Paul. God had to speak in symbols and parables, because that Truth was hidden until the right time.

Some will say, "There cannot be twelve thousand out of each tribe, because ten tribes are lost." Do not believe it. The ten tribes were scattered among the nations, but were never lost as far as God is concerned. When the Apostle James wrote his epistle, he addressed all of them - "James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad, greeting" - James 1:1. There is a teaching that the ten tribes lost their identity as belonging to Israel, and are now Great Britain and the United States. This is completely without Scriptural foundation. As far as we know, the identity of the ten tribes is unknown, but God knows. They are scattered; and, when God is ready to gather them, He will do it without asking men for their help. The two tribes known as Judah have always retained their identity, and we know them as Jews. They have definite characteristics which can never be erased, because they are eternal people. God's promises to them are eternal, and these promises include the twelve tribes. We do not believe that the ten tribes comprise any certain nation or nations, but are individuals scattered throughout many nations. They are related to the Jews but, because they have mingled with other nations, they cannot be readily identified as the Jews.