The Time of the Resurrection

For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ's at His coming" - I Corinthians 15:22,23. We have established that there are two general resurrections. The first resurrection includes all born again believers from the beginning to the end. In the Scriptures quoted above, we see that Christ is the Firstfruit of the resurrection. The Children of Israel were instructed to bring to the priests their firstfruits - Leviticus twenty-three. These belonged to the Lord. They signified that the land belonged to God; and, in this way, the people were acknowledging this fact.

Christ being the Firstfruit of the resurrection, signified that He was the "Tithe" of the resurrection, and the earnest of the resurrection of all believers. Christ has guaranteed that all Christians who die will be raised from the dead. The firstfruits of the land were only samples of the rest of the harvest; there was more to come. So with the resurrection. Christ's resurrection only opened the door into Heaven for all believers. The Apostle Paul states this truth and then adds, "BUT EVERY MAN IN HIS OWN ORDER." We have examined the Greek word for "order," and found that it was a military term signifying "rank."

We are to conclude from this Scripture and others, that the resurrection of believers will be similar to the ranks in an army. There are some who bitterly disagree with this, and say that by believing there are ranks in the resurrection we are "splitting" up the Body of Christ. First of all, we must realize that the Body of Christ is a spiritual Body, and not one of flesh and bones. He has His own body in which He lived while on earth; but there is a Body of mystery which is His people. This Body of believers, which is alive and on earth at this present time, is not all in one place. The saints are scattered throughout the whole world. Others have fallen asleep, and their spirits are with the Lord in Heaven. So there can be no question about "splitting" the Body. This would be impossible.

here is ample evidence that some of the family of God are already in heaven in their glorified bodies. Christ, the Head, has been there for almost two thousand years. Let us read Matthew 27:52,53 - "And the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose, and came out of the graves after His resurrection, and went into the holy city (Jerusalem), and appeared unto many." Here is a resurrection of believers who had died before Christ's death and had been raised at the time of His resurrection, though not at the exact moment. They, like He, appeared to many of the saints. They were seen as He was for forty days - Acts 1:3.

he question arises, "Who were these saints who were raised at this time?" They were believers; so they had to be raised in the first resurrection. Here is one rank of believers. We find out who they were by reading Hebrews 11:35 - "Women received their dead raised to life again: and others were tortured, NOT ACCEPTING DELIVERANCE; THAT THEY MIGHT OBTAIN A BETTER RESURRECTION." This entire chapter records the heroes of faith and their victories. These Old Testament saints were overcomers in their time. Read the list, and you will see that they stood out above all others in believing God. Some were miraculously delivered, but others suffered terribly. Some believed God for "a better resurrection."

Now isn't it strange that they should want a "better" resurrection? Wouldn't a resurrection be all right? The word "better" is a word of comparison and means, "stronger, more powerful, excellent." There was a price to pay for this "better resurrection." That price was an all-out surrender to the will of God. These people suffered untold agony, and exercised mountain-moving faith. They knew that they were running a race to gain the best. These people were such wonderful overcomers that we read - "of whom the world was not worthy." Thus they gained the great distinction of being raised two thousand years before any other believers. Can anyone deny that this was a great honor? These saints became a "cloud of witnesses" (Hebrews 12:1); and they proved that we too can run the race with patience, and obtain a better resurrection out of the general Church.

When Jesus ascended into Heaven we read, "And when He had spoken these things, while they beheld, He was taken up; and a CLOUD received Him out of their sight" - Acts 1:9. This cloud of witnesses is with Him even today, awaiting the time when Jesus will return for His watching waiting ones. We read of this cloud in I Thessalonians 4:13-18, but let us note one verse - "Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them (the sleeping ones) in the CLOUDS, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord." When Jesus is revealed to the earth, and especially to His earthly people Israel, we read, "Behold, He cometh with CLOUDS; and every eye shall see Him, and they also which pierced Him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of Him. Even so, Amen" - Revelation 1:7.

We have noted one rank in the first resurrection, and there are others. The believers who were raised when Christ was, were overcomers. The ones who experience the "out-resurrection" of which Paul spoke will also be overcomers. That is, they overcome all the difficulties and trials in their lives. They never succumb to discouragement and difficulties. They overcome the world, the flesh, and the devil. They overcome all. Our Apostle Paul ran with all his ransomed might, in order that he might attain or arrive at this better resurrection of the Church. He states in I Corinthians 9:24 - "Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain." Now Paul was not a coach of a track team here in Corinth, because he continues this simile - "And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible. I therefore so run, not as uncertainly; so fight I, not as one that beateth the air: but I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway (or, disapproved)" - I Corinthians 9:25-27.

There is a price to pay in order to be counted in this number. The Lord must have first place in our lives, and His will must be paramount in all that we do. We have a description of such people in the book of Revelation. Jesus instructed John to write to the seven churches of Asia, and these letters are found in chapters two and three. These were local churches, but they also represent different experiences and grades in the Church. They portray the overcomings and the failings of the Church. They also represent, dispensationally, the history of the Church Age from the day of Pentecost to the judgment of apostatized Christen- dom. We cannot go into a detailed study of these churches in this booklet. If you care to study them in detail, and do not now have notes of Revelation by A. S. Copley, please write for this book.

The Judge of the Church, Jesus Christ, is seen in the first chapter walking in the midst of these churches judging according to the Word of God. His eyes scrutinize all hearts who hear the Word. He knows whether we let the Word judge our hearts and change our lives. In two of these letters, there is not one word of fault found. This is not so in the other five. He had somewhat against Ephesus, the first church; but they had the opportunity to repent and get back to their previous position. Evidently, the church as a whole did not overcome; as there is a declension seen in the churches. Pergamos is more worldly than Ephesus. Thyatira becomes very wicked in doctrine and practice. Sardis, though a great body and a loud profession, is found to be dead. Laodicea is the end-time picture of Christendom. They are neither hot nor cold. They are impassive toward God's Word, and indifferent to whether they overcome or not.

That leaves two churches who had no blame attached to them. The first is Smyrna. This church is noted for its suffering. They are weak, poor, and have tribulation. The Lord commends them, however, and gives them a wonderful promise," ... be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life" - 2:10. This statement intimates that these saints went into the grave, but they died in victory.

The other church is the Philadelphia assembly. This is a "brotherly love" group, and their characteristic is also "a little strength." We see, however, that they have been faithful in all their ways. We read, "Thou hast kept My Word, and hast not denied My Name ... thou hast kept the Word of My patience." Their reward is great and manifold, but we would like to point out one portion - "Because thou hast kept the Word of My patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth" - 3:10.

This tribulation is not the testing that comes to all children of God who live godly in this world. It is stated as - "the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world." This hour of tribulation is the subject of the book of Revelation from chapters six to nineteen. Now the promise to these saints was that they would be kept out of this time of trouble, or be taken out of the world before the tribulation days. This taking out is a reward for faithfulness to God and His Word, as we have read. Not all believers fit into this category.

Thus we have two churches, Smyrna and Philadelphia, which represent full overcomers of the Church Age. The first group figures those who go into the grave; while the second group figures those who are alive and remain at Jesus' coming. We have these two groups seen in I Thessalonians four, to which we alluded earlier - "For the Lord Himself shall descend from Heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the DEAD IN CHRIST SHALL RISE FIRST: then we which are ALIVE AND REMAIN shall be caught up together..."

These verses represent Christ's coming for the saints who are looking for Him. They are "the children of the day," as seen in I Thessalonians five. They are armored for the battle and ready for the flight. They are ready to go with the Lord when He returns. They are listening for that shout of command and the trumpet blast which will announce His coming. The world will be spiritually dead, and Christendom will be asleep or drunken,
when this event takes place.

When the Children of Israel moved, or were called to an assembly, there was a sounding of the trumpets. There will be a trumpet used when Jesus comes again. In I Corinthians 15:51,52 we read, "Behold, I show you a mystery; we shall not all sleep (or, go into the grave), 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." Here we read, "THE LAST TRUMP." If there is a last trump, there must be a first trump, and perhaps other trumpet sounds in between. Each rank of the resurrection will be called forth, even as were the Children of Israel, in companies.


The next question arises, "Where are these overcomers, the Smyrna and Philadelphia churches, seen in Heaven?"

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