Resurrection - PH72-02

Advanced Bible Doctrine - Philippians 3:9-11

© Berean Memorial Church of Irving, Texas, Inc. (1976)

We have found in Philippians 3:9-11 that the apostle Paul declares how he has abandoned his self-made legal righteousness in favor of God's righteousness which is provided by faith in Jesus Christ as Savior. Paul declares that his desire was to know the person of the Lord Jesus Christ in his daily experiences. He wanted to know the experience of the power over evil of the resurrected Christ. This comes to us as Christians in the church age because of our relationship to God the Holy Spirit. We are capable of exercising the power of a resurrected Christ.

Paul also said he wanted to know the experience of sharing the suffering of Jesus Christ in the angelic conflict. As He was once the target of the angelic attack of the demonic world, so now we are that target, and we share His suffering, either creditably, or in a way that disgraces us and the One we represent.

The apostle Paul further said he wanted the mental attitude which Jesus Christ demonstrated in going to death for the sins of the world – that selfless, sacrificial attitude of mind that was ready to do that which was necessary to fulfill the will of God for him.

Paul's ultimate hope, he said, out of all this, was to be able to share in what he called the "out resurrection" from among the dead. So Philippians 3:11 says, "If by any means I might have attained unto the resurrection of the dead." This refers to the time of the rapture when the church (Christians) are caught up out of this world to meet the Lord in the air. Those who are dead are raised to life again in their same bodies in which they were buried in the grave, and those who are alive have those living bodies converted into glorified bodies, as if they had been resurrected.

Paul says he wants to have part of this unique resurrection in time called "the rapture." Out of all the corpses that lie in graves all over this world, buried over the centuries, there is a unique company which is going to be raised. We want to look at that company and that resurrection in this session. The apostle Paul is zeroing his attention of all of his life on that marvelous experience. Church age believers are going to be resurrected to share a unique relationship to the Lord Jesus Christ which is not open to Old Testament saints. Only the grace of God, indeed, could have supplied such a blessing to sinners.

Resurrections

As we study the subject of the resurrections, we have to put together all the pieces that the Bible has concerning the topic of resurrection. There is a great misconception among churches that there is only one resurrection. There is the misconception that someday an angel is going to sound a trumpet, and then a judgment day is going to arrive. And that judgment day is going in one lump occasion. Everybody is going to stand before God, and everybody's going to get a decision, one way or another, as to what is to happen to that person.

However, the Word of God indicates something entirely different. As a matter of fact, we may compare the picture of resurrection in the Bible to a military parade. A military parade is always something very exciting to watch. There always comes a time when the troops gather on the parade ground, and eventually the order is given to form up into their particular units; into companies; and, into battalions. Prior to that time, there's been a great deal of preparation and cleaning of equipment, and in preparation of personal appearance. Finally, the men are called to attention. They're called to right shoulder arms, and the order is given to move out in a precise movement past the reviewing stand. As the marching units approach the reviewing stand, the commanding officer shouts, "Eyes right." And everybody in line snaps their head to the right, except the person on the outer right flank. As they go by the reviewing stand, the standards are lowered in salute, and the reviewing officer returns the salute.

We may think of the physical resurrection of mankind in exactly the same terms. If you think of it as a military parade with various units passing by a reviewing stand, it will eliminate a lot of the misconceptions that people have about the resurrection event.

The key passage that we have on this is in 1 Corinthians 15:22-23, where we read, "For as in Adam, all died; 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." Here in verse 23, we have the word "order." The word "order" is the Greek word "tagma." "Tagma" is a military word. It refers to military units. The very word that the Bible uses to describe the resurrection is a military word out of the Greek language. "Tagma" refers to units who are marching in a specific order of presentation. Here in the Word of God, we may view the order of presentation in this fashion. We may think of it in terms of a parade in review consisting of two battalions.

There is a 1st battalion which is made up only of believers. There is a 2nd battalion on this parade, which is made up only of unbelievers. However, when we look at the 1st battalion, we notice that 1st battalion is made up of several companies, each of which is raised in his own distinct order. We'll be looking at those.

The 2nd battalion is made up only of unbelievers. It's really a special company and it is the unsaved (the unbelievers – the lost of all ages) which are gathered together in this special company making up the 2nd battalion. There is a time factor in this parade. The 1st battalion passes the reviewing stand where God the Father is standing, taking in the parade and receiving the salute and returning the salute. The 2nd battalion doesn't come by review until 1,000 years later. But it's important that you understand that between the 1st battalion and 2nd battalion, there is the span of 1,000 years-plus. This is because 1st battalion represents what the Bible calls first resurrection, and 2nd battalion represents second resurrection, and there is a time span between them. So let's look at them in order.

The Firstfruits

First of all, we read in the Word of God, in 1 Corinthians 15:22, "For as in Adam all died, so in Christ will all be made alive." 1 Corinthians 15:23: "Every man in his own order (in his own unit), Christ, the firstfruits." So 1st battalion is made up of the Lord Jesus Christ. We'll give that the title of "A" company ("Able" company) as military terminology refers to it in alphabet code. He is called the Firstfruits of the Resurrection.

We have recently studied the Old Testament feast, which we find in Leviticus 23:9-14, called the firstfruits. We saw that the Jews observed the feast of the firstfruits without really understanding what it signified. We, on this side of the cross, understand very clearly that the feast of the firstfruits represented the resurrection of Jesus Christ. The feast of firstfruits always fell on a Sunday, the first day of the week, because very naturally, in representing the resurrection of Jesus Christ, it should rightfully fall on Sunday, the resurrection day. So Jesus Christ is the firstfruits of the resurrection, because He is the first one of all of humanity who rose with an immortal body. You must catch that. He is not the first one who rose from the dead. But he is the first one who rose from the dead within an immortal body. He only has immortality dwelling in Him. That is, He has a body which cannot die again. Everyone else in the history of the world who was ever raised from the dead was not really resurrected. He was merely resuscitated. He was simply brought back to life with the old sin nature still there, and then eventually died again.

So the resurrection doesn't mean simply coming back to life, but it means coming back to life in the body which is unable to sin and which is unable to die again. For example, in John 11:25: "Jesus said unto her, 'I am the resurrection and the life. He that believes in Me, though he were dead, yet shall he live. And whosoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?" Resurrection is more than coming back to life. It is coming back to life, and then never being able to die again.

In 1 Corinthians 15:42-44, we read, concerning the body, "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 man was made a life-giving spirit. However, that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural, and afterwards that which is spiritual." Let's go back to verse 42 to see the whole point of this passage. "So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption. It is raised in incorruption." That means that it can't die again. "It is sown in dishonor. It is raised in glory." It can't die. "It is sown in weakness. It is raised in power." It can't die. "It is sown in a natural body, and it is raised a spiritual body." It can't die. "There is a natural body. There is a spiritual body." So resurrection means that you cannot die again.

The First Resurrection – Jesus Christ

Now, this is what happened to the Lord Jesus Christ. It is quite obvious that the Bible bases the resurrection of all the rest of humanity on the fact of the resurrection of "Able" company. If it can be established that Jesus Christ did not rise physically from the grave, then everything else in the Bible falls to the ground. That's why, over the centuries, as critics and unbelievers have sought to destroy Christianity, they always, sooner or later, zero in the attack on the issue of whether Jesus Christ ever rose from the dead. Sometimes, they push that issue to the point of saying, "He not only did not rise from the dead, but He never even existed. There never even was a person like Jesus Christ who ever walked the face of the earth." The reason they say that is because that, to them, is the most complete refutation of the idea that there has been a human being on this earth who died and then rose again to life in a body that could never die again.

Christ's Death

So the first thing we are concerned with is the actual reality of the death of Christ. Did He actually die? Well, one of the evidences we have that He really did die, as you know, is the fact that when the soldiers came to examine Him, ready to break His legs in order to create shock in His nervous system so that He would die very quickly, as they did to the two thieves which were crucified with Him, they did not break His legs. The Bible is very clear to observe this fact. In John 19:33-34, John says, "But when they came to Jesus and saw that He was dead already, they broke not His legs, but one of the soldiers with a spear pierced His side, and immediately came out blood and water." The soldiers did not break the legs of Jesus. Why? Because He was dead.

You may be sure that the Jewish leaders would not have tolerated a mistake on this point. You may be sure that when the Roman soldier walked up and took a look to see whether He was alive, the Jewish leaders were right beside him, looking over his shoulders. You may be sure that these rulers of Israel, had they had the slightest doubt that Jesus was dead, would have raised a protest on the spot, and would have insisted that His legs be broken. But since they were satisfied, as the Roman guard was satisfied, that Jesus was dead, nothing more was done. That is a very great evidence that He was indeed dead.

As a matter of fact, the Bible makes it very clear that what those who participated in the crucifixion of Jesus Christ did was an act of murder. Acts 7:52 says, "Which of the prophets have your fathers not persecuted? And they have slain them who showed before of the coming of the just one (that is, Jesus), of whom you have been now the betrayers and murderers." The people who crucified Jesus Christ were called murderers. You cannot call a person a murderer unless he has taken the physical life of another individual.

Arguments against the Death of Christ

So the reality of the death of Jesus Christ cannot really be questioned except to the most benighted mentality. We do have other evidences, however, that He not only died, but we have evidence that He genuinely and truly came back to life. One of the outstanding evidences we have is the empty tomb. The empty tomb is an historical fact. Unbelievers are faced with the problem of the empty tomb, so they try to explain it in various ways. Of course, one of the oldest arguments is the argument of the body snatchers. They said that somebody stole the body of Jesus. This is what the Jewish leaders told the Roman soldiers to say.

And I'm not going to go into these in detail, but I'm telling you that if you were to read university publications by theologians who do not believe the Bible, this is what you'd be reading in refutation that Jesus never rose from the dead: confident that someday the bones of Jesus will yet be found lying in some Syrian grave. They're very confident that He did not rise from the dead.

So one argument is that the body was stolen. Another is that the body was removed from the tomb by the owner, Joseph of Arimathea – that Joseph of Arimathea had decided to remove the body. It was his tomb, and he had the right to do it.

Another argument is the swoon or the fainting theory – that Jesus Christ was not dead. He was just so terribly bruised that they thought He was dead, and when they put Him in the cool of the tomb, the tomb refreshed Him and revived Him, and He walked out, even though the stone was still there.

Another argument is that the disciples got all mixed up in the garden as to which tomb was which, and they looked in the wrong tomb, and they found one that was empty, and they thought it was the one that they put Him in. These are university professors, now.

Another argument is that they laid Him in some other place to begin with. You can actually read in books how they say, "The problem was that they didn't put Jesus in this place at all. He never was there in the first place. That's why it seemed that He had been resurrected."

Well, there is no ground for discrediting the Bible record. The Bible is totally reliable. It is far more reliable than a lot of the ancient records of ancient kings that the liberal mentality is willing to trust implicitly.

Appearances

We also have the records of post-resurrection appearances. The Bible records the fact that Jesus Christ appeared to other people on ten occasions. Five of these were on Easter Sunday. The first (in order) was early morning, and that was the appearance to Peter in Luke 24:34. Then there were two appearances to women. One was to the group of women in Matthew 28:8-10, and another was to Mary Magdalene (John 20:11-18.) Then there was (fourth), the appearance to the two disciples on the road to Emmaus sometime in the late afternoon in Luke 24:13-32. Then, on the evening of Easter Sunday, there was the appearance to the ten apostles in the upper room (John 20:19-25). So here we have, on the resurrection day itself, five distinct occasions when human beings saw Jesus Christ personally, and spoke to Him.

Then the Bible records for us five more appearances after Easter Sunday, during the 40-day period before the Ascension. The Sunday one week later, after Easter Sunday, Jesus again appeared in the upper room, this time to the eleven. Thomas was present (John 20:19-25). Then on one occasion, Jesus appeared to his half-brother James (1 Corinthians 15:4). On another occasion, Jesus appeared to a group of seven disciples by the Sea of Galilee (John 21:1-23). Then there was the appearance to the apostles and about 500 believers who had gathered on a mountain in Galilee (Matthew 28:16-20). Then the last appearance we have a record of is at Jerusalem at the time of the Ascension from the Mount of Olives (Luke 24:50-52, Acts 1:3-8).

We can probably anticipate that there were other appearances besides these that we have recorded during that 40-day period while Jesus was running Bible classes instructing the disciples relative to church age doctrine. There was, we know, one other appearance, and that was to Paul on the Damascus road, following Pentecost, which we have in 1 Corinthians 15:8.

So let's summarize, in short, what the Bible presents concerning the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. These appearances show us that Jesus appeared only to believers. Jesus Christ did not appear to unbelievers. If a person would not believe in Him (if faith was not exercised), then he was left in his spiritual ignorance. God still operates that way today, if you will not believe His Word, and if you will not exercise faith in the Word of God, then God will leave you in your ignorance. Secondly, we have probably these other appearances which were not recorded as the law taught the disciples during the 40 days. Third, we have the situation of these appearances all in a natural setting. These were not visions. This was just a very ordinary natural situation each time in which He appeared.

Also, the appearances differed in time; time of day; places; who the spectators were; and, the words spoken. This was not just one story that was being repeated and embellished by people. These were actual appearances, and all the appearances of Jesus Christ were in His physical body. There is no question about that. Each time it was Jesus, the physical man, standing before them (Luke 24:39-40, John 20:7).

Hallucinations

The unbelievers try to dismiss these appearances as hallucinations, but the disciples actually were not looking for Jesus to come back alive. Before you can start hallucinating (that is, seeing things that aren't there), you have to be in a psychologically, emotionally wrought-up condition. You have to want something. This is why sometimes when a person dies, and the person who is dead is so desired by someone who's still alive, and the grief is so great, and the yearning for that person is so great that a person will often hallucinate, and suddenly they'll see this person standing alive before them. But that requires a psychological souped-up condition before you will have hallucinations.

This was not the case with the disciples. Obviously, the one thing that was evident with the disciples was that they never thought they'd see Jesus again. They just never thought they'd see Him again. All you have to do is read the story of the men on the road to Emmaus. They were so discouraged, and they were just so defeated. In fact, it turned the whole bunch into cowards, really. They had lost all of their drive; all of their zeal; and, all of their confidence. They didn't expect to see Him again.

If you had hallucinations, you would also have to have large numbers of people (like over 50 at one time) who hallucinated all at the same time. And that would be something. The truth is that the disciples were not a very excitable group. They did not operate on ecstatic experiences. Therefore, they weren't even prone to this kind of psychological aberration.

Christ's Genuine Human Body

The appearances to believers was in a genuine human body. Some didn't recognize Him because His body was so genuine. They just thought He was a stranger. They didn't think anything of Him. When He appeared, they didn't say, "Ah, a spirit has arrived." Most of time they just looked at Him. Mary Magdalene thought He was a gardener or somebody else. The fellas on the road to Emmaus just thought he was another traveler. He was just an ordinary-looking human being. Obviously, His body was there. There was nothing unusual about it. He ate food on one occasion with His disciples to show how physically human He was. He didn't have to eat it. He ascended to heaven in a human body. That's how they saw Him go to heaven. And that's how He's going to come back.

The resurrected body of Jesus Christ was very real. It was just as real as your body is now. But it did have differences. It was not only unable to die, and it was not able to sin, but it was not restricted by matter either. Thus, the grave clothes were found just perfectly aligned. How did he get out of them? He just stood up and walked out of them. He just left all those bandages in which they had wrapped the preserved spices. He just walked right through them. He was not hindered by material matter. He walked right into the upper room. He could appear and disappear instantly. It was a very marvelous capacity. You can see what a lot of fun you're going to have in the future when you get your body like unto the Lord. But the whole point was that it was a real body with distinctive qualities different from what it was before he died.

Angelic Appearances

Another evidence we have is of the angelic appearances – angels who declared, "He's alive. He's not here. He has been raised" (Matthew 28:1-8, Mark 16:5-8, Luke 24:3-23, John 20:11-13).

The Transformed Apostles

Another great evidence that Jesus really did rise from the dead is the transformed apostles. After Easter Sunday, the mood of the defeated, discouraged apostles was completely gone. Cowards became martyrs because they knew that Jesus was really alive. They knew that everything He promised them concerning their own resurrection was for real. Therefore, the level of their courage and of their determination just rose precipitously. They had the conviction of the genuineness of the claims of Jesus to be God based on the fact of His resurrection. If He had not risen from the dead (after the big deal He made of it), and if He had not fulfilled that, that would have been the end. Obviously, His resurrection proves the truth of everything He said.

So the message of resurrection was very readily preached everywhere without doubt and without hesitation. God the Holy Spirit gave them great divine power in doing this (Acts 4:33).

Sunday

There is also the evidence of the fact that you gather in church on Sunday, and not on Saturday. The day of worship was changed from (Sabbath) Saturday to (Lord's Day) Sunday by the Jews – not by a group of gentiles. This was changed by Jews. No Jew would have switched from Saturday Sabbath to Sunday Lord's Day unless there was a very definitive reason for doing so, and that was that Christ had risen from the dead, and it was on that day of the week, Sunday. So the concept of the first day of the week for worship gatherings doesn't appear until after Easter. Then suddenly you have it (John 20:1-19, Acts 20:7).

So as you read through the Bible, I think the evidence is pretty overwhelming that the first company, "Able" company, resurrection, the resurrection of Jesus Christ was indeed a reality. Now, this had to be. Jesus had to come back to life if He was to give life to others. The resurrection of other people was absolutely not possible until Jesus Christ Himself had been raised from the dead. And, again, I'm talking about resurrection to a body that cannot die and cannot sin. This is because a dead Christ could not impart life to anybody.

1 Corinthians 15:16-19 read, "For if the dead don't rise, then Christ is not raised. And if Christ is not raised, your faith is vain. You are yet in your sins. Then they also, who are falling asleep (who have died) in Christ, are perished. If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men, most miserable." If Jesus Christ has not risen from the dead, neither can we. Therefore, the Bible contrasts the Lord Jesus Christ with Adam. In 1 Corinthians 15:21-22, we read, "For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all died, even so in Christ shall all be made alive." Jesus Christ is called the last Adam. The first Adam brought us death. The last Adam brought us resurrection. 1 Corinthians 15:45: "And so it is written, 'The first man was made a living soul.' The last Adam was made a life-giving spirit."

You should not call Jesus Christ the second Adam. It's an easy mistake to slip into when we speak about the first Adam, who originated in Genesis, for us then to refer to Jesus Christ as the second Adam. The thing that's bad about that is that it suggests that there might be a third; a fourth; and, a fifth Adam. So always refer to Christ as the last Adam in order to make it clear that there is no one after Him. The first Adam brought us sin and death. The last Adam brought us salvation and eternal life. The first Adam became a living soul (Genesis 2:7), while Jesus Christ, the last Adam, is actually the source of life. John 14:6 tells us this, along with 1 John 5:11. The first Adam received his life from God, but Jesus Christ gives His life to others (John 5:21-1, Corinthians 15:45).

So the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ guarantees the resurrection of all Christians. Jesus is but the first of many more which are to follow as the feast of the first fruits demonstrated. He came in a glorified body, and that's how we're going to come also. So 1 Corinthians 15:20 says, "But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept" (that is, of Christians who have died). For this reason, it is inevitable that all Christians will be raised from the dead (John 14:19). The latter part of the verse says, "Because I live, you shall live also." That's why it was critical that Christ be raised from the dead and that there be absolute proof of this.

It is because He provided a salvation that was acceptable, that God the Father raised Him from the dead. If the salvation He had provided had not covered sins, God the Father would never have raised Him from the dead. That's what Romans 4:25 tells us. It says, "Who was delivered for (and translate that 'on account of') our offenses, (That's why he was delivered.), Who was raised again on account of our justification." "Who was delivered on account of our offenses, and Who was raised again on account of our justification." It was because we had secure justification. He had provided justification, which means that a sinner could be given the absolute righteousness of God because his sins had been paid for. That is why Jesus Christ was raised from the dead. If that had not been done, He would never have been raised.

So the resurrection of Jesus Christ was a very vital part of the gospel message, as we have in 1 Corinthians 15:3-4. This is included in the gospel. He died; He was buried; and, He was raised again. He died spiritually. He died physically. He was buried in order to demonstrate how genuine was that physical death. The resurrection, therefore, proves that Christianity is true. That's "Able" company. Christ is the Firstfruits.

The First Resurrection – the Church

The 1st battalion keeps marching past God's reviewing stand. The second company that comes into view is "Baker" company. This is the company in which you and I will be marching. This is the company which 1 Corinthians 15:23 describes as, "They that our Christ that is coming." These are the believers that Ephesians 5:27 refers to as church age believers who are going to be, "Perfect without wrinkle and without spot." This is the age in which we live today. These are the believers, ourselves, which constitute this age.

The Rapture

There is a long period of time between the time that "Able" company passes in review and that "Baker" company passes in review. So far, it has been 2,000 years since the first company went past the reviewing stand, and the second company has not yet arrived. Only God knows when we will be ready to pass in review. So in the meantime, you have to stand ready on the parade ground – standing by, ready to come to attention, and to start passing in review. When is that going to happen? Well, it is going to happen at the day that the rapture takes place. Then the dead in Christ are going to rise. They're going to join the living Savior in the air as 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 tell us. We're going to meet Him in the air. That is going to be our passing in review.

This will include only the people who are in the church. This will include only people who became believers from Pentecost to the rapture. There are no Old Testament saints in "Baker" Company. This is only church age believers. Every Christian at this time is going to receive a resurrection body. You cannot have fellowship with God in your present body. The body has to be changed. So notice in 1 Corinthians 15:50, Paul says, "This I say, brethren, that flesh and blood (the bodies you and I have now) cannot inherit the kingdom of God. Neither does corruption inherent incorruption. Behold, I show you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed." He says, "Not all of us are going to be dead in the graves when Jesus returns at the rapture, but we are all going to be changed in our bodies."

Here's what's going to happen: "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. We shall be changed." Then he says, "For this corruptible must put on incorruption. The word "corruptible" here refers to all the corpses of Christians which are now in the grave decaying. Those are the corruptible in this word. They are the corruptible believers whose bodies are decaying. They must be converted to incorruptible; that is, to resurrected bodies free of sin and death.

However, there's going to be another group, as he has indicated, who will not be asleep in death. These are called mortal. At this moment, you are in a mortal body. You are not yet in a corruptible body. Some of you may feel like you are, but you are not. You are simply in a mortal body at this point.

At the rapture, if you are still in a mortal body, that means you're a living Christian, and then you will put on immortality. Your body isn't going to be brought back together. If you've been a corpse for several hundred years, as some of these Christians have been, then all the elements that once constituted their body have to supernaturally be brought together, because they're completely gone into corruption (decay). They have to be brought back together again under the supernatural power of God so that the body is fully reconstituted as it once was. The dead are the corruptible. They put on incorruption. The living Christians are the mortals. They put on immortality.

This is the most exciting company in this review. This is what Paul means in Philippians 3:11, when he says, "I want to be in the out resurrection from among the dead." He says, "I want to be in 'Baker' company, because 'Baker' company is a very special elite corps." I'm happy to tell you that if you are a Christian now, you are part of it. If you are not a Christian now, you can be. By receiving Christ as your Savior, you will immediately be placed in Christ, and you will immediately become attached to "Baker" company. You'll be placed into union with Him by the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Without a changed body, you cannot enter a fellowship with God for all eternity.

So time moves along. Jesus Christ died; He was raised from the dead; He went back to heaven; and, "Able" company passed in review. Sometime in the very near future, "Baker" company will be called up to pass in review. All the Christians from Pentecost to the rapture will then march by, eyes right, and pass in review before God.

The First Resurrection – Old Testament Believers and Tribulation Martyrs

However, there is a third company which is following us, which will come seven years later. There is a time gap after "Baker" company also, and this will be a period of seven years. "C" Company is made up of Old Testament believers, and of tribulation martyrs – people who died during the seven-year tribulation period who were believers. These people are described for us in Isaiah 26:19-21. Remember, that the Bible says, "Everybody in his own "tagma" (order). Therefore, the Old Testament saints could not be raised in the rapture. That's not their company. Nor could tribulation martyrs be raised there. They're not even on the scene to be raised. They're going to be killed after the church is gone. So this has to be a totally different "tagma" – a different military unit altogether. This is "Charlie" company.

Isaiah 26:19 says, "Your dead men shall live, together with My dead body shall they arise. Awake and sing, you that dwell in dust, for your dew is as the dew of herbs, and the earth shall cast out the dead." This is speaking about Old Testament believers. "Come my people. Enter into your chambers, and shut your doors about you. Hide yourself as it were for a little moment, until the indignation is passed. For, behold, the Lord comes out of His place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity. The earth also shall disclose her blood, and shall no more cover her slain."

Here, at the end of the tribulation period, the Old Testament believers in their own company (that company that Daniel describes as those who are going to rise to life) come out of their graves, and along with them, all the tribulation saints who have died. The Lord Jesus Christ took the souls of Old Testament believers to heaven after the resurrection. We have this in Ephesians 4:8-10. Up to that time, believers and unbelievers (in the Old Testament era) went to a place called Hades. Hades had two sections. One place, for believers, was called paradise. The other section, for unbelievers, was called torments. The compartment of paradise was transferred to heaven after the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. You may read about Hades, and the compartments of torments and paradise, in Luke 16:22-26.

The First Resurrection – Millennial Saints

Then there comes the final company in the first resurrection. Remember that all this constitutes the first battalion. During the millennium, certain people are going to die. This will be a period now of 1,000 years, as of that point, between "C" company and "D" ("Dog") company. People will die during the millennium who are believers. Apparently not many believers will die in the millennium. Life will be so extended that apparently most believers will live right through the whole 1,000 years, or however many hundreds of years it is from when they are born to the end of the millennium.

The millennial saints, however, who do die, have to be raised at some point. That, we conclude, will be here at the end of the 1,000 years. At that point, they line up in "D" company, and they come marching past the reviewing stand. And that completes the resurrection of the 1st battalion, the saints of all the ages. So remember that when the Bible speaks about the first resurrection, it is composed of four distinct groups of people – four "tagmas," so to speak, who are going to come by.

The Second Resurrection

Then we come to 2nd battalion. Shortly after the resurrection of the millennial saints, there is another resurrection, very close to that time, which is the special company battalion made up of all unbelievers. These include only those who have rejected Christ as Savior. They include all unbelievers of all humanity from the time of Adam right down through the end of the millennium. 1 Corinthians 15:24 reads, "Then comes the end when He shall have delivered up the Kingdom to God, even the Father, when He shall have put down all rule and all authority and all power. These unbelievers are raised in bodies, but they are bodies of sin. They are bodies that are not free of sin. They are the same bodies that they had when they were here on this earth.

They also pass in review at the end of the millennium. We have their passage described in Revelation 20:5, where we read, "But the rest of the dead (the unsaved dead) did not live again until the 1,000 years were finished. This is the first resurrection." He has described the first resurrection. Then the rest of the dead, the unbelieving dead, do not live until the millennium is over. Now these people pass in review. They are the battalion destined for condemnation, as John 5:29 tells us. They are sentenced, in other words, to eternal punishment: "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."

There are some people that take verse 29, and it is on this verse that they base the idea that there's one big resurrection day. This is because when you read John 5:29, you would get the impression that resurrection is all one big ball of wax. That's why we tell you that the Bible is a book of progressive revelation. The Bible does not in one place reveal everything upon a certain doctrine. It only reveals a segment. Then you have to read more, and say, "Ah, this talks about this subject. I'll put that over here." And as you read through the whole Bible, you bring all of the verses together that talk about a certain subject. Then you say, "Now that's the total picture." Then, when we match this up to verses like we have in Revelation 20, we see that there is a 1,000-year separation between the resurrection of life and the resurrection of damnation.

So, the destiny of 2nd battalion is nothing but bad. The basis of their condemnation is the fact that they rejected Jesus Christ as personal Savior. They did not place their faith in Him as their sin bearer. John 3:18, therefore says, "He that believes on Him is not condemned, but he that does not believe on Him is condemned already because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. The reason a person has been assigned to the 2nd battalion in this reviewing parade is because he rejected God's offer of salvation as per his place in the dispensations, in the context in which that offer was presented.

The final destiny of 2nd battalion is to stand at the Great White Throne (Revelation 20:11-15). There they will have only their own human good works to present, and that will not be enough. They will be sent alive in their physical bodies into the lake of fire. There they will suffer for all eternity for their sins – never able to pay for them, but always suffering (Matthew 24:51, Matthew 25:46).

There is no need for anybody to be in 2nd battalion. You can be transferred out of it by using Acts 16:31: "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved." When this 2nd battalion marches in review, it's going to be nothing but grief. It's going to be hard for those who are in this battalion to be silent. This is going to be a place of tears. This is going to be a place of grief. If there is anything that's out of place in a military parade, it is weeping, crying soldiers. Yet, it may also be that under God's judgment. The angels, who will be surrounding this battalion and supervising it, will ensure that complete silence will be enforced. These will not be told, "Eyes right," for their eyes will be dropped to the ground, and their heads will be drooped, as they are marched straight past the reviewing stand, and right into the lake of fire. That is their destiny for all eternity.

The apostle Paul knew this so well. That's why, in Philippians, he said, "I want to be in the out resurrection, 'Baker' company ‐ that's for me." When he wrote Romans, he made this appeal in Romans 10:13, "For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved." That was Paul's way of saying, "You don't have to be in the 2nd battalion. You can join me in the marvelous 'Baker' company of the 1st Battalion."

Right now, you're someplace in this parade. You may be sure that when your unit is called up, you will have to report. You will not escape it. But I hope this will give you a little more appreciation for what the apostle Paul was referring to in Philippians 3:11 when he said, "I don't care whatever honors; whatever fame; or, whatever fortune I had before. The thing I want in life is to know Christ; to win Him; to be in Him; and, to be able to share the power of His victorious living over sin – that resurrection life He had where he had conquered the devil. I want to have the capacity to share his suffering as a good soldier of Jesus Christ in the angelic conflict. And most of all," Paul says, "I want to be up there with my shoulders squared and my head held high as I walk past the reviewing stand as part of 'Baker' company. That's what I'm looking for."

One of these days, "Baker" company is going to be called up (on the day of the rapture), and that's going to be the end. No one can enlist in this elite group of this company after the rapture. So if you have not done so, I suggest that you join up today. We are now swearing in recruits. The way you do this is by swearing allegiance to the Lord Jesus Christ, by believing in Him as personal Savior. Join us if you have not done so.

Dr. John E. Danish, 1973

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