When the Lord returns for His people, two things will take place—the resurrection of the dead in Christ, and the change of living believers; and then both alike will be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so shall we ever be with the Lord. This is distinctly taught in 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17. Our blessed Lord Himself foreshadowed this truth, indeed stated it, though His meaning could scarcely be apprehended without the further light of the epistles. On His way to Bethany, after the death of Lazarus, He said to Martha, “Thy brother shall rise again. Martha saith unto Him, I know that He shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day. Jesus said unto her, I am the Resurrection and the Life: he that believeth in Me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: and whosoever liveth and believeth in Me shall never die” (John 11:23-26). Here then we have the same two classes—those who believed in Christ, but who died before His return, these should live; and secondly, those who should be then alive, and believed in Him, these should never die—corresponding exactly with the two classes found in 1 Thessalonians 4.
In order, however, to make the subject clear and simple, it must first be shown that only believers will be raised from the dead at the second coming of our Lord. There is no doctrine more plainly taught in the Scripture, or so completely overlooked or ignored by the mass of professing Christians. The common thought is, that at the end of the world, at the close of the millennium, there will be a resurrection alike of believers and unbelievers; that all together will be arraigned before the judgment-seat, and that then the eternal destiny of each will be declared. But this theological conception, albeit so widely taught and accepted, not only has no foundation in, but is also directly opposed to, the teaching of the word of God. This will be confessed if attention is given to the proofs about to be shown, that none but believers will be raised at the Lord’s coming.
First of all, a few Scriptures may be cited from the gospels, in addition to that from John 11. On coming down from the mount of transfiguration, the Lord charged His disciples that they should not tell what they had seen, “till the Son of man were risen from among the dead” (ἐκ νεκρῶν). “And they kept that saying with themselves, questioning one with another what the rising from among the dead should mean” (Mark 9:9, 10). They believed, as Martha did, that there would be a resurrection at the last day (John 11:24); but hitherto they had never heard of a resurrection from among the dead, and this it was that caused their astonishment. Here, of course, it was the resurrection of Christ Himself that was in question; but inasmuch as He was the firstfruits of His own, His resurrection was both the pledge and type of theirs. In Luke 14:14 we find the expression, “the resurrection of the just,” and in another chapter (20:35) the Lord speaks of those “who shall be accounted worthy to obtain that world and the resurrection from among the dead” (καί τῆς ἀναστάσεως τῆς ἐκ νεκρῶν). The phrase which the Lord uses is unmistakable in its signification that it is a partial resurrection, that those who obtain this resurrection will leave others behind them in their graves. The teaching of John 5:28-29 supports the same conclusion. Going back to the 25th verse, it will be noted that the term “hour” includes a whole dispensation. “The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God; and they that hear shall live” That hour has lasted from that moment until the present time, in accordance with the preceding verse, “He that heareth My word, and believeth on Him that sent Me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life” and it will last until the Lord’s return. It marks the whole day of grace. In like manner the term “hour” in the 28th verse includes a whole dispensation. “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”—judgment (κρίσεως). Two resurrections are thus clearly distinguished: that of life, which will take place, as we shall see, at the coming of the Lord; and that of judgment, which will take place after the close of the millennium (Rev. 20:11-15).
If we turn now to the epistles, we shall find even more exact statements. The subject of 1 Corinthians 15 is the resurrection of the body; and yet not the resurrection of the bodies of all, but only that of believers. This may be seen at a glance. After then showing the consequences of the false doctrine—that there was no resurrection—the apostle states the truth: “But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept. For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. 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” (1 Cor. 15:20-23). Language could not be more exact or explicit. So also in the scripture already cited (1 Thess. 4) it is said, “The dead in Christ shall rise first” (no others are within the apostle’s view): “then we which are alive and remain.” There is not a thought of unbelievers being included. It is this fact which explains this same apostle’s expression in another epistle: “If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead” (rather, from among the dead) (Phil. 3:11).
One more scripture may be permitted. In Revelation 20 we read of some who “lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years” The application of this scripture will be examined, if the Lord will, later on; but attention now is called to the following statement: “But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection” (vss. 4-5). It is remembered that interpreters have sought to prove that this is a spiritual resurrection (whatever that may mean); but if so, then the resurrection at the close of the chapter is not a literal one, and hence they would prove, like the false teachers at Corinth, that there is no resurrection of the dead! No; language so clear and unmistakable, especially when taken in connection with the other scriptures used, places beyond all doubt that God in His grace has purposed that believers should rise from among the dead at the coming of the Lord; and this is called the first resurrection. Hence it is that the term firstfruits is applied to the resurrection of our blessed Lord (1 Cor. 15:20), being the firstfruits of the harvest of His own to be gathered in at His coming (See Lev. 23:10-11).
There is one scripture, however, which may seem, in the minds of those who have not examined the subject, to contradict the above statements. This is the well-known passage in Matthew 25, in which we find the sheep and the goats gathered before Christ at the same time. This scene, popularly conceived to be a description of the final judgment, is often referred to in opposition to the truth of the first resurrection of believers. But the slightest examination of the words used by our blessed Lord will show that He does not allude to the subject of the resurrection: “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” (vss. 31-32). The reference is, therefore, to His appearing and kingdom, and to His judgment of the living, and not of the dead. We do not speak of “the nations” in respect of the dead: this term describes the living. And observe, too, that there are three classes—the sheep, the goats, and the brethren of the King; and this fact itself fixes the interpretation of the whole scene, showing conclusively that it is the judgment of the living nations consequent upon the appearing of the Son of man in His glory, and His assumption of His throne. The “brethren,” therefore, are Jews, who had been sent out as the King’s messengers with the annunciation of His kingdom; and those who received them and their message are the sheep, and those who rejected them are the goats. Their relationship to the King is made dependent upon their treatment of His messengers. (See for this principle Matthew 10:40-42.)
Having then established that when the Lord returns it is to fetch His own, whether they have previously died, or are living still upon the earth, according to His word—“If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto Myself” (John 14:3)—we may now consider the manner of His coming, as well as the rapture of the saints. The most precise instruction is given to us upon the subject in a scripture already referred to, but which may now be quoted at large. “I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with Him. For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent” (go before, or anticipate) “them which are asleep. 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 with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord” (1 Thess. 4:13-17). The bearing of this important passage is sometimes overlooked from inattention to its exact statements. The Thessalonian saints did not doubt concerning their portion in Christ on His return; but, somehow or other, they had fallen into the error of supposing that those who had fallen asleep before that event would suffer loss. It is to correct this mistake that the apostle gives some special instruction “by the word of the Lord,” that is by a revelation upon this particular subject. He shows, then, that all who sleep in (or through,) Jesus, God will bring back with Him, that this indeed is connected with our faith in, and is a consequence of, the death and resurrection of Christ. Thereon he explains how this is possible, and this explanation it is which formed the subject of the special revelation to which we have alluded. The Lord will come, and then the dead in Christ will be raised, the living changed, and thus will be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air.
This may take place, as we saw in the last paper, at any moment. Let us therefore familiarize our minds with the scene. Suddenly, then, the Lord Himself will descend from heaven in the manner here described. First, with a shout. This has occasioned a difficulty in many minds. If, they have thought, the Lord returns only for His people, and He descends with a shout, must it not then be in a public manner? By no means necessarily. The word itself is one of relationship, indicating, for example, the order of a commander to his soldiers; and thus it is a shout intended only for those to whom it is addressed, and the import of which would not be understood by others. When our blessed Lord was upon the earth, a voice came to Him from heaven, and some of the bystanders thought that it thundered, while others said “an angel spake to Him” (John 12:28-29). So also at the conversion of Saul, his companions heard a voice, that is the sound of a voice (Acts 9:7); “but they did not hear the voice of Him that spake to me,” that is the significance of the voice (Acts 22:9; compare Daniel 10:7). So will it be when the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven. All His own will hear and understand the import of the shout; but if heard by others it will only seem as the roll of distant thunder, or, taken in combination with the voice of the archangel and the trump of God, should these be likewise heard, as a strange phenomenon, to be discussed and explained by scientific men. It is probable that the three—the shout, the voice of the archangel, and the trump of God (see Numbers 10)—have but one object, the summoning, the assembling together, of the dead and living saints for their translation into the presence of their Lord.
Two effects follow, and follow instantaneously; for the apostle says in another epistle, “We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump” (1 Cor. 15:51-52). “The dead in Christ shall rise first” What a stupendous scene! All that are Christ’s, including, therefore, saints of the past, as well as of the present dispensation, shall rise at His coming (1 Cor. 15:23). Tracing down the line of the ages from Adam till the last saint to be gathered in, all this countless multitude will, “in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye,” spring up from their graves—raised incorruptible. And not only so, but all the saints then living will be changed, so that all alike will be clothed upon with their resurrection bodies, in fashion like unto Christ’s body of glory (Phil. 3:21). It is, then, when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, that the saying that is written will be brought to pass, “Death is swallowed up in victory” (1 Cor. 15:54; see also 2 Cor. 5:1-4). But no sooner has this marvelous change been wrought, than all its subjects will be caught up “in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord” Then the Lord Himself enters for the first time, as far as His people are concerned, upon the full fruit of His redemption-work, of the travail of His soul. And what tongue could tell, or pen describe, His joy when He thus redeems from the grave the very bodies of His people, and when He brings by the word of His power all His chosen ones into His presence, and all conformed to His own image! Nor is it possible to express even our own joy, the joy on which we then shall enter, when the longing desires of our hearts are all realized, and, like Him, we shall behold His face, see Him as He is, and be with Him forever.
“Knowing as I am known!”
How shall I love that word,
How oft repeat before the throne,
“Forever with the Lord!”
It is for this we wait, and the time is not far distant when all will be accomplished; for we rest on the sure word of our faithful Lord, who has said, “Surely I come quickly”