Much of our inheritance will be reflected in the body of life that "swallows up" our mortal body. There is a reward for serving the Lord!

We shall reap what we sow. Those who serve the Lord carelessly will be rewarded carelessly. Those who serve the Lord with their whole heart will be rewarded with the Lord's whole heart. Those who give little to the Lord will receive little from the Lord. Those who give all that they are to the Lord will receive all that the Lord is.

The first resurrection from among the dead, the "out-resurrection," is the resurrection of God's priests and kings. It is a high honor in the Kingdom of God to participate in the first resurrection. Those who attain the first resurrection will be given unimaginable authority and power, just as the Spirit of God has presented to us in the second and third chapters of the Book of Revelation.

We can gain some concept of the degree of spiritual maturity that the first resurrection represents by the fact that the Apostle Paul, five or six years before his martyrdom, was still seeking to arrive at the level of closeness with God's King—the Lord Jesus Christ—that would qualify him for participation in the first resurrection from the dead.

We are qualified to escape the wrath of God by believing in Christ and being baptized in water into the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

We attain the first resurrection from among the dead by forsaking all other pursuits in order to be changed into the death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus.

For several years the writer has wrestled with the problem of who will be raised from the dead and ascend to meet the Lord in the air when He appears.

The language of I Thessalonians 4:13-18 leaves the impression that all believers will be drawn to the Lord at this time. We must keep in mind, however, that Paul's definition of a believer and what it means to "sleep in Jesus," and the current definition and understanding, may be far apart.

There are types and statements that imply only a firstfruits of the believers will be found worthy of participation in the first resurrection. We finally have come to favor this point of view—that only a firstfruits of the Lord's people (and by the expression "the Lord's people" we mean spiritual Israel, the family of God, the entire Church, the whole Bride of the Lamb) will be part of the first resurrection from among the dead.

If it is true that it is a firstfruits of God's people who will be raised in the first resurrection, then the remainder of the Church will be raised in the general resurrection from the dead—that which will take place when the first heaven and earth pass away.

If the majority of the Lord's people are to be raised in the general resurrection from the dead, then the resurrection at the coming of the Lord will be a special out-resurrection of a holy army of "mighty men" whose purpose will be to work with the Lord in governing the nations of the saved, and perhaps to assist the younger members of the Bride in their growth to maturity.

To be continued.