The saints of the first resurrection are not raised to be judged. They are the judges! They are not raised to enter eternal life, or eternal torment. They are life itself—the Life of Christ being revealed in sight of the nations of the earth.

The books of record are not opened when the overcomers come from the sleep of death. The Book of Life is not opened. None of this is necessary because they already have overcome, through the Lord Jesus, the forces of sin and death. They have boldness in the Day of Judgment because they are living by the Life of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit who are dwelling in them.

These saints are given back their bodies in advance of the remainder of the dead. They have attained the out-resurrection, that which the Apostle Paul was seeking to grasp:

The first resurrection is a rare prize indeed, a heavenly calling, a mark toward which the saint is to press.

But how many will arrive at this early resurrection?

Thou hast a few names even in Sardis which have not defiled their garments; and they shall walk with me in white: for they are worthy. (Revelation 3:4)

We have stressed the point that the righteous of the second resurrection enter life. The saints of the first resurrection already are filled with life. When the trumpet sounds, announcing the coming of the Lord from Heaven, the eternal Life of God that has been developed in the victorious saints throughout the tribulation period will be revealed before the nations (Isaiah, Chapter 60). The peoples of the earth will come to the Light of God in Christ in the saints, now shining on the earth. Then the saints will be raised to the greater Light that has appeared in the heaven above us.

It reminds us of the lamps in the earthen jars of Gideon's army. When the jars were shattered the inner lights blazed forth, typifying the Light of God shining from within the saints in the Day of the Lord.

If we would participate in the first resurrection we must be filled with the eternal life, the "oil" of God, today. We must be living in victory today. Otherwise there is no point in our being raised; for the purpose of the first resurrection is to give back their bodies to the victorious saints so they may rule and minister with Jesus during the thousand-year Day of Atonement, the Jubilee of release. During the Jubilee the Body of Christ will be perfected and the nations of the earth taught righteousness.

And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. (Isaiah 2:3)

The first resurrection from the dead is created in the disciple now. This is why the Apostle Paul was seeking to attain, or arrive at, the early resurrection (Philippians 3:11).

To be continued.