We are not raised from the dead by imputed (assigned) righteousness, by grace, by being forgiven. We are raised as part of the royal priesthood by virtue of the fact that through Christ we have overcome the adamic nature and have pressed through to the resurrection of the inner man.

To claim we will be raised as a royal priest and clothed with a body like that of Jesus because we have made a profession of faith in Jesus, is to misunderstand the new covenant.

Notice Revelation 4:1 carefully:

After this I looked, and, behold, a door was opened in heaven: and the first voice which I heard was as it were of a trumpet talking with me; which said, Come up hither, and I will shew thee things which must be hereafter. (Revelation 4:1)

Some have felt that this verse is speaking of the resurrection of the saints. However, there do not appear to be many points in common between Revelation 4:1, and the major New Testament discussions of the coming of the Lord and the first resurrection from the dead (Matthew, Chapter 24; Mark, Chapter 13; Luke, Chapter 21; I Corinthians, Chapter 15; II Corinthians, Chapter Five; I Thessalonians, Chapter Four; II Thessalonians, Chapters One and Two).

The emphasis in Revelation 4:1,2 appears to be on the spiritual nature of the first resurrection and ascension, not on the bodily resurrection and ascension. Yet there is no question that the major passages of Scripture describing the first resurrection and ascension of the saints are referring to a bodily resurrection and ascension.

If Revelation 4:1 is to be viewed as the fulfillment of I Thessalonians 4:13-5:4 and I Corinthians 15, as sometimes is taught, then we have some questions to ask:

Is the "voice" (of Revelation 4:1) the "last trump" of which Paul speaks (in I Corinthians 15:52)?

Where, in Revelation 4:1, is the "voice of the archangel"?

Where are those "which sleep in Jesus" whom "God will bring with him"?

Where is the descent of the Lord Jesus from Heaven in the clouds with a "shout"?

Where, in Revelation 4:1, is there an implication that we are being delivered from Antichrist and the great tribulation?

Where, in Revelation 4:1, is the raising of human bodies from the dead, the reviving of the old covenant and new covenant saints so they once more can stand on their feet on the earth?

Where is our meeting with the Lord in the air?

Conversely, where in I Thessalonians, Chapter Four does it state the saints are caught up to Heaven?

Do any of the New Testament passages that speak of the coming of the Lord imply in any manner whatever that the purpose of the first resurrection from the dead is to show to the elect "things which must be hereafter"? Is this the purpose of the making alive of our mortal body? Rather, is it not true that the purpose of the first resurrection is that the nations of this world may behold and be blessed by the Glory of God in the saints (John 17:21; Romans 8:19)?

Finally, what will we do with Paul's warning that "that day" (which he has described in I Thessalonians, Chapter Four and II Thessalonians, Chapter One) will not come before the worldwide apostasy and the revelation of the man of sin?

To be continued.