The Rose Parade of Resurrection / Part 2

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Unless noted otherwise, all Scripture references are from the
New Scofield Reference Bible.
(This message was originally published sometime in the 1960s, later
fell out of print, and then was revised in 2006 for online publication.)

There is a chronological order of the resurrection of those “in Christ” that is both logical and Scriptural. The resurrection is ad seraitem and not ad absurdum.

But every man in his own order:

Christ the first fruits;afterward they that are Christ’s at his coming.

(1 Corinthians 15:23)

The above verse takes us back again to Israel on the wilderness march. Her passage from Egypt to Canaan was not like the wild rushing of a mob to see who could arrive first. It was not like a traffic jam during rush hour in the late afternoon in any modern city. Probably it took a couple of hours in the morning to get Israel on the march, but it was done “decently and in order”

(1 Corinthians 14:14), for the marching of the camp was by rank (tagma).

The first resurrection is also by rank (tagma). Christ, the first fruits, has already been raised. As we have suggested previously, perhaps a small company was raised after His resurrection – as it were a sheaf of first fruits. Christ, as the Ark of the tabernacle, has already left the camp of death in the wilderness of this world, and the parade of resurrection has begun.

We are waiting in breathless anticipation for the next portion of the parade. It is the resurrection of the church and the translation of the living saints. It will be ushered in by music greater than any band on earth or any instrument that man has heard. It is the heavenly solo, and it is identified on our program: “For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God” (1 Thessalonians 4:16).

When this heavenly solo has given forth the melody of heaven, the next section of the parade of resurrection then comes into view. This is the church, which includes the total company of believers from the Day of Pentecost to the moment of the Parousia; from the Upper Room to the upper air; from the tongues of fire to the clouds of glory; and from the rushing mighty wind to the meeting with the Lord in the air. Let us revert back to the figure of the Rose Parade again. The church will be like the “Queen’s float” – “a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish” (Ephesians 5:27).

The church will be presented as a bride to Christ, like a queen on a float she will be “all glorious within; her clothing is of wrought gold. She shall be brought unto the king in raiment of needlework...” (Psalm 45:13, 14).

The resurrection of believers and the translation of the living members of the body of Christ will take place simultaneously, and this is the next portion of the parade of resurrection which is yet to pass.

This passage is given to the church as a comfort, a hope, the highest expectation, and a moment-by-moment anticipation. When the church loses sight of this high calling, then there ensues loose living, careless consecration, slight service, and an insipid indifference.

Paul again pinpointed this section of the parade:

Behold, I show you a mystery: we shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, 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, and we shall be changed.

(1 Corinthians 15:51, 52)

In view of the fact that the resurrection of the dead in Christ and the translation of the believers is the glad goal of the church, it was not a subject of revelation in the old economy. Not until the church became an actuality on the Day of Pentecost did God reveal its destination. In this sense, it was a mystery, or – as one translator has it – a “sacred secret.” A mystery in Scripture is a truth that is revealed for the first time; up to the moment of revelation, it was not known to man. The rapture of the church is a mystery. It was not the subject of revelation in the Old Testament. It is now no longer a secret, but it is the daring publication – in bold headline – of the church.

Paul separated this resurrection from all others by expressing an ambition to be a participant:

That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death, if by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead.

(Philippians 3:10, 11)

As an Israelite and as a Pharisee, he believed in the resurrection of the dead and knew that he would be raised from the dead, but it was his desire to be included in this resurrection which he called “an out resurrection from among the dead.” The resurrection alluded to in this passage is the first resurrection.

What section of the parade follows the church in the parade of resurrection? Again we will need to consult our program:

And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them; and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and who had not worshiped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years. But the rest of the
dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first
resurrection. Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection; on
such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of
Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.

(Revelation 20:4-6)

In this controversial passage we are told about a group who become martyrs because they bear a faithful witness for Christ in the time of the Great Tribulation and who are given such a wide place in the Book of Revelation. They are not members of the church, nor are they taken to heaven at the time the church is caught up before the Great Tribulation. The church is kept “from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth” (Revelation 3:10). These tribulation saints will not be kept from that time of tribulation, but they will be put to death in it. They will seal their testimony to Christ by a martyr’s death. Nevertheless, they will be included in the first resurrection, and they will conclude the first resurrection. They are raised at the end of the Great Tribulation.

The First Resurrection Completed

The first division of the parade of resurrection is now brought before us in its entirety. The redeemed of all ages are raised in the first resurrection, but each “in his own order” (1 Corinthians 15:23) is the method pursued. Christ, the first fruits, has already passed our reviewing stand. Two thousand years have already elapsed and the first resurrection is not yet over; only a small section has passed. Shortly, the saints of the past two thousand years will be raised.

After the resurrection of the church, the Great Tribulation breaks like a hurricane on the world. Multitudes of this brief interval, the tribulation martyrs, will be raised. Perhaps the Old Testament saints will be raised along with them. In view of the fact that the Old Testament saints are not seen in heaven with the church, and because their hope was an earthly one in the Old Testament, they probably are not raised until Christ comes to establish the millennial kingdom.

The Second Resurrection Includes the Lost of All Ages

The next resurrection, or the second resurrection, does not take place until the thousand years have run their course. This time element is specified: “But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished” (Revelation 20:5). This is the resurrection of the lost. Yes, they are to be raised from the dead to be judged and then to die again, “Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection; on such the second death hath no power” (Revelation 20:6). This division in the parade of resurrection is the most serious and solemn one of all. The lofty language that describes this resurrection should solemnize the thinking of every man on top side of this earth. The agnostic may dismiss it as irrelevant and unworthy of serious consideration, but the frightful possibility that it might be true ought to cause him to give anxious concern to his own soul. If it is accurate (which we know it is), then the destiny of the lost is frightful. None of us should read this passage unmoved:

And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away, and there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God, and the books were opened; and another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. (Revelation 20:11, 12)

None are saved at this judgment. The lost are judged by their works, and the verdict is already in, “for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified [saved]” (Galatians 2:16). The Book of Life is opened at the Great White Throne, and the same condition for salvation prevails there that has existed from the Garden of Eden: namely, “we have redemption through his [Christ’s] blood, the forgiveness of sins” (Ephesians 1:7). Since these who appear before the Great White Throne have trusted their own works and have rejected the redemption that is in Christ, none are saved: “And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire” (Revelation 20:15). The second resurrection in the parade of resurrection contains this awe-inspiring float with a throne that is snow-white, suspended in space, before which every creature who has not trusted Christ must give an account.

After the second resurrection, the last portion of the parade comes into view. It is the float of death. “And death and hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death” (Revelation 20:14). Death is chained to the chariot of the Great Conqueror of Death. The Lord Jesus Christ leads a parade of resurrection, which has at the end the foe of man: Death. Death will at last be defeated. The destroyer of man will himself be destroyed. Death will die.

For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet.

The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.

(1 Corinthians 15:25, 26)

Never will another creature of God be touched by this foul fiend and hideous monster. Because Christ is raised, the Christian can say today with Paul, “O death, where is they sting?” (1 Corinthians 15:55).

Two Attitudes of Men Toward Death

Death today is still the enemy of man. He is a criminal at large, who lurks in the shadows to strike down the strongest as well as the weakest of mankind. Many brave men have lived in fear of him.

Death was the consuming horror of the man who, by his profession, has probably caused more deaths than any man living or dead. Alfred Krupp, the Prussian who founded Krupp’s Works, with its enormous output of death-weapons, never forgave anyone who spoke to him of dying. Every employee throughout his vast works was strictly forbidden to refer to the subject of death in conversation. He fled from his own home when a relative of his wife suddenly died there, and when Mrs. Krupp remonstrated he became so enraged that a life-long separation ensued. At his illness he offered his physician a million dollars if he would prolong his life ten years. (Reference not cited.)

Another well-known figure in modern times is reported to have lived in constant fear of death. He was William Randolph Hearst, the newspaper tycoon, who through the printed page attacked many strong interests. He was fearless in his attack upon those who were his enemies. But this man lived in fear of death; he would not permit the discussion of it in his presence. Nevertheless, his chain of papers had at last to carry the headline that death had defeated him. Many men have scoffed at death and have put up a bold front as long as they were in good health. But when on their deathbeds, they became cowardly and cried out in despair. Listen to the deathbed cries from the lips of some scoffers and skeptics:

“I am suffering the pangs of the damned.”
– Talleyrand Perigord

“Give me laudanum that I may not think of eternity.”
– Marabeau

“I am abandoned by God and man! I shall go to hell! Christ! Jesus Christ!”
– Voltaire

“I would give worlds, if I had them, if The Age of Reason had never been published.
Lord, help me! Christ help me! Stay with me! It is hell to be left alone!”
– Thomas Paine

Death can never be such a terror to the child of God. He knows that Christ has taken the sting out of it. Christ not only died to redeem man, but He has also risen from the dead to justify him. By His resurrection He has “abolished death, and hath brought life and immortality to light through the gospel” (1 Timothy 1:10). Listen to the triumphant note that has come from the deathbeds of believers:

“I die in the faith of Jesus Christ, and in the firm hope of a better life.”
– Michelangelo

“I am going into eternity; and it is sweet to me to think of eternity; the endlessness
of it makes it sweet. But O! what shall I say to the eternity of the wicked?
The thought of it is too dreadful!”
– David Brainerd

“I throw myself on the mercy of God through the merits of Christ.”
– William Pitt

“Doctor, I am dying, but I am not afraid to die.”
– George Washington

“My affections are so much in Heaven that I can leave you all without regret; yet
I do not love you less, but God more.”
– William Wilberforce

“The consolations of God to such an unworthy wretch are so abundant that He
leaves me nothing to pray for but a continuance of them. I enjoy Heaven already
in my soul.”
– Augustus Toplady

“I commit my soul into the hands of my Saviour, in full confidence that having redeemed it and washed it in His most precious Blood, He will present it faultless before the throne of my Heavenly Father, and I entreat my children to maintain and defend at all hazards and at any cost of personal sacrifice the blessed doctrine of the complete atonement for sin through the Blood of Jesus Christ, once offered, and through that alone.”
– John Pierpont Morgan

A distinguished scientist, calling on Michael Faraday, put this question to him: “Have you conceived to yourself what will be your occupation in the next world?” Hesitating awhile, Faraday answered by quoting 1 Corinthians 2:9 – “Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.” And then he added in his own words, “I shall be with Christ, and that is enough.”

What a sense of joy and triumph comes to the Christian to know that at the end of the parade of resurrection death is in chains and, like a condemned criminal, is on the way to execution! Death at last takes a holiday. The Rose Parade of Resurrection will be a victory parade. Here will be the triumphal march of the Lord Jesus Christ. Listen to the marching music of triumph and victory:

There is, therefore, now no condemnation to them who are in Christ Jesus….
(Romans 8:1)

For I am in a strait between two, having a desire to depart and to be with Christ, which is far better. (Philippians 1:23)

We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord. (2 Corinthians 5:8)

For I am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creation, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus, our Lord. (Romans 8:38, 39)

Come aloft with me to the “ladder of Revelation” and look once more at the line of march in the Rose Parade of Resurrection (see chart below).