Simple Keys to Understanding the Book of Revelation — Part 5
We have a lot of distractions in our lives today. There is much going on in our world that is disturbing. These distracting and disturbing images try to pull us in. They try to demand our attention through news and social media. It is vital for us to pull back, to pull away, and refocus on what is most important.
At the end of Luke 21, after He had described many disturbing things that would happen in the end times, Jesus exhorted us not to focus on the disturbing events, but to look up instead:
“Now when these things begin to happen, look up and lift up your heads, because your redemption draws near.”—Luke 21:28 (NKJV)
When we look up, we take our focus off of our circumstances and we center our focus on Jesus and things of the Kingdom of God, as Paul exhorts us in Colossians 3:1-2 (AMP):
“Therefore if you have been raised with Christ [to a new life, sharing in His resurrection from the dead], keep seeking the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your mind and keep focused habitually on the things above [the heavenly things], not on things that are on the earth [which have only temporal value].”
Paul makes a declaration of his focused dedication to Christ in Philippians 3:7-15 (NKJV):
“But what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ. Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith; that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, …”
Then, in the middle of Paul’s declaration, he makes a curious statement in verse 11:
“if, by any means, I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.”
And he continues:
“Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.
Therefore let us, as many as are mature, have this mind; and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal even this to you.”
What did he mean by that statement in verse 11, “if, by any means, I may attain to the resurrection from the dead?”
Wasn’t Paul secure in the knowledge of his salvation? If he is a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, won’t he experience the resurrection from the dead? He seems to be speaking of this resurrection as something that he has to qualify for. Could that be true? Do we have to qualify to be included in the resurrection of the dead?
To understand what Paul was talking about, we have to look at the resurrection that takes place at the end of this age. It is described in Revelation 20. As we can tell in the first three verses of Revelation 20, these events occur after the Great Tribulation period.
Verses 4 through 6 describe this resurrection of the dead that occurs after the Tribulation.
*“Then I saw thrones, and seated on them were those to whom the authority to judge was committed. Also I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for the testimony of Jesus and for the word of God, and those who had not worshiped the beast or its image and had not received its mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. *
“The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended. This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is the one who shares in the first resurrection! Over such the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ, and they will reign with him for a thousand years.”—Revelation 20:4-6 (ESV)
This is the resurrection that Paul must have been speaking of. This is the only thing that makes sense according to what he wrote in Philippians chapter 3. Reading this passage in Revelation, we see that there are definite qualifications to be included in this resurrection, as Paul understood, and not every believer will qualify to participate. We know that because it is clearly written in verse 5 that “the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished.”
That is very significant because if you die before this time, and you do not qualify to participate in this resurrection, you will miss out on the millennial reign of Christ on the Earth! You will be in Heaven, of course, so it won’t be like you had lost your salvation, but you will have missed out on the glorious reign of Jesus during the millennium. This explains why Paul was so motivated to want to qualify to be a part of this resurrection.
But how do you qualify? Well, first you have to be dead before you can be resurrected. Aside from that, we can discover who these people are, and how to qualify to be in this first group by paying careful attention to how they are described.
Revelation 20:4 tells us that John saw “the souls of those who had been beheaded for the testimony of Jesus and for the word of God.” So, martyrs are included in this first resurrection.
Who else is included?
Also included are “those who had not worshiped the beast or its image and had not received its mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years.” So, those believers who live during the Great Tribulation period and refuse to worship the Antichrist or accept his mark are also included in this First Resurrection.
Is that all?
No. As we go on to read in Revelation 20:6, there are other characteristics that qualify some believers to participate in this First Resurrection.
“Blessed and holy is the one who shares in the first resurrection! Over such the second death has no power”
So, who does the second death have no power over? If we can find the answer to that question, we can discover who else will qualify to participate in this First Resurrection.
To find that answer, we need to go back to the beginning of the book. In the first chapter of Revelation, Jesus appeared to the Apostle John and told him to write seven letters to seven churches that existed in Asia at that time.
We find our answer in the letter to the church in Smyrna.
“And to the angel of the church in Smyrna write,
‘These things says the First and the Last, who was dead, and came to life: “I know your works, tribulation, and poverty (but you are rich); and I know the blasphemy of those who say they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan. Do not fear any of those things which you are about to suffer. Indeed, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested, and you will have tribulation ten days. Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life.
“He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. He who overcomes shall not be hurt by the second death.”— Revelation 2:8-11 (NKJV)
So, it is those individuals who overcome who will not be overpowered or hurt by the second death. These believers will qualify to participate in the First Resurrection.
There are two other characteristics in Revelation 20:6 describing those who will participate in the First Resurrection. Let’s look at the next one:
“… they will be priests of God and of Christ”
If we can find out who will be God’s priests, then we will know who else will qualify to participate in this First Resurrection.
Again, we find the answer in a letter that Jesus dictated to one of the seven churches in Asia.
Each of the seven letters is written in the same general way. There is a message directed to the entire church as a whole, and then the letter ends with a special message to the individual within that church who goes above and beyond the average believer to rise to the status of an overcomer. We find the next characteristic attributed to the overcomer in the letter to the church in Philadelphia:
“He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of My God, and he shall go out no more. I will write on him the name of My God and the name of the city of My God, the New Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from My God. And I will write on him My new name.”—Revelation 3:12 (NKJV)
When Jesus speaks of making the overcomer “a pillar in the temple” of His God, He is speaking of them as strong leaders. This same word was used to describe Peter, James, and John in Galatians 2:9 (NKJV):
“and when James, Cephas, and John, who seemed to be pillars, perceived the grace that had been given to me, they gave me and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship, that we should go to the Gentiles and they to the circumcised.”— Galatians 2:9 (NKJV)
These overcomers who will become “pillars in the temple of God” seem to fit the description of “priests of God and of Christ” that would qualify them to be a part of the First Resurrection. After all, priests would serve in the temple, and it would make sense that priests who were honored and respected leaders would be considered pillars in the temple of God.
There is one more characteristic in Revelation 20:6, of those who will qualify to participate in the First Resurrection:
“… and they will reign with him for a thousand years.”
To find out who will reign with Christ, again we can look back to one of the letters to the seven churches at the beginning of the book of Revelation. This characteristic is found first in the letter to the church in Thyatira:
“And he who overcomes, and keeps My works until the end,*** to him I will give power over the nations—***
‘He shall rule them with a rod of iron;* They shall be dashed to pieces like the potter’s vessels’—*
as I also have received from My Father;”—Revelation 2:26-27 (NKJV)
This characteristic is also found in the letter to the church in Laodicea:
“To him who overcomes I will grant to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne.”—Revelation 3:21 (NKJV)
Taking all of these characteristics into account, it becomes clear that the First Resurrection is a resurrection of overcomers. It is the overcomers who will be resurrected to rule and reign with Christ during his 1,000-year reign on Earth after the Great Tribulation period is finished. The rest of the dead will not be resurrected until after the 1,000 reign of Christ on Earth, as we are clearly told in Revelation 20:5.
This is what Paul was striving for! This is what he was pursuing with all his heart and with a single-minded focus! When Paul said that he was pressing toward the goal for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus, he was talking about being included among the overcomers! The goal that he was pursuing was to become an overcomer. The prize, among other things, was qualifying to participate in the First Resurrection and being counted worthy to rule and reign with Christ for 1,000 years here on Earth. He did not want to miss this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity! With all of his heart, he pursued this goal of being numbered with the overcomers and being counted worthy to rule and reign on Earth with his Lord, Jesus Christ!
“Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Therefore let us, as many as are mature, have this mind; and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal even this to you.”—Philippians 3:13-15 New King James Version (NKJV)
Paul pursued this goal with such dedicated focus because those who qualify to be numbered with the overcomers are rewarded eternally with the highest honors available in the Kingdom of God. The overcomers experience greater rewards, greater privileges, greater authority, and greater responsibilities than other believers. Jesus clearly stated this in each of His letters to the seven churches in Asia:
“He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes I will give to eat from the tree of life, which is in the midst of the Paradise of God.” ’—Revelation 2:7 (NKJV)
“He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. He who overcomes shall not be hurt by the second death.” —Revelation 2:11 (NKJV)
“He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes I will give some of the hidden manna to eat. And I will give him a white stone, and on the stone a new name written which no one knows except him who receives it.” ’ —Revelation 2:17 (NKJV)
“And he who overcomes, and keeps My works until the end, to him I will give power over the nations—
‘He shall rule them with a rod of iron; They shall be dashed to pieces like the potter’s vessels’—
as I also have received from My Father; and I will give him the morning star.
“He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.” ’ —Revelation 2:26-29 (NKJV)
“He who overcomes shall be clothed in white garments, and I will not blot out his name from the Book of Life; but I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels.
“He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.” ’—Revelation 3:5-6 (NKJV)
“He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of My God, and he shall go out no more. I will write on him the name of My God and the name of the city of My God, the New Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from My God. And I will write on him My new name.
“He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.” ’ —Revelation 3:12-13 (NKJV)
“To him who overcomes I will grant to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne.
“He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.” ’ ” —Revelation 3:21-22 (NKJV)
