Part 3 Isaiah speaks of a godly remnant.

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And it shall come to pass, that he that is left in Zion, and he that remaineth in Jerusalem, shall be called holy, even every one that is written among the living in Jerusalem (Isaiah 4:3).

Joel prophesies of a remnant who will serve the Lord in the last days.

And it shall come to pass, that whoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be delivered: for in mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall be deliverance, as the Lord hath said, and in the remnant whom the Lord shall call (Joel 2:32).

"In the remnant whom the Lord shall call." The remnant!

Jude mentions a remnant who will return to judge the Lord’s household:

And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these [the ungodly in the churches], saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints, to execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him (Jude 1:14,15).

A review of the context will reveal that these saints who come with the Lord, perhaps a remnant of the entire Church, will appear for the purpose of judging the ungodly in the household of God.

Then there is the fact that the Wife of the Lamb (perhaps a firstfruits of the Bride, according to our view) appears at the beginning of the thousand-year Kingdom Age, clothed in the white raiment of her righteous conduct: And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness [righteous deeds] of saints (Revelation 19:8).

And then as the glorious holy city, at the end of the thousand-year Kingdom Age:

And there came unto me one of the seven angels which had the seven vials full of the seven last plagues, and talked with me, saying, Come hither, I will shew thee the bride, the Lamb’s wife (Revelation 21:9).

The difference in the two appearings of the Wife of the Lamb may indicate that a warrior-firstfruits will appear with the Lord at the onset of the thousand-year Kingdom Age; and that during the thousand-year Kingdom Age the remainder of the Church will be ministered to in the spirit realm by the warrior-firstfruits, the Zion-barley-firstfruits company, the Lord’s holy remnant.

Barley is the first grain to ripen and was employed during the Levitical feast of Firstfruits. Gideon is associated with barley.

And when Gideon was come, behold, there was a man that told a dream unto his fellow, and said, Behold, I dreamed a dream, and, lo, a cake of barley bread tumbled into the host of Midian, and came unto a tent, and smote it that it fell, and overturned it, that the tent lay along (Judges 7:13).

The firstfruits company is revealed in the Book of Revelation, standing on Mount Zion, in the place where David kept the Ark of the Covenant when it was separated from the remainder of the Tabernacle of the Congregation. And I looked, and, lo, a Lamb stood on the mount Sion, and with him an hundred forty and four thousand, having his Father’s name written in their foreheads (Revelation 14:1).

We see, then, that the concept of the first resurrection being a special, advance resurrection and ascension, an honor guard to greet the Lord Jesus when He comes to assume the government of Israel and of the other nations of the earth, has strong support in the types of the Old Testament as well as in some of the statements of the New Testament.

If the first resurrection is a special, advance resurrection of the Lord’s "mighty men," then Paul’s zeal in pursuing the out-resurrection to the end of his discipleship makes perfect sense.

Otherwise, Paul’s desire to attain to the out-resurrection is difficult to understand.

The statement that finally caused us to take the position that only a holy remnant will be raised at the next coming of the Lord, is as follows:

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 20:6).

There are numerous people who believe in Jesus, who have, we believe, a genuine experience of sins forgiven. They truly love the Lord and His Spirit is in them. But we cannot see all of them serving as members of the royal priesthood. Many are babies in Christ. Their pastors feed them with diluted milk; for if they presented a stronger word their congregations would choke and die.

Such believers simply are not kings and priests in the Kingdom. They are not kings and priests today and they will not be made so magically when the Lord appears, by "grace," by forgiveness, by mercy, or by any other simple, quick means. They are not ready to be the judges who will sit upon the all-powerful thrones in the air that govern the spiritual condition of the nations of the earth. To think that immature, worldly Christians suddenly will be assigned such supreme authority and power is to indulge in fantasy.

Then too, the Lord warned us concerning the ten virgins who had lamps—the lamps representing the Word of God. Five of them had oil, that is, the Life of Christ dwelling in them. They were living by His Life. The other five had lamps but their oil had been used up. They were not accepted by the Lord when He came.

When we truly receive the Lord we are given a portion of oil, of the Life of Christ. In order to keep filled with oil we must take up our cross and follow the Lord, living daily by His resurrection Life. How many believers really live by the Life of the Lord?

The Lord through much tribulation will draw out a godly remnant in the days in which we are living.

We think we are correct in the conclusion we have drawn, that is, only a holy remnant of warrior-saints will rise to meet the Lord at His appearing. If there is a possibility we are correct, then every person who loves the Lord would do well to follow the example of the Apostle Paul and strive to attain to the first resurrection from among the dead.

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