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"We are not of them who draw back unto perdition" (10: 39).
"Esau . . . . . for one morsel of meat sold his birthright" (12: 16).
These references taken from Hebrews find their counterpart in Philippians, `the
citizenship', `the out-resurrection', `not as though I were already perfect'. The word
translated `perdition' is the same in the original as `destruction' in Phil. 3: 19, and the
reference to Esau is found in the warning concerning those `whose god is their belly'.
These most evident parallels cannot be ignored, and Paul's reference `to depart' in
Philippians is to be understood in the light of his own words found in II Timothy:
"Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the
righteous Judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that
have loved His appearing" (II Tim. 4: 8).
The classical passage concerning resurrection is of course I Cor. 15::
"For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. But every man in
his own order; Christ the first fruits; afterward they that are Christ's at His coming.
Then cometh the end" (I Cor. 15: 22-24).
There is no place here for an `out-resurrection' or a `better resurrection', but we get
some lead when we look at the overcomer in Rev. 20::
"And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them . . . . . 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 (or former) resurrection" (Rev. 20: 4, 5).
Here, most certainly is an out-resurrection of those to whom a throne, and to change
the figure, a crown is awarded, but there is nothing here to suggest that these who are
prize winners, or partakers in an `out-resurrection', passed at death into their reward; all
waited for the Advent of Christ.
We come back to the Apostle's own position, and find this to be similar. Nearly
2,000 years ago Paul died. He was indeed an overcomer. He knew that a `crown'
awaited him. But there is not the slightest evidence from Scripture to justify the idea that
for nearly 2,000 years the Apostle has been consciously `with Christ', having received
the `prize' of Phil. 3:
Heb. 11: say of those who were examples of the overcomers:
"These all died in faith, NOT HAVING RECEIVED the promises, but having seen
them AFAR OFF . . . . . they desire a better country, that is, an heavenly . . . . . God . . . . .
hath prepared for them a city" (Heb. 11: 13-16).
This city is the Heavenly, or the New Jerusalem that has not yet descended out of
heaven. It would be a contradiction of the words "NOT HAVING RECEIVED" to
assume that one by one as they died they, by an "out-resurrection", went before the
Lord's return to that city of their faith. They saw them `afar off', not as an immediate
hope, and the closing lines of this chapter read:
"That they without us should not be made perfect."