to his Master,
he had as yet _no absolute certainty_ of attaining to the first
resurrection."

The worst statement on this line in the whole book is the following:

"The upward, or heavenward, calling is, of course, contrasted with the
earthly calling of Israel. And its introduction here is sufficiently
startling for those who have been taught that simple belief in Christ
will win heaven for them, and membership in the Lord's body. For Paul
unmistakably affirms that these high privileges are a prize and not a
gift, and are accessible only by the gate of the First Resurrection--a
gate through which, after all his sacrifices and labors and sufferings
for Christ, he was not yet absolutely sure that he would be permitted
to pass."

According to this teaching the Apostle, who had received apostleship
not of men but from the Lord, whom he saw in glory, the Apostle to whom
was committed the Gospel of the Glory of the blessed God and to whom
was made known the mystery of the Church, and that _all_ believers are
members of that body, this great Apostle and instrument through whom
God gave the greatest revelation, did not know himself that he belonged
to the body. He did not know it in spite of his sufferings and labors;
he had to suffer some more, and only when he wrote Second Timothy had
he a special revelation that he had labored and suffered enough. How
ridiculous and more than that, insulting to the work and the Word of
our Lord Jesus Christ! And if it were true what this book teaches, how
dreadful it would be for almost every believer, for but few, if any,
labor and suffer as Paul did, and we could have, even if we did, no
assurance concerning our membership in the body and our share in the
first resurrection, except by _special_ revelation. But such a special
revelation is nowhere promised in the Word.

We shall return after a while to the argument of Philippians.

But let us give the answer to the question, "_Who will be caught up
when the Lord comes?_"

Every person who fell asleep in Jesus belongs to the company which is
mentioned in first Thessalonians, "the dead in Christ shall be raised
first," and every true believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, who lives
when the assembling shout comes from the air, will be caught up in
clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And if believers, as it is the
case, were ignorant of the coming of the Lord, had absolutely no
knowledge of the fact and therefore did not wait