What does he mean by departing and being with Christ? In spite of having taught that resurrection and the

Lord's coming would unite the believer with his Lord - so (in this way) would he ever be with the Lord (1 Thess.

4:17), it would appear on the surface that here, the apostle of the Gentiles was contradicting this definite teaching,

by asserting that death, without resurrection, was his hope. However this is not true if the whole epistle be studied

and the remoter context be taken into consideration. In chapter 3 verse 10 we read:

`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. Not as though I

had already attained ... `

On the surface this passage presents an insuperable difficulty. It would appear that Paul, although a saved

man, was not sure of being raised from the dead if he should die, but he longed to attain to resurrection. If this is

true then it strikes at the very root of all Christian hope, for if such a saint as the apostle was in doubt of resurrection,

we may be sure that the average Christian of to-day stands very little chance of experiencing it. But this is

impossible. Resurrection was part of orthodox Judaism. `I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the

last day,' said Martha, referring to her dead brother (John 11:24). It was the Sadducees, the rationalists of that time

who rejected this truth; `the Sadducees which say that there is no resurrection' (Matt. 22:23).

The difficulty of Philippians 3:11 lies in the English translation and not in the original Greek which reads `that

I might attain unto the out resurrection, that one which is out from dead ones'. The double emphasis on the

preposition out (ek) makes this phrase unique in the New Testament.

We leave the human creeds to talk of one general resurrection. The Word of God teaches no such thing. `As

in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive: But every man in his own order' (or rank)

1 Corinthians 15:22. There is a resurrection of believers which is their hope, for the gift of eternal life necessitates

life from the dead. There is another resurrection which is out from the dead, leaving others behind, which is

connected with personal worthiness and faithfulness in service. To this aspect of truth the Lord Jesus was referring

when He said in Luke 20:35:

`But they which shall be accounted worthy to obtain that world, and that resurrection which is out from dead

ones (literally) neither marry nor are given in marriage'.

This is a selective raising from the dead and must not be confused with the one that the Lord referred to in

John 6:40. The context there will show that personal worthiness does not enter in. Resurrection in this passage is

the logical end to all who simply `believe on Him' and receive eternal life.

We are now in a position to understand the apostle's desire in Philippians 1:23. He had a deep longing to be

with the Lord in His exaltation in the heavenly places far above all (Eph. 1:20-23; 2:5,6). The same deep longing is

expressed in Philippians 3:11 by the phrase `if by any means I might attain'. He greatly desired to participate `by

any means' in this special `out-resurrection' for he knew that only in this way could he be with Christ which is far

better. Nothing that Paul writes in this epistle could contradict the definite teaching he had given in previous letters

on this subject. It is merely wishful thinking that lifts Philippians 1:23 out of its context and the theme of the epistle

in order to find some ground for its beliefs. What these people do not realise is that they glamorise death which is

represented in Scripture as an enemy to the last, and they open the door to the Devil's deception in all its various

manifestations such as Spiritism, Mariolatry, Reincarnation, Purgatory, all of which are variations of the old lie in

Eden: `thou shalt not surely die' (Gen. 3:4).

Let us learn to distinguish between the resurrection which is connected with the hope of the believer apart from

works, and the special out-resurrection which is linked with growth in grace, faithful service and if need be suffering

in view of the `prize of the high calling' (Phil. 3:14). While the epistle to the Hebrews does not minister to the same

calling as Philippians, yet it is evidently running along parallel lines. The writer urges his readers who were saved

and `partakers of the heavenly calling' (Heb. 3:1) to go on to full growth (perfection, 6:1). They were not to lay

again foundation truths such as `the doctrines of baptisms, and of laying on of hands, and of resurrection of the

dead, and eternal judgment' (6:2). In chapter 11 we have examples of those who did this and learned not only what

is meant to be saved by faith, but to live by faith (10:38) and to suffer for Christ's sake. Like Moses, they had