The Daily Word of Righteousness

Resurrection, #2

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)

No passage of the Scriptures teaches that the believers in Christ will be translated to Heaven in order to escape Antichrist and the great tribulation. The lawless-grace-rapture error will prove to be one of the most destructive heresies ever to influence Christian thinking.

It is important to understand that the first resurrection, the resurrection which is out from among the dead, the resurrection that will take place when the Lord appears, is for the royal priesthood only. This resurrection must be attained.

The first resurrection is mentioned in the following verse:

If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection [Greek, out-resurrection] of the dead. (Philippians 3:11).

This resurrection is not the general resurrection of the dead but the resurrection of the priesthood.

The first resurrection, the out-resurrection from among the dead, is for the purpose of placing the victorious saints on the thrones in the air that control life on the earth. The first resurrection is described as follows:

And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; 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 resurrection. 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 20:4-6)

"This is the first resurrection." "They shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years."

The general resurrection, the resurrection of the dead, not from the dead as in the first resurrection, is set forth as follows:

And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. (Revelation 20:12)

There is no need to attain the general resurrection. All people who have lived on the earth, with the exception of the royal priesthood, will appear here.

Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation. (John 5:28,29)

The first resurrection, the resurrection of the royal priesthood, must be attained. The general resurrection does not need to be attained. It shall happen to all people who have lived and died on the earth.

To be continued.