THE FIRST RESURRECTION

T. B. Baines
The saints will return with Jesus when He comes forth to destroy His enemies. After judgment has been executed, and Satan cast into the bottomless pit, the reign of Christ, and of certain others, begins. The Apostle John says: 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. Rev. 20:4-6.
What does this passage teach us? First, it shows a resurrection which takes place before the thousand years of Christ's reign. Second, it enables us to learn who are the persons then raised. "I saw thrones, and they sat upon them." Who, then, are "they"? They are "blessed and holy," so they must be saints.
But what saints? The persons last named (Rev. 19:14) are the armies of heaven who came forth with Jesus to make war. They are the partners of His triumph, and as victors we should expect to see them sharing His dominion. They are the only persons mentioned in the context to whom the description could refer. These armies of heaven are the saints who have been taken before to be with Jesus.
The Scriptures have shown us that the saints living when the Lord comes will be changed into His likeness and caught up into His presence, after which they will come forth with Him to judge the world. These scriptures show us that the dead saints also, who are raised when the living are translated, will come with Christ and rule in His company.