REVELATION 20: 4 -5 "And I saw thrones, and they that sat upon them, and judgement 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 was finished. This is the first resurrection."

REVELATION 6: 9-11 "And when he had opened the 5th seal, I saw under the alter, the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held: And they cried with a loud voice, saying, how long, O, Lord Holy and True, dost Thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth? And white robes were given unto every one of them: and it was said unto them; that they should rest, yet for a little season, until their fellow servants also and their brethren, that should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled."

While talking with the Lord, and asking for a message that would please Him for this writing, it seemed that, "The first resurrection," came to mind. I immediately began a research on the subject. Some ignorantly believe there will be no resurrection: that death ends all that you will ever be. That does not agree with our text. Others believe in soul sleep: that there will be a resurrection where the dead bodies will come out of their graves when it occurs. But the Bible clearly teaches these flesh and blood bodies will return to the earth from whence they came; and the spirits will return to God Who gave them. When you plant seeds of any kind they rot in the earth and can never be used again; but they germinate and produce life after their kind. That is exactly what happens to our bodies when they are planted in the earth. Our text shows there are souls, (spirits), already under the alter of God communing with Him.

Somewhere in your future you will experience this great event because it is appointed unto man, once to die. That is something we cannot escape, or prevent. The scriptures in our text should cause you to know there will be a resurrection, but some future events will happen prior to the first resurrection. The anti-christ, (Satan), will come and cause the dreaded tribulation which will be the most dreadful thing the world will ever experience before the real Christ comes to bring a resurrection of the dead. Then immediately after the tribulation Jesus will come and bring with Him thousands that were beheaded in the tribulation. They were not raptured, but were beheaded because they were faithful to Christ. That gained the great blessing for them to be in the first resurrection. Can we have that kind of faith? Our eternal destiny depends upon our using Christ as our pattern and example of how to live this present flesh and blood life. That is exactly what God sent Him to be and do. Let Him be your example and follow Him closely.