e 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
fellowservants also and their brethren, _that should be killed as they
were_ should be fulfilled." This quotation will make clear one point
concerning the refusal of the martyrs to worship the beast and his
image. We are not to understand that every soul of the martyrs John saw
in these visions reigned during the entire period under consideration;
but he beheld the reign of the saints above during the one thousand
years, and he saw there the souls of all the martyrs--such as had been
slain in the early days of Christianity (chap. 12:11); such as refused
to worship the beast and were martyred therefor (chap. 13:7); and also,
such as "should be killed as they were" (chap. 6:11) and were put to
death shortly after the formation of the image of the beast. Chap.
13:15; 16:6.

This company of souls that the apostle saw reigning with Christ above
were those who had had part "in the first resurrection," which had made
them "blessed and holy." They were not on earth; they were disembodied
spirits above, hence had not been literally resurrected. The Scriptures
clearly teach that mankind in their ordinary condition are "_dead_ in
trespasses and in sins," and that through salvation, which makes them
"blessed and holy," they are "quickened" to a new life in Christ. Eph.
2:1. That this is Scripturally "the first resurrection" is proved most
positively by the words of Christ--"Verily, verily, I say unto you, the
hour is coming, _and now is_, when the _dead_ shall hear the voice of
the Son of God: and they that hear _shall live_. He that heareth my
word, and believeth on him that sent me, _hath_ everlasting life, and
shall not come into condemnation, but is _passed from death unto life_."
John 5:25, 24. Although many other proofs could easily be given, this of
itself is sufficient to establish the point that the host of early
Christians who had "passed from death unto life" in Christ and who gave
their lives gladly for the sake of Christ, constituted the ones referred
to as having had "part in the first resurrection." According to verse 6
it was only on those who had part in the first resurrection that the
second death had no power. The church at Smyrna received the sure
promise from Christ himself that they should "not be hurt of the second
death" (chap. 2