rst resurrection. Blessed and holy is he that
hath part in the first resurrection." Rev. 20:4-6.

There are to be two resurrections. The apostle Paul said that this was
the teaching of all Scripture: "There shall be a resurrection of the
dead, both of the just and unjust." Acts 24:15. The first resurrection,
that of the just, marks the beginning of the thousand years.

Christ's Second Coming

When is this first resurrection, in the order of events in this "day of
the Lord"? It is at the second advent of Christ. One scripture, out of
many, will suffice to state it:

"The Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice
of the Archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ
shall rise first." 1 Thess. 4:16.

As the Saviour comes in glory, with all the holy angels, the graves are
opened, and His voice awakens His children who sleep in the dust.

"He shall send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they
shall gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of
heaven to the other." Matt. 24:31.

The time of Christ's second coming, therefore, is the beginning of the
millennium.

The Righteous Taken to Heaven

The living righteous are translated, and, together with the risen
saints, are taken to heaven, as the apostle says:

"Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with
them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be
with the Lord." 1 Thess. 4:17.

This was the Saviour's promise:

"In My Father's house are many mansions.... I go to prepare a place for
you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and
receive you unto Myself; that where I am, there ye may be also." John
14:2, 3.

The Destruction of the Wicked

At Christ's second coming the wicked are slain. The unbelieving left
without shelter in that day, cannot endure the presence of such glory as
will burst upon the world:

"The Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels, in
flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey
not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ." 2 Thess. 1:7, 8.

The Binding of Satan

With the saints in heaven, beyond the reach of Satan's wiles, and with
the wicked dead, not to live again till the thousand years are finished,
Satan is "bound"--confined by divine power to this earth, which becomes
his prison house, there being neither saint nor sinner upon whom to pl