It must be evident to any one who carefully ponders the subject in the light of Scripture, that there is a very material difference between the resurrection of the believer and the resurrection of the unbeliever. Both shall be raised; but Revelation xx. 5 proves that there will be a thousand years between the two, so that they differ both as to the principle and as to the time. Some have found difficulty in reference to this subject, from the fact that in John v. 28 our Lord speaks of "the _hour_ in the which _all_ that are in the graves shall hear His voice." How, it may be asked, can there be a thousand years between the two resurrections, when both are spoken of as occurring in an "hour"? The answer is very simple. In verse 28, the quickening of dead souls is spoken of as occurring in an "hour;" and this work has been going on for over eighteen hundred years. Now, if a period of nearly _two_ thousand years can be represented by the word "hour," what objection can there be to the idea of _one_ thousand years being represented in the same way? Surely, none whatever, especially when it is expressly stated that "the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished." But furthermore, when we find mention made of "a _first_ resurrection," is it not evident that all are not to be raised together? Why speak of a "first" if there is but the one? It may be said that "the first resurrection" refers to the soul; but where is the Scripture warrant for such a statement? The solemn fact is this: when the "shout of the archangel and the trump of God" shall be heard, the redeemed who sleep in Jesus will be raised to meet Him in the glory; the wicked dead, whoever they be, from the days of Cain down, will remain in their graves during the thousand years of millennial blessedness, and at the close of that bright and blissful period, they shall come forth and stand before "the great white throne," there to be "judged every man according to his works," and to pass from the throne of judgment into the lake of fire. Appalling thought! Oh, reader, how is it in reference to your precious soul? Have you seen, by the eye of faith, the blood of the paschal Lamb shed to screen you from this terrible hour? Have you seen the precious Sheaf of first-fruits reaped and gathered into the heavenly garner, as the earnest of your being gathered in due time? These are solemn questions--deeply solemn. Do not put them aside. See that you are _now_ under the cover of the blood of Jesus. Remember, you cannot glean so much as a single ear in the fields of redemption until you have seen the true Sheaf waved before the Lord. "Ye shall eat neither bread, nor parched corn, nor green ears, until _the self-same day_ that ye have brought an offering unto your God." The harvest could not be touched until the sheaf of first-fruits had been presented, and, with the sheaf, a burnt-offering and a meat-offering.