"Two Classes of Righteous."
By Wm. C. Gage
THE recent article from the pen of Bro. Cottrell, on the subject of the two resurrections, called to mind an effort made by one of the advocates of the non-resurrection doctrine, to explain the twentieth chapter of Revelation so as to make harmony with the view that the wicked dead will never live again. As every candid reader must admit, two resurrections are there brought to view; the participants in the first of which are "blessed and holy," and upon them "the second death hath no power," leaving us to conclude by implication that those who have part in the second resurrection are cursed and unholy, and that the second death does have power upon them. This chapter has always presented an insuperable difficulty for the advocate of the above-named doctrine, and many have been the attempts to get round it or over it, and on the occasion to which we allude, one of their ablest preachers made an effort to meet it, with what success the reader can judge as we give a synopsis of his arguments. He occupied some three or four evenings in endeavoring to prove that there are two classes of righteous who will finally be saved, namely, the justified righteous and the sanctified righteous. The first-named of these classes are simply justified, having made but little or no progress in holiness, and might consist of moral heathen, lukewarm professors, death-bed repentants, &c., while the other class consists of those who are not only justified, but sanctified. We cannot here notice particularly the labored argument adopted to prove this position; indeed a portion of it has passed from mind, but one point which was thought to have some weight was adduced from the fact that the righteous will "scarcely be saved," while some have an "abundant entrance" into the kingdom. This point will be noticed as we proceed. He next endeavored to show that during the thousand years there will be a temporary kingdom, which he denominated the Messianic kingdom. The peculiar blessedness of the first resurrection consists in being permitted to reign with Christ during this thousand years, while the other class are sleeping because they are unfitted for this kingdom, and are not to be raised until the end of this period. But as we proceed with the chapter a difficulty at once presents itself in the fact that at the end of the thousand years Satan deceives the nations of the earth. It will never do to allow that the righteous of either class are the dupes, and so this period is converted into an age to come, with mortals on probation, a portion of whom at least are finally deceived and destroyed by Satan. Quite an ingenious plan, surely, but very fallacious, as will appear upon careful examination. Let us look at his first position, in regard to two classes of righteous. The Scriptures plainly bring to view two classes of people, but they are the righteous and wicked, the holy and unholy, the wheat and the chaff, the sheep and the goats. The destiny of one class is life, and the other death, and we find no other distinction drawn in the word of truth. Again, it is widening the gate and rendering the road to salvation very broad, if such a class will be saved as are represented as coming up in the second resurrection, for there is no incentive to holiness if eternal life can be gained without it. If the blessedness of having a part in the first resurrection consists in the privilege of living a thousand years sooner than the others, it is a little singular that inspiration had not hinted as much, instead of leaving us to judge by the context that it was because "on such the second death hath no power." As holiness is peculiar to this class, may we not reasonably conclude further that this is a sufficient cause for blessedness, for without holiness "no man shall see the Lord." Heb. xii, 14. Now let us look for a moment at the argument based on the fact that the righteous will "scarcely be saved," and some will have an "abundant entrance," &c. Both declarations are made by the apostle Peter, but refer to one and the same class. In the former instance a distinction is made, not between the righteous and the sanctified righteous, but between "the righteous" and the "ungodly and the sinner," the one class being entitled "the house of God," in which Peter counts himself, and the other "them that obey not the gospel of God," showing conclusively that if those who are scarcely saved are to come up in the second resurrection, then Peter will be there also, and cannot therefore occupy one of the "twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel" in the age to come (?) Truly, error makes a crooked path, and such reasoning as must be adopted to sustain such an unscriptural doctrine cannot satisfy those who are grounded on the truth. To our own mind the teachings of this chapter are plain and positive. The two resurrections are contrasted, and when something is affirmed of the one, we must conclude that the opposite is true of the other. If the subjects of the first resurrection are blessed and holy, those of the second are not a little less blessed and holy, but cursed and unholy; and if the second death has no power over the former, it certainly must have power over the latter. All efforts to distort the plain testimony of this chapter from its legitimate meaning, only show the weakness of the doctrine at which it strikes a death-blow, for we consider it a perfect Gibraltar against this error.