Between Death and the Resurrection by W. A. S.

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Tacoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Sep 22, 1910

Between Death and the Resurrection

By W. A. S.

One comforting thought in the Bible doctrine of the sleep of the dead is this: there is in death no consciousness of the passing of time.

To those who fall asleep in Jesus, with the hope of the resurrection and the coming of Christ, it is as if the next instant the trump of God is sounding on the ear, and the glory of the coming Saviour bursts upon the vision.

To Abel, who fell by the gateway of Eden lost, the first martyr to the cause of truth, the time of waiting will seem no longer than to the last saint of God who falls asleep just before the close of probation. One moment was the pleading with Cain to follow God’s commandments, answered by the angry look and the descending blow; the next instant—to Abel—will be the resurrection from the dead.

The face of Stephen, before the angry council, shone like the face of an angel. As the men of the council determined in their hearts his death, the Lord opened to his servant the glory of heaven, and he saw Jesus standing at the right hand of God, as if ready to come to his rescue. Then he was stoned; and as he prayed for his persecutors, “he fell asleep.” To Stephen it will be as if he had but shut his eyes a moment, and opened them, and there he beholds that same Jesus actually come to rescue him from death unto eternal life.

Death is an enemy, and we are yet in the enemy’s land. It snatches away loved ones, and rends and tears the heart with grief. But Jesus has triumphed, and holds the key of death and the grave. He declares it as true forevermore, as truly as he himself is alive forevermore.

“There is a blessed hope, More precious and more bright Than all the joyless mockery The world esteems delight. “There is a lovely star That lights the darkest gloom, And sheds a peaceful radiance o’er The prospects of the tomb. “There is a cheering voice That lifts the soul above, Dispels the painful, anxious doubt, And whispers, ‘God is love.’”

There is a blessed hope; and as surely as ever there have been the creation and the fall, and sin and death in the world, and the gift of Jesus, and his death and resurrection, so surely the time of the first resurrection is hastening on. To the living the time of waiting seems long, and must be shortened by earnest work to save the lost and perishing. To those who sleep in Jesus, it will be but as if the moment of sad parting were followed instantly by the glad reunion in the presence of Jesus at his glorious coming. “Then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory.” Hasten, glad day! W. A. S.