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And the Resurrection Came

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Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Nov 9, 1911

FromReview and Herald, Vol. 88, No. 45.

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And the Resurrection Came

By William Covert

WILLIAM COVERT
“This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection.” Rev. 20:5, 6.
O the blessed first resurrection day,—that day so sweet and wonderful, when the righteous dead shall come to life again! And the Lord’s set time for it is near at hand. Job 14:13. Desired indeed is the joy it will bring with it. “Thou shalt call, and I will answer thee: thou wilt have a desire to the work of thy hands.” Job 14:15.
Yes, back into life and light in physical form the blessed dead are soon coming.
Some have slept in Jesus, O so long! Some for centuries, some even for millenniums, have reposed in the cold, still dust, but they shall live again. He who brings them back from death has said, “Thy dead men shall live, together with my dead body shall they arise.” Isa. 26:19.
What glorious meetings and visits there will be, when the mossy old graves yield up the beloved ones who now dwell in them! Will it not be surpassingly sweet actually to know that the resurrection of the righteous dead is accomplished? Just think what it will mean to know that those we loved, but who died and were buried long ago, have in very deed returned from the grave, and are living with us again. It was Jesus who said, They shall rise again.
To them then we can and doubtless will say, That blessed hope of the Lord’s glorious appearing and the resurrection which cheered our hearts in days gone by has met its fruition, and you have truly come back into life again (Titus 2:13). I dreamed of you after you had gone, often dreamed of meeting you again, dreamed that your death was not forever, and surely it was not! O, it is you! Your voice I know, your eyes I see, your hands I clasp. I know, O I know it is your own blessed self (1 Cor. 13:12)! We shall never know sorrow nor shall we taste death any more; for the Lord has now made us to live forever. And here we are in this dear young day, which has no setting sun, nor dark night, to follow (Gen. 21:23–25). And we do now joyfully sing, “O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?” 1 Cor. 15:55–57. So we will henceforth forever give all praise to the Source of our redemption, for our God and Saviour through their matchless love hath done all this for us!
Chicago, Ill.