agony . Louder than the shout , " Crucify Him , crucify Him ," which rang through the streets of Jerusalem , swells the awful , despairing wail , " He is the Son of God ! He is the true Messiah !" They seek to flee from the presence of the King of kings . In the deep caverns of the earth , rent asunder by the warring of the elements , they vainly attempt to hide .
In the lives of all who reject truth there are moments when conscience awakens , when memory presents the torturing recollection of a life of hypocrisy and the soul is harassed with vain regrets . But what are these compared with the remorse of that day when " fear cometh as desolation ," when " destruction cometh as a whirlwind "! Proverbs 1:27 . Those who would have destroyed Christ and His faithful people now witness the glory which rests upon them . In the midst of their terror they hear the voices of the saints in joyful strains exclaiming : " Lo , this is our God ; we have waited for Him , and He will save us ." Isaiah 25:9 .
Amid the reeling of the earth , the flash of lightning , and the roar of thunder , the voice of the Son of God calls forth the sleeping saints . He looks upon the graves of the righteous , then , raising His hands to heaven , He cries : " Awake , awake , awake , ye that sleep in the dust , and arise !" Throughout the length and breadth of the earth the dead shall hear that voice , and they that hear shall live . And the whole earth shall ring with the tread of the exceeding great army of every nation , kindred , tongue , and people . From the prison house of death they come , clothed with immortal glory , crying : " O death , where is thy sting ? O grave , where is thy victory ?" 1 Corinthians 15:55 . And the living righteous and the risen saints unite their voices in a long , glad shout of victory .
All come forth from their graves the same in stature as when they entered the tomb . Adam , who stands among the risen throng , is of lofty height and majestic form , in stature but little below the Son of God . He presents a marked contrast to the people of later generations ; in this one respect is shown the great degeneracy of the race . But all arise with the freshness and vigor of eternal youth . In the beginning , man was created in the likeness of God , not only in character , but in form and feature . Sin defaced and almost obliterated the divine image ; but Christ came to restore that which had been lost . He will change our vile bodies and fashion them like unto His glorious body . The mortal , corruptible form , devoid of comeliness , once polluted with sin , becomes perfect , beautiful , and immortal . All blemishes and deformities are left in the grave . Restored to the tree of life in the long-lost Eden , the redeemed will " grow up " ( Malachi 4:2 ) to the full stature of the race in its primeval glory . The last lingering traces of the curse of sin will be removed , and Christ ' s faithful ones will appear in " the beauty of the Lord our God ," in mind and soul and body reflecting the perfect image of their Lord . Oh ,
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