The Great Controversy The Great Controversy | Page 645
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
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