PURPOSE:

To show that the Living and the Dead will be in the Kingdom of Glory during the Loud Cry period, Before the 2^nd Coming

INTRODUCTION – THE LINE-UP OF THE RESURRECTIONS

1. Matt. 27:50-52 – At Jesus’ Resurrection – All righteous

2. Dan. 12:2,3 – During the Time of Trouble – mixed, righteous and wicked

3. Ezek. 37: 1-12 – After Ezek. 9 slaughter - Old Israel, All righteous

4. 1Thess. 4:16-17 - At the 2^nd Coming - General Resurrection – All righteous

5. Rev. 20: - After the 1000 years - General resurrection of the (all) wicked

But our study today will be on the first 3. Note: SC means “Symbolic Code”/TG means “Timely Greetings”

/3Tr. Means Tract no. 3 --booklets on 4^th Angel’s Message by VT Houteff (see first lessons )

1. Matt. 27:50-53 “Jesus, when he had cried again with a loud voice, yielded up the ghost. And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent; And the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose, And came out of the graves after his resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many.”

DA 786 “As Christ arose, He brought from the grave a multitude of captives. The earthquake at His death had rent open their graves, and when He arose, they came forth with Him. They were those who had been co-laborers with God, and who at the cost of their lives had borne testimony to the truth. Now they were to be witnesses for Him who had raised them from the dead…. During His ministry, Jesus had raised the dead to life. He had raised the son of the widow of Nain, and the ruler's daughter and Lazarus. But these were not clothed with immortality. After they were raised, they were still subject to death. But those who came forth from the grave at Christ's resurrection were raised to everlasting life. They ascended with Him as trophies of His victory over death and the grave. These, said Christ, are no longer the captives of Satan; I have redeemed them. I have brought them from the grave as the first fruits of My power, to be with Me where I am, nevermore to see death or experience sorrow. These went into the city, and appeared unto many, declaring, Christ has risen from the dead, and we be risen with Him.”

DA 833 “He enters into the presence of His Father. He points to His wounded head, the pierced side, the marred feet; He lifts His hands, bearing the print of nails. He points to the tokens of His triumph; He presents to God the wave sheaf, those raised with Him as representatives of that great multitude who shall come forth from the grave at His second coming. He approaches the Father, with whom there is joy over one sinner that repents; who rejoices over one with singing. Before the foundations of the earth were laid, the Father and the Son had united in a covenant to redeem man if he should be overcome by Satan. They had clasped their hands in a solemn pledge that Christ should become the surety for the human race. This pledge Christ has fulfilled.”

EW 184 “When Jesus, as He hung upon the cross, cried out, "It is finished," the rocks rent, the earth shook, and some of the graves were opened. When He arose a victor over death and the grave, while the earth was reeling and the glory of heaven shone around the sacred spot, many of the righteous dead, obedient to His call, came forth as witnesses that He had risen. Those favored, risen saints came forth glorified. They were chosen and holy ones of every age, from creation down even to the days of Christ. Thus while the Jewish leaders were seeking to conceal the fact of Christ's resurrection, God chose to bring up a company from their graves to testify that Jesus had risen, and to declare His glory.”

3TR. 80 – WAVE SHEAF OF THE DEAD AND OF THE LIVING

“Those whom Christ took with Him were the living wave-sheaf and the only one that has been offered in the heavenly sanctuary

As ones raised from the dead, they are the wave-sheaf of the first fruits of the dead, the 120 disciples

As ones ever-living before the Father, they are the living wave-sheaf of the first fruits of the living, the 144,000 servants of God.”

2. Daniel 12:1-3, 10 “And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people: and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation [even] to that same time: and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book. And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame [and] everlasting contempt. And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever…. Many shall be purified, and made white, and tried; but the wicked shall do wickedly: and none of the wicked shall understand; but the wise shall understand.

GC 637 “Graves are opened, and "many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth. . . awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt." Daniel 12:2. All who have died in the faith of the third angel's message come forth from the tomb glorified, to hear God's covenant of peace with those who have kept His law. "They also which pierced Him" (Revelation 1:7), those that mocked and derided Christ's dying agonies, and the most violent opposers of His truth and His people, are raised to behold Him in His glory and to see the honor placed upon the loyal and obedient.”

7T 17 “The battle cry is sounding along the line. Let every soldier of the cross push to the front, not in self- sufficiency, but in meekness and lowliness, and with firm faith in God. Your work, my work, will not cease with this life. For a little while we may rest in the grave, but, when the call comes, we shall, in the kingdom of God, take up our work once more.”

Isa. 26:19 -20 “Thy dead [men] shall live, [together with] my dead body shall they arise. Awake and sing, ye that dwell in dust: for thy dew [is as] the dew of herbs, and the earth shall cast out the dead. Come, my people, enter thou into thy chambers, and shut thy doors about thee: hide thyself as it were for a little moment, until the indignation be overpast.

DA 786 “These went into the city, and appeared unto many, declaring, Christ has risen from the dead, and we be risen with Him. Thus was immortalized the sacred truth of the resurrection. The risen saints bore witness to the truth of the words, "Thy dead men shall live, together with My dead body shall they arise."

Their resurrection was an illustration of the fulfillment of the prophecy, "Awake and sing, ye that dwell in dust: for thy dew is as the dew of herbs, and the earth shall cast out the dead." Isaiah 26:19.

MARANATHA 269-270

“ ‘The letters were sent by posts into all the king's provinces, to destroy, to kill, and to cause to perish, all Jews, both young and old, little children and women, in one day.’ Esther 3:13…. The decree that will finally go forth against the remnant people of God will be very similar to that issued by Ahasuerus against the Jews…. ‘Come, my people, enter thou into thy chambers, and shut thy doors about thee: hide thyself as it were for a little moment, until the indignation be overpast.’ Isaiah 26:20. In the day of fierce trial He [Christ] will say, "Come, my people, enter thou into thy chambers, and shut thy doors about thee: hide thyself as it were for a little moment, until the indignation be overpast." What are the chambers in which they are to hide? They are the protection of Christ and holy angels. The people of God are not at this time all in one place. They are in different companies, and in all parts of the earth…..

“……I saw the saints leaving the cities and villages, and associating together in companies, and living in the most solitary places. Angels provided them food and water, while the wicked were suffering from hunger and thirst. During the night a very impressive scene passed before me. There seemed to be great confusion and the conflict of armies. A messenger from the Lord stood before me, and said, "Call your household. I will lead you; follow me." He led me down a dark passage, through a forest, then through the clefts of mountains, and said, "Here you are safe." There were others who had been led to this retreat. The heavenly messenger said. "The time of trouble has come as a thief in the night, as the Lord warned you it would come." In the time of trouble just before the coming of Christ, the righteous will be preserved through the ministration of heavenly angels; but there will be no security for the transgressor of God's law….

“….Angels cannot then protect those who are disregarding one of the divine precepts. In the closing period of earth's history the Lord will work mightily in behalf of those who stand steadfastly for the right In the midst of the time of trouble--trouble such as has not been since there was a nation--His

chosen ones will stand unmoved. Satan with all the hosts of evil cannot destroy the weakest of God's saints. Angels that excel in strength will protect them, and in their behalf Jehovah will reveal Himself as a "God of gods," able to save to the uttermost those who have put their trust in Him.”

2SC 9:1 - VT Houteff (on Joel 2:15-16) “Joel's prophecy above quoted must meet its fulfillment in the time when probation's hours are fast closing, for the Word says, "Let the bridegroom go forth of His chamber, and the bride out of her closet." The term, "let", means to allow it to be so; and as the bridegroom is Christ at the time when He is to be crowned or married to the New Jerusalem -- His bride -- (Rev. 21:9),

The command, "Gather the people, sanctify the congregation, assemble the elders, gather the children, and those that suck the breasts," signifies a complete separation from the world of "old and young, both maids and little children, and women" "that sigh and that cry for all the abominations that be done in the midst thereof" (Ezek. 9:4,6): and being prophetically made to the church (Zion), this command evidences the fact that when the trumpet shall blow in fulfillment of this scripture, it will find Zion, His church, unsanctified and commingled with the world. Therefore, comes the call for sanctification.

The conditions further prove that this scripture meets its fulfillment now, because the church at the present time has, by her institutions, entangled herself with the institutions of the world”

2TG 8:21-22 VT Houteff “Joel 2:15, 16 – ‘Blow the trumpet in Zion, sanctify a fast, call a solemn assembly: gather the people, sanctify the congregation, assemble the elders, gather the children, and those that suck the breasts: let the bridegroom go forth of his chamber, and the bride out of her closet.’

In these verses, as in Joel 2:1, the command is given to blow the trumpet in Zion. This second trumpet, however, is not to announce the day of God, but to sanctify both a fast and the people, to call a solemn assembly, from which not one is to be excluded from the assembly…..

“Joel 2:17 – ‘Let the priests, the ministers of the Lord, weep between the porch and the altar, and let them say, Spare Thy people, O Lord, and give not Thine heritage to reproach, that the heathen should rule over them: wherefore should they say among the people, Where is their God?’

Here we are plainly told that God's people are to face persecution and distress, and that unless they keep close to the Lord their very existence may be at stake, God's name dishonored, and the heathen allowed to rule over them and to challenge their faith in God….

“Joel 2:18, 19 – ‘Then will the Lord be jealous for His land, and pity His people. Yea, the Lord will answer and say unto His people, Behold, I will send you corn, and wine, and oil, and ye shall be satisfied therewith: and I will no more make you a reproach among the heathen.’

God finds refuge and freedom for them in their own land where nothing shall be lacking.”

2TG 7: 9-10 VT Houteff “At that time (that is, at the time the king of the north comes to his end and none help him) shall Michael stand; and at the same time there shall be trouble such as never was even to that very time. Only God's people, who have their names written in the book, will be delivered. None other…. Here we are told that in the time of trouble these arise, some to live forever and some to die again. Do you now realize that not only the time of trouble is at the door, but even this special resurrection? Do you actually see that in the time of trouble, while the living saints are being delivered these dead who rise "to everlasting life," are also delivered from their graves? Do you realize that this time of trouble is in "the great and dreadful day of the Lord," the day which the promised prophet Elijah announces? Do you actually know that he is to turn the hearts of the fathers and of the children toward each other? lest the Lord smite "the earth with a curse." Mal. 4:5, 6. Do you see that the prophet appears in a day he can restore all things, everything that was lost through sin, even the Kingdom? Do you know that the resurrection of Daniel 12 is not the same as the resurrection of 1 Thessalonians and of Revelation 20:5?”

3. Ezek. 37:1-12 -- "The hand of the Lord was upon me, and carried me out in the Spirit of the Lord, and set me down in the midst of the valley which was full of bones, and caused me to pass by them round about: and, behold, there were very many in the open valley; and, lo, they were very dry. And He said unto me, Son of man, can these bones live? And I answered, O Lord God, Thou knowest. Again He said unto me, Prophesy upon these bones, and say unto them, O ye dry bones, hear the Word of the Lord. Thus saith the Lord God unto these bones; Behold, I will cause breath to enter into you, and ye shall live: and I will lay sinews upon you, and will bring up flesh upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and ye shall live; and ye shall know that I am the Lord.”

"So I prophesied as I was commanded: and as I prophesied, there was a noise, and behold a shaking, and the bones came together, bone to his bone. And when I beheld, lo, the sinews and the flesh came up upon them, and the skin covered them above: but there was no breath in them. Then said He unto me, Prophesy unto the wind, prophesy, son of man, and say to the wind, Thus saith the Lord God; Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live. So I prophesied as He commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood up upon their feet, an exceeding great army.”

Luke 13:22-30 “And he went through the cities and villages, teaching, and journeying toward Jerusalem. 13:23 Then said one unto him, Lord, are there few that be saved? And he said unto them,

13:24 Strive to enter in at the strait gate: for many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able.

13:25 When once the master of the house is risen up, and hath shut to the door, and ye begin to stand without, and to knock at the door, saying, Lord, Lord, open unto us; and he shall answer and say unto you, I know you not whence ye are……

13:26 Then shall ye begin to say, We have eaten and drunk in thy presence, and thou hast taught in our streets.

13:27 But he shall say, I tell you, I know you not whence ye are; depart from me, all ye workers of iniquity.

There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when ye shall see Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and all the prophets, in the kingdom of God, and you [yourselves] thrust out.

13:29 And they shall come from the east, and [from] the west, and from the north, and [from] the south, and shall sit down in the kingdom of God.

13:30 And, behold, there are last which shall be first, and there are first which shall be last.”

2TG 32:15-17 VT Houteff on Ezek. 37 “Here we learn that the process of resurrection is the same as the process of creation: first the frame of the man, then the organism, the flesh, the skin, and last the breath, and again he becomes a living soul. Man's soul or spirit, you see, is not called down from heaven, or up from hell. In fact, not a soul at all, but wind from the four corners of the earth fills his lungs at the command of God, and thus he again becomes a living soul. Then, too, the material of which man was composed originally, of the same shall he be made again, for bone to bone come together. When he is thus re-created or resurrected, though, he must retain the knowledge and memory which he had at his death, otherwise the man that is raised would not be the man that died, and if such be not his case, then the experience gained in this life would be lost….”

1TG 3,4:11-13 - “Here we see how the dead are to be raised: First the bones are gathered together bone to bone. Next the flesh is added, then covered with skin, and finally breath is given them. In The Genesis we are told that Adam's body was made from clay, then breath was put into his nostrils and he became a living soul. By combining air with the clay the man became a living soul. So the Scriptures reveal that the resurrection is but a re-creation. Man receives a new body out of the old but in order to be the same man that once lived and died, then made alive again, he necessarily is given the former intellectual knowledge and memory of his life's experience. Truly the living know that they shall die, but the dead know not anything all the while they are in their graves. Eccles. 9:5, 6.

Ezek. 37:13, 14 -- "And ye shall know that I am the Lord, when I have opened your graves, O My people, and brought you up out of your graves, and shall put My Spirit in you, and ye shall live, and I shall place you in your own land: then shall ye know that I the Lord have spoken it, and performed it, saith the Lord."

Not only will He raise His people from their graves, but He will also bring them into the land of Israel. The dead to live again is indeed a miracle but not much greater than for a worm to bury itself in the ground or to inclose itself in a cocoon or the like, then to go in the state of unconsciousness, change its form and become a beautiful butterfly cruising through the air instead of crawling on the ground. This and other wonders do not seem miracles because they are common daily occurrences. If in the beginning God could create the earth out of nothing, He can re-create man much easier when to start with, He at least has man's bones and his intellectual knowledge of good and evil.

CONCLUSION

7T. 17 “As the third angel's message swells into a loud cry, great power and glory will attend its proclamation. The faces of God's people will shine with the light of heaven. The Lord will fit men and women--yes, and children, as He did Samuel--for His work, making them His messengers. He who never slumbers or sleeps watches over each worker, choosing his sphere of labor. All heaven is watching the warfare which, under apparently discouraging circumstances, God's servants are carrying on. New conquests are being achieved, new honors won, as the Lord's servants, rallying round the banner of their Redeemer, go forth to fight the good fight of faith. All the heavenly angels are at the service of the humble, believing people of God; and as the Lord's army of workers here below sing their songs of praise, the choir above join with them in thanksgiving, ascribing praise to God and to His Son….

….Nothing is apparently more helpless, yet really more invincible, than the soul that feels its nothingness and relies wholly on the merits of the Saviour. God would send every angel in heaven to the aid of such a one, rather than allow him to be overcome. The battle cry is sounding along the line. Let every soldier of the cross push to the front, not in self-sufficiency, but in meekness and lowliness, and with firm faith in God. Your work, my work, will not cease with this life. For a little while we may rest in the grave, but, when the call comes, we shall, in the kingdom of God, take up our work once more.”

May we strive to be fitted by the Lord each day, as we approach the Loud Cry. AMEN.

END OF LESSON