5. When will death be no longer the enemy of God’s people? 1 Corinthians 15:51-54.
NOTE: ‘They that go down to the grave are in silence. They know no more of anything that is done under the sun. Blessed rest for the weary righteous! Time, be it long or short, is but a moment to them. They sleep; they are awakened by the trump of God to a glorious immortality. “For the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible.... So when ... this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory.” 1 Corinthians 15:52-54. As they are called forth from their deep slumber, they begin to think just where they ceased. The last sensation was the pang of death, the last thought that they were falling beneath the power of the grave. When they arise from the tomb, their first glad thought will be echoed in the triumphal shout, “O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?” 1 Corinthians 15:55. The pangs of death were the last things they felt. When they awake the pain is all gone. The gates of the city of God swing back upon their hinges, and the ransomed of God walk in through the cherubim and seraphim. Christ bids them welcome and puts upon them His benediction. “Well done, thou good and faithful servant: ... enter thou into the joy of thy Lord.” Matthew 25:21.’ The Faith I Live by, page 181.
6. At the time when death is swallowed up in victory, what will be the response of those who have laid their loved ones in the grave? Isaiah 25:8-9.
NOTE: ‘To His faithful followers Christ has been a daily companion and familiar friend. They have lived in close contact, in constant communion with God. Upon them the glory of the Lord has risen. In them the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ has been reflected. Now they rejoice in the undimmed rays of the brightness and glory of the King in His majesty. They are prepared for the communion of heaven; for they have heaven in their hearts. With uplifted heads, with the bright beams of the Sun of Righteousness shining upon them, with rejoicing that their redemption draweth nigh, they go forth to meet the Bridegroom, saying, “Lo, this is our God; we have waited for Him, and He will save us.”’ Isaiah 25:9. Christ’s Object Lessons, pages 420-421.