For instance, the people swept off by the flood of Noah, were imprisoned in the world of spirits, in a kind of hell; without justification, without Priesthood or Gospel, without the true knowledge of God, or a hope of resurrection, during those long ages which intervened between the flood and the death of Christ. It was only by the personal ministry of the spirit of Jesus Christ, during his sojourn in the spirit world, that they were at length privileged to hear the Gospel, and to act upon their own agency, the same as men in the flesh; whereas, if they had repented at the preaching of Noah, they might have been justified, and filled with the hope and knowledge of the resurrection while in the flesh. When Jesus Christ had returned from his mission in the spirit world, had triumphed over the grave, and re-entered his fleshly tabernacle, then the Saints who had obeyed the Gospel while in the flesh, and had slept in death, or finished their sojourn in the spirit world, were called forth to re-enter their bodies, and to ascend with him to mansions and thrones of eternal power, while the residue of the spirits remained in the world of spirits to await another call. Those who obeyed the Gospel on the earth, after this first resurrection, will also be called from their sojourn in the spirit world, and re-united with their tabernacles of flesh, at the sounding of the next trump, and will reign on the earth in the flesh, one thousand years, while those who rejected the Gospel will remain in the spirit world without a resurrection, till after the thousand years. Again, those who obey the Gospel in the present age will rise from the spirit world, and from the grave, and reign on the earth during the great thousand years; while those who reject it will remain in condemnation in the spirit world, without a resurrection, till the last trump shall sound, and death and hell deliver up their dead. CHAPTER XV. RESURRECTION, ITS TIMES AND DEGREES--FIRST, SECOND AND THIRD HEAVENS, OR THE TELESTIAL, TERRESTRIAL AND CELESTIAL KINGDOMS. The grave and death and hell no more retain Their lawful captives. Earth yields its slain. The raging ocean, from its lowly bed, At Michael's call, delivers up its dead. Then comes the judgment, and the final doom Of man--his destiny beyond the tomb. There are three general resurrections revealed to man on the earth; one of these is past, and the other two are future. The first general resurrection took place in connexion with the resurrection of Jesus Christ. This included the Saints and Prophets of both hemispheres, from Adam down to John the Baptist; or, in other words, all those who died in Christ before his resurrection.