n and this
mortal shall have put on immortality, then (and not till then--not
when we die and go to heaven, but when the dead are raised and the
living are changed--then--and not till then) shall be brought to
pass the saying that is written (written by the Prophet Isaiah in
the twenty-fifth chapter of his prophecy), death is swallowed up in
victory.

O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?"

And mark it well, the context of this Holy Ghost promise is the
declaration that the resurrection of the dead, the transfiguration
of the living, this changing from mortality to immortality will be
the resurrection and the transfiguration of those who are "Christ's
at His coming."

Yes! He will come.

He will descend from heaven with a shout of command. He will pass it
on to the archangel. The archangel will pass it to the angel who is
called the "trump of God." He will cause a sound, a blast, an
utterance of power at which the doors of graves of every sort shall
open outward, every secret hiding place of the purchased dead will
be revealed and the sacred dust will bloom with life; for, in the
body of every regenerated soul there is planted the germ of the new
body; and just as the buried seed is linked by the unseen air to the
fructifying sun in heaven and as at a given moment we call the
germination is quickened and at last comes forth in new form yet the
same essential embodiment as when planted; so, the regeneration
nucleus of the new body is held by the Holy Spirit (of which the air
is the symbol) to the risen, glorified body of the Son of God in
heaven; and no matter what may befall the body in which it was
buried it will abide to that hour we call the resurrection and
transfiguration and at the shout, the voice and action of the trump
of God will come forth in the glow of unfolded and eternal beauty as
the sheath, the house, the home, the perfect dwelling place, the
royal robe of the souls the Lord shall bring with Him; while the
living shall flash forth in the same immortality and glory.

Yes! the dust of death shall bloom and mortality shall put on
immortality at the Coming of the Lord.

And I for one want Him to come.

I have loved ones waiting within the gates of the upper city for
that morning hour.

I have one there my heart in these days yearns to see.

But a short time ago death with rude and sudden hand snatched from
me my only child, the son of my heart; a son grown to splendid youn