it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body.” The last enemy that Christ will conquer is death; the time is coming when they that are in their graves shall hear his voice and shall come forth; “They that have done good, unto the Resurrection of Life; and they that have done evil, unto the Resurrection of Damnation,” in the image of the Devil, their father.
Elijah went to heaven in a golden chariot, soul and body. Enoch went up in a whirlwind. Christ took the same body to heaven that was nailed to the Cross, and was laid in the grave.
Paul speaks of being perfect in one sense, and not in another; he is already perfect in heart; but “If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead,” when he would be perfect, soul and body united. When they are clothed upon with immortality, then the saints will shout victory over Death, Hell and the Grave.
“Behold, I come quickly.” He expects to hear a hearty response from everyone who is true to him, “Even so, come, Lord Jesus.” God’s true children are ready, watching morning, noon, and night, for the coming of the Bridegroom, in the hour of death, or in the clouds; they have their lamps trimmed and burning; they are making every effort to gather in their friends and neighbors, before the storm of God’s wrath shall burst in awful fury on a lost and ruined world.
When the herald shall shout, “BEHOLD, THE BRIDE-GROOM COMETH; GO YE OUT TO MEET HIM.” Oh! what a sight will burst on our raptured vision as we see the King of Heaven coming! The Bridegroom, in his royal robes, with all the glory of the heavenly world, and his golden chariot; with all the shining angels to escort the Bride, the Lamb’s wife to the Golden City, the New Jerusalem, with the spirits of the saints coming back for their bodies. Oh, grave, give us our bodies! The Mighty Conqueror unlocks the Grave, and, with a shout that penetrates the Caverns of the Sainted Dead, the graves fly open, the sleeping saints come forth from dusty beds, set free from all the effects of sin. Old age, gray hairs, withered limbs, deformities, death, disease, are all the effects of sin. Jesus came to save us from the curse of sin, to restore all that was lost by the fall.
Jesus died in the prime of life, in the strength and vigor of manhood. We shall be like him; these vile bodies shall be
