“Yes; the prophets of every dispensation had labored faithfully to prepare the world of spirits among whom they lived for the coming of the Lord and Savior.  There were Adam, Noah, Abraham, with those who followed them; there were Lehi, Nephi, Mosiah, and the others of their race; there were the prophets who had lived among the lost Ten tribes; these had all been valiant in earth-life, and were faithful yet in the spirit world.  The burden of their message in mortality had been the coming of Christ the Redeemer, and now they still looked forward with the eye of faith to Him who should die for the sins of the world, and who should deliver them from the bondage of the grave.  They understood that the body of flesh which had been given them in mortality was necessary for their full salvation.  Christ would bring to pass the resurrection, so that bodies would be restored to them, not corruptible as before, but perfected, immortal and glorious, a fit tabernacle for the immortal spirit with which to go on into the eternal mansions of the Father.”

“But oh, that time, brother, when the Son of God was dying on the cross!  While the earth was shrouded in darkness, and the bulk of it trembled in sympathy with the death throes of its Maker, the spirit world also received the imprint of the terrible event on Calvary as for a moment the whole spiritual creation lay in tense expectancy.  The usual occupations were suspended.  Speech became low and constrained.  Songs ended abruptly, and laughter ceased.  There were no audible sobs, neither sighing.  Bird and beast were stilled, as if the end had come, and nothing more mattered.  Then, in a little while, the tenseness relaxed, and everything went on as before, though much subdued.  The righteous in the Paradise of God quietly gathered themselves together in their usual places of worship.  They clasped each other’s hands, and looked with trembling gladness into each other’s faces.  There was no fear here:  they were ready.”

“And then His actual coming!  That which had been fore-ordained from before the foundation of the world was about to be fulfilled; that which had been the theme of the prophets from the beginning was at the door; that which the seers of all times and nations had beheld in vision was now to be realized; that about which poets had sung; that for which every pure heart had yearned; that for which the ages had waited, was now here!  A feeling of sweet peace filled the righteous, which expressed itself in songs of praise and gladness.  Thus they watched and waited.”

“Then Jesus stood in their midst, and they beheld the glorious presence of their Lord.  Then there came to their hearts a small, sweet, penetrating voice, testifying that this was Jesus Christ the Son of God who had glorified the name of the Father; who was the life and the light of the world; who had drunk of the bitter cup which the Father had given him; and had glorified the Father in taking upon Himself the sins of the world, in which He had suffered the will of the Father in all things from the beginning.  The multitude fell down at his feet and worshiped.”