3. the Rapture of the Church to Meet Her Lord

"For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words" (1 Thess. 4:14 -18).
Here is the clearest and most complete revelation of the removal of the church; a revelation which presents us with three things to be accomplished by the Lord at His coming.
1. The resurrection of those members of the church who may ere then have died.
2. The transmutation, or translation, of those which shall then be alive in the body.
3. The catching up of the one and the other to meet the Lord.
1. The fact of several distinct acts in resurrection, is proved by the single expression, " the resurrection from [or from among] the dead" (Acts 4:2; Luke 20:35). To which passages we may add, " If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of [better, from among] the dead" (Phil. 3:11).
The truth thereof is confirmed by several distinct declarations; for instance, Luke 14:13,14, where we have a resurrection of the just clearly distinct from that of the wicked - "But when thou makest a feast, call the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind: and thou shalt be blessed; for they cannot recompense thee; for thou shalt be recompensed at the resurrection of the just." " But they which shall be accounted worthy to obtain that world, and the resurrection from the dead, neither marry, nor are given in marriage: neither can they die any more: for they are equal unto the angels; and are the children of God, being the children of the resurrection" (Luke 20:35,36). Clearly it is not a resurrection of all the dead, since some only are judged worthy of it, even as of that age, the age to come, and consequently of that resurrection, they are like to the angels, and are sons of God, being children of the resurrection; even as Jesus Christ himself was declared to be Son of God with power, by His resurrection from among the dead (Rom. 1:4). If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead" (Phil. 3:11). Paul would not have spoken in this manner, if there were but one resurrection: for in that case, just and unjust would equally, without any question, come there.
The instruction which God gives to the Corinthians, concerning the order which will be observed in the resurrection, agrees perfectly with the idea of a distinct act of resurrection, first, for the church at the coming of the Lord, then of another act at the end for the rest of the dead, as we have just seen. " For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. But every
[But we will pause a moment on John 5:28,29, "Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the 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"- as a passage often cited in proof of there being but one only resurrection; and let us endeavor to lay hold of the thought in the mind of the Lord. Accused by the Jews of blasphemy, for having said that he was Son of God, Jesus justified Himself by spewing that whatsoever the Father did, to the Son, also, gave He power to do likewise. Thus, quickening pertains to the Father, as also resurrection and judgment. And the Son does precisely the same things; and, indeed, we find them. " Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life" (John 5:24). Here is the quickening of those who were spiritually dead, by faith in the word of Jesus. Everything is said upon this subject; nothing is wanting. " Verily, verily, I say unto you, The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God: and they that hear shall live" (John 5.25). Here the Lord repeats the thought expressed in the preceding verse; but does he not go further, and does he not include, also, the resurrection of the bodies of those who have been spiritually quickened by faith in the word? But for this, this verse would add nothing to that which the former presents; but, this granted, the word " shall live" is all the more fitly chosen, in that it points as well to the change of the living saints, in whom mortality shall be swallowed up of life (2 Cor. 5:4), as to the saints that have died, who shall then come forth out of the tomb. It is true, Jesus defines this moment by the words, " the hour cometh, and even now is"; an expression which he used with the Samaritan woman to designate the time of the church (John 4:23). The quickening unto glory of the church is but the full manifestation of the life of Christ, which she already possesses in herself (Col. 3.4); moreover, there is no event, no interval whatsoever, laid down as between her and the moment, or hour, of her passage hence. There is only the last " moment," the last " twinkling of an eye" (1 Cor. 15:52). Why should she, then, be separate in the word of the Lord. " The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death" (1 Cor. 15:26). This recalls to mind the word of the Lord to Peter (Matt. 16:18); that is upon " Christ, the Son of the living God." Son of the living God, I have life in myself even as the Father has life in Himself, and as I have life, those that are mine shall have it also. As I come forth victorious out of the unseen world, they shall come forth also. "Because I live, they shall live." " Our life is hid with Christ in God." "For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory" (Col. 3:3,4). " And hath k This would seem to prove that the writer held that we all must die. He does not, however, though he appears to do so. given him authority to execute judgment also, because he is the Son of man" (John 5.27). After the quickening to glory of the church by " the Son of God," comes the judgment executed by "the Son of man"; judgment which extends, in some sort, from the judgment of the nations, at His return, to the judgment of the dead, little and great, before the great white throne. " Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the 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" (John 5:28,29). " Be not surprised that the Son of man should judge, for to him also pertains the raising of the dead." "The hour comes." The hour of the church, of the hidden mystery, has already lasted 1,800 years, and we cannot say how long or how short a time it may still last. There is nothing opposed to the hour here spoken of lasting a thousand years; and it is an hour of resurrection, as it is of judgment. There is resurrection at the beginning, on the arrival of the Son of man; immediately after the great tribulation. It is of that resurrection, or at least, of a part of those that are then raised, of those raised unto life, that the Lord speaks. " But they which shall be accounted worthy to obtain that world, and the resurrection from the dead, neither marry, nor are given in marriage" (Luke 20:35); for all here shows a Jewish order of thought. It is this resurrection, and not that of the church, in Dan. 12:2, " And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt." Since it is placed after the great tribulation.* Moreover, he says "many," and not all of them that sleep in the dust of the earth - shall awake. This is not exactly what the Lord says, "all that are in the grave." Indeed, it is after the thousand years, that there is still resurrection for those who till then remain in the tomb, that they may appear before the great white throne. It is the mass of those that are raised, outside of the church, which that expression of the Lord seems to designate: "All that are in the grave shall hear his voice"- all; no one excepted.]
Many, erroneously as the writer remarks, insist that there is but one resurrection, because John 5:28, says, "the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the 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."
The common answer to this is, "That the term hour does not mean a definite period of sixty minutes, in this verse, any more than in verse 35, where quickening is spoken of. And that as the quickening power of Christ has been displayed through 1800 years, so may the resurrection-power." This answer leaves the question of how many acts of resurrection there are to be answered by other Scriptures. The author has another thought, and would force "the hour cometh and now is," into a formula for what he calls " the time of the church." He is driven to this by a violence himself offers to the 25th verse; and even then his explanation is lame. The result is, that he holds that " because I live ye shall live also," and such passages, present, not what is true of us in Christ now, but what will be true when we see Him; not what is true in him, but what will be true in vs. This error sadly weakens the foundation. - TRANSLATOR.)
(*** Here, again, the author is a little too quick in his conclusion. The verse is ably discussed elsewhere; most minds have come to a different conclusion to his.-Ed.)
But it is pre-eminently in Rev. 20:4-6-
"And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them; and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years. But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years."
that we have two resurrections clearly distinguished: " the first resurrection" which sets free forever from the power of the second death, and " the resurrection of the rest of the dead." We learn, moreover, here, what is not taught elsewhere, that the interval between these two resurrections (the first resurrection and the general resurrection) is of 1000 years.
Will it be said, the first resurrection is a spiritual resurrection? Then so is the second, which consists of the rest of the dead; for the rest is of the same nature as that which went before (which in this case was the first resurrection); and then, clearly, it results that there will be no resurrection at all. Moreover, we find here, the Church in the first part of ver. 4, " And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them": " Do ye not know that the saints shall judge the world? and if the world shall be judged by you, are ye unworthy to judge the smallest matters?" ( 1 Cor. 6:2); then, also, there are saints forming part of this first resurrection, who do not form part of the Church, for they have passed through the great tribulation, from which the Church will be kept; " they had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had they received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands." Are not these the same as those spoken of-
" And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held: and they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth? And white robes were given unto every one of them; and it was said unto them, that they should rest yet for a little season, until their fellowservants also and their brethren, that should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled" (Rev. 6:9-11).
As well those who then have been put to death, as those who yet must be.
So that the ordinary notion of one general resurrection for the just and the unjust, taking place at a given moment, before the general judgment; this notion cannot stand before a calm and tranquil examination of the passages which treat of the subject.
If there were but one resurrection at the moment at which the heavens and the earth flee away before the great white throne-
"And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, • stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them; and they were judged every man according to their works" (Rev. 20:11-13).
How could we account for-
"For I reckon, that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God. For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope, because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body" (Rom. 8:18-23).
Where the deliverance of this creation from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God, is evidently bound up with the redemption of the bodies of the saints, that is to say, of their resurrection? Or how explain such a passage as -
"And Jesus said unto them, Verily I say unto you, That ye which have followed me, in the regeneration when the Son of Man shall sit in the throne of his glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. And every one that hath forsaken houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my name's sake, shall receive an hundredfold, and shall inherit everlasting life " (Matt. 19:28,29). "Do ye not know that the saints shall judge the world? and if the world shall be judged by you, are ye unworthy to judge the smallest matters?" (1 Cor. 6:2)., "And he that overcometh, and keepeth my works unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron; as the vessels of a potter shall they be broken to shivers; even as I received of my Father" (Rev. 2:26,27).
Or, Isa. 25:8-10 compared with 1 Cor. 15:54. And, remark here, that in Isa. 25, after swallowing up death in victory, the Lord will cause Moab to be trodden down under Him, even as straw is trodden down for the dunghill. Now, these words are applied (1 Cor. 15:54) to the resurrection of the saints, that is, that, after that resurrection will have taken place, Moab will be destroyed. How is this to be explained according to the system of but one general resurrection?
Not only does the Church rise before the wicked, who are left in the bands of death until the final judgment; but, when the Son of Man comes in his glory to judge the world and to deliver Israel, saints from among that people and from among others who have been in relationship with him, rise in order to have part in the kingdom, as, also, it would seem some of the wicked to be judged. Then a Daniel, an Isaiah shall rise and shall " stand in their lot in the end of the days."
But " some to shame and everlasting contempt." For " the nations were angry, and thy wrath is come, and the time of the dead, that they should be judged, and that thou shouldest give reward unto thy servants the prophets, and to the saints, and them that fear thy name, small and great; and shouldest destroy them which destroy the earth " (Rev. 11:18).
Isa. 25:8;26. 19, 21; Dan. 12:2,13; Matt. 12:41, 42; Luke 10:12,14;11. 30-33; 2 Tim. 4.1; 1 Peter 4:5. Then, at length, shall be the redemption of Israel by the Son of Man in His glory, and the resurrection of
the saints who shall be dead (a Daniel, etc.), is but the first act, as the resurrection of the dead of the Church is the first act as to the Church.
These various acts of resurrection, it is true, are sometimes summed up under two heads, as the resurrection of the just and of the unjust (Acts 24:15); or, as the first resurrection and that of the rest of the dead (Rev. 20). And, clearly, when the character of those raised is the point of view in which the question is considered, there are but two classes, the just and the unjust; those who rise unto life and those who are raised for judgment. If we consider the epoch of the resurrections, we can sum them up under two heads; those who rise at the coming of the Lord (this expression, in its most extended sense, includes the coming for the Church and the coming for Israel) form all together the first resurrection; all others are the rest of the dead.
However it may be, as to other difficulties which this subject may present, when we seek to study it a little in detail, it remains clear, and that is the special point which is now sought to be shown, that the resurrection of the Church is altogether distinct from the resurrection of the wicked, both as to time and in principle.
As to time, the wicked, with the exception of those who, having been in relationship with Israel, are judged at the time of the redemption of that people; the wicked remain in the bands of death, until the Lord calls them, in judgment, to stand before the great white throne. The Church, as the first-fruits of the new creation, rises before the end of the age, at the coming of the Lord, to meet Him. " Every one in his own order, Christ the first-fruits," the germ of the new creation, or the first of the first-fruits, " then those that are Christ's at His coming " (1 Cor. 15:23).
In principle. 1. The wicked are raised by the irresistible power of the Lord, who calls them up to judgment. The Church, already justified and partaking the spiritual life of her Head, rises by the power of the coming of that glorious Head, whose life communicates itself then to the bodies of His members sleeping in the dust of the earth.
2. " Then we which are alive and remain, shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air" (1 Thess. 4:17). If the glorifying of the bodies of those living is not here distinctly mentioned, it is, at least, fully implied; for it is not with these heavy and infirm bodies that we can be received up into the clouds, before the Lord in the air, to inhabit heaven and taste its joys. As Paul says elsewhere -" Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption" (1 Cor. 15:50). And he immediately adds " Behold, I show you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on im- mortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory" (ver.51--54). "Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is " (1 John 3:2). " For our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ: who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself" (Phil. 3:20, 21).
It was for this, transmutation and not death, that Paul waited; as he says, "For we that are in this tabernacle do groan, being burdened; not for that we would be unclothed, but clothed upon, that mortality might be swallowed up of life" (2 Cor. 5:4).
Yet his will was in subjection, and he was willing to die if God called him. " For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. But if I live in the flesh, this is the fruit of my labor: yet what I shall choose I wot not. For I am in a strait betwixt two, having a desire to depart, and to be with Christ; which is far better: nevertheless to abide in the flesh is more needful for you " (Phil. 1:21-24).
But, instead of retaining that expectation of Paul, and saying with him, " We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed;" men have not feared to contradict him and to say, " One thing is quite sure, viz., that we must all die," and thus, they have separated both mind and heart from waiting for the Lord, which, according to grace, is the most mighty principle of all true devotedness, of all joyful obedience; in order to turn them upon death, which is the wages of sin, which, by itself, can produce only constrained and servile obedience. Yet, it is oft said, with the thought, too, of merely citing a scripture - it is appointed unto all men once to die. No. The Word says not so: if it did, it would contradict itself.
It says, " And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment: so Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation" (Heb. 9:27, 28). Thus, while telling us it is appointed UNTO MEN, to the mass, once to die, it recalls to our minds that Christ will be seen, a second time, without sin; by some who, therefore, will not die at all, by those who wait for Him, unto salvation, and shall be alive at His coming.
3. In that self-same moment, in that twinkling of the eye, the raised and the changed " shall be caught up together with the Lord in the clouds." Enoch and Elias had already had this privilege of quitting the earth for heaven, without passing by death. Enoch had no witness, it would seem, of his translation, about which we have no details. Elias, prophet of the covenant, given from the midst of tempest and lightning, was carried up, in the midst of a whirlwind, in a chariot of fire and by horses of fire. Jesus, the mediator of a better covenant, of a covenant of grace, went up, and a cloud received Him out of sight. The Church, His Body, is taken up in like manner as Himself.
It will not be, then, a transformation slow and painful as that of the chrysalis, the produce of which needs long to feel its way into the use of listless and unexercised wings, before it can joyously rise into the air.
It will not be even as the resurrection of Lazarus, who came forth out of the grave bound hand and foot, and who needed to be set free from the clothes ere he could walk. It will be in a moment, in the twinkling of the eye, that the resurrection of the dead saints will take place, and without a doubt, also, the catching up of the one and of the other to meet the Lord.
Such is the accomplishment of the good promise which the Lord made to His disciples before He left them, " In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also" (John 14:2,3).
Such is the completing of the work of God in His elect, the fullness, and, as it were, the last word of our heavenly calling, without which, indeed, we shall never have a full and complete knowledge of it.
It is the heavenly Eve, who, after having been taken out of the side of her husband, while he rests upon the throne of the Father, is presented to Him at His coming forth in action again, a glorious Church. "That he might present it to himself a glorious Church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish" (Eph. 5.27).
God having chosen us in Christ, from before the foundation of the world, has also accordingly " quickened us together with his Son," "raised us up together with Him," and "made us sit together with Him in heavenly places" (Eph. 1:3;2. 5, 6). "For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the first-born among many brethren " (Rom. 8:29).
And the purpose of the free and gratuitous love of the Father to usward is now in progress. The Son has drawn us to Himself, and united us to Himself through faith. Set thus in communion with Him, we have, in some measure, had His sentiments and likeness communicated to us. But the work begun He will perfect, quickening our bodies and transforming them to the likeness of His glorious body. The Lord bas separated us in principle and spirit entirely from the world, and makes us feel the nothingness and the corruption of it, and draws to Himself our affections and thoughts. This, also, He will perfect in us, drawing us to Himself upon the clouds outside of this world.
And the means employed by the Lord, for this admirable work, is always the same - His Word. It is His Word, in the mouth, perhaps, of some feeble and despised sinner, which quickened us, and separated us from the world by uniting us to Him. His word also it will be, but a word of command, sounding through the heavens with the voice of the archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God, which will quicken the last particle of our perishable bodies, and will re-unite us to Him forever. Those who shall have heard His voice calling them to faith and conversion, and who have obeyed Him, shall hear His glorious voice to the bottom of their tombs, and shall come forth thence; or, if still alive, shall hear it in the body of infirmity and mortality, and shall be changed. Those who shall have refused to hear it, and to obey Him, when they were called by that word to conversion, shall abide in the bands of death, until they shall be raised for judgment.
Thus Thy word, Lord Jesus! Thy blessed voice is that which works everything in Thy people; as Thou hast said, " My sheep hear my voice, and follow me!"
Oh! how yet far more attractive and more precious would the attractive voice of the Lord seem to us, if we were in the constant habit of thinking, that it is about soon to sound from the cloud to quicken our mortal bodies, and to draw us to Him in the heavens, that there where He is we may be also!
Yes! if the unbeliever could but believe that the voice which now speaks to him in the gospel, and which seems to him but weakness and folly, is the only one which can, not only give him peace in his own soul, but also quicken his body! If he could believe that that voice which now speaks of grace and pardon is about to become as a double-edged sword, to smite the nations with a flame of fire, to execute vengeance upon those that know not God, and obey not the gospel I If he could but think that it is the almighty voice of Him to whom man must yield obedience, when it cites the dead, small and great, to appear before Him to be judged according to their works! But these are things which the Spirit alone can reveal to the heart.
Ours then be it, brethren, beloved of the Lord, and partakers of the heavenly calling - ours be it to render thanks without ceasing to God, that He has chosen us: " But we are bound to give thanks alway to God for you, brethren, beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth: whereunto He called you by our gospel, to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ" (2 Thess. 2.13, 14).
May that blessed hope, more and more laid hold of by faith, become more and more our comfort, and the power of practical holiness, according as it is written, " Comfort one another with these words" (1 Thess. 4.18); "And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as He is pure" (1 John 3.3).
Do we weep over friends, beloved in the Lord? Soon He shall appear Himself in the heavens, and at His word the beloved ones shall rise first; then we who are alive shall he caught up together with them in the air, and so shall we be ever with the Lord. Then there will be an end to all the separations produced by the circumstances and the dire necessities of life; to the separations too often yet more afflictive' which sin has brought in between those, who being but one body, should also have but one and the same heart. In the house of the Father all the children. will be united around him, the firstborn from among many brethren, who has not been ashamed to call them brethren; not one shall be wanting - not a fear even remain of any further separation. If then we weep, let us not weep as those who are without hope, but let us comfort one another with the thought, " so shall we be forever with the Lord."
The infirmities of this body of sin, do they render it like to a heavy burden which we have to drag with difficulty about with us? Do they hinder us from glorifying the Lord with all the diligence which we should desire? The Lord, when He comes, will change our vile bodies, and will render them like unto His own glorious body. As we bear now the image of the earthly Adam - full of pains and groans - we shall then bear the image of the Heavenly Man - full of glory and happiness. When shall we see the Lord face to face -- then shall we serve Him without fatigue and without infirmity. Patience, then, and courage for a little time, that we may be able to glorify Him, if He call us thereunto in the midst of suffering and infirmity. He will come quickly, and will not tarry.
Are we suffering from poverty, under the injustice of men, or from persecution at their hands? 'Tis to the coming of the Lord that the Word sends us for our consolation. " Be patient, therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold, the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he receive the early and latter rain!' (James 5:7). Thus are we taught that acts of violence, injustice, and oppression, shall reign on the earth. until the Lord come to destroy those that corrupt it, and to renew all things by His presence in glory; but before that day we shall be gathered up to Him, away from the world and the wicked.
Oh! how should we be comforted in all our suffering, if we had ever before our eyes that blessed moment in which the Lord will unite us to Himself forever! For which of our sorrows will not then disappear, as a dream in the morning! And how would that consolation ever contribute to our practical sanctification? For whence come murmurings, irritation, envy, avarice, and so many lusts, which war against our souls, if not from this, that the hope of our speedy meeting with the Lord is not lively in us? Then our poor hearts, which like the ivy have need of something to which to cling, no longer able to cling to heaven, cling to earth. But when that hope animates us, then irritation and murmuring 'will give place to a peaceful and patient waiting, even to Joy and thanksgiving; earthly affections will yield to heavenly; then, even while our feet tread this nether earth, our hearts will already be in heaven.
'Tis thus that the Lord sanctifies His people; first by His grace, and then by the hope of His glory, which is the perfecting of it. When He has said to us, " Go in peace, thy sins are forgiven thee," He has taken from our hearts the burden which oppressed them; He has brought us to Himself, confounded both at the thought of our own wickedness and of His love. We then feel the need of no longer living to ourselves, but to Him that loved us, and gave Himself for us. In saying to us, " I will come again, and receive you unto Myself, that where I am, there ye may be also," he transfers our hope, our treasure, our life into heaven; He makes of us heavenly citizens,- strangers and pilgrims for a little while here below. "For the grace of God that bringeth salvation path appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Savior Jesus Christ; who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto Himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works" (Titus 2.11-14). May the Lord deign to direct our hearts to the love of God, and to the patient waiting for Christ! (2 Thess. 3.5).