What a scene of indescribable glory that will be, when the Lord Himself will descend to gather His redeemed to the home He has prepared for them!
What a moment of supreme delight, when at the shout, the voice of the archangel, and the trump of God, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, His sleeping saints raised, and living saints changed, "shall be caught up to meet the Lord in the air, and so shall they ever be with the Lord!"
All the hosts of the redeemed will be marshaled there in bodies of glory, instinct with divine life; the saints of old, who on the faith of a promise were worshipers, pilgrims, strangers-those to whose faith dens and caves bore witness, "of whom the world was not worthy;" the elders and just men, who "died in faith, not having received the promise" will be there; "Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob;" "Noah, Daniel, and Job;" "Moses and Elias," will be there; Abel and the long line of martyrs; Aaron and the Lord's priests; Samuel and the Lord's prophets; David and the men of faith who sat on his throne; all God's renowned ones, the perfected just, shall stand in that scene for which they in faith waited.
"The Church of the firstborn ones," as the Bride, prepared for her Lord, will then take her place with Him; all down to the last new-born soul who shall form the completion of the mystery. She, too, will recount her worthies-the many who have stood forth in other days, and in our own day, as the witnesses of God's truth and the heralds of God's salvation:all shall ascend together and swell the countless multitude of Christ's redeemed ones who shall take their place in their respective glories:
"every man in his own order"-star differing from star in glory, and each reflecting the image of Jesus.
There will be seats in the Kingdom; thrones for ruler-ship over the tribes of Israel; mansions in the Father's house; thrones around the throne of God; all shall be occupied by the redeemed, each invested with the insignia that sovereign love has assigned him.
All will know even as they are known, each known to each-all known to all. What a season of unutterable joy, of holy intercourse, of uninterrupted communion! But the rapturous thought of each one of this innumerable company will be that they are Christ's. "I am my beloved's, and His desire is towards me."
To be Christ's own will be a source of deep, unmixed pleasure then, and should it not be so now? The absorbing object of their heaven-inspired vision will be christ; to be for ever with Him, to behold Him; to cast their crowns at His feet, paying the heart's deep homage to Him in one united utterance of "Thou art worthy, for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to god by thy blood!"
The power of Christ's resurrection will be applied to the bodies of His saints; they will be raised, because He has been raised. By virtue of having His life, and being indwelt with His Spirit, they will be presented in the perfection of that life, in its full triumph over death, and over him who had the power of death. They are raised -not for judgment, that to them is passed, Christ bore it for them-but because they are Christ's.
Christ's resurrection was the first-fruits and the pledge of that abundant ingathering. He was the first sheaf presented to the Lord, the sample and earnest of the harvest that shall then be gathered into the garner of God. The reunited dust shall be reanimated with divine life; weakness shall be transformed into power; corruption into incorruption; dishonor into glory; the natural body into a spiritual body; it will bear the impress of the heavenly, even as it has borne the image of the earthy. Where is the sting of death? Gone! Where is the grave's victory? Gone! Victory, full, complete, eternal is theirs, and Satan bruised under their feet for ever!
The saints will stand before the tribunal of Christ to receive the rewards of the Kingdom, but they will appear there as glorified saints; no stain of sin shall be there; the last trace of the curse shall have been removed; the reproach of Egypt for ever rolled away; the death of the slain Lamb will be learnt in the light of glory, and in the presence of God.
Earth may move on still in its course and projects, as it did when its light was set in the darkness of the cross; its religion may go on too, compatible with its godless pursuits, until judgment breaks the spell of its delusion and dissolves the dream, awakening men to the dread reality of "falling into the hands of the living God."
The light, God's light, shall have been removed to its own proper sphere, there to reflect in each one of the redeemed its peculiar brightness, shining as the brightness of the firmament, and as the sun in the Kingdom of their Father-with Him who is the Sun and Centre of that heavenly sphere, undimmed by any cloud of unbelief or doubt. There they will see the counsels of God unfolded before them, whether relating to the heavens above, or the earth beneath. In the presence of His glory, they shall be presented faultless, with exceeding joy; and when He "takes His great power, and reigns" over a judged and renovated earth, they will be with Him there.
After the course of the Kingdom shall be complete, and He delivers up the Kingdom to the Father, He will be tabernacled in the dwelling-place of righteousness, in the new heavens and new earth, and they will still be with Him. They are Christ's present and eternal portion, and their place is to be "for ever with the Lord." Whether in the Kingdom, or in the new heavens and new earth, they will enjoy the rest of God in its perfection, and bear witness to His glory in the exalted sphere in which grace has set them, and for which grace has adapted them.
The hope for which we wait is not judgment nor the Kingdom in power, not Israel's restoration or the deliverance of creation from its present bondage (which is all true in its place), but we wait for God's Son from heaven! He is coming not only to fulfil prophecy, but to fulfil promise:"I will come again, and receive you unto Myself; that where I am, there ye may be also" (John 14:3). Judgment waits for this. The restoration of Israel and creation's deliverance, all waits suspended until the rapture of the saints shall have taken place.
After the Lord Jesus has gathered His own to Himself in the heavens, He will make good the prophetic word in its bearing towards the earth, and deliver creation, bringing it into the liberty of redemption.
Well may the affections and longings of our hearts be moved at the prospect! Well may the sound of that well-known scripture reverberate in the inner man, "Behold, I come quickly!" Yes, He is coming, to appropriate to Himself that which He has purchased at His own personal cost, to whom He can say, "I have redeemed thee; thou art Mine!" He will surround Himself with the trophies of redeeming love!
The Father's will shall be fully accomplished in the resurrection and glorification of those who are the objects of it; for this they were saved. Our necessities were not;; the first cause-God is glorified in the redemption He has wrought, and the objects of His love are prepared for the glory that awaits them. They shall stand in the unclouded light of divine righteousness, and be at home there. The robe in which they are arrayed is divinely righteous, and meet for the occasion.
God, resting in the complacency of omnipotent love, will welcome them to Himself. His own immediate presence will be their rest; His unclouded glory, the sphere of their worship; God and the Lamb, their light and their temple:He will dwell in their midst-they are His people, and He their God.
What a prospect! Even the anticipation of such a hope lifts our spirits above the clouds and mists of earth; but we need purified hearts that the rays of that glory may reach within, and shed its light. The Holy Spirit will then lead us to look after the house, and rid it of its corruptions and intrusions.
Oh, that our constant position may be as those who are "turned to God from idols, to serve the living and true God"-to wait for His Son from heaven with purified heart and a single eye, with staff and girdle, ready to welcome the shout in the air whenever it may be uttered; with nothing to leave behind that would retard our upward flight, nothing that may clash with that oft-expressed desire:
"Amen! Even so, come, Lord Jesus" (Rev. 22:20). G. V. Wigram