"For yet a little while, and He that shall come will come, and will not tarry" (Heb. 10:27.) as to the "vision":
"Though it tarry, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry" (Hab. 2:3). "WHEN HE SHALL APPEAR":
"We know that, when He shall appear, we shall be like Him; for we shall see Him as He is" (1 John 3:2). "OUR CITIZENSHIP":
"For our citizenship is in heaven:from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ:who shall change our body of humiliation, that it may be fashioned like unto His body of glory, according to the working whereby He is able even to subdue all things unto Himself" (Phil. 3:20).
"WITH HIM IN GLORY":
"When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with Him in glory" (Col. 3:4).
"WE SHALL ALL BE CHANGED":
"We shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye" (1 Cor. 15:51, 52).
THE WILL OF THE SON:
"Father, I WILL that they also, whom Thou hast given Me, be with Me where I am; that they may behold my glory, which Thou hast given Me:for Thou lovedst Me before the foundation of the world" (John 17:24).
"I GO TO PREPARE A PLACE FOR YOU":
"Let not your heart be troubled:ye believe in God, believe also in Me. 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 to prepare a place for you,
I WILL COME AGAIN,
and receive you unto Myself; that where I am, there ye may be also" (John 14:1-3). "ALWAYS IN REMEMBRANCE":
"Wherefore I will not be negligent to put you always in remembrance of these things, though ye know them, and be established in the present truth" (2 Pet. 1:12). "JOY UNSPEAKABLE":
It is evident that he who has "fled for refuge" to the Lord Jesus Christ, has very much cause for rejoicing "with joy unspeakable and full of glory" (1 Pet. 1:8); for Jesus is coming HIMSELF-"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" (1 Thess. 4:16,17).
"THIS SAME JESUS,"
said the angelic messengers, "which is taken up from you into heaven,
SHALL SO COME
in like manner AS YE HAVE SEEN HIM GO into heaven" (Acts 1:11).
AND HOW DID HE GO?
"While they beheld, He was taken up:and a cloud received Him out of their sight" (ver. 9). Can words be more plain?"SO"; "IN LIKE MANNER"; "AS YE HAVE SEEN HIM GO"; "SHALL SO COME." alone:
He went "into heaven" ALONE; no angels came for Him, none accompanied Him:"For the Lord HIMSELF shall descend from heaven." "So," if no angels came for Him, and none accompanied Him, neither then will any angels come with Him at that "moment," when, "in the twinkling of an eye," He "shall come"-ALONE- "in the clouds:" for, remember, He said, "I will come ….MYSELF." "BEHOLD MY HANDS AND MY FEET":
"Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I MYSELF" (Lk. 24:29), said He to his disciples, who were "terrified and affrighted, and supposed that they had seen a spirit," when He arose from the dead and appeared "in the midst of them"-"JESUS HIMSELF" (vers. 36, 37). "handle me and see":
"Handle Me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see Me have" (ver. 39). Therefore, He will not come as "a spirit" for us; nor will He send a band of angels at that "moment." "I MYSELF;" "THE LORD HIMSELF;" "UNTO MYSELF"-it will bear repeating. his voice:
With a glad, mighty "shout," with a "VOICE" to be heard and recognized by "they that are Christ's" (1 Cor. IS:23) "at HIS coming":the VICTOR "HIMSELF" COMES-ALONE-all glory to His blessed NAME! He redeemed us by His "precious blood" (1 Pet. 1:19)- ALONE-"Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree" (1 Pet. 2:24)-ALONE. Three hours of darkness, with no eye to break through to gaze upon Him-ALONE; even God had "forsaken" Him at that moment when He, "through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God" (Heb. 9:14), with no angels to succor-ALONE. "None to help;" "none to uphold" (Isa. 63:5). "My God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?" He cried! ALONE in His death for us; ALONE when He arose from the dead; ALONE when He ascended up into heaven:ALONE when He comes for us. Ah! glorious fact! None shall share the glory of that meeting "in the air" with Him "in the clouds," save those for whom He shed His "precious blood:" no angels; no unredeemed men:no devils shall break through to gaze upon that most rapturous scene, when He and His long-waiting bride shall first gaze, each upon the other's face!
"Wherefore comfort one another with these words" (1 Thess. 4:18). S. A. White