"That blessed hope" is the language of Scripture when speaking of the coming again of our Lord (Titus 2:13), and what could be more blessed than to be living in the constant expectation of seeing the One "whom not having seen we love" face to face!

Soon the long dark night will be past and a glorious morning will dawn, when the Bridegroom of our hearts will claim His own, and rapture to Heaven His blood-bought Bride. How glorious the prospect! His prayer to the Father, recorded in John! 17:24, "Father, I will that those whom Thou hast given Me be with Me where I am, that they may behold My glory," will then be fully answered. There shall be nothing in that day to hinder our standing in the full blaze of that glory. All limitations forever gone; glorified with Him; yea, with bodies like His own, we shall possess God-given capacity to enjoy that unsullied glory (Phil. 3:4); it will be our glorious home forever.

Again and again, in the book of Revelation, the Lord has said, "I come quickly." Does this strike a responsive chord in our hearts? Are we able to say, "Come, Lord Jesus?" Is it our daily expectation to see His face and be with Him? He will not disappoint His waiting people. On the Father's throne He waits in patience for the moment, fixed in divine counsels, when He will arise and claim His own. Oh! glorious consummation of our hope -our "blessed hope."

"That bright and blessed morn is near,
When He-the Bridegroom-shall appear
And call His bride away.

Her blessing then, shall be complete,
As with her Lord she takes her seat,
In everlasting day."

What a wonderful destiny awaits the believer! How complete is our union with that blessed, glorified Man! When at last He takes His place as universal Lord, and fills the earth with the glory of God, His glorified Bride will be the sharer of His throne (Eph. 1:23). All the spoils of His glorious victory He will share then with His own in that day. All creation awaits it, and its groan will then be hushed:"For the anxious looking out of the creature (creation) expects the revelation of the sons of God" (Rom. 8:19). Will He find us "watching servants" when He returns? Are our lamps trimmed and lights burning brightly? A little lad was sauntering down the streets of a city some years ago, repeating a little ditty of his own composing, "At three o'clock, at three o'clock, at three o'clock!" Someone at his side, hearing the words so often repeated, at last asked, "And what of three o'clock?" "Why, don't you know?" said the little fellow, "Mother's coming home!"

"As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he." If our hearts are filled with the blessed expectation of our Lord's soon coming, it must leave an impression upon our spirits. John says in his first epistle (3:3):"He that hath this hope in Him purifieth himself, even as He is pure."

"The night is far spent and the day is at hand." Everything around us points to the closing up of all things earthly. In the world to-day there is a general feeling that some great cataclysm is at hand. Faith knows that the coming of the Lord draws near. How it behooves us to be "watching"-expecting, that the day may not take us unawares. "Blessed are those servants whom the Lord, when He cometh, shall find watching; verily I say unto you, that He shall gird Himself, and make them to sit down to meat, and will come forth and serve them" (Luke 12:37). What deep, devoted love! What infinite grace! J. W. H. Nichols