Christ speaks to each one of those who are His with these blessed words. He does not say, Till you die. Death is' never thus used by Christ. It is an enemy, arid is to be destroyed, or abolished:"The last enemy that shall be destroyed [annulled] is death" (1 Cor. 15:2.6). We are never told to wait for this enemy; Christ puts His coming before His people. His last message to them is:"Surely I come quickly" (Rev. 22:20). "Quickly" does not here imply "immediately," but rather its meaning is set forth by 1 Cor. 15:52, "In a moment, in the twinkling-of an eye, at the last trump." There are two ways of looking at time in Scripture; one is from man's side, the other from God's. "A thousand years in Thy sight are but as yesterday when it is past, and as a watch in the nigh." "But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day" (Ps. 90:4; 2 Pet. 3:8). How long is yesterday when it is passed? A watch in the night was about four hours, as the watch was changed three times (Judges 7:19). The Hebrews did not use the hour in the Old Testament, its occurrence in the Book of Daniel being in Aramaic, and used by Nebuchadnezzar (Dan. 4:1,19,33).

Back in Paul's time believers were waiting for Christ's coming for them (1 Thess. 1:10; Phil. 3:20; Acts 1:9-11). In the parable of Luke 19:11-27 the nobleman's return was the end of their responsibility as servants, to whom He had given the charge, "Occupy till I come." So when Christ comes to take us out of the present evil world, that will be the end of our work and all activities here.

Believers are prone to think of Christ's coming as relief from trial,' sorrow, and care. These are constantly pressing upon us, and we crave relief, but Scripture does not so present it. Christ spoke to the apostles of His coming as Son of Man mainly; His "I will come again, and receive you unto Myself" (John 14:3) being an exception. Paul's language shows that he was "looking for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ," from heaven, though he might by some means see martyrdom, and thus "attain unto the resurrection from the dead" (Phil. 3:10,11, 20). That is, he knew that if he lived until Christ came he would not be among those raised from among the dead. He never wrote of death as he does of the coming of the Lord; he speaks of it as "gain," as "to depart and be with Christ" (Phil. 1:21, 23). Again in 2 Cor. S:1-9 he presents death in another form; these passages nullifying all the arguments of the annihilationists. And when at last, death was at hand by martyrdom, Paul wrote those wonderful words in 2 Tim. 4:6-8. Paul showed no fear of death, Acts 20:24; 21:13.

How much those three words, "Till I come," mean. They mean the end of the present day of grace for lost sinners. There will be salvation for sinners, but they will no longer be baptized into the one Body of Christ by the Holy Spirit. His coming means the end of the present ways of God's dealings with man; a different presentation of the Gospel; a different relation of the saved to God. But for those now believing in Christ, members of His Body, Christ's coming means the change from suffering to reigning, from walking by faith to being present with the Lord.
Now while His saints are here in the world, and while He is absent, in His visible appearance, we walk by faith, not seeing Christ but believing in Him, loving Him, united to Him by the mighty power of the Holy Spirit Then we shall see Him as He is; we shall know Him fully (1 Cor. 13:12) that is, in the fullest way possible. Knowing as we are known means such a change that we can scarcely begin, to comprehend it. "now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face." There is a question as-to what this means. It is generally taken to mean, "By means of a mirror, obscurely, in a mirror;" or it may mean through a window with poor glass, or transparent material, which does not permit one to see at all clearly. The teaching is plain; we have a very imperfect view of heavenly things; we are not now fitted to see clearly and know fully.

When He comes and takes us to Himself we shall have bodies made like His body of glory, we shall have eyes that can see Him clearly, can behold His glory-the answer to His prayer:"Father, I will that they also whom Thou hast given Me, be with He 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). "We know that, when He shall appear; we shall be like Him; for we shall see Him as He is" (1 John 3:2). These are wonderful words, "WE SHALL SEE HIM AS he IS."

"No cloud, no distance, e'er shall hide
Glories that then shall shine."

Till He comes we are to walk here in the world that hated the Son of God, that has Satan as its God, that chose a murderer instead of the One who gives eternal life. The more we now realize the glory of Christ, His eternal glory, the less power will earthly glory have over us. The better we grasp the meaning of the joy we shall have when "in His presence, the less will anything on earth attract our hearts. Now we are on our way home, on our way to the abode which Christ has gone to prepare for us. He is coming for us. We are to be watching and waiting for Him. How simple this is, yet how very much it means.

Our joy is not here but "where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God." We have so much that the world has not, that the religious people have not. We have Christ. We belong to Him, He has loved us and given Himself for us. The world about us might have Him, but they will not. We were once like them, rejecters of Christ, but we have received Him as our Lord and Saviour, and we wait for Him, "Till He come." J. W. Newton