he air and gives the mighty
shout (1 Thess. iv:16) which will call the saints from their graves
and ourselves from earth's sorrow together with them to meet Him in
the air. That blessed Hope is the great anodyne, the soothing as
well as inspiring truth of the Bible, which stands next to and in
closest relation with the Gospel. That blessed Hope is an imminent
Hope. How cheerless it would be to think that the Lord cannot come
for many years, that He cannot fulfill His blessed promise. How
cheerless, yea, how depressing and discouraging it would be if it
were true that the true believers must pass through the great
tribulation, suffer under Antichrist, taste of the wrath, which will
then be poured out. Such an expectation would not be a blessed Hope,
but a depressing outlook. But blessed be God this is not the
teaching of the Word, but only the invention of man. We are not to
wait for the apostasy, the great tribulation, great earthquakes and
disasters, but for Himself. He may come at any time and call us into
His presence. To wait daily for Him is the true Christian attitude,
which is a mighty power in the Christian life, walk and service. How
we shall be weaned away from the passing things of this age, how we
shall look upon all in its true light and be faithful witnesses for
our Lord, if we walk in this daily expectation of meeting Him. And
this we need. The Lord Jesus Christ must become more real to our
hearts. Our fellowship with Him, our trust in Him, our walk in Him,
our waiting for Him, all must become more real. The Holy Spirit in
His power will accomplish this in our lives. In the awful darkness,
which is settling upon this age, only such can abide faithful who
cling closer to the Lord and who wait for His coming. The Lord grant
this to all His people.

He'll come again,
And prove our hope not vain;
We wait the moment, oh, so fair;
To rise and meet Him in the air;
His heart, His home, His throne to share--
O wondrous love!

Make Haste.

THE little book called Solomon's Song, in the Hebrew "the Song of
Songs," because it exalts and describes the Bridegroom, closes with
that longing cry, "Make Haste my Beloved." How this applies
dispensationally we do not follow here. It is the same desire for
Himself, which is found almost the last thing in the Bible, the
great prayer, "Even so come Lord Jesus." The soul which knows Him,
follows closely after Him, and gets daily more of Him