We shall not wait till Christ comes down to the earth, but go up to meet Him in the air; and afterwards we shall come down with Him. He will come and make this world the place of His power; then we shall get another sphere for the manifestation of the mightiness of His power down here. Do we realize how much our joy depends on looking for the coming of the Lord? If I am not making Him my one object, as He is God’s one object, is my eye single? Surely not! Surely not! If my eye is always on the manifestation of His Lordship, it is single.

As soon as the Holy Spirit was sent down, there was one desire stirring all hearts: to see the Lord Himself; the one thought was to wait for God’s Son from heaven (1 Th. 1:10). But how that fervent desire and occupation about it is lost! What torpor has crept in, in contrast with that bright hope, as generation after generation has intervened! But is not God turning hearts round again to that point?

God knows none but a glorified Christ; He sees us only in that One sitting there, Head of His body, the Church; and God is dealing with us now in connection with this Christ. Oh, to think of being greeted in heaven as part of that Christ, and inseparable from Him! Nothing to glory of in self, only in Him. But what a blessing to know that it is only in and through Christ that God can bless me!