The living saints (observe the word "we," not "they," for it is a present hope), exclusively the Church composed of those living at that moment, are then "with them" (the saved who have died) caught up "together" to meet the Lord in the air. This is what the Apostle had before him when he spoke of "the prize of the high calling" (ano, calling above, up out of the earth, on high, Phil. 3:14). Think of it! Side by side with our loved ones who have fallen asleep in Jesus! He who knows the heart does not keep us waiting until the Father's house is reached to meet our loved ones, the redeemed trophies of His grace. It is a living and ever-present hope! "Let your loins be girded about, and your lights burning; and ye yourselves like unto men that wait for their lord." Luke 12:35. Do not think that it will produce feverish excitement or arrest your service; on the contrary, it will sustain you. It is given for this very purpose. It is true the Church has had a protracted history, but all the assemblies mentioned in the second and third chapters of Revelation were existing, contemporary churches. There was nothing in prospect then. The scenes were before their eyes. The revelation was made. The parable in the twenty-fifth chapter of Matthew teaches us that although the Bridegroom tarried, yet the affair was of one night; the same virgins remained. If we look at the parable of the servants (Luke 19:12-27), all was looked at as in the lifetime of the man and of the servants. Let us not say with the evil servant: "My lord delayeth his coming." Luke 12:45. We are to occupy "till He come." His last word to us in Scripture is "Surely I come quickly." Rev. 22:20. R. B. Wallace