To us it is not the great white throne, not the coming of the Lord to take the place of a Judge, but His rising up to come and claim us, and take us up to be with Him.
God’s first mark of approbation for His work on the cross, was that He should not be alone in glory, but should have a people, the bride, the Lamb’s wife, with Him there, in the midst of whom He will be; the light of His glory being enshrined in them, and reflected by them: He in them.
And also, that till He comes He should have a people down here who can look up to Him there, and know the character of His love for them. That is what we want for our comfort. Who are they that can say,
“Christ loves me, and He is going to glorify me, and I am waiting for Him”?
Ah! they are those who have passed clean off the ground of the first Adam. A people, not only washed and forgiven, but where they can say they know nothing like Him; that One who, through death, delivered them from him who had the power of death; He, the holy, harmless One, having been made sin for them, that they might be entirely free.