BLESSED be God, when the kingdom comes, we shall not lose our communion with Christ in Paradise. We shall eat of the tree of life in the Paradise of God; and this will be in the days of the kingdom. We shall be remembered, not one forgotten, when Christ comes in His kingdom, and we shall reign with Him. Yet I say that Christ is Himself more precious than what He gives one, and that to be with Christ is even better than to sit upon a throne in His kingdom. This is all glorious; but to be with Christ, when we remember what Christ is, to be there the object of His love, to be able then perfectly to behold His glory, is a deeper privilege than to be crowned in the kingdom. Yet it was what the thief entered into that day. There was also great force in being there “to-day.” All the thoughts of gradual preparation here, all theory of waiting dimly in another world, every form of purgatory—I do not mean only of a Roman Catholic pattern, for many a Protestant has got a quasi-purgatory of his own—all these things are completely dissipated to the winds. Here was a man in himself black enough to be kept out forever doubtless; none the less was he to be with Christ that day in Paradise, perfectly purged by His blood for the intimate presence of God.
What a comfort this ought to be to any of you who have fears that you are not fit for heaven! For it is meant for you that believe as much as for the penitent on the cross. Have you not Christ too? Are you not resting on grace? is it a different measure to you from what it was to the dying robber? If it be the same way of faith to you as to him, is it not really the same portion with Christ in Paradise? Hence death, when you look at it thus, is no longer to be regarded as an enemy. Assuredly death is the last enemy apart from Christ, is it really so to the man who possesses Christ? To him death is in truth only a servant to open the door, and let him in to be with Christ. Is this an enemy's work? Death is yours who believe, as all things are.
May God then bless His own word. May He bring home the testimony rendered to Christ and Christ's blood to-night; and may you see what a joy it is to wait for Christ to come in His kingdom, and, above all, what it is to have a portion with Christ by faith wholly superior to death, so that if Christ were to come to-morrow you would never die in any sense. For “we shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed.”
“For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with archangel's voice, and with trump of God, and the dead in Christ shall rise first; then we the living that remain, shall be caught up together with them in [the] clouds to meet the Lord in the air; and so shall we ever be with the Lord.” You see then, “we” ought to be expecting Christ, not death. The “we” in that day ought, and the “we” in this day ought, and the “we” in every day ought, to be so. If death comes when we are looking for Christ, that will not at all disappoint us. Death will only be our usher into the presence of the Lord; then instead of waiting for the Lord on earth, you will wait with the Lord in heaven, which is far better. It is a good thing to be waiting for the Lord on the earth; but it is a better thing to be waiting with the Lord in heaven—to come when He comes—to reign when He reigns—but above all to be with Him now, or by and by, and forever, in Paradise. Amen.