“For the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God." 1 Thess. 4:16.
There is but one command more for which the Host of the Lord now waits a precious, glorious word! He whose voice once spake on earth in lowly grace, and now speaks from heaven with grace unchanged by man's sin, will utter that "shout" of relationship to His own. It is known only to them, and will be heard only by those who have already known the Shepherd's voice; in the twinkling of an eye all shall be changed, and shall be "forever with the Lord.”
What a thrilling note it will be to many a toiling one, who has trodden faithfully his lowly path in the armies of the Lord! Perhaps he had laid down his head on his Master's bosom and "slept," till that day should come—his spirit with the Lord. It may be that he may be found amongst those who are "alive and remain," and when the voice of Jesus sounds, it finds him at his post, like a man who waits for his Lord. In the thousand times ten thousand circumstances of life, the voice will reach those whom He loves, and He will carry him to His Father's house on high. The mighty Host of the Lord will rise, in silence and secrecy, like His own resurrection. He will gather up the dust of His people, hitherto carefully preserved by His living power. The four winds of heaven may have scattered it abroad; the four quarters of the earth may have apparently swallowed it up, but earth must surrender His prize. The sea must give up those who are Christ's, and who perhaps found there an unmarked tomb. The sealed tomb, the silent places of the dead, must be gleaned of their precious dust. The unmoved sod, the yet-sealed tomb, will tell the tale, that He who left the grave with unbroken seal in presence of the sleeping watch, He who left the grave clothes "wrapped together" unmoved, has ordered that with the same silence, the same quiet yet mighty power, the "dead in Christ" will rise. They will quit their places as He, the "first-fruits," did when He comes. The living army still here will then hear His voice, and then this corruption puts on its incorruption, then this mortal puts on its immortality, and the exulting song of the Church is heard in response to His mighty "shout"—"O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?" 1 Cor. 15. Then "they will gaze upon their Master, with His name upon their brow.”
Like Enoch of old, they will not be "found"—for God will have translated them.
What an incentive, meanwhile, is this hope to earnestness of purpose in serving Him for whom we wait. The "terror of the Lord" for those who are not Christ's must press itself heavily upon the heart of His soldiers here. They know that the sleeping Church has had the midnight cry. They know how His coming had been forgotten—even denied. They know how that many who love Him have fallen into the "evil servant's" snare, who said, "My lord delayeth his coming." Again they have heard His voice, and have "trimmed their lamps, and gone forth to meet" Him.
They know the solemnity of the hour in which they now stand. They feel that the dawning of the day is near; they watch through the gloom for the Church's Bridegroom—the "Bright and the Morning Star." They feel that all the confusion of the present moment marks the state of the poor foolish virgins. They know, too, the solemn wail that will pass over these lands where Christ is professed, but Himself unknown—"Lord, Lord, open unto us," and this when the door is shut forever! Indeed, what a solemn moment of terror it will be!
Oh! how bright and living a moment it will be to those who belong to the "first resurrection," who are raised or changed by His mighty power as the witness and proof of their complete acceptance in the Beloved. His resurrection was a proof of the perfection and glory of the person of Him who was there. Ours will be the proof of the perfection of His work in which we stand. Surely then we may well "comfort one another with these words.”
“Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord." 1 Cor. 15:58. F.G. Patterson CI