your
rejected Lord Jesus shall be manifested in brightest glories: your
beloved have not missed their share in that triumph. God will show
them the same "path of life" He showed their Shepherd (Ps. xvi.), and
will "bring them with Him" in the train of their victorious Lord.

_Third_. But is that triumph, that joy, so far off that it can only be
seen through the dim aisles and long vistas of many future ages and
generations? Must our comfort be greatly lessened by the thought that
while that end is "sure," it is still "very far off,"--a thousand years
may--nay, some say, _must_--have to intervene; and must we sorrowfully
say, like the bereaved saint of old, "I shall go to him, but he shall
not return to me"? Not at all. Better, far better than that. For
Faith's cheerful and cheering voice is "we who are alive and remain."
That day is so close ever to faith that there is nothing between us and
it. No long weary waiting expected; and that very _attitude_--that
very hope--takes away the "weariness" from the swift passing days.
Those dear saints of old grasped and cherished this blessed hope that
their saviour Lord would return even during their life. Did they lose
anything by so cherishing it? Have we gained by our giving it up? Has
the more "reasonable" expectation that, after all, the tomb shall be
our lot as theirs, made our days brighter, happier, and so to speed
more quickly? Has it made us more separate from the world, more
heavenly in character, given us less in common with the worldling? Has
this safe "reasoning" made us to abound in works of love, labors of
faith, and in patience of hope, as did the "unreasonable" and
"mistaken" hope of His immediate coming the dear Thessalonians of old?
For look at the first chapter, and see how the "waiting for the Son
from heaven" worked. Again I ask, have we improved on this? _Can_ we
improve upon it? Was it not far better, then, for them--if these its
happy accompaniments--to hold fast, even to their last breath, that
hope; and even to pass off this scene clasping it still fondly to their
hearts, than our dimmed and dull faith with--it may be boldly said--all
the sad loss that accompanies this?

Hold it fast, my brethren, "_We who are alive and remain_." Let that
be the only word in our mouths, the only hope in our hearts. It is a
cup filled to the brim with comfort. How they ring with life and hope
in contrast with the dull, heavy, deathful word of poor
E