Here we get the thought, we are all to be caught up together to meet the Lord. I might say, “There’s one so strong in faith and good works, he will surely go up first.” No; all distinction fades away in Christ; all is gone in the thought, we all get there together. When I look back and see the devotedness of Paul, I think of the love of Christ, who takes us all up together, to be with Him forever. That there may be no difference, all alike are to be conformed to the image of God’s own Son.

Christ’s love rests perfectly upon the Church, because it is Himself; He cannot hate His own flesh. That which is most intimate in affection is common to us all. We go to be with the Lord; not to appear with Christ, blessed as that is, but to be with Him. It is a special blessing to be with Christ, which is far better than to appear with Him as partaker of the glory. It is a marvelous honor to be honored with Him, but it is better to be with Him; therefore, the apostle says, “thus we shall always be with the Lord.” He is satisfied with that.

In Colossians, it is, “When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory”; and Paul immediately connects it with responsibility: “Therefore put to death your members which are on the earth” (Col. 3:4–5). But when he speaks of being with the Lord, oh, that will not be connected with any growth or progress I may have made, but on the common ground of Christ’s love to His own! I can look at the saints and say, “We shall be with Him together.”