Where are you when He comes?

We cannot improve or alter the past, and we may be in glory with Christ tomorrow; wisdom says, Follow that which is good now! and do it earnestly. Christ abides, and He still says, Follow Me.

The remnant of Malachi thought upon His Name and ordered their path according to that. Philadelphia keeps the word of His patience, and He keeps her right on to the end, she is true to His Name. And the door is still set open before her, the door of devotion to her Lord and for the maintenance of His testimony.

Nowhere does the Word of God say she has “lost her crown,” or that she has “cooled down into lukewarm Laodicea.” If Scripture does not say so, who has authority so to do?

Could Ephesus become Corinth? It is equally impossible for Philadelphia to become Laodicea. The two are quite different and remain different till the Lord returns as these addresses to them show.

The Lord Himself is the test, to Philadelphia He is everything: to Laodicea He is nothing. It should be a question of solemn moment to all who bear the Name of the Lord as to which of these two conditions or spheres we move in. It becomes increasingly solemn and momentous as we hear His voice saying, “I come quickly.”

It is true that none who are His will be left behind when He comes, but who would care to be dragged out of a state of things wholly obnoxious to the Lord, as Lot was dragged out of Sodom?

Would it not be for His pleasure and our joy to have Enoch’s testimony at last—“God had translated him, for before His translation he had the testimony that he had pleased God” (Heb. 11:5).

The hand that holds the keys of David has opened this door for us and keeps it open, and we may to the very end keep His word and not deny His Name.

We may have as our greatest treasure the knowledge of His love that passes all knowledge, and have as our brightest hope His speedy coming again.

H.J.V.