I JOHN His Church, believers are exhorted to abide and to continue in un broken fellowship with Him. The appeal cannot be urged upon us too often. We should live from day- to-day in the expectation of the Lord's appearing. The prayer life is the abiding life. The moment we allow any sin to cut us off from that sweet and blessed fellowship with our Lord, then our lives be come fruitless. Jesus rightly pointed out, "Without Me, ye can do noth ing." Grace puts us in touch with Christ. If we refuse to stay where grace has put us, however, we will not have confidence. Rather we will be ashamed when He comes. Immediately following Christ's coming for us we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ. We cannot have boldness if we have failed to abide now in His love. The coming of Christ, with the hope we display in Him, means purification for our hearts and lives. This realization should stir us to get all uncleanness out of our daily existence. We need to be made clean from every defilement and inconsistency, resisting every evil influence. Paul's exhortation of the blessed hope emphasizes this mat ter of purity (Titus 2:11-14). This should be an incentive to patience (James 5:7, 8); to be charitable (I Corinthians 4:5); to be consid erate of others (Philippians 4:5). When the heart is occupied by our Lord's return there is a strong force which weans the Christian away from the world. Hope always concerns the fu ture. We never hope for anything that has taken place in the past. The Christian's hope in the New Testament is called a living hope. Page 40
It has its foundation in the histori cal fact of the resurrection of our Lord. This is all based on certainty. To know for certain that my Saviour is coming will urge me to prepare for His appearing. Our present physical structure is a humiliated body as a result of sin, sickness, and death. The most powerful and robust bodies of men are even tually brought low with the passing of time. When Christ appears for His own, our bodies will be fash ioned like unto His (Philippians 3:20, 21). God's plan of salvation provides for our justification so that we are declared righteous when we trust in Christ. It also provides for our sanctification so that we can be victorious over sin by means of the Holy Spirit dwelling in us. It also provides for our glorifica tion whereby God transforms this humiliated body into one which will be glorified. "We shall see Him as He is." "We shall be like Him."
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