But there is reunion. And one of the joys of the morning is this reunion among the saints. During the night they had been scattered, in the morning they are gathered together. In the wilderness they have been separated, but in the kingdom they shall meet. During this age they have been like the drops of the fitful shower ; in the age to come they shall be like the dew of Hermon, the dew that de- scended upon the mountains of Zion, one radiant company, alighting upon the holy hills, and bringing with them refreshment to a weary earth. Then shall fully be answered the prayer of the Lord, " That they all may be one ; as thou, Father, art
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in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us : that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them ; that they may be one, even as we are one : I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one ; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me." (John xvii. 21—23.)
" I will smite the Shepherd, and the sheep of the flock shall be scattered abroad." (Matt. xxvi. 31.) Such is our present position — a smitten Shepherd and a scattered flock ! But the day is at hand when " he that scattered shall gather," and there shall be a glorified Shepherd and a gathered flock ; not merely one flock, one fold, and one Shepherd, but one flock gathered into the one fold around the one Shepherd, the scattering ceased, the wandering at an end, the famine ex- changed for the green pastures, the dange*
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forgotten, and the devouring lion bound. Then shall fully come to pass the prophecy regarding the issues of the Surety's death, " that he should gather together in one the children of God that were scattered abroad." (John xi. 52.) Then what is written of Israel shall, in a higher sense, be fulfilled in the church • " Behold, I, even I, will both search my sheep, and seek them out. As a shepherd seeketh out his flock in the day that he is among his sheep that are scattered ; so will I seek out my sheep, and will deliver them out of all places where they have been scattered in the cloudy and dark day. I will feed them in a good pasture, and upon the high mountains of Israel shall their fold be. And I will set up one shepherd over them, and he shall feed them, even my servant David ; he shall feed them, and he shall be their shepherd." And as the ingather- ing of Israel is to be a blessing diffusing itself on every side, so is the reunion of
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the scattered church to be to the world ; so that we may use Israel's promise here also : " I will make them and the places round about my hill a blessing ; and I will cause the shower to come clown in his season ; there shall be showers of bless- ing." (Ezek. xxxiv. 11—26.)
This reunion is when the Lord returns. When the Head appears, then the members come together. They have always been united, — for just as the Godhead was still united to the manhood of Christ, even when his body was in the tomb, so the oneness between the members, both with each other and with their Head, has been always kept unbroken. But when he comes, this union is fully felt, realized, seen, manifested. " When Christ who is our life shall appear, then shall we also appear with him in glory." (Col. iii. 4.)
This reunion is at " the resurrection of the just." Then every remaining particle of separation is removed, — soul and body
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meet,— both perfect ; no trace of " this vile body/' or this dust-cleaving soul. The corruptible has gone, and the incorruptible has come. Our reunion shall be in incor- ruption ; hands that shall never grow pal- sied clasping each other, and renewing broken companionships, — eyes that shall never dim gazing on each other with purer love.
This reunion is in the cloud of glory, in which the Lord comes again. When he went up from Olivet, this cloud received him, and fain would his disciples have gone up along with him. But into that glorious pavilion, — his tabernacle, — shall they yet ascend ; there to meet with him, and to embrace each other, coming toge- ther into that mysterious dwelling-place, from the four winds of heaven, " out of every kindred, and nation, and tongue, and people.5'
This reunion is the marriage-day, and that cloud-curtained pavilion the Bride-
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groom's chamber. There the bride is now seen as one. And there she realizes her own oneness in a way unimagined before. There too the marriage-feast is spread, and the bride takes her place of honour at the marriage-table, — " glorious within/' as well as without, — not, like the harlot-bride, decked with purple, and scarlet, and gold, and gems (Rev. xvii. 4; xviii. 16); but " arrayed in fine linen, clean and white." (xix. 8.)