THEN the end! And when is this?
After the resurrection of the dead, and after death is no more. Christ is risen from the dead, and is now glorified in heaven. He is the firstfruits; presently the great harvest will be gathered in, and all who are Christ's will be raised from the dead and will be like the Lord in His heavenly glory. "Then the end, when He shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when He shall have put down all rule and all authority and power. For He must reign, till He hath put all enemies under His feet. The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.”
The enemies are still many and mighty. They are numerous upon earth, they are mighty in the heavenly places—the Accuser himself darkens by his shadow the outer courts of heaven—but Christ shall reign and put down all enemies. And lastly He will destroy death itself.
This is the end for which God's people are looking. The man of the world cannot look to the end—he hardly dares face death, and he will not entertain the contemplation of the judgment. No, when a man seriously and in the sight of God contemplates the judgment, he must seek for his own salvation, for his sins condemn him in the view of the judgment seat.
Our little selves have an end, and to those who are Christ's our end is His end—the Father's presence and the Father's kingdom. There we shall meet again our best beloved ones, and we shall never be separated from them. We look forward to an end of sin, of sorrow, of death, of dishonor to God, of lack of love and holiness—an end which shall consummate in an everlasting present of everlasting bliss.