[465]To his disciples, and to those who should thereafter become such, Jesus said:  “I appoint unto you a kingdom, as my Father hath appointed unto me”. (Luke 22:29) And again:  “To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne”. (Revelation 3:21) From these Scriptures it is to be seen that the church constitutes with Jesus the royal family, the kingdom class, otherwise called the seed of Abraham, through which the blessings shall flow out to mankind.  This is the kingdom for which he taught his disciples to pray.  This is the kingdom which the prophet Daniel declares shall be set up to have no successor, and which shall be established during the last days of the kingdoms of the unrighteous order.—­Daniel 2:44; 7:14,27.

[466]The truly consecrated followers of Jesus, obedient to his admonition, have been watching and waiting; and those who were permitted to live at the time of his second presence and since have experienced that blessedness spoken of by Daniel the prophet at the end of the 1,335 symbolic days or years.  As the great divine plan has been revealed to these they have learned that the Lord has returned and is here, invisible to human eyes, yet exercising his great power in binding Satan and dashing to pieces the present unrighteous order, gathering unto himself his saints, and putting in order the affairs of his kingdom; that he has taken unto himself his great power to reign, and that soon all the saints shall participate with the Lord in glory in carrying out the further divine arrangement.  As this string upon the harp of God is revealed to them, they sing with exultant joy: 

  “Our lamps are trimmed and burning,
    Our robes are white and clean;
  We’ve tarried for the Bridegroom,
    And now we’ll enter in. 
  We know we’ve nothing worthy
    That we can call our own—­
  The light, the oil, the robes we wear,
    Are all from him alone. 
  Behold, behold the Bridegroom! 
    And all may enter in,
  Whose lamps are trimmed and burning,
    Whose robes are white and clean.”

[467]And these saints while yet on earth, beholding with the eye of faith the marvelous fulfillment of prophecy, are patiently waiting for the time of their glorification, when they each shall be clothed upon with a new and beautiful body like unto Jesus’, the beloved Bridegroom, and when they each shall see him as he is.

What effect is produced upon one by the return of a very dear friend long absent? ¶ 347.

Define the term “friend”. ¶ 348.

Who is mankind’s dearest friend, and why? ¶ 348.

How long since Jesus journeyed to a far country? and what did he say about returning? ¶ 349.

If the facts show that this dear friend has returned for the blessing of mankind, what effect should this have upon those who have been expecting his return? ¶ 349.

Would his returning constitute one of the strings upon the harp of God? ¶ 349.