No. 3.
THEY must beware of being deceived by man. Our Lord therefore forewarns them. A false Christ will be the great exhibition of the power of Satan. We know this will characterize the seventieth week. However much these principles have been, and still are, at work, their full accomplishment cannot be looked for till after the Church is gone. Then the false Christ will come upon the scene, and many will be deceived. True it is that the name of Christ is already associated with much that is evil, but it is only tending towards the culminating point of this masterpiece of iniquity. However lamb-like he will appear, he will really be a dragon, and energized by Satan. He will not, like Jesus, come in his Father’s name, but come in his own name, and deceive many. Our Lord thus, in replying to the disciples’ questions, seems to look beyond the present time of the calling out of the Church, but takes up Israel’s history, after the Church is gone, and gives the sign of His coming and of the end of the age. Thus we have a series of events characterizing the time of the end, which terminates in the Lord’s coming again to earth, (for His feet shall stand in that day upon the Mount of Olives,) when Israel shall say, “Blessed is He that cometh in the name of the Lord.” It may be well to notice that this record of events corresponds with the opening of the seals in the Apocalypse, which we know does not come into action until the heavenly saints are actually seated on thrones in the heavens. Our Lord, therefore, recognizing the disciples who had asked these questions as representative of the Jews who will come upon the scene after the Church is gone, inspired with hope of the kingdom, begins by saying, “Take heed that no man deceive you. For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many.” He also told them that there would be wars and rumors of wars, and they were not to be troubled; but the end, that is, the end of the age, is not yet. There would also be famines and pestilences, but these things will be only introductory to the deep and unparalleled sorrows which will follow. Now observe, that when these judgments shall have been put forth according to the order of the first four seals of the Revelation, then what the fifth seal tells us is next brought out; for those who shall then be the bearers of God’s testimony, the publishers of “the gospel of the kingdom,” will be put to death, as represented in Rev. 6:9, 109And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held: 10And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth? (Revelation 6:9‑10) by the souls under the altar. “They shall deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you; and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name’s sake.” Observe, too, that this will be a time when iniquity shall abound, and false prophets will deceive many. Then comes in the promise of salvation in the end to those who endure; a salvation of people bodily out of the great tribulation which will then come upon the earth, a salvation which those who yield to the deceiving’s of the beast will lose, while those who endure in patient faith will be brought through the fire, and into the promised blessing. But there is another thing; “this gospel of the kingdom,” (mark, “this gospel of the kingdom!”) which was preached by our Lord and the twelve, must then be taken up again, and published throughout all the nations; not to the κοσμος, the world in its largest sense, but the οικουμενη, the civilized world,―the same word that is used for the Roman earth when it is said, “all the world shall be taxed,”―and then shall the end come. Thus it is clear, that before the end of the age can come, the glad tidings of the kingdom must be thus published. Now we preach not “the gospel of the kingdom,” but “the gospel of the grace of God.” While we truly declare that all things were made by Christ and for Christ, and that all things are yet to be put in subjection under Him, we do preach that He that believeth God’s testimony, as to Jesus crucified and risen, is delivered from the wrath to come, has passed from death unto life, and has union with Christ in the heavenlies by the power of the Holy Ghost. But the gospel of the kingdom will be very different. It will announce the coming of the King to set up His kingdom, and bring in that blessing on the earth which prophets have long spoken of, when the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea,”(Isa. 11: 9,) when all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the Lord, (Num. 14:2121But as truly as I live, all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the Lord. (Numbers 14:21),) and when it shall be truly said, “O Jehovah our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth!”(Psa. 8:99O Lord our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth! (Psalm 8:9).) It is important, then, to distinguish between the two testimonies,” the gospel of the kingdom “and” the gospel of the grace of God.” The gospel of the kingdom, when published by the twelve apostles, was limited to the cities of Israel (Matt. 5:5, 235Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth. (Matthew 5:5)
23Therefore if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath ought against thee; (Matthew 5:23)); but it will yet be carried to the nations, before the end of the age comes, and connected with suffering and martyrdom to those who preach it. It was always supposed to be connected with suffering to those who bore the message, and by and by, as we see, it will be associated with betrayal, hatred, affliction, and death.
It may be that some will have difficulty in considering that the disciples are here addressed by our Lord as representative of the faithful Jews who shall come upon the scene after the calling out of the Church. But how otherwise could we understand expressions which we afterward get; such as, “When ye shall see the abomination of desolation ... Pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the Sabbath day;” for, as a matter of fact, the disciples whom our Lord addressed actually fell asleep well-nigh 2,000 years ago, and the abomination spoken of by Daniel the prophet has not yet been set up. The destruction of Jerusalem by Titus was certainly not that. Besides, this chapter tells us, that the Lord will be revealed from heaven immediately after the tribulation of those days. Moreover, as we have seen, the abomination of desolation spoken of by Daniel the prophet is clearly set forth in connection with the man of sin, who has not yet come forth; nor do the Scriptures lead us to expect he will come till the Church is gone, however much the mystery of iniquity and the principles of lawlessness have been and still are at work, and rapidly preparing the way for him.
But further. Such language as, “If any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or lo, there,” can hardly be conceived to be our Lord’s instruction to us, who are set in the posture of waiting for Him from heaven, and expect to be caught up to meet Him in the air. It surely would be no temptation to us to be told that Christ was in this place or that. The soul that waits for the Lord Himself to descend from heaven refuses the thought; but to a Jew, who is taught by the prophets to expect the Messiah on earth, we can easily understand how the report that He had come, and was either in the desert, or in a secret place, might deceive. Another reason why they were not to be deceived by such a report is, that there would be the sign of His coming, the sign of the Son of man in heaven, introducing His advent to Israel, when, as we have observed, they will say, “Blessed is He that cometh in the name of the Lord!”