SO far from the coming of the Lord being a peculiar view held by a few, which may or may not be true, it is a living and powerful hope which pervades the whole Christian course from start to finish, and connects itself with every detail of the Christian’s life.
We have seen that it held a most prominent place in the conversion of the Thessalonian saints. Will any suppose that the apostle Paul was wrong in bringing this truth so specially before them? Will any assert that the Holy Spirit was mistaken in recording this marked feature of the work of grace in their midst? Far from it. On the contrary we believe that where this truth is ignored, or given a secondary place, there is a lamentable defect in the preaching of the gospel. We go further, and affirm that a full gospel cannot be proclaimed without a clear testimony as to the coming of the Lord. For what does the gospel call us to? Is it not “to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ?” (2 Thess. 2:14). To have one’s sins forgiven is indeed a priceless blessing to one whose conscience has felt the burden of them; to be rescued from hell is indeed an untold mercy to one who has even in anticipation felt its terrors; to be delivered from the judgment to come may well be a source of comfort to one who has trembled at the thought of meeting a holy, righteous, and sin-hating God. All these and many more unspeakable benefits flow to the believer through the atoning work of the Lord Jesus on the cross. But above and beyond all this, the gospel is God’s call to guilty rebel sinners who deserve nothing but everlasting banishment from His presence, to share Christ’s glory. When heaven, earth, and hell shall bow the knee and confess Jesus to be Lord, then shall every one who has fled for refuge to the Saviour in the day of grace, see Him in His glory, share His glory, and be made perfectly like Him for eternity.
And when will this triumphant change take place? When will this glorious result be consummated? Not at death, but at the coming of the Lord. Hence we repeat no full gospel can be preached which leaves out this essential part of the counsel of God. The Thessalonians were converted to wait for His Son.
In every chapter of this short epistle is the blessed hope introduced. It not only energizes the young convert at the start (ch. 1), but it encourages the veteran soldier of the Lord Jesus Christ amidst the trials and hardships of his warfare. “What is our hope, or joy, or crown of rejoicing? Are not even ye in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at His coming? For ye are our glory and joy” (chs. 2:19, 20). The service of the Lord was no bed of roses for Paul. The rank of a peer of the realm he never enjoyed, a bishop’s palace he never owned, a magnificent stipend he never possessed. Was there ever such a minister of Christ? Let others boast of their ecclesiastical dignities, Paul gloried more than they all, not in earthly show, but in the things he suffered for the sake of His blessed Master, who suffered more than tongue could tell for him.
“Are they ministers of Christ? (I speak as a fool) I am more; in labors more abundant, in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequent, in deaths oft. Of the Jews five times received I forty stripes save one. Thrice was I beaten with rods, once was I stoned, thrice I suffered shipwreck, a night and a day I have been in the deep.... In weariness and painfulness, in watching’s often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness,” &c. (2 Cor. 11:23-33).
But was it always to be so? Was there no bright prospect before him? Was there nothing for him but the sufferings and afflictions of the gospel? Was there no reward? Would his Master never recompense him with a crown of approval? Oh, yes! He would be fully rewarded when he beheld these beloved Thessalonian converts by-and-by in the presence of the Lord. But when would this be? At His coming.
There will be a glory which all believers will share alike, even as our blessed Lord has said, “The glory which Thou gavest Me, I have given them” (John 17:22). This glory will be ours as the fruit of God’s sovereign grace, and Christ’s atoning death. But there will also be a glory which will be special, and peculiar to the individual saint as a reward for faithful and devoted service — “Ye (Thessalonians) are our (Paul’s) glory and joy.”
Christian reader, have you ever had the joy of leading other souls to Christ? Can you look forward to receiving such a crown of rejoicing at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ?
At the close of chapter 3. the daily walk of the believer is linked with the coming of the Lord. The believer possesses the divine nature, and his walk practically should partake of the character of God. “God is love,” and “God is light,” and he who possesses the divine nature should walk consistently with these things. Love in activity towards the saints, and holiness in exercise before God should manifest themselves in the daily life, even as they will be displayed in their perfection in the coming day of glory, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all His saints. How powerfully, then, does the living expectation of the coming of the Lord influence the daily practical life of the child of God― “Every man that hath this hope in Him purifieth himself, even as He is pure” (1 John 3:3).
We have already dwelt upon the comfort that this hope pours into the grief-stricken heart when death has removed a fellow believer. The saints were comforted not by the thought of soon dying and rejoining their loved ones beyond the grave, but with the blessed hope of resurrection and the coming of the Lord (ch. 4).
But for the world how different! For it, the coming of the Lord means “sudden destruction”
(ch. 5:3). We cannot now enlarge upon “the times and the seasons;” these interesting prophetic periods will, God willing, come before us in due course. The solemn truth here brought before us is the suddenness with which the judgment of God will bring to an end the whole course of things in the world, social and political. Not at the same moment that the heavenly saints will be removed, for an interval of time, elsewhere specified, will separate the rapture of the saints from their appearance with Christ in glory, when He will come with them in flaming fire to execute judgment.
“Peace and safety,” will be the self-satisfied cry. Peace conferences, courts of arbitration, ever-changing alliances may for a time stave off war from the nations of the earth; but Jehovah’s decree has long since gone forth, “to gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle,” and “then shall the Lord go forth, and fight against those nations... and the Lord my God shall come, and all the saints with thee” (Zech. 14:1-6).
Round about Jerusalem, and not in Manchuria and the Far East will witness the final and awful overthrow of the nations that throw over the fear of God and the faith of the gospel. All the events of recent times point to a speedy accomplishment of these things.
Meanwhile the true Christian belongs to the day and not to the night, and amidst the increasing spiritual darkness of the hour his walk should be in growing accord with the light, for “God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us, that whether we wake (i.e., be alive when Jesus comes) or sleep (i.e., have died before He comes), we should live together with Him” (1 Thess. 5:1-10).
To the wicked there is “no peace,” but for the believer there is peace of conscience through the work of Christ, peace of heart in communion with Christ, and the God of peace he knows. The apostle prays that these young converts may prove the sanctifying power of these things, and that their whole being — spirit and soul and body — should be preserved blameless, not merely till the day of their death, but “unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
This precious truth is associated with every detail of the Christian’s life from start to finish.
A. H. B.