Behold He Cometh With Clouds [Brochure]

Full Text of This Product

Behold, He cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see Him, and they also which pierced Him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of Him. Even so, Amen. Revelation 1:7

In Colossians, we have the association of the saints with Christ very fully brought out, in chapters 2 and 3. He is my life, and I am one with Him. Thus, when I find Christ my Savior is dead to the world, in Him I become dead to the world also. I find not only my treasure there, but the very religion of the world judged, because Christ was cast out by the world's religion. When He comes with the clouds, every eye shall see Him But this will not be the case when He comes to fetch His Church. God is gathering the friends of Christ round the name of Christ now. The Church is a body that is called while Christ is not seen, and the Christian, having his portion in Him now, is hidden with Him: “Your life is hid with Christ in God.”

In this verse, then, it is not the Lord coming to meet His own and gather them to Himself in the air: but “every eye shall see Him ... and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of Him.” When the Lord comes to take the Church, it will be far otherwise. God has joined us to the Lord Jesus Christ in heaven, according to all the efficacy of His death and resurrection. As far as the spirit is concerned, this is true now, and it will be true of the body itself when Christ comes. The resurrection of Christ calls me to live thoroughly to God, as the death of Christ makes me as truly dead in principle to the world as if I were already buried. In practice alas! we have to own sad falling short. Still, says the apostle, “your life is hid” etc. It is the life of Christ you have received. As long as Christ is hidden, you are hidden also.

But the time is coming when this will no longer be the case. “When Christ who is our life shall appear, then shall ye also appear with Him in glory.” When Christ comes to receive the Church, no eye will see Him but those for whom Christ comes. When the world sees Christ, it will be when He comes in glory, bringing His saints with Him—revealed from heaven with the angels of His power, in flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God (the Gentiles), and on them that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ (the Jews). If the world were to see Christ coming alone in glory before the Church is caught up to Him, it would not be true that “when Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory.” The world can never see Christ coming to receive the saints, because then they must have seen Him without them and before them; whereas the same moment of His appearing is to be the epoch of our appearing with Him. And this does not merely rest upon a word: it is the doctrine of the whole passage. And the same truth is shown and confirmed by other proofs throughout the New Testament.

In Christ's death we are dead to the world; in His resurrection we are risen, and are therefore to have our hearts set upon heavenly things before we see them. And more than that. Christ is not always to be hidden: He is about to be manifested, and when He is, we, too, shall be manifested along with Him. It is plain that Christ and the Church must have been together before they are manifested to the world, if they are to appear together. In Revelation 19:11, we have this taught beyond all doubt. “I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse, and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True,” etc. “And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean.”

The horse is an emblem of power, the white horse of prosperous or victorious power. It is the Lord Jesus coming in judgment, which will be the time when He comes in the clouds of heaven. These armies that are seen following Him out of heaven, clothed in fine linen, are not angels. The text says that the fine linen (βύσσινον) is the righteousness of saints. And the remark-able thing is that, although angels are described in chap. 15 as being “clothed in pure and white linen,” a different word (λινον) is used. It is the heavenly saints who are described in chapter 19 as the armies of heaven, etc. They were in heaven, therefore, before the way was opened for Christ to come out in judgment; and they follow Him from heaven when He comes. I doubt not that angels are in His train also, as appears from other texts; but they do not seem to be spoken of here.

There are thus two important and different stages of the Lord's second coming. First of all, He will come to receive His people to Himself, and the Church ought always to be waiting for this. In the next place, He will come to judge the world, when He has already taken up the heavenly saints, and wickedness rises to its head apace. Then, suddenly, the heavens will open, and Christ the Lord Jesus will come and the Church with Him, appearing together in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. Is it asked how? Israel was not told how they were to be delivered out of Egypt. The Lord was going to deliver them; but He did not explain it before it came to pass. And the Lord is going to bring the Church to heaven by His coming. After that, the Lord Jesus Christ will come and judge the wickedness of the world; and it is then that the Church will come with Him.

W. Kelly

This article, lightly edited, was extracted from Lectures on the Book of Revelation.