We have now examined the testimony of Scripture with respect to the Lord's return, and have seen that it is held out as a present hope before the living believer, who will, when it occurs, “be changed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye,” and be caught up “to meet the Lord in the air.” But it may be objected that already nearly sixty generations of Christians are in their graves, and that a hope which could only disappoint so vast a majority of believers, could never really have been held out by the Holy Ghost. To this objection, there are, however, two simple answers.
First, The delay, long as it is, has not mocked the hopes of believers. The first generation of Christians doubtless cherished it, but were never authorized by the language of the Holy Ghost to build upon its happening in their time. They were to be waiting for it as a thing that might take place, not counting on it as a thing that must take place. They were to be so living in hope of it, that they would not be surprised if it occurred; not to be so confidently dating it that they would be disappointed if it did not occur. This was the attitude in which believers stood in apostolic days. After apostolic days, the decline in all truth was fearfully rapid, and among other things, the present expectation of the Lord's return was altogether lost. The Church became like the unfaithful steward, and then the grace of God was shown in putting off this day, which, from declining affection to the person of Christ, was no longer the object of its hopes. When the hope was once lost, the deferring of its fulfillment was not a disappointment. It would be treading on too sacred ground to speculate how far the unfaithfulness of the Church contributed to the delay which has taken place. But we can at all events see that, when such unfaithfulness has been shown, the Church is not entitled to plead the delay as a reason for discrediting the promise, but is rather bound to take the place of confession that she has so long neglected it, and of thanksgiving that the Lord did not come while she was slumbering in forgetfulness or unbelief.
Secondly, The objection above stated proceeds on the assumption that believers who have fallen asleep have no part in this hope. But this is not the case. For though the immediate character of the hope is most strikingly illustrated by the fact that it is constantly presented to the living, yet the Lord has not left us in ignorance of the blessed lot reserved for the believing dead. We shall find that they have just as much interest and participation in this glorious event as believers “who are alive and remain”; and surely this is another proof of the Lord's goodness, in having so long delayed His return. Being now absent from the body and present with the Lord, the believing dead are doubtless sharers of His hopes, and in the waiting condition which, from the loss of this precious truth, they failed to assume here on earth. Thus, the wisdom of God has brought it about that, though the vast majority of believers have been unfaithful in this matter, yet the Lord's return, instead of coming as an unwelcome surprise, will be in fulfillment of the cherished hopes, and in answer to the expectant attitude of most, if not all, of those who have an interest in it. The most careless observer must be aware how widely this “blessed hope” has revived among the Lord's people of late years. And so, whenever the shout is raised, the myriads of believers whose spirits are already with the Lord, and many, perhaps all, of those still on earth, will be longingly expecting His advent.
The love of Jesus beautifully shows itself in His desire to make His chosen ones participators in His own hopes and delights. He loves to have our hearts. He would have us behold the glories which we cannot share, for He counts upon and values our fellowship. “Father, I will that they also whom Thou hast given Me, be with Me where I am, that they may behold My glory which Thou hast given Me” (John 17:24). So at the Lord's Supper, He desires believers, not to recall the blessings derived from Him-but to “do this in remembrance of ME.” In like manner as to His coming, He has given it as a hope for their hearts, which He would have them cherish in fellowship with Himself, and in grace and love He has delayed this event, until not only the generations which lost it on earth, have regained it in heaven, but also the hope has been revived in living power among the members of His body still dwelling in the world.
We shall proceed, then, to examine the teaching of Scripture as to the effect of the Lord's coming on believers who have fallen asleep. “I would not have you ignorant, brethren,” says the apostle Paul, “concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with Him. For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent (anticipate) them which are asleep. For the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first; then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air; and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words” (1 Thess. 4:13-18). There is a peculiar significance in the expression, “This we say unto you by the word of the Lord.” The apostle Paul had received special revelations given to no other man. Thus he says, in writing to the Corinthian Church about the Lord's Supper, not that he had learned the mode of its observance from those present at its institution, but “I have received of the Lord, that which also I delivered unto you” (1 Cor. 11:23). Again, he writes to the Ephesians, speaking of the mystery which God had entrusted to him—“By revelation He made known unto me the mystery which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men” (Eph. 3:3-5). It is only on subjects of great importance, subjects worthy of a special revelation of God's mind, that such language is adopted. A. passage, therefore, thus prefaced, like the one we are now considering, is, so to speak, emphasized by the Holy Ghost, as demanding more than usual consideration.
What, then, is the truth thus peculiarly commended to our notice? Our Lord's own words had already taught the disciples that He might return at any moment, and that when He did so, living believers would be taken to be with Him. But they were as yet ignorant of what would happen to those who had “fallen asleep in Christ.” They looked for a resurrection, and doubted not that believers dying in the Lord would be saved. Like Martha, they thought that the believing dead would “rise again in the resurrection at the last day,” and, like her, failed to apprehend the deep meaning hid in those words— “I am the resurrection and the life.” The key to these words was now to be furnished by the apostle Paul, speaking in a special manner “by the word of the Lord.” He found the Thessalonians sorrowing over the dead as those “not having hope.” This does not mean that they had any doubt as to the ultimate salvation of their deceased friends. But having no revelation as to what would become of dead believers at the Lord's return, they feared that by death they had lost the special hope of being taken up by the Lord to be with Himself, and to share the glories of His appearing. This apprehension it was that filled the survivors with grief. The yet unrevealed truth of what should happen to the dead saints at Christ's coming was, therefore, the important communication given “by the word of the Lord” to the apostle Paul to make known to these mourners. It is the completion of the hope held out by the Lord Himself while here on earth.
Its tenor was simple. The Thessalonians had supposed that while they would be taken to be with Jesus at His coming, their deceased relatives would be left in the grave till “the resurrection at the last day.” The apostle declares to them “by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall NOT prevent” (the old word for anticipate) “them which are asleep.” On the contrary, these dead should be raised first. “For the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trump of God; and the dead in Christ shall rise FIRST: then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up TOGETHER WITH THEM in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air” (1 Thess. 4:16,17). The whole scene is momentary, but its order is, first the raising of the sleeping believers, and next the catching up of the living and the raised saints together to meet the Lord.
There is a very close correspondence between the truth here announced and the mystery made known to the Corinthians. “Behold I show you a mystery; we shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump; for the trumpet shall sound and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed” (1 Cor. 15:51,52). This is manifestly “the redemption of the body,” and the transformation “into the likeness of Christ's glorious body” of which we have already spoken as the hope of living believers. It is also the same event as that described in the Epistle to the Thessalonians. In both the trumpet sounds; in both the dead saints are raised; in both, at the same moment, God's power is manifested towards the living saints—in the Corinthians fashioning them into the likeness of Christ, in the Thessalonians catching them up to be with Christ. But these two actions are simultaneous—as John says, “We shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is” (1 John 3:2).
These passages are usually understood as referring to a general resurrection at the end of the world. Against this view there are, however, several conclusive objections.
FIRST, The resurrection here spoken of is at the same time as the coming of the Lord for believers. The text in Thessalonians proves that the living saints are to be caught up together with those who are raised; and the passage in Corinthians shows that the changing of the living saints and the raising of the dead will all be “in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye.” But the Scriptures set forth the return of the Lord for His living saints as a present hope, for which they are bidden to be continually waiting. And here we see that the hope is exactly the same for the dead. In order, then, that its present character might not be lost sight of, even with respect to the dead, the Holy Ghost, with the accuracy always marking Scripture language, has taken care that in both passages where the resurrection of the dead and the rapture of the living saints are named together, the living saints should be spoken of in the first person, so as to show that the event was one which might be looked for in their own day.
SECONDLY, The account given of this resurrection is quite different from the resurrection at the end of the world, which is thus depicted by the apostle John — “And I saw a great white throne, and Him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened, and another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and Hades delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged, every man according to his works. And death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire; this is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire” (Rev. 20:11-15). This solemn scene is at the end of the world, but it is entirely different in every point from the resurrection previously spoken of. In the one, the living are caught up; in the other, only the dead are mentioned, and no living person could be there, for the earth has fled away. Paul names no judgment whatever; John says that “they were judged, every man according to their works.” The dead described in the epistles go to be “forever with the Lord”; the only doom spoken of with respect to the dead named in the Apocalypse is that they were “cast into the lake of fire.” The two accounts, then, are evidently not two different descriptions of the same scene, but descriptions of two different scenes, bearing no resemblance either in character or detail.
THIRDLY, The Word of God never speaks of one general resurrection at the end of the world, but expressly declares that there are two distinct resurrections, one at the end of the world, and one a thousand years before it. The difference already noted between the resurrection of believers mentioned by Paul, and the resurrection at the final judgment described in the Revelation, will have prepared the way for this statement. But as it is in opposition to traditional creeds, and forms an important branch of the subject we are examining, it will be well to inquire into the matter somewhat more fully in another chapter.