The question now arises, whether the coming of the Lord is an immediate hope, or whether we are to look for the occurrence of preceding events. This is a vital point; and hence it is necessary to be very careful in the consideration of the teaching of Scripture upon the subject.
Speaking generally, then, it may be said that there are three words found in connection with the Second Advent. The first is παρουσία—which means simply "coming;" and hence is applied to the personal coming of any one, as well as to that of Christ. (See 1 Cor. 16:17; 2 Cor. 7:6; 10:10; Phil. 1:26; 2:12; as examples of its use in the coming of persons). It is used some sixteen times in relation to the coming of Christ. (Matt. 24:3,27,37,39; 1 Cor. 15:23; 1 Thess. 2:19; 3:13; 4:15; 5:23; 2 Thess. 2:1, 8-9; James 5:7-8; 2 Peter 1:16; 3:4). The use of the word—from its very significance—is general; and does not therefore of itself indicate the precise character of the event with which it may be associated. It is found alike, as will be seen from the above passages, in Matthew 24 and 1 Thessalonians 4. Another word is ἀποκάλυψις, and signifies "revelation," and this is used four times (1 Cor. 1:7; 2 Thess. 1:7; 1 Peter 1:7, 13; and we might add, perhaps, 1 Peter 4:13). This word is fixed in its application—always referring to the revelation of our Lord from heaven; i.e. to His coming with His saints, and in judgment to the earth—as, for example, in 2 Thessalonians 1:7. The last word is ἐπιφαυεία, and means "appearing" or "manifestation," and is rendered in the English Bible "appearing." This word is used once of the first coming of our Lord (2 Tim. 1:10); and five times (if we include 2 Thess. 2:8, where it is used in conjunction with παρουσία) of His future appearing. In addition to this, it may be added that when the Lord announces His own coming (as, for example, in Rev. 22:7, 12, 20), He employs the common word ἔρχομαι—"I come."
Now the difficulty is this. If we have to wait for the appearing or the revelation of Christ, it is very evident that we cannot entertain any immediate expectation of the Lord. For we learn from Scripture that many events are to precede that time. Thus, to take 2 Thessalonians 2, the man of sin—in other words, the antichrist—is first to appear upon the scene; and this, as we are also taught, necessitates the previous restoration of the Jews to their own land, the rebuilding of their temple, and the reestablishment of their sacrificial services (Matt. 24:15; Dan. 9:26-27; Rev. 11-13 etc.). Moreover the great tribulation, with all its sorrows, must, in that case, be passed through before the coming of the Lord.
Is this, then, the teaching of Scripture? In the first place, it cannot be denied that believers are spoken of as waiting for the appearing or revelation, as well as the coming of Christ. In 1 Corinthians 1:7 the Apostle says, "Ye come behind in no gift, waiting for the coming (ἀποκάλυψιν) of our Lord Jesus Christ." Again, writing to Timothy, he says, "That thou keep this commandment without spot, unrebukeable, until the appearing (ἐπιφανεἰα) of our Lord Jesus Christ" (1 Tim. 6:14). Once more, in his epistle to Titus, he says, "Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing (ἐπιφανεία) of the great God and our Savior Jesus Christ" (Titus 2:13). Will believers, then—believers of this dispensation, i.e. the Church—remain upon the earth until the appearing of Christ? A close examination of Scripture shows that there are two distinct extents defined: the coming of the Lord Jesus for His saints, and the coming of Christ with His saints. In 1 Thessalonians 3:13, as well as in many other passages, we find the latter; and in 1 Thessalonians 4:15-17 the former; and St. Paul teaches us most distinctly in Colossians that the coming of Christ with His saints will take place at His appearing. He says, "When Christ [who is], our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with Him in glory" (Col. 3:4). If this be so, the saints must have been caught up to be with Christ before His return to the earth in public manifestation.
Leaving for the moment the difficulty already stated, but only to be able to solve it the more completely, we may inquire, Is there anything between the saint, as far as the Scriptures teach, and the return of the Lord? May the Christian, in other words, momentarily expect, be constantly waiting for, Christ? The teaching of our blessed Lord has been alluded to in the last chapter; but we may once more recall the fact that, both in the parable of the virgins, and in that of the talents, no other conclusion could have been drawn from His words; for the virgins who fall asleep are the same who are awakened by the cry, "Behold, the Bridegroom"; and the servants who receive the talents are the same who are reckoned with on His return. Collect, indeed, all the Scriptures in which He speaks of His coming, and it cannot be doubted for a moment that He intended His auditors to infer the possibility of His coming back at any, even the most unexpected, moment. (See Mark 13:34-37; Luke 12:35-37; John 21:20-21, etc.).
St. Paul uses language of like import. In writing to the Corinthians concerning the resurrection of the bodies of believers, he is careful—led of the Spirit of God—to say, "Behold, I show you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed" (1 Cor. 15:51); and in the epistle to the Thessalonians he says, "We who are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord" (1 Thess. 4:15). It is clear, therefore, by the use of the word "we," that he included himself as among the possible number who might be found alive on the Lord's return; and hence that, as far as he knew, there was nothing to hinder the Lord's coming for His saints during his own lifetime. That Peter thought it not improbable is likewise seen from the fact that he received a special revelation to inform him that he would have to die (2 Peter 1:15). And surely the fact that the last announcement of the inspired record is, "Surely I come quickly" (Rev. 22:20), would foster and strengthen the same conclusion.
But notwithstanding all this presumptive evidence, everything depends upon the question whether Christians (the Church) will remain on the earth until the Lord's appearing. If then we turn to Matthew 24, and contrast it with a scripture in Colossians, we shall find this question distinctly and plainly answered. In Matthew 24 we read, "Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken, and then shall appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of Man coming in the clouds of heaven, with power and great glory. And He shall send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other" (vv. 29-30). Here we have the order of events at the appearing of the Son of Man; and the reader will mark that (1) there is the tribulation, (2) the disturbance of the heavenly luminaries, (3) the sign of the Son of Man in heaven, (4) the mourning of the tribes of the earth, (5) their seeing the Son of Man coming, etc., while as yet the elect are upon the earth still ungathered. But what have we read in Colossians? That "when Christ, [who is] our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with Him in glory" (Col. 3:4). So also in the Revelation, we find that when Christ comes out of heaven for judgment (His appearing), "the armies which were in heaven followed Him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, clean and white" (Rev. 19:11-14). Who are these? Their dress is characteristic, and supplies the answer; for in the eighth verse we read, "the fine linen is the righteousness" (righteousness—δικαιώματά) "of saints."
Evidently, therefore, "the elect" in Matt. 24 cannot be the Church, since the saints who compose the Church appear with Christ; and in fact, as the chapter itself abundantly shows, they are the elect of Israel, the Jewish remnant whom God by His Spirit has prepared for the time when the Lord, whom they seek, shall come suddenly to His temple (Mal. 3:1). It thus follows that the Lord Jesus will return for His people prior to His appearing; and, inasmuch as He destroys antichrist with the brightness of His coming (2 Thess. 2:8), it must also be prior to his rise and sway, and hence also before the great tribulation, since (as will be seen in a future chapter) this is connected with the time of the antichrist.
But thereon follows a further thing. All the predicted events which are looked for before the Lord's appearing are connected with the restoration of God's ancient people, and the actings of the man of sin, the son of perdition (the antichrist); and consequently, as far as the Scriptures reveal, there is nothing whatever between the present moment and the possibility of the Lord's return.
How, then, is the fact to be explained that we are said in Scripture to wait for the appearing, as well as for the coming, seeing that when Christ appears we appear with Him? Whenever the question of responsibility is brought in, the appearing, and not the coming, is the goal; and this is because that, since the earth has been the scene of the responsibility, the earth also will be the scene of the displayed recompense. This in no way interferes with the fact that the coming of Christ for His saints at any moment is the proper hope of the believer. On the other hand, it throws additional light on the ways of God in the government of His people, brings out a new feature of the perfection of the Lord's dealings with His servants. When departing, He entrusted to them gifts for His service, saying, "Occupy till I come." (Luke 19:13.) The responsibility of the servants in the use of that which has been committed to their charge is confined to, limited by, their sojourn upon the earth. Hence it is when the Lord returns to the earth that the result of their responsibility is declared. But it is not only in the use of gifts that this principle is seen; it is found in every sort of responsibility of the saint. The Corinthians came behind in no gift, waiting for the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ; the Thessalonians are directed to look forward for the blessed issue of their persecutions to the time when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels (2 Thess. 1:7); and Timothy was to keep the commandment without spot, unrebukeable, until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ (1 Tim. 6:14). For it is then that He comes to be glorified in His saints, and to be admired in all them that have believed (2 Thess. 1:10); and then, therefore, that there will be the public manifestation of the result and issue of the pathway of the saint through this world. This is the consummation and the fruition of the service of the believer, as well as the time when the rights of the Lord Jesus Himself shall be declared and vindicated, and consequently, in this aspect, we are said to love His appearing (2 Tim. 4:8).
But, as we have shown from the Scriptures, the Lord returns for His saints before His appearing; and it is to His coming, therefore, for them that their eye is directed. This is the proper object of our hope. Our hearts occupied with Himself, we wait longingly for the moment when, according to His word, He will come to receive us to Himself, that where He is we may be also (John 14:3). Such, then, is our attitude. As Israel on the Passover night, with their loins girded, their shoes on their feet, and their staff in their hand, waited for the signal to depart, so we should ever be found, with our loins girt and our lamps burning, expecting the Lord to descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God, to fetch us out of this scene, to be forever with Himself. Are we constantly maintaining this attitude? Do we begin the day with the thought that, before the darkness returns, we may be caught up into the unclouded light of His presence? When we lie down at night, do we remember that before the morning dawns we may be caught away from our beds? Are all our matters kept so constantly arranged that we should desire to alter nothing, if the next moment we should be with the Lord? Are all our purposes, all our occupations, undertaken and carried on with this wondrous prospect before our eyes? Surely nothing short of this should satisfy those who are living in the expectation of the Lord. May He Himself lead us into all the power of this blessed truth, using it to separate us increasingly from everything not suitable to Himself; and, by the presentation of Himself to us in all His beauty as the Bright and Morning Star, may He occupy and absorb our hearts!
"‘A little while’—come, Savior, come!
For Thee Thy Bride has tarried long;
Take Thy poor waiting pilgrims home,
To sing the new eternal song,
To see Thy glory, and to be
In everything conformed to Thee!